Presidential Election As A Sporting Event

One of the most fascinating sporting events only takes place once every four years. No, it’s not the Summer Olympics, it’s actually the Presidential Election.

I realized last night while watching the Presidential Election over the span of seven different networks that the election is broadcast much-like a sporting event.

You have two candidates, who serve as the athletes in this situation, battling each other for months culminating in this one night for 270 Electoral College votes, which effectively serves as the score. As state polls close the electoral votes go up and down for the two candidates and make it look as if one candidate is leading the election, or game in my sports analogy.

At one point last night Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney had a pretty sizable lead on President Barack Obama, but later President Obama passed him and ended up winning in a landslide. This on CNN or MSNBC or Fox News is the equivalent of the Boston Celtics leading the Chicago Bulls by 20 in the first half then having the Bulls comeback to tie the game and later win by 20.

The sport of the election as broadcast on television makes it more interesting to watch and the graphics on some of the networks like CNN add to the sport of the whole thing.

Another aspect of the election that makes it seem and feel like a sporting event is the way we root for the candidates like we do our favorite athletes and teams and the way we bicker and argue about them and their politics like they are our favorite athletes and teams. I feel the same way debating conservatism versus liberalism as I do when I’m debating whether or not Babe Ruth is a greater baseball player than Hank Aaron.

The reason why is that both sports and politics bring out the most passion in people and when people are passionate about something they are going to get competitive about it.

Last night’s Presidential Election was actually one of the most competitive and interesting sporting events I’ve seen all year long. It’s almost a shame we’ll have to wait four more years for another one, but like in any sport, the rules are the rules.

Despite What Some Fans Think, Razorbacks Are Not Championship Caliber Team

Living in Arkansas all of these years has taught me one thing: Arkansas Razorbacks fans are desperately loyal.

It’s a loyalty that oftentimes leads the fandom to believe that their team is capable of doing anything and everything, which while probably fitting the definition of a “good fan”, sometimes comes off as delusional.

Razorbacks fans had good reason to believe in their team after last season when they go as high as number three in the college football rankings and only fell to the two best teams in all of college football (Alabama and LSU). Many, if not most, Razorbacks fans felt that the 2012 Razorbacks could have a shot at the National Championship, and honestly it was a feeling that wasn’t that far-fetched.

However, then came the bombshell that ended the tenure of head coach Bobby Petrino and led to the hiring of new coach John L. Smith. This scandal in itself led me to believe that any shot the Razorbacks had at a national title had been taken away. I don’t think it’s possible for any team, even one as talented as the current Razorbacks, to win right away under such unfortunate circumstances.

Not only is the head coaching change and the way it came about insurmountable, in my opinion, but I still believe that the Razorbacks are probably only the third best team not even in just their own conference, the SEC, but in their own division. Alabama is clearly a better team than the Razorbacks and LSU is likely better than the Razorbacks.

Yet, Hogs fans continue to believe in their team, which is in no way a bad thing, except that they unreasonably believe in their team. I had one Razorbacks fan say to me a few days ago that the Hogs were going to win the SEC this year, which would presumably put them in the BCS National Championship game. Winning the SEC would mean both defeating Alabama and LSU and either Georgia or South Carolina (all of which are currently ranked in the top 10 ahead of the Razorbacks).

You can see from their week one game against Jacksonville State why the Razorbacks are not a championship caliber team. While the number two (and probably soon to be number one) ranked Alabama Crimson Tide were curb-stomping the number eighth ranked team in the nation the Michigan Wolverines 41-14 the number 10 ranked Razorbacks allowed a FCS team to drop 24 points on them.

Now, I know technically a win is a win and a 25 point win is typically a very good win, but for the Razorbacks to allow a FCS (formerly Division II) team from the Ohio Valley Conference to score 24 points on them has to be considered an embarrassing win, though I haven’t heard a single Razorbacks fan yet fess up to it.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are a really good team and I expect them to have a really good season. They will likely either go 10-2 or 9-3, but they are simply not a championship caliber team and have already proven so. Fans, I know you have to root for your team, but don’t be buffoons about it.   

Dillon's Image, Reputation Will Struggle If Grandpa/Owner Keeps Stepping In

It was nice to see a little beating and banging return to Bristol Motor Speedway during Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Thunder Valley. With the beating and banding came some of the fiery tempers that once were synonymous with the racetrack.

The biggest sign that Bristol was “back” as people are saying was when the seemingly most even-keeled personality in the sport, Trevor Bayne, confronted a driver after the race finished. In the waning laps of the race Bayne and Austin Dillon were running hard side-by-side when Dillon lost control of his car and wrecked Bayne, who was running for a top five finish in a rare Nationwide Series start for him this season, due to lack of sponsorship. 

