I had to go to Waco this weekend to see my daughters volleyball team play in a 4 way tournament at Baylor. The football crowd I encountered was unlike any I have ever been a part of.
I had tickets on the front row of Baylor-TCU. The last game I went to was a late start at Reliant about 7 years ago when the Texans were playing the Jets on a 3 o'clock kickoff. During the 3 o'clock kickoff, the fans still start the early morning tail-gating and the result is with the later kickoff, they are a ton more inebriated. Honestly, taking kids to a game where you have to walk around vomit and answer question about why the guy leaning on the the wall is sick is a total drag. Plus, the fighting is really getting out of hand. I always feel it's a successful year if I don't get sucked into a Texan game. The best seat is in your living room.
At Baylor they do not serve any alcoholic beverages at the athletic contests. Baylor is a Baptist school. Their opponent TCU is also a Christian based University (this is not an endorsement for any religion).
What was readily apparent was the lack of "that guy". You know who that is...the guy who is blasted out of his mind who is lacing a profanity in every other word. That guy is the man who makes it really crazy to go to a game with children or even by yourself because he is belligerent and a fool. That guy is the dude who says your team sucks. That guy was absent at the Baylor game. And I sort of liked it a whole bunch.
I don't begrudge anyone who can sensibly partake an alcoholic beverage at an athletic contest. Baseball would probably draw 50% if you couldn't have a beer at the ole ballgame. And, I really don't know what the answer should be. I only know that this weekend there were passionate fans rooting their hearts out for their respective teams, and these same fans gave respect when the other team made a great play.
I was able to appreciate this atmosphere because I haven't had a drink for quite a few years. I have went to games in the past where I did drink, but kept the foolish behavior down. It was a nice scene for a game played in a really different atmosphere.
As for the game, it was a track meet, a real fan's delight. Robert Griffin was a young Randall Cunningham. Some say Mike Vick because of his athleticism. I say Randall Cunningham because he really throws a fantastic ball. As a receiver, it is the type of ball you would like to catch. He has a great arm and tremendous speed. He is a world class hurdler in track. The game was off the chart. Follow Robert Griffin. He appears to be the real deal.
**********************************************************************************
I was lucky enough to tour the Baylor Basketball training room and practice facility. The basketball teams training room is 6700 square feet. It has everything you can think of inside. The facility at Baylor would be the envy of most pro basketball teams. The stereo system costs $80,000. I won't bore you with all the details, but the dumbells have a grip about twice as big as a regular one at the local gym. This is because basketball players have bigger hands and this will give them a better forearm and wrist workout. Nothing, and I mean nothing is left to detail. The weight racks are 9 feet high to account for tall people.
*********************************************************************************
There are 2 great articles I will give you links to about the Miami scandal. There was one thing I mentioned that really struck me as wrong about Shapiro. He is a world class liar and the journalist, Mr Robinson, seemed to take his word for granted.
Consider that you have boats, prostitutes and booze. So what is the missing ingredient in all this? Drugs, and of course, there was no mention of this. Why was there no mention? Because Shapiro does not want to open that Pandora's Box and get the drug people handing him more prison time. Also, there was no mention of Mr. Shapiro's letter to a judge asking him to free his father in the late 90's on a big embezzlement charge. Why was this left out. Again, there were some NCAA violations, just not as big as they were sensationalised in Yahoo. com. In some ways Robinson was sucked in much like the people Shapiro embezzled the 900 million from.
To me, Frank Haith, the basketball coach was painted very unfairly with a broad brush. I personally know George Fernandez the assistant coach at Miami. He has taken in former players after graduation to help them while they are getting their feet wet in the world of employment. This is after they graduated, so there is no underlying motivation. He is a very solid guy and to me it's total BS that he goes through any of this because of any guilt by association. I have met George's dad who used to coach with one of my old Miami coaches, Dick Hickox. Again, I cannot state what a solid guy George is and what a flimsy heresay bunch of garbage Shapiro has on him. Any evidence against him and Mr. Haith are flimsy and I would bet false. I will say it here: Haith and Fernandez did not jeopardize their jobs for 10 thousand dollars.
Check out Jason Whitlock's article by clicking below:
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/Jason-Whitlock-Yahoo-Nevin-Shapiro-Miami-Hurricanes-scandal-082811
Also, Matt Taibbi has a very good article on this at:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/sportswriters-rally-to-the-cause-of-unpaid-labor-20110826
No comments:
Post a Comment