Three days later, there is still some buzz over the murder-suicide of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend, leaving their 3 month old daughter orphaned. The child is living with her grandmother in Long Island, but will face questions later on about why her mom & dad were gone so soon.
Meanwhile, NBC commentator Bob Costas has come under fire for using his halftime commentary segment on Sunday to take a stand on gun control. The real issue, as had been speculated upon in the newspapers on Monday, was whether or not Belcher was suffering from any sort of brain trauma after four years with the Chiefs, who signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Maine in 2009. We won't know the answers on that score for a while yet.
The NFC East race tightened on Monday as Washington bested the Giants, but there might be a bit of controversy surrounding the Redskins' 1st touchdown. Quarterback Robert Griffin III was tackled, but appeared to fumble. The ball popped right into the hands of receiver Josh Morgan, who scored the touchdown. Replay confirmed it, but in this writer's opinion, it shouldn't have. Griffin looked like he was down by contact. Instead, he got the benefit of the star system favoring him at home. The zebras botched this one. The ground can't cause a fumble, by rule, but since there wasn't enough evidence to prove he was down.......! Yeah, right.
The clock, though, is ticking on Andy Reid in Philadelphia. The Eagles came oh so close, yet oh so far in losing to Dallas on Sunday, and then Reid finally decided that rookie Nick Foles would be the starter for the rest of the year, which means the end of the trail for Michael Vick in Philly, and probably, Reid as well. If Vick is healthy enough to play, he should be back in there at QB. Foles is 0-3 as a starter.
The Jets are almost in the same predicament. Mark Sanchez was benched Sunday, and with Tim Tebow inactive due to a rib injury, Greg McElroy, out of Alabama, took over and led New York over Arizona. However, Rex Ryan won't commit to a starter for next week's game vs. Jacksonville just yet. Tebow may not be ready. McElroy's been waiting for his chance, and Sanchez has regressed so far, his time in New York may be over. If the Jets don't make the playoffs, Ryan's time could be over, too.
The Bowl Championship Series title game is set, with Alabama looking to repeat by beating Notre Dame. It's a classic matchup that will guarantee major ratings for ESPN, which will carry the game on January 7. There are still those doubters who don't think the Fighting Irish deserve to be there, the main argument being, perhaps, that the school is still an independent in football, or some other lame excuse. The BCS is on its last legs, with a playoff format taking effect two years from now, but it's finally delivered a quality matchup that fans have wanted. There will be those people, not just ND loyalists, mind, that will want the Irish to break the Southeastern Conference's stranglehold on the BCS title trophy. That storyline sells itself. There won't be any need for channel surfing that night, trust me.
Bob Costas is a **** for throwing his politics into such a tragic story. He's entitled to his opinion, but he should keep his mouth shut when reporting sports on cam.
ReplyDeleteTen bucks says he has bodyguards that are armed!
That said, the tragic tale will take a while to answer completely. For all we know Belcher may have already had a violent temper and/or was into mind altering drugs. I wouldn't be suprised if either were the case.
Personally, I think the game should have been cancelled out of respect for the parties involved.
You're not alone in those sentiments, but the NFL is all about money and television ratings, and they had no room where they could reschedule the game, especially considering that Kansas City was out of contention, and Carolina was on the brink, if they haven't already been eliminated.
ReplyDeleteCostas has been raked over the coals, and I'd imagine some sort of mea culpa come Sunday, if not sooner.