Random Thoughts From the Road

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...