Shwag's Rant

Rubbin's Racin'

2010-02-11T13:54:00.003-05:00

Well, football season has come and gone. Somehow the city of New Orleans has survived and is now waking up with one massive hangover. It's the doldrums for sports fans, March Madness has not kicked in. Baseball is just starting to wake up for the pitchers and catchers. Who can not wait for that fantastic curling competition from Vancouver? One thing has caught my eye. Maybe its the hillbilly in me. Maybe it was those Friday nights of my childhood, watching Bo and Luke drive that beautiful orange 1968 Charger around Southern California...uh I mean Hazzard County that did it. NASCAR, for the first time in a few years, has caught my eye.

I had followed it as a kid due in large part to the aforementioned Duke boys. There's something about fast, loud, carborated machines racing and jumping over junk cars that stuck with me. NASCAR was a part of my sports watching childhood that I have been kind of feeling nostalgic for. I loved "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville". I remember the Allisons, the Pettys and Dale Sr. I remember the old days, when a guy from a small one car team could still compete. Those days went away as the sport grew, as did myself.

I got into other things, grunge music, skateboards, the Grateful Dead and girls. NASCAR lost its roots too much for me. I missed, a half in the bag, Tim Richmond going out and lapping the field. I missed Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison knocking the dog snot out of each other on the backstretch at Daytona. It got replaced by a sponsor driven, monotonous, glorified IROC race. In short, NASCAR took the fun out of racing.

With the advent of cable television, the sport grew, but at a rate that it could not handle. Too many people wanted a piece of it and NASCAR wanted to appease everyone. In the end, they may have alienated everybody. We got drivers who were more concerned about their sponsors than the racing itself. We got sponsors who pushed drivers down our throats who could not produce. We had a sanctioning body give us boring racing with too many rules. They were too afraid that people may be offended by colorful drivers or fights on the backstretch. Here's what they forgot. That is what made the sport so great. Fans don't want to hear how the Lowes # 48 has the best crew. They want to hear why you think the guy in the # 20 is an asshole for knocking you into the wall.

Fast forward to this year, NASCAR realized and may be a bit too late, that they were losing fans. The Car of Tomorrow was and is, looking like the NASCAR's version of Windows Vista. It was something that supposed to make the racing better, but showed again that NASCAR had forgotten its roots. NASCAR should be, simply at its core, "stock" car racing. We are already seeing the testing of next generation cars with, get this, "fuel injection". Wow, way to step into the 1980's. The COT alienated an already worn out fan base by watering down the sport even more. I am glad that the Car of Tommorow, appears to be the the car of yesterday by next season.

They still need to address the small teams ability to compete. Today, if you're not in a multi-car team with big sponsors, head to your nearest dirt track. You don't have a real chance to compete. I'm not saying there needs to be a spending cap, but Nascar needs to make it easier so the small guys can compete. The Car of Tomorrow, instead of making it easier to compete, created a large disadvantage to the small teams, due to lack of money for development. In a sense, NASCAR gave us their version of the Pontiac Aztec.

NASCAR announced that they are "relaxing" the rules for bumping and restrictor plates. They said that they want the guys to go at it. Ok prove it. My gut tells me, it will be more of the same. My other fear is that they will manufacture the rivalries between drivers, ala Vince McMahon and tamp down any real heat between the drivers. Let it happen naturally. With that much speed and that much testosterone, it will happen by itself.

When these announcements were made, it gave me hope. It gave me hope that they may be finally listening. If I watch the race on Sunday, I hope to see something that hasn't been there in a long time. If its more of the same, I'll just simply turn the channel...

TTFN

The Playoff PAC

2010-01-05T11:35:00.003-05:00

Do you all remember my rant just month or two back on the PR war in college football? Well guess what?????????

Random Thoughts Just in Time for the Holidays

2009-12-07T10:53:00.004-05:00

Well, the season has come and gone. Charlie is gone although, not quietly into that dark night. Timmy has left Gainesville and Coach Stew is still hugging everyone within an arm's reach. The wacky recruiting time has begun and yet again, we still will not have a legitimate national champion at the end.

Let me see your war face!

In my WTF moment of Sunday morning, I soon learned that Mr. Fleischer is earning his bucks at the BCS. During my morning work out, I had on Sportscenter on the World Wide Leader. They began talking about the BCS and the bowl match ups. Of course, those in Bristol were espousing how the BCS worked so well, because the top two rated teams were in the national title game. More importantly they were pimping how Boise State and TCU were both invited. In my mind, it wasn't enough, because they are playing each other, not teams from the BCS schools. They still do not have a legitimate shot at the title. The term that the paper puppet used when announcing the match up was that the BCS was at the "Forefront" of getting the non-BCS schools a fair shot. Again I say, huh and what about Cincinnati? I'm sure Mr' Fleicher has sent out the list of terms to be used. The contract hasn't even kicked in yet and as they say on the farm, it's going to get real deep.

Charlie, Charlie Charlie

Some of us go graciously. Some of us are escorted by security guards. Others get an exit interview. Charlie Weiss gets a stage and what a performance it was. Any man that has the balls to call out Pete Caroll for pulling a "Tiger" has got to be crazy or just plain bitter. I guess if you can't beat the man, do it the old fashioned way and create a tabloid media frenzy.

Put the gun down Pyle!

You know there are too many bowls, when Detroit is a host city. Nothing against our friends in the motor city, but it's not a place that I would think I would want to spend the holiday season. Imagine going through a long season of games, plus all of the off season workouts and your reward at the end is...Detroit.

M-I-C-K-E-Y

Enjoy your retirement Coach Bobby Bowden and Coach Mickey Andrews from FSU. I wish I could wish you good luck in the Gator Bowl, but we still owe you one for 1975 Bobby. See ya in Jacksonville...

TTFN

The Marketing Machine Chugs Along

2009-11-25T08:28:00.004-05:00

Well, those at the BCS fortress of Ineptitude and at the World Wide Leader have done it again. Those that have read my blog, may recall my bashing of ESPN for calling out the WAC for hiring a PR firm to bolster its case for the BCS. Why would I find it curious that ESPN, as of now, has yet to report this little nugget? Ari Fleischer has just been hired by the BCS to be their front man in their PR war to keep the BCS in our "hearts and minds".

For those who don't recall, Mr. Fleischer was W's press secretary. He is, in my mind, one of the best in the buisness. I'm not trying to be political, but any guy that can deliver the message stating the case for our war in Iraq, has to be one hell of a salesman. The BCS hired the best and I'm sure he's earning quite a few more pennies than his time in the White House.

Again I throw the BS card to our friends in Bristol. Why has this not been reported by the World Wide Leader? Why do they call out the WAC for doing the same thing, yet fail to report it when the BCS does the same thing? Again, as stated before, it is all about protecting their investment, with that fat new TV contract with the BCS.

The marketing machine chugs along. Charlie Weis is done and have you heard, it's Tim Tebow's last game in Gainesville? This and other over reported stories are coming to you next on sportscenter...

TTFN

The Greatest Shootout in Soccer History

2009-11-13T08:24:00.004-05:00

This could be the greatest amount of taunting I have ever seen in one shootout. Italy-Brazil for the world cup, no way. I'm talking Stony Brook-Hartford in the America East. Ocho Cinco, take notes...

Image is Everything

2009-11-05T09:39:00.006-05:00

We have now reached a breaking point in College Football between the haves and the have nots. The world wide leader has just reported that the WAC has hired a PR firm to keep itself in the discussion for the BCS. It is now more apparent than ever that the system is broken and corrupt and the only thing that will save it is some sort of Armeggedon.

Of cource I have a few issues with this whole scenario. As I had stated in a previous post, I felt that the BCS was and is, all about marketing. It is nothing more than a beauty contest made up of 300 lb. lineman. This action by the WAC is proof in point. I don't like it at all, but I understand that they are forced to do it. The big 6 have built in marketing machines due to their television contracts. Why do you think this story was reported in the first place? It's straight out of the last election cycle. You make the WAC look desperate and that they don't belong. They then get knocked down a peg in perception. ESPN reports it as a true news story when in reality they are helping their own wallets by keeping the teams they have rights to, look more relevant. Spin, Spin, Spin.

What does the Mountain West have to do? Are they going to have to put up a billboard in Times Square? Oh wait, Oregon already did that. Maybe they'll just start having commercials on why they deserve their votes. You think I'm crazy. It's coming if nothing is done. I can see it now, a man walks out and says, "What is a Horned Frog?" and of course then we get to see a 20 second clip of highlights. Then we get the tag line, "Vote for TCU". I may be out in left field or maybe I have the next great marketing idea. By the way I am a whore and can be had for the right price and yes please vote for TCU...cough, cough, wink, wink.

Enough is enough. Settle it on the field. It will be alot cheaper in the long run, and the returns would far outweigh what we get now in the bowl system. If the television deal for the NCAA basketball tounament is worth $ 6 Billion, imagine what a football deal could be worth for a playoff. The problem is that we may teach our children to share, but the BCS does not. The NFL figured it out a long time ago. Revenue sharing is the name of the game. In the long run it pays off. As Chuck Klosterman pointed out in his most recent book, Pete Rozelle was a genuis to get capitalists to act like communists. We all share and we all get more. Too bad the socialists on most of these college campuses haven't figured it out yet.

TTFN

Random Thoughts Headin' to November

2009-11-02T08:54:00.007-05:00

We have reached the report card part of the season. In the immortal words of Dennis Green, "They are who we thought they were!" This is the make break part of any college football season in regards to post season play in some antiquated system that only rewards those who put asses in seats instead of play on the field. Anyway let's take a look at where we are now.

The ACC

Basketball season is right around the corner. Who would have thought that Duke actually has a legitimate shot at the league title? It looks like another 40000 draw for their championship game. I'm so happy that expansion thing has worked so well for them. I can't wait to see their Nielsen numbers. They just may beat out the World Curling Championship in the ratings.

The Big XII

Have you heard that Sam Bradford hurt his shoulder? The marketing of a mediocre conference continues. My little Gracie is putting her horns in the air and screaming , " Hook em!". The horns are all but set to go to the national title game. Brand sells, play on the field does not.

Boise

Yet again, they are getting talked out of the national title hunt by those with the big TV contracts. I have heard from a lot of talking heads who say that they don't have a marquee win and the rest of their schedule is full of pancakes. Really? I guess the thrashing of the new media darling Oregon, was a fluke huh?

Iowa

I don't know whether to say, if it's going to be another mediocre Big 10 (11) team in the national title game or really they are that good. Anyone in Iowa City will probably say the latter. The win in Happy Valley showed me something. Sometimes, like the Ohio State team in 2002, the bounces go your way for a reason. Now watch them lose every game from here on out after I just typed this.

The Big East

OK my point of view is shaded, but the league is good and always has been. The preseason polls as I said before, are based on marketing and preconceived notions that are not true anymore. I am convinced now more than ever of this. It sometime takes the hacks in the media a little while to start to come around. Here is what going to happen. Everybody in the Big East will beat each other and there will be no clear champion. The media hacks will say how the Big East doesn't belong in the BCS due to record. True to form, the Big East champ will then smoke their opponent in the BCS bowl. It happens year in and year out. It is by far the most balanced conference in the nation.

And Finally...

The Next Great Reality TV Star

2009-09-01T08:30:00.005-04:00

Ladieas and Gentleman without further adieu, I give you the next great reality television star.

