Not quite this well. :)
This Is Where I Surfed In High School
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Category Archives: Sports
What I Learned From Watching The World Cup
- It’s Kylian, not Killian.
- It really is a “beautiful game” when five one touch passes end in a Di María goal for the ages.
- The best leaders sublimate their egos for the greater good. Macron should never have inserted himself into the French players post-game funk.
- Only seven months until the Women’s 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Mike Leach
“After a loss to Oklahoma State in 2007, Leach said of his defense: ‘The entire first half we got hit in the mouth and acted like somebody took our lunch money. All we wanted to do was have pouty expressions on our face until somebody dabbed our little tears off and made us (expletive) feel better. And then we’d go out there and try harder once our mommies told us we were OK.'”
Sentence To Ponder
“The Broncos have Wilson on the books for about $295 million over the next seven seasons.”
Kyrie ‘Apologizes’ Again
Or tries. Maybe he should hire me to oversee his public relations. Here’s what I would’ve had him read.
“When I said the earth was flat, you thought I was joking, but I wasn’t. That should of been a sign. The year I spent in college, I rarely went to class. Who needs Earth Science or Twentieth Century History in the League? Employ me to quarterback your professional basketball team at your own risk.”
I Tutored The NFL’s Single-Game Receiving Record Holder
It’s 1985 and I’m a UCLA graduate student making big bucks working for the athletic department as a tutor for “Intro to Western Civilization”.
I was helping a potpourri of athletes including an Olympic gymnast from Mexico, a female swimmer (too attractive, hard to concentrate), a future NBA all-star, and a handful of football players. One of whom was the star wide receiver. The others, including Flipper Anderson from New Jersey, were having moderate success in his shadow.
In an effort to build rapport, I asked them what they planned to do after graduating. I almost lost Flipper right out of the gate. He chuckled at my stupidity. “Play in the league man.”
Inside, I marveled at his swagger. He was so slight, Chris Rock-like, maybe 165 pounds soaking wet. No way in the world I thought, just another out-of-touch athlete. But there was one thing I couldn’t see that first night in the athletic office. He was a serious burner.
Not only did he play ten years in the NFL, he still holds the record for the most receiving yards in a single game. 336 yards. The story is detailed here.
Never judge a book by its cover.
The Whole Enchilada
Badass personified.
Sports Therapist For Hire
Versus a traditional sports psychologist whose primary objective is improved individual performance. A sports therapist strives to help players in team sports get along with one another. Which, in theory, should translate into improved team play.
Given the number of professional basketball players with mental health challenges, why don’t NBA teams have sports therapists on their staffs? Or maybe they do already?
No one should expect Steve Nash to figure out what’s going on in Ben Simmons’ and Kyrie Irving’s heads (and hearts). In fact, the New Jersey Nets should have a few sports therapists who specialize in working with elite athletes on their staff.
Related. The Los Angeles Lakers want to bring Russell Westbrook off the bench. Which raises the already high odds that the Lakers-Westbrook divorce is going to be a doozy. Yes, you are correct, there’s been plenty of Russ drama already, but buckle up for more. The Lakers put the “fun” in dysfunction.
Another prediction. The revamped Lakers will spend the season looking WAY up at Golden State and Denver. Bold, I know.
Molly Seidel—A Case Study For Our Times
Things aren’t always as they appear. Or maybe that saying needs updating. . . things rarely are as they appear.
Case in point, Molly Seidel, Olympic medalist, who is especially ebullient in public.
From Runner’s World, “Molly Seidel Want You to Know That She Still Struggles.”
Another reason to error on the side of kindness.
Inspire Vapidness
When it comes to the written word, I cherish brevity. Friday night after dinner I was watching television downstairs while the Good Wife, the good daughters, and Meg, the Eldest’s good partner, were all upstairs in the kitchen cackling about, as it turned out, Meg mindlessly putting the Gal Pal’s last puzzle piece in the jigsaw The Good Wife had been working on for three months. Among other things.
So I decided to write a story about the evening from my downstairs perspective. I couldn’t really make out their dialogue, so I improvised. Ready?
“And hilarity ensued.”
Pretty damn good, huh?! My story left the Good Wife perplexed. I admitted it lacked character development, but that wasn’t enough of a concession for her. She said a story has to have a beginning, middle, and end. I will not be boxed in, so I will not be rewriting it.
So I suppose I should give the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers some credit for their brevity, but their back of helmet two-word slogan, “Inspire Change”, couldn’t be more vapid.
What’s wrong with “Inspire Change”? First and foremost, it’s hella vague. What kind of change exactly are we to inspire? Heaven help us if it’s Florida-DeSantis change. Without specifying, are we to assume it’s change just for the sake of change? If that’s the case, the Bucs need not worry because change is INEVITABLE. Thus making the slogan utterly unnecessary.
Bonus football observation from the second half of Sunday’s Seattle Seahawks-Detroit Lions shootout. Apparently, to play tight end in the NFL it’s not enough to be 6’6″, run like the wind, and have great hands. You also have to have REALLY long hair. Who knew?
