It just so happened that I was up in Michigan this past weekend when the story about possible NCAA rules violations concerning the amount of practice time which student athletes for the Michigan Wolverine Football program participate in. It came out that, supposedly, 2nd year coach Rich Rodriquez was making players practice or show up to watch film more than the 20 hours that the NCAA allows programs to assign per week…I have to echo the words of many on this issue: you’re kidding right? This is a joke, right?
The program has it’s worst year ever last year and a couple of pussified players who didn’t make the team last year (one of them is a transfer to a school on the west coast this year) come out crying like little bitches about how Rich Rod is “working us too hard-beyond what the N-C-A-A would allowwww”.
This kind of shit pisses me off-it’s just so pathetic that it infuriates me.
Anyone who knows anything about sports-at any level-knows that to make “the team” you have to put in extra effort. Now, because of NCAA rules no student athlete can practice more than the aforementioned 20 hours per week, so programs have “voluntary practices” and video sessions which athletes may, or may not, participate in. Of course, if you want to make the team, or be a starter on the team, you are going to participate in as many of these voluntary activities as possible. I
Only losers who don’t care, or whiny little bitches like those who are causing trouble for Big Blue, would not participate in these extra activities-they are a part of life for the student athlete who wishes to make the team and a necessity for those student athletes who want to start for their team.
Unfortunately, U of M is now going to be investigated by the NCAA-causing unnecessary grief and stress for a program that needs to focus on getting better and winning football games and not on the “controversy” which now surrounds it…Controversy my ass…This reeks of “whinyness” and the cry baby attitude of those who weren’t good enough or who didn’t possess the determination and willingness it took/takes to be a winner. I hope that the NCAA see’s what all of us outsiders see-that this is a farce and a waste of time to “investigate”.
When I first heard it yesterday, I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing and hearing: Brett Favre returning to play for, of all teams, the Minnesota Vi-queens?!!!!
But, yup, it’s true, Brett Favre is back…
ESPN must have thought many people wouldn’t believe it because they even had footage of him getting off the plane in Minnesota and being met by representatives of the Vi-queens at the airport.
This is a bad move-for all involved. Not only does this continue to tarnish Favre’s legacy and make him look greedy as all sin (he is getting $12 mill this year with an option for another $13 mill next year if he should resign), but it also makes the Vi-queens look desperate beyond all measures. Further, what sort of sign does this give not just the other 2 QB’s on this team who thought they were competing for the starting job, but to the rest of the team who had been fed a daily dose of “Favre coming” to their team “wasn’t going to happen”, and it’s “all about integrity and honesty”? After all of this, Favre coming to the Vi-queens just completely shoots down any credibility the coaching staff had built up with that team-regardless of whether they go far in the playoffs or not.
Of course, that is why the Vi-queens did this-they believed they were just one person away from getting too, and winning, the Superbowl-which is laughable in my opinion. There is a reason why in Football they say “Any given Sunday”, and that isn’t going to change just because the Vi-queens went out and got an over the hill quarterback who needs to stay retired…
Brett, what are you doing? Why won’t you stay retired? You are ruining a legacy which you spent 16 years building in Green Bay, and all for what? One more shot at glory? One more big pay day? As if you need either of those. You already had a ring plus another trip to the big dance and, until all this, you had one of the best reputations in all of professional sports. I’m not even a “packer backer”, in fact I’m a Detroit fan, and as such I’m supposed to hate you on principle, but how could I not at the very least respect you for all you have accomplished and the way in which you accomplished all that you did? But now, now you are just another washed up, over the hill, greedy athlete to me, who refuses to hang up the cleats and move on in life. How sad…
There is a part in all of us which loves perfection, and it is that part of us which I believe draws everyone-golf fans or not-to watch Tiger Woods.
Of course it’s not just Tiger’s talent on the golf course which draws us to him but also the quiet way in which he goes about his life and manages to stay out of the public eye without things such as drunken nights at a strip club or shooting himself in the leg with an illegally registered gun drawing unnecessary, and negative, publicity to himself.
That all said, those who watched this weekends PGA Championship saw history as it relates to Tiger Woods. For the first time, we saw that Tiger is human.
