Sports #48: The Superbowl - the only time of year you DVR something so you can skip to the commercials, not past them.
 

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Thanks for the new thread, Michelle...

And thanks for the great title, Shelby! :D

Thanks for thread!!

Brought this in from the last thread:

Blake Griffin was born in OKC (which is why it would've been awesome if the Thunder had somehow gotten him) and he went to a private school called Oklahoma Christian School where his coach was his dad Tommy, and his brother Taylor was his teammate.

Fun Fact #1: From what I've read, he wasn't considering OU at all until his brother sold him on coming to play as his teammate again.

Fun Fact #2: In high school, he was friends with one Sam Bradford, star QB.

Fun Fact #3: His school won 4 straight state titles while he was there.

Yes, I really wonder what Bob Bradley is feeling right now. Even Michael for that matter, knowing where his father coaches and how that easily could have been him.

This rioting is ridiculous and such a severe problem that needs addressed. The soccer world is out of control in this way. I even see how parents get rabid and weird in traveling soccer! I played both soccer and basketball and never once did I feel nervous or pressured while playing basketball. The families were supportive and fun, everything get on so smoothly. That was not the case for soccer. Some parents were kicked out of games, got upset with their children, there was a tension, a pressure constantly. I see it all the more now while watching my nieces games. I love the sport but there's something about it that makes people go crazy!

Wow, such a great story! :)

How many years did he play for OU?

Parents definitely go crazy! I remember years ago at one of my son's club soccer games..one of our parents actually got into a fight with one of the opposing players! In the middle of the field! The team composed themselves better than this dad! Unbelievable!
This prompted my son to declare that these games are no place for parents! :lol:

:lol: Honestly, he is absolutely right! I remember telling a teammate that it's difficult enough for us players to perform on the field, let alone worrying about what the stupid fans are going to pull.

I think here in America because soccer is such a middle to upper class sport, you are also dealing with egos and "class" as well. My niece, Anna, dislikes 90% of her teammates off the field. I think I am even being generous with the 10%. She finds so many of them stuck up and superficial. She hangs off the field with 2 girls and merely puts up with everyone else. I was the same way. I was close friends with very few girls throughout my traveling soccer career and a couple more in high school. I couldn't stand so many of them... so full of themselves. Even the parents had the nice groups and status crap going on. My parents always stayed out of that ridiculous stuff and were nice to everyone but in private they constantly complained!

Parents god help me if I ever become one of those crazy sport parents. I love sports but i could never see myself becoming as insanely invested as some parents do with their kids sporting events. Yes I will support them and go to every game and if they want help I will help but I'm never going to be one of those crazy moms taking stats for a 5 year olds scrimmage. It's insane!!!! They are kids!

Exactly. I absolutely cannot stand it.

He played two years for OU. Once Taylor graduated, he declared for the draft.

Ya'll hear about Kevin Durant dissing Griffen's dunk? A lot of people are upset with him for that but(I cant believe Im about to take up for a Wronghorn) I kinda like that he stepped up and did that. One, he is supporting his teammate in Perkins by saying Im not going to celebrate something that was a negative to my team mate and team and Two he is a Wronghorn after all and rivalry runs deep him and Griff were on opposite sides of the OU/UT Rivalry.

That's great. Do you think he could have gone one only and still received a good draft pick or was two about right on?

Luck

I just read this quote on espn:

Am I being too critical or does this sound super arrogant on his end? His thoughts rub me the wrong way. He hasn't proven A THING in the NFL yet. NOTHING. Yet, he's talking about "co-existing" with Manning, a future Hall of Fame Quarterback, maybe the best who ever played that position? I can't believe the thoughts here. He should shut up. He hasn't even been drafted officially by Indy yet.

ETA: I actually credit Durant for sticking up for his teammate. I like the loyalty.

