Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
HOT SPORTS TAKES - A man who won't stand for the anthem is an act that we as Americans shouldn't stand for (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Premier
- Start date
bagger
Footballguy
NorvilleBarnes
Footballguy
What the hell is going on in here?
Bruce Dickinson
Footballguy
Joining the family that also teams up Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock. It's like FOX had a meeting and decided to remake Pardon The Interruption and First Take with fewer IQ points and more trainwrecks.
wazoo11
Footballguy
Bruce Dickinson
Footballguy
I give this one five ghost peppers.
Kaepernick is no Jackie Robinson
Colin Kaepernick opened the door with his political statement recently. I wonder if he really opened a can of worms.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most-politicially active athletes of my generation, interestly opined that Kaepernick should be considered a patriot for his views, whether we agree with him or not. He compared the actions of the San Francisco 49ers, in which he decided to sit down during the playing of the National Anthem before their last two exhibition games, to that of USA pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, who stopped in his tracks just before attempting his jump when he heard the playing of the national anthem in the Rio arena.
"What makes an act truly patriotic and not just lip-service is when it involves personal risk or sacrifice. Both Kendricks and Kaepernick chose to express their patriotism publicly because they felt that inspiring others was more important than the personal cost," Abdul-Jabbar wrote.
I get it. Kaepernick expressed his views. As long as he's not yelling "fire" in a movie theatre or claiming to be a terrorist on an airplane, everything is fair game.
Here was Kaepernick's statement to the NFL Media after his recent game:
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
I believe this is really a Black Lives Matter statement, rather than his own. I believe he talking about "cops" on leave, "getting away with murder," while bodies are strewn everywhere in the streets.
Of course, there was no mention of police who died over this mess. There was no mention of black cops being arrested and charged in Baltimore for the "killing" of a black man in the back of a police van.
When informed that the national anthem is often considered a "statement" to honor our soldiers, past and present, some who died for his country, Kaepernick quickly jumped to his own defense.
He says didn't mean to offend those people, some of whom are of all colors and races. I believe him.
But Kaepernick wasn't smart enough to realize that when he went on his diatribe about oppression.
I wasn't going to ask these questions about Kaepernick, but they need to be asked if he wants to be the next Jackie Robinson:
Has he ever studied or done an extensive report on the oppression of blacks?
Has he ever donated a portion of his salary or created a program to help the cause of any race?
Why did he wait until he was a backup, with a guaranteed $54 million coming his way, to make this political statement?
Why are most of his current tweets (@kaepernick7) and retweets about race and/or white supremacy?
Does he have any other interests?
Would he call the police if he was in trouble?
It's a slippery slope Kaepernick has decided to ride. You could argue, like Abdul-Jabbar did, that we need more athletes like Kaepernick who are willing to speak their minds about something they feel strongly about. You could also argue he has all but ensured that another San Francisco 49ers season has ended before it has begun.
As for the Jackie Robinson connection/comparison, I take offense to that.
Robinson was one of the strongest people, mentally, from the 20th century. What he had to endure is sadder than sad, when "white supremacy" was an ugly and tangible thing. By moving forward, he really paved the way for change in the world's landscape and might be as important as anyone as to why Kaepernick, who is half-black, has lived the life of luxury and received star treatment for more than a decade.
If Kaepernick really wants to stand for something, stand for making things better for all of those in need. Talk is cheap. Get off your butt and do something about it.
Kaepernick is no Jackie Robinson
Colin Kaepernick opened the door with his political statement recently. I wonder if he really opened a can of worms.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most-politicially active athletes of my generation, interestly opined that Kaepernick should be considered a patriot for his views, whether we agree with him or not. He compared the actions of the San Francisco 49ers, in which he decided to sit down during the playing of the National Anthem before their last two exhibition games, to that of USA pole vaulter Sam Kendricks, who stopped in his tracks just before attempting his jump when he heard the playing of the national anthem in the Rio arena.
"What makes an act truly patriotic and not just lip-service is when it involves personal risk or sacrifice. Both Kendricks and Kaepernick chose to express their patriotism publicly because they felt that inspiring others was more important than the personal cost," Abdul-Jabbar wrote.
I get it. Kaepernick expressed his views. As long as he's not yelling "fire" in a movie theatre or claiming to be a terrorist on an airplane, everything is fair game.
Here was Kaepernick's statement to the NFL Media after his recent game:
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
I believe this is really a Black Lives Matter statement, rather than his own. I believe he talking about "cops" on leave, "getting away with murder," while bodies are strewn everywhere in the streets.
Of course, there was no mention of police who died over this mess. There was no mention of black cops being arrested and charged in Baltimore for the "killing" of a black man in the back of a police van.
When informed that the national anthem is often considered a "statement" to honor our soldiers, past and present, some who died for his country, Kaepernick quickly jumped to his own defense.
He says didn't mean to offend those people, some of whom are of all colors and races. I believe him.
But Kaepernick wasn't smart enough to realize that when he went on his diatribe about oppression.
I wasn't going to ask these questions about Kaepernick, but they need to be asked if he wants to be the next Jackie Robinson:
Has he ever studied or done an extensive report on the oppression of blacks?
Has he ever donated a portion of his salary or created a program to help the cause of any race?
Why did he wait until he was a backup, with a guaranteed $54 million coming his way, to make this political statement?
Why are most of his current tweets (@kaepernick7) and retweets about race and/or white supremacy?
Does he have any other interests?
