WVU/City of Morgantown vs. Drunk Kid's from New Jersey: Round 3

The Sportsinsider has been experincing a lull in production as of late. Not enough of you are reading this shit to pay my bills so the whole work thing has taken precadent. This is very exciting time to be in Morgantown, WV. The Mounties are showing themselve's to be truly special and have the possibility of thier first ever NCAA championship, and Hiesman trophy winner in the same season. (not that I'm saying that's going to happen, their still WVU and they ghost's of big games past all go against them.) Amidst this fevor however is the never ending by-line story of horrid student behavior. After ever win or loss, big or small, the future high end wage earner's of our state decide that committing arson is a good way to kill time after ther game. They set fire to everything but particularlly couches and dumpsters because, "it's tradition." I moved to Motgantown in 1989. That year WVU went undefeated, beat Penn St, Pitt, and played Notre Dame for the NCAA title. I don't remember a rash of fire's. Nor do I recall Fire's after some Don Nehlen's biggest win's against Miami, Va Tech, ect. It only became a, " Traditon in the last 10 - 15 years. That's a trend not a tradition. After a recent post game revelry destroyed 3 cars the WVU administration has vowed to stop the burnings and student's would be wise to listen. The school has gone to war with the student's on two other behavior issues and won both time's. First, the Grant avenue block party. I don't have time to re-cant the exploits that made the G-ave party world famous, but WVU shut it down. They warned the kid's, then they lined up police in riot gear and arrested everyone in sight. Second, the tearing down of goals post's after big games. I can remember piece's of goal post being carried down high st. after big win's. WVU said no more, and on Oct. 22 2003 after a win against then No. 3 Va Tech, the police maced probably 5000 people. That intervention was so successfull you don't even hear people talking about thinking about trying to get a goal post. With this weekends Texas Texh  game loomong as what could be another feather in the cap of a miracle season, it will be the battle after the game, fought on the streets of Morgantown, not a football field in Texas that will be tha lasting legacy. pity

Smitten With Smith.

New season, same old story in Morgantown. When the football season begin's every year WVU"s football fan's inevitably have expectation's of a national championship. I try, usually without success, to remind people that WV is not Ohio st, or Notre dame, or USC. Let's face it, if your a top young highschool recruit and you have the chance to go to either Los Angeles or Morgantown, where would be more appealing to you? The recruiting picture on a national scale is dominated by big universitie's in big cities. WVU has made a good living by taking chances on what other school's would deem, "hard-luck," cases. Athlete's that either have academic or behavioral issues. What is un-exceptable at Notre Dame is a star recruit in WV. Since the Rodriguez era however, WVU's profile had been liftted into the perinial top 25 profile and the quality of the player's has risen accordingly. One has to look no further than start quarterback Geno Smith.
Geno Smith's accolade's on the field have been nothing short of spectacular. Smith finished his junior season with 4379 passing yards, 31 TD"s, 7 interception's, and a 65.7% pass completion record. Smith is getting ready to re-write the record books this supassing Mountanier great's Pat White, Marc bulger, and Major Harris, in nearly every signifigant catagory there is. The Mountaineer's finished last season with a record breaking 70-33 prefomance over Clemson in the Orange bowl.  Last weekend after 8 month's of waiting to see if they could duplicate that kind of offesnsive fire work's they did not dissapoint. A 69-34 drubbing of Marshall, the little brother who couldn't muster a single victory in 12 tries.(I loved to mess with Marshall fan's telling them I couldn't wait for the sequal to, "We Are Marshall," a second plane crash-get it?) Though Marshall hasn't been a very good team in the last 10 years, I'll save my diatribe on how they only had a team with Pennington and Moss for later, They certainley are not a cup-cake pushover of the typical D-II variety, ala Appalachin st. ect.. For the Mountaineer's to be able to come back out after the off-season and seemingly pick right up where they left off is even making me a believer. Note I did not say I am a believer, just that thier making me one. In my previous blog entry I saddled them with 5 losses in my pre-seaso picks, more because I'm chosing to error on the side of caution than I believe thier that mediocre. After Geno Smith's preformance Saturday I'm simply floored. I understand that Smith has the great fortune of playing with several gifted athlete's in Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey, both of whom could be the stand out star hiesman hopefull's alone on another team, but right now Smith is playing at 2 level's above the competition. There was hardly a single play that Smith did not audible out of, and correctly I might add, to the benefit of the team. His matuarity in the pocket coupled with his arm strenght and accuracy where simply amazing for the  1st game of the season. One of the more impressive thing's I saw was his abiltiy to complete out passes throwing to the right side line. These are not easy pass's to complete. He's rolling to his right and must he deliver a strike to the reciever's outside shoulder and in bound's. He did it effortlessly an over and over again.
I am in many way's the eternal critic. It's not that I think the game is easy, I've just been spoiled by the virtue of being a Steeler fanatic. I got to say it though, Smith appears to be every bit as developed this year as RG3 was last year. Whether or not the his season will be as friutfull is yet to be seen.

college football starts-big whoop

so at the moment i couldn't care less about football, sports, anything for that matter. being back in morgantown has only exaggerated my depression, this being where most of the great tragedies of my life have occurred, and i ain't talking bout some girl leaving me, most of them eneded up with the few people i held dare in my life laid out cold on the slab. in keeping with my manson-family outlook, here your 2012 wvu predictions.
vs.marshall  54-07 w
    vs jmu      55-07w
 vs MD   28-14w
 vs baylor 28-23 w
vs texas 24-35 L
vs. Texas Tech 21-07 L
vs kansas  45-35 w
vs. tcu 21-24L
vs osu 35-28 L
vs ok 45-28L
vs iowa st 42-10 w
vs kansas 70-28 w
final record 7-5 invitation to the tidy toilet bowl

Summer Olympics: U.S. Men's Basketball Playing Against 1992 Team, Not the World.

