Thursday, September 18, 2014

A Tampa Bay embarrassment in Atlanta


I had finished my work after a good, long day, and I wanted to relax with some Thursday Night Football.  I was in for a disappointment:


Lovie Smith coached the Chicago Bears from 2004 to 2012, and was fired even after finishing the year at 10 - 6.  He struggled in his first year, but managed to be the first African American head coach to reach the Super Bowl in his third season (2006 - 2007).  That was clearly the pinnacle of his career with the Bears, as the next six years brought mediocrity back.  His defensive prowess was matched by his offensive ineptitude, so despite bringing in a franchise QB in Jay Cutler, the Bears couldn't come anywhere near that pinnacle again.

Smith didn't coach for a year, then the Buccaneers hired him to change a losing culture down there in Tampa Bay:

Lovie Smith deserves to be vilified after embarrassing loss to Falcons

Clearly that ain't happening anytime soon.

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Friday, September 5, 2014

Will Dan Snyder Cave on Redskins Name?


Washington Redskins

I posted this note on Google+, and had a conversation with a friend Robert Cooper:

Does anybody else beside me think that it's just a matter of when (not if) Washington owner Dan Snyder will cave on the team name?
Dan Synder will NEVER cave, the reasons why are the Billions in his bank account and the millions the organization makes every year. The piles of money around his ears are two thick for him to hear the complaints of poor people. Until the name begins to take money from his pocket there will be nothing different. 
But it's a pretty marked brand now, isn't it. I imagine sponsorship money, media deals, merchandise sales etc. will soften, if they haven't yet, and Snyder has to cave. I know changing the name and logo is a multimillion dollar process, but he can take a stand and be a part of stemming the tide of discrimination. I'm sure the matter will become more and more of a distraction to his team, and that will be a shame. 
This battle has been going on for more than a decade. Mechandise salea haven't dipped because Synder keeps bringing flashly players who's uniforms fly off the store shelves, the attendance for home games remain sellouts and he likely has a cable contract that rakes in $. If Pepsi wants to stand agaist his name he'll simply bring Coke into the stadium. Bottom line he holds the cards and weilds the power, outside of the NFL league offices demanding the change don't hope for anything differnt to happen. 
Hmm, I see... There is a divide between (a) people who care about the name and its meaning and (b) people who don't and focus on football and the team. 
It seems to me the majority of hardcore NFL fans don't have a problem with the name, the ones that do will go so far as stating the franchise should be renamed and rebranded but these same folks would never boycott a game or demand their team not to play against Washington after change took place.  
Making matters even worse is not even all the native American Indians tribes are on the same page about being outraged, offended or even concerned about the name. 
With recent high profile incidents of discrimination, I was thinking there would be a groundswell of protest against Snyder & Co. But perhaps if a similar incident involving American Indians occurs, then...
in the US people will protest against the procedure to put on a pair of socks. LOL, too many in this nation just want to fight about something. 
lol ... I definitely don't advocate fighting for fighting's sake. 
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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Super Bowl for Seahawks no More or Less Tough


Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks finish a strong pre-season

Sports Illustrated Peter King speaks with conventional wisdom here (i.e., drawing on history) - Why the NFL’s Best Team Won’t Win the Super Bowl - but it's based on flawed logic.

In general, of course, it's tough for any team in any sport to win a championship. But unlike other major sports, football has one of the longest off-seasons (7-8 months). So removing the argument of wear-and-tear from a deep run in the playoffs, the Seahawks have just as good a chance to win the Super Bowl this year, as they did last year. In other words, just because they won it all last year, it doesn't make it any tougher, or less tough, to win it this year.

But the question remains: Will they win this year? The real answer is: No one knows. Moreover, no one knows that they won't, either (rf. King's flawed logic). But that said, here's another argument: Like any team going into a post-Super Bowl season, the Seahawks have a very effective, very recent "template" for winning. No other team in the NFL has that effective, recent template at their disposal. Can they apply it again this year? Of course they can! The challenge is how they adjust and strengthen that template for a new season, where the elite teams will be gunning for their backs.

By the way, the Ravens underwent way too many changes in their team, and it was too much for them to adjust their Super Bowl template. So they fell easily by the wayside in 2013-2014.

The Seahawks looked pretty strong in the preseason. In that last game, for example, Russell Wilson & Co. made the 2014 Bears defense (so far) look like the 2013 Bears defense. So with their proven template firmly on hand, I'd say they are an odds-on favorite to win this year.
Any team trying to repeat has a hard time, as for many teams playing them their game against Seattle will be their superbowl game, every opponent Seattle has will have their game against them marked well in advance, so dificult to repeat. 
Yep, I think teams will be very motivated to play the Seahawks, but whether they will actually beat the champs is another matter altogether. Again the challenge for the Seahawks is to elevate their game accordingly, which means adjusting and strengthening their championship template. It'll definitely be tough for them to win it all this year, but it'll no more or less so than winning it all last year. 
 
