As it turned out Colin Kaepernick was right: the sudden workout, the original plan to have no press, extra secrecy as to which teams would be sending representatives, and even having Commissioner Roger Goodell visibly absent, replacing him with the rapper Jay-Z was all a sham. They could report that Kaepernick was a bust, couldn’t throw the football anymore and his career and hopes were over.
Instead Kaepernick moved the location of the workout in Atlanta at the eleventh hour, invited teams, invited his own receivers, and even had the workouts on podcast. The fact that Kaepernick has not received even one call from an NFL team while journeymen, has-beens and never-wases play in NFL games every weekend, says that the league was never serious. The league even got “Uncle Tom” black reporters like Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock to put Kaepernick down; say that he was still too outspoken; that the sudden change was underhanded, even though the whole idea was crooked from the outset.
I guess that current environment of “fake news” and lies that a certain group of people swallow hook, line and sinker, most of whom are people who strongly oppose Kaepernick’s hiring, the NFL believes that it can just set it up and put whatever spin on the workout that we want and the issue will just go away.
If there is an organization that can screw-up a one-car funeral, it’s the NFL. Spouse beaters, men with substance abuse problems including cheaters with performance enhancing drugs have gotten lesser sentences that Kaepernick has paid. That this is played out in the open, on television, on social media makes the hypocrisy even more pronounced and obvious.
However, I expect that from the NFL, a group of white men who consider the players, especially the players of color, a commodity to be used and discarded. The rich black men who are a party to this are even worse. I am not a fan of Jay-Z (or rap music past about 1980), but I appreciate that he has built a billion-dollar empire from the music business (and married another billion-dollar entrepreneur), but now that he’s playing with the other billionaires, he sets up Colin Kaepernick. Smith and Whitlock are examples of the ignorant black man on radio or television who white people can listen to and smile because they can feel intellectually superior to them.
I have not agreed with Colin Kaepernick on everything (sitting out the 2016 election because, to him, Clinton and Trump were equals continues to leave a bitter taste in my mouth); but the silent protest, the fact that he never even brought it to anyone’s attention until the media reported on it, and to take this unwarranted and racist punishment is something to respect. In the short term, Kaepernick may never play professional football in the NFL again; but in the long run, the NFL will be on the wrong side of history.

For years now, I have wondered what Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett has on owner Jerry Jones. In nine years as head coach, his Cowboys have finished in first place in the NFC East 3 times. In those three playoff appearances, the team has gone 2-3, losing all three times in the NFC Divisional Round. His regular season record has been 83-63. Respectable, but no Super Bowl appearances, much less wins.
Jones, GM as well as owner, is known as a win first owner. He fired Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer, coaches who won Super Bowls and National Championships in college, when Jones felt that they were no longer effective. Each year, with the pundits, fans and the media expecting a very hot seat in Dallas, Jones would make an announcement that Garrett would be back.
Last night’s loss to New England in a very stormy Foxboro 13-9 elicited the first criticism of Garrett by Jones. Jones said he weather was bad and Dallas simply made too many mistakes to get the win. Garrett’s team dropped to 6-5 with the loss. The Cowboys are still in good shape, leading the NFC (L)East, but most people believe including Jones that there’s too much talent on this roster to be just one game above .500 late in November.
I don’t believe that Jason Garrett should be looking for open NFL jobs yet, but he may want to get his resume updated.

