The Night of National Hysteria For Damaged Goods

Roger Goodell was grinning as he was booed 33 times last night.  (Once to enter...)

That's because his little coup to take the NFL Draft outside New York has worked to perfection.

An estimated crowd of SEVENTY THOUSAND jammed a one-time makeshift theater specially built for the event near a museum in Philadelphia.  That's a larger crowd than can fit in Lincoln Financial Field.

If that doesn't give you an idea of what kind of obsession our National Religion has become, I don't know what to tell you.

A number of other comments from the Draft so far:

• In an indication that the league is about scoring and the margin between 5-11 and 11-5 seems to be more razor-thin than ever, even though this was largely considered to be a defensive Draft, 8 of the top 12 picks, including three almighty (to Ever Screaming Programming Network) quarterbacks, were offensive point-scoring skill-position players.
• Two division champions traded their 2018 first-round picks to vault a first-round quarterback need at #13 to take the second and third quarterbacks at picks 10 (Kansas City) and 12.
• Fucking Joe Mixon is a Cincinnati Bengal, middle 2nd round.
• Speaking of thugs, the Raiders went to stereotypical form.  Their first-round pick, Gareon Conley from Ohio State, and perhaps the Penitentiary League.  Conley has been accused of rape several weeks before the Draft.
• Playing Fair Moment #1:  Jamal Adams, as a kid, bet his father, George, that he would go higher in the first round than his father did (19th, to the Giants, serviceable six-year career).  If his father pays up, Jamal Adams won $50,000 with that bet by going 6th to the Jets.   
• The BIG Playing Fair Moment, AND I BETTER NOT HAVE TO DO THIS IN A FINE BLOTTER...

Atlanta, at #26, drafted Takkarist McKinley from UCLA.  McKinley kept close to his chest for the entire moment a large picture of his deceased grandmother, to whom he vowed on her deathbed to get out of the dangerous parts of the Bay Area and make a better life for himself in D1 and the NFL.

After being interviewed by ESPN, McKinley was ranting about that he  did it all to keep the promises he made that day.   He did drop an F-bomb in front of Deion Sanders (and told the NFL to fine him later), leading some to scoff when Sanders tried to "mentor" him.

I would too, but then I thought of something:  Some scumbag piece-of-shit across the line from him making one too many "Yo (Grand)Mama"'s at McKinley.

• Which led to Playing Fair Moment #3:  While that exchange with Sanders and McKinley was going on, the crowd was booing, because the next pick had finished and the hated Cowboys were on the clock.  NFL Network coverage was quick to make the immediate note that THAT was the reason for the booing.

But there was one real unifying factor in a lot of the coverage of the Draft, and even was admitted during the coverage on both ESPN AND NFL Network...

• Though I have to admit:  Drew Pearson trolling Philly Fan was cute.  It was so loud booing him that, probably 200 feet, tops, from Pearson, you couldn't hear the rant or the pick, according to one YouTube fan in the audience on Friday night.

Let's see if you can figure out what it was...

• Mitchell Trubinsky became the second pick in the NFL Draft, and probably the next quarterback (probably in year two) of the Chicago Bears, on only THIRTEEN collegiate starts.
• Leonard Fournette went #4 to Jacksonville.  Deliberately sat out the last five games of the season to avoid injury.  Who or what are you loyal to?
• Corey Davis, #5 to Tennessee.  All those statistical accomplishments, ankle surgery in January to repair two torn ligaments.
• In the first game of the 2016 season, Mike Williams was shoved into the padded goalpost at the back of the end zone in Clemson Stadium, breaking the C6 vertebrae in his neck.  He goes #7 to the Chargers.
• In the very next pick, Carolina picks Christian McAffrey.  Was another player to sit out a bunch to avoid injury, at least according to ESPN.
• And one of the reasons why was the next pick, the fastest modern combine 40 in history, John Ross, picked #9 to Washington.  ACL cost him the 2015 season.
• #11, New Orleans took Marshon Lattimore -- hamstring cost him a season and a half!
• The defensive run began at #13 with Arizona taking Haason Reddick.  Fractured femur in high school cost him a season.
• Hip and hernia surgery for #15.
• Two Alabama players were seen falling through the first round due to shoulder concerns.  One of them went #17 to Washington, Jonathan Allen.
• Not that this person hasn't redeemed a bit, but the #20 pick, Garett Bowles to Denver, expelled or otherwise thrown out of five schools.  Too bad he's probably another of those Born Again Mormons to get it back on track.
• Injury concerns plagued the 2016 season of #21 Jarrad Davis to Detroit., starting the playoff draft spots.
• The aforementioned Gareon Conley...
• The feel-good story mentioned above is good, but Takkarist McKinley does have concussion concerns...
• Of course, you could be the Cleveland Browns, who have all but released one of their draft picks already for an assault he is accused to have committed.
• Mr. Irrelevant is probably the most (to the college football culture) relevant Mr. Relevant in history.  Chad Kelly, the quarterback of Ole Miss, was the last pick taken by the Denver Broncos.  Why so far down for someone a lot of people have heard of?  Off the field concerns...

