Message to ESPN: There is More to Talk About Than LeBron

          As a member of society who has lost significant interest in sports recently, I decided to start my day by picking up the remote and hitting the on button. I chose to give ESPN another chance, but was soon to be strongly disappointed. My goal was to be engaged by highlights from the sports I used to love, but instead was presented with analysts and reporters who could only talk about one thing: LeBron James.

           I have no qualms about King James being the top story today or any other day until he makes his decision on which team will be paying for his services. However, to have the majority of your program be fully dedicated to this is unbearable. Some people, believe it or not, actually don’t particularly like basketball and prefer to watch other sports. Baseball is in full swing as we enter the final few months. Division races are heating up and ESPN is doing everything they can to make sure we know about James and his pending decision. However, if you’ve sat down and watched ESPN the last couple of days, you really haven’t learned much of anything. Most of it is pure speculation and the so-called “experts” basically give you a number of theories about what could happen or might be happening behind closed doors regarding James and teams who may be interested.

                If you have been an avid ESPN viewer, you realize that this is an ongoing pattern. There have been many examples of how television’s “Sports Leader” has latched on to a specific topic or story and refused to let go for a lengthy period of time. One that comes to mind is one that hopefully never comes up again. ESPN was in love with Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow as soon as he entered the National Football League. Things only got worse when the New York Jets acquired the great college quarterback. Let me repeat that. Great COLLEGE quarterback!  We all know that his skills will never equal success in the NFL, yet he was one of the top stories almost every day. During his short tenure with the Jets, he was the most celebrated backup quarterback in history. As a Jets fan, I usually like media coverage regarding my team. However, this was difficult to take. I think I speak for anyone who feels the same when I say that you can thank ESPN for several months of Tebow Mania.

                As for ESPN’s current obsession, part of me looks forward to the day that James is not the top story. However, I know that something else will take over the sports world and the highlights I want to see on “SportsCenter” will be far and few between.  I am not sure if my love for sports will be there like in years past, but at one time, they were a very important part of my life. As for ESPN, I will probably have to rely on other media outlets to help me regain my former passion.

     Shawn Marosek

LET US NOT BE FOOLED!

On Tuesday, the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee announced plans for college football to begin a four-team playoff starting in 2014. Within moments, the sports world exploded with college football higher ups, contributors and fans proclaiming the moment we have all been waiting for was finally here. Now anyone with a brain knows a four-team “playoff” is better than the current system in play, but this is far from a ground-shattering moment. In fact, the moves college football have made to get to this point have (and will take) hardly been positive.

It is no secret that sooner rather than later, college football will be comprised of four, 16-team “Super Conferences” that will effectively control the sport. It is yet to be seen if other conferences will exist in the top collegiate level of the sport, but isn't that kind of a moot point as all those programs will have no shot of being a part of this four-team playoff no matter how good they may be anyway? We have already seen the beginnings of that panic with Pittsburgh and Syracuse leaving all their natural, long-time rivals to go play in the ACC for example. TCU originally committed to the Big East, but was so panicked by Syracuse, Pittsburgh and even West Virginia leaving they bolted for the Big 12 before ever playing a game in the conference. Let’s face it, it will only get uglier and messier as the available slots in these conferences continue to dwindle. The Big East knows they are effectively dead in the water which has caused them to make some really silly moves. Boise State and San Diego State in the Big East? Come on! Not only does it tell you how desperate the conferences are, but how desperate Boise State is that they would join the Big East with the slim hopes of it becoming one of the Super Conferences.

What do the Super Conferences mean for the four-team playoff system? My guess is that after the four conferences fully form, the committee would take the conference champion from each of the four. That will leave a big number of programs who want to play in the FBS (or whatever The Artist formally known as Division I-A calls itself then), but cannot because the four conferences are full. If they don’t get into a Super Conference now, when will they ever? The door may be permanently shut on any program outside the top 64 from ever developing a prominent football program. Every once and awhile a conference may kick out a suffering program for someone new, but that will be quite rare. Also is four out of 64 a fair playoff anyway? The varying schedules even amongst teams in the same conference will be pretty stark.

