Super Fraud of the Year: Football Nation America, In All It's "Glory"

Well, as I begin this post, it's about a half-hour to when the East Coast rings in 2014.

And, to me, 2013 was an utter disaster for those of us who wanted decency, fair play, and clarity in sports (or much of anywhere else).

But nowhere was this more evident than in a nation gone mad on a rigged, corrupt bloodsport of football, to the abject exclusion of life, fortune, and sacred honor -- not only that of the players, but of themselves and of each other as well.

And it has gotten precipitously worse over the course of the season.  We started the year on a trek to see if Johnny Football broke NCAA rules, and now we leave it with a probable rapist winning the Heisman and the question as to whether the NCAA merits continued existence at all.

We started the year with a corrupt run by a team with a coach who killed his son because he couldn't be a father.  He was only a football coach.  We ended last season with a Super Bowl that had to have a power outage that most intelligent people believe was league-scripted to not lose viewers.

We end the year with a league untouchable to the truth of a bloodsport unsafe at any speed, untouchable to the realities that the players are being dehumanized into animals, untouchable to the fans killing each other if they aren't despondent to the point of suicide when their team loses a rivalry game, untouchable to refereeing that, if the games were not fixed, would be so across-the-board incompetent that they would be unfit.

But a nation swears fealty, where life, limb, friendship, grief, the realities of living, and everything else lay subservient to a violence-filled culture of criminality.

And, hence, football itself is Superfraud of the Year.

NFL Predictions: So how bad did I foul up this year???

Let's see how bad I screwed this all up.

Start in the AFC:

Back in early September, I had:

AFC East

NE: 11-5 (#3 seed) Went 12-4, 8-0 at home, #2 seed.

What happened:  The league probably went with an audible mid-season and now wants Peyton vs. Tom, Part Two Zillion and Six.

Miami:  8-8  Went...  8-8!!!

What happened:  About what I expected to.  Workman-like performance where 8-8 almost got you in.

Buffalo:  5-11  Went 6-10

What happened:  2nd in the league in rushing, 4th in the league in passing defense by yards.  A few more pieces are in place than I thought.

Jets:  3-13  Went...

EIGHT AND EIGHT???

What happened:  Call me (and the entirety of the US Sports Machine Media) when you figure this one out, other than what one reader has posited:  Since the league can now force teams to do Hard Knocks, Rex Ryan is just too juicy to pass up.

AFC North

Pittsburgh:  10-6 #4 seed.  Went 8-8 and out of the playoffs.

What happened:  Almost last in the league in rushing, 0-4 and 2-6 to start the season including a couple of losses which would be inexcusable.

Cincinnati:  9-7 Went 11-5 and the division champ, #3 seed.

What happened:  The recipient of a lot of what happened to Pittsburgh.

Baltimore:  7-9  Went 8-8.

What happened:  A bit more for the champs than I thought, but otherwise about what I expected.

Cleveland:  5-11  Went 4-12.

What happened:  Nothing much positive, just about as expected.  Figured they might sneak another win out of the NFC North, though.

AFC South

Houston:  12-4 and the #2 seed.

Went 2-14 and the #1 Draft Pick

What happened:  Everything.  Wrong.

I think it's now clear that either the league is going to script the Texans in a worst-to-first (of which one place has reported Philly made 11 years in a row in the regular season for a division title that at least one division did) with Manziel, or they really need to get off the Texans' horse, because this was an unmitigated disaster which probably is going to require far more cleanup than just the coaching staff.

I think Manziel to Houston is just too tempting, deserved or not.  But this team has gone full-circle, back to when the last Texas-state quarterback was poised to go #1 with Houston on the clock.  Houston passed, taking Mario Williams instead.  Good call on their part.

Indy:  10-6  Went 11-5 for the division and the #4 seed.

What happened:  The drop off from last year on the Pythagoreans wasn't as bad as people thought it might be, and Luck is still getting a massive push.

Tennessee:  7-9  Went 6-10

What happened:  See Buffalo and Baltimore.

Jacksonville:  3-13.  Started the year 0-8, won four of five after it to have a sliver playoff chance, then lost the last three for 4-12.

What happened:  First half of the season went about to form, then they got some pride.  Only 1-7 at home, though, and that's probably partially evidence of the dysfunction that franchise has on a massive scale.  Houston was only 1-7 at home, Washington was 2-6.  None of those franchises appear stable right now.

AFC West:

Denver:  13-3, #1 seed.  Went exactly that.

What happened:  League is pushing Peyton hardcore.  Best statistical QB season in history, but I sense a hard roadblock coming in New York in about a month.

Kansas City:  7-9  Did about the exact opposite of Jacksonville.  9-0 to the bye week, went 2-5 afterwards for 11-5 and the #5 seed.

What happened:  I really think that the early-season was that they wanted to reward Andy Reid for sacrificing his son to football, but I think part of what happened was Peyton vs. Brady, and the rest would be that too many people might realize what happened.

San Diego:  5-11  Went 9-7 and snagged the #6 with a lot of referee help.

What happened:  Seems to be stadium push, at least from people like-minded to me.

Oakland:  3-13  Went 4-12 with signs of promise.

What happened:  Something needs to change in Oakland, or the Raiders need to change out of Oakland.

My pre-season seeds were DEN, HOU, NE, PIT, IND, CIN
They happened:  DEN, NE, CIN, IND, KC, SD

Didn't count on the big push in the AFC West, but still seemed to go to a good degree of form except for Houston's debacle.

If the seeds hold this week, you get Denver-Indianapolis, as I said in the pre-season.

NFC East:

Giants 10-6.  Went 7-9.

What happened:  Coughlin lost the team for the better part of the year, I think, _again_.  And then they decided to play for his job, _AGAIN_.

The same song and dance we've seen out of the Giants every damn year they haven't won the Super Bowl recently, it seems.

Redskins:  10-6  Went 3-13 and gave the Rams the #2 pick.

What happened:  Daniel Snyder is a fucktard stealing money from the Washington football fealty-swearers.  If it weren't by design, he'd be ousted for incompetence...

Dallas:  7-9  Went 8-8

What happened:  ... right next to Jerry Jones.

Philadelphia:  6-10  Went 10-6 for the #3 seed and the division.

What happened:  The rest of the division collapsed.  1st in the league in rushing, 9th in passing, but a big problem in the wildcard round:  LAST in the league in pass defense, and, oh by the way, here come the Saints.

NFC North:

Minnesota:  10-6  Went:  5-10-1

What happened:  Adrian Peterson did not get a rub from his homophobia, Greg Jennings got exposed as a system wide receiver (like so many other ex-Packers), and the defense sucked rocks.  Any other questions as to why Leslie Frazier is gone?

Green Bay:  10-6  Went:  8-7-1 and won the division and the #4 seed with it.

What happened:  Rest of the division stank and Green Bay needs to learn how to prevent injuries.  So many injuries, so many key players.

Chicago:  8-8  Went:  8-8!

What happened:  How'd that firing work out for you guys in Bear Country?  And the Bears' defense damn well does suck.  Only the Vikings gave up more points.  Didn't give up fewer than 20 in any game the entire year.  (Thank you to my anonymous contributor for catching that one.)

Detroit:  6-10  Went:  7-9

What happened:  Caught Green Bay at their injuries, not much else unexpected.  Too many fines, and now a new coaching staff coming in.  Take the thugs on the team with you!

NFC South:

Atlanta:  12-4  Went:  4-12

What happened:  Everything everybody else thought would -- and more.

New Orleans:  10-6  Went:  11-5 for the #6 seed.

What happened:  Slight up-push for Brees and Redemption for Bounty-Gate.

Carolina:  8-8  Went:  12-4 for the #2 seed

What happened:  Cam Newton push in overdrive.

Tampa Bay:  6-10  Went:  4-12

What happened:  Too many thugs + one lost locker room = New coach next year.

NFC West:

Seattle:  11-5  Went:  13-3 for the #1 seed.

What happened:  They got the decision over San Francisco, and are the Super Bowl favorites as a result.

San Francisco:  13-3  Went:  12-4

What happened:  See Seattle, the other way around.

Arizona:  5-11:  Went:  10-6 and eliminated.

What happened:  Pride, some decent results at home, and probably one of the better surprise stories in the league not named Kansas City.

St. Louis:  6-10  Went:  7-9

What happened:  Workmanlike performance in the shadows of the two big West teams.

Predicted seeds:  SF, ATL, NYG, MIN, SEA, WAS
Actual:  NOTHING CLOSE.  SEA, CAR, PHI, GB, SF, NO

You may start laughing, especially at the NFC side of it, now.

And the Final Score for 2013's NFL Season is: ANOTHER SCORING RECORD...

Gee, whoda thunk?

Another year, another scoring record.  Three years in a row now:

Final week average:  41.438, lowest of the year.  They had enough with all the playoff-relevant games to make up for the scoring, sounds like.

Season per-game average:  46.707 points per game.  That's another almost 1.2 points over last year's record.

Cliffhanger:

GB-CHI (TD pass with :38 left)
SD-KC (OT FG for San Diego)
SF-ARI (Three times over!  After a TD pass tied the game at 17 with 3:20 to go, the teams traded field goals.  San Francisco went up 20-17 with 1:45 to go, which was tied with :29 left, which was broken at the gun for San Francisco's victory.)

