Monday, September 23, 2013

Nothing But Money

Another week. Another day. Another season. This summer went by way to quickly and with how much I have to say about this week, I’m not going to recap the summer with a bunch of similes and adjectives to describe how it was like. I’m too fed up with the NCAA to really care about a seasonal change and the only thing to really change my mood will be the feel of the MLB Postseason which is literally around the corner. The stretch run is upon us and Major League Baseball is heating up in some races along with Champaign already popping in others. But let’s get to this NCAA bullshit shall we?

Nothing but money. The title of the blog this week. Why? Because the NCAA has not just turned into a money driven scum bucket, it’s turned into a form of used condoms and paper contracts that spell out the inconsistency of the American Constitution. Why used condoms? Because they are literally fucking over individuals who lack the resources. I was reading the second part of the Oklahoma State investigation in this past week’s sports illustrated and I had to stop reading after a couple pages and step back to realize these are all young men who are being extorted of their situations and used for the benefit of their natural abilities ONLY. I could not believe how much they actually picked up players through recruiting then threw them to the curb if they didn’t perform to the level of their scouting number. That’s all these athletes are now today, they are just numbers. They don’t just go to class, they get picked up, taken advantage of, and let go if they don’t make the cut. I thought a scholarship was supposed to keep these kids in school, to help free them of the incessant bullshit they have been a part of for a majority of their lives? Apparently not. In fact, it’s the opposite and it was one of the most disturbing reads I’ve ever come across and to believe a place as prosperous as college can turn into a meat grinder like this article made Oklahoma State seem to be, it’s absolutely disgusting and to see how young 19 year old me can get extorted for their 4.3 speed, and their 430 pound bench pressing while being ignored for their 1.0 GPA’s in their magnet high schools that are run into the ground because of the values our society has preached towards to lower income portion of our country. Why don’t we just reverse this trend instead of push it forward to make these unfortunate individuals with the backgrounds they have get no opportunity to shine in these 40,000 deep public institutions? You know why? Business. It’s killing these individuals and nobody cares because it will only turn their stock up to make the American economy look good for yet another 24 hour period. That’s what my feeling was for this Oklahoma State story for this past week, and if it’s happening at Oklahoma State what makes you think it’s not happening anywhere else? The NCAA is such a money murk that it makes me want to actually punch a baby in the face. Get the youth here for the right reasons, not for a game that is played on a grass field for 60 minutes.

In other news Trent Richardson was traded to the Colts making them a legit Super Bowl thought in the process now. Big time fantasy trades occurring in the NFL like it’s nothing.


Alright, the new Drake album just came out. Bye.

Monday, September 16, 2013

What is Defense?

Defense. It’s an art that requires discipline and the ability to withstand your opponent. It’s an ability that has seriously been lacking in the sport of football within this first month of the season in both College and the NFL. With what happened this weekend, which was one of the best weekends in sports for 2013, defense was not the mantra except for one entity which involved the sport of boxing.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather has the best defense of any boxer in the history of the sport. The guy is so good, he makes other potential stars look absolutely awestruck with his tenacious speed and cat-like reflexes. Watching the fight on Saturday night, the guy was absolutely unhittable. The guy made Alvarez look like another tomato can when Alvarez is actually one of the best fighters in the entire world. Both these fighters were undefeated and clearly Mayweather dominated like he has since 1996. The man is now 45-0 and nobody seems close to even hitting him with the prowess they think they can. In fact, Floyd is so great, he makes fights look almost unwatchable because when competitors try to hit him, he dodges them like the ghost he is. Also, every couple of rounds, he changes his stance and his angles for which his fighters can take, he constantly changes his approach and with his speed it seems nearly impossible to attack. Money is the greatest defensive fighters of our era, so much so it’s almost not entertaining.

When it comes to football though, defense is something that’s been lacking. A key example of what a shootout looks like is what the Alabama and Texas A&M game was this weekend. This was clearly one of the most hyped games of the year and it lived up to expectations, and defense was not part of the equation. As Texas A&M ran up and down the field, Alabama matched them step for step along with actually shutting down Alabama mid-way through the game. But the definition of shutting down definitely meant holding Johnny Football to 42 points. In the 49-42 win the Alabama juggernaut showed no mercy as they made Johnny Football finally recognize his place, an SEC superstar who does not have National Championship capability. Maybe it’s because of the defense he has, but either way, he couldn’t get it done.

