This pandemic we are in has really dampened the spirits of many sports fans worldwide. However, you can be rest assured that your humble blogger will never cave in to a pandemic. Take courage and together we will emerge stronger and more united than before.
Sports is coming back. It’s a matter of when, not if. But we have to have an attitude of “Charge!”, not “Retreat!”, if we’re going to win this war. There’s no way around it.
Read MoreSign stealing in Major League Baseball.
The Astros got caught using technology to steal signs of catchers designed for the pitcher’s exclusive use. A runner on second should be the only one authorized to relay the sign to the hitter, not a centerfield camera or someone in the hitters’ team’s dugout whacking a trashcan. The integrity of the game is in question.
The penalties for illegally stealing signs are in this case a one year MLB ban. The team subsequently let the offenders go and as of the time of this writing there is one more hammer to drop.
The penalties are harsh, warranted, and insufficient at the same time. Harsh because the punishees didn’t themselves engage in the activity. They were warranted because the punishees should have put a stop to the practice yet they didn’t...
Read MoreAh, the old helmet to helmet hit. Yes it made football popular in the 1970s, but, because people’s brains turned inside out, it is banned at all levels of football.
I have always said there are times to be macho, and only to a certain extent. What Raiders LB Vontaze Burfict calling a meeting with Jack Doyle’s mind, aka hitting his helmet with his helmet, was just simply bush league. Burfict got what he deserved, though the suspension will likely be cut in half on appeal.
Now, the fun part. I hope the NFL and NFLPA sanction a made for TV event where Burfict is tied to a goal post and the offensive players who now have future CTE because of Burfict tee off on him.
Sweet vigilante justice.
Read MoreDomestic violence is never an acceptable occurrence, and those who engage in it should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Those that cover it up should also be punished but to a lesser extent
Let’s face it, “The cover-up is worse than the crime” is merely a myth. It is known as being an accessory after the fact, which calls for more leinent punishment. The justice system subscribes to this theory. If Perpetrator A hits Victim B, A goes to jail. If Coach C knew about it for years and doesn’t do diddley squat, C is fired. However, if C reported it to his boss, Athletic Director D and D does nothing, then D takes the fall and C gets disciplined only lightly, like a multi-game suspension.
To be fair, we don’t know if B is telling the truth...
Read MoreThere are injustices throughout our world but in sports the greatest injustice is that Colin Kaepernick still is not on an NFL roster as of the time of this writing. Yes, he knelt for the national anthem. Yes, he wore socks that depicted police officers as pigs. My message to NFL executives is “Get over it.” It’s been a year and the man has every right to have a career in the NFL. He is better than most starting QBs in the league.
As someone who has seen people of his own race supress people of Colin Kaepernick’s race for more than three centuries, allow me to say that these injustices have to end or else we all will suffer very severely for a very long time...
Read MoreTom Brady. LeBron James. Two examples of authentic greatness. 8 Super Bowl appearances. 8 NBA Finals appearances. Who did the two each have around him? Nobody.
Stephen Curry. Kevin Durant. Draymond Green. Klay Thompson. All Golden State Warriors at the same time. This group is the epitome of manufactured greatness, meaning they didn’t have to work hard because, as the old adage goes, “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” That is used by those with a rather weak ideology.
To be the best, you gotta beat the best. Don’t join forces with the champs just because you can’t beat them in the championship round. Joining a title holder who won the title two seasons prior is gutless, because they really don’t need you to win the championship...
Read MoreOn Monday, December 4, 2017, a football game was held in Cincinnati between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. It featured multiple personal fouls, injuries, suspendable offenses, but, most damning, a player who may never walk again.
For the Shazier hit that paralyzed him from the waist down, he committed the cardinal sin of tackling/hitting: He had his head down on impact. Key thing to consider.
As for the nature, being masculine is OK. Being too much of that is a problem. Football is and embodies masculinity. The overmasculinity of teams like the Steelers and Bengals is toxic masculinity, while being smarter in hitting/tackling is acceptable masculinity.
Course of action: Implement a rule that if a player lowers his head to hit someone, that player is to be ejected...
Read MoreEarlier this year Aaron Hernandez hung himself from a prison window. Fast forward to last week where it was discovered that he had the second most severe case of CTE, a degenerative brain disease, caused by repeated severe blows to the head. But did Aaron Hernandez actually have CTE?
He was allegedly, a frequent drug user. I heard from two different sources that Mr. Hernandez did drugs like marijuana and angel dust, or PCP. Could they have contributed to his brain’s decadence?
We still do not know about whether or not it was CTE that claimed the life of Aaron Hernandez. His rampant drug use, allegedly, likely was the main factor and, contrary to popular opinion, not CTE. So what can be done to combat this?
Two things can be done to marginalize the number of cases like Aaron Hernandez...
Read MoreAhh. Baseball, America’s pastime, is currently a topic rarely shown at the top of sports analysis or sports news shows, so what can be done to rectify the situation? I have three steps.
1. Install a game clock to run continuously for three hours with exceptions for extra-curricular activity like slowing the game down in any way. Nine innings have to be completed at a minimum. If, after nine innings, regardless of score, there is still time on the clock, the teams should continue playing until time expires.
2. While the NFL and NHL have a frequent issue with caving in each other’s brains, baseball is like a field full of crops waiting to be harvested...
Read MoreTanking, a practice used by professional sports teams in America to get a top draft pick, has been a practice commonly seen in recent years. Proponents say it’s necessary to improve the team, while opponents of it say it abuses the concept of competition.
Let’s face reality, America; we can no longer tolerate tanking. It undermines the spirit of competition in a manner that is unacceptable. The 1919 Chicago White Sox tanked and threw the World Series that year. The players responsible were banned for life as a result. Another example, the 2011 Indianapolis Colts tanked so they could draft Andrew Luck. Where has that gotten them? Zero Super Bowls since he was drafted.
What should we do about tanking, you might ask? For players involved, the penalty should be a hefty fine...
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