[After winning the first Boiled Sports NCAA Tourney Challenge, reader Nick B was "rewarded" with a post of his own here at BS. Not really a big prize, we realize, but what the hell, at least it was semi-original. At least, I thought it was. Then I was browing Deadspin yesterday and saw their tourney challenge winner got to do the same thing. So, uh, yeah, I'm not original at all. Whoops. Anyway, your winner was Nick and he now has the floor. -J]
J Money said "This is just ridiculous. Valpo is 90 miles away, right up I-65. How effing ridiculous. How can someone be such a mama's boy that they're "homesick" from 90 miles away. That's still near home!"
One of my favorite memories from college: Me and my now wife trekking to Columbus to watch the US Soccer MNT beat Mexico 2-0 and qualify for the World Cup. My favorite player: Clint Dempsey. My least favorite: Landon Donovan.
People who don't watch soccer ask me, "Why don't you like Landon Donovan? He's good, right?" My response is, "Yeah, but he could have been better." See, Landon used to play in Europe, where the level of competition is higher, and the ability to improve is greater. But, he came back to the States. Solely because he was not happy in Europe. I thought that was just ridiculous.
Most Americans also think its ridiculous when A) Joe Johnson takes a big contract to go play for the Atlanta Hawks, or B) Karl Malone tries to piggyback onto the Lakers to win a Championship. We are very judgmental when it comes to athletes.
But there other day I was reading a column about Landon, where the columnist pointed out that it seems like Americans don't like Landon because he didn't have an insatiable desire to be the best. Is that fair?
If your best friend told you he wasn't happy in college, and he wanted to transfer, would you call him a mama's boy? 
If your brother told you he had an amazing job offer in Germany, but he turned it down because of the language barrier, and the fact that all his friends and family were here, would you call him a failure? Heck, I moved from Indiana to Utah for a good job, and I question that.
Likewise, if your dad had a chance to move from Honda to Chevy to make more money, or your coworker who worked his butt off for 15 years told you he was going to take a job on the board of directors for a direct competitor, would you tell them they were making a mistake?
When it comes to close ones, we realize that we don't know whats best for them, so why do you (and I) think we do when it comes to our heroes?
-Nick B
