Tag Archives: sports

Whoever’s Playing the Titans

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Memphis unveiled itself to me gradually, transforming from an unfamiliar military posting to a vibrant urban landscape that captured my imagination. During my service, I encountered a city pulsing with warmth and verdant spaces, its character emerging through welcoming residents and lush surroundings. Strategically nestled beside the mighty Mississippi River, Memphis offered more than a mere geographical coordinate—it represented potential and promise. As my military chapter concluded, the city’s distinctive spirit and emerging opportunities beckoned, compelling me to contemplate putting down roots in this remarkable Southern metropolis.

Memphis faced significant challenges as its residents allowed ineffective leadership to guide municipal development, repeatedly investing substantial resources into projects with minimal public benefit. The pattern of misguided spending reflected a broader systemic issue within the city’s governance and community decision-making processes. I could and would elaborate but it is far off the point of this post.

The Houston Oilers’ relocation saga became a pivotal moment in NFL history when the franchise set its sights on Nashville. Despite the city’s enthusiasm, a critical challenge emerged: the absence of a suitable professional football stadium. This infrastructural gap would become a defining hurdle in the team’s ambitious transition.

The Oilers appeared to leverage their potential relocation to Nashville as a negotiating tactic, hinting to Memphis leaders that a compelling stadium proposal might persuade them to reconsider their planned move.

As anticipated, Memphis residents fell for the calculated strategy, swallowing the entire proposition without hesitation. Following substantial municipal investment in infrastructure improvements, the Oilers predictably executed their long-standing blueprint precisely as intended. As soon as possible, the Oilers became the Titans and moved to Nashville.

While the legal and procedural aspects of the situation appeared legitimate, there is a strong sense that the residents of Memphis were ultimately disadvantaged and did not receive fair treatment. The circumstances suggest that despite apparent adherence to proper protocols, the outcome was fundamentally unfair to the local community, leaving them feeling marginalized and shortchanged.

Despite my waning interest in professional football following the national anthem controversy, I maintain a steadfast opposition to the Tennessee Titans. While I don’t subscribe to the concept of karma, there’s a certain poetic justice in witnessing the team’s ongoing struggles, which stems from my personal principles.

It is my rationale that I root for whoever is playing against the Titans. It is my rationale that I like to see them flailing as they are. It would not hurt my feelings if they would just fade away, which would leave Nashville with a stadium and no team, sort of as it was for Memphians these many years ago.

Commanders? Really? For Sure?

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I have long thought about the mascot name for Washington, D.C. After all these months following the name change, I am still trying to think of just what a Commander mascot would look like. For sure, I am considering whether it is any kind of improvement.

It does make one wonder, if they came up with such a mascot costume, how much would they have to pay someone to wear it? That amount might explain why one has not heard of any such a mascot.

Perhaps, if they chose a different, better mascot. How about Chickens? I agree, it might not be a good mascot, but it would be much better than the current one. The truth is that chickens are really pretty brave birds.

Hawks might be good, but for the Seahawks are already taken. Let’s face it. All the good mascots have been taken. I mean, squirrels, rats, and raccoons just don’t have the right… Well, the right projections. Who do you know that would like to play for the Rats? To be sure, rats and squirrels are very smart and resourceful rodents..

Maybe, we should abandon the world of animals and look back to humans, such as politicians, who are widely respected. Then too, there are the very powerful lobbyists. That won’t work as it might be confused with large rooms.

(which reminds me, why are they called lobbyists instead of bribers?)

My opinion on it all. They should have come up with a new name before they abandoned one of the best, even according to most Indians. Oh. I apologize, Native Americans.

Sorry folks. Though it is highly politically incorrect, I happen to find Indian mascots far more ferocious than a commander. And don’t we want fierce mascots.

By the way, I wonder. If a football player is given a choice, would they really want to play for the Commanders? If they do want to play for the Commanders, is that a player you’d want on your team?

Mascots

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A little while ago, WordPress came up with a writing prompt about team colors and mascots I decided on red, white and blue because I didn’t think they would let me get away with black & white stripes.

More important, I came up with the Eagles for a mascot. It seemed logical to me. Today’s game between the Commanders and the Eagles seemed to make it obvious that I chose well.

