By Mike Wild, Sports Editor

It’s been about two months since the Super Bowl ended. It’s unclear if the City of New Orleans has officially ended its celebration yet either. I suppose that our illustrious colleagues who had a chance to work in New Orleans’ Public Defender’s Office over Spring Break would have a better perspective on the topic. But, I digress.

Outside of free agent acquisitions, the biggest NFL news from this offseason are new overtime rules and a proposal to make late season games more interesting. Let’s start with the overtime rule. In response to Brett Favre sinking his team’s Super Bowl dreams by throwing a critical interception in the NFC Championship game that subsequently allowed the Saints to win by a field goal in overtime, the NFL competition committee changed the rules for overtime in playoff games.

Instead of pure sudden death in, if the team who scores first in overtime scores a touchdown, the game is over. If the team that scores first in overtime scores a field goal, then the other team gets possession. If the other team scores a touchdown, the game is over. If the other team scores a field goal, then the game reverts back to pure sudden death. If that sounds overly complicated, it is.

Essentially, the NFL wants overtime games to be decided by touchdowns. Touchdowns add dramatic flare to overtime games, and drama sells more officially licensed NFL television footage and merchandise. This isn’t about actual competition, it’s about dragging overtime out to increase the chances of an unlikely or improbable ending to an overtime game so the NFL gets more revenue. Unfortunately, the rule is too concerned with promoting a dramatic finish and less concerned with common sense.

I still contend that if the NFL wanted to maximize its chances for both revenue and dramatic finishes while still maintaining a simple rule, there is only one choice: The Texas tie breaker, better known as the college overtime rule. Each team is guaranteed at least one possession and you play until somebody wins the game. It’s simple, and every NFL player who played in college knows the rules. The NFL game got much more exciting to watch when it borrowed the two point conversion from college football, so I see no reason why borrowing the college overtime rule wouldn’t also make the NFL more exciting.

In other competition committee news, there is a lot of talk this offseason about discouraging the teams who are guaranteed playoff spots from resting their star players in late season games. Again, this is not about player health and safety (another perennial hot topic as of late), but is instead solely intended to generate revenue. The players on the higher caliber teams have worked hard all season to guarantee their team a spot in the playoffs. Those same players are all playing with some kind of injury. There is no way that any human being can take the punishment of an NFL training camp, preseason and regular season without some kind of injury. Yet, the competition committee wants to interfere with the coaches’ prerogatives to rest their players by proposing to make all games in week 16 and 17 divisional matchups.

I think this is completely bogus. When one of the NFL’s star players gets carted off the field on a backboard or on the meat wagon in an otherwise meaningless week 17 divisional matchup, to possibly never walk again, the competition committee will realize that it shouldn’t meddle with the coaches’ decisions to rest their star players for the post season. Frankly, if your team guarantees itself a spot in the playoffs, you earn the prerogative to rest your star players and give them time to stay healthy. This proposal jeopardizes player safety and runs completely afoul of other player health and safety programs that the league is investigating, namely its new efforts to reduce new concussions and study the long term effects of existing ones.

Wow, I used a lot of space to rant and rave about the rule changes. Now I have almost no space left to talk about free agency. So I’ll just hit the highlights.

The Bears opened free agency by signing Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor and Brandon Manumaleuna, instantly adding depth on both sides of the ball. They also showed their hand that their coaching staff and front office are on the coaching hot seat unless the Bears return to the winning ways of recent seasons past. Meanwhile, the Lions made a splash too. They signed Kyle Vanden Bosch and Nate Burleson. The Lions instantly added depth to their team, but still leave big questions about line depth on both sides of the ball.

Mike is a 3L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu.

MMA Monthly Matchups: April

By Dan D. Hallberg

Well, it’s a first for MMA Monthly Matchups: this month, they’re all title fights! That’s right, everyone is coming full force and gold is on the line. Who keeps it and who loses it? Well here we go!

