Welcome back to another Wednesday in the bleachers. It’s hard to believe, but there’s less than a month until high school football is back in session here in Michigan. My boys have less than a month to get things together before they open against their big rivals. I know a lot of us can’t help but enjoy high school football. The fact that I coach helps me. A few of you have sons playing.
 

I can attest that high school ball will always hold a huge draw. When we had to travel on Friday nights at Albion (which didn’t happen too much), we’d press up on the bus windows anytime we caught field lights in the distance. We just wanted a glimpse back to what put us on that bus. Sometimes you want to go back to when it was more about fun and more about the real love of the game.
Anymore, though, it’s just so much more pure than anything you can catch on tv. I’ll be perfectly honest; the fact that EPSN shows a few high school games kinda sickens me a bit. It might be a different sentiment in areas where football is bigger, but showing high school games on national tv just seems to sap the spirit. It really cheapens things to me. I’ll see those kids in college or the pros one day; there’s really no need to rush them into the limelight.
 

Our recent glimpses into both college and pro football seem to do so much to really elevate high school football. The recent strike and the rash of arrests and police run ins in the pro game have left a bad taste in many a fan’s mouth. The PSU scandal smacked of horrible truths and revelations that were enough to pry even hardcore football fans back from focusing on the game to wanting to see justice done for the victims. Hell, we had diehard fans here at The Gab calling for the Death Penalty! How often has a story stirred that much passion that you want to see any team raised to the ground?
 

I have to say I’m ok with how the NCAA ruled. I wouldn’t begin to know how to tackle doling out punishment for that kind of offense. I had some mixed emotions about vacating the wins, but I can see how that time period shows PSU selling their souls for those wins.
 

Still, I can empathize with the players who’ve come out in anger at the thought of their games/college careers boiling down to nothing. These guys still gave all their blood, sweat, and tears to win. They did it without knowing what the people behind the scenes were doing. Still these guys did irreparable damage to their bodies and now they have to accept that they never won a game. I think it would’ve made more sense to either put an asterisk on Paterno or just remove him from the record books. You can keep the wins intact for the sake of the young men who earned them, but just remove the recognition from the coaching staff. Saying these games never happened is just a bit of an unnecessary step to me.
 

I also can’t help but feel that the NCAA had a good amount of nerve getting on their high horse in their statement. A lot of what they said needed to be said, but they came out making themselves look hypocritical as is often the case in those sorts of statements. Here’s the biggest thing that struck me from Mark Emmert and the NCAA’s statement:
 

“One of the grave dangers stemming from our love of sports is that the sports themselves can become "too big to fail," or even too big to challenge.

The result can be an erosion of academic values that are replaced by the value of hero worship and winning at all costs. All involved in intercollegiate athletics must be watchful that programs and individuals do not overwhelm the values of higher education.”
 

The NCAA is the epitome of the institution that views itself on being too big to fail or challenge. In the wake of countless fans, schools, players, and coaches that have cried out for playoffs it is only in 2012 that the NCAA has thought about instituting one. Even then, the NCAA is just a monster in and of itself. It has a legitimate monopoly on college sports. It makes billions of dollars.
 

The NCAA also has a history of picking and choosing where it follows investigations. Did they ever announce any findings when they looked into Auburn a few years back? How about Oregon? Though they do get some cases right. Ohio State needed to be penalized for Tressell’s apparent acceptance of player’s violating NCAA procedures. The Bush scandal was dealt with well IMO. The recent actions of Penn State were served to them on a silver platter. They had little choice to make a move and a big one at that. If there is one thing that I really loved about the ruling, it’s the fact that they didn’t screw the players. They let the kids leave without penalty, just like they usually let coaches.
 

While the college scandals have been simply monstrous, the recent troubles in the NFL have seemed sheer stupidity. How do men who make so much money not have money to afford taxis? Hell, these guys can afford limos. They can certainly afford booze. Maybe they need more incentive to call in a designated driver. What I think needs to happen are stiffer fines and penalties for DUIs in the NFL. A quick Google search shows that Braylon Edwards was fined 50K for a DUI last September.

