Following Sports Archives - Page 66 of 79

Does the NFL think other domestic assault is not as bad?

The sports and news universe exploded again today on the subject of Ray Rice’s domestic assault case and the NFL’s response to it which, it seems increasingly clear, was a cover up. The source of the explosion was an Associated Press report from Rob Maadi that relayed the story of a “law enforcement official” who “says he sent a video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee to an NFL executive five months ago, while league executives have insisted they didn’t see the violent images until this week. The person played The Associated Press a 12-second voicemail from an NFL office number on April 9 confirming the video arrived. A female voice expresses thanks and says: ‘You’re right. It’s terrible.'” This confirmed my suspicion that the NFL had seen the video. Following this story, the trickle of voices calling for commissioner Roger Goodell to resign became a burbling brook. As I sat and witnessed all of this through my telephone, I had a thought about the NFL’s conduct during the last couple of months and what they have inadvertently said about domestic assault. What they’ve said, through their actions, is this: “We think other domestic violence is not as bad as what Ray Rice did on that video.”

Follow along with me here. First, they suspended Rice for two games. Then, they altered the policy on domestic violence (as well as other forms of violence) because they “got it wrong” as Commissioner Goodell said in his statement on the change of policy. The new policy called for a suspension of six games for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second. A few days ago, after this policy was released, the video of Rice assaulting his then fiancee, Janay Palmer, became public. Within hours, the NFL had suspended Rice indefinitely for an assault which not only happened before the new policy was released but was also his first offense.

What the NFL must be saying by breaking the spirit if not quite the letter of its new policy is either:

As the Onion brilliantly suggested, that the NFL only intended to toughen its policy against videotaped domestic violence
That its new policy is also too weak,
That they think Rice’s assault was more violent than other assaults.

We all know the first option is true, but it’s indefensible as policy. The second option is probably also true, although an organization is in rough shape if they start arguing against a policy they put in place less than two weeks ago. No, I think it’s the last option that’s most likely to get at what the NFL is actually thinking right now. It’s also completely idiotic. What does the NFL think is going to happen when freakishly strong people used to physical violence decide to assault their partners? Do they think Greg Hardy’s (6’4″, 278lbs) or Ray McDonald’s (6’3″, 290) gentleness was what caused their partners to call the police? It’s not just that this idea is idiotic, it’s also damaging because it suggests that some domestic assault is just not so bad.

It’s all so bad and the NFL needs to do everything in its power to internalize that and then become a leader on the topic. They would be well served by reading Jodi Jacobson, editor-in-chief of RH Reality Check, a reproductive & sexual health and justice publication, who wrote on the topic yesterday. The depth of her knowledge on the topic is wonderful, which only serves to make her criticism more scathing. In response to the Ravens coach who said what the NFL clearly also though, that “seeing the video” changed their views on the assault, Jacobson writes:

Really? How? Seeing a woman lying unconscious on a hotel lobby floor after being dragged like a rag doll from an elevator and then kicked as though she was an inanimate object (as depicted in video release in February) wasn’t enough to convince him that Ray Rice had committed a serious offense?

At the end of her post, Jacobson calls on the NFL to establish a very large fund to support the prevention and the victims of domestic abuse. That sounds like a pretty good idea to me too. Your move, NFL.

Cue Cards 9-11-14

Cue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Yesterday — Wednesday, September 10

