Author Archives: Kent Sterling

The fix for terrible NFL officiating is to trust and empower the refs by eliminating replay

Too many flags, reviews and midfield meetings – the fix is easy but counter to current logic.

Here’s what happens when an employee every decision is second guessed – he or she works to be perfect, and perfect doesn’t exist.

That’s part of the reason officiating in the NFL continues to erode.  Replay expands to pass interference calls, and all of a sudden flags fly all over the field.  Penalties are being called 16% more this season than in any in the previous NFL season.

The logic behind replay is that technology exists to correct obvious misses, and what’s wrong with that?  Makes sense for the NFL – or any other league – to get calls as right as they can be.  But the unintended consequence is that refs strive for perfection rather than fairness.  Officiating is best when it is fair.

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The reason perfect doesn’t exist in sports officiating is that many rules are not black and white.  Pass interference rules have a lot of gray areas, and so does the catch rule.  In basketball, the block/charge calls are rarely cut and dried.

There will always be reason for argument in 50-50 calls, and because refs are human beings there will always be mistakes.  If replay is used to decide penalties for those 50-50 calls, it creates as many problems as it solves.

In large part – fans, coaches, and players are responsible for the terrible officiating in the NFL because our society has become mistake averse at a ridiculous level.  Because we can’t allow for an occasional blown call, replay is expanded and referees are vilified bad flag.  The refs as a response question themselves and become less competent.

If we want football refs to improve, eliminate replay.  If we want clarity in block/charge calls, eliminate the charge foul.  If we want a reduction in penalties, the refs need to be empowered to call the game as they see fit.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these are desperate times.  Bad officiating is threatening to ruin the enjoyment of playing and watching football.  Eliminating replay and empowering the flawed human beings who officiate may seem counter-intuitive as a solution for better officiating, but that would be the result.

Can we finally stop Idiotic multi-generational comparison debates like “Is Belichick best coach ever?”

Is Bill Belichick the best coach in NFL history. If your answer is anything but “I don’t know,” you’re wrong.

Watching the Patriots roll over the Giants on Thursday Night Football last night, I heard Joe Buck declared Bill Belichick as the greatest coach in NFL history.

How the hell does Buck know whether Belichick is a better coach today than George Halas or Curly Lambeau were in the 1920s?  Does Don Shula not merit some consideration?  What about Bill Walsh?  How about Paul Brown and Tom Landry?  The only reasonable argument is that Belichick is the best of his generation, but best of all time is a senselessly definite statement.

This morning on ESPN’s Get Up I heard Tom Brady called the greatest quarterback of all time.

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Yikes.  Every time I hear this level of hyperbole I roll my eyes and hang my head.  Buck and the Get Up crew indulged in ridiculous and unprovable statements of current day superiority over those who worked generations ago.

The most popular of these academic arguments is LeBron versus Michael.  They never played against each other and the style of play in the NBA has changed completely since Jordan retired.  How the hell can anyone project the kind of player Jordan would be today – or whether James would be as great in the 1990s.  For that matter, how can Jordan be compared to Wilt Chamberlain or Oscar Robertson?

These debates are inane.  All of them.  And we need to stop having them.  They are a crutch for talk radio and TV hosts during slow months to fill time with ear candy.  Even at bars where fans are prone to crazy conversations five hours into a bender, the argument over whether Barry Bonds is baseball’s best ever hitter is codswallop.  (Full disclosure – I looked up “nonsense” in the thesaurus and “codswallop” was my favorite of the synonyms – I have never heard that word used in a conversation or read it in a book).

There might be 10 people left alive who saw Ty Cobb swing a bat as a member of the Tigers or A’s.  A man would be nearly 90 to have seen Babe Ruth play for the Boston Braves during his final season in 1935.

Sure, we can all look at stats in any sport and make a case, but sports are about more than what can gleaned by studying stats.  Look at Yadier Molina.  His career stat line is relatively pedestrian – .282 batting average, .738 OPS, 156 home runs – but if you don’t believe he belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, you know nothing about baseball.

Is Molina a top five all-time catcher?  Oh no, I’m not baiting myself into the same conversation I’m demanding others avoid.