(special thanks to several posters on Rivals.com for the pic)

And now this article today from Ann Arbor, Rich is now being sued becuase he was a part of a real estate scheme. From the article:

University of Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez is being sued for
defaulting on a real-estate loan to build high-end condominiums in the shadows
of Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium.
One of five guarantors for a proposed
80-condominium gated community called The Legends of Blacksburg, Rodriguez and
his partners allegedly owe Nexity Bank
$3.9 million, including interest and penalties.
Rodriguez was served a
summons and complaint in his football office at 5:27 p.m. on Aug. 24, court
papers show. Michigan practiced earlier in the day.
According to court
filings, The Legends of Blacksburg, LLC, signed a loan promissory note for $26.1
million in September 2007, when Rodriguez was coach at West Virginia.

Market Like a Champion Today

2009-08-20T08:12:00.003-04:00

They say that the college football season is around the corner. My friends, I beg to differ. The season has already begun. It has little or nothing to do with the play on the field. The college football marketing machine has kicked into full gear. College football, in my mind, is the only sport that determines a champion, not based on play on the field, but on the amount merchandise and ad time you sell. I am convinced now more than ever that the fix is in. If your school doesn't have the right TV contract or sell the most video games, your team will have little, if any chance at all, for ever playing for a national title.

The reality of college football does not match the marketing of what actually is happening on the playing field. Let's take a look at the top ten from this year's pre-season USA Today Coaches poll:

Florida

Texas

Oklahoma

Alabama

Ohio State

Virginia Tech

Penn State

Ole Miss

What are the common denominators of these teams? For the most part, they are the so called "traditional powers". They all come from conferences with major television contracts. They all come from conferences with BCS automatic births and most are in the top 25 of merchandise sales per the Collegiate Licensing Company. Not a down has been played and we already have our first poll that helps determine the national title. Why do I find it odd, a team like Utah that went undefeated last year, and beat the mighty SEC champ Alabama, is not in the top ten? Why do I find it odd that not one team outside of the BCS is even in the top 15? It seems to me that these teams outside the "elite" programs are starting behind the proverbial eight ball before a down is ever played.

If you read, watch or listen to your ESPN's, your Fox sports, et al, you are only hearing about these so called "elite" programs and conferences. Why do I find it interesting that 4 out of the last 5 episodes of ESPN's College Football Live program dedicated the first segments of these shows to the SEC? It wouldn't have anything to do with that fat new TV contract that ESPN signed with the SEC? Why do I find it odd that the same show has yet to do a segment on non-BCS teams? It wouldn't have anything to do with the ESPN/ABC contract with the BCS, now would it? You see, they will get pimped because ESPN needs a return on its investment, in the way of ad dollars. If you think I'm a conspiracy theorist, so be it. I ask you then to google Trev Alberts who once worked for ESPN. In a nutshell he called them out for making him pimp certain conferences and teams due to TV contracts. When he was fired, he was called a "disgruntled" ex-employee.

In a recent column ESPN's Mark Schlabach began comparing the ACC to some of the other so called power conferences. He said that they were truly elite because of the amount of NFL draft picks that it has had over the last few years. I now give you their record in the BCS over the history of the BCS, 2-9. My Big East is at least 6-5 and winners of 3 out of the last 4, yet some in the media keep on referring to it as the "Big Least", go figure. Calling a league "elite" because of draft picks is like saying they are number one in potential. Almost doesn't cut it. In the immortal words of the great Gorilla Monsoon, "Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades". Again ABC needs justify their contract with the ACC. They are coming nowhere near selling out their conference championship. The league is averaging something like 40,000 for the game and the TV ratings have been less than stellar. Now ESPN puts out this article, trying to say otherwise. I throw the bullshit card.

Ask Bobby Bowden what the biggest change in the game is and he will tell you, quite simply, the 85 man scholarship limit rule. The days of the same power programs winning year in and year out, are over. Back in the day, teams like Nebraska and Alabama would have 200-300 guys on scholarship. They soaked up all the talent. Now you throw in this rule and the talent level gets dispersed. There are no more "elite" teams. We are seeing crazy upsets every year. Upstart programs are changing the landscape of college football, yet the schleps in the media keep on pimping the power teams they knew from their childhood. When was the last time Notre Dame was relevant? When was the last time, we had a national champion where we had no controversy at the end? It was all a generation ago. Times have changed. It's time the windbags wake up.

The other big change is the Internet. Up until recently, you rarely heard about recruiting. Now you know everything from the guy's forty time to his favorite class in school. Sites like Rivals.com and Scouts.com make seventeen and eighteen year old kids stars before they ever set foot on campus. It goes to their heads, so often times, they go to a so called lesser program, where they can play right away and make headlines from the start. If you think I'm crazy, look around the country at the amount of freshmen that are starting even at the so called, "elite" schools. Hell, a generation ago, these kids would have been on freshmen teams.

I guess for most, change is hard. We all feel comfortable in what we were raised on. So it makes some sense for the jock sniffers to pimp these elite programs, because that is what they knew. The reality of what is happening on the field is vastly different. When your perceptions are set, it is hard to alter that. It will take time, but I have faith, well maybe, that we will see change, just not until my 16 month old Devon takes his first snaps in the Blue and Gold. Until then, in the immortal words of Mel Brooks in Spaceballs when they asked his character Yogurt what he did for a living and the answer was, "Merchandising!"

May the Shwartz be with you...

The Itch

2009-08-04T10:08:00.000-04:00

Oh, it's that time of year. I have an itch, not the kind you get from vines in the woods. It's not an allergy. No cortisone cream will be needed. It's not the kind you scratch. No, this one is an annual rite of passage. It took the smiling blue eyes of my little girl to reignite it. Tradition is being passed on. She already knows it, but doesn't understand why just yet. The camps have opened. In most every town in America there are young testosterone laden young lads puking their guts out from the two-a-days. Yes my friends, football season is almost here. Hallelujah!!!

This past Saturday, I decided to take my three year old daughter, Grace, to run my usual weekend errands. Per her usual act of three year old rebellion, picking out the clothes for a day is very much, a laborious chore. She has to pick out what she wants to wear. She has an unbelievable independent streak that in no way shape or form is like her own father's streak of stubbornness...well, maybe a little similar. That is all I will admit to. Mother nature, I have come to realize, has a sense of humor.

There is a whole routine that you must go through. We open the shirt drawer. We open the pants drawer. I pick out some clothes and Grace will respond in kind, "No, not dis one! No, not dis one!" She has to repeat it for emphasis as if I didn't hear it, the first ten times she said it. This goes on and on and on and on. Oh yes, they say that these are the best years. Whoever they are, they need to be shot.

We could not find what she wanted. Usually, she wants one of her sun dresses. Thank God we have a closet full of them. This day though, something different caught her eye. Something gold with something blue jumped out at her. For reasons unknown, she picked out her West Virginia cheerleading outfit. "I want dis one!" she exclaimed. Eureka! We had found the dress for the day.

At that moment the feeling had come over me. It's like the people back home in my beloved West Virginia, the weeks leading up to buck season. You can smell it in the air. Football season is almost here. We quickly got her dressed and of course she had to have her matching blue and gold bow. My daughter was experiencing it too, but she does not understand it yet. OK, maybe I sang the WVU Alma mater to her at night when she was an infant. I might have her sing 'Country Roads' each time we get in the car and she may already know the lyrics by heart. She may have had the mobile with bears in the flying WV sweaters hanging over her crib, but that's all normal, right? Maybe there is something to this nature versus nurture thing after all.

This happens every year like clockwork. The anxiousness begins to build. We'll travel in droves just to watch our favorite teams practice. No other sport has this sort of following. No other sport has this sort of passion. You never see guys lining up to go watch an NBA preseason camp. You never get daily and sometimes hourly reports on drills from other sports. I never knew a passing tree could be that interesting, but I find it to be. Only in football, is it this way.

Now another generation is being passed down a love for the game. It is the same way my Dad and even more so, my Mother, did with me. I remember Saturdays in the fall, listening to Jack Fleming and Woody O'hara calling Mountaineer games. I remember watching Elway lead numerous two minute comebacks. I rememder watching Louis Lipps and yes, even Bubby Brister play for my beloved Steelers. I remember going to Beaver Stadium with my Dad to see Joe Paterno lead his beloved Nittany Lions on the field. I remember St. Mary's High School's homecoming. I remember my sister being named the Bell or homecoming queen in another vernacular. In the end, no matter how the season goes, we come back, because it's the only thing we know...

TTFN

End the Witch Hunt

2009-07-30T12:34:00.001-04:00

That's it! I'm done! I've had it and I don't want to know anymore! Enough is enough! I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore! Yet another report has surfaced about players names from the infamous list of 100 baseball players who tested positve for steroids in 2003. At the time, the list was supposed to be an anonymous thing. It was only meant as a survey. If enough guys failed, then it would trigger the random testing policy we have today. Low and behold, names have surfaced, even after the so called list was to be destroyed. This time, it's Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. Isn't that something?

It doesn't take a Harvard grad to figure out what is going on. Everyone pundit in the media, will now crucify Ortiz and Ramirez. There is blood in the water and the sharks are circling. It's the real American pastime. No, not baseball anymore, it's the fascination of the media witch hunt. Again revisionist historians will raise their ugly heads and say how bad Manny and Big Poppy were. Somehow they will forget how Manny and Ortiz helped lead Boston to their first championship in 80 years. Somehow they will forget how legions of Boston fans felt when they finally broke the curse. Nobody really cared if they were juiced or not. Unfortunately, Manny and Big Poppy are toast.

Will we see the Mea Culpa? I hope not. Why do I feel this way? The powers that be in Baseball want the names out there, because then we have villians. The media has their so called moralistic crusade. In reality they are keeping the steroid thing going to sell ad space. Bud Selig doesn't want his name touched. The owners don't want their names out there. You give the media the players and everybody else walks away. It is straight out of Vince McMahon's playbook. It is all soap opera.

Being a Yankee fan, I wish all the ill-will to that team on Yawkey way, but not this way. The Sox earned that championship and now, somehow, some will feel it is tainted. It shouldn't be that way. I want no asterisks on records or championships. It is time we let it go, but we're not allowed. Unfortunately, the fix is in, and it has nothing to do with Steroids.

TTFN

Just Win Baby!!!

2009-07-27T15:45:00.000-04:00

At this year's Big Ten Media day, Indiana Coach, Bill Lynch spoke of his new community outreach program in Bloomington. You see, Coach Lynch had decided that he was going to do something about the apathetic Hoosier fan base. So what did the coach do? He decided to visit all of the Fraternity and Sorority houses on campus to drum up student fan support. Per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg:

It's no secret that Indiana has struggled to generate fan support at times during the last 15 years, and often times the pregame tailgates outside Memorial Stadium are better attended than the actual games. You have to like Lynch's approach, especially since it would be hard to imagine many other BCS coaches pounding the pavement around campus for support.

Imagine you are a D1 ball coach and you have to literally beg for fans to come to games. I like the creativity, but I have a far more simpler thing to do. In the immortal words of Al Davis, "Just Win Baby!"

Nothing cures an apathetic fan base like sucess on the playing field. A perfect example of that, I have witnessed first hand, is Rutgers. For years Rutgers had been the doormat of eastern football. The best receruits in New Jersey went elsewhere. I remember going to WVU-Rutgers games in Piscataway and sitting in the WVU section. We, hillbillies, outnumbered the Scarlet Knight faithful in their own stadium. I always kind of felt sorry for them. Then things changed with the hiring of Greg Schiano.

Coach Schiano, in his first act as coach, invited all of the top recruits from New Jersey to his office and said stay here and build something. The kids loved it and it worked. Rutgers began winning. Rutgers went on to their first bowl games in years. Scarlet R's started appearing on cars. They actually sold out their season ticket allotment for the first time in the school's history. They are just finishing up a 10,000 seat expansion to their stadium. They started to win and the fans came out.

