sports

London 2012 Olympics – Opening Ceremony & More!

The world watched last night as the city of London, England, welcomed everybody with an elaborate opening ceremony for the official start of the 2012 Olympic games.

Technically, the women’s soccer teams began playing two days prior to the opening ceremony.  As we know, with the massive tournament bracket and the high number of teams, it takes like forever for sports like soccer to be played at the Olympics.  But that’s a different issue.

Right now the spirit of the Olympics rests in London, half a world away from the site of 2008′s summer games in Beijing, China.  In 2016, the summer games jump south of the hemisphere to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro, South America’s first time hosting the event.

There was much fanfare and a high production level for London’s opening ceremony.  It had its good moments (like the Industrial Revolution), the bad moments (the lame music segment from the 1970s to today), and its weird moment with that video clip featuring James Bond (played by current James Bond actor, Daniel Craig) and Queen Elizabeth II.

The Industrial Revolution segment of the opening ceremony was just plain cool.  From the people representing the workers to those representing the company owners and overseers to the raising of the smokestacks, that was one really cool segment of the show.  Since it’s so hard to find a taped copy of the opening ceremony, here’s a great video clip showing the rehearsal of the Industrial Revolution, complete with the music loud and clear:

London 2012 Olympics – opening ceremony – Industrial Revolution (rehearsal)

As far as the segment of the opening ceremony celebrating England’s fame in music, that part started out fine with the famous “British Invasion” music from the 1960s, but it became really lame when it hit the 1970s, 80s and beyond.  Now if Iron Maiden was playing instead of that rap music then things would have been a little bit better.  Actually, it would have been a LOT better.  Eddie would have been more lively on camera than those later shots of what appeared to be a bored Queen Elizabeth II. Read more…

Giving the ‘Death Penalty’ to Penn State’s Football Program

The shocking sexual abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has rocked not only the world of college football, but also the nation as a whole.

Sandusky has been found guilty of 45 counts of child molestation, many of them taking place on or near Penn State University.    He met all of his young male victims through The Second Mile, a program he founded to help troubled youths.  Sandusky is currently in prison awaiting his sentencing.  It’s safe to say that Jerry Sandusky will live the rest of his pitiful excuse for a life in a state prison, never again setting foot in the outside world as a free man.

As far as Sandusky, it’s case closed.  He’s been convicted and it’s up to the state of Pennsylvania to handle his sentencing and punishment.

Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno served over Sandusky for thirty-one seasons from 1969 to 1999.  Paterno had known about Sandusky’s sexual attacks against young boys.  Paterno, more interested in protecting his image along with the images of the university and its football program, chose to look the other way.  Joe Paterno informed his superiors of Sandusky’s actions, but he failed to pursue any legal action against Sandusky or seek help for his victims.  Thanks to today’s society of worshipping athletes and athletic programs, those cries for help fell upon deaf ears.

Joe Paterno was fired as Penn State University head football coach on November 9, 2011.  Many students and football fans in Happy Valley, PA rioted when the news was announced.  Later, Penn State players were crying that they missed the presence of their idolized head coach. Read more…

Red Bull Events From Soapbox Racing to Crashed Ice

Recently I’ve been seeing TV commercials advertising an upcoming Red Bull Soapbox Race here in Atlanta, GA.

I’ve known about Red Bull Air Racing for quite some time, although it is rather disappointing that my TV channels no longer air the air races.  But Red Bull Soapbox Races with a wide (and wacky) variety of cars and competitors?  Now that has entertainment written all over it.

Check out some of the action from previous Red Bull Soapbox Races!

Red Bull Soapbox Race – Los Angeles (2011)

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Red Bull Soapbox Race – Guadalajara (2012)

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Red Bull Soapbox Race – Belgium (2012)

We know that Red Bull sponsors some pretty wild events.  Take a look at a few other events sponsored by the energy drink. Read more…

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – 2012 edition

The month of March has arrived, and to way too many people that means only one thing:  college basketball.

