In light of the World Cup that is taking place I want to put it in perspective for the typical american.  The World Cup has been viewed by over 1 billion people thus far and is the largest sporting event by far in the world.   It is much bigger than the olympics and anything else in the world.  So why do I compare this to the Super Bowl?  Because it doesn’t compare to the SuperBowl. 

As I write this i just watched 2 hours of soccer that resulted in no goals and only a handful of decent shots.  Players were falling all over the ground with fake injuries only to get back up shortly after being taken off the field on a stretcher.  I watched the crowd groan on misses that missed by 20 feet.  In comparison it is like watching an airball in basketball and the crowd groan because it was close to going in.  The anticipation of the goal is what is exciting but World Cup Soccer isn’t near the Super Bowl in terms of action and excitement.

The Super Bowl is now a world wide event but football (real football) is something that is not a world wide sport yet and not something anyone can play.  I stick to my original thoughts on this that soccer is the worlds most popular sport because it is the easiest one to play.  Outside of the US the best athletes are soccer players but here they aren’t.  It’s the way it is right now.  Soccer players outside the US are the best paid athletes but here the motivation is to play other sports where the real money is.  You can’t blame them.  That’s why the Super Bowl is better.  It takes the collection of the best athletes in our country and showcases them to the world.  Imagine a day when the World Cup isn’t just for soccer, but for football.  It will probably never happen but I can hope for it.

I got a good chuckle yesterday.  I was reading the bottom line on Espn and saw that the Redskins fined Albert Haynesworth 10k for missing the mandatory mini camp last week.  10k.  Haynesworth is a little over a year removed from signing his 100 million dollar contract with 41 mill of that being guaranteed.  Haynesworth recently got a sum of 32 million yet he got hit with a 10k fine. 

I understand that the team can’t go much more than that because of the players association so their hands are tied to a degree and they are trying to send  as strong as a message as they can.  What do the Redskins do at this point?

Albert is still a dominant defensive force but wasn’t much so for the ‘Skins last season. This season the team will be using a whole new scheme that doesn’t play so well to his strengths and he isn’t happy about it.  He was promised things when he came to town and now those things aren’t being upheld mainly because of the new coaching staff.  What should the ‘Skins do?

I’m sure they are trying to trade him but what can they get back without admitting this was the worst contract signing in sports history?  I know teams are interested and the guy is still a great player but him staying could be worse for the team in general.

Years ago when the salary cap came about gms’ and owners found ways to skirt it by giving players large signing bonuses.  These bonuses could be creative so they didn’t count against the cap completely or could make it so that when they did count it was years later.  Teams were smart. 

However, last season Albert Haynesworth signed for 100 million dollars of which 41 million of it is guaranteed through bonuses.  In fact, he just recently received a 32 million dollar bonus check and then decided to hold out of camp. 

Football has some great things going for it with non guaranteed contracts and everything but the signing bonuses need to be addressed.  Not only is it ridiculous to give rookies this kind of money, it is also ridiculous to pay any 1 player 41 million in guaranteed money and expect that not to effect him.  Haynesworth has gone from one of the best interior lineman in years to one of the most hated/disrespected teammates around.  After missing mini camp this past week his teammates lit into him in the press trying to send a message.  Somehow Albert seems to be doing just fine, after all, he has 41 million reasons not to rest on that should help him get over it.

USC was hammered by the NCAA the other day in what is sure to hurt the USC program in the short and long term.  The last team to get this steep of a violation that was this high profile was the University of Miami and they haven’t been at the same level since.  All in all USC loses 30 scholarships and is not bowl eligible for 2 seasons.  Juniors and Seniors can freely transfer from the program without losing eligibility so this is something that could really hurt USC this season.

Already we saw some chinks in the armor last season and this season had some question marks as well with new coach Lane Kiffin.  Coach Kiffin brings his career losing record back home where he started and he wants to make a big impression.  Keep in mind that he is already a coach with a serious target on his back for his questionable tactics at Tennessee. 

This will be an interesting situation to see.  Will USC be able to continue to bring kids in knowing they can’t play in a bowl game right away and will this hurt the depth of one of the best programs we’ve seen in years?  I think the fall of Troy is upon us and I think the fall of USC football is going to be blamed on Reggie Bush.

All eyes are on Texas once again as they debate whether to stay in the big 12 (10 schools) or move on to the Pac 10 (16?).  What to do what to do…

Let’s talk about what is involved here.  Texas has all the cards right now and can pick and choose the best offer and place for them.  What offers are out there?  The Pac 10 can and will have more to offer right now than the Big 12 were.  Nebraska is gone and with them goes a huge fan base and a national football program.  Nebraska leaving for the BIG 10 left a big hole to fill or leave alone as the talks indicate now.  Texas is the premier power in the conference in basketball and football.  With them comes a top 5 football program and the best recruits arguably in the country.  Texas wants to make the right choice but also put them in a spot to make the most money.  The Big 12 was caught off guard and quickly lost 2 programs.  If Texas goes then the conference will either collapse or be seriously remodeled.  What happens with kansas and Kansas st is a great what if at this point and those programs are left waiting for Texas and what they will do.  The smart schools will follow Texas and the money they will bring.  Texas is the BCS waiting to happen and in turn supplies those schools with lots of money.  Texas could agree to a year extension with the conference and stick around giving the big 12 time to retool.  Who knows what will happen but sooner or later we’re going to either see the end of a once great conference or see the beginning of the first true super conference.

I don’t know about you but I’m not a big fan at all about all this talk with creating superconferences.  All this talk that the Big 10 and Pac 10 could expand to 16 teams each is a bit much for me.  I’m such a purist at heart that it still bothers me that Penn St is part of the Big 10 in the first place.

As much as I like the idea of a conference title game in football I don’t like the idea of the Super Conferences dominating the money of college football and in turn the excitement.  It’s moves like this that take away from the landscape of college football even more because of the lack of a tournament.  People want to see Boise St beat another top 5 team and Utah tear apart a BCS darling.  When the Super Conferences are born then this will happen less and less because not everyone will be invited to the party. 

No matter what fans will always want to see the best play each other but they also want to see David vs Goliath.  Some of the best NCAA tourney games of all time were upsets like Villanova over Patrick Ewing and Georgetown or NC St beating Olajuwon and Houston.  Those are what make the NCAA tourney in basketball so special.  The superconference won’t affect that as much but it will have a negative dramatic effect on football where the haves get even more separation from the have nots.