A sport in search of its Superstar

A couple of years ago the National Hockey League had no question about who to put on the front of every ad and what games to feature for prime time. But with the injury, or injuries, suffered to Sidney Crosby and the somewhat decline of Alexander Ovechkin the sport is searching for a new superstar to continue carrying them.

I think most people were looking forward to Crosby and Ovechkin battling it out for the next 10 years, with most people viewing Crosby as the “Golden Boy” of the sport. Now some people wonder if he’s played his last game.

This sport is in dire need of a player that will continue to help the sport grow. Some people may not realize that more fans actually attend hockey games than basketball games, but because ESPN holds the rights to NBA games they continue to put them out front on Sportscenter and try to persuade the people that it’s the more popular sport.

IF Crosby was healthy and the Pittsburgh Penguins were dominating the game, which they’re not bad without him, this sport would be even more popular with a player that could lead them to the front of the rundown every morning.

But that’s not the case and it’s time to start looking for the next player to stand out and lead the sport in the right direction. Here are a couple of candidates.

- Patrick Kane: He is the first player that comes to my mind when I think of someone who can take this sport over. He’s an American skater, he’s already won a Stanley Cup and been feature on the front of EA Sports NHL 10. Watching this year’s skills competition he was clearly the favorite in the crowd and pulling out that cape showed that he’s OK with having the spotlight on him and he doesn’t mind being a focal point. The Blackhawks are a good team (currently sixth in their division) and play in a huge market. He’s signed with the Blackhawks through 2014. The NHL needs to forget about Crosby and Ovechkin and make Kane their poster child. The only problem is he may not even be the best player on his team. Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp could all easily be considered better players. When or if Kane becomes the leader of this team he’ll easily replace Crosby and Ovechkin as the leader of the sport.

- Steven Stamkos: It would make sense to pick the best player in the league to lead your league, wouldn’t it? Stamkos is undoubtedly one of the best players of this sport. He is a Canadian who was picked number one overall in the 2008 draft and is only 21 years old. He is the best goal scorer in the league, leading so far (Jan. 31) this year with 32 goals, and he’s fifth in points with 52. He’s played in All-Star games and he made his debut in the playoffs last season. The only problem Stamkos faces is the team that he plays for. Not that the team is bad, although as of right now they sit nine points back of a playoff spot and are in a very weak division, but the market in which he plays in is horrible for a hockey player. He’s locked up with Tampa Bay for five more years, but if he can ever get into a big hockey market this kid could easily lead the charge for the NHL.

- Claude Giroux: He is quickly becoming the face of one of the more storied hockey franchises in the Philadelphia Flyers. His recent role in the 24/7 show on HBO leading up to the Winter Classic has also helped gain him some national attention. Playing well earlier in the season, he was a favorite to win the Hart Trophy. He is still currently second in the league in points, but his goals production has gone down each month since the season started. He’s made the All-Star Game the past two seasons and even scored a goal in the most previous one. The Flyers are good enough to keep him in the spotlight, I just think he needs more time to develop as a player and prove to the hockey world that he’s a star. The problem with Giroux is that’s he’s already had two separate incidents with concussions and we don’t want another Crosby situation on our hands. His production after the concussions shows that maybe he’s not over it yet. For the sport of hockey let’s hope he can become the player he was the first half of the season again.

- Evgeni Malkin: The most obvious choice would be to take a player who has already established popularity with NHL fans and who has become one of the more dominant players in quite possibly the most popular hockey market. The second overall pick in the 2004 draft, Malkin has won the Calder Memorial Trophy (top rookie), Art Ross Trophy (league’s top scorer) and the Conn Smythe Trophy as he, not Crosby, led the Pens to a Stanley Cup trophy in 2009. There are many problems leading to the fact that Malkin isn’t the leader of this sport already. The first one is Crosby. Once Crosby is out of his way, either by retiring or if one moves to another team, then Malkin will have is chance to reign supreme. Malkin is also Russian and some believe he would prefer to play in his home country. Malkin is the most established of the group and my favorite to take over the sport.

