When I taught high school in Reno, NV, I was placed in charge of an intervention program called Double Trouble that provided help to students suffering from drug problems. I have a lot of experience recognizing kids that are using. I also know that had any of our students been charged with four DUI's, there would have been a major intervention. I appreciate what Matt Barnes said about the Kings being a family. I get it. I also get that families enable their loved ones who are abusers, covering for a drunk father, drunk mother, drunk child.There is no such thing as "keeping it in the family," as Barnes would have us believe. Doing so, is dangerous and destructive. So, the Kings better take a hard look at what's going on with Ty Lawson. It could very well be that this is a different kind of "personal" problem, but I wouldn't bet on it.
AA is the only tried, true, and time tested way for an addicted person to overcome his or her addiction. You can take that to the bank, Vlade.
I continue to be appalled that the NFL would allow the Raiders to leave Oakland. Have there ever been more loyal and enthusiastic fans? It's not the money. The $650 million Sheldon Adelson is contributing to the cost is not chump change, although he can definitely afford more. And taxing hotels does not cost the citizens of Southern Nevada bucks out of their pockets. I simply believe the whole deal is slimy. Like father like son? Big Al didn't hesitate to take the Raiders to LA when it suited his pocketbook, and return the team to Oakland when LA was no longer lucrative. So, here's the son following in his papa's footsteps. Big surprise. What the hell does the Al Davis Memorial Flame stand for anyway? Not loyalty.
Against the Chiefs, Kap looked physically strong, but mentally weak. When the arm is right, but the accuracy is off, it's all about being focused mentally. This is true of all sports in which the athlete is required to hit a target.
I posted this poem a long time ago. It is one of my favorite football poems, so here it is again,worth reading twice.
Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio by James Wright
In the Shreve High Football stadium,
I think of Polacks nursing long beers in Tiltonsville,
And gray faces of Negroes in the blast furnace at Benwood,
And the ruptured night watchman of Wheeling Steel,
Dreaming of heroes.
All the proud fathers are ashamed to go home,
Their women cluck like starved pullets,
Dying for love.
Therefore,
Their sons grow suicidally beautiful
At the beginning of October,
And gallop terribly against each other's bodies.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
Forty-Niners and etc
After watching Colin Kaepernick under perform yesterday, it occurred to me that his under performance mirrored the entire teams performance. The 49ers are not a good pro football team. They might do well against Texas A&M, but probably not against Ohio State or Alabama. Where's the talent? Where is the enthusiasm? Where is the chutzpah? Is Carlos Hyde a premier running back?
Do we have outstanding receivers? Can the offensive line protect the passer or open holes for runners? There was so much space between the defensive backs and the opponents' receivers, the at 77 years old I could have caught Alex Smith's passes. Really, I'm not kidding; this is an awful team. If Trent Balke and Chip Kelly aren't seeing this, they need magnifying glasses. I still believe Kap has what it takes, but all of a sudden he's become a "work in progress." When I read in this morning's sports page Chip Kelly responding to the question of whether Kap will be his starting QB for the next game with a "Yeah, we'll see," I almost fainted. Are you kidding me? Would you even consider putting the ball back in Blaine Gabbart's hands? Then, I thought, I wonder if Chip isn't an example of the Peter Principle. Great college coach, but over his head on the pro level.
Unlike the 49ers, the Raiders have the talent. So what is missing? Experience? Yes, they are young and need to go through the College of Hard Knocks. And perhaps, they need their coaches to supply them with some hard knocks. I always worry when a coach, on any level, is referred to as a "players' coach." The image I always get is a coach who wants to be pals with his players, which is a doomsday strategy. Give me a coach that "kicks ass" fairly and across the board, and I'll show you a coach players respect. Of course, unless the player is a weenie and a drama queen. Enough said, anybody who's ever played sports on any organized level knows the best coaches are those who hold their players to the highest standards.
It's time for Tony Romo to retire and leave his Cowboys in the capable hands of stunningly talented Dak Prescott. I have never been a Cowboy fan, but this Texas team has got everything it takes to win the Super Bowl.
