The Agony of Defeat

For a few weeks, the football world thought that they could pull it off.

From their epic Super Bowl performance against the decorated Pittsburgh Steelers, to an opening day shootout with the New Orleans Saints that had everyone predicting a rematch in the NFC conference championship game, to narrowly escaping the New York Giants by the exact same score as the 2007 New England Patriots, the Green Bay Packers put the idea in our collective heads that they would be the team that kept the 1972 Dolphins' champagne on ice. 19-0 seemed like a very realistic goal for the Packers. Trying to stop the Packers offense was like trying not to get hurt during the running of the Bulls. Their defense bent often, but they got key turnovers and lead the NFL in interceptions for the first thirteen weeks of the season. The coaching staff kept the Pack humble and hungry. And the media was too focused on the man who's name became a verb to pay attention to a team gunning for football immortality. This Green Bay Packers team was the humble, yet confident Goliath of the NFL that appeared hell-bent on football supremacy and legend.

But then David showed up in the form of the Kansas City Chiefs, and struck down the mighty Goliath with a slingshot in the form of a 19-14 win.

The Chiefs cooked up the perfect recipe for stopping the Packers in their tracks. Kansas City ran for 139 yards over the course of the entire game. The Chiefs utilized five running backs to keep in fresh legs on the field and wear down the Packers defense. Since they ran the ball so well, Kansas City had the ball for thirty six minutes and eleven seconds. The Chiefs controlled the clock and maximized the only defender that could stop Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense all season: the sidelines. 

Even when the Packers did hit the field against the Chiefs underrated defense, they looked like first time car buyers at their local car dealership: confused and frustrated. Aaron Rodgers, who had picked apart defenses like the NFL's surgeon general, looked like just another NFL quarterback on Sunday. The thirteen different Packers receivers that torched defenses on a weekly basis, did not have one guy who caught more than five passes last Sunday. And the virtually invisible running game of the Pack attack, remained just that on Sunday. 

The Packers looked like just another NFL team last Sunday instead of the unstoppable force that we had seen all season long. And any NFL team can loose on a given week, even to a 5-8 team that was all but dead in the playoff picture. Still, there are two important things to take away from the Packers defeat on Sunday.

There is parody in the NFL again.

It is inevitable that after an undefeated team goes down in football, the team that will hold the Lombardi Trophy in February is no longer a foregone conclusion. And since the NFL's only unbeaten has gone down , the other nine teams fighting for a playoff spot in the NFC should all feel like they have a chance again; even though the NFC playoffs will run through Wisconsin. The veil of invincibility surrounding the Packers is gone, and the Kansas City Chiefs wrote up the blueprint other teams hope to pirate for themselves. There are two primary candidates in the NFL who can copy the Chiefs recipe for success against the Packers, the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. Others, like the New Orleans Saints or Detroit Lions, may not be as well built to take on the Packers, but that does not mean that they can't win. And parody always makes for the most compelling games in sports.

And the second thing that we can take from the Packers defeat is that you can't go undefeated in the NFL with an unstoppable offense alone.

The biggest difference between the 2007 Patriots and the 2011 Packers was the defense. The 07 Patriots not only averaged a trillion points per game, but they also had the NFL's second ranked defense behind the New York Giants. The Pack attack in 2011 was a terminator that destroyed everything in its path; that being said, the defense was ranked 31st in yards allowed per game, 31st in passing yards per game, 12th in rushing yards allowed per game, and 26th in the league in sacks. The 2011 Packers compare far better with the 2009 New Orleans Saints than the 2007 Patriots. The Pack and Saints both had great offenses that nobody could stop. Both had defenses that created turnovers, but were not top five in the NFL by any means of the imagination. And both went 13-0 before loosing in week 14 to teams that  many believe should not have beaten them. The 09 Saints were impressive and very fun to watch, but like the Packers this season, they were not properly built to go 19-0 due to their questionable defenses. 

