PSU scandal and how I feel

As I was angrily watching Sportscenter this morning, I realized “I should write a blog about how I feel about this whole Penn State scandal.” So, I’ve decided to dissect it in pieces! Here goes nothing:

Joe Pa

Let’s say (hypothetically, of course) he was still a great coach, many victories, won a national championship, and was still seen as a God on campus, BUT was 40 years younger. Would people still feel bad for him? NO WAY, especially judging by the lack of sympathy that was shown for Jim Tressel (and I am a huge OSU hater). Granted the situations are A LOT different, definitely even worse for Paterno. Why should I feel bad for him when all he did was tell the AD about what he was told by then, graduate assistant, Mike McQueary had told him, what he’d seen. Do more; I’ll say it again; do more, you should know better than that as a then 74 year old man. Don’t wait for someone else to do something, take matters in your own hands. Everyone should get over the fact that he is old and realize he still has responsibilities as a human being!

23-page indictment

So, as any curious person should do, I read the leaked 23-page grand jury indictment of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, and all I have to say is I am disgusted! Not only with him, but everyone who was involved, you all are all at fault here. If you feel bad for what has happened with Joe Paterno, your mind will change after reading this. I know that seems harsh because there was more than just him who knew about this, but he still should have done A LOT more than he did. But, again it is more than Paterno, all of the people who knew something, no matter how little they knew, should be ashamed of them selves for letting it just slip through the cracks and remain untouched for years.

Best analysis I’ve heard

Now, I usually don’t give radio show callers credit, but when I was watching “The Herd” on ESPN news this morning a person had a great analysis. He said, as a person who knew what Sandusky had done (McQueary, Paterno, AD, President, etc.) how could you look at the man and say, “Hey, how are you this morning?” or “Hey, good to see you!” That to me is despicable, I could never look at someone the same after knowing the vial things he had done.

ESPN, being ESPN

Back to my introduction. Watching ESPN last night I see the rundown say “Penn State healing.” YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Healing? From what losing their coach of 46 years? That’s not a loss that needs healing, legend or not, coaches are a dime a dozen these days and if they’re lucky they might be able to grab Urban Meyer. My friend said it the best “the students aren’t the one’s who need healing, it is the victims of these crimes that will need to heal.” Seeing that last night really got me going, obviously. Deaths are tragedies, firings are not, granted it is unfortunate, it is something people will look back on be like “really? We needed to heal from that?”

Notre Dame Fightless Irish

It’s early September and that means one thing, college football season is underway! To start out I would like to point out the Hokies are 1-0, after putting up an impressive win over Appalachian State 66-13.

With that being said, let me move on to the point of this post, and that is the recent failures of the beloved Notre Dame fighting Irish.

First, a little background on my college football fan hood. Growing up in a family full of Notre Dame fans (typically of most Catholic families), I started the early years of my life cheering for them. But, that all changed when my brother decided to choose Virginia Tech as the college he was going to attend. After attending my first Hokies football game, my mindset changed to, “Notre Dame who?”

Ever since that faithful day, Notre Dame football has never been the same. Coincidence or not, I like to believe that my hatred for them led to their turmoil, but my sports knowledge knows better. The Irish have steadily been declining since the early 2000s and the most recent failure put the cherry on top of my successful first week of college football.

For those who are unaware, Notre Dame lost on Saturday 23-20 to the University of South Florida, in a lightning delayed game. But, it wasn’t the lightning that sparked headlines; it was the tirade coach and scumbag Brian Kelly threw on the sideline every time a mistake was made. Here is a link to an article that has the video of Kelly yelling embedded in it. http://www.thedetroitsportssite.com/2011/09/09/brian-kellys-embarrassing-behavior-not-just-limited-to-sidelines/6052.

Now, as a “practicing,” Catholic I am offended by the language used…. I am totally kidding, but there are plenty of people in the Notre Dame community, who will feel that exact way. Kelly has recently apologized for his actions and made a promise to be calmer on the sidelines. We’ll just see how that holds up when Tommy Rees throws an INT in the red zone. “God Speed,” Brian (OH ZING!).

