Let's Have Some Fun...Finally...Maybe!

Anyone who's been watching football for at least the past few years should know what the NFL stands for. The No Fun League does its best to take any enjoyment from the players before, during and after the game.  For the most part I get it, at least when player safety is involved, but I miss the creative TD celebrations!  I learned last weekend a camera stand is considered a prop, while jumping up in the stands for some "grandfathered-in" leap, or using the goal posts as a basketball hoop are not.  Basically, the league/refs choose when fun is considered acceptable.

Luckily the league decided to lighten up a bit with the Pro Bowl.  Regardless of what the "Online Community Manager at the School of Information Studies" at Cuse thought, I will fully admit to being excited for the game after learning the players would be allowed to tweet from the sidelines. Finally, fun would be allowed.

Let's be honest, the Pro Bowl is, and always has been, somewhat of a joke.  Still fun to watch at times, but not a game to be taken seriously. There's no home field advantage to gain and really, they're playing in Hawaii, what do you expect? I definitely support the move to before the Super Bowl. One, it breaks up the 2 weeks of mindless coverage where sports writers start digging up stories about how a players goldfish from the school carnival influenced their decision to pursue football as a career. Two, even though football is my #1 sport, after the Super Bowl I'm pretty much ready for the season to be over and move on to college basketball.  I really don't care about not seeing players from the Super Bowl teams. They'll be on my TV, between the more exciting coverage (commercials), next week.

Back to the tweeting, I expected playful jabbing, commentary on teammates, and a general overall sense of enjoyment. I thought they'd take this moment of breakthrough from all the stiff rules and do something with it! Instead, I was almost as bored reading the tweets as I was watching the game.

I'd be lying if I said I watched the entire game (the SAG Awards were on, weighing the entertainment value the choice was clear), but I did keep the Pro Bowl list up on Twitter. The best part was London Fletcher offering up $1,000 to the first fan who guessed the final score and the MVP, then having to take it back because the NFL gave him a no-go. How fitting.

I wouldn't mind seeing the Pro Bowl as a flag football game without coaches. Let the players rule the game, and the ones not voted in can be announcers. Throw in some tailgating, and maybe a few beers on the sidelines and you've got some serious entertainment!

No. Way. | Winter X Games Snowmobiler Falls From 120 Feet

So I was browsing the interwebs last night and I came across this....

Colton Moore Crash: Freestyle Snowmobiler Falls 120 Feet at Winter X Games 

With this video -

Ok, I have to throw my 2 cents on the floor here.  There is NO WAY this kid should have been able to walk away from this. 

What I mean is, literally.  He should NOT have walked away from this!  He (probably) should have been boarded and hauled away behind another snowmobile.  And if not that, then he should have been pulled from the competition and closely monitored for internal and head injuries. 

Do you know what can happen to someone who falls 120 feet?  Roughly 12 stories?  They can die.  Their organs can get all jumbled up and turn into mush.  Protective gear or not, their ribs can splinter and break, puncturing that mushy lung tissue.  Their soft and fragile brains can slosh around in their precious skulls and rip some blood vessels and start bleeding.  Helmet or not.  It happens people. 

If you or someone you love falls from a great height, whether it's off the roof into the swimming pool or off a 75 foot jump, PLEASE PLEASE I implore you, take him/her to the damn hospital.

PLEASE for the love of God.  Don't take that chance!

Ok, off the soapbox.

WE'RE STREAKING!!!!

No, I'm not talking about the traditional sense of streaking, although I will admit when I typed the title to this post all I could imagine was Will Ferrell's bare ass running to the quad in Old School [love that damn movie!]. I'm talking about another streak.

"We're streaking to the Quad." • via google

The other morning while getting ready for work Mike [my husband] told me they were talking about my alma mater on ESPN'S SportsCenter. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they would be talking about Towson University on ESPN. One thing the school was never truly known for when I went there was it's sports program. Sure we had a KILLER Lacrosse team and I hear the women's basketball wasn't too shabby but as far as sports go, that's about it. When I was in college I never once went to a football game. I sort of regret this. And equally I never went to a basketball game either. I was too worried about clubbing, drinking and socializing with boys to care about sports... should have realized I could dance, tailgate with some brews and flirt with boys all at the same time at a sporting event but alas, it never dawned on me at the time.