Now the members of the 1972 Dolphins get yet another year to hold onto the bane of their collective existence. Champagne bottles have been taken off ice and enjoyed by the members of a team that played during a completely different time during the NFL. The 72 fins played two quarterbacks at different points of the regular season as opposed to having a Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, or Tom Brady. The Dolphins leading rusher had 1,117 yards as opposed to today when between fifteen and seventeen guys are expected to rush for 1,000 yards this season. But the biggest difference between the 72 Dolphins and the teams that tried for perfection this decade is that the Dolphins had fewer games to play: 17 was the magic number of games back when the 72 Dolphins played as opposed to 19 games today. Going undefeated is simply harder today to do than it was in the times of Led Zeppelin and the Eagles. That all being said, the 1972 Dolphins are still the only team ever to go undefeated in NFL history, so they will still have that until somebody eventually does it.

Now, with the Green Bay Packers 13-1 and the quest to perfection over, the entire NFL can focus back on the playoff races. And with nine teams fighting for four spots in the NFC, there are plenty of other story lines to pay attention to as the season comes to ahead. 

And the Winner is....

College football's regular season is predominantly known for dominating teams, epic school rivalries, and jaw dropping numbers from athletes who hope to be invited to the Marriott Marquis this upcoming Saturday.

But this season has been anything other than regular.

The college football landscape has been dominated by bad news. One of the most iconic programs in the game was ripped apart by scandal that took place just a few minutes away from campus. More than twelve schools will be playing in conferences that geographically do not make sense just so they can get a bigger piece of the revenue pie at the NCAA's dinner. And there is controversy surrounding the two teams who made it to the BCS Championship game.

Okay that last one is nothing new, but you get the idea.

This college football season has been surrounded by negative headlines that have detracted from the individual seasons of the five men invited to the trophy presentation this upcoming Saturday. These finalists include, the foregone number one draft pick in next year's draft, the most electrifying player on the best team, the face of the other team in the national championship, the man who was one touchdown away from breaking a legend's record, and the man who elevated his program to the next level. So who is going to have to come up with a teary eyed thank you speech after receiving the 77th annual Heisman Trophy? Well, all five of these players have a case.

Let us start with the predetermined number one draft pick in next year's draft: Andrew Luck.

Andrew Luck could have come out of college last year and made millions of dollars in the NFL last year, but instead he decided to return to college to bring a Heisman trophy and a national championship to the Stanford Cardinal football family. Luck has put up numbers for the fourth ranked Cardinal, including a 70 percent completion percentage, 3,170 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns against nine interceptions, and the fifth highest QB rating in the country at 167.5.

That is Luck's case and it is simply not good enough. In fact based on some key numbers, Luck should not even be at the award presentation.

His quarterback rating of 167.5, is the fifth highest in the national country, behind Boise State's Kellen Moore's 177.2, Baylor's Robert Griffin III's 188.6, Houston's Case Keenum's 193.3, or Wisconsin's Russell Wilson and his NCAA leading 201.6 quarterback rating.

Luck's 70.8 percent completion percentage is eighth in the country behind RGIII, Keenum, Moore, Wilson, and three others.

He ranks 12th in the country with 8.6 yards per completion, and would rank 13th if Kellen Moore's last name came before the letter L.

And Luck has the 10th best touchdown to interception ratio in college.


It appears written in the Stars that Andrew Luck will be heading to the Indianapolis Colts as the number one overall draft pick in April's draft.

It appears written in the stars that Luck will be holding the jersey of the Indianapolis Colts when they draft him number one overall next April, but Luck will not be holding the 77th Heisman trophy as well.

What about the best player on the best team? LSU's Tyrann Mathieu

This is an easy one. Only once in the illustrious history in college football has a defensive back won the Heisman Trophy, and that was Charles Woodson in 1997. Here is how Mathieu stacks up against Wilson's past numbers

Woodson Defensive: 44 tackles, 17 assists, 1 sack, 8 interceptions

Mathieu Defensive: 54 tackles, 17 assists, 1.5 sacks, 2 interceptions

Woodson return: 36 punt returns, 301 yards, 8.4 yards per return, long of 78 yards, 1 touchdown

Mathieu return: 33 returns, 420 yards, long of 92 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Defensively and returner wise, Mathieu has a clear edge, but what Wilson had that Mathieu does not is 3 offensive touchdowns as well. Woodson was all over the field and his value was integral to Michigan in 1997, Mathieu has been electric, but LSU has a dominant team defense that is not lead by this sophomore. What also works against Mathieu is that Tim Tebow, a quarterback, is the only sophomore to win the Heisman trophy.