Would he call the police if he was in trouble?
It's a slippery slope Kaepernick has decided to ride. You could argue, like Abdul-Jabbar did, that we need more athletes like Kaepernick who are willing to speak their minds about something they feel strongly about. You could also argue he has all but ensured that another San Francisco 49ers season has ended before it has begun.
As for the Jackie Robinson connection/comparison, I take offense to that.
Robinson was one of the strongest people, mentally, from the 20th century. What he had to endure is sadder than sad, when "white supremacy" was an ugly and tangible thing. By moving forward, he really paved the way for change in the world's landscape and might be as important as anyone as to why Kaepernick, who is half-black, has lived the life of luxury and received star treatment for more than a decade.
If Kaepernick really wants to stand for something, stand for making things better for all of those in need. Talk is cheap. Get off your butt and do something about it.
Bruce Dickinson
Footballguy
Yeah the opening and last paragraphs were probably the first things he wrote, then filled out the middle.Yeah it's got that patented Hot Take Witty Opening Statement
Didn't track it down, but the person who sent me the link to this HOT TAKE said the same site posted a commentary a couple months ago that sports media was biased against white males.
AhrnCityPahnder
Yinz-o-riffic
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
Yeah, I don't know who #### out this hot take, but his ###### is going to be on fire for WEEKS.Bruce Dickinson said:
fatguyinalittlecoat
Footballguy
All of this Kaepernick talk reminded me of a scorching hot take I wrote 25 years ago, when I was the Sports Editor of my high school newspaper. I dug it up but I guess we used such crappy paper back then that when I try to scan it the article comes out all blurry. So here it is, freshly retyped word-for-word. Seems just as topical today as when I wrote it.
March 28, 1991
From the Editor's Desk
Patriotism has little to do with uniforms sporting American flags
____________________
By [High School Senior fatguy]
Sports Editor___________
During last years' World Series, a brilliant public relations man decided to play on the patriotic sentiments of the fans, and had little American flags sewn on players' uniforms. The Gulf Crisis was just starting, and the flags were worn in support of the troops stationed there.
The trend caught on, and every sports team from the Knicks to the SHS basketball team began to wear the flags. Now it is time to take them off.
There is a great and terrible fear in the United States of appearing unpatriotic. No team had the guts to stand up and say that the crisis in the Gulf had no relation to petty sports events. Now the flags may become permanent parts of the uniform.
Unfortunate situation at Seton Hall
Seton Hall University's Marco Lokar came from Italy to study and play for the school. When the school decided to sew flags on their uniforms, he refused, citing religious reasons. While the school accepted his decision, the fans did not, and they booed every time he touched the ball. He received threats and was forced to return to Italy.
How can anyone still be proud of a country where flag-waving nationalists deny someone the same freedoms we claim to have in this country? Why must athletes be used as flagpoles for political beliefs? What does politics have to do with sports in the first place? Before we become more fanatical than any of the nations we are fighting, we should stop loving something that stands for our country, and start loving something our country stands for.
March 28, 1991
From the Editor's Desk
Patriotism has little to do with uniforms sporting American flags
____________________
By [High School Senior fatguy]
Sports Editor___________
During last years' World Series, a brilliant public relations man decided to play on the patriotic sentiments of the fans, and had little American flags sewn on players' uniforms. The Gulf Crisis was just starting, and the flags were worn in support of the troops stationed there.
The trend caught on, and every sports team from the Knicks to the SHS basketball team began to wear the flags. Now it is time to take them off.
There is a great and terrible fear in the United States of appearing unpatriotic. No team had the guts to stand up and say that the crisis in the Gulf had no relation to petty sports events. Now the flags may become permanent parts of the uniform.
Unfortunate situation at Seton Hall
Seton Hall University's Marco Lokar came from Italy to study and play for the school. When the school decided to sew flags on their uniforms, he refused, citing religious reasons. While the school accepted his decision, the fans did not, and they booed every time he touched the ball. He received threats and was forced to return to Italy.
How can anyone still be proud of a country where flag-waving nationalists deny someone the same freedoms we claim to have in this country? Why must athletes be used as flagpoles for political beliefs? What does politics have to do with sports in the first place? Before we become more fanatical than any of the nations we are fighting, we should stop loving something that stands for our country, and start loving something our country stands for.
Bruce Dickinson
Footballguy
I was also in high school when the flags-on-uniforms broke out in support of the Gulf War. IIRC, the NHL wanted to hop on the bandwagon but the league was mostly Canadian and Northern European at the time. So instead of big US flags on jerseys, they went with tiny United Nations flags on the backs of helmets.
Clem Haskins, the U of Minnnesota men's basketball coach at the time, had the USA flags placed on the chest of the uniform over the "NES" part of "Minnesota". Said the country we represent was more important than the school we play for. One of many tripping over themselves to show how ####### patriotic they were.
Proud of @fatguyinalittlecoat for being willing to share that little piece of history. I also had a column in the school newspaper that year and I'm sure there's a couple scorchers with all the conviction of idealism and all the insight of that high school experimental theater troupe from SNL.
Clem Haskins, the U of Minnnesota men's basketball coach at the time, had the USA flags placed on the chest of the uniform over the "NES" part of "Minnesota". Said the country we represent was more important than the school we play for. One of many tripping over themselves to show how ####### patriotic they were.
Proud of @fatguyinalittlecoat for being willing to share that little piece of history. I also had a column in the school newspaper that year and I'm sure there's a couple scorchers with all the conviction of idealism and all the insight of that high school experimental theater troupe from SNL.
Last edited by a moderator:
mr. furley
Footballguy
Last edited by a moderator:
bud29
Footballguy
Oooooooh boy, ladies and gentlemen. Tomi Lahren, a Facebook Meme Come to Life and America's Newest Hero.
I give that video an 11/10 ? rating. Iphone just overheated while watching.
I give that video an 11/10 ? rating. Iphone just overheated while watching.
Last edited by a moderator:
mr. furley
Footballguy
" Everything that comes out of her mouth is insane and abhorrent and genuinely frightening "
well, now you're piqued my interest
Bruce Dickinson
Footballguy
I'll admit it. I'm addicted to Deadspin's Commenters. They're in rare form on this one.
Because when you want hard-hitting perspective about how the world really works, you go to a 24 year old blond who's putting together an audition reel for a sweet FoxNews gig.
Agreed. When I think of racial injustice and serious commentary on the state of the nation, the first thing that comes to mind is: But what do the hot 20-something year old blondes who more than likely got everything in life handed to them think?
Aww ####, who got Ann Coulter wet?
She’s gonna make a great Facebook aunt someday.
Ah yes, the bigoted Barbie doll in her natural habitat. A favorite right-wing trope.If right-wingers could distill that hot take hotness into a powder, they’d snort it like Keith Richards on a Columbian vacation.
The kicker at the end really makes the whole video. Literally right after telling a guy he sucks, she says, “God bless, from Dallas. Goodnight and take care.”
When are white people going to speak out against this white-on-half-white abuse?
It’s like Jim Rome inhaled helium and also became a virulent bigot.
I bet shes been ####ed on a lot of houseboats.
Oh god she’s got all the hits:
“Your Boy”
The Trump circle finger with indexs extended
“Twitter Social Justice Warriors”
I just want to grind this #### up and snort it.
The Commish
Footballguy
You can tell it's football season....the hot takes are racheting up in the Shark Pool. No need to click over there just yet, they are mostly just retreads with respect to Cam wearing a towel on his had and the like. There is a new one where apparently you aren't allowed to express how much pain you're in while on the sideline....STOP THE WHINING YOU ATTENTION WHORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
Put on your flame-resistant coveralls for this one folks, because it is a doozy. Maybe the greatest work in the history of the genre. And as you read it and find yourself maybe agreeing with me, know that the last paragraph is so good it might make you forget about the rest of this Mona Lisa.
Put on your flame-resistant coveralls for this one folks, because it is a doozy. Maybe the greatest work in the history of the genre. And as you read it and find yourself maybe agreeing with me, know that the last paragraph is so good it might make you forget about the rest of this Mona Lisa.
Last edited by a moderator:
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
Maybe it was the heat stroke, but I really didn't understand that last paragraph.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Isn't Fidel Castro dead?
hmm, guess not. He is 90, though, not 85.
hmm, guess not. He is 90, though, not 85.
Last edited by a moderator:
Frostillicus
Footballguy
Oh man. A shot at Obama. A shot at tattoos. Calling him a racist and a idiot. Discrediting Black Lives Matter. Mentioning Tebow. And a killer closing line. Truly a masterpiece.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Say what you want, I am impressed that this guy is willing to put a large picture of himself next to that article.
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
mr. furley
Footballguy
bud29
Footballguy
rockaction
Footballguy
I don't know that I disagree with the Castro job, but then there was this, and I suddenly, well, here it is...
"Elvis sang gospel and blues, wore bling, bought Cadillacs, took care of his mom when he got rich, died of a drug overdose. And his daughter married Michael Jackson. Good Lord, people, leave The King alone. Has any white man met you halfway more than Elvis?"
I can't figure out what "halfway more than" what is due to the glint of heat-generating light coming off of Elvis's bling.
"Elvis sang gospel and blues, wore bling, bought Cadillacs, took care of his mom when he got rich, died of a drug overdose. And his daughter married Michael Jackson. Good Lord, people, leave The King alone. Has any white man met you halfway more than Elvis?"
I can't figure out what "halfway more than" what is due to the glint of heat-generating light coming off of Elvis's bling.
Frostillicus
Footballguy
NFL’s sinking ratings tied to shameless showboating
October 20, 2016 | 6:19pm
In 2003, Houston Oilers defensive end Elvin Bethea made a rather impolitic confession as he was about to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He admitted he rarely watches NFL games.
“The game,” he said, “is like pro wrestling. I guess that’s why I don’t watch it. All show, little substance.”
Lately, many reasons have been given for the sudden, severe drop in NFL TV ratings. All of them, to some degree, make sense.
But the one that has gone either ignored or underestimated is the dignity factor. In the 13 years after Bethea’s observation, games consistently have challenged dignified viewers to surpass their breaking points. The right-headed have concluded NFL games no longer can be indulged as either sports or entertainment.
Judging from reader emails and sentiments expressed in casual conversation, NFL games never have been easier to turn off and, worse, to ignore. The hassle-after-every-play incivilities and immodest, even lewd all-about-me demonstrations — regardless of the score — that often result in game-determining penalties too often appear as college men engaged in gang warfare.
It wears people down, then out. They can’t figure how it started and why it has both persisted and grown to where the worst actors have become the preferred, come-and-get-it sales strategy acts of the NFL’s TV and advertising partners.
