The Odd Stat of the Week

Issue: College basketball or the NBA - which direction are you going to go?

Short Answer: Neither.  Let's make this a truly "odd" stat.

Reasoning: I generally attempt to make my "Odd Stat of the Week" correspond with the sports that are being played right now.  Football is over and baseball is yet to begin (Major League baseball, that is - my little brother's Indiana University baseball team has about 10 games under their belts already.  Big leaguers are soft.).  As my faithful readers know, I hate the NBA, so I try not to ever write about it (mostly because I don't know, and don't care to know, much about it).  So, when my brother Casey (doesn't that guy ever work?) sent me a video link, I decided to run with it.

Squash is a sport I know nothing about.  I mean, it looks just like racquetball, but it's not called racquetball, right?  So, I decided to do a little research.  Problem is, when you type "squash" into google, you get mostly recipes.  That left me with Wikipedia, which I feel like using once is one too many times.  So, to eHow.com we go!  I went to eHow.com because they actually had an article on the differences between squash and racquetball, which is exactly what I wanted.  I'm not sure if eHow is correct or not, but I am going to ride it out (at least I tell you I'm not sure, rather than pawning off the information like I know it, right?).  Some of the differences:

1. The rackets - Racquetball rackets are shorter and wider in comparison to squash rackets. Racquetball rackets have a maximum allowable length of 22 inches and look like a small tennis racket, while squash rackets are up to 27 inches long and are similar in looks to a badminton racket.  Huge difference.  I think.
2. The ball - Squash balls are much smaller at 4 cm in diameter versus the 5.7 cm ball used in racquetball. The racquetball is made of rubber and carries momentum as it bounces around the walls, while the squash ball is denser and does not bounce as much.  Does that say "much smaller?"  Really?  4 cm vs. 5.7 cm is not "much" of anything.
3. The court - Allow me to paraphrase here: a racquetball court is bigger than a squash court.  In racquetball you can hit the ball anywhere you'd like, in squash there are areas you cannot hit the ball.  Basically, on the front wall in squash, there are lines designating where the ball must hit, and if it doesn't, the ball is not playable.  Basically, the court is the only REAL difference in the two sports.
4. The scoring - Squash is played to either 9 or 11.  Racquetball is played to 15.  Wow.  These sports are so crazy different.  Since I'm out of shape, it looks like I prefer squash.

The question now is, why the hell does anyone care?  Fair question.  The odd stat this week takes us into the bowels (no offense) of college athletics.  Yes, that's right, college squash.  I will give you a moment to stop laughing.  Done?  Turns out the Trinity College (it's in Hartford, Connecticut) squash team is pretty good.  They are good enough to have now won 244 matches in a row, including 13 straight national championships (they beat Yale last week for their 13th straight title).  Their last loss?  February 22, 1998.  This all coming from a college who plays in the NESCAC, which stands for New England Small College Association Conference.  Awesome.  The video posted below highlights the coach and the players of the longest streak in any sport, anywhere.  However, they may have a bloated view of themselves.  The video opens with one of the players stating "as everyone knows, Trinity is the best school in squash."  Uh, not so much.  Most people know nothing about squash.  Another player: "we get looked at like football players, in a sense, at other schools."  Well, when you go to a college that has less than 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students, and, is division III in all other sports, a squash team that brings home 13 straight national championships may get a little attention.  I do not want to discount this streak though.  It is as impressive, if not more impressive, than any streak I have ever seen.  But, it is squash.  Dang, I did it again.

B"Why?"U

Issue: Brandon Davies?

Short Answer: Yup.

Reasoning: In one of the most talked about stories in recent sports history, Brandon Davies, sophomore forward for the #3 ranked BYU Cougars, was suspended indefinitely from the team for having premarital sex with his girlfriend.  If you have been living in the vicinity of a quarry for the last week, yes, you read that correctly.  A 19-year old sophomore in college was suspended for having sex.  What's next?  Jail time for 5-year olds who are caught eating cookies?  Fines for 22-year olds nabbed sucking back a few (too many) beers?  Probation for little old ladies busted playing bingo?  Geez.  What is going on in Utah?

I have read, and heard, quite a few opinion pieces on this subject.  Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post writes a great one here.  Most of the opinions are that Davies has been screwed harder than Jenna Jameson.  In this situation, it is hard to argue that BYU has done the correct thing because a 19-year old kid's future may be at stake.  However, I believe BYU is being unfairly painted as the villain in this case.  See, BYU "exist[s] to provide an education in an atmosphere consistent with the ideals and principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."  I took that quote straight from BYU's website.  Part of ideals and principles of the Church are to "live a chaste and virtuous life."  Guess where I got that quote from?  And, if a student decides to not live a chaste and virtuous life, then that "may result in actions up to and including separation from the university."  No need to click on the link - it is, again, from the BYU website.  My point in quoting directly from BYU's honor code is to show that their virtues are not secret.  They didn't nail Davies on some loophole.  He committed an act that is well known to carry with it suspension from athletic teams and/or suspension from school - for better or for worse.  Davies knew what he was signing up for when he decided to attend BYU.  He knew that having sex with his girlfriend could cost him his career.  So then, who is to blame?

