The billionaires are once again fighting with the millionaires over who gets to have the bigger share of the pie in the NFL through the collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players. With the current agreement about to expire and the two sides seemingly distant on key issues, the threat of a lockout by the owners in the absence of a collective bargaining agreement is gaining much media attention. And on the international stage that is the Super Bowl, there are proponents of positions on either side of the dispute using that stage to highlight their plight.
Having played the game as a young boy, having worked as a football referee for 15 years, and having followed the follies and successes of the New Orleans Saints for the entirety of their existence, I classify myself as something more than a casual fan. As a fan, I'm annoyed at how both sides of the dispute are treating us with complete disregard again. When football took itself off the map in 1982 and in 1987 the public (fans) were forced to re-evaluate their interest in the sport. Instead of collecting like pod-people in front the television, they began to use Sunday afternoon to rediscover life. People went to the park, spent time with family, read books, watched watched movies, etc, etc etc. Although it was a bit inconvenient for the first couple of weekends, we adapted and found other things to do. What people discovered was, for all of the excitement that might accompany football games, the game only took a few hours out of one day and it could be replaced by other equally entertaining activities.
The powers that be can choose to squelch professional football again this fall, but they will quickly realize how easily they have alienated another group of fans - fans that will find other diversions and fans that may or may not come back. It shouldn't take them long to realize the general public doesn't really care about their arguments. Professional football is just another sports that, in the modern day world of cable and 24x7 access, can be replaced with little effort. Whether it is called a lockout or walkout doesn't matter - the game won't be played. If the millionaires refuse to play for the billionaires and the sides can't to put the show on the field, I'll find something else to do (again) and be no poorer for the experience.
Somewhere Aesop is remembering the goose with the golden egg and thinking ... I told you so.
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Saints Won the Super Bowl
Watching the Saints win the Super Bowl last season was possibly a once in a lifetime event and was a thrill beyond descripton. Having watched the Saints stumble, fail, and disappoint for 43 years it was an event that most people never thought would happen. Truly, that season was marked by emotions never known by any Saints fan up to that point.
Yesterday, however, the Saints followed the path of many Super Bowl winners in years past in a failed attempt to repeat as champions of the National Football League. Although the season record (11-5) was very respectable, the season ended in a disappointing loss to Seattle that ended the 2010-2011 season. As it ended, though, I was reminded at how much more fun this team is to watch than teams in the past.
For many years, a Saints game on television was simply a matter of watching long enough to determine how the game would be lost, then moving on to other things. The game was never a question of "if" the Saints would lose, it was a matter of "how" the loss would occur. Suffering through the season was the mark of a true fan -- even when we wore the bags as the "Aints".
A taste of success can be a dangerous thing. The expections for repeated and continued success are elevated to a point that might be unreasonable or even unattainable. While I'll hope for a return to the Super Bowl and a victory if it happens, it is so much more satisfying to watch a Saints game with the hope and expectation that a victory is possible and erase the futility of the first 43 years.
Yesterday, however, the Saints followed the path of many Super Bowl winners in years past in a failed attempt to repeat as champions of the National Football League. Although the season record (11-5) was very respectable, the season ended in a disappointing loss to Seattle that ended the 2010-2011 season. As it ended, though, I was reminded at how much more fun this team is to watch than teams in the past.
For many years, a Saints game on television was simply a matter of watching long enough to determine how the game would be lost, then moving on to other things. The game was never a question of "if" the Saints would lose, it was a matter of "how" the loss would occur. Suffering through the season was the mark of a true fan -- even when we wore the bags as the "Aints".
A taste of success can be a dangerous thing. The expections for repeated and continued success are elevated to a point that might be unreasonable or even unattainable. While I'll hope for a return to the Super Bowl and a victory if it happens, it is so much more satisfying to watch a Saints game with the hope and expectation that a victory is possible and erase the futility of the first 43 years.
Superman in spikes
Or at least, that is what he looked like by breaking the world record for 100 and 200 meter sprints with times of 9.58 and 19.19 seconds respectively. Usain Bolt (now referred to as Insane Bolt) has established records that only he will best for quiet some time given the world class sprinters currently in the sport. In the 200 meter sprint, he outdistanced the field by 6 or 7 meters. For the second place finisher that is a lot of ground to make up in a race that last less than 20 seconds. He takes full advantage of his 6' 5" frame and barring injury, will be the front runner for quite a while.
He burst, at least to me, onto the world stage in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when he set world records in the sprints as well. The strength he demonstrated coming out of the starting blocks was impressive, but paled when compared to the speed he created as he stretched out into the smooth, long strides of a natural sprinter. Of course, in our modern society, many people are calling for steroid testing and others are convinced he has taken something that is undetectable. If he is using performance enhancing drugs, then the penalties associated with that will come back to haunt him. Given his exuberance, youth, and somewhat economically deprived background, it seems more likely this is a chance for him to find a better life.
I hope he is clean and drug free. Sports needs this injection of life and hope. Until something is proven to the contrary, I'm going to just back and enjoy - he is just fun to watch run.
Usain Bolt 200 Meter World Record - Berlin 2009
He burst, at least to me, onto the world stage in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when he set world records in the sprints as well. The strength he demonstrated coming out of the starting blocks was impressive, but paled when compared to the speed he created as he stretched out into the smooth, long strides of a natural sprinter. Of course, in our modern society, many people are calling for steroid testing and others are convinced he has taken something that is undetectable. If he is using performance enhancing drugs, then the penalties associated with that will come back to haunt him. Given his exuberance, youth, and somewhat economically deprived background, it seems more likely this is a chance for him to find a better life.
