The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I found it utterly hilarious to listen to the ESPN talking heads discussing the college football national championship game from last night. It's as if they were all involved in a you-got-it-more-wrong-than-I-did shouting match. "You picked Alabama!" "Oh yeah?!? Well, you picked them by 50!" "At least I knew who Trevor Lawrence was!" "I said Lawrence was a better quarterback than Tua!" "Oh, no you didn't! You never even uttered his name!" Then there were "experts" who went the denial route, saying, "I still can't believe it happened. I'm stunned. I woke up today and thought, 'Was I dreaming?'" Just admit it, you drank the Nick Saban/Alabama Kool-Aid and were wrong, as Donald Trump would say, "bigly!" I admit, before bowl season began, I thought Alabama was going to win the title. After watching the semifinal games between the Tide and Oklahoma, as well as Notre Dame a...

While there's always a critique here and there when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee announces the 68-team field, the criticism was bumped up a notch this year, especially from yours truly. After the field was set, most college basketball analysts rightfully complained that there was no good reason to invite Arizona State and UCLA over USC or Oklahoma over Oklahoma State. USC finished 2nd in the Pac-12, lost in the conference title game to top seeded Arizona, and both Arizona State and UCLA finished near the middle of the pack in the conference standings. Meanwhile Oklahoma State defeated Oklahoma twice during the course of the season and the Sooners struggled more during the tail end of the season than a drunk blind man struggles at the urinal. So when it comes to these gripes, I completely agree with the ESPN commentators, but that's where the agreements ended. Two teams who were fully deserving of earning a spot in the field of 68 were Middle Tennessee State and S...

Truth be told, I'm a sports nut and an over-analyzer. Even so, I still find it ridiculous to be debating the never-possible match-up of the 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors and the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls.  In the '95-'96 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls set a league record by going 72-10 during the course of the regular season. Many players, coaches, and analysts alike thought the record would never be broken. If the Golden State Warriors win at home tomorrow night against the Memphis Grizzlies, they will do just that and finish the season 73-9. So what is every NBA analyst under the sun discussing? Who would win in a 7-game series between the two teams. I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. It would have been one thing if the two teams had broken the league's regular season win record in back-to-back seasons, but it's quite another for the record-setting teams to be separated by two decades. The game is much different in 2016 than it was in 1996. In '96 teams ...

When discussing the new playoff committee's top 25 rankings on Tuesday night, ESPN analysts Danny Kanell and David Pollock debated about whether TCU or Oregon should currently be ranked 4th in the country and agreed that both teams should be ranked ahead of Alabama at this point. Fellow ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstriet, however, disagreed, and said, "If you were to ask me who I think is the better team, I'd say Alabama is better than Oregon or TCU. That's just a gut feeling, an eye-test kind of thing" (just paraphrasing). I usually respect Kirk Herbstriet's opinions, because he tends to be unbiased. Even though he's an Ohio State graduate, he's never been shy about criticizing his Buckeyes and the Big Ten conference when he deems it necessary. However, I strongly disagree with him here. What's the point of teams scheduling tough out-of-conference opponents if they're not going to be rewarded at season's end by beating these teams, simply beca...

Just a couple of weeks ago, as I was watching an ESPN broadcast of a baseball game, former ace Curt Schilling talked about the Kansas City Royals, how they relied too much on speed, and that speed doesn't result in victories come playoff time. Immediately as I heard this, I shook my head and likely provided a confused expression only a mother could love. I later talked to my father about the matter, and with which he agreed, I said that I felt speed was one of the most underutilized and effective tools come playoff time. The fact of the matter is, over the course of a 162-game season, great pitching usually wins over great hitting. This year, eight of the top twelve teams in ERA made the playoffs, with the only outliers being the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at #15 (3.58) and the Detroit Tigers at #24 (4.01). Besides those two, the other playoff teams ranked as follows in that category: #1 Washington (3.03), #3 Oakland (3.22), #6 LA Dodgers (3.40), #7 Baltimore (3.47), #8 Pittsb...

I, for one, would like to tip my cap to CBS NFL analyst Phil Simms, who, on Monday, said that during Week 4's game between the New York Giants and Washington, he likely won't use the term "Redskins" during the game. When speaking to the Associated Press  about matters, Simms said, "My very first thought is it will be Washington the whole game." He added: "I never really thought about it, and then it came up (the Week 4 game) and it made me think about it. There are a lot of things that can come up in a broadcast, and I am sensitive to this." To his credit, NBC NFL analyst Tony Dungy later said that, "I will personally try not to use Redskins and refer to them as Washington. Personal opinion for me, not the network." Last year, NBC's Bob Costas had a halftime segment regarding the team's nickname. Part of that segment went as follows: "Think for a moment about the term 'Redskins,' and how it truly differs fro...