Don't you love Drew Brees, passing Payton Manning's record of 15 plus 400 yard games. Makes you wonder why the Chargers traded him. Phillip Rivers for all his athleticism doesn't have that "Je n'est ce quoi" that Brees possesses.
Can't help cheering for the Sam Bradford led Minnesota Viking's, the only team in the NFL without a loss. Great come-back story for Bradford if he can keep it up. Another reason to be pulling for Bradford is that he is of Cherokee descent, one sixteenth on his dad's side from his great grandma, Susie Walking Stick, a full blood Cherokee. An NFL star Native American. You bet.
Hey, let's hear it for LeBron James, working to provide greater benefits and pension funds in the new CBA for older, retired NBA stars that were not the recipients of the great largess NBA players get today.
My pick for the Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys vs New England Patriots.
Why I Never Played Football by Tom Meschery
It's not that I lacked courage,
I was big and weighed enough to make
a decent tight end or with a little work
an offensive lineman or a fullback.
What I couldn't see myself doing
was getting dirty, playing in mud
or freezing in snow which, back then
when I was young,is what you had
to endure. Perhaps these days
with covered stadiums I'd think
differently. Still, there was bound
to be more blood playing football,
yours or somebody else's, than
playing another sport. Gold
for example.See how clean
those guys are out on the links,
how civilized in their cardigans,
in their neatly pressed trousers?
Do we have outstanding receivers? Can the offensive line protect the passer or open holes for runners? There was so much space between the defensive backs and the opponents' receivers, the at 77 years old I could have caught Alex Smith's passes. Really, I'm not kidding; this is an awful team. If Trent Balke and Chip Kelly aren't seeing this, they need magnifying glasses. I still believe Kap has what it takes, but all of a sudden he's become a "work in progress." When I read in this morning's sports page Chip Kelly responding to the question of whether Kap will be his starting QB for the next game with a "Yeah, we'll see," I almost fainted. Are you kidding me? Would you even consider putting the ball back in Blaine Gabbart's hands? Then, I thought, I wonder if Chip isn't an example of the Peter Principle. Great college coach, but over his head on the pro level.
Unlike the 49ers, the Raiders have the talent. So what is missing? Experience? Yes, they are young and need to go through the College of Hard Knocks. And perhaps, they need their coaches to supply them with some hard knocks. I always worry when a coach, on any level, is referred to as a "players' coach." The image I always get is a coach who wants to be pals with his players, which is a doomsday strategy. Give me a coach that "kicks ass" fairly and across the board, and I'll show you a coach players respect. Of course, unless the player is a weenie and a drama queen. Enough said, anybody who's ever played sports on any organized level knows the best coaches are those who hold their players to the highest standards.
It's time for Tony Romo to retire and leave his Cowboys in the capable hands of stunningly talented Dak Prescott. I have never been a Cowboy fan, but this Texas team has got everything it takes to win the Super Bowl.
Don't you love Drew Brees, passing Payton Manning's record of 15 plus 400 yard games. Makes you wonder why the Chargers traded him. Phillip Rivers for all his athleticism doesn't have that "Je n'est ce quoi" that Brees possesses.
Can't help cheering for the Sam Bradford led Minnesota Viking's, the only team in the NFL without a loss. Great come-back story for Bradford if he can keep it up. Another reason to be pulling for Bradford is that he is of Cherokee descent, one sixteenth on his dad's side from his great grandma, Susie Walking Stick, a full blood Cherokee. An NFL star Native American. You bet.
Hey, let's hear it for LeBron James, working to provide greater benefits and pension funds in the new CBA for older, retired NBA stars that were not the recipients of the great largess NBA players get today.
My pick for the Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys vs New England Patriots.
Why I Never Played Football by Tom Meschery
It's not that I lacked courage,
I was big and weighed enough to make
a decent tight end or with a little work
an offensive lineman or a fullback.
What I couldn't see myself doing
was getting dirty, playing in mud
or freezing in snow which, back then
when I was young,is what you had
to endure. Perhaps these days
with covered stadiums I'd think
differently. Still, there was bound
to be more blood playing football,
yours or somebody else's, than
playing another sport. Gold
for example.See how clean
those guys are out on the links,
how civilized in their cardigans,
in their neatly pressed trousers?
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