CLAY TRAVIS HAD ME AT TEXAS=COWARDS

Picture courtesy of Frumpzilla.com

As you probably know I wasn't too happy earlier this week when I found out the Texas Longhorns pulled the asshole card out and decided to stick with the Big 12 Conference. I say "asshole" because they managed to convince Nebraska to leave for the Big Ten and Colorado to leave for the Pac-10 and they were playing with Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M who were ready to bounce where ever the Longhorns landed. Instead they stayed in a shitty conference that plays no defense and now as long as they win their annual Red River Shootout game they have a good chance of going undefeated during their powder puff regular season. This gives them an excellent chance of making the BCS Title game almost annually. It sort of like USC in the Pac-10. The competition blows in those conferences unlike the SEC and without a playoff we get stuck watching two soft teams automatically play for a championship.

Anyways with that being said AOL's FanHouse Clay Travis (a Vandy alum) decided to lay the lumber on Texas by calling them "The Biggest Coward Program in College Football." I could sum it up in a few sentences but it won't do it justice. Travis hits the nail on the head...

Conference realignment died because the Texas football program is made up of cowards who are aware that the Longhorns program can't compete at the top levels of the SEC or the Pac-10. That's what your takeaway from the past two weeks of conference realignment really needs to be. Yep, the state that values masculine swagger more than any other in the nation features a top football program that is yella.

All hat, no cattle.

The Longhorns had offers to move on to compete with top echelon talent in the SEC and the Pac-10. Instead, like recalcitrant female cattle, they balked, choosing to remain in a weakened Big 12 that is minus two of the traditional powers in the league.

How bad is Texas' schedule now even with a round-robin nine-game slate to come in 2012? It's likely the Longhorns will have one top 25 conference game a season, the annual Texas-Oklahoma tussle in October. Meaning Texas will try and back door its way into the BCS title game each season by avoiding challenges rather than competing with the best in college football.

If Sam Houston had known the cowardice of the Longhorns in 2010, he would have forgotten the Alamo.

What's more, while Texas is a coward in the larger universe of college football, the Longhorns are a bully in their own conference, the equivalent of a mob boss extracting loyalty payments from the five weakest members. Why did Texas (along with Oklahoma and Texas A&M) take a larger share of contractual payouts owed by Colorado and Nebraska for leaving the conference?

Because it could.

But that's how bullies always behave, right?



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They beat up on the weak and then get their asses kicked or turn tail when someone steps to them. Ask Colt McCoy and Texas about that. The Longhorns quarterback threw for 4 billion yards in his career against the sisters of the poor defenses in the Big 12. He lasted for less than a full quarter against an SEC defense. Yep, the SEC and the Pac-10 would have been the barbed wire to Texas' BCS title dreams.

And that's what the Longhorns feared more than anything. Once it joined the SEC or the Pac 10, Texas is just another program, packing a six-shooter with no bullets. Waving that gun around in the air and yelling ain't scaring away Marcell Dareus on the blitz. He's calling your bluff and slapping you with your own empty gun. People might start to realize that for all the swagger, the Longhorns have just one national title in the past 39 years, nearly two generations of failing to capture the ultimate prize. They might also realize that most years, Texas can't even get past Oklahoma, the overrated team you've last seen being stomped by whatever opponent the Sooners draw in the BCS games, title or otherwise.

That's because when it comes to Texas football, the perception of success is much greater than the reality of success. Hell, give Texas credit though, at least it's the best of a bad lot. What can you say for Oklahoma or Texas A&M? Two ostensible rival schools that had the opportunity to prove they could stand on their own in the new world order of college athletics and instead hid behind Texas' skirt. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare wrote during his famous balcony scene, "It is the East and Juliet is the sun!" If the bard dove into the mess that is the Big 12, he could adopt the same phraseology, "It is the Big 12 and Texas is the sun!"

Because never in the history of college athletics has one program so dominated the puny conference sisters it surrounds itself with. Texas is not just the sun, but the moon and the stars, while the rest of the teams in the conference are its piddling orbiting satellites. It's only a matter of time, one would think, before the Longhorns demand the gate for games they play on the other school's campus.

That's what mob bosses do, they take and take and take until someone kills them.

You think anyone in the Big 12 has the stones to step to Texas?

Hell no.

