Out For the Season

note: a modified version of this column will appear in the Prize Day Edition of the Kent News

The NHL is dead to me. It is done, as far as I am concerned. I am vaguely aware that the season is still going on, but it may as well be over for all I care. The Sharks have been eliminated, and with them, my interest for the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs. I am a 2008 Playoffs widower.
Many fans have little or no problem picking up another team once theirs has been eliminated from the playoffs, continuing to care about a race from which their horse has withdrawn. This has lead to the wide spread obnoxious trend of Canadians moving from team to team in the playoffs, in vein hope that the Cup can return to its homeland. While many Montréalers are perfectly willing to exchange Kovalev for Iginla if their Habs fall, and many Leafs fans don’t think twice about rooting for the Canucks if Toronto fails to make the playoffs, I can’t do the same. I could never adopt the Kings for a playoff run because they share a home state with the Sharks, let alone the hated Ducks (Leafs fans do, to their credit, largely refuse to support the Senators, even if they are the last team standing north of the border). I will never trade my Michalek jersey for a Modano one, in hopes that the Cup can stay in the Pacific Division. People aren’t less of fans for picking up a new team, it just doesn’t seem right to me.
When I root for a team, I have one gear. I go all out. I put the pedal to the medal. I engage in one more cliché involving a wall which is inappropriate for this family publication. That is simply impossible over the course of two weeks, a month, or however long the season continues after one’s team is sent to the links. I didn’t trek an hour to Joe Louis arena about forty times in fifth grade or make a point of going every year even if I am only home for two months during the season and it is a 12 hour drive, I don’t know who the Wings best players played junior hockey for or follow their top draft picks through juniors and college before they sign with the big club. But I did go to the Shark Tank, then and now, I know that Joe Thornton played for the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds and Patrick Marleau played for the Seattle Thunderbirds, and I make a point of checking the Ottawa 67s website every week or so to check up on Logan Couture and Jamie McGinn. I can’t simply forget all of this, just because the Wings are still playing and the Sharks are not, tempting as it may be.
While rooting for any other team is somewhat perplexing to me, switching to a team in the same division is unforgivable (although I may be willing to make an exception in Laura Conrad’s case, she claims to be a Kings fan who was rooting for the Ducks because they made the playoffs, but is getting a pass because she is a blonde California girl who has a blog on NHL.com). You have spent all season hating these teams, taking pleasure in their pain, pain in their pleasure. Switching on a dime and rooting for these teams should be perfectly easy and acceptable only if you list your historical heroes as Judas Iscariot, Benedict Arnold, and Brutus.
It may be a step up from pulling for a division foe morally, but even harder for me would to be to root for a team that has eliminated your own. For six games, the Dallas Stars were Al Queda, anything they did wrong brought me pleasure. For the past two weeks I called Niklas Hagman inappropriate names for cherry picking to get his second goal with an empty net. I was devastated to learn that Sergei Zubov, a man I have never met with whom I probably share many interests and ideals, had made a full recovery from his injury and was going to be able to play. I sent text messages to friends asking why TSN had a broadcast team that appeared to be Stars owner Tom Hicks and Mike Modano’s father for game six. By the time a combination of luck, bad officiating and Marty Turco lifted the Stars over the Sharks in an epic four overtime battle, I was beyond the point where rooting for Dallas was even comprehensible, let alone a possibility. And yet some Ranger fans will inevitably adopt the Penguins, just like some Sharks fans will inevitably adopt the Stars, something I will never understand.
Naturally, this state of hockey viduity can be difficult. I still enjoy watching the games, but as hard as it may be, I just can’t bring myself to care. It just wouldn’t feel right. I will watch only because I enjoy watching hockey, the outcome will be a moot point. As far as my emotions are concerned, the offseason has begun.

My Own March Madness

note: a modified version of this column appears in the April 2008 Kent News

Ten days can feel like a long time. It has been three months since I submitted my last college application, and since then all that I have had to do is wait. While the entire waiting period has been stressful, the ten days since spring break have been almost unbearable. Coming back to Kent I had hoped to find decisions waiting for me, or at least to come in the next couple of days, but almost two weeks later I am still waiting for that last (extremely relevant) decision. Even with an acceptance in hand, three rejections have done nothing for my peace of mind, and by now I am a complete wreck.

