Rest In Peace, Jim Brown

Jim Brown died over the weekend.  He was the best football player I ever saw; I know that is a statement open to debate, but that is my opinion.  Jim Brown played 9 seasons with the Cleveland Browns between 1957 and 1965; here are some of his achievements:

• He was the Rookie of the Year, the MVP and selected to the Pro Bowl in 1957
• He was named MVP in three other seasons – – 1958, 1963 and 1965.
• He was selected to the Pro Bowl every season between 1957 and 1965.
• He led the NFL in rushing in eight of his nine seasons in the league.
• He averaged 104.3 yards per game for his career.

He retired with plenty of gas left in the tank to take up a brief career as a movie actor and then as a social activist and mentor for gang youth in SoCal.  He was a giant on the field and off the field.

Rest in peace, Jim Brown …

There is a “pox” afoot in the land and it seems to be infecting young male athletes.  It occurs at the intersection of what ought to be private behavior(s) and cell phone videos made public:

• The alleged gang rape of a minor girl involving Matt Araiza
• Auburn University suspended RB, Jarquez Hunter over a “sex tape”.
• Ja Morant waving his gun around as if it were a lollipop!

These are recent examples of “the pox”; it has been around for a while involving other athletes such as Hulk Hogan and even a few female athletes.  But the question in my mind is why these folks thought it was a good idea in the first place to engage in these private matters with other people around given that in 2023 just about every person on the planet is carrying a cell phone.

None of these folks have done anything illegal – – assuming of course that Ja Morant has registered his gun and assuming that allegations about the gang rape victim assuring participants that she was of age – – but what they did “in front of the camera” so to speak should have been done in private.  I have said before and will reiterate here:

• Sex is not a spectator sport.

Analogously, carrying a registered handgun is not a reason for public exultation.  There is a vaccine for this “pox” already in existence; it is called Common Sense; sadly, it seems to be in short supply.

Moving on …  There were no cell phone videos involved in the Trevor Bauer situation, but there were allegations made about his “rough sex encounter” with a woman.  The case became widely known and even though Bauer was never charged with a crime let alone convicted, his full year suspension from MLB cost him about $30M in lost wages.  Once the suspension was served, he was released by the LA Dodgers and no other team signed him.  So, he had to go to Japan in an attempt to re-establish his bona fides as a pitcher.  In case you were wondering how things are going for Bauer in the Land of the Rising Sun:

• In his first three starts, Bauer pitched to an ERA of 8.40
• His team, the Yokohama BayStars, sent him down to their minor league affiliate presumably to get back in the groove.
• The first batter he faced in his first minor league start hit a home run.

All is not lost, however.  That was the only run Bauer allowed in his “adjustment start” and the expectation is that he will return to his Japanese major league team soonest.

Switching gears …  There was a report at CBSSports.com saying that the NBA is considering changes to its All-Star Game.  I was encouraged by that idea since the NBA All-Star Game is a joke and this year’s contest was labeled the “worst basketball game ever played” by the Denver Nuggets’ coach, Michael Malone.  After all, the NFL eventually admitted that the Pro Bowl was a meaningless farce and gave into reality and made it a flag football game; could it be that the NBA – – widely lauded as progressive in its thinking and its marketing – – might come up with something significantly more palatable than a game where the losing team can score 170 points?

Not really.  Here is the “change” that is under consideration:

• Return to the format where players from the Eastern Conference play against players from the Western Conference.  No more playground selection of teams.

That, sports fans, is your nothing-burger of the month…

Finally, since too much of today’s rant dealt with sex let me close with this observation by William Butler Yeats which seems to agree with my observation that sex is not a spectator sport:

“I am still of the opinion that only two topics can be of the least interest to a serious and studious mood – sex and the dead.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………