Michigan's Satellite Camp Upset the Wrong Group of Crybabies

The look the NCAA gave to Jim Harbaugh

As was expected, last Friday the stupid NCAA, and their equally stupid president, Mark Emmert, deemed the satellite camps that Jim Harbaugh was running illegal. They didn't really give a quality reason, but at this point, why would we expect a good answer from the corrupt NCAA. All they and Emmert had to was get some big named SEC, ACC and other Big Ten, high profile coaches, to complain that this was "unfair". They didn't think of it, so it had to be unfair, right? The NCAA's rule book is so thick and filled with some of the dumbest, most inexplicable rules, these satellite camps had to be illegal? Wrong to both of those questions.

There was no rule saying that coaches couldn't hold camps like this over spring break. If the players wanted to give up their free time and the coaches wanted to give up their free time, they were allowed to do that. It lasted for two years. After this second one was completed, these big name coaches came out and started to complain. Guys like Will Muschamp thought it was unfair. Gus Malzahn chimed in with his two cents. Even Big Ten colleagues, like the two biggest douchebags in the conference, Urban Meyer and Mark Dantonio, first complained, then decided that they wanted to bring their players to a camp like this. So, they didn't like it at first, but when they found that they could recruit in the South, in the offseason, they wanted to come aboard. What a bunch of lemmings.

None of these coaches voices mattered. It wasn't until early last week when Satan himself, Nick Saban, came out and said he thought that theses camps were illegal and unfair. As soon as I read that Saban was upset with what Harbaugh was doing, I knew these satellite camps had little to no time left. That was all the NCAA and Mark Emmert needed to hear. The NCAA and Emmert do not want to upset the "mighty" SEC and the "mighty" Nick Saban and their partner in crime, ESPN. These three were the loudest, biggest whiners and dissenters when talking about these camps. Mike Wilbon would openly berate Jim Harbaugh on "PTI" for, "taking these kids away from their families to work on Spring Break". I would always think to myself, had Pat Fitzgerald come up with this idea, he would never be this clever or innovative because he is an idiot, Wilbon would love this idea. But, since it came from a coach at Michigan, he was opposed. Speaking to Nick Saban complaining about this, he is just jealous that he didn't think of it first. He would have abused this to no end, had he set up satellite camps in the Midwest and the North, to recruit and make his team even better. And, the NCAA would have praised him for doing it. He would have done it year round as well. Harbaugh only did it for one week of the spring. Saban would be doing right now, had he thought of it first.

Yes, I'm a Michigan fan, we all know this by now, but I truly believe that what Harbaugh has done, in less than 2 years, has the "mighty" Nick Saban worried. Saban is a great college coach, but he has never really been challenged by anyone at the college level. People usually cower in fear of him. He is a bully to his players, his staff and sports writers, but they never challenge him. But, Harbaugh is openly going after him now, specifically setting these camps up in his territory and I think that has scared him. That's why he came out and condemned the camps. This is the first time since he rejoined the college ranks that he has been challenged by another coach and he is scared. He knew that if he ran to the NCAA and Emmert and complained, they would bow to his request. That is the move of a coward. The SEC is filled with cowards that are terrified of being challenged by an outsider. That is why guys like Muschamp and Malzone complained too. They are scared, especially Muschamp after what the Wolverines did to his "vaunted" defense in the Citrus Bowl this year. Then, to have coaches in your own conference complain, I mean, what a dick move.

I expected this from Urban Meyer because he only knows how to cheat the system. He illegally recruits and passes players with poor grades and lets players with multiple arrests continue to play with no repercussions. He is a world class cheater, so naturally he'd be upset that Harbaugh found a perfectly legal way to recruit in the South, in the offseason. But Dantonio complaining, that is straight up sour grapes. He is as bad a curmudgeon as Saban, but not nearly as good a coach and doesn't hold the levity that Saban has with the NCAA. He is a whiner and complainer and thinks he is way better than he truly is. He has gotten very lucky the past couple of seasons, and looked what happened when his team got in the playoff last year. I believe they got beat 1,000-0. He is not an upper echelon coach, no matter what he thinks and may say. He missed his best, and probably only chance, to win a title last year.