14 times prior, in the professional golf tournaments known as majors, we witnessed Woods carry a 54 hole lead on to a win after 72 holes. This constant level of perfection and the countless amazing shots we have seen him make at the highest levels of competition in his chosen profession is what enabled us all to view Tiger as a godlike figure on the golf course-perfect and indestructible when in the lead. This past Sunday was the 15th time that Tiger was in such a situation, leading a major golf tournament after 54 holes, and it was the first time in which he failed to deliver on what we have all come to expect when he was in the lead-a victory.
In the coming days there will be much talk about the man who beat Woods this weekend, 37 year old Y.E. Yang of South Korea, and particularly about how Tiger failed for the first time in his career to deliver when leading a golf tournament after 54 holes. Some will say that Tiger is losing his touch (and may even try to diminish his greatness) because, if you watched him play Sunday, he wasn’t beaten by Yang, he beat himself. But those who are more understanding and knowledgeable of Golf will recognize that all this loss by Tiger proves is A) Just how hard Golf is-even for the best player in the world, and B) That Tiger Woods, just like all us, is not perfect, which means that even he will have to fail sometimes.
When I first heard that Michael Vick was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles last night I did a double take: the Eagles?! Nahhhhh, couldn’t be!
Why would they take him? There is no need. They have McNabb and a their QB of the future already set up, so why on earth would they take Vick?
Well, here we are 24 hours later, and it’s true-the Eagles signed Mike Vick to a 2 year deal with the 2nd year being optional. McNabb supposedly spearheaded this idea, helping to convince this Coach-Andy Reid-that they could use Vick. For what exactly I don’t know. But apparently they can see some need for him, but what need could that be?
All the writers and “pundits” have already stated the obvious about how all it will take is for McNabb to have one or 2 bad games and then those stupid Philly fans will be screaming for Vick to start at QB and that there is the obvious circus that is going to surround him with PETA watching his every move and the humane society making sure he keeps his word as it relates to his new found love of animals and hatred towards those who are cruel to them (snicker, cough, cough)…
If I’ve said it 100 times I haven’t said it enough: I just don’t get this signing. It makes no sense for the Eagles-of all teams!-to sign him. They don’t have the need at any position which he could fill: not at Wide Out nor at Running Back, and certainly not at the QB spot, so why pick him up? Ok, ok, so Vick is a supreme athlete and you are getting him at a steal of a price (just $1.6 mill for the first year), but he hasn’t played ball for over 2 years now so who knows what sort of football shape his body or his mind is in. Not to mention his reinstatement is “conditional”. The earliest he could play in a game for Philly is their 3rd exhibition game.
Heck I don’t even think the guy deserves another shot. He is a convicted felon, and in my opinion felons do not deserve to have jobs which put them in the public spotlight-it sends the wrong sort of message to young people. Besides that, he hadn’t accomplished anything on the field anyways. Oh sure, he was a dynamic QB and could do things with a football that we had never seen before from that position, but all that talent got him was a year ticket in prison.
But I digress…Oh well, I guess this is just another one of those head scratching idiotic things which can only take place in the world of pro sports.
The NFL’s Hall of Fame game is this Sunday…That’s right baby, the NFL season is upon us!!!
For some reason it didn’t feel as long to me this year. Of course seeing as how my home team was the worst EVER last year, I have nothing to really look forward too, so there hasn’t been any anticipation on my part-which perhaps helped me get through the summer without any football. Regardless, it is upon us now so it’s time to take a look at what is going on, and boy do we have a lot of it.
