SportsHoncho

Real SL vs Toronto FC

Pretty cool photo modifications with Picoli (on iPhone), but not as cool as the goal by Olave (long-crossing-header) as I was typing this.

Salt Lake Bees with the Kids

Salt Lake Bees versus Oklahoma Redhawks and the kids have been active (whining, crying and asking for stuff), so we... OK my wife, has been unable to enjoy the barn burner, 4 to 12 in the top of the sixth. Bring on the fireworks so we can leave!

This post is my trial run for using my iPhone to blog.

I don't really want to talk about it...

but, yes I went to the Utah/BYU Men's Basketball (rivalry) game on Saturday.  It was an ugly game, with only one player, Lee Cummard from BYU, actually performing well (ESPN Box score).  Everyone else stunk it up and tried to give the game to the other team.  I was hoping Coach Boylen could win his first rivalry game. 

(Don't take the following as questioning Coach Boylen's decision, I personally love his style and what he is doing at the U).  Utah had the ball, down by 1 with 33 seconds left, and held for the last shot.  I personally, and maybe thats why I am writing this blog rather than coaching Div. I basketball, do not like holding for the last shot when losing.  If the score is tied, yes, but not when losing.  It ended up Utah couldn't get the desired setup or shot, so Kepkay had to improvise and threw up a prayer as the shot-clock expired.  On a brighter side, the Utah women's team took it to BYU later in the afternoon, starting the game 22-0.  Yeah, it is 'grasping for straws,' but when it comes to losing to BYU, I look for anything to cheer me up, even women's basketball.

I am really sick of Bob Knight.

I admit it, I liked Bob Knight.  He was brash, funny, did whatever he wanted, and didn't really care about anyone else.  After closely watching his interviews over the past couple of weeks, I realized that I only had this opinion of him because I only saw and watched the highlights/lowlights of his rants through SportsCenter.  A few nights ago, I cringed as I saw him bring his grandson into the press box.  My first thought was, 'I've seen this before,' (see picture on the right). The entire room was uncomfortable with the situation and what might happen.  So Bob obliged them and throws the kid up in the air.  I was truly scared, Bob was wingin' it and looked as if that was the first time he had thrown the kid in the air. 

 

Then last night, Bob won his 900th game, and treated the press conference like Bill Belichick treats them, as a nuisance and a burden.  He gave no meaningful information, swore at a couple of questions asked, didn't want to talk about the 900th win, and pretended that it didn't mean anything.  The last time he tried to convince us that a record meant nothing (the most wins record) he wept for a couple of hours after the game.  The best part was that he then pouted about how much attention Joe Paterno got for his 500th game and indicated that he, Bob Knight, did that 25 years ago.  So he is telling us 'No Big Deal' one second, then he is jealous of attention other coaches are getting the next. 

Bob, you are officially off of my likable coaches list, you've "Jumped the Shark" and I probably should have realized and proclaimed that several years ago.

Utah pulls out the WIN!

#3 Utah upsets #1 Georgia in Gymnastics last night.... by .100!  Actually, Georgia should have won the meet, up by .300 going into the last rotation.  Then Georgia fell twice on the beam.  Now I am not claiming to know all the rules, but 6 members of the team do each event, and the final score is the sum of the 5 best scores (I think).  If only one Georgia Gymnast had fallen, they would have kept the lead. 

Our tickets turned out to be 1 row in front of the Georgia fan section, however we made nice and talked to them throughout the meet.  We (when I say "we" in the context of being social and talking to people, I mean "mostly Holly") ended up talking to the family of the freshmen Georgia gymnast, Cassidy McComb.  She was Outstanding!  In fact, had her routine on the beam counted, (she did a beam routine, however it was claimed to be an "Exhibition," after the 6 team members had already gone) Georgia would have taken the meet.

This being my second ever Gymnastics meet, I have a lot to learn, but I thought it was great how much the Utah crowd, cheered for the Georgia routines and performances throughout the night.  I think it is a courtesy rule to cheer for all contenders... however, it was a competition and that cheering diminished greatly on the last rotation.  The cheers were clearly less for each Georgia routine and when the falls came, their were cheers for the possible outcome these falls meant.

"It is, what it is" - quoted from a lot of athletes

"It is, what it is"

No sentence has explained more things away.  Its the end-all, to end-all.  Its the last, of the last.  Its... well... its as stupid as the last two sentences and doesn't exactly explain anything.  I wish I could use it in my everyday life, like;

My Wife - "Sports Honcho, why can you take work off for golf, but not a school play?" (Yes, I make my wife call me the Sports Honcho.)

Sports Honcho - "It is, what it is"

My Wife - "Oh, Okay"

Life would be great if we could get away with this argument and it would prevent me from further incriminating myself.  For the record, it took me forever to come up with an example to apply it to... I think because its such a stupid thing to say in the real world.

Andrei Kirilenko is the latest to use the phrase, to explain away his off-season trade comments.  If you listen to the interview, he was asked repeatedly about his comments/demands for a trade.  Of course, Kirilenko continually explained the situation as "It is, what it is" and he was there to "work hard" in camp.  I know that he doesn't have to say anything further on the matter to the media, but please, come up with something smarter than "It is, what it is." It makes you look like as if you don't remember or understand what you previously said, that you don't understand the question posed and you don't know how to make normal conversation.

