Greg Lindberg

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“Bountygate” is outrageous

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Last Friday, some disturbing news surfaced out of the NFL that the New Orleans Saints were involved in what the mainstream media has termed “Bountygate.” According to an ongoing investigation, Saints defense coordinator Gregg Williams and fellow players have been paying the team’s defensive players money for their performance on the field. However, the investigation revealed that players have received money – or “bounty” – for intentionally injuring opposing players. The words used to describe these vicious hits are “knockouts” and “cart-offs,” which means the opposing player had to be carted off the field on a stretcher.

As a sports fan, I am absolutely disgusted by this news. I have heard a number of former NFL players say that this kind of thing has gone on for years but has always been kept private among players and coaches. I just find it hard to accept the fact that these athletes feel getting paid is a reason to hurt other players. How can any football fan feel good about wearing the jersey of a player involved in this outrageous scheme? How could a season ticket holder feel compelled to put hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars into an organization if they knew that the team was involved in these shenanigans? Granted, this news is so recent and hindsight is 20/20. But going forward, I have to believe that fans will change their tune about the NFL and how they view its players.

There has already been much debate about what kinds of penalties should be handed down by commissioner Roger Goodell. This may sound harsh, but I think any players who have directly been involved in severely injuring another player should be banned from playing the game. I also think Goodell should ban Gregg Williams from coaching, especially since he was warned about this in the past and kept allowing it to go on. I doubt the punishments will climb to this level of severity, but I believe they should.

Whether it’s “Bountygate,” steroids, or any other controversy in sports, I think it is an absolute shame how so much news about under-the-table dealings has broken in recent years. I hate to say it, but I think we are only a few more of these major bombshells away from the unraveling of American professional sports as we know them. It is quite disturbing as a sports aficionado. The most effective way to prevent this will have to be some major overhauls within each sport. I certainly hope it will not come to that someday.

USF Men’s Basketball Team Making History in 2012

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The last time the USF men’s basketball team was in the NCAA Tournament, many current players and students were not even born. The year was 1992. The Bulls played Georgetown in the first round and lost, 75-60. Two years earlier, they also had a first-round exit with a 79-67 defeat to Arizona.

Now, 20 years later, the Bulls could be headed back to the big dance. As of this writing, head coach Stan Heath’s club is 17-10 overall with a 10-4 Big East mark. As terrific as the team has played in conference games, its victories have come against teams it would be expected to beat if the team wants consideration for the tournament. On the other hand, the Bulls suffered some tough losses to inferior teams during their non-conference schedule. They have also struggled against tougher competition in the Big East, including a 30-point loss at Georgetown and a 20-point defeat at Marquette.

Most college basketball analysts believe USF must win at least 20 games to have a legitimate shot at earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. With four regular season games left, USF will need to pick up at least one or two signature wins. Their road test at Louisville could be their best chance to do so, and beating West Virginia and Cincinnati at home will also bolster their resume. The team will also play in the Big East Tournament in New York. Winning games in this 16-team competition will certainly help the team make a better case to play with the big boys and be a part of everyone’s brackets.

The Bulls’ success has come as a result of everyone chipping in each game, not just one star carrying the team on his back. If ESPN’s Dick Vitale hasn’t labeled freshman point guard Anthony Collins a “diaper dandy” yet, he should add him to his list. Collins has had a tremendous season as a freshman and will be a shining star for the Bulls throughout his career. Other notable players include seniors Ron Anderson Jr. and Hugh Robertson, both of whom have played exceptionally well defending the basket and getting defensive stops. Meanwhile, Shaun Noriega has been clutch with his three-point shooting. Jawanza Poland and Victor Rudd have had some great offensive performances, and senior Augustus Gilchrist has been a consistent force on both sides of the ball all year long.

No matter how USF’s season turns out, it has been one of the most successful campaigns on the court in school history. Since the football team went 5-7 in the fall, the basketball team is now giving Bulls fans a reason to be excited. They should also be looking forward to the newly renovated Sun Dome that is set to reopen next season. Although USF has won nearly every home game playing off-campus at the Tampa Bay Times Forum this year, the team has struggled to draw fans to the games. So it should be more convenient for students, alumni, and fans alike to attend games at the Sun Dome and cheer on what should be an even better Bulls basketball team next season.

