Star on Helmet – Sinners on Roster

Posted by on May 8th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

It’s the way they do business in ‘Big D’…Dallas…the Cowboys way I guess.
 
Owner Jerry Jones, with a stealth strike, swoops in and signs LSU offensive tackle La’El Collins, the one bypassed by everyone in the NFL draft, while he was caught in the middle of the tragic death of his 29-year old girlfriend, and her unborn baby last Friday.
 
The other 31-NFL teams, while possibly interested in the former lst round draft pick, wanted more information before drafting him, or even committing money to sign him as a street free agent.
 
Not Jerry Jones.  He must have done his due diligence on the matter in the 1-hour phone call with the player on Wednesday night, for he signed him Thursday.  Granted Collis, who would have likely gotten a 20M package as a first rounder, signed a 3-year minimum free agent deal, his agent got all the money guaranteed, approximately (1.7M), and the likelihood of an extension before the current deal runs out.
 
No one yet knows who shot Brittany Mills as she stood in the doorway of her Baton Rouge apartment.  Hard to understand how anyone could kill a woman in her 9th month of pregnancy.  Amazing the lack of remorse nor sadness coming from Collins or his agent about what happened, while the player was with all the other draft picks in Chicago.
 
Police say the baby was not his (DNA tests), and say at this point he is not a suspect, just a person of interested in the unsolved murder.
 
Collins joins a team, loaded with talent, but also staffed by problem people.
 
Dez Bryant, the superstar wide receiver, is certainly an explosive, over-the-line personality, as well as player.
 
They just drafted Nebraska linebacker Randy Gregory, an admitted heavy duty marijuana user, who seems to be in denial about his history, that “it’s not a weed thing, but a decision making thing.”  That accompanied by an ESPN report he has a ‘mental illness’. 
 
Of course the early off season signing of woman-beater Greg Hardy from Carolina drew scorn, followed shortly thereafter by a 10-game Roger Goodell imposed suspension.  The police report was gruesome using words like choking, punching, slapping, and this being a 4th incident.
 
Already on the roster was paroled defensive tackle Josh Brent, jailed for the drunk driving death of a linebacker teammate a couple of years ago.  The stat that really stood out was hit (.21) blood alcohol count at the time he flipped his Mercedes in a rollover.
 
Running back Joe Randle is still there too, he of shoplifting and marijuana fame.
 
Ah the history of the Cowboys,not just Staubach and Bob Lilly, Dandy Don or Tony Dorsett, but the more recent Cowboys, Michael Irvin, Eric Williams, the ‘White House’ era of parties and drugs and more. 
 
I know someone will scream, this isn’t supposed to be the ‘Boy Scouts’, it’s the NFL.  And I know there is quite a history of bad citizens who play on good football teams other places..  If you can run fast, throw, catch, tackle, it’s okay to be a renegade, or the case of the Dallas Cowboys, be a real outlaw.  Remembering the late Chuck Noll’s comment about the Raiders organization, the ‘criminal element’, that set off such a firestorm in the league..
 
Maybe it’s a Texas thing.  Or a Cowboy way of doing business.  Part of me says it’s not very credible not to have standards for the employees who work for you.  But I forgot, it’s Jerry Jones, it’s the Cowboys, and it is the NFL, not the Boy Scouts.

Patriots – Guilty as Charged

Posted by on May 7th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

One shoe has dropped.  Waiting for the other to drop next, in New York-on New England.
 
The ‘Deflate Gate’ report is out with a cloud cover, lots of gray area, about who knew what, when they did, and why nothing ever happened.
 
The 243-page NFL probe details a long stretch of tampering with game balls by two New England Patriots staffers, not coaches, not executives, but game-day employees.  It condemns the two for information that shows this conversation had started back in May of 2014, and went thru the AFC playoffs
 
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was fingered as ‘having knowledge’ of what was going on, but there is no paper trail, or electronic dots, that connect him to demanding air pressure in footballs be changed.  There is however a number of text messages that show Brady communicating with the two employees after the story went public following the Colts allegations.
 