They’re tired of being shown and told that an Odell Beckham Jr., Cam Newton, Josh Norman, Richard Sherman and Antonio Brown — players who should be stars based only on their considerable skills, yet are so extra-attention driven that they rate TV cameras to even follow their sideline conduct — are worthy of our unconditional admiration.
But the dignified are not that easy. They recognize the ridiculous, flag-insisting and now weekly misbehavior of a Beckham isn’t any more sufferable when the Giants win; they don’t practice such one-conditional love. Newton, for crying out loud, sat out a game with a concussion suffered because he slowed to showboat into the end zone rather than run!
The NFL’s biggest, most heavily marketed stars are among the most difficult for the dignified to root for.
Why were Marshawn Lynch, Doug Baldwin, Brown and most recently Vikings running back Jerick McKinnon not immediately ejected then suspended after end-zone demonstrations of crotch grabbing and mimes of defecation and copulation?
Why is such shamelessly low behavior — likely rehearsed, no less — indulged with a quiet fine rather than with Roger Goodell’s firm, loud declaration that if you do such abhorrent, indecent dirt to our game and viewers, you’re going to suffer a punishment that actually works, actually deters?
And why, after CBS first caught Tom Brady on the sideline shouting “F—!” was it replayed four times and in slow motion?
What is Goodell afraid of, the scorn of “freedom of expression” fools, the condemnation of the go-low TV and radio who would complain that the elimination of obscene conduct is more proof of the NFL as the No Fun League?
Why does Goodell foment the impression that there is little beneath his dignity?
With game outcomes increasingly determined by unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, why is there even one such outcome? Where are the team owners, GMs and coaches to demand it end — to ensure it ends — to save their game and investments from risking the loss of the dignified as both customers and viewers? They, too, fear condemnation from the desensitized?
Such negligent house-keeping, along with so much else, compiles and congeals to create a literal turn-off.
Too many commercial stoppages, unintended replay stoppages, more penalties than points. “Momentum,” once a legitimate element of games, has been lost to TV’s need to offset the cost of its NFL deals. The challenge to all viewers to endure grows.
Monday night football begat Sunday night football which begat Thursday night football to form a Greed’s family tree. The “special,” like MLB’s interleague games, inevitably vanishes.
Too many bad games in prime time? Monday night games, when the only prime-time football, was loaded with bad games. But we watched because it seemed special.
The NFL sold what is left of its soul to fantasy football as a means to added profits while claiming it would sustain and grow interest among the young. Yet, even with telecasts soaked in fantasy data, the ratings have fallen. A case of careful for what you wish?
Two Sundays ago my home was filled with family and friends for holiday dinner. Buccaneers-Broncos was on CBS, Cowboys-49ers on FOX. But the five fantasy players among us cared nothing about either. They watched the NFL’s Red Zone Channel and checked individuals’ stats on their cell phones. They only wanted to track their action.
Again, all of this accumulates, sticks and holds. But if even half of those who claim they no longer watch because they can no longer recognize the sport in the sport — can’t any longer suffer the garbage that now even starts before kickoff — are to be believed, the NFL’s ratings problem, to some underrepresented but significant extent, was identified by Elvin Bethea, 13 years ago.
October 20, 2016 | 6:19pm
In 2003, Houston Oilers defensive end Elvin Bethea made a rather impolitic confession as he was about to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He admitted he rarely watches NFL games.
“The game,” he said, “is like pro wrestling. I guess that’s why I don’t watch it. All show, little substance.”
Lately, many reasons have been given for the sudden, severe drop in NFL TV ratings. All of them, to some degree, make sense.
But the one that has gone either ignored or underestimated is the dignity factor. In the 13 years after Bethea’s observation, games consistently have challenged dignified viewers to surpass their breaking points. The right-headed have concluded NFL games no longer can be indulged as either sports or entertainment.
Judging from reader emails and sentiments expressed in casual conversation, NFL games never have been easier to turn off and, worse, to ignore. The hassle-after-every-play incivilities and immodest, even lewd all-about-me demonstrations — regardless of the score — that often result in game-determining penalties too often appear as college men engaged in gang warfare.
It wears people down, then out. They can’t figure how it started and why it has both persisted and grown to where the worst actors have become the preferred, come-and-get-it sales strategy acts of the NFL’s TV and advertising partners.
They’re tired of being shown and told that an Odell Beckham Jr., Cam Newton, Josh Norman, Richard Sherman and Antonio Brown — players who should be stars based only on their considerable skills, yet are so extra-attention driven that they rate TV cameras to even follow their sideline conduct — are worthy of our unconditional admiration.
But the dignified are not that easy. They recognize the ridiculous, flag-insisting and now weekly misbehavior of a Beckham isn’t any more sufferable when the Giants win; they don’t practice such one-conditional love. Newton, for crying out loud, sat out a game with a concussion suffered because he slowed to showboat into the end zone rather than run!
The NFL’s biggest, most heavily marketed stars are among the most difficult for the dignified to root for.
Why were Marshawn Lynch, Doug Baldwin, Brown and most recently Vikings running back Jerick McKinnon not immediately ejected then suspended after end-zone demonstrations of crotch grabbing and mimes of defecation and copulation?
Why is such shamelessly low behavior — likely rehearsed, no less — indulged with a quiet fine rather than with Roger Goodell’s firm, loud declaration that if you do such abhorrent, indecent dirt to our game and viewers, you’re going to suffer a punishment that actually works, actually deters?