Get the idea yet?

Millions of dollars and all these hopes and the dreams and the lives, fortunes, and sacred honors of fans across the land...

On such damaged goods that you wonder what these people were actually looking for in the first damned place.

Three more reasons it is not yet time to take e-sports seriously...

First:

Once again, a major League of Legends event is marred by a racist incident pre-tournament.

This month marks the point between the two "splits" of the season.  As such, Riot Games holds the Mid-Season Invitational.  This tournament has several World Championship implications (as the teams in the top four grant their regions #1 pod seeds, and the best International Wild-Card team advances their region into the main World Championship pool and gives that region a second team in a new subsidiary section of the tournament leading into the main pool).

Too bad the host Brazilian team should no longer be in this Invitational.

In the 2014 World Championships, Riot Games failed to take sufficient action against Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen for racist comments made in preparatory matches against Taiwanese players.  He was suspended three matches, fined, and, largely believed as a result, his team, Fnatic, failed to advance.

I said then that the only real penalty would perhaps be Fnatic's removal from the tournament.

Neither Riot Games nor the players have learned.

Felipe "YoDa" Noronha has been banned three matches and fined $2,000 for racist comments against Japanese players, posted to his Twitter.  And the apology, according to the Kotaku e-sports site Compete, states that this is his opinion, but does not reflect that of his organization.

Throw 'em out.  Play that group with three teams.

There is no way that these gamers are going to take professional conduct seriously until Riot Games and other organizations enact "one strike and your team is out".  This is the second major world tournament in four years to be marred by this kind of stuff, and this has nothing to say of the several major incidents (at least one (and, IIRC, probably two) with the Oceanic Pro League -- including the first time a pro team DID have to be thrown out!) which have pockmarked League of Legends.

Second:  And Overwatch as well!!!  (Another Compete article.)

At least this one has had the proper result.

Matt Vaughn is out of e-sports due to an N-word tirade during an Overwatch match.

A match he was streaming to Twitch -- account terminated.

He was fired from his team and left e-sports.

Third:  More match-fixing, again in Overwatch.  (A third Compete article.)

The coach and manager of a Korean Overwatch team have been arrested when the organizers of a Challenger tournament in Korea (cable company OGN) gained significant evidence the pair were having another team throw a match to their team  in exchange for sponsorship considerations.

This apparently included a fraudulent doctor's note to allow the other team to substitute a (far lesser) player into the match!

The two and the player from the other team colluding with them have been thrown out of the sport, no current word on the legal status of the sports bribery charges (yes, it's in Korea, but it's the same thing...)

--

Look, it's time we force these Cro-Magnon gamers into the 21st century or out of gaming, professional and otherwise.

There is no way, short of expulsion from tournaments and the like, that the institutionalized racism, homophobia, etc. of these unintelligent gamers (from scrub to professional) is going to be removed.

(And, yes, this would include criminal charges, in jurisdictions where they apply.  Remember, those who cloak their idiocies in the First Amendment:  The First Amendment is an American concept only.  According to a 2012 article from the Christian Science Monitor, it appears that a 1990 Brazilian law CAN have Noronha prosecuted and have his computer taken from him, at bare minimum, with perhaps imprisonment:

(Translated:)

It is now illegal in Brazil:

"Art. 20º To practice, to induce or to incite, by means
  Of social communication or by publication of any
R
Nature, discrimination or prejudice of race,
Color, religion, ethnicity or national origin:
`PAR` 1º - Can the judge determine, after hearing the Minis
Public or request of this, even before the
rite
Under penalty of disobedience:
I - Instant Gathering or Search and Seizure
Copies of the respective material.
II - the cessation of the respective radio transmissions
Or televised.")

More Blood-Letting at E(mbrace Debate)SPN... Getting away from everything but the screaming...