And if you've cast your conference lot with a program that doubles as the sun, moon and stars, it might be worth asking how you ever compete with that school. Do you think Texas is ever losing a recruit to a program that voluntarily turned over its millions so you could continue to be extorted in the future? Does the mob boss have a smaller house than the poor schmuck he takes down for more money? Those are rhetorical questions. And there's your answer right there, every other school in the conference has no desire to be number one. They're just comfortable basking in the penumbra of Texas' exaggerated greatness.

Of course, the ultimate irony of this entire mess is that the joke is on all college football fans. All of us, the poor sots who tramp to our respective campuses each week in an effort to determine the best team in the nation. Because we've actually created a BCS system that encourages bullying cowardice like Texas'. Instead of forcing the best to compete and crowning a champion on the field by rewarding the two best teams, we've created a system where avoiding challenges and beating up on weaker programs gives you an automatic invite to the BCS title game.

How else to explain Texas and Oklahoma appearing in six BCS title games between them and racking up a bully-like 2-4 record with an average margin of defeat of more than 18 points in those games? Texas isn't just a coward, it is gaming the system, rigging the results to allow them a position it can't earn on the field.

In the end we're left with only one conclusion: Deep in the heart of Texas lives a football program of cowards.

Time for a new burnt orange slogan:

Hook 'em ... unless you can run and hide from 'em.

I've always had a respect for the Texas Longhorns program so don't think I'm picking on them. I also think Notre Dame has played the coward card by not joining a conference and scheduling games with Tulsa, Western Michigan, and the usual run with the Military schools. They schedule these games because they know if they can just manage to win 9-10 games that their name is so big that they will almost automatically get into a BCS bowl game whether it is deserved or not. And I will go on record to say the only BCS game Notre Dame ever deserved to make was the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. The others were complete bullshit.

For the overall good of college football we need programs to challenge themselves and forget about the "tradition" of the bowl system and work together to form mega conferences that going forward can get us a playoff system. I know a lot of people who love the system the way it is now and don't want to change a thing. Honestly I don't understand these people. I understand that programs like Texas and Notre Dame are more concerned about getting their money for their programs and not sharing it but they have to realize that for the greater good of the sport itself they could make seismic changes by pushing forward a playoff system instead of only worrying about the number of zeros in their television and licensing contracts.

AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

This video still cracks me up. This guy honestly might be my hero. "It's time" should go down in YouTube history. If I were Derek Dooley at Tennessee I would make BigVolDaddy the official mascot. Screw Smokey. BigVolDaddy would piss all over the competition.

CHIPPER JONES NEARING RETIREMENT?

AJC.COM's Carroll Rogers has the breaking news of a possible Chipper Jones retirement announcement effective at the end of the 2010 season. Say it ain't so Chip!

First I was told Chipper was going to meet with Frank Wren and Bobby Cox today to discuss his future and then talk to the media afterward, in all likelihood to say he’s leaning toward retiring at the end of the season.

Just a few minutes ago, after all this kicked up today, I was told Chipper thinks the retirement speculation is premature and doesn’t plan to talk to the media about it today.

Obviously Chipper has been struggling this year and has seen his power numbers (3 Home runs) dip while his age has soared (38 years old). Chipper is an iconic figure in Atlanta Braves history and as far as I can remember is the only Brave to spend his whole career putting on the spikes solely in Atlanta. It would suck to see Chipper go out this way since in my mind he is a first ballot Hall of Famer (his numbers at 3B put him up there with Mike Schmidt, Brooks Robinson, and George Brett for all-time greats) and he deserves the proper send off much like Bobby Cox is getting this season and the way Cal Ripken Jr. got during his final season.

Larry will be hard to replace. Braves fan and the local media are quick to point out that they can simply resign Troy Glaus (who should be starting in the All-Star Game) and shift him to third and then bring up young Freddie Freeman from Gwinnett. That would be smart if Troy wasn't coming off his age 33 season in which a typical baseball player (minus the performance enhancers) starts to decline dramatically in terms of production and health. Also Freeman has been struggling mightily at AAA with an OPS of .746, an on base percentage that is Frenchy-like and only 5 home runs in 200 plate appearances. He isn't viewed as the can't miss prospect anymore but then again he is only 20 years old and could right the ship with a couple of hot weeks in Gwinnett.

Omar Infante has done an admirable job this season filling in for both Yunel Escobar (maybe he should think about retiring considering his struggles) and Chipper but isn't seen as long term solution as a starter. Infante is great as a sub but I have my doubts he could start every day and thrive like Martin Prado. So in conclusion Braves fans should be worried about Chipper retiring not only because he will be missed as a teammate but his production will be hard to replace.

