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My Rahm Reunion
May 16, 2013 | 16 comments
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The Left Hates Us
May 9, 2013 | 143 comments
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Such a Dynamic Duo
May 2, 2013 | 49 comments
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The Continuing Crisis
May 1, 2013 | 0 comments
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Calvin Coolidge: His Times Are Our Times
April 26, 2013 | 22 comments
The Current Crisis
Football After Beyoncé
What can the NFL do for an encore?
WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of the Super Bowl, it is perhaps salutary to take stock of professional football and to suggest a few reforms that might make the game more wholesome.
First, let me say that in my humble estimate this past season was, if not the best in my lifetime, surely one of the best. To be a mediocre player in the NFL today is to be a marked man among giants. Then too there is another point to be made. Someone failed to pay the electric bill. It was sobering to be reminded that even the NFL is not so powerful as to intimidate a Louisiana utility company. Next year I suggest that the NFL’s hierarchy see to it that all bills are paid before Super Bowl Sunday, even the halftime entertainments’ advances. What if Beyoncé had gone on strike or refused to sing one of her trademark songs with their dirty, albeit moronic, lyrics? Or what if she had dressed in a burka? Actually I would have found that last gesture amusing and sophisticated to the utmost, though the perpetual teenagers in the audience would probably not have shared my amusement.
I cannot remember ever seeing so many great quarterbacks in the league at one time as I did this season. They can all pass and run superbly. Weight-training is paying off for all the players, especially the receivers who grab in their powerful fingertips what once they had to embrace with their whole upper bodies. They leap through the air defiant of gravity, as do their attendant safeties. Blockers and tacklers could have stopped oncoming trucks. The many gifted runners seemed capable of switching gears as they rush downfield, slithering through crowds of defenders and cutting to the left and the right with abandon. As I say, this season I suspect was the greatest in NFL history, and it was due to powerful men on the field and to very cerebral coaches on the sidelines.
Yet there were also the injuries, and they were terrible. Concussions were so prevalent that even Hillary Clinton got one. I suspect it was a sympathy concussion from watching her New York Giants too intently. Then there were the numerous joints that were damaged severely. For instance, the splendid Robert Griffin III of the resurgent Washington Redskins had a knee injured that will heal only with divine intervention, a matter I think that this exemplary Christian athlete is attending to. Yet his recovery will be dicey. It was a horrible season for injuries.
Now certain public-spirited citizens are speaking out. They want adjustments made. Helmets can be revised. Rules reinterpreted. More rules prescribed. Gun control can — drat, I got carried away. Though I note that the same mentality that is in a pother over gun control often is aroused by football violence. Well, on gun control they are wrong. In a country with over 280 million guns in circulation and a Second Amendment in place, they will get nowhere.
Yet with rule changes in football they may have a chance. Frankly, I see the public-spirited reformers of professional football coming out for ending those ferocious tackles and propounding the implementation in the NFL of touch football or possibly flag football. Imagine Adrian Peterson running fifteen yards for a first down before Ray Lewis tags him in an utterly civilized lunge or snatches the flag from his rear pocket with style. If the NFL were to replace tackle football with touch or flag football there would still be dangers. Those helmets really can hurt. Perhaps they could be replaced with funny hats lined with cushioning. Elbow and knees can cause a lot of pain. Again thick cushioning could be prescribed. There are many alternatives that can be employed against brute force.
Actually there seems to be a movement led by the athletes themselves in this direction. The artistic demonstrations after a mighty tackle or an overpowering touchdown run have been an innovation that must have warmed the hearts of many reformers. Those elegant dances are very tasteful and in the Super Bowl this year I even detected routines employing the hands that showed real artistic taste.
So maybe the time is ripe for the reformers to make a move against tackle football and in favor of modern dance on the gridiron, as it is called. Maybe it is only a matter of time before the halftime entertainment overwhelms the game — Beyoncé appearing in a chorus line with beefy linemen and even coaches. Call it the ongoing feminization of America. I would not be surprised.
Photo: UPI
About the Author
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is the author of The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller Boy Clinton: the Political Biography; The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton; The Liberal Crack-Up; The Conservative Crack-Up; Public Nuisances; The Future that Doesn’t Work: Social Democracy’s Failure in Britain; Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House; The Clinton Crack-Up; and After the Hangover: The Conservatives’ Road to Recovery.
Commander Kelly | 2.7.13 @ 6:28AM
See my posts "Tale of Two Superbowl Ads" and "Spielberg's Lincoln" here...
http://americanconservativeinl.....pot.co.uk/
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 2.7.13 @ 6:35AM
In the very near future they will be playing on pink artificial turf or the color pink will be worked in some way. Perhaps pink stripes on the field or pink dots on helmets. Once the popular culture equalizer crowd intrudes the changes will come. Think pink!
squalis| 2.7.13 @ 6:50AM
You obviously have forgotten the month of October, otherwise known as breast cancer awareness month.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 7:24AM
Please...don't remind me.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 7:28AM
But the worst part of watching an NFL game are the token "sideline chicks" like Suzy Kolber, et al, whose only job is to report the weather ("It's raining down here, Phil...Back to you!") or make utterly inane observations ("Coach, will scoring more points than the other team be enough to win today?").
Uggh.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 8:42AM
Cute Sideline Reporter: "Describe the emotion"
Player: "Uh. It was a relatively mild happiness with a slight hint of melancholy"
Indeed. Football's jumped the shark.
scotchieguy| 2.7.13 @ 9:52AM
"Wow, Je-LaMarCus-Aurelius, how does it FEEL to have finally won? I mean, like, how DOES IT FEEL?? Describe what you feel right now!!!"
