The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

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...

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...

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...