Bad sports, good sports: A mishmash of Bad and Good

Posted on November 25th, 2013 by Alan Spoll

A couple of times a year, I end up posting a column without a lead story. There is never a lack of sports stories, both good and bad…that’s for certain. Occasionally, though, nothing grabs me enough to push me to write my lead story about it. This is one of those weeks. A bunch of interesting things happened in sports this week, and some of them, like the Jameis Winston story, are sure to continue to make news in the future. If I felt that my point of view would add a worthwhile angle to the story, I would put together a bunch of paragraphs about it here, but I am not feeling it. Anyway, here are the bad and good stories for the week.

Bad sports:

1) Last week, I mentioned that Florida State quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Jameis Winston had seen his name come up in reference to a rape investigation. Well, the story has exploded since then. There is a definitive accusation of rape against Winston, along with claims that the Tallahassee police tried to squash the case, the player’s lawyer reportedly tried to intimidate the woman into keeping quiet, and a whole lot of the investigation’s details have been leaked. The ugliness has just begun in this one. The Seminoles were not distracted from their game against the overmatched University of Idaho on Saturday, beating them by the silly score of 80-14. If an arrest is made, though, the team’s title hopes could disappear in a hurry.

2) Thomas Howard, a linebacker who had recently been cut by the Atlanta Falcons, was killed in a car accident on Monday near Oakland.

3) Champion skier Lindsay Vonn was hurt on Tuesday during training. She had knee surgery in February and was trying to make he way back for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Russia.

4) Another great athlete coming off of an injury got a brand new one this week. Derrick Rose, the all-star guard for the Chicago Bulls, tore the medial meniscus in his right knee during a game against Portland on Friday. He missed all of last season after tearing his ACL during the NBA playoffs in 2012.

5) A terrible season for the Florida Gators football team got much worse on Saturday. Not only did they lose to a Division 1-AA team, it wasn’t even a very good 1-AA team. The Gators lost to Georgia Southern, a team that has losses to Wofford, Samford, Appalachian State, and Furman on its resume this season.

6) An NFL referee who allegedly directed a bunch of profanity and insults at Washington Redskins offensive lineman Trent Williams last week was suspended by the league for Sunday’s games. Roy Ellison, who has been officiating in the NFL for eleven years, is appealing the decision.

Good sports:

1) This one is a bit of a backhanded Good Sports item. Long-time NFL announcer Dan Dierdorf stated that he will retire after the current football season. He has been broadcasting for thirty years. This should actually be Great Sports, as I absolutely despise listening to Dan Dierdorf during a football game. Everything about him irritates me. He loves to state the obvious, and does it in a way that somehow always makes me want to punch him. He is football’s version of Tim McCarver. I love that I will no longer be subject to listening to his drivel.

2) The Oklahoma City Thunder has a promotion during home games that awards a $20,000 prize to a fan if that person can hit a half-court shot during halftime. Somehow, five different people have actually won the money during 2013, including a guy who did it on Thursday night. Maybe they should make it a full-court shot.

Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02