Where is the Lov(ie)?

In Chicago, where people take their sports teams quite seriously and Da Bears are coming off a 5-9 season, fans are up in arms over the Bears’ losing streak of a season calling for the imminent departure of head coach Lovie Smith. Then again, fans were quick to dismiss former starting QB Rex Grossman and that resulted in his eventually getting traded for Cutler, who in my mind is actually a downgrade. Let’s hope there is some love left for Lovie and that the Bears’ management reconsiders.

Drastic, knee-jerk responses aside, my mind is still a whirl coming off of last night’s Colts game where the undefeated team basically threw the game against the Jets, benching all of their starting players in the second half and succumbing to their first loss of the season against a team that was 7-7. Perhaps the NFL needs to investigate this loss further. I’ve never seen Peyton look so bereft.

Here’s hoping Brett Favre and his Vikings go a long way this season, but maybe tonight they can take a back seat to Lovie.

Ilana Donna Goes Biking For Sport

Who knew that people can function at 4:30 AM…Let alone get up that early on a weekend to bike 100 miles all in the name of social mingling.

Welcome to the Jungle: The 2008 Olympics One

The 2008 Beijing Olympics began yesterday with opening ceremonies airing in the U.S. last night.

Whatever your brand of politics might be with regards to China’s questionable treatment of its own citizens and those of Darfur, it was an impressive and tastefully done spectacle - up until the very end with some Chinese air gymnast engaging in some bizarre gravity-defying stunts. Huh? Well, I told myself that was a cultural thing, much like the appeal of campy Japanese game shows which if anything dictates that Kabuki theatre will never be entirely phased out.

But back to China and the Olympics and its opening ceremony.

Politics was in the air (the very polluted Beijing air) last night. Costumed Chinese soldiers did their android marches evoking an era less reminiscent of the futuristic feel of Blade Runner and more befitting of Mao’s China or a Mel Brook’s production mocking Germany of yesteryear.

Only today’s China isn’t some silly movie that ends rather disappointingly after a 2 hours of build-up nor are its visuals of devastation - from the 1.5 millions displaced peoples whose mere existence was inconvenient for new Olympics construction to the percentage of those very people who were then forced into a life of migrant work and hard labor at their own expense just so we could all cheer for a cute little kid rescued from an earthquake in Sichuan and feel better about ourselves for endorsing a country who’s so hard-pressed to find a symbol of hope that they have to dig out a 5-year-old from an earthquake who isn’t quite old enough to question the ways of his country to be their mascot.

The ceremony left audiences with an everlasting reminder that however fashionably forward China’s Capitalist pretense may be in the global community, at heart they remain true to their Communist doctrines. These principles do little to win public opinion, mind you. In the days and weeks leading up the Olympics, perhaps the most critical network to air coverage of the event was the one that dumped the most moola and has the most invested in its success.

Still, NBC is stuck with the Olympics. We’re not. Which means we can decide to change the channel, but unfortunately, can’t turn a blind eye to the goings-on in China. I decided not to change the channel last night. “It’s better to know and be cognizant,” I told myself.

Besides, the place our imaginations take us is far darker than what our eyes will allow us to see. Or is it?

Beijing 2008- The Sad Olyimpics

The entire world will be amazed by the beauty of China, and exited with the beginning of the Olympics. I won’t. Not that I don’t like sports, nor was I born yesterday to this cynical-material world, but every day we discover more and more about how the Chinese government managed to pull this production on the backs of it’s poor people, the less I’m inclined to actually watch the games. NBC, who paid $894 million for the US broadcast rights, will show the Olympics no meter what. Here and there, we’ll see an item on the news that gently criticize the Chinese actions, but it disappears between Matt Lauer reporting for the Today Show, and Billy Bush getting a foot massage for $25 in Beijing.

Money talks, as the Chinese and we know, so what are a few million people whose homes were demolished in favor of a shiny stadium? Or a few millions more who are left to starve because they are not allowed to water their rice fields, comparing to Coca-Cola TV commercial?

So, I’m not so exited about the games. Maybe I’ll watch it a little bit, but no more than that.

Manny’s Out

About f@#$ing time.
Ramirez bit the hand that fed him so well throughout the last 8 seasons. And no, he is not a great player because you can not be great at something you do not respect, and Manny mocked the Red Sox management, players, fans, and baseball in general. Joe Torres & the LA Dodgers may think they are ready for Manny, but the jury’s out as to whether it will be Dr. Manny or Mr. Ramirez who doesn’t show up for a game.

Sprewell In Trouble

It was very saddening to hear that former NBA star Latrell Sprewell lost his home, like many others, to foreclosure on Monday.
AOL Sport’s Matt Watson put it in perspective:

I know the automatic reaction among fans is to point and laugh at the silly athlete who didn’t know how to manage his money, but there’s nothing funny about foreclosure. I’m in the process of buying a house, and over half of the houses I walked through were both empty and in a sad state of disrepair as a result of frustrated owners taking it out on their property before losing it to foreclosure, which is becoming a sad trend in my state. After awhile, it’s just depressing.

Kobe Vs. KG

Last weeks Sports Illustrated cover featured Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, expressing what I think is many Basketball fans’ fantasy, to see the Lakers and the Celtics, head to head, in the finales. As a Lakers fan, who lives in Boston, and as a result is also a Celtics fan(…) And is old enough to remember the great rivalry from the 80′, I can say that it will be a dream come true. I’m sure that Lebron and Tim Duncan will have something to say about SI’s selection of championship material, so we’ll have to wait and see, but so far this year’s Playoffs looks very promising.

Can They Make History?

Superbowl!!! Superbowl!!! After all that’s been said and done, now it’s time to put everything aside.Tonight’s the night. Superbowl 42 is Football history in the making. The Giants are no wallflowers, they come to play the NFL biggest game and win. I think the Patriots understand this, but not so much the fans. If both teams play at their best, the Giants will lose, but we can’t count on that. I also think it will all come up to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, and will be determined by a field goal or a single touchdown.

So for the last time this season GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!

No Jinx Allowed

I hate when people put the cart before the horse. The New England Patriots are favorites to win Superbowl 2008 over the New York Giants, with more then 12 points spread. That’s fine by me, and if you want to bet on the game, I’m OK with that too. What I don’t like, is that the city of Boston is already making preparations for the Pat’s victory parade. Excuse me, I am a Pat’s fan and live in Boston, but this parade is what you will find if you open the dictionary in the word Arrogance. Not to mention that they plan the event to take place on Tuesday, that happens to be Super Tuesday, where people are expected, and being encouraged to go and vote in the presidential primary elections. In general, there is too much Non-Football related stuff going on with the Patriots in the last couple of weeks, and the biggest beneficiary are the Giants, who get all the peace and quiet they need. Let’s just hope that all this parade BS will not jinx us, and that the Pat’s will win the game.
I really wanted this post to be about politics, but what can I do, even Boston’s Mayor Menino knows, that Football is more interesting…

They Did It-Part One (?)

16 and 0 don’t come easy. But last night, after a nerve-racking game, the Pats managed to beat the Giants 38-35, and with that, to break a few records (including 16-0 perfect regular season and 589 points - the most a team has ever made in one season, 50 TD passes by Tom Brady, and Randy Moss broke the TD receptions record) All of that is great, but won’t count for much if the Pats don’t make it to the Superbowl and win it.