And why, after CBS first caught Tom Brady on the sideline shouting “F—!” was it replayed four times and in slow motion?
What is Goodell afraid of, the scorn of “freedom of expression” fools, the condemnation of the go-low TV and radio who would complain that the elimination of obscene conduct is more proof of the NFL as the No Fun League?
Why does Goodell foment the impression that there is little beneath his dignity?
With game outcomes increasingly determined by unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, why is there even one such outcome? Where are the team owners, GMs and coaches to demand it end — to ensure it ends — to save their game and investments from risking the loss of the dignified as both customers and viewers? They, too, fear condemnation from the desensitized?
Such negligent house-keeping, along with so much else, compiles and congeals to create a literal turn-off.
Too many commercial stoppages, unintended replay stoppages, more penalties than points. “Momentum,” once a legitimate element of games, has been lost to TV’s need to offset the cost of its NFL deals. The challenge to all viewers to endure grows.
Monday night football begat Sunday night football which begat Thursday night football to form a Greed’s family tree. The “special,” like MLB’s interleague games, inevitably vanishes.
Too many bad games in prime time? Monday night games, when the only prime-time football, was loaded with bad games. But we watched because it seemed special.
The NFL sold what is left of its soul to fantasy football as a means to added profits while claiming it would sustain and grow interest among the young. Yet, even with telecasts soaked in fantasy data, the ratings have fallen. A case of careful for what you wish?
Two Sundays ago my home was filled with family and friends for holiday dinner. Buccaneers-Broncos was on CBS, Cowboys-49ers on FOX. But the five fantasy players among us cared nothing about either. They watched the NFL’s Red Zone Channel and checked individuals’ stats on their cell phones. They only wanted to track their action.
Again, all of this accumulates, sticks and holds. But if even half of those who claim they no longer watch because they can no longer recognize the sport in the sport — can’t any longer suffer the garbage that now even starts before kickoff — are to be believed, the NFL’s ratings problem, to some underrepresented but significant extent, was identified by Elvin Bethea, 13 years ago.
Frostillicus
Footballguy
Mushnick is so great.
Last Saturday’s all-day ESPN promo for Ohio State-Wisconsin featured a photo of Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett posed flexing his muscles. Why? Immodesty is good? Appealing? Was there no other photo or was that the one ESPN chose?
Last Saturday’s all-day ESPN promo for Ohio State-Wisconsin featured a photo of Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett posed flexing his muscles. Why? Immodesty is good? Appealing? Was there no other photo or was that the one ESPN chose?
Frostillicus
Footballguy
I can't stop!
Game 2 of the Blue Jays-Indians ALCS, Saturday on TBS. Cleveland leads, 2-1, bottom of the sixth, two out. Carlos Santana, who homered earlier, awaiting a 3-1 pitch. We’re yours.
But at that moment, like horizontal lightning along the top of the screen, appeared a string of names: the next three batters due up for Cleveland.
Why? There was not one person who at that moment wanted to know who would bat if Santana, then the next batter, then the next, didn’t make the third out. Why not post the coordinates of Cleveland’s position in the solar system in the next three days?
Game 2 of the Blue Jays-Indians ALCS, Saturday on TBS. Cleveland leads, 2-1, bottom of the sixth, two out. Carlos Santana, who homered earlier, awaiting a 3-1 pitch. We’re yours.
But at that moment, like horizontal lightning along the top of the screen, appeared a string of names: the next three batters due up for Cleveland.
Why? There was not one person who at that moment wanted to know who would bat if Santana, then the next batter, then the next, didn’t make the third out. Why not post the coordinates of Cleveland’s position in the solar system in the next three days?
Frostillicus
Footballguy
Monday at Fenway Park, Chisenhall defied modern standards to make complete sense in a big game at a big moment on national TV — TBS — and received zero credit for it.
That’s where I come in.
In Game 3 of Indians-Red Sox, it was the bottom of the ninth, two out, two on, Cleveland up, 4-3 in the game and 2-0 in the best-of-five ALDS. Last-hope Travis Shaw hit a fly ball to Chisenhall, who then did the unthinkable.
Ready? He caught the ball — the final out of the series — with two hands. He used his bare hand to secure the ball in the pocket of his glove!
That’s where I come in.
In Game 3 of Indians-Red Sox, it was the bottom of the ninth, two out, two on, Cleveland up, 4-3 in the game and 2-0 in the best-of-five ALDS. Last-hope Travis Shaw hit a fly ball to Chisenhall, who then did the unthinkable.
Ready? He caught the ball — the final out of the series — with two hands. He used his bare hand to secure the ball in the pocket of his glove!
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
Capella
Footballguy
A few months ago I told my boy I was going to take him to his first NFL game. You should've seen the smile on his face as I showed him tickets to the Niners second preseason game and he realized he was finally going to see exciting NFL action in person for the first time.
The day of the game, he proudly slid on his Adrian Peterson jersey and we went out the door as father and son, ready to see the best athletes in the world play the best game. What we didn't realize is a little part of us wouldn't be coming back home.
We've lived in a lot of places over the years; but mainly the Midwest. There I taught my son family values and a healthy respect for the American flag. We stand during anthems and bow our heads before supper. But now something new has come across our country. Something scary. A surge of selfishness, a typhoon of terribleness. People just don't respect what the flag...what AMERICA stands for anymore.
Now you all know what happened at the game. Colin Kapernick took a knee during the anthem and then drove a stake right through my son's heart.
