Operation Slap Shot

Wow, is this for real? It sounds like it's a sequel to the movie "Slap Shots." I'm sure this will get much more interesting when and if they figure this whole thing out. It doesn't surprise me that some big names are denying everything. Yeah, yeah, innocent until proven guilty. But if you know you did something wrong, then why lie about it. Look Wayne, you may be the Great One, but if you are involved don't lie in front of the cameras. Let your wife talk as well. Her name popped up first and only after a review of some wire taps did your name surface. Denial is another thing not high on my list of things I like. Come on, spare us the lies, tell the truth and maybe we can forgive you. Athletes like Bonds, Palmeiro, Sosa and McGwire come off as idiots by continuing to deny. Palmeiro more than others since he actually tested positive for steriods. I think the guy still denies the whole thing and even tried to blame another player for the positive test. Classy, real classy.

Bad officiating

I'm not a fan of coaches and players blaming a loss on bad officiating. The refs have a very difficult job and one job I really wouldn't want. I remember the days I volunteered to be an umpire for little league baseball. My first game was horrifying. On that particular day, I was on the field making calls. Since there were only two umps to a game, I positioned myself behind second base. I'd then have to run to first to make a call when a batter hit the ball into play. No complaints that day. I did a pretty good job. The next game I found myself behind home plate calling balls and strikes. Even though I played catcher in most of my playing days, this was a totally different perspective. It can be difficult to tell if the ball nipped the edge of the plate within the strikezone and you can't delay the call. You have to make a decision whether right or wrong almost without thinking. Oh and of course there had to be a close play at the plate. Goodness gracious, I probably made a few bad calls on both sides so it sort of balanced itself out.

Back to my point. The Super Bowl officials made some horrendous calls and all went against Seattle. I expect fans, spectators and the media to talk all about the bad officiating for weeks. I can understand that players and coaches would be mad as hell but you shouldn't continue to "blame" your loss on the officials. Mike Holgrem sunk down low and continued to criticize the refs in a very public setting. He came off like a sore loser and drew attention away from the fact he made some bad calls of his own especially at the end of both halves.

The latest whiner, Phil Jackson, Mr. I have nine NBA championships, complained about the refs making poor calls and blowing their whistles in favor of the Dallas Mavericks. He then blamed it on the Mavs owner Mark Cuban because Cuban reviews the tapes, files complaints to the league about bum officiating. This causes the refs to be fearful of Cuban so they call more fouls on the Mavs opponents. Dude, your team got blown out of the water and you blame the poor effort of your team on the refs. Classy, real classy.

My advice, stop complaining and just play the game. Do your best to win the game and overcome any calls that go against your team. If you lose, oh well. Bitch all you want at home and in private. You can talk about it publicly if that's not your only excuse for losing.

Winter Olympics??

Huh, does anyone care that the Winter Olympics will begin Feb 10th? I'm not overly excited about watching any olympic events this year. Maybe hockey, figure skating and uh...oh yeah speed skating. Storylines of interest....I suppose Michelle Kwan's quest for gold and perhaps Bode Miller. I imagine that the olympics mean much more to those from other countries. I can't imagine that many Americans go crazy about their olympic athletes. I'm sure once the games begin I'll develop an interest in the games. I'll probably Tivo a few events. Even as I write this, I'm gaining interest. In fact, I wonder what will happen in the bobsled and skeleton events. We'll see once the games begin. The NFL is over with for a month or so. Spring training will begin in a few weeks and in a month the World Baseball Classic begins. The NBA and NHL seasons are moving into the second halves of their seasons so the playoff pushes will swing into motion. So the winter olympics will have the window of opportunity to capture the interest of America for the two weeks or so.

Super Bowl XL

I was hoping for a great game. What I got, a very mediocore game with some lousy calls, a sentimental victory and some very boring commercials. At least it wasn't a complete blowout. The Steelers victory is gut wrenching, mostly because I despise the Steelers. I hate Pittsburgh and love every one of their failures. Right now, I'm jealous. I wonder when the Browns will ever win or even play in the Super Bowl.

The game itself was okay. There wasn't anything special about the game. Even the commercials were tame and lacked spirit. Of course anyone outside of Steeler town will be talking about the refs and what seemed to be a string of calls that changed the game. Seattle can only blame theirselves for not finishing drives and getting into the endzone. They mismanaged the clock late in both havles. Statistacally, the Seahawks beat up the Steelers in most categories early on, but it's the scoeboard that counts. Matt Hasselbeck probably would have won the MVP award and was the best player on the field. Unfortunately, Seattle crumbled and handed the Steelers the game.

The bum calls: offensive pass interference, come on. The defensive back was beat and only after he whined, did the ref throw the flag. Please, the receive barely touched him. The call kept Seattle out of the endzone. After that, Big Ben's touchdown dive was clearly not a touchdown. Roethlisberger made on attempt to get the ball over the goal line and it showed. Even after a replay, the refs stilled considered it a touchdown with no explanation. I'm sure Leavy is an outstanding referee, but the best refs at least give an explaination for their call, especially after a replay of key plays. Then there's the mysterious holding penalty. Come on, if that was holding, then you might as well call holding on every play. Seattle would have had the ball on the two, instead, Hasselbeck threw an interception and then was called for a low block. Um, he was tackling the guy you intercepted his pass. What were these refs watching?

Though, Seattle's receivers ran too many routes near the sidelines, making it difficult to catch the ball inbounds and Jerramy Stevens (I think that's how you spell his first name. I know he spells it differently than the normal Jeremy) dropped a some key passes. He did redeem himself by catching the touchdown and the pass which was called back by the invisible holding call. But with the trash talking he did early in the week, he should have caught them all.

Needless to say, I was disappointed in Seattle but mostly about the game. It was hardly interesting to watch and nothing really dramatic happened. Just another average game.