Here we go again...

I havent blogged in 6 months. I wish it was writers block.  There are soooo many topics to talk about.  Life just sometimes gets in the way. Today i am going to talk about the "hype machine" that you and I know as ESPN. ESPN has been my dream destination since i was able to see on cable television in the 80's. They all seemed to have fun doing sports. They were so creative, witty, funny, and always kept me coming back to the television. Whether it was Sportscenter or actual game programming, i honestly thought I was watching and listening to something special every night. They built up everyone. They made athletes bigger than life.  Somehow, in the last 10 years all of that has changed. Athletes are not sports figures anymore. We know what they eat, who they date, what clubs they go to, who they voted for, what kind of underwear they have.  We know that if they have an opinion, it will appear somewhere.  If they insult people, assault people, animals, trees, we will find out. Riley Cooper was at a concert and made racial comments last year and we found out about it. We found out that a football player was taking a fertility  drug to help grant his mothers wish of having a grand child. ESPN doesn't miss a thing. God forbid if they built you up and you fail.  They made Robert Griffin out to be superman and when his knee failed him and his mouth sounded off, he has become a punchline. Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer i ever seen. He is probably the greatest golfer most have seen.  His dominance in the sport is only equaled by a few athletes in other sports. ESPN cannot wait to criticize him.  The guy shot 74 74 last week and the headlines made it seem like he shot 80 and 81. Jon Anderson and Jay Harris took sniper shots at him like he insulted their family. Many great athletes over the last 20 years have had  epic falls. Mike Tyson, Micheal Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds,Marion Jones, Tiger, just to name a few and ESPN pounced on them like a hungry lion. No excuse was good enough. If they apologized, it wasn't contrite enough.  If they blamed someone else for their roles in their scandal, they were throwing the person under a bus. If they took 100 percent accountability they needed to take 1000 percent accountability. ESPN had no shame, embarrassing Jim Harrick, when he was at Georgia, or George O'Leary for embellishing his resume. Now we have Johnny Football about to embark on a career that has bust written all over it.  Blake Bortles will be the one who earns his draft status and make Jacksonville relevant again. Manziel is the new Tebow.  There was so much hype around Tebow that it scared teams from giving him a true chance. How about Micheal Sam? He is gay. Okay.. Can he tackle or rush the quarterback? What changed because he told the world he is gay. He is quick off the ball and once he learns how to take better rush routes he may have a future in the league.  It should have been a story for a day. if at all.
So what my point? My point is today, I cannot watch sports the way i watched it 20 years ago. Sports reporting has become so personal and vindictive. There was a writer in Philly who wrote a story about Nick Foles without even interviewing for the piece. He was asked on the Dan Patrick show why the negative tone and he said matter of factly that he was upset that Foles didn't give him access to him. Really? How about having some fun.  The ranting of Dick Vitale was criticized by so many that he actually toned it down to appease his critics. In fact ESPN added a third man to the booth to almost silence him. Instead of the announcers saying Tiger Woods had back surgery and he shot a respectable 74 today on the difficult course, they say boy Tiger has lost his swagger, he is a shell of himself.  Lets put up a graphic that says he hasn't won a major since 2009. Even though he has moved to second in all time overall wins and if get s healthy again he could possibly pas Sam Snead in the next couple of year. Each story has innuendo and criticism without knowing all of the facts. No one has yet to see the video of Ray Rice striking his wife but yet we are lead to believe that he knocked her out and the District attorney in New Jersey gave him a slap on the wrist and the NFL Commissioner did the same thing.  So instead of criticizing law enforcement for not holding him more accountable, the NFL is supposed to teach him a lesson. The Redskins nickname is offensive but the team is not changing the name. Their fan base doesn't care.  The people who buy the season tickets don't care. How much more noise can you make on this topic?  If the Washington teams games are all sold out, what does that tell you.  In short I just turn the volume down and hope for the best...