"Daddy why is that man kneeling while the lady sings" he asked. I didn't know what to tell him. Would you? Would anybody?
"Daddy why is he disrespecting the flag?"
I learned a lesson that day. You shouldn't let professional athletes be heroes to your kid. I need to be more involved. When we got home I hung a flag right outside our front door and now little Adrian sings the anthem every morning before he goes to school. I've never been more proud.
My boy was so excited to go to the game but isn't much of an NFL fan anymore. He said he can't support somebody taking a knee and personally I think NFL games are becoming huge bores due to all the concussion nonsense. A Bills fan threw a dildo on the field last week and honestly it was refreshing to finally see something that has some balls be on the field.
The NFL has a real problem. Ratings are down, interest is waning and baseball is gaining steam. But if you ask me, there is really only one issue they really need to address. There's only one place they need to start looking if they want to gain their fans back. If they want to gain my son back.
Because if you want your television ratings to stop going down, then your players need to start standing up.
The day of the game, he proudly slid on his Adrian Peterson jersey and we went out the door as father and son, ready to see the best athletes in the world play the best game. What we didn't realize is a little part of us wouldn't be coming back home.
We've lived in a lot of places over the years; but mainly the Midwest. There I taught my son family values and a healthy respect for the American flag. We stand during anthems and bow our heads before supper. But now something new has come across our country. Something scary. A surge of selfishness, a typhoon of terribleness. People just don't respect what the flag...what AMERICA stands for anymore.
Now you all know what happened at the game. Colin Kapernick took a knee during the anthem and then drove a stake right through my son's heart.
"Daddy why is that man kneeling while the lady sings" he asked. I didn't know what to tell him. Would you? Would anybody?
"Daddy why is he disrespecting the flag?"
I learned a lesson that day. You shouldn't let professional athletes be heroes to your kid. I need to be more involved. When we got home I hung a flag right outside our front door and now little Adrian sings the anthem every morning before he goes to school. I've never been more proud.
My boy was so excited to go to the game but isn't much of an NFL fan anymore. He said he can't support somebody taking a knee and personally I think NFL games are becoming huge bores due to all the concussion nonsense. A Bills fan threw a dildo on the field last week and honestly it was refreshing to finally see something that has some balls be on the field.
The NFL has a real problem. Ratings are down, interest is waning and baseball is gaining steam. But if you ask me, there is really only one issue they really need to address. There's only one place they need to start looking if they want to gain their fans back. If they want to gain my son back.
Because if you want your television ratings to stop going down, then your players need to start standing up.
Last edited by a moderator:
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
Oh yeah ... that's the good stuff
massraider
Footballguy
I showed my son his first message board and he said, 'Daddy, why are people making up stories on the internet?'
Bruce Dickinson
Footballguy
Late in a night of heavy drinking I might have once asked Dan Dakich if he ever got bits of red sweater stuck in his teeth from fellating Bobby Knight.
I might not be as good a person as I think I am.
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
You can't just release a take like that out into the wild without a warning. I was in the middle of a yawn and burned the roof of my mouth.
Bruce Dickinson
Footballguy
McGarnicle
Footballguy
Frostillicus
Footballguy
KRAVITZ: Poor, tired, weary, overworked Lebron: James sits for Cavs as the Pacers roll
The wussification of America is complete now. It was bad enough during the baseball postseason when managers started yanking productive starting pitchers after five innings, or when relievers hit the 30-pitch mark and broadcasters breathlessly wondered how – oh, HOW! – that reliever might come back the next evening and, you know, do the job he's paid millions to do.
Now, though, we have LeBron James sitting out the 11th game of the regular season. The 11th. Not the 56th. Not the 71st. The 11th.
"He needs rest. So we're going to rest him," Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said before Wednesday night's 103-93 Pacers victory over the LeBron-less (and J.R. Smith-less) Cavs.
Remember the old days when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson routinely took the night off three weeks into the season so they could properly maintain their bodies and get the proper amount of beauty sleep?
No, me neither.
Somewhere, Cal Ripken, Jr. is smirking.
RELATED: LeBron James sits out vs. Pacers
Yes, it's true, you buy your ticket and you take your chances. Sometimes you go to a Broadway play and get a night with the less-talented understudy. This isn't like attending a movie where you're guaranteed that you'll see all your celluloid heroes. I get that. Really, I do.
But the 11th game?
How soft have we become?
(Now, before my old city of Cleveland crushes me and suggests I'm calling James soft, understand, I am not. Repeat: I. Am. Not. The guy is the ultimate basketball warrior, as tough-minded and emotionally invested in winning as Michael or Kobe or any of the other all-timers. I'm just saying, these guys are now surrounded by so many specialists, so many sports scientists and sleep doctors and nutritionists and folks who monitor their every bodily function, even the gross ones, they end up being pampered and babied and convinced they need a night off in just the 11th game of the season.)
Last week, Philadelphia's talented young player Joel Embiid sat out the Sixers' game here in Indianapolis because of something called "load management." At the risk of sounding like some aging curmudgeon who wants the kids to get off his lawn, what in the heck is "load management," and which schools are teaching these courses now?
After the game, I asked Nate McMillan, a player of some reknown back in the day, how many healthy rest days he took in his career.
"I'll tell you, we didn't have that," he said, smiling. "This is something that started the last 10 years where players and teams are talking about resting players. When I played, training camp was the full month of October, and we could do two-a-days the whole month of October. A lot of things have changed in the NBA but we never talked about rest days or taking days off. Really, the only time you heard that conversation was late in the season when you had a playoff spot wrapped up, you might rest some guys, but not this early in the season."