The fact of the matter is that one of these men, or some other up and coming star, needs to grab this sport and its fans and run with it. I believe had the NBA been locked out the NHL would have easily taken its place on ESPN. And even though it still feels like the NBA season hasn’t started because no one outside of ESPN really cares about it, the NHL has got to step up and pick someone that can be marketed to the casual hockey fans out there. I don’t know who it’s going to be, but I hope he emerges quickly and helps this sport get the attention it deserves.

You can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com/

That awkward moment with Peyton Manning

Now normally his brother Eli is known for producing awkward moments with awkward looking faces, but the situation Peyton sits in now has got to be one of the most uncomfortable situations in sports.

You can either have your superstar quarterback who has made your franchise everything that is today, or you can draft one of the most highly touted quarterbacks to ever come out of college that could possibly keep your team relevant for the next 10 years or longer?

Yeah, it’s not exactly an easy decision. After a disastrous season the Colts front office has pretty much changed the entire staff. That would leave you to believe they’re also getting ready to change the face of their franchise.

Now, how is anyone going to walk up to Peyton Manning and tell him that he’s not going to be their quarterback anymore? And how are you going to explain to a loyal fan base that the player that’s led them to a Super Bowl in the last five years is being traded?

The fact is I believe Manning’s production is going downhill. He hasn’t looked the same to me since Marvin Harrison left, which was a strange evacuation in itself, and who really knows how healthy he is? Based on that you can’t blame the Colts for doing what’s best for the franchise’s future.

On the other hand you have a quarterback who has yet to prove himself in the NFL. Many experts think he’s ready to make the transition now, but what if he falters early. There have been plenty of quarterbacks taken with the first pick in the draft that haven’t exactly panned out (See JaMarcus Russell).

There is definitely risk in taking a quarterback early and I’m not as sold on Andrew Luck as most of the experts are. Tony Dungy even suggested that the Colts should take Robert Griffin first. While I think Dungy was just being nice, Luck is obviously the first choice in the draft and I think the Colts will make it.

So now what?

The Colts can either trade Peyton and probably get a pretty good return, or they hang on to him and let him mentor Luck for the next three years. Meanwhile Luck gets no game experience and just gets older.

The latter situation worked out great for the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers, no thanks to Brett Favre who admittedly said he didn’t help Rodgers. So Rodgers could have been dominating the league even sooner?

This decision just seems too easy for the Colts. Somebody is going to have to man up and tell Peyton that his time here is done and that they are moving in a different direction. They can get Luck, trade Peyton for future picks and build a franchise that will be able to compete for Super Bowls in the near and distant future.

Some of the best decision you make in life or in sports are not easy ones. It wasn’t easy for the Braves to tell Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux that they couldn’t take them back. But they did it and they’re better off now because of it. The Braves continued to bring young pitchers through the system and are now setup to compete for years.

Peyton and Colt’s fans are not going to like this decision, but trust me, it’s what’s best for the franchise. I think everyone knows it, but everyone likes and respects Peyton too much to say it to his face. He’s not dumb, even though he acts like it in his commercials. He can see the writing on the wall. He just wants somebody to step up and say it to him.

You can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com/

Should you have to visit the White House?

The recent news of the star of the Stanley Cup Finals, goalie Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins, electing not to visit the White House after their recent championship has brought the hockey world to the forefront for the wrong reasons.

Since making this move, many media outlets and fans have bashed the American goalie for not making the historic trip through the White House. In a statement from Thomas he said, “I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.”

He goes on to blame both parties for what has happened with our government and says his choosing not to attend the White House had nothing to do with, “politics or party.” He says he was exercising his right as a “FREE CITIZEN” to not go to the White House.

While I don’t disagree with Thomas’ point-of-view on our government, his decision not to go with his team to the White House is a decision he will regret for the rest of his life and quite possibly is a decision that is un-American in itself.

Whether you agree with the current presidents’ political beliefs or not, the chance to visit the White House is a once in a lifetime experience that many people don’t get to experience. Every year athletes from championship winning teams get to visit this historic building and meet the president of OUR country. Choosing not to do so is wrong for so many reasons.