If this is truly where we are heading, college sports will never be the same. Anything improves football from the current BCS system, but at what expense? College basketball is becoming an afterthought in all this movement. The Big East sports the best basketball in the country with several great rivalries. Syracuse was a charter member with the Carrier Dome perhaps being the biggest symbol of the league. They had several great rivalries with the likes of Georgetown, Connecticut, Villanova, Pittsburgh, St. John’s, etc. that are all but gone now because they are trying to secure their spot in a super conference. You may say to me wasn't the Big East the original "super conference" with its 16 teams in hoops? That is true that maybe they should have seen this coming and that other conferences might follow suit and poach them, but all the rivals I speak of for Syracuse were all fellow charter members or close to being that. And remember that the reason why the Big East went to 16 was because the ACC had just poached Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College, so the only way for them to survive was to become a mega college hoops conference. It hardly destroyed the game and kept rivalries intact after football yanked charter member, Boston College, away.

The Kansas-Missouri rivalry will never be the same either. I’m sure they’ll play a game at the Sprint Center in Kansas City every year, but it loses a lot of its luster with the teams being in different conferences now. This is only the beginning of these types of separations, so who knows what other rivalries will be destroyed. I also failed to mention that even rivals remaining in the same conference will play fewer games against each other over time because of the stark number of teams. There will even be years where teams within the same conference may not even play each other. The small, intimate feel of what a conference should be is gone.

So with all of this, do you still think this is an epic moment for college football? The only reason why it is such an improvement for college football is the last system was so bad it was unconscionable. How could a sport’s championship game be decided by biased pollsters and computers? It was everything sports shouldn’t be. How it even existed for as long as it did is comical. It has kept big sports fans like me from engaging in college football my whole life because of how flawed and negatively it impacted the sport. That’s a shame too because the college football atmosphere is incredibly special. The best scenario is an eight or twelve team playoff. You give automatic bids to the top six conferences (as they were before all this super conference type movement) and then hand out at-large bids from there. For those saying there isn’t enough time to do it, I ask why do the other levels of college football have larger playoffs?

Let’s be realistic though. College football will not expand beyond four teams for a while. Think about it. It took over a hundred years to get them to move beyond two. For those who desperately wanted to see the BCS get the boot, you got your wish. Believe me, I’m happy about that myself, but there are a ton of negatives here. This is not the ground-shattering moment the college football bigwigs, commentators, fans are trying to make you believe it is. Quite frankly, it's like putting lipstick on a pig.

I NO LONGER HATE SOCCER

After watching a couple of the World Cup games featuring te Women's U.S. Soccer team, I can honestly say I have respect for soccer and it's players. I'll admit that I didn't know much about the game before their match against Brazil a couple weeks ago. However, soccer is actually not as bad as I once thought and was actually pretty exciting to watch. I've always bashed soccer, saying the game is all about kicking a ball around an oversized field and that a 1-0 lead is insurmountable. This is all untrue and I apologize to all those who are fans of this game.

I have total respect for anybody that plays soccer, especially on this level. While watching the quarterfinal matchup against Brazil, I couldn't believe that only three substitutions were allowed per team. I couldn't last five minutes running up and down that field. The game is way more intense than I ever imagined, with slide tackling and all the other contact that is involved. The game also has suspense that I didn't beleive was possible. Take the first half of the World Cup Final for example. The American women had so many chances to score, and failed to do so. The opportunites were there, including one off the crossbar and others that barely missed. If one or two of those goals finds the back of the net, we are talking about a different result.

Only days after this exciting match, I find myself watching television and stopping on channels that are airing soccer. This World Cup final has convinced me that I should be a fan of the most popular sport on the planet. Soccer has entered the world of Shawn Marosek. I'm sure the recent events in Germany have done the same for others across this country.

-Shawn M.

TIGER: IS HE FINISHED?

Like it or not, the new wave of golf stars have broken out in a big way. Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, and Charl Schwartzel have all won major championships while Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar have all come close. Clearly the most impressive of this group is Rory McIlroy, who has stamped himself as the best player in the world with his dominating U.S. Open championship at Congressional this weekend. His brilliance hasn’t been seen since, well, Tiger Woods at the 2000 U.S. Open.

With this new wave of exceptional, young golfers here to stay, where exactly does that leave Tiger Woods? Tiger hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open, and hasn’t won a tour event since he returned from his whole saga at the 2010 Masters. Putting the personal issues aside, Tiger’s health is a big concern. He has been forced to miss three majors due to different surgeries since the victory at Torrey Pines in ’08. With problems like this at age 35, what condition will he be in at age 40 and then 45? The next ten years will be where he either breaks Jack Nicklaus’s record or continues his fade into the sunset.