I would prefer those who engage in the silliness I decry would restrict themselves to talking about who their favorites are, rather than blathering about bests.  Like this:

  • My favorite pitcher is Greg Maddux.  You can argue that someone might have been better, but not that he shouldn’t be my favorite.  That designation is mine alone to bestow!
  • My favorite football player is Walter Payton.  Go ahead an tell me it should be Tom Brady.  I’ll walk away from the table, unless you offer to buy me a beer.  A close second is Gale Sayers.
  • My favorite football coach is Tony Dungy.  He won at an insane rate while being unfailingly nice, and is one of the best listeners I’ve ever met.

I could go on, but then you would just argue with me, and that is what I’m trying to stop.

NBA in China – it’s the “National” Basketball Association, but also a global brand

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is very adept at handling tough situations – like the rift between the NBA and China.

NBA stands for “National Basketball Association.”  National as in America.

The NBA is American but has done a brilliant job of building itself into a global brand.  There are 1.4 billion people in China alone.  That’s more than four times as many people living in the United States.  Many millions in China love the NBA, and the NBA owners love the Chinese because their activation as fans has swelled the value of the 30 franchises by billions of dollars.

When Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters, it kicked over the first domino in a set of events that put at risk the financial relationship the NBA has with China.

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The NBA responded to Chinese outrage by chastising Morey, and then backed off by celebrating his right to speak out while refusing to agree with his message.

This episode illustrates the difficulty in embracing the globalization of a sports brand while continuing to espouse the virtues of American values, which are at odds with cultural morays of another society – especially one as oppressive as China’s.

And if the NBA cow-tows to China in order to not risk the financial gains the league reaps because of that relationship, will it risk the support of Americans?  While Chinese cash is nice, the league cannot flourish without support at home.

What happened with the NFL when players were seen by some as un-American as they sat of kneeled during the National Anthem tested the loyalty of fans.  Regardless of the intent of the protest, many perceived the act as disrespectful.  Season tickets were cancelled and some offended fans still refuse to watch on TV.

The erosion of popularity hasn’t caused the NFL serious financial pain, but ratings are down and  empty seats dot NFL stadia on Sunday afternoons.  There is a consequence for appearing to be ungrateful for living in the United States of America.

National pride must be a factor in presenting a frivolous product like a sports league or franchise – and make no mistake, as much as we love sports our lives would continue very nicely without them.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver knows all of this, and the Morey tweet was exactly what he didn’t need as the NBA walks the fine line between behaving as a national concern and global brand.

China treats its citizens in a way we would not tolerate, but its heft as an economic resource means we need to look the other way when what many Americans see as repression is reported.

Silver is an incredibly smart guy who has overcome difficult times before – like Donald Sterling’s (no relation) racist rant – and he’ll make it past this speed bump just fine.  The NBA will continue to benefit from its relationship with the Chinese, and Americans will forget all about protesters in Hong Kong.  If not for the Morey tweet and the dust up that followed, most fans would have no idea it existed.

The Lakers and Nets are playing a preseason game in China as I write.  The brief storm that caused a rift between the NBA and China is calming by the minute.

In a week, for good or bad, no one will remember any of this.

Not-so-crazy optimism – Colts path to the AFC South title begins with game against the Texans

Dear national media – This is Jacoby Brissett, and he is going to lead the Colts to the AFC South crown.

The Indianapolis Colts are going to win the AFC South if they beat the Houston Texans on October 20th at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Sure, there are some other things that need to happen, like the Texans losing to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium this Sunday and the offensive line staying healthy, but if the Colts beat the Texans the path is clear to a division crown.

Part of the reason the Colts can be crowned in October is that the remaining schedule is filled with bottom feeders like the Broncos, Steelers, Dolphins, Titans, Bucs, and Panthers.  The Saints are the only remaining Colts opponent ranked in the NFL’s top 12, according to the utterly meaningless power rankings published as eye candy by ESPN.

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I realize I’m arguing with myself here by citing power rankings as evidence while simultaneously acknowledging their uselessness, but this is a bye week and we indulge in speculative drivel during the bye week.

National wonks continue to view the Colts through the prism of who they are not rather than who they are.  Andrew Luck’s retirement remains the defining factor for NFL media outside Indy.  Smart people here understood the Colts had two first team All-Pros last season, and Luck wasn’t among them.  The Colts locker room is defined by who still works there – not by who packed a bag 15 days before the season started.

While Jacoby Brissett is likely to never be ranked among the league’s top five quarterbacks, his skill set and personality fits this team nicely.  The Colts are built to run the football and the defense is developing its personality as a ball hawks.  Brissett needs to avoid plays that lose games more than he will be relied upon to win them.

