Hope and change from the Yard.

The unparalleled investment in hope by the US government to affect change is giving us pause about what the return policy is on hope. The Yard did not have much hope there would be change but we absolutely had no idea how expensive hope could be. At this point of the discussion, we are not sure if we can even hope to find any change left under the sofa cushions.

The college football season has begun and baseball is in that classic season where legends are made. UCLA is a university of hope and discovery. We hope Ricky the Neu and Norman of Chow discover a running game. We could not hope for much more than that except maybe a little more urgency from the NCAA with their investigation of USC. The Dodgers seem to now have 27 pitchers on their staff as they crawl towards the October lights. None of them seem to be a guy who we can hope will win two playoff games under playoff pressure. There are many good stories for the Dodgers and Manny is not one of them.

The most secure job in sports reporting today is legal analyst. The NFL alone requires a 24/7 break down of the X’s and O’s of the NFL wide receiver in the wild on his way to the club. Poor judgment is an audible that is called often after 1:00 AM. Alcohol, hand guns and strippers is a linear progression that ends with policeman, witnesses and victims. If anyone named Palixico or PacMan shows up at your BBQ in a shimmer suit, call the police before you serve them drinks.

Rick Pitino and John Calipari have become almost interchangeable personas. They are NCAA basketball legends with east coast roots and patterns of success, mutual spite and most recently, scandal.

Media savvy Pitino made references to 9/11, the war, and the economy during a press conference about why he allegedly financed a $3,000 abortion for a woman he had sex with at an iHop in Louisville. Rick asked the media to move on to the more important issues at hand and not his marital indiscretions. Mrs. Pitino had a lot more questions and they were not about the hope and the change.

Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari took the higher road of silence with his scandal. He has taken two different schools to the Final Four. Each of those teams were investigated and penalized by the NCAA for violations committed during these seasons. Each school was stripped of their victories for that season and the tournament. In each case, Calipari had already leveraged his ill gotten success to a better job before the sanctions came down. The alleged athletes, Marcus Camby and Derrick Rose, also prospered, moving on to the NBA and also were never were penalized. The Yard only respectfully requests that the semifinal bitch slap of the Bruins in the 2008 National Semifinal by Calipari’s Memphis Tigers be overturned with extreme prejudice. Calipari is snipe hunting in eastern Pennsylvania and was unavailable for comment.

Brett Farve was in the news cycle all summer. It was surprising to see Brett’s reaction when a member of the media asked him if his deliberately late arrival had caused a schism in the locker room. It was surprising to the media that Brett would be surprised and react negatively to that question. The Yard was surprised that Brett apparently knew what the word schism meant!

Extra Innings: Giant fan is up in the Yard grill about the Giants still being in the hunt for the playoffs in September. The Yard was relentless in April and we never expected to see the Giants trading for players at the deadline in September. They will be formidable if they get to the playoffs with that starting rotation. Their September schedule is not very forgiving and we hope Brad Penny does for the Giants what he did for the Dodgers and the Red Sox.

We are thrilled that USC is starting their heralded freshman quarterback Matt Barkley. First, hopefully the next two heralded QB’s that are now considering USC might think twice with Barkley starting for the next 3-4 years. No football team has ever won a national title starting a freshman at QB. Lastly, Barkley threw 18 picks last year against high school defenses playing all of his games in southern California. Hostile crowds and D1 defenses await your young arm in Columbus, South Bend, Eugene and Berkley, young Barkley. 8-3 is not a good season in the hood.

Last note: If you get the chance this season, go to a Loyola High School football game. Senior Cub tailback Tony Barr is rated the #1 tailback in the state and being recruited by everyone. At 6’4” 230 pounds with break away speed, he is a man amongst boys who rushed for 1800+ as a junior. He has NFL skills and you can say you saw him now! Junior QB Jerry Neuheisel, yes that Neuheisel, is just like his father not being recruited by anyone but scrappy and efficient. Loyola head coach Jeff Kearin is a good friend of the Yard who has experienced a year of personal tragedy that no one should have to endure. It is good team with great stories. Go Cubs!

“One who has never hoped can never despair.” George Bernard Shaw