So today news came out that Chip Kelly who had previously firmly stated that he had decided to stay at Oregon, had a change of heart and has accepted the job to coach the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL. Every coach has the right to change his mind. I’m sure any Miami Dolphins fan in the area would say that is their birth given right, lol. Chip Kelly’s departure was met with some shock by Oregon fans and players of course, causing Oregon 4-star recruit Nico Falah to tweet “Chip Kelly left?!?! He was at my house 2 days ago!”. However, my research has shown me that Chip Kelly is not to blame. In fact there was a higher calling at work here. One that has bigger plans for both Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles….. the Oregon Ducks, well yeah they’re screwed.

Chip Kelly’s spread option Quack Attack some may say is not suited to the NFL. Many people see this hire as a waste of time and anticipate Kelly falling flat on his face. Fortunately the timing is perfect for all the pieces to fall into place. Right now another certain guy, who similarly to Kelly does nothing but win, is also available and would be a perfect fit for this offense. Enter stage right please Mr. Tim Tebow.

It’s as if God himself came down and tapped Kelly on the shoulder saying, wouldn’t you reconsider your decision to remain at Oregon. God let Kelly know that right now one of his favored children is suffering do to the forced persecution ensued by a tattooed man and his devil spawn in that cesspool that is New York. Chip Kelly not being one to argue with God of course jumped at this chance. Mr. Tim Tebow would be a perfect fit for this offense. Sure, he has Michael Vick but God doesn’t much care for that dog fighting asshole and another sinner he of the drug addict spawn would certainly be willing to take his beloved Vick back with him. So Kelly can unload Vick to Andy Reid for some draft picks, bring Tim Tebow in for next to nothing and just sit back and let the magic happen. After all, Tebow is perfectly built for the offense and one bad stint in that graveyard that is the Jets shouldn’t condemn him to a lifetime of hell. God, even a hands off God, couldn’t possibly just sit back and let that happen.

Tim Tebow woke up this morning perhaps thinking that he didn’t have a chance in the NFL and as of this afternoon he has two perfect options opening up. While I think the Chip Kelly one makes the most sense. Also today, the Chicago Bears announced the hiring of former CFL coach Marc Trestman as their new head coach. Trestman worked extensively with Tim Tebow in his preparations before the draft and was always a big Tebow supporter applauding his coach-ability and work ethic and expressing no doubts over his ability to be molded and succeed in the NFL.

So what a roller coaster it has been for Tim Tebow recently, as if that’s anything new in his life. Always smiling throughout things are always going to be looking up for Tebow. I’m so glad that his outlook is once again bright. It just furthers the belief that if you live the right way, with a right attitude all the time things will work out. I’m sure Tebow himself never got down about the situation, that’ s just not something he does. He just fights on. I’m sure that even though all of us Tebow fans wished it, Tim himself was probably rooting for the Broncos this past weekend. All of spent the night laughing at Denver fans who sent the playoff game winner packing to bring in Mr. Peyton Manning and his gaudy stats only to fail at winning a playoff game. Tim didn’t laugh of course, he probably felt bad for them.

Chip Kelly has now been brought in with almost identical reactions to when Tim Tebow entered the league. Perfect college system that people are saying can’t possible work in the NFL. The NFL is a different animal, you can’t change the way things have been done. Chip Kelly asks why not? Heath Evans from the NFL network even went so far as to label Kelly’s hire “the NFL’s worst ever”.

It’s all almost too eerily similar to when Tim Tebow entered the league. All Tebow then showed was that he could win games leading Denver from the cellar of a start to the playoffs and a playoff win.  Yet somehow the forces of evil still came together and he was banished to be ruined by Rex Ryan and an offense run by the offensive juggernaut that is Tony Sporano. This horrible team that makes the worst decisions, decided not to give him a chance and somehow that’s Tim’s fault. Was the only right decision the Jets made all year the one to sit Tebow because he obviously has no talent, haha that seems almost lunacy to believe. Yet somehow other teams did. Just this month it was looking as if no one in the NFL would give Tim a chance. Yet Tebow can and has succeeded, why not once again? This is a storyline that you couldn’t script any better with a team of million dollar screenwriters. I implore you Chip Kelly, go out there and get Mr. Tebow right this second, I hope this phone call has already taken place. If not, hopefully God can intervene once again, just making those two cellphones ring at the same time. The nature of winning football will take its course from there, next stop Super Bowl.

