We Will Rock You

ESPN: The Magazine's Seth Wickersham penned a nifty little piece in the latest issue. He travels to the UK to interview Queen guitarist Brian May. May, of course, composed We Will Rock You, a sports anthem classic.

Who knew We Will Rock You was not intended to excite an audience but actually subdue one? Apparently Queen audiences in the '70s were too rambunctious, and the band wanted a piece that would quiet the crowd so it would listen to its operatic tunes.

May says he intended to write "depressing lyrics that described, as he says now, 'the fuility of man.'" The chorus is not a call to arms but is instead intended as a gentle reassurance. May says he even borrowed the infamous lyrics from a Czech lullaby.

Live and learn.

Wickersham concludes that We Will Rock You isn't ruining sporting events. No, he notes the power of music helps us form a singular community.

That said, it's unfortunate Americans will likely never get as organized as these Liverpool Football Club fans.

Bengals' Lewis Need Not Apologize

The Cincinnati Bengals never fail to embarrass long times fans. As if the last two thoroughly humbling games--themselves inane exercises in offensive futility versus the New York Jets--weren't enough, the latest setback comes from head coach Marvin Lewis himself. Today he apologized for not winning playoff games.

Head coaches needn't apologize when the team's owner fails, twenty years running, to hire someone with football operations expertise to oversee general operations. The problem's not coaching. The problem's the lack of player personnel, clean and simple.

The team is short a good wide receiver (we need someone to replace the late Chris Henry or T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who should never have been permitted to leave under free agency) and a stout defensive back or two. Until those holes are filled, this team will be lucky to again win 10 games in any given season.

So it goes.

Humanitarian Bowl Year's Best?

The 2009 Humanitarian Bowl may well prove to be the year's best college football bowl game. In case you missed it, the competition matched Bowling Green versus Idaho. Both teams played a hard-fought game, with BG's record-setting wide receiver Freddie Barnes scoring three touchdowns himself. Idaho, too, fought valiantly, even when all seemed lost. The Falcons looked to have won the game, with just 32 seconds to play, but Idaho overcame improbable odds to not only run the length of the field for a touchdown but convert a gutsy two-point conversion for the win. I'm not sure I saw a better football game this year.