Eagles, Eagles....

I'm going to look at the small stuff right now.

The University of Southern Indiana, my school, is in the midst of proving that Division II sports can be a bit exciting. Of course, the women's softball team didn't make it very far in the Great Lakes Valley Tournament, but they still had a pretty good season. The men's tennis team just bowed out of the NCAA tournament. Both had post-season appearances and that's what I mean when I say that I am a part of the NCAA Division II powerhouse that is my USI.

Most people don't care about Division II sports outside of the people who have attended D2 schools. The athletes are good, they are better than most of you and I. The athletes aren't as good as you see in D1 (usually) but they are very good. It's my thought that maybe you should (if you're paying attention, which isn't likely) try to follow some D2 teams. They have a lot of heart and you can get a lot closer.

As for my Division II school, my baseball team (and yes, they're mine) is apparently proving a few people wrong in the GLVC tournament. I kept reading that they weren't going to do much even though they had a successful season, they wouldn't do well in the tournament because they were going to play the people in the opposite division of the conference and they would encounter pitching that was better than they had encountered.

They have won the first three games of the tournament with a combined score of 37-7. Yes, their opponants, all three have scored 7 runs. They have scored 37. They won their first game 9-3, second 10-3 and the one today 16-2. Here's the key, their division was the weaker division, it has lost most of the games it's played outside of USI's games. But it doesn't diminish that USI is good enough to be the Number 1 seed in the region according to the NCAA. Now, I definitely will be rooting for them.

But the point of this is this: If you try, you can get to know all the coaches, all the teams, all the athletes and truly get invested if it is a Division II school. I have seen the advertisements for "I Chose Division II" and I know why the athletes chose it. Now, it's time for the fans to choose it too.

Olympics

I wrote a little tweet recently. It doesn't really matter what the words were exactly. What matters is this: I am utterly tired of people calling 'any' sport either 'not a sport' or that it doesn't require 'athletic prowess'.

Just because a regular person can play a sport doesn't mean that 'it's not a sport'. I listened to something on one of my favorite shows and heard someone I admire say something that really bothered me. He basically criticized all snow boarders for not competing in a real sport. He also said that they were hippies (a criticism, in his tone)...

I keep seeing everyone make fun of curling.

I just love the Olympics... And it drives me nuts when people just criticize from a completely uneducated front.

Football and other things...

You know, football isn't my favorite sport. That is truly college basketball. I can watch all other basketball and be happy, but college basketball (like the games I got to see yesterday) are where my heart truly is...

With that said, today has been a good football day for me. I have had a love affair with my Colts since they were losers... So now that they are fantastic, I'm thrilled. I have started loving the Saints because they have been bringing hope to a city that deserves more hope than they can find. I have a few friends who are displaced from New Orleans and I can't help be happy for them.

And the Pats lost (sorry Tom, too many covers for you)...

My two U's won yesterday in basketball. One U, the one I work at, doesn't have football. The women's basketball team won and the men's basketball team won. That's good. The other U, the University of Kentucky, is dealing with a football program in a premier football conference. They win enough, just not a lot. But the basketball team is doing pretty well thus far.

I just had a thought. My U, my other U and my favorite football team are all undefeated currently. Wow.

That's another set of thoughts for another day.

Tim Tebow

I was watching the Kentucky-Florida game yesterday.  I had thought that the game might be closer than it ended up being....  


I saw the hit and saw Tim Tebow go down.  I gasped when he didn't get up.  I then saw the replay, and I understood why he didn't get up.  I was so worried, even when he got up (with help) and went off the field.  At first, I thought it was a side-effect of already being ill.  Then I saw one of the trainers snapping his fingers next to Tebow's ear.  I had that happen in 1988 when I was in a car accident.  The EMT did the same to me.  It's a (not all that bright) sensory test for concussion.


With that criticism aside, I'm a little tired of seeing what I am seeing.  Everywhere I look, I am seeing the middle (where I sit, sad to see a good player injured) and then the people who hate Tim Tebow and the people who love him to the point of deification.  I am sorry to have seen the hit.  I'm sorry to see the people who hate a good kid who plays the game right.  I am also sorry to see the people who think he's at the table next to God.  


I feel for Tim Tebow's family.  I hope he'll be well.  And if you're a college football fan, you're rooting for him to be well in the next two weeks against Les Miles LSU team.

Watching Commercials and...

I just saw a Sprint commercial about a person breaking out of her calling circle. I live in a Southern Indiana media zone, so I see Titans, Colts, and Rams football games usually. So is it really wise that the Sprint commercial shows the woman who's breaking out of her calling circle wearing a Steelers jersey giving the business to a Colts fan?

I'm just saying that it may not be wise advertising in Southern Indiana....