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Roger Goodell is at it again in his mission to destroy football as we know it. The NFL commissioner, who was just re-signed to a five year contract extension, appeared on television recently exclaiming he would possibly ban the three-point stance from the game.
The three-point stance has been a part of the game itself since its beginning, and has actually existed longer than the actual football itself. The ball has gone through transformations in both shape and the materials used to construct it, yet the three-point stance has gone untouched.
The thought of taking the three-point stance away from the game is virtually akin to the game of baseball deciding to ban to use of bats. It makes about that much sense, but this is the nonsensical definition that embodies the Goodell administration.
An era of continued perpetuated confusion that has put the quarterback virtually in a glass bubble wearing a dress to separate from the rest of the competition. A faux pedestal aimed as a marketing tool more than to protect the leagues anointed golden child.
Goodell gives lip service that his reasons are to try to prevent injuries, but the words come from a man who led a privileged childhood provided by a New York Senator as the patriarch of the family. A man who hasn't played organized football since high school, and used his fathers connections to get a job with the NFL fresh out of college.
He was eventually taken under the wing of then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue, a lawyer who played the game of basketball in college and was as clueless as Goodell. It made for a perfect partnership where a fool mentored another fool on how to effeminate the action on the gridiron, prefer greed over honor and dignity that the NFL tries to claim they embody, and ostracize the players from their own union that is always led by a league owned puppet.
Through the years, the game of football has certainly shown that it has a violent side. The league and media likes to label the games as "wars" and "battles", where the participants are called "gladiators" and "soldiers". The men who play the game realize and embrace the violence in their quests to be champions.
With this violence comes injury. It is as much a part of the game as the flesh and blood that pushes against one another until the final whistle that signifies the end of the scrum. There have been innumerable broken bones, sprained and torn ligaments, concussions and more along the way in a game that has even cost many people their lives on the actual field of play.
Concussions have recently been in vogue for discussions in and around the NFL. Though there have been countless players whose quality of life was greatly hindered because of the game, the NFL has now taken a pretend stance on caring after decades of neglecting and totally ignoring these occurrences. One theory of this new found stance is because of the litigious possibilities that can be born, though the league has defeated other players lawsuits that tried to bring attention to this problem in the past.
Though gridiron legends like John Mackey and Mike Webster are amongst the most recognizable men whose lives were afflicted with brain injuries stemming from concussions, it took the NFL decades to even intimate they recognize the effects. Many retired players are currently sitting at home disabled and forgotten by a players union that obviously does not care about them and does not truly acknowledge their contributions to help make the game as wealthy as it is today.
A union that has so neglected the players they represent, many feel it is manipulated by the league. With the current strained labor relations between players and the league, it appears the lip service Goodell gives is a smoke screen to get the players to accept a contract for less than they truly want to offer to avoid the almost seemingly inevitable lockout on the horizon. Business as usual in the greed mode that Goodell exudes.
Now that it is evident the game has five more years of Goodell to destroy it further with his incompetent regime, the question will be what is next after he gets his way in taking away the three-point stance. Will they have players wear flags on their dresses while adopting the college overtime rule? Perhaps he will order all personnel to be castrated so they will become the benign eunuch that he is?
One certainty does arise with Roger Goodell at the helm of this massive monetary ship that barrels over the waters that carry it without concern of what lies in its wake. This is not your fathers NFL, nor is it even the NFL those old enough to read this article grew up with. It is much worse and worsens with each destructive day with the deficient Goodell in office.
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Attention YouGab Gabitants. You’re regularly scheduled broadcast has been hijacked. We are broadcasting this blog from a space unknown and is most definitely not in the broken stall of the Tavern’s men’s room. To emphasize our intentions in taking over this segment, we have the following message from our leader…
What the hell are you guys doing back there? I’m trying to conduct a hostile takeover of this timeslot, and you’re screwing it all up with this childish prank.
Anyway, while we sort through our, err…technical difficulties, I’ll proceed with conveying our messages.
Firstly, I want to discuss the recent article written by Ken Rosenthal over at Fox Sports. Now, as a baseball fan, Rosenthal is normally one of my favorite reads, but I felt the need to address this one particular post of his. It’s actually a follow-up piece to one he wrote in 2008 that paid special attention to the Red Sox and the demographics of their roster at that time, particularly how much is leaned toward white ballplayers. In this new post, Rosenthal laments having written the first one because of the backlash it received, as well as it being featured on white supremacy websites. But rather than letting sleeping dogs lie, Rosenthal then goes into an analysis on how the Red Sox have added two African-American players (Mike Cameron and Bill Hall), as well as Adrian Beltre, a Dominican, to their roster this off season and labels this as a positive development.