As the 2012 Summer Olympics continue to unfold, the only excitment in men's basketball is the on-going fued between the current U.S. team and the historic 1992, "DreamTeam." I gave little to no attention to sidebar argument that was brought up U.S. player, Kobe Bryant, when he stated that the 2012 team could beat the original dreamteam from 1992. To be fair Kobe didn't go out and limb and just blurt out one day, "Yea, we'll mop the floor with Jordan, Magic, Bird, and company." The media, doing what the media does, which is to make stories from nothing, provoked the response by asking stupid questions. In response to the reporters Kobe simply stated that if the two teams played (x) number of times, the 2012 team could win at least once. Of course the headline the next day was, "Kobe says 2012 dream team would destroy 92' team." The debate was refuled this week when the team set a U.S. Olympic record by defeating Nigera by 83 points. The talking heads immeadiately jumped back on the who's better, the 2012 or 1992, team dialouge again. There is no fair way to make a comparrison based on margin of victory against current international teams. That won't stop the press from trying. The rhetoric that's been thrown around sounds a lot like the smack talking that preceeds a heavywieght boxing title match produced by Don King. The response from Jordan after hearing Kobe's qoute that, "It would be a tough one, but I think we'd pull it out," was this. "I absoloutely laughed." " No comparrison." "For him to compare those two teams was not the smartes thing  he ever could have done." Charles Barkley, never at a loss for words stated, “Oh yeah, that’s no disrespect," “I ain’t got to badmouth them. But like “How old is Kobe Bryant? He’s 34? And he’s calling us old? At the time, we were only like 28, 29. Michael Jordan and me were the same age. We were both 29. … Other than Kobe, LeBron (James) and Kevin Durant, I don’t think anybody else on that team makes our team.“I said, their point guards weren’t going to beat us. That’s a no-brainer.” It would be the greatest pay-per-views ever if we could get these teams to play a best of 7 series. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking about some hypothetical games where the 1992 team in thier prime play the 2012 team, I'm mean the players as they are right now. I know what your thinking. "Oh, there's no way it would be fair. Jordan, Barkley, Robinson are too old. They'd get their ass handed to them!" I think otherwise. I truly believe, if you gave Jordan and co. 6 months to train, they would win at least 1 game. Now I know that's dosen't sound like a glowing endorsement, but for a team of guy's pushing thier fifties, to win one game against the current best in the NBA would be an accomplishment. I know it'll never happen so all we have left to decide the fight is statistical analysis. David Berri, Ph.D professor of economics at Southern Utah University. “We can use the numbers to get into what would probably have happened had these two teams met. This is not purely a matter of opinion.” Now Mr.Berry apparenlty has a lot of free time. Dr. Berry devised a complex formula to produce a stat he calls, "WP," wins produced. Dr. Berry applied his formula to every player on both teams. The end result was what you would expect. The 1992 dreamteam would be favored to win. I can't even begin to explain the exact nature of his formula so here's the link to numbers. www.slamonline.com/.../lebron-james-also-said-2012-team-us... My hope is that somewhere out there Don King and Vince McMahon are combing thier forces, like a group of super-villians, and plotting to make the real game happen.

Dog Daze of August: So Much to Write, So Little Inspiration.

There is a lot going on in the world of sports. The summer Olympics, NFL camp has opened, college football camp is in, PSU, Tebow, you name it, theres a lotta stories going on. The WVSI however is running on fumes. However, I wanted to check in and give my two cents, mabey 1 cent.
PSU- Do not be suprised if Penn State hasn't been hurt so bad they won't be competitive for the next 4 years, cause they will. Take it to the bank, PSU will not post a losing record during the sanction years. Everything coach Bill O'brian is saying is true. Every PSU home game will continue to sell-out 108,000 seats. Losing 10 scholarships isn't going to be as detrimental to  this team because coach O'brian is used to dealing with a smaller roster. He did come from the Patriots, one of the most successfull teams in the NFL. The games are still going to be televised, and the ratings will probably be better. People will be tuning in record numbers to see if they'll lose. The old addage, "no press is bad press," is absoloutley true. The kids that go to Penn State want to make the pro's and tv exposure is exactly what will get them there. Mark my words, PSU is going to have a good year.
Olympics- China is cheating as usual. Update on Mary Lou's Corvette, she has it. I've been told by good authourity she has it in storage. Michael Phelps has broken the record for cumulative medals-no suprise.
Tebow- Mark sanchez has to hate this guy. Tebow is the back up and anything he does becomes front page news. NEWSFLASH... Tebow ate a salad. Tebow took a dump. Tebow likes cheese. ESPN must have stock in Tebow, I swear it's sick.
WVU football. Early prediction for the year, 8-4, 3rd place finish in the Big 12. Plus, don't overlook Marshall in the opener. Marshall has never beaten their in-state big brother and this is their last shot for quite a while. Right now Marshall is preparing for this game like it's thier bowl game. I wouldn't be suprised at all if they pull it out. If there was ever a, "trap," game this is it.
NFL- Look out for the Steeler's. With a new offensive coordinator look for the boy's from the burgh to be hard to handle for the opposing defenses. Rothlesburger and Wallace are in the prime of thier carrers and could re-write some records this year. Mike Tomlin just got a 5 year exstension and he will show why!
To be continued......

