I like instant replay being used in sports officiating, always have. There are many who believe using replay, removing the human element from refereering is the fall of civilization. I don't agree. And most officials don't either. The really good refs just want to get it right considering the high stakes on the line for every professional sports contest.

So hurray for Major League Baseball finally joining the electronic arbiter generation. But while I am a fan of replay, I am equally fanatic about replay being used the right way. And what MLB is implementing could be problematic. Replay for baseball will be used solely on homerun calls. Not enough. There are several blown calls on bang bang plays at first base that could easily be overturned. Don Denkinger's famous blunder on Jorge Orta at first base opened the door for the Royals to win the 1985 World Series. Should have never happened. Also, only umpire crew chiefs can call for replay. Since the men in blue don't want to embarrass each other, how often do you think this will happen? Not as often as if the team managers had the choice. Baseball should allow each manager one call for replay for each game. If the manager is correct on that first call, he should be allowed another call. 

When using replay, MLB will feed video to a separate location where the umpires will congregate to make their ruling. This could mean umpires leaving the field for awhile. How disconcerting and irritating for the stadium crowd. Baseball already has an official scorer who is a very knowledgeable individual. Why not let the scorer look at the video in the press box and make the ruling? This would take less time, and shortening the length of games has been a major priority for the sport.

I applaud commissioner Selig for moving baseball into the 21st century. But he needs to tweak this replay format a bit to make it more efficient and palatable for fans.

The news came to me via the radio. I spend much of my time in my car listening to sports radio. So, as I was spinning through the sports stations, I caught the tail end of a local sports update. The update guy informed me that Trevor Mbakwe has decided to leave Marquette for "personal reasons," later updated to mean "academic/community college reasons." After hearing that little tidbit, I was pretty livid. For those new to the blog, I will never refer to the "coach" at Marquette by his own name, he is forever branded in this blog as TGWICL (The Guy Who Isn't Chris Lowery). I railed for at least two months straight about the stupidity of Marquette in hiring TGWICL, the moronic idea that academics and top flight athletics cannot co-exist, and the theory that the administration did not want to shell out money for a quality coach. Yet, the resounding sound coming out of Marquette was "this is a great hire, this is the man to lead our program into the future, we're not making a panic hire, we're not making a hire based on money." And here I was, ripping to shreds the hire and becoming a doom and gloom prophet. I still think I'm right, and I'd like to convert you to my point of view.

As much as Marquette will deny it, TGWICL was hired to preserve what little recruiting Tom Crean had done. When Crean left for Indiana (another request that I made that was fulfilled), the first story to hit Milwaukee after the announcement was that a high profile recruit would not stay committed to Marquette unless Coach Crean or TGWICL was the head coach. Then, as Final Four weekend approached, a weekend that features the National Association of Basketball Coaches convention, Marquette hired TGWICL. Then claimed that it wasn't to keep a recruiting class together, but a smart hire. Apparently the only phone calls that Steve Cottingham, Marquette Athletic Director, made were to Tony Bennett (who rightfully turned him down), Sean Miller (who turned him down), and TGWICL. Bennett isn't leaving Washington State anytime soon, and if he is, it isn't to move down from the Pac-10 to the Big East. And Sean Miller isn't making a lateral move from the Atlantic 10 to the Big East and from Cincinnati to Milwaukee. So TGWICL was the right man at the right time to get hired, and as a bonus, apparently he would keep the recruiting class together. Immediately upon hiring TGWICL, the recruiting class disintegrated, as the high-profile recruit was released from his letter of intent, and mentioned how much he would love to go to Indiana (which he did not end up doing).

