Friday, October 29, 2010

CFL Player Fined for Wearing Pink Gloves in Support of Breast Cancer Awareness

Fining a professional football player $200 for wearing pink gloves in support of breast cancer sounds like a bonehead, inconsiderate move. 

Yet that’s exactly what the CFL decided to do this week when it reprimanded Winnipeg Blue Bombers fullback Jon Oosterhuis for wearing pink gloves in a recent game. Despite Oosterhuis and the legion of CFL players requesting to wear pink gloves in games this month, the CFL has deemed them too flashy and has thus banned them. However players, coaches and even referees can still wear pink shoes, sweatbands, and mouth guards and chin straps, which are all auctioned off to support the American Cancer Society.

And the irony is that banning pink gloves is just the kind of story that gets them more attention. Maybe it wasn’t such a bonehead move after all.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s not too late to donate. http://www.cancer.org/

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

"Damn... they didn't say anything about running when they paid me $100 million."
Hearing Washington Redskins nose tackle Albert Haynesworth say “I’m not good enough”, as he did on Thursday in regard to playing his team’s 3-4 defense, is like hearing an infant say he’s not old enough to drink. Some things are just inherently obvious.

Of course, hearing an infant speaking would be akin to winning the lottery in terms of its sheer unlikelihood, but it is even more of a fitting analogy when one considers just how Haynesworth has failed to grow up and be a man. You see, extraordinarily, he’s found the perfect balance in essentially winning the lottery and behaving like a baby at the same time, refusing to take on-field responsibility for his huge contract like he should.

After signing a seven-year, $100-million deal in 2009, Haynesworth has yet to re-establish himself as a Pro-Bowl-calibre player. He last made the game in 2008, his last with the Tennessee Titans. He’s certainly come a long way, and not for the better, since being voted the league’s most dominant defender by his peers in October 2009. Admittedly, the stomping incident on Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode that yielded a five-game suspension in 2006 is also in the past and should stay there, but the truth of the matter is no one truly fears a man of Haynesworth’s physical conditioning, especially following the events of this past off-season.


At 6’6”, 335 pounds, Haynesworth is a big man, but, playing in a league where size most definitely counts, the one positive he can take away from his whole stint in Washington is the legions of male fans he’s won over by disproving the “bigger is better” myth. Haynesworth essentially could not pass a sprinting test in 10 days that most everyone else could do in a matter of 10 minutes, singlehandedly discrediting the term “professional athlete”... both words.



His well-documented scuffles with head coach Mike Shanahan and reluctance to embrace change to the team’s defensive make-up all make it readily apparent that Haynesworth is not a team player. When you make $100 million, you seldom are. When you turn down an opportunity to be released and play in a defensive system of your choice just for the sake of collecting a $21-million signing bonus, which he received in April, it only builds up the case further against your character, or lack thereof.

Granted, his candor is appreciated and it’s somehow admirable that he was able to acknowledge his deficiencies in front of the media on Thursday. The first step is admitting you have a problem, after all. Unfortunately, not being good enough means never being able to overcome it, if it was the least bit true. He’s proven he’s capable of being an elite athlete, yet his refusal to not play the starting role set out for him by the Redskins is childish and just goes to show that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, if he was acting his age (29), that is.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

A Week to Remember for DeAngelo Hall



Sure, everything comes back to his performance on Sunday against the Chicago Bears, but Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall's week all culminated on Tuesday when he got named the NFC defenseive player of the week. Not too shabby for a player who's known as a defensive liability who can occasionally contribute a show-stopping clutch play. It just so happens that on Sunday he strung together four of those plays in one game to tie an NFL record with four interceptions. As a result, not only did he earn the aforementioned player-of-the-week honours, but he also had his jersey shipped off to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So, not only does Hall get the well-deserved accolades this week, but for once he gets the chance to be remembered for something other than his volatile nature, as displayed once upon a time in his blow-up with his then-head coach of the Atlanta Falcons Bobby Petrino back in 2007.



