Blue View
What did you think of Chad Johnson’s celebration on Monday Night Football?
Blue: I love Ocho Cinco, so I’m probably a little biased here, but I thought it was OK. I laughed pretty hard. The big jacket was funny, especially with his little head poking out of the top and him prancing around the sidelines. I think everyone was probably just disappointed because they were expecting something gaudy. Maybe a full re-creation of a scene from “300.” Maybe a dramatic reading of Bill Clinton’s memoir, complete with a Clinton mask and Monica impersonator sitting on his lap. But don’t give up on Chad. I’m sure he’ll have a live tiger or Tiger Woods or something for his next touchdown.
White: Let me see if I understand this correctly. When a guy scores a touchdown, he does what is known as an end zone celebration, or touchdown celebration, which typically consists of a dance, jump into the stands, or for some players, like Terrell Owens, it can sometimes involve a black sharpie. Usually an end zone celebration happens right after a player scores, and it usually occurs, well…, in the end zone.
Chad Johnson, aka Ocho Cinco, pulled off the lamest celebration possibly in the history of professional sports. The celebration didn’t even occur immediately after scoring. He ran to the sideline, was congratulated by his teammates, wandered around a for a while and then finally put on a jacket with the words “Future HOF, Class of 20??” The words looked like they had been crudely spray painted on, and he kept the jacket on for all of two seconds. Lame celebration Chad; the NFL is not going to fine you for that. In fact, if they are smart, they will pay you not to pull off another horrible stunt like that.
Who gets fired first, Lloyd Carr or Charlie Weis?
Blue: Don’t get me wrong, Notre Dame couldn’t beat Logan High School right now, but it’s got to be Carr. Michigan was ranked No. 5 in preseason polls. They were expected to challenge for a national championship. Basically, they had expectations. Notre Dame had none. The Irish are playing a freshman at quarterback, and no reasonable person expected them to do any better than .500. And at least Notre Dame has lost to No. 21 Georgia Tech and No. 19 Penn State. Michigan lost to two unranked teams, one of which isn’t even in Division I. And I don’t think the Michigan defense could even stop me from taking their lunch money. So bye, bye, Lloyd.
White: Neither man will most likely be fired, but one of them stepping down is a good possibility. All logic would lead you to believe that Lloyd Carr would be gone first since his team lost to a D-II school, and then the next week got beat up by Oregon State. Charlie Weiss is coaching an always overrated Notre Dame school with a freshman quarterback. But nonetheless, I will say Weiss will be gone first. “Why?” you ask. Simply put, I guess you could say that it is a gut feeling, or rather Carr was already chosen, so I had to come up with some reason why Weiss would be fired first.
Did the New England Patriots cheat?
Blue: Stealing signs is nothing new. This is just the revamped, Patriots techno remix of the same thing. I’m not saying it’s OK, but look at it like this: If you’re going with the flow of traffic and cruising along at 75 mph in a 65 zone, should you get pulled over? Even though I don’t think they cheated, per se, I would still like to see them get punished. How about forcing Bill Belichick to go back to being the train-riding miscreant that his attire suggests?
White: Simply put, the Patriots were caught taping the New Jersey Jets’ defensive coordinator sending in signals. If this is actually the case and the Patriots can be proven guilty of this, they should be branded as cheaters and have to forfeit all games in which they performed this spying tactic. Realistically, nothing will come of this since this isn’t the first time they have been accused. But it is cheating, and they should be punished.
What do you think about Phil Jackson’s suggestion to raise the basket in the NBA?
Blue: Crazy. The Zen master has gone totally “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Why raise the basket? There will be fewer 360 fewer dunks, alley-oops and 5-footers who could slam one home. We’ve all seen 7-footers dunk. They suck. They may be the only people who will be able to throw it down if the basket was significantly raised. I know Jackson wants to help the game evolve, but this would clearly be a step in the wrong direction. SportsCenter would be so empty during the NBA season – no dunk highlights, no bueno. It would be like watching WNBA highlights, just a bunch of lay-ups. It’s not for me.
White: How awesome would that be? It would be like the good old days when MTV showed celebrity basketball games and if there was a higher rim, that was worth more points. Imagine it, Queen Latifa and Will Smith playing in the NBA sinking shots on a 15-foot rim while guys like Ray Allen and Michael Redd are struggling to adjust to the change. Seriously though, they will never raise the rim, and I have no idea what Phil Jackson was talking about.
What was the worst NFL performance of the weekend?
Blue: The Kansas City Chiefs. Wow. I know it’s pretty hard to beat a powerhouse like the Houston Texans, but come on KC. You know what would be a good game, the Chiefs and the Wolverines. I’d pay to watch that slug fest, which would ultimately just end up in a 0-0 tie, with both teams sobbing and hugging each other. I’m loving every minute of this, though. The Chiefs lose. The Broncos win. All is right with the world. The only way I guess I’d be pissed is if I had Larry Johnson on one of my fantasy teams.
White: I could go down the list of my fantasy team and make a case for most of my players. Alex Smith, Stephen Jackson, Laurence Maroney, I can go on. But I will choose Jackson because he is rated as a top two or three running back by most experts. He rushed for 58 yards on 18 carries, caught one pass for three yards and fumbled the ball twice. It was just week one though, so I expect he will be the stud running back that he is touted to be.
Rant
Blue: The mighty Rainbow Warriors almost had their Bowl Championship Series dreams demolished this weekend when they played at Louisiana Tech. I had the distinct pleasure of watching most of this game from an apartment in Laramie, Wyo. Although watching the game delayed my night of bad decision making on the streets of frigid Laramie, I did learn some important things. Hawaii still isn’t that good away from home. If it wasn’t for a pass breakup on La Tech’s two-point try in overtime, Hawaii would be 1-1. La.Tech may be better than we all thought. And most importantly, Colt Brennan looks like an idiot with the Hawaiian Islands floating in his sea of bleach-blond hair. They probably won’t let you accept the Heisman like that, Colt.
White: How bad was football in the state of Utah this past weekend? Of the seven colleges and universities in the state, only two teams picked up wins. And those wins came from the state’s two junior colleges, Snow and Dixie. That is pathetic – I don’t care who the teams are playing, two out of seven is an awful number. I certainly hope for fans around the state that some teams can start winning some games.