Hello and welcome to another Wednesday of deep thoughts. Well, after recently complaining of the cooler than average May weather, Mother Nature responded by flipping the switch. Cool and wet has been replaced by warm and humid. Of course, with the increased humidity, there are issues. May has historically been a time for very extreme weather in the Texas area. Warmer days bring the potential for massive thunderstorms, which sometimes bring very scary weather…as we saw in Oklahoma recently. My thoughts and prayers go out to those families in Moore. Is there really anything more terrifying than envisioning a tornado dropping on your home? How about the AAA Astro’s Redhawks hearing of the massive tornado hitting home while playing in California? Team officials opened Bricktown Ballpark to allow wives and family to take refuge in the underground clubhouse. Players are anxious to get home to help with the clean up. As manager Tony DeFrancesco said, "We're ready to volunteer. Anything we can do when we get back, we're willing to help out. It's a great group of guys that care about the community. When you play in that city, you're part of it now."
Kevin Durant gets it as well. Oklahoma City is not just where he plays basketball, it is home. Durant pledged $1 million on Tuesday for tornado relief. His idea was to prime the pump so to speak. Apparently his idea is taking hold as the Thunder, NBA and player’s association also donated $1 million each. This is the sort of thing that I strongly believe in. In times of trouble communities pitch in to help those in need. This is not about a hand out, but lifting people up that have lost everthing. As BOB mentioned yesterday, our government is off track. We lose focus on the things that really matter. This is what matters. As Durant so accurately says…”playing for the Thunder, we mean so much to the state. So many people support us and I just want to go back and support those people.” This is one reason that I really enjoy seeing teams like San Antonio, OKC or even Sacramento survive and thrive. No offense to the large cities, but New York and Los Angeles have so much other activities, how can teams possibly mean what they do to the fans of Oklahoma City? We see so much negative in professional sports, it is important to remember that there are players that do still care. In times of need, too often we rely on our government to send aid. Communities and states are capable and I think better able to step up to take care of their own...
For some strange reason, Sergio Garcia just could not let the incident at the Player’s Championship with Tiger Woods die. Actually, that is not true…the media would not let it die. Prodded by the media, Garcia had this to say…”He called me a whiner. He’s probably right. But that’s also probably the first thing he’s told you guys that’s true in 15 years. I know what he’s like. You guys are finding out.” Okay, it looks like Garcia is just unloading some pent up anger at Woods, right? Here is what bothers me…as I am reading the article by Dan Carson…”Reporters mentioned to Sergio that Tiger had told members of the media Monday that he will not reach out to him in order to end the beef.” How is this different than a group of middle school kids running between two kids with he said this, what do you say? Really, it is freaking ridiculous. Garcia is a dumbass for being drawn into this and the longer it was drawn out, it was inevitable that Sergio would totally step on his dick. Garcia’s immediate response was this…”First of all, I don’t have his number,” Garcia told reporters. “And secondly, I did nothing wrong and don’t have anything to say to him. And he wouldn’t pick up the phone anyway. But that’s okay, I don’t need him as a friend...Like I have always said, I try to be as truthful as possible. Tiger doesn’t make a difference to my life.” Okay that’s enough Sergio. Leave it at that and let it go. Tuesday night, Garcia appeared at the European Tour Awards dinner in London. He was asked if he would be inviting Tiger for dinner at next month’s US Open. Oh no…Sergio, don’t do it! "We'll have him round every night; we will serve him fried chicken”. This was according to multiple media sources. No doubt…these scumbags have been goading Garcia into saying something really stupid…Fuzzy Zoeller stupid; for the past two weeks. What a dumb ass. Of course, Garcia looks like a racist now and with a remark like that, how can he not? Truly, do I think that Sergio Garcia is a racist? No. But he allowed the press to push his buttons until he gave them what they wanted…a big story. How long did it take his comments to make it across the ocean? Maybe 30 seconds is my guess. Can you imagine how fast those “multiple media sources” left the dinner to report their “news”? When I glanced at the article Tuesday night, there were 5000 plus comments. I did not read one. I did not need to read the comments to know what the public is doing to Garcia. There is no doubt that Garcia pulled the trigger, but the press loaded the gun.
You probably heard that Nick Saban’s former assistant coach Tom Davis called Saban “the devil”. When I read of these comments, I just assumed that Davis did not enjoy working for Saban and was just voicing what others have said about Saban being a task master. After reading a CBS article by Tony Barnhart, I sort of had a change of heart. Davis was talking to a group of Florida boosters when he made the comments regarding Saban. I sort of agreed with what Barnhart stated, “My first reaction was that it was a backhanded compliment recognizing, quite begrudgingly, that Saban is the very best at what he does. I thought it was acknowledgment -- a bit sloppy perhaps -- of where Saban has set the bar and that everybody in college football is chasing him.” Others had a much more critical opinion of the comments. Mark May called Davis a “classless, backstabbing coward”. Saban found the remarks to be “terribly disappointing”…Barnhart asked a very good question in his article…since when did anyone take what coaches said to booster clubs seriously? He remembers a time when the old ball coach stood in front of Florida boosters and said FSU stood for “Free Shoes University”…everyone laughed, even Bobby Bowden. Barnhart wonders if college football has reached the point when there is no longer a sense of humor? Are coaches to be banned from speaking in public? Do we want coaches to be even more robotic than they are now? Great points and I totally agree. Barnhart goes on to ask if Florida meets Bama in the SEC championship in December will we still be talking about this? Hopefully not, but given the long memory of the media, probably so. Barnhart has a few suggestions…anything said at a booster function does not leave the building. Reporters are required to leave the smart phones at home. It is simply off the record. His second suggestion is that if something does leak out, the press promise not to lose their mind. Coaches promise not to be offended and recruits promise to ignore what they hear. Barnhart finishes with a ominous statement…it is no longer enough to beat a team on the field, we now have to embarrass them on Twitter. As sad as that is, can anyone dispute this? I know that I can’t. The game is no longer the most important thing…and how sad is that?
That's all I have today, but I will leave you with a bit of Jack Handey...
Laugh clown, laugh. That is what I tell myself when I dress up like Bozo the clown.
One thing that makes me believe in UFOs is that sometimes I lose stuff.
Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a few deep thoughts of your own...
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