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Trash Talk: Begin with the End in Mind

Golf widow here, once again enjoying a calm sunny Sunday afternoon left to my own devices. The leaves are nearly all fallen and blow away, the migratory birds have taken flight leaving only the hardiest yet to make the seasonal trek. Winter is definitely coming.

Not to go all Stephen Covey on you, but I began this post yesterday with its end in mind.

“When I buy a new book, I always read the last page first, that way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side.”
Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally

Sports in the fall is a seasonal trek, too. We’re nearly done with the boys of summer, deep into football weather, thinking about sharpening our skates and waxing our skis.

Along the way we’ll find end of stories. If we’re lucky and aware, we’ll find the seeds of beginnings.

~ ~ ~

It was quiet last evening as I predicted when Michigan State University’s Spartans met University of Michigan’s Wolverines on U-M’s turf.

As expected, U-M won 29-7 over MSU.

But not expected was the poor sportsmanship after the game, still being investigated by police and the Big 10 conference commissioner. Wolverine’s defensive back Ja’Den McBurrows and another unnamed player were roughed up in a tunnel or hallway after the game when players left the stadium.

There’s video on social media of the fracas. MSU players should not have made any contact with U-M players.

While MSU players should not have lost their cool and should have displayed more sportsmanship, the host team should not have allowed contact between the two teams after the game. The hosts should have allowed the guest team off the field first before heading to their respective locker room.

Let’s hope this is a learning opportunity which reduces the chances of future clashes between teams with intense rivalries – say, ahead of the meeting between number 4 ranked U-M and number 1 ranked Ohio State on Thanksgiving weekend?

~ ~ ~

The boys of summer in their ruin have now been reduced to the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies, tied up in the World Series at 1-1.

Next game in the series is tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. ET.

I can’t help cracking up about the drama sports journalists drum up over these two teams meeting to fight for the title of World’s Best after nearly half a year and hundreds of games have simply worn all teams down to the two which can execute most competently with greatest consistency.

After the series ends whether five games or more, it will be back to chopping wood, carrying water.

~ ~ ~

Speaking of drama, NFL fans have surely gotten their fill this week of celebrity news about Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback Tom Brady and his divorce from ex-wife and model Gisele Bündchen.

I’m not a fan but I’ve had quite enough, thanks, and inside just hours. My social media feed was inundated with the news Bündchen had filed in the morning and then swamped again when the judge signed the order.

It’s amazing how quickly this was turned around. Sure, they did a lot of the pre-work made easier with the ability to pay for good lawyers, but the couple must have wanted out very badly.

I feel for their kids. They may have access to adequate therapy to help them through this, but it will never fully resolve why their dad bemoaned not being around from August through January for family birthdays and holidays then did a 180-degree turnaround on retirement and went back to work.

What’s really annoying: all this media-whipped hullabaloo about an athlete worth $330 million and his wife who’s worth $400 million, and no one asking what the American public should take away from this situation after it took possession of our media.

Professional football is socially-acceptable violence; it can cause traumatic injuries including paralysis and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which can deeply affect players’ lives. The risk of injury was a major concern for Bündchen who didn’t want Brady to continue the risk to himself when he had little if nothing left to prove to his peers.

We’re watching a Senate race now in which one candidate, Herschel Walker, shows hallmarks of long-term CTE which may have hurt his kindred, legitimate and illegitimate, thanks to his tendency to violence and poor decision making. Georgia voters may inflict this on the public if they don’t re-elect their current senator.

High school football has already begun transitioning from contact to flag in some parts of the country to reduce the risk of injuries to minors. It’s not enough though, when we see college athletes acting out violently as with the Michigan State Spartans. We can call it unsportsmanlike conduct, but the conduct may have roots in CTE these young people have already experienced.

The roots go wider and deeper, though. It’s in our refusal to demand a sea change in football, our continued incentives for reporting stories like Brady’s divorce and Walker’s erratic behavior as a candidate as just celebrity gossip or horse race political reporting.

~ ~ ~

I began writing this post after a close friend’s father passed away yesterday morning.

