Happy Valley Chaos...But for What?

The bizarre and embarrassing acts that engulfed Penn State's Main Campus late last night set a bad taste in my mouth and stomach. Students rallying for Joe Paterno did not seem like such a good idea especially in the midst of what is looking like the biggest scandal in sports history. I sat quietly in my living room watching the strange press conference last night wondering why this was all going on. The whole idea of holding such a meeting for the firing of Joe Pa totally fed into the culture at Penn State. Ideally, the Board of Trustees would have been better off with just a statement but to open the room for questions might not have been the best idea for the institution at a national level. In fact, the room was full of students blurting out their questions of concern for how their legend, their so called "god" was fired. Who cares if they called him or showed up at his door? The bottom line is the man is no longer the head football coach. How he was fired is minuscule in this entire scandal. From what started out as the discovery of heinous acts, which are unbearable to read on the 23 page grand jury report, it has turned into something that is not. Joe Pa.

The reactions I have read on Twitter from friends and friends of friends who are Penn State alum are quite astonishing. "So sad", "I can't believe this is happening", "We love you Joe!" "WE ARE...PENN STATE". All of these posts I saw populate my Twitter feed only made me feel sick to my stomach. I could not believe that people my age, which is the same age now as those boys who were raped, are sticking to one of the many men who covered up what was happening. Had i not known they were for Joe Pa I would have assumed they were for the children and families of those whose lives were traumatized. My response to those Tweets was harmless but I don't think it set well with Penn State folks, "Joe Pa getting fired is not sad. Little boys getting raped is sad and disturbing." I never got directly responded to on that one, but there was one shout out to Penn State haters saying "no one wants your opinion, shut the f*** up, ur about to get unfollowed..." Part of me wanted to respond indirectly just so I would get unfollowed. Let's get serious, who cares if you stop following me. It's people like that who have twisted this scandal into a worship-fest for Joe Pa. And because he is Joe Pa, he can do no wrong. Now that he has done wrong, he is being held responsible and as well he should be. But regardless, his fans will back him up, feel bad for him and rally for his legacy. For such a legacy and top dog at a prestigious university one would think he would take responsibility not only as a head football coach but as a human being to see that justice is served. But that is not what happened. It was ignored. It was ignored to protect the face of the program and the university. For something as serious as this, it makes you wonder what else are they hiding in Happy Valley? I just don't get it and I never will. Just because I didn't graduate from Penn State doesn't mean I can't have an opinion on this matter.

"Winning"

"Winning." The word has become much more than a sports team's goal or motto these days. I'm sure it was on LeBron James' mind the moment he stepped foot on the court alongside Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami. Rex Ryan sure thought his squad was good enough for it, in Super Bowl terms. The Villanova Wildcats sure had it on their agenda this season, as they were sitting pretty in the early weeks at number six on the AP Top 25 Rankings. What these three teams have in common though, ironically, is not "winning". I think all the smoke and lights that introduced one of the most overrated three-some in NBA's history had some sort of impact down there in Miami and how LeBron and Company can't seem to get it done. The Jet's had their fifteen minutes of fame during the preseason show, "Hard Knocks"on HBO. How many times did we hear Ryan mention his team playing in the Super Bowl? Nova Nation is taking a hit now after completely falling off the AP Top 25 Rankings. The question is, will they make it past the first round of the tournament, let alone make it at all? "Winning". Something these three teams haven't been able to grasp as of recent games.

"Winning" certainly has taken a different spin in the last week or so thanks to Charlie Sheen. Apparently, he is "winning". Whether it's in life or who knows what else, he has let everyone know that's what he's doing. Maybe the Heat, Jets and Wildcats can catch up with him in the next few days and weeks to get things going for them. Even though he lost his show with CBS, Sheen is making it obvious that he has his life under control. I don't know if I would consider myself "winning" if my children were taken out of my house, but he seems to be going with the flow. I can't go one day driving to and home from work without 610 WIP or 97.5 The Fanatic using the Sheen sound bite "winning" in their segments. The word has taken the Twitter world by storm and #winning seems like it's the most trended word since, ever. More and more people are talking about how Sheen has lost his mind and how crazy he is. We can make observations and judgements about the star of "Two and a half Men" all we want. He's only going to appear on more interviews and talk shows as this story continues to escalate. He is who he is no matter what people are going to say. I can't say I don't think the man is crazy, but who am I to judge? Now, don't go as far as comparing me to one of his "goddesses" but all I'm saying is let the man live. I will say though, if he gets his children back before the NFL and NFLPA come to an agreement, then there is certainly something wrong in this world we live in.

