Forget playing, should we be WATCHING football?

This week I came across this outstanding article , What I saw as a NFL Ball Boy, by a former Chicago Bears ball boy Eric Kester, and to say the least it disturbed me. Not much disturbs, especially when it comes to sports and all of the nonsense that occurs these days, but this one truly bugged me. I highly encourage everyone to read it, but in summary the author details his time as a ball boy for the 2003 Chicago Bears. At the time he was a ball boy, he was 17 years old. As a 17 year old, as he describes, his most trusty tool was smelling salts. Smelling salts used to revive players after having their bell rung by forceful hits on the field. He goes on to detail how often times he was asked to blatantly give the smelling salts out of the view of probing television camera, or watchful photographer. He further recounts in the article how after games he would have to separate players' laundry, laundry that was sometimes stained with feces because a player had been hit so hard he lost control of his central nervous system.

Wow. I read this article in shock and horror and disgust. As I read it, I thought to my little boy who loves playing football. He's just now starting to watch the game more and more and ask questions and become interested, but he loves playing. As I read this article, I didn't question whether or not I should continue to allow him to play, I started to question whether I should allow him to continue to WATCH. Look, I'm not naive, I know football is a game that on every single play violence happens. Concussions and the long term harmful effects of them are widely discussed in the news and there is no denying that those concerns are legitimate. I also know that athletes get paid millions of dollars, and to a degree they acknowledge the risks of the profession they've chosen. Hopefully concussion and head trauma protocol continue to improve and although the dangers will never be eliminated, hopefully reduced. However, even acknowledging those facts I have to question whether or not I should continue to push watching and enjoying the game on my son, and likely very soon my daughter.

The easy answer is, yes. Yes, I should absolutely not let my children watch football, and sure as hell should never consider letting them play. Here's the problem. This past weekend my son played his last flag football game of the season, and the stakes were high. His team was the only undefeated team in the league, they had come together as a cohesive unit led by two great coaches, and they all wanted to finish the season without a loss. It meant something to them, they were in it together. It was a truly inspiring display of teamwork, cohesion, and togetherness that are all the best parts of sports. It was tight game, with both teams scoring only two touchdowns. The difference was the extra points. So, late in the game with the other team driving, they scored the tying touchdown, and were an extra point away from ruining an undefeated season. As they attempted their conversion run towards my son's side of the field...he made the stop. He pulled the flag and he jumped up and pumped his fist with pure joy. PURE JOY. There are things that make my son very happy, this was one of the few things in his young life that I could outwardly see made him proud. He understood what he accomplished and it meant something to him, meant something to his team. You can't replace that, you can't duplicate that. How do I deny him that feeling? I know that as he gets closer to playing tackle football my wife and I will need to have some serious discussions about whether or not he should play. I don't look forward to those days. In the interim every time he sits next to me during a football game I will be paying very close attention to how I react to big hits, and bone jarring plays. Instead I know I'll be pointing out those picture perfect heads up tackles around the waist that we so rarely see these days.

The Ray Rice Debacle

This morning the extremely disturbing video of Ray Rice leveling his wife (then fiance) with a left hook in an elevator took over the internet. This afternoon, like millions of people worldwide I took to social media took express my disgust with the incident, but also questioning whether today's video should have any larger impact on the situation because it showed the actual strike. Shortly after that post, the Baltimore Ravens and NFL answered my question, by releasing Rice from the team, and suspending him indefinitely in case another team chooses to sign him. Unpopular opinion alert, since my original Facebook post, I'm not sure I agree with everything I said today, and I certainly don't agree with Rice's release.

I still think Rice is a colossal scumbag, assaulting a female is a despicable act of cowardice, and should be punished severely. However, I don't agree with his release from the Baltimore Ravens, I ultimately believe that punishment is too severe. Instead, in my opinion here's what should have happened, and why.

Here's why I think the release is too harsh.

