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Next Entries »So — Go Mizzou! — how are the football bowl games working out for you? Go Mizzou!
As an avid football fan — Go Mizzou! Go Mizzou! — I’ve been fairly happy with this season’s college bowl games so far. I was especially pleased by the Cotton Bowl yesterday. (Can you guess who our family was cheering for?) I honestly thought Arkansas had more offense than that, but I was wrong there.
I was discouraged when Boise State University lost their game. They lost it literally in the last second on a game-winning field goal by East Carolina as the clock expired. Oh, well. My two happiest years of college were spent there in the 1960s, and my wife was in their first 4-year graduating class in 1967, so they hold a special place in our hearts.
But the real DUD of a bowl game this year will be the Bowl Championship Series finale between LSU and Ohio State — what a terrible selection. Ohio State played one less game than the other first-place contenders — and lost two games. What kind of season is that for a so-called “championship contender”?
You see the problem here? I tend to forget that top-level college football really isn’t a sport anymore (if it ever was) — it’s a huge money machine; it’s a big business. Why else would the so-called “system” come up with two big-school, big-money powerhouses facing off every season for the championship, even when they had less-than-stellar to mediocre seasons?
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
Technorati Tags: college football, bowl games, Bowl Championship Series, Go Mizzou!, just a guy who reads the papers
Hey, who wouldn’t love this year’s Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow?
I was just reading a story about the sort of “hero worship” aura surrounding Tim Tebow, the University of Florida quarterback who won the 2007 Heisman Trophy. (If you’re not a football fan or not a college football fan, you’ll have to indulge me. And why in the heck AREN’T you a fan??)
Who couldn’t love the kid? He comes from a really nice, happy family, who love him deeply. He was raised to be a humble, hard-working, Christian kid in the best senses of the word “Christian.” He was homeschooled, but apparently became a superhero high school football star thanks to a Florida law that allowed him to play public school football while being homeschooled.
Nice kid. Nice family. Great college football player, who may someday have a highly lucrative career in the NFL. What’s not to like?
I’ve tried my best to be cynical about the kid — as I am cynical about most things sports related — but I like him and wish him and his family only the best.
Technorati Tags: college football, Heisman trophy winner, Tim Tebow, University of Florida, just a guy who reads the papers
Boxing fan? Get your tickets for the big Marquez-Pacquiao rematch in March
If you’re a boxing fan, you’ll want to get in line (so to speak) early for a royal battle coming up in March — Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez are set to do it again March 15 in Las Vegas. Boxing fans won’t soon forget the brawl in May 2004 in which Pacquiao knocked Marquez down three times in the first round of their featherweight championship bout, only to see Marquez battle back and have the match end in a split draw decision.
According to a report from ESPN about the upcoming battle, Pacquiao seriously considered moving up to challenge lightweight titlist David Diaz, but decided instead to stick around for a Marquez rematch. The fight is set for the Mandalay Bay Events Center. If you want to be there, and need some great seats, you can find excellent pacquiao vs marquez tickets online from Team-One Tickets.
Looking ahead from Marquez-Pacquiao II, there are rumors of bigger things coming. Should Pacquiao win, the rumors say, he will move up for the Diaz fight. And if he were to win that, the same rumors hint at a possible Pacquiao meeting with Oscar De La Hoya in September in what would be billed as the Golden Boy’s career finale. Who can say? Stranger things have happened in the boxing world, provided the timing and the money are good to go.
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
Technorati Tags: Marquez-Pacquiao II boxing rematch, boxing, just a guy who reads the papers
So far, drug-use report hasn’t changed the shape of pro sports world
How wonderful — only one day after the steroid/drug use report on MLB was released, the sports world has rallied around, soundly condemned all athletes who use such stuff, and completely changed the nature of pro sports in America. And we did it all for the kids, too!
No, of course, that’s not what has been happening in any news reports I’ve seen, heard, or read. What’s been happening is exactly what I expected would happen: There’s a public outcry against pros who were reported as “druggies”; there’s a “shame on you” call to those athletes and other pros to be proper role models for our youngsters — but there’s been nothing I’ve seen that says, “Hey, you know, our whole culture is at least partly responsible. Let’s get back to paying pro athletes intelligent salaries and playing the game at all levels for what it is — A GAME.”
Of course, it’ll never happen, because MLB and pretty much every other sport is NOT anything like “just a game,” but a major bucks big business.
