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JoePa
Passes The legendary Joe Paterno passed away at the age of 85, on Sunday. On a weekend that was filled with 3 of the top 4 teams in college basketball losing and a pair of great NFL conference championship games, the passing of Joe Paterno has dominated the headlines. There will be debates for years about the legacy the iconic coach leaves behind....depending on your point of view, he can be construed as one of the greatest coaches of all-time, or a guy that lost all credibility with his mishandling of the Jerry Sandusky incident. Personally, I think Paterno should go down as one of the great coaches, regardless of sport....but he did have his flaws. Unfortunately, in this world of "what have you done for me lately", along with the intense media scrutiny...Paterno left us while he had been under fire and criticism. When judging somebody's place in history or a person's legacy, I think it is imperative that you take a look at the big picture. If the snapshot of JoePa's run at Penn State was only the last couple of months or even since the alleged Sandusky incident in '02, then it would have a different feel and outcome. I think the incredible things that Paterno did in the past 62 years matter....and his good deeds and accomplishments far outweigh the dealings of the past few months/years. Paterno is not without flaw or mistakes....he was an iconic figure that made Penn State and the world a better place. JoePa's death also puts an end to an era where coaches spend countless decades in one location....they are few and far between, in this day and age. It doesn't mean that it can't happen again, but society is different and so is the media. We'll miss JoePa...but right now he's up in heaven diagramming a play from the one-yard line to finally score on Bama and the Bear. God Bless You, JoePa.....you will be missed. Congratulations go out to the New England Patriots and the New York Giants on their respective conference championship wins on Sunday. Both games were entertaining and filled with drama.....I loved watching the best in the world get after it in the tightest, high-pressure scenarios. Now that we have our two Super Bowl teams, we can get down to hyping up the event, and who better to do that than the cities of Boston and New York? They should be used to it, after all the non-stop babbling we hear about the Yankees and Red Sox....at least this time, one of them will actually win the title. We all know about the successes of quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning....and I suspect that we'll get a few mentions of that match-up in the next two weeks. I don't mind the hype, if the end product is great. If the 2012 Super Bowl is nearly as good as the 2008 version which included these two teams, then we will all be in for a treat. I wonder how Indy feels about little brother Eli rolling into town with the chance of going one-up on favorite-son, Peyton? There are tons of story lines, and I'll address those next week when we get closer to the game. But for Baltimore and San Francisco, it's gotta be brutally tough to get out of bed this week, knowing how close you were to making it to the big game. Both teams were capable and worthy of making it to the game and winning the title. This week, the Washington Wizards (2-14 heading into the week) and the equally inept Charlotte Bobcats (3-14) play each other not once, but twice. Oh, boy; you gotta love NBA games involving teams that have already been eliminated from the playoff race after just 15 games into the season . I'm fascinated to see what this turns into, when the powers hook-up in DC. The "Michael Jordan Invitational" should provide tons of fodder to the local media outlets....except that the ones in Charlotte are more concerned about sucking up to Michael than they are about ripping him for providing an embarrassingly bad product. The latest local spin is that the team is "rebuilding". Rebuilding from what? Being pathetic. The Bobcats have never won a playoff game.....ever. Listen, the Indy Colts are rebuilding....the Boston Celtics are rebuilding......the Bobcats are just cheap. It's ironic that the three worst records in the NBA belong to the Wizards, Bobcats.....and the Hornets. I heard Charles Barkley being interviewed on SiriusXM, and he even chimed in that he's embarrassed by how bad some of the NBA teams and product are these days. I couldn't agree with him more....the only problem is that Barkley never mentioned his best friend, Michael Jordan, and the incredibly bad job taking place in the Queen City. I guess Barkley is afraid to rip the King, too....he'd fit right in with the Charlotte sports media market. In all of my years of living in and around the ACC area, I have never seen the conference's basketball fortunes look weaker than they are right now. UNC is still good enough to win it all and cut down the nets in N'awlins. Duke is good enough to be Top 20-worthy, but they play below average defense and really feel like a non-factor on the national scene in mid-January. The rest of the ACC looks and feels like the Atlantic 10. UVa looked like a decent club playing Duke tough in Cameron....and then they went home to lose to their previously winless arch-rival, Virginia Tech. It should be noted that the Wahoos posted all of 45 points in the loss to the Hokies. Florida State had an awesome week in which they destroyed UNC, beat Maryland and upset Duke in Cameron. The Noles, despite an amazing week still didn't garnish enough votes to crack the Coaches Top 25 poll. That's what happens, when you lose to Clemson by 20 and have losses to Harvard and Princeton on your resume. NC State is 4-1 in conference play.....their league wins are against Miami, Wake Forest, Boston College and Maryland. That's hardly turning any heads....but the Pack can stake their claim to being relevant by beating UNC in Chapel Hill on Thursday. The league is so far down, that it is amazing to watch. With the conference going through a major transition, given all the coaching changes, it looks and feels like the Atlantic 10....with the exception of the shades of blue on Tobacco Road. How about this load of crap before the start of the NASCAR season? Danica Patrick is already making noise about what she is going to do to the boys in 2012.... I read a column recently in which Tony Stewart's new running mate claimed "At Daytona, our cars are really fast.....and I feel good about that race. I feel good about Daytona and I think there's a real chance, if luck falls our way, to perhaps win." Win? Did the one-time Indy Racing League winner actually say something about winning the Daytona 500? If luck falls my way, I have the chance to win every Powerball drawing between now and infinity. Danica Patrick actually talked about winning the 2012 Daytona 500. Somebody, pick me up off the floor. But she wasn't finished. She even finalized the conversation with this one...."I think it's a real chance...I mean a guy like Trevor Bayne last year showed that. Those are the expectations." Damn, Trevor...you are the defending Daytona 500 champ...are you going to take that back-handed shot from a woman who only has to her credit a win in some nondescript open-wheel race in Japan? I'm assuming that race actually happened, and wasn't some Indy Racing League stunt....but you never know. If it isn't the Indy 500, does anybody really watch that racing circuit anymore? Even car owner Tony Stewart chimed in, by stating that a rookie did win it last year and you should never count yourself out. Apparently, "Smoke" is either still hung over from last season's victory party in Vegas, or somebody forgot to open the garage doors at Stewart-Haas...because Tony has inhaled too many exhaust fumes. I can't wait to hear the excuses this year...and it all starts at Daytona, next month. |
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