The NFL this entire season has had plenty of games where defense has not been the factor in the outcome. Several big time matchups have had games decided in the 30’s and the games almost have a basketball type feel with back and forth scoring where defense seems non-existent. One game this weekend really broke that mold as a team in the great northwest decided to dominant in the thunder. In a 29-3 game that felt like 59-0, the Seattle Seahawks came out and played like the team they represent on paper. Their defense and home field advantage was a huge deciding factor in the NFL’s currently best rivalry. With the Seahawks now 2-0 and having a clear advantage in the division, they are on pace to have one unforgettable year.

To other news that happened throughout the week, U.S. Soccer got it’s qualifying on when it came to the 2014 World Cup. It’s always exciting to see our country represent the way they can especially in the world’s biggest sport.

Jim Furyk hit a 59 which is always impressive no matter what course you are playing on. Anytime you shoot a -10 you are having an unbelievable day on the golf course. Unfortunately he became the 3rd person in PGA history to shoot a round of 59 and lose the tournament. Either way, a 59 is something worth mentioning and giving dap too.

What happened in Tempe was another ridiculous story worth mentioning this week. Speaking of officiating, how about how Wisconsin got screwed over when it came to time management and the referees letting the Arizona State player laying on the ball. 20 seconds left as Wisconsin tried to get the clock down to a couple seconds and instead the clock ran to zero. Talk about controversy, it more or less sounds like home field advantage. Wisconsin did get screwed, but at the same time, they should have just kicked the ball to win the game instead of get greedy.


That’s my blog fellas see you next week!

Monday, September 9, 2013

Peyton Manning for President

There was a bamboozle of NFL Games on Sunday which really felt like Christmas Day for football fans. Peyton Manning definitely didn't disappoint in the teaser either as he had 7 touchdowns tying a record set in 1969. The guy is a Hall of Famer no doubt and his performance lit up the record books on a night that the lightning decided to delay the NFL opener.

Peyton Manning is a quarterback known as the most precise, on the button player the NFL has probably ever seen. The guy makes everyone around him better with his perfectionistic characteristics that border on verge of psychotic. With this much intensity you would think it would leak out towards the rest of the team, but apparently it doesn't when guys like linebacker Danny Trevathan decides to showboat and drop the ball a yard short of a pick-6. What should be made of an example for the rest of the league fortunately did not overshadow what was an exceptional performance by the great Peyton Manning who helped the Broncos blowout the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens on the Thursday night kickoff game.

At the same time, considering it is the beginning of the regular season, it is only week one. The New York Jets won a game, indicating the NFL season is still relatively young. Speaking of relatively young, how about some of these upsets in college football this past weekend? Miami destroyed Florida, the Mormon people wrecked the overrated Longhorns, and some team from Pullman decided to show up in the Southern California and win a PAC-12 game for the first time in forever. All I know is college football has it’s rematch of the year with Alabama and Texas A&M this Saturday and all eyes will be on CBS Saturday afternoon.

In other news, Floyd Mayweather is getting paid 41.5 $million this Saturday which will put him around 80 $million in prize money just from his two fights this year. You think you’re getting bank? This guy is easily the highest paid athlete in 2013 and all he has to do is fight tomato cans along with promote to those who think he’s the hottest thing under the sun. There’s no doubt he’s the best boxer of his era, but does that mean he is the most entertaining thing to watch? I’d argue he’s the least entertaining boxer I’ve ever seen, and I’d rather watch a one round destruction of Mike Tyson in the 1980’s. No disrespect to Floyd Mayweather, but boxing as we all know is just not the sport it once was, and with the way he finagles around the rules of finesse and defensive fighting, making it ever more boring to watch from a bird’s eye view, it won’t get much better.

Check out my new Basketball blog on here it’s called One Hoop, One Ball, One Dream and it should take you in-depth with stories about the game I dearly love along with NBA news with a twist, NCAA coverage and awesome insight about NBA2K, Fantasy Basketball, and passionate stories from my past with fictional, motivational, and insightful pieces that hopefully you can enjoy. My first post “The Playground” is up and ready to view. More posts will come in about a month as this is just a preview post for when basketball season is back up and running.

It’s really nice in the Pacific North West and I’m going to enjoy my week of beautiful weather and enjoy what is left of this summer. See y’all next week.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Johnny, Get It Together

It’s the last Sunday before the NFL season gets underway and we have football on every weekend until sometime in February. Get ready to enjoy the ride because I’m ready to dive into my 20 fantasy leagues, pick ‘em weeks, eliminators, and college pick ems as well. Let’s get this blog on the road.

