Third String Quarterback

Tweeting back Sunday, revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 01:13:00 +0000

Everyweek of every NFL season I am disappointed by the lack of organization of NFL fans on twitter and the resulting lack of trending topics from NFL games. So let's get our hashtags straight and take over twitter.

We start with game tags. Each game has it's own tag so we know which game is being talked about the most. The format is easy, road team's 3 letter abbreviation followed by the home team's. The list for week 1:
#CINCLE
#ATLCHI
#BUFKC
#PHISTL
#DETTB
#TENJAX
#PITBAL
#INDHOU
#CARAZ
#MINSD
#SEASD
#NYGWSH

For game action we can use:
#NFL
#Cheerleader
#INT
#Fumble
#Holding
#TD
#Fumble
#Sack
#GusJohnsonBigPlayOragasm
#FG
#OT
#Overturned
#ReturnTD

All I want is for the game hashtags to become standard use, and for there to be at least one NFL game related trending topic. I think we can make this happen.

Thanks for reading,
-Pip

BCS Defender: Gloats

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:55:00 +0000

Yes, I am going to gloat. I am going to wallow in the joy that my argument is gaining traction and that the points I have been making are sound and rational.

It started with St Mary's, my new favorite college basketball team not named Duke.

"Go to BCS. Go to something where there's a standardized number how you figure out who's in, who's not," Bennett said

This warms my heart. Take that 10 people locked in a backroom with no accountability!

And then my local boys over at NESN start really looking at it seriously.

It may seem like a crazy suggestion, but wouldn't a BCS-like ranking system combining human and computer polls do the best job of seeding? The flaw with the BCS as it pertains to college football, generally, isn't how the system ranks the teams, but the fact that only the top two are included. The rankings, in truth, seem pretty fair, and -- most importantly -- we know how they work. They aren't the concoction of some "committee" evaluating the teams in a short period of time.

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding* We have a winner folks. The best and worst of both systems summed up in one short paragraph. The tide has turned, and I was sitting at the harbor waiting for everyone's thought processes to come to port. Welcome my friends. Now we can have some real honest discussions.

I am opposed any type of one style fits all system. Basketball, Football, and whatever else we may talk about, are different sports and should be looked at differently. Especially when you look at number of games in a season. But each system has it's strengths and weaknesses.

Maybe we see the NCAA tournament adopt a system where they pick the enterants, the #1 seeds, then a computer ranks the rest and they can swap schools around per the guidelines (up or down 1 seed, teams in same conference seperated, etc...). Computers and humans working together!

I'll say it again, because more people need to read it, One system is open, one is closed. One is accountable, one is not. One has all the information laid out, the other has backroom deals. Neither is perfect, but maybe people can start to accept that the BCS has it's validity and the NCAA Tournament is at least as flawed as any system.

BCS Defender: Selection Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 21:09:00 +0000

Imagine the tone of an article that described the quarters of the ten people who selected the BCS were sequestered in. The article itself would be in the shape of a pitchfork and it would come to you already on fire. But when describing the ten people that pick the NCAA tournament, it's all flattery and ass kissing.

So let's take a quick look at the BIOs of the ten people who get to decide the field for the NCAA tournament, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and with no accountability.

Moving back to the first link. Can you again imagine the outrage if we were told to accept that there is no bias, and that the committee member leaves the room when talking about their team begins, if we were dealing with the BCS instead of the Big Dance? Some crazed SEC fan would track down the hotel and call in a bomb threat. But for basketball, it's all cool, we are all jealous, and completely buy into the fact that the person gets up and leaves the room! I cry bullshit. There's no way they leave the room. None.

And look at the BIO's. All of these people are active AD's or conference comissioners, and we expect there to be no bias. Does Dan Beebe leave the room anytime a Big 12 team is mentioned? Can we get some recent retirees? A ref, a coach, a former player, people with a little distance, yet who still have relevant experience with the game. It gets better. That site, Bracketology, with all the up to date and current information, still has last year's committee listed. That's how much the Big Dance gets away with. Wikipedia has an updated list.

So say what you will about the BCS. But you have to admit that it's process is more open, more honest, and more accountable than the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Because if the BCS choose it's teams this way, someone important would end up getting shot. But for basketball it's ok to have 10 people behind closed doors and answerable to no one, pick the field. Complain about polls, complain about computers, but computer errors have been caught and corrected, and every coach has to answer for that last USA Today poll. Do these 10 people ever have to answer even one tough question about their choices? No, they don't even answer any questions.

And that is just the selection process. I did not even talk about this asinine 68 team field. They are giving an advantage to two 5 seeds to benefit ratings for a TV Network. So two of the #1 seeds get to play a team that's already played a game, and two #5 seeds get the same treatment. Please stop and think about that, and tell me that makes sense, never mind is anywhere near the word fair. The questions are: if a #5 seed deserves an advantage that 15 teams better than it did not get? and if a #5 seed is a legit title contender?

Why do people hate the BCS want college football to adopt a system like this? The BCS is not perfect, but it some very clear advantages to it.

Fixing the Bowl Games

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:34:00 +0000

One bad side effect of BCS hatred is that everyone blames every problem in college football on the BCS. The BCS has flaws, but college football has so many other problems that really would not at all be fixed with the implementation of a playoff.

I understand that the Bowls make too much money and they would not go away. They would become part of any playoff scenario. And maybe the lesser bowls team up to become an NIT, but I doubt that even the second and third tier Bowl games would go away.

That being said the Bowl system needs fixing right now. It cannot wait for a playoff, and once there is a playoff they will still need to be fixed.

1) Too Many Games. The Solution to this is several fold.
A) Change Bowl Eligibility to 7 wins in a 12 game schedule. If you go back to 10 or 11 games as part of a playoff (which I want to see if there is a playoff) then you can go back to 6 wins. But a team needs to be ABOVE .500 to be Bowl Eligible.

B) Trim the Bowls based upon a formula that mixes ticket sales, attendance, TV Ratings, and tradition. The Bowls that sell the most tickets, get the most of those ticket holders to show up, gets the most people to watch, and has the longest run in games played should stay. I am not sure what the equation would look like, and it could and would be tweaked over time, but these 4 factors are key. The rest should all be looked at for the chopping block. Did you see the Mineke Car Care Bowl this year? The endzone seats were empty. Your game is on Dec 31st and you can't sell endzone seats? Go away, you lose your bowl game. I hate seeing a bowl game on TV in an empty stadium. It reminds me of how useless this game is.

C) Take away the forced amount of tickets that schools have to buy. No team should pay to go to a Bowl. If your game is not self sufficient then you have a problem and it is not the school's fault your game sucks. And if it is the school's fault then maybe the previous fix will come into play and your bowl can die.

