You got tired of waiting for ST's bowl picks, and Nick Saban did too.

When it comes to watching college football, I’m not going to lie. I don’t watch every game. Not even close. Do you know how many games there are? Millions* (*There are not actually a million college football games per season) So the best I can do is just give you quick rapid fire judgements of who I think will win each game. Are they biased? You betcha. Should you take these to Vegas with you? Don’t betcha.

So anyways, as promised, here are Sports Tsar’s 2011-2012 Biased Bowl Season Picks!

Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Wyoming vs. Temple

I’m going to go ahead and pick Wyoming. I mean seriously, have you seen their logo? How fun does that look? I’m on board.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Ohio vs. Utah State

At first I was going to pick Utah State, but then I remembered this video of the Ohio players when they found out they got black alternate uniforms. Can you imagine how they’d react if they won the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl? A party to last the ages. Until they realized that when Brady Hoke kept saying “Ohio” he was just referring to Ohio State. But hey, at least you’re not Kent State, right?

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

Rule number 1 of bowl picks: If there is a bowl game in Louisiana, you always pick the team that has Louisiana in its name. It is written.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl
Florida International vs. Marshall

This bowl game just sounds gross. I don’t know why. There’s just no way I could look at this bowl game and say “oh, this should be fun.” I’m picking Marshall only because of the movie. This pick’s for Matthew Fox.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech

TCU beat THE Boise State University this season. Um, can you say JUGGERNAUT?

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl
Arizona State vs. Boise State

Arizona State doesn’t have a coach, and I think the bowl organizers are much happier to have the Sun Devils here than BYU as they’ve had in years past. That being said, the kids from the great state of Boise will win this one, easy. The real pick is how many trick plays. The over/under on that is 2.5.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Nevada vs. Southern Miss

Yes, Southern Miss beat Houston this season, much like Nevada beat Boise State last year. I’m giving the nod to Nevada for 2 reasons: 1) My buddy Leif is from Reno, and told me to pick Nevada. 2) Nevada has the experience of beating overrated mid-majors. Southern Miss is new to the whole scene and will suffer a “post-ruining any chance of ruining the BCS” hangover.

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl
Missouri vs. North Carolina

Do I have to pick this one? I do? Oh, jeez… I dunno. I’ll take Missouri, I guess.

Little Caesars Bowl
Western Michigan vs. Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue. I believe in their backfield of 2 runningbacks named Akeem. If you go back 22 years ago, Coming to America was released. I don’t want to accuse their parents of naming their kids after a character in an Eddie Murphy movie, but I’m accusing their parents of naming their kids after a character in an Eddie Murphy movie.

Belk Bowl
Louisville vs. NC State

NC State, because if there’s anything worse than the ACC, it’s the Big East. Or something called “Belk.” I don’t care what the product is, that’s a terrible name for a company.

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman
Toledo vs. Air Force

My dad went to law school at Toledo and he can throw a pretty mean spiral. Plus, shouldn’t the Air Force be off, I don’t know, being the Air Force?

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
Cal vs. Texas

Both coaches need this one really badly. I can’t stand Tedford. I’m going with Texas. I want Tedford gone.

Champs Sports Bowl
Florida State vs. Notre Dame

The winner of this game starts next season in the top-5 because I mean, that’s what you do with the Champs Sports Bowl champion, right? This hurts to say, but Notre Dame because they just lost a problem quarterback (Dayne Crist). A la Denver Broncos and Kyle Orton, anyone? It’s Tommy Rees-Time!

Valero Alamo Bowl
Washington vs. Baylor

Robert Griffin III has Superman socks! Superman socks! How cool is that? Almost as cool as winning a Heisman over Andrew Luck! Baylor wins this one.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
BYU vs. Tulsa

Tulsa, and this is not because I have to answer the door for Mormon missionaries every day, I swear.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Rutgers vs Iowa St.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t know that Rutgers kept playing football after Ray Rice left. Iowa St.?

Franklin American Mortgage Music CIty Bowl
Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest

Mississippi State wins. Wake Forest goes back to being a soccer school, I think.

