San Diego Chargers: What is goin' on there?

I'm keeping tabs on some football today, essentially procrastinating the taking of the laundry to the laundromat. The 12-1 Tennessee Titans had something to play for this week: a win and a Steelers loss gained them home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They lost. The Chargers, on kind of the opposite end of the scale at 8-5, trailed the Kansas City Chiefs through almost the whole game. They took a one point lead with :36 left. That's really unacceptable.

Jeff Fisher's job is not in jeopardy. Norv Turner's, though, absolutely has to be. I wondered why they made that hire in the first place, since the Chargers should have been very familiar with Turner when he was with the hated Raiduhs. Since the Chargers probably won't make the playoffs with one of the highest powered teams in quite a while, his job and most of his staff will have to go. Ron Rivera may be able to stay; I guess that'll depend on how much management likes him. The question then becomes: who's going to replace Turner?

Whew! Wasn't sure I was gonna make it!

It was gettin' close. I was starting to get concerned, but it turns out that my fears have been allayed. Baseball is finally winding up, and FOOTBALL (so important that all the letters are capitalized) is here. Life is good again.

Its no real revelation that I don't care for the bore fest that is baseball. Its a boring game in and of itself, and to make it worse, we come to find out that juicing is so rampant in that silly game that records set now are said to be set "in the steroid era". That's pathetic. The only thing worse than cheating-and why people don't care that they're cheating baffles me-is that baseball isn't doing anything about it. Nothing.

Is it some kind of big secret that Barry Bonds is juiced? C'mon, admit it to yourself. Dude's clearly on the roids. How is it that he's bigger and stronger at 40 than he was in his twenties? How did his head and feet get bigger? How come he's getting injured regularly? How hard can it be to prove it? Throw the bum's record out and ban his ass from baseball forever.

Seems pretty rich now that they ban Pete Rose for gambling, which is apparently a really big deal, when there are a whole list of cheaters that haven't had anything happen to him. If you're gonna ban Charlie Hustle for betting on his team to win, then ban these other losers for cheating. In the end, its the same damn thing. Baseball needs to shorten its season to about 40 games. That way we can be done with it in a couple of months and not have to be subjected to the stupidity of unwritten rules, sloppy uniforms, huge salaries and crybaby attitudes. You like this game? You can have it. I'll be more than pleased if they ever lose their TV deal.

Joes vs Pros...vs Pros...Joes...whatever.

Typically, this wouldn't really be my cuppa tea. Mmmmmm...tea...Oh, wait. Distracted. Pros vs. Joes! That's it. OK!

The best part is seeing people run smack and have to pay for it. I love that part. Ya know you're gonna be competing against somebody who got paid to do it, and you're gonna run smack about it? Nice going. Always a good idea to piss off a guy who played a sport at a top level for a decade. More than one, actually. I love the viewing of the audition tapes. Today they were makin' fun of Spudd Webb, before shooting three pointers against him. They tried to keep up with Andre Reed, too. That was pretty funny. I absolutely loved seeing the All Sport Equivalent of Softball Guy in an octagon with Randy Couture. He's not even a submission fighter, but he put on a decent clinic of lock holds.

Just because you may be a decent D League Softball Guy doesn't mean you can compete against even the Usta Be guys. How 'bout a little introspection so I don't have to blog about how embarassed you were on national (OK, cable, but with national distribution) TV. If I cared enough, I'd get all the losers pics together and post 'em up, but that would not be all that interesting to the 20 people who read my blog.

Thanks for giving us crappy bowl games, BCS.

Unbelieveable. Florida vs. Ohio St. for the national championship? Are you kidding? Just give the trophy to OSU. The Gators stand no chance whatsoever of beating the Buckeyes. They're gonna get pounded, badly. Nice going, BCS.

Michigan plays USC in the Rose Bowl? At least USC is gonna get their ass kicked at home in front of their fair weather fans. Michigan is clearly the second best team in the country, and they have to play #5 instead of playing LSU, which would be a much better game. C'mon, let's get serious: Michigan lost only to OSU, who was ranked #1 at the time, by a field goal. Florida lost to Auburn. USC lost to two unranked teams, the second being UCLA when they had a chance to cement their position. SC is gonna get chewed up big time by Michigan, just like the Gators are gonna get mud stomped by OSU. If there was anything else to do during that holiday week, I wouldn't bother watching, but since its the end of the foo'bah season, I'm going to have to...cursing that worthless BCS abortion the whole time.