5. Champion Anderson Silva (25-4) v. Damian Maia (12-1), UFC 112, 4/10/10

It’s been nearly a year since pound-for-pound kind Anderson Silva defended his title. Unfortunately for us fans, original and more worthy contender Vitor Belfort had to step out due to injury. That leaves Damian Maia as the winner of the “who gets a title shot” lottery. That doesn’t mean that Maia isn’t a threat, but right now the biggest weakness in his game is his striking and striking defense. Now he’s up against the best striker on the planet. Hard to see this ending in any other way then a decision or TKO for the champ.

4. Champion B.J. Penn (15-5-1) v. Frankie Edgar (11-1), UFC 112, 4/10/10

And the pound-for-pound list makes a second appearance as B.J. Penn takes on up and comer Frankie Edgar. I like Edgar, he’s an impressive kid with good boxing, wrestling, and okay jiu jitsu skills. He’s on the rise and could be Champion some day. Unfortunately April 10th isn’t that day. Edgar on paper is very similar to Kenny Florian, but he does focus more on his boxing. That could help Edgar provided he doesn’t shoot for takedowns. In the end though, it’s B.J. Penn, and he doesn’t lose to people his size. Penn by submission in the championship rounds.

3. Champion Jose Aldo (16-1) v. Urijah Faber (23-3), WEC 48, 4/24/10

WEC is live on pay per view for the first time, and they chose a fantastic card to start with. Time for the biggest star in the WEC to try and reclaim his titled against the fierce Jose Aldo. Faber’s style is weird to say the least and hard to explain. But it doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is that Jose Aldo is the baddest man in the WEC. He is 145 pounds of butt-kicking wonder. If he doesn’t destroy Urijah Faber I will be shocked. Knockout, early.

2. Champion Jake Shields (24-4) v. Dan Henderson (25-7), Strikeforce: Nashville, 4/17/10

Jake Shields is a good champion and a great young fighter. A prospect that will eventually get to the UFC and make a real challenge for the belt. The problem is that he’s a welterweight pretending to be a middleweight because Strikeforce’s competition is lowsy. That was until they landed number two middleweight Dan Henderson. Like Shields, Henderson has crossed into different weight classes, except he went up from middleweight rather then down. He even held his own against Big Nogueria. Again, it would be a huge shock if Shields wins this and the only way he could would be if he grinded out a decision, which he won’t do because Henderson is such a great wrestler. This fight will probably be on the feet because of the cancelled wrestling, and Henderson’s huge right will be the deciding factor.

1. Champion Benson Henderson (11-1) v. Donald Cerrone (14-2), WEC 48, 4/24/10

It’s the rematch of last years Fight of the Year, and this time it’s for the real title. This fight could very well go just like the last one, but I don’t think it will. Cerrone has learned that his slow starts have been costing him his decisions, so look for him to come out swinging. This could play into Henderson’s favor. He’s got the reach and moves to play a patient game which will frustrate Cerrone. Henderson has new confidence and has been working hard and even helped B.J. Penn train for Diego Sanchez. Cerrone put on an impressive show in his last fight, but I have to keep with Henderson. The man with the smallest waist in MMA retains his title in a five round thriller.

Dan is a 1L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu.

MMA Monthly Matchups: March Edition

By Dan D. Hallberg

February was a somewhat uneventful, but still entertaining month of fights, particularly if you enjoy geriatrics getting crushed by other geriatrics. But March has tons of interesting battles, so lets take a look.

5. Miguel Torres (37-2) vs. Joseph Benavidez, WEC 47, 3/4/2010

Miguel Torres is back, and it’s a good thing. It wasn’t too long ago that Torres was in the discussion for top pound for pound fighter in the world. Unfortunately that all faded away after his stunning knockout loss to Brian Bowles. Now he’s trying to get back in the saddle against a tough opponent and top bantamweight fighter in his own right, Joseph Benavidez. Benavidez is a scrambler, ala his teammate Urijah Faber, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with Torres’ jiu jitsu. However, I still think the Bowles loss was a fluke. Torres wins and with it gains a shot at his old title.

