Finally after a long NCAA football season we have a no doubts about it National Championship game. Oregon will be playing Auburn both teams are undefeated (12-0, 13-0). This is GREAT for the BCS because they didnt want to have the potential of putting Boise or TCU in the title game . I think thats unanimous thought with the head(s) of the NCAA. The money that is involved with the Nike College or Oregon Univeristy as some know it with Phil Knight who is the co-founder and Chairman of Nike Inc. whose estimate net worth is 11.1 billion (wikipedia.org). That helps in not wanting little Boise or TCU who just cant match that plus the fact that potential Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton will be meeting the Oregon Ducks int he nat'l title game was too good of a set up to miss out on for the NCAA and all the money they want to make in the end.
This pretty much gives everyone a look at the most exciting team in Oregon and the best player from the best team in the best conference in Cam Newton of Auburn from the SEC. I am personally thrilled to watch this game because Oregon turns it on in the 2nd half and so can Auburn who won 4 games this year after trailing by 10 or more going into the 3rd quarter.
Oregon can score alot of points and so can Auburn but both defenses arent the best but they have gottem it done this year. I dont think there are any doubts that these 2 teams deserve to be here and Auburn was involved in a BCS flub when they went undefeated and won their BCS game but did not make it to the nat'l title and were never called even or co-national champs that year USC won the title going undefeated by beating Oklahoma.
All that being said im glad its settled and im glad the 2 teams who deserve to be there are playing in college footballs biggest game of the year.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Miami Heat troubles
The Miami Heat are struggling and I think a lot of people love it.. As of today there is tons of talk about firing the young head coach Erik Spoelstra. The Heat are sitting at 9-8 and sitting in 6th place in the east. Noone expected this early season debacle and now people are saying that Lebron and the head coach are at differences and Lebron isnt taking everything seriously.
I think folks in Cleveland are happy right now but what is actually wrong? I dont think theres really one thing you can say is wrong with Miami right now. They have lost some bench players like Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem and according to Dwayne Wade "We're 9-and-8. We're all in this together. The players are not doing a good job. The coach is not doing a good job."
I think this is a good reflection on how everyone feels about the team there isnt a lot of chemistry there and the defense is giving up the 6th most points in the league and scoring the 14th most. (Both according to espn.com). It is still pretty early in the season considering theres 17 games down out of 82 so I still think the Heat have alot of time to turn it around and get on a few hot streaks, as much as I wouldnt like to see it I think they will turn it around and make a better season from here on out.
I think folks in Cleveland are happy right now but what is actually wrong? I dont think theres really one thing you can say is wrong with Miami right now. They have lost some bench players like Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem and according to Dwayne Wade "We're 9-and-8. We're all in this together. The players are not doing a good job. The coach is not doing a good job."
I think this is a good reflection on how everyone feels about the team there isnt a lot of chemistry there and the defense is giving up the 6th most points in the league and scoring the 14th most. (Both according to espn.com). It is still pretty early in the season considering theres 17 games down out of 82 so I still think the Heat have alot of time to turn it around and get on a few hot streaks, as much as I wouldnt like to see it I think they will turn it around and make a better season from here on out.
Dr.Spencer interview in New Zealand
Referring back to the interview which we were able to watch in class last week where Dr. Spencer interviewed a professor from New Zealand. I thought the interview was interesting because I see some similarities in the mentality of the New Zealanders and Americas with rugby and football.
The similarities were very much like the US mentality on football where if you dont play in the sport (rugby) you were considered a little soft and not manly in a lot of peoples eyes. The contact sport of their country is just as popular if not more popular than football here. Much like the mentality that many of us have whether it be when were young or even now people still think that playing sports like soccer is for "poofers". That mentality transpires into our society as well because I know i've said that about soccer when I was younger and know people still say that.
I think that maybe the macho mentality of big men and big contact sports makes people think or atleast compare other sports to be lesser than football and rugby. The information came from a legit source which is why I found this interview to be interesting because it shed some light on the same mentality a lot of Americans have about our rugby (football).
The similarities were very much like the US mentality on football where if you dont play in the sport (rugby) you were considered a little soft and not manly in a lot of peoples eyes. The contact sport of their country is just as popular if not more popular than football here. Much like the mentality that many of us have whether it be when were young or even now people still think that playing sports like soccer is for "poofers". That mentality transpires into our society as well because I know i've said that about soccer when I was younger and know people still say that.
I think that maybe the macho mentality of big men and big contact sports makes people think or atleast compare other sports to be lesser than football and rugby. The information came from a legit source which is why I found this interview to be interesting because it shed some light on the same mentality a lot of Americans have about our rugby (football).
