The NFL: Trouble In Paradise

U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander, U.S. Central Command, poses for a photo with NFL Hall of Famers Lynn Swann, Roger Craig, John Elway, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during Super Bowl XLIII, Feb. 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The National Football League occupies the loftiest penthouse in North American sports, basking in high revenues and TV ratings.  They like to keep themselves in the news beyond the football season with the draft in the spring, team practices (also known as "Organized Team Activities") in the early summer, and training camps in mid-July.  They also tinker with the rules, create prime time specials on NFL Network showcasing its 2014 schedule, and let others ruminate about whether the league will ever expand to London or Los Angeles.

Unfortunately for the NFL and its commissioner Roger Goodell, controversy is always in season on and off the field, threatening its immediate and long-term future. 

• Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens has been served with a two-game suspension from the NFL for alleged domestic abuse.  That's right.  Two games.  That should go over real well with the female fans the league has been trying to court, other than the patronizing display of pink this and that every October to promote breast cancer "awareness".
• Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay was arrested for driving under the influence.  Players have been fined and suspended for similar violations under the league's drug policy.  NFL owners?  Please.  Goodell's job status depends on those people.
• The continuing controversy over the Washington Redskins' nickname.  The more pressure there is to change it to something less offensive, the more Goodell and team owner Dan Snyder push back against it, the longer the name continues to exist.
• The presence of Michael Sam, the first openly-gay player in NFL history.  So far, Sam has been warmly welcomed by the St. Louis Rams.  Others, such as former Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy, really step into it when they publicly consider Sam a "distraction".
• The NFL settled with some of its former players for an increase in compensation for diseases that result from head injuries.  Some of the biggest stars who used to play the game, you may (or may not) be surprised to learn, now have symptoms of dementia.
• Some NFL cheerleaders are suing their teams for failing to pay them so much as a living wage.
• Parents are steering their kids into other sports as concern about concussions in football mount.  Even Brett Favre, who was knocked around a few times during his career, has said he would not let his kids play the game.

There have been predictions of the eventual demise of the National Football League, or at least the diminishing of it.  While such talk clearly is as exaggerated as premature reports of Mark Twain's death, the signs are troubling.  Even though the league is raking in billions through sold-out stadiums and new TV contracts, they are threatening to kill the golden goose to the point where only the wealthy can afford to attend games (if that's not happening already) and schedules are expanded, risking life-threatening injuries to its players.

But who cares about all that?  Who gives a flying pig about wife beaters, drug cheaters, oversensitive crybabies, and old-timers who can't remember what they had for breakfast?  Bring on the beer, the nachos and the big screen, man!  It's time for the GAME!

At least that's what the NFL hopes you'd want.  Selective amnesia. 

The Derek Jeter Game

Derek Jeter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The American League defeated the National League 5-3 Tuesday night in The Derek Jeter Game (also known as the 85th Major League Baseball All-Star Game) at Minneapolis, thus achieving home field advantage for the World Series.

The focus of this game, Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, obliged by hitting a double and a single in his two at-bats.  Then he was ceremoniously replaced in the fourth inning to thunderous applause from the Target Field crowd, applying the famous "Minnesota Nice" touch to a man they would otherwise refer to as "that Yankee jerk" whenever his team played the Twins--or in much stronger language than we use here.

Jeter, who's currently on his season-long Retirement Tour after two decades in Yankee pinstripes (in much the same manner as Mariano Rivera last season), is a great player who certainly deserves the Hall of Fame-worthy career he has had.  All-time Yankee hit leader.  Team captain since 2003. A five-time World Series champion.

But Jeter is also baseball's most enigmatic player.  In this age of social media, sports talk radio and the tabloid press, Jeter has somehow managed the feat of keeping his life to himself.  Which is tough to do when you play in New York City.  According to some reports, even his teammates don't know him.

Major League Baseball seemed to have built this All-Star Game around Jeter, but at the expense of recently deceased icons such as Tony Gwynn and Don Zimmer.  Jeter's first at-bat, for all intents and purposes, was sponsored by Nike.  Gwynn and Zimmer?  Gwynn played his entire career with the San Diego Padres, and Zimmer was a lovable old coot who spent several decades in baseball in various roles.  But the Padres aren't the Yankees, and there's no money in marketing the dead.

