Take Me Out to the Brrrr.......ballgame.

Major league baseball opens their regular season today and in many places the weather will seem to be more suitable for a football game than baseball. The seasons have become so long in most sports that they end up playing in weather totally unsuited for the sport. For instance, baseball starts at the beginning of April and finishes up close to November; neither one of these times suitable for an outdoor game that is too slow to keep the players or fans warm. The NBA and NHL also give fans their money's worth starting out in early October and finishing up in the middle of June, taking a few months off before starting the whole long process again. No doubt money is the main motivator for the lengthy seasons with salaries skyrocketing and no doubt a bit of good old greed involved. With NFL management pushing for a 18 game regular season and the likelihood of expanded playoffs in the future, how long will it be before seeing NFL football ending around the time when we hear the ump yell out, "play ball"?

NFL Rule Changes

The NFL made two rule changes that will impact the game in a significant way. The first, moving the ball up to the 35 yard line on kick-offs should not only help reduce injuries but should speed the game up a bit as there will be less kick-off returns which means that the officials won't have nearly as many opportunities to throw a flag for blocking in the back, which seems to occur on just about every punt and half of the kick-off returns. The other main benefit that I see is that it will force teams to actually earn a victory. I can't recall how many times I've seen a team score with just 1 minute left in the game thinking they have put the game away only to see the opposing team return the ball on the kickoff to the 40 yard line, throw a few short passes and then kick a 45 yard field game and snatch victory from what should be defeat. This change will make teams actually earn a last minute victory.

The other rule change will have the effect of slowing down the game as the league has decided in its "wisdom" to review every scoring play just to make score that they didn't get it wrong. So, when a running back makes that 1 yard waltz into the end zone and scores uncontested, I guess they'll have to review it to make sure that he did indeed score and not just possibly score. Well, as they say, the NFL giveth and the NFL taketh away.

Everybody Loves a Winner?

I have often heard it said in sports as well as life that "everybody loves a winner". Well, I would add as long as it doesn't come at your expense. For instance, The New York Yankees have been baseball's most recognized and storied organization and have been one of the most successful. The Yankees have a large following not only in New York but around the country as well. However, there are just as many people who can't stand the Yanks and root against them regardless of who they are playing because one, their winning has often come at the expense of the other fans team, and secondly, there is also the envy aspect that comes into play as many of us root against someone that has achieved such a high level of success. I would add that it's also the case when you hear people talk about losers as someone will say, "I always root for the underdog". Unless, that is, the underdog happens to be playing your favorite team.

Fed Up?

In an article on one of the sporting sites, the writer states that football fans may not be so forgiving this time if the NFL has a prolonged strike. My opinion.....hogwash! While fans may have a knashing of the teeth over an NFL strike, it's been shown time and time again that the fans will put up with just anything, and in the case of the NFL, it's such a product that's in demand that once the players hit the field, in no time the stadiums will again be packed with rabid fans, and all will be forgiven....save for a small percentage that actually are fed up.

When is More Too Much?

It's March already, and that means it's time for the annual ritual known as "March Madness". This annual NCAA Basketball tournament that comprises 64...oops 66...oops 68 teams is a time where thousands if not millions of people across the country try to make like Nostradamus by picking the most winners in the NCAA brackets and thereby achieve bragging rights and most likely a nice sum of money in the process. It seems as if everything in sports in this country has taken on a larger than life meaning, and there seems no end in sight as all sports keep expanding their offerings trying to cash in with greater exposure, more games, and much more money.

It was just a few years ago, that the NCAA expanded their tournament from 64 to 66 teams with a 'play-in' game before the rest of the tournament got under way. Having had success with this, they figured they would add two more teams and have a game on Tuesday night. It's not hard to imagine them going to 72, 80 or some other number in the near future as they will most likely try to include just about everyone in the spectacle. And it's not just this sport that is pushing for expansion.

