The Super Bowl Waiting Game

It seems as though the topic of the Super Bowl has come up in just about every conversation I have had in the last few days. Most of the time it has been about the game itself while the commercials and halftime show have also been topics thrown into the mix. No matter the specifics within the general topic I had basically the same reaction… doubt that I’ll watch it just let me know who wins.

However, tonight I found myself turning the channel to check on the progress of the game. The little that I saw it seemed to be an interesting contest and based on the social media streams and post-game coverage, it was one of the better matchups that has happened in some time. But I wasn’t watching occasionally to see if Seattle or New England would win another title, I tuned in to watch a few commercials (which continue to go downhill) and to see when The Blacklist would be starting.

Of course, there was also the one time that I flipped the channel and the halftime show was running rampant across the field. They seem to be getting more and more extravagant every year and playing into the fact that the primary purpose of the NFL is entertainment. It was also amusing, which was also pointed out on Facebook by a friend of mine, that Katy Perry was riding the “more you know” star. Definitely no deflated balls found in the halftime show (also courtesy of the observant comments found on Facebook).  

In the end, George Carlin was wrong. Football seems to go on forever. It is not rigidly timed both for the on the field play or on the field antics. The games get longer and longer every year with the halftime show providing viewers with a loner and longer bathroom break. You could almost hear the entire country flush at the same time about five minutes after the first half ended.  

Thankfully the postgame ruckus seemed to pass relatively quickly and the regularly scheduled programming resumed leaving the football game in the past. It seems as though no matter how good of a game it was there is always an anticlimactic feel at the end of the night when the Lombardi Trophy is raised the same speech is repeated by the owner and 90% of the time the winning quarterback is brought up to the podium to receive the MVP. It is almost formulaic once the clock winds down. Of course, what do I know, I am a lifelong Eagles fan.

Brought Together By The Gobble Gobble

I thought about posting something early this morning for the Thanksgiving holiday but after giving it some thought I decided to hold off until the evening. I made this decision because of the simple fact that the clichés surrounding this holiday have a strong foundation in truth. There were several things up in the air this year and you really never know what situations could have come up to give a little extra flavor to the festivities.

Our plan for the day was straightforward, we headed to my mother-in-law’s house to spend the day there and do our best to create another great memory for her. But first it was time to turn on the oven and create something to bring to the meal. As always, there was no recipe to be followed and once the Brussel sprouts were prepped I just looked around the kitchen for the things that I could add to make it taste somewhat edible. In the end, it turned out to be halfway decent.

We got to the house just after noon with food already out and the marathon of eating began almost immediately. With various football games echoing the background (with the occasional enthusiastic gesture highlighting the action) we all enjoyed the day and prepared the day long dinner. I guess we can be thankful for an uneventful day filled with food and family.

As we finished cleaning and began packing things up to head out the door, we decided to swing by and see the rest of my wife’s family. A slightly dangerous move as we would be walking into more food and an insistence to try at least a few things on delectable display. While we were, for the most part, able to stave off many of the treats that lay before us, we did manage to top off our stomachs.

While food always plays a big part in this holiday, it was a great time from beginning to end when we were able to see family. Both those that we had seen not long ago and those whom we have been unable to connect with for months. It was a warm and relaxing day full of food and family which is all anyone can really hope for. And with so many things to be thankful for, there couldn’t have been a better year for all of this to come together.

There is a heck of a lot to be thankful for this year. More so than in previous years (especially those of recent memory). There have been major changes and minor ones with plenty more on the way. Throughout it all we have had the support of family and friends and that is what I am most thankful for this year.

What Happens In Atlantic City, Stays… On The Front Page

According to the Atlantic County, New Jersey prosecutor it is better to intentionally beat your wife than to accidentally carry a firearm into the state. Something seems a little off with that logic. I don't know what but there is something that doesn't quite make sense. Oh, that's right, one is a crime and the other was an innocent mistake. But recent events have proven that delusional fact as the cases of Ray Rice and Shaneen Allen have caught the attention of the media and the public at large.

In the case of NFL running back, excuse me, former NFL running back, Ray Rice he was caught on camera knocking out his then fiancé, now wife, inside an elevator at a hotel in Atlantic City seven months ago. While most of this is fairly recent new, the case has, in fact, been going on for months. As it turns out, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Michael Donio and New Jersey District Attorney Jim McClain agreed to put him in a diversion program for 1st-time offenders to keep him out of jail. That’s right, he may not be playing in the NFL at the moment but he also isn’t sitting in a jail cell like he should be.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the New Jersey judicial system hasn’t been as understanding with Shaneen Allen. From The Huffington Post (yes, the Huffington Post):

Allen, a mother of two from Philadelphia, was driving in New Jersey last fall when she was pulled over by a police officer. She informed the officer she had a handgun in her purse and a Pennsylvania license-to-carry permit, at which point the officer arrested her and charged her with a felony for unlawful possession of a weapon, because New Jersey does not recognize out-of-state gun permits.

