YOU WANT TO BE NFL COMMISSIONER?

What's commissioner Roger Goodell doing with the National Football League these days?  Take a look at the standings and it looks more like the National Hockey League where everyone has a chance to make the playoffs.  For years there's been discussion of putting the league on a level playing field.  It sure looks like that's being accomplished.

Entering Week Seven, 10 Teams had won 4 or more games, 11 had a 3-3 record and 11 had won either one or two games.   Of those eleven clubs at the bottom are New Orleans at 1-4 and Pittsburgh, Detroit and Dallas at 2-3.  Any of those teams are playoff caliber.  All the teams in the AFC East are 3-3 (New England, New York, Buffalo and Miami) and the NFC East is almost the same.  If it's parity you want, it's parity you're going to get!!

But there is something else going on in the league.  Players have been speaking out about Mr.Goodell and his handling of the Bounty Scandal involving the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Drew Brees has been especially critical.

Today, former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Jimmy Kennedy, identified as a "whistleblower in the scandal, let loose on the NFL commissioner by calling him a liar in regards to his role in the league's investigation.   "Kennedy issued a lengthy statement in response to a recent memo the NFL gave to all teams that listed him as a person who originally told former Vikings coach Brad Childress in early 2010 that the Saints had a bounty on Brett Favre in the 2010 NFC title game".  "That's a lie", said Kennedy.  "I had no knowledge about any alleged bounty to reveal to anyone, and I never informed anyone that I did".

Would somebody else like this job?

Along with the Kennedy accusations today, comes this as well.  The commissioner appointed predecessor Paul Tagliabue to hear the appeals of four players suspended in the bounty scandal.  Goodell notified Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Scott Fujita and Anthony Hargrove, as well as the players' union, that Tagliabue would be the hearing officer to "decide the appeals and bring the matter to a prompt and fair conclusion".  The players and the union asked Goodell to recuse himself feeling he could not rule fairly.  One has to ask if having the former commissioner put forth a ruling is going to be any better.  

Goodell has said many times he feels his main duty as commissioner is "protecting the shield" as he puts it in reference to the NFL shield logo, protecting the integrity of the game and making it safer.  Since assuming office in September of 2006, he has suspended those involved in the bounty scandal and other notables such as Adam "Pacman" Jones, Chris Henry, Tank Johnson, Michael Vick, Ben Roethlisberger, Donte Stallworth and Ndamukong Suh.  In 2007, he disciplined the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick for their involvement with Spygate and then of course there was the 2011 NFL lockout which he had a big hand in bringing to a close in August before the start of the season.  That might be his shining moment. Because the recent Referee Lockout just settled sure wasn't.  That has to rank as one of the worst times ever in NFL history.  .

SO you think it might be a whole lot of fun being the commissioner of the NFL and recognized as "one of the most powerful person in all of sports?"  There's much more to the job than most can comprehend.  And most of it isn't glamorous.  It might cause Goodell to pause and say, "here Paul, you can have your old job back when you're done ruling on the bounty scandal......I'm outta here!"

Who knows, it just might happen.

Thanks for reading,

John

ONE DIFFERENT CHARACTER...ALEX KARRAS

We heard on Monday the first official news pertaining to Alex Karras and kidney failure.  Reports were he was in his last days.  Today, we were informed that the character, and I mean character in the loose term,  who played many parts in the sports and entertainment field had died.

He was quite a bit different than his fellow man.....not unusual or weird, but different.  Perhaps a good definition to him would be is "once he made up his mind on something. that's the way it was".  Come hell or high water.

I never had an opportunity to see Karras play while at the University of Iowa (1954-57).  He struggled during his first two years with the Hawkeyes.  He was homesick and not all that happy with Head Coach Forest Evashevski.  At the end of his sophomore season, he threw a shoe at Evy and quit.  That summer he focused on his physical conditioning  and grades and returned to Iowa to finish his career.  But as far as his relationship with the head coach, that marriage was never repaired.   Former teammate Randy Duncan said this of their rapport, " Karras hated Evashevski and he still does.  I think Karras hated Evy for a lot of reasons.  Evy was on everybody's back, and he was on Karras' back big time.  Karras was a great football player but he didn't really like offense and in those days, you had to go both ways.  So he didn't block anybody,  What he wanted to do was chase down quarterbacks and play defense".  