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 10:07AM
"Ya know, umm, like...it's...ya know, it's like, ummm, really great...ya know?"
Stan Redmond| 2.7.13 @ 4:01PM
MONTH??? I don't think so. It's a constant barage of pink everything for breast cancer awareness. As a matter of fact... Just the other day I was in the bakery aisle of the grovery store and there it is. PINK BREAD BAGS!!! Ech. enough pink. So on to the frozen food aisle. PINK PACKAGING FOR VEGETABLES!!!.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 7:30AM
Maybe an all-gay team?
benny havens| 2.7.13 @ 6:40AM
This past Super Bowl was the most disgusting display of non-sportsmanship ever to be witnessed. If an altercation didn’t happen after each play then some goon, who just made a routine play, was running half way up the field beating his chest.
This is what happens when Hollywood gets involved.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 7:24AM
Really?
I saw an incredible game played by two tough, talented and very passionate teams who both wanted to win.
High-scoring, hard-hitting, and down to the final set of downs at the 5 yard line! If you're a football fan, you couldn't ask for a better Superbowl.
OP4| 2.7.13 @ 9:42AM
The thuggish behavior on the field was reflection of the coaches. I never liked either of them. I was happy a couple years ago when Jim decided to stop polluting college football with that stuff.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 10:09AM
I agree. I mean, why should football be so...so rough?
Maybe they should all be required to hug after each play? To encourage good feelings, and togetherness?
After all...the last thing we want from men is to act like men, right?
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 10:54AM
Thuggish? That was nothing. You should see a Steelers v. ravens game, or the old Steelers v. raiders games.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 11:34AM
Ravens vs Steelers are some of the best smash-mouth games of the season.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 7:21AM
Thanks for using a picture of Ray Lewis - the GREATEST linebacker to ever play in the NFL - to headline your article!
The league will miss this man more than they know...
...at least until he becomes a Head Coach!
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 7:54AM
Just when I thought you couldn't get any Stupider.
He shoulda been in PRISON for MURDER.
The League will NOT miss him. He was a Non Factor in the Game.
Like you, on this Site.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 8:14AM
Our view of history begins with the day we are born. In RE: great linebackers, Chuck Bednarik comes to my mind. Concrete Charlie also played centre and when the Eagles offense walked off the field, one man stayed to play the next series of downs. Everyone who follows the NFL will have a different choice and no doubt more names will follow;Ham, Lambert, Butkus, Nitschke, Robinson, Hendricks, etc.
Pecos Pete| 2.7.13 @ 8:36AM
Tommy Nobis
Miles Glorious| 2.7.13 @ 9:03AM
Thank you Moe,Chuck Bednarik the last "football player"and nothing wrong with the rest of those who you mentioned. Do you think Lewis could have played 58 minutes of the Super bBowl?
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 9:54AM
No.
And Bednarik couldn't do it today, either.
In fact, Bednarik wouldn't even be on the practice squad in today's NFL.
Today's players are bigger, faster, and stronger than players in Bednarik's day. Period. They would knock Bednarik on his ass and dance over his broken body.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 10:18AM
Comparing players from different eras is a fool's game. The players in the the NFL today recognise and respect those who went before them. We can at least do the same.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 11:37AM
I do, believe me.
The players of yesteryear had a mental toughness that today's players - most of them, anyway - don't have.
They also don't have an appreciation for how GREAT they have it as professional athletes. In the old days, guys had to have REAL jobs in the off-season. Growing up in Baltimore, Johny Unitas had a restaurant 2 blocks south of my neighborhood, and Art Donovan owned a liquor store 2 block east.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 3:08PM
Whilst Gino Marchetti and Alan Ameche sold hamburgers nearby.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 3:34PM
Very true!
I had many a burger at "GINOs" on Loch Raven Boulevard when I was a kid!
I think GINOS was absorbed by KFC? I know they used to sell Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.7.13 @ 10:58PM
In the greater Philadelphia area, Gino's had the KFC franchise and sold their chicken, but most of their restaurants were actually sold to the Roy Rogers Fast Food chain, which sold out most of their stores in the area to Boston Chicken.
Meanwhile, I saw last year that there are a couple of Gino's in and around the outskirts of Philly again (I think in Buck's County around Bensalem is one location).
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 4:38PM
You do know Johny U was from Pgh, and the Steelers in the all time stupidest move, cut him.
I talked to a guy who played on a sandlot team with Johny U and they played against the Western Pa. Penitentiary Correctional Institute (Prison) team as part of their schedule for a few bucks. He told me Johny U was tough and not afraid of anybody or anything.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 5:23PM
Yeah, the Steelers cut Johny; they said his throwing mechanics needed work!!!
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 5:27PM
The second stupidest move was when the Steelers drafted Gabe Rivera instead of Danny Marino. Rivera made the team but did not start, he was in an auto accident as a drunk driver, and was paralyzed.
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 8:49PM
You know, I went to TCU in the 80s (1980-1984). Had Phil Epps in a class (might I say, even though he played for the Packers for several years---6, to be exact, Phil was a complete gentleman, and a very, very classy guy. Today's players could learn a lot about self-comportment from Phil.)---small guy. All muscle, incredible speed, but only about 5'8".
I'm not sure today's players would want to try to stop Gale Sayers in his prime, or block out Dick Butkus in his. Keep in mind that these guys would have gone through the same training regimen today's players do. I think it is fairest to assess that in that fashion.
For example, what if Ed Walsh had a manger who put him through proper training and didn't pitch out his arm in inhuman fashion? (Who was Ed Walsh, you say? Look up lowest lifetime ERA for a starting pitcher (I'm not talking about cup of coffee guys, I'm talking about a real career.))