I find it amazing that the prime time NBC Olympics showings are pulling in huge killer ratings when it’s all non live action. I mean isn’t the whole point of sports to watch it live and in the moment. I don’t get how people can tune into these events already knowing who won. It drives me crazy, you know the results how can you just sit there and enjoy all the fake tension leading to some pseudo climatic finish?

What I’ve realized though is that most people don’t already know the results. Most people don’t even realize that the action is on tape delay. The problem is that I tend to think that everybody thinks and behaves like me. I think that most people fall into this fallacy, its hard to not think that your way is the way of the masses. I’ve realized though that its fairly easy for the average person to go through their day and not find out who won the women’s beach volleyball game. Most people don’t follow sportswriters on twitter and check it all day long. Most people don’t check ESPN and other sports websites multiple times a day while their at work. These are things that I do so its literally impossible for me not to find out these results.

I was sitting at home with some friends the other night and the Olympics were on and no one even knew that this “action” we were watching was not live. I had to explain and break it down for them about how its about 3 in the morning in England right now so these events are not going on as we watch them. It takes them a second to think about it and then they realize that oh yeah, this must be true that which Frank doth speak of. Yet then they just realize it and go back to watching it with a real sense of excitement. It’s like huh, that’s interesting, but it has no effect on me. This my friends are the average Americans. That’s why NBC is killing it ratings wise, even outpacing the Bejing Olympics every night so far,  yet Twitter is all in an uproar about the tape delay situation. That’s my perception at least, because the circles that I follow have my same perception.

It’s ironic that as our world grows bigger and more connected we might at the same time be growing more and more close minded. I think that everybody behaves a certain way because that’s how my circles make me feel. To me the whole world is an uproar about something because its all over Twitter. Yet everybody that I follow on Twitter is people just like me.

So enjoy your tape delayed Olympics everybody. Its fine and I’m jealous. I want that sense of tension and excitement that the women’s final gymnastics last night had, that was great television. Yet it wasn’t to me because I had to already know the results because I want to be on the cusp of breaking news. I guess I’ll be looking forward to the next time the Olympics come to America so I can fully appreciate them in all their glory once again, because I sure do love the Olympics. I want to love these but I can’t just close myself up in a box for the entire day. Even if I didn’t go on Twitter or ESPN or Facebook, it could all be ruined by some text message that manages to leak through my wall. Maybe next time I have a day off I can just take a fistful of Tylenol PM’s and sleep for 18 hours, man that would be SWEET.

It seems that everyone these days is aware of the movie story side of former Notre Dame walk on Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, yet the real side of this man is something that doesn’t always match up to the movie perspective. Today Mr. Ruettiger and his 12 co-defendants in a pump and dump stock scheme agreed to a settlement to put an end to a long SEC investigation. While the settlement did not admit or deny guilt, it does put a little tarnish on the golden helmet of the Rudy image that Hollywood has put in our minds.

The movie “Rudy” is the story of how the small but always scrappy Ruettiger persevered through endless tough Notre Dame Practices and finally got the chance to play. In the movie the players demand that Rudy get the chance to suit up and he responds by making a big play. In typical Hollywood fashion he is then carried off on their shoulders to his place in sports immortality.

Now I have known for many years that this image didn’t really match up with reality in South Bend. Now of course films always take “cinematic license” to create suspense and intrigue, but there is such a thing as stretching the truth a little too far.

I’ve personally known a few people who have played football for the Fighting Irish and from what they have told me I know that Ruettiger was not as revered by them as by people on the outside looking in. I got the feeling that he was considered almost like an annoying hanger on trying to cash in on the program. Joe Montana even has made some public comments in the past that have back this up. I’ve been to Notre Dame a few times for games and it is certainly an inspiring place. Just being there you can almost feel the history just oozing out of everywhere you look. I did all the great fan things such as running down the tunnel and hitting the play like a champion sign, that did make me feel great. When I was in the locker room I was even tempted to recreate the Gipper speech just like Rudy does himself in the film, although the look of embarrassment my player friend flashed at me was enough to reel this guy’s emotions in.

The question though that everything begs, is how much of this is real? This pump and dump stock scheme it seems might be closer to the real Dan Ruettiger than the film ever got. According to the SEC complaint, the company known as Rudy Nutrition pumped up its stock through false and misleading information to generate more than $11 million in illicit profits. Through the use of shell companies, disbarred lawyers, and a series of Panamanian corporations; the company was able to make their stock soar from $0.25 all the way to $1.05 before the SEC issued a trading suspension due to delinquent regulatory findings.

The complaint states that Ruettiger claimed that the company’s Rudy sports drink outsold Gatorade 2-1. Now I know the guy is pretty much a Hollywood celebrity with a great feel good story, but Jesus Christ did investors really believe that. Part of me believes that anyone who thinks that Rudy sports drink could outsell the king like that deserves to have their money stolen. The slogan of the sports drink was “Dream Big! Never Quit!” which makes sense if its referring to audacity with which these jokers conceived to bilk their investors.

In the film when finally given the chance Rudy comes in to record a sack and is carried off into the sunset. You’d think that running a scheme like this he might be carried off to Sunset Correctional Facility or something, but nope they simply settled the case for a settlement of $382,866. That seems awfully light to me for something they claim incurred $11 million dollars in illicit profits. Then again being the little fella that he is maybe we should take it easy on good ol’ Rudy.

Now Rudy is a great film, if you haven’t seen it you should go out and rent it and enjoy it, but it’s just that a film. You should always take these based on a true story items with a grain of salt. Even Head Coach Dan Devine, who agreed to a heavier than reality portrayal, called the scene where the players come in and lay down their jerseys on his desk as “unforgiveable” and “a lie”. Dan “Rudy” Ruettiger is no hero, Sean Austin Scott’s character of Rudy is. Ruettiger is just a normal person like any one of us, probably a little more flawed than most of us, and trying to cash in on fame like hardly any of us.

In case you missed it, and considering the teams playing you probably did yesterday afternoon a knife wielding intruder stormed onto the court at the Staples Center and had to be subdued. This piece of action happened before the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers got together for what was sure to be an epic contest.

The man was eventually brought down in a “hail” of rubber bullet fire after a 20 minute standoff. There has been no word so far on what exactly the man’s intentions or demands were, but there is no doubt that the man was crazy. He obviously wasn’t simply craving attention, because if he wanted that the local Starbucks probably would’ve been a more appropriate location than a Clippers game. Let alone a Clippers game against that team that Lebron James used to play for. I challenge the casual fan, or even the not so casual, to name two starters on the Cavs right now, Go! See, told ya you couldn’t do it.

Now authorities did say that the man didn’t have a ticket for the game. Rather he used the knife and threats of violence to bully his way into the arena through the employee entrance. This was probably a good choice of entrance on his part, because no minimum wage snack bar worker is going to try and be a hero like those big shots upstairs might attempt.

When the man got to the court, the only person he found out there was Cavaliers rookie forward Christian Eyenga. Eyenga, who is from the Congo, quickly rushed back to the locker room as soon as he spotted the man. Now Eyenga barely speaks English, but still knew enough to spot crazy. Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said of Eyenga, “Smart man, he understands knife, I guess. I think that goes all the way to Congo. Knife means get the hell out. So he did the right thing.”

Now the game ended up carrying on with little incident besides the start time being pushed back 15 minutes. The Clippers ended up winning the game 100 to 92, but of course all anyway was talking about was the psycho with the knife. So much so that it actually made the Clippers vs Cavs a relevant subject on Sportscenter this morning.

Now I’m not coming right out and saying it, but maybe the whole thing was publicity stunt by the Clippers management. They’ve ridden the Blake Griffin thing for as much as they can, but eventually you gotta start thinking outside of the box a little bit to get yourself noticed. Unfortunately this just leads to a seemingly never ending parade of things you have to do to top yourself. Maybe next week we have a guy with a gun, maybe then a bomb threat outside the Staples that forces everyone to remain inside. Of course this incident could always work for a little bit more somewhere down the road. Maybe a rubber knife day. Free rubber knifes to the first 1,000 kids to commemorate the incident.

However you dice it there is one thing that can now be said for the first time in at least my history. Yesterday’s Cavaliers vs Clippers game was the most exciting NBA game of the day yesterday. Los Angeles might still be a Lakers town, but they can have their good basketball, the Clippers are gonna steal our hearts with craziness. America is a sucker for crazy.

Its not often that a player from a smaller school really becomes must see TV in the college basketball world. Much less from a Mormon college, and even rarer for that to carry into the country’s prison system. That however is exactly what has happened in the case of Jimmer Fredette from BYU.

If you don’t know who Jimmer is by now, yes he can go by a one word name like Prince, you obviously aren’t even a casual basketball fan. Fredette has been lighting up the college basketball world for the last couple years now and in this his final year its reached an almost fever pitch. Jimmer pours in points from anywhere on the court. He often hoists up shots that would make even the NBA 3 point line blush, and nails them.

Just last week another player of the year candidate, Kemba Walker from UConn, put in a magnificent game during the Big East tournament. Walker lit it up for 31 points and it surely seemed destined to be the performance of the day. That was until Jimmer stepped on the court later that night against New Mexico and scored 33 points….. in the first half. He would go on to pour in a career high 52 points that night and seems to just keep getting better and better.

This year’s NCAA tourney is set to be a big stage that Jimmer could use to further cement himself in college football lore. These hopes did seem to take a big hit though a few weeks ago when the extremely rule heavy BYU kicked 2nd leading scorer and leading rebounder Brandon Davies off the team. This happened because Davies was determined to have violated the school’s archaic “honor code”. What was his mortal sin to necessitate such a heavy reaction you might ask? The troubled Mr. Davies had the weak moral character to have consensual sex with his girlfriend, oh the horror. Of course even if they are bounced this year, Mr. Fredette already cemented himself in my book last year when he poured in 37 points, including 2 killer 3′s in double OT, to lead BYU over my beloved Florida Gators.

What I wanted to talk about today though was an interesting story by Jeff Eisenberg of Rivals.com entitled “Jimmermania has Even Reached the New York Prison System”. This story talks about how prison life seems to stop at a correctional facility in Wilton, NY whenever a BYU game happens to be on national TV. It might seem odd that a prison in upstate New York is so drawn to a player from a heavily religious college in Utah, that is until you delve into the rich history between the two.

Jimmer himself is from the area of the prison having been born and growing up in Glen Falls, NY. A town I had only heard of from my swept under the rug hippie days, as where Phish started their Halloween covering an album tradition with an masterful set of The Beatles White Album. This geographically tie though is not nearly enough for crimnals serving time to carry about some local player. Nope, these miscreants feel a much more personal tie.

Back in the Spring of 2007, Jimmer and his older brother joined a team of civilians that went into the prison to actually play games against the inmates. No doubt this had something to do with not only the mental, but the physical toughness that Fredette displays out there on the court. The fact that he was willing to go in there and take on that challenge earned him the respect of the inmates at Mount McGregor Correctional Facility.

According to Mount McGregor Recreational Director John Montgomery, the players can’t get enough of Jimmer. He says “The inmates vote on what they want to watch on TV each week, and of course, they want to watch Jimmer, if BYU’s on our local television, every dorm will have the game on. Every inmate will want to watch. They do have that connection to him. They think, ‘God, he was up here playing against us.”

Fredette of course vividly remembers his experiences playing at the prison. Everything from the armed guards standing around for protection, to the big mountain of liability paperwork he had to fill out, to the extreme by any standards trash talking he had to put up with. According to Fredette the experience was a great help to his game. “Obviously there are a lot more people in big arenas in college, but what they say to you doesn’t bother you because I heard pretty much everything in those prisons,” Fredette said. “I think that helped me get better at blocking the crowd out and just focusing on the game.”

While Jimmer hasn’t returned to the prison to play, his brother still goes occasionally and deals with a constant barrage of questions about how his little brother is doing. The inmates seem to be enthralled with the kid with the great shooting touch that wasn’t scared to enter their world. So while your sitting on your comfortable couch at home watching Jimmer put on the inevitable show later this week that has to be coming, just know that up in Wilton, NY there are cell blocks full of criminals cheering even louder for the silky smooth white kid from that Mormon college in Utah.

This past Saturday in Newark, NJ (affectionately known as the Brick City by some people I know) Georges St. Pierre, the welterweight champion, took on Englishman Dan Hardy as the main event of UFC 111. There was a whole lot of buildup to this fight and a few left disappointed by the dominant performance that St. Pierre put on to beat Hardy by a unanimous decision. However, I think things are not nearly as simple as they seem.

Like an ever increasing number of people around this country, I plucked down my $44.95 on Saturday night and sat down with some friends to enjoy an exciting night of high intensity UFC action. Sure, St. Pierre went out and dominated Hardy, pretty much as I expected him to do but the exact manner of the fight was something that I don’t think a lot of people expected. Dan Hardy showed a tremendous amount of heart and determination and I think the long term benefits of this loss are going to be tremendous for him.