Now, I’m not trying to push racial buttons at all. Rather, I’m simply pointing out that while Rosenthal feels badly about having written a piece that never needed to be done, he has no problem in further investigating the issue. Sure, it comes off as self-serving during an otherwise slow news time for Major League Baseball, but again, it’s a piece that doesn’t need to be written. Hell, in his own post, he contradicts the need to even discuss it when he quotes Mike Cameron as saying, "Different teams go through stages where they have more or less African-American players on their roster. With only about nine percent in the league, it's going to happen."
Obviously, Major League Baseball is aware of the disparity in terms of the presence of African-American players in baseball. However, they also realize that the issue isn’t buried in racism, it’s in the marketing of the game toward that particular demographic. Knowing that they lagged behind the NBA and the NFL in terms popularity among African-Americans is precisely why MLB has established centers across the country to teach the game and to showcase it to all races.
My point here is that you don’t write a post to discuss racism in an area where no one is crying foul unless you want to drum up discussion or start a fire. There are enough people throwing that card down on every side of the argument, do we really need to create more hostility just to drum up winter readers?
Alright, I needed to get that off my chest like Tila Tequila needed to Tweet another cry for attention. Anyway, let’s move on.
So what’s the deal with all these NBA players flaunting their junk on the internet? A couple weeks back, Greg Oden of the Portland Injured Reserve apologized to fans and the league for pictures that were leaked of him and his geriatric ding-a-ling online. Now, just a couple of weeks later, George Hill of the San Antonio Spurs is crying sorry about the same shit. Hey, I have something to share with you guys; YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO PHOTOGRAPH THE WOMEN, NOT YOURSELVES. Taking nude photos as a guy serves only two purposes; sending to your “secret partner” or securing yourself a spot on the next episode of “To Catch A Predator.” So unless you’re going for either one of those coveted slots, just put down the cameras already and play basketball.
There’s been a lot of talk in gold this week about Tiger Woods making a possible return to the game soon. My question, why didn’t is come last week during the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour. Seriously, it would seem to me that a guy who now has a known history of washing his balls at every tee would do so in the Middle East where he doesn’t have to worry about the women talking about his escapades.
Alright, and one last thing before I go. I want to touch on a topic that no one else has this week; the rape lawsuit against former Cowboy and all-around scumbag Michael Irvin. Now, Irvin’s the kind of guy you want to root against like you were picking sides in a battle between Clamidia and a condom, but I’m going to take his side here for a second. Now before you get all antsy, I’m not defending the douche. Instead, I’m going to praise him for his decision to fight this by counter-suing the accuser. That’s right, I’m about done with this barrel-scraping, gold-diggers looking to make a quick buck off of every athlete out there. If there was any validity to her accusations, she would have gone to the police. Instead, she thought about how she could make money off the deal and went that route. Well, Irvin wasn’t going to have any of that shit and saw her bet and raised her. Too often these guys sit back and proclaim their innocence only to settle up out of court. Irvin decided he wasn’t going to have his name dragged in the mud and if she was going to slander him, he was going to slap her back. For once, the dude was thinking for himself without the coke.
Finally, it appears we finally got our shit together and have that recorded message ready from our fearless leader…
DAMMIT!!! You guys are all fired. Rest assured though America, and Gabitants, we’ll be back stronger than ever…Until then, I'll leave you with my latest Experiment with Photoshop at the top and the reminder that it’s Truck Day and I’m going to enjoy it!
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Happy Thursday Gabbers!
Time has certainly flown by this week. It seems like it was only yesterday that Peyton Manning was walking off the field in Miami with his head hung in shame after blowing yet another chance to be the greatest quarterback of this generation. But it seems that he doesn't want the title, because every time he has the opportunity to step up he seems to choke it away and leave the rest of the world wondering if he's really as good as advertised.
Regardless of how it happened, my congratulations go out to the Saints for finally bringing a title to the city of New Orleans. If there's a city that deserves to feel good about something, it's certainly New Orleans - after all the hell they've been through since Katrina it's nice to see that they have something positive to talk about for the next few months. And I couldn't be happier for Drew Brees. It's nice to see the once thought of castaway rise to the occasion and win the MVP of the biggest game of the biggest sport in America.
And I have to be honest. I got a little misty-eyed when I saw Brees celebrating with his kid on the field. As a father I can relate to that. Brees showed me that he gets it: he understands what it's all about, and he showed his down to earth personality instead of being like most athletes with the "get away from me douchebag" attitude. I would much rather see guys like Brees win every year than see some of the selfish primadonnas come away with awards and recognitions - it just makes sports more interesting to watch in my opinion.
