Finally, We Treat Rich Kids Favorably!

Remember that little moment of frisson when you got your acceptance letter from the college you wanted to attend? (Try to forget about the crushing defeated feeling you got when the college you really wanted to go to turned you down.) It was a nice little moment of accomplishment when you could proudly look at yourself in the mirror and know that a school executive decided you were worthy of drinking yourself silly in the name of education.

Well fewer kids are getting that feeling these days. Unless, of course, their parents are rich. An article in the New York Times explains how colleges are trying to accept more kids that will pay full tuition during these hard economic times. To do so, these institutions of higher education are looking at things like a home zip code and parent's background before a decision is made on who to accept into the school.

Well I say it's about time. For too long rich kids have had to make it through life with more than the rest of us. You think it's easy to own a brand new sports car when you turn 16? Most of us don't even have to fathom what it's like to stay in a beach villa in Mexico with your own chef. I shudder to think about it.

Now the tables have turned. Rich kids finally get smiled upon in life. They should have a big advantage too: the average cost of a public university is over $6500 per year now (or even more if you live in Arizona where the brilliant state officials have decided to battle a huge state deficit by taking piles of money away from the state universities even though Arizona is already ranked 49th in the U.S. in education spending. But hey, we've still got enough money to add in a bunch of new traffic cameras!)

The average cost of a private university is over $25,000 ensuring that your parents should make six figures if you want to go there. And that's who colleges are now actively looking for no matter what part of the world they live in. Steven Syverson, dean of admissions at Lawrence University in Wisconsin summed it up best about rich kids when he said "We’re only human, they shine a little brighter.”

Thank God. I was hoping I'd live to see the day when poor kids don't get a free pass in American life anymore.

Look, I know colleges need money just like any other business, but this is ridiculous. Education is about scholastic merit, not bottom line profit (or at least that what it's supposed to be.) I'm sure that's a naive way of looking at things, but I know from my experience that many times a student who knows how much college costs works that much harder than the rich kid whose parents are footing the entire bill without blinking.

Colleges can get their full tuition and be happy with the profitable bottom line, but eventually their alumni is going to change into snotty little rich kids who feel entitled to a college degree and don't really understand the opportunity they were just given.

But that's okay not rich kids. You can always go on "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire."

Whoa

Is this the curse of Gary Matthews Jr. rearing it's ugly head?

Did someone in the Angels organization desecrate a ancient Indian burial ground this off-season?

Is this God's way of saying don't run red lights?

Does Anaheim just suck that much?

What ever the reason, this has been one hell of a week for the Anaheim....sorry, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

You know it's a bad week for a team when those sports writers and broadcasters who make their living impugning and creating controversy tread lightly. What else can you do?

The Angels already had an unfortunate episode this week when a fan was killed during a fight in the stands. That news may not be enough to stun you, but it's always an unfortunate episode when there is a tragedy at a sporting event.

Now we find out that Angels rookie pitcher, Nick Adenhart and two other people were killed in a car accident after someone ran a red light and plowed into his car. Adenhart was only 22 years old and had just pitched a solid game for the Angels just hours before he was killed.

And to add more unfortunate news to the situation, the other driver tried to drive away after the accident. They were picked up a mile or so away from the accident. You don't run away from an accident unless you're drunk or have something to hide from the cops. No doubt that will come out as the investigation continues.

I don't mean to put Adenhart's life above the other people killed this week, he's just the one most people know.

The only reason he was up in the majors is because both Angels ace pitchers are on the DL. So the Angles brought Adenhart up to fill in and he proved that he would indeed be in the big leagues one day.

Now he's gone and both starting pitchers are still injured, the team is already dealing with the fan's death, and the team is already wearing black patches on the uniform to honor long time coach and scout, Preston Gomez who died this winter.

At this point, maybe the Angels should just wear black uniforms. And there are still 160 games to go.

Now Let's Stop Down Your Day For Some Not News.....

I really hate press conferences. They waste more sports time than almost any other activity.

There are some occasions where a press conference makes sense, but teams seem to live in some chimerical world where fans are actually interested in every possible thing an athlete has to say (which is often little).

The latest offender? The University of Oklahoma.

They announced a press-conference yesterday where superstar basketball man Blake Griffin would declare his intentions next year.

Let's see, he's the current player of the year and he's widely considered to be one of the top picks in the draft ensuring him millions of dollars.

Hmmmm. What is he going to pick?

So then Griffin does what we all knew he was going to do and declares for the draft. He says how much he has enjoyed college, but is ready for a bigger challenge....stop me if you've heard this before.

