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It's been a rough week in the world of sports. Family, friends and fans lost two icons. NFL Championship Games won, or lost, by miscue's sending fans into delusional fits of rage. And, a sports hero refusing to meet with President Obama.
Loss
Joe Paterno
"JoePa" passed away this weekend after losing his bout against aggressive lung cancer. Paterno was a college football legend. He coached Penn State University for over 46 years resulting on 409 victories, 37 Bowl appearances (24 wins), two national championships. His 409 victories is the most ever recorded by a Division I head coach. Over 250 of his former players entered the NFL.
Paterno was seen as a father figure within the Nittany Lions community. His image was hurt by the sexual abuse scandal which rocked PSU late in 2011 involving JoePa's former assistant coach Sandusky.
Paterno will be dearly missed by all those who knew and respected this man among men.
Sarah Burke
Sarah Burke lost her battle to survive fatal injuries suffered during practice earlier this year. She was a Canadian freestyle skier who was a pioneer of the superpipe event. Burke was a four-time Winter X Games gold medalist, and won the world championship in the halfpipe in 2005. She intensively & successfully lobbied the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to have the event added to the Olympic program for the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was instantly considered the medal favorite.
A quote from her website says it all: "Sarah is a pioneer of her generation. Her life and legacy embody the true spirit of action sports; a movement of individuals driven to innovate, master and explore the frontier of physical possibility. Sarah’s love of skiing took her life to amazing places.
Her accomplishments on skis continue to inspire girls everywhere to believe in themselves and follow their hearts. Her passing is not a cause to pack up our skis, but rather a reason to step-in and ski for Sarah and the dreams that inspired her star to shine."
Political Statement
Tim Thomas
Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champion goaltender Tim Thomas refused to join his teammates at the White House to meet President Obama due to political differences. Thomas plans to discuss skipping the event later this evening on his Facebook page.
In the Bruins' 2011-12 media guide, Thomas, cited conservative TV pundit Glenn Beck as the person he'd most like to have dinner with.
Playoff Failures
Exciting AFC & NFC Championship Games were both decided on bad special teams plays. Baltimore Ravens lost to New England Patriots when place kicker Billy Cundiff game typing chip shot field goal attempt sailed wide left. Only a few plays earlier, wide receiver Lee Evans failed to hang onto a go-ahead touchdown reception setting up the ill-fated kick. Baltimore players were stunned at what happened ... and their dreams of playing in Super Bowl XLVI came to a crashing halt as New England players jumped with joy.
The Billy Cundiff watch has officially begun. How long will it take the Raves to sever ties with Cundiff? No quickly enough for Ravens fans.
The Giants prevailed in San Francisco after the 49ers second special teams miscue setting up a Super Bowl rematch against Belichick's Patriots. Rookie backup punt returner Kyle Williams messed up twice. The first time he failed to get out of the way of a punt which grazed his knee and the Giants recovered. The second, and most crucial, was a fumble directly leading to New York's NFC Championship Game winning overtime field goal.
Credit 49ers players for coming to the side of their beleaguered teammate. Too bad crass San Francisco fans can't find their humanity to do the same. Instead, Williams is being victimized by a slew of death threats from irate fans. Not much love found in ultra liberal San Francisco.
Just because both games were ultimately decided by bad plays doesn't warrant fans threatening players. Get a grip folks. At days end - it's only a game!!! They're going to have a very difficult time living with their goat plays. It happens to the best of players and sometimes some who just play the game. Remember Jackie Smith's dropped TD pass from Roger Staubach (Dal vs Pit SB XIII)? Scott Norwood's last second miss (NYG vs Buf XXV)? Donavan McNabb running out of gas (PHI vs NE SB XXXIX)? Or the countless other times in sports history when a bad play turned the tides. Just ask any Chicago Cubs or Boston Red Sox fan. At the end of the day we're all human and it's only a game. Give these guys a break.
