Angry Sports

The dominance we’ve witnessed in the past year has now been foiled by injury. Apparently the lucrative nature of the world of sports was shown when a simple year of great performances equaled a big time pay day for this athlete, but now all is lost simply because of an injury. Yes, his injury may have a profound effect on others but let’s not loose focus on the athlete. He’s entertained us, and given us many a chance to lose ourselves in the world of competition. I just wanted to take this short time to write a miniscule blog recognizing the loss of a stud.

We’ll miss you Big Brown!

Oh yeah, and Tony Romo hurt his pinkie. He’ll miss the next four weeks, and I don’t care. He’s a regular season big-timer that can’t win in the play-offs, and if he weren’t in the “Big D” no one would be giving him the time of day. He’s a mistake prone, moron dating, jack ass appeasing, overrated goof. I’m so excited his hurt pinkie is going to get more press today than his team losing in overtime, the Falcons winning with 1 second left, the Rams winning with 3 ticks left, the Vikings winning with 9 seconds to go, or Matt Schaub running in the winning touchdown with 3 seconds on the board. Hopefully the nation will survive this devastating tragedy.

All this ESPN talk about Brady is warranted. Like I harped on before, Tom Brady is a sure fire, first ballet, Hall-of-famer, and he’s still got a lot of football to play. It’ll be two years until we see him back in his old form (hopefully he can get it back), but losing him this season reminded me of all the other future Hall-of-famers that we lost this season. Granted, Favre came out of retirement, but five players did hang up their helmets for the last time and we might never see guys like them for a long time.

The first guy, obviously, Michael Strahan. His 141.5 sacks ranks 5^th all time, behind the likes of Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Kevin Greene, and Chris Doleman in that order. Not shabby company, and alone qualifies him for a bust in Canton, Ohio, but getting that elusive Superbowl win at the end of his career put an exclamation point on his Hall-of-Fame resume.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPFqk-7SP6Y

Another explosive defender that will find himself giving an acceptance speech in Ohio is Warren Sapp. Changing the way defensive tackle was played is all Sapp did in Tampa for nine years (being a Falcons fan, I grew to hate him), winning a Superbowl and a Defensive MVP award as well. Then he went to Oakland where he played more of a “space eater” role in the middle of the black hole. Now he’s using his eccentric manor as a commercial man for fantasy football leagues.

A guy that never really got press because of his position was Larry Allen. He was one of the most dominant offensive linemen in the history of the game. A massive player at 6’3” and 320+ lbs, Allen not only played the game at an extremely high level (going to the pro-bowl 11 times) but was possibly the strongest person to ever play the sport.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1FAbsxREb4&feature=related

Probably the best individual player on this list at his position is Jonathan Ogden. A 12 year player for Baltimore at the ever important left tackle spot, Ogden’s size (6’ 9” and 345lbs) and athletic ability gave him the opportunity to have his jersey number retired at UCLA where he played his college ball, get elected to 11 pro-bowls, and win a Superbowl in 2000 where he neutralized Michael Strahan for most of the game.

Finally, a man who has played (what seems like) since the sport’s invention. Junior Seau. The man racked up 1500 tackles in his 17 year career. Even though he’s not officially retired yet, there aren’t many teams who have the need for a 39 year old linebacker. I feel like its safe to assume we’ve seen the last of one of the nastiest and intense players to ever play the game. Even though tackles aren’t an official stat, he ranks at the “assumed” top, and had the athletic ability to change entire games with one play.

Why does this matter? Because I love football, and I’m not sure if there are many guys like the men I’ve already mentioned that could be regarded as first ballot guys. Let’s look at who is left in the league that’s a lock.

Peyton Manning- Passing records, a Superbowl win, and an iron man streak that might rival Favre’s way down the road.

Tom Brady- Three Superbowl rings, MVP awards, pro-bowls, and the single season TD record.

Brett Favre- Career record holder in: TD’s, passing yards, wins, and consecutive games played. Plus a Superbowl win and some MVP awards.

Orlando Pace- A left tackle just a tiny notch below Ogden’s level (like most).

Marvin Harrison- Arguably the third best receiver of all time. Which isn’t all that bad when Jerry Rice is so far ahead at number one.

Ray Lewis- A defensive force that not only won a Superbowl, but was also the MVP. Leader of that 2000 defense that gave up the least amount of points ever for a 16 game season.

Not a bad list of guys. Pace, Marvin, and Ray will retire soon, and the QB’s will follow suite at some point. Other than those guys, (most of whom aren’t playing anything like they used to) there are only guys that need conjecture in order to be “Cantonized.” Marvin Harrison, Adam Vinatieri, Champ Bailey, Tony Gonzales, Torry Holt, Derrick Brooks, Hines Ward, and Brian Urlacher might all make it one day, but first ballot? I doubt it.

Am I trying to bash our current crop of stars? No. I’m just trying to show respect to a guy I used to hate, by the name of Brady. This is a huge loss for my season, and should be for everyone else too.

PS: I won’t talk about this anymore. I know there needs to be some variety, so I promise to give ya’ll something new next time around.

Yeah, I play fantasy football. It’s kind of fun if your team is competitive, and quite depressing if your team looks like a M.A.S.H. tent. The idea of it is that you get together with a group of friends and take turns picking your favorite players for your own fantasy team. Once you get a collection of players (it can be different for every league) then you choose when to play them and when to sit them according to their health, opponent, etc. Then it’s all up to you to talk trash to your friends, try to out think your foes, and pray to the football gods that your best players don’t get hurt.

