Category Archives: Sports

Football

I stumbled upon this article for Salon.com and by Steve Almond regarding the professional (and extremely popular) sport of football:

Let’s Have A War On Football: Greed, Brain Damage, Tax Breaks to Billionaires and the Debate We Need to Have About the NFL

The article follows some inflammatory statements ex-Quarterback Danny Kanell made in response to an editorial published in the New York Times by Dr. Bennett Omalu, a forensic pathologist who first identified chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in many ex-football players:

The war on football is real. Not sure source but concussion alarmists are loving it. Liberal media loves it. Doesn’t matter. It’s real.

“Concussion alarmists”.

It’s an interesting choice of words and echoes the same (to me) ridiculous arguments against the validity of climate change.

Look, I’ll be the first to admit it: I really like watching football.  I wish my team (the lackluster Miami Dolphins) were in contention.

Having said that, Mr. Omalu’s studies (which are the subject of the upcoming Will Smith movie Concussion), I believe, point out something that by now should be obvious to anyone: Football is an extremely violent sport that breaks down its participants’ brains and bodies and, in many cases, leaves them with a future of pain…and worse.

How could it not?

Running back Reggie Bush stated playing through a single professional football game was akin to experiencing several car crashes and the body (and mind) needed time to recover.

This point was driven home to me when a little over a year ago, while driving with my wife, younger daughter, and her friend, we slowed and stopped at a red light and the person behind us, going no faster than 15-20 miles an hour, didn’t realize we stopped and rear ended us.

The damage to our car was minimal (we needed to replace our car’s rear bumper).  The car that rear-ended us, however, had its front end crumpled and blew out its radiator.  Given the age of the car (it was an older model Civic, if memory serves), it was probably a total loss.  The couple that rear-ended us were fine.  My wife and I, as well as my daughter’s friend, were also fine.

My daughter, however, happened to be sitting with her back against her seat and looking to her right, at her friend, when the car hit us.  Because of this, she experienced whiplash and, in the days and weeks that followed, some at times very intense headaches.  We sent her to a doctor and then to physical therapy to help her.  Fortunately, after a while -and through the therapies, which were very effective- her symptoms faded and she recovered completely.

In light of that, think about the hits that professional football players receive in the course of a full game.  Not just one “hit” like what my daughter experienced, but potentially several dozen during the course of a game.

Remember, we’re talking players who are in peak physical shape running at full speed -and colliding!- with each other.  We’re talking about hits that make the relatively minor car accident my daughter experienced look like a walk in the park.

How does the human body cope with all that trauma, only to experience it again the very next week?

For that matter, think about the hits football playing high schoolers and college students receive as well.  At least the professional player is being paid for their participation in the game.  High Schoolers and University players?  Not so much.  And very, very few of them reach the pro’s and receive a paycheck.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love watching football but I think the sport will not survive in its present form for very long.

I believe that, contrary to Mr. Kanell’s pronouncements, the medical data will eventually prove overwhelming and, as popular as the game of football is, who will want to send their kids to participate in something that slowly but surely kills you?

It was bound to happen…

I’m noticing that more and more sporting events have players dressed in all kinds of odd combinations/colors.  For example I thought the three most prominent Miami Heat uniforms were:

Then came the variations.  Some were playful, like the “Miami Vice” look…

Or the military look…

There are plenty of others and, in the last few games the players, in what is likely a nod toward Veteran’s Day/the Military, have worn this:

Of course, the alternate dress is not limited to basketball.  Football has its “throwback” jerseys and sometimes you get to see hideous things like this, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers…

…whose more traditional garb looks like this:

Why all the different clothing?  I suppose its pretty obvious: Money.  Fans who have already bought the “normal” jerseys and their variations may be tempted to purchase the variations.  Conversely, a fan who until now hasn’t bought any of the standard jerseys may be tempted to get one of the many variants.

Which brings us to the topic I wanted to get at: Sometimes, these clothing choices can go terribly, terribly wrong.

Last night, the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets played on Thursday Night Football and they wore specially designed Nike costumes for the event.  Costumes that had the players dressing in all green and all red…

The problem?  For color blind people, it was impossible to tell the difference between the jerseys!  Read on…

Stupid Nike Uniforms Wreaking Havoc on Colorblind NFL Fans

What’s really cool is that in the link/story above they provide a clip of the game and desaturate the colors so that people who are not colorblind can see what colorblind people saw -or rather couldn’t- in this game.

Lesson learned, one hopes!

Oh my…

Stumbled upon this article by Elliot Hannon concerning one Lenny Dykstra and the startling allegations he makes concerning the years previous when he played professional baseball:

Lenny Dykstra Says He Hired Private Investigators to Dig Up Dirt and Extort MLB Umpires

Years ago I went through what turned out to be a sports watching phase.  I watched local sports –all sports– that I stumbled upon.  Football, hockey, basketball, and baseball.  I was very lucky because my interest in watching all sports all the time they aired coincided with the then Florida Marlins (they have since changed their name to the Miami Marlins) 2003 World Series winning season (the stats).

I’m not exaggerating when I say I saw almost every single game presented that year, missing no more than a handful (five or less) when they aired on TV (I didn’t go to any of the games).  Of course, going into that year I had no way of knowing whether the team would be good enough to make it to the playoffs, much less wind up winning the World Series, yet there I was, watching it all.

You would think that would make me a fan for life yet the opposite occurred.

After watching that magical year from start to finish, I looked back and realized just how much time I spent -wasted, really- watching these games and realized I just didn’t have the energy or time to do this again.

