Redeye Update: 2/2/2009

1. Some people are going to take this as a sexist comment, but it's really not:  I'm sorry, but Pat Summit is just about the most unattractive person I have ever seen.  (The first is probably this female child I saw once when I was a kid sitting in the car waiting for my mom at H-E-B in Victoria.  She walked by and I actually gagged.  No kidding.  She was so ugly I referred to her as the Seventh Son.  Snake and Llogg, do y'all remember that?)  Don't get me wrong, it's not because Summit is a woman's basketball coach.  I happen to think Title IX was a great thing.  No, she's just mannish, yet, supposedly not a lesbian.  Hmmmm...not sure I'm buying that.  Anyway, with that stunt last season (or was it two seasons ago?) when she donned that cheerleader outfit during the Bruce Pearl love fest, bitch nearly ruined college cheerleaders for me.  I got no use for her; 1,000 victories or not.
2. I haven't weighed in at all on the inauguration or Obama's first days or any of that.  I think having an African American president, especially one with some Muslim heritage, is a significant milestone of maturity and tolerance in our country.  Honestly, it is shocking that we would elect someone to the highest office in the land with a name like Barack Hussein just a few years after the most heinous attack on our country in history by Islamic fundamentalist lunatics.  It gives me heart, though, because that means that people can read beyond the name and understand a bit more depth than I have traditionally given to the public at large.  The political divide is still alive and well, however, and conservatives and Republicans are still mouthing off on their ignorant and misguided (and failed) agendas.  What's really sad is that now they've gone and elected a black leader of the party.  What kind of political strategy is that?  Reminds me of that scene in 'O Brother Where Art Thou' when one of Pappy Lee O'Daniel's campaign advisors suggests they should get themselves a midget to prance around on stage just like their rival in the election has.  Do they seriously expect for this move to bring back the party?
3. The Super Bowl.  I hate professional football these days.  Too much mass marketing, too scrubbed and polished and scripted for my taste.  What are people cheering for, anyway?  A brand?  Some company's job is to field a football team and that team's sole value is as entertainment.  The team is just a product.  All of the hype and excitement is just marketing.  Why not root for Pepsi to beat Coke?  I've made these arguments before.  But, but, but, what I do like to see is that these players still want it.  They want to win.  They really want it.  So the playoff games, especially, are real.  The Super Bowl has been so overhyped and overproduced that I think it must be hard for the players to focus and play the actual game like it should be played.  Every now and then they manage it.  I didn't watch a second of the pre-game BS.  I watched a little of the first half and most of the second half and none of halftime.  I tried to treat it just like any other football game on a Sunday on my couch by myself.  No big "have-to" party or anything.  For me, it was just like any other game; except with better commercials.  I didn't really care who won.  My though process was that, on the one hand the Cardinals were the underdogs.  On the other hand, the Steelers had three former Longhorns (Limas Sweed, Casey Hampton and Tony Hills.  The Cards only had one - Lyle Sendlein - and a dude from my hometown of Victoria (Jerheme Urban).  Then again, he spells his name J-E-R-H-E-M-E.  So, I guess I wanted the Steelers to win.  The win put the Steelers ahead of the Cowboys for most all-time Super Bowl wins.  But, Jerry Jones.  So, Steelers, but I really didn't care.  It turned out to be a pretty good game.  The best part was the spectacular show put on by Larry Fitzgerald and Santonio Holmes (although I strongly disapprove of the name, Santonio).  It was a good game.  It's over.  I observed.  BFD.

Comments

[jerheme]

1. no comment

2. i think he's done a pretty good job so far. i still got the hope.

2.1. i think you're being too hard on the repubs regarding the black thing. it seems to me that they have hired/appointed more blacks in higher positions to date than the dems.

3. i haven't given a shit about pro sports for some time, but i was hoping for the cardinals to win 'cuz i admire kurt warner.

[Snake Diggity]

1. LMAO. Man, that memory was buried DEEP. Awesome.

2. Agree. You can't be johnny-come-lately with your midget.

3. Pro sports fans would argue that those franchises represent the cities. I've tried and tried and tried to hate Kurt Warner because he seems like a total Jesusdouche and his ugly wife seriously needs to be put in check, but the guy is all class.

