John Wall

I’ve always felt a good barometer of an athlete’s popularity is to ask your wife/sister if they have heard of that particular athlete. If someone with no insight into the sport can tell you a fact about the athlete, he’s a superstar. With this in mind, I was blown away when on Christmas eve my 12-year-old sister told me about John Wall.
(sisters chatting in backseat of car)

Sisters: blah, blah, giggling….John Wall….blah, blah, giggle

Me: Wait, you know who John Wall is?

Sister: He’s a basketball player.

Though unlikely, maybe my sister had been watching basketball. To put this knowledge in context, I made a point of sitting her down by the television on Christmas day while the Heat were playing the Lakers.

Me: Do you know who that is playing for the Lakers? Number 24.

Sister: Umm, no.

Me: How about that guy for the Heat? Number 6.

Sister: I don’t know

Me:  Ok, ok, what about number 3 for the Heat?

Sister: Is that John Wall?!

            Has John Wall really gotten to that superstar status? Well, no. He made a dance which naturally is viewed by preteenage girls with a dire need to fit in and be up to date with what’s popular.

            Imagine though if John Wall became as good as, say, a Deron Williams or Steve Nash. Through merely 16 games of NBA experience, Wall is averaging 15.9 ppg along with 8.6 apg. Hardly superstar numbers, he fails to exceed the numbers of Knicks point guard Raymond Felton (who is underrated, to be fair). However, numbers like these certainly place him among the most impressive rookies in the league outside of Blake Griffin. It wouldn’t surprise me if John Wall ended up a few years from now in the discussion with Derrick Rose for best point guard in the league. And what if that happens?

John Wall would be one of the most marketable athletes in the NBA—like a pre-decision LeBron or a pre-rape accusation Kobe. He is already seen smiling and “doing the John Wall” in the Zigtech shoe commercials. If John Wall turns out to be what people expect him to be, he would be one of the most dynamic figures in sports. He could market anything, transcending the border of sports fans into the depths of teenage girls.

Don’t be surprised if this happens:

When Regifting Goes Wrong

Christmas is upon us and please admit, you’ve done it before. Yes, that toaster your friend got you for your birthday? Of course you already have a toaster. You regifted that useless extra toaster to your grandmother who still doesn’t know what a toaster is. You, sir, are a regifting expert. Now, just for a second, imagine that the toaster was a 2008 Big Ten Championship Ring.  Imagine that your friend is the Big Ten conference and your grandmother is a shady buyer looking to get a Big Ten Championship ring on his finger without ever having to lift a weight. You’ve now put yourself in the shoes of Terrelle Pryor. Now you’re suspended, cheater!

What?

Did you do anything wrong? Well, sort of. There’s a fundamental rule of gifting that is against regifting presents. You knew that. You didn’t? Well, then you’re lying. I don’t think there’s anyone who would claim that regifting presents is immoral, but you know the rule. It’s not that it’s immoral; it’s just not acceptable. Of course, you could argue that this action was, in fact, morally the right thing to do. You didn’t care about the extra toaster, and now you have some extra money to, lets say, help your mother out.  How nice of you.

Hopefully, everyone followed the extended metaphor. Terrelle Pryor didn’t do anything morally wrong. He didn't do what everybody does- kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me. Pundits all over the place seem to be vilifying him, saying things like, "how could he do this to his team?" My take is that the kid just wanted to make some money to get by. He wasn't thinking of the consequences; he was thinking of ways of helping him and his mother get by.

Student-athletes have no time to work jobs. There's no income for them. it's just school and sports. So if we're not going to pay them, can we at least agree that it it's okay for players to sell their own possessions. Pryor wasn't running a drug house (allegedly). His father didn't solicit hundreds of thousands of dollars for his recruitment. He didn't accept money from agents. All Pryor did was sell his own possessions.

Pryor got called out. They found out he regifted that toaster, but is that so bad? I think people should be clear when they talk about Pryor. Pryor did not do anything wrong. He broke a rule that, if we're honest, shouldn't be a rule in the first place.

