I Admire a Pot Smoker

Do not get me wrong. I think smoking marijuana is an awful thing to do. It messes up the brain. Michael Phelps exhibited horrible judgment when he decided to light up.

I admire him because he came out and admitted that what he did was wrong. He did not equivocate ala President Clinton: "I didn't inhale."

Phelps said of his ban:

"It's not my decision. It's theirs," Phelps said of USA Swimming's decision. "I have nothing to say, but if that's they want to do, that's their choice. It's something that USA Swimming came up with. It's fair. Obviously, for a mistake you should get punished."

He later said:

"It was bad and stupid judgment, and something I'll always live with," Phelps said.

(These quotes are from an ESPN article.)

Thank you, Michael Phelps for manning up and taking responsibility for what you did. You made a bad decision, but you did not blame someone else or deny the charges. We all mess up, and the best thing we can do is stand up and take responsibility for them.

At Least We're Not in Seattle

My friend and fellow blogger has been bemoaning the pitiful year of the Detroit Lions. At least it's not Seattle. Can you imagine? The best thing they had going was a mediocre WNBA team. I was not aware that the WNBA was still in existence. Check out this video from a beleaguered Seattle sports fan posted on ESPN. Let's all say a prayer for them.

Blah, blah, blah: The Response

Here is the canned response from Fox Sports regarding their decision to show non-athletes going nowhere rather than the end of the baseball game between the Yankees and the Red Sox:

"Dear FOXSports.com Participant,

Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. We are aware that many individuals were displeased with the programming regarding the Yankees-Redsox MLB and Nascar coverage that interfered with each other. We would like to apologize for any displeasure that this caused as well as the inconvenience many of you had to deal with as a result. We have forwarded your comments to the appropriate coverage department so that your voice can be heard. We value the opinion of all of our users and participants, and should we require any more information about this occurrence we will be sure to contact you. We appreciate your time and assistance, and thank you again for your feedback.

Thank you for using FOXSports.com

-- The FOXSports.com Feedback Team"

Fox Sports Stupidity

Fox cut away from the Yankees-Red Sox game, which was a one-run game with two outs in the ninth, to show non-athletes going nowhere.

Here is my response that I sent to Fox:

"Are you brain dead? Why on earth would you cut away from the "biggest rivalry in sports," as you anchors called it to show the beginning of a bunch of guys driving around a circle? Not everyone has cable and go to FX. Fox Saturday baseball is the only game I get to watch every week. You should have put the start of the race on FX and switched when the real American past time was over. Your decision was poor. There were two outs and a one-run difference. I could understand if one team was 10 or 15 runs ahead.

It is disgraceful that you have absolutely no respect for the grand American game and more concerned with a bunch of non-athletes burning gas going nowhere!"

Yankees Out!

Like I mentioned before, I have not watched the MLB playoffs due to the fact that they are on cable (wise move, Selig). I am glad to see that the pinstripes of the Yankees will be hanging in the closet until spring training.

So it's Boston vs. Cleveland and Arizona vs. Colorado. I don't have a dog in this fight. (I'm not sure if Michael Vick does.)

The NLCS is on cable (wise move, Selig), so I won't be watching that. I probably will only be able to watch the first 4 or 5 innings of the ALCS because they start so late (wise move, Selig).

It's Your Turn, Barry

Marion Jones has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. She was involved with the BALCO labs where Barry Bonds (among other major leaguers) was a client.

Go ahead, Barry. Get it off your chest. You will feel better. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you. Marion Jones is going to lose her medals, but the spineless Bud Selig will do nothing to you. He will probably give you a medal.

Confession is a good thing.

C'mon, Barry.

The Fighting Irish?

Last week, I ragged on the University of Michigan football team after laying an egg against Appalachian State and then laying another one against Oregon. They found a junior high team to beat up on this week. How awful is Notre Dame football team? The team of Knute Rockne, Lou Holtz and others is now 0-3!

If were a Notre Dame fan, I would be be embarrassed. Notre Dame has always had the ability to recruit nationally, often getting the best players. It is fast becoming a picture of utter futility.

Another "Accomplishment" for Bud Selig

Terry Ryan, General Manager for the Minnesota Twins, stepped aside recently after 13 years as GM of the small market baseball team.

Ryan piloted the Twins through some tumultuous waters in the late 90s, living through futility only paralleled by the Kansas City Royals. He committed to a young team, with a few older free agents sprinkled in, and won four Central Division titles in five years. The payroll was tiny compared with the Yankees, Red Sox and others. It was a Herculean feat.

