Sean Taylor, Army/Navy, BCS/Bowl Games, Duke Football Coach, Heisman Pick, Michigan Hoops, Billy King, and the Cleveland Browns

Let me start by putting this Sean Taylor story to bed. Several people missed my point (which shows my own inability to articulate clearly via the written word) and thought I was bashing a dead guy, which was not right and in fact irresponsible. That was not my intent. My point was simply that the media should not be able to have it both ways. When it fit their objectives, they bashed this guy and painted a picture of a thug and a hooligan. When he was tragically killed, they changed their tune and portrayed a responsible, humble, great young man who had been struck down in the prime of his life. My point is simply that it is difficult to buy into this new picture when the old one was drawn by the same artist using indelible ink. I do not know whether Sean Taylor was a great man or a troublemaker, or somewhere in between. I do know that it is difficult to reconcile the conflicting images that the hypocritical media has painted. Whether it is politics, sports, or entertainment, the media tends to use only the colors that will sell the most papers or bring in the most viewers. Whatever happened to truth in journalism?

I went to the Army/Navy game this past weekend. Despite the game being held in Philadelphia all but 7 times since I was born, I had never actually attended the game. It was a truly remarkable and moving experience. I went with a group of about 10 guys, including 1980 Heisman Trophy Winner George Rogers. The pageantry, passion, and excitement in the crowd and from the players was inspirational. After the game, we attended an event for members of the service who had fought Internationally in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were unfortunately men at the event who had lost their legs or who had been burned over their entire bodies. This served as quite a powerful reminder that the game we had watched was just that, a game, while these brave men and women were making real sacrifices everyday to preserve the way of life that we as American often take for granted. With that in mind, I want to say thank you to everybody who risks their lives for me and you, to ensure that we can continue to enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy every day. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! (Below is a picture of the pre-game procession that both schools participate in...this was the Army procession):

One more note from the game. While I have gotten to know George Rogers a little bit from being a regular contributor to his radio show over the past year and a half, I had never met him in person. In a day and age when many athletes are arrogant, obnoxious, egocentric, and aloof, George Rogers is a breath of fresh air. The smile never left George's face the whole day. He laughed, he slapped backs and shook hands with hundreds or thousands of fans (pretty easy to identify someone when they have the Heisman Trophy with them), he signed autographs, and in general was a complete mensch. Having seen how George treats other people, I am proud top be part of his show. Below are pictures of George and me with the Heisman (that thing is REALLY heavy), and my wearing George's Super Bowl and Heisman rings:

While we are on the subject of college football, I want to address a couple things with the BCS/Bowl Game announcements:

• It is obvious to everyone except the decision makers (and Kirk Herbstreit) at this point that we need a playoff system. This year, you could at least somewhat legitimately argue that 6 different teams (Ohio St, LSU, Georgia, Oklahoma, USC, and Hawaii) should be in the championship game under the current format. Why not let them decide it on the field? It would create crazy fan interest and generate more revenues for the schools and the NCAA. Of course this won't happen. But it has to......
• The team that got screwed the most by far is Missouri. They were ranked #1 in the country going into the Big 12 Championship game, then do not even make a BCS game and getting passed over by Kansas, despite beating KU rather easily the week before, beating KU out for the Big 1 North title, and playing the 29th toughest schedule vs. KU's 109th ranked slate. They were even ranked higher in the final BCS standings. Just ludicrous.
• The other team/conference that got shorted was Arizona St and the Pac 10. How in the world can Illinois with three losses get a BCS bid over Arizona St, while the Pac 10, a far superior conference to the Big 10 on every conceivable level, gets 1 BCS bid while the Big 10 gets 2. Of course, Illinois also lost to the aforementioned Missouri!
• If they are going to stick with this stupid system, at least make all the BCS conferences play on a level playing field. It is a travesty that some conferences play title games while others do not. For example, if the SEC had no title game, there would have been a three way tie between Georgia, Tennessee, and LSU, and Georgia may have won the tiebreaker because of the highest ranking and gone to the Championship game.
• And LSU may very well be one of the two best teams in the country, but to have them 7th in the BCS heading into last weekend, and leapfrogging 5 teams (3 of which did not lose), is insane. It just proves the polls are silly and that in the end the voters will do what they want anyway. If the polls are so meaningless which was just PROVEN, then why not do away with these arbitrary polls at least until the end of the year.

Moving away from the best in college football and to the worst, Duke has a new football coach to hire. To me, there are only two acceptable answers (assuming that they do not consider me to be a serious candidate). Paul Johnson, who wins consistently at Navy, and Rod Broadway, an ex-Duke assistant and current head coach at Grambling, should be the only two candidates that the administration speaks with about the vacancy. Either of these guys can win at Duke. Johnson has proven it at a school with bigger football obstacles to overcome. Broadway has won everywhere he has been, is a deserving African American, and is familiar with Duke (where he was an assistant for 13 years) and Durham (he was head coach at North Carolina Central).

Finally, I need to address my pick (since, unlike George, I do not get an actual vote) for the Heisman. Before last week, I would have given it to Chase Daniel, who I feel not only had a splendid year but simply elevates the play of all 11 people on his side of the ball. After their loss to Oklahoma in convincing fashion, I pick....Chase Daniel. I still think the Missouri QB was the most outstanding college football player in the land this year, edging out Tim Tebow and Colt Brennan with Darren McFadden getting 4th on my mental ballot.

I guess all the Michigan basketball fans that were clamoring for the firing of Tommy Amaker after last season were more than a little surprised to see Amaker's new squad, the Crimson of Harvard, beat fancy schmancy new coach John Beilein and his Wolverines last weekend. Bottom line: Amaker cleaned up a program that was in shambles 6 years ago and did not get the chance to take it to the next level. Maybe he could have, maybe not. But he is now 1-0 against his former team since leaving!

Speaking of ex-Dukies unceremoniously dumped, Billy King was fired by the Sixers yesterday and replaced by Ed Stefanski. You can make a legitimate argument that firing Billy was the right move (many of you have in fact). Whether he should have been fired or not, I found the timing curious. I could understand if he were fired a couple years back after the Chris Webber debacle and questionable signings like Dalembert (who is playing very well this year) and Willie Green. But he was right in the middle of his rebuilding plan. They played 30-29 basketball after trading Iverson last year, drafted young players (Thaddeus Young in particular) who they knew would take time to develop, and will finally be below the salary cap after this season. They could have justified firing Billy back then or in another year and a half if no improvement was made. But firing him less than 1/4 into this season was a bad move.

Everybody is whining (and when I say everybody, I mean Stitzer) that the refs were horrible on Monday night and that the league wants New England to go undefeated (bad calls: yes; conspiracy: ridiculous). I would argue that the team that got shafted last weekend the most by the zebras are the Cleveland Browns. The refs missed a force out on the last play of the game on a great catch by Kellen Winslow that would have given the Brownies a huge win after being behind all game. Why a force out is not reviewable is beyond me. Another stupid rule by the NFL.

I will be back later this week with more sports chatter, a solution to the extra holiday weight, and a review of my new Verizon Fios.