The story of Coach Lynch makes nice headlines, but, if you don't produce, the fans won't come. Coach Lynch's idea comes off as hokey and sort of desperate. I like Coach Lynch personally. I know he got a tough gig replacing Coach Terry Hoeppner who lost a battle with cancer. At the end of the day, though, you have to win. Maybe if he put that much energy into getting the kids on campus in the way of recruiting, instead the ones that already there, maybe, just maybe, Memorial stadium could be rocking....

TTFN

The Great Ride

2009-07-24T08:31:00.000-04:00

Just outside of Arlington National Cemetery, I sit here in this small hotel room with my two kids and wife in tow. We have come to say goodbye or I should say, celebrate the life of my Grandmother Lt. Irene (Jaloski) Overath. Our room is cramped and piled high with two car fulls of things for every possible scenario that two small children could possibly need. Per our normal standard operating procedure, we have somehow managed to forget something that was of major need for the kids. This time it was a small things like diapers and food. Somehow these small necesities couldn't make it in our two vehicles that we brought in tow. It is times like these, I wonder how the true Wonder Woman in my life did it. She raised eight kids, fought a world war, helped care for the thousands of soldiers lives, and somehow managed to keep my grandfather forever devoted to her.

Raised in the coal fields of western Pennsylvania, my grandmother learned the value of hard work and the modesty of her blue collar immigrant parents. Throughout the years, she would always say to me, how our family's farm reminded her of her own childhood. She would tell me stories of West Deer. She would tell me the stories of the men that worked the mines. It seemed insignificant to me at the time, but as the older I got, I realized she was teaching me the same values that was passed down to her. We connected on this level. She made me feel special and unique. The older I got, I realized she did this with everyone of us. To understand the magnitude of, you have to look at the numbers; eight children, seventeen grandchildren, and now six (soon to be seven) great-grandchildren . She never ran out of love.

I'll miss her wonderful laugh. I'll miss her cut throat style of playing skipbo. I'll miss the wonderful visits. Most of all, I'll miss her strength. My mom said it best, somewhere up there, her and Opa are driving around in their motorhome. I'm sure that every once in a while, they'll check in on us, just when we need it most. I love you Oma....

TTFN

He's a Pinko Commie!!!

2009-07-21T14:38:00.000-04:00

I swear, Kansas City Royals, Jose Guillen is a communist and I love him for it. I think, in the my more than three decades of walking this planet, have I never heard a person, let alone a star athlete, proclaim that they make too much money. That's exactly what Jose Guillen did. In a recent article in the Kansas City Star, Guillen said:

“I’m embarrassed by the money that I’m making,” Guillen said, “and playing the way I’ve been playing. I’ll swear that on my kids’ (lives). I feel very embarrassed.

“Sometimes, I feel I should take money out of my own pocket and buy tickets for every fan. Because you know what? For a $12-million man, these are not the numbers you should be expecting. I admit it. I’m not playing to my potential.”

He has to be a communist, a sandinista or something of such ilk. Only a left wing pinko commie, would utter such things. It is downright un-American or maybe it is utterly shocking when we hear an athlete be honest without using the usual interview cliques. Up to this point, Jose Guillen wasn't even on my radar. Today, he made me a fan, the same way Charles Barkley did when he said he was no hero. It is the same reason I love the Ozzie Guillen's press conferences. It is why I love Joe Paterno's quips about the Big 10. There is an honesty that is so rarely there. It is moments like this, that makes sports utterly enjoyable. It gives us perspective.

Jose probably cost himself some money when the next contract negotiation comes around, but more importantly he just may have found his next gig as a commentator. That is why we love John Kruk, even if he isn't all that honest. He comes off that way. It is why we love my man Barkley on the TNT halftime show. It is why we loved Ditka and Jim Mora. It shows a side that reminds us, that their regular guys, who just happen to play a game really well.

TTFN

2009-07-20T12:43:00.000-04:00

Apparently, I'm not the only one tired of Beck's act...

The Beckham Experiment Is a Failure

2009-07-17T11:11:00.000-04:00

Last year , I had a blog post, lauding the David Beckham rule, allowing MLS teams to sign one designated player who's salary would not count against the salary cap. I love the rule, but Beckham's act is starting to wear thin. Maybe I expected too much, or maybe he hasn't delivered. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth.

Three years ago, the signing of David Beckham was supposed to change the face of the MLS. It was to give the league legitimacy. I thought it would begin to show the world that we were an emerging soccer power. Our great wealth as a nation was going to buy us the respect amongst the football world. Instead, Beckham has sold a bunch of jerseys, made a ton of money and has failed to even get the Galaxy to the playoffs. What I have learned is that, as in life, money can't buy you everything. Brand Beckham sells, it just doesn't win.

I remember a conversation I had with my Uncle Rich, who is far and away more in tune with the beautiful game through refereeing and coaching. He had been saying that for us to be great, our best players needed to play in the better leagues around the world to raise the level of play here. He essentially was saying that we did not need Beckham. I still think we do, but it needs to be an American Beckham. The US national team win over Spain showed me that my Uncle was right. Outside of Landon Donovan. most of our best players are playing around the world outside of the MLS and they are winning. Donovan, previous to his stint with the Galaxy, did play overseas. Tim Howard taking his club team Everton, to the FA Cup final against my beloved Chelsea, showed me that we are earning that respect. The win over a record seeking, all time great Spanish team is earning that respect. The signing of Oguchi Onyewu, (yes he is an American), by AC Milan is showing that respect. David Beckham is not.

I so want the David Beckham experiment to work. We all now know that he is here to collect a paycheck and nothing else. In America we love a great sales pitch, but we also want it to deliver. I just haven't seen it yet. Somewhere in a suburban park is the American Pele and we don't need to import it.

TTFN

A Rod Did Roids and Other Useless Crap

2009-03-09T22:18:00.000-04:00

Did you hear? A-Rod did roids? What? Huh? What's going on here? He now has a torn labrum? He left his wife for Madonna? Michael Phelps smokes pot? Charles Barkley got a DUI for trying to get a blowjob? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

A Rod did steroids and guess what? I don't care. I don't care if he "hurt the integrity of the game." Let me tell you a secret, it never had any to begin with. Babe Ruth was a drunk as was my Dad's hero, Mickey Mantle. Legions of baseball players did amphetamines in the 1950's and 1960's. The 86 Mets did more coke than Al Pacino did in Scarface. Ty Cobb was a womanizing, racist prick both on and off the field. I still love how Pete Rose played the game. I just never took a gambling tip from him however.

The year was 1994, baseball took away the world series. Fans left in droves, me being one. Then came along Cal Ripken, shorter fences and the 1998 season. It was called by many and I quote, "The greatest season ever played.". My Yankees set the record for most wins. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were captivating us just like Mantle and Maris did in 1961. The economy was booming. Asses were in the seats and in front of the TV watching it go down. President Clinton made sure to have Sammy Sosa front and center during the State of the Union speech. We all were happy....

Flash forward 11 years, according to those who are history revisionists, it was all bad and evil. They were all doing steroids. They were somehow destroying America's youth. The players from that era should be punished. Now if they were wife beating, womanizing drunks, like the players of days gone by, put them on the box of Wheaties! I just don't buy any of it.

I am also fan of auto racing. For years the name of the game is to get a competitive edge until the rules change or you are caught cheating. No race driver or crew chief is ever villianized the way other athletes are who are caught using steroids. Why is there no outrage? Oh, we could do the same to our cars we drive to work everyday and cause havoc like you wouldn't believe... None of this would ever happen, because almost all of us think that is an absurd proposition, that I just put forth. Well guess what? This is exactly what we are doing with steroids. Am I advocating them? No, I just think it's time to get real.

Maybe I'm tired of the witch hunt, Maybe I'm tired of the media trying to be my moral compass. I'm tired of headline chasing DA's turning professional athletes into criminals. I'm tired of my tax dollars being wasted on the cleaning up of professional sports in the so called name of protecting our nation's youth. I'm tired of the folly and I'm tired of soap opera. I just want to see the games played at their best. I want to see how many home runs can be hit in one season, juiced or not. I want to see a 45 year old who can still bring a 100 MPH fast ball. I want to see athletes using the greatest technology available doing herculean fetes, only dreamed about a generation before. Guess what. I don't care if they are juiced or not and most fans are like me. I know Michael Jordan is degenerate gambler and I still will only remember him for that last shot against Utah. Let's play ball...

Random Musings From Opening Weekend

2008-09-03T11:51:00.001-04:00

(Editors Note, The preview articles got stalled due to family obligations, work and the rest of my real world life beyond the keyboard. I'll try to bring them back next year)

Oh, it was Christmas Day for me and the millions of college football fans across the country. It was opening weekend! We had to sit through the long hot summer of two-a-days, as in visits to our favorite teams' message boards. We read the stories of the fights in the clubs, the breaking and enterings, the DUI's, and the suspensions. The message boards became feeding frenzies when the 5 star athlete with the 1.6 GPA ended up at some backwoods JUCO diploma mill in Mississippi, probably never to be heard from again. Thank God we finally kicked it off and the stories are now about what happens between the white stripes and not about the athletes wearing the stripes.

Instant Karma is gonna get ya
Remember what I was saying about Karma, it seems it is coming to fruition. From my own hillbilly-centric point of view, we West Virginia fans had the trifecta. Michigan lost at home in Rich "the product" Rodriguez's home opener. Virginia Tech lost to East Carolina in a huge upset and Pitt lost at home to a MAC team, Bowling Green. Coach Dave Wannstedt's reaction to the loss was, "They ran some complicated offenses." Ureka!

Somewhere up there Jack Fleming is calling in some favors. If my Mounties run the table, I think we may hit Nirvana.

Did you hear Beanie Wells got hurt?
The national media attention this has received has been unbelievable and somewhat disheartening. It goes to show that as long as you have the big TV contracts, the big schools are going to get the coverage. I'm not knocking the kid or his injury, but when is the media going to wake up and stop pimping programs because of TV contracts and how much merchandise they sell? Let's start talking about the teams that are getting it done on the field, not to say that OSU has not. Maybe I'm sick and tired of the fix being in college football where only certain programs are marketed to be able to play for national titles. I actually have this strange notion that everybody should have a chance to be successful and that your success is based what you do on the field, not what some network talking head thinks will sell more commercial air time.

Notre Dame Didn't Lose...
Well idle gave them a tough match up, but they came through without any injuries. As long as as Jimmy Claussen can stop dressing in spandex, the schedule looks a bit easier than first thought for the Irish. Charlie Weiss will still have to pay that medical bill he tried skip out on. Chalk one up for the doctors and not the lawyers...

Willie!!!
For those that have read my articles chronicling the career of Mr. Williams, you know that I have been hard on the guy. I mean c'mon, after 11 arrests and being kicked out of two schools, it was too easy for him. Where is he now you ask? We hillbillies took him in, of course. He's now at WVIAC power Glenville State. Hey Willie, you won't find many free lobster dinners in Gilmer County, but what you will find are some of the best people around to help you get your life back on track. He didn't make the box score for the opening game against Lock Haven, but hopefully he gets something better out of all of this; a good education. I'm actually rooting for the kid.

TTFN

Shwag's Annual College Football Preview: The Big East

2008-06-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

Many of you may remember my annual college football preview from Burghsportsguys.com. I have decided to revive this annual fluff article and expound upon you what I really don't know. Ahh, the future, what will it hold? It is time I put on my great Carnac hat and peer into my crystal ball. First up in my series, we'll look at the Big East, a conference I that I may or may not have an affinity for.

Predicted Order of Finish

West Virginia
USF
Cincinnati
Rutgers
Pitt
UConn
Louisville
Syracuse

The era of change. West Virginia has a new head man in Bill Stewart. Ray Rice, Steve Slaton and Brian Brohm have moved on. These were the players that saved the league, but none of them have left the cupboard too bare. Coming off the league's third straight BCS bowl win, the league has let everyone know that it is here to stay and the future looks very bright with some outsanding recruiting classes and major investments into the programs from the schools themselves. Commissioner Mike Tranghese can go out knowing that the league is in such a great shape.

West Virginia
The Rich Rodriguez departure from Morgantown and subsequent court battle, could have been the start of the downfall of the program in Morgantown. A funny thing happened. The players and the coaching staff that was left, made sure to remind everyone, WVU was not going away and in fact may be stronger than last year. Ask Oklahoma, how good they are. Coach Bill Stewart made sure to surround himself with one of the top staffs in the country. He brought in Doc Holliday from Florida, David Lockwood from Minnesota and Notre Dame, Mike Joseph from Notre Dame, Jeff Mullen from Wake Forest and most notably, DC Jeff Casteel, stayed home. With coach Mullen coming in from Wake to install motion and downfield passing into West Virginia's vaunted spread offense, the mounties are no longer one dimensional. West Virginia returns their whole line which was ranked third in the country in rushing last year. Did I mention that Pat White is back? Throw in some Noel Devine and the mountaineer offense will probably be amongst the nation's best again. No more eight in the box. The defenses will have to be honest this year.

The big question will be on defense where the mountaineers need to replace seven starters. The good thing is that Jeff Casteel has an abundance of talent to work with. The mountaineers finally brought in a defensive back coach to properly teach proper techniques, with one of the best in the country in David Lockwood. The DB's for years had been sort of an achilles heel under Rodriguez. Look for an upgrade here. The linebackers are as deep as they have ever have been at WVU. Reed Williams, the Fiesta Bowl defensive MVP, is the big question mark on whether he can return this season after shoulder surgery. The defensive line has some major holes to fill with the departures of Kellien Dykes and Johnny Dingle. Look for newcomer Tevita Finau to push for some time up front.

South Florida
The monster has awoken. No longer is there the big three in Florida. Say hello to our friends with the geographical error in their name. Say hello to South Florida. Jim Leavitt has done an incredible job building the program from scratch in Tampa. With the abundance of talent in Florida, his recruiting travel budget is probably one of the smallest in the NCAA. He can throw a rock from Raymond James stadium and probably hit the homes of ten division one players. Their success has not been a fluke. They are for real and should challenge again for the Big East title. Back again, is one of the Big East's best QB's in Matt Grothe. When he is on the run, he is almost like Houdini at getting out of trouble. RB Mike Ford is as fast is he as he is big. At 6'2" 225 lbs, he reminds me of another former big east back from Louisville named Michael Bush. He is Michael Bush with a legit 4.3 forty. The Bulls only had to replace one man on the line. They look to be very big and strong this year. The big question mark will be at receiver where they led the league last year in dropped balls. They will need an upgrade in performance this year.

The Bulls return probably the best defensive coordinator in the league in Wally Burnham. He is an absolute tactitian on the sidelines. Up front, the Bulls return the top DE in the league in George Selvie. Nobody is quicker off the ball. The linebackers must replace Ben Moffit. If they can, the linebacking corps should be pretty good. Their biggest holes will be the in backfield where they will need to replace the top corners in the league in Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams. Look for the bulls to challenge the Mountaineers for the league title this year. I can guarantee that both teams have December 6th circled on the calendars.

Cincinnati
The best young coach in the league is the Bearcat's Brian Kelly. He has been a winner at every stop along the way. Coming off a 10-3 record in his first year, I expect coach Kelly to be right on par or even better this year. This team is centered around its defense and as the old adage goes, defense wins championships. Pre-season All-American DT Terrill Byrd anchors the top returning unit in the league. The senior laden unit is going to be tough especially against the run with two of the three linebacker are returning letterman. Mike Mickens is one of the best returning DB's in the league. They need to however replace both safeties.

The big question is who will be the signal caller this year. If Ben Mauk can get one more year from the NCAA then all is good. If not, the nod will probably go the Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones. Coach Kelly has a reputation as being one of the top qb coaches in the land, so I think whoever it is, should be adequate. Their running game has been mediocre at best. If freshman Isiah Pead is as good as his high school press clippings, things may be different in the queen city. Marcus Barnett at receiver is absolutely gifted. The question is, can they get the ball to him? The line must replace the right side. The offensive unit has so many questions , that I can't rank them higher. Coach Kelly is such a tremendous coach, that I think they should end up in the top three by year's end.

Rutgers
Greg Schiano said hell no to Michigan, got a new stadium expansion and lost the best running back in school history. It has been one of those years. RU has had their best run ever under the tutelage of Coach Schiano. It all began his first year when he gathered all the top prospects in New Jersey that year in a room and asked them to stay home and help build something together. Many did. No longer is New Jersey being poached by other schools. With Schiano's ties to south Florida, it is no wonder they have been so successful. The success of this years team rides on the arm of Mike Teel. For all the talent he has, he needs to stop throwing the ball to the opposing team. He does have the league's best wideout tandem in Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood. Both will be playing on Sundays in the future. Their line should be outstanding, thanks in no large part to their recruiting efforts. Anthony Davis is an absolute beast. The big hole will be at running back where they will need to replace Ray Rice. It looks to be that they will use a tandem of backs with Jordan Brooks and Kordell Young. Another guy who could get some looks, is a local kid Joe Martinek from my neck of the woods. If Joe Sr. is reading this, he knows that I have felt that Joe would have looked great in the gold and blue.

Rutgers returns five of the starting front seven on defense. That would be great for some teams, but until they learn to stop the run, it could be track meets again for Rutgers. This has been their achilles heel. With the influx of young talent pushing the current starters, maybe this year could be the year. I will believe it when I see it. The DBs are very strong with mostly everybody back, except for strong safety. Courtney Greene's decision to stay should bolster this unit. Now I would have ranked RU higher, but they need to prove to me that they are ready to make that next step.

Pitt
No loss will ever be more devastating to me than the loss that my beloved Mountaineers had against Pitt. No win was ever more important for one guy's job than Pitt's victory over WVU. Dave Wannstedt got the win he needed to right the ship. On paper, he has been a great recruiter. On the field, for the most part, until the win at WVU, their teams have been a disappointment. Returning this year is one of the league's outstanding backs in Lesean McCoy. He has NFL star written all over him. At receiver, Derek Kinder returns along with incoming stud freshman Jonathan Baldwin. Both have great hands. Both should make great impacts. Jonathan Baldwin should win the league's freshman of the year. The big question marks are at QB and on the line. Who will be the QB, Junior Bill Stuhl or Sophomore Pat Bostick? The line returns only two starters. Will the skill guys be enough?

On defense remember this name, Scott McKillop. He is the best linebacker to play at Pitt since Hugh Green. The whole unit is deep. The line returns almost everybody as well. All of the DB's saw significant playing time on a unit that was in the top five nationally. The big problem is, can they replace DC Paul Rhoades? With Wannstedt in charge, I am not sure. Can he finally learn to develop the talent? I am not sure that he can. If he does, this team may be one for the ages, but I am not holding my breath.

UConn
Randy Edsall has been quietly building a strong program at UConn. After last year's success of sharing the Big East title, will they build on this? I am not sold on this program yet. Last year's 66-21 loss to my mountaineers tells me otherwise. QB Tyler Lorenzen has all the skills to make it at the next level. The big question is will he have anyone to throw the rock to? The huskies receiving corps is thin at best. Edsall is looking to basically have warm bodies after his top guy transferred and the other two returners didn't take a snap in spring ball. The line looks so so, with with three returners. They need to protect Lorenzen. He was on his back far too much. The huskies have a nice one two punch at RB with Donald Brown and Andre Dixon. I don't how well the line will hold up.

On defensive, the huskies return six of their starting front seven. They must learn to stop the run or like RU, get out your track shoes boys!. The DB's are young, so expect a big learning curve. Will Lorenzen be enough to get them through? That is the big question.

Louisville
The makeover in Louisville has begun. It is going to be long year for the Cards as Coach Steve Kragthorpe looks to change the atmosphere and the defense at Papa John's Stadium. For a guy who had all the accolades coming in and all the talent on the field, Steve Kragthorpe's first year was a huge disappointment to the Cardinal faithful. He needs to get the talent to match his quasi-spread offense that he ran at Tulsa. For all the arm strength that QB Hunter Cantwell has, he is not matched for Coach Kragthorpe's system. As well, his top returning running back, transferred. Look for Victor Anderson to step up. Hopefully he can live up to his high school credentials. Who are the receivers going to be? These are the questions that many are asking. The line is being rebuilt as well.

Now to the defense. There is nowhere than to go up from where they are. They couldn't stop the pass. They couldn't stop run, but they were tops in penalties. The defense only returns four starters. Kragthorpe brought in former Michigan DC Ron English to overhaul the unit that was near the league bottom in every statistical category. Can Kragthorpe do it? I hope, but some decisions are making me wonder, like pulling out of Florida to only spot recruit there. He has decided to go the Kansas State route and load up on Jucos. It may be a long couple of years for my friends in da'ville.

Syracuse
At least Louisville can say,Thank God for Syracuse. No coaching tenure has been worse in the history of the Orange than Greg Robinson. He has been 7-28 in three years. From the school that produced so many great stars and has had such a rich history, this has been unacceptable. The only good thing that the Orange have is Mike Williams at WR. He is the best wideout they have had since Marvin Harrison. Laver Lobdell could be great at WR, but without significant coaching, I don't see it happening. Andrew Robinson is a good QB with no line or running back to bail him out. I can't see that many points put up this year by the Orange.

On defense, the line could be its strength. Arthur Jones is a stud at Nose tackle. The other stud is CB Mike Holmes. The problem is that they need nine other guys to show up. I knew Greg Robinson was doomed from the start. In his first year, against Iowa, they were going for the win on their own goal line. The Orange ended up with eight chances to do it thanks to a Hawkeye penalty. They ran the same play eight consecutive times with a hand off to the running back. The problem was that the starting running back at the time was on the sidelines, not even in the game. Coach Robinson had no clue. So as they say, it will be a long year up north. Plenty of good seats will be available.

TTFN

Next up the SEC....

One For the Road

2008-06-11T10:16:00.000-04:00

January 3, 2006 is the day that will live in infamy, not just for the victory that my beloved Mountaineers had over the much favored Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl. More importantly, it showed that the Big East truly belonged. One conference commissioner, was sitting in the press box of the Georgia Dome that night, with that Cheshire Cat grin, knowing that he had been right all along. I learned that Mike Tranghese was a man that I should never play poker against. Because when the chips were down, he was holding that royal flush the whole time.

Last week, Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2008-2009 academic year. With nearly 30 years with the conference, his time had come. He had been there since the beginning in 1979, when a small group of eastern basketball powers would form a league. It was he and then conference founder Dave Gavitt that took a chance with a relatively unknown entity at the time with ESPN. The decision in hindsight would be the first in many great decisions that would define his career. In an almost symbiotic relationship, the league and the channel would grow to unprecedented heights during the 1980's and beyond.

