Watch What YOU Tweet! It Might Cost You!

Social Media, a term that has been in our vernacular for only the last few years, has caused a furor the last few weeks!

Actor Rob Lowe reports the retirement of Indiana Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning-(bogus), Mark Walberg, stated that if he had been on American Flight 11 that crashed into the World Trade Center, he would have done things differently-- he was taken to task by some of the families of those that were lost in that horrible day-- and now a teenager in New Jersey, who is considered to be a major recruit for College Football, has been expelled for his high school, and has lost some offers from schools including his beloved Michigan, because of what he tweeted on his account, that some say was sexually graphic and racially charged.

Yuri Wright, a 17 year old senior at an all boys preparatory school, made comments on his Twitter Account and it got to the point where the school had to take action, and in doing so, they chose to expel Wright from school.  He now has to find a new school to graduate from, and his football career at a Division I School might be completely in jeopardy. 

Social Media has its positives, but it can be a detractor as well. Future Employers look at your Facebook page, your Linked-In page, your Myspace, your Google Plus, a website, if you have one, you get the idea.

There are stories that have been released over the last few years of people losing their jobs because of their Facebook "Status" updates, or photos, there was one professional sport cheerleader that lost her job because of photos that were posted on her Facebook page, there was a Police officer (female) that also lost her job because of the same issue of posting photos that were deemed "inappropriate", and not representing the department.

We have to be so careful these days with what we say, how we say it and more so, where we say it!

How many of us have discovered old friends, classmates, family members, because of social media outlets? Countless-- and continuing the old adage that the World Is Getting Smaller.

When you consider, a 17 year old's lack of common sense, has now seen what was a future, could be a bit troubling.

So what are we to do, how do we keep ourselves safe from ourselves? Self control, well that's a start, but the truth is, our involvement in using those outlets to communicate with others, and say things that might be considered risque, or inappropriate, can come back and bite you, remember even if you think you are talking to just YOUR friends, others might be able to see it... and this could include YOUR future with jobs or schools!

Just a thought!

SHAZAM! ALA-KAZAM! T.O. IS BACK! GET YOUR PPOPCORN

Ah yes, it has happened—a once “BIG” Named athlete has chosen a path that HE hopes will propel him back to the Big Stage, known as the NFL!

Terrell Owens, who once played for various teams in the NFL, including the San Francisco 49ers, The Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, the New England Patriots and the Cincinnati Bengals, now the Pro Bowl wide receiver will bring his talents to the Indoor Football League, and the Allen Wranglers!

This has made national news, and has been highlighted on ESPN.

T.O. will showcase himself in a league that is not the ARENA LEAGUE, which used to have teams in Dallas, in fact there were a few, the Dallas Texans, the Dallas Desperados, and the Dallas Vigilantes , the Wranglers started a year ago, and won their season, but the fact is that this is a team that has had two owners, one left half way through the season—the other took it over and, obviously has deep pockets.

But what does T.O. bring to the table other than his name? Grant you he will put buts in the seats, that’s not an issue… the ability to bring his game to the smaller field is something different.

Its not that difficult, in this league, you’re playing only on 50 yards, the routes are shorter, the hitting is just as bad, and lets not forget, that T.O. just came off ACL surgery last season.

Terrell tried to get on with any NFL team that would have him, but that didn’t seem to work out, no one hired him, and there were a lot of teams that could have used a veteran wide-out in the league last season with injuries and such. However, with this game, this type of game that is, how will he hold up?

Now the story is , that he will play only HOME dates, and that his partnership is a cash influx into the team. The arena that they play in, the Allen Event Center has a low ceiling, and that end zones don’t have the traditional nets that we are used to seeing in the AFL (Arena League), so in part, this game does have some challenges to it.

The PLUSES! ALLEN WILL PROFIT from this move, that will have people coming to the games, and buying the merchandise and that in turn will have people milling around the shopping center that the arena is in, and that means that the shops and restaurants will benefit from it as well.

I’m just going to have to wait and see how this all works out for the Wranglers and for the fans—Will they keep coming back to see the team play, last year, if this is an indication, they didn’t sell the place out, they couldn’t even fill half the arena for their games.  With a capacity of 6000, they might have had less than a 1000 per game.  That’s not that great!