Brissett will likely never get the respect he deserves because there is nothing sexy about him.  He’s not fast like Lamar Jackson, nor does he date hotties like Aaron Rogers.  His fingers are not adorned with six championship rings like Tom Brady.  He’s not a great quote, and because  Jacoby reps himself, super agent Drew Rosenhaus isn’t busy raising his brand value with ESPN appearances.

The Colts are a lunch pail, blue collar, team-first group that plays for one another and believes in coach Frank Reich’s mantra of working to get 1% better each day.

I know that sounds like rah-rah nonsense.  Talking about NFL players/businessmen as though they are collegians is silly.  Maybe it’s that 33 of the guys on the 53 man roster are less that three years removed from their college days that allows the Colts to attack their work with youthful exuberance.

After fighting through adversity last year to turn a 1-5 start into a 10-6 season, the Colts have found a way to get off to the kind of start that can turn a second half roll into a first round bye and home field advantage.

Maybe I’m putting the cart before the horseshoe, but this season sets up very nicely for a team that is being dismissed as irrelevant by the national experts.

 

NCAA has no business governing college academics – an education is the responsibility of the students

If we don’t trust Mark Emmert to enforce rules over athletic fairness, why trust him to govern academics for athletes?

The NCAA is getting some heat for not extending its rules and authority to include penalties for academic fraud.

There is a good reason for this.  Schools like North Carolina funneled athletes into classes that existed on paper only.  Others have tutors complete assignments for athletes who excel on the court or field but struggle in the classroom.

If the NCAA is going to trumpet a “free education” as adequate compensation for the billions of dollars football and men’s college basketball funnels to universities in the form of media deals, shoe company contracts, and ticket sales, an education should be a legitimate benefit to the student.  Right?

That makes sense.

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But let’s be honest about the NCAA – it’s much better at running championships and determining eligibility of athletes than enforcing rules.  Anyone with a functioning brain who read the testimony or perused the evidence in the corruption trials of James Gatto, Merl Code, and Christian Dawkins knows many athletes receive impermissible benefits.  Few of the dirty programs have been (or will be) punished.

How can anyone expect the association that cannot be trusted to guarantee athletic equanimity among it members to expand its oversight role to include academic fraud?

It doesn’t make sense, but there are other answers:

  • Athletes and their families to reject the recruiting overtures of schools that exploit athletes without providing a genuine education.
  • Schools with excellent academic programs unavailable to athletes should be rejected.
  • Schools with a track record of tutors completing work need to be eliminated as suitors.
  • Schools without a heritage of producing alums with meaningful degrees don’t deserve to have their calls and texts answered.

Let the buyer – or recruit – beware.

For basketball players more focused upon a pro career than a university’s academic rigors, there is the G League.  With football, there is no minor league so the options for athletes hoping to pursue a career in the NFL are limited, but there is nothing wrong with getting the best education you can while in college.

This conversation is not exclusive of the debate about SB 206 or other legislation that would prevent the NCAA from penalizing players who receive cash or considerations for endorsements or licensing of image.  Whether an athlete is on the dean’s list or has a tutor complete his work, he should be able to control and benefit from the monetization of his image.

But let’s understand what the NCAA does well and more importantly what it does not.  Imposing penalties upon schools is not in its wheelhouse, so asking it to embrace more of what it already fails at is irresponsible.

It’s not the NCAA’s job to ensure schools implant an education in its athletes’ brains.  That responsibility belongs to the athletes themselves.

Heading into the bye week, Colts are 3-2 for six great reasons

Quenton Nelson could be the first guard to win an NFL MVP award.

The Colts are 3-2 and tied for first in the AFC South after beating the Chiefs 19-13 in Kansas City last night.

No one picked the Colts to win this game.  The formerly 4-0 Chiefs were seen as an offensive dynamo the banged up Colts defense would be unable to stop.  With Malik Hooker, Clayton Geathers, Tyquan Lewis, and Darius Leonard out, how could this defense even be asked to compete?

The Chiefs were a team riding an NFL record 25-game streak of scoring 25 or more points.  The last time the Chiefs failed to score 26 or more points with Patrick Mahomes as a starter?  It had never happened.

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With Jacoby Brissett starting, the Colts have scored more than 26 points one time – the 27-24 win against the Falcons in week three.

