I haven't written on this thing in forever. I almost didn't even remember it existed. Between Twitter & Facebook, I figured that anything I had to say could effectively be conveyed there. But with BYU basketball's dream season apparently crashing down in a day, I was thinking a lot about how/why Jay Drew decided that he needed to take it upon himself to publish exactly what it was that Sophomore forward Brandon Davies did to earn his suspension. I'm not talking about the story itself. Obviously that - as disappointing as it may be - is newsworthy. What I'm referring to is exactly what Davies did to earn himself the dismissal. To me, that's where the line was crossed.
First, it's important to understand that the Salt Lake Tribune goes out of its way to establish itself as the Liberal paper in the area. That's fine.
I didn't read it growing up or really until the latter part of my stay in Provo, but now that I'm away from BYU, the Trib & Deseret News are good ways to keep up with Cougar sports. It seems like every week the Trib runs a story that either paints the Church in a negative light or goes after some other hot-button political/social issue from a left-of-center point of view. Their message is clear: "We aren't the Deseret News. We aren't run by the Church & we won't let you forget it!"
Yet they're "most read" stories are ones that clearly appeal to an LDS audience (which is why any story on the Church or BYU is quickly moved to "most read" status). They know who their main readers are, yet intentionally provoke them by masquerading around pretending to cater to an entirely different audience.
Now onto the matter at hand.
Jay Drew has useful information, and by-and-large he is a good sports reporter, but he frequently seems to come close to crossing that line. He was hot off the presses about what Harvey Unga & O'Neill Chambers did when they had their respective issues. It's almost as if he's trying to make a name for himself and he'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.
I respect the journalistic side of things. Really, it's his duty as a journalist to investigate issues. In this case, that is to make sure Davies didn't do something against the law or something similar. But once his "source" sold out Davies, Drew should have kept the specifics to himself. Now Davies is trending WORDLWIDE & ESPN's first headline involved Davies/sex. This guy is a college athlete - an amateur. He doesn't deserve this. Already he has to live with the consequences - this just exacerbates the problem.
I am grateful to my alma mater for staying true to the principles and standards that make BYU the great place it is. It would be disappointing if it were handled in any other way. There's more to the matter than just this, but it suffices to say that Drew used Davies' unfortunate circumstance as his "cheap" way to get a little public notoriety.
Here's to hoping Jimmer & co. can circle the wagons and salvage what's left of an otherwise special and memorable season.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Monday, March 02, 2009
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
They've seen better days....
Even their tailgating seems to bring bad results. Taken before CSU's 31-28 overtime loss to state-rival CU (CSU is 0-3 too!), all the Berguin brothers can do now is look foward to their Week 9 showdown when someone will finally be guaranteed a victory.
Friday, June 17, 2005
UNL sucks
What else would I title this? It's quite simple really; I hate Nebraska. The state itself is one thing (the College World Series and Omaha steaks are the only two positives I can think of right now), but I HATE the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Growing up as a little kid, I knew no better than to root for CU (boy have times changed, eh? I still find myself casually wanting them to be successful, but ONLY in sports and even then I cringe at times), so that's what got this whole "I hate Big Red" going.
Tonight's ASU-Nebraska game only stirred those emotions up and reminded me of why I hate them so much.
Tonight's ASU-Nebraska game only stirred those emotions up and reminded me of why I hate them so much.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Random Thoughts, Con't.
No rhyme or reason for making a second post, I just know that as a personal rule I tend to read more thoroughly if the posts are broken up and spaced out.
Moving on, props still go out to my brother. I'll be missing him big time over the next two years and can't wait to hear all the awesome things he'll be doing. What a stud.
No real sports news to delve into. The Rockies are absolutely atrocious and I find myself secretly hoping they unload Helton. The guy is the ultimate work-horse, a class act wasting away his best years stuck in the middle of a terribly managed franchise that is going nowhere (maybe in three-five years, but nowhere until at least then). Helton is one of the few players I'll follow and cheer for no matter WHERE he goes (even if it is to the hated Yankees, the overrated Cubs, or the annoyingly over-played Red Sox). I'm a fan of Barmes, but his groceries/deer meat/ATV accident/incident has kind of simmered any positive vibe he had going.