Insight Bowl
Iowa vs. Oklahoma

I’m going to go with Iowa. I’m not an Oklahoma fan. Or an Iowa fan. But I am a fan of Iowa grad and proud American Ricky Stanzi.

Side Note: What kind of question is that for a post-game interview? On stage in front of the crowd? You ask him about the team and how hard they work, not what he thinks of America. It’s just an awkward moment, but Ricky doesn’t flinch just like our colors don’t run. Rick Stanzi, American hero.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas
Texas A&M vs. Northwestern

Texas A&M is a school that should be in the SEC in every other sport but football. Northwestern is a team that shouldn’t have any sports. That being said, is Dan Persa still playing? I’ll take Northwestern.

Hyundai Sun Bowl
Georgia Tech vs Utah

Utah lost the ultra-competitive Pac-12 South division in the final week. When I say competitive, I mean as competitive as a race to the bottom can get. I’ll take Georgia Tech.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Cincinnati vs Vanderbilt

I wanted to pick Vanderbilt because they’re SEC, then I realized they’re a bunch of NERDS! I’ll take the Bearcats, because that city is going to need something to fill the hole that missing the playoffs will leave in their heart.

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Virginia vs. Auburn

Auburn. No team to win the national championship has gone on to lose it’s bowl game the next year*.

*I just made this up.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Illinois vs UCLA

I’m going to say Illinois. But what I really want to say is that I wish this was a basketball game from like 8 years ago. Definitely not one from right now.

TicketCity Bowl
Houston vs. Penn State

Houston, because EVERYBODY is rooting for Houston (against Penn St.).

Outback Bowl
Michigan St vs Georgia

Two teams that both lost their conference championship games. Michigan State lost by closer so they’re totally better right?

Capital One Bowl
Nebraska vs. South Carolina

I’m going to pick for the stadium to explode and neither one of these teams to win. But you know who does? Us.

Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl
The Ohio State vs. Florida

I’m taking THE Ohio State University because we have Urban Meyer now and Florida doesn’t. Na na na na na na.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Vizio
Wisconsin vs. Oregon

I’m taking Wisconsin. I was never convinced that Oregon was that great. Mostly because I never saw them play that well. Mostly because I don’t like watching teams beat down on FCS opponents like “Washington St.” and “Colorado.” Seriously, where do they find these schools?

Tositos Fiesta Bowl
Stanford vs Oklahoma St

Insert pun about Luck running out. Then, insert harsh reality that Stanford’s defense isn’t very good. Oklahoma St. but very, very, very angrily.

Allstate Sugar Bowl
Michigan vs. Virginia Tech

I’m picking Michigan, but that’s only because I’m picking against Virginia Tech.

Discover Orange Bowl
West Virginia vs Clemson

This would be a pretty okay regular season game, but instead it’s a BCS game. I’ll go with Clemson, because they won their conference championship game and apparently that’s supposed to mean something.

AT&T Cotton Bowl
Kansas St vs. Arkansas

Kansas St. was a genuine story of the year. Arkansas was the “oh, right, they’re playing well” team of the year. I’ll take Kansas St.

BBVA Compass Bowl
SMU vs Pittsburgh

There’s championship experience, and then there’s BBVA Compass Bowl experience. SMU has neither and Pittsburgh at least has BBVA Compass Bowl experience. I’ll take Pitt.

GoDaddy.com Bowl
Arkansas St. vs. Northern Illinois

I’m picking the commercials to suck and Arkansas St to win.

Allstate BCS National Championship Game
Alabama vs. LSU

This may sound wild, but I think LSU could beat Alabama 9-6. Wait, that already happened? So why are they playing again? We already know who’s better. Maybe Nick Saban has more friendly angles for the cameras than Mike Gundy. LSU, BIG.

Apple changed the way phones are made. The Miami Heat are changing the way we make basketball teams.

Every year, Apple comes out with a new product, a new something. There’s certain factors associated with the event that occur without fail, every time. They’re as followed:

1) In the weeks, and sometimes months, leading up to the event, the 24 hour news cycle covers hundreds of stories covering every facet of the new product.

