Friday Sporties

-A lot of people were crapping on President Obama earlier this week for taking some time to fill out an NCAA tournament bracket on ESPN. They think that between Libya, Japan, Egypt and a still-sluggish job market he should only be concentrating on work at all times. Personally, I don't have an issue with it. First off, taking out a bracket takes roughly ten minutes. I bet the guy only gets 5 hours of sleep a night, so why not let him have a mid-day breather. I don't mind a President who takes a moment to exhale, as long as he's not spending 70% of his term in office at one Presidential retreat or another. If anything, be uplifted that he picked only #1 seeds. I think that proves he hasn't been watching much hoops lately.

-So, Penguins owner Mario Lemieux has come out in favor of tougher penalties against guys who go head-hunting. He wants longer suspensions, bigger fines and he wants the teams themselves to start getting fined as well. Now, I'm not going to pretend I know enough about hockey to start spouting off as to whether or not this will forever change the game, but I do appreciate it when a guy who's own team has a history of thuggish behavior suggests that things need to change. It's one thing to call for tougher fines when you've got a team of choir-boys, it's another to demand changes that could affect your own wallet. Then again, Penguins star Sidney Crosby has been the most high-profile player to be done in by concussion, having already missed a large chunk of the season with no return in sight. I guess Mario knows where his bread is buttered and it ain't with the guys who rack up penalty minutes.

-Due to the NFL lockout, the Players Association has asked the player who are expected to be high draft picks to boycott the NFL draft ceremonies. They say they will attempt to re-create the experience for them in another location. Look, I'm all for unions, but this is a terrible idea. The simple fact is there is going to be football again (hopefully sooner than later) and at that point, these players are just going to be pissed they had to miss a moment they had worked their wholes lives for in a showy gesture that only hurt them and no one else. It reminds me of when some hick town responds to a girl wanting to bring another girl to the prom by cancelling the prom instead of just telling her no. In a few years everyone is going to look back and judge that to be a gross over-reaction and the kids are going to be pissed they never got their party. Don't ask kids who aren't even technically part of the union yet to sacrifice their moment (especially when the players' union is probably about to hit them with a rookie wage scale).

-In an interview this week, Randy Moss said that at this point in his career he just wants to be happy and he's happiest in New England playing with Tom Brady and being coached by Bill Belichick. Much like the song said, he didn't know what he had 'til it was gone. Even though his time here ended badly, I'm willing to bet that the Patriots would be happy to take Moss back after he issues an apology to offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien. They never found a deep threat to replace him and not being able to stretch the defense down the field came back to bite them. Unless a replacement can be found in the draft there could be a spot here for Randy. Oh, and Moss is going to have to take a severe pay cut. Happiness comes with a price.

-Speaking of diva wide receivers, Bengals wideout Chad OchoCinco was invited to come and try-out with the Sporting Kansas City of the MLS. Now, I have a history on this blog of crapping on athletes who assume that because they are really good in one sport this means they will be very good in every sport. How would Chad feel if some basketball player said they were confident they could dominate the NFL? I know that MLS is not the Premier League, but it's still a group of guys who have been playing the sport every day of their lives and are 1,000% better at it that Chad (who played soccer through high school) will ever be. I know that MLS thinks this will be good publicity, but it's not. It's basically just reinforcing the stereotype that just about anyone who can run can play soccer. Not exactly the way to build interest in your sport.