How the Ball State AD Stole Christmas

Merely weeks ago, college football fans—myself included—were up in arms that the athletic director at undefeated MAC power Ball State was refusing to allow his team meet Boise State, also undefeated, in a bowl game citing “prior responsibilities to bowl partners” of the conference. This just became one in a long line of college football postseason (or lack thereof) travesties. The two best teams not to make a BCS bowl to play in a normally meaningless bowl game? This would have made too much sense.

And the college football fans of America were furious. Clearly the business interests of the Ball State athletic department became more important than giving the fans the best game possible.
Fast forward a few weeks. Ball State, amidst all the discussion of missing out on a chance for a mini national championship, didn’t show up to the MAC Championship game and got blown out by Buffalo(?). Turner Gill cried and briefly epitomized the black man’s plight in the South while remarkably being denied the Auburn job in favor of 5-13 Gene Chiznik.

The San Diego County Credit Union Loaded Potato Soup and Crackers Poinsettia Bowl went on smoothly. The game managed to draw TCU, which was probably the second-best team not in a BCS bowl. And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that TCU’s small heart grew three sizes that day. And then the true meaning of Christmas came through, and TCU found the strength of ten TCUs plus two.

Or was it that Boise State was still feeling the snub and realized that, no matter how much those annoying ESPN commercials tried to convince them otherwise, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl is NOT the game they have looked forward to and played for all year?
The actual truth may be somewhere in between. Either way the fans got to see a good game as TCU squeaked out a 17-16 victory, but it wasn’t the game we wanted. The athletic departments that run the NCAA bought themselves one more year of justifying the bowl system while we can do nothing but wait until March to watch an actually fulfilling postseason.

I agree with Rob.

Here are two undisputable facts: (1) the Detroit Lions, coached by Rod Marinelli are 0-15 and are historically awful, even for a franchise that is historically bad and (2) Rob Parker is a columnist for the Detroit News.
My feeling has always been that if you can’t laugh at yourself then you have no business complaining about anything. The worst thing someone can do in this world is take themselves too seriously.
Now, I do not know Rob Parker. I have no idea what kind of person he is. I also do not know anyone can speak on his behalf. He could be a huge jerk that kicks kittens or he could be the guy shoveling out soup at the neighborhood homeless kitchen.
What I do know is that Terry Bradshaw thinks Parker is “an idiot” (which is funny because Bradshaw may or not be one himself, but he certainly plays one on television) and that Michael Strahan wants him fired.
(On a side note, normally I would get terrifically angry when a multi-millionaire who works a few days a week calls for the firing of someone who makes significantly less than him/her merely on principle, but I have no idea how much Parker makes and since he is on ESPN occasionally, I’ll assume he isn’t pulling some shabby paycheck.)
What did Parker do to incite so much anger among the football minds? Well, during a press conference with Marinelli, Parker asked:

"On a light note, seriously, do you wish your daughter had married a better
defensive coordinator?”

Oh yeah, Marinelli’s son-in-law is the defensive coordinator. Hmmm….
It isn’t only the Sunday morning talking heads that have taken issue with Rob Parker. Chris Chase, a Yahoo! Sports writer has a condescending article up airing out his grievances with Parker. This article has 931 comments as of right now, and after reading about 30 of them, I think it is safe to assume that over 90% of them are all helping Chase hold Parker under the bus.
I can sort of understand why Bradshaw and Strahan, former players, can take issue with some joke a journalist cracked at the expense of the coach…but as for Chase…it just doesn’t make sense.
It seems to me Parker was making a light-hearted joke in the midst of an 0-15 going on 0-16 season. I’m sorry Marinelli can’t get his shit together, but he did appoint his son-in-law second in command and his team is crapawful. Marinelli gets paid a lot of money to excel at nothing. I think a joke at his expense is occasionally in order.
Journalists these days seem to think the only way to save the profession is by weeding out the bad ones and distancing themselves as far from them as possible. As soon as public opinion of Parker was swayed by Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dumber on FOX, then people, like Chase, started lining up to show their disapproval.
I mean…what else is Parker supposed to ask? Coach, do you think Daunte Culpepper is the long-term answer at QB? How nice is it to have Calvin Johnson scoring meaningless touchdowns? Is this a 2-14, 3-13 team with Charles Rogers still in the lineup? How do you feel about the Iverson acquisition?

A few interesting unrelated reads...

Stop blaming bad journalism for the downfall of the industry...wait...what?


And here is a little romantic social commentary.
I'd like to point out one of the comments at the bottom of the page:

"I had a boyfriend unexpectedly fly across the country to be with me on
V-day, without telling me. He planned the whole thing in romantic-movie style.
I dumped him a month later."