BCS must mean Big Crappy System

Up front: I'm a Michigan Wolverine fan, but I also follow USC. SC is pretty much the best team from SoCal. Even though I've been away from SoCal for a couple years and may never move back, I'm always gonna be from there. The only team at the top that I don't like is Ohio State. How can I be a fan of OSU when I'm a Wolverine fan? It just can't be.

That said, Ohio State is clearly the number one team in the country. They've beaten everyone they've faced, some by a huge margin, and deserve the top spot. The problem is what happens from #2 on down, and who gets to play for the national championship.

The USA Today Coaches Poll puts SC at #2 and Michigan at #3. The BCS...who knows what that thing is gonna come up with. The whole thing is a mess, because its not absolute. In the NFL, your record is what gets you where you're going: playoffs, or early vacation again. Either you win enough to move on, or you're making plans for visiting someplace exotic in the winter months. That's not how college foo'bah works...and the system sucks.

USC and Michigan have very similar records; both with one loss. The difference is that Michigan's only loss was by a field goal to the best team in football. USC got bushwhacked by an unranked Oregon State team. Losses to unranked teams should be the kiss of death for a national championship, but in this case, USC may have a chance to do it if they win next week against UCLA. How is that possible? They lost to an unranked team, but the "pundits", the sports reporters, have been saying retarded stuff like "Michigan already had their chance to beat Ohio State. Let someone else have a chance". Did you fools not watch that game? It was great! These are clearly the two best teams going, because Michigan and Ohio St. haven't lost to an unranked team.

USC gets ranked #2 because....why? They beat Noter Damn? Michigan beat ND worse. They had a tough schedule. In the NFL, that doesn't matter. If you win with a hard schedule, you win with a hard schedule. But if you're a better team, you'll beat whoever's in front of you...except that one unranked team that ambushed ya. Therein lies the proof that the BCS system is hopelessly, permanently flawed.

The BCS isn't going to change, because the people that decide these things have come to the conclusion that the money is the most important thing. This whole retarded system could be scrapped and a tournament could be installed in its place, keeping the bowl games in the process. The "Bandini Manure Bowl" might be able to be scrapped, but I'm dead certain that the low rent bowls don't cost as much to sponsor as the big ones do. That means you put the expensive bowls at the top, and the most expensive bowl (which would go up for bid to get some really sick money coming in) would be the champeenship game. Its rediculously simple and obvious, but there's too much shady dealing going on in the series. There has to be; if there weren't, there'd be a football tournament just like there is an incredibly successful hoops tourney. Funny how the best teams end up at the top in the NCAA tourney, even with 64 teams in the tournament. Its more like pro sports, which I would normally argue against as being the poster chiles for how things should work in athletics. In the end, though, their system works. The BCS is consistently screwed up and can't be fixed. C'mon, you knuckleheads: go to the playoff system you know the world wants. Until you do, I give the NCAA none of my money.

Fire the bum

I saw on ESPN this morning something that shouldn't ever happen in College sports, and from this individual it wasn't the first time.

Bobby Knight hit one of his players under the chin because the kid wasn't looking directly at him. Ol' Blobby hit him hard enough to knock his head back, and he was show sitting on the bench later, working his jaw around, clearly in some discomfort.

I played organized sports for a very long time. During that time, if the coach felt I wasn't paying attention to him, he could bench me. He could kick me off the team. He could do any number of things...but he knew better than to hit me. Everyone in a teaching or coaching role knows better. Even crazy gymnastics coaches, who are probably the most over the top bunch of all, don't ever strike one of their kids. Yet Blobby has done it repeatedly. How is it this hot head tub still has a job?

Indiana finally got tired of his actions and canned him several years ago. He even brought them bids to the NCAA tourney, and they won three national championships. He's enough of an ass that even winning couldn't keep his job at IU, and I applaud the school for that. Somehow he finds a job at some school in Texas that hasn't done much of anything since he's been there. No titles. No particular reason to keep him there, and yet they do...so far.

Tell ya what, Blobby: if that was my son that you hit, I'd have either your job or your ass. Either you'd no longer be coaching there, or you'd be doing it with a couple black eyes and a fat lip, not to mention walking with a limp. I don't know if parents letting their kids play under your tutelage don't know your track record, or don't care enough about their kids to put up with it, but at some point, somebody's dad is gonna get pissed and loosten some of your teeth.

Yeah, I'm tough behind my keyboard. I should come and say these things to your face. I would, if I cared enough to go to Texas to do it. Fact is, Blobby, you're a bully. You have very little else going for you. You have the same rage issues that Softball Guy does. You know Softball Guy. Hell Blobby, you probably are Softball Guy in the off season. For those that don't know, Softball Guy is the wannabe athlete that competes in the Park and Rec Department's D League. He treats games like he was in the World Series, screaming and yelling at his teammates and generally talkin' a lot of smack. He's a decent player most of the time...for the D League. But he's a bully too, just like Ol' Blobby.