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 8:50PM
Sorry, "manager." I gets excited.
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 8:54PM
Dr Right: In general, I agree with you. (Heck, in general I agree with you, period.)
But a tiny point. Which player had the largest ring size in NFL history? (Hint: he was from U of Minnesota. Hint: He played for Da Bears. Hint: after retirement, he ran a filling station in MN and you could meet him there. Hint: His very NAME connotes toughness. Hint: He was one of the greatest Contact Runners ever. Hint: He was a Hall of Famer. Hint: Initials: BN.) Old timer, as well.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 9:48PM
Bronislaw Nagurski . Other players may have had larger paws, but Bronko's was the largest recorded for a championship winner's ring. The late Dan Birdwell could pass a US quarter through his ring, but I can not tell youse what size that would be.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 9:12AM
Give me Singletary over Lewis, any day of the Week.
squalis| 2.7.13 @ 9:39AM
LT
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 5:57PM
My dad was a halfback as a Senior against Butkus as a Freshman. Dick kicked my Dad's ass, and that of the team's other halfback. When the coach got on them, my father politely suggested that he try running against Butkus. At age 14.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 9:53PM
Fantasy matchup : a young Nagurski running into a young Butkus. The proverbial irresistible force versus immovable object.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 9:36AM
I know you can't get any stupider.
Where you there? NO.
Do you know anyone who was there? NO.
Have you spoken to the witnesses? NO.
Have you spoken to the police? NO.
Have you spoken to the Judge? NO.
Have you interviewed Lewis? NO.
Have you interviewed Sweeting and Oakley? NO.
Have you spoken with the family members? NO.
Do you EVER know what you're talking about? NO.
Are you a bloviating, pompous, pontificating jackass? YES.
Do you think this forum is somehow your own personal playground? YES.
Are you actually so pathetic that you're here EVERY DAY, ALL DAY offering up utterly uninsightful tid-bits as wisdom? YES.
Do you absolutely HATE the fact that I'm not a member of your "fan club," and have ZERO respect for your idiocy? YES.
Have you tried to win me over to soothe your wounded ego? YES.
Are you a joke? YES.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 10:54AM
Win you over!
I felt sorry for you. We all do.
At least, we used to.
I treated you like I would treat any pathetic soul, that I knew was hurting inside from being rejected by Society, for most of his life.
I was just being a good Good Christian.
And, you can stop Screaming Hysterically, now.
That's why you have no friends. Just people who feel sorry for you.
And it's: WERE you there? Not: WHERE you there?
Idiot.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 11:45AM
That's right: "Win" me over.
Like your occasional "Bygones be bygones" kudos after a post you happen to agree with.
Or encouraging me to participate in one of your moronic Friday "contests," and saying things like "It's all about fun on Friday, blah-blah-blah."
I figured you out a LONG time ago, Timmy. This forum gives you a measure of self-satisfaction that you don't get from anywhere else. You're a celebrity here, with a plethora of followers who think you're clever (which just goes to show that Conservatives can be just as one-dimensional as liberals), and you eat it up.
To that end, you cannot stand it when someone disagrees with you, or finds you annoying, or calls you boring and uninsightful on these boards because you think you're a rock star.
And when your 8th-grade insults don't deter that person, your fragile little ego goes into overdrive and you try to subtly win that person over.
By doing so, you consider yourself to be simpatico with that person. That way, you don't have to spend time worrying about how moronic that person makes you look on a regular basis.
It's a self-esteem thing, Timmy. And you don't have much.
And I know it. 'Cuz I'm the Doctor.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 2:36PM
I don't care if people disagree with me.
People disagree with me, all the time.
It's just the Idiots, I can't stomach.
Of which, you, are at the Top of that List.
The Contest Invitation still stands.
Unlike you, I can turn it off on Fridays, and have a good time.
I can seperate Business, and Pleasure.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 2:46PM
And, to your statement that I don't get any Self Satisfaction anywhere else?
I have a Great Life. Obviously, you don't. It comes out, all the time, in your Vitriol.
I've got a Nice House, a Great Wife, two Great Kids.
I coach Baseball for my 12 Year Old, and I get Huggies and Kissies from my little one.
This stuff is just something to pass the time, until Spring comes back, and I can go back to work.
Did I mention that I play Golf?
Obviously, everything you've said to me? You need to say to yourself.
You're a Pathetic little man. And, as you claim to be a Doctor?
I would say to you: Doctor, Heal Thyself.
Seriously. Go get some Help, before you blow out a Vein on your Ugly Forehead.
Goldwater Girl| 2.7.13 @ 2:57PM
Do you think when he was in high school he referred to himself as the doctor of love? Being able to diagnose someone over the internet is awesome. Maybe he's one of those doctors that writes scripts for Viagra after you answer a few simple questions.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 3:49PM
More like: Doctor Dickhead.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 8:14PM
I can diagnose over the internet for 2 reasons:
1. I'm an experienced professional
2. I have LOTS of posts to diagnose
People don't realize how much of themselves they give away with constant, repetitive posts.
For example, you've probably deduced by now that in addition to being a highly qualified healthcare professional, I am also amazingly handsome, fit, and suave.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 5:24PM
Glad you have a "great life."
But who are you trying to convince? Me, or yourself?
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 9:17PM
Tim: Dr. R is on top of your idiot list? Above King, purp, DRed, RCV, the Cheesehead and London Jacks, nathan, Bowen, Red Phillips, etc.?
Really?
And Dr. R, sir. The need for venom? Man, life is too short, and our enemies too dire.
You guys do know that the Hatfields and McCoys nowadays are partners in a business venture based on the history of the feud, right?