- While many baseball analysts lauded the move made by the Oakland Athletics in acquiring pitcher Jon Lester from the Boston Red Sox while giving up slugger Yoenis Cespedes, I thought it could wind up costing them come playoff time. While we're still a ways away from the playoffs, Oakland has lost five straight, seven out of ten, and now find themselves percentage points (well, point) behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League West. Meanwhile, Cespedes hit three home runs for the Red Sox last week. Also, while I said I thought Detroit made the better trade in acquiring David Price from Tampa Bay and they've struggled of late as well, I think they have a bit of a better excuse for their recent struggles than Oakland. When two of your starting pitchers and a set-up man all go down in the same week (Anibal Sanchez, Justin Verlander, and Joakim Soria), that's going to take a toll on any human team (as opposed to the robot team from the future film, The Matr...

Former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann once said that when things are going well, the quarterbacks receives too much credit and when things aren't going well, the quarterback receives too much blame. Given all of the talk leading up to the Super Bowl and the immediate commentary (and memes) following it, I'd have to say that quote is often times true, especially with regard to Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (at least as far as blame goes). For the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, the two dominant conversations surrounded Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman's post-NFC Championship game comments and Peyton Manning's legacy. It seemed like not a day passed when a sports talking head asked, "Does Peyton Manning's legacy rest on this game?" My response? No. For the game, Seattle was 7 for 12 on 3rd downs. The Seahawks galloped for 135 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.7 per). Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson posted ...

I'm sorry to ruin sports analysts' and commentators' fun, but let's put this LeBron James. vs. Michael Jordan debate to rest for the time being. Based on the two players' resumes, there's really no comparison to be made. While LeBron James has always been a very exciting player, who has improved from good to great status the past couple years, he's not even in the same ballpark (well, court) as Michael Jordan right now. In the seven NBA seasons between 1990-91 and 1997-98, Michael Jordan led his Chicago Bulls to six championships, where he won the MVP Award in each. For his career, Jordan's Bulls were 6-0 in the NBA Finals. LeBron James, meanwhile, has led his teams (Cleveland and Miami) to a 2-2 record in the NBA Finals, where he was awarded the MVP Award twice. James is still young, so it's possible he could win multiple more championships and be the face of the NBA for years to come, where at career's end, a legitimate argument could be ...

I've been slightly perplexed since the start of the NCAA Tournament last week. Following the four play-in games last Tuesday and Wednesday, we were down to 64 teams, as has been the case for quite some time. As the games were being played on Thursday and Friday, many college basketball analysts and commentators referred to the games as 2nd round action, and Saturday and Sundays games as 3rd round action. I'm sorry, but until the brackets are expanded further and every team has to play another round of games, I'm not going to refer to these four play-in games as the first round. What, does that mean 60 teams have byes that round? That's quite the playoff system right there! I imagine the genius behind the format was thinking, "Okay, you know how in pro football, each conference has six teams in the playoffs, with the two best teams having byes in the first round? Let's times that by fifteen, where we have eight teams play in the first round and give sixty team...

I've already gone into detail about my belief that the Indianapolis Colts, as good of a story as they were, weren't a true "11-5" caliber team, that rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, as bright as his future may be, did not have a rookie-of-the-year kind of season this year, and that both the team and rookie have been vastly overrated this season on ESPN (and elsewhere). This was again showcased yesterday in the Colts' 24-9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the 1st round of the playoffs. The Ravens, having lost 4 of their previous 5 games, led throughout the contest, before placing the exclamation mark on it in the 4th quarter. Andrew Luck's performance was like many others he's had this year. The guy completed 28 of 54 pass attempts (51.9%) for 288 yards (5.3 per attempt), an interception, and a quarterback rating of 59.8. He rushed the ball 4 times for 35 yards (8.8 per carry), lost a fumble, and was sacked 3 times for a net minus of 21 yards (-7.0 averag...

