Sunday, October 16, 2011

San Jose Earthquakes are Jerks

On Saturday night the San Jose Earthquakes took on the Seattle Sounders FC at Century Link field (the field formerly known as Qwest). This game was the last regular season game ever for famed Sounder's Goal Keeper Kasey Keller. To celebrate his career, the Seattle fans showed up in droves, 64,140 of them to be exact, setting a Sounder's attendance record. The Sounders rewarded the loyal fans with an exciting come from behind victory. Additionally, on an emotional night dedicated to him, Kasey Keller made an amazing series of saves to prevent the Earthquakes from pulling to far ahead. However, the thing about this game that really struck me was how dirty the San Jose Earthquakes played.

Admittedly I have very small sample size, one game, but the Earthquakes appear to be a team full of bully's. They had four yellow cards issued to four different players in the game. They tackles hard and dirty the whole game. Several times they grabbed and held back Sounder preventing them from making a play. All the fans could see it an let the Referee's know what they were missing with their boos.

More striking than the yellow cards were the two fights San Jose players started with Seattle players. The first fight started when an Earthquake slide tackled Alvaro Fernandez. It was a hard tackle but appeared clean, but some of the players started jawing. Than things escalated when an Earthquake shoved Mike Fucito in the back. This really pissed off the Sounders and caused a whole group of players to group up and start pushing and shoving. After a couple of minutes, the Referee finally gained control and broke everything up.

The second fight was much more egregious. After a hard battle over the ball a San Jose player pushed Seattle star Osvaldo Alonso in the back causing him to tumble to the ground. This attack didn't sit well with Alonso, who is a bit of a fireplug himself, and he quickly stood up and charged the San Jose player. The Referee really struggled to break this one up as neither the San Jose player nor Alonso wanted to back down.

Basically, after watching all the fouls and the two fights, it became obvious to me that the San Jose Earthquakes are a bunch of jerks. I have never been a fan of dirty teams, be it the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philidelphia Flyers or anyone else. This dislike of dirty teams now extends into professional soccer. I will now be rooting hard against the San Jose Earthquakes anytime I see them.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Hockey Has Reappeared

Watch, for his sake.
After months and months of really not caring at all, everyone's prayers have finally been answered.  That's right, hockey has started up once again!  Whether you're a fan of NHL 12 or simply are aware of what hockey is, your 5th or 6th favorite sport is back.  There's no reason to worry about anything anymore; just sit back, relax, and wonder why the shootout still exists.

Of course, there's more to this NHL season than just vague entertainment for the masses in Minnesota.  Indeed, there are tens nay, elevens of interesting stories!  For instance, there's the ongoing Sidney Crosby concussion story.  After getting laid out twice last season, Crosby's been out for an awful long time trying to regain the ability to stand up without wanting to vomit.  It really is somewhat horrific how badly concussed Crosby was, made all the worse by the fact that he's far from the first to have such problems in the NHL.  Hopefully this, coupled with Manny Malhotra's unfortunate eye incident, will help the NHL begin to protect their players' heads better.  Because if Sidney Crosby is out, then the NHL will most certainly respond to help their Golden Boy.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Suck for Luck, Not Worth It

Last year’s Heisman Trophy runner-up was Standford QB Andrew Luck. As a red shirt junior at Stanford, he threw for 3332 yds, 32 td and 8 int, while completing an amazing 70.7% of his passes. He was so good on the field and in the minds of scouts that he secured himself the guaranteed number one overall selection in the 2011 NFL draft. Than in early 2011 he shocked the world by deciding to return to Stanford and finish his degree, rather than enter the NFL. Luck turned down millions of dollars in guaranteed money for another chance to win the Heisman, win the National Championship and finish his degree (because college is important kids!). He also extended hope for NFL franchises weak at the QB position, that weren’t the Carolina Panthers, for one more year.

Now with the 2012 NFL season under way and prized college QB Andrew Luck a little closer to being available, many franchises are starting to see their hope of snagging him turn into a reality. Fans all across the NFL, including those in Seattle, have started Suck for Luck campaigns. The fans that are part of these campaigns are rooting for their teams to lose for the chance at drafting Andrew Luck first overall in the 2012 NFL draft. These supposed loyal and supporting fans are turning their backs on the present in hopes of a brighter future. The theory goes suffering through one really bad season would be worth the agony in order to get the best available player in the NFL draft. A player many think is the best and most NFL ready QB sense John Elway.

Luck has been described by many NFL scouts and experts as a can’t miss pick. However, over the many years of NFL football, there have been lots of other can’t miss top end QB prospects. Guys like Ryan Leaf, Joey Harrington and JaMarcus Russell (or Aaron Curry if you leave the QB position) were all pegged as future NFL stars. They were all supposed to be franchise savers. Yet, none of them turned out to be quality players.

The point is a draft pick, no matter how good the player was in college, is never a sure thing. The football played in the NFL is much faster and hard hitting than that played in college. There are not division two opponents to pick on and walk on CB to burn. Not everyone can make the transition from the NCAA to the NFL.

Even if Luck can make the transition into an NFL star, there is always the injury bug to worry about. In a sport as violent as professional football, injuries can ruin the career of even the most promising player. Even top draft picks are not protected from susceptibility to injury.

Take for example the case of the 2008 Lions, who went 0-16, which is the worst season record ever. For that miserable season they were reward with the first overall pick, which they used to select Matt Stafford. During the few games he has played Stafford has looked good. The problem is he has only played in 17 games of the potential 36 during his 3 year career. Stafford career has so far been struck by the injury bug. During the span of Stafford's career the Lions have won 12 games is 36 chances. It is still early in his career and it might all turn out good, but the Lion’s fans suffering through an 0-16 season didn't suddenly turn them into contenders.

I am sure the Lions fans, the real fans, would have rather the Lions won a few games. The joy brought from your team winning a game now in the present is worth more than the potential that they might win a game in the future. Think about last year and the Seahawk’s win over the Chargers where Leonnnnnnnnn Washington returned two kicks for TD, or the win over the Saints in the playoffs and how you felt watching those games. Would you have traded those wins for a chance to draft a QB who might turn into something special? Most fans wouldn’t. You watch your team’s games to see them win and experience the emotions that come with those wins.

So, to all the Suck for Luck promoters out there I ask, what is the point of even having a team if you can’t ever enjoy the present and have to look towards the future?

Sources: ESPN.com, Yahoo Sports