Yes, he has his right as an American citizen not to go and he’s not the first athlete to turn down a chance to visit the White House and meet the president, but he could have kept his reasoning to himself instead of making a statement about it. Do you think every American that’s entered the White House and shaken the president’s hand has agreed with that presidents’ politics? Not likely.

You may hate the Cubs or Red Sox, but if you’re given the opportunity to visit Fenway Park or Wrigley Field, you don’t say, “No, I don’t agree with the way those teams play baseball.” You go visit these historic buildings because it’s part of our country and an experience you’ll never forget.

I don’t know what Thomas’ intentions where with this little protest, but it has totally backfired in his face. If the Bruins win it again this year, expect to see their goaltender leading his team to the podium. Of course, there could be another president in place next year, which could make his reasoning for going then even more awkward.

You can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com/

Super Bowl of mishaps

Now a mishap is described as an unlucky accident, and that’s not what the Patriots or Giants are. They both deserve to be in the Super Bowl, but after watching both championship games Sunday I don’t really feel like either team deserves to be in the Super Bowl. Neither the Pats nor the Giants won their game, the other team just lost it.

Don’t get me wrong, these are the two best teams right now and who I predicted would win last week, and both might have went on to win in overtime had the mishaps not happened on the other team. Even Tom Brady said after their win that he played like garbage and the defense bailed him out.

The defense didn’t bail him out, Billy Cundiff did. The Ravens defense worked hard to contain Brady and keep him from slashing up their secondary like he’s done to defenses all year. If you would have told me last week that the Patriots were only going to score 23 points I would have told you they would be going home.

There wasn’t much Brady did to win the game, there wasn’t even much the Patriots defense did to win the game as they gave up almost 400 yards to a mediocre offense at best. Both quarterbacks were 22/36 passing but Flacco passed for 67 more yards. Brady didn’t even throw for a touchdown and Flacco threw for two. Brady threw two interceptions and Flacco only threw one.

On paper there is no way the Patriots should have won this game. But they did and that’s that. Only because of another person’s failure are they moving on, not because they earned it.

The same can be said for the Giants. Again, they have been playing the best football in the playoffs and I think they’ll win the Super Bowl, but they seemed out of sync Sunday and did not look like a team that earned their way into the big game.

Not only did the 49ers give the game to the Giants once, but they gave it to them twice. And it was the same guy that was seemingly working undercover for the Giants. Kyle Williams lost two fumbles on returns, the later one setting up the Giants with a game winning field goal in overtime.

While you certainly can’t say the 49ers were the better team on Sunday, when watching the game it definitely felt like the momentum was shifting and had Williams just fielded that punt they would have found a way to get down and kick a field goal. Maybe it’s because they were at home, but I just kept expecting them to win that game.

Eli Manning was not the superstar quarterback that everyone was tabbing him as this week. He looked confused and as goofy as always. Hardly any of his passes were on target and if it wasn’t for Victor Cruz taking on the form of Calvin Johnson he wouldn’t have been nearly as successful against a Niners secondary that isn’t exactly scary. Yes he threw for 316 yards, but he threw the ball 32 more times than Alex Smith, who had a better QB rating, for what that’s worth.

So while the Super Bowl is set and the teams in them are the ones I believe should be participating, I would have liked to see them driving down the field to win the conference championship games instead of having it handed to them by other teams mistakes.

You can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com/

To like or not like Tim Tebow

There have been several debates since the rise of Tim Tebow of whether or not we should like or dislike him. For sports fans you either like or dislike him because of his ability to play football. His passes aren’t as pretty as Aaron Rodgers’, but he finds a way to win.

Then there are people who are going to love or hate him because of how he displays his religious beliefs. Our society has taken God so far out of it that it’s nice to see a person of Tebow’s stature bring it back to light. But is Tebow conducting himself the way a Christian should?