• There is no doubt that the video released today was disgusting and stomach turning. However I maintain my earlier stance that there was nothing on the video today that made what Rice was suspended for in August, worse. In the original video that was released months ago, no strike was shown, but what was shown was Rice dragging his unconscious wife out of an elevator. After that video was leaked, Rice admitted to assaulting his wife. So, again I maintain, what the hell did people think happened in that elevator to make her lose consciousness? She fainted? Rice yelled at her until she passed out? Everyone had to assume Rice struck his wife, and struck her violently enough to make her be knocked unconscious. Seeing the actual image of that happening doesn't make it worse in my opinion.
• Rice has never been in trouble before, either in the NFL, or with the law. Almost everyone associated with him personally and professionally has vouched for his character. His wife agreed to continue to marry him. He has been contrite, apologetic, and forthcoming about how sorry he is.  There is no repeated pattern of abuse before or since the incident. Ray Rice made the worst decision of his life, a decision that deserves an extreme punishment (more on that in the next section), but I don't believe the man deserved to lose his job, and livelihood.
• When I choose to personalize the situation, I think about how I would feel about the situation if it didn't involve a privileged, famous athlete. What if my best friend, cousin, or father found himself in the same situation? Would I want any of those individuals in the exact same circumstance to lose their job? I think even in those personal of circumstances I would still want a severe punishment to occur, but I'm certain I wouldn't want any of them to lose their career and financial means, unless the severity of the crime warranted incarceration. 

Here's what I wish happened, should have happened, and definitely won't happen

• There is no disputing that the NFL rushed to judgement in the case. I haven't heard a single person, expert or not, agree that the original two game suspension was enough. What a joke. Rice was suspended indefinitely today, and that's exactly what should have happened in July. I believe the NFL when they say they didn't know the video existed (there are reports that dispute that) but even based on the original video they should have done more investigation and left Rice suspended until they could come to the appropriate decision. I mean they screwed up the original penalty so badly that they have since gone and changed the entire domestic abuse policy, which is an admission they screwed up, as the commissioner Roger Goodell has admitted. I would go so far as to say that Goodell personally screwed this up so bad that any and all further penalty decisions should come from a different representative of the NFL.
• I just personally believe that the release from the Ravens is too harsh of a penalty. Essentially in vacuum the Ravens have effectively, for now, ended Rice's football career. As I stated above, he's a first time offender, with personal endorsements to his character from several members of his football team, including the head coach John Harbaugh. Wouldn't the better message have been for the Ravens to come out and say, "We are going to punish Ray Rice severely for this awful transgression. However while serving his minimum year long suspension without pay we are going to help him through this difficult time by offering him whatever support we can. Ray will have to serve 2500 hours of community service in battered womens shelters, and pay a $500,000 contribution to the victims of domestic abuse. If he misses even one session, he's done forever with us. If he's even accused of another incident of abuse, he'll be cut off from the Raven support system permanently. Ray will only be allowed to return to the team once we are confident that he his properly educated and has learned from his awful mistake."

I hope people understand I'm in no way diminishing what Rice did. It's disgusting and I do want him punished severely. However, I also believe there is a better way to do that, especially after the colossal mistakes that were made in doling out the original punishment. I'm certain the one area that most people will disagree with me on, is how today's video impacts those decisions. I just can't get past my opinion that what was released today should have no impact on Rice's suspension. When I saw the original video of him dragging his unconscious wife out of that elevator I assumed he must have brutally beat her, striking her repeatedly and savagely. I'm not saying that by only hitting her once means that is any less severe of action, but it's certainly not worse than what I had imagined had happened. More than anything though, regardless of football, I hope Rice and his wife can move beyond this and have a long and loving relationship, because that is what is really most important.

2012 Final Four Preview

I didn't write a March Madness preview this year (which seems to have been a mistake as last year's edition received several hits) but I've decided to write a brief preview of the Final Four today. All four teams are great teams and I look for three very exciting games.

