Are you ready for some football?

Our Football Heroes

America loves its football and I am no different.

The recent spate of crimes in the NFL shouldn't surprise anyone, nor should the distasteful protection of their millions of dollars of investment in their players.

What surprises me is the defense of these players who are caught red-handed. Ray Rice clocking his wife in the elevator is the perfect example. The police saw the video and arrested him in February 2014, the NFL did nothing at the time.

Now eight months later, only because TMZ pulled down the NFL’s pants by releasing the full police video, did the NFL respond and it was in a mealy mouth fashion. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell lied and said the NFL did not have that tape of Rice cold cocking his wife. The police say otherwise. So Goodell is caught lying red-handed. Why hasn't he been fired or at least resign?

Now I don’t know about you but it seems to me that the NFL is in as much denial as Ray Rice’s wife. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Janay Rice is defending her husband and feels it is a family matter. She is a typical abused woman, thinking she can fix everything.

It turns out there have been 732 arrests of NFL players since 2000-2014. That’s almost half of the current roster of all NFL players.

Now the NFL is embracing groups opposed to violence. Well, duh.

It makes me think of that old joke:

The first testicular guard was used in cricket in 1874. 

And the first  helmet was used  in cricket in 1974.

So, it took 100 years for men to realize that their brains were also worth protecting.

____________

Let’s switch to college football, boys and girls.

How’s the Heisman Trophy  winner, Jameis Winston, doing?

Jameis Winston was suspended from the Clemson game yesterday for yelling out a vulgar phrase in the student union. Fellow students who saw Winston make the remark Twittered about it and made it public immediately.  I don’t want to repeat the phrase but click here for a funny TMZ video about it.

This comes amidst the several run ins with the law Jameis Winston has had since 2012.

Florida State University’s football coach Jimbo Fisher said of Winston's actions: 'He was having fun. I do not justify it', and suspended him for the first half of the Clemson game on Wednesday.

The interim president of FSU, Garnett Stokes, over ruled the coach and took Winston out of the game completely, with the Athletic Director backing her up on Friday.

So, the top college quarterback in the nation was kicked out of a game for spouting an obscene phrase in public, on top of four other incidents.

I love when my team wins. But Winston’s suspension was the correct thing to do. He’s a 20 year old that hasn't matured as fast as his football skills.

He also needs a full time chaperon to keep him out of trouble, apparently.

I will cheer on my Seminoles tonight and hope they pull off a win with their new leader, Sean Maguire.  All the other players didn't do anything wrong and need their fan’s support.

The first televised game by ABC of FSU football was over 40 years ago. ABC gave the university about $200K. One of the first things purchased were summer uniforms for the band. FSU football has doubled the size and stature of the university since then.

It’s all about the ball$. 

________
Sunday 9-21-14 

UPDATE:
Florida State beat Clemson 23-17.  The credit goes to Maguire and the rest of the team. They pulled off a difficult game with a lot of luck.

Even though Winston was suspended from playing in the game, he was heavily involved on the sidelines with his teammates, and very demonstrative.

The ABC announcers gave Winston more airtime than anyone else, it seemed. But they had plenty to talk about.

This article says it all: Jameis Winston still plays starring role as supporting cast bails out Florida State

I think if Winston messes up again, he will be sacked by FSU.

As if FSU didn't have enough to handle with Winston, they are in the middle of choosing a new president. Penn State hired away our last president, Eric Barron.

Three candidates have impeccable academic records. The fourth candidate is a Republican state politician with no academic achievements other than raising money for the FSU football team, and oh, he has ties to the Koch Bros.