"Getting It Right"

The end of the Miami-Duke game will be talked about for years if not for the rest of my lifetime. Duke had scored with just a few seconds left to take a 27-24 lead. Duked squibbed kicked the ball to Miami on the ensuing kickoff and what happened next would have made backyard football proud. Miami used an eight lateral sequence to finally get the ball to the end zone and give them a 30-27 almost impossible victory. Every scoring play is reviewed and there was a flag down. The flag was for an illegal block in the back (which it appeared there may have been several) and would have given Miami one untimed down. After a nine minute review, the flag was picked up because the official determined that the "block was from the side" and all of the laterals were deemed legal, the touchdown stood, and Miami got a 30-27 win.

My initial reaction was that I did not know a block in the back was reviewable especially since they were reviewing the play to see if one of the runner's knees were down. One of them did appear to be but the ruling on the field was that his knee was not down and there had to be enough clear evidence that his knee did touch the ground.

The ACC suspended the on field officiating crew and the replay officials missing multiple violations during the play but the ACC would not overturn the outcome of the game and give the win to Duke. I heard Kenny Mayne on a segment on ESPN called "1 Big Thing" rant on about the ACC wanting to "get it right" and his opinion was that in order to get it right, Duke should have been given the win.

There were multiple violations during the play. In my opinion, even if the flag would have stood, Miami still would have been granted an untimed down and that is why the ACC cannot just hand the win to Duke. It did take several minutes to carefully watch the replay. There was at least three potential blocks in the back, a runner's knee may or may not have been down, and at the very end of the play a Miami player leaves the bench area without his helmet on and runs onto the field to celebrate before the play is over. The ACC is never going to get this one right no matter how hard they try.

Dan On Sports

I decided to revive this blog after about six months off because, although I do have my favorite sports teams and blog about most of them, I wanted a blog so I could have a forum on all things sports. A lot happens in the sports world that happen outside the realms of my favorite teams and I am going to use this as a forum to comment on those.

Review Of Boy On Ice

I was a huge Derek Boogaard fan. He was the ultimate NHL Enforcer when he was on the ice. He had the size, he had the pugilistic skills, and he played in the hockey hot bed of Minnesota. I used to scour hockeyfights.com for videos of his fights. The fight he had with Todd Fedoruk was scary because of the destructive power of Boogard's right fist.

I was a Derek Boogaard fan for his ability to fight and that was the wrong reason. His ability to fight was really the only reason he was in the NHL. Author John Branch brought out the pressure that Boogaard felt to do "his job" in Boy On Ice: The Life And Death Of Derek Boogaard. I had heard a book was in the works and I snatched it up as soon as I saw it on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. It was well researched and well written but it was a very tragic story. The story followed Derek Boogaard from his youth through his development as a larger than life character until his tragic early death. The physical and emotional pain, the pressure he felt to deliver for his teammates, friends, and family, all led to his tragic end. All he seemed to want to do was to be a good teammate and friend and to be a hockey player.

The system that surrounds and protects professional athletes failed him. The system enabled him to develop addictions to prescription painkillers with only token attempts at rehab and genuine help. The multiple concussions he received doing "his job" left him with a scarred brain and in all likelihood he would have been a vegetable by the time he was in his 40's.

John Branch did a great job of exposing the failures of the NHL support system but it just wasn't the NHL. Many NHL enforcers have died tragic deaths at very young ages over the past several years. Several have been by suicide. Rick Rypien of the Vancouver Canucks comes to mind.

Professional sports has done a much better job of protecting it's most valuable assets and that is their players. Most professional sports have concussion protocols in place and have really amped up their drug testing and rehab programs.

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.