The Eagle Has Landed

There is a lot to talk about in the world of the Philadelphia Eagles. Michael Vick is performing above and beyond all expectaions and has certainly proved himself worthy of second chances. Back in August during Training Camp I would never have thought this team would be 6-3 and on the verge of leading the NFC East. There were lots of unanswered questions lingering over the head of coach Andy Reid. Kevin Kolb was the big guy on campus and everyone expected big things from the Texas native. Sooner than later the tables changed and who but Vick takes the lead and is now 4-0 when he has played the entire game. This guy is unbelievable out there. From passing 88yds. down the feild to an unstoppable DeSean Jackson or finding the hole and running for 10 yds. for the first down, this guy is powerful. So powerful he has been experiencing multiple symptoms of MVP. It's not too early to diagnose especially since his symptoms have increasingly skyrocketed over the past few weeks. MVP is serious and by the looks of it, Vick has placed himself on the not so populated list this year.

Vick has proved himself on this Eagles sqaud and earned the respect of his teammates and coaching staff. His weakness is still the fan base in Philly. There are those who support him and his long journey back to the NFL and have given him a second chance and the benefit of the doubt. Then there are those who refuse to support him and are outraged he is back playing in the NFL. Troy Ballard, writer for The Bleacher Report, provides great evidence to back up a case for Vick's running in the race for MVP. Read all he has to say!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/519835-michael-vick-10-ways-he-can-lock-down-the-mvp-award

VICK FOR MVP!

Eagles Training Camp

Last week I got an inside look at the Eagles Training Camp. I lucked out with a field pass to the afternoon practice last Tuesday with two of my good family friends and let me tell you, we had a BLAST! Thanks to Lehigh Gas and Pepsi our experience at Lehigh was one for the books. I drove up with my friends Carly and Jack Tuesday morning, but not at a gruesome 5:30am like most fans do coming from the Philly area. We had to pick up our tickets in Allentown at 9:30, so we missed the morning practice. Arriving at Lehigh University was a bit confusing, actually. Of course we were the only car driving into the campus and we had absolutely no idea where we were going. So, we drove through the campus and finally found some green arrows that we assumed were for us, the fans. So, here I am driving my new Ford Escape up the long and windy roads of Lehigh's gorgeous campus. I turned to Carly and Jack and said, "We would never make it up this mountain if we were in Barney." Barney is one of the cars my family has, which is a purple 1997 Toyota Corola that my brother has proudly took under his wings now that my younger sister and I ditched Barney and moved on to our Escape. So, we keep driving and driving and we weren't seeing anything. We decided to turn around and go back in case we missed something. As I am turning around and driving back, we see these green arrow signs again! At this point the three of us are laughing and starting to think we were being Punk'd (as if Ashton Kuther would pick three kids from Delaware County PA to Punk). Finally, we make it back down to the the main campus and no one wants to roll down their window to ask directions, so I frantically drive up to a nice student with a Lehigh t-shirt and ask him, "Where can we park for training camp?" This kid looks at us and knows we are lost and says, "Uh, isn't that up on the other side of campus?" Great, here we are, first time training camp visitors and we get an answer like that. He tells us to go back up the mountain and go over to Goodman Campus. Back up the mountain we go and finally make it there. Of course, we catch everyone heading back to their cars after the morning practice. Fortunately, we find an information tent and they tell us to go to the Pepsi tent and they will take care of us there, including lunch and field passes. Field passes??!! We knew something good had to come out of our trip all the way up here! So we arrive at the Pepsi tent, and know absolutely NOBODY. Granted there were about 20 people sitting at the large round tables waiting for lunch, but we still felt out of place. As soon as we get under the tent we see Jason Avant leaving the tent; apparently we missed the autograph session. Oh well, lunch was ready and we had four hours to kill before the next practice. Sitting at our table, just the three of us, we start looking around at people and see that everyone has field passes and we start to wonder when and where do we get ours. I spot a guy with at least 30 around his neck and Carly, Jack and I are fighting over who is going to ask him for them. We voted Carly since she was yet to ask anybody where we were going and what our tickets were good for. She claims she has a fear of talking to people or something, and here she is a junior at Villanova with a communication major. I wonder how she is going to make out in the real world. Anywho, all of a sudden people are getting up and returning their field passes. Then we start saying, "Oh no, what if they were only good for the morning practice, what do we do?" What did we do? We sat there for two and a half hours under the Pepsi tent until we were the last people in the tent.Yes, we did that. Jack had about three Pepsi Max sodas in that time frame and was getting a bit jittery. Then a different man from the one who had the field passes comes up to us and asks if we are staying for the afternoon and what do you know, he gives us three passes! FINALLY!

