Author: wes-mcelroy

Living

Mighty mouths

Greetings from the woods of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania!

Early December marks the annual McElroy father-son hunting trip. (Don’t let the hair gel and the pinstripe suits fool you, this columnist loves the outdoors.) We’re up in the woods, away from all civilization except for the deer, bear, Sasqwatch and whatever other woodland creatures are out there.

On last night’s trip to the outhouse, a copy of Sports Illustrated, dated December 1, 2003, caught my attention. (By the way, if you want to have a little fun, mention to your kids that you are going to make them live five days with no electricity, no Playstation, no Internet, no running water and with only a radio and a fireplace as entertainment, and then watch them bust into funeral-like sobbing.) A blurb in SI, “Star in the Making” by Peter King, projected that then-Detroit Lion rookie Boss Bailey would be the next Ray Lewis or Derrick Brooks.
Needless to say, three years later I couldn’t tell you the difference between Boss Bailey and Boss Hog.

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These days, all the football world is gushing over Dallas quarterback Tony Romo.
As of this writing, the fourth year veteran from Eastern Illinois University has already thrown for 13 touchdowns and 2,400 yards in five starts. The guy could’ve been 5-0 if not for Mike “the idiot liquored-up kicker” Vanderjagt’s blocked game-winning field goal against the Washington Redskins in Week 9.

Dallas QB Tony Romo is definitely a great player. Why do we have to get so worked up over what he might become?

Romo’s got the arm. He’s got the mobility and so much quarterback moxie that the national media spent the past three weeks trying to see if Romo was secretly dating Jessica Simpson.
Romo might be the next star of the NFL.

The key word, people, is might.

In contemporary sports, it’s amazing the need to label someone instantly. No wonder then that the label can change in a nano-second.

One day a legend, next day a fraud.

Such is the case with New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady. The guy wins a Super Bowl in his rookie year, then gears up two more in the next three. The Patriots are 8-3, but questions are starting to surface as to whether the Patriots’ success is behind them.
Excuse me? What more would you like this guy to do? Change water into wine?

Every other weekend, football fans flake out over whether Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is the ultimate weapon or the ultimate joke.

Two years ago, sports writers were wondering if Tiger Woods had lost his dominance in golf. Nice to see Mr. Woods has scraped something together this past year to win a couple of majors.

In our sports culture, we go nuts labeling a guy for what he might be as opposed to what he is. We try to project to the future without enjoying the here-and-now career.

Sure, we’ve had flavors of the month before like AJ Feely and Scott Mitchell. Romo might be a great. He just might lead Dallas to the Super Bowl. He might just be playing the greatest six weeks that he will ever have in his career.

For the time being, let’s sit back, enjoy the ride, and once he’s put together a nice long career, we then can ponder where Romo fits in with Montana, Unitas and Elway.
Now excuse me, while I go gut a deer.

Wes McElroy hosts “The Final Round” on ESPN 840 from 3 to 5pm Monday-Friday.

Living

Kangaroo court

I was sitting in the new John Paul Jones Arena looking at the flames of propane shoot up with every induction, and the incredible state-of-the-art digital billboards, watching little Cavalier fans wearing Christmas-morning gazes, when I realized that as fans they will never know anything other than those plush surroundings. No humid, un-air-conditioned, cramped University Hall for them!!!!

Ahh!!!! To be a young sports fan!!!!

(Note: If you think this column is going down the road of “When I was your age, we didn’t have TV. We listened to the radio. I walked to school in 3′ of snow, up hill, both ways…,” you’re right, it is.

Playstation 3, cushioned seating at sporting events, fireworks in arenas???

My youth featured Atari, seats so hard at the Philadelphia Spectrum you forget you had a butt by the third quarter, and nothing more awesome than a spotlight!!!

The young generation of sports fans has it good today. And technology is becoming as big as the game to the sports fan.

A flat screen TV used to make you the talk of the town. Now just to fit in with the neighborhood, you need HDTV with plasma. Nobody’s TV sits on a stand anymore. I had people over the other week and they kept staring at my wall as if suddenly a screen would appear. One of my boys was sickened that I didn’t own something called 1080PHDTV? The only numbers I know are these: Channel 18 has the AFC and Channel 19 has the NFC.

Needless to say, the boys won’t be back at Casa de McElroy anytime soon.

Fortunately with my many of my Sundays spent at Fed Ex Field, I have gotten the opportunity to test a new invention by NFL Sunday Ticket called “Kangaroo TV.”

Just a little larger then the standard hand-held Blackberry, Kangaroo TV allows you to watch the full TV broadcasts of all NFL games, while simultaneously getting fantasy stats. Plus, there’s a red zone option that will automatically take you to every game where a touchdown is in reach.

Only available in Fed Ex and at Dolphins home games for a rental fee of $39.95 a game (yes, people are shelling out over $95 a pop to go see their team and than an additional $40 so they can keep tabs on every other game), KTV hasn’t gone retail yet.

When it does, can you imagine the impact it will have on society?

The wife wants quality time? Take her shopping and then just jump in with the hordes of other men gathered on benches at the mall huddled around their hands. The mall fountain will resemble a sports bar minus the smell of Budweiser and Marlboros.

Sunday youth soccer games won’t just bear the demographic of Good Housekeeping. You can be there playing “Father of the Year” at the same time you are making sure Chicago covers the spread.