In short: good stats Matheiu, but no cigar.

What about Alabama Running back Trent Richardson? Could he bring home the Tide's second Heisman Trophy?

Don't count on it.

Let us compare Richardson's numbers against Oregon running back LaMichael James.

James: 222 carries, 1,646 rushing yards 7.4 yards per carry, Long of 90 yards, 17 touchdowns.

Richardson: 263 carries, 1,583 rushing yards, 6 yards per carry, long of 76 yards, 20 touchdowns.

Factor in the fact that James got hurt in his last game and he separates himself from Richardson even further. The only reason that Richardson is going to the presentation is because James got hurt.

Sorry Richardson, good luck in the National Championship game.

What about the Wisconsin running back Montee Ball?

Now here we have a prospect.

Monte Ball has had a fantastic season that appears to have come out of nowhere. This season Ball has had 275 carries for 1,759 yards, a 6.4 yard per carry average, and 32 rushing touchdowns.

But Monte has done more than just run the ball extremely well. As a receiver, Ball has 20 catches for 255 yards and six touchdowns.

All of those statistics are better than Richardson's and Ball even has bested James in carries, yards, and touchdowns. In addition to ground superiority, Monte Ball has more receiving touchdowns alone than James and Richardson do combined.

All this comes without mentioning the fact that Monte Ball's 38 total touchdowns are the second most in NCAA history by a running back. His total is just one shy of the legendary Barry Sander's 39.

Any time you are a running back that can be mentioned in the same sentence as Barry Sanders, you are someone who should be taken seriously.

And now the final Candidate: Baylor's Robert Griffin the Third.

Ladies and Gentlemen we have our 2011 Heisman Trophy Winner.

The Heisman should boil down to a two horse race between Ball and RGIII and we have heard Ball's compelling case already. Now it's RGIII's turn.

Griffin III has 267 completions for 3,998 yards, 36 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. His 188.6 quarterback rating is the third highest in the country. Griffin III is the proud owner of the third best completion percentage in the nation with 74.2% completed passes. To continue the trending pattern, his 10.2 yards per attempt is the third best in the nation. The only key stat in which Griffin III ranks lower than third is touchdown to interception ratio: which ranks fourth in the nation. And in the fourth week of the season, RGIII had more touchdown passes, 14, than incompletions, 12.

The primary reason that Griffin will win is due to the developing historical trend of Heisman winners during the 2000s. Out of the previous eleven Heisman trophy winners, nine were quarterbacks. And polls across the nation seem to be predicting Griffin to win with Ball finishing fifth in the voting.

If history means anything, it will go to Griffin. If the award truly goes to the player who had the best season, Monte Ball will win. But due to the huge popularity of quarterbacks in football and the recent historical trend during this generation, bet on Griffin III taking home the 77th Heisman Trophy.

Tim Tebow: The Man, The Myth, The Quarterback

When the first floorboards of the illustrious Radio City Music Hall in New York City were first laid down in 1929, John D. Rockefeller envisioned a complex so superior to it's surroundings that the American people would be able to look at that building and see a symbol of hope. The project took eleven years and continued to be funded throughout the Great Depression, but when the final coat of paint was applied the building that stood before New York City was the palace for the people that it's constructors had envisioned.


Even 70 years after the final floorboards of Radio City Music Hall had been laid down, the essence of what this national landmark stood for had embraced the opportunity to showcase exceptional young college football players who got to live their childhood dreams of becoming professionals. The 2010 NFL draft provided another 254 college athletes with the chances to make something of themselves in the NFL. One of the 32 employers of these young men, the Denver Broncos were once one of the most illustrious franchises in NFL history traded a second, third, and fourth round draft picks in order to move into the first round.

