Some new rules.

OK i know this is something that is hard to do but im going to imbrace a few of these rules in order to enjoy the rest of my 2012 sports year. Do not be influenced by my absolute hatred for certain schools when picking college bowl games. Do not scream at Jessie palmer or lou holtz when im watching the ESPN bowl game special ...Do not make fun of Lou and his GIANT ears and lispy speech or say that Jessie palmers a third string pretty boy whos real claim to fame is one of reality televisions WORST shows EVER. Im gonna refrain from screaming when digger phelps whose claim to fame is one game that happened almost 40 years ago picks every single favorite to advance in the NCAA basketball tournament 3 months from now. Im gonna turn the television up when dick vitale tells me fort he 458th  time that coach K is the finest human being since mother teresa. I will definately listen to Chris spielman  when he talks about defensive football. I will listen when Bob knight talks about keys to winning a ballgame when i hear his voice on the mothership.I will accept the fact that chaos exists in college football and will not listen to another coach ever when he says he is not taking another coaching job. Well this is the short list i have probably 50  more but im tired of typing. Predictions for saturday are Georgia 24 Alambama 20 .....predictions for the bowl season ..Notre Dame will lose to who ever wins the SEC title game.

Your fired!!

This college football season is not unlike alot of other seasons with its share of upsets and craziness. Maybe its always been this way but i believe the expectations of certain teams regarding their successes or failures is just as crazy. Teams with reasonable seasons such as Purdue and North carlina state decided that bowl eligabillity was not good enogh for their programs. NC state was 7-5 with a victory over florida state and a close loss to Clemson. Purdue finished 6-6 winning their last three games and playing ohio state and Notre dame down to the wire. These pink slips are premature and stupid. Athletic directors and fans need to be more realistic and understand that lofty goals within top 40 programs take time and alot of fortunate circumstances. Granted going to a bowl game is not as glamorous as it used to be but a bowl payout is better than a losing season. Purdues athletic director stated that their goal was to play in the Rose bowl. He said that coach Hope was a hard worker and that he cared about the football team. He also said that he believed that offense was their ticket to Pasadena. Translation i wish joe tiller was still the coach. My question to them is what coach that you could hire is much better than Danny Hope? No big time coach is coming to West Lafayette to take Purdue to the Rose bowl. A top 40 program is going to the Rose Bowl if the junior and senior classes produce quality players and they stay healthy You dont fire a coach and look for lightning in a bottle. You stay  with the coaches and quality players that are in your program and be satisfied with bowl trips. You wait for your experienced players to improve and you take a shot at a conference championship when that happens. When your 3-8 next year Boiler fans you will be clammering for that terrible coach you just fired. And my response to Purdue and other programs like them is You cant fix stupid.

The fan fanatic.

My favorite type of sports fan is the minor sport fan fanatic. They show up at the sports bar dressed in their team gear and when the bars 15 televisions arent showing their sport they go balistic and demand the center television. Because the english premier soccer league is what they live for. Last march i got together with a buddy to watch March madness and some guy comes in the bar dressed like a combat vet looks at the tv screen and says to my buddy WHAT?? your not watching the wrestling championship?? Dont you know that Joe schmoe is wrestling in the final!!! We both looked at each other with a mixture of surprise revulsion and confusion. Dont get me wrong i dont begrudge you for being a fan of a sport you love but dont act like an idiot when i dont share your passion. This fan is convinced that if i just opened my mind and went to see POLO i would fall in love with it.  That might happen if all other sports were gone and my other option was watching a documentry on weather patterns on educational television. Let me and the rest of the world watch the sports we care about and we can set you up with your buddies in the backroom of the bar where you can shoot for a takedown with plenty of space. Just dont make too much noise because the ballgame is on. Thanks.

O......H......I.....O

It was the 1960s and i was watching college football on my first black and white television. This strange man was screaming at the men in the striped shirts about something he didnt like on the football field. He was quite an ugly man and i decided right there at the age of seven that i did not like him or his team. They won that game and i found out later much to my dissappointment that this team and its coach were usually quite successful. At the age of fourteen being much wiser and more refined in my sports tastes I continued to see not only this man but also noticed that there was always a loud and obnoxious band that played their fight song continuously throughtout their games. I hated that. At the age of eighteen i started college and baught tickets to see this team play my beloved school and was quite delighted when we upset their uppity loud mouthed asses. There were no band songs played that day and the old codger had long since passed on. Spending the rest of my time closely following college football and meeting with fans the additude from this school has always been a bit cocky and somewhat arrogant.. They always make sure you know who they are and where their from. The band is still LOUD and they wave their flag in your face whenever they score a touchdown on your field. They are the biggest RAH RAH school in the conference and much to there dissappointment they are STILL not kings of the conference. This past Saturday im watching football and this team is AGAIN honoring one of its coaches. A coach that cheated and was put on NCAA probation. The fans thunderously applauded the nerd in the sweater vest and celebrated like he was a war hero. I was sickened and weirded out at the same time. I quickly lightened up when i remembered the words of a former USC tailback when asked a question about this school. He calmly but quite fiercely said three words that say it all OHIO STATE SUCKS!