Spain upset by France — It sounds like the plot of a children’s book about regional food but it really happened yesterday in the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The host country, and co-favorite to win the entire tournament, Spain, was defeated 65-52 by France. This is a real shock, in part because France lost by 24 points to Spain earlier in the tournament. What to make of it? Well, for one, it means that the United States matchup against Spain in the championship game that was expected, won’t happen. Spain is eliminated. It’s a good reminder though, that if the gap between the rest of the world and the United States in terms of basketball wherewithal (that should be the name of a blog) is closing, then so too is the gap between the rest of the world and itself.
Line: I can’t believe Spain lost on their home court. And to neighboring France to boot! They must be so sad in Spain today.
Decade-long underdogs holding on — People often use the phrase “national pastime” to refer to baseball, but it must be said, given how little room on sports pages baseball is receiving, even as its regular season charges into tight playoff races, that it’s no longer our national sport. That said, the most compelling part of baseball season is upon us and a couple of long-suffering, long-pretty-bad franchises are desperately trying to hold onto playoff spots. Both won important games last night. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat in-state rival, Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3 and the Kansas City Royals shut out the Detroit Tigers 3-0. If the season ended now, both the Pirates and the Royals would make the playoffs.
Line: Baseball might not be the national pastime anymore but rooting for the underdog still is! Go Pirates and Royals!
The NFL’s Watergate Week continues — An AP story broke yesterday with the news that the NFL received a copy of the video from inside the elevator where Ray Rice assaulted his fiancee months ago. This only confirms my opinion that the question we should be asking NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is “what did he know and when did he know it.” Given yesterday’s news, it sounds more likely than ever that Goodell’s job is in jeopardy over this.
Line: Wow. Goodell’s got to resign or be fired.

Cue Cards 9-10-14

Cue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Yesterday — Tuesday, September 9

U.S. Basketball Advances — It seems more and more like neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will stay our national basketball team from its appointed FIBA Basketball World Cup championship matchup with Spain. Slovenia fought the good fight but by the third quarter, the U.S. team had run them ragged. The final score was United States 119, Slovenia 79. In the other quarterfinal, Lithuania toppled Turkey 73 to 61. Serbia plays Brazil today at noon ET and France plays Spain at 4 p.m. ET. You can catch those games on ESPN3.
Line: Rooting for the U.S. team is an exercise in rooting for the other team to keep it exciting for the first three quarters and then, if necessary, rooting for the U.S. in the fourth quarter.
Game two of the WNBA Finals — Okay, truthfully, almost no sports fans that you bump into during the day today will be talking about this. But they should be, so here’s a few facts you can use to get the conversation started. The finals are a best three out of five series between the Chicago Sky and the Phoenix Mercury. Game two was last night and the Mercury won big, beating the Sky 97 to 68. This was the single largest margin of victory in WNBA finals history. The Mercury are also on a 20 game winning streak which started before the playoffs even begun. Phoenix stars Diana Taurasi at point guard and Brittney Griner who plays center. During last night’s game, “Chicago scratched Brittney Griner across the eyelid, chipped one of her teeth and bloodied her lip.” She barely missed any playing time and finished the game with 19 points, six rebounds, and four blocks. After the game, her teammate Candice Dupree reported that, Griner’s teammates, “huddled around her, and were saying, ‘Come on, BG, you’re all right.’ Sometimes you gotta give people tough love. I think, emotionally, it would have gotten to her last year. If nothing is broken and you’re not bleeding to death, then you’re OK.” Game three is on Friday night, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Line: Hey, did you watch game two of the WNBA finals last night? Heck of a game… [insert factoid from above] Want to get together to watch game three on Friday?

Cue Cards 9-9-14

Cue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Yesterday — Sunday, September 7

Ray Rice Released — TMZ.com released video of NFL player Ray Rice assaulting his then fiancee in an elevator. The emotional (and PR) power of the video led to Rice being immediately released by his team and suspended indefinitely by the league. A full summary and my take on this can be found here.
Line: Ray Rice was unequivocally in the wrong since the minute he struck his fiancee but the law and the NFL didn’t have to be. Their inappropriate response now puts them at the center of this story.
U.S. Open Winner — Marin Cilic defeated Kei Nishikori in the men’s finals of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open is the last of the four major tournaments of the year, so, although tennis season officially continues, casual coverage of it basically stops until next Spring. As pointed out by Kyle Jurczak on Fancred, Cilic won in three straight sets, all six games to three, which was the same score Serena Williams won her straight set final in. Weird! Also from Kyle, this means that 2014 saw eight different people win the eight (four men’s, four women’s) available major tournaments. Weird!
Line: Did you know [insert one of Kyle’s cool stats here.]
The last two NFL games (until Thursday) — I’m not sure why but for some reason the NFL always starts with two Monday night football games on the first weekend of the professional football season. Maybe it’s shock treatment to get used to having football back in our lives? The earlier game between the Giants and the Lions was a yawn, as predicted by it being featured in our Do Not Watch This Game column, but the second game was a close one that came down to the last few minutes. The Arizona Cardinals just squeaked by the San Diego Chargers, 18 to 17.
Line: It’s too soon to make any real conclusions from week one. The Cardinals and Chargers might both be really good or both be pretty mediocre. The Lions could be great or the Giants could be so terrible that they made them look great.

