Thursday, February 14, 2008

Random Thoughts

Random thoughts on a Thursday night in the HGH capital of the world, Houston, Texas…

I am so tired already of the Roger Clemens imbroglio. He used performance-enhancing drugs, then lied about it. He made a fool of himself in front of a congressional committee. But, that’s the least of my problems with the whole situation. Why is Congress getting involved with this in the first place? This whole investigation is a huge waste of time by Congress. I don’t know who the bigger fool is: Roger Clemens, or Henry Waxman?

While on the subject of politicians investigating athletics, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) is chasing down NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and New England Patriots personnel in an investigation of the Patriots’ videotaping practices. Specter is ultimately trying to prove that the Patriots somehow cheated to beat the Eagles in a Super Bowl. Doesn’t a United States senator in the minority party have better things to do than to investigate an NFL team? I’m no fan of the Patriots, but Specter is wasting his time.

From the More Bars In More Places Dept.: Kelvin Sampson left OU in a quandary after being caught making 500 phone calls to recruits, against NCAA regulations. Now, he has Indiana in trouble with the NCAA for more illegal phone calls. Fresh off serving a one-year suspension from off-campus recruiting, Sampson is being charged with making an excess amount of phone calls to recruits. He’s at freaking Indiana! That’s like being the football coach at OU. He shouldn’t have to cheat to win there. To put a cherry on top of the sundae, he is also charged with lying to NCAA investigators. There’s a very good chance that Sampson will be fired after this season, and will be banished from the world of big-time college basketball. I hope he’s invested well, because he and his wife will need to live on it. For what it’s worth, I’m glad he’s no longer in Norman.

Enough for now. Remember: HGH really stands for Houston Growth Hormone…

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Think Pink


The author of this blog is not one to embrace symbolism in favor of causes. I've never worn a ribbon of any color for any cause. However, an innovative promotion has caught fire this week in the world of college basketball, one that I think is cool.

This is "Think Pink" week. Basketball teams throughout the country are promoting breast cancer awareness in various ways. A lot of women's teams are wearing pink uniforms for this event, as Georgia did on Sunday against LSU. Home teams are sponsoring "pink-outs", encouraging fans to wear pink to games. Even the men are getting in on the act, with some teams wearing pink shoestrings and some coaches wearing pink ties.

I don't think these uniforms are ugly. While they wouldn't look good on me, I think they look pretty good.

This is a great idea. In the women's game, it helps bring attention to the cause of breast cancer awareness, and also helps promote women's basketball. Teams wearing pink jerseys won't directly cure breast cancer. However, this serves the purpose of promoting the prevention of breast cancer and research for a cure. It is a noble and worthy promotion.