Sports

Via Slate's Today's Papers column, there was recently an interesting article in the Washington Post with the same title by Mark Maske and Les Carpenter:

At least 35 NFL players have been arrested this year on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to felony burglary, a number that alarms league and players' union officials. "We can handle all the other issues, but this is the one that concerns me the most," NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw said.

After losing in the first round of the playoffs last week, I assumed my season was over. Tonight I realized that I had a meaningless game this week. Needless to say, I hadn't adjusted my line-up from last week. It turned OK, though, as I eeked out a victory by less than a point.

Tralfaz was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs with a 5-point loss. I thought it was a decent rookie season for the coach who made his share of mistakes but did OK. I've been referring to Tralfaz as "our team", but apparently Elliot wasn't happy with my management and insists that he wants to have his own team next year...a 6-year-old with his own fantasy football team? He was excited when I was talking about "next year" because he thought I meant January. He's got the Backyard Football computer game that he loves, and he's started writing down the stats from the games he plays (T=touchdown, S=sack, Fr=fumble recovery). Tonight I watched CostasNOW. Like always, the montage summary of the year in sports tugged at your heart strings, especially with Explosions in the Sky as the soundtrack. Also, Charles Barkley admitted that he's lost between 5 and 10 million dollars gambling.

I thought this article by Tommy Craggs on Slate about John Wooden and basketball was interesting. An excerpt:

Wooden, and our beatification of the man, has had its toxic effect on the game. It's certainly there in the NBA, which over the past year or so has hired a chief strategist of President Bush's re-election campaign to win back Middle America; instituted an absurd and paternalistic dress code (glossed nicely here); and stood idly by while Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles benched Ben Wallace, one of the hardest-working players in the game, for wearing a headband.

I don't know...I thought the dress code (as silly as it may be) was more about what was perceived to help sell the product that the NBA is, not necessarily some sort of legacy of Wooden's.

Tralfaz limped into the playoffs with another loss due to poor coaching. I stuck with the Steelers defense all season, through thick and mostly thin (like > 30 points against the Falcons, Broncos, and Saints)...but finally I got fed and dropped them after the Ravens game. Just in time for them to play Bucs, give up only 3 points, get 4 turnovers and 5 sacks...20 fantasy points. Instead I went with the Cowboys who managed 17 fewer fantasy points, just slightly more than what I lost by.