Posted on March 7th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
On one hand, the story that has roiled the NFL since Friday is a complex study in meaning, intent and extent. On the other hand, it’s a simple open-and-shut case of the New Orleans Saints continuing to violate league rules after being warned to cease and desist.
The Saints, rightfully so, will pay a heavy price for their cash rewards program. It doesn’t matter if similar programs exist on every team to varying degrees. It doesn’t matter if pay-for-performance kitties have been around for decades. And it doesn’t matter if the Saints‘ opponents suffered no long-term injuries as a result of the policy.
The league said “quit it” and New Orleans refused to comply. Stiff punishment is warranted.
And thus concludes the black-and-white portion of this topic. The rest is a mess of multi-hued grays, with subliminal messages like “hypocrisy” and “naivety” flashing across your mind’s eye.
Part of the problem resides in the sport itself. Football requires participants to suspend conventional wisdom about self-preservation, namely that you shouldn’t run into other human beings at full speed, and certainly not repeatedly. Those who master the art can earn college scholarships before proceeding to pro careers and fat paychecks.
Defensive players on the Saints and other teams are paid to hit often and hit hard, in hopes of separating opponents from the ball. If opponents are separated from their senses as well, that comes with the territory. As long as it’s done cleanly, within the rules and spirit of the game, there’s nothing wrong.
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Posted on March 5th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The case against Gregg Williams, the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator from 2009 to 2011, continues to grow. After admitting and apologizing on Friday for a bounty pool that rewarded his players for “knockouts” and “cart-offs,” Williams was expected to meet with NFL officials on Monday.
Their discussion will cover much more than his three seasons with the Saints. Prior to arriving in New Orleans, he was the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars and head coach for the Buffalo Bills. Since news of the Saints‘ bounty program broke last week, players on Williams’ former teams said that he instituted similar systems there, too.
The case shines a harsh light on a thin line: the difference between hitting as hard (and cleanly) as possible and hitting with malicious intent in hopes of causing an injury. Players who engaged in the latter have done a tremendous disservice to themselves and their fellow players, countering a recent push to make the game safer.
“I know players hate [the new rules],” Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, a member of the players union’s executive committee, said during Super Bowl week. “We get fined and we get suspended and all kinds of things. But if this saves a guy from his wife having to take care of him when he’s 50 years old, I’m all for it.”
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Posted on March 3rd, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Football is an extremely physical sport by nature, filled with violent collisions between players who are big, strong and fast. Defenders are conditioned to hit often and hit hard, in hopes of separating opponents from the ball and maybe their senses, too.
All of that is well within the rules and the spirit of the game. But rewarding players with bonus money for certain hits encourages dirty, reckless play, which is why the NFL forbids the practice. Now that the league has uncovered a New Orleans Saints bounty system, it should issue harsh penalties to make an example of the team.
The Saints are accused of paying players $1,500 for “knockouts” and $1,000 for “cart-offs,” with payouts doubling or tripling during the playoffs. The team is also accused of targeting players such as former quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.
“The payments here are particularly troubling because they involved not just payments for ‘performance’ but also for injuring opposing players,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement released Friday. “The bounty rule promotes two key elements of NFL football: player safety and competitive integrity.
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Posted on March 1st, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
If TV ratings, Internet articles and column inches in print media are any indication, “The Big Miss” should be a huge hit when it goes on sale March 27, a week before the subject shoots for his fifth green jacket at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods hasn’t won the Masters since 2005, a major championship since 2008 or an official PGA tournament of any kind since 2009. In his last five PGA Tour events, he has tied for 17th, tied for 15th, tied for 30th, missed the cut (at the PGA Championship) and tied for 37th. He’s at the Honda Classic this week, a tournament he hadn’t deigned to play since 1993, three years before he turned pro.
But we not only remain fascinated by Woods, we’re arguably captivated like never before.
The upcoming book by his former swing coach will only increase the magnification on Woods since that fateful Thanksgiving night in 2009, back when we couldn’t imagine him as a more compelling figure. Yet, stuck on 14 majors with Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 looking safe once again, Woods is even more intriguing, thanks to the turmoil in his personal life and his struggles on the golf course.
Whether it’s his swing, his putter or Hank Haney’s take on those subjects and more, the scrutiny grows while the wins stagnate.
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Posted on February 29th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
With its revenue, TV ratings and popularity continuing to grow unabated, the NFL is in its own galaxy compared to other sports leagues.
NFL games accounted for 23 of the 25 most-watched telecasts last fall, and a total of 37 games drew at least 20 million viewers each. A Harris poll taken earlier this year asked about 2,200 adults who follow at least one sport to name their favorite. Pro football was chosen by 36 percent of the respondents — nearly thrice the number who chose baseball and college football (13 percent apiece).
Commissioner Roger Goodell knows that competing TV programs are regularly crushed by NFL games, especially highly anticipated matchups. But whether Goodell is reluctant to battle for viewers or eager to promote civic engagement, he has rescheduled the league’s season opener from Sept. 6 to Sept. 5. By doing so, the NFL avoids a conflict with President Obama, scheduled to give his speech at the Democratic National Convention on Sept. 6.