2) There’s a huge event held by Apple celebrating the greatness of their product.

3) There is the public outcry both in favor and against the product following it’s release.

These 3 steps have happened in the life cycle of every Apple product from the first iPod to the recently unveiled iPhone 4S. It will continue to happen, too.

Now, I want you to ask yourself. To which other event do this list sound familiar? I’ll give you a minute. Here’s some clues for those that still don’t get it.

1) http://voices.yahoo.com/where-will-lebron-james-go-2010-6058806.html

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTeCc8jy7FI & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmwJipHdqpA

3) http://ihatelebronjames.com/ & http://clublebron.com

It’s exactly what happened when Lebron James joined the Heat. From the moment Lebron signed his last contract in Cleveland, every news story about him in some way referenced his plans as a free agent in 2010. It’s the same way that as soon as the iPhone 4S was announced, you could read an article about the iPhone 5. The decision was held to gain widespread noticed and a pep rally to debut the new product (The Big Three) was held shortly after for even more coverage. Steve Jobs was known for his Apple Keynotes, and don’t think that because of his death that Apple will change their routine. They will continue to captivate the public every year with a presentation of their latest work. And finally, there have been countless reactions written about Lebron James and the Heat since. Just as you can find about the latest Apple offering on any news website.

Now, I understand that there are many people with very strong opinions on both sides of this argument. At one point, I remember I used to question the idea of Apple. I was happy using my Sony laptop and my Motorola flip phone. I couldn’t imagine needing an Apple product. However, as those products broke down, I eventually bought a Macbook and an iPhone. All I can say is this: I have never been happier with any other product as I have been with my products from Apple. I think Apple is head and shoulders above most other electronics companies. I’m sure many people can argue the other side and that there are other options, but they can’t argue this: Apple products work. We can point out the things that it cannot do, but as we’ve seen in the past, those problems often times go away. It was recently established that Adobe will no longer be developing flash for phones. The lack of using flash (the engine behind many internet videos and animations) was one of the biggest knocks against Apple’s iPhone and iPad. But eventually, Apple was proven right.

I bring this back to the Miami Heat. It may seem awkward to be writing a Lebron article more than a year after the fact, and I would agree with you until I saw this headline this morning: “Los Angeles Lakers looking to work out deals for both Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.”

Now before you compare the merits of a trade to free agency, remember this: Dwight Howard has long been rumored to want to play in LA and Chris Paul’s agent has already requested a trade from the New Orleans Hornets. This is not teams trying to dump problem players. These are team with expiring superstar contracts trying to get something in return so they’re not left with nothing (example: the Magic after Shaq left). It’s smart business on the part of the owners, but by no means would they chose to trade either player under normal circumstances.

Understandably, Laker fans are ecstatic. Many are already declaring the Lakers as champions on the 2012 season.

But wait a second, to get players like Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, the Lakers are going to have to give up a lot of players. Essentially, almost their entire line-up with the exception of Kobe Bryant. I thought that a team of three superstars, in this case: Paul, Howard, and Kobe, couldn’t win a title. That was the rallying cry of angry NBA fans from everywhere outside of the 305 and 786 area codes. But guess what the Miami Heat proved this past season? It works.

The Miami Heat last season were able to make it to the Finals in their first year of playing with each other. Teams that didn’t make it? The Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, Bulls, Thunder, and others. Teams where teamwork is stressed along with depth. Teams that have been playing with each other for years. Yes, the Heat lost the title to a great, deep team in the Mavericks, but to make the Finals in the first year of a generally new line-up? That, is success by any stretch of the imagination.

Yes, the attitude among the Heat was that they were going to win a title, they even declared as much. But to be honest, if someone asked you if you’d win the championship in your respective sport, what would you say? If you say that you’re going to win, and you do anything but, you will hear nothing but how big of a failure your team was. But if you say you’ll lose, you’ll be called a quitter and non-competitive. It’s a lose-lose situation.The bar for the Heat was set higher than any other team in the league before their first practice together.

Do you think that Spurs fans would have taken an appearance in the Finals over their first round exit? Of course.