Allen tried to avoid a trial and jail time by applying to a pre-trial intervention program in New Jersey for first-time offenders… But Atlantic County prosecutor Jim McClain, the same prosecutor who allowed Rice to avoid prosecution, denied Allen's application to the program…

Without question, she should have known the law but the dichotomy in the judicial system seems a bit out of whack. While one is a famous football player making millions of dollars and the other is a single mother trying to protect herself and her children, the same opportunity should be given to each of them. As it stands, the prosecutor and judge seem to think that gun owners, however innocent and naïve they may be, are flat out criminals who don’t deserve a second thought while a little boy (I can’t call him a man because of what he did) who knocks out his fiancé deserves a second chance.

I don’t remember reading about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of your wife into the elevator so you can beat the crap out of her”. Did I miss that passage? Was a recent amendment passed? However, I do recall the second amendment which many seem to have forgotten. Interesting how that works.

Today From The WTF Files: “Silent Cheer Day”

Don't snore! It could be too loud and you might offend someone.

A big part of sports is the cheering, booing, and everything in between. This aspect of athletics only becomes more prominent as we get older and we can’t be the ones in the competition. Just go to any baseball, football, hockey, or basketball game and you know exactly what I am talking about. For those outside the U.S. think rugby or soccer.

When I was younger I can remember my parents on the cold uncomfortable metal bleachers just beyond the dugout cheering on the rare occasion when I actually showed some semblance of athletic ability. Albeit a rare occurrence I had a few moments. Most people know that feeling of those moments (some more some less) when they can hear the cheers of their team mates and family ringing in their ears. It is a part of growing up and it motivates you to try and get better.

On the flip side, we all know that feeling when we let our team down. I remember many long hits given up when I could see hear the cheers against me and see the faces of my team mates as they did whatever they could to minimize the damage. Even those moments can prove to be formative ones as you bear down, move on, and focus on turning things around. Learning how to deal with a little adversity is a great thing growing up. In many respects it is a better learning tool than the moments of glory.

In both of these instances the roar of the crowd for or against is the fuel that is needed to succeed the next time around. But what if there weren’t any cheers? What if parents were penalized for cheering? I know, that is just crazy talk and things would never become so screwy that something like that would ever happen. Right?

Think again. The notion of “Silent Cheer Day” has been around for probably 20 years in one incarnation or another and every once in a while a story pops up to remind us all of the quality ideas coming out of California. I know, it sounds like something from the stoner Olympics (Denver 2018). This year, Idaho is in the news for implementing this mellow means of ‘you’re all special’ kind of athletics. Funny, I was certain it would have been Colorado this year. From The Coeur d' Alene Press:

“Silent Cheer Day” focused on sportsmanship and encouragement without spectators yelling negative or even positive remarks at the players or referees.

“Coaches said the kids played a little better because there was less noise,” said Post Falls recreation coordinator Justin Brown.

Brown got the notion for the silent cheer at a seminar he recently attended at the National Alliance for Youth Sports in San Diego. The goal is for parents and spectators to find less distracting ways to communicate their support for their kids, such as applause and signage, and eliminate some of the negativity that can come out during a game. If they were loud during Saturday’s games, they were given a red penalty card and sent to the penalty area for one minute.

I repeat, hearing cheers either for or against you are a means of motivation (especially when they use your name or position). Incurring such penalties, even for a day, is a ridiculous waste of time and energy. And what is it really teaching these kids? It’s not your fault if you don’t succeed, the crowd was too noisy. Give me a freaking break.

Oh, wait, I forgot. It’s a California idea. That means we can’t hold people accountable for their own actions. We can only blame those around them or some other circumstance that was out of their control. We might as well start them off early and teach them while they are young that there is always something or someone else you can blame for anything that goes wrong.

I just wish that they would start silent bitching day. Instead of forcing the rest of us to participate in this crap, how about you miss and moan silently to yourself and leave the rest of us out of it. That is a day that I will be happy to stand behind.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

While everyone is focusing on the upcoming super bowl, I have been treating these weeks as I would any other. Football never had that much of an appeal to me. I used to enjoy watching the Eagles on occasion but never felt I was missing out on anything if I didn’t put the game on. And now, with all the rules changes, additional penalties, and a seeming increase in showboating, it really has lost the little attention I paid the sport.