We are instructed not to pray like the hypocrites (Mat. 6:5) who just do it to get attention. But rather we are to pray to our God in secret behind closed doors. That doesn’t mean that a prayer in public is a bad thing as long as you’re doing it for the right reasons. And also we shouldn’t be holding our Christianity back in public. If you do the right things, then people will see them through your actions as a person, not by how many times you Tebow someone in public.

That being said, I’d rather have my child (no, I don’t have one) looking up to Tebow than most other professional athletes. He has the stage set to make a huge impact for the Christian race and I think it’s important for him to do so. He’s not the only Christian that has ever played sports, but he is the only one that’s made it as public as he does and maybe that has to do with his success and the media.

Kurt Warner is another famous football player that comes to mind who was an excellent role model on and off the field of a Christian but he didn’t have to bend down in the end zone 10 times a game to let people know that. A lot of athletes are labeled as “good guys” and that’s mostly through their actions off the field, how they conduct themselves with the media and through certain charity organizations.

Not everything is Tebow’s fault because the media has hyped him up to be the second coming when he’s just doing what he has done his entire life. My advice to Tebow would be to tone down the “Tebowing” and just be labeled as a “good guy.” Actions speak louder than kneelings.

I was at the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham and I noticed when SMU ran onto the field every player went to the opposite end zone and kneeled to pray before the game. While it was nice to see religion in sports, it wasn’t nice to see the lone guy that sat there five minutes after everyone left, even looking around to see that he was the last one there, so that all the attention was on him. How hard would it have been for them to just get in a circle and pray together like most schools or teams?

I’m all about prayer, but let’s make sure we’re doing it for the right seasons. God could care less whether or not you play good or if your team wins the game, as long as you’re carrying yourself around as a Christian that’s all that matters. So when/if Tebow starts saying that he won games because of God is when I totally jump off the bandwagon. You can thank God for giving you the abilities to play the game, but God doesn’t care if the Broncos win the Super Bowl.

But let’s talk about the other party of Tebow and how he does find ways to win ball games with his God given ability. After the Broncos went on that six game winning streak in the regular season I heard every excuse possible for why Tebow is a horrible quarterback and what he needs to fix. The only thing that needs to be fixed is the criticism he receives. The guy knows how to win, and coaches and analysts need to let him win the Tebow way. That’s with heart, desire and a will to not fail.

His mechanics are his mechanics. They may not look pretty but they got the job done in high school, college and now the pros. His passes seem to always wind up where he wants them, even if that’s 10 feet away from the receiver. He’s not going to make a mistake and throw an interception trying to force something. If you don’t believe me, go watch the 2008 SEC Championship game. All three of his touchdown passes were against tight coverage but he threw them only where his receiver had a chance to catch them. One of the more amazing things I’ve seen him do.

And then when he wants to run he’s as good as any running back in the NFL. He knows where he needs to get to and he wills his way there. I don’t see him aggressively running over people like he did in college, but he’s not scared to take on an NFL linebacker if he has to.  

Let the man play his game. I have this same problem when people try to change Michael Vick from what he really is. If you want a pure drop back passer then get a pure drop back passer. But don’t try to make these athletes something they’re not. If you let Vick or Tebow play their game, most often than not they’re going to find ways to get the job done.

Whether or not you like the way Tebow gets the job done is your own opinion. My final verdict on Tebow the player is that he’s a great athlete who can win your team games if you let him play his game, and I like to watch him play. Tebow the person has the opportunity to set a great example and change the lives of many kids and adults. As a Christian, I think he should tone it down while he’s on the field and let his actions off the field speak for what kind of person he is.

You can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com/

Tom Brady, the last man standing

What happened to all the offense? All I’ve heard this season is how quarterbacks are taking over the league and how defenses are diminishing because of the new rules. Yet here we are in the Conference Championship weekend and there is no Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers.

The lone top quarterback remaining is the one that somehow quietly threw for 5,235 yards during the regular season, while throwing for 39 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions. I say quietly because Tom Brady has done this in the shadows of Brees and Rodgers and on a team with a player, Ochocinco, who normally draws attention wherever he goes.

