Buzzer Beaters [11/20/11]

last-second thoughts on recent sports ongoings

(just throwing 'em up there)

• I'm gonna ramble on about Penn State for a bit. Obviously, everything that's gone down at Penn State is utterly disgusting. The acts were disgusting, the organization's reactions to the acts were disgusting, and the students' reactions to the organization's reactions to the acts (phew) were disgusting. The children who were abused deserve all the sympathy and prayers and help in the world. But please, don't for one second think this isn't about sports. It is. True, an old, fucked-up man raping little boys has nothing to do with sports, and no, I don't think — at least I hope; who knows, in light of the new Syracuse scandal — that this is reflective of a hidden culture in college sports (However, I think it is indicative of collegiate sports's impulse to hide anything defamatory, regardless of severity.). Regardless, it is still about sports. You wouldn't have heard about this (alleged) rapist, much less know him by name if he wasn't coaching under one of the most revered figures in the history of college, ahem, sports. The fact is, kids get raped every day. It's a sick world. So if this instigates a spark in you to support the cause of child abuse, great. I hope you do. But don't act all surprised and offended when the first question that some sleezebag reporter asks after the scandal breaks the surface is, "Who's coaching on Saturday?"

Why baseball is not boring: The cathartic ramblings of a lifelong hardball fanatic

It was cold, it was wet, and it was suposed to be the climactic moment of my sports fandom. It was my first Cardinals opening day. And I was bored. Why? Because baseball can be boring.

Part of me thought it was because it was cold. Maybe I would have been enjoying it more if I wasn't shivering the whole time, but still... Why was I so bored? We were winning most of the game, only to blow it in the ninth, but none of that should've even mattered. It was opening freaking day. For my St. Louis freaking Cardinals.

Now let's jump forward, shall we, to another opening day (kinda): the opening game of the World Series. Somehow my dad was able to score tickets (Parking: $30. Assorted World Series memorabilia: $150. Seeing the Cards in the World Series: Priceless. No seriously, my dad somehow got free tickets. Considering he works with Energizer, I'm sticking with the story that he threw batteries at someone until they gave him their tix.). And even if this had been the most boring game ever (which one could argue it kind of was), it still couldn't have been boring. It wasn't the miraculous Game Six — possibly/probably the greatest finish to any sports game I've ever witnessed — or the clinching Game Seven. It wasn't making the playoffs on the last day of the season or watching Albert Pujols hit three bombs. But it was my team in the World Series, and it was a perfect microcosm of why baseball is great, why I shouldn't have been bored at opening day. Why? Hold your Clydesdales, I'm getting there.