Too Unscripted for Fairy Tale Endings

Sports - it's the best unscripted reality show on television. Regardless of where you live or where you're from, you cling to a team or two and hope for a fairy tale ending each season. However, the joy we experience from it's unpredictability can also provide us pain and anguish.



Here in Atlanta, Braves skipper Bobby Cox is managing his team for one final week. After this season he will do something he hasn't done in over 30 years, leave the game of baseball.


The final chapter of this fairy tale began in early Spring and continued throughout most of the summer. It has been quite the page turner with an old grizzled veteran character going down (Chipper Jones) halfway through the story and minor characters stepping up to become grand slam heroes at times (Brooks Conrad and David Ross).

This final chapter also had it's fair share of villains. Some appeared to be harmless on the exterior (Washington Nationals, Florida Marlins), but the minute the Braves let their guard down, they were tomahawk chopped right between the eyes, left for dead, and looking up at first place in the division. Like any good story, the biggest, baddest villain of them all (the Phillies) usually finds himself in a showdown with the main character in the final scene. This will be the case Friday, Saturday and Sunday when the division nemesis comes to Atlanta with intentions on destroying any hopes of a happy ending for these Braves.


In an ideal world we would skip ahead these final six pages (games) to sneak a peak at how this will all end. Will there be sadness or jubilation? Ahh, but in this cruel world of sports, we all know that's not possible. Those final six pages have yet to be written. The only guarantee we have right now is that when the last page is turned and we close this book for good, it's main character, Bobby Cox, will ride off into the sunset. We can only hope he lives happily ever after....

The Great American GiveBack

So Reggie Bush decided to step up and give back his Heisman Trophy before that obscure, random group I wrote about in my last column (The Heisman Trust) took it from him.

While we are in the giving mood, I have a few suggestions:

In Sports Illustrated issue dated April 1st, 1985, Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier of Nebraska admitted he had signed with an agent and accepted money before the 1984 Orange Bowl game, a violation of NCAA rules. I want Mike Rozier to give back his Heisman Trophy.

Roger Clemens cheated...he took steroids and lied to congress. Those are facts. So here's what I want: I want the New York Yankees to lose their World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. Roger Clemens pitched in both of those series. I want them to give those trophies back. I want Roger Clemens to personally give back all seven of Cy Young Awards.

Mark McGuire cheated...he took steroids and lied to congress. I want Mark McGuire to give back his AL Rookie of the Year Award. I want the Oakland A's to give back their 1989 World Series trophy. Heck, not only did they beat the San Francisco Giants with McGuire, but they had another cheater in Jose Canseco.

Alex Rodriguez took performance enhancing drugs. He signed a $252 million contract in the prime of his steroid-using career. I want him to give some of that money back.

October 8th, 1988 former Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett was arrested for driving under the influence -- well, that doesn't seem to live up to the moral standards of the snooty Heisman Trust, gosh darnit, I want him to give his award back.

Back in 2000, former Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims sold his trophy to cover a multitude of debts and to pay about $32,000 in back child support. I want him to.......wait, nevermind, he doesn't even own it anymore.

My point is all over the world of sports there are players who broke the rules or cheated that are sitting at home with a mantle full of awards. There are teams that benefited from those players that won championships that have their trophies proudly displayed. Yet, Reggie Bush seems to be the only one that has been "forced" to give his prize back. Why?

Can We Trust The 'Trust'?

Ever heard of Sanford Wurmfeld? William Dockery? No? And you call yourself a college football fan?! Don't feel bad, I've never heard of them either, however, apparently they are two members of the 8-member Heisman Trust Board, and they will decide if Reggie Bush deserves to lose his Heisman. Who are the other six members on this board? Good luck finding that out. I spent 30 minutes on Google trying to track down their names. Heisman.com didn't list any of the names either. Why not? I would like to know who makes up this Trust and what their background is in the sport of college football. Somebody call Oliver Stone!

I invite you all to Google Sanford Wurmfeld. You will quickly learn that this member of the Heisman Trust is a New York City abstract painter and a chairman of the art department at Hunter College. He will decide if Reggie Bush should lose his Heisman.

