ETSU Football in prose

From the Elizabethton Star comes another letter to the editor about East Tennessee State University cutting football.  Rather than a normal rant on why the administration has made a poor choice or why the students voted down the return of football, a local reader puts an interesting spin on his feelings.

 

    There is an administration we all know,

    Which a great athletic program they did blow.

    Under the guise of saving money,

    And aspiring to be a school of athletic honey,

    They, in all their wisdom made the call,

    Totally without logic, to drop football.

    Then as we all know,

    The so-con said, you must go.

    So after all was said and done,

    E.T.S.U. had no choice but to enter the Atlantic Sun.

    Now their athletic trips are far and wide,

    It’s the next thing to impossible for us to ride.

    You can follow their basketball to Hawaii for 1520,

    But only if you have money aplenty.

    I’m sure the A-Sun trips are of no worry,

    We can travel by plane and not have to hurry.

    Following the Bucs in the so-con wasn’t by chance,

    To follow our team in the A-Sun requires a re-finance.

    E.T.S.U. fathers have a 1 hundred million vision at best,

    One can only wonder if this they can digest.

    There is no money for football, and the students won’t pay,

    I wonder if the students would mind paying for the soccer the Bucs play.

    If losing money warrants giving athletic programs a toss,

    Then all programs must go, because everything left is a loss.

    Regardless of E.T.S.U. releases Buc fans, do not despair,

    There is a strong movement to restore football in the air.

    All Buc fans the writing is on the wall,

    Nothing brings pride and recognition to a college campus like football.

 

Richard L. Dykes

Elizabethton

Manning vs. Barber Round II

So in case you haven’t heard, Tiki Barber former RB for the NY Giants and current NBC analyst openly criticized his former QB Eli Manning during Sunday’s game.  The Giants all-time leading rusher stated that it was “comical” the way that Manning tried to lead offensive meetings.

Barber also questioned whether or not Manning could be a leader and make the important plays when things weren’t going well. “His personality hasn’t been so that he can step up, make a strong statement and have people believe that it’s coming from his heart,” Barber said on the show.

Barber then told the story about Manning being uncomfortable talking to the offense in Week 12.

“He didn’t feel like his voice was going to be strong enough and it showed,” Barber said. “Sometimes it was almost comical the way that he would say things.”

 Well today Eli Manning fired back. For me it was the first time I really hear Eli get fired up about anything. He’s always been the “quiet brother” and Peyton has been the more vocal.

Eli’s statments were as follows:

“I guess I’m just happy for Tiki that he’s making a smooth transition into the TV world,” Manning said. “You know, I’ll be interested to see if he has anything to say (about a team) besides the Giants, and what his comments will be on that.”

“It’s just one of those deals. I’m not going to lose any sleep about what Tiki has to say,” Manning said. “I guess I could have questioned his leadership skills last year with calling out the coach and having articles about him retiring in the middle of the season, and he’s lost the heart (to play).

“As a quarterback you’re reading that your running back has lost the heart to play the game and it’s about the 10th week,” Manning said. “I can see that a little bit at times. But I’m not going to get concerned. I’m going to go out there and play ball.”

Barber’s comments have apparently come as  a surprise for his friends and former teammates and many came to Mannings defense.

Head Coach Tom Coughlin had nothing to say in regards to Barber’s comments other than the fact he was happy that Manning defended himself.

“Well, he thought about what he was going to do, and he decided he would say exactly what he felt,” Coughlin said. “More power to him.”

I have to say I find this whole situation a little bizarre and for numerous reasons it reminds me of something you might see in high school. On one hand I think it’s great that Eli Manning stood up for himself and that it was unprofessional of Tiki Barber to call out a former teammate on national TV.

On the other hand, it might have served Eli better to just not say anything, let Tiki’s comments roll off your back and keep doing your job. Sure people are probably pressing him to respond but sometimes you might just need to leave well enough alone.

In other Manning news, this is the current commerical featuring the Manning’s including this bloggers favorite, dad, Archie. Clearly the Manning family has a great sense of humor, or maybe it’s just good script/ad writing. 

Manning NFL Ticket commercial

Mr. August

So in continuation of my Hottie-of-the-Month club, I now give you Mr. August - Atlanta Braves Right Fielder Jeff Francoeur. Jeff Francoeur affectionately known as Frenchy currently leads the Braves in RBI’s with 76 and definitely leads the Braves with the nicest posterior.

Francoeur was a 2002 graduate of Parkview High School where he led Parkview to the Georgia State 5-A championship in baseball and was also a star football player at wide receiver and cornerback, leading his high school team to two undefeated seasons in 2000 and 2001, which included back to back state championships. In his senior year of high school, Francoeur pulled in an amazing 15 interceptions on defense, while catching 14 touchdown passes on offense. Francoeur turned down a full football scholarship at Clemson University to pursue a career in baseball, even though he had already signed a Letter of Intent. Francoeur also received interest from Mississippi and Notre Dame.

Not only is he talented and hot, he’s also one of the athletes out their that can be seen supporting various causes. On Mother’s Day in 2006 he was one of 50 MLB players to use a pink baseball bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation.

When a friend of mine recently made a trip down to the big ATL, he asked me if I wanted him to bring me anything back from the Braves game. I only made one request and that was Frenchy himself. While I was denied that pleasure, I am happy to announce Jeff as the August Sports Hottie of the Month.

Bonds*

From http://cagle.msnbc.com/news/blog/

756*

Well he did it. I’m not really sure what else I can or want to say about it.

Let’s go A-Rod