Boycott the NFL? What Says Lurie? Philly Media Asleep?

I've been increasingly disgusted with the NFL lately. Although I love football, the NFL and I have issues, such as their overreaction in stadium security which won't let me carry my little drawstring bag* with my phone charger, reading material for the subway/El, etc. into the Linc -- if I even actually got an Eagles ticket, which I can't afford anyway. And their claim that they want to make the game safer and reduce or prevent serious injuries, particularly head injuries, is completely at cross-purposes with their insistence that there be weekly Thursday night games, as well as their consideration of future expansion of the regular season from 16 to 18 games.

But that's nothing compared to the initial outrage over the pathetic two-game suspension originally given Ray Rice by commissioner Roger Goodell, and the league's response to the punishment's total inadequacy (especially when compared with longer bans given players who committed the horrible crime of smoking pot), followed by the responses of Goodell, the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens once TMZ acquired the video of Rice viciously punching his then-fiancee, now-wife in the elevator at the newly-defunct Revel Casino in Atlantic City, followed by the league's totally inadequate responses to domestic violence caused by other players (you MUST read this).

And on top of all that came the news that Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings was charged with child abuse, after beating his four-year-old son with a tree branch until the child bled. For those who somehow think there's nothing wrong with such discipline, think about it. Pause on these words, stare at them for a minute or two until it sinks in: HE BEAT HIS CHILD AND DREW BLOOD. HE MADE A FOUR-YEAR-OLD BLEED!

That was followed by the Vikings' flip-flops on whether he should be allowed to play, deactivating him for one game, then announcing that he would be reinstated, then reversing course after team and league sponsors began distancing themselves from this mess.

And then came today (technically yesterday, since this won't be finished until after midnight).

Comparison: ESPN vs. NFL

ESPN says Stephen A. Smith will not appear for a week on their TV show "First Take" or his radio show because of comments he made that implied some women provoke domestic violence. The comments were in the wake of the NFL suspending Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for two games for beating up his fiancee (now his wife).

So...knock out your woman and drag her unconscious body out of a hotel elevator? Miss two games.
Talk about it in a stupid manner? Miss ten "games."

I'm so glad the NFL and Roger Goodell have educated us on the correct levels of punishment for dastardly acts.





(These two clips should actually be connected into one, as they were part of the same scene. This won't be a problem in a few months.)

Super Bowl: Heroes, Villains

Yes, I still want to keep this blog thing going, believe it or not.

Every time one of the major sports is about to decide its champion, and there's no Philadelphia team involved, I have to figure out which team I want to root for. In general, I like to root for the underdog, or David over Goliath. Teams that haven't won before or cities that haven't won in a long time, whose fans seem deserving of the success. Players I like (or dislike). So, no rooting for New York teams, the Dallas Cowboys, etc.

More and more there's a problem, though. Between the general arrogance and surly attitudes of many modern-day players and the rise of performance-enhancing substance usage and, in recent years, the outspokenness of players on gay issues and teams' participation in projects like You Can Play or It Gets Better, it's increasingly impossible to decide which team to support.

For Super Bowl XLVII (and boy, isn't it going to be weird when it's just Super Bowl L in three years), featuring the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, there's been particular attention paid to gay stuff. On one hand, the Ravens' Brendan Ayanbadejo is an major supporter of equality, speaking out and helping same-sex equality become law in Maryland. On the other hand, his teammate Matt Birk holds anti-gay views based on his religious beliefs. Point: the 49ers' Chris Culliver made stupid anti-gay remarks this week. Counterpoint: the 49ers repudiated his remarks and his coach and some of his teammates spoke out against them. Plus: the 49ers are the only NFL team to release an It Gets Better video. Minus: Two 49ers who were in the video denied being in it, until they were shown the video featuring them, and the video's now been pulled from the It Gets Better website. It seems possible the 49ers were unclear or misled their players about the video's purpose.

Kaepernick

And that's not even getting into the media's canonization of Saint Ray Lewis, playing his last game, conveniently sweeping under the rug his involvement in the murders of two men, men whose murderers have gone unpunished thanks to the actions of Lewis. Oh, and there's that whole deer-antler-spray thing (getting back to performance-enhancers).

I suppose, with all the pro-gay and anti-gay stuff kind of canceling each other out, the Lewis factor would push me toward the 49ers. But the 49ers have already won five Super Bowls, and the Giants have two World Series wins in three years. So that pushes me back towards Baltimore.

See what I mean?

So I can't say how I'll feel about whichever team wins. I will say, after some wavering, I think the 49ers will win. It really depends on their quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, continuing to handle the pressure despite having little NFL experience before taking over midseason. If he doesn't play like a rookie, the 49ers will win. And, if you don't mind tattoos...

NFL: No More Eagles, Divisional Picks

Well, it was interesting in its way, yet it's also like a broken record. An Eagles team raises expectations and then drops out of the playoffs. At least this time, there's no Donovan McNabb for people to blame. But the loss to Green Bay didn't expose anything that wasn't already exposed. They have a defense that wasn't all that good during the 10-4 start and didn't get any better during the last two meaningful games (the season-ender against Dallas was just a glorified exhibition), both of which they lost. The offensive line, particularly on the right side, is a mess. Michael Vick, while showing a lot of improvement, still needs work. Of course, the Eagles have to sign him first. He's now a free agent.

Assuming they're still Vick fans, the Eagles have to decide what to do with Kevin Kolb, who still wants to start and has just one year left on his contract. Keep him as a backup again? He won't be happy with that. If they trade him, they need a backup for Vick or they're really in trouble. We saw Vick get hurt and miss some time this year. Imagine if that happens again and Kolb is gone.

Right now the Eagles' biggest problem is a two-pronged issue. They need a lot of upgrades to truly contend for the Super Bowl, but they won't be able to do anything until the NFL and its players' union have a new contract.

NFL Playoffs: Mediocrity, OT, Wild Picks

This weekend features the first round of the NFL postseason. There are a couple of perceived injustices, and I'm probably in the minority regarding both.

Let's start with the presence of 7-9 Seattle in the playoffs (because they won their division) instead of 10-6 teams Tampa Bay and the Giants (because both finished in second), and to make things worse, the Seahawks are at home against 11-5 New Orleans. Many people think that the Seahawks shouldn't be in it at all, let alone have a home game. They propose changes to allow a team with a better record to take the place of a losing team in the future. In theory this works. In reality, if you can win a division (even a pathetic one like the NFC West) and not be in the playoffs, if there's no reward for finishing first, why have divisions to begin with? For that matter, why have conferences? Just have all the teams listed 1-32 and have the top 12 in the playoffs.

Of course, you'd have to figure out a way to come up with a fair schedule (fair in strength-of-schedule as well as things like travel) without divisions, and somehow not destroy many (if not all) of the division and conference rivalries. Imagine the Eagles and Cowboys not playing a game in a season. Or the Steelers and Ravens. Or whatever. So forget that idea.

However, I do think the Seahawks should be on the road.