Colin Cowherd Would Rather Blow Out His Nonexistent Brain Than His Knee. OK.

Colin Cowherd is slime.

His reptilian, repugnant, race baiting and elitist approach to sports radio has been document multiple places multiple times (just go hit Google to find the list too long for me to link directly to).

But today’s commentary on what New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski said during an interview on Jim Rome’s show on Showtime was too much.

Gronk basically said that he would rather suffer a knee injury or a concussion. Gronk’s response was, well, telling:

“[S]o if we’re sitting here and I had choose would I want a concussion right now or my knee blown out, I’m going to say a concussion. Why would I want to sit there for eight months and not do anything, when with a concussion I’ll just wake up and I’ll be ready to go again.”

Thank you Dr. Gronkowski.

Cowherd—that noted M.D., PhD and scholar—waded into the discussion as well. Some of his choice quotes were:

Make Sure You Fit As A Coach

Lots of jokes have been made about Larry Brown’s wandering eye.

Yahoo’s Pat Forde called Bobby Petrino “The Disingenuous Drifter” at one point for interviewing for job after job after job.

I even wrote a piece commenting on Mike Anderson leaving Missouri for Arkansas and mentioned the numerous flirtations he had racked up during his tenure in Columbia.

And each time the coaching carousel spins in college sports, the conversation about what is a good job/great job/best job in college football or basketball comes up.

I would not wish the itinerant wandering by most of the coaches upon anyone. Looking at the work histories of some longtime assistant coaches is enough to make you feel for them and their families, and the lack of roots somewhere is horrifying in many respects. It’s a hard life, no matter how much they may be compensated for the experience.

Unfinished Products Expected to be Great

I don’t know about you, but I know that I was not fully formed as a professional entering my field when I was 21. Hell, when I was 21 I was actually still in school getting the preparation I needed to become a professional in my chosen occupation.

Even at 31, I was not a fully developed professional; I still made a lot of mistakes.

Today as I am in the midst of the first week at a new job, at the tender age of 36 on the cusp of turning 37…I am still learning and growing and changing.

I know, I know. I am in the field of education and not in the field of professional athletics. Believe me, I am made aware of that fact each and every day as I look at my bank account and my car.

I still feel, though, that the point in my lede stands: expecting someone to be a fully developed, fully formed professional when one is barely old enough to drink in most circumstances is ludicrous.

Yet when it comes to professional sports, and football in particular, that ludicrous notion seems to be the expected norm.

Dodd-ering Through the Impotent Rage of the Spurned Sportswriter

I’ve been amused by the idea that a certain member of the sports media felt entitled to an interview by an NFL player and took to Twitter very pissed off that he was denied the interview by the athlete.

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports got salty for no reason after Aaron Rodgers declined his request for an interview. The entitlement that dripped from Dodd’s series of tweets was somewhere in the neighborhoods of amusing, sad and pathetic.

What got to me, though, was the fact that Dodd also seemed to be pissed off that Rodgers was on the floor for the celebration and then had the audacity to not want to speak to Dodd, someone who thinks of himself as a kingmaker, apparently, because he writes about people who play games for their education/vocation.

A Fever Dream Leads to a Return

I tossed and turned.

I was finding it difficult to get comfortable, as all these thoughts kept running through my head.

A quote from William Shakespeare: "It is a tale told by an idiot/full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" is followed by a video clip of Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith shouting vile, nonsenical things at each other.

An adage: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than speak and remove all doubt" is followed by images of the clickbait written by Clay Travis.

A quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective Sherlock Holmes: "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts" is followed by the sound of Colin Cowherd's nasal whine spewing forth all kinds of utter nonsense.

The swirling noise forced me to sit up and assess some things.

Why is it that those who yell the loudest these days get the attention that quieter, more competent people cannot? All the racebaiting and women hating drives eyeballs and ears to the televisions and the web. Traffic is king, I guess.

Trolling is easy and lazy to do. Make an outlandish outrageous statement and voíla-instant fame. 

I guess I want more. I guess I expect more. 

Can I bring more to the table? I don't know. But in this space I hope to accomplish more by shedding light on inane statements and nonsenical theories that seem to be circulating relatively unopposed. 

I won't be able to cover everything; I am only one person who has a family and a full-time job. And there is a lot of noise out there.

But by golly, we will try. 

Oh, no. Not another new blog

Oh, yes. It's true.

I've decided to take a different tack with the writing I am doing about college sports. I have put the label of the Pigskin Pundit to rest for the foreseeable future.

It has been interesting over the last five years to have spent time here. I only wish I had committed to it more. But sometimes, life happens and you just have to ride it out.

Feel free to visit me over on my new home on the web: Seventh Year Senior

NFL Draft Prospect Michael Sam Comes Out

Image courtesy of http://www.hrc.org/



Sometimes when you're laid up sick for a few days, and the weekend is rapidly coming to a close, you don't have time to pay attention to things that might be going on in the world. I was too busy getting caught up on the cleaning I couldn't do on Saturday, trying (and failing) to have my kid finish his book report for Thursday, and generally attempting to cram two days worth of errands into a small window.