My bad, that was actually Hall taking on Atlanta head coach Mike Smith last November... two years after  being traded to the Oakland Raiders and then signing with the Redskins. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Please don't ever change, DeAngelo.

There's no Level of Football Low Enough to not Get Excited over


2010_1022_Abington_vs_Rockland_Touchdown_Nullified from Norm Caseley on Vimeo.

As if the Super Bowl depended on it, two high-school-football colour commentators get a little (a lot) carried away trying to come to terms with apparently life, death, and a bad call by a referee. The game pits rival Abington High School against rival Rockland, Massachusetts last Friday. Rockland ended up winning the game 21-12, much to the chagrin of the announcers, most likely.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Mr. and Mr. Smith

I get that Smith is a common-enough name, but who knew there were two quarterbacks named Smith, let alone two mediocre ones, let alone two mediocre ones playing on the same team in the NFL?

Considered by many to be a bust and a waste of a number-one overall pick (2005 draft), San Francisco 49ers QB Alex Smith has been sidelined with a separated shoulder, forcing head coach Mike Singletary to go with Troy Smith. Sure Troy is a Heisman Trophy winner (2006), but the last time I checked that meant he was the best player in college football, not the NFL, and besides the dude wasn't even good enough to back up the Baltimore Ravens' Joe Flacco, getting bumped in favour of Marc Bulger and then signing with San Francisco on September 6.



Please note that second video is of Flacco getting intercepted by Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalus, as there are so few highlights of Troy Smith out there. He did only last start a game in 2008 after all.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Romo Goes Down, and with Him Dallas' Super Bowl Hopes



Heading into this season, the Dallas Cowboys were expected to have a real chance at playing hosts to and playing in the Super Bowl, but, barring some miracle taken straight out of the Old Testament, quarterback Tony Romo's injury on Monday night at the hands of New York Giants linebacker Michael Boley has dashed those hopes along with those of the team even making the playoffs. The Cowboys are now 1-5 on the season with 10 games remaining. Mathematically they're still in it, but isn't everybody just six games into the year?

As for owner Jerry Jones stating in an ESPN interview this past weekend that he has the utmost confidence in head coach Wade Phillips, he`s either delusional, been sipping the Kool-Aid Phillips has been serving him, or he`s actually  preparing to give Phillips the ol`heave ho, but just doesn`t want to give him the heads-up through the media, denying, denying, and denying some more, as is common in interviews of that nature. Here`s one quote of what he had to say in that interview:

`This requires experiences to address being down 1-4 and have the focus and have the ability to show players I have seen this happen before, turnarounds. And so if I`m in this situation [he is] and the Cowboys are [they are], I want the experience of a Wade Phillips [notice he added the 'a' as if there are replacements available... hmmm] to give us what he's got to help us to start winning."

"Just what experience?" you might ask. Well, for the record, Phillips has once in his head-coaching career been down 1-4. He was actually down 0-4 as the head coach of the Denver Broncos in 1994 and went on to lead the team to a 7-9 finish.

He was fired after that season. He also was at the helm of the Buffalo Bills in 1998 when they were down 0-3 and he actually led them to the playoffs, before they lost in the first round to the Miami Dolphins. Unfortunately, unless Cowboys back-up QB Jon Kitna turns into Doug Flutie overnight (and based on his performance on Monday, that is the furthest thing from possible), lightning won't strike twice.

So, to sum up: Wade Phillips has never successfully gotten a 1-4 team into the playoffs, Jerry Jones will likely can his ass as possible, as overrated as Tony Romo is, Jon Kitna wishes he was in his shoes, sidelined with a broken collarbone with no pressure on his shoulders whatsoever, and the Dallas Cowboys are screwed.

The End is Near for Favre

For a second there, it looked like he would pull it off. For a split second, you probably wanted him to... and then, just like that, you came to your senses and realized that “he” was Brett Frickin’ Favre.

