The Sports Rumors

You Might Not Want to Read This if You’re a Dallas Fan

My intentions were to write this piece yesterday, but I obviously didn’t get around to doing so. I wanted to hit on a few topics and throw my valuable two cents out there, starting with this past weekend’s dvisional round of the playoffs.

The Patriots won’t, can’t, be stopped. The Jaguars put everything they had out there and Tom Brady responded by going a nearly perfect 26-28. I’m not going to harp on this too long and I’ll leave it at this; The Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl by double figures.

For all the love Ladanian Tomlinson gets for being a team player and being focused and devoted to the success of the team, he sure didn’t look like he was really interested in what was going on in the third quarter when he was seeing laughing and joking with a buddy on the sideline. I would have much rather seen him hanging around the coaches and watching the game with some interest. His team was losing at that point; it wasn’t like they were up 20.

While I’m on the topic of LT, I wanted to get another thing off my chest. Last year, he whined like a pansy about how the Patriots showed “no class” by dancing on the field after beating the Chargers. He went on to say that it was a reflection of their head coach. Well, LT, your team puts itself out there to be ridiculed and mocked the way they dance and celebrate after every god damned play, including yourself at times. Luis Castillo and Shaun Phillips go out of their way to do ridiculous, and unpleasant to the eye, dances. No one wants to see two fat asses dancing jiggling on the field after stopping a runningback for a one yard gain. And don’t get me started on Philip Rivers and the amount of trash talking he does considering he’s an average, at best, quarterback. If you’re going to go out there and dance and celebrate like idiots after every play, then don’t whine to the media when you get stomped by New England next week and they mock your absurd and unnecessary shows of celebration.

The legend of Brett Favre continues. I can sit here today and admit that I was 100% wrong in the offseason to say that he should have retired. I now have come around to agree that Brett should retire whenever he wants to. He has earned it. The level he has that young team playing at, along with himself, is nothing short of remarkable. I don’t think the game against the Giants next weekend will be close, despite the Giants amazing road record. I have the Packers winning by a landslide, only to go on to lose to the Patriots. But if there is anything I’ve learned this season, it’s that you never know with Brett Favre. I wouldn’t be shocked if he somehow pulled the miraculous upset. I really wouldn’t.

Now to “America’s Team”. For a second straight year, the Dallas Cowboys choked in the playoffs. It would take an entire page to cover all of the subplots associated with this team, so I’ll just hit on the main ones. Tony Romo brought this on himself. Yes, he has the right to do whatever it is that he wants to do in his free time. Yes, he’s a grown man who can choose to spend time with whomever he pleases. But there are times where you have to look at all of the possible outcomes of your actions when you are affecting as many people as he does. You have to realize that fans have invested millions of dollars all season long for tickets, merchandise and other things related to the Cowboys. You have coaches, players, an owner, that have all put years worth of work in to get to this point. Your team is in the best position to get to the Super Bowl. Now, that being said, you know that your team struggled its final month going into the playoffs. You know that there are things that you need to improve on in order to ensure a successful run. A trip to F’ing Mexico can wait! A trip with a celebrity girlfriend who notifies all the tabloid magazines about her whereabouts before she even reaches there, CAN WAIT. Spending time with Joe Simpson and the rest of the strange Simpson family, CAN WAIT. You have an obligation to a team and a city that is paying you millions of dollars to win in the playoffs, not just the regular season. Make a wise decision, especially knowing how last year ended, and spend your free time studying a little harder so that you don’t play as terrible as you did on Sunday in the most important game of your career up to this point. Using your free time to better yourself shows maturity and devotion. Well, Tony Romo dug his own grave and now he can go party the rest of the damn year with whoever he wants. You know what separates the great ones from the fads? Dedication 365 days a year. You can’t convince me that Tony Romo is as dedicated to the Cowboys as he should be in order for them to win a title, even if you cry in a press conference about it.

Which leads me to Terrell Owens. I saw right through that press conference and you should too. I’m not buying this, “that’s my quarterback, that’s my teammate” garbage. If this was Chad Johnson or Reggie Wayne or someone, then yes. But I’m supposed to believe the words of a guy who has publically humiliated every single quarterback that he has played with since becoming a star? I’m supposed to believe the guy who upset Jerry Rice, the best receiver to play the game, because he ran his mouth too much and showed no respect for anyone…not even Rice himself?! Now he’s crying for Tony Romo?! Get the hell out of here. If there is a master of publicity stunts in this world, it’s Terrell Owens. No one even brought up Romo at that point in the press conference. He wasn’t even mentioned! And Owens just goes into this highly emotional state of defending his quarterback?! Please. You should cry about how you had zero second half catches and couldn’t shake single coverage instead of shedding tears and defending your Joe Namath-wannabe quarterback who was partying in Mexico when he should have been partying with his playbook.