What did Roger Goodell know about Ray Rice and when did he know it?

Warning — the subject of this post is domestic violence and many of the links in the post contain videos of domestic violence.

A short recap of the Ray Rice story

This past February, National Football League running back Ray Rice assaulted his then fiancée, now wife, Janay Rice in an elevator. Soon after, video acquired by tmz.com showed Rice dragging Janay’s limp, unconscious body out of the elevator following the assault. In May, according to Justin Fenton of the Baltimore Sun, New Jersey (where the assault happened) courts assigned Rice to a “Pretrial intervention” program that “comes with between six months and three years of probation in addition to enrolling in rehabilitation programs that New Jersey courts say focus on personal, cultural, economic and social issues that contributed to the criminal act.” Two months later, in July, the NFL suspended Rice for two games. Following a generally furious response to this punishment, the league’s commissioner, Roger Gooddell, admitted that he “didn’t get it right” and announced a new, stronger set of punishments for domestic assault. Today tmz.com once again drove this story forward by releasing new video from the inside of the elevator which shows Ray Rice knocking Janay Rice unconscious with a single punch. Showing the power of video, within a few hours of its release, Rice’s team, the Baltimore Ravens fired him and the league has announced that he is suspended indefinitely.

There already has been and will be an enormous amount of traditional coverage about this topic. I’m going to leave most of that to the New York Times, the Washington Post, tmz.com, and Sports Illustrated. People should be discussing why there was no stronger response from the legal system. By all means, we should be talking about how unfortunately and infuriatingly common domestic assault is and what we can do to address it. J. A. Adande made a great point on twitter today when he asked how women with no video evidence are supposed to expect justice when Rice, with video evidence was punished so little. We should be critical of the coverage as well. What’s real indignation and what is face-saving indignation? Is it just an artifact of sports media covering an assault that we keep seeing the punch described in technical boxing terms as a “left hook” or is there some hidden agenda? What language should we use to describe it? All of that is important but today, I want to share a single thought process that went through my head when I saw the video and heard the news.

What I thought of when I saw the Ray Rice video

The single question that I asked myself when I saw the video of Ray Rice assaulting his wife Janay Rice was “What did he know and when did he know it?” What did Roger Goodell know about Ray Rice and when did he know it? What evidence of the assault did the Commissioner of the NFL have, specifically the video that tmz.com released today, when he made his disciplinary decision about the situation?

For those of you who lived through the sixties or the eighties, this is a familiar question. It first entered the culture during the Watergate hearings when Senator Howard Baker repeatedly asked it of Richard Nixon. What did he know and when did he know it? During the Iran-Contra scandal in the eighties, President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush felt its sting. What did they know and when did they know it? It’s the key question when evaluating a leader or an organization suspected of covering something up. Already it’s being asked of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about the video released today. Had he seen the video when he chose to suspend Ray Rice for only two games?

The absolute authority on the subject of knowing is Ben Cramer who wrote the amazing history of the 1988 Presidential race, What It Takes: The Way to the White House. In it, he follows six of the presidential hopefuls from childhood through the campaign, including George H. W. Bush and Joe Biden. Let’s listen to him on the subject of knowing:

Then there is another shade of the verb, To Know, in the sense of awareness. It is about what’s going on right now, and as such it is Washington’s highest branch of knowledge… But as the highest form of capital-knowing, this quest for awareness is also the most dangerous. Clearly, the lack of this knowing can undermine reputation or power, especially if one’s position, or one’s connaissance, indicates that one ought to know. To be unaware, to be Out of the Loop, is allied in the tribal consciousness with impotence, inability, imbecility… and ultimately with the fatal affliction of ridiculousness. But there is also, in success, in wide awareness, a danger just as mortal. For this is the brand of knowing that is closest to Eating from the Tree of Knowledge, and can result in expulsion from Eden. When things foul up in a massive way… then this is the knowing implied in the most portentous of capital questions:

What did he know and when did he know it?

