Weekly Sporties

-When it comes to smack talk between either athletes, fans or any combination of the two, I have a fairly simple rule: leave wives, children and parents out of it. They didn't choose this life in the public spotlight, their family member did. That rule even extends to include the ones who occasionally decide to inject themselves into the story, such as Tom Brady's wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, did after the Patriots' Super Bowl loss when she was overheard complaining about all the drops the Patriots had down the stretch. Giants running back Brandon Jacobs was later quoted as saying Gisele needed to shut up. While I agree that her throwing her husband's teammates under the bus like that was not good and also unnecessary, I was more annoyed at Jacobs for firing back at her. Honestly, who asked him? She wasn't talking about him or his team, so why does he even have an opinion on it? There is an unwritten understanding that athletes shouldn't comment about other athletes so if Wes Welker doesn't have something to say about it, than I'm pretty sure no one needs to hear from Brandon Jacobs. Take care of your own house and let the Patriots worry about theirs.

-As a fan there are two kinds of owners you never want to own your franchise. The first are the guys who don't really care about the sport, only own the team as a status symbol and plan to run it like a regular business (it's a fact - sports teams can't win and be worried about the bottom line). But, the other guys you don't want in the owners box are the guys who are a little too invested in the sport and suddenly think they know more than the people they employ. In Pittsburgh, president Art Rooney II has stated that he wants the team to go back to more of a ground-and-pound approach on offense and replaced offensive coordinator Bruce Arians with former Chiefs coach Todd Haley. First off, this doesn't make a ton of sense because the Steelers' personnel is built to play one way and that ain't it, so it could be like trying to cut down a tree with a hammer. But, the more disturbing news are the reports that both Ben Roethlisberger and head coach Mike Tomlin wanted to bring Arians back. Now I know as the president/owner the buck ultimately stops at Rooney, but just because he grew up around the Steelers doesn't mean he knows more about football than the head coach. Seriously, as a Patriots fan who is slightly terrified of what is going to happen when Jonathan Kraft is ultimately in charge, I'll be very curious to see how this little power-struggle works out.

-Late in the week Forbes Magazine released its list of the most hated athletes. First on the list was Michael Vick and the second was Tiger Woods. Also appearing in the top ten were athletes like Kris Humphries (the former Mr. Kardashian), Ndamukong Suh and Terrell Owens. This, of course, makes me wonder just who the hell they surveyed to make up this list, because I really doubt the people were serious sports fans. The Tiger Woods hate faded about a year ago, no sports fan thinks about Kris Humphries enough to not like him and at this point Terrell Owens is irrelevant. Also, I feel like serious sports fans respect Suh for his intensity while the only people who would hate him are the people who only know him from the Thanksgiving Day game, where he was ejected for stomping on a guy. (Admittedly, if that was your first and only interaction with Suh, he did not come off looking too good.) As such this list feels takes on the feel of being conducted among a group of people who only watch a few games a years and even then it is with one eye only. Basically, they just pulled names out of thin air based on hearing bad things from other people: "Hey, Michael Vick is a bad guy, right? Put him on the list. Yeah, totally hate that guy." Honestly, if you are going to put someone at the top of a list, have a reason and don't just do it based on a reputation you heard from other people. What do you think this is, the NCAA men's basketball preseason poll?

-Recently the NCAA adopted a new policy which says that if a team doesn't meet certain academic standards then they will not be allowed to participate in any postseason tournaments. It is called the Academic Progress Rate (APR) and it is a point system based on a two-year scale of how student-athletes are moving towards graduation. And while I doubt the NCAA really has the toughest of standards, somehow the UConn men's basketball program somehow still managed to fall short of them, which means they will not be eligible to play in the NCAA tournament in 2013. As usually happens when a program finds itself in the NCAA's crosshairs, UConn has appealed and offered instead to impose several penalties against itself, such as limits on recruiting and fewer pre-season invitational tournaments. So, basically, their plan to get mercy from the NCAA is to do less work? You don't think some of these kids would find the idea of not having to fly to Indianapolis for three games in November which don't even count in the standings like a bonus? Penalties don't really work like that, UConn. The entire thing has the feel of a kid who is failing a class but still wants to go to prom so they suggest their parents make them quit their after-school job. Something tells me we don't need to save a spot in the tournament for them.

-Early in the week former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 victory and banned from the sport for two years after his appeal of a failed drug test was denied. Previously, Contador had claimed the drugs in his system, which increased heart rate and blood flow, were the result of eating tainted meat. Apparently, cycling's governing body didn't believe this totally reasonable claim, which never seems to happen to anyone but people who cycle for a living. Now, at this point it barely news when a Tour de France winner fails a drug test (in fact I would say the news would be if a winner ever passed a test anymore). But, what I really want to know is this: why do we still do the Tour de France? Clearly it is a feat of human endurance which can not be accomplished without the aid of some chemicals coursing through your system. If you can't win without cheating, maybe it's time to find a new sport. I mean, we have moved on and invented other things, like cars. Those can cover the distance in a matter of days, not weeks and you don't even have to pump your body full of hormones to drive. Sounds like everyone wins in that scenario.

-While we're on the subject of failed drug tests, running back Ricky Williams announced he plans to retire from the NFL this week. For those of you who may not know, Williams is the former Heisman Trophy winner who famously fought social anxiety disorder, failed several drug tests for marijuana while playing in the NFL and briefly quit the game to study holistic medicine. I never know what to make of Ricky Williams. On the one hand, it is very admirable to do what makes you happy in the face of what must have been enormous pressure to stay with where you are, making very good money. I'm sure many people told him he was crazy to quit a job that paid him millions of dollars every year to go and live in a tent in the South Pacific. Ultimately, that time away taught Williams how best to manage football and life and he had some of his most productive years after the sabbatical. But, on the other I saw a lot of Ricky Williams career since he played against the Patriots twice a year and I can not remember one memorable thing he did on the field. I've been racking my brain and there isn't a long run or big catch anywhere in my memory banks. As often happens after a guy retires people want to debate whether or not he is a Hall of Famer and I have to say that if I had a vote, Ricky Williams would not be getting one from me.

-When it was announced that golf was going to be in the Olympics starting in 2016, people immediately began to ask one question: where are they going to play? After all, Rio isn't exactly a golf destination. It was decided that entirely new course would have to be built just for the Olympics and shortly after that the IOC began accepting proposals from design teams. Some of the biggest names in golf course design came out and submitted bids to be the lucky team who would be in charge of building the course. At first the winning entry was going to be revealed last month, but it was pushed back to this month. Then right before it was to be announced this week they pushed the decision back again. Now, I don't have a horse in this race, so I don't really care who ultimately ends up building this track, but I do think they should get on it. I mean, we're four years away from the games and this isn't like you are simply renovating an old course - it's being built from the sod up. That takes some time. But, given that this decision is being left in the totally ethical hands of the IOC, I'm sure they have legitimate reasons for the delay... like waiting for the bribery check to clear.