Too Much (of a Mediocre Thing)

Let's take a moment to realize one true fact:  football runs the sports world.  The NFL.  College football.  Even high school football.  All three of these are shown on television each week.  For both college and NFL, games are broadcast on numerous days.  College games are usually shown Thursday through Saturday.  The Thursday and Friday games are one or two games at a time with the majority of the games being played Saturday (almost sun up to sun down).  The NFL has a game on Thursday, all day Sunday, and Monday.  While the majority of the country loves this, but to me, it's too much of a thing that is okay at best.  You can't do much with the college programs having football teams, well you could, but then the kids would have to go to school based on academic basis rather than athletic ability.  Luckily, I have a few ideas and opinions to help out the NFL.

Get rid of the Thursday night game.  There are two problems with this game.  The first is that the teams haven't been very good or the games have not been good.  There have been blow outs and defensive battles (also known as offensive struggle games).  Now, I know that the schedule is made before the season and you cannot predict how a team will do from year to year, but here is a list of the teams and the final score from the Thursday night games so far this season:

• Denver/Baltimore (49-27)
• New England/NY Jets (13-10)
• Kansas City/Philadelphia (26-16)
• San Francisco/St. Louis (35-11)
• Cleveland/Buffalo (37-24)
• Chicago/NY Giants (27-21) *arguably the best game so far*
• Seattle/Arizona (34-22)
• Carolina/Tampa Bay (31-13)

Not too many games that would make me want to sit down for three to four hours to watch.  Now, the fans of these teams are going to watch the game, but what about the casual fan?  Is someone in Minnesota going to watch the 49ers blow out the Rams or a fan out in Seattle watch the Panthers steamroll the Bucs?  I don't think so.  Granted none of them are my team (Detroit Lions), but I have watched games that were not being played by Detroit.  With the exception of one or two of these games, I would not watch these games.  The second problem with the Thursday night game is that the game is broadcast on the NFL network.  The NFL network is a channel that you have to pay extra for if you want it with your cable.  We have it right now because we got it as part of a special package with our cable provider, but I could care less if we have it.  We also have the MLB network and the NHL network which makes me SO happy.  Paying a lot for cable is a whole other topic for another day, but if every other football game is broadcast on network and cable channels, why would the NFL put one game on their network?  

Stay out of London.   Starting in 2007, the NFL has played at least one game in London.  While this had been well received when it was first started, I feel that the uniqueness of it has really worn off.  Between 2007 and 2012 there was just one game played in London, so it was special in that way.  However, this year they will be playing two games and next year there are three games scheduled.  There are games slated in 2015 and 2016 as well.  It is hard to get a good read on how the players and coaches feel about playing over there because when they are interviewed, they need to be upbeat and positive for the sake of the game and the league.  How would the players feel about playing for a team in London all year.  Eight weeks out of the season they would have to travel back to the United States in order to play a game.  The other eight weeks, other teams would have to fly to London.  I have not done any international traveling, but I would think that going back and forth like that would put some wear and tear on your mental state.  With time zone changes and jet lag being a major factor, I would think that players and coaches would get sick of it real quick.  

Earlier this week, Roger Goodell talked about expanding the NFL with a team in Los Angeles and London.  Los Angeles I understand.  Los Angeles has had a team in the past.  A couple of teams actually.  The Rams were there (1946-1994) as were the Raiders (1982-1994).  The Rams packed up and moved back to St. Louis while the Raiders moved back to Oakland.  Again, I don't understand the need or want to have a team in London.  Having a team move back to Los Angeles is no problem.  I'm sure the NFL can take a look at attendance and television ratings and whatever else they look at and they could make that decision.  There has been plenty of talk since the two teams moved away from L.A., but they moved away for a reason.  How long could the city sustain a team there?  Would they be looking at moving away in another fifteen or twenty years again? 

Addition by subtraction.  Are thirty two teams necessary?  Are seven draft rounds needed to fill out a team's roster?  Historically speaking, how many seventh round draft picks make it on an NFL team?  I know this idea would not go over well with the NFL because it would mean less teams and less money, but the product would be better.  And that idea is to get rid of two teams.  Go from thirty two to thirty teams in the NFL.  So why would they want to do this?  It would make their games better.  It would make the games better because the teams would be better.  The teams would be better because there would be a smaller talent pool to choose from.  Because of the smaller talent pool, the better players would make the teams.  The NFL season is half over right now and there are two teams that have yet to win a game:  Jacksonville and Tampa Bay.  It doesn't matter what year, there always seems to be the bottom of the barrel in the NFL and different teams find themselves there at different points of their franchise history.  For example, the Lions in 2008 did not win a game.  It was terrible.  Now, they are an okay team with glimpses of promise.  Several teams that were playoff teams last year have losing records this year so far.  So you cannot base what team to get rid of based on their record, but you would have to look deeper into things like television ratings and financial gains.  It would not hurt the brand by getting rid of two teams.  In fact, it would enhance the sport. 

