First and Goal

 Wow, what a lousy call.  I didn't actually see the game, but on replay, it was pretty obvious that the Seattle Seahawks did not win the game on a last second hail-Mary pass.  And if the Green Bay Packers miss the play-offs by one game.  Ouch.

So what's a good fan to do?  Well, I'm a fan, though admittedly not a die hard, every Sunday parked in front of the big screen, come hell or high water kind of fan.  I'm the kind of fan who doesn't support scab labor.  Yes, fellow football followers, it's time you join me in boycotting the National Football League until the referee lockout is over.

I'm not sure when the United States became an anti-union country.  When I was growing up in western Pennsylvania smart people didn't attack the steel workers, the auto workers, the teamsters or the miners.  It wasn't because of any  threat of violence.  Attacking unionism was a good way to become very isolated in the community.   It was understood that as long as union members made a good wage, they'd buy cars, new clothes, they'd go out to eat in restaurants and go to the local movie house.  In short, union wages drove the local economy and the more money  blue collared workers made, the more they spent.  And the more they spent, the more money was made by everyone else, including the much lauded small business man.

So it's baby step time on the long road back to a strong American labor movement.  If the union refs aren't back this weekend, turn off the TV.  Don't go to the games.  Don't make the wealthy plutocrats who own the teams even richer.  Make it clear that the continued success of the National Football League is contingent on union referees calling the shots.  And after we all back a union that we need to preserve the integrity of our much loved football, we can transfer that allegiance to the UMW, or the UAW, or here's a radical notion your local teacher's union.  Union workers and good union wages make us all better off.

All Sports! All The Time!

"We are Penn State!"  I suspect the fans in Happy Valley won't be chanting that one for awhile.  Do I really need to write this?  Yes, I think child sexual abuse is wrong.  Yes, I think punishment is in order.  But a 60 million dollar fine paid to the NCAA?  Come on folks, get real.  In this day and age of budget cuts, big time college sports helps pay the bills. (My old home state has fallen under the evil influence of the Tea Party, so that money is needed now more than ever.)  A fine that large is about more than punishing the football program.  It's about shorter library hours, closed labs, staff cuts and tuition increases.  Tell the biology major that it's going to take an extra year to graduate because the NCAA wanted it's pound of flesh, and to get it, there aren't enough lab hours available anymore.  Oh, and by the way, that's another year of student loans.  Jerry Sandusky has gone to prison, and I suspect others will follow.  Penn State will be paying out even more millions in law suits for the foreseeable future. This should have all been left to the courts.   File this one under, doing something without thinking it through.

And they suck me back in.  With all this Lance Armstrong stuff, I swore I'd walk away from pro cycling.  Armstrong has been out of the pro ranks for almost a decade now, he's never tested positive, but the movers and shakers of cycling have decided to go back and destroy his legacy.  There's something about that sport that wants to self destruct.  I suspect it's because it's a professional sport run by an Olympics federation, and those are run by a bunch of silly old Europeans who don't understand why the French revolution happened.  Too, to return to a point I've made before.  Cycling has become a big time, worldwide sport because of television.  The TV people want hard climbs,. fast technical descents, and crash filled bunch sprints.  Really, it's making the sport worse.  The UCI wants the major teams in every major race, and the number of those races is increasing every year.  The sponsors want their corporate logos on the podium, the team owners are desperate to get those victories, and team managers are desperate to keep their jobs.  Basically, a system where it's almost impossible to survive without some help, but it's only the riders that take the blame.  To be honest, I don't even care if Lance Armstrong doped. More than likely every rider in the top twenty was on something. Yes, I swore to give up the sport, but then the Tour de France came along and I fell into line.  Oh well.

Is it just me?  Are there others out there who hope that the London branch of the occupy movement disrupts the Olympics?  For all the fine talk about pure sport the Olympics are a rich mans vanity event.  Only the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics has turned a profit.  If London ends up another money loser, it's the lower middle classes and the poor who will pay in the form of even more cuts in services.  Too, the land for all those bright and shiny new venues had to come from somewhere.  No rich people were harmed for the London Olympics.  No, it was the homes and businesses of the lower middle classes and poor that were sacrificed.

