Who Would You Rather Have?

I found this article today while looking on ESPN.com and I have to say I strongly disagree with it. I don't disagree that I'd rather have Kobe than A-Rod, I disagree for the reasons why. First of all she says that the only thing A-Rod cares about is money, while I partly agree with it I think that it is unfair to call just him out on that. He is the highest paid Baseball player but there is more out there than him. Both players in my mind get paid way too much to play a sport and to say that one does it just for the money more than the other one is ridiculous. Next she says that A-Rod is self-absorbed and only opted out of his contract because he wanted more money. In New York, no matter what A-Rod did he was still bashed by the fans and media. He will more than likely be named the AL MVP again this year, but they were still not happy with him. It was like they expected him to hit a home run every time he stepped up to the plate. And Baseball being an 11-person team sport it is harder for one person, with the exception of a pitcher, to make that big of a difference. However in Basketball, with it being a 5 person team sport, is a lot easier for one person to make a difference. She next says that A-Rod was not a leader. This brings me back to A-Rod being in New York, where many fans said that he was not a true Yankee because he wasn't drafted by them. The fans never let him be the leader, they always put him behind Derek Jeter. After all A-Rod didn't even get to play his position, shortstop, because they kept that position for the team's leader, Jeter. Although in my opinion I think the writer is right in some ways, her A-Rod bashing like the rest of the media is senseless and unnecessary.

38-Year-Old Quarterback Still Has It

Brett Favre, the 38-year-old quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, has been in the NFL since 1991. Favre has been known for his Monday night games, where he's done unimaginable things, and has a career of 57 touchdowns just on Monday night. One of his most memorable was the night after his father died of a sudden heart attack and Favre played the MNF game against the Oakland Raiders. Favre passed for 399 yds and 4 td's while completing 73% of his passes. However last night Favre did something that he hasn't had to do since he was first moved to Green Bay, and that was to prove himself. For the past few years Favre has been criticized by analyst over whether or not he can still play, or complete the long pass he's been known for. Last night during overtime against the Denver Broncos, Favre completed an 82-yard pass on the first play of overtime, ending the game. I've always loved watching Favre play and have been one of the few of my friends who have been supportive of him coming back to play the past couple years. Or at least supportive amongst the group of friends. Favre has been the best quarterback I've been able to see play and to see him still succeed after so many years out there and so much criticism just makes me smile.

NFL London

The NFL is having their first game in London ever before this Sunday when the Dolphins and the New York Giants square off. The NFL's attempts to go global is a smart idea but they have to walk a fine line in the process. The fine line between staying loyal to their USA fans and attempting to get fans from other countries. This will be a hard thing for them to do but hopefully they'll get what they are looking for.

Oral Sex Worth 10-Years In Prison?

As many may have heard the story of Genarlow Wilson a 17-year-old at the time received oral sex from a 15-year-old girl and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for this crime. Today Genarlow was released from prison because the Georgia Supreme Court ruled cruel and unusual punishment. I agree that Genarlow was mistreated and i respect that he did not take the plea bargain because he would be listed under a sex offenders list. He did this because of his baby sister and complications if he were listed as a sex offender. My main beef is the girl in this trial. If my memory serves me correctly the first time i heard this story one of the girls that were allegedly raped also has sex with other boys that night, and was video-taped. Now I do not know what exactly went down that night but if a girl has sex with multiple boys, and it seems to be consensual and does not say stop during the video taping, then why are the boys faced with charges? I understand that alcohol was involved but she had to know what might happen that night in a rented motel room with alcohol and video cameras. I'm not saying that anything that happened that night was right, but should only males be held accountable for the things that happened? In my mind something bad did happen, and she may not have been in the right state of mind at the time, but he probably wasn't either. Does this mean that since he is male he is the one that is at fault? I agree that he should be held accountable for his actions, but so should she. The sentence was unfair since both were minors and the law that was in place at that time was for adult child molesters, but for him to be the only one facing action from the law is unfair.

Happiness Is A Warm Gun

Tank Johnson, the newly acquired nose tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, has had troubles in the past with his gun obsession. However, after reading a recent article on espn has changed my feelings towards Tank. I once thought that he was just another thug who could play ball, and that the money and fame would never change his lifestyle. The article showed that Tank is in the position he is in today not because he is a thug, but because of some misunderstandings of mistakes he's made. He allowed his best friend in high school to become his bodyguard to try and rehab him, when he was eventually killed. Tank has a fascination with guns, as many Americans do, and decided to own some illegally, which more than likely meant he didn't get the permit required. One thing Tank said that surprised me, that many other sports stars wouldn't admit to, was that what he did was wrong and he accepted that he went about things the wrong way. I'm glad that Dallas is giving Tank another chance to play in the NFL and I hope that this time he doesn't make the same mistakes.

Kobe To Leave?

The has been a lot of talk this week about Kobe Bryant this week, and whether or not he will be traded. Many fans have backlashed at Kobe saying that he is a baby and he is betraying them. But like many other stars he was put into a situation where they expected him to be their savior and win regardless of who they back him up with. As it has always been, 1 person can not beat 5. I hope Kobe does go to another town and start anew with a different team, coach and scene. I also hope he makes it further in the playoffs. The Lakers really need to start rebuilding their team because once he is gone, there won't be much left for them to cheer for.

