Tom Finneran: Sometimes You Just Have To Talk About Sports

Friday, May 31, 2013

Tom Finneran, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

I simply cannot write about the suicidal stupidity of America, Great Britain, and other Western nations during the week when we celebrate Memorial Day. We betray our honored dead. More on that soon enough. For today, we go to what Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe calls “the toy department”, the wacky and wonderful world of sports.

THE BRUINS: They are up against some real hockey iron now in their match with the Penguins. But a hot goalie can turn ice to slush (see famous goalie of glories past, right). Rask must excel and every Bruin has to skate his fanny off. They can win this thing.

THE CELTICS: Since Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers brought us the era of the “big three”, they have been fun to watch and root for. But time waits for no man, and NBA time is hard time. The Celtics grow older. It will be fascinating to watch young Rondo’s return next year. And it is one of life’s great joys to watch Kevin Garnett work at his craft. That is pride with a capital “P”. Enjoy it while you can.

THE RED SOX: A pleasant surprise after the nonsense of last season—worth watching again, particularly with the Yankees playing so well. The rivalry and the games take on real meaning once more. It’s a horrible grind of a season and the “chemistry” thing can make a difference. This team is not the Murderers’ Row of 1927, so they had better help each other get along.

THE PATRIOTS: Blessed by Brady and Wilfork, they will compete once again. Re the draft—draft choices are like dice. Sometimes you just need to get lucky. Note Brady—a sixth round draft choice! And, I happen to know that he had real trouble just getting dates while he was at Michigan. Now it’s the Hall of Fame in Canton and Gisele Bundchen at home. Lucky indeed.

EDITORIAL ASIDES:

Lebron James is the best basketball player on the planet. He is awesome. I watched him as he singlehandedly silenced a raucous Celtics crowd in the Garden last year. It was a performance for the ages, clutch, under pressure, in a very hostile environment. And every Celtics fan knew they had just seen a lights-out show. Consider this—he’s been even better this year. My God, what a talent.

Staying with the NBA, do they call travelling or palming any more? Certainly not in any meaningful or consistent way—the abuses are frequent and obvious, even to an occasional viewer like me.

A pox on all the leagues, and the owners, for their attempts to hijack public money for their private playgrounds. The latest episode involves the NBA holding both Seattle and Sacramento hostage to their desires to land a franchise. Is there a Mayor or Governor out there worthy of their high office who will tell these gangsters to screw? Might not the education of the children of those cities occupy a higher priority than subsidizing the hobbies of billionaires? In the end, it all rests with the gullibility of elected officials and their constituents. If they are going to continue to play the fool, then the owners will happily take them to the cleaners. Still, it seems that there should be a sense of embarrassment if not one of shame.

While we’re at it, watch for the storm clouds around the NFL. By the standards of television ratings and revenue, the game has never been more popular. But the issues of concussions will soon sap the supply of players going into Pop Warner, high school, and college programs. Harry Carson, one of