There's been a few interesting stories in the sports world these past few days, and I felt the need to rant about them. So here it is:
-You thought the Malice At The Palace was bad? Well, of course,
leave it to insane soccer fans to top it. A contest in Italy apparently got so heated that fans began to throw flares onto the field, and one struck a player, giving him first degree burns. I can't believe one that one they allowed flares into the arena, two that these people didn't look at the consequences and realize that they were putting someone in danger, and three that they actually take the sport so seriously that they would try to harm an opposing player. I would consider myself an avid sports fan, yet I couldn't even imagine myself attempting to harm/injure someone like Brett Favre, a player I vehemently hate. Maybe it was just because the fans downed a few too many Heinekins, but they need to realize that soccer isn't a life or death situation. Hopefully there will be severe repercussions for this whole mess.
-Apparently, Terrell Owens is making yet another headache in the locker room, this time for questioning Donovan McNabb's effort and for threatening to sit out if his contract doesn't get restructured. Tsk tsk. One, you don't question the effort of the LEADER of your ballclub. Two, you just signed the deal only 1 year ago, why the heck are you complaining about your contract? And if you sit out? I wouldn't feel bad for you one bit when the notorious Philly faithful rip you apart. This is a situation Philadelphia really doesn't need, and could seriously hurt their chances at a repeat NFC Title. Don't believe me? Well, I saw first hand how a potent ballclub can be destroyed by the selfishness of a player (or two), because my Timberwolves went from title contender to lottery team thanks to Cassell and Sprewell, both of whom weren't exactly thinking all about the team this year. T.O. is a cancer, and the cancer is spreading....
-Well, one of the more debated questions in the NBA right is the age limit. The thinking is that a 20-year age limit will improve the quality of the game, so we won't have as many inexperienced youngsters on NBA rosters either making millions of mistakes or just sitting on the bench. And I would definitely be in favor of this: for every LeBron, KG, or T-Mac that is ready out of high school, there's about 7-8 that are not. Plus, it would only improve not only the NBA game, but the college game.
But apparently,
Jermaine O'Neal sees it differently. He is another one of those high school products that turned out quite well, so of course he's going to be opposed to the proposed age limit. And I really can see where he's coming from.... except when he brings up the race card. That is not a very smart thing to say. For one, it's not like they're saying that blacks will have to go to college while whites will get a free pass. And about 80% of the league is black, why would they discriminate against a race when it comprises the majority of the league? Although most of the media is focusing on the “race” part, I do think he's got a few good points (like the fact that 18 year olds are allowed to go to war yet you ca't play professional basketball). I still believe an age limit would be for the best, however...
Anyway, that's about it.