My question I ask you is: when will Notre Dame stop receiving such national attention?  I thought last year we were figuring it out when I didn’t see them in the top 25. But, leave it up to the BCS to go right back to tradition to fill their rankings. So here is my letter to them; Dear BCS: Lou Hotlzsssssss (in his words) is no longer there, they are no longer competing at a top level, they play NO ONE but, when they do they lose, and I reiterate what I hinted at; they suck!

            This weekend, TRADITION SQUARES OFF AGAINST TRADITION (give me a break!), when The Irish travel to Ann Arbor to play Michigan in the first ever night game in the “Big House.” Let me start by saying, what a waste of a site for College Gameday, and sorry to all the fans of each team who read this, but this is far from a premier match-up, especially when Alabama is playing Penn State in the same weekend. But, I’m just happy that everyone will get to see (if they don’t already watch NBC every Saturday), Notre Dame lose another game and start their “come back” season 0-2. So, I say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aJROW6cuEM&feature=related

            Oh, and GO HOKIES!

Dare I say: Sportscenter, over-rated?

            Over the last two years, dating back to the Favre fiasco, I have been re-thinking my love for ESPN’s Sportscenter.

            When I was a kid watching Sportscenter during the summer was my dream come true. I’d wake up at like 11 a.m. come down stairs and watch Sportscenter, over, and over, and over again until my parents yelled at me to turn the T.V. off because it was “rotting my brain.”

This summer I can hardly watch 20 minutes of it! Now I only watch it to see whose playing well on my fantasy baseball team or to catch up on the Yankees highlights that I missed. But, still that has little interest to me because I watch the actual games. I know I am not the only one who feels this way, but I know we are few and far between.

As I said earlier, I lost interest a little over a year ago when the whole “what will Favre do next,” segments. By the third day of this “coverage,” I finally decided to be done with Sportscenter.

But it’s not only the Favre stuff that “grinded my gears,” it went from being a show about highlights, game recaps and information that was useful to sports fans. Now it is filled with constant NFL lockout coverage, which as much as it matters to us, has really gotten old. Listen, I don’t need Adam Schefter (who is a PR nightmare when it comes to his “insider” information) telling me about the same information everyday. GIVE IT A REST, wait like a week or so for something important to happen, then the public will stop going in and out with enthusiasm for the likelihood of an NFL season.

It’s not only the over coverage of events that gets me, it also comes to the analyst “talent,” they have now. I could care less if Antonio Pierce won a Super Bowl or not, that is moot when it comes to his abilities to articulate what he knows about the sport. And now they have Curt Schilling for baseball?!?! Who are you kidding with these hires? It’s like ESPN wants their Public Relations staff to work extra hard year round! This man has been nothing but trouble since he retired. Again, he was a great pitcher throughout his career, which does not mean he is a good analyst; he doesn’t even have a good relationship with the media!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Schilling#Conflicts_with_players look at the conflict with the media section. 

Does anyone remember the show they had called “Dream Job,” I loved that show; they actually took time to see who was the best ONE candidate to be on-air talent. My question to them now would be this: When did their on-air talent process go from: quality over quantity to quantity over quality? Because if that’s the case, they really need to go back to the old way.

Now, I’m not saying I hate everything ESPN; I love their sports coverage, providing me with sports from baseball to soccer, at any level. But, Sportscenter is getting on my last nerve, there needs to be some kind of readjustment to the set-up of it, like it back when Chris Berman and Bob Ley were the two of the 5 or 6 anchors they had on staff, finding fun ways to recap sports.

Long Time, No Blog?

Sorry I have been away for awhile, not like I have a plethora of followers but it has still been WAY to long. Let me just give you an overview of what has been going on since the last post: hmmmm

1. Kemba did Kemba in the NCAA tournament. They ended up going 14-0 in the tournaments they competed in this year (Maui Invitational, Big East Tournament and NCAA tournament), not to mention they won 5 games in 5 days in the tenacious Big East tournament.

2. Butler, again made a run that ended in a runner-up and pat on the back. But what was ever more exciting was the emergence of VCU. Now being a Hokie I was mad when they made it over us, but what they did was certainly incredible. This was just like the run fellow CAA member George Mason made in 2008, making it to the final four.

3. I have to say this now BASEBALL SEASON STARTED! My favorite sport (just because it was the only one I was good at) season started and it started March 31st, and just how I wanted it too. Yankees took 2 out of 3 from the Detroit Tigers, but just the fact it started to me is a win.