In 1990 when he took over as the commissioner, the next move was to try to fulfill Joe Paterno's dream of an eastern football conference. For years, the eastern powers wanted to do it except two teams, Pitt and Syracuse. They were afraid that an Eastern conference would destroy what they had in the Big East in basketball. They could not have been more wrong. In 1991, Penn State fed up with the stances of Pitt and Syracuse, decided to join the Big 10. Tranghese had enough foresight, to expand the Big East to include the football schools as a part of the league, bringing in WVU, Miami, Virginia Tech and Rutgers. The league would thrive.

The departures of Miami, BC and Virginia Tech could have been the end of the conference, but again, when the chips were down, Mike Tranghese was at his best. As much as it is not needed now, the relationship with Notre Dame was needed so the Big East could have a seat at the big boy table at the BCS fortress of ineptitude. With that secure, the conference needed to prove itself. Pitt's thrashing by Utah in the Fiesta bowl was not a good omen for the league.

What the league needed was an influx of talent and exposure. In one of his smartest moves, Tranghese negotiated with ESPN to broadcast their games on Thursday nights. As per usual the critics and traditionalists were in an uproar. How could they do something as crazy as play a game on a weeknight? It was, in hindsight, pure genius. The league was the only show in town on that night on TV. Instead of playing their marquee games on Saturdays, going against every other conference, they said why not play when there is no competition? The exposure and its results in upgraded recruiting and coaching are now bearing this out.

Since the departure of the three teams, The ACC has not won one BCS game. The Big East, however, have one the last three straight, beating the conference champs of the SEC, ACC and Big XII respectively. Karma is a bitch.

For all the venom, I had against Tranghese with the handling of the departures of VPI, Miami and BC, and his help in the formation of the BCS, I could not have been more wrong about that man. I have learned that sometimes, it's better to sit back and have faith that he will lead us through the darkness. That's what great leaders do. Now if only Jim Delaney at the Big Ten (11) would follow suit...

TTFN

P.S.

Rest in Peace, Jim McKay

Kickin' It Old School

2008-06-03T10:07:00.001-04:00

For many of you that read my blog, I am usually taking on the wonderful world of college sports, but today, something has me feeling nostalgic. It could be the after effects of the high school reunion a couple weeks back. It could be that I have a jumped the shark as they say and I'm on the downward slide. Maybe Neil Young was right, it is better to burn out than to fade away, but at least, I've got the memories to keep me going. For the first time in a long, long time, I have a genuine interest and excitement in the NBA finals.

A long time ago, I was this small town kid with the Tony Hawk shwap. I lived and breathed everything that was the NBA. Baseball didn't do it for me. Football was cool. Hockey was great. My soccer fandom was in its infancy. None of them however could feed my imagination the way that basketball did at the time.

With every fantastic highlight, I would go outside and somehow try to imitate on our backyard court what I just saw. Lack of athletic ability usually got in the way. Everyday I would shoot hoops for hours on end. Often, my dad and I would play a game of horse. Of course I would try every fantastic highlight reel film shot I saw. My Dad of course would be shooting shots popular in his era like the hook, the set shot and the left handed layup, while I would be trying the double pump in mid air, with a kiss off the glass. I thought I was Jordan. My dad thought he was Bill Walton. Neither one of us though had a great shooting percentage. I guess that would explain why Coach K never sent me that scholarship offer and my dad never made it past the Fountain Hill High School varsity.

In my dad's youth, they had Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Whitey Ford. We had Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and of course, his airness, Michael Jordan. These were my heroes. Charles Barkley telling me that he was no idol, made him more of one to me. I remember Mr. Robinson's house. I remember Dominique Wilkins with the windmill slam. Watching Spud Webb win the slam dunk competition gave hope to the little guys like me. When Michael hit the last shot against Utah, it ended. It ended that is, until now.

Something feels right about a Boston - LA final. I am not a particular fan of either team, I guess its the nostalgia of so many great memories of my youth coming out. It was Magic vs. Larry back then. Now its Kobe vs. Boston's big three. It has everything you want, from the Zen Master on the sidelines to Jack Nicholson sitting in the stands. If only Chick Hearn and Johnny Mosley were still alive to call the games, we then could have had basketball nirvana. Showtime may have closed its curtains, but Kobe and company opened it back up in HD.

So I guess now I'll be looking for the Spike Lee Mars Blackman Nike commercials again. It was never really the shoes Spike. For the first time in many years, the other day I went to the local basketball court to shoot some hoops. I probably had a shooting percentage of around fifteen percent. Just like back in the day, it was the wind, of course...

TTFN

My Own Friday Night Lights Revisited

2008-05-27T09:59:00.000-04:00

Sometimes life is kind of funny. Sometimes, providence takes center stage. Without seeing it coming, my foundation was sured up and in some ways I was renewed by my past. The older I get the more I realize how it is all connected. From my past, to my future; from my pals long ago, to the places I have been, it all makes this beautiful tapestry that sometimes I think I have failed to see.

Over this past weekend, I celebrated my 15 year high school reunion. I returned with my daughter in tow, to that sleepy little town on the Ohio River. I returned to the place, that fifteen years ago seemed like a prison, that I could not wait to escape from. Now many years later, I find myself wishing I could return. The impatience and angst of youth seems to be getting replaced, by an appreciation for what that town made me into today. I have come to realize that the good in the long run will always be remembered, while the bad just kind of fades away like fallen leaves.

As I walked into the room of the restaurant, I had no ill feeling of the past, just an anxiousness to see what the present held for my fellow classmates. We were all a little bit heavier, well some more than others. Some of us were a few hairs less. Some were married. Some were divorced. Some had children. Some had child support. We all, though, it seemed, had come together for the same reasons. We came together, because no matter, where we end up in this deal, we all started from the same point. We were forever connected.

I was not prepared for the emotion of the next day. In one of the great small town traditions, the town gave back what it could and reminded me of what my values really were. As tradition held, Memorial Day Weekend in St. Marys, WV has been known as Alumni Weekend. We all knew that our reunion would be this weekend. It was also the weekend that the current graduating class would be walking the aisles and receiving their diplomas as well. The past was touching the present and the future.

After the night of socializing the night before, we all met down at the marina to board our float and be paraded through the town. We weren't the only ones there. There was the classes of 2003, 98,93,88, 83, 78 and so on. All the classes celebrating their reunions, were there as far back as 1938. All of them were donned in the purple and gold. My sister came in too, for it was her class as well celebrating their ten year reunion. There was the float for the past belles or in another vernacular, the home coming queens. There were the honored alumni riding in convertibles. The alumni band came as well. I was impressed that they still remembered how to play. We loaded up and headed back towards the main part of town. I was not fully prepared for what came next.

As we made our way onto the corner into downtown St. Marys, I first saw my daughter with my family standing there to greet us. Standing behind them, lining the street almost three persons deep, was the rest of the town. It seemed like everyone had come out. There were the old teachers and administrators, the local politicos, the volunteer fireman and even the town weirdos had come back to honor the past graduates. They were reminding us all what community meant and giving back in such a way that no amount of money could ever replace. I was moved in a way that I was not expecting. I had never been more proud of where I came from than at that very moment. That to me is what home is all about.

As the float made the turn to head back to the marina, I hopped off and decided to walk through the crowd and make my way back to my family. As I began walking, I bumped into one friend and then another and then another and so on. There were no strangers, just friends from long ago. I made it back to the center of town as the alumni band stopped the procession and played the alma mater. We all broke into chorus singing along just like we did for every function while we were in school. No matter what walk of life, we were one in the same for a brief moment in time.

Afterwards the class met one more time with our families for a picnic. We shared a lot of memories and laughter and never once was there a feeling of angst between the members of the class of 1993. The reunion came to an end, but my journey was not over yet.

The next day, with my daughter and my sister's new boyfriend along for the ride, we headed back to Ritchie County. This was the site of our farm from my early childhood. It had been more than twenty years since I had been back. I decided to take back roads all the way back. I am glad that I did. Maybe I'm just a bit biased, but I will always think that West Virginia is one of the most beautiful places on this earth. The hills and hollers were in full bloom.

As we made the trek up to the farm, everything seemed so much smaller, but I guess I was half the size I am today, the last time I was here. The barn and the chicken coop were about all that was left of the original buildings, but the natural beauty of Dog Comfort, never left. We then drove down to Everitt's Green and White store that has since been abandoned. I used to ride my bike down to Everitt's to buy a soda and play some pinball. Memories were rushing over me. I felt like that kid again riding his huffy over the trails through the woods. This time I was sharing it with my daughter and the rest of my family.

We made the trek to Mam Mam's grave. Mam Mam or Mae Satterfield, as she was known to everyone else, was the epitome of what most West Virginians are about. She lived at the end of our road. She took care of me and my sister. Hell, she practically raised us. Mae treated us as one of her family as we treated her the same. The rest of my blood relatives lived very far away and I was probably closer her than most of the rest of my family. She made our family a part of hers. The kindness she showed was just the way they all are back home. I encountered it everywhere we went. My sister's boyfriend couldn't believe it. Living in New York, it was in stark contrast to what he was used to. By the end of the trip, he had me play Country Roads one more time as we went to the train station.

I took this trip, not looking for anything really. I ended up finding hidden treasures that were always there in front of me. I guess I had to open my eyes and look back, because they were always there helping me through this crazy life that I live. Thanks West Virginia....

TTFN

Enough is Enough

2008-05-15T10:51:00.000-04:00

I have tried to stay away from weighing in on the Rich Rodriguez-WVU divorce. I have felt that I was too close to the story. It has been too personal. Like most WVU fans, I feel like a child caught in a nasty custody battle. Like most divorces, nobody comes out unhurt or clean. I have felt in someways that we fans have been stuck in this eye of the storm and it still hasn't made landfall. After reading so many negative slants towards West Virginia and just plain lazy journalists, I feel it's time that the other side be heard. I guess I have to do this, because I, like many others, need my catharsis. I need my faith restored.

This past week Rich Rodriguez's deposition was released. Nothing new really was learned in the deposition than what really has been previously reported. It's all now out on the table.

From the start of this whole exercise, I have been trying to determine how West Virginia has been the villain in this whole soap opera. First we were called racists by Rod's top assistant, Calvin Magee because he was not considered for the head coaching position. This made national headlines. Yet, when a sworn affidavit from former Mountaineer Athletic Club official, Larry Aschebrooke, comes out calling Rod and his team on his bluff, it barely makes a ripple. Rod's only response was that were more than twenty lies. Well, my question is what are they and can you back it up with your own affidavit?

Chuck Finder, a writer and I use that term loosely, was covering this situation for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It was he, who first reported the racist claims without getting verification. Then he cited claims of harassment and threats towards Rod, his family and his coaches. This made national headlines. Rod went on ESPN crying. Yet, the Monongalia County Sheriff and the West Virginia State Police investigated and found nothing. There were no police reports filed, yet nobody, again, in the national media picked it up. Rod found his conduit in Chuck to help spread his PR battle against WVU. After the affidavit broke, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette did not cover it. In it, Aschebrooke, claimed that Rod said that Chuck (Finder) would take care of things in the media. Chuck Finder was "reassigned" to cover the penguins in the NHL playoffs and a new beat writer was assigned to cover WVU.

My question is that how does a journalist like Chuck Finder get away with writing false stories and yet there is no punishment for him? I'm all for freedom of the press, but Chuck and the Post Gazette should be held accountable. The problem is how do you prove libel. That's the problem with modern day media. They go for the tabloidy, sensationalistic stories and there is no reprocussion for their actions. It is a sad state of affairs.

