The Unplayable

September 24, 2012
by charlie
1 Comment

Florida St.: The People’s Champion?

Flashback to college football in the 1990′s, if you will for a moment. The Big 10 still had fewer teams than the Big XII, Keith Jackson was there for every big game and January 1st meant hanging out with your dad, watching seven bowl games as you both sunk into a cheet0-induced coma. Undoubtedly, one or more of those bowl games provided the platform for the AP writers or the coaches to choose a national champion (or two), and invariably one of those games showcased the Florida St. Seminoles. There was one other certainty, at least in my house, and probably several others around the country, with the exception of the Florida panhandle; everyone was rooting against the ‘Noles. Continue Reading →

September 11, 2012
by charlie
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Finally Seeing the Greatness in Andy Murray

It wasn’t a changing of the guard. Andy Murray, with now two consecutive important tennis tournament victories under his belt, did not signal the start of a new era in tennis. He is not ready to take over the tennis world, launching himself into a new stratosphere wherein Andy Murray dominates down under, teases hapless challengers on the bizarre surfaces at the French and Wimbledon, and rules New York every fall. Andy Murray, simply put, is not the new king of Men’s tennis.

Or maybe he is? Either way, it isn’t important.

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September 6, 2012
by charlie
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The New York Giants: The NFL’s Great Bad Team

I’m 1-0 in my football pick-’em league this season after trusting my gut and picking the Cowboys, and I’m damn proud of myself this morning. That shouldn’t (and wouldn’t) be such an amazing feat, but I’m having a hard time finding anyone else who did. 95% of my pick ‘em league went G-Men. The experts here, here and here were unanimous for New York. This was the sports hype machine in full motion, and it scooped up everyone as it sped past. So why did I stay off the track and take the Cowboys? Well, for one thing, and this was semi-confirmed last night (granted, it’s only one game): the Giants aren’t that good.

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September 4, 2012
by charlie
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Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the zzzzzzzzzz…

Has Hard Knocks knocked itself out? As the show winds down its seventh (or eighth, if you include the one non-HBO produced series with Jacksonville) it appears that it is falling into the pattern of any aging series. Characters are predictable (even with the difference in teams) and the story lines just don’t hit the way they used to. So the question to be asked, as Hard Knocks reaches its “climax” for 2012 (the final episode airs tonight: is the show flagging, or were the Miami Dolphins just an extremely uninspired choice of content?

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August 28, 2012
by charlie
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Sweet Mother of Caroline, What has Penn St. Done?

I’m at that age where I go to a lot of weddings. Went to two in one day earlier this Summer, and I’m going to two in back-to-back days this coming weekend, one in Milwaukee, one in Minneapoolis. I think the grand total this year will be somewhere around a dozen.

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