Should I Watch NBC Sports

If ESPN actually scripted an action plan for how to deal with a potential story I would imagine that they would try to cover every angle including how to break into their regular programing (even though more of it is live today then ever before). While if they went thought this practice they might have made a list of potential big events, they would have been hard pressed to predict that two crazy brothers would plant bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

With all that said, one thing they could have planned for was a male athlete in one of the "big 4" sports (football, baseball, hockey and basketball) would come out to the world as a gay man. In fact even if this didn't make their list, it's been talked about so much in the past year that somebody would have surely added it on there. And even if that didn't register, surely when they "broke the news" that Baylor basketball player Brittney Griner came out as a lesbian somebody would have gone over to the other side of Mel Kipper's draft board and jotted down a note.

If you answered yes to any of the above questions. you'd be dead wrong. When the news broke late Monday morning that NBA free agent, Jason Collins wrote a first hand message that he was coming out in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, ESPN was in the middle of a programing block. A LIVE programing block. LIVE as in, we could break in at any time simply by handing our anchors a piece of paper with a note on it. But they chose to hold back. While the rest of the known universe was on Twitter and even FOX News learning about the details and reading the article. ESPN was debating how to break the story.

They did finally say something 2.5 hours later by opening up the Outside the Lines show with the story. Then things took a turn for the worse. The show brought on NBA commentator, Chris Broussard. The interview started with the basics but with a few minutes left to go, Broussard was asked what HE thought of the announcement. Completely forgetting that he is paid to be a commentator about the NBA and not religion or other sentiments that should be left outside of the office, he launched into a diatribe about how he's a "christian" (I choose to use lower case here because he doesn't deserve capitalization) and how Collins is "living a life of sin".

For his efforts, Mr. Broussard is yet to be suspended for his hate speech. In fact ESPN management has come out and said they support his comments and he was asked for his opinion. Um..yeah....his opinion about how Collins will be viewed by other players and his future in the league, not his thoughts on the Bible. Tell you what....I don't like the fact that Mr. Broussard eats pork. That's a sin in the Bible, how come nobody comes down on him for that?

A few years back, Tony Kornheiser made a comment on his ESPN radio show about the outfit that a female Sports Center anchor was wearing. He said her red go-go boots and short skit took attention away from the stories she was reporting. He was 100% correct and he got a suspension for it. Mr Broussard goes on a hate filled rant and tries to use religion as a defense and gets the support of ESPN Brass. As it has been said, "That's a Paddlin'."

ESPN has proven over the last 5 years or so of being less and less relevant in the sports world. Their flagship program, Sports Center, spends more time playing compilation highlights to music then they do showing you what happened in the game. Every anchor now has to have a catch phrase and many of them are contrived and offer no humor or value. Many more of us (myself included) are getting our sports elsewhere. Speaking for myself, I watch MLB Network when I want baseball highlights and follow Twitter when I want info on pretty much anything else.

Things That Are On My Nerves

There will most likely be more but chew on these for a while: (in no particular order)

1) Facebook friends who have decided that every post is going to be an obscure reference or quote that is clearly not their original work but they can’t be bothered to reference it

2) My Computer which has decided to alternate between slow and “F-U...I’m not working any more)

3) The Democratic Party. It’s a nationally televised healthcare conference hosted by the President. Get your s#$%t together and be on the same page. If you can’t handle that then you don’t get to come.

4) The Republican Party. I don’t care if you don’t like the President’s plan. If you don’t come with one of your own and facts to back it up you don’t get to come and get your face-time in. If you don’t like it then give up your (personal) healthcare plan until you can get something passed for the public.

5) ESPN. You can’t suspend Mr. Tony. Hanna Storm (pictured) does look like a mix between a well dressed call girl and a reject from an American anime movie. He hit the nail on the head.

6) The fact that even though it’s 20 degrees outside I have to run the air conditioner in my office to avoid heat stroke

Gold....Wow! Also...That’s a Sport?

The US Men’s Olympic Basketball team won the gold medal in Beijing the other day. WOW! What an amazing accomplishment...you mean to say that our professional players who play in the top league in the world with the best players in it, who make the most money, beat the professionals from other countries who maybe only sport one or two NBA players on their rosters. Wow we are sooo good. I can’t believe we pulled it off.

To hear the pontificators and sportscasters tell the story (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports) we should be in shock that the best players in the world beat everybody else! Not only that but the nice folks at Sports Center (including Stuart “please stop talking like you’re a 20 year old hip-hopper” Stuart) kept using the phrasing “our first gold medal in 8 years.” Really? The USA has gone eight years without winning a gold medal? Is it perhaps because the summer Olympics are held ONCE EVERY 4 YEARS!! Hey idiots, that means that we’ve only Not Won gold once in that period. Get it straight, we’ve not claimed the top title in Olympic (not world) basketball just once, not 8 straight years! It’s the kind of Tony Kornheiser moment when I start screaming at my TV.

