To Bruce Arians: Screw You

I wanted to be polite in the headline, but I won't hold back from using vulgarities in the body of this post.

Let me get the harsh words out of the way first:

Fuck you, Bruce Arians.

Your ignorant comments, made public in a video you did with Peter King for The MMQB, called people who won't their kids play tackle football "fools."

I take offense to being called a "fool" for making a decision related to the long term health and safety of my son.

From the Washington Post article quoted above:

There Are No More Mid-Majors

There were several levels of madness on Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show. There was the fact that the bracket announcement dragged on longer than the final 45 minutes of the movie Titanic.

There was the absurd comedy of Charles Barkley mashing a touchscreen and failing miserably.

Charles Barkley with a touchscreen is your uncle trying a tablet for the first time pic.twitter.com/Q6pRbNLOho

— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) March 13, 2016

There was the fact that Turner Sports continues to shoehorn Barkley and Kenny Smith into the NCAA Tournament. I like Kenny and Charles, and think that they produce amusing, fun television on Inside the NBA. But that’s their lane; that’s where they are supposed to be experts. They don’t follow enough college basketball (or couldn’t possibly) know enough about college basketball because of their regular gig. Turner/CBS should just use CBB folks for the tournament studio coverage.

And who can forget the bracket leaking on Twitter. That person, well, as someone else tweeted on Sunday:

So there was a lot to mock and snark on. However, one of the major storylines that came out of the selection show is not something to laugh at.

It was the declaration by the selection committee that the gulf between the haves and have nots continues to grow.

Le “mid major” is dead. Vive le power school.

Bowing Out of Sports Media

Over the Christmas break, I made a decision.

I decided that when the new year started, I was going to reduce my consumption of sports media. It was just supposed to be an experiment. I had no real plan except to try and read less, listen less and watch less.

It's been a little over a month since I started this, and I have to say...well...this might move from an experiment into a permanent change.

I have more time on my hands to read and write.

I have more time to tend to things around the house.

I also feel...more at peace with the world.

Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't

Serena Williams was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman (or Sportsperson) of the year.

It is still an honor—even if the sports media landscape is much more crowded now than it was when the magazine and the award were created.

Of course, because of a plurality of opinions and opinion makers, there are no shortage of HOT and lukewarm takes available on this topic.

Let us leave aside the concept of a "Horse" winning Sportsman of the year for a second. Yes, the horse accomplished something that literally had not been accomplished in my lifetime before this year. However:

1) Even the horse that many would regard as the greatest of all time, Secretariat, didn't win the award the year he won the Triple Crown, and;

2) It's a horse

With that being said, I wanted to focus on a particular aspect of the coverage surrounding Serena.

It has to do with what some people thought of the cover photo.

It's here, at the top of this piece, in part because there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

On Hot Takes...

from www.sportspickle.com

Came across this tweet. It includes a screen shot of something Clay Travis wrote. (Again, I refuse to actually link to any of his work. You can find it by using the search engine of your choice.)

A thoroughly enjoyable bit of sports media criticism from @ClayTravisBGID: https://t.co/O2YWbnP7Ev pic.twitter.com/KUR478Kb7n

— Jamie Mottram (@JamieMottram) November 5, 2015

I think Clay doesn't understand what a "hot take" actually is.

A hot take is not "a fresh opinion about what America is talking about based on something that recently happened".

A hot take is a bullshit, illogical, nonsensical opinion based on something that recently happened.

It is a specious argument.

It is an idea that only has a gossamer-thin relation to any kind of reality.

A well-reasoned opinion piece during breaking news is not a hot take.

A well-research and sourced article is not a hot take.

Throwing up a bunch of bullshit moralizing? That's a hot take.

So write about current topics all you want. That's not the issue.

The issue is when you say stupid, indefensible things that are lacking in any substance.

That's a hot take, Clay.

Do better.

On Grantland and Sports Media By Way of Food

I was on vacation at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park when I learned about the demise of Grantland via Twitter.

My first reaction was shock. My second reaction was, well, this: 

This was my first thought. Good people got the axe today. Bayless and SAS will be on air Mon. w/o fail. https://t.co/AoNt9aZFbK

— Dave Singleton (@dfsingleton) October 30, 2015

But as I continued on throughout the day, and as some of the eulogies and takedowns have rolled in, I've become somewhat introspective (as I am wont to do).

The main takeaway I've gathered from the demise of Grantland is this:

I don't necessarily think I want to work full-time in sports media anymore.

Every now and then, I've had the itch and I've managed to scratch it in some ways. I do part-time work here on my own site (where I have the pleasure of being able to write whenever I please and whatever I please) and on The Student Section. I've written at Crystal Ball Run, Southern Pigskin, Rock M Nation and at Bleacher Report in the days when that was considered to be a punchline instead of an opportunity. I started on a site way back in the day called E-Sports Media Group.

I dabbled in a couple of podcasts on here, and did semi-regular spots on ESPN Radio in Coastal Georgia. I have been grateful for all of those opportunities.

And yes, during a couple of bouts of (extended) unemployment from my vocation, I probably could have better seized opportunities to turn this sports media avocation into a new career.

The time for that has come and gone, I believe. Some of it because of my age and the fact that I feel it is too late to really break into the game.