Just sayin.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 9:28PM
Yes.
He dislikes me most because I don't kow-tow, or acknowledge his greatness.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 9:56AM
Lewis led the LEAGUE in tackles during the post-season, genius. In 4 games, he had 51 tackles.
In fact, he had more tackles in this game than he did in Superbowl 35, when he was MVP.
The only "non-factor" here is you, Timmy.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 10:23AM
The pic of Ray Lewis, is that a large knife in his hand or the Super Bowl trophy?
And
A knife fight: O.J. Simpson or Ray Lewis?
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 11:47AM
It's a Superbowl trophy. Lewis has two, now.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 2:50PM
It's a Super Bowl Trophey? Really?
Cause, like Bob Grant, I thought it was a Knife, too.
Again: Idiot.
Cpm| 2.7.13 @ 3:28PM
One trophy for each victim.
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 4:44PM
Jack Ham, best outside linebacker, has four Super Bowl rings.
Jack Lambert, best middle linebacker in the 4-3, has four Super Bowl rings.
Andy Russell, a great outside linebacker, has two Super Bowl rings.
James Harrison, a superb outside linebacker, has two Super Bowl rings.
All played for the Pgh Steelers, who regularly beat the old Cleveland browns, predecessor to the current Baltimore ravens, and beat the ravens.
I am glad the ravesn won. If Frisco won, they would have tied the Steelers for 6 wins.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 9:29PM
Lewis was better than all of them.
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 6:30PM
Dr R, Tim: I see no difference in what you two guys believe from your writings, really, that is of significance here (yeah, I can think of differences, but really: low tax, low regs, pro-life, pro 2nd Amendment, pro-defense, anti-jihadi, both fairly nice guys unless tail gets twisted, both guys I would cheerfully grab the check for, both believe in the need for strong families, both guys that would have my back, both guys I like. You may both kick my ass for this, but: hey, can we try to get along? I mean, we have purp and king and Cheesehead and Bowen to kick hard when we need to.
You guys I both like, a lot. You're both fun to read. I hate to see the emnity. G-d Bless you both.
That's what I have to say about it. G-d Bless and Keep You both.
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 6:38PM
My emotion made me forget to close the parenthesis after "both guys I like."
Hey, I like to repeat that: both nice guys, and guys I like. Hell, Anthony puts up with my snipes on attorneys (although he is the Platonic Paradigm of the best virtues of an Advocate), and we like each other. Heck, I'm a crazy shrink, and you guys like me. What the hell?
You know, I miss guys like Stan Musial or Ernie Banks---great players who were great guys, the type of guy, in Banks' case, who could compliment a 7 year old boy in a way that would make a fan of the seven year old FOREVER---no signed ball, no photo (I later paid for a signed bat). The legend of The Man's decency and kindenesses are too detailed to go into here.
Now most of our sports heroes have serious criminal records or charges. Crap.
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 6:49PM
In case you were wondering, and this is a G rated story, Cheesehead, sorry: I met Banks at age 7, in 1969---yes, that Cub Year. I was a scrawny kid, around 50 pounds, and short. I did not have my 52 inch shoulders that were later to come.
Banks, who was known as a homerun slugger whose power resided in the immense strength and bat speed generated in his powerful wrists, told my dad that I had huge wrists for a kid. There you go. Perfect!
cuban pete| 2.7.13 @ 7:45PM
OT,
The foregoing offerings are great examples of your insight and intelligence.
Circumstances militate against our ever having a cold one at a bar on Northwest Highway near the Chicago/Park Ridge border but your offerings are a constant source of enjoyment.
These next four years will be anxious. I pray for America and Israel.
All the best,
cp
Anthony| 2.7.13 @ 7:26PM
OT, I wanted to respond to the sniping between TLP and DR but couldn't quite muster up the energy. Thanks for doing and saying what needed to be said.
As to my putting up with you, dear sir, it is an honor and the privilege is all mine, I assure you.
Is there any way a doctor of your talent and skills can do something for poor, poor, Ben Stein?
Talk to you tomorrow.
Occam's Tool| 2.7.13 @ 8:40PM
Cuban/Tony: I am touched, and Blessed.
In addition, my wife tells me that tonight is Pizza and a new Riff-Trax!
Talk among yourselves. I am Verklempt. What a great day I have had.
Bob K| 2.7.13 @ 8:30AM
He will always be compared unfavorably, like all other Linebackers, to Lawrence of the Meadowlands!
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 9:14AM
Who did the same thing as Menendez did.
But, LT's a Scumbag.
While Scumbag's a Democrat U.S. Senator.
Makes sense.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 9:57AM
Why?
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 10:56AM
I understand how Stupid you are, but I can't stop and explain everything to all of the Low Information Commentors, all day.
I'm sorry.
Perhaps you should buzz a Nurse?
Al Adab| 2.7.13 @ 11:16AM
Why is it this thread has all the action while the policy threads have fewer than a dozen posts? Even we are subject to distraction by bread and circuses.
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 11:34AM
Al Adab
It is a different topic to argue about, especially since Antler Lewis is involved.
He was indicted with two of his pals for the knife murder of two men. Lewis and his pals sped away in Lewis's limo. Lewis cut a deal to plead to obstruction of justice. He testified against his pals and they were found not guilty.
The families of the two dead men filed a civil suit. Lewis, unlike OJ, did settle and pay.
It would help Lewis's reputation if he would now tell the truth about what happened. I am not aware that he has done so. He cannot be prosecuted again because of double jeopardy so there is no legal reason for him to not tell the truth.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 11:53AM
As Tom Delay once famously quipped "You can indict a ham sandwich."
Convictions are what counts. Convictions, and acquittals.
