I can't get enough of MTV's The Jersey Shore.  It's basically just The Real World at the Jersey Shore except that all the people come from the same Italian background and everyone is completely full of themselves.  I guess the only difference is the Italian background then.  Not one person on the show is humble in anyway and not one of them could win on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? let alone be able to search the cable box guide to find which channel it's on.  There's only been one episode and this is already turning into the greatest reality show I've ever seen.  Basically you got four Italian guidos who combined have enough hair gel to slick back the hair of every male in Mexico, enough fake tan bronzer to make everyone in Ireland non-pale, and enough juiced up muscles to give the MLB a run for their money.  The four women on the other hand, who claim to be Guidettes, have the class of Kanye West and dirtier mouths then your favorite pornstars favorite pornstar.  This is MTV television at its finest.  You got to love it.

So this isn't a sports column, at all!  But this show is too entertaining and I love the animated gif so much I had to make a post.

Anyone who says they don't judge a book by it's cover is full of a Charlie Weis bowel movement.  Everyone does everyday, in every situation, with anything that they view or see.  It doesn't mean that you're materialistic or egotistical; it means you are human and your brain comprehends what it sees, like it's supposed to do.  I don't know if it's just the politically correct thing, but judging based on appearance or what you see on the outside is supposedly one of the worst things.  Not to me.  If a book's cover doesn't look good then why read the book?  If a trailer for a movie doesn't look interesting then why go see it?  If a single for an album doesn't sound good then why listen?  There's a reason we judge people by how they look or what they say or what they're doing; it's because that's what we see and that's what a person puts out there for us to see.  If you're wearing goth clothes I'll probably think you're a freak and if you're wearing shoulder pads then I'll probably think you're a football player.  To most people this seems like a problem and how biased is created.  To me it's just how people should live life.  I'm not going to worry if I know exactly who the person is or if I thought wrong of a person some point in time.  We think wrong of people everyday.

So this finally brings me to the sports content of this piece.  I'm sure you're thinking where is he getting to with this.  I'm already bored.  Look at that, all you've read is the first paragraph of my piece and you already have thoughts about the whole thing.  Shame on you!  The point is that in everyday life, what we see on television or on Sportscenter is what we know of athletes and their persona.  We not only judge them by their actions off the field, but we judge them even more by their actions on the field.  Most of the time the greater the athlete is the higher we think of them as a person.  We don't truly know anything about them except what we see, read, and hear.  And this is where Tiger Woods comes in!  Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!  What were you thinking most of us say.  Most of us think he let his family down, his friends down, and his fans down.  We think this way because Tiger Woods was created to be something he isn't.  An almost perfect person.  Tiger was the black guy from Stanford that defied all odds and dominated a white man's game.  Tiger Woods had a wonderful family and had a dad who taught him to play golf at such a young age.  He was the perfect gentleman and always had the proper things to say to the media.  Tiger was seen as being as genuine and perfect as Oprah and a man who could have more power then Barack Obama.  Were we duped? Maybe, but partially it's Tiger's fault, partially the media's fault, and partially our fault.  I can't really blame anyone for thinking this way because that's all we knew and saw.  We wouldn't think in a million years that Tiger could pull this scandal off, but it happened.  We all judged the book by it's cover and we got towards the end of the book thinking it was the greatest thing ever and the last chapter ruined the whole story.

I don't really want people to change their ways and think that we have to learn about everyone and everything so that we truly know what's going on. No, I just want people to be aware of how often we judge things and why we judge them.  It's okay to judge; opinions, right or wrong, are a part of life.  So be opinionated, take a stand for what you believe in, but always remember that no matter how much you know about someone or something that it may not always be what it seems to be.

We as fans don't demand much do we? I mean all we want is to go undefeated every year and if that doesn't happen then I guess we'll settle for a championship.  Is that really too much to ask for?