A couple of weeks ago, I was channel surfing and I found an NHL game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Toronto Maple Leafs, and I texted a friend that the game featured two of the most hated coaches in the league: John Tortorella for Columbus and Mike Babcock for Toronto. Both have won a Stanley Cup behind the bench – Tortorella in Tampa, Babcock in Detroit, but both have gained a reputation for having, as a local hockey guy says “three year contracts and one year acts.”
This week, the underwhelming Leafs fired Babcock as their coach. Babcock has a long history of being a tough coach to play for, especially if you get into his dog house. There are a number of players who have stories that they are none too sad to get away from Babcock. There was a story in 2017 that Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Chelios said that veteran free agents don’t want to play for Babcock. Of course, John Tavares and Mitch Marner chose to sign in Toronto, but perhaps it’s the hometown factor? I’ve seen a couple of stories over the past few months of other retired players happy to get away from Babcock.
I don’t think Babcock’s reputation is as bad as Tortorella’s. Once his Lightning won the Cup way back in 2004, suddenly, he was the best coach in the history of hockey. In Tampa, then in stops in Vancouver, New York, and Columbus, Tortorella was notorious for throwing players under the bus in the media instead of talking to them personally first. Hockey is the one sport where a team will give up on a coach, and he did not last long in Vancouver or the Big Apple. It seemed that he might have calmed a bit when Tortorella led Columbus to one of the biggest upsets in Stanley Cup playoff history, knocking off the Presidents’ Trophy Winner and record setting winning team Tampa last season. Columbus got to the second round before losing to eventual Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Bruins.
However, success isn’t a guarantee of retaining players. Columbus stars Artemi Panerin and Sergei Bobrovsky both left Columbus as free agents. Yes, money was a factor, but Columbus had made financial moves to keep at least one of the two stars. They ended up with neither and the players had little to say about the coach they were leaving.
Curiously, Bobrovsky ended up signing with Florida, whose coach is the recently fired Blackhawks head man Joel Quenneville, a coach who is also known to be a bit gruff and tough on younger players. His last couple of years in Chicago he lightened up on the young players a lot more than he had in the past, but it wasn’t enough – the Hawks brought in very young Jeremy Colliton who was a junior coach and mentor to many players.
I bring it up because an old dog can learn new tricks occasionally as Florida is second in the Atlantic Division with 27 points. It is very early, but Quenneville seems to have adapted more than his compatriots. At the very least, no one from Chicago seems to hate Quenneville (other than some players who couldn’t play defense and got bounced out).
Of course, Mike Babcock has $24 million to collect in his unemployment. He could do like Quenneville and sit out the season and rest and recharge. Or he could be ready for the next opening available.
Of course, Sportsnet is looking for someone to broadcast during the first intermission of Hockey Night in Canada.

This week, it seemed like the NFL-Colin Kaepernick issue was about to reach a conclusion. Reports were that Kaepernick, who has been out of the league since 2016 because of his protest to kneel during the National Anthem, was scheduled to get an open tryout for any and all NFL teams who wanted to attend this upcoming Saturday in Atlanta. At least three teams announced that they would attend almost instantly. My hometown Chicago Bears were noncommittal despite the uproar over the less than stellar performance of Mitchell Trubisky.
Still, the NFL did have one last bit of unfinished business. Now that the collusion lawsuit between the quarterback and the league has been settled, it isn’t hard to see QBs starting games in the league who are not on par with Kaepernick when he was playing. Older at 32, his skills may have deteriorated a bit, but on the other hand, he has not suffered the wear-and-tear three seasons of football can place on a human body. The uproar is over; Donald Trump who blasted Kaepernick and forced the league to suspend and eventually blackball Kaepernick, has his own problems right now. Yes, there are the Trump faithful who will huff and puff, but I have a feeling that after the initial outrage has worn off, the fans would still come out and watch the teams, including whatever team eventually signed him, if for no other reason than to boo.
Now however, the word is that Kaepernick may pull out of the thing. Negotiations between the sides specified that the teams showing would be public, which the league has not done (the teams themselves has issued statements); there is no word of how the workout will be structured, what passes will be required, who the receiver(s) will be, what routes will they run. In other words, Kaepernick is supposed to come into a cold interview with no idea what to expect. Even the way it was set up, suddenly, quickly, with no options for the QB, seems like this is a set-up. Perhaps that is the NFL’s game plan – make the situation so ridiculous that Kaepernick pulls out and the league can say “see, he knew he couldn’t make the cut anymore, so e can officially forget about him now.”
If this is the case, as an African-American fan, I would be very disappointed with the league (again). Once again the No Fun League is appearing tone deaf to its African-American players, coaches and fans, once again proving that the league and its owners are more in sync with the redneck segment of the fan base.
I hope that I’m wrong. I hope that there’s a workout this weekend; that Kaepernick performs well, and he gets signed by some team. I am already prepared to drown out the complaints of Fox News and its followers. Give it a couple of days and then they will find something else to be outraged over (impeachment?).
But if this is a setup, every African-American player should be ready to sit out Sunday’s and Monday’s games. There are too many black players for the NFL to treat one of their own, one who was quietly protesting inequality and brutality of people of color, to be tricked.