AST Dew Tour in SLC

The Dew Tour included SLC on the tour this year, with the Toyota Challenge.  I think it helps that the governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman, Jr., rides motocross; in fact he handed out some of the medals to the FMX finalists.  My buddy Alan hooked us up with some tickets, so Me, Holly and the boys went.  We saw the FMX finals, which of course, were amazing.  Its amazing that it was only a year ago that the backflip was introduced in motocross and now every competitor has several tricks that incorporate it. 

We also were able to get great seats in the Energy Solutions Arena for the BMX preliminaries.  Those guys  are crazy/amazing.  One guy spent his entire 60 seconds trying to land a huge flip transfer trick, which got the crowd pumped and he did finally land it. 

(I looked into my ZipCodeSports.com database, and found that the AST Dew Tour was not included.  This has been changed and the remaining event, the PlayStation Pro Event in Orlando, Oct.18-21, has been added.  We will also include the full schedule for next year.)

We left the BMX preliminaries to find it raining pretty hard.  Unfortunately the rain will probably cancel the remaining outside events for the day.  However, we were leaving anyway, time to take in some college football games, including Utah vs. UNLV.

WHO's 'Bored' NOW?

I'm bored with ESPN's 'Who's Now' contest.  Anybody else? 

I thought it started with great potential, but has kind of lost its luster.  I'm sorry I just don't think that ESPN is providing any value with their "Who's Now" contest.  They are asking people to compare athletes from different sports and vote on who is more popular.  Doesn't this belong in the back of a high school yearbook somewhere? 

I see a couple of major problems with the contest.

1. Its really boring listening to celebrities talk about who's now and try to convince us to vote the way they are going to vote.  (I do however, like it when the SportsCasters, mostly Mike Greenberg, make fun of the celebrities.)  I normally turn the channel when they go to Stuart's panel of experts, because I could really care less of their opinions.
2. We are asked to compare athletes from different sports, which is difficult without the athlete's sport being in season.  A-Rod is going against Kobe Bryant in the next couple of days.  Although I personally would vote for A-Rod, because I hate the Lakers, it is unfair that it is the NBA's off season and so the only thing in the news is the achievements of A-Rod, and of course, the trade whining of Kobe.  I know, I know, we should be smart enough to compare subjectively, but that will not happen.  When Tiger takes on LT next week, there is no way LT would loose if we were in week 12 of last years NFL season, but right now, Tiger will probably win.
3. Also, the fans of a particular sport may skew the results by voting strictly for their favorite sport.  In reality, if your favorite athlete is not included in the bracket, you still want you favorite sport to come out victorious.  Look at the sports left; Tennis, Basketball, Football, Baseball, Racing, and the relatively unpopular ones that have been completely eliminated; Skate Boarders, Soccer, Volleyball, Swimmers and others (I don't recognize some of the athletes names, they are so obscure, maybe a Badminton legend is in there!).

Those are a couple of reasons why I think an ESPN executive is asking "How did that intern talk me into doing this?" and "Is he looking through his Yearbook again?"

Say it ain't so, Dan!

Dan Patrick is leaving ESPN. 

Sad day.  When I started watching SportsCenter, it was Dan, Rich, Kenny, Stuart and Keith.  Keith left, Rich has left, Kenny makes me giddy every time I tune in and he is in the chair, but he is used very sparingly.  Now... Dan is leaving.  Stuart Scott is the last pillar, and I hope he lasts as long as the Greek Parthenon.

Dan hasn't done SportsCenter for a long time, but he was still a big part of ESPN, with his radio show and specific TV responsibilities.  He was the only radio talk show host I enjoyed listening to (I will expound on my loathing to listen to Jim Rome, Stephen A. Smith, Colin Cowherd, Dick Vitale and others, in the future, but now is not the time.) 

I am going to just enjoy the last month of the Dan Patrick Show.  Dan, I hope the best for you and really hope you end up doing a radio show elsewhere and soon... so I don't have to listen to those mentioned.

Hated him, learned to like him, loved him and now, sorry to see him go.

Derek Fisher.  Read story here.

Hated him when he played for the Lakers, well, to be fair, I hate ALL Lakers.  Plus, he did make some pretty big shots against the Jazz over the years.

Was surprised when Utah traded for him, with apprehension of being forced to like and cheer for him.  Darren, my brother-in-law who is a big Jazz fan, struggled mightily over this transaction.

I didn't think he was ever awesome for the Jazz, but he obviously brought some great things to the franchise, namely leadership, confidence and competitiveness.  He was liked by the fans throughout the season, but then they fell in love with him during the Golden State playoff series, when he took care of his family first and  contributed to the team when he could.  (He flew in from New York and entered game 2 of the series at the end of the 3rd quarter.  He entered the stadium to a huge cheer, provided a spark to the team, had a, I think, huge game and helped the Jazz win in OT.)

You have to respect him for deciding that his family is his priority and only after they are secure, will he pursue basketball opportunities. 

Now he has shown us his character, along with the attributes he displays on the court and for the team, I am very sorry to see him go.