The Gatorade Bath

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The Gatorade Bath

There are so many traditions in sports. When a team wins, it does something special to celebrate the victory. When a team loses, it goes back to the drawing board to determine why it came up short.
One non-athletic-related tradition in sports is to dump a huge container of icy Gatorade on a coach who wins a big game. Now known as a “Gatorade bath” or “Gatorade shower,” it is generally done after football games but has been used for baseball and basketball games in recent years. The practice apparently started on Oct. 20, 1985 when Jim Burt of the New York Giants dumped a cooler of Gatorade on head coach Bill Parcells following the team’s 17-3 win over the Washington Redskins. Although it was done after a victory, Burt claimed he was upset with Parcells because of how he treated him and used it as more of a revenge tactic than a way to celebrate the win.
Gatorade containers are typically used for the shower. However, the Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes drink Powerade and thus use it to bathe their coaches. This is because Gatorade was originally created at the University of Florida. Since it has always been associated with the school by having “Gator” in its name, student-athletes at other universities in the Sunshine State are prohibited from drinking Gatorade during games.
There have been some instances where the Gatorade bath was given prematurely – and wrongly – before a team was able to close out a big win. Kentucky Wildcats football coach Guy Morriss received the bath shortly before the end of a game against the LSU Tigers on Nov. 9, 2002. But LSU came back and won the game on a Hail Mary pass by quarterback Marcus Randall on the final play of the game. It has since been dubbed the “Bluegrass Miracle,” and I can’t imagine Morriss was very happy with both the bath and the loss.
In addition to football, Gatorade has been poured on NBA coach Doc Rivers and MLB pitcher Ervin Santana following Rivers’ victory in the 2008 NBA Finals and Santana’s no-hitter in 2011.
You really have to wonder how much coaches like this stunt – or if they like it at all. In cold weather games, it must be quite uncomfortable to be doused with liquid and water that is probably just above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The accomplishment of winning a football or baseball game in dramatic fashion when all the doubters picked against your team is one thing. But wouldn’t you think some of that emotion might be taken away after an unexpected Gatorade shower? Perhaps coaches know by now that this is not a new practice. That is probably why you occasionally see them run away from their well-known team jokesters in the closing seconds of a contest so they can celebrate wearing dry clothes.

Conference games signal dramatic Super Bowl

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Yesterday’s dramatic NFL conference championship games made it clear that Super Bowl XLVI should be just as dramatic.

In the first game, the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens went down to the wire, as expected. It was Baltimore placekicker Billy Cundiff, who had a very solid kicking record, who yanked a 32-yard field goal wide left with only a few seconds remaning on the clock. This sent the Patriots to their fourth big dance in the last decade. Quarterback Tom Brady did not have his best game, particuarly in the first half. But New England did just enough to score 23 points on the Ravens’ vicious defense to secure the victory.

In Sunday’s nightcap, the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants played well into the overtime period before the winner was determined. The rain-drenched Candlestick Park looked like a monsoon as the game progressed, but it didn’t seem to have an effect on the outcome. 49ers quarterback Alex Smith had his chances to finally prove himself to be an “elite” quarterback, but he was unable to do so down the stretch, taking numerous sacks and skipping balls to receivers who had no chance to catch them. Meantime, it was Eli Manning who had a better game than his QB counterpart, ultimately setting up his Giants for an easy game-winning field goal. But it was a muffed punt on the part of San Francisco that led to this point.

So we now have our Super Bowl matchup set. It is a rematch of Super Bowl XLII in which the Giants stunned the Pats in dramatic fashion, ending their perfect season. It was Eli Manning’s hail-mary-esque pass to David Tyree that set up the winning score for New York. You have to believe that Bill Belichick and his crew are out to seek revenge and claim their fourth title under his watch. And for Manning, he has the chance to add a second ring to his hand, which would be one more than his older brother Peyton. There is a great deal on the line as always in a Super Bowl, and if the game is anythign like the conference championships were, it will be exciting. At least the brass at NBC hope so.

What’s in an athletic name?

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Michael Jordan. Brett Favre. Jerry Rice. Aaron Rodgers. If you know anything about sports, you probably know these four men are some of the top names in their respective sports. But did you know that they now have relatives trying to pick up where they left off?

Here is some background on five young athletes trying to make a name for themselves, even though the names on their jerseys belong to some of the best athletes in history:
Jeffrey and Marcus Jordan

Jeffrey and Marcus are both sons of legendary NBA star and current Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan. They both currently play on the University of Central Florida’s men’s basketball team. Jeffrey is 23 and Marcus is 21. ESPN actually televised some of the brothers’ high school basketball games in the mid-2000s as they led the Loyola Academy basketball team in Illinois to a conference championship. Jeffrey played three seasons at the University of Illinois prior to transferring to UCF before the 2011-12 season. Now a senior, he’s seen very limited playing time at the college level. Marcus, however, has had more opportunities to play and is averaging an outstanding 17.5 points per game as a junior this season, following up on a year where he scored over 15 points per game. The two point guards will likely never come close to matching their dad’s prolific NBA career, but it should be interesting to see which one can make it to the next level and how he ends up doing. Wouldn’t it be something to see another Jordan on the Bulls’ roster?
Dylan Favre
Dylan is the nephew of longtime NFL quarterback Brett Favre. He is just a freshman and plays quarterback at Mississippi State. In 2011, Favre saw some action and threw for 119 yards on 13-of-26 passes along with a touchdown and no interceptions. It seemed as if he came in more often for wildcat plays and unique formations, demonstrating an ability to be a little more mobile than his uncle was. In high school, he set a Mississippi high school passing record. If Dylan has the passion for football that kept his uncle from un-retiring all those years, you never know what the 19-year-old’s future might entail in another few years.
Jerry Rice, Jr.
Not only does this kid have his dad’s last name, but he also has his first name. Jerry Jr. is a redshirt sophomore wide receiver for the UCLA Bruins football team. The 20-year-old has only seen limited playing time thus far in his college career. He still has a long way to go to prove himself as a potential NFL player. Oddly enough, he is three inches shorter than his father and a few pounds lighter. The good thing he has going for him is that he’s at a recognized school in UCLA. His dad, who attended Mississippi Valley State, essentially came out of nowhere in the 1985 NFL Draft.
Jordan Rodgers
Most people know Aaron Rodgers by now since he won Super Bowl XLV back in February. But did you know that Aaron’s little brother, Jordan, is a college football quarterback? Jordan is the starting QB for Vanderbilt University. The 23-year-old attended Butte College in northern California where his brother also played. He started his first game for the Commodores on Oct. 22, 2011 and led the team to the Liberty Bowl – a rare bowl appearance for the school. In 2011 as a junior, Rodgers had a solid 119.6 QB rating, throwing for 9 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, and completing 51.5% of his passes. Aaron certainly did not appear to be a future NFL star in college at California, so who knows what the future may hold for Jordan.
Fortunately, these five players share the names of very successful athletes. Unfortunately, simply having a name won’t mean you will be successful, and that goes for any profession. In fact, they may even have a tougher road than most athletes because everyone will be comparing them to the ones who came before them – just like I did in this blog post!

Spammers need grammar lessons

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The other day, I got an e-mail from someone named Emil Chepiga. The subject line was simply “Well well.”

Here is what the e-mail read:

Here is [NAME REMOVED] writing to you.

My age is 21.
Don’t you remember me? We met at the park.
I was at the party with my friends and we made some crazy and cool videos.
You must check the videos, here is the attachment.
Shampoo comma deodorant black barge
Bed chronometer lunge bra
Hope you like it. Keep in touch sweetheart

The name of the attached file was “grdokyux.htm.”
First of all, it looks like a 3-year-old wrote this (nothing against 3-year-olds, though). Or it’s someone whose first language is something other than English, which is probably more plausible. Plus it is confusing because the writer is talking about a park and then mentions a party and the fact that there are videos from the party.
Do people actually fall for e-mails written this poorly? This e-mail is much less convincing than some of the ones sent by Nigerian e-mail scammers. But it is beyond me that people will actually send money to those who send them these fake e-mails about how they are the great-grandson of a prince and need to get out of the country, but must make a financial transaction with someone in order to do so. In this particular case, you’d have to be just as ignorant to open the attachment. Good luck getting rid of the virus on your computer afterward.

Packers have a rich history in Largo

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This is a story I wrote for a local online news site several months ago, but they never published it. So I thought I would share it here on my blog:

Packers have a rich history in Largo

By Greg Lindberg

April 2011

The NFL’s Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers aren’t the only sports team with a large following. If you live in Largo, there is a popular Packers squad right in your backyard.

The Largo High School Packers have a rich history when it comes to athletics. The school is known for its successful football and basketball teams, in addition to its storied cross country program, which captured 10 state championships in the 1970s and ‘80s.

So where exactly did the Packer name come from? In its early days, the school was located near a large orange packing plant at the corner of Missouri and East Bay Avenues. Trains would come through to pick up the oranges for distribution to other areas. It was only fitting that the school took on the Packer name for its athletic teams.

Aside from the Packer name, the official mascot is a razorback hog. According to Largo athletic coordinator Jim Casey, a principal at the school in the late 1950s and early ‘60s was a graduate of the University of Arkansas and was a huge Razorbacks fan. The school adopted the pig as a result. Some also claim that the football team would practice near a pig farm in the area. Animal farms were once a common site to see in Pinellas County.

The pig mascot also represents the rural aspect in the history of the school and its longtime rivalry with the city-centered Clearwater High School.

“It was always the farmers against the city folks,” Casey said. “Every time [Largo] played Clearwater, kids would dress up in overalls and straw hats.”

Rick Rodriguez has been the head football coach at Largo since 2000. But he previously coached at Clearwater High for 16 years prior to joining the Packers. Rodriguez admitted it took some time getting used to coaching on the other side of the rivalry.

“But I’m all Largo blood now,” he said.

Rodriguez’s teams have dominated his former school. The Packers, who wear helmets that show a mean-looking hog with its teeth sticking out, are 12-1 against the Tornadoes in their last 13 meetings.

“We’re one of the best football programs in Pinellas in the past 10 years,” Rodriguez said.

Because of how popular Largo football is, students dress up in school colors – blue and gold – for pep rallies and football games. The pig mascot has appeared at football games as well. In the past, a senior would dress up in a razorback costume and attend games to cheer on the Packers. But because it was so hot to wear the heavy costume, nobody volunteered to do it last fall. It was also discovered that the mascot was missing from the team’s field house. It has not yet been replaced.

“I think somebody stole the thing,” Rodriguez said. He wonders if it was a Clearwater fan who took it.

It’s just not fair

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Many sports pundits have debated for years about having a minimum age requirement for college basketball players to enter the NBA draft. The current rule states that players must be 19 years old the year of the draft in order to qualify for it.

So why not also have a maximum age limit for athletes to compete in college sports?

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are currently ranked No. 2 in the nation in college football. If they win the rest of their games, they will likely play in the BCS National Championship Game. Brandon Weeden, their starting quarterback, is 28 years old. He played five seasons of minor-league baseball before joining the Oklahoma State football team. Weeden is a decade older than many of the freshmen on the team. He got his driver’s license when many of his teammates were starting kindergarten. This must beg the question: why in the world is he allowed to play? It is not fair to other players to have to play against a guy who could be a fifth-year NFL quarterback. The NCAA must change the eligibility rules right here, right now.

College students between the ages of 18 and 22 have a reputation for being wild and crazy and doing stupid things. This stereotype might be accurate in some cases, and research has shown that humans’ brains are not fully developed until the mid-20s. That is why young adults often make poor and rash decisions. It also reflects the major differences in the abilities of college football players and NFL players. Yet Weeden, at age 28, must be fully matured and a step ahead of his teammates and players on opposing teams, right? It is obvious why his team is the second-best in the country. No other team has a QB at his maturity level. In fact, it would be embarrassing if he didn’t have his team in their current position.

Back in 1999, the Florida State Seminoles had Chris Weinke playing at quarterback. Weinke, also a former minor league baseball player, was 27 years old and won a national championship at FSU that season. He also won the Heisman Trophy the following year to become the oldest player to ever to win as a 28-year-old. At the time, people probably felt the same way about Weinke as they have to about Weeden.

It just does not seem right that athletes of a certain age who have professional experience under their belts are allowed to play at the college level. Perhaps the fact that these older players are quarterbacks – arguably the most important position to play – gives their teams even more of an advantage. Sure, people go back to school later in life to earn their degrees. But when competing in athletics, those with professional sports experience like Weeden had in minor-league baseball are obviously far superior both physically and mentally than everyone else on the field when they play. If Oklahoma State wins the national championship this year, there should be an asterisk next to the team’s name in the record books. I’d even vote to add one to the ’99 Seminoles.

A tumultuous end to an unprecedented run

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The recent news out of Penn State University that former football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky allegedly committed a slew of sex abuse crimes against children has taken the nation by storm. Any story with details of this nature is terribly disturbing, but this case is particularly polarizing because of who is involved – and who might have been involved. None other than legendary Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno is being questioned about what he did or did not report to both school officials and local authorities about what he apparently knew was going on.

Paterno, who has been a coach in some fashion at Penn State since 1950, has had a reputation as one of the most unique and beloved faces in sports, primarily because of his age and longevity at one school. In today’s era of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, it is rare to see a head coach remain at one job for a fraction of the time that Paterno has held his position in State College, Pa.

Many fans were probably wondering when Paterno would ultimately decide to hang it up. In 2011 at the age of 84, he was quoted as saying he would like to coach “another four or five years.” But because of the Sandusky scandal and obvious pressure from all directions, Paterno announced on Nov. 9 that this would be his final season as head coach. Only the school’s Board of Trustees will determine if he can finish the remainder of the season or if he will be forced out sooner.

Clearly, this entire situation is just awful from every angle. First and foremost, you certainly have to feel for the victims of the alleged crimes. But from a college football fan’s standpoint, isn’t it an absolute shame it had to end like this? Regardless of whether “JoePa” is sent out the door before the 2011 season is over or gets his wishes and finishes with an ounce of dignity, who would have ever thought such a celebrated career would end on a note like this? It pains me to think that the “grandfather of college football” has to take a bow on such ugly terms. I don’t even know how to view the man any longer. In all likelihood, that view won’t be shaped completely until the entire saga is unraveled. We will never see another Joe Paterno. And because of that, it makes you sick to your stomach.

A small revival of my childhood

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The 1990s decade continues to fall further back in history with each passing day. But a ‘90s TV staple is now back – and hopefully here to stay.

On the night of October 27, “Beavis and Butt-head” returned to MTV with new episodes for the first time since 1997. Many of today’s youth were not even born when the cartoon was cancelled after seven seasons. But for someone who was a kid back then, it was awesome to see these rowdy teens back on the tube.
I had always wondered if Mike Judge would pull some new episodes out of his hat after “King of the Hill” ended its run on Fox in the spring of 2010. When the news broke in the summer of that year that a “B&B” return was on the way, I immediately updated my Facebook status with the exciting news and shared my enthusiasm with my roommate at the time.
The first new episodes, called “Werewolves of Highland” and “Crying,” were quite different compared to each other. Yet they were just what viewers expected out of Judge and the producers. “Werewolves” had a much more complex plot as the boys thought they had to be bitten by a werewolf in order to get chicks when the saw the movie “Twilight.” On the other hand, “Crying” was simply about how Beavis’ eyes watered when eating an onion and the fact that Butt-head poked fun at him about it for the rest of their lives.
It was great to see some familiar characters as well, with Mr. Van Dreesen, Coach Buzzcut and Stewart Stevenson making appearances. In addition, the voices of every character sounded just like they did in the show’s original run. People’s voices do change a bit over time, but obviously the voice actors for the show – especially Judge – don’t fall into that category.
MTV has been the subject of numerous jokes over the last several years about how the network still calls itself by letters that stand for “Music Television,” but it rarely plays music videos. This episode featured several current music videos and TV shows that air on the network with the boys making fun of them as usual. Their impressions of the “Jersey Shore” characters were spot-on – and funny.
We all know that things change over time. People move away. TV shows go off the air. Life is constantly on the move. But when something that so many people enjoyed in the past returns, it makes you remember how great it was and gives you a chance to enjoy it again. “Beavis and Butt-head” may just be an inane, time-waster of a cartoon to some people. But to me and others who grew up in the ‘90s, it’s a childhood attachment of ours. And it’s great to see it back on television.