Diary of a Mighty Bastard

This story, about the long-term effects from football collisions, has gotten me to think.

I like sports- and I like football. Heck, I'm a long-suffering fan of the Cleveland Browns.

I know that people choose to play the sport on their own free will, and are willing to accept the consequences of their choices. I know- and accept- the idea that most people who play football may have bad knees, hips, or other injuries that may affect their health.

But it's one thing to know that the players you are rooting for might be limping twenty years after they start playing- and another thing entirely to think that they might be suffering from Dementia because they spent their younger years playing football.

This isn't an accident, or something that can be cured with better equipment. Even if you play the sport the proper way- especially if you play football the way it is encouraged- the players end up with several collisions to the head, every game.

If better helmets could stop this- or if the game could be changed to prevent this from happening- then I would support those changes 100%. But I don't know if there is a change. I suspect- I fear- that the nature of football leads to players suffering the collisions that cause this long-term mental damage.

And if that's true, I'm not sure I can still be a fan of football anymore. This might be a bridge too far for me to cross.

The official, "I don't know anything but I'm willing to make wild guesses" NFL Predictions:

AFC:

Playoff teams: New England, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Indianapolis (WC), Baltimore (WC)
Playoffs: Tennessee over Baltimore, Indianapolis over San Diego, New England over Indianapolis, Pittsburgh over Tennessee, Pittsburgh over New England

NFC:
Playoff teams: NY Giants, Carolina, Green Bay, Arizona, Dallas (WC), Chicago (WC)
Playoffs: Chicago over Arizona, Dallas over Carolina, Green Bay over Dallas, NY Giants over Chicago, Green Bay over NY Giants

Super Bowl: Pittsburgh over Green Bay

Favre thinks about retirement

I'm curious- does ESPN just call up the same file they've used the last five years, change the year (and in this case, the team name), and run it as is?

Couple of random thoughts, as I recover from being deemed not so scary anymore (though I really really REALLY hate spiders)

* First and most importantly. Seven years ago, we were attacked by depraved men who killed over 3,000 innocent people. A lot has passed over seven years, but the attack should not be forgotten. My thoughts go out to everyone who lost a loved one that day.

* The whole "Lipstick on a Pig" thing is overblown. McCain and company should just laugh it off. Bringing it up makes them look like whiners.

Here's the thing- during a campaign (and this one has been going on for over two years), every sentence a nominee says can become a soundbite. Everything a person does can be made to look bad. How many missteps did Bush or Clinton make during their runs? I can guarantee you we can find a dozen examples for every Presidential nominee in the past 50 years. You learn to recover and move on to the next speech, and the whole thing blows over. But stop griping about it (this applies to both parties)- the American voters don't like whiners, and they do like people who can bounce back.

* The Free Republic has a great article, comparing both Obama and Palin's popularity to bubbles. Obama was riding a huge wave of popularity than was inevitably going to burst, and right now Palin is riding something very similar. Palin's bubble will also bust in the future (and probably pretty soon- there's too much that will happen between now and November for it to last until the election).

Right now, there's been so much garbage thrown at Palin that it's caused a backlash- even valid criticisms about her are blown off as 'just another attack'. That works today, but I don't see it working for two months. It probably won't work past the debate with Joe Biden. At some point, the real grey spots on her record (and everyone has them) will stick with the public.

But when Palin's bubble does bust, the McCain camp will attempt to change the story and remind people that she's the Vice-President while he's the President- when valid criticisms on Palin do stick, the party will start emphasizing McCain as both the top of the ticket and the one who will mentor her in Washington Politics.

Obama fascinates me at this point, because this is the first time he's ever been behind. Not just in this race, but in any race. He won his State Senate seat by getting his competitors kicked off the ballot . His opponent in the Senate race imploded. He shocked everyone by winning Iowa, then was always ahead after Super Tuesday for the President.

As a rule, Americans love comeback stories. They also don't like coronations. Compared to most Presidential candidates, Obama's had an easier time because he's always been ahead, and everyone else has been playing catch-up with him. This is the first time he's ever been behind, and I'm curious to see how he reacts.

Can he bounce back? Yes, he can. But learning to bounce back comes from experience. He might not get his footing back until it's too late.

Forget Palin. Forget Biden. In the end, the two people who will decide the election are McCain and Obama- and Obama has a much better chance to change opinions about him (for good or for ill) than McCain.