For the record, I have absolutely nothing against the Indianapolis Colts or their rookie quarterback Andrew Luck. If anything, I'm pulling for them this year, largely due to the unfortunate situation concerning their head coach Chuck Pagano and his battle with leukemia. However, I think Luck's been given far too much credit for the team's success this year. This was also the case on Sunday in the Colts' 27-23 win over the Tennessee Titans, as Luck completed just 16 of 34 pass attempts (47.1%) for 196 yards (5.8 per attempt), 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions, for a very poor quarterback rating of 50.6. He was also sacked four times, which amounted to a loss of 25 yards. I have to give the Colts credit for finding ways to win this year, going from the #1 draft pick last year to 9-4 and playoff bound this year. However, they have played one of the easiest, if not the easiest schedule in all of football this year. In their 9 victories this year, they came against teams wi...

Ah, how I long for it around this time every year - sports writers and commentators showing their fickle and hyperbolic ways. The NFL is unlike any other professional sport, because unlike in baseball, basketball or hockey, where multiple games are played every week and it's difficult to make mention of them all in daily (or weekly) columns or show segments, every team plays one game per week (with the occasional bye). This gives these sports writers and commentators all week long to talk about the weekend's game(s) and speculate about what will happen in the following week and weeks after that. We're only two weeks into the NFL season, yet I've heard the following questions or comments mentioned by such individuals: "Are the Saints done?"/"The Saints are done!" "Have the Patriots lost it?"/"Have teams figured out the Patriots offense?" "Are the 49ers the best team?"/"Are the 49ers destined for the Super Bow...

Former Florida Gators quarterback and subject of the "reality" television show "The Bachelor," Jesse Palmer has been in the booth the last couple years announcing college football games. I really didn't want to like the guy. The fact he was on "The Bachelor" made me a bit squeamish. He's pretty good looking, has perfect hair. Yeah, he's the kind of guy other guys love to hate. Unfortunately, I have to give the guy props. He's a very solid announcer. The guy does his research. He rolls numbers off his tongue like Charlie Sheen rolls doobies. He reminds me of myself, well, minus the hair and the money and, well, I'll stop there. With all the homer announcers whom utilize emotion over statistics and logic, constantly illustrating bias toward a certain team (their alma mater perhaps) or a conference, Palmer just seems to call it like he sees it without the before-mentioned biases and that's very refreshing. With Craig James having slept...

I love how fickle and hyperbolic many fans and analysts are. I also love how quarterbacks seem to be the epitome of the false dilemma informal fallacy. They're either the savior or the scapegoat. There's seemingly nothing in-between, even though there obviously is. This has happened in Denver in recent weeks. After inserting Tim Tebow at quarterback, the Broncos are 4-1 and a game back of AFC West-leading Oakland. So, it's therefore obvious that Tebow is the sole reason for the Broncos rise in the standings, right? Last night, Vince Young led the Philadelphia Eagles to a 17-10 victory against the New York Giants to bring them within two games of NFC East-leading New York and Dallas. He must be the reason for the big win last night, right? Sorry, wrong in both cases. Outside of their 38-point effort against the Oakland Raiders, the Broncos have scored the following point totals in Tebow's other four outings: 10, 17, 17 and 18. That's right. In four of their five ...

Wow... During the course of their first 5 games, there was clamor among a certain segment of Denver Broncos' fans (and fans in general) to start 2nd year quarterback Tim Tebow over Kyle Orton. I'd say a majority of this very segment (50.1% or greater) want this because they like Tebow the person, not so much Tebow the quarterback. The quarterback has not shied away from his strong Christian faith. While I myself am not affiliated with any religion, I respect what Tebow does off the field, as he involves himself in many different missions and charities to help those in need. I don't care if the guy is Christian, Muslim, Hindu or a Scientologist, if he takes time away from the game to help those in need, I'm very respectful of that. On the flip side, there are many fans whom don't much care for Tebow's being vocal about his faith. Due to this, many fans either like or dislike the quarterback, regardless of his play on the field. Me? I could really care less about ...

Football is my favorite of all sports, college especially. However, it really makes me laugh to hear "analysts" and fans' overreactions following a weekend of games. For example, I'm from Nebraska, where college football IS the sport in the state. Following their tough win over Fresno State on Saturday night, I can't tell you how many Facebook posts I read which stated that Nebraska was awful, that they'd be lucky to make a bowl game, etc. For the record, Nebraska is 2-0 right now. They have 10 games left in the regular season. Isn't it a bit soon to be making such predictions? Let's wait to see how they start off in conference play. Ohio State faced similar scrutiny after almost losing to Toledo on Saturday. Once again, the Buckeyes are 2-0 right now. We'll learn more about the team this coming weekend as they face Miami (Florida) and in the weeks to come when they enter Big Ten (12...) conference play. Calm down, guys... Rookie Carolina Pan...