Out of Bounds

List is Growing of Colleges Where Mettenberger WON’T be Playing Football

Of course UGA was the first. Coach Mark Richt felt he had no choice. The trust had been broken, Zach Mettenberger had to go. Now the question is, where will Mett continue, rather begin, his football career?

Zach Mettenberger

Looks like Valdosta State may be out of the question. It’s not that Mettenberger wouldn’t consider the Blazers or the Blazers wouldn’t consider Mettenberger. But the 18 year old may not have the option to continue his education there. He’s been banished from the town of Valdosta for a year.

Banished?  Banishment is still a punishment? From the entire town? Considering he was arrested by the REMERTON Police Department in REMERTON, Ga, makes the punishment seem even a little more strange.

But alas, it’s part of a plea bargain. The charges of  underage possession, disorderly conduct, obstruction and two counts of having a fake ID were dismissed due to the deal after the more serious sexual battery charges surfaced. Mett will serve 12 months of probation and pay a $2000 fine, and of course, stay the hell away from Valdosta!

Oh, and he’s not allowed to contact either directly or indirectly the victim. Who, by the way, Mettenberger apologized to in a statement after his sentencing. He must either get a mulligan on that one, or apologies don’t count as contact.

He is also not allowed during the term of his probation to visit ANY establishment that serves alcohol. Party’s over for you Mett; no more bars, significantly less choices of resturants, and, worst of all, no more Chuck E. Cheese!

Zach Mettenberger was  a few weeks away from potentially being named the starting quarterback at a major university, and couldn’t contain his ego and feelings of being above the law.  I do hope the fine, the 80 hours of community service, and the banishment (still sounds weird) teach him that he’s not, and keeps him from becoming one of those guys who consistently get their name in the news for these types of situations (*cough* Roethlisberger *cough*).

The Circus is in Town….First Show – 2 p.m.

The most gentlmenly of games, the most pristine of courses. The most frenzied media since Buckwheat got shot. Unless Tiger Woods can pull of the improbable victory after his four-month hiatus from golf, that’s what will be remembered most. 

Tiger made his way onto the practice range Sunday at the Augusta National; his every move recorded by cameras from around the world. Every move the four time Masters champ made yesterday has been dissected and disseminated across the world by various news and media outlets. He wore a lavender colored shirt. He has grown a goatee. He shook hands with other golfers. Et cetera.  

Not once have I heard how he hit the ball on the range. Is there any rust showing in his game? Did he practice his putting? I really don’t have a clue. 

Thanks to the media, this Masters Tournament has the beginnings of being nothing short of an absolute circus. The first show will be at 2pm today, when Tiger holds his press conference. It will undoubtedly be a session consisting of the same question and answers we’ve all heard already, and for the majority of the questions Woods will give the same answer – “no comment”. 

But the media isn’t totally to blame. We, the fans, are just as guilty as making this a bigger spectacle than it should be. We won’t follow our usual favorite golfer, or even the leader for that matter. No, we will be like the circus lions, with every swing of Tiger’s club acting as a trainers whip demanding we follow his every move. And like a well-trained beast, we will obey. 

The only thing I can think of that will make this media/fan fanatical display even more over the top would be if Tiger is in contention on Sunday. As always with Tiger Woods, you never count him out until the final putt on the final hole. 

Masters Week in Augusta has officially begun. Excitement is in the air, but for the wrong reasons. Usually, the circus is held at the James Brown Arena. This week, the host is the Augusta National Golf Club. 

Time to send in the clowns.

Archived Audio

Listen to these past segments of “The Referee” Dave Ward

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Tiger, Olympics

WNBA: Good Seats, Pregnant Ballers and Girl Fights

After a Winter Olympics in which the big story was a run towards silver for the US men’s and women’s hockey teams, I figured it’s about time to switch gears and turn our attentions to something we really care about in this country: the WNBA.

Now while the WNBA season doesn’t officially start unit May, I think it’s never too early to start preparing for what promises to be an exciting season in 2010. The national network TNT, seemingly agrees with my sentiments and they have been running promos during NBA games in an obvious attempt drum up excitement for the upcoming small ball season.

These fun promos include doctored footage depicting NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, among others, playing alongside the lady ballers. Watching these commercials got me thinking: you know what, maybe the WNBA is not that different than the men’s league and as the promo’s tagline says “Basketball is Basketball”. If you take away all the superstars, fans, money, dunking and an actual sized ball…if you take away all these things, the two sports actually aren’t that different. Read more…