4. NHL and NBA playoffs started sadly the Knicks have been eliminated *tear* and that was the end of my affiliation with the playoffs for either sport. But I still am following both 1. to see LeBron shut the critics up (I know I'm probably alone in that feeling), and 2. waiting to see the Flyers lose in the NHL playoffs. Sadly, my roommates beloved Sabres couldn't pull it off but hopefully my other most hated city can do it. Come on Bruins!!

5. Tiger made a run at a "comeback" during the Masters, although he failed the bigger headlines were Rory McIlroy's disastrous final round 80 or Charl (really you couldn't add the es?) Schwartzel shooting a 66 to polish off his charge to the top of the leader board in the final round comeback.

6. And last, and definitely least the NFL lockout has been lifted and the draft has just begun. Surprisingly, Cam Newton was selected as the first overall pick by the Carolina Panthers. I am just as  shocked as I was to see him go first. Not only do the Panthers have Jimmy Clausen (First Round draft pick from last year) but ever since the NFL combine he has become very cocky (or in his eyes confident) and lost me as a fan. Hopefully this pick doesn't workout for them! On another note I am anxiously awaiting to see where Hokies: Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams, Darren Evans and Roc Carmichael go in the next three days.

With the summer coming up my blog entry's will become more frequent because I will have less academic work that will hold me down from writing them!

Real American Hero

I know everyone is probably sick of hearing about the NBA trade rumors, and Melo to the Knicks, but I am not! I love Melo always have, ever since I saw him JAM on people at the Prime Time Shootout. But there is one key component to the trade that EVERYONE is missing, except for us always stingy media professionals/ amateur like myself!

That key element was point guard Cauncey Billups, the Knicks needed him, and he will fill that role admirably, but what people don’t know is what Billups lost coming to New York, his family. Now I don’t mean loss as in; his wife divorced him, he no longer has a house or any of that, what I mean is he lost the ability to see his wife and three daughters. It’s a rarity in sports to see an athlete so distraught over leaving his family back in his hometown.

Billups grew up in the Denver area, and played his college basketball at Colorado University, but when he made it to the NBA he traveled a lot playing for: Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Minnesota, Detroit, and up until recently the Denver Nuggets. When the Nugget acquired him, it was like a dream come true for him. He told his daughters that there will be no more of this switching schools, moving into different houses, and making new friends, this was their home for good. Obviously, he figured this would be the last place he’d play and retire where it all started for him, a true Hollywood story. That storybook ending is over, sadly.

Which leads me to why I am writing this entry; I read an article this morning about the pain Billups had felt since Tuesday night. It’s something that between the coverage of where Melo would end up (Knicks or Nets), how will the team gel together, how will Melo will perform his first time in the Garden as a Knick was: how does Chauncey Billups feel? The answer; horrible, and from reading the article Melo’s wife and kid being there through the whole day and night didn’t help.

But it is really refreshing to see professional athletes, who are under scrutiny wherever they go show real human emotion over his family. In a time where adultery, rape (accused and convicted), allegations against college’s for recruitment (Tennesse, Uconn, Auburn) to name a few. So when I read this article I immediately was choked up to see that athlete’s do have human emotions! (Which is obvious, but rarely seen).

After their first game ended in a 114-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Chauncey was back to him old self, smiling and laughing. Saying, "Just to get out there on the floor it's good, it's our safe haven and it's where we let everything else go in the world. For the fans to embrace me and Carmelo the way they did, it just felt good." A total 180-degree turn from early that day. But this was great to hear from Chaunce (being a fan since he joined the Nuggets), even though no matter how unhappy he would be, he would still do his job, and that was to be the floor general for the new look Knicks. 

I would like to personally thank him for being a true family man, because in a country where 50% of first weddings end in divorce, we need people in the spot light 24/7 to set an example for the rest of the country. Thank you Chauncey, keep loving your wife, and kids because they’re the real miracle in life!

ESFN: Game of the Week

I’m going to bring something new to the ESFN blog and add a game of the week each week (obviously), that I believe could be a surprising match up. Hopefully I start with a bang (fingers crossed).

Bare with me on this but my inaugural game of the week is Michigan State vs. * #1 team Ohio State. Now I know what your saying, with all that is going wrong with Michigan State this year, the game will be a blow out. But never, ever count out a Tom Izzo team, his passion will not let him give up on his team.

