Monday, November 7, 2016

Sports this 'n' that

A USA Today online piece, also available on Yahoo!, reports that former rape victim-turned-activist Brenda Tracy is calling for Baylor University to cancel it's remaining four regular season football games.

The issue? The school, it seems, approved the sale of apparel in support of former football coach Art Briles, who was dismissed in the off-season amid charges of rape & sexual assault on his watch by members of either the football team or coaching staff. As it happens, the Bears were blown out by Texas Christian on Saturday, 62-22. Baylor has now lost two straight after a 6-0 start to the season. As coaches are taking to social media to defend Briles, the distractions have hurt the once-proud program. I believe that would be called karmic justice.
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As the Dallas Cowboys ran their winning streak to 7 with yesterday's win over Cleveland, owner/GM/President-for-Life "Mungo" Jerry Jones actually has kept mum about the team's previously reported plans to put injured QB Tony Romo back in the lineup once he's healthy. Finally, Jones is getting the message, or at least some semblance of it. As long as Dak Prescott and fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott continue to perform at All-Pro level to lead the team, there's no need to rush Romo back from the arts & crafts room (read: injured list). Prescott, in particular, gives the Cowboys fresh energy and youth. Something Romo cannot offer at this stage in his career. Instead, Romo would be wise to just sit out the season and ensure he is 100% recovered by training camp in 2017.
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While the resurgent Oakland Raiders sit atop the AFC West after beating Denver last night, owner Mark Davis is taking umbrage at the Hall of Fame for its current policy of refusing to present the families of posthumously inducted Hall of Famers, such as former Raider QB Ken Stabler, with rings and jackets, opting instead for simple commemorative patches. I think I get what Davis is saying. GM Bruce Allen, son of former Washington coach George Allen, was similarly denied when his father was enshrined, also posthumously, a few years ago. Davis' father, the late Al Davis, lived long enough to be enshrined, and so his son inherited the ring and jacket. He's showing sympathy for the younger Allen and the Stabler family. You'd think that after all these years, anything associated with the NFL in any form would avoid angering Raider Nation. Unfortunately, some things never change.
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New York's Section II spread out their Super Bowl games across three days last week, but after Troy High dispatched Shaker for the 2nd time this season to win the AA title, Time Warner Cable viewers were treated (?) to an epic massacre, as Glens Falls routed Hudson, 62-12, on Friday, in a game where Glens Falls rested their starters---rightfully---in the 2nd half before things really got out of hand.

However, Time Warner did a disservice to Section II by choosing to carry the Section IX Class AA title game, won by Newburgh Free Academy over Monroe-Woodbury. The Section II Class A title game, which saw Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake end Averill Park's Cinderella season, 21-6, was ignored by Time Warner Cable. Have to assume that whomever is in charge of their sports programming statewide decided that it was more important for a downstate game in Class AA to be shown, especially considering that it would give the Troy coaches a scouting report for their next game, which will be November 12 in Kingston. The least Time Warner Cable could do was send a camera crew to Shenendehowa, where the A game was played, and air it on tape delay, but as of this writing, it appears that wasn't planned at all. Shame, then, on Time Warner Cable Sports for their short-sighted vision.
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Former pro wrestler David Kash, aka Kid Kash from his days in ECW, WWE, WCW, & TNA, ran his mouth the other day, blasting CM Punk for his losing effort in UFC last month. So what happens? Kash loses less than a minute into the first round of his fight for a smaller promotion on Saturday. Punk nearly made it through the first round before falling to Mickey Gall, so, in essence, Kash ended up eating his words.

Karmic justice? Yep.
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Karma can also apply to the Los Angeles Rams, who continue to keep #1 draft pick Jared Goff chained to the bench while the Rams continue to stumble with Case Keenum at QB after losing to Carolina yesterday. While Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz are getting all the headlines---and the league has caught up with Wentz already---, Goff is carrying a clipboard and learning, but if coach Jeff Fisher wants to keep his job and keep the LA fans happy, he might as well swallow what pride he has and send Goff out to see what he has. It may be the only thing that gets the Rams to the playoffs at this point. Just sayin'.

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