And so, there has developed… a kind of knowing without being known to know, for which there is no word at all. It is a nonoperational, untraceable knowing, which can seldom be proven or disproven… It is knowing all about the thing without being culpable of knowing the thing itself.

The parallel between politics and sports sports may seem over-the-top to some and I will admit the scale is slightly different but the principles remain the same. The individuals who perpetrate a crime should be punished and rehabilitated but it’s addressing the institutions that permit the behavior and the people in charge of them that is of greater social importance. What did he know and when did he know it? I think Roger Goddell had access to that video when he decided to suspend Ray Rice for two games. I think he was trying to practice the art of knowing without being known to know, like Ben Cramer described above, and I think he’s going to be caught red-handed. When we find out that Roger Goodell saw the video, he should resign or be fired, and I believe he will be sooner or later.

Cue Cards 9-8-2014

Cue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Yesterday — Sunday, September 7

The National Football League Makes its triumphant return — With all the off-season mess: players being suspended, players being suspended, owners being suspended, etc. it was easy to wonder why professional football has such a pull on us all. Yesterday’s football games reminded us why — because they are exciting! Full tiny synopses in our NFL One Liners column.
Line: That’s why the NFL is the most popular sport — two overtime games, comebacks left and right, fantasy football excitement!
Serena reigns supreme over nearly everyone — Serena Williams never lost more than three games in a set (you need to win 6 to win the set) during the entire U.S. Open tournament. Fittingly, she beat her opponent in the final, Caroline Wozniaki, 6-3, 6-3. Serena Williams is great.
Line: It’s amazing that Serena Williams is still so dominant at an age (32) when most other tennis players are on their way to retirement.
The Basketball World Cup gets serious — The round of 16 in the FIBA Basketball World Cup is complete after four games yesterday. There were no enormous surprises — the U.S. and Spain still seem fated to meet in the finals. The most hotly contested game was between neighbors and rivals Brazil and Argentina. Possibly seeking a little cosmic revenge for the soccer World Cup, the Brazilian team won 85 to 65. The next round of the tournament begins on Tuesday.
Line: Brazil had too much size inside, with Anderson Verejao, Tiago Splitter, and Nene, for Argentina to handle.

Week One NFL One Liners

On Mondays during in the fall, the conversation is so dominated by NFL football that the expression “Monday morning quarterback” has entered the vernacular. The phrase is defined by Google as “a person who passes judgment on and criticizes something after the event.” With the popularity of fantasy football, we now have Monday morning quarterbacks talking about football from two different perspectives. We want you to be able to participate in this great tradition, so all fall we’ll be running NFL One Liners on Monday. Use these tiny synopses throughout the day:

Week 1

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, AT 1:00 P.M. ET

Buffalo Bills 23, at Chicago Bears 20

Overtime games are relatively rare in the NFL but this was one of two in the first week of the season. The Bears don’t often get the benefit of the doubt from the sports media and they certainly won’t after a first game like this one.

Line: Let’s not overreact to the first week. I still think the Bears are good and the Bills are not.

Cincinnati Bengals 23, at Baltimore Ravens 16

The ugliest win of the day, the Bengals didn’t impress anyone and the Ravens impressed even less. Bengals scored five field goals before winning the game on a long pass to their best player, A. J. Green.

Line: If there was such a thing as an immoral victory in football, this would be it.

Cleveland Browns 27, at Pittsburgh Steelers 30

Half way through this game, when the Steelers were up 27 to 3, you thought the story for the next week was going to be when Browns’ backup rookie quarterback, Johhny Manziel was going to take over for the starter Brian Hoyer. Even after the frantic comeback attempt came up short, you feel as though the Browns and the rest of us will be saved from that nuisance for another week or two at least.