I'll be intrigued to see (or hear rather, I'll have no idea firsthand) what the Nuggets do next week, and also to see where the big names (if that's possible in this year's draft) end up. Oh, and quite possibly the most hilarious early-entry since (and there's no irony here) William Avery has to be one Shavlik Randolph (click here for the story). I mean, I guess I can see why he did it, he averaged over 6 points a game in his 36 career starts. Nothing like a little Duke-ness to remind me why I love college basketball.
One final parting shot for the night. While at school, my comptuer was almost a part of me. I lived on it, I breathed on it, I even ate on it. Now I'm at home, and it's not just the fact that my notebook is no more. I stay away from it. It's like kryptonite. I come to check ESPN.com, email, a blog or two, and any AIM-ness that awaits, but then I quickly retreat and get away as fast as possible. Even ESPN.com's Bill Simmons has been replaced by Jim Rome as my favorite all-time sports journalist (if you could call either one that). Rome is amazingly witty, smart, funny, sarcastic, and downright logical. Plus, it's easier to listen to him at work then to try to come home and sift through Simmons and his 80's movie/song mentions.
Until tomorrow....
Moving on, props still go out to my brother. I'll be missing him big time over the next two years and can't wait to hear all the awesome things he'll be doing. What a stud.
No real sports news to delve into. The Rockies are absolutely atrocious and I find myself secretly hoping they unload Helton. The guy is the ultimate work-horse, a class act wasting away his best years stuck in the middle of a terribly managed franchise that is going nowhere (maybe in three-five years, but nowhere until at least then). Helton is one of the few players I'll follow and cheer for no matter WHERE he goes (even if it is to the hated Yankees, the overrated Cubs, or the annoyingly over-played Red Sox). I'm a fan of Barmes, but his groceries/deer meat/ATV accident/incident has kind of simmered any positive vibe he had going.
I'll be intrigued to see (or hear rather, I'll have no idea firsthand) what the Nuggets do next week, and also to see where the big names (if that's possible in this year's draft) end up. Oh, and quite possibly the most hilarious early-entry since (and there's no irony here) William Avery has to be one Shavlik Randolph (click here for the story). I mean, I guess I can see why he did it, he averaged over 6 points a game in his 36 career starts. Nothing like a little Duke-ness to remind me why I love college basketball.
One final parting shot for the night. While at school, my comptuer was almost a part of me. I lived on it, I breathed on it, I even ate on it. Now I'm at home, and it's not just the fact that my notebook is no more. I stay away from it. It's like kryptonite. I come to check ESPN.com, email, a blog or two, and any AIM-ness that awaits, but then I quickly retreat and get away as fast as possible. Even ESPN.com's Bill Simmons has been replaced by Jim Rome as my favorite all-time sports journalist (if you could call either one that). Rome is amazingly witty, smart, funny, sarcastic, and downright logical. Plus, it's easier to listen to him at work then to try to come home and sift through Simmons and his 80's movie/song mentions.
Until tomorrow....
Is this thing on?
Yeah, I know - it seems like forever and a day ago that I last wrote. For a while my computers (yes, plural) were down. My laptop has been retired and sent out to the scrapyard (although not before extracting all he data) and all that's left is the old Windows ME operating system: no way to access iTunes on that. Not that that really mattered anyway, my iPod's click-wheel stopped working the the replacement (at least SOMETHING is still under warranty) also was defective, thus I am living off of a computer that had it's pinnacle reached back when Ray Bourque was hoisting the cup for the Avalanche (oh, what a day that was) with no iTunes, no iPod, not even a radio in my brother's (quasi-my) car.
What am I doing to fill the void? Nothing, unless you include making something of my life and actually being a productive and contributing member of society. I have a job working maintenance at a golf course, something which requires me to be there at 6 am every single day (something that was absolutely terrible for the first little while and is now nothing but habit for me now). Couple that with Church at 9 am on Sundays and you have a kid that hasn't slept in for over a month (that's really saying something for me - I needed to break that terrible cycle that was my ASU sleep-schedule). Now I'm actually remembering why it is that adults don't stay out forever and also am seeing my bank account go in another (the right) direction (for a change).
So sad to disappoint my one reader out there who is next-blogging, but I'm afraid my return may be short lived. It all starts on Wednesday morning at 9. That is when my first name will be retired for two years (as will my casual wardrobe). I will attempt to enlighten my dad as to how to post exerpts (or entire) letters from the mish, but I make no promises. It's a risky way to be, but with a brother that's tearing it up on a Connie Mack team in Denver, Plan B must shift into action (and I know the entire cyber-world will be holding its collective breath to see how it will all turn out).