Here comes another "duck and cover" moment for me - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to blame.  I don't specifically mean the Church, but the failure of that Church to evolve with the times.  Folks, I think religion is one of the greatest institutions in the world.  I admire people who strongly believe in their faith, and do good things in the name of God.  However, religion in general has been passed over by society.  Religion refuses to evolve.  I found an interesting article detailing a list of sins in the Mormon religion.  Some of the highlights include:

• Anger, resentment, and ridicule are the same as murder.  Uh, dude, no they aren't.  I get that each are "sins," but c'mon.  Really?
• Lust is the same as adultery.  Again, not even close.  Lust is an emotion that humans cannot suppress.  What humans can do is not act on that lust - only then does it become adultery.
• Not loving your enemy is a sin.  What?  Seriously?  I do not love those who committed the acts of September 11, 2001, nor those who are set on destroying America.  And I never will.
• Worry is a sin.  Here again, the Church supposes that an emotion is a sin.  I am not a worrier, but I know plenty of people who are - parents especially.  So, if a parent worries about their child they are sinning?  How dare they.
• Anything of a prurient nature is a sin.  Premarital sex, masturbation, and contraceptives are all sins.  Well, it seems that some of us stand no chance.

Thousands of years ago (or hundreds in the case of Mormons), the above list may have been sins.  Today, not so much.  Times and people evolve.  I'm not sure why religion refuses to do so.  I guess I'm just not sure how abstaining from sex when you are 19-years old (or anytime you are unmarried) makes you a better person.  Or a more virtuous person.  Or a more holy person.  I think a 19-year old can learn more from actually having sex than he can from not having sex.  Having sex is a grown-up thing.  It can have grown-up consequences.  So, maybe it can help a young boy grown into a man.  Or, maybe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can use it to help end a young boy's promising career.  Which one is worse?

Charlie Sheen

Issue: He has been in two baseball movies (Major League 2 does not count), is that what this post is about?

Short Answer: No.

Reasoning: Charlie Sheen has been in the news a lot lately.  Something about how awesome he and his life are, and, how everyone else is jealous of him.  I don't care about celebrities at all, but, based on how popular reality television, US Weekly, People, and E! Television are, Charlie may not be that far off.  The greatest thing about people falling off the wagon (or, in Charlie's case, jumping back on - again) are the stories from the past that come to light.  Some of these stories are rehashed only because they are hilarious, others may have never been heard before.  And, a story I have never heard before, about Charlie Sheen, is why this post was written.

You see, Charlie Sheen is a big Cincinnati Reds fan (who knew?).  Martin Sheen, Charlie's father, was born in Dayton, Ohio, and lived there until he moved to California.  So, Charlie's first few years on earth were spent in Dayton - which is where his love for the Redlegs comes from.  Now, I'm not sure why a person would leave the utopia that is Dayton, Ohio either, but, some people just don't know a good thing when they have it (if you can't sense my sarcasm here, check your pulse, because you are dead).  The move seemed to have worked out well for both Sheens.  Whatever.  Like many others, Charlie didn't lose his love for his hometown team when he moved across the country.

Flash forward to the late 1980's - early 1990's, when, the Reds are actually good.  Charlie Sheen is a fairly prominent actor, having even starred in "Major League" as "Wild Thing" Ricky Vaughn ("Okay Vaughn.  They say you're a pitcher, you're sure not much of a dresser.  We wear caps and sleeves on this level, son.").  And this story ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer, which details (kind of) two absolute blow-out parties that Charlie Sheen threw for the Reds when they were in town playing the Dodgers.  I wonder if any of the early-90's Reds are just now having to answer for what supposedly went on at these parties?  In this day in age, your past is hard to hide.  Especially when the guy throwing the parties decides to go crazy 20 years later.

The funny thing is - I can totally picture this.  I can see Sheen with the Nasty Boys (Charlton, Myers, Dibble) going so far beyond sobriety that it's not even funny - Charlton especially.  I picture him, shirt off, twirling it around his head, screaming at Eric Davis and Billy Hatcher to drink more beer.  I picture even Sheen shaking his head at ol' Norm.  I picture Piniella in the corner, talking to no one, Budweiser in hand.  I can see Tom Browning and Joe Oliver drinking canned beer and telling each other hunting stories, both greatly exaggerating their kills.  And, if there were hookers there, I can see any and all of the players partaking in the festivities.  I am from the school of thought that famous people caught cheating are just the one's who are dumb enough to get caught.  That before the internet, and Facebook, and Twitter, and blah, blah, blah, things like this went on more than one would think.  Today, pictures from parties like this would be posted on some social networking site in real time.  I'm sure athletes today are jealous of athletes of yesteryear, i.e., the good ol' days, when a married athlete could have a hooker at Charlie Sheen's house and not have to worry about it become public knowledge in 3.6 seconds (not that I condone that sort of thing).