Line: Cleveland is cursed.

Washington Redskins 6, at Houston Texans 17

Last year was the season from hell for the Houston Texans and the Washington Redskins. Today made it seem like Houston is on its way up while Washington is still descending. Dante would be pleased.

Line: Washington quarterback RGIII may never again be as good as he was his rookie year.

Jacksonville Jaguars 17, at Philadelphia Eagles 34

The heavily favored Eagles didn’t start scoring until the second half. Luckily once they started, they didn’t stop until they had 34 points.

Line: Shaky start for the Eagles, let’s watch them next week to see if this was an anomaly or a warning sign.

Tennessee Titans 26, at Kansas City Chiefs 10

There’s a math thing called regression which is all the rage in football. It just means that things that have been improbably good or bad are likely to return to being average. The Chiefs were improbably good last year so everyone expected them to be predictably average this year. They were.

Line: The Chiefs season is all about regression to the mean, baby.

New England Patriots 20, at Miami Dolphins 33

Huh? What? The Patriots have won their first game every season since 2003 and dominated their division during that same period. When they were up 20-10, everything made sense. Losing 33 to 20? It’s like the earth tilting in a different direction.

Line: If the Dolphins can stay healthy, they might be able to challenge the Patriots for the division title this year.

Minnesota Vikings 34, at St. Louis Rams 6

Coming into the game, both starting quarterbacks felt equally shaky. After a bad first half from Rams starter, Shaun Hill, he was either injured badly enough or benched in lieu of the unknown Austin Davis. The Vikings and quarterback Matt Cassel looked great but against the shaky Rams, who knows how good they really are.

Line: The Rams might not win a game this year.

New Orleans Saints 34, at Atlanta Falcons 37

The second overtime game of the day, this was a back-and-forth, all offense, all excitement all the time, nail-biter of a game. The Falcons offense looked unstoppable and the Saints offense looked, well, unstoppable. Honestly, neither team really stopped the other. That’s why the score was so high!

Line: Oh shucks, you know me, some people like all that scoring but I prefer a lower-scoring, old-school football game.

Oakland Raiders 14, at New York Jets 19

The Jets won this matchup between two teams not expected to win many games this year. Then again, the Jets are designed to win low-scoring, ugly games like this one, so maybe they’re better than we think.

Line: The decisive story of this game was the teams’ abilities to rush the football. The Jets rushed for 212 yards. The Raiders, only 13.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, AT 4:25 P.M. ET

Carolina Panthers 20, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14

Even with star quarterback Cam Newton sitting on the sidelines because of a rib injury, the Carolina Panthers had enough to beat the Buccaneers behind veteran backup Derek Anderson.

Line: Derek Anderson! That guy is terrible!

San Francisco 49ers 28, at Dallas Cowboys 17

The Forty Niners went up 28 to 3 in the first half and never looked back. Actually, they did look back and laughed sardonically at the Cowboys’ frantic attempt to catch up.

Line: Tony Romo [the Cowboys quarterback] was terrible!

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, AT 8:30 P.M. ET

Indianapolis Colts 24, at Denver Broncos 31

It’s probably no coincidence that, in a game whose plot was defined as being “Peyton Manning’s old team against Peyton Manning’s new team,” the team with Peyton Manning actually playing for them, won. He is still one of the best quarterbacks in the world although his opponent and successor in Indianapolis, Andrew Luck is not so shabby himself. Luck led his team on a second half comeback that just fell short of success.

Line: Peyton Manning is so good, it’s almost not fun to watch. He makes football seem like a surgical procedure.

NFL Week 1 Good Cop, Bad Cop Precap

NFL Patriots Bills — Football is back! Football is back.

The NFL season has started but how do you know which games to watch and which to skip? Ask our favorite police duo with their good cop, bad cop precaps of all the Week 1 matchups in the National Football League this weekend. To see which games will be televised in your area, check out 506sports.com’s essential NFL maps. For snack ideas, check out Mashable’s 32 hot dog recipes that correspond to the 32 NFL teams.

