Fan’s Fighting Players, What’s Next?

I’m sure we all have heard or remember when Ron Artest from the Indiana Pacers ran up into the stands and started a brawl in Detroit’s Palace. There are but a few names from that event ranging from “The Malice at the Palace to Basketbrawl.” “The brawl began with 45.9 seconds remaining in the game, with Indiana leading 97-82. Piston forward/center Ben Wallace drove to the basket and was about to put up a layup when Pacer forward Ron Artest fouled him.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacers-Pistons_brawl The fans of Detroit didn’t agree with the foul because it was a hard foul but also because Indiana had virtually no chance of losing. So there really was no reason for it. All of a sudden a fan threw a beer at Artest and it landed right on him. He then looked around and ran up into the stands and started fighting fans. After that it became mayhem and players were running around punching everyone. It could have been deadly but luckily no one was seriously injured. My argument is that I don’t think the NBA has enough security but also I don’t think they have informed fan’s enough what they can and cannot do. We all have our pride for our teams but throwing garbage at players is not tolerable. I think the NBA needs to come up with some sort of a plan for when these things happen. I think bolting down the chairs that are behind the basket is one thing because throwing chairs can be very serious. Also I think more undercover police or some sort of security should be there sitting in the front row on all sides of the court in case something like this happens again. I just don’t want something like that to happen again and only this time a little kid gets hurt because of some fan or players pride. These kinds of things need to be thought about in a serious manner because maybe the next victim of a six foot nine player could be you.

Yankee's: Not so much a dynasty anymore

The rumors are clear: A-Rod wants out of the Yankee's. Apparently he is just sick and tired of the Yankee's. In reality "Rodriguez made his choice because he was uncertain whether Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte would return to the Yankee's." http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-arod29oct29,1,1447501.story?coll=la-headlines-sports&track=crosspromo It seems as though the once unbeatable dream team for the past fifteen years might be falling apart quicker then you can read "Yankee's" on a fan's cheap t-shirt. It has been said that A-Rod made his decision not to return even before Joe Torre was to be announced as leaving. I do not really see how this all is happening so fast. In my opinion I think everyone of those superstars who played for the Yankee's these past couple of seasons just wants to be the only superstar on a different team. I think these players are sick of being told that they are "supposed" to win the world series every year. I don't care who you are there is no way that you can honestly be expected to win every single world series every year. The funny thing about A-Rod's situation is that he loses the 72 million dollars of guaranteed money from his contract. I bet thats gotta hurt the ole superstar. In my opinion I hope the Yankee's go down in flames and become one of the worst teams in the leauge. It's time for new teams to step up to the plate and deliver. The Yankee's could possibly be no more....

Halloween at Athens: Trashed?

We have all come to know about Halloween in Athens, myself especially because I was here last year for the big great bash. What I have come to learn that I didn’t mind last year but I will this year is the fact that people and students who do not even go to OU destruct and trash everything when they are drunk. The town is absolutely “trashed.” When you have almost 30 to 40 thousand people come and meet in one small place it is destined to be a night mare. Last year I saw about five mattresses lit on fire and two cars pushed over by drunk kids. Now to me it was a culture shock. I had never seen anything like it; it literally reminded me of a smaller Mardi gras in New Orleans. Now at first I really didn’t care that much but now I have kind of become part of this school and I love the campus and I am glad I go here but the fact of the matter is I do not want out of town jackasses screwing up our campus that I have to walk around every day. Troy Gregorino who ran for a seat in the Athens City Council said “The biggest problem facing Athens is the rampant destruction of the natural environment that defines the very essence of our community.” http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=29589 I just feel the need that if an out of town student is caught they should be penalized worse. I know that it isn’t fair but it also isn’t fair that the majority of damage is caused by out of town students. That is what gives the Halloween here such a crazy, awesome, and bad name all into one. Something should be done for people who are from out of town and that is the end of it.

Boxing: Controversial Judging?

