Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Sports: Officiating, Part I

The football season ended the way a lot of seasons end with people talking about the officiating. A couple of calls and non-calls at the end of the game provided a sure-fire way for the Rams to win the game. Officiating across all the professional sports just seems to be pretty bad and no one really seems to do much about it. Nobody wants to talk about how much the officials determine the outcome of a game. Often times they are the main reason that a team wins the game. As in a previous blog, I stated that no pregame analysis ever includes, how the officials are going to do. What really determines who wins the game is the official’s competency, luck, and team ineptitude. Everyone on the outside of sports looking in, mainly the fans and media, knows that officiating is at it’s all time worst. Before we can look at ways to improve officiating, we need to look at the current state of officiating in each league.

What are the officials getting paid? They seem to be getting paid pretty well. In fact, officiating is not a bad gig to do, if you can be one of the lucky few who make it to the top. Most of this has just happened over the last twenty years but everybody is doing pretty well. The average salary of refs and officials in the various sports is around $200,000 a year. The highest paid are in the NBA, and the lowest in the NHL, but veteran officials are making well into 6 figures. Only the NFL refs do not receive a benefit package, since they are considered part time employees. We all know that the NFL refs hold down a full-time job during the week. This seems perfectly all right to the NFL, and even have shills in the press, to endorse that this is fine to have officials decide outcomes of games, with lots of other pressing issues on their minds during the week. The salaries are not all the same. The more experience and responsibility you have on the job, you will be paid more, sometimes considerably more, around twice the average league salary. The so-called better refs that do playoff games, get quite a bonus. The Super Bowl refs got a $30,000 to 50,000 bonus, and all the other leagues give $10,000 to $20,000 bonuses to work each playoff and championship series. They get travel expenses and obviously there is lots of travel. All and all, you can say that the referees and officials in pro sports are compensated quite nicely, for all the abuse that they sometimes have to take.

Then there are three factors that are all related and entwined with each other. Are professional officials, trained, do they regular go through performance reviews, and is anybody fired or demoted for incompetence or poor performance. There is very little or no training for officials in each league. What there is, is usually in the beginning of the season, and is more related to being in shape, than trying to hone judgement and refereeing skills. Obviously, none of the professional leagues thinks that practice makes perfect should apply to officials. Performance reviews are something else that is not high on the list of priorities in the various leagues. The NBA has none, and the other leagues only have periodic reviews, with baseball having most, which includes umpires going over their balls and strikes call. That leads to the not so surprising finding that hardly anyone ever gets fired or demoted for making bad calls that determine the outcomes of games. Not only do officials get paid well, but they also have job security second to none. Most of the firings, demotions and suspensions have had to with situations off the field, unrelated to job performance. There was one instance of an NFL official getting fired for missing an offside call, but that has been it. For whatever reason, the NFL just seemed to want to make an example of him. Nothing happened to ref who blew the pass interference call that most likely cost New Orleans a trip to the Super Bowl. As a general rule, leagues think that not allowing a ref or official to do post season games in the future is punishment enough.

That is the work environment of professional officiating. There are some basics that need to be changed, that could help improve officiating, which will be in part II of this blog. There is no question that officiating and umpiring games is a thankless task, where one must suffer a lot of abuse, while performing one’s duties. Instant replay was supposed to right the bad calls and it seemed like such a simple concept. Again, professional sports have screwed that up so bad, that it has become more of a pain in the ass, than what it has been worth. I am an advocate of replay and there is an easy and simple way to use replay, that does not cause the game to come to a grinding halt. Even though I think the solutions to improve officiating are quite simple, there won’t be any improvement until each league admits that it is terrible and then cares enough to do something about. That day has not arrived yet.

Posted on

Sports: Things We Will Never See Again

I have been watching and observing sports for over 60 years. Over those years many things have change in each of the major team sports. Most of these changes have been for the better. Better training, better equipment, and better playing fields have helped all the sports be more entertaining. There are some things in each sport, that will never be seen again, that made each sport unique and were outstanding athletic accomplishments. I feel sad that the younger generation of sport fans will never see these things, that were almost common, from the late 50’s, to the late 70’s. It was a different way the sport was played, that made the sport a little more fun and inspiring. Today each sport is pretty much thriving, so I don’t think any of these things will ever be seen again, even though they would help their respective sport to be better. Some will never be seen again, because the players just cannot perform the tasks anymore, and probably never will. Let’s take a look at each sport.

Baseball will never see these pitching performances ever again. Going back to 1960, on opening Don Drysdale pitched an opening day 11 inning complete game beating the Chicago Cubs 3 to 2. In the greatest pitching duel of all time Warren Spahn, 42 years old at the time, battled Juan Marichal for 16 innings, 0-0 until fittingly Willie Mays hit a home run in the bottom of the 16th, to end one of the greatest games in Major League history. Each pitcher threw well over 200 pitches. Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers, in 1971 threw 376 innings and completed 29 games. Today pitchers don’t complete 29 games in their career. The last time any pitcher threw 300 innings was Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980. This year in the American League nobody threw 200 innings. We will never see a base stealing, superior defensive and great pitching team win a World Series ever again. The Los Angeles Dodgers played in 4 World Series, won 3, from 1959 to 1966 with this type of team. This type of team will never exist in baseball again, even though that formula could still win.

