BASEBALL
Argument for best athletes: you try taking a round ball and a round bat, and hit it squarely
Argument against: John Kruk ever see the ‘body’ on that guy?

FOOTBALL
For: physical demands, hardest hitting
Against: they play in 6-second bursts, 80%+ of clock time is “non-action”

HOCKEY
For: try doing what they do… ON SKATES
Against: like football, short (relatively speaking) burst, :30 to 1:00 bursts, then on the bench for 2+ minutes (except defensemen)

BASKETBALL
For: called “ballet in short pants”
Against: heck, even I still play on weekends

GOLF
For: less than 1% of amateur players can legitimately break 100
Against: John Daly (see BASEBALL ‘Against’ argument) and/or virtually anyone CAN play and enjoy it

TENNIS
For: fitness, reaction/coordination at the net
Against: 80 year olds play at the park by my house WITHOUT RUNNING

You get the idea…

BTW, argument against lacrosse having the best athletes: when the best player in its history played SIXTY FREAKING YEARS AGO, you’re NOT putting the “best” athletes on the field, because if you did, guys like Michael Jordan, Bruce Jenner, Alex Rodriguez, Walter Payton, Wayne Gretzky and Roger Federer would all be alums of Johns Hopkins!

That is almost true. Lacrosse puts the best field athletes on the field. Jim Brown is still considered the greatest collegiate lacrosse player of all time. He played over 60 years ago. When I read his biography in high school while he was in his prime in the NFL, it said he was a better lacrosse player than football player.

The best athletes are NHL players period. They play tougher, more intense and, with the exceptions of concussions, are the hardest playing athletes who play with the most physical demands of all 4 major sports.

It’s rare for me to agree with the league on labor issues, but I do support them on some of the operational sticking points. The quality of officiating has diminished significantly in the last eight or more years. The league has had the ability to make improvements but lacked the will. Finally, it seems, they’ve decided to act on the growing fan resentment and implement suggestions such as:

* phasing out older refs for younger men who can better keep up with the action.
* shifting to full-time refs, which will allow for better training in the league’s complex rules and for crews to train together. Currently the NFL is the only major U.S. sports league not to have full-time officials.
* adding officials to the crews, or adding reserve officials.
* benching officials a week or so as a punishment for poor performance.

All these operational changes are desperately needed, but the officiating union is not receptive. Other issues holding up the talks involve salaries and pensions. The league is now indicating a willingness to give on these issues but not the operational changes.

I still hold the league responsible for allowing the situation to impact the season. The owners have never considered the officials to be terribly important and didn’t mind locking them out rather than negotiating in earnest before the season. Now it’s a matter of how long it will take to hammer out all these issues and get the refs back on the field.

“Replay Official Howard Slavin stopped the game for an instant replay review. The aspects of the play that were reviewable included if the ball hit the ground and who had possession of the ball. In the end zone, a ruling of a simultaneous catch is reviewable. That is not the case in the field of play, only in the end zone.”

Secondarily, I do hold the replacement refs at least somewhat accountable. Sure, everyone wants a “promotion” at work, but if you’re clearly unable to keep up with the speed of the game, get out. At one point, EARLY in the game, each team had 6 penalties for roughly 50+ yards each. Nobody goes to the stadium, or watches on TV, to see how far a ref can throw his yellow laundry. They watch/go to see the PLAYERS. I think some of these replacement refs err on the side of calling a penalty out of fear of NOT making a correct call.

Bottom line: NFL, do your freaking job and get the regular/QUALIFIED refs back to work before you tarnish the game even further.

Reid never lost his grip on that ball; our receiver did. Although many Bama fans complained about the call, it was an interception–one that ensured the victory for LSU.

Jennings intercepted that ball last night. Tate merely got a hand on it and clearly lost contact at one point. If Deb sitting at home in her living room knew watching LIVE, without having to see a replay, that was a clear interception, then ANYONE being paid to officiate that game should have known. And just as I was rooting for Bama in the other game, I was rooting for the Seahawks last night. But it is what it is.

I also understand the limitations of the replay official. But if he can’t overturn a travesty like that, what good is it having each scoring play reviewed?

This simultaneous possession being a non-reviewable component is nonsense. If every scoring play is reviewed in the booth – EVERY element of that play should be subject to review with the obvious exception of penalty or lack thereof. Possession is key on any scoring play. Tate did not have possession until somewhere during the battle that ensued on the ground after the play was over.

Not so! I, for one, have decided to boycott NFL football until the regular officials are back. I refuse to be a party to Goodell’s sham. A sham that says the League is offering legitimate NFL games when it is, in fact, showing uncontrolled scuffles overseen by inept officials.

Goodell and the owners are defrauding the fans with their sham, in my opinion, and laughing all the way to the bank. And, the fans are outrage that they are being swindled of their right to see properly and fairly officiated games.

Well, I can’t change Goodell’s and the owner’s con, but I sure can choose to keep out of it. No more NFL for me! Until the regular officials return to the field, I’m taking in legit entertainment; i.e. like a good movie. And I bet I sleep a whole lot better and feel a whole lot better than the poor fans who are allowing themselves to be victimized.