Every time I go near the mail center, hear mention of colleges or even think about my pending decisions (right now for instance) I feel like a recovering addict; my pulse skyrockets and my stomach is in knots. I know I’m not the only one, even if it is little comfort. Everyone from the class of ’08 seems a little bit on edge right now. Being a senior in early March is something that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

So Why is this relevant? Where is the sports column usually appearing in this space?

Seven times, over the last four days I have sat down to write the NCAA Basketball tournament column I promised my editors. I’m just not up to it. It simply isn’t going to happen. My original premise was to write about tournament brackets and how ridiculous it is that everyone thinks theirs is awful because they didn’t have the 10 seed in the elite eight or the thirteen seed from the WCC beating the four seed from the Big East.

I liked the idea but it isn’t going to work for a number of reasons. First of all the concept became a little bit iffy when all four one seeds ended up winning their regions for the most predictable final four in NCAA tournament history. Secondly, and more importantly, I can’t sit still for more than 30 seconds without deciding that I need to check my mail, getting up and realizing that it is 11:15 P.M. The bottom line is that there is really only one thing that I can concentrate on long enough to write a (semi-) coherent column about, so I’m giving in.

Even if I have decided that an NCAA tournament column would be impossible at the moment because of my own personal “March madness,” I haven’t given up on following sports, quite the opposite in fact. At the best of times sports can be a nice escape from a stressful day to day life. Very seldom has an escape been more welcome than over the past couple of weeks. While a Sharks’ win or a good day for my bracket may not make up for a rejection from Dartmouth or Northwestern, they certainly don’t hurt to take my mind off of it for a while.

Luckily for me, the late March/early April period may be the best of the year for sports fans. The aforementioned NCAA tournament provides some of the most enthralling dates on the calendar in the first couple of rounds. Very few sports fans don’t enjoy sitting in front of their TVs or computers checking their brackets and rooting for 15 seeds (even if they don’t even know where Belmont is). The NBA and NHL are entering their stretch runs, providing a steady stream of excitement and drama as teams duke it out for the last couple of playoff spots. On top of all that Baseball’s season is under way and the NFL draft, one of my favorite events of the year, is just around the corner.

These are just the distractions I need right now. So thank god for an endless stream of NFL mock drafts (even if one letter changed Matt Ryan from my favorite player in the draft not named Ryan Clady or Darren McFadden to my least favorite), thank god for the Red Sox starting up (even though it is ridiculous that they have to do so in Japan four days before the rest of the league), for deadline acquisition/blueline god Brian Campbell pushing the Sharks on a 18-0-2 run and for the Warriors trying to street ball their way into the playoffs. Without those things I could be going insane.

Now you’ll have to excuse me, I need to go check my mail.

Prediction? Superbad.

Ironically, the timing was perfect. Sitting on 18-0, the Patriots were about to be the first undefeated team in three decades, just the second in the Super Bowl era. I’m not a Pats fan, but I couldn’t help being excited. Not only would it be exciting to see history, but an undefeated team would make for the easiest column ever!

Sure, they still had to knock off the Giants, but as anyone who talked to me before the game knew, that seemed like a forgone conclusion. Sure, the Patriots weren’t running up the score on teams like they had at the beginning of the year anymore, but by beating New York, Baltimore and Indy in close games, they showed that they could win the close games, not just the blowouts.

As for the Giants, the Patriots seemed to match up well. The pass rush was New York’s strength, but the Pats had the strongest line in the league. Even if they could get to Brady, Laurence Maroney was coming off of 4 100-plus yard performances in 5 games, leading a rejuvenated New England ground game. Giants’ fans sighted the week seventeen matchup when the Giants stayed with the Pats for much of the game, eventually falling by three in the fourth quarter. This just solidified my perspective. I felt like the G-Men had played a perfect game (at home, no less) and still came up short. So as the teams took the field, I wasn’t only ready to see perfection, I was sure I would. I didn’t even think it would be close.