Football will never see the Wishbone offense, one of the most exciting and explosive offenses in the history of college football. It had its peak in the late 60’s up until the early 80’s. The company line has been that defenses devised ways of stopping the Wishbone. In reality the NFL put the clamps on the Wishbone. The Wishbone required a quarterback who was athletic, quick and deceptive with the ball for the attack to be formidable. He had to have some throwing ability but did not have to be tall. He needed to be able to read the line of scrimmage for the Wishbone to work. This was not the prototype QB the NFL was looking for. Being the minor leagues of pro football, colleges had to start producing what the NFL wanted. Then when the pro spread offense became popular in the NFL in the 80’s, the college game just followed suit to keep the NFL happy. We will never see an NFL quarterback call all his own plays. It wasn’t by accident that in the 50’s, 60’s, and most of the 70’s the quarterback was called the field general. Every quarterback in the NFL, with exception of the Cleveland Browns, called his own plays. Rarely was a play sent in from the bench. On rare occasions, when a play would be sent in, many times it would be ignored. We will never see the two-back offense in the NFL,again. There were some historic tandems in the 60’s and 70’s. Cleveland had Jim Brown and Bobby Mitchell. The list of great running tandems can just roll off the tongue: Taylor and Hornung, Kiick and Csonka, Harris and Blier. Everybody knows who they played for. This all ended in the 80’s thanks to Bill Walsh. You could call it, the end of deception in pro football. It is the main reason you see so many 3rd, 4th and 1 yd. to go failures.

In basketball you will never really see fast break offense again. This was the most exciting basketball ever. The 60’s 70’s and 80’s was the fast break era in basketball, led by the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Today the fast break is only run when the opportunity presents itself. The 3-point shot may have something to do with this, but most of all, I think it is just an easier way to play the game, having some sort of half court set offense. Then there is hockey, God love them. You will never see players in hockey play without helmets or goalies without facemasks. In the sixties and seventies your manhood was challenged, if you thought about wearing some kind of face and head protection. Many players were either embarrassed or afraid to ask for a helmet or mask. It was not until 1979, that helmets were mandated in hockey and that was only for the new players coming in. If you did not wear a helmet up to that point, you could continue to play and get your head bashed in by another player or the puck. Hockey’s version of keeping players safe.

I feel quite fortunate that I did get to see all the things that I mentioned, that will never be seen again. The list is not complete, but it will do for now. I think that for the most part these sports have suffered, with the exception of hockey, for these things that will never be seen or done again. Yes, the athletes today, are bigger, faster, and quicker than their counterparts of times gone by. However, players in the past have done things that none of them will ever do. The athletes of today will never experience some of the tactics and strategies that had made their particular sport great.

Posted on

Meditation: Euthanasia

Euthanasia is defined as the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The practice is illegal in most countries. When I read this, I did not realize that there may be some countries that have legal euthanasia. While there are a lot of countries that have laws that allow assisted suicide, there are only 3 that have legalized euthanasia. They are Luxembourg, Norway, and Belgium, with Norway being the first to do so, in 2002. Euthanasia at first glance seems like a straightforward process. If someone is having extreme pain and suffering, and it is due to a terminal illness, then the kindest most humane thing to do would be to terminate their life. What about a person that has extreme senility due to Alzheimer disease or aging, how much pain and suffering is going on there? It doesn’t take much of one’s imagination, to see how this is a very controversial subject. Being a veterinarian, I had firsthand experience in being the administrator of drugs to euthanize dogs and cats. Over a 44-year veterinary career, I euthanized well over 5000 dogs and cats, for various reasons. Of course, it was the owners of these animals that made the final decision, sometimes with or without my guidance. Even though euthanasia in theory sounds like a kind and gentle thing to do, I would not support making human euthanasia legal. Let’s look more closely at my experience in veterinary medicine.

This is just one veterinarian’s opinion, when it came to the decision-making process of putting their beloved pet to sleep, I grouped people into three areas. I felt 50% of people euthanized their pet too soon, 25% waited too long, and 25% did it at the right time. This did not include people that put their pet to sleep for non-medical reasons. Some of these reasons I felt were legitimate, like financial restraints, the owner not being able to take care of the dog, and the owner’s death, where the owner wanted the pet euthanized, rather than go to another home or shelter. Sometimes, and fortunately, this did not happen often, but the reason would be rather ridiculous. I would have somebody want to put their pet to sleep because it had fleas, or they were moving, or the kids, who wanted the dog in the first place, had moved out, and would not take the dog. Naturally, I would refuse these requests, even knowing that another veterinarian might do it, or they would just take the pet to a shelter. I did not include people that because of the religious beliefs, would not euthanize a pet under any circumstances. Most people would come to the decision to euthanize their pet too soon. They came to this decision for various reasons. They overestimated how much the pet is suffering. If the dog or cat is eating and drinking and seemingly moving around ok, and still enjoys interactions with the owner, then the pet must not be doing too badly. I think that some people just got tired of taking care of the pet’s problem, or it may have become too costly. These people agonized over their decision but decided to euthanize, when the pet probably had at least a few good months left. I know some people waited too long for the simple fact they could not bring themselves to do it, until it became unbearable to see the condition that the pet was in. Here is the main reason I think that euthanasia can be sometimes, just too convenient. Over the years of practice, I saw many clients with their pets, that other veterinarians had recommended euthanasia. In well over 80% of those cases through a more thorough examination and tests, and relatively inexpensive treatments, those animals’ lives were prolonged at least 1 year or more. The quality of life for those pets were from good to excellent. In my view a year is very significant when you are talking about a dog or cat. There was no question in my mind that euthanasia was taking the easy way out for those veterinarians.

