Boy, are you in for a treat.
The esteemed sports editors at this newspaper have asked me to write a weekly piece about something I admit to be no expert in: sports. Their gamble is that you'll read it every week, look forward to seeing every paragraph and be swayed by everything I have to say.
You won't.
What you will do is hate me. Not only for my opinions, which you'll think are stupid. Not only for my audacity to think I know more than you about sports, which you'll think is arrogant. And not only for my foolishness in picking topics only I would care about, which you'll think is shortsighted.
No, what you'll hate me most for is this column. You know, the one you're reading right now. Because, like your talkative friend who tells you how the blockbuster movie ends before you've bought the ticket, I'm going to tell you everything I know and think about sports ... now.
I'm basically giving the story away. And - to think - it hasn't even started yet.
But at least you'll never have to read one of these columns again. Consider this the Cliff Notes to a semester's worth of weekly columns, or a syllabus with all the answers included.
(And here's where you come in.) Because I've already exhausted all my thoughts on sports - there aren't many - in one fell swoop, I need your help in coming up with new, exciting and relevant topics. There's an e-mail address at the end of this column that you can write to in order to tell me what you thought about what I wrote that week or to tell me what you think about what has happened in the world of sports. The best e-mails win a guest appearance on the award-winning Cavalier Daily sports page. The worst win the same trip and with all expenses paid.
_ I believe local sports are the ones that count the most. You won't hear about British soccer in this column - or about the Arizona Diamondbacks and the St. Louis Rams very often. I'm from Northern Virginia and a student at the University, so I'll write about the Cavaliers and sometimes about the Redskins and the Wizards.
That means I'll write things like: The men's basketball team won't contend for a spot in the Final Four until it finds a point guard that can penetrate and distribute the ball to big men, not just Roger Mason Jr. Keith Jenifer is getting better at limiting his turnovers, but he needs to get a lot better at moving the ball around - and quick.
_ I believe small sports deserve publicity as much as much as the big sports. But that means they deserve to be criticized, too, when things go poorly.
So you can expect things like: Debbie Ryan has been thoroughly out-dueled by Pete Gillen in the fight to connect with student fans and get support at basketball games.
Or: The softball team surprised a lot of people last season and will get national recognition this year, provided it can find some pitching.
_ I believe the most interesting things in sports happen off the field. And some of the most interesting people in the world are in sports.
That's why I want to know the real story behind Virginia's quarterback situation and about what Thomas Jones is doing to prevent himself from being the biggest flop in his NFL draft class.
_ And I believe that the players that build the best reputations are ones that care much more about their teams' reputations than their own. Tom Brady over Chad Pennington. Chris Webber over Derrick Coleman. Juan Dixon over anybody else in the ACC, even Jason Williams.
_ And, of course, I believe that the best thing sports does in America is give people something to talk about. This column is a forum to do just that. Talk about what I write. Write back with what you think.
But most of all, don't forget: You're gonna hate this.
(Sam Le's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sle@cavalierdaily.com.)
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