When Rod's deposition was released, the ESPN.com headline read and I quote " Rod Says W. Va. Officials Pressured Him to Sign in 2007". How about calling it down the middle and reading the actual affidavit? Rod does make these claims, but yet again, somehow the headline reads that West Virginia is in the wrong.

Rod's lawyer Marv Robon claimed that the $ 4 million buyout was akin to slavery. Rod had it rough living in his $ 2 million slave quarters on Cheat Lake. I guess two million dollars a year and getting all new upgrades to the locker room, the new academic center, the new suites, and the new scoreboard weren't enough, yet Rod said we hadn't done enough.

I guess it hurts more when it's one of your own. It hurts more when you buy into it and to find out that the man is Charlatan. One can only hope that John Lennon was right and, "Instant Karma is gonna get you."

Maybe I'm sick of the West Virginia stereotypes. Maybe I'm sick of getting talked down to, but enough is enough. We are a proud people. West Virginia has no pro sports teams. We don't have much in the way of well paying jobs or great highways, but the one thing we do have is WVU and I'm sick of the bashing. We were raised on Jack Fleming. We were raised on the arms of Jeff Hostettler and Major Harris. We were raised on the exploits of Jerry West, Sam Huff and Hot Rod Hundley. We were raised on the coaching of Don Nehlen. We were raised on the three pillars, Friday night high school football, Saturday afternoon WVU football and Sunday morning church. If you have a problem with that, kiss my hillbilly ass! Whew, I feel better already...

TTFN

Random Thoughts From the Road

2008-05-08T22:17:00.001-04:00

After spending the last week in the belly of the beast and looking for fear and loathing in Sin City, I find myself sitting in yet another lonely hotel room somewhere on the outskirts of Minneapolis. Such is the life of a salesman. This is the winter for me. Spring practices are over. The BCS fortress of ineptitude is dormant again. The spring combine recruiting circuit is begining to heat up, but I can't get that interested in how fast a seventeen year old can shuffle between two cones. That's just me. The internet message boards are full of drivel now, mainly filled with guys who haven't been laid since Dennis Rodman married himself; fighting with each other over who has a bigger keyboard. Such is life. At least my beloved Chelsea is in the UEFA finals.

Have we jumped the shark?

Kentucky just received a verbal from 6'4" Forward Michael Avery. The kid has been dominating his competition. The problem is that his competition is mostly fellow eighth graders. Yes that's right,eighth grade. Let's see ,when I was fourteen, I was barely pubescent, hated my parents, was doing my best Tony Hawk imitation and thought I was well on my way to being the next great linebacker for Joe Pa. I quickly grew out of this thinking, as I think, will Mr. Avery. What the hell is an eighth grader doing by committing? Why is it being covered the way it is on the national recruiting sites where most are barely blinking an eye and calling it the way of the recruiting world? Some of the comments I read from some of the fan sites have me even more concerned that we have truly reached a tipping point in our society. Some said it was "outstanding" and others were "proud at how hard the staff seemed to be working". What? Huh? Why was the kid allowed to be offered in the first place? We're doomed...

Only in Bama

Well, last year, they cut out texting and coaches said it will hurt their recruiting. That's kind of funny since texting had really only been around for about 4 or 5 years. Now coaches are banned from visiting recruits on site for most of the spring. Leave it to fellow Hillbilly Nick Saban and Bama to turn to new technology to get around the NCAA. Ol' Nick is using the next best thing, video conferencing. This is why I love the SEC. It's like the Laverne and Shirley theme song, "...give us a rule we'll break it..."

Leaving on Jet Plane

Looking out a window while flying across the country, I am always struck in awe by the beauty and majesty of our country. Wherever I go, I am amazed by the commonality in all of us. For all it's good and the enjoyment, I get from it, the internet can never replace bull shitting about our favorite teams over cold ones in taverns across this land. That my friends is what America is about. That is what connects us. It's sometimes the simple pleasures that makes it so great here.

TTFN
P.S. Go Blues, Bring the Cup Home from Moscow...

The Fortress Of Ineptitude

2008-05-01T10:35:00.000-04:00

The past few days in Florida, the power brokers of college football gathered at their round round table to discuss the future of post season football in Division 1-a. I refuse to call it by its new moniker the Bowl Subdivision, because it's just another way that they are marketing their ruse on the American football public. As predicted, no changes to the current post season in college football were made. I would expect nothing less than nothing from those that work within the walls of the fortress of ineptitude.

I know my enemy and I see him for what he is

Before the meetings were even held, Big 10(11) Commissioner Jim Delany and his minions made it perfectly known that there would not be anything that resembled a playoff in the foreseeable future. Why would he want anything different than the sweetheart deal he has with the Rose Bowl and the Pac Ten. A few years back, to get the Rose Bowl to move into the BCS, the powers that be, waived the annual $ 6 million fee that the bowls must kick in, to be a part of the BCS. The Rose Bowl was able to negotiate it's own deal outside the BCS with ABC, not FOX who has the rest of the BCS. The Big 10(11) and the Pac 10 were able to keep the guaranteed tie in to the Rose Bowl and a tie in to the BCS. Cute, right? We all remember that compelling and evenly matched, Illinois-USC match up from last year.

In many ways, as tough as it is for me swallow, the WVU loss to Pitt helped show what an absolute farse the BCS is. It provided us with yet another match up, that left many wondering if LSU and Ohio State were even the best two teams at the end of the year. I can not wait for another over-rated Big 10(11) team and a two loss team to duke it out for the mythical national title. This is going to keep happening more and more.

No one in the media, seems to grasp the realities of college football. There are less and less of the traditional powers, yet they keep on propping up these programs like they are the be and end all of football. It has been almost two decades since the last time when Notre Dame actually challenged for a national title. Mysteriously, they have a part in the BCS. They, along with the 6 BCS conferences have a seat at the table. They can get in if they are in the top eight. As well, they get money from the BCS even if they don't go to a BCS game. In reality an undefeated conference champ from the WAC or Mountain West would have less of a chance to make it to a BCS game than a two loss Notre Dame team, if they were ranked lower. The fix is in.

With scholarship limit rules in place, no longer are the traditional powers able to soak up all the talent. The playing field is being leveled. LSU is a perfect example of this. They have emerged in the last ten years contrary to popular belief. Their program was good, but never considered elite until Nick Saban built it and Les Miles is continuing to do. My own alma mater, West Virginia is another glaring example of what it is going on.

Money, Money, Money, Money!!!

Teams like TCU, Boise State and BYU (who many people forget actually won a national title), deserve a an equal chance at the table. Now they do not currently have it. Only six of eleven conferences have automatic births. They say that they have opened up the access, which in some ways they have. Now you must be in the top twelve and a conference champ to get access, but why not have equal access like everybody else? It all comes down to money. The most recent revenue numbers I have from the NCAA show that in 2006-2007 the BCS took in a little over $ 142 Million in revenue. Only $ 18 Million and change went to the non-BCS conferences. Why would the BCS conferences want to give that up? Somehow at the end of the day, certain programs and certain conferences are getting all the deserts and the rest are left to scramble for the crumbs.

In my perfect world, there would be a 16 team playoff where all 11 conference champs get in, with 5 at large bids. We would cede it and watch the good times roll. In my perect world, I would be 6'3" 230 lbs and run a 4.3 forty as well. Neither this or a college football playoff are happening anytime soon.

A Return To Glory?

2008-04-29T09:28:00.000-04:00

"In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country."
-Gen. Douglas MacArthur

I can think of no other finer words that have ever been spoken on the place, and the ideals for what our nation's service academies stand for. Duty, Honor, Country are words and ideals that are often lost in today's technological and greed driven world. Even in the college football world, I often wonder if they can co-exist with the realities of what the sport has become. A decision, by our Military brass may have just done that, to which these ideals and the modern day realities can co-exist.

Recently the military announced the Alternative Service Option program for athletes from the service academies. Under guidelines of the program, Cadets will be allowed to play sports with their respective professional teams while assigned to recruiting stations for two years as long as they remain under contract. Should they retain professional contracts following two years, they will be offered the option of “buying out” the remaining three years of their active-duty commitment in exchange for six years in the Reserves. What their duties would entail would be that they would act as recruiters while working in the NFL, NHL, etc..

The days of Roger Staubach, Pete Dawkins and Doc Blanchard seem like a distant memory. It was a long time ago, when our service academies truly challenged for the top spots nationally. Yes I know, Navy has had some good teams recently, but what I'm talking about is the chance to possibly be thought of as our nation's elite sports program's again. During my lifetime, I have never seen Army, Navy, or Air Force, truly challenge for the mythical national championship. During my parents childhood, they did, year in and year out.

In the last thirty years or so, it has been rare for the service academies to attract the top athletes. The academies were not able to compete for the services of some of these kids, because most did not want to have to honor their service requirements before playing professional ball. This decision will allow them to do both. This in my mind has been long over due.

This decision will have great effects, not only for the service academy sports programs, but the nation's military as a whole. Imagine, you are thinking about the military and your recruiter is the starting running back for your favorite NFL team. That's a major coup for the military in an era of low enlistment numbers.

In this era in college sports, where recruiting means everything, imagine too, if there is a top athlete who has the academics to make it, at an academy. Hypothetically, the local military recruiter could be that same professional athlete whom I mentioned earlier. That is a major pull for the kids. The service academies, may be able to level the playing field a bit.

Will the academies be able to compete year in and year out? That is the major question. I'm not sure, but at least they are giving themselves the tools to make it possible. That's what the service academies are truly about, making us believe that we can truly do the impossible...

TTFN

Notre F'n Dame...

2008-04-25T14:26:00.000-04:00
I am a Notre Dame hater. I have been a Notre Dame hater since the day Lou Holtz said that the best thing to come out of West Virginia was the bus he left on. Yes, I have hated them since the cheap shot on Major Harris in the 1988 Fiesta Bowl. I have hated them since the catholics vs. the convicts series with Miami. This is all coming from a catholic boy with a wee little bit of Irish blood running through his veins. Maybe I am a wee bit jealous but I am convinced of this simple truth. There is a yin and yang for everything and we all need something to hate. Such is life. Some people hate certain foods. Some people hat certain clothes. Some people hate certain shows. I...hate Notre Dame.

One of my fondest Notre Dame memories happened on a cold night in Beaver Stadium in 1991. The Irish came in as one of the top Teams in the land, coming off a shocking defeat a week earlier against Tennessee. I witnessed one of the great Irish drubbings in history. PSU's Tony Sacca and OJ McDuffie absolutely lit the Irish up in a 35-13 romp. That in some ways was the cathartic moment I needed to rid myself of the painful Mountaineer loss to Notre Dame in 1988. Again, it is the yin and the yang. Now I must somehow try to remain somewhat objective when looking at their place in college athletics today.

I recently read that Notre Dame agreed to a long term series with UConn. The problem with it, is that the deal is somewhat one sided. UConn will not have one home game in the series. Their "home" games will take place, not in Conneticut at their brand new stadium, but one state away in Foxboro, Massachusetts. This deal raised more than a few eyebrows around the country.

To understand this, you have to understand Notre Dame's membership with the Big East. They are a member in every other sport except football. The Big East also has a bowl tie-in with football where Notre Dame can replace a Big East rep in certain bowls when they are actually good enough to make a bowl game. Notre Dame has its own special deal with the BCS where it gets an automatic bid when it is ranked 10th or higher. Not bad for a team that hasn't won a bowl game since I was wearing flannel shirts and Doc Martens. Who says the BCS isn't bogus?

Notre Dame, being the generous member that it is, has agreed to play three Big East teams a year, but it looks like only on their terms. They tried to strong arm a deal with Rutgers, to get the same set up like UConn. Much to RU's credit, they told the Irish to essentially, stick it.

