Gem City Sports Network

Good news on the blog front, as Brian’s Twisted Thoughts has survived long enough to see a second issue. Yay!

Anyway, I’ll start with that I’m waiting in agony for the USL PDL to release their 2015 schedule so I can start making plans to attend the Dayton Dutch Lions games, both mens’ and womens’ (The womens’ schedule is already out). I’ve told Doug this, and I’ll share this with you guys. I really enjoy going to those games, just as much as I like going to UD basketball games. Mainly because I get to go there as an ordinary fan instead of as a member of the media. You might think “Wait a minute. Why would you not like going to all these cool sports game for free? I’d take that job in a heartbeat! You’re crazy!” Don’t get me wrong, it is cool. Going to the Horizon League final, the Western and Southern open, and countless high school, college, and minor league pro games is enjoyable. But there’s something to be said for going to a game whenever you want, just kicking back and relaxing in the stands, and just enjoying the game without putting your “work” hat on. That, plus in the case of the Dutch Lions, it’s an excuse to get loud, obnoxious, and in my case, buy large amounts of plastic tablecloths and latex paint and construct weird, stupid, and large banners with words on them. Last season, I meant to post a time-lapse video of the making of one of these, but I wasn’t happy with the video. I’ll see if I can put one together this season.

I watched the UD at UMass game last Thursday, and that was just a tough loss for the Flyers. The worst part was that it didn’t have to be like that. Yes, you can point the finger at Kendall Pollard for missing what should have been an easy lay-up. But shooting less than 50% from the free-throw line? That’s the culprit there. Plus UD’s lack of a big man reared its ugly head on the offensive end of the court here as well. Also, the broadcast team for that game was absolutely terrible. The dude who was doing color commentary was at least doing his job by breaking things down and looking at it from an player’s and coaches’ view. But the guy who was supposed to be doing play-by-play was just bad. I can’t count the number of times that there was just dead air, no words at all. Awkward silence. To go from the analyst talking on one thing, several seconds of nothing, then more analysis from out of nowhere, it just made me cringe. Either the guy had no idea what to do or say, or there was some serious technical issues. Given that it’s ESPN, I highly doubt the latter. And what was up with Paul Biancardi calling Jordan Sibert “Justin”?

Saw these tweet and just had to include it.

I hate to say it but many parents dream that their ‘special’ boy will get that golden NFL ticket & change momma & daddy’s lives. Hit’em son!

— Dr. Johnny Benjamin (@DrJCBenjamin) January 30, 2015

This was part of a twitter bit about questioning NFL’s selective enforcement of implementing concussion protocol. Very thought provoking stuff. It also branched out into concussions in soccer, based on the ridiculous amount of heading the ball done over the course of a soccer player’s lifetime. I absolutely recommend following Dr. Benjamin if you are on twitter. I first learned about him when he had a column on mmajunkie.com. Very interesting thoughts when it comes to sports and health.

Apparently, a man in Fargo, North Dakota, was arrested for DUI while driving a Zamboni. It happened during a first period break during a girls’ high school hockey game. I don’t know what’s more questionable here. The fact that no one noticed that this guy was completely wasted before he got on the Zamboni, or the fact that both of the teams decided to continue play on the poorly shaved ice, rather than wait for the backup driver to arrive. But apart from that question, I have no other words for this. How often do you hear about a guy driving a Zamboni while completely hammered? And how often do you hear about said driver getting arrested for DUI? Just… wow.

I went to the Ring of Honor show at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds Coliseum last Saturday. The main event featured a tag team match between the Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark), vs. ACH and Matt Sydal. The co-main event featured Roderick Strong vs Alberto el Patron (formerly known as Alberto del Rio in WWE). The show was good. Lots of good wrestling. But something about it felt different. It’s not the same Ring of Honor that I first saw 11 years ago in the same building. Part of that has to do with the fact that the most of the guys I fell in love with in those days are either no longer part of the business, or are in WWE.

At the same time, it’s like they do all these crazy moves and things that you would think would finish a guy and get the win. Not here. When people kick out of devastating moves so often, they start to  look weak. I even heard someone sitting close to me complaining that there weren’t enough high flying moves in a match. Now I like a crazy move as much as the next guy. But if you use those moves too often, they don’t mean anything. Then if a time comes where you need to use a move like that, it doesn’t mean anything.

But it was still good. And I’ll probably go back next time they come to my neck of the woods.

Afterwards, I went to a local sports bar, to catch the last couple UFC fights, including the 5 round superfight between Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz. While I was personally disappointed that Silva didn’t severely re-arrange Diaz’ face, I was satisfied that Diaz’ “tactics” were pretty much useless against Silva, and that Silva more or less picked apart Diaz piece by piece for 5 founds, ultimately winning by unanimous decision.

The next day, I went to the University of Dayton Flyers’ home game vs the Fordham Rams. Thorough victory by the Flyers was enough to wash the taste of last Thursday’s 2-point loss at UMass. Plus it was cool to see the Flyers drop a hundred on the Rams. Disappointing though that they allowed 77 points, given their recent defensive successes. I never would have predicted that they would be 17-4 by now this season.

Because I’m not popular enough or cool enough to host or be invited to any Super Bowl parties, I went to the earlier-mentioned sports bar to watch the Super Bowl. While the commercials are often the notable part of the game, it’s kinda hard to hear them in this kind of setting. Started out like New England was going to run away with it, but come halftime it looked like either team would win it. For the last 2 minutes of the game though, it looked like Seattle had a chance to take it at the end, And then the dumbest play call ever. Why throw it and even risk the interception when the Seahawks were that close to the end zone with a timeout? Completely unneccessary and moronic. Whoever thought that play was a good idea should be fired. Even worse, the Deflatriots took the championship because of it. Talk about a miscarriage of justice.

That’s it for this edition. Agree or disagree with what I had to say? Are there any other topics you want me to chime in on? Please let me know in the comments below!