But Texas Tech's (yeah, I went and did some quick research) AD said Blobby didn't hit his player. The player said Blobby didn't hit him. The kid's parent's said Blobby shouldn't be reprimanded. Maybe its a Texas thing. Because Blobby is close to passing Adolph Rupp in total wins, I guess TT thinks he needs to still be there, to bring that prestige to the school. Tell ya what, though: Adolph Rupp, nor Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, John Thompson, Clarence Gaines, Jimmy Valvano, Jerry Tarkanian, Lute Olsen, John Wooden and a whole book's worth of other winning coaches ever had to strike a player to get his message across. Because of that, Blobby, you'll always have a big fat asterisk next to your name in sports fan's minds. I just hope you get fired before you get to 800 wins.

I can't believe it.

Thuh Raidahs won again? What is the world coming to? They have a winning streak now. That sucks. At least some good came from sports this week:

• The near-interminable torture that is baseball season has ended. Too bad they're gonna do it again next year.
• The Bears destroyed the Niners. Apparently the bye week came at a good time for them.
• The Chargers whipped the Rams pretty good, although they made it an entertaining game. Still no definitive word on what's gonna happen with Shawne Merriman. Seems to be a given that he'll be out four games.
• Basketball season starts on Tuesday. That can't get here soon enough. My Lakers won't take the title this year, but they should be competitive.
  

• Jimmy Johnson is within striking distance of the Nextel Cup with three races to go. Jeff Gordon is probably out of it, being a little over 140 points back, but he's in sixth or seventh place. That means most everybody above him still has a legit shot at it. That's pretty interesting racing.

Not a total loss...although that's what I wish the Raiduhs would have done this year.

who'd a thunk it

I can't believe it. I thought I'd had it all figured out, but apparently, I don't know anything. It seemed so clear, so obvious. Alas, t'was not.

The Raiders aren't the worst team in the NFL...this week. That dubious honor goes to the Hapless Arizona Cardinals. After getting eaten alive last week by Chicago, getting Thuh Raiduhs seemed to be tailor made for the Hapless Cards. You get your head handed to you in the last game, the best thing you can have is the worst team in the League coming in the next week. Turns out The Hapless Cardinals can't keep a child out of the kitchen, much less keep Thuh Raiduhs out of the end zone. They gave Commitment to Excrement 22 points!

I was really hoping that JOakland would be defeated all season long. Now the Hapless Cardinals have ruined that for me. It could have been the perfect season. It could have been great. Now its not. Thanks a lot, Hapless Cards. I'll remember this one for a long time.

On top of that, San Diego lost to KC, and my Bears didn't play. Michigan won again, and for some reason, Noter Damn is still ranked. I don't get that one. They squeak by the teams they should beat, and got destroyed from the first minute to the last against Michigan. They should be number 100, not number 10. I'm confident, though, that they won't be in the top 15 by the end of the season. That's a blog entry for another time.

The Big Saturday Pet Peeves

As I compose this furious screed (for some reason, I really love that phrase), my beloved Michigan Wolverines are battling a tough, undefeated Wisconsin Badger team that is doing everything they can to avoid getting steamrolled the way Notre Dame did last week. So far, they're doing well. But some shots of some of the crowd brought to mind a couple of pet peeves that have come to the fore because of other events this week.

A comment from a fellow forum staff member pointed out that I'm not the only one who feels this way: being a fan (sometimes called a FANatic) does not give you the right to use the nominative singular pronoun "we". "We" didn't score the game winning touchdown. "We" didn't work hard in the preseason and in practices all season long. "We" didn't come back from a devestating injury. As a matter of fact, to quote Morty from Layer Cake , "we" had "absolutely sweet ****-all to do with" with how the team does. Nothing. Zip, zero, nada, and perhaps even less than that. You do what all fans do: buy gear with logos on it, download fight song ring tones, watch a game with friends. If you're really lucky, you get to go to Ann Arbor and tailgate before (and after, to do it proper) going in to watch the game wearing maize and blue. I have a couple Wolverine hats, and I think I've got a shirt or two, as well. If they made foam Wolverine hats, I'd wear 'em on game day. I even dig the foam claw, which is a variation of the giant foam "#1" finger. If I had epic amounts of money to spend on clothes, I'd even have an authentic jersey. And guess what: none of that makes me any more than a fan. Get it through your head, FANatics: you're not on the team. You're not a coach of the team. You're not even a ball-or-towel boy. You're nothing but a fan. You're probably the same jackass that plays in the Division DD municipal softball league and wears your team's gear to play, while getting bent out of shape at a missed call and acting the fool because you think you're still an athlete. Guess what, bro: I played at the same level as you, and batted in the neighborhood of .900, and I suck. Get over yourself.