And play defense he did.  The final two seasons at Iowa were full of honors for him and the University.  He was named All-American in 1956 and won the Outland Trophy as the nation's top lineman after the 1957 season.  Iowa won the Rose Bowl in 1957 over Oregon State, 35-19......and that next spring,  he was selected by the Detroit Lions as their number one pick in the National Football League draft.

A character in the clubhouse and  in life......

Twelve seasons later, he retired from the NFL, but not before being selected to the Pro Bowl on four different occasions. If you can picture Dick Butkus (the famed Chicago Bear ruffian) playing tackle, that would be Alex Karras.  He was not big for his position at defensive tackle ( 6 foot 3 inches and 248 pounds), but he along with teammate Roger Brown  and several other studs formed a group known as the "Fearsome Foursome".

But there were some trials during his NFL playing days.  "On January 7, 1963, Karras's ownership in Detroit's Lindell AC Bar became a source of controversy when league officials urged him to sell his financial interests in the place because of reports of gambling and organized crime influence.  After first threatening to retire rather than give it up, he admitted to placing bets on NFL games and was suspended by the league along with Green Bay Packers running back, Paul Hornung, for one season.  During his exile, Karras turned to pro wrestling where he had dabbled before.  The league reinstated he and Hornung in 1964.  Upon returning to action, he once refused when an official asked him to call the pre-game coin toss, "I'm sorry, sir", Karras replied, "I'm not permitted to gamble".

On another occasion, Lions rookie tight end recalled how he won Karras over.  "Karras showed him a picture of what he said was him (Karras) and his wife.  Both were young and Sanders said the woman was one of the ugliest he'd ever seen.  It wasn't Karras' wife and he was testing Sanders to see how he'd react.  "You have a nice family", Sanders replied diplomatically.  From that moment on, Karras accepted Sanders as a teammate and a friend. "He was a character", said Sanders.  "He was the Godfather.  That's what Godfather's do".  

That's the kind of character he was.....

Upon retirement Karras gained fame as a partner in the booth with Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football......in movies, like the "Paper Lion" and "Blazing Saddles".....and then on to television with his hit "Webster". where he would star with his second wife, Susan Clark.    

I'm not sure he ever patched things up with his University.  I thought he had, but I couldn't confirm that before I wrote the facts that were important about his life.  He wore # 77 as a Hawkeye and that's how old he was when he passed.  Perhaps a little irony there.  As I said before.....he was different.  But in a great, great way.

R.I.P. Alex Karras.


Thanks for reading,

John  

AMONG THE A'S CELEBRATION COMES TRAGEDY

Wednesday was to have been a special day for the Oakland Athletics.  Despite a ton of factors working against them, namely injuries, the schedule and a team made up of a whole slug of no-names, was in essence a one-game winner take all American League West title game against the Texas Rangers.

To say this season was a replay of sorts to "Moneyball", the movie released this past year of the 2002 version of the Oakland Athletics, you might be accurate.  Except this......

"Something happened to the Oakland A's family on Wednesday that put the joy of winning the AL West and making the playoffs in the proper perspective.  A's reliever Pat Neshek and his wife, Stephanee, suffered a tragedy when their newborn son died less than 24 hours after being born.

While his teammates were celebrating a playoff spot, Neshek, who had left the team on Tuesday to be with his wife during the childbirth, tweeted the following:

"Please pray for my family.  Tonight my wife and I lost our first and only son 23 hours after he was born with no explanation".   That tweet just a few hours after Neshek had excitedly tweeted the news of the birth, including a photo of his new born son, named Gehrig John Neshek.