3 for the final week.  56 of the 256 games this year were decided with a score in the final two minutes or overtime.

Within one score:

MIN-DET (TD pass with 9:19 to go in a game where both coaches have already been fired.)
CAR-ATL (Winning score was in third quarter.)
TEN-HOU (Ditto.)
PHI-DAL (Winning score with 6:09 left.  Dallas got a touchdown with 3:50 left, but the conversion for two failed.)

7 within a score.  Final total:  129/256, just one game over half.

There Are No Coincidences -- Brian Tuohy

Another one for the Tuohy file:

Peyton Manning was 265 yards short of tying the NFL record for passing yards in a season.

He needed 266 to get it.

Peyton Manning's scoreline, in one half:

25 for 28, with four touchdowns...

TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX YARDS

PRECISELY.

The title above was what Brian Tuohy had on the bottom of many pages of "The Fix Is In"'s website.

Nothing more need be said here.

This Week was the "You're Welcome" to Last Week's "Thank You"...

I was out and about this afternoon, and decided just to drop by and watch a little bit of "America's Game of the Week" *chortle* "Win and In" (complete with FOX logo), Bears vs. Packers.

And, though there were several borderline calls in the 4th quarter, all of them seemed to be correct at first glance...

Except for one...

4th and about the on-field width of the unofficial stripe the TV people use to aid fans in seeing where the first down is.  (Ball was on the offensive side of the stripe, needed to get to the defensive side after a measurement on 3rd down.)

And then this happens...

I knew I saw it that way in real time.

So did #26 for the Bears, who was running to the side judge with a closed fist in the air (denoting "zero").

No call.

Why?

Look who was quarterbacking the Packers...

I said this in my preview:  The Bears do not have enough marketable players to get the rub when the rub is needed.

Hence, Packers 33, Bears 28 -- Packers host the Niners next week.

Forward (Prediction for 2014) and Backward (Week 16): Football as "Calvinball"...

I said it in my original discussion of the debacle at Lambeau earlier this week, and then one of the readers of my blog pointed out that there was a nice little meme about just that...

"Calvin and Hobbes'" "Calvinball...

A game with only two rules:

• No two games can be identical.
• You must wear the Calvinball Mask.

(And then that same reader just pointed out another thing:  The uniform violation policies of the NFL vs. "The Calvinball Mask"...)

All other rules are made up on the fly.

It's too perfect.  And the NFL has had two more examples of it in Week 16, and nobody is going to be able to do a damn thing about either.

• The NFL admitted the clock started early on the Green Bay-Pittsburgh situation.

DUH!!  If the clock starts, the ball is Ready For Play, so they can snap it ...  unless your idea is to ensure a Steeler victory.

• And now word from Denver that the Blessed Fiftieth Touchdown Pass which aided Peyton Manning (2013 Sportsman of the Year, by the by) to the new passing touchdown record (with an entire week to spare) should not have counted.

Skip a part of this, especially with the Bronco fan going off, that's not the point...

At about 40 seconds, watch the replay (mute the guy if you have to)...

Conveniently, they cut off the video just as he steps out of bounds on his second step in the end zone with the ball.

Yep, the NFL let the Titans know that that call was wrong too.

Prediction for 2014:  The Super Bowl this time around will be OPENLY decided by bad officiating.  This will make Pittsburgh-Seattle look good in comparison.

An Editorial Which Will Have Baseball Historians Steaming

You know, many years ago, before I found out about Mayer vs. Belichick, New England Patriots, and the National Football League, I actually proposed suing Major League Baseball for allowing and encouraging the rampant steroid use.

Of course, I was almost laughed off of rec.sport.baseball, for the reason the court eventually gave in the above case.

Well, while researching for USA Today's usual weekly NFL fine article (which usually fills in the blanks of a lot of the smaller/lower-profile events of the week), I found something which I already know has my Hall-of-Fame-watching baseball.historian steaming almost this time of every year.

Ted Berg of USA Today has not only proposed four reasons that the roidie cheats should be in the Hall of Fame, but, also, that the character clause in voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame should be outright eliminated.

Now, assuredly, there are people in the Baseball Hall of Fame who are quite of ill character, too numerous to list here...

But to say that the steroid cheats are so vital to baseball's history that not only should they be in Cooperstown, but the entire concept of the honorable nature of character be stricken from the voting process is beyond ludicrous -- it basically sacrifices the final traditions on which baseball WAS (and no longer IS) America's National Pastime.

So let's hear out, and then destroy the argument of, Mr. Berg...

"But for the angry fans certain that Cooperstown has no room for cheaters — those fans this post aims to convince otherwise — please at least dial back the outrage for a moment and consider the justification, understanding that no one is arguing that baseball players should take steroids or that being caught taking steroids in 2014 does not merit punishment."

But let's ignore the entire tradition of a steroid-ladened farce for much of the post-strike 1990's and most of the 2000's.  Let's just ignore that reality, which, if exposed, might well have ENDED baseball.

First Reason:  Ending the Witch Hunt

Basically, that you cannot have a reasoned discussion of who is Hall of Fame and who is not, especially from the Steroid Era, without "moral judgements, finger-pointing, and baseless speculation".

The biggest problem, to me, of letting anybody at all (clean or otherwise) from the Steroid Era is the game being so tainted, it's not baseball anymore.  Hence, can historical benchmarks be used for players in this era?

That problem has already cost Craig Biggio (one of the few players basically universally recognized as steroid-free who might well be headed the Hall eventually from this era) one year and probably (with the Atlanta pitchers and Mr. Anabolic Cheeseburgers Frank Thomas) a second.

The thing is, the best one can do is try to separate the players clearly on the gas (the McGwires, Sosas, Palmeiros, Bondses, Clemens', et. al.) from the player with the only anabolic substance they took was that of pizza or cheeseburger (Thomas, et. al.), or players who didn't look the part (Biggio, et. al.).

The problem with Berg's argument here is that he is guilty in one direction of the same crime I can be accused and called guilty of in the other:  Berg's argument is that you don't want to have to make the decision, so put them all in.

Until I talked to said baseball historian friend, my position was completely set at what I wrote to the BBWAA when the roidies began their march to the ballot:  Let no one in, because you have no baselines.

The one argument that could be made by Berg here is:

"But then, there’s almost no doubt some players who were never caught cheating did indeed cheat. And if one of those guys earns a plaque, it hardly seems fair to deny the honor to players who confessed their guilt. Without comprehensive evidence to determine who used and who didn’t, trying to distinguish for the sake of Hall of Fame voting ultimately amounts to electing guys based on their public-relations skills."

... effectively the argument that there is already a roidie cheat in the Hall or there soon will be.  (Mike Piazza is a common name to come up in that regard.)

There is, however, another problem with the argument Berg makes:  We already have guys being elected (or denied!) on PR skills.  That's been happening as long as the BBWAA has been part of the process, and the only way to stop THAT is to end the BBWAA's involvement.

The problem is that not only does the "witch hunt" need to continue, but there does need to be a process in place that a roidie cheat (or similar) can be removed upon discovery.  The problem would be, though, the innumerable list of players (from Ty Cobb on down) you could remove on similar charges of the Character Clause.

Second Reason:  Saving the Hall of Fame

How about we save baseball, Mr. Berg?

How about we recognize that the roidie cheats and the Commissioner who all but peddled to them have turned the Former National Pastime into a Balkanized mess of Yankees-Red Sox every damn Sunday night on ESPN, in which no one watches the World Series unless their team is involved?

And saving the Hall of Fame from WHAT?  Having a 20-year gap, a 20-year period that was "Not Baseball"?

"The Hall of Fame is our greatest shrine to our best thing. As fans who grew up loving the game in the late 1990s and early 2000s mature and start families, how many will rush to bring their kids to see a Hall of Fame that excludes their own childhood heroes?"

How about recognizing that those "men" being the childhood heroes is one of the reasons we have a culture today without morals, without any real boundaries to conduct (Knockout Game, the entirety of Football Nation America, 600 people brawling in a movie parking lot because they couldn't break in on Christmas Day), and without any real future at all?

Our culture mirrors what has happened in sports over the last 20-30 years.

Their "own childhood heroes" did not play baseball.  They did something else.  They did something criminal.  Each and every last one of them should be doing time in a federal prison.

They have no place in Cooperstown -- the game they created by their syringes and other bullshit was NOT BASEBALL.

"People sometimes ask, “How am I supposed to explain to my kid that Barry Bonds made the Hall of Fame even though he took steroids?” But that actually takes, like, 20 seconds: “The Hall of Fame honors great players, son, not great men. Barry Bonds might have been a jerk, and he was willing to break the law to be better at baseball. But man, could that guy hit.”"

Fuck that.  Fuck all of it, and I lived in San Francisco during the height of the Bonds years.  That guy couldn't hit without the steroids.  His entire place in the game for how many years was completely tied to BALCO?   He was always good for sitting out the day game after a night game as it was.

So the "could that guy hit" baloney was completely due to the steroids and dealing with the effects.

Third reason:  Recognizing Humanity

Here comes the "We all make mistakes" card.