"Rutgers entered into discussions about a possible long-term series with Notre Dame, but at the end of the day both schools could not agree about the site of the games," Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy said in a prepared statement issued by the university. "We feel Rutgers' home games should be played on campus at Rutgers Stadium."

The real reason, the Big East had this deal with Notre Dame; it was the only way the BCS would allow them to have a seat at the table after the defections of Miami, BC and Virginia Tech to the ACC. Fast forward a few years, it appears, in my mind, that this deal is no longer needed. The Big East has won their BCS bowls, the last three years straight, while the ACC has not won one. The old yin and yang rears its head. Some of the highest rated games on TV, have been the Thursday night league games on ESPN and I'm not talking about games out of conference or against the Irish.

I think nobody has given Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese enough credit for negotiating these Thursday night games. They have been a such great help for the league. Some fans are against them for travel reasons, but the effects on the programs for exposure and recruiting have been immense. Now it's time for Tranghese to make his next big gamble and tell Notre Dame to get in or get out. I would prefer the latter, but that's just me. Many of the league's coaches have been calling for a ninth member for scheduling. If the Irish say no, there is plethora of teams willing and able to take their place. At this point, the league is strong enough to stand on its own with or without Notre Dame.

So in the end, Lou Holtz is still a slobbering fool. Rudy still sucks and I will still hate Notre Dame...

TTFN

It's Football Ray..

2008-04-21T13:11:00.000-04:00
Spring has sprung friends. Flowers are blooming. The leaves are returning. The bees are buzzing around the yard. The grass is growing again which means I get to drag my mower and beloved Stihl weed trimmer out of storage. Like the spring time returning, I can always count on that weed trimmer to start. (Author's note, stating this now can only mean that the engine will blow by season's end.) I can always count on the fact, that my favorite sport returns. Yes, it's football season.

A not so long time ago, in a galaxy that looked much like ours, baseball was king. Springtime was meant for baseball. The crack of the bat, the dirt in the infield, and the syringes in the lockers were all apart of the game that we all loved. Many of us still love it, but it is no longer our nation's past time. Football is king. I believe this now more than ever.

The last few weeks, around our nation's college campuses, the multi-million dollar practice facilities were alive with the crack of the pads, the crunch of the tackles and the screams of overpaid, yet underachieving coaches. Over-hyped high school recruits were making their initial visits and some are even making their future intentions known. Many of us, including myself are lapping up each piece of it. It is truly the end of the winter blues.

Last weekend, at the University of Nebraska, had more than 80,000 faithful show up to watch nothing more than a scrimmage. Virginia Tech had more than 30,000. Last year Alabama had 92,000 show up for their spring game. If football isn't king, I would like to see 80,000 show up for batting practice at a baseball game. I remember going to the spring game and it would be a good turn out with a few thousand. The times have changed.

The NHL and NBA playoffs are under way. MLB is in its third week of the season. With all that said, at the top of all the sports headlines this week, is the NFL draft. I ask how many of you have ever seen an MLB draft or have read the scouting report on a Canadian Junior League left winger. I can say on good authority that many of us have looked at tons of NFL mock drafts and hold Mel Kiper's word as the gospel. We all will be watching and waiting to see who our teams pick. What other event allows us to talk smack on potential?

A few years ago before I got married, my wife and I had to go through pre-marriage classes in our church before we were to be married. We were in these classes with several other couples. One of our classes happened to fall on the day of the NFL draft. I set my phone on vibrate to notify me of the picks as they came in. I let some of the other husbands know what I was up to. To keep from being discovered, I would share their favorite teams picks. I was like a kid again in school giving secret messages to the others as the picks came in. I still don't remember what any of the speaker's said that day, but I do know that my Steelers picked Ben Roethlisberger. Somehow, my marriage has survived and Ben has guided my beloved Steelers to a Super Bowl title.

Now I will be working on the script for Field of Dreams 2. This time, a long haired hippy in West Virginia builds a football field where his pot plants used to grow. Players from long ago are again playing the game as we knew them. He is drawn to Canton, Ohio by a voice from the heavens. Why? Because It's Football Ray...

Must be an Election Year...

2008-04-17T22:38:00.000-04:00
Paraphrasing the late, great Hunter S. Thompson, the weird are turning pro. If Hunter were still alive, he would be reveling in the times we are living. The winds of change are blowing with a somewhat foul stench. It only happens about every four years, kind of like El Nino, only with a lot more hot air. The stock market is down. Unemployment is up. We are on the verge of the greatest credit crisis since the Great Depression. The price of gas has quadrupled since 2000 and oh yeah, we are at war. Congress has decided to take a look at one of the greatest problems that has plagued our society in the last decade, the BCS.

You may be asking why congress is taking on such a daunting task? The answers are simple and it is simply politics 101. First, find an easy target. Next, make sure it stirs up a lot of emotion. Make sure it grabs headlines nationally. Most importantly, make sure it does not effect our everyday lives. Make a grand spectacle of the investigation and in the end, do nothing about it. Those at the BCS Fortress of Ineptitude, do just that. Steroids in baseball are losing their luster in the media. Senator Arlen Specter's crusade against the NFL's handling of the New England Patriots Spygate scandle has garnered little attention. So now comes something that gets myself and many others riled up. That my friends, is the BCS.

Those of you, who have read my rants and writings on the BCS, know that I am no fan of the BCS. I, like most rational thinking college football fans, can never understand why there is not a real all inclusive playoff system in college football. The excuses from the powers that be, have been ground down to us over and over again. My favorite being the effect on the welfare of the student athlete, yet those kids playing in every other division that have playoffs, somehow do not matter. Another favorite of mine, is how they claim to be all inclusive, yet only about half of the schools have a guaranteed chance to play. In the end, we all know it comes down to money and only a few want to control it.

I, being the political junkie that I am, will enjoy this spectacle. Nothing makes for better fodder than watching some of the politicians acting like fans, while others will be acting like the prosecuting DA on Law and Order. This, my friends, is that civics lesson we slept through in school, coming alive before our very eyes. Who wouldn't want to watch Darth Vader, I mean Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney getting grilled in congress? I will admit he is no Fawn Hall, but him trying to grandstand against people who grandstand for a living, makes for great television. This could get bigger ratings than the Iran-Contra hearings.

So sit back. Pop up open a cold one. Bring your tailgate grill to our nation's capital and watch nothing get done. It must be an election year.

TTFN

Hello World...

2008-04-15T14:19:00.000-04:00
Just when you think everything is completely out of whack, life throws a hanging curveball that you take out of the yard. Yesterday I became the father to one of the most beautiul little boys to ever grace this earth. As I was sitting at my wife's head, I screamed, "Thank God!" at the top of my lungs, making the whole operating room jump. In retrospect, it was probably not the smartest decision, with my wife's and newborn's life laying in the balance. No matter what, I had a son.

When he goes under center for the first time for the gold and blue, he will know what to do. He'll know if the free safety starts heading to the line of scrimmage, he would know that the wide reciever would have single coverage and throw it deep. One day he'll tee it up at Amen corner and remember the choked up 7 iron chip off the fringe that Dad taught me and I have passed down to him. When he takes the mound for the Yankees, he'll remember the "junk" pitches his grandfather taught him, because he knows that he can't win on his fastball alone. One day he'll plug his gibson into that amp, as he goes onstage, for the first show in a week long run at the garden. He'll remember the first few chords I taught him years before. One day he'll step in front of that podium and remember the virtues his mother and I instilled in him, as he takes the oath of office.

Or just maybe, he ends being the best person he can be, no matter who or what he becomes. Welcome to the world Devon Patrick....

Note to Self..

2008-04-11T10:29:00.000-04:00

Just when my faith in college coaches had reached it's breaking point, something funny happened. Bill Self said no to T. Boone and his millions. Maybe they're are some that do it for more than the money. Maybe they are all not looking for the next payday. Maybe the foundation they have laid is stronger than you think. Maybe there are a few left that still hold to the ideals that we were all taught. Then again, he may have received a better deal...

This decision by Bill Self to stay at Kansas was shocking. Not only did he turn down an unbelievable payday, but more importantly he turned down a chance to go back to his alma mater. That is a strong pull. I know if AD Ed Pastilong at WVU ever called me, I would be on the first flight to Mo'town. By the way Eddie, I know you need a new Sports Information Director...cough, cough, wink, wink.

I guess the promises he made to those kids and their families actually mean something. If by chance, my kid was that 1/2% of kids who are gifted enough to earn a scholarship, I would want to know how committed that coach is to the program. How often do we see coaches jumping from school to school or to the pros? When this happens, the people hurt the most are the players. Forget about what the NCAA says. Most kids are committing to a coach. There are some who do it because they are a fan of the program. Some may be legacies, but for the most part, they are committing to a coach.

When that coach leaves, what are the options for the kids? They can stay with someone they don't know. They can leave and in my mind be punished by having to sit out a year. That is not fair, especially for kids going into their senior years. They did not make the decision for the coach to leave, why should they be punished for it? Yet again the NCAA is doing what it does best, nothing...

In the era of the rent-a-coach, it is refreshing to see a man who actually still lives by the ideals most of us hold important. Thanks for giving me a little faith Coach. One question, what the hell does the "Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk!" cheer mean anyway??????

TTFN

For the Glory...

2008-04-09T13:43:00.000-04:00

If the truth be told, I have been a life long Penn State fan. Yes I love my Mountaineers, but PSU will always have a special place in my heart. Yes I am a polygamist of college football fandom. I love two teams, well maybe the Gold and Blue a little more, but not by much. My father was a PSU alum and made me what I am today. I still remember going to games at Beaver Stadium with my dad. We would wake up at some ungodly time in the morning and make the five hour trek from our home in West Virginia for games. I dreamed of playing middle linebacker for Joe Pa, but speed, height and general lack of athletic ability quickly dashed this dream. So it was off to WVU for me and as they say, the rest is history.

372–125–3, 4 Undefeated Seasons, 2 National Titles, 2 Big Ten Titles, 1 Heisman Trophy Winner and an ice cream flavor named after him; these are the career records of one, Joseph Vincent Paterno, head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions. The records speak for themselves. His impact on the game is undeniable and the respect Paterno, has earned is unmatched. Now comes the hardest decision in all of Joe's long career. Many are asking, if the time has come, to hang up the black cleats? I decided to take a look at the last ten years of Joe's long career. Here is what I found.

Year Overall Big 10 League Bowl
1997 Penn State 9–3 6–2 T–2nd L 6–21 Citrus
1998 Penn State 9–3 5–3 5th W 26–14 Outback
1999 Penn State 10–3 5–3 T–4th W 24–0 Alamo
2000 Penn State 5–7 4–4 T–6th
2001 Penn State 5–6 4–4 T–4th
2002 Penn State 9–4 5–3 4th L 9–13 Capital One
2003 Penn State 3–9 1–7 T–9th
2004 Penn State 4–7 2–6 9th
2005 Penn State 11–1 7–1 T–1st W 26–23 Orange
2006 Penn State 9–4 5–3 T–4th W 20–10 Outback
2007 Penn State 9–4 4–4 T–5th W 24-17 Alamo

The numbers weren't great, but they weren't as bad as many have stated. The rules have changed. During Penn State's great years of the 1970's and 1980's there were no scholarship limits. In a talent rich state like Pennsylvania, Joe was able to bring in pretty much whomever he wanted. Now a school can only have 85 kids on scholarship. A former Don Nehlen assistant at WVU stated that in the early eighties whenever they went head to head with Penn State on a recruit, they lost. The kid would always pick PSU. The record from 1977 to 1987 bears this out.

