2008 Woodie Awards
A Potpourri of Sports Ramblings
From Pet Peeves to Predictions
Art LaPenotiere
Issue date: 11/12/03 Section: Sports and Wellness
Random thoughts while wondering how much longer Division I college presidents can look us in the eye with a straight face and tell us how damaging a post-season football tournament would be to their "student-athletes."
Here's hoping Joe Paterno walks away from the Penn State football program gracefully before some overzealous boosters with no sense of history begin a move to oust him. Either way, Joe Pa will take his rightful place in college football history with the likes of Bear Bryant and Knute Rockne. And if he departs after a losing season, so be it. He has nothing left to prove.
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At the halfway point of the NFL season, you can bet your Tostitos that Kansas City will go deep into the playoffs and probably on to the Super Bowl. Historically, teams that have started the season at 8-0 or better almost always make it to the big game. The Chiefs have it all: an explosive offense, solid defense, and special teams that make the big play.
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After twenty years of trying things the Oriole way, owner Peter Angelos has been persuaded by his dual vice-presidents - Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan - to try things the "Yankee way." By hiring former Yankee first base coach Lee Mazzilli to be the new Baltimore manager, Angelos is employing the updated version of the old adage, "If you can't beat them, hire someone else to do it."
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I can't help but cringe when I hear professional athletes who play team sports such as basketball and football come off sounding like self-centered jerks when quoted by the media. The object of a team sport is to win games and championships, and yet I am never surprised to hear these egomaniacs referring to themselves in the third person. Take the hypothetical Herman Hoops, for example. He's just dropped in forty points in his team's 96-81 loss and tells the press, "I just want to come out here and excite the crowd. I want them to be saying Herman Hoops' name when they walk out of the arena. Now, can Herman Hoops take his team to the playoffs? Maybe." Arghhhh.
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Which reminds me, instead of paying $75 to get a cheap seat to an NBA game, or spending a couple of thou to join the Terrapin Club so that you can have the right to buy exorbitantly priced season tickets to see Maryland play, why not take in a Goucher basketball game? The price is right, and the games are entertaining. I caught a couple last year and was impressed with the level of play. And both the men's and women's team could use a little more support than they're getting. That's part of what home court advantage is all about.
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Did you hear about the Pennsylvania high school quarterback who set a record in his conference for career passing yardage? Senior Nate Haasis was playing is his final game and, with less than a minute to play, Haasis was still a couple of dozen yards short of the mark. As he dropped back to pass, he saw his receivers uncovered, the defensive backs barely moving. He easily completed a 37-yard pass, and the record of 5,006 yards was his. But young Nate excels in the classroom as well as on the field, and he immediately smelled a rat. It turns out that the two head coaches worked out a deal during a timeout to essentially not defend against any of Nate's passes in the closing minute, thus virtually assuring him of the record. Nate Haasis is only seventeen years old, but he has more integrity than the two coaches put together. He has refused the record because, he says, he didn't earn it fairly.
Here's hoping Joe Paterno walks away from the Penn State football program gracefully before some overzealous boosters with no sense of history begin a move to oust him. Either way, Joe Pa will take his rightful place in college football history with the likes of Bear Bryant and Knute Rockne. And if he departs after a losing season, so be it. He has nothing left to prove.
At the halfway point of the NFL season, you can bet your Tostitos that Kansas City will go deep into the playoffs and probably on to the Super Bowl. Historically, teams that have started the season at 8-0 or better almost always make it to the big game. The Chiefs have it all: an explosive offense, solid defense, and special teams that make the big play.
After twenty years of trying things the Oriole way, owner Peter Angelos has been persuaded by his dual vice-presidents - Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan - to try things the "Yankee way." By hiring former Yankee first base coach Lee Mazzilli to be the new Baltimore manager, Angelos is employing the updated version of the old adage, "If you can't beat them, hire someone else to do it."
I can't help but cringe when I hear professional athletes who play team sports such as basketball and football come off sounding like self-centered jerks when quoted by the media. The object of a team sport is to win games and championships, and yet I am never surprised to hear these egomaniacs referring to themselves in the third person. Take the hypothetical Herman Hoops, for example. He's just dropped in forty points in his team's 96-81 loss and tells the press, "I just want to come out here and excite the crowd. I want them to be saying Herman Hoops' name when they walk out of the arena. Now, can Herman Hoops take his team to the playoffs? Maybe." Arghhhh.
Which reminds me, instead of paying $75 to get a cheap seat to an NBA game, or spending a couple of thou to join the Terrapin Club so that you can have the right to buy exorbitantly priced season tickets to see Maryland play, why not take in a Goucher basketball game? The price is right, and the games are entertaining. I caught a couple last year and was impressed with the level of play. And both the men's and women's team could use a little more support than they're getting. That's part of what home court advantage is all about.
Did you hear about the Pennsylvania high school quarterback who set a record in his conference for career passing yardage? Senior Nate Haasis was playing is his final game and, with less than a minute to play, Haasis was still a couple of dozen yards short of the mark. As he dropped back to pass, he saw his receivers uncovered, the defensive backs barely moving. He easily completed a 37-yard pass, and the record of 5,006 yards was his. But young Nate excels in the classroom as well as on the field, and he immediately smelled a rat. It turns out that the two head coaches worked out a deal during a timeout to essentially not defend against any of Nate's passes in the closing minute, thus virtually assuring him of the record. Nate Haasis is only seventeen years old, but he has more integrity than the two coaches put together. He has refused the record because, he says, he didn't earn it fairly.