“Super Bowl Sunday Questions”

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Denver vs Carolina looks like a matchup of the ‘Old Guard’ (Peyton Manning) and the ‘New Breed’ (Cam Newton), but it is more than just that.

Football Game or IQ-Test…..Will Manning be able to outsmart all the defensive formations Ron Rivera and Carolina will throw at him?

Testing your Manhood….Will shaky Denver offensive line be able to deal with all the blitzes and stunts Carolina will send at Manning?

Broncos stubbornness….Can Denver run ball up inside against Lotolulei and Short, those massive DTs.

Who covers Demaryius Thomas…..Should be fun to watch Josh Norman and CBs try to bracket Denver top wide out?

Do you believe what you see…..Can Cam Newton cope with all the different schemes Wade Philips will throw at him at the line of scrimmage?

Spy-Cam……Does Denver spy Cam Newton-make him stay in the pocket….take away his scramble ability….do they blitz run lanes…hit him…get people at his feet?

Survivor game…..If Newton cannot break containment and move the pocket-will his lose his accuracy down the field?

Secondary matchups…..Isn’t key matchup how the Broncos safeties deal with the beast size of Panthers TE-Greg Olson?

Cornerback clout…..Aqib Talib-Chris Harrs-can run-be physical…will Ted Ginn-Devin Funchness cope with that?

1-Dimension Attack…..If Broncos cannot run, and Peyton Manning is not on the mark deep, how are they going to string drives together?

Glaring stat…..Did you know, going into New England playoff game, Broncos had gone 22-possessions without offensive touchdown?

Unsung heroes….Will this really be decided by a turnover or two and the kickers Brandon McManus and Grahame Gano?

Who Wins….Denver offensive too pedestrian…Peyton no longer what he used to be…Panthers will be slowed down by Orange Crush blitz..but Carolina wins (31-20).

Neutral field…..Carolina jumped out to (31-0) lead over Seattle and (17-0) led on Patriots-but that was in Charlotte-can they do that in Super Bowl in Santa Clara?

Who Wins….Denver offensive too pedestrian…Peyton no longer what he used to be…Panthers will be slowed down by Orange Crush blitz..but Carolina wins (31-20).

“The Snake was Sick-Everyone Else  Will Be”

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The news should not have come as a surprise. Ken Stabler passing away. The iconic-bearded-free spirit of a quarterback of the Raiders.

It’s only a matter of time before they will all pass, all the Raiders icons, and many, many more in the National Football League. And autopsy after autopsy will show the true cause of death of the players we loved to follow, loved to hate, loved to root for and again. They will all die from CTE, brain damage, brought on by years of big hits while playing in the NFL.

From Seau to Sash to Stabler, and lots in between. Names you know, names you don’t know. They all died from a buildup of Tau protein in different parts of their brain. Some killed themselves to end the agony, like Seau. Some died of causes triggered by the brain damage, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, ALS like Sash. Some died of other diseases, like the complications of cancer that took Stabler down, compounded by what was going on in his brain.

Boston University’s Brain Institute has now become the contact point for all NFL families who lose husbands and fathers and sons and friends. Their research has now shown 88-of the last 92-players they did autopsies on, all had CTE, from minimal levels to the most acute. The Mike Webster disease, named after the late Steelers icon, who killed himself rather than live with the horrors of his ailments that destroyed his family and his life. He suffers no more, but so many others are, and will.

The NFL wants to pride itself on the 963M they have funded to pay the players of yesteryear, who are suffering a slow agonizing death, eventhough two years after the agreement, not one penny has been paid out because of appeals and on-going litigation.

Pending lawsuits are still out there from players who don’t think it’s enough.

 
The NFL just released its 2015-survey that show concussions are up, 279-this past season, a high water mark over the last four years. That may be a higher number because of the hiring of independent neurosurgeons on the sideline, leading to better vigilance. We now know more about warning signs than we did five years ago, a decade ago, 20-years back.

But it is still a violent game, with big time hits.

 
Still out there is another possible suicide victim. Another 1970s star who will die in debt, unable to take care of himself. We know about the war with the NFL, giving Dick “Night Train” Lane just 695-dollars a month pension, and denying him disability after 11-years of playing the most violent safety you’d ever want to see from back in the day.

Enjoy the Super Bowl. You’ll see some guys get blown up. The term concussion protocol will be thrown around like that is a cure-all. And the game will indeed go on.

Too late for Junior Seau, Tyler Sash or Ken Stabler and so many more. The Chargers linebacker killed himself. The Giants young safety died in his bed. Stabler’s life was over in a hospice unit. A 43-year old linebacker. A 27-year old safety. A 60-plus quarterback.