News from the sports world today that ESPN, facing continuing declining revenues, has engaged in another round of cost-cutting layoffs.

Noticeably absent from the list I am about to give you is almost anyone from the "Embrace Debate" crowd -- and I'm not the first to notice.  With the debate shows taking over mornings on the main network, as well as proliferating through competitors like FS1 with "Skip and Shannon" and the like, one has to think that the ESPN might soon stand for the Entirely Screaming Programming Network.

(One other thought I had is seeing more "filler" programming, like what ESPN does with the World Series of Poker.  E-sports would appear to be a candidate in that regard, given ESPN's new penchant for covering it -- but NOT the WWE (which ESPN has a partnership to cover).)

The fact is:  There's too many ESPN networks ("1", 2, U, Deportes, News (which often devolves into 30 for 30 during evenings), most of the conference networks are basically ESPN in disguise...), , and there's finally meaningful competition for sports programming (both on the end-user level and the broadcast-rights level, which see Fox seizing the World Cup starting in 2018 -- and then stating Mexico is going to be treated as a "second home side" in the Russia coverage).  Add the cord-cutters, and you now have a network that is either going to die or significantly downsize.

And here, according to what is believed to be the best current list on Deadspin, are some of the more familiar names pink-slipped today:

• Doug Glanville of the baseball coverage.
• Dr. Jerry Punch, seen on a lot of auto racing coverage (on ESPN since 1980, more prominently since 1984), and also did college football sideline reporting for the networks. 
• Dottie Pepper, who was a golf analyst after her LPGA career.
• Roger Cossack, 13 years as the legal analyst for ESPN.
• Trent Dilfer, who spent 9 years as an NFL analyst for the networks.
• A real shocker to me:  Jayson Stark, one of the foremost baseball analyst and knowledge sources on ESPN.  Another example of trying to get away from fact-based programming and more to screaming in each other's faces, isn't that right, people who fired Howie Schwab?
• Another former NFLer with the network, Danny Kanell (radio host).
• Scott Burnside:  13 years of covering the NHL.  Looks like the NHL is slipping further into minor-league status, at least as far as the Worldwide Leader is concerned, with at least three prominent puck reporters cut.
• With Pierre LeBrun and Joe McDonald, that's 30 years worth combined of NHL coverage, out the door.
• Ed Werder:  17 years of NFL coverage
• Cutbacks to the roles of Hannah Storm, Karl Ravech, and Ryen Rusillo.

Only 20 of the 100ish cuts are Bristol-based.

The fact is that they want the network to become one giant screaming match, in the hopes that sports fans will do the same, and ignore any realities inconvenient to them.

Joey Barton Update: The FA doesn't nearly go far enough...

18 months banned from football, and Barton says, if it stands, it would be his retirement.

(The Guardian)

The sooner this piece of shit is put out of sports, the better sports will be.

I'm just going to bring this all back from earlier posts on the blog (as well as further statements from the Guardian article and an accumulated list from the Wikipedia page) to make it understandable as to why Joey Barton should have been life-banned from the sport a long, long time before today.

