What is left to speak of in sports?

Pressbox Pointers

by CARL LANGLEY

We’ve seen so much happen in the world of sports these last two years (and beyond) that it’s sometimes very difficult for those of us who write sports columns to eke out a topic of interest to our fans.

We’ve seen the great image of a good coach and man, Joe Paterno, fall (literally, when his statue went down) and his reputation and record ruined by a trusted assistant coach who will now spend the rest of his life in prison for sexual abuse of young boys. We’ve also seen Jerry Sandusky dodge the truth until the minute prior to his sentencing to life in prison.

Where has trust gone?

We’ve seen a candidate for the 2011 Heisman Trophy kicked off the LSU football team for at least a full season. It’s the best move that Coach Les Miles has made thus far this football season. Tyrann Mathieu is a good young man but he’s very mixed up and needs rehab for the problem he has.

Where has trust gone?

We have seen the NFL punish one football team by stripping them of players, coaches and a general manager because a distrusting defensive coordinator felt he needed to entice his players with money to get them to play at their best in order to win. Gregg Williams is out of pro football forever for that bounty scheme he drummed up.

Where has trust gone?

And we have just recently seen a group of agents (former officials from that league, really) dismantle several would-be winners in the first three NFL games, among whom the Saints were victims.

What was the NFL thinking of when it could have recruited more college officials, even from Division III college leagues or even high school, that would have given us less stress, much less the players and coaches?

When you overturn five plays during a game, I’ve lost all trust.

We’ve seen two disastrous college football weekends where the polls flipped twice and LSU has slipped to No. eight or nine, depending on whether you believe in the Harris or the AP polls.

That gives many sports fans a lot to buzz about, with most laying the blame on the LSU coaching staff. (They may be correct, or they could be very wrong.) I can’t read Coach Miles and never really could, but I do believe he is honest. He doesn’t know what is wrong with his team.

By the time you read this column, LSU could have found the answer and be 7-1 and ready to entertain ‘Bama in Tiger Stadium.

What would an LSU win do for the Tiger,s Miles, the fans, and our state in general?

But, losses to South Carolina, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Alabama would drop the Tigers to 5-5 and they would be lucky to play in the “Tear Drop Bowl”. In fact, they wouldn’t even deserve the honor.

In all that we have reviewed with you as things that we have learned over the past two years, we’ve missed the boat on the fact that LSU was too high in the polls to begin with. This team did not have near the talent it had the previous two years, although the experts told us that the Tigers would be “loaded” again, so we listened.

There has been little consideration for the fact that quarterback Mettenberger, really a red-shirt quarterback, would have never seen playing time. He had never taken a snap in the big battles of the SEC. So, let’s get off his back. Injuries have played another big downfall for LSU, bigger than most fans want to admit.

Then we come to the defense, which is just now coming into their own. They also have big injuries and, although still a very good group, they can’t stay on the field for 70 percent of the game and expect to turn in a glowing review.

Where has common sense gone?

Because of the dollar, several SEC coaches have their jobs on the line. Alumni carry a big stick and the college boards listen.

Where is common sense really hidden?

Whatever happens next in this wide world of sports will not surprise any of us because the sports we enjoy have become a reflection of who we have become as a nation.

Think about that for a moment.

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Posted by Graphic Designer 2 on Oct 27 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.