"We all screw up all the time, and Hall of Famers are no different. Hall of Fame owner Tom Yawkey worked to keep baseball segregated. Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry admitted to doctoring baseballs. Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb once climbed into the stands to beat up a man with no hands. Too many Hall of Famers to bother listing have admitted to using now-banned “greenies” — amphetamines — to endure baseball’s long seasons."

You know, the real answer would be to allow the BBWAA to enforce the Character Clause and throw out Cobb, Perry, Yawkey, et. al. if it merited.

Maybe the HoF needs that debate FIRST, before we play the "we all screw up, so let's let in the cheats so they get more of what they don't deserve".

Berg:

"And unless someone plans to purge them all from the museum and recraft it as some squeaky-clean place honoring only Lou Gehrig and Derek Jeter, then it doesn’t really seem fair to exclude contemporary players on behalf of morality."

I'll be more than happy to have that debate long before I let Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, etc. in.

Fourth Reason:  Celebrating Great Players

This is ludicrous on it's face.

First, the game they played, due to their drugged conduct, WAS NOT BASEBALL.

Second, that's the very same argument Football Nation America makes to justify criminal thugs like Dashon Goldson, Ndamukong Suh, and all the blood-letters out there.

If a "Great Player" is result-oriented only, then the ends justify ALL means.

"Does everyone forget how many guys took steroids and stunk? More than half of the guys listed in the infamous Mitchell Report were total scrubs. Even if some of the guys you’re trying to keep out now did use PEDs, they used them to compete and succeed against a bunch of other guys who were also taking PEDs because they played at a time when no one did anything to stop them."

They were major-leaguers because of steroids.  They just didn't have the careers that Jose Canseco had, even with his admission that he was the same.  In this realm, they and Canseco were no different.  In this realm, only the results were different.

The problem is, Berg then uses that to extrapolate to his argument.

"All 762 of Barry Bonds’ home runs still count in the box scores, just as we still celebrate the teams that won championships behind players who have since admitted to using PEDs."

That, to me, should be changed.  There, in MY opinion, should be a 20 or so-year black hole in the history of sports where baseball would stand.

Otherwise, you get what we now have in Football Nation America:  Drugs, rape, murder, doesn't matter -- he needs to be on that fucking field on Sunday!!!  BLARGH!!!!

So, in your mind, the end justified any means to get there.

I would be the murderer/rapist everyone thought I would be if I had (or was ever taught by those I should believe) that same attitude.

"Including a character clause in the voting criteria puts many baseball writers in the impossible position of retroactively policing men they never knew for taking actions no one tried to stop. It’s time to take morality out of the picture and put great baseball players in the Hall of Fame."

They weren't baseball players.  Realistically, one has to question even the legitimate players because of the actions no one tried to stop.  You're a fool for not seeing that, Mr. Berg.

Week 16 Naughty List, and An Open Letter To Roger Goodell

Santa sent his sticks and pieces of coal today to the NFL players.  Here's at least some of his Week 16 Not-So-Nice List...

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers:  Dashon Goldson:  Another $60,000 for ANOTHER helmet-to-helmet hit.  The Buccaneers, under league policy, get nailed for $50,000 of that number.

This, AFTER his suspension, AFTER a suspension was overturned...  That's FOUR-TIME LOSER this year.

Basically, Goldson has cost himself over $450,000.  SERIOUSLY.  That's the NFL.com number between the lost pay for the game he was suspended and $190,000 in fines.  He ALONE is worth $140,000 against Tampa's number, and another $100,000 in fines the Buccaneers have had to pay for Player Safety Level 3.

IT AIN'T FUCKING WORKING, YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT IN NEW YORK.

Do you realize, Mr. Goodell, that you have fined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, under your own policy, at Level 3, over $165,000?  Between the players and the Tampa team, they're at $573,000 alone, from what I've been able to research this season.

This is now draft picks, wins and losses, bans (coaches AND players), whatever it fucking takes...

Either do something about this criminal thug in Tampa Bay, or others like him, or you will leave the players (or others!) no choice but to take the law into their own hands.

FUCK YOU, GOODELL.  Do it, or more blood on YOUR hands.  Yes, they may want the fucking blood in the baying hounds of the homes of America, but you don't have to give it to them!!

Now the suspensions aren't even working...  Either throw this shithead out of the league or someone's going to have to do it for you.

You even admit it in your own damn article:  The money ain't working.  It's time to throw this shithead out of the league, or someone else will.

OK...  Rant over, for now...

• Buffalo Bills:  Robert Woods:  $15,750 for a punch.
• New York Jets:  Sheldon Richardson:  $15,750 for driving the quarterback into the ground.

That means...

• New York Jets:  Unless they can get this one reversed, they're back at Level 2 and fined, once again, the same $50,000 they would've given earlier had the other two not been reversed.

• Houston Texans:  Shiloh Keo (and team matching for Level 3):  $15,750 for another of the defenseless-player-in-the-head-or-neck jobs.
• New Orleans Saints:  Kenny Vaccaro:  $15,750 for a horse-collar tackle.  TWO-TIME LOSER.

There may be more this week, but the season total has rocketed to $4,337,800.

Prediction for 2014: The FIFA World Cup in Brazil will be a bigger farce than usual...

Well, it's the end of the year, and we begin to look back and forward...

A blog post and a video that Brian Tuohy pointed people to several weeks ago indicates to me that the FIFA World Cup will be yet another Sepp Blatter Special -- corrupt as Hell.

On the day of the World Cup draw where both England and the United States got brutal draws, Brian wrote an article asking if the World Cup draw could be rigged in his new gig on the Sports on Earth site.

Well, start at the bottom of Brian's article on Sports on Earth.  A Turkish football official, on Turkish television, conducted a fake soccer tournament draw on the air, in front of everybody, and told everybody how the draw would go out, chapter and verse, and then proceeded to execute the EXACT DRAW he proposed, in front of an astonished set of broadcasters.

Why do I say this, in relation to the Brazil 2014 draw?

Someone, fairly quickly, sent a YouTube video and a blog post from Victor Val Mas.

Victor charges that the Secretary General of FIFA (a Mr. Jerome Valcke) who conducted the  "country portion" of the draw predetermined the entire nature of the World Cup draw.

Below is the entire 22-minute program, the same YouTube video Brian embedded into his Sports on Earth post:


A quick primer:

This is the draw for the Group Stage (the first stage) of the tournament.  The 32 qualifying nations draw into eight groups of four, round-robin.  Top two teams qualify for the 16-team tournament/knockout phase.

The first pot (Pot A) is the top 8 nations in the world.  Normally, it'd be the Top 7 plus the hosts, but Brazil is in the Top 8, so I can say that without loss of generality.

There is a pot with a yellow stripe and a blue X on it.  I'll get to that in a second, as it deals with a contingency and at least THAT is above table.

The other three pots are continental.  Pot B was the African and remaining South American qualifiers.  However, this pot only had seven teams.

This was because the allotment and the seeding process for Pot A left nine remaining European teams (in Pot D).  (North/Central American and Asian countries were in Pot C.)  This is where Pot X came in, which consisted of the non-European seeded teams.

No single group could have more than two European sides, so they had to effectively have a mini-draw to determine which of the nine European Pot D teams would be moved into Pot B, with Pot X determining which non-European seed (and, hence, which group) that team would be in.  The move into Pot B was the first draw done, as the clip starts (the team would be Italy).

So, now, to Victor's charge:

After each of the seeds is placed as the "1" team in each of the eight groups, each of the remaining 24 non-seeded teams was called by Mr. Valcke, and then a second draw was called by a Brazilian model (Fernanda Lima) to determine which number in the group they would be in, which would determine the order of teams they would play.

The draw was, purportedly, actually conducted by eight former soccer greats, one representing each of the eight nations who have won the FIFA World Cup in it's history.

The first ball drawn in Pot A is different, automatic, and above table:  The hosts are ALWAYS placed in group A, as Team A1 -- this ensures they will play the opening match of the tournament.

The problem comes in with the comparative conduct of Mr. Valcke and Ms. Lima.

It starts as the groups are drawn in turn in Pot A -- for position 1 in each of the remaining seven groups.  Mr. Valcke takes the ball, removes his hands from view, and, quite quickly, produces a completely unrolled version of the team which will occupy the spot.

Get used to this:  This is the crux of Victor's charge.  Mr. Valcke would have to unscrew the ball, take out the slip (which, as you see with Ms. Lima's openings, is supposed to be rolled into the ball), and unroll it.

The slip for Spain for Group B comes out effectively flat and pristine in so doing.

This is important, because, should the seeds hold, Brazil cannot face Spain until the Grand Final.

This continues through the course of the remaining balls in the group.  Valcke screws the ball in half to open it, but then his hands and the ball leave public view.  It does not appear as if his arms move sufficiently to be able to take out the slip and completely unroll it in such a pristine manner.

Valcke, Victor charges, would do this on all 32 balls.  You can see for yourself in the clip if he is correct.

Ms. Lima, on the other hand, as she does the position draws, keeps everything above-view, and you can see how tightly the paper is rolled into the ball, making it difficult, if not impossible, to make such a pristine unrolling without enough movement in his arms (and time) for everyone to notice.