Edwards was a multiple time offender. Clearly 50K is not scary enough. Let’s toss out something scarier; something that will have these guys staying in their own homes to tie one on or maybe even bringing a DD along to the bar/club. Could we double that 50K? Could we include a sliding scale that increases incrementally with the number of offenses? So, 100K first time. You do it again, double that. Once more, triple that (300K). Edwards seemed to brag about not losing games... Heck, let’s add a game off for a second offense. Two games off for the third offense. Maybe that’d be enough?
 

I’ll second BOB for grudgingly giving the Lions some kudos for tossing CB Aaron Berry after his second arrest. This second incident happens to be a gun charge. We’ve seen a few of those this year. Dumervil comes to mind. I’m not sure how these guys would do in a jury case. Just to be safe. I don’t think I’d like to see either of them on a field anytime soon.
 

Well, that’s all for me today. As always thanks for stopping by and seeing what’s on my mind. Feel free to leave any thoughts you might have below. I’ll be hitting the road again Thursday, taking my girlfriend back for her last year of college. Hope you folks have a good week and enjoy some of the baseball madness and less football madness. I leave you with your word of the week.

feelings, noun

Those damn things that show up when you're trying to have sex.

Or watch a sad movie.

God, feelings sucks.
 

,

Hello and welcome to another Wednesday of deep thoughts. We are entering that special time of year known as the “dog days” of summer. We are now well into the second half of the MLB season and the July 31^st trade deadline looms. MLB teams are scrambling to try to determine if they are buyers or sellers this year. Of course, my Astros have known for months that they are sellers and got another deal done on Tuesday sending Wandy Rodriguez to the Pirates for 3 prospects. The Pirates are trying to finish what they started last year and the addition of Rodriguez should give them the added arm to compete for the NL Central this year. Did you happen to see what happened in Greinke’s latest outing? He pitched a 7 inning gem and turned left the game with a comfortable 6 to 1 lead. After a late inning comeback the day before, the Phillies did it the Brewers again, scoring 6 in the 8^th inning to allow the Brewers to snatch another loss from the jaws of victory. The Phillies look like a different team with Ryan Howard back in the lineup. Maybe it is too early to write off the Phillies? If you are counting...the Phillies took three another game from the Brewers on a walk off hit by Jimmy Rollins. Oh and forget about the Phillies shipping Hamels away. He signed a multi year deal worth $144 million.

A day after acquiring Ichiro, the Yankees will be looking to fill the 3 spot in their batting order. Alex Rodriguez suffered a broken hand and will miss 6 to 8 weeks. There will be some that give a nod to the Karma god for this development. Of course, the Yankees will probably figure out a way to fill ARod's spot temporarily. It helps that Eric Chavez is waiting in the wings...

The bloom is definitely off the rose in Miami. Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate are now Dodgers. The Marlins get Eovaldi and a prospect to be named later. If this were a fantasy trade, the league would probably veto the trade. I wonder how the city of Miami will feel about their new stadium being used by AAA players? Many of us predicted this team would be blown apart in a few years…hell, the Marlins did not even make August before they began to disassemble this team. Good thing the city of Miami did not have to pay for the new stadium…oh wait, but they did. Boy does that ever suck for them!

You may recognize the name Stryker Trahan. He is a young catcher that was recently drafted in the MLB draft. After watching a recent video of him, he is my new favorite minor league player. Now that is how you handle a base runner! By the way, Trahan played a bit of football in high school...

I promised pics of our trip home from Atlanta, here is the rest of our trip.

I am not sure who Dr. Ballinger is, but this was next to the battlefield in Marietta, Ga.

This was part of the battlefield in Marietta. The fence was leftover from the Civil War period.

Can you imagine Rebel soldiers boiling out of this bottom?

This is the military cemetery in Marietta.Soldiers from every war back to the Civil War are buried here. Amazing place...

Sully told us that this was the original KFC. The chicken's beak opens and closes.