William Dockery? He's a New York City lawyer. He doesn't have a website. Not really sure what firm he works for either. His business address is the same as the Heisman Trust's website. So what type of law is he exactly practicing? Perhaps he is hired by past Heisman Trophy winners to fight for their rights to better seats at the Downtown Athletic Club once a year. Perhaps he just decides whether Reggie Bush should lose his Heisman.

I'm not so sure I like the idea of some artsy-fartsy painter, a lawyer without a practice, and six other mysterious members in New York City deciding whether or not Reggie Bush keeps his Heisman, which yes, went to the best player in college football that year. I would rather see the Trust hand this over to a vote by all the previous winners. If guys like Eddie George, Troy Smith, Tony Dorsett, Ty Detmer and Jason White feel Reggie still deserves to lose his Heisman, than I think most college football fans would understand and accept the final vote. But please don't tell me some abstract artist named Wurmfeld is going to have a say in this decision.

When is enough a enough? Reggie Bush isn't welcome on USC's campus or allowed to attend a USC game. USC has basically wiped clean any proof that he ever existed. The one thing that no one can take away from him is the season he had on the field in 2005. He was the best player in college football. That will always exist....even if members of the Heisman Trust say otherwise.

My Team On Probation, I'm Still Intrigued By College Football's Storylines

After taking the second half of the summer off, I decided what better day to get back into blogging than September 1st. Regardless of the 90 degree heat that is still sweeping the South and the East Coast, I contend once the calendar hits September, Summer Is Over! This, of course, means FOOTBALL is here.

I thought I'd put some of my random college football thoughts in writing before the season officially kicks off Thursday night with Murray State at Kent State! Ok, that's actually not the marquee game of the night, but I need to expand my readership and why not start with the Golden Flashes of Kent State fan base.

> My interest Thursday night clearly lies with the USC Trojans heading out West (not often you get to say that) to take on the Hawaii Warriors. That game kicks off 11:00 PM Eastern and Bahamas time (which is where I'll be Thursday night). Trojan fans can't even get East coast writers to pop a 5-hour energy drink for the regular 10:00 PM Pac-10 games on FSN during the season, so I doubt many will be awake to catch Lane Kiffin's debut as a head coach for the men of Troy. Although the few that are awake will sadly be rooting for him to fail.

> Looking around the rest of the nation, I'm obviously intrigued by any program that has to defend it's national championship. Ask any coach at a big time program how tough it is to win back-to-back titles in college football. The Crimson Tide will start the season without their Heisman Trophy running back, Mark Ingram.

> I'm curious to see how year three goes for Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech. ACC coaches now have had a few years of film to sift through to plot and plan for the YellowJacket's unique spead-option offense. Saturday's are made for quarterbacks like Josh Nesbitt. Tough as nails and the perfect leader for this team.

> Will Georgia, led by former Plant High School stud out of Tampa, Aaron Murray be able to give the Gators a run in the SEC East this year? Will All-World wide receiver AJ Green be good enough to put his team on his back for an extra win or two this year? The 'Dawgs may need it!

> Can the Wisconsin Badgers return to the glory days under Barry Alvarez and get back to the Rose Bowl? That may be determined on October 16th when the Buckeyes come to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison for a season-changing showdown.

> Speaking of the Rose Bowl, who is going to step up and claim the other invitation from the Pac10? The conference is loaded at quarterback, the question is will there be enough pieces on the defensive side of the ball for guys like Jake Locker at Washington or Andrew Luck at Stanford? Will the running game at Oregon State be enough to keep the Beavers in the conference title hunt and is QB Nate Costa at Oregon going to win games for the Ducks or just manage them?

Other quick hits:

Les Miles seat is hot.

Bob Stoops has a big mouth.

What will the BCS computers think of Boise State if they run the table?

Rich Rodriguez better not lose to UCONN to start the season.

Are expectations high or low for Derek Dooley at Tennessee?

Will an ACC team emerge as a national title contender?

The Denver Broncos have a BYE Week November 7th....will Tim Tebow use that time to visit the Gators and bless them for the 2nd of half of their season?

I still contend Saturday's are more exciting then Sundays during football season. There are more meaningful games and better bitter rivalries. Although my alma mater (USC) is on probabtion for the next two seasons, college football will still provide me with enough storylines to keep me intrigued until the very end.