D) Go back to real bowl names. I don't want to watch the Chick-fil-A Bowl. I want to watch the Peach Bowl. Stick the sponsor in front, but the sponsor's name should not be the bowl name. If you can't come up with a cool name for your Bowl, then your bowl should not exist. Clever Bowl names are not difficult. The Motor City Bowl works, The Las Vegas Bowl works, the Hula Bowl. Simple, cheesy, lame, all are fine, just give us something real, because sponsors will change. Bowl games should have some sense of tradition, or make an honest attempt at establishing tradition. Having a real name gives us something.

2) TV / Scheduling
A) ESPN should not be allowed to broadcast more than 55% of Bowl games. If you can't find another broadcaster interested then your bowl can be discarded as well. But this is a real issue. The launching point of this rant was my discovery that every single Bowl game on New Year's Day 2011 is on an ESPN channel. EVERY FUCKING ONE. Holy crap, this flat out ruins the day. And due to rain I can't even watch the NHL's Winter Classic in protest to get my sports fix.

B)Only 1 BCS game and the National Championship game should be allowed to play after New Year's Day. Again, at l;east pretend that tradition is important. New Year's Day needs to be as loaded as humanly possible with Bowl Games, and if it is not going to be this way, then that will be the death of the Bowl system. Currently we have 3 BCS games after January 1st (including the NC), and 4 other games. The BCS is a total of 5 games. A majority of these need to be played on January 1st. 3 of 5. It really is that simple. The spreading out is ridiculous and only adds to the hate. The BCS needs all the help it can get and fixing this may seem small, but it will matter. In fact we have a Bowl game being played every day from now until Jan 10th except for January 2nd and January 5th. No Bowl outside the BCS is important enough, relevant enough, or has an intriguing enough match-up to justify playing after January 1st. January 1st should be College Football's version of the first day of March Madness. With so much action you cannot keep track of it all. Having 4, 5 or even 6 games going on simultaneously would be fantastic!

Although it impacts the BCS, these issues really are separate from the BCS/Playoff debate, and I hope are things we can all agree need to be and can be fixed.

Thanks for reading,
Enjoy the football,
-Pip

Monday Night Miracles '10 wk 5

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:59:00 +0000

It is time again to pray my Fantasy Football Brothers and Sisters. Pray for (or against) that miracle to grant you Fantasy Football victory this week.

I have 2 leagues up for grabs tonight.

In one I need Braylon Edwards to score less than 11 points. I am very concerned about this.

In the other I need the Vikings D and Brad Smith to score for me 1 single point. This is against a long-time fantasy sports rival and someone that witnessed the original Monday Night Miracle back in November of '04.

My wife is rooting against a combined 75 points from Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin and, LaDanian Tomlinson. While this is unlikely, it is possible enough to give thought to. She's playing a good friend of mine who's off serving our country in Kuwait. I hope she gets to make the brave soldier cry.

Share your hopes, your dreams, and your failures my brothers and sisters. Together we can survive Monday Night.

Last Fan Standing

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:01:00 +0000

I got New Mexico!!

Yeah I signed up, wrote a crazy ass piece for them, and I'm rooting for New Mexico. I got a really good seed. I cannot at all complain.

Quick back story. I signed up for a ton of this since Sunday night and one of them was this last fan standing thing. Basically I am competing to become CBS' next sports blogger. I got an email today at 2:30 telling me I had until 8 to register, upload a profile pic, write a profile, and a blog for the contest. Problem was that at 5:30 I could not log in. At 6 I got the email saying everything was ok and I was able to log in. So I had 2 hours to write a 500 blog entry.

No problem there. If you can't pound out 500 words in two hours about something you love, then you stop trying to write. The issue was that at 6 I had just gotten home with my step son, my wife had skipped her exercise class due to road flooding. So I had 2 hours to help the boy with his homework, while my wife Wii Fit in the same room as us, make dinner, AND wrote 500 words. I started this nice thing about how Syracuse's 2-3 zone is cheating. Got to 75 words, realized I was not on a roll and had to change topics.

So I reached deep into my madness and pulled out a listicle. Top 5 Esoteric Ways to Fill Out Your Brackets. Oh yeah. When New Mexico makes the sweet 16 and I get to write a second peice, people will be pissed. I honestly thought we were competing against each other. Oooops!

I'll have my brackets filled out tomorrow!

Happy March Madnessing!

Boston Beatdown: Options

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:36:00 +0000

Trade deadline time approaches for both the NBA and NHL. And with the Celtics and Bruins still struggling and dealing with lowered expectations, the rumors are flying. But, tell me the options!

Bend my ear
Twist my arm
Tell me the Options

They all suck. But, both teams benefit from standing pat.

For the B's, the price for Ilya was too high, and he was not the scorer they needed. And the scoring they need is not out there right now. They need to find it on their bench. They did last night with Paille stepping up early. And they did in Montreal a few nights earlier with McQuid's early goal. Come playoff time the first line gets matched up with the other teams best defensive line to shut them down. This puts pressure on teams to find other scorers. For the Bruins, that need is now, and thank goodness it is happening. This will payoff, I promise you. I say stand pat, do nothing. Play the bench, give them chances, and put the pressure on them. If you aren't going to mortgage your future, then show them why! Not trading them is a sign of faith, follow through and play them. Give them Shootout opportunities, give them Power Play chances. Open it up and go for broke. Leave it one the ice guys.

For the C's, they can buy almost anyone they want. They have such depth that they can dip into that well to get the player they feel they need. Couple issues on that scenario though. First is you need a 2 guard, because Ray Allen is still in John Stark mode. And he is very tradeable with his expiring contract. But the guy is money in the playoffs, and has hit several clutch shots for us this year, despite his prolonged slump. The best you could do is break even on an Allen trade, because he will turn it on in the playoffs. The other issue is that the Celtics will need their depth. Of their 6 man rotation, 4 of them are over 30, and even if you trade Allen, 3 of them will be. And if you trade Glenn Davis then your frontline gets very old, very fast. We've talked about Allen, but if we trade Davis we don't have the big man depth to cover an injury, or even a foul out. Sheldon Williams has been impressive when KG and Davis were both out, but I'd feel better with Davis. And lastly rumors have involved Eddie House as well. Again, we need a 2 guard, why trade a 2 guard? And he's played very well since Pierce's injury, especially with no Marquis Daniels. This team is too old to trade any of the depth. And dumping age won't give you the gains you need. Stand pat, get healthy, rest the geezers. The ring is not out of reach yet.

