Where are Craig Sager's crazy suits?

Watching the U.S. play Argentina, there's not a whole lot to analyze. Team USA is absolutely dominating every aspect of the game and with Manu Ginobli being hurt, Argentina's gold medal hopes are about to be crushed.

Even though the game is boring, I want to know where are Craig Sager's crazy suits? He wears them all the time while reporting for the NBA and I think NBC should have allowed him to bring his eccentric wardrobe to Beijing. The polos they force every sideline reporter to wear are boring and I think his suits would liven up the broadcast. Without his suits, Sager turns into just another annoying sideline reporter. (Wouldn't that purple blazer make the blowouts easier to watch?)

Usain Bolt is really fast

In case you didn't know or haven't heard, Usain Bolt is the fastest freaking human on earth. He's destroyed both the 100m and 200m dash world record. In those races he's been clocked at speeds of nearly 30 mph!! If he ran in a school zone he'd get a speeding ticket. Some team in the NFL has to bring this guy into training camp and turn him into the fastest receiver in the league.

If you have been living under a rock though, click here.

This week in %$@! stupid...

The Cincinnati Bengals re-signed wide receiver Chris Henry and officially confirmed that they do not under any circumstances want to be taken seriously as a professional football organization.

The Bengal's say this move comes out of a depletion of its wide receivers. I say it's a move in extreme stupidity. As a Steelers fan, I love seeing the Bengals turn back into the Bungles but even this seems a little hard to take. Watching the Bengals run into character issues on a regular basis has been incredibly entertaining but this move makes the Bengals seem as if they can't get out of their own way.

Just because their receiving corps is a little low right now does not mean Cincinnati has to flush their principles down the toilet. I, like everyone else, thought the Bengals were finally cutting ties with everyone that was holding them back but this signing is a giant step backward.

In case you're not familiar with Henry's situation, he's been arrested five times since being drafted by the team in 2005 so it's not like he hasn't had a second chance (or third or fourth). If you're the owner of the Bengals, how can you seriously consider bringing Henry back with all the crap he's done over the years? He's a good receiver, but no where near being good enough to put up with his antics. He would have to play like Jerry Rice in his prime to even think about keeping him around.

As an organization, how can you think people will take you seriously if just months ago you proclaimed to everyone that you were cleaning house and only accepting high character guys? Do you think you're fans are stupid? You have to if you think people can just ignore what Henry's done and act like nothings happened.

I'm glad I'm a Steelers fan because I couldn't take putting up with such a joke of an organization. Have fun looking up at the other teams in the division this year.

USA!! USA!! USA!! (and other quick thoughts from the Olympics)

• If Michael Phelps gets his 8 gold medals in Beijing, he has to be put in the same category as Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong as the best athlete in his respective sport. (He also owes Jason Lezak a Ferrari)
• If I had 6 months of training, I could compete in the dressage portion of equestrian. For those who don't follow the sport, here's a synopsis: all you have to do is hop on a horse, put on a top hat and trot your horse around some sand for a few minutes. That's right, they actually give out medals for this.
• There's no way the Chinese girl gymnasts are as old as the government says they are. The Chinese really gave their age away when they drank juice boxes and ate orange slices between routines.
  
• This US Men's Basketball team is focused and ready to win gold. From all reports, they're doing and saying all the right things off the court. All this team needs to do is stay focused and play hard (so far so good) and the gold medal is theirs. When this group of talent decides they want to play well, no one in the world can beat them. (see: Greece and world-champion Spain)
• The color commentators for gymnastics need to stop praising the Chinese so much (they're good, we get it) and over-analyzing every single mistake in the competition, especially from the US.
  
• Is it just me or is the music before commercials during USA basketball games from the late 90's NBC broadcasts of the NBA? It'd be awesome if it was, that's the best theme music from any NBA broadcast. Either way, here's a link to nostalgia.
  

Carson Palmer proves Buckeye fan stereotype true

*Note: I know this story is a few weeks old but I was on vacation and couldn't post anything. There's more to the story than just telling what happened anyway.

Carson Palmer seemed to find himself in a little bit of a predicament the other day after he appeared on an LA radio show and talked about how excited he was for USC to beat the pants off Ohio State in their upcoming game on Sept. 13th in the Coliseum, as well as next year in Columbus. Listen to the audio to hear the whole conversation.

I'm not writing about this to argue whether Palmer will be right in his predictions. He should be openly supporting his alma mater. He should hope that USC beats the crap out of Ohio State. And Buckeye fans should hope for the opposite. Heck, I hope Ohio State goes out to LA and beats the bejezus out of the Trojans and does the same thing next year here in Columbus. I'm writing to explain how Carson Palmer proved the Buckeye fan stereotype true. The first bit of evidence lies with the Ohio State fans who lashed out against Palmer with torches and pitchforks. In the days following his comments, some Bengal fans who supported him religously before swore him off completely because of his so-called Buckeye bashing. Seriously though, what did you expect him to say? He was on an LA show, graduated from USC and now plays football in the state where fans are obnoxiously passionate about Ohio State. Buckeye fans, this isn't anything new. People get pissed at you all the time for being too obnoxious and loud. Chill out and shut up. This isn't the first time someone has talked crap about you and from your reactions to this it sure won't be the last. To me, it seems OSU fans are up in arms simply because a prominent figure in their state doesn't support their beloved team. So what? Get over it. Buckeye nation is big enough, it'll be fine without one more person.