Kentucky vs. Louisville:

• How will New Orleans be able to contain the enormous egos of Calipari and Pitino? These guys are the epitome of great coaches who are conceited, egotistical, and in my opinion, slimy. Pitino is the better coach, Calipari has the better team.
• In state rivalries don't occur to often in the final four, and these two teams share a special contempt for one another. Look for a lot of jaw jacking, pushing and posturing, and at least one of the coaches if not both will go berserk and get tee'd up.
• Louisville has the superior defense, Kentucky has the best offense. Classic style matchup. Kentucky is better, and in my opinion much better. Louisville has to find a way to slow the game down, and win from the perimeter. They have to shoot at least 50% from the arc, and take at least 30 attempts from deep to win. For Kentucky, as long as they can run, they will win.
• I'll take Kentucky by 6, 76-70.

Ohio State vs. Kansas

• In the interest of  full disclosure, in my bracket picks I had both of these teams in this spot, and I have Kansas winning it all. It hurt me to make that pick considering they were in the same bracket as my beloved Tar Heels, but I think they have the ability.
• This game features the best player matchup of the tournament with Jared Sullinger going against Thomas Robinson. Both are fierce down low, Sullinger is more polished, Robinson is more athletic. Neither one will be the reason there team wins.
• For Ohio State to win, they will have to shoot the lights out, and I'm always nervous when a team has to shoot well on the biggest stage to win. Kansas will be much more aggressive,  will get to the hoop better and consequently win.
• I think this one will be a very close game, and in close games I tend to favor the better coach. Thad Matta is not a bad coach, but Bill Self is better. I'll take Kansas 82-80, in overtime.

National Championship; Kentucky vs. Kansas

•  Kentucky is the most talented team in the entire NCAA and they have the ability to go on spurts that no other team is capable of. In the second round against Iowa State, it was a great game and ISU was keeping it close. I left the room for what seemed like just a couple of minutes, came back and Kentucky was up 10. That's a hard beast to tame.
• This Kansas team isn't nearly as talented as Kentucky, this isn't even the best Kansas team in the last couple of years. I love their balance though. Robinson is a force, but they also have some great perimeter guys that can take over as well.
• Experience is where the Kentucky freshman can be exposed. I think experience can often be overrated, but in this case I think it will be a huge factor. The Kentucky kids have shown a lot of poise, but maybe as many as four of them are out the door to the NBA. How do they handle knowing their last college game is for a National Championship. It didn't work for the Fab Five, and this team isn't as good as those guys. I love Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as a player but I thought it was a huge red flag that reports came out last week that he was probably going pro. Do a bunch of 18 year old kids, who have largely rolled through the tournament have what it take to harness their talent, and get their focus to win. I don't think they do.
• It will be another extremely close game, and please see above for my thoughts on close games. Calipalri is the best recruiter in the nation, but I question his coaching ability. The last two times these two coaches met in the title game, Calipalri's team largely dominated the entire game, but couldn't close out because of poor free throw shooting, poorer defense and quite frankly, a little panic. When you spend all year dominating, you expect to dominate, and then you don't, who steps up to right the ship? I think Calipalri panics again and can't calm the pups down. I'll take Kansas to win 73-68.

Passing it on

One of the primary reasons I started this blog was because as I got older I was becoming a little jaded with the workings of professional sports. I was tired of hearing all about the scandals, and the greed, and the laziness. It was getting harder and harder for me to remember the joy I had for sports growing up, the unadulterated love and excitement. Jim Valvano running around a basketball court looking for someone to hug, Kirk Gibson rounding second base pumping his fist on a bum leg, and Michael Jordan cradling the NBA championship crying like a baby. I was having a hard time find those same moments in today's sports culture.

This was particularly upsetting because my kids are getting older and my son in particular is starting to get into sports. I've been successful in making sure he loves the Steelers and Hawkeyes. He knows who the Minnesota Twins and Timberwolves are, and takes the occasional interest in watching a few minutes of any game whenever I'm watching. So, as his interest peaked, and he turned five, I decided it was time to take in a live sporting event.