My Broken Heart:Paterno De-mythed

I was preparing a piece I was going to call, "In Defense of Joe Pa." Hell, I was thinking of writing an entire book. My first take on the Freeh report, the independant investigation of the PSU scandal, was that it was a smear piece. As a writer it's easy to see that the author of the Freeh report was trying to sway the reader's opinion using inflamatory langauge and biased conclusions. A truly un-biased writer would never have used the wording the author of the Freeh report used. It was a hit piece. The story outlined in the report was bought and paid for by the university to hang responsibility around the cold dead neck of Joe Paterno. Why not? There's nothing you can do to hurt him now. The notion that the victim's will be able to sue the Paterno estate is completly flawed. The level of involvment and culpability nessacary to win a civil judgment against the Paterno estate will never be reached. The victims would have to prove that Joe knew his actions would lead directly to them being abused. Let me note here, I am all for the victims. I hope they get the monetary compensation they deserve. The only thing that is unsettling to me is that other child abuse victims are not able to sue their attackers with such financial benefit. In that sense, they are fortunate that they can transform this horrible thing that happened to them into a financial windfall-deserved windfall. Most victims of child abuse cannot recieve this compensation because their attackers are not of the means PSU is.
I wanted to point out that the 1998 incident was THOUROUGHLY investigated. There was absoloutley zero attempt by Joe Pa', the university, Curley, Schultz, or Spanier to influence or obstruct the police investigation. The cover up the Freeh report speaks elludes to simply isn't there. What is there are detectives hiding in the victim's house, so as to listen to conversations between Jerry sandunsky and the vic's mother. The police actually imloyed this  technique twice. The police pursued the matter right into the wieght room of PSU. I wanted to point out how after the D.A. of Centre county failed to bring charges against J.S., PSU banned J.S. from bringing his guests onto university property in 2001. However, I have run into a problem, Actually, I have came across information that scrambles my brain like an egg. When I read it I felt like I had been witness to an event that rock's ones sense of the universe to the core. Maybe you won't be, but I was. I kept coming back to one question. Who was the D.A. who decided to not file charges against J.S. in 1998, and why did he decide that?
His name, the D.A. who wouldn't bring charges, is Ray Gricar. He's been missing since April 15th, 2005. Yea, let me repeat that. RAY GRICAR, D.A. OF CENTRE COUNTY PA, HAS BEEN MISSING SINCE 2005. He's not simply missing, he's missing under very, very, strange circumstances. Ray Gricar's car was found close to a bridge where his brother took his own life. While Ray was never found his laptop was. Minus the hard drive of course. They did find the hard drive two months later. The forensic tech's that were able to extract information from the hard drive of a computer aboard the space shuttle discovery, were unable to extract anything from Ray's. Granted it had spent a couple months in the river, they could find nothing. What investigators did find were internet searches on Gricar's home computer titled, "How to fry a hard drive."
I wanted nothing more than to believe that the myth of Joe Pa was true. A straight shooter who would have beat the living $#!T out of a child molester. But the revalation that the principle investigator into the 1998 incident is missing is the straw that breaks the camel's back. There is a saying that breathes truth every time it's said. If it walk's like a duck and talk's like a duck, it's a duck. If it looks like a conspiracy to conceal, smells like it, talk's, walk's, and shit's like a conspiracy, well................

Greener Pasture's: There's Just More $#!T for Fertilizer.

As a general rule a sports blog should be just that, sports. Occasionally stresss and the lack of outlets to vent my frustration, will see me included personal stuff here. The last two months have been very trying for me. I have been through so much in life, losing close friends before thier time, marriage, divorce, losing everything I own multiple times, a broken neck, I could go on for a while here, I truly do my best to eliminate drama from my life. However, best as I try sometimes drama just finds you. Call it what you will, the Christian sect say's it's the devil putting your feet to the fire so GOD can temper you. The Bhuddist, I would suppose say it's karma coming back on you. Whatever the source, I have been pushed to the breaking point.
Life here in Fairmont, WV being what it is, I'm opting to take a position in Pittsburgh, PA. God willing this will be the door to a new season in my life. A season of prosperity, not poverty. A season of security, not uncertainty. A season of positive, not negative. The point I'm getting to is I'm not abandoning the WVSI. I'm native West Virginian and will always fly our flag, However, since I'm going on the road the show goes with me.
 That being said I will soon be posting links for the, pittsburghsportsinsider@blogspot,com,   don't go there yet, I simply secured the address and have not built the sight yet.
                               Thank you to anyone who visit's either of my blogs--J.A.T.IV

There May Be No Off Position On the Genius Switch, But There is System Overload and Slowdown.

I'll apologise in advance for lack of poetry and grammatical corrective-ness. It didn't seem possible 6 weeks ago but soemhow my life is more out of control than then. But, I digress, this is a sports blog. In the sports world the skies are always blue, everyone is a millionarie, and no one plays hurt. Unless it's not, they don't, and they do.
#1. Jermey Lin is the real deal. I'm tired of everyone doggigng the man cause, "he's Chinese, he's not really worth 40 mil, it's only cause he is the only reresenitive for 1 out of every 6 people on the planet." Yea, it's true he could lay a turd and sell a billion jersey's but he doesn't. Instead he does things like outscore Kobe Bryant head to head 38 to 34. Unless the talking heads who are downplaying the man can average 22.5 pts and 8.7 assists over 12 games, SHUT THE HELL UP.
#2 Tiger. Who the hell knows. I was captivated by his 2nd round lead at the U.S. Open only to watch him lay an egg on Sunday. However, he validated my statements a couple of weeks later when he turned on the juice and won at Congressional. This week he makes his first visit to our little home state. His first impression at the Greenbrier Classic will probably be a favorable one. With the Tiger back to his old ways, making immpossible shots easy, and easy shots look like he's just practicing against the field, he should take the million dollar purse like he's robbing of the southern aristocratic old ladies in the crowd. As of today Tiger is  tied for 61st through 16 at +1. Jeff Maggert is in the lead finishing the day at -6.
#3 WVU in Big 12. Uh, this might not be as easy as everyone thinks. When, and in what universe did Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Baylor, and TCU become after thoughts?! This will probably the hardest season WVU has seen since Miami and VA Tech left the Big East.
#4 The Pittsburgh freaking Pirates are above .500 at mid-season and look like they can continue to win! Andrew McCutchen is my first half NL MVP hands down. McCutchen is hitting .360, 16 HR, 54 R.B.I and .412 O.B.P. For those who don't read baseball that = MONSTER 1st half! It's been 19 losing seasons, C'mon people, Let's Go Bucs!
#5 The London Olympics. eh, whatever. I'm not really a summer Olympic fan. The U.S. Typically dominates the medal count during the summer swing, which is great but little to no drama.
#6 No I have not found mary Lou's, "Little Red Corvette," and I'm having problems researching my story on the K.H.L. Who woulda figured most of the sites dedicated to a Russian hockey league would be written in Russian!

Where is Mary Lou's Little Red Corvette

The WVSI is on a fact finding mission. Like Indiana Jones hunting down a priceless artifact of historical signifgiance, I'm going into the jungle's of Fairmont to find the most celecbrated car in West Virgina history. Mary Lou Retton is of course the WV native who won the all around gold medal in gymnastics at the 1984 Olympics. When Mary Lou came home she was awarded a brand new 1984 Corvette that was immortalised in the song, "Little Red Corvette," by Prince. Since 28 years have gone by the Corvette has been lost to time.

