NCAA March Madness:
Oh, how sweet it is. The top three seeds from each region went 24-0. How is that for all of you who "love" the mid major junk ball. So far I give the NCAA an A+. The selection committee flat out nailed the seedings this year. There are no mid majors in the Sweet 16 and the lowest seed is one 12 seed (Arizona) which is a powerhouse basketball school anyway. Listen, the inequities and problems to this tournament have been teams playing close to home. Yes, the funds cannot be covered for some schools but Villanova playing in an arena that is literally two miles from their campus is NOT fair. UNC is 27-1 all-time in the state of North Carolina. Since 2004 Duke is 8-0 in the state of North Carolina. They are 3-5 in other states. Home court/state advantage is just not fair. But hey, you cannot always make sports truly fair. You cannot tell me that USC playing the Rose Bowl in their backyard is not an advantage. Heck, Oklahoma had to play Florida in Florida for this year's National Championship. Back to the selection committee, who flat out nailed the seeding as previously mentioned. The selection committee are like referees. You do not see when they are doing well. Lots of upsets usually means a lousy job by the selection committee. (Complaints always out weigh complements six to one according to a study in 2004.) You have to give credit to the committee because they watch so much basketball throughout the year. You are talking about guys who watch games like Sienna versus somebody I cannot pronounce in the middle of February. CBS was praying Cleveland State would lose to Wake Forest. What do you know... for the first time ever all the top three seeds advanced and the ratings were through the roof. I am not for the under dog. I am for the rich getting tax breaks. Either you have an agenda or your just not paying attention, these cinderella teams are not that good and that is why they are out of the tournament by the first weekend.
NFL:
There are three stories that agitated me today.
1. T.O. not showing up for a voluntary conditioning workout for his "newest team," the Buffalo Bills. Who honestly cares? T.O., as we all know, takes care of his body better than 90 percent of the players in the National Football League. The guy has a body that looks like he may eat one twizzler candy a year. I understand that this "voluntary" conditioning workout is not just about conditioning, it is about meeting your teammates and bonding with your quarterback if you are a wide receiver. I am sure Terrell Owens will be just fine trust me. The guy has a career in Men's Health Magazine after he retires and he has a bust in Canton, O.H.
2. The NFL's meeting are taking place in Claifornia this week and people are going out on a limb and griping about where the people are staying for these meetings. They happen to be staying in the St. Regis Hotel where the cheapest room is $400.00. Boo hoo people. The NFL is a well-run organization who makes a ton of money. These rooms are booked in advance and I do not care about how bad our economy is because the NFL, unlike most has the money to roll with. Seems like the rich get bashed every single day now that our economic times are bad when really they are the ones who are going to get us out of this mess because they have the money.
3. In the meetings, Roger Goodell, among others, discussed adding two more games to the NFL season. That would delete some of the pre-season games and make the season 18 games long. I dogged this idea as soon as I heard the addition. Honestly, what are the two most hated sports (though they do get a ton of attention and being in lots of money/people) -- that would be baseball and professional basketball. The National Basketaball Association and Major League Baseball get complaints all the time in the media about how long their season is. The NFL is a prolific league that makes a lot of money. I would argue that the league is the most well-run/organized/pure league there is out there in today's sporting world. NEWS FLASH NFL -- leave it be. Your sport is generating millions upon millions of dollars because the fans and media love the NFL... no need to change!
4. The Brady Rule
The NFL has already changed a rule during the meetings this week. THe rule implies: If you hit a quarterback below the knees, it will be a 15 yard penalty. The NFL is always tweaking rules that are unnecessary, but this time they added a brand new rule that was unnecessary. Now you are forced to NOT to hit the quarterback in the HEAD, BACK, and now BELO THE KNEES. Why do you not just put flags around there waist. I mean this is ridiculous. The quarterback position mine as well be called the "pre-madona" position. Get serious NFL committee. Just because Carson Palmer and Tom Brady went down does not mean you need to make a brand spanking new rule. I know that the quarterback is stationary and vulnerable, but it's FOOTBALL!
I actually do have a problem with the $400.00 rooms. Despite Roger Goodell's pay cut, the NFL was still forced to lay off employees, and individual teams have been doing the same thing as well--the Jets being one of them. Then there's also NFL Films which has been laying off employees.
ReplyDeleteI think they could get some cheaper hotel rooms.
As for the potential 18 game season I think it's a terrible idea. But I have no control over this one. It's only two extra weeks. It's not like baseball or basketball.
As for the new rule, it sucks, but they are trying to protect their cash cows. And as for the back, I'm pretty sure it's only if you lead with your head that you can't hit a quarterback in the back.
Oh and as for T.O., it seems that ESPN didn't realize that he was accepting an award this weekend for Alzheimer's awareness with Jay Rockefeller and the French president Sarkozy (sp!). ESPN just loves getting on T.O.'s case.