Too Much Ado About Nothing…

Let me begin this morning with a personal note regarding these rants.  If you have ever established a website, you must register your domain name – – in this case sportscurmudgeon.com.  Every few years, you must renew your registration to maintain that exclusive address on the web.  My current registration runs out in April 2020; so, I obviously needed to renew and extend it.  I did that this week and the registration now runs through April 2029.  At that point, I will be 85 years old; but if my fingers are still functional on a keyboard, the plan is to keep on keeping on…

• My long range plan is to live forever; so far, so good.

There are two stories percolating today and I believe that both are of minuscule importance/value.  The first one involves the continuation of the feud between Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb wherein each one blames the other for the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss to the Patriots about 15 years ago and the subsequent dismantling of the Eagles’ roster.  I think I speak for a significant portion of the sports fans in the US when I say, “Give it a rest, guys!” for the fundamental reason that, “Nobody cares!”

Both Owens and McNabb have reached a point in their life when headlines and interviews and attention are hard to come by.  It would certainly appear that both men want a little more attention focused on them and this “feud” has become a way to accomplish that end.  What neither seems to realize – or, if they realize they do not care – is that this nonsense paints both of them as:

• Déclassé
• Niggling
• Pathetic
• Petty

Take your pick…  Here is a link to one of the reports of this ongoing feud that I include for completeness; you need not read it because it just does not matter.

The other story getting too much attention involves the issue of whether the Houston Astros’ players need to apologize for their sign-stealing activities.  If this were a debate among noted ethicists and moral philosophers, it could be marginally interesting.  However, the latest entrant into the debate is Scott Boras who says that the players need not apologize because “management” never explained to them that taking advantage of the technology-based sign stealing was wrong.

I have never thought that there was a significant overlap between “baseball players” and “MENSA members” but if I accept the Boras Principle here, then I have to consign “baseball players” to a realm of cognition previously occupied only by Bean Soup.  I really do not care one way or the other if the players apologize or if the owner apologizes or if no one apologizes.  Until and unless there are new revelations about similar sign-stealing systems elsewhere in MLB, I am more than happy to consign this matter to the dustbin of history.

I ran across a Tweet from Mike Leach – the new head coach at Mississippi State – that sparked my interest:

“Love being out in the great state of Mississippi recruiting some absolute studs! Any restaurant advice for me throughout the state?”

There was a time early in my career when I was in the Research, Development and Engineering business and I had reason to travel very extensively in the US.  That Tweet made me realize that Mike Leach’s wanderings as a head coach for the last couple of decades has taken him to places that would make him relish the idea of traveling around Mississippi.  I have been to Lubbock, TX and to Pullman, WA and to Starkville, MS.  Let me just say that none of those venues can claim to be as close to the Garden of Eden as exists on Earth.  If you spent a lot of time lobbying me, you might get me to concede that Pullman is a “bustling burb” – but it won’t be easy.  That will not be possible regarding either Lubbock or Starkville.

Given where he has had to live for the last 20 years or so, I think I now understand why he is obsessed with pirates and aliens.  There are not a lot of things to prevent his mind from wandering through the cosmos.

As for restaurant advice, let me suggest to Coach Leach that he have some fun with his dining events.  I have always wanted to go into a Denny’s for dinner and to ask the waiter to see the wine list…

When Titans’ guard, Dennis Kelly, caught a TD pass in the Chiefs/Titans game last weekend, one of the stat gurus on the broadcast came up with the revelation that Kelly was the heaviest player – at 321 lbs. – ever to catch a TD pass in a playoff game.  As that gem made its way to the booth and then out over the air, one of the next camera shots showed Andy Reid on the Chiefs’ sideline.  With the Chiefs’ victory, Andy Reid will be the heaviest coach in a Super Bowl game next week surpassing the Andy Reid who coached in that Super Bowl that continues to fuel the Terrell Owens/Donovan McNabb feud.

I have often wondered if one tossed a tennis ball at Andy Reid, would it go into orbit around his waist.  Enquiring minds … and all that stuff.

Finally, consider this entry in The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Dictator:  A tyrannical ruler.  Some people who have been labelled as dictators throughout history include Mussolini, Stalin, and parents who even remotely suggest that their child might want to do less text messaging.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………