Weekend T.R.U.

Hello folks I am back after a week of R & R. The first lady and I had a wonderful trip to the beach this week. It was our first time without the kids. Needless to say our trip was stress free and fun. We love our children we really do but let’s face it, taking 4 kids to the beach is no picnic. Enough of that boring crap, on to this weeks T.R.U. I case your wondering T.R.U. stands for Thoughts, Ramblings, and Useless Information. Don’t gripe about Information not being in the anagram. It just doesn’t fit. Get over it. Now…on to the show….


NFL News & Notes

Keyshawn Johnson announced his retirement from the game this week. He had reportedly received several offers from at least a half dozen teams before deciding to hang up the cleats. He will be joining HYPESPN as an analyst for several telecasts, including pregame shows on Sunday and Monday nights. Hopefully he will be more accurate and coherent than Michael “The Pleamaker” Irvin who the network let go after last season.

React: This is a good move for both Me-Shawn and the Worldwide Leader. He is well spoken and obviously knows the game after 11 years in the league. He will be a much needed improvement from that joke Irvin. I still think as a player he was highly over-rated but he was an above average receiver with a nice career. He is not however Hall Of Fame worthy in my opinion which means he is a lock to get in.

Cincinnati Bengal Head Coach Marvin Lewis apologized to local police for a comment on a radio interview he made earlier in the week. He was talking on the Dan Patrick show on HYPESPN radio and made comments that indicated he felt the local police were targeting Bengal players. The Bengals under Lewis have been notorious for off-field issues. They have had multiple players arrested multiple times. The comments did not sit well with Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher who did not appreciate the inference that his officers are targeting Bengal players. The Bengals released a statement the next day saying the coach does not believe the police are targeting his players. “At no point did I say or mean to imply that these issues had anything to do with race” Lewis said. “When I spoke of our players being perhaps more subject to scrutiny than others, I was referring to their standing as public figures.”

React: This comes as no surprise as we now probably know where the players get their disrespect for the law from. The Bengals are the poster children for the new outlaw NFL. This has only happened after Lewis took over the team. The next day apology was obviously insincere. Why would he say what he did in the first place if he really didn’t feel that way? As a long time Bengal fan I will continue to boycott them until they hire a new head coach. It is not a race thing it is the fact that Coach Lewis has consistently drafted players with questionable character year after year. These repeated incidents have been a black eye to the city and the organization. I for one feel a change is needed. Hopefully after another year of mediocre football and court appearances that is exactly what will happen.

Not much else happening in the world of football, this is nuclear winter. Check out the countdown clock on the right hand column to see how long it is until opening kickoff day. It can’t come a minute too soon. I will be doing previews this week. Since I don’t care about baseball until September and the NBA playoffs are a joke. I might as well get started on some football. The only other sports going are racing, tennis, and golf….please don’t get me started on that garbage. That is a topic for another day.

That’s all for now folks. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. We will be back with more good stuff real soon.

Weekend T.R.U.

Greetings from the couch. Hope everyone is well. I just thought I would ramble a bit today about some different items around the world of sports. Please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email , or here. Look for my new articles at the Associated Content site as well.

Feel free to sign up but make sure to use my link on the right so I can get credit for the referral. Thanks for reading and away we go......




NBA Playoffs





I do not watch much of the NBA anymore. I was a huge fan growing up but they have lost me over the years as a hardcore fan. I still follow the scores and highlights but I can't watch a full game. I will elaborate on that in more detail at a later time. I wanted to comment on the Horry/Nash incident. The Suns are whining that they were punished unfairly and the Spurs gained an advantage when their player committed the flagrant foul. Well I agree to an extent. The rule states if you leave the bench to get involved in a fight you get a suspension. The 2 players, Stoudamire & Diaw, did leave the bench. After a few steps realized what they were doing and went back. They never approached a player from the other team to initiate an altercation. The NBA decided to suspend these players by using the old "letter of the law" excuse. I feel that they should have not been suspended because they did not violate the spirit of the law which is to keep players from leaving the bench to get involved in fights. This is in place for many reasons mainly to aid officials in restoring order quickly and to prevent serious injury to very highly paid athletes. So in one sense I agree with the Suns that the decision by the league probably cost them Game 5 of the series. On the other hand, the Suns had a chance last night to even the series and go back to their home court for a game 7. They were at full strength and the Spurs were the team that was down 1 player. What did they do? They couldn't even make it a close game. They instead spent the whole game complaining to the refs instead of worrying about winning the game on the court. The press conference was a sobfest as well still complaining how the league cost them the series. Get over it Nash. You had a chance last night to make it right and failed. I am so sick of hearing these guys blame others for their failures. Your are highly paid professionals. You are getting paid to play a game. Be a man and take your loss with class and dignity. The bottom line is you lost to the better team.
http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/10188124

NFL News
This is nuclear winter for my favorite sport. Not much going on so there is not much to report. I will be doing some articles for Associate Content previewing the upcoming season. I will also be doing an article on how to draft and build a winning fantasy football team. Since there is not much actual news to report there are stories being overblown as usual this time of year.