To say that making the NBA Finals and losing is a failure of a season is not only dishonest, but a understatement of the difficulty required to make it to that level. If this was the case, the lottery bound Sacramento Kings had just as successful of a season as the Miami Heat. Don’t be silly.

Look at the moves of the New York Knicks in acquiring both Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. Look at their attempts at signing another player like Paul. You don’t think that they believe in the 3 superstar-system? Look at an iPhone side-by-side with every other smartphone released on the market. Look at the shape and the icons. You don’t think the other companies see the value in what Apple has done?

You can complain about the price of Apple products. You can complain about the Decision. You can celebrate every shortcoming, despite how impossibly high the bar is set. But you can’t argue with how the product works. You may have your phone and be happy with it. You may also be constantly complaining about the latest offering from Apple and the people celebrating its release who are seemingly able to throw mountains of money away, but you can’t argue with a fact we’ve known all along:

If you were in the same position they were, you’d do it too.

For those who haven’t noticed, this evening we were met with the first sign of the holiday season. No, not snowfall on the ground, or holiday cups at Starbucks! The American Institution that is the ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES COUNTDOWN SELECTION SHOW PRESENTED BY ALLSTATE INSURANCE! For those who were too busy to watch, here’s a recap:

I’m not sure if you remember, but this off-season the big talk in the world of college athletics was conference expansion. Among many things deemed essential by the NCAA (increased revenue), the big hoopla was that it would find out who truly was the “champion” of each conference and allow better match-ups in the BCS. Well, it turns out that out of all the conference championship games played this past weekend, none of them affected the national title game!

In fact, by virtue of sitting on their bottoms and playing video games this past week, the Alabama Crimson Tide will be getting their much deserved rematch against LSU in the BCS title game! But that’s not all folks! Look at the other match-ups we are being treated to this bowl season:

Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Wyoming vs. Temple

A bowl game so boring, even New Mexico didn’t feel motivated enough to win 5 more games and make it.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Ohio vs. Utah State

For being such a famous bowl game, you’d think they could get better teams than the runner-up in the MAC and a team that couldn’t even win the WAC.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

ULL’s QB tied Jake Delhomme’s school record for TDs in a season (20). Interpret that as you will.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl
Florida International vs. Marshall

The Golden Panthers tied pre-season contender Florida State for most wins by a team from Florida this year. If only this bowl could have gotten the other match-up. Florida State plays against the Fighting Irish while FIU plays in a bowl sponsored by an Irish themed restaurant that serves tacos.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech

With the loss of Andy Dalton to the NFL, TCU was able to tackle such opposition as Portland State and New Mexico on it’s way to a bowl game against WAC champion Louisiana Tech. Can the Horned Frogs sustain the momentum?

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl
Arizona State vs. Boise State

The Broncos look to increase their case for national relevance by beating a 6-6 ASU team that fired it’s coach and was unable to best 6-7 UCLA for the Pac-12 South Division title.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Nevada vs. Southern Miss

Am I the only one who wonders why they don’t put a period at the end of “Miss”? I don’t know, I just get an image of a southern debutante whenever I hear their name.

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl
Missouri vs. North Carolina

Missouri is headed to the SEC this season and given their record this year, this bowl might be their last shot at winning a game in a very, very long time. North Carolina won the bowl bid for this game after Miami graciously turned down the bowl game this year out of the kindness of their heart. The lack of bowl revenue should put a large enough dent in Miami’s abortions and strippers budget to prompt the NCAA to lessen the punishment at their hearing.

Little Caesars Bowl
Western Michigan vs. Purdue Boilermakers

The Western Michigan Broncos earned one win this season against an opponent from an Automatic-Qualifying conference in their victory over UConn which prompted many around the country to take note and wonder, “Why does the Big East get an automatic BCS bid?”

Belk Bowl
Louisville vs. NC State

NC State was able to make a bowl game despite losing quarterback Russell Wilson to Wisconsin this summer. Because if you don’t like Raleigh, NC, the only logical place to move to is Madison Wisconsin.

