We Gotta Tone It Down

I didn't catch the 49ers/Cardinals game the other night on TV. In fact, I only catch bits and pieces of NFL games on TV. It's not that I don't like the NFL, I do. And if you've been reading my blogs at all you know how much I love football at any level. For the NFL I check the scores, watch ESPN for highlights and I pay attention to the standings. But I rarely sit down and watch more than a few minutes of a pro game. What I did see of the game disturbed me a little bit.

I saw a highlight on PTI (Pardon The Interruption), an ESPN news show that features sportwriters Tony Kornhiser and Michael Wilbon. I really like these guys because I think they're knowledegable, make sense, and are very entertaining. I like it when Wilbon calls me a knucklehead. Anyway, they showed a clip that disturbed THEM also. A defender on the Niners put a bone crushing hit on one of the Cardinal receivers. I mean, you almost wondered if the guy was dead the way he laid there. But the defender got up and raised his arms and did a blood curdling yell. He really played it up. Wilbon said it seemed to much like a gladiator gloating over a kill and I have to agree. It just didn't sit right. It was a legal hit, the guy DID get up and everything was OK but...

The NFL dances, shimmies, flexes muscles, gyrates, screams, and poses. I'm old fashioned, I struggle with it all. I know most fans love all the "look at me" stuff so it's not going away. But to put on a show when a guy was really laid out I say, "We gotta tone it down". Chiefpigskin.com

LOMBARDI

I like the theatre and no, I'm not talking about the movies, although I like them too. I'm talking about the theatre, Broadway type play on the stage. And yes, I like musicals too, but that's another story. Anyway, about a year and half ago I first read about a play coming to Broadway called "Lombardi". Sports Illustrated wrote an article about it and included a small conversation between Vince Lombardi, Paul Hornung, and Jim Taylor when Lombardi was first hired for the head coaching job of the Green Bay Packers. The conversation was classic Lombardi and I knew right then I just had to see the play. Heck, I was tempted to drive out to New York City when it opened just to see it. Well, not really, but I thought about it. Once it opened I read nothing but great reviews. I figured eventually it would be in Chicago and I would go see it there.

Now it just so happened that my wife and I were headed up to Door County, Wisconsin to close up our daughter and son-in-law's cabin for the winter. Door County is an old fashioned tourist attraction area that covers the entire Wisconsin peninsula. We've always enjoyed spending some time there. There is an outstanding summer theatre there called Peninsula Players Theatre with very high quality stage. Guess what was playing? Yep, Lombardi. I told my wife, "We're going." When we got to Door County on Friday I bought tickets for Saturday night. Saturday night was cold and windy but we were dressed for it. The theatre is enclosed but it's still described as open air. It was very comfortable inside. The place was full by opening curtain (about 800) and you could sure tell we were in Packer country. Packer ball caps, stocking caps, jackets, sweatshirts - Packer apparel all over the place. These cheese heads love their Packers.

The play focuses on a week of Lombardi's life as he is being interviewed by a cub reporter from New York. There are flashbacks as well and we learn how Lombardi got the Green Bay job. I really enjoyed the play and would recommend it to any football coach and his wife. But you don't have to be a football guy to enjoy this play. My wife liked it and she's not exactly crazy about football. (She was a football widow for thirty years) It really shows how things have changed. Lombardi couldn't coach the pros today. He wasn't just old school, he was old, old school. I can just hear him now, shouting, "What the hell's goin' on out there?" when he sees all the dancing going on out there in the NFL today. But that's another story too.

If you get a chance, see it. Chiefpigskin.com

Players Promise Fiercer Pro Bowl

According to a report out of New York NFL players promised that the Pro Bowl will be more competitive. Uh huh, last year’s was the worst ever so anything will be an improvement. But once again I doubt if I’ll be tuning in. Evidently the NFL will hold the Pro Bowl in Honolulu next January 27, a week before the Super Bowl.

Commissioner Roger Goodell had made it clear cancelling the all-star game was a possibility after “uninspired play” of this year’s 59-41 AFC victory. I thought it was a done deal but it looks like I was wrong. I saw highlights of the game and it was embarrassing. It was clear that after a grueling sixteen game schedule and then four playoff rounds the players were beat up and tired. And that was the players not too injured to play. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the players don’t want to risk injury following a brutal schedule in a meaningless game. But, once again it appears that television revenue wins out.

So, following discussions between the league and the player’s union, the NFL announced that Aloha Stadium would host the Pro Bowl for the third straight year. As much as I love football I haven’t watched this game in years. Anyone out there feel like I do? For more exciting high school football just log on to Chiefpigskin.