Their father was a fixture in my school system for nearly all their career. Everybody who grew up here between the 1960s and 1980s knows the family because they either had him or his spouse as teachers and guides, and their kids as classmates.

I can’t think of a local high school football game or civic parade I’ve attended here when he wasn’t driving his convertible with his golden retriever for company.

We often ribbed him about the cute blonde in the passenger seat who accompanied him to so many sporting events before reaching over to pet the well-mannered pup.

Over the years when I’ve thought of school sports I’ve thought of him and how he always encouraged the kids in the school system, showing his support by being engaged in the community.

If I recall, Marcy may have run into him at a Michigan Democratic Party event in Michigan we both attended. Even then he talked up what I did for the local party like I was a rock star. But he did that for so many kids in the community even as they became adults with kids of their own.

He was what good sports is about, the positive affect engagement as a group can have on a community. Individuals acting with an end in mind can realize this constructive bonding.

We’re going to miss him and his kind of cheerleading.

This door has closed, an end has been met. It’s up to us to find the open window and the new beginning.

Treat this as an open thread.

Trash Talk: Not Exactly Favre-nügen

[NB: Check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

Yes, I am a widow.

I’ve been a golf widow since the first week of April when the grass was greening but still too short to cut, but long enough to bear the weight of golfers.

I am now widowed twice over because said golfer hangs in the clubhouse after 18 holes to watch every sport on all the big screens lining the clubhouse walls.

At least I have a month to plan the golfer’s resurrection after the last golf outing the first week of November.

Damn it. I forgot about deer season. I guess I have two months of planning woodworking and painting projects to keep him busy until the cycle begins again next April.

~ ~ ~

Last weekend when the widow-maker spouse came home from watching post-golf football he was far too happy. He launched into a paean to the Detroit Lions. I pissed him off by replying, “You mean the perpetual losing Lions?”

“But they won!” he sputtered.

Two games does not a season make. I know better than to get my hopes up this early.

Apparently the sputterer is not alone: 2 analysts are already talking playoffs for Detroit Lions

The Lions may be up 14-0 as I type this but I am still not ready to believe.

~ ~ ~

I doubt I will see the sputtering undead golfer before the end of the Tampa Bay-Green Bay game which begins at 4:25 p.m. ET. Plenty of time to figure out what to serve for dinner to a guy who’s fallen deeply into the 19th hole.

Give me Aaron Rogers over Tom Brady and the non-profit, community-owned team versus the corporate team.

I won’t bother to argue the relative merits of either team; in truth the Green Bay Packers are a family favorite because of a family member who lives in Milwaukee area and is a superfan of the Pack. We’re really rooting for them to have a good Sunday.

~ ~ ~

Last but not least, that POS Brett Favre and his bullshit corruption, insisting on redirecting welfare money to university sports. He doesn’t have the morals to fess up to the public and do right by the state of Mississippi.

Remember the college admissions scandal, particularly that surrounding actor Lori Loughlin and her spouse who paid bribes to get their two daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as members of the rowing team though neither student ever rowed? Loughlin and her spouse were arrested, prosecuted, and served time; Loughlin also paid tuition for other students as amends.

But Favre pressed state officials to use Mississippi welfare funds to build a volleyball facility for his daughter to use at his alma mater…and nothing.

Or at least nothing has happened to Favre, while former head of Mississippi Department of Human Services, John Davis, pled guilty to federal and state charges related to misuse of funds including those on behalf of Favre.

It’s not as if there weren’t text messages released which show Favre knew the misallocation was wrong.

One might even come away thinking Favre conspired to launder the money

The capper on all of this has been the ridiculous amount of attention the sports media sector paid to another sports ‘scandal’ this week, when Boston Celtics’ head coach Ime Udoka admitted to engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee working for the same team, resulting in a season-long suspension for Udoka.

Favre’s corruption received much less attention in comparison.

Meanwhile people outside the state ask why Mississippi’s capital city, Jackson, has such tremendous problems with its water system.

Can’t imagine why.

~ ~ ~

Just a head’s up that this thread will be an overflow catch-all this week, assuming we don’t have too many other posts between now and the scheduled House January 6 Committee hearing on the 28th.

You might want to bookmark this for all non-hearing chatter.