Math was against the Colts.  But games aren’t played with a calculator.

Headed into the bye week, the Colts are in good shape for several reasons.  Here are six of them:

6 – Defensive depth makes injuries hurt less.  How many teams could lose both starting safeties and the reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and still execute against the most explosive offense in the NFL?  The Colts got it done last night with Hooker, Geathers, and Leonard on the shelf.  At one point, both starting corners were also being treating for dings.  Safeties George Odum (2nd year) and Khari Willis (rookie), and corners Rock Ya-Sin (rookie) and Quincy Wilson (3rd year) kept Mahomes from sending the Colts home with a loss.

5 – Vinatieri almost perfect since Week Two.  Games against the Chargers and Titans were a nightmare for Vinatieri, but since then he has looked like the first ballot hall of fame Colts fans have counted on for the previous 13 seasons.  His only miss over the past three games was a 57-yard attempt that had the distance but slid wide right.  Vinatieri has made all seven extra points and the seven field goals he has attempted – other than that 57-yard miss.

4 – Penalties not a problem.  Colts lead the NFL in fewest penalties (5.4) and fewest penalty yards per game  (39.8).  IU Basketball fans who were around during the Bob Knight era believe “Victory favors the team that makes the fewest mistakes.”  The Colts are definitely making fewer mistakes.  Opponents are not as fortunate against the Colts, committing 9.2 penalties per game for an average of 85.6 yards.  That’s a 45.8 yard differential.  Limiting picks and fumbles is also a strength for the Colts.  They rank fifth in fewest turnovers.

3 – Jacoby Brissett not the reason Colts lose.  He might not win a bunch of games for the run happy Colts, but neither will he lose them.  Brissett has thrown three picks this season and only once has thrown more than one in one of his 22 starts (two at Jacksonville in 2017).  Sacks were an issue for Brissett in 2017 when he led the NFL with 52.  Not any more.  Through five games this year, Brissett has gone down behind the line just six times – none in the last two games.

2 – Left side of the offensive line the best in NFL.  LT Anthony Castonzo and LG Quenton Nelson give Brissett great protection and open massive holes at multiple levels for running backs.  Both are rated among the best in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, but you don’t need ratings to see the effect these two road graters have on a game.  Just watch Nelson seek and destroy a lineman and then shift his attention to a linebacker.  When he pulls on a sweep right, defensive backs hide.

1 – Colts are running the football – as promised.  Before the season, (and before Andrew Luck’s retirement), Frank Reich pledged the Colts would be a top five running team.  After five weeks, they are second in rushing attempts and fourth in yards.  Marlon Mack is also second and fourth in the same categories.  With the game on the line, the Colts can be counted to find a way to move the chains and keep the clock running.  It ain’t sexy, but it’s damn hard to stop.

Coming up after the bye, the Colts will play four of five at home against less than stellar competition.  Houston (home), Denver (home), Pittsburgh (away), Miami (home) and Jacksonville (home) have a combined record of 7-17.

But let’s not count any chickens.

Kevin Pritchard is changing the game trying to build the Pacers into a star-less monster

Gray is the perfect color for this roster as they were photographed in Mumbai. There are no stars, no outrageous personalities, and no outsized egos.

Kevin Pritchard can’t run the Pacers basketball operation in the same way as the other 29 guys with his job and win a championship.

Many of the other teams can lure Uber-talented free agents with bright lights, branding opportunities, and championship dreams.  The Pacers are a small market team without a single NBA title in its 43 seasons.  Pritchard’s phone doesn’t ring when free agency opens like the phones in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Boston, and New York.

There has been a lot of good basketball over the last 30 seasons for the Pacers – 24 trips to the playoffs, eight Eastern Conference Finals appearances, and one lone visit to the Finals against the Lakers in 2000.  But no banners – nothing great.

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That good basketball has worked against the Pacers as the last time they had a draft pick in the top nine was 1989.

Without being in the game for free agents and top draft picks, the Pacers need to find a way to excel without excellent players.

Pritchard has to reinvent roster construction for the Pacers to get to the mountaintop, and the recipe he landed on is combine the right good players to create great results.  Getting that done requires puzzle pieces that enhance the level of play for the others.  He needs team-first assets who are more basketball players than brand owners.

Basketball is a game that rewards generosity and tempts selfishness.  Great players like LeBron James can win championships occasionally with me-first basketball.  Good players cannot afford to indulge.  They need to be a tight five-man jazz combo – playing for one another – to be able to win big.

