Bowling

My plan was to end the college football season with a glutonous portion of bowl games before saying goodbye until August. I was going to watch at least five minutes of each bowl game and recap my experiences here. But a week with family killed those plans... sadly I am the only one of my family that could find eating left overs while taking in a BC/Boise St game on the Smurf Turf enjoyable. While I watched the Pistons/Spurs showdown, I was forced to miss them eke past the Heat. I have been on a vacation from work as well as sports. So, here I am, newly returned to my apartment. Am I unpacking? No. I am looking up sports news while watching game 1 of the 2004 ALCS on my new Red Sox DVDs. Which lead me to posting.

Schilling just gave up two runs in the first (which I knew was coming) but his pitches looked worse than I remember. This is pre-bloody sock and that just makes his later performances even more incredible to me. When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (not Lord Voldemort) stepped up to bat the first time, it felt a little gross. The Sox are going to be pretty bad next year, so I have to relive the past.

The news clip I saw on ESPN that led me to post instead of unpack concerned the New Orleans Saints. They signed an agreement to play again next year in N.O. and Red Stick (Baton Rouge for those that don't parlevous francais). I'm glad they aren't moving. I was one of the only people to have pity for the ownership. They would look like the biggest jackasses if they moved the team post-hurricane, but would they really have the kind of market available to come to games? The Aint's already were in one of the smallest markets in the NFL. Now that market is trying to rebuild itself and may not have the kind of money to spend on coming to a game. I'm not a heartless guy... I sympathize w/ the people stuck in N.O. and I am ashamed of the response they got. Rebuilding the city is a billion times more important than worrying about the Saints. But it is his business after all and he has to keep it successful. Keeping them there is the best thing for everyone. However, rebuilding the Superdome isn't. We will never know all of the horrible things that occurred at the lawless Superdome evacuation center. Piss poor emergency management led to a situation where we couldn't uphold laws and we can't now. Instead of cleaning it up, I think it would be better to destroy the whole building so we can move past it. It's kinda like how after the Abu Grahb prison stories came out, they decided to close the prison and move the prisoners elsewhere. Bad stuff happened and it would be easier to move on by not using it anymore. However, the city doesn't have the kind of money it would take to demolish it and build a new stadium. I understand that building a new stadium isn't an option, but it would be ideal to putting some closure on a horrific experience for many.

Sadness

Johnny Damon is a Yankee. A little bit of my sports passion just died.
And this made me vomit a little in my mouth.

New York Red Sox

Just seeing that title should make you sick. There's an interesting strategy going on behind those pinstripes, and I don't like it one bit. Every offseason, the Yankees buy a new team. This year, they decided to buy the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox. They almost got the ball rolling by snagging Pedro Martinez in the 04-05 offseason. Luckily, they didn't truly become Pedro's daddy. The first shot really happened last season when they picked up Alan Embree and Mark Bellhorn after the Red Sox dumped them. I didn't mind Bellhorn leaving because he nearly gave me heart attacks in the playoffs, but I was sad to see Embree go. I come home tonight to see Nomar, the former heart of Boston, has narrowed his selection down to four teams, including the Yankees. The rumor on the side claims Steinbrenner is in talks with Johnny Damon. I just get the feeling in all of this that they are trying to 1)create a Curse II or 2) trying to win a championship with the former champions. This isn't the first time a team has ripped off a good lineup from another (think Denver Broncos lineman) but this goes straight to the gut. Stealing your arch rival's talent. There is no way their plan would work because that team won on chemistry and character. You don't come back from a 3-0 deficit without it. How are they going to recreate that with a team that treats the game like it is working in an office. Everything is just business, including the grooming rules. Plus, everyone knows JD is like Samson and he'd hit .220 without it. All of this leaves me with one question; couldn't they have gone after David Wells instead?

That's all for me on the evil empire. Look for my bowl predictions in a few days... they should be good!

The Tagliabue Who Stole New Year's

Check the schedules: There will be no bowl games on New Year’s Day. Go ahead, I’ll give you a minute to look it over. When I first noticed this on Sports Illustrated’s website, I checked ESPN. Then I checked individual bowl websites. But in the end, I realized it must be true. There will be football that day, because it is a Sunday. Home to the NFL.

Tradition is big in my family, and New Year’s Day is the one day of the year when my family allows me to watch sports all day with them – and they enjoy it. I love beginning the day with the Tournament of Roses parade. That's postponed until Monday also. I love watching teams I don't care about on New Year's. College football is my favorite sport played at my favorite level. New Year's is part of a great farewell until next September. It's like binging before the spring/summer hibernation.

I understand that the NFL isn’t going to change its schedule, but how much revenue must college football be losing right now? How awesome could a day of both NFL and college football be? Games could be on Fox, ESPN, CBS, and ABC. Instead, we will be treated to the Pittsburgh Steelers putting the Lions out of their misery and about 10 meaningless games. Most playoff spots will be filled by then and I don’t think the Colts will be going for the perfect season that day. Hell, my fantasy football team will have been crowned champion by then. Ok, that was a lie. I can’t trash talk anymore... Mike, your team has a 90% chance to win. You have done a good job of picking up players just as they are getting hot and throwing them away like a used, cheap hooker when they fizzle out. Congrats. I'll get you next year. Or maybe the Lions will be an offensive juggernaut and Kevin will blow us all away for laughing at him when he selects Jason Hanson in the 4th round.

The reality is I will be sitting at work watching score updates on January 2. Most of my coworkers will probably be taking a vacation day. Happy New Year. Did you finish those TPS reports?