I was just sitting down reading a story from a web-site yesterday only to find that there was somone in Ohio who wanted to ban all star games.  Normally I don't react to what somone is saying, but this really bugged the hell out of me.

Here is the link to the article if anyone wants to see for themselves.  In this article he is talking about kids younger than 10 years old.

If you dont have time to read it, let me give you the coles notes version.  Bascially what is being said is that the writer of the letter wants to ban the all-star game because it shatters a person self-confidence and can bruise the kids ego. 

Then he compares it to school and says that if a kid is learning numbers and letters quicker, do we call then "special" or "gifted".  Then he compared the all-star game to taking a vegetarian to a fancy steakhouse and or a person on a strick diet to a buffet.

Next he says all these games do is reward the kids who have developed quicker, then he got rediculous and said that all-star games with children at a young age can lead to injuries with extra games and practices.  I'll use a direct quote and he says "They take a toll on young bodies and lead to an avalanche of overuse injuries."

Then he goes on from there talking about how you should take a stand and help in the fight to ban all-star games in general, or something along those lines.

I don't know what to say after something like this.  This was written by the guy who wanted the great institution of the "Participant" trophy installed at every youth sports league in North America.  Whenever someone wants their child not to feel upset by belittleing other accomplishment bugs me to no end.

This letter was probably written by a parent who thinks their son or daughter when they are signed up for sports is going on to better things even though they can't tie their own shoes yet.  Then when their child got passed over for an all-star team, they are just so upset and they use the old addage of if I can't have it no one can.

Then he proceeds to damage his stance on the issue further saying that it can lead to a bruised ego when a child is passed over for an all-star team.  If your kids who is younger than 10 years old knows what an all-star team is unless he is watching the peofessionals, you have missed the point.  A 10 year old isn't going to be drafted tomorrow so whether or not he makes an all-star team should be irrelevant.

Next we have the overuse injuries comment.  You know what else provides overuse injuries to kids, playing video games for hours on end and eating bag after bag after bag of chips.  That also adds to the kids being severely overweight and less interested in sports. 

At least when kids are playing sports like baseball, basketball and football, they have a goal to strive for in being a great player, who is better -yes some kids are going to be better and it is not based solely on whether or not they have developed some are more skilled than others- than other players on their team.

Why should somones accomplishments be torn down to make other feel better about themselves?

I say that all-star teams are great because the ones who are passed over will try harder and they will try to become a better player.  Being dissappointed builds character in a person and isn't that more important in raising a productive member of society.  When kids get dissappointed at a young age, they learn how to persevere and get beyond road blocks.

If you don't teach a kid dissappointment at a young age what is going to happen when s/he hits middle age and goes off sulking when he didn't get a big account at the law firm s/he may work at.  It motivates them to become better at what they are doing and gets them working harder to achieve that goal.

Nobody celebrates mediocraty and by banning the all-star game, that is exactly what you are doing.  You saying that everyone is equal, which in many cases, like sports and life, they are not.  If you say to a kid that everyone gets a trophy for participating, the kid will be conditioned to think that way their entire life.

Listen to a lot of recruiting stories for big college programs.  Not everyone can go to USC, so when teams play USC, there is a little extra motivation to try and beat them to show them what the missed.  Ian Johnson, runningback at Boise State was passed over at UCLA, and has gone on to become one of the best runningbacks in college football.  What may have motivated him to this level, somone telling him he was not good enough.  Johnson was passed over on an all-star team and went on to great things in spite of his situation.

If you remove the all-star game you will be a lot more harm than good, by raising a nation of soft people, like the ones on American Idol who think they are excellent even though they are probably the worst on the planet, everyones great accomplishments will be downgraded and belittled to make everyone appear equal.  No one is equal or we would all be playing professionally.

I learned this concept when I was playing minor hockey and was passed over for an all-star team.  It motivated me to become a better player and then I kept moving up in levels.  When I got to my highgest level that gave me an incredible sense of accomplishment and I felt good about my self.

If there was no all-star game, maybe I wouldn't have gotten as high up as I did.  An All-Star game made me a better person, and I wasn't even apart of the game.  The team I was passed over for gave me motivation to get better, it taught me to peresevere and be a driven person and to work hard for everything I got.

By removing the All-Star game and start giving trophys to everyone, you create a culture of entitlement and then when somone doesn't receive a "good job" or an "atta boy" thats when it hurts the kids development.

When these people realize that they are hurting the kids rather than helping them, we will get a better kids and better professionals, because somone didn't say to them, "Congratulations Participant"

The upcoming EliteXC MMA event this Saturday will be the first time that Mixed Martial Arts will be broadcast on a major television network.  Maybe MMA has finally shaken itself of its old image and is now a main stream sport, rather than its life before the modern UFC when it was seen as a cult sport.