We all have come to know the sport of boxing all too well and the other new forms that have come along with it like UFC and Pride Fighting. The difference between boxing and the other two is there isn't any judging taking place in the UFC or Pride Fighting you fight till you give up or get knocked out. Sports that are judged to declare a winner are just not sports to me. I don't agree with skating, boxing, and any types of gymnastics. My view is how do you know whose better? How do you give a 8.5 to one competitor and a 8.4 to another. That one tenth of a point has caused athletes to either lose a match or lose a medal and I don't agree with it one bit. There have been many bouts that have been questionable in the history of boxing to name a few there were "Sugar Ray Lenoard D12 Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield D12 Lennox Lewis, and Matt Vanda W10 Sam Garr" http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2371376. We can not have these types of matches anymore. People want results, not what a judge thought. People watch football to see hard hits and long balls for touchdowns because then that shows them that their team did it and there was no exceptions about the win. There is no question on who is better when the game is over. In boxing you don't really know who is better if the final score is 95-97, 96-96,and 97-99. Those results are all from opinion. Opinion. That is not the right way in my opinion on how to finalize a win or a loss. Something has to be done because the sport of boxing will diminish if we don't.

Thanksgiving Day Game

"Detroit and Dallas, where Thanksgiving Day football has become a normal." http://www.profootballhof.com/history/decades/1930s/first_thanksgiving.jsp But has it? Over the past years it has progressed from just Detroit and Dallas to a variety of teams. I am all about tradition, big games, and remembering history. In my opinion having other teams play on Thanksgiving day other than those two teams is a joke. Those two teams started that tradition and those two teams should be the only teams to play. I mean it might not seem like that big of a deal to most people everyone just wants to watch some games while they eat turkey but think about it. How important was the first thanksgiving day game to our football history? I just don't agree with playing other teams that have no signifcance to the Thanksgiving day history. Atleast that is my opinion. From now on i believe that no other professional football teams should play. We should continue the tradition and only have Detroit and Dallas because with out those teams the NFL could arguably not be what it is today.

Little League World Series: Not Real Baseball

We all know too well about the Little League World Series (LLWS). Little kids from America playing other kids from foreign countries. It's a great idea but its a joke. It's not real baseball. According to (http://www.slate.com/id/2087131/) a LLWS pitcher throws from forty-six feet away. Hold on let me repeat that, forty-six feet away. That in itself makes the game a joke. In real little league baseball by the time your twelve you are pitching from sixty feet away. I know this because I was a pitcher. There are so many things wrong with this league like how the bases are only sixty feet as opposed to eighty, players can't steal, and the home run fence is only 220 feet. All of these conditions sets each game up with a fake feel for the real game of baseball. Baseball is the "American Sport" and if we are going to keep playing it the way the LLWS does then this sport will change drastically in the next upcoming years. I can not sit here and watch a six foot, 190 pound pitcher that is "twelve" throw from that little away. That ball for some of those kids comes in so fast. It is just not real baseball. I wish they would try it the right way. How the game is actually played at the age and see how much different they do. I guarantee the results of games would have a different outcome, that is for sure. I mean come on, what is baseball without stealing anyway?

Chris Benoit...Roid Rage?

Earlier this year in June a pro wrestler named Chris "The Crippler" Benoit was found dead in his home with his wife and son also dead. The authorities said they think its a double homicide in which Benoit is suspected of killing his wife and son. According to CTV, Benoit placed a bible next to his wife and sons body after killing each of them. It is assumed that he strangled his wife and smothered his son. My question to all of you is this "Is steriod use getting out of control in the WWE?" Over the past twenty years ninety-five wrestlers have died. http://prowrestling.about.com/od/whatsrealwhatsfake/a/wrestlersdeaths.htm Now given they are not all from steriods and drug uses but something is very odd about all of these deaths. Something is very wrong here in my opinion. How can you have so many top shape athletes die before the age of sixty-five. You can just look at them and see how that is possible. They are all "jacked." I mean let's be honest most average people do not look like these guys. Now granted they are in the business to perform in front of thousands of people and they are paid to be the best but some one has to draw the line somewhere. In a series on HBO they interview Vince McMahon and ask him "Do you think you are responsible for the deaths of wrestlers?" And of course he replied "No way." There is no way that the President of WWE isn't held accountable for some of these deaths. Now there is a testing program for steriods in wrestling but it seems to be a little shaky seeing as how Chris Benoit passed and two days later he was found dead in his house with traces of steriods in his system. So I just think something has to happen before wrestling is dead for good.