There is evidence the two reduced the air pressure in 11-balls to the absolute bare minimum (12.5lbs) after NFL officials had examined them.  There is evidence the Colts suspected ball tampering, and notified the league prior to the game, and then at halftime of the game.
 
The NFL probe cleared the Patriots owner, coach Bill Belicheck, and all the assistants of any knowledge nor wrong doing.
 
C’mon now, tell me you believe all this?  Tell me that something, anything, could go on in that Patriot locker-room without the coach knowing?  Tell me you believe Brady’s latest denial he had no knowledge?
 
People around the NFL think Brady and Belicheck are one and the same, looking for any and all edges, legal and illegal.  Somewhat akin to the glory days of Al Davis and his Raiders.
 
What makes no sense though, if the investigation shows this type of stuff was happening as far back as OTA workouts in May, you must imagine it happened opening day, and week seven, and in the playoff run too.
 
And if there is evidence, how come the NFL waited till after the draft to release the report?  Convenient they didn’t want to strip New England of any of the 7-picks they had in the top 100-find that strange?
 
And if we are to believe the NFL, which dropped a bomb on the New Orleans Saints for the Bounty Gate scandal, then “Ignorance is not an excuse” penalties should be sanctioned in New England much like New Orleans.  You know, Sean Payton’s suspension etc?
 
Added to the equation, is the fact New England had to write checks and give up draft picks for “Spygate”, the illegal taping of opponents walk-thru practices.  So now we are dealing with a ‘repeat offender’ situation too.
 
So now the NFL, which had no problem taking out a bum like Richie Incognito for a year in Miami for the Hazing club, and made Payton and Gregg Williams disappear with the Saints, should probably be ready to send a stiff sentence on NFL letterhead to Belicheck, owner Robert Kraft, and maybe even Brady.
 
That shiny Super Bowl trophy looks like it might have a dent in it.  The pristine image of Brady looks stained.  The arrogance of Belicheck can no longer be hidden by his XXL-hoodie.
 
Time to change things in New England, most notably the culture.  Time to sanction those who believe they can cheat, to protect the NFL Shield.
 
One shoe has dropped in New England.  Next up, waiting for hammer to drop and somebody to go down in Patriotville.



Bad Times Baseball

Posted by on May 6th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

Baseball, runs-hits-errors, and the disabled list.
 
It’s baseball’s body bag count, the disabled list.  It’s just an awful thing to see names added, almost on a day-by-day basis.  It’s even worse if you are a pitcher, because the outcome is usually catastrophic.  Worst of all, no-one knows what’s causing it.
 
Sports medicine is spectacular, what they can accomplish on the surgery table.  We’ve grown callous to the injuries, the names on the list, and the long road back.  
 
Day-by-day, you get the alerts, couched in words like MRI, UCL, flexor tendon, torn ligaments, forearm discomfort.
 
Back in the day, pitchers careers ended because of a sore arm.  There was no real prognosis, no real remedy.  Then as gains were made, some surgeries helped clear problems out.  Bone chips and bone spurs were the catch-phrases of the day.
 
Then the new dreaded phrases words showed up, the ones that were likely career ending, torn rotator cuff.  
 
Now today, it’s the famed Tommy John Surgery, the ligament transplant process, that allows pitchers to get back on the mound somewhere down the road.  But we tend to forget how horrific all this is for the individual involved.  Baseball just moves on, next man up, while the pitcher moves onto the disabled list, the operating table, and then to the rehab center.
 
The first two pitchers I ever encountered who had to go thru this were big money free-agent pitcher Wayne Garland, and a promising young fireballer Cardell Camper.  The Indians had given Garland a huge 1.6M (for that time) contract, and he promptly tore his rotator cuff.  Camper tore the ulnar nerve in his elbow, and never made it back.  Careers gone, in the snap of one curve ball.
 
Greg Harris was such a promising pitcher, then tore his rotator cuff with the Padres.  The surgery failed, he never came back.  Ditto promising pitcher Marc Prior, now a front office exec with the Friars.  Injury after injury to the same shoulder, career finished with the Cubs..
 
