By
Bryan Rosenbaum
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Sometimes, I just wish sports columnists could be rounded up and sent to Antarctica (of course, college columnists would be exempt). Now more than ever, it seems that columnists are getting dumber and dumber.
Case No. 1: This week, a columnist from the Boston Globe called the Big East "the best conference in the country."
He wasn't talking about basketball, he wasn't talking about field hockey. Yes, he actually called the Big East the best football conference in the country.
Okay, Boston's not really a college football town. In fact, college hockey is bigger up there. So when the Big East does something well, they tend to exaggerate things.
Okay, No. 4 Miami's upset win over Florida State was impressive, and Virginia Tech is No. 3 in the country. But this is a conference that also includes Temple, Rutgers, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Boston College. Even though they have put up respectable records this season, there's no reason to get carried away.
Temple and Rutgers will always be, well, Temple and Rutgers. And the Big East will always be a mediocre conference that will come in just ahead of the ACC. Unless, of course, some columnist from Charlotte calls it the best conference because of Clemson and Florida State - never mind the fact that Duke, Wake Forest and Maryland play in the ACC.
Case No. 2: A number of national newspapers have praised the Canadian government for stepping in and ruling on the Marty McSorley-Donald Brashear case. What exactly did the government have to do with this case and what exactly did they rule on?
When McSorley struck Brashear in the head with his stick last February, the NHL took swift action, fining and suspending McSorley for the rest of the season for his brutal and ridiculous attack.
Then the Canadian government took it one step further and charged McSorley with assault with a deadly weapon.
The ruling? McSorley was given 18 months probation and cannot play against Brashear during that time. Big deal! No team is going to touch McSorley, who doesn't have a contract and has been suspended indefinitely by the NHL, for that time anyway. His career is pretty much over.
American and Canadian justice systems are so messed up that our national sports leagues are harsher in dishing out penalties - and in this case, the NHL's ruling was more correct. I 'd much rather see more time and tax dollars spent on something more important, like a husband beating his wife.
If the Vancouver judge was smart, he'd make McSorley do community service and tell kids that it's not okay to use your stick as a weapon.
Slashing someone in the head has no part in hockey, and neither does government have any part in sport, especially when the leagues take a firmer stance against violence than courts do.
What's next? Will a batter sue a pitcher for beaning him?
