Dear Ohio (A letter regarding the college football championship game)

[rpgdemon]

So, a friend of mine is a huge Buckeye fan, always wants to see them win.

As such, I'll be rooting against them. The facebook posts will be much more interesting that way.

Originally Posted by Solid Snake, but really I wanted to quote his title

...Okay, I like you again.

Payton's really getting near the end of his career, I think.

But, people need to get over the fact that the Patriots' won a lot. We haven't been in a superbowl in, like, TWO YEARS. That's a lot for us, guys. We're jonesin' for it.

Superbowl Prediction: Pats vs Packers, and RPG will be very concerned at a superbowl party.

[MSperoni]

Originally Posted by POS Industries

Hey remember when LeBron had to leave Ohio to get some championship rings and only came back once he was satisfied?

Because we here in Ohio have completely forgotten and all is forgiven.

Sports people's ability to forgive and forget seems morally inconsistent to me...

A dude can be drunk, get in a wreck, injure a family of six, apologize, and people are like "D'awwww he learned his lesson!"

Then Vick gets involved with people who are involved in dog-fighting, serves his time in prison for two years and it's like "UNFORGIVABLE! HE SHOULD BURN IN HELL FOREVER!!"

And then you got a guy who doesn't do ANY of that, and all he does is insult his coach or the team's beloved quarterback, and it's like "HE'S NO GOOD FOR THE TEAM HE CAUSES ISSUES IN THE LOCKER ROOM FIRE HIM FOR LIFE!!!"

Or a guy beats his wife and they get it on film, and it's like "Is he a good player?...well, she probably deserved it. Give the poor guy a second chance."

Sports are weird.

Luckily Tim TeBow knelt and prayed for us all so we'd be okay.

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by MSperoni

Then Vick gets involved with people who are involved in dog-fighting, serves his time in prison for two years and it's like "UNFORGIVABLE! HE SHOULD BURN IN HELL FOREVER!!"

I have not see a single football fan that hasn't forgiven him for it.

But as a non-football fan he is a horrible human being that should burn in hell forever

[greed]

Originally Posted by Nique

I forget that some of you are also Oregonians.

I am surprisingly sad the plural isn't "Oregoners".

[synkr0nized]

Originally Posted by Aerozord

I have not see a single football fan that hasn't forgiven him for it.

What?
I know plenty of football fans that have not "forgiven" Vick besides myself. Maybe you mean his team's fans? That generalization may be slightly less incorrect.

Nor am I pleased when players beat/abuse/rape their partners and get a pass on that.

[mauve]

I am surprisingly sad the plural isn't "Oregoners".

Despite how it's spelled, Oregon isn't pronounced Or-A-Gone or Orr-Gone. It's pronounced Ora-gun or Oreh-Ghin. "Oregonians," however, is pronounced "ora-GO-neans."

[MSperoni]

Originally Posted by synkr0nized

What?
I know plenty of football fans that have not "forgiven" Vick besides myself. Maybe you mean his team's fans? That generalization may be slightly less incorrect.

Nor am I pleased when players beat/abuse/rape their partners and get a pass on that.

Vick is fairly despised around the league. Even by his team's fans. Not all, obviously, but I think even now it's about 50/50. He's never going to get any major endorsements again. The dog-fighting incident was seven years ago, and based on the speed of media these days, it's amazing people remember it at all.

Vick was the most popular player at the time, sold the most jerseys, was a franchise dude and top-tier game changing quarterback. Yet the Falcons completely cut ties with him after the incident. That's insane based on precedent. I mean, Ray Lewis was found guilty of obstruction of justice in a murder of two people and he not only stayed on his team but he's respected/beloved. I think what Vick did was horrible. I think Ray Lewis lying to the police to protect his murderer buddies was also horrible (or at least grossly irresponsible). What I think is "insane" is what seems to be a morally inconsistent reaction the league/fans have. Being involved in the murder of dogs, being involved in the murder of people, you'd think people would have an equal amount of outrage, but Vick seems irredeemable and Ray Lewis was forgiven almost overnight.

From what I've seen Vick seems to realize what he did was wrong and is trying to make amends for it. And he's been behaving really well. Which is unique among athletes. That or he's just a lot better now about not getting caught and is really good in front of a camera to make himself look remorseful.

I'm fairly neutral regarding Vick these days.

Ohhh NFL...you so crazy.

[Aerozord]

I just have to check something, are you saying you think Vick should be forgiven?

[MSperoni]

Originally Posted by MSperoni

I'm fairly neutral regarding Vick these days.

So to elaborate: I'm not a fan. I'm not a hater. He doesn't occupy much of my brainspace.

I think his prison sentence wasn't long enough though. Fairly slap on the wrist considering the crime.

Still, most people are only sorry because they got caught. But I think Vick realizes he was a shitbag, knows he deserved punishment for it, and is doing better. As far as I know he hasn't repeated any offense and that's enough for me to be like "Okay...I won't hate you. You've been given a shot at redemption so don't fuck it up. But I've got my eye on you."

Assuming I'm paying attention that is. I don't keep up on sports news like I used to.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Originally Posted by Bobbey

Pardon my Canadian-ness, but is college football really that big in the US? I mean, I wouldn't even be able to name college hockey teams in Canada.

Is it almost as big as the NFL or is it more of a niche of sorts only appreciated by people who are in college/were recently in college themselves?

College football is really popular largely because it fills a niche in a lot of states that just don't have an NFL team of their own.