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What a stunning turn of events that have transpired over the last 24 hours.
The spotlight is finally off of Bill Belichick and "SpyGate" and it's now on Gregg Williams, Sean Payton and "BountyGate".
In short, the Saints allegedly had a system that rewarded players for "knock out" hits, and "cart off hits", and even had a special bounty placed on Kurt Warner and Brett Favre during their Super Bowl run.
The man behind implementing this system is speculated to be Jonathan Vilma, who personally placed a $10,000 bounty on Brett Favre in the NFC Championship game back in 2009. Gregg Williams, the former defensive coordinator of the Saints up until this past year knew about this entire system that was being maintained in the Saints locker room.
I'm not interested in getting any deeper, as you get the jist of what went on in New Orleans for the past few years. Just knowing that this system existed within a locker room, and was CONDONED by their defensive coordinator sickens me.
Whenever a wide receiver comes across the middle and gets popped by the safety, the crowd lets out a collective "Ohhh!" until they see he is lying on the floor motionless, and that "Ohhh!" turns into an "Oh no...". These are the type of shots that are now penalized in games, and they are trying to eliminate from the game completely through fines and suspensions to those who deliver the hits.
Safety.
It's what Roger Goodell has preached over his tenure as commissioner. It's what the Saints disregarded as an entire defense.
The most scary injury I have ever seen on a football field was when Austin Collie got nailed over the middle by Kurt Coleman in 2010 game against the Eagles. I saw this injury on live TV, and I still get chills down by spine even as I see the replay today. His arms were frozen above his motionless body. When you see the hit he took, you would think he would never play football again. Thankfully Collie did return to the NFL, but just to think the Saints were gunning to do this to people is sickening.
Another thing I just simply cannot wrap my mind around is how it went on under Sean Payton's watchful eye. To me, Sean Payton is one of the most likable coaches in the NFL. He roots for his players, he's a little bit of a 'rah-rah' guy, but he showed his own toughness this year by coaching through a severe knee injury. I want to believe Payton knew nothing of this system, but I find it very hard to convince myself of this. Surely in the coming days and weeks we will have comments from Payton on this situation, and anything up until that point is pure speculation. However, if Payton knew about this system and did nothing, I would have to assume his job would be in jeopardy.
I personally hope Roger Goodell brings the hammer down on Williams, the Saints organization, Sean Payton, and the players involved. Especially Jonathan Vilma. If Vilma had no problem forking over $10,000 for Brett Favre's head, he should have no problem paying what is sure to be a record fine for a player if these allegations are true. Draft picks will be taken, suspensions will be given, fines will be imposed. This will be the harshest penalty ever given out due to a specific incident. For good reason.
I'm never one to get excited over All Star games. Personally, I'm more intrigued in who makes the rosters as opposed to the game itself. The game is meant to be fun, but many times it turns into a pathetic, half hearted defensive showing. After what was probably the most uninteresting and lifeless football game ever played, commissioner Roger Goodell has said he is considering cancelling the Pro Bowl if it does not become more competitive. Should these All Star games be competitive? Absolutely. Should they be competitive to the point where these athletes risk injury? Certainly not.
I'll start with the NFL, which puts its employees at most risk for injury during its games. Goodell wants the game to be exciting, as do the fans, analysts, media, etc. Do you think the owners of the 32 teams in the NFL really want their most talented players to be giving their all in a game that doesn't mean anything? I certainly wouldn't. Thankfully, there have never been many injuries in the Pro Bowl, due to the fact that players are barely trying. I have no problem with this, as the players just want to get through those three hours unharmed. Cancelling the Pro Bowl would not do any harm to the NFL whatsoever. They generate enough revenue during the regular season, and having one less game cannot hurt. It's one thing to see the the best players in the world on one field, and it's an entirely different thing seeing those players play at 100% effort. Unfortunately, we will never see the latter, but for good reason.
My take on the NBA and NHL are very similar to the one I have on the NFL. Can these leagues do without the games? Yes, but why would they? The NBA All Star game is one of the most exciting to watch, as some of the dunks, passes and overall plays in the game are ridiculous. The skills competitions on the night prior to the game make for entertaining television, with the exception of the Slam Dunk contest (LeBron, are you listening?). The NHL All Star game is very entertaining as well. These games are more exciting to watch simply because the risk of injury is not as high as it is in football.
The MLB Mid-Summer Classic is the cream of the crop when it comes to All-Star festivities. The Home Run Derby is always entertaining. Heck, I even watch the celebrity softball game to get a few laughs. The game itself though is always close, always competitive, and above all, it actually means something! Many disagreed with Bud Selig's decision to have the All Star game determine who gets home field advantage in the World Series, but I'm a fan of the idea. Of course, only two teams from each league will benefit from it, and some teams are out of the race before the All Star break even rolls around, but it makes the game slightly more intense. Be honest, who isn't interested in seeing the inevitable matchup between Roy Halladay and Albert Pujols when the first week of July rolls around? Again, this All Star game is entertaining for the sole fact that effort in baseball rarely results in injury. That is why the MLB All Star game will always be the most entertaining.