GM Frank Wren could look to go the free agent route with Jorge Cantu, Ty Wigginton, and Bradon Inge all unrestricted free agents in 2011 but none of those guys bring back the fond memories of Chipper in a Braves uniform. Hopefully Chipper will feel a rejuvenation as the season progresses and his bat comes around much like Glaus did in May. I don't want to see Chipper go out this way. He deserves the proper send off but I'm also sure Chipper's pride won't let him be a distraction and it wouldn't shock me to see him hang up the cleats abruptly like Ken Griffey Jr.

Either way Chipper will be missed in Atlanta. You can't replace a legend.

DAMN YOU TEXAS

It looked like Texas was all ready to jump ship to either the SEC, PAC-10, or Big Ten and help form some super conferences and then they had to get all uppity and wanted to get some ass and start driving a Range Rover.


Orangebloods.com is reporting that Texas will now stay put in the Big 12 which will now become a ten team conference. Boring. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe has come up with some lucrative television deal with the conference that would pay Texas $20-25 million per season in revenue. Of course now it looks like the other teams (Oklahoma, Okie State, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M) who were all willing to jump ship on this shit hole of a conference are now going to stay put all because Texas is getting paid big time.

Damn you Texass. Now the Longhorns won't have to worry about playing Nebraska or Colorado and losing to them and instead will be playing in a conference with only one heavyweight (Oklahoma) who have too much vaginal secretion to go join another conference without Texas permission.

It was all working out so well. A&M was going to go to the SEC and the other 4 schools were going to go to the PAC-10 to join Colorado in a super conference. And then Notre Dame was going to the Big Ten and the SEC was going to steal a few ACC schools and then we would be on our way to an eventual playoff system. But no. Same old crappy bowl system and "BC$" to look forward to for the next 10 years. It's all about the money and not crowning a true national champion as always.

College football is the definition of insanity. Look it up. Here ya go.


Texas=cocktease

VINCE YOUNG SEEMS LIKE A NICE GUY...

but don't go flashing any upside down "Hook Em Horns" signs while he is at the strip club.



Titans look like they have made a wise investment with Vince Young. The guy has clearly matured since he left Austin and his leadership skills are outstanding when it comes to defending the Horns. If you are Jeff Fisher what do you say to Young? Aren't quarterbacks suppose to be the cool ones when under fire? I don't ever remember Joe Montana or John Elway throwing punches when someone made fun of Lou Holtz or the homeless guy dressed as the Stanford mascot.

If Young was not an athlete or famous he would be behind bars right now. Him and Rapelisberger should start hanging out. And by "hanging out" I mean they should spoon with each other.

Video HT: SportsByBrooks

KATY PERRY IS ALL ABOUT THE WORLD CUP

WWTDD.com has the pictures of Katy Perry wearing a rubber dress split into one half American flag and one half Great Britian. What the fuck is she trying to do? Create a war I would guess. Katy darling, you are a stinkin American. I don't give a shit if you are dating some heroin junkie from England. We claimed you as soon as your enormous b...personality hit the airwaves. Don't make us hate you. Don't turn into Madonna with some fake Brit accent. The States claim you as a national treasure. Two enormous treasures.

Anywho the US tied England 1-1 in a thrilling match or so I have heard. I had a baseball game that day and missed it. Supposedly the England goalkeeper fucked up and supposedly the games still sound like they are being played in a Bees nest. I haven't had a chance to watch much of the action but "Captain America" has told me the games will get better the next round. USA doesn't play till Friday against Slovenia and why am I telling you this? No clue.

Doesn't matter because Germany is going to win. Their beer and steaks are clearly better than anything Brazil or Argentina can muster up.

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TIGER WOODS NEW JUPITER ISLAND COMPOUND

Jose Lambiet has the pictures of Tiger Woods new compound that is being finished. Tony Montana would be burying cockaroaches for the rights to live in a place this big. Tiger is going to get so much ass in there. I'm talking crazy boy band ass...

Starting platforms have yet to be installed on the two-lane 100-foot or so lap pool, while the diving platform already towers over the diving pool to the north. As for the compound, the nearly 10,000-square-foot house is on the right (south). Woods’ 9,500-square-foot gym, complete with a brand spanking new oxygen therapy room, is across from what’s expected to be a reflecting pool.