With the class in shambles, TGWICL went about his business as a "recruiter," trying to fill in some spots on the roster with "quality" players. He managed to sign four players. Jimmy Butler and Joe Fulce are Junior College transfers from Tyler, Texas. Chris Otule is a freshman from Houston, Texas. And Liam McMorrow is a transfer from Canada. Apparently, TGWICL needs a map and a class in orientation. The last I checked, Marquette is in Wisconsin, where it snows, is extremely cold, and has four Division 1 universities fighting for players from Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The State of Texas has four Division 1 universities in the Big 12, and seven more who play Division 1 basketball. Recruiting in Texas has got to be the toughest task a coach can give themselves when they coach in Texas, let alone being an out of state recruiter. Yet, there goes TGWICL, recruiting multiple players from Texas to fill out the roster, taking junior college transfers, and going to Canada to find players. Maybe if we had hired Chris Lowery we could have recruited some players from Illinois and Indiana, or if we had hired Ben Braun we could have recruited some players from Wisconsin, Michigan, or Illinois/Indiana. Instead, we have a coach, originally from Texas, who is spending time making a name for himself in Texas. Great. So not only will we be losing out on the best players in Wisconsin because our coaching staff barely recruits in-state, but our coach actively pursues the fourth or fifth best talent in a state 1200 miles away, without snow or winter of any kind. In four years, when we're sitting in last place in the Big East, Wisconsin has been rolling over us by 20, and we're celebrating qualifying for the Big East tournament, remember that I told you so.

     Nine year old Jericho Scott is such a good baseball player, that he's getting national attention.

     Unfortunately, it's not for the right reasons.

     In all their wisdom, officials from a three year old youth league in New Haven, Connecticut said they will disband Jericho's team and redistribute its' players among other squads-if he pitches again.

     It seems that the right-hand pitcher has a fastball that tops out at 40 miles per hour.

     So the youth league told his coach that the boy couldn't pitch anymore.

     In fact, when Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its' gear and left!

      This is wrong on many levels, but how disturbing is this?

     Jericho's coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted; because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which just happens to be sponsored by one of the league's administrators!

     As for young Jericho, quote:

     "I feel sad", he said.  "I feel like it's all my fault nobody can play".

     The immature and childish behavior of the so-called adults, is beyond comprehension.

     Jericho Scott's words in light of the controversy are easy to understand.

     A nine year old's spirit is broken, and he's discouraged.

     All because the people he should be looking up to have punished him because he excels at something. 

are you ready for the college football season to begin this thursday night?  i know i am.  espn and fsn will have college football games on that night and so will espnu.  friday has more football action on the college level.  saturday is the biggest day of then all with the badgers taking the field in madison against akron. 

i know it is early in the season, but what teams in all the confrences we need to keep an eye on?  what confrence will have some of their teams in major bowl games in january?  what confrence will be the toughest this year for college football?

Leaving an inspection in West Allis today, I could hear the unmistakable sound of a NASCAR Sprint Cup car testing at the Mile.  Swung over there and caught a few laps of what appeared to be RCR driver Kevin Harvick testing his car.  Probably getting info for the race at Phoenix.

I would blog about what I read about this 9-Year-Old Boy from New Haven, CT who played in a little league baseball and pitches at high speeds for his age.

However, I'm not because it's not my story. Not only that, I don't want to plagerize either. It's not my style, What you can do is click the link below and it will direct you to the Yahoo Sports Section and read the story for yourself and come back here and tell me what you think the boy's story and his teammates and coaches and definitely from the parents.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-toogoodtop
itch&prov=ap&type=lgns

Over the weekend, I posted a blog about Packers rookie lineman Ryan Considine getting his picture in the game program in Denver Friday night.  Since he was cut by Green Bay on Monday, he has extra reason to hold onto a copy of that program.

