I received an e-mail from a former colleague and long-term reader of these rants asking why he no longer received e-mail notifications for posted rants. I explained the demise of my old computer and the loss of that mail list and that he could easily “return” to the notification list now that I had his e-mail address once again. However, there was another portion of his note to me that was pertinent:
“Knowing that you do not keep abreast of happenings in the celebrity world, you might not yet know that Bruce Jenner is in the process of becoming a woman. It has been a while since he was an ‘athlete in the news’ but surely this announcement is worthy of curmudgeonly note.”
Actually, I did know about Jenner’s gender-alteration decision prior to receiving that e-mail. I had not commented specifically because it has been almost 40 years since Bruce Jenner was “sports-world relevant”; and to be blunt, I really do not care one way or the other if he lives his life as a man or a woman or a Klingon. However, note that he voluntarily married into the quartet of Kardashian women and has remained in that social status for about 20 years. With that fact established, how can anyone be surprised by any decision he might make?
Atlanta Falcons’ owner, Arthur Blank announced that the Falcons had piped in artificial crowd noise during Falcons’ home games over the past several seasons. The NFL had an ongoing investigation into this matter and Blank announced that he had received new information from an “internal source” confirming to him that the team had done this in violation of league rules. Blank said he would put a stop to it and that this is not the kind of thing he wants his team to be known for and that he will accept whatever punishment the NFL hands down in this matter. Good for him…
I cannot, however, allow that situation to pass without noting that the extra noise piped into the home stadium did not do the Falcons a whole lot of good in 2013 or 2014. Over those 2 seasons, the Falcons’ cumulative record was 10-22.
As you surely realize, I did not watch all of the pre-game hype for the Super Bowl game last Sunday and so I cannot be sure this did not happen. However, I did not see any mention of this during the two-week “game analysis-fest” leading up to Sunday, and so I wonder how this comparison escaped scrutiny:
In the conference championship games leading up to the Super Bowl, both the Seahawks and the Patriots completed passes to offensive tackles who had declared themselves as eligible receivers. So how come no one “broke down the film” to determine which offensive tackle had the better skills as a pass receiver in a trick play scenario? It would seem to me that ESPN could have devoted an entire segment to the different footwork and stride lengths of these two guys – not to mention their hands. Call it a missed opportunity…
One more Super Bowl related comment… Bob Molinaro of the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot had this to say about the game winning interception by the Patriots:
“Great escape: Amazing that Russell Wilson is receiving virtually zero blame for the Interception Heard Round the World. I’m not making him out to be the goat, but had his pass been lower and not so far in front of Ricardo Lockette, it’s less likely the ball would have been picked off. Some guys get – maybe earn – special treatment after they make a crucial mistake. Fair enough. But if Tony Romo had turned the ball over at the goal line like that in the Super Bowl, he’d be assuming a false identity and moving to Latvia.”
FIFA will hold an election later this year; Sepp Blatter’s term is due to expire. Blatter will run for re-election and there have been a couple of folks who have said they will run against him but no one seems to have taken seriously the possibility that FIFA will have new leadership any time soon. Nevertheless, a super-star from the world of soccer has recently announced that he too will seek the FIFA Presidency. Luis Figo played for the Portuguese National Team and was the FIFA Player of the Year in 2001. He is well known in the world of soccer.
Figo has made no secret regarding the reason he is running for the office. He believes the image of FIFA – and by extension the image of futbol – is tarnished by the myriad scandals that always seem to encircle the sport. He says the sport needs major change in governance and transparency and those changes can only come by way of a change in leadership.
While I tend to agree with Sr. Figo regarding the need for improved governance and transparency in FIFA, I suspect that he will remain another dark-horse in a race that is Blatter’s to lose. The election is in late May of this year. Given FIFA proclivities in the past, I wonder if the total votes cast will exceed the number of eligible voters…
During a home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, three Toronto Maple Leaf’s fans took off their Leaf’s jerseys and threw them on the ice. They were arrested (charged with engaging in some prohibited activity that is not clear to me) and banned from the arena for a year. I guess I do not understand the basis for all of this.
The Maple Leafs have not been a championship level team in quite a while; their last Stanley Cup championship happened in 1967. Obviously, if these fans had Maple Leaf’s jerseys to throw on the ice, they were hardcore fans and as hardcore fans if they were still allowed to come to games, they would likely buy themselves a new Leaf’s jersey. Seems to me like a marketing opportunity missed…
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………