Not only that, he still has a team filled with lots of talent to win with, there is no reason they should be losing this many games. With seven upper classman returning, including last year’s top scorer Kalin Lucas (14.8 PPG this year), and two of the other four top scorers (Durrell Summers 11.3, and Draymond Green 9.9). There is no way they can’t be successful right? Wrong! To be successful they will need better play from all of their role players. But I believe there is still hope and this is just the game that can spark them to a streak that guides them right to the NCAA tournament (which they are on the bubble for anyway)

Now on to the buckeyes, coming off their first loss of the season, it will be interesting to see how a senior dominated squad responds to a loss. I am very interested to see how Aaron Craft (freshman) will play, after under performing when the game was on the line. I am certain this was a shot to his confidence, so his performance is very important to the team’s success. This is the beginning of a tough stretch that will really test the team chemistry, with a very tough Purdue team, on the road in hostile Mackey Arena.

Knowing Thad Matta he will not let his team falter after one loss, but Izzo is the same way, making this matchup an even better one. The matchups (player vs. player) that I’m really looking forward to seeing is how Derrick Nix will defend the young and talented Jared Sullinger. Nix a sophomore is a wide body in the pain (6’9’’, 270 lbs) should have no problem matching up with Sullinger in size, but the separation in talent may be the deciding factor. This is when freshman Keith Appling and Junior Delvon Roe will fill in, if Nix gets into foul trouble.

The second matchup I’m looking forward to is a battle of seasoned veterans taking one another on. Kalin Lucas vs. David Lighty is what I’m talking about, it will be tough for each to get baskets, but they will score. The first one to become frustrated with their lack of scoring will be the one’s who team will lose the game. This will prove how important these two players are to their team’s success.

In a final word, my prediction, it will be a good game, and my confidence in a Mike Izzo coached team is being tested a lot this year, and I will continue to be disappointed. In a home game, Ohio State will win; quite handedly 75-68 is my prediction. The offense of Ohio State will be too much for Sparty to handle in the end, especially when they will find it hard to answer and trade baskets, let alone separate themselves from the Buckeyes.

St. John's: The Rise Back to Fame

Since the 3^rd grade recreational basketball league draft, when a young sharpshooter was drafted by St. John’s in the first round. After playing for Duke the previous year, this young child was devastated that the school didn’t want him anymore. So with this New Year and a new team, his love for St. John’s basketball was born, and this little kid happened to be me of course.

For the years, after that season I followed the Johnnies, which was easy to do being from the tri-state area, but what was harder to do, was maintain interest. Their programs tradition is right up there was the Dukes, UNCs, and Kentucky’s, with many tournament appearances, whether it was the big dance, or the NIT, the Johnnies were frequent participants. But post either the; ’99 or ’00 season the programs prestige started to diminish, as they couldn’t hang with the tough Big East Conference, and so they began harder to follow, because I would just assume they were just going to lose. As a little kid this was very demoralizing to see his team falter, which sparked my hatred for Duke University, because I thought “why should I suffer on a yearly basis, when they have all of the success?!”

Before I delve to deep into my feelings for Duke, I must remember this entry is about my beloved Johnnies, not my opinions. So, to the point, this year under the tutelage of coach Steve Lavin, St. John’s has had two big games make headlines, first was their 15 point win over the hated Duke University, and then just this week a 17 point win over number 9 UConn.

This year marks the beginning of their resurgence to the top, and they have just the players to do it with; 10 seniors, 1 lone junior, 4 sophomores, and another lone freshman. Not to mention that they have the second highest rated incoming freshman class, it looks like they will be set for the next few years.

I am proud to say that I have stuck with them through thick and thin, to prove so I want to let everyone reading in on what it was like to be a St. John’s fan last year. I remember these two games clear as day, big game against Georgetown starts out just the way we wanted it too, making almost every shot, creating separation from the Hoyas on the scoreboard. Going into half time the Johnnies were up 20, I’m thinking, “here we go, no way they will let them back in this game.” BOY WAS I EVER WRONG, everything that could go wrong, went wrong, missed multiple easy looks, transition points were few and far between, and the Hoyas could not miss! Obviously they ended up losing, by 7, that is a 27-point swing in just 20 minutes. Now to the next game, practically the same situation as the last game, just a month later, against another ranked team in West Virginia, up 23 now going into the half, same old, same old by the Johnnies easy made baskets, high percentage shots, and the three’s were falling from everywhere. Second half, same as against Georgetown. Huge let down, that ultimately ended up in a loss 79-60. To summarize that it was deflating being a St. John’s fan, especially last year, because they had so much promise it made it even worse