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman
Toledo vs. Air Force

You can talk all you want about the military wasting money on fighter jets and other items, but how much longer are we going to tolerate funding football teams from Army, Air Force, and Navy? When will the madness end?

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
Cal vs. Texas

With the Niners, Raiders, and Stanford all playing well this year, the Cal Bears have found themselves as the worst football team in the San Francisco Bay Area, a feat that is much more difficult than you think it would be.

Champs Sports Bowl
Florida State vs. Notre Dame

Lou Holtz has already declared the winner of this game to be the national champion.

Valero Alamo Bowl
Washington vs. Baylor

Heisman hopeful Robert Griffin III looks to lead the upstart Bears into a match-up against a team that declares a 7-5 season after a 6-6 season to be progress.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
BYU vs. Tulsa

Not to be confused with the Military Bowl, a team coached by a man named Bronco will try to defeat a team from the middle of Oklahoma nicknamed the Hurricanes.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Rutgers vs Iowa St.

Rutgers couldn’t even beat UConn to clinch the Big East title, Iowa State edged out Northern Iowa by 1 point to start the season. You’re telling me an organization that seemingly paid CC Sabathia 1 million dollars per pinstripe chose these two teams? Actually, that sounds about right.

Franklin American Mortgage Music CIty Bowl
Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest

“Yes MSU might be a 6-6 team, but they went 6-6 in the SEC! That’s worth at least 23-0 in the Big Ten!”
-Mark May

Insight Bowl
Iowa vs. Oklahoma

The University of Oklahoma prefers to go by OU and still employs Bob Stoops. If you were in charge at Oklahoma which problem would you solve first.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas
Texas A&M vs. Northwestern

Not to be confused with that OTHER Meineke Car Care Bowl. That one might be worth watching…

Hyundai Sun Bowl
Georgia Tech vs Utah

Utah ranks 110th in the country in the offense and is no way touching the Pacific Ocean making many wonder why they heck they were added to the Pac-12.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Cincinnati vs Vanderbilt

Cincinnati started 7-1 and ended 9-3. Ladies and Gentlemen, your Big East Co-Champions!

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Virginia vs. Auburn

One year after a perfect season, the Auburn Tigers attempt to win a game named after a sandwich consisting of fried chicken and a pickle.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Illinois vs UCLA

Illinois started 6-0 and finished 6-6. UCLA is heading to a bowl game with a losing record, yet won their division in the Pac-12. I’ve got a feeling we’ll be fighting boredom.

TicketCity Bowl
Houston vs. Penn State

This match-up of a near BCS-buster and the proud Penn State alums will do wonders for the economy of TicketCity. Wait, TicketCity isn’t a real place? Why do they get a bowl game?

Outback Bowl
Michigan St vs Georgia

Last year Michigan St rode a 10 win season into a 49-7 beat down at the hands of Alabama. Following another 10-win season, Michigan St is in prime position to get blown out again.

Capital One Bowl
Nebraska vs. South Carolina

The consensus pre-season favorite to win the Big 10 and end world hunger finds itself in the highlight game of Capital One Bowl week against a team whose nickname is consistently chosen as the favorite of 10 year old boys everywhere.

Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl
The Ohio State vs. Florida

Ohio State plays Florida in a game that most commentators on ESPN will fail to realize will be coached by Luke Fickell, not Urban Meyer. But hey, in a 24 hour news cycle, you have to find something to talk about. Also, Taxslayer.com? How nerdy can accountants get?

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Vizio
Wisconsin vs. Oregon

In his last game of his long and storied tenure at Wisconsin, Russell Wilson leads the Badgers into a match-up against a school that continues to forget their own school colors.

Tositos Fiesta Bowl
Stanford vs Oklahoma St

Oklahoma St will look to avoid a let down after winning their conference title and being looked over for a team that didn’t even play in their conference championship game. Stanford is led by a quarterback most pick to be number 1 overall come the NFL draft due to dominance over local rivals Cal and San Jose State. This one’s for all the Tostitos.

