Well hello again, I know its been a while since I posted a blog, but when I do, I really go off, and this is going to be one of those times, there's so much wrong with sports today. Just so you have an idea, here are the key issues of today, Heisman voters refusing to give the award to a defensive player, simply because he plays defense; the NHL lockout and the worst commissioner in the history of sports; and some various other issues that I have with sports and life in general today. The question is do you still want to read my blog?
Well, if you're still reading, I've obviously got you interested, so here we go with the issue of the Heisman voters not giving the award to a defensive player. I'm going to say this right away: I AM A NOTRE DAME FAN, therefore some of you might think that I might be biased and pissed off about Manti Te'o losing the Heisman to a freshman simply because he's a quarterback. Now that I have made myself clear regarding the matter, I am going to make my argument for why they need to change this practice with a perfectly sensible solution that even the NCAA will like. This year, every preseason Heisman favorite fell to the side with their performances or lack thereof, the only real exception was Lee from USC, who really did perform, but wasn't that much of a contender going into the year. This to some should've opened the door for a defensive player to win an award that has been awarded 77 times, with the latest winner being Johnny Manziell. Now before you go ahead and say that I hate quarterbacks, or I'm only pissed that my boy Te'o didn't win it, I'll tell you this I love football, not just Notre Dame football, or pro football, I love football of all types. The suggestion I have is simple and even the NCAA will enjoy this one, create the defensive Heisman! Everyone knows that the NCAA is all about making money off of guys that can't get a single penny off of their names, likenesses, and performance. Baylor University reported that they made $250 million off of Robert Griffin III and Texas A&M has at least two years left of making money off of Manziell. The NCAA saying that these athletes aren't worth paying is just a joke, they really have no excuse not to create the defensive Heisman. I'm not saying Manziell didn't deserve the award, or that the NCAA shouldn't make money off of players, but they really need to rethink their priorities here, or at least pay the players some money. The fact that Te'o is a linebacker, should not have been held against him, but the fact is that after his performance this season, and all four years of his college career, that is seriously the only excuse that the voters have. Think about these stats, 105 tackles, 7 interceptions, 2 TOTAL MISSED TACKLES ALL YEAR, and by the way those 7 interceptions are tied for second most all year. There is a vast majority of NFL linebackers who miss more than 2 tackles in a single game, and this guy missed 2 all season. This is an absolute robbery by the Heisman trophy voters, and everyone that is honest with themselves knows the real reason for it, Manti Te'o is a defensive player, not a quarterback like Manziell. I could keep going, but I would be making the point over and over, so I'm going to go onto another issue that most any sports fan would agree with even if they don't pay attention to hockey.
I'll be honest, up until around 2005 after the lockout in 2004, I didn't pay much attention to hockey, and now I'm a huge Chicago Blackhawks fan, a full 5 years before they won the Stanley Cup. Now the issue today is still another lockout by the owners trying to get the players association to give up so much more of the pot then they did after the last lockout which lasted all year. Anyone who follows sports knows that almost every league in American professional sports has a large television contract, except for the NHL, and it's their OWN FAULT. Yes you did read that right IT'S THEIR OWN FAULT, when the last lockout happened they had ESPN as their primary distributor, which wasn't as big as it is now, but still was better than the NBC Sports Network that they currently have. Just for some reference, the NHL contract with NBC is worth $200 million, but the NFL contract with NBC, FOX, and CBS is worth $1.94 BILLION, and thats not to mention the money they get from ESPN. The Los Angeles Dodgers have a TV contract worth $6 billion alone, not to mention the money for the rest of major league baseball. I put this on one man, and one man only, Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, who has to be the worst commissioner in the history of sports, 3 lockouts in the 20 years he's been the commissioner. The NHL should've been able to learn from both their mistakes and the mistakes of other leagues, the NFL and NBA had extended lockouts last year, and the NHL was dumb enough to not solve their issues before the lockout began. Now don't get me wrong it's not all on him, it's also the owners, the idiots who give out ridiculous 12-yr contracts, then cry that they need to limit the amount of years on contracts. Craig Leipold the Minnesota Wild owner is the biggest culprit on this part. Leipold signed both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to 12-yr contracts in July this year, and then turns around in September and cries the loudest for a cap to the salaries that players make, talk about a major hypocrite. This is all on the owners and the ones that will lose out most are the fans, not the players, not the owners, but us the fans, it'll be interesting to see how empty the arenas are when hockey finally comes back.
Well, I'd go on but I'm just too irritated with things in sports these days.