Week 1

Sunday, September 7, at 1:00 p.m. ET

Buffalo Bills at Chicago Bears

Good cop: Two classic teams with blue-collar fan bases that deserve to see their teams thrive!

Bad cop: Uh, the Bills quarterback is on such thin ice that the team just signed journeyman backup Kyle Orton and there’s already talk he might take over.

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens

Good cop: Division rivals!

Bad cop: A matchup between the two most overrated and overpaid quarterbacks in the league, Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco.

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers

Good cop: Division rivals!

Bad cop: The Browns’ best wide receiver, Josh Gordon, is suspended for the year because he smoked some weed and their most exciting quarterback, rookie Johnny Manziel isn’t going to play.

Washington Redskins at Houston Texans

Good cop: One of the most athletic quarterbacks in the league, Robert Griffin III, goes up against the dominating defensive line of the Houston Texans!

Bad cop: Yeah, great. That’ll be fun to watch for the first five minutes until J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney stomp so thoroughly on RGIII that there’s nothing left to see.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles

Good cop: The Eagles are the fastest playing team in the league and the Jaguars are going to emulate them! We could see 100 points in this game!

Bad cop: They would still all be scored by the Eagles.

Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs

Good cop: The Titans have a young promising quarterback and very underrated wide receivers while the Chiefs have the best running back in the league!

Bad cop: I know but doesn’t this game just make you want to say, “meh”?

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins

Good cop: The Patriots travel down to steamy Miami where they will struggle with the young Miami defense!

Bad cop: Tom Brady struggle? Not likely.

Minnesota Vikings at St. Louis Rams

Good cop: Viking Cordarrelle Patterson and Ram Tavon Austin both make real life football look like a video game because they’re such dynamic athletes!

Bad cop: Unfortunately they’ve got terrible quarterbacks throwing them the ball.

New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons

Good cop: Games between these teams are ALWAYS exciting! Dynamic offenses, great players, what more could you want?!

Bad cop: This game may not be totally uninteresting and horrible.

Oakland Raiders at New York Jets

Good cop: So kind of you to say that about the Saints vs. Falcons game! Just for that, I’ll admit, this game is totally uninteresting and horrible!

Bad cop: It is.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, AT 4:25 P.M. ET

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Good cop: Two of the more mysterious teams in the league this year! The Panthers were good last year and the Buccaneers were horrible but it seems like things might flip this year for both of them!

Bad cop: The Panthers have an excellent quarterback but figuratively no one to catch the ball. The Buccaneers signed Josh McCown on the basis of one good year. If he were actually good enough to start, wouldn’t that have shown before he turned 35?

San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys

Good cop: Classic franchises, exciting players like Colin Kaepernick, Michael Crabtree, Dez Bryant, and Tony Romo!

Bad cop: Simple outcome. The Cowboys have the worst defense in the league. They’re going to lose.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, AT 8:30 P.M. ET

Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos

Good cop: Peyton Manning against his old team! Andrew Luck is awesome!

Bad cop: A fun plot-line, but I bet the game feels antiseptic.

Monday, SEPTEMBER 8, AT 7:10 and 10:20 P.M. ET

New York Giants at Detroit Lions

Good cop: Eli Manning is Peyton’s brother! He’s also really good at football!

Bad cop: Now you just sound like me. This game is already the Dear Sports Fan “Do not watch this game” game. ’nuff said.

San Diego Chargers at Arizona Cardinals

Good cop: The last game of the weekend could be the best one! The Chargers had a great run into the playoffs at the end of last year and the Cardinals were the best team in the league to miss the playoffs!

Bad cop: Cardinals Quarterback, Carson Palmer, hasn’t won an opening game since 2007! The Cardinals have no chance! Also no functioning offensive linemen!

Do Not Watch This Game: 9.6.14 Weekend Edition

Do not watch this game 1 — Sad fan says, “Do not watch this game!”