This morning is much like a year ago this morning.  A crisis in the game.  Last year, there were 35-Tommy John surgeries from the opening of spring training camp thru Labor Day weekend.  That’s alot of major league pitchers to go down.  The 2015 count so far, 21-surgeries, and it is just the first week of May.  
 
Today, Tampa Bay is fearing they’ve lost bright young pitcher Alex Cobb with surgery likely.  Yesterday it was Reds pitcher Homer Bailey.  Over the weekend it was likely career ending surgery for Joe Nathan.  It’s just overwhelming.
 
No one has a clue.  Is it the stress put on elbows with the violent snap action from the wide variety of pitches they throw?  It is high pitch counts?  Is it too many innings at too young an age?  Is it mistakes in how you work between starts?  Is it too much in high school ball or college ball?
 
One theory not really tested is the supplement usage.  Not talking about steroids or HGH, but the legal body-building supplements.  All pitchers train year round, with a wide variety of supplement use, to get bigger and stronger, upper body and lower core.  Now the 91mph fastball, can get amped up to 96, and every scout wants velocity. 
 
The problem is while muscle and strength, body mass and power are the end result of year round training for pitchers, as the body gets bigger, the velocity higher, the tendons and ligaments don’t grow.  Bigger stress on smaller body parts, and they snap.
 
Rehab is such a long lonely road.  Padres pitcher Josh Johnson is coming back from elbow surgery first,then forearm surgery.  Corey Luebke tore the same ligament twice, and is still not back.  Casey Kelly has had elbow surgery, then a fracture reaction in the back of the elbow.  He is back, but not doing well.  The Padres had 12-surgeries to pitchers in a 17-month span, and they don’t know why.
 
Research shows 25% of the pitchers on opening day rosters have had surgery in their career.  The numbers show 85% of those who had TJ surgery, recover and resume pitching.  No one yet has stats for those who came back, whether they were better or even stronger than prior to the surgery. 
 
So enjoy the game, wait for the next piece of bad news.  And while another arm will replace the one just lost, don’t forget what the pitcher in rehab is going thru, hoping to get back up on the hill sometime in the next 12-to-16 months.
 
Baseball.  Love the big innings; hate to report on the next big pitcher breakdown.

Boxing

Posted by on May 5th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

We had hoped for something really special.  Something we had experienced decades ago.  Instead we were left with the same old outcome.  It soiled the sport even more.
 
It’s boxing, the way it is, the way it has become.
 
Floyd Mayweather has his money, his entourage, and his own self proclaimed ideals.  Manny Pacquiao has a legendary career record, respect, no crown, and a torn labrum  The Nevada Athletic Commission has what is always seems to have, another controversy on its hand.
 
When you conjured up the words Money and Pac Man, you would get excited.  Two of the most successful boxers in a time when the sport needs credibility and quality content. 
 
I had hoped what we would see last Saturday night would be a remake of the aura-era of Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran-Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns.  It could have been, but then again, it probably could never be, for this is boxing.
 
It was a typical Mayweather fight.  Delay the bout for five years, wait till the opponent might be on the downside of a career, fight a boring defensive fight against a beatable opponent, and go to the bank and cash the check.
 
When he fights, he obviously wins, (48-0) proves that, though it sure seems his career record is against aging tomato cans.  The ledger shows Pacquiao fought anyone, anytime, any place, enroute to 8-titles in 8-different weight classes.  I think you will remember the early wars with Eric Morales , the trilogy wars with Juan Manuel Marquez, and the wars in between with people name Margarito, Cotto, Judah, Moseley, Hatton, DeLaHoya.
 
What disappoints even more than the poor fight we had to see, is the knowledge now that the Manila mauler had a torn right labrum, hurt in April, and that the fight was allowed to go on.  That and the fact the Nevada Commission was asked to allow a pain killing cocktail injection, all legal by USADA standards, but turned the Pacquiao camp down.
 