So calm down Ohio State haters. You didn't lose to Ohio State this year because Pryor was selling his Big Ten Championship ring, gold pants, or Fiesta Bowl Sportsmanship Award. You didn't lose because Pryor and company got cheap tattoos. You lost because your football team can't measure up with OSU.

The Most Exciting Play in Football

The beauty of the NFL is that every week is vastly different than the last. This week in the NFL, kick and punt returns took a special spotlight. Devin Hester cemented his place in return history by breaking Brian Mitchell’s career return touchdown record that he’s been staring down for years. Desean Jackson capped off an unbelievable Eagles comeback, deemed "the New Miracle at the New Meadowlands", with a walk-off punt return touchdown. Yet, some still say the most impressive return of the week came from offensive lineman Dan Connolly who picked up a squib kick and ran it down the sideline to the 4 yard line. Though Connelly’s return was of the kick variety, it does provide evidence for my conclusion that the punt return is the most exciting play in football, the most exciting game in the world (with apologies to soccer).

Punt returns are great, because they're either the most exciting play in the game or are totally boring. This is not true of other plays in football. On a punt, one can see a fair catch or a punt go out of bounds, akin to the excitement level of poker on television. However, there's always that chance. There's a chance that the punt might get blocked or that the returner might fumble. As we saw this weekend, there's the chance that the return man takes the punt for six. Punt return plays are either bland or electrifying. If you aren't a gambling man, then maybe punts aren't for you. You can stick with the consistent entertainment of offense/defense or making you can just stick to watching golf. There's no better way to convey my point than through the use of the most advanced application this world has ever seen, paint.

Now I'm a man with a graph. I'm respected. As you can see, my interpretation is that a small probability of punts end up in mildly entertaining plays. For example, a 10 yard return would be an average excitement level play. Of course 10 yard returns happen, but they don't happen that often. What you get with punts is a higher risk that the play will be utterly boring, but ultimately an overall more exciting play because of that risk. This is in contrast to, for instance, the pass play.

With a passing play, you're probably going to get some entertainment value, but there's a low probability that it will be an absolutely shocking play. Most pass plays result in incompletions or medium yardage completions. Rarely will you see a play that's completely boring or entirely exhilarating. Give me the risk of the punt return excitement that we saw over the weekend over the pass play or run play.

There's also the factor that punt return touchdowns or fumbles come unpredictably. A person can watch an offense and, with some accuracy, guess whether they will be successful or not on an upcoming play. If an offense appears stagnant the whole game, rarely will they suddenly find success later. An offense's previous plays are evidence for the outcome of their future plays. Yet, with punt returns it is an entirely different story. Take Devin Hester, the consensus best punt returner in the game. He returned 11 kicks/punts for touchdowns in his first 2 seasons (2006, 2007) then did not return a single ball for a touchdown until 2010. The Punt return touchdown is so difficult to predict that even the best punt returner in the game can have a 2 year drought without a single touchdown. In Desean Jackson's previous game against the Cowboys, he averaged 6.8 yards per return. Then suddenly he splits through the Giants special teams for a game-winning touchdown. There was no way to predict that the punter would shank the ball right to him and the Giants special teams unit would part down the middle like the Red Sea, letting Jackson sprint through for a touchdown. It just happened.

Finally, Punt returns are awesome because their is a variety of excitement provided. Excitement can be provided through big returns, touchdowns, fumbles, blocked punts, big blocks, and punts downed close to the goal line.  Then, there's the ability to blame the punter if something goes wrong. Everybody loves to blame the guy that only has one job all game and messes it up. When a punter messes up, delusional people on their couches at home say, "I could have done a better job than that." When a cornerback fails to cover someone or a defensive lineman gets pancaked, rarely is there someone who is delusional enough to think they are faster or stronger than an NFL player. "Oh, but punting, I could totally do that. Just give me a week to practice."