Oh Tom Brady… You see, there are many cliches in the world of fantasy football (like most things). Some of them are as follows:

The trade machine- the General Manager that can’t see anything but the other guy’s greener grass.

The free agent whore- the GM that adds and drops players whenever there’s a rumor of possible production or a dooming injury.

The silent killer- the GM that has zero flashy players, but everyone of his players performs at a consistent level.

The loser- the GM that has absolutely no clue what he’s doing.

The homer- the GM that only picks the players from his favorite team. This doesn’t work for several reasons that I can’t get into at this point.

The guy who drafts LT- the GM that has the luck (or sense) to draft the greatest, most consistent, largest fantasy point garner-er, and most complete running back in the last 7 years.

The injury magnet- the GM whose entire roster gets hurt, leaving him with an Internet account that he soon ceases to check.

Oh Tom Brady… The reason I’m writing this blog is because something happened today that happened to me a few years ago. Peyton Manning broke the single season record for TD passes in 2004 by orchestrating an aerial assault like none we’ve ever seen, even in the days of Marino. He had 49 TD’s and only 10 INT’s. So, the next season I had the number 2 pick and who did I pick? Duh. The raining TD machine from the season before, of course. Then Peyton went on to horribly disappoint with only 28 TD’s and just as many INT’s. Needless to say, my season didn’t go well, because I expected consistency from a record breaker.

Guess what Tom Brady did last year? He broke Peyton’s fresh record by launching 50 TD’s and only 8 INT’s! So he not only jumped everyone but LT in this years draft, but in some fantasy drafts (like mine) he was taken 1st overall by a poor sap that did what I did. Why not? He’s got the same guys to throw to, a proven record of being an outstanding QB, and the same coaches calling his plays. The only thing that could ruin his season would be… what happened today. Reports of a torn ACL have his fantasy owners and Pats fans screaming in agony from a lost season as well as his fantasy opponents and Pats haters screaming in ecstasy at the sight of a winner losing.

All this is happening at Brady’s expense. Tom Brady, who is a record holding, Superbowl ring wearing, first ballot Hall-of-Famer, might be looking at losing the next two seasons of his career. And there are people all over the web and sports bars rejoicing. What an awful tell-tale sign of this violent sport. Yes, the defence’s job is to hurl their bodies at the offence, and yes, you have to appreciate a good bone jarring hit, but this is a man’s health. This is the star QB of one of the most successful teams in league history in one of the biggest media markets in the country. Even for entertainment’s sake we should be asking ourselves, “Who’s going to rival Manning this year?” or “What’s going to happen to all those primetime Pats games?”

I find myself asking simple questions about the sport. Would people have enjoyed Unitas getting hurt like this? What about Namath’s fall from glory? I just can’t figure out if this is people hating the man or the winner. It’s not like I really feel BAD for Brady. He’s an incredibly attractive, multi-millionaire, super model-dating, first ballot Hall-of-Famer (yes it’s worth repeating). I doubt he’ll cry himself to sleep tonight, but I definitely think everyone who put their faith in him might. Maybe young athletes should aspire to be as successful as Brady, but who would really want to? A bunch of hard work and countless hours watching film/hitting the weight room getting you nothing but a bunch of people hating you enough to cheer your injuries and a fan base that hates you for getting injured.

Let me catch you up to speed. In order for an NFL game to appear on TV the stadium in which it’s being played must have a sell out crowd. It’s mind blowing, really. All those games that are on TV weekly are stadiums filled with people… at least that’s according to the books. As long as the tickets are sold, the show will go on. Enter The Atlanta Falcons. Long ago, us Falcons fans were used to being blacked out. There were even games during the 98 season where no one saw Jamal Anderson flapping his dirty-bird wings in the end zone, because we couldn’t sell out the Dome. 

Then came “The Michael Vick Experience” and we were suddenly filling seats. Even my own father grabbed me a pair of season tickets to watch the phenom known as #7 revolutionize the quarterback position. His speed was not only alien to the position, but unrivaled by anyone in the league. His ability to improvise on the scramble then throw the ball 70 yards down field with a flick of his wrist had people waiting in line to simply get there hands on crappy bobble heads of OTHER PLAYERS. He was the epitome of marketing gold. The poster child for all things Atlanta. Even though he wasn’t showing proper progression, and he was on his third head coach as a professional, Vick was still selling out crowds.

Then we found out that he murdered dogs when they didn’t murder each other and he was sent to jail. Then our highest paid coach in the league quit. Then we won only 4 games. Then our players started acting like children. Then we either cut or traded away almost all the leadership we had on our roster. Then we drafted a rookie quarterback, left tackle, and middle linebacker (all three of which are starting. Giving us rookies at the three most important positions on a football team.) And up until yesterday we were looking at our first game of the season being blacked out, which isn’t necessarily the best way to start our “New Era of Falcons Football!”

So, the Red Cross stepped in. Seriously. TV stations (who were no doubt looking to lose ratings with no game to show) such as 11 Alive, myATLtv, and Comcast bought the rest of the tickets and donated them to the Red Cross, as well as the Boys and Girls Club of America. This leads me to the conclusion I’ve been avoiding since Vick started showing zero progress as an NFL quarterback. I love my birds, and always will, but it is what it is. When the Red Cross is involved in your rebuilding process, you’re in a state of shambles. The Atlanta Falcons are officially a disaster area.