Mizzou- New Look, Same Attitude

Despite what all the traditionalists, the old-school Tigers and the die-hard Big 12 fanatics have to say about the University of Missouri leaving the Big 12 Conference for the SEC, I’m pretty excited for this year’s college athletics.

Don’t get me wrong, the old rivalries of The Border War, playing tough teams like the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas will be missed, but let’s look at why teams like Texas A&AM, Colorado, Mizzou and Nebraska left the conference--$$$.

“It’s all about the Benjamin’s baby!” oh, and exposure.  Turn on ESPN College Gameday and see what they’re covering and what teams are getting the limelight; SEC teams. Other than having to dreadfully watch the weekly Notre Dame butt-kicking every Saturday afternoon on NBC in the fall, the SEC powerhouse teams are always getting coverage on ESPN, CBS, and ABC. 

Let me break this down for you:

                                              The more coverage, the more exposure.

                                                  The more exposure, the better recruits. 

                                                     The better recruits, the more wins.

                                                        The more wins, the more money.

                                                           The more money, the more coverage.

And the cycle starts over.

 It’s simple math.

Finally, fans won’t have to watch all the Mizzou football games on that crappy, low-budget, local network, and look forward to that one week where ESPN decides to cover the game (if MU is even a contender).  Mizzou will be playing big time schools and powerhouse football programs.  Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, I mean are you kidding me?  I feel like it’s Christmas come early!  And those are only the elite football teams on the schedule! Instead of scheduling bum teams like Bowling Green, Iowa State, or SEMO, the Tiger’s “easiest” teams to play this year would include Syracuse, Arizona State, and UCF.  Yeah, I’d say Mizzou is moving on up.

Fans will get to see the much-anticipated, highly-ranked DGB (Dorial Green-Beckham) cut through defensives and James Franklin continue to build on his already impressive resume.  So, what does this mean to you, the reader? 

The Mizzou fans better bring the heat this year!  We now have the reputation of the SEC to live up to.

Candidate for the Dumbest of the Year

Here are the facts:

San Francisco Giants outfielder, Melky Cabrera tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Melky gets a 50-game suspension handed from the MLB.

Melky and his entourage make a FAKE website and FAKE water company stating that he took this water which had the performance-enhancing drugs and that he was unaware of it.  He did this in efforts to get out of his 50-game suspension.

….what!?!

Here is my take on the situation:

April Fool’s Day is in April Melky! You, sir, just cost yourself millions of dollars and your dignity.  Congratulations Melky, you’ve now joined the ranks of Sammy “the Corker” Sosa, Barry “Swollen Head” Bonds, Manny “the Idiot” Rameriez and Jose “Juice” Canseco as the dumbest baseball players to ever take drugs and swing a bat.

United States Women’s Soccer Team Motivates All, (Including Guys)

When I was 11 years-old, Mia Hamm and the United States women’s soccer team won the World Cup in historic fashion!  I was glued to the TV and couldn’t manage to get myself ready for my own little league game.  It was overtime and the game had gone into penalty kicks.  After the first eight players took their shots, it came down to Brandi Chastain.  She shot, the goalie missed and next thing I knew Chastain ripped off her jersey in triumph as I stood there shocked.  I wasn’t sure whether to go crazy because they won the World Cup or to just stare at the shirtless lady!

In my eyes, that moment defined women’s athletics forever!  Beautiful, athletic girls could beat the crap out of teams; it inspired a generation of girls.  That first wave of that generation of girls just won the Gold medal in the 2012 Olympics. 

After last summer’s 2011 World Cup, and having Japan defeat the U.S. in the Finals, the team was ready for vengeance.  Last summer, Americans really got behind this team led by Abby Wambach, Hope Solo and the youngster Alex Morgan.  Between this summer and last, the women prepared harder than ever, and it paid off.  An exciting finish to the quarterfinals, when Alex Morgan scored the winning goal in the 2OT carrying the women to the finals.  They got their wish, Japan vs. USA Part II, and for those of us who don’t have NBC Sports Network, (don’t get me started), the US women prevailed 2-1! 

It’s great to see the support the women have been receiving.  The recognition that they have earned and that they deserve has finally come full circle.  Young girls wanting to grow up to be the next Mia Hamm are Alex Morgan and company.  Now young girls want to aspire to be them. 

Guys, take note.  I saw more tweets and posts about the women’s soccer team than I did about the men’s team, (didn’t qualify this year).  It’s refreshing to see young, female athletes bust their tail to work for one goal.  In this case a few goals!

Dwight Howard is a Laker…and a cry baby

Dwight Howard kicked and screamed his way out of Orlando last night, (doesn’t happen to that city very often).  He was finally given what he wished; to play with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.  Can we PLEASE stop talking about him?!

The best center in the NBA just got traded to play with one of the best and most decorated basketball players of all-time, oh, and Kobe Bryant.  The fact that Kobe and Dwight are finally on the same team isn’t that special to me.  Um, hello?!? Have we not learned anything from the past experiences from Kobe and all-star centers?  He ran Shaq (one of the greatest) right out of L.A.  He ran Andrew Bynum, who had plenty of promise, out of L.A.  Who’s to say he’s not going to “click” with Dwight?  Kobe wants his shots, and will complain and ball-hog until he gets his way.  And for the last two seasons all we’ve heard from Dwight is, “I want to be traded, I want my coach fired, I want more touches, wahh, wahh!” 

So now, we have two of the biggest babies in the NBA playing on the same team.  L.A. has a lot of egos in that town, but I’m not sure The Staples Center can hold these two egos at the same time. 

Here’s another thing to think about, why isn’t Orlando making a bigger deal of this?  Cleveland was furious and outraged when LeBron James left.  Burning jerseys in the street, ripping down billboards, etc. and that was LeBron’s HOMETOWN!  But, Dwight Howard, Orlando’s franchise player, leaves town (in a childish way) and there’s no aftermath?  What does this tell you?  Maybe Orlando was ready for him to go?  Maybe, LeBron was just that much better?

He’s what I’m most excited to see from the Lakers off-season; Stephen John Nash.  The one-time, back-to-back MVP of the league and one of the best point guards of my lifetime will be dishing to Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant.  How much fun will this be to watch?

Bottom line is, here is the Lakers starting line-up:

Steve Nash

Kobe Bryant

Ron Artest (refuse to say his ironic other name)

Pau Gasol

Dwight Howard

Yikes!