Back looking at Cleveland trending topics, pretty much so I could talk about Ray Small.
Here are the Twitter trending topics right now, in Cleveland, Thursday, May 26th 2011.
1) #everymanshouldknowhowto – This mostly about chivalry and sex. This group of tweets is so predictable that I can’t even pick out a few favorites from what I’ve seen. Pull out chairs, hold open doors, say I love you, do dirty things, do more dirty things and change diapers (what happens when you do dirty things).
Here’s what I think every man should know how to do: not be afraid to admit when he screws up and be patient.
2) #lessinterestingbooks – Take a book title, say Grapes of Wrath, and make it less interesting, let’s call it Grapes of Mild Annoyance. (That might be someone’s, because its pretty predictable, but I promise I didn’t copy anything). I love when trending topics veer over the line of ignorance and start to become a collection of educated, witty thoughts.
@michaelianblack: The Autobiography of Malcolm Jamal Warner #lessinterestingbooks
@UOJim: V for Veranda #lessinterestingbooks
There are hundreds of tweets that I like enough to post here, so I’ll save us all some time and move on.
3) #saywhat – Remember what I said about #2? Sigh. I kind of hope they’re talking about the same guy.
@AvAlwaysAwesome: #saywhat you think ur better cause ur his baby mama? #bitchplease ur just an idiot who had unprotected sex with someone who doesnt love u
@Alex1709: you got Chlamydia from amanda??!! #saywhat xO
4) Ray Small – Ray Small is an ex-Ohio State Buckeye, and he came out and said that he took free gifts and perks while at Ohio State. He said that everybody took gifts and money. That it was accepted practice in the program.
*deep breaths*
Look, I’m a big Buckeye fan. I didn’t go to Ohio State and I live 3 hours away from campus. I don’t care. I love my Buckeyes. They represent the state that in which I live and that I happen to love. But, I have to seperate myself from that to think about this objectively.
The truth of the matter is that there are probably as many college football players getting paid in some way as there are NFL players getting paid. That fact DOES NOT MAKE IT RIGHT, but it makes the situation less shocking. More predictable. Normal?
What do the most recent of the big time NCAA scandals have in common? Success. USC, Ohio State and Auburn have all been under the microscope recently, and I can’t help but think its because of the visibility and dominance of the programs.
Do we really believe that Oregon’s, Minnesota’s and Syracuse’s scholarship babies aren’t getting discounts and free dinners? Really?
Now, I’m not deflecting blame from Ohio State, we had players and boosters making bad decisions. We had coaches turning their heads and administrators wearing blindfolds so they didn’t have to see anything. There’s some trouble coming, but if the punishment is commiserate with what’s gone on with the rest of the NCAA, I’m not really that worried. Regardless of what happens with Jim Tressel, the Buckeyes will be contending for Big Ten Championships 7 out of every 10 years. That’s not because of Terrelle Pryor, Tressel, Gordon Gee or all the Chevrolet dealerships in Ohio. That’s the program.
The NCAA and ESPN have created these monsters with their TV schedules and bowl game profiteering. Now that the monsters exist, they’re not going away. Eventually, whether you like it or not, NCAA athletes will be getting some sort of compensation above their scholarships. That’s the only way this cash cow stays fed, so that’s what going to happen.
“They explain the rules to you, but as a kid you’re not really listening to all of them rules.” – Ray Small
Sounds like a guy who got suspended from the 2010 Rose Bowl for skipping classes. “Them rules”… way to admit the university did their due diligence and that you’re just another kid who doesn’t listen. If coaches were fired based on these athletes doing things they’re not supposed to be doing, the system would run out of coaches.
5) Bishop Eddie Long – He’s a Bishop at a Baptist megachurch who settled out of court with four men suing him for sexual coercion when they were youths.
Never trust a man who calls himself “Eddie”.
Railbird J. Slim 