But it's even BETTER when the charges are DISMISSED.
So here's a question for all of you legal geniuses (sarcasm clearly intended):
If a prosecutor had ANY evidence at all that would convict someone of murder - especially a high profile individual - would that prosecutor agree to a deal that lets the defendant plead guilty to a lesser charge, and walk???
Hmmmmmmmm?????
While the crickets in your brains are chirping, here's a hint:
NO.
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 12:13PM
If he was innocent why did he plead guilty? Maybe you can talk to Lewis and get back to us.
The homicide charges were dismissed because Antler Lewis pled guilty to obstruction of justice, and agreed to rat on his pals. You will have to ask the DA why he made the deal. Maybe Antler agreed to rat out his pals, and the other two did not want to rat out Lewis. Ask Lewis why he pled guilty and agreed to testify.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 2:40PM
"If he was innocent why did he plead guilty?"
You don't know much about the criminal justice system, do you?
Happens all the time. Some people would rather plead guilty to a LESSER CHARGE than face the time and expense of a trial.
FYI, innocent people do this frequently.
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 5:00PM
I know a lot more than you. Stick to the psycho business.
Lewis had the money and time to clear his name of murder if he was innocent, and you know that. His lawyer cut a deal to rat out the co-defendants before they coudl rat out Lewis.
Innocent people do not plead guilty to obstruction of justice in a murder case of two, and then pay the families to settle a civil suit for damages, especially millionaire football players who want to protect their image. He was smart enough to cut a deal.
Even OJ, guilty as hell, asked for a trial and took his chance with a jury.What was Lewis afraid of with a jury? He could have afforded a dream team to represent him.
Ham Sandwich Delay was convicted.
Antler Lewis did plead guilty and pay damages.
What is your point, that Lewis was innocent of all charges?
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 5:28PM
"I know a lot more than you."
Uh-huh...based on..?
Yes, genius. Innocent people plead "guilty" to lesser charges ALL THE TIME.
Duh.
It's how they avoid going to trial, and risking that some bonehead in the jury might think they're actually guilty.
The fact that you don't know that means you DON'T know more than me.
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 6:59PM
Listen semi-genius, when a person pleads guilty, the Court conducts a colloquy. Since you do not know what your are talking about, that means the judge asks the defendant, Antler Lewis, about four to five pages of questions to determine if the plea guilty is voluntary, knowing, and is based on facts. The key question is are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Antler answered yes, otherwise the Court would not accept the plea. If he answered yes but he was not guilty then he perjured himself.
The DA also has to put on the record the factual basis for the charges. Lewis did something otherwise he would not have pled. Accept it. You are in denial. If he was totally innocent and pled guilty for some reason he would have to put that on the record.
Do you believe he was innocent of the indicted charges and the charge to which he pled? Yes or no?
How do I know this? Take a guess. You can eliminate you natural guess that I pled guilty to something.
What evidence do you have that that innocent people plead guilty ALL THE TIME?
What does "all the time" mean? Did you ever plead guilty to some charge and you were innocent? I doubt it. "DUH" is a real smart reply when you have nothing.
You for some reason are blinded by Lewis.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 12:59PM
Right,
This happens all the time in The Hood. A brotha gets shot (or knifed) and people clam up. They don't talk to the pOlice because the pOlice are the enemy and are not to be trusted.
I bet if you talked to most people with law enforcement backgrounds, they'd tell you it was typical of how cases are handled (and resolved) under the circumstances.
And that's the reason why people from that community get no justice, not because of law enforcement but because of it's fellow citizens. It's more convenient for them to "circle the wagons" than work with the police.
Prosecutors want to close the case so they take what they can get.
Now, is it out of the realm of possibility that the NFL got to (A) the prosecutors; (B) the witnesses (C) the victims' families in order to quickly get this unfortunate incident considering the public image beating is was suffering from Rae Carruth, O.J. Simpson, the Dallas Cowboy charades, and other embarrassments happening at the time?
The last thing the NFL needed was yet another high profile murder case.
Whitewash!
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 2:41PM
Of course! Because the NFL has such SWAY with Judges, right???
Get real.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 7:18PM
Did I mention judges?
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 11:46AM
Here.
Have a Sandwhich.
And sit down. I can't see the Clowns.
Waccamaw| 2.7.13 @ 2:12PM
About next year's halftime entertainment (this year's was too ghetto-trashy for my taste):
I want a barbershop quartet, some Appalachian cloggers, and I want Loretta Lynn to sing the National Anthem.
Anyone with me?
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 2:52PM
I'm thinking: No.
KansasCityHereICome| 2.7.13 @ 5:44PM
Waccamaw, are you nuts?
We want syper-sexualized black women shaking their booty. We want dumb-ass ghetto boombox noise. We want to see tits and ass.
We want to hear the Star Spangled whatchamacallit stylized like a
hip-hop/acid rock/ screech/zonk/siren/hellscratch.
We want a halftime shit fest for the shithead fans salvating in front of their teevee machines with a pile of empty beer cans on the floor beside them.
Bo| 2.7.13 @ 5:49PM
Kansas, you got a way with words.
"shit fest"
"hellscratch"
Your description resonates with mine, man.
That crap was too f*ucking in-your-face for me to swallow. I hit the MUTE button.
Anthony| 2.7.13 @ 2:07PM
A good question Al. I just took a survey from TAS and I suggested more insightful, political threads, as opposed to some, like that which appear today, that are, rather tame. I come to TAS not to praise Obozo but to read how he is destroying America.
Drudge reports Panetta said Obozo was AWOL during Benghazi. He also said Hillary had no communication with him or the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both need to be prosecuted for criminal neglect.