Now I know euthanasia for humans is different than what it is in veterinary medicine. The biggest is that a person is making the decision for his or herself. That does not mean however, that other people cannot be an influence on that decision. Relatives and close family members could put undue pressure on someone that they feel is having extreme pain and suffering. The opposite could be true where family members could influence a person to continue the pain and suffering, just because they do not want to lose them forever. There is no question that deciding to end one’s life can be extremely difficult but should be made with no outside influence whatsoever, other than the person’s physician. Each and every case is so unique, that it is impossible to make some general recommendation on when it is time euthanize an individual. I have watched many people agonize over that decision, when it comes to their pets, and that decision may have lifelong consequences. Those consequences may be even more so, when a loved one is involved. It does seem like a great way to alleviate much pain and suffering, and maybe someday, as a society we might progress where that decision will be allowed to be made solely by the individual involved. I do not think we have reached that point yet. We should allow the natural progression of disease take place, until that day comes.

Posted on

Sports: How to Blow a Lead, NFL Championship Weekend

The Super Bowl is set, with the Cincinnati Bengal to go up against the L. A. Rams. Both games followed a similar pattern, with the Chiefs and the 49er’s blowing leads in both games. The Chiefs were ahead by 11 at the half, and the 49ers had a 10-point lead going into the 4th quarter. The Chiefs made one of the biggest bonehead plays in the history of the playoffs, and the 49ers had a total meltdown in the 4th quarter. Before we get to the specifics of the games, there was one thing that was very clear. The powers to be of the NFL made the decision to let the boys play, baby, let the boys play. These two games had more non calls than any two games this year. First of all, the most popular penalty in the NFL, holding, on plays from the line of scrimmage, was called only once in both games and it was declined. In the KC game, there were two pass interference penalties that weren’t called against the Chiefs. A solid hit out of bounds by the Bengals was not called. A couple of face masks calls were missed on both sides, and an intentional grounding by Mahomes was not called. Things got even worse in the SF game. Two helmet to helmet calls were ignored, a late hit on Samuels was ignored, and LA should have been flagged twice for delay of game, but instead was allowed to go ahead with the play. I think the non-calls were balanced, so I do not think any team got a major advantage, but it was obvious the NFL did not want these games to be penalty filled. I think this did contribute to the low number of sacks in each game. Burrows was sacked the most, 4 times but compared to last week’s number of 9 sacks, this had to be a walk in the park. The Rams did not even get a sack but did come up with a big pressure and game sealing interception in the end. These lack of calls in both games were not a coincidence, and I guess that is one way to run a game, just let the players beat the crap out of one another. So much for player safety.

The Bengal game boiled down to one of the biggest bonehead plays at the end of the first half by the KC Chiefs. With 5 secs to go in the half- and no-time outs, and the ball on the Bengals one yard line, the Chiefs elected to do one more play, rather than get the sure 3 points. The decision was ok, but the execution of the play, by one of the premier quarterbacks in game was horrendous and wound up costing the Chiefs the game. He did not throw the ball into the endzone but threw to Tyrek Hill at about the 2-yard line and he was immediately tackled in the field of play, which ended the first half and no score by the Chiefs. The lack of three points cost the Chiefs the game. If they had kicked that field goal, then the field goal at the end of the game would have won the game, rather than just send the game into overtime. Both head coach Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes seem contrite about the play. Reid said he PROBABLY gave Mahomes the wrong play and Mahomes said he got greedy. Nobody mentioned the word stupid, brainless, or moronic, that kept the Chiefs from scoring any points at the end of the first half. It also had to give the Bengals a much-needed psychological lift. All the other plays that did affect the outcome of this game, seemed minor when compared with that bonehead play. The Bengal are Superbowl bound, and I have to admit, Joe Burrows is about as impressive as they come, in only his second NFL season.

