The Genz

Football fans are a funny sort. Really, we follow our NFL team religiously. We cry when our teams lose and walk with a little extra energy in our step with wins. When the season ends, our hearts break like the most hurtful of Dear John letters. Why can't they play football year around? When fans, like me, are unable to walk into our favorite stadium, the TV serves as our coliseum. With beers or cokes in our right hand , a handful of chips in the other and cheese sauce dripping off the chin, we scream delight when a play goes for 10 yards. Our voice crackles with emotion after a TD and the bottle tops fly off another beverage. When an opponent scores or manages an unlikely first down, emitting from the room are loud protests include feet stomping and seemingly endless chatter directed toward the TV as if the Steelers players and coaches or commentators can really hear us. Football fans, and I think especially Steeler fans, are blindly loyal. With our"Terrible Towels," tigh...

My English Springer Spaniel, Sierra, always brings a smile to my face. On a wintry, cold and snowy Saturday morning, Sierra looked up at me with an eager and excitable expression, "are you ready yet," even as I continued to pull on layer after layer of socks, coats and hats. As soon as the door opened, she shot out into a maze of blowing snow, and as I tried to look out of my fogged glasses, she was tugging at her leash, pulling me into the heavy drifts outside my door, causing me to one knee as she jumped into the snow. After wiping away a little of the fogginess, both from my glasses and the early morning tiredness, I watched as she stuck her head into a snowdrift and popped up with the white stuff covering her face and her sweet smile, suggesting,"now you do it." Only for you Sierra. With the wind blowing 20-30 mph, she takes over, again pulling the leash cord to its full length as I avoid falling a second time. Into the snow she goes again, hopping in and out of...

The ridiculous comes in many flavors. Once again, it comes from Fox News, an oxymoron if there ever was one. On a day of giving thanks, the outlandish unfolded behind the overexcited demeanor of John Stossel of Fox News, who has had his share of shaking TV moments. Stossel said Plymouth Colony settlers, essentially an English colonial venture from 1620-91, divied up their farm economy along communal lines. He said the goal was to share the work and produce equally. And, that is why they starved, suggesting they practiced socialism which nearly killed those settlers off. In reality, socialism had its origins in the French Revolution of 1789 and changes that came with the Industrial Revolution. While it can be argued that some socialist precedents were evident earlier in history, any person with any amount of common sense will cast this in the ridiculous. Stossel, are you kidding me? On this Thanksgiving, how about a little respect for history and early settlers? Or, better yet, please...

As the final seconds ticked off the clock in a 41-38 win over Minnesota, South Dakota head football coach Ed Meierkort's Coyotes had done the improbable and pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the college football season. After Coyote quarterback Dante Warren took a knee, flipped the ball to the officials, and began celebrating with his teammates, Meierkort grabbed the top of his head and, in this sanguine moment, offered up a "holy cow I can't believe it" expression. While some coaches may have taken this win in stride, the victory over the Gophers of the Big Ten wasn't just another game or another win for Meierkort and USD. It was a surreal moment of accomplishment both for him and the program he leads. Heading into the matchup with the Gophers, South Dakota was a huge underdog and in a lower division, but none of that mattered when the Coyotes found their groove with critical conversions on offense in a tense fourth quarter. As a result, USD opened the eyes...

For many rural midwestern kids, baseball is played on clumps of mud and fenceless fields. It is game of worn, muddy balls and cracked wooden bats. It is Tigers vs. Twins or Cubs vs. Cardinals in rough-looking affairs, including tatered uniforms that have no rythym of color and hats that are sponsored by Bob's Gas Station or Tom's Automotive. Fashion and matching colors are the farthest thing from these little leaguers minds. Instead, they dream of walking into Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park or Wrigley Field, visualizing a 3-2 count with the bases jammed and the crack of the bat that gets the mud flying and feet pedaling in all directions. Then, before they cross home plate in their dreams, they snap to it in time to connect during their Little League game. As one of those games ended in my youth and my (Little League) Tigers won - that is how I always remember it- I headed home anxiously to try and pick up the big league Tigers on WJR radio. Sometimes, it worked, usually after 7 p...

