Random Thoughts and ESPN Abuse

Roger Godell the commissioner of National Felons League will make an excellent probation officer for Michael Vick when he gets out. Ironic the day Vick gets sentenced the Falcons were playing on Monday night. Do you think the game was shown in prison? Did Vick provide commentary? If he did, he would be better than Tony Kornheiser. Don't get me wrong I like Tony Kornheiser. I just don't like him in the Monday Night booth. I cringe when he tries to comment on the game. For example, during last night's game he started to trash Ravens quarterback Chris Redman saying he was obviously not the future of the team. On cue Redman threw a touchdown pass. Ron Jaworski turned to him and said "I didn't know you were a scout." Well said Jaws.

We're used to ESPN's self-serving exploits, but they're also masters at subtle subterfuge. I needed to find the NFL postseason schedule. I went to ESPN's site and clicked on the schedule tab on the NFL tab, but I couldn't find any details about the postseason. At first I thought I was overlooking it, but after scouring the site I still couldn't find it. Then I went to CBS Sportsline and , found it immediately. Then I figured out why ESPN was so lackidasical in their efforts. None of the postseason games are on ESPN. You can certainly find a lot of links to the NFL's Monday night schedule, but all you'll find on the postseason is a tiny listing for last year's Super Bowl. I guess ESPN thinks that once the regular season is over they have no product to promote so why bother acknowledging the playoffs or for that matter the Super Bowl. I'm sure you would be able to find a ton of information if the Super Bowl was on a Monday night, but that's ESPN for you.

The college basketball schedule is a little light this week as students are in finals. Does anyone really believe giving these athletes one week to study will really make a difference? I doubt they get a week off from practice too. It's a nice gesture, but I'm sure their practice schedule is just as grueling and provides little time to prepare for that Film Criticism final.

ESPN is trying to give fans something college football will not - a playoff. They are running their own 10-team playoff complete with a play-in game. It's not very exciting listening to Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso talk about a fictional West Virginia - Kansas matchup, but that doesn't stop them. We're used to ESPN analysts talking just for the sake of talking and the flawed BCS system is a perfect opportunity to talk ad nauseam. The BCS is flawed but sports journalists and broadcasters are the ones who benefit from the imperfect system. They get to talk all season about rankings and polls. With the 31-days between the last game and the BCS Championship game we are bombarded with opionons, insights and so many game game breakdowns you'll be dizzy listening to all of them. It's a shame the kids at schools like USC, Virginia Tech, Georgia and other don't get a chance to let their play do the talking in a real playoff. That would be much more compelling.

Look-a-likes

Here are a couple of look-a-likes.
Jason Segel - "How I Met Your Mother" and "Knocked Up"


and

Ben Roethlisberger - Quarterback, Pittsburgh Steelers