4. Champion Georges St. Pierre (19-2) vs. Dan Hardy (24-6), UFC 111, 3/27/2010

This is the lowest I’ve ever ranked a title fight on my list and there is a simple reason why: Dan Hardy has no business fighting GSP. He’s only getting the fight because GSP’s beaten everyone else. I mean, Hardy has a punchers chance, but ever since the Serra loss GSP has been on guard for that. Pretty much Hardy will be taken down again, and again, and again, until he gives up a choke or gets decisioned.

3. Jon Jones (9-1) vs. Brandon Vera (11-4), UFC on Versus, 3/21/2010

For all intensive purposes, Jon Jones DQ loss to Matt Hamill was not a loss, and the UFC is not treating it like one. He takes a serious step up in competition as he faces fellow young gun Brandon Vera. It seems like every time Vera gets close to cracking into title contention he drops the ball. If he doesn’t win this fight it’s going to be hard for him to convince anyone that they should care about him. The thing is, I don’t care about him now, and haven’t seen anything in him to justify the multiple chances that the UFC likes to give him. Jones on the other hand is a highlight reel in the making. Jones by knockout in a pretty spectacular fashion.

2. Frank Mir (13-4) vs. Shane Carwin (11-0), UFC 111, 3/27/2010

Mir shut my mouth a few months back by decimating his last opponent, lets see if he can do it again. The former champ added on an extra 40+ pounds of muscle in an attempt to prepare for the bigger stronger Brock Lesnar. Now we get to see if his methods will work in a test run against the equally big and strong Shane Carwin in a matchup for the Interim Heavyweight championship. Carwin is essentially Lesnar with less wrestling credentials and without the attitude, so this should make for an interesting fight. Despite being wrong last time, I’m going to go against Mir in favor of Carwin. Mir seems to be doomed to be stuck in the “not quite championship material”zone for the rest of his career; this fight will show that.

1. Champion Brian Bowles (8-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (14-1), WEC 47, 3/4/2010

This fight has almost every element one needs to make a great title fight. Both men can throw, both men have great stamina to go into late rounds, both men are lightning fast, and both men are deserve to be where they’re at. Bowles is undefeated and won his title from top pound for pound regular Miguel Torres and Cruz is undefeated at bantamweight, and his only loss came to then featherweight champion Urijah Faber. I’m actually torn on where to go for this one, and when that happens, I have to go with the champ. Bowles pulls out a decision, leading to his rematch against local boy Miguel Torres.

 Dan is a 1L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu

By Mike Wild, Sports Editor

Say it isn’t so. The NFL regular season ended weeks ago. Like clockwork, my Bills are staying in shape in January by hitting golf balls at the driving range, on the heels of a 6-10 performance in the win-loss column. So once again I find myself on the outside looking in, much like a fat kid with his nose pressed against a candy store window.

I won’t even bother talking about the debacle between the Jets and the Bengals. Nor will I waste any space talking about the beating the Cowboys gave to the Eagles. For anyone willing to sit through these two Wildcard games, the payoff came the next day. To start off Wildcard Sunday, the Ravens matchup against the Patriots turned out to be smash mouth football at its finest. The Ravens came out of the tunnel at Foxboro and thoroughly beat the Patriots at every phase of the game. Ray Rice started the game with an 83 yard touchdown run. Baltimore’s defense caused three turnovers in the first quarter, capitalizing with points every time. The Ravens never looked back as they got revenge for their week 4 loss against the Patriots.

The final game of Wildcard weekend, between the Cardinals and Packers, will go down as a playoff game for the ages. The Packers played a phenomenal game, and Aaron Rodgers played admirably in the second half, as he led the Packers back from a 31-10 deficit in the third quarter. Rodgers turned a blowout into a gun fight. Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Warner traded touchdown drives for the entire fourth quarter and went to overtime tied at 45. In overtime, Arizona backed the Packers deep into their own territory and Karlos Dansby stripped the ball from Aaron Rodgers, returning it for the game winning score. This was clearly the best game of Wildcard weekend, with the Cardinals and Packers trading touchdowns, working towards an improbable finish.