The Ram-49er game came down to a monumental collapse by the 49er’s. The Rams came back but the 49ers handed it to them on a silver platter. After the Rams cut the lead to 17-14, the 49ers got the ball 3 more times. The first time, they moved the ball to the LA 45-yard line, where they had a 2nd and 1 for a first down. Like so many teams, they could not make that yard in two plays and then did not have enough guts to go for it on 4th down. The next time they got the ball the score was tied 17-17. This time the SF offense wound up getting a delay of game penalty, sandwiched around 3 terrible incomplete passes. Their last possession, they got the ball trailing 20-17 with 1:46 remaining in the game. Three plays later, after losing 3 yards on the first 2 plays, Jimmy Garoppolo threw the game ending interception, just trying to get rid of the ball. Before all of that, the 49ers caught a kick-off that would have either gone out of bounds or into the endzone, had a taunting penalty, an interception drop, that was more like catching a punt, and an obvious helmet to helmet hit, all of which, would ensure the Rams comeback would not be in vain. The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Franscisco 49ers turned blowing a lead into an art form. An art form that cost them both, a chance to play in the Super Bowl.

Posted on

Meditation: Emotion

Emotion is a very complex feeling. It is something that has been hard to define. Looking at various dictionaries here are some of the attempts. Merriam-Webster defines emotion as a conscious mental reaction subjectively experienced as a strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body. Freedictionary. com states that emotion is an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness. Volitional means making a conscious choice, rather than an emotional choice. The Cambridge Dictionary simply states that it is a strong feeling like love or anger or any strong feeling in general. In most circles being “emotional” is considered a bad trait. People have a tendency to think that feelings and emotions are the same, but basically it is emotions, that lead to feelings. Emotions and feelings arise in different parts of the brain. Another way of putting it is that emotions are aroused before feelings. You could write a blog, or even a book on just trying to define and explain emotions. What is more interesting is how people and mental health experts feel about emotions.

There is a general consensus that we should try, and hide are emotions, most of the time. Crying, particularly by men, and even more so if the man is a leader, is considered a sign of weakness by some. Is there somewhere that we could see, where some part of our society has become more emotional over the last 20 to 30 years, and the effects that that may have had. You do not have to look very far to find that that has happened in the world of sports. Players today, show more emotion, than any time in history. It used to be, that teams and players would only show a lot of emotion when they scored a touchdown or even waited until the game was over. Now players are fist pumping, bat flipping, dancing, and going through extreme gyrations, just when they make a good play. It doesn’t seem to make any difference, when it takes place during the game, or what the score is, players will show their emotions when they make a good or great play. Even coaches on the sidelines are getting into the act by running up and down the field, clapping, fist pumping, exhorting the crowd, and showing every level of emotion during the game. The stoic, stone-faced coach is a dying breed. Has showing all this emotion been bad or good for all of these sports. You can find opinions on both sides of the question, on how all this emotional behavior has affected sports. If you google “being emotional” you will find sites that take a positive spin on being emotional and some trying to give advice on how to stop being so emotional. When people talk about the positive things of being so emotional, they feel that being emotional can help you be more aware of your own and other people’s feelings. The negative spin of being emotional, is that most of time, the emotional person becomes a big pain in the ass. There is no question in my mind, that people are showing more emotion in public, than they have in the past. I think it goes a long with people’s desire to discuss their dirty past, so to speak, in a public forum. Quite frankly I don’t see any good coming from that. Is there a best way of dealing with our emotions?

There is no question that emotions need to be acknowledged and treated kindly. Emotions should not be judged, or need to be justified. The feelings these emotions create need to be examined, and an attempt made to see what their root cause is. Emotions are just another sign, that the inward journey is the most important one you can take. Certain overwhelming, catastrophic, and unexpected events, may cause emotions that cannot or should not be repressed. In the normal, day to day events in life, we need to find a way to deal with the emotions, that could be detrimental to ourselves, and those around us. Relaxed deep breathing is an excellent method to deal with unwanted or detrimental emotions. This can allow you to get over the situation that is causing these emotions, and then you can express these emotions when you are alone, or with one other person. Expressing emotions when you are by yourself, should be just as effective and more positive, than expressing them in a situation where harm may be done. Caring and being emotional can seem to go hand in hand. Many times, the thing that you care about can be harmed if you become emotional in certain situations. You have to take the emotion out of the situation, if you want to make clear and precise decisions. Emotions never should be repressed. You must know when the proper time is to show them and express them. The inward journey can help.

Posted on

Sports: Not So Home Sweet Home

The divisional playoff games more than made up for a not so wild card weekend, the week before. All four games ended with a field goal, winning the game in the first 3 games, and sending the 4th game into overtime. My game deciding factors went 4 for 4 in deciding who should win the game. I did not fare as well, thinking that the home team would win all four games. The home team in fact would have lost all 4 games, if the Buffalo Bills would have not blown the game in the last 13 seconds. Even though all four games ended similarly, each day’s games had their own identity. Saturday’s games were defensive struggles, and Sunday’s games were closer to offensive shootouts. Let’s delve into each game as they happened this weekend.

