Bigger and better things

While national signing day seems larger than life these days, with football and basketball players calling press conferences to announce their schools of choice, it's not always as depicted. Local athletes also sign letters of intent with little fanfare.

Middletown High School senior Rico McCray is one of those players. A four-year starter at tailback, McCray has chosen to play his college football at Bryant University, which made the switch from Division II to the Football Championship Subdivision three years ago.

Mike Casey, a Wakefield resident who played boys soccer at St. George's School, will head to the University of Rhode Island next season on a scholarship, and Middletown softball players Lauren Paiva and Grace Eng are bound for Providence College and Elon University in North Carolina, respectively.

Super Bowl stupidness

Every year, the extra week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl seems worse and worse. There's only so much to analyze, and so the national media picks up on any hint of a story and runs wild.

When else but Super Bowl week would "news" of a disagreement over a team photo get so much air time?

The Packers have handled about as well as a team could the so-called controversy about who will and will not be in the team's Super Bowl photo. Sometime last week, the earth-shattering story broke that the 16 players Green Bay has on injured reserve wouldn't be in said photo because they'll arrive too late to the Dallas area. Angry Twitter posts from some of those injured players caused a big-time hubbub that actually had some opining that this kind of distraction would be detrimental to the Packers' chances of winning the game (yes, there is a game at the end of all this nonsense).

Luckily, with some intervention from players who aren't on IR, this potential catastrophe was averted. Yet somehow, it remains the most talked-about team photo shoot in the history of team photos.

If it's not the Packers team photo, it's whether Troy Polamalu or Clay Matthews has the better hair. If it's not hair, it's Ben Roethlisberger dodging questions about his sordid offseason or assertions that the Steelers' wealth of Super Bowl experience gives them a decided edge. As if 45 professional football players are going to curl up in the fetal position and start crying in terror when they take the field.

In the unlikely event that those non-issues die, we'll probably have to listen to how Aaron Rodgers shaving his beard before the Super Bowl spells doom for the Packers, because Steelers defensive lineman Brett Keisel didn't shave his and that somehow gives him an advantage. Perhaps James Harrison got new contact lenses and will better be able to locate Rodgers. What if Greg Jennings bumps his arm on the podium during media day? What ramifications might that have? Unnamed sources within the Steelers organization indicate that Mike Tomlin and Hines Ward got into a heated discussion about which Dallas-area restaurant has the best mashed potatoes.

Sunday night can't come soon enough.

To rush, or not to rush

It's a phenomenon that started long, long ago but is getting a little out of hand: college students rushing the court after their men's (or women's, but not really) basketball team upsets a ranked opponent.

Two years ago, I was courtside when Providence College knocked off No. 1 Pittsburgh at the Dunkin' Donuts Center and the students quickly made their way to center court to celebrate. It was one of the few times a floor rushing was justified. Last week, the Friars defeated No. 8 Villanova and the students again couldn't wait to get out of their seats to jump up and down with the team.

One night later, Indiana, a once-proud program, defeated No. 21 Illinois 52-49. Lo and behold, the Hoosiers went nuts and the student body joined them. Bobby Knight would be rolling over in his grave if he were dead. No. 21? Is that even an upset? Not really, when you consider the Hoosiers are now 2-6 in conference play and the Illini are 4-4.

There needs to be rules implemented on when, and when not, to rush the floor. If you can answer any of these questions with a "Yes," then go ahead and go nuts:

-Is the team your team just beat ranked in the top five, and are you unranked?
-Does the team your team just beat have at least twice as many wins as your team?
-Has it been more than a season since your team won a game?
-Was this victory in the national championship game?

If you answered "No" to all of these questions, stay on the sidelines because you’re embarrassing yourselves … and your team.