Cris Carter

Winning & Musing…..Volume 3.16

Greetings sports fans. What’s up?? I hope everyone is enjoying the early delights of summer and that those pesky cicadas aren’t annoying you too much. Just think…once we get thru the next few weeks we won’t have to hear that awful noise until 2033. By that time I’ll be 60 years old!! Okay…I just freaked myself out a little. Let’s talk about sports.

 

 

 

 

 

hockeyGuess what y’all…I’ve actually been watching hockey!! No one is more surprised than me. As of this writing my Pittsburgh Penguins are up 2-1 over the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup Finals. Two of the games have gone into overtime. I was really hoping the Pens would go up 3-0 which would essentially mean it’s over, but now I am leaning toward my original assessment, which is that this thing could go the full seven games. It’s a shame that the championship series of a major professional sport is being shown mostly on a marginal channel like the NBC Sports Network, which is in 12 million less homes than ESPN, 10 million less than Fox Sports 1, & a whopping 30 million less than NBC itself which is where the games would be broadcast if it were football, baseball, or basketball. There are multiple things that could possibly be blamed for hockey’s lack of popularity in America, but that’s a broader topic than I want to address at the moment. For now let’s just say that I am hooked and will be watching this series. Go Pens!!

 

 

So I guess we have a Summer Olympics coming up?? They are scheduled to get underway in Rio (that’s in Brazil for those that slept thru geography class) in early Rio2016August. Numerous medical professionals have opined that the event should be postponed or relocated because of the Zika virus, which is apparently a rather big issue in South America, but we all know that there is way too much money involved for that. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. As for the games themselves, I am really only interested in basketball. The United States hasn’t announced their 12 man roster yet, but it is anticipated to include guys like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, & Lebron James. Nothing less than another gold medal will be acceptable.

 

 

CCI’m not quite sure what to say about the death of Cassius Clay. He is practically being deified by the sports talking heads and the general drive-by media. Boxing has never really been in my wheelhouse and the fabled career of “The Greatest” was stumbling to a pitiable close by the time I even became conscious of his existence. Inside the ring he was an impressive 56-5 over a couple of decades, won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, and captured professional boxing’s heavyweight title three times. Outside the ring he was doing pro wrestling style promos years before pro wrestling gained pop culture relevance in the 1980s. Cassius Clay might have been successful had he simply been a great boxer, but being a charismatic entertainer is what elevated his status to legendary. The most controversial aspect of his life began in the early 60’s when he became an adherent of Malcolm X and converted to Islam, which led to him “conscientiously objecting” to the Vietnam War and refusing to serve in the armed forces. I sincerely believe in freedom of religion, but my faith tells me that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, & the Life and that no man shall come to the Father except through Him. It also annoys me greatly that when a Muslim uses their faith as an excuse to protest something they are applauded for it, but Christians are not afforded the same respect. I don’t hate Cassius Clay. I feel bad for him. I do not believe that Islam is a “religion of peace”. History…especially in recent years…reveals that idea to be absurd. Yet I don’t believe that all Muslims are bad people. Cassius Clay chose to follow Malcolm X and elected to “dodge” the draft. He paid a price for it, losing three prime years of his career. Later on he gained the sympathy of the masses while fighting a courageous & debilitating battle against Parkinson’s Disease, an awful condition no one should have to endure, and became a kind of goodwill ambassador, even traveling to Iraq & Afghanistan to negotiate the release of American hostages. What’s done is done and Cassius Clay is gone now. I don’t revile him for his choice of religion or anti-American rhetoric in regards to Vietnam, but neither will I participate in hoisting him up on a big ol’ heroic pedestal. My prayers are with his family & friends.

 

 

The NBA Finals are underway as well. As many people expected it’s all come down to the defending champion Golden State Warriors vs. Lebron James and his NBA-FInals-2Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors are up 1-0 at the moment and looked pretty dominant in that first game, but I am hoping this series goes 6 or 7 games too. It would be a huge letdown to everyone outside of Oakland, CA if it is a brief & one-sided sweep.

 

 

espnWhat in the world is going on at The Mothership in Bristol?? Not only are they losing noted blowhard Skip Bayless to Fox Sports 1, but now Mike Tirico is jumping ship & heading to NBC, while ESPN original Chris Berman is reportedly being phased out after his contract expires at the end of the year. I really couldn’t care less what happens with Bayless. He joins fellow windbag Colin Cowherd at FS1, taking that network from its current status of “irrelevant” to “avoid like The Plague”. Hey FS1…if the goal is to increase ratings you’re doing it wrong. Conversely, Tirico seems like a decent dude and he’s great at what he does. I am assuming that his presence will make it easier for NBC to gently push 71 year old Al Michaels into retirement without Sunday Night Football missing a beat. Sean McDonough, a decent enough play-by-play man, is now going to be doing play-by-play on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, but that show is doomed as long as Jon Gruden…the guy who once said that “any team that passes on Johnny Manziel will regret it”…is doing color commentary. He makes John Madden & Charles Barkley look like Woodward & Bernstein. It may seem like Berman is ancient because he’s been there since ESPN’s launch, but he’s only 61 years old. His shtick has worn a little thin with some, but it feels a bit premature to put him out to pasture. Of course Berman’s eventual departure is only part of ESPN’s makeover of its NFL coverage, as they’ve already ousted Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Ray Lewis, & Keyshawn Johnson in favor of new faces Randy Moss, Matt Hasselbeck, & Charles Woodson. Those feel like positive, much needed changes.