And with the 25th pick of the 2010 NFL Draft the Denver Broncos selected Tim Tebow, quarterback out of the University of Florida.

But still there were questions as to why the Broncos drafted him.

Did Denver draft a player who was regarded as a man of impeccable character and one of the nicest guys that they would ever meet?

They did.

Did the Broncos think that they were getting a player with a heavily decorated track record that included being a two time SEC Champion, two time Maxwell Award winner, two time first team All American, Heisman trophy winner, and two time BCS National Champion?

They did.

Did the Broncos think they got the steal of the draft in a class that included Sam Bradford, Ndamukong Suh, Eric Berry, Joe Haden, Rolondo McClain, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Dez Bryant?

That remains to be seen.

And this is only the beginning of the microcosm that is Tim Tebow.

Ever since Tim Tebow first hit the field in 2010 and especially in a lockout shortened training camp in 2011 he got he has been praised, scrutinized, approved, criticized, ripped to shreds, praised, counted out and brought back in again ad nauseum. Mere mention of Tebow in a conversation was like striking a match and throwing it at a gasoline covered giant lint ball that would result in fiery debate. At one point or another, everybody and their grandmother had a different opinion on Tim Tebow, and all of them were right.

Tebow's number's are intriguing for all the wrong reasons. The statistics simply do not lead us as football fans to a concrete conclusion as to if Tim Tebow is a good or bad quarterback. Here are some examples of the off putting statistics that cause such a stir among the brotherhood of football fans.

• Tim Tebow has not thrown for 200 yards in a game this season.
• He has three fourth quarter comebacks this season; which ties him for fourth best in the NFL.
• Tebow's completion percentage in 2011 is an abysmal 45.5%
• He has only thrown 1 interception in 2011.
• Tim Tebow has gone 5-1 in six starts this season.
• His all time record against teams with records of .500 or better is 2-3.
• Tebow did not commit a turnover in four out of the six games he has played in this season.
• He has only thrown for more than 200 yards twice in a span of two seasons.

Tim Tebow puts up statistics that simply do not follow a consistent pattern that his captivated audience can follow to a forgone conclusion. Which is just one of the reasons that the viewing public cannot seem to come to a general consensus as to if Tebow is a good quarterback or not. Yes Tebow's career sampling is small, but still he has played enough to get a pretty clear scouting report.

Tim Tebow is a pretty good runner. At 6'3 236 pounds, Tebow is a load to bring down, and the two headed race horse that is Tebow and Willis McGahee has put up an average of 159.7 rushing yards per game: good for the best rushing attack in the NFL. During Denver's four game winning streak, Tebow has averaged 13 carries for 74 rushing yards per game. Now these numbers are not anything spectacular, but they are effective enough to establish the play action. Still, like every other NFL quarterback, running is not the only part of Tebow's job description.

As a passer Tim Tebow is atrocious. His throwing motion looks worse that the dead girl from The Ring. Tebow does have above average arm strength, which is a good quality to have. That being said, Tebow could be able to throw the ball faster than a speeding bullet, but when it comes to the intermediate routes, Tebow could not hit water if he fell out of a boat. Tim Tebow's career completion percentage is an abysmal 47.1 despite completing 106 passes for 1,506 yards as well as 13 touchdowns against 4 interceptions during this six ga....my mistake, those numbers are from Tebow's career line over the course of two seasons. There is nothing about Tim Tebow the passer that looks pretty, which is one of the primary reasons that so many people think he is a bad quarterback.

Football fans have always equated the quarterback position in the NFL with a signal caller that stands in the pocket and methodically picks defenses apart. Quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers are so highly regarded in today's game because they quickly and efficiently pick apart defenses with their passing as if they are preforming open heart surgery and reconstructive tissue surgery with their backs to the patient. In contrast, Tim Tebow is the intern two weeks in to his first year that causes his patient to flatline twice before resuscitating him and patching up the broken valve with duct tape. Both of these scenarios end with the patient alive, but the Rodgers, Bradys, Brees', and Mannings of the world come out with barely any blood on their scrubs while Tebow comes out looking like he went for a swim inside the patient. And if you had the choice between these two types of doctors with your beloved, which one would you have operate?

