The Water Cooler: Feb. 10, 2010
By Bonta HillThe Guardsman
Notice that the Cooler logo is different. Last issue, I predicted the Colts would win the Super Bowl, and I was wrong. The picture is a throwback to a famous photo of Harry Truman holding an issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune after they printed that he lost the 1948 presidential election. Truman actually defeated Dewey by 303-189 electoral votes.
If you don’t know by now, the New Orleans Saints won their first Super Bowl by outlasting the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.
The Saints made me look clueless as I boldly picked the Colts to win by two touchdowns. Saints quarterback Drew Brees won the game’s MVP award by tying a Super Bowl record with 32 completions.
Although I’m wearing egg on my face for picking the loser, I feel good for New Orleans to finally have the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
For the third year in a row, the big game provided some dramatic moments and forced a couple of oohh’s and ahhh’s out of the boys.
The first half was very ho-humish. It put my roommate to sleep — shocker — and every time Saints running back Reggie Bush made a play, there was a question thrown out asking, “Who would marry Kim Kardashian?”
The selection by the NFL to have The Who perform at halftime was sketchy. Having a spread that included spaghetti, fried chicken and lumpia made the intermission pass quickly.
I really didn’t pay attention to the commercials this year since I was busy multi-tasking, typing up this piece with my right hand, a piece of chicken in my left and my eyes glued to the 50 inch screen.
All in all, it was a good finale to an unpredictable and wild season. Hopefully, a vision of red and gold will be spotted at next year’s extravaganza.
Idiot of the Week
It was tough this issue looking for a dumb act, but that may be due to the sports world taking a break and focusing on Super Bowl XLIV. Low and behold, the water man found one.
Cooler drinkers, meet USC head coach Lane Kiffin.
Here’s a quick brief on Mr. Kiffin: Hired as Oakland Raiders head coach before the 2007 season and fired in the middle of the 2008 season over the phone by Raiders owner Uncle Davis (do some research on that, trust me.)
Then, hired by the University of Tennessee before the 2009 season, he abruptly left right before high school players were making decisions on where to go college and became USC head coach when former coach Pete Carroll left for the riches of the NFL.
Now, I’d need a whole other column to explain how dishonest Kiffin has been, how he turned his back on a university that gave him a shot to coach on college football’s highest platform.
All that doesn’t quite make him an idiot, but this does: He’s offered a full-ride scholarship to a seventh-grade quarterback from Delaware named David Sills.
Let’s just pause for a minute and think about that. Still scratching your head? Due to word counts and space limitations (yes, we still do have word counts at The Guardsman, go figure), I can’t even begin to explain the lunacy in this. Check out the NCAA football section on Yahoo sports for the full story.
Kiffin has quickly become a regular at providing blunt statements, and pot shots at his competitors and is a man you cannot trust. However, his resumé is impressive enough to earn enshrinement into the Idiot Hall of Fame.
Misc.
There is a real possibility that the NFL could be in for a work stoppage if they can’t agree on a new collective bargaining agreement. Let’s hope greed and big egos don’t pave the way for this to happen.
Signing bonuses and multi-million dollar contracts for rookies are some things that will be discussed. Way too much money is given out to these high draft choices, and it’s all based on potential.
Rework the rookie scale and save the big money contracts for the players who actually proved something on the field.
