Fun With U.S. College Football
I'm not the biggest fan of college football, although a brief inhabitation of Ypsilanti, Michigan, during the 1990s (reason: there was a girl) means that I keep a bit an eye on the fate of the University of Michigan Wolverines. However, this fall there have been a number of laugh-out-loud incidents in the collegiate gridiron game south of the border. Allow me to share a few of them, in lieu of doing anything that requires thought this evening:
1. In our first clip, a TV commentator struggles to concentrate on the game before him while suffering angst over a major current-events issue. The best part of this clip is the (understandable) incredulity of his colour commentator. The saddest part is what it says about the decline of ESPN...
2. In clip #2, a college referee waxes poetic in describing the circumstances surrounding a penalty call.
3. And, finally, a member of law enforcement expresses an opinion on an Auburn player.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Something Rather Funny
The article quote below is satire. How long it will remain so is anybody's guess.
Anyway, from The Brushback:
Conservatives Release Conservative Mock Draft
WASHINGTON, DC--Right wing conservatives have long criticized NFL mock drafts for their anti-American, anti-Christian viewpoints, and now they finally have an answer: On March 4, the National Review Online released the first ever Conservative Mock Draft, which forecasts the draft without the “clear left leaning bias” of its liberal counterparts.
My favourite quote from the whole thing? This one:
“I know I personally have emailed several of these publications to point out the slanted tone of their mock drafts, and have been dismissed at every turn,” said [Kathryn Jean] Lopez. “I contacted one website which called Jamarcus Russell a ‘genetic freak’ who ‘represents the next step in the evolution of the quarterback position.’ Well okay, fine, some people believe in evolution, but there are millions of other Americans who don’t. Why aren’t they represented? Why isn’t it noted that evolution is not a scientific fact, but a theory? Also, why isn’t there anything about Hillary Clinton being a cunt? Apparently this is what passes for objective journalism these days.”
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Scumbag Alert!
What is wrong with U.S. college coaches these days? The latest to fall into disgrace is Gary Barnett, football guy at the University of Colorado, which has been suffering under a glut of rape cases related to its football program. "So?" you say. "There are a lot of testosterone-fueled young men on your average college football team, and not all of them are going to be saints. So why the dig at the coach?" Well, apparently you've been living under a rock on Mars for the past month, because if you hadn't been, you'd have known that the coach's response to this scandal has been nothing sort of disgraceful. The worst bit of the whole thing has revolved around Barnett's comments about Katie Hnida, one of the alleged rape victims. She, of course, was a backup placekicker on on the U. of Colorado football team for a year or so, and, astonishingly, Barnett used this to justify (justify!) her getting sexually assaulted by one of her team-mates. His entire horrific quote was as follows:
"It's a guy's sport. (Players) felt like Katie was forced on them. It was obvious Katie was not very good. She was awful. You know what guys do? They respect your ability. I mean, you could be 90 years old, but if you could go out and play, they would respect you. Well Katie was a girl, and not only was she a girl, she was terrible."
One website I read described Barnett as a "reprehensible scumbag", and I can't put it any better than that. But the scary thing is Barnett is not alone in then pantheon of complete and utter coaching assholes. Take Dave Bliss, who urged his players to smear a dead team-mate's reputation to investigators. Or Rick Neuheisel, who seemed to share with Pete Rose an attitude towards gambling. Or any one of about half-a-dozen others who have been found in compromising positions with students, strippers, player agents, etc. etc. And don't even get my started on the waste of space that is Bobby Knight... And it all begs the question: What the Hell is wrong with these people?
Well, in large part I blame the rise of the "cult of the coach" in the college ranks. I remember thinking, just before he joined the Washington Redskins, that I knew who Steve Spurrier was, but couldn't quite remember which University he coached at. Shouldn't it be the other way around? I mean, if you watch a college football game, you'll see that about 90% of the time the cameras switch directly to one of the coaches the moment the game is over. There he'll be, stalking across the field to greet his opposite number, surrounded by a veritable posse of state troopers, like Caesar after a battle. Coaches are paid amazing sums of money and are given virtual free reign by press, students, boosters, alumni, etc. to behave as they like (witness the outrage at Indiana after Knight was fired for being a violent, tempermental, thug). It's really reached the point of insanity, and it has, inevitable, spawned aberations of nature like Gary Barnett and his ilk. And in closing, I must say thank god for coaches like Joe Paterno (and shame on the people who want to see him resign) and a few others, who at least reassure me that there is hope for the breed.
What is wrong with U.S. college coaches these days? The latest to fall into disgrace is Gary Barnett, football guy at the University of Colorado, which has been suffering under a glut of rape cases related to its football program. "So?" you say. "There are a lot of testosterone-fueled young men on your average college football team, and not all of them are going to be saints. So why the dig at the coach?" Well, apparently you've been living under a rock on Mars for the past month, because if you hadn't been, you'd have known that the coach's response to this scandal has been nothing sort of disgraceful. The worst bit of the whole thing has revolved around Barnett's comments about Katie Hnida, one of the alleged rape victims. She, of course, was a backup placekicker on on the U. of Colorado football team for a year or so, and, astonishingly, Barnett used this to justify (justify!) her getting sexually assaulted by one of her team-mates. His entire horrific quote was as follows:
"It's a guy's sport. (Players) felt like Katie was forced on them. It was obvious Katie was not very good. She was awful. You know what guys do? They respect your ability. I mean, you could be 90 years old, but if you could go out and play, they would respect you. Well Katie was a girl, and not only was she a girl, she was terrible."
One website I read described Barnett as a "reprehensible scumbag", and I can't put it any better than that. But the scary thing is Barnett is not alone in then pantheon of complete and utter coaching assholes. Take Dave Bliss, who urged his players to smear a dead team-mate's reputation to investigators. Or Rick Neuheisel, who seemed to share with Pete Rose an attitude towards gambling. Or any one of about half-a-dozen others who have been found in compromising positions with students, strippers, player agents, etc. etc. And don't even get my started on the waste of space that is Bobby Knight... And it all begs the question: What the Hell is wrong with these people?
Well, in large part I blame the rise of the "cult of the coach" in the college ranks. I remember thinking, just before he joined the Washington Redskins, that I knew who Steve Spurrier was, but couldn't quite remember which University he coached at. Shouldn't it be the other way around? I mean, if you watch a college football game, you'll see that about 90% of the time the cameras switch directly to one of the coaches the moment the game is over. There he'll be, stalking across the field to greet his opposite number, surrounded by a veritable posse of state troopers, like Caesar after a battle. Coaches are paid amazing sums of money and are given virtual free reign by press, students, boosters, alumni, etc. to behave as they like (witness the outrage at Indiana after Knight was fired for being a violent, tempermental, thug). It's really reached the point of insanity, and it has, inevitable, spawned aberations of nature like Gary Barnett and his ilk. And in closing, I must say thank god for coaches like Joe Paterno (and shame on the people who want to see him resign) and a few others, who at least reassure me that there is hope for the breed.
Monday, February 02, 2004
I suppose congratulations are in order to the New England Patriots, who, in case you hadn't noticed the smoke and flame rising from the Boston area, won the Super Bowl last night. I watched the game in a sort of "I-don't-give-a-shit" haze (see earlier posts from today), and even given my state of mind I have to ask why people are referring to it as a "classic" Super Bowl. I mean, it was exciting compared to about 85% of the preceding Super Bowls, but still and all. 15 minutes of vaguely exciting football doth not a "classic" make. Still congrats to the winners, commiserations to the losers, etc.
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