It seems another great piece of Ricky memorabilla has finished its tour of duty and will eventually find its way into a museum somewhere.
I got a new belt.
While that may not seem like something worth writing about, you should know an important fact. My previous belt was bought during middle school.
I'm not exactly sure what year I got it, but it was definitely during middle school. I know this because when I bought it, it was ridiculously too big for me. For those of you who don't remember, in middle school, at least at Pizitz, the big thing was those braided leather belts, wrapped around some weird way to where the end actually hangs down. I'm pretty sure it was 8th grade when I got it, because I was usually a year or two behind what everyone else was wearing.
I'm not exactly sure what size it was, but as I got older and my waist grew, it began to fit me like a normal belt. The weird hanging down belt faze ended, but the popularity of the braided leather belts has never really gone away. Never being one to get rid of a perfectly good belt, I kept wearing it. And wearing it. And wearing it.
I don't want to make it seem like I suffered through high school and college with an old, dilapidated belt. I'm sure my parents would have gotten me one if I wanted a new one. But I just didn't need or want a new one. The belt stayed in great shape all the way through both. I never owned any black pants, so I never really needed any other color belt (until I got my suits, which have their own belt).
It makes me smile to think about everything I've been through with that belt. One can pretty safely say that anything during high school or college that occured while I had a tucked in shirt, that belt was there. Literally. Countless dates, choir tours, most every day of high school, pretty much every Sunday of church, my summer at Chili's, every day of work at ACIPCO, my honeymoon...the list could go on for hours.
Anyhow, at some point in the last year or so, a few of the braids on the end of the belt started coming loose from the tip. As soon as this happened, I knew it was the beginning of the end. Over the course of a few months, all but like two of the strands of leather separated from the tip, meaning there were loose strands just hanging there. Tammy finally convinced me that its time had come. So I got a new belt a week or two ago.
My old belt is currently still hanging in my closet, wondering why I haven't worn it in a few weeks. I guess I just can't bear to throw it away, as getting rid of it is sort of like losing yet another piece of my teenage years. Maybe it's kind of like the Velvateen Rabbit, and after years of serving me so well, it's going to become...ummm...a...ummm...real belt? Okay, so scratch that idea. But it's definitely the longest-lingering piece of clothing that I have. After all, anything else would have long since been outgrown.
I wonder what all adventures this new belt will see me through.
Yesterday affirmed something that I've suspected for a long time.
I'm cursed.
Now, fortunately for me, this particular curse in no way affects me directly. It only affects the teams or players that I watch.
Proof #1 - Alabama football
I've watched Alabama football just about all of my life, and of course they've had some good times and some bad times. It just seems like there have been more bad times since around the time I started college. Stallings' last year was my freshman year of college, and with the exception of the SEC championship year in 1999, I think anyone would agree that the team has been, well, down since then.
In person, I've seen some bad things. I saw both of Alabama's losses to LA Tech (well, the first one I left at halftime because it was raining so hard). I saw Peyton Manning led the Tennessee band in an even more annoying rendition of Rocky Top at Legion Field after beating us. I saw Shaun Alexander twist his ankle against Tennessee in a different game. I saw the debacle at Mississippi State last year. Oh yes, and I was there last year when Central Florida ruined Homecoming.
Proof #2 - Shaun Alexander
Shaun is a running back for the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL...he used to play for Alabama. He was good. Really good. Arguably the best RB Bama's ever had. When he was drafted by Seattle two years ago, it was well-known that he would be brought along slowly as their running back of the future. Their running back of the present was definitely Ricky Watters. Shaun had been getting around 5 carries a game. Seattle played on Monday Night Football once last season, so I was finally able to watch him play. The result: two fumbles.
Watters got hurt a few weeks ago, so it's been Shaun's turn to finally shine. And shine he did. Both games, he got well over 100 yards rushing and several TDs. This is great for my fantasy football team (I picked him up when Watters got hurt), but Seattle's games are rarely broadcast here in Alabama, so I only saw how well he did on SportsCenter. So yesterday, the Seattle/Miami game is broadcast. I watch most of it. The result? Shaun is held to under 100 yards rushing, and even worse, two more fumbles. In his defense, the first one was a terrible call....he was clearly down in the replay.
And so, Shaun, since you're a good guy and I don't want you to lose your job, perhaps I shouldn't watch you play anymore.
Proof #3 - Alabama basketball
I don't even need to tell you how bad Alabama's basketball team was while I was in college. Somehow, last year, THE YEAR AFTER I GRADUATE, they're really good all of a sudden. Coincidence? And an even further note...generally speaking, the games I watched, we either lost or played poorly. Most of the ones I didn't watch, we dominated. It's like the players get nervous when I'm watching.