By the time the draw is over:

• The United States gets in the "Group of Death" with Germany, Ghana, and Portugal.
• England's chances for going far are seen as almost nil (in fact, it is believed that, once England's position was known, the main person from England's FA in attendance did a throat-slash), as they drew another difficult group:  Italy, Uruguay, and Costa Rica.
• Brazil's group?  Croatia, Mexico, and Cameroon.  Their prospective second-round opponents, as long as Spain wins Group B?  Netherlands, Chile, Australia.

So you have to ask yourself?  Was there a guiding hand in the draw?  And, if so, would this indicate that, more so than usual (perhaps even as blatant as the complete farce in Korea twelve years ago?

I predict it will.  Even with a bow to goal technology and the like, I fully expect chicanery.  And if it starts here...

We'll be here to help you see it.

Week 16 Score Update

Well, they talked about the weather last weekend, and it (and probably a bit of Vegas) had a major impact on the scoring last week.

Even with high-scoring national games, the average for Week 16 was only 43.125.

Lowest average of the year, but 7/8 of a point higher than last year's Week 16.

Year total average per game, 47.06, about 1.6 points more than last year's record.

--

Cliffhanger Index:

DAL-WAS (Romo's last TD pass of the year with 1:08 to go to give Dallas a relevant game next week.)
CAR-NO (Cam Newton TD pass to put Carolina in the driver's seat for a first-round bye:  :23 left.)
NYG-DET (Overtime FG basically ensures firing of Jim Schwartz.)
PIT-GB (TD run with 1:25 to go, before all the OTHER shenanigans.)

So a normal Cliffhanger Index of 4 this week.  Total:  53/240.  About 22% of the games are decided with a score in the last two minutes or overtime.  A little light this year.  (Average under Goodell seems to be about 25%.)

Inside one score:

TEN-JAX
ARI-SEA (Just missed the formal Tuohy criteria:  TD pass with 2:13 to go won it.)

Only 6 of the 16 games ended inside one score.  Season total:  122/240, about 51% of all games finishing at or within eight points.

Gee, could they have arranged it any more obviously?

I think it best the NFL shut up about what happened at Lambeau Field yesterday.

Because the more that's coming out, the more it's obvious that the NFL was orchestrating things on the fly and trying to maximize Week 17 effect.

Why do I say this?

Two major controversial referee issues with the Packers-Steelers game:

• According to NFL.com, the Steelers appeared to be screwed when they blocked a short Green Bay field goal with 5:32 to go, Pittsburgh leading 17-14.  It appeared as if a Pittsburgh player gained possession, and then attempted to lateral the ball.  That lateral came free, and the ball was batted out of bounds by another Pittsburgh player.  However, Pittsburgh was never ruled to be in possession, and, hence, the batting was illegal.  Penalty, first down Green Bay, touchdown Green Bay.
• According to Yahoo! and the Packers, though, the Packers got the shaft on that last play.  After the 10-second runoff for the false start, the Packers had seven more seconds run off, costing them a chance at a second or third shot from the 6.  This is because, according to reports, the umpire told the center NOT TO SNAP THE BALL.

There is only ONE explanation of all of this:  If this is any degree of true, this was intended to ensure the Steelers would win the game.

If the ball was not to be snapped, the ball is not in a state declared "Ready For Play", and the clock cannot start until the ball is declared Ready For Play.

If this is the case, there's only one explanation:  After further review of the situation with respect to Week 17, the NFL wanted Pittsburgh to win the game to allow Pittsburgh to enter that AFC #6 situation.

And you still want to swear your fealty to this degree of a blood-ladened farce?

When is Football Nation America going to realize it's been played for fools again?

So, the bulk of Week 16 is in the books.

And what do we have here, but a set-up for a Week 17 that, well, is everything you know the NFL to be...

It appears that, as of kickoff of the first games, 12 of the 16 games will have meaning, significant meaning.

Why?  Because the league and Roger Goodell want you to...

• It's bad enough when the Green Bay Packers commit a jump offside to force to give up a score to go down 38-31 to the Steelers on the one end of the field with about 90 seconds to go.  It's worse when, after a 70-yard kickoff return, your last gasp is left wanting at the six-yard line because of a false start!
• It's even WORSE when you realize that it was clear that it meant more to the NFL for Pittsburgh to win (even after they got screwed on a call earlier in the game) than for Green Bay to win OR lose.
• ... especially after they consummated it by having Chicago (only needing to beat Philadelphia in the Sunday nighter to win the division and a wild-card home game) lay down to Philly 54-11!!!
• The kicker:  The NFL announced that it was not only flexing, for at least the third year in a row, the NFC East title tilt (this year, between Philadelphia and Dallas) to the Sunday night prime-time spot, but they also were flexing Green Bay vs. Chicago to the 4 PM slot for the national Game of the Week.  The problem:  They did this at HALFTIME OF THE GAME IN WHICH CHICAGO COULD WIN AND WIN THE DIVISION!!!  (Brian Tuohy tipped his followers off to that on his Twitter Sunday night.)

There are many other stories from Week 16 that would leave you scratching your head, but this is what it leaves us for Week 17...

• The only two meaningless games in the NFC next week are:  Washington vs. the Giants and Detroit vs. Minnesota.
• NFC East:  Philly-Dallas in the Sunday nighter for the division, win or go home.
• NFC North:  Green Bay-Chicago flexed to the national 4 PM game, for the division, win or go home.
• NFC South:  Carolina-Atlanta, New Orleans-Tampa.  New Orleans is in with a win, but needs a Carolina loss to win the division.  Carolina wins, it wins the South and at least the 2 seed.
• NFC West:  Seattle-St. Louis, San Francisco-Arizona (with San Francisco-Atlanta Monday night this week).  Seattle gets home field throughout with a win.  Lose, and San Francisco wins the division with two wins.  One win (either game) for San Francisco, gets them in the playoffs.

This brings up the following absurd scenario.

• San Francisco defeats Atlanta Monday night.
• New Orleans defeats Tampa Bay next Sunday.
• Later on on Sunday, Arizona then defeats San Francisco.

In that event, Arizona makes NFL history:  The first team to win eleven games in a regular season and be ELIMINATED from the playoffs.

This is made even more absurd by the fact Green Bay can get a home game by winning -- and finishing 8-7-1.

The NFC East isn't much better.

And then the AFC situation makes it completely ridiculous.  All four divisions are settled, as is one wild-card.

However, most of the games are still important:

• AFC home-field:  New England-Buffalo, Denver-Oakland.  Denver gets the 1 seed with a win, New England gets it if Denver loses and they win.  (Denver has clinched the division and a first-round bye regardless.)
• However, if New England loses, enter Jacksonville-Indianapolis and Baltimore-Cincinnati (the latter of which will come up again in a moment.  If either Indy or Cincy win, they get the 2 in that event.  If both do, Cincinnati gets dibs.
• And then we get to the last wild-card...  This is where Pittsburgh winning today was important.

Because now you have this mess...

• In the AFC East:  Miami is 8-7, the Jets are 7-8.  The two play each other in Week 17.
• In the AFC North:  Baltimore is 8-7, Pittsburgh is 7-8.  Baltimore plays division champion Cincinnati, Pittsburgh plays Cleveland.
• In the AFC West:  San Diego is 8-7, and plays Kansas City.

So put this all together:

• The Jets beat Miami.
• Cincinnati beats Baltimore and Pittsburgh beats Cleveland.
• Kansas City beats San Diego.

All the more plausible because all but the Jets of these winners in this scenario will probably be favored.

And what does that mean?  5 teams for the #6 at 8-8, and the current scenario machine has Pittsburgh going through.

So, in the AFC, entering play, only ONE GAME (Houston vs. Tennessee) will be worth nothing.

In final analysis, and regardless of the result Monday night, only THREE of the final 17 games in the NFL regular season will mean nothing.

Just like @nflcommish would want it.

Fine Blotter Week 15, Part 2

The rest of this week's list:

• Philadelphia Eagles:  A $10,000 fine for a peel-back block...  for quarterback Nick Foles.
• Indianapolis Colts:  Gosder Cherilus, $7,875 for a punch.
• Tennessee Titans:  Kamerion Wembley, $10,000 for knee-shotting Carson Palmer.
• Arizona Cardinals:  Marcus Benard, $15,750 for roughing the passer.  (Wait, so a knee-shot on the quarterback is $10K, but roughing the passer is more???)
• Arizona Cardinals:  Daryl Washington, $5,000 for taunting.  This also makes Washington a TWO-TIME LOSER with the league.

That taunt was a very expensive one, because...

• Arizona Cardinals:  Are now at $107,875 for the year, and that makes them Level 2.  Dock em another $50,000.

More unnecessary roughness $7,875s:

• Jacksonville Jaguars:  Winston Guy.
• Baltimore Ravens:  Matt Elam.
• Cincinnati Bengals:  Dre Kirkpatrick

Team Matching Fines:

• Tennessee:  $10,000.

Total now over four million dollars:  $4,047,800.

Fine Blotter, Week 15, Part 1: NO SHIT SHERLOCK, and why the whole game needs to go... Now.

• Pittsburgh Steelers:  Terence Garvin, $25,000 for "being a real man" and breaking the punter's neck and jaw with that helmet shot.

Oh, and, according to NFL.com/Yahoo! and the Vice President of Officiating, you damn right there should've been a flag on that play.

Here's a major problem I (and another contributor to this blog I speak with regularly) have:  The VP of Officiating makes it clear that the punter, by definition, is a "defenseless player" throughout the play.

