I thought sports was supposed to engender sportsmanship?

Over in Europe, a goalie who kicked the ball into his own goal was, I believe, killed by outraged fans. Here in the States, the Boise State kicker who missed 2 "easy" field goals is being savaged by "fans" - and apparently some are even calling up the poor guy's family and leaving threatening messages.

That is just beyond the pale. It's a bloody game, and more than that it's a college game, not a professional one.

Hopefully the people leaving these messages can be discovered and arrested and sent to jail for a few months to teach them some sportsmanship.

Boise State kicker becomes target of threats, barbs
BOISE, Idaho -- Dealing with missing two field goals in Boise State's loss to Nevada is difficult enough. Now Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman is having to endure an endless stream of taunts and barbs on social networking sites.

The senior kicker and leading scorer in school history missed a game-winner from 26 yards with 2 seconds left in regulation then minutes later misfired again from 29 yards out in overtime in the Broncos' 34-31 loss Friday against Nevada.

The loss spoiled the ninth-ranked Broncos' unbeaten season and even bigger hopes of playing in a BCS bowl or possibly even for the national title.



Kyle Brotzman missed two critical field goals from inside 30 yards late in the game. (US Presswire)
It didn't take long for angry fans to unleash their frustration on Brotzman, who grew up in the Boise area.

Within hours, the Ada County Sheriff's Department got a report about callers leaving obnoxious, harassing telephone messages with a woman thought to be related to Brotzman.

Then dozens of Facebook pages emerged, some filled with ugly name-calling, jabs and taunts aimed at Brotzman. Supporters responded just as quickly, starting "Bronco Nation Loves Kyle Brotzman" or "We Still Love Kyle Brotzman" pages and posting hundreds of messages of support for the beleaguered kicker. As of Monday afternoon, more than 21,600 people had clicked on the Like button for those pages.

Coach Chris Petersen on Monday tried to deflect criticism away from Brotzman, saying no single person is responsible in a loss like that and that there is plenty of blame to go around.

"Including myself," Petersen said. "There were a lot of other chances to win the game. That was just one of them. That's one that 99 out of 100 times he's going to make."

One thing is certain: It was a rare moment of futility for Brotzman

During his career, the Lou Groza semifinalist has banged the ball through the uprights more than any other kicker in conference history, surpassing former Hawaii kicker Jason Elam three weeks ago to become the WAC's all-time leading scorer.

His 425 career points make him the leader for scoring among active players in major college football and at one stretch the former walk-on nailed 118 straight extra points.

And how can any Bronco fan forget Brotzman's perfect 30-yard pass to Kyle Efaw on a fake punt that set up the game-winning touchdown in last season's Fiesta Bowl victory over TCU?

"From what I have seen and what little I've heard, I think the fans have been great," Petersen said. "You're always going to have the other side, the other third, that can't do it the way you'd like them to. I don't know if those are BSU fans to tell you the truth."

The Nevada loss isn't the only disappointment facing Bronco fans these days.

On Monday, TCU announced it was bolting the Mountain West Conference to join up with the ACC, following the steps of Utah, bound for the Pac-10, and independent BYU.

Boise State is expected to join the MWC next season, and coaches, administrators, players and fans were eager for an annual date with TCU and the potential rewards of playing a more challenging schedule.

Petersen played down TCU's defection, saying the MWC still remains the best fit for Boise State's future.

"I have no feeling on that whatsoever," Petersen said about TCU's move. "The only thing I think is we're still going to a better league than we're in right now. And that's no disrespect to anybody."

State Farm Commercial

African-American man and woman standing in front of an SUV that has been backed up all the way on top of a different car.

The woman is really bitching at the guy - he didn't listen to her when she was giving him advice on how to back up. She says she'd rather have a different boyfriend, and suddenly his shirt is ripped off revealing a nicely muscled body.

Then, he says he'd rather have a different girlfriend, and all of a sudden her clothing switches to that of a slut - tank top revealing breasts, very high skirt etc.

And I just found this commercial offensive. Whatever happened to touting how good the insurance is? Why focus on the sexual element? Now of course it was nice to finally see a little eye candy for the ladies, but having a guy with a bare chest is not the equivalent of having a woman dressed like a slut. She wasn't dressed 'sexily' - she was dressed like a slut.

Shame on State Farm.

Blog resumes Tuesday

I've been on travel and visiting friends with no computer connection. Blog will resume Tuesday, God willing and the snow don't fly!

NCIS (and cop shows in general)

I watched the first 15 minutes of NCIS tonight. Tony and Ziva are following someone. Ziva gets a spidy sense that there's someone behind them, whirls and draws her weapon. There's a white woman behind her, with her weapon drawn, and she tells Ziva to drop her weapon.

This is a cliche in many cop show/adventure shows these days, and its downright stupid. If someone has a gun and sees someone else with a gun, they don't just stand there pointing guns at each other. They are both going to shoot, and one of them is going to win and the other will die.

Star Trek: TNG "The Cost of Living"

Okay, this episode is 18 years old, but it exemplifies a problem with parents today.

Worf's son, Alex, is on board the Enterprise, and he refuses to do what his dad tells him to do. He's a little brat who needs a spanking. (Or, being a Klingon, he needs to be beaten severely.)

In any event, that's not what happens. Counsellor Troi says, "Okay, you guys need to draw up a contract. Alex has his duties, and Worf has his duties."

In other words, Worf isn't supposed to be a parent, he's supposed to be a "friend" to his son. Worf and Alex are supposed to be equals, regardless of the fact that one is 40 years older than the other, and is the parent.

I was reminded of that today when watching the Cowboys vs Giants football game. Wade Phillips was fired last week, and the new coach has input some new rules, such as "be on time for meetings." Be on time for meetings!

And the Cowboys are playing better today than they have for a long time. (Although, it is only the end of the first half as I write this.)

But kids, like football teams (which are, afterall, only overgrown kids) need discipline. Not extremely strict discipline, but discipline nevertheless. A child should never be allowed to say "No." when a parent tells him or her to do something. And yet most of them are allowed to say no.

TO of the Bengals

Terrell Owens of the Cincinatti Bengals scored a touch down a few minutes ago. Of course he had to do his little schtick...looking like a mime. And Ocho Cinco waited patiently for him to do his "Hey, guys look at me" before congratulating him.

But no one else came over to congratulate him. No one even bothered to hang around and wait for him, except Ocho Cinco.

I love to see that, and I wish more teams would do that. Someone wants to have their look at me moment, just walk off the field and let him make a fool of himself all by himself.

Sunday is the Day!

I've been in my new house for just under a month now - without any TV. It's due to be hooked up tomorrow. So then I'll have access to the mass media of commercials - devolution media if I've ever seen it, and this blog can get back on track.

Thanks for your patience.