Phillie Phanatic.......Terrorist

In this time of turmoil, coming across an article like this is always enjoyable. This story is proof that you cannot tell who is a possible terrorist by their looks. Tell me, does this......thing look like a terrorist?


Apparently, someone forgot to clean up their foil wrapped hot dogs after filming a commercial. Someone thought they looked suspicious, so the police department disposed of them. I know bomb scares are no laughing matter, but a police department blowing up hot dogs is pretty funny. And that night's game was not delayed.

Saturday Commentary: No Sport Is Boring

As I sit here and watch the morning foursomes at the Ryder Cup, watching the momentum of the matches swing back and forth, I wondered how people could possibly find this boring. But that got me thinking on the larger scale. What makes one think a particular sport is boring?

I believe one answer is the personality of person watching the sport. The type of person that needs constant action of some sort is not going to be entertained by a methodical sport such as golf. But likewise, someone that likes to take things slow may not be interested in a fast paced game of basketball. Also, the personality of the society plays an important role. Everyone around the world is interested in football, but for Americans, it is a different type of football than the rest of the world plays.

Another factor contributing to the judgment of boring is that people may simply not understand the what is involved in the sport. I use hockey as a good example of this. There is continuous action, but people complain that there is not enough scoring. However, a 28-21 game of football is comparable in scoring to a 4-3 game of hockey. Both would have the same number of scores, but more Americans grew up with football, and know the game better than they know hockey. So, that lack of knowledge about the sport affects their opinion on it. I believe this also happens with golf and soccer. People do not understand how much skill and effort is required to succeed, so they dismiss them.

Ultimately, I view someone declaring a sport boring the same way I view reviews. It is all opinion. So, when someone says that a sport is boring, all they are really saying is that they think that sport is boring.

UofL vs. Tenn. Tech, College Football Week 2

The looked much better in this 51-10 victory. Yes, the level of competition was not very high, no offense, but the execution was there. The Receivers were not dropping passes, thus allowing the running game to get open. If only they could have remembered how to catch against UK. Another change in the offense was that is seemed like Cantwell rolled out of the pocket more. This might have been a response to him have several balls tipped last week, or just a product of gameplanning against Tenn. Tech. Either way, it appears to have been successful.

Once again, the defense looked good. This defense is not getting fooled on plays, and is not missing tackles. With last year's defense, this game would have been much closer.

In other news, Ohio State did not look good without their starting running back. It could be a long day next week against USC if he is not healthy. Whoever threw the flag for excessive celebration against Washington should be slapped. It is unreasonable to expect a team that has been on hard times to not celebrate when they score a touchdown as time was expiring to give them a chance to tie the game with the extra point, against a ranked team. The penalty made a simple 20 yard field goal into a more difficult 35 yard field goal. BYU blocked the kick, and won the game by 1. A shorter field goal would have allowed the kicker to get under the ball more, and put more of an arc on it.

Saturday Commentary: Brett Favre the Captain

Brett Favre, before playing in an actual game for the New York Jets, has been named the captain for the team. He says that he has not earned it. Sports commentators that I have heard say he should be captain because who else on the team should get it. Favre is their best player. It should be noted that the players voted on this, and the last captain, Chad Pennington, was released when Favre came in. Since this is my blog, here is what I think.

I agree with Favre in that he has not earned the title of captain. Simply put, he has not had time to do anything. He has only been with the team for around a month. I have not looked at the Jets roster, but I am pretty certain that someone on the roster has been with the team longer than Favre has. Surely, someone else has leadership ability. But of course, the players did vote for this. I just find it very self-depricating.

I completely disagree that the best player on the team should be captain. Yes, in many instances the best player on the team is the leader in the clubhouse, and therefore the captain, but this does not have to be the case. Jason Veritek is the captain of the Boston Red Sox, but he is not their best player. However, he is the leader of the team. It takes the respect of the team and ability to lead to be captain, not skill on the playing field.

I would not call it wrong that Favre is the captain, just not entirely right. I am sure Favre has the respect of the Jets players from his time in the league, but this does seem like more of a marketing decision.

Chad Johnson No More

Chad Johnson changes his name.

I do not know what to say. Chad Ocho Cinco might have replaced The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as the dumbest name in sports. I am sure this will be listed as just another distraction for the Bengals if they have the type of season people are predicting they well.