Then again, just what is the mascot of the commanders. Ever since they changed their name, Washington just doesn’t seem to be able to do much.

Today the Eagles walked all over… Well, they won. I’m just not sure what mascot they beat. Just what is their mascot anyway.

Well, that does settle it. It’s twice as hard to win without a mascot. Do you think Washington really has a chance to make it to a championship without a real mascot mascot? You know, one with a costume. Just what sort of costume does a commander wear, anyway?

Contributing to the Salaries of Millionaire Professional Athletes

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Of course, it is possible that you contribute to that baseball or football player when you go to see that game. It only makes sense. It’s what you pay tickets for.

However, I really don’t think it works that way. My guess is that doesn’t cover half of the salaries. I might be wrong. Still, I would like to see a breakdown on where the money comes from and where it goes.

Regardless, if the cities did not build the stadiums, the clubs would have to. It is sort of the way it started out. As time went by, more and more, the cities and counties started paying for the stadiums as a draw to pro teams, or for that matter, the semi-pro stadiums.

So, with your tax dollars, they pay to put the stadiums in, which allows the teams to put their millions toward the players. To me, the way I look at it, the taxpayers are helping to pay the players, even if they never go to a game.

So, isn’t it nice to know, even though you can hardly pay your car payment or grocery bills, they involuntarily make sure a dollar or two out of your paycheck goes to pay for that multi-millionaire player’s contract and bonuses.

If you don’t believe me, if none of the cities pay for the stadiums, just watch how fast those contracts decrease in value.

The hitch is this. If you take a little from each player, they’d not miss it and they could pay for the stadiums. Then the cities would not have to reach into our wallets to build the stadiums.

Then, the only folks that would pay for the contracts would be the ones paying for the tickets. I would imagine the concessions could pay for the stadium upkeep.

It does make me wonder though. Why do I write this when I know very few will read this, if any. Well, I also like talking to fence posts.

First, Catch the Ball

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Okay. I wasn’t the best in the little league, though I thought I was better than the coach thought I was. One thing I will say, I never missed a ball during a game while I played first base. It was because of something my brother taught me. First, catch the ball.

That is to say, no matter what you plan to do after you catch it, make sure to catch it. It seems so obvious but I have seen even the pros start to throw someone out at first before he caught the ball. That is embarrassing. Even more, it can cost the game. Not only can’t you not make the play without the ball, but if that ball goes on out into the field, it can cost runs. Worse, it allows that other batter to come to the plate and hit the little pill over the fence.

To be sure, it takes determination. The instant that hard hit grounder starts in your direction, you must make the determination to catch, or at least stop that ball. No matter what else you did before or will do after, that is the number one concern.

Strange as it might seem, I saw first one football player, then the other a short time later drop an almost perfect pass. They had both their hands on the ball and it was very catchable. In both cases, they started making their plans for what they were going to do after getting the ball… then they dropped the ball.

Excuse me, but aren’t these guys getting at least 6 figures a year. Perhaps I have it wrong, but I would think the coach would really want a receiver who would first catch the ball. I mean I’m not one of those high paid coaches, but as I have said before, I am available. I mean, I do understand the basics, like catching the ball.

It is really nice to be the fastest on the field. However, it won’t do you a bit of good if you can’t put your hands around that ball and secure it firmly. Then you can run. Then you can go through all those elusive moves. But first catch it. As I said, I learned that in Little League. My guess is that most of the football players learned the importance of holding onto the ball in high school. I am sure it has been stressed repeatedly in college.

It is as that architectural engineer wrote, “The most important thing, is to keep the most important thing, the most important thing.”

It is important in baseball. It is important in football. Actually, it is the most important thing in just almost everything. This means, it is really difficult to keep a nation a representative republic when you can’t even keep the elections honest. I mean, it is sort of the most important thing.

How to Win at Football

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It’s easy. I have been observing and I believe I have the perfect method to win and I could beat any of the other teams.