Winning & Musing…..Volume 5.15

We haven’t done W&M for a few months. I assume with the weekly football Picks of Profundity that The Manoverse has its fill of sports and would rather I focus on other matters. However, I have a few things I need to get off my chest and so I shall. Stay tuned though, as there are a few cool things on the horizon, including an ode to old friends Marty McFly & Doc Brown, a jumpstart to Literary Madness, the long awaited journey thru The Bible, ranking Batman, Sherlock Holmes, & Andy Griffith, and some Halloween & Christmas stuff. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 
ncaa-football-logoThe college football playoff committee will be announcing their initial rankings in a couple of weeks. They’ll announce a Top 25, which is stupid since only four teams make it into the playoff, and they’ll do this every week until the end of the season. This is also overkill. Do a Top 10 and announce it every other week. That’d be perfect. That’s how I’d do it anyway, but I’m not in charge. However, I am the Supreme Ruler of The Manoverse so here are my thoughts on the Top 4…who they are, potentially could be, & ultimately should be:

  • Ohio St./Michigan St. The two teams meet on November 21st in Columbus. I suppose it is entirely possible that both could sneak into the playoff…or neither. The winner of the head-to-head matchup will likely play Iowa or Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game.
  • Alabama/LSU. Same deal. They play in Tuscaloosa on November 7th, with the winner probably meeting Florida or Georgia in the SEC title game.
  • Baylor/TCU. They will do battle on Black Friday (11/27) in Fort Worth. There is no Big 12 title game, so barring a huge upset in another game on their schedule the winner of this one looks like a lock for the playoff.
  • Clemson/Florida St. They’ll go head-to-head on November 7th. The winner will still have a few games remaining plus the ACC title game, but unless there’s an upset along the way this contest could potentially decide a playoff spot.
  • Ready to pounce – Utah, Notre Dame, Stanford, Florida. Utah & Stanford may very well meet in the Pac 12 title game. Notre Dame plays Stanford in a de facto elimination game on November 28th. Florida is looking like they could battle the ‘Bama/LSU winner in the SEC title game. Any unexpected stumbles by the top contenders would open the door for one or more of these four teams…assuming they don’t stumble themselves.

 

 

 

I haven’t been watching very much of the baseball playoffs. My heart just isn’t in it after another crushing wildcard defeat for my Pittsburgh Pirates. The fact is that 30 fanbases begin spring training with various levels of hope & expectation. Knowledgeable fans generally have an inkling as to whether or not their team may be a contender, but even then optimism reigns. At the All-Star Break atleast 1/3 of those teams have been left in the dust. By the time the summer winds are growing slightly cooler maybe 15 teams are realistic contenders. As September winds to a close only 10 teams make the playoffs. Only 4 survive into the league championship series. Two do battle in The World Series. One team is left standing as the champion. Ultimately 29 fanbases are ppiratesdealing with some level of disappointment depending on what the expectations were. Am I upset that the Pirates aren’t going to be World Champions?? Well…yes, but the truth is that I didn’t expect that to happen this year anyway. They just aren’t there yet no matter what anyone says. Their pitching rotation is mediocre outside of alleged ace Gerrit Cole, and I’m not at all sure he is among the Top 50 pitchers in the game at this point. Their batting order…atleast anyone not named McCutchen…doesn’t scare opponents. The potential is there, but they need to stop wasting time, energy, & money on pedestrian pitchers like Charlie Morton & Jeff Locke and second-rate hitters/fielders like Sean Rodriguez & Travis Snider. A youth movement seems to be working for the Cubs…maybe Pittsburgh should give it a whirl. Having said all that, I would have felt a lot better had they won the wildcard game, even if they’d lost the next series. To go thru an entire season and see your team have the second best record in baseball only to have it all rendered meaningless in a single game is a huge kick in the ‘nads.

 

 

 

nflWhat exactly is a catch in the NFL these days?? Does anyone actually know?? Do the referees and league officials know?? I’m not sure they do. It seems like they kind of make up the rules as they go along. It didn’t used to be so complicated and shouldn’t be now.

 

 

 

It is undeniable that now former South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier bailed on his team. Lots of talking heads want to spurriergive him a pass given his near legendary status, and I suppose that’s a fair inclination. However, a coach is supposed to be a mentor…a teacher…a leader. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things most of the time, and, no matter what kind of sugar coating some may want to put on it, quitting six games into the season isn’t right. Essentially Spurrier threw a tantrum because his team was 2-4. No intelligent person can argue the point with a straight face, and Spurrier himself looked silly trying to justify the move in his farewell press conference. I have no doubt that some other team will try to talk him out of “retirement” down the line, but that team would be foolish. Steve Spurrier is a quitter. When the going gets tough he gets going. That’s not the kind of man I can respect, and it’s certainly not a guy I want coaching my team.

 

 

 

loserWhen is ESPN going to fire idiotic NFL Hall-of-Famer Cris Carter?? First he tells a group of NFL rookies that they need to have a “fall guy” that’ll take the rap if/when they commit a crime. And now he has the nerve to say that kickers aren’t football players. Carter was part of a discussion on Mike & Mike about the dramatic ending to the Michigan-Michigan St. game in which the Wolverines’ punter fumbled a snap allowing the Spartans to snag victory from the jaws of defeat. I don’t have a dog in that particular fight, but I do feel bad for the young man. He is allegedly receiving some pretty harsh treatment from overzealous fans on social media. I won’t be too harsh on the fans because I’ve been there and understand how an emotional loss like that can evoke a negative reaction. However, Carter is mirroring his colleague Skip Bayless’ disdain for punters & kickers. They put on a uniform don’t they?? They’re on the sidelines and participate in team activities, right?? Well, then they are football players. Is Carter smoking crack again?? He’s known just as much for being a junkie as he is a wide receiver, yet he is arrogant enough to act superior?? Just shut up. Or in parlance you may be more familiar with…come on man!! My boys Greeny & Golic lower themselves and the quality of their show by allowing Carter to besmirch it with his presence.