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.