Most of the media seems to be counting him out. Almost all say he won’t catch Jack now and several people are saying he’ll never win another major. This is mainly the same group of people that said he would win the Grand Slam in 2009 and tie Jack’s record that year! I’ve personally never bought into the extreme opinions of the media. I believe most people just write stuff with such extreme opinions to deliver a “wow” factor just so that more people will read and comment on their stuff. I find it hard to believe most of these writers actually believe their words to the fullest extent. Not many people are going to be that intrigued by an article or newscast that says, "well Tiger could still break it, but it is going to be much tougher now”.

I really do find it silly that anyone at this current moment can dismiss him from ever winning another major championship. The man won a major on a broken leg at Torrey Pines, and despite all the personal/physical issues over the last year and change, he has finished in the top five at three out of the five majors he’s competed in since his return last April. Unless his legs are that far gone, I find it very hard to believe he’ll never win another major. Love him or hate him, no one can dispute the heart he plays with at these major championships. No one can dispute how mentally strong he is either. He willed himself to that win at Torrey Pines as well into the top five at those recent majors. Imagine where he’ll be when his game starts to come around which it appeared to do at times at the Masters in April. I throw out those events where he totally bombed like the Bridgestone Invitational last year. Obviously his game wasn’t there, but clearly his heart wasn’t in it either. Outside of the 2006 U.S. Open which was weeks after the death of his father, Tiger's heart has always been in it for these majors.

Barring we find out that he won't ever be able to play on his legs again, I will guarantee that Tiger will win another major championship. I base that on partly on his performance at Torrey Pines and his ability to stay in contention at majors since. However, I also base that on the fact several of golf’s greatest players have had a ton of success after the age of 35. Jack won six of his 18 majors, Ben Hogan won eight of his nine, Sam Snead won five of his seven, and more recently Phil Mickelson has won three of his four majors after their 35th birthdays. Even Tom Watson, who never won a major after the age of 35, was a putt away on the 72nd green from winning the 2009 British Open at the ripe old age of 59. I think Tiger will have long put the clubs away for good when he's 59, but there is no reason he cannot compete until he's 45,50.

Whether I believe he’ll ultimately break Jack’s record is a different story. With the wave of young talent taking over, it is going to be very difficult for Tiger to win five more major championships on reconstructed legs while these younger guys are pretty much playing with a full deck. They quite frankly are probably more physically talented right now. However, I’ve seen this man win on a broken leg where every swing was so painful, so while I acknowledge (not a bold statement) it will be much more difficult than it appeared it was going to be a few years ago, I don’t believe his quest for the all-time major championship record is over. No game is more fickle than golf. One week you can be on top of the world, the next you can be at the bottom. Let’s see where Tiger is when this extreme point in his career levels out. I would like to see what happens when he finally wins a PGA event even if it isn’t a major championship. To call him finished at this point is way too premature.

Patrick Morgan

TEBOW'S NEW HAIRCUT- I LOVE IT

It works that whole Friar Tuck thing, which essentially goes with that prior Super Bowl commercial he "starred" in.

I hope your team at least doesn't make you look like an ass out on the field (or do I?).

AS USUAL, THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS ARE D*CKHEADS

No surprise what I'm going to be ranting about in this opinion piece.

Apparently the entire staff and team that resides in New England don't have the time for kids. And not just any kids. The kids that signed up to participate in the Fuel Up to Play 60 program.

Now, if these poor elementary school kids in Connecticut weren't actually expecting anyone on the team to show up, then I can see how they would be disappointed, but it wouldn't be the fault of the Patriots. Well, apparently the team was actually supposed to show up and play football, or run around with these kids. I mean you see the commercials with the various players, looking ecstatic to be with kids. Apparently the Patriots hate them. Because no one but an intern showed up. So instead of playing with Patriot's players, the intern brought some exercise videos.

"I was willing to give the Patriots the benefit of the doubt and believe that there was an honest mistake here ... until I read that they gave the kid a Fred Taylor jersey. Fred Taylor? Fred Taylor and his 269 yards last year? That's really the best you can do for the kid? What, was Zoltan Mesko(notes) too busy to sign a jersey?"

Listen, you may not be the reigning NFL football team in the world at the moment (Go Saints!), but that doesn't mean you can be dueschbags, especially to children who look up to you and idolize some of you.

Jaclyn Kahn

P.S. I see the update on the article, but I don't buy it. The Patriots have that "we're better than you and can get away with anything" air about them, so I still say it's their fault.