I hope he is clean and drug free. Sports needs this injection of life and hope. Until something is proven to the contrary, I'm going to just back and enjoy - he is just fun to watch run.
Usain Bolt 200 Meter World Record - Berlin 2009
Eagles sign Michael Vick
Michael Vick is, at least for the moment, back in professional football. Sports fans and non-sports fans are divided on whether he is or is not deserving of this opportunity. Don Shannon, a spokesperson for PETA, doesn't seem to think Vick feels remorseful for the crimes he committed related to dog fighting. ASPCA president, Ed Sayers, is expecting Vick to express remorse for his actions. Michael Vick didn't do anything to either of those groups or to either of those people. As such, he doesn't owe PETA or the ASPCA an apology, remorse, or anything else. These partisan groups are more interested in using Vick to get free publicity for their private causes than in whether or not he has changed.
While I personally believe his conduct with the dogs reprehensible, he has paid the penalty demanded of him by the legal system which acts on behalf of the society in which we live. In addition to fines and jail time, he has lost a fortune in salary, property, and endorsements. He will forever be remembered for his participation in and support of dog fighting and his reputation will be forever tarnished. That is a very steep price to pay for having been raised and coddled by a society willing to overlook so much in exchange for success in athletics. There are people who will never believe the punishment was adequate for the crime; it is their right to have that opinion. As far as I am concerned, that issue is over.
In starting over, he still faces an uphill battle to redeem and restore himself. For the moment, Vick has surrounded himself with a better set of mentors including Tony Dungy. He will find people on the Eagles staff, like Doug Pederson and Donovan McNabb, who have solid morals and will help him keep things straight. He is very fortunate to still have the potential to attempt to resume his football career. Like all athletes, his days in sports are numbered and this opportunity will be attempted on slower, older legs in a game given to youth. I wish him the best and hope he gets it right this time around.
While I personally believe his conduct with the dogs reprehensible, he has paid the penalty demanded of him by the legal system which acts on behalf of the society in which we live. In addition to fines and jail time, he has lost a fortune in salary, property, and endorsements. He will forever be remembered for his participation in and support of dog fighting and his reputation will be forever tarnished. That is a very steep price to pay for having been raised and coddled by a society willing to overlook so much in exchange for success in athletics. There are people who will never believe the punishment was adequate for the crime; it is their right to have that opinion. As far as I am concerned, that issue is over.
In starting over, he still faces an uphill battle to redeem and restore himself. For the moment, Vick has surrounded himself with a better set of mentors including Tony Dungy. He will find people on the Eagles staff, like Doug Pederson and Donovan McNabb, who have solid morals and will help him keep things straight. He is very fortunate to still have the potential to attempt to resume his football career. Like all athletes, his days in sports are numbered and this opportunity will be attempted on slower, older legs in a game given to youth. I wish him the best and hope he gets it right this time around.
The New Yankee Stadium
Read an article recently about what seems to be an inordinate number of home runs leaving the new stadium in New York. Given the legacy baseball is building for itself, the following (bad) poem came to mind.
S is for the super strength it gives me
T is for the test I'll have to hide
E is for the ease with which I get them
R is for the rage I'll feel inside
O is for the obvious reactions and
I is for the inches added on,
D is for denying it's existence, but
S is for suggesting we're all wrong.
Put them all together they spell "HOMERUNS", a word we all can understand
S is for the super strength it gives me
T is for the test I'll have to hide
E is for the ease with which I get them
R is for the rage I'll feel inside
O is for the obvious reactions and
I is for the inches added on,
D is for denying it's existence, but
S is for suggesting we're all wrong.
Put them all together they spell "HOMERUNS", a word we all can understand
On the demise of baseball
Other than the times when a nap is in order, I struggle to find a good reason to watch baseball. Game 7 of the World Series (a misnomer if ever there was one), may be an exception, but that one day hardly compensates for the six months of mind numbing boredom that precede it. I don't think I've always felt this way. In my youth, I played the game for several years, recorded 7 home runs, played for a championship team, was once voted Most Valuable Player on my team, and yet now find the sport completely dull and unfulfilling. When I'd accompany my dad to the barbershop on Saturday mornings, the older men would talk about Dizzy, Joe, and Mickey with an enthusiam I suppose added zest to life in a relatively quiet small town. As a young boy, with a 9-volt transitor radio tuned to a local radio station carrying the Houston Astros, I'd make a 'scorebook' and track the play of the game for hours.
Somewhere over time, though, the game has given way to greed, politics, drugs, and abuse. Intense media attention on every detail of a player's movements have replaced the traveling sports journalist who accompanied the teams and knew of all the 'dirty little secrets', but revered the game too highly to tranish it by reporting every player transgression. What remains today has removed the mystique of the hero exposing him for what he really is - human - fundamentally basic and flawed. Today, baseball seemingly has been reduced to 'tell all' books, congressional hearings, player deceit, lies, and tainted records. Greedy owners fight greedy players who fight greedy advertisers who fight a demanding public to the detriment of the game. It's a shame it has reduced to this.
There was a day when it was about the boys of summer and it was fun.
Somewhere over time, though, the game has given way to greed, politics, drugs, and abuse. Intense media attention on every detail of a player's movements have replaced the traveling sports journalist who accompanied the teams and knew of all the 'dirty little secrets', but revered the game too highly to tranish it by reporting every player transgression. What remains today has removed the mystique of the hero exposing him for what he really is - human - fundamentally basic and flawed. Today, baseball seemingly has been reduced to 'tell all' books, congressional hearings, player deceit, lies, and tainted records. Greedy owners fight greedy players who fight greedy advertisers who fight a demanding public to the detriment of the game. It's a shame it has reduced to this.
There was a day when it was about the boys of summer and it was fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)