It’s time to bid farewell to football and move on to other things, but not before one final update on everything that’s happened the past several weeks.
Congratulations to the Indiana Hoosiers for winning the CFP Championship, going undefeated in the process. I can’t explain the magic. They should’ve been underdogs to everyone they faced in the playoff, yet the Hoosiers, who had never achieved anything of consequence in the 139 year history of the football program, stared down Alabama, Oregon, and the Miami Hurricanes and came out on top every time. Before that they upset Ohio St. in the Big Ten title game. I don’t know what the future holds, but if Indiana is able to repeat their success next season, experts need to grill head coach Curt Cignetti Jr. and find out his secrets.
Since we last met in this space my Pittsburgh Steelers parted ways with longtime head coach Mike Tomlin, or he parted ways with them if you believe the official story. Either way, I have a few thoughts:
- I don’t hate Mike Tomlin, but his shtick had become tedious. Have you ever enthusiastically welcomed company into your home and initially enjoyed the visit, but then a few hours later you’re looking at your watch & yawning, desperately hoping they’ll take the hint that they’ve overstayed their welcome?? I am sure that Tomlin will land on his feet, but the fact is that the time for change had come.
- Mike McCarthy becomes only the 4th Steelers head coach since 1969, while the Cleveland Browns have had a dozen coaches since the turn of the century. These two franchises are not the same. I have always appreciated that the Steelers value loyalty & stability and don’t hire & fire coaches willy nilly, but I do not believe that losing a coach who had won only ONE Super Bowl in two decades, hadn’t won a playoff game in almost ten years, and hung his hat on an admittedly impressive yet not as impressive as some might think streak of “winning” seasons is some sort of tragedy. Did Tomlin “do more with less”?? Perhaps. But he also underachieved. Both things can be true.
- Let’s be honest…the issues in Pittsburgh are systemic, and run much deeper than Mike Tomlin. They fumbled the quarterback succession plan after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger…badly. Actually, that ineptitude began while Big Ben was still playing, as he was clearly washed in his last couple of seasons. Drafting Kenny Pickett in the first round in 2022 was a monumental error in judgement, Russell Wilson was a misstep, and anyone who believes Justin Fields will ever be a great NFL QB is a fool. Aaron Rodgers, while being the best among limited options, is past his prime. Tomlin’s coaching staff was laughably bad (the man has NO coaching tree, which is odd). The powers-that-be tried to mask deficiencies with over-the-hill free agents. The George Pickens trade to Dallas made the Steelers organization look incompetent in real time. While they have spent alot of draft capital to build an offensive line, that group was TRUCKED in the playoff loss to Houston. They had the highest paid defense in the NFL while ranking 26th in the league in total defense, which is a problem. Obviously Tomlin can’t be blamed for ALL of these things, but let’s not pretend that he didn’t wield significant power in building that roster and making those poor decisions.
- So what about Mike McCarthy?? I don’t know. It’s an uninspiring, safe hire. He’s clearly a transitional coach. Chances are his team will be competitive yet still not a legit championship contender. Sounds familiar. I’m not particularly impressed with the coaching staff he has assembled, but I’d be happy to be wrong.
Apparently there is an Olympics happening right now 🤷🏻. I had no idea. It is funny that all of those indoctrinated, woke athletes have to perform on literal ice…but not amusing enough for me to watch. However, because news from the event is inescapable, I will offer an opinion. I am pretty sure that most companies have a policy against employees disparaging their employer in public. You can’t go on Facebook or Twitter and talk trash about your boss or workplace and expect to keep your job. Yet multiple American athletes, in the midst of the Olympic games, have apparently spoken negatively about the country they allegedly represent. I find that reprehensible.
Kudos to the Super Bowl LX Champion Seattle Seahawks. Despite the final score, the game was largely a defensive battle dominated by Seattle, which I believe is what most “experts” predicted. It’s nice to see a guy like Sam Darnold, who came into the NFL with so much hype before embarking on a journeyman’s trek during which most lost faith that he’d ever fulfill his potential, grab the brass ring. It is also revealing to watch a franchise tear it down, go all in with a young, first time head coach & a QB that people had given up on, and rebuild a team that had a couple of “winning” 9-8 seasons that were deemed not good enough. As far as the extracurriculars, I’m at the age when I skip most of the stupidity. I have no idea who the dude was that sang the national anthem, and didn’t bother to tune in for anything preceding that. I watched TP-USA’s halftime show, which was a bit too country for my taste. I am perfectly aware that Bad Bunny, who hails from Puerto Rico, is an American citizen. I am sure the vast majority of people who opted out of that show possessed the same knowledge, so for those who thought that was the issue, well, you were wrong just as you are the vast majority of the time. I always mute my television during commercials and see no reason to alter that habit for the Super Bowl, so I cannot participate in discussions involving all of that. I was focused on the football game, which proved that defense still wins championships.
