THIS & THAT FOR SUNDAY PLUS THE DANGER OF OVERREACTION
Rookie running back Chris "Beanie" Wells, signed his contract Saturday morning & then suited up to participate in his first NFL practice yesterday afternoon. The often sidelined Ohio State product lasted less than one practice when his leg was rolled up on, injuring his ankle. After 15 minutes he was carted off the field. X-rays & a Sunday morning MRI showed no fracture & doctors say he will be reevaluated Wednesday or Thursday after all the swelling is gone & a better time frame for Wells' return can be made. Everyday a rookie misses practice limits what they are capable of executing come opening day.
Disgruntled Denver wide receiver, Brandon Marshall, limped off the field today, favoring his surgically repaired hip. Marshall blames the Bronco training staff for delaying his hip surgery & he's still unhappy he hasn't been traded. If his hip becomes a problem or his upcoming trial on August 13th ends in a guilty verdict, Marshall is screwed. But once again, bad decisions resulting in bad behavior from an immature & selfish player have put him behind squarely behind the eight ball, where he will reside until both issues are resolved.
I said yesterday that the Twitter phenomenon would be a major distraction this season. Well the Green Bay Packers have taken the first step in making a players' wallet lighter if they choose to 'Tweet' on company time. The Packers will impose the maximum fine allowed by the collective bargaining agreement, $1,701, if any personnel is caught posting on Twitter while on Packer property. Since all Twitter posts are time-coded, the proof will certainly be apparent. This policy includes Lambeau Field, all practice facilities, meeting rooms, training rooms, weight rooms, road locker rooms & stadiums & all team meals during the regular season. I will guarantee two things right now, many other teams will institute a similar policy & a few selfish players will violate those policies. Twitter is such a 'me, me, me' communication & many NFL players are all about 'me, me, me'.
The Big-12 matchup between Nebraska & Kansas may well determine the North Division champion. As if that wasn't enough, now there's more fuel for the fire. Four-star recruit Keeston Terry, from Blue Springs Missouri, has broken his commitment to the Cornhuskers & will sign with the Jayhawks. The 6-2, 185 pound wide receiver was heavily recruited by Kansas State, Stanford, Mizzou & Illinois in addition to NU & KU. Even tho Terry will still be in high school this fall, he'll be marked by the Blackshirt Defense of Nebraska when he finally gets on the field for Kansas.
I didn't mention this fairly stupid & disgusting item last Thursday when it happened, but now that 6-figure fines & salary reductions have been imposed, plus a move to oust a college head coach has begun, I figured I'd better explain what it's all about. Greg McMackin, head coach at Hawaii, stuck his foot squarely in his mouth last Thursday at the Western Athletic Conference media day. During his time at the podium, McMackin related a story about the banquet before the Hawaii Bowl last season between Hawaii & Notre Dame. He said how after Charlie Weis finished up his speech his players began jumping around, "doing some little faggot dance". Beautiful. Weis & Notre Dame were offended, the gay & lesbian community of Hawaii were offended & the school went into full blown, politically correct, overreaction. McMackin was suspended without pay for 30-days & his pay was reduced 7% for the entire season, plus he was fined. The total carnage is right at $170,000 McMackin will forfeit in 2009. Charlie Weis & the Notre Dame administration accepted McMackin's apology & "moved on". The gay & lesbian community as well as several newspapers, have called for him to be fired. Is this reaction to one very stupid comment an overreaction? I can see the suspension & a fine, I would demand a sincere apology & I could certainly see sensitivity training in Greg's future. I can't see him losing his job or 7 % of his salary. Is this what we want in America, robots that are never, ever capable of making a mistake? We need to remove such racial, sexist & homophobic words & phrases from our lexicon, no question. They're offensive to most people & have no place in 2009 America. I believe as we go from generation to generation, this will decrease in the future. But let's not give a car thief the death penalty, if people like McMakin don't learn from this & continue saying the same moronic crap, then you can remove them from their job. Let's not be such a knee-jerk society where everything offensive calls for hysterical reaction. The Cambridge Police vs Professor Skip Gates should have taught us something. Could it be that overreaction doesn't help, it only makes things worse? Since I wasn't there, I won't call anyone a racist or an 'uncle Tom' or say that anyone "acted stupidly". I see it as Professor Gates overreacting to being questioned by police in his own home by claiming racial profiling & insulting Sgt. Crowley's mother. I think Sgt. Crowley overreacted by arresting Gates in his own home when it had been determined there was no break in. I think the President threw gas on the fire & the media fanned the flames into a ridiculous inferno. The overreaction then began anew with the usual name calling & labels that frankly didn't apply in this situation. If everyone took several deep breaths before blowing up in bluster, we could minimize overreaction that is seldom ever retracted & can be more harmful than the original incident. Spend some time to examine the situation, put yourself in their shoes. Have you ever uttered something you truly regret? I'll bet you have, I know I have, it's just there wasn't a microphone or a cell phone camera there to record it. If you admit you've said something inappropriate, should your life be ruined because of it or should you be called on it, learn something from it & stop saying insensitive things that can be hurtful? Think about it the next time someone says something really stupid like McMackin did.