Punts, sometimes thought of as a mere formality in a game of offense/defense, provide the most exciting plays in football. There's a moral here. My advice to you: don't take a premature bathroom break or a run to the kitchen for more doritos after your team makes a stop on third down. You just might miss the best play of the game.

Greinke Finally Gets a Chance to Shine with Brewers

by Jack Wascher
As most people who have nothing to do but watch ESPN all day know, Zach Greinke was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers today for three players whose names are of no value to any readers (the nature of most MLB trades). He will be going from a team whose best hitter is their future first round draft pick to the Brewers who have sluggers Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. Greinke will also be transitioning to the National League, which is undoubtedly an easier league to pitch in because pitchers get to pitch to other pitchers, who invariably ground out to the shortstop.
This is set up perfectly for Greinke to finally succeed, because he is in a situation where he is set up to win without having to throw shutouts every time he goes out to the mound. Roy Halladay made the same transition by going to the Phillies from the Blue Jays and won the Cy Young in his first year. Greinke has the stuff to be a perennial All Star in the next couple of years and a key contributor to the Brewers winning the NL Central. His sweeping breaking ball, backed up with his blazing fastball, and not to mention his extremely great command with a baseball make him the future of the Brewers. He has whined and whined and whined about being traded and wanting to win, well here’s your chance sir. I believe this will be more similar to the Roy Halladay situation (i.e. instant success) than the Johan Santana situation, which has led to massive amounts of time on the DL and middle of the road performances since arriving with the Mets. 

Andy Reid: Les Miles in a Fat Suit

The good thing about being a coach? It’s not how you get there; it’s the result. Les Miles and Andy Reid are the greatest benefactors of this logic that the football world has seen. Eagles fans have long lamented over Eagles coach Andy Reid’s decision-making ability. Through Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb, and 4 consecutive losses in the NFC Championship, Andy Reid has been through a lot of adversity in Philadelphia. There was no better game that can sum up Andy Reid's tenure with the Eagles than today.
    The clock is winding down before the end of the second half. There are 45 seconds left and the Eagles have the ball on their own 17 yard line. The Eagles offense has gotten nothing all half. Vick scrambles for one yard, the clock is still running. What do you do at this point, Andy Reid? You sure don’t take any risks, do you? Andy Reid opts to keep trying to get points before half. Maclin ends up fumbling and the Giants end up with seven more points than they would have had if Reid had just taken his offense off the field and walked into the locker room. 17-3 is manageable. 24-3 is overwhelming. Or so it would seem.
    In the 4th quarter, the Eagles are in dire need of points. Vick completes a 31 yard pass to Jackson who “fumbles” and the ball is recovered by the Giants. Jackson was clearly down by contact. Reid does not challenge even though the game is likely to slip away if the Giants get the ball back and score (which they did). While this is partially on the men “upstairs” for not telling Reid to challenge immediately (sidenote: does every single announcer refer to the people in the coach’s box as the men upstairs? Where are these stairs?), Reid needs to throw that red flag if there’s any doubt, and there was a lot of reason to be doubtful.
    Questionable decisions. Unquestionable result. The Eagles put it all together with a comeback for the ages in the fourth quarter that makes everyone forget about Reid’s earlier mishaps. Reid’s shining moment came when he called for an onside kick with 7:28 left in the contest. Brilliant. Desean Jackson’s walk-off punt return touchdown sucked the life out of the Giants and capped off a furious comeback where the Eagles s
cored 28 points in the last 7:28 of game time. Tom Coughlin looked like the fool at games end after his punter shanked the ball, making the return for Jackson much easier than it should have been.
    Andy Reid is undoubtedly an offensive genius, but sometimes things happen in games that just leave you wondering. Until, of course, the results are in the book. Then he knew what he was doing al along. Les Miles, “the mad hatter,” has been known for the same kind of results. Miles has, in many people’s minds, redefined luck. But is it luck? Yes, yes it is, and you’re a fool if you think that Les Miles knew Tennessee would have too many people on the field at the end of the game or that good things happen when you squander timeouts. But it’s also something more. Reid and Miles do a great job of conditioning their players to deal with adversity. When all appears lost, that’s when Miles’ and Reid’s players step up the most. These two coaches do a great job of manipulating the minds of their players to come up big in big spots. They must, because there’s no other way they would be as successful as they are.