As Unexplainable as it gets.......  

Later Wednesday, Stephanee Neshek tweeted:

"I am at a loss for words right now....he died peacefully sleeping in my arms unexpectedly without any explanation.  There was no cause of death and I am having trouble understanding why God can let such a thing happen to an innocent being".

In a statement, the A's said:  Our hearts go out to Pat and Stephanee and we share in their sorrow of losing their young son.  The entire A's organization will keep the Neshek family in our prayers and thoughts, as they try to come to grips with this tragic occurrence in their lives".

Gehrig John Neshek weighed 8 pounds and 5 ounces at birth.  Healthy by all accounts.  What caused his death?  I'm not sure if we'll ever know.  But for the Neshek's,  I hope and pray that an autopsy will find something to shed some light.  And if not, I pray the Neshek's see God's provision of direction through this difficult time.

Kind of puts life and sport in perspective, doesn't it?  As you watch Oakland and the Detroit Tigers battle it out in the playoffs beginning Friday......keep the Neshek's in your prayers. In fact, say one for them.  Just them and little Gehrig John.  No game, no win, no big-time contract can ever replace what they lost this week.  That's for sure.....

Thanks for reading,

John

THE SPECIAL ROBERTO CLEMENTE

This past weekend marked an anniversary of a special athlete in the game of baseball,  Roberto Clemente.  It was 40 years ago this past Sunday that Clemente recorded his 3,000 major league hit.  That in itself was special.  Months later, we'd find out....how special.

Clemente was an extraordinary player.  He played 18 major league season all with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He was what many people would call a 5-tool player.  He could hit for power, he could throw, he could run, he could field and he could hit for average.  And he did them all with a class that places him among the all-time greats.  If you equate him with a player of today, see Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and you might get an idea of just how good he was.  Here are but a few of his accomplishments:

15-time All-Star
2-time World Series Champion (1960, 1971)
12-time Gold Glove Winner (1961-1972)
4-time National League Batting Champion (1961, 1964, 1965, 1967)
National League Most Valuable Player (1966)
World Series Most Valuable Player  (1971)
He is the only player in major league history to hit a walk-off inside-the-park Grand Slam

Roberto Clemente......something Special

But as great as Clemente was on the field, he might have been of  bigger significance off it. "During the off-season, Clemente was involved in charity work.  When Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, was affected by a massive earthquake in 1972, Clemente, who had been visiting Managua three weeks before the quake, arranged relief flights to help the local residents.  Clemente soon learned, that the aid packages on the first three flights had been diverted by corrupt officials of the Somoza government, never reaching the victims of the quake.  

Clemente was incensed, so much that he decided to accompany the fourth relief flight, hoping that his presence would ensure that the aid would be delivered to the rightful source.  The airplane he chartered for a New Year's Eve flight, a Douglas DC-7, had  a history of mechanical problems and sub-par flight personnel and it was overloaded by some 4,000 pounds.  It crashed into the ocean off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, immediately after takeoff.  An empty flight case belonging to Clemente was the only personal item recovered from the plane. Clemente's teammate and close friend, Manny Sanguillen, was the only member of the Pirates not to attend his memorial service.  He chose instead to dive into the waters where Clemente's plane crashed in an effort to find his teammate.  His body was never found."

In March of 1973, the Baseball Writers of America held a special election for his admittance into the Hall of Fame.  They decided to waive the 5-year waiting period and voted him in posthumously.   Major League Baseball presents the Roberto Clemente Award every year to the player who best follows his example of humanitarian work.  In 193, Clemente was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the First Presidential Citizens Medal.  In 2002, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In their USA Today Magazine article titled, "Saluting Pittsburgh's Finest", Richard E. Vatz and Lee S. Weinberg said Clemente was "arguably the best in the history of the game" and stated that "understanding the magnitude of Roberto Clemente requires an appreciation of the gestalt of his presence, which was greater than the sum of his statistics".

Now, that's something special.

Thanks for reading,

John