Because I Don't Want to Talk About the Economy Anymore

A lot of professional sports writers (i.e. not me) have creative names for columns in which they share their thoughts in a fairly randomized order. Me? I write two lines of introduction, then tell you I'm going to insert bullet points and write about how ever many sports and non-sports items I can think of in thirty minutes or less. And away we go...

• I purposely did not write a follow-up after Virginia Tech's victory at North Carolina a few weeks back for a number of reasons: 1) I am clearly in an awkward situation given my life-long loyalty to Carolina and current employment at VT. 2) The loss hurt really bad as football losses go, so forcing myself to rehash a choke job by the Heels was not high on the priority list. 3) Given the fact that I made it 1/4 of the way into Lee Pace's "Extra Points" column on TarHeelBlue.com following the game and nearly teared up reading how much the loss hurt Mark Paschal, I thought it was a bit trite to discuss how much the loss hurt for Carolina fans. Because as much as you think it hurts you, multiply by 311 and you get the pain the players and coaches feel.
• However, the win at Miami this past weekend was pretty much the polar opposite. A gleeful, surprising, "I just found $100 in my pants pocket" kind of win. Reading this week about Cam Sexton's plight the past two seasons has done two things: 1) make me really like and respect the guy; and 2) make me feel really bad for passing him off as a failure. I sure hope he keeps it up, for the team's sake, and his as a person.
• The coolest part about Cam Sexton is his perspective. I'm not saying he has it all together as a 22 year-old college student, but his faith does seem to play a big part of things for him. His rather subdued reactions following the two TD passes and quick references to being "blessed" are signs of maturity as a man, in my opinion.
• Last Carolina football thought - I left the VT game really down. But, on my loooooong drive back to Blacksburg, it occurred to me that even without TJ Yates, I thought this was an 8 win football team. And I still believe that. The Heels are actually pretty decent. Not great, but solid. Thanks Butch. Now go beat UCONN.
• The MLB Playoffs have started. The picks, as emailed to a buddy this afternoon: Phillies in 4, Dodgers in 5, Angels in 4, White Sox in 4; Dodgers in 6, Angels in 6; Angels in 6.
• I'm very tempted to pick the White Sox to go further, but I'm resisting. John Danks is my newest MLB pitching ManCrush.
• However, I have one HUGE problem with the MLB Playoffs: TBS. I think Ernie Johnson, for my money the best studio host in sports, sits in the studio with Cal Ripken Jr and Dennis Eckersley and thinks to himself, "I'm getting paid how much for this again?" Ripken is not great, but Eck...oh man, Eck. You had a heckuva pitching career sir. Hall of Famer, no doubt. Your broadcasting career? Awesomeness...in bizarro world. Please just find one camera and look at it when you're talking, cause the "deer in the headlights, look from camera to camera and hope you find the right one at some point" thing is not working. Plus, the games themselves are frequently covered by guys we have not heard do baseball all year. I love John Smoltz and Dick Stockton, but they are not the baseball voices of this generation. Not only does it wig me out during live games, but makes the sound bytes that go down in history lacking in goosebumps. I think I ranted about this at some point last year following the Rockies/Diamondbacks playoff game, but it is still bothering me.
• In other news, the Braves' season has mercifully come to an end. Thank you Jesus.
• Speaking of deer in headlights, there are a number of deer who live around my new hood on the north side of Blacksburg. In fact, one of them almost got a Toyota 4-Runner tattoo the other night. Sweet dinner that would have been on the new grill.
• This past weekend, I had the chance to fly out to the VT vs Nebraska football game with our team. Great experience, topped off by the Nebraska fans. They actually thanked us for coming. And that was after the Hokies beat them. Classy, polite, and football smart.
• Nebraska is flat and has A LOT of corn.
• SportsCenter just told me that the Detroit Shock and San Antonio Silver Stars are playing in the WNBA Finals. Not only did I not know this prior to a minute ago, but I had no idea that San Antonio had a WNBA team, much less the nickname of said team. Somebody call me when Jessica Alba decides to play.
• Congrats to the Hokie Diamond Thugs for going back-to-back.
• I was glued to the Redskins vs Cowboys game on Sunday afternoon, though slightly delirious after arriving back home at 4:30am Sunday morning from our trip. A terrific gameplan well-executed by my Dad's old favorite team, the 'Skins. On the other hand, TO is whining this week. Not to give him too much credit, because I do not at all think he is intentionally doing this, but...his antics are putting the spotlight squarely on him and not on the other flaws in Dallas' squad. Not much has been said about their inability to stop Santana Moss (over the last three years), lack of pressure on Jason Campbell, or failure to close out an opponent, which is a good thing for the team as it allows adjustments to be made out of the spotlight.
• I'm enjoying watching the Buffalo Bills succeed this year. Many moons ago, as a young and impressionable lad, I took a liking to the Bills. The following season, the Bills made their first Super Bowl and my fanmanship commenced in full force. Four Super Bowl losses later, it was still strong. Of course, once the Panthers came into the league, they became my team and the Bills had to take a backseat eventually. But, they still hold a fond place in my sports heart. Let's Go Buff-a-lo.
• Shhhh, it's getting kind of close to basketball season. But keep it on the DL, I don't want people getting all worked up yet.
• I have decided that Tootsie Rolls and sushi are my two favorite foods right now not named peanuts. I think I started eating Tootsie Rolls when I was about 3 years old in the backyard. Oh, what? That wasn't a Tootsie Roll? Maybe that explains why Brilla got so mad at me. Anyway, sushi started in college, but did not set in full-force until a few months ago. Now it's a once-a-week thing. And it's good for you. Unbelievable. And we've reached the breaking point on blog topics, so...
• Alright folks, enjoy post-season baseball, a good weekend of college football, and the 100 Greatest Hip-Hop songs of all-time countdown on VH1. We'll analyze that list at some point soon I'm sure. For now, in honor of number one, lemme hear ya say...

Fight the Power