What it all boils down to, the NCAA and Mark Emmert are spineless and they couldn't care less about what these student athletes, whom they make millions upon millions of dollars on, choose to do with their free time. The NCAA wants to now control how these kids spend their free time. This is one of the biggest crocks in the decision making history of the corrupt NCAA. Why would they care about these kids all of the sudden? That was the reasoning, that these kids needed to have some free time away from their sport, but when do they ever really have free time? I've known people that play college sports, and no matter what level of competition, be it division 1 or division 3, they all let me know that it was a full time, year round job. They were either in the weight room, the film room, study hall or had a meeting with their coaches all school year and during the summer. I knew people that lived in the town where they played collegiately in the summer because that's what the coaches wanted them to do. So, no this has nothing to do with the NCAA suddenly worrying about these kids free time or their spring break, they weren't making any money off of the camps and the "almighty" Nick Saban was unhappy with the camps.

The NCAA, the SEC, Urban Meyer, Mark Dantonio and, most importantly, Mark Emmert are so gutless and so jealous and just out right ridiculous in deeming these camps illegal. Decisions like this are why people HATE the NCAA and why we all think the NCAA is corrupt. If they can't make money off of something, they will deem illegal and that is the biggest problem. Yes, I'm pissed that Harbaugh found a legal loophole to recruit the best players to come and play at Michigan, but I'm more pissed at the NCAA for giving in to some whiny, bratty coaches that were jealous that they didn't think of it first.

What a crock.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is angry that he has to be angry about college football in the spring. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's MLB Season Preview

Here comes Ty to the plate

RD did the heavy lifting for me this week, previewing the already started MLB season. This is his territory when it comes to sports. He knows and he loves baseball more than anyone that I know. Me, I know and love baseball too, but I don't particularly care to start really paying attention until the playoffs. The season is way, way too long for one. Each team plays 162 regular season games. That's insane. I feel like the NBA has way too many regular season games and they only play 82. Almost half of what MLB plays. The season lasts almost 7 months. Ridiculous. So yeah, this early, I don't watch too closely. NBA playoffs are right around the corner and the summer time is when I catch up on some TV and movies I may have missed during the fall and winter. But, I still know enough about baseball to give my take as to how I see the season and the playoffs playing out. My preview won't be as in depth, but I wanted to let you all know how I thought the season would play out and who will win the World Series.

Let's go.

Instead of going division by division, I just want to pick who I think will win and why. First off, I'll do the American League. Before I get this all started, I think the AL is in a slight decline right now. Yeah, the Royals won last year, but they played the Mets and the Mets played out of their minds down the stretch. The AL reminds me a lot of the Eastern Conference in the NBA. So, I think the Toronto Blue Jays will win the AL East. They are one of, if not the, best teams in baseball. Yeah, they lost David Price, but he was not good in the playoffs and I don't think him not being on the team will matter all that much. They still have a good staff and a great lineup. They will hit a lot of home runs and they will shut a lot of teams down on defense. I love the Blue Jays and I love the way they play. Kansas City will win the AL Central, but it will be close. I think Cleveland, not Detroit, will be the biggest threat. This division is pretty good when you look at it. The Royals are the defending champs, the Tigers have Miguel Cabrera and a decent pitching staff, Cleveland has a great small ball lineup and Corey Kluber, who may be the best pitcher in baseball that no one knows and Minnesota and the White Sox both have decent, young players. The Royals will win the division because they have the experience and they have the best pitching staff and the best lineup. They are becoming great again and I enjoy when small market teams beat up on the big market teams. The AL West, on the other hand, is pretty terrible with 2 exceptions, the Astros and the Rangers. The Rangers have the lineup, but the Astros also have a good lineup and they have a much better pitching staff, led by reigning Cy Young winner, Dallas Kuechel. The Angels are getting older and not better. I feel bad for Mike Trout, because he is great, but that team has overpaid for aging stars for much too long and it's crippled the future of the team. The A's are just bad. And every year the Mariners are supposed to turn it around, but they never do. I do like the Rangers in this division. I know the Astros have a better pitching staff, but the Rangers will hit a lot of home runs and it is dreadful to play there in the summer time. They may be the only team in pro baseball with a true home field advantage and that will help them win the division title. So, that leaves me with two wild cards. I'm going to pick Cleveland and Houston. I really like both those teams. For the ALCS, I think it will be Houston and Toronto, and I think Toronto will go to the AL pennant, with relative ease. This, RD and I agree on.