The first pet peeve took quite a long time to get all out, didn't it? That doesn't mean I'm going to leave out Pet Peeve #2, becuase its what ruins going to see college sports lives. These people fall into a sub-catagory of the FANatic, because they're also guilty of the "we"-ism: the college band.

Bandies get to thinkin' that because they make a lot of noise during the game, playing goofy selections that nobody asked for and making it so people can't hear the coversation with the people they want to be there with, and because they do the "lets go get a some food and drink" show (halftime), they get to use the "we". I was in band in High School. Sadly, I didn't make it to the big leagues of college pep-bands. I know how some of them think. They wear a uniform with team colors on it, and they play the fight song. Sorry, geeks, it does not mean you get to use the "we".

Several times back in the day, I was able to go to SDSU games with my friends and their family. My friend's mom worked in the athletic department at State, so they got really good seats to games. Unfortunately, those seats were next to the band during basketball season. It wasn't long before John and I were bringing kazoos to play along with the band. I've never seen such an offended tuba player. You'd have thought we were Skinhead O'Connor ripping up a picture of the band dressed as the Pope on Saturday Night Live.

C'mon, bandies. Lets get a grip here. you're playing at what will probably be the pinnacle of your musical career. You're not going to join a band that sells millions of records after college. You're also not going to get into a symphony and get paid big bucks...or even medium bucks. Probably not even small bucks, because you're the equivalent of the D league softball player in comparison to minor league baseball (never mind the big leagues). Its not like you're pullin' chicks being in band, either. I know; I was there. Get the head screwed on, straight and tight, and realize that even with all that practice and effort, you don't get to use the "we" in terms of the team, either. You do get to use the "we" in terms of all the glory that comes with being in the band, though.

whats wrong with with athletes?

Saturday (and Sunday, Monday, generally Tuesday, Wednesday during basketball season, and always Thursdays, with a lot of Fridays in there, too, not counting Pay Per Views) are generally pretty darn good sports days. Last I looked, Texas was gettin' pretty much stomped, and Tony Stewart had been cut out of the chase. Michigan won big. The WNBA is finally done so I don't have to worry about seeing that trainwreck any longer. If I wanted to see hoops with 4" vertical leaps I'd go down to the Y and watch the kids run.

But amongst all this great sport action are reports of athletes screwing up. David Boston got cut. No reason given, but I'm sure its the same reason that got him traded from every other team he's been on. T.O. is getting into the same crap he was doing in Philly, which got him sent packin' from there. On The Ultimate Fighter, Jeremy Jackson got himself thrown out of the house-and the whole competition-which ends his shot at getting paid and getting a title shot.

I don't claim to be all that mentally tough, but I have decent amount of it. I'm not an athlete anymore, but there are still things I do well that get me paid. So what I don't understand is how supposed professionals can just throw away the one thing that sets them up for life.

A pro athlete generally has about a ten year career, if things go their way and they don't have career ending injuries. That's a pretty lucky guy that gets to do it for that long, and doing it any longer than that is really, really special. I still don't understand how it is The Rocket is still pitching at the level that he is. He's certainly making the most of his ability. Why is it so dang hard to put the idiocy behind ya to get your job done and make it possible to set yourself up for life?

If you're going to just HAVE to act the fool, why can't you wait until your career is done and the world doesn't care so much if you're an moron anymore? What's so difficult about that? I understand playing hurt and I understand that to do those jobs means that you have a lot of pressure and pain. However, you chose to do it! I really don't get it.

To punctuate the point, let me explain what Jeremy Jackson did to get booted off the show. For a change of pace, the fighters were taken to the local Y to do some swimming, play some basketball...whatever they wanted to do to break up the routine of going to the same gym and doing the same training. Jackson met a lifeguard there, and to make a long-ish story short, he arranged for her to meet him at the house. The rules are: no leaving the house without authorization (which means "go to the gym for training and fights, and go to the hospital if its required") and no guests. What does he do? He jumps over the back fence-seen on camera, of course-to meet up with this girl for one night. This was two weeks into the six week time in the house. He gets booted off the show for it. The kicker here is that for the past several months, he's been living out of his car. His rationalization? "I just wanted to spend some time with someone female. The house is all guys." All he had to do was last four more weeks. Now it'll be one heck of a long time before he gets any shot at the UFC, and he'll probably never be back there again. All because he lacked the fortitude to hold out just six weeks.

