Timeout with Tambo: Not so thankful for......

By Bill Tamburrino

Last week this column mentioned a few things that the writer is very thankful for. Now it is the old “Good News-Bad News” gig.

By the time that this column is published, the NBA lockout or strike or whatever it was will be settled. I am not sure what it was mainly because I really don’t care.

The players didn’t have much to fall back on or a chance to win the negotiations. What else were they going to do? All of the college basketball commentator jobs are filled and with no season there were no NBA commentator jobs to do. Many went to college but not too many stayed there long enough to get a degree or any credits or any kind of an education.

They did get an education during the negotiations. They learned that they were grossly overpaid for the education and skills that they have. My guess is that there are fewer college grads in the NBA than at one of our local car washes.

In these tough economic times most people resent people who can barely talk making millions of dollars. It is shameful listening to some professional athletes while they are being interviewed. If I could get $1 for every cliché or every time they said you know or every time they butchered the English language, I would be a millionaire and the local restaurants would reap the benefits.

My guess is that by the time this column gets published we will not have heard the last of the Penn State scandal. It is a true tragedy, but it should be tried in court not in the court of public opinion.

By the time this column gets published, the Heisman Hype will be in full swing. I think that we should do away with the trophy all together. It really does not reward the best college football player any more. It just tells us which college has the best sports information director. Let the NFL draft tell us who the experts think are the best players. Their track record isn’t very good, either.

I really hate the banter between commentators about who is going to win the next game or games. Play the games. That is how to decide who is going to win them. However, in high school in San Diego winning games is not as important as who you lost games to. Go figure.

I wish Mel Kiper would get a haircut. How can anybody with such a bad barber be an expert on anything? He actually spends money on that ‘do. Is he a sports commentator or a gossip commentator? Maybe it isn’t his hair. Maybe it is a painted football helmet.

Charger fans can’t be satisfied. They were not happy when the Bolts were 4-1 and had a winning record and they are even more unhappy now that they have a losing record. The Bolts fired a coach that went 14-2 because he didn’t win playoff games. Now their chances of getting into the playoffs are slim. Slim is leaving town. So are the Chargers.

I have been spending a lot of time driving long distances in the car and I hope that the people who listen to talk radio and call into talk radio shows on a regular basis will someday get a life. Since I have been listening, I guess that includes me. I listen for the entertainment. I think of it as comedy. I hope that I don’t start watching reality TV shows. I might want to get on a dancing show.

I have to go. I want to hear who Doctor Lou and Mark May think is going to win.