Irony Is Wasted On The Stupid

In a year where the Dallas Cowboys went from wanting to a wear helmet stickers to honor five murdered Dallas cops to protesting against cops, fans of professional football are now witness to self-righteous, overprivileged athletes who disrespect this country, her people and her history.

I used to idolize the Green Bay Packers, but then I’m a bit of a dinosaur.  I came to love the Packers because Bart Starr, the quarterback from 1956 to 1971, was a graduate of Alabama.  Anyone who follows this blog knows well that I am a rabid Crimson Tide fan.  Starr was the only quarterback in NFL history to lead a team to five league championships before Patriots QB Tom Brady tied the record in 2016.  Starr and the Packers epitomized clean play on the field and wholesome values off the field.

I have written on the subject of Colin Kaepernick numerous times but I doubt I will waste another moment or expend the energy banging away on a keyboard about him after today.

Whether you agree with the president’s characterization of protesting players taking a knee as “sons of bitches” or not it is important to remember Kaepernick, Stephen Curry and LeBron James, et al are the inciters who turned our beloved sports into a political battlefield.

From my post in 2016:

"The Star-Spangled Banner and American athletics have a nearly indissoluble marriage. Hatched during one war, institutionalized during another, this song has become so entrenched in our sports identity that it's almost impossible to think of one without the other.” 

“Those chords were ringing loudly on Sept. 17, 2001, the day Major League Baseball resumed following 9/11. The country was in mourning, hurting in ways it could hardly have imagined a week earlier. And when the nation collectively decided to right itself, to acknowledge tragedy while reclaiming everyday life, it turned to sports -- and to the anthem. Across MLB, teams surrounded the song with tributes to the victims and the country's public servants. In Los Angeles, police officer Rosalind Iams sang the song while members of the Dodgers and Padres helped firefighters and police officers unfurl a colossal stars and stripes that stretched almost entirely across the playing field. That same night in Pittsburgh, two members of the Air Force Reserve were called on to sing the anthem as spectators donned ‘I Love New York’ buttons. And in every ballpark for weeks afterward, tears were shed over what it took Francis Scott Key's lyrics to remind them of: ‘Our flag was still there.’"

The song is sacred and its first unbreakable bond with the sports world began in 1918 during Game 1 of the World Series between the Red Sox and the Cubbies.  The assembled crowd sat silent during Boston’s 1-0 victory.  The Cubs’ front office noticed they sang along as a military band played the anthem during the seventh-inning stretch.  The band was instructed to play the anthem for the next two games with the hope of exciting fans at the ballpark.  The Red Sox took the practice a step further when the series moved back to Fenway making it a part of the pregame festivities.  

Is it a sin to be patriotic today?  It is abundantly clear the NFL and the hive mind of the left yearn to have us forget what the flag and the National Anthem stands for or where Old Glory has been─Anzio, Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Hamburger Hill, Baghdad, Ganjgal and the surface of the moon in 1969.

The progressive forces of identity politics started this poisoning of America’s favorite spectator sport.  Those who have chosen to take a knee or sit or link arms in protest are, in fact, sons of bitches.

Colin Kaepernick said, “At the end of the day the flag is just a piece of cloth and I am not going to value a piece of cloth over people’s lives.”

The End Is Mercifully In Sight

Divisional Playoffs: Dallas Cowboys Vs Green Bay Packers

Last night during the pathetic game between the Panthers and the Seahawks, NBC showed images of the field crew’s efforts to keep the turf at Lambeau Field from freezing for today’s meeting between my beloved Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys.  Kickoff is 1:05 PM ET on FOX.

The last time these two teams played against each other in the playoffs in Green Bay, the temperature was minus 23°.  The date was December 31, 1967 and came to be known as the “Ice Bowl”.  I remember that game well.  Today’s game, however, won’t be any “Ice Bowl”.  The temperature will be around 20° and may still be a challenge for QB Tony Romo who is 1-2 in his career in freezing temps.

It's that time of year. #DALvsGB https://t.co/dc2QsWJmRQ
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 10, 2015

There were some controversial calls in last Sunday’s game between the ‘Boys and the Lions.  Some folks are even citing stats that Detroit’s performance in the game showed they were better than the Cowboys.  The Lions outgained Dallas 397-315 and outrushed them 90-73.  The Cowboys pulled out the win even if it was somewhat tainted by a controversial call.

