Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Big Ben
I assume we would get to him at some point, so I might as well start. What's the mood in Pittsburgh (disgust, apathy, etc)? I was listening to sports radio this afternoon on my drive home from work, and of course even here in Mass, he was all anyone could talk about. Someone made a good point though, that if Goodell is going to suspend him for alleged issues and potentially crimes (I know, I know, it is probably more than just alleged, but for the sake of argument), then what about all the NFL players who have actually or will actually commit crimes and be prosecuted for them? Does Goodell suspend all of them?
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5 comments:
Vick and Buress is an example of NFL players that have committed crimes and the NFL doesn't do much (other than monetary issues) since the players can't really play once in Jail. NFL will allow anyone to play as long as they are good enough, teams are willing to take them, are not incarcerated and won't tarnish the the marketable image.
NFL does not base its suspension on whether or not a player has committed a crime but on the wellbeing of its image. Pretty much all athlete leagues do this for instance Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf being suspended for not standing for the National Anthem due to his muslim beliefs while in the NBA. Playing in the NFL is a privilege and the NFL holds and should hold the right to suspend whomever for whatever reason as long as it is in accordance with conduct agreed upon by the owners.
I could definitely see the Steelers getting rid of Ben (maybe the only team that would do so in this situation). The Steelers gave up a Superbowl MVP receiver for a fifth rounder because Holmes was not upholding Rooney's values being suspended in 2008 and now again for four games in 2010. I haven't talked to many but most people seem fed up with Ben and his multiple offenses, they like it when Cleveland was in the news (Stallworth) not us.
To answer the 'mood in Pittsburgh' question, there were a couple of Post Gazette polls:
Do you think Ben should be traded?
60% Yes
Would you be upset if Ben was traded?
75% No
My own take is this. There is such a tenuous thread between a professional sports team and the city they represent. Perhaps ownership is from the city, a coach or two may live there while employed by the team, and a few players may make the city their home. But truthfully the relationship is more problematical than even the strained reason for patriotism--the accident of being born in a certain location. So, with even location a fiction, I naively pretend that my teams have, in some sense, 'better people.' I wish we had a team full of Charlie Batch's and Troy Polamalu's.
So I say, throw the rascals out. In fact, don't even let them in.
This goes back to my old proposal. Like high school, you can only play for a pro team whose "attendance zone" you grew up in, or in which you have maintained a long time residence.
Like your idea but unfortunately, unlike High School where there are tiers, none exist in NFL (nor would I want it to). That's why in high school you don't have Quad A schools, where their talent tends to run deeper due to numbers, beating up on Single A. So the 15 states that produce 73% of NFL players or Flordia Texas and California who have on average 3X the amount of NFL player than every other state would probable dominate.
I'm thinking Pittsburgh would make out all right: under my plan, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Joe Namath, Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka, Mercury Morris would have all been required to play for Pittsburgh. Plus, we could have kept Jack Ham and Charlie Batch.
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