Disgruntled Denver wide receiver, Brandon Marshall, limped off the field today, favoring his surgically repaired hip. Marshall blames the Bronco training staff for delaying his hip surgery & he's still unhappy he hasn't been traded. If his hip becomes a problem or his upcoming trial on August 13th ends in a guilty verdict, Marshall is screwed. But once again, bad decisions resulting in bad behavior from an immature & selfish player have put him behind squarely behind the eight ball, where he will reside until both issues are resolved.
I said yesterday that the Twitter phenomenon would be a major distraction this season. Well the Green Bay Packers have taken the first step in making a players' wallet lighter if they choose to 'Tweet' on company time. The Packers will impose the maximum fine allowed by the collective bargaining agreement, $1,701, if any personnel is caught posting on Twitter while on Packer property. Since all Twitter posts are time-coded, the proof will certainly be apparent. This policy includes Lambeau Field, all practice facilities, meeting rooms, training rooms, weight rooms, road locker rooms & stadiums & all team meals during the regular season. I will guarantee two things right now, many other teams will institute a similar policy & a few selfish players will violate those policies. Twitter is such a 'me, me, me' communication & many NFL players are all about 'me, me, me'.
The Big-12 matchup between Nebraska & Kansas may well determine the North Division champion. As if that wasn't enough, now there's more fuel for the fire. Four-star recruit Keeston Terry, from Blue Springs Missouri, has broken his commitment to the Cornhuskers & will sign with the Jayhawks. The 6-2, 185 pound wide receiver was heavily recruited by Kansas State, Stanford, Mizzou & Illinois in addition to NU & KU. Even tho Terry will still be in high school this fall, he'll be marked by the Blackshirt Defense of Nebraska when he finally gets on the field for Kansas.
I didn't mention this fairly stupid & disgusting item last Thursday when it happened, but now that 6-figure fines & salary reductions have been imposed, plus a move to oust a college head coach has begun, I figured I'd better explain what it's all about. Greg McMackin, head coach at Hawaii, stuck his foot squarely in his mouth last Thursday at the Western Athletic Conference media day. During his time at the podium, McMackin related a story about the banquet before the Hawaii Bowl last season between Hawaii & Notre Dame. He said how after Charlie Weis finished up his speech his players began jumping around, "doing some little faggot dance". Beautiful. Weis & Notre Dame were offended, the gay & lesbian community of Hawaii were offended & the school went into full blown, politically correct, overreaction. McMackin was suspended without pay for 30-days & his pay was reduced 7% for the entire season, plus he was fined. The total carnage is right at $170,000 McMackin will forfeit in 2009. Charlie Weis & the Notre Dame administration accepted McMackin's apology & "moved on". The gay & lesbian community as well as several newspapers, have called for him to be fired. Is this reaction to one very stupid comment an overreaction? I can see the suspension & a fine, I would demand a sincere apology & I could certainly see sensitivity training in Greg's future. I can't see him losing his job or 7 % of his salary. Is this what we want in America, robots that are never, ever capable of making a mistake? We need to remove such racial, sexist & homophobic words & phrases from our lexicon, no question. They're offensive to most people & have no place in 2009 America. I believe as we go from generation to generation, this will decrease in the future. But let's not give a car thief the death penalty, if people like McMakin don't learn from this & continue saying the same moronic crap, then you can remove them from their job. Let's not be such a knee-jerk society where everything offensive calls for hysterical reaction. The Cambridge Police vs Professor Skip Gates should have taught us something. Could it be that overreaction doesn't help, it only makes things worse? Since I wasn't there, I won't call anyone a racist or an 'uncle Tom' or say that anyone "acted stupidly". I see it as Professor Gates overreacting to being questioned by police in his own home by claiming racial profiling & insulting Sgt. Crowley's mother. I think Sgt. Crowley overreacted by arresting Gates in his own home when it had been determined there was no break in. I think the President threw gas on the fire & the media fanned the flames into a ridiculous inferno. The overreaction then began anew with the usual name calling & labels that frankly didn't apply in this situation. If everyone took several deep breaths before blowing up in bluster, we could minimize overreaction that is seldom ever retracted & can be more harmful than the original incident. Spend some time to examine the situation, put yourself in their shoes. Have you ever uttered something you truly regret? I'll bet you have, I know I have, it's just there wasn't a microphone or a cell phone camera there to record it. If you admit you've said something inappropriate, should your life be ruined because of it or should you be called on it, learn something from it & stop saying insensitive things that can be hurtful? Think about it the next time someone says something really stupid like McMackin did.
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