Ejection!?!

NFL players should not be so harshly punished for bringing the wood (hitting hard). However, it seems that the NFL does not feel the same way that I do about this particular topic. The Associated Press reports that “The NFL has told its officiating crews to start ejecting players for flagrant helmet-to-helmet hits” (http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8040e157&template=without-video&confirm=true). I feel that this is completely ridiculous. What I really don’t agree with is the use of the term “flagrant.” Who is to judge if someone is purposely trying to make a helmet-to-helmet hit? Even when it does happen, the player who made the hit should absolutely not be ejected from the game. If you are part of this type of collision you already put yourself at risk of an injury, not to mention that the league is going to fine you. I would like to think that is punishment enough, but it seems that some people feel that the players of the NFL need to go through even more bullshit than they already do. It may sound bad, but everybody who watches football enjoys a big hit. Now players might be more hesitant to go for the k.o. shot because of the possible risk of en ejection. This is just another addition to why the NFL is quickly becoming the No Fun League. Big hits are part of the game and everyone who has been playing football long enough to make it to the pros should obviously know that they are going to have to deal with it eventually.

sky high in phily

Authority figures in sports get treated with far more respect and lenience than the athletes do. Andy Reid, coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, recently had his house raided by police who found a stockpile of illegal and prescription drugs. As reported by ESPN.com, a judge to one of coach Reid’s sons that “It sounds more or less like a drug emporium there, with the drugs all over the house, and you're an addict” (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3089753). The two people being charged are Britt and Garrett Reid who are said to have used everything from marijuana to OxyCotin, cocaine, and heroin. My problem with the whole situation is that the entire world is putting absolutely no blame on Andy Reid, even though the drugs were found in his house. If this situation happened to a player, rather than a coach or official, the whole thing would be getting handled in a different manner. The athlete would most likely receive some of the lame and would undoubtedly be punished, but because it happened to a coach, the league is going to let him slide because he obviously had nothing to do with it. When evidence of a dog fighting ring was found at the home of Mike Vick most people immediately aimed their targets at him because it was his house, but when drugs are found in a coach’s house there are no fingers being pointed in his direction. I feel that it is ridiculous that sports teams and leagues choose to be so harsh when punishing players and much more lenient when punishing coaches and officials.

Trick or Treat?

After experiencing the event first hand, I have come to the conclusion that the Ohio University’s notorious Halloween party is most defiantly slightly overrated. Yes the streets were crowded and there were some very “interesting” costumes, but I would be lying to myself if I said that I wasn’t disappointed. The girls were not quite as “dirty” as I expected them to be and the night overall wasn’t exactly what I anticipated it to be. Perhaps I had my hopes set too high or maybe things were not as crazy because of all of the extra security, either way, it was not anything special. The highlight of my night was probably right before I got back in my room and I had a “talk” with a certain female peer. This conversation was just a continuation of a situation that started about two weeks ago. I personally feel that Friday night was better than Saturday night, but that is just my opinion. My feelings towards Ohio U would probably not affect many people because of the fact that I don’t drink, making many of my peers seem like they have more fun than I do. Overall, my first Halloween at Ohio University was far from spectacular, but hopefully next year will be better. Maybe it would help if I actually dress up and act like an idiot like everyone else. I’m going to go get to work on planning out my costume for next year so I can have a better time.

Don't Get Hurt

Should a player be able to lose his job due to injury? This is a question that comes up all the time in the NFL. The question asks, if a starter gets hurt, is it right that he is permanently replaced by his backup if the backup comes in and performs well. There are several different possible answers to this question, and each is based on its own scenario. The two things that a coach must look at when making his decision are how deep into the season are we and how was the starter performing before he got hurt? Now obviously if Peyton Manning or Tom Brady were to get hurt, their job would be there waiting for them to get better. Where this question comes into effect are with the less proven, less consistent, usually very young, or very old players. Take a look at Vince Young who strained his right quadriceps in last week's 13-10 loss at Tampa Bay when he scrambled for a 2-yard gain and was pushed out of bounds (http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8037496c&template=without-video&confirm=true). Regardless of how his backup performs, Vince should have his job back as soon as he gets healthy. This is because he has performed well for his team and they are in a pretty good position (record wise) at this point in the season. If his team was 1-6 and Young was performing horribly, then maybe there could be an argument make for his backup Kerry Collins. Like I said, it as all scenario based, but in general, I feel that someone should not be sat because they got hurt and their backup came in and did well.