I am neither in the mood nor do I find it appropriate to point out all the angrily glaring issues that any slightly moral person would have with this little anecdote (especially as it coincides with the article). The anger should not be directed so much at the commenter, but that this behavior isn't totally surprising. Men will continue to go at great lengths to satisfy every romantic sense they think a woman will have, only to have those efforts thrown in their face and laughed out the door (not all the time, but often enough for it to be discouraging). Obviously there are extenuating circumstances that remain to be scene with this story, but it is more the principle of it all.

At any rate, I will stop arguing against "them" and "society" for making us all horrible people. Sports are the only chance we've got to maintain any sort of optimism in the world.

Trouble In BelieveLand

What else could possibly go wrong in 2009 on Lake Erie?
C.C. Sabathia and the Indians stumble out of the gates in the ultra-competitive AL Central and quickly lose any playoff hopes. Cliff Lee puts together a Cy Young year but a inconsistent C.C. is shipped out with a massive payday looming in the offseason. Then he proceeds to put up ultra-Cy Young numbers in Milwaukee, willing the Brewers into the postseason.

The Browns expect big things coming off a 10-6 season (7-1) at home. They are on national TV six times (3 MNF, 1 Thursday Night, 2 Sunday Night). But now, with five weeks left, head coach Romeo Crennel and GM Phil Savage may be lame ducks. Cleveland is 2-2 on national TV and have handed the World Champion Giants their only loss. Hell, they're undefeated (2-0) on Monday Night. But they are 4-7 overall and reeling. If it's not the defense (three straight games blowing leads of two touchdowns), it's the offense (losing 16-6 at home to the lowly Texans.
Oh, and the snow is coming down in record amounts.

Thank God for the Cavaliers. They are in first place in their division and Lebron is leading the league in scoring. But even the golden child is not immune. The power-playing New York Knicks have already begun clearing space to add Lebron in the summer of 2010. That gives the Cavs less than two years to win a championship that the city so desperately wants, no...that it so desperately needs.

The most inept city in the history of sports is about to add to its own legacy of failure and near-misses. "Lebron Was Here"

Mike Vick Doesn't Want to Kill Your Family Dog

Michael Vick was back in the news today, as he played guilty to state dog-fighting charges. This plea doesn't carry much significance, except it means maybe Vick will get out of jail a little earlier than expected or whatever. His sentencing really isn't all that important. What is important is how this man is being treated by a bunch of holier-than-though critics who enjoy having the chance to judge someone without feeling badly about it. Let me give you a few examples:

John Kincaid (sp) of the Buck & Kincaid Show on 680 The Fan (great show, tune in everyday) maybe a very snide comment--in a way only he can--when mentioning the Vick news today. He mentioned the fact that Vick may now get out of prison early and moved to a halfway house.
"I hope that house isn't in my neighborhood, Buck. My family has a dog."

That remark was classless, unnecessary and totally out of line. This is the type of remark that should not be voiced by someone reaching thousands of listeners. It is pretentious, sarcastic and insulting.

Also, there is show about the Michael Vick "Rescue Dogs." I mean, really? And now they have wines that feature the faces of all 23 or so "Vick rescue dogs." Seriously? This is bordering on cruel and unusual punishment. It is essential a "dog"pile of people trying to stick their face/name/voice into the Vick condemning party. The guy screwed up and he is paying dearly for it. Have you ever made a mistake? Does it feel good to be reminded of it at every turn?

Michael Vick did some things that may be unforgivable. This is a given. But the man has also lost work, money, friends, property and any sort of security. He has gone from the top of the world to the very bottom. He has no one to blame but himself.

But here is a few things people do not consider:
1) Thousands of people in this country and millions around the globe, participate in dogfighting (this doesn't make it right, it is just a fact; Vick didn't come up with the idea of torturing puppies for his amusement).
2)Thousands, if not millions of dogs are killed each day (you can call it "put-to-sleep" if you want, but until you've felt lethal injection we will call it what it is).
3) Pitbulls are not like poodles, bulldogs, terriers, collies or retrievers. They violent by nature and are often bred to be even more so. Pitbulls can and have KILLED children.

These three things are indisputable facts. I am not saying that they justified Michael Vick's behavior in any way whatsoever. They are just facts that people seem to conveniently dismiss as the condemn Vick.

Late Georgia Tech BBall Preview

Things could be bumpy early on this season as things look to be back to "normal" for the ACC. Duke and UNC are back on top for good it seems.

Don't know if you have kept up recently so I will fill you in...

Senior PG and defensive star D'andre Bell is out for the year due to injury. G Lewis Clinch is out until 2009 due to academic ineligibility. Sophomore Moe Miller is a very talented PG but that is literally it at the position. Already in an early preseason game, Hewitt has turned to a pair of Freshman walk-ons to use as back-ups for the position. Yikes.

