Just a personal blog...

Well, I guess blogging about sports on a regular basis takes a lot more time than I originally thought it would. So, after months of inactivity on the blog, I have decided to get things going again...but this time as a place to post my thoughts. I used to do this all the time on xanga back in college and I had a lot of fun with it. Then, one day, a mass exodus occurred on xanga and I just quit using it.

So, I'm back. I don't really have anything much of substance to say. Just glad to be back in the world of blogging.

My thought of the day: I am more and more surprised and how often I am surprised by things. I am still very, very naive. Sorry, but in a public forum, I cannot elaborate much further. Hopefully I'll be back sooner rather than later.

-Ben

I Didn't Know What It Was...

I've been sick for over 2 weeks so I finally broke down and went to the doctor. As I described my symptoms and the doctor was jotting down his notes in his fancy little computer, I got good news. I was getting two prescriptions and a shot. The doctor left the room and a nurse returned with a shot. He said, "This will make you feel a lot better" and proceeded to insert a needle in my right ass cheek. I left, happy that I got a prescription and waiting for the boost this shot was supposed to give me. As I was driving back to work I realized that the doctor never told me what was in the shot and I never asked either. All of a sudden, the excuse from MLB players saying they didn't know they were taking steroids seemed about 1% more plausible...it was 0% before.

My "Slow" Part of the Year

With football finishing with with The Pro Bowl (yawn) last week and baseball just getting into Spring Training, my sports life is supposed to be in a lull right now. Luckily, the NBA has produced a plethora of talent and NCAA B-Ball is back on my radar with Mizzou playing well above pre-season expectations (my season ticket purchase went from "Hell, I have nothing better to do in Columbia anyways" to a great value at $199 for the season!!!). The beauty of sports is that you can find excitement in it when you least expect it. Anyways, on to some random thoughts in the Sports World...

- A-Rod on steroids? Seriously, who is surprised? It turns out that the only honest one this whole time has been the author of "Juiced"....Jose effing Canseco. The man is crazy, but he is a truth-teller. I am seriously considering hauling my ass on over to Barnes and Noble this week to pick up a hard-bound copy of his book. You want the truth?...I know I can handle it.

- I feel that need to rant again about the NBA. Actually, more accurately put, the NBA-Haters. From the slam dunk competition to the All-Star game, you have to be insane not to be in absolute awe of the raw athleticism that is on display on a nightly basis in this league. In the dunk competition, Dwight Howard alley-ooped a ball on a 12 foot goal effortlessly. 12 feet!!! Have any of you ever tried dunking on a 10 foot regulation rim? Exactly. Now try two more feet. To top it off, a 5 foot 9 (generously listed) jumped OVER the aforementioned 6 foot 11 inch Dwight Howard to steal the crowds breath away. It really was something to watch.

- After all of that NBA talk, you probably think I hate College Hoops. Nope. Love that, too. The energy in a college campus arena can not be beat. The band, the fight songs, the chants, the pageantry. I love it all. It's even better when your arch-rival comes into town and the students are yelling profanities at the opposition...and for this one game, the parents don't cover their children's ears. This is a learning experience.

'Til next time...

The Reason For Sports...

Once in a blue moon, you get lucky enough to attend a sporting event that you will remember for the rest of your life.

Lebron...

Lebron just may be the best athlete in the world. I'm watching him play against the Lakers right now the guy is a freak. Just a freak of nature. He could play any sport if he applied himself. I don't have any doubt in my mind he would be an All Star in any professional sport if he trained for it. I won't even stop there. I think NBA players are plan and simple the best athletes in the world. I think they could most easily player another sport out of any other collective group of professional athletes. Just imagine...

Solid Day of Football...

Am I the only one who can't stand Phillip Rivers? Sure, I can appreciate his skills as quarterback - big arm, pocket presence, and confidence. Wait, confidence. That's the part of him I hate. The guy cocky. And a real jerk about it, too. It all started last year with his game against the Broncos where he taunted Jay Cutler on the sideline looking like, well, a douche. From that point on, every little move this guy makes I can't stand. So you can only imagine how much pleasure I took from the Steelers raining on the Chargers today. Seeing Rivers' face when Rothlisberger hit his receiver on a key 3rd down to pretty much ice the game was priceless.

The Eagles went into The Meadowlands, ahem, Giants Stadium and won again. Eli had his worst performance of the season and McNabb came through when they needed it. The Eagles were just relentless in their blitzes and Manning could never comfortable. At one point this season, sitting at 11-1, the Giants seemed unstoppable. It's amazing how things can change so quickly in a span of a month in the NFL. Plax + guns = trouble.

NFL Playoffs Reigns as King

After watching the College Bowl Season and the first two weekends of NFL Playoffs, it has become clear in my mind that the NFL playoffs is BY FAR a superior product. How many of you can tell me who won the Meineke Car Care Bowl? Or even more "prestigious" bowls like the the Peach Bowl? Exactly. The games just don't matter. The BCS bowl leaves an unsatisfying championship game because we are left to wonder what Texas, Utah, or USC could have done against Florida. The bottom line, as an alum of Mizzou, I can say that there were 5 regular season games that had me more pumped up than the Alamo Bowl did. I'm sorry, the bowl season is just not that fun...

The NFL playoffs. The crown jewel of American spectator sports. Every game is an elimination match. The home crowds are roaring - yes, even louder than home college crowds (I left the 1999 NFC championship game at the then TWA Dome in St. Louis with my ears ringing for a whole hour after the game...after travelling to several NCAA venues across the country, nothing came even close to that NFL playoff game). The playoff leads to the pinnacle of two clear cut conference winners, with little to no controversy, in the Super Bowl. Virtually every American household will be tuned in. Even casual to non-sports fans will be able to tell you the winner. This is the beauty of having a playoff. The is the beauty of the NFL.