Luck
Eh to me it doesnt rub me the wrong way he didnt say he thought he was better than Manning just that he wants to play right away. I for one dont want to draft a QB i.e. Leader of my team that doesnt WANT to play right away.

Texas Fun
Today is realignment day in texas.....and yeah it matters. My facebook feed is filed up with it and ive gotten texts all day about the shockers oooooo the things we get excited about down here. Football matters.

Yes, perhaps class was involved and also ethnicity. Many of the teams that my boys played were from Northern Jersey towns that had large immigrant populations. These kids were either sons of immigrants or immigrants themselves. The City of Newark has a area called the "Ironbound District". It is made up of a huge Portugese population. (great restaurants!!). Their players were fantastic (part of their culture)..but we held our own against them.
Anyway....this one particular dad from our team didn't like the way this one Ironbound kid was contantly fouling his son. The ref was not calling it and this dad got so frustrated that at the end of the match...ran up to the field and physical grabbed this player! The other dads and the ref had to physically pull him away! :eek:

I think some parents (like the dad above) have personality issues...huge tempers! I hope that we would have more self control!

Luck
Went to find the article you posted that quote from just to make sure my assumptions werent wrong and in same article Luck says this :
Thats ^^^ what I was saying Luck isnt being pretentious he knows that he isnt going to replace Peyton he is just saying he wants to play right away....who doesnt want to play right away.

Crazed Parents
Yeah and I think some parents just lose site of the fact its their kids lives...its their game and instead are trying to relive their glory days through their kids. This in turn makes them into these crazy competitive overbearing parents that don't know when to stop.

Can it be Sunday already?

Luck

It doesn't rub me the wrong way because he's being honest. Personally, I think he's more talented than Andy Dalton, and Dalton came in and would probably have been rookie of the year if it wasn't for Cam Newton (another rookie). Seeing those guys do it that quickly has to add to his desire to play right off the bat.

Durant

I have a problem with what he said because I don't think he's being honest. He basically said that it wasn't that good of a dunk, and that if someone on his team had done it no one would care. That's just patently untrue. Everyone went nuts about his dunk on Brendan Haywood last year in the playoffs. If he'd just been defending his teammate without putting down the awesomeness of the play, then I'd have had no problem with it. As it is, it kinda sounds crybaby-ish.

Griffin

Well, the top five picks of 2008 (which would have been when Griffin was in the draft if he came out a year earlier) went like this:

1. Derrick Rose
2. Michael Beasley
3. OJ Mayo
4. Russell Westbrook
5. Kevin Love

Now, after Griffin's freshman season he was getting accolades. He was on the All Big XII rookie team and all Big XII team. He was expected to be a lottery pick, but I doubt he's have pushed Rose off the mountaintop. He may not have even been able to knock Beasley out of the 2 spot, considering how much people liked him back then. Contrast that with his sophomore season, where he became the only player in OU history to win all six major player of the year awards and he was the Big XII player of the year, the SI player of the year, the FOX Sports player of the year, and the Sporting News player of the year. That all led to a top 5 that looked like this in 2009.

1. Blake Griffin
2. Hasheem Thabeet
3. James Harden
4. Tyreke Evans
5. Ricky Rubio

On one hand, I kinda wish he had come out after his first season, because there's a good chance that he'd have fallen to OKC at 4, and although Westbrook is a good player, there's no way they'd pass up the chance to bring in a hometown boy at that pick. On the other hand, if he hadn't had that extra year of seasoning in the college ranks, he may not have turned out as good as he is now, so it's probably better that he stayed.

Luck
Agreed Alan, he has talent and he is confident in that theres nothing wrong with that in fact its encouraged. Confidence is good just dont let it turn into cockyness which is something that I dont think we have to worry about with Luck.

Durant
See everything in me screams to take that route and hate him for it too....I cant stand his wronghorn ties afterall....but I dig the loyalty. The interview i saw with it he said something along the lines of "yeah if it wasnt against us I probably would have gotten excited over it but since it hurt our team im not going to celebrate it" so yeah part of it may be a little cry babyish but the reasoning behind it is something that rare in the NBA and thats why the Thunder are so good this year they have that team unity.

