Penalties

you cannot say, in 9 out of 10 circumstances, that a player lost out on yardage or was denied the stats of a big play, because it was "called back" from a penalty.

Most of the time, the big run or big pass is made possible by the penalty. I read today that Blount had 59 add'l yards that were taken away because of holds. Holds on running plays = not possible to get the yards without the hold.

BCS Rankings

I want every person who has ever managed any website to know this fact:

When your headline reads something along these lines, "Auburn Moves to #1 in BCS, Mike Bird State University #47", that means the person is clicking on it expecting to see a list of some sort.

We don't want to read about the list in text form, we just want to see a list. 1 through whatever. Thanks

NFL Cont'd

I also want to mention the insanity that is out there regarding these big hits and the legislation around them.

There are people who are saying, "how can the league be trying to stop big hits - AND - want to increase the schedule to 18 games! That's a contradiction!"

What!?

Isn't it the opposite?

It's saying, "18 games is hard, it's significantly harder, so what can we do to make the game less physically taxing on these players? Well, one thing we can do is make more big giant hits illegal."

You can argue the premise, you can hate the rule change, but don't act like this is a contradiction, its the opposite. Its rule harmony.

A contradiction would be, "Lets get mad about hits - AND - increase the schedule to 18 games - AND - make hard hits rewardable in tokens to Chucky Cheese arcade games!"

NFL's Big Hit Lies

When I say "we" in the rest of this post, I am referring to everyone. And I don't mean everyone individually, I mean a giant "we" that is comprised of all NFL viewers - and what I mean more specifically is an average of the viewers of the NFL. Don't be offended, if you feel like you don't fit into this "we", then you are an outlier, and good for you.

I have grown comfortable the last 3 or 4 seasons with the fact that big hits are killing the NFL. Someone, I'm not sure who, wrote an article this week talking about how someday we will be watching a MNF game, like the Giants/Redskins game where Theisman got ruined, and we'll see a player get hit so hard not only will paralysis result, but eventually we'll see death.

It's incredibly morbid, it's horrifying, and its not likely, but the speed and size of these men is increasing, as the sport grows more popular, the world's best athletes are preparing weekly to inflict pain on a level we cannot fathom. Death will be the end result.

The NFL is attempting to get in front of this, and I am sad that I feel like the only one applauding.

The thing I don't understand is that if a linebacker was chasing down a RB, and he decided, in order to stop that person, he'd trip him with his leg, then that is a penalty and everyone is fine with it. To get a bit more violent, we know a player cannot flat out punch another player in the stomach, that would be a penalty too. As Randy Moss comes off the line, especially during a run or blocking down, it'd be easy for a DB to wind up and sock him as hard as he could in his unprotected tummy. We're all fine with that being a penalty, as it should be.

My point is, we have accepted lines. They are blurry, at times, but we do have a sense that sometimes the boundaries have been crossed. But for some reason, when it comes to flat out giant hits on players, we're very apprehensive about making a new line.

Everyone agrees a helmet to helmet hit is something that needs to be punished more severely. An arm to helmet hit as well. I am not sure how to legislate change, but I do applaud the league for trying.

What do you do about a shoulder to the chest, it's legal, right? Well, what if they say this, "A defensive player (LB or DB) cannot hit a receiving player above the stomach leading with the head or shoulder." I know you'll say I'm crazy. I know you'll say its too hard to control yourself. I think I was of that opinion before too. Football is a violent game, I know, but lets try to make it less violent.

This is where the naysayers fall into 2 camps. Camp 1 is that football is loved by millions of americans, and changing the game fundamentally would lead to less viewership. I'll talk about them later. Camp 2 is that you'll see a lesser brand of football - that the game is perfect the way it is, and even if viewers don't notice, fans will.