Speaking of my brother:
GJHS TIGERS (24-2) - 2005 CLASS 5A STATE CHAMPIONS
Ryan Bernal (jr.) - .403 avg., 27 H, 25 R, 26 RBI, 8 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 2 SB, All-State Honorable Mention (Denver Post)
What am I doing to fill the void? Nothing, unless you include making something of my life and actually being a productive and contributing member of society. I have a job working maintenance at a golf course, something which requires me to be there at 6 am every single day (something that was absolutely terrible for the first little while and is now nothing but habit for me now). Couple that with Church at 9 am on Sundays and you have a kid that hasn't slept in for over a month (that's really saying something for me - I needed to break that terrible cycle that was my ASU sleep-schedule). Now I'm actually remembering why it is that adults don't stay out forever and also am seeing my bank account go in another (the right) direction (for a change).
So sad to disappoint my one reader out there who is next-blogging, but I'm afraid my return may be short lived. It all starts on Wednesday morning at 9. That is when my first name will be retired for two years (as will my casual wardrobe). I will attempt to enlighten my dad as to how to post exerpts (or entire) letters from the mish, but I make no promises. It's a risky way to be, but with a brother that's tearing it up on a Connie Mack team in Denver, Plan B must shift into action (and I know the entire cyber-world will be holding its collective breath to see how it will all turn out).
Speaking of my brother:
GJHS TIGERS (24-2) - 2005 CLASS 5A STATE CHAMPIONS
Ryan Bernal (jr.) - .403 avg., 27 H, 25 R, 26 RBI, 8 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 2 SB, All-State Honorable Mention (Denver Post)
I'd been meaning to do that for a while, but prohibited myself from mentioning anything about their playoff run for fear or freakishly jinxing it and robbing the Western Slope (and Junction in particular) of any glory and respect. Not that Cherry Creek has any for us anyway, as they all got in the Lexus' and Escalades and drove home to the 10,000 square foot homes anyway (with any and all of their "transfers" [kids that creatively snuck into Creek through their parents getting "jobs" in the district]). But on that day it didn't matter, they could have said whatever they wanted. I don't know if it's me living vicariously through my brother or me just loving to watch him succeed, but that day will be one I will never forget. I was as nervous as a parent, and I did an all-out, full-on hug (full embrace, not the one-armed tapping of the back variety) with Brandon Berguin after Mark Novotny's GRAND SLAM in the 7th to give the Tigers the lead, and again after that final out to win GJ their title.
Perhaps I should make a list when these type of hugs are appropriate; rest assured that if I do, any situation involving a sporting event (especially one where said person has a vested interest in the team, be it through attending the school having a family member on the team, I don't care - you pick and include whatever other reasons [excuses] you want) will be reason number three (behind any sort of funeral/wedding [funny combo to include together, I know] circumstance and any extended absence sort of thing (I'm talking of the long variety, let's say two years as an example). Okay, maybe I threw in number two as a crutch should I break down from my normal stoic stance when it comes to goodbyes and other would-be emotion-provoking moments, but you've got to give me some slack here.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Technical Difficulties
The culmination of the school year perfectly coincided with the destruction of BOTH BOTH BOTH BOTH of my conmputers. Thus, as I wait to get both fixed, the site (as you can tell) will be down. Hopefully it'll be up and running again here in the next week or so.
Until then: I hope all of you are sleeping as much as I have been. Es muy bueno.
Until then: I hope all of you are sleeping as much as I have been. Es muy bueno.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Too much wasted time.
Inefficiency is death.
Time to step it up and crank out a few essays.
As always, enlighten me with your comments (and further contribute to my inefficiency).
Time to step it up and crank out a few essays.
As always, enlighten me with your comments (and further contribute to my inefficiency).
Thursday, May 05, 2005
QOTD
grs1624: you've got a good perception on things-at least i think so
grs1624: and im always right-so i guess you do
TWMHIT.
grs1624: and im always right-so i guess you do
TWMHIT.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Prince....
>150,000 vs. <25
If this scenario plays out, then we both win.
But if I must choose only one, I pick < 25 .
