The Michigan Sideline Fiasco

Player safety has to be paramount on any college football sideline whether it is NAIA or Division I. What happened on the sidelines during the Michigan-Minnesota game last Saturday when Michigan Quarterback Shane Morris was sent back on the field after receiving a serious blow to the head was bad enough. The dance that the University of Michigan Athletic Department is doing now to try to avoid accepting responsibility for the situation is just as bad if not worse. Michigan Head Coach Brady Hoke is using the mantra of "deny, deny, deny" and it seems to be working.

Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon described what happened as a "serious lack of communication" between the Michigan medical staff and the Head Coach. From what I saw the Michigan medical staff never even took a look at him before Head Coach Brady Hoke sent him back out on to the field. Brady Hoke described Shane Morris condition as "fine" after the game yet Brandon was issuing apologies 12 hours later. The Medical Staff is describing Morris' condition as a "probable concussion" (maybe Morris should get a second opinion from Ohio State's Medical School) and no one is wanting to take responsibility for what happened.

The ESPN announcers that were working the game immediately questioned the legality of the hit and called for the suspension of the Minnesota football player for "targeting" Morris. Hoke was offended because the media was questioning his integrity for allowing this to happen. He needs to take responsibilty. What sanctions should Hoke face?

Review Of Badasses

I just finished reading Peter Richmond's Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders. This is the story of the Oakland Raiders in the 1970's and the book culminates with the Oakland Raiders finally winning the Super Bowl against the Minnesota Vikings in 1978.

First of all, I have always hated the Oakland Raiders. I thought they played dirty, were a bunch of cheap shot artists, and every call seemed to go their way. I am sure that author Peter Richmond and every Raider fan of that era would disagree with me as he points out with the "Immaculate Reception" that happened at the end of a Playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I would have to counter that with the "Holy Roller" at the end of a San Diego Chargers game in 1978.

The Oakland Raiders were a team full of characters in the 1970's. Ken Stabler, Fred Biletnikoff, Marv Hubbard, Pete Banaszak, Phil Villapiano, the Soul Patrol Defensive Backfield, and later John Matuszak and Ted Hendricks. This cast of characters was hand picked and assembled by Al Davis and coached by John Madden. They partied hard off the field and played even harder on the field. John Madden allowed them to be characters as long as they showed up to play on Sundays.

Badasses is not going to make me like Al Davis, John Madden, or the Oakland Raiders any more but it was still a good sports read and well researched. I did find it interesting that several of the players declined to be interviewed for the book and others delighted in retelling their stories. It is all about molding all of the characters and personalities into a championship winning team. After several close calls they did manage to win it all in 1978.

Roger Goodell And The NFL

Roger Goodell has come under fire in recent weeks for his handling of the Ray Rice situation and other situations that have come up. Roger Goodell is tasked with one job and that is protecting the interests of the NFL and those interests are primarily those of the team owners in the NFL. It is in the best interests of the NFL to put their best players on the field. Some of those best players are Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Robert Hardy, and any of the others that have been in trouble lately. Roger Goodell tried sweeping the Ray Rice situation under the rug and he got busted. The Minnesota Vikings tried downplaying the Adrian Peterson situation and only sitting him out one game. Peterson is the Vikings best player. The NFL received so much public opposition to everything that was going on, they suggested to the Vikings that they need to suspend him indefinitely. The same thing with the Carolina Panthers and Robert Hardy. Hardy had already been convicted of a crime committed against his then girlfriend but the Panthers did not do anything until public opinion went against them. I think the NFL should have been proactive and took immediate action. The players in question should have been suspended until the outcome of their situation was settled. Same thing for the owners. They should be suspended from all team activities until the outcome of their situation is settled. The players and owners are partners in the NFL and should be held to the same societal standards of good behavior.