Then the game started, and it all went downhill. The Patriots came out flat, but managed to take a 7-3 lead into the half, but the Giants controlled the tempo, and were a couple of bounces from having a lead. Going into Tom Petty’s performance, the Pats didn’t look like the 18-0 team they had been all year (I wanted to make a free falling joke here, but espn.com’s Bill Simmons beat me to it). The Patriots were outplayed in the first half, but still I went into the second half waiting for them to take over. It had happened in every Patriots game this year, in the blowouts, obviously, but also in the close games. The third quarter passed, and I was still waiting. It wasn’t until there were about 5 minutes left in the game that it hit me. Maybe they don’t have it tonight, maybe the Giants can close this out without giving up a TD pass.

Naturally, I was dead wrong, and the Patriots came roaring back to take a 14-10 lead. It appeared that this one was going to end with the Pats taking control and finding a way to win. Just like they did against the Colts. And the Eagles. And the Ravens. And the Giants, but then Eli took over, escaping Vincent Wilfork, Adalius Thomas and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, avoiding the sack and war in Iran, throwing downfield to David Tyree who secured the ball and the economy against his helmet, making the catch and avoiding recession (admission: I still don’t understand the whole “sports as a metaphor for life” thing). The rest is history, the “one of the greatest upsets ever” kind, not the “19-0” kind.

So I guess that there was still a column in there (surprise), but there is a problem. The Giants are (arguably) the most popular team at Kent. They just won the super bowl, and in I just used the only space that talks about professional sports in this paper talking about the Patriots. Once again, I don’t get this team, I didn’t think that they should have beaten the Patriots (or the Packers or Cowboys for that matter), but because my arrangement for a token Giants fan to contribute fell through, here are my 5 thoughts on the 2008 Super Bowl Champions:

1. Obviously the Giants pass rush was outstanding, and has received much well-deserved acclaim (no team came close to Brady as often as the G-Men knocked him down), but their secondary was also outstanding. Brady had decent numbers, but they didn’t allow any big plays, keeping New York in the game. Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnolu will certainly be an NFL head coach in the near future if he chooses to be (maybe even before this even prints with the Washington Redskins).
2. You can’t talk about this Giants team without mentioning the transformation of Eli Manning, but it is difficult to find anything that hasn’t already been said and repeated. Suffice to say he should have gone the entire post-season without throwing an interception (the pick in the first half should have been caught by Steve Smith), amazing considering that most Giants fans probably wished they held on to Phillip Rivers as recently as a month ago. (note to USC admissions department: The pick was Manning's fault, the ball was uncatchable; repeat, not Smith's fault)
   
3. Again, Manning was great, but David Tyree should have joined the Larry Brown All-Stars for obscure Super Bowl MVPs.
4. In a game, Tiki Barber went from talented TV host who had enjoyed an excellent NFL career to punch-line. I, for one, am pleased with this development. Michael Strahan, on the other hand, has to be relieved to have come back to the Giants, rather than joining Tiki on the links.
5. Congratulations to all the Giants fans, at Kent School and elsewhere. This championship should keep you satisfied during the offseason, when the only football comes in the form of the Pro Bowl, NFL Combine, Arena League, The NFL Draft, free Agency and the possible return of NFL Europe (wait, they call that an offseason!?).

Insert Glowing Reflection Here

January 18, 2008- With the second to last season of our Kent careers in full swing, a lot of seniors are probably looking back on their times competing for Kent and trying to figure out what it has meant to them to don the blue and gray. Okay, maybe there are more pressing things that seniors are thinking about, like when that acceptance letter will finally come if you aren’t into college, or exactly how little work you can do without failing out if you are already in, but when I was asked to write a column about Kent sports, I started thinking about it. Surprisingly enough, even after playing on twelve different teams in four and a half years at Kent, I found it difficult to articulate my experience. Since I don’t want my classmates to have the same problem I had (and because I would like to think that I was able to contribute something to the class of ’08), I came up with this. So if anyone ever asks you what you think about Kent sports (or asks you to write a column about them), you can just pick the options that apply to you.

