Whats the deal with Sports these days?

2 weeks ago, a kid from a school smaller then UWSP scored 138 points in one basketball game, one single game. This caused the media to go in a frenzy and every news channel across the country was covering it. Which they rightfully should, it is an incredible feat that your average person who doesn't watch sports should know. The article "Are You Not Entertained?" by Chuck Klosterman addresses the simple idea of what Americans should care about when watching pro sports. Pro sports are suppose to be about entertaining the American public, that's what they have always been about. Super natural athletes competing at a high level that no person sitting on the couch watching could even imagine doing. But after the controversy of Greg Popovich and the Spurs leaving 4 of their stars home and the league fining them 250k for taking away from the fans the entertainment and competitiveness of the game, it seems sports are going political. The Spurs still played a competitive game and gave the fans hopefully what they wanted, so why is the league's panties in such a bunch about it? Both sides of the argument have valid points and are right in their own way, but let the coach do what he pleases. It's a long season and is a very taxing one along with that. So resting your players should be a normal thing, regardless of the supposed competitive aspect and why people watch pro sports in the first place. I think sports are so silly with all their guidelines and how they are perceived by every media post in the world, some choices will affect how we seem them. But that doesn't fade our love for the sport in the first place, pro sports are becoming to ridiculous and should get back to the basics that made them great.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8709510/chuck-klosterman-gregg-popovich-entertainment-sports

The Future of College Football

Every Saturday around the United States people turn on their TVs and find a hard way not to see some sort of college football related sports programming. College Football is huge in the existence of American sports and what people dedicate their TV viewing to. With stadiums around the country crammed to the max with screaming fans and dedicated family's, college football rules as one of the premier sports in America today. But Michael Weinrebs article "The End of College Football As We Know It?" talks about the ending of a given era in the college football realm. With the potential National Championship drawing out to be Alabama and Notre Dame, it seems that this will be the last time we will have a strictly drawn championship game that isn't decided on anything more than who you beat and who you might have struck a loss to. Next year is being seen as the first time in sports history that a 4 team playoff system will be enforced and a National Championship won't just simply be 2 teams that the fans love and is politically the most justifiable team. But what will really change? It doesn't matter how many teams you put into a playoff bound spot, it will still be teams that politically are the teams deserving to be playing in those games. It won't matter who won the most decisive games or who has the best record, all it will come down to is TV ratings and what SEC teams should be given the right to play for their 50th straight national title. The SEC is the best conference yes, but a loss on your schedule is a loss no matter what way you cut it. And if an unbeaten team is chosen over a team that has a unblemished record, then in my mind that is a load of bs. So yes, college football is headed in a new direction. But how big of a difference are we really going to see? I won't hold my breath for the same garbage they pull every year.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8680817/notre-dame-alabama-sec-history-college-football-national-championship-game

The NBA and The Blogosphere

For close to half a century, in order to watch a professional sports game you either had to turn on your TV or the next day pick up a local newspaper and maybe get some coverage of your local sports team. But now a days all you have to do is hop onto your favorite search engine and up will pop a million different things about every athletes where a bouts and every fact about every pro sports team to ever walk the earth. In Carles article "Has the NBA Gone Mainstream?" he talks about the transformation of the NBA from something that only the mega fans could really enjoy to the realm of any bloke on the street being able to learn about any superstar in the league by simply creating a twitter or Facebook. I will admit, I use twitter religiously to keep me updated on what is going on in the league and in any sports league for that matter. But doesn't that take the real passion out of it? It takes away from the true fan being able to boast his knowledge about his team because anyone can do it now a days. With every social media site on earth pumping out constant stories and articles pertaining to even the slight mishap a player might have, it eliminates someone who truly cares about the sport and grew up always being a fan. Granted, there are still the people who simply don't use the internet because they don't wanna give into the 21st century media swing that most people have taken witness to. But I can agree with this, because it shouldn't ruin the passion that people have for a sport they truly care about. People who like to blog about the NBA and what goes on should still be able to take their time and write about what they care about and not have to worry about them being overshadowed by the big time sites that any idiot on the street can read and get his knowledge from. With the NBA diving head first into the social media giant, people don't need to forget about what they still stand for and shouldn't knock on a true fan who still watches the game. I might be a social media whore but I don't dare knock on someone who still finds the love of the game the old fashioned way. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8602142/the-nba-transformation-internet-friendly-juggernaut

Immortality and a Quest

Immortality, a word typically only used by one describing a greek god or Hercules if you will. But in professional sports immortality is something very few people will ever get a chance to witness and even fewer people will ever be able to walk around with that title. In Bill Simmons article "King James next stop Immortality" he goes into talking about the persona that Lebron James has started taking on. Lebron James is the best basketball player in the world right now, and is starting to show everyone that he isn't bluffing. With his first championship coming to him last year he has started his quest. I love Lebron and love what he brings to the sportsworld, a Tiger Woods like character that sells tickets and that chance to glimpse something that rarely walks among us. But we can't forget that guy named Michael, who for 20 years took the basketball world and placed it in the palm of his hand and simply said that its his kingdom and he will rule with an iron fist. Now with Lebron entering that picture, people can only sit back and watch. I watched his playoff run last year and could only sit back and wonder "is this real life?" he takes no prisoners and will do anything to keep his team from losing. To me I see Lebron as a god, someone who takes a sport and makes it into a show for everyone to witness. I love him and use him as a model in my sports life, taking his mentality and trying to apply it to my competitions. The article was especially great because of the way Simmons addressed Lebron as a fan even though he watched as Lebron knocked his team, The Celtics, out of the playoffs with heroics that are rarely seen anywhere. The article is biased towards the greatness of Lebron and I think it should be. Lebron is King and people know it, but he has just a strong of a hatred base as anyone and that is simply fuel for this fire. This article is riveting and I loved every second of reading it.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8555451/lebron-quest-immortality

Not your usual Michael Bay type film.

I like to think of myself as someone who is very up to date with how a movie works and someone who can appreciate a movie for something more then what Michael Bay wants us to see. A good example is There Will Be Blood which I recently saw for the first time, a movie that can be appreciated for its acting and more aesthetic value, outside of car chases and explosions. The movie addresses the oil up rise that America experienced in the early 20th century, the film focuses on the California sector of it though. The main character Daniel discovers oil in the desert and soon is headed for fortune and a head of his given field. Daniels ride to fame soon hits many speed bumps and turns him into an evil man out for blood and lusting for success. The movie closes with Daniel at his breaking point with nothing in his life but his money, which is a hollow way to live and he finally realizes it.

I enjoyed the movie tremendously and if you look past the smoke and mirrors of a typical movie and see the roots this movie is among the best. A scene that really struck me and had you with that thought in the back of your head like "is this real?" is the very end of the movie. Daniel is approached by Eli who throughout the movie has been in Daniels shadow and is a minister that sees himself as a prophet to God himself. Eli visits him and has an investment opportunity for Daniel to think about, Daniel has no problem with it except for one thing. Daniel requests that Eli admits to Daniel he isn't a prophet and God is a lie. Eli won't and then finally breaks down and does it, going back on everything he believes in. Eli and Daniel get physical and Daniels rage ends up killing Eli, the scene is over the top emotional with real fright. While watching it, you hear the music and the sheer rage in Daniels voice and the fear instilled in Eli. It was a weird way to end the movie but I think it really shows the pressure people are under while running a business and what it can do to your morals and beliefs. I recommend this movie to anyone into a western style movie with incredible acting and a sinister plot that shows the transformation of a family man into a psychotic lusting maniac.  

A Favorite Movie For the Right Reasons

I like to think that I really don't have a favorite movie, even though its a near requirement to be a real man. I would say I rotate between 3 movies as my favorite, each one bringing a little bit something different to the table. Friday Night Lights, Good Will Hunting, and The Prestige top this list that I like to think as exclusive. But I want to focus on Friday Night Lights because it fits similar events to my life. But we aren't focusing on my life here, I want to talk more about the cinematic aspects of it interlaced with some parts of the story.

The movie is about Texas football, focusing on the team dubbed the Mojo or the "Permian Panthers." The Panthers are champions and the town expects greatness out of them. The movie follows their season, and the hardships they face the entire time. The plot and acting is superb and it really makes you feel for these kids and what they are going through. The movie is heart wrenching and will leave you near tears, at least that's the impact it had on me. The movie also peaks at typical high school events, such as partying and the road to college. Me dealing with that I could really relate and felt what the kids were going through. In high school swimming I was a good swimmer and would make the state meet. My senior year I was expected to do well and medal but came short and felt like my whole life was over. In the end of movie the kids experience the same thing and it really struck me, and I could physically and emotional connect with the movie. This was really special to me and made me instantly love the movie.

"Winning actually isn't the only thing"

 David Maraniss writes the article describing the Packers brutal loss to the Seahawks that ended in one of the most controversial calls that we as fans might have ever seen. He goes on to discuss how sour he was after the fact of the game and that it drove him to not even sleeping that night. After realizing that it was only a game he goes on to talk about whether or not winning is the only thing. If the Packers would have won the reaction would be different and Seattle would be in an outrage. The reaction of Seattle made it seem that the play was okay and the call wasn't a big deal. Vince Lombardi said that "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" but Vince always did what was best for his team even if it affected a win or a loss. Seattle got the win and that's that, but winning isn't always everything.

After reading the article, I completely agree with the point that David makes. Yes, winning is very important in the eyes of many. Even me, but people can't always get caught up in it to the point it effects their outside perspective. I was very upset when the Packers lost the way they did, and I thought they were cheated out of what was rightfully their win. But the next day after deciding that it was just a game and that it is just a football game and crying over a loss is just silly. David addresses the importance of seeing past winning and people need to get past the "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" mentality that they are bestowed in.