The offseason for St. John’s did not start out the way they wanted it to, with the immediate firing of head coach Norm Roberts. Many felt that he should have been able to finish out with the group of seniors he had taught for their whole careers. But sadly he never got that opportunity. This gave people a lot of doubts about; what looked like a promising season coming up, all of those voices were silenced when coach Steve Lavin was announced as St. John’s head coach. Lavin, who had quite a record at UCLA (145-78), seemed a perfect fit at St. John’s, gritty, gutsy, and young to relate to the kids. He is lucky to have his first season to be with a great group of experienced seniors, but he is the brains behind everything that goes on for St. John’s basketball, and when he signed 6 ESPN top 150 players for next season, people are now beginning to wonder, “what was going on over in Oakdale?” And boy is there ever something going on in Oakdale, but their record of 14-9, 6-5 in the Big East doesn’t really scream top 25 caliber. But in arguably the best conference in college basketball (Big East), a record of 6-5 is not to bad. Especially when stacked up to some of the powerhouses in the conference (UConn, Syracuse, Louisville). I'm not saying they are a great team; yet, they are showing potential to be great down the road. Once the beginning of next year is over (due to the loss of 10 players), and all the freshman get the system, look for St. John’s to make a pretty big splash in the Big East Conference and the NCAA tournament.

Why not soccer?

America, I have one question to ask, and that is, why not soccer? I was skeptical at first, but since I started watching I have grown to love it. One of the huge reasons why I started to love it was the fact there is only commercials at the major breaks in the game:  Half time, and end of the game. Because I know when I watch the NFL or any sport here in the U.S. there are, TOO MANY COMMERCIALS! If a ball goes out of bounds, here comes the red hat. Everyone is ready and waiting, but the red hat is still out there, being a pain in the, you know what! I don’t think I am alone when I say that sometimes the commercials are way too much, why would I want constant interruption while I’m trying to watch a game, I don’t!

            With the future for the 2011-2012 NFL season looking grim, it looks like America may need something to fill in their Sunday afternoons, of drinking and eating with another sport. “ ‘Ello ‘ol chap; want to kick the ball around the pitch? That’s right people I’m talking about the “evil” game of soccer! Put the good, English premier ship matches on in the morning/afternoon, and then later put the Serie A league on at night or even on ESPN2. People maybe skeptical at first, like I was when finding new sports to watch, but I feel that people will soon have less of a hatred for soccer.

            It will probably be hard for companies to give in to the fact that they can’t get their product/company as much air time as they want. But it will in turn save them money on time slots, because you only get half time (which is 15 minutes) to pick a spot. So really it comes down to, how willing these companies are to give up the moneymaking spots that they had. In the end, I feel that they will ultimately find a benefit to the new commercial time system.

            What I think will draw people to the game other than the no commercials, is the passion of the fans. They cheer, they sing, they curse, and they even get drunker than us Americans! With so many things they have in common with American sports fans, they will soon find common ground with one another. If you’re looking for more evidence of our similarities I suggest the public watches the movie Green Street Hooligans, a great movie that follows the West Ham United soccer teams “firm” or cheering section. Now this movie does get a little Hollywood, but it shows the passion the fans have for their teams, that they will fight for their team. Again, great movie, if you don’t believe watch it, you’ll love every minute.

            In a final word, if this were to happen, I just asked/beg ESPN to be the first to jump at this opportunity. If not, the rights to these games could be sold to the dreaded Fox network. As I’m sure we all know, Fox is not the best at picking their on-air talent, i.e. Joe Buck, Tim McCarver (my dad’s favorite). This could lead to disastrous things for soccer in America, just like it almost ruined bowl season for me, having to listen to Joe Buck in the BCS bowl games. Again this is all hypothetical, but please ESPN, do your part and keep soccer growing in America.

           

New York Back?

