Knucklehead of the Week
Sen. Orrin Hatch, who tried last fall to get the Justice Department to tackle the controversial Bowl Championship Series, now wants President Obama to invite Boise State’s undefeated football team to the White House ... along with national champion Alabama. Hey, let’s invite everybody to D.C. and give them all trophies. In our culture, we’re all winners! The cranky senator from Utah should focus on our ridiculous national debt.
I interrupted my NFL buffet last weekend to spend some quality time with the family. We watched a movie because the Cardinals-Packers game was in the bag. Or so I thought. After the movie, I learned that Arizona had won a 51-45 overtime thriller. This just in: Dad watches football until the confetti drops at the Super Bowl. Sorry, kids.
Great hats: I applaud the Reds for signing Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman, who reportedly can throw a baseball 102 mph. Whether the 21-year-old lefty can come within three feet of a major-league strike zone remains to be seen, but the move gives Reds fans some hope.
Chapman doesn’t speak English, but the Reds’ wishbone “C” hat should make him feel comfortable. Let’s just hope Bob Castellini doesn’t show up at Opening Day with a bushy beard, wearing fatigues and smoking cigars. That might make Chapman feel a little too close to home.
Death and taxes: This was the year UD was going to break that losing streak at Xavier, man-eating sinkholes on I-75 be damned. Then an excited official called a horrible blocking foul on Chris Wright just six minutes into the game. Wright went to the bench with his second foul and picked up his third before halftime.
The Flyers were the more aggressive team in Cincinnati. They looked confident. But part of basketball is, well, putting the ball in the hoop.
Bigger Mac: The timing of Mark McGwire’s guilty plea is obvious: He’s doing damage control before spring training. Big Mac has a job with the Cardinals and he wants to be left alone.
But McGwire’s claim that steroids didn’t help him hit home runs — hey, it’s all hand-eye coordination — shows us that he has some work to do.
I was impressed, though, that he wrote his own “statement.” I can’t stand it when athletes release “statements” that are written by lawyers or public relations spin doctors.
Off the bench: UD basketball recruit Juwan Staten did not start Oak Hill Academy's nationally televised game against Columbus Northland. ESPN analyst Paul Biancardi (the disgraced former Wright State coach) reported that Staten violated a team rule by missing his all-star team's first practice after Christmas break.
Staten came off the bench and struggled to find the basket in Oak Hill’s one-point loss to a real high school squad. All around, a bad day for UD.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2163 or bkollars@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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