There Is Going To Be A Game Tonight

Some former New England Patriot QB is going back to Foxbvorough. No, it is not Jacoby Brissett. It’s the other guy.

Gronk is out with fractured ribs, which really sucks. But Antonio Brown is back from Covid, the Bucs are not without weapons on offense.

The football talkers are all gabbing about hoe Bill Bel will know how to defend Brady. And that may be true. But having had the opportunity to watch Bruce Arians a few years, he can game plan on offense pretty well too.

It will be interesting to watch.

The Cinci Bearcats took out the Domers, UK beat Florida and ASU trashed UCLA.

Weird week, and have at anything and everything.

The Pandemic Super Bowl LV

There is a game today in the NFL, and the last one for a good long while. As you may have heard there are a couple of decent quarterbacks involved. One is hands down the best in the league now, and the other is quite arguably the best in the league ever. So, there is that, and it has gotten most of the hype. But there are some other liner notes to hit.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s son, Brett, is an assistant coach on the team (linebackers). Brett Reid was involved in a terrible accident Thursday night, and he admitted to having been drinking. Two children were our, one of them critically. Reid the younger did not travel with the team, and, obviously won’t be coaching. As long as father Andy is there, the Chiefs should be okay, but this has to be a distraction. Now before people get all ginned up about why he is not yet under arrest, I don’t know, but will lay pretty good odds that the police and state’s attorney want to get the actual blood test results back before charging and arresting. Even expedited, that doesn’t happen overnight. But, irrespective, Brett Reid is in for some serious trouble, especially as he has previous drug and road rage incidents. Also, apparently Chefs DC Steve Sagnoulo’s wife makes killer meatballs that powered the defense through last year’s Super Bowl win, but she couldn’t get them there this year for Covid reasons. That has to crush Honey Badger and friends!

On the Tampa side, they of course did not have to travel. Brady and Bruce Arians have mostly settled in with each other, are having fun, and Gronk too. They seem to be pretty fast and loose right now, which given this stage, is a very good thing. Tampa’s defense is underrated, actually pretty darn good. But can they slow down Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce? They sure had a problem in that regard earlier in the year. But Tampa has some pretty killer receivers too with Gronk, Brate, Godwin, Evans, Scotty Miller and Antonio Brown. Mahomes is too fast, and too slick, he is going to get his passes off. The key likely comes down to whether the Bucs can sufficiently protect Brady so he does too. And the Chiefs will be coming hard and furiously for Brady from start to finish. The Chefs sure seem the better team overall, but it is hard to discount old Father Time Brady, and I won’t. If forced to bet, I’d take KC; thank goodness I don’t have to.

There entertainment is some guy called the Weekend. Never heard of him. Is it Saturday, Sunday, or all weekend? Ah well, though there were storms last night and early this morning, but things are looking pretty good now and for the game

Music today is for Eureka, and I have renamed the Robert Palmer classic “There’s No Telling Where Carson Went”. Have some fun folks!

Under Tom’s Thumb Conference Championship Trash Talk 2018

Here we are in the penultimate weekend of the professional football season for 2017-2018. The final four. And, usually, a far better weekend of football than that of the Super Bowl.

The early game is Jacksonville at New England. There has been a lot of chatter about this one. Started with chatter about the Jag’s awesome defense and D-Line ability to get to and rattle Brady. And, to be fair, Brady is nowhere near his usual self if you can really put the wood to him. But then things went bonkers with news of the injury to Tom’s thumb. Hand. Whatever. If Betty Grable had “Million dollar Legs”, you have to wonder what Brady’s right hand is worth. Word is, however, after not doing much in practice Thursday, he back at it on Friday and looking good. Pats are favorites by 7.5, and that seems about right. The Jag’s defense sure seems to be everything advertised. Calais Campbell was panned as costing way too much for Jax to pick up off the Cardinals in free agency. All he has done is have an all-world season and be in contention for defensive player of the year. Jalen Ramsey is almost as good as his mouth says he is. So, the defensive edge goes to the Jags. But Tom Brady, bum thumb or no, just has way more savvy and mojo in big games than Blake Bortles does. The fact that Pats killer Tom Coughlin is with Jacksonville now gives serious pause. But as appealing as it seems, no way to bet against New England.