  1. Don’t get penalized. I have noticed that penalties almost always kill drives, especially the 10 yard variety. The 15 yard types are the really bad stoppers. When I see a fifteen yard penalty on TV, the cameras almost always cut to the coach, who is generally ready to start pulling his hair out. On occasion, I have seen one of them jump up and down and yell. It doesn’t do any good. Better to tell the players not to commit the penalties.
  2. Do not fumble or get intercepted. Turnovers are particularly bad when it is close to one end of the field or the other. Imagine the team is on the five yard line and drops the ball. Yeah. That is not a good way to get on the good side of the coach. On the other hand, fumbling the ball on your own 10 yard line isn’t good either.
  3. Long gains are good. However the real secret to winning is to make sure you gain 5 1/2 yards per play. This will get you first down after first down with a good margin for error, especially in light of item 4.
  4. Make sure the quarterback never gets sacked. All offensive plays should result in positive yardage.
  5. Make sure that each possession of the ball should result in some kind of score, even if it is a field goal. For this reason, it is good to have a kicker who has a cannon for a leg. If he can kick a field from the 50 yard line, it will have a very positive outcome on point production. It means that it is not necessary to reach the goal to score, only the opponents 40 yard line. It really puts a lot of pressure on the opponent’s defense.
  6. Defensively, remember, don’t allow the other team to do any of the above.

Now that I have shown I know how to win football games, I offer my expertise to someone willing to pay me a few million dollars. I am not greedy. 10 million will be fine.

As an aside, I find it interesting that football coaches get paid more the the commander in chief. This is true even though the coaches army is far smaller. Does that mean that a football coach is more important?

I Must Admit Some Disappointment

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I wrote a post that strongly suggested that Pete Rose should never be put in the Hall of Fame. Apparently, I am mostly alone. I have heard many suggest that, now that he is dead, we should go ahead and put him in now.

Of course, who am I to decide. It just is that, I am disappointed. Many, both conservative and liberal have taken the attitude that it really wasn’t that big of a deal. One thing I have noted is that, the more that folks are in favor of gambling, the more they are in favor of letting Rose in.

I have no say in the matter. I have no TV or radio program. Maybe I just have a few hundred who even know of my blog. However, I do have my ideas of what is right and wrong. I have written many times of the downsides of gambling. Indeed, I keep hearing the advertisements of how fun it is to gamble, though it isn’t but for a second.

A couple of decades ago, it was not that way. I was in the majority in condemning those who gamble and encourage to gamble. It was in that world in which Rose was gambling, not our current world, which loves the lotteries and scoffs and me. It was in that world in which he chose to do his gambling and set the bad example for our youth. Indeed, to some degree, the stories of his gambling might have even added to the desire to loosen the laws on gambling.

As I say, little old me, I have little to say about it. It is an observation. It is one where few agree with me. It leaves me with a statement and two questions. I am disappointed. Is this a good thing, really? Is this the world we want our children to be brought up in, or the one that condemned Pete Rose for blatantly breaking the rules and then refused to repent? I kind of like the way it was, but that’s me.

As an aside, we all make mistakes. Mostly, they are simple mistakes we ignore, other than to try not to make the same mistake again. On the other hand, sometimes we make mistakes that live with us the rest of our lives. In some cases, we make mistakes that outlive us. I suspect, despite all I say, Pete Rose will be in the Hall of Fame one day. Still, it won’t change the fact that Pete Rose made one of those permanent mistakes that will live far beyond his grave. No one will ever be able to say that he didn’t do that which was wrong and he set a bad example for our youth.

When and if he ever gets in the Hall of Fame, it will send the message that, given enough time, given enough ability, all will be forgiven.

A Truly Incredible Ball Player

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I must admit, begrudgingly, that Pete Rose was one of the best ball players ever was. About the only part of baseball that he didn’t set records in was in pitching.

The problem was he played for Cincinnati. My team was the Dodgers. There was someone I had more than one “discussion” with, some rather heated. Sorry to say, he was usually right.

The fact is that the only reason he didn’t have more stolen bases was cause he had so many home runs.

Nonetheless, he, as many others, did have a weakness, gambling. Some quickly say it should be ignored and he should be permitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Some who are reading this probably agree.

Perhaps one day it will happen. I hope not. The game has rules, both on and off the field and these rules have reasons. If the rules have no penalties, then why have the rules.

I shouldn’t have to explain the reason for this rule. It should be self-evident as to why the rule. Gambling by those in the game will ruin it for everyone. Indeed, it almost did a long time ago. I can’t remember the details but you are welcome to look it up.