Once again, you put a premier name on the field like Owens, and that might all change, we will have to wait and see.

For the most part, its still a game of touchdowns and first downs, and we will see how the Wranglers product on the field will shake out once he comes on board….. Just wondering if Owens, being a part owner will also want to be the coach too…. Just thinking out loud there!

Well then again—ITS JUST A THOUGHT!

The National Championship!

Let me introduce you all to the biggest sham that has ever been presented in the history of the NCAA!

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!  B C S  STYLE! Well we all know that there is one too many letters—really!

I have been watching College Football for as long as I can remember—the National Champion in Football was usually decided before the end of the year, and on New Years Day, we had four major bowls played in one day!

I miss the day when the Cotton Bowl started the New Year off with not only their parade but the game—then the Rose Bowl played… then the Orange Bowl took Center Stage—the Sugar Bowl was played on New Years Eve… we remember those days!

Now we have all these bowls strung out starting on the second weekend of December and played on almost every night of the week, then the you string out the bigger bowls and they aren’t even on “free TV” they have to be aired on ESPN—only three games were over the air…. The ROSE BOWL was even on ESPN! In the history, of that grand game—its been on all three big networks—CBS, NBC, and most recently ABC!... now its on its cable sister, ESPN! At least the Cotton Bowl has FOX Network to keep them over the air!

Now we move to the number one game, the game that will decide who is the National Champion in College Football, the BCS Championship Game from New Orleans this evening, the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide.  Some say, this is nothing more than a rematch of the game earlier played in Alabama when the Tide lost to the Tigers 9-6 in overtime.  Rematch, re-run, replay, whatever you wish to call it, some people are not happy about it!

They think that Oklahoma State should be playing for this title, and I have to admit, that would have been a better game, but none the less this is the time where they will either put up or shut up… meaning Alabama—they think that they were robbed in the first meeting, but the truth is, they played the same guys and they lost that game—you want to shut the “ney-sayers” up then beat LSU by more than three!

Though from my side of the fence—I don’t see that happening. I believe that the best team in College football is LSU. They proved it before and I think that they will prove it again in the Super Dome,… that will be more like a Home Field for them—and though Alabama will travel—the LSU side will a bit more louder!

I do think that this game will not be as defensive as the first game, and that the offensive schemes will be more wide open and not so conservative.

With that being said, here is the real crux of the matter…. There must be a playoff system for College Football, the Bowls must agree that they will be used to decide the National Championship tree, and they will be more than just the SUPER Conferences.

Our society has to understand that College football is as huge as the NFL, and that without a playoff system the arguments will continue! WHO is the BEST? Well we will never know unless they break it down, we do it for Basketball as well as Baseball! Why not for Football?

Lower conferences do it, why don’t Division I? I don’t have a clue! And if you do, then you are lot smarter than I.

WE have been told that the schools and the Bowls are against it because of finals and money, and those two things have always been the driving force of college athletics, and that school comes first (grades that is) and that corporate sponsors don’t wish to lose their NAME visibility with the attachment to the Bowl Games.

IN Dallas, the AT&T Cotton Bowl has been the presiding name in that bowl for over 15 years, there has not been another corporate sponsor that has been attached to a bowl for longer and with stronger ties that AT&T. I give them credit, before they came on board—it was the Mobile Cotton Bowl, and then SBC Cotton Bowl, we all know that SBC joined AT&T and that was a natural transition.

But the other Bowls have changed names faster than you and I change shirts. So why is it that one sponsor has stayed with the same bowl for all this time? Its simple, they are local, and the CBAA (Cotton Bowl Athletic Association) has been working with the community for the last 76 years. ‘Nuff Said!

So tonight—in Louisiana, sixty minutes will decide who will be crowned the number one team in College Football and as soon as that game is over—the critics will start their barrage of comments on how this was not the game that should have been played, that Alabama slid into that position without playing in a conference championship game, and that their position in the polls was a load of hogwash, that Oklahoma State should have played—and so on and so on!

Truth is… it’s the Crimson Tide and the Bayou Bengals are hooking up and may the best team win!

Just a thought