They're Baaaack

What a weekend. My family leaves for a couple of days and I turn into an animal! After they left, I went straight to the computer and played Battlefield 1942. Then I started the aforementioned roast then plugged in my guitar and turned the amp to 11. That night I stayed up until almost midnight! Yes, Layne, I slept in. I didn't get up until almost 9 am. It's a wonder, after all that, that I could even pay attention at work. Of course, I did the dishes and mowed the lawn, too. There's no sense in unleashing the contention not cleaning up would cause.

Speaking of work, much of this live and live-to-tape stuff I do is sports related and I'm not a sports fan. I think I boycotted it because of all the people I know who think it's the only thing going. For instance, if the BYU football team lost, my sisters and I would have to put up with an angry, short-fused father the rest of the weekend. Loving sports is fine, but then there are the people who think I'm less of a man because I don't think they're that important. I even had a woman look at me in disgust because I told her I don't like sports. And let's not forget about the pro athlete's themselves. Aside from a few very well educated and insightful people, the ranks of the pro ball players are stacked with self-important, dull-witted baffoons. Karl Malone is an acute example of this for me. He has stabbed the team that really was his family in the back every off-season with the stupid comments he'd make. And now he's gone and I think it's because he knows he's nothing without John Stockton. Not to mention the fact that Karl pushed me into the wall in the Delta Center. I was loaded down with a bunch of equipment when I felt a shove from behind. I turned around, ready to duke it out with the jerk who couldn't politely ask me to move, and I found myself staring straight into Karl's abs. Of course, I didn't voice my outrage--I'd rather die at concert, something I enjoy...not a basketball game. The NBA lockout sealed the deal, though. I couldn't believe some of those idiot players who were complaining about losing money, appealing to the public with pleas like, "I have to sell one of my nine Porsches to make ends meet," until someone told them they weren't helping their case much. At the time, my wife and I had a total income of about $15,000 a year. You can probably guess how sorry I felt for those poor guys. Now there's an article in USA Today that seems to praise Karl for taking less money in LA so the team (and himself) can get a ring. WHY DIDN'T HE DO THAT WHEN HE WAS HERE? He had two chances to get a ring here, if he would have been a team player--and no one will ever convince me that he was a team player. So I hate sports. I love to be active. I'm a skier, I love to swim and hike and bike. And I even love to play basketball and football--except when it turns in to a huge, egotistical competition--which is almost always. But I'm just not into organized sports.

Ok. Having said all that, I must say that I like Urban Meyer, the new head football coach for the Utah Utes. He is taking the team in a new and exciting direction. I loved coach McBride. I knew him personally and think he's a great guy, and we were kind of miffed when he was let go the way he was. But I really think Meyer is better for the team. He's really turning it around, and the players seem to have a great respect for him.