I Have Never Been So Mad

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4725887

This is probably the worst thing our current administration is doing. This debate is all because President Obama said he was in favor of a play-off system to pander to the voters during his campaign.

What business is it of our federal government of how 119 schools decide who they name as a champion? What about the economy you have failed to revive? What about this health care bill that is going to stymie necessary job growth and drive our budget deficits (which you claimed you were going balance) through the roof burdening future generations with untold taxes? What about the two wars you won a Nobel Prize simply for claiming you want to end, yet you have repeatedly ignored the generals on what will effectively end them and simply sent more men to fight? Don't these things take a little more precedent?

In 1620 a group of Protestant separatist landed in Massachusetts. In 1776 the colonies revolted from England. In 1787 a Constitution was adopted to form what we know as the American federal government. On April 6, 1917 America declared war on Germany and it's allies; in December 1941, we declared war on Japan. In 1945, the Cold War began, and became "hot" wars in Korea and Vietnam. What do all of these events have in common? They highlight the fundamental principle of America: government should have as little role in the lives of the citizens who give it its legitimacy. The preamble to our Constitution outlines the role of the federal government: "We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

I did not see anything about football or play-offs or the BCS in there. There is no way that anyone is truly wronged by the BCS system. There are no riots in the street for a play-off. In general life goes on without skipping a beat when the BCS teams are announced. Therefore the federal government has absolutely no right in interfering.

In fact this interference also goes against America's firm belief in capitalism. The member schools of the BCS participate on their own free will; no one holds a gun the the commissioner of the ACC's head and says he has to put his best team in the BCS. Why do they do that? Because it makes money. We buy the tickets to the games, we pay the hundreds of dollars to travel to the game sites, and we turn on the TV when we can't be there. This is exactly what the free-market economy dictates. If we are so adamant for a play-off don't buy the tickets, don't watch the game, don't drink the BCS Kool-Aid. If it ceases to be a profitable venture, it will cease to exist. For the government to say a perfect legitimate system of supply and demand cannot exist because "it's not fair to everyone" suggests Marxist principles. Yes, I know it's extreme but essentially the government is saying that capitalism should not function in this case because it isn't an utopian situation. This is flat-out wrong and has no place in American politics.

Let me assure you, I firmly believe that there should be a play-off in the top level of college football. But this is not the way to do it. The government has no business wasting tax-payer's money even debating it; it is not their jurisdiction, nor their constitutional right to put their nose in a private endeavor such as this. The great thing about America is that everything comes from the people who are free to choose. So let that be the catalyst for the change to a play-off system. No one is going to give it to us just for complaining. We need to get out and make it happen. Vote with your remote. If you really feel so passionate about seeing a play-off then don't watch the BCS. I know this won't happen. Why? Because in the long run it just doesn't matter. Will the world end if it just so happens that TCU is actually the best team in the land and never got to prove it? No, it won't. Is it a great social injustice the because Florida lost one game they won't get a chance to defend their title? No, not hardly. It's sports, not life and death. And as a result the Congress shouldn't even pretend to take this seriously.

Distraction

Since all of my thoughts on my teams have been horribly, horribly wrong (who knew that Jim Zorn was actually completely incompetent?) I have decided to distract myself from football and write about this past season of Entourage.

This show for some odd reason keeps me interested despite the fact that it's the same thing every single season. There is almost no depth to the show and for the most part it is one inconsequential action after another for the characters. So let's look at it from a character by character basis, starting with the most pathetic leading to the only two interesting ones left. This does contain spoilers.

Let's start with Vince. I'm guessing the show's writers tried to make a season where everything didn't go perfectly just to see what Adrian Genier had to offer us as an actor. While last season was captivating, I don't think the writers were impressed by his acting abilities (much like the director of the ill-fated Smoke Jumpers). So they decided, this show is best when he is doing well, making money to pay for everyone else, and having sex. This is fine with me, but it doesn't make him interesting or compelling.