Some of it is because of a lack of confidence.

Some of it is plain old frustration with the state of things.

Miami Hurricanes Should Look Forward, Not Backwards

44 is not 64.

When Butch Davis took the Miami Hurricanes job back in January 1995, he was 43 years old and coming off of back-to-back Super Bowl victories as the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys.

It was a different time and a different era.

With the termination of Al Golden, the job at "The U" has come open again. There has been...a rumbling? A groundswell? A casual mention? The correct words fail.

Anyway, let's just say that there has been mention of bringing back Butch Davis from his cable television exile, and 15 years away from South Florida, to coach Miami again.

Which begs this question: Why is he qualified?

The Aim of Targeting Needs Further Examination

Trying to limit helmet to helmet collision is a good thing in theory....

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

It’s an old proverb or aphorism. One way to interpret it is that even though an idea may look good or may have a noble intention, it can have unforeseen negative consequences.

The current approach to targeting in collegiate football is a prime example of this aphorism in action.

The spirit of the rule is, without question, a positive thing. Yes, football is a collision sport, with bodies flying around at an impressive rate of speed. Given the spate of head injuries, and the idea of CTE being a real thing that can affect lifespan and quality of life after playing days are over, doing something to minimize major concussions is a good thing.

However, when the idea of trying to minimize injury is affecting the on-field product, well, that is troubling.

This is one isolated instance from a game two weeks ago. The Michigan defender was blocked into the Michigan State quarterback who was lying on his back. Their helmets met facemask to facemask. Granted, Michigan State partisans will say that he was intentional in how he landed on Connor Cook; it appears to have been an accident. Upon review, the targeting call stood and the Michigan player was ejected.

Here is a video from 2014 showing a couple of accurate calls in conjunction with an absolutely awful application of the rule to a Clemson player.

Now, this is not to say that player safety is not important. That is not the case I am making at all.

(Although to be fair, there is just as much damage done from sub-concussive blows as from large, "He got blowed up!" kinds of hits. There is still more research to be done, obviously, but the issues related to head trauma from collision and contact sports seems to be taking more of cumulative effect approach.)

The initial rule was a personal foul penalty and an ejection. Upon review the ejection could be rescinded but not the penalty. That was changed a couple of seasons ago to allow for the rescinding of the penalty and the ejection. Which was a move in the right direction for sure.

However there still seems to be too much gray area and subjectivity as to what is targeting or not targeting. (Much like what is a catch or not. But that's another blog post.)

I would prefer it being two personal fouls and you're done for that game.

Or another option would be a point system like with technical fouls in the NBA. Let's say that your first targeting that's upheld is a 15 yard penalty. Second one is a penalty and you miss the balance of that game (no carryover). If you get popped for a third in a season you miss the rest of that game AND all of the next game.

It's not perfect, and it's a plan that needs ironing out. Maybe, though, it could serve as a jumping off point to revise how the rule is applied.

PODCAST: The Final Timeout Episode 2

In this epsiode of the Final Timeout, Dave talks about the bad blood between Kliff Kingsbury and Bret Bielema, why the Big Ten doesn't seem to understand a good football program, and expresses his fondness for LSU fans.

PODCAST: The Final Timeout

A lot has happened over the last couple of days, and so I decided to try and use some of my skills to cover everything.

So let me introduce the inaugural "The Final Timeout" podcast.

I decided to start by discussing Kyle Flood's suspension, SMU's reviewing of prospective student athletes' social media accounts, and the termination of Steve Patterson as AD at Texas.

Enjoy!

This is Not Coaching

I don't write fast because, as my banner says, I prefer to avoid "hot sports takes," especially when something controversial has erupted. 

So when the video above started to go viral on Twitter on Saturday, my first inclination was to write about how awful this was. Was Florida coach Jim McElwain right to snap on running back Kelvin Taylor? 

Then I came across this:

Damn Mac went off. pic.twitter.com/VrOGX8vxJC

— Anthony. (@StrikeTwiceTB) September 13, 2015

and all of a sudden, I needed to say a few words.

This isn't coaching. At least not from my understanding of it.

When Is It Too Early To Go All-In?

Fascinating work by Matthew Stanmyre of NJ.com on a feature about a high school freshman, Josh McKenzie, and his life training for sports.

The lede is great:

He is 15 years old, 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds of cartoonish muscles on top of muscles. He had six-pack abs when he was 6. Today, he bench-presses one-and-a-half times his body weight and can leap from a standing position to the top of a car. He averages four touchdowns per game and hasn't lost a wrestling match since 2012, making him the nation's top-ranked football player and wrestler for his grade. And even though he doesn't begin high school for another two weeks, he already is one of the most talked about athletes in New Jersey.

And the story is off and away.

His uncle took Josh and his older brother, Matt, in to help them out because their mother (his sister) had a drug and alcohol problem. I get that. It's a lovely story and demonstrates a kind heart.

That's not the problem I have with the situation.

It's all of the money being spent on the training and coaching and nutritionists and wearing a "Darth Vader" like mask to restrict breathing while training and hanging upside down on a table in search of an elusive three inches so Josh reaches a magical height of six feet.

It leads me to ask the questions:

How much is too much?

When should all-in begin?