A man with no quad, is no man to me!

Emboldened by the support of his fearless leader, Russian figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko told adoring fans through Russian media that he was robbed of the gold medal by judges who instead awarded the gold to American Evan Lysacek. Can you hear cats fighting in your alley yet?

Said Plushenko, “You can't be considered a true men's champion without a quad.” Uh, Yevgeny…you can’t be considered a man wearing sequined spandex and dancing like a parlor maid.

Plushenko continues, "For someone to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around his neck by just doing triple jumps, to me it's not progress, it's a regress because we've done triples 10 or even 20 years ago." And those of a sound mind believe that the triple jump is an incredible event in the real Olympics held every fourth summer.

Finally, "If the Olympic champion doesn't know how to jump quad, I don't know…Now it's not figure skating. Now it's dancing." And any guy who thinks that the words ‘men’, ‘figure’ and ‘skating’ should all go together should be a dancer not a fighter!

Hey Yevgeny, enjoy the silver medal and come back in four years. Maybe by then we will have men’s pairs figure skating and you and Evan can skate together in matching feathers and spandex to your hearts delight. The media will have another field day talking up the “drama” and the “passion” and the “regality” of your event. Meanwhile, the rest of us will be watching Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White.

If Elin was Samoan

What more is there to make of Tiger Woods' public confession to infidelity? How much more can the guy grovel in self-pity and hide from his once adoring fans before the public can forget about his sordid life outside of the media's glare? Like all things that have a (negative) lasting effect on our perception of the mighty and powerful beings that flit in and out of our television and with whom we are fascinated by, only time will tell.

Although Tiger is not the first sports celebrity to fall the trappings of the high life, he is by far the most intriguing and internationally known star to fall from grace. Was it because he lived under the façade of a perfect, story-book life with his beautiful wife Elin? Was it the fact that the guy was (before the real Tiger stood up) a clean cut, morally untouchable iconic figure with talent, style, poise and prestige?

No one truly knows what is in the mind of a man but if Elin were Samoan this much would be true, Tiger would have been dragged out into the street by her brothers, publicly flogged and then forced to buy the family dinner at the local L&L. And you can guarantee that if Elin were truly Samoan, she would have used much more than his 7-iron to teach him a lesson.

All that aside, let’s consider the fact that no matter who you are and no matter what magnificent things you can do with a golf club, tennis racket, football or a new pair of Air Jordan’s, you still have a mother who loves you, you’re still prone to human failings and when we fall, we become better people when we rise.

Three College Recruiting Tips and Advice

After spending several years now surrounded by people who are heavily involved in high school, college and professional sports, its always interesting to watch how the recruiting process unfolds. Some parents have already gone through the process and are veterans of the recruiting game. But there are far more parents who are relatively inexperienced. Not everyone is going to have coaches knocking down their doors like Haloti Ngata so its important to be prepared.

Anela Willis found that the there were more positives to the recruiting process than negatives. Her son Reuben is a Sophomore linebacker at Utah State University. Before moving to his new home in Logan, UT Willis spent a year at El Camino Junior College where he earned All-Central Conference honors.

Before Reuben enrolled at Utah State, Anela traveled the country, met with coaches, toured facilities on campus and explored every possible alternative before deciding on the Aggies.

"Upon learning all the perks of college football...lifestyle, seeing what all these amazing schools had to offer and also meeting some of the most amazing men (coaches) some who were very sincere and others who it was just a job and going through the motions...I was able to see what coaches have to go through," Anela said about her experience.

"To be honest every school we visited with him from oregon, arizona, byu, utah, cal, san diego st, utah state - all the schools had something great to offer."

Although each athlete has their own unique experiences, portions of Anela's story are similar to the experiences of other parents. It is a difficult and ultimately life altering experience.

Alema Te'o who coaches high school athletes at Bountiful High School and is the President of All Poly Sports, a full contact football camp held every year in Salt Lake City, gives us a sample of what parents should expect.

"Coaches look at the Big Three: Size, Speed and Agility.'

"Recruits must keep the following things in mind, their academic status (clearing house, test scores etc..), [whether or not] they want to stay close to home or go out of state, what school fits their major and if the program and the football program's scheme fits their abilities."

Perhaps the most important advice Te'o can give to young athletes and their parents is, make sure you develop good study habits and maintain good grades throughout high school.

"Start by developing good study habits, be on time, be responsible with your studies, practice making good choices."

Recently appointed Utah State running backs coach Ilaisa Tuiaki adds, "If someone is behind in school, their chances of being recruited go way down."

Tuiaki also suggests that all athletes prepare a highlight video to send out to potential colleges and coaches.

Most coaches are looking for a specific quality in their players and Tuiaki is no different.

"I look for the high intensity, high motor player. That means I am looking for the kid that is running everywhere. I want the kid that is chasing guys down from the back and running to the ball when the play goes away from him. This is a learned habit. Your high school coach might not be used to teaching this and that is why we think it is more of a personality trait more than a trained habit."

Finally, Tuiaki says that when shopping around for colleges, "Don’t be picky. Sometimes you are a good player but you just don't fit into the numbers that certain schools are looking for. Recruiting is a numbers and needs game. One college can't take every kid they love. You need to be up front and precise about what you want and ask what the college wants."

Bottom line, although there are more and more Polynesian athletes moving on to fulfill athletic and academic obligations across the nation, there are a lot of things to keep in mind.

Before you go shopping:

1) Know what you want - Decide which colleges are best for you and provide what you need to succeed.

2) Prepare now - Have good study habits and be prepared to workout harder than you ever have before.

3) Do your own scouting - Learn about the schools you are interested in, talk to former players.