 

The incident mirrored another one involving Dillon earlier in the race when the driver of the number three Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet wrecked fellow Nationwide regular Justin Allgaier. That incident irritated Allgaier enough to slam into the side of Dillon’s car under caution. 

Bayne’s confrontation with Dillon reportedly occurred on pit road after ESPN’s telecast of the race had gone off the air. According to NASCAR reporters on the scene the two drivers engaged in a heated conversation that didn’t turn that physical, but did include each driver laying his hands on the other at different points. The angry chat was reportedly broken up after a bit when Dillon’s car owner and grandfather Richard Childress stepped in. This is the part that annoys me. 

Childress, despite being the car owner and especially because of being Dillon’s grandfather, really has no business stepping in between two kids in their early ‘20s hashing out things over an on-track incident. You’ve got to let the drivers handle themselves in this situation and what Childress did was actually a great disservice to Dillon, because it makes it seem like Dillon can’t hold his own among other driver or fight his own fights. To be a tough driver and frankly a man in the sport of NASCAR you’re going to have to learn to fight your own fights or others will push you around. 

Dillon, who is one of the more smaller and unintimidating (he oddly uses the old “Intimidator” Dale Earnhardt’s car number) drivers in the sport, is often seen wearing a cowboy hat at the racetrack, but I’ve got some news for him, having your granddaddy step in for you when the heat is on is far from “cowboying up”. Now, I know that Dillon probably didn’t call his grandfather and car owner over during the middle of the confrontation, but he definitely should let Childress know that him butting in will effectively damage his image and reputation.   

Too Much Preseason NFL On My TV

Well, NFL fans are you tired of football yet? 

Enjoy watching this guy while you can!

I had someone say to me recently that they were already fatigued with NFL coverage this year. My response to them was that the season hadn’t even started yet, but I knew why they were tired of the game already. It’s because they’ve had meaningless preseason football games, and a lot of them at that, already shoved down their throat. 

Sports media overdoes football coverage, which is very obvious to people who consider something other than the sport of football to be their favorite, but it’s almost as if it’s starting to become ludicrous, ESPN, after all, did air multiple high school games over the last weekend. There has been at least one, many times more, preseason NFL games on a major television network almost every day since the preseason started. This greatly outnumbers the type of preseason programming shown for other sports and frankly almost exceeds the amount of regular season games you see broadcast of certain sports on these same networks. 

I know that football is so much more popular than the next most popular sport in this country, but I don’t understand the asininity of broadcasting, watching and talking about all of these meaningless games. Do you really care that much about who’s going to win the third-string quarterback gig for the Dallas Cowboys or seeing players that won’t play two downs all season long show their stuff for an entire half? 

You won't be seeing this guy play either!

I’m a football fan, though it might not sound like it from this admitted rant, but part of the reason why preseason football coverage bothers me so much is that I feel late season baseball division races get shafted by networks, specifically ESPN, for stuff that doesn’t mean anything as soon as the NFL regular season begins. I understand that you’re excited about a new football season, believe it or not, I am too, but by networks airing so much preseason football and by you watching so much preseason football all you’re really doing is spoiling the appeal and excitement of that first game of the regular season.           

The Worst Fantasy Football Draft Pick Ever Made ...

Last night during my fantasy football league draft I was witness to what might likely be the worst fantasy football draft pick ever made.

The first selection in the draft was a major surprise when new Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was taken first overall. I think this is a bad selection, but it’s definitely a high-risk-high-reward pick that will probably work out well for the player.

The second selection in the draft was Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who will likely be the first quarterback taken in many fantasy football drafts this season and is a great selection.

Then came the third pick, which was taken by one of the league’s players in the blink of an eye without a second guess, and it was so dumbfounding and idiotic that I almost missed my own first round selection out of sheer shock at what I had just witnessed. This league member drafted Kansas City Chiefs running back Peyton Hillis, a player that likely should’ve gone undrafted in our relatively small league, third overall above any other running back. I mean, come on, Peyton Hillis is probably not even dumb enough to draft Peyton Hillis third overall in his own fantasy football league.

Now I’ve talked many times before in my life, even a time or two on this very podcast, about the stupidity and idiocy of sports fans and this fantasy football pick is just another example of it. I’ve heard and seen sports homers time after time, but taking Peyton Hillis, who is likely the Chiefs second string back behind Jamaal Charles, third overall just because he’s a fan-favorite of Arkansas Razorbacks fans pretty much takes the cake.