?????Oh Henry

Why is it that athletes do so much dumb stuff when they know that they’re most likely going to get caught, and when they do, the whole world is going to know their entire life story? With all of the stories about athletes getting into trouble going around: Vick, Pac-Man, Tank Johnson etc., I figured that I would throw Travis Henry’s name out there. As many of you probably know, Henry is facing a possible (and very likely) yearlong suspension from the NFL due to breaking the league substance abuse policy….again. Simply put, he has been smoking too much reefer. What most people don’t realize is how many problems this guy really has. According to Len Pasquarelli, Travis was less than two weeks away from having his slate wiped clean when he filed his lawsuit to block further testing of a urine sample that had tested positive for marijuana (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3049721 ). However, his problems do not end with the NFL, now fantasy football players whom have Henry on their teams are looking to file their own lawsuits against not only Travis, but the Broncos as well if it turns out that they were possibly aware of the situation before it got out. On top of that, now the whole world knows that Henry is a father of 9…..and he has to pay child support to all 9 of the mothers. Yea, you read that correctly, he has 9 kids by 9 different women. The point is that Travis Henry’s world is all messed up. I personally feel that the media should stay out of people’s personal life, but I understand that it’s not easy. Especially when the focal point of a story has so much more going on than what people realize. And what’s up with the fans these days? First you have the Jets fans suing the Patriots because of “spy gate” and now they are going after Henry because they might lose in their fantasy league. Either way, this goes to show that professional athletes should try to stay out of the lime light because it’s very likely that not much good will come out of it.

No Hope!

Stephen Wade, Sports writer for the Associated Press, reported in an article that “U.S. coach Greg Ryan tossed goalkeeper Hope Solo off the team” (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-wwcup-usgoalieflap&prov=ap&type=lgns ). Oddly enough, later in that same article is the statement “Solo hadn't allowed a goal for almost 300 minutes when she was benched.” The removal of Solo from the USA women’s soccer team followed a 4-0 loss to Brazil in which she did not even participate in. She was replaced by the more experienced Brianna Scurry who had success against Brazil a few years back. After the game, Solo said during her press conference that Coach Ryan made “the wrong decision”. This statement is what had her removed. Now, maybe I could understand some type of punishment if Solo was simply criticizing the coach’s decision to bench her, but I still don’t think that she should have been removed from the team. However; in my opinion things change completely when the player making the complaint has such a strong argument. What gives the coach the right to punish a player so harshly for stating her opinion and basically just saying that she would have given the team a better chance to win….especially when the coach has no matter that helps him argue against her point? Solo later included that fact that she was not trying to talk down the performance of her former teammate, only the decision to start her; particularly after Solo had been performing so well in recent games. I feel that, not only Coach Ryan but all coaches are out of line when they punish a player for criticizing the coach’s decision, especially when it seems that the players have a valid point.

Get Well Soon

We have all heard about the horrific injury suffered by Buffalo Bills’ tight end Kevin Everett, and if you haven’t, here the situation. While playing on the kickoff coverage team during the Bills’ season opener, Everett was involved in a major collision in which he suffered a major spinal injury. Everett was taken to the hospital where the doctors began to perform surgery almost immediately, saying that the injury was actually life-threatening. Afterwards, most people were confident that Kevin would be alright, but the doctors were very doubtful that he would ever walk again, claiming that he was paralyzed from the neck down. However; according to several sources, including AP writer Juan Lozano, leading doctors are saying that it is not only possible, but very likely that we could see Everett walking again in as little as a few weeks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_bills_everett_hurt;_ylt=AtKjYnqo6P.eqXP8k_YhoKoLMxIF). Throughout the entire time he has been in the hospital, Kevin has been reported as being in “great spirits” and he has been bombarded by cards and letters of support. Now it is obvious that Kevin Everett was in (prior to his injury) better physical condition than the average person, but could the fact that he has had so much support and remained in a positive state of mind, been a contributing factor to his speedy recovery? I have my own personal experience being around a person with a spinal injury, my father, who is paralyzed from the waist down and has been in a wheelchair for over three years. He too has constantly said that he is going to get out of that chair, although he has yet to make any progress, he has not lost hope. Everett on the other hand is recovering very well from an injury that was technically worse than that of my father’s (Everett’s injury was higher up towards his neck). Could it simply be a case of luck, or is it that Kevin’s physical condition, web of support, and “great spirits”, has lead him towards what seems to be an almost full recovery. So my question is, by not only getting in shape, but by having people to provide support, and by thinking positively; can the average person provide themselves with a better opportunity to stay healthy and injury free, or can doing these things help someone recover from an injury or health problem? I think it can….
‘