Sandunsky Get 60+ Years in Jail: Coaches Who Rape Part II

The verdict is in. Jerry Sandunsky was convicted on 45 counts of child abuse on Friday, insuring him of at least 60 years in prison. The former Penn State assistant is sure to die while there. The man who publicly, tried to help under privileged kids reach their potential, privately he was ultimately found guilty of robbing them of their innocence. As much as the Penn State community would like this to be the end of the most trying year of the schools history, they now will have to wade through the civil trials sure to come.
Jerry Sandunsky"s victims have had their day in court. The man that stole their childhood is behind bars and will never come out. Not breathing anyway. Now they will have the opportunity to sue for punitive damages due them, and once again have to endure the gauntlet of speculation and examination that comes with web of the judicial system. Make no mistake, this story is not going away for a while yet to come.
With the spotlight cast on coaches who abuse their players, I've dug for any info that's been collected on the warning signs of coach-based abuse. There are basically 3 categories of abuse children face. Physical, emotional. and sexual.
Physical abuse SHOULD be the easiest to identify Physical abuse is most often accompanied with visual injuries on the victim. Bruising and cuts can of course be the result of typical accidents children encounter while growing accustomed to their ever changing bodies. However, when a child has repeated similar injuries, as if there is a pattern emerging, it should be looked into to. A reasonable, thoughtful adult, should be able to tell the difference between incidental injuries, and purposeful malicious injuries.
Emotional abuse is by it's nature harder to identify. There are not physical signs to point the way. A familiarity with the child's normal behavior is required. If the child suddenly becomes withdrawn or their is changes in school performance these can be indicator's of a problem. Sometimes victim's of abuse will become overly worried, constantly looking for some bad thing to happen. Another sign of possible abuse can be if a child shows up to activities early, stays late, and generally doesn't want to go home. Take any attempt by a child trying to avoid their parent's on a constant basis serious.
Sexual abuse is really the culmination of emotional psychological abuse coupled with a physical act. while any abuse can b terribly harmful. sexual abuse is the most heinous in my eyes. The following excerpt is a very good overview of signs and symptoms of sexual abuse.
                

• Social or geographic isolation of family (incest)
• Daughter/mother role-reversal (incest)
• Father doting/lavishing gifts on select child (incest)
• Children forced into parental roles (incest)
• Sexually-transmitted disease
• Unexplained pregnancies
• Bruising/bleeding in rectal, thigh, and/or genital areas
• Complaints of stomach and abdominal pain
• Evidence of regressive bedwetting, incontinence, etc
• Recurrent urinary tract infections
• Yeast infections
• Drastic weight loss/gain
• Evidence of purging food
• Foul oders emanating from genitalia
• Vaginal or penile discharge
• Lubricant residue
• Persistent sore throat
• Radical change of appearance
• Signs of exhaustion/lack of sleep
• Possession of unexplained gifts or money 
• Signs of intoxication after spending time w/adult or older adolescent

Possible Behaviorial Signs of Sexual Abuse

• Sexually-precocious or attempts to mask seductive behavior
• Hides secondary sexual characteristics
• Attempts to be unattractive
• Abnormal sexual knowledge
• Radical mood swings 
• Sense of danger where he/she lives
• Change in eating habits (bulimia, anorexia, or compulsive eating)
• Inappropriately seductive
• Apparent boredom w/age peers and age appropriate activities
• Nightmares, insomnia, sleepwalking and other sleep disturbances
• Radical change in school performance for better or worse
• Fearful about certain people
• Over achievement 
• Depression, crying episodes, etc.
• Substance abuse/addiction
• Expression of "damaged goods" syndrome
• Angry, hostile or aggressive behavior
• Fear of adult or adolescent
• Fear of being photographed
• Anxiety reaction to authority figures
• Fear of undressing or refusal to undress in gym class 
• Pseudo-mature/overly-compliant or accommodating
• Regressive, babyish behavior
• Intense efforts to gain attention/affection from adults
• Spending inordinate amounts of time in game rooms, arcades. etc
• Recruiting other children to become involved with an adult
• Suicidal thinking, gestures, and attempts 
• Hints regarding sexual behavior
• Fear of nurturing/withdrawal/impaired ability to trust
• Self-mutalative behavior 
• Find reasons to not go home (helping teachers, etc.)
• Neurological and verbal expressive delays
• Killing/torturing domestic animals 
• Self-hatred
• Memory loss
• Runaway
• Fear of the dark
• Find reasons to not be with someone they used to spend time with (or any change of behavior toward a friend or family member)
• Unable to concentrate, daydreaming, 'spacing out', 'in a world of their own'
• Withdrawn, isolated, or excessively worried
• Excessive or early masterbation
• Starts sucking thumb or fingers (toddlers and young children) I know this one, because that's what I started doing when my father started abusing me. My mom couldn't figure out why I suddenly started sucking my thumb as a toddler. I still haven't stopped. It's my security blanket, it relaxes me. - D
• Becomes a perpetrator, targeting a child, sibling, or friend
• Fear of parent leaving her. (My daughter begged me not to go, even when her dad was here at home.) -D
• Inappropriate kissing in young children. (When kissing my children goodnight, the kiss from them was prolonged and seemed passionate.) -D
• Nervous or fearful around adults, in particular, men. -D
• Not wanting someone, including a parent, to change his/her diaper or give him/her a bath. -D
• Imaginary friend(s) -D
• The one major sign of sexual abuse we've encountered is bowel movement accidents in older toilet trained children."                                                                                                                                                  