So it is you make an exception for Rose. Who will be the next exception? After a while, the exception becomes the rule. Then no one will have a reason to follow the rule.

Then too, what if others get caught gambling? Do we toss him out or just slap his hand? If we toss him, does he have a cause to take it to court? It looks to me like he would have a valid argument, legal and ethical.

Sometimes, we make life long decisions as Rose did. More than that, it was a decision he was well aware that it might follow him to and beyond the grave. Despite this, after he was caught, he spent the rest of his life looking for his own personal exception. This makes me doubt his true repentance.

He was saying that he knew he did wrong, but because he was a really great player, he should have an exception.

On the other hand, because even his being an exceptional player, all other players, especially exceptional players will make sure to avoid gambling if they hope to make it into the Hall of Fame. Hopefully, it will do as the rule intended. It will keep baseball clean.

Hopefully, most will agree that this is good and important for baseball, as well as other sports.

As an aside, we all make mistakes that we must pay for. Sometimes for a while; sometimes for the rest of our lives; sometimes even longer, as with Rose. It should encourage us to do that which is right, as well as avoid what is wrong.

One Score = Twenty Years

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Actually, it means 20 anything. According to Reference.com, it was originally used to count livestock. Marks, or scores were made on a convenient piece of wood to keep track of the scores. Only, back then, it was old Norse and was spelt skor.

More recently, people have used it for speeches, like the Gettysburg Address. I guess old Abe realized that four score and seven sounds so-o-o much better than just simply saying eighty-seven years.

Actually, I never figured on writing all that, but as I decided on my title, I figured I should double check. I mean, considering how my memory has failed me lately, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t for ten. Then as usual, when I looked it up, I found out so much more.

So to get back to my original thought, I mean, the idea that one score makes 20 years. A few days ago I got to thinking about it. I know. As my wife says, I do entirely too much time thinking. I would suspect some of those reading this agree.

At any rate, I figure it this way,

At an age of 1 skor, I realized I would never be a major league, or even a minor league pitcher. How disappointing. When I was 12, I was so looking forward to it.

At the age of 2 skor, I realized I would never be president. I knew I would never be a millionaire. How horrible. Worse, I had to start wearing reading glasses. I was no longer able to do 200 sit-ups non stop. (Really, when I was in high school I could and did.) What a horrible thing to be confronted with.

At an age of 3 skor, I already had my first heart attack. Worse yet, it was a realization that the 2 skor thing was really real. It was a reinforcement that I was getting old. I mean, I was really looking at retirement. It was hiding right around the corner.

Well now, it is 3 skor and 16; almost 4 skor. Can you believe that? I can’t. Even so, every time I go out and work in the yard for a while, I am reminded. Every time I try to read instructions micro-printed on the side of a bottle, reality comes knocking on the door.

Then too, there are my 2 mile walks. Even when the outdoor temp is 64 degrees, I fall in my easy chair after, sweat dripping off of me.

It causes me to wonder at the start of each day, am I going to make it to 4 skor.

Yard Sale

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As we were driving home from eating, I happened to see a yard sale sign. It prompted me of an old memory. I guess it had to be around 1974 or 75. When I was teaching at MCAS El Toro, one of the other instructors, Sandy was teaching there too, another subject. He was known for going to the base dump every Saturday he could, he collected anything he thought he might could sell. Any time he felt he had gathered enough, he held a yard sale. He had actually gathered a reputation of having very good yard sales.

One Monday after he held one of these yard sales, he reported that he almost sold all he had. All he had left was a bowling ball. He took down his signs and decided to terminate the sale. He took the bowling ball inside in the hopes of selling it next time.

About 30 minutes later, he had a knock on the door. The late arrival asked if that was the place that had the yard sale. Sandy said it was but he sold everything. The man asked, “Everything?”

Sandy said, “Well, all I have left is a bowling ball.”

The man said, “I’ll take it.” He never asked to see it or what kind of price. And so it was that he sold everything he had pilfered from the dump. All it cost him was a little gas and the time it took. And, by the way, for those going green folks, he also helped to recycle.

Thinking back over it, do you suppose we should hire people to go through the dumps and collect stuff and sell it. It would decrease our rubble.