I don't think you'll see a lesser brand of football, you'll see a new brand. Nobody would argue the game was MORE violent, more wild west, in the 50s, 60s and 70s...thats just how it was. They cleaned up the game was much as they could, they have made rules about hitting defenseless receivers, taking away blows to the head, protecting the QB. The talent isn't lesser, the game hasn't suffered. It's amazing the way it is.

Then you get back to Camp 1, which are the folks that are somehow using the threat that people will watch it less, that it's perfect now, and softening it up will harm it. Oh my God that's bullcrap.

First of all, people don't watch football. I know that sounds crazy, it gets huge ratings and it demolishes everything it touches on TV. People have football on, and people love TD's, and scores, and plays, and yes, hits...but on a Sunday, how many people watch every snap of football from 1-7, then 8-11? So few. So very few. People watch Football for 2 reasons.

1. Betting.

2. Fantasy Football.

Those 2 things will exist if tackling wasn't allowed at all. There are a lot of things that would have to change to make it so people wouldn't want to see if their RB got a TD.

I contend that people watch football more for the Gamebreaks, hence the immense viewership of RedZone TV on Sundays, which actually doesn't even show hits for the most part, just scores. Scores are what people want to see, not hits.

The other thing I'd say is that every single year we see an increase of player protection - the QB is practically wearing the "Dont hit me" red jersey in games, and viewership increases. We see fines for hitting increase, we see "defenseless receiver" calls increase - and viewers keep pouring in, in record numbers.

People want football to exist, people don't want football players to die. I know that for a fact. The damage that would be done to a few million fans who witness a superstar like Chris Johnson literally die on the field on a short pass because he was hit so hard, would far outweigh the temporary "wah wah" fans will blather on about if the rules change.

Sportsmanship Lies

This is one of those times where people actually think they believe something that they don't believe. Sports fans are literally channeling that inner toddler - recalling stories of George Washington & his cherry tree, and forgetting to apply the vast amount of knowledge they have acquired over their years on this planet.

This Derek Jeter nonsense is completely laughable. It is a joke, and I'm not talking about what he did.

In any given baseball game, you see 3 to 4 plays in which a player "sells" something that he or she didn't do.

In any given football game, you see a lineman decide to hold a defensive player, and hope to get away with it.

In any given basketball game, you see a player flop or act as if they got fouled.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the sport culture we have created, and you cannot have your cake and eat it, too. Every time Pedroia phantom swipes 2nd base on a double play, do we get up in arms? Every time Big Baby takes a soft hit to the chest and falls backwards, do we call the morality police?

The answers, as we all know, are no freaking way.

When it all boils down to it, Derek Jeter has 1 job - win World Series rings. He is better at that, I may add, than anyone in the last 20 years, maybe the last 40 years. He is a powerhouse, an epic Hall-of-Famer who has done everything, every single thing, that is asked of him by the organization.

Jeter knows he is getting old, and he knows he is slowing. His job is to get to first base, and he'll do whatever it takes. There are rules set up within the game, and if you can point to a rule that says, "no faking," I'll read it and respect it. Further, if there is consequence, then let that be applied.

But without rules and without consequence, in the context of a sport, I have no overarching issue with what Jeter tried to accomplish, aside from the fact that I would personally not choose to do something like that.

Do I dislike the dishonesty that takes place every single second on a sports field? Yes, I hate it. I despise it. Do I think that a player should be run out on a rail for accepting it as a reality, especially when dollars, legacy and championship are on the line? No way at all.

In any given Pro Sporting event there are lies. Dozens per game. Athletes, and pro sports, are blocks of time in which you try to accumulate all advantages you can, within the rules, in order to win. We set this system up, and we don't demand change, so what can we expect.

Next time you see your favorite Patriot trap a football and claim it was a good catch, or next time you see Garnett smack away at a player's arm and not call the foul on himself, try to align yourself with the fact that they're just looking out for No. 1, and that's all Jeter did against Tampa the other night.