[jerheme]

yeah, let me clarify: i'm not down with the j-dawg rant kw spews, but i am impressed that a guy would fall in love with an older woman with two children, one of whom has Downs.

[Ojo Rojo]

I have to say, though, the Brenda Warner of the Arizona Cardinals era is much improved over St. Louis Rams Brenda Warner. Looks-wise, that is. As a member of the public, perceiving an NFL quarterback's wife involves only a hotness assessment. Nothing more. I know nothing of her history, family or views. Kurt's either, for that matter.

[allbilly]

"Too much mass marketing, too scrubbed and polished and scripted for my taste. What are people cheering for, anyway? A brand? Some company's job is to field a football team and that team's sole value is as entertainment. The team is just a product. All of the hype and excitement is just marketing. Why not root for Pepsi to beat Coke?"

Kinda like Texas/OU????

[Ojo Rojo]

It seems like I make this argument every year, too. To the same person.

Unlike the pros, the sports teams in college are not businesses. The players aren't paid and many of them know that the collegiate field/court/pool will be their last organized sports of their lives. I'm not so naive to think that money has nothing to do with the college game, but for the players at least, it's at least one step removed. The universities the teams are a part of have sporting traditions that predate professional sports. The universities are tied to a geographical area, usually a state, and to specific social characteristics of the citizens of that state. The followers of UT are very discernable from those of A&M, for example. And between TX and OU the followers are even easier to tell apart. (The OU fans are the ones without any teeth.) The players at the schools come from the same geographical area that the school is located in, unlike the pros where the players come from anywhere and are selected in a slave auction, I mean draft. In the pros, the owners may not even be from the city in which their team plays (Jerry Jones, Bud Adams). The pro players have no history or ties to the city in which they play and have nothing in common with the fans. For the college teams, regular students go to classes with the athletes, walk the same halls, go to the same restaurants, breath the same air. And for the other fans and former students, they remember when they themselves did those things.

All I'm saying is that there is something about human nature that causes us to seek out champions and allegiances. Sports teams all over the world provide that for people. For me, it seems better if you are closer to the team and have shared experiences with players and come from the same places. The team should be representative of the area where they come from because these competitions are really about "the people from here are better than you." In the pros, the players aren't from there and every team is the same. Players play for one team one year and a different one the next. There's no loyalty, to ties.

There are too many differences between the pro game and college and too many ways that the college game is better for me to go into and explain each one. I just wish people would get it.

[allbilly]

And each year I snicker when you make these idealistic observations and blah blah about it not being a business, etc.

Did you see the Texas Monthly cover a few months ago?

Or read this on Si.com:
"These are the best jobs in America. These programs should win at least 10 games every year, and their coaches should be among the nation's highest paid. They should win a national title at least once every 10 years or so, and they should begin each season as a national-title contender.

Ohio State

One line from this year's Equity in Athletics report from the U.S. Department of Education sums up why Jim Tressel and his sweater vest aren't leaving Columbus anytime soon:

Grand Total Revenues: $117,953,712.

Ohio State routinely duels Texas for the nation's wealthiest athletic department title. Buckeyes coaches in every sport get the best money can buy in terms of facilities and administrative support. In football, as long as the coach beats Michigan and wins the Big Ten title regularly, he'll compete for national titles, and fans will serenaded him with Hang On, Sloopy for as long as he desires. Tressel, who boasts a 7-1 record against Michigan, four Big Ten titles and a national title, has become Buckeye state royalty."

or do you admit that assistant coaches making $2million a year...

so it is business, it's just thinly shrouded...and I'm sure all of those college guys that leave early do it for the free shoes...it has nothing to do with money...and they choose their college based on academics.

i enjoy your idealism ojo. i just prefer realism. College sports are a business with sentiment attached.

I think what you are saying is best summed up in Springstein's "Glory Days".

[Ojo Rojo]

Dangit, Billy, you just don't WANT to believe. I never said college football isn't a business. What I said was that it is less of a business that the pros. And, importantly, the athletes are one step removed from the business aspect, which allows them to play with pure emotion. Those guys aren't playing for a paycheck; they are playing for pride. I can tell the difference. That's all I'm saying.