As fans, we have to respect the players and their decisions when it comes to the effort put forth in these games. None of these guys want to suffer a season ending injury in a game that is supposed to be strictly for fun. It's an honor for each individual player to be named to an All-Star team, and the majority of them appreciate the support they receive from the fans of their sport. We should all try to enjoy these games (with the exception of the Pro Bowl, that needs to get better, fast) and marvel at how much talent is in the same place at the same time.
We have things in sports such as "The Catch", "The Decision", well, I'm going to dub this whole situation "The Appeal".
You probably know deal; Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun wins MVP, Braun learns he has tested positive for some type of banned substance and is facing a 50-game suspension, Braun appeals the ruling as most players would, and now Braun wins the appeal. This is the first appeal of a positive drug test result that has been overturned by the MLB's arbitrator, Shyam Das. It's unfortunate that such a big name will forever have an asterisk next to his name, especially when it comes time to evaluate Braun for the Hall of Fame. I'm not saying Braun is a sure-fire Hall of Famer if he did not fail this drug test, but he was well on his way.
Yesterday and this morning when I was listening to the local sports radio station, everybody was in agreement that Braun was let off on a technicality. I was one of those people. But after listening to what Braun had to say along with some thought on this matter, I'm switching sides. Here's why:
The person who collected the urine sample from Braun did not ship out the sample immediately, like he should have. Instead, there was a huge hiatus (I think Braun said 44 hours to be exact) between the time the test was conducted to the time the sample was shipped via FedEx.
Braun was told that his testosterone levels were three times the normal level, and were the highest that were ever seen from one of these type of tests.
Do you see where I'm going here?
First off, why would the person who conducted the test think it would be a good idea to keep somebodies urine in their refrigerator for 44 hours? Second, the process by which these tests are conducted are laid out and set in stone. If they are not followed step by step, the test could mean nothing, much like in this case.
For those of you who actually watched the Braun press conference, you can't tell me you didn't think at one point "He was set up" or "That wasn't his urine sample", or something close to that. Let's look back to when the test was actually conducted. If you're Ryan Braun, and let's say you were thinking about taking a substance that was banned, wouldn't you want to know exactly what the drug does to you? If one of the side effects of the drug were increased testosterone levels, don't you think Ryan would have known that would show up in a urine test, thus triggering his positive test? It's just common sense. The only possible explanation that would work in Ryan's favor is 1) It wasn't his urine sample or 2) His sample was tampered with.
I hope the reigning MVP would've had enough sense to know what he was putting in his body, and did not knowingly take a banned substance.
Was it justified to overturn the 50 game suspension Braun was facing? Absolutely. If a procedure isn't followed correctly there's no other choice but to void the entire process. Will we ever know the truth? Probably not. Rafael Palmeiro vehemently died his steroid use, and we all know how that turned out. Many people will still say that he only got off on a technicality, which is absolutely true. Unless this goes to court, we will never know if Braun actually did test positive, or if his sample was tampered with. I'm leaning toward the latter.
Unlike yesterday's predictions, this division requires a lot less thought than the NL East. This is clearly a two horse race between the Brew Crew and the Pujols-less Cardinals. The Brewers won the division last year, with the Cards eeking into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. There are plenty of story lines to follow in this division, so let's get on with the predictions, then dive into the analysis.
NL Central
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When the calendar turns to March, that denotes the one-month mark until the MLB season begins. It has been certainly a busy offseason, and that means there may be some unfamiliar faces playing October baseball.
I'm going to assume that the MLB implements the new 10-team playoff system, having two wildcard teams from each respective league rather than the traditional one wildcard per league as we have grown accustomed to
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Hello everybody! My name is Chris and I have taken over this domain name, and the past three posts are mine. Anything before that is not my work and I do not take credit for it.
A championship can do a lot for a player. From a publicity standpoint or a monetary standpoint, a ring solidifies your place in the NFL. One of the hardest things to do for a professional athlete is to walk away from a team they have spent an entire season with, much less one that ran the table and won their respective championship. Here I will take a look at the free agent situation for the New York Giants, as some of their players are in for quite the payday whether it be from the Giants or another suitor
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What's that old saying? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I'm talking to you, Glen Sather.
Rick Nash, the winger for the Columbus Blue Jackets is the big fish to catch on the trade market this year. There always seems to be that one big name that gets moved to a contender before the trade deadline passes, and how often does that translate into a Stanley Cup victory? Almost never
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If there is one thing that really grinds my gears, it's player comparisons. Do I think LeBron is better than Kobe? I think it's unfair to both of them to compare them, because they're two different types of players. I will say this, Kobe will never be LeBron and LeBron will never be Kobe.
Did I lose you
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What a better way to start off a brand spankin' new blog than to write about the most loved, hated, scrutinized and perhaps over-hyped athlete since the savior himself, Tim Tebow. If you didn't know exactly who I was talking about after reading those adjectives, or from the hint I gave you in the title, you probably live under a rock.
Jeremy Lin
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Welcome to my Blog. I cover recent news in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and any other interesting news/factoids that may be of interest to readers. Agree with my opinions and analysis or not, I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.
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