There were two reports at CBSSports.com yesterday that were ones I did not expect to see when I clicked on the website. The first report came from Will Brinson and it said that Tim Tebow has eschewed his NFL ambitions but plans to work out for MLB teams. The report cited Adam Schefter saying that Tebow has been working out/practicing/honing his baseball skills in Arizona for the past year. Tebow did play baseball successfully in high school and last played in 2005.
I am neither a “Tebow-fanboy” nor a “Tebow-hater”. I wish him well in this endeavor as a 29-year old man to take up a sport he played as a kid and to hope to make it to the top echelon of that sport while still in his athletic prime. I wish him good luck here but I am not going to wager any money on his ever making it to the big leagues.
The second report I did not expect to see yesterday comes from Dayn Perry and it said that Curt Schilling “announced” that he plans to run for the presidency in either 2020 or 2024. Jim Bunning was a Hall of Fame pitcher who had a stint in the US Senate; Wilmer ‘Vinegar Bend” Mizel was a MLB pitcher who served in the House of Representatives; there is precedence for pitchers to practice politics. Schilling’s Presidential Campaign would come after a presumably successful campaign to win an election – still unidentified – at the state or local level.
If I recall correctly, there were 22 folks who declared that they were running for President as of the time of the first party “debates” (17 Republicans and 5 Democrats). I shudder to think that Curt Schilling might be any less impressive or qualified to be President than the majority of those folks. The 2016 Presidential Campaign has proven to me that what my elementary school teachers told us is true:
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Anybody can be President of the United States.
The Philadelphia Business Journal had an item a week or so ago saying that ESPN Radio has hired Donovan McNabb to be a color analyst for NFL game broadcasts on that network. I remember watching some of McNabb’s studio work on FOX Sports and I have to say that I was underwhelmed; his comments seemed to me to be far more “platitudinous” than “insightful”; I expected more from someone who had played QB successfully in the NFL.
In a sense, this gig is a career revival opportunity for McNabb. He was fired at FOX Sports after two DUI arrests and a conviction that sent him to jail briefly. Since those events, McNabb has been contrite and admitted his wrongdoing; this assignment gives him the opportunity to restart his broadcast career. Here is some of what he had to say about that career restart:
“When you make mistakes, obviously there’s consequences with it. Obviously I’ve acknowledged the mistakes that I’ve made and I apologized for it and I know that’s not going to happen again. But when you step away from a job that you truly enjoy doing — I was working at Fox and all the other networks I was a part of after retirement — you feel that drive of continuing on. It’s sort of unfinished business for me. ESPN gave me that opportunity when other networks were there, but nervous about making that decision early on because of the scrutiny they may feel they’d get. Everyone makes mistakes. I’m so excited at getting this opportunity to work with ESPN and get back on track and get more involved in sports and being able to talk about them.”
Indeed, those are the right things to say. Now, comes the time for Donovan McNabb to be sure not to have any more “mistakes” and for him to show that he really does have a future in radio/television as a second career.
Bonne chance.
Yesterday, I said that I do not like arguments about who is the “greatest of all time” in any sport. Today, I will declare that I do not like something that is going to get me in trouble with #2 son because #2 son thinks this is one of the great innovations of modern civilizations:
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I do not like – indeed I hate – NFL Red Zone.
I am not going to do an old guy rant here – – Get off my damned lawn! – – about whippersnappers having the attention span of kittens. I recognize that many people of all ages prefer to hop around from game to game to see the big plays and the scoring plays. Indeed, if you are playing in a half-dozen fantasy football leagues, that sort of game-hopping may be of paramount interest to you. I have a different interest in watching a football game. I am not saying that my interest is better or worse than anyone else’s but it is different.
I see a football game as an ebb and flow as teams adjust to what the other team has been doing to thwart what that team has been doing successfully. I enjoy watching the game as it evolves and trying to put myself in the shoes of the offensive and defensive coordinators on both teams as they call the plays. I find that to be an essential ingredient to my enjoyment of a game and that essential ingredient cannot be found on NFL Red Zone.
Instead of feeling excited about being switched from a Steelers/Bills game to watch a 5-yard TD run in the Cowboys/Lions game, I feel angry and want to grab a remote and change back to the game I was watching. Oh, and when they now switch immediately to the Broncos/Falcons game, I am ready to throw my shoe at the TV screen…
Finally, since I am in hot water with #2 son, let me offer as a closing item something he sent to me. This is a comment from Conan O’Brien about the phenomenon known as Pokemon Go:
“The coach of Manchester United has banned all players from Playing Pokemon Go. He apparently doesn’t want any of his team distracted by a fun game where something actually happens…”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………