Child Rape and Sports: Sandunsky Trial Should raise awareness for Parent's

My memories of playing sports as a child are some of my happiest. Sports was an outlet where it didn't matter how much money your family had, or didn't have. It didn't matter whether you were, "cool," or a,"dork." Honestly, I was a pretty screwed up kid as far as social interaction went but, I could play any sport with a fair amount of success and that served as my outlet for acceptance among my peers. I often daydream, and litterally night dream of my time playing ice hockey. There was no more of a freeing feeling than gliding across a clean sheet of ice. For some however, thier youth sports experinces are a nightmare they don't ever want to re-live.
 The Sandunsky scandal that has rocked the Penn State athletic communtity is becoming a tiresome repeated news blib. Much like the Cathloic church scandals that brought light to the prevalant abuse by preists on thier alter boys, the Sandunsky trial should send a rippling wave across this country to bring more oversight on those we entrust with our children.
Why does this story happen over and over? Adults who gain a position of authority over a child, and then that position to fullfill thier sexual appetites. Sex, is of course the mechanism by which our species survives. In is't propper context it is a spirtual connecting of two people that serves to procreate mankind. In this twisted time of Mtv and Sex and the city, our society is bombarded with media that uses certain basic themes to push consumerism. One of the most prevalant is the use of, "fear and cosnumption." The basic strategey is simply to make you afraid of some stimuli, i.e. Arab terrorist, and sale you something that will keep you safe from that stimuli,i.e gas masks, bomb shelters, whatever. The driving force I believe is twisting and perverting peoples natural instincts for the objects of their sexual gratification, is the media's use of youth, sex, and cosumption.
Face it, everyday you are sent millions of images that glorify the young. Our T.V. shows like Jersey shore, turn young, sexually immoral, or liberated, depending on your point of view, normal people into icons to be followed. I don't know about you, but I don't want my daughter acting anything like Snooki! Outlandish sexual behavior is rewarded with money and fame. If MTV did a show following young men in Parachoial school I bet the ratings wouldn't fair very well
My point is this. All of this attention on youth, sex, and money has helped to foster an epidemic of adults with a mal-adaptive sense of sexual behavior. Instead of seeking out age appropriate partners, they fantisise about relationships with inappropriate partners. Dateline NBC has made a living off of exploiting men who wander the internet looking for young girls. We as conscienence parents need to wake up and look long and hard at those we trust our children with.
That being said, what drives a person to pursue a positon of authority over our children? Teachers, Coaches, and Couslelors are given almost complete access and trust to kids. Some, hopefully the vast majority, our guided by a desire to help kids reach thier fullest potential. The reality however, is thier probably there for a pay-check. There lies a dangerous situation waiting to happen. When a person charged with the care of our children really doesn't care, the opprotunity for abuse is high.
What signs, if any, are there to spot a potential pettifile among athletic coaches? The scary fact is there is no preset outward signals to tell. The best that can be said at the moment is to trust your natural intution, and trust no one else. never allow a coach to be the only adult with either a group, or especially one on one. some parents might say this un-realistic. They simply don't have the time to be at every practice or game. Fair enough. A simple soloution to this would be a parents association that coordinates so as to make sure thier is always another adult present. Trust no one. Just because a coach might have a child on the team thierselve's dosen't mean thier above suspcision.
 To be continued.....How to spot signs of abuse.

Tiger and a Highschool Sophmore Headline Early at U.S. Open

I really don't do Golf.Really I don't. I was bit with the Golf bug when I was 15.I found the cure to be just go try it once. I spent most of the day chasing my ball in the woods, and since my partner and I weren't 16 yet the club wouldn't let us use a cart. Lugging those clubs 18 holes in 90 degree heat and 100 percent humidity, and that was a rap. As I've gotten older the occasional twitch to go give it a try again has come up but not enough that I've actually done it. For millions Golf is their passion wich they follow religously. In the popular conscience of American golf Tiger was the second coming of Jack Nicholas, that was until he refused to give a mistress a 400 dollar loan and she blew his wholesome apple pie image. Since the downslide began with his image, the car incident, the caddie incident, the losing, Tiger hasn't come close to level of competition his early carrer showed. However, Through the first 2 days at the Open he is back at the top of the leaderboard in a major for the first time since 2008.
Tiger is a prime example of how the media giveth and the media taketh away. When Tiger first stepped onto the scene of professional golf he took the world by storm. It wasn't that he was the Jackie Rodinson of golf, but he was the Jim Brown. Dominant. Woods rolled up victories and major titles at warp speed and looked as if he wood shatter every record ever recorded in the game. From 1997 to 2008 he racked up 14 majors to go along with his 73 tour victories. When Tiger's private life become public domain, and his skeletons tossed under the bus for the public to devour, the wins stopped. It's been a long time coming, but the second wind of Tiger's career maybe beggining to rear it's head. Tiger is only 36 years old. In the Golf world this is prime time for a carrer. If Tiger can finally shake the mental stumbling blocks that have been hurting him, he could very well be back on the path to unseating all those records Nicholas owns, as we assumed he would have shreeded long ago
Highscool Sophmore Beau Hossler lead the U.S. Open briefly, but hey, even if it was only 2 holes it was a hell of story. In a field of perrinal champions and seasoned vets, Hossler shot a -2 through 7 holes. The water levled out however, and he finished at +3 tied for 9th place. Still, ther's a lot of guy's who would like to be tied for 9th at the U.S. Open. I can only hope between Tiger and Hossler the magic is back at the Open and we'll have a very intuging Sunday for the final round.

LeBron's Destiney: Trancendance or Sports Damnation

With the N.H.L finals decided, The L.A. King's having captured their first title. (Yes, Lord Stanley's home for the next year is in a city where the average tempature is 70 degrees. I'll save my rant against the near-sighted expansion of the N.H.L into the sun belt for later.) I am looking forward into the N.B.A finals, which for the second straight year will divide the sports world into 2 groups. Those who are fan's of the Miami Heat and those who hate LeBron James. The later being the majority in this country.
Their are few personalities in all of sport who are as polarizing as LeBron. One the Surface he is one of the most physically gifted human beings to walk on a basketball court. He stands an intimidating 6ft 8in and wieghs in at 250lbs. On top of  the advantage his size gives him he is very talented, very. Pro scouts were so smittin with him he was drafted directly out highschool and crowned, "the next Michael Jordan," before he ever took a shot. Nike threw him 80 million and his own shoe line and he hadn't even been through a single practice yet! With fame, adoration, and money comes dissent, jealousy, and a contingent that loves to watch you fail. Not that anyone could characterise LeBron's career as failure. He is a 3x MVP, a 2x scoring champ, 8x all-star, ect. He owns 0 NBA championships. In fairness LeBron isn't that far off of the Mark. In his 9 NBA seasons his team has made it to the finals 3 different times. It even took M.J 7 seasons to deliver Chicago the goods. The point is LeBron has failed to get it done. To serve as my playoff prediction, and since I never published this article on the WVSI, I'm going to share the article I wrote when LJ left Cleavland.
The spectacle and debacle that was LeBron's decision to leave Cleavland made him the most hated man in sports. There's just a sense of, "hey that's not fair!" Having 3 super-star players on one team where it's 5 on 5 play seems like a mafia style rig job. However, the gauntlet of the playoffs was too much last year and I can only hope it is this years as well. If sports has taught me anything, it's the premise that we all play every part in the play at some point. Hero, villian, goat, MVP, Bill Buckner, we do it all. Can LeBron somehoe trancend from evil quitter into traiumphant hero? I don't know. As of right now today I'm rooting for Oklahoma City.(really, they have a team now?) By the time the playoffs are over will LeBron have been able won me over? The finals will be fun, that I do know