If not the greatest, most illustrious Olympiad of all-time, then by all means, it was the most distinguished, memorable in history. While every game has its drama, memories, and excitement, these particular Olympics contained lasting images and stories that will resonate in the minds of individuals for ions to come. It all started with the elaborate, sophisticated Opening Ceremonies, which were stunning in execution, vibrancy, and technicality. They set the standard for future Opening Ceremonies, which I know won’t be achieved for a substantial amount of time, if ever again. The symbolic images portrayed by the Chinese were simply ingenious and exemplified the creative, imaginative minds of the Chinese culture, as well as the energy of the games. Over 40 billion U.S. dollars were invested in the infrastructure, ceremonies, and buildings that contributed to this magical experience. No other country that has hosted the Olympics has come close to the incredulous amount of money that Beijing has spent on this spectacle and as a result, China has received unprecedented praise worldwide for its beautiful facilities, amenities, and hospitality. I mean just the athletic complexes were so unique and technologically advanced that terms like “The Bird’s Nest" or “The Water Cube" will continue to have significance in the distant future. Also, unlike past games, the historical and cultural symbols were literally infused into the games as the infamous tourist destinations such as Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City loomed in the background. However, this isn’t even the most significant part of these games. Not only did China present an unforgettable Opening Ceremony and spent a substantial amount of money, but the athletic accomplishments that we saw added to the grandeur and greatness that these games already possessed. To state every single athletic accomplishment of the games would be nearly insurmountable, but the United States enjoyed arguably its most successful games, garnering 110 total medals and doing it in dramatic, historic fashion. A record that was deemed nearly impossible to break and withstood 36 years, was handed over to Superman, giving him the title of the most decorated, greatest Olympic Champion of all-time. Yeah, you probably have heard of Michael Phelps. Not only did he live up to the expectations but he successfully delivered all the Gold Medals. You can call it luck, fate, or destiny, but in every way imaginable he was able to beat the world’s best and set a record that I fully believe will be untouchable for generations to come. He beat Cavic by a fingernail and Jason Leysik ran down the Frenchman, who said France would demolish the Americans, and enabled Phelps streak to continue. And if you thought that was the only memorable event of the Olympics, it was only a taste. You can talk about Usain Bolt demolishing the 100 meters in a Herculean, out of body 9.69 seconds, as well as dominating the 200 meter dash. How about the legendary performance of Nastia Lukin in the All-Around competition and the coming out party of Shawn Johnson, who touched the hearts and lives of millions of Americans? Don’t forget about gold medals for Men and Women’s beach volleyball, the Women’s Soccer team winning gold in overtime, and the unlikely run of the Men’s indoor volleyball team after their head coach was inexplicably murdered. How about the U.S. rowing team winning gold and the “Redeem Team" restoring the glory and pride of American basketball by defeating Spain in the finals? Brian Young claimed the title of the world’s greatest athlete by winning the decathalon for the U.S. and in Equestrian, the U.S. Jumping team won gold as well. I mean even the bad memories are note-worthy. The U.S. softball team failed to win gold in what is presumed to be the last time we will see softball in the games. (No more Jennie Finch, Cate Osterman? Seriously?) Also, Tyson Gay, who was supposed to challenge Bolt suffered an unfortunate injury before the games and failed to make the finals. But these games also had their share of controversy. The IOC has continued to investigate the age of the Chinese gymnastic team, which I felt uncomfortable watching because it just seemed so obvious but that’s another debate. Controversy also came when Swedish wrestler, Abrahamian, was stripped of his medal for his tantrum and Taekwondo athlete Angel Matos of Cuba faces a lifetime ban after kicking the referee in the face following his disqualification. These are just some of the memories that made the Beijing Olympics truly magnificent, but there were some heart warming stories that touched us all. Dana Torres, 41 years old and 8 years removed from an Olympic competition, won silver in the 50 M and team relay, showing that age is just a small hurdle to jump over. My favorite is the story of Lopez Lomong, who grew up in war-torn Sudan, was abducted at the age of 6, and almost died in captivity, before escaping and running to a refugee camp in Keya. Watching Michael Johnson on TV, he vowed to make the Olympics and was able to bear the flag of the United States. Leukemia survivor Maarten van der Weijden won the open swim competition, illustrating the message of never giving up and we felt the gut wrenching sorrow of the Chinese when their hero, Liu Xiang, was unable to race after 4 years of dedication, hard work, and devotion. It’s pretty clear to me why these Olympics were the most memorable of all-time. You can talk for hours on end about the Opening Ceremonies, the athletic accomplishments, and the heart warming stories that transcended these games above any other in history. Whether it’s the positive outcomes, the forgettable ones, or even the controversial situation, these games will feature unforgettable highlight reels that future generations will enjoy. Despite the political turmoil and controversy this country is in, China did a phenomenal job of hosting and welcoming outsiders from other nations. They showed they are a sports powerhouse to reckon with but above all, they provided the most memorable games of this era