I was pondering the recent success of teams like the Twins, A's and others. I predict that no small market team will win a World Series for the foreseeable future. Sure some, like the Twins, A's and Brewers (this year) will win division or wild card, but there will be no World Series title.

The reason? You ask? Because these teams are young, the pitching wears down by the end of the season. They do not have the experience to come through in October on the big stage. Championships in baseball is all about pitching and experience.

Thanks to Bud, the larger markets have the cash to throw at the premium players.

When are the owners going to realize that it is not about the Royals vs. the Red Sox or the Dodgers vs. the Pirates? It is about baseball (as a whole) vs other sports. Baseball is the product that is suffering from this as well as other things I enumerated the other day (see below).

Thanks A Lot, Bud. You Did It Again.

Bud Selig and Major League Baseball have yet again done all they can to further alienate people. As if starting the League Championship Series and World Series at the crack of midnight is not enough. In their infinite stupidity, the have moved all of the Division Series and the National League Championship Series to cable. For the love of all that is sacred, why on earth would they do that? Are they trying to follow the NHL model of relegating their sport to total indifference and obscurity?

Since I, like many Americans, do not have cable or satellite, I will not be watching any post-season baseball, except whatever is on Fox. It does not really matter anyway, I would not be able to stay up late enough to watch it.

I used to defend baseball as the true American pastime against those that claimed football was becoming the true American pastime. Not anymore.

The legacy of Bud Selig:
The 1994 strike, and subsequent cancellation of the World Series;
Steroids;
Midnight baseball;
Tied All-Star game;
(and now) non-network post-season baseball;

Thanks, Bud, for screwing the great American game!

How stupid is this?

An NBA referee is under investigation for betting on games, including some he refereed.

ESPN article.

Fox Sports article.

How could anyone put themselves in this position?

If this is true, this is one of worst sports scandals in American history. This is even worse than the Pete Rose gambling scandal. This could further tarnish the NBA's already tarnished reputation.

I rarely watch the NBA the way it is. The games are boring. This will repel me further, if that is possible.

I'm Fed Up With Talk Radio

Sports talk radio that is. One of our local stations broadcasts ESPN radio from early evening to early morning. It is the station where my dial is set during the day. I like the so-called conservative, right wing radio, which is no more biased than NBC, CBS or ABC.

It's the sports talk radio that grinds my last nerve. I won't mention names, but these guys and gals ramble on endlessly about rumors and other stuff. It is the perfect example of verbal diarrhea coupled with mental constipation. I have to turn it off before I kick the radio.

Guys, sports is not a life and death issue. I like sports as much as anybody. I'll watch or listen to any game (except soccer), but when the game is over it is over. Why do we need to rehash why Peyton Manning ran a 37 split left rather than a 47 split right, or whatever. Who cares?

The problem is that there are too many TV and radio stations who would be broadcasting dead air if these gas bags weren't gassing on.

I used to listen to a sports guy on the radio several years ago who ended each show with the statements, "Remember, sports is the toy section of life." More of these windy broadcasters would do well to remember that.

Get some perspective. Whether or not Kobe Bryant is a Laker next years or not does NOT matter. There are other things vastly more important than sports. It's a game.

I want to get paid not to coach

Marty Schottenheimer was fired yesterday as coach of the San Diego Chargers. John Clayton, of ESPN.com, writes, "[Chargers owner Dean] Spanos will pay Schottenheimer $4 million not to coach this year." I want to not coach the Chargers next year, and I'll do it for only $1 million! Where do I sign up?

This episode continues to point out some of the things that are wrong in sports today. They pay a guy for doing nothing other than to just go away. Coaches are constantly being "bought out" by teams to not coach. Coaches, and Schottenheimer certainly is not the only one, are paid obscene amounts of money to sit on their back-sides and do nothing. No wonder the average person has to mortgage the house to afford a ticket for a football game. The cheapest ticket to a San Diego Chargers game is $54 all the way up to $92 per seat, and that is for one game.

Again, where can I sign up to not coach?

Props to the Gators

As much as I hate to do it, I must give the Florida Gators their props. They took care of business against the Ohio State Buckeyes last night in the BCS championship.

I would have loved to see Ohio State and Michigan, as I believed Michigan deserved a shot. I am a Big Ten fan, and was pulling for the Buckeyes.

All that said, I still believe a playoff is needed. Had USC beaten UCLA, as everyone expected, Florida would not have had a shot at the title.

Get a clue, folks. You need a playoff, like every other amateur and professional sport.