Jim Leyland Completes Transatlantic Kayak Voyage and Rodgers Throwing Rocks Tonight

I did it. I sat down with 75% of the United States and watched the Super Bowl. Wives making cheese dip and running in the room for commercials, fans cheering on their teams, and I was giving major professional sports another chance. I’m not sure how much more of Favre, Tiger, excessive celebrations, lockouts, holdouts, drug charges, steroids, “Decisions”, “Melodramas”, weapon possessions, sexual assaults, recruiting violations, arguments with refs, dog fights, manslaughters, and Twitter outbursts I can take. Its ok, take my man card…I even offered to give up cable. The content delivered during live broadcasts of pro sports has plummeted in the last 5 years. Remember when you watched ESPN and they actually delivered stats and focused on the TALENT of the athletes? Probably not since this.

Over the last couple years I’ve narrowed down my sports hobby to mostly fantasy teams, Red Wings, Tigers baseball, and events happening every four years. The great thing about fantasy sports is that it allows me to indirectly follow various pro leagues while focusing on what matters- the on field performance. God bless the NHL, which has been all but exterminated in the U.S. because of ESPN’s monopoly. Fuck TV rights and contracts. Imagine if Yzerman and Lidstrom were eulogized by the mass media like some modern day stars. The thing about baseball is that when you walk into a ballpark you completely lose track of time. And I’m not talking about the $100 worth of beer and hot dogs on a Sunday afternoon loss of time. I’m talking about the sounds of your childhood. Now two decades later you hear the same ball hitting the wood bat, the snapping of a leather glove, or the sound of metal cleats in the dugout (the greatest sound in sports).

I will admit the Super Bowl was a great game, but where do I go from here? How about Aleksander Doba, a 64 year old kayaker, who recently completed a 99 day solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Or David Goggins, a Navy SEAL who runs 125-150 miles per week on his free time while training for ultramarathons. How about Stefaan Engels, a 49 year old Belgian who just completed 365 marathon races in 365 days. Admittedly, he has received some national attention on the news. The knee jerk reaction would be to say “well he probably walked”, but he actually averaged around 4 hour races. Lastly, what about you? Maybe it’s time you got on a bike, put on your running shoes, or jumped in a pool. Stop wasting so much time on people that don’t give anything in return. Pick up a basketball and be part of a sport instead of being a spectator. Invest in becoming your own favorite athlete. You think you surround yourself with good people? Look at the type of people you let into your living room on a nightly basis.

Fuck it dude, let’s go bowling.