One different thing I want to do is pick a team that will be a "bust" in each league. My "bust" for the AL is the Boston Red Sox. Sure, they got David Price, but what else do they have anywhere on the field or in the pitching staff? Not too much. Hanley Ramirez is a mess. Pablo Sandoval got beat out by some random dude, and then there is really nothing else to brag about. The Red Sox are not as good as some will lead you to believe. Don't let the Price signing fool you.

In the National League, we will start with the East. The NL East is about as bad as the AL West. There is only two decent teams and they are the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets. Sure, the Mets are the reigning NLCS champs, but they got very hot and very lucky at the exact right time last year. That won't happen again. They have a great staff and they will finish above .500, but the Nationals are going to walk with this division. They are constant underachievers, but Bryce Harper will not let this team take a tumble again. They also have a great pitching staff and a pretty decent lineup around Harper. They finally, and mercifully, fired Matt Williams and made a great hire with Dusty Baker. They will win the division and may win 100 plus games. There is no need to even mention the 3 other teams in this division because they are terrible. The NL Central will be highly competitive once again. It's a three team race with the Cubs, the Pirates and the Cardinals. The Reds and the Brewers are both going through rebuilds and they won't be a factor. What has been a division owned by the Cardinals lately, will change this year. The Cardinals lost a lot from last years team and they didn't so much in free agency. Oh, they got older too. This will most likely be a step back year for them. By step back year, I think they will only win 86 or 87 games. But, the Pirates and the Cubs will be legit. The Pirates have a very good pitching staff and a great lineup, led by one of my favorite and one of the best, and most underrated superstars in Andrew McCutcheon. He's awesome and the Pirates are really good. But, the Cubs are definitely on the rise. I hate to admit this, because I'm a lifelong Cardinals fan, but the Cubs crushed us in the playoffs last year, and they only got much, much better this offseason. They locked up Rizzo and Bryant. They signed Jon Lester last year. They lured Jason Heyward away from the Cardinals to only boost their already potent outfield. And they signed a bunch of other great role players. This could be the year that the Cubs finally break the curse. They are, on paper, the best team in baseball right now, and it's not really that close. They will win the Central and they will win more than 100 games doing it. I don't want to hear whiny Cubs fans trying to tamper expectations either. You guys are the best team and you better damn well prove that. No more excuses for them. It's an even year, so the San Francisco Giants should easily win the NL West, right? Well, I think they will win, but the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers, and maybe even the Padres, will give them a run for their money. Yes, the Giants signed two big time free agent pitchers, but the Diamondbacks got Zack Greinke and they still have Paul Goldschimdt. The Dodgers did lose Greinke, but they still have Clayton Kershaw, and he's a great regular season pitcher. The Dodgers also have a very good lineup, but they are starting to become the NL's version of the Angels. Lots of big names, but nothing to show for it. The Padres have a very decent lineup, but their pitching leaves a lot to be desired. I still think they will be, at least, a .500 team. The Diamondbacks will be the Giants main competition, but they are still a pitcher and an offensive weapon away from truly competing. I really love their signing of Greinke though. The Giants will win the West, but look out for the Diamondbacks in a year or two. So, that leaves us with the NL wildcards. This time around, the Central will only send two teams to the playoffs because I think the Pirates and the Mets will win the two remaining spots. That's right, no St. Louis and no Dodgers. They're both old, but they will both reload and be back on top soon enough. I think the NLCS will be the Cubs and the Nationals. I think this is a very interesting matchup because the Cubs are, right now, where the Nationals were two years ago. The Cubs are the new darlings and almost everyone is picking them. I'm no exception and I think the Cubs will pull it out in seven games and play the Blue Jays in the World Series.