I don't need to stop down for a press conference to tell me what I already know. Griffin could have easily released a statement saying everything he needed to say. And the media's time would not have been wasted.

As a fan of the sport that is sports, I'd like to give a simple little guide to press conferences. Please feel free to add your own personal comments if you feel a detail needs to be included.

Okay for press conference:
A sports legend retires: When Shaq retires, I'm fine with a press conference. It's the end of an era for the NBA. Same goes with a Peyton Manning or Martin Brodeur. The team changes significantly when they leave.

On the flip side, I don't need to see a press conference if Stephon Marbury decides to retire.
A shocking announcement is made: Michael Jordan retiring for the first time falls into the category. Ricky Williams up and leaving football shocked us all. Magic Johnson announcing he has the HIV. Those are worth a press conference.

The team gets a new major player: whether it's through the draft or free-agency, big signings excite the fans and they want to meet their new superstar. I don't need a press-conference for a backup left guard, but I'd like to see the number one draft pick. Of course if the team in question is the Oakland Raiders, the number one draft pick may end up being the backup guard.

That's really all you need a press conference for. I guess some people might like the weekly conference that involves a game where the tight lipped coach begrudgingly gives information as media members attempt to word questions in a way that will trap the coach into either telling the truth or lying through his teeth. It occasionally gives us some audio gold when a coach blows up at a media question.

All the other press conferences are unneeded. Here are some particularly bad abusers of the uneeded press gathering:

A high school athlete announcing his college choice: High school football players are out of control with this issue. I'm tired of seeing some 17 year old kid call a press conference where he starts playing three card monte with some hats until he finally puts one on as his family cheers. I played high school football, can I dick around with some hats at a press conference? Completely uneeded.

An athlete announcing something we all already knew: See Blake Griffin. I don't need to hear a 20 minute conference that I could probably repeat out loud without even attending.

Corporate deals: Jerry Jones is particularly bad at this. I don't need to hear a press conference about a corporate partnership which will bring in more money to the already rich owner. That's just plain annoying.

Sports figures have leeway right now to call press conferences whenever they see fit. But maybe they should read The Boy Who Cried Wolf once or twice because if they keep abusing the media gatherings, they may find out that no one shows up in the future.

I bet my sports heart would go on.

And The Long March Begins In April....

Yep, that's about the way March Madness usually ends: a superior team sucking most of the drama out of the game by the second half, or in this case the first five minutes.

Last year we got treated to a fantastic game as Memphis bricked free-throws and Kansas hit a huge three pointer that eventually brought a title back to the heartland. That was a nice change, but the title game often goes out with a whimper as it did last night.

Plus, I didn't hear enough ridiculous pun-laden ending comments by Jim Nance! Double boo! I had a shotgun ready and everything!

Meanwhile, we had something referred to as Opening Day happening all across America. I admit I was into it, mostly because I got roped into a fantasy baseball league this year and I wanted to see if I had made horrible choices. But all the pageantry and bunting celebrating the beginning of baseball season is quite nice. Plus fly-overs are always sweet.

And now I'll lose interest in two or three weeks....

It's too much for my short attention span. 162 games? Just give me the Cliff's Notes version up until the pennant races kick into full gear.

This is why I hate playing fantasy baseball. I have to keep up with everything happening for the next six months so I don't end up fielding a team of corpses by July.

You probably are wondering to yourself, "why don't you just stop paying attention instead of bitching about it?"

If it were only that easy. But any fantasy player (even if you're coerced into it by pleading friends) worth his or her salt knows that just abandoning a team is an embarrassment even if you can claim nescience. It's just an unspoken rule among competitors that you won't just give up on your team. It sucks the fun out of a league and I don't want to be that guy.

So I paid attention yesterday and here are the knee-jerk (and probably false) conclusions I came to:

This is the Mets year: I have plenty of friends who are Mets fans who will now blame me for cursing their beloved Metropolitans by picking them to win, but the Mets have finally put it together. They only beat Cincinnati 2-1, but the Mets waited patiently for Reds ace Aaron Harang to tire, then pounced on him for two runs. Meanwhile, Mets ace Johan Santana only gave up one run while the new bullpen duo of J.J. Putz and K-Rod shut out the Reds for the final innings. That's how you play baseball.

Plus, the Phillies got torched by the Braves Derrick Lowe. If Lowe does that to the Phillies, Santana will destroy them. Mets take the division easy and might be the second coming of the 1998 Yankees.

Speaking of the Yankees.....