Fantasy Football II

As I said in an earlier blog, I am in an ESPN fantasy football league. I enjoy the league, the set up and draft are simple and understandable. I do have some beef with how ESPN scores their fantasy. First of all, QB's get nowhere near enough points. I have Tom Brady as my QB, and each week he puts up some of the most amazing numbers. For instance last week he had 5 td's, 1 int and 388 passing yd's. He only got 33 pts. To put this into perspective, LT has 44 pts last week in fantasy. He had 4 td's and 198yds. So Brady had 1 more td and almost twice as many yds, but had 11 less points. I understand that comparing an rb to a qb is not a good way to prove my point, but by doing so I prove the bias of ESPN. They always tell you to pick rb's first, because they cake it up for rb's so they can get so many points each week. A qb gets one point for every 25 passing yds, while a rb gets 1 point for every 10 rushing yards. A rb gets 6 pts for a td, a qb gets 4. It just irritates me to see Tom Brady throw up such amazing numbers while he still gets beat every week because a rb has a couple tds and 100 rushing yds.

What The Crap?

After reading this article this week the only reply I could come up with was what the crap? Football is an American sport. All of the teams are from American cities. A conference is actually named the American Football Conference. So why play the biggest game in the sport in another country? This would seriously not tick me off, but also a lot of other fans. I understand that the NFL wants to get more interest from foreign countries but to get that they seem to not care if they lose interest with the American public. I can understand some games being played in another country, but not the Superbowl. The most watched t.v. program every year.

Respect Over Money

In the sports world nowadays most people would take millions of dollars over respect. This week one of the most famous managers in baseball rejected a $5 million, 1-year deal with the Yankees. Joe Torre said that he felt disrespected by the deal and felt like the deal showed a lack of confidence in the manager. What impressed me the most of what Joe Torre did about the whole deal was that during every interview he never said one negative word about the Yankees' management. Although I'm not a big Yankees fan, what he did was more respectful than any record he's broken.

Sour Grapes

One thing that I have noticed this year is how one certain analyst never seems to pick his old team. Keyshawn Johnson, as far as I know, has not picked his former team the Carolina Panthers to win a game the whole year. The Panthers let Keyshawn off at the beginning of the year, although he was only going to play for one more year, and apparently Keyshawn did not take so well to that. Keyshawn was easily able to get a job at ESPN, being a football analyst on Sunday mornings. Although it upset me that they did that to Keyshawn, it humors me that he refuses to pick them. The worst part of it is that this year he has mostly been right about his picks.

Game Of The Week

The game of the week, which everyone should know if they pay any attention to sports, this week is the Patriots vs. Cowboys. The Patriots will most definitely dominate this game for many reasons. First although Tony Romo is a good quarterback who is on his way to becoming a great one, he has not faced a team like the Patriots. His "best" receiver drops more balls than he catches. And the Patriots just have too many offensive tools to destroy their defense. Being in the NFC and not facing an opponent worth mentioning, the Cowboys will finally be challenged and will definitely lose.

Update On Mike Gundy's Tirade

As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, Mike Gundy Oklahoma State's football coach, confronted a reporter during a press conference and was later bashed by the media. Gundy's tirade was attacked by many reporters while he gained the support from fans. Since then Gundy's team has gone undefeated and he obviously won the support from his team as well as the fans of Oklahoma State and college football fans alike.

LSU Is Defeated

The LSU Tigers, the team that was presumed to be unbeatable, after the first unbeatable team USC was knocked off, was defeated tonight by Kentucky. This breaks my heart considering I am an SEC fan, and regardless of what team it is, the possibility that another SEC will win the Championship is declining.

16-0 Team In 2007?

With the Patriots 4-0 and not looking to slow down anytime soon, many people have started talking about the possibility that they will go 16-0 this season. The only team to ever do that was the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and no one has really come close since to achieving that goal. Although I believe that the Patriots could do it this year, I do not think it is likely they will. In a time and age when all that matters is how many rings you have, what would the Patriots have to gain by going 16-0? After making the playoffs, and possibly waiting until after they win home-field advantage, the Patriots will more than likely pull their star players and just finish out the rest of the season. Although it would be a historical moment, you do not win a special prize or trophy for going 16-0, so since the Patriots are a smart football team they will keep their stars out of danger's way and get them fresh for the post-season.

Hall Of Famer Overlooked

While searching through ESPN.com I came across an article that was about something other than "expert's" opinions as usual, and about a player that has been overlooked in NFL history. Tony Latone grew up as a coal miner after his father died when he was a child. He as forced to work in the mines right after his father's death to provide for his mother and sisters. After serving his country for 18 months in WWI, he came home to the mines and joined a football team at the mining town. The article told a little about why he was such a huge impact, but was an interesting story that makes me want to get the book and find more out about the "Human Howitzer".

Fantasy Football

Sticking with the Fantasy Football talk, I'd like to say that although my rb's depth chart is weak, I'm definitely not worried about my Qb. After making a trade for Tom Brady earlier on in the season, I do not see him going down for the rest of the year. My trade, which seemed risky at the time and the week after, is starting to pan out and looking like it was done in my favor. I traded Donovan Mcnabb, Brian Westbrook and T.O. for Tom Brady, Adrian Peterson and Isaac Bruce. Although Bruce hasn't done much for me the year, I couldn't be more happier with AP and Brady. And with Mcnabb being inconsistent as usual and Westbrook on the brink of injury, I see this trade working out for me throughout the year. Although with my luck I know the two will turn it around, I was happy to get rid of T.O. because honestly I don't like his attitude.

Substance Abuse Kills Fantasy Teams

This week Travis Henry has been on the brink of suspension thanks to substance abuse accusations. In my fantasy league injuries and a lack of depth on my part is killing me this year. Needing Travis Henry for his 12.8 point average so far this season, to see that he might be out for the rest of the season kills my chances in the league. It also makes me upset at some of the attitudes of players. After Michael Vick lately failed a drug test, even though he is constantly being monitored, it surprises me that football players think they can get away with these things. I guess some people never learn.