:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/33986445/bestyears.0.png)
It's June 6th. I am 52 years old today. It's also the day that my daughter graduates from high school, which is a really good birthday present. She'll be going off to college in a couple months, far away from myself and her mother. I am contemplating writing the story of her college choice as a recruiting story - a story about what it's like going through the recruiting process when your child is not an athlete, but a student.
My entire life has been D-Day. I've seen "The Longest Day" about 30, maybe 40 times. It's one of the greatest war movies ever made about one of America's greatest days. Made in 1962, it was the standard D-Day movie until "Saving Private Ryan" came along, followed up by the "Band of Brothers" series, which is easily one of the greatest series ever done. The movie "The Best Years of Our Lives" deserves mention here because it was made in 1946, a time at which nearly all movies were glories stories and "Best Years" imparted a realism that most of America didn't want to confront- all those vets coming home, some damaged beyond repair, the saving grace being that there were tons of them that had gone through hell together, a hell they could collectively understand and that allowed them to be a helluva lot more forgiving with each other than nearly all of us are now. (Honestly, "Best Years" has to be one of the best movies ever made - if you get the chance, you need to watch it.)
Still, these were European war films. My father fought in WW II, but fought in the Pacific. He died when I was 12, pancreatic cancer, 1974. It bothered me for years, honestly, that there weren't a lot of really good movies made about that theatre, at least not for a long time. There was some good cheese. "Tora, Tora, Tora" was decent for it's time, and movies like "Midway" were in there, along with "Bridge over the River Kwai", but it wasn't until much later than movies about the Pacific theatre began to capture the real horror that portrayed that fighting. Client Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers' and "Letters from Iwo Jima" are incredibly well done. "The Thin Red Line" is another one that didn't seem to get the accolades that went to "Private Ryan", but was very good in its own regard.
But I digress. God help me, there is a lot further to go here, but y'all don't come here for that, even if it is June.
News in college football - the NCAA vs Ed O'Bannon trial starts Monday, and we'll have endless analysis about a case that has the potential to change collegiate sports forever. It is a lawyer war; these things can go on forever with everyone who isn't a lawyer trying to interpret what is going to happen, i.e., the fallout. It's both horribly important to what we're about and the most boring stuff possible and heaven help all of us - it's as if you want the damned thing to be determined within an hour like an old Perry Mason episode where the case is wrapped up in the last five minutes with Mark Emmert admitting to some hideous backroom scheme, everyone feeling better that the truth finally came out, that some sort of justice will prevail and that evil is vanquished if only for a week.
It won't happen that way. Instead, every single detail will be analyzed ad infinitum and if you pay attention to all of it you must be a lawyer or a masochist.
Celebrating 10-Cent Beer Night in photos - SBNation.com
Forty years ago, the Indians forfeited a game because their fans were too wasted. Here is the pictorial history.
I had no idea.....
BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall says Cougars 'would love to be in the Big 12' - SBNation.com
BYU could have a difficult time finding quality opponents after recent rulings by power conferences.
Big Ten Experience To Open In Rosemont, Illinois - BT Powerhouse
The Big Ten's new museum attraction is set to open in Illinois.
If O'Bannon beats the NCAA, here's how college players could be paid - SBNation.com
If the NCAA loses its upcoming trial, it might no longer be able to tell its member schools what to do with their money.
Ed O'Bannon vs. the NCAA: Battle for college sports set for June 9 - SBNation.com
The former player's lawsuit against the NCAA over likeness rights has already caused EA Sports to give up on college video games. Next up: television money and perhaps the entire identity of the NCAA as we know it. The trial begins June 9.
Ed O'Bannon v. the NCAA trial: Separating truth from myth - College Football - Andy Staples - SI.com
Ed O'Bannon v. the NCAA case: Separating truth from myth before the trial begins in a courtroom in Oakland, Calif.
Ed O'Bannon v. the NCAA case: A complete primer before the trial begins on Monday, June 9 in a courtroom in Oakland, Calif.
Schwarber, Travis Taken in Day One of MLB Draft - Indiana University Official Athletic Site
Indiana baseball players Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis were both chosen on day one of the Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft on Thursday. Schwarber was selected fourth overall by the Chicago Cubs and Travis was selected 67th overall (second round) by the Boston Red Sox.
WORLD CUP
The World Cup is rapidly approaching and I know that ALL OF YOU here at CN are as excited as I am!!!!! USA! USA! USA!
You need to get ready and we have you covered!!!