The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the No. 1 seed Tennessee Titans 19-16 with a field goal on the last play of the game. Tennessee had only 3 deciding points in the game. One I considered luck the interception that was held up by replay. I considered it luck because it could have gone either way. If it had been called an incomplete pass on the field, I am sure that it would have held up also. Cincinnati had two incompetent plays, the kick catch interference and one significant dropped pass. Cincinnati had 7 deciding points to help them win the game. Luck when a delay of game penalty nullified a sack. An officiating blunder when they missed a Cincinnati false start that the Bengals had a big gain on. Tennessee had 5 incompetent plays that aided in the Cincinnati win. Two critical dropped passes and the biggest in the 4 quarter when they could not make 1 yard, on two plays, around the Cincinnati 30-yard line. Then, there was what I called the bizarre double blunder, in the first half when Cincinnati had too many men on the field on the extra point, following Tennessee’s first touchdown, blunder number one. This moved the ball to the one-yard line. The Titans then decided to go for two points, which they did not make, blunder number 2. Assuming that they would have made the extra point, which would have given them the lead, this strange sequence actually contributed to Cincinnati winning the game.

The San Francisco 49’s beat the other no. 1 seed, the Green Bay Packers, 13 to 10 on a game ending field goal. The officials and luck had very little to do with the 49er win. This was all about the Green Bay Packer’s incompetence. They made 8 bonehead plays ranging from dropped balls, blocked field goals, false starts and the biggest, a blocked punt that led to the only SF touchdown. Then we are going to give a whole game incompetent award, to Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur. He seems to be more interested in revving up the crowd, than paying attention to what is going on in the game. The early fumble by the Packers, that stopped their second drive, when it seemed like Green Bay was having their way with 49er defense, should have been challenged. It was a lot closer to being an incomplete pass than it looked, and it would not have hurt to challenge such a big play. They might have lost, but I have looked at that play over and over again, and the tight end barely got to the third step, and he was in the process of transferring the ball when he was hit. I am not saying that it would have been overturned, but it was worth a shot in my view. LaFleur was probably too busy thinking about when it would be a good time to try and fire up the crowd again. The 49ers only made 4 blunders which helped the Packers stay in a game, that the Packers had no intention of winning.

Speaking of having no intention of winning the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Bucs made that into an art form. The announcers gave the impression that the Rams did everything they could to lose the game, but in reality, the Bucs did more to make sure that they would lose. Some luck and the officials did play a role in this game, to some degree. Tampa Bay was recipient of a very close replay reversal that cost the Rams another first half touchdown, when they were dominating the game. L. A. was fortunate, when a late hit was barely after the play, which would have allowed Tampa Bay to keep the ball deep in L. A. territory. Tampa’s incompetent plays included 2 kickoffs out of bounds, 3 Un sportsman like conduct penalties, 2 dropped passes, and allowing the best receiver in football to run free downfield to set up the winning field goal. Besides all of that, Tampa Bay did not take advantage of all of the Ram’s miscues. In the game deciding plays, the Rams had an eleven to seven lead over the Buccaneers, which of course contributed mightily to their narrow 30-27 victory over Tampa Bay.

By far the best game of the weekend was the Kansas City Chief’s overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills 42-36. This was the lowest of the game deciding plays with Kansas City having a 5 to 3 edge over Buffalo. Both teams played well with very few incompetent plays until that fateful 13 secs at the end of the game. The first mistake that the Bills made, is they did not make the Chiefs field the kickoff. I would have kicked a ball high and hoped it would have come down around the 10-to-15-yard line. Any kind of return would have taken at least 4 to 5 secs off the clock. The Bills called a time out just before each play, that the Chiefs ran in that final 13 seconds. You have to wonder, what in hell, were they talking about. Were they getting ready for overtime? Did they not realize that a field goal would tie the game? They should have had much tighter coverage on the receivers and not allowed them to run, after the catch. The bottom line was, the Kansas City Chiefs went 49 yards, in about 10 seconds, to kick the tying field goal. Then they took the opening drive, in overtime, down the field to score the winning touchdown. Josh Allen threw a go-ahead touchdown pass with 13 seconds to go in the game and lost the game without ever taking the field again. It was one of the best football games of all time, but it was an ugly collapse of the Buffalo Bills defense and their brain trust.

Some final thoughts about the games, in general. If I am an offensive or defensive coordinator, I am going to work on these two things in the off season. Come up with a way to consistently make one yard. Tennessee could not do it 3 times and it cost them the football game. There were many other examples, this weekend of teams failing to make a yard. Find a way to stop the two-minute offense. Kansas City and Buffalo failed miserably at doing this, and they are not alone. Next week will be what I consider the final two football games of the year. The winners will go to the Super Bowl, but as you all know I do not consider the Super Bowl a football game, more of a 3-ring circus.

Posted on

Sports: Not Such a Wild, Wild Card Weekend

I don’t watch a lot of pro football, but with snow everywhere, I decided to partake of all 6 Wild Card games this past weekend. After watching all 6 playoff games, I still find pro football a bit of a bore when compared with the college game. I am amazed at the low level of play, at the top of the sport. Of the 6 games only two would be called competitive. The Cincinnati-Oakland game although close, could have been considered a cure for insomnia. Cincinnati did everything they could to try and keep their playoff losing streak alive, but Oakland went above and beyond, to make sure that the Bengals would win the game. The other game that had some doubt in it until end, was the Dallas-San Franscisco game. Dak Prescott will time 14 seconds, 3 times a day every day, until the season begins in September. Dallas made all kind of excuses for why they called that play, but the bottom line is this, two shots from the 40-yard line are better than 0 shots. The other 4 games were blowouts with Tampa Bay’s 15-point win very misleading as they were in no danger of losing that game. We are down to 8 teams, and all the home teams are favored. These 4 games will be analyzed to death by numerous networks, so I am not going there. Despite these in depth over the top discussions of these games, I feel there will be three aspects of the games, that will not be discussed, and in my view will decide the games. The three things won’t be discussed because they make the game look bad on various levels, and the powers to be never like to talk about this.