But, all was not well with the Super Bowl. I don't know about you guys, but I was grossly disappointed with the halftime performance by The Who. They sucked out loud, and I don't know what went wrong (other than everything), but it was one of the worst halftime performances I have seen in my life.
I know the NFL is worried about another "Teet-Oh" Jackson incident, but seriously guys - can we please get someone a little more contemporary to perform? I know last week I said that I didn't see anything wrong with The Who, but that was before I knew they were going to be as bad as they were. Can we please get over the geriatric tour for the Super Bowl and get someone who wasn't around during the FDR administration? But, because I am a solutions oriented person, I have some suggestions.
For the Super Bowl halftime show to be relevant again, the NFL and the networks have to get someone who appeals to the masses, so here is a list of groups and/or artists that should be considered for the halftime show at Super Bowl XLV:
1. Pearl Jam - Seriously, how could halftime be more awesome?
2. The Eagles - I know they're older, but they're still cool.
3. Our Lady Peace - I can't think of any other reason than they're freaking awesome.
4. John Mayer - I think he's a douche, but it would be better than The Who.
5. Aerosmith - Why haven't they done one by themselves yet anyway?
6. Daughtry - Contemporary and cool, these guys would be a perfect act.
7. The Fray - I think they're popular enough to draw interest.
8. Dave Matthews Band - Again, why haven't they done one yet?
I know that the NFL is scared to death that another nipple is going to find it's way on everyone's television screen, but the parading of old washed up groups to ensure it never happens has to stop. I don't know if next year will finally be the year that the halftime show is respectable again, but I sure hope so - because if they keep going down the road they've been down over the past 4 years, it won't be long before we're watching the halftime show with Barry Manilow, and that can't be a good thing.
That's all for this week. Feel free to leave your thoughts on who you would like to see in next year's halftime show in the comments section below.
Until next Thursday...
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Well folks, another weeks gone by, and yours truly is still not smoke free. Guess that makes me the 2008 Lions of quitting. Well, let's hope week 4 brings better results, kind of like this year's Super Bowl did.
And with that brilliant segway, let's talk about the big game. Saints win, Peyton makes a costly mistake,and Drew Brees, one of the classiest guys in the NFL, get the MVP award. The biggest story of the game, though, has to be the boulder like set on Saints coach Sean Payton. An onside kick to open the second half, down just 10-6... now that's the guy you want to go to war for. I mean, if you get the football, you get momentum on your side; if you don't, you give Peyton Manning great field position and a great opportunity to stick an early knife in your back. Hell of a balsy move that just shows you that Rex Ryan isn't the only "master motivator" out there in today's NFL. As for Jim Caldwell and the Colts, you have to wonder why instead of playing to win, they played the entire game "not to loose". Not the way you want to go out, especially with a veteran team like this.
But you've got to love the Saints winning this thing, even if you went into the game a Colts fan. Is there a city in the world that deserves something to celebrate more than New Orleans? Great to see the turnaround this team has led in that city... you know our government didn't do a fuckin thing for them... at least not unitl a week later! And the man who began the turnaround of this franchise, Drew Brees, getting the MVP award was fitting. He's been a great embassador for the city during the tough times, as well as the slightly improved times they're experiencing now, and has been a class act his entire career.
I do have to agree with The Beezer, though, this "Who Dat?" shit has got to go. I mean, has the english language really not been rammed in the ass enough by popular culture... now we need this? Nothing says "I'm a winner" like a hat or t-shirt with this kind of grammar on it. Look, good for the city and the region as a whole that you've got a championship to celebrate... but think about how you're representing yourselves with this slogan.
And speaking of thinking about how you're representing yourself... that's what you've got to be wondering after this year's "Super Ads" played through the night. Did anyone get paid to write, act in and produce any of those commercials? If so, they need to be locked up for theft... because those commercials sucked out loud. I thought a commercial was supposed to make you want to buy a product, not boycott it. Especially Doritos with their stereotype laden "Don't touch my Doritos, don't touch my mama" ad... makes you wonder if anybody bothered taking a look at that before they spent half a billion dollars to air it during the Super Bowl. How can I best spend a half billion dollars... how about I alienate an entire part of my demographic? Just fuckin awful.
But at least the Super Bowl was able to break sissy boy Alan Alda's stranglehold on the record for Neilson Ratings for one program. Yep, the final MASH has been replaced by The Saints v. Colts... and it's about damned time. Hey, I've seen every freaking episode of that show... probably at least twice... and I'll be the first to tell you, it wasn't all that good. Glad the greatest spectacle of American sport has overtaken that crapfest of a show.