It has got to be all about the frontcourt. Senior Alade Aminu is good, but Sophomore Gani Lawal is super talented. Zach Peacock is back as a junior, which means there is experience, but he may be used in the three spot often because of the lack of depth in the backcourt. Seven foot Sophomore Brad Sheehan also looks promising, too.

You probably won't be wondering where the scoring will be coming from. Can Moe Miller develop into the classic Tech scoring PG? Lawal scored 30 in the first exhibition game, can he be a consistent threat inside? Maybe Freshman preseason All-America G Iman Shumpert can prove a solid scoring presence fresh out of high school. Also, Sophomore G Lance Storrs didn't get much playing time early on in the ACC schedule last year, but came on late as an outside shooting option and a solid perimeter defender.

The schedule will not prove much help early. Before playing UGA at home on January 6, Tech will have to play Vanderbilt at home and at Pepperdine, USC and Alabama.

Bottom line: No more Anthony Morrow, Jeremis Smith or Ra'Sean Dickey. Hurts to lose Jeremis, but it may prove that Morrow and Dickey may have just been holding the Jackets back.

I call this one:

Eternal Damnation for Four Old Men

Bloodbath IV: Human Pregnancy

You know what I've found makes me uncomfortable? Pregnant women.

I don't know what went down last March or April I guess, but there are at least a half dozen women in this building that are just super-pregnant. I don't like being around them or passing them in the halls. I mean, there is like a little monster in there, it just doesn't seem natural.

The whole idea reads like a cheesy 80s horror flick:

Kids at a summer camp recklessly engage in unprotected sex only to find that each promiscuous girl has been inhabited by a lethal virus that slow turning into a little monster inside them, only to burst out in a bloodbath nine months later!

I guess it is just one of those things that God decided either a) in a hurry, b) under the advice of his failure older brother who never moved out of the house, or c)during an all night drinking/bong binge with Zues and Poseidon.

Not so groundbreaking research...

You may or may not have heard the news about this recent study some social scientists in Chicago discovered.

An AP story being run is labeling this as "groundbreaking" research. The study links graphic graphic (sexually) television shows to teen pregnancy. It points at shows that talk about sex or show sex, I think they name "Sex and the City."

First of all, is this really that groundbreaking? I mean, really, did this surprise someone?

I totally think these shows are trash and I can believe there is some significance, but not that much. It doesn't take into account the fact that the teens likely to watch this show are the ones already more likely to get pregnant IRREGARDLESS of what shows they are watching.

I guess the point is, why can't people get a hold of their children without blaming someone else? Or the point could be, why is someone using money to conduct studies on crap like this when it serves zero purpose? Or why the hell is someone getting paid to write an article on it?

Good grief.

Seriously FOX?!

World Series Game 5 has just gone into a rain delay in the middle of the 6th inning. It is 10:51 p.m. This series has already seen a game end at 1:47 a.m. EST. The weird thing is, I am pretty confident that both Philadelphia and Tampa Bay are in the Eastern Time zone.

Is it really that bizarre of a notion that ratings for a game on the east coast would be higher if people on the east coast had ample time to watch? FOX is destoying the Fall Classic. Four hour games lasting into the following morning may be the norm for Yankees and Red Sox fans, but not for those of us who like a little "baseball" in our baseball games.

At 2-2 in the 6th, Game 5 is shaping up to be a great game, but all most of us can do is go to sleep and hope that play is suspended until tommorrow. Now, obviously FOX and MLB did not plan on it raining all night, but when you start a game that you know will last at least three hours at a little past 8:30, you are just asking for trouble.

The real issue is that there is no issue for FOX or MLB. The World Series isn't about the fan. It's about the advertising and the sponsors (like most big-time sporting events). It would be easy to say that all sporting events are uber-commercial, but it seems like they are also on FOX (BCS definitely is). FOX thinks that by offering a different montage every half-inning they are helping create excitement for the fan. But baseball (and especially the damn WORLD SERIES) was plent exciting before FOX came along and started broadcasting ADDball!

The only saving grace that could come of this is a Rays turn around that would leave the city of Philadelphia crying in the cold, dark rain.

Bon Voyage

This is the inaugral post to Grinding Gears. As Bogart would say, "I have a feeling this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

Not much on the agenda for kick-off. Halloween is around the corner, which will quickly be followed by a presidential election that some people seem to think is important. Go figure. The Rays and Phillies throw down in Game One of the World Series tommorrow and the Braves are making a push to aquire Jake Peavy from the Padres. Toss in some pigskin and we've got quite a full platter of things to talk about and discuss.

As for now, enjoy your Wednesday, which we used to call the "a**hole of the week" at the pizzaria because it's like you're past Monday and the crappy beginning of the week, but you are still 2-3 days off of Friday and the weekend. Anyway, Godspeed and good luck.