Sports

SO- you are a well paid coach (overpaid) of a prominent Division I-A football team, and one of your former players claims she was raped. This is not a wise response:

Former Colorado kicker Katie Hnida said this week she was sexually assaulted by a teammate in 2000, after her final season at Colorado. Hnida, now a student at the University of New Mexico, said she does not plan to file charges at this time.

Hoffman said she was shocked by the allegation and urged Hnida, 22, to tell police. Barnett told reporters Tuesday he knew of no evidence to back up Hnida’s claim and said she had never told him about a sexual assault.

He also criticized Hnida’s ability as a player: “It was obvious Katie was not very good. She was awful … Katie was not only a girl, she was terrible. OK? There’s no other way to say it.”

Gary Barnett is lucky Osama is still roaming the planet, otherwise he would easily be the most despicable human being on the planet. I was half asleep last night when I heard his remarks, and I almost fell out of bed.

*** Update ***

And Atrios and I continue our string of agreeing on one issue a month.

Mind NumbingPost + Comments (14)

I am not sure, but I swear Justin Timberlake just ripped off Janet Jackson’s top during the Super Bowl halftime show, revealing a rather floppy, pierced breast.

I haven’t been drinking, either.

DoubletakePost + Comments (8)

I quit watching the NHL several years ago, but I will still occassionally watch playoff hockey, which can be really exciting. I still consider myself a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, but they are so awful lately it is impossible to watch them. Some may call me a fair-weather fan- but it is not like I am rooting for other NFL teams. I just refuse to watch any hockey when the Penguins suck.

At any rate, the main reason I quit watching hockey started in the mid 90’s with the New Jersey devils and that hideous neutral zone trap. IMHO, it ruined the game. If I wanted to watch several Russians carry each other across ice for several hours, I would watch Ice Dancing. After the Devils were successful, it seemed like the clutching and grabbing and hooking just went through the roof. I would try to watch the Pens to see the stickwork and passing between Jagr and lemiex, instead I would see Lemieux trying desperately to remain graceful while a large Slav named Igor and Ivan and a last name with more z’s in his last name than he had teeth in his head rode him piggy-back across the ice.

The game, to me- has been ruined, and even though evey year the NHL says officials are going to really clamp down on the nonsense, they don’t. So I quit watching. Life is too short for that kind of boredom.

Why am I bringing this up? Because of today’s NFL playoff games. I am a diehard Steelers fan, so I know a little bit about defense and a running game. However, the officiating today, and this attitude of ‘just letting them play’ has got to go. I did not watch the Colts and the Patriots this afternoon because I wanted to spend the whole damn afternoon watching Ty Law try to rip the jersey off marvin Harrison. Watching Todd Pinkston piggyback Manning down the field is no fun. I don’t care if it is the playoffs- call the damn game the way you called it all year long. What we saw today was not good defense by the defensive backfields of the Panthers and the Patriots in their respective wins. What we saw today was a clinic on cheating.

If the NFL wants this to be the way the game is played, do us all a favor- change the rules. Let the defenisve backs mug, push, shove, trip, clutch, grab, and grasp the receivers all the way down the field- but let it be like that in the regular season, too. At least then we will all know to quit watching by the time the playoffs roll around.

Today’s Playoff GamesPost + Comments (17)

I would never have predicted this:

Joe Gibbs will return to coach the Washington Redskins, a team he led to three Super Bowl victories before retiring from football to focus on his Nascar team, according to a statement posted on his race team’s Web site.

Gibbs will be the sixth coach in 12 years for the floundering Redskins, who ended the season this year with a 5-11 record, missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. He replaces Steve Spurrier, who resigned on Dec. 30 after two losing seasons and three years left on his contract.

Predictably, Oliver is besides himself with joy. He has a right to be on this one, methinks. My only fear is that Gibbs will put himself in an early grave- he almost killed himself the last time around.

Gibbs to Coach RedskinsPost + Comments (3)

This breaking news:

Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s career hit leader, has admitted that he gambled on baseball games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds, according to excerpts of a television interview .

In an interview for ABC’s Primetime Thursday to be broadcast this week, Rose said he bet on baseball in 1987 and 1988.

Asked by ABC’s Charles Gibson why he gambled, Rose said, according to interview excerpts released today: “Well, I wish I could answer that question, but I just can’t. I was wrong, I just, stupid, worst thing I ever did in my life.”

Put him in the Hall of Fame but keep him banned from baseball (he should never be allowed to disgrace a uniform again), and let’s quit talking about this ass. And for the love of God- put Shoeless Joe in, too.

From the “No Shit!” DepartmentPost + Comments (7)

Sometimes I wonder why the hell I root for any teams anymore, particularly after the way they treat me year in and year out. Let’s review the sports teams I love and review their performance over the past year:

1.) The Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates were 75-87 in 2003, thus successfully completing their 11th consecutive season of sub .500 baseball. A truly impressive performance.

2.) The Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers were also exceptionally impressive this year, racking up a wonderful 6-10 record in one of the easier divisions in football. Thought to be Super Bowl contenders in the pre-season, the Steelers made Cincinnatti look like an all-pro squad. Twice.

3.) The Pittsburgh Penguins: Halfway through the Hockey season, the Penguins are 9-21. This is not so upsetting, as I am used to the Penguins sucking (much like the Pirates). Not to mention Sports Illustrated, when ranking all the NHL teams in five categories (coaching, power play, short-handed, goalkeeping, and one more- I forget), had the Pirates ranked either 29th or 30th in every category.

4.) The WVU Mountaineers: Despite having an 8-4 regular season and providing some wonderful moments, we once again just rolled over and played dead in our bowl game. This statistic is worth repeating:

West Virginia is 1-10 in its last 11 bowl appearances, 0-2 during Rich Rodriguez’ tenure by a combined score of 89-29.

Oh well. Pitchers and catchers report in a few weeks, and we can start the misery all over again.

*** Update ***

Statboy corrects me in the comments:

The Steelers beat the Bengals the first time they played and looked reasonably good doing it. In the SI preview, the Penguins were 30th in every category except for one, and in that one they were 25th, not 29th.

Why Am I a Fan?Post + Comments (13)

And the annual WVU Bowl Game tradition continues:

Scott McBrien threw for a career-high 381 yards to help Maryland (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP) to a 41-7 victory over West Virginia (No. 23, No. 20) in the Gator Bowl on Thursday, a rematch of a regular-season game that was almost as lopsided…

Instead, they reinforced their remarkable penchant for flopping in bowl games. West Virginia is 1-10 in its last 11 bowl appearances, 0-2 during Rich Rodriguez’ tenure by a combined score of 89-29.

“Our preparation was probably no different than Maryland’s or anyone else’s,” Rodriguez said. “We were focused. Our intensity in practice was good. We were excited about playing. We just didn’t play well. Maryland’s a better team.”

Humiliating.

The Tradition ContinuesPost + Comments (3)