OJ, What Are You Thinking?

O.J. Simpson. We all know that name way to well and we just had to hear it again this week. The man seems like he is looking for publicity. According to the ABC News O.J. was charged with attempted robbery of memorabilia. Now let's think about that. He tried to steal his own memorabilia. Now why on earth would you try and steal stuff that has been signed by yourself. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Supposibly one of Simpson's associate was "acting like a cop" to the men they robbed. http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3623005 I just can't see what went wrong with the man. He had everything and after he was done playing football he had to kill his wife and her friend. I just don't understand the man. My question is, does football, money, and fame make you act like a madman? In my opinion if you look at O.J. it certainly does. If you have all the money in the world and you are famous everywhere you go I think it gets into your head a little bit more than it should and makes you do some dumb things. I mean if you never had to worry about a thing in your life and everywhere you want everything just came so easy, would you get bored with it all? I just want to know if football and fame gets into players heads way too much.

Do Professional Athletes Get Paid Too Much?

According to Cambridge Sports the average basketball player makes 2.2 million dollars year, the average baseball player makes 1.37 million a year, and the average football player makes 795,000 dollars a year. The question is do they deserve all the money? Lets think about other jobs that dont even make a quarter of that a year. Like for instance a firefighter only makes about 40,000 dollars year and a police officer makes about 29,000 dollars a year. http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/strategicreading/images/6843_SRL1_U04_P09.01_sport.pdf Now lets think back to the tragic 9/11 terrorist attack. Were there any professional athletes that died trying to save thousands of lives? Umm my guess is no so in situations like that the question "Do professional athletes get paid too much?" arises. In my opinion there is no way a professional athlete should get paid that much. I mean lets think about it they get to travel for free, they get the best meals for free, and they get to play in about every city you can think of. To me it just doesn't add up. I mean firefighters and policeman put their life on the line everyday to make the world a better and safer place and what do they get for it? A salary that doesn't add up to have as much as an athletes does. I just dont get it. What do athletes do that makes them deserve that much money over someone who puts their life on the line ultimately for them? In my opinion athletes get to do whatever they want and they get paid so highly that they have enough money to go from vacation to vacation for the rest of their lives if they retire at the age of 30 some of them even sooner. I mean yes they do provide the best entertainment there is but for that money is questionable. If someone can come up with a legit answer on why athletes deserve this kind of money I will never question this subject again but until then I will disagree with the payroll of professional athletes.

Homophobia in Sports

We've all thought of it at one time. "Is he gay? I mean I do take showers right next to him? If he tries anything I'm gonna flip." In an article by Joey Guerra it is said "A public admission of homosexuality, the media says, just isn't something major-league sports is ready for, and they probably won't be ready for a very long time." Lets be honest if you're a guy and you play a sport and you think one of your teamates is gay you're probably not going to shower, sit, or maybe even not talk to them depending on who you are. In sports it's just not something guys or girls want to deal with. It's something that can be avoided and nobody wants to be around a situation like that. It makes most males very uncomfortable. Guys are guys they like to joke around and do stupid stuff. That's just how life is and when you put four straight guys with two gay guys in a group who do you think is going to talk to who? I'm guessing the four straight guys will be talking to each other and the two gay guys will be talking to each other. There has been so much hatred for gays in the sports community that in one incident a professional baseball umpire named Dave Pallone was fired because the league found out he was gay according to Erin Conroy of The University of Denver Student Newspaper. Dave Pallone was a professional umpire of the National League for eighteen years and was let off because of his sexuality. When and where is homophobia in sports going to end? Can anyone answer this question? Will it ever end? Who knows but until that day we are going to keep seeing some of the same discrimination that we see today.

Writing

I personally like writing and enjoy it and the reason why is because usually I write about things that interest me or because I get to voice my own opinion on certain matters that I write about. I get a sense of accomplishment when I finish a paper because I know that what I wrote is what I agree with and that I shared my opinion with someone else. Although when I write about something that doesn't interest me I despise every minute that I write because I usually end up rushing it or not doing as well on it as I could of if it was something that interested me.