Let's start there. The 20-20 TD club? An interesting stat. Like knowing the ratio of pigeons to statues in New York City. But what does it tell you? Does it put Tebow up there with the best ever? While we're at it, is the Heisman trophy even relevant? Here's your four heroes, pick whichever one the hype machines paint the nicest golden shade. Don't worry if you guess wrong, there are better players not on the dance card.
The bowl games are coming up. Ohio State and LSU. Where's Georgia?
Where's USC? Where's the game that will settle it all. Not getting
one of those this year. And how about Les Miles? He seemed awful fond
of Michigan's maize and blue, but somehow managed to develop an
affinity to LSU's green along the way. What about a nice punch in the
mouth to any coach who uses the word "kids" in a sentence?
Sports is getting more and more like Christmas. There's just so much of it. Inescapable, commercialized beyond reason, and everyone says you're supposed to be excited. "Honey , does it blow your mind that the prophets would lie." Rodney Crowell got it right.
Another day another multi-million dollar football coach who may or may not ever win anything. A new $100 million stadium renovation plan at Rutgers, while they cut $114 million from the academic budget and eliminate six sports that real students take part in.
More athletes arrested, but that's a given. Would be a headline story if a day went by and none were downtown getting the free profile photo pack.
So you turn on the news and there is Barry Bonds. The best hitter since Ted Williams walking into court surrounded by the best defense team money can buy, sporting a reputation money can't fix.
Some 17 year old trigger man wants to make a deal after shooting down Sean Taylor in his home. Pathetic. Sad. Disgusting. Meanwhile, what to think? One day everybody talks about Taylor's murder as a byproduct of his lifestyle. The next day all and sundry moralize about a rush to judgement. Then the NFL does what it does, and turns death into a United Way commercial version of life, complete with missing man formation. Everything and nothing was true. None of it really much matters.
Someone is throwing down a dunk on TV. Down by 20, but keeping track of the style points. A muscle bound layup. And we clap because we're supposed to, and we watch because there is nothing else on, and then we hit the mall to buy $120 sneakers that cost $17 to produce. Could be worse, we could be scraping by in Southeast Asia making shoes. Or we could be the last American shoe maker, if one exits.
A little light reading is good this time of year. The Mitchell report will come out Thursday. Owners will try to act suprised and morally outraged when the players they managed not to see juicing are named in black and white. Maybe Bonds won't look so bad when so many other big names don't look so good.
Todd Bertuzzi is back skating after a concussion. Steve Moore, the guy who he attacked from behind and severely injured a few years back, is out of hockey. The lawyers have been playing tether ball with it for two years. Now there is testimony it all happened because Bertuzzi's coach wrote on a locker room black board that Moore should "pay a price". Hope Moore got a receipt with "paid in full" marked on it.
And so we stagger on. Through the winter meetings, through bowls, through the Super Bowl. Maybe we'll get what we want for Christmas. The Cowboys inflicting rough justice on the Patriots for various sins, real or imagined. Then again, the way this year is going it will probably be the Seahawks and Jaguars.
What we need is something new. Something or someone exciting. A new Joe Namath, a new Michael Jordan, a new Larry Bird, a new Bobby Orr, a new Willie Mays, a new Dale Earnhardt, a new Jack Nicklaus. A return to the Monsters of Midway, Notre Dame football, the Canadiens racing down the ice 3 on 2, a great baseball team not assembled, bought, and paid for by the highest bidder. A John Wooden, Jim Valvano, Tom Landry, Billy Martin, or Bo Schembechler.
I thought I was the only cynic around here. If you like, you can take it into most of life's endeavors. Politics is always a real downer. The rest of the world's perception of us (U.S.), and so on. I used to be able to turn to sports to catch a break, not anymore. My gosh, they're signing junior high kids to letters of intent!
Try to put sports on a personal level... Go golfing or fishing. Shoot pool, something to break up the routine and get your head into something different.
You mentioned the Mitchell report coming out this Thursday. That oughta be the "next big thing". I'll be very curious to see if Roger Clemens name will be included. Another of my suspects was Bret Boone. I will be very curious if people who have vehemently denied any involvement will be named. Maybe the Barry Bonds witch hunt will calm down.
This is not new...As soon as the free agency eras started in all the major sports, this was the inevitable path it would take....If you don't like it, don't watch......Sport is supposed to give us escape from life's real problems. I think that's why we all react so much when real life invades the world of professional sports.
Another brilliant piece Dudski. I looked at it earlier but had to wait to really read it when I had no distractions.
There are a lot of nice guys around professional sports. I give you David Ortiz, Carl Crawford, Warrick Dunn and I'm sure a whole bunch more. But I don't know who they are because nobody reports on them or they prefer anonymity.
Dudski, as always very nice touch. As for Bonds, no matter what names are mentioned in the Mitchell report, he will be the one to take the heat. Only Clemens could divert attention for a day, but he will deny it and everyone will believe it. Sad, very sad.