The Yankees wasted a lot of money and will go down in flames: The always over-spending Yankees gave the finger to this global recession and spent $423.5 million on just three of their big free-agents. Once again it's World Series or bust! And they busted yesterday. $161 million pitcher C.C. Sabathia only lasted four innings and gave up six runs to Baltimore. Baltimore! What a horrible pitcher. Meanwhile $180 million dollar man, Mark Teixeira batted four times and got zilch. Left five men stranded on base. Yeah, he's worth it. FAIL.

The AL West is AWESOME!: Texas destroys last year Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and beats the Indians 9-1. Seattle unloads on the Twins 6-1. The only team that lost was Oakland and they lost to the division rival Angels. No doubt the A's would have easily beaten most other teams.

The Pirates are back to contender status: They came out of nowhere to beat the pre-season playoff contender St. Louis Cardinals, showing that times are changing. Maybe it's because of those two Indian pitchers they signed.

There will no longer be baseball in Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Boston, and on the south side of Chicago: I understand why the Royals would fold and the White Sox just don't have the backing that the Cubs do. Tampa Bay picked a bad time to fold since the team was in the World Series just last year. I guess the blue mohawks weren't enough. I'm really surprised by the Red Sox. I always thought that was a pretty popular team. Oh well, the MLB probably didn't want to have any more teams named after Sox.

AL MVP: Adam Lind- OF Toronto--Lind is putting Toronto on his back in their bid for the AL East which is up for grabs since it no longer includes Boston or Tampa. He's 4 out of 5 and has six RBI's. What a stud

NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez- SS Florida-- Great things were expected for Ramirez and he didn't disappoint. He got five RBI's in only three at bats. That's efficient.

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez-- goes deep into games and can strike you out.

NL Cy Young: Derrick Lowe-- Finds a perfect place in Atlanta and shows what he can do.

World Series: New York Mets over Texas Rangers--Series go seven games and only ends when K-Rod gets Jarrod Saltalamacchia to pop up with two men on base.

Wow, what a season! Is it time for football yet?

Underdogs In Every Way

Now that your March Madness bracket has been burned to the ground and the power of Big East basketball has disappeared in a puff of smoke, it's time to crown a new college basketball champion tonight.

You have no doubt heard that the Final Four is being held in Detroit this year and I'm sure you've also seen the multiple stories about how this Final Four can bring just one night of reprieve to the hard luck city of Detroit where citizens are looking for any sort of aegis from the daily grind. And look, a team from Michigan is playing for the championship!

Yes, the Spartans are an underdog to pre-season favorite North Carolina. No, Michigan State doesn't have the athletes to hang with the Tar Heels if the two teams play a wide open game, so the Spartans have to be careful with every possession so that the game doesn't get out of hand quickly. Yes, Ford Field will be filled with Michigan State fans rooting for their little David to stop the championship run of a basketball Goliath.

I usually get a tired head from reporters finding a story line before a championship game and beating it into the ground from every angle conceivable thereby making it a bigger deal than it actually is.

This is not one of those cases.

Living in Detroit sucks on a good day, but now it's even worse than you think. The more I read, the more I wish a mercy rule could be given to the city (and that's saying a lot considering the number of obnoxious Red Wings fans I've had the misfortune of being around.)

We all know Detroit has a high unemployment rate. But it's worse than high. The national rate has hit an incredibly high 8.5%. That's not even half of Detroit's unemployment rate which sits at a mind boggling 22% as of March. (Insert pun about March Madness in Detroit.) That's high enough to help Michigan rank 51st out of 50 states in unemployment which includes District of Columbia. That's like a Spinal Tap ranking system.

Want to go to the store and buy some groceries? Too bad. The grocery stores have closed in Detroit. You'll have to go to the Kwik-E-Mart and get overpriced milk that expires in three days.

So why not just sell the house and get out, right? That's not much of a choice either. Even if you could find a buyer, the median price for a house in Detroit is around $7000. You might pay more for a used car.

Throw in the snow, pollution, violence, shoddy civic leadership, and utter collapse of the economic backbone, and you have a metropolitan disaster area.

Even the sports teams don't help. The Pistons are collapsing, the Tigers have been a colossal disappointment after the World Series appearance a few years ago. Sure, the Red Wings brought home a title last year, but that was offset by the record setting joke that is the Detroit Lions.

I'm not sure how reporters think a Michigan State title will somehow make everyone happy in their beat down of a Detroit life, but if you're desperate for anything to make you happy, I guess it'll have to do.

Go Tar Heels.

Soooo About That Whole Trade Thing.....

The Washington Redskins brass met with Jason Campbell yesterday to see if everything was cool with the quarterback after the Jay Cutler saga.