My Time at Kent

By Senior O’Eight

Wow, I can’t believe that it is almost over. (One, Two, Three, Four, Five) years just (flew, dragged) by. I (tried, didn’t try) a lot of new things while I was at Kent, but one thing really stuck out. I will never forget my time as a part of the (football, soccer, crew, hockey, lacrosse, baseball, basketball) program. That team really (came together, couldn’t stand each other, could have used a couple of PGs). We (won, lost, showed up late for) a lot of games, but we always (found ways we could improve, worked hard, got to go to McDonalds after away games). The most memorable part had to be that game against (TP, Hotchkiss, Loomis, Kent Center School), when we (won, lost) and I (played the game of my life, saw my teammates at their best, realized I needed to find a new sport). Then there was that coach I will never forget, (Mr./Mrs.) (insert name). What a (great mentor, jerk)! Deep down I always (loved, hated) the game, but they brought it out of me. That one time that they (sent me in, took me out) I truly believed that (I could succeed, any moron who had ever watched a game on TV could do a better job than them). I think the smartest thing that they said that year was “(to know yourself is to play without fear, the only ones who can beat us are ourselves, I don’t care if win, I still get paid). Of course, it wasn’t all perfect. There was that one team I was cut from. I wasn’t that upset though, I knew that (Varsity Hockey, First Boat, Father Vorhees’s Club Soccer team) is very competitive. It actually was a blessing in disguise, because after I got cut I (was even more motivated and became a better player, had fun playing where I was, quit and used the extra time I had to beat Knights of Cydonia on Expert)

(Go, Go to hell) Kent!

Shenanigans Gimmicks and Tomfoolery

note: this column appears in the January 2008 Kent News

January 7, 2008- There is an old saying: Gimmicks are for people who need gimmicks. I suppose that this time honored philosophy is fairly simple. If you are the best at what you do, you don’t need to use shenanigans to get to the top. You will never find a Beatles Christmas album or a Family Guy season where they trot out celebrities in an attempt to attract viewers. Gimmicks are fun in sports, but they only get you so far, presumably this is why it has been 80 years since the St. Louis Browns sent a 3’7” batter to the plate, or why the NHL has yet to experiment with a 600 pound goalie. So even though “The Beatles' Christmas Album” was released in 1970, Family Guy season 6 is advertised on iTunes with the line “The upcoming sixth season will feature guest voice appearances by Paris Hilton, Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, among others” and I made up that “adage” about 10 minutes ago, I guess it is still true in sports.

This concept of the best not needing to stray from the norm ranges from the obvious to the obscure, both on and off of the field. For instance, you will rarely find a Red Sox game where they are giving away free souvenirs, whereas you can hardly walk through the gate at McAfee Coliseum (home of the Oakland A’s) without being pelted with free crap. On a similar note, I wouldn’t expect a giant Coke bottle or slide for the mascot in new Yankee Stadium (à la San Francisco’s AT&T Park or Milwaukee’s Miller Park). All of those can be fun, but organizations that don’t need to go out of their way to fill the seats, like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs or almost any NFL team, will be content to let the fan pay for his or her ticket, and let the game be the attraction.

Same thing goes for the games them selves. I am as big a Boise State Football fan as you will ever meet. I have three Bronco hats and a Jared Zabransky jersey hanging over my desk right now. Having said that, it doesn’t take Pete Carroll or Les Miles to tell you that you will never see USC or LSU run a hook and ladder, statue of liberty and halfback pass in the same season, let alone the same game (and I didn’t even mention blue turf). In fairness, the 2006 Broncos were a hard nosed team that relied on a great offensive line and one of the best running backs in the nation up until the last five minutes of their season, but they were a mid-major running with the big dogs and, at least for a while, they needed trickery to keep up. It was unbelievable to watch, but it also serves as a reminder that they aren’t quite up to speed with the Ohio States of the world.

There is indeed a fine line between creativity and gimmicks. In junior hockey, prodigy Sidney Crosby took heat for lifting the puck onto his stick and stuffing it into the net like a lacrosse player. Likewise a Brazilian soccer player was targeted and injured after running through defenders while bouncing the ball on his head like a seal, but these are talented athletes pushing the limits of their skills, not inferior players trying to keep up.

There are definitely exceptions. From time to time you will see Dice-K “noise makers” at Fenway or the Patriots running a throwback pass, but by and large, the best teams win by being faster and stronger, not by finding ways to fool you. While this leaves plenty of ideas you might like to see on the shelf (NBA Winter Classic anyone?), if teams don’t need gimmicks to win, and owners don’t need them to make money, they will continue to leave them alone. It is too bad.

