Thursday, January 07, 2010

Longhorns and Twitter Feeds


There remains about thirteen minutes left in the Texas-Bama BCS Championship game and I just happen to have my laptop going right beside me.


In case you just don't like sports, or hate college football, UT's Colt McCoy was injured during the fourth play of Texas's second drive. That singular play took out 2/3 of the Texas offense plan.

Not that it would have been a pushover, but I was rooting for Texas and looked forward to a well matched game. It ain't happening, not with a true frosh QB against one heck of a team. Defense can only do so much, but Texas isn't moving that ball on offense.

But I didn't want to talk so much about football. While it appears that Alabama is going to take this championship game, I found my self staring at the twitter feed that can be found on Google. For the most part, Texas fans people seemed disappointed that McCoy was injured and many fans (Texas and Alabama both) disappointed that 'Bama would win against a weakened team. Now trust me when I say this: a true competitor doesn't want to win in this regard. A win is a win, and no one will take away the trophy, but athletes want to beat you at the game, not by default (injury, rule infraction, basic bullshit call).

Perhaps most disconcerting from the feed were the comments that called out McCoy, questioning his manhood, heart, and desire. I don't claim to know McCoy, and I seriously doubt he is perfect, but in the end, shouldn't he be concerned about what happens after this game? I hope he has a long and successful career in the NFL. But, to risk permanent injury and lose that opportunity? For...

This is usually followed by "what?", but that's now quite so easy tonight. This is THE championship game, the one that he's been working on since he had a taste of it as a redshirt frosh at the 2005 BCS game. The pressures that play upon an individual, I can only imagine, are hugely enormous. Parents, professional career, collegiate career, and team mates all tugging at you at a pinnacle in your life.

So whatever happens in the game, I hope that no one is injured (at least any more). More so, I guess I'll really take a second thought when I feel tempted to criticize an amateur (namely college, high school and younger) athlete. I'm sure that some would suggest that I not "grow a pair when it comes to criticizing athletes", but I guess when I did that growing, my attitude and outlook grew along with that pair.

2 comments:

The Mert said...

Here's a great article by Dan Wetzel discussing Colt McCoy's decision. Again, the pressures that came upon him during the game were tremdous and the fact that the people who cared most about him helped him through this tough moment.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=dw-texasqbs010810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Marilyn said...

I don't claim to know a whole lot about sports but I do watch along with your Dad. So, my opinion basically mirrors his. Colt would have continued on if he physically could have done so. If he had done so and not been up to par, it wouldn't have the team any good anyway. Since I'm not a HUGE fan of any sport, I'm going to say, there will be another season. Plus, the new freshman QB definitely has potential and the team has many more awesome games ahead of it.