Goodbye, Deuce

I have to admit it, today sucked. It absolutely sucked. Even if you don't follow football, or think that "it's just a ballgame", today still sucked. My favorite player on my favorite team is no longer with them. Deuce McAllister is no longer a New Orleans Saint.

Jerry Rice, Brett Favre, Walter Payton, Steve McNair, Archie Manning, Drew Brees, Emmitt Smith. Those are my favorite players of all time, but Deuce is in a class by himself. To people who love Deuce as much as I do, today took the wind out of your sails.

Professional sports under all the glitz and bright lights is an ugly business. Deuce is a 30 year old Running Back (A Dinosaur in NFL numbers) with two serious knee injuries ('05, '07) in the last 4 years. He's owed 7.5 million dollars on his contract, but coming yet another offseason knee surgery, he can't even pass a team physical. So today, we got to see the ugly side of pro sports.....the business side. Today is like having to take a class in college from a teacher you hate. You can put it off and wish it never happens, but at the end of the day, you know it's inevitable. That's what today felt like- that and a kick in the stomach.

Deuce McAllister isn't the kind of guy that would want big headlines over this, because despite being named to back-to-back Pro Bowls in 2002 and 2003 and being the Saints all time leader in touchdowns, he would always remain humble and just be grateful for the opportunity to even wear the black and gold at all.

Football fan or not, you seriously can't find a reason to not like McAllister. This is the guy who was drafted in 2001 to a team that already had Ricky Williams and was not only told to basically go to hell by Williams, but was hazed and humiliated his entire rookie season by the same running back who was supposed to be the "savior of the franchise". Fast forward 5 years, in 2006 the Saints draft Reggie Bush, another running back with the 2nd overall pick in the draft. What does Deuce do? Does do repeat the childish actions done to him by Williams? No. Deuce took Bush under his wing, taught him the game, taught him the system and instead of being concerned with his own personal stats, he learned to create a formidable backfield tandem that wound up getting one win away from the Super Bowl.

Did Deuce use all of his money to buy big expensive houses, cars, jewelry, and other useless nonsense? No. Deuce took care of his family first. He moved his mother out of her small house in Morton, MS to a house she would be comfortable and happy in. He bought car dealerships in Jackson, MS and endorsed local businesses that showed him support in college. He headed up a group to renovate and rebuild the now defunct Jackson landmark Hotel King Edward just because he wanted to bring a once positive icon and business back to the town to which means so much to him. Did Deuce only sign autographs for the rich season ticket holders? No. Deuce would go out of his way to invite disabled children who will never play football to have VIP seats at Saints practices and would give them all personalized Saints memorabilia. This probably kept me getting yet another autograph of from him, but sometimes you have to think about how much it meant to those kids that he went out of his way to feel special. It was Deuce who started the "Catch 22" Organization that gives money through fundraisers and money out of his OWN POCKET to low income children who may not have had the same shot in life or in football that he had. Only people like Deuce who care about where they came from do this.

Thank you Deuce for the great memories. Thank you for letting me watch you play in 2003 in the Superdome with Lassiter when you ran over Keion Carpenter. Thank you for letting me see your last game with the Saints in person this season against the Panthers. Thank you for allowing me to see you pull off one of the craziest plays in NFL history against the Jaguars in 2003, only to lose the game. I will never forget that look on your face. Thank you for hanging in there when your teammates didn't care. I'll never forget your performance in the 2006 playoff game against the Eagles. Thank you for letting me and the world see how tough you really were in 2002 when you ran all over the "unstoppable" Tampa Bay defense on ESPN. Thank you for letting me see you break the Saints all time touchdown record on Monday Night Football in 2008. No one deserved it more than you.

There is nothing that will take away from how much I love Deuce McAllister. He was MY GUY on MY TEAM, and nothing will ever change that. Some of you who don't like the Saints or even like football may never understand, but as my eyes tear up now, the thought of never seeing my hero play for my team again is a little harder than I thought it would be. I take pride in the fact in knowing that #26 will one day hang from the rafters of the Superdome and that his bust will one day be in the Saints Hall of Fame, but you never wanna see something you love so much end.