The big news out of Green Bay is Brett Favre is not happy they organizaion did not do more in free agency.


http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/GB/10187652

He is also not happy the team did not aquire the troublesome Randy Moss. It was even reported Brett asked for a trade which he is denying. This is not a big deal. Brett is getting old and cranky like the rest of us. He has done everything possible in his career. He is a 3 time MVP, Super Bowl winner, sure fire first ballot HOF'er, the object of a serious and disturbing man crush by John Madden. Now who wouldn't want all that. I think he gets the benefit of the doubt here. He has given his all to the Packers. Is is not too much to ask for them to spend a little money to help him out. Let's face it, Brett is not the player he used to be. Then again who is, we all get old and cranky. Just ask my wife. Bottom line, it's a slow news week and the networks need something to talk about.

In this weeks edition of same crap, different pile
A Bengal was arrested

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/CIN/10187681

Ricky Williams failed a drug test

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/MIA/10176934

Michael Vick being told to grow up

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/ATL/10176776

I grow weary of these thugs who think they are above the law just because they make alot of money and are famous. It is a shame that we spend most of our time talking about the criminals in sports when most of pro athletes are good people just like you and me. Unfortunately my love for football outweighs my disgust with the thugs so I will still watch.


Major League Baseball
Wake me when it is September. One quick statement though.

Don't blame Roger Clemens for his "unusual" contract perks. It is the Yankees fault for being so desperate for pitching they had no choice but to give in. Anyone of us would sign a deal like that in a New York minute (pun intended) if given the chance.

That's about all I have the energy for today. Look for my series of NFL previews as we go division by division and break down the upcoming season. What to look for fantasy wise on each team and predictions. Should be a hoot!!! Have a great weekend folks.

A Time To Cheer

Wer’e Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!




Yesterday was a banner day for UK fans around the world. Patrick Patterson, the last uncommitted, highly rated high school player announced he would be playing college basketball for the University of Kentucky. Take that Gator and Dookie fans!!!!

Somewhere I am sure Dook Vitale is crying in his stromboli. For the last few years of the Tubby Smith era this is exactly the point where UK has finished in 2nd place. We were runner up for Brandan Wright, Tyler Hansbrough, and Tasmin Mitchell just to name a few. We have never been able to replace the consistent but unspectacular Chuck Hayes.

Check out some highlights of the newest UK Wildcat...



UK is in the midst of the longest Final Four slump in school history. The pressure to get back there was too much for the previous coach to handle. This is why, contrary to what the people at ACCESPN think, he resigned his position. He was not fired or forced out. He left on his own accord to go the equivalent of basketball Siberia where there is no pressure. If he gets 18 wins and goes to the NIT for 2 years straight they will build a statue in his honor. Do that at Kentucky and you might want to keep a low profile in public. That is not right or wrong, just the way it is.

Since hiring Billy Gillespie it has been a whirlwind of good news which is a refreshing change for the program. He has landed 2 of the top players in the country and given UK’s legion of fans hope for the future. He already has a commitment from a top point guard who is only a sophomore in high school. This is something that never did or never would happen under Smith. This was his problem, he always got to these kids too late. Gillespie gets it. You have to get to these kids early and build a relationship. He is young and he gets the internet age teenagers. He texts and e-mails them. Somehow I just can’t see Tubby doing that.

The future is bright for UK basketball and oh how sweet it is. Thank you to the Patrick Patterson family. You made an old man’s heart feel warm again. I know this is waaaaay too important to me, but luckily I am not alone in my passion for UK basketball. How many days until Midnight Madness??? I only have one more thing to say…..


GO BIG BLUE!!!!!!!!!!

Decision Time

Decision 2007
A Recruiting Saga Finally Comes To an End

We are counting down to the time for one of the most anticipated announcements in the last few years for UK basketball.

