Ruminations

Here's a short list of quirky things I have noticed and a few things that just get under my skin. A lot of them deal with the way things are named.

Why is it that in football, the halfback plays behind the fullback? Shouldn't he be between the fullback and the quarterback? I'm fine with the lack of a 75%-back, seeing as that role is usually played by Cedric Benson.

When a team changes cities, and the original name is meaningful to the region, there should be a new name. For example, there is no reason for the basketball team in Utah to be called the Jazz. When they were the New Orleans Jazz, it made sense. I doubt there is as big a jazz culture in Salt Lake City. I also doubt very much that most of the residents of Los Angeles have ever even seen a lake, so maybe when the team moved from Minneapolis, there should have been a name change.

The Brewers should have never switched to the National League. I'll never let that one go. See here for more.

Hockey is played on ice. That's just always seemed odd to me.

If I hear the word “adversity” on SportsCenter anymore, my head may very well explode. I've never done a word count or anything, but that has to be the most over-used term on ESPN. Everyone who has ever had a cold is praised for “fighting through adversity.” It dulls the idea for when people have real problems. Anthony Robles, the kid from Arizona State who won the wrestling championship even though he only has one leg, went through adversity. The fact that Ohio State will be without its quarterback and head coach for a few games is not adversity—it's a punishment for breaking the rules.

The ACC is the only one of the six major college conferences to not have a team nicknamed the Wildcats.

What's with the Blue Jays' pitchers wearing single-digit uniform numbers? Josh Towers wore #7 a few years ago and now Kyle Drabek (who was part of the Halladay deal) wears #4. Before these two guys, the last pitcher I can remember wearing a single-digit number was Jeff Juden (yes, I had to look up his name, but I remembered he wore #7 for the Indians). According to Wikipedia, David Wells wore #3 for the Red Sox, though I don't recall the Boomer doing so. By the way, Drabek's father Doug wore #15 for most of his career (except when he was with the Yankees since Munson's #15 is retired).

That's all for now. Enjoy the playoffs.