THE NEW YORK JETS OFFSEASON REPORT

Year one of the Rex Ryan/Mark Sanchez era was a roller coaster ride for sure. The New York Jets had many ups and downs, but it ended pretty well with a trip to Indianapolis for the AFC Championship. Yes, they were slaughtered by some guy named Peyton in the 2nd half, but there were many positives to take from the deep playoff run. The Jets have had a pretty active offseason to say the least. They have added a ton of big names, said goodbye to a couple old friends, and took a few key pieces in the draft. Let me try and go through it all for you all.

First let me tackle the pre-draft moves. The first trade was a third rounder to San Diego for Antonio Cromartie. Despite a drop off in performance and effort from this former all-pro, I think he will be very good playing opposite Revis Island. He is young and should be inspired to perform especially since is in a new environment and will constantly have to hear about how good Darrelle Revis is. You think he might have something to prove? I think this will be a great fit for the Jets, and improves that side of the secondary big time.

The next move was merely to add a big name to the roster. LaDainian Tomlinson is a future first-ballot hall of famer for sure, but his hey day is long gone. He has been a well below average back the last couple years. The Chargers had shifted from being his team to Philip Rivers's team a long time ago. I don't like this move for the Jets. They should have coughed up an extra $2 million to keep Thomas Jones on the roster. I know Jones slowed down at the end of the season, but he rushed for almost 700 yards more than Tomlinson last year. Shonn Greene better be really good because it is hard to see Tomlinson being very useful. Maybe he'll have a few 1-yard touchdown runs, but that will be about it.

The Jets then added troubled receiver Santonio Holmes from Pittsburgh for a fifth round pick. This was a fabulous move. Granted Holmes will miss the first four games due to a drug suspension, but he is a former Super Bowl MVP that will play opposite Braylon Edwards. This will give Sanchez another weapon in difficult situations and should help him a lot. I believe the move will also enhance the value of Jerricho Cotchery. Cotchery showed a drastic loss of speed last year, so moving him to the slot can make him a great possession receiver. Dustin Keller improved as the season went on too, so Sanchez should have no shortage of toys to play with.

Then recently the Jets added former Dolphin, Jason Taylor. Personally I think the guy is a phony for signing with the Jets. No one hated the Jets as much as Taylor during his 10+ years with the Dolphins. I was shocked to say the least. From a football standpoint, he should add something to their pass rush. He is getting up there in age though, so it's possible he just falls off the map. I believe he has more tread left on the tires than Tomlinson, however. Even if he has a great season, I will continue to laugh at him for cameras catching him saying the game was over on that famous Monday night when the Jets came back from 30-7 down against the Dolphins in 2000.

Now to the 2010 NFL Draft. The Jets apparently got a steal in Kyle Wilson at #29. The Boise State cornerback will immediately be the starting nickel corner. With Cromartie and Wilson on that side of the field, the Jets shouldn't be torched like they were by the Colts in the AFC Championship. However, the Jets then made a puzzling move in my opinion. I don't mind that they drafted Vladimir Ducasse in the 2nd round, but I don't get why they would release pro-bowler Alan Faneca as a result. I know he was due a big payday, but it was only $2 million more to keep him on the roster opposed to what his release cost. Ducasse better be good, because otherwise the loss of Faneca is a big hit to the offensive line and the running game.

The other big news from the draft was the trade of Leon Washington to the Seahawks. The Jets took a similar, younger player in Joe McKnight in the 4th round. Once they took him it opened the door for a Washington trade. Even though I have loved Leon as a Jet, the move makes sense. Washington is coming off a severely broken leg that may really hamper what made him such a dynamic player. I wish him well, but from what I've heard about McKnight, he can possibly step right in and be the next Leon Washington anyway. Plus he's younger and not coming off a major injury. Here is where I really trust Mike Tannenbaum's talent accessing abilities. He is a fabulous GM and done great work in these drafts. I also liked the addition of fullback John Conner in the fifth round. Tony Richardson is getting old and who better to learn from for Conner.

So overall I think the Jets have improved their secondary and their receiving core big time. They should be tough to pass on and Sanchez should be much better in year two and build on his impressive postseason. The running game takes a big hit replacing Jones with Tomlinson and then cutting Alan Faneca. There will be a lot of pressure on Shonn Greene to become a big time back next year. I have no confidence in Tomlinson, so the Jets have to hope Greene takes the next step and that Joe McKnight makes an immediate impact. The Jets are clearly going for it and anything short of a Super Bowl appearance next year will be a disappointment.

Pat Morgan