The thing is:  That obfuscates the whole issue.  GARVIN LED WITH HIS HELMET, YOU FREAKING MORONS!!!

You watch the video, he literally lines him up five yards away for the cheapie.  And, what, Mr. VP of Officiating, non-defenseless players can get the helmet or something?

You see, why don't ALL PLAYERS get that level of protection?  On ALL PLAYS, Mr. VP?

You're obfuscating the issue:  Garvin lined him up at least five yards away, and speared him in the jaw.

No flag, no suspension.

(and no ejection for Michael Crabtree either, on the second play they discuss -- which was flagged 15 yards, and I'm not sure shouldn't have been an ejection for unsportsmanlike conduct when he chucked the ball, with the back judge warning him not to, into the Tampa huddle 50 yards away)

--

Of course, this, and NBC Sports Network's Shaun King, are saying that the NFL officiating is the worst it's ever been -- even the replacements.

YOU HONESTLY THINK THIS IS UNINTENTIONAL?

He even goes so far as to say that the game is now too fast.

Well, given what we are learning about the fates of even star players from previous eras (Duper, Dorsett, McMahon, et. al. -- and those are the ones who get to live to tell the tale), would that not make a very good case as to say that football is, as was once said, "Unsafe at Any Speed"?

But that's just it.  People literally want to watch a man die for being a "real man" on the football field.

And when you look at the histories of many of these players, and their rap sheets while in the NFL, you have to draw the conclusion that part of what is making this game the orgy of violence that would make the Roman Empire jealous (as my anonymous source has said often in disowning the sport) is that the sport, establishment, and athlete base is so criminal, the sport of football (and, hence, dare I say, the entire United States sports machine) cannot be saved.

I used to do this blog in the belief it could.

Now, I am left to continue to look at things and try to lend some voice that will at least be within the scope of law -- for I believe any real change would have to come with a criminal act of it's own attached.

Satisfied yet, football?

That punter not only has had to have his jaw wired shut, there's now a broken vertebra to worry about too.

But keep telling us the game is for MEN, really...

Week 15 Score Report: If only they could've gotten touchdowns instead of field goals tonight...

Last week was the record for scoring in NFL history.

This week just became #2.

In the third 50+-point per game week since Week Nine, this week's per game average was 52.75

This makes the season per game average 47.33, preparing to SMASH last year's previous record.

-

Cliffhanger:

BAL-DET (sixth Baltimore FG wins it with 38 seconds left -- longest game-winner in NFL history?)
GB-DAL (Green Bay's 5th touchdown of the second half wins it with 1:31 to go)
ARI-TEN (OT Field Goal)
MIA-NE (Miami TD pass wins it with 1:15 remaining)

4 on the Index this week.  49/224 for the year.

Within one score otherwise:

ATL-WAS (though Washington scored a touchdown with 18 seconds left -- they then went for the win -- and failed.)
CHI-CLE
BUF-JAX
SD-DEN

8 went within one score. 116/224 for the season.

What a "Big Man" Terence Garvin is...

Sunday night's idiocy...



And anyone want to doubt where that helmet of Mr. Big Shot Garvin was...

Blood, MORE BLOOD... The masses chant for it...

I've been talking to several people who've given me material to work with for the blog.

We've all come to the same conclusion:  The rate at which the sports discourse is deteriorating to open calls for blood (of the athletes and of those who disagree with the people baying for blood) is becoming rather frightening, rather fast.

We've gotten to the point that open hooliganism has exploded on our shores, and, now, no sane person (which obviously excludes most 2013 sports fans) can believe that we aren't just biding time until the full-scale fan riots go far beyond the prototypical riots for championships.

And, why?  Because the masses want BLOOD.

And it seems the idiots running sports these days are more than willing to give it to them.

Just this week, in player safety news:

• Many fans have been throwing a fit on the new rules (which will either take effect in the upcoming baseball season or the next) to prohibit the home plate collision.  One fan threatened another with a knife right in the SI.com comments.
• Punching a guy in the junk on the NFL field gets you only a $7,875 fine -- wearing illegal cleats...  at least $10,000, and, this week, $15,000.
• Ditto for deliberately stepping on a guy's hand.
• And that Bertuzzi-level incident, where Thornton takes the guy, slams his head into the ice, pummels him on the ice and might've added a knee.  Fifteen games.

So it really does begin to make one wonder as to how much blood might satisfy the evil masses, in the name of Howard Cosell's Sixth Paradigm of Sports Fan Syndrome...

Well, Deadspin gave us some insight on Thursday.

Meet Nate Jackson, who wrote a book about the physical sacrifices he will have to live with for the rest of his life for the entertainment of Football Nation:  Slow Getting Up:  A Story of NFL Survival From the Bottom of the Pile. 

The article basically goes into the process of how a lot of the players have to sign away probably their futures and their ability to actually get compensation for how bad football fucks them up.

But the real money shot of this article comes in the provided picture by Deadspin above it.

Jackson, at least to present count, at least 18 different injuries (and that doesn't count the number of concussions or the number of dislocated shoulders.

All for your entertainment, Football Fealty Swearers.

And this didn't start in the NFL:  He denied himself surgery to see if he could actually make the jump from Division III to the NFL.

That cost him a ripped hamstring.

The Niners covered their ass after signing him, with both the bum shoulder and hamstring, and then just cut him.

Re-signed, then traded to the Broncos, tack on some Achilles tendinosis/plantar fascitis.  (I have that in my left heel -- it's not fun and it's probably permanent!!)

Actually made the practice squad after injuring his OTHER shoulder.

Then, NFL Europe.  Two knee injuries and a broken pinky.  Who cares?  You're good enough to get back on the Bronco practice fields the next day you come back!!

Made the team, the plantar fascitis was getting worse.

And that starts a litany of drugs (legal ones) in his system.

You really have to read this if you really wish to believe that you want to cheer on the sport of football.

Vertical fracture of the tibia.

Hamstring, again...

First start of the career:  There goes the groin, right off the bone.  Two different muscles.

Read this.  Just read the Deadspin article and understand what you are cheering for if you want your Packers/Raiders/Seahags/Bears/etc./and so forth/and so on to win today.

Or are you just in it for the blood???

Arrogant Blowhards, Misogyny, and Homophobia: How We Allow Our Sporting Gods To Rape, Pillage, and Plunder

So, three weeks ago now, we learn of more charges in the ever-increasing Stubenville, OH situation.

The school's superintendent, principal, and two football coaches were charged with failure to report, felonies of obstruction of justice, and the like.

This, from a school and a town all but run by some perverse combination of the "Big Red" football program and the Mafia (no joke!!), all but certainly -- a combination which led the football players (at least IMHO) to attempt murder, raping and leaving for dead a girl who fled for West Virginia to get away from the abuse "Big Red" was heaping on her.  Let there be no doubt in my opinion:  That that girl lives today was a mistake in the eyes of "Big Red".

Never mind that's a violation of no less than the Lindergh Federal kidnapping laws.

On top of that:  One of the places she was, apparently, raped was the mother of one of the players -- who is also a local assistant district attorney.  A local PROSECUTOR...

And a couple or three weeks ago as well, we now learn that the rape kit taken from a woman tied to Heisman Trophy winner (and BMOC of College Football this year, and the man ESPN used to place Florida State in the BCS National Championship Game) Jameis Winston had Winston's DNA in it.

Why was he basically acquitted without trial?  Not guilty by reason of football in a city that is so "football", by the police's own statements to the victim, the victim was, at the least, almost-certainly threatened/intimidated into non-cooperation?

My first inclination at the Winston story would be that Florida State should've been ineligible for any bowl (since this incident occurred in December of 2012, Winston would, materially, be an ineligible player).

There's a problem here, as a close friend and contributor has pointed out:  Since when has ESPN shown this degree of integrity?

My friend is correct.  Penn State, anybody?

I do only have the one question:  Why do we get this story IN NOVEMBER?  Even with the investigation's resurfacing becoming public, especially with Winston poised to win the Heisman Trophy (Yahoo! Sports reported upon the rape kit report that many Heisman voters wanted a quick resolution in the case, one way or the other, in the two weeks they had left before they had to vote on the most outstanding player in college football, and, when charges weren't pressed, the winner in a landslide), why then and not almost a year beforehand?

(And that Winston won the Heisman in the seventh-largest blowout in history -- which would've been made larger if he wasn't left off about 13% of the ballots.  Out of the 785 ballots he was on, 668 voted him first.)

Nothing in the sports machine occurs on accident.  NOTHING.

On the other side of the coin:  I am mentally reminded, however, of a comment by the renowned wrestling announcer Gordon Solie about Terry Funk, in character.  His character was so crazy that "... it might give him the edge, or it might cost him the edge."

(Terry Funk, out of character, was one of the most level-headed guys out there.)

It's not out of the question that this Winston story could actually BENEFIT Winston in the eyes of the owners of college football and of many fans of college football.  Not only could this kid being a potential rapist give him "street credentials", but it could endear him to what is believed to be the entire package of football and the privileges extended to the *inhale* gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahds (hat-tip, again, to JBL) we consider football players to be.

It would remove the "aw shucks" that might actually be INHIBITING Winston from getting respect from his peers and actually make him enough of a gangster thug Neanderthug Felon to fit into the mold of the Neanderthug Felon League.