I have to admit that I never thought that Sportsnet would ever have the balls to fire Don Cherry. The 85-year-old commentator who has been on the “Coach’s Corner” at the first intermission of Hockey Night in Canada for 40 years is often like the old uncle at Thanksgiving – cantankerous, loud, but mostly harmless. He has made unapologetic remarks on issues from fighting in hockey and female sports reporters in dressing rooms to French-Canadians and “pinkos” that “ride bicycles and everything” came very close to the edge of getting himself canned.
He crossed the line this past Saturday night, commenting on new immigrants in Toronto and Mississauga, Ont., where he lives, for not honoring Canada’s veterans and dead soldiers on Remembrance Day weekend (Veteran’s Day here in the U.S.) He started with the red warning light that something horrible would follow… “You people,” (always the phrase, usually followed by “I’m not a racist, but…). “You love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that,” Cherry said. “These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price.”
As usual, the powers that be issued meaningless apologies written by lawyers and spin doctors. On Sunday, Sportsnet, the National Hockey League, Cherry’s television co-host Ron MacLean, and Hockey Canada issued statements censuring Cherry’s remarks. The league said in a statement that Cherry’s remarks were “offensive and contrary to the values we believe in.” Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie called his comments “despicable. “We’re proud of diverse cultural heritage and we’ll always stand up for it,” she said on Twitter. “New immigrants enrich our country for the better. We’re all Canadians and wear our poppies proudly.” The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, a national self-regulatory organization, said on Monday it received so many complaints following the broadcast that it would no longer accept any more on the issue.
MacLean, who has been Cherry’s sidekick for most of the 40 years he has been on the air, failed as usual to criticize Cherry on the air, nodding during the rant and giving Cherry a big thumbs up at the end. One day later, MacLean issued a statement calling the comments “hurtful and prejudiced” and apologized for failing to intervene. He also apologized to viewers for mishandling “a divisive moment” after he gave the remarks a thumbs-up. I believe that MacLean, who had announced that he was retiring at the end of the season, should take this opportunity to take early retirement.
Again, I thought that the network would suspend Cherry for a week or two – Cherry, right or wrong, is a national icon. In many ways, it was like the Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder’s comments about African-Americans in 1986. Unlike Snyder, I never thought that Sportsnet would fire Don Cherry, but I was happily wrong.
In a statement issued on Twitter Monday afternoon, Sportsnet said that after discussions with Cherry, it had been decided that it was “the right time” for him to go. “Sports brings people together — it unites us, not divides us,” Bart Yabsley, Sportsnet president, said. “Following further discussions with Don Cherry after Saturday night’s broadcast, it has been decided it is the right time for him to immediately step down.
“During the broadcast, he made divisive remarks that do not represent our values or what we stand for. Don is synonymous with hockey and has played an integral role in growing the game over the past 40 years. We would like to thank Don for his contributions to hockey and sports broadcasting in Canada.”
The absolute last straw was when Cherry did not apologize. I’m sure that the network would have been happier if he had issued some innocuous apology, suspended him and moved on. Cherry’s only comment was “I had my say.”
So did Sportsnet, the NHL and hockey fans across North America. Good!

Over the past six years, I have attempted to let the powers that be at Northwestern that the offense has been substandard and now that it’s truly horrific, it is way past time to fire Offensive Coordinator Mick McCall. Long time readers know that I wrote Pat Fitzgerald five years ago on the topic. I tried to email McCall himself over this past summer, not to suggest he resign but with five-star recruit Hunter Johnson finally becoming eligible to play, I hoped that McCall wasn’t “putting a Ferrari engine in a Yugo.”
Well, as we know, the offense has become the laughing stock of the nation – the worse offense in the 130 team FBS. After spending years yelling at Northwestern Athletic Director Jim Phillips from my seat in row 34, I ran to the front of the stands during the Iowa game a couple of weeks ago trying to get his attention. Cheers to old friend, fellow-NU alum and fellow season ticket holder Maury Bell, who got Phillips’ email address and sent him a message (to which Dr. Phillips responded). Not to be outdone, I sent my own letter (which is cobbled together from other letters, which I have posted here, but why reinvent the wheel…), which is listed below:

Dear Dr. Phillips,
You may remember me – I was the fan that ran down to the first row during the Iowa game trying to get your attention as you ran from the south end zone where you had made a presentation back to your spot in the north end zone. You pointed at me and kept running. This is my attempt to get your attention.
I have had football season tickets since Pat Fitzgerald was a Senior at NU. I have watched NU football since 1976, one year before I entered the university. I lived through “the bad old days:” the longest losing streak in Division I history up to that time. I remember discussions when Penn State entered the conference as to whether Northwestern should be jettisoned.
On top of that, along with NU alums Rick Telander and Bill Jauss, I was associate producer on “the Sportswriters on TV” and “The Back Table with Chet Coppock” television shows. I think I have a better than average sports IQ. Which is why I have been a frequent critic of Northwestern’s offense, especially Offensive Coordinator Mick McCall.
As I stated, I have been writing sports for television and for my own site (evilopinion.com) since 1990, and, having been fired from jobs a couple of times, I know that it is never a good experience for the organization, nor the individual. Even in sports, where the coaches and players make many orders of magnitude more than I earn, I have always been hesitant to call for someone’s dismissal. It is time for a new voice, new scheme running the offense. At the end of the season, Mick McCall needs to be replaced.
My seats are in 107, row 34, seats 22 and 23. The seats are in the name of my friend Thomas Watson who has two seats in row 35 (in case you need to verify my seats). The whole section of season ticket holders around us laugh or groan when I call out the next play from our seats. This season, if the running back is lined up on the left of the quarterback, it will be a dive play to the right side. If the running back is on the right, the run will be on the left. If I can pick that up from row 34, what are defensive coordinators with time, film and a financial interest in stopping us doing?
The play calling remains as vanilla as snow and predictable as a train schedule. I have always believed that the offense has one big advantage over defenses – they know where they are going whereas defenses are in general reactive. Your plan is much more likely to work if the other teams is not sure what you are doing.
It appears to me that McCall believes that the problem is simply execution. ‘We can run the same play; it will work if we block better or run better,’ is the message I get. When the defense knows what you are going to run, the best you can expect is a minimal gain and Big Ten defenses are among the best in the country. Far too often, the offense is faced with a 2nd down and 8 yards to go (or worse) after running the same dive play again and again. We must lead the nation in 2nd and long (8 yards or more) and 3rd down and long situations.
This horrific result has also brought out the worst in Fitzgerald. After the Michigan State game, Fitzgerald held his weekly press conference and it appears that he thinks that he is beyond criticism (which is impossible in the very public sports world). To remind you, Fitzgerald was asked if he was happy with his offensive game plan, and if it was just a case of tightening up the execution after the Wildcats loss. This response was “Yeah, I go into every game plan expecting it to work,” Fitzgerald said. “To be quite honest with you, I understand there are 40,000 experts on Twitter that can call plays for me. My email address is hashtag I don’t care. So, shoot that out.”
First of course, hashtag is a Twitter conduit, not an email one, but I’m surprised he even knows what Twitter is. As a season ticket holder who pays money to watch this team, I remain incensed at his cavalier attitude. I understand that Fitzgerald’s job is untouchable, since he has been the most successful football head coach in school history (although other than Ara Parsegian, that bar is pretty low). However, no football coach outside of Nick Saban can just flip off the naysayers.
I am also tired of being called a “hater” because I am upset that the team is getting outcoached (except for defense and special teams – hiring Mr. Hankwitz is the best decision Fitz has made at NU). I’m not one of those “I pay your salary types” (although my season ticket money paid over the past 20 years should count for something). I have paid my money and came to games in rain, in snow, in bad seasons and good seasons, which you know since I was at Ryan Field for the Iowa game last weekend.
The Mick McCall era should have ended at the end of 2014. It should have ended at the end of each of the last five seasons, but loyalty and the belief that the offense has been as much a reason for the 10-win seasons as the defense. This belief continues to blind Fitz and the athletic department. It is a shame that it has taken a nosedive to finally send the message that our offense is just not good enough. Our defense deserves an offense it can be proud of.
Fitzgerald is proud of saying that he is a builder of young men; that your players have to be held accountable for their play on the field and behavior off the field – all noble goals and the correct thing to teach your team. Obviously, the same standard is not being applied to the coaching staff, at least on the offensive side of the ball.
Thank you for your kind attention,
Tony Fernandez