One more thing I wanted to throw out about TO that I just remembered. He was talking about “losing as a team” after having a bad game himself. Funny that when he had that hell of a performance in the Super Bowl in which he caught 9 catches for 100 plus yards and lost, he didn’t find that the Eagles lost as a team. He found it necessary to call out McNabb for being tired. You think if he had 10 catches for 145 yards and 2 TD’s against New York and the Cowboys lost, he would still say “we lost as a team” with tears streaming down his face? I think not. I know not.

Deceitful Coaches, Badass Quarterbacks, and The Point of Power Rankings

Les Miles is a dirtbag. If you haven’t heard by now, there are reports that Les Miles is in contact with Michigan. What are they in contact about you wonder? Well it’s not about the weather, I can tell you that much. Now rewind a couple of weeks ago and think back to how Miles crucified Kirk Herbstreit for reporting that there were talks going on between Miles and Michigan. Then think about how Miles had that dramatic press conference and talked about how he’s not going anywhere. Then think about how he went on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio and adamantly denied any knowledge of talks by him or his people with Michigan. Now think back to last week and how he signed an extension to stay with LSU for years to come and a hefty pay raise. Now think about today, and how reports have surfaced that he was in contact with Michigan regarding the head coaching job last Friday. What a piece of scum he is, assuming these reports are true. I don’t understand how someone can have the spine or nerve to be able to stand up infront of not only his team, but the sports nation and deny something when they are speaking nothing but lies. I don’t understand. I know people do it; I don’t know how they can. Realize that college athletes are held by their teeth to their commitments. They can’t just hop around one school to another at will the way coaches can. The fact that a coach can sign an extension, and then the following week, consider another job and be allowed to take it is absurd. And for those of you who are screaming that Les Miles has a buyout clause for the Michigan job stated in his contract, save your breath. I know what a buyout and opt out clause is, and I know how it works. But don’t sit here and tell me that it is meant for leaving the very next week! IT’S BEEN LESS THAN 10 DAYS SINCE HE SIGNED THE EXTENSION! If he wasn’t sure about staying at LSU and passing on the Michigan job, he shouldn’t have signed the extension! I could go on and on about this and how I think Miles is a complete prick, but I won’t. He’s not worth my breath.

Tom Brady is one bad white boy. I have made it clear all year long that I absolutely hate the New England Patriots. I hate their head coach, and I hate everything about that team. But man, watching Sportscenter made me sit back and laugh because it showed a clip of Tom Brady getting into the endzone after a touchdown pass, standing directly in the face of Anthony Smith, and absolutely going OFF. A Steeler came from behind and shoved him and Brady got in his face too. The refs came to break it up and as Brady was going back to his sideline, he was still nodding his head, pointing, and talking some smack to the Steelers. You can’t ever convince me that Tom Brady is a pretty boy because no pretty boy would get in the face of Steelers when he’s by himself and mouth off like that. I hate Tom Brady a lot less because of the balls he showed Sunday. It was a badass moment, to the say the least.

Power Rankings are NOT pointless. I had a discussion with Colin, who often posts his opinions on this very website. The conversation started when I said, “Man, ESPN isn’t giving any love to Boston (Celtics) in the power rankings.” He has been a Garnett fan for years, and now, naturally is a Boston fan. He responded by saying how the power rankings mean nothing and are pointless. Then, much to my dismay, he text messages me while I was asleep at 12:18am with “Why are the power rankings worthless? Because Orlando lost to the Hawks tonight and the Suns lost to Miami.” After cleaning up the water that I spilled as I fumbled for my blackberry, nearly destroying it, I decided I would respond to him in the morning…which is what I’m doing right now.

The power rankings are not pointless. The whole reason they exist is because people look at teams’ records in various leagues and try to determine which team is the best. An NFL team that is 7-2 may not be better in the opinions of many than a team that is 6-3. We then argue and state reasons why the 6-3 team is better, eventually leading to a discussion about the entire league, which then leads to power rankings. Power rankings are not full proof. They do not mean that a team is now allowed lose a game here and there, especially in the NBA. I’ll talk specifically about the NBA. Yeah, Orlando is ranked ahead of Boston because they’ve played harder teams whereas Boston hasn’t played anyone yet. Okay, the Hawks beat the Magic last night. That will hurt them in the rankings and they will drop slightly. Yeah, the Heat beat the Suns for the first time in 4 years. That doesn’t mean the Heat are suddenly better than the Suns and should be ranked ahead of them in the power rankings. It’s an 82 game season and the power rankings are based on your resume; who have you beaten, who have you lost to, and whose resume is the best looking. It’s similar to college football rankings. So, my point is, power rankings are not pointless. They are there for people to debate, argue, and enjoy. They take a conversation that every sports fan has, and put it on a sports website essentially. At some point, Colin and I were going to talk about who the best teams in the league are anyway. The power rankings that are already posted just give our conversation a starting point. And according to my power rankings for latest arguments and debates, I sit comfortably at the 1 spot while Colin is eating my dust from the 2 spot.