Lastly, the Patriots. They decided to let Belichick be the Defensive Co-ordinator. This is a huge mistake. Bill is already overloaded. The brain drain has killed this team more than anything else. What Belichick needs are older Co-ordinators who have zero interest in being a head coach (someone that's been there, done that, and sucked at it) to come in and stay put! Just like the Steelers had Dick Lebeau and the Colts had Tom Moore. Changing systems are the doom of any NFL team and that is exactly what the Pats have been going through since winning the 2004 Super Bowl. Belichick's genius, like that of many great leaders, is to surround himself with smart people who will challenge him. Then they hash out the ideas in heated, but respectful arguments, and come together and crush their foes. That formula wins, it always wins. And Bill needs that to get back to the top of the mountain. Having less advisors is a step in the wrong direction, for Bill and the team. Go get experienced help. And give Wilfork his money. Be cheap if you want, but offer him the same deal you'll give Brady. Because you know Brady will take less to win. Not because they are of equal value.

Weekly record:
B's 2-1-2
C's: 3-1

So much improved from that ugly January. Things aren't great but the time to turn around is now, so there is still hope.

Congrats to Boston College for winning their 15th Beanpot.

Truck Day is friday.

Boston Beatdown: This is Boston Not LA

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

I had originally planned on starting this with the new year, and using Refrigerator Heaven as a tie in with the winter Classic, but I'm about as consistent a blogger as the Bruins are a hockey team or the Celtics a basketball team.

Anyway welcome to the new Weekly Segment where I use a classic Boston Hardcore song to tell the tale of this week in Boston Sports. A wonderful blog-gag if, unlike the B's and C's, I execute it consistently.

HOLY SHIT! Two teams from LA come into Boston, make our boys their bitches and plant that giant A-hole LA flag in our Garden claiming it as their own. Green Card? no thanks we are in EAST LA! (Or hollywood east, anyway.)

Apparently LA really has it's own flag.

And that ugly thing sits in our faces as proof how bad this season of promise is going for both our winter Squads. Well you know what they say,

You dance the same and dress the same
Won't be long (till) you are the same
You look the same you act the same
There's nothing new and you're to blame

And thus sums up the play of the Bruins and the Celtics. Let me describe this past month. I put my stepson to bed at 9, and then turn on whichever team is playing only to watch them lose. The difference is that the B's had the decency to be down when I turned the game on, while the C's seem incapable of holding any lead, even double digits in the fourth quarter!

Of course both teams have trouble with scoring and of course both teams will be in the middle of trade rumors. The B's have a better chance of adding fire power at a decent price. The C's however have an issue, no one worth trading. KG would be worth trading but he's injured. RayRay is channeling his best John Stark, and that leaves Pierce and Rondo. Pierce is a nearly washed up swing man that isn't going to draw people to the stadium, help your team win, attract a big free agent, or last a full season before getting traded again as a 6th man to contender next year. And Rondo is your franchise right now. Without him this team goes no where near the playoffs. Red could pull off that magic trick and trade Pierce and a bench guy for someone good enough to get them over the top, then trade back for Pierce in a year or two as a sixth man. But Drunken Danny Ainge is not Red. I say sit KG until he's healthy and if that is not until next year, then we'll win or lose without him. Better to learn how to win without him now than come playoff time like last year.

For the Bruins it really is just a matter of being willing to do nothing at the trade deadline. Kovalchuk is out there, but the question is price, and Atlanta being dumb and not letting any potential suitor talk contract extension with him! A sign trade is worth much more to Atlanta than just a trade. I know the Bruins need scoring, badly, but like the Celtics injuries have murdered them this year. I'm not saying a healthy B's team is the best option, but it's better than nuking what's been built for a rental. I want Ilya, as much as any Bruins fan, and have no problems paying him. I just don't want to trade away the franchise and pay for him.

You look the same you play the same
Won't be long til you are the same
You hurt the same you lose the same
There's nothing new when scorings the game.

Put some points up on the board guys.

Let's keep the NFL and College Football different.

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:32:00 +0000

Please re-read the tile and then I will explain.

I do not want the NFL and College Football to be the same. They are fundamentally different games and to me that is beautiful. I do not want College Football to become the NFL's minor league. It would RUIN everything there is to love about the College game. That and I don't want the NFL to become a water-down kids version of the game.

We'll keep this down to two big issues, even though the examples of the line blurring are almost endless. Overtime and The Bowl Championship Series.

OT: The NFL has the purest form of Overtime in sports. It's rules have been in place, largely untouched, for over 50 years. And those who fear the Doomsday SuperBowl settled in Overtime forget that the very first Sudden Death Overtime in NFL history was in a Championship Game.

And College football has probably the most ridiculous and unjustifiable Overtime's there is. You know how much you hate the BCS? I hate college overtime 10x more than that. Honestly.

But I do not want College Football to adapt the NFL OT rules. It is not right for College. The rules should be different. I kind of like the Tie, but I know that is a dirty word, because most sports fans cannot handle something so complex. (OR they really do want to kiss their sister's and are uncomfortable with ties because of that.) What should college do? Have their silly shoutout, but limit it to only 2 chances. After that, a tie. Or just play 7 minutes of ball and let it happen as it happens, again max it out to 2 OT's unless it's a Conference Championship game or a Bowl Game.

The other side of this issue is the crybaby movement that wants to change the NFL overtime. I cannot explain how angry I get whenever I hear someone talk about this. And I get angrier when they used the Fox News (blatantly false) stat: Half of Overtimes are won on the first possession by the team that won the coin toss. The truth is that happens less than one third of the time. What really happens in games that go to OT is that both teams had their chance to win it in regulation and blew it. Then when it gets to OT and you can't force a punt, I can't feel bad for your team. Football has three parts to it: Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. To lose in OT on the first possession means two out of those three failed to perform well enough for you to get the ball back. I think this is fair. I honestly believe that those who want a change in the NFL OT hate football. They don't get it, and I'd rather they did not watch it, if they aren't going to get it.

BCS: Everyone wants a playoff in College Football. But no one wants to think about what will happen to the game if there is one. Everyone is obsessed with the end result and don't care about what gets destroyed to get that result. Let's look at what the NFL has had to do to make it's Playoff system work and see if we really want College football to go down that road.

The NFL Schedule is setup with one obsession, Tie Breakers. Tie Breakers dictate every aspect of the NFL schedule. Remember the 2008 Big 12 South Fiasco? Imagine the NCAA stepping in and dictating scheduling to every team in Div 1A to ensure that in a future situation like this that have enough tie breaking possibilities to get a fair outcome.

And look at the results of these tie-breakers and this NFL Playoff set-up. The 2008 New England Patriots went 11-5, and were left out of the playoffs. Two 9-7 teams and an 8-8 squad went in. Imagine an NCAA Football tournament that lets in 8-4 Sun Belt, MAC, and Conference USA Champions but leaves out a third place SEC team that went 10-2, and was the only team to beat the SEC Champion. Is that really fair? Is it more fair than what we have now? Right now that team gets left out, but the justification is that they lost that second game. Had they not lost that second game they would have played for their Conference Championship and had a chance. The regular season matters, tough shit. How is it justified with a playoff? It can't be. Fair is a dangerous word that I hate when talking about sports. After High School, I do not want to hear the word fair when talking about sports. The NFL has 14 of the each teams 16 games set in stone into the foreseeable future, because of tie-breakers. Is this what we want with College Football? Sorry non-conference rivalry, the NCAA has other plans.....