This reminds me, if we are so good at Basketball, why is it still an Olympic sport? The IOC is canceling baseball and softball because of US dominance (we didn’t win gold in either this year!) so why not cancel basketball. Well the answer is simple; the IOC is composed mainly of Europeans who are great at basketball but awful at baseball/softball so we’ll just cancel them. And with a few sports being canceled, the agenda opens up a few slots for some new sports like BMX bicycling. Huh? BMX...you mean like in the “X-Games”?

I’m sorry but I saw the gold medal races for both the Men and the Women and all I was rooting for was for everybody to fall at once (almost happened in the Men’s race). This should not be an Olympic sport. Of course there are other sports that have medals awarded that deserve to be dropped quicker then 4^th period math.

Synchronized Swimming and Rhythmic Gymnastics: These don’t really need much explanation. They are dancing in the water and on a gym mat. Either let Ballroom Dancing in or kick them all out...no major athletic talent needed...just dance your ass off.

Race Walking: Um....Walking is a sport? Look 50 kilometers is a long distance (31 miles) and to do it in roughly 3 and half hours is very fast but it’s still WALKING!!

Trampoline: I don’t care what you say about power, grace, beauty, it’s jumping up and down on a trampoline. Anything you can do in your backyard should not be an Olympic sport. And why the hell is this not part of the “gymnastics” category? Who sat down and decided that it should be its own sport? Hopefully the shooting range will cause a stray that veers into this person’s hotel room.

But not to make you think that I have negative feelings about everything that transpired in Beijing. I liked some of the things I saw including the Men’s marathon on Saturday night which produced an Olympic Record or my favorite moment of these games, the Cuban Taekwondo competitor kicking the judge in the face (see video!)

Until London (4 years from now Stuart!!), Toodles!

Clayton County, Georgia Stirkes Again

Can they be this stupid down there? I know it's a rhetorical question and those of us outside of Gooberville, USA (this term btw doesn't apply to the rest of the Metro Atlanta area evidently) would think that the water company fiasco by Brother-In-Law was caught up in would be enough to make even the Duke boys blush.

But this cesspool of a county can't even pull their heads out of the dark and warm crevasse they are currently up to stop more people from realizing that the politicians and county leaders they elected are also inbreds and incapable of making a common-sense judgement.

Case in point: a snippet from the AP in today's Examiner:

Warden wants satellite TV to watch Monday Night Football
ATLANTA – The warden of the Clayton County Correctional Institution wants permission to spend money for a “management tool,” satellite TV to keep his 226 inmates occupied watching football.

Warden Frank Taylor is asking the Clayton County Commission to let him sign up for direct-broadcast satellite service for less than $100 a month. It would be funded with money collected at the prison’s commissary and pay phones. “The reason is ‘Monday Night Football’ is now on cable,” he said. “Although it might seem funny, when you have 90 percent of inmates watching something, it is a management tool or the institution.” – AP

Well excuse me Warden. I don't want the inmates WHO HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF CRIMES to be inconvenienced and maybe miss a MNF game. I mean they might riot if they are not allowed to stare longingly into Tony Kornheiser's eyes or orange dome. Oh and think of the shankings and forced sodomies if they miss Suzzy Kolber's insightful interviews of Joe Namith or some other drunk ex-player on the sidelines. Oh the humanity and Won't somebody think of the children!

Maybe I don't understand the situation. Oh wait, yes I do. They are inmates and are spending time in jail to be punished. They don't get Direct TV or Cable or Anything for that matter. They should be locked in their cells 20 hours a day and let out 3 hours a day for meals and 1 hour a day to shower. That's it. That's the List. To think that this dope, Frank Taylor, would have the balls to say, "Well it wouldn't cost much and we can take the money from our commissary sales (about $41,000 last year, give or take)" is outrageous. Perhaps the people of Clayton County might want some of that money. After all isn't the jail itself and the prisoners care paid for by tax dollars. Oh let's not take that money and put it into the schools or the roads or the WATER SYSTEM. Let's instead spend some of it to make our "guests" (prisoners) lives more comfortable.

We wouldn't want them to be inconvenienced by missing their favorite game. Which game on the schedule can they not live without? Is it this weeks match up of Tennessee at Denver which feature teams that have a number of current and soon to be convicts like Adam "Pacman" Jones and Travis "Smoke 'em if you got 'em" Henry. Or is it next week's battle of the winless Miami Dolphins vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers (I can't say anything bad about them because many of their players are on my fantasy team!). Oh I know, the "involuntary guests" (prisoners) must be chomping at the bit at the thought of missing the Week 14 matchup of the New Orleans Saints and their own Atlanta Falcons. Too bad your boy Mike "Mad Dog" Vick won't be suiting up for that one boys.

The citizens of Clayton County should storm the jail today and sting the warden up by his toes and hang him over the side of the building and then they should go into the prison and remove all modern conveniences and let these convicts really be punished. OR you could do your civic duty and call, write, or e-mail the Clayton County Chariman, Eldrin Bell to air your feelings. Don't worry if your not a constituent. Just say you are, they never check.

Address: 2600 Creek Indian Trail, Jonesboro, GA 30236
Home Phone: 770.960.7126
Work Phone: 770.472.8122
e-mail: eldrin.bell@co.clayton.ga.us

Happy Trails!