And how do I come to that conclusion?

Rape, sexual assault, and misogyny have become central tenets to this country, especially to our inflated sports culture.

Let me bring in Keith Olbermann on that one, talking about a sports-radio incident from earlier in November...




I wanted to start this video in the right spot, but, for some reason, the embed code won't let me, so start this at 1:49, where my old favorite sports-talk radio station gets in hot water again.

You see, I used to live in San Francisco, so I am familiar with the likes of Lee Hammer and KNBR.

I used to listen to Damon Bruce quite a bit.

This is for a November 7, 2013 rant by Bruce on his afternoon show, in which he basically bundles open misogyny and veiled homophobia in the defense of Richie Incognito and trying to beat the fuck out of somebody to make them a man (or an inhuman beast, more likely) on the football field.

Hammer is being placed on the World's Worst top step for not suspending/firing Bruce on the spot (akin to another KNBR controversy, where several were canned for a racist comment (and a follow-up on the next morning's morning show) on "brain-dead Caribbean hitters" on the Giants several years back), with a second "victory" the next night for not suspending him for longer when Bruce "apologized" the next day (using such "apology" to reinforce his statements)...

For this (snippets from apparently an eight-minute rant on the subject)...

"We've got women giving us directions.  For some of you, this is gonna come across as very misogynistic.  I don't care because I'm very right.  I'm very, very right."

You know, there were times in my life, Mr. Bruce, that I could've used a direction or two more from women I cared about.  Just sayin'...  I'll show you one in a second, in a position in sports you might well like...

"See, here's the thing:  I'm willing to share my sandbox, as long as you remember -- you're in my box.  I didn't get into yours."

Oh, the old "Sand in the Vagina" routine!!!  Yeah, that's the ticket.

And who the fuck are you in the first place?  You're some podunk sports announcer from Schenectady, New York who came out to San Francisco and has bounced around a bit.  If there even was a right to what you assert, Mr. Bruce (and I'll get to that, too, in a second!), you aren't an athlete-type to have earned it!

"The amount of women talking in sports, to the amount of women who actually have something to say, is one of the more disproportionate ratios I've ever seen in my frickin' life."

You know, there's a reason for that.

That reason is MEN.  First, what we consider a "real man".  Second, what the men in power want to see out of women...

Has anyone ever really asked the question as to, just for one example, why Danica Patrick has a top-level ride in the NASCAR Nextel Cup?

She is, and her results showed it this year, at best, marginally above field-filler as a rookie.

Mr. Bruce, the only reason she has a ride with Stewart-Haas Racing on the Nextel Cup is your stands on American sport.

(Here's a hint:  There's even a little splash of it in the title to the FOX Sports webpage on the story.)

(Here's another, from December 9, 2013 in Las Vegas, and the American Country Awards:)

Sports fans should not care about this, unless it's the only damn reason a man will allow a woman on the track!

Right, Damon???

"But here's a message for all of 'em.  This is for all the women, all the guidance counselors, all the sensitive men..."

Wow, so not only are we going to broadside the women, but let's broadside the people trying to keep people on an even keel (I happen to have known and worked with a couple such people in San Francisco), and let's throw in a splash of homophobia (which he can't say that directly in San Francisco, because he's not big nor strong enough in that city to be homophobic and not get his ass kicked!!)...

"All of this world of sports -- alright? -- especially the sport of football, has a setting.  It's set to men.  That's the setting.  It's set to men.  Women, ladies, sensitive guys?"

And there it is.

So, sir, if the whole world of sports, especially the world of football, is so set to men, then it would appear to me that your only place for a woman in sports is something like THIS...

That's your place for a woman in sports, Mr. Bruce.  You don't want to hear what a woman has to say.  You want either the woman to dress like that and perform for you (and only either in her context or in Patrick's, above), or get out of your sandbox.

Now, I know that this is probably going to get me in a lot more trouble than anyone might realize at first, but I'm about four shades of IDGAF about this world in general, so I want to clue Mr. Bruce (and a lot of other people who might eventually see this) in on a few things right here.

Do not accuse me, Mr. Bruce, of being any degree of a "sensitive man", homophobia or otherwise.  Most people wouldn't even see me as a "man" at all...

Want proof?  It's in the picture above you.

That woman, Deborah Gibson (performing at a Knicks game on November 14, 2013 with the Knicks cheerleaders -- photo from the Huffington Post) had to have me arrested in 1998.

The story was several years in coming, frankly, and, depending on who you talk to and who you believe (and I will exclude myself, to the extent possible, from that discussion), started anywhere between about January of 1989 and March of 1998.

I will, however, admit one thing:  As much as I may have felt something you would never believe for that woman, I finally had to admit she was hot enough for me to have a sexual fantasy about.

Unlike most of you, I saw this as a PROBLEM.  A problem in need of a solution.

That solution eventually ended up with me in the New York papers, in international magazines, on almost every national entertainment media program of the day, and 8 1/2 months in Riker's Island.

Now, why have I gone through explaining all this, Mr. Bruce? 

To show you that I fit into none of your little fucking boxes.

This is your vision for women in sports (and almost-certainly far more, but your statement applied to just sports).  Near-naked and performing for you, all but so you can get it out and stroke it.

Here's the problem:  A lot of men, the men who often participate as the center of this man-led paradigm you are talking about take women dressed like that and have their way with them.  Think Mr. Winston here, for which the only question, now, appears to be if she was coerced into "consenting" after the fact.
 Because, in this Winston case, it was either coercion after the fact of the victim or gross incompetence of the entire investigation, one or the other.

And then you blame THE WOMAN for getting herself into it (whichever way it goes), when the fact is she had no say one way or the other.  It isn't the short skirt, the leotard, the showgirl outfit, etc. and so forth and so on.  She has no place (in your eyes or a lot of others) in "your sandbox" unless you're banging her, consent of the woman be damned.

All of the discussion of the outfit is CODE-SPEAK.

And it's her fault, right? 

When she really probably had no say to be treated legitimately, fairly, legally, or even like a human being, right??

*vomit*

And we can go back to Danica Patrick...  If Danica Patrick were not (*considered*, YMMV) a world-level babe GoDaddy bikini model who could drive a car, she wouldn't have GoDaddy as a sponsor, hence neither a ride on NASCAR's top level, and probably would've never gotten an Indy ride either before it.

Again, NOTHING happens by accident in sports.

And it's not just sports either:  We've literally got shitheads in Congress in the Republican Party saying certain forms of rape are actually VALID and LEGITIMATE.  We've got a prison system where the only real deterrent for many people (outside or in) is the concept of the proto-typical Bubba -- prison rape.

Since the entire world is made by, of, and for (certain) "men", this is what we get.

You see, I'm left to ask one real question:  I'll accept the criminality, but what I won't accept is that I don't believe that belief of criminality would be applied universally.

If a "real man" athlete were to be the one to actually take Ms. Gibson and checklist everything I did (or that a "reasonable person" under relevant law believes I did and would have done), I get the assertion that she would've been told something akin to the old Bobby Knight quote.

So why do I go through all that description?  It's because I have a question for Mr. Bruce.

Your assertion, quite clearly, is that the world of football (of sports in general, but football especially) is for only certain men.

So, then, what for the rest of us?  Abuse?  Rape, no more than if we were women (more on that in a second)?  If we speak up enough about it, death?

Because there are two larger problems:

The first, if you believe this is all for REAL MEN:  This is why you literally want to watch people snap their fucking necks in public on an NFL field, because it's a manifestation of real manhood -- and that those who wish to, effectively, kill themselves on any field (high-school on up) and be a real man as a result get whatever they want, including the panty-flashers on the sidelines (which is all what cheerleaders and halftime dancelines really are, up to and including the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders), again, consent be damned.

And, for people like me, it's not only that I don't belong in your sandbox, I don't belong much of anyplace else either.

That isn't going to end well for somebody -- one of the main reasons I do this blog, Mr. Bruce.

The second big problem:  It also isn't going to end well for a lot of the athletes either, as I will go into in my next post, above, about a veteran of the NFL who literally has a litany of injuries.

Anyway, continuing Damon's wittle want:

"You're willing to come on in and see how it operates.  You're allowed in, here's your press credential.  You can observe, you can be offended, you can report on it all.  But we're not changing it for you."

What, so you can basically have MORE women to take your pick from?  The fact that they are there to report on the contest and the participants irrelevant to the fact that they are little more than pieces of meat, in the final analysis?

What stops you motherfuckers from compromising THEM??

And now, the real issue:

"Guys like Jonathan Martin -- they're the ones actually distracting the locker room more than a guy who's an Incognito."

I WOULD GODDAMNED HOPE SO!!!

Here's the problem:  If we're going to operate in your paradigm, Mr. Bruce, and that you want us out of your sandbox, then what's to stop "the locker room" (especially one similar to the Incognito-led Dolphins) to take people you "want out of your sandbox" and rape/disappear them in the name of the Real Manhood of American Sports Culture?

What for the rest of us, you piece of shit?

If this is "the locker room", any disruption to force these felonious animals into treating their teammates like members of the animal kingdom (rather than objects/property) would be an improvement!!  I mean, Hell, what's the difference as to how Martin is being viewed by "the locker room" and one of the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders?

