Professional Athletes Have Lost Sight

I know it's not just me that thinks there are some professional athletes out there that have lost sight of what's important when signing with a team or visiting another city during the season.

There have been a few athletes as of late that have complained about having nothing to do in a particular city when they're there or a team wants to bring them there as a free agent signing....and it's not for the right reasons.

You would think they would say, "I want to be on a team I can win with," or "This team is offering me a lot of money and I want as much as I can get," but lately some have said, "There's nothing to do there."

Since when is going to a city to play their sport been about what there is to do in that particular area? Aren't you there to play your game?

Every time I hear someone say there's nothing to do wherever they are, it makes me sick. Hey guys, you aren't there to go partying or clubbing. You're there to help your team and your team's city, but you're also representing them.

Here's an idea--concentrate only on your game and shut up instead of going to the club and maybe you'll get better and your team will do better. Again, you're there to play a game. Do whatever you want to do in the offseason, I don't care. I could really care less. But during the season, I want your best and your eye on and only on the prize.

So guys, get your act together and remember why you are where you are in the first place--to play your game.

Thank You Bob Bradley

I just want to say thank you to United States men's head soccer coach Bob Bradley for finally speaking out on a worldly stage about something in the game of soccer that keeps me far from respecting the game - flopping and pretending to be in incredible pain on the chance the player around them gets a yellow or red card.

In my opinion, this is one of the most cowardice things a player can do. All it shows is you're afraid of losing the game and you don't have the confidence that your team can beat their team at full strength. It's one of the cheapest moves a player can make.

Sure, players in basketball and even football will act to get a call from time to time, but the penalty for the other player is much more severe in soccer. In basketball, the player is called for a foul - not much of a big deal more often than not. In football, the other team gets to move up the yardage amount the penalty is called for. But in soccer, the penalized player could be ejected and miss the next game, a much bigger consequence.

As Bradley said, what this does is take some of the best competitors out of the game, ruining what could be great soccer. Personally, I don't know what that looks like because I don't watch much soccer (flopping being one of the major reasons).

All I'm saying is I'm glad someone has finally stepped up and mentioned it on a global level. I think people in the U.S. would respect the game of soccer more if players didn't fall and over act as if they're in so much agony.

So please, knock it off and you may find me paying more attention to soccer.

You're Not A Winner If You Blow It

So there's something that's been bothering me since the beginning of this year's Major League Baseball season. Why is it if a closer blows a save in the 9th inning and his team picks him up their next at bat and they win the game, the guy who blew it gets the win?

It doesn't make any sense to me. Feels illogical. The guy puts in a losing effort and gets rewarded? It's just not right.

What to do with the win? If it were up to me, I just wouldn't give it to anyone. Unless there's some rule in the MLB rulebook that says you have to give a pitcher the win, just don't give it to anyone. I would almost consider giving it to the starting pitcher if he had a quality start.

Clearly, my solutions would need some work, but it just feels so wrong to me that the guy who blew it gets the W. It may be an extreme analogy, but it's almost as bad as the guys who helped ruin the economy getting bailed out and then getting bonuses. Ridiculous.

TUF Episode 11.4

This week's episode began with Team Ortiz's Nick Ring giving teammate Jamie Yager a stern talking to about cheering against his teammate, in this case, James Hammortree, because fo his friendship with Brad Tavares. Yager, in the end, looked as if what Ring said sunk in, but I don't believe it for a second. While this show is about individual competition, Yager should be rooting for his teammate. However, once the first round of fights is over, it's every man for himself, so I can also see where Yager was coming from. He can just save it until then, but for now, he should cheer on his team.

We were treated with 2 fights this week, the first of which was Team Liddell's Rich Attonito versus Team Ortiz's Kyacey Uscola. Attonito went ahead fairly quickly, as in the second minute he hit Uscola hard to knock him down. Attonito then tried to move in for the knockout, but Uscola was able to withstand the barrage of fists, eventually getting back up to his feet. Uscola was once again put to the ground as Attonito threw him to the mat in a way that made everyone watching squirm because Uscola basically landed on his head. Uscola was able to get out of this as well and gained side control, pinning Attonito against the fence. What happened after that.....was a little fuzzy - literally.

While Attonito was still on the ground and appeared as if he was attempting to get up, Uscola threw some knees and appeared to hit Attonito while Attonito was still grounded, earning Uscola the disqualification. Attonito would later say everything was fuzzy after being kneed in the head and therefore couldn't finish the fight. Uscola immediately asked for a replay to see if he indeed hit Attonito in the head, but no replay was given. From what I saw, that second knee may have only hit Attonito in the glove, never in the head, but maybe the first one did hit him there. While on The Ultimate Fighter podcast, Attonito said he was hit in the head, I'm not so sure. I'd have to see it again.