In the AFC Divisional Playoffs, the Ravens squared off against the Colts. The Colts, coming off a firestorm of criticism about Coach Jim Caldwell’s decision to pull key players and forego an undefeated regular season, played a strong effort against the Ravens. Pierre Garcon made the best play of the Colts’ entire season when he dislodged the ball from Ed Reed’s hands on an interception return, helping the Colts regain possession, effectively ending the game. The Colts went on to win by a final score of 20-3.

In the other AFC matchup, the Jets benefitted from three botched field goals by San Diego’s Nate Kaeding, as they went on to beat the Chargers 17-14. San Diego jumped out to a first half lead on a 13 yard strike from Phillip Rivers to Kris Wilson. The Jets pounded the ball on the ground in the second half, including a 53 yard touchdown rush by Shonn Greene in the third quarter. Ultimately, Kaeding’s three botched kicks turned out to be the key stat for the game, emphasizing just how important special teams play is in any football game.

In the NFC Divisional playoffs, the Saints stood up to criticism that their improbable regular season was a fluke. They started their matchup against Arizona strong, and capitalized on a key injury to Arizona starter Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Rodgers-Cromartie was such a key component to the Cardinals’ defense that the team couldn’t recover and get back into the game. Kurt Warner also faced a chest injury in the second quarter. The jarring hit that hurt Warner led to a New Orleans interception. Ultimately, the Saints went on to win 45-14.

In the other NFC Divisional matchup, the Vikings took on the Cowboys. Wade Phillips, coming off his first-ever official playoff win against Philadelphia, found himself overmatched by Brad Childress’ Vikings. (I would like to point out that Phillips won a certain AFC playoff game in 1999, but this victory is not counted because of an egregious case of referee malpractice commonly known as the Music City Monstrosity, but I digress. . .) The Vikings’ defense sacked Tony Romo six times and Brett Favre threw for four touchdowns. This game ended on a sour note though. Favre’s last touchdown pass came inside the two minute warning, on a fourth down play with the Vikings leading by 24. The Vikings had the chance to make the classy play and kick the field goal. Instead, they chose to run up the score. Maybe this is further proof of how far Brett Favre is willing to slide in his quest to annoy football fans everywhere. Either way, it was a dirty play, and it tainted an otherwise sound, although wholly uninteresting football game.

Mike is a 3L and can be reached at Forum@Valpo.edu

By Mike Wild, Sports Editor

So, we’ve had three weeks of NFL action, and I am officially confused.//

For starters, are the Jets really undefeated and in first place in the AFC East? The same Jets team that suffered a monumental end of season collapse last year because Brett Favre kept throwing the ball into triple coverage? Yes, the Jets, and their contingent of loathsome, miserable fans, are racking up wins while head coach Rex Ryan is ruffling feathers among the coaching ranks. After their convincing win over the Patriots in week two, the Jets look like the team to beat in the AFC East.//

In the AFC South, the Titans are anything but undefeated. Last year, the Titans surprised everybody when they went 13-3, won the AFC and clinched home field advantage for the playoffs. This season on the other hand, the Titans are 0-3, with losses to Pittsburgh, Houston and the Jets (err. . . Titans of New York). Even more surprising in the AFC South this year is that the Houston Texans are currently not in last place in the AFC South.//

Another big surprise to me is that as of the end of week 3, the Detroit Lions have the same record as the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don’t know what makes me happier. That my friends from Detroit rediscovered what it feels like to be happy on Monday mornings in fall, or that Steelers fans have to learn how I feel every Monday morning during fall. Oh who am I kidding? I love watching the Steelers lose.//

No seriously, I love it so much when the Steelers lose that I think an extra paragraph devoted to the topic is justified. In week two, the Steelers lost to the Bears because Jeff Reed missed two (not one, but two) field goals in the fourth quarter. In week three, the Cincinnati Bengals mounted an incredible fourth quarter touchdown drive. Carson Palmer capped off a 16 play, 71 yard drive when he connected with Andre Caldwell for a 4 yard touchdown pass to take the lead. Adding insult to injury, the Bengals converted for two points, and gave Pittsburgh the ball back with only 14 seconds left on the clock.//