This sport has come a long way from its days of allowing eye-gouging and shots to the business.

Since the sport was first introduced, it was shunned by all major media people, and it was attempted to be shut down by a current presidential candidate.  But now with the regulation of the events, how the fighters represent themselves and the sport, and grass roots shows like Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter how could this sport not be considered with the stick and ball sports of Football, Baseball, Hockey and Basketball.

Even respected sports networks like Sportsnet in Canada and a certain four letter word, lets call them PSEN, have had spots on television dedicated to this sport.  Sportsnet even employs thier own MMA talking head.  Not to mention most sports websites now have entire pages dedicated to the covering of not only the large events like the UFC, but also others like WEC, MFC and EliteXC.

Now  politicians are trying to influence these young viewers of these events, as evidenced by the commercial during TUF last night where various UFC stars are encouraging people to vote.  People who once poo pooed the sport, are now trying to take advantage of its popularity.

But even with the popularity of MMA, people still see it as they did when Royce Gracie was breaking people's arm.  They refuse to take a look at this sport now and see how far it has come.  But, then you can't influence how people perceive thier sport when thier mind is already made up.

With the first MMA event being put on "free" TV, Maybe MMA has finally arrived.

This is the best time of the year.  Well, almost.

The NCAA tournament is wrapping up tonight after a great run that will actually produce a pure champion.  I love seeing the Cinderella stories every year, but when you get the best four teams playing in one city over three days, I do a little ####.

I couldn't believe that Kansas and Memphis screwed my bracket and forced me into second behind my friend who doesn't know how to spell UCLA or UNC.  Gotta love college basketball, but is digress.

Every team this past weekend would have run Davidson out of the gym and steamrolled them, just like Geroge Mason a few years ago.  Kansas vs Memphis will be awesome to watch and we will get a true champion.  Ummm, Hello! BCS are we paying attention?

Baseball season is just getting underway, and I could not be happier for a couple of months.  I love baseball, in April and May and in September and October.  In June, July (except for the All-Star Game) and August, I find baseball boring.

Nothing against baseball, but those Orioles vs Rays or Pirates vs Giants just don't get me to the TV.  I love the great teams, and will make time for Yankees vs Red Sox, but that pretty much it.

The NHL playoffs are begining this Wednesday and this is the most excited I have been for the hockey playoffs since the lockout. With the down to the wire races for a playoff push with the Capitals winning their division, and also having Sid the Kid and Ovechkin finally in the playoffs together, I will make time to watch as much playoff hockey as possible.

Who could forget the Masters is coming up this weekend.  I don't watch as much golf as my family does, but when you get great story lines and great scenery, watching four golf events a year, I enjoy this one the most because it means a lot of things are happening.  what I mentioned above, a couple of other things.

NFL pro days are complete and now we are just counting down the days until the Dolphins are no longer on the clock.  I love listening to draft talk up to and including draft day, it makes me pine for the best time of the year.

Finally, the NBA has drawn me in as a fan.  I actually watched NBA games this past season after the Big Diesel becamse the Big Cactus and the West became more stacked than Keeley Hazell.  I had fallen out of love with the NBA, but the Celtics this season and the Suns playing the best defense is a good offense.  Finally scoring in the NBA brought me back and is getting me interested.

This time of year to me is not the best time, but second ain't terrible.

With the Ottawa Senators chances of missing the playoffs reaching an all time high this year, I think for a good laugh, lets look at theirs and some other epic collapses in all of pro sports.

2007-2008 Ottawa Senators
After starting the season with a 13-1 record, and looking like a shoein to make the Stanley Cup finals, and maybe win the entire thing.  But then the Sens ate some bad fish when out on a road trip and started choking.  The Sens have been on a nose dive ever since the All-Star break, and they may not have a chance to pull out before they hit the ground.

2007 New York Mets
With a 7 game lead, with less than a month to go in the season, the Mets were playing with their family cat and swallowed a fur ball and began to choke.  With as good as the Mets were last year, they still couldn't close the deal.  Not only did they lose the division to the Phillies, they missed the playoffs all together.

2006 Boston Red Sox
What happened?  Two years off of winning their first World Series in 86 years, all I remember from this season is what is known as the Boston Massacre.  The Red Sox had a lead in the division, then came August 18.  The Sox had a four game scheduled series with the Yankees, that turned into five game series because of a rain out.  The Yankees went on to lose all five games to the Yankees and then lose the division, and finish in third place.  The Yankees are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook.

1978 Boston Red Sox
The original Boston Massacre.  most Red Sox fans will remember this for Bucky Dent.  With a 14 and a half game lead on July 19, the Red Sox proceeded to break their fans hearts when the coughed up seventeen games losing the division by 3 and a half games.  Yankees outfielder, Reggie Jackson said after the season, "We played great, but we didn't win it. They lost it. If they'd played .500 the last half of the season, we'd never have caught them".