So if you are like me and your neighborhood doesn't have a pool and you most certainly can't afford one yourself so you go sneak into Apartment pools (pool code is usually 243) then you can just think of poor old Tiger slumming it this weekend with about 10 girls begging for his juice. Poor guy. I feel for him.


Orginally found at TheBigLead

OKLAHOMA SOONERS TO THE PAC-10?

This report hasn't been confirmed by any of the major news outlets but NewOk has a source who knows somebody who might know somebody else who says that Oklahoma is going to the PAC-10. Sounds legit to me.

The University of Oklahoma is headed for the Pacific-10 Conference but will wait until Texas declares its intentions, an OU source told The Oklahoman Friday after Nebraska announced it will leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten.

The University of Texas board of regents have scheduled a Tuesday meeting for "discussion and appropriate action regarding athletic conference membership."

Late Thursday night, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said he was working to keep the Big 12 (now down to 10 schools) together.

But another Big 12 athletic director told The Oklahoman such a mission "seems like a longshot."

The conference remains viable for the schools with the Pac-10 option — Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M — only if Texas decides to stay. Castiglione's mission to keep the conference together hinges on convincing Dodds

It's starting to look like Texas just doesn't give a fuck anymore about traditional rivalries or what not. They can have their pick of the SEC, Big Ten, or the PAC-10. It seems to me they are posturing to see which conference can offer the best deal. On the other end Oklahoma is the ex-girlfriend who keeps calling and is stalking Texas until they make a final decision. Texas doesn't love you anymore Sooners. They probably figure they can still do the late night drunk dial and hook up with you every once in a while (The Red River Shootout) without being affiliated with your skanky ass.

It's time to move on Oklahoma. You don't need Texas. No need to be treated like second class when you could be banging the whole PAC-10.

ANOTHER DOMINO FALLS: BOISE STATE TO THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE

June 10th and the 11th of the year 2010 are going to go down as the days the college football landscape was shaken to it's core. First Nebraska started by leaving the Big 12 to join the Big Ten. Then Colorado left the Big 12 to join the PAC-10. And today ESPN has reported Boise State has left the WAC to join the Mountain West Conference which is quickly becoming more powerful then the Big East and the ACC in terms of football programs.

The Boise State Broncos now join TCU, Utah, Brigham Young, Air Force, Wyoming, UNLV, San Diego State, New Mexico and Colorado State in the Mountain West Conference who could look to join the BCS discussion for conference affiliation. The Broncos are BCS busters twice as well as Utah and even TCU made a BCS Bowl game last year. This conference to me looks more top heavy than both the Big East and ACC and soon to be obsolete Big 12 conferences.

The Broncos have gone 49-4 under coach Chris Petersen and essentially earned the right to move up and make more money in a better conference. The WAC Conference hasn't sued anybody and handled it like a human being. A lesson could be learned by this.

Personally I had hoped the PAC-10 would find a way to include Boise State but I think this is a great move for the Broncos and the Mountain West Conference. They should look to expand to 12 more teams and add Kansas and Kansas State if they are in fact going to be left out after the Big 12 implodes. Kansas has been solid in football and even made a BCS appearance. We all know about the basketball program which is one of the founding fathers of the college sport. And the Wildcats are a top 10 program in basketball and their football program was solid when Bill Snyder was roaming the sidelines.

So now the question is what, when, and where is the next domino to fall for conference realignment. Will Texas go to the Big Ten or the Pac-10? Will Oklahoma go to the Pac-10 or the SEC? Will Notre Dame finally accept an open invitation to the Big Ten? All of these questions and many more should be answered within the next couple of months if not days.

God I can't wait till college football starts.

WHINE FOREVER

Pete the Cheat just doesn't get it. The NCAA found out one of your coaches (Todd McNair) knowingly tried to hide the fact that Reggie Bush was receiving improper gifts and money. If McNair knew then there is a pretty good chance you knew what was going on. This isn't hear no, speak no, see no violations here Pete. You guys cheated. Accept it and try to move on instead of denying. Don't pull the Pete Rose defense.


But then again it looks like Pete Carroll was taught to look the other way from AD Mike Garrett. Check out the balls on this fucking guy:

“As I read the decision by the NCAA, all I could get out of all of this was … I read between the lines and there was nothing but a lot of envy, and they wish they all were Trojans,” Garrett said to cheers Thursday night at the San Francisco Airport Marriott.