The answer is easy in medicine, it is harder to find in football because generally speaking every sin committed during a game is forgiven if the team wins. And the statistical archaeologists can dig up ever stat on Tim Tebow dating back to high school, but Tebow had the most important statistic on his side in 2011: Five wins against one loss in his six starts this season. There is little question that the Broncos have had more success with Tebow at the helm, but let us remember to give credit to a swarming Denver defense.

The Denver Broncos are tied for eighth in the league in sacks with 30 this season. Rookie linebacker Von Miller and his 10.5 sacks are leading the pass rush for Denver and Miller appears to be a lock for defensive rookie of the year. In addition to Miller, the Broncos also have done a great job wrapping up ball carriers, for they rank tenth in the league in tackles made. In addition to the Broncos pass rush, they have gotten very good play from veteran defensive backs Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins. But what may be the most important statistic from Denver's defense is that they are only giving up 14.8 points per game over the last six games. It is true that Denver's defense has given up 14 fewer points per game since Tebow took the reigns? Yes it is. Still, Tebow has the same kind of impact on the Broncos defense as the other 26 cheerleaders on Denver's sideline.

Even though the defense has played very well over the course of the Broncos last six games, Tim Tebow is clearly doing something right between his wrecking ball running and clubbed hand throwing because Denver has won five of the six games Tebow started. And with Denver now a game an a half back of the idle Oakland Raiders for first place in the AFC West, it is valid to ask if Denver can pass the silver and black and make the postseason.

It is possible, but not likely. The good news for the Broncos is that they only have to play two teams above .500 the rest of the way and one of them is the Cutler less Chicago Bears. The bad news is that even without Cutler, the Bears should still be able to beat Denver and the other plus .500 team Denver plays is the New England Patriots. Still, Denver does get a Kansas City team they beat once already this year, a Minnesota Vikings team without Adrian Peterson, and a Buffalo Bills team in free fall. But what hurts Denver is that Oakland's remaining schedule looks about as winnable and they already have a one and a half game lead. Yes Oakland has to play the undefeated Packers and the 7-4 Detroit Lions, and will most likely loose both of those games. However, the silver and black get a Miami Dolphins team that Denver already beat, the same abysmal Kansas City Chiefs that Denver gets to play, and the dysfunctional San Diego Chargers. To put a percentage chance that the Broncos can make the playoffs is about 48% because they own a better division record and better conference record than the Raiders; but the Broncos need help from bad teams in their own division and or Miami  in order to pass Oakland on the final length.

Tim Tebow's success in the NFL to this point has made him the most polarizing athlete in professional sports due to his ability to make winning look grotesque. But like the iconic Radio City Music Hall, Tebow and this Denver Broncos team have a chance to become the symbol of hope that the Broncos can return to glory.

Fight Night

In one corner stood six foot five, 212 pounds wing, the challenger, Paul Gaustad of the Buffalo Sabers. The other corner was occupied by the six foot three, 225 pound wing of the Boston Bruins Milan Lucic. When Lucic first skated onto the ice for his first shift, he was greeted by a downpour of boos by the Sabers faithful and then the gloves came off. Right off the bat.

As it should have been.

What had sparked such a perverse response from Gaustad and the waterfall of boos to reign down on Lucic was in the previous game Lucic leveled Sabers goalie Ryan Miller when the Bruins were down a goal. In the NHL, a hit against a goalie had been a penalty since the birth of hockey; and teammates who watched their goal stopper get cleaned out were always obligated to respond as one of the unwritten rules of the game.

At the end of the game, the final score was irrelevant due to the amount of games left in the season. But what could we have taken away from the game last night was what should and should not be considered proper fighting etiquette in the game of hockey.

The first and most important rule of fighting in the NHL: Stay above the belt.