Of course, that is a major issue across all sports. The rules are changing and removing some of the aspects of the game that kept it interesting. Hockey has fallen into this same model. While football has increased the prevalence of penalties, slowing the game down and, possibly, causing more injuries due to the hesitation of some players during plays, baseball seems to be implementing changes that are having a greater negative impact on the way the game used to be, the traditional game of baseball.

The most recent changes have taken the human element out of the game. The expansion of instant replay and the manager’s ability to challenge is something that I don’t have a big problem with. However, when it comes to umpires, monitoring the strike zone is something that should have never happened. Part of the game and part of the pitcher’s job is to know what kind of strike zone that particular umpire has. Some used to have massive strike zones like Eric Gregg and pitchers would take advantage of that fact. Others would have high or low strike zones. It is the pitcher’s and the batter’s responsibility to adapt to the situation.

Speaking of strike zones, whatever happened to pitching inside? The art of the brush back has been completely lost on the current generations of pitchers and I can’t really blame them. If you throw a pitch inside you run the chance of getting thrown out of the game. Put a shrinking strike zone on top of that and it’s no wonder why offense remains so stout throughout baseball.

And now we get to the real issue that bothers me about modern sports. Eliminating collisions at home plate is completely ridiculous. As a catcher, you know what may happen. You signed up for it. You made the decision to play the sport professionally knowing the risks that are involved. Football and hockey have had similar regulations put in place to eliminate certain kinds of contact. What the heck did these athletes think they were getting into when they decided to pursue this career?

There is something wrong when you can watch more hard contact in NASCAR. I think we should sign all these millionaires up to play a full season of rugby and see if they continue to complain about the violence that exists in their sport. In the end, toughen up and earn the absurd amount of money that you are getting paid to play a game!

So, going back to the original question, am I ready for some football? Eh. Not really. Not sure I am ready for spring training either. The real question is, where can I watch some rugby?

Back To Normal

The baseball season is winding down and things seemed to have returned to normal. Like in my formative years, the Phillies are near the bottom of the division and the Braves are playoff bound. Another year and another losing season.

However, given the recent success of the organization, this season has a certain sting to it. I am not one of those people who can just flick the switch and start watching football like the summer never happened. Baseball has always been and will always be my favorite sport so a bad season doesn’t sit well with me and will continue to fester until spring.

While baseball may have always been my sport of choice it doesn’t mean that I was any good at it. I did not have the athletic gene passed down to me. But it is a game that I have studied my whole life, mostly when I was younger, and I have a deeper understanding of the details of the game than most. Basically, I can tell you more than just a player stinks; I can explain why a player stinks.

With that said my passion for the game has wavered some over the last decade. While most fans were enthralled with the homerun records and the strikeout pitchers I was watching as the game I treasured was changing before my eyes and not for the better. The grittiness of the game was beginning to disappear, the strategy became more black and white, and the norms of the game began to morph into a sport focused on entertainment rather than athleticism.

This year I began to see things revert to some of the old ways which got me to pay a little more attention even though the Phillies looked like they should be playing in Williamsport rather than South Philadelphia (I even started posting blogs during the second half of the season). While pitchers still can pitch inside without being tossed, they seemed to be relying on pitching rather than striking batters out. And not just pitching, pitching to the situations and not being afraid to put a ball just beyond the black.

We are still a long way from what the game used to be just a couple decades ago but that will hopefully change in the near future. Maybe the league will realize that pitching inside is part of the game. Maybe the strike zone will once again be larger than a thimble. Maybe coaches will abandon the absurdity of the pitch count. Maybe we can go back to reality.

Some things have changed in the batter’s box too. Homeruns seem to be a natural occurrence again. Hitters seem to realize that there are two sides to the field not just the pull side. And players seem to be taking pride in base running again.

These players also have a lot to work on. It used to be a shameful feat to strikeout more than 100 times in a season yet not countless players pass that mark without flinching. Running out a routine ground ball should be a given not a surprise as it is today. These are pervasive on the field and I don’t know if these will change.

So, just a weekend series to go before I start thinking about spring training. I don’t know if I will be able to root for anyone in the playoffs but I will certainly be paying attention to what happens. Do I think the Phillies will return to the winning ways of the last decade? I doubt it but I can still hope (remember 1993?). But even if they lose, and lose badly, it will always remind me of my childhood and something that can do that for you can’t be all that bad.   

Don’t Mess With Granny On Game Day...

...and don't mess with mama either!