Randy Moss Lies

I don't know why fans still think the sport - football in this case - starts and finishes between the white lines, during game play only.

Athletes are athletes on and off the field. Sports are sports in locker room, press room and the playing surface.

The Patriots won today. Good for them. They won 38-24, in week 1. They could go 14-2, and they could go 6-10. Neither would surprise me. Neither will have anything to do with what Randy Moss said after the game.

Moss was a big part of the win - he clearly is still a fantastic player. Their success will be in part due to how well he plays, and he has feelings. He has emotions. He also has a reasonable desire to take care of himself.

Moss isn't a Patriot only from 1pm - 4pm, Moss is a Patriot 24/7. He is allowed to complain about the organization, team and his situation as much as he wants.

Why aren't people killing Logan Mankins for his childlike antics. Why aren't people killing the Kraft oligarchy for theirs?

We are dealing with very selfish people. Ego people. This is always going to be a difficult pill for fans to swallow, but you have to swallow it. We used to live in a world where you could enjoy an old fashioned ball game on the field and that was that...but that isn't sports life anymore.

Sports is the game, the contract, the negotiation, and everything in between.

What Moss did in the press conference today was no more offensive to me than a dropped ball on the field. I think the coaching staff, GM, President and players themselves feel the same way, but that's just me.

In his own words, which fans need to hear, "This is not football, football leaves you in college and high school. This is a job, Man."

Randy is right. Listen to him and get used to it. You're going to hear a lot of that this season and into the off-season, and you'll be hearing it 12 months from now when all of these greedy gentlefolk are complaining about how to divide up the cash pie. Randy will look like a saint compared to these owners, and you'll be pining for his crooked Giants cap.

The New York Jets lies

I am so excited for this. I am so excited for an immense collapse, a train wreck before even leaving the station, an egg-on-the-face embarrassment of epic proportions.

The NY Jets were 7-7 last year when the Colts quit. They removed Manning from the game, the Jets won, and then they won their final regular season game v. a Bengals team who was sitting just about everyone. Carson Palmer's little brother was QB, no joke, his little brother.

The Jets are starting on HBO's Hard Knocks this week. The show is awesome no matter who the team is, but it has had its good and bad years. Good years were the Ravens, which was the first year of the show. Bad years were Campo's Dallas Cowboys, b/c they were clearly in it for the show, and not for football.

The Bengals last year were in it for football, and they had a challenging year, but it was clear Marvin Lewis wasnted to win games, while Campo wanted to be on TV.

Everything, every piece of evidence, is pointing towards Rex Ryan joining the Campo club. On a side note, I find it so sad that you were at one time a team's head coach now you are on the sidelines as their Secondary Coach. Thats just really sad, nice career progression, Campo.

The lies that are taking place are partially a media creation, and partially a Rex Ryan creation. The Jets made the AFC Championship, which we know in the case of January 2010 really meant that they played 3 good weeks of football - they didn't put together a season for the ages, they didn't put together a historic run - they played a few good weeks of (defensive) football.

Darrelle Revis is the real deal. I wrote a post last year praising him and it was justified. They enter camp with him on the bench. He is like Troy Polumolu, he is the kind of player that completely changes the way a team plays defense. Without him, the lies of the Jets success will be greatly misprognosticated. They are a bad football team without Revis, period.

Even with Revis, they have their question marks. Aside from Shonn Greene, who looks to be incredible at RB, they have nothing. Tomlinson is toast, and beyond that they cobble a team together. Mark Sanchez hasn't proven anything yet at QB, he doesn't even really have control of the offense, not yet at least.

I don't need to go position by position, but the fact that Rex Ryan wrote a book, is calling the Jets out to be the championship team, and that he cannot get his best player in camp to be with the team as their TV show is about to start - its all the sign of a prima donna team, clutching to the Broadway Joe Jets identity, but this time without actually upsetting the Colts.

The Jets will finish 7-9, any other prediction is a lie.