I’ve been fascinated by the sports media’s collective conniption fit surrounding the exclusion of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft & former head coach Bill Belichick from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. First of all, I understand the significance of being a “first ballot Hall of Famer”, but let’s be honest…both men will likely be voted in as soon as next year, which makes the meltdown from the talking heads feel rather hollow. Secondly, Kraft found himself in legal trouble just six years ago for trying to find a happy ending at a massage parlor, so he isn’t exactly a paragon of virtue. As for Belichick, I think we got our definitive answer a long time ago as to who deserves more credit for the Patriots’ “dynasty”. Tom Brady left New England, landed in Tampa Bay, and immediately led his new team to a Super Bowl victory. Conversely, Belichick was 29-38 in his last four seasons without Brady. His overall NFL head coaching record without Brady is 83-104. And let’s not forget the cheating. Not even the NFL could cover all of it up, despite their best efforts to do so. Don’t worry folks…both men will land in Canton someday. Denying them on the first ballot seems like a mere slap on the wrist for the atrocities they committed in the past.
In case you are curious, Zach & I limped to the finish line of our picks, both closing out the season with a 2-5 mark in the final weekend. So I finished with a record of 53-70, while Zach secured the season victory by going 56-67. Hey, atleast we have fun, right?? 🫤
So let’s talk about who did get into the Hall of Fame.
- Drew Brees (Saints QB)
- Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals WR)
- Luke Kuechly (Panthers LB)
- Adam Vinatieri (Patriots/Colts Kicker)
- Roger Craig (49ers RB)
I have zero issues with that class. Craig probably should’ve been in the HoF two decades ago, but what’s done is done. I’m somewhat surprised & disappointed that Hines Ward, Jason Witten, and LC Greenwood didn’t make the cut, and a bit amused that Eli Manning didn’t get voted in, although I believe his surname is his best asset and will get him in eventually.
Spring training is in full swing, but let’s not overlook what MLB has done off the field. It was recently announced that they will no longer use the term “disabled list” in regard to injured players. The change was made at the suggestion of advocacy groups for the disabled “out of concern that the term disabled for injured players falsely conflates disabilities with injuries and an inability to participate in sports”. As a disabled (handicapped, crippled, differently abled, handicapable…choose whatever buzzword you believe won’t offend anyone) individual who has spent my entire 46 years on this planet using a wheelchair allow me to opine that this is absolutely one of the dumbest instances of idiotic virtue signaling I have ever seen. No one with an ounce of common sense or capable of critical thought has ever confused baseball’s disabled list with those of us living our lives with a disability, and anyone offended by the term “disabled list” is a complete moron that should never be allowed to breed or even interact with the public. Also, as a person with a disability, it ticks me off that this is the sort of thing that “advocacy groups” are spending their resources on. Any such organization should be defunded immediately.
I come not to praise New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, but neither do I seek to bury him. If you’ve been paying any attention at all the past few days you know that Kraft is in some hot water for getting his jollies at a “massage parlor” in Florida, an establishment that got caught up in a big prostitution ring. I am not condoning the activity or Kraft’s involvement in it, and y’all know that I’ve despised the Patriots for the past two decades. Having said that, it must be noted that 77 year old Kraft lost his wife of almost fifty years awhile back. Myrna Kraft died of ovarian cancer at the age of 68 in 2011. Certainly that is no excuse to engage in illegal activity, but it does suggest a man that is lost & lonely despite his immense wealth & success, and I am willing to have some measure of sympathy in that regard. Loneliness & grief are awful things and can steer people in directions they wouldn’t otherwise go. What I cannot understand is why a billionaire with some level of prominence would decide to…seek pleasure…at what the media is describing as a rather trashy & foul (not to mention public) establishment. One would assume that Kraft has the means to obtain anything he’d want in complete privacy, so it is a bit perplexing to think that he would unnecessarily put himself in harm’s way (on multiple levels). Obviously the NFL will get their pound of flesh (pun unavoidable). The league’s personal conduct policy applies to owners & coaches as much as it does players, and about five years ago Indianapolis Colts’ owner Jim Irsay was fined $500k and suspended from running the team for six games after being arrested for DUI & drug possession. I’m not sure what exactly a typical owner of a professional sports franchise does on a daily basis that effects operations, and a half million dollars is pocket change to them, so that “punishment” seems rather hollow, but I assume Kraft will receive a similar penalty. I’m sure the legal consequences won’t amount to much either, but the damage to his reputation is immeasurable and probably irreparable.
