STUPID SPORTS SH!T: PARENTS JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND

by Chris Richardson, Intentional Foul

What's up, good peoples? Time for an installment of that stupid sh!t from the sports world; sh!t that we are lucky to privy to... lucky in the sense we are alive during the information age. I can honestly say I've never enjoyed sports and all it entails as much as I do now, in a world of YouTube and a blogosphere hungry for the same type of "news."

It's a great time for sports fans to be alive folks. ;)

This week's SSS is looking toward the ultra-clean world of college athletics. Particularly, college basketball and college football. We've all heard the undocumented stories about what goes on behind the scenes at big-time college athletic programs. Sometimes, we are lucky enough to get the Facebook pictures to enjoy. So it's not surprising I can always depend on college athletics to come through when I'm looking for stupid sh!t -- that and youth hockey. You can never underestimate the power of youth hockey:

Parents Just Don't Understand
Yes, I am an admitted University of Kentucky basketball fan. And yes, our fanbase has quite the reputation and most of it stems from this message board; particularly, the basketball forum. Anyway, Kentucky Freshman Alex Legion has decided he's going to transfer at the end of the fall semester (about 2 weeks, tops).

This news comes after Coach Billy Gillispie spoke with Legion on Friday about the same subject, to which Legion indicated he wanted to "stick it out." This conversation came after a meeting with Legion and his mother, a noted prophet. Fast forward to Monday evening and we have the news that he is indeed transferring, a move Gillispie seemed surprised by... if you go by forum ramblings.

The speculation is that Legion's mom was unhappy with Alex's playing time and if you take a look a the oft-referenced board, she is the target of a great number of posts. Even UK blogger Matt Jones makes a point to indicate she was the one pulling the strings here. He even used the picture from the article I referenced above...

We've all heard the stories about Starbury's parents and how they used to yell things to Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins about the way he was playing the Starchild. Well, when it comes to parents meddling with their offspring's sports career, it's normally a case of "where there's smoke, there's usually some kind of fire..." especially when bloggers with inside contacts are saying the same thing.

It sounds like Legion's mom was unhappy with how her son was being handled and his limited playing time against North Carolina this past Saturday was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I'm not going to go as far to say that she's trying to control her meal ticket, but she certainly wasn't patient with her decision. UK's season is exactly six games old and there's playing time to be had for a player with Legion's ability... as long as he does it Coach Gillispie's way. This was apparently not good enough for a mom who prophisized stardom for her baby. Obviously, she wanted it yesterday.

The sad thing is, Alex indicated he wanted to stick it out and seemed happy the Sunday after the UNC loss. What happened during that 24-hour period? Did Legion's mom decide for him? Could she not give her son time to blossom under a guard-friendly system? Ugh.

Anyway, I'll let Will Smith do the talking for me.

Youth Hockey Fights are Kinda Cool
This video kinda speaks for itself. Some kids in a youth hockey league in Ontario decided to emulate their NHL elders and let their frustrations out on the ice -- and each other. Of course, the parents get involved (At a Little League game? Surely you jest?), although it's not quite as entertaining as the kids going at it on the ice. This right here is a perfect example of Stupid Sports Sh!t and a perfect representative of today's thesis, all in one. Couldn't ask for anything more.

Enjoy... oh yeah, watch out for the denials coming from the coaches and how the video makes them liars. Good times:



Other SSS Examples
The BCS. Not much needs to be said here.

Monday Night Football. Although tonight's match-up was much better than advertised, next week's is in Atlanta. Hey Mr. Goodell, would it be too much to ask that you not fill out the entire Monday night schedule in advance? Give us the first few weeks and then flex the rest from there. How hard is it? You do it with Sunday night; why not Monday?

Miami/Pittsburgh? New Orleans/Atlanta? Tennessee/Denver? Seattle/San Francisco? Are you kidding me? All of these should've been flexed out.

Well, that's it for me kiddies and carnies. If you come across anything stupid, by all means, let me know. Until later. Enjoy the week.