Monday, November 1, 2010
Notre Dame and their troubles
Recently as we all may know a young man named Declan Sullivan was killed in an incident where he was filming for the Notre Dame football team on a day where winds were recorded above 50mph. Mass for Sullivan was held recently and his parents said on espn.com that they arent too worried about pursuing legal action right now but rather celebrating his life and what was. The NCAA is supposedly investigating if ND had violated any safety procedures. Sullivan had tweeted prior to the tower he was on collapsing that it was " (expletive) terrifying". The tweets were kind of alarming knowing that this kid was pretty scared for his life while practice had continued to go on despite practicing indoors the previous day with similar conditions.
Despite all of this ND still has massive amounts of troubles athletically with what is/used to be one of the most tradition filled successful football teams in college history. However ND has suffered recent losses to Navy and Tulsa setting off alarms in all Irish fans heads that something is terribly wrong as ND has failed to win more than 1 bowl game in decades and managing to lose to Navy twice in the last few years where they hadnt lost in 60yrs . The Irish probably wont become bowl eligible this year again not that that matters because ND was eligible the other year turned down the bowl bid they were supposed to receive. Granted the Irish won a bowl game the troubles in South Bend have made this team in complete reality absolute average and middle of the road in my opinion. The last 3 coaches all have floated just above a career record at the school of .500...Notre dame and their troubles have alot of alumni and fans fumed because of some unfortunate events and bad losses.
Despite all of this ND still has massive amounts of troubles athletically with what is/used to be one of the most tradition filled successful football teams in college history. However ND has suffered recent losses to Navy and Tulsa setting off alarms in all Irish fans heads that something is terribly wrong as ND has failed to win more than 1 bowl game in decades and managing to lose to Navy twice in the last few years where they hadnt lost in 60yrs . The Irish probably wont become bowl eligible this year again not that that matters because ND was eligible the other year turned down the bowl bid they were supposed to receive. Granted the Irish won a bowl game the troubles in South Bend have made this team in complete reality absolute average and middle of the road in my opinion. The last 3 coaches all have floated just above a career record at the school of .500...Notre dame and their troubles have alot of alumni and fans fumed because of some unfortunate events and bad losses.
The Brett Favre Saga
This could just be me but I highly doubt it...Im sick of the Brett Favre saga that continues to overrun espn sunday through sunday for the last 5 or 6 years. I used to respect Favre and the accomplishments he has had in his career and do think he is a tough player but the wheels are falling off so to speak in respects to his ability. He has tarnished his reputation in the last half decade or so debating retirement and coming back from it.
Not only has his retirement flip flops been annoying he now has a scandal with a former Jets employee and he is taking snaps with I believe 2 fractures in his ankle.. Anyone else would probably be on the bench but we cant forget it doesnt matter what team Favre is on its not the coaches team its Favres team. I respect his toughness but, I think his ability is diminishing..For instance he is ranked 29th of 31 amongst starting QB's in qb rating, 18/31 in completion % , 19th/31 in yards technically 10th in TD's with just 7 through a series of other QB ties, tied for 1st in the league with 11interceptions making him once again the leader in picks and has been sacked the 7th most times this season...
I truly hope at the end of this season we can see Favre OFFICIALLY retire and no more switching back and forth and debate going to another team or coming back because it is getting more than ridiculous when Brett Favre receives more attention as an individual player than lets say an entire sport (hockey) gets during the week on sportscenter.
Not only has his retirement flip flops been annoying he now has a scandal with a former Jets employee and he is taking snaps with I believe 2 fractures in his ankle.. Anyone else would probably be on the bench but we cant forget it doesnt matter what team Favre is on its not the coaches team its Favres team. I respect his toughness but, I think his ability is diminishing..For instance he is ranked 29th of 31 amongst starting QB's in qb rating, 18/31 in completion % , 19th/31 in yards technically 10th in TD's with just 7 through a series of other QB ties, tied for 1st in the league with 11interceptions making him once again the leader in picks and has been sacked the 7th most times this season...
I truly hope at the end of this season we can see Favre OFFICIALLY retire and no more switching back and forth and debate going to another team or coming back because it is getting more than ridiculous when Brett Favre receives more attention as an individual player than lets say an entire sport (hockey) gets during the week on sportscenter.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Football and the injuries which ensure
Serious injury in sport is always at risk however it seems in recent years there have been many head injuries and season ending surgeries. This past weekend Eric Legrand of Rutgers made a tackle on special teams and injured himself leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. Below is the link for the Legrand hit and you can see immediately that he is either knocked out or seriously injured.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxSQ5QGNytY&feature=related)
Also there were 2 big hits delivered by James Harrison in the Steelers vs. Browns game where there were some questionable calls of whether Harrison's hits were helmet to helmet but he injured Josh Cribbs and Mohammed Massaquoi. There are rules in place to prevent these kind of hits i.e. penalties and possible suspensions but, both Browns players left the game. Here is another interesting link which came out just a few hours ago today addressing the issue of all of these violent hits mentioning the Browns game as well as the Eagles and Falcons game the interview is from Ray Anderson VP of Football operations.
