The Blue and White
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Sports Debate
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| Blue View – David Baker |
White View – Sam Bryner |
| David Baker is a senior majoring in print journalism. Comments and questions can be sent to him at da.bake@aggiemail.usu.edu. |
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| Sam Bryner is a senior majoring in business management. Comments and questions can be sent to him at sam.bryner@aggiemail.usu.edu. |
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ARE YOU SURPRISED BY MARION JONES?
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| No. Are you? Really? She’s huge. I think she beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan for the Intercontinental Championship a few years back – I know the Intercontinental Championship isn’t the most prestigious belt, but come on. I’ve always been kind of scared of her. She’s no one I’d want to fight. Because you can’t run from her, and she has deltoids like Mr. Universe. But I guess you wouldn’t be to emasculated if you lost to her in a fight because she looks like she could take a folding chair to the solar plexus. |
It’s hard to be shocked about any kind of story these days that involves performance-enhancing drugs or athletes cheating in some way. I am disappointed, but not surprised, at the news that Jones used illegal drugs to help her win five medals in the 2000 Olympics. Athletes want to win and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that. Unfortunately, many times that means breaking the rules. Can you really blame her though? With pressure from the entire country, media and herself, she had to do something to try and win. |
WHO WILL WIN: COWBOYS OR PATRIOTS?
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| Satan. That’s who wins. The evil in the “Evil Dead Trilogy.” That’s who wins. Backward Nazi politicians, the Backstreet Boys, cancer and rabies and pollution. They all win too. It really doesn’t matter who wins this game; evil will have prevailed at the end of the day. Nothing good can come of this match-up. It’s like choosing between Bush and Kerry for the presidency. Or like choosing the best way to die – we all die, no matter the outcome. I guess, the Cowboys will win – the lesser, more Texan of two evils. |
Five interceptions makes me question how good of a quarterback Tony Romo really is, especially when it comes against one of the NFL’s worst defenses. He will play better this week, but not even close to the level it takes to beat the Patriots. New England right now looks a lot like my shiny 1998 Toyota Camry – a well-oiled machine that drives in any situation. The Patriots are unbeatable and will continue to win this week against Dallas. And think of what the Patriots will be like once Laurence Maroney starts running like he can. |
BIGGER UPSET: STANFORD’S OR APP. STATE’S?
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| I never thought I’d say this, but it’s Stanford. The mighty Trojans were favored by as much as 40 points at home to the less-than-terrifying Cardinal. All on-field-talent issues aside, Stanford has a dancing tree for a mascot, even though their official mascot is a bird – either way, no match for a Trojan. The only thing I can think of tying Stanford to football is John Elway. But maybe it’s the Elway magic coming back? Or Jim Harbaugh, captain comeback? No. The loss by USC was completely inexplicable. |
Is this even an argument? I know Stanford was the 39-point underdog and playing with a new quarterback. But the fact is, Stanford is a Division-I school and belongs to a Bowl Championship Series conference. No matter how poor of a team they are, they will still recruit some top players. Appalachian State is a D-II team who is supposed to be smaller, slower, and less agile than a Big-Ten school, especially Michigan. |
WHO WILL BE IN THE WORLD SERIES?
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| The Rockies and Red Sox. Besides the alliteration, they are the best teams left. The Rockies have only lost one game in about their last 20 or so, and they don’t really seem to be slowing. There’s some kind of magic – or maybe it’s just a blessed batch of Coors Light. The Red Sox are just going to be too much for the Tribe. If Manny and Ortiz swing the bats at all, this should be a quick one for the Sox. P.S. Travis Hafner looks like a happy caveman, just look for it during the series. |
Boston Red Sox versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. Don’t be surprised to see King Lebron James jump onto the Cleveland Indian bandwagon. Unfortunately, just like when the King rooted for the Yankees, so too will the Indians. The Red Sox have more depth, playoff experience and hitting ability than any team left in the playoffs. Look for the American League Championship Series to be over pretty quick. Now, the National League Championship Series is a lot tougher. The Rockies are going into this series on a high after closing the season strong and sweeping the beloved Cubs. Sooner or later they have to come back to earth, and I think that will be this series against the D-backs. |
DO YOU LIKE PARITY IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL?
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| No. It used to be very easy to pick games. It used to be easy to swindle everyone into thinking I knew what I was talking about just because my name and picture was in the paper next to my pick. Now it’s too hard – nearly impossible – to see into the future. So instead of looking awesome, I look more like some cheap Miss Cleo knockoff – but with better dreadlocks and less facial hair. Upsets are getting overplayed anyways. They are losing their appeal, like they’re some annoying Green Day song. |
Year in and year out we see the same teams dominate the rankings of college football. I love the fact that we are seeing of the big-name programs loose to lesser schools. As a whole, the college game benefits when teams other than USC, LSU, Texas and Oklahoma dominate the rankings. As we see more and more smaller schools or not as successful schools win the big games, the playing field is becoming more even. As top recruits spread out over more teams, the amount of good teams increase as does the number of good competitive games. |
RANT
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| Sometimes I spend this however many words lamenting the condition of my Denver Broncos or my fantasy football team. Other times I try to spit out some witticisms, usually unsuccessfully. This time will be the neither. Today I want to talk to everyone about a problem plaguing sports today. The lack of shots of cheerleaders and the abundance of fat-old-man-fan shots on sports-related broadcasts. These girls work too hard – doing crunches, spraying Aqua Net, sculpting, working on pom-pom skills, tightening, applying glitter – to not give them ample face time. Am I wrong, guys? |
Well, I finally did it. I picked up my first fantasy football win. Most fantasy football players accomplished this feat in a week, maybe two. It took me five weeks to accomplish. Hopefully now that my team has won, I can gain some respect back from other students, the league I am in and, most importantly, my professors. If I am lucky, my team, which is cleverly named BrynerNiner, will pick up win No. 2 before week 10 of the NFL season. If this is not the case and I keep losing, then I fear I will continue to be rejec
ted by girls and shunned by friends and colleagues. |