Pritchard has loaded the Pacers with good, not great.  Newcomers Malcolm Brodgon, T.J. Warren, T.J. McConnell, Goga Bitadze, Jeremy Lamb, and Justin Holiday are good, and the best part is that they know they are good, not great.  Holdovers Domas Sabonis, Myles Turner, and Doug McDermott are high end role players as well.

The wild card in the deck in Victor Oladipo, who is recuperating from a surgically repaired quad tendon tear.  He is a very good player who has a tendency toward branding.  If he can compete as part of the team rather than asserting himself as the “star,” Pritchard’s vision can become reality.  If Oladipo wanders into the behavior that defined Paul George’s last two seasons with the Pacers, he will ruin this tasty gumbo of star-less basketball.

The NBA is full of players who are good but believe greatness is within their grasp.  Teams with these guys will always lose because they are out to prove themselves worthy rather than win.  Pritchard has rejected these self-important mercenaries as unworthy of his bold experiment.

Indiana is the perfect place for an NBA franchise to embrace we-first basketball.  This state appreciates sharing the ball and defending as a team at a level beyond the comprehension of most cities with a franchise.  The NBA is a star-driven league, and fans love the stars – just not quite as much here.

The Pacers cannot succeed unless the whole is greater than the sum of their parts.  That requires a selfless commitment to one another at every level of the organization, and that is what Pritchard is building.

We’ll see if it works.

SB-206 puts university presidents on the clock – hysteria among fearful follows

California governor Gavin Newson signed SB 206 on LeBron James HBO program “The Shop.”

University presidents screwed up as they refused to adjust to what is good and right in dealing with their athletes and the right to monetize their image.  Now states like California are eager to force their hand.

California’s SB 206, signed into law yesterday, seeks to correct the arrogance so pervasive in academia, where old and learned men empower themselves to determine what is right for everyone under the umbrella of their self-granted authority.

The law prohibits penalizing a college athlete in California for monetizing his or her image through endorsement or licensing.  That means eligibility will not be sacrificed by an athlete who accepts cash for lending his name to a product or service – signing autographs at a car dealership, posing for a picture holding a sports drink, or smiling in a TV commercial for an insurance agent.  It goes into effect January 1, 2023.

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Universities that comprise the membership of the NCAA have until that date to amend their rules to comport with the law.  Other states are considering similar legislation.

Critics have been quick to shriek about the pitfalls of allowing college athletes to be paid for an endorsement.  They say it will bring the end of the NCAA and corrupt the educational process that is said to be crucial to the popularity of college sports.

In every business – other than government – employees are allowed to generate cash from the use of their likeness.  For some reason people get salty when that possibility is advanced for college athletes.

They say that a college education that doesn’t force a student into crippling debt after graduation should be plenty for athletes.  There is no question that a college degree that comes without a substantial bill is a good thing, but the question of who defines “enough” is legitimate.  Zero has been enough until now, according to rule makers and their followers.

We’ve heard this sky-is-falling nuttiness before.  When the reserve clause in Major League Baseball was challenged by Curt Flood, people cried out that allowing players to leave their teams for the highest bidder would ruin the game.  The same happened when free agency came to the NFL.

Fringe elements will always fear the worst case scenario when change is proposed.  That’s human nature for some.  Every outcome of any change is negative for the fear-based who pack an umbrella in response to seeing a lone cloud in a blue sky.

 

The real effect of the changes mandated by SB 206 will be negligible from a fan’s perspective.  All the five-star players will still go to programs with a legitimate chance to win a championship and launch a pro career.  The cigar chomping boosters who will toss cash at a recruit are already doing it.

There will be complications – like category protections for schools who already have endorsement contracts with shoe companies, sports drinks, and insurance agents.  If the law allows athletes to wear shoes of their own choosing while Nike is paying their school $10-million for the same exposure, that will be a problem in need of a solution.

But the negative side effects of SB 206 are more than countered by the good that will come from the NCAA finally being forced to deal with an issue they have happily kicked down the road for decades.

Athletes so valuable to universities and sponsors will finally be allowed to claim their slice of the pie, and that is a big step in the right direction.

University presidents have three years and three months from today to figure out what that should look like.  Failure or more postponements will bring the wrath of states who jump on the SB 206 train.