The last-minute taken-back touchdown and the would-be comeback against his old team, the Green Bay Packers, on Sunday at his old stomping grounds be damned. All the goodwill and good karma he’s stockpiled over his lengthy career cannot possibly save him from this latest scandal of his, but for what it’s worth it’s probably not too late for him to earn some more.



Favre’s career is almost literally on its last legs. Even with the two fractures in his ankle, as revealed on Monday, Favre’s latest performance at Lambeau Field, perhaps his last, should not be applauded. He threw three interceptions, including one for a touchdown and another especially critical one care of free safety Nick Collins in the dying minutes, and was generally ineffective, a description that is very apt of his body of work this season overall.

Had he won, it’s sad to say, but his interceptions would have been overlooked, his mistakes swept under the rug, and he would have been revered for at least one more week at the tail-end of an undeniably Hall-of-Fame-worthy career. But he didn’t. He lost. And now he must bear the full brunt of criticism. Until he redeems himself. In the NFL, don’t you know, it’s all about what have you done lately. And lately he’s been the subject of a none-too-gracious SNL skit showing him promoting a brand of jeans made specifically for easy pull-out access to his privates. He’s certainly come a long way since he appeared in There’s Something About Mary.



Oddly enough, Minnesota head coach Brad Childress has come under heavy criticism for calling Favre out after Sunday’s game, for the simple reason that the league is clearly trending toward a more politically correct image. One week after the NFL had to fine three different players for illegal helmet-to-helmet hits? Now that’s what I call rapid progress. Far be it for Childress to call a spade a spade and try and light a fire under his star quarterback. Nothing else has worked, but remember: this is Brett Favre we’re talking about. You have to wear kid gloves while handling him at all times. It’s not as if at the ripe old age of 41 he has been there before. I mean, granted, you don’t know where he’s been especially in light of these recent transgressions of his, but the point stands.

Favre has played the role of the heroic gunslinger to perfection over most of his 20 seasons in the NFL, but his image has taken a serious sack recently with the ongoing league investigation in regard to his unbecoming conduct toward a then-fellow-New York Jets employee back in 2008. 

Of course, Favre is not the first professional athlete to spit in the face of holy matrimony, but it is somewhat eye-opening to know that he’s not only a father but a grandfather as well. That isn’t to say that he should be held to a higher standard than everyone else, just that the family-friendly image he’s made for himself, even throughout his well-documented painkiller addiction, is built on a foundation of lies. It’s just somewhat disturbing to know that a grandfather can be that slimy and sexually active. Imagine retirement homes filled to the brim with Brett Favre clones and tell me you’re not the least bit creeped out.

In any case, now that Favre’s iron-man streak of 291-straight games played is all but assured to be over, he should take this opportunity to step away from the game as long as is necessary to get as healed up as possible and then try to return to be able to retire on a high note with a little dignity, because as things are shaping up now he’s got none left of which to speak.

Giving fans a chance to take a breather from his incompetence this season would also give them a chance to realize just how great he used to be, because for all the “what have you done for me lately” talk fans want to love their idols and not trash them. Favre isn’t winning much of anything playing on one ankle, so why try? He may not be a quitter, but all he’s doing is playing hurt and further hurting his image. Walk away now, for the time being, while you still can.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Ben Roethlisberg Fumbles, but Referees Get Pittsburgh's Back



While far from irrefutable evidence, it's clear that at least Miami Dolphins outside linebacker Ikaika Alama-Francis believes that he had the football (although, I'm sure the Pittsburgh Steeler closest to the ball on the play would say the same thing). The truth of the matter is that it's impossible based on video evidence. The referees should have checked who had possession prior to making the initial call on the field, but therein lies the huge degree of human error associated with any sport. In other words, sh*! happens. And if Miami did by chance have the ball, it wasn't a total screw-job on the part of the "No Fair" League. At least Miami wasn't charged for the time-out. I hear those challenges come in real useful when controversy erupts late in games.