Like many work places during this time of year, the football pool is in full swing. It might be the only reason why I watch football these days. I don’t have the time to dedicate to the hours of penalties, dropped passes, missed tackles, and general ineptitude (I’m an Eagles fan) but I enjoy the fallout on Monday morning when those who were certain they would win are at the bottom of the list. It is all in good fun and win or lose it gives everyone some cheap entertainment over the weekend.

What has been especially entertaining for me this year is the diversity of the people participating. Young and old, men and women, everyone seems to be having a good time selecting their teams and humorously questioning the decisions of others. The only part that is not enjoyable is the fact that we can’t pick our hometown team or else we forfeit a win for the week (again, I am an Eagles fan).

Many would assume that all the young guys would be the ones that lend certain intensity to the game and in most places where I have been a part of the game you would be correct. That is definitely not the case this year. All the younger participants seem to be the most laid back on Monday morning.

The older men are pretty calm during the week when they are making picks and that generally carries through the weekend. Come Monday morning some of them can be a little testy if they didn’t fare well. They are the middle of the road players.

However, the ones that you don’t want to mess with are the older ladies in the building. The greater their age the more intense they are. Don’t mess with granny on game day!

Being that they are retired, these women spend what I assume to be hours looking up player stats and breaking down the matchups for the week. I guess when Atlantic City gets too cold it’s time to focus on football. Needless to say, if you see them on Monday morning tread very lightly because if they had a bad week they will take you out (the Eagles defense could learn a lot from them).

I’m actually kind of curious what it’s like when they’re watching the football game. At the same time I don’t want to risk being in their presence when the mood changes and the Eagles inevitably start getting the snot beat out of them. I especially don’t want to be around this weekend when they play Denver. I don’t know why they get so intense about the game. Maybe it’s the gambling side of things but it might just be that there is something wrong with their medulla oblongata.

Name Change?

This season (this actually started back in May) there has been some words exchanged between the United States Congress and the National Football League (recent Facebook posts have prompted this post). What have they been discussing? Well, as was reported by Mike Jones of The Washington Post, Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (American Samoa) sent a letter to Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder (along with similar letters to NFL Comissioner Roger Goodell and FedEx President and CEO Frederick Smith as well as the owners of the NFL’s 31 other franchises) urging the owner to change the name of his franchise. Joining Faleomavaega in the effort were fellow representatives and co-chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus: Tom Cole (Oklahoma) and Betty McCollum (Minnesota) as well as Raul M. Grijalva (Arizona), Gwen Moore (Wisconsin), Michael M. Honda (California), Donna M. Christensen (Virginia Islands), Zoe Lofgren and Barbara Lee (both of California) and Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District.

Keep in mind that this is a letter from a politician so the original is quite lengthy. However, in summary the letter stated the following: " Native Americans throughout the country consider the 'R-word' a racial, derogatory slur akin to the 'N-word' among African Americans or the 'W-word' among Latinos… Such offensive epithets would no doubt draw wide-spread disapproval among the NFL’s fan base. Yet the national coverage of Washington’s NFL football team profits from a term that is equally disparaging to Native Americans… In this day and age, it is imperative that you uphold your moral responsibility to disavow the usage of racial slurs. The usage of the [“R-word”] is especially harmful to Native American youth, tending to lower their sense of dignity and self-esteem. It also diminishes feelings of community worth among the Native American tribes and dampens the aspirations of their people.”

This is a debate that I personally have gone back and forth on for some time now. On one hand you have the points outlined above but on the other you have the fact that the term, however vile it may be, which serves as a reminder of a people and a battle that is still being fought for respectability and, in many cases, simply an acknowledgement of existence (you can read more about that fight in a few of my previous blogs). We can’t bury our history and sometimes we need such abhorrent reminders of the work that still needs to be done.

For now, I think the name should stay with the hope that sometime in the future such a visible reminder is not needed. We need all the help we can get to keep the fight in the minds of the general public. This debate should serve as a stepping stone to bring to light the struggle for recognition and the need to expose everyone, young and old, to the history of a people blotted out of the textbooks. When that day comes, then I will support such a name change.

What is disturbing in this matter is not the debate at hand but the fact that so many members of Congress are shifting their focus away from the issues that this country is facing right now. There are many other things that need to be done and many other problems that need to be fixed. Add to the fact that there is such little support in the general population for a proposed name change (21 percent to be exact) and you have a waste of time. If this is truly an issue that you are passionate about don’t start by going after the NFL, start by recognizing tribes that represent thousands of people in this country that have been fighting for generation to be considered Indian (American Indian to be exact). If you want to impact the lives of the people you care so much about, that is the fight that needs to happen not this headline grabbing waste of time.