Jerramy Stevens, We Hardly Knew Ye

Jerramy Stevens, you should be ashamed of yourself.

No, not for your comments before Super Bowl XL and then your subsequent choking.

For your past. You are a despicable human being. You deserve nothing of what you have.

Oh, excuse my outburst right there. I need to explain myself. The reason for my outburst is a Seattle Times in-depth feature on the 2000 University of Washington football team entitled "Victory and Ruins" that exposes the team's run-ins with the law and the lack of discipline provided by coach Rick Neuhisel and athletic director Barbara Hedges. The team featured felons and players who had misdemeanors and players charged with sexual assault. Perfect for the stereotypical athlete getting off on crimes.

Which brings me to Jerramy Stevens. Stevens was one of four players given his own section in the feature. His was entitled "Convicted of assault and rape, star player received raft of second chances." The actions of Stevens that are chronicled in this disgust me. I don't need to describe them. You can read the article yourself. But what is even more appalling is the action (or lack thereof) taken by the state of Washington and the school itself.

Here's FanNation's own Big Ben68 with his reaction to the Stevens article:

Holy f*cking hell...Stevens has done a lot of s*it and gotten away with just about all of it...

I don't want to sound like an athlete-hater, because I'm not. I am an athlete and I participate in athletics at my school. But I really hate special treatment given to athletes. It's something that just really gets me. In my Honors Algebra II class last year, one of my teammates on track spent an entire quarter with a 70 before being moved down a class. The track coach was our teacher. There was another incident in the fall at my school where the school received pictures of various students, including three defensive starters on the football team, drinking on the morning of our school's first night game in its 43-year history. All athletes had to sign a pledge when the season started accepting responsibility and discipline if something like this happened. The common understanding was that we would be suspended from athletics for a year. The three football players missed two games. Members of the women's soccer team that implicated did not miss any time, according to some people. The extent of their punishment was supposedly writing an apology and apologizing in team meetings. However, our administration did not release any information, so the details still remain cloudy.

But what University of Washington did was horrible. Who knows how many people their football players hurt? Stevens was obviously out of control and the school barely did anything about it. Read the article. Read about what he did in high school. This guy is a disgrace. And the ignorance. To me, ignorance is the worst thing an athlete can have. Ignorance to rules, ignorance to authority, and ignorance to the team. Stevens had them all. He probably would not be drafted on the first day in the NFL Draft today because of his character issues. Stevens deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Pacman Jones as well. And Cedrick Wilson might have to join him.

It is a disgrace to the NFL that they have players like these associated with the league. One moment, you are reading about Brett Favre, but the next you are reading about Pacman Jones or Rae Carruth. Sadly, the NFL has members from both ends of the spectrum.

Now I don't have any personal connection to Stevens. I have Madden NFL 2002, in which Stevens is a backup tight end to Christian Fauria on the Seahawks, but I never really played with the Seahawks. Before Super Bowl XL, Stevens' 15 minutes of fame, I immediately disliked him. I was rooting for the Seahawks, but listening to this guy talk made me want to hurt him. I laughed at him after he dropped those three passes.

In the words of a Deadspin.com article, "The 2000 Washington Huskies were horrible people:"

We'll say this, and it'll be the last time we ever say it: We wish Joey Porter would have put his face through a wall.

Agreed?

Anyway, you owe it to yourself to read the Seattle Times feature.

Thanks for reading.

2007 Sportsmen of the Year

My 2007 Sportsmen of the year are the Kansas Jayhawk and Missouri Tiger football teams.

The curtain closed less than five minutes ago on the No. 4-ranked Tigers' 36-28 victory over the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks, and ever since the last two minutes of the game, I have been thinking, "Are there any more-deserving bodies in sports than these two teams?"

Let's look at it. Neither of these teams (especially Kansas) were expected to do much. Both started the year unranked and overlooked. Both play in the Big XII and are in the North division, much regarded as a pushover division compared to the powerhouses of Oklahoma and Texas in the Big XII South. They both got out to quick starts, but they were putdown as the products of an easy schedule.

And look at the players on the two teams.



Todd Reesing was too short to play major college football.

Aqib Talib wasn't good enough.

Chase Daniel was overlooked.

The Missouri and Kansas football teams defied the odds that were set against them, although Missouri is now in the position to defy even more odds.

They are my 2007 Sportsmen of the Year.

Now to the game.

I don't think I have seen a more meaningful game played in a long, long time. Both teams already had this game circled on their calendars, as it was the annual "Border War" for bragging rights between the two schools. Add to the game that the winner would win the Big XII North and play in the Big XII Championship Game. Add to the mix that the winner could have a number one or number two ranking if they won and a shot at the National Championship. This game was dripping with potential.

