Random Sports Reflections

*It seems that even with the NFL in the off-season, it is still dominiating headlines.  The main thing being Peyton Manning going to Denver.  After a couple of weeks of meetings with different teams, Peyton decided to go with Denver.  In some ways it wasn't surprising but in some ways it was given that the other two teams in the running was San Francisco (which was in the NFC Title game last year) and Tennessee (the state where he went to college).  The domino effect was that Tim Tebow was then traded from Denver to the New York Jets, which in and of itself was kind of a shocker given they already have a starting QB in Mark Sanchez & there was a team in Jacksonville which seemed like a great fit (not far from where Tebow went to college, could step right in and be the starter).  It will be interesting how Tebow will fit in with the Jets.  I know he'll want to be the starter but it'll be hard to supplant Sanchez unless he gets hurt or plays really really bad.  It'll also be interesting how the faith aspect will come into play given the Jeremy Lin phenomenon that took place for a few months before dying out.  Will Tebow garner as much or more than Lin did?  Will it be for a sustained period?  It's only March but there's enough stories that'll probably last until training camps start.

*I've been keeping up with March Madness and my brackets have been decent to poor.  One of these days I'll have a bracket that's like top notch.  The final four is Kentucky, Louisville, Kansas & Ohio State (out of which I consensusly picked 3, missed out with Louisville).  I do get the feeling this is shaping up to be another 2008.  That year of course Kansas beat UNC on it's way to the title game.  Kansas also faced off against a team coached by John Calipari.  Kansas wasn't thought of to win the title.  John Calipari's team had the best player in the country.  See what I mean?  Don't be surprised come Tuesday morning if it's Rock Chalk Jayhawk being bantered about.  What would be even more eerie is if Calipari then decided to take the NY Knicks job and then it's found out that Anthony Davis had some kind of academic issues and then Kentucky was put on probation like Memphis was with Derrick Rose.  Food for thought...

*The MLB regular season started today in Japan with the Mariners and the A's.  I caught the game from about the 6th inning on.  A couple of things:  1) I love watching live sports in the morning.  It's nice to be able to tune in and see sports live while eating breakfast or getting ready for work.  2.) I am getting old.  There was a statistic given during the game that Ichiro was the first M's player to get 4 hits in an opening day game since Ken Griffey Jr. did it in 1990.  1990 as in 22 years ago.  Yes I am getting old.  3.) For what it's worth, the M's are in 1st place.  161 games to go but it's a good start.

Reflections on Peyton Manning

This week the big sports story was Peyton Manning being released by the Indianapolis Colts.  This is a huge deal in the world of the NFL as Manning, who up until this past season, had taken every snap since being drafted #1 by the Colts in 1998.  He had been the face of the franchise and had let them to 2 Super Bowls winning one of those.

But the Colts, looking to the future, decided to cut ties with Manning.  In some ways, it was expected to happen.  But when the word came down on Wednesday, it still had a little bit of shock to it.  Listening to the press conference, you could hear the emotion in Peyton's voice when he talked about the fans and how much he'll miss playing in the city of Indianapolis.  He handled himself well and was a great example in how to handle a situation like that.

Something that did strike me was afterwards, I was listening on the radio to Colin Cowherd (not really by choice, the sports radio station in Spartanburg has him on there) and he had on former NFL QB Trent Dilfer and they were talking about Peyton and the situation of leaving the Colts.  Trent mentioned about how 98% (or 99%) of athletes leave the game bitter.  I thought that was sad.  Bitterness is a harsh thing to hold onto.  Nothing good ever comes out of holding bitterness.  Is it fun to lose your job or have a relationship end or something negative happen?  No, but at the same time harboring bitterness isn't good either.  As a follower of Jesus, I'm reminded again and again how Jesus said that it wasn't easy but He did say that we wouldn't be alone.

I wish Peyton the best.  I still root for him even though he was on a rival team for so many years because of his Tennessee Vols roots.  I hope that he lands in Seattle (wishful thinking) but wherever he lands I hope that he has a good couple of years left in his career.