Is that all you got?

The Pittsburgh Penguins unveiled their Winter Classic jerseys and I have heard nothing but positives from the fans. What? Why? Have you seen these things? Honestly they look like something a 1950's European minor league team would wear. I am actually offended by them.

These are the worst Winter Classic jerseys, by any team, yet. I don't know if you have seen the Capitals jerseys, but they are atrocious too. Then again the Capitals Winter Classic jerseys are just like their 1980's jerseys with different names. So at least there is some precedent there.

 

I am sick of the whole throwback jersey thing. The 70's are over and there is a reason I don't wear bell bottoms. If you want to make special jerseys for the event then put some effort into it and design something that looks good. The NHL gets all the media attention in the country on one day each year and this is what you want to look like? I didn't mind the Pens last Winter Classic jerseys but this is just garbage. OUR TEAM COLORS ARE GOLD AND BLACK! Mario never wore blue, and the team was never relevant before him. So, why do you want to throw reminders at us of when the team was horrible? Nobody brings up the year Dick Tarnstrom led the team points, cause its a bad thing. Highlight good, omit bad that is how normal people and organizations operate.

"Ryp" Off

The NHL should be embarrassed! If you have not seen it Rick Rypien, of the Vancouver Canucks, went after a fan in the stands during Tuesday’s game in Minnesota. Rypien was given a game misconduct and on his way back to the locker room attempted to fight a Minnesota fan that appeared to be doing little more than clapping. I am sure the fan had some choice words for Rypien, but there is no excuse for any athlete to attack a fan.



The reason the NHL should be embarrassed is because they chose to only suspend Rypien for 6 games and fined the Vancouver Canucks $25,000. What a joke. Rypien should have suspended Rypien at least 15 games, I would argue for 20 games. I love hockey but hate the NHL. They are by far the worst run of the four major sports and this slap on the wrist just goes to show it. Rypien should have been made an example of. If he were suspended for 30 games the Canucks season would have been barely effected. He is not one of the Sedin twins. I understand the league not wanting a suspension to affect the outcome of a team’s season. That is why Ovechkin doesn’t get suspended for his cheap shots. However this incident was a disgrace to the game and should have been harshly dealt with.

As much as Sean Avery is a disgrace to the NHL this makes Rypien even worse. There is no excuse for what Rypien did, N-O-N-E.   If every athlete pulled a stunt like that each time a fan harassed him or her, the games would never be played. I am disgusted by what happened, as should the NHL and Rypien.

Pay Me My Money

One of the biggest discussions in the collegiate athletics world is to pay or not to pay student athletes. Many colleges are already paying high profile athletes behind the curtain. Which is sad, despicable, and ruined USC.

The argument for paying these students is that they work so hard for the university. People say that the football and basketball players are the ones that make the money for the university. They say that all the work these “kids” put in is making the universities rich. This is nonsense.

First off these kids are not making the universities the money. Tradition and cheap tickets bring fans to college games. Beaver Stadium would still sell out no matter who was playing quarterback for Penn State. People think there are millions of dollars just sitting around in the athletic departments, there isn’t. The goal of every athletic department is to break even, not make money. That is a fact.

Anyone that knows anything about college athletics should know the universities with division 1 sports are a separate entity from their athletic department. This means the athletic department does not get any money from the school and vice-versa. All the money the football, basketball, soccer, hockey, and lacrosse teams bring in goes to paying coaches, athletic directors, and the numerous other people that work in the athletic department. Don’t forget how much stadiums cost and that you must pay all the people you see working in the stadium.

Another major problem is they already get paid! Top-level athletes get full scholarships. Even the players that sit on the bench for 4 years get some type of scholarship. Please don’t tell me that a free education is not worth anything, people that say that are just plain dumb. I myself pay around $20,000/year in just tuition. Not to mention that they get a free place to live and free meals for 4 years of their lives. Yes that is a lot of money. So they already do get paid.

The biggest issue with potentially paying student athletes is where do you draw the line? You cannot say just the top 25 or 50 teams have to pay because rankings change every week. You cannot just make the division 1 schools pay because a lot of those school’s athletic departments don’t turn a profit already so where is that money coming from. Also what sports athletes get paid? Remember Title 9 exists so for every male sport you must also pay a female sport. No one is saying women’s soccer should be paid but if pay football you must also pay a female sport. So how do you decide who to pay? Not to mention how much they should be paid?

The bottom line is you simply cannot pay student athletes. They already get a ton of money. Athletic departments would become bankrupt and you would see sports disappear. There are way too many potential issues with paying these student athletes. The NCAA has far bigger issues to focus on such as fixing the BCS.