I know that Hillis had a breakout season with the Cleveland Browns a couple of seasons ago and looked like he could be a budding star in the NFL, but his atrocious season last year made it seem like he was more of a fluke than a potential star. Let me point out that even if this was the same Hillis of two seasons ago that drafting him third overall would still be a terrible mistake. It’s the case of a fan acting with his heart and not his head and it frankly makes me love the fact that there’s a person this unbelievably dumb in my fantasy football league. It should make it all the more easy for me and others to defeat him and potentially win the league.  

Little League Team Did Nothing Wrong In Using Appeal Play

Now, I admittedly don’t watch the Little League World Series, because when you’re an adult and you watch the Little League World Series it means you’re really creepy. But, the controversial appeal play ending to a Little League World Series qualifying game between Petaluma, Calif. and Nanakuli, Hawaii this weekend certainly caught my eye.

It caught my eye primarily for two reasons. 1.) Because I’d never seen a baseball game end on an appeal play at any level and that’s a pretty exciting and interesting way to end a game. 2) The debate on whether or not it’s sportsmanlike to appeal a play in that situation.

Many people are giving the Northern California team coach Eric Smith grief for having his team appeal a play in which a Hawaii player failed to touch third base when he scored on an RBI single to pull Hawaii to within one run of the lead. After one of the Northern California players noticed that the Hawaii player missed the base a meeting was held at the mound in which Smith instructed his players how to appeal the play.

People are claiming that Smith and Northern California doing this in a close late game situation is everything from unethical and unsportsmanlike to even cheating. These people claiming this, however, are asinine.

An appeal play is an option given to teams in the rulebook and thus can in absolutely no way imaginable be considered cheating.

Considering an appeal play in this situation to be unsportsmanlike or unethical is up to interpretation, I guess, but again if it’s a rule than I don’t think applying it can possible be deemed wrong. Using an appeal play in a close game in the final inning shouldn’t be seen as any different as using an appeal play in a 0-0 game in the first inning.

Northern California coach Eric Smith and his players should be commended for a head’s up, great baseball decision that won them the game and that’s all.    

In Defense of Nicolas Batum's Crotch Shot

It might seem hard or ridiculous to come to the defense of an athlete for intentionally hitting another athlete below the belt, but I’m about to do just that.

The quarterfinal Olympics basketball game between Spain and France ended in controversy on Wednesday afternoon when France players became angered by the Spaniards flopping to draw fouls and in the case of France forward Ronny Turiaf’s foul on flopping Spain forward Rudy Fernandez a hard foul.

Incensed by the flopping by the Spanish team France forward Nicolas Batum decided that he was going to give Spain guard Juan Carlos Navarro a parting shot that he wouldn’t forget toward the end of France’s 66-59 loss to Spain that would end their Olympic run. Near the end of the game Batum ran at Navarro and made a violent slapping motion toward his mid-section that caught Navarro in the groin. This action set off a slight incident between the two squads, but Batum was not ejected from the game.

Not only was the French team angered by Spain’s flopping, but they also felt that Spain had intentionally blown a 12-point fourth quarter lead in a game against Brazil so they could face France in the quarterfinals instead of a tougher matchup against the United States.

Batum, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA, would’ve most certainly received a fine and quite likely a game or two suspension from NBA commissioner David Stern had this incident occurred in an NBA game. However, I’ve got to say that I don’t have the slightest problem with Batum’s actions, even though Batum would later apologize for it.

Here’s why …

After the loss to Spain, Batum told reporters “I wanted to give him a good reason to flop.” Batum’s response is not only humorous, but also a fairly decent way to combat the shameful act of flopping. In my opinion, it’s not a whole lot different than a pitcher beaning a batter (which I approve of, as well) for admiring his home run a little too much in baseball. In sports athletes really have to police themselves and that’s what Batum was doing.

Flopping is a major problem in basketball. Fans know it. I’m sure if you polled fans it would be near the top of a list of biggest problems with NBA basketball. Players and coaches know it. NBA commissioner David Stern even knows it and has mentioned trying to figure out ways to put an end to flopping.

The league putting an end to flopping is something that would be hard to do. I have mentioned before that I would approve of officials giving technical fouls to players that they see as flopping, but like many other things in officiating it’s merely a judgment call and if officials are calling fouls already on these plays than they likely don’t view them as flops in the first place.

Players policing themselves like Batum did on Wednesday could be one way to end flopping. Hit a dude in the crotch enough times and I think he’ll probably get the message. After all, there aren’t many more things in this world that dudes are afraid of than getting hit right in the marbles.

Many people see what Batum did as a heinous act that deserves to be punished. I see it as getting a message across about another heinous act that should be punished.