NOTE: I would also like to inform my readers that Sportswritten is welcoming a second writer to its staff. Jack Wascher, broadcast/journalism major at the University of Missouri has joined my staff and I'm excited to get his thoughts up on the site.

Grossman Worth a Chance

Rex Grossman is going to start at quarterback for the Redskins, via Kelli Johnson. That Donovan McNabb guy? Ya, he's perfectly healthy coming off one of his best games of the year last week against Tampa Bay. One could more easily justify the logic of the Redskin coaches if this were a move to see what their young quarterback has got after their playoff hopes have gone down the drain. But this is Rex Grossman, not exactly fresh off his final semester of college. Grossman is now 30 years old. Rex has proven over and over that he is not a good quarterback. His best quarterback rating is this season, where his only action was at the end of the game against the Lions when he fumble-sixed to lose the game. Still with all this evidence stacked against Rex, I'm not so sure this isn't the right move.

Bears fans certainly remember the year he led helped watched the Bears defense run back touchdown after touchdown en route to an NFC Championship. Grossman was mostly hated by Bears fans, because, well, he was mostly terrible. However, he wasn't all terrible. 

Bad Rex trots off field

Grossman was notorious for being a hot and cold quarterback. He would follow up great games with atrocious performances. He would follow up a month, September 2006, in which he won "NFC Offensive Player of the Month" accolades with terrible decisions that led to Bears fans calling for Brian Griese. This caused many to attribute 2 personas to the quarterback: good Rex and bad Rex. But what if Rex has matured since the Bears days and can find consistency in an offense in which he feels comfortable? He's worked with Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan through his last season with the Texans. Maybe good Rex shows up for a long-term stay in Washington. It's a long shot, but if you're the Redskins, it's worth a chance.

Vikings Hiring

In an economy where the unemployment rate is at a staggering 9.3%, the Minnesota Vikings are doing there part to stimulate the economy. The news today that Tavaris Jackson has been placed on injured reserve (turf toe) for the rest of the year combined with Brett Favre's well-documented streak-ending shoulder injury have created a gaping hole at quarterback. The Vikings' third string quarterback Joe Webb appears likely to start, but even he is suffering from a hamstring injury. This prompted the Vikings to sign Patrick Ramsey, who hasn't thrown more than 30 completed passes since 2004. Perhaps you remember Ramsey from Steve Spurrier's forgettable 'fun 'n gun' offense with the Redskins.


The Vikings don't stop there. They, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, are hiring hundreds of people to rid TCF Bank Stadium of snow for its impromptu Monday Night Football game.

TCF Bank Stadium, today

At season's end, it looks like the Vikings will be hiring a new coach as well, having already left Brad Childress out in the cold. Those 9.3% of you should send your applications into the Vikings, because where else are you going to get a job? Canada?

Devastating Bulls injury, Fans should remain Optimistic

Despite a convincing win over the Raptors on Wednesday night, Bulls fans are undoubtedly feeling weary about what's to come in the next 8-10 weeks. That's because star, yes star, Forward Joakim Noah tweaked his thumb injury that he had suffered 3 weeks ago against Sacramento. It's going to require surgery. Noah has become a part of group of 4 players (Rose, Deng, Boozer) that have been vital for the Bulls in combining for 7 wins in a row, highlighted by a victory over the reigning champion Lakers. During this stretch, Derrick Rose has garnered some support for an MVP campaign. After all, it's not likely anyone that's part of the Miami trio will win it. They can only score so many points in Miami and it will be tough to single either Wade or LeBron out.

This man is good at basketball. No, really.