In the divisional round when all the attention was given to Tim Tebow, Brady just kept his mouth shut and threw six touchdown passes in a route of the Broncos. I also watched him do this against the same Broncos team during the regular season. He’s always been the favorite and the one getting all the attention. When I saw him play Denver before when all the hype was on Tebow he played with a chip on his shoulder like I hadn’t seen in a while. Even spiking the football after a quarterback sneak for a touchdown.

Brady is fueled by the lack of attention he’s gotten from the media this season and he’s showing it in his play down the stretch. Now that Brees, Rodgers and Tebow are gone, it’s going to be interesting to see how he reacts against a typically great defense in the Ravens as now all the attention is on him and the Pats.

While the Patriots and Brady have been a dominating team the past decade, their three Super Bowl wins came at the beginning of that decade and their last Super Bowl appearance was now four years ago. I keep thinking the time for the Patriots is running out, but Brady keeps finding wide open receivers and Belichick keeps putting Duct Tape on his defenses to find ways to win. That being said, the end is near and opportunities like this won’t come as easy or frequent for Brady anymore.

A win against the Ravens would put him in his fifth Super Bowl with a chance to win his fourth and label himself as one of the greatest of all time. In a year where offenses have reigned supreme, the lone star quarterback standing will have to find a way to get the job done against two top defenses in Baltimore and either New York or San Francisco.

I think Brady gets by the Ravens but I don’t think he beats the Giants in the Super Bowl. This Giants team is better than the one he lost to in the Super Bowl before and they hit their stride at the right time to make a push for the championship. If he faces the ‘Niners then I think he has a chance.

But if there is one thing I’ve learned about this season, it’s to never doubt the will and ability of Tom Brady. Just when you think he’s done and you’ve written him off, he puts his game face on and shows you why he’s the best in the business.

You can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com/

With the bowl season and college football over, now what?

I went to my parents’ house Tuesday night for dinner and after talking about the national championship game for an hour, about how exciting it was to have the college football crown stay in the state of Alabama and how dominating the Crimson Tide’s performance was that night, we sat down to eat and dad says, “So what do we watch now?”

For many fans in the South, and I think for most of the country, after football season there is a long gap of awkward space in the sports world. Sure you have the NFL playoffs going on to give sports fans something to do on the weekends. But after being spoiled with football games on almost every night, no matter how meaningless they were, fans miss that sense of action to fill the void during a long work week.

At my house growing up our nights usually revolved around sports, and I think for most sports fans that same practice reigns true. Basketball just isn’t exciting until the playoffs, and while I love hockey, it doesn’t get enough national exposure on local sports channels and there aren’t enough games on to get into it where I live.

I guess the next big thing for most fans in the South will be National Signing Day, which comes early this year as it’s on Feb. 1. Most recruiting classes are wrapped up by this time, but there will still be those top recruits that will wait till the last day to get all the exposure they can and then leave their schools three years later to make money. I wonder how many kids that have waited till the last day to sign have left early for the draft.?

Then immediately after that you have the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis. I bet when they picked Indy to host they didn’t think the Colts would be the worst team in the league. The Super Bowl is fun and something I’ve watched every year since I can remember. But now that I’m in the working world it seems such an inconvenience to have it on a Sunday night; especially with how late they draw these games out now with commercials, replay, etc. I’m sure I’ll get together with a couple of people to watch it, but no matter who is in it, I’ll be ready to get in bed before the start of the fourth quarter — where I will proceed to watch the updates on my phone until the game is over of course.

Pretty much the rest of February is the most boring time of the year as a sports fan. Pitchers and catchers report to the beaches or desert at the end of the month and some teams even have Spring Training games before March so that’s a big deal for me. But other than that, there really isn’t anything exciting going on until you get to March Madness.