As I was putting on my mascara I asked Mike what they were discussing about Towson and he bluntly said "They were discussing how horrible your schools basketball team is." HARSH is the first word that came to my mind... but then upon watching the recap I realized as harsh as it is, it's totally true.

I'm still a Tiger! • via google

Towson University's Men's basketball team isn't just on a losing streak... it's on a record breaking losing streak. 40 straight games to be exact as of Tuesday of this week. WOW! Now to be fair they aren't getting totally blown out of the water in each game but the certainly aren't bringing home a BIG W for TU and haven't for over 40 games. 40 games... How does one team get so behind? I can't even imagine. Interviews with the coach have him saying he's hopeful for a turn around. I hope he's doing more than "hoping", is all I can say.

It makes me sad to see them on such a bad streak. I love my alma mater. It's not a huge school but it's got excellent programs for teaching and fine arts. I had a blast going there and made quite a few dear friends. The campus was large enough to feel like you went somewhere that was a big deal but cozy enough to feel like you weren't far from home. I was about an hour from my home to be exact. I toured lots of schools with great sports and educational programs UNC Chapel Hill, NC State [never would I ever go to the wolfpack school but I toured it anyway for the hell of it.. bottom line the school and town were amazing if I wasn't so PRO-Tarheel I might have let myself give in], I even toured East Carolina University... but in the end my tour of Towson U in Maryland made me realize I was home, felt at home and wanted to be there.

Bottom line I hate to see a school with such a low record, and it shocked me that even for a school not totally well known for their sports could have such a poor team. I guess in the end you can't all be winners but I hope they turn their season around, if not now, then next year. I heard from my father that Towson's football team actually made it all the way to their Division Playoffs. They lost in the first round but still, playoffs, that's awesome! I don't recall wins at all back when I was in school, but then again I never paid it much attention. Since graduating in 2003 I have been able to catch a few lacrosse games on television here in Alabama from time to time, which is cool but let's just say I have no way of truly keeping tabs on the teams unless I go to their website. So I guess in the end we do have a few good things happening in the sports program at TU with the football player's and their success, but I just hope that magic gets spread to the rest of the teams at the school.

****

In a totally unrelated news I wanted to leave you all with a bit of sports related eye candy to start your Friday EVE [Thursday afternoon] off right! I know some of the readers and writers here are bit True Blood fans, I myself am too. I'm also a HUGE Joe Manganiello aka Alcide fan... well I know he's not an athlete buttttt, what he's wearing is athletic. Well at least it's couch potato athletic and he's built like an athlete, right?  When I saw this picture in this month's Glamour magazine my heart skipped a beat... all that hotness AND a Steelers fan? Be still my loins!

ENJOY LADIES AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND - IT'S ALMOST FRIDAY!!!

He's a Werewolf in love with my team, I can dig it! • via google

Thank You for the Ride

Yes, I'm upset. I hate losing to the Giants period, but even more so on a mistake. I hate that the refs blew the fumble call that would have put the Niners in FG position during regulation. Ohhhhh how our defense fought! But the offense had enough opportunities. This quote from Alex Smith says it perfectly. "For me, I'm looking at, what did we go -- 1-for-13 on third downs? I know it's tough for him, I'm sure he obviously is going to be thinking about those two punts for quite a while. But we didn't lose the game there."

Going in to the game I knew regardless of the outcome, I loved every minute of this season and am proud to be a fan again!

LOVE this man for turning it around!

Now I get to say something I haven't said in maybe 10 years.

We'll be back next year!

I'm still in shock we played in the NFC Championship Game AND almost won. I was born in to a championship team in 1981 (I know, not literally). I grew up expecting the Niners to be in the playoffs every year and contend for the Super Bowl. The past 10 years leading up to this season changed that. We were slowly weaned off any expectations with Jeff Garcia, Shaun Hill, J.T. O'Sullivan, and yes, Alex Smith. We cycled through coaches and coordinators like we were one-and-done college basketball players.