If you want to look up the definition of "lack of institutional control" then I think we need to put a reference picture of Mike Garrett. This guy might be one of the biggest morons to walk the planet. It's like Lindsay Lohan's alcohol craved soul drifted into him.

“Regardless of what happens in that appeal, we know this: SC is more powerful than anything else,” Kiffin said. “The university, the football program, the basketball program -- no matter what they try to do to us, it won’t matter.”

The lack of humility if just astonishing. At first I thought the NCAA coming down and hammering USC with these sanctions yesterday would help clean up their program. But now I have no doubt they will continue to be renegades. They don't want to even confess that Reggie Bush fucked up. The guy was a hell of a player but the way he walked around and took every single handout for him and his family and yet their compliance department and coaches are going to stick to their guns and say they knew nothing about it just makes me wish they got the SMU treatment.

In short: FUSC.

THE NON-SOCCER FAN’S GUIDE TO ENJOYING THE WORLD CUP

As a rabid soccer fan for most of my life (I haven’t missed a game since 1994, the first year the tournament was widely broadcast in the US), you might think that I am the last person to know how an average American sports fan might get interested in a “foreign” sport like soccer. But the fact is that over the years I have had a chance to convert many people from non-participators to rabid fans, and there is no better opportunity to do that than The World Cup.

I understand entirely that soccer can be difficult and even boring to watch at times, especially if you don’t know what the hell is going on. Trust me that I have seen games played at the top level that are just plain painful to watch, full of diving, crying, and cheap shots, and all of them have involved Cristiano Ronaldo. But apart from hotly contested league matches in England or Italy, The World Cup is generally the most exciting soccer you can see, especially in the early rounds when teams are trying to assert themselves and get into the knockout stages.

But let’s not concern ourselves with any of that. I am here to talk to the guys that hate the game. I’m not here to tell you why it’s great, to learn the rules, to study the history and to suddenly become some kind of multi-culti pansy that people like me are repelled by. Not at all. Instead, I want you to have a reason to join the party, despite the fact that you think soccer is for Euro-trash and illegals. So here we go:



A) It’s a chance to be fiercely patriotic:

The US is progressing. We have a passable and improving professional league with an increasingly talented pool of players. Most of our guys have proven themselves in Europe’s best leagues. But we’re still pretty weak in the eyes of the world, and the World Cup is a chance for us to stick it to some elitist, pompous asses who don’t give us a chance. We are a country that is used to winning everything it really wants to, and soccer is the last place in the world where America isn’t feared. Well, if that doesn’t get you fired up, you’re not my audience.

The last time the US faced England in The World Cup we won, 1-0. It happened in 1950, and nobody here cared, but the English hate to be reminded of it. Even if they beat us on Saturday by twenty goals, their record against us in major competitions will only be 1-1. Don’t let them forget that.

I love England, and will pull for them in every game but ours. They have been our best friend since we booted them, their taxation, their syphillis and their in-bred king off of our shores, but for 90 minutes on Saturday they are the enemy, and that’s some fun stuff. All the rest of the countries involved? Well, I’m sure I can come up with a reason to hate each of them with a passion for 90 minutes, and so can you. If you treat each match-up with that same blind xenophobia, you will have something invested in all 64 matches.

So get out there and root for The Yanks if for no other reason but to rub it in somebody’s face that doesn’t look like you. And when we eventually get eliminated (and we will), I’m sure one of your ancestors escaped from one of the remaining countries a hundred plus years ago. Adopt that hell-hole for the rest of the month and support them with a passion. This might be your best chance ever to score with a foreign girl. Trust me, they’re usually drunk.

B, C, and D) If you need any other reasons, you can go to Hell


There you go! Enjoy The World Cup!

Hopefully I’ll get asked back as we go to blog about whatever is interesting to me during the Cup. I also hope this offended some people. Please let me know in the comments section.

Signed,

Captain America*

*=in no way related to or in violation of Marvel Comics and their creations

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PHILLIES FANS?

THE FIGHTINS have yet another despicable picture of a Phillies fan gone wild. I thought those people up there only drank Natty Light and Yuengling? Coors Light? Are you fucking kidding me kid? This kid should have got tasered for bad taste. Cold activated bottle my ass! This kid would probably throw batteries at me if he knew I was making fun of him.

