Bad sports, good sports: Iran apologizes for NOT showing hatred
I am going to start this week’s column by saying that I am going to hold off on writing about the Mike Leach/Texas Tech story. First, the amount of coverage of this story is way over the top at this point. Also, I am still unsure where I stand on the whole thing. I will wait for more actual details on both sides before weighing in.
Instead, let’s go with this fun story. International competition will be a big story this year, with the Winter Olympics on the way. The Olympics allow us to forget, at least for a while, the differences we have with so many other countries. There are other international events that do the same thing, such as the World Cup. As soccer is the most popular sport in the world, the international soccer competitions would seem to be perfect venues for countries to achieve a greater appreciation and tolerance for each other. In theory, anyway. In reality, we see stories like this one. A member of Iran’s soccer federation has resigned after he accidentally sent a New Year’s greeting to the Israeli soccer federation. You read that correctly. Apparently, they usually send to all of FIFA’s member countries except Israel, because….well you know…all that hatred and stuff. I guess Mohammad-Mansour Azimzadeh Ardebili’s keyboard got stuck, because he forget to uncheck the Israel box this time. In a demonstration of how twisted and backward this whole thing is, Ardebili resigned and his boss, Ali Kaffashian, issued a public apology for the mistake. As Dave Barry might say, I am not making this up.
I have to say that I laughed when I read this story. I am not normally amused by ignorance and hate, but the public apology is just too much. It’s too Monty Python to be real. The need for the resignation and apology tells us virtually everything we need to know about Iran, doesn’t it? How do you combat that kind of thinking? There is no way that any kind of reason will ever break through that giant wall of dumb.
Bad Sports, continued
2) Sticking with international stories of hatred, seventy-five people were killed at a volleyball match in Pakistan when a suicide bomber blew himself up. Makes me feel like I didn’t need to get so angry watching the Eagles lose to Dallas today. At least no one died.
3) Four members of the University of Tennessee basketball team were arrested on weapons and drug charges this week after a traffic stop in Knoxville. They have since been suspended from the team. I wonder if these guys know these guys.
Bonus: A Canadian hockey linesman was injured during a game when his throat was slashed by a skate. Yikes.
Good Sports:
1) I am on record as hating college football’s ridiculous bowl system. That doesn’t mean, though, that there are no great bowl games. I would never have thought that I would write anything about the Humanitarian Bowl matchup of Bowling Green and Idaho that didn’t include mocking sarcasm. I was wrong. This was an amazing game. Idaho won it with a gutsy two point conversion with four seconds left on the clock, after Bowling Green had taken the lead a mere 28 seconds earlier. Fantastic. Would have been even better as a playoff game of some sort.
2) Brittney Griner, center for Baylor’s women’s basketball team, dunked twice in a win over Texas State. This story nearly made it to the Bad Sports side of the ledger, as Baylor won 99-18, but Griner’s accomplishment deserves mention. She is only the second woman to ever dunk twice in the same game, after Candace Parker of Tennessee did it in 2005.
3) Finishing out the troika of Tennessee mentions for the week, Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson became only the sixth player in NFL history to rush for 2000 yards in a season. This guy is spectacular.
Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday
Latest posts by Alan Spoll (Posts)
- Pereira comments on “Philly Special” a total waste of time - February 14, 2018
- BSGS News Brief: Tom Brady beats the NFL - September 3, 2015
- BSGS News Brief: Geno Smith gets his jaw broken by a punch - August 16, 2015
- BSGS News Brief – Oh, Vanderbilt. Really? - August 6, 2015
- BSGS News Brief – Sheldon Richardson hits the Bad Sports wire in a big way - July 31, 2015
Print This Post
Alan, living and working just 100 miles of south of Lubbock, in a community with more-than-its-share of Texas Tech alumni, I actually appreciate someone who resists the temptation to wade-in on this until “actual details” come out.