In an even more interesting turn of events, Attonito finds out after the fight he has a broken hand and may not be able to compete any further in the show. If that's the case, I think Uscola should be able to take his place. While he didn't look the greatest in the fight, it looked as if he was starting to turn it around.

This week, there was also the case of Uscola's missing sweatshirt. Uscola comes back to the house after a practice, searches in Yager's room's closet, and finds it there, prompting a stealing accusation towards Yager, basically because Uscola doesn't like him. We find out that Kris McCray was the one who mistakenly took the sweatshirt, but the tension between Yager and Uscola continues in front of their coach, Tito Ortiz. Ortiz is unable to end the squabbling to the point where Uscola says he hopes Yager loses his fight against his opponent Charles Blanchard, the second fight of the episode. Maybe Ring should also give Uscola a talking to about rooting against your teammates.

Anyway, the Yager-Blanchard fight doesn't last very long, as Yager knocks Blanchard out fairly quickly, not only giving Team Ortiz their first win of the season, but also giving them control of picking the next fight.

It should be interesting to see how Ortiz will pick the next fight, as Team Liddell is a bit undersized. Ortiz may be thinking about taking advantage of that.

TUF Episode 11.3

This week's episode kind of started on a depressing note, as Team Ortiz fighter Chris Camozzi had to leave the show due to an injury to his jaw where had he been hit hard enough, it would have broken. This is a very unfortunate event for Camozzi, who initially looked to be a great fighter and I wish him the best.

As for Team Ortiz, they needed a replacement and brought in Seth Baczynski, who lost in his fight to get into the house. There isn't much to say about Baczynski other than his fight versus Court McGee was very close and it could have gone either way.

Moving on, I'm very happy everyone to my knowledge is at least healthy now. I don't need to hear any more about guys complaining about their injuries like last week. Anyways, this week's fight included Team Liddell's Brad Tavares and Ortiz's James Hammortree.

This was a good, not great, fight. There wasn't a ton of striking, but a lot of ground action that went back and forth. Tavares won a close first round that honestly could have gone either way, although I felt like he did enough to win it because he threw Hammortree to the mat and was able to attempt an unsuccessful rear naked choke. Hammortree would turn it around, gaining control of Tavares, but as we would see later in the fight as well, Hammortree had a tough time keeping Tavares on the ground.

The second round wasn't much different, but Hammortree did just enough to win the round, forcing a sudden death round three.

This round was once again extremely close as Hammortree took Tavares down a few times, but Tavares was able to escape every time. Eventually, Tavares ended up against the fence and delivered Hammortree some small strikes, which, in the end, may have won him the fight in a 10-9 unanimous decision.

Tito Ortiz was clearly upset with the ruling as he felt Hammortree should have won because of the takedowns. I really don't blame him, but it could have gone either way.

After the fight, Team Liddell now stands at 2-0 and keeps control of picking the matchups.

Aside from the fight, I have noticed that Ortiz seems to be a lot more vocal in coaching his fighters during their fights. I'm sure Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is yelling out to his fighters, but all I could hear is Ortiz. I have to give kudos to Ortiz on that fact, because if anything, as I noticed, it just drowns out anything Liddell is trying to tell his fighter.

It's also a good thing I didn't write this until today, because I found out yesterday that Ortiz has bowed out from his fight with Liddell at the end of the season, once again completely disappointing me. I couldn't wait for the Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson fight last year and I couldn't wait for the Ortiz vs. Liddell fight this year. For the second straight year, I've been disappointed. You can't get me excited by showing the coaches in each other's faces the entire season and then having one quit the fight.

According to UFC President Dana White, we'll find out why Ortiz pulled out during the season as he kept mum on the reason, which is very uncommon for him. White did announce Rich Franklin as the replacement for Ortiz, which for me, is definitely a step down as Franklin has lost two of his last three fights. However, it kind of makes sense to me because neither guy has had a fight in a while, Franklin last fighting last September and Liddell hasn't fought in a full year this coming Sunday. Naturally, I'll be cheering on the Iceman.

TUF Episode 11.2

Well, the teams have been chosen and it seems as if Team Liddell is the underdog according to both Tito Ortiz (what else is he supposed to say?) and Dana White, the main criticism being Team Liddell's average height.