Please read this article on a young Somalian athlete who participated in the 2008 Olympics!

It is an inspiring tale of accomplishment, dedication and sacrifice.

For perspective, not a single female sprinter in the 2008 Wisconsin Track and Field state meet ran a 32 second 200 meter. They were all faster.

     A tragedy occurred in China when a tourist at the Olympic games, a relative of the men's volleyball coach, was murdered.

     But the terrible act of one person shouldn't reflect negatively on a country that went all out as host.

      For all of China's problems and shortcomings, there are many gifts and a rich tradition.

     A proud people put their best foot forward-and succeeded.

     You hope that relationships between a country that accounts for one fifth of the world's population, and many other countries, will improve.

     Seeing so many gifted athletes from the vast number of nations who participated     made me feel that way-if only for a two week period. 

 

     It seemed like harmless fun.

     An NFL team's veterans tie rookies to goal posts like mummies.

     They're taped, and sprayed with everything from ketchup to who knows what.

     I thought a clip from one team was worth showing.

     Then a thoughtful mom from Kenosha shared that she was taken back-along with her 15 year old son.

     Given the terrible hazing incidents (one involving alleged sexual assaults among teenagers was particularly troubling), I'd like to share that the Kenosha Mom is right on.

     NFL teams should be careful about allowing adults youngsters look to as role models to continue the hazing practice.

     I'll be careful to remember that when it comes to showing similar video in the future.  

You have to hope that Packers rookie offensive lineman Ryan Considine kept a copy of Friday night's game program from Denver.  He is an undrafted free agent from Louisiana Tech who faces quite an uphill batlle to make the roster, or probably even the practice squad.  Some NFL teams put the picture of all of the opposing players in the game program.  The Packers generally do that, while others only put in the head coach and a key player while others put in the starters, etc.  Denver chose to spotlight about 25 Packers in the program Friday evening.  Aaron Rodgers was in there and Al Harris and Aaron Kampman and even the injured Ryan Grant.  And so was Ryan Considine.  I don't know why and he may not know either.  But it could turn out to be his NFL highlight. 

 I have to say this as an avid watcher of Basketball: The Redeem Team won and got the Gold Medal in this year's Olympics. I said this year's Olympics. I was one of the few who decided to stay up past 1:30am to see the USA vs Spain Basketball matchup. As I was watching the entire game, (live mind you) it was more of an NBA Style competition between the two teams. Come to think, some of the players from the other countries as we know are in the NBA. There was not a doubt in my mind that they would be sucessful in believing the hype that Team USA, or the now bestowed "Redeem Team" had to prove to themselves that they are "internationally capable" to take on the other countries in interational play.

The 12 guys from the NBA assembled, played much better and much cleaner than the team from 2004. Just for the record, the 2004 team in Athens, really looked bad. Even the other countries were saying the same thing. And plus, they haven't had that international experience of playing teams like Greece, and Argentina. Plus, Kobe Bryant and Michael Redd weren't on the team! But of course they were on this team. If you didn't see it, yes it' on the NBCOlympics.com website as well as Youtube. USA Basketball has it's own site on Youtube that you see the highlights of the games. Even this one.