The quote I read was this one:
To me, that's downgrading the play and disrespecting Griffin. He did backpedal somewhat and say that he would probably have appreciated it if it hadn't been against his team. I'd have been fine with him saying that, but the original quote was ludicrous.

P.S. Griffin would've had a similar dunk against Durant earlier in that game, but Durant just moved out of the way instead of challenging the shot.

I said Durant was being crybaby-ish because of this quote:
First of all, his dunk over Haywood was frequently called 'the best dunk of the playoffs,' and second I'm always seeing Westbrook to Durant (and vice versa) plays on Sportscenter. Maybe the Thunder aren't as featured as the Lakers or Chicago or Miami, but that's how it is for an upstart team. They are well on their way to establishing themselves as a perennial contender, and in my eyes they are at least close to being on par with the Bulls, but it's just the nature of being in a small market to be farther down the line when it comes to respect.

Oh, for the record, I'm more in agreement with an agreed upon dunk master, Vince Carter, and his thoughts on the play:

Durant

This is the quote Im referring too all from same article:
So I respect his stance on this ^^ But I do agree him whining about the Thunder not getting the media attention they deserve is being a cry baby and its annoying. The Thunder are a good team probably the best of season so far but OKC isnt a big market so they just have to deal with that....last time I heard him talk about it he liked being in a smaller market because he got to stay out of the lime light. Now he is whining about it, just pick a side!

Luck

Thanks for showing me the entire article. I actually took that from a few highlighted quotes. Media manipulation I tell you! LOL.

Something about that situation still bothers me and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe I just have such respect for Peyton Manning that I am bothered that he might be chucked out even if that's technically not how it will go down.

Wow! :lol: That is so insane.

Very interesting about your situation in Northern Jersey. Yes, we didn't have that in Ohio/Minnesota. White, white white middle to upper class, even now!

I know it can be rabid in any sport but in my experience, it's soccer the most. It was a pleasure playing basketball. The parents were so down to earth, I LOVED EVERYONE on my teams, it was the best. I also remember talking to a teammate/friend (African American) asking her why she didn't take up soccer because her athletic ability was phenomenal. She told me her family couldn't afford it... she said it was okay because basketball was the sport that would give her a scholarship and she was right on! She got a full ride and had a phenomenal career. :)

My sister was good friends with one of the mom's on Anna's team. She was new, her girl just made the team last night. Now? Kris can't stand her! Her head is as full as a stuffed turkey, she is loud, arrogant, carrying on constantly both on and off the field. Kris hangs with the more down to earth mom's who happen to be the mother's of the daughter's Anna hangs with. LOL

There are definitely parents like that! They are loud, opinionated...even knock other kids on the team. I hate that!



Clint and his beautiful family....:)



http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/Ne...pseyDiary.aspx





ETA: http://www.mlssoccer.com/blog/post/2...-marches-egypt

Yep that's why I never trust quotes without seeing the full article. People will try and skew words into anything they can that will get attention.

Definitely.

Still, something bothers me like I said. I have seen Luck in interviews and feel a little put off. I have to stop that though because I haven't seen enough to really know what I think of him personally. I just find it completely ridiculous that everyone is crowning him as the next King when he hasn't played even a down of pro football yet. Look at Aikman, Elway, Montana... all the great QBs... they were crap initially.

It is really annoying. My sister and Anna roomed with that mom and daughter during the first tournament last season in Iowa. They all got along great. But then as the months progressed, both the mother and daughter developed chips in their shoulders and slowly Kris and Anna pulled away. Anna even has homeroom with the girl. Her name is Kennedy. They barely speak. Hi and that's about it.

Awe! Both children has his startling eyes. :)

I completely agree with this poster: