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Enjoying
the Holiday Spirit It's Christmas time, and people are a little more friendly and forgiving towards their fellow man......except for this column. Rex Ryan is such a blowhard. The bombastic coach of the New York Jets has spewed more bravado than any coach in any sport in recent memory, and hasn't backed up a single guarantee. "We're going to win the Super Bowl". "We're going to win the Super Bowl, next year". Sound familiar? Last week, he had been reduced to guaranteeing that his average club was the best team in New York. Wrong again, Rex. Face it: you coach the Jets....the stinking "J-E-T-S". I'm not sure I'd pick you to out-coach and win the BCS title game in New Orleans, with that group of under-achievers. Rex Ryan has become the "white LeBron"....he runs his mouth about winning titles and always comes up short. At least the folks in New York can have some direct fun at his expense. I even laughed at his post-game, egg-on-face, exchange with reporters when they asked him about his post-game conversation with Giants RB Brandon Jacobs. Rex claimed he respected Jacobs and in the same breath claimed that he didn't care about the guy or what he said to the Jets' head honcho. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I'll tell you another thing about the Jets and the New York City hype...if Mark Sanchez played for the Carolina Panthers or a team like the Jacksonville Jags....you wouldn't even know he was in the league. Good for him, for hanging out with every hot model in the Big Apple; but what's the big deal about Mark Sanchez? If he was a member of the Panthers, he and Jimmy Clausen could exchange phone numbers, recipes, headsets and take turns holding the clipboard in the Queen City. But, back to Rex Ryan.....his non-stop BS was refreshing at first....but eventually you have to back it up with some type of credible accomplishment before you start becoming the class clown. Losing in back-to-back years in the AFC Championship game means one thing.... It means you had the last seat on the couch to watch the Super Bowl. You know, the Super Bowl....it's that game you keep winning as the head coach of the Jets every year....in fantasy land. I guess this week we'll listen to Rex tell us that getting to the playoffs is a given for the mighty NY Jets. I can hear the football fans in New York laughing their asses off already. Speaking of sitting home for the post-season, that is precisely what the Ohio State football team will be doing next year, after the ruling handed down by the NCAA last week. I think everyone was interested to see if the NCAA was going to do anything up and above the Buckeyes' self-imposed sanctions for cheating. The NCAA included additional scholarship reductions and a ban on post-season play in 2012, including the Big Ten title game and a bowl appearance. I don't think Urban Meyer or the Buckeye football team will be overly concerned with the penalties, but they will feel awkward next year watching everyone else enjoy the bowl-game festivities without them. They'll get over it, and I suspect Urban and Co. will be flying high back in the Top 10 before you know it. The bigger concern for the NCAA ruling on Ohio State will fall on the next schools that will face the NCAA Committee of Infractions....and that includes UNC, South Carolina and Miami. I have a feeling those institutions had a big gulp when the verdict was read last week. I know every case is different, but there is no question that the NCAA is taking cheating by their member institutions very seriously. We'll see if the trend continues when the Tar Heels learn their fate in 2012. My wife likes to read the Charlotte Observer....so that makes one of us in the family that wastes time with the local rag. She had the sports page open on the counter the other day and I happened to notice the headlines....
I had to read the opening paragraph just out of curiosity sake. By the second paragraph, I was laughing so hard I had to stop reading. Michael Jordan's plan included spending big money to sign a superstar? Now, that's funny. That's almost as funny as the people in Charlotte that thought Chris Paul wanted to play for the Bobcats because he played his college ball at Wake Forest. The franchise which is losing tens of millions of dollars and nearly as many games, doesn't spend a dime. Even though the NBA has lost 16 games from it's 2011-12 regular season, Jordan's cast of talent this season will still have a chance to lose as many games as it did last season. I wonder if Cam Newton can play hoops? Just a thought....unfortunately he doesn't come cheap, so that rules out Jordan and the Bobcats. I know that January is right around the corner and that means two things: We still have a dozen bowl games after January 1st.....and that conference play starts in college basketball. As for college hoops, is it me, or does the ACC appear to be an exclusive two-team league? I know that Duke and UNC have dominated play in recent memory, but my goodness, the ACC looks amazingly average once you get past the two shades of blue on Tobacco Road. I know eventually somebody will pick up some wins between UVa, FSU and possibly Va. Tech....but the rest of the contestants look like a bad version of the Atlantic 10. Hopefully that will all change in January and teams will come out of their shell, but I haven't been overly impressed by the mighty ACC through the first two months of play. As for the bowl season, there have been a slew of empty seats and average teams. Boise State finished off another Las Vegas Bowl victory, and why they aren't playing in the Sugar Bowl in place of Virginia Tech is beyond me. I am interested in watching Florida State and Notre Dame...and there are a couple of other games that have my attention before we get to the BCS match-ups. I can't wait to get down to New Orleans for the LSU-Alabama game. I'm headed down in early January and will spend a week doing live shows for SiriusXM and taking in the incredible scene that awaits two of the great fan-bases in college football. New Orleans is the perfect backdrop for this Southern Fried Football™ showdown. It is going to be insane, and I'm already counting down the days. So, with that said....Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! |
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