Now the question beckons over and over again, "Why are the NBA Players are in the Olympics?" All they care is about making shoe contracts." They should put College Players in the games. And plus, Where are all the white players? For the record, if you didn't know, Jason Kidd is mixed: half Black and half Irish. Maybe the players like Kobe, Dwayne, Michael Redd and others have played for playoff contentions, MVP's, Divisional Games, Conference Championships, and the NBA Title, but some probably never had the chance to play for the U.S. That's like someone in church who has been a member for many, many, many years, served in various groups, but never had the chance to be recommitted to God and the Church. I see that comparision. Another comparison is like someone wanting to serve in the Armed Forces. Let's say someone did outstanding work in the community, or region but never had the chance to become a member of any of the Five Branches of the Military.

  

Maybe some NBA players wanted to have that Olympic Experience, not just an NBA Experience. And having others across the globe watching the players play, and being around other athletes from other sports in a professional manner. Sort like LeBron James was "humbled" by the presence of Micheal Phelps. Even they were humbled by Doug Collins, whom I didn't know, played in the 1972 Games when the US lost to Soviet Union, in the controversial win.  And just for the record, Christian Lattener, remember him? He was the last college player on the Original Dream Team's Roster that got the Gold Medal in the 1992 Summer Games. That series, which I really remember was a mission statement in which something new was on the horizion, in my view.

This Redeem Team of: Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Michael Redd, Jason Kidd, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams and LeBron James in my view, whether we like them or not, were indeed to set out for a mission statment of redemption. Redeeming themselves and the basketball world that the U.S. Basketball can play internationally, and indeed can hang with that style of play. They didn't care about the endorsements, nor the money, nor the fact that they play for different teams, but they all had a purpose in mind to put USA Basketball back on the map. And they did whatever it took to get back.

So, look at this way. At least there is a Basketball Team in the U.S. that was assembled and got the job done with a purpose and not being selfish as those before.

 

This is my take. Right or Wrong. Just my thought.

     I could blog about the Brewers being twenty games over five hundred-or about Aaron Rodgers awesome effort at Denver, but I can do that anytime.

     How often does an event as big as the Harley ride happen-and how cool are my Fox 6 teammates, Vince Condella and Ted Perry?!

     It's fine that they bring you terrific live reports from location right through next weekend.

     But those boys are in "hog heaven-riding their motocycles all over this great land of ours.    

     I'm proud of 'em; and everybody else who takes part.

     As for me, my best seat is in a sidecar!!! 

Okay, I admit when I'm wrong.  Rodgers VASTLY exceeded my expectations in the Friday night game against Denver.  He looked very sharp, like a pro-bowl caliber QB.  I'm very happy for him.  However, that being said, his performance should be kept in perspective.  It's after all, PRESEASON football.  It's far too early to tell whether or not Rodgers can lead this team to the promised land or whether or not the Packers will replicate the Randy Wright years.  Wright had his moments in the sun with the Packers and probably would have gone down in Packer lore as a better quarterback if he had legitimate NFL talent around him.  That being said, it appears that A-Rod has the weapons around him to succeed. 

So based on the Denver performance, does A-Rod have it within him to lead the Packers to the Super Bowl?   Is anybody else surprised by A-Rod's performance?   

 

*****WE'RE SORRY TO INFORM YOU-The Reds explained why they traded stars Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn and ask for patience in a letter sent to fans this week.The letter was sent by e-mail and posted on the team Web site, and was signed by owner Bob Castellini and general manager Walt Jocketty. It states the team is building with young talent and believes the trades were important for future success.

*****JUST A BIT OUTSIDE- Mariners knuckleballer R.A. Dickey tied a major league record by throwing four wild pitches in an inning against the Twins last week. Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima also was charged with a passed ball on another errant pitch in the fifth.

