Why the World Cup is no substitute for football

In theory I am a huge fan of soccer.  It seems to be a uniting sport that can be played on fields in the most impoverished areas.  It's not, really.  As in other sports, the biggest wealthiest countries typically win.  The wealthiest countries in South America are the real contenders, as are the countries of Western Europe.  One might argue that the USA is the wealthiest country, but soccer isn't catching on as quickly as people anticipated ten years ago.

My own inability to get through these games without a litany of complaints proved to me once and for all that soccer has fundamental problems.  Most obviously, its ability to end in a tie.  While I'm all for tie scores in tee ball for the eight-to-ten set, tying in a bracketed competition seems flawed.  Furthermore, the idea of watching a game for ninety minutes end in a 0-0 tie makes me understand rioting on a whole new level.

Second, soccer has no incremental progress.  Though football can potentially be a low scoring game, the ability to measure progress in ten yard increments allows the viewer to celebrate milestones short of actual points scored.

Stoppage time is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever witnessed.  If a player is truly hurt then stop the clock.  If he is flopping, eject him.  It is unsatisfying to see teams in their "two minute drill" only to find out after the game that another three minutes will be played, and not even counted down at that.

Third, and most insulting for the American democratic tradition, is the ultimate power wielded by referees.  Without instant replay or coaches' challenges, it is entirely up to the referee to make judgement calls in the heat of the moment.  That I can accept.  However, after the game the referee makes no effort to justify his calls, and in these games when the referees confer following a bad call, they do not change it.

It is great to see the spotlight on Africa and unfortunate that Ghana could not advance, but it is obvious that people who advocate soccer as the greatest sport have never experienced the drama, melee, and excrusiating "game of inches" that is football.

Men's Fantasy: Football: 3 reasons Jon Beason is better than Ray Lewis

Men's Fantasy: Football: 3 reasons Jon Beason is better than Ray Lewis

3 reasons Jon Beason is better than Ray Lewis

1) The numbers:  In the last three years Beason has posted the following tackles:  140, 132, 142 to Ray Lewis' 134, 117, 120.  Add to that the fact that Beason's "assists" in his tackles were 34, 28, 20 which means he is receiving help a marginal amount of the time.  Ray Lewis' assists come out to: 32, 39, and 38...the numbers don't look that much different, but it means Lewis is being assisted in 29% of tackles compared to Beason's 23%.

2) Personal Lives:  While the charges were dropped in Jon Beason's aggravated assault case due to lack of evidence... Ray Lewis was able to plead down two counts of malicious murder and two counts of felony murder by turning state's witness against two of his friends.  He ended up with an obstruction of justice conviction and a year of probation....after he purchased knives in which two men were stabbed when his entourage collided with that of rapper Chino Nino. 

3) Ray Lewis plays for the Balitmore Ravens...who used to be the most boring team to watch in all of football.  Their ability not to score (or allow scoring) used to make Ice Dancing seem like an interesting sport in comparison.  Fortunately the new coach seems to be aware that wide receiver is a position in football, so we'll see.

Don't get me wrong.  I love Ray Lewis.  He helped invent swagger.  However, it's time for Jon Beason to get the respect he deserves as the new best thing at Middle Line Backer.

Brain Damage

Coming out of the meetings in Orlando this week the NFL has decided to set up five stations for neurological health care for former NFL players.  The centers will be modeled after trauma centers the military uses to help returning vets.  Locations include St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Atlanta to name a few.

This is such an important issue because the effects of professional football on neurological decay haven't been properly studied.  We can see from the number of injuries that football hurts.  These centers are finally stepping in to address the sort of hurt that can't be seen....such as when a former player can't find their car or remember the names of loved ones.

The NFL players union is not involved in the creation of these centers at the current time, nor have they commented on whether this is a response to public comments made by former players who feel the NFL has done too little to care for former players. 

Belichick's Scheme

The evil empire has made some unusual moves this week by releasing two tight ends.  A peek at their website explains that tight ends aren't an integral part of Belichick's scheme (unlike videotaping and making bogus 4th down decisions) and don't pose a real loss for the team.

Perhaps not, but the Patriots have really leaned on veteran leadership these last several years and one can't help but wonder if they will come up high and dry.  They resigned Kevin Faulk, rookie season 1999, to a one year deal worth up to three million dollars.  Last season he averaged 5.9 yards a carry.  He's old but still doing a fine job.  He's a fan favorite and happy to spend his entire career with one team, so the Patriots agreed to a short deal.  (see, Carolina?)

So far the running game does not appear to be part of "Belichick's scheme" either.  The starting running back, Lawrence Maroney, posted only 750 yards last season and averaged barely over three yards per carry.  When you have golden boy Tom Brady it doesn't matter, right?  Well.... Randy Moss managed to catch for over 1200 yards last year and still feel like a no show.  In the big games he was missing in action and was criticized by Carolina safety Chris Harris for giving up on his routes in their matchup.  He is 33 years old and was clearly not Brady's go-to guy in the receiver corps.

Wes Welker got the job of Brady's BFF and handled it ably....except now Welker will be missing the start of the season due to a torn ACL and MCL - AND is having surgery on a torn rotator cuff sometime soon. 

This must be some scheme...