Basketball, in its early years was dominated by the New York area. It started in the 20's and continued into the 30s, 40s, and 50s, with the the coined phrase "Jew ball" built in the house leagues in New York. This basketball was highlighted with names like Red Auerbach, Red Holzman, Nat Holman. It spread to the local universities like; NYU, Brooklyn College, City College of New York, and St. John's. Until the early 2000s St. John's was a very successful basketball school, competing in arguably the best conference in the NCAA the Big East. But after 2002 their success disappeared into the abyss of the New York City lights.

But, the NBA brought them continued success, their New York Knickerbockers, who was coached by none other than the basketball mind, Red Holzman. Under his tutelage, he made the Knicks a championship contender again in '68, although they didn't win it all, it was a start to a bright future. Two years later they made it to the NBA championships in 1970, where they won it all. Then three years later they won it again.

 The Knicks success faltered at the same time St. John's did. Just like the Johnnies the talent of the rest of the country caught up with the Knicks, and they just couldn't find the right fit for them. Whether it was Isiah Thomas' screw ups as a GM, to Stephon "Starberry" Marbury just BEING on the team, it was just one mess up after another for them.
Just as they went out together, they both have recently come back to the spotlight together. The Johnnies hold a 10-4 record and a 3-1 record in a extremely tough and competitive Big East conference. With coach Steve Lavin at the helm, they look to be making strides in the right direction with a bunch of seniors, and a great freshman class coming in next year, the future for the Johnnies looks brighter than the lights of New York.

The Knicks, also with a new coach Mike D'Antoni, and some new "descent" players, Amare Stoudemire, and Raymond Felton. With some good role players around them, they have led the Knickerbockers to a 21-15 record the second best record in the Eastern Conference's, East Division. I am sad to say, because of their success I have started to watch the NBA again, no matter how much I hate it. But i am not the only one, watching the game on Christmas day, I was stunned to see the Gardern almost completely sold out! I had to ask myself, is this really in New York? But it was.

I don't think anyone can argue with me when I say that basketball being back in New York, after a short stint as a joke, is good for the sport. Everyone knows that the Lakers, and Celtics will be there even if they have a few bad years, but their markets are easier to impress than the tough New York crowd. To the rest of the country, watch out, NEW YORK'S BACK BABY!!

Court-side Annoyance

As a rabid sports fan, I know I share this same feeling with many other fans. And that feeling is, the hatred for the obnoxious "fans" who sit in the front row, and act like they "care" about the outcome. As a former leader of my high schools student section, I am appalled when I see these guys yelling at the refs and players. Look man the only reason why you act so excited is because 1. You know you are probably getting on T.V. and 2. You invested so much money to reserve these seats, you don't want to feel like you waste your money.

I'll tell you who the real fans are. They are the ones who are sitting in section 340, continuously bleeding from their nose, behind a pole, shoes sticking to the concrete floor, and paid 40 bucks for nachos, a hotdog, and a beer. Even with all these setbacks, they are still cheering louder, and believe they can be heard. My first experience of this was, sad to say, at the good ol' Veteran Stadium (for new Phillies fans, which is many, is their old stadium) in "sunny" Philadelphia, where I sat in that very section. Surrounded by drunk, loud, REAL fans, is where I began to appreciate the suffering fans go through. I am happy to say the Phillies lost, but while the people behind the plate left, my section (all ten fans) stayed in the same section until the game was over.

Now that is not to complement Philly fans, because I do have a strong dislike for them, but they are an example of real fans. But back to the rich fans, you see them the most on the basketball court. After every foul, big play, or turning point they jump up out of no where and get in the face of the players and refs, which is completely unnecessary. Set a good example for either your kids, or the kids around you watching you act like a fool. Now I understand as a student that we are no saints, we do curse, we do yell at the refs, and players, but we do it because this is our life, we live and die by how our beloved team does. Money is no factor in our cheering.

Yes, this is a shout out to those celebrities like (even though I love him) Spike Lee, and Jack Nickelson. Look you guys are famous enough as it is, you don't need to make more of spectacle of yourselves by acting like children to get the camera's on you. They will be anyway because you're famous. The games focus should be on the players, not you, learn to get that and people wouldn't find you so hard to like when they see you.

Here's to all of you real fans sitting in that section 340, keep yelling, because you're doing it for the love of the game, not for the love of your wallet!

