football

Cancel Rest of the Season, Penn State

Originally published Nov. 11, 2011

Forget about a moment of silence at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. There should be nothing but absolute silence there for the rest of the 2011 football season.

Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, Photo courtesy of Mediaite

In light of the recent allegations involving the school, Penn State should cancel this week’s game against Nebraska. They should forfeit. The school has more important things to deal with than football right now. The school’s main focus should be on properly dealing with the horrifying scandal it finds itself entangled in: the alleged raping of a ten-year old boy on its campus. Nothing should be more important than dealing with this unspeakable crime. How silly and trivial a football game is right now; how grotesque cheering of any kind would be on Saturday. (more…)

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Manning Pursuit

Here’s a column I wrote today for the blog Seattle Sports Central. The original can be found here.

 

Photo courtesy of Ian Ransley Design + Illustration

A somber press conference in Indianapolis yesterday displayed macho men, who are rarely accused of being sensitive, getting emotional, full of sorrow and tears. But in about a dozen other NFL cities across the country, including Seattle, that same event stirred a great deal of giddy excitement.

Peyton Manning’s official release from the Colts offered quarterback-challenged teams around the league sudden hope for the near future. A lot of tortured fans who have suffered with their team’s woeful quarterback play went to sleep last night with blissful thoughts of game-winning drives and fantasy playoff scenarios, led by a four-time league MVP, dancing in their heads.

Sorry to wake you, Seahawks fans, but those wishful thoughts will probably remain as ethereal pipedreams. According to NFL pundits, Manning will most likely bypass the gray overcast skies and chilly temperatures of the Emerald City and choose to play in a warmer destination closer to his home in Florida. Seattle, it seems, is just too cool and too far away. Many sports media outlets have mentioned Miami and Arizona as the most probable landing spots. (more…)

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Monday Night Football Report

Originally published Sept. 14, 2011

What an uninspired game the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos bored us with on Monday night. The Raiders couldn’t pass. The Broncos couldn’t run. And both couldn’t play nicely, committing a total of 25 penalties. Someone should have told these players and coaches that preseason was over; that game actually counted.

Raiders win sloppy season opener, Photo by Joe Mahoney, courtesy of LA Times

It was tough to tell which team cared less with all the sloppy miscues and bland performances. However, one thing was made clear: Tim Tebow should start as Denver’s quarterback next week and for the remainder of the Broncos’s 2011-12 campaign.

This isn’t about Denver giving up on its season. In fact, it’s about Denver taking this season more seriously than it has in previous years. It’s about trying to take an honest assessment of the team and moving forward, for both the organization and football fans. (more…)

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