The key is keep them different! The games are fundamentally different and that is a good thing. College Football dies if it becomes just a minor league for the NFL. No one cares about Minor leagues. Only the passions of Baseball and Hockey can keep minor leagues alive in America. No other sport can fully support it.

College Football and the NFL are different games, and I like it that way. I am positive that when looked at rationally from this statement you agree with me. But the nit-picking Fair Police are winning the argument, and if they sway the people in charge, they could ruin both games.

BCS Defender: The Magical AP Poll!

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:37:00 +0000

We have our first victim. The first person to think magically taking X number of teams in a tournament is better than what we have now. In order to show you that this is not the case, I will treat his draw with the same fairness and attention to detail that haters treat the BCS.

From the Chronicles of Scott:

I took the liberty to whip up a quick and very basic eight-team bracket:

1 Alabama vs.

8 Ohio State

3 TCU vs.

6 Boise State

2 Texas vs.

7 Oregon

4 Cincinnati vs.

5 Florida

And his methodology:

It features the top 8 teams according to the last AP Poll. Apologies to Georgia Tech and Iowa, but you lose out. My plan only has room for eight teams. Better luck next year.

First Flaw: The AP is Magically good and right, and never ever gets things wrong. This fallacy exists solely because the AP withdrew the use of it's college football poll from the BCS equation. This leads those who hate to think that someday the AP will ride in like a knight in shinning armor and save college football by choosing a different team #1 after the bowls. Guys, this won't ever happen. And not because of some media bias toward the BCS, but because the BCS sets it up to be impossible. This year it won't happen because of the Cincy - Florida Sugar Bowl. If Cincy wins that game there will be 3 undefeated teams, and the AP voters who dislike the BCS won;t be able to focus on the winner of the Boise St - TCU Fiesta Bowl. If Florida wins, some Tim Tebow worshiping idiot will give them a first place vote. And in any year the BCS game is the toughest match-up so the winner of that game cannot be ignored, even in spite. No one would have beaten a tougher opponent than the winner of the BCS Championship Game.

Second Flaw: Half of all people that hate the BCS, complain about the Polls, either computer or human depending upon what they think is wrong at that moment. But somehow, the AP is Magically Delicious and is never ever wrong! Guess what? The difference between the AP top 8 and the BCS top 8 is that the rankings of TCU and Cincy are flipped. If we expand to an 16 team field, there is only a 1 team difference and only 3 other schools are flipped around. So between the BCS top 16 and the AP top 16 they each have one team in that the other does not. IT'S MAGIC! Never mind the other issue of complaining about polls then basing everything on a poll. Winning a conference is irrelevant in this model and finishing in the Top 8 of the AP is the only goal. This is worse than the BCS because their are seasons where their would be exactly ZERO teams in from non-BCS conferences AND years were there are BCS conferences left out. Let's take a look back and see how this would have played out over the last 3 seasons.

2008: No Boise St. Sure they missed out on the BCS too, but this is suppoosed to be more fair than the BCS, not just as unfair. Oh and the BCS Top 8 had the same exact teams in it. With 1 and 2 being the same 2 teams!

2007: No Hawaii. Wow, Hawaii at least got into the BCS. In an 8 team AP only tournament they would not get a chance. Wow, this is even less fair than the BCS! Again same top 2 teams! And agian, same exact field of 8.

2006: Wow, the story of the 2006 College Football Season, Boise St, would be left out. Again, less fair. Again the same top 2, and only one glaring difference in the Top 8. And who gets that one spot according to the All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Infaliible AP Poll? Oklahoma. Spot the Irony! Proving my point that any playoff format will only serve to give more chances to the elite schools / conferences.

Third Flaw: Cincinatti. How is this fair in any way you look at it? They lost their Coach. Playing them is an unfair advantage, one that would go to Florida. Again, this is fair? This is better? You cannot stop the Coaching Carousel. Unless you want the NCAA to have tampering rules, and keep teams from hiring coaches until the last game has been played? Rules like NFL has. Because without these rules, a playoff would lead to disaster. This is a problem that has nothing to do with the BCS. But one that will blow up in our face if we just blindly jump into a playoff without first looking at things rationally.

Fourth Flaw: Less teams. I will stress the genius of the BCS again with respect to the 10 team field. Any Fair Police argument for a tournament that includes a field smaller than 10 teams can be pounced upon by people like me, as less fair. I know, more teams get a chance at winning it all, but the money is spread around less evenly, which means the proposed system is more difficult to get implemented. And then there is the argument from the other direction, that no way should Oregon or Ohio St get a chance at a title. They've already lost twice and the regular season needs to count for something.

I understand the desire for something simple and straightforward, but college football will never fit into that box. I understand this and actually like it. My goal for these articles is not get people to like the BCS, but to get people to think rationally about things, and to make them understand there are other issues with college football that a playoff would not fix.

BCS Defender: Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:46:00 +0000

Do you hear that?!?!? That is the sound of millions of BCS haters desperately trying to justify their positions. But this year they cannot. The two best schools are playing, and both being undefeated means no one can complain about that game. So the first tears were shed over the TCU v Boise St Fiesta Bowl. And this is a vile conspiracy to keep TCU or Boise St from embarrassing a BCS conference team. Or it's a corrupt decision to make sure the season ends with as few undefeated teams as possible! Or the reality is that it is a compelling game. Every year at this time we hear about how none of the other games are compelling, this year you get one and it's a criminal decision that should be looked at by congress!

And shortly we'll get bombarded with idiots who think they can make brackets that magically make everything look perfect. But it cannot happen this year.

In a 4 team playoff, who do you leave out, because it's not FAIR to leave a team out that has not lost a game.

In a 6 team playoff, who gets the bye?

In an 8 team playoff, you really think that GaTech, Oregon, or Ohio St, all with 2 losses, deserve a chance at a title? when they've already chocked in big games? TWICE! And who gets stuck playing another undefeated? Who gets the easy game against a 2 loss team? And who decides?

10 teams...in the name of FAIRNESS you want to give either Penn St or Iowa yet another chance. Nothing says fair, or giving the little guy a chance than giving the Big 10 an extra team in the tournament! Think about that. Every extra team in a tournament will be a BCS conference school. If you go to 16 teams, maybe BYU gets added. So which system is elitist?

