There is a story on the Huffington Post today that the City of Atlanta plans to demolish current home of the Atlanta Braves, Turner Field, when and if the team moves to a new facility in the suburbs. Already, there was talk that Cobb County, I guess a more affluent suburb is wooing the Falcons to move to a new stadium there, but I guess they want the baseball team too.
Civic extortion is old hat for sports franchises of all sizes and sports and leagues, but what makes this particularly appalling is that Turner Field is just 17 years old and still considered to be a state-of-the-art facility. I have been to Turner Field for a ballgame, and I thought it was a very nice park, the equal of other new parks I’ve been to: Jacobs Field in Cleveland, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Here in Chicago, we have a crumbling Wrigley Field and US Cellular Field which was unluckily for Chicago, the last ballpark built before Baltimore’s Camden Yards, the first park to be built with modern amenities but with old fashioned character and strange dimensions. So, I’d trade “the Ted” (nickname from Ted Turner who the field is named after) for either of our old parks. The cost of moving them brick by brick should still be less than building a new stadium…

In the two games over three weeks since Chicago Bear quarterback Jay Cutler went down with a torn groin muscle, back-up Josh McCown has performed very well, almost leading the team to a win in the Redskins game, and leading the offense to a 27 point performance in the victory over the Packers, propelling the Bears into a three-way-tie at the top of the NFC North (and yes, I know that the first quarter injury to Packer QB Aaron Rodgers had a huge impact on the win, but football is a TEAM game.)
Today, Cutler, who was supposed to be out 4-6 weeks, was given medical clearance today to play and is expected to start Sunday against the Lions (this should be the death of Cutler is soft talk). But I say that under McCown, the offense has played well. They looked more poised than they do under Cutler. While Cutler is completing 64.9% of his passes, and has thrown 12 touchdowns, he also has 7 interceptions. Mc Cown has completed 59.0% of his passes, but he’s thrown 3 touchdown passes and, most important, thrown no picks. During the Packer game, I asked on Facebook whether Cutler was nervous back there, or if the team played harder for a less obnoxious quarterback?
I have been around Chicago sports long enough to know that the most popular man in Chicago at any given time is the back-up quarterback. But Trestman’s offense didn’t lose a step with McCown as signal-caller. Maybe they should let him play, and give Cutler more time to heal, and allow the team to really get a feeling for who should be the starter the rest of this season and beyond?

Sure, the State of Illinois has a huge pension problem. Despite being a “blue state” we have a corrupt Democratic state legislature that can only pass laws wrapped in a $50 bill. Yes, our governors are more likely to end up in jail.
But we have medical marijuana legalized. (How long before recreational marijuana is also legal?) And the legislature passed same sex marriage yesterday. I’m proud to live in this state today.
It’s about damn time.

