Hey Gabbers, last week was a big time week for my school. Our team was chosen as part of our local NBC affiliates game of the week. Friday started off with a 5 AM start to the school day and a big pep rally. I didn’t have to go as I am only a JV coach, so I slept in. The kids were pumped and since school got out at noon, they were able to go and get a nap before the game.

Things started out great. We scored on an 86 yard kick off return. We hung in well into the third quarter and this was a good team ranked a few divisions higher than us. The turning point came on a questionable fumble call. We’d just recovered a fumble on their 10 yard line and we called a run play to get some room. We got a few yards and then our man was tackled. The refs didn’t call him down, though, and the defense took the ball. I know it’s a judgment call and it can be a tough one, but man, it’s still tough to swallow. So, here we stand at 1-3 going into our second road game. Hopefully they keep their heads up.

On another note, I know America is supposed to be a land of second chances. I also know we hold our celebrities to different standards. People love a come back story, but I just can’t stomach the Vick story. The guy has paid his debt and he’s working for less money, but I still can’t root for him. He seemed more like a quarterback, but he’s also just a terrible person. It’s the same with Roethlisburger, Lewis, and Kobe Bryant too.  I can understand some discrepancies. Guys go out and drink. Guys do stupid stuff in every league. These guys, however, did stupid things that would put most people away for a long time. While I can’t rightly lump Vick into the same group as the others (his actions didn’t directly impact others lives, they did end several canine ones), he’s still low on my human being meter.

All the sports heads can talk about his great play. They can lump praise on him and celebrate how far he’s come, but he’s still not worthy of any of it. However well he plays, he’s still a lousy person. He might get new fans, but I just hope they don’t forget and he won’t either.

Finally, I guess ESPN ranked the most difficult sports and out of all the sports they could think of, fishing was ranked easiest. I suppose it doesn’t take much in terms of effort or equipment (all you really need is a sturdy stick, some string, and a couple of worms). I find it a bit hard to believe, however, that fishing is considered easier than say bowling or even poker. Fishing takes a lot of patience, as anyone will tell you. It can be very relaxing if you don’t require instant gratification. I think the level of skill, strength, and stamina needed in understated. If you hook a monster, you feel it worse than trying to bluff your way out of a shitty hand. They never wrote great stories about bowling, badmitten, or poker. Fishing might be simple, but anyone will tell you that it is far from easy.

That’s it for me. Hope you all have a great weekend. Good luck to those with kids playing this weekend. Hope everyone else can enjoy the games being played. Thanks for reading.

Well hey there, YouGab. I gotta be honest, returning to school and labor day weekend have me feeling kinda drained. I mean, it's Wednesday and I still have a case of the Mondays.

Speaking of which, both of the teams at my high school had the blahs. My JV team went out Wednesday night and lost 42-0. Special teams killed us. we went over everything the day before and we still had kids lining up in the wrong spots or not getting on the field with their unit. I also saw a guy jump on the back of an opponent and ride him down the field.

What made it bad was that none of the kids showed much emotion. They walked through everything. It seems like they forgot it was a game. Varsity didn't do much better, 46-0. Same lack of emotion, which lead to a similar result.

You know what made it better? College football! That was a great kick off weekend. Utah upsetting Pittsburgh was awesome. Boise State and TCU won and are 3 and 4 in the polls. Michigan even surprised me with a win. I thought UConn would handle them, but it looks like the squad stepped it up. Not sure why people are already throwing out Heisman buzz, however, especially about Michigan qb Denard Robinson. The guy had one good game. Tate Forcier had a few good ones too, then he fell apart. In fact, he was riding the bench and pouting the whole game. Let's try not to get ahead of ourselves.

This week looks like another good one. There are some big franchises going head to head and it looks like some of the big squads are holding off on the cupcake match-ups for now. This is a huge weekend for the Big 10. As we all know, things have not been going too great for the conference the past few years. The talking heads have been tearing the Big Ten a new one. My opinion has been that we need to extend the Big Ten season and maybe work out a championship game, which we should see next season.

This week features some great match ups through out the Big Ten. Let's start at the top with Penn State against Alabama. Now, I see Bama taking this, but I expect PSU will give them a fight. It's Linebacker U against the beast over at Bama.

There's also two great match-ups at 3:30ish to whet your appetite. Ohio State will take on Miami in a rematch of the 2003 Nation Championship. I'll pause now to explain that I'm a bit of a transplanted OSU fan. My dad moved up here from Akron, OH and fathers always pass their teams on. I still route for Detroit in baseball and basketball and as hockey never mattered much in Ohio, I was allowed to route for the Wings. OSU is the team that my dad pushed my towards. I see this as a good game and I'm routing for OSU. Both teams have good qbs. Miami has speed, but I think OSU is catching up. I hope it's a nail biter.

If you're more of a traditionalist, or you're Beeze, then you'll be looking forward to Michigan-Notre Dame. Michigan did impress me by winning against UConn. Notre Dame also started off with a win over Purdue. They both looked like the programs of old and fans will surely be hoping so. I like Notre Dame's hire of Brian Kelly. He's a scary smart coach. It'll be interesting to see him go up against Rich Rod. I like Notre Dame here, but I might be a little biased.

Speaking of good watches, baseball just keeps on coming this year. Over in the AL, the Yanks and Rays are still at each other's throats. The Yanks are leading by 1.5 games. The White Sox are gaining a little ground on the Twins. Not sure if the Manny gamble will pay off, the Twins are an organization not to be reckoned with.

The National League is where the real thrills are. The Phils just snagged the division lead from the Braves. In Bobby Cox's last season, I really hope the Braves can come back and win the NL East. The West is still tight, but the Padres have stopped their skid and are looking to stave off the Giants. It'll be interesting to see who claims the wild card here. I'm hoping for the Braves and Padres to win their division and the Giants to take the wild card. Luckily, the Reds are standing strong. They have some tough series coming up, including a late September series against the Padres.

Looks like good watching. It helps now that we don't have Labor Day festivities. I hope everyone had a great weekend and is looking forward to a great series of games. Thanks for the reads and the comments. I'll close out with some Nuge for everyone. He played a hell of a show here in Detroit on Sunday. FYI, he's calling for a great hunting season.