NOT SO FAST MY FRIENDS! IT'S NOW A LOSS OF 3O SCHOLARSHIPS FOR USC

Reggie Bush and USC assistant coach Todd McNair royally screwed over the future of the USC Football program. Check out this excerpt from the NCAA report:

``At least by January 8, 2006, the assistant football coach had knowledge that student-athlete 1 and agency partners A and B likely were engaged in NCAA violations. At 1:34 a.m. he had a telephone conversation for two minutes and 23 seconds with agency partner A during which agency partner A attempted to get the assistant football coach to convince student-athlete 1 either to adhere to the agency agreement or reimburse agency partners A and B for money provided to student-athlete 1 and his family. Further, during his September 19, 2006, and February 15, 2008, interviews with the enforcement staff, the assistant football coach violated NCAA ethical conduct legislation by providing false and misleading information regarding his knowledge of this telephone call and the NCAA violations associated with it. The assistant football coach failed to alert the institution's compliance staff of this information and later attested falsely, through his signature on a certifying statement, that he had no knowledge of NCAA violations.''

Now the official word is USC will lose 10 football scholarships per year for 3 years. A total of 30! This is absolutely devastating for any football program no matter how much depth you have on your roster. They are banned from postseason for 2 years and their wins from 2004 and 2005 have been vacated by the NCAA since Bush was ineligible. Now the Heisman Trophy Trust can look into taking away Bush's Heisman since essentially he wasn't an eligible player that season. Vince Young will now wrap his sweaty chest around the stiff arm statue. All of Bush's records will be erased from the USC books and it will be like he never played in 2004 and 2005.

The Bush Push of 2005 doesn't exist and now Notre Dame can claim victory. If they want they can be like Alabama and chalk up another National Title that they didn't earn.

It looks like Lane Kiffin's start in Los Angeles is off to a great start. He seems like a good, clean play by the NCAA rules coach to help clean up the program.


So what does the SportsCrack nation think about the sanctions? Fair? Not so much?

Dudes a Deuche...

Picture of TrueBall

That’s just my opinion but seriously, am I the only one over Ben Roethlisberger?

Granted the guy has won two Super Bowl rings for the Steelers, but how many girls do those rings allow him to (allegedly) molest? I mean really?!?!? I’ve watched him first hand pass around girls like they were another Coors Light… wait my bad, in Pittsburgh, the drink IC Light (Iron City Brewing Company for those of you not familiar, is cheaper, yet not as fulfilling version of Miller). I’m not denying the guy’s athletic ability, I’m just curious to know how someone who’s just a shade away from becoming the next OJ Simpson, off the field of course, keeps getting away with whatever heinous crimes he'd like.

I’d love to see Roethlisberger, Michael Vick, Marcus Vick, Terrell Owens, “Pacman” Jones, the entire Minnesota Vikings Team (I’m on a boat!), Milton Bradley, Carlos Zambrano, John Rocker, Lou Holtz (sorry Matt, but it’s way past his time to move out of the spotlight), Ron Artest, Gilbert Arenas, and Stephon Marbury compete on a new reality game show called “The Biggest Head Case”. I mean really, how much do athletes think they can get away with? They say money can’t buy happiness, but it should be able to buy an adviser who helps you make good decisions and a PR agent that helps smooth over the bad decisions that you make anyway. How are kids supposed to look at athletes as role models when the people who are in the public spotlight somehow think that it is okay to carry guns through airports, in locker rooms, rob kids outside of McDonald's, force themselves on young girls, or fight with their team mates on the field? Personally, I don’t want my kids to grow up as thugs and I’m tired of watching professional athletes make a mockery of the class of our parent’s generation.

Guys like Ken Griffey Jr. and Cal Ripken should be the norm, not the exception. In the era of steroids, cheating scandals, gloves that seemingly don’t fit (even though DNA evidence does exist), skipping court hearings at will, toting pot in “hidden water bottle compartments”, giving yourself fake names (Ron Mexico was hilarious though… haha… someone has the bumps… haha), cheating on your spouse and claiming you’re addicted to sex (seriously… who’s not?!?!?) and public figures literally getting away with "murder", I can honestly say I miss the days when we were worried that a pitcher may have a bit of petroleum jelly under the bill of his hat. Now I have to worry that the same “superstar” may be in a bar one day with the daughter that I don’t have yet and convince her that “it’s okay” and show he has a temper if she doesn’t consent to whatever he feels justified in doing.