For sports fans, the weekend is a cornucopia of wonderful games to watch. This is particularly true in the fall with its traditional pattern of College Football on Saturday and NFL Football on Sunday and Monday. As the parent, child, girlfriend, boyfriend, partner, husband, wife, roommate, or best friend of a sports fan, this can be a challenge. It must be true that some games are more important to watch than others but it’s hard to know which is which. As a sports fan, the power of habit and hundreds of thousands of marketing dollars get in the way of remembering to take a break from sports and do something with your parent, child, girlfriend, boyfriend, partner, husband, wife, roommate, or best friend. To aid all of us in this, and just because it’s fun, I’m going to write a weekly post on Friday highlighting a single game that is ideal for skipping. Use this to help tell yourself or someone else: “Do not watch this game!”

Monday, 7:10 p.m. ET, NFL Football, Detroit Lions vs. New York Giants. It’s on ESPN but do not watch this game!

Monday night is traditionally one of the biggest, most important, most exciting football games of the week. Alone, on prime time, the Monday night game has a cache all to itself. Except, on the first weekend of the NFL season, there are two Monday night games. There is a game that starts earlier than normal, at 7:10 p.m. ET and another that starts at 10:20 p.m. ET. This makes them both feel a little less important. Not only is the game between the Giants and the Lions not alone on Monday, it’s not even the last game of the week. This means that it’s less likely than any other Monday night game to be a final, deciding factor in a fantasy football matchup.

Nor is this a premium matchup. The two teams playing are resolutely mediocre. Both teams won seven games and lost nine last year. Vegas Super Bowl odds, as of today, suggest that the Lions would win the championship only once if the season were played 42 times. The Giants are said to be even less likely, at 65 to 1. Sports books also set an over/under for the number of wins during the regular season a team will win. Before the season you can bet on whether a team will over or underperform what Vegas thinks it’s going to do. The Lions’ number is 8.5 wins, the Giants’ is 8. The quarterbacks last year threw the most (Giant Eli Manning with 27) and sixth most (Lion Matt Stafford with 19) interceptions in the league.

From a social or relationship standpoint, the Monday game this weekend is the perfect time to skip a game. Even the most easygoing, agreeable, casual sports fan partner or parent or whatever is likely to be a little fatigued from the first full weekend of football. Take early Monday night and have a nice dinner and relax and do not watch the game between the Giants and the Lions. It’ll be okay.

Of course, if you or the fan in your life is a New York Giants or Detroit Lions fan, this isn’t a good game to skip. As an alternate, skip the Sunday, late afternoon game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. Why? Because the Cowboys have the worst defense in the league and the 49ers are still good enough to beat them but not good enough to be must-watch TV.

Cue Cards 9-5-2014

Cue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Yesterday — September 4

I wrote a post yesterday about the two most exciting sports games on TV that night called “I don’t always watch sports, but when I do, I prefer contrasts“. Here’s what happened in those two events.

Cool outlasts Hot — Last night Roger Federer beat Gael Monfils in a five set U.S. Open quarterfinal tennis match. I wrote about the two that Federer “doesn’t get ruffled.” He had to use all his anti-ruffling skills after losing the first two sets. About Monfils on the other hand, I wrote that he, “spends a lot of time self-destructing on tennis courts.” That’s exactly what happened. After losing by just a little in the third and fourth set to a determined Federer, Monfils got into his own head and lost the fifth set six games to two. They both played to type.
Line: “Federer’s gonna Federer and Monfils is gonna Monfils.” Or, less obtuse, “That’s why Federer is a champion and Monfils isn’t — mental toughness.”
Defense flusters offense — The Seattle Seahawks beat up, confused, and eventually just beat the Green Bay Packers during their 36 to 16 victory last night. The defense sacked Green Bay Quarterback Aaron Rodgers three times, forced one fumble, one safety, and one interception. Meanwhile, that “frankly bad” defense of the Packers fairly wilted under the pressure of Seattle’s offense which did “pound their opponent into the ground with powerful running attacks” as predicted. The Seahawks ran for 191 yards, averaging a massive 6.8 yards per carry.
Line: “The most physical team wins most football games and last night that team was the Seahawks.”