I still watch football games.  They’re manageable, one game a week for approximately 16 weeks and then, if my team makes it to the playoffs -and they haven’t in an awful long time- a few more weeks at most before season’s end.  I still enjoy watching basketball, though I cut back tremendously on the amount of games I watched from start to finish.  As for hockey and baseball, I essentially cut them out completely.  In stark contrast to the 2003 season, I can say with all sincerity that since that year, I have yet to see a single baseball game all the way through since.

Of course what I find interesting or not so interesting doesn’t apply to others and I don’t begrudge anyone’s enjoyment of watching their favorite teams in their favorite sports.

Which is why the statements Lenny Dykstra makes above are so abhorrent.  I understand the burning desire to win a game.  I can even understand the lengths players will go to get and “edge” and when it leads to them cheating.  This past year considerable focus was on New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady.

Let me be clear here: In time he may well be considered the best Quarterback there ever was, but the things his team -and he– was involved in should give anyone pause.

But that don’t compare to what Lenny Dykstra states he did during his playing days.  There are those who have pointed out in the comment section that Mr. Dykstra is a liar and generally an awful person (I’m only pointing out what the comments state.  Other than a familiar name, I wouldn’t know Lenny Dykstra from the Man on the Moon) and that therefore his assertions regarding investigating Umpires is likely another fabrication.

I kinda hope so.

Yet the fact that he’s willing to go out in public and state he did these things, whether they are true or not, are shocking and, in my opinion, hardly make the guy look good.

The dark side of sports exists, that’s for certain.

Hmmmm….(now with an update!)

So last night the 2015 NFL season began with the Pittsburgh Steelers playing at/against the New England Patriots and…

What Exactly Happened With The Steelers’ Headsets?

As any NFL fan knows by now, the New England Patriots have a…reputation…for underhanded activities.  Cheating, for those who prefer less florid descriptions.

One thing New England has been accused of before is hooking into or interfering with the headsets/communication systems of the opposing teams.

Given all the scrutiny New England is getting at this point in time, it would be truly stupid or collosally arrogant for them to try to do any of that on opening day?

Right?

Yet during last night’s game the Steelers experienced periods of interference on their communication systems where the New England radio transmissions of the game were broadcast through their headsets, thus impeding the Steelers’ coaches from calling plays from the sidelines.  Theoretically, whenever there is a problem with one team’s communication systems, then all communication systems are supposed to be shut off, thus assuring both team remain of equal grounds.

in the article above, written by Timothy Burke for Deadspin, he notes one of the more intriguing quotes from the Steelers’ clearly irate coach, Mike Tomlin, regarding the communication problems his team experienced and the possibility there was of shutting the New England communication system off during the game:

…whenever an NFL representative proceeded to the New England sideline to shut down their headsets, the Steelers headsets cleared. Then as the representative walked away from the New England sideline, the Steelers’ headsets again started to receive the Patriots game broadcast.

Weird.

Could they?  Would they?  Do they really have the b*lls to do this?

I suspect it’ll be an interesting season, if nothing else…

PROMISED UPDATE:  Looks like the NFL has investigated the situation and determined the communication problem was not created by the nefarious New England Patriots but was an electronic/weather glitch…

NFL Clears New England Patriots of Headset Suspicion; Electrical Issue, Weather At Fault

I’m actually glad to hear that.  Assuming everything bad said about New England were true and they knew all eyes were on them on opening day, for them to be involved in messing with the opposing team’s communication equipment right off the bat…well, we’d be dealing with a truly, massively arrogant organization if that had been the case.

I suspect New England is going to try to play it “straight” from here on in.  They have to know that all eyes are on them and therefore any attempt to do anything outside the lines will likely be caught.

That being said, I’m curious to see, when the season is done, how their statistics measure up compared to other years.

From Spygate to Deflategate and beyond…

I’m a “squishy” football fan.

Love the sport.  Love watching it and love rooting for my team.  Yet I can’t help but wonder how long it will continue given the research and reality of what happens to the human body -and especially one’s brain- when participating in this sport.  The reality is that we now have a bunch of very big and muscular people at the peak of physical conditioning essentially running as fast as they can into each other.  How long will it be before we have an on field fatality?  I hope it never happens, but I can’t help but wonder…

Be that as it may, I’m fascinated with the controversy swirling around the Patriots organization.  A few years back, the organization was accused of spying on opposing teams.  Last year, Patriot Quarterback Tom Brady was accused of being behind a scheme to deflate the balls he used in games and was handed a four game suspension.  It appeared the punishment was a “make up” for the ineffective punishment given out for the spying done by the Patroits before, at least based on this fascinating article by Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham for ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13533995/split-nfl-new-england-patriots-apart

What I find most remarkable is the attempts by Patriot fans to brush these rather severe allegations aside.  “If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying”, some quote while others attempt to diminish the importance of the examples presented.  Still others will use something along these lines: “You’re just jealous of our success.”

Of course, there is no resolution here between fans and fanatics.

What I suppose almost everyone can agree on, if they look at the facts impartially, is that the Patriots have been without much question one of the best teams in the NFL ever since Tom Brady’s arrival.  One can further state that they obviously work hard and are a smartly led team.

Where the debate starts and ends is with this: How much of their success is due to cheating?  5%?  10%?  30%?  50%?  More?  Less?

It’s an impossible thing to quantify yet for those who so quickly diminish the cheating this team obviously engaged in I would only say this: Coach Belichick and company wouldn’t be doing these things if they didn’t feel it helped them in some way.

Anyway, while on the subject of sports…

Kansas State Marching Band Made a Giant 50 Foot Penis

Perhaps its me but…what a lot of nothing.  Do people really see a giant penis is this formation?  Seriously?

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar….