Sean Taylor dead at 24

Via the Chicago Tribune - Redskins' Taylor Dies Day After Shooting

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died early Tuesday, a day after he was shot at home. He was 24. Family friend Richard Sharpstein said Taylor's father told him the news around 5:30 a.m.

[. . .]

Taylor was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging an artery and causing significant blood loss.

When you first hears that someone has been shot in the leg you don't normally think of it as being a potentially fatal wound if treatment is received right away, but obviously it can be. My prayers go out to his family and friends, especially his baby daughter who will never really get the chance to know her father. What a tragic loss.

Redskins' Sean Taylor shot in the leg

Via WaPo - Redskins' Taylor in Critical Condition After Shooting
Redskins' safety Sean Taylor was shot at his Miami home early this morning and is in critical condition. The motivation for the shooting is still unknown. I'm sure there will be regular updates at WaPo and other news outlets.

Brownback blows it

Via CNN - Brownback drops the ball at Wisconsin GOP convention

If you are gonna talk football, make sure you know who you are talking to and get your team right! People take their football VERY seriously.

More sad news for UNC

SI.com - UNC student, mascot dies

Jason Ray, the North Carolina student who performed as a mascot for the school's basketball team, died three days after he was struck by a car hours before an NCAA tournament game. He was 21.

Ray died Monday morning, said Steve Kirschner, the university's associate athletic director for communications.

Ray had been in critical condition at Hackensack University Medical Center since the accident Friday afternoon. He was hit from behind while walking on a highway shoulder near his hotel in Fort Lee after going to a nearby convenience store.

It is sad news to hear of someone so young dying so suddenly. I'm sure he will be dearly missed. One has to wonder if his condition affected the team's game yesterday. Something certainly did.

Update on Babineaux arrest

Here are some more specifics about Jonathan Babineaux's arrest on felony animal abuse charges. SI.com - Couple had argued: Falcons' Babineaux denies abusing girlfriend's dog

Gwinnett County police said officers were dispatched Sunday evening to the Animal Emergency Center, where the staff told them that 24-year-old Blair Anderson had arrived with a pit bull mix that was dead upon arrival.

Police said Anderson told them she and Babineaux, 25, had argued at their home. She said she went to the movies, and upon returning found Kilo, her year-and-a-half old dog, in "severe physical distress."

Babineaux, a second-round draft pick from Iowa in 2005, met with officers at the hospital, where he said he was not responsible for the dog's death. Police said his account of what happened was inconsistent with the information about the dog's injuries provided by the animal hospital. He was arrested.

Police said they are still awaiting test results, but added that preliminary information indicates Kilo died from a massive blow to the head.

To some degree it seems like a case of 'he said, she said', but if the evidence supports her side of the story and refute his, Babineaux could be in some real trouble here.

Jonathan Babineaux arrested

SI.com reports - Babineaux arrested for animal abuse

Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux was arrested by Gwinnett County police on Monday morning and charged with one count of felony animal abuse.

[. . .]

Gwinnett County police spokesman Darren Moloney said Babineaux was arrested early Monday. Moloney said he did not know any specifics about the case and a report and details concerning the case would not be released Monday.

I was curious as to what constituted felony animal abuse in Georgia so I decided to look it up. Here is what I found (via the Humane Association of Georgia Inc's website)

Aggravated Cruelty to Animals (felony charge): A person commits the offense of aggravated cruelty to animals when he or she knowingly and maliciously causes death or physical harm to an animal by rendering a part of such animal's body useless or by seriously disfiguringsuch animal…[paraphrased] except for conduct otherwise permitted under state or federal law. O.C.G.A. §16-12-4

I wonder what they are accusing him of doing exactly.

Update: more information here.

Braves to be Sold

WSFA - Atlanta Braves To Be Sold

Time Warner finalized an agreement Monday to sell the Atlanta Braves to Liberty Media after more than a year of negotiations.

[. . .]

Under the agreement, Terry McGuirk will remain in charge of the team after the sale. General manager John Schuerholz and manager Bobby Cox also are expected to remain.

The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that the deal would involve Time Warner transferring the Braves, a group of craft magazines and one billion dollars in cash to Liberty in exchange for about 60 million Time Warner shares now owned by Liberty.

Hum, the Braves and craft magazines, what an interesting combination.

Just say no. . .to cheerleaders?

Fox Sports - Crowe's rugby team cuts cheerleaders

Russell Crowe says his rugby league club's cheerleading squad is being cut because skimpily clad cheerleaders detract from the game and make spectators uncomfortable.

The Oscar-winning actor, who is part-owner in the South Sydney Rabbitohs club, said the club had become concerned that the cheerleaders - whose uniform includes fishnet stockings and tasseled miniskirts in the white, green and red team colors - were inappropriate entertainment.

I can't imagine that would ever happen in this country.

The Super Bowl Proposal that wasn't

For those of you out there wondering what happened to that guy that was going to propose during the Super Bowl, here's the story: SUPER BOWL LEFTOVERS: WHAT ABOUT THAT PROPOSAL?

Everyone wants to know what happened with the man who was going to propose marriage in a SuperBowl ad. MSNBC.com's Allison Linn talked to the groom-to-be and got the latest. No, he didn't propose during the game, since an ad cost $2 million and his online pledge campaign only reached $75,000. But he's planning to give it a shot during Tuesday's "Veronica Mars" episode. He's keeping his hometown a secret for now, so most of us are unlikely to see it. You can follow his quest at MySuperProposal.com.

Oh well, love may conquer all, but money makes the world go around.

Aside: The funny thing about this post is that I was just talking to my sister on the phone and she was saying she never did hear anything about the proposal when I noticed that someone doing a yahoo search had found my site looking for that very information. At that point, I hadn't found the answer or blogged about it yet, but I was the #1 result on the search. Search engines are so screwy.

Colts beat the Bears

When the game first started, the Colts didn't look too promising, but they pulled it out just like last time. I really didn't like that last call just before the Colts got their final possession. The pass was complete and the tackle forced the fumble, but it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things I guess. Oh well, the Colts won it 29 to 17 anyway.

Check it out

For those of you who love sports, check out this blog I found. It's called American Legends and it's all about sports. Have fun.

Manning gets his first Super Bowl

Manning caps Colts' title game comeback

A comeback, a drive, a legacy. And, yes - finally - Peyton Manning gets his Super Bowl trip. So does Tony Dungy.

Football's most prolific quarterback put on a show for the ages Sunday, rallying the Indianapolis Colts from 18 points down and driving them 80 yards for the winning score in a wildly entertaining 38-34 victory over the New England Patriots.

It was quite an exciting game. I went into the game not really pulling for either team, but before it was all over I was definitely anxious to see the Colts win it. The reasons:
1) I love to see a good comeback.
2) The Patriots have been to the Super Bowl too many times recently.
3) I wanted to see Manning get his much awaited Super Bowl.
4) I like the idea of both teams in the Super Bowl having an African American coach.

To answer my last question. . .yes it is.

Saban accepted Alabama's offer to be their new head coach, but at what price? Well, I've heard numbers as high as $50 million and as low (if you can call it low) $32 million. Either way, it's a high price to pay.

From what I've recently read about Saban, it seems that he is a good coach and does have a good record in college football. But I stand by my assessment that he will never live up to Alabama's standards. No coach can. Even if you cloned "Bear" Bryant and brought him back to coach the Tide today, I doubt he could live up to Alabama fans' standards. And if, by some chance, Alabama is thrilled with him, the chances seem good that he could skip out on them. The previously linked ESPN article notes:

For instance, Saban, for all his success, has found a reason to leave the last three coaching jobs he's had. At Michigan State, he didn't like being The Other School to Michigan. At LSU, he felt underappreciated after winning the national championship and he left for the money and the challenge of the NFL. At the Miami Dolphins, he didn't like the lack of control he had over his adult players. Why would he be happy at Alabama when he has had trouble being happy everywhere he has coached?

And I have to agree with how the article starts out as well.

The power of college athletics once again ran right up the middle against higher education. Alabama's hiring of Nick Saban takes everything that is skewed about college football, shines a spotlight on it and says, "Hey, watch this!"

As the wife of a professor, I'm always appalled to see how much coaches get paid in comparison to how much rank and file professors get paid. I know that athletics brings in a lot of money for universities, but as a college graduate, my donations to my alma mater has NEVER been tied to how well the football team does.

Well, at least his name isn't Mike. . .

Will it be Saban?

From WSFA News - Report: Tide Offers Coaching Job to Nick Saban

According to a published report, the University of Alabama may be close to hiring a new head football coach. The Miami Herald is reporting Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban is considering a huge offer from the Tide -- $40 million to $50 million to be exact, including endorsements.

That would make Saban the highest-paid college coach in the nation. The length of the proposed contract is unclear tonight. Some speculate it would last for eight years.

It is certainly not a done deal at this point however.

In recent weeks, Saban continually denied any interest in the job. He also announced during a news conference Sunday he had no plans to leave Miami.

One source told The Herald the Dolphins organization would be "absolutely shocked" if Saban were to leave.

The article concludes by suggesting that University of Louisville coach Bobby Petrino is next in line should Saban turn down the deal.

Okay, I must admit, I don't follow football very closely and I have no idea who this guy is. But still, to make him "the highest-paid college coach in the nation," to coach at Alabama just seems ridiculous. Alabama has got to be desperate at this point. And with the expectations they have, I'm sure they will be buying this contract out in a few years too no matter who they hire. They just need to learn to give a guy some time and give a guy a break every now and then. I mean, honestly, even Bear Bryant went through a dry spell.

The Crimson Tide

Steven Taylor posted some commentary on the University of Alabama's head football coach search. He suggests:

The ongoing assumption that the Alabama job is the job in college football continues to permeate Bamanation, despite the fact that it simply isn’t what it once was, and probably won’t be again, given the way college ball works these days.

And I really can't argue with him. However, it did make me think of an old song and something that one of my friends once told me. My friend's husband is Italian and she says that Italians are still caught up in the illusions of grandeur that hearken back to Roman Empire. I think Alabama football fans suffer from the some problem.

There was a time when the phrase "The Crimson Tide" was synonymous with "winner". And the fact was immortalized in song, "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan.

They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call alabama the crimson tide
Call me deacon blues

That is a hard thing to let go of. If my friend is right that the Roman Empire still shapes the psyche of Italians today, it will surely be many a generation before the grandeur of Bear Bryant releases the psyche of Alabama fans.

The Thumb

Auburn wins 5th straight 22-15 over Bama

The loss left Alabama coach Mike Shula winless in four tries against his team's biggest rival and answering questions about his job security.

That's what I'm wondering about. How long can Shula keep his job if he keeps this up? My guess, not long at all.

On politics and sports

Over at Poliblog and OTB there is talk of how politics is being treated like a sporting event and I feel the need to chime as I have some strong opinions on both.

James says:

Aside from following the occasional link during a blogstorm here and there, I quit reading the most virulent blogs on both sides years ago. What’s the point, really? Unfortunately, most blog readers, like talk radio listeners, gravitate to those sites where the host’s views mirror their own. This actually encourages over-the-top language, villification of the other side, and shoddy reasoning. Echo chambers tend not to reward nuance.

And then adds:

Yay us! Boo them!” is not particularly helpful in framing a public policy debate.

And I couldn't agree more. I've gone to some blogs that were way far left or way far right, but I quickly determined they were not worth my time. When it is all just regurgitated rhetoric from the party line (either party) with no original thought or analysis, what is the point.

Steven makes the original comparison to sports:

The notion that politics is a sporting event, and not a serious discourse that affects the lives of actual people, contributes to such attitudes, clearly.

I have often felt the same way and made a similar comparison. My feelings about sports and my feelings about politics are actually very similar. As previously noted, I do watch sporting events on occasion, but I'm not an avid sports fan, largely because of what "sports" have become. It is a game but so much of the sportsmanship has been lost. During the recent basketball games, I think Alabama was playing UCLA, and everytime Alabama got the ball, the fans started booing or making some distracting noise. It just really annoyed me. Why can't they just watch the game and let the teams play, but that is not what "sports" is about. Politics, unfortunately is the same way.

Political affiliation, for so many individuals has become as irrational as football in Alabama. There are so many people who are Auburn fans or Alabama fans who have no real affiliation with the school, but they practically bleed either orange and blue or crimson and white. The same is true of political affiliation for many people these days (or maybe always) it seems. The new addition of "red state"/"blue state" terminology only proves to accentuate the comparison. People support a political party that has no practical benefit for them personally and actually give very little thought to all the things that the party actually stands for. Consequently, political "debate" turns into name calling and political campaigns are like sporting events with the home crowd booing the visiting team. I just can't stand to watch.

The actual games of sport, like baseball and basketball, actually interest me. "Sporting events" do not. The actual study of politics and political theory interest me. "Politics" does not. It's rather sad actually.

The agony of defeat

I know I'm a little late to be blogging on the UCLA-Gonzaga game, but this is the first chance I've had. As previously mentioned, we were out of town during the game. We had cable t.v. but no internet access.

What a heartbreaker for Gonzaga! That had to hurt to lead the ENTIRE game and lose it in the last minute. UCLA made an amazing come back when it counted the most. My sister equated it to the tortoise and the hare, but I really don't think that Gonzaga took a nap on this one. In the second half, UCLA really played aggressively and clawed their way back. You really had to feel for Adam Morrison there at the end. It was obviously a really emotional loss.