Proof #4 - the Vikings
For reasons too complicated to explain here, the Vikings have for a long time been my adopted NFL team. They've had some great runs in the past few years, although they've never quite made it to the Super Bowl. I have noticed, though, that the team plays significantly better if I just catch the highlights on SportsCenter than if I watch the games live. The whole fun-n-gun, aerial assault passes to Chris Carter and Randy Moss? Not when I'm watching...
Proof #5 - the Knicks
The Knicks are like the Vikings...they usually have a great season, make the playoffs...then get tripped up somewhere along the way. Although at least they make it to the finals sometimes. I don't make a habit of ever watching NBA regular season games...just the highlights on SportsCenter are enough. Come playoff time, though, I usually watch a lot of the games. And New York does fine...as long as I'm not watching.
So as you can see, my favorite sports teams are better off without me.
Okay, okay, so I'm not crazy enough to think the NCAA actually has it in for the University of Alabama. There's enough overwhelming evidence to point out the fact that some people did some things they're not supposed to do, and they should be punished accordingly. But I do have a few problems with the way they do things.
As stated on their own website, the goals of the NCAA are:
"Promote student-athletes and college sports through public awareness.
Protect student-athletes through standards of fairness and integrity.
Prepare student-athletes for lifetime leadership.
Provide student-athletes and college sports with the funding to help meet these goals. "
Can someone tell me how punishing our football team accomplishes any of these goals? It has been well publicized that no current coaches or players had anything to do with the charges that have been brought. Is it fair to punish them for "crimes" they had nothing to do with? A lot of young, white, American males committed crimes over the past few years...should I be punished for that? The rather serious reduction in scholarships (and potentially even worse penalties) will hurt the Crimson Tide for years to come...kids who just started high school with dreams of playing for the Tide might not be able to because of this. Is that justice? Does that help meet the NCAA's own goals?
Some would argue that this is the only way to bring the second goal..."standards of fairness and integrity". I'm sure Hitler thought he was being fair as well. How is it fair to have one organization be the police, judge, jury, and executioner all in one? Didn't we win WWII?
But I digress. Obviously, the only way to keep things "fair" in college football is to have rules, and rules are no good if they are not enforced (see also "holding"). Enforcement of rules and subsequent punishment is absolutely necessary, or else rules are nothing more than words.
One of the charges is that recruits were entertained at parties with strippers during their visits. Why is it okay to provide other forms of entertainment to recruits, but that's against the rules? Last time I checked, strippers were not illegal, and once again, the NCAA seems to think they have the power to make up their own laws. The University is allowed to show off its athletic facilities, its beautiful campus, it's academic buildings, the cool city of Tuscaloosa...why can't it show off a few of its sorority girls?
Another charge is that some players were put on the 15 meal a week plan instead of the 5 meal a week plan from Bama Dining. I say that this is actually punishment, and not an illegal benefit. Perhaps, rather than make the players who messed up do sit ups or run laps, they just made them eat at the Burke cafeteria a few extra times...how can that be against the rules?
Yet another charge was that someone from the University arranged for someone to give a recruit a ride home because he was on pain medication. Would they have liked it better if they had let the guy try to drive home while medicated and hit a school bus? Come to think of it, I don't think involuntary manslaughter is against the NCAA's rules...
So what's my point? I'm not sure, really. Since the offenses the NCAA claims are not actually illegal (except in rare cases like the Memphis fiasco), there's no way for those who break the rules to actually be punished except to lose their jobs/be kicked off the team. Unfortunately, since the NCAA takes a million years to investigate things (another reason they shouldn't be doing it), that doesn't help in this case. None of the players involved are around anymore, and all of the coaches were fired last year for lack of coaching ability, not for cheating.
This ramble would be a lot better if I had an alternative to the football team being punished, but unfortunately, I don't. Oh well.
I keep getting a "We're sorry...all circuits are filled. Please try your call again later" message when I try to get online, and it made me think. I haven't written a rambling in a long time.
So what can I ramble about, I thought to myself. Well, self, there's lots of things. Tomorrow marks your one month anniversary of being married. That should definitely be some good material...after all, you never even wrote anything about the wedding or the honeymoon. Or, you could go into the details of this "married life" that everyone is constantly asking you about. (in case you were wondering, no, I still haven't come up with a witty response to the question of "So, how's married life?")
You could whine about how much stuff there is all over the place in your apartment, but then you'd seem ungrateful for the plethora of wedding presents you got, and that's definitely not the case. You could talk about all the problems you've had since getting married (fortunately, none of them between me and Tammy) like the kitchen sink stopping up, the bed frame breaking (it's not what you think), or the air conditioner dying, but you're probably sick of telling those stories.
Of course, you could add your two cents on the upcoming college football season and rehash why you think Alabama fell apart last year and how much better they're going to be this year, but I think that's been done to death. You could even delve into some current events, but that probably takes too much effort.
Alas, I just don't think I have a rambling in me tonight...