It is a tough time to be a Russian. They have no astronauts on the moon, the Democrats have accused them of interfering in our elections, they DID conspire with Hillary to get ahold of most of the United States’ uranium supply and now the International Olympic Committee has barred Russia and its sports leaders from the upcoming games in Pyeonchang, South Korea. If this trend continues, the next thing we will be told is that Dr. Zhivago has been accused of sexual harassment DESPITE being wrapped up in that bearskin coat!
The IOC has said that Russians can compete but, by golly, they are NOT going to play their National Anthem if any Rusky should win anything, and they are not going to let them show that ugly flag either! All because , they charge, that the Russians concocted a doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games that “caused unprecedented damage to Olympism and to sports.” Wow! That’s a mouthful. Especially when you consider the “damage” to Olympism and sports that the International Olympic Committee and its multi-layered levels of bureaucracy have dealt out over the years.
So, the Russians may not even show up in Pyeonchang. Besides, if you can’t pronounce it, how are you going to find it? NYET, NYET!
The drama, the boorishness, that is LaVar Ball and his sons, that have played basketball for UCLA and the Los Angeles Lakers, has dominated the sports pages lately. A son, LiAngelo Ball, was arrested in China for shoplifting. President Trump pulled a few strings for him, and two other shoplifters, and got the Chinese to release them, much to the ingratitude of father LaVar. Now father LaVar says he is removing his son from UCLA because “I’m going to make him way better for the draft than UCLA ever could.The plan is to get Gelo ready for the NBA draft.”
Am I witnessing “KARDASHIAN II”? Egads! Has the world gone mad or is it just Californians? Your college basketball team takes you on a nice exhibition tour of China and you steal items from stores, get caught, the President of your country helps you out, your college suspends you ,AND THEN Daddy , in an exemplar fit of interference, removes you from school saying ‘he should be playing by now’”?
The words of Billy Graham come to mind here: “Self-centered indulgence, pride and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle.”
Preach it brother, preach it!
CHALK TALK
— Speaking of boorishness, the sideline reporter for ESPN displayed a lot of that right after the two overtime victory by the University of Central Florida over Memphis in their league championship game. The reporter, breathless, wouldn’t let winning coach Scott Frost focus on the win, his players. They had to keep asking him if he was going to Nebraska, though he requested they wait with those questions. But then, we’ve come to expect that of ESPN!
— The Keady Classic basketball tournament in Larned has gone pretty much to form in first-round action. The winners bracket games heat up though, on Friday, with a headliner game between Macksville and Larned in boys action and Kiowa County and Kinsley on the girls side.
— A lot of college football coaching changes are happening right now but it is all quiet at K-State. A lot of observers think this is the year that Bill Snyder hangs it up. Then the wrestling match will begin as to who gets to name the next Wildcat football boss!
— All of you Ohio State fans stop your whining! Your Buckeyes do not belong in the four-team football playoff, not with two bad losses, a big home loss to Oklahoma and being trashed at Iowa. Too many teams with one loss, or none that are more deserving. How about University of Central Florida? They ran the table and don’t get an invite? You are always going to have these kinds of messes as long as only four teams make the playoffs! Mark it down. It will happen again next year!
Buddy Tabler is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune and his views don’t necessarily reflect those of the paper. He can be reached at budtabler@gmail.com.