Boise and The Unforced Error

As the college football season comes to a conclusion this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the non-AQ teams and how you come up with a true champion. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about how you measure teams against one another when they never actually meet on the playing field. It’s the annual BCS throw-down.  How can you say now that TCU (are they really going to the Big East?) doesn’t deserve to be considered the national champion after beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl? What about Boise State last year? How about Auburn a couple of years back? All were undefeated at the end of play, had garnered glossy portfolios of achievements and all were determined NOT to be the national champion.  

Since it doesn’t look like anything is going to change soon, I’ve been trying to come up with a way to think about this. Anyone who knows NCAA football has to give credit to the argument that playing in one of the big conferences is tougher than playing in most of the non-AQ conferences, most years. There might be an exception now and then, but as a general rule, it’s true. And here’s why: it’s the unforced error.

For this post, an unforced error is a mistake that you or your team makes that is not the result of something your opponent did. It’s the dropped touchdown pass on the last play of the game when the cornerback fell down. It’s the fumble in the red zone in the 4^th quarter that kills the game winning drive, and of course, it’s the missed chip-shot field goal that send the game into OT, where you lose on another missed chip-shot field goal.

College athletes being who they are, unforced errors are a bigger part of the college game than they are at the professional level. It doesn’t matter what sport you’re talking about. When a bunch of kids two or three years out of high school, who have academic responsibilities play a complex game, they are going to make more mistakes than do paid professionals whose only job is to play their sport well. Because of this, you have to recognize that unforced errors are going to play an important role in the outcome of a lot of games. And THAT is what makes it harder to play in the big conferences and makes it appropriate to give more credit to teams who do.

 You see, if you outclass the teams you play from a talent perspective, you can get away with the unforced errors that you are bound to make. If you’re playing in a conference where your athletes are vastly superior to your opponents’, you’re not going to get into situations where the unforced error will cost you the game. It might cost you possession late in the game, but if you’re up by 31 points at that point, who cares? In contrast, if you play in a competitive conference, where you might have better athletes than your opponents but the difference is slight rather than huge, the odds are that you’re eventually going to get burned by one of those unforced errors. Ask Bobby Bowden about wide-left and wide-right. Ask the kid from Boise State that same question. 

Basically, I think the non-AQ teams get “disrespected” because they don’t run the risk week-in and week-out of losing on an unforced error. There’s nothing to be ashamed of in losing that way, because it happens to every team that plays somewhere along the line. But it can be heartbreaking. And it does cost you victories and chances at the national championship. If you can survive those brushes with unforced errors, you truly deserve the opportunity to play for the national championship that comes with it. If you never face the risk, or if you only face it once a year, maybe it’s right that you don’t get the same opportunity.

The Year of the Official

Sporting events final results are suppose to depend on the way each team plays, and always are, BUT sometimes the official likes to put their own little stamp on the game. This year in particular has been substantially worse than the other ones in the past, to my recollection.


My first PRIME example of this took place over the summer, during the World Cup. It was no mystery how bad those officials were, but one was so bad that they were banned from officiating anymore contests throughout the rest of the World Cup? Now that's unheard of! But don't fret he did it, and the next time he was seen on the "pitch" was as the fourth official. For those who don't know they are the one who puts the number on the electronic board for subs, added time, check players equipment and keep decorum on the sidelines respectful. Surprisingly, he managed to NOT screw that up, sorry for all of those who were hoping he would.
But the problems in the World Cup get even better, multiple missed offsides, missed goals, incorrectly made calls (easy USA Goal) caused outburst of disgust from fans who were shown the replay in the stadiums. This prompted FIFA to banned replays to be shown in stadiums, oh you guys are so sneaky! But you forgot one little detail, the fact that the rest of the world not in those stadiums saw every screw up, in slow motion of course (very popular for ABC) around the world.


For every sports fan the clear cut choice for worst missed calls has to be in baseball, but to little fault of the umpire's, due to all the angles and close up's we get from the comfort of our couch's. But i digress, they still mess up for than enough to get this title. Let me cut right to the one example everyone remembers, if you don't i'll explain it to you. Bottom of the 9th two outs, Tiger's pitcher Armando Galarraga is one out away from a memory of a life time, a perfect game. Your call, out or safe? Yes people he was called safe, one of the biggest calls of the year was blown by one of the games Veteran umpires. And who says it is better to have veterans than rookies? He went on to get the next batter out, ended what should have been a day for Galarraga to remember, in a good way, ended up being one people of the sports world will never forget.


