The Sports Guru

Last year I torched Kellen Winslow Jr. for getting on a motorcycle, without any proper training and making like The Star Boyz before smashing his bike and most of his body onto a curb in a parking lot.  The injuries he incurred cost him the entire 2005 season and quite a but of lettuce as well.  At the time, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger spoke of his own obscession with motorcycles and his preference not to wear a helmet.  At the time, I thought, “What an idiot…You have everything, why risk it?”

Well, this morning Big Ben got a BIG wake-up call.  He was involved in an accident on his bike, and slammed into a windshield head-first — not wearing a helmet.  It appears initially that he will be ok, but I sit here and ask myself the same question. 

I can’t ssay what I would do if I were lucky enough to have world-class talent in a particular sport, but as someone who doesn’t it is very hard to watch these guys continually make stupid decisions.  I sincerely hope Ben isn’t injured seriously, and also hopes he makes wiser decisions in the future….

After waiting 4 years to get back to World Cup play after narrowly losing to Germany in Korea ‘02, it took the U.S. less than 5 minutes to find itself behind 1-0.  Now granted, the Czechs are ranked #2 in the world and were expected to be a tough matchup for anyone in Germany, but the U.S hoped for better.  After controlling most of the play after the initial goal, the Czech’s strike again, this time on a sensational bender from Tomas Rosicky.  2-0 now, with the Czech’s showing their superiority.

In this Group, the U.S is certainly going to need 2 wins just to have a hope of advancing.   If they go on and lose, they would be in a must-win against Italy who always seems to play up to the World Cup stage.  I was really looking forward to this WC after the strong showing of the Yanks 4 years ago, but after just 30 minutes all the optimism has slipped away…