Some people should just not drive a scooter...

On the way home, we stopped in Opelika, Ga. to grab a bite. The magazine we picked up said Chucks had great BBQ.

I knew immediately that we would like Chucks...

I ordered a spud loaded with cheese and chipped pork loin. The guy at the counter said it was one of his favorites...I know why now. It was great!

This is downtown Opelika. This spot made me do a double take...

Not far from Opelika was Auburn. We stopped by for a few minutes to check it out....

Auburn has a nice baseball park...

This is what it looks like throughout the south east. Green everywhere...

Coming in to Mobile, Alabama.

We stopped by to see the USS Alabama. As we entered the park, I was transfixed by this bracelet. It was amazing that I had not thought of these since I was a kid. I thought it was very cool, but sad at the same time.

Damn true...

This is the USS Alabama

This is a very cool memorial to war dogs. I have never seen one like this.

We forget that dogs have served our country too.

On the way to Biloxi, MS...headed into a bad ass thunderstorm.

You will be happy to know that the casinos have recovered from the last hurricane.

We would ave stopped here if we had not had BBQ at Chuck's for lunch.

We opted for seafood at The Bonefish Grill. I know it is a chain, but they had a great lobster special Thanks Carl!

This is the next morning at the memorial of Jefferson Davis (in Biloxi)  Does it look like he is reading a text?

We left Biloxi and headed to New Orleans the next morning. This is New Orleans in the distance.

Julie in front of Jackson Square. Interesting note...she is related to Andrew Jackson.

There is a joke about a losing your head here somewhere...

Of course we had to go by Pat O'Briens!

You have to love truth in advertising!

Time for lunch. We decided to go with the seafood mufaletta. It was terrific!

Shrimp, oysters, fish and an olive relish...what a sandwich.

We stopped in several shops along the way. I got a kick out of these antique guns.

Of course it rained on us, so we grabbed a table under cover for a bit of music. The bird must have liked Louie Prima!

Al Hirt and Pete Fountain are two great names in New Orleans history.

We got lost and stumbled upon some Madri Gras floats.

Leaving New Orleans, headed for Austin. I drove it straight through. What a great trip. Sorry to bore you with all of the pics, but thought some of you might enjoy the scenery.

Summer is winding down, but the good news is football is around the corner!

That is all I have today, but I will leave you with a bit of Jack Handey:

"What is it about a beautiful sunny afternoon with the birds singing and the wind rustling through the leaves, that makes you want to get drunk?"

"Probably the saddest thing you will ever see is a mosquito sucking on a mummy. Forget it little friend."

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a few deep thoughts of you own...

Australian hurdler, Michelle Jenneke...Watch the whole video...She's hot...She has a nice warm up routine...Oh, and she runs the hurdles pretty damn well too...





I could care less about the Olympics, but I'll check the guide to see when the Women's Hurdles is on...

Later, The Beeze. 

A.J is the new Raw general manager. The announcement was made during her wedding to Daniel Bryan. As expected the wedding never happened, as Daniel got left at the altar.

Charlie Sheen used Skye to do his WWE thing.

The Rock to be at the Royal Rumble to face the WWE Champion.

Charlie Sheen is being teased for SummerSlam in California. Possible face off with Daniel Bryan.

Undertaker reunited with Kane.

Lita wrestled Heath Slater.

Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, HBK, Triple H, The Rock, Bret Hart, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Roddy Piper, JR, Mae Young, Trish Stratus, Regis Philbin, Paul Heyman, Stephanie McMahon, Brock Lesnar, Howard Finkel, Lita, A.P.A (Ron Simmons and John “Bradshaw Layfield), Doink, Vader, Sgt Slaughter, Physco Sid, Bob Backlund, Dallas Diamond Page, Rakishi, Road Warrior Animal, Sean Mooney, Mean Gene Okerlund, and The Undertaker appeared.

No Steve Austin or Kelly Kelly (there was talk she was going to be at Raw).

The Miz won the Intercontinental Title.

CM Punk beat up the Rock. Heel turn for Punk.