The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

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...

It really is a shame to see anyone pass along and in Joe Paterno's case, to pass on as he did. When the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal broke in November of 2011, Paterno was fired not long after the stories broke and his record-breaking numbers as the head football coach of Penn State will forever battle the before-mentioned scandal when it comes to how the sports world and world at large remembers JoPa. It was confirmed yesterday late morning that Joe Paterno had passed away and I found it quite interesting to listen to sports writers, anchors and analysts respond to the news. Ever since the Sandusky scandal broke and Paterno was fired, many of these individuals adamantly spoke out against Paterno, saying he should have done more, that he did the bare minimum and if they had been in his shoes, they wouldn't have even hesitated to have done more to protect the children who had already been harmed and those who may have potentially suffered a similar fate. Almost all of them...

I have not been easy on Mr. Tim Tebow, the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos. I gave him kudos for his performance against the Minnesota Vikings a couple weeks ago and have given him praise every now and again for his play, but overall, have not been very impressed with the quarterback's play and have been rather pessimistic of his long-term value for a team. Given that, I've also said it's too early to conclude on the matter. Just as I've been saying with Carolina Panthers' rookie starting quarterback, Cam Newton, I need to see more from the guy before concluding on if I believe he will be a long-term success in the NFL. It's going to take more than a season to persuade me. I see more room for optimism thus far with Newton than I do with Tebow, but again, I'm not going to conclude on the matter, with either quarterback, just yet. I just read an article written by one Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports. That article can be read here - http://sports.yahoo...