Now let's "GET our Red Lobster!!!!"
If this scenario plays out, then we both win.
But if I must choose only one, I pick < 25 .
Now let's "GET our Red Lobster!!!!"
Six
That is the total number of hours of sleep I have had since Saturday night. Two all-nighters in a row with a six hour nap on Monday has been the week for me.
The good news is that finals don't officially start until Thursday and I will have two done by the end of today.
The really good news is that I'm all caught up and won't have to sleep on London time anymore.
The good news is that finals don't officially start until Thursday and I will have two done by the end of today.
The really good news is that I'm all caught up and won't have to sleep on London time anymore.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Guess-the-Google
So I found one good link from psycho's blog: Guess-the-Google.
I've decided this is an acceptable way to pass 15 minutes of time, especially when such time includes procratinating on finals studying.
My high in seven games was 383 (including a "how do we do this?" Game One).
And I beat Baker 4-3 in our series of Guess-the-Google high scores, capping off a remarkable early 3-1 series deficit.
I've decided this is an acceptable way to pass 15 minutes of time, especially when such time includes procratinating on finals studying.
My high in seven games was 383 (including a "how do we do this?" Game One).
And I beat Baker 4-3 in our series of Guess-the-Google high scores, capping off a remarkable early 3-1 series deficit.
I feel violated
So it's finals week, and I am doing all that I can to balance studying with staying awake. About 3:45 a.m. I decide to take a break from consequentialism and browse a few sites, including my own to see if Prince has logged his rebuttal to a prior post.
Then I come across this comment regarding my post-it on finals:
"KINGSPAWN said...
Then I come across this comment regarding my post-it on finals:
"KINGSPAWN said...
Schiavo, Terri. What a goddess. Ahh, the sweet nectar of her loins, it doth rival ambrosia, no? Forgive me Terri, only for loving thee too much."
The first thing I think is, "Wow, who just saw that South Park episode for the first time this weekend?" But then I clicked KINGSPAWN's link and saw they had a blog, so I decided to click it and see what this was all about. I thought maybe it might be someone I know that was just trying to mess with me or somethign: what followed was downright creepy.
As if the latest entry (about starting a Shiavo chant during a moment of silence at a Celtics playoff game) wasn't weird enough, I read the following and literally lol'ed and did a double (triple?) take. Here's the link to his site if you want to read it all (BEWARE of clicking some of the links, they are weird/inappropriate/just play psycho), but here is an excerpt:
"So today I was next-blogging and ran across what looked at first glance to be an ad-blog, which pissed me off, so I had to hit back and comment "Schiavo, Terri. What a goddess. Ahh, the sweet nectar of her loins, it doth rival ambrosia, no? Forgive me Terri, only for loving thee too much," on some Mormon kid's blog. But then I realized what I had just read as the title of the first post on the ad-blog, "white pimple on -----," and I was highly intrigued."
"Next-blogging" is a link on the top right of each page where you are taken to a random blog that you can read. Apparently this nut thought my blog was what's called an "ad-blog," which shady companies use to post nothing but advertisements about their product. Anyway, this guy apparently didn't like that so he posted his comment, only to realize after what he'd done (but he still left the comment up - TIMHIT).
The part that was really weird is how long he must have waded through this site to figure out it was "some Mormon kid's blog" (the only real reference I could find to this is in my seventh ever post [21 Feb 2005] , which is wwwaaaayyyy back in the archives for someone who's just perusing).
Anyway, I just had to share this. Time to grind for Philosophy.
I think I feel better now.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Look what you made me go and do Chops (pelegray)....
Original comment by pelegray from my "Long Overdue" (27 Apr) post: "Didnt u say the other nite u thought the Nugz would win the series over SA???? See and then you hop back and forth with, that was my fan side, this is my rational side. And your love of cheering for the Rockies, you might as well be a Cubs fan too. Rational fans cheer for goods teams, irrational fans hope and pray, but don't use your "objective side." So are you a fan, or an objectional veiwer. I think playing both sides of the coin is worse then choosing a couple of teams you like. Besides you cheer for teams, which is a colection of player, and players change so sticking with CO teams just doesn't make since. If it is state pride your after your mistaken, their privatly owned, most likely by people outside of CO."
