Things Learned This Weekend

The Knicks looked like Coughlin's Giants, playing to the talents of their opponents.

I'd believe it when I saw it, and I saw - Posada not catching and smiling about it.

Dallas may not have so much faith in Romo.

The Mets believe in handouts.

Classic Clips - Friday Night Fights

I cannot believe I had never seen this clip before. Last night was apparently the 5-year anniversary of what might be the best series of fights in one hockey game in modern NHL history. Senators-Flyers, let's get it on!

Tweet of the Week

The NBA trade deadline sure gets player's families anxious.

NazrMohammed

My son asked the nanny "can we trade nannies too". He said he heard they had good nannies in #OKC lol. Where did we find this kid. #CrazyKid

Favorite Retweet Reply

Lock It Up

My lock of the week is Coyotes over Blue Jackets on Friday. The Coyotes have won eight straight, including one against the league-best Flyers. I've got a good feeling that the 12th best team in the West won't be able to handle them.

Stay away from Knicks vs. Heat on Sunday. There's no way Melo will be fully comfortable on his new team, but that doesn't mean the Knicks won't be better right away. Still, the Heat will have extra motivation to beat New York this time. Excitement for a NY vs. Miami basketball game! Who-da thunk it?

Get in on the action and comment or tweet your Lock of the Week. Add #smackjabber #lockitup in your tweet with your pick/s @quazflawless. The Lock It Up "week" includes games played Wednesday through games played Tuesday night.

Lock It Up 2011 Standings

Lee Feinstein : 5-1
Quaz Flawless : 5-3
ThalerND : 4-1
Bill Beck : 3-2
Pat Downes : 2-3
Dan : 0-1
Matt Summa : 0-2
Ian : 0-2

Ride The Streak - If you win you're first "Lock", gamble and go for more by commenting/tweeting another "Lock" that week, but if any of your "Locks" lose, you get a loss for the week.

Flawless Thoughts

Somewhere between Bieber winning MVP of the Celebrity game and the Kia/Sprite commercial that was the Slam Dunk Contest, there were remnants of what the All Star Weekend used to be - an eye-popping display of talent from the league's best.

Melo to the Knicks is huge. It seems that the Knicks are really back now, and this time there's no Michael Jordan to keep them away from the Finals. That's the excuse I always hear about the Knicks in the 90's - Jordan. But didn't the Knicks lose to the Rockets in the Finals the year Jordan was out? Anyway, there is a new Jordan for the Knicks to try and get past, the King without a crown. Though the Nets didn't get Melo, they did start bringing a real rivalry to the tri-state area, first with the infamous billboard and now meddling in the Knicks' business.

If you were an NFL head coach and had to choose either Randy Moss or T.O., who would it be? T.O. just had a great season (9 TDs and almost 1,000 yards receiving), but he can tear apart a locker room faster than you can say "Jeff Garcia." On the other hand, Randy had a record setting season not too long ago, but needs to be motivated by ... better catering?

Things Learned This Weekend

The phrase "don't call it a comeback" has new meaning with Peter Forsberg coming back after two years away from the NHL and lasting for just two games.

When Prokhorov said the Nets were out of the Melo trade talks what he meant was, the Nets are not out of the Melo trade talks.

Derek Jeter is motivated every year, not just when his team treats him like he's a greedy egomaniac.

You will never again hear "Who's Blake Griffin?" after what he did to that basketball hoop on Saturday night.

Tweet of the Week

Ya gotta hand it to'em. They kept it contained until long after the season was over.

ochocinco Chad Ochocinco

@terrellowens Man its your f_cking fault my QB is retiring, I should whoop your ass cause they're blaming me you f_cking Diva!!!

terrellowens Terrell Owens

@ochocinco I should whoop ur a** 4 asking me 2 come 2 Cincy! Yeh it's my fault tht he's retiring but not if I woulda had 15 TDs instead of 9

ochocinco Chad Ochocinco

@terrellowens F_ck yo touchdowns we went 4-12 and now my QB is leaving and they blaming me,you taking 50% of the blame for this sh_t!!!

terrellowens Terrell Owens

@ochocinco And so much ur "Batman & Robin" idea!!

terrellowens Terrell Owens

@ochocinco Where the hell ws Robin all year?

ochocinco Chad Ochocinco

Cincinnati Bengals rock!!! Anybody that doesn't like us F_ck you and the horse you rode in on!!! Who F_cking Dey!!!

Heresy (Part 3 of 3)

This is the final part of a three-part series from guest contributor Pat Downes on the superiority of college football to pro football. To read the first part, “History,” click here. To read the second part, “Variety,” click here.