You would not kick a man in the engine room in a regular fight, and players in the fight last night did a very good job of keeping their potential children out of danger. Even when the scrum broke out behind the net between Gaustad, Brad Marchand, Zedeno Chara, Robyn Regehr, Adam McQuaid, and Corey Tropp, none of the aforementioned players attempted to make someone else's voice increase dramatically in pitch. Sots below the crotch had been and always will be regarded as the most unethical tactic in a fight, and the fewer  groin shots in the NHL the better.

The next rule for NHL fisticuffs: Pick on somebody your own size.

The battle that ensued last evening between Lucic and Gaustad had this very important element of size matters. Gaustad and Lucic were both over six foot three, and both weighed more than 215 pounds. They were very evenly matched in terms of size, and as close in weight as a fight could hope for. Lucic clearly won the fight, but it was due to superior fighting skill that won the bout, not a discrepancy in size. If a person as big as Zedeno Chara picked on a guy the size of Brian Gionta of the New Jersey Devils, Chara would have been able to step on Gionta and win the fight. If two players were to drop the gloves and they were the same size, it would likely lead to the best possible NHL fight.

Another rule of NHL fighting: Do not utilize your stick as a weapon in a fight.

Suppose that a player in the NHL went out of their way and hit somebody over the back or in the face with a hockey stick, there would be two kinds of punishments. The first type of punishment would be handed out by the league. If a player hit somebody else with a stick he would receive an immediate game ejection, a fine that would be the size of a bailout, and a season long suspension. The other type of punishment that player would receive would be assault charges from a court of law, and those never end well for anybody. Look at baseball player Jose Offerman taking a bat to the mound during a minor league game. He got arrested, and so would anyone charging another player with a hockey stick.

Next rule of fighting in hockey: Do not have your entire team gang up on one person.

In the Lucic and Gaustad fight, the teammates of Gaustad did not try and assist him in the battle. Even though Lucic won the fight with ease, his teammates did not participate either. The primary reason for this was because the Sabers wanted to send their message with only one player getting penalty minutes as a result. But again just like in a real fight, it would be very unfair to have your team rush one dude. In hockey fights, either man up and have it be one on one or don't fight, plain and simple.

All in all, the fights that broke out in last nights game cleared the air, temporarily, because every fight that went down last night was a good clean fight. The Lucic-Gaustad, Chara-Regehr, and McQuaid-Tropp fights all followed these very important guidelines to NHL fighting, and most importantly, nobody got hurt for the rest of the game. And although these NHL fights can be overplayed at times, the brawls in the last two games will make the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabers games more compelling the rest of the way.

Two Teams, One Game, By themselves

The landscape of America's national pastime is changing again.

In the midst of the baseball off season news surrounding Albert Pujols' new team in 2012, the Houston Astros moving to the American League in 2013, and the Chicago Cubs finding their new skipper, there is one piece of new information that might not be getting the attention it deserves. MLB will expand on their playoff system after the most successful postseason in years.

To sum up these upcoming changes concisely, MLB would essentially add a play in game to it's current format that has been in place since Bill Clinton was in office. This robust new format would feature ten teams, five from each league, vying for their chance to compete for a World Series trophy. And here is the best part. There would be no agonizing third series that would push baseball's postseason into December. This new playoff format would feature a one game, winner take all, contest between the two teams that just barely made the cut.

This upcoming change could add a good deal of excitement to the already captivating pennant races.

For one thing this would put an additional amount of weight on the out of division schedule. Since there will be a second wild card team, teams like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Orange County, California, United States, Western Hemisphere, Earth, Milky Way) would need to beat the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox more often to have a leg up when the dog days of summer swing by. Out of division schedule includes interleague play; and interleague play means that your team will have more on the line when playing its NL or AL rivalry game.  

On a similar note, this upcoming playoff system ideally gives teams not in the American League East to make the playoffs. The current wild card format might as well have been called 'the playoff spot for whoever finishes second in the AL East this year.' And although a lot of people in the baseball world want to see the Sox and Yanks in the playoffs, it gets boring to see the same teams from one division in the playoffs all the time. The last time a team that was not from the AL East won the wild card was back in 2006 when the Detroit Tigers did it. And guess what? That Tigers team in 06 made it all the way to the World Series. This fifth team that enters the mix could give a sleeper team from the AL West or AL Central the chance to make a Saint Louis Cardinals type run for the Commissioner's trophy. 

