Sportscolumn - Stories by bsd987

[Other Sports] The True Villain

Eight Belles wasn't the only sign of death on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Horse racing will die too, at least in the United States. It must. I don't want to say it and it hurts, but there seems to be no other alternative right now.

Sure, there are solutions, fixes if you will, but nobody is going to listen; nobody, that is, with the power to listen.

[Journals] No Need to Make a Splash

The next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons lies in Emmitt Thomas. So what if he's 64? The players want to play for him. And in my decade of being a fan, there has NEVER been a coach before that the Falcons wanted to play for.

Look at the Miami Dolphins: in 2004 they wanted to play for Jim Bates, even beating the New England Patriots in a remarkable comeback. But instead they hired Nick Saban and look where they are three years later?

Even if you only get three years out of Thomas, you're going to get three years of tough, grind-it-out football, the type of football that no previous coach had been able to motivate the Falcons to play. Thomas is the right choice and should be offered the job. That's my two cents.

[College] One Shining Moment (The Football Version)

Rarely is there a moment that everyone watching hopes will never end.

Of course, there was Muhammad Ali lighting the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Games; there was Jack Nicklaus walking up 18 at Augusta in 2005 for the final time; there was the tiebreaker between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe in 1980. Ali was moving, Nicklaus was cyclical, and Borg-McEnroe, well, you didn't care who won, so long as the tiebreak went on forever.

[College] The First Annual Burton DeWitt College Football Awards (with corporate sponsors!)

Instead of wasting print space writing a super introduction, I'm going to go straight into the first annual Geico Burton DeWitt College Football Awards presented by State Farm underwritten by Prudential. And trust me, these awards mean a lot.

[College] Franchione deserved worse

As expected, Dennis Franchione stepped down Friday night after Texas A&M's regular season finale, a 38-30 upset of the rival Texas Longhorns. But before he did, he made sure that anyone who had not been paying attention knew that he was still the biggest scumbag in collegiate athletics since Dave Bliss.

Franchione was approached by ABC camera crews right after the conclusion of the game and was asked a few questions. His response to the final question was anything but shocking.

[Other Sports] An Essay of Sorts on Why I'm Entirely Responsible for the Success and Failures of my Team

If I'm to believe a recent survey, and I'm not, then 20 percent of sports fans believe that their actions influence their team's performance. Do you know how silly that sounds? One-in-five think that they have an impact on the game?

Firstly, only one-in-five admits this; I know an additional one-in-five are too embarrassed about it and another one-in-five can't mention it because speaking about it would jinx their team. And secondly, we don't think that we alter the event; we know it.

[NFL] Roger Goodell's Failure

Roger Goodell sent a message Thursday: if you get in trouble off the field, pray that the New York Post isn't delivered to NFL offices; if you are caught cheating during a game, eh, no biggie.

Allegations arose Monday that the New England Patriots, winners of three of the last six Super Bowls, had been caught videotaping New York Jets' defensive signals during the Patriots' 38-14 win Sunday afternoon. After confiscating the tapes and issuing a private investigation, Goodell confirmed that the allegations were true.

[Other Sports] 25 Most Surprising Sporting Occurrences of the Last 25 Years

Before you look to see "Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32" on this list, let me state that I predicted Michigan to win by 10 (41-31) in a game that I believed the Mountaineers to have a tremendous opportunity to win if Michigan came out flat. I didn't think they would win, but I was by no means totally surprised. I was surprised, but not overwhelmed.

I saw weakness in the Michigan defense and I knew that Appalachian State had a D-1-caliber offense. The only thing that surprised me was how well the Appalachian State defense held up for most of the game.

That said, here are the 25 most surprising sporting occurrences of the last 25 years according to me.

Oh, by the way, I was wearing my Appalachian State shirt during the game at the official Ohio State alumni bar of Houston. A lot of people offered to buy me a drink after the game.

[Journals] ESPN's best college football rivalries

This was from 2006, but I just saw it for the first time.

It might have been the most embarrassing list ESPN has ever made. Many of the rivalries in the top 10 weren't even the best rivalry involving those teams.

Florida-Georgia
Lehigh-Lafayette
Grambling-Southern
Harvard-Yale
USC-Notre Dame
Texas-Oklahoma
Miami-Florida State
Army-Navy
Michigan-Ohio State
Alabama-Auburn
Florida-Georgia

Florida's biggest rival is Florida State; Georgia's is Auburn. How do neither of those get on this list while this one does? This one truly makes no sense.

9. Lehigh-Lafayette
Okay, they've played more than anyone else, but there are 50 better rivalries. This is just a "We're smarter than you" pick.

8. Grambling-Southern
I actually agree with this pick; go figure.

7. Harvard-Yale
This one is way too low.

6. USC-Notre Dame
This is more of a "2005 they played a great game" pick. Yes, it's a huge rivalry, but Notre Dame-Michigan is bigger and USC-UCLA is at least comparable.

5. Texas-Oklahoma
Yes, this should be here.

4. Miami-Florida State
What?!? This is the worst selection by far. Florida was Miami's biggest rival until the end of the 1980s and Miami has NEVER been the most important game to Florida State. NEVER! FSU fans would rather go 1-11 and beat Florida while Miami wins the title than go 6-6 and lose to Florida like Florida did last year. This is a joke. I don't get this one at all. Pure bullshit.

3. Army-Navy
How this is not #1 is beyond me.

2. Michigan-Ohio State
At least they had the balls not to put this or Army-Navy at #1.

1. Auburn-Alabama
Because this game has little impact outside of Alabama, we forget how great this rivalry truly is. Honestly, I have no objections to this being number, although I personally would have it #3.

[College] Disorder, South Carolina

Steve Spurrier should have been fired. Immediately. Without pay. You would have been if it were you.

Yet Spurrier, who in his elevated god-like status in the SEC, is somehow above the law. Spurrier can come out and speak out in public against the policies of his school and threaten to leave if they're not changed, and his boss changes the policies to placate him.