Steroids and other stuff

Well, the report is out. Gawhge Mitchell gave his press conference yesterday. I was laughing at parts because his Maine accent was coming out with "pahrhaps". Killed me. Steroids - it's hardly surprising that folks used steroids to get ahead. Athletes are always looking for an edge (coaches are doing that as well, but using video tape). What's kinda confusing is that names were put out there and put athletes in the position of answering the no-win question like "so, when did you stop beating your wife?"

It is disappointing that Roger Clemens name was part of this sordid tale. It is, however, a very plausible explanation of how he became better AFTER leaving the Red Sox and got HUGE in Toronto. The baseball writers and players on ESPN and FSN were pooh poohing this trainer's word, pointing out that he gave this information out because he was going down. The double standard is bogus. Love or hate Barry Bonds (I can't stand the man, he's a prick to fans), he get's the worst of the bile and it turns out the pitching counterpart to the best hitter in the past 25 years used 'roids, supposedly.

On to college football. People, mainly couch potato fans who never played football beyond flag football in gym class, are complaining about the season and how there needs to be a playoff. BULLSHYTE! College football doesn't NEED a playoff, only the pundits who claim that stuff. There is not one good reason to have a playoff for D1 football - the only reason? BETTING. There is too much money right now in the bowl system as it is and to introduce a playoff system under the current bowl scenario would extend the season beyond the superbowl, possibly. There is not any reason for a playoff. The other football divisions have a playoff, but the tradition of bowls for DI goes back before there was ever a playoff system in college. Sorry, for those football fans who are dim (which means most of them), keep the bowl system as it is.

When Hockey was more interesting

So, in the course of my chronic insomnia I was watching the NHL channel and I caught the 1979 Stanley Cup semi-finals between Boston and Montreal. Game went down to the wire but I was struck by how very cool hockey was back then (especially with Don Cherry behind the bench for my B's). Peter McNab, Rick Middleton, Terry O'Reilly, Mike Milbury, etc etc etc. Great teams and almost all of them played without a helmet (wasn't until the early 80's where the helmet rules were put in place). As a post-collegiate lacrosse player who played with a ton of hockey players, we had more to talk about then just lax.

I live in DC, but there are times when I really miss this time of year in Boston. High School hockey is in the first part of their season, college hockey is up and running, and the early morning trips to the rink with dad are the true causes of morning traffic on a Saturday morning. The greatest hockey tournament comes in February with the Beanpot featuring the four universities in Boston. Harvard, BU, BC, and Northeastern hit the ice the first two mondays in February and the winner gets bragging rights for a whole year. In Boston (prior to the Red Sox and the Patriots winning, bragging and Boston weren't very friendly) having bragging rights is huge, huge. The winner of the tournament almost always makes the D1 tourney (most of the time the winner makes it to the Frozen Four). I miss hockey, good hockey. You just don't get it down here in DC and most folks treat it as a small amusement. Hockey is a great sport, with sick hits and amazing athletes, and it's a blast to watch.

Some folks are just, well, haters

Well, it's another Monday and the Patriots are 13-0, undefeated in other words. They have played stunning football at times and pedestrian at other times. Yet, they are unbeaten. Listening here in DC, the Junkies are trying to speculate who could beat the Patriots. Strange how folks seem to think that the Patriots can be beaten by "scoring a lot of points." There is only two ways the Patriots are beatable - turnovers and injuries. The Ravens game was the closest to a loss that came out a win since Nebraska came back to beat Missouri back in the late 90's.

In watching the Patriots yesterday I was struck by the sheer brilliance that the Patriots have on offense in the passing game. Having four athletic receivers and solid tight ends who can catch (for the most part, Watson seems to cough up some easy ones) and then having Faulk run a hitch/screen out of the backfield makes defenses weary.

I was fortunate that I was able to watch the game since it was my youngest son's 4th birthday but I also had some evacuation situations to handle to I was downstairs in and out of the bathroom while my in-laws/wife/friends/kids were upstairs making a racket. It was great to watch that trick play, double lateral, and burn that big mouth safety from Pittsburgh.

Why Redskins fans are homers

Far be it for me to call most other fans homers but Redskins fans are really weird. I do NOT understand how they think that the Redskins are a good team or that the team "has all the pieces". Listening to the Junkies this morning and I'm struck by how dense these folks are. A lot of complainers have balanced things out, but with both daily newspapers spending 11 PAGES! to the Redskins, this is HOMERVILLE!

I love living down here - the weather is better than it was in Boston where I grew up, folks don't cut you off every 10 feet, but it's just plain STUPID how the Redskins are WORSHIPPED here. Every Redskins game gets FRONTPAGE coverage on the Washington Post - what in the world is that about? The Redskins deserve FRONTPAGE coverage when they suck? I understand with Sean Taylor getting killed last week, that's different and I understand how that would be of high interest. However, EVERY GAME other than yesterday deserve front page coverage? When most of the coverage is such homer junk?

I find that sports journalists are less journalists and more knuckleheads. I've yet to see a good columnist who actually KNOWS the sport they're covering, ALSO, how about actually PLAYED the sport or ANY sport for that matter. I'm convinced that most sports writers aren't very intelligent, they're just overpaid fans who'd sacrifice their first born to talk to __________ __________ (fill in the blanks for your favorite sports personage).

I understand that folks love sports, but please, could we please, please, stop being homers? Painting one's body or wearing "gear" ALL WEEK LONG. Sorry, but getting a letterman jacket of your favorite sports team is just dumb. I have a fleece and three hats of my beloved Red Sox, THAT'S IT! I'm a huge Sox fan but I'm not getting matching sweat suits or getting a whole mug set. That's for the Jimmy Fallons out there, the "superfans" who are just homers. Be a fan, but don't spend your extra cash on "your team's" stuff.

Redskins fans, Steelers fans, and Cowboys fans here in DC are the most ridiculous human beings I've ever seen. My word, flags, vanity plates for the car, flags on the car, coloring your car with your team's colors, and all that nonsense is just dumb. You're not a person any more, you are a headless sheep.