E comes next. This guy hasn't changed one bit. OK this season they actually gave him success as a manager by putting him in a big firm. And they tried to make us want him to get back/ not want him to get back with Sloane AND Ashley the entire season. YAWN. We're tired of E being the lovesick workaholic. It doesn't count that he "changed" because they brought up a "problem" that he only likes girlfriends on his terms with 10 minutes left in the season and he "fixed" it 2 seconds later by proposing. This is the same E we saw from the second he hit the screen: little Irish guy who wants to prove he can make a living and get attractive, stable women without Vince's help. The sad thing is, Kevin Connelly might be one of the better actors in the series yet he is severely limited in this role.

Johnny Drama almost fooled us this year. But like E, his "problem" was short lived and easily remedied. This year we saw a little more depth with his fierce loyalty to his friends (and their girlfriends) that he was willing to sacrifice his first major success since Viking Quest to uphold their reputation. Unfortunately they played the same anger-issues card they have played ad nausea. We were also led to believe that the man who couldn't find work for so long was now ready to not look for work (brought on by his well documented anxiety, boring). This major decision lasted an episode and a half; are we really supposed to believe that Turtle flying to New Zealand is really enough of a catalyst to make him change his mind? Sure once he realized he was meant to be an actor he found himself in the right emotional balance to nail an audition causing the network to want him to star in his own show, but shouldn't such a powerful and life-altering realization be sparked by something a little greater?

Turtle, surprisingly is the second most dynamic character on this show. This season we really saw that Turtle is not some mooch who hangs around Vince to get chemically altered and laid. He decided he wanted to be his own man, to make his own money, to do some heavy lifting (unlike his failed attempt at being a manager for Saigon, where the first sign of trouble or real work he split). He went back to school to learn how to start a business. In a very related note, we also saw that Turtle can be a one woman man. Jerry Ferrara's real life girlfriend, Jamie Lyn Siegler, actually made Turtle cry when she left to film in New Zealand. The old Turtle would have hopped right onto the co-ed who had flirted with him the entire season without missing a beat. The new, mature Turtle actually couldn't do it (even though he told the boys he did); he missed Jamie too much and went to New Zealand to get her back (even though he failed). This season we saw Turtle grow up as a character and as a fictional person. It will certainly be interesting to see if the writers are able to continue this growth next season. Will they bring Jamie back? If they don't will he fall back into the static, flat character he was in seasons previous, or will this new-found motivation and maturity persist without a good woman driving it?

Finally we come to the most compelling character in the series: Ari. This season Ari was involved with trying to make Lloyd an agent and buying out his old boss, Terrence, from his agency to make the world's largest agency, as well as giving aid to Andrew, Turtle, and Drama. This led to Ari being a man of many hats. First we saw a new side of Ari: the fatherly figure. He mentored Andrew, Turtle, and Drama superbly this season. He also put Lloyd through his paces on what it really took to be an agent, Ari the teacher. We also saw an incredibly vindictive side of Ari we really only got to see shades on in the past. Seeing such pure anger when Lloyd jumped ship was a surprisingly refreshing twist on an old theme for Ari. We also saw a savvy business man in his dealings with his old boss. He admitted that "yes I would love to destroy 3 people at his old agency, but no he is purely motivated by the fact that it would be great business to buy, and even worse to pass." Finally, we saw Ari the merciful/ Ari the repentant. The final episode blew me away with the depth it added to Ari (and I was already impressed with it so far this season). I thought for sure it would be a typical Ari vs Terrence ego battle with Ari failing to buy over a stupid point. But no, Terrence apologized and Ari realized that a real man doesn't have to have everything his own way, that it would be OK to honor the man that helped make him who he was by keeping the name. Ari also realized that he was wrong with what he did to Lloyd. He knew Lloyd didn't betray him, that in fact Lloyd was nothing buy loyal and it was he who drove Lloyd away out of fear Lloyd would do what he did to Terrance. He apologized sincerely to Lloyd and even made him the agent he deserved to be (and it led to the funniest moment of the season when the sign on Lloyd's office said "Congratulations You're Finally a Real Asian").