Yesterday we headed to the Target Center to check out the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. the Denver Nuggets. I bought fairly good seats, but nothing outrageous that if he decided he wanted to leave at halftime it would still be worth it. We got to the game plenty early and Gabe showed a real interest and was a asking about a lot of the players as they warmed up. "Who's that", "Why is that guy doing that", "Which one is the Denver Nugget"? It helps that most NBA arenas, the Target Center included, pump a lot of hip-hop and up tempo music and dancing into the pregame. He started to get a little restless right before tip off, but I assured him he would enjoy the starting lineups. Crunch the mascot, and the Timberwolves dancers came out (which really grabbed Gabe's attention) and the lights went off. As soon as the spotlight came on, and 'Enter Sandman' started up, Gabe was hooked. He loved the introductions and stayed completely engaged throughout the game. Despite some shot clock problems in the first quarter which I thought was going to doom us, he loved every minute of it. He cheered at all the right times, got up and danced, and watched the entire game. Despite a huge blowout win by the Wolves and me wanting to leave midway through the 4th quarter, Gabe wanted to stay the whole game, and we did. These were his favorite things:

• The aforementioned cheerleaders. He kept a very close eye on them, and when they disappeared after half to go schmooze with the high rollers, he became genuinely concerned. When they reappeared between the 3rd and the 4th, he was relieved and make sure they didn't wander off again.
• Chris Andersen, "Birdman", from the Denver Nuggets really appealed to Gabe. Shortly after he entered the game he got fouled and they showed him on the big screen. With all of his tattoos, crazy hair, and wild beard I think Gabe thought he was a superhero. He only played five minutes, and Gabe asked every two minutes, "Where's Birdman?"
• Gabe was very concerned that when we bought his Kevin Love bobblehead doll, he would get a Denver Nugget one. He DID NOT want any Denver Nuggets stuff. This wildly amused the people behind us in line.

It was great experience, and let me understand where my joy from sports should be coming. Seeing the world of the NBA through the eyes of a five year old, was great, and it absolutely makes me look forward to sharing the experience with him, and his sister. As we were leaving, he even wanted to know when we were going to a football game. That will be a harder challenge when our choices are the Vikings and the Gophers. We are going to have to wait until the Steelers come to town, or travel to Kinnick to fulfill that request I think.


A few basketball related items from the game...

• Kevin Love has mastered the "thinking man's game" i.e. slow, white, and can't jump. He's not even close to his listed 6'10", I would say he's 6'8" if he's lucky. Because of his outside shot now he's really good at throwing a pump fake, getting a guy in the air and either getting fouled or just going around him. Also, there is no doubt he's a great rebounder, but yesterday in particular he got at least 6 rebounds that his teammates just let him have. A guy would have better position or a better angle and would back off if they saw Love there.
• Kenneth Faried for the Denver Nuggets is a freak. He had 17 points and never took a shot farther than 3 feet from the basket. He had at least five baskets when he got the rebound, threw the outlet pass, and then just beat everyone down court and got a dunk. At one point I thought Rick Adelman was  going to put in Brad Miller just to knock him out.

• The Timberwolves can't survive if they make the playoffs on jump shots. They have nobody that gets to the rim on a consistent basis, or effectively. I know they have some injuries right now, but they can't rely on that many jump shots if they are to make the playoffs. Wes Johnson, Martell Webster, Derrick Williams, Anthony Tolliver, every single one of those guys are long and athletic for their position and every single one of them relies on jumpers. The only other team that shoots that many jumpers is the OKC Thunder, except they shoot them with guys named Durant and Westbrook. BIG difference.

Overall I had a blast, I loved going to the game, and loved even more that Gabe had such a good time. There are only a handful of games left this season, but I see a future of a few Timberwolves games next year, and I can't wait.

Over

The first ever blog retraction-Ricky Rubio edition

This is a first for the Short Hops blog, the "I made a mistake post". Back in June I posted this article; Ricky Rubio-Savior? outlining, in detail all of the reasons I thought Ricky Rubio would be a bust. 8 months later I'm not ready to anoint him as the second coming of Magic, or even John Stockton, but those guys are Hall-of-Famers. Right now, Rubio has been very, very good, and even though the Linsanity, Jeremy Lin has taken his point guard spotlight, Rubio has been the best point guard rookie of the season. That includes, #1 pick Kyrie Irving, who is scoring more, but not playing better.

