Buh-bye, NFL

2018 will go down as the year I was liberated from the NFL's Sunday stranglehold on my attention. I still love sports and athletic achievement (Tiger Woods back in the winner's circle, unbelievable), but the game of professional football has lost me. I don't know what is holding, I don't know what is interference, I definitely don't know roughing the passer--and apparently, do few of the officials--but I do know a grab-all-the-money-you-can-while-you-can, and that's the NFL in 2018.

For 40 years of my life, I ranked NFL football first and all other sports second. Now, baseball (Go Brewers!), basketball (the Bucks oBuh-f 2018/19 are the team to watch), PGA golf (I still play golf and, hey, at least I understand the rules), and a bunch of other things (World Cup Soccer?) come before the NFL.

Proof? The Packers lost yesterday and I don't even care. If my social media feeds are any indication, I am not alone. The 30-year waiting list for Packers' season tickets ought to be down to four and a half years by seasons' end.

(P.S., I'll still watch sometimes, but with unequivocal ambivalence.)

A Very Short Thought on Tony Stewart

As a boy and a young man, I had a wicked temper. When I was mad or upset, I became completely
irrational and knew that, in my blind rage, it was very possible that I could hurt someone.

That said, I was always a fan of highly competitive and temperamental athletes, e.g. John McEnroe, Charles Barkley, Bobby Knight, etc. I knew that if I were in their situations, I'd be known for throwing the exact sort of conniptions for which they became famous.

Like those athletes, I mellowed with age. I made a conscientious effort to try to not let myself get too worked up.

Breathe deep. Relax. Think of puppies.

Which brings me to the tragic incident of Tony Stewart and the death of fellow racer 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. Like other famously temperamental athletes, if I watched a NASCAR race, I'd root for Stewart. However, this time he went too far. He did not stay in control of raw emotion. He may never be charged, and clearly Ward Jr. should have never left his vehicle and taunted Stewart, but I believe this was an incident that could have been avoided had Stewart kept his anger in check.

I don't think he intended to hit Ward Jr., but it appeared that he tried to throw him the racer's version of a brushback pitch. Rather than drive low and steer clear, he passed near Ward Jr. and accelerated. It's the acceleration that tells me this was rage-flash moment.

I'm not certain how all of this will play out--it's too early to tell, but I definitely can say that I'll never root for Stewart again. If he doesn't land behind bars, at the very least, he should get some help.

Fire Packers Coach Mike McCarthy? That's Crazy Talk.

I love sports ... but hate sports fans.

Under Mike McCarthy, the Packers are 81-45-1 with five playoff appearances and a Super Bowl win. Yet I hear (see) Packers fans clamoring "FIRE McCARTHY!"

Are they nuts? The biggest problem is, as Packers fans, we've become so accustomed to success that an injury-plagued, .500 season is deemed a failure and we demand someone be held accountable.
That's just dumb. McCarthy has earned the right to have a mediocre season for a change. The four years prior to this season all ended with double-digit victory totals.

I'll stick with Mike, thank you very much.

Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

Courtesy of Sobelman's Pub & Grill, we went to the Milwaukee Bucks game last night. It was great to win the tickets on short notice and we were excited to go to the game--I've had more than normal interest in the Bucks this year. They have an exciting team. Plus, I cut cable TV--if I want to see the Bucks, I have to either go to a bar or the arena!

Unfortunately though, the Bucks laid an egg. Maybe it was the previous night's overtime victory over the Celtics in Boston that wore the team out. They played lethargically. Brandon Jennings was only 3 for 13 shooting. Yeesh. That's terrible.

Regardless, here's the thing that disappointed me: fans streaming for the exits with six and half minutes to go in the 4th quarter with Bucks only down 10. C'mon. I've seen enough basketball games to know 10 points is not an insurmountable deficit to make up in six minutes. Heck, I've seen 10 points made up in less than two minutes.

I'll never forget Game One of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals in New York, Reggie Miller amazingly scored 8 points against the Knicks in the final 18.7 seconds: a 3, followed by stealing the inbounds pass and another 3 to tie the game and 2 free throws, erasing the Knicks' 105-99 lead and stealing the game 107-105. That was great.

And you know who missed it? All the fans that didn't stick around to the end. 

Why do people do this? My take is if you are ever going to attend an exciting sporting event, a come-from-behind victory in the final minutes is going to be the most memorable one. Sure, more often than not you will still leave disappointed that your team lost, but every once in a while you'll experience a great comeback.

Very seldom do I leave a game before it's over. And over the years, I've been treated to a couple great games. 

Lastly, if we are fans, shouldn't we support our team till the end? I mean, fans streaming towards the exits six minutes before the game's end doesn't send a very good signal to the team, does it? Maybe us fans could influence a game's outcome by energetically supporting our team and imploring them to play well. But no, instead we mumble obscene epithets about overpaid millionaires and stream for the exits.

I think that's too bad. It's jaded. And I'm not going to be a fan that way.

Go Bucks! Shake it off and return to winning form against the Nets on Wednesday night!

Thanks again, Sobelmans, for the tickets too!