Way to Go Day-Day!

dayday
(Photo: Bob Donnan USA TODAY Sports)

A hearty congratulations to Draymond Green and his Warrior teammates on their NBA Championship!

When Draymond squeezed into his first Spartan jersey, there were many—me included—who were unsure if he’d amount to anything. He was chubby, looked slow and made his share of mistakes. His first nickname was “Dancing Bear.”

Well, it wasn’t long before SpartanNation learned how wrong we were.

When Day-Day graduated, there were hopes that he’d land somewhere in the pros. A lot of NBA scouts doubted his ability to stick in the league, but Draymond knew they were wrong. Very wrong:

I mean, that’s what they said…I won the national player-of-the-year award in college, consensus All-American. I made every, every single first-team All-American that you could possibly make, and I was a second-round pick, and a lot of people said I could never play in this league. Too slow, too small, can’t shoot well enough, can’t defend nobody. What does he do well? He doesn’t have a skill.

 

The secret to Day-Day is his huge heart:

I’ve got heart, and that’s what stands out. It was just one of those moments where it’s like I’ve always been doubted my entire life.

I would add his humility.

Say what? He’s the biggest trash-talker since Reggie Miller!

Ah, but don’t confuse humility with self-deprecation. True humility is knowing who and what you are, the good and the bad. No more, no less.

At 25 years old, Draymond Green knows himself pretty well.

Day-Day, you’re my hero!

Odds & Ends

oddsends[UPDATE: I am reliably informed that my rant about OSU’s hats and t-shirts should more appropriately be directed toward the CFP people and Nike. Nevertheless, it’s still fun to bust on Urban whenever and wherever possible.]

First off, congratulations to Ohio State University on winning the College Football National Championship. Great season, inspired play, hurray for the B1G, and all that.

But…[oh well, haters gotta hate]

What’s the deal with the hats and t-shirts? “Undisputed National Champions?”

Really? Are you afraid someone might call your championship into question? What’s up Urban? Feeling insecure?

To paraphrase Denzel Washington, “Nuts gotta be nuts.”

In other news…

Pope Francis I declared 2015 to be the Year of Consecrated Life in order to draw the Church’s attention to those who serve God as consecrated religious, and to pray for vocations to the religious life. It coincides with the 50th anniversary of Perfectae Caritatis, a decree on religious life.

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This Week in Sprots

sprotsThe less said about B1G football the better.

The less said about Chicago baseball the better.

So let’s turn our attention to the NFL, shall we?

NFL Commissioner Roger “Don Fanucci” Goodell is a hypocritical jerkass intent on strangling the goose that laid the golden egg. Way to go Rog.

Say, maybe Buffalo is better than we thought, huh?

Dear Mr. Head of NFL Officiating, Calvin Johnson caught that ball for a TD. Get a TV for cryin’ out loud!

Since we’re on the subject of the Loins: Let me quote Morgan Freeman in the movie Glory, “When? When O’ Lord is gonna be our time?”

Okay Bears fans, fess up now, how many of you yawned and turned the TV off at half time? Bear Down!

Is Drew Brees suffering from sleep-deprivation because of his new baby? Is he too tired to play football? For $10 million even I could complete one pass to my own team! Geez. Take a nap Drew!

Hats off to Drew Stanton for his journeyman performance for Arizona in relief of Carson Palmer. Eat ’em up!

Brian Hoyer leads the Browns to victory, despite having “Johnny Football” nipping at his ankles for the last four months. Eat ’em up!

And last, but not least, Kirk Cousins was a stud in relief of RGIII in Washington’s win! The fact that the Jaguars’ QB is from that little school in SE Michigan is just gravy. Rah, Rah, Rah!

But more important than their play on the field is the way they handle themselves off it. Humble, grateful, gracious, and sharp. SpartanNation is proud of all three of you!

And speaking of which…Hey Don Fanuch! There are lots of young men in the league who aren’t murdering, dope-smoking, wife-beating, child-abusing, dog-fighting, philandering, gun-toting thugs. They are smart, articulate, hard-working pros, who take care of their families and give back to their communities.

Why don’t you let them be the face of the NFL? Please. Or pretty soon, all we’ll have left is cricket and kickball.

<shudder>

Continue reading “This Week in Sprots”

World What, Now?

There appears to be some sort of sporting event taking place in Brazil even as we speak. As usual, I can’t make out either the rules—or in fact the point—of this silly, silly game.

Before all you kickball aficionados reach for your keyboards and your Roget’s Epithet Thesauri, let me placate you with some highlights of recent action…

Wow! Non-stop action there. And they scored a goal! I can see why the underdeveloped world loves this, er, sport.

h/t rdbrewer