And speaking of shows... how about the rare show of class in the NBA the other night? Up more than two possessions and with a little over seven seconds left on the clock, Vince Carter had the ball and was sitting on 48 points... but instead of taking the ball in and trying to hit the 50-point mark, he opted to run out the clock and walk out with a W. I don't often get to do this, so here goes... props to Vince Carter for showing there are at least a few guys in the NBA worth rooting for.
But back to the NFL for a minute, with the recent run of success the league has enjoyed since 1994, when baseball was still top dog, why would the NFL's front office or the NFLPA even CONSIDER a work stoppage? Do you not remember what happened 16 years ago... baseball was king, the NFL was second-fiddle, then baseball goes on strike over some minor detail that NOBODY out there felt sorry for the rich douchebags playing the game for a living over. Don't blow what you've got going for you... don't be such a bunch of greedy, stupid fucks.
Just imagine... this happened back in the devil-may-care 1990's. The economy was good... people were working. Can you even imagine a league going on strike with so many out there making a tenth of what these assholes are (if they're lucky) struggling to pay the bills, keep their homes and feed their families? Nobody gives a rats ass if you're getting your "piece of the pie"... and nobody cares if the league wants to throw in on the retired player's fund. Don't take the risk and have a labor stoppage... baseball thought it was "untouchable" too back in 1994, and it took a steroids-induced home run record chase to get them back into any sort of national prominence... although that wound up making an even bigger joke out of the sport than the labor stoppage did in the first place. The point is, if you don't respect the fans and the game, and if you're more worried about a couple extra dollars in your paychecks over HAVING a fan base in the first place, your league is pretty well fucked anyhow.
Do the smart thing here... don't go on strike. If your union president is unwilling to make consessions for the good of the game and all of it's players, send his stupid ass packing. As far as this whole "piece of the pie" thing... the owners are owners for a fucking reason. They either worked their asses off, were smart with their money and made enough of it to be able to afford an NFL team, or their pappy or grandpappies were. They put all the money into the team, and they sign your fuckin paychecks. Guess what, the profits go to the people that made the initial investment... that's the way it is in every fucking aspect of the business world. If it weren't for them, your stupid ass wouldn't be making $10 million dollars to play a game. Fuck you and your pie, NFLPA... if you choose to go on strike, there aren't a whole lot of people out there these days that are going to feel sorry for you when it ends up all over your faces.
That's all for me this time around, folks. Thanks as always for reading and for any comments you leave on the way out.
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The Saints are Champs.
sorry so early with this, I'm heading out the door as I type!
I was sitting there, filling my face with all things high in saturated fat and trans fats, drinking high calorie beer and saying to anyone in ear shot....
"Peyton, just make one mistake you friggin machine"!
and he did.
Drew Brees is the MVP and the Patriot fans everywhere are glad as we have secured the "Team of the Decade" title, 3 SB wins, followed by Pittsburgh with 2.
Why didn't Peyton run across the field to shake hands with Drew?
answer, he couldn't!
He won't take the heat in the press Brady and Belichick took a couple of years back, but his excuse is the same...
He couldn't find anyone through the rain storm of confetti so he put his helmut back on and ran to the safety of the locker room.
Drew and the Saints' 31 -17 win proved that they are the better team. I'm glad for many reasons the main one being the revival of the city of New Orleans. They are no longer underwater and they now have a Super Bowl Championship. Wouldn't you love to be in town for that parade?
My favorite commercial was Betty White and the snickers with Abe Vagota playing QB....that guy is as old as Farve!
The BudLight asteroid made me chuckle a little.
and speaking of WTF... Who were they....who who!I've been a Who fan for a long time....that being freaking said.....
Peter...Roger......rest home!
The best part of the our night at oldharrys was the food!
stuffies....little necks....jumbo shrimp....sweet potato fries...sharp cheddah....jack....onion dip.....wings.....on and on...all night long......
a chaser of tums..How many tums can you take in a 24 hour period?
when asked I replied 40 I think.......
my sister in law read the lable and corrected me
7 maximum!
ok so I'm using some of next weeks dose.
In the "how did that happen catagory" the Boston Bruins beat Montreal 3-0
meanwhile the Celtics blew an eleven point 3 qtr lead and lost to Orlando.
Las Vegas has waisted no time on next seasons odds.
the Colts are the favorites to win the SB next year
at 6.5-1
the Chargers are at 8-1, the Patriots at 10-1 and Pittsburgh at 11-1
I guess the 26 players on the Saints that are free agents is the reason the Champions are at 15-1 in repeating.
Sorry that's all I have.
I'm on the road tonight and won't be back in town till Thursday. thanks for reading and commenting my friends, I may have to give up this prime time spot if I'm traveling on Tuesdays.
I'll be in touch
and keep on gabbing.
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