*NOTE: The second half of this post deals with Blake's claim that it's better to value the individual and not the whole (I know that may be better in dealing with capitalism vs. communism, but the Cold War is over buddy). If you don't feel like reading all of it, I've moved a link I talk about below to the top for the sake of convenience. It's from Dan Findlay's blog after UNC won the NCAA Championship. Click Here to read it and skip all of my boring blabbing.
Firstly, I would like to begin by expressing my anger. I had a long response typed under my "comments" box in the original post, but because of it's length I decided to turn it into it's own post. However, in copying and pasting it over somehow the comment became lost in the exchange and I'm forced to try to recreate what I already had (that's like trying to reinact anything MJ ever did, the feeling when one of your teams wins a championship [think Avalanche Stanley Cup here], any Duke loss ever, or that feeling I'll probably have when I become a dad someday: it's just not happening.). Anyway, here is my best attempt.
Chops (pelegray), I must first say that no, I never said I thought they would win, instead that I thought they could and wanted them to. Next, I must assume that (based off of your comment) you know between nothing and absolutely nothing about being a fan and also being a rational, functional human being capable of interaction with other human beings of such likeness. Now, I'm not saying you can't be one or the other at any given time, but after that comment I am convinced that there is no way you can be both at the same time.
You know "that guy" - the one who loves his team and will yell about them all night long, but then does the whole proverbial "cover your ears and start screaming 'la la la la la' when anyone tries to have an actual discussion of any sort of merit about 'that guy's' team?" Well, I know two of those guys (Kellen Gustavson, Mike Pacini: UNC basketball), and they drive me absolutely crazy in this regard. See, I'm all about being a fan. As a fan, I hope the Nuggets beat SA 4-0, Phoenix 4-0, Seattle 4-0, and Miami/Detroit 4-0 en route to Denver's first professional basketball championship. Do you know what else I want? I want the Rockies to go 162-0, beat the Braves 3-0, the Cardinals 4-0, and the Yankees 4-0 to win the World Series. (We're not done yet.) I want the Broncos to go 16-0, then steamroll their way through the playoffs and win the Super Bowl for the third time. (One more still Chops). Finally, I want the NHL to come back so the Avalanche can go 82-0 before completing Lord Stanley's quest 16-0 and bring back the Cup for a third time. And those are just my pro teams....
Do you see how unreasonable that is? Now add in that annoyance factor where everytime you criticize or bring up a weak point or fault in my team, I just plug my ears and don't listen; you would get pretty annoyed and think I wasn't reasonable right? Which is why I like to separate the two. I have always had a thing for sports journalism (see my role on my high school newspaper to know this isn't just some out-of-left-field comment) and I've always had a thing about being a fan, I just like to do my best to keep them separate. See, I wanted UA to win the National Championship and picked them to do so in every single bracket I filled out, but I also talked with others about not feeling like UA was quite good enough to be championship caliber and hoped that they would at least get to the Final Four (didn't happen). With my two aforementioned UNC buddies (note the satire), this conversation would have never been possible. You see, according to them, the last two years UNC has had the best basketball team the world has ever seen. Granted, they did win the National Championship, but this started WAY before that (and to be fair: I gave them the props they deserved on 04 April). Every single loss had a tired excuse, every comment (aka "I'm in jail") was unfairly spun by the media, every clock malfunction (even the one in the Michigan St.-Duke game) was somehow an effort to let Duke win and have UNC lose. Even the second round loss to Texas last year was somehow a good showing by UNC, despite the fact that I was told all year UNC could and would be anyone. You see Chops, I have no problem with people being fans and cheering and hoping your team will do anything you want it to do, but I do have a problem with unreasonable people that think if they yell loud enough or act naive enough then they will be "right." I could go on longer but I don't want this to turn from a weblog to a webnovel (bnovel doesn't have the same ring as blog anyway).
As for your "rational fans cheer for good teams," I hope so much that that was a failed attempt at humor and nothing more.
Also, I'm not "playing both sides of the coin." All year I thought New England was good enough to beat Indy (and predicted it as well), and as a fan of cheering against Peyton, I was firmly on the NE side of things back in January (Want proof? Ask anyone that knows me even a little bit.) Sometimes my objective side lines up with my subjective side, sometimes not: it's all in how the cookie crumbles.