First, is what I call the incompetent plays. In the wild card games, these plays were too numerous to count. In general, I call incompetent plays anything ranging from dropped balls, idiotic penalties, blown coverages, presnap penalties and just very bad plays. The worst of the weekend was Kyler Murray’s under handed heave from his own endzone that gave a touchdown to the L. A. Rams. Speaking of Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, if they ever want to get a championship ring, they better go up to Canada. They don’t have the physical tools to lead a team to the Super Bowl. You had better come to grips with that, Arizona and Cleveland. You will find these plays in high numbers in just about every game of professional football, more so than in any other professional sport. The team that makes the least of these plays will win the game.

Next, is just plain old-fashioned luck. I have discussed luck when it comes to sports in a previous blog. When a player makes an incompetent play, we are not going put that under the luck heading, because that is in the player’s control to make the catch. Luck is when the ball bounces in the right direction for one team and the wrong direction for the other team. Some fumbles recoveries or lack of recovery are a result of luck. A deflected pass that is intercepted has to be considered lucky. There are other examples of luck but again the team that gets the most breaks so to speak will most likely win the game.

Finally, is the officiating. Even with replay, the NFL by far, have the worst officials. No one, of course, is allowed to say a discouraging word about any of these buffoons. Where they are at their worse, is in calling penalties that don’t happen, and not calling penalties that do happen. What is really sad, is most of their calls are really straight forward. There are no decisions they have to be made in a blink of an eye, like in baseball and basketball. Instant replay bails them out in other aspects of the game, as they miss fumbles, players going out or staying in bounds, and where to spot the friggin ball. Their decisions have a major impact on the result of the game, and sometimes the wrong team wins because of their inadequacies.

How are we going to evaluate all of this, to see if this corresponds to who wins the game? When any of the above happens, we are going award one or two points to the team that benefits. If it is considered a big play resulting directly to a score for the benefitting team then they will be awarded 2 points. For all other plays 1 point will be awarded to the benefitting team. When it comes to presnap penalties, it will be decided if this affected the team’s ability to make a first down. The team with the most points should win the game. I will be watching all 4 Divisional Games and see how this system works with the “top 8” teams in football playing. In my view these are the things that determine who wins and who loses pro football games. I only have 14 seconds to finish this blog, so l think the most important factor in this weekend games will be

Posted on

Sports: Things I Would Like to See Happen, but I Know Won’t

The 4 major professional team sports and the one individual sport, golf, are all looking fairly good right now, with everyone raking in a lot of cash. But the games themselves seemed to be bogged down in non-action, that are long drawn-out events. There are things I would like to see change in each and every one of them. I would like to see some big changes in some sports and some tweaks to other sports. These changes would streamline a lot of the games, and some would make the games more exciting. Some of these things will seem pretty bizarre at first, but at least give them some thought, before you write them off as some deranged old man’s delusions. One thing I am not delusional about is that none of these suggestions are going to happen. There would need to be a lot of desperation in a particular sport, for any of the things I am going to propose to come to pass. Let’s face it, the resistance to real change in any organization is extremely high. I am going to include hockey, which you know I don’t consider a sport, but I have to, in order to make the changes in the game I want. Let us begin.

I would like to see the foot removed from football. At least, 90% of the foot removed from football, anyway. I would eliminate the kickoff and the punt from the game. The start of the game would open from the teams own 30-yard line. They would have to make a first down in 4 downs or less and failure to do so would result in them having to give the ball over on downs, in other words, no punting. Let’s face it, the kick-off and the punt are the 2 most boring plays in today’s football game. Every once in a while, you will see a good return, or a blocked punt, but they are few a far between. The fear of injury has taken these plays out of the game. The best way to eliminate injuries from these plays, is to stop punting, and kicking off. We will still allow field goals, and extra points to be part of the game. Let’s change the timeout rules to 6 a game and not 3 a half. If a team preserves their time outs and scores with let’s say a minute to go, trails by one score, and has 5 timeouts, then the other team gets the ball at their own 30, and they have to make a first down, or the other team will get the ball back around the opponents 35-yard line. By eliminated the punt and kick-off, it puts a whole new light on the game, and trying to protect a lead. The game will become a lot more exciting with no punting. Now, a new way to eliminate ties, which has been a hot subject lately, with the way the NFL season just ended. If a team is trailing by 3 points and there is under 2 minutes to go, they must score a touchdown, no field goal allowed. If a team is trailing by 7 and scores a touchdown with less than 2 minutes to go, then they must go for a 2-point conversion. The only lead that would be vulnerable to a tie would be 6. A team could score a touchdown and then miss the extra point, which would result in a tie. Another way to help end the tie game, would be to continue the game if the score is tied. In other words, no clock would be used if the game is tied late. If a team is around the 50 late in the game the game would just continue until somebody scored. No more kneeling to send a game into overtime. All of these things would just about eliminate the tie game, and there would be no need for the traditional overtime game. Football without the punt or kick-off would be a much better game.