I'd have to say it lived up to the hype.

I'll admit, I was tempted to change the channel and watch The Incredibles when Kansas fell behind early and I almost gave it up as a lost cause. However, I felt a great rush of excitement when they start storming back. I joined my father at the kitchen table to watch the last two minutes, when Kansas was trailing 34-28. When Missouri went back to punt, we looked at each other and it was understood we were in for a great finish.

I personally think that Talib should have let the punt go into the endzone for a touchback on the punt, but that's my opinion. When he failed to gain any yardage out of the return, I had a sinking feeling that this was not Kansas' game. My feeling was justified when Reesing was sacked in the endzone for a safety and a 36-28 Missouri lead.

On the kickoff, my dad remarked that the return-man could still fumble and give Kansas hope, but that hope was to no avail.

My heart goes out to the Kansas players, and I sincerely hope that they get a BCS At-Large bid. I would also like to congratulate Missouri and wish them the best of luck in (hopefully) beating Oklahoma.


My Sportsmen of the Year.

It's That Time of Year Again...

It's that time of year again. Time for college football. Now, I love college football. I don't follow it as closely as the NFL, but I enjoy watching it. The pageantry, the option. That's why I love college football.

As much as I love college football though, the first two or three weeks before conference play can be excruciating. Take last night, Thursday, August 30, 2007, for example.

Last night there were 11 games:

SE Missouri St. @ Cincinnati

Buffalo @ #16 Rutgers

Tulsa @ Louisiana-Monroe

Miami (OH) @ Ball State

Murray State @ #10 Louisville

#2 LSU @ Mississippi State

Southeastern Louisana @ New Mexico State

Kent State @ Iowa State

UNLV @ Utah State

Weber State @ #24 Boise State

Utah @ Oregon State

Looks like some pretty good games, right? Not so much. The winners (Cincinnati, Rutgers, Tulsa, Miami (OH), Louisville, LSU, New Mexico St., Kent State, UNLV, Boise State, Oregon State) outscored the losers 425-104. For those of you who are mathematically challenged, that's a difference of 321 points. Five hundred twenty-nine points were scored, translating to 48 points a game, and an average final score of 38-10. There were margins of victory of 63, 56, 49, 45, and 35 points.

The results (in case you didn't know) from each game:

Cincinnati 59, Southeast Missouri St. 3

#16 Rutgers 38, Buffalo 3

Tulsa 35, Louisiana-Monroe 17

Miami (OH) 14, Ball St. 13

#10 Louisville 73, Murray State 10

#2 LSU 45, Mississippi State 0

New Mexico State 35, Southeastern Louisiana 14

Kent State 23, Iowa State 14

UNLV 23, Utah State 16

#24 Boise State 56, Weber State 7

Oregon State 24, Utah 7

Some of those scores are ridiculous. It is so tiresome watching Louisville beat Murray State 73-10. Who scheduled that game?

I see these early games as a chance to pad stats for the Heisman hopefuls. Brian Brohm didn't come out of the game until he put the Cardinals up 56-10. What, 49-10 at halftime wasn't enough?

The only good game it seems was Miami (OH)-Ball State, in which Brandon Murphy of Miami (OH) scored the game winning touchdown with 17 seconds left in a conference matchup. Why can't they start the conference matchups sooner?

Despite easy opponents, some players still put up amazing stat lines:

Brian Brohm, Louisville, QB: 16/21, 375 yards, 4 TDs

Harry Douglas, Louisville, WR: 5 catches, 151 yards, 2 TDs

Mike Teel, Rutgers, QB: 16/23, 328 yards, 2 TDs

Ray Rice, Rutgers, RB: 25 rushes, 184 yards, 3 TDs

Tiquan Underwood, Rutgers, WR: 10 catches, 248 yards, 2 TDs

Paul Smith, Tulsa, QB: 22/31, 307 yards, 3 TDs

Brandon Murphy, Miami (OH), RB: 19 rushes, 123 yards, 2 TDs

Chase Holbrook, New Mexico State, QB: 22/31, 280 yards, 4 TDs

Ian Johnson, Boise State, RB: 18 rushes, 129 yards, 3 TDs

Yvenson Benard, Oregon State, RB: 29 rushes, 165 yards, 2 TDs

So that caps off Day 1 of NCAA Football. Hopefully, you come away with the opinion that something should be done about these "warm-up" games for the powerhouses. Thanks for reading.