Finally, your comment about cheering for teams versus cheering for individuals is quite possibly the worst statement I've ever heard from anyone regarding anything that is sport (including what I've heard from girls). Have you ever heard of a thing called pride? Not that negative hubris pride but that "I live in America so I'm going to support my country and my troops" sort of pride. You pick an entity and follow it because of pride Blake. This pride can come from anywhere (parents, alma-matter, living in the state, someone you know socialized you, etc.), but the fact remains that it must be there. There is one person I have ever cheered for (MJ), everything else has been T-E-A-M.
(I honestly feel like I'm at a loss for words on how to describe this; it's like having a little kid tell you that he doesn't believe grass is green and trying to prove to him that it is.)
Of course I cheer for teams Blake, because I'm a fan of the whole being bigger than any one piece. Jack Parkman might get traded to the White Sox, but you know that unless Rachel Phelps gets her way the Indians will always be from Cleveland (and Cleveland [NFL] and Charlotte [NBA] proved you can get them back if you care anyway). John Elway might play 16 years and have a great career, but it's awesome to know that the Broncos will go on, even when he doesn't. Cheering for a team unites one with another. Go to any game in person to see what I mean (especially if it's a big one); you'll probably end up high-fiving and/or hugging a complete stranger. Being a fan of the whole also gives a sense of belonging, almost like you are interwoven with the organization, an actual part of the whole (something which cannot be felt by idolizing a mere individual). It makes you feel like you actually are a part of the team, like your being a fan might actually have made some sort of difference. This may sound weak in print but emotions were never meant to be read anyway, there are words for that; emotions are to be felt.
I may want to play like A-Rod, but I don't want to cheer for the M's for a few years, then the Rangers, and now the Yankees (although I do remember you saying you're a Yankees fan, so this all is making at least a little more sense to me now....). Nobody likes someone that jumps ship. People like something they can depend on to be the same now and always. The bad times suck (see my life as a Rockies fan), but the good times are amazing (Click Here to see how it feels when your TEAM finally comes out on top). In fact, I'm moving that link to the top of this post, and with it I shall be done.
--END--
*NOTE: The second half of this post deals with Blake's claim that it's better to value the individual and not the whole (I know that may be better in dealing with capitalism vs. communism, but the Cold War is over buddy). If you don't feel like reading all of it, I've moved a link I talk about below to the top for the sake of convenience. It's from Dan Findlay's blog after UNC won the NCAA Championship. Click Here to read it and skip all of my boring blabbing.
Firstly, I would like to begin by expressing my anger. I had a long response typed under my "comments" box in the original post, but because of it's length I decided to turn it into it's own post. However, in copying and pasting it over somehow the comment became lost in the exchange and I'm forced to try to recreate what I already had (that's like trying to reinact anything MJ ever did, the feeling when one of your teams wins a championship [think Avalanche Stanley Cup here], any Duke loss ever, or that feeling I'll probably have when I become a dad someday: it's just not happening.). Anyway, here is my best attempt.
Chops (pelegray), I must first say that no, I never said I thought they would win, instead that I thought they could and wanted them to. Next, I must assume that (based off of your comment) you know between nothing and absolutely nothing about being a fan and also being a rational, functional human being capable of interaction with other human beings of such likeness. Now, I'm not saying you can't be one or the other at any given time, but after that comment I am convinced that there is no way you can be both at the same time.
You know "that guy" - the one who loves his team and will yell about them all night long, but then does the whole proverbial "cover your ears and start screaming 'la la la la la' when anyone tries to have an actual discussion of any sort of merit about 'that guy's' team?" Well, I know two of those guys (Kellen Gustavson, Mike Pacini: UNC basketball), and they drive me absolutely crazy in this regard. See, I'm all about being a fan. As a fan, I hope the Nuggets beat SA 4-0, Phoenix 4-0, Seattle 4-0, and Miami/Detroit 4-0 en route to Denver's first professional basketball championship. Do you know what else I want? I want the Rockies to go 162-0, beat the Braves 3-0, the Cardinals 4-0, and the Yankees 4-0 to win the World Series. (We're not done yet.) I want the Broncos to go 16-0, then steamroll their way through the playoffs and win the Super Bowl for the third time. (One more still Chops). Finally, I want the NHL to come back so the Avalanche can go 82-0 before completing Lord Stanley's quest 16-0 and bring back the Cup for a third time. And those are just my pro teams....