The first problem with a playoff is, and always will be, is that it is inflexible. There is no way it's going to fit every year. It will fail as much as the you think the BCS has, and it will fail in ways you have yet to imagine. Each year yields a different number of teams with 0 or 1 loss. But Playoff proponents don't care. They just want their cookie cutter. Every thing has to be the same size, it's only fair.

The other problem, which is something that always get complained about with the BCS, is rankings. This problem does not magically go away with a playoff. Tournaments need to be drawn some how. And there is no way a college football tournament would go unseeded.

There is no good answer to the question: How do we decide who the best team in college football is? Nothing will work, nothing will be fair. And the best method is something we will never get to until playoff proponents can accept this fact. No amount of anger or indignation will make a playoff system better. I promise you, a playoff will be worse.

I am a Plus One fan myself. I say go back to the old school bowl alignments, add in the Cotton Bowl, take your 10 BCS teams and have them play, making sure #1 and #2 cannot play. Then take the top 2, from the 5 winners and play a national championship game a week later. Even that would not work this season. No matter how you cut things we'll get 3 deserving teams after the bowls.

We can't resolve this and come to a reasonable agreement until we really talk about the issues. Playoff proponents are the Tea Baggers of the sports world, clueless and unwilling to reason. And probably have the same deep-seated hatred for College Football that the TeaBaggers have for America.

There will be more...stay tuned!

Stop Thursday Night Football: Toronto Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:39:00 +0000

Thanksgiving Day football is always allowed. 2-3 games once a year is acceptable. But man the only interesting thing about this game is the speculation about what the Bills will change their name to when they move to Toronto. And that, sadly, is the most interesting this about Thursday Night Football so far!

Let's review:
Matt Millen should be allowed near a football game at any level
I have to make crucial Fantasy Football decisions before the injury reports come out
The match-up sucks! (loser is officially eliminated from the playoffs!)
Who would watch this game when they could watch Oregon v Oregon St for the Pac-10 title?

Go support the petition, and join my Facebook group. We have the power NFL fans, and if we don't exercise it now we won't be heard when it really matters (overtime, lockout, etc).

Doug Flutie's Hail Mary: 25 years later

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:11:00 +0000

Twenty Five years ago, after following the entire game and making it home to catch most of the 2nd half, the 9 year old me, missed one of the greatest plays in college football history.

In 1984 Boston had 2 things going for it sports wise Larry Bird and Doug Flutie. It was the last time Boston truly cared about College Football. Flutie was a local hero, Natick High, and a legit Heisman candidate. And no one knew that he'd win that trophy on this day when BC lined up against rival Miami, and Flutie would play meet a fellow Heisman hopeful Bernie Kosar. (really dumb people, like me, just realized that voting for the trophy was already closed before the game, so doug just made the voters look good. Also did you know Flutie was the first QB to win the award since 1971? Now it's given by default to the best QB.)

It was November, so my Dad and I had errands to run that day. We wanted to watch the game, but we had a list to kill first. So off we went, we get to Lechmere and the score was 7-7, we get to Filene's and the score was 14-14, by the time we made it to Sears it was 21-21 at the half. Home we went.

The back and forth continued after we got home and Miami went up 45-41 with a minute left to play. BC moves the ball down around mid field and due to the first down the clock stopped with those now magica 6 seconds left. I told my dad that is was over and they would never be able to win. He told me that they could and I should stick around and give them a chance.

I left the room.

He let me leave the room.

My Dad watched me walk out of that room, and off to another TV to watch cartoons or some dumb afternoon movie or some other dumb thing on TV that was not one of the greatest plays in college football history.

Not a minute later my Dad starts screaming and yelling and jumping up and down. I thought he was faking it to get to me. He screamed, "I'm not kidding! We'll being seeing replays of this for the rest of our lives!" I grudgingly came back into the room, to catch the replay, a replay I will see for the rest of my life.

He did it. Doug Flutie threw the impossible Hail Mary that is now the cliche Hail Mary replay.

And I missed it. Because my Dad let me leave the room. He should have said, "Boy sit your butt down until the clock reads :00 and the ref says the game is over!" But he did not. My Dad is an asshole.

But like all good Dad's he was not an a-hole for fun, or randomly, his a-holery fell clearly in the bounds of tough love.

Flash forward to 2001, and the Snow Bowl . (That's the name, sorry Oakland fans, winners get to nickname games, not the losing teams. Especially losing teams that play excellent Defense for the first 55 minutes of a game, but stop playing D for the last 5 minutes and OT.) The infamous Raiders-Patriots playoff game, the last game at Foxborough Stadium. So when the tuck play happened, it looked bad. I got up, went to the bathroom and then sat my back back down because the game was not over. And the game really was not over. I watched Oakland's D just flat out give up. Forget that play, Oakland gave up 3 points in 3 quarters and then gave up 13 points in 10 minutes. That is why they lost

Flash Forward again to 2004, this time it's Game 4 of the ALCS, Yankees-Red Sox. Now I had to work that night and was listening to the game in the car. I got home just as the A-Rod slapping the ball play happened. On the Radio the play was not as obvious as it was on TV and I thought he was safe and it was nearly game over. So I got out of my car and ran upstairs to get in front of the TV. Where I saw another, albeit minor, miracle happen.

So thanks Dad for being an A-hole that day 25 years ago, no I won't ever forgive or forget and he would not want me to. But thank you for teaching a valuable lesson, The Game is not over until the refs say it's over! I continually annoy my wife with this, and she actually likes sports.

To this day the words "Flutie flushed" reverberate through my mind.

Stop Thrsday Night Football: Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Go sign the petition!

I'll say it again, there are not enough quality teams or quality games to have a 3rd feature game each week. Matt Millen should not be employed. Our fantasy football teams should not have be set by Thursday evening/afternoon. And not enough people have access to the NFL Network.

The NFL is watering down it's product and it is starting to turn people off. Why would you watch this game over your local NHL team or NBA team, or the College Basketball game on ESPN? If you think about it, you wouldn't unless one of your teams was playing.

A crappy game like tonights epic playoff preview between the 4-5 Miami Dolphins and the 4-5 Carolina Panthers should be buried on Sunday at 1pm. that way if anything interesting happens we'll get the break in from the studio in NYC/Hollywood and see the play. The spotlight should not be on this game.

I won't go on my Matt Millan rant, but do you really want to this prick on TV? In HD! Knowing he has a job and either you or someone you care about doesn't?

There has to be a better way for the NFL Network to promote itself....Maybe by making the RedZone a regular past of it's Sunday programming!

Stop Thursday Night Football!

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Yes it's that time of year again where the NFL pisses on everyone that plays fantasy football by forcing us to update our rosters before most injury reports are out! I've ranted elsewhere and will link to it once that site updates the post. But for now, just sign my petition if you want Thursday Night Football to end!