Then came 2011.  I don't know anyone who hoped for more than a .500 season, other than maybe Harbaugh. No expectations. Every win has been a victory. Yes, I know winning and victory are practically the same word, but think back to the Lombardi quote about lying exhausted on the field, victorious.  We fought, almost every game was a battle. When you win without expectation, leaving your entire heart on the field, it's a completely different high. We earned this.

Next year expectations will be there. We'll have the Coach of the Year, possible Defensive ROY and should-have-been Comeback Player of the Year (I still don't get why it has to go to a previously injured player, he did win the NFLPA fan's choice). The Stick will be packed at every game and hopefully, fingers crossed, I'll be there to watch!  Finally an off-season where I can worry less about coaching changes or who they'll draft with the 1st, 3rd or 5th pick, and more about who they re-sign. I'm not gonna lie, I could get used to this. Again.

It's been one hell of a ride, Niners. Thank you for bringing entertainment back to football!

I promise I'm done talking Niners/Football for awhile. Well, maybe. There's still the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl commercials. But let's be honest, I really don't care about the Super Bowl game, other than the Pats crushing Eli and entertaining Wes Welker interviews.

are you ready to ramble?

I always thought I was pretty sporty for a chick.

Not in a get-out-and-run-a-mile-and-play-soccer-and-throw-a-ball-around-and-then-land-a-perfect-triple-Salchow kind of way.  But more like a sit-around-and-drink-beer-and-watch-sports-on-a-big-screen-and-hold-my-own-when-talking-about-trade-rumours-with-a-bar-full-of-dudes kind of way.

I even listen to sports radio!

Yet, when it comes to sitting down to write this blog, week after week, I just cannot think a single coherent, sports-related thought.

So I start polling my husband, Phil for ideas...

ME: Honey...what can I write my sports blog about?

PHIL:  I don't know.  Write about how the Oilers are shitting the bed so bad that we'll probably get the first overall draft pick for the 3rd year in a row.

ME: I think people are probably tired of hearing about our lame-ass hockey team.

PHIL: *shrugs*

ME:  Wait...has any other team ever had 3 consecutive 1st over draft picks in a row before?  *googles NHL draft picks*  Do you know?

PHIL: I would have to look it up, just like you.  Besides, its your blog...do your own legwork.

ME:  Only the Quebec Nordiques have done it before, and that was in the 80's.  That could be a blog, right?

PHIL:  Yeah, I guess so.

ME:  But what else would I say about it?

PHIL: *shrugs* What about that hoser skier that just died?

ME:  What about her?

PHIL:   I don't know...you're the sports blogger.

ME:  Pause the TV for a second while I think... ... ...AARGH!  Why couldn't it be the Olympics!?  I could write all day about the freaking Olympics!

Phil just shakes his head and turns back to the TV.

Men are no help when it comes to sports!

And when I do come up with a good idea, I just can't turn it from a blurb to a blog, and then my mind starts to wander...

I could write about how Rob Lowe caused a huge shit storm by tweeting that he heard Peyton Manning was retiring when Peyton Manning had not announced that he was retiring.  But then that gets me thinking about how Mark Wahlberg said that he could have stopped 9/11, which gets me thinking of Donnie Wahlberg and how he's turned from ripped-jean-wearing boy band bad boy to old-semi-balding wannabe serious thespian.

And that's not very sporty.

I could write about my work-out routine and how it's helping me with my poor posture.  But I haven't even looked at a treadmill, nevermind picking up weights, since before Christmas so it would really just sound more like whining about how out of shape I am.

And that's what my everyday blog is for.

So here I am...almost midnight the night before my post is due, and I got nothing.

ME: Honey, what can I call a sports post that talks about how I don't have anything sports-related to write about?

Sorry about that...I'll try to have something for you next time.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

A few weeks ago, I gave our beloved Coach Cal a little scraping over the coals for running the score up and not playing his full bench. While he still has a tendency to play the starting 5 for most of the game, even when we're winning by 20 or 30 points, and there is still one player on the roster that I've never even heard of (Brian Long who??), he did bench a starter in the UK vs Tennessee game last weekend for almost half of the first half.