Do you see how unreasonable that is? Now add in that annoyance factor where everytime you criticize or bring up a weak point or fault in my team, I just plug my ears and don't listen; you would get pretty annoyed and think I wasn't reasonable right? Which is why I like to separate the two. I have always had a thing for sports journalism (see my role on my high school newspaper to know this isn't just some out-of-left-field comment) and I've always had a thing about being a fan, I just like to do my best to keep them separate. See, I wanted UA to win the National Championship and picked them to do so in every single bracket I filled out, but I also talked with others about not feeling like UA was quite good enough to be championship caliber and hoped that they would at least get to the Final Four (didn't happen). With my two aforementioned UNC buddies (note the satire), this conversation would have never been possible. You see, according to them, the last two years UNC has had the best basketball team the world has ever seen. Granted, they did win the National Championship, but this started WAY before that (and to be fair: I gave them the props they deserved on 04 April). Every single loss had a tired excuse, every comment (aka "I'm in jail") was unfairly spun by the media, every clock malfunction (even the one in the Michigan St.-Duke game) was somehow an effort to let Duke win and have UNC lose. Even the second round loss to Texas last year was somehow a good showing by UNC, despite the fact that I was told all year UNC could and would be anyone. You see Chops, I have no problem with people being fans and cheering and hoping your team will do anything you want it to do, but I do have a problem with unreasonable people that think if they yell loud enough or act naive enough then they will be "right." I could go on longer but I don't want this to turn from a weblog to a webnovel (bnovel doesn't have the same ring as blog anyway).
As for your "rational fans cheer for good teams," I hope so much that that was a failed attempt at humor and nothing more.
Also, I'm not "playing both sides of the coin." All year I thought New England was good enough to beat Indy (and predicted it as well), and as a fan of cheering against Peyton, I was firmly on the NE side of things back in January (Want proof? Ask anyone that knows me even a little bit.) Sometimes my objective side lines up with my subjective side, sometimes not: it's all in how the cookie crumbles.
Finally, your comment about cheering for teams versus cheering for individuals is quite possibly the worst statement I've ever heard from anyone regarding anything that is sport (including what I've heard from girls). Have you ever heard of a thing called pride? Not that negative hubris pride but that "I live in America so I'm going to support my country and my troops" sort of pride. You pick an entity and follow it because of pride Blake. This pride can come from anywhere (parents, alma-matter, living in the state, someone you know socialized you, etc.), but the fact remains that it must be there. There is one person I have ever cheered for (MJ), everything else has been T-E-A-M.
(I honestly feel like I'm at a loss for words on how to describe this; it's like having a little kid tell you that he doesn't believe grass is green and trying to prove to him that it is.)
Of course I cheer for teams Blake, because I'm a fan of the whole being bigger than any one piece. Jack Parkman might get traded to the White Sox, but you know that unless Rachel Phelps gets her way the Indians will always be from Cleveland (and Cleveland [NFL] and Charlotte [NBA] proved you can get them back if you care anyway). John Elway might play 16 years and have a great career, but it's awesome to know that the Broncos will go on, even when he doesn't. Cheering for a team unites one with another. Go to any game in person to see what I mean (especially if it's a big one); you'll probably end up high-fiving and/or hugging a complete stranger. Being a fan of the whole also gives a sense of belonging, almost like you are interwoven with the organization, an actual part of the whole (something which cannot be felt by idolizing a mere individual). It makes you feel like you actually are a part of the team, like your being a fan might actually have made some sort of difference. This may sound weak in print but emotions were never meant to be read anyway, there are words for that; emotions are to be felt.
I may want to play like A-Rod, but I don't want to cheer for the M's for a few years, then the Rangers, and now the Yankees (although I do remember you saying you're a Yankees fan, so this all is making at least a little more sense to me now....). Nobody likes someone that jumps ship. People like something they can depend on to be the same now and always. The bad times suck (see my life as a Rockies fan), but the good times are amazing (Click Here to see how it feels when your TEAM finally comes out on top). In fact, I'm moving that link to the top of this post, and with it I shall be done.
--END--
Friday, April 29, 2005
QOTD
"I wonder if guys wore makeup if I'd be a lot more gorgeous." --My roommate Evan (does this come as a surprise to anyone?), thinking aloud to me the other day.
The worst part? He wasn't joking.
At all.
The worst part? He wasn't joking.
At all.
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