We have a convict quarterback-Michael Vick-out on parole, reinstated (?!!) by the commish and looking for work. How Vick got re-instated I have no clue. The man is a felon, and in my opinion, felons do not deserve ANY job which permits them a stance in the public spot light. It sends the wrong message to our young people and tells all athletes that you can perpetuate heinous crimes and still, in the long run, “get away with it”. Call me conservative (which I’m not), but to me, that’s just wrong. Hopefully no teams will express a real interest in Vick and he will stay where he belongs: on his couch watching the games like the rest of us “normal guys”…
We have a soon to be convict, and former Superbowl superstar in Plaxico Burress, indefinitely suspended and facing what looks to be a minimum 3 and a half years in prison for shooting himself in the leg (hahahahahahahaha) with an unregistered gun. For some reason Burress, whom I hold no sympathy for after such stupid ass actions, is being head-hunted by the New York state attorney (where this crime took place). You would think that being a New York Giant, Burress would get a free pass for such stupidity but apparently the state has been looking to make an example of someone under their tough gun laws for a while now, and now they have the perfect victim. It’s just lucky for the Giants that Burress’s contract was up so they won’t suffer at the hands of his stupidity…
We had more drama around “TO” this off season, as we witnessed what we all expected-the bitter split between Owens and the Cowboys. Talk about a head case. Terrell Owens is another of those players who doesn’t deserve the stage he gets to perform on every year for 7 months. The man has an ego the size of Jupiter and thinks the NFL world revolves around him. I’m not sure if I should feel sorry for the Buffalo Bills-who signed him to a contract-or chastise them for picking up someone who is going to be an obvious cancer in the locker room. Whatever the Bills are paying Owens, he isn’t worth it. Owens’ skills have fallen dramatically in the last 2 seasons and it’s obvious he is not the playmaker he once was. He, just like that idiot “ocho cinco”, hasn’t been one of the elite receivers since he helped the Eagles get to the Superbowl 5 or 6 years ago. In sum, he needs to fade away and let others have some time in the spotlight, instead of hogging in all to himself through his selfish and stupid actions, and pathetic play.
Draft drama continues with the idiocy of Michael Crabtree-the standout receiver from Texas Tech whom the 49ers drafted 10th this year. Apparently Crabtree is good friends with Terrell Owens and Ocho Cinco, because one of his “advisors” told the media this week that he, Crabtree, is willing to sit out the entire year and re-enter the draft next year, if the 49ers do not come up with a suitable contract offer for him. Are you kidding me?!! This kid is barely out of diapers and hasn’t proved shit to ANYONE at the pro level and his dumb ass advisors have the audacity to make a statement like this?!!! If I were the 49ers I’d let the dumb fuck sit on principle alone and for being stupid enough to hire such a moronic “advisor”. Give me a break. The guy is a great athlete, but he obviously is either prone to making bad choices as it relates to the people he surrounds himself with, or has an unjustifiably, over inflated opinion of himself…
2 time Superbowl champion QB Ben Roethlisberger showed he is not the clean cut perfect man every Pittsburgh native believes him to be when he was accused this off season of sexual assault in Las Vegas. Due to the time past, Roethlisberger won’t be charged criminally, but the woman is going after his money. This is another case of pro athletes making really, realllllllly bad decisions. I don’t know if “Big Ben” assaulted this women or not (though I doubt it, seeing as how she waited for, like, ever to come out with it) but he obviously put himself into some sort of sticky situation at some point which, in turn, created the environment for these accusations to be made against him. So far, he hasn’t been suspended, but it will be interesting to see if this plays out the way the Kobi Bryant case did a few years back or if there is really something there with this one…
Of course what would the off season have been without any Brett Favre drama. Will he retire? Where will he go? Who is interested in him? Good grief! It was enough to make my stomach turn. Worse, in my opinion, these stupid off season antics of his the last 2 years have tarnished his otherwise excellent perception in the public eye. Fortunately, Favre made the right decision finally, and decided to stay retired despite some obvious interest on the part of the (desparate?) Minnesota Viqueens (teehee)…
We heard residents all over New England sigh with relief at the return of an obviously healthy Tom Brady to the practice field a few weeks ago. This is a nice change to most of the idiot news we seem to get out of pro football these days. Not to build the guy up any more than he already is, but there is a reason why Brady is upheld as the beacon of all that is good and right about pro sports-the man doesn’t fuck it all off like so many others do. He always holds himself up with respect and pride, which carries over into his play both on and off the field. So sorry for the media though because this makes him rather boring to cover, but tough I say; the paparazzi need to get a life and stop hounding people just because they can. Needless to say, the American sports world needs more Tom Brady’s and A LOT fewer Plaxico Burress’s and Michael Vick’s…
And, last, but not least, we have my Let-Downs-the worst team in the history of the league last year (sorry, but I don’t think that point can be expressed enough). The pathetic Lions cannot be any worse can they? Actually, truth be told, they could be. Last year, they managed to win all of their pre season games, so, literally speaking, they won 4 times last season before going 0-fer in the regular season. As everyone by now knows, I never saw the problems with the Lions as stemming from Matt Millen, but from their owner-Moron Ford, Sr. That said, the Lions have made some good moves this year. I am not a fan of their draft picks-how they could draft 2 offensive players in the first round when they fielded the 2nd worst defense in league history last year I’ll never figure out-but, apparently, those they did draft look pretty good in camp so far. The new coaching staff I like a lot, but, at the risk of sounding like the proverbial broken record, none of it really matters!!!! The Lions will always be the pathetic “let downs” because of their owner-who has no clue to run a business of any kind! Needless to say, I’m not keeping my hopes up that the Lions will pull off what the Dolphins did last year-going from worst to first in their division.