originally published on DMG Dec. 2010

King Quitter

    Yes Virginia, Lebron Jame is a quitter. No matter what happens in Miami, King James will forever in my book be a selfish crybaby whose only loyalty is to the all mighty dollar and his own ego. The soap opera that was the Lebron James lottery had only maybe a winner and one undeserving loser. Miami has itself a traveling circus next season which will draw the crowds down from the mountains wherever it goes, but do not forget that if James, Bosch, and Wade fail to produce anything but a championship the season will be a failure! And Cleavland, what can I say Cleavland? I feel your pain. The city and team dumped HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS into this punk kid, and what did they get? That's right, thanks for for the money, women and booze, I'm going to the beach bitches! I can only tell you that this whole scenario reminds of  a scene in the movie "Younguns", When Emilio Esteve's Character looks at Lou Diamond Phillips after the death of their employer and states, "You have no code Navajo, no loyalty". Lebron insists That he only wants, "The best chance at a championship", that deserting Cleavland after 7 years was the right move for all involved. Two words I have for you King Quitter, Bull Shit! King Quitter I thought I would Illustrate mypoint by showing you some the few who did right by their teams and now have something that money can not buy and I hope you will never have, glory.
     Case number 1: John Elway. John Elway came to Denver Broncos in 1983 with as high of expectations as any team could place on a rookie. Though Elway was a perennial all-star, most of his career was spent on teams of mediocracy. Now yes, there was the 1986 Super bowl team that lost, and several AFC championships through the years, but for the most part Elway was a grinder who could have abandoned  his team and city many times for greener pastures and did not. In the end Elway and his teammates achieved sports immortality in 1997-98, and 98-99 seasons by capturing the Super Bowl. You want to hear about glory Lebron Here it is.
John Elway: 2X Superbowl Champion
                   4X MVP
                   9X All-Star
                   15 Year career. 1 team
     Case number 2: Mario Lemieux. Mario Lemieux came the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins in 1984. At the ripe old age of 17 he was the most dominant player in the Quebec Junior major league and was drafted number 1 over all. Through his fist six years in Pittsburgh the Penguins were mediocre at best and sometimes down right pathetic. Lemieux, grateful for the chance the team had given him, chose to tough it out and found his reward in 1991. He captained the team to back to back Stanley cup championships in 91-92 and 92-93. Now as a team owner he has had his named etched on the cup for yet a third time. Glory Lebron, Glory.
Mario Lemieux: 3X Stanley Cup champion(2x player, 1x owner)
                         1X Olympic Gold medalist
                         1X Canada Cup champion
                         2X MVP
                         10X All-star
                         22 year career. 1 team
     Case number 3: Michael Jordan. What more is there to say? This is the man responsible for the modern NBA as we know it. He may very well be the most recognisable person on the planet. Hell with Obama, M.J. Could very well be voted first black emperor of the galactic empire in Star Wars! Sure in hindsight it seems like it was all rainbows and lolly pops for Michael but this to is not so. M.J.'s early years with the bulls were marked with early exits from the playoffs and hard beats from the  Pistons. It was only after battling for 7 years that he won his first championship. I could go on for eons about how Lebron will never come to close Jordan's glory on the court but I'll let the stats speak for themselves.
Michael Jordan: 6X NBA champion
                         1982 NCAA champion
                         2X Gold medalist
                         5X MVP
                         14X All-Star
                         14 year career. 1 team (Yes, Jordan gave it a go as part owner player with the Washington Wizards but we'll forgive him that. The point I am tyring to make is still illustrated by his determination and loyalty to Chicago).
       What can  I say King Quitter? I hope you get attacked by a shark in Miami! The way you slapped Cleavland in the face I hope you blow out your knees before your first practice and have to use a walker by the time your thirty. Would you even care? I mean let's face it you already have more money than most neighborhoods of hard working people would collectively see in a lifetime. By the way, don't think I don't see the big picture on the jersey sells too. Switching teams and numbers will be a huge boost to your jersey sells and your ego. I have to mentioned I loved when you announced that you were dropping number 23 because you felt no one should ever wear it again and Michael didn't even acknowledge your existence, that was great!
        You know I'm tired of feeding your ego by talking about you. This is it, from this day forward I am off the train of misery that is caring two shits what you do. Come next season I will be rooting for Rondelle, Garnett, and the Celtics to keep you from ever leaving the Eastern conference finals. One other note. The Heat have essentially already been handed the 2011 championship in the minds of fans. In a sense that means the Heat will be the biggest target in the league. Every night, every city, and every team you play is going to be playing their NBA finals against you. It is going to be a gauntlet that will not stop. Can the Heat stay injury free and still have enough gas left in the tank for the playoffs? We'll see King Quitter. We will see.
                         
                   
        Lebron James: 1X Rookie of the year.
                               2X MVP
                               6X All-Star
                               0 NBA Championships. Leaves Cleavland. Stats with Miami.. To be seen

Unavoididly Detained: Stanley Part II

Well, Damn. I certainley didn't plan on taking a week to follow up the Stanley piece, but forces beyond my control i was proven rather powerless once again.
The stories in the, "wierd ," pile of Stanley are too many to list. Let's just say when you give an ice hockey player 24 hours to do whatever he wants with the sports greatest trophy it gets wild. One ammendmant to my my prior story, While researching I found out that teams engraved on the cup are confined to the last 64 years. Instead of adding another ring to the base of the cup, they are infact replaced with a fresh ring and the latter retired to ice hockey hall of fame. Makes sense. I always wondered how they planned on handling the cup if it grew to 7 feet tall.
One thing I think is overlooked far too often is the fact that the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy in all of professional sports to win. The N.H.L is the only sport where you must survive 4 rounds of best of  a 7 playoff series. That's a possible 28 games a team could play to claim the cup. In contrast the N.F.L requires a maximum of 4 wins and you can get a 1st round buy that would drop that to 3. While the physics and dynamics surrounding the sports make them very different, I don't think you'll find many people who would argue that hockey is easier on the body than football.
The N.H.L symphony builds to it's crescendo and all out here in the audience hold our collective breath's waiting for a champion to emrege. Even now in June, we the die hard hockey fan, dream of clean sheets of ice. Empty ice rinks at 5 a.m., dressing in a locker room where temp never reaches above 10 degrees. Though some of us have had are better day's pass by, we still look to Cup as a somehow attainable prize of immortallity. Though my name will never grace the base of Lord Stanley, seeing Mario's, Evengini's, Coffee's, Crosby ect.. still brings us in contact with timeless-ness of competition for hocke's greatest prise

Lord Stanley's Lore Lives On.

