Kickgate!!!

Is there anything better than the crazy Asian animations of pop culture events?

This is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I have ever witnessed in soccer. I've seen streakers (funny and sad), fights (is America the only country where people don't kick fight?), riots and stampedes (terrifying) and even fans assaulting players (shameful). This is a new low. You might think I mean Eden Hazard kicking a ballboy, but you'd be wrong.

I put not 100%, but 1000% of the blame in this situation on Charlie Morgan. He is a 17 year-old ballboy for Swansea, a team in which his father is the majority owner. The match decided who was to play in the League Cup between Chelsea and Swansea. The kid even posted the following Tweet before the game:

Then, with the match tied and Chelsea needing goals late in the game, this punk holds the ball and refuses t give it to Hazard. He then falls to the ground and lays on top of the ball???!!! Hazard barely kicked the ball, and gets it back. The kid earns an Oscar, Hazard gets a red card, Swansea draws to advance, and Hazard is being charged by the FA.

I'm thinking about what I would have done at McNick in a district final if a punk ballboy refused to give me the ball at Summit. Then I wonder what Colin or Kevin would have done in a similar situation. I think they may have ended up in jail! I could care less about Chelsea, Swansea or anyone involved in this debacle. However, I want this kid to catch some awful disease and suffer miserably. What a total loser.

Manti's GF: Hoax or Con?

It was recently reported by Deadspin.com that Manti Te'o's girlfried, Lennay Kekua, not only didn't die of leukemia, but didn't exist.  Here's the original article:  Deadspin

On first read, I must say this article is pretty damning to Te'o.  It paints him as either a gullible, naive fool, or an unscrupulous genius with near-omniscient powers.  It's tough reading this article and not thinking that Te'o was in on it in some way.  All of his comments about talking with her in her coma, and the news stories that tell about their first meeting, make him seem like a terrifically good con artist.

My opinion is that Te'o got in over his head.  I think he had an Internet girlfriend that he never met, but made up a few "white lies" here and there to make it seem like he really met her.  What college guy, especially one with the campus stature that Te'o has, wants to admit that he met the girl he loved on the Internet and had never actually met her?  I think he embellished his relationship, found out that his "girlfriend" "died", and that with all the news outlets picking up the story, it escalated too quick for him to come clean that he'd never met her. 

Hopefully this blows over soon and Te'o is acquitted in the public courts.  But even if it doesn't, or even if he is in on it, what's the big deal?!  The kid didn't break any laws, he's still going to go pro this fall and make millions of dollars.  Yeah, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth, but know that Manti's biggest fault was not doing drugs. steroids, felonies - it was trying to make himself bigger than he actually was.  What 21/22-year-old doesn't try to do that?

 Why Manti didn't want to admin he had an online girlfriend.

Looking Ahead

Well, the BCS Game was a little brutal, but it still was better than going 3-9, right?!  Let's go ahead and put that travesty of a game in the rear-view mirror and focus ahead.  Guess what folks, BK is coming back next year, and the team is going to be even better!  Will we go undefeated again?  Who know, but we certainly will have the talent to do so.  We also have incredible depth across almost all positions.  This isn't something we've had in years, and makes watching games so much more enjoyable.  Starting RB gets hurt, but in our 5-star back-up.

Go ahead and get excited about next year by reading one of the many articles that talk about how great next year could be.  I'll start you off:

Back to Business in 2013


And I haven't even brought up the Reds yet!  They are going to be the team to beat in the NL in 2013.  Again, who knows if they'll make the World Series or not, but they definitely have the talent to make a strong run.

Let's exorcise the demons of 2012 and get ready for an even better 2013!