So imagine my surprise when I hopped in my car this afternoon and heard the breaking news that former Missouri Tiger football player, All-American and SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Michael Sam was gay.

Unbelievable.

Not that a gay football player is unbelievable; we know they exist. But to have one be so bold, so upfront, so honest...and before he is drafted into the NFL no less.

That's what is unbelievable.

The timing is crucial, and it does matter, as Cyd Zeigler points out in this behind the scenes story for Outsports.com. The fact that Sam was not out but not necessarily hiding deep in the closet either led to internet speculation and the story about his sexual orientation was not going to hold as long as they would have liked.

So the timetable was accelerated, and here we are on February 9, facing a bit of history.

The big question is: Now what?

On Caleb Hannan and his Dr. V. story

A piece went up recently on the ESPN/Bill Simmons site Grantland. Titled "Dr. V's Magical Putter" it was ostensibly a piece about a piece of golf equipment that, while unusual in appearance, seemed to work wonders for those who needed to improve their short game.

The writer, a freelancer from Denver named Caleb Hannan, wrote the long piece that started out as what looked like a personal essay about discovering this putter. Then...it went in a different direction.

As John Stansberry (of Lonely Tailgater) put it:

I don't think Bill Simmons pays a lick of attention to what goes up on Grantland. But if he does, Dr. V’s Magical Putter shoulda been nixed.
— Lonely Tailgater (@LonelyTailgater) January 18, 2014

Hard to argue with him upon further reading.

I want to point you towards a post by author Maria Dahvana Headley. Don't tell me it's too long; didn't read. Read the whole damn thing. Because it is by far one of the best things you're going to read about this situation.

My own thoughts? Well, there's this: Overall, I found the piece to be in desperate need of editing. I felt that the piece was too focused in on the writer and his thoughts/emotions/feelings throughout the duration of the article. It was an exercise in self-indulgence; too inwardly focused.

Now, maybe that inward focus is what led to my biggest issue with the article: the callous disregard of the person who ultimately became the true subject of the piece—Dr. Vanderbilt herself.

Grambling Strike: My thoughts



My eyes can't stop looking at the shoulder pads.

There are other bad images if you watch the ESPN video story on the Grambling Football Team's strike this past week. The floor tiles in the weight room coming up. The mildew on the walls and the ceiling tiles in the locker room.

But I can't stop looking at the shoulder pads.

Those are touching someone's body every day.

In a letter to the athletic department (that was obtained by Pedro Gomez of ESPN) the football players outlined exactly what they believe was wrong with the current state of affairs. Among their concerns were:

Maybe Officials Aren't The Problem

I am still trying to wrap my head around exactly what happened at the end of the Arizona State/Wisconsin game on Saturday night. I made an attempt to do so in my impromptu game recap (since I thought I was done writing before that hot mess ensued) so I don't want to waste time going through things again here.

I do, however, want to expand on something that has been kicking around my head for a while now. It's more attuned to something I think about when I hear fans and/or media bitching about blown calls or teams getting jobbed or robbed.

I feel that we, in sports, have unrealistic expectations of everyone involved.

We expect and demand perfection at a level that I do not think is realistic.

Now, before you start to dismiss this line of thinking out of hand, my college team was involved in two of the more controversial finishes in history (video of said finishes after the jump):

Jason Collins's Coming Out is a Step in the Right Direction

 



Jason Collins came out as gay today. It's not very often that a career NBA journeyman (best season: 2004-05 with the New Jersey Nets, when he averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 80 games played) can make news that causes you to go, "What?"

But that's what I did when I heard on the radio this morning that Collins had written a beautiful first person piece for Sports Illustrated.

Over the course of the day, I've tried to think about where this ranks. Is this a big deal, small deal, or no deal at all?

It can't be no deal. Collins is the first active athlete in one of the three major league team sports in the United States to come out. That means something.

He's not a superstar or an indispensible cog; he's a bench player. He only played in 38 games this past season. That's a lot of DNP-CDs. He is 34 years old and is a free-agent come July 1, so he might have been a long shot to make a roster in the NBA next season anyway.

The natural inclination is to say that this is a small deal, but it would have meant more if, say, a superstar NFL player were to come out—someone who was a household name from coast to coast. That's what would cause a greater commotion. That would have more significance.

Hogwash.

Even the little earthquakes can have great meaning.

Even the smallest breaking down of the closet door in the lockerroom can have a lasting impact.

The Orioles and MLB Should Tell the NFL to Shut Up

The overinflated ego of the National Football League is rearing its typically ugly head again, asking for nonsense that it has no business asking about.

The issue at hand is that the NFL has had its Super Bowl Champion play on Thursday nights to open the season since 2004. It's been less than ten years; it's not like the Masters or even the Kentucky Derby in its association with this midweek opening.

