A sports fanatic gets philosophical and stuff

I've always felt that there is no wrong time to talk about the important questions in life: Why are we here? Where are we going? And, probably most importantly, why am I the sports fan that I am today?

Sports are great. We talk about them like they actually play an important role in our lives. We make the big game a priority in our schedule. And, we are so passionate about our sports loyalties that we are willing to yell at someone who we consider to be our best friend, discounting their intelligence while questioning their moral character. Why? Because they thought David Ortiz had a better season in 2006 than Mark Teixeira.

But, like with everything else, you need a foundation in your approach to sports arguments. So, as a guide in your own quest for sports enlightenment, I present to you six fundamentals of how I see sports. While I'm not saying these are ultimate truths, good luck trying to convince me I'm wrong.

The "Good Guys" are boring – I never trust the guys with the extra-clean image. I don't care if you are what people consider to be a "good person." Be yourself. Be original. Give me DeShawn Stevenson and his irrational behavior and awesome tattoos over the bland composure of Grant Hill any day of the week.

You can't pick and choose loyalties –Oh, your great-uncle worked in northern New Jersey for two years? You're right, that totally explains why you're a Yankees fan. Now, excuse me while I point out that you haven't been east of the Mississippi.

Other sports are cool. But nothing compares to the Big Three –Don't get me wrong, I love competition in all forms. But there is just something so perfect about the precision necessary in baseball, something so cathartic about the aggression of football, and something so graceful yet powerful about the athleticism of basketball. Sorry, soccer, I try every day to be in love with you. But, it just isn't there. It's me, not you.

Judge a player by how they handle "The Moment" –I will never believe that Brett Favre deserves the hype he gets year-in and year-out. The guy only won one Super Bowl – similar to other all-time greats like Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson – and he also ended his team's seasons on interceptions more times than any other modern quarterback. Not saying he didn't have a great career. But give me Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger any day of the week.

Save sportsmanship for youth leagues– There's nothing cooler in sports than telling someone you are going to do something, then doing exactly that. I know this is going to piss off my dad, whom I can still hear in my head saying "respect the game." Did Reggie Miller not respect the game because he talked trash to anyone who would listen? Was the Detroit Tigers' Carlos Guillen not respecting the game when he took his time after hitting a huge home run off of then-Cy Young award hopeful Jered Weaver earlier this season? Not only were they respecting the game, but they were playing the game the right way. Your goal is to win the game, and what helps that more than getting your opponent to melt down à la John Starks in the ‘90s or Weaver a few weeks ago?

If you were too young to remember, It doesn't count –Congratulations, Dawg fans, that National Championship in 1991 must've been a huge moment for you. Almost as huge as when you spoke your first words and stopped defecating on yourselves three months after that fateful Rose Bowl. If all you knew at the time of the championship was shapes and colors, you are not allowed to proudly exclaim that you were alive for their undefeated season.

This semester at the Bulletin, we are going to foster sports discussion and we encourage any and all of you to write in with a comment, argument or funny story concerning sports, because let's face it, this is a school that loves its athletics, which means that many of you have entertaining and possibly intelligent things to say. But before you give us your take on the sports world, do what any good Jesuit would do, and philosophize as to why you believe what you are talking about.