It is well known among my friends of my passion for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I do not hide in bad times, say a blowout in the playoffs against New England, nor do a believe that they are a perfect organization (but close). I love my Steelers and cheer for them in the best and worst of times. Yes, I will talk smack with friends about the other NFL teams, including the hated Vikings and Pats, and especially the villianous Ravens. Of course, you know me, I always side with the game's best franchise, Pittsburgh, which is the only team to win six Super Bowls. The Steelers are the best... just ask me. So, it hurt a bit after reckless and bad behavior by two Steelers, players that should know better - Santonio Holmes and Ben Roethlisberger. Boys, it is time to grow up. Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl winning QB, who has ventured into dangerous territory with his brainless college behavior. Holmes, who was the 2009 Super Bowl MVP, is gone because his juvenile actions have continued...

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." - A. Bartlett Giamatti, "The Green Fields of the Mind," Yale Alumni Magazine, November 1977 As March turned to April and spring training ended as the regular season began, baseball has started anew. More than a week into the season, the games have been filled with special moments. Casey McGehee's walkoff HR for Milwaukee enraptured that Brewers home crowd on opening day at that stadium. Arizona had a 13-run inning against Pittsburgh, who surprised the world by winning its first series against the L.A. Dodgers, a squad that made the postseason a year ago. There was C.C. Sabathia throwing no-hit ball for 7 2/3 innings against Tampa Bay and Jason Heyward of Atlanta beginning his major leagu...

Everybody loves Cinderella. And, in college basketball's biggest dance, Cinderellas are everywhere, showing their lucky charms for all the world to embrace. When ninth-seeded Northern Iowa defeated the top overall seed Kansas, 69-67, the Panthers turned the entire basketball nation on its ear. During this March Madness season, Northern Iowa hasn't been the only Cinderella wearing dancing shoes. 10th-seeded St. Mary's, 11th-seeded Washington and 12th-seeded Cornell are others that have put the whammy on basketball powers. Villanova, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Temple and New Mexico, all seeded fifth or better, are back home watching the rest of the tournament on TV and wondering what happened. These Cinderellas are dancing at a relatively new dance hall. This is the first time in the history of Northern Iowa and Cornell that they have advanced to the Sweet 16. And, St. Mary's advanced to the Elite Eight in 1959 when only 23 teams were in the tournament. So, they t...

Local basketball hounds have to be eating up the success this year. Check out some of that success here -- SDSU women's basketball team (21-10) advanced to the NCAA DI Women's Tourney (we find out who they play Monday) for the second straight year. The Jacks defeated top seed Oral Roberts in overtime as they continue to dominate the Summit League Conference Tournament. They are 4-0 in two seasons with two consecutive titles. The USD men's basketball team continues to roll with its first-ever Great West Conference title that sends them to the College Insider's Tournament. The CIT is similar to NIT in that DI schools not invited to the Big Dance have a chance to continue their seasons. The 16-team tournament kicks off Tuesday. The Coyotes own a 13-game winning streak (second best active streak in DI - tied with Wofford - and second to Butler's 20 game streak). In the opening round of the CIT, the Coyotes, 22-9, will play Creighton (16-15) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the C...

They call it "March Madness." And, even before the NCAA DI Road to the Final Four Tournament gets started, the "madness" has taken root. Evan Turner's 40-foot game-winning shot that lifted Ohio State to a last second win in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament was one example. The freshmen helped the top-seeded Buckeyes defeat rival Michigan and showed why he is a national player of the year candidate. In the first round of the Big East Tournament, we watched Georgetown topple top seed and 4th ranked Syracuse. That was followed by Marquette 6-for-6 3-point performance in the second half against 10th ranked Villanova. Marquette's Lazar Hayward hit a crucial three down the stretch that kept alive the school's bid for its first-ever Big East title. Not to be outdown, Notre Dame's big defensive effort led to their upset of Pittsburgh. Then there was John Wall's 23 points and nine assists to help Kentucky turn back a game and upset-minded Alaba...

Why Country and Flag Waving Matter When Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal for Canada in overtime on the final day and play of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, it stung. That goal, that loss by Team USA to the heavily favored Canadians bite at my soul. Just a few moments earlier, everything was right because USA's Zach Parise had tied the match with a goal in the final half-minute of play. For those few prideful minutes, I felt a sense of relief with a renewal of hope for a gold medal. I was thinking, perhaps imagining, the Americans waving the U.S. flag, jumping up and down with excitement and feeling the ultimate sense of accomplishment. At that moment, it made me think that this young passionate and aggressive hockey team had quelled naysayers by rolling through the tournament unbeaten and winning the top prize. But the anxiousness of that moment turned to frustration when Crosby slapped the winning shot past Ryan Miller. That is the way of sport, high expectations and it ...