Bread and Circuses

I don’t ask for much, but I wish that…..

Sometime in this lifetime I get the song from the Ipod Nano commercial out of my head. Altogether now…1,2,3,4…

http://www.listentofeist.com/

Fans of big time college sports read the writings of William Dowling (even though his recent comments about athletes at Rutgers used ill-advised language)

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~wcd/message.htm

The Phillies make the playoffs. Not because I don’t like the Mets but because Philadelphia has fought so hard to get there, and because Jimmy Rollins may be both the MVP of the NL and the most over-publicized superstar in baseball.

Baseball would get control of its umpires. The language used by Mike Winters in baiting San Diego Padres outfielder Milton Bradley into a confrontation is not uncommon. More and more umpires interject themselves into the game with chip on the shoulder attitudes. Easy rule to remember about umpires. If you know their name, they aren’t any good at their job.

A permanent vacation for Joey Crawford from officiating in the NBA. How much credibility does he have left after his confrontation with Tim Duncan last season? There are no promises of second chances when you affect the integrity of the game. Crawford did.

A Stanley Cup in Montreal. I suspect the team’s owners have figured out they can sell out their new arena without putting a championship caliber team on the ice. But, that uniform and the Canadiens name still means something thanks to guys like Jean Beliveau, Serge Savard, Ken Dryden, and Patrick Roy. Ownership owes it to them and the fans in Montreal to get serious and getting moving in some discernable direction.

A great team in the NFL. Is there one? One roster you’d put on the field against the great old Steeler teams and feel like they can stand in for sixty minutes? The Patriots? Even before the spying charges it felt like they were not great, but consistently very good. Away with parity, give me back the glory that was the NFL.

Another Gale Sayers or Barry Sanders. The long bomb is fine, but give me a broken field 40 yard touchdown run over a sixty yard pass play any day. Sayers and Sanders scared defenders so bad they looked tentative trying to tackle them. When a player like that comes along, enjoy it. They don’t last.

More interviews like the one backup US Women’s Soccer goalie Hope Solo gave after her team lost 4-0 in the first game she didn’t start. When a coach yanks the goalie a team road to the semi-finals for some reason other than performance they are open to criticism. Maybe it was bad form for Solo to say the game would have turned out differently with her in goal, but would you rather she mouthed the usual platitudes? We get bored with cookie cutter players and then rake them over the coals if they actually say something.

A quick start to the NBA season. Don’t know why, but I’m ready. It seems like a year since the finals. Alot of new blood in the league, like Kevin Durant. Should be fun.

One last thing. That someone please, make the IPOD nano song get out of my head.

1,2,3,4…

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