Oh, and I just want to take a moment and applaud Chad Johnson for doing a choreographed Lambeau Leap in week two. It was really funny, even if he planted some Bengals fans in the front row to help him out.//

There is one thing that I am not confused about though. Terrell Owens is officially a bust in Buffalo. I’ve had my popcorn ready for three weeks, and all three of those weeks, the popcorn ended up getting thrown at the TV. According to my highly scientific record keeping of the T.O. experiment, he’s dropped more passes than he’s caught, and I don’t think he’s even gotten to 100 yards receiving for the season. His lone good play of the entire season came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when he managed to hold onto a 45 yard pass and score a touchdown. Again, he managed this feat against the worst defense in the league. In week three, up against New Orleans’ secondary, T.O. didn’t do anything. No literally, he didn’t catch a ball. It snapped his streak of 185 games with at least one reception, solidifying my opinion that T.O. is a $6 million distraction.//

Mike is a 3L and can be reached at Forum@Valpo.edu

Robert A. Elliott II and S. Hunter Noble

Congratulations Forum readers! For the next few months you’ve been awarded the pleasure of reading the most in-depth, up to date football news available. Put away your newspapers, log off your computers and set down your remotes. All the information you need is available in this convenient monthly column.
Actually, that’s a lie. You won’t receive any unbiased, truthful, or even logical news during your time reading our column. What you will get is a wealth of useless banter and ramblings from a portly bear and a stocky stallion that both hail from lands where the catfish swim free, the deer run wild and camouflaged Busch Light’s flow like the falls of Niagara. To all the so-called sports pundits who roam the halls of Wesemann and are already anxious to slander this pearl of an article…save your opinions for John Bayard’s columns. He takes criticism much better than us.
Over the course of this football season, we’ll be providing you with expert answers on stimulating questions like: Why is the SEC better than the Big Ten? Is roasted corn really as cool as roasted hog? How many ounces of sweat does Rob produce in a week? Does Hunter love anything more than processed pork and encased meat? These are all questions we can happily answer.
In this month’s edition, we’ve analyzed every major team in every major conference down to the age and country of origin of their water boys. We know more about the 2009 football season than Professor Bushbaum knows about treatises and pocket parts. Be on the lookout for next month’s edition when we enlighten you with a whimsical read about our adventure to a Valpo High football game.
For now, turn your air conditioner on blast, go put on your furry underwear, start a cozy fire, put on the melodic sounds of Europe’s “Final Countdown” and prepare to be entranced by the soothing literature of the Fried Football Report…

Rob and Hunter’s Fearless 2009 College Football Forecast

Pac-10
Favorite: USC-What has 4 legs, is smoother than a Kenny Loggins’ song and will totally crush you? Two fold answer, a sabre-tooth tiger and the offensive tandem of Joe McKnight and Matt Barkley. The early loss to Washington definitely hurt, but expect the Trojans to tear through the rest of their schedule like a gang of bloods bullying the intellectual property club.

Dark Horses: California-With USC coming into Berkley with more injuries than the 7th Calvary after Little Bighorn, this game could have upset potential. Washington-Not only is Seattle home to Starbucks and grunge hippies, it is also home to the most well kept secret in college football. QB Jake “white vick” Locker is keeping the houseboat fans of Seattle begging for more. Oregon-Unless they change their name to the Mighty Ducks and Emilio Estevez comes in to coach, don’t expect much out of the Nike darlings.

ACC
Favorite: Virginia Tech-Chesapeake Bay speed + Lane Stadium = ACC Championship. Look for Tyrod Taylor and the rest of his 757 cronies to run the table. If you’re unlucky enough to draw an invite to Lane after the sun goes down, be sure to bring nunchuks and a coat of armor because the Hokies turn into werewolves at night.

