Being Relevant

Our country in in flux.  Morals, character, integrity such as I knew them growing up now seem to be ignored with abandon.  We're in attack and blame mode yet there is no satisfying end.

I'm in the same mode.  I told a reader today to, literally, take a hike.  I was tired of what I perceived as  being put down.  Thin skinned?  Maybe, but there are ways to disagree without being patronizing and like with so many things today I just got tired of the tone. Will I regret it? At the moment I have no idea.  It's not the way to encourage readers, that's for sure.  But suffice it to say this has been going on for a good while.  It has always been civil which has always been my criteria, I'm just tired of the contentiousness.

Flux?  I'm in that mode too.  In one post I'm encouraging our citizens to look for younger leadership yet quick to find fault with those chosen.  I expect too much I guess.  I expect more common sense and less sense of self than many seem to have.

Still, I think there comes a time when we who have lived and experienced much should perhaps spend our energies mentoring rather than being activists.  Not that we need to be couch potatoes, but don't need to run marathons to prove our worth either.  We have much to offer, we just need listeners.

So how does this work?  Imagine this.  A college football team from a school nicknamed 'Silo Tech'.  It reminds me of my college days at 'Moo U'.  They have one set of uniforms for away games and one for home games.  Not multiples of each. "No earrings or hats in the football complex, no dreadlocks hanging out of helmets ", no missing classes or team meetings.  Players, some good, some not so, came to the program none-the-less and they're winning.  The players have risen to excellence in their positions and function as a team rather than an amalgam of super stars. It is possible they will reach the BCS championship against Oregon, a team that is their antithesis.

What I hope these young man take away from their football experience is that team work is more important than showboating. Education is important and attending classes is how to get one.  Commitments are to be kept and team meetings are commitments. Substance is more important than dazzle.

Just who is responsible for this phenomenon in the world of college football, of all venues? The coach of course.  One Bill Snyder.  73-year old Bill Synder.  This is being relevant!

Brain Damage

What news I got while away was on the car radio when we could get a station.  The first  news I heard was non-political of sorts.  It was of the NFL hammering the managing forces of the New Orleans Saints for the practice of offering bonuses to players who would maim opposing players to varying degrees of disablement.

Oh, the hue and cry!  Someone was actually  being held accountable for blatantly unsportsmanlike conduct,  not to mention the potential of being  life threatening.

I found the excuses offered by the Saints infantile. "Everyone does it." This after league officials ordered the practice of offering and paying bounties be stopped.  Not suggested, mind you, but stopped.  As with so much in privileged segments of our population,  like professional sports,  I guess the Saints figured the NFL was just being politic, not really meaning it.

How could they think this with all the recent focus on the number of debilitating concussions players are suffering?  How could they even think it?

While the Saints whine about the severity of their punishment, and it hasn't even hit the players yet, a group of former players are suing the NFL for not sharing with the players the information they feel the league has had over the years regarding concussions and the possible debilitating consequences if not treated properly.  Big names.  Super Bowl quarterbacks among others.  The type of player for which the bounties were paid if  knocked out of the game.

The results of concussions don't necessarily appear right away.  One local high school, Washington State and NFL star talks of having to record conversations to remember what he has said.  He's morphed into a depression ridden, irritable version of his former mellow self.

As word gets out about the pending suit more and more former players are joining in.  They have no idea if they have a chance of winning or if their supposition that information was withheld is true.  I would suspect it is considering the emphasis on winning at all costs.

What they do hope to gain is recognition of how wide spread the problem has become, how many have really been damaged by inadequate protection or unnecessarily rough hits.  To make it know to coaches and parents involved with youth sports and high school and college level players.  If it starts at that level it's no wonder their brains are scrambled by the end of a pro career.

So to Coach Peyton and the others involved in New Orleans and those yet to be found out, one has to wonder who really is suffering brain damage.  It's too late for players past but not for those yet to come.  Unless the non-players who are directing the action are also brain damaged.  No, they'd have to be brain dead.

Now there is the perfect segue to my usual political commentary.  Brain dead indeed!

I'm Shocked, Shocked That Steroids Have Been Used!

It's a who's who of major league baseball. The list of stars who turned super after tasting the fruits of steroids. Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez and now (gasp) Mark McQuire! How many others I can't recall?

Strange. I thought the swarthy tell all Conseco was the most vile of the lot because he ratted on the others. Now it would seem he's the only one who told the truth!

Strange. All these healthy, talented young men putting their health, reputations and yes, actually, their lives at risk just for a line in the record books. What terribly flawed thinking.

Strange. That they'd believe we'd buy their innocent denials when they'd bulked up beyond reason and began preforming beyond reason.

I had to laugh at the "news" about Mark McQuire as he bared his soul to Bob Costas last night. The angst. The teary eyes. The difficulty of having to tell his wife and family and former teammates that he had, indeed, lied. Gosh. Who knew?

Of all the nonsense that is presented to us as news this was possibly the least newsworthy ever to have come out of the world of sports.

I'm beyond being shocked or even disappointed by these stories anymore. It's the youngsters I worry about. One more fallen "hero". The victims that loom largest, however, aren't the fans or the owners or the men who play by the rules.

It's the children of those who do not. Be they girls or boys, how shattering must it be to learn your Dad isn't the man he said he was? That Dad was not a man to be looked up to. That when asked who was the greatest influence in their lives it won't be Dad.

Beyond strange. Sad.

When Winning IS Everything!

I watched the video of Brett Favre exiting his private plane on the noon news while the reporter enthused that he was in the Viking's training camp as he spoke. I was thinking to myself what a selfish, self indulgent man-child Favre is.

Last night while watching the pre-season football game, I listened while John Gruden, Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico were practically drooling over the return of Michael Vick to the pro ranks.

I started thinking about how many people within the sports community are enablers when it comes to boys behaving badly.
Some are in the media. Others among the fan base. Owners. And yes, even coaches. However, I have to say when it's at the college level and a school gives a coach a pass for egregious behavior, it becomes perfectly clear why many of these young men have little knowledge of socially acceptable behavior.

Politicians, as sleazy as they can be at times, don't get the pass that Rick Pitino is getting from the University of Louisville! He's married and supposedly a devout Catholic. He's out with the boys. He gets drunk and while his assistant keeps watch he has sex with a woman he just met, in a restaurant yet. What? On a table? Reminds me of the tag line of a joke, "Oh well, we didn't want to come back to this restaurant anyway!"

She gets pregnant. She wants an abortion. He shells out the money. In a bazaar twist another assistant marries her and tries to extort $10 million from the coach. The whole sordid mess becomes public.

Under the moral code by which most of us live he would have been sent packing in nothing flat. But he wins basketball games. So what did the University do? Had him make a public apology. After all, people deserve second chances. Whew. It Mike's Mike Price's indiscretions while at Alabama seem like child's play!

And we wonder what influences spawn an O.J. or a Vick or a Bonds and so many more. The players' unions protect the players until the public gets fed up enough to demand some sort of punishment but by then the harm has been done, both to the athlete and their "victims". What about coaches?

Coaches are mentors and in many cases father figures to many of the young men in their charge. When their own kids are in trouble with the law, like Andy Reid's, you wonder. The players are kids themselves for the most part. Many never finish college so they can turn pro as quickly as possible. Then the "too much too soon" syndrome raises it's ugly head and infects them. The results are often tragic.

Okay, I'm not well versed in the fine points of the sports industry. I do know when things are skewed. When college coaches get nothing more than a knuckle rap for behavior like Pitino's it's reprehensible. The University needs to look at their president and parents need to look long and hard at the University before allowing their kids to attend. By the time they're ready to turn pro, it's too late.

Game Face?

We knew it was going to happen. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has reinstated Michael Vick. Yes, there are conditions he must meet, yet still...

Okay, I'm not having a good day. Bacchus is having a terrible day; something he hasn't had in quite awhile and I'm worried sick. That being the case, this news is even more difficult to digest.

I was listening to the news as the story broke and was appalled at the rationales being given. One anchor, a female no less, said she was an animal lover, but what would we rather have, Vick getting a second chance or going on welfare? Please. That seemed to be the prevailing attitude. Now why would a big strapping guy like Michael Vick have to go on welfare? He can work. He just wouldn't have the earning power he had before.

Of course an NFL team would have to take a chance on him. There is no doubt in my mind one will. I decided to do a little investigating to see what financial sacrifice he might have to endure. The NFL team with the lowest payroll is the Arizona Cardinals. Not that they would want him, but this would be Vick's worse case scenario and would go up with any other team. Their starting quarterback, Kurt Warner , will make $6,006,240 this year.

It is unlikely Vick would land a starting job. Arizona's number two, Matt Leinart, pulls down a cool $2,256,240. Well, let's be realistic. He'd be more apt to get the third slot. Brian St. Pierre draws $465,000. To most of us that is not chump change!

One thing I think should be demanded of Vick. That he be required to reimburse the folks at Best Friends Animal Society who have spent untold hours rehabilitating and caring for his dogs.

Michael Vick's sentence was 23 months. They are saying he has paid his debt to society. He has yet to pay his debt to those dogs. That's how I feel as I fight for the life of my dog!

Bonuses As A Way Of Life

The big complaint about the AIG bonuses was that they were supposedly rewarding failure. If the government hadn't stepped in, would anything have been said? No. It's a way of life that reaches far beyond top executives!

In a time of economic stress at all levels, how about signing bonuses for coaches at a time when university budgets are being cut to the bone, teachers are facing either pay cuts or job loss, and fewer students are being accepted? Take for example Washington State's basketball coach Tony Bennett jumping ship for the University of Virginia. His total package is around $1.7 million a year plus a $500,000 signing bonus! That would provide a lot of faculty pay and tuition for a lot of students! What's even more questionable is the fact he's an unproven entity considering the differences between a Washington State and a Virginia! Failure isn't even an issue here. It's for signing on with high hopes. Heck of a deal.

Even harder to swallow for a lot of students, I should think, is John Calipari's deal with Kentucky. His eight year deal will bring him some $31.65 million plus a $2.5 million signing bonus. Please don't tell me it's worth that kind of money because of what the program brings in for the school. If it was all that successful, why are the budgets being cut?

It goes even further. Let's go back to tax payer money. The Wall Steet Journal tells us of the practice of Congress giving sometimes substantial bonuses to aides - with tax payer dollars.

We're told that last year more than $9.1 million was awarded to over 22,000 staffers. These discretionary bonuses went to staff earning more than $100,000, as merit bonuses.

To repeat a theme I harp on often, Congress gives itself automatic pay raises and gives out staff bonuses. Coaches are receiving huge signing bonuses while their schools flounder. Meanwhile Social Security cost of living increases are going to be frozen for the next three years, if not longer.

Does anyone besides me see the hypocrisy in all this?

One Man's Pleasure; Another Man's Penalty!

I haven't watched much football this year. The game has become so regulated that the fun and spontaneity has gone out of it. Heaven forbid you rough up the quarterback. Heck, let them wear the necessary padding like the guys who really get beat up! Put some sizzle back into the game!

The Seahawks against the Jets was the exception to this season's viewing habits. I really wanted the Seahawks to give Mike Holmgren a win for his final home game as coach. So did the team and their enthusiasm showed after what has been a dismal season.

Penalties were few but the ones called brought to mind just how ridiculous the league has gotten with the penalties for "excessive" celebration! Jason Wilson's snow angel! What was so egregious about making a snow angel? Because there was snow! Go figure. If there had been no snow and he had made a "grass" angel no problem. But snow is considered a prop. A prop? Props aren't allowed since Terrell Owens hid a Sharpie in his sock, whipped it out after scoring, signed the ball and gave it to a fan.

Oh, I get irritated with the show boaters at times. Especially when their team is down by a gazillion points, someone finally scores and they act as though they've just won the super bowl before they get blindsided. That, however, is just a minor irritation.

But a snow angel? From a member of a team who had few highlights this season? Come on guys.

Sometimes it's not so bad living in a dog's world. Bacchus makes snow angels in the winter and grass angels in the summer with no penalty what so ever!

There are Mavericks And Then Some

If I were John McCain and/or Sarah Palin I might not want to be bragging about their status as mavericks right at the moment.

Okay, that may be a stretch, but when I saw the Washington Post story on Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks, the term definitely caught my eye. Already an NBA problem child, this dissing the national anthem because he's black is now all over You Tube.

I have little good to say about these over paid, under educated man/boys who because of athletic prowess get way too much way too soon. They are a rather repugnant combination of arrogant and petulant. Brett Farve's recent bout with the Green Bay Packers comes immediately to mind.

What bothers me about the Howard story is that team owner Mark Cuban has sluffed it off as just another unsavory incident by one of his problem children. How disgusting. I'm sorry. Mr. Cuban's attitude, along with the almighty dollar, is a huge part of the problem.

And what a slap in the face of the Barack Obama's of the world. You don't suppose Howard and his ilk are part of the reason there is still a bit of racism hovering over this election, do you? Here is a graduate of Wake Forest who can't seem to stay out of trouble with the law. He is a professional basketball player. His 2008 salary is $9,500, 000. He is a disgrace to his race and his profession.

Oh, in case you can't quite understand the video, this is what he said: "The Star Spangled Banner is going on right now. I don't even celebrate that (expletive). I'm black."

I doubt he has it in him to realize what a pathetic example of a man he is. He is a Black American, college educated and rich beyond the wildest dreams of most of us. He owes us an apology. And you know what? He especially ought to apologize to Barack Obama.

Great Expectations - Or Not - For The Upcoming Football Season

One of the things I like to do best is compare stories in our local papers to see how close they are. They often differ greatly even when it's AP filler. Today was just such a case.

I expect the local reporters to lay the groundwork for dismal seasons. Washington State seems enthralled with it's new head coach but the team is not living up to his expectations. The Seahawks are already suffering injuries to major players. Nothing new in either story.

But the AP stories about the Packers pre-season loss to Cincinnati is another thing. The Coeur d'Alene Press headline reads Rodgers sharp, but Packers fall. It cut and pasted the usual stats and told of an early interception and his passing record for the game.

The sub-head in the Spokesman Review reads Green Bay loses with Rodgers at the helm. Same stats and highlights but this story included one very important bit of information. Rodgers left the game after one quarter with a ten point lead.

Okay, fellas, is this a guy thing or what? Farve has moved on. Get over it. And give the new kid a break!

The Brett Fret

I am a football fan. I am a Brett Favre fan. He was such an enthusiastic and exciting player. Note I said was . He got lucky last season with a young team around him. Opponents had yet to scope them out. More importantly, remember the season before, he was dismal!

How many seasons has he played the "retirement" game only to renege? Now it really is time. I really believe the Packer's are doing him a favor by not giving him a release. He will always be a Packer. I'm sure he bleeds green and gold.

In fairness to the team and the quarterbacks-in-waiting, he should keep his word. And in fairness to himself. He is not as fleet of foot nor powerful of arm as he used to be. He's far more injury prone then in his younger days. He ought to remember that.

More importantly, if it's the thrill of the crowd that brings him back, he will always be Brett Favre. Fans will still clamor for his autograph; he'll still get preferential treatment where ever he goes. Such is the nature of life when one is a football star.

I remember vividly so many players who stayed that one season too long. Joe Namath will always be remembered as a Jet yet became a Ram. Joe Montana will always be remembered as a Forty Niner yet became a Chief. Franco Harris from Steeler to Seahawk. Cowboys Emmitt Smith to Arizona Cardinal. All for that one last chance for glory.

They certainly don't need the money. Their fame is a lock. Is that one last season really worth having your fans witness your declining skills? Is it worth having your fans remember your glory days as something of the past rather than going out on top?

I don't know. I'm not driven in the same way. But I'd like to remember Favre just the way he is - a big talented kid who provided years of gridiron thrills and grew up just in time to know when to hang 'em up.