Everyone should want to be like Deuce McAllister. Not because of the way he played the game, but because of the way he LIVED. Deuce never did it because it was "cool", or "sexy", but because it was RIGHT. I have a feeling that watching the Saints now will be kind of like it was when I saw them "play" two games in Baton Rouge in 2005. While Antowain Smith, and *cough* Ki-Jana Carter filled in admirably, something was missing. Now that thing missing is pieces of the Who Dat nation's hearts.

Here's to you, Deuce. You have no idea how much we'll miss you.

Me and Deuce in 2004.

Here's to you, 26.

Late Night Music Part 3..............Musical Movie Scenes

Ok, this one is iffy, but still just as funny and just as much of a guilty pleasure. To qualify for this category a movie had to A- NOT be a musical, B- Have to have the scene sung by a cast member. Once again, I am scouring youtube looking for these gem movie scenes that always seem to catch you off guard. Scenes not appearing on this group, but receiving votes were "The Last Battle Scene" in "8 Mile", Jack Black's introduction of the original song to the band in "School of Rock", Whitney Houston singing "I Believe in You and Me" in "The Preacher's Wife",Jennifer Saunders as Fairy God Mother and her "Holding Out for a Hero" in Shrek 2 and Chris Tucker's karaoke scene in "Rush Hour 2". Now onto the list......

"The Restaurant Scene" in "My Best Friend's Wedding". This movie just ROCKS, and I mean seriously ROCKS. It is SUCH a chick flick but I can't help it- it's so funny! Rupert Everett is the instigator of this hilarious scene by making up a story about how he met the lead character, Julianne Potter. Everett's character, George, is actually gay, but actually says that he "played gay" to win Julianne's love. His story adds the fact that he asked Dionne Warwick at a mental institution about Julianne. According to George, she simply responded with her song "I Say A Little Prayer For You". What ensues is an hysterical sing-a-long that the whole restaurant joins in on. This funny video can be seen here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUyFZUKo6u8

"The Duet" in "Rush Hour 3". This impromptu duet by Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan is hysterical on so many levels. First of all, how did they know that was gonna be the song? Also- why are they not using mics? Also- I guess the light guy had a sudden epiphany to put the spotlight on Jackie Chan coming down from the balcony. Also, only James Carter would try to steal the spotlight instead of accomplishing his goal of saving Genvieve. Even as he's being shot at, Carter continues to sing.......two of the best characters in movies.........EVER. This video can be seen here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYSfs5rgdKU

"Leaving On a Jet Plane" in "Armageddon". This scene is great just because its one of maybe 3 funny scenes in the entire movie. This movie is underrated- yeah it was a big budget "mainstream" movies that alot of real movie critics like myself love to hate- but the aspect of diversity and comic relief shown here is part of what makes this movie hilarious. Ben Affleck, who plays AJ, is about to leave on the planet saving mission, and is singing to Liv Tyler, Grace, before leaving. He breaks into "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and is harmoniously joined by Michael Clarke Duncan, Steve Buscemi, and Ken Hudson Campbell. Woops- interesting fact- this is the second movie ever that I cried watching. This hilarious scene can be seen here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SN7sLORnYQ&feature=related

"Jumper" scene in "Yes Man". Jim Carrey caught me off guard on this one. This movie is hilarious, but the whole crowd joining in to sing this Third Eye Blind song being played by Carrey to try to keep Luis Guzman's character from committing suicide by jumping off a ledge is great. The fact that Guzman.....and the crowd including the firemen join in and sing make this scene classic. Check it out here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SN7sLORnYQ&feature=related

"Wannabe" from "Chicken Little". This movie is good, in fact, it's in my top 5 animated movies ever. This movie is not only hysterical between Joan Cusack (Abby Mallard) and Steve Zahn (Runt of the Litter). This random scene really has nothing to do with anything in the movie, and really caught me off guard. I wish I had friends that I could just karaoke to crappy 90's songs with. Oh, the ideas we get from movies. This clip is here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZqcU_RmaUQ

And I can't believe I initially forgot, but of course one of my favorites is the "Johnny B. Goode" scene in "Back to the Future". Michael J. Fox, who had gone back in time to have his dad get his mom, thus letting himself keep in existence, winds up playing the Chuck Berry hit with a group called the "Starliters" at his parents senior prom. Fox actually played the guitar AND sang on this scene. I am not an overly huge fan of this movie like some people are, but I do love this scene and I do love MJF. The ending of it is particularly funny. Watch it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYBGx8uKQLA&feature=related

I know I have no life, but man these are funny!