While this season really put a damper on my opinion of Entourage (maybe because I would watch it on TiVo right after Mad Men) there were a few bright points that hopefully the writers will expand upon next season to get this show where something with such high critical acclaim should be.

Football Finally

So it is the start of both football seasons. And I don't mean college and pro, I mean American and the other kind. As you probably know I have become an avid fan of European pro soccer in the past four plus years; but I will touch on that later.

Football season is upon us. The college kickoff happens next weekend and the NFL the week after. I wouldn't call my hopes for the two teams I support high, but I certainly think of them as potential sleeper teams. I'll start with the college game.

It's sad, but I actually know UVa's fight song and not my alma mater, Washington and Lee's famous W&L swing (though I do know a very inappropriate version sung by my fraternity). I have been going to UVa football games since I was at least in 5th grade and despite the fact that they seem to be the second fiddle to VT, I will always root for them. No one is predicting much for them this year. However I think a bowl is very likely. Last year they had a not so good offense because they didn't really have a quarterback; Jameel Sewell, who led the team in '07 to a top 25 finish, was academically ineligible. Yet despite this they were about 3 minutes away from not only beating VT, in Blacksburg, but also being bowl eligible. This year with the introduction of a spread offense and either the return of Sewell, Vic Hall, a 3 year starter at corner and former state champ winning QB for Gretna in high school, taking over, or a more experienced Marc Verica that should not be a question mark position. Also Mikell Simpson should be healthy and there is an entire stable of variously shaped and sized backs behind him. If the defense and o-lines can be as good as the past few years then 7 wins would be easy (but let's be honest 1 win against a certain team would be a successful season).

In the pros I have always and will always be a Redskins fan. No one is picking them to do anything. Ok yeah they are in one of the toughest division in football. I love it when no one likes the Skins because they almost always make the playoffs that year. They would have made it last year if the offensive line wasn't playing with the 8th string in by the end of the year. I think having Jason Campbell in the same offensive in consecutive years for the first time since his sophomore year in college is going to work wonders. Clinton Portis is always a horse and Ladell Betts is one of the best spell backs in the league. I think Malcolm Kelley is about to become a great 3rd receiver (it usually takes a year for receivers to adjust fully to the pro game). Chris Cooley, Santana Moss, and Antwan Randle El are always productive. I don't need to say anything about the defense. It was great last year and got better this year with the addition of Haynesworth and Orakpo (and a full season of Deangelo Hall). Don't sleep on this team. They could make some noise, they really will only need to score 20 points a game to win.

Now to my newest passion: European soccer. I just want to thank ESPN profusely for buying EPL and La Liga rights to replace their loss of Champions League coverage. Sure the CL is much more prestigious, but week in and week out league play is ten times more exciting because there is a lot more history between the sides involved. I also want to thank Comcast for finally getting on the ESPN360 ship, so now I can watch even more coverage. I think I have never been more excited for a soccer season, probably because I understand the game so much more, and because of my beloved FC Barcelona's dream season last year. Even after becoming the first Spanish side to win 3 trophies in a campaign, we have no pressure; thanks to crisis mode in the nation's capital. The Madridistas brought in over 200 million euros worth of talent including Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Xabi Alonso. All we did was sell off Samuel Eto'o and replace him with much needed height, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. So we are not the favorites for anything, yet I'm extremely confident of at least one trophy and a great season battle with Real Madrid.