Specifically, March Madness and the quest for the championship.

People will spend days analyzing and making predictions, only to be shocked when the upsets occur.  Personally, I could care less.  While I don’t mind watching the occasional game on TV, basketball (any level), is just not my thing.  If people want to spend time on the whole “bracketology” crap and everything associated with it, then that’s their problem.

So what happens when it’s time to fill out a bracket just for the fun of it, and you really don’t know anything about the teams this year?  That’s where the coin comes into play.

Yes, folks, the infamous coin has returned.  I had to switch coins this year as my normal one grew legs and walked away.  Let’s hope that this alternate coin has a little bit better luck than the previous two coin predictions.

For the 2012 season, the coin has predicted Colorado, Memphis, Montana and Purdue as the Final Four teams.  The University of Colorado is predicted to be the overall winner. Read more…

Oklahoma State University Women’s Basketball Plane Crash

As most of you probably know by know, the college sports world was rocked once again by the announcing of the deaths of Oklahoma State University women’s basketball head coach, Kurt Budke, and assistant coach, Miranda Serna, from a plane crash that occurred around 4 pm Thursday afternoon.

And as it’s been posted by the news media and sports history buffs, this is the second time in ten years that Oklahoma State has lost part of its basketball program in a plane crash.  In January of 2001, ten people affiliated with players and coaches of the OK State men’s basketball team died after their plane crashed in Colorado following a basketball game.

Budke and Serna were en-route to Little Rock, Arkansas, on a recruiting trip when their single-engine plane went down and crashed in mountainous, heavily-wooded terrain.  It’s also been reported that the pilot of the aircraft was eighty-two years old.

Personally, I have no idea who Budke and Serna were.  I don’t follow men’s or women’s basketball programs, college or professional.  However, from what I’ve seen so far, it sounds like both people were well-liked and respected in their field, and this is a tough loss and serious blow to not only Oklahoma State faculty and students, but fans of the sport in general.

For the crash, I haven’t seen any details yet about the make or model of the aircraft, or any other conditions of the flight.  It was reported that the aircraft was built back in 1964.  For anybody who’s flown general aviation, you know as well as I do that this is a moot point.  Most Cessna trainers were built in the early 1970s, and many aircraft from the 1960s are still very much flyable as long as the aircraft’s owner(s) keep up with the required maintenance.

It was also reported that the pilot himself was eighty-two years old.  The pilot’s age may have very well been a factor.  Hunters in the area reported that they heard the aircraft’s engine sputter before it took a nosedive and crashed into the hilly terrain.  So far I haven’t heard any reports of pieces of the airplane falling away from the aircraft.  Was the engine sputtering and presumed engine failure caused by a mechanical issue, or was it related to pilot error? Read more…

The Mafia of Penn State Football

This past week has been nothing but sickening when following the most disturbing of news out of the Penn State football program.

Yes, Gerald (aka Jerry) Sandusky is complete scum and deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his natural life.  One could only hope that he learns new definitions of pain and suffering at the hands of his fellow inmates in the general population of a federal prison.

Yes, former head football coach Joe Paterno deserved to be fired immediately and not allowed to resign at the end of the current year.  It’s time somebody finally put his massive ego and arrogance in its place.

Penn State fans rioting and flipping over an ABC news van after firing of Joe Paterno

And yes, all of those fans rioting at Penn State, and the football players nearly crying because JoePa wasn’t on the bus or coaching their team are complete fools.  To side with Joe Paterno, one of many people who could have stopped Sandusky from raping teenage boys YEARS ago, is to side with child rapists and all power to the almighty athletes.

Go ahead and read the Grand Jury report on Jerry Sandusky. Read more…

College Football 2011 — Let The Games Begin!

This is it!

It’s finally arrived!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK!  HOORAY!

After waiting all winter, making it through the spring, and counting down the days through the brutally hot summer, the wait is finally finished.

