Recently I've been getting a lot of flack for my passion for sports and I'd just thought I'd put my reasons out here. First of all people are stupid. Not necissarily everyone but, when you get a group of people together they somehow become profoundly dumb. Examples: driving, put a bunch of people together on the road and you have traffic jams and accidents; congress, self explanitory; eagles fans, also self explanitory (but this could really be applied to any group of drunken sports fans). However many sports is the attempt to go beyond the stupid heard mentality. Put several joe shmoes on the basketball court or football field and you have chaos. Put a bunch of consumate professionals being lead by a good coach on the court or field and you have magic, art and people rising above mere humanity. Also sports is a celebration of the pinnicle of human ability. The amount of time, energy, pain combined with the genetics that have arisen through evolution and the top athletes are closer to superheros than the average couch surfer. Watching Prince Fielder crush a baseball, Dwight Howard throw down a Jam or Steve Smith bust a 65 yard touchdown reception is watching the peak of humanity perform. These people are truly the best of the best. They are singular performers that do what only they can do, of the millions upon millions of people on this planet only these few can do what they do. So when I watch sports, I'm not just cheering on my team or that player, I'm celebrating humanity in its perfection.
Posted on: February 25, 2008 12:53 pm
Posted on: February 12, 2008 1:54 pm
Joys of a rebuilding team
Well, if you haven't heard the news, the Athletics are rebuilding. Trading away Nick Swisher, Marco Scutaro, Dan Haren among others in order to load up on young, unproven players who are expected to develop into solid guys over the next few years. As an A's fan this is mildly depressing, but not totally unexpected. As a small (SMALL) market team the A's have to keep a serious eye on the ole bottom line, at the least until the new stadium is done. However, being a team that has some serious success behind them (#3 in World Series wins) the A's are expected to compete year in, year out. Obviously rebuilding and winning the series rarely (if ever) go hand in hand. So what is an A's fan to do? Well, if you are the kind of fan that is really into the team and not just the win/loss results, then now is the primetime for watching the genius that is Billy Beane. If he really is the innovator that 'Moneyball' claims he is, then the future for the A's is about as bright as its ever been. Beane has made many moves before, most of which have been very beneficial. But this round of trades is different, this is a big, huge, massive amount of movement by the A's, if this group of new guys is as successful as past trades were, then Billy Beane has set a huge benchmark for what other teams need to be looking for and at. However, if Beane has set the ship sailing in the wrong direction, then will Moneyball come under increased scrutiny? This is a big fork in the road for the Athletics organization: new guys, a new stadium outside of Oakland proper, Moneyball madness. Will the A's push the small market teams to the forefront, or will they be just another Kansas City?
Posted on: January 15, 2008 11:44 am
Because Cash Speaks (BCS)
Playoff, its the only answer. You want a real national champion, get a 16 team playoff with all conferences represented. If this was the NFL and no team from the AFC and NFC west could ever play in the SuperBowl, no matter what their record is, would the NFL still be valid? NO! If this was baseball and no team from the NL west or NL east could ever play in the World Series would the MLB still be valid? NO! If this was the NCAA basketball tournament and no team from the Mountain West, WAC, C-USA, Missouri Valley, etc. ever play in the tournament or the final four no matter how good their record was, would March Madness still be valid? NO. So then why is that BCS conference schools are the only valid participants for the national title despite the fact that they (in theory) are competing against teams from non-BCS conferences? If you are really so confident in you conference's supremacy, put up or shut up, play it out, let a real champion be crowned, stop hiding behind you Bull Crap System and let your play do the talking for you. And don't give me any of this crap about this student athlete stuff. Those football players (especially at top programs) spend about as much time on classwork as Snoop Dogg does sober.
