Hello and welcome to another Wednesday of deep thoughts. As each day passes, it puts us further into 2012. April is gone and we have taken a big bite out of May. I am truly enjoying the MLB season so far, but have become distracted by the spring high school football season. Although I am watching baseball every day, football is stealing time. Last Thursday, I went to check out the Westwood varsity scrimmage. Blake is a senior and will be starting at linebacker. They are trying different sets, to figure out the best combination for the players they have. The team looks good, but as is usual, the defense is much farther along than the offense. Here a few videos of the scrimmage:

Blake knocks down a pass...

Blake takes down Tanner...

Brad Watson goes high for a pick...

It was good to see some football as the high school baseball season left much to be desired. The season ended just more than a week ago. On our last home game we had senior night to honor the seniors on the team. Although, I think everyone was happy the season was finally over, it was truly sad knowing that some of the guys had played their last baseball game. I had a hard time not seeing myself walking across the field in a year…

There was something really special about the game that I had to share. I have a thing for the SSB. It is a tough song, but should be sung correctly if you appear in public. This young lady’s name is Christina Freeman and she is a high school senior. I first heard her sing as an 8^th grader and she continues to improve. I am sorry the video is through the backstop, but it was the best I could do. So many try to do too much with the melody, but Christina has a great feel for how to sing a song. Her ending is better than most professional singers than I have heard. She is simply amazing for a high school singer…

 For whatever reason, I cannot get this video to load in YouTube. Here is the link to view Christina:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNbILjsolJc

The 2012 baseball season is just beginning to take shape, but it has already left us several lasting memories…Humber’s perfect game, Weaver's no hitter and Josh Hamilton’s 4 HRs will stand out regardless of what else happens this year. Tuesday night, Josh Hamilton joined a very elite group of 15 former MLB players that includes Willie Mays and Lou Gehrig. Besides hitting four dingers, Hamilton also added a double and 8 RBIs to complete a very special night at the plate. How good has Josh been this year? He is hitting a scorching .406 with 14 HRs and 36 RBIs. It is no secret that Hamilton will be a free agent after this year. Texas halted negotiations when Hamilton fell off the wagon in February. At 30 years old, Hamilton is an odd situation. He has a difficult time staying on the field. In his five year professional career, Hamilton has played more than 133 games one time. In the past three years, Josh has missed 133 games. Is this simply bad luck or does Hamilton’s past drug use have an effect on Hamilton’s ability to stay healthy? It is clear that health is a huge consideration in signing Josh Hamilton to a long term deal, but I think Hamilton injuries are because he plays reckless, not because of his earlier reckless life style. Texas has begun conversations to extend Hamilton’s contract, so we may never know how much Josh Hamilton is worth on the open market. But, the question is intriguing to say the least.

The discussion regarding concussions and long term health concerns has grown with the death of Junior Seau. I have to admit, as a father of a football player who has experienced a concussion, it is a worry.  In a recent interview with Dan Patrick, Kurt Warner admitted that his sons dream of following his footsteps into the NFL. “When you hear things like the bounties, when you know certain things having played the game, and then obviously when you understand the size, the speed, the violence of the game, and then you couple that with situations like Junior Seau — was that a ramification of all the years playing? And things that go with that. It scares me as a dad. I just wonder — I wonder what the league's going to be like.” As a father, I can understand his thinking…apparently not all ex-players share this sentiment. Merrill Hoge and Amani Toomer strongly disagree with Warner’s comments.

 Here is what Hoge said regarding Warner:

"I think it's irresponsible and unacceptable," Hoge said on ESPN. "He has thrown the game that has been so good to him under the bus. He sounds extremely uneducated ... Head trauma is not the issue here — it's how head trauma is treated. The game is safer than it has ever been because we're being proactive with head trauma. That is the biggest issue."

Hodge is more concerned with kids sitting in front of the TV playing XBox and eating donuts. He thinks that obesity is a bigger problem than concussions. I had to come back and add a few thoughts as I have let Hoge's words resonate in my brain since last night. So, are players supposed to be reassured that the game is safer now than it ever was? If it was not safe at all before and is only marginally better now, what the hell? This makes no sense and this thinking makes him appear to be uneducated not Warner. In no way did Warner throw the game under the bus. Warner expressed concern for his kids playing a game that has proven to provide an early grave for many that play. This is common sense to me...

Toomer had this to say about Warner:

"I'd definitely have my son to play football. That's what the Toomer family does. We all play football. But what this reminds me of is the guy at the basketball court, who once he gets done playing takes the ball and ruins the game for everybody else. I think Kurt Warner needs to keep his opinions to himself when it comes to this. Everything that he's gotten in his life has come from playing football. He works at the NFL Network right now. For him to try and trash the game, it seems to me that it's just a little disingenuous to me."

 Really Amani? Why should Warner keep his opinions to himself? He works for the NFL Network and is paid to give his opinions. I would think that he is very qualified to offer thoughts about concussions as this is what forced him to retire. How is he taking his ball and going home? He is not saying that the game should be stopped, only that he would be fearful if his boys followed his footsteps. This is far from disingenuous. Actually it is a very sincere comment for a change...

Of course Warner had a response to these comments:

"I love this game, and I love what it did for me and my family. I love so many aspects about it that can teach kids and taught me and created who I am today through what I learned in this game. But at the same time, I have concerns ... I want to prolong this game, I want to preserve it for generations to come, but we have to continue to be honest and we have to continue to dialogue about those concerns, those risks and continue to work together as a group. Those that are critics of me, those that don't agree with what I say -- we have to work together as a group along with the commissioner, the NFL, leagues all the way down to those like Pop Warner and say how can we make this game safe. How can we continue to try to eliminate those concerns, or at least minimize those for parents?"

As a fan, we see the new rules as watering down the game that we love to watch. As a parent, it is difficult to argue with Warner’s thinking. When it is your kid, it is your job to protect them. I am sure that Nick Buoniconti has spent a few sleepless nights thinking about his son’s injury. Is it possible to play the game aggressively without risk? It is difficult to resolve the conflict of parent and fan for me. I am sure that a former NFL player has an even tougher time.

That is all I have for today, but I will leave you with a bit of Jack Handey:

“If I had a mine shaft, I don’t think I would just abandon it…there has got to be a better way.”  

“It’s fascinating to think that all around us there’s an invisible world we can’t even see. I’m speaking of course, of the World of Invisible Scary Skeletons.”

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a few deep thoughts of your own…