Conversations and Monologues (pt. 3)

Look, if you don't understand what is going on by now (there have been a couple of previous posts like this one), then scroll through the archives.  There isn't the largest audience for this blog, so I'm sure you follow these posts.
---
'Well you have to be good at something.'
'I fucked two sorority girls in one night.'
'That's nothing special.'
'They were sorority sisters and their rooms were right next to each other.'
A slight pause.
'Okay, that is something special.  But I mean outside the realm of fucking two girls in the same house, what are you good at?'
'I can't really think of anything.'
'Didn't you go to college?'
'Just because I went to college doesn't mean I'm good at something.'
'You didn't graduate?'
'Oh no.  I graduated.  But there is a difference between GPA and IQ.  A high GPA means you have a great attention span.  IQ means you are actually smart.  Having a high GPA just means you studied and did well on tests and the such, that doesn't mean you are smart.  You can take all that Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude shit and shove it because out in the real world, GPA don't mean a damn thing.  I have the IQ, I didn't have the GPA.'
'I would think that having those honors would get you interviews and jobs at highly sought after places.'
'Those Cum Laude motherfuckers are the ones that get the best and everyone else is left with the scraps.  They sit there in their corner offices and sneer at us and our lower paying jobs.  Doesn't mean those people getting those interviews and jobs are any better at it than I am.  It just means they think they're better than me'
---
'You know what I think the most American image is?'
'Bald Eagle.'
'Big Mac.'
'Apple Pie.'
'No.  No.  And No.  Bottled beer.  Not those short fat bottles or those eleven and a half ounce bottles, I'm talking long necks.  Twelve ounces of glory.'
'I don't know man, that's kind of a hard sell.  Especially when there are so many other options out there that represent this country.  You know, think about the Bald Eagle flying through the Iraqi skies getting ready to drop a bomb from it's talons.  It doesn't get more American than that!'
'Murica, fuck yeah!'
Laughter.
'I'm serious about the bottled beer.  What goes great with bottled beer?  Grilling.  Which is also a great American past time.  Think back to your childhood when your family had a cook out.  You know, grilling hot dogs or burgers.  You and your brother out in the backyard playing catch.  What was your Dad drinking?  Sure as shit wasn't some microbrew that was made with fruit and tannins.'
'I think tannins are mostly in wines, dude.'
'Shut up.  It was something like a Budweiser or a Miller or a Schlitz.  It was a long neck bottle with condensation running down the side because it was so fuckin' hot out.  The clear glass bottle and you could see the foam at the top.  It was the sound and the smell of the grill.  It's something to look back at and think to yourself "This is what I want to have when I grow up."  That's why when it comes to grilling season, I buy long neck bottles of beer.  I like to have that connection to a nostalgic time when there wasn't a thing to worry about.'
'That's quite the speech.  But your burgers are burning.'
'Shit...'
--- 

Bombshell

That didn't end well now did it?  The Tigers' season came to an end last week against the Boston Red Sox.  While I'm not happy about the Tigers not getting to the World Series, at least they didn't lose to a lesser team.  If they had lost to Oakland, I would have broken a ton of stuff.  Boston was the team this post season that really scared me and I had hoped Tampa Bay would have beaten them in their series, but that is not what happened.  Let us move on, shall we?

The pain of the loss in the ALCS was just leaving my body when all of a sudden my twitter timeline exploded with news of an upcoming press conference by the Tigers.  I had a little bit of a sinking feeling as I knew what was going to happen.  I knew that Jim Leyland was not going to be the manager for the Tigers next year.  I did not anticipate the manner in which he was not going to be the manger though.  I figured that the organization would not be renewing his contract.  I did not expect him to voluntarily step down.  Either way, I will miss Jim Leyland.  For a couple of different reasons.

He was the right man for the job when he was hired.  While I wish Alan Trammell had a better shot as a manager, looking back everyone should have known he was set up for failure.  It is much like whomever manages the Houston Astros for the next six years or so.  He protected his players which is what any good manager should do.  He got the team on the right track and kept them on that track. 

He could weather any storm.  Once the Tigers reached the World Series in 2006, the bar was set.  The postseason was an expectation, not an anomaly.  Each losing streak.  Each lose to a lesser team.  Each end to the postseason.  He answered all the questions angrily but answered them nonetheless.  He was an open and honest manager and let his feelings be known.  

He loved the organization and city.  If you need any proof for his love of the city of Detroit, go look up any postgame interview after a playoff series win.  For someone as old and gruff and grumpy as Leyland is, you would not expect him to get as emotional as he did.  He loved the players too.  Sometimes a little too much.  DON KELLY!

For all the things Jim Leyland did right, he also did things that made every single Detroit Tigers fan shake their head or pull their hair out.  Sometimes he got inside his own head and over thought even the smallest thing.  The biggest issue was dealing with relievers.  While he let the starting pitchers work through a rough stretch of batters, he had a quick trigger for the relievers.  Anyone that ever thought that the Tigers should have fired Leyland during his tenure was not a true fan.  Managers go through tough spots just like the players and we as fans have to be patient while they work out whatever their problems were.  

