This time of year is quite possibly the best the calendar has to offer when it comes to sports. The NFL and college football are in full swing, six of eight baseball divisions will be decided this week and if that wasn’t enough to rouse your interest, this year the Women’s World Cup final falls during the very same week.
Sounds great, right?
Unfortunately, not everything is quite so great. A close look at the current situation in the world of sports shows that aside from the good, there is also a heavy helping of bad and ugly stories too.
So, without further ado, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the most exciting sports time of the year.
The Good: Brett Favre
Coming into this season, most of the national media wondered how Favre would fare in his 17th NFL season. Sure, the Packers won their final four games in the 2006 season and went to the final week of the season with a shot to make the playoffs, but the offense lacked any discernible weapons outside of Favre’s favorite go-to, Donald Driver.
After Favre spoke out about Packers’ general manager Ted Thompson passing on trading a fourth-round pick for Randy Moss, it seemed like the story of Favre’s (possibly) last season would be one of aging athlete sour at his team’s management’s inability to put weapons around him.
Instead, with the same no-name cast of characters, the Packers are 3-0 and one of the major stories of the early season.
With names so unfamiliar (Seriously, who had actually heard of Ryan Grant before Week 2? I thought I was watching Dorsey Levens spin past Giants defenders in the No. 25 jersey before I was told otherwise) and players that could conceivably be his children, Favre has thrown for the fifth most yards in the league.
Favre played one of his finest games of the last few years Sunday, when he threw for three touchdowns against no interceptions in a comeback win over San Diego. The game-winning 57-yard touchdown completion to Greg Jennings tied Favre with Dan Marino as No. 1 on the all-time touchdown list.
The Bad: Milton Bradley
Everyone likes a good game of Yahtzee, but the hot-headed Padres’ left fielder rolled the dice on San Diego’s playoff chances after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during a game last week in one of the most bizarre injuries in recent memory.
Bradley wasn’t injured legging out a ground ball or chasing down a fly ball in the outfield. Instead, his season ended after he was thrown to the ground by his own manager as he argued with the first base umpire following a single.
Bradley alleges the first base umpire baited him into the eventual argument by saying Bradley threw his bat at the home plate umpire after striking out.
Now the Padres must try to hold onto a playoff spot without their starting left fielder and cleanup hitter.
This is just the latest from a guy who has built a reputation as a hot head and once got into an altercation with his manager when he played in Cleveland.
The Ugly: Mike Tyson
Tyson earns the Ugly honor not for his facial tattoo (although that would be grounds for such a distinction) but instead for continued legal problems.
I’d say I was surprised when I first read about his guilty plea to drug possession, but in all seriousness, how surprised can you actually be about anything involving a guy who once bit a portion of another man’s ear off and has professed to wanting to eat a competitor’s child?
In reality, this is an extremely sad story. Coming up in a tough neighborhood in New York, Tyson became the youngest-ever heavyweight champion in history with the potential to become one of the greatest fighters ever.
I’m not one to easily excuse personal behavior, but since he won the heavyweight title, Tyson’s life has spiraled downward faster than quarters in a vortex wheel. He’s found himself in so much legal trouble, from rape to drug charges and alleged spousal abuse, it’s as if he just can’t help himself.
Maybe it’s not that ugly, but it sure is sad.
Ben is a junior majoring in journalism and political science. He can be reached to talk about the world of sports at [email protected].