Now, if the Cubs don't win the World Series this year, when will they? They have the best team in baseball, I cannot stress that enough. They should easily beat the Blue Jays in the World Series. As much as I hate to write it, the Cubs should, and will, win the World Series this year. They will break the curse and they will make me not watch "Sportscenter" and fast forward through a ton of "PTI" segments for the next couple of years. The Cubs will win and the sports media will be insufferable in their non stop coverage. It will be so much worse than when the Red Sox won in 2004.

My "bust" from the NL is the Cardinals. They are always good, but they will take a step back. They do have a very good pitching staff, but it's older and Adam Wainwright is coming off a torn ACL. Their lineup will not strike fear in any opponent either. They have no heavy hitters and they have players that get behind in the count way too often, I'm looking at you Matt Carpenter. Stop taking so many pitches and getting behind so early in the count. It's frustrating to watch. The Cardinals will step back and not be as good as they have been the past decade plus. It's due.

As I do with all my other previews, I will also give award predictions. The AL Cy Young will, once again, go to Kuechel. He is a beast. The MVP will be someone from the Royals, probably either Mike Moustakas or Lorenzo Cain. The manager of the year will be Terry Francona. In the NL, the Cy Young will go to Zack Greinke, the MVP, in a surprise to some, Paul Goldschmidt and the manager of the year has to be Joe Maddon.

So, there's my take on the baseball season. Sit back, because there is still a long time to go and I know RD will have something to say about my pick to win the World Series.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The head editor is not currently speaking to Ty. The Cubs? Really? Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

LeBron Keeps Himself from Being One of the Greatest Players of All Time

How can LeBron be unhappy in Cleveland?

I was reading stories on Bleacher Report and ESPN and SI.com yesterday, to make myself angry I'm sure, and I came across one where LeBron James said that he hopes one day in the future, he gets to play on a team with Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. He said he wants to play with his friends and he feels that this ultra super team could be created with him taking a significant pay cut. He also seems to believe that they could play together for one or two years and win a ring or two. Then, I was watching "PTI", as I do everyday, and Kornheiser and Wilbon brought up this same topic and they had very differing ideas. Wilbon seems to think that this is totally okay and had no problem with it. Kornheiser was the total opposite. He said that LeBron is always looking for a better situation than he is currently in. He said that LeBron is never happy with his current team and he is always looking to pair with a super star or two.

I couldn't agree with Kornheiser more.

I know that Wilbon can't fully tell the whole story because he is, for the most part, a basketball writer and he has built relationships with these guys, but he is also, notoriously, very biased towards teams and players he likes personally. He won't say a bad word about Derrick Rose, Jahlil Okafor, anyone from Chicago really, and he won't talk bad about the Cubs, Blackhawks or Bulls, no matter how good or bad they are. He is a very, very biased journalist, and that shouldn't be how he carries himself in his profession. Kornheiser is also biased for any team from Washington, but at least he has the guts to call out super star players.