Granted I'm a bigger fan of Liddell than Ortiz, I would still have to say that I don't think height really has a great impact in MMA. Sure it has some impact, but as we saw in this weeks episode, it really didn't matter.

Chuck sent out his number one pick, Aussie Kyle Noke (above), up against an injured Clayton McKinney, which was obviously a smart decision - get the injured while they're still hurting.

I do have to mention that before the fight, I was really hoping it wouldn't start out the way a lot of them did last season, where the fighters essentially circled around each other for the first few minutes of their fights and basically nothing happened. This fight was no exception and once again, I was let down for the first few minutes and yelling at my TV, "Somebody do something!"

Now, I understand some guys like to take a few seconds and feel out an unfamiliar opponent in order to find out what their tendencies are, but I don't think it should take a few minutes. Get to fighting already.

Anyways, after the first few uneventful moments, Noke and McKinney finally went at it and got to the ground. Noke didn't waste any time in trying to put McKinney in some sort of submission move, and eventually gets the triangle choke on him, forcing the Florida native to tap. Looks like being a former body guard for Steve Irwin and wrestling crocodiles paid off for now.

As for McKinney, he had spent the entire few days leading up to the fight complaining about how much his shoulder hurt and possibly having a torn rotator cuff, but he wasn't going to let it bother or defeat him. Turns out it was only a bone bruise and must've bothered him because he sure didn't look confident in the ring, pretty much only throwing kicks Noke's way.

This episode also opened up the possible rivalries within the house as fighters Chris McCray, Jamie Yager, and Brad Tavares pulled of the season's first prank and blew air horns in the middle of the night, waking everyone previously asleep. Obviously it made some of the fighters very angry, notably McKinney and Kyacey Uscola, and it looks as if it only gets more intense from here according to the previews for later on in the season.

Either way, this season looks to be like it could be a good one and I can't wait for next week to see what will unfold.

TUF is Back!

I can't believe I forgot about it, but as I was channel surfing the other day I came across The Ultimate Fighter season premiere and couldn't have been happier.

For those that don't know, my financial situation isn't the greatest, therefore, it's difficult for me to pay for a live Ultimate Fighting Championship event, as well as even have the time to watch one due to my work schedule.

So when I saw the 11th season of TUF has begun, I was very excited. After seeing coaches Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson in each other's faces all last season, I'm hoping Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz are going to be the same way.

The season premiere gave me exactly what I needed as well - bashing, bleeding, and a broken nose (actually, it looked way more than broken). Anyway, I'm now able to watch some UFC without knowing the victor beforehand, and it feels great.

I don't know as of yet which fighter I will pick as my favorite, but I do know I'll probably end up rooting for Team Liddell. I mean, how can you not love the Iceman? Plus, I don't know how much smack Ortiz will be able to talk after being away from the sport due to injury and losing to Forrest Griffin in his comeback fight in UFC 106. Then again, Liddell left the sport and competed on "Dancing With the Stars". Not that I don't like Ortiz, I just like Liddell more.

I'm also excited for this season due to the fact that Roy Nelson isn't in it. Couldn't stand that guy all of Heavyweights. I'll give him credit for the knockout he delivered to Brendan Schaub in the finale, but otherwise he just sat on people and never listened to any of his coaches.

It looks as if this season will be a great one, as there were some fantastic fights in the first episode. I hope it only continues to get better, and I keep those hopes high, because as viewers saw what's coming up this season at the end of the first episode, we get to see another door get destroyed. To me, that means it should be good.

Can't wait. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIttttttt's tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!

Unearned Interceptions

So, for a while now, I've been thinking it may be a good idea for the NFL, or football in general, to introduce a new stat to the league, the unearned interception.

Just as baseball pitchers don't have runs counted against them when a teammate commits an error, I feel quarterbacks should get the same treatment when their receivers make a mistake that leads to an interception. In this way, a quarterback's true ability would show.

Now obviously there would have to be a set of rules that would constitute what would be an unearned interception, but I would start with: If the ball hits the receiver in the hands and he should have caught it, it's the receiver's fault and should not be counted against the quarterback.

If the ball is tipped by a defender at the line or at any other spot on the field by a defender, you guessed it - quarterback's fault. I would also place blame on the quarterback if he throws a pick while being hit.

To me, it's very deceiving to see a stat line where a quarterback may have a few interceptions in a game, but some or most weren't his fault.

Obviously, there would also be a lot of changes to other stats as well. For instance, quarterback ratings would be higher and Brett Favre's interception record would be a lot tougher to reach.