The NFL should add an ‘addendum page’ to every players contract. ________________ passed away from complications of brain damage brought on by CTE.

It seems out of control, the game, the big hits, and the big damage. Throwing dollars after dollars at research won’t have an impact. Changing the equipment, the rules, making it safer, is the only way out.
The glory of Super Bowl Sunday will be everywhere. We should never forget however how unforgiving the game is to those who get badly hurt.

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“Bad Season-Team-Leadership”

 
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The losing continues. The solution is nowhere to be found. The cause, right infront of you.

 
Welcome to Los Angeles Lakers basketball, where ‘Showtime’ was special, first at the Forum, then at Staples Center.

 
Lakers basketball was about West-Baylor-Chamberlain. It was Magic-Worthy-Cooper-Nixon. Then Shaq-Kobe-Gasol and the likes.

 
Now Lakers basketball is losing, blowouts, bad shots, bad attitudes, and more than anything else, bad leadership.

The Lakers banners and jerseys hung from the rafters, are the only symbol left what was the great era ownership by Dr. Jerry Buss. Now it is an era of error by his son Jim Buss, who has delivered us last place finishes, lottery picks that don’t pan out, and a parade of coaches, hired to be fired.

 
Since opening night of the 2013-season, the Lakers have a composite record of (58-158). Think about the history of the word ‘awful’ in NBA history, and the Philadelphia 76ers (9-72) record comes to mind back in the day. The terrible Sacramento Kings teams. The demise of the Boston Celtics. The poorly run New York Knicks.

They ended a numbing 10-game losing streak last night with a win over the woeful Minnesota Timberwolves.  They’re still (10-41), very un-Laker-like.

 
But this is the Lakers franchise, where things like this only happened to other people in the Association. Right infront of your eyes, including those in the $1500 courtside seat, they are witness to this shameful product.

 
Kobe Bryant is in his farewell tour. Some nights showing flashes, other night’s firing up shot after shot, failing to hit. And then the nights he is so banged up he cannot suit up.

 
The Lakers have given us back to back lottery picks, Julius Randle of Kentucky, and Ohio State’s DeAngelo Russell, both with talent, both overwhelmed by this next level of play, both with reps of being whiners.

 
The growth is painfully slow, and there is agony watching their attitudes on the court, playing little defense, missing shots, and sitting and laughing on the bench in the midst of 27-point blowouts at home.

 
The rest of the roster, assembled by GM-Mitch Kupchack, is a mixed bag of young guys cut from other teams, D-League plays, and limited talent because the league says you have to suit up so many on game night.

 
Coach Byron Scott, a throwback to better days, is failing badly here, just like he failed as a head coach elsewhere. His glory days are behind him, and if he were not an ex-Laker, he’d be gone too.

 
But who should go is Jim Buss. They need leadership, and whether that comes from Kupchack, who knuckled under to Buss’ power move, or somebody from the outside, remembering Phil Jackson was available once upon a time, something has to change.

 
Good will and great days years ago, carries only so far. The Lakers have this TV channel, and the highlites are not game night against whomever they will lose to next, but rather yesteryear, and all the videos of Magic-Bird-Jordan.

 
The Lakers are no longer a destination point for marquee free agents. They think they can make a run at Kevin Durant a year from now if he leaves Oklahoma City. Did Lakers tradition carry the day last summer when they tried to lure the Trailblazers LaMarcus Aldridge? Don’t think so, then, or in the future.

 
Kobe vacates the first week of April, leaving behind cherished memories of 81-point nights, great years with Shaq, great fights with Shaq, and the time with the Zen Master-Jackson.

 
That’s all that’s left of Lakers basketball, the memories. The word bad is everywhere around that team’s practice facility and game night tipoffs.

 
Living in the past. That’s all the Lakers have going for them right now.

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“The Kid QB-Can Do”

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So what are we to make of Cam Newton, the heart-the soul-the smile of the Carolina Panthers?

The diverse and dynamic athlete, who has driven the Panthers back to relevance from the decay and obscurity they had been.

 
The athlete with the big cannon arm and the bigger than life ever-present smile.

 
Quarterbacks with promise come and go. For every Cam Newton there has been a JaMarcus Russell of the Raiders. For every big play he makes, you think of the failures of a Vince Young in Tennessee. For the spectacular athlete he has become you wonder whatever went wrong with Robert Griffin III. For all the hype he got coming in, he made it, but Johnny Manziel has not.

 
There will always be critics everywhere. Cam is a showboater. Cam is a hot dog. Cam is self-serving. Cam is too full of himself.

 
The preening for the cameras after all those touchdown passes and runs, 47-to be exact this year now, you must give him credit. His talents allow that to happen. He makes all the plays, without a lot of household names around him. Can you name me any of his star wide receivers? Does anyone outside of Mecklenberg County know who his tight end is. Bet few can name the group of running backs he has. And his offensive line, nameless and faceless are unidentifiable.

