Sports Sports and more Sports!!!!

Okay, since I AM a sports director.... I figured to add my two cents in on some things.

1) AJ coming back.... Like the rest of "Jackrabbit Nation", I was pretty stunned to find out women's basketball coach Aaron Johnston was leaving SDSU to take the job at UWGB. Needless to say, I was even more surprised to find out less than a day later he changed his mind!

Now those of us that matter (the fans, the school, and the players) are happy he changed his mind and welcome him back with open arms. Others however, think there's something more to this than meets the eye... i.e. the media.

In my never-to-be-humbled opinion, I think they're making a mountain out of a molehill. How many of us have accepted a job offer or have taken a job, only to leave and go back to where you were before? It happened to me... I left KJAM to work at Citibank and sure enough, I came back after realizing how much of a mistake I made.

Fact is, we all make mistakes... I'm glad AJ caught his in time before too much damage was caused!


2) Vikings draft.... Some people were suprised that Minnesota DIDN'T take Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn in the draft (he later went to Cleveland with the 22nd pick). Instead, they went with Oklahoma running back and Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson.

I think it was a wise choice. Tavaris Jackson had a lot of growing pains last year, culminating with two sup-par performances in a season where the team basically gave up. But I think those games were important for him, because he now knows what he needs to do in order to be a solid NFL quarterback. And with the team signing Brooks Bollinger as a backup, Jackson will have a solid teacher. I figure we'll get a pretty good picture of what to expect from Jackson this year. He could be our QB for the future, or the next Gino Toretta!

And with more teams going to a 2-back offense, Peterson will be a great 2-back, along with Chester Taylor. With Taylor getting his first 1,000-yard rushing season last year, the Purple and Gold could have a dynamic two-some in the backfield this season PROVIDED Peterson heals from his broken collarbone.


3) Sportsmanship.... I think this is going to be an issue that sticks around for quite a while. One of the biggest examples of poor sportsmanship I saw was earlier this year at the State "A" Boys' Basketball Championship. In that game the second-place team refused to come back on the court to accept their medals. Frankly, that was a VERY poor example of sportsmanship, followed up by some half-hearted excuses by the coach.

Frankly, I'm glad the SDHSAA (the governing body for high school sports in South Dakota) didn't capitulate and give the team it's medals right away. The coach and the AD for the team had to drive to Pierre the next month for the Association's annual meeting and basically get read the riot act. Furthermore, the school is now on probation and could face suspension from post-season play if they don't make a lot of changes.

I think it was a fair punishment. But I also wonder if the team was not an Indian school, would the punishment have been different; a "double-standard", if you will? But the important thing is that the Association did make a stand and say poor sportsmanship will NOT be tolerated. Bout damn time, too!