It took me until tonight, when a seemingly devastating event occurred to the Bulls' roster, to understand that this Bulls team is for real. On a night where the Bulls best player, Rose, was held to a mere 6 points on 3-9 shooting, his teammates stepped up in a big way. The frontcourt for the Bulls was dominant with Boozer scoring 34 points on the night. Deng contributed his usual 19 points. Bench players like Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer made huge contributions. The Bulls are a team. With Boozer starting to find his niche on the team after missing much of the beginning of the year to injury, the Bulls will cause problems for everyone they play later in the year if they can all remain healthy. They may have missed out on "The Decision" of the summer, but the Bulls have found out that what they have this year is special. While beating struggling Toronto might not impress anyone, what we saw tonight is that this team is not just Rose; it's one entity playing under the impecable leadership of Rose and new head coach Tom Thibodeau.

Yes, their record will suffer over the next 8-10 weeks. Noah has been a vital part of the Bulls roster this year building off a career best season last year with an even better one this year. However, the Bulls will be in the playoffs. I don't see a team in the Eastern Central that will catch them even with a depleted roster for part of the year. They have already established a 5 game lead. The NBA is a league where teams show what they've got in the playoffs, and when the Bulls are healthy, watch out.

Signs your Coach Might be Getting Fired

As the season winds down, you may be wondering if the coach of your favorite football team may be getting fired. After much research, I've compiled a list of ten warnings signs that may lead to your team's coach getting the axe.
1. His halftime motivational speech includes quotes from Semi-Pro: E.L.E.
2. Players "leave him hanging" when he attempts to high five them.
3. He frequently confuses taking a knee with spiking the ball.
4. His playcalling sheet consists only of spells from Harry Potter.
5. He is on the phone with Les Miles at the end of games.
6. His rookie quarterback audibles to a different play before every snap.
7. He dresses like he's on his couch at home with a bag of doritos.*
8. He's already submitting his resume to high school football teams in the area.
9. He has taken advice from Matt Millen.
10. He performs Pagan rituals on the sidelines in an attempt to get his team out of their slump.

*One exception

T.O. knows why the Bengals are 2-11

2-11 with style

Terrell Owens on the T.Ocho Show that aired today made comments that I'm sure will draw the ire of media members. When prodded by Ochocinco to "give it to him straight," he said that the reason the team is 2-11 starts "with the owners, starts with the coaches."I'm sure Cincinnati media will be covering this story like T.O. said that coach Marvin Lewis eats babies and Bengals owner Mike Brown watches while touching himself, but was what Terrell said that groundbreaking?

The Bengals are terrible. Terrell Owens has been great. With 14 more receptions he'll have the most receptions since leaving the 49ers. His quarterback suffers from a weak arm and cement feet in the pocket. The Bengals offensive line has been poor. The defense has been bad. The team is not that good. 

Doesn't everything start with the coaches? Why isn't the company doing well? It starts with the boss. Why isn't the class doing well? It starts with the teacher. Everything starts with the people who have control and make the vital decisions that effect how the people doing the jobs perform. Terrell said nothing that should upset anyone, so settle down and get ya' popcorn ready for next Sunday.

Oregon Announces Uniforms for National Championship Game

All that's missing is a cape

As always, Nike does a good job and the uniforms for Oregon look pretty sweet. However, there's nothing unique about these uniforms outside of the radioactive socks. These are not that much different than what Oregon had worn in the past

Remember that Masoli guy? Oregon sure doesn't

I'm not sure what I was expecting. I just wish they would have grabbed my attention more. These uniforms have been a great recruiting tool and on the grandest stage of all, I figured they would blow my mind with something out of the box. Something like this?

The players sure would be comfortable.

Whole Iowa Roster not on Drugs

Kirk Ferentz at his press conference today with Iowa Athletic Director, Gary Barta, shocked the world by saying pretty much absolutely nothing. they clarified that the Adam Robinson suspension was for academics. They said Jewel Hampton is transferring. They told us they have a stingy drug policy. That was it.
After multiple blogs and messages boards (including this one) had heard that there would be some sort of 'list' of players that tested positive, it was certainly a relief to the University of Iowa that they can put all of this behind them. The state of Iowa takes a collective breath and looks forward to their meeting with Missouri in the Insight Bowl.