Patrick Patterson the highly touted power forward from Huntington, WVA has scheduled a press conference for 3:45 this afternoon to announce his decision on where he will play college basketball.

He is a McDonalds All-American and the best player in America who has not announced his college choice. All indications are that it is down to UK vs. Florida. This is a battle which UK has lost on the court and the recruiting trail the last few years.

In my opinion this is a must get for UK. Earlier this week Jai Lucas, another highly rated recruit, chose UF over UK. He and Patterson are good friends and has been speculated that they want to attend the same school. Neither has confirmed this but it has been talked about by many a recruiting analyst over the last few months.

I do not think losing Jai was as big a deal as some might think since UK is guard heavy on the roster for next year. UK is however hurting for a big man who can rebound and score with the loss of Randolph Morris. Ironically the last time UK was playing a similar waiting game it was with Randolph waiting for him to announce his choice of UK, Georgia Tech, or the NBA. UK was considered a distant 3rd on the list by most experts so it was a surprise when Randolph put on the UK hat at his press conference.

As UK fans we can only hope that history repeats itself and Patrick Patterson makes the same decision and puts on the Big Blue hat today.

Mother's Day Blues

Do not let the title fool you, we had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. We planned to have a family cookout at the park but Big Daddy forgot to reserve a spot so we struck out there. I called the #1 son Josh and he offered to use his palatial estate as a backup plan. This is very generous of him. We know he only agreed so he could have control of his grill which he lives for. He thinks he is a grill master and we will not tell him otherwise. Just kidding he is a great cook which is one of the reasons his wife Leslie married him.

We enjoyed the company of Josh's in-laws as well. Bob, Crystal, and Little Bob were gracious enough to join us. We were all one big happy family for a few hours which did the Big Daddy's heart good. Josh,Meghan,Donna, & Sarah are all but grown up so it is a rare occasion we are all together. We also had the 2 grand kids along, Hailey & Carter. Hailey is Josh's daughter and is 100% papaw's girl. Carter is an adorable 1 year old. He is Meghan's step son. We are just getting to know each other but I am sure it won't be long until the Big Daddy will be spoiling him on action movies, television crime dramas, & heavy metal music. Hey it worked for my 4 kids why not continue the tradition.

Sarah's boyfriend David was in attendance for his first Gallaher family event. After much coaxing and convincing he joined the traditional football game. He was like the new kid in school. At first he was awkward and scared. He later became frightened and wanted a place to hide. He then settled down and fit right in. The bruises will heal eventually both physically and emotionally.

The game went as it always does the winner was Josh and whoever is on his team. He is officially 196 and 0 all time in the series. He will probably always stay undefeated as we don't know how he would handle it if he ever lost to his sisters. I always give the girls the same pep talk that I learned from my favorite movie..."Let the Wookie win". As if they have any choice.

The mothers, Tammy & Leslie, got in the game as well as replacements for the weak and injured. They quickly exited as usual but that was for the best. It wouldn't have been good to send a mom to the ER on mother's day.

Meghan as usual did not last long and came up with a lame excuse why she couldn't play. We are used to this by now but that didn't stop us from teasing her. She takes it well and figures the emotional scars are better than bodily harm.

After the food and football it was time to head over to the mother-in-laws for the second half of our journey. A good time was had by all at Josh's house. We got some much needed exercise and Crystal handed out some valuable life lessons to her new best friend David. Now you know why he decided to play football for a while.


Part 2

We arrived in Pineville at the Stipek Estate and were greeted by our family. It was nice to see them as they are a good drive away and with gas prices we don't get to visit much. Barb, Jinnie, and Bob were gracious hosts as usual. We sat on the back porch catching up and eating some great cake made by Jinnie. She was nervous about the cake since Tammy has been a cake decorator since Fonzie was still cool. She had no reason to be since she did a great job on it. I noticed my lovely wife was very happy to see her sister and mother so anxious to please her. It was good to see my wife smile. After a couple of hours of conversation and cake we decided to head back home. Of course Sarah was with us so we had to stop at Taco Bell. What would a day with Sarah be if she didn't con us out of a meal.

So if you read all that your probably as exhausted as we were by the end of the day. It was a Mother's day to remember in 2007. Once again I am reminded how lucky I am that Tammy Sue Oberling agreed to be my wife and the mother of my children. Even though my mother is not around it sure was a good day for the mother in my life, my beautiful wife. I sometimes take her for granted but this day I thanked God that night for allowing me to have her in my life.

Yes it was sure a good day!!!