With all the new rules coming into the league lately (most of which I disagree with), I would approve of this one. Let's not punish quarterbacks making a good throw.

A Hindsight Look At the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament So Far

After watching the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament so far, and even before the tournament started, I was extremely confused at this years' seedings. And after what's occurred the last few days, I guess I had reason to feel that way.

I don't know if the Tournament Committee knew what they were doing this year when they set up this years competition. For one thing, how did New Mexico get a 3 seed? Wisconsin a 4? And Washington an 11 after winning the Pac 10 tournament? We're even seeing now that Cornell is clearly better than a 12 seed.

First, we'll talk about New Mexico. There's no way that team should have been seeded that high. For one thing, they're in one of the weaker conferences. Second, they lost in the semifinals of their conference tournament. Third, the only big non-conference win worth mentioning for them is Texas A&M. Otherwise, they played nobody and even lost to Oral Roberts. Not the makings of a 3 seed if you ask me.

Next is Wisconsin. My first question after seeing the seeding was, "How can you give them a 4 seed when they didn't even win a single game in the Big Ten Conference Tournament?" Sure they had big wins versus Duke, Maryland, Purdue, and Michigan State at home (I'm not counting the Evan Turnerless Buckeyes as a big win since they're almost nothing without him), but can you really give a 4 seed to a team that finished 7-4 in their last 11 right before the tournament? Sounds more like about a 6 to me.

Lastly, let's take a look at Washington. Sure they had a really slow start in conference play, but after starting 3-5 in the Pac 10, they finished 11-2 in the conference and went on to win the Pac 10 Championship. They were one of the hotter teams in college basketball and I just think it's a bad idea to give such a low seed to a team belonging to a major conference. And don't forget they beat Texas A&M in non-conference play. It just wasn't a fair matchup for New Mexico.

I don't blame the Tournament Committee for giving Cornell a 12 seed due to the Ivy League's past in the tournament, but now it looks like they're clearly a better team than their seed entails because they aren't just winning, they're mopping up.

So so far, it just looks like a really bad year as far as seeding goes. With the exception of Wisconsin losing, I think it's been a great tournament and one of the more exciting ones in the past few years. All I'm going to ask is that the committee put some more thought into where they place the teams they feel are qualified to make the tournament.

Baseball's Big "Concern"

U.S.-born, black baseball players. It's not a new topic, but for some reason or another it's a growing "concern" becoming more prominent today.

So after I heard Angels outfielder Torii Hunter mention black latino players as "imposters" in Major League Baseball in regards to the lack of black African players, I once again had to ask myself the question, "Why is this even a concern in baseball?"

I thought America was a place where race didn't matter, so why is it a problem if black athletes want to play sports other than baseball? What, are people going to start forcing African-Americans to play the game? So many would rather play football or basketball. Big deal.

In 2007, the MLB consisted of 8.2 percent of U.S.-born, black athletes. That number inflated to 10 percent last year.

Now, I in no way consider Hunter's opinion as my own, but you know what? I think regardless of race, baseball is going to play whoever the best player is. If they happen to be black Latin players, so be it.

Hunter's comments also indicated he believes Latinos are getting the edge over black players because teams can sign them for, "a bag of chips." In the bigger picture, Americans as a whole, whether black, white, blue, purple, etc. are becoming less prominent in the MLB. The fact that Latino players can be signed from 16 years old without having to go through the amateur draft may be a reason.

You think the National Hockey League would like to see more black players in their game? You betcha. The thing is, at least for hockey, is that it just doesn't appeal to the urban community. For one thing, hockey is more expensive to get in to, as equipment can cost upwards to one hundred dollars. Baseball isn't as expensive, but it's a lot easier to play basketball or football in the urban community because all you need is a small basketball court or any type of field for football. Baseball diamonds are harder to find because of their size and hockey rinks are going to be extremely rare.

So if baseball wants to fix their "problem" they'll need to go out and "fix" it themselves through building fields and introducing it to the urban community, among other things.

MLB: "Wait, but that would cost money. Well, we can't have that. I like having all my money and I want more."

Well, it may be your only option if you want to "correct" this.

The NFL: The Nanny Foo-foo League?

So I've pretty much had it with the National Football League (or Nanny Foo-foo League as I believe it's becoming) with all these rule changes in order to protect players. The final straw for me came when I heard Commissioner Roger Goodell was considering eliminating the 3-point stance in order to decrease the number of concussions at the line of scrimmage.

