The Jock

by Tom Weppel
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah is trying his best to push the BCS out! His motive is quite obvious, considering the Utah Utes were undefeated last season in college football, yet weren’t invited to play in any of the major bowl games.
And so Sen. Hatch decided to take the matter into his own hands. He is having the Government do an investigation into whether the BCS has violated any antitrust laws.
Look…the BCS to me is a complete joke anyway! It’s a very lame attempt by the NCAA to try and cover a sport that makes them a ton of money and carries some long-standing tradition. But the bottom line here is that college football deserves and NEEDS a playoff, preferably 16 teams, and let the teams go at it to determine the Champion. Otherwise, the Bowl system is a complete joke! I don’t want to hear about the season being too long or anything like that! I promise you, college players will not complain at all about playing another extra game or two, especially if they are in the hunt for the National Championship!
So, it will be very interesting to see if increased pressure on the BCS will force them to seriously consider altering their formula in determining who is the best in their sport.
Football fans in Nashville, TN, are doing their best to handle this whole deal with Steve McNair. When the crap hit the fan last Saturday announcing McNair’s death, it sent quite a few shock waves to some far outreaching in a lot of places. And while McNair was simply the ideal guy in so many ways, both on the field for his abilities and competitiveness, what we are also finding out is that the guy had a little relationship going on with a 20-year old girl he had met at a Dave & Buster’s.
Considering that McNair was married with four sons and living a great life after his NFL years has made this whole scene even that much worse. It seems he and the girl had a ‘thing’ going for quite some time. He had helped to rent out a condo that she was living in. He also had just gotten her a Cadillac Escalade she was driving. They got into trouble when they were pulled over earlier that week, and she was ticketed for DUI. From all the facts that are emerging as this whole deal continues to unwind, the bottom line here is that Steve and his girlfriend must’ve gotten into a little bit of a squabble. It was nasty enough for her to buy her own gun and end both their lives. Meanwhile, there are plenty of friends and relatives whoa re simply shaking their collective heads, wondering how this all came about. I guess they are finding that what they had in Steve McNair could’ve all been a facade, and that would be a shame.
There is no question now that Roger Federer and Tiger Woods are EASILY becoming pillars in their respective sports, in so many ways. Last week Federer, as many of you know, won another Wimbledon title, and is now the leader in total number of Grand Slam Championships. He truly has been incredible in his play throughout the years. He and Tiger are both right there and will be looked up to forever in the history they are producing in these years of winning tournaments and Championships.
Next week, Tiger will get a chance to go after the British Open once again, and we’ll see if he can add on to his collection of Majors.