One of the sticking points in the NFL negotiations is that management wants to expand to a 18 game regular season schedule. Major league baseball is talking about having an expanded playoff system as well, and the NBA and NHL playoffs last for two months with half of the teams making the playoffs. One would think that eventually the respective sports would reach a point of "overkill" but there seems to be no worry among the sports ownership fratenity as their motto seems to be, "if you play the game, they will come". And they thought that Rome put on a show.

Feeling the Pain Already?

There's a headline on the front page of Sunday's Baltimore Sun entitled, "Already Missing Football?" and it shows a couple of fans sitting in the seats looking forlorn and completely lost. The article goes on to talk about how football fans in Baltimore are already feeling the effects of the NFL football lockout and how important football is to them and their life. For many fans, it's become a tradition almost as much as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Between tailgate parties leading up to the game, the game itself, and the post game where fans stop off at restaurants, neighborhood bars, etc., for sixteen weeks people in numerous cities throughout the country plan their Sundays around their local team. Sports have become so intertwined with our lives that many can't conceive of weekends without them. I have also observed how the outcome of the game effects the attitude of grown men and women for days after a particular win or loss. On occasion I have made offhand remarks about a game that have led some to avoid speaking to me for days afterwards. People....relax....it's only a game.

College Athletics and Money

While the recent revelation that Ohio State players have been selling memorabilia may have been a shock to some, for many it's just another 'yawn' story about some athletes trying to cash in on their talents on and off the field. In particular, football and basketball have become such huge moneymakers for the major universities that it's somewhat hypocritical for coaches and schools to be too critical over players trying to exploit the situation for their benefit. With coaches at major universities in many cases earning millions of dollars a year, there's really not a lot about these college programs that are amateur or innocent.

While the NCAA has tried to address past abuses of players receiving cars, money, women, etc., it would be naive to believe that all illegal inducements have been eliminated. With competition being so fierce for the top college players in the nation, there's certainly the motivation for some to look the other way at certain "questionable" activities. With the NCAA being little more than on the job training programs for the NFL and NBA, perhaps they should start kicking in some cash for the development of the players being done at the college level. When 6'6" 245 lb. Tyrone Jackson who as it happens is also able to run a 4.2 in 40 is given a full scholarship to a major college, it's more than a little likely that he's not being recruited to solve the riddles of molecular biology, but for the money that he can bring to the university with his superb athletic skills.

Billionaires versus Millionaires

It's hard to get too upset about the pending NFL work stoppage. On one side you have a group of 30 owners trying to get a bigger cut of the billions generated by the NFL, and on the other you have a lowly group of millionaires trying to get a bigger share as well. The biggest issue for the fans and one of the most contentious is whether or not the NFL will be able to force the players to accept an expanded 18 regular season. I remember as a kid when the NFL season consisted of 14 regular season games and a couple of playoff games. Of course I also remember people saying how you could run into many Baltimore Colt players at the local pubs on Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore after a Colts practice. Don't think you'll catch too many of today's players hanging out at Bernie's Bar drinking draft beer these days.

Sports and the change of seasons

Sports has become such a major factor in our lives, that for many of us, we judge the changing seasons not so much by the budding of new leaves or the changing color of the leaves in Fall, but instead use markers such as Spring training as a harbinger for the arrival of Spring, or the first regular season NFL games in September as the end of Summer and the beginning of the Fall season. In indicates just how much Sports have become a fixture in our culture, and there is now a sport for all seasons and for all fans.

Do NFL or NHL players make for the better interview?

A local Pittsburgh sportscaster was asked recently who made for a better locker room interview, NFL football or NHL hockey players? Without hesitation, he stated that hockey players by far made for the more intelligent and interesting interviews. Having listened to many football players after the game giving their analysis with a hundred or so "you know" in the course of a five minute interview, I would tend to agree that hockey players in general conduct themselves in a more dignified manner than many NFL players. While players such as Peyton Manning are a credit to the game they play and always seem to conduct themselves with respect and dignity, many other NFL players bring the ghetto culture and lingo to the sport, and I usually find myself turning the game off as soon as it is finished.