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Monday, September 1, 2014

Caroline Wozniacki Exuberant at US Open


Caroline Wozniacki is exuberant after win over Maria Sharapova

Is it just me, or are Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki playing better since their heartbreak breakup? 


I was impressed with Wozniacki's range and speed!

Sports Illustrated found Wozniacki's fashion ruffles a miss

Hit or miss, I like the colorful US Open fashion better than the staid Wimbledon white (read: boring).

Wozniacki and her hairdresser must've crossed paths en route to her post-match press conference

Yikes, bad hair post-match for Wozniacki :o

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Friday, August 22, 2014

Paul George Injury and Sporting Dilemma


On Friday evening, August 1st, Pacers star Paul George suffered a compound fracture in his right leg, during a Team USA scrimmage game.  I saw my Twitter feed buzzing late that evening, and there was no video that I could find quickly.  It was the next morning that I saw a GIF of George going up to defend a shot, then getting his right foot caught at the base of the stanchion, and his leg breaking so gruesomely that seeing it once was enough for me.  

I posted the following image, article and note, a couple of days later.  

Paul George, stretchered off the court

No ankle or knee damage, and Paul George is expected to have a full recovery... good news! 

We can only imagine what was going through Paul George's mind

Injuries happen, sometimes they're horrific. But athletes are hardwired to play and compete, so who's to stop them?

ESPN SportsNation

I agree with SportsNation! Playing for your country is important motivation for pro athletes. 

There was the usual call, even demand, to get these highly-paid superstars off the courts, when the play is not official NBA games.  That's expected, as it's human nature to feel terribly traumatized about what happened to George and even worse to feel a terrible lack of control.  Fortunately, horrific injuries are rare, but under such emotionality, logic has difficulty keeping its root.  While there is simply no way to prevent freak injuries from ever happening, players and their teams can do a lot to ensure they are in the best possible position to withstand the rigors of the sport.  Aside from relatively minor injuries, aches and pains, then, competition goes on without physical damage.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Racer Kevin Ward, Jr. on Fatal Receiving End


In Sports in the Fast Lane, I wrote about the IndyCar crash that killed racer Dan Wheldon.  It was October 2011, just at the heels of Steve Jobs' death, and I was so stunned that I spent hours reading articles and watching videos on ESPN and YouTube.

This time it was Kevin Ward, Jr. on the fatal receiving end.

Tragic breaking news from a sprint car race on dirt track!

Tony Stewart apparently hit and killed Kevin Ward, Jr.
Kevin Ward, Jr.
Tyler Graves, a sprint-car racer and friend of Ward's, told Sporting News in a phone interview that he was sitting in the Turn 1 grandstands and saw everything that happened.

"Tony pinched him into the front stretch wall, a racing thing," Graves said. "The right rear tire went down, he spun on the exit of (Turn) 2. They threw the caution and everything was toned down. Kevin got out of his car… He was throwing his arms up all over the place at Tony for most of the corner.

"I know Tony could see him. I know how you can see out of these cars. When Tony got close to him, he hit the throttle. When you hit a throttle on a sprint car, the car sets sideways. It set sideways, the right rear tire hit Kevin, Kevin was sucked underneath and was stuck under it for a second or two and then it threw him about 50 yards."
Reference:  Police: Out-of-car driver dies after being hit by Tony Stewart.

Meanwhile a friend on Facebook posted Tony Stewart hits, kills driver in sprint car race, and noted:
During a sprint car race at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, driver Kevin Ward Jr. was spun out by Stewart, got out of his car to show his displeasure and then was struck by Stewart's car, sending Ward sliding down the track, fellow sprint car racer Tyler Graves and witness Adam Dulski told USA TODAY Sports.
I and others commented:

Graves also told Sporting News that he saw Stewart hit the throttle,as Ward approached him, and slammed him sideways with the right rear tire. Ward getting out of his car and walking on the track, even with the caution, was not at all smart. It seems to be a case of two drivers making terrible, fatal judgments.
That is an understatement. This could result in criminal charges.

Charles, you are kidding....please...Unless it is against Ward. It is a racetrack....not the beach on Sunday afternoon.

Yes but it looks like he m ay have intentionally hit him, or at least tried to scare him by going close and went too close. The local authorities are investigating according to the news.

Athletes should not automatically get a pass for violence on the field.

At the speed they were going, I doubt he was contemplating hitting him.

