Thanksgiving Leftovers

Let me let you all in on a little secret:


I work approximately a five minute walk (or two blocks) from my parent's homestead. Ergo, I get to go "home" for lunch and basically steal food out of their refrigerator whenever my heart desires.


On Tuesday, I hoofed it over there and was delighted to discover remnants from Thursday's holiday meal. Namely, my mom's extra-special, delicious mashed potatoes and homemade stuffing. Not gonna lie...I heaped up helpings of those carb-overloaded bad boys and went to town. It was Thanksgiving leftover goodness at its best.


Right about now you may be asking yourself: What exactly does this have to do with sports?


And the answer is....well, almost nothing. Mostly I just wanted to brag about my access to free food. However, thinking about the concept of leftovers has inspired me to post all the sports tidbits from the past week.


So friends, I now present to you my Holiday Leftover Smorgasbord. Enjoy!


     *****************************************************************************

-On Monday, the Washington Capitals fired long-time head coach Bruce Boudreau after the team lost 6 out of its last 8 games. While Boudreau won 200 games faster than any other head coach in NHL history, owner Ted Leonsis and General Manager George McPhee cited Bruce's poor playoff performance and unresponsiveness by his players as reasons for his dismissal.

Personally, I was flabbergasted at the decision, even though new head coach Dale Hunter was always a fav of mine when he captained the Caps squad during the 1990s. Appparently, other teams in the league were as shocked, but one actually "Capital"ized on the move: the Anaheim Ducks fired coach Randy Carlyle yesterday and replaced him with Boudreau. So to Bruce I say, "May the force of the Flying V be with you".




- As I was surfing twitter yesterday, I took notice of this tweet by Women In Sports:

I  have to admit this left me dumbfounded, since I didn't even realize that Women's Ski Jumping wasn't already a sanctioned event. After a little research, I discovered that the women's right to ski jump has been quite the contentious issue with the IOC. Since 1998, women ski jumpers have petitioned to include their sport in the Olympic Games. Although the IOC ruled in 1991 that new events must include both men and women, old events were not under such guidelines. This past spring, however, the sport was finally added as a new event to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. Looks like 2014 will have all sorts of fun new stuff to watch, n'est-ce pas?




- Speaking of Twitter, the social media tool has been in full force this past week. My boy Ndamukong Suh, defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions, was suspended after his antics during Thanksgiving's matchup between the Lions and the Packers.


If you didn't see it, Suh finished off a pounding of Packer guard Evan Dietrich-Smith's head into the ground with a nice stomp on the arm. Oops.

Following his prompt ejection, Suh both tweeted and facebooked an apology to his fans. Look, I love Suh. But something about tweeting and facebooking your mea culpa reeks a little of insincerity, don't you think?



-This weekend marks the end of regular season college football. On Sunday, bowl selections will be made, and the big question is who exactly will be facing LSU in the Championship?

Most pundits expect the answer to that will be Alabama. And not only do they expect it, but they seem to welcome it.


Well, here's one sport's fan who DOESN'T welcome it, for a few reasons:


One, Alabama will not be playing in the SEC Championship this Saturday. That distinction falls to LSU and SEC East winner Georgia. If you don't win your conference, why should you play in the title game?


Yes, I know that many other sports, including the NFL, have had champions that don't win their own division. However, there is also a playoff system that allows a fair and logical path to that title. And no, I'm not advocating for a playoff in Division 1 Bowl Conference Schools. That's another argument for another time.


Two, and probably more importantly, LSU and Alabama have already played during the regular season. LSU won (albeit by the slimmest of margins). Not only did I think that game was boring, but a rematch would present its own set of problems. What happens if Alabama wins? Without a playoff system in place, how can we rightly say that Alabama is the National Championship? Just because the BCS deems it to be more special than the first time they played?


If I were a voting member, and Oklahoma State wins over Oklahoma this weekend in the Big 12 title game, then I would put the Cowboys in the Big Dance. Iowa State loss aside, I believe they've done enough to earn a spot against the Bayou Bengals.




-And finally, I had an email this week that brightened my soul and showed that at least one of you out there reads what I write. Reader (and co-worker) Rob S. submitted this picture as an addition to my Easy Jobs in Sports post the other week:

The Quiet Sign holder Golf Guy

Thank you Rob for your contribution, though I must say that holding your arms up in the air and remaining silent for hours on end might entail more effort than I'm willing to exert.

                           ************************************************************


Well kids, now that I've combed through all the leftovers, I think it's time for a post-Thanksgiving/Friday Fun nap. Have a good weekend, and I'll see you on the flip side!




Images provided by wamu, a.espncdn, and sportschump.