-Digger's Daily-
It's been a rough week in the world of sports. Family, friends and fans lost two icons. NFL Championship Games won, or lost, by miscue's sending fans into delusional fits of rage. And, a sports hero refusing to meet with President Obama.
Loss
Joe Paterno
"JoePa" passed away this weekend after losing his bout against aggressive lung cancer. Paterno was a college football legend. He coached Penn State University for over 46 years resulting on 409 victories, 37 Bowl appearances (24 wins), two national championships. His 409 victories is the most ever recorded by a Division I head coach. Over 250 of his former players entered the NFL.
Paterno was seen as a father figure within the Nittany Lions community. His image was hurt by the sexual abuse scandal which rocked PSU late in 2011 involving JoePa's former assistant coach Sandusky.
Paterno will be dearly missed by all those who knew and respected this man among men.
Sarah Burke
Sarah Burke lost her battle to survive fatal injuries suffered during practice earlier this year. She was a Canadian freestyle skier who was a pioneer of the superpipe event. Burke was a four-time Winter X Games gold medalist, and won the world championship in the halfpipe in 2005. She intensively & successfully lobbied the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to have the event added to the Olympic program for the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was instantly considered the medal favorite.
A quote from her website says it all: "Sarah is a pioneer of her generation. Her life and legacy embody the true spirit of action sports; a movement of individuals driven to innovate, master and explore the frontier of physical possibility. Sarah’s love of skiing took her life to amazing places.
Her accomplishments on skis continue to inspire girls everywhere to believe in themselves and follow their hearts. Her passing is not a cause to pack up our skis, but rather a reason to step-in and ski for Sarah and the dreams that inspired her star to shine."
Political Statement
Tim Thomas
Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champion goaltender Tim Thomas refused to join his teammates at the White House to meet President Obama due to political differences. Thomas plans to discuss skipping the event later this evening on his Facebook page.
In the Bruins' 2011-12 media guide, Thomas, cited conservative TV pundit Glenn Beck as the person he'd most like to have dinner with.
Playoff Failures
Exciting AFC & NFC Championship Games were both decided on bad special teams plays. Baltimore Ravens lost to New England Patriots when place kicker Billy Cundiff game typing chip shot field goal attempt sailed wide left. Only a few plays earlier, wide receiver Lee Evans failed to hang onto a go-ahead touchdown reception setting up the ill-fated kick. Baltimore players were stunned at what happened ... and their dreams of playing in Super Bowl XLVI came to a crashing halt as New England players jumped with joy.
The Billy Cundiff watch has officially begun. How long will it take the Raves to sever ties with Cundiff? No quickly enough for Ravens fans.
The Giants prevailed in San Francisco after the 49ers second special teams miscue setting up a Super Bowl rematch against Belichick's Patriots. Rookie backup punt returner Kyle Williams messed up twice. The first time he failed to get out of the way of a punt which grazed his knee and the Giants recovered. The second, and most crucial, was a fumble directly leading to New York's NFC Championship Game winning overtime field goal.
Credit 49ers players for coming to the side of their beleaguered teammate. Too bad crass San Francisco fans can't find their humanity to do the same. Instead, Williams is being victimized by a slew of death threats from irate fans. Not much love found in ultra liberal San Francisco.
Just because both games were ultimately decided by bad plays doesn't warrant fans threatening players. Get a grip folks. At days end - it's only a game!!! They're going to have a very difficult time living with their goat plays. It happens to the best of players and sometimes some who just play the game. Remember Jackie Smith's dropped TD pass from Roger Staubach (Dal vs Pit SB XIII)? Scott Norwood's last second miss (NYG vs Buf XXV)? Donavan McNabb running out of gas (PHI vs NE SB XXXIX)? Or the countless other times in sports history when a bad play turned the tides. Just ask any Chicago Cubs or Boston Red Sox fan. At the end of the day we're all human and it's only a game. Give these guys a break.
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