And perhaps the most obvious reason that the playoffs are expanding is because two more playoff teams mean that more postseason priced ticket packages will be sold to baseball fans. And what baseball fan would not want to pay to see a winner take all, playoff berth on the line, game? The answer is nobody who likes baseball. This move may be in part a money grab, but it is a money grab that benefits the sport. 

Baseball is riding a huge wave of momentum after the best postseason in recent years. And so far, the higher ups in MLB are making all of the right pitches to improve the game.

No Fo Pah

It all seems to real to be possible.

Every day families turn on the news and hear horror stories of deranged individuals committing acts of sexual misconduct on people younger than they are. Sexual misconducts are unholy taboos in our country today. Even if a person were to be charged with sexual assault and found not guilty, the black cloud that would hang over that person's reputation would engulf their reputation in scorn for the rest of their days. 

People do not want to hear these horror stories, so they turn to the world of sports to provide them with a sense of escapism. The fierce competition, captivating plays, and gratuitous strategy surrounding these games offer an alternative to the harsh realities that exist in our everyday lives.

And then this happened.

Penn State University began to drown in a sea of sexual assault accusations that were proven to be true. Jerry Sandusky quickly became one of the most hated men in America over the course of a few hours. And Penn State's legendary head coach who lead the program since 1966, was fired for not reporting what had happened.

The knee jerk reactions to the Penn State scandal were understandable. A seemingly stable football community  was torn appart at the seams by alligations that had been strict taboo in this country. Nobody knew how these acts took place for the better part of a decade. But everyone was shocked and furious.

Sandusky became a demon, Joe Paterno became a scapegoat, and the higher UPS at Penn State were questioned from every angle as to how a coach sexually assaulting young men had gone on unreported.

And somehow Joe Paterno became a victim.

The omnipresent icon of Nitnay Lions football had the support of the appalled community after he had been fired. Students took to the streets drunk and furious that their father of football had been divorced by their school. Streetposts were knocked down, a television news van was flipped over, and distraught students cried desperately for the return of their beloved Jo Pa.


And why wouldn't they cry?


Paterno had won more college football games in his career than any other head coach in history. Paterno guided his team to three Big Ten championships and two national championships. But most importantly, Paterno had shapped the minds of students who did not turn pro to better their lives after football. But noweverything Paterno accomplished in his supreme court justice long run at Penn State had been covered by an inescapable black cloud bigger than any game he ever coached in.

Joe Paterno may not have been the one to commit the deeds, but he did not report his findings to the police. Paterno was not and should have been punished by law for his failure, but the school had to fire him. As a representative to Penn State, Paterno had an obligation report a crime that occurred repeatedly on his watch. Why he did not report see despicable acts is unknown, the consequences for not doing so were made abundantly clear.


With the fire extinguished, the riots over, and Penn State's loss to Nebraska on Saturday, the community now must pick up the pieces. This scandal will not leave the memories of the victims, and will take a while for the rest of the  country to forgive those who let this happen. It is hard to imagine that Penn State will return to its prior glory after these events. Paterno's successor will have to take up the daunting task of explaining to parents why their child should attend a school where  children were taken advantage of? The answer to that all important question is another question: would you have stopped Jeff Sandunsky if you knew what was going on?

The Answer to an Age Old Question

A group of seven students at a local university are seated at various locations across a dimly lit dorm room with the sights and sounds of Monday Night Football filling the room. The four football fans in the room are all fixated on the screen; hyper focused on the offensive players shifting in motion while the defensive players attempt to adjust their coverage. Soon after the adjustments, the ball is snapped, a pass is thrown, and the offensive team goes ten yards for a first down.

The play gets a rise out of four students in the room and the conversation quickly shifts to certain plays that are superior in certain situations. The other three viewers see the same play unfold, but they elect not to join in the conversation the rest of the room is having. As the discussion carries on, one of the three students asks a question that catches everyone in the room off guard.