I totally agree with Tony Kornheider about LeBron and this current story. Why would he say something like this right before the playoffs? Each team has about 12 regular season games left and while he should be preparing to lead his team to the finals again, he is opining to play basketball with his friends. Also, since he returned to Cleveland two years ago, they have let him do whatever he wants to do. He wanted them to trade Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins so he could play with Kevin Love. The front office obliged. He "wrote" some phony coming home letter, trying to win back the fans that burned his jersey when he first left. The front office and Sports Illustrated obliged. When he complained about Kyrie Irving not passing enough last year, he went out and passed up every shot to "prove" that he was the teams true point guard and then bad mouthed Kyrie Irving on Twitter the next day. The front office didn't say a word. When they made the finals last year, he couldn't say anything that wasn't glowing about Tristan Thompson, basically spitting in Kevin Love's face. The front office did nothing about this. This season, they started out 30-11, but LeBron was upset with David Blatt and he wanted his buddy, Tyronn Lue, to be the head coach. Within a week of LeBron openly complaining to the media, Blatt was fired. Once again, the front office obliged their star player. I remind you, Blatt helped lead this team to the finals last year and had a 30-11 record when he was let go. Lue hasn't really set the coaching world on fire, going something like 14-8 or 15-7. Those aren't Red Auerbach numbers by any standard. LeBron still goes out and openly complains to the media about Love and Irving daily. He claims it's hard to play with Love "clogging" the lane. Bull shit. Love just sits at the three point line while LeBron dribbles for 20 seconds and shoots. He complains that Irving isn't a true point guard. Sure, he doesn't pass all that much, but he is a phenomenal ball handler and a great scorer. Also, LeBron, you wanted these two guys. You told the front office to keep Irving and to go out and trade for Love. It was your idea. He then had the front office get rid of Anderson Varejo, sign Tristan Thompson to a max contract, trade for Channing Frye, re up Matthew Dellavedova and not worry about the draft. But, none of that was good enough for him because they didn't sign Joe Johnson after the Nets bought him out. He really wanted Joe Johnson, and he let the media know it.

So, in less than two years, he has gotten his way, like a spoiled rotten little brat, but he still isn't happy with what he has created. I'm not the first, and I won't be the last to say it, but he is the star player, coach and GM of the Cavs. When they do all this, at his beck and call, it makes him the guy pulling all the strings. Don't get me wrong, I think LeBron is one of the greatest players of all time. He is a champion, multiple MVP winner and will go down as one of the best of all time. But, since his return to Cleveland, I'm beginning to believe that he is a whiner, a prima donna and possibly, the most uncoachable player of all time. Then, this story comes out. Sure, it sounds nice, but I guarantee, within two months, he would be unhappy with his role on this super team. He would clash with Chris Paul because they are both ball dominant players. They both need the ball in their hands at crucial moments. Paul is also very hard headed and would definitely fight with LeBron. He is very old, in basketball terms, right now too. Carmelo Anthony is a ball hog and has proven that he can't come up in clutch moments. This would drive James nuts. I also think the amount of iso ball and threes that Anthony takes would take it's toll on James very, very quick. He has already played with Wade, and they won two championships, but he was old during their last trip to the finals as teammates, and he would be extremely old if they team up again. Wade is also only good for about 50 quality games nowadays, so just imagine how few games he would be able to give his all in a couple of years. This all sounds good and well to James now, but I know he would get frustrated and fed up quicker than he has in his return to Cleveland.

What it all sums up to, I'm sick of James complaining and blaming everyone else for the faults of the team he has personally created. Quit opining for stars and deal with the hand you picked. Sorry that the Warriors and Spurs are historically good and one thousand times better than your Cavs team, but these are the guys you wanted. And stop saying this stuff to the media because it opens you up for criticism, which you don't handle well. Stop bitching and moaning like a baby and be happy that you get to play a game for a living and you make millions upon millions of dollars doing it. You also already have two rings. Charles Barkley would trade his whole career away for one of those rings. Also, Michael Jordan never openly complained about his teammates and he also won with guys like Steve Kerr, Bill Wennington and Luc Longley. Jordan would never want to make a super team just to win a title, he would will lower level pros up to his level and win with them. This complaining and whining is why you will never be as good as Jordan. This current story also proves why you will never be at Jordan's level. You are a great, great player, but you are also a world class whiner and you always think the grass is greener elsewhere. It's very off putting.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His basketball knowledge was acquired through years of rec league trash talk. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

It is Time to Talk About What Peyton Manning has Done Wrong

Being a shill for bad pizza is one of many alleged crimes Peyton Manning should answer for.

Around this time last year, one or two weeks after the Super Bowl 49, all I heard about on ESPN and all other sports media shows was "deflategate". These outlets couldn't talk about this non story enough. ESPN itself has multiple channels that have sports programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and I'd venture to say that at least 10 to 12 hours, passed around all their channels, ran some kind of story related to "deflategate".