Excellent piece. Like you, I cannot help the thought that sports was better before huge money became involved. College sports seems to be the last refuge away from the "best team money can buy" syndrome, but even that is getting too commercial. It's too bad the 1-AA playoff season is getting so little coverage; there's nothing like seeing a bunch of kids who, other than a tiny handful, probably won't play on Sundays play the game with joy and passion.
Sports can still be a great diversion from the real problems of life. I watched the most recent Super Bowl in a gym in Iraq with a couple hundred of closest friends, who were glad to get up at 0200 local time to watch the great American sporting event with a few former NFL types visiting from stateside. The halftime entertainment was a sumo wrestling match between the Brigade Command Sergeant Major and retired Steeler great Kevin Greene, won, of course, by the CSM. "Sumo suit: $40. Getting your #### kicked by Kevin Greene: priceless." Who needs aging rock singers? The thing that struck me is how someone like Greg Bickert, who has played with or against a whole lot of greats on the gridiron, made it a point to get around to shake the hands of even the out-of-shape Captain plucked out of the civilian world to work with the Iraqis on reconstruction. The guys playing the games know that there are more important things in life; it is too bad some of their fans haven't learned that lesson.
hey observation OK!!! the day after dennis dixon got hurt (the university of oregon QB)!! i took a stroll as i always do, up to the university of oregon campus, and wow i saw that no buildings had fallin down, noone was laying dead on the lawns on campus.... dispite we lost a football game and a QB to injury... my gladness is that dixon will be ok!!! i think we as sports nutts (and thats ok) are getting so wrapped up winning it gets stupid, yea i wanna win to as with everyone!!! but even though you win or lose!! that clock on the wall wont stop!! unless the electricty goes out or the battery runs out!!! life goes on!!!!!
Last edited by kellyscott on December 9th at 10:41 AM.
dudski,
i agree it is the winter of blah blah... like no excitement ... so let me make some up..Vikings win NFC championship game AD rushes for 300 yds and 4 td's...Celtics go unchallenged in the east and play da Lakers in the NBA finals... Kevin Mc hale scores 30 pts in old-toimers game at half-time Bird and Magic tell the world they are roomates...Oprah buys da Bulls makes Michael player coach ....hey Dudski I THINK ILL WRITE A BLOG ON DA SUBJECT ... KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.....
Like Ed, I really like your last sentence. That we are in a slump sportswise is true, but things will improve. The sports glass is half empty. It has to be, remember, I'm a Texans and Astros fan.
Great Job - I watch a NHL game yesterday and me being in London for the past 6 years. Somethings to rule changes I might be behind. Now 2 guys start fistting it out in Boston and the reffs wait till one gets drop and move in. While they go off the ice which I thought would be for the game, the TV camera shows a little boy maybe 10 years old waving his arms in the air.
I learn that they will only get time off the ice, and be able to come back into the game, and that they can get into up too 3 fights before they have to leave. Now two fans get into fist inside or outside and they will go to jail plus the media will say how bad of them to fight like that.
Money is the root to all evil in most cases. Sad world we live in.
GoPurple-That is a great story. I had not thought of Kevin Greene in awhile, but he was a fun player to watch. He was here in Carolina for a couple of seasons and everybody down here was crazy about him.
You're right about perspective, and your story says it better than I could. Thanks for the comment.
Onion-What do you think about the Tejeda trade rumors? Alot of people say he's old and would have to move to 3b, but I'm thinking that's far enough off to take the chance.
Forensic2-The fighting rules in hockey have changed. They have the "instigator" rule that is supposed to confine the fighting to the two parties involved in the initial incident. The problem is, that allows a goon to go out and find a smaller skills player and possibly injure him with impugnity.
SoCal-The good thing about the Mitchell report is that it will provide a sense of context to the arguement. RIght now people are responding mainly to Bonds, but I think what got Bonds started was his perception that his competitors (Sosa and McGwire) were getting his kind of results through chemistry.
BoSox61-If I could go get a single player and put him on the Astros roster it would be Carl Crawford. Crawford leading off with Berkman and Lee in the middle of the lineup would be a wonderful thing.
Join Netflix and rent some Die Hard movies, go to Starbucks and order a coffee flavored coffee, do the Sunday Times crossword, and stop watching the sports reporters or any sports related program that includes commentary by Mark May.
I for one, loved the season of the underdog. How boring is it when a team ranked #1 in preseason runs the table? How exciting is it when the #1 team in the country has to go to 3 OT's twice?
There were some great games this year and some new coaching legends being made before our eyes.
Hell, today's Cowboys game WAS the stuff of legend. Down by six with just over two minutes to go and deep in their own territory.
I leaned over to my wife and said, "THESE are the kind of drives we talk about forever."
Dudz...today, I realized the purest form of sport is the gun range! I t can't be faked.
No one f$Cks with the great shooter, like moi.
No cheating exists. Anyway, the hilight was the dude in the bears jacket. He said nothing till we left the range, then he thanked me(MN jersey for not ragging on Chicago) for remaining silent. Never f with a weapon holder. The GB fan came out and offered condolences for CHI not having a QB, too.
