Shame on Boo-ya

The self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports has abandoned the world. Or, to be more accurate, those parts of the world where Abominable Snowmen pick their teeth with icicles; that's right, ESPN, oh mighty Thane of the Boo-Ya, has asked Picabo and Bode and the Flying Tomato to kick their Uncle Sam in his Dakotas so they can put a few more Benjamins in their scoreboard. Talk about arrogance. How can the four-letter network justify hosting their Winter X Games the same year that Vancouver is hosting the Winter Olympics? They can't. In case you didn't know, didn't care, or were too busy trying to forget that ESPN considers Chris Berman the Tiger of their Woods, the 2010 Winter X Games recently wrapped up, the three-day event flatlining on Jan. 31st with only a few casualties scrawling across its ticker. Oh, but don't worry, it's not like those athletes wanted to compete for anything real; I'm sure they'd much rather take part in a faux-spectacle that the Sweetest Day-moguls down at Hallmark would be proud of. But it's ok, only a few athletes suffered injuries that were severe enough to keep them from competing in the, a'hem, OLYMPIC GAMES. One of those casualities, freestyle skier Daron Rahlves, said he was using the X Games as a Vancouver warm up. Good for him. At least he only suffered his fourth hip dislocation. I mean it could have been worse. He could have hurt ESPN's feelings by saying no. But who would want that? Who would want to be spanked by Scott Van Pelt, and shunned by the network that occasionally shows highlights from the 1996 World Championship of Mini Golf to fill its time slots? Apparently not Rahlves. Now, who's to blame? I say the Olympic Committee. I mean, we can't blame the station that gave us Mel Kiper can we? Four out five bad haircuts say no. So, silly, silly World, the next time you want to go out and play with your friends, you had best say no. Or Stuart Scott might give you an ookie-doke upside your head.