But, I digress…Whew…I know I barely scratched the surface, but obviously, as always in the NFL, there is a lot to talk about and a lot too follow as the season wear’s on-which is why it’s the greatest sport on Earth. So, are you ready for some football?
If you know me, then you know that I have much respect for the Detroit Pistons General Manager Joe Dumars. When Dumars was first hired in 2000 he made some moves that turned heads and made people in the world of professional Basketball ask "Is he on crack?", but considering how well those moves turned out, and the success which those moves generated for most of the decade, everyone, including myself, recognized the brilliance of Joe Dumars as being one of the, if not the best General Manager in all of professional sports. Fast forward to this month and some very interesting moves that "Joe D" has made for the pistons. The signing of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva are nice additions, but I question the price he paid for them. Gordon gets $11 mill a year, and Villanueva $7 mill a year. That is a lot of money for a pair of players who, to be quite frank about it, have done nothing in their careers. I don't claim to know much about Villanueva, but I've watched Gordon play against the Pistons for years as a Bull, and the best they can boast of is a 2nd round defeat against the Pistons a few years ago. As such, I have a hard time understand why the big dollar contracts were dished out to 2 players who are only going to make it more difficult for established players such as Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince to get minutes along with rising stars Jason Maxiel, Will Bynum and the heir apparent to Chauncey Billups, Rodney Stuckey. Leading to more questions about Joe D's moves as of late is the way in which he handling the coaching situation the last 2 years. He gives Mike Curry a shot after only one year as an assistant with the organization, saddles him with Allen Iverson in a last ditch attempt to get to the Finals with the core of players he first developed, then, when it all fell apart, Dumars got rid of Iverson and the coach. After firing Curry, he had Avery Johnson sitting there for him on a silver platter-2 years out of the league and chomping at the bit to get back in, but, instead of trying to make a deal work and staying fast to this stance that he wanted someone with more experience, what does Joe do but go with another assistant. This one the Cleveland Cavaliers "offensive" coach John Kuester. True, Kuester possesses much more experience than Curry did when he was hired, but again I have to ask: what has Kuester done? This guy's claim to fame is coaching Lebron James offensively-as if that is a hard freaking job! I just don't get it. The Pistons are obviously heading into a transition year and the last time they did so they went to the Eastern Conference Finals before winning it all in 2003 against the Lakers. Back then, even though you couldn't see what the plan was back then, you could tell by teh personality of the players assembled and the coaching staff in place, what kind of team they were going to be. This year, with players who have more of a playing history to examine, it's impossible to tell what kind of team they are going to be heading into the 2009-10 season. Will they score 100+ a game? Will they give up more than 100+ a game? Will they play a 3 guard set or play point forward? As of now, we have no clue, and, based on Dumar's past, we won't have a clue until we see it all on the court. Regardless of how you look at it however, it does make you wonder-again-about the decision making of Joe Dumars.
(Note, this post was originally written on 6/15/09).