"How can you guys talk about football so much?"

The question is dismissed at first blush by the viewing audience in the room, but that one question raises several others; not only about football, but about all sports in general.

What is it about sports that is so compelling that cause people to tun in time and time again? How come people can talk about sports for hours on end? What is it about these games that cause everyday working people to riot in the streets, flip cars, and set objects on fire? And perhaps the most important question of them all: Why do people even care about sports? There are several different aspects of life that can receive the undivided attention of people, but why do so many people pay so much attention to sports?

The answers to these questions reside within several factors that the world of sports provides to its viewing audience.

The first factor in why people care so much about sports is because of how many people can relate to sports.

Watching sports is one of the few aspects of global culture that does not discriminate against race, sex, or age. Whenever somebody enters a stadium, there appears a melting pot of fathers, mothers, grandparents, daughters, sons, in laws, friends, and couples of all shapes and sizes can be seen wearing their team's apparel. Whether it be batter in the bottom of the ninth, a basketball player taking the last shot, a Hail Mary pass in the NFL, or a shootout on the ice, a team's fans all share the same hope that their player will come through. And the most frequent type of discrimination that occurs in sport happens when two different people are fans of different teams. Sure insults go back and forth between fans, but solace can be taken in the fact that these jeers of disapproval are done to put down a rival team as opposed to directly attacking the person his or herself.

On a similar note, some people choose to enter the world of sports because their families and friends are so passionate about it. There are countless images of families at sporting events and seeing a young boy or girl holding up a "it's my first game" sign. These children gain an interest in the sport because they grow up with sports being around them all of the time.

But the bonds of sports fans go beyond individuals rooting for their favorite teams. Everybody likes to hear stories of people who overcome adversity; and professional sports are filled with players who come from broken homes and bad circumstances only to be saved by the sport that they play. You may recall the film The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock regarding offensive tackle Michael Oher. The story of a young man with a great deal of strength who tries to escape the rough neighborhood he grew up in. In fact, every aspect of Oher's story is true and he is currently playing for the Baltimore Ravens. Or the story of Invictus which the South African Rugby team's run to the World cup of Rugby brought an entire nation together. People love to see individuals overcome all odds, and the world of sports gives fans a areal view of the lives these athletes lead.

But it is not just the lives of the athletes that get people to watch sports, it is also the dazzling plays that athletes make that captivate fans across the sport. Whether it be Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers hitting moonshot home runs, LeBron James bulldozing defenders before throwing down slam dunks that get audiences all rilled up, Calvin Johnson making spectacular catches in the back corners of end zones, or Henrik Lundqvist standing on his head to make saves, there are so many athletic plays in sports that capture the imaginations of sports viewers. We are all captivated by things that we cannot do ourselves, and these athletes making great plays are something that everyone can be impressed by.

And when these athletes make great plays, there are individuals who take these great moments and generate them into statistics in which everyone can keep track of. Keeping track of sports statistics is the water cooler effect of sports in action. How common is it to see a group of five or so employees at work talking about the number of touchdown passes Aaron Rogers has compared to Tom Brady's while in the office? We see it daily, regardless of what sport tickles your fancy. There are so many different kinds of statistics that you would need several computers to keep track of them all. Knowing statistics is a appeal to a person's thirst for knowledge in a field that they are compelled by for any of the reasons given above.

Despite this case there may be some individuals who will not be compelled to suddenly follow everything that is going on in the wide world of sports.

And that is perfectly fine.

There are so many different aspects of life that are just as beautiful and captivating as sports for different reasons. Some people may invest their time in following particular kinds of music. Others will spend their non working hours watching reruns of their favorite television shows. And others may want to collect nickles from every year that nickles have ever been made.

The possibilities are endless.

Sports have been so deeply ingrained in our culture that it becomes harder and harder not to pay attention to what is directly in front of us. So whether it be baseball, football, hockey, basketball, bull riding, swimming, gymnastics, soccer, track and field or another sport not on the list, the choice to watch is completely up to you. Just know that the world of sports is quite captivating if you look long enough.