Category: General Sports

By Ryan McGowan

Who would have thought they’d live long enough to see it?

I’m not talking about the Red Sox winning the World Series.  I’m not talking about the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, once an unthinkable concept that never crossed our minds during the Tony Eason/Hart Lee Dykes/Zeke Mowatt era of the Patriots in which I grew up.  I’m certainly not talking about the Patriots winning three out of four Super Bowls, which during my high school years in the mid-90’s seemed about as likely as my chances of getting with Tiffany Amber-Thiessen.  

I don’t know where to begin.

For the last year, the impossible has been done time after time.

A very sobering thought occurred to me on the day following the dismantling of the modern day steel curtain in Pittsburgh. I was trash-talking my friend Nate, a Philadelphia native, who was telling me all of the different reasons that the Eagles will have a chance to dethrone the Pats in Jacksonville in Super Bowl XXXIX. I sat there, patiently listening to his arguments, and then responded to him, “Yeah, but the Patriots will still win.”  

At this very moment, a harsh reality hit me: I had become a Yankee fan.

The San Francisco 49ers lose again.  If losing 14 games, a head coach, and a general manager was not enough, the Niners have now learned that they will lose the chance to draft USC quarterback Matt Leinart because the Heisman winning QB will return to play for the Trojans next year.  While Leinart’s decision to return to Southern Cal for his senior year might come as a surprising choice, it also happens to be a satisfying choice, especially to the Trojan faithful.  Opting to turn down the NFL and the opportunity to be the overall number one pick in the upcoming draft must have been an arduous decision.  
But it was a good decision.  The right decision.  

Gather `round the fire, kids, it’s time for a story.  About eight years ago I was studying abroad when a friend of mine, Ben Insel, told me rather nonchalantly that he was going to kick his nasty smoking habit.  Given how hard quitting is, especially with the inherent pressures in a culture that worships tobacco, I didn’t believe Ben for a second.  Later, when talking to some friends about some of the Americans in school who had taken up smoking during the year I listed Ben, to which my friends said “Ben quit.” For the next month I never saw a cigarette in Ben’s mouth and eventually began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, I had underestimated the strength of my friend’s will.  Of course the second that happened I walked outside and saw Ben hanging out with the Marlboro Man.

This past Sunday morning, the NFL has lost one it’s greatest alumni. Reggie White, who played for a total of fifteen years with the Eagles, Packers, and Panthers; passed away from an apparent heart attack at just forty-three years of age. The “Minister of Defense” truly lived up to his calling both in the ministry and on the football field. His legacy will live on both as a servant of the Lord, and one of the NFL’s all-time greats.

They are anonymous.  Their faces are unfamiliar.  Their teams are not national powerhouses.  No major bowl games, no major fan fare.  Their names might as well be John Doe.  One of them is Mean and Green.  Another is a Blazer, and the third is simply a Falcon.  Regrettably, Jamario Thomas, Roddy White, and Omar Jacobs are the three best college football players you have never seen play.  

The BCS Playoff system is ridiculous.  First of all, you have to have degrees in mathematics, statistics, and rocket science just to understand the ranking system.  If you’re like me you’ve given up on totally understanding the system.  That aside, what upsets me is the Bowl Selection process and ultimately how the champion of college football is determined.  Granted, USC and OU are going to play a dynamite Orange Bowl game that lives up to all of the hype that surrounds it.  But at the end of the day, will that ultimately determine who the best team in college football is?  I don’t think anybody at Auburn thinks it does.  Furthermore, by some miracle Texas is playing Michigan in the Rose Bowl instead of Cal, this marks the first time since 1919 that there was not a west coast team in the Rose Bowl.  Understandably, Auburn and Cal are upset, and they’re right to gripe.

Yes, it is I, Alex Fitzsimmons, and yes, I know I haven’t contributed to this site in a while, you know how it is. But I’m happy to say the A man is back and better than ever. So enjoy, and I know you will.

Throughout the many years organized sports have existed, there have been many ups and downs. Struggles through cheating, betting, lying and deceiving have haunted the lives of the athletes as well as fans. There have been several dark ages in sports history. Many liars, many cheaters and many deceivers have plagued the world of sports since the beginning of time. In my short existence on this earth, 15 years, I have already been exposed to so many acts of deceit. I may not know what has happened in the past, but I certainly know what has transpired recently, and I am definitely not impressed.

God help us if this happened…