Since I was “indisposed” for a bit and unable to comment on either the NBA or NHL Finals’ matchups as they took place, now is as good of a time as any to catch up and take a look back on them…
I have to admit to not being very surprised that the Orlando Magic made it to the NBA Finals. I didn’t pick them, per se, but I wasn’t as surprised by it as most seemed to be. I could tell from the beginning of the Eastern Conference Finals that the Magic had Lebron’s and his Cavaliers number-they just matched up too well against them. The biggest surprise to me, however, were the Denver Nuggets. I knew that when they acquired Chauncey Billups in the Iverson trade with the Pistons that they would be better, but its been quite some time since I’ve seen one player have such a profound impact on the overall attitude of an entire organization. After the Nuggets stole one from L.A. in L.A., I thought maybe they had punched their ticket to the finals, but, alas, it was meant to be the Lakers year, and once they had made it to the Finals I knew it was only a matter of time before they were crowned champs once again. Does this settle the Kobi question of whether or not he can lead a team without Shaq to a title? I’m not so sure about that…When considering this question you have to consider Kobi’s supporting cast and I would say that his supporting cast this year was better than Shaq’s supporting cast in Miami a few years back when he lead that team to a championship without Kobi before Kobi was able to do it without him…Anyways, I did think that the Magic would give them a little more of a challenge than they, but, ah well…Before I move on, I have to give some credit where credit is do: my good friend Mike Davies called the Magic for the Finals before they had dispatched the Boston Celtics-a point on which at the time I disagreed with. Good call my friend (bow)…
As for the Stanley Cup Finals…What the fuck happened to my beloved Red Wings?!! They have game 7, at home, and they can’t manage to score more than 2 goals against those pathetic tuxedo clad arctic birds?! Come on! After finding out the outcome, I was almost glad that I was unable to watch that game 7-almost (I still believe that I had been able to watch it, they would have won lol). Anyways, no one was really much surprised that it was a rematch of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in which the Wings won, particularly after Detroit got rid of pesky Anaheim, but I do think Pittsburgh pulling off the win the way they did surprised most people especially given that the Wings outscored them for the series. Unfortunately, all that matters are the wins and losses and the Wings lost the most important game of the season during the most important series of the season-a trait we Wing Nuts are used to seeing in our beloved team…Oh well, there is always next year, and, like the Yankees of Baseball, the Wings are more likely than not to be there when it’s all said and done…Again I have to give some credit where it is do. My life long friend Amy called me during the Eastern Conference Finals to tell me that, should the Wings at that time have made it too the Cup Finals, they “ didn’t stand a chance against either Washington or Pittsburgh in a 7 game series”. As a die hard Wing Nut, her statement shocked me and of course I abused her for making out. However, in the end, she was proven to be more right than I and so, it is with much eating of crow that I say-good call dude, you got me, this time lol.
It's been a week since the Lions draft QB Matthew Stafford (#1, rd 1); TE Brandon Pettigrew (#@20, rd 1) and some safely with the last name of Delmas out of Western Michigan University with the first pick of round 2, and even though my anger has subsided somewhat, I still find myself scratching my head over their entire draft. According to their new coach and GM, they said they weren't going to draft on need, but be looking to draft talent. But, I have to ask: what good is talent if you don't have a system in place for which it fits into? It seems to me that Schwartz and Mayhew really have no clue what they are doing at this point, and that is sad, because I really happen to have liked the Schwartz hiring-at first anyways. Now, I'm not so sure. For one, BOTH of the Lions 2 first round picks had their pathetic owners imprint all over them; 2. They had much MUCH greater "needs" which they could have addressed with their 2nd pick of that first round (like Offensive and defensive lines) and yet they take a Tight End. Unreal! At first, I was so pissed off that they had drafted this way that I was very out spoken about having NO interest at all in watching or following the Lions this year-they are going to be pathetic again anyways so why bother. But, the more that I have thought about it, the more interesting they have become to me-if for no other reason than to be the proverbial "circus freak side show" within the NFL-and now I find myself unable to not look every single day for news on how these new draft picks are doing as they begin mini camps and practice sessions in Detriot...Ah well, I suppose such is my fate as the Lions are concerned, it's just a good thing that since I've moved to Florida I have become a fan of the New England Patriots much more so than the Detroit Lions. I only wish I could "shake the disease" (as one of my favorite bands used to sing) of being a Lions fan.
I've been a thinker, problem solver and "questioner" of the status quo for as long as i can remember. I'm a Radio Broadcast and Broadcast Journalism Major and work within both fields (my writing is primarily sports related). Since i was 11 or 12 years old, however, i have studied politics, philosophy(including religious and spiritual beliefs), social and socio-economic theory and Business and Investment trends as hobbies. As such, my independant studies left me without any hard political slants. Politically speaking I have no allegiance to any one party. I consider myself an individual-not "independant".I am also a huge sports fan which is a good thing seeing as how I cover a lot of local sports where I live (lol). Needless to say my blog will cover a wide range of topics, but hopefully my passion, logic and reason-as politics and social theory are concerned-will show through.
I hope you enjoy...
Ryles
