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Thursday, February 06, 2003
I continue to struggle putting together fantasy preview related stuff for the upcoming baseball season for a variety of reasons. Of course, things might be much easier if this happened.
posted at 1:23 AM
It was a great night for the old alma mater. I did get to watch the surprise whipping of Indiana to end a ridiculous 26-game losing streak. Gotta thank the new CSS sports network for picking up lots of the ESPN Plus package, although they've got lots of time to fill -- a 30-minute show on Lee University basketball was on right after that.
As for the football team, I guess they did well with their 2003 recruiting class. I've never been a huge fan of recruiting -- at least not the huge fervor for it I see down here. It probably has something to do with my high school not having football and Northwestern only being, at best, middle of the pack in the Big Ten for a variety of reasons.
I can understand keeping a close eye on your team and filling needs, and maybe checking up on some rivals, but sometimes I wonder if these fans that follow recruiting (especially in October and November) care enough about the games on the field during the season. Winning on paper to them seems more interesting than winning on the field. I sometimes wonder about it among coaches as well, but I suppose you can never recruit too early. Plus, there's this creepy aspect of adults keeping waaay too close tabs on the often fickle minds of 17-, 18- and 19-year-olds. Sure many of these kids are talented, but come on, think of how confusing and overwhelming this stuff is. And yet a lot of the "experts" are on top of these kids figuring out what they want to do with their lives.
What makes things even more disturbing is what type of crowd shows up on signing day announcing the new recruits. Many schools schedule the announcements in the evening to get everything together, and possibly to wait for fans to come home from their day jobs to celebrate. Over at Georgia, all of the festivities took place during late morning/early afternoon. This wasn't to appease the students, who I'm sure are interested but won't likely come out in huge droves for something like this. Hey 'Dawg fans, y'all got jobs?
With all of the attention on recruiting at some of the bigger schools, it creates some great expectations for the players and the program. While that's a good sign, it also makes potential failure that much worse. It sometimes seems like the Maurice Claretts of the world are actually the minority when it comes to highly touted recruits. Some players would have to win the Ron Powlus/Beano Cook three Heisman Trophies to be considered a success. At the same time, fans end up embracing some walk-on who emerges as a star player, so it's all over the place.
posted at 1:19 AM
I'll be up in Chattanooga this weekend (again) for NAQT Sectionals, most likely, and Dwight has a great primer on moderating -- of which I follow about half the rules. Although I think I do a decent enough job -- at least to be requested by some of the contending teams to read the Division 1 finals the past couple of years.
posted at 1:00 AM
Sunday, February 02, 2003
Stick to your, um, day job?
I've been getting used to Tony Schiavone doing postgame shows for the Braves and Hawks, despite always thinking of him calling for Goldberg or the Four Horsemen or anything else from his days at WCW. I didn't realize he was still in wrestling, as seen by this hilarious photo (he's on the left next to Vince Russo and, I guess, Raven). And you wonder why I won't bother paying the money to watch NWA-TNA on pay-per-view.
posted at 8:52 PM
Why do I keep on watching?
After all of the A-list talent at the Super Bowl, and the decent second-tier talent at the conference championship games, the Pro Bowl features a halftime performance by Jennifer Love Hewitt??? I'm not sure what to make of the fact that she now looks a lot like Sabrina Lloyd from "Sports Night" and "Ed." As for what she was singing, I haven't a clue, since I was listening to this song on the MP3 player.
posted at 7:30 PM
All-Star shenanigans
Well, I think I've just seen the greatest moment in Pro Bowl history. Nope, no big pass play or vicious tackle. Instead, Peyton Manning using the word "idiot" about four times (according to Dan Fouts) responding to Mike Vanderjagt's comments about the Colts' lack of passion. Nice to see Manning not play diplomat or anything, instead just absoultely ripping Vanderjagt for "getting liquored up and going on some show" to criticize the team. "Too bad, he's a very good kicker. He's given all kickers a bad name for a long time." In the midst of that truly excellent diatribe, Travis Henry scored a touchdown. That barely warranted a mention. Ah, the Pro Bowl.
On the other hand, it was a treat seeing Dany Heatley's breakthrough performance at the All-Star Game. Having Jaromir Jagr as a linemate doesn't hurt. But what seemed to be the case until recently, Heatley's team lost despite the heroics. I've come to think that the NHL All-Star Game keeps rising up the list as the most interesting All-Star Game. Setting off one period each for the goalies gives each of those players a nice set time frame to do their work (although it's usually ducking for cover with all of the shots). All of the other players can get a solid amount of work because of the rotation of lines. There may be little checking or penalties, but that probably helps the flow of the games. Plus, they are plans in place in case of a tie -- although in the case of the NHL, what's wrong with having a tie at the All-Star Game?
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