So when the season ends and the last cap is tipped, Derek Jeter will fade into baseball history.  He will be remembered by teammates, opponents and fans alike for his competitiveness and his class.  Which is something Major League Baseball should also learn when it comes to honoring its legends, whether they played in New York or not.

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The circus has left the Twin Cities, and Target Field will once again host a Minnesota Twins team that wants to believe they have a shot at an American League Wild Card playoff spot.  Problem is, they are 44-50 and 10 1/2 behind the division-leading Detroit Tigers.

Pitcher Glen Perkins and catcher Kurt Suzuki distinguished themselves in The Derek Jeter Game by shutting down the National League in the ninth inning to preserve the American League's victory.  They, along with Phil Hughes, Brian Dozier and Sam Fuld have been bright spots for yet another Twins team beset by injuries and incompetence.  Even the acquisition of Kendrys Morales has been a disappointment so far.

If the Twins come out of the gate running in the second half of the season, a lot of us who wrote this team off will be in for a big surprise.  If they stumble?  To paraphrase former Vikings coach Dennis Green, the Twins are who we thought they were.

World Cup '14: Number Four for Germany

FIFA World Cup 2014 logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In spite of the protests, the bloated budgets for stadiums (and the political fallout that might result), and the failure of its team to win at home, Brazil did well as hosts of the 2014 FIFA Men's World Cup.

Everyone seems to agree that the right team--Germany--won soccer's world championship this time.  Mario Goetze scored the only goal in the finals late in extra time to giver his country a 1-0 victory over Argentina.  Not only was this Germany's fourth World Cup title, but the first since East and West were reunited.  It was also the first time a European team has won this tournament in the Americas.

Earlier, Germany stunned the world with their 7-1 pasting of Brazil in the semifinals, plunging that country into mourning.  The loss of Neymar, the Brazilians' best player, was a contributing factor.  But nobody expected a collapse like this, a situation compounded by their getting shut out in the third-place game by the Netherlands.

As the soccer world looks toward Russia in 2018, ESPN will be handing off its World Cup TV coverage after two decades to Fox.  This has been causing a lot of nervousness among American soccer fans, because ESPN had finally started taking the sport seriously.  For one thing, they replaced novice American announcers with more seasoned British commentators such as Ian Darke and Derek Rae.  This approach, along with the United States team being more competitive, has resulted in the highest TV ratings soccer has seen in this country.

The problem lies with what Fox might do with its World Cup coverage, starting with the women's tournament in 2015.  Would they follow ESPN's lead and treat the sport and its viewers with respect, or would they just dumb it down with animated robots and the "NFL on Fox" theme--just like they do with everything else?  (We can't wait to see how they'll do golf's U.S. Open starting next year.)

One sign that Fox might pander to the lowest-common denominator is the inclusion of Gus Johnson as its lead soccer voice.  Much better known for covering football and basketball in a style that suggests he should be calling NHL hockey instead, Johnson has not gotten high marks from soccer fans in the matches he's done so far.

It's true that soccer in the U.S. needs its own Al Michaels, Marv Albert, Vin Scully and Mike Emrick.  Ian Darke and Derek Rae have come the closest to achieving this level.  But Fox believes Johnson is the future.  Is he that guy?  We don't know.

One thing we do know:  Soccer is a sport that can unify a nation in victory.  It can also break your heart.  Just ask Germany.  Or Brazil.

The Decision II: Back to Cleveland

English: LEbrick banGS playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers Español: LeBron James con los Cavaliers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The King of the NBA has spoken.  He's taking his talents back to the shores of Lake Erie.

LeBron James, instead of another drawn-out TV special, chose to make his plan known via Sports Illustrated's website.  After four years on South Beach and winning two of the last four NBA championships for the Miami Heat, James announced he's returning home to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers next season.

Imagine that.  No more speculating on ESPN and elsewhere on where James would turn up next, which has dominated basketball for the past year or so.  No more logjams among NBA free agents such as Carmelo Anthony, who have been on pins and needles waiting for LeBron to make up his mind.  And no more "Big Three" in Miami, though Chris Bosh is reportedly sticking with the Heat.

Does this also mean the end of the Kevin Love trade rumors?  The Cavaliers appear to be interested in taking Love off of the Minnesota Timberwolves' hands, and Love appears interested so long as James is in the picture.  The main stumbling block is whether or not the Cavs want to part with Andrew Wiggins, the number one pick in the recent NBA draft.