Somebody please put the world on a platter for me for a decade. I've been working my butt off since 1986, and the world still isn't mine. If I can put myself into projects that don't pay as much as pro sports do, and still work on 'em for years at a time. I guess I simply don't understand how someone can have a perishable talent, and either lacks the mental toughness or will to take advantage of it. All ya gotta do is show up, put the work in, and get it done. Save being a jerk or whatever else your problem is for later. It just makes the rest of us mad to see you blow it when we know the same chance isn't squandered on everyone else.

The Champ

The next UFC PPV is this weekend, and for the first time in the past couple of them, I think we're gonna get some great fights. I'm excited about the Babalu/Iceman fight. The buzz for this fight is really interesting. Seems that, for the first time in a while, people want to bet against the champ.
I'm not sure why that is. Renato "Babalu" Sobral is a fantastic fighter. He's tough, he's got great wrestling skills, he's a Gracie jiu jitsu master. He's very well rounded, with better striking skills and he's bigger than he was three years ago when he got knocked out. He's been thinking about this fight for three years. I wouldn't wanna match up against this guy. He's going to bring it, full speed and all the time.
Chuck has great takedown defense. He's got good wrestling skills, and he's taken guys down to beat them. But he doesn't like to be there; Chuck wants the fight to be a stand up striking affair.
Chuck's game plan is the same as it always is. He's not gonna do anything different; he's going to defend the takedown and look for the knockout. Who hasn't he fought like that? Ortiz? Beat him that way. Cotoure? Defend the takedown, stand up and strike. He beat Randy two of three, getting the belt, and getting the belt back. Then he beat Randy in the final shot at the title. He beat Sobral the first time in the same way. His game plan is old, well known, and not going to change.
Don't bet against Liddell. He will win this match up via knock out and retain his title.

They can't see the forest for the trees

I'm a big, big fan of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). I've been watching it almost from its inception, and the athletes involved continue to amaze me with the cerebral aspects of fighting. I've got just enough combat arts training to be useless to me, but its enough that I can tell what's going on in the Octagon. MMA has evolved into a highly technical sport that isn't just about blood anymore. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been about that for quite some time.
Which is why people who should know better baffle me when they make stupid comments about it. I'm not talking about people who aren't fans, I'm talking about people that make their money by being connected to combative sports.
I recently read an interesting article on Chuck Liddell's website (www.icemanMMa.com) that started out being about the Light Heavyweight Champion, but ended up being about MMA in general. Jim Lampley, who I respect as an authority on boxing, made himself look like an ignoramus when he said,

"The technical profundity of boxing is a product of its 115-year pedigree in this country, and to compare those two is like comparing a mole hill to a planet. What I see with the UFC are bar fights. They may be very good bar fights, but they're still bar fights."

That comment irks me, because having been a commentator on boxing and a color analyst on who knows how many fights in the 19 years he's been doing it, he should know better. The technical profundity of boxing? What the heck is that? How many different combinations of left and rights are there? I think I wanna go check out the bars he hangs out in. Sounds like there's some pretty amazing matchups I can see for free. How many throws are there in boxing? How many locks are there in boxing? Takedown defense? Sure, they have striking, but that's all it is. MMA is so much more than that now.
Must be the compelling personalities that make boxing so great, after 115 years. Who are the world champs again? In any weight class? In any organization? I couldn't tell you one of them. OK, well, then it must be the sportsmanship that makes boxing great. Except for that Tyson guy who bit a piece of a guy's ear off in the ring. And then said some stupid crap about eating somebody's children. All this from boxing's top draw.
Hmmmm...we're not doing well here, boxing. What else...oh, yeah! Boxing is so well refereed that nobody gets seriously hurt. What's that? Guys have died in the ring, huh? *sigh* Well, I guess Lampley's right. Boxing is definately the planet in this comparison. Especially because the UFC has never had a guy get killed fighting in the Octagon. Yup. Boxing is the thing. Its become so refined that only the highest quality individuals get involved in it. Oh, yeah. That Tyson guy again. Rats. Never mind.
If you're not a fan of MMA but you follow combat sports of some sort, take a good look at it. It will surprise you with how technical and well rounded its become. Especially in the new lightweight class in the UFC. The depth of knowledge and skill at the professional level are really impressive. Thanks to www.thesmokinggun.com for Tyson's second mug shot.