Madness three out of the past four years the ‘Eers won’t be making the NCAA, NIT, CBI, or any other post season tournaments in 2019. Injuries, dismissals, and just about every other calamity one might conjure has imploded their season to the point that a winning record is mathematically impossible unless they go on an incredible run in the Big 12 conference tournament. WVU has been the runner-up in that tournament the past three years and needs another similar finish to keep on playing. I normally try to remain optimistic, but will confidently predict right now that that isn’t going to happen. Head coach Bob Huggins has built up a lot of goodwill over the years as a hometown guy, alumnus, successful coach, and leader of winning teams in Morgantown, but trust me…he needs to figure out what went wrong and fix it, because all the benevolence shown him will turn sour real quick if next season is another disaster.
and that’s a bit of a problem since those are channels that I don’t typically “surf”…I have to specifically be seeking something out, and I’m just not there yet with The Alliance. On the field the games themselves aren’t anything too wacky. Unlike some other fringe football leagues that have come & gone in the past the AAF isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel or compete with the NFL, but there are a few differences. There are no kickoffs, which I don’t like but realize that it’s a concept that’ll be embraced by college football & the NFL sooner or later. Neither are there extra points. Somewhere Skip Bayless is squealing with glee about the new league’s marginalization of kickers. Defenses are somewhat limited as far as what they can do, so if you like swarming defense with a lot if blitzes the AAF might not be your cup of tea. Overtime has each team start on their opponent’s 10 yard line, which is even goofier that the college OT rules. There is only one overtime, so the game can end in a tie (no field goals!!). The revelation that has hit me about the AAF is that…atleast for me…as The Bible says, “to everything there is a season”, and as big of a football fan as I am I’m ready to move on after the Super Bowl. It’s February, which means that emotionally & psychologically football is in hibernation for me and I’m ready to move on to golf, NASCAR, basketball, & baseball. This realization surprised me a little bit, because I had thought it’d be great to have more football, but I just can’t become invested. I’m guessing that my perspective isn’t unique, which probably spells doom for The Alliance after another season or two, but hey…they tried.
Dunkin’ Donuts Park, which has a capacity of about 6200. So at a home game there MIGHT be about 125 people in attendance with a nut allergy. But instead 
of simply designating a section of the ballpark for those fans the geniuses that run the team instead chose to deprive over 6000 others of the opportunity to buy a snack that has been closely associated with baseball for decades. This is what is wrong with society. It used to be that the majority ruled, but nowadays we go out of our way to kowtow to the vocal minority & every fringe group that decides to whine about something. Look, I am not unsympathetic to folks with a nut allergy. No one is suggesting that they shouldn’t attend games, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with reasonable accommodations to make their experience as pleasant as it should be. However, I just do not understand why a nut free section wasn’t enough of a compromise. This whole thing reeks of virtue signaling & grandstanding at its worst. And I haven’t even gotten to the song!! Take Me Out to the Ballgame was written in 1908 and has been a standard at ballparks for decades, oftentimes sung by the crowd during the “seventh inning stretch” (most famously at Wrigley Field during Chicago Cubs games). So because the food mentioned in the song has been banned at this particular ballpark they feel it is necessary to alter the lyrics too?? ASININE!!!! Every executive employed by the team should be fired immediately and NEVER be allowed to work in sports management EVER again. I’d be embarrassed to be a fan of the team, play for the team, or even live in freakin’ Hartford, CT. Hell, if I lived in Hartford I might sell my house and move, citing the stupid Hartford Yard Goats as the reason for my departure. I hope they lose every single game until the business implodes & the team folds. Perhaps a competing club will be created and they can call them the New Haven Nut Lovers or the Fairfield Cracker Jacks.
The Manofesto 