Yes, and Ward was stupid to walk out there, but it should be investigated, don't you think?
The investigators definitely a tough job to do and a tough determination to make. If they can corroborate what Graves saw, then there may be criminal charges against Stewart. My guess is that his attorney and team counsel advised him to withdraw from the race. If there are in fact charges against him, I don't know how much Ward's own actions will mitigate his guilt. Ward is only 20 years old, but it's tough to chalk up his running on the live track, despite the caution, as due simply to immaturity. He had to dodge two or three cars, and vice versa, before getting to Stewart's. Unfortunately he chose to risk his own life.

Then I posted the following video on Google+, and copied my comment about what Graves told Sporting News:

Amen to that. Two people making bad judgment calls in the heat of the moment. Bad deal for everyone!!!
Exactly! I hope everyone learned a critical lesson from this tragedy. Racers get hot under the collar like all other athletes, but they just have to get a grip, man! 
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Monday, August 18, 2014

Meditations on Tiger Woods


On August 4th I posted the following articles and notes on Google+, and they generated a bit of a discussion among friends:

Tiger Woods

I cannot help but think that Tiger came back too early from his back injury and surgery.
Tiger should of shut it down for the remainder of the year.

Maybe for good. Hate to see him struggle when he used to be the best ever.
His agent is apparently not ruling him out for Valhalla this week. I'm, like, are you kidding me?  In his heyday, Tiger was simply enthralling. I don't know if he seeks out the counsel of the old masters of the game - Jack, Arnold et al. - but he probably has a lot to learn and adopt. I don't think he should hang it all up, because he still has a lot of years left to play. 

(image credit)

This time I don't agree with SportsNation: Still fairly young, Tiger should be confident about winning his 15th.
I'm with you. Tiger will win a few Majors before he walks away from the game. Time is on his side and his game is far from gone. I believe he'll figure all this out.
Tiger is so determined and competitive that he may be his own worst enemy, as far as dealing with injuries is concerned.  But I agree with you: He's shown an ability to evolve his game, so he can figure out how to play competitive golf at this stage in his career.   
What's next for Tiger Woods?

Rory may now have a better chance of breaking 18 majors than Tiger: What do you think?
Rors is in beast mode and he's hard to take off the top of the leaderboard when he's playing this well, however golf is a game of cycles and just as quickly has he's made things go right, things can go wrong for him at this will open the door for many players.
Well said, Robert. One writer likens Rory's game more to that of Phil, than Tiger, because it's unpredictable. So we'll see how the young man keeps playing.
It is way too early to compare these two players! Rory is great, but only time will tell whether he can sustain that over his career. Give the kid a break - he is a nice young man who has a refreshing attitude about him. Maybe he should strive to be more like Phil than Tiger. At least Phil has his priorities straight. Tiger has lost his soul in the process of his narcissistic pursuit! 
The car wreck that was his personal and marital life may have been worse than he can admit, because it seems to be a tipping point of sorts. I've contended that there are psychological roadblocks en route to his next major. But I think you're absolutely right: He's in a spiritual crisis as well. 
If we just want to talk about Tiger's golfing and not his character, there are a few things he needs to do if he is going to have any chance at breaking Jack's major record. He needs to learn to hit the ball in the fairway with his driver. If he is going to come into the green with a mid iron while Rory is using a wedge or other short iron, he will never be able to compete. He needs to learn to swing easier so there is less stress on his back. He can still hit the ball a long way without trying to kill it. He needs to have some fun playing the game - perhaps adopt a Trevino attitude. I play golf, and the more relaxed I am the better I play. Golf is too important to him. I believe if it were less important, he would do better because he would be more relaxed - and maybe hit the odd ball in the fairway. Just my thoughts. 
I agree with many of Ian's assessments of Tiger changes and will add, if TW is unable to match Rors, Bubba and others in length of the tee, he needs to recapture the magic he once owned with his putter. When Tiger dominated golf he ruled by virtue of his putter.
I agree with you entirely Robert. This guy was the best pressure putter the game has ever seen.
Tiger's game is in such shambles right now, I'm not even sure where he ought to begin. A large part of his success in the past was the intimidation factor: Other golfers knew that, come Sunday, Tiger would be roaring up the leaderboard, if he were down. That knowledge in and of itself paved the way for Tiger. Now, it seems only the media, and we fans, that pay attention to him, and with a less than healthy Tiger, his game isn't going anywhere fast!
The two people that know Tigers game and swing best are his father and Butch. Tiger can't turn to daddy but Butch is obtainable.  I don't think Tiger is enjoying the game in recent years if he could only drop much of the life and death consequence of winning he might just find himself on top of the final leaderboard on Sundays.
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