While I am preparing a piece on the Kontential Hockey League, a league I truly feel could develop enough of an audience to rival the N.H.L, I thought it timley to pass on the story of the Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup is of course known as the championship trophy trophy awarded to playoff winner in the N.H.L.  The cup's history and origins are not as widley known, nor the challenges and nuancies that make it the toughest trophy in all of professional sports to claim.
Lord Stanley of Preston was the general Govenor of Canada. Lord Stanley had two sons who were involved in some of the first attempts to organise ice hockey in Canada. Being the good dad he was he donated the Cup citing the following.

I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion (of Canada). There does not appear to be any such outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the general interest which matches now elicit, and the importance of having the game played fairly and under rules generally recognized, I am willing to give a cup which shall be held from year to year by the winning team. I am not quite certain that the present regulations governing the arrangement of matches give entire satisfaction, and it would be worth considering whether they could not be arranged so that each team would play once at home and once at the place where their opponents hail from.

In an attempt for the Cup challenfe to be fair he set forth the folloing rules.

1. The winners shall return the Cup in good order when required by the trustees so that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it.
2. Each winning team, at its own expense, may have the club name and year engraved on a silver ring fitted on the Cup.
3. The Cup shall remain a challenge cup, and should not become the property of one team, even if won more than once.
4. The trustees shall maintain absolute authority in all situations or disputes over the winner of the Cup.
5. If one of the existing trustees resigns or drops out, the remaining trustee shall nominate a substitute.

The first cup winners were the Montreal Hockey Club. Appropriate since Montreal has claimed the cup more times than any other city. In fact the city has a club hoist the cup 49 times since it's inception. TheStanley Cup more than any other trophy serves as true link to the past because the names of every player, coach, and important club stafferes, are forever engraved upon it's base. The Cup is ever growing as the spots fill up another ring is simply added to the base to provide more space. The Cup is a constant vagabond taking up residence in the home city of each years winners. The winning club gives evry player an alloted time to take the trophy home and do with it what they will. There are countless stories of the cup taking adventures in players pools, hotubs, bars, you name it, some player has prbably done it.
Many people describe winning the Stanley Cup as somewhat of a religious experience, so it wasn’t too surprising when Sylvain Lefebrve had his first child, Jade-Isis, baptized in the trophy. Ten years later, Andrew Hutchison of the Carolina Hurricanes wanted to do the same with his baby Cole, but the plane carrying the Cup was delayed, and the baptism went on without Lord Stanley’s hardware.Doug Weight filled the Cup “with gallons of ice cream, chocolate sauce, marshmallows, M&M's and chocolate chips decorating St. Louis's largest ice cream sundae To be continued.......................

 

The next NHL-Welcome to the Kontinental Hockey League!

Since I seem to be attracting a bit of an audience in Russia and Germany, I have decided to aim the microscope of my minds eye on the worlds 2nd best ice hockey league. Don't take the 2nd place vote as knock either, this could become the worlds first truly international league capable of crowning a true, "world champion." More to come...............

Jeers to Cheers? Just Give it Twenty Years.

With the Stanley Cup finals looming and my beloved Penguins out of the tourney, I have had to find some scrap of sentiment to assertain who to cheer for. The New Jersey Devil's, or the Los Angelas Kings? Both present some discontented grumbles as this die hard Pen's fan reflects on a life time of memories.
Growing up a mere hour and a half from Pittsburgh in the Mario Lemiuex era, I had an immeadiate disliking for the L.A. Kings. Let's face it, L.A. was home to the long touted king of hockey Wayne Gretzky, who with his Four Cup titles was the concenus, "greatest player to ever play the game." We here in Pittsburgh land knew the truth however. The most prolific scorer to ever lace the skates was our's. Recognition was finally bestowed to Mario after his miraculous return to defend the cup in 1993. After missing a large portion of the season due to a knee injury, Oh no wait it was CANCER, yea CANCER, that sidelined him. Mario still returned to win both the scoring title and a second Stanley Cup. Sports Illuistrated ceremoniously pronounced him, "Mr. Hockey," and with that forever legitimized the greatest player ever argument.
So, obviously I can't root for L.A. because of the Gretzky annimosity. But New Jersey? How in the world could this, "bleeding black and gold," fan ever back Jersey? It was Jersey who stopped the pen's bid for 3rd cup in 94' with a game 7 overtime goal that pretty muched stopped the post season escapades of the Mario era. Not to mention the style of choking defense they popularised, "the trap," that stimied offense in the game for nearly a decade before the league ousted the 2 line off-side pass rule that broke the game back open. Jersey and Claude Lemiuex and thier stinking brat kids on Jersey shore and all the Soporana wanna be's, and that goalie Brodeur? Wait a minute, Marty Brodeuer is still playing?
Yes, Martin Brodeur, The Devil's all time winningest goalie is still playing and playing well. The man may go down as the greatest player at his position. In 21 NHL seasons Marty still boasts a lifetime 2.23 goals against average, as well as a phenomenal .913 save percentage. Minus this playoff season Brodeur has faced 32,518 shots. He's stopped 29,915 of them. He owns 3 Stanley Cup rings to go along with 2 Olympic Gold medals. If I tried to list all his awards and milestones I would be typing for the next 3 hours. The point is relativley speaking as the sports world goes, Marty is old. Older than dino poop and can remeber the guy who invented the puck. Brodeur played hisfirst NHL game in 1989. This was also the same year I played ice hockey for the first time. I was 10. In the two decades since you would have never heard the Penguin fanatic utter a kind word of Brodeur or the Devils. But as the looking glass of time clearifies and purifies all, I have become a convert. When you reach a certain age and you realise your childhood dreams of raising the Stanley cup above your own head will never materialise, you root for those out there who beat the odds to so themselves. As I watch Brodeur and the Devils contend for a 4th cup, I am watching a man that by most thoughts is over the hill and way past his prime, strive and reach the pinnacle of the sports world in which he lives. I too can believe that somehow the same magic that that has graced Mr. Brodeur could somehow find me. So all it took was twenty years to cheer the villian for which I jeered.