This should be the subject of at least TWO threads tomorrow at TAS. That's what I'm looking for.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 9:30PM
Ray Lewis.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 11:54AM
Perhaps. But it's much more fun making you look foolish.
And easy, too.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 2:53PM
Again: Isn't he Great?
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 5:29PM
And again: Yes.
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 11:16AM
Taylor changed the game by establishing the right outside lnebacker as the dominant rusher on most plays. This has made the left tackle and left guard highly important and highly paid positions. I read that Bill Walsh, the Frisco coach, after seeing Taylor devastate quarterbacks, used his top picks for offensive linemen to protect Monatana, and used the quick three step drop and pass offense more frequently.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 8:45AM
Dr.
You sound like a troll with your Ray Lewis Fan Boy Drivel.
Get serious.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 9:15AM
He's just excited.
That was his first football game.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 11:26AM
T,
He claims he's not a face painter but who's kidding who?
I'm just happy he survived the knife fights at the Raven's superbowl parade.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 10:00AM
I'm a native of Baltimore, a HUGE Raven's fan, and a HUGE Ray Lewis fan.
Don't like it?
Tough.
Don't like the fact that he's considered by many to be the league's greatest-ever linebacker?
Tough.
Don't like the fact that he'll go into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot?
Tough.
Get used to it.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 10:35AM
O.J. Simpson made it on the first ballot. Yea, I'll get used to it.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 10:58AM
Isn't he great?
There's just something about him.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 11:55AM
Yes.
It's called "insight."
Get some, Timmy.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 11:49AM
And why wouldn't he?
He didn't get arrested for killing his ex-wife until 1994. He retired in 1980.
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 4:56PM
He killed his wife and Ron Coleman.
CJW| 2.7.13 @ 5:04PM
Ron Goldman,not coleman.
Bob Grant| 2.8.13 @ 9:12AM
I thought it was Gary Oldman...or was it Gary Coleman?
MelvinNC| 2.7.13 @ 7:28AM
Many of us remember when watching the Super Bowel was truly watching football at it's best. It was rough and tumble bur respectful. The chattering baboons of the media kept their commentary to a minimum.
The NFL was for the people, a player didn't have to be a behemoth and look pretty, they just had to play good and in some cases great football.
Then it went all to hell win Madison Avenue and Hollywood types got involved. Now one play is made and the viewers have to suffer through 30 minutes of useless commentary, of retired players who have nothing better to do I suppose.
Now Beyonce will be hailed as the greatest NFL halftime show that ever was.
You know it's funny. I remember when that girl was starting out with on of her first shows with Destiny's Child right here in Jacksonville, NC on Camp Lejeune(Le-June) Marine Base. She didn't dry hump the air so much then, she actually sang.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 9:20AM
I don't know who's BOWELS you've been looking at, but I would love to hear the story of why you though they were Super, and how they remind you of watching great Football Games.
Don't start yet.
I wanna get a Coffee.
Nancy in NC| 2.7.13 @ 7:37AM
The public seems to care more about the safety of a bunch of athletes (many of dubious character) who get paid very well for playing a game. I will be more concerned when they are as inscensed about those warriors coming home with missing limbs from some hell hole across the ocean.
But what can you expect from people who worship women who throw their God given talent away by acting like a cheap pole dancer in a filthy dive. Is it any wonder we elect a no talent, Marxist as POTUS?
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 9:03AM
"If I had a Son.........."?
Maybe if you were a Man, you'd have Sons. I have 2 of them. But, then.............I'm a Man.
If our Effeminate President had a Son, would he send him to the Public Schools? We know that he didn't send his Daughters to Public Schools. He sent them to a Private School where they can learn with the Sons and Daughters of other Millionaires and Billionaires. They go to a School that has 11 Armed Guards on Staff, but don't worry. It's not an Armed Camp. An Armed Camp is a Public School, filled with the Unimportant Children of Unimportant People, and ONE Armed Policeman with 5 Bullets in his Gun. Or, is the LIMIT 7 Bullets, these days?
Our light in his loafers Know Nothing Know it all in Chief, thinks that it's high time that he weighed in on Something Else that he knows nothing about - Football.
He's "Concerned" that kids will hurt themselves Playing a Sport, because, as everybody knows: That's never happened before. Kids getting hurt playing sports. It doesn't happen.
What he's NOT Concerned about, is the Worthless Timothy Learyesque Education they're receiving at the hands of an Organized Crime Syndicate that we call "The Teachers Union".
What he's NOT Concerned about are the Body Counts in America's Inner Cities. The High Unemployment Rates, out of Wedlock Births, Murders, and the Incarceration Rates in the Inner Cities.
Those, he Punts away.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 7:49AM
What's the deal with Black Chicks and Halftime? This one didn't wear any clothes. And the one before her, took her Teet out. This one was Air Humpin everything, and the other one took her Teet out.
I get it. I get the whole Booty thing. I even get the whole Hos and Biches thing. But this is National Television. This is supposed to be Family Time. This is the Super Bowl. It's not the sidewalk outside a Popeyes in the Bronx.
Does anyone believe that Taylor Swift would act like these two? Does anyone think that some White Guy would come up on Stage at the Grammys and take the Grammy outta Beyonce's hand, and demand it go to Taylor? No. Nobody does. So, now what?
We have a Black President who has a Black Attorney General who "Didn't take this job to go after MY PEOPLE". Who's first act in office was to throw out the Convictions of 4 Black Panthers who were CAUGHT ON TAPE menacing Non Blacks as they came up to Vote at a Philadelphia Pa. Voting place. Does ANYONE believe that 4 Klansmen in Philadelphia, Ms. would get the same Treatment?