Redskins vice president of operations Vinnie Cerrato said "We met with Jason today and had a candid discussion. We told Jason that when Jay Cutler became available, we, like many other NFL teams, spoke with the Broncos. We are all on the same page, and we are moving forward."

I'm pretty sure Jason Campbell already knew the Redskins had spoken to the Broncos. There were rumors flying everywhere that the Redskins were close to a deal for the quarterback. In fact, the Bears apparently stepped in at the last minute to outbid the Redskins.

Now Redskins management is trying to make it sound they simply inquired about the trade. Sure. And the drunk dude at the bar is simply inquiring about sleeping with the hot girl standing next to him.

The Redskins would have done the trade in a heartbeat had the Broncos wanted it. Vinnie Cerrato knows it, Jason Campbell knows it, and despite the attempt at downplay, every NFL fan knows it. We aren't flummoxed by Cerrato's words like slack-jawed bystanders in 'Men in Black'.

Now the team is stuck with a quarterback who knows they don't want him and are being accused of tampering during the signing of their $100 millions free agent defensive tackle.

That ought to be a fun locker room next year. A group of mercenaries brought in by the ultimate mercenary in owner Daniel Snyder. He has proven that he will get rid of anyone at anytime if he finds something he likes better. Some fans may enjoy this since he will definitely spend the money to get the big named player.

Then again, the Redskins have only made the playoffs a couple of times in the decade since Danny War Bucks bought the team and have never had any sustained success. Meanwhile, Snyder goes through coaches and players like a puppy goes through dinner scraps.

Maybe if the Redskins tried to actually grow a locker room scene instead of constantly turning over the team, the Redskins would have more success.

But that's not the way Snyder does business. So Washington enters next season with a nearly discarded quarterback leading an offense designed by a coach who everyone assumes will be gone as soon as Bill Cowher decides to return to football.

Good times at Fed Ex field.

I Salute Thou And Thy Balls

Wow, what a good decision that was to not post about the Jay Cutler situation yesterday...

Now that the longueur between Cutler and the Broncos is officially over he's headed to Chicago, every sportswriter and blogger needs to weigh in on the trade.

Who got the better of it?

Is Cutler mature enough to lead a team?

Did the Broncos just let their future leave?

Did the Bears just become contenders?

How does John Elway feel about this? Okay, that one is stupid, but he did decide to weigh in on the whole Cutler situation. And when Elway speaks, Denver listens.

Everyone is re-hashing this trade and for good reason. It's one the biggest trades in NFL history and THE biggest trade involving a QB.

The only thing close to it is Steve Young to the 49ers and by the time he was traded, Young was considered a possible bust. Young got to sit and learn for four years before finally turning into a Hall of Famer.

Yes, Brett Favre to Green Bay was a big trade too, but go back to 1991. Did anyone care one bit about Favre being traded? He didn't even start in Atlanta. This is only a big trade in hindsight because of Favre's success.

Every other major QB trade has to do with an aging veteran being shipped to a team who tries one last gasp run at a Super Bowl title before they have to rebuild (See Joe Montana, Brett Favre to Jets, Warren Moon, etc. etc.)

But not this one. This is the trading of a young, established, Pro-Bowl quarterback that was supposed to lead the Broncos to glory. Now he's in Chicago and three high draft choices are in Denver along with the doughy and bearded Kyle Orton.

It will drastically change the future of both franchises. We have no idea if it will be for better or for worse, but the future has changed.

And I say WELL DONE to both sides for pulling off such a huge trade.

Sure, the Broncos have a lot of questions to answer now that they let the face of the franchise leave in his prime, but did anyone give the Broncos a real chance next year? Did anyone give the Bears a chance?

No!

The Broncos were going to be a good offensive team that could win games if the defense held opponents under three touchdowns. This was a big if.

The Bears were a solid team with a running game and decent defense, but zero passing game.

Now both teams will be different. Maybe not better, but different. And I'm interested.

Give me the Bears and Broncos early in the season because I want to see what happens. Chicago has gone from boring and predictable into uncharted territory. They have a quarterback!

The Broncos have just turned into draft darlings because everyone wants to see what they're going to do with the team now that they have extra draft picks and are down a Pro-Bowl leader.

So before we argue over who won this trade and which general manager will go down in infamy, let us sit back and take this event in as an NFL fan. In a league where most franchise heads are ultra-conservative and afraid that any sort of major move will backfire on them, we got to witness a league changing trade.

Enjoy it now. These trades don't come around very often. And the NFL is better off for it.

Long live the big trade!