Last year, the New York Giants opened their season on a Wednesday night because of the Democratic National Convention. The convention wasn't taking place in New York, by the way; it was in Charlotte. But okay, fine. A move for politics makes sense so it doesn't take attention away from the business of the country. I guess.

But this year, the NFL wants the Baltimore Orioles to move their Thursday game against the Chicago White Sox (September 5) to a day game because the NFL wants to put the season opener featuring the Ravens on Thursday night. Wednesday is not available because it is the start of Rosh Hashanah.

The crux of the problem is that the two teams share a parking lot due to the proximity of the two stadiums. Here's a view of M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens) and Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Orioles):

 

Julia Robertson/AP Photo



The joint parking lot makes it impossible to have games at both fields. The religious holiday precludes the NFL from putting the game on Wednesday. The Orioles have night games scheduled Friday and Saturday as well.

So why is the NFL set on having the game on Thursday move?

Why not ask to have Friday or Saturday moved?

Or, better yet: Why not just play the damn game Sunday night?!

NFL, you do remember Sunday night, right? It's where you have your signature game every other freaking week of the regular season? You know...THAT night!

Oh, and guess what? The Orioles have a day game on Sunday. Starts at 1:35pm. Works perfectly.

Part of me wants to think that the NFL just doesn't seem to understand how baseball works. The Orioles and the White Sox are both coming in from playing other teams. The Orioles have a night game in Cleveland on Wednesday before they come back to Charm City. The White Sox have a shorter trip since they'll be in the Bronx playing the Yankees. Both of those games are night games.

Now, Steve Bischotti, the owner of the Ravens, has said that he is willing to make the Orioles whole, covering any lost revenue that the Orioles would incur for, you know, basically doing his team a solid and moving the game because, hey, we're the NFL team and we won the Super Bowl and you know, civic pride and blah, blah, blah NFL.

But as Katy Feeney of Major League Baseball put it to the Baltimore Sun (and she knows since she's the VP for, um, scheduling), a change of this magnitude involves more than the Orioles:

The White Sox would take a broadcast revenue hit, and the O's would take a broadcast revenue and attendance hit. And there is a baseball operations impact. Conceivably both teams could be in playoff contention, so it wouldn't be fair to them to make them play a day game after both teams played a night game and traveled the night before. We make accommodations in our scheduling in the postseason. We work with the NFL. But this was something that was brought to us as a possibility just three weeks or a month ago. We always want to work with whoever wants to work with us, but why should these teams be punished?"
 

Also, according to an ESPN.com story, there is a rule at play:

The Orioles are scheduled to play the Indians in Cleveland on Sept. 4 at 7:05 p.m. Under baseball's collective bargaining agreement, getaway games are not to be scheduled or rescheduled to start later than 5 p.m. if either club is required to travel for a day game, scheduled the next day, between cities in which the in-flight time is more than one and a half hours.

The rule can be waived by a vote by the players on the team it affects, in this case the Orioles. 

There are a lot of moving parts here. Because I think that moving the game in Cleveland would also affect the Indians, and the point about broadcast revenue being hit would affect Cleveland as well if their game was moved. So now you have three teams affected by this. The flight time from NYC to Baltimore is less than 90 minutes, so they are not affected the same way. Also, their game starts at 6:05pm so they would have an hour head start on the Orioles.

Look, I get that the NFL is supposed to be king, and that all are expected to bow down and worship the almighty shield. But this is bull of the highest order.

It's a difficult situation, and I guess that there is honor in being made to feel special by getting a primetime game. It certainly helps NBC's bottom line, since the network languishes in fifth place right now and their primetime schedule, outside of a couple of shows, needs all the help it can get.

But the NFL should not have to prop up a network's schedule. Furthermore, baseball's schedule was set and out a long time ago. The NFL schedule, outside of two games, operates on a rotational matrix; if they want to get out in front of things, you could release the schedule a helluva lot further out and have spent a LOT more time working on this. You knew the Ravens were Super Bowl champs on February 3; get on the phone February 4 with all of the potentially affected parties and start to figure out the logistics at that point to see what accommodations, if any, can or need to be made.

To come in now, though, is arrogant and preposterous. It's not quite at the "Lack of planning on YOUR part is not MY responsibility" level, but don't act like having the Super Bowl champion playing on Thursday night is some kind of sacrosant tradition that must be preserved at all costs or society is going to crumble in a heap; that the seas will start to boil and the ground will be rent asunder; that cats and dogs will start living together and mass hysteria will ensue.

Don't say, "Oh, I guess the Ravens will have to go on the road. Boo hoo hoo."

Open them at home on Sunday night against Pittsburgh. Open the Seahawks at home against the 49ers on Thursday. There's your big national television game involving one of the participants from last year's Super Bowl that will get a big number. Done.

Just don't pretend, NFL, like you don't have options. Exercise them and think about things. Stop throwing your weight around and acting like a spoiled child and get creative about solutions.