This Racist A.G. claims that we're a Nation of Cowards when it comes to talking about Race.
Was Pat Moynahan right when he talked of The soft Bigotry of Low Expectations?
Were the Japanese right, when they said that we Coddle our Minorities and that is why we will Fail? And, are we seeing that Failure take place all around us in all of our Cities all of the time because to Talk About these things is VERBOTEN?
I'm with Holder.
Let's talk.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 8:16AM
Oy Timmy, are you referring to bridge work or breast? Teeth or teat?
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 8:57AM
TLP,
Indeed. Get the dialogue going.
However, I take issue with you on on point: You are correct that Taylor Swift wouldn't act "that way", but on the other hand, do you really want her to open her mouth and sing? ...think about you're proposing?
I say bring back Up With People or a really good marching band and be done with it.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 9:12AM
Right in Bob, as well as the Apache Belles. How about massed bag pipe bands?
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 9:27AM
Why stop there?
Let's get those Chinese Acrobats spinning plates, while balancing on their face, from the top of 10 Bingo Chairs stacked one on top of each other, while a Monkey plays a Toy Piano.
We don't wanna go back in time, ya Old Goats.
We just don't want the Halftime Show to look like The Champagne Room at the Nudie Bar.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 9:55AM
Kilgore Rangerettes were a great halftime show as well.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 11:00AM
I'm having a hard time remembering these babes.
Did they March in Front of the Stagecoach?
Or, behind it, with the Indians?
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 3:21PM
You are thinking of the Butt sisters from Oklahoma who used to team up with four of the Hogg sisters from Little Rock.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 3:53PM
Moe.
Give us moe, Moe.
JimH| 2.7.13 @ 8:00AM
The game itself, with the limitations imposed on defenses and the magic gloves the receivers have has become Arena Football played on a larger field. The almost Supreme Court like adjudication of each penalty and turnover slows down the game preventing any rhythm. It does let them air more commercials
Hardcard| 2.7.13 @ 8:08AM
all I want is my obamaphone, and a hunk of gubmint cheese,foodstamp card, a new kitchen in my responsibility free house (no money down and no payments), welfare payments for my 12 kids and me, hi-def 80" TV with premium cable, free healthcare, free birth control, free abortions (who wants more then 12 kids) and some cash from the obamastash (big bills only).
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 8:18AM
Not to mention bread and circuses,what?
Pecos Pete| 2.7.13 @ 8:42AM
Hardcare: You forgot the free Gubmint Motors car of the year: A Free Volt.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 9:21AM
Hard,
"Also, I don't want to be hassled about not paying taxes on the money I earn at the strip club."
Bob K| 2.7.13 @ 8:38AM
If the sport was serious about limiting injuries it would put limits on the size of Shoulder Pads or consider doing away with them. When a player's upper torso is armored like an Armadillo to protect it from injury it can be used in a way that causes injury to less protected areas of the body, like knees, for instance.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 9:09AM
No, Bob K.
If they were serious about limiting injuries, they wouldn't play on CONCRETE.
Get rid the Cement, and you get rid of half the injuries.
Go back to Leading with your Shoulder, and not with your Stupid Head, and you'd eliminate the other half.
It's really not complicated at all, when you think about it.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 9:22AM
The NFL should hire more guys to wear the striped shirts and write more rules, that way the bosses could regulate the game into a safe and sane show. Of course ticket prices would necessarily have to rise in order to cover the added costs, but what is another $20.00 per game going to hurt? No worries as it might fundamentally change the way football is played and viewed.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 9:33AM
Moe,
You sound like obama with your "prices would necessarily have to rise" and "...more rules..." and "fundamentally change"
Yea, let's just regulate the hell out of it so it will become extinct.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 9:34AM
I smell irony.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 9:58AM
Oy Bob, I am just sipping the Kool-Aid.
Pecos Pete| 2.7.13 @ 9:45AM
Moe, I like your suggestion. Put, say, 10 more striped shirts on the field with at least 2 stationed immediately adjacent to the football just as it is snapped; and, 3 covering the quarterback like oil covers water. The other 5 can just hang out around the coaches and flag non PC speech.
This way the only people getting hurt would be the stripped shirts, and who cares about them anyway?
OP4| 2.7.13 @ 9:46AM
TLP - the first generation of artificial turf really was fuzzy asphalt. The latest stuff as soft as natural grass. I would still prefer to see the game on grass, but the turf isn't that bad any more.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 11:06AM
I gotta believe that the new stuff STILL doesn't "Give" like Grass does.
It just can't.
Moe Blotz| 2.7.13 @ 10:04PM
Stinks if you smoke it as well.
Bob K| 2.7.13 @ 9:52AM
Well, you can't argue with that either!
I played Down Lineman in Football and later Prop in Rugby which has no accoutrements and I can tell you that one approaches tackling a ball carrier much differently in both sports.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 10:03AM
They don't play on cement.
In fact, genius, they don't even play on astro-turf, anymore.
Could you be anymore clueless?
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 10:53AM
Dr.,
Go to Monday's Superbowl article and see what SubVet posted about this "new and improved" turf. It's still basically carpet laid over concrete. Sure, it's got neat artificial grass blades and pieces of used tire to "soften" it up a bit, but its the same concept: carpet over concrete.
Did that avacado-colored shag carpeting you - or your parents - purchased in the '70's REALLY soften up the den floor? ...didn't think so.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 11:10AM
He's an IDIOT.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 12:01PM
Such a way with words, TLP!
Wow! I'm really [not] impressed...
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 2:58PM
Not Impressed?
How about this, then?
He's a Big Idiot.
How's that?
Impressed, now?