• July 2004:  Sparks a ten-man melee in a preseason friendly match with Doncaster Rovers.
• December 2004:  Fined six weeks wages by Manchester City when he put out a lit cigar at their Christmas party...  in the eye of one of his younger teammates!
• May 2005:  Broke a Liverpool pedestrian's leg at 2 AM by tearing through town.
• Summer of 2005:  Fined another 60,000 pounds (for 120,000 quid total) and sent home from a preseason tournament in Thailand for attacking another team's supporter, even though he was declared provoked.  Forced to enter anger management by the club.
• September 30, 2006:  Fined 2,000 pounds by the FA for mooning the opposing fans, bringing the sport into disrepute.
• May 2007:  Fined 100,000 pounds (that's 220,000 total by the club!) and suspended by Manchester City and given a four-month suspended jail sentence for a training ground fight.  This would result in his expulsion from the club, and, one year later, another 25,000 pound fine by the FA, and a twelve-match ban (six suspended) for his new team, Newcastle United.
• Later in 2007:  Eventually gets six months in jail for a late night fight at a Liverpool nightclub.  Serves 77 days after the 2007-2008 season.
• May 3, 2009:  Is sent off with a direct red card in his first appearance in three months.  The suspension ends his season, with Newcastle United threatened with relegation.  Following the match, his coach and manager had a confrontation with him in the locker room, and the team suspended him for the remainder of the season as a result.  Even though both believed Barton responsible for sending Newcastle United to relegation, he lasted two more seasons.
• November 10, 2010:  Retroactively banned for three matches for violent conduct that the referees did not sanction in a match with Blackburn.  His 2010 season was pockmarked with several additional incidents, including one which ended a stint of being considered to join Arsenal, joining Queens Park Rangers instead.
• May 13, 2012:  The incident with Manchester City.  In what I still believe, five years hence, was a match-fixing deliberate effort to get his team relegated and aid in the Hollywood ending of Manchester City's Premier League championship (in which, if true, he failed in the former and succeeded in the latter), was banned for 12 matches and fined 75,000 pounds from the FA, and additionally fined 500,000 pounds and stripped of the QPR captaincy for one of the most blatant "brain snaps" in English Premier League history.  Sent off for elbowing Carlos Tevez, he then proceeds to commit at least three more sending-off offenses in one of the most blatant attempts to get another player sent off.  This resulted in his loan to France (Marseilles, which would uphold the bans), and that resulted in QPR's relegation in 2013.
• May 6, 2013:  Two-match suspended ban in France for an inappropriate remark, which was judged not homophobic.  He called Thiago Silva an "overweight ladyboy" on his Twitter account.
• Inexplicably returning to QPR, he is sent off at least twice in the Championship, and is released from the team in 2015.
• He actually did have one year of quiet relevance with Burnley in the Championship.
• September 2016:  Another training-ground conflict, this with Rangers, three-match ban, eventually fired from the team in November.

What does it fucking take to get thrown out of football?

If anything, the 18 monther should've been in 2012!  Anyone who saw this match and understood the circumstances (as I did) has to conclude that Barton was attempting to lose the match and get his team relegated.  He commits four sending-off offenses in rapid succession, and probably should've gotten the match abandoned alone.

But that's not what he's getting the ban for.  It's gambling.

Barton is admitted to, on several occasions between 2004 and 2011, to bet against his own team, as part of over 1,000 bets in violation of FA rules.

• Places three bets in a match he was in vs. Fulham.  One was that a person would not score the first goal, and another was that he would.  Neither did, so the first bet won.  He also bet a much larger sum that his team, Manchester City, would win the match.  They lost.
• Places five bets in matches his team was in with Newcastle United in 2008-2009 -- all were for Newcastle to win, all the bets lost.
• He played in a 2011 match with Newcastle against Stevenage in January. Betting rather large sums that Newcastle would win and lead at halftime, all bets lost.
• Places three bets with QPR, all to win, all lost -- one in 2011, two in 2014.
• While at Newcastle in 2008, he places multiple bets for Newcastle to lose to PSV in an August 6 pre-season match.  The match ends a 2-2 draw and Barton does not play in the match.
• Eleven days later, bets Newcastle to lose it's opener at Manchester United.  Match ends a 1-1 draw.  Barton, again, does not play -- reminding the suspension for his actions leaving Manchester City was a year in coming yet.
• November 22, 2008:  Bets his team to lose at Chelsea.  Scoreless draw, one of four consecutive draws for Newcastle/
• November 27, 2010:  Bets his team, on at least two bets, to lose to Chelsea.  1-1 draw.
• March 9, 2011:  Bets against his own reserve side against Arsenal, and that bet loses.

Does anyone still want me to believe that incident with QPR was not a blatant match-fix, on both an EPL level and a personal one?

How is this fucker not life-banned?  Can someone PLEASE explain to me how this motherfucker ever would play soccer again, even at 36?

If I were running soccer, this guy never attends another match, at even a "park level"...

You can't be a sports (entertainment) fan and have a conscience, Part Four: A Republican blowhard runs off a respected commentator...

It's about to boil over in the WWE.

And, no, I'm not talking about Roman Reigns and the eventual plans to have him end what might well be a year-long reign of Brock Lesnar holding a championship effectively in absentia.

(Though, if the fans keep getting pissed off about this, it may boil over into their distaste of the over-pushing of The Rock's cousin, but I digress.)

The WWE scored a coup last year when it acquired the services of respected play-by-play man Mauro Ranallo to perform on their Smackdown program.  Ranallo has been one of the most widely-respected voices in MMA and boxing for the last several years, and having him on the microphone would bring credibility to the WWE product.

That's all gone now.  Mauro Ranallo has performed his last for the WWE (the separation was made official late last week -- and, although Ranallo says it was NOT precipitated by the below, rumors of a large payoff to silence Ranallo on the subject make that statement hardly believable), and we have the elder McMahons' ties to Donald Trump and a commentator openly supported by him to probably blame for this.

It all started about three weeks before WrestleMania, the main WWE card of the year.  Mauro Ranallo was missing from the Smackdown telecast.  There was a large-scale blizzard in the area, and it was stated and believed (to some criticism in the wrestling community) that Ranallo could not get to the venue.

Unfortunately, when it became the last three Smackdowns before WrestleMania that he was gone, word began to surface that Ranallo, who has publicly disclosed issues with bipolar affective disorder, had suffered a relapse.

And then, almost immediately thereafter, word came out that perennial backstage bully John Bradshaw Layfield (a fellow Smackdown commentator after his in-ring retirement) precipitated this.

Anyone who knows of the podcast or shoot-interview world of former professional wrestlers knows of the occasional practice of "ribbing" -- jokes played between the wrestlers, well off-camera, to supposedly promote camaraderie among the traveling groups.

Many of these "ribs", though, can be taken quite too far, and "JBL", as Mr. Layfield has been known, is one of the worst offenders.

Two famous examples of his shenanigans led to concussions suffered by JBL which might've precipitated his retirement.

• It was no secret JBL didn't care for ECW, the former "hardcore" promotion out of Philadelphia.  So, when announcer Joey Styles joined WWE, JBL saw a target in the scrawny announcer.  On one of the WWE's formerly-annual trips to the Middle East to visit the troops, the bullying didn't stop...  until Styles knocked him out!
• JBL also took his distaste for ECW on camera, when he probably "shot" (made the fakeness of professional wrestling into reality!) on The Blue Meanie, one of ECW's character-driven motifs (which was actually created as a bit of a rib for the ECW talents to entertain themselves).  JBL was a part of a bunch of "invaders" from the main WWE brands to ECW's first "One Night Stand" pay-per-view (ECW was bought by WWE about the same time their main competition, WCW, was), and the spot was for a "mass brawl" that the ECW guys were to win.  During this brawl, JBL took liberties with said Blue Meanie, bloodying him.  As punishment, JBL was supposed to lose to Meanie in a succeeding Smackdown match.  Meanie's legitimate friend (and one of the partners in the aforementioned rib of the "BWO") Stevie Richards returned the favor with a shoot chairshot to the head!!!

One of the largest repositories of information on the subject is a new book from former WWE broadcaster Justin Roberts, called Best Seat in the House.

Roberts would say that he wrote the book to aid in improving the culture in professional wrestling and the WWE, and did not want anyone directly fired.

However, fans of both wrestling and MMA respect Ranallo so much that the (CORRECT!) demand to fire Layfield from the company has been echoed.  Unfortunately, because of Vince's iron hand over the product and his ties to the Bully in Chief, the Oompa-Loompa Piece of the Ultimate Shit in the White House (same POTUS who has tweeted during the controversy in support of Layfield!!!), it's probably not going to happen.

Well, Mr. McMahon, let me tell you something else not going to happen:  You're bringing NXT back to my hometown in early May.  My seat will be filled by someone else, if at all.

Why?

• From an Ask Me Anything on the professional wrestling subreddit "SquaredCircle", Roberts gave this image of the WWE's stance on bullying ribs within the company:  "The higher-ups don't see it as bullying, they laugh it off and encourage it because they just find it funny. Obviously the locker room has changed, but Vince, Kevin, and Hunter like to entertain themselves and it still happens."
• One of the ribs in question is a pretty hardcore bullying of referee Charles "Li'l Naitch" Robinson, where he was stripped and paraded.
• It's clear that, in Donald Trump America, this is accepted and encouraged.

So, you #FireJBL, or this fan is going to close his wallet.  Mauro Ranallo is a respected man in the fight game, and should've been treated as such!

Several updates, at least one disturbing one...

Yeah, it's the down time of the year.  I still have a WWE post to finish, and then I get on the state of North Carolina and the NCAA for agreeing on a half-measure that will probably be quietly reversed (plus the bigots in North Carolina firing a shot across the bow to ensure it) -- that will be multiple posts, including one about a university official believing UNC's basketball program might get the Death Penalty.

At least one of the posts will be contributed to with some guest input.

Anyhow, a couple of updates, starting with a very disturbing development in the Aaron Hernandez death:

It appears we may have bigotry and the No F____ts League to blame (and, obviously, YMMV on this one!) for the death of Aaron Hernandez.  First spotted in Deadspin comments and brought to my attention by my anonymous friend, it's made the mainstream media:  It appears as if a bigoted Boston sports radio commentator may have started what Hernandez' lawyer did not believe possible.
One of the major beliefs that had led Aaron Hernandez' legal team to believe prison officials killed Hernandez was that Aaron was believed to be in good spirits, inconsistent with a suicidal man.

Newsweek has picked up on it.  NBC's Pro Football Talk blog believes the Newsweek article is a "smear campaign".

It is now believed, at least by some, that the first murder was actually in response to a gay slur by the victim (Lloyd) to Hernandez.  Ernest Wallace is stated in the Newsweek article (while he serves 4 1/2 - 7 for accessory) that not only did Lloyd get killed because Hernandez was called a "schmoocher", but that, had Wallace confirmed the relationship, he would not have participated in the crime!

The Newsweek article states that an alleged "long-time lover" who was a high school friend (but the article stops short of actually stating the two were, in fact, lovers in high school -- which would've certainly stated that Hernandez, at best, was closeted during his time in the NFL) was extensively interviewed by police and forced to testify in front of the grand jury.

This would run counter to the following quote from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:

"If Hernandez was motivated to kill Lloyd because Lloyd was going to “out” Hernandez, wouldn’t that have come up at some point between the discovery of Lloyd’s body in June 2013 and the conviction of Hernandez for the killing in April 2015? The biggest weakness in the Lloyd murder (other than the failure to discover the murder weapon) was the absence of a clear motive."

The weapon was believed destroyed, and Hernandez' cousin was believed to have done it (and did two years probation and a year of house confinement, according to the Newsweek article). 

And there would be your motive...  Hernandez would've been blackballed from the league immediately (especially from the Patriots!) if found gay.

Pro Football Talk believes the Newsweek article is a smear campaign, and there's more to it than just what I've written above.

It states that Hernandez was a "person of interest" (hence, all but a suspect) in two MORE murders, a double-murder that happened in 2007, when Hernandez was 17!

He got away with the two in 2012, largely because the main remaining witness (a friend Hernandez shot in the head seven months later -- no charges were filed) openly testified he wanted to kill Hernandez himself, and the jury tossed it out as a result.

One of the major players in this was an investigative reporter, Michele McPhee (who does not believe the rumors actually led to the suicide -- that, instead, the only relevance is to the motive in the Lloyd murder).  McPhee also believes other reporters knew too, which would definitely be the death knell of any No F____ts League career for Hernandez.

On far lighter notes:

In response to my post announcing that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drew the short straw and have to host HBO's Hard Knocks program this year, my anonymous friend wanted me to look up the past Hard Knocks teams in a word of caution that this might be used as any more than just another round of the Rapeis Winston Image Rehabilitation Tour.

There have been 11 teams profiled on the show.  The show first aired in 2001 and 2002, took a five-year hiatus, and, with one exception (the 2011 lockout), has gone every year since 2007.

• The first series was profiling Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens.  They went 10-6, returned to the playoffs, and were eliminated by the Steelers in the Divisional Round.
• The next year, the show went to the training camp of the Dallas Cowboys.  They went 5-11 for the third successive year, Emmit Smith's last.
• 2007, the show went to one of my old home towns:  River Falls, Wisconsin.  They covered the Kansas City Chiefs training camp (the Chiefs would leave River Falls after the 2009 camp).  4-12 that year.
• 2008:  Back to the Cowboys.  9-7 that year, but that was 3rd in the NFC East.
• 2009:  Cincinnati, in the best-rated and most critically-acclaimed of the first five seasons.  Two Emmys were awarded, according to the Wikipedia page, and the Bengals went 10-6, won the division, but lost their wild card playoff to the visiting Jets.
• 2010:  They go to the Jets.  Rex Ryan's Jets went 11-5 that year, losing in the AFC title game to the Steelers.  They refused the 2011 season (before no replacement could be found) and have not been to the playoffs since.
• 2012:  Miami.  7-9.
• 2013:  Back to Cincinnati.  11-5, won the AFC North, lost to San Diego in the wild card round.
• 2014:  Atlanta, the first NFC team in five years.  6-10.
• 2015:  Houston.  9-7, won the AFC South, lost the wild card to San Diego in a rout.
• Last year:  The Rams.  4-12.

The last three seasons, in a decision the NFL owners made during the 2013 season (Deadspin), the NFL can force teams to appear on the show.

The rule allows the NFL to force any team to appear on the show if the team fits all three of the following criteria:

• Did not make the playoffs in either of the two previous seasons.
• New Head Coach
• or that they've been on the show in the last ten years.

The playoff rule removed these teams from consideration: 

From 2015-16:  Denver, Carolina, New England, Arizona, Kansas City, Green Bay, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Houston, Cincinnati, Minnesota, and Washington.

Additionally, from 2016-17:  Atlanta, Oakland/Las Vegas, Detroit, Miami, the Giants, and Dallas.

That's 18 right there.

Add the Rams and the Jets to the list for previous appearances.  That's 20.

And, as for new coaches, add San Francisco, the Chargers (so both LA teams are off the board), Buffalo, and Jacksonville.

So that left these eight teams:  Chicago, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay (who was selected), New Orleans, Cleveland, Baltimore, Tennessee, and Indianapolis.

Since the force rule was implemented, the teams went 11-5, 6-10, and 4-12.

Be interesting to watch it all.

And we now know who the NFL might have a good word for this year...

They just announced it today:  Tampa Bay is the team that gets the Hard Knocks treatment this year.

As if they needed any more reason to push Jameis on us...

You can't be a sports fan and have a conscience, Part Three: Aaron Hernandez kills his fourth person, himself.

My friend had it right:  At least there will be no more.

(That is, unless there are others we don't know about yet that he already had before the one he got convicted of.)

Aaron Hernandez killed himself this morning, days after being acquitted of murders #2 and #3, which most sane people still believe he committed.

He was doing life for #1 anyway.  Now, since he didn't appeal that, he effectively legally washes himself of the conviction for #1, and a lot of the evidence used can't be used against his estate in civil matters against him.

It would be easy, and I've already seen a couple apologists on the Deadspin article try the "society failed him" angle and all that stuff.

The guy was Football God, and was on the Most Favored Team of All, the New England Patriots.

This motherfucker was such a holy terror at Florida that at least one NFL executive said (according to an ESPN article before the suicide):

"When I saw some of the shit he was able to get away with [at Florida], we weren't taking him.  He actually thought he was going to get away with murder.  He always thought he could beat the system, and when he got arrested I thought, 'Well, the system finally caught up with him.'"

This was in 2009.  So the NFL was more than prepared to paper over a lot of this stuff (and Belichick and the like did!). 

I'm going to make my response very simple:

The victims of Aaron Hernandez need to sue the University of Florida, the NFL, the New England Patriots, Urban Meyer (coach of Florida at the time), Bill Belichick, and the sponsors of the league, into oblivion.

Why?

Even if they can't get these parties directly for drafting the guy and actually putting football on trial (which is far overdue and what I would probably do if I were in the position), I would get them on the hook for enabling him.

On top of that, one has to wonder how much more we're going to accept out of Bill Belichick before someone just arrests the motherfucker.

--

Two other ironic footnotes:

First, his lawyer and agent believe that someone else killed him:  Maybe his prison guards or some inmates, etc.

I don't buy it, nor does anyone I talked to on the subject.  That said, wouldn't that be about the first good indication that someone has finally started having enough of the enabling of the National Religion?

So, even if someone else did, GOOD!

Second, and perhaps most sickening:

Today was Donald Trump's day to have the Patriots visit.

You can't be a sports fan and have a conscience, Part Two: European Soccer, What the HELL?

Second in a continuing series of sports fandom without conscience, and, for this one, we head to the increasing chaos in European soccer.

First incident:  UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.

Monaco was playing Borussia Dortmund in Germany Tuesday (April the 11^th).

Or, at least they were scheduled to.

Two hours before game time, their team bus was the site of an explosion set off in Dortmund by somebody, sending a defenseman to surgery to repair a broken wrist suffered in the attack.

The police say they are not sure (or at least weren't yesterday) as to it's cause.

Come on.

You know better than this.

If no one else will say it, I will: An “ultra” tried to take out the team. They do have an “Islamist” arrested as a function of a terrorist investigation, but a true terrorism situation would not be unlike the situation which befell a similar match in Paris a year or two back.

Don't be stupid, people. Maybe it's because of the unique circumstances of my life, but, especially in a sport where it is seen as the lifeblood of many lives in an increasingly fractured Europe, it would not be any surprise that a stalker (known in the parlance, especially in a larger group, as a team's “ultras”) would attempt such a heinous act.

If he's guilty of the situation, hang the bastard – yes, he needs to be held responsible for what he did, if he did it.

That said, doesn't the target kind of strike you as odd, if it's a pure terrorism situation?

The game was postponed to Wednesday the 12^th, and German fans were asked to aid in the housing and spirits of visiting Monaco fans, and, according to Deadspin, many responded positively.

Monaco WON the match, in a major upset, 3-2. The second leg will be in two weeks in Monaco, and, under the rules, Borussia Dortmund must win the match, and by two goals, or by one goal and score at least three.

This is because of the “away goal” rule. To prevent many ties from going to extra time and penalties, the rule in UEFA is, if a two-legged tie is drawn, the goals each team scores away are compared to break the tie. Only if that also is tied is extra time played.

So Borussia Dortmund either needs a 2-0 win or a win with 3 or more goals. Should be interesting.

If that were the only incident recently, it'd be disturbing.

European soccer has, apparently, had two further incidents in the same week of disturbances, indicating a boiling pot of violence about to go over:

Lyon (France) and Besiktas (Turkey) were both formally charged by UEFA after a crowd brawl delayed the Europa League quarterfinal-tie match between the two sides in France.

Lyon was charged for allowing the fans to intermix (basically, lack of security), fireworks, blocked staircases, and a pitch invasion after the game-winning goal for the 2-1 victory.

Besiktas was charged for fireworks, throwing things, and disturbances in the crowd.

The match was delayed 45 minutes because of the pre-match "festivities".  One can only wonder, with the reputation of Turkish football (both in match-fixing and the fact that Turkish teams have no qualms about killing opposing fans to gain an advantage in a Cup fixture!), how much the rematch in Turkey will be a flashpoint.

And then, on Saturday, Lyon had another incident, but this time it was in a domestic match with FC Bastia, where the FC Bastia fans had some of their number run onto the pitch and attack the Lyon players in warmups.

The match, delayed an hour, eventually was abandoned at halftime when they tried it again! (Deadspin)

Disciplinary committees from both organizations will investigate their respective incidents.

You can't be a sports fan and have a conscience, Part One: Hockey's Player Safety Falling Short

In a bit of a call-back to the first few years of the blog, the NFL off-season has meant a bit of an off-season for this blog as well.

However, there has been a touch of stories, in (and adjacent to) sports that has a common thread: That the understanding has become, as a friend of mine has said so eloquently, that sports fandom must now mean you leave your conscience at the door. You are, to the leagues, networks, and sponsors, nothing more than a sports consumer and expected to cheer on your team or sport or entertainment, circumstances be damned.

Not much outside of the NFL gets that mindset going than what I refer to as the greatest playoffs in all of sport: The NHL tournament for the Stanley Cup, which began tonight.

There is a looming problem, though: The NHL, after being very transparent with their Player Safety initiatives (even up to and including state-of-the-art video explaining what is and is not a suspension), has, incrementally, moved backwards, especially on the concussion front.

As the playoffs begin, there is continuing call for the NHL to work harder on concussions and head injuries than they appear to. The Wideman suspension was one very strong indicator that the league was not doing what was necessary to protect players from head injuries and their after-effects.

It certainly is not to level of ignorance that Football Nation America has to justify it's bloodlust, this is certainly true. But the hitting is still cheered, the fighting is still part of the game. One has to wonder how much Gary Bettman will choose to do and how much he will choose to ignore as “part of the game”.

Bah Gawd! pic.twitter.com/Co5DHLeclp

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) April 15, 2017

Events like Game 2 between Columbus and Washington don't help matters any.  (Deadspin)

Matt Calvert of the Blue Jackets delivered two cheap shots to Pittsburgh's Matt Kuhnhackl -- the first was a cross-check where it looked like Calvert wrapped his stick around Kuhnhackl's back.  The second was a shot to the head.

The hit, with 35 seconds to go in the game and Pittsburgh about to win, was only penalized with a two-minute minor.  The NHL suspended Calvert for one game, for "sending a message" for Sunday's Game 3.

May not be to the level of the classic Bertuzzi hit, but that was two cheap shots, intent to injure job there guys.  Match penalty for intent to injure, and he's gone for the rest of the playoffs plus five games (with the understanding that it's almost-certain Pittsburgh will dispatch Columbus easily).

The NHL appeared to formerly do a good job on it's Player Safety stuff.

Key words:  USED TO.