I have written about this before, but in baseball, something has to be done about the foul ball. There is nothing more boring or time consuming, than to see a batter foul off, pitch after pitch after pitch, with pitch counts reaching well over 10, on one batter. I feel the best thing is to simply say 3 fouls and you are out. I also feel that we only need 3 balls for a walk. That would limit all at bats to 7 pitches max. That, and using the pitch clock would speed the game up immensely. The game has slowed down to a snail’s pace. Another idea would be to not allow the batter to step out of the box between pitches. Also, why does the manager have to go out to make a pitching change. Just signal from the dugout and let the guy come in. I think we need to extend the rule to 5 batters that a pitcher must face when he enters the game, unless he gets the last out of the inning. The game needs to speed up, end of story.

Hockey the game I like but the sport I hate, could do one thing to make their game become Americanized. Simply eliminate the offside rule. This would increase goal scoring at an unbelievable rate and let’s face it the American sports fan loves scoring. The more points the merrier. Hockey games that would routinely reach double digits would fill arenas everywhere. What would the NBA look like, if that was a rule, where the player could not go past half court before the ball. It would look a little ridiculous just like hockey does now, with players having to race back out of the zone to get back on side. Let’s see a totally different look to that game on skates.

Pro basketball probably needs the least tinkering with, since it is a fast-paced exciting game already, with plenty of scoring, thanks to the 3-point shot and players that can make them often. The only thing I would suggest is to put in a 4-point line about 10 feet outside the 3-point line. The 4-point shot would make for even more exciting finishes. The only thing I wish about basketball is that the fast break would come back to the game. No one really pushes the ball up the court anymore, like they did in the 60’s, 70’s, and most of the 80’s. It was a thing of beauty, to watch those Celtic and Laker teams, run the break so well. We will probably never see that again.

Finally, we come to my beloved game of golf. There is no question golf needs an enforceable shot clock. The amount of time these players take to figure out a shot is pretty bizarre. This is another sport where the pace of play has slowed even more than baseball. Golf has never been that fast of a game to begin with. Jack Nicklaus was always being criticized for being a slow player, especially over the amount of time he stood over a ball or putt before he hit it. Today’s player, with the way they discuss each shot and look over the putts from every angle, make Jack Nicklaus look like a speed demon. The clock should start when the player reaches his ball and is his turn to hit. On putts the clock should start the second he puts his ball down after he marks it. The time should be set at about 60% of whatever the average time is now to hit a shot or putt. After much complaining, I am sure the players would get use to it. Failure to get the shot off in the proper time would result in a one stroke penalty.

There you have it, the changes I would make in games, that I watch and play. I think the games would be more entertaining with the changes I have suggested and would create a lot more interest in those games. There would be a lot more action rather than inaction. I know none of this will ever happen, but it is nice to dream about games that would be more streamline and entertaining to the fans that pay the big bucks, that contribute heavily to the success of all sports leagues.

Posted on

Meditation: The Scary Inward Journey

Meditation has been around for centuries, and there are many benefits from meditating. If you google the benefits of meditation, you will find an almost endless list. First there is the 12 science-based benefits. Science based is a popular term now. The benefits are, reduces stress, controls anxiety, promotes emotional heatlh, enhances self-awareness, lengthens attention span, may reduce age related memory loss, can generate kindness, may help fight addictions, improves sleep, helps control pain, can decrease blood pressure, and last but certainly not least, accessible anywhere. Whew, I am exhausted already. Something called the EOC Institute (I’m not sure what EOC stands for) but they are in San Franscisco, say there are 141 benefits to meditation. Needless to say, I am not going to list them. There are other sites that will tell you the benefits of meditation, with the numbers ranging from 6 to 12. Some are into the word science based, while other sites will use the term surprising, when referring to the benefits of meditation. So, if there are so many benefits to meditation, why don’t more people meditate? Even a meditator like myself, really does not believe that meditation can have that many benefits. So, it is no wonder people that don’t meditate are skeptical. There are a lot of opinions of why people don’t meditate, found on the web. Those sites are also into numbers, like 5, 9, and 10 reasons people do not meditate. I was surprised that no one had 141 reasons people don’t meditate, because I bet there are. After reading about 10 articles, on why people don’t meditate, there seems to be a consensus of about 5 or 6 things that keep people from meditating. They range from not enough time, too difficult, being associated with spiritualism and religion, I could never do it, and I think it is just plain stupid.