Allstate Sugar Bowl
Michigan vs. Virginia Tech

It might surprise many people to see Michigan in a BCS game instead of the Michigan State team that beat them earlier in the season, and played in the Big 10 championship game. But then again, if Michigan wins this game against Virginia Tech (a team that is coming off a blowout loss in the ACC Championship Game) and Michigan St loses their match-up against Georgia, the BCS will look like geniuses for setting up this match-up. Meanwhile, Kansas St and their number 8 ranking are left out.

Discover Orange Bowl
West Virginia vs Clemson

I can already see the commercial for the ESPN 30 for 30 about this game:

“One of them won the Big East, one of the teams won the ACC. What if I told you that the number 15 team and number 23 teams played each other in a BCS game? The Toilet Bowl, Directed by Joe Smith, Presented by ESPN Films 30 for 30.”

AT&T Cotton Bowl
Kansas St vs. Arkansas

This actually should be a great game. It’s only a shame we couldn’t find somewhere to put the number 6 and 8 teams in the country in the BCS line-up. Oh well…

BBVA Compass Bowl
SMU vs Pittsburgh

This will be the second year in a row for Pitt in the BBVA Compass bowl, possibly leading to Pitt fans to find out what BBVA Compass actually is.

GoDaddy.com Bowl
Arkansas St. vs. Northern Illinois

I know on paper this may seem like a boring match-up but I hear that they have unrated material from the game online that’s supposed to be cuh-razy.

Allstate BCS National Championship Game
Alabama vs. LSU

If Alabama was to hypothetically beat LSU 9-6, who would you crown the national champion? Fun fact: Alabama will have 45 days between it’s last game (an Iron Bowl win against Auburn) and the BCS title game. Or as it’s more commonly known, one Kardashian marriage.

Seems like we’re in for a treat. Stay tuned for my completely biased and baseless picks to be posted later this week.

Does  the name LeBron James on a Miami Heat jersey look odd? Would anyone ever actually buy a Chicago Bulls jersey featuring Carlos Boozer? Not sure which new NBA jersey to buy now that the big flurry of superstar movement has ended?

Well, if you just became a Cleveland Cavaliers fan thanks to owner Dan GIlbert, look no further than this:

The only thing topping the power of the letter was the font used: none other than comic sans. Apparently so versatile it can be used for all letter-writing occasions, from chain to angry.

For the uninitiated, the Los Angeles Lakers have a promotion where if they win the game and score over 100 points, everyone in attendance gets a coupon for 2 free Jack in the Box tacos.

On the surface, they’re really nothing special. Just 2 greasy, meat imitation tacos stuffed with a slice of cheese and hot sauce. Retail value: 99 cents.

As the Lakers inch closer to a victory, the Staples Center crowd erupts in a “WE WANT TACOS” chant. To a casual observer, this may seem unnecessary, extravagant, and pointless. Who the hell in their right mind would care this much about tacos? Isn’t there an actual NBA game happening on the court? Leave it to idiot Laker fans to care more about a free giveaway than an actual game of basketball!

Of those same people I ask, have you ever actually had said tacos? Or have you regularly watched Lakers home games?

The tacos are merely passable and pricey ticket holders have infinitely better things to do than drool over discount fast food. It is a matter of pride, people. Not only are the tacos here to stay, but they are our rally cry.

As Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Finals was winding down a Laker victory, the crowd erupted in their customary chant. Sure, the same practice seems innocent enough during a regular season game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but this is the FINALS. The Boston Celtics came in, got their asses handed to them, and were subsequently being brushed aside by the rallying cries for soy filler.

We don’t care about no tacos. This is the Land of Showtime. And we’re showing you up.

The baseball-loving world is in an uproar over Armando Galarraga‘s perfect game being taken away by a bad call by umpire Jim Joyce.

Yes, Joyce had it in his power to end it then and there, and the replays certainly prove that. But at the same time, what was shortstop Jason Donald doing busting his ass at that point of the game?

While some may commend such hustle, I call it being selfish. The young shortstop was recently called up to take the place of Asdrubal Cabrera, who was smart enough to break his arm and not have to endure the majority of the season with the lowly Cleveland Indians. But what the hell is he doing barreling down the line with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, playing for a cellar dweller? Donald just HAD to chase individual glory by recording an infield single to go 1-3 for the game.