For those of you that forgot, "deflategate" centered around some under inflated footballs in a game that the Patriots won 45-7 over the Colts. I've written a bunch of stuff on this non story. It's stupid and pointless and it gives people another reason to hate on the Patriots. "Deflategate" is the most nonsensical story I've ever heard. Is it morally and ethically wrong? Yes. But, is it cheating? Absolutely not. Not even close. Go ask anyone QB out there and they will all say that they like to have the balls a specific way. When Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was asked about this, he said he always had the ball boys take a little air out of the ball for an easier grip. When Aaron Rodgers was asked about this, he said he likes the balls to be over inflated to give him a better grip. Basically, any QB will do anything to gain an advantage. "Deflategate" is akin to watering down base paths in baseball, or using a certain basketball in a certain arena. It's morally wrong, but people tend to look the other way. Who really cares and who really thinks that under inflated footballs helped the Patriots win? No one that has some sense and intelligence.

So, I figured that this year, with the recent allegations and new stories coming out involving Peyton Manning and sexual assault and having HGH delivered to his home, that ESPN would be all over this. These are actual real news stories involving another Hall of Fame QB also coming off a Super Bowl win. These allegations are much, much more serious than some under inflated footballs. I mean, we are talking assaulting a female staffer while a student at Tennessee and the HGH thing, that is steroids. With how much time is being dedicated to getting rid of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, I figured both these stories would be plastered all over all sports media.

Well, that is unfortunately not the case. I turned on ESPN the other day when "NFL Live" was on because I naturally assumed that they would talk about these allegations and nothing else. I was very wrong. Not only did they not talk about it, they didn't even bring it up. Instead, they focused the entire hour long show on potential free agents at the tight end position. That's right, they figured that potential free agent tight ends were more important to talk about than two major stories involving an extremely high profile player. Could ESPN be anymore in the bag for Peyton Manning and the Manning family? They are just as bad as Jim Nantz when it comes to the blinders they put on whenever someone bad mouths "The Sheriff". It is appalling that they refuse to talk about these terrible, sometimes heinous accusations being brought up. When Nantz was asked, prior to the Super Bowl, why he doesn't talk about the HGH allegations, he blew it off and called it a "non story". This coming from the same guy that chastised Tom Brady last year for some under inflated footballs. Talk about a double standard. When ESPN finally did get an interview with Manning himself about the HGH, it was a total puff piece and they did not press him one single time. They basically told him that he was right and sided with him, claiming that the people accusing him where just jealous of his fame and success. This is the same network that ran, and still runs stories on "deflategate". It's sickening that they continue to defend Manning and his family when someone in his home is getting HGH sent to them. That is a performance enhancing drug and those are supposed to be illegal. I guarantee if Tom Brady, or any Patriot for that matter, had been accused of using HGH, ESPN would have been all over it, calling them liars and cheaters. But, they won't do that to the great Peyton Manning. They assumed, how could someone so wholesome cheat? Why would he do that? He would never under inflate footballs.

Well, thanks to the New York Daily News, once again no ESPN involvement, we come to find out that Peyton Manning may not be as wholesome as we portray him to be. A story was released last week claiming that while he was enrolled at Tennessee, he shoved his naked butt, testicles and penis into the face of a female trainer. When she brought this crime, yes that is a crime, to the higher ups at Tennessee, they blew her off, basically telling her that a student athlete was more important than her dignity. Then, after Tennessee paid this lady off and she moved on to do many great things as a trainer, including working with Olympians, the Manning family wrote a book and destroyed this ladies credibility. She couldn't get a job anywhere because everyone believed the "wholesome" Peyton Manning over her. Why would he lie and why would his family and the University of Tennessee lie about this? Well, as I just mentioned, what he supposedly did is a crime. You cannot force your genitalia in someone's face. What the New York Daily News story reported was, he shoved his genitalia into her face when she was occupied helping someone else. This is a very vile, very disgusting thing for a person to do. I know the Manning defenders will say that he was a kid and kids do stupid things, but this goes beyond stupid, this is disturbing. I was a kid once too, and I never thought to jam my business into anyone's face. Not ever. That takes a special kind of disturbed person. Then, to trash this lady in a book, how classless and guilty does that make one look? If I believed him before, I definitely don't believe him or his dad now. To publicly go after someone like that, that is an admission of guilt. Trying to make someone else look bad for your past childish and abusive behavior, another admission of guilt in my opinion. 