Not that I wish harm on anyone, but I wouldn’t be sad if a certain someone rode his motorcycle into the Allegheny River, without a helmet, got frostbite, lost a few fingers, couldn’t play football again, and ended up on a couch like the rest of us talking about our “glory days”. Just in case "Big Ben" is reading and gets his feelings hurt, he can always send his bouncer to beat me up like he tried to do in Jack’s (check it out if you ever go to the Burgh by the way... cheap beer... good crowd) in Pittsburgh back in 08, but somehow I feel like he may be too busy riding his motorcycle without a helmet or scaring another girl into sleeping with him as he’s been accused of in the past.

Just in case you haven't seen the latest, check out this article from Katie Thomas and Richard Sandomir of the New York Times

The 20-year-old college student who said she was assaulted by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger told an investigator that she and her friends thought his presence in their college town was “weird” and said she did not fight because she feared he had a short temper, according to interviews released Wednesday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

During a 10-minute video interview, the woman said she and her friends were initially excited when they learned that Roethlisberger was spending the evening of March 5 in Milledgeville, a town 80 miles southeast of Atlanta that is home to Georgia College & State University. Roethlisberger owns a vacation home nearby.

But upon reflection, she said on the video, which was posted on the Web site of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “That’s weird. You’re in a college town. He’s 28 years old.”

In addition to the interview with Roethlisberger’s accuser, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released other audio and video recordings related to the case. In April, the local district attorney declined to prosecute Roethlisberger, citing a lack of evidence and the accuser’s desire that he not be charged. But he was suspended for up to six games by the N.F.L. for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy.

In Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger took part in a Steelers practice session Wednesday but did not talk with the news media, according to The Associated Press.

One of the woman’s friends, Nicole Biancofiore, said Wednesday that she was upset the agency released the videos, including one that featured an interview with Biancofiore, who was in the club that night.

“I think it’s ridiculous that the videos are released when there are no charges being pressed,” Biancofiore said in a text message to a reporter.

A call to a number listed as belonging to the accuser’s mother was not returned. She has not made any public statements about the case.

The videotaped interview with the woman was the second she had given to investigators: the first took place soon after the reported assault, when the woman acknowledged that she was drunk. The second interview was conducted the next day, and she appeared relatively calm as she answered questions. In the video, her face is blurred.

Asked about some details of the sexual encounter, the woman, who said she is 5 feet 4 inches, said she did not fight back. “I noticed throughout the night he kind of had a short temper,” she said. “I obviously didn’t want him to hurt me any more than he was going to.”

Like I said, dude's a deuche, but that's just my opinion...

RUH ROH: TEXAS A&M TO THE SEC?

Just when I thought everything was going to kind of make sense in this college football conference realignment Andy Staples of SI.com has the balls to throw this wrench....

A source confirmed to SI.com late Wednesday that emissaries from the SEC initiated discussions with Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne months ago, and while the SEC is just one of several potential options for the Aggies, it remains an option heading into Thursday's meeting between Texas A&M and Texas officials. At the meeting, power brokers from both schools will discuss a last-ditch effort to save the Big 12, even if Nebraska's Board of Regents votes Friday to leave for the Big Ten. "It's on life support," the source said of the Big 12. "But people have come off life support before."
Officials also will discuss a potential invitation from the Pac-10 that also would include four other Big 12 schools. Presumably, they also will discuss the SEC's talks with Texas A&M.


Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_staples/06/10/aggies.options/index.html#ixzz0qTAe7ahO
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SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has an ace up his sleeve or at least he thinks in A&M. But what the fuck dude? You could have got Texas! Why settle for pennies when you can get Franklins. SEC just needs to go balls to the wall and go get Notre Dame. Sure ND not close to the Southeastern region but neither is A&M. The revenue and rating with Notre Dame in the fold would be tremendous. Maybe Slive has pocket aces. Who knows?

"WE GOT KILLED"

Inside USC's Scott Wolf had this terrific quote in regards to the USC sanctions...

``We got killed,'' said a source who saw the report but not wish to be identified.

I feel bad for them. There is no reason for them to stick around. It's a murder scene now. Transfer. Transfer. Transfer and get out of that hell hole before you get sliced too.

Yours truly,

SportsCrack.com


Disclaimer=This shirt has no affiliation with any USC organization. It refers to "FUCK" AND "U" AND "SPOILED" AND "CHILDREN."