And the winner is......

Heisman trophy hysteria!!! This guy had this many yards and so many touchdowns and to all of it i say WHO gives a crap....Over hyped ridiculousness is what i call that trophy. Does it go to the best college player?? Does it go to the player that is the most valueable to his team? I say lets throw the statue in the garbage and concentrate on something more important like hockey. Oh wait those pinheads are striking and ruining whatever limited fan base they had in the states.Lets talk about fantasy football or whose going to win the rider cup next year.The good old H trophy is steeped in tradition and i should respect its history. Is there any fan out there who really believes that? The drama and the breakdown by region and the early voting ....i can barely stand the suspense. ESPN the great sports mothership is leading the way with its hype machine and keeping the ghost of Nile Kinnick alive. New York and my favorite ESPN loudmouth oh wait thats almost all of them too. I propose that all 5 candidates have an arm wrestling contest and the winner can buy the other 4 guys some pizza and free beer. That might be a party worth watching.

Not so stupid after all......

College football has been a blast this year. Who will play in the national championship game is still in doubt and the bowl games are just around the corner.Im happy about all of it but could you imagine if a 4 team playoff were put in place in 2010 and made affective NOW? We heard all the excuses then about how there was no need for a playoff because of a variety of reasons. This line of BULL was put out there by university presidents who smuggly told coaches and fans just how stupid they were for sugggesting a playoff system. Now that a 4 team playoff is set for 2014 these same people and anti playoff snobs are now clammering for an expanded playoff of 8 or more teams. The stupid fans and coaches knew all along what your true objection was and it had nothing to do with anything else but losing the money that was already guarenteed to you with the old system in place. Now that you realize the playoff system can generate millions of dollars in new revenue your all in. The Presidents and academic types that are supposed to be alot smarter than the average fan or coach are in fact just much better liars and hippocrites than we are and im not sure just how i feel about that.

A lesson learned.

I love when a winning program in college football has a bad season. The fans and writers in the local papers make such ridiculous statements it is almost comical. Every move the team makes is scrutinized and everyone is frantic about the failure to have a successful season. The coach who was catagorized as excellent most seasons is now a dope who knows nothing. Fans start yelling about how the coaches salary is too high and want him fired yesterday. Suddenly recruiting tactics are questioned and the whole program is a loser because fans who pay big money for tickets are entitled to a "winner". The newspapers are filled with negative headlines and sports writers are hoping to get a quote from one of the coaches admitting his failure to perform at an acceptable level. The best excuse i heard this season for the teams failure was that the coach did not take the wind on kickoffs on several occasions.When winning becomes the only thing  that makes a sports fan happpy it can make for some long and unhappy days and months during the football season. I am not immune to such thinking but it is wrong thinking.  Sports are not ONLY about winning and losing they are supposed to build character and bring joy into peoples lives. People coaches and fans are not defined as people by their success or failure on the athletic field. This brings me to an old saying that i used to think as an athlete was CRAP  but now i believe i understand its wisdom. It is not wheather you win or lose but it is how you play the game. That also applies to how you watch a game as well. The season of 2012 didnt see many wins for my beloved Hawkeyes but it did teach me a thing or two about graditude and the joy of competition.

MMA not my favorite.

Really dissappointed with the sweet science and the corruption that has gripped the professional boxing game i decided to give MMA a try. The street vibe and the combination of wrestling boxing and various forms of self defense make for some interesting entertainment. The athletes that participate in the sport are legit and the people who promote MMA do an excellent job bringing their sport to the masses.The final verdict for me is that i am really not a fan. The violent street fight vibe is something that id rather avoid and the wrestling and boxing that happen during matches just make me want to watch wrestling and boxing matches. When the object of the sport is to choke the other participant untill they almost sufficate im really not interested. What the MMA fan craze has done for me more than anything else is make me angry at the crooked people involved in professional boxing.The fans that are crazy about MMA should be just as excited about a great prize fight. I definately dont blame fans for searching for an exciting alternative and if its what they enjoy i can hold it against them.What i have resorted to now is watching great old fight on the classic sports channel a sad alternative for a huge boxing fan.