The Sports Doldrums

It's official. We are in the most boring time to be a sports fan. We are still a few weeks away from NFL camp (but even that isn't exciting). We are two months away from the start of college football. The NBA just had a month plus of play-offs that started awesome and ended horribly. We saw that Lebron can't do it on his own (which no one could, not even Jordan). We saw that Dwight Howard is not in any way close to being a dominant force in a game; sure he can grab 15-20 rebounds and maybe swat a few balls into the stands, but when it comes to offense it is really ugly. How can a guy picked that high have so little basketball IQ? I knew the Finals were over after game 2 when Orlando showed the Lakers were a tougher team mentally. That's like saying someone is less funny than Ben Stiller.

Another problem with sports right now is MLB. It's not really their fault. But right now is just that time in the season where a few teams are out of it (the Nationals), but for the most part teams are just grinding out the games and waiting out till the All-Star break to see if they have a shot or not.

Sadly, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open have been busts too. Nadal withdrew before the tournament so I think most people are expecting Federer to make it to the final easily and break American icon Pete Sampras's record. And I don't know about you but the I have never disliked an American athlete as much as I despise the Williams sisters. I imagine most people will tune in to the final and the occasional 5 set match, but for the most part it seems to be lacking excitement. The U.S. Open was good to watch, but not captivating. It was cool to see Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes battling it out and Tiger, Phil and David Duval battle back. But with all the rain, and the overall toughness of the course it wasn't electrifying golf, like last year.

I would say really the only thing that has caught my attention has been the Confederations Cup. It was nice to see the U.S. make a run into their first finals. What wasn't so nice was losing a 2-0 lead. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud and there are valuable lessons the team should have learned about competing with the best. But I think too much was made of just getting there. Landon Donovan said it best when he told reporters it hurts losing because we getting back is never guaranteed. I hope that this made the U.S. players hungrier and less willing to "just get there."

Hopefully this sports dry spell will pass quickly. Maybe if we take a cue from the Ancient Mariner and realize the beauty of even the ugliest (or in this case, least exciting) we can get out of the doldrums.

A Quick Turn of Emotion

So a little more than 24 hours ago I was going to write a very scathing and angry entry about how the Big 4 of the English Premiere League (EPL) were destroying soccer.  I was so incensed with how their game plan for the Champions League matches has for years been to score a goal then put 10 hulking brutes behind the ball and win 1-0.  With some exceptions these teams rely on players to use bullying tactics to win matches.  And it seemed like UEFA (the governing body of soccer in Europe) was supporting it after the poor officiating in the Barcelona-Chelsea first leg (and the phantom red card on Barca left back Eric Abidal).  I was going to rant about how UEFA only wanted the cash cows like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea to succeed because of the revenue it would bring in (although this would have been a completely unfounded claim since I have no idea which clubs sell the most tickets, but I do think the English clubs are more appealing to U.S. viewers).

Then at about 4:45 p.m. EST Andres Iniesta put Barcelona's first shot on goal in 93 minutes in the back of the net  (I refuse to refer to any type of vegetable or sack here).  I was listening to the game on FC Barcelona's website because I was doing work.  The sheer elation, joy, whatever it was, was maniacal.  The announcer, Nick Simons, was simply screaming utter nonsense.  As a Barcelona fan I wanted to rip my shirt off and run around the office screaming at the top of my lungs; I literally had to hold myself in my seat with one hand and my mouth shut with the other.  And it made me realize: why have more Americans not embraced this sport?  People say its because there is no scoring. That makes it more exciting!  Every time a play looks as though it may threaten goal you can feel the stadium, and yourself holding your breath in anticipation.  Sure, watching Barcelona or the Spanish, Argentine, or Brazilian national teams is exciting for everyone since they are regularly threats to put 3 or 4 in, in beautifully quick and precise movements.  But I think when teams are grinding out 1-0 wins it is just as tense, as yesterday showed.  Every time there was a cross or a corner or a nifty one-two the tension briefly ratcheted up.  I find that when watching soccer there are just as many if not more plays that raise the heart rate than a football game.  Another great thing is, soccer is more or less a year round sport in Europe. Barca opened their season on August 13th, their last game will be May 31st.  With major clubs in 3 to 4 competitions, group stages, point systems, knock-out rounds, two-legged affairs, every thing matters, even that boring 0-0 tie.  Pardon the mixing of sports metaphors, but the season is a heavy weight fight that's going all 12 rounds. I think if Americans took a little more time to really look at the European soccer model they would be impressed.  In the meantime Go Barca!