March Madness this year will begin on the 13th (of March obviously). This has become something that’s even more exciting to me than the Super Bowl and bowl season combined. For the first few weekends there are so many games going on and filling out a bracket has become a yearly tradition. At any point you can have three games going on and you’re almost certain to have a buzzer beater or upset in one of them. Granted I don’t know who half these teams are and I haven’t watched a lick of college basketball up to this point, but by the end of it I’ve become an expert and I’m telling myself how much I’m going to watch college basketball next season and really know the teams before the tournament starts — that never happens.

This year March Madness will take us all the way up until April 2, which will bring us to the beginning of Major League Baseball on April 4, which technically begins March 28 in Tokyo with the Mariners playing the Athletics. The Braves don’t start playing till April 5 so we’ll say that’s when the season starts.

Then as a sports fan you have one of the most exciting times of the year. For how boring and dreadful the NBA and hockey seasons can be, the playoffs can be highly entertaining and give you meaningful games on a nightly basis. On any given day of the week you can have NBA playoff games, NHL playoff games and baseball games going on. Never will your sports schedule be so busy on a Tuesday night.

This, to me, becomes the ultimate pinnacle of a sports season. I would say that when college football season starts at the same time as the MLB playoffs that could be the same, but college football isn’t every day like the NBA, NHL and MLB. And quite frankly, I hate the fact that college football takes away from the MLB playoffs. But, with the end of the long baseball season comes the new football season and the cycle starts again.

So while it’s cold and gloomy outside and you’re forced to watch Dancing with the Kardashians, just think, we’re a hop, skip and jump away from being tangled into one of the most exciting parts of the year for a sports fan.

You can follow Jake on twitter at: @j8a1k0e

Big boy football

The only people that enjoyed watching the BCS National Championship game Monday night are people who love Alabama football or love watching great defenses. Luckily for me, the main thing I really love about football is watching great defenses, and Alabama made a case for having one of the best collegiate defenses of all time.

The only thing to me that is hurting their case is the fact that LSU’s offense isn’t exactly Oregon’s or Oklahoma State’s, who may have put up more than a 100 yards of total offense in this game and possibly scored a touchdown, but I’m not sure that’s a given against this defense.

Coached by one of the greatest defensive minds, Nick Saban had this team prepared for anything and everything LSU may or may not have thrown at them. It would have been the same way no matter who they were playing because great defenses stop great offenses, especially when you have 44 days to prepare for it, which is a joke that we had to wait that long to see this game that should have been played weeks ago. (Side Note: The whole BCS system and bowl system is ridiculous and should be reconstructed)

People want to complain about how boring this game was and how it is one of the least exciting championship games of ever, which could all be legitimate arguments, but it’s not because these weren’t two great teams, it’s because Alabama just dominated their opponent. And really this was a two possession game until Trent scored the first touchdown of the two games the teams played this season with four minutes left in the game. But Alabama’s surging defense just killed the will of LSU and you could see it in their play and in their faces. They had no chance.

You can have your fancy formations, fast-paced spread attacks and 100 point games, these two teams where playing for the national championship because they dominate on defense and teams and fans that want to complain about how boring the game was needs to take note and realize what it takes to be a champion.

Even Auburn, who ran a so-called fast pace high scoring offense, slowed down their game plan and went back to the basics to slow down Oregon who tried to still run their fast-paced offense and ended up losing. I think most people would agree that it was Auburn’s defense, not offense that won them that national championship.

You can argue offense and defense all day, but the fact remains that the teams that play “big boy” football will more than likely win the game. That’s the reason the SEC has won a billion championships in a row. They recruit a lot of big boys to plug up the holes upfront, thus making teams one dimensional against them. Then when you have defensive backs like Mathieu, Baron, Kirkpatrick, Claiborne, etc. it makes it virtually impossible for an offense to do anything. So you may not have liked the game that took place Monday night, but you better hope your school’s coach was watching because the recipe for success, and long term success at that, was put on full display.

This may sound silly, but maybe guys will understand this strategy. I’ve played NCAA Football for years and whenever I’m building my team I always recruit the best corners that are going to lock down receivers. Once I’ve built them up, I work on my linebackers to stop the run. I don’t play a pretty game, but I’ve always kept myself in a game because teams can’t score on me. This is the same philosophy Saban and Les Miles use. The bend but don’t break method. While people were screaming for a touchdown Monday night, Saban was playing it safe whenever he got in field goal range and was satisfied with three points. It’s not pretty or exciting, but it wins championships.