(http://ap.cjonline.com/pstories/20101018/722279687.shtml)
All in all there isnt too much to do in order to stop these violent hits and the severity of these injuries seem to continue to get worse with almost every instance despite the implementation of penalties and equipment which is supposed to help reduce concussions and serious head trauma.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxSQ5QGNytY&feature=related)
Also there were 2 big hits delivered by James Harrison in the Steelers vs. Browns game where there were some questionable calls of whether Harrison's hits were helmet to helmet but he injured Josh Cribbs and Mohammed Massaquoi. There are rules in place to prevent these kind of hits i.e. penalties and possible suspensions but, both Browns players left the game. Here is another interesting link which came out just a few hours ago today addressing the issue of all of these violent hits mentioning the Browns game as well as the Eagles and Falcons game the interview is from Ray Anderson VP of Football operations.
(http://ap.cjonline.com/pstories/20101018/722279687.shtml)
All in all there isnt too much to do in order to stop these violent hits and the severity of these injuries seem to continue to get worse with almost every instance despite the implementation of penalties and equipment which is supposed to help reduce concussions and serious head trauma.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods talk
I wanted to elaborate a little more on the conversation we had in class the other day pertaining to Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods and their personal troubles. I was unaware of some of Jordan's troubles but come to find out he had allegedly paid off a former "lover" $250,000 to keep the former relationship a secret. He also divorced his former wife Juanita two times and she received a $168million dollar settlement.
He also has admitted to his gambling addiction or what used to be a problem. In an article I read Jordan proclaimed that his gambling stemmed from his will an desire to always win and in was quoting a 60minutes interview as saying " he admits his weakness arises from a sportsman's desire to always win." Obviously Jordan is incredibly sucessful and always has been so to say his life has ever been normal would be a big stretch. This is probably why he has made some of the decisions he has and being a celebrity of his stature can only play into some of the events which have transpired in his life.
Almost on as equal of a playing field of celebrity status is Tiger Woods and it turns out his life isnt too normal either. Turns out last time I had checked Tiger Woods is allegedly been with 15mistresses while he was with his wife. Woods had been doing this for some time now and the way the world is today an athlete of this magnitude a small mistake will only be blown out of proportion.
This is why I feel like Jordan's miscues as celebrity weren't as publicized because it didn't happen in today's world. We have too many jobs available in today's world like TMZ and the media outlets across America which run stories if there is even a hint of drama. While Woods' behavior may be seen as none of everyone else's business it still happened to athlete/celebrity which is only going to make the story that much more big. Having it be about a guy who is one of the few billion dollar athletes will also put that story on the front page of every news paper. To me that is what it comes down too is it happened now in this day an era and not early in this decade or in the 90's. Regardless of how successful someone is today if there is drama or a scandal with a famous person it will be blown out of proportion because theres no personal life if you're a celebrity.
He also has admitted to his gambling addiction or what used to be a problem. In an article I read Jordan proclaimed that his gambling stemmed from his will an desire to always win and in was quoting a 60minutes interview as saying " he admits his weakness arises from a sportsman's desire to always win." Obviously Jordan is incredibly sucessful and always has been so to say his life has ever been normal would be a big stretch. This is probably why he has made some of the decisions he has and being a celebrity of his stature can only play into some of the events which have transpired in his life.
Almost on as equal of a playing field of celebrity status is Tiger Woods and it turns out his life isnt too normal either. Turns out last time I had checked Tiger Woods is allegedly been with 15mistresses while he was with his wife. Woods had been doing this for some time now and the way the world is today an athlete of this magnitude a small mistake will only be blown out of proportion.
This is why I feel like Jordan's miscues as celebrity weren't as publicized because it didn't happen in today's world. We have too many jobs available in today's world like TMZ and the media outlets across America which run stories if there is even a hint of drama. While Woods' behavior may be seen as none of everyone else's business it still happened to athlete/celebrity which is only going to make the story that much more big. Having it be about a guy who is one of the few billion dollar athletes will also put that story on the front page of every news paper. To me that is what it comes down too is it happened now in this day an era and not early in this decade or in the 90's. Regardless of how successful someone is today if there is drama or a scandal with a famous person it will be blown out of proportion because theres no personal life if you're a celebrity.
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