The late game is Vikes at Eagles in Philly. Hey, a lot of folks thought this game would be Atlanta at Saints. The number one seeded Eagles were even home dogs against Atlanta, but they won a hard fought game. Same for the Vikes, who literally needed the “Minneapolis Miracle” in the last second to emerge. But emerge they did. And now they are favorites by 3.5 over the, yet again, home dog Eagles. Not long ago, Nick Foles and Case Keenum were both on the Rams. Now they are squaring off in the NFC Championship game. Keenum is on a far more, and better, roll than Foles. My prescription is same as last week for Philly…take the shackles off and let Foles rip. You are going to either win or die, might as well let him play. They did not really do that last week and still managed to eek out a win. Maybe their defense is that good, we shall see. I’ll take the Vikes though.

Okay, that is it, let er rip. Music is, obviously, by the Stones. If you have super vision, and look close enough, maybe you can spot me just left of center stage, about ten to fifteen people back. It was a hell of a beautiful day.

Week Five NFL Trash Talk: The Return of Brady

It may not be the biggest game of week five, but all eyes will be on Tom Brady and his return from the idiotic, dishonest and petulant suspension manufactured by Roger Goodell and the NFL. That is going to be the story.

What can we expect? I think I’ll bet on Brady being Brady, especially with the Pats also getting Gronk and Rob Nincovich back. In fairness, Gronk suited up and played a few snaps last week as a test drive, but this will be his first real game back from hamstring recovery time out. Is there some analogue? Yes, there is! Ben Roethlisberger came back from a suspension against the same Cleveland Browns in 2010:

The only real parallel for Brady is two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger and his four-game suspension in 2010 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

The Steelers went 3-1 in his absence. They won their first three games without Roethlisberger, but lost the fourth at home. His first game back came against the Browns. (How’s that for a parallel?)

Roethlisberger said during his suspension he worked with his private coach, George Whitfield, four days a week. In the week leading up to the game, the Steelers extended individual drills in practice by 30 minutes to give Roethlisberger more work with his receivers.

Then came his season debut, a Week 6 game against the Browns (because of a bye the previous week). On his opening drive, Roethlisberger threw an interception to Joe Haden inside the red zone.

“I just got a little antsy,” Roethlisberger admitted after the game. “The ball was coming out what we call ‘hot,’ coming out high and strong.”

But he settled down after the first drive, and completed 16 of 27 passes for 257 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception as the Steelers rolled to a 28-10 win.

The Steelers went on to finish the 2010 season with a 12-4 record, and Roethlisberger led them to an appearance in the Super Bowl.

I think Pats fans would be fine tracking that parallel.

In other games, on Thursday night the Cardinals rebounded with a solid win over the hapless 49ers, and look to have Carson Palmer back next week against the Jets on the Monday Night Football game. Hopefully the Cards have righted their leaky ship. We’ll see.

The Falcons at Broncos could be a really good game. The Dirty Birds are flying high so far this year with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. Last week, Ryan threw for over 500 yards, and Jones hauled in 300 yards worth of that. But this is the Broncos defense, not the suddenly porous Panthers, and the game is in Mile High. The really interesting thing here is that Denver is starting rookie Paxton Lynch even though Trevor Siemian is on the active roster. Be interesting to see if Siemian ever gets his job back.

The 3-1 Texans visiting the 4-0 Vikings is also a great matchup. The Texans are not flashy, but have been surprisingly solid on both sides of the ball so far. The Vikes all world on defense and surprisingly effective with Sam Bradford at QB. Houston is a decent team, and Brock Osweiller will only get better as he settles into his job, but hard to see the Vikes not moving to 5-0. Have to admit, the Bills at Rams doesn’t sound like a great game, but it may really be! Jets don’t look like their bleak road is going to get any easier as they are visiting Big Ben and the Steelers, who are suddenly clicking on all cylinders. Then there is the Giants at Lambeau to see the Packers for the SNF game. Should be an easy call, but the Cheese have had some Swiss like holes in them, and are only 2-1 coming off an early bye. Pack are favored by 7, but this game worries me for Pack. Going to be hard to watch the debate with the Packers on the TV.