Anyway, my wife asked me yesterday who I think the next manager for the Tigers should be.  Honestly, I have no idea.  There are plenty of names that are being thrown out there.  I don't really want to think about it right now.  I'm sure the organization will make the right call on who the next manager will be.  If not, we'll all yell and scream about it.  Like we have any say in the matter...

Delayed Columbus Day Post

I was on vacation the last two weeks so this post is a little late, but whatever.  I chose to spend time with my family instead of writing about a subject that can make my blood boil.  Deal with it. 

Over the years, I have gone from being straight up angry about Columbus Day to being just sad about it.  Not crying on the couch in the dark because of something, but sad because everyone has read the history books about this guy and what he and his men did to indigenous people.  The information is there and still we have Columbus Day.  The information is there and still it's a federal holiday.  All the information is there and we as a country have done NOTHING about it.  You don't want to beat a dead horse, but if there were an Adolf Hitler Day or a Pol Pot Day or a Joseph Stalin Day, how quickly would there be a movement to end that day of observation?

Instead of being full out angry about this holiday still being around, I would want to educate people about it.  Educate people about the atrocities that not only did Columbus perpetrate when he came to the 'New World' but what other explorers did.  Look at the Spanish Conquistadors.  Killing.  Maiming.  Raping.  It's all there.  You don't want to drop this knowledge on little elementary school kids, but I think that high school kids could handle the facts.  I never had this education in high school.  I was never given the facts in school, but I learned about the facts by reading real history books.

The best thing you can do about this holiday is to get the facts.  Once you learn the facts, share them!  Yes, it is good to be angry about this being a holiday.  But don't get sucked down by the anger and dragged into the mud.  Be above that.  Be better than that.  Spread the facts because educating the masses is the best way to fight stupidity and ignorance. 

Onward!

The Tigers survived the Oakland Athletics again this year.  For the second straight year, the Tigers and A's met in the first round of the playoffs and the series went a full five games.  The A's are a solid team top to bottom and anyone in the lineup can hurt the opposing team.  They've scared me both years despite the Tigers being favorites in the series because they play sound baseball.  Kind of like the Twins of the early to mid 2000s before they settled back down to the bottom of the Central.

 After this hard fought series, they have to turn around and face the best team in the American League, the Boston Red Sox.  The Sox were the darlings of MLB once they broke their curse close to a decade ago.  Then they won it again a few years later and everyone thought that it was nice.  Then they became entitled.  Then they became a team and a fan base full of douchebags.  Now I know I'm not the only one that feels this way about the Sox so I don't feel bad about saying it.  Sadly, I feel that if the Tigers win a few World Series titles, the team and fan base may go down that same road.  IF that happens, and I come across a Tigers fan that has that sense of entitlement about going to the post season and to the World Series, all I want to do is scream '2003!' and walk away.  Remember your roots and be humble people.  Even now.

This upcoming series, the Tigers offense cannot disappear like they did in the Oakland series.  I know the past two games have been great and I hope that they have sparked the batters out of their slump.  The pitching kept the A's from sweeping the Tigers so I don't worry about them (and watch, they'll collapse) while the offense struggled through the first three games, let's not kid ourselves.  They cannot (CANNOT!) struggle against the Sox pitching because it will not be pretty.  The Sox are a far better team than the A's.  I am even more nervous about this series than the last one. 

My heart says the Tigers in six.  My brain says something else, but I don't always listen to my brain.  That's how smart I am. 

Go get 'em Tigers!

Disc Adventures

I went out and played disc golf today for the first time in a few months.  It was fun.  Granted, it was more fun when I was playing with a few friends down in Wichita, but what are you going to do?  This is the second disc golf course that I have played since moving up to Minnesota.  One thing that I have noticed about both courses is that they cover open fields as well as trees.  In Wichita, the trees were mainly just amongst the open fields, few and far between.  Here, however, is different because there are actually trees in which a course can be worked around.  Trees are infuriating when playing.  Discs have a tendency to find the trees.  Whatever.  Stupid nature.  Anyway, here are a few pictures I took today.  Just because.

 Basket seven was five hundred and sixty feet from the tee.  I thought that was horrible until...

 Basket eight one upped basket seven by fifteen feet.  These two baskets put a hurting on my elbow.  I suppose if I threw more this would not be an issue. 

 This is the first mandatory right (or left) I have seen since playing down in Wichita that had three baskets right by the road. 

Basket number ten I believe.  Nice and open...with the exception of all the damn trees that were right down the middle.  Incidentally, this is where my discs went. 

There was plenty of this at all the tees.  Not exactly classy, but I think I would rather see this as opposed to trash on the ground or graffiti on the actual trees which is a common problem at disc golf courses. 

Basket number twelve.  Two huge trees right in front of the tee.  Not cool man.  Not cool.     

Overall, it was a nice and relaxing afternoon.  I just listened to music and threw.  An afternoon out in the fresh air does a person good.  Especially when it is not too hot.