Starting Five
That’s pretty much what it is
1. Head Games
Chris Borland’s retirement at age 24, along with the retirements in the past week of Patrick Willis, Jake Locker and Jason Worilds, none of them older than 30 years old, from the NFL should draw attention. I think The Big Lead hit the nail on the head with its hed, “Chris Borland Retiring from the NFL at 24: Bellwether or Anomaly? Yes.”
Observations/Facts:
1. From a viewership standpoint, the NFL has never been more popular, so…
1A.. …the opportunity for certain young men who otherwise would have no chance of earning a six-figure salary has never been greater (provided the NFLPA ever gets its act together).
2. Young men have never been faster, stronger, larger or more aggressive, while the cranial area remains no more able to withstand violent collisions….
2A. …which means that whatever the NFL is attempting to sell the public and its players on about the sport never being safer is absolute b.s.
America’s most popular spectator sport
3. More well-educated, upper-middle class young men (read: white), with the exception of quarterbacks and kickers, will avoid playing football, be it through their wishes or their parents…
3A. …while more uneducated, lower-class young men (read: black) will have even more slots available to them in the NFL. And they’ll mostly happily take those jobs. And, while this thought is a little extreme, if you remember that grisly scene in Djanjo: Unchained in which the rich white plantation owners have two slaves fight to the death in a fancy hotel room for their own enjoyment, well, that’s the modern-day NFL.
4. Have you noticed how some NBA and college basketball players (I’m thinking Russell Westbrook) wear under-armor type clothing with built-in pads? Can you imagine if the NFL ever went to that model? Players would only have soft pads on the knees, hips, shoulders and elbows and a similar cushion-like material for the skull. The game would be infinitely safer without helmets or shoulder pads. But would America tune in?
5. This NFL team doctor, who is acutely familiar with the Mike Webster case, says that the worries about CTE are “overexaggerated” when it comes to youth football. I happen to agree with him. College football players in 2015 are even larger than NFL players were 20 years ago. College and NFL football is a dangerous sport, and as Chip Kelly related last week, “the injury rate is 100%.”
Injuries do occur at the high school and Pop Warner level, sure. And elite high school football is where lower Division college football is these days. But at the junior high level and lower, I don’t think football has a long-term effect in terms of head injuries. No worse than soccer or skateboarding. Does that mean your kid should play? Up to you. But at that level I think football gives kids a lot more than it takes away from them.
Darryl Stingley was paralyzed from the neck down right before I started high school. And I played wide receiver and defensive back. I remember Stingley’s injury having a great effect on how I played the game. Before that, I never really thought about getting hurt playing football and I was super-aggressive. After that, I’d be lying if I said there was ever a game I went into when I didn’t think about it. That meant it was time to stop playing.
That and the fact that while I was okay, I was never scholarship material. I totally should have been a diver. A lot less equipment to have to put on every day.
2. Bad Week for Spurs
Shved, who is playing for his fourth NBA team in the past 14 months, helped the Knicks take down the Spurs
Sunday: Manchester United draws a clean sheet (am I saying that correctly?) at home versus Tottenham Hotspur, 3-0. Tottenham is now in 7th place, out of Champions League and Europa League standings, at the moment.
Tuesday: The defending world champion San Antonio Spurs lose to the NBA’s worst team, the New York Knicks, in overtime at Madison Square Garden. Alexey Shved. The Knicks became the first team this late in an NBA season to enter a game with a sub-.200 record and beat the defending NBA champions.
“”We didn’t respect the game,” Gregg Popovich said. “We didn’t respect our opponent. It was a pathetic performance, and I hope every player is embarrassed. Not because we’re supposed to win the game, quote unquote, but it’s about how you play the game.”
The Spurs are at Milwaukee tonight. That should be interesting…
3. Ole Miss Did Not…Miss
Mississippi 94, BYU 90.
Mississippi put up 62 points in the 2nd half (after scoring 32 in the first and trailing by 17) versus the nation’s No. 1 Scoring Offense, BYU. Whereas in the first half the Cougars had been playing like team (that had been) on a mission. Yes, some jokes I’ll recycle from Twitter.
Doug Tammaro at Arizona State asks a good question: When was the last time a team put up 90 in the tourney and lost? I don’t know, but I do know that Duke and Kentucky were tied at 93 heading into overtime in the infamous 1992 NCAA regional final.
Martavious Newby, favorite player of Dr. Cox, scored 10 for the Rebels.
4. So Would He Be Hsalf?
“Your yellow!” “I’m not yellow!” “Race him, Jerry!”
Our pal Tom Cavanagh reveals that he’s not actually the kindly Harrison Wells on The Flash, but he’s actually Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash, who killed Barry Allen’s mother all those years ago while attempting to kill Barry (who is The Flash).
I’m so confused now. Is Tom Cavanagh even Tom Cavanagh? Whose wedding did I attend? And did I make a total fool of myself in front of Julie Bowen (probably)? And if I want to run future videos featuring Tom, will I need a Reverse-Flash Plug-In? This is all too much….
5. Donna Baldwin Talent Agency
I need an ethical expert to weigh in on this: Is it sexist/lewd/unethical to peruse modeling agency head shots? Asking for a fiend…
Now here’s what’s interesting. One of the models on that page is named Danielle Aten, and I’d thought of running her portfolio with a silly Maxim-ish caption such as “Danielle Aten? I’d say so!” But then this happened. And so I ask you, Is this the same person?*
*And of course it’s Florida…
Music 101
“I Know What I Know”
“She said, ‘Don’t I know you from the cinematographer’s party?’ and I said, ‘Who am I to blow against the wind?'” From Paul Simon’s classic 1986 album Graceland, with backing here from the Boyoyo Boys Band of Johannesburg. If ever there were a musical equivalent to “Comeback Player of the Year,” Simon won it with this effort. Also, Art Garfunkel’s musical partner had a cameo in Annie Hall. Colorful career.