Finding Clutch; Reflections of a 2007 Boston Red Sox Fan

note: this column appears in the November 2007 Kent News
October 31, 2007- In April, reading over rosters, off season moves and predictions in Sports Illustrated and ESPN.com, I wasn’t sure what to make of the 2007 version of my favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. Six months and a World Series Championship later, I’m still not sure what to think. I saw a good team that could step up and be great or crumble and be mediocre, and it turns out that Red Sox Nation would see both of those in 2007. So what should we call this team? Simultaneously this team was exciting and frustrating. An emotional roller coaster all season, one thing was definite about this team; when it mattered the 2007 Boston Red Sox got the job done.

There are some things in sports that will never be explained. Certain aspects are simply destined to be beyond the realm of our understanding. I’m not talking about your standard questions like “why is Gary Bettman allowed to remain commissioner of the NHL when no one familiar with his work would hire him to run a Dairy Queen” or “why did baseball decide to make the World Series between the AL champion and a glorified AAA team.” I’m talking about those questions that make up the philosophy of competition, like what separates a good team from a great one or why do some players crumble in pressure situations while others bring their game to another level.

The second question has long been debated. What exactly is clutch? Stat heads like SABR (Society of American Baseball Research) or Baseball Prospectus will site statistic after statistic contending that there is no such thing. They will contend that “clutch performers” are just another instance of fans being fooled by what they see, remembering instances that contribute to correlation and disregarding non-events that contradict your theory. This seems to be less than satisfying, contending that “clutch” doesn’t exist simply because we cannot quantify it, akin to someone contending that there is no god simply because they cannot account directly for God’s presence. Clutch works in mysterious ways.

Reggie Jackson was a career .262 hitter who only hit .300 once in his career, and yet in 5 World Series appearances, he hit .357. Josh Beckett has 2 shutouts in 166 regular season starts; he has 3 shutouts in just 10 postseason starts. Even these stats are just numbers however. To most fans, clutch will always be something beyond statistical analysis, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz have had had similar batting stats over the last few years, yet Sox fans relish Papi’s late game at bats while Yankee fans often wish that they had Jeter or even Abreu up in the biggest spots. I can’t tell you exactly what clutch is, but I do know one thing. Whatever it takes to come up big when it matters, the 2007 Boston Red Sox had it.

In October (the only October, because as we all now know, there is only one October, thanks Dane), everything came together. Manny Ramirez woke up from a year long daze after being criticized for watching a long home run, youngsters like Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellesbury stepped up and even underachieving off-season acquisitions Julio Lugo and JD Drew came through, Drew swinging the ALCS with a grand slam and Lugo hitting .385 in the World Series.

On the other side of the ball Schilling was solid, giving the Red Sox a chance to win every time he took the ball, Dice-K shook off a bad outing (game three of the ALCS) and allowed just four runs in his next two starts, and the bullpen was dominant throughout the playoffs, highlighted by three shutout innings to preserve a 2-1 lead in game two of the World Series. Oh yeah, Josh Beckett also established himself as the most dominant big game pitcher of his generation, starting off the playoffs with a complete game shutout and the World Series with four strike outs to begin game one. Both of these performances were statements by Beckett showing that a good team and a great pitcher were taking their games to another level.

Even now that the World Series has ended, the Red Sox are champions and I’m chastising Yankee fans with questions like “when is game 5? Who do we play next?” and “4-0, is that good? Did we win?” I’m not sure exactly what to make of the 2007 Boston Red Sox. Were they a great team, definitely not, great teams don’t let fans think that they don’t have what it takes with two weeks left in the season, but the Red Sox were two things above all else.

First of all they were clutch whatever that means. Even down three one, this team knew that it had what it takes (even if we didn’t always know) and knew that it would come through when it mattered.

Most importantly, they were a testament to the job done by general manager Theo Epstein. Epstein was criticized for spending too much on Dice-K and JD Drew, but both of them came up big when it mattered. People said he gave up too much to get Beckett, but even with Hanley Ramirez, a great young shortstop, there is no way the Red Sox win it all without Beckett and supposed “throw in” Mike Lowell (who no longer has to answer to “Beckett trade throw in Mike Lowell” and can now go by “World Series MVP Mike Lowell”) and no one noticed when Epstein drafted well and developed players like Ellesbury, Papelbon and Pedroia or found diamonds in the rough like Bobby Kielty or Hideki Okajima.