*****BORN A CUB FAN- Years before 7-year-old Wrigley was born, his father Jerry Fields says he'd already decided what he'd do. Coming from a family of Cubs fans and with his particular last name, he decided to name his first son after the Friendly Confines.Little Wrigley Fields will meet his destiny on Aug. 29 at a Cubs' home game against the Philadelphia Phillies when he'll throw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field. His mother Kathy says she mentioned Wrigley's name in front of a former Cubs official, who promised her Wrigley would get to throw out the first pitch.

*****ROUGH NIGHT-On the same night he was lit up by the Orioles, Red Sox pitcher Clay Bucholz was sent down to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs.

*****HOOPIN' IT UP- Approximately 83 percent of teenage girls play sports, with basketball as the top choice, according to a survey sponsored by Seventeen magazine and the WNBA.

*****GOOD DEAL IF YOU CAN GET IT-A decent ticket for the USA-Greece men's olympic basketball game this week sold for 15 dollars.

*****HONEY, I'M HOME-Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Treanor, hadn't even talked to her husband an hour after the championship victory, let alone seen him. "I'd like to see my husband for more than a day," May-Treanor said Thursday after she and partner Kerri Walsh played through a driving rainstorm to beat China and repeat their victory in Athens. "It would be nice to walk in the door and say, 'Honey, what's for dinner,' instead of having to make food for myself."

*****PLAYING AT "THE IRV"- A new sports complex will stand in tribute to Irving Saladino, who ended Panama's 60-year Olympic medal drought with his victory in the men's long jump last week. The new sports complex will be completed in 2009. It will include a soccer stadium, gymnasium and a hall of fame.

*****BUSINESS AS USUAL-Germany won the grand prix dressage, just like it has done every Olympics since 1984.

*****BUSINESS AS USUAL #2 -When Kyle Orton starts Sept. 7 at Indianapolis, it will mark a run of 10 seasons in which the Bears have used the same starting quarterback in consecutive openers just once -- Rex Grossman in 2006 and 2007.

*****THE NAME GAME-Best football name of the week? The Titans newly signed defensive back Tuff Harris.

*****THE NAME GAME #2-North Carolina State's new assistant golf coach is named Chip Watson.

Musings takes Labor Day as a day of rest, but returns all fired up on September 8th.

     On Sunday, NFL Players Union Chief Gene Upshaw found out he had pancreatic cancer.

     Four days later, he died at the age of sixty-three.

     Upshaw's passing throws the league for a loss, because he was a tireless and effective leader, who made millions for the players with a tough, no nonsense approach.

     Most important, Upshaw cared for the game; as a Hall Of Fame offensive lineman, Gene was mean enough to mow down any defender; he was good enough to help the Oakland Raiders to three Super Bowls, two of which they won.

       Gene Upshaw was sharply criticized for not doing enough for retired players-especially needy ones.

     But my ubnderstanding is the record will show that Upshaw did far more than many of those who attacked him realized.

     Diplomacy wasn't his strong suit.

     Like his job description on the offensive line, Gene Upshaw got "down and dirty".

     The NFL is our country's most popular specator sport by far-in large part, because of what the man accomplished, both on and off the gridiron.    

It has been a while since my last posting. Actually, it's been a long, long time since my last posting. I really haven't had much to say these last few weeks, nothing that really got me going in the world of sports. The Packers and Favre saga has been beaten to death in dramatic fashion, the Brewers are doing their thing (and might make the playoffs due to a system that I despise, the wild card; just to make my point a tad bit clearer, I don't recognize a World Series champion for the following years: 1997, 2002, 2003, and 2004, and in my mind, the Red Sox world series drought lasted from 1918 to 2007, not 2004, I'll discuss this in a later post), and the Olympics started up. As I was watching the Olympics a few things became clear with NBC's coverage. First, the coverage was going to be heavily edited and slanted in such a way to make sure that China was not offended by anything that NBC chose to show, perform, do, or say. Secondly, the coverage was going to lean heavily towards "revenue" sports, sports that had corporate sponsorship or sports that a casual fan would watch. Finally, unless the United States won a gold medal in a corporate sponsored event, that team/individual/group failed in that event because there was no commercial appeal to those athletes any longer. These things combined to give the tone and tenor of the coverage a strange feeling, one I haven't felt since the 1988 games in Seoul when I was 7.