Goodbye mr twinkie.

I am writing today with a heavy heart. Today marks the end of hostess brand snacks.No more cupcakes twinkies or ding dongs. I loved the cherry pies rinced down with an ice cold mountain dew in a glass bottle. The stomach ache and terrible pain that followed after i ate 3 ding dongs in 23 seconds was well worth it.Mom just knew I loved hostess cupcakes so that was always the treat i got if i promised to eat my sandwhich  first which i usually did. I confess i never really did like twinkies much but i did enjoy making my friend chuck mad by calling his beloved minnesota twins the twinkies. I guess there is not much else i can do to relay both my gladness and sadness regarding this important event. What my stomach wants to do is buy thousands of snacks and store them so that i can hang on to that last bit of sugary goodness. What by heart wants to do is make the disagreement between the cupcake people and its workers go away!! But what my brain wants to do is probably the right thing which is to thank hostess and all of its workers over the years for making my childhood better and giving me memories that i will last a lifetime.

The great money grab!!

Basketball is my favorite sport. I will not bore you with the reasons for it because you have heard them before many times from people who love the sport. One aspect of the game that i am growing weary of is the officials rewarding players for flopping and drawing charges. Ive always disliked the "charge call" more often than not the defensive player moves into the path of the advancing dribbler and because he fails to move his feet on defense is out of position. Many times you hear announcers and coaches say this particular call is the toughest one for any official to make. Granted the call is tough but it is definately the officials call to make. The NBA is deciding the issue a different way. Which is probably worse than any officials call could ever be. They are considering a fine for players who try  to draw a charge call  by flopping.Why is it the players fault for attempting to influence the officials? The players are always trying to gain a competive advantage. . The officials need to make the rules in this situation clearer to the players and be more consistant when making the calls. This is an attempted "money grab"by the the NBA and the players and their union should stop this nonsense before it gets started.

SEC be gone!!!

Ten games into the college football season im usually rooting heavily for one or two teams to win the national championship. This year im rooting for the annoying SEC confrence to be shut out of the title game.What I wanted first and foremost was for Oregon to drop 50 on alabama and watch sabin and his pom pom waving tide fans grow sullen and very sad. Thanks to johnny mansell and the aggies that didnt happen. Six years of crowing and pom poms and chants of SEC SEC!!! will be silenced. Thank heaven. Added to my pleasure was Auburn and their pinhead coach "chiz" going 1-9 after absolutely screwing Iowa State. Im not really a believer in karma but if their is any im glad gene got some. The people in death valley are quiet and the Gators got thumped by the Georgia chokedawgs and i couldnt be happier. My parting shot at the hillbilly confrence is that the bottom of it stinks more than a skunks butt. Tennesee is awful and the river schools in missouri and mississippi are mediocre at best.  Life in college football is good this year but it will be even better when I see no SEC in the title game.

He's BACKKKKKKKKK!!

Today my sports sense felt a twinge and my stomach knotted up when I found out Bears QB Jay Cutler might not play on Monday night.Of course all Bear fans remember the calapse last season when jay broke his thumb and the promising 7-2 season turned into 7-9 and no playoffs. This year the bears wised up and aquired a decent backup QB ex raider jason cambell. Not happy but less concerned i went about my day thinking that even if jay wasnt playing Monday all was not lost. The twinge and knots came when i learned that the Bears in their infinate wisdom had resigned old reliable JOSH MCown .....I realize the guys third string but what happens if....My mind starts to race and my palms sweat as i think back to all the REALLY BAD bear quartrbacks that have taken snaps over my lifetime. The list is long and the pain is still very real and all i can type is FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JAY PLEASE COME BACK SOON. Ok now im better.

24 hours of hoop.....WHOS IN??

The tip off marathon on ESPN starts now. I can still feel the sting of kansas ruining my tourney bracket and me saying  why does Kansas always beat teams I root for? I will not make any silly predictions about this season except to type that i hope to see less of digger phelps and more hawkeye wins. A bit of hawkeye trivia and a negitive point about coach Ferentz and a pattern that is very dissappointing. Since 1999 the hawks have played no top 20 teams in the first four games of the year. BAD IDEA IOWA why not play tougher opposition early so you improve BEFORE the big ten season begins. Let the roundball begin!!