People could still criticize him by saying that any GM could win with that large a payroll or pointing out that Matt Clement made $9 million and didn’t throw a pitch in 2007. You could still say this, but like Patrick Roy, Theo can’t hear you. His World Series rings are blocking his ears.

The Final Straw

note: this column appears in the October 2007 Kent News

September 20, 2007- I have been pushed to the breaking point. I have been stretched, but I can’t be broken. I have been tested, tortured even, but I’m still optimistic about the future. The very fabric of my being, what I have been for as long as I can remember, and what I will be for as I live has been put to the test but I am still here. I’m talking, of course, of my life as a sports fan.

The last twelve months have been the worst of my lifetime for sports. Marked by scandal, disappointment and even tragedy, 2007 has not been a fun year to follow. For me personally the turmoil began about a year ago when the major acquisition of the off-season for my favorite team, new San Jose Shark Mark Bell was booked for DUI and hit and run. A dismal Red Sox team was eliminated from playoff contention with a couple of weeks left in the season, and I was not the only one turned off as an eighty-three win team won a World Series that your average sports fan couldn’t tell you who played in. The series itself was most memorable for a -- guess what: scandal, this one involving pine tar on Kenny Rodgers’s hand. If only boring championships and blurry spots on pitchers hands had been the worst of it.

2007 has been a year of disappointment and scandal. Pacman Jones started the sports world off on the wrong foot at the NBA All-Star game, becoming linked to a shooting that left a security guard paralyzed. I was dealt a personal blow at the end of the spring when a Sharks team underachieved in the playoffs and was ousted in the second round. Shortly after that, the sports world began to fall apart. Anyone who was remotely interested knows what happened, scandals broke out involving Barry Bonds, Mike Vick, Tim Donaghy, Human Growth Hormone (HGH), Jose Offerman, and Patriot-Gate. This summer has been so bad that perennial misbehavers Terrell Owens and Stephen Jackson decided that they didn’t even need to get involved.

So why am I still here, so to speak? It is a question that I have asked myself, for the first time in my life, while reading story after story with headlines like “Barry Bonds Accused of Fixing HGH Enhanced Dogfights.” For many people, the final shred of innocence was lost when the supposed feel good story of the year, Rick Ankiel, who had recovered from a postseason meltdown as a pitcher, worked his way up through the Cardinals farm system as an outfielder than, when he got his shot, hit 2 homeruns in his big league debut, was tarnished by accusations that Ankiel himself used human growth hormone.

The answer is two-fold. First of all, even when SportsCenter and ESPN.com are dominated by the negatives, positives still sneak in just often enough to keep people around. Even in what has been a negative year by most standards there have been plenty of great stories, even without Ankiel. 2007 started with a bang with the greatest upset in the history of college sports when Boise State pulled off a miracle and beat Oklahoma on New Years Day in the Fiesta Bowl (I’m a homer, if you didn’t know that by now your not paying enough attention). The Golden State Warriors became a national sensation on the way to upsetting a dominant regular season team in the Dallas Mavericks. Say what you will about Barry Bonds, but for me personally, sitting in AT&T Park with Bonds at 754 career home runs, a sold out crowd coming to their feet to support the soon to be home run king, flawless through it all in their eyes, represented much of what I love about sports and was an experience I will never forget (even if Bonds did go 1-7 with a single in the two games I attended). Young stars in all sports emerged, or else took their game to another level, as nineteen year old Sidney Crosby won the NHL MVP, LeBron James put the Cavs on his back, taking them to the NBA finals, Clay Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsburry, Melky Cabrerra and Jaba Chamberlain showed us the future of baseball’s most intense rivalry and rookies Reggie Bush and Marques Colston rejuvenated the Saints for a city that needed a rallying point more than anyone not from Louisiana could possibly comprehend. Through all this, what did I get to hear about? Cheating, lying and breaking the law. Is it worth it?

Yeah, actually, it is. It was because I know something that any Cubs fan knows. Something that Brooklyn Dodgers fans knew before the team went west. The NHL is starting up again, Joe Thornton is locked with a long term contract in San Jose with sweet new threads, the NFL will move on from Pacman, Mike Vick and Patriot-Gate, and the Sox are looking good for the future with Papelbon, Buchholz and Beckett on the hill. Those fans knew what every fan knows: “just wait ‘till next year.” If your looking for the final straw, the one that could turn me off of sports, your going to have to keep looking.