Fare Thee Well John Madden

So everyone is grateful that John Madden has thrown in the towel.  Don't count me as one of them.  Madden provided three amazing contributions to the NFL every year.

The first is obvious; I'll give you a hint: "E A SPORTS IT'S IN THE GAME."  If you are a male aged 12 to I would venture as high as 30 and have any interest in video games and sports you can probably do a spot on impression of that.  John Madden has been to football video games what Jason Statham has been to cheesy action flicks.  He may not have been the first one, but right now if you asked someone to name the top name in movies involving ridiculous stunts, fast cars, and creepy women, Handsome Rob would be the first they say.  Same goes to Madden.  Techmo Football was first, but (partially thanks to a monopoly on football games purchased by EA in 2004) Madden is the first name in sports video games.

The second contribution is also obvious.  Madden is good for the greatest unintentional humor in sports.  Sadly when ABC paired him with Al Michaels they paired him with someone who took great pains to make John sound less ridiculous.  Remember the good old days when Pat Summerall was drinking in the booth to try to handle Madden's comments?  I can still remember when Madden said of Troy Aikman "here's a guy who when he puts his contacts in sees better."  Madden said the most painfully obvious things.  Plus his love of Turduken and six legged turkeys was quite humorous.

The third, seems contradictory after the last contribution.  Madden was one of the best announcers in the game.  There are very few color guys these days who actually teach you something when you watch the game.  The same hilarious telestrator doodles actually taught you something if you listened.  As far as I can tell only Chris Collinsworth and Ron Jaworski do this anywhere near the same level (and Merrill Hodge, but he does it the next day on Sportscenter).  Aikman can do it at times, but isn't consistent.  Dayrl Johnston and Tony Siragusa, or "Moose and Goose" are terrible; they just seem like they are competing for saying what I'm sure people in the know understand but they can't say it layman's terms.  That is why Madden was so great.  He said things as simply as he could. Sure sometimes it came out as completely unnecessary to say, but he was seldom wrong and often insightful on matters of strategy, technique, and play calling.  He could explain exactly how the routes ran during a play were so critical at placing the defense to allow the guy who does get the ball the best chance of success better than anyone.  So say what you will about Madden, his ability to literally coach the audience is going to be sorely missed.

Thank God for the Bears

All the talk on Thursday morning was that my beloved Redskins were trying to trade for Jay Cutler.  Obviously, they would give up Jason Campbell for Cutler.  I was horrified to hear this because anyone who is a Skins fan knows that when Dan Snyder gets an idea in his head it usually happens.  Forget the fact that they gave a defensive tackle who has played a full season once in his career (his rookie year when he only started 4 games) a $100m contract, paid a guy who got cut by the RAIDERS over $50m, and brought back a guy who they let go two years ago and was cut by the Bills on a big time contract too.  I would have been really upset if they had thrown away the 3 plus years they had invested in Campbell for the quick fix.

I thought Snyder had learned that the quick fix doesn't work.  After Deion Sanders, Steve Spurrier, and one play-off appearance I thought Dan had finally figured out that consistency and building a team and a system was the way to go.  Let's look at the facts of what would have happened in this deal.

Rewind to 2006.  With 5 games left the Broncos were leading the AFC Wild Card.  Inexplicably they benched Jake Plummer and brought in rookie Jay Cutler.  They lost 3 of the next five and missed the play-offs.  They have not made the play-offs under Cutler, who is 17-20 as a starter.  Not to mention he let trade talks get into his head.  This is not the kind of guy I want leading my team on a fourth quarter drive.

