A Few Notes on Sports

Earlier this evening, I went to the BGSU basketball game against Akron. I'm beginning to think that Akron should change their mascot from the "Zips" to the "Assholes on Parade." I don't know how they manage to do it, but it seems like they always have one player who challenges for the coveted award of biggest jerk in the league. I don't think anyone will top Ben Reed from WMU this year, but the kid in question is only a freshman, so he has years to hone his game. When I first came to BG and started attending basketball games, Akron had Jami Bosley. They only had Bosley because he had transferred there after being kicked out of Ohio State for vandalizing cars. He got away with more fouls than any player I've ever seen. One year, after a victory in our house, he tore off his jersey and ran screaming around the arena, plowing through our cheerleaders and careening into our fans. When he left, in came Andy Hipsher, son of Akron's coach at the time. Our fans really got into his head, rendering him almost entirely useless when the Zips played here. Needless to say, this made him unhappy, and as far as I can tell, he was utterly unable to control his emotions. Two years in a row, he physically assaulted one of our fans--once during warm-ups, and once during the game itself. Neither time was any sort of punishment leveled against him, and in the second event, the fan was removed from the arena even though Hipsher was the one who instigated the whole thing. I seem to remember him having some issues with fans at Ohio University as well. He's gone now, and good riddance, but in to take his place is freshman Bubba Walther. This evening he pushed a ref--no technical foul was called--then, after Akron won, didn't join his team huddle but instead stood in the middle of the court, taunting our fans. He wasn't nearly as much of a jerk as Hipsher ever was, but then again, he's young. He'll get there.

Now that I've vented, it's time to let that go and turn my attention to the upcoming Super Bowl. I like the Eagles in this one. I think it's their turn to win. Also, I'm really coming to dislike the Patriots. At some point, some sports talking head is just going to blurt it out: "Tom Brady is so pretty, and I want to make love to him all night long." Give me a break. Yeah, the Patriots are good. We get it. They're not the best team ever; Tom Brady is not Joe Montana; and Bill Belichick is not Albert Einstein. Stop trying to convince me otherwise. Whether the Patriots win or lose the Super Bowl, I'm hoping the loss of both of their coordinators will bring them down a notch for next season and in seasons to come. It's time to stop hearing about them for a while.

While I like the the Eagles, I'm really nervous about Terrell Owens playing in this game. He's looked good in the few shots I've seen of him practicing this week, and I know he's an incredible athlete with a documented history of quick recoveries from injuries. Still, coming back this quickly from an injury so serious seems like a bad idea. If anyone can do it, though, it's him, and I have a ton of respect for him for trying so hard to get back on the field to help his team. I hope he plays well if he plays, but most importantly, I hope he doesn't get re-injured.

Of course, the Super Bowl will bring with it the official end of the football season (except for any poor saps out there who actually care about the Pro Bowl). To say I'll miss it would be something of an understatement. I won't feel totally whole again until August, when the high school season will fire up. There will be a brief respite in April, for the BGSU spring game, but otherwise my football jones will have to be satisfied with PlayStation and the couple of games I have on tape.