The only loser is Vice President Joe Biden, whose speech on Sept. 5 will be overshadowed by the game featuring the New York Giants, beginning their Super Bowl title defense, versus an opponent that hasn’t been announced yet.
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Posted on February 29th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Senior Night at Verizon Center provided another glimpse of Georgetown’s bright future. Freshman Greg Whittington led all scorers Monday with a career-high 15 points, and freshman Otto Porter snared a team-high 10 rebounds in a 59-41 rout of Notre Dame.
But center Henry Sims and guard Jason Clark, playing their final home game as Hoyas, also left the crowd with lasting impressions. Just like they’ve done all season, leading 10 sophomores and freshmen on their surprising team, Sims and Clark produced the steady and heady performances that make Georgetown dangerous when everything clicks.
We’ve come to take Sims and Clark for granted over the course of this season, with No. 8 Marquette up next before the Big East tournament begins next week. A victory Saturday would give Georgetown a double-bye in New York, unimaginable back in November when Sims was an unknown quantity and Clark was thought to have insufficient help.
But by the time they were introduced Monday night, surrounded by family and soaking in applause during a pregame ceremony, Sims and Clark had established themselves as the unquestioned leaders of No. 11 Georgetown. They proved it once again in the Hoyas’ second consecutive blowout since a crushing loss at Seton Hall last week.
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Posted on February 27th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The NBA’s annual midseason party is over. The out-of-town All-Stars have departed to rejoin their respective teams. The visiting media and fans have moved on to their next assignment or gone back home. The regular season resumes with nine games Tuesday night.
But Orlando, Fla., is still the center of attention and will remain so until March 15, when the trading deadline comes and goes. The entire NBA landscape could shift dramatically if Magic center Dwight Howard is playing elsewhere after then.
Howard, one of the league’s biggest and most marketable superstars, was all over town during the All-Star festivities. He hosted parties, mingled with his fellow players and served as a coach in the All-Star celebrity game. But he couldn’t get away from the question on everyone’s mind:
Will he stay in Orlando next season if he isn’t traded in a few weeks?
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Posted on February 24th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman was at a forum in Los Angeles recently, discussing the city’s chances of acquiring an NFL franchise, when the conversation turned to concussions. Aikman, who suffered from several concussions during his Hall of Fame career, sounded an ominous note about their potential effect.
League officials and owners are “very concerned about concussions,” he said, adding, “The long-term viability, to me anyway, is somewhat in question as far as what this game is going to look like 20 years from now.”
Aikman wouldn’t prevent his son, if he had one, from playing, “but I don’t know if I would be encouraging him to play. Whereas with the other sports, you want your kids to be active and doing those types of things.”
Concussions have been a major issue in the NFL since at least December 2009, when the league conceded publicly for the first time that occurrences can have lasting consequences. Former players suffering from possible brain injuries have gained increased attention, and several lawsuits have been filed, including a class-action suit in December. A website has been established for retired players who have questions.
On Thursday the family of Dave Duerson filed the latest lawsuit. Duerson, a former Chicago Bears star who committed suicide last February at the age of 50, suspected that head trauma during his career had caused his mental state to deteriorate. He shot himself in the heart and left his brain to research, which proved him right.
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Posted on February 23rd, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, tens of millions of people in the United States are affected by mental disorders, and only a fraction receive treatment. Iowa State forward Royce White is included in the first count, but more important, he’s in the second one, too.
White, a 20-year-old who has been on medication since he was a teen, is the latest athlete to come forward and discuss the issue. It’s a bold step for folks whose lives play out in the public eye. He leads the Cyclones in points (12.9), rebounds (9.1), assists (4.9), steals (1.0) and blocked shots (1.1), putting them on the verge of their first NCAA tournament berth in seven years.
“Anxiety isn’t really something you can measure,” he told the Des Moines Register. “That’s why it’s so hard to diagnose, so hard to pinpoint. If I didn’t take my medication, any number of things could happen: It could affect my mind and my body. I could get the sweats.
“What anxiety is, is your mind telling your body that there’s a threat, so it produces adrenaline so you can fight off that threat,” he said. “That could make you do anything, conceptually, but I’m not a dumb individual. I wouldn’t do something off-the-wall like skydive.”
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Posted on February 21st, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
For the record, like other hard-core hoops fans in the D.C. metro area, I would love to watch Georgetown and Maryland play each other annually in men’s basketball. Two power-conference schools with rich traditions, title aspirations, national profiles and distinct local flavor: Who wouldn’t want to see that?
Maybe the respective coaches, who at the very least might not be crazy about the idea. Nonconference home games are precious, usually reserved for padding against utterly beatable teams. It’s much more tempting to continue scheduling those games, instead of forsaking one every other year to face a formidable, nearby rival and potential repercussions in recruiting.
But after weighing the various factors in the risk-reward equation, Georgetown’s John Thompson III and Maryland’s Mark Turgeon could agree to take their chances with the series and thereby serve the area’s greater good. Then we’d have our own version of the “Crosstown Shootout,” which has pitted Cincinnati and four-miles-away Xavier every year since 1945.
However, prospects for our “Capital Clash” appear to be a bit dimmer, thanks to Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson trying to force the issue.
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