Dark Horses: Georgia Tech-There’s a lot to love about the Jackets this year. They have a rushing attack that is angrier than an old man sending back his soup at Jimmy’s Cafe and former Navy coach Paul Johnson has his team on their P’s & Q’s.
Miami-While football stars in the Midwest are munching down corn, gridiron heroes in South Florida are chasing down rabbits and trying to make a difference. Rick Ross isn’t the only one moving things in the MIA. Coach Randy Shannon has the “swagga” moving back to the “U.”
Florida State-Once upon a time, Seminole players could shoplift at their leisure and Coach Bowden was as regal as King Poseidon. Nowadays, the ‘Noles are like a roast beef dinner. You still think it’s good, but you don’t get excited about it.
North Carolina-Tobacco and basketball. That’s what North Carolina does. Right? ACC champions they are not, but look for them to be the best team east of Tennessee, north of South Carolina, and south of Virginia.

Big Ten
Favorite: Ohio State- Coach “I wear a vest because it looks awesome” Tressel always seems to be the belle of the ball in the Big Ten. Terrelle Pryor may be young and inexperienced, but he still has enough talent to stomp all the other Big Ten donkeys. Look for the Buckeyes to be taking care of the rest of the Big Ten’s proverbial dates at the end of the party this season.

Dark Horses: Iowa-So you pulled an upset against an overrated team coached by a 163 year old man. Big deal.
Penn State-Admit it, you want Joe Paterno to be your grandfather.
Michigan-“Yo, Matt Barkley, I’m really happy for you. I’m gonna let you finish, but Tate Forcier is one of the best freshman quarterbacks of all time!”
Michigan State-Ford’s stock has started to rebound. Why can’t the Spartans?
Wisconsin-We don’t actually believe the Badgers have a shot, but we really like cheese.

Big East
Favorite: Who really cares?

Dark Horses: Just for the sake of writing, we’ll pick Cincinatti to win the Big East. For the record, we have no respect for the Big East and the only reason we chose ‘Nat Town was because we both really enjoy Skyline Chili.

Big 12
Favorite: Texas-While the beaches of Corpus Christi and the oil patch towns of West Texas might be more unattractive than Andy Erickson in a neon speedo, the gridiron heroes from Austin actually look pretty good this year.

Dark Horses: Oklahoma-Everything is bigger in Texas. Sorry Okies.
Oklahoma State-Recruiting violation? How did you guys land Dez Bryant?
Kansas-Attention: Jayhawk football players, stop fighting the basketball team. They’re the only thing that’s ever happened to Lawrence.

SEC
Favorite(s): Florida-Brett Favre’s illegitimate kid, known to most Americans as Tim Tebow, literally walks on pristine lakes of Gatorade. This kid could probably play 11 on 1 and still score. In the very least he would lose the game, hold a press conference with President Obama and promise to win the next 50 games, cure global hunger and find a way for snaggled tooth pre-teens to straighten their teeth without braces.

Alabama-Julio Jones, who is apparently of both Mexican and African American descent as his name suggests, has the quickness of a puma and the strength of a wild lion on HGH. Even though the Tide lost the massive mound that was Andre Smith, don’t be surprised to see the boys from Alabama doing the stanky leg in post-game celebrations come early December.

Darkhorses-Ole Miss- Coach Spurrier made it known to the world that Jevan Snead was NOT the best QB in the SEC. Turns out the Ole Ball Coach can still call it.
LSU and South Carolina have a chance to contend. However, the odds of that happening are about as promising as Rob and me taking Beyonce and Scarlett Johansson out to nice seafood dinner.
Tennessee-Coach Kiffin, you have an inferiority complex.
Georgia-Choke artists.

Robert and Hunter can be reached at robert.elliott@valpo.edu and samuel.noble.valpo.edu respectively

By Mike Wild, Sports Editor

The NFL’s offseason might be relatively boring compared to the regular season and the playoffs, but as usual, the NFL’s perennial loud-mouths and attention hogs spent their offseason causing trouble.

