great article

http://barometer.orst.edu/vnews/disp.../3f8ec539499c8

Skip the lecture, NFL


by Brian Gjurgevich


My problem with authority started at a young age.

I wasn't like most kids, who wait till they're a teenager to decide that the world is holding them down and they weren't gonna take it anymore.

My rebellious nature began in elementary school -- second grade really.

My favorite part of the day, other than recess, was lunch. For the simple fact that unlike the 15-minute morning and afternoon recesses, lunch was for a whole half-hour.

Which was all the more time for four-square and handball, by my simple, second grade calculations.

Ah, but cutting into my playtime was the sole reason for the extended lunchtime break -- lunch itself.

Sure, I couldn't complain. My mom always packed me a solid lunch -- sandwich, juice box, the occasional Oreo cookie or two.

Not a bad meal at all.

But lurking at the bottom of my brown paper sack was the bane of my young existence -- the sliced vegetable of death.

I couldn't eat it, as I hadn't yet discovered the wonders of ranch dip. I couldn't trade it, because nobody in their right mind was giving me a cupcake for a bag of celery.

What was a young boy to do? Stand up, take his sack to the trash and pretend like the vegetables were never there?

Wasteful? Yes, but who would know?

Plus, I would be knee deep in a game of hopscotch before the guilt even begun to set in.

Well folks, I'll tell you who would know about my lunchtime crime -- the lunch monitors.

Yes, my school actually had the audacity to bring in concerned mothers at lunchtime, to make sure the kids ate all of their food before they were allowed to go on the playground.

I couldn't believe it.

For the first time in my life, I was mad as hell and I wasn't going to take it anymore.

That is, until I realized I was in second grade and therefore had no opinion, according to the one lunch fascist who always caught me and watched me eat my veggies till they were gone.

After that I pretty much became the rebel without a clue that I still am today.

As traumatic as my experience was, there are certainly folks out there who, when you hear them or of their exploits, you wonder -- what was that dude's childhood like?

I often wonder what Dennis Rodman was like as a kid. Or how old Lou Pinella was when he first went ballistic on a ball field.

The same with Warren Sapp, one of the most talented, colorful and altogether interesting guys in the sports world today. He is without a doubt, the biggest mouth in the NFL -- his smack talking tirades have become legendary.

The thing with Sapp is that he can back up most of what he says and does with punishing play.

Lately, Sapp has been making more news than ever; Especially after the NFL fined him for bumping an official in last Sunday's game against the Redskins, as well as for mistreating officials over the past three games.

In an unprecedented move, the NFL dropped a $50,000 bill on Sapp, who said he "barely brushed" an official as he skipped on the field before the game.

And yes, I said 'skipped'.

Which was also something that the NFL had warned him about as well as that Redskin linebacker LaVar Arrington, who had hinted might cause him some pain.

But there he was, all 303 pounds of him, skipping onto the field like a kid with an ice cream cone.

It is truly a sight to see, and something the NFL shouldn't get so riled up about.

I know, I know. The officials are there for a reason, and that reason is to make sure the game is played in a fair and orderly fashion.

But come on! Fining a guy 50 large because he enjoys the occasional prancing now and again?

We are in an age where we resent athletes who don't grant interviews, who don't open up and who don't show their "true selves" to the public.

Then, when they do, we jump all over them for being "disruptive" and "intimidating."

Now, I don't know, I don't play football and I don't ref football. For that reason I couldn't say whether or not if, while I was stretching during pregame some 300 pound man went skipping by, whether I would get angry. Maybe I would chuckle at the fact that there was a 300 pound man skipping by.

To me, the all-knowing sports columnist, when I see Sapp doing that, when I hear him making "insensitive" comments, when I see him screaming at the refs from the sideline, I don't see someone who is being "disrespectful," I see a guy who loves playing football.

Sapp is someone who puts so much emotion and energy into his craft that he expects the same sort of emotion and energy from those around him.

And hell, if they don't like him skipping around, then they can get mad and take it onto the field with them.

I understand when Sapp's behavior could be perceived as all the things the NFL are calling him. I mean, if a lawyer skipped into a court room and harassed the judge and bailiff, he wouldn't be a lawyer for long. And rightly so.

But come on, NFL -- don't put guys in front of 50,000 screaming maniacs and then tell him to tone his emotions down or risk a suspension.

It's like telling a school girl not to skip to class on a sunny day.

Brian Gjurgevich is assistant sports editor for The Daily Barometer. He can be reached at baro.sports@studentmedia.orst.edu.

[BucBoss2K1]

This gusy obviously did NOT do his homework before writing this column.

Geez.

Originally posted by BucBoss2K1
This gusy obviously did NOT do his homework before writing this column.

Geez.

What homework would that be? I missed it!

Perhaps the "50,000 screaming maniacs" part. That only happens in Cincy or Arizona, and I wouldn't characterize them as maniacs--or maybe I would, for showing up at those teams' games!