Tomorrow is National Signing Day for all of you already-football-starved folks out there.  We have finally reached a time where football is so popular that people will latch on to something that is about as irrelevant as my top 25 most played list on my IPOD just because it's about football.  ESPN.com has an entire page dedicated to tomorrow's college football "event".  Don't be fooled folks, this is not an event.

We all (especially Arkansas fans like myself) remember the circus a month and a half ago surrounding Mitch Mustain's mother, along with two other highly touted freshmen's parents questioning the role of their children to Arkansas A.D. Frank Broyles.  Why was this a story you ask.  Tomorrow is the reason.  We give stardom away to college kids, even high school kids now because we are so determined to find the "next one".  Without this hype, Mustain and the others would be seen for what they are, spoiled, overhyped brats who are nothing more than a backup QB, blocking TE, and fast, no hands WR.  We can't enjoy the greatness that is Peyton Manning for one week without digging out Tom Lugginbill's rankings of the incoming freshman prospects to find out who will steal Manning's throne in 2015.  Let me tell you something folks, HE DOESN'T KNOW who will be great at the college level.  Even more, you don't know either!  You won't know until these kids play the game.

I'm so sick of hearing about these recruiting classes.  How many years did we hear about Texas's incoming class?  We heard all about it until they got beat by 50 in the Red River Shootout from about 1998-2004 (give or take a year or two).  Can we please give it a rest?  Can we please reserve news for. . . well. . .NEWS?  These are glorified children that are about to start playing a young man's game.  Some will be great, others will never be heard from again.

If you are interested in what happens tomorrow, I challenge you to do one thing.  Print off your little ESPN top 150 list and save it.  Four years from now, when you watch the NFL Draft (and you will because anyone who cares about signing day would absolutely treat the NFL Draft like Christmas morning) take out your list and see how it stacks up.  See how many people go in the first round.  See how many get drafted at all.  I guarentee that you will look at the list and say, "Boy, I really wasted a lot of time worrying about which school Noel Devine was going to attend."  You're right.  You did.  I'm trying to help you save that time.  You'd be much better off taking Martin Lawrence's advice and having a Coke and a smile.  It will last a lot longer.

As the days are marching on toward the opening of another brutally long, however exciting NBA season, the NBA preview/prediction blogs are coming out of the woodwork.  That's great.  Everybody loves predictions, and the best thing about them are, when you're wrong, no one remembers except for you.  They are risk-free.  However, please spare us, the reading public, the same boring information time after time after time.  So, I've gone to not-so great lengths to come up with just a few sets of criteria for you before you post an NBA preview.

Rule 1 - Whatever you decide to list, make it original.  If you think the Heat, Mavericks, Spurs, or Suns are going to win the NBA title, save it!  We can read these previews on ESPN, Fox Sports, the Sporting News, or countless other media outlets that hire better writers than you to make better points than you that come to the same boring conclusion.

Rule 2 - Don't tell us how good LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are.  We already know.  You can't give us a stat we haven't already heard, and even if you can, it won't change our opinion.  If you want to slurp someone, pick Kobe, Tim Duncan, or better yet Elton Brand or some other fresh face.  Yes, we've heard Kobe and T.D. before too, but its certainly not as played out.  We all watched the playoffs last year.  Wade and LeBron are good.  Next!

Rule 3 - If you picked the Dolphins to go to the Super Bowl, then don't bother trying to convince me that the Bulls are going to the Finals.  While its better than picking the Heat, not much.  The sheik pick isn't much more appealing than the defending champs.  Heaven help us when we've come to the point that talking about the Pistons would be a refreshing change. 

Rule 4 - Don't pick on the Knicks.  I know.  I know.  It's your favorite, not-so-secret little dirty, but it's over.  The Knicks are a dead story (but please still read my Knicks preview coming soon :-).  Starbury and Franchise have enough to worry about without some other amateur ripping them for the 728,458th time.  Please, give it a rest!

Rule 5 - If you're going to "break-down" the conferences, then BREAK THEM DOWN!  I don't want to read two sentences about how I should watch out for the Middle American Hornets because Chris Paul is better than the sophomore jinx.  I'd rather read one analysis about one team that teaches me something than a blurb about every team with information I could get from clicking on NBA.com. 

Rule 6 - Finally, have the bias of a fan, unless you're not.  The thing that seperates amateur bloggers from professional sportswriters is our (amateurs) unwillingness to give in to what we're "supposed to say" and lay it on the line like, dare I say, a fan.  We're fans for P.J. Carlisimo's sake!!  We say what we want.  If you think Steve Nash sucks, then say it (please provide some data to back up your claim, but in this day and age you can make stats say whatever you want).  Don't be afraid.  So what's the worst that can happen?  Steve Nash will win a third MVP and you look like an ####?  Relax and read my introduction.  Everyone will forget anyway. 

With that in mind, 

New York Knicks over the Memphis Grizzlies in 6 games!

MVP - One word. . . STARBURY

It seems that just about everyone complains about media bias.  Conservatives hate all of the major news media outlets because they are too liberal.  Liberals hate Fox News and talk radio because it is too conservative.  Moderates hate them both because both are too over-the-top for them.  Everyone agrees that there is media bias no matter what side of the political isle they are on.  However, why do the sports media get a pass?   Outrageous statements, foolish predictions, and pointless comparisons have become par for the course for the sports fan who is simply trying to keep up with the happenings in his/her favorite hobby.  The U.S. government knows that competition in our economy is good, and a company having a monopoly is bad for the consumer.  Knowing this, I wish someone, anyone, would step-up and challenge the “worldwide leader in sports”.  I’m so sick of that network I could scream.  However, what other choice do I have to keep up with the only hobby I’m truly passionate about, sports?  Every night, during that “news” program that they air at 6 p.m., I must watch a stupid top-ten list that I, nor anyone I've ever met, care anything about.  I have to listen to speculation about who had the best draft, who will pitch to Barry, and will Kobe score 60 points tonight.  I have to listen to Sean Salisbury talk about how foolish the Texans are to draft a defensive end over Reggie Bush.  Then, literally 45 seconds later, he is asked "what is the most important position on an NFL team other than QB", and he answers a pass-rushing defensive end.  Doesn’t anyone see how stupid these people are on this channel?  Sure they do, but what other choice do they have?  Earlier this week, the “worldwide leader” had a link to a story on their website that read, “Jeter is no Honus Wagner”.  Who cares?!?  Can we please just watch these guys play and not put them in a historical context?  Derek Jeter is in the prime of his career.  Why do we have to put him in the Hall of Fame already?  Let the man do his job.  Comparing players across generations is impossible.  Sure it’s fun to talk about with your friends, but I don’t want to read or hear about it when this program is supposed to be informing me.  If ESPN was a newspaper, the news would be on one page and rest would be a bunch of bloviating editorial garbage.  So please, someone, anyone, compete with these people.  Fox, CBS, NBC, or someone, give us an alternative.  We need it.  We want it.  If they can support five different channels, I’m sure you can support one.