The Redskins have no reason to give up on Campbell.  Sure he hasn't taken them to the play-offs (Todd Collins did in the 2007-2008 season).  However, he has been in a new offensive system every year since his junior year at Auburn, save one year with Al Saunders.  If this were next year and his performance was still "sub-par" I wouldn't be as upset.  But the thing is, I don't think his performance has been bad.  Last year he lead a few game winning drives and showed that he was a leader and was growing as an NFL player.  Maybe he hasn't thrown as many TDs as Cutler, and has a slightly lower career passer rating.  But they have an almost identical win-loss record and Campbell has one thing Cutler doesn't: a position in the Redskins locker room.  I was not about to see the Skins give up a first rounder the next two years for pretty much the same player.  

Luckily the Bears swooped in and took Cutler before Snyder could.  I don't think he has learned that consistency wins in the NFL, but the Monsters of the Midway forced him to stick with their guy.  The best thing about all of this is that Campbell has repeatedly said he is not taking it personally; it shows he isn't going to be easily rattled.  So for now I can look forward to a Redskins season that should be pretty good.  Hopefully Zorn won't coach himself out of a job and Campbell can continue to grow.  Remember he was the last quarterback to complete an undefeated season in the SEC.  

Stop Comparing My Sports!

Note: The idea for this came from listening to The B.S. Report and watching Sportscenter.

I was watching ESPN at the gym today and caught a glimpse of a graphic listing Stanford women's basketball player Jane Appel scoring 46 points again Iowa State, the third most of all time for the women's tournament.  That's pretty cool you say, but I say wait right there.  This graphic had her point total compared to those in both tournaments, men and women.

Why do I find a problem with that?  Do I hate women's sports?  No and no.  I just don't see how you can compare men and women's basketball.  One is not better than the other; they are simply two different sports.  Sure Candace Parker would destroy me in a game of basketball.  But how would she do against Blake Griffin?  Both are incredible athletes who play different sports.

This got me thinking even further.  Why do people try to argue who the best football/ baseball/ basketball/ or golf star of all time is?  These arguments go round and round, mainly because those we're talking about can't compete against each other in their primes.  However there is one factor that is often over looked: sports change.  The most obvious case is football.  Players are bigger, faster, stronger than ever before.  This a great testament to the emphasis on strength, speed and quickness training.  But it also has to do with advances in nutrition and sports medicine.  This carries over into all sports.  In 1965, when Jack Nicklaus won his first Masters I'm pretty sure he wasn't hitting the weights like Tiger does.

However these are not the only changes.  Let's continue with golf.  Today players have advances like metal drivers and hybrid clubs.  Golf has adjusted accordingly; they moved the tees back at Augusta a few times.  In basketball there have been numerous rule changes to protect the players.  When MJ was driving to the basket in his prime he was getting beat up a lot more than Lebron is today.  Even looking at the sports I am most familiar with, swimming and lacrosse, you can see how much things have changed.  In swimming coaches spend hours figuring out the best way to perform a stroke, a start, a turn.  Not to mention that these new suits that add buoyancy, stability, and whisk water away add an advantage that is out of this world.  In lacrosse new materials and designs have made sticks, pads, helmets lighter, and increased movement and visibility.

But the biggest complaint comes in baseball.  People complain that steroids have tainted the numbers so they can't be compared to the days of yore.  Well how about the fact that MLB keeps balls in climate controlled rooms as long as possible and they change balls practically every at bat?  What about the fact that African-American players didn't play until 1947?  What about the proliferation of the maple bat?  What about the simple fact that pretty much everyone was juicing from the late 90s through 2003?  Don't the changes in the game mean it's a different game than the one Babe played?

My only point here is that while these comparisons may be a fun argument with your friends or an entertaining piece on Sportscenter, they don't really hold water.  I think we should just appreciate more of what these guys and gals are doing on a nightly basis compared to those around them, not the ghosts of the past.