Just a Few Thoughts...

It's a busy time in sports at the moment: the NBA season is going strong, MLB Spring Training is underway (I'm heading down to Tampa tomorrow for the weekend), men's college basketball is gearing up for March Madness, and the women's season is concluding as well; the NFL draft is approaching, NASCAR started off their season with an eventful Daytona 500, the U.S. just beat Italy in men's soccer for the first time in history, and golf and tennis seasons are in full swing.

I'd just like to use this column for a few random musings about all of that.

Yesterday my weekly copy of Sports Illustrated came in the mail. I pulled it out of the mailbox to find the heading "Marlinsanity?" staring at me across the cover with a picture of a laughing Ozzie Guillen and Jose Reyes. It's not the topic I have a problem with, but rather the heading. What started with Vinsanity for Vince Carter (which was pretty cool at the time), obviously became Jeremy Lin's moniker as well. So now what, because Lin has it, we are just going to call everything a form of "insanity?" Am I going to cook my Ellio's pizza for dinner tonight in the ovensanity? I know I'm fighting against myself on this one, but does Sunday morning's brunch have a side of baconsanity? I hope you see my point.

Anyway, I actually watched some NASCAR this week -- Monday night's early Tuesday morning's Daytona 500 (on a school night; yes, I'm only in high school). I hardly ever do watch, but somehow, I seem to recognize all of the drivers. Even if you think all it is is guys making left turns for four hours, there is actually something transfixing about the sport; whether it be the sometimes frequent wrecks or the surprising amount of teamwork, something kept me watching the entire thing (even with that two hour fire delay). There's certainly no shortage of drama -- you can't go to a tennis match and see Juan Pablo Montoya crash into a truck holding 800 liters of jet fuel (used to dry the track). Sure, this isn't the norm, but if you're casual like me, a few dozen-car collisions will do the trick. I'm also impressed with all the teamwork from the pit crews to the driver that goes into the sport, something I used to overlook. And the teamwork at the end of the sport's biggest spectacle makes for a great story in itself -- third-place finisher Greg Biffle held off second-place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. instead of trying to get the win himself, so teammate Matt Kenseth could bring home the checkered.

I'm back to complaining again to vent about another annoyance of sports. Seems like every sporting event you try to watch this past year or so, you hear more about Twitter than the actual games. Couple that with the fact that ESPN airs tweets like @KingJames: went to da pharmacy for some Rogaine this morning. #itsnotwhatyouthink. Well, I wish a few of them had some humor about them.

I'm about to start packing for Florida. Got a Yankees - Phillies slate at Steinbrenner Field to look forward to. I'll write about it soon after I get back Monday.