Are YOU a Yes Man?

It's alot harder than it looks........

I admit it, I used to be “that guy”. I was the guy in the stands screaming at the officials. “Are you blind?”,”you are the worst ref I’ve ever seen!”, “how much are they paying you!?”. Of course, this ref was only the worst I’d ever seen until the next person came along. These were all common phrases for me at every game I went to……………until I tried it. Boy, was I in for a big surprise, as I quickly found out officiating is a lot harder than it looks. I’ll be the first to admit it, I’ve missed calls, and I’ve been in games with other officials missing calls, and while “the best officials” up in the stands always wanna help out, believe me when I tell you- WE KNOW WHEN WE MISS IT. It doesn’t matter how much you think you know about a sport or how good you think you are at playing it, until you put the stripes on and do it, you will have no idea how difficult is actually is. I have asked this question to several people, and while they are happy officiating from the stands, they always seem reluctant to put their “expertise” to practice.

I officiate three sports for TSSAA. If I had time, I would do more. I love it that much. It is just impossible with overlapping seasons and my own work schedule to facilitate that. However, in my 7 + years of officiating football (both tackle and flag), soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, and basketball. I have come up with several observations, let me share them with you.

Most people have no idea how much we literally LOVE THE GAME. I love being around it- all of it. I love the smell of the grass, the warmup music, getting to know coaches. I love the principals and athletic directors. Also, I love seeing some great young men and women across Middle Tennessee play the games which we all love. Sure, the money is decent….but sometimes it’s not enough for all the junk we take from people or how bad the game is. If I wanted a part time job, I would go work at a grocery store on the weekends. Sure, it’s great exercise. I lost around 20 pounds last basketball season just from running up and down the court, but I can get on a treadmill if all I cared about was my health. Yes, I have made some great connections through networking, but I can just as easily attend conferences and conventions through work to expand my business network. It takes a special person to officiate.

How many other times in your life are you able to be sole judge and jury? This responsibility itself makes officiating a difficult and challenging job. Ask yourself a question as a parent or a fan. How would you feel if someone was yelling at YOUR child like some people holler at officials? Officials are treated like heartless robots sometimes. What about those men and ladies? Are they completely emotionless and expected to be talked down to? I have met several young men and women over the years that I think have talent to be pretty good officials. Some of them have gone on with my urging to become officials at some levels. Some, however have said “there is no way I could take everyone yelling at me all the time.” Funny how we hate so much what we do to other people.

When I think about unreal abuse to officials, I always think about the story of Kenny Wilcoxen, a highly decorated referee, who in the 1994, missed a critical call in the Illinois state semifinal football game. Not only was he humiliated on TV and by the school reporting him to the state, he was sent hate mail which said things like “you have no heart for children.” These remarks were so hard on Wilcoxen, who also worked as a PE teacher, that Wilcoxen attempted suicide. Now, while Wilcoxen survived and is back officiating, it makes you wonder if people really care about the people that work their butt off to call the game. It makes you wonder where the spirit of sportsmanship that is pushed so hard in this country has gone. Everyone wants to abuse refs, but most casual fans are not informed of the rules enough to even recognize a good or bad call when they see it.

There have been nights that I have missed big calls. There have been nights where I have had trouble sleeping because it hurt me that I hurt the game. There have been nights that I would give ANYTHING to have a do over to get a call right. That’s what the casual fan can NEVER understand about an official. We not only LOVE the game, we CARE about the game. The best officials may not get every call right, but the best officials put just as much effort into their performance as the players do. You can never expect a player to play a perfect game, so it is completely unrealistic to expect an official to call a perfect game.

I have to say though, that one of my favorite things about officiating is being in a public place like church, the grocery store, an Austin Peay game, etc. Someone will recognize me from calling their kids game and come up and say “hey I saw you over at such and such school the other night. You really did a good job.” I’ve never been big about winning awards for being a ref, but comments like that really make me wanna get back out there- even after a bad game. I always love to see the passion fans show towards the game, but you have to wonder sometimes if unwarranted abuse towards officials is good for the kids or good for the game. If I saw my parents talking to the officials like they were trash I don’t think I would really be too interested in pursuing refereeing one day. So, sports fans, next time you want to blast the men or ladies calling the game, will you put yourself in their shoes, or will it just be another case of “the worst refs you’ve ever seen”?