I can also picture the Reds' players faces today, 20 or so years after the parties actually took place, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, wondering how these parties are being talked about again.  Charlie Sheen strikes again.

An Editorial

Issue: Isn't your entire blog an editorial?

Short Answer: Details, details (i.e., I couldn't think of a better title for this post).

Reasoning: I am not what anyone would call a true "fan."  I spent most of my life playing baseball for what I considered some fairly good teams.  Hence, the only team I really ever rooted for, were teams that I was playing on.  Sure, I root for the Bengals and Reds, but I don't live and die with their wins or losses.  I would just rather see them win.  I also root for the Buckeyes because most of my family went there, and I root for the Yellow Jackets because I went there.  When any of these teams win, I am happy.  When any of these teams lose, it doesn't affect me one way or the other.  Like I said before, I am not a true fan.

Over the years of watching sports I have figured out there are only two situations in which I truly root for a team: 1) when I have money on the game (and, yes, sometimes I bet only to have a rooting interest in an otherwise lame-ass game); and 2) when that team is playing against the University of Cincinnati or the University of Georgia (the Pittsburgh Steelers too, but I already covered that here).  I believe situation #1 is self-explanatory, plus, I don't want to get into my gambling habits right here and now.  The second situation may need some further explanation (especially since I am from Cincinnati).  I didn't choose to hate either Cincinnati or Georgia - they made me do it.  See, I grew up in Cincinnati during the era of Bob Huggins and his 0% graduation rate (alright, maybe, just maybe, Keith Gregor graduated - I will have to check the records).  Huggins' teams of the 1990's were made up of some of the worst characters ever to grace a basketball court.  Kenyon Martin, Dontonio Wingfield, Art Long, Rueben Patterson, Melvin Levitt, Danny Fortson, Bobby Brannen, and Steve Logan are just some of the players I could not relate to, nor root for.  When I went to college in 1997, at the heart of the "Bengals-are-the-worst-team-in-the-NFL" era, most of the crap I took from the Georgians I played with was because I came from a city that put the Bearcats on the floor during the college basketball season.  Which, is not that surprising.  Let us also not forget the fact that UC finally had a good year in football in 2009 (1 in 100 or so isn't too bad, right?).  Since UC fans had no idea how to handle prosperity, they started sporting "Buckeye State" t-shirts where the "uc" in "Buckeye" was the UC emblem.  That's right, after Ohio State dominates football for 100 years in this state, UC fans claim the Bearcats have taken over after one good season, which will probably be their last good season.  Or one can hope.  Let's not forget that UC got embarrassed by Florida in the Sugar Bowl that year, and, of course, Ohio State beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl.  I could write for another week about my hatred for UC, however...

I hate the University of Georgia even more.  Now, this hatred comes more from playing against them for four years in college.  The truth is, I started hating Georgia because I went to Georgia Tech, and, well, we were supposed to hate them.  But, after playing against them a few times, especially in Athens, I learned that I really do hate them.  I can remember one game, at Georgia, that I was playing right field.  There were stands behind the right field fence where students would get drunk and rag on the right fielder (I'm convinced that was the ONLY reason they were there).  At other schools, I enjoyed this, because the fans were creative and funny (in fact, at Duke, they were making me laugh so hard I started talking to the fans behind the fence and they told me to come have a beer with them after the game - wish I could have).  Georgia students were not.  They came up with nothing new and nothing original (shocking, I know).  They did however almost hit me with a baseball (during the game) and chucked ice and beer cans on the field when they won the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.  The only solace I had is that we were better than them in every sport when I was there.  I remember leaving my house shortly after Thanksgiving dinner my senior year to drive 8 hours to Athens, so I could be at the GT v. UGA football game that Saturday.  My baseball teammates and I wore our GT letter jackets all around campus that weekend, thinking people would start trouble with us.  Not even close.  Not only did no one say anything to us, they did nothing after we beat the hell out of them in their own stadium, and, tore down the hedges that surround the field.  I.  Hate.  Georgia.  (Credit where credit is due: UGA does have a strip club literally across the street from campus (awesome when you are 19), and tons and tons of hot chicks (although, they go to Georgia, so they are also not smart (which can be good or bad, I guess)).

Some may wonder what prompted this post.  I had to find out a way to post the following picture of a typical University of Georgia fan.  Sick.

Go Dawgs!