Remote Patrol
Atlanta Hawks at Golden State Warriors
10:30 p.m. ESPN
The only two teams north of 50 wins (north of 47, in fact) meet tonight in Oakland. The Warriors (53-13) seem a safer bet to make the NBA Finals than the Hawks (53-14). Both teams have lost at Denver and faced a hairy fourth quarter versus the LOLakers in the past 10 days, but they’ll be up for this one. One last dosage of NBA before March Madness invades…
One problem with the theory there will be even MORE future NFL players from poor backgrounds – what makes you (& several others I’ve read this theory from) think their POOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS will be able to continue funding this “dangerous” sport in an era where lawsuits multiply like mushrooms in a shit factory? Already, many public schools are cancelling football either because they can’t afford the newer (i.e. safer) equipment OR afford qualified doctors at every game/practice AND/OR they worry about those potential lawsuits. Sure, the families have to sign a waiver BEFORE their kids sign up but that won’t stop the families from filing suit when their kid is paralyzed or dies.
Plus, we already live in an era with helmets for everything more strenuous than walking & safety goggles/pads/belts/seats, etc touch almost every American every day. I look back & wonder how I & all my friends made it out of childhood “alive”. Sure, many or even most of these safety features have saved MANY lives & were needed but where does this “safety at all times” mentality lead? To a time when certain activities (including many sports) are deemed “too dangerous” & thus ended?
The people who think football will “never change” & will just go on getting even more popular are delusional. The GAME has changed drastically over the past 100 years & will continue to do so. Until it either becomes as unrecognizable to the present game as that which existed in the early 20th century & multiple fatalities occurred on a regular basis (I believe TR saved it from extinction then) or it ceases to exists entirely.
I’ve watched & loved ‘The Flash’ all season but have been confused far too much to admit in, er, writing. I never read that comic & so knew nothing of “the story” or the characters. WHY was Dr Wells trying to kill Barry as a kid? How would that help him get back to HIS “time” in the future? Then there’s the issue of your buddy Tom being a bad guy! I’ve loved Tom since ‘Ed’ & usually try to watch anything on TV that I know he’ll be in. I suppose it’s pathetic but I also think it’s quite common for viewers to like a CHARACTER so much that they translate that affection for their portrayers. Hawkeye Pierce – who didn’t automatically like Alan Alda for at least the next 20 years? Jack Bauer – Keifer? Lucy Ricardo – Lucille Ball? I loved Ed, he was such a great guy! Anyhoo, did this show HAVE to kill Cisco?! I loved that kid! Smart & funny. Unless this is just a plot device & Barry will go back in time (now that he realizes he can do that) to save him, I will be upset.
Anyway, some good news – LBJ is dropping the price on his Miami mansion – you can snap it up for a cool $15 million. It’s waterfront (with a dock to park your yachts), 6 bedrooms, a GUEST HOUSE (your entire family can visit & never leave) & it looks like at least 6-car garage so you can store all your AAPL-bought Teslas on your property.
Finally, someone posted a photo of himself getting those stripey cuts shaved into the side of his head. I’m telling you – MIDLIFE CRISIS. 😉
The premiere date for SHARKNADO 3 – Oh Hell No! (yes, is the actual subtitle) is 7/22.
Also, real estate update – in case you need to pinch those pennies : forget that South Beach bungalow & go for Tom Cruise’s old estate for a mere $12.9 million. Strange times to see Florida real estate pricier than a southern CA-Hollywood star’s. Going by the photo, Tom’s place is on a hillside so at least you wouldn’t have to worry about the next hurricane swamping your living room. (No guarantees about sharks not falling from the sky, though).
Susie B.
To address your first question: If you think the best football players from poor backgrounds are playing for public schools, you haven’t been paying attention. They’re all on “need-based scholarships” at Jesuit or other private schools, or their parents have “rented an apartment” in the best public high school’s district.
Hi jdubs – do you have the actual stats on this? And has this happened in just the past 4 years? The reason I ask is I’ve watched a lot of those TV segments on current NFL players that show their home areas & often their old schools & it seems the majority went to public schools (unlike many of the current NBA players).
How many rich private high schools are there in FL & AL? Perhaps this is why PA & OH are no longer the main breeding ground for pro football players; not enough rich private schools in the rust belt. (Hey, CA & NV – I hear that little water problem will only get worse in years to come; welcome to the future Desert Belt or perhaps more fitting for NV – the Busted Belt).
Also, you once said that future pro athletes will increasingly all be the offspring of former pro athletes. How does that skew the ‘poor background’ theory?
Finally, if there are no Pop Warner-like youth football leagues in a poor area & no football in the middle & high schools, where are those kids going to learn the basics to even qualify for a scholarship to one of those fancy private schools? Or are you saying we’ll be going old-Commie style & private school ‘scouts’ will go from town to town looking at the physical abilities/potential of 10 year olds & mark them for the elite schools? Which I guess is a version of what happens now with basketball & the “AAU” influence (i.e. corrosion).
I guess as long as one set of humans will pay to see another set pound/mutilate/maim their opponents, there will be a “market” for boxing, that MMA crap & pro football. “ARE WE NOT ENTERTAINED?”
If you saw Cavanagh in a live version of the show, would flash photography be tolerated?
And if there’s an origin story to tell, is there a Reverse Flashback?