I have not heard anyone at ESPN once talk about this. The only hint of anyone talking about it was on "PTI" and all Wilbon and Kornheiser said is, "he has to speak about these allegations". They didn't attack him the way they attacked the "deflategate" stuff last year. The only people I've heard talk about these allegations are, the aforementioned New York Daily News, a great twitter follow @SportsTalkVM and the wonderful Deadspin. They are the only people that have come out and chastised this childish, abusive and criminal behavior that Peyton Manning showed while at Tennessee and while in the NFL. ESPN won't touch this story with a ten foot pole because they are afraid that they may piss off a powerful football family, but it is in their business to talk about these heinous crimes because that's what good sports journalists do. They don't hide from major stories involving major stars. They sure as hell didn't hold back from attacking Tom Brady, Bill Belichek and the entire New England Patriots franchise when they may or may not have under inflated footballs. So, why do they just stand on the sidelines and give the Manning family a free pass? Are they in bed with Papa John's too? If they are, get out of that relationship because Papa John is a monster and his pizza stinks. Are they afraid of Roger Goodell and the NFL? Yes, they one hundred percent are afraid of that and that sucks because it is really cheapening their own product.

That brings me to what I really think is the problem, and that is the fact that ESPN is hiring unqualified yes men and women to be their anchors and broadcasters. Their bosses, the NFL included, tells them to jump and they ask, how high. They are brain washed people that are terrible at their jobs. These crimes that Manning is being accused of should be talked about a whole hell of a lot more, but until ESPN hires some competent people, I will continue to go to much better news sources like the New York Daily News, @SportsTalkVM and Deadspin. At least they have the guts and the know how to attack this cheater and sexual assaulter.

Screw you Peyton Manning, you are the Bill Cosby of the NFL.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Let Me Respectfully Explain Why Your Team Stinks: Ty is not impressed with Northwestern Football

This is to you Northwestern. You try so hard every year.

Today I'm going to re visit one of my favorite topics to talk about on the site. I'm going to go back to my irrational hatred blog.

I haven't written one of these in quite some time, and with college bowl season all but done, I realized how much I hate Northwestern Wildcat football. This has been a bubbling hatred for some years now. It's grown and grown a lot since they hired Pat Fitzgerald. I'll get to what I dislike about him in a bit.

I feel like they may be one of the most overrated, way to often talked about on ESPN, mediocre football teams I've ever seen. They seem to go 5-7 for three years, they'll up that to 6-6 or 7-5 for four or five years, then they'll have a season like this most recent one, when they finished 10-3 and everyone and their mother seems to think they are on the rise, especially world class blow hard, Mike Wilbon. I swear, if you listen to him long enough, you'd think Northwestern football is as good as the 96 Chicago Bulls. He's that blinded by his fandom. I mean, I love Michigan football, but I also realize that they've been very underwhelming for almost a decade now. Things seem to be turning a corner, with Harbaugh and how they finished the year, but I'll wait to start popping off at the mouth until they prove it on the field a bit more. Not the case with Wilbon. Northwestern can beat Rutgers by 1 point and you'd think they knocked off the number one team in the country when Wilbon inevitably talks about it on "PTI" the following Monday. I cannot take him seriously as a journalist anymore because of his blind love for his alma mater. I understand being a fan of your school, but when you are in journalism, as he is, you cannot be biased, especially when you have a talk show that focuses on sports. It's not a good way to conduct yourself at work.

Let's get back to some other things I don't really care for about Northwestern. I absolutely hate how arrogant and entitled their student athletes act. Sure, you guys are the Harvard of the Big Ten, but who really gives a shit. You know what other schools in your very conference are just as hard to get into? Michigan, Maryland, Penn State, Minnesota and Indiana. Really the only Big Ten school that's an absolute joke when it comes to grades is Ohio State. They could care less if you flunk out of high school as long as you are a good athlete. They are the Florida State of the Big Ten. So, knock it off with the excuse that it's harder for you to recruit elite athletes because your standards are too high. I don't care. Michigan and Penn State have equally as hard academic standards yet they're competitive and get top flight recruits in football almost every year. Hell, Maryland is almost impossible to get into and they have a top ten basketball team this year with one of the best sophomores in all of college basketball, Melo Trimble. He has to go to class just like all the Northwestern student athletes so he can make the grades to play. That excuse is old and tired. I'm done with it.

Then there's your coach, whom I've mentioned earlier. He is the WORST. The only coach I hate more than him in the Big Ten, and maybe all of college football is, Urban Meyer. At least Meyer wins, but he is a cheater, don't get that twisted. Fitzgerald's whole "blue collar" attitude and his teams very hard "work ethic" nonsense that he's always yelling is stupid. It's the worst kind of generic coach speak. He is way too giddy on the sidelines too. A head coach needs to keep his act together until they are in the locker room, where no one, except you team, can see you. I can count on both hands how many times I've seen him cheering late in a game because he thinks his team has the win sealed up, but then they blow it in typical Northwestern fashion. I love how much of an idiot this makes him look. All giddy and excited one second, then something bad happens to his team, then he's all flush with embarrassment and tries to make up excuses in the post game press conference. What a boob. He should have been fired five years ago, but a 10 win season this year has probably bought him, at least, another three or four years.

The majority of his players are mediocre as well. Their version of the spread is laughably bad and extremely slow. They haven't had a decent running back since Darnell Autry, and I cannot think of one time, at least in my lifetime, when they've had a legitimately good college quarterback. The players are sub par and it shows when they face real competition. Let's look at this most recent season as an example. Sure, they beat Stanford in the very first game of the year. It was an 11am kickoff time, making it 9am in Palo Alto, and I as I said on a blog earlier this week, that may not sound like an advantage, but it is. So, they get their signature win of the year during their very first game. Then, they rip off five straight and people are actually calling him a potential playoff team. Totally insane and totally off base. Luckily, for me and all college football fans, they went up to Ann Arbor and Michigan dismantled them 38-0. It was glorious. The following week, with some media, Mike Wilbon, saying that the game was an aberration and they'd easily recover with Iowa coming to Evanston, they got crushed. So, two legit opponents in two consecutive weeks destroy them and their "playoff" hopes. They won their next four games, against very weak Big Ten teams, to finish the year 10-2 and they were actually ranked, by the playoff committee ahead of the same Michigan team that shut them out. They finished inside the top 15, coming in at 13. They were extremely overrated by the committee at the end of the season and it showed when they played Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. Tennessee was very up and down all year, couldn't hold leads against quality opponents and finished the year at 8-4, I believe. Well, they hammered a very overrated Northwestern team to the tune of 45-6. So, against four quality opponents, Stanford, Michigan, Iowa and Tennessee, they went 1-3 with a combined score of 131-29. That's not what a top 15 team does when it plays real competition.

Now don't worry, I'm sure ESPN and Mike Wilbon will have them as a preseason top 25 team going into this year and they will regress back to their 5-7, 6-6 or 7-5 ways. The hype for this nothing program needs to end sooner rather than later. I loathe Northwestern football and it will be nice to see them float back into mediocrity for the next decade. The only really good thing I have to say about them, it's easy to get tickets when Michigan travels to Northwestern and since there's more Michigan fans there, it feels like a home game for them and their stadium and fans, for the most part, are genuinely nice people. But when that's all you have going for you as a football team, well, you will always be mid to lower level. I'm sorry, but it's true. Northwestern is to the Big Ten what Missouri is to the SEC. Very overrated, very underachieving programs.

The love for this team needs to end.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He will never respect a school who has a compass direction in their name. Hear that Parkway West? Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.