Be sure to update your fantasy team and be sure to play fair every Wednesday night for the rest of the season! This is a plague caused by the NFL, do not take it out on your fellow Fantasy Team Owners. Solidarity my brothers, solidarity!

BCS Defender: 4 quick points

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:12:00 +0000

It's the first Saturday in November, last month of the season, and I just wanted to point out four quick things about the BCS, and how things would be if we had a playoff. People don't want to think about how a playoff would change things. They only think about the last game of the season, they disregard the rest of the season, and that is the real tragedy of those who hate the BCS. It is not perfect, but it does have a value, the regular season. And that value would be thrown away the moment we have a playoff.

1) With a win over LSU, Alabama clinches the their division title, insuring a spot in the SEC title game. In a playoff system their season would be done if they beat LSU today. They would get their SEC title game shot and if they won that they would be in the playoff. It would render meaningless an entire month of their season.

2) If Duke wins out they will play in the ACC title game, yes the FOOTBALL ACC Title game. If they win that, in a playoff world, they would be in the playoffs. DUKE!!!!

3) Right now looking at every game played, what was the biggest this season? Oregon-Boise St. That non-conference, first week of the season game stands as the most important game so far this season. We did not know it then, because the regular season got to play itself, we can look back and say wow! Boise St, if they win out will get their national championship chance because of that game. Yes, I said will. As crappy as the Big 12 is this year, the odds are very very good that there will not be both an undefeated Big 12 and an undefeated SEC champion. The BCS has allowed us to enjoy the regular season and placed real value on regular season games in deciding how the season will end. In a playoff the Oregon-Boise St game would not matter. Both teams would win their conference and that would be it.

4) It's 1:05 and Northwestern is up on Iowa. This is BCS busting right here! Northwestern's entire season is made if they win this game and ruin Iowa's season. In a Playoff world, Iowa still holds the tie breakers int he conference and losing this game would not cost them a playoff spot. If Northwestern wins, think about the reaction of that team and it's fans and tell me you want to rob them of that. Tell them how much you hate the BCS, and that you would rob them the joy of their upset and the joy of ruining Iowa's season because you'd rather see a playoff.

Respect the Enemy: Jerry Jones

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:33:00 +0000

There is too much hatred in fandom and on blogs these days. So I am going to do my own part to keep my hatred and anger in check. Each week I will take out the time to give credit and respect to people in sports I hate.

Jerry Jones

This fat arrogant Texan scumbag has done something very smart. Smarter than I thought he could be. His refusal to fire Wade Phillips is the best thing he could have done for his young quarterback.

Every year we hear the debate in the NFL about whether or not to start the rookie QB. The argument misses the point. The most important thing a team can do for a young QB is keep him in the same system. That is why the Patriots refused to change things after Weiss left, they wanted Brady to stay in the same system, even after doing all that he had done. Too many QB's careers have been ruined by coaches getting fired. Fortunately for fans the NFL has learned this lesson even if the talking have yet to admit it.

So kudos to Jerry Jones for being smart with Romo and letting him develop under one system. The Coaching carousel has many victims, and QB's are usually the biggest ones. So even if Romo never wins a playoff game, he will be a worthwhile starter in the NFL for years to come, because Jerry Jones did it right.

BCS Defender: Nextel Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:55:00 +0000

We follow Golf's fiasco with the place they got their idea from NASCAR. I have already expressed my views on NASCAR without resorting to the use of stereotypes, even though the stereotypes are very strong case on their own.

Let's give NASCAR credit for realizing they had a problem, half their season was rendered meaningless, and that is not good for any competition based business. So they at least had a real need for something, despite the history. Just Like College Football, and like college football it's not perfect.

Most Championship format go through numerous revisions in the early years. NASCAR made a small miscalculation by minimizing the importance of Winning races! I am so glad they fixed that with the Matt Kenseth Rule. That fixed the winning races problem decisively! Until there was another issue with Matt, this time putting Kasey Kahne in 10th place despite winning the most races in 2006. So the fixed for sure this time, that is until this year when the guy who won the most races finished 13 and out of the chase. They'll fix it again, next year. The third time is a charm!

Quick aside about winning because someone is going to yell about the number of games won, but in college football not all wins are equal but in NASCAR they are. You race a similar 43 car field each week, and the top 20 guys are always there. This is not Golf or Tennis where the top players pick and choose their tournaments and take half the season off. In NASCAR you race every week. In College football there are major scheduling discrepancies and it sucks that the big teams from the small conferences don't get the tough games they'd like too, but that has nothing to do with the BCS. A Playoff won't fix this issue, it will make it worse. More schools will want fluff schedules to increase their chances of going undefeated. Compare that to right now when a school like Ohio St benefits each and every year because they schedule a bit time opponent early in the season. They care about their strength of schedule, and win or lose that game they get respect at the end because they had the guts to schedule it. In NASCAR a win is a win, in college football this not the case.

So beyond punishing the winners of races, the Sprint Cup is a corporate whore. But to be fair, NASCAR's trophy has always been for sale. But with all the history and tradition of NASCAR, you'd think they could come up with a better name for their trophy. Maybe the Rum Runner cup? Or the Duke Boy's Cup?

The other issue that makes the Sprint Cup worse than the BCS is the complexity. Cry about polls, cry about computers, but explain to me the Point System and then explain to me the different point system they use for the Chase. And then explain why they use different point systems. and then tell me why they don't just work off a money list like Golf used to? He who has the most amount of money in giant checks wins! Hate the BCS all you want, it can be explained to someone that knows nothing about football. No I cannot explain each and every computer model, but I explain their purpose and how they balance out the emotional reactions of the human polls.

Finally was arrive at the lawsuit issue. A fan sued NASCAR to get a playoff race at his local track. It messed everything up, including the guys life. This is what will happen to college football if the courts or congress get involved. Let the sport sort itself out or disaster will befall all involved.

So the BCS is better than NASCAR because it can be explained easier, has a trophy that is not solely about corporate sponsorship, actually rewards teams for winning, and respects and rewards regular season performance.

BCS Defender: FedEx Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:17:00 +0000

New series here from the HQ of the BCS Defender. This series will compare other methods of determining a champion to the BCS, and you will quickly realize that maybe the BCS is not as outrageous and obscene as you think it is.

Our first victim: The FedEx Cup.

What sport is this the championship awarded in? No Googling!

Golf, yes the PGA Tour pisses away nearly a century of tradition by not even naming it's trophy after Ben Hogan. Which brings us to the issue of Money. The PGA Tour wanted to sell the naming rights so bad they did not even think of their history or the Legacy of such an championship. The trophy given out to the winner of the BCS Title Game is not a commodity to be bought and sold. In fact the trophy itself pre-dates the BCS and has been awarded since 1986. Worse is that the PGA Tour already gives away an award for the Player of the Year, and it is the Jack Nicklaus Trophy.