I don't remember exactly how this went down, but I think he took Doron Lamb out of the game for continuing to attempt desperate 3-pointers. Y'know...the kind that land with a thud on the rim and then bounce so far out that players outside of the paint are getting the rebound. Tennessee is considered to be one of our main rivalries, right behind the University of Louisville, so losing to them comes with no small amount of disgrace and bitterness. And Tennessee came to play. Coming off of a 67-56 win against Florida, they were ripe for a rivalry game. And on their court, no less.

We had a small lead at the beginning for a couple of minutes. And then it all went to hell. UK was not sinking any of their baskets...or leaping for rebounds. UT was edging closer and then they took over. And Lamb just kept throwing up bricks. Even when other teammates were open. Even when there was plenty of time on the shot clock. And then...he got yanked. For 6 whole minutes...until the end of the first half.

Doron Lamb is not necessarily the best playmaker on the team. He might get a couple of assists per game and occasionally a steal, but he's best known for sinking 3-point shots when they are most needed. And we love him for it. But what he was doing over and over again on Saturday was unacceptable and Coach Cal gave him 3 chances before yanking him and benching him. And I love him for that. Did we need Lamb to play the entire first half? Absolutely. But there are lessons to be learned on the collegiate court and he learned one last weekend.


Has your coach done something that makes you proud? Care to brag? I'm happy to listen!

Let's Play Daddy Ball!

I know. We are all in NFL playoff mode and here goes SurferWife bringing up baseball. I'm kinda over the NFL at this point as none of my teams are left and I am ONLY rooting for the Niners now because Hutch loves them. And they're from California.

So, I am moving onward and upward and annoyingward.

Let's talk Daddy Ball -- I mean Little League for a hot second.

The Ace had tryouts for Little League this past weekend. What this means is, the coaches all get together and watch these little boys show off their skills and then decide who they want to draft.

Fine.

At the point where my son's baseball career is now, coaches know who most of the boys are already because they've been playing a few years. The coaches come into this knowing, for the most part, who they want to draft. And from what I hear, these drafts get ugly because coaches 'claim' players for their own teams. It becomes more about fulfilling some jacked up dream the coach has of winning the whole season. I'd guess these same coaches never actually played on a winning team as a kid.

Again. Fine. WTF do I care? I'm not there.

Teams are established and the season starts. This will be roughly my seventh season of The Ace playing baseball in various leagues (he's nearly 10) and I'd like to share with you how I see baseball seasons go down...

*****

Season starts: Coach and his assistant are super nice. Really happy, motivating and optimistic with the little guys they chose to coach. We all basically make out with one another and it's just one big circle jerk.


Mid-Season Approaches: Players really define who they are. Remember, the teams are drafted so this means there is quite a variety of talent on the team. Some are the natural stars of the team, some work their butts off and show improvement all the time, some are there simply because they love to play and some are there because daddy simply wants them to love to play. (<---Disaster)


Mid-Season: Some coaches start to get antsy when they sense their team isn't headed towards the World Series of Little League. Suddenly, little Barry who would rather pick grass than catch a fly ball to right field is getting pulled and little Woodrow who has played the whole game and is taking a 3 minute break is replacing him in an effort for the coach to get his win. (Excuse the run-on sentence, I'm angry, ok?)


Nearing Season End: This is when games actually matter and can lead to your division championship. There is no more circle jerking happening amongst your team. There are hurt feelings, screaming red faced coaches, temper tantrums (from adults), and a lot of, "I have been telling you all season that you need to SWING THE BAT, Gunnar!" You see boys on the bench looking like they're about to poop their pants from stress and piles of shit below coach's feet because he can't hold his sphincter the way a 10 year old can.


Playoffs: Parents making mental notes of coaches they DON'T want for their son next year, coaches yelling at other coaches, parents yelling at coaches, parents yelling at umps, coaches yelling at umps and poor little Jerome frantically eating the sunflower seeds he spilled all over the dirty dugout when coach screamed at him.

*******

It's going to be really fun, folks. Basically, the season ends up more about the coaches and parents than the boys. I can't wait to see which coach (that I don't like) drafts The Ace.