ESPN: The worldwide leader in sports.
Don't believe me? Just ask them.
I watch ESPN just as much as the next guy, but over the past month I haven't learned a whole lot about actual sports. What have I learned? I'll give you a little rundown.
Eli Manning is, sit down for this one, the brother of Peyton Manning. Yes, I know, I had to read it twice to believe it too. Oh yeah, and their dad is Archie Manning.
Tiki Barber, current NBC Football Night in America "analyst," used to play for the New York Giants. Eli Manning and him didn't get along too well.
Tom Brady is dating Gisele Bundchen. And he was wearing a "protective boot" on his right foot. And he happens to have the same last name as the family of a 1970s sitcom. Maybe you have heard of it: The Brady Bunch.
The New England Patriots were 18-0 heading into the Super Bowl. They were the only team other than the 1972 Miami Dolphins to head into the Super Bowl undefeated. Some old Dolphin named Mercury Morris is crying about it.
Brett Favre, at the ripe old age of what has to be somewhere around 52, is still playing football. Professionally. In Green Bay. That Favre, he always plays the game with child-like enthusiasm. He really loves the game of football. Apparently he loves it so much he decided to give the NFC Championship to the New York Giants. But the interception wasn't his fault; he's just a gunslinger.
The University of Duke Blue Devils (what the devil is a "Blue Devil" anyway?) basketball team is playing a home game. And another home game. And just to make sure every one tunes in, they are going to play another home game.
One more thing about Duke, did you know they have a big student following at all of its home basketball games? It knocked me off my feet too. The "Cameron Crazies" they are called.
Very clever.
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I don't mean to bash ESPN too much here, but I know everyone who watches must be thinking the same thing. ESPN gives entirely too much attention to its "favorite" teams: just about any New York or Boston area team, Duke and the University of Notre Dame. Was there ever a more overrated, over-hyped 3-9 team in the history of college football than this year's Fighting Irish? Notre Dame last won a championship in 1988, 20 stinking years ago.
Wednesday night, the University of North Carolina will host Duke. Both teams are in the top five nationally. ESPN has been previewing this game for a week. Fast-forward to this weekend, and Miami University hockey team will face off against the University of Michigan. No. 1 battles No. 2 for college hockey supremacy. Everyone outside of Oxford and Ann Arbor is oblivious. Not a peep from the "worldwide leader in sports."
The parallels between these two games are striking. Duke and North Carolina both play in the ACC; Miami and Michigan both play in the CCHA. The Devils and the Heels are bitter rivals. Any time a team from Michigan plays a team from Ohio there is bound to be a rivalry. Duke students camp out for seats; the Crazies are the best student section in basketball. Walk by Goggin Thursday night and Friday morning and see how many people are camping out. As for the Cameron Crazies, I would put our Goggin Gang against them any day.
ESPN is a great network, and I love it. But it's time for the worldwide leader in sports to become just that.
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