Okay, with all the Trumpian excitement, it is a short Trash Talk week, but off we go! Today’s music is an awesome slow burn up to crescendo with I Ain’t Got Nothing But The Blues by the great Joe Williams. It starts off slow, but watch out.

The Return of Football Trash Talk: Brady Versus the Ess Eee See

Oh, hai there, I am back from a very busy day at the law biz and then a long night at friend’s 60th birthday party. Complete with mini Michael Buble knockoff. Dude had everything but the voice recorded, and then sang the vocals. Weird. Anyway, football is back, even if only college this weekend. But there are some important goings on in the NFL too.

I like the move by the Vikes to get Bradford. The first rounder is a large price, but Bradford is a proven NFL starting QB, who occasionally looks very good. The AZ Cards proved three years ago what happens to Super Bowl level teams when they lose their starting QB, and it wasn’t pretty. The Vikes have a pretty good O-Line and Adrian Peterson. If Bradford stays healthy for the year, this could be a brilliant move. And if Bridgewater’s knee is as bad as feared, he may be dicey for next year too.

Man, the Houston Cougs destroyed the Sooners. I guess it is not that big of a shock, especially as the game was in Houston. But still. Houston doesn’t have the most difficult schedule, they may be in the mix late into the year. And for Bob Stoops,another one of those brain farts he has come to be known for.

UCLA has played a miserable game against Texas A&M. The Bruins have been a flaky team for a long time, maybe still are. LSU and Wisconsin on the hallowed Frozen Tundra is a pretty good game through one half, with the Badgers up 6-0; second half should be great. Alabama should dispatch the chain gang the USC Trojans are fielding this year pretty easily, as should Florida with UMass (this would be a better basketball game). Locally the Arizona Wildcats are hosting BYU in Phoenix at Cardinals Stadium. Year five is make or break for Rich Rod, and BYU is never an easy out. We shall see on that. Notre Dame/Texas and Ole Miss/FSU are featured Sunday and Monday games respectively; I’ll go with the favorites in both.

Some interesting cut downs in the NFL today. Kap stays on the Niners (but they did cut Jim Whit’s favorite, Jeff Driskel), but Sanchez was released by the Broncs and is already in Dallas. Sanchez is better than the current backup for rookie Dak Prescott, but the Cowboys better hope the rook is as good as he looked in preseason. But regular season NFL defenses are another thing, and the Cowboys may be in serious trouble. The Packers cut Josh Sitton, a very good O-Lineman and the Ravens Justin Forsett, very recently a 1,300 yard starting RB. Both are a little stunning.

The Jets are keeping four QB’s on their roster, and it is not clear that any of them are really winners. But that’s the Jets Jets Jets. And then there is the Pats, who have only four receivers on their 53 man roster, and two of them Amendola and rookie Malcomb Mitchell have injury issues as the season starts. So, it is not real clear who exactly Jimmy G will be throwing to while Brady whiles away his time cheering for the Wolverweenies. Of course, having a couple of tight ends like Gronk and Bennett sure helps things. And undrafted free agent DJ Foster, from ASU, who looked good in pre-season, is very adept at the slot from his college days and has a little experience outside to boot.

So, as I update this post, UCLA and the Aggies are in overtime and Phred’s Wisconsin Badgers have completed the upset of LSU. Tough start to the new season for Les Miles and the Ess Eee See. Let’s hope there is some well deserved hurt put on the Bama Tide later on tonight. Well, that is it. Thanks to Marcy for getting up a stub post while I was cavorting about. It remains in its entirety below. Music is a very early live take by the Stones of Mercy Mercy. It is very tasty.

The real (college) football has already started and yet Mr. bmaz says he has better things to do than post a Trash Talk.

So I’ve decided that since 1) Brady has donned a classic 90s hair doo so he looks like he did when he and I were both Wolvereenies 2) he’s headed back to his our stomping grounds to honorarily lead the team while he’s prohibited to even show up in Foxboro 3) Jim has already been yapping his mouth about the Ess Eee See, I thought I’d make this the first of a series of four tributes to Tommy, until Mr. bmaz gets around to posting something more substantive.

