As the NFL puts on its annual meat market called the Combine, a display of players who aspire to someday be part of the club, league officials have floated out the idea of taking a step toward curbing some of its troubling off-field issues. Yes, the NFL has decided to tackle the “N” word.
Henceforth, any player heard using said word would receive an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that would result in his team receiving a 15-yard penalty. The second offense would result in an ejection.
What an ingenious idea. The league now wants the officials who cannot see most penalties that need to be called to now listen for infractions. After this brilliant idea of being at the forefront of such a troubling issue in society, I began to wonder just who were they targeting: white players who have been found to use such language outside of the locker room and off the field at will (see Riley Cooper) or black players who have chosen to use it as their everyday vernacular, as if they were being paid by the amount of times they can say it in a sentence?
It is no secret that the NFL struggles socially, as their players can say and do the darnedest things on and off the field. It sometimes makes you wonder, as the late Vince Lombardi once said in an NFL Films piece to his player, “What the Hell is going on out there?”
While not all players should be blamed for the actions of some, the blanket is a big one and covers a variety of misdeeds that make you wonder. With attempted murder, drug dealing, wife beating and, yes, bullying, this league has it all. And yet the TV ratings have gone through the roof, and to some that makes it right, as everyone is making money.
As for the league attempting to take a stand on the “N” word, I have to wonder why now and do they really think it is going to curb the direction of the league? There are plenty of places where use of the word should be curbed, but the fields of the NFL was not on page one of my list.
If the players cannot say it, what does the league do about their drunken fans who use it in the stands? What penalty do they get? The league is once again off-sides and should be penalized for such a token move to put a Band-Aid on something that requires major medical attention. How this attempt solves anything is a mystery, if not insult, to those who play the game, let alone its sane fans.
The NFL has some major problems and is way off course in how to solve them. While they have one of the greatest PR machines known to mankind and a legion of broadcasters who will carry their water on almost anything, that does not solve their problems. The leadership of this league is in trouble, and yet no one at the top seems to see it. Perhaps they will be better at listening for the problem like they will have their referees listening for certain words on the field of play.
Big man, big news
OK, now it is behind us. When it was reported that Jason Collins, who announced last year that he is gay, is going to sign a contract to return to the NBA, you would have thought that man had landed on Mars. Talk about breaking news …
While I was happy that the day had come, I was equally happy that the day had gone. Jason Collins signing with the Brooklyn Nets should not have been that big of a story. We are talking about a guy who is 7 feet tall and has a career scoring average of 3 points a game. So, why the big news? Yes, he is gay.
During his before and after press conference because of career that was far from stellar, you had to wonder what reporter was going to go there and get personal. Fortunately that did not happen and the world is better off for it. The bigger story here is that Collins was signed for his size, but also the fact that he was a good teammate and good in the locker room from a leadership standpoint. That is what the story should have been about.
Now that this story has hopefully hit a dead end in how classy both Collins and Michael Sam have handled their personal matters, can we get back to the games? After all, that is the only reason why we care about these athletes, as they have a skill that we have come to appreciate and now follow.
Quickies
Shannon Sharpe and Dan Marino are out at CBS and will be replaced by Tony Gonzalez and Bart Scott. You can fill in the blanks on this one. Remember one thing: James Brown is still the best NFL pre-game show host in the business. Shannon and Dan are on their own on this one.
No more Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan stories for at least 20 years, please.
No more boring Winter Olympics for at least four years. That way Team USA will be able to figure out they are not the world hockey power they think they are.
What happens to Mizzou basketball if they fail to make the NCAA tournament? NIT, anyone? Please, no home games as they would play in front of a lot of yellow seats. The Tigers have to now win out.
The Cardinals are selling tickets at a record pace. They have already sold over 2.5 million tickets, and they have yet to play a game. Single game tickets go on sale Friday, and they may not last long. Cardinals.com
After the combine, the Rams will have multiple choices on who to take with the second pick in the draft. It will really be hard to mess this one up.
St. Louis University Basketball is so much fun to listen to with Earl Austin Jr. and Bob Ramsey on the call. Having the best record in the history of the school never hurt either.
