You Don't Know Jack...

Welcome to my new column: You don’t know Jack.

(Sidenote: I was debating between Jack in the box, Jacked up, and Jack off; before going with ‘You don’t know Jack’. Because you don’t. He lives in Connecticut.)

Jack said...

Thank you for your insightful response. The truth is, many fans can't stand from an objective point of view. i.e. I hate Kobe, but I would never claim that he sucks simply because he doesn't. I can appreciate his talent, but I don't like his character.

A friend of mine was appalled and disgusted by Paul Pierce's comment and made it known on facebook. His facebook status now tallied over 60 comments and counting.

Within those comments, we touched on a subject that falls under a grayscale and I would be interested to see your point of view on this one.

Do you think an athlete should be judged by their athleticism alone, or does their moral character play a role? i.e. the Tiger Woods scandal.

bypremier responds...

Ah, the age old question…does character matter when we judge star athletes? It’s a tough question to answer, because the honest answer should be, “No, it shouldn’t”. Athletes are human just like anybody else. They are not perfect. They make mistakes. And in the famous words of Charles Barkley, “I am not your role model.”

Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. As a society, we look up to our favorite athletes. We believe that with that god given talent and fortune, they have a greater responsibility to the world (or at least…to us fans, that root for them). They are supposed to play exceptionally well, carry themselves with a sense of dignity and sportsmanship, be charitable, respectful, save lives, rescue cats stuck in trees…basically they are expected to be perfect. Much like how we hold our Presidents to a higher standard (helloooooo, Bill Clinton). But then we find out that they cheat on their wives or girlfriends, take performance enhancing drugs, that they curse, spit, buy expensive things with their money instead of helping out the needy, drink, smoke, fight…basically all the bad things they teach you in church. And suddenly, it’s like they did these things to us. But is that fair? Who are we to judge? Most of us are no better and are guilty of the same things. So where does that leave us? Depends on which side you fall.

In one corner you have the athletes: The ones who never asked for that responsibility and just want to play sports.

Then you have the fans in the other corner: The ones who wished it was them that were on that court/field/ring. The ones who pay good money…hard earned money…to watch these athletes. Who bring their kids to watch them too. And they want their money’s worth and then some. And those kids…they want to believe that these athletes are everything their imagination leads them to believe.

So who is right? You’re not going to like my answer…but I say the athletes are. They should have the right to choose to do what they want and we have the right to like them or not. We should only judge them for their ability to play and perform at the highest level. We watch Tiger, so we can see greatness on the golf course. So what if he cheats. Statistics say a majority of people cheat as well. That makes a majority of us hypocrites. Is Tiger stupid…absolutely! Did he lie and ruin a good thing…sure. But who cares. It’s his life. He’ll still be considered one of the greatest golfers ever. Same goes with Kobe, Big Ben (although he belongs in jail…if he actually raped that woman), and all the other villains the media writes about everyday. If you don’t like it, then don’t be a fan of theirs and don’t buy their merchandise. And if you choose to turn off the TV or stop following them, well…all you risk if missing out on greatness. But at the end of the day, as the great NFL writer Peter King once said, “The criteria for the NFL Hall of Fame is for what they did on the field, not what they did off of it.”

Sure, there are exceptions. Some people relish that responsibility and do good deeds with their fortune and fame. Think of the Tim Tebows of the world. But then again, a lot of it is media created. The 24/7 news cycle forces people to create an image and try to maintain some sort of privacy in their lives. But this part is a whole nother argument for another day.

Jack, hopefully that answered your question. And I hope you don’t mind me shamefully using you as material for my blog.

In closing I would like to say…WTF??? 60 comments? I wish I could get 60 comments to something I write. Heck, I’d settle for 6.

Butler Didn't Do It

Two chances.

Gordon Hayward had two chances.

And both times, I was certain he would make that game winning basket to send himself and Butler into legendary status.

But it didn't happen.

And that makes me very sad.

Why? It's not because I'm a Butler alum. I'm also not a huge Duke hater. Yet for some reason I wanted nothing more than for Butler to win. Not entirely because it would have been a great story or because they were the underdogs (C'mon who wouldn't love to see those stories). But I wanted it so bad, because if they won then I would have believed the happy endings you see in movies are possible.

The moment the final matchup was set everyone starting making the comparisons to the movie, "Hoosiers". And now that the outcome has been determined, all anyone can say is there was no hollywood movie ending for Butler. Jimmy Chitwood didn't walk through the door that day. Gordon Hayward had a chance to do a Chitwood impression, but it wasn't meant to be. And that's where this story sticks with me the most.

