Not all who wander are lost...

 
PLAYMAKERS...

Like every other ESPN-watching human being, the past few weeks have seen me drowned in promos for the network's "groundbreaking" new drama, Playmakers. While The Sports Guy reviews the first two episodes here, riddle me this...

The promos have shown us professional football players galavanting around doing everything from using steroids, cheating on their wives and/or sleeping with multiple women to paralyzing other players with rough play, and getting into trouble with the law over drugs. Plus, we've seen team doctors putting the demands of their team ahead of their Hypocratic Oath.

What I want to know is... how is this different from the average, run-of-the-mill stories we see on Sportscenter every night?
posted by Sean McMahon at 1:53 PM

 
YET ANOTHER REASON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION INVADED IRAQ...

So the country wouldn't be focusing on corruption like this.
posted by Sean McMahon at 10:35 AM

 
AHH... WILLIAMSPORT

One of my favorite sporting events every year is the Little League World Series. Loads of alleged "pre-teens" take the field and live out their baseball fantasies in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Trust me... EVERY kid who plays Little League baseball dreams of finishing their season at the friendly confines of Jake Lamade Stadium.

I was an All-Star when I was twelve and can still remember the meeting the coaches, players and parents held after the selections were announced. Back then, no team from my town (Carlsbad, CA) had ever made it out of the San Diego regional, much less qualified for state playoffs, or the World Series. The coaches were explaining to everyone how the next two weeks would be busy with daily practices, and weekends full of games. Notice how I said "daily practices". One practice, two or three hours long, that's it. None of this two practices, a bazillion hours a day that these crazy kids are forced to practice now. The team tended to hang out together, but we'd dust up the diamond, then break loose and play hoops or head for the beach. It was summer, and we were, afterall kids! But I digress.

As the meeting drew to a close, one of the parents asked how long they should expect the All-Star tournaments to last. Coach Ted Stearns replied rather sheepishly, "Well, we could take this thing all the way to Williamsport!" That's when the gravity of the situation hit all of us. In years past, my friends and I would gather around the television once a year and watch the championship game. This was back when they TV networks only showed one game, so we all looked forward to seeing which U.S. city had advanced to the final. In that stunning moment, the adults and kids at that meeting realized immediately that this was our shot. Maybe, just maybe, we were embarking on a magical journey. And if we were lucky, maybe we could be the team. The one team to earn the right to be thrashed 10-0 by the "kids" from Chinese Tai-pei.

But of course... we weren't. We did do really well though. We rolled through the Area tournament, then got torched in the District by the mustachioed men of Temecula, California. We had one guy with a peach fuzz on our team. The "boys" from Temecula kept shaving cream in the dugout so they could shave between innings. It was an ugly loss.

And now another Little League World Series is winding down. While it somewhat bothers me that so many of the games are now televised on ESPN, I watch them anyway. Last night, the Boston Red Sox wild card race showdown with the Oakland A's on ESPN went head-to-head with the Chandler, Arizona-Boynton Beach, Florida Little League World Series match-up on ESPN2. I watched the kids. They may not know how to slide properly, and they might not be able to perfectly execute a bunt, but I watch the kids because they try. I watch because when they fail, they care.

After the Red Sox-A's game, ESPN broadcast the Atlanta Braves - San Francisco Giants game from the West Coast. With the score 1-0, Barry Bonds hit a ground ball, into the Bonds shift, with a runner on first. In what was the first 6-5-3 double play I have ever scene, Bonds was thrown out at third. In live action, and during the replay, it was obvious Bonds had slowed down before he reached first base. The replay also showed that Bonds had clearly beaten the throw. As announcer, Tony Gwynn, made an excuse for Bonds, justifying easing up as "injury prevention". It was disgusting. Is it really too much to ask of a superstar that he leg out a ground ball? I flipped back to ESPN2, only to remember that the Little League was ovre and the kids were likely tucked into bed. It's a good thing too. I wouldn't have wanted them to see the slacking Bonds. No Major Leaguer should ever slack like that.

MLB and the LLWS go head-to-head again tonight. My television will be tuned to Pennsylvania, because I know no Little Leaguer EVER slacks like that in Williamsport.


posted by Sean McMahon at 4:23 PM

 
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR...

Over the past few weeks, politicos and pundits like Dick Cheney, Ed Gillespie and Ann Coulter have said that as soon as U.S. forces capture or kill Saddam Hussein, all the controversy about "16 words", aluminum tubes and WMD will go away. Not surprisingly, most of the people making these comments have either been members of the administration, or staunch supporters of President Bush. Hoping for such an event to end a relatively small political firestorm is gravely short-sighted. I can see why they would hope for and end for the hunt for Saddam, but if protecting President Bush is on these people's political agendas, they should be careful what they wish for.

If U.S. forces capture or kill Saddam Hussein tomorrow, America would likely experience a period of celebratory support for the Bush administration. Afterall, the newest reasons being given for the invasion all center on the evil of Saddam, not WMD. To prove that he was captured or killed would mean "Mission Accomplished."

What Bush's allies fail to understand, is that the period of public adoration for Bush will not last long. I give it about one month. Soon, the most pivitol constituents Bush has will turn against him. The folks I'm talking about are the soldiers and their families who will start to question why they are still in Iraq. Just because we nab Hussein, that doesn't mean the U.S. will be able to break camp and abandon Baghdad. It won't be long before stories like this become cover stories, instead of side stories.

Consider the case of Osama bin Laden. The fact that we are still hunting bin Laden, while embarassing to our intelligence community, is a boon for the neo-conservatives that now run American foreign policy. Not finding him, means they can keep terrorism and their "answer" to the Middle East on the lips of President Bush and on the front pages of American newspapers.

Imagine if you will that coalition forces had captured or killed bin Laden a month or two after September 11, 2001. Bush and his administration would not have had a face to put on the "War on Terror" that they have used to advance their agenda over the past 23 months. In fact, many Americans might have considered the "War" over and focused their attention on things like Enron, campaign finance, and the economy. Would Bush have been able to (mis)lead America into sending troops to Iraq if a significant portion of the public thought we had already evened the score for September 11?

Let's get back to Saddam Hussein. In the recent media bubble over Liberia, Bush, Rumsfeld, et al have repeated that there would need to be a "clear and concise mission and strategy" before U.S. troops are deployed in any serious numbers. That's true. But if that theory is applied to Iraq, what happens after Saddam is taken down? What becomes the "clear and concise mission and strategy" Bush can sell to America, and more importantly, the grunts on the ground and their families?

Bush has enjoyed a smooth ride since September 11, 2001, because he has never had to deal with an angry media and angry masses of Americans. In the Niger-Uranium-Iraq controversy, we learned how much trouble the adminstration had keeping its story straight when facing an angry media that realized it had been duped into war. We learned what happens when just the media became combative and questioned the credibility of the administration. Soon after Saddam Hussein is captured, we will see how the adminstration reacts when the American public, led by U.S. troops and their familes, catches up.

posted by Sean McMahon at 1:44 PM