Second issue right there folks! They made up the FedExCup! Wished it into existence right out of thin air. You could also refer to it as Imaginary, or Fantasy, or Make Believe, or Faux, or you can insert the adjective that you stick in front of the BCS Title. The BCS filled a need. Before there was no system, and what little there was worked to make sure the best teams would never meet when it mattered most.

Here is where things get really confusing so follow along closely. The Player of the Year award is actually 2 different awards. The PGA Player of the Year and the PGA Tour Player of the Year, they have been won by the same player since 1992. But get this, the PGA Tour Player of the Year is chosen by a poll of the players. A POLL! Also there is a yet another annual best player award, the guy that won the most money! Does your brain hurt? Because we have not even discussed the Majors.

So there are 3 (potentially 4) different end of year Champions in Golf. Not even College Football before the BCS (and it's two predecessors) was as messed up as that. The BCS got that part right. There still can be a split national champion thanks to the AP Poll. But the match-up in the National Championship game is such that you cannot punish the winner of the game. You can only argue that another team should have played. By denying that team a game a hard as the title game, you ensure they can't leap frog the winner of the BCS Championship Game in any poll. All you are left with is what-if with nothing to back it up.

One thing I have not brought up is how ridiculous of a format this playoff is. The average tournament starts with somewhere between 132 and 156 golfers. How many people make the playoff? 125 Basically if you have a tour card and are keeping it next year, you get to make the playoffs. That is how I want a Champion selected, not just from the best but from anyone. And if you think the BCS is complex, just try to understand the FedEx Cup. If you accomplish that feat could you please explain it to me?

Here is a case where a Playoff is just dumb! There is already a money list and an end of year Poll, isn't that enough? Apparently not from the PGA Tour's point of view.

A moderate view of Vick, please read!!

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:13:00 +0000

The discussions over Vick have been heated and passionate. I believe he deserves a second chance, but not a third. I want him to succeed both on and off the field, but am not willing to overlook any off the field transgressions. Guns, drugs, DUI, none of the things we expect of our star athletes will be acceptable. He needs to live a squeaky clean life for the rest of his career. So first things first, a reasonable and rationale letter to the Eagles Sponsors, asking them to participate in helping the victims of dog-fighting. They own some of this and should act responsibly.

We Love Pitbulls

So let's take a real look at Michael Vick, both on and off the field.

Football:
I like this move for him. If he is going to be a starting quarterback again, then he needs to learn the same lesson Donovan McNabb learned. that lesson is that there is no room in the NFL for a run-first Quarterback, but that there will always be a place for a Scrambling Quarterback. Use your legs to buy you time to pass, and to pick up a 3rd down as a last resort. Always be looking down field. (OT: Tim Tebow will face the same challenge.)

The Eagles made a good move because over the course of two years we will know a lot more than we do now. If Vick isn't worth the option year then his career as a QB is over, and probably his football career. The Eagles are a team perpetually in need of a good back-up Quarterback. McNabb seemingly goes down for a month each season. Having a QB with similar skills will make those injuries less severe and gives the offense a level of continuity they have not had in the past. If he works out well, pick up the option, if he works out really well, pick up the option and trade him.

Off the Field:
I have lived in North Philadelphia and there will be plenty of temptation for Vick, for dog fighting or anything that will ruin his second chance. North Philly is the real thing, an inner city with all the inner city problems. But, if the head of the Humane Society is correct, then it is also a perfect target audience for Vick's anti-dog fighting message. He's got street cred, and the kids will believe him, I am sure some adults will believe him too.

I sincerely hope this works out for the best of everyone. The kids, Vick, the Eagles and the Pit Bulls.

Steroid Hall of Fame: David Ortiz

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:41:00 +0000

Papi, why? And I'm not asking about why you did the steroids. I'm asking why lie about it? Why be just like all the others and not come clean. Andy Pettitte came as close as we'll ever get. That's what hurts. A Yankee had more class than you. Roger I expected, Manny was understandable, but you were supposed to be different. You were the one that broke all the Steroid stereotypes. You weren't arrogant, you weren't hated. You loved the game and did not think you were bigger than it.

But with two statements you flushed it all down and became just like all the rest.

State's Evidence A:

Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive. Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me - I will not hide and I will not make excuses.

State's Evidence B:

I will restate my opinion on his press conference. I believe he was not told he was on the list until this story broke. I do not believe he only took supplements.

SUPPLEMENTS?!?!?!? I know those things are shady but come on. It's 2009, not 2001. Barry, Mark, and Sammy already used that one to death. No subtlety, no creativity, just the lamest cop-out you could come up with. It was like your agent said, "Keep it simple!" and you did.

I would love to wash my hands and be done with it all. I want to walk away from baseball and the Red Sox I want to hate you. But guess what, I suffer from Battered Fan Syndrome now. Everyone is guilty, everyone is dirty. Let them all in, don't punish the Pioneers. The MLB is guilty, Selig is guilty, the MLBPA probably dealt the shit themselves. And the Red Sox were no angles prior to this year. They traded for Gagne after the Mitchell report came out.

I knew this was coming. I assumed it once Manny got busted. So the 'roids don't hurt, the lies do.

Albert Pujols, you're next. It's only a matter of time, whether it's new testing or the 2003 list.

Oh, and chalk up another one that we will never find out what he took. The truth will never come out.

Steroid Hall of Fame: Floyd Landis

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:53:00 +0000

This guy is a Grade A Slimeball. One glance at his wikipeida shows that someone he paid has made sure he looked as good as possible.

In 2006, Landis won the first edition of the Tour of California, before going on to finish first in the 2006 Tour de France. He was stripped of his Tour de France victory and fired from the Phonak team after a drug-control test demonstrated the presence of a skewed testosterone/epitestosterone ratio during Stage 17.^[1]

^{Landis maintained his innocence, and he mounted a vigorous defense. Although Landis' legal team documented inconsistencies in the handling and evaluation of his urine samples, the disqualification was upheld.}

Thank goodness that his Doping Case has it's very own page.

Let's be a little fair to the man, after all he competes in the dirtiest sport on earth. People have been cheating at bike races since basically the invention of the Bicycle. And hardcore drug cheating, not the Rosie Ruiz type of cheating. The first cases listed at the end of the 19th century involved people dieing. Even Bonds was not that stupid as to risk imminent death.

But he cheated, and he was really dumb about it. When you stage the greatest one stage comeback at the biggest event in your sport, a sport know for cheating, you are screaming from the top of the Pyrenees that you are cheating. An eight minute overall deficit at the Tour de France is a lifetime. And to overcome that in one stage would take a "suprehuman" effort. Let's get into it.

Excuse:
He went from the Whiskey Defense to the Mishandled Samples Defense. Both are lame, but at least one is somewhat amusing. Imagine competing on one leg of the Tour de France and then getting drunk enough to affect your testosterone levels? Then competing the next day! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. He blamed his lawyers for the Whiskey Defense.

Claim to Fame:
Despite America's antipathy to the Tour de France it seems we've always had someone from our country who is in contention to win it. This race is a big deal, and as a sports fan it is easy to see why. Run a marathon x3 while keeping your balance on a bike and then do it nearly everyday for a month. So he cheated at a very big international event, got caught and then spent 2 years denying it. He still denies it, and probably always will.

Drug of Choice:
Whiskey? Honestly we will never know.

Legacy of Doubt:
What can an athlete do when accused? Deny it. Which brings us to Lance. He has been accused many times, and has always denied it. Lance and Floyd did spend many years as teammates. So the doubt is there. I won't fully tackle the issue until I see more, but for now the shadow is as over him as it Big Papi.

Again we come upon the recurring theme of Arrogance. And holy crap did this guy have it! He makes the denial by all baseball players combined look sane, rational, and minute. He took his two year ban and is cycling again. Crazy arrogant.

Test

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 01:44:00 +0000

I read some award winning advice about Blogging: Never start a second blog. I understand exactly what they are saying and why. But screw that. I'll be back in action and running this thing the way I want. Stay tuned.

Steroids Hall of Fame: Manny Ramirez

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:22:00 +0000

This is why I started doing this series. I knew one day someone I truly loved watching would end up enshrined here. I knew it. It was not destiny or fate, or some magical premonition of mine. No, it is the reality that we live in. I can here my buddy Rich now, "What's the big deal? It'll all be legal in five years because you can't ever get rid of it." I am neither that cynical, nor that pessimistic. I am here, writing about steroids because I understand that we will never get rid of them. They are part of sports today. They suck and I hate them, the drugs and their users, but I cannot stand upon a soap box and say I've been 100% professional in my life and have never cut a single corner. Especially the corners I see everyone else cutting. No, I am not better Manny, or Lyle, or Jose. They are just men, and suffer the same weaknesses of ego, greed, and jealousy that I do. They are experiencing those emotions on a level I can never truly understand. I am also not apologizing for them, nor giving them an excuse, nor a free pass. Pay your fine, serve your suspension and stay the fuck out of Cooperstown.

So Manny got busted, for what we don't know yet. I hate rushing into things like this without knowing what was taken. I love the names these drugs have, sorry but it is half the fun of doing this. But I needed an excuse to get this project going again anyway, and I'm tried hard to make sure that I am fair and take on one of my guys when they fall. The good enws is we can officially add a new feature:

Punishment Served
50 games, which is less than a third of a season. It is however a big number and considering the start the Dodgers were having, will hurt the team significantly. It is, in both time and percentage of games, longer than the penalty Rodney Harrison got. Then add in the $8M hit he's taking as well, plus potential loss of sponsors. It's not the penalty that Runners or Bikers get, but it is a significant punishment and for baseball that is a good thing. They are willing to publicly do this to one of the game's biggest stars. Give credit to MLB, Selig, and the MLBPA for getting us this far.

Excuse
LAME! Manny, you are the most quotable athlete since Yogi Berra, and you give us "My doctor gave me a script and it accidentally had something bad in it." I am ashamed of you! Of all the crazy things you have said, you can't even give us a creative excuse that makes no sense to anyone but yourself? Do you not care about your legacy? *sigh* This almost hurts more than the bust. File this under Deny, and that means it's complete BS. Heck thanks to Gay-Roid, even the admissions are complete BS.

Claim to Fame
Manny being Roidy just does not have the same ring to it. Manny being Manny. And when Manny was himself he was an RBI machine. He could field the Green Monster as good as any who've played left field in Fenway. He was fun, full of energy and was loved mostly because he looked like a kid out there. Of course he rubbed some people the wrong way. I was not one of them. People who actually have fun playing professional sports will always have me as a fan.

Drug of Choice
TBD - The least it will be is amphetamines, but I think it i steroids or HGH.

Let me get personal for moment and share my tale of Manny and how I experienced him. I first heard his name from a college roomate in 1996. My roommate was a good friend of mine who unfortunately was from Cleveland. I'm from Boston and the Indians swept the crap out of the Red Sox in the playoffs that year. I could not feel bad after the decades of terrible teams Indians fans had suffered through. He was born and raised a diehard fan of a team he'd never seen win anything. His girlfriend at the time was also from Cleveland and she had a huge crush on a then very young Manny. My roommate would tell me about how good Manny was and how much fun it was to watch him play the game. So I was introduced by two huge fans of his and go to see him play well in his first post season.

Fast Forward to 2001 when the Red Sox signed him to a very hefty free agent contract, by the infamous Dan Duquette. Manny was fun to watch and I don't care what his rep is, he is a good fielder. Before 2004 the players union shot down one of the craziest trades ever thought up: A-rod for Manny. As far steroids go it was a lose-lose. But as far as World Series rings go it was a huge win. I loved the guy, until the very end. I was that rare Red Sox fan who hated Schilling but loved Manny. Right now Red Sox Nation is giving Manny the Buckner treatment. But it is undeserved from those ungrateful bastards. Without Manny's bat the 1918 chant would still be relevant. The question I must ask myself is: Would I trade that for a clean team?

That is the heart of all this debate. Would we go back? Could we live in a world where 61, 755, and 1918 all still mattered? It was magic, but it was dirty. Unfortunately we cannot go back, we cannot undo the damage as much as many of would like to, and part me wants to go back as well. All we can do is accept the world we live in:

Every athlete is innocent until proven guilty in the court of public opinion. For me, once you test positive all prior activities are in question and doubt. But until we get that rude awakening, you are clean. Rumors are king, especially when the role of Cybil is played by Jose Canseco. The drugs aren't going anywhere, but neither are we. All we can do is make sure that when caught the cheaters are punished. And this cheater was punished. The next question becomes: Since Manny actually served a suspension and did not "get away with it" does that mean he gets into Cooperstown? I'm biased, I say yes. I'm still a kid who loves sports and Manny is my guy. I am as human as he is.

The worst thing about this is: Who was Manny's best friend while in Boston? We have to assume I'll be writing about him at some point in the future.

MM09: Troublesome Tetrad (Final Four Fatality of Hate!)

noreply@blogger.com (Pip) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Alright due to illness and laziness we are doing the final four in one match. There will be a runoff if there is no clear winner.

Drew Rosenhaus

Barry Bonds

(2)Terrell Owens

Michael Vick

There they are. Worst of the worst. One cheater, two assholes, and a puppy killer. VOTE!

Bonus:
What should I do for next year's tournament?

What would you like to see for Mock Madness 2010? ( online surveys)