I know that movies are meant for entertainment and an escape from real life. That real life doesn't mirror movie life. But I love movies so much and they mean so much to my life, that I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish that this wasn't the case. I want to exist where the Butler's of the world can win on a last second miracle shot. Because wouldn't that be the world where you can have a meet-cute with the girl (or boy, for the female readers out there) of your dreams on your way to work. That their is love at first sight. And you do get to be the one or the hero at the end.

Now, you can call me naive or say I'm someone who doesn't want to seperate fantasy from reality. But isn't the point of some movies also to provide hope. To find something that moves you to follow or go after your dreams and believe in yourself? And I guess that's why I wish Butler was able to win. So that I could say, "See, sometimes life does imitate art." And that'll give me another moment to hold on to while I try and be the movie star in my own world.

Peyton Favre or Brett Manning

After losing a Super Bowl everyone thought he should win, I wonder if Peyton Manning is fast becoming the next Brett Farve.

You may say no way. Peyton Manning is beloved. He’s one of the most respected players in the game. He’s a true team leader and one of the hardest working guys in the game. On top of that, he’s probably the most marketable player in the NFL (and top five in all of sports). If you saw his MasterCard commercials or SNL guest spot, you’d know he’s also a very funny guy. On the other hand, Favre is a guy whom you either love or hate. He is a guy who always makes the big mistake or fails to come through in the clutch. An indecisive and selfish man who doesn’t know when to call it quits and turned his back on an entire city that loved and defended him to the death. What an a**hole.

But if you remember back, before all that happened in 2008, Brett Favre was beloved. He was one of the most respected players in the game. CNNSI’s man of the year. A guy who loved to play the game and always had fun out there (as shown by his smile and boyish like demeanor on the field). And in Green Bay, Wisconsin - Favre was king. He was the equivalent of Nick Serrano in the ROFFL. And if you watched “There’s Something About Mary”, you’d know that he had a sense of humor about him. Also, if you watched the MNF game against Oakland when he played so brilliantly and courageously after losing his father, you’d know that it was hard to be a critic of his. He was almost untouchable. But all that changed when he got into an ugly and bitter divorce with the Packers leading to his trade to the Jets.

My question is will that same fate happen to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts?

Sure, Peyton will sign an extension that will allow him to play out the remainder of his career at Indy. But wasn’t Favre supposed to play out the remainder of his career at Green Bay. But what if Peyton wants to play until he’s 40? What if he retires and decides he can’t be away from the game just like Favre?

Is it fair to make that assumption? Well if you look deep into the similarities of both players’ careers, then you can see similar career paths.

Let's take a look at each player's stats:

Super Bowl record:
Peyton Manning: 1-1
Super Bowl XLIV (Loss) – 31/45, 333 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Super Bowl XLI (Win) – 25/38, 247 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Brett Favre: 1-1
Super Bowl XXXII (Loss) – 25/42, 256 yards, 3 TD’S, 1 INT
Super Bowl XXXI (Win) – 14/27, 246 yards, 2 TD’s, 12 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD

Regular season:

Peyton Manning:
12 seasons with Indianapolis (he’ll be 37 if/when he plays his 16th season)
192 consecutive games started
50,128 yards
366 TDs
4 regular season MVP’s

Brett Favre:
16 seasons with Green Bay
286 consecutive games started
69,329 yards
497 TDs
3 regular season MVP’s

A couple of interesting things stand out:
· Brett Favre was actually better in the Super Bowl, yet both will be defined by winning only one super bowl.
· And Peyton has a chance to break every single regular season record that Brett Favre holds. And from what I hear and read, Peyton knows very well about his place in history. And he wants to be known as the greatest quarterback ever.

And that is what I see as the potential key to Peyton emulating Favre’s end of career path. If Peyton wants to break the record for consecutive games started or yards thrown or TD’s thrown, then he’ll have to play into his late 30’s/early 40’s. And if Peyton doesn’t win that second title, and falls short several more times, then the criticism will start to weigh on him.

If the script unfolds as such, then as the years go by, I truly believe the rumblings will grow with intensity. The only way for Peyton to stop them is to win another title and know when to gracefully bow out. As a Peyton fan, I for one hope he wins at least one more title and retired as a Colt. Because as much as I love seeing Favre play, I wish he would have retired as a Green Bay Packer. And I really hope I’m wrong on this.