I have been a lifelong fan of the Packers going all the way back to 1963 when Vince Lombardi was the head coach, Bart Starr was the quarterback and the Chicago Bears were the National Champs.  The Packers are arguably the most storied franchise in the NFL.

When the Packers take the field today, QB Aaron Rodgers will be playing with a “significantly strained” and torn calf muscle that could affect his mobility.  I’m sure he’ll do his best to overcome it.  This is for all the marbles.

I have to apologize to blogger friend Randy who is as dedicated a fan of the Cowboys as I am of the Packers. I’d like to wish you luck Randy, but I simply can’t.

GO PACKERS! 

And because no football post would be complete without some pom-poms, here is a photograph of a Dallas Cowgirl sporting a really, really big smile IYKWIMAITYD.  I posted this because the Packers don’t have cheerleaders and to make Randy happy.  You’re welcome.

Dallas Cowboys Vs The NFL’s Dirtiest Player

The 11-5 Detroit Lions are doing battle with the 12-4 Dallas Cowboys at 4:40 PM ET on FOX.  Last week the Cowboys dominated the Redskins in their 44-17 win and the Lions are coming off their 30-20 loss to the Packers.  The ‘Boys lost their last two games against the Lions.

I am rooting for the Cowboys.  I don’t want to appear to be sadistic, but I hope they can get a little pay back on Ndamukong Suh.  Remember how Suh stomped, yes, stomped on Packers QB Aaron Rodgers?

The game was carried on FOX and Joe Buck and Troy Aikman had plenty to say about the play.  The network ran the play in slow-motion from two different angles with Aikman commenting, "He gets stepped on right at the end of that play.  I didn't catch that. Looks like maybe that's what it was. Twice he gets stepped on. That's Suh. And then (Suh) basically pushes off the leg." Buck added, "There he is on the left ankle—the inside part. And you can see Aaron Rodgers shove Ndamukong Suh. And he is hot."

After returning from a commercial break, Buck continued, "While we were showing the replays, Aaron Rodgers was talking to (referee) Walt Anderson (after) Ndamukong Suh stepped on him twice. This is off of last week, with Dominic Raiola and Ego Ferguson and that stomp. That's obviously more violent and vicious, but here's the right heel on him, and then stepping back with the left foot, kind of pushing off the leg of Aaron Rodgers and that's what Aaron Rodgers was talking about with Walt Anderson."

Aikman finished off the segment with this, "Suh didn't indicate he was in any hurry…when you step on something on the field, you know you're stepping on somebody's leg and you get off. There is no indication that he was in any hurry."

Suh was to have been suspended for today’s game against the Cowboys but was fined $70,000 after he won his appeal.  He claimed his feet were numb from the cold and couldn’t feel anything.  Allow me to throw the bullshit flag.

Former teammate Matt Slauson, who played with Suh at Nebraska from 2005-2008, gave an exclusive interview to Bart Hubbuch of The New York Post in November of 2011 and he had some very alarming things to say.

“Somebody needs to get him under control, because he’s trying to hurt people,” Slauson said. “It’s one thing to be an incredibly physical player and a tenacious player, but it’s another thing to set out to end that guy’s career.”

“I have no idea what the league can do, because apparently what they’re doing now isn’t working,” Slauson said. “I don’t know what’s going on with him, but something isn’t right. I mean, they’ve fined him out the butt, but he still doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong. I don’t know what they’re going to have to do, but something has to be done.”

Urgency is necessary Slauson said, because of the obvious malice in Suh’s illegal on-field actions.

“Last year, when he got fined for the takedowns on the quarterbacks, it looked like he was trying to kill them,” Slauson said. “I’m all for physicality, but within the framework of the game. I know it takes a different type of person to be a defensive lineman—you’ve kinda got to be a jerk who wants to take the quarterback’s head off. But you [shouldn’t] literally want to kill them like he does.”

Suh told his teammates that he is tired of being portrayed as a dirty player and wants to take out these frustrations on the Cowboys’ offensive line, per Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report.

There’s nothing like a cheap-shotting 305-pound retard on a mission to prove he's not a cheap-shotting retard.

On a more pleasant note, how about some pom-poms to look at while we wait for the game?

Photo credit:  Source Unknown