I WANT TO BE A PRO ATHLETE

Ever since I discovered sports I have been fascinated by them. I can remember as a young kid, no older then 6 or 7, waking up earlier then my mother so I could put the t.v. on Sportscenter before my parents woke and put the news on. To me sports news was the only news, 3 minutes at the end of the local news was not enough for me. As I got older I would watch the same episode of Sportscenter hour after hour as it was replayed.

It was about this same time I began to play and compete in the sports like the athletes I idolized. I would day dream, even in the middle of games that I was the key guy for the Red Sox, Celtics, or Giants depending on what season it was. The money wasn't the lure for me, instead it was the simple fact that I would be able to do something I love to do for a living. Still to this day, the idea of being able to play a game and call it a job is something that attracts me. But that is starting to change.

I want to be a pro athlete for the same reason athletes today...I want to do whatever I please, and I want to do it whenever I want.

I want to have an affair on my supermodel wife with multiple woman like Tiger. As the worlds first billionaire athlete why not?

I want to be able to bring guns into an arena and pull it on my teammate over a card game...in the nation's capitol like Gilbert Arenas. Then have the franchise say they will keep me because I am one of the "league's best still."

I want to be a middle linebacker and use that brute force against a cop as he is trying to arrest me for DUI like Joey Porter. And I want to do it before I even play a single down for my new team.

Like Arenas I would like to take my gun with me to a night club-though instead of shooting any one else I will shoot my self in the leg, ending my career with the team I won the Super Bowl with like Plaxico Burress. At least with two years in jail his leg should be fine.

In short I want to be able to do all the things we are told we cannot, and on top of that I want to be able still get the attention and love for it. I still, more then ever, want to be a PRO ATHLETE! (But unlike O.J.- if I got away with killing someone, I would not try to rob someone else in a Las Vegas hotel)

SEEING RED AGAIN...

March Madness is up to its usual tricks. With the basketball tournament under way millions of people are filling out brackets trying to prove to the world their sports knowledge reigns supreme. Trying to prove that they, not the sports experts seen on TV really know what is going on. Call me a skeptic, or maybe even cynical, but I was and have been for a number of years now one of those fans. Every year I fill out the bracket of 64 teams, and every time I finish I feel as if Sportcenter has nothing on me. I alone will get every team right.
There are many ways to choose. You can think you know the teams and what they are capable of. You can choose simply on which school your prefer, or who has the cuter mascot. There is also the theory that having a child, or significant other, or anyone on the outside fill it out for you. When it comes to football picks I know a man who puts dog treats on every team and what team his dog choose to remove the treat from is the team he puts his money on that week.



Being a long time particapent in this MADNESS I go with my gut...and love to see a good upset. As you can see though, my method does not seem to be working for me. Teams in red are teams that are eliminated, by the looks of it I am seeing just as much red as the national government when they look at the country's debt. Though there is one red I am hoping to see on top. Ohio State, known for their scarlet and gray colors, is my choice to win it all this year. Please Buckeyes...help me save some dignity and let me be able to say what all fans want to say when this tournament comes to and end- "I told you they would win it- I picked 'em in the beginning"

WHAT IS GOING ON ?!?

Every off-season in the NFL has shake ups and sideline stories galore, but this year it is a little out of hand; and I thought the Brett Favre soap opera last year was going to be a tough one to top.
First the Chargers cut one of the best running backs in the game over the past 5 at least years in LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson is a former league MVP and just flat out one of the best back in the league- STILL- regardless if he is 30. On top of that the Chargers sent out cornerback Antonio Cromartie to the JETS. That came after deciding to change their minds and hold on to there other running back Darren Sproles. Now why would you cut one of the best backs in the league and then on top of that cut his backup- completely throwing away the one of the best 1-2 back combinations in all of football.
The Chargers aren't the only one getting rid of key backs, the Eagles have said goodbye to Michael Westbrook, who again has been a crucial part of that team over the past years. And who is behind him, who will step in and take his place? LeSean McCoy, who will only be in his second year. I hope for his sake and the Eagles that there is no Sophomore Slump.
The Panthers...where do I begin. They haven't been all that great since they made the Super Bowl in 2004, so what do they do six years later? They cut their QUARTERBACK!
(as well as their best defensive player Julious Peppers) Granted Delhomme is not an elite QB in the league, but still who is his back up, and what are the Panthers going to do? Risk drafting a rookie and become the new LIONS/Laughing-stock of the league. Peppers went and signed with the Bears, with Urlacher and crew it will be pretty interesting to see what happens if the Bears and Panthers meet up.
Thinking of all the key players that became free agents this year, former Charger Tomlinson, former Jet Julious Jones, former Bill Terrell Owens- I would love to be a owner and capatilize on all the mistakes these teams are making right now.

On a side note...Favre was on Jay Leno this week and when Leno gave him a watch as a retirement gift Favre had only this to say..."I haven't made up my mind yet."