Less than one day after articles were written detailing Ritchie Incognito’s hazing and threats to Jonathan Martin, many people are blaming the victim.
Jim Trotter’s “Inside The NFL” column on SI.com wrote, “there are NFL personnel people and active and former players who believe Martin handled the situation poorly by allowing it to spill out of the locker room and into the public.” These people believe that “there is an unwritten rule that player business should be handled in the locker room by the players themselves, particularly when the actions are as vile as those attributed to Incognito. “
One personnel man called Martin “a weak person.” The same Neanderthal said that Martin should have handled the situation “like a man.” The standard bullshit was spouted– guys are going to be guys, Martin should “man up” and handle the situation one-on-one. First, not everyone has a mindset like this – that confrontation is the way to handle disputes.
Furthermore, Mr. Trotter speculates that teammates didn’t step in to assist Martin because he was “different.” What does that mean? Soft (like the personnel idiot called Martin)? “Less than a man?” Perhaps that is what was the rationale of the soon-to-be-brain addled NFL players.. Mr. Trotter’s fine article further speculated that teammates either didn’t feel the need to stand up for someone who wouldn’t directly stand up for himself, or they didn’t feel there was anything wrong with Incognito’s behavior
In the ubër-macho world of professional football, maybe they think that the world is like the old west, where men settled their differences in a gunfight. (Many people in the inner-cities obviously believe that to still be the case, as would many Tea Party congressmen and members who seem to hearken back to a past that never existed.) However, like the rest of the world, football players are very different from each other. Barry Sanders walked away at the height of his career and never looked back. So did Jim Brown. As did Robert Smith, ,the running back who went against his college coach’s wishes in taking “harder courses,” then played a few years in the NFL then left, saying that he wanted to do something more with his life.
Another day passes, and the story gets more sordid. According to at least two team sources, Incognito did not act alone. The sources say that Dolphins coaches told Incognito to “toughen up” Martin after Martin missed a voluntary workout in the spring. The team sources told the Sun Sentinel that Incognito took the orders too far. A team spokesperson declined comment when asked about the accusations, saying that the Dolphins are complying fully with the NFL’s current investigation into the team’s culture.
Obviously, this is all a product of the violent culture that is football at every level, but at it’s zenith in the NFL. Testosterone (and PEDS it must be noted) flow freely in NFL locker rooms, which leads to the vicious hits we see every Fall weekend, and also leads to problems in handling non-football situations. It’s easy to settle issues on a football field – hit the other guy: make the block; get a tough tackle; run to daylight. In the rest of the world, this behavior is not acceptable. You can’t beat up your spouse when the two of you are having an argument. You can’t pummel business associates when something goes wrong.
And finally, hazing – to the level that the Miami Dolphins have taken it to, is WAY too far. Embarrassing rookies by making them sing their alma mater fight songs, or pick up veterans’ shoulder pads isn’t a big deal; making rookies shell out thousands of dollars is too far. Threatening teammates, threatening their families, spouting racist epithets are many orders of magnitude too far!
We thought that Coach Gregg Williams running a bounty program to hurt opposition players with the New Orleans Saints was appalling, but if the Dolphin coaches spurred Richie Incognito to do what he apparently did to Jonathan Martin, they should all be fired and never allowed near an NFL camp again.
The head injuries that football players suffer are going to make profound changes on the field. Let’s hope that the Martin/Incognito incident brings about profound changes in the locker rooms and the practice fields.

Anyone who follows me on Facebook or has even been on this site knows that I hate the Green Bay Packers. I was born and raised in Chicago, and my grandfather had Bear season tickets. So, I was almost literally born a Bear fan, which also means that I have hatred of the Packers built into my DNA. Monday’s upset of the Packers in Lambeau Field by the Bears was a welcome point in the season and had lots of people smiling on Tuesday morning. Still, I have yet to take this out on a Packer fan (even though the Indignant Wife was a Packer fan when we got together because she liked Brett Favre. But, as stated in Monty Python, “she got better.”)
John M. Grant, 42, of Tinley Park is a Bear fan and his wife is a Packer fan. They watched the game Monday night at Sidelines Tap in Mayville, Wis. (now why would a couple from the far south suburbs travel to Wisconsin to watch a football game on television is beyond me). Grant told police he and his wife made a bet that he could use a Taser on her if the Bears won,a dn when the couple went outside to smoke a cigarette, Grant reportedly used the Taser “two times on her buttocks,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Dodge County, Wis. Grant’s wife then called police. “Hell yeah it hurt,” she said, according to police. The husband was charged with felony possession of an electronic weapon.
“It takes not only the Packer and Bear rivalry to a new level, it takes the spousal rivalry (to a new level),” said Mayville Police Chief Christopher MacNeill. Grant’s wife told police she had not given consent for anyone to use a Taser, but police checked a video on her cell phone and saw the Taser used on her in the alley, where she is seen “laughing and it seemed apparent that Ms. Grant had consented,” the arresting officer wrote in the complaint.
Christopher Neu, who owns Sidelines, said he didn’t think the incident was malicious. “They had a running bet that the loser would get Tasered by the winner,” Neu said. “Obviously she lost.”
Obviously.

