Kansas City Star:

When Iowa visited Iowa State two weeks ago, the Hawkeyes got the visiting rival treatment from fans — boo! No news there.

What is odd is how Iowa State is asking fans to greet its next visitor.

The school requests a standing ovation for Saturday, which goes against fan nature. Maybe booing isn’t your thing. But showing respect for the opponent taking the field?

Saturday’s guest at Jack Trice Stadium is Army, and nothing could be more appropriate. Same holds true when any of the service academies pay a campus visit.

According to the article, this started at Ohio State when they hosted Navy. I agree with the sentiment of honoring the service of those at the Service Academies, but it wouldn't be all bad if this was a tradition before all sporting events.

Respect your opponents.

I love Joe Posnanski's work:

He had what we affectionately will call the “Billy Cycle,” a single, double and two home runs because that’s as close to a cycle as he is likely to get. Billy is a terrific young hitter but, to be brutally frank, that triple probably isn’t happening.

"Billy" is of course Billy Butler, the young, not fleet-of-foot first baseman of the Kansas City Royals who can hit the ball a mile.

--by name. AP/Sports Illustrated:

"We've got some non-competitive people on this team and that's not going to get it. They're not going to play,'' Summitt said.

Yikes.

Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has been fired.

“After giving this careful consideration, I have concluded that a change in our football operations is in the best interests of the Denver Broncos,” owner Pat Bowlen said.

Shanahan’s record was 146-89, but the Broncos remained stuck at only one postseason victory since John Elway retired in 1999 after Denver’s second championship.

This season was especially ugly. It included a historic collapse that saw Denver become the first team since divisional play started in 1967 to blow a three-game lead with three games left.

Taber Spani, from Medary's adopted hometown of Lee's Summit, MO, has orally committed to play for Pat Summitt's Tennessee Lady Vols.

Posted mainly so Snookums will see it and be happy.

The NFL referee who blew the call, and gave the Denver Broncos a win against San Diego, from the Kansas City Star:

Hochuli, an official for 19 seasons and a referee for 17, had e-mailed fans in San Diego and told them, “I failed miserably.”
. . .
(NFL Supervisor of Officials Mike) Pereira said on his weekly NFL Network show that he’s tried to be as supportive as he can to Hochuli, “but he’s devastated — as he should be.”

No finger-pointing, no directing the blame somewhere else.  Just a guy who trying to do a hard job, screws up, then says to the world "I screwed up."  There is no man so worthy as one who has made a mistake, recognizes it, and refuses to try to blame someone else.  That's called being a stand-up guy.  It's not the good times that reveal character, but the bad times--the times where things have gone wrong, when everyone's after your neck.

A lesson on how to deal with personal failure that could perhaps be profitably studied elsewhere in American society.

In an oddly welcome break from the stomach-turning world of politics, we move to the stomach-turning world of pro sports, where we find NBA rookies Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur being kicked out of the NBA's rookie camp because marijuana was found in their hotel room--according to the Kansas City Star.

Ah, sports!  Oasis for the politics-weary!

That much is very obvious.  He can't help it.  It's who he is.  It's why he's been with nine different Major League Baseball teams in his 12-year career.

I haven't been doing much sports blogging lately.  So, to celebrate the birth of a new NCAA Division I conference (actually, it's probably closer to say the conception of an un-viable tissue mass which might one day emerge to become a baby D-I conference), I give you one of the members of the newly, um, conceived Great West Conference:

The U-Dot S-Dot D-Dot Ki-Yoteees

It is, I think, unusual to find a Division I team for which the pronunciation of the mascot needs to be defined in documents like conference press releases (PDF).

http://deadspin.com/362366/kevin-borseth-is-quite-passionate-about-offensive-rebounding

Make sure you read the comments, too.  They are hilarious.