Hump Day Help

I don’t want things to get awkward between us. I know, I only write when I’m “in the mood,” but it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate what we have here. It’s a good thing. When you need me, I just throw it down, and when I need you, well, I feel like you’re always there for me. Readers, that is. I’m talking about my readers. I know I’ve been off the reservation for a minute, but now that the two job schedule is more complete, you can expect a hail storm of activity on the blog. No, I don’t really believe that, either, but it sounded like the right thing to say. Let’s get it started….

Hard to really start with anything other than the Heat. In case you’ve been travelling Europe by train with no digital connection to the world, thus being unable to read my blog posts, you know I hate the Heat. Not quite to Laker status, but close as you can get. I don’t hate Lebron, Dwayne Wade, Udonis Haslem or Mike Bibby(Chris Bosh was left off for a reason), but I feel like they did something to the NBA that just feels wrong. Sports is about winning to a degree, but really, the good feelings that come from winning are more about the overcoming of obstacles, triumph, bonding together with your team, and even the immortal “Nobody believed in us but the guys in this locker room!!!” response than they are about hoisting the trophy, sporting a fatty ring, and poppin champagne. I feel like what Lebron, D Wade, and Bosh did was worse in a way than using steroids, like they worked the system so they could be lazy and still win a championship, all while having a good ole time in Miami. Athletics was one of the few places where I wanted it to be hard, where I wanted it to kill me day after day, and see how much better I got, not just ride the coattails of the good players around me. Its like hooking up with a porn star because she’s too coked out to realize what she is doing. Okay, that’s a bad example, but you get my point. When the Heat win, my prevalent thought will be, “You didn’t earn this, you just ruined the NBA more so you could claim to be a champion,” and it will be a very sad day indeed for those of us who love the game for all the right reasons.

Don’t blame Jim Tressel for what is happening at Ohio State. He absolutely needs to be blamed for his cover up, and although his vest currently is covered in the stink of hypocrisy, the mess with athletes accepting benefits and boosters and yada, yada, yada is not his fault. If you don’t know who Jim Delaney is, consider him to be America’s Most Wanted in regards to ridding ourselves of the BCS. He is the mythical head of the non-existent BCS corporation, basically a tower of paperwork created by the big six conferences to keep money in their pockets and out of everyone elses. Delaney has admitted multiple times that a playoff could generate almost $1 billion more in revenue for the NCAA, more than enough money to solve the problem of paying players, budget shortfalls for smaller schools, etc, and refuses to do anything about it. People argue against a playoff by using this years’ Butler v. UConn basketball game as the reason why you should let computers pick, but I have boxers with more holes in them. (Don’t think too hard on that one.) One, Butler and UConn making the championship game is a reflection of the selection committee doing a poor job of seeding teams. Those who point to this years’ BCS National Championship as proof the system works are neglecting a terrific team in TCU that without a doubt deserved a chance to be National Championship contenders. If you think for one minute that Cam Newton could have outsmarted the Tank Carder-led TCU defense, you need to watch Jon Gruden’s QB camp where he essentially makes Newton look like a well-dressed moron. TCU could have beat them 8 times out of ten. Book it. I’ve never been so sure. Yet, we’ll never know because the BCS didn’t think TCU was good enough. Need even more evidence? With the BCS (not the NCAA mind you) vacating USC’s championship from 2004, arguments are popping up to award that to someone else. Some people think Auburn, being the highest-ranked undefeated deserves it, some feel Oklahoma, because they played in the championship game, and of course Utah has a legitimate case as well, but if there had been a playoff that year, the re-awarding of the National Championship would be easy. Believe me when I say, more violations will come out against EVERYONE. The rules are just too stupid and restrictive to be completely obeyed. Remember, The University of Utah Basketball Program was penalized because Coach Majerus served cookies at film sessions and bought Keith Van Horn breakfast the night his father passed away. And you thought the IRS was a bunch of sticklers….

One of my favorite recommendations on my “Who To Follow” list for Twitter is Darren Rovell, CNN’s Sports/Business reporter, and one of the segments he does on Twitter is the empty stadium seating for baseball. Some of the emptiness is not surprising, but one that really shocked me was seeing how empty Cleveland’s stadium was, despite the Indians being in first place. You would think that the city of Cleveland would be clamoring to jump on some kind of sports success, and the empty seats caused me to pause and think...What is going on with Baseball? Our national pastime has long been in the shadow of the NBA and NFL, especially during the first part of summer when the Finals is happening, but this year seems especially slow, and I think the primary reason is this; Baseball lacks a storyline. When the primary drama in your league is who will own the Dodgers at the end of the season, there may be a problem. Last year it was the tremendous number of no hitters and perfect games coming about, in the Steroid Era it was chasing the Babe, and typically for me, I've found baseball is at its' best when someone, or something, emerges to grab my attention. I'll readily admit I'm not a huge baseball game, I want to be, I really do, but something needs to happen to distract me from all the other sports going on right now, especially.....

NHL! NHL! NHL! Having recently jumped on the Hockey wagon by selecting the Ducks of Anaheim as my team of choice, (Thanks Coach Bombay) this year's hockey playoffs have been a great distraction to the fact that the Jazz didn't make the playoffs. Although the Ducks weren't as Mighty as they have been in years past, I still enjoyed watching them scrap, despite not having proverbial brick wall Goalie Jonas Hiller for most of the season and playoffs, and being led by 40-year old "phenom" Teemu Selanne, it was a great way to start liking hockey, and the playoffs so far have not disappointed. I have no idea what strategies are taking place, why the goalie for the Bruins stopped playing basketball, or how you manage to get twins on the same team, but when a dude bites another guy's finger, and the next game the other team shoves their fingers in the offending team's faces, asking them to bite them, something is going well in your sport. Hockey isn't classy, gentlemanly, or steeped in tradition and constantly aware of it's history, simply, Hockey is fun, Hockey is badass, and you can officially count me as a fan. Eat that, Soccer.