Long time readers know that there are few television “journalists” I despise more than ESPN’s resident NBA jackass Stephen A. Smith. Because he sounds “street” and appears to have that same worldview, he has become chummy with a lot of NBA players and hangers-on. So he uses his contacts to spread falsehoods in the name of ratings.
The latest instance concerns Chicago Bull guard Derrick Rose. Just returning to the court after 18 months of rehab on his knee, Rose has struggled to get back into sync on the court, both with his shot, and in jelling with his teammates, but after 18 months away, this is to be expected.
However, Smith put Rose in an awkward spot, but he was inaccurate with his contract situation as was brought forward by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Joe Cowley.
Smith said “What Derrick Rose’s brother Reggie said months ago, last season, I harken back to now, and I’m going to make a prediction here, and I’m going to put the Chicago Bulls on notice because I walked around that arena, talked to fans, talked to other reporters, talked to players. I’m here to tell you something right now, and it’s no insider information. It’s just my opinion based on what I know about this league. If the Chicago Bulls don’t go out and get a viable secondary scoring option for Derrick Rose, somebody who can create their own shot when things break down .?.?. you book it, Derrick Rose will leave the Chicago Bulls the second he can opt out of his contract after next season.’’
Derrick Rose’s brother’s big mouth has already caused the superstar to be called on the carpet last season, and I don’t doubt that Rose’s big brother may believe some of these things, but Reggie Rose is a hanger on. He has no law degree; he’s not a basketball coach; he’s not an accountant; he has no financial acumen to help his brother keep his millions. No, Reggie Rose is Derrick’s brother, who gets to feed from his brother’s trough. That’s all.
So, Cowley brought to light that Rose can’t opt out of his contract. The five-year extension Rose signed takes him through the 2016-17 season and has no opt-out option, and the superstar wanted it that way.
Over the years, millions, perhaps billions of dollars have been made by writers and broadcasters who muck up the facts to generate tension, interest, and controversy. (In fact, that is the business plan for Fox News.) Most of these people can be easily ignored, but as an African-American, I am more sensitive to ignorant black people on television. And to see a caricature of the ignorant, loud, belligerent black man on television in the person of Stephen A. Smith, bothers me to no end.

Hazing has been a “rite” for men and women for millennia. Want to be in a club? You have to order the food, or clean up. Want to be in a fraternity or sorority? Weeks of “pledging” await you. And, as shown in fun way back in the television movie “Brian’s Song,” if you’re a rookie, you may have to stand up and sign your college fight song. Quaint? Relatively harmless? I guess not anymore.
Jonathan Martin is a rookie tackle for the Miami Dolphins from Stanford, and he walked out on the Dolphins last Monday, reportedly because he had been subjected to substantial ridicule from some of his teammates. Martin may soon be placed on the reserve/non-football illness list; and there are reports that Martin sought out “mental counseling” after leaving Miami’s facilities. As a result, the Dolphins have suspended the main offender in the harassment – offensive lineman Richie Incognito indefinitely.
When this story first appeared, I was wondering if this was a symptom of society’s softening. Martin is 6’5” and listed at 304 lbs. Who could be threatening his mountain of a man? Football is a very tough sport and players have to be mentally and physically tough to handle the rigors of the sport, on top of the external factors like hangers on, con men and other people trying to separate the player from his money.
I admit, however, that this was a mistaken, knee-jerk opinion. Once I read further what this young man was subjected to, I have to admit that he had it tough. Sources report that Dolphins veterans are using younger players like ATMs with rookies allegedly handed a $30K tab at a team dinner and Martin coughing up $15,000 to Incognito to help fund a trip taken by several players. Martin did not file a formal complaint with the league or the NFLPA because he fears retribution, primarily from Incognito. However, Martin’s camp reportedly informed the Dolphins and NFLPA that Incognito sent threatening and racially charged texts. Some of these texts reportedly threatened Martin’s family.
I never saw the need for hazing myself, but if people wanted to subject themselves to that, I say, let them. However, there’s a huge difference between having a young man sing a fight song, or pick up a veteran’s pads after practice and making them pay thousands of dollars for team meals, and of course sending threatening or racial texts and phone calls, some of which were recorded on Martin’s voice mail..
Also, one has to ask if the use of steroids played a part? Did ‘roid rage lead to the over-aggressive hazing? I have to say that this wouldn’t surprise me any. If you look at the incidents of violence to others, especially to spouses and girlfriends, you have to say that it is a possibility. Plus, there is always the thought that the newly drafted player has more money than the veteran, and should pick up their tabs. However, considering that approximately 75% of NFL players declare bankruptcy within 5 years after retiring/being pushed out of the league, money definitely shouldn’t be a factor. But in most of the labor agreements in both football and basketball, rookie caps were put in to force rookies to earn big money contracts (and save some older players on the bubble, salary cap wise).
The worst thing about hazing is that it leads to a perpetuation of the practice. You don’t like being hazed? Then you can take your aggression out on next year’s rookies. And the next year’s; and the next? It never ends and it does add another level of anxiety on young men trying to make a place for themselves in professional football.