College football games already started on Thursday.  My school dominated its opponent on the road.  There were two more games tonight.  Baylor just defeated TCU after the horned frogs made a Herculean comeback and briefly held the lead in the fourth quarter.  And tomorrow, the first Saturday of the college football season, is FULL of college football action from noon ’til midnight.

Yes, my friends, college football is BACK! 

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

Miss. State is my alma mater.  I’ve been a diehard bulldog fan since being accepted by the university back in the spring of 1998.  Bully is a cool bulldog and the town of Starkville will always hold a special meaning to me.

Being a bulldog fan now is more exciting than ever.  Head coach Dan Mullen is an offensive MASTERMIND, a true genius in the sport.  With his leadership and tactics the football team has improved by leaps and bounds.  “National Championship” has never been in the vocabulary for my school’s football team (best of luck to anybody who thinks they can conquer the SEC West), but to have a consistently good football team capable of beating that team up north and winning in bowl games is acceptable enough by many of us bulldog fans. Read more…

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – 2011 edition

It’s that time of the year again, sports fans!

MARCH MADNESS!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Okay, maybe that’s taking it a bit too far.  I know that there’s a huge craze for college basketball, but I’m not one of those fans.  So far this year I’ve seen all of one game and half of another.  That’s it.  But I still like March Madness because every game counts and anything can happen.

This year I filled out two brackets.  The first bracket is a continuation of picking every game by the flip of a coin.  The coin is a 1987 $1 gaming token from the Circus Circus Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.  For those of you keeping track, that is the same exact coin that was used in last year’s coin-flipping tournament bracket.  Yeah, exciting stuff.

The coin is predicting a tournament victory for Purdue University.  Highlights include Ohio State and Duke losing in the first round, and UTSA and Richmond both advancing to the Elite Eight.  Wouldn’t that be entertaining? Read more…

Super Bowl XLV – Random Thoughts

Last night was one of the best Super Bowl games that I’ve seen for quite some time.

From the Packers’ giant lead in the first half, to the Steelers’ heroic comeback in the second half, to the nail-biting final drive of the game, that was one epic battle.  The fact that my favored team won the game made the night a little bit better.

But what is a Super Bowl these days without a bit of controversy and some disappointment?

From Christina Aguilera screeching and ruining the national anthem (aside from forgetting some lyrics despite there supposedly being a teleprompter) to the absolute disgrace of a halftime show starring the Black Eyed Peas, the live entertainment failed miserably.  Fergie, you’re lucky that Slash didn’t crack his guitar upside your head for ruining “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”

And of course, at least two commercials had questionable content.

Let’s take a look at them, shall we?

Doritos – Best Part commercial Read more…

ECHL – South Carolina vs Gwinnett Gladiators

Earlier this week my girlfriend and I attended the South Carolina Stingrays versus Gwinnett Gladiators ECHL game at the Arena at Gwinnett Center, and IT WAS AWESOME!!!

This was my first time visiting the Gwinnett Center and my first live hockey experience since I attended an Atlanta Thrashers game back in 2003.  My girlfriend is an avid ice hockey fan and proud supporter of the Gladiators, and she wanted to treat me to my first ECHL game.

The Arena at Gwinnett Center is a fairly new facility, having opened back in early 2003.  The arena is clean, well maintained, easy to access, and to those of us first timers, it still has that “new arena” feeling to it.  I’m looking forward to future visits for more Gladiators action and perhaps some Georgia Force arena football and other events too.

Gladiators' mascot Maximus tossing a souvenir to the crowd.

As far as the Gladiators, I like the team.  They don’t get all of the press and national attention like the Atlanta Thrashers, but it’s still a real ice hockey team.  They skate fast, have good puck handling skills, and the fights are great.  It’s just a little bit disappointing that Atlanta isn’t much of a hockey city, whether it’s for NHL or ECHL teams. Read more…