Source from Iowa City, Hawks to Suspend 11 players tomorrow.

Kirk Ferentz has called a press conference for tomorrow morning at 10 AM and a source in Iowa City has told me that 11 Iowa players will be suspended for the upcoming Insight Bowl for failing/refusing to comply with drug tests.

This comes after Derrell Johnson-Koulianos' suspension for keeping a drug house, Adam Robinson's suspension, as well as transfers from Brandon Wegher and Jewel Hampton.

This report is unconfirmed and is based on a lot of rumormongering and I take no responsibility for being completely wrong. Basically, what do I know? Something's going down tomorrow at the press conference.

UPDATE: Vegas has pulled the Iowa-Missouri line from the books, perhaps waiting for an announcement from Ferentz tomorrow.

Big Ten chooses Division Names

The Big Ten announced today the logo for the conference and the new names for the new divisions. After months of collaboration, This happened:

Legends: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin
Leaders: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Northwestern.

When asked on the Big Ten Network about how bland the division names were and how they could "apply to any conference", Commissioner Delany convinced most critics by stating, "All I can tell you is that we thought long and hard about what not to do. We thought harder about what to do." He silenced all of his critics that doubted him by expressing that he is, in fact, trying at his job.

Rejected division names include:
Michigan and Others, Ohio State and Others
Champions, Winners
Triumph, Legacies
Victory, Old Guys
Cold States, Colder States

I have no problem with the logo. It's simple. It keeps the idea of having numbers inside of letters which has been part of Big Ten tradition for... multiple years now. The Big Ten should have its universities look into revising the antiquated base 10 numeral system currently in place to a system where 12 is the same number as 10. I'm not sure how it would work; that's why we need the universities to look into it. They are leaders, after all.

The Big Chill at the Big House: Athletic Department Creativity and its Effects

After attending the "Big Chill at the Big House" on Saturday, I left Michigan Stadium with only one word to say: "wow!" Now I've thought of a few more.

The event was an astonishing success. It started with a flyover and kept the fun going with fireworks throughout the event. 113, 411 people attended, the most ever at a hockey game, with most of which standing for the majority of the game. This was a larger attendance than any of Michigan's football games this year. Michigan won 5-0.

The most important note from this game is the effect this is going to have on Michigan hockey in the years to come. What young hockey player will see this event and not have aspirations of playing for Michigan? Kids want a chance to showcase their abilities, and its not every day that NCAA hockey will make Sportscenter like it did on Saturday. Michigan hockey can look back on this historic day as a roaring success but also can look forward to hockey prosperity because of the recruiting buzz this will generate. Not only does Michigan athletics benefit, but the entire sport of NCAA hockey benefits by getting more exposure. What the Michigan athletic department accomplished Saturday is a great feat for hockey.

I'm sure there were many athletic directors around the country watching on Saturday. This event should cause other athletic directors to see the benefits of a creative sporting environment. People want to see things that are different. Nothing's wrong with hockey indoors, but playing it outdoors is another reason to watch because it is out of the ordinary. Why hasn't basketball outside been done? As a kid, I shot hoops outside and I'm sure an outdoor basketball game would bring the game back to the roots of where most kids start playing basketball.

The NBA has been experimenting with the idea, holding preseason games outdoors, the most recent of which pitted the Mavericks against the Suns at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. I would bet you a basketball court would be easier to fit into Wrigley Field than a football field as we found out in November. The basketball game, however, would need to be played in a warm weather environment. USC vs. UCLA at the Coliseum, anyone?

The risk is obviously there too. What if it rains? What if it's windy? But baseball teams play 81 games a year in each stadium with the risk of rain at each one. The risk is justified by the buzz that a creative event would bring. Recruits see these events, and creative sporting event environments would benefit the sport, the athletic program, and the spectator.

