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Sports ID Required What a crazy week in sports. Manti, fake girlfriend, cat fishing, Lance, Oprah, NFL playoffs, college hoops.....the list goes on and on. It was bizarre. Let's start with Manti Te'o. In all of my years of covering sports, this has to go down as one of the most bizarre storylines that I've ever seen or heard. I really didn't know what to make of it, as it was unveiled by Deadspin last week. For the record, the guys at Deadspin did a helluva job...and they deserve major props for following through while the rest of us accepted the spoken word as fact. As for Te'o, I'm glad he finally came to his senses and gave at least a portion of his story. Based on what I've heard and read since the Jack Swarbrick/ND press conference last week, it appears that the Notre Dame football star was a victim of a very cruel hoax. I don't believe that he was involved from the start to create a firestorm to enhance his chances at the Heisman. Think about it.....when the "death of an imaginary girlfriend" took place on September 12th, the Irish were in the early stages of the season (3-0) and nobody, including the most ardent ND followers, believed that they were headed to the BCS national title game or that Te'o was going to be a factor in the Heisman race. I do believe that Te'o had a sense that he was being punked as the season progressed, and he was fearful and hesitant about coming clean about the girlfriend story as the team and his profile grew greater. I'm sure he was embarrassed, and it can't be an easy topic to talk about...especially when you have been placed on a national pedestal by the media and your own school. That was a ton of pressure to put on a 21-year-old kid that was in the midst of waking up the echoes in South Bend. I bought his story about "tailoring" the story to fit the needs of the media and even his parents. Perhaps Lance Armstrong should have stolen that line in his failed attempt with Oprah, but I'll get to that topic later in Ripe Gripe. There were wild inconsistencies before Te'o spoke, from family members and Manti himself...the response about "tailoring" the answers to questions made sense and explained a number of misconceptions. There are still some unanswered questions surrounding this incredible tale, and perhaps they will be addressed in the near future. Some folks have speculated that this story will hurt Manti in the upcoming NFL Draft. I don't know about that response...what will be more damaging to Te'o will be when each NFL team watches the tape of the Bama game and realizes that he got pushed around along with the rest of his high-profiled defensive front. As all of this wackiness was taking place, I couldn't help but think about Notre Dame's AD Jack Swarbrick. Think about it....in the last three weeks, he's had to deal with internal investigations surrounding Te'o and a crazy hoax....a humiliating loss in the BCS title game...and his football coach interviewing for a NFL gig. What a way to start the new year...Jack Swarbrick has earned every penny from the suits in South Bend. Now we have Lance Armstrong and Oprah. Is it possible that Armstrong is more disliked after his sit-down with Oprah than he was before he started his "Confession Tour"? I think so. Armstrong was pathetic. At least he finally came clean and admitted what all of cycling knew for 15 years, and that is that he's a fraud....but that was the end of it, from my perspective. When he started in on the "I had to look up the definition of cheat".....give me a break, Lance. I'm surprised there wasn't a picture of Armstrong beside the word. I was uncomfortable after 10 minutes of attempting to watch the interview. To be honest with you, I had a harder time finding Oprah's channel on my cable. Winfrey is a media whore, too....her attempt to steal the headlines leading into the interview was nauseating. I don't suppose she wrote a check for the opportunity to talk with Lance? I thought it was hilarious that the Te'o story overshadowed both Armstrong and Oprah....somehow, they both deserved it. I was called by the BBC in London to do an interview last week, and I just assumed they wanted to talk about Lance Armstron,g since the Euros love their cycling. I was wrong...they wanted to discuss Manti and his wild "girlfriend" story. I loved it. If you haven't been able to figure it out by now, I have lost all respect for Armstrong. He wouldn't even think about doing this interview or coming clean if he hadn't been caught. I didn't buy his story of his own child defending him to others and that made him realize he needed to tell the truth, either. When you have to "look up the word cheat".....enough said. I've already forgotten where the OWN is on my cable listing...and that's the best part of the story. I'm not sure that I have witnessed a better day of college hoops than I did this past Saturday. The games were competitive, the atmospheres great and it felt like March Madness in its prime. Right after Florida's ambush of Mizzou, the fans of college hoops were given a dazzling display of buzzer-beaters and incredible games. I can go right down the list: Syracuse knocking off #1 Louisville on the road....Wichita State holding off #12 Creighton at home at the buzzer....#21 Oregon finalizing their LA sweep and beating UCLA....#4 Kansas rallying late in the 2nd half to beat Texas...#18 Michigan State barely hanging on against #11 Ohio State.....Cincy beating #25 Marquette in OT.....#13 Butler stealing a win at the last second against #8 Gonzaga. The best part of all these great games is that they involved Top 25 teams, great crowds and remarkable plays....it was the best day of college hoops that I can remember in a long, long time. Plus, the games were spread out evenly around the country....almost every power league had a game that left you speechless. I know people are still suffering from the post BCS blues or absorbing the NFL Playoffs.....but college hoops was great this weekend. Let the Madness begin. Carolina Panthers owner, Jerry Richardson, pulled a fast one on the locals last week. The owner of a billion-dollar franchise wants the city of Charlotte to give him $125 Mil so he can upgrade the stadium that the PSLers paid for on the property that the city gave him. Makes sense, right? What made it better is that Richardson met with the city leaders behind closed doors when asking for the free handout. No media coverage, no public gathering...just the Big Cat and the collection of Small Brains were needed. I love Richardson because he pulled it off.....again. I'm not mad at him; just the opposite.....because if people are going to be so dumb, you might as well use it to your advantage. The city leaders and local media bow down and kiss the ring every time. I have no problem with Jerry Richardson asking for cash to upgrade his nearly 20-year old stadium. I would rather he pay for it himself, but he has every right to ask for the money. Face it, if somebody will give it to you, why reach into your pocket? But if it were up to me, my response to Richardson would have been a simple one:
Nobody in the local media or in political office has the guts to call him out on it. I couldn't help but laugh at the Charlotte locals when I read this weekend that the owners of the lowly Chicago Cubs want to upgrade their ballpark. Their palace is Wrigley Field....it's 99 years old....and the renovations are going to cost 300 million bucks over 5 years. The owners don't want the city to give them a dime....but they want some concessions on zoning for the upgrades. Sounds like a plan to me. That would never happen in Charlotte....because the local idiots would hand over the land, the cash and anything else they could get their hands on. Unfortunately, the only thing the Cubs and Panthers have in common is that they put a winner on the field every so often. But Jerry Richardson continues to impress me with his savvy sales job in the Carolinas. |
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