Okay so we ask for a lot.  I know being a Steelers fan I am extremely spoiled.  Take this year for example.  Okay, we may not be doing so hot, but it's not the end of the world.  We won a championship last year and I still think we'll make the playoffs.  Most Steelers fans are about to kill themselves over this unimpressive season.  Losing three straight is just not something we are used to.  So we may be spoiled, but if you are used to it then you expect some things to happen every year.  I expect to make the playoffs, I expect to be in the running to win the division, and I expect to never to lose to the Browns.  So I may expect a lot of things, but is it really a bad thing to expect greatness?

On the other hand we have the teams that are the complete opposite of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Teams such as the Cleveland Browns, St. Louis Rams, and the Oakland Raiders don't expect championships, they hope for a chance to make the playoffs.  There aren't really any expectations, except these days they expect to lose.  Fans who can watch these organizations every week are die hards, they have hope, but hope only last so long.  Once the hope runs out then they have to take matters into their own hands and that's what fans are starting to do.

Yesterday a group of Oakland Raiders fans from www.messagetoal.com banded together to post a billboard up near Oakland Alameda County stadium that reads, "Mr. Davis, Please Do the Right Thing. Hire a GM" This type of effort by a few individuals to create the billboard idea and tens of thousands who joined the mission to petition against Al Davis is what makes sports fans so great.  We have the resources now to easily communicate across the globe and to come together for a cause, no matter what the cause is.  Now the billboard will be up for a month and hopefully it sends a message to an organization and owner that are in desperate need of help, but more importantly it shows that these fans still have hope and still want their teams to be great.

Now I'm not sure what everyone actually expects to get out of the billboard or if it will truly cause any change, but fans who pursue these types of efforts should be applauded.  They may not have the same expectations I do as a Steelers fan right now, but maybe with their effort someday they can be as spoiled as I am.

The fantasy season is winding down. Unfortunately, there's only three weeks left before playoffs start for most leagues. Now's the time where every matchup is critical and everyone needs to make the perfect lineup configurations. That's great and all, but there's some more important things that commissioners have to do then to worry all about their teams and the playoffs coming up. You need to make sure that the losers of the league still feel apart of the league during the playoff season.

There's nothing worse then not making the playoffs. Your season is cut short and you don't get a shot at the money and more importantly the championship. Some people, if they're not fantasy junkies like us, may feel that the season was a waste and their money went down the drain. You need to make sure they don't feel that way and that their season was fulfilling, just doesn't have the same upside as others. Make sure to put in place some sort of loser's bracket tournament that actually means something. I don't care if you give them a toilet paper roll with their name on it if they win, but make them want to play the final three weeks. Get a trophy, get a prize, give them a better draft pick; I don't care, just do it. The satisfaction they receive from the gesture will be worth it to them and worth it to you in the future.

It's worth it to you for a couple reasons. You know that you were still a great commissioner during the playoff season when all you basically care about is your team winning. Those teams will be satisfied and it will pay off in the future. Next year when the league rolls around they'll want to join the league again, be excited to do so, and be ready to try their best even more. I know everyone has been in leagues or is in one where there are a few people who just don't seem like they know what they're doing. Maybe it's their first year or maybe they just haven't gotten the correct advice. People dropping from your league is the worst thing. It's always nice to maintain the same teams and to build a perpetual league no matter if you do keeper or fresh draft every year. The simple things go along way, even in fantasy football.

The college basketball season has just begun.  No major upsets yet, but some close calls.  We've had some good games already and many more to come right around the corner.  College basketball knows how to come out with a bang.  We had the 24 hour tip-off marathon on ESPN where we get to see about 15 games in one day.  This weekend and next weekend we get even more great matchups as early season tournaments wrap up including the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and the NIT Season Tip-Off.  Tonight we get to watch #4 North Carolina go against #15 Ohio State in what should be a great game.  These early tournaments are a great way to get the season started and add some hype to a basketball season that still has about 30 more games until March Madness begins.