It seemed to me at that time that the eastern bloc countries were terrified of losing because of what might happen to them or their families as a result of their failure. Finding out later, as I grew up, that the eastern bloc athletes derived income from their performance in international competition, and that losing or failure to meet expectations meant reduction in income, status, and privileges only makes my memories of those games more disturbing. As I have watched these games, I started to get that feeling again, that feeling that certain US athletes/teams/groups were terrified of losing, terrified of not meeting expectations. And the coverage reinforced that fact. Events in which an American was not a favorite, or at least a medal contender, were banished to other networks or strange start times. And little or no information was provided for viewers as to the results of other events occurring simultaneously if the event was not "pro-American." Over the course of the games, I have seen more of Misty May and Kerri Walsh (gold medalist in beach volleyball) than I have seen of our indoor volleyball team (in the gold medal match on the 22nd). I have seen more of Michael Phelps (deservedly so) than I have of the rest of the US swimmers combined (which is a real shame). I haven't seen many track events, not because of a lack of American presence, but because of a lack of American medals (one of the advantages of tape-delay is that NBC can feature events that Americans are doing good at at the expense of events where we have been upset).

Now, I understand that I am a strange sports fan. I can actually name another player on the US Softball team other than Jennie Finch (Crystal Bustos and Cat Osterman); I understand the rules of water polo and know that there is a professional men's league in Hungary; I can actually tell you the difference between epee, foil, and saber fencing, and have almost understood the right of way scoring system in saber and foil fencing; I enjoy the concept of the modern pentathlon (pistol shooting, horse riding, foil fencing, 200 m freestyle swim, 3 km cross country run) and wish it was televised; I love indoor volleyball. I wish I could see some of these events live, but I understand that I can't because the US is not a place where these events are celebrated and cherished, or even understood. Our culture is built around winning, watching winners, and being a winner, and I have learned to accept that fact. We celebrate the winner, we have a bizarre fascination with the loser, and we ignore the second place finisher (no one grows up and wants to be Vice President, who, by the way, has only two constitutional obligations: break a 50-50 tie in the Senate, and breathing steadily to maintain life). We revel in the glory of a winner and make perverse rationalizations and strange adoration for perennial losers (the Curse of the Bambino, the strange attraction of Cubs fans suffering for 100 years). But our culture of winning as the only thing has actually begun to hurt us.

Our athletics system is built around our capitalist structure of a free market producing the best athletes. We have the AAU structure for basketball, the club structure for volleyball and soccer, synchronized swimming club teams, practically a club structure for every sport a person can play. This structure allows several thousands of kids to play a sport outside of the school structure. As a type of umbrella to this overall free market structure is the US governing bodies in each sport that run the highest levels of the sport for international competition. And what ends up happening is that the club structure, by its very nature, has clubs that are better than other clubs and attract more players who wish to play for those clubs, driving up prices and allowing a select few clubs to dominate the "market" for players in that sport. These clubs then produce winners in that sport which gains the notice of the US governing body, which then grabs those winners and pits them against each other to determine overall national winners, who then get the blessing of the US to devote time and energy to develop into a international level athlete. These athletes go on to represent the US at international events. What this structure does is winnow down the 400 million or so people in the United States to the 900 or so athletes at the Olympic games. But this method has proved to be inefficient for determining the best athletes in any given sport.