Before the fight on Saturday I think it was a very safe bet to say that most people didn’t like Dan Hardy. He’s an easy guy not to like. He’s brash, arrogant, and English; that’s 3 strikes against him for most people. With his trademark red mohawk and red contact lenses he’s like the Dennis Rodman of UFC, except without the teddy bear like quality that Rodman possesses. With Hardy its either you love him, or you hate him. Its also a safe bet that a whole lot more people were on the hate side of that equation.

For his walk in Hardy goes with the song “England Belongs to Me” by the British punk band Cock Sparrer. It’s a good choice I think, but the song itself simply wasn’t enough for Mr. Hardy. He chose to have the band rerecord the song with him in it accompanying them on vocals. That just epitomizes Dan Hardy to a T, always looking for something extra. His walk in was met by loud cheers from his loyal supporters as well as a smattering of boos by his less vocal detractors.

Hardy did indeed get dominated by St. Pierre, after all St. Pierre is arguably either the best or the 2^nd best pound for pound fighter going in the UFC right now. The other would have to be Anderson Silva and I of course would give my left nut to see either of them change weight classes to fight the other, that fight would be epic. Hardy though refused to give up in the fight. It looked like St. Pierre had him multiple times, yet Hardy refused to tap out. After the fight Hardy would say that the word tap isn’t even a part of his vocabulary. It looked at times that St. Pierre was about to break the Englishman’s arm, and I’m convinced that’s what it would’ve taken to stop this fight. That arm though would not break.

When people think of cocky arrogant people, the idea of heart never really comes up much in the conversation. However in Hardy’s case its all anyone was talking about after the fight. St. Pierre may have totally dominated the fight, but post fight everyone was talking about Dan Hardy’s performance.

This is going to go a long way for Hardy I think. He gained a whole lot of both respect and fans with his performance on Saturday night. The fans he gained were people that had been some of his biggest detractors before the fight. Sure Hardy’s ego may have taken an initial blow from the loss, but he’s certainly going to emerge a stronger more dedicated fighter from it. I think when we look to this fight in the future were going to see it as the turning point in Dan Hardy’s career. He gained more from this loss than the 7 consecutive wins he had going into it.

St. Pierre may have given Hardy a technical lesson out there in the octagon, but the long term benefits of this loss are going to be priceless to Mr. Hardy. Not only did he sway public opinion about him, but he also has in his mind the fact that he refused to give up when the going got tough. I don’t think there is anyone out there that’s ever going to have Dan Hardy in worse positions than he was in Saturday night. There is no way that UFC commissioner Dana White could not have been impressed.

So, keep your eye on Dan Hardy, one thing that’s for certain is that he will be back and he’ll be stronger and even more committed. That’s certainly a dangerous thing and I don’t think anyone is going to want to be the man standing in Dan Hardy’s way next time. I would not be surprised to see Dan Hardy as the welterweight champion two years from now. One things for certain, no one can question his heart.

I know its awful early to start talking about the National Championship game, but the day the first BCS standings of the season comes out seems like as good enough a time as any to start. Today the powers that be released their first standings in the popularity/computer contest to determine who gets the opportunity to play a game to declare themselves the best team in America. I say that way because its often times not the two best teams in the country, its the system we got though so its what we’re gonna go with her.

Now Florida which has dominated the polls since the start of the season did see their run atop the AP poll come to an end. After their lackluster performance against a highly underrated Arkansas team, enough of the AP voters determined that Alabama had been more impressive so far. That pushed Bama up to the #1 spot in the AP poll. Ironically that happened on the day that the AP poll really lost any signifigance as our first BCS standings of the year came out. The BCS has Florida at #1 and Alabama at #2. What we can gather here is that the national consensus is easily that Florida and Alabama are the two best teams in the country. Easy there Texas fans, I’ll get to ya’all.

The tricky thing is that Alabama and Florida both play in SEC conference. Now they don’t meet during the regular season this year, as each team has one team they play from the other division every year and the other two spots rotate. All signs however, most certainly point to Alabama and Florida meeting up in the SEC Championship game at the end of the year. Last year Alabama and Florida were #1 and #2 going into the SEC Championship game as well, which Florida won on their way to an eventual National Championship. The difference this year though is that its highly likely that both teams could reach that game with both being undefeated.

When their both undefeated, that would make the BCS Championship game scenarios extremely interesting. If that scenario happens, I don’t see any reason why what might seem unthinkable could very well happen. The same game might be played again for the BCS National Championship game. I’m assuming here that Texas is going to lose a game at some point. I haven’t been impressed with Texas very much and I just don’t see them making it all the way. If Texas goes undefeated then this point becomes mute, I’ll give you that Texas fans, but let’s just assume here that Texas loses a game.

That would mean that after the SEC Championship game is played, you have the winner sitting there at undefeated and a shoe in for the National Championship game. Now for the other spot how could you not put an SEC team with one loss, with that one loss being to the #1 team in the country, into the BCS #2 slot. Who could possibly trump a one loss SEC team… a one loss Texas team I don’t think so as the Big 12 is certainly down this year….. a one loss USC out of the PAC 10 with their one loss being to an unranked Washington team…. Boise St. could very well be undefeated, but I don’t see them being ahead of any of those teams. All signs would point to them just replaying the two best teams in the country again.

Some people might have a problem with this, in fact I know they will and I can see how they might. When you break it down though its really the only possible solution. Take away any negative notion about playing the same game again, and its really the only acceptable solution.

The crazy thing is that at that point you might even be better off losing the SEC Championship game then winning it. We all know how hard it is to beat the same team twice in the same season. In those types of rematches the advantage is often with the loser of the first game. Now I know that neither team would take that into account when their playing in the SEC Championship game, there’s too much uncertainty involved.

If we really want to see the two best teams play it out for the National Championship, this is looking like the way its going to have to be. I’m not saying that either team might not have a hiccup along the way, after all the SEC is a war week in and week out. Neither of them are playing in the Big 10 or anything of course. If the scenario plays itself out though, I see no reason not to repeat the game. From what we’ve seen so far Alabama and Florida are the two best teams in college football. Their led by the two best coaches in college football in Urban Meyer and Nick Saban. The whole scenario is just nice. fact… their so nice, let’s do it twice.

In case you missed it, and I’m sure most of you did, the Fed-Ex Cup finished this weekend with Tiger Woods emerging as the champion. I know a good majority of people are sitting around here thinking, what the fuck is the Fed-Ex Cup? So let me explain.

From the fact that Tiger Woods won it, I’m sure that you can figure out that its some sort of golfing event. Either that or a contest to determine the whitest black man on the planet, but I doubt that a company like Fed-Ex would sponsor something like that, perhaps Brooks Brothers but not Fed-Ex. Anyway, its basically the championship of the PGA. Points are accumulated for your finishing places in tournaments during the whole year, but then there is what amounts to a playoff for the final four events. The top 125 golfers make it into the “playoffs” and are seeded accordingly, with then the most productive person being declared the PGA champion after the 4 events.

This ridiculous thing is golf’s attempt at having an exciting chase to the championship similar to what you see in Nascar. Unfortunately for the PGA, it doesn’t really work. What kind of  a playoff can you have anyway when you have 125 golfers eligible. I mean come on, the NBA and NHL take a whole lot of heat for having 16 of their teams make the playoffs each year.

Also, can it be any coincidence that the Fed-Ex cup lasts for four weeks and ends on the same Sunday that is week 3 of the NFL season. Golf can’t honestly expect to compete with the NFL on Sunday, but this is their pathetic way of trying. By having that first “playoff” event before the NFL season starts, the PGA is hoping to sink the hook into people so much that their going to blow off the NFL in favor of watching Golf on Sunday’s for awhile. That is simply crazy talk and never going to happen.

At least it never should happen. This weekend I came home to one of my roommates actually watching Golf instead of football. I thought I had stepped into some parallel universe. Now I’m a golf fan, I enjoy playing it a whole lot and do enjoy watching it. There’s just no way when football is on. If golf is really that much concerned with TV ratings, then their going to have just install lights and have all their events on prime time during the week because here in America, football rules the day during the weekends.

Getting back to this ridiculous farce, on Sunday Phil Mickelson won the final event of the year which is ironically called The Tour Championship, while Tiger Woods walked away with The Fed-Ex Cup which is supposed to be awarded to the champion of the tour for the year. Hmmm, is that a little bit confusing to anyone else. Now for his trouble Tiger Woods did walk away with a very big check for $10 million dollars for his trouble, while Phil Mickelson the winner that day got a check for less than a third of that number. Something just doesn’t seem right about that.