Should we be offended he is so active? No we should be impressed with his raw talent. Should we hold it against him, he always smiles? No, it’s a byproduct of all he puts into the game and what he gets out of it? Do we know very much about him? Yes we do, from the end product at Blinn Junior College, at Auburn, and what he has become in Carolina.

 
Yes he made an immature comment about being an ‘African American quarterback who scares people-because you cannot compare anyone to him’. Maybe it came out wrong, came out sideways, came out stupid.

 
But as they kickoff come Sunday, know this. He has played in big games all his life. The stage has never seemed too big for him. And the end result is he wins.

We respect and enjoy the business like style of Peyton Manning, the fire and tenacity of Tom Brady, the class and leadership of Philip Rivers, and the play of the other really good quarterbacks in the NFL. But this guy is different, as a player and a person.

Cam Newton plays the game with ‘joy’ and I think that’s pretty neat. Enjoy the theatrics, for his backs it all up with his greatness.

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“Bolts-Believe it or Not’
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So it’s a new day, and the story is constantly changing. Friday showed us all the uncertainty in the on-going sage of the Chargers, to Los Angeles, to San Diego, to whomever gives them a lucrative deal.

 
In a span of 24-hours, Team Spanos bought an option to buy a business building and 5-acres of land, for a practice facility in Santa Ana.

 
Then Friday morning, they reached agreement on a ‘tenant deal’ to move into the Rams new Stadium, getting reduced revenue, but not having to fork over 1.3B in construction costs, nor territorial transfer fees.

 
When all appeared lost in San Diego, the Chargers owner, announced he would commence talks with the City, to see if there was a way to build a new stadium, either downtown or in Mission Valley, some 4-months after the City-County coalition stood shocked when the Chargers walked away from the negotiating table.

 
Of course, caught in the middle of all this, is the Raiders franchise, looking like a homeless transient, pushing a shopping cart out of the Oakland Coliseum parking lot, blocked for the time being from going to LA and possibly even San Diego.

 
And if the theatrics weren’t overwhelming, this Sunday night tidbit, that Mark Fabiani is trying help steer Raiders owner Mark Davis to Las Vegas, where the CEO of the ‘Sands’ is proposing an NFL-UNLV stadium.

 
The Chargers are trying to divert the Raiders out of Southern California obviously, still with the mistaken idea people in LA and Orange County are attached to the Bolts. Doubtful, in that LA seems to be donning Rams colors from this moment forward.

 
So as talks hopefully start this week between the City-County-Chargers negotiators, we now get to watch the leverage game.

 
Do the Chargers hold the paperwork they have about LA-Santa Ana over the head of the Mayor? Does the Faulconer-Roberts team flash a Raiders logo at the Spanos family with the threat, if you don’t do a ‘fair deal’ with us, San Diego will embrace the Silver and Black, and good luck being the 2nd NFL team in LA and the 8th team on the sports radar, located below the Dodgers-Lakers-Rams-UCLA-USC-Clippers-Kings, maybe just ahead of the LA Galaxy

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Spanos, who is afraid of the San Diego print and electronic media, is using all types of vocabulary about dedication to get a deal done; that San Diego is where the heart really is, etc, etc, etc. He’s trying to undo all the acidic things he let Fabiani say about San Diego over the last 9-months.

 
If indeed he firmly wants us to believe his dedication to stay in America’s finest city, then Dean Spanos needs to do the following.

 
Meet with the credible media face-to-face, not his PR-employees. Answer all the tough questions, fair or unfair, and then go to the negotiating table to share ideas, not make demands..

 
And he should also show us his dedication, by opting out of the Rams deal, backing away from Santa Ana, and adding another 100M of his own money to match the 300M-NFL money, leading to a favorable vote on a new “Q”.

 
That would be a legitimate committment to stay here.

 
Did I not tell you a month ago, that if the Carson-LA plan blew up, fell part, fell short of the votes, Spanos would resurface down here, trying to play the role of ‘saviour’. He wants you to believe he is doing you a favor by now attempting to keep the NFL team here.

 
Not at all costs, just an expensive cost to the city, the county, the fans who will get PSL bills in the mail with season ticket orders. We are now where I thought we would be..

 
A rich man wanting to get richer, after dumping on his city, his fan base, and his integrity.

 
I kept saying his legacy would be based on leaving in the middle of the night to go to LA, or being the catalyst for building a new stadium. His scorched-earth policy, burning all his credibility currency in San Diego, is right there infront of everyone to see.

 
Now we see if he can change his business methodology, and show San Diego Chargers fans loyalty.

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