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Teenagers: Do you know the real reason why parents keep a look out to make sure the friends you hang around with are the “right friends” and not “the wrong crowd?”
Here’s an illustration.
A person is hanging off a cliff holding the end of a rope and you are at the other end trying to pull him/her up.
Is it easier for you to pull them up or them to pull you down?
* St. Louis franchise quarterback Sam Bradford should be the poster child why NFL players should try to squeeze every last penny they can out of the team where they are employed.
Sunday’s news said Bradford is out for the year with a torn ACL.
Terrible news.
No one wants to see a player go through injuries.
That’s why St. Louis was looking hard in the May draft to take another quarterback.
The trio behind Bradford are Shaun Hill, Austin Davis and Garrett Gilbert.
* As you know, my alliances lie with UCLA and Notre Dame, so I could care less if the Ohio State football team go 6-6 or 12-0, but it’s terrible to see quarterback Braxton Miller out for the season.
That’s why you have a depth chart. That’s why you recruit as many five-star quarterbacks as you can.
* The Buffalo Bills released defensive tackle Alan Branch one day after his arrest for drunken driving. I wonder what the Steelers are going to do with their backfield – the new Doobie Brothers?
* It was revealed that longtime NFL official Mike Carey quietly asked the NFL to not send him to referee Washington Redskins games in 2006 because he found the nickname offensive.
Carey was in the league for 11 years before the request.
“There was an epiphany for me that it was time,” Carey told Washington Post columnist Mike Wise. “I was never comfortable with the name. I’ve never said (the team’s name) in my games. But then I realized it wasn’t an option to be part of them anymore. For me, I just knew. I knew that everybody – everybody – deserves a level of respect.
“The league respectfully honored my request not to officiate Washington.”
If Carey wanted to take a stand – and a really quiet one at that – I understand.
“It just became clear to me that to be in the middle of the field, where something disrespectful is happening, was probably not the best thing for me,” Carey told Wise.
Carey was widely considered one of the best in the business before retiring at the end of last season. So, since he was near or at the top of the list and he didn’t want to referee Washington games, who did the Redskins get for all those years?
Obviously, not one of the best in the business.
And, since the NFL chose to accept the request, did the league take a stand?
That’s a problem.
I am not offended by the name, but I also am not a Native American.
The name will never be changed until Washington Redskins sponsors start yanking their financial backing.
Once that happens, owner Dan Snyder will change the name.
I am all for Carey making a stand for what he thinks is right.
Obviously, though, the vulgar, vile language on an NFL field, complete with probably every name in the book, was OK for Carey to be around.
* Little League World Series final: Two cultures for one prize.
Sportsmanship anyone?
* The NFL taking forever to officially rule on Cleveland’s Josh Gordon is unacceptable.
* Johnny Manziel was fined $12,000 for flipping the bird. He got off easy. Should have been $50,000.
* The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team forfeited its opening match against Texas Tech and received a $5,000 fine.
The reason: Hazing.
This garbage has to end.
Head coach Kit Vela has been suspended for a week without pay (even though she said she knew nothing of the incident) and assistant coaches Jorge Vela and Krista Foo will receive letters of reprimand. All of this comes from athletic director Paul Krebs.
And, please don’t be shocked, this involved alcohol.
Seven true freshman allegedly were hazed and forced to drink alcohol – lots of it. In fact, one was taken to the hospital for excessive alcohol consumption. Two of those freshmen withdrew from school and returned home.
Twenty-two players will be suspended for one game and those suspensions will be staggered so the team can play its scheduled games.
“We believe the disciplinary measures we have taken today send a clear message about the gravity of the incident, and that it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Krebs, according to Reuters, said in a statement.
Nope.
A clear message would have been to cancel the season.
Boom.
That would send a clear message.
The punishment cannot meet the crime. The punishment must exceed the crime.
(Mathison, a Weirton resident, is the sports editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times and can be contacted at mmathison@heraldstaronline.com and followed on Twitter at @MathisonMike)