And you endorse this bullshit!  The only real problem I have is that Olbermann put the wrong man up there on the step.  I mean, basically, AT BEST, you're now basically putting Martin on level with a woman, if not far lower.  Misogyny, at this point, is about the best I could give you for your stand on Martin, if not homophobia!

"I've said that from the minute it happened, I'm sticking with it, and now the world is coming around to me."

The same "world" that:

• Is completely fine with a group of Alabama fans cornering two fans, seeing one killed, because "THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT ALABAMA!"
• Rioted when Penn State University was exposed as a haven for pedophiles under the Joe Paterno administration, doubly so when Mark Emmert was emasculated the first time by ESPN...
• Has no problem threatening people with being knifed for actually demanding our sports be safer, rather than material blood altars to our (supposed) manhood.
• Has no problem giving a rapist the Heisman Trophy, even though it's clear to anyone who paid attention that he did it and got away with it.
• Believes that player safety, in any sport, will contribute to the "Pussification of America", with all the homophobic slurs to attach to it.
• Has no problem discarding our former athletes as damaged pieces of meat once we are through with them.
• Has no problem watching qualified players in your "world for men" be blackballed for even SUPPORTING views that would be inconsistent with your "world for men"...  (Kluwe, the former Raven whose name I can never spell, etc.)
• ...

Do I really need to go on as far as how FULL OF SHIT that line of thinking is?

"ITS UNFAIR IN THE WORLD OF MEN!"

Treating Anyone But Yourself as a valid member of the human race is "Unfair in the World of Men", Damon, at least if you are to be believed...

"You are all high.  Seriously high."

Nah, can't say I ever tried it.

Week 14 Fine Blotter

• Chicago Bears:  Brandon Marshall:  A TWO-TIME (Uniform Violation) LOSER, this time, orange cleats dock him $15,000.
• Pittsburgh Steelers:  Cody Wallace docked $7,875 for...  punching Randy Starks of the Dolphins in the junk.
• Pittsburgh Steelers:  Wallace made it TWO-TIME LOSER in the same game, with another $10,000 for something else.
• Arizona Cardinals:  THREE-TIME LOSER Darnell Dockett...  You know that whole foot situation, stepping on the guy's hand for his third offense of the year?  $7,875.
• Dallas Cowboys:  Orlando Scandrick got a big one this week:  $21,000 for launching into a helmet-to-helmet.  Scandrick's victim?  The aforementioned Brandon Marshall.
• Dallas Cowboys:  George Selvie added to the take by $15,750 for roughing the passer below the knees.

As a result of those two fines:

• Dallas Cowboys:  Now Level 2, fined $50,000.

• New Orleans Saints:  Thomas Morestead, $7,875 for a face mask.  He's the Saints' PUNTER.
• Baltimore Ravens:  Courtney Upshaw, $15,750 for roughing the passer.
• Denver Broncos:  Von Miller, $25,000 for roughing the passer.  History probably played a role in this one.  It is, however, his first fine of 2013.
• Buffalo Bills:  Jairus Byrd:  $15,750 for roughing the passer.
• Houston Texans:  D.J. Swearinger:  $7,875 for a face mask.  (And another $7,875 for the Texans as a Level 3 fine.)
• Indianapolis Colts:  LaRon Landry got pissed and removed the helmet of another player.  That removes $7,875 from his paycheck.

$3,890,550 is the current total.

It's official... It sounds like there will be blood...

I always perceived that the possibility existed that we were going to see a serious uptick in fan violence.

The slope is steepening.  If the Internet is any indication, we're almost there.

SI.com article on the decision by Major League Baseball to ban home plate collisions.

One of many people who, like me, are supportive of the decision was met with the following:

• Being called the biggest loser on the forum
• ... laced with a homophobic slur
• and I quote:  "i'd love to cut that nose off with a knife"

Hey, Asshole:  I got arrested for less than that.

Just sayin'...

Bud Selig finally does something right, and the pigs squealing for blood in sports fandom don't like it!!!

I can't believe I'm about to say this.

Bud Selig has finally done something right!!!

And, in doing so, he has pissed off all the "real men" sports fans who believe that we are pussifying the country yet again.

Either for next season or the following season, the classic home plate collision will be banned.

According to reports, this will take four steps.

• Catchers cannot block the plate.
• Runners can't target the catcher.
• Calls in this regard are reviewable under instant replay.
• Supplemental discipline (suspensions) can be given.

The deliberate "trucking" of a catcher is an ejection/suspension offense at at least all levels before college, if not college as well.

Welcome to the 21st century in this regard, Major League Baseball.

Not only will this protect the head injuries on catchers and injuries to runners, it might also stop beanballs and fights which might result.

Not that you can tell some of the idiots and pigs squealing for blood like these idiots I and my anonymous source have found on the subject...

• "Next thing to go will be runners sliding into infielders to break up double plays... This is dumb..."

Should already have gone.  The rule is already if you don't make an effort to touch the base, more outs can be awarded.  A deliberate take-out without regard to running the bases should be an ejection.

• "As if baseball hasn't already gotten boring enough. You make a rule against a rare and exciting play. I've been struggling to make it through an entire game, this may be the straw that broke the camel's back for me. What's the point to watch a game before the 8th inning any more?"

If you need that degree of violence or potential violence to find sports interesting, there's a far larger problem with you than being simply bored.

Or is that it?  You need someone maimed to feel like a real man by cheering them on?

• "quit turning our sports leagues into the everyone must win and get a trophy leagues. Man up and play the game!"

It's not, you piece of crap.  This isn't the Special Olympics (of which I've seen literally a dozen analagous comments here), or your local kids' league either.

We just don't want to see players getting unnecessarily maimed.  Like one of the respondents to your tripe said:  "Of course, it's not your career......"

• To which you said:  "In every career that are inherent risks. Don't change the game because of a possibility of injury."

Just admit you want to see people get fucked up.  Let's just go there.  Every sport worth it's salt tries to reduce the risk of such injuries.  How about we reduce the probability of injury?  Or do you WANT the injury, sir?

I think I know that answer.  Here's a hint:  The spitball was banned from the Major Leagues in 1920, and a large part of the reason was the death of Ray Chapman due to a spitball in the head.  (However, contrary to popular belief, it was NOT because the spitball did weird things in flight.  It was because, due to the amount of junk on the ball on a spitball, the batter might not be able to see the ball at all before it plonked him.)

Not only that, but Chapman's death became the first impetus toward the eventual mandate of the batting helmet.

But...  In every career that are inherent risks. Don't change the game because of a possibility of injury.", right?

Both of those innovations seriously changed baseball.  Shut up.

• Here's the mentality of many sports fans on display:  "Pay me 5 mil a year and ill let these guys run me over for 2 hours a day with no pads."

You're DUMB.

• "I'm noticing a trend here...those who like the decision appear to be still living at home and those opposed most likely have been watching baseball the past 20 or more years."

So are you.  What you've been watching "the past 20 or more years" is NOT BASEBALL.  It's ROID-BALL.  Steroid-ladened animals taking the once-proud sport of baseball and OBLITERATING IT.

The Rock or The Who said this one best...

Today, there was a very important press conference by Richard Childress Racing in NASCAR today.

For the first time since the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., the #3 will be returning to the top-level NEXTEL Cup.

There's only one problem...

The man driving the new #3 is ..  Austin Dillon...

The only way I know about Austin Dillon is that ESPN had it tongue up his ass and that he has a penchant for failing inspection.

So why does this guy, a rookie on the top level, get the #3, and not a more qualified driver (Dale Jr. doesn't want it and has officially said he doesn't care who gets it...)?

So we're going to give the #3 to a guy with a penchant for his team cheating the car, has done nothing at the top level, and not to somebody like Jimmie Johnson (6 titles in 8 years), Jeff Gordon (as many issues as I might have with him, he's at least earned it!!), etc.

But then the kicker.  Then we find out not only the answer to not only that question, but why Dillon gets all the love from ESPN...

He's Richard Childress' GRANDSON. 

Freaking NEPOTISM.

So we get to spit all over the history of the #3 to allow some Erik Watts/Randy Orton/Greg Gagne-level wannabe (nepotism of this ilk is very common in professional wrestling, with wildly-mixed results).

Yeah, this is going to go over well.

I hope NASCAR Nation shits all over this.  Seriously.

And a little shame on you, Dale Jr.  Fine, you don't want the shadow of the #3 over your head -- I get that.

But have at least a little more regard for your father's legacy not to let the number turn into a nepotistic joke.

Please...

Score Update Week 14: TILT!!!

Well, that was a mess.

The 16 games this week yielded 859 points, an average of FIFTY-THREE POINT SIX NINE for the week.

That's a point higher than Week 7 2010.

Three weeks after that was about a 52 point per game week.

Week 12 of 2008 had 837 points in 16 games (52.31)

Have to go back to 2004 Week 13 for 798 pts in 16 games (49.88)

I have a spreadsheet which goes back to 2001.  That is, at minimum, the highest per-game average for a full NFL week schedule since before 2001.

There are many calling Sunday the greatest day in the league's history.  A new record 64-yard field goal, and more touchdowns on a Sunday than any day in the history of the league -- ninety.