The truth about technology is that we can’t fear it. We need to accept, embrace it, cherish it and (if the people from Kangaroo are reading) we need to be hooking me up.

Wes McElroy hosts “The Final Round” on ESPN 840.

Living

Pilgrims’ progress

Sitting here waiting for Thursday and all the things that come with it: Turkey, stuffing and heartburn that feels like my arteries will implode. Watching the Detroit Lions get basted on national TV. Still, I’m reminded why we all gather: to give thanks. Here, then, are Things in Sports that I am Thankful For:

I’m thankful that Paul Tagliabue sat down all the powers that be before he retired and had them hammer out a new NFL collective bargaining agreement, ensuring the league would not have a work stoppage.

Tagliabue retired leaving the league in a great shape, clearly the best-known sports league in North America—maybe even the world.

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I’m thankful to see the generosity in local college football. How nice was it for Virginia to relinquish a 20-point halftime lead to Virginia and turn Maryland into a different team. The Terps have gone on to defeat NC State and Miami and upset Florida State and Clemson in the weeks following their Charlottesville comeback.

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I’m thankful that the NBA has decided to fully enforce its “zero toleration behavior” policy. No more whining, no more crying and no more temper tantrums on the court.

On the second night of the NBA season, 21 technical fouls were called in 13 games including two by league bad boy Detroit Piston Rasheed Wallace, who appropriately got tossed.

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I’m thankful for the third NFL Turkey Day game featuring Kansas City and Denver. It will be nice to have something to distract me from the gastrointestinal pain that will result with my third slice of pumpkin pie.

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I’m thankful for the Detroit Tigers, Rutgers football and George Mason basketball, reminding us that, once in a while, it isn’t who wins the championship but rather who gives us a great story along the way.

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I’m thankful that the Redskins actually made a smart personnel move in acquiring Troy Vincent after the Buffalo Bills wrongfully kicked him to the curb. In only a week and a half after joining Washington, the Players Union president and league’s “good guy” was starting over Adam Archuleta who the Redskins had made the highest-paid safety in the off season. Guess paying more isn’t always better!

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I’m thankful life put me on the earth at the same time as Tiger Woods, so I am able to watch his career.

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I’m thankful that Terrell Owens was O.K. after his “accidental” overdose and the fact that it gave an entire week of fodder for my radio show.

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I’m thankful that someone learned in sports to man up and say, “Yeah, I did it.” Not to praise Guillermo Motto, but after he got pasted for violation of Major League Baseball steroid policy, he wrote a letter of apology, admitting to his wrongdoing. He still screwed up but it was better then the “Oops, it must have been a tainted sample” excuse.

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I’m thankful for the NFL and NBC having flex scheduling.

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I’m thankful that the football gods stopped screwing with Temple and actually got them and new Head Coach Al Golden a win after two years and 20 games. We now wait for the sun to shine on Duke football.

Wes McElroy hosts “The Final Round” on ESPN 840.

Living

Fear factor

The terror threats on seven NFL stadiums three weeks ago proved to be nothing more then an Internet hoax by some message board posters. Still, the aftermath did spark conversation that sporting events could someday be a prime target for acts of violence.

In the past six years we’ve learned that nothing is off limits when it comes to the sick world of terrorism.

The events of 9/11 changed America’s thoughts on mainland terrorism yet somehow sporting events seemed unaffected, judging by attendance at regular season games, the 2001 World Series (in New York that year), the incredible gathering for the 2001 Super Bowl in New Orleans, and the Winter Olympics that followed in Salt Lake City the following February.

“Bag check, no fly zones, bomb checks, and mainly increases in staffing. Across the board sports venues are much more prepared then ever before,” says Jason Bauman, associate athletic director/ athletic facilities and operations at UVA. “We know what we are looking for, we get good info from the Department of Homeland Security. We plan and are prepared…if we had an incident, I think it is more well thought out. We know what we are going to do.”

So now five years later, how secure do you feel at a sporting event? How concerned are you with safety? Does the thought even cross your mind? Or is it not even an afterthought?

People might feel awkward or overly sensitive or overly dramatic when discussing the possibility of a terrorist attack at a UVA football game. The truth is, Bauman is briefed weekly, sometimes daily, by the Department of Homeland Security. That’s not to cause greater concern but rather ensure a sense of security.

But there are privacy issues too.

Gordon Johnston, a 60-year-old high school teacher in Tampa, sued the Tampa Sports Authority, which oversees security for Tampa Bay Buccaneers games, in 2005. Johnston won and pat-downs of fans were halted at Raymond James Stadium.

The Washington Redskins continue pat- downs this season. The UVA Cavaliers do not.
“Every venue is very different,” said Bauman. “In Washington D.C., you are in the nation’s capital. Their restrictions, their security is likely to be very different than a venue in the Midwest, West, or even in Charlottesville. Every venue looks at the security, what is the best for them.”

So how should a Virginia fan feel on a 1-10 scale with 1 being the least confident and 10 being the most secure?

“Although we strive for perfection,” says Bauman, “I don’t know if we can really ever get there, but I easily say 8 or 9. Very high. I feel very good with the plan we have in place.”

Wes McElroy hosts “The Final Round” on ESPN 840.