Tracy McGrady retired this week and ended on a pretty cool note playing in his only ever NBA Finals this past season. Granted, his team lost to the Miami Heat, but nonetheless, the guy had a phenomenal career and will go down as one of the most lethal scorers the NBA has ever seen. His defense was suspect and his team play was a bit questionable, but when it came to his ability to put the ball in the hoop, you couldn’t find a better guy in the early 2000’s. It’ll be sad to see him go and we all will remember his breakout performances on the Orlando Magic and in his Houston Rocket days.

Madden 25 came out this week and all I have been doing is playing it and if you play it too, you should add me at chrismorrison99. I find this to be one of the best Madden games out since the 2005 Madden that introduced the hit stick. So much variability when it comes to team game play and with some of the precision features they added, the game feels more realistic than ever. I was a skeptic of Madden the past 2-3 seasons with the way the game play was shaping up, but this season the game play is fantastic and I love playing it anytime I get the chance.

 NCAA Football came back this week with a bang as some big time matchups took the stage especially with probably one of the best games we may see all season with Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. A back and forth fourth quarter and a refreshing new look at the start of the 2013 Football season. Georgia and Clemson was another big matchup this weekend and Taj Boyd came out slinging and made me drool at his NFL potential on Saturday especially with the way he carved up that Georgia defense. LSU and TCU was another great matchup where I expected LSU to run TCU out of the building, TCU showed up and made a name for themselves against a respectable SEC opponent. There were some embarrassing upsets in the first week as North Dakota State beat Kansas State on Friday sending Kansas State into a tail spin for the rest of the season. The most embarrassing loss was the Eastern Washington win over #25 ranked Oregon State which only makes PAC 12 land look that much more pathetic heading into conference play. Football is back everybody and it is only going to get better when the NFL kicks off on Thursday night!

Let’s talk about Johnny Manziel for a little bit shall we? When it comes to his actions off the field, I have no place in putting that in my blog because it is a story that really doesn’t appeal to me because I already am fed up with the way the NCAA is run and how players are treated like pawns in their scheme to make tons of money for big wigs while giving little to no compensation for players who don’t even get to sniff the millions of dollars these schools are generating every season. So talking about his off the field issues are not in my agenda but what he did on Saturday against Rice was absolutely embarrassing for college football and I found it shameful and immature of him to act the way he did in the second half of the football game. First of all, He’s playing Rice university who (first of all is a baseball school and) can’t compete at any level when it comes to major football competition. They are the definition of a cupcake team. He’s taunting their front seven all game and showing up their team and making referees pull flags out of their pockets to shut him up. Seriously dude? First off, it’s disrespectful and has no place in the game of football, and it’s Rice University. I honestly would cut him some slack if he came into the second half of an Alabama or LSU or Florida game and threw 3+ TD’s and started talking smack because in actuality that would be pretty bad ass and “baller status” if he ever did such a thing. But this is Rice, Johnny. Seriously? You’re going to taunt 2 star talent (at best) and tell them you own them and to “look at the scoreboard” because you’re winning? You are ranked top 10 in the country and they won’t even sniff a vote to reach the top 25 and you’re telling them to check the scoreboard? How about you check your ego at the door and come play to dominate instead of getting your pompous ego in the way of what your team can achieve this season along with forgetting about what teams like Rice have to say to you on the field. I know you are in the spotlight and that the news about you may be getting on your nerves and people might be saying things about you that you don’t like, but honestly, champions don’t give a crap about the critics in fact they feed off of them and attempt to turn their heads, not rear them up for battle. And Johnny, you are rearing many people’s heads at your actions on the football field as well as off, and if you don’t play to the level you played last season, expect to be undrafted and playing in the CFL with the golden boy Tim Tebow.

One final note before I go, Justin Morneau was given to the Pirates by the Twins. If you know anything about him he played for them forever and won AL MVP back in 2006. The guy is an on the verge Hall of Famer and he is going to provide the spark the Pirates need to help them in this final stretch run they need for the post season. I hope he can get it done for them, or else, he’s done.

Also, if you all haven’t checked out my NFL Preseason predictions, you should do so they should be just below this blog and I also will be doing my Vikings Vlogs starting this week so be on the lookout for those. If you don’t know my YouTube channel, here it is (chrismorrison99).


See y’all next week on Monday Night after the two Monday night games! Football is back and Autumn is in the air, I can FEEL IT!