Joe Maddon out – business and baseball will drive search for his replacement as Cubs manager

Joe Maddon is out, and his replacement is going to have to check more boxes than Maddon did.

Joe Maddon will be replaced as manager by the Chicago Cubs for the 2020 season.  Many Cubs fans not happy about that.

They feel a leader who found a way to lead the Cubs to their first world championship in 108 years should be able to leave on his own terms and schedule.  Their gratitude is all about 2016, and who can blame them?  Most Cubs fans are thrilled they lived long enough to celebrate a championship, and those who were responsible are deities.

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Fans who watched a lot of Cubs games in 2018 and 2019 saw a less energetic team that became sloppier with each passing month.  Baserunning errors, fielding miscues, swinging at pitches out of the zone with a favorable count, and overall poor execution defined the Cubs.

But before we kick Maddon on his way out the door, let’s remember that there are two keys in baseball and business when deciding to tell a manager to pack a box.  The first is determining whether he needs to be replaced.  The other is to hire a manager who who be a net improvement over the previous leader.  Sometimes that’s easy, as was the case when Maddon succeeded Rick Renteria.  Nothing against Renteria, but I bought season tickets the day Maddon was introduced at the Cubby Bear.

Maddon leaves the Cubs as fifth winningest manager in franchise history behind Cap Anson, Charlie Grimm, Frank Chance and Leo Durocher.  He and Chance are the only two among the 60 who have served in the post to win a World Series.

Filling Maddon’s shoes with an upgrade is not going to be as simple as when he replaced Renteria.  That’s not only because the Cubs thrived for three of Maddon’t five seasons, but because the Cubs are migrating their media coverage from NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-TV, and WLS-TV to the brand new Marquee Network.

Marquee will be the sole carrier of Cubs baseball, and it is scheduled to launch in February.  It hasn’t signed agreements with any carriers yet, so this hire will be the primary offseason change in the narrative for Cubs Baseball.  It needs to thrill fans, or at least make them forget 84-78.

Maddon was not going to compel fans to bombard AT&T, DirecTV, YouTube TV, Playstation Vue, Spectrum or Comcast with angry calls as negotiations carry on toward opening day.  But whomever follows him needs to lead the enthusiastic charge to win clearance to the tune of a likely $4-$6 monthly charges per household.

As we try to predict who the Cubs will hire as their next manager, do not discount the influence of Marquee.  Two of the five candidates listed as possibilities are employees of national sports networks, and both are former Cubs.  David Ross (ESPN) and Mark DeRosa (MLB) are excellent on TV, popular with fans, and can be sold as a next gen leader.

Ross just makes sense as a guy who checks a bunch of boxes.  Maybe he’ll be a great manager, but what he will certainly be is a very popular choice with players and fans.  That will be good for business, and remember owner Tom Ricketts didn’t major in baseball at the University of Chicago.  He got his MBA there.

Raiders LB Vontaze Burfict suspended for the year for unrepentant idiocy – his career likely ends

Vontaze Burfict mockingly grins at Colts fans as he leaves the field – likely for the final time.

When Vontaze Burfict lowered his helmet to hit kneeling Colts tight end Jack Doyle in the head, flags flew.  Referees conferred and Burfict was ejected from the game.  This morning it is being reported that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will suspend Burfict for the rest of the 2019 season.

The NFL has been dragged kicking and screaming into treating players like human beings rather than gladiators to be sacrificed for the entertainment of blood thirsty fans, but Burfict never got the memo.

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Burfict will be 30 next season, and he’s no longer good enough to justify the risk of employing him.  Teams aren’t going to sign a mediocre player like Burfict whose indifference to consequences for his short-sighted and malicious play has already resulted in a season-long ban.

And so his career will almost certainly end.  Rightly so.

Doyle was able to get up unaffected by the hit, but others have not been so lucky and more have likely been saved from the kind of head trauma that has affected so many former NFL players.

Football is a violent game.  That’s part of its appeal.  But at some point players need to respect each other a little bit as they ravage one another.  The object of the game is to score points and try to keep opponents from scoring.  It’s not about sending receivers to the hospital or causing loss of brain function later in life.

If basic humanity didn’t teach Burfict that lesson and 13 fines and suspensions didn’t wisen him, he forfeited his right to belong to the fraternity of NFL players.

Finally, the NFL has washed its hands of a sociopath who refused to embrace what the NFL has become and what it should be.