Texas, Step Back from that Ledge, My Friend

So the last 4 months have not been the best for the Texas Longhorns. They were worse than Baylor at football. They were worse than BAYLOR at FOOTBALL, not women's basketball. Oh, and they lost to Iowa State. This was the same Texas Longhorns that might have won a National Championship a year ago had Colt McCoy not gone down with a devastating injury. But step back from that ledge, Texas. There's no reason to be weary of the future.

People are panicking again in Austin because "coach in waiting" Will Muschamp has now left for Florida. "Oh no! We don't have our coach in waiting." Settle down. Contrary to common belief that Mack Brown is 98 years old, he has not even broken 60 yet.

Mack Brown, not 98, pictured

Mack has shown that he has the ability to recover from atrocious seasons in the past. His first Texas squad in 1998 recovered from the 1997 debacle by coach John Mackovic. Remember when people wanted Mack fired? Ya, that was because his teams lost to Oklahoma 5 years in a row. Then he won a national title the next year. Unlike players getting slow and old, coaches do not get stupid. Age has a tendency to make people smarter. Brown is a great coach.

It's not even about that though. It's about being the most lucrative program in the most talent filled state in the country. The best high school players play in Texas. One Losing season does not change the fact that Texas is one of the best programs in the country. It continues to get the best recruits in the country. Getting the best players will lead to the best teams. One coordinator leaving does nothing to diminish a program that has been top class among all programs for years.

This past year, they had inexperienced QB play, bad playcalling, and what appeared to be a lack of playmaking on offense. No one stepped up for Texas on offense when they needed big plays. All of this can be fixed next year. With more of the best talent in the country coming in each year, I promise to Texas fans around the country that they will find their playmakers and all will be restored in Austin, Texas.

So, step back from that ledge, Texas, you are still the only program that has more power than the commissioner of the its own conference, Don Beebe. Just get the whip out and tell him to add wins to your record and all will be solved.

Celebration Penalties in the NFL

"Hey, you, in the endzone. Yes, you dancing like one of those rappers in those rap videos. Haven't you thought about how that could hurt the feelings of the players on the other team? and Mr. Desean Jackson, you think you can just fall into the endzone like that? Back in the good ole days when I watched listened to the NFL games on the radio, I never saw Jim Brown run into the endzone and do a silly dance. No, I imagine he handed the ball right to the referee. The radio guy never said otherwise. He never got excited about playing football. He simply did his job. I'm sick of these young whippersnappers with their cell phones and there laptops going to play football, scoring touchdowns, and then celebrating! Do your job!"

Does anyone still think like this? I do not understand why the NFL will not embrace celebrating as a part of the game. You see other independent media entities like ESPN showing elaborate celebrations all the time on their highlights. Why? because there are people with a sense of humor that enjoy watching creative celebrations. While its not necessary to the game, it enhances it. I want to see each players personality. It makes me and every consumer of the NFL feel closer to the players. For every 45 year old business man whose only interest in the game is the 200 dollars he put on the game, there are many more people that watch the game for its entertainment value.

So what did I do today when I saw DeSean Jackson score a 91 yard touchdown capped off by an exaggerated fall into the endzone? I laughed. I laughed because it was funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX48YaDsk58 (DeSean Jackson Play)

I can understand the personal fouls for players fighting or pushing and shoving each other. As much as I would like to see Mike Vick throw down with DeMarcus Ware after one play like a couple of hockey players, I understand the fundamental need to keep the game rid of players fighting. No need to have Tom Brady out for the year with a broken face because a New York Jet defensive lineman decided to start a fight with him. So while the NFL can't be the NHL, nor should it want to be, it can embrace the product that we want to see.

Celebrations are fun. When Randy Moss mimed pulling his pants down in the playoffs against the Packers, what did you do when you saw it? you laughed. We, the consumers, determine how successful the NFL is. I think the NFL would reach more young demographics and become an even more dominant brand of sports if they became more lenient on the celebration 'problem.' It's supposed to be entertainment, remember?