I wondered if he could feel what young kids were feeling, how their parents felt after shelling out big bucks to take their sons and daughters to see the game's biggest star – only to have him, um, rest.
"Yeah, of course," he said. "But I think teams do what they think is best for them…One thing we talk about a lot is recovery with players, how you train and condition them, time in practice, amount of time to recover. We didn't have sleep doctors when I played. We flew commercial. It's a whole different game now."
In a more perfect union, fans would come to Bankers Life to watch the Pacers team against the Cavs team. But the NBA doesn't market teams, even ones as awe-inspiring as the Golden State Warriors. No, the NBA markets individual superstars, does it far more than any other American professional sport. So when people arrive at the fieldhouse and learn that James isn't playing because he needs – cough – rest after playing heavy minutes the night before against Toronto, it makes sense that they're going to be crestfallen, or even angry. These tickets aren't cheap, folks.
"Are you here to write about LeBron?" a father asked me as I rode down the parking-garage elevator with him and his two young boys.
"I was, but I don't know if you know this yet, he's not playing tonight," I said.
"Well," he said, drawing a deep breath of resignation, "we know now."
I stole a glance at the two young boys and wished I'd kept my mouth shut. It was as if I'd told them there was no Santa Claus.
I believe it would be fair to blame Gregg Popovich for all this. It was Pop who began closely monitoring the minutes of his stars, notably Tim Duncan, roughly five, six years ago. Pop even held out his big-name guys in a nationally televised game, drawing the ire of then-commissioner David Stern.
Mind you, Popovich, Lue, any and all of these guys have every right and even an obligation to do what's best for their team in the long term. This isn't about winning in mid-November; it's about being fresh and ready to do what the Cavs did last summer, fighting back from a three games to one deficit and beating the Warriors in seven games.
So if they rest a guy in the middle of the dog days, if they tell a guy to take the night off in March or early April when the playoff spot is secured, that's fine. But the 11th? Really.
RELATED: Read more from Bob Kravitz
This is why there's such a disconnect between pro athletes and ordinary working people, and why that chasm is getting greater. So many millions of people in this country work a 40-hour work week, or work two jobs, or even three, and struggle to feed their families and stay financially afloat while working themselves half to death. So you'll pardon them if they see a multi-zillionaire taking the night off to get proper rest and react by going slightly ballistic.
Shoot, I almost felt sorry for the poor ticket scalper – sorry, ticket reseller – I spoke to on Delaware Street across the way from the fieldhouse.
"How are things going now that LeBron isn't playing?" I wondered.
"It (stinks)," he said brusquely.
And why is it always Indianapolis? Is it because we're a red state and James vigorously campaigned for Hillary Clinton? (Just kidding. Really. Kidding). That's three straight times the Cavaliers have come to Indianapolis, and three straight times James has been a healthy – but weary, oh-so-weary – scratch. Maybe that says something about the general perception of the Pacers, who are now a so-so .500 team, and the idea that the Cavs thought they could come to Bankers Life and beat the Pacers without the best player in the universe. Did LeBron ever take a powder when the Heat used to come in here for huge games against the rival Pacers? I think not.
The good news is, it wasn't a total loss.
For one thing, the Pacers played exceedingly well, winning their second straight game for the first time all season. Their defense no longer looks like the Mannequin Challenge, having held Orlando to 69 points and the Cavs to their season-low of 93 points. "We trust each other now," Paul George said.
Second, everybody got a Hardee's breakfast biscuit.
As Kevin Love went to the free-throw line late in the game, the crowd knew the Cavs had missed four previous free throws, and a fifth miss would mean free breakfast biscuits for the house. So they chanted, "We want a biscuit! We want a biscuit!"
Love missed.
Look at the biscuits as a consolation prize for not seeing LeBron.
At this point, it must be noted that I've written 1,365 words in this column (headline not included), and this is my third column in three days. So I'm going to go home, drink a recovery drink (beer) and lay down for a while.
The King needs his rest, and I do, too.
The wussification of America is complete now. It was bad enough during the baseball postseason when managers started yanking productive starting pitchers after five innings, or when relievers hit the 30-pitch mark and broadcasters breathlessly wondered how – oh, HOW! – that reliever might come back the next evening and, you know, do the job he's paid millions to do.
Now, though, we have LeBron James sitting out the 11th game of the regular season. The 11th. Not the 56th. Not the 71st. The 11th.
"He needs rest. So we're going to rest him," Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said before Wednesday night's 103-93 Pacers victory over the LeBron-less (and J.R. Smith-less) Cavs.
Remember the old days when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson routinely took the night off three weeks into the season so they could properly maintain their bodies and get the proper amount of beauty sleep?
No, me neither.
Somewhere, Cal Ripken, Jr. is smirking.
RELATED: LeBron James sits out vs. Pacers
Yes, it's true, you buy your ticket and you take your chances. Sometimes you go to a Broadway play and get a night with the less-talented understudy. This isn't like attending a movie where you're guaranteed that you'll see all your celluloid heroes. I get that. Really, I do.
But the 11th game?
How soft have we become?