In Buffalo, Terrell Owens got a key to the city, without even having a chance to drop a single pass.  Mayor Byron Brown even got the chance to ham it up for T.O.’s camera crew.  Yes, in addition to being a huge distraction and overgrown man-child, T.O. spent the summer trying to rent a house in Buffalo and filming a reality show.  I will continue my protest against T.O., and I will only consider changing my opinion if the Bills split the season series with the Patriots or if the Bills get a playoff berth.  Also, I refuse to watch his train wreck of a reality show.  I don’t like the thought of T.O. doing idiotic things in my beloved home town, especially when it’s part of a one man conspiracy to convince the world that he is still relevant.

Up north, Brett Favre continued his quest to tarnish his legacy and embarrass himself.  The only good thing about Favre’s continuing struggle to fill empty space on ESPN is that, much to my relief, he got waived by the Jets and will no longer be mucking things up in the AFC East.  (Much to my dismay, his replacement is Mark Sanchez, who will likely make my life miserable until his contract ends and he can leave that Jets for a real football team.)  Favre’s discussions with the Vikings were painful to watch.  I didn’t think he could fall much further.  With each passing day, I yearn for the cutesy stuff from his early career, like booze and painkillers.

Over in Cincinnati, the wide receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson made a stir by posting pictures of himself with tattoos on his face to his Twitter page.  What is Twitter anyways? I’ve been led to believe that it’s just another way to change your Facebook status message.  Is this all the internet has to offer anymore?  How disappointing.  To further emphasize how pointless this Twitter-based stunt really was, Ochocinco later updated his Twitter page to reveal that the tattoos resembling the outline of the state of Florida were in fact, fake.  Thanks Ocho-Cinco, that was 5 minutes of my life that I can’t have back.  Maybe you should spend more time in practice and less time changing your Facebook status from your Blackberry.

Idiotic behavior isn’t just limited to active NFL players either.  Remember that guy who got drafted after Peyton Manning?  In case you forgot, that guy is named Ryan Leaf, and he got picked up at the Canadian border in June because of outstanding drug warrants from Texas.  This is yet another public embarrassment for Leaf, who lost his coaching job at West Texas A&M University last year because he was asking his players for painkillers.  Adding insult to injury, Leaf is still frequently characterized as the biggest bust in NFL draft history.  This guy might not be able to catch a break, but he doesn’t do much to help his own cause either.

The definitive low point for the NFL this offseason though, was the passing of Steve McNair.  While I may have despised him for his role in the infamous Music City Monstrosity (to some the Music City “Miracle”), it’s still terrible to see someone who played with so much intensity die in such a terrible way.  He was a warrior on the field who played through injuries and pain. It was really sad to hear the details of his murder unfold in the press.

More important than anything else though, there is only one more worthless week of the preseason to go before opening day.  Just so we’re all on the same page, week 1 starts on Thursday, September 10th.  The first Monday night game of the year is on September 14th.  It’s been a long offseason and a painfully long preseason, so let’s move this along and get the regular season going.

Mike is a 3L and can be reached at Forum@Valpo.edu

Yes, I went to Jazzercise class. Yes, I woke up in pain the next day. As for your last question, no, I did not wear any form fitting span­dex. So, now that we’ve dispensed with the initial laughter of picturing me at a jazzercise class. I must admit that it’s a really good workout. My usual work­outs include somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes of cardio with some lift­ing, but this class got me to use muscles that I forgot I had.

Read the rest of this entry »

Arguably, there’s not much to do in Finland. I suppose one could spend his day visiting all the beautiful fjords, but even that has to get old after a while. It’s situations like these that call for the invention of a sport like Eukonkanto.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most difficult things to do in all of sports is to correctly predict which teams will re¬ceive at-large bids to the Men’s NCAA Tournament. By now everyone knows teams like North Carolina, Connecticut, Duke, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Oklahoma and Michigan State are locks to be danc¬ing in March. The true madness though comes from teams that were either not expected to make the tournament at some point during the season or snuck in at the last minute due to an impres¬sive run in the conference tournament or upset win over a nationally ranked opponent. If you are looking for teams capable of springing a first round upset you have come to the right place. Read the rest of this entry »