What happened to the game I pour my heart into every year? It's like it isn't even a contact sport anymore. They might as well get rid of the pads and we can watch them play touch or flag football at this point.

I mean, I'm all for protecting players, but you have to draw a line somewhere. There's a reason they pay these guys the big bucks. Football wouldn't be the same without big hits and full-on contact.

Players know what they're getting into when they play the game of football. Anyone could be injured at any point and it could be something as small as a bruise, or something like what happened to former Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett when he almost became paralyzed. If players don't want to risk injury, they shouldn't play the game.

If Goodell wants to worry less about the effects of concussions on players in regards to when they should come back or want to come back, he should have them sign some sort of waiver. This waiver would state that the player wants to play and should anything concussion related happen during the game, such as another concussion, or God forbid something worse, the player is the sole person responsible and could not bring any type of action against the league.

Not only would this rule change affect professional football, but then college, high school, and pee wee football would have to follow suit, ruining football as we know it. Professional scouts would have trouble figuring out whether a college player could play out of a 2-point stance at the professional level, and the same would go for a college scout for a high schooler, so there's a definite trickle-down effect if the rule is changed.

In the end, it would completely ruin my favorite sport. There would be no way I could watch the games. Not only that, but I think it would be the demise of this country's most popular sport. I think there would definitely be some sort of uproar if the rule were to go through and people would stop watching. This would then leave nothing to entertain us in the sporting world between the World Series and college basketball.

It will be a very sad day in the world of football if that change ever comes to pass. It depresses me just thinking it's a possibility. So please, Goodell, don't ruin the only reason I can manage to make it through the winter.

A Born-Again NHL Fan

I don't know about everyone else, but I can sure say after watching both U.S.A. vs. Canada hockey games during the Winter Olympics, I want to get back into following the National Hockey League.

Prior to the 2004-05 lockout, I was somewhat an NHL fan and would generally watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Finals, but usually not much regular season. I would say the reason for not watching the regular season was because Wisconsin has no professional team, so there was no team for me to root for. However, the playoffs and finals are more intense, so it was easier for me to watch and just pick a team to win.

Once the lockout came to fruition, the league completely lost me. Without watching the NHL as an option whenever I was bored during football's offseasons for both college and the National Football League, I became disinterested in professional hockey.

Then came college. During my last year at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay (2008-09), I would occasionally go to Green Bay Gamblers hockey games because, one, I had someone to root for, and two, because the special those nights were two-dollar, 16 oz. beers. I can definitely say those games were a lot of fun, especially the goalie fight I was fortunate enough to see one night, probably the greatest hockey fight I have ever seen. Those moments somewhat rekindled a fire that had once been forgotten and I thought to myself, "I should get back into hockey."

The problem with that was that it was only a thought and I never acted on it. The beginning of this year's NHL season came before I even knew it and I'm stuck with what's remaining. To make things worse, the problem I had before the lockout still looms. Who do I root for? For me, watching a sporting event without someone to root for is like watching grass grow. My attention span will be short and I'm going to try to find something more interesting to watch.

So, as of now, I am currently in search for someone to claim as my team. Being from Wisconsin, I have to automatically rule out the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks due to my hatred for their teams in other sports, i.e. Vikings, Bears, and Cubs (I really don't have much of a beef against the Twins, Bulls, Timberwolves.). Plus, I just cringe from the thought that I could ever say anything along the lines of, "Go Minnesota!" or, "Come on Chicago!" It's just wrong to me.

When it comes to Detroit, I feel like it would be wrong for me to become a fan of them due to the fact that they can be dynastic from time to time and I'm not much of a fan of dynasties unless it's my team. You, of course, should respond with, "Well, if you made the Red Wings your favorite team, you wouldn't have to worry about that." However, it would be less exciting for me to become a fan of a team that has been there, done that so often. I almost feel like it would be better for me to give my fandom to a team that may not get there as often so I can be there for the good and bad times. Why do you think I've stuck with the Brewers and Bucks my entire life?

Then there's the Nashville Predators, who's American Hockey Leauge afilliation team is the Milwaukee Admirals. So, in baseball terms, their Triple-A team. I'd love to be a fan of them, but with their games rarely being shown on any TV station I receive (which consists of basic cable channels, so Versus is pretty much it for hockey. I can't afford better than basic.), it would be tough for me to watch their games. It would basically be the same situation for any other team.

So I've come to you NHL fans. Can you help me out? Does anyone out there have any suggestions or advice for me? I don't want my rejuvinated fandom of hockey to die off again.