ANOTHER DOMINO FALLS: COLORADO STAMPEDES TO THE PAC-10

Matt Hayes of the SportingNews.com is reporting that the University of Colorado is set to announce a move to the Pac-10 Conference as early as today.

Colorado is now officially the first domino to fall in college football expansion. The Buffs will formally announce today that they are leaving the Big 12 for the Pac-10, according to a source close to the situation.

The Big 12 is also expected to lose Nebraska to the Big Ten, and those two losses will be the beginning of the Big 12's breakup.

Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are also expected to announce their plans to leave the Big 12 for the Pac-10 as soon as today.

Even if Nebraska doesn't leave for the Big Ten, Colorado is still committed to the Pac-10. If the Big 12 somehow stays intact –- without a Nebraska defection — CU still would be part of a two-team Pac-10 expansion, possibly including Utah.

The Nebraska situation could be cleared up as early as today.

The PAC-16 is going to be an amazing football conference finally. I know there are PAC-10 apologists out there but the only real football history the conference has in terms of national power is Southern Cal. But now with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma you could make a solid argument that they are now the best football conference in the nation. Take a deep breath SEC fans.

With the formation of a 16 team power conference in the "Pacific" you would have to think the Big Ten is now looking to expand from the 12 teams they have now (I'm including Nebraska) and will look to add 4 more teams. Notre Dame joining makes sense. So does Missouri, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers because of the TV market.

The SEC should look to expand and raid some of the ACC teams. Virginia Tech, Clemson, Miami, and Georgia Tech could be outstanding additions and would further expand the SEC TV reach (although it could be argued that Clemson and Georgia Tech regions are already SEC dominated).

The problem with all of this is you still need at least one more "super" conference. The Big East, ACC, and Big 12 leftovers would have to form a new conference. Kansas with it's rich basketball history and tradition would be left grasping for conference straws if all this goes down. That doesn't seem right and I believe teams like Utah, Boise State and TCU deserve the chance to move into a power conference. I'm not using "BCS" anymore because with these super conferences the BCS would become void and we could move forward to an eventual playoff system with 8 teams (4 super conference champs and 4 at-large bids).

A College Football playoff would get almost or near the same ratings that the Super Bowl gets domestically. It would be huge and the buildup to win the conferences or at least be in the top 5 at the end of the year to reach the playoff would not diminish the regular season at all as some idiots have argued.

Do It!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

This is what sports is all about. Jeremy Roenick is so proud of his former team in the Chicago Blackhawks winning their first Stanley Cup in 49 years that he loses his composure. I can respect players who gave their all for the team and I believe Roenick was one of those guys during his playing days. Plus he was a hell of a threat from the right wing in EA Sports NHL 93. Only one of the greatest video games of all-time. Don't even try to argue it. Here is the video courtesy of The Big Lead...



And by the way the only time you are allowed to cry in sports is because you are so happy. It's like seeing the birth of your kid. Crying allowed. Losing a game you are not allowed. Man up.

I LOVE THE TASTE OF SANCTIONS IN THE MORNING

Photo courtesy of AJC.com

The LATimes is reporting that the NCAA will hand the USC Trojans a 2 year bowl ban and a reduction of 20 scholarships. Ahhhh....what sweet justice it is....

A two-year bowl ban and a loss of more than 20 football scholarships are among the sanctions that the NCAA has dealt USC, a source with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday.

The NCAA, the governing body for collegiate sports, informed USC of its decision after a four-year investigation regarding allegations centered on former football player Reggie Bush and former basketball player O.J. Mayo. The NCAA could make its decision public as early as today.

It took almost 4 years but it looks like the NCAA woke up and did the right thing. Listen I get it that a lot of major football programs bend the rules and have "excessive practice time" and "players get paid on the side" and most of these "student" athletes don't in fact go to class or even take their tests. But the way USC just blatantly told the NCAA to F off for all these years in regards to the obvious infractions caused by the Bush and Mayo cases and then to go out and hire a snake like Lane Kiffin makes everything they got worth it in my opinion.

Now all the players on the team can transfer without penalty of sitting out a year because of the infractions. You hear me Seantrel Henderson and Kyle Prater. These 5 star athletes can transfer almost immediately from my understanding and can play next season under NCAA rules. Notre Dame, UCLA, and Cal could always use an extra tackle or wide receiver. I'm just saying guys you might want to take a look.

Only if you want to take a pay cut. Consider it pro bono work and getting an actual education before you go to the NFL.