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Commentary: Springboro’s Ballard earned his Super Bowl ring

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1:55 AM Sunday, February 12, 2012

I can see my breath these days in our family room, so the fog from my mouth has been obstructing all those Jeremy Lin highlights. Let’s get this straight: An undrafted kid from Harvard is drawing “MVP!” chants in New York? Perhaps inspired by this stunning development, the Dayton Flyers won a road game Saturday ... in the Big Apple.

The shot of Jake Ballard collapsing on the New York Giants sideline after tearing his ACL was one of the most memorable images from Super Bowl XLVI. Talk about a tough guy. My knee hurt just watching that scene unfold, but luckily I had some melted Velveeta to comfort me.

Of all the pro athletes, football players are the guys who really earn their money. Ballard, a Springboro High graduate, likely will miss the start of the 2012 season because of the injury. He told The Star-Ledger it was the worst pain he’d ever experienced. “But what was I going to do? Not try to go back in?”

The BCS might consider a “final four” playoff system. I love the idea about playing semifinal games in stadiums of the higher seeds. That means the home-field advantage enjoyed by teams in the South wouldn’t be guaranteed.

There’ll be some squawking, but if the NFL can stage playoff games in Green Bay, college football can go north, too.

Mandalay Baseball, which has turned the Dayton Dragons into one of pro sports’ biggest success stories, is planning to partner with the Atlanta Braves and start up a Class A franchise in Wilmington, N.C. There are skeptics in that city who are critical of the idea, which might include a nice, new baseball park down by the river. Does that sound familiar?

Unless athletes are running guns or operating a major drug ring, the feds should stay out of our fun and games. I cringe when I think about how much taxpayer money has been wasted on investigations and trials involving Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong.

You know we’ve hit that late-winter sports lull when the biggest story of the week is Gisele Bundchen’s critique of the Patriots’ wide receivers. Pitchers and catchers can’t report soon enough.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2163 or bkollars@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Knucklehead  of the week

Rey Maualuga is a 25-year-old millionaire, so it’s no surprise he’s a party animal. But Maualuga needs to cool it when it comes to upholding the Bengals’ bad-boy image. The hairy linebacker is facing assault charges after allegedly punching an employee of a Cincinnati bar in the face at 3 a.m. last Sunday. Two years ago, Maualuga ran over a parking meter and was charged with DUI. He had a 17-year-old girl in his car at the time.

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