Flavor: Assorted

Commiserators -

A quick look at the current sports landscape, because it is unnaturally hectic for this time of year. Incidentally we'll talk baseball first, because doing so is like eating your veggies - you don't want to, but you know you'll have to so you may as well get it out of the way.

You may have noticed that Big Mac has seemed seemed awfully contrite of late. I'm surprised his thoughts haven't been moderated, because he's insinuated that the length of the baseball season and the injuries that come from it are why he started using steriods. Shortening that season is great news in my book, but no doubt it will lose money for all involved in the sport. McGwire also said he didn't think steriods helped him hit the ball any better, which I believed until it was pointed out that steriods can improve your vision. Plenty of other topics in this realm to discuss....bottom line, baseball's in real trouble, and probably looking at going from America's pastime to developing the popularity that cricket draws in the Eastern Hemisphere.

In regards to international sports popularity, I've determined that each country's version of football is it's most popular sport respectively...with exception to Canada. No matter, they'll still point out that their Gray (or is it Grey to them?) Cup still has longer tenure than the Super Bowl.

On the road to the Super Bowl, 8 teams are left standing. Most matchups pit a team with more talent and a better record vs. a team on a hot streak. It should be noted that unless the Jets play the Ravens in the AFC, weather will likely not be a factor in any matchup.

Surprisingly, changes in the coaching carousel have surpassed news of actual athletic activity during the week, to the chagrin of franchises still in the playoffs I'm sure. The uber-goober himself has swiped the rug from underneath USC and quickly bolted for a mediocre Seattle franchise hoping to reclaim a run of success from 5 seasons ago. This is only to be surpassed by USC's selection of their next coach, and I can imagine the thought process of Mike Garrett, USC AD - "Let's see....find someone who's a failed NFL coach with a pro-style offense, that emphasizes defense, and sounds great when recruiting to teens but like a used car salesman when doing interviews." Nice job coach, you found the man.

Speaking of the carousel, why not send one of these guys up to Washington State to turn that team around? It's a BCS school that would stoop to about any level in order to ensure some sort of success at this point...after all, you've got to save some face, you only have one. Or it might be ironic if Mike Leech headed to Tennessee, and a series of national powerhouses effectively end up trading a group of high profile coaches. More to come on this later I'm sure.

On the topic of Tennessee, we can move to college basketball. I know The Puck is bitter about it, but I'm sure the only reason his Jayhawks got beat by a Vols team with 6 scholarship players is because they didn't know which others had guns concealed on them. I'm glad to see the conference season underway for teams though, this will likely be my domestic focus over the next 2 months.

The best thing about the NBA right now isn't the league, because rarely does something significant happen before the All-Star break and the playoff race heats up. Instead, as a sports gamer I'm more pleased to hear about NBA Jam coming back. Despite the fact that I don't knwo why it's being distributed on the Wii from Canada, I look forward to being able to throw an unneccessary series of elbows after grabbing a board from 30 feet up, having the ball bounce a dozen times on the rim before someone grabs it, and lighting nets on fire after launching a barrage of 3's from midcourt.

In more somber news, terrible to hear about the Togalese soccer team, shot at by a series of Angolan rebels and striking fear into the international community before the World Cup. Despite this, even worse news to hear that the CAF might've banned the team from the tournament that they were trying to arrive at when this happened. Sad to say, but if these events lead to a disasterous World Cup, African organizations will take a major hit within the international sporting community.

I've got nothing for hockey at the moment, other than that I've clearly found the goal of the year. Degree of difficulty is obviously high here, as his angle was tight and he took it out of the air.