Now I must, as a Virginia Tech Student, let a little steam off and talk about the next blown call. In their season opening football game against Boise State (or Girlsy State by Utah's wide receiver DeVonte Christopher ). Virginia Tech up 4 with about 2 minutes left, facing a 3rd and 6 decided that they needed to pass for the first time, and potentially stop the clock for a team that has no time outs, ultimately they did not get the first down, or a catch. So they were forced to punt with 1:42 left on the clock, on the kick the return made it out to about the 42, if I recall correctly. Just wait there should be a flag on the play because a VT player was clearly pushed in the back on the play, and BOOM there is one, this will push them back to the 10-ish yard line! Here comes the ref with the call "There is no flag for block in the back on the play." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? someone pinch me i have to be dreaming, did he really just say that? 
Yes he did just say that, and because of that Boise was left with a short field, and plenty of time with no timeouts to score. And they did just that, and ruined the Hokies dreams for a national title.


There are obviously more from this year, but these are just the best examples, and the most memorable ones. Clearly, I could not repeat the mistake from the Syracuse, Kansas State game, since it was previously mentioned on the blog. I would like to thank the officials from the past year for giving me something to write about for this new blog, I know you guys will continue to feed me with material. Keep up the good work!


I would like to quote my late Grandfather to play this one out "Ehhhhhhhh..... Dere just tryna get their fifteen minutes o fame." 

Wacky, Wild, Bowl Week

That's it?

For those of you who were living under a rock for the last couple of days you missed a lot in college football, but here are some coaching/officiating debacles. The Big East's University of Syracuse (8-4, 4-3 Big East) faced off against the Big 12's Kansas State (7-6, 3-5 Big 12) in the first ever Pinstripe Bowl, held in non-other than the New Yankee Stadium. This back and forth battle continued until the final minutes of the game, where K. State down 8 with 3:07 left to play in regulation needed to score on their final drive, to keep their hopes of a bowl win alive. They did just that, Carson Coffman threw a 30 yard touchdown pass to receiver Adrian Hilburn. All of the Wildcat fans who made the trek to New York rejoiced! And so did the players, whose salute to the crowd cost them 15 yards on an excessive celebration penalty, and ended up costing them the game, and the pin stripe bowl, but was it really deserved? 

Do these deserve penalties? Or just some laughs?

Now on to the next wacky finish, The ACC's UNC (8-5, 4-4 ACC) squared off against the SEC's University of Tennessee (6-7, 3-5 SEC) in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. The game was at a stand still at 17-14 from the second quarter until about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter when UT's freshman quarterback Tyler Bray hooked up with his receiver Justin Hunter for an 8 yard touchdown pass. With the remaining time UNC had to score, but when UNC's Dwight Jones dropped a 4th down pass from his QB T.J. Yates, things looked grim for the Tar Heels. But with enough timeouts to leave time on the clock for them to score, insanity then ensued. At their own 20 UNC started their drive almost perfectly with a 28 yard from Yates to Todd Herrelson, during the catch Herrelson was absolutely DRILLED in the back of the head by UT's safety Janzen Jackson, receiving a personal foul penalty, adding an additional 15 yards onto the big gain. After a 12 yard pass to Jones again, Butch Davis' choice for another play was a run to Shaun Draughn with about 16 seconds left on the clock, and no timeouts, genius right? Shades of Les Miles when they played Tennessee? As time continued to tick off UNC's field goal team started to rush the field, while the offense still need to stop the clock, it took about 10 second for Yates and the offense to realize they should just take the five yard too many men on the field penalty, and stop the clock. Once the ball hit the ground, the refs threw their flags, but ruled the game over, and UNC loses by 3. BUT WAIT! the booth buzzes them to check the replay, and after only a few short minutes the call was just as expected (five yard penalty and 1 second was put onto the clock) with that kicker Connor Barth hit a frantic 40 yard field goal to send the game into overtime. After trading touchdowns in the first overtime, a bit of karma hit Bray when after the TD made a slashing motion across his neck to the UNC sidelines, threw an interception to give the Tar Heels just a chip shot of a field goal to win the game. History tends to repeat itself, and this game was no different. 

This look familiar?