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 5:31PM
Nope.
Never have been. Not when you were calling yourself "Timothy L Pennel," and definitely not now.
That's because you're utterly unimpressive.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 12:00PM
Astroturf has become like the word "kleenex," and is used to describe any type of artificial turf when that's simply incorrect.
And we never had shag carpeting. It's a bad combo with dogs. But we did have shag haircuts. And bell-bottoms.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 7:07PM
Dr. I referred to it as carpet over concrete, not Astroturf. CoC is a slight improvement over Astroturf but not much.
Von Mises Jr| 2.7.13 @ 10:07AM
On a serious note, Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans since the local politicians and developers stole all the money sent there to maintain the dikes (no Perp that is not the same as the lesbian that won't sleep with you).
So we bailed them out to fix the City after Jefferson (not Perp's alias) stole $90K they found in his ice box. But yet they could not re-wire the Cadillac Stadium to handle a fifteen minute strip dance (without the poll) by a couple sluts that want to be respected. I was waiting for Bouncy to pull out her vibrator and finish the job. But perhaps that would have blown the circuits during the strip tease.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 11:10AM
Why won't Appleby sleep with him?
Von Mises Jr| 2.7.13 @ 11:57AM
It's on odd day of the week and Perp is exploring his feminine side. He has a tryst planned with Senator Menendez at noon. Pays better than MoveOn trolling.
Miles Glorious| 2.7.13 @ 10:11AM
Your players of today would not last playing under the conditions back then.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 11:14AM
Right?
No Domes. No Perfect Weather, and Perfect Turf to play on.
This is a Totally different game, which is why Comparisons are for idiots.
I understand that if WANT comparisons?
Doctor Right will be more than Happy to make an Ass of Himself.
Doctor Right| 2.7.13 @ 12:02PM
But I'm most happy making an ass of you.
And I do it frequently.
Anthony| 2.7.13 @ 10:58AM
Wow, I think Ben Stein has taken over Emmett's column today. Emmett reads like Stein with a stream of consciousness steamy man crush on NFL players.
Jeez Emmett, you're drooling over these guys like Stein when he's on one of his rolls about the shiska chicks he dreams about.
Your man crush is embarrassing, quite frankly. Your NFL super heros act like ghetto versions of Beyonce each time they do what they are paid to do.
When a catch is made, or a tackle, we are subjected to tribal dances, belly thumping, and what looks like Harlem's version of Guy's and Dolls, replete with dice throwing antics.
It's no wonder Hillary got a concussion from watching this, as she and Obozo have been playing without helmets for some time now.
Fortunately, this football madness is once again over, and baseball season is almost here. A thinking man's game, with grace and elegance. Where, when guys like Derek Jeter turn two, they simply, non chalantly, get ready for the next play. No belly thumping or dice throwing when a play's made at Yankee Stadium, just class, pure class.
But if your man crush is still not sated Emmett, you can always finagle your way into Camp David with Obozo and do some skeet shooting with ole Dead Eye.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 11:23AM
Nice rantage. It it were a restaurant, it would get a Michelin Star.
Peppermint Tea | 2.7.13 @ 11:33AM
Beyoncé appearing in a chorus line with beefy linemen and even coaches?
Her thighs could match theirs.
Goldwater Girl| 2.7.13 @ 12:00PM
Tea,
When the show started, I thought it was Earl Campbell in drag, then someone told me her name was Beyonce. As Who Knows likes to remind us, Who knew?? At any rate, Emmitt Smith and Earl Campbell would be envious of those thighs. Maybe she played catcher for the baseball team. Those guys have meaty thighs too.
Bob Grant| 2.7.13 @ 12:31PM
The last three super bowl halftime spectacles have been embareassments.
The Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, and now Beyonce...what's next?
Does a LGBT supergroup exist? If so, they're next at the plate.
As far as Beyonce's thighs, they've seem to have gotten bigger over the years, so naturally, Thunder Thighs are suddenly in style. Wherever he is, Sir Mix Alot must be smiling.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.7.13 @ 11:14PM
Remember when the Village People were edgy?
I'm thinking today they'd look around a say "I think it's all gone a bit too far".
Who Knows?| 2.7.13 @ 11:58AM
Just wait until the average lineman weighs 350, and then 400 pounds.
All hail drugs!
I’ll say it again---pro football, and surely most of college football, is essentially an experiment, employing highly paid human males, sort of like the Tuskeegee Institute experimenting on blacks.
Oh, NOW the “players” cum “subjects” are very willing to play in the experiment, but just you wait---when they exit the experiment, and their bodies begin to wither back down to normal size, and their heads begin to suffer from all the running into brick walls, and it’s back to the ‘hood, and the comedown from fame and glory flips to anonymity: Junior Seau is just the first.
There was the euthanasia trip, now there is the pro football trip.
I can easily picture unleashed pro football, in 2100 AD.
While the field keeps the same dimensions, the players cum subjects of the experiment have become so large, that when the defensive line takes its position, it presents a wall from sideline to sideline, and despite the push from the equally large and wide offensive line bodies, it’s like WW I in the trenches.
Oh what fun!
Just like most Americans are becoming “large and wide”, and movement will become optional, anyway. Who will need sidewalks---when no one can walk.
Cpm| 2.7.13 @ 7:12PM
All-Pro Dave Duerson preceded/decedent Junior in donating his brain.
RAM| 2.7.13 @ 12:35PM
Bring back the Single Wing!
Who Knows?| 2.7.13 @ 11:18PM
Yes! Oregon State was awesome in the 50's
Bill8472| 2.10.13 @ 8:09PM
They could feature a marching band of sluts.
A precision "drill" team.