Another argument that I don't understand at all is that fans are upset because he insulted Jim Tressel. Are you kidding me? I've listened to that clip at least 7 or 8 times and the only reference to Jim Tressel I hear is when Carson explains how fans in Ohio talk about "that university, that football program and Tressel, and all that crap I gotta put up with being back there." His reaction doesn't seem any different than any other non-OSU fan living in Ohio. Think about it, if you were a Buckeye fan and had to live in Ann Arbor I'm absolutely positive you would get sick of the Wolverine coverage. The complaint that Tressel was thrown under the bus makes no sense to me and only proves how stupid and irrantional some Buckeye fans can be.

The bottom line is that Ohio State fans should lighten up on Palmer. As far as I see it, he was just supporting his alma mater and talking (some) crap about an upcoming opponent. But no Buckeye fan has EVER done that before, right?

*2nd Note: While I was on vacation, Mark Schlabach named Ohio State the most hated team in college football. Buckeye Nation, begin your whining... now.

Hooliganism at its finest

In case you missed it, fans of the Columbus Crew and West Ham United were involved in a scuffle on Sunday at the teams' friendly in Crew Stadium. According to reports, the fighting began when West Ham supporters went over to where the rowdiest Crew fans were sitting. The Crew fans took notice and began chanting at them which led to a brawl between more than 100 Crew fans and at least 30 West Ham fans. Full story here.

What the hell are West Ham fans doing in Columbus, Ohio? For an exhibition soccer match. Across the Atlantic. In Columbus, Ohio.

Do these people not have jobs? Maybe this is their job; travel with the team and brawl with other fans. Apparently, they must be pretty good fighters for only 30 of their fans to take on a crowd of 100. When you really sit down and think about it, that would be a great job. Imagine you are paid by your favorite team to travel with them from city to city and all you do is get loaded and fight with other fans, the team would even pay for your legal expenses. It may seem too far fetched to work in America but I'm sure the idea may have been tossed around a time or two overseas given the riotous behavior of soccer fans. And the way some Ohio State football fans act, the only difference between their current behavior and my idea is a paycheck from the university.

Girlfight!!

More of this will definitely make IndyCar more popular in the states...

Titletown

Could ESPN please stop forcing onto us the idea that smaller cities like Williamsport, Massillon or even Columbus can compare to the great sports histories of Boston, LA and New York? The original "Titletown" was (and still is) Green Bay. (See for yourself, it's right there on the seal of the city.) That's not to say Green Bay is the only city full of championships, Pittsburgh's nickname is the "City of Champions." Boston, LA and New York need no explanation of their success either.

I know this time of year seems to be kind of slow around in the sports world, people are bored with baseball, football training camps haven't opened yet and basketball finished well over a month ago. Despite all those factors, it's still really annoying when ESPN launches some month-long series that achieves nothing except making the reporters and interviewees incredibly uncomfortable. And it's not just Titletown, ESPN seems to do this every year. Does anyone really care about "Who's Now?" (I'm looking at you Stuart Scott) or what the greatest highlight is? This one really annoys the crap out of me because anytime these clips are ranked it always seems to come down to the same 5 or 6 moments. "Do you believe in miracles?!" "I don't believe what I just saw!" "The band is out on the field!!" These moments are all great but when constantly rehashed to the point of emotional numbness, it gets a little annoying.

The First Post: Ohio State Football

It seems appropriate that as an Ohio State student I should write something about the upcoming football season. (42 days to kick off, by the way) As a disclaimer, I would like to think this is coming from a relatively objective point of view. I like to think of myself as somewhat of a reasonable Buckeye fan, as opposed to some of the wackos in Columbus who abandon all logic and reason when talking about football.

With that said, here's my season preview:

At the very least, Ohio State will win the crappy Big Ten for the fourth year in a row. Please don't try to stick up for the conference, the next best team last year, Illinois, got wiped up and down the field by USC in the Rose Bowl. Oh yeah, the argument that Michigan beat Florida in their bowl game doesn't help either. One good game doesn't make up for years of underachievement by Lloyd Carr (sad to see him go, but Rodriguez doesn't seem to help their case much either).

The Buckeyes may struggle at Wisconsin and at Illinois (I didn't say lose, the games will just be close). Ohio State has been known to struggle on the road at night and the fact that the Buckeyes play Minnesota the week before doesn't help either. While Ohio State will probably win those games, the game at USC will ultimately determine whether or not OSU will be playing for the national title in Miami. I have full confidence in all three units of the team to make a legitimate run at the title but it will absolutely hinge on the play of Todd Boeckman. It seemed Todd improved through each game last year up until Illinois. His gambles of heaving the ball down field eventually caught up with him, throwing 6 interceptions in the last 3 games. All reports out of camp show that Boeckman is developing much needed consistency to lead the Buckeyes to a third straight national title game appearance. His play will be the difference in Ohio State finally getting over the hump or taking one more step in becoming the Buffalo Bills of college football.

On a side note, could Ohio State please start putting tougher teams on their schedule? I know there's nothing they can do about their conference games but come on. Two Division 1-AA teams (Youngstown St. and Troy) have no business being on the schedule, especially one (YSU) that OSU is playing for the second year in a row.