In another very important development, the FBI has just revealed that Hillary will have to stay away from the White House during her first four months as President because she was exonerated on the underlying crime but destroyed a few phones.

Hillary Phones

This may or may not mean Tommy Brady is bound to become President sometime later in life.

 

Tom Brady Taps Out of Deflategate and Other Trash Talk

Just posted a few minutes ago on Tom Brady’s Facebook page:

Screen Shot 2016-07-15 at 10.46.18 AM

Frankly, I am stunned. From the jump, Brady seemed to be a guy that would fight to the bitter end because he truly believed he was innocent and that the conduct of Roger Goodell and the NFL was dishonest and oppressive. And, frankly, every bit of research and evaluation of the case indicates that is exactly the case. My early analysis, which I still believe holds up nearly 100% is here. I touched significantly on why the Deflategate litigation was critical not just to Tom Brady, but to all organized labor operating ind a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). That is quite so, and the NFLPA has already indicated they may – may – continue on as a union to litigate this issue. We shall see, though they will be weakened without Brady being involved.

Having said that I am completely stunned Brady has tapped out, there are cognizable reasons for it. His best shot of success was with his petition for wn banc review in the 2nd Circuit, but that was denied Wednesday morning. To go further, Brady would have to file a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court and seek to obtain a stay of his suspension while the cert petition was processed. That would have been a tall order. The first stop would have beed the 2nd Circuit itself, which just dumped him, and then with Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the assigned Circuit Justice for the 2nd Circuit, and lastly to the full SCOTUS (which is not even in session currently).

I have a couple of sports law attorney friends I have found along the Deflategate way that thought Brady had a shot at a stay, maybe even odds as good as 50%. I thought that was probably entirely too optimistic, and not we will never know as the NFLPA does not have any need for a stay without Brady’s suspension hanging in the mix.

Just spitballing here, but I am going to guess that Bill Belichick, Bob Kraft and the interests of the team were the deciding factor for Brady, and not the thin odds. You see, even if Brady had been granted a stay, unless the Supremes granted cert, there is a real chance that the four game suspension rears its ugly head again at the end of the season and/or even the playoffs. If the Patriots are going to lose Tom Brady, it is far better that it be in the first four games, most of which they may have a decent shot at winning even without Brady, than have it be at the end of the year or playoffs. Nathaniel Grow at Sports Law Blog has a good discussion of the timing issue it Brady had actually obtained a a stay. So, dollar to donuts, this was not just the deciding factor, but the only real factor. Money was never an issue.

Just so you know, the Pats open here in Arizona against the Cardinals on Sunday Night Football on NBC, and then are at home in Foxborough against the the Dolphins, Texans and Bills. They can win some, if not most, of those games with Jimmy G at QB.

So, there you go, Deflategate comes to an ignominious end, at least as to Tom Brady. But there are other sports issues in the air, not to mention a boatload of politics and other matters. So feel free to use this thread as an open forum.

Killer Football Is Trashing Its Real Capital

So we are on to week two of Trash Talk for the nascent NFL season, and week three for the NCAA. There is a ton that could be unpacked as to the particular players, plays and whatnot but, as was the case with the first week, I have little inclination to do so anymore, at least not at great length. Maybe just a little later on, but there are more pressing matters at hand.

Football is hard to turn away from, it is great pageantry and spectacle. It is incredibly compelling sport. But the game is at a crossroad as to its deadly nature and its decimation of its real capital: the players. A stunning article came out yesterday from PBS Frontline:

A total of 87 out of 91 former NFL players have tested positive for the brain disease at the center of the debate over concussions in football, according to new figures from the nation’s largest brain bank focused on the study of traumatic head injury.

Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University have now identified the degenerative disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in 96 percent of NFL players that they’ve examined and in 79 percent of all football players. The disease is widely believed to stem from repetitive trauma to the head, and can lead to conditions such as memory loss, depression and dementia.

In total, the lab has found CTE in the brain tissue in 131 out of 165 individuals who, before their deaths, played football either professionally, semi-professionally, in college or in high school.