Keith Olberman Speaks Out

Sportscaster Keith Olbermann refused to join the Derek Jeter glory fest that has been on going this season by saying yesterday that he believed Derek Jeter was overrated and did not believe he was one of the top ten New York Yankees of all time. Olbermann went on to say in his "rant" that Jeter was a bad defensive player and inferred that he did not believe that Jeter deserved all of the retirement "festivities" he was getting in New York or in any other city. I have always believed that Derek Jeter was overrated. He always had great hitters batting in front of him and behind him and he always got quality pitches to hit. He played Shortstop for the New York Yankees, played on a couple of World Series Champions, and his career numbers rank among the best of all time. How can anyone say he is overrated? He is overrated for all of the reasons I listed above.

The Easy Out

It seems like Heisman Trophy Winner and supremely talented Florida State baseball player Jameis Winston has gotten himself into trouble again but players like him at major football factories like Florida State always never seem to pay for it. All over $32 worth of seafood from a Publix Supermarket. He said he "forgot" to pay for it. When the cops talked to him three hours later, he had made no effort to go back and pay for it or even make a phone call to the Publix in question. The statement that was supposedly released by Jameis Winston yesterday through Florida State University wasd a real pant load because I do not believe Mr. Winston wrote the first word of it or even read the first word of it before it was passed on to the press. It was written and prepared by FSU's Public Relations Department and I am guessing whoever wrote this is preparing for a career as a Presidential Speech Writer because it mastered apologetic double talk and it meant nothing. The baseball coach at least had the stones to suspend him from the baseball team but all Mr. Winston has to do is 20 hours of community service and it will all go away. I can guarantee these 20 hours will be well out of the public eye, he will not be picking up garbage by the side of the road, and they will be well taken care of by the time fall practice rolls around and probably the ACC Baseball Tournament as well. It is the easiest out he will ever have.

Playoffs And More Playoffs

If you like playoffs of any kind, this has to be your favorite time of year. You have the NBA and the NHL Playoffs going on at the same time. Most are pretty tightly contested series in both sports, but I am probably paying more attention to the NHL. There are not too many huge upsets in a seven game series in the NBA, but in the NHL, just about anything can happen. The St.Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks (the #2 seed vs. the #3 seed) have had an unbelievable series in which 4 of the 5 games have gone into Overtime. The Montreal Canadiens swept their series over the Tampa Bay Lightning and I think it would be good for the NHL to see Montreal go far in the playoffs. I am a Philadelphia Flyers fan but goaltending has always been their achilles heel and with Mason coming off an injury at the end of the season, I don't know if he can carry them to the Stanley Cup or not.

Pine Tar Incident #2

The New York Yankees and Pine Tar have had a strange place in baseball history with the most famous of those being the George Brett Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983. Who can ever forget an incensed George Brett charging out of the Kansas City Royals dugout with bad intentions after a homerun was disallowed because the pine tar was higher on his bat than the baseball rules allowed. New York Yankees Manager Billy Martin noticed the pine tar on his bat earlier in the game when he got a hold of one of George Brett's bats that landed near the Yankees dugout. He did not point it out to the umpires until he needed to use it. Martin was very shrewd like that. Last Wednesday night on April 23, Pitcher Michael Pineda of the New York Yankees had little control over his pitches in the first inning because of bad weather conditions in a game against the Boston Red Sox. In between innings, Pineda dabbed some pine tar on his neck to help him get a better grip on the baseball. He had done this pine tar thing before (it had also been against the Red Sox) but that time he had dabbed the pine tar on the heel of his hand and it wasn't as noticeable. On Wednesday night, he dabbed it on his neck and it was noticed by the Boston Red Sox, the ESPN cameras, and to most everyone watching it on TV. Even my girlfriend, a non-baseball fan, noticed it. Red Sox Manager John Farrell also caught it and brought the pine tar smear to the umpires attention. Pineda was ejected and received a 10 game suspension as a result. Pineda did not even try to deny it and will not appeal his suspension.