* Moving away from politics, congrats to Gib and his wife on their pregnancy (well, technically her pregnancy)

* I'm still in shell-shock over Tom Brady and the obliteration of my fantasy football team. As an experiment, I'm rooting for the USC Trojans to beat Ohio State this weekend.

* The Indian's season is winding down. For me, however, the race is to see how they finished in AL Runs scored. I made a bet that they'd finish in the top half of the AL. Right now, out of 14 teams, they are in 8th place- four runs behind the Yankees- and have 2 more games to play than the Yankees do. We'll see how it pans out.

OK, enough politics. Let's talk important stuff.... NFL Football Predictions!

AFC East: New England
AFC North: Pittsburgh
AFC South: Indianpolis
AFC West: San Diego
Wild Card: Jacksonville
Wild Card: Cleveland

Cleveland over San Diego (upset!), Jacksonville over Pittsburgh
New England over Jacksonville, Cleveland over Indianpolis (upset #2!)
New England over Cleveland (upset #... nope; nevermind)

NFC East: Dallas
NFC North: Detroit
NFC South: New Orleans
NFC West: Arizona
Wild Card: New York Giants
Wild Card: Philadelphia

New York Giants over Detroit, Arizona over Philadelphia
Dallas over Arizona, New Orleans over New York Giants
Dallas over New Orleans

Super Bowl: New England 38, Dallas 24

OK... I've calmed down enough after Cleveland's loss in the ALCS to discuss sports again.

* Congrats to the Boston Red Sox. They were the best team in baseball this year, and deserved to be the World Champions. They have good young players, and should be a force to contend with as long as Ortiz and Manny continue to hit.

* A-Rod opts out of his contract. Whew. If I had a deal that paid me $91 million over the next three years, I'd think long and hard about voluntarily leaving that deal. The only way I'd consider it is if I knew someone was guaranteed to pay a lot more. Either that, or I really hated playing in New York. The timing of the announcement- during the World Series- was rotten. I want to give A-Rod a break because I think he's an incredible talent, but he has a habit of shooting himself in the foot when it comes to dealing with the public and media.

* NFL: This Sunday's Patriots-Colts game might actually live up to the hype regarding it. The Patriots have been unstoppable, but if I were Indianapolis I'd be annoyed that any other team was geting so much press.

* NBA: The season starts this week. I'm a Cavs fan, but with no progress on re-signing Anderson Varejao or Sasha Pavlovic I worry about the team. Most experts have them 3rd in the division, and I can see why. Hopefully they can step up on offense (defensively they are a championship team; offensively they need someone to help out LeBron)

* NBA: The Kobe Bryant trade rumors continue. My favorite report says that a Bulls-Lakers deal would be nixed by Bryant himself because "Also, Bryant would not want to play in Chicago if the Bulls surrendered all four of those players, believing there would not be enough talent left to compete for a championship, and he would veto that trade even if the Bulls and Lakers were both in favor of it. "

I love that. Bryant demands to be paid a fortune, puts himself in a situation where he is allowed to be the only star, then complains about the lack of talent, demands to be traded (from a team that has backed him up far more than any team should ever back up a player), but ONLY to a team that he approves, then complains that the trade would hurt the team he'd be going to?

Man, Kobe Bryant is like a killer robot or a telemarketer. You don't end up feeling guilty about despising the guy.

So Chicago faces Indianapolis in the Super Bowl in two weeks.

I lived in three of the four cities that had teams this weeks (Chicago, Indianapolis, and New Orleans), so the odds were pretty good I'd have a rooting interest in the Super Bowl.

New Orleans is a good team, and is probably the early favorite to win the NFC next year. Two good running backs, a good QB, Joe Horn should be returning, and the defense is very good. They went from 3-13 last year to the NFC title game, which may be the biggest one year improvement ever in the NFL.

That said, I became a sports fan in Chicago and am glad my Bears made it to the Super Bowl. Despite serious questions about their quarterback, they've managed to win 2 tough games.

As for Indianapolis, I'm glad the Colts, Tony Dungy, and Peytom Manning were able to get the monkey off their back and defeat New England to reach the Super Bowl. I like New England (well, not a big Bill Belicheck fan, but living in Cleveland explains that), but with them having won 3 of the most recent Super Bowls, I have no problem seeing them defeated en route this year.

Should be a great game.