Penn State chant Dec 22, 2021
Penn State University has this chant they do, notably at football games, where half the crowd shouts "we are" and the other half shouts "Penn State".  It's cute; it's wholesome; ESPN did a special on it. 

Here's the thing:  It's dumb.  Fans do it during the game, at mostly inappropriate times.  The offense is on the field, or the defense is on the field, and the fans are doing this dumb chant that has literally nothing to do with what's happening in the game they're supposedly cheering on.  Oh, and the chant ends with "thank you" and "you're welcome" which makes my skin crawl. 

Plenty of colleges have dumb chants.  Auburn has "War Eagle".  Oklahoma has "Boomer Sooner".  These are meaningless dumb things fans say during games to sort of cheer on their team.  But at least most cheers are quick and simple and happen at the right time:  Before kickoff, or after a touchdown, or coming back from commercial break.  At Penn State, it's 2nd down and 17 after their quarterback got sacked, down by 21 points in the third quarter against a conference rival, and the fans do this dumb chant to perfectly signal how much they're not paying attention. #sports
3114 Oct 19, 2021
I feel like professional football is too skill based.  It used to just be about power or speed or size.  Your team had a big guy that was bigger than the other team's big guy (Jerome Bettis).  Or you had a fast guy who was faster than the other team's fast guy (Barry Sanders).  Now everyone is just so ridiculously good at what they do, they're so well-trained, well-prepared, well-coached, it's nearly impossible to over-power or outrun the other team. #sports
NBA playoffs Jul 22, 2021
I started watching NBA basketball a few years ago.  More specifically, I started watching the playoffs.  Even more specifically, I sporadically watch the last few rounds of the conference playoffs, then watch the finales religiously.  I skip through the regular season stuff (82 games?!) and just watch the good stuff. 

And I have to say, I really like the 7-game series (a.k.a. best-of-4) format.  Other sports and leagues do this too, so it's not NBA-specific.  As opposed to the NFL playoffs or even the NCAA basketball tournament, having multiple games gives everyone a chance to have an off day without ending their entire season.  It allows for home-court advantage to help and hurt (games are played alternately at both teams' locations).  The refs can make or miss some big calls and not ruin the entire series.  It even allows a little space for injury:  A player sidelined with a muscle strain in one game might come back for a later game.  I feel like if your team can't beat an opposing team in 7 games, you don't deserve to move on.  It's thorough and it's fair. 

Another thing I noticed is a comment on basketball in general:  Basketball is a very balanced sport.  Every player plays both offense and defense.  Every player uses the same general skills to play -- dribbling, passing, shooting, blocking, etc.  Sure, some players tend to do more of the shooting, while other players tend to do more of the blocking.  But there are no single-purpose players on the court; no punters or goalies or designated hitters.  And everyone is expected to be pretty good at all of them -- so much so that certain players' star status is questioned if they're bad at one of those fundamental skills.  Sure, you have to be 6'6" to get on the team, but at least you don't only do one thing. #sports
Lance vs. MJ Jun 5, 2020
I watched that Lance Armstrong documentary on ESPN, and I gotta say, this guy does not come across as a sympathetic character.  I kept waiting for the moment when I would understand him or respect his actions, but he consistently acted cold, unemotional, and unlikable.  Even his apologies didn't really feel like apologies.  If news came out that Lance Armstrong was a brutal serial killer who dismembered his victims and ate their pieces, that would be the least surprising thing ever. 

Contrast that with the recent Michael Jordan documentary, where I sort of already liked the guy but ended up basically falling in love with him.  And even if the content was heavily influenced by Jordan himself, he comes across as a fallible human being, with believable intentions behind some of his less-than-positive actions, and actual human emotions. 

It's hard to dislike Michael Jordan.  Lance Armstrong, on the other hand, might be a sociopath. #sports
Philly Seans Oct 21, 2019
The Philadelphia Eagles have a player named Alshon Jeffery (rhymes with "Sean").  This year they re-signed a former player named DeSean Jackson, and I think they really missed out on also re-signing their former player LeSean McCoy.  If they did, they would've have three different "Sean" variants on their team at the same time. #sports
Double Heisman Oct 21, 2019
For the first few weeks of the 2019 NFL season, there were two teams each with two Heisman Trophy winners in their backfields:  the Tennessee Titans with Marcus Mariota (2014) and Derrick Henry (2015), and the Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson (2016) and Mark Ingram (2009). #sports
3017 Jun 14, 2019
Basketball is a unique sport in the sense that each player on the team performs all the same actions and duties as all other players on the team.  Yes, there are position players and specialists, but everybody dribbles, passes, shoots, and plays defense.  There are no goalies, no punters, no pitchers.  It's egalitarian. #sports
College football playoffs Jan 7, 2019
I'm surprised by the current system of playoffs in Division 1 (FBS) college football.  FCS, or Division 1AA or whatever you feel like calling it, has a playoff system similar to the NFL, but with the addition of numeric rankings.  At the end of the season, the top 8 or 16 (can't remember) teams compete against each other in a bracket playoff system with the winner moving on to compete against the winner from the other side of the bracket.  The NFL essentially does the same thing, but they don't specifically rank teams by number.  Also, the NFL could never have an NFC vs. NFC or AFC vs. AFC Super Bowl by definition, unlike college football which kind of routinely has an SEC vs. SEC national championship. 

Anyway, the FBS playoff system, which was really just adopted a few years ago, sets up a bracket of the top four teams, which is really just an impromptu semifinal followed by a national championship game.  It's definitely more abbreviated than it needs to be, and there's discussion every year that they should expand the playoff to the top six or eight teams at least.  But I would say the more glaring issue is the fact that the final ranking of the season, i.e. the criteria that determines playoff eligibility, is still decided by a group of dudes (and famously, Condoleezza Rice for whatever reason).  It's a weird and completely unnecessary oligarchy that I'm assuming only still exists because of money or power or something.  All other major sports organizations have figured out a way to let teams determine their own future.  I appreciate when sports announcers tell the audience the exact series of events that will determine a team's playoff chances.  All the cards are on the table.  But FBS still comes down to some dude's opinion. #sports
Notre Dame Jan 1, 2019
I don't have a favorite college football team, but one thing I always do is root against Notre Dame. 

I've never liked that they don't put players' names on their jerseys.  It feels unnecessarily old-fashioned, and even though I get that they're trying to emphasize the whole "team game" feel, it misses the mark.  Penn State does this too, and I think it's stupid.  Good teams, especially in systems with talent imbalances (i.e. some players are average while others are extremely talented), are built around good talent.  Masking that behind a tradition is facile. 

Then there's the whole "independent" thing.  College football rules and regulations are rife with exceptions for colleges that don't belong to a major conference.  This is code for Notre Dame, which has been a historically exceptional team.  So bowl game entrance criteria is often stipulated as "the winner of X conference, and Notre Dame if they were good this year."  This idea has passed its period of usefulness.  Notre Dame is no longer the powerhouse it once was.  This was yet again confirmed by their recent stomping by Clemson in a playoff game.  By not being in a major conference, they aren't facing the level of competition that Alabama or Ohio State are facing.  And sure, all teams have a few (or a bunch of) cupcake games on their schedules.  But by being independent, even Notre Dame's non-cupcake games are of questionable value.  Plus, they don't play a conference championship game, which affects their eligibility for the playoffs in an unfair way. 

Finally, there's the whole "private Catholic school" thing.  As a product of the public school system, I naturally developed a dislike for my local private Catholic school.  They came off as elitist, and they literally were elite because they charged tuition and enticed talented athletes to attend.  Notre Dame feels like the pinnacle of this ideal.  When the players introduce themselves at the beginning of some NFL games by saying which college they went to, the Notre Dame grads seem to have a sneer on their faces.  You'll hear "Michigan ... Georgia ... Notre Dame".  Like honestly dude, your team was good in the 1960s.  It's time to move on. #sports
Football field death Dec 28, 2018
This is macabre, but I think we'll eventually and unfortunately witness the death of a football player during a live game.  Players of all ages die on a fairly regular basis, usually after a hit to the head or crank of the neck, often related to a pre-existing condition like a blood clot or congenital issue.  And of course many players sustain gruesome and often life-altering injuries like broken legs and backs.  I think it's only a matter of time until we witness an actual death on the field.  Nearly every time a player's helmet comes off, I half expect to see their head still in it. #sports