Passion

College football is obviously more colorful than pro football. College football has mascots and marching bands. Fight songs and pep rallies. Every team – every single team – has unique traditions surrounding the game that border on the sacred. Dotting the “i” at Ohio State. Yell Leaders at Texas A&M. Hook ’em Horns and the Gator Chomp. Howard’s Rock and the House that Rock Built. Outside of JerryWorld (and I would argue that Dallas’s traditions are mostly contrived), pro football does not have nearly as much color.

But this is mere pageantry. Pageantry is merely one tangible expression of something much deeper – passion. Passion is a feeling. It is the deep, almost familial connection that the fan feels for his or her team. Pro football fans may have passion for their teams, but they don’t – really, they can’t – feel it as deeply as college football fans.

In the first installment of this series, I argued that college football was superior to pro football because of its history. College football’s immense popularity going back for decades and centuries, and the legends and stories that originated throughout those years, form a thread in the narrative of today’s games, which enable us to share an experience with ancestors that we never knew.

In part two, I argued that college football’s variety, which derives in part from the diversity of the institutions playing the game, makes college football superior. College teams are unique, local institutions that communities take pride in. Pro franchises, on the other hand, are like bland, cookie-cutter chain stores.

In a way, passion is a by-product of history and variety. College football fans feel a connection to our team’s legends and heroes from ages past. And we feel connected to our teams as representatives of unique, local institutions, with fundamental missions that are more meaningful than simply winning a division and making a nice run in the playoffs.

Those connections extend beyond the teams’ geographical and alumni bases. Teams like BYU and Notre Dame have religious identities that inspire national followings in certain religious or ethnic communities. Army, Navy and Air Force inspire followings within the military, and among the broad segment of the population that admire the commitment to country made by those teams’ players and their classmates. In some parts of the country without the population base to support a pro franchise (or any other institutions of cultural significance) – for example, Alabama, Nebraska, and recently, Boise, Idaho – college football teams serve as focal points for the development of regional identity, and inspire deeply passionate followings.

In addition to all of this, different schools stand for different things. Some institutions, unfortunately, stand for the uglier side of sports; for cheating and criminality, for corruption and exploitation. On the other hand, teams like Notre Dame and Stanford, at their best, stand for a combination of athletic and academic excellence, and for managing their teams ethically. Other institutions, like many state schools and the teams in the MEAC, pride themselves on providing opportunities for underprivileged students, or students from racial or ethnic communities who did not have such opportunities in years past.

The NFL has none of this. Sure, it has fans. Maybe it even has fans who can be described, in a narrow sense, as passionate. They follow their team religiously. They live and die by the win-loss record. And I say this not to denigrate the depth of their feeling, but, really, what is that NFL passion based on? Maybe – at best – that passion is based on fond memories of a parent who was a fan. But usually it’s based on little more than geography. Very few folks outside of Seattle have any affinity for the Seahawks. Unless your dear, departed father was a Seattle native (or your last name is Hasselbeck), there’s nothing unique about the Seahawks that would attract any sort of following outside of Washington state.

What are the monumental stories and legends of the Seahawks’ history? Who are the mist-shrouded demigods and heroes of Seahawks’ lore? What unique characteristics do the Seahawks have that make them more worthy of your attention than any other franchise? More importantly, what do the Seahawks stand for? It sounds silly to even ask these questions of most pro franchises.

I understand that there are people out there who love the NFL, and never really had any reason to follow college football. If you’re one of these people, that’s ok. It’s not a mark of poor character, or an indication that you’re lacking in any way.

But you are missing something.

Maybe, if you’re lucky, the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations in the NFL will blow up, and you’ll be able to focus your full attention next year on the greatest, purest expression of the world’s best game: college football.

Lock It Up

My lock of the week is Flyers over Rangers in hockey action this Sunday. All of a sudden the Flyers are a dominant team in the NHL, with big stars on every line and a Russian goalie named Sergei Bobrovsky who goes by the nickname Bob and has been solid.

I'd stay away from gambling on the Daytona 500, unless you're going with Earnhardt Jr. There's been chatter of him being allowed to bring a faster car, as a Jr. win would do wonders for NASCAR.

Get in on the action and comment or tweet your Lock of the Week. Add #smackjabber #lockitup in your tweet with your pick/s @quazflawless.

Lock It Up 2011 Standings

Lee Feinstein : 4-1
Quaz Flawless : 4-3
ThalerND : 2-1
Bill Beck : 2-2
Pat Downes : 1-3
Dan : 0-1
Matt Summa : 0-2
Ian : 0-2