Some Sporting Thoughts on a Saturday afternoon.....
Tomorrow, of course, is Super Bowl Sunday. I have not commented upon the NFL Playoffs in this space, not sure why that is, but over the three weekends of Playoff action, we have been treated to some terrific football, most notably during the weekend of the Divisional Round, which was culminated by that epic win in overtime by the Chiefs over the Bills. It has now come down to the Cincy Bengals and the LA Rams. An up-and-coming team that was the worst team in football just two years ago versus an older team that has mortgaged the future in an effort to go all out and win this game this year, a game that is being played in their home stadium.
I never thought that I would ever find myself rooting for the Bengals, but these are not the Bengals of Marvin Lewis, Pacman Jones, Vontaze Burfict, and the Soul Crushing Interceptions of Andy Dalton. They are no longer the Cincy Bungles. Instead, they are now a young and exciting team and are led by second year QB Joe Burrow, a player who appears to be so good that he could become the next face of the NFL as the decade of the 2020's marches on. He makes watching a game involving the Bengals Must See TV.
It is the defense of the Rams, led by Pitt's Aaron Donald, that has made them the favorite in tomorrow's game. Indeed, it is that defense that could allow the Rams to prevail against a Cincy offensive line that is not among the best in the league. That said, I am counting on the youth and all round brilliance of Burrow to win the Big One tomorrow.
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On the heels of the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady announced that he is retiring. Twenty-two seasons, ten Super Bowl Appearances, seven Super Bowl championships, and playing with a flair and skill to such a degree that I cannot summon the words to adequately describe. If you doubt this, go back and watch a replay of the Super Bowl where he led the Patriots back from a 28-3 third quarter deficit to an overtime victory against Atlanta a few years ago.
He is, simply, the greatest quarterback of all time.
My grandfather saw Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb play baseball. My Dad once saw Babe Ruth play baseball. I got to see Tom Brady play football.
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The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing have now reached their halfway mark.
I have yet to watch any of them. There are a variety of reasons for that...the time difference, the difficulty in knowing which TV/Streaming/Internet platform to find which events, the fact that the Summer games were held just six months ago...all contribute my sense of ennui to one degree or another, although each objection can be overcome relatively easily if the desire was there. I think that I made my decision to stay away because of all that we know that goes on in China and with a government that has such a brutal disregard for basic and simple human rights.
I won't preach about it or tell you that YOU are wrong if you are fully into these Games, and I know that what I am doing here half a world away will make not an iota of difference in Chinese government policy, but somehow I feel a little better by not supporting these particular games.
Another reason to avoid these Games is to offer yet another negative vote toward the International Olympic Committee. In a sporting world that includes FIFA and the NCAA, the IOC could be the dirtiest, most hypocritical, and most corrupt governing body of them all.
Here's one example: Because of their cheating by the rampant use of illegal doping agents and performance enhancing drugs, the nation of Russia was banned from participating in the Olympics. Russian athletes, however, can continue to compete under the banner of the "Russian Olympic Committee", which, of course, is RUSSIA!!! The IOC can trumpet how hard they come down on drug cheating nations all they want, but, folks, RUSSIA IS STILL COMPETEING IN THE OLYMPICS! Why else would none other than Vlad Putin himself be in attendance at the Opening Ceremony last week?
Oh, and in the news this week was the reports of drug cheating among athletes from, wait for it.....Russia. Oh, excuse me, the Russian Olympic Committee.
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Baseball. Major League Baseball. It's February, the time of the year when Spring Training opens, and hope springs eternal for fans of their favorite teams. Not so in 2022. There is a lockout. A new CBA needs to be negotiated and agreed upon.
Wake me when it's over. At this point, I could not care less about how several billions of dollars will be apportioned between Owners and Players, especially when I know that the eventual outcome will be yet another middle finger to teams like the Pirates, or, more to the point, to fans and followers of teams like the Pirates.
Whenever they decide to come back and play, I will be in front of my TV watching and I will be at PNC Park for my normal share of ball games. Baseball and the Pirates, for all of their ills, is too much a part of my sports fan DNA for me to ever walk away. However, the current stewards of the game should be aware that people like me will someday all be, you know, dead, and there are not enough younger people out there to take our places. By the middle part of this century, baseball will be what horse racing and boxing are today, just another niche sport that mainstream America just won't care all that much about.
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