So the fight goes on, it is poor in quality, and I get the sense this was just a huge ripoff.  The MGM crowd of over 17,000.  The 2.9M subscribers on Pay-Per-View.  The $100M fight purse and the $1.5B television revenues, all gained from a bout that should have been delayed.
 
Mayweather takes his check and goes on to the next adventure in life, cars, money, women, trips, hopefully no more arrests.  Pacquiao heads home to face surgery and maybe retirement.  Boxing gets another black eye, but no problem, because there will be other championship fights.
 
The sport so badly needs an era of Ali-Frazier-Forman-Norton-Shavers-Holyfield.  It needs Sugar Ray, Hitman, Marvelous Marvin and Stone Hands Duran.  Instead we get the likes of Don King burlesque, Bob Arum arrogance, a turnoff worse than Tyson, and Money Mayweather, laughing all the way to the bank, as he was booed worse than I have  ever seen a champ treated.. 
 
The Sweet Science-boxing, as we used to know it.  Again it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, doesn’t it.

Bolts Draft 2015

Posted by on May 4th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

It was a good San Diego Chargers draft weekend, but it could have been even better, if they had not bypassed people who could have helped them at their positions of most need.

 
The drafting of Wisconsin Badgers star running back Melvin Gordon was a pro-active GM’s move at its best.  He is a diverse talent, a vibrant personality, a quick learner, and a pretty complete player, fumbles not withstanding in the Big 10.
 
He may be more complete right now than the future Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlin was when he came here out of TCU.  I am not projecting he will be a 10,000-yard rushing guy, but he has done everything, in a big time program, big time conference, and done it well.  I think he is a clone of Kansas City’s big time back Jamal Charles, slash-dash-crash.. 
 
And yes they overpaid to get access to him, and yes, I was stunned Cleveland and Miami did not take him, considering the mess they have at running back.  And the Bolts had to move quickly, because Houston was lurking out there, looking for someone to be the next guy when Arian Foster is no longer the guy.
 
Impressed early, a bit disappointed later, when the Chargers went for an undersized inside linebacker, Denzel Perryman of the Miami Hurricanes in the second round.  There is no doubt this guy is a hitter, a leader, a football junkie.  But he is neither tall, nor very big, nor very fast.  Smaller in stature than Mantei Te’o and Donald Butler, and not as fast.
 
In desperate need of help at defensive tackle, they bypassed a wide variety of D-lineman in that second round.  Oklahoma’s Jordan Phillips, Iowa’s Carl Davis, and Louisville’s Lornezo Mauldin were there.  Maybe San Diego feels Ricardo Mathews and Ryan Carrethers will grow into talents at that position.
 
The third round choice choice might have been a reach too.  Bypassing a pass rusher, they went for a small college cornerback, a hitter, in Craig Mager of Texas State.  Another young DB to go with all the young DBs you are trying to develop.
 
The final couple of picks were a small college linebacker from North Dakota State and a very young defensive tackle from Arkansas.  
 
I wouldn’t have touched Nebraska’s Randy Gregory, a real package of problems, and they evidentally didn’t want to go near LSU’s OT-La’El Collins either, despite police reports that say he was not a suspect in the death of a girl friend last Friday.
 
And they looked the other way despite working out Sean Mannion of Oregon State, Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson, and even Baylor’s Bryce Petty, some think might be quarterbacks of the future other places..
 
The national media loves the running back pick, but laughed at the others.
 
“You picked 4-special teams players with all your other choices?  You’ll have to coach em up to become players in the NFL.  Is your South Dakota on your schedule” wrote the critics..
 
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and the Chargers wanted speed and toughness, and that is what they think they got.  But with a franchise is such desperate need of defensive help, you have to ask how you can pass big time players from big time programs.
 
Yes I know Rodney Harrison became a star coming out of Western Illinois, but I also know Kenny Bynum of South Carolina was a disaster of a running back.
 
They had a really good chance to add more to compliment the Badgers running back.  I gave them a letter grade “B” but they really need more A-grade players.
 
I just cannot get away from the fact, the defense gave up 4.3-yards per carry, had few interceptions, and not many sacks, and the people at the Fortress did not really address those needs.
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