As the seasons change...

I look out my window and its raining...but there is a happiness in my heart as not only do the seasons change weatherwise (although round here they change about every couple days), but the seasons are changing in sports as well. College football is quickly approaching bowl season (and the cries for a playoff are up once again), the NFL is past its halfway point, NASCAR's "Chase for the Nextel Cup" is in its final weekend, and baseball has a new champion (Congrats to the St Louis Cardinals).

But now our focus turns to hockey as the NHL is well underway along with the NBA. The NHL has had new rules last year and this year the fruit is showing. There is more scoring, the play is faster paced, there is more excitement, not to mention there is a greater parity among the teams (I mean the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup last year).

The NBA has some changes this year as well. The most talked about of the changes is the new ball. The ball this year is made of a composite material as opposed to the rubber ball that was used for many years (well most of my life if I think about it). Many players have expressed displeasure with it, often calling it the "toy ball" But a fairly large number of players do not have a problem with it.

Now here is where my editorializing comes in. The players on the disagree side are superstars like LeBron James, while folks that agree with the new ball are largely roleplayers like Larry Hughes, (BTW all the best to Larry as he recovers from the injury he suffered last night against Portland). Its the superstars complaining that I have a problem with (much like my friend and former editor Matt Baer did in his column for the school paper this week). These boys make millions upon millions of dollars and they complain about the new ball...they complain about not being able to argue bad officiating calls, heck theyd complain that their locker doesn't have a gifty basket waiting for them when they arrive at each city. Look, change is inevitable. There is a quote, "The only constant in life...is change". Instead of being all uptight about the new ball, why don't you boys just go out there and play. The boys from teh NHL sure aren't complaining about their new rule changes...they just strap in, go out there and pound the heck out of each other chasing that disc of frozen rubber. Why don't you guys learn from them and just shut you yappers and do what youre grossly overpaid for.