In my article I asserted that Rubio isn't that great of a shooter and ultimately teams would just play way off him and force him to try and score. Even though teams SHOULD be doing that, because he's an abysmal shooter (38% from the 2 point range, 32% from 3) so far they have not been able to. The thing that has impressed me the most about Rubio so far is his change of pace ability to be able to sneak into the lane, and at the very least draw fouls. More than anything though, he has absolutely energized his teammates, the fans, and the franchise. I'm taking my son to a game in March, and I'm honestly looking forward to seeing Rubio more than any other player.

I will still reserve judgement on his top 5 pick status, as 31 games is still an extremely small sample size, but right now he's looking pretty darn good. And if you really want to see how fun a player he can be, check out the Rookie/Sophmore game this weekend during All-Star weekend. Normally those games are terrible, but when you get an up-tempo game, with a point guard that sees everything, you are going to see two things; some incredible passes, and at least one guy get hit in the head with one of those incredible passes because he's not used to playing with a pass first point guard. So, to you Ricky, I'm very sorry I thought you would suck, I was wrong. Now work on your shooting....please.

The Curious Case of Ben Roethlisberger

I'm a die hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Always have been, always will be. I love the team unequivocally, I love what the franchise stands for, and I love the history of the franchise. Typically when you have the type of love that I have a for sports team, that means you also love all of their players, 100%, no questions asked. Unfortunately, for me, that's not the case. Ben Roethlisberger is the quarterback for the Steelers, and there is no questioning his supreme talent on the field. The problem with Ben is, he's an A-1 idiot (riding his motorcycle without a helmet), notorious asshole (SI ran an article last year from multiple sources in Pittsburgh about being a bad teammate and person) and more than anything a douchebag (repeated accusations from women of at best being horribly disrespected, at worst, sexually assaulted). All in all, it's not like this is some giant moral dilemma, I have the ability to separate the on field from the off field, and although I root for Ben to perform well on Sundays and lead the Steelers to victory, I don't wear his jersey, and you will never hear me tell my son and daughter how great he is. That type of praise is reserved for Troy Polamalu, who is a tremendous player AND person.

But then, something like last night happened. For those who didn't see the game against Cleveland last night, Rothelisberger suffered a gruesome leg injury in the first half. His lower leg was bent an angle that the human leg is never supposed to achieve, and on the broadcast there was speculation it could be a broken leg. He left the game, on a golf cart, and was shown limping very, very badly into the locker room. It was extremely safe to assume that he was done for the night, and worse yet, maybe multiple games. When the second half started though, there was Roethlisberger warming up, and gutting it out. He played the second half, in what was obvious pain, played admirably and led the team to a win. I don't harbor any illusions that playing in extreme pain all of a sudden makes Ben an angel, but I have to admit, on a personal level last night was the first time I was rooting not only for the Steelers, but I was rooting for Ben. I wanted to see him succeed, I wanted to see him be glorious, I wanted to LIKE him. I just don't understand how a guy who when not in uniform has demonstrated such tremendous acts of selfishness, continues to act so selflessly on the field. Plenty of athletes across all sports play through pain and adversity, Roethlisberger does it 90% of the time.* His on field play and demeanor is in direct opposition to his off field persona. None of this means that I ordered a number 7 jersey today, but I have to admit his on field performances are starting to influence my feelings towards him, something I vowed I would never let happen. I will never condone his past actions and behaviors, they are deplorable and despicable, but I do hope that now off the field he starts to transform his personal character and reach the same heights that he has on the field.

*Quick Note on players playing hurt. All you commentators, writers, bloggers, pundits, whatever, stop referring to athletes, any athlete as 'warrior' or 'soldier', or even really 'hero' These adjectives should be reserved for the men and women of this country who serve in our military branches. Those people only. No matter how impressive it is for someone to play on a severely injured leg, it pales in comparison to the man or woman who leaves their family, friends and homes behind to sacrifice for this country, and risk their lives doing it. Athletes should be applauded and celebrated for their efforts and achievements, but please keep them in perspective.