Quick To Jump to Conclusions Much?

Let me preface this by saying I love internet message boards. I am an active member of three different boards, all with their initial premise being College Football, and I post on each of them nearly every single day.

That being said, there is a lot of behavior on them that irks me. Whether it be dumbasses flaming about things they have no idea about or just people making stuff up to get a rise out of a particular group of fans, I realize that I have no control over this, yet it doesn't change the fact that it irritates me.

However, there is one behavior that absolutely boils my blood. It bothers me to the point of rage some times. I should probably work on controlling my anger with this issues, considering that my family has a history of high blood pressure, and all this anger isn't helping, but I can't help it.

I see posts like this all the time. "(insert highly touted recruit or player drafted from a school that is a rival of the team you root for who has yet to play a meaningful snap as a redshirt freshman or as an NFL player) is a bust."

How the hell can you say a player that hasn't played a meaningful snap of football is a bust? So if a player redshirts, he's now a bust?

I'm not saying you're wrong for saying this. I'm saying you are flat out stupid if you say this. Have we become so quick to rush to judgement about a player, that we deem him a bust if he doesn't come in and light the world on fire in his first game?

The fact is that most of these posts are made so that fans of one school can put down the players from their rival. I accept the fact that this will happen. But it's just so retarded. You can't make a judgement based on a college player based on whether or not they make an immediate impact. Some guys take time to develop. But in this what have you done for me lately world, people are so impatient, that they rush to place the bust label on a player, simply because they're trying to put down the school that they loathe the most.

In the case of college players, we're talking about kids. Isn't it a disservice to them to call them a bust simply because the coaches of their particular school thought they needed a bit more time to develop their game for the college level?

I'm glad that coaches and not fans make decisions like this. Because if they didn't, then guys like Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, would never have made it in the NFL. And all the great college players who redshirted would have been instantly tossed aside.

In any event, I know it's not going to stop. But damnit people. Isn't there something else to make fun of your rival for than a 19 year old kid who didn't play his first season?

People who Get Paid to Screw Up Really Piss Me Off

I've been reading the sports section of the Washington Post every day since I was six years old. The first headline I can remember was "Ciccarelli traded to Detroit"when my favorite Capital at the time, Dino Ciccarelli, was, well traded to Detroit, thus breaking my six year old heart. It wouldn't be the first time the Capitals would do that. But I digress.

Now, since I'm poor (I know poor Jewish guy is an oxymoron), I read the Post online every day. I actually look forward to it as much as I did every single morning when I was a kid. So imagine my happiness when while perusing the page this morning when there was a preview of "No.7 Alabama," written by Mark Viera. My favorite paper reviewing my favorite college football team. What could go wrong?

Apparently, a lot. Okay well maybe not a lot. But if you get paid to write for a nationally respected newspaper, maybe it would help to do a little research on the team you're writing about instead of just perusing the media guide and making shit up as you go along.

Let's examine the first problem I have with this "article." It's this sentence. "But Jones isn't the only option: The Crimson Tide has 10 scholarship wide receivers on its roster." Okay Mark, let's talk about this. Last year the second leading receiver for the Crimson Tide behind Julio Jones was Nick Walker. He had about 400 yards. Where is he now? I'm not sure but it's damn sure not playing for Alabama since he graduated. The next leading receiver on the team had 200 something yards and that was perennial dissappointment Mike McCoy. So please Mark, enlighten me. What other options do the Tide have at receiver? Perhaps if you had opened up the media guide beyond the first page you would know this you fly by night hack.

Which brings us to the second problem, and the most egregious in this article. "The Crimson Tide is also thin offensively, breaking in a new quarterback and a new running back." WHAT?!?!?! He probably opened the roster page yet again, saw that our starting running back was a sophmore, and said, "Oh new running back." Not realizing that Mark Ingram was an All-SEC fresman last year, racking up 728 yards and 12 touchdowns. That seems like a big question mark to me, you lazy no talent jackass.

What makes me the most angry about this is that it's just pure laziness. The story in its entirety is 286 words. And yet he makes two complete factual errors. In 286 words he screws up twice. And these are errors that could have been avoided if he had simply read a stat sheet or googled the names of two players. And the worst part about this is this assclown is getting paid for this. My favorite paper, my hometown paper, the thing I used to look forward to most every morning is spending money on a guy who is too damn lazy to turn to page 23 of a media guide. And no one will call him on it, because what do they care. It's a 286 world blurb on page 2 of the sports section.

What would it take for the Post to do something? Sam Bradford seeking his first Heisman? Calling Terrelle Pyror Terrelle Aftor? Tim Tebow, who credits his Muslim faith for his success on the field? Where does it end?

I don't have the answer. But I shouldn't have to have one.