1977 Penn State 11–1–0 W 42–30 Fiesta
1978 Penn State 11–1–0 L 7–14 Sugar
1979 Penn State 8–4–0 W 9–6 Liberty
1980 Penn State 10–2–0 W 31–19 Fiesta
1981 Penn State 10–2–0 W 26–10 Fiesta
1982 Penn State 11–1–0 W 27–23 Sugar*
1983 Penn State 8–4–1 W 13–10 Aloha
1984 Penn State 6–5–0
1985 Penn State 11–1–0 L 10–25 Orange
1986 Penn State 12–0–0 W 14–10 Fiesta*
1987 Penn State 8–4–0 L 10–35 Citrus
*Denotes National Title

As well the talent rich area of Western Pennsylvania is not what it once was. Factories have shut down. People have moved to the sunshine states and other places. The talent pool is not what it once was. The demographics have changed, but Paterno has not.

This is my cause for concern, with the change in rules and now technology, the times have changed. I'm fearful that this is Joe's Waterloo. In an article recently, it was stated that Joe only made one recruiting trip last year. I doubt he has spent any time on the recruiting websites that seem to be everywhere. The days of living by your name as a program are numbered. You need to be out there. I'm not sure if Joe can do that anymore. It was also brought up that he works from home more. Have you ever noticed that Joe does not wear a headset on the sidelines? So it seems that Joe may be the figurehead now. That is fine as long as you have competent coaches underneath you. Joe has that.

Where do we go from here? I'm not ready to ask Joe to step aside. He has earned the right to go out how he wants. I think for the good of the program, however, a succession plan needs to be put in place. It has worked at Wisconsin. Purdue and Kentucky just recently did the same. Recruiting is a dirty game and recruiters will use the uncertainty at Penn State to their advantage. All I'm asking is that Joe does the right thing like he always has for the glory of old state...

Phil Knight is Watching You....

2008-04-08T11:44:00.000-04:00
As I was saying about the growing influence of donors in Division One...

Beware...Beware...Beware...

The Voice

2008-04-07T09:14:00.000-04:00

In an era where stadium names change with the stock market, an idea has sprung up on the internet that is long overdue. An online petition has been started to name the press box at Mountaineer Field at West Virginia University after Jack Fleming, former long time announcer for West Virginia and the Pittsburgh Steelers. For those of us that grew up listening to Jack, I could think of no better way to honor "The Voice". Growing up in West Virgnia, there were certain things you could always count on; Friday night high school football, pepperoni rolls, skipping school the first day of deer season and Jack Fleming. This is what we knew. This is how we lived.

In 2001, when I heard that Jack had passed away, I felt I had lost something. I felt that I had lost a part of my childhood. I remember cutting wood with my father somewhere out in the middle of nowhere in the woods. My dad to this day calls it, "firewood aerobics". I, however, knew it at as some form of cruel and unusual punishment. It could be why, he is one of the healthiest people I know. Anyway, we had this big old brown Chevy truck, that had various dents from firewood misthrows and mishaps. Just like Jack, though, the truck was something you could always count on. We would roll down the windows and put Jack and his infamous sidekicks on the radio. There was Woody O'hara for the WVU games and Myron Cope for the Steeler games. Both of their color announcing styles were always in stark contrast to Jack's straight play by play call. Somehow they worked perfectly together. Woody would always be on the guys in the stripes, while Myron couldn't have been a more of a "homer" announcer. In 1997, Jack was asked to cut back on play by play duties and my dad sold the truck.

Now the time has come for us to honor the man that meant so much to so many. Instead of naming the press box after some alumni who can give a large donation, it's time we name it after a man who gave so much. No amount of money could ever amount to what Jack meant to, not only West Virginians, but football fans as a whole.

Don't Trust Anyone over 40

2008-04-04T09:28:00.000-04:00
Back in the sixties, they used to say don't trust anyone over thirty. Well since I am now entering my soon to be thirty third year on this planet, I have decided to change the rules a bit. Thirty is the new twenty, right? At least that's what my wife's Glamour magazine in the bathroom reading section is telling me. Before anyone says anything, most of you would read the label on toothpaste, if given the chance while sitting on the throne. Beggars can't be choosers.

I was listening to one of the sports' radio show talking heads yesterday. They were talking about soccer in America, or as the rest of the metric thinking world calls it, football. They were going on and on about how soccer will never take off in this country. They were talking about how it is a boring game where few points are scored. They said that it would never be on par with the big time pro sports over here. These arguments have been rehashed and drowned down to us for years, by those who aren't paying attention and usually by someone over the age of forty. You can guess that this talking head was born before 1968. The same arguments can be made about baseball, hockey, and hell even Nascar.

I grew up in a small town in Appalachia which is about as far removed from the mainstream of soccer fandom as you can get. My love for the game was brought to me by a Colombian exchange student named Dario Delgado who has became one of my dearest friends over the years since. We had no soccer in our town. It was nothing but the traditional American sports we all played, like football, basketball and baseball. Soccer wasn't even a thought in our minds. One day I saw Dario walking down the hallway. He was kicking a soccer ball in the air as he was walking and not letting hit the ground. It was an amazing trick. I walked over towards him. He kicked the ball to me and I sent it right back. He sent it back to me and I to him. It came almost naturally to me. This went on for a few minutes. We didn't notice, that a crowd of my friends had gathered around us watching us do this. A teacher came up and stopped us and said that we needed to take it outside. Something happened. I was hooked. All that year, whether it be at lunch, before school, or after school, we played soccer or some sort of game involving a soccer ball. Dario could barely speak English and I could barely speak Spanish, but we both spoke the game of soccer. By the end of that year, we both could speak each other's language making us both bilingual.

As time went on, more kids joined us. We soon would have enough for pick up games. We used anything we could for goals. It was never really organized. I don't remember who won or lost. I don't remember who had the most goals. All I remember is just playing. It was pure, just kids playing a game. For the next few years, we tried to get a team started. The football coach blocked us because he thought he would lose too many players. He was over forty. We talked to the head of the park system about a rec team. He said they didn't see a need for it. He was over forty too. So it was pickup games for us. When I went to college, I played intramurals both outdoor and indoor. Through it all, I never lost touch with my friend in Colombia.

During this time, a funny thing happened. America had the world cup. Soccer had begun to take hold. My town that had no interest in a rec league, soon had one. The high school had a team. The sport had begun to take off. I talked to a friend of mine a while ago back in my hometown. She said that the soccer program was by far the most popular sport for the kids. They now have as many kids in the soccer program as they do in all the other programs combined. This is just not in Appalachia, this is everywhere. In the US, soccer is by far the number one sport played by our youth.

From that World Cup in 1994, a new sustainable professional soccer league has begun to take hold. The MLS has learned its lessons from the NFL. It is by no coincidence either. One of the founders behind the league was the late great Lamar Hunt. Lamar was the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. He helped build the AFL that eventually led to the merger of the NFL. There was a salary cap, so they didn't repeat the mistakes of before by having one or two teams with all the talent. They started small and have grown every year since in both ratings and attendance. The latest gigantic leap, being the Beckham Rule, which basically means a team can have one "designated" player who's salary does not count against the cap. This is why David Beckham is now in LA.

Is MLS the best league in the world? No, but it is growing. Proof of this, is that by 2010, almost every team will have it's own soccer specific stadium. Not bad for a league that just started in 1994. The NFL has been around since the 1920's. The MLB has been around since the turn of the century. The NHL has been around since the days of Prohibition and the NBA has been around since World War II. It is very short sighted to bash a league that has been around since the 1990's.

It seems to me, the people who are bashing it, never played the sport and never had the chance to. It shows their age and I dare say ignorance. I ask, how many people remember soccer leagues growing up? I had none. There were few if any and mostly in the big cities. Now it is the number one sport played by our kids today. Our Men's national team is in the top ten in the world. The junior team made it the quarters of the junior world cup. Some of our best players are playing in some of the top professional leagues in the world. It seems the rest of the world seems to think we are a growing power. It's a shame that some of us here can't see it. As the cliche goes, sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. Don't trust anyone over forty...

TTFN

P.S. Let's go Chelsea. Go Blues....

The Arms Race Continues...

2008-04-02T11:01:00.001-04:00
A few short years ago, I wrote a column on burghsportsguys.com about the increasing arms race in college athletics. Then it was the football facility building boom that is still going on today. Now it has leapfrogged into other sports including men's basketball, women's basketball and some "olympic" sports. Olympic, meaning they bring in no money. It has fueled the hirings and firings of mercenary coaches all across this land. The latest hiring of Tom Crean at Indiana, the firing of Sean Sutton at Oklahoma State and the tumultous coaching changes this off season in football, has me wondering if we have reached the tipping point.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Indiana for all it's glory has not been the same since one Myles Brand was the president of the school. He's the guy that fired Bobby Knight. He got rewarded for such a move, by than being named the president of the NCAA. Only in America, can you screw up that bad and get rewarded for it. The Hoosiers have never been the same since. Mike Davis was ran out of town, well, because he wasn't Bobby Knight. Calvin Sampson was hired and fired because he just couldn't put down the phone. My wife has the same problem.

Indiana now has turned to Marquette's Tom Crean to lead the Hoosiers back to the promised land. Let me get this out of the way. I think it was a great hire by Indiana. My problem is with this mercenary way that big time college coaches view their jobs. You see, Marquette had rewarded Coach Crean with a new, very large contract just last July. It made him one of the highest paid coaches in all of college basketball at around $ 1.65 Million per year. I understand looking around for a better job, if you're unhappy. Don't sign a contract that you will bail on, only eight months later. These schools make significant investments into the programs. The largest expense is no longer the up keep of facilities, it is quite often the coach's salary, especially at a place like Marquette. There is no more loyalty. I wish Tom and his wife Joani (the sister of one, Jim Harbaugh) all the luck in the world. I just would never trust to send my kid to a guy looking for a bigger and better opportunity. Somewhere up there Coach Al is shaking his head in disbelief.

Yesterday, as well, Sean Sutton was fired...cough, cough, uh..I mean resigned from Oklahoma State. To understand this, you have to meet a man named T. Boone Pickens. Well, he is a very wealthy man who loves his alma mater very much. So much so, that he gave them the single largest donation to any university's athletic program to the tune of something like $ 265 Million. Now that, my friends is a lot of dough. They are building some of the finest facilities in the nation. Yet again the arms race continues.

Unlike most, I too think it was a good move to rid themselves of Sutton, even if it was a little early. I knew it was over for him when he said that he would begin to talk to other coaches about how they run their programs. Maybe you should have done that from the start, Coach. My problem with this, is that it was not done by the AD or the school's president, even if a press release says it was their call. Make no mistake about it, T. Boone made the call. He wants nothing but the best for his school, and will make a run at a big named coach, most notably OSU alumnus and current Kansas Head Coach, Bill Self.

Nothing good happens when the boosters take complete control of an athletic department. It is like we are forgetting the past. I guess nobody learned from what happened at Auburn in the early nineties, Alabama just a few years back, and practically the whole South West Conference in the late seventies and eighties. It is happening because of this arms race, because of the money being thrown around. To keep up with the Jones' the big time schools are letting the boosters have more and more say on how the sports programs are ran. It is not just Oklahoma State, it is everywhere in Division one and most notably, the BCS schools. We have reached a point that there needs to be some reigning in. The problem is nothing will happen, because there is too much money involved. The good thing, it gives me something to rant about on this blog.
TTFN

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