Golf will always be an individual sport that is about winning individual events. This whole Fed-Ex Cup thing is ludicrous and a horrible idea. In Nascar’s Chase for the Cup for instance, a driver might play it safe during a race and not take chance going for the win because he knows that the points accumulate and the championship is the thing that really matters. That’s not the case in golf. There is no way that someone is going to lay up on the 18th instead of going for the hole to try and preserve their spot in the Fed-Ex Cup. That’s just not the way the game is played, and I’m glad its not.

I think the PGA recognizes that this thing has failed and I hope they pull the plug on it soon. The Fed-Ex Cup was only introduced in 2007 and they have already adjusted the rules and point scoring setup every single year since its introduction. Their trying to tinker with the thing and make it work rather than just give it the proper burial that it deserves. From their standpoint its pretty much win win because they get to sell Fed-Ex the naming rights for something that’s pretty much invented out of thin air. However its gotten to the point that its distracting and taking away from the true nature of the game. Phil Mickelson was the winner on Sunday after playing some excellent golf, yet his thunder and accolade was stolen by Mr. Tiger Woods and his mythical Fed-Ex championship, that’s a dam shame.

If anyone doesn’t know the story of Donte Stallworth by now let me give you a quick recap. Its pretty simple really, he was speeding down the road in Miami Beach early one morning in his Bentley when he struck and killed a pedestrian.

This pedestrian was 59 year old Mario Reyes, a crane operator who was just getting off work and trying to catch the bus. Stallworth ended up being legally drunk at the time, and got charged with DUI manslaughter. He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail. On top of this he got two years of house arrest, 8 years of probation and some other restrictions.

Now I know that I’m not the only one that thinks this sentence was extremely light. The craziest thing was that is was right around the time that Michael Vick was finishing up his sentence. Here was Michael Vick who served 18 months for fighting dogs, while Donte Stallworth only got 30 days for being drunk and killing someone. That means that fighting dogs must be 18 times as bad as killing an actual person. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big time dog lover, but I’m also fairly found of the human species as well. Actually that’s a lie, I think about 85 – 90 percent of humans are complete worthless. I however, do think even the most worthless among us deserves the right to live.

Donte Stallworth is in the news once again now, because he was looking for a special exemption to his house arrest that would allow him to go train for his return to football. As of now Stallworth is suspended indefinitely, but he is still officially on Cleveland’s roster. If you go by the 18 times standard from earlier, than Stallworth should be eligible to play again in about a month.

Stallworth’s petition to be able to train was granted. Despite the prosecutor’s objections. “The fact is that he’s presently not formally employed by the NFL,” said prosecutor Patrick Trese, who objected to the motion. “And absent him being formally employed by the NFL, he’s not in a position where I think it’s necessary for him to worry about those types of issues.” Now Stallworth will be allowed to leave his home 5 days a week to go work out at the local high school. I’m sure that Stallworth has a gym in his multi million dollar home, but I guess he needs the extra space to be able to run routes and catch balls.

It seems like Stallworth is getting treated like a diva here. He’s not even playing football right now, I think working out in a gym will be plenty to keep him into shape in order for him to one day return to the NFL. To get back to Vick, he was stuck in jail and he seems to be in playing shape just fine. I think it would be a whole lot easier for Stallworth at home.

I also should say that I have had a DUI conviction in my life. Thank god, I didn’t kill anyone, but it very well could have happened. Stallworth gave a blood alcohol reading of .126 at the time of the accident, mine was .225. Florida’s legal limit is .08. I don’t really remember anything about what happened. So that might make you think that I would lean easily on people that got DUI’s. However, this situation is just out of hand. I was lucky, I didn’t kill anyone. Mr. Stallworth wasn’t so lucky, and now he has to take responsibility for those actions.

His responsiblity it seems is that its going to be a major inconvience to his life and his pocketbook. He has expressed regret, but he does have a PR team and an agent coaching him on what he should say, so who knows how much of that is really sincere.

Stallworth said “If I ever so much as take a sip of alcohol and I get behind the wheel and drive after what had happened on March 14, I would be spitting on Mr. Reyes’ grave.” You would think this might scare him off drinking forever, but that isn’t the case as I gather from that statement. He’ll just remember to have a limo whenever he goes out drinking from now on.