As the eastern bloc nations proved during the cold war, and as China has proved in these Olympic games, a centralized sports system produces the best athletes for each individual sport, as does an understanding of how the average athlete in a country is built. The Russians spent a ton of money developing a centralized sports system to develop their athletes in specific events starting at the age of 6 or so (and yes, I understand that possibly some of the USSR athletes were using steroids, read Game of Shadows and discover that most USA athletes were using steroids as well). The Chinese are doing the same thing in their country. You take a group of children out of school one day, and put them through basic gymnastics exercises and see which children are doing admirably, those children are gymnasts, others become divers, still others show aptitude in other sports. With 1 billion people to choose from, the odds of finding a great gymnast increase. And, by centralizing the system, an athlete who can be an excellent gymnast does not slip through the cracks or end up attempting to be an excellent soccer player. That is where the overall US system of athletics (which I whole heartedly support) falls apart, when the great athletes who are playing volleyball but are too short for high level competition keep playing volleyball instead of being moved into a sport that they would excel at. I love playing volleyball, I love coaching volleyball, I love the sport of volleyball, it's what I did in high school, college, and it's what I do now. However, part of me wonders if it was the best possible sport for my body type, my natural abilities, and my inherent athleticism. Could I be at the Olympics right now in diving, water polo, the decathlon, shooting, fencing? Could I be on the Olympic soccer team or show jumping team? Am I a gymnast? I'll never know, and I'd like to keep it that way.

But that should be the story. Not that we are excellent at specific corporate sponsored events, but that we are competing with countries that have centralized athletics and winning. We should be talking about the ability of nine gymnasts from various parts of the country who do not train together earning a silver medal against a team of centralized athletes who may or may not be skirting the rules to get better gymnasts into the games, and not talking about how we need to stone Alicia Sacramone when she flies back from Beijing for screwing our chances at a gold medal. The last time I checked, it took all the gymnasts performing at an event for a team to win. We should be talking about how our track team is clean for the first time in a long while and we are not competing with honor, not that our gold medal hopefuls are failing. We should be talking about Michael Phelps, but we should also be talking about Ryan Lochte, Aaron Piersol, Ben Garrett-Weber, Jason Lezak, Ian Crocker, and the rest of the swim team. We should not be talking about the medal counts and how we are "losing" to the other countries, what we should be talking about is how a nation with 400 million people is so good at athletics that we earn more medals than any other country. What we should be talking about is a celebration of athletics and the world can rise above petty political squabbles for a few weeks every four years.

What I don't want to see is for all of us to become like the USSR was, so obsessed with winning that our newspapers don't print the names of those who failed to meet expectations. I don't want to see passports and opportunities for our athletes being revoked for not winning. I don't want the national media to act like Pravda and Izvestia and outright omit failure. I want to know how bad we did in an event, I want to know how well we did in other events, I want to go back to the USA, not the USSR.

     Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will never be Brett Favre.

     No Kidding, Pip?!

     The Mississippi gunslinger's one of the NFL's greatest ever.

     BUT, A-Rod's easy to pull for--the type of young man you want to see succeed.

     He's a fine young man, with leaderships skills, and a real personality.

     A couple years back Rodgers grew a beard and talked of honoring Jesus.

     These days, number twelve's sporting "friendly mutton chops" on his face from "beards.com", and saluting Generals in the nineteenth century.

     Gotta love that!

     Now, if he can average a couple touchdown passes a game.........

I can't really talk about it on the air, since it would be promoting another network (shame, shame)- but I can blog about just about anything!  :)

Have you been watching the Olympics from Beijing?  I have missed a lot of sleep because I can't get myself to turn off the gymnastics coverage at night!  Thank goodness that's over.

My favorite so far has definitley been the men's 4x100 freestyle relay in which Jason Lezak had the swim of his life to put the U.S. ahead of the trash talking Frenchies.  It was an unbelievable finish, and helped give Phelps one of his EIGHT golds!  That, and watching Usein Bolt just destroy everyone in his path- that is without a doubt the fastest thing I've ever seen, unbelievable.  He's like superhuman.

What are your faves?