1978 Washington Redskins
The beginning of the season looked promising with 6 straight wins.  But then the the 'Skins had a drink go down the wrong tube, choked and finished 8-8, with 5 straight loses.

1942 Detroit Red Wings
The original team to lose a seven game series after leading 3-0.  While leading in the deciding game in the Stanley Cup finals, 1-0, they lost the game in 10 miniutes by letting the Toronto Maple Leafs socre three unanswered goals.

Jean Van de Velde, 1999 British Open
Who could forget Jean Van de Velde hitting the ball into the water at Carnoustie in 1999.  Then after rinsing his ball, Van de Velde decided to get a little wet himself.  Van de Velde turned his golf pants into flood pants and waded into the creek and proceeded to attempt the heimlich maneuver.  He was unsuccessful.

Greg Norman, 1996 Masters
Bogey. Bogey. Bogey. Double bogey.  That sounds like a guy at your local dog track executive course, not a professional at Augusta.  This was the greatest choke job in golf history, until a monsieur Van de Velde got wet at Carnoustie.

But here is the gold medalist...........

2004 New York Yankees
This one is pretty simple because it made history that had not been made in 86 years.  After the Yankees took a 3 game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, the Sawx "kept the faith" and fought back in three great games to only destroy Yankees in the final game.  Then the Sawx lucked out in the World Series to let Bill Buckner rest easy.

Let me know any others you can think of.

Not many topics deserveing of a full post today, so here is a little of everything:

1. I am really looking forward to watching March Madness in the coming weeks, and who isn't.  I think traditional powers like UCLA and North Carolina (If Ty Lawson is healthy) will do well in the tournament, but other traditionaol powers like Duke will not do well in the tournament.  Duke has no inside presence and when you live and die the three pointer, sooner or later shots stop dropping.  Also, Memphis is not going far in the tournament is because when people keep fouling you and you can't cash in on free points, you will lose games.
2. I think that the NHL has never been more fun after watching the game between Pittsburgh and Washington on Sunday, and seeing two of the best young players in the game battleing it out.  The charismatic, yet non-english speaking Alexander Ovechkin and the monotone but energizer bunny attitude of Sidney Crosby, make me believe that I am watching a battle of of the titans similar to the Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson level.
3. When you start spring practice for college in late winter and you get more than 50,000 people to a spring game, it kind makes me think that there is two seasons in the sports world, football season and waiting/preparing for football season.
4. With watching Shaq go flying into someones lap in the third row of sunday's Los Suns vs Spurs, maybe aside from a disclaimer they should offer you insurance to prevent injury from 300+ lbs. objects flying into the stands.
5. I think humiliating bets having to do with sporting events, are absolutely a part of the fabric that is sports gambling.  From the Chicago Bears fan who had to change his name Peyton Manning, or what is happening on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning".
6. I think the people bashing MMA and saying it is a barbaric sport and should be outlawed like AOL Sports Columnist Kevin Blackistone, the article here, need to wake up and look at the most popular sport in North America, football.  Look at the statistics and then come talk to me.  This is the equivalent of that old guy yelling at kids to get off his lawn or when Brett Favre didn't want to learn a new offense.  Old crotchity sports writers like Blackistone and Chicago Sun-Times Columnist Jay Marriotti should re-evaluate how they perceive the sport.
7. I think MLB Spring Training stories like a pitcher struggling or a hitter having a good spring are blown way out of proportion.  IT IS SPRING PEOPLE!!!  Many MLB hitters right now are facing Single "A" pitchers and kids just out of high school, wait until April first rolls around, then tell me a hitter or pitcher is struggling.

Tell me what you think.

According to Harris Interactive, when 100 million people watch the game, people tend to notice.

Harris Interactive released a poll on Feb. 5 about Americas favourite sport.  A link to the poll is here.  The only people surveyed in this entire survey are Americans.  Some of you may surprised at the number 5 entry, because I know I was:

1. Pro Football (DUH!!!!)
2. Major League Baseball (I thought it would be number 3)
3. College Football (Thought it would be number 2 if not number 1)
4. Auto Racing (NASCAR's marketing make it viable)
5. Hockey (WHAAAAAA!!!!)

Number 5 really surprised me because I thought that most Americans cared more about about professional or college basketball which ranked which were 6 and 7 respectively.  Also, men's golf ranked 8.  Another thing that shocked me was that bowling at number 11 beat boxing at number 14.

They also mention the change in percentage of followers has risen in pro football, college football, auto racing and hockey.  Each rose 6%, 2%, 5% and 3% respectively.

What shocked me was that even though baseball has recorded record revenue, they dropped 8% and pro and college basketball each dropped 2%.

This poll is only measured a certain number of Americans, this isn't a concensus of the general population.

What do you think?