(Now, before my old city of Cleveland crushes me and suggests I'm calling James soft, understand, I am not. Repeat: I. Am. Not. The guy is the ultimate basketball warrior, as tough-minded and emotionally invested in winning as Michael or Kobe or any of the other all-timers. I'm just saying, these guys are now surrounded by so many specialists, so many sports scientists and sleep doctors and nutritionists and folks who monitor their every bodily function, even the gross ones, they end up being pampered and babied and convinced they need a night off in just the 11th game of the season.)
Last week, Philadelphia's talented young player Joel Embiid sat out the Sixers' game here in Indianapolis because of something called "load management." At the risk of sounding like some aging curmudgeon who wants the kids to get off his lawn, what in the heck is "load management," and which schools are teaching these courses now?
After the game, I asked Nate McMillan, a player of some reknown back in the day, how many healthy rest days he took in his career.
"I'll tell you, we didn't have that," he said, smiling. "This is something that started the last 10 years where players and teams are talking about resting players. When I played, training camp was the full month of October, and we could do two-a-days the whole month of October. A lot of things have changed in the NBA but we never talked about rest days or taking days off. Really, the only time you heard that conversation was late in the season when you had a playoff spot wrapped up, you might rest some guys, but not this early in the season."
I wondered if he could feel what young kids were feeling, how their parents felt after shelling out big bucks to take their sons and daughters to see the game's biggest star – only to have him, um, rest.
"Yeah, of course," he said. "But I think teams do what they think is best for them…One thing we talk about a lot is recovery with players, how you train and condition them, time in practice, amount of time to recover. We didn't have sleep doctors when I played. We flew commercial. It's a whole different game now."
In a more perfect union, fans would come to Bankers Life to watch the Pacers team against the Cavs team. But the NBA doesn't market teams, even ones as awe-inspiring as the Golden State Warriors. No, the NBA markets individual superstars, does it far more than any other American professional sport. So when people arrive at the fieldhouse and learn that James isn't playing because he needs – cough – rest after playing heavy minutes the night before against Toronto, it makes sense that they're going to be crestfallen, or even angry. These tickets aren't cheap, folks.
"Are you here to write about LeBron?" a father asked me as I rode down the parking-garage elevator with him and his two young boys.
"I was, but I don't know if you know this yet, he's not playing tonight," I said.
"Well," he said, drawing a deep breath of resignation, "we know now."
I stole a glance at the two young boys and wished I'd kept my mouth shut. It was as if I'd told them there was no Santa Claus.
I believe it would be fair to blame Gregg Popovich for all this. It was Pop who began closely monitoring the minutes of his stars, notably Tim Duncan, roughly five, six years ago. Pop even held out his big-name guys in a nationally televised game, drawing the ire of then-commissioner David Stern.
Mind you, Popovich, Lue, any and all of these guys have every right and even an obligation to do what's best for their team in the long term. This isn't about winning in mid-November; it's about being fresh and ready to do what the Cavs did last summer, fighting back from a three games to one deficit and beating the Warriors in seven games.
So if they rest a guy in the middle of the dog days, if they tell a guy to take the night off in March or early April when the playoff spot is secured, that's fine. But the 11th? Really.
RELATED: Read more from Bob Kravitz
This is why there's such a disconnect between pro athletes and ordinary working people, and why that chasm is getting greater. So many millions of people in this country work a 40-hour work week, or work two jobs, or even three, and struggle to feed their families and stay financially afloat while working themselves half to death. So you'll pardon them if they see a multi-zillionaire taking the night off to get proper rest and react by going slightly ballistic.
Shoot, I almost felt sorry for the poor ticket scalper – sorry, ticket reseller – I spoke to on Delaware Street across the way from the fieldhouse.
"How are things going now that LeBron isn't playing?" I wondered.
"It (stinks)," he said brusquely.
And why is it always Indianapolis? Is it because we're a red state and James vigorously campaigned for Hillary Clinton? (Just kidding. Really. Kidding). That's three straight times the Cavaliers have come to Indianapolis, and three straight times James has been a healthy – but weary, oh-so-weary – scratch. Maybe that says something about the general perception of the Pacers, who are now a so-so .500 team, and the idea that the Cavs thought they could come to Bankers Life and beat the Pacers without the best player in the universe. Did LeBron ever take a powder when the Heat used to come in here for huge games against the rival Pacers? I think not.
The good news is, it wasn't a total loss.
For one thing, the Pacers played exceedingly well, winning their second straight game for the first time all season. Their defense no longer looks like the Mannequin Challenge, having held Orlando to 69 points and the Cavs to their season-low of 93 points. "We trust each other now," Paul George said.
Second, everybody got a Hardee's breakfast biscuit.
As Kevin Love went to the free-throw line late in the game, the crowd knew the Cavs had missed four previous free throws, and a fifth miss would mean free breakfast biscuits for the house. So they chanted, "We want a biscuit! We want a biscuit!"
Love missed.
Look at the biscuits as a consolation prize for not seeing LeBron.
At this point, it must be noted that I've written 1,365 words in this column (headline not included), and this is my third column in three days. So I'm going to go home, drink a recovery drink (beer) and lay down for a while.
The King needs his rest, and I do, too.
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Last edited by a moderator:
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Yeah, and Bird's career effectively ended after 10 years and Magic Johnson got AIDS, so, good thinking Kravitz.
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
I missed the Elvis meeting BLM halfway rant. That one is straight from Plato's Cave.
IF PLATO'S CAVE WAS THE FIERY HEART OF A VOLCANO.
IF PLATO'S CAVE WAS THE FIERY HEART OF A VOLCANO.
Last edited by a moderator:
