NFL HOLDOUTS

I just can't understand the mindset of NFL rookies who hold out during training camp and the pre-season. Cedric Benson of the Chicago Bears is a prime example this season of one who doesn't get it. Did he notice that Philip Rivers is on the bench again this year behind Drew Brees. Memo to guys who think a few extra bucks (and yes that's what it amounts to when we're tossing around the millions these guys make) is worth risking valuable time in training camp learning the system, forging relationships that will help your success, and actually earning a starting spot that could impact your career: It's not worth it. Here's a couple of quotes by Rivers on ESPN.com today. Rivers: "As bad as I want to be a Charger, I want to play. I don't want to sacrifice and be a backup to be a Charger. That's not something I want to do or I'm going to do."
Later on in the article when asked if he regrets holding out (which directly led to him not starting) he said,
"I don't regret the way we [Rivers and agent Jimmy Sexton] handled it. I never felt any guilt. If we go back and do it again tomorrow, we'd do it the same way. We'd take the same approach."
-Sorry buddy, you can't have it both ways. As my mother says, "you made your bed, now lie in it".

Sports

TALKING FOOTBALL

The first thing I want to do is talk football. A weekend of college and pro football always gets my juices flowing. Some thoughts on this past weekend's action:

PLAYING NOT TO LOSE
- I hate it when coaches get conservative at the end of games with a flimsy lead. When you basically say "we give up" on offense and rely on your defense to hold the lead it undermines the team aspect of the game and backfires many times. Both the offense and defense need to do their part. This point was illustrated in a Utah game this past week. The University of Utah played Air Force and had a big lead in the 4th quarter. They went conservative, even using back up running backs, and wound up only winning the ball game by only 3 points. Unbelievable.

LUCK OF THE HORNFROGS
-I think TCU is lucky to have come away with a win Saturday against BYU. BYU's offense was clicking with over 500 yards in the air and had their defense held up against TCU's backup QB (who should be starting after his performance) in the last few minutes of that game, we would be talking about the resurrection of the BYU offense after a couple of years of stagnation. TCU should be 1-3 right now. Utah really blew their chance with them (although an illegal pick at the goal line led to the winning touchdown for TCU) and TCU really lucked out that a better camera angle wasn't available for what appeared to be a fumble a the goal line against BYU in the closing moments of that game. It was ruled a touchdown and BYU ended up botching an extra point in OT to lose the game. You could hear half the state of Utah groaning and moaning after that game(the other half were Utah Ute fans cheering). Just a gut wrenching loss for BYU. Which leads me to another point....

ROOT FOR YOUR CONFERENCE TEAMS
-I know it's asking rationality from a totally irrational aspect of being a fan, but in a confernce like the Mountain West (which is constantly fighting for respect), team fans should be rooting for every other fellow conference team to beat non-confernce opponents. It makes no sense to me for Utah Ute fans to be rooting against BYU when they play a Notre Dame or Boston College, or vice versa. They only way a conference has any respect (and gets votes in the polls as well as big bowl invites) is for there to be several strong teams in the conference. Not only that, it is better if those strong teams are the ones with past reputations like BYU. Do you really think the SEC would be considered strong if Florida and Tennesee were only good every few years. In conferences with respect the strong teams stay strong consistently with very few down years. Mountain West fans should be rooting for BYU, Utah, Air Force, TCU, & Colorado State to do well every year except when they play their own team.
I know I commit blasphemy in the minds of many when I can watch BYU and Utah in the same weekend and root for both teams. I'm strangely rational when it comes to this . Maybe this is because I'm a Utah State Aggie alum, and they haven't been good since the Merlin Olsen days.

My Little Sports Blog

This blog has been set up so that I can post my thoughts on things happening in the sports world. I have no outlet to discuss my feelings and thoughts in this area. Nobody at work likes sports, so water cooler conversation is out. My wife would rather gag down a couple glassfulls of egg yokes than talk sports with me. I find myself talking to the radio during sports talk shows (you get some really wierd stares at the intersections) and frantically trying to initate converstation with a guy at church that I know is vaguely interested in watching some games (it gets a little pathetic how I can take a normal church related conversation and turn it into a discussion on bad coaching strategies in the last two minutes of a game).
I've realized that I need to vent, rant, moan, theorize, analyze, & generally let loose with what I'm thinking about the sporting world even if I'm the only one who ever reads these thoughts.