I hope there still aren’t people out there trying to debate who the number one team in the nation is, because I think Alabama overwhelmingly proved that Monday night, but I would LOVE to see this defense go up against an Oklahoma St. Of course that will never happen because we don’t have a playoff system in place.

As seen in the aftermath of haters of either Alabama or this game, there will be a change soon in the way the champion is determined in college football. And I’m willing to bet when that change is made, more often than not the team that has the best defense will come out on top.

You can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e

Controversy surrounding national championship game sickening as a fan

By now most of you have read almost every story from the Mothership (EPSN) and listened to every comment on the radio shows about this rematch that will be taking place Monday. I’ve done the same thing and what I’ve gathered is that almost everyone agrees that Alabama and LSU are the best two teams in the country, people just don’t want to see them play again.

As happy as I am to see that Alabama is in the National Championship game it almost seems tainted to me and I’m not excited about it at all. The ridicule, hate and controversy that this rematch has caused just makes me hate college football even more.

Debate is usually something that is good for a sport. It gives people at the barber shop, Walmart and gym something to talk about on a regular basis. But most of these debates on message boards, radio shows and even on TV are just becoming heated arguments of hate. There is always that point in a debate where one side just has to be the bigger person and say it’s not worth losing a friend over a difference of opinions, but this has escalated into a sickening affair.

The problem is people don’t look at things from both sides of the equation. Oklahoma State has a legitimate reason to be upset, but does that mean they deserve to play for the national championship just to make them happy and so we don’t have a rematch. Alabama’s lone loss this season was to the only team in the nation that went undefeated. Yes Oklahoma State’s resume looks more impressive, but Alabama can’t always help who is on their schedule and they took care of all of the teams they were supposed to in rather easy fashion, Oklahoma State didn’t do that.

Some want to blame the fact that Oklahoma State didn’t play good that night on the plane crash that killed their woman’s basketball coach and assistant coach. That’s a legitimate excuse. I’m not sure how close the football players are with the woman’s basketball coaches, but I’m sure it was difficult to play after that because death makes sports just seem unimportant for the moment.

That being said, they still lost to a team that no championship contender should ever lose to and that’s the lone reason they aren’t playing Monday night and I think for the most part, people across America accept that.

The thing that upsets me is Alabama is in a lose-lose situation in this game, UNLESS they just utterly destroy LSU and then all this goes away. But I don’t think anyone expects this game to be a blowout by either team. I expect Alabama to win and they should win, but if they don’t win by more than 10 points, which they didn’t manage to score that much the first time (neither team did), then people are just going to say that the series is tied one game to one, which is a fair point.

So no matter what happens Monday the debate will continue. The bickering and fighting will go on through message boards and radio stations. It will be analyzed down to every angle, but the fact is until there is a true playoff in college football no one will ever know the truth. I’m not excited about this game on Monday because of the controversy surrounding it, but if that controversy ignites a flame into the money hungry people that are keeping this sport from having a true national champion into finally do something about it, then it could be the greatest night in the history of college football.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a person who loves defense and can’t stand watching Baylor and Oregon put up a trillion points (which wouldn’t happen if they played Monday night) so I will be watching this game intensely come Monday. But up until the game starts is the reason I’ve fallen away from the love I once had for college football. It makes the games unenjoyably because people are too caught up in hating on other teams instead of worrying about enjoying their own team. People are getting too caught up in wins and losses or who’s right and who’s wrong. College football is a sport of passion unlike any other sport, but people need to exploit that passion into helping their own team and not trying to hurt or bring down someone else’s team or conference.

At the end of the day, it’s just football. At the end of Monday we’ll have a BCS National Champion (That’s the team that wins the BCS National Championship GAME, not tournament) and I’ve never been more ready for a college football season to be over with.