Farwell Coach Stew

Every figure in the world of sports inevidably plays many roles on the stage. Hero, goat, goodguy, villian, favorite son, overlooked underachiever, god, and pawn. The contrasting positions in the never ending drama are well, never ending. In the annuls of WVU football Bill Stewart was all of these right when we needed him to be.
Before 2007, most of us had never heard the name Bill Stewart before in our lives. At what would prove to be one of the most pivitol points in the history of WVU football, from the ashes of the heart breaking and unexpected departure of then head coach and current favorite son, Rich Rodrigues(now villian), arose the ceremonial phenoix and new favorite son, Bill Stewart. Admit it, when you first heard the name you said, "who?!" But in the wake of the Rich Rod debacle, leaving the team right before one of the biggest games in program history, the Fiesta bowl vs. Oklahoma, the entire state was looking for some rock on wich to throw there fandom anchor. Even then govenor Joe Manchin got involved with search for a new coach. Enter stage left-hero and over looked underachiever, Coach Stew. Under his helm the Eers went out and spanked Ok. in front of a national audience who had all decided WVU would simply disbanb the football program once the god of the spread abandoned us for the church of Michigan. With his first major bowl win on his resume', the board of govenors and the rest of state for that matter, crowned him the new king of WVU. Alas, king Stews reign would be challenged the whole time with comparrions to Rich Rod, dissapointment that they couldn't quiute put up 70 pts every game, and ultimatley undone by new favorite son and emporor, Oliver Luck.
When coach stew implemented his more balanced scheme the Eer's won, just not enough and not by a big enough margin. In his three years coach Stew ammassed a 28-12 record, (9-3, every year + 2 bowl wins). In the Nehlen era 9-3 would'a been a good year. Somehow, after RR, only 11-1, or 12-0 would be considered a acceptable production. So now favorite son becomes whipping boy. WVU's sense of never ending mediocraty was hung around Stew's neck. Enter stage left-savior, Oliver Luck. After long time AD and sports emporor Ed Pastilong retired Oliver Luck, who with his mere touch turns all to gold, hell even his kid has the midas touch, i.e. #1 overall pick 2012 NFL draftee Andrew. Under the omnipetent vision of god Luck, Stews exit was meticulously mapped out.
Now we set the stage for the final act.  Once loved coach Stew is put on notice that Oliver Luck has found the new overlooked mastermind of offense, OK St. offensive cooridinator Dana Holgrenson. At this point the majority of WVU's fan base were frustrated by the lack of points, Big East titles, and BCS bowls appearances. Under Stew's tenuor all of theses were lacking. In fairness to Stew we need to be honest, he won. He had the good fortune to inherit senoir quarteback and soon to be college football hall of famer, Pat White. Pat white may have been the most prolific QB in progran history. His record speaks for it's self.  34-8 and 4-0 in bowl games. Except for losses to 2008 Big East champion Cincinatti, and Pitt in the backyard brawl, WVU could've been 11-1 and possibly in BCS national championship game in 08. Would things have been so different under RR? Cause he had such a great track record against Pitt.(see 2007 backyard brwal) None the less the notiton that this was Stews fault for lack of offensive production was deeply seeded among the fans. This sentiment was only ingrained further upon the completion of  2009, Geno Smith's Freshman year, and 2010. Both seasons a DISSAPOINTING(?) 9-3 and cosecutive bowl losses. Among the fuming minds of theses dreadful seasons WVU's athletic department wanted change. Oliver's answer, hire a head coach in waiting who would run the offense and allow Stew to finish out his last season as coach. At this point I must note that Bill Stewart was one of the most respected coache's in football for they way he carried himself and handled his players. If ever there was a, "straight shooter", it was Stew. The man missed his second occupation of Southern Baptist minister by mere inches. He was clean cut, honest, and one of the nicest men you would've ever hoped to meet. Upon the disaster that was Stew's carrer at WVU the AD goes out and hires eternal Frat boy Dana Holgrenson. Not to take anything away from Holg's, once again his record speaks to his apptitude as well.(10-3, and a BCS bowl victory), but he was Bill Stewarts antisithesis. Holg's dosen't dress very, "sharp", he dosen't take his hair very serious, and he has the reputation of liking a good drink. Maybe several of them, evrey hour. Apparently Coach Stew didn't appreciate that this job he coveted so was being stripped from him and handed to an unproven offensive coordinator. Upon arriving in WV Holgs did nothing but blow off long standing coach appearance's, i.e. the Fairmont athletic club banquet that a coach had attended every year for deacades, and getting thrown out of a Charlestown area casino for being drunk. Nice Holg's. The honorable coach Stew did what apparently any coach in his position would do. The rumor had it that Stew wanted a reporter to dig up, "dirt", on Holg's to undermine his promotion. Now golden boy turned niaeve AD Luck has a p.r, problem from hell. Never one to turn back from a decision Luck unceremoniously dismissed Stew and immeadiatetly promoted Holg's.
So that's it. The Fat lady sung. The public perception was Stew was the old Holg's was the new. Stew was was in reality a mere 1 or 2 wins away from becoming another Don Nehlen. A WVU coach for 20 years. Instead, he was looked at as a bust and waste of time, the program stagnating under his term. Then to pull the ultimate about face, an play that would forever change the perception of the coach and what he did, Coach Stew untimley left to return to his heavenly father while on the 16th green. Golfing with longtime friend and former AD Ed Pastiolong, Coach Stew suffered a fatal heart attack.  I headrd the news while waiting for a friend at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. I note this because in one of those twist's of fate, this was the exact location for the only time I ever personally met coach Stew. he was coming out of the hospital wearing his trademark ear to ear smile. I was somewhat struck but I did manage a, "hey, how you doing coach?" In the eternal optomism that was Stew he replied, "Gonna get LSU then that national championship!" There would be no LSU win and no national championship but coach Stew's life will be marked by greater stats than these. If you need any proof just read the mountain of well written letteres from his players, family, and friends who will forever be indebt to coach Stew for coaching them in the Game of Life. Full circle, unknown underachiever-hero-goat-bach to hero.    Give em' a let's go Mountaineer's in heaven Coach.