Fast forwarding to later that afternoon, we get onto the field for what we didn't know was special teams only. If you ask me, I really don't care if it is a regular practice or special teams, I got field passes and stood one foot away from one of the best football teams in the NFL. Not to mention some of the best looking players in the NFL. So, here I am, a blond, 5'3", 22 year-old girl with a Brent Celek jersey on. I turned to Jack and said, "Is this real life?" This was amazing. After about two minutes I work up the guts to say hello to Celek and what comes out?..."Hey Brent!!"... his response, an awkward, "Helloooo.." Oh well, at least he looked at me, right? My next goal was to get Jason Avant to pass me the football during his catch his Leonard Weaver. Again, here I am at Eagles Training Camp, staring at Avant and Weaver pass the ball to each other right in front of me. I stood there for five minutes just watching the ball go from Avant to Weaver, Avant to Weaver. In my head I'm practicing what to say, "Hey Jason! Over here, pass me the ball, I'll catch it!" That never happened. But, this did happen: As we were being escorted off the field by Eagles employees, I finally worked up the guts to say hello to my new favorite player, rookie WR Riley Cooper. Yes, the tall, gorgeous, long-haired number 14. I said,"Hey Coop" and waved. He turned, looked, saw me waving, smiled, waved and WINKED! A perfect ending to a perfect day. So, when people ask me about training camp I tell them it was great and that me and Cooper are dating now.

Go Birds!

Philly Gets a Makeover

There is lots to talk about in Philly these days. The Phillies are seeing a whole different look this week with Polanco at second, Valdez at SS, Desperate Dobbs at third, Werth at center and phinally Rookie Dom Brown at right. With all the injuries haunting the team I wouldn't be surprised if I saw Howard in the outfield if another injury occurs. That's a little exaggeration, but I'm just sayin'! With all eyes on Brown since Victorino left Tuesday's game, the rookie sure made an impression on Philly with a double on his first major league at bat. I swear it brought tears to my eyes! Especially when he got a standing ovation! He'll fit right in in Philly if he continues to tear it up at the plate.

The Eagles are certainly seeing change this year! No McNabb, no Westbrook. The young guns are going to be the ones taking control of things this season. Not too many veterans are back but hey, this is the transitional season. I have faith in my young team and know things will be just fine. Let's just hope nobody gets in trouble...