From a franchise that reared the uninspired base-running prowess of Manny Ramirez into the league, I would expect much better.

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa is quickly approaching, and you might wanna think about gearing up.

There are plenty of jerseys to be had, and plenty more to be won if you check out this Free Jerseys for Life contest. You even get $10 off a purchase to boot.

Anywho, here are a few of my favorite jerseys that you’ll see this summer:

Argentina

If it’s good enough for Lionel Messi, it’s good enough for you. Sleek baby blue pinstripes – what more could you ask for?

Brazil

Nothing ellicits as many images of soccer dominance as the yellow Brazilian national team jerseys. Pele wore it. Ronaldo wore it. Ronaldinho wore it. This kit is synonymous with Win.

Ivory Coast

There’s something about that bright orange that I love. And to boot, it’s the primary color in this ensemble – not like a third jersey trying to stand out or anything. This squad always looks to surprise, so their play often mirrors the flashiness of their wardrobe. Or maybe I’m just a big Didier Drogba fan…

Croatia

I don’t even know if Croatia qualified this time around, but who cares! They look like picnic baskets! Tee hee!

United States of America

You didn’t seriously I think I forgot about our boys did you? I mean, I DID dedicate a post to this at some juncture already. Our garb is clean and classy. By the time we’re through with the field at this World Cup, there will be plenty more fans around the world donning these shirts and repping the good ol’ US of A.

The NFL season has come and gone, and I am happy to say that I enjoyed this one more than any other in the past. It was not only because I cheered on a new team, but it was because I understood and appreciated the game so much more than I did before. For that, I can at least partially thank A Few Seconds of Panic by Stefan Fatsis.

You can practically hear a hamstring rip

Fatsis got the opportunity to go through training camp and the preseason with the Denver Broncos. While he may not have lined up behind center like George Plimpton in Paper Lion, Fatsis certainly managed to give an in-depth and real account of what it means to play professional football.

Given his background in soccer as a youth, Fatsis decided to continue down the kicking route, lining up field goals under the tutelage of Jason Elam. But just getting there was tough enough. Apparently, kicking a football isn’t as easy as it appears. And neither is punting. Or even merely dropping the ball down to punt. Stefan’s journey is almost overwhelming when he describes how much there is to interpret, understand, and execute when it comes to the simplest of tasks on the field.

But this book is about much more than just kicking. Everyone and everything is seemingly connected on the field and in the locker room. You follow the trials and tribulations of fledgling backup quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt, the comeback of a veteran lineman like Adam Meadows, or the never ending struggle to keep up with Demetrin Veal.

Fatsis goes even further to shed light on head coach Mike Shanahan, who was known to run one of the most strict regimes in the entire sport. From the playbook to the boardroom, no stone is left unturned.

The ultimate goal of the experience seemed to have been to kick a field goal in a live environment. With the rush coming and nerves frayed. While Mr. Fatsis may have felt panicked in this very moment, his documentation of the experience, through hilarious anecdotes and intricate detail, will leave you a smarter, more sophisticated, and more appreciative of a fan.

As the Los Angeles Lakers visited the White House yesterday, a press conference was also held to announce the acquisition of President Barack Obama for Jordan Farmar and Adam Morrison‘s expiring contact (we are in a recession, after all).

Kobe Bryant was ecstatic about the backcourt help acquired for him. Said Bryant, “President Obama has the potential to play a bigger role than Bill Clinton did with Tom Gugliotta in NBA Jam.”

In other news, Jordan Farmar has appointed Luke Walton his Secretary of Chillaxing.

Here is my hungover Saturday morning attempt at a piece of pop culture street art, as requested by Puck Daddy. If I don’t even get a retweet out of this, I will be indescribably irate over the extra sleep I gave up to attempt to make this happen:

By some odd stroke of luck, Rex Ryan has taken his New York Jets all the way to the AFC Championship game. You can just tell he’s hungry for a Super Bowl ring sausaged Frosted Flakes.

Hey I tried. Them chin layers weren’t easy.