Chris Humpherys's NBA Basketball fan blog

The coronation of the Pittsburgh Steelers as Super Bowl champions marks the end of another football season… unfortunately.  But for those of us who eat, drink and sleep pigskin 365 days a year, football season is never really over.

Football is a passionate sport for passionate fans and nobody is more fanatical about the sport than its head coaches.  Over the years, many of football’s more charismatic coaches have lost their tempers in not-so-gracious fashion after frustrating losses.

To ease those of you who still crave football in the off-season, we hereby celebrate the greatest post-game rants of recent memory and honor those coaches who have created moments for us to enjoy for all eternity.  If you don’t already know these tirades verbatim, do yourself a favor and look them up on the internet.  They’re guaranteed to lift your spirits.  Just don’t go banging on any podiums or cursing out random members of the media afterwards.

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I coached youth sports a few years back.

I was living in Orlando and decided to volunteer some of my spare time at the downtown YMCA.  I coached boys 11-13 years old and can say without hesitation, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

I’ll spare you the details of how my team ended up winning the championship or how I wrote a letter to our team captain’s school headmaster asking to allow him to play in the championship game or about how I called several last-minute full-court presses in the title game to create turnovers and uncontested layups to win us the title or how I fought back the tears as I announced each of my players by name during the trophy ceremony.  Good screenplay, huh?

Continue reading "To Coach Or Not To Coach... Should Never Be A Question"

You and your buddies have been planning your Super Bowl party for months.  Deep down inside, you know the party with its canned beer, half-eaten bag of stale chips and a couch that seats three will suck, but at least you’ll be around your boys for the most hallowed of all sports days.

Then your girlfriend gets a call from the doctor’s office where she works part-time and guess what…. her boss is having a Super Bowl party.  You’ve met him before, know he makes a mint and should throw one heckuva bash.  He’ll probably even have those mini-hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls and a plasma screen television, but you can’t diss your boys.

So you’re in a bind.  The doctor’s party will have its merit, but having to explain the principles of pass interference to those who don’t understand football isn’t always worth the free liquor.   While your friend’s couch may have fleas, at least he has a keen knowledge of the sport.

Continue reading "How To Host A Successful Super Bowl Party"

Pinch me, I’m dreaming.

Mid-season, as it became more and more evident that my alma mater, the University of Florida, might be granted another shot at a title, my illustrious travel companion, the Don Calvino, booked a hotel room on South Beach in preparation for the festivities.  The rooms on the beach are closet-like, making a Parisian domicile look spacious by comparison, but we didn’t plan on spending much time there as Mango’s, a South Beach staple, was within stumbling distance.

We descended upon South Beach the eve of the game and found ourselves surrounded by Oklahoma fans.  They had replaced the snow birds in droves.  While chants of “Boo-mer…. SOO-NER” echoed along Ocean Avenue, Gator fans were few and far between.  Oklahoma pride even drowned out the Salsa/Merengue emanating from Mango’s, in which we spent about twelve hours of our trip.  When in South Beach….

Continue reading "(Hazy) Recollections of South Beach"

Dan Mullen, offensive coordinator for the Florida Gators recently announced that he would be leaving Florida at season’s end, if not sooner, to take the head coaching job at Mississippi State.  It is still unclear as to whether he’ll coach Florida in the upcoming national championship game.  It is also unclear what effect that will have on the Gators’ offensive game plan.

Mullen is not the only coach rumored to leave Gainesville for not-so-greener pastures.  Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong, who has long been coveted by other schools, has been linked to the University of Central Florida job, which is interesting considering they still have a head coach in George O’Leary.

Continue reading "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Mullen Leaves Florida, Strong To Follow?"

Less than one week ago, with what appeared to be three easy games remaining in their conference schedule, experts penciled in a then undefeated Penn State team into the national championship game.  After all, how could the mighty Nittany Lions lose to either Iowa, Indiana or Michigan State.  

Well, they did.  To Iowa.  And that’s why they play the games.

With that poll-rattling upset, the Florida Gators, despite not being ranked number one, are now the consensus favorite to reach the BCS title game.  In fact, many have already crowned the Gators your national champion, which has many undefeated Alabama fans, among others, in a tizzy.

In the words of Lee Corso, not so fast my friends.  The Gators still have several, challenging and ranked opponents left on their schedule they must not overlook.

Continue reading "Another Gator Title: So Close And Yet So Far Away"

We have all been there.

If you’re a college football fan and you bleed your school colors, then you’ve experienced it.  You’ve painted your face.  You’ve worn your lucky shirt, shorts and undergarments on game day.  Your superstitions have become routine.  You’ve tailgated from daybreak to sundown and beyond.  You have eaten and drank excessively in celebration.  You have hugged and high-fived your friends with every score.  You have lived and died with your team.  Your allegiance is unquestioned and unparalleled.  You’ve celebrated the thrill of victory with your team so passionately, it was as if you were on the field in uniform.

Continue reading "How To Cope When Your College Football Team Loses"

This November 4th, Americans will likely witness an historic and national change.  In addition to embracing this change, I’d like to propose other movements the world of sports would likely benefit from.

Like Wyclef Jean sang, if I were president….. 

That commercial where Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez and Michael Phelps parade around a living room in boxer shorts and pink oxfords a la Tom Cruise in ‘Risky Business’ will be forever stricken from our televisions and our memory banks.

Continue reading "If I Were President..."

It’s not very often that you get to see a World Series game in person.  So when ‘my connection’ called me up with a ticket to spare, I decided to make the two-hour trek to the Trop for Game One.  Although Tampa Bay had just beaten my Boston Red Sox, this was an opportunity I could not pass up.  Far be it from me to look a gift cowbell in the mouth.

Besides, I wanted to soak up the atmosphere first hand.  I was curious to see if Tampa Bay fans would show up and support their baseball team when, for the majority of the season, they had failed to do so.  Saint Petersburg has seen Yankees and Red Sox fans overtake their stadium for years.  This post-season, Philly fan would make them look civil by comparison.

Continue reading "The Scene From Game One: Mohawks and Cowbells and Rays Fans, Oh My!!!"

So this is what our forefathers had to go through, huddled around the radio, begging for a visual, tuned in only to the audio portion of the broadcast.  Thank goodness for XM radio and the ever-portable jack and coke.  I stepped outside to listen to the car radio until the network could regain coverage.  Never before had I yearned for the voice of Chip Caray.

Due to a power outage at TBS Saturday evening, the network responsible for showing the American League Championship Series fell far short of its broadcast duties.  Sox and Rays fans were anxious enough going into Games Six and Seven.  We shouldn’t have to be submitted to network gaffes.   TBS’ first inning coverage was as effective as Mark Kotsay with runners in scoring position.

Continue reading "Ted Turner - The Rays' Tenth Man"