Penn State

I've had a few days for it all to process, and I have to say I'm not all that surprised about what's coming out of Penn State. As far as the child sex allegations go, while disturbing and worthy of harsh punishment, they're also not uncommon. Like it or not, it happens.
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It's the fact that Penn State sought to cover things up, and in the process, allowed Jerry Sandusky to continue his actions that seems to be the real issue. In our society, we've granted a cult like status to big time college sports. At PSU, there has also been a cult of personality that has built up around Joe Paterno. (I went to Penn State, I'm in my mid-fifties, and it was part of the university's culture way back then.)
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In the end, all involved moved to protect the church. It's human nature. The obvious parallel is the Catholic Church sex scandal, but it's hardly limited to the local parish. Whether it's the wilful ignorance of Steve Jobs and conditions in Apple's Chinese manufacturing plants or the defense of Roman Polanski, those we deify too often get a free ride.

Super Bowl 45

To quote the great Dallas Cowboy running back, Duane Thomas, "If it's the ultimate game, why are they going to play it again next year?" Remember that you read it here first...Pittsburgh 31, Green Bay 27. And no, I'm not making this prediction because I grew up near Pittsburgh. I really think we're going to win. Of course I also start every baseball season thinking that the Pirates are going to have a winning season.

Reggie Bush, Contrite but Not Apologetic...

....whatever the hell that means.
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Here in southern California, there seems to be an obsession among sports broadcasters that Reggie Bush should apologize for enriching himself while at USC. Well, why should he? There isn't a sports organization, pro, college, or high school that wouldn't kick an athlete to the curb if that organization perceived it to be in their best interests. NCAA scholarships can be cancelled at the end of a season. An athlete can do everything that's asked of him. He can attend every meeting, every practice, and be ready to play in every game; he can live up to the stated ideal of the NCAA and be a true scholar athlete. And then at the end of the season, if coach finds some junior college transfer who scored 450 on his SATs and barely eeked out Cs at such and such community college, but can catch a pass or run to daylight, scholar athlete, who played by the rules can get kicked off the squad, and if not rich, kicked out of school. Coach can go to one of his players, let's say a pre-med major, and tell him, "Hey, I know you've got a 150 IQ, and you want to cure cancer, but you need to spend more time in the weight room. How about becoming a physical education major instead." And if that player says, "Sorry coach, I care more about academics than athletics." it's bye-bye.
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Colleges want their athletes to mix with boosters. After all, boosters donate money to the school. Colleges want their athletes to go to the parties, carry the school colors, and glad hand with anyone with a check book and large bank balance. Colleges are allowed to take donations, but athletes are in violation of the rules if they accept anything at all. Colleges can make millions selling jerseys of their star athletes, but the athlete sees nothing from the exploitation of his name and likeness. The NCAA is a racket, all wrapped up in mom and apple pie imagery.

Who Dat?

Just thought I'd brag a bit about my correct prediction on the Super Bowl. (See my post of 1/24/10) I didn't get the score right, but I did pick the Saints over the Baltimore Colts.
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Oops, I mean the Indianapolis Colts. It looks like, some time in the next couple of years, two NFL teams will be moving to Los Angeles, and since the Colts are playing in an old stadium, in a small market, it's not impossible that this years also ran could be here in L.A. I've got to admit that I have mixed feelings about the possibility of Indianapolis, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Minnesota, or St. Louis moving to southern California. As an Angeleno I'd love to have my own team to root for. (I grew up in a small town fifty miles from Pittsburgh, so I bleed Steeler black and gold. The Steelers will ALWAYS be my first love.) But, in the United States, pro sports are heavily subsidized by government. We develop the players in public schools, we build the infrastructure around stadiums, and often we build the stadiums as well. As long as football is subsidized by our tax dollars, I don't think that team owners should be allowed to play musical stadiums. If owners want to argue the free enterprise card, they should go off the public teat.