None of the articles covered the reason that I think that people do not meditate, or if they start, they suddenly quit, and never really get back to doing it. One of the benefits listed above was enhanced self-awareness. This is the big stumbling block when it comes to meditation. Getting to know yourself, like you have never known yourself before can be very scary. The fear of knowing who you really might be, and facing some of your not so good qualities, can be quite traumatic. Fear is the most powerful emotion known to man. When fear is defined, it is always outward forces, that are defined as fearful. What happens when the source of your fear is you? There are many things that a person may not be proud of, or want to forget, rather than have them explained. We have all made decisions that may have affected other people badly, that really did not need to happen, but did because of our actions. There are always things that we feel we should or could do better. Everyone needs to take that inward journey in order to face and resolve issues, that have been caused by unwanted behavior and emotions, that have originated from within. Anytime, we have done things in the past, that were not very kind, we have tried to rationalize that behavior, by blaming someone else’s actions. There is no question, when you meditate you cannot escape yourself. You will get very close to exploring some of that behavior, but you will pull back out of fear, to keep from learning what kind of person you are. That fear may keep you from ever meditating again. Does this explain why people never even start to meditate. Yes, I think it does. Even though you do not meditate, or maybe have no intention of meditating, you still can not totally escape what you know to be true, deep down in your inner sanctum. For people that do meditate, and have faced their inner being head on, and continue to nurture and be kind to themselves, despite their faults, are the ones who can be kind to their fellow man as well. Even though meditation is a simple and easy process to do, and really takes only 20 minutes per day, it still takes lots of courage and guts to face and love the real you.

Posted on

Sports: Only in NCAA College Football

Tonight, starts the Championship weekend in college football, when Oregon plays Utah in the Pac 12 Championship game. There are 4 other Power 5 Championship games and the AAC Championship game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Houston Cougars, which has playoff significance. Before we get to the, only in NCAA football, part of this blog, let’s look at the current playoff standings. The top ten from top to bottom are Georgia, Michigan, Alabama, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Mississippi, Baylor, and Oregon. Ohio State and Mississippi do not play this weekend and have little or no chance of getting into the top four. Notre Dame does not play either this weekend, but could move into the top four, depending on the outcomes of the championship games. It basically boils down to 8 teams for 4 spots. From here on in we will refer to this happening only in college football, leaving out the NCAA part, even though we know this is all their responsibility.

Only in college football would a major conference champion not have a shot at the national title. There are no Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the top 10 with Pitt being the highest ranked at no.15. There is no scenario that will put either Pitt or Wake Forest in the final four. It is very possible that as many as 3 conference champions will not have a chance at a national championship and remote possibility that only one conference champion will be in the top 4. If Alabama beats Georgia, and all the underdogs win, Alabama will most likely be the only conference champion in. College football really knows how to devalue a conference championship. Even if Oregon would win big against Utah, they have only a very slim chance of getting into the playoffs. At minimum two conference champions will not get in.

When it gets down to playoff time, other sports love the saying, it’s time to win or go home. Only in college football does that saying get changed to win and go home. This could easily happen to the Cincinnati Bearcats. If they have a real nail biter against Houston and win, and Oklahoma State wins big against Baylor, they could easily move up to the fourth spot, and push Cincinnati right out the door. Let’s face it, the pressure on Cincinnati this week is enormous on all fronts. To make the final four would be historic for a non-Power 5 Conference team. Their coach, Luke Fickell is being considered for many top coaching jobs, and there can be no movement on that until Cincinnati is out of playoff contention. It would be one of the great coaching accomplishments of all time, if Cincinnati wins the National Championship. Let’s hope if they win, they’re in, will come true. I am not too sure in the crazy college football world, that this is going to happen. On the other side of the coin, Georgia can lose, and still be in the top 4. I do not even think there is a number they could lose by, that would throw them out of the playoffs, even though I think there should be. If Alabama wins by 21 or more, which is highly unlikely, would that be enough to make the SEC prejudiced committee, remove them from the top 4. My guess is no.

Only in college football could not playing to make the playoffs be a good thing. Notre Dame, who refuses to join a football conference, does not need to have many things go right for them to make the playoffs. If Alabama loses that may be all that is needed. If Cincinnati and Oklahoma State do not look good winning, and again you could only write something like this when discussing college football, this would only solidify their position. The final four would then be Georgia Michigan Notre Dame and the toss up would be between Oklahoma State and Cincinnati, instead of Notre Dame being in the toss up equation. All Notre Dame is going to do this weekend, is to watch football just like I am. Unless there is total chaos, Notre Dame chances of playing for a title should be as remote as the other teams not playing this weekend.

Only in college football would people wonder, what is going to happen if there is total chaos. In any other sport, Iowa, Baylor, Oregon and Pitt/Wake Forest would be in the playoffs and playing for a national title if they won this weekend. The only team that might sneak in, would be Oregon, with other three teams having no chance at all. If that scenario happens then Alabama might lose and still get in, with the way the committee thinks. The above results are very unlikely to happen, but if by some chance it does, the four teams that do get in, will only get in, because it can only happen in college football. It’s a shame, because college football is one of the most entertaining team sports to watch. it is much more fun to watch than the pro game. It is a shame that the NCAA does nothing to help it out and makes a mockery of the playoff system. It is a sad commentary when the best thing you can say about the college football playoff system is that it is better than nothing. Despite that, I will enjoy the games this weekend, with a secret hope for chaos, just to see what happens in the goofy world of committee football.