Drama, Drama, Drama

You all know what I am talking about when I say drama, at least I'm hoping you do. Lebron James. What a character, huh? The so-called "decision" watched and heard around the world was all the talk this past week and to be honest, I really didn't care too much about it until Thursday when it was all over Sports Center. I did not see it but I was listening to Power 99 in Philadelphia, yes Power 99, and his interview or whatever that was came on and suddenly I became interested. From the start of his free agency and what was being said on every sports show on ESPN, I assumed he was going to Miami and so I left it at that and didn't give him much more thought. I was annoyed, actually, when Sports Center dedicated several hundred hours to the "king". I just wanted to see the Top 10 plays and get on with my day. The whole thing was absurd if you ask me. Who in the world needs such publicity when deciding where to play hoops next? All the hype made me think he was going to come out behind a big red curtain with smoke and fireworks and do a fun dance with dancers from a rap video. But that was being saved for the "three kings" party the next day. I'll give it to Miami, they have a pretty sick team now with Bosh, LeBron and Wade. On a side note, I think it's funny how everybody refers to him as Lebron, his first name instead of his last like most athletes, with the exception of Kobe, Shaq and other athletes. Anywho, the whole situation was glorified in the most unnecessary way. Do you think Kobe will do the same when he becomes a free agent? I hope it's bigger and better just to spite LeBron. And that is saying a lot from me because I loathe Kobe Bryant more than anything in the world. I hope Kobe's "decision" is similar to the opening ceremonies at the Olympics, and he carries the torch.

For my Philly updates, lets talk about how close Cliff Lee came to signing with the Yankees. That would have been...well you know what it would have been like. Now, how about Jayson Werth? I feel for both sides. Jayson was literally just doing his job when the fan interfered with the ball that was in foul territory in the stands. A little cursing never hurt anybody, but a lot of people are upset with him in Philly, which is understandable. The guy was at the game with his son and explains that he was protecting his son from the ball...whatever happened is over and Werth apologized for cursing the fan off. Whether the apology was sincere, I do not know but I would like for everyone in Philly to get over it and worry about the second half of the season.

Ryan Howard was spotted by my college roommate, Danielle Chicano (hey girl!), at the movies in Plymouth Meeting, Friday, July 9th, the very night he hit the walk-off homerun to win 9-7 against the Reds. Good thing there were fireworks that night, otherwise the entire stadium would have left and not witnessed the miraculous comeback. Well, I'm not so sure that comeback would have happened if the fans weren't there.

Flyers' Jeff Carter has been spotted several times at La Costa in Sea Isle City. I've only stood and watched him from afar, weird I know, but it's intimidating at first when seeing a professional athlete. Maybe I'll work up the guts to actually talk to him before the end of the summer. However, my good friend Jill Carl (hey girl!) has had some interaction with the Flyguy thanks to her friend who plays for the Scranton Penguins. Too bad YOU didn't get Carter's number, Jill!

Go Phils, and GO NL!!

Let's talk football

Fantasy Football Championships seem to run in my family, well at least with my mother. She doesn't just talk the talk, this woman walks the walk, too. Most mom's aren't known for their sports knowledge, but my mom certainly knows her stuff. In our living room she has two Fantasy Football Champion trophies above the fireplace. They are little things, but it's two more than my dad has. Every time I was home from school, she would be sitting in the computer room working on her fantasy team, the Havertown Birches. So after seeing her do so well, I'm thinking of joining her league and taking her on. Of course, the winner gets a trophy and hosts the fantasy football party for everyone in the league. I have to do my research obviously, and not make the same mistake I did with my baseball fantasy team; which turned out to be nothing more than a complete disaster. This time I will not have Philadelphia players dominate my team. I've matured in my sports knowledge since then and think I can handle a fantasy football team.

Even though we are in the off season, training camp is coming right around the corner! The offseason is just as entertaining as the offseason. Someone's always getting in trouble or in the media somehow. From the Titans backup QB Chris Simms to the Bengals RB Cedric Benson, trouble seems to find professional athletes. Michael Vick is in the spotlight again and this time it's not for speaking to kids about ho wrong it is to conduct dog fights in your home. Reports are coming out saying he left way before the shooting that took place at the bar where he hosted his birthday party. Other reports say he left only three minutes before the shooting. Who knows what happened, I'm just hoping he doesn't land himself back behind bars! This is the last thing this guy needs. As a concerned Eagles fan, I hope this situation gets figured out some time soon in case we need to be looking for another backup QB.

I'll report back after I do some research for my fantasy team...any ideas for a team name?