Jason Collins

I usually have somthing to say about everything sports related. It doesn't mean I am right or wrong.  What i dislike about debatable topics is the overkill that the sports networks gives its coverage.  Tonight Jason Collins is about to become the "first" openly gay male athlete to play in the major four professional sports. First of all that sentence is not true because there are several athletes who can tell you that they know of several players who have played sports. The Ravens had a player. The Redskins in the 70's had a player. The Utah Jazz had a player. This story is only a story because the "old guard" of sports is stunned that this happening.  Gay people are as talented as hetero people. There is not a person alive who doesn't know a gay person or who doesn't love one. This is crazy. Last year Britney Griner said she was gay. Nobody flinched.  Nobody cares if a woman is gay. Give society the benefit of the doubt. We can handle pretty much everything. 
I am listening to this press conference and I dont understand the questions.  He was just asked how has he changed as a person since he came out? Really?  He doesn't have to change.  No one does. Why don't they just ask the real questions.  "Are you going to check you teammates out?"  Are you going to bring your boyfriend around? When you post up a player or box one out do you get turned on? Thats how stupid the thought process really is. That is how stupid the notion of a what is wrong with a gay player playing sports. Plus no one will ever have the guts to ask those questions.  The reason is obvious. The questions are immature and obnoxiuos. Micheal Sam was not asked any questions about his sexuality during his interview with nfl teams. Everyone is shocked by that. Usually teams ask some of the most disgusting and intrusive questions to their prospects. 
Jason Collins is 35 and can help a team by rebounding and blocking shots. So if you want my true reaction read between the lines or read this... SO WHAT.... I would say 100 percent of the people I know would say the same thing. Dont compare this to Jackie Robinson. That is an insult to Jackie Robinson's legacy. Jason Collins is friends with half of the league. Jackie was all alone in a racist world..

Baseball Hall of fame time.. Shame on you

Every year at this time I rant about the voting of the Hall of fame in baseball. They rarely get it wrong but over the last few years they have left me puzzled.  Today some sports writer announced that he would not vote for anyone who played in the steroid era. What?  He made the same proclamation in 2012.  I don't want to say his name because he is the typical anonymous sports writer that annoys me when voting for these honors comes around.  He is one of these bitter writers who enjoy this power. His one vote was revealed and the person he voted for is Jack Morris.  When did the steroid or p.e.d. period begin?  The 1980's? Jack Morris pitched from the heart of the 80's into the mid to late 90's. He pitched in the 1991 World Series. Remember game 7?  10 inning masterpiece against Atlanta?  Sometimes I think people say things to get on television or to get their 15 seconds of fame. I wonder if he isn't the only one thinks that way.
Greg Maddux should have been a unanimous choice. He has several Cy Young awards, 350 plus wins, 18 gold gloves. He has a world series title. He has appeared in several post season games. He revolutionized his position. He made P.e.d. users look silly. He is the greatest pitcher in the national league over the last 40 years. What a joke. Tom Glavine  should be a high 90 percent guy too. Craig Biggio should have gotten in last year. Mike Piazza too. Neither men had any steroid or p.e.d. allegations tied to their names. Frank Thomas too. Mike Mussina had a ton of wins and probably could have won 300 if baseball mattered to him. He won 20 games in his last season as a Yankee. We know that Clemens and Bonds are going to have to wait. Jeff Bagwell just didn't do enough. Jeff Kent will eventually get in in a few years, but not before Biggio. Biggio has 3000 hits.
I am anxious to see how it all shakes out. I wish I had a vote. I would take the honor seriously. Jack Morris is in his final year of eligibility. He deserves some love. He pitched on two championship teams in Detroit and Minnesota. He won 20 games 3 times. He was the ace of his staff. Was his career better than Dave Stewart who never gets a lot of votes? The answer has to be no. Stewart s knock is he pitched for the Oakland A's team that is link to p.e.d. use.  Was his career better than Bert Blyelven who got in last year? I think it was. Blyelven was consistent but never spectacular. Morris was a horse. He faced every teams best pitcher. There is no criteria. Put Morris and that opens door for Mussina, Stewart, Tommy John. Curt Schilling too. He is a whole new argument. I love baseball. I wish them all luck...