Again, to his credit, Dr. Phillips replied:

Mr. Fernandez,

Thank you for taking the time to write. While you may not have expected a response, I want you to know you are heard! This has been a frustrating fall for everyone who loves the Wildcats.
Through this disappointing start, please know that NOBODY is more frustrated than our student-athletes, coaches and especially head coach Pat Fitzgerald. Rest assured they are working relentlessly to fix this now and for the future.
Thank you for your dedication and passion. You deserve to be proud of your alma mater academically, socially AND athletically, and we will reach that better destination thanks to the commitment of so many Wildcats like you!

GO ‘CATS!

Jim

I think I have said all that needs to be said, and have pleaded my case to all of the places that count. I hope that Northwestern wins the rest of its games, but regardless of the outcomes, I hope that there is finally meaningful change in the coaching staff.

There is perhaps nothing sadder in sports then when a great player faces the end of his athletic career, either by injury or by getting old. People mu age will always talk about seeing the great Willie Mays in his last season in 1973 with the New York Mets when he batted .211 and was a mere shell of his former self. Fans’ pain is amplified when the player has been an All-Star, with your team for a long time or seems to be a decent guy.
This point may have arrived for Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt. After posting 5 Pro-Bowl seasons and being the highest paid non-quarterback in the league, Watt has lost significant playing time in three of the last four seasons where he suffered season ending injuries. He’s had back surgery, knee injuries and now, suffered a torn pectoral muscle which has ended this season.
Besides being arguably the best defensive lineman of the 2010s, Watt has performed scores of humanitarian projects. He raised $46 million for relief to the City of Houston after being devastated by Hurricane Harvey. He has been involved with many other charities and foundations, running contests for greets and cars to do more good in communities all over the country.
I’m not saying that Watt is finished, but with his history, one has to wonder if he’s thinking about it.
Closer to Chicago, the Chicago Blackhawks has made defenseman Brent Seabrook a healthy scratch for the past two games. Other than one scratch last season, he has never missed games except for injury and Seabrook is not at all happy about it. At 34 years of age, there are quite a few players still playing productively in the NHL. However, as the old story goes, it’s not the years, it’s the mileage. In the seven years between 2008-2015 seasons, the team made four deep runs into the playoffs including three Stanley Cup Championship seasons, two Olympic Games and of course 6 ½ full seasons (the 2012-2013 season was shortened by an owner lockout). I saw a stats on an NBC broadcast around the end of the 2015 season that showed that the Blackhawks had played more games than any NHL team in history over that period of time.
Of course, the other stickler is that the team and GM Stan Bowman garnered a lot of loyalty by getting their core players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and others to take small contracts after their rookie contracts expired and giving them nice contracts afterwards. For Kane and Toews and Duncan Keith, this has worked well – they continue to play well (not as much this season so far, but Kane and Toews had career years last season). The team signed Seabrook to an 8-year, $55 million contract which expires in 2024. Seabrook’s play has been in decline for a few years, posting a -6 plus/minus last season and a -5 so far this season. While advanced stats are hard to come by for the average fan, according to the press, Seabrook has some of the worst puck possession stats on the team.
So, Seabrook has sat for two games, and may be sitting out more games. Honestly, with that salary cap hit, no team is going to want to trade for him (unless the Hawks pay a significant percentage of his salary). The fans have made Seabrook one of the reasons for the team’s lack of success, and really, Seabrook has been the poster boy for the core getting old. The Blackhawks seem to have decided to let the young guys play, which leaves no room for the elder defenseman.
Again, it is hard not to empathize with these two fine athletes. Both have excelled in their sports; perhaps to eventually be Hall of Famers. Both have been exemplary in their communities. Maybe however, it’s time for J.J. Watt and Brent Seabrook to start planning the next chapter in their lives: Watt to be able to live a healthy life; Seabrook because he just can’t perform at a high level anymore.
No matter, it is sad to see.