LeBron's decision puts the Cavaliers in the category of contending for the NBA title.  However, James would be working with a much younger cast than he did in Miami, when he had Bosh and Dwyane Wade to lean on.  Whether Love comes to Cleveland or not, James would have Wiggins and Kyrie Irving (who had been holding down the fort while James was in Miami) in his backcourt.

Akron, Ohio is where LeBron James hails from, and the nearby Cavaliers was his first NBA team.  Yet he left it all for the bright lights and bigger bucks of Miami, where he did very well for himself.  Now James says it's all about coming home.  How's Cleveland supposed to feel, having been jilted once?

In the SI essay, James said that just because he's back with the Cavs, the fans shouldn't expect a championship.  At least not right away.  It's been 50 years since a Cleveland team won a professional sports title, when the original Browns won the NFL championship in the pre-Super Bowl year of 1964.  Even LeBron tried and failed to bring an NBA championship to his hometown, with the San Antonio Spurs sweeping the Cavs in the 2007 NBA Finals.

A famous author once said that you can't go home again.  LeBron James will be testing that theory for the next few years.  Can he be the one who finally breaks the Curse of Cleveland?

World Cup '14: America Is Not a Soccer Power. Yet.

Soccerball with USA flag (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the halfway point of the 2014 FIFA Men's World Cup, teams vying for soccer (or football, if you prefer) supremacy have been whittled down to eight.  The expected teams are still here:  host country Brazil, Argentina, Germany and the Netherlands.  Some left unexpectedly:  England, Spain, Mexico and Italy.  The major underdog in this bunch?  Costa Rica.

Other than Luis Suarez of Uruguay getting suspended by FIFA for four months for allegedly taking a bite out of an opponent, reports of members of the Cameroon squad allegedly throwing matches, and demonstrations in Brazilian cities questioning the wisdom of their government in building so many potentially useless stadiums, it's been a quiet World Cup so far.

The United States side was eliminated in the Round of 16 by Belgium, who scored two goals in extra time to move on to the quarterfinals.  It was a surprise that the Americans made it this far, considering how goalkeeper Tim Howard almost single-handedly saved their rear ends while the offense sputtered, and the defense failed to get the ball out of their own zone.

The U.S. beat Ghana in the opening round, then tied Uruguay when they lost their lead with seconds left, and then were shut out by Germany.  But the Americans still had more goals in that round than either Ghana or Uruguay, so they got out of the "Group of Death", whether they deserved it or not.

Granted, the United States is nowhere near ready to contend for the World Cup.  Even coach Jurgen Klinsmann has admitted as much.  It is also folly to suggest that, because of record TV ratings on ESPN and Univision, soccer has arrived as a major sport in America.  It just means that Olympics-style jingoism is alive and well.

Millions of kids play soccer growing up because their parents feel better about not paying for expensive equipment, and because they believe the risk of injury is minimal.  Just a ball, shorts, and the ability to kick for long distances is all that's necessary.  However, there is a concussion risk if you head the ball or crash into your opponent--that is, unless youth leagues, high schools and colleges start requiring helmets and other safety equipment.

Once they grow up, though, most kids abandon soccer in favor of other sports.  Watching soccer is not the same as playing it, because Americans won't sit through scoreless ties with hardly any action.  If they did, Major League Soccer would be packing them in at NFL stadiums instead of dinky little "soccer-specific" parks.

Speaking of MLS, the two groups that want to bring a franchise to the Twin Cities had better take another look at the TV ratings.  While cities with MLS teams (and some who don't) have posted gains in viewership. Minneapolis and St. Paul seem to be lagging toward the bottom of the ratings.  Does this mean that Minnesotans aren't all that interested in the World Cup, and that an MLS team would be a waste of time and money?  Or does it mean that having a pro team would have greatly accelerated interest?

Soccer in the United States, it's been said, is the game of the future.  And it's been that way for decades.  Not to dismiss the efforts of the women's soccer team, who won their own World Cup in 1999 and have been contenders ever since, but if the sport is to attain major status in this country, the men's team has to win a world championship.  That could happen in the next 10-20 years, if things fall right. Only then will people say that for American soccer, the future isn't what it used to be.