Let’s start a campaign. Let’s encourage all sports team owners to put a clause in every player’s contract requiring them to donate X percentage of their salary to charity — preferably something that will directly aid families and children. Oh, of course I know that won’t happen either. But if it were possible, it might make some of these teams and the big money players more likely to look at the difference between being paid obscene amounts of money to play a game and what is “real life” for most folks.
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
[/tags]MLB scandal, sports and drug use, celebrity athletes, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
Can we really protect the ‘integrity’ of Major League Baseball — or any pro sport?
Big surprises in the report on steroid use and the use of “performance enhancing drugs” in Major League Baseball, eh? — NOT!
I wonder how many years we want to continue this cultural hypocrisy that sees pro sports of any kind as 1) noble inspiration for the youth of our nation, and, 2) big-money, high-stakes business geared to the bottom line?
The MLB “scandal” really demonstrates that kind of hypocrisy. We tell young men and women that they can get paid unimaginable amounts of money for being the very best at playing a game. Then we pat them on their heads, chuck their rosy cheeks, and tell them to be shining examples, above all else, of truth, justice, and the American way.
We, as a society, SAY we adhere to the old adage by Grantland Rice (I think?): “It’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game.” But look at just about every aspect of what we do as a nation and you’ll see we live by those words attributed to Vince Lombardi: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”
If you truly believe there was NOT a time in MLB, NFL football, pro tennis, NHL hockey, or any other pro sport when players didn’t do SOMETHING or take SOMETHING to get an edge on their opponents — hey, then I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I’d be willing to sell you cheap. (Okay, one caveat — I doubt pro golfers ever use steroids. I mean, really, it’s just golf, it’s not a real sport.)
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
Technorati Tags: steroid use, MLB, NFL, NHL, performance enhancing drugs, athletes and drug use, just a guy who reads the papers
Michael Vick probably got even more than he deserved
Former Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick got his sentence for his role as the money-man in a dog fighting/dog killing business — 23 months in prison.
But the prison time was the least penalty Vick got. You could make a case that he was treated to far more punishment than he deserved.
Oh, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m a dog lover, a humane person, and a mostly-vegetarian person for the last 25 years of my life. I have no sympathy for Vick as far as the way he mistreated the dogs, and funded mistreatment by others. He absolutely deserved prison time and loss of property/wealth for that.
On the other hand, now that the judgment has been handed out and he’s in prison (he actually went to prison earlier, knowing the sentencing was coming down today), we need to reflect on the bigger picture regarding Michael Vick and his future. His career is certainly over as a professional quarterback. He’s lost literally millions of dollars in fines and as repayment of NFL contract bonuses. He is 27 years old and forced to bear a tremendous load of accountability for the rest of his life.
Was he “over-punished” do you think? I mean, if you consider others who commit crimes against people and not dogs, think of the criminals who haven’t been punished half as roughly as Michael Vick.
Ultimately, Vick brought it all upon himself. He had great privileges of money and celebrity status. He could have done a ton of good with the same money he used to do some really cruel evil. So he got what he deserved — but perhaps he got even more than he deserved?
At the same time, should we rethink the punishments we give those who hurt or kill people? If we come down harshly on those who harm dogs, how much more harshly should we come down on sex offenders and wife beaters??
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
Technorati Tags: Michael Vick, dog killing, crime and punishment, domestic violence, just a guy who reads the papers
Kansas a college football powerhouse? Who would have thought it?
Okay, I’m a football fan. By “football,” I mean American football, of course. The kind of football played in helmets and pads, with lots of hitting, passing, and kicking — NOT soccer.
Who would have thought that this year’s college football powerhouses would include teams like Kansas and Missouri, instead of Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, USC, and all the other biggies in the college football sports world?
Not me. Not most folks. It has been a bizarre year for big-time football programs. Louisiana State, Kansas, West Virginia, and Missouri are the top schools in the latest Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings. I won’t even get started on all that I think is WRONG about the BCS shell game. (As a diehard Boise State University fan, I’m still bitter that BSU was the only undefeated major NCAA team in the nation last year, yet never ranked No. 1 in the BCS farce.)
So it makes for good football and an interesting season for football fans, regardless of your college allegiance. Personally, I live in Missouri and love the fact that the Mizzou Tigers realistically could end up in the BCS Bowl against LSU or Kansas. I love it!
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy (a football fan!) who reads the papers.
Technorati Tags: football, Bowl Championship Series, Kansas football, Missouri football, LSU football, just a guy who reads the papers
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