Just a Little Update

So... it has been a few months since I have written. Does that mean that I have stopped watching sports or stopped paying attention to what is going on in the world of sports? Actually, quite the opposite; I may have never been more enthralled in sports than I currently am. Let me give a little update of my recent happenings.

I started my junior semester of college and well, I was on fire (I was as hot as a pistol, like Jason McElwain), straight A’s in almost all of my classes, but within a few months, most of those A’s dropped to B’s. I currently have four B’s and two A’s. Ok, so still not too bad. But what caused the fall…? SPORTS! I have found myself on many, many more that one occasion, electing to watch an NBA game of little or no significance or a Tuesday night WAC football game instead of studying for a test or finishing my homework. Well, who cares about grades, yes, they’re important, but I am not going to write an entire article all about how sports have impacted my grades.

On October 28, I made the drive to Salt Lake with my friend Indiea to watch the Suns vs. Jazz game. As it is already well documented, I hate the Jazz, so the fact that Steve Nash knocked down a 3 twenty seconds into the game and the Suns never trailed made that night one of the best nights in my entire life. But just to put the icing on that cake, I got to watch Steve Nash warm up before the game and even gave him a high five. I have met a lot of important people in my life, including President Bush, but little could compare to the feeling I got from giving my all-time favorite basketball player high five. It was so great that the girl I was with, Indiea, allowed me to hold her hand for a few minutes because she too wanted some of the Nash on her.

Just over a week later on November 6, my roommate Eli and I took two of our best lady friends, Carrie and Megan, to another Jazz game. Once again, of course, we cheered against the Jazz, but this time it was for my second favorite team, the Los Angeles Clippers. In the last month I have become as big of a Clippers fan as you will find outside of Los Angeles. I am still in love with the Suns more than any other NBA team, but I have cheated on my Suns with Little Baby Blake and the Clippers more than once. This night in Salt Lake solidified that love I have for the Clippers.

Being a poor college student, we could not afford good tickets, but we were able to find some on Stub Hub for… yes, only $4. But, those seats were located in, yep; you guessed it, the very top row. And since we were the only Clippers fans in the entire Energy Solutions Arena, it was probably impossible for our screams to be heard by our boys on the court. But that did not stop us one single bit. We yelled our loudest until each and every one of us lost our voice. Our Clippers sent the game into double overtime and almost pulled the upset on the Jazz, but Deron Williams (my all-time least favorite player) made a driving lay-up with 4 seconds left to put the Jazz ahead for good and put a dagger in my heart (not nearly as painful as knife the put in my back in 2005).

Nevertheless, wow, I am proud to be a Clippers fan; my oh my, Blake Griffin is the best thing to happen in the NBA since, well, Allen Iverson ranted about practice. There is no one more exciting to watch and this young man is on his way to becoming a HUGE star. I love Blake Griffin so much that I wrote him fan mail. I have not done that since I was maybe 8 years old and wrote Steve Young a letter just as every young Mormon boy probably did. So lets all hope and pray that Griffin does not give us all hope of being the next big thing like, lets say, Vince Carter did, and never ever deliver. But he is Little Baby Blake, he WILL NOT disappoint.

I also went to the Jazz vs. Hornets games last Wednesday and sported a Chris Paul shirt in Salt Lake. I have never felt more hated in my entire life. My buddy Eli and I were cussed at, called gay, and best of all, Eli, who wear glasses, was called four eyes, twice. Oh yes, Jazz fans, once again you have proved to be the classiest fans in the NBA. Sadly, the Jazz did dismantle the Hornets, but on that Thanksgiving eve, I walked out of Energy Solutions arena grateful for one thing: that I was not a Jazz fan.

College football this season has been absolutely insane. I never know from one Saturday to the next what to expect. I knew Oregon was going to be good, but I would have never predicted that Auburn would be able to beat five top 25 teams and come back from double-digit deficits in four games to claim the top spot in the BCS poll heading into the last week of the season. This truly has been one exciting season of college football and I am devastated to see it coming to its end.

Last night, December 2, may have been the biggest sports night of the entire year for me. LeBron returned home to Cleveland, Arizona vs. Arizona State for the territorial Cup, and finish it all off with a somewhat meaningless, but guaranteed to be exciting, Suns game. I may be the only LeBron James supporter left, but I have no reason to hate BronBron and I still think the Heat will figure it out soon and win a title, very likely this season. If last night’s dismantling of the Cavs proved anything, it showed us all that this Heat team has amazing potential and they know how to get pumped up for a big game. Come playoff time, watch out for the Heat. If they can hype themselves up for a meaningless December game in Cleveland, imagine how energized they will be for a game seven.

I am very grateful for ESPN3.com because the Cavs/Heat game started at the exact same time as my favorite college football rivalry, the territorial cup, Arizona vs the ASWho Skum Devils. But hey, I do not have any reason to talk trash aginst ASU now because Arizona’s kicker, Alex Zendejas, had two extra points blocked, the first that would’ve won the game for the Cats, and the second that would’ve sent the game into its third overtime. I was irate and nearly shouted a four-letter explicative word for the first time in years, but only 3 or the four letters made their way out of my mouth. Can anyone say Kyle Brotzman?

The night was capped off with a Suns victory against an exciting Golden State Warriors team with two of the most fun guards to watch in the entire NBA, Steph Curry and Monte Ellis. At least my Suns did not let me down like my Cats did.

So why does any of this matter at all, honestly, it doesn’t. I have written a bunch of nonsense for the last hour instead of doing homework. But if I have learned anything in the last few months, it is this: I need to get a job when I graduate at ESPN. I am already looking for apartments in Bristol, Connecticut. Hey, even ESPN needs an accountant or two, right?