Miscellaneous Ramblings
Some Quick Hits as I prepare for the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame Banquet
- Someone is definitely toying with my emotions in this whole Kellen Winslow situation. First, he's drafted by the Browns, while my scream of "YOU IDIOTS!" at my handheld radio is muffled by my brother mowing the grass. Then, he's injured in game 2, and I don't have to put up with him for the rest of the season. But, he's back for 2005 with much fanfare... only to get hurt on Sunday when he crashed a motorcycle in a parking lot. At first I was happy, but then I felt guilty when I read "internal injuries" and "don't believe they are life threatening" (but not ruling out that they are). But, it appears he's relatively OK. Now, I can laugh because not even the Postons could get the standard "don't do stupid stuff like ride a motorcycle" clause out of his contract, and he may be out $44mil. To add to that, he may once again be out of the season. Am I a jerk for being happy about this? No. He's not seriously injured, and he already has enough money to last him the rest of his life. Should I feel sorry that he's hurt and can't play in the NFL this season? Why? Should the entire country feel sorry for me that I can't play in the NFL this season because I'm small, slow, and sucky?
- I brought this up at Blue & Gold Weekend, but never mentioned it here. I suggest that we form a consultancy agency that advises kids as to whether or not they should leave college early to enter a pro draft. How will we make our decisions? It's called the "Never Heard of Him Method." First, you take a group of people very similar to KankaNation - we have people who are very into all sports, people who are into some sports but maybe not the sport in question, and people who maybe aren't so familiar with recognizing current athletes by name. A college athlete comes into our agency and asks for advice on going pro. An advisor takes this athlete's name and mentions to each of the members of the panel. After talking to each member of the panel, the advisor returns to the athlete and tells him the amount of people who replied, "Never heard of him." (And thus, the title: the "Never Heard of Him Method.") The athlete can then take this information and do with it as he likes, or ask the advisor for further help based on the statistics. With the right mix of people on the panel, and the right amount of past data, I believe the "Never Heard of Him" method would be a very effective indicator of whether an underclassman should try to go pro.
- Oh, the poor Yankees! They had to call up a second baseman from AAA! (Wait, they still have a farm system?) East Coast bias! The Indians played four leadoff men in four days (Crisp, Belliard, Sizemore, and Alex Cora), and is there one mention of that on ESPN? I know you're based in Connecticut, but this isn't a little cable access show!
- Flying in completely under the radar, the Bucs signed Carlos Campbell this past week. Insert your own NDNation-esque rant about Jon Gruden and realizing Campbell's return potential here.
- Finally, in case you missed it (and you probably did, since it wasn't on TV and it is finals week), the Detroit Shock and Indiana Fever played an exhibition game at the Joyce Center Tuesday night. Ruth Riley had 12 points on 5-14 shooting in a 81-73 loss for the Shock, while old teammate turned new teammate Niele Ivey was scoreless in 13 minutes. Ruth had a bit more luck on ESPN's Bowling Night, where a 137 in her first game was likely the single-game high for the 4 women in the tournament.
