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Hello and welcome to the first installment of
my pointless ramblings on the world of sports.  I once heard someone say,”
We’ve got a long way to go, and a short time to get there" so lets get
started.  

Go Big Blue!

    The University of Michigan named Brady Hoke as their head football coach this week
and introduced him in a press conference on Wednesday.  I heard a small
clip of his speech and he went a little overboard in his attempt to woo
the Wolverine faithful.  When asked about his feelings on the
football rivalry with Ohio State, Hoke pounded his fist on the lectern while professing that the
game is THE most important on Michigan's schedule.  He even went a little Rex Ryan on us and
stated that the game was "almost personal."  Is he really THAT
worked up over the game, or did he listen to a little too much talk radio and
just give the people what they wanted to hear?  Either way, just coach the
team the way you know how, Mr. Hoke, not the way the talking heads say you
should.  And please, don't give us the tired "get back to Michigan football" line, you're from Ohio, went to college in Ohio, and coached at multiple Ohio schools.  Still feel good about this guy Michigan fans?

Say
What?

    I find myself becoming
more and more cynical with the sports media these days as it seems to me a lack
of journalistic integrity (or just plain laziness) has become the norm.  Before you go and dismiss this I submit the
following examples from Wednesday:

 

1) According to the New York Daily News,
Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte told GM Brian Cashman that he was “not playing
baseball at the start of the 2011 season” and that if he was coming back this
year it would be as a Yankee.  I read
this story and even sent a link to it to another Yankees fan at about 9:45 PM.  When I went back to
check the facts to add to this blog 45 minutes later, the story had been pulled
from the newspaper’s web site and a writer from another NY area paper had
written that Cashman called the Daily News story “inaccurate” and that “It’s a
misunderstanding.”  What?  Now I may not be from New York so I don’t know how the big city writers do their job, but
mixing in a little fact-checking every once and a while couldn’t hurt.  Maybe I’m wrong on this and Pettitte is New York’s version of Brett Favre, or maybe Cashman jumped the gun and
told the paper something he didn’t want to get back to Pettitte and then tried
to backtrack.  Either way, this was and
should have been a “non-story.”  

  2) I found myself killing a
little time waiting for “The Drive” with Wes Ryan and Carl Lee on 104.5 FM and
1490 AM (shameless plug for my favorite show) to begin by listening to “The
Scott Van Pelt Show” on ESPN radio.  Mr.
Van Pelt felt it was a good idea to have Idaho football coach Robb Akey
come on the show and explain why he was the only coach to vote for TCU as the National
Champion.  The only problem is that, according
to Coach Akey, he didn’t vote for TCU, he said he was a “team player” and voted
for Auburn like the BCS had told
to.  Oops!  Van Pelt laughed it off by saying that he saw
it on “the Internet” and joked to Coach Akey that “you mean something that I
saw on the internet was wrong?”  Suggestion:  When you call the Coach to ask him to be on
your show, you may want to ask him before you go on the air about his vote
instead of trying to get the scoop and ask him on the air.  After hearing Akey’s answer, Van Pelt quickly
changed the subject and ended the interview shortly thereafter.  So since he wasn't the big story that Van
Pelt thought he would be there was no need for the interview to continue.  

Curry returning to Marshall

Defensive end Vinny Curry has announced that he will be returning to Marshall for his senior season.  Curry expressed an interest in making the jump to the NFL and even submitted the paperwork to check on his possibility of being drafted.  According to Curry, the NFL projected him to be drafted in/or around the 3rd round yet he chose to finish his degree and become just the 2nd person in his family to receive one.  Great job, Vinny!  Congratulations on your decision.  He gave an interview to Ryan and Lee today on "The Drive" and genuinely sounded excited to be returning to school next year.  But a word of advice Mr Curry, try not to stand next to an airport when you are doing a phone interview!

That's all for now. Check back often for more updates!
Keith


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