Tack on Thursday's 27-20 win by Jacksonville and Monday night's 45-28 win for Mike Ditka (c'mon, you thought the Bears would lose on the night they retired Ditka's number on MNF??), and you have 104 touchdowns for the week.

This was the highest-scoring week in the history of the National Football League.

Mission accomplished, Mr. Goodell.

Congratulations.  You got the league that makes people like the football addicts of this nation squeal in orgasm.

Dirty hits and lots of points, just like you want it.

--

Cliffhanger:

NE-CLE (TWO Patriot touchdowns in the last 1:01.)

Baltimore-Minnesota gets special mention, for probably being the biggest cliffhanger in the history of the league.

• 2:05 to go:  Flacco TD pass, two-point conversion, 15-12 Baltimore
• 1:27 to go:  Gerhart TD run, 19-15 Minnesota
• The ensuing kickoff run back for a touchdown, 22-19 Baltimore
• 45 seconds left:  On, if not the next play, the one after, 79 yard Matt Cassel TD pass:  26-22 Minnesota
• and the winner with 4 seconds left was a 9 yard Flacco TD pass:  Final was 29-26 Baltimore.

FIVE scores which changed the lead in the final 2:05.

SF-SEA (FG winner for the Niners at 0:26)

3 on the Cliffhanger Index.  Season total:  45/208

Within one score:

JAX-HOU
GB-ATL
MIA-PIT (Winning TD for Miami was with 2:53 to go -- FG tacked on in the final 2 minutes)

6 decided by one score.  Season total:  108/208, about 52%.

Blotter For Week 14, Part Zero: Darnell Dockett's gonna get his third punishment...

Initial Source:  Yahoo!

Only question on this one is does it get a suspension?

I'll say yes, for that it's his third offense with the league this year, and the league does not look kindly on intentionally trying to cleat a person's hand...

Going to have to retract, probably, something... Welker had a concussion during Patriots-Broncos...

There are times I have to walk back from certain things.

Wes Welker just got his second concussion within a month today.

He was cleared after he suffered one...  in the game against the Chiefs.

So he had no business on the field for that punt in the first damn place against the Patriots.

"BUT THEY CARE ABOUT PLAYER SAFETY..."

Bull-shit.

Again, we are talking about a culture of football -- "BE A MAN.  BE A WARRIOR..."

So basically, who is clearing these guys?

Doctors for their own teams -- doctors with a vested financial interest in getting star players and first-teamers back on to the field as quickly as possible, consequences be damned.

Some free advice from myself and a reader of my blog on this subject:

If we are going to "care about Player Safety", this concussion shit stops.  Any "clearance" must start coming from the LEAGUE and neutral doctors, doctors with no interest that the Denver Broncos (or any other of the 32 teams) win the next week.

Because, and I'm sorry to have to say this to a nation of football maniacs, to win in life is more important than to win next week.

OK, Brendan Shanahan, your move...

I still intend to do that misogyny article -- I've shown parts of it to some friends, and I was told by one of them that the stupidity might keep dragging it back.

That friend was correct.

Ladies and gentlemen, Brendan Shanahan has a problem.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our next Todd Bertuzzi incident.

As you might recall, Todd Bertuzzi ended the career of Steve Moore with a bulldog to the ice in 2004.

After a first-period fight, Bertuzzi targetted Moore late in a lopsided game.

This was before the league really went "Player Safety" and shots to the head.  Even at this point, Bertuzzi was banned from hockey (not just from the NHL, but the international federation as well) for 17 months.

We've got another one.

After a hard check in the first period by Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik, this happens...

During a post-play scuffle, Shawn Thornton of the Bruins takes Orpik, jumps him, pushes him backward and forces his head into the ice.  He then pummels him with several punches, and it appears a possible knee as well to his head.

It's not even known at this point whether Thornton didn't leave the bench to do this.

Ok, Shanahan, your move.

Week 13 Score Update and Fine Blotter (Part Two on the latter)

Let's do it the other way around this time.

Start with the Cliffhanger Index: JAX-CLE ((JAX TD pass 40 seconds left), MIN-CHI (FG in overtime), ATL-BUF (FG in overtime)

So 3 this week out of the 16.  Total: 42 out of 192.  A bit down from the usual one out of four.

Within one score:  The above, plus DAL-OAK (the teams traded field goals in the last two minutes, the winning score basically started the 4th quarter), PIT-BAL (Pittsburgh scored with 1:03 left, but they lost 22-20 when the two-point conversion failed), IND-TEN (An Indianapolis touchdown with 1:56 left made the margin eight points, within one score, but not the Tuohy Cliffhanger), PHI-ARI, NE-HOU (Gostkowski's second 53 yarder of the 4th quarter was the difference, 3:12 left), DEN-KC, CIN-SD, NYG-WAS (FG put the Giants up 7 with 2:32 to go)

10 out of the 16 games finished with a margin of eight points or less.  Total for the season:  102 out of 192.  Roughly 53% of all NFL games end with a margin of one score.

The scoring itself:

Week 13 average:  45.5 -- about four points up from last year.

13 week per game average:  46.36 -- now about two-thirds of a point higher than last year.

--

And now, for the "miscreants, riffraff, and losers" of the NFL week.  It's time for our Friday Fine Blotter.

How many multiple offenders this week, Mr. Goodell?

• Detroit Lions:  DeAndre Levy:  $15,750 for a headshot.
• Detroit Lions:  Glover Quin:  $7,875 for a late hit.
• Detroit Lions #3:  Kris Durham:  $7,875 for a face mask.
• Green Bay Packers:  Clay Mathews is, once again, a TWO-TIME LOSER.  Let's see if he gets his third letter of the year reduced.  This one cost him $15,750 for striking a defenseless player with his helmet.
• Green Bay Packers seem to be big losers on the week, not only on the scoreboard:  Tramon Williams got dinged $26,250 for shoving a referee.  Somebody on the officiating team needs to be downgraded, though.  Williams WAS NOT tossed from the game for something that should've been automatic in that regard.   Williams should've been suspended, not only for that incident, but he kicked another player in the Lions game -- not fined for that one.
• That game alone, with the $31,500 for the Lions, pocketed the league $105,000!!  Seriously, Roger...  You're going to continue to have that Thanksgiving game with the Packers and Lions, and you can just bet you're going to get dirty bullshit -- from both teams.
• Atlanta Falcons:  Sean Weatherspoon:  $15,750 for roughing the passer.
• Minnesota Vikings:  Chris Cook:  $26,250 for contact with the official.  Unlike the Williams incident, Cook WAS tossed.  You touch a ref, that's the thumb.  Baseball, that's an automatic SUSPENSION (on top of the thumb if he hadn't given it already).
• Minnesota Vikings:  Rhett Ellison:  $7,875 for a face mask. 
• Seattle Seahawks:  Richard Sherman:  $7,875 for unnecessary roughness.
• Tennessee Titans:  Moise Fokou:  $7,875 for unnecessary roughness.  This makes him a TWO-TIME LOSER. 

As a result:

• Atlanta Falcons:  Level 2.  $50,000 more.
• There are now no more teams without an NFL fine this year.  The Vikings were the last ones I found.

• Team Fines For Level 3: Detroit, another $31,500 for the team.  (Total for the Lions this year, $511,500.  Hey, Goodell, want to talk about docking draft picks??  How about suspending their coach???  NAH, we can't have any of that.)
• Tennessee tacks on another $7,875, becoming the third NFL team to go over $400,000 for Player Safety. 

Total for the year, at least as of known:  $3,675,050.

Heisman winner Jameis Winston: Not guilty by reason of football...

I knew it.

I damn well knew it.

So how long before we charge the victim in this case, justified or otherwise?

I'm going to have an article up, probably tonight, about how we've made rape and sexual assault part of sports, through the open misogyny of a sportscaster in my old hometown of San Francisco.

Today, they just gave Jameis Winston the Heisman.  They won't charge him.

I guess Tallahassee is too much a football town, right?

So the question now has to be what revenge is going to be exacted on the victim in this case?  At minimum, she's probably persona non grata in Jacksonville.

Could she be Stubenvilled too?

The football machine in this country had better hope they've got evidence that this is all a falsehood -- the whole damn thing.

Week 13 Fine Blotter Part One: Tomlin Trouble

• Pittsburgh Steelers:  Mike Tomlin, fined $100,000 for that stunt.  Draft picks are probably going to be pulled.

I want one question on this:  If they're going draft picks on this, then why the Hell is Mike Tomlin allowed any football activities, for, AT MINIMUM, the rest of the season?

Draft picks is the next step UP from suspensions.  I get the seriousness of it -- I get the knowledge the league knows that Tomlin is a fucking liar on this.

Mike Tomlin should be fired for this, by the league.  We're talking, probably, the equivalent of a show-cause at this point (a period in which the NCAA can impose a de facto ban by forcing any school who wishes to hire someone to show cause as to why).

I have no problem with draft picks, as long as Tomlin is banned for the balance of the season (and if they want to tack on a meeting before which he can be reinstated -- and toss his ass from the Rules Committee too...).

The more I look at this, the more I think of that idiot from the Arena Football League playoffs a couple years back.

I mean, think about it this way:  Seattle vs. New England in the Super Bowl.  What stops either coach from basically paying that $100K and a draft pick or two to "accidentally" ensure their team wins?

This is a joke, and needs to stop yesterday.