Wow. We have known for quite a while about CTE and its debilitating, and sometimes deadly, effects on football players. But the starkly presented facts portrayed in the PBS piece are really eye opening. And people are talking about it. It is in the regular news rotation at CNN this morning, and you know how muchit had to pain the programmers and producers at CNN a LOT to eat into their All Trump, All The Time philosophy.

But the NFL is being a good corporate citizen and proactively protecting their players, right? No, maybe not so much. While Roger Goodell and the NFL paint a happy face on their “improvements”, the real fact of the matter is that their “progress” is mostly just another Roger Goodell and NFL PR shitshow. Do take a look at the above trailer for the movie “Concussion” set to be released in December. It looks fantastic.

Again, from the PBS Frontline article we started out with:

The film, Concussion, starring Will Smith, traces the story of Bennet Omalu, who in 2005 shocked the football establishment with an article in the journal Neurosurgery detailing his discovery of CTE in the brain of former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster. At the VA lab and elsewhere, CTE has since been found in players such as Hall of Famer Junior Seau, former NFL Man of the Year Dave Duerson, and Colts tight end John Mackey, a past head of the player’s union.

While the story is not a new one, for the NFL, it represents a high-profile and potentially embarrassing cinematic interpretation of a period in which the league sought to refute research suggesting football may contribute to brain disease.

From 2003 to 2009, for example, the NFL’s now disbanded Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee concluded in a series of scientific papers that “no NFL player” had experienced chronic brain damage from repeat concussions, and that “Professional football players do not sustain frequent repetitive blows to the brain on a regular basis.”

In the case of Omalu, league doctors publicly assailed his research, and in a rare move, demanded a retraction of his study. When Omalu spoke to FRONTLINE about the incident for the 2013 documentary, League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis, he said, “You can’t go against the NFL. They’ll squash you.”

“THEY WILL SQUASH YOU”. Yes, that is exactly the consistent message from the oh so “fan friendly” good ‘ole NFL of Roger Goodell, and the billionaire owner baby tyrants he works for. Little different than coal mine owners, the NFL cares primarily about their bottom line. First they look at the purse. This is why the Brady/NFLPA case is so important. And why Bountygate, Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson’s cases before it, were all so important. And, yes, even the disciplinary travails of James Harrison. They all reflect the ad hoc, arbitrary and capricious, and self serving nature of the treatment of labor by owners and management in the NFL.

You may see them only as millionaire malefactor petulant football players out doing bad things and think they deserve what they get. And maybe that is true in most cases. Ray Rice absolutely assaulted his fiancé and now wife Janay. Adrian Peterson, engaged in punishment of a child that was pretty common when I was a kid, but is entirely medieval by today’s standards.

Say what you will, where there is wildly disproportionate power between ownership/management and labor, and where there has been a collectively bargained agreement to protect labor, that must be jealously protected. That is exactly why Tom Brady is so critical. Brady is no gangster nor domestic abuser. He is the furthest thing from it; indeed, Brady is Mr. Clean Cut GQ All American. If Roger Goodell and the NFL he represents can arbitrarily, capriciously and imperiously take out Tom Brady – on trumped up junk with no credible evidentiary basis whatsoever – and can do so in a biased and unfair process, then all of labor loses. Not just high flying football players, but teachers, autoworkers, miners, and rank and file employees of all stripes and colors.

I digressed a little from today’s CTE issue, but the labor issue is intertwined. The players need more honesty, more protection, and more complete future medical coverage from the NFL because of the disease that is CTE. That, my friends, is a labor issue, and a huge one. And Roger Goodell and the NFL are already acting in bad faith in their “settlement” efforts as to long past players. It is simply pitiful.

So, what about this week? I dunno. The Broncos looked like toast through 7 of their first 8 quarters of the season. But, the Donks are 2-0. If Manning and Kubiak can find a mutual equilibrium, watch out, because Von Miller, Aqib Talib and the defense are some flat out ball hawks. Yak all you want about Peyton’s decline and fall, and maybe it is true. But do NOT sleep on these guys.

Cowboys, Gents or Iggles? Yeah, I have no clue there either.’Boys looked best week one, not sure I buy it. Why is RGIII still on the active roster of the Washington Professional Football Franchise? Seriously, the Washingtonians are like the Duggars of football; it is on public view, but it is all horrible. The Eagles? Hmmm, Chip Kelly’s troops better show up this week or else the great hype is dead.

Aaron Rodgers is a renaissance man (this is a fantastic article). Oh, and Go Pack! against those pesky Seasquawks. This time it is at Lambeau in title town. There are other games of note too, including, of course Bill Bel and the Brays at the Wagon Circling Bills. That is shaping up to be some big fun.

So, go whoop it up and have some fun. The game goes on, even if a reckoning is necessary. The music number today is First I Look At The Purse by the J. Geils Band, and is in honor of the craven Roger Goodell and the NFL I described above.

Beyond Deflategate: The NFL Season Begins

Hi there! How ya doing! Because I have been oppressed with this Tom Brady porn bullshit from blog partner and sister, that Wheel person. Very ugly and unnecessary. But I am going to let it stand for all of posterity, not to mention both of our posteriors. Still, you have to wonder when enough is enough (like when she hijacked my last post).

I used to love her, but….

So, enough about yer local riff raff, and about #Deflategate (which was bullshit from the inception) let’s get on to the game at hand. That would be the Patriots versus the Steelers.

Yes, Brady has a giant chip on his shoulder. Yes the Pats are defending Superbowl champs and Big Ben and the Steelers are not. Nevertheless, this is one hell of a season opening game. In fact, it is pretty hard to imagine a better one under the circumstances. Say what you will about how any got there, there are only a precious few at the top of all time winners in the Super Bowl era. They include the Steelers and Pats. And, yes, the Steelers, for all the Pats glory in the last 15 years, are still winning that overall matchup. The 49ers, Packers, Cowboys and Gents are totally in there, but the more recent elite are pretty clear.

So, here we are. Steelers have Big Ben and….what? Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown are as good a duo as you can get. But without Bell, who is suspended, in the backfield, that is going to place some extra pressure on the Steelers offense. A face Bill Belichick undoubtedly knows. By the same token, the Pats pass defense rests on a backfield without either Darrell Revis of Brandon Browner. Pretty easy to see Malcomb Butler continuing to become a stud above and beyond his one play Super Bowl XLIX heroics, but similarly hard to see there not being some early hiccups in that road. Would not want to be Butler on Antonio Brown tonight.

But will DeAngelo Williams, who will sub for Bell and Cody Wallace, who is subbing for center Maurkice Pouncey, be able to pick up the slack? Yes, I think so, but not nearly enough.

That said, the Patriots are without LeGarrette Blount, due to a one game suspension. I think that Dion Lewis (who is potentially breakout star) and Travaris Cadet will come out of nowhere to semi-carry the load. So, both sides have some issue at running back, but, hopefully, capable backups. I’d give a slight edge to the Pats, but by a VERY slight margin.

We all know the QB’s on these two respective teams. They are both great. Hard to see an edge here other than the psychological harden that Brady may have. But I am not putting that much in that, Ben will come to play too.

Comes down to defense. Call me crazy, and probably you should for this, but I think the Pats have the edge on the new, dick LeBeau-less, and untested, Steeler’s defense. Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark ain’t walking through that tunnel. Especially so with the questions in the Pittsburgh offensive line. If there is a win here, that, and a pissed off Brady, are where I see it. And that is where I see it, the Steelers are good, but the Brady’s come out roaring and winning tonight. don’t make me regret this Deflators!

So, there you have it. #Deflategate is still a legal pile of dubious garbage manufactured, as is now even more clear, by an arbitrary and capricious, if not arrogantly craven, Roger Goddell and the NFL. We shall deal with that more later. For now, trash it up and let loose the dogs of football war.

And that is that. On top is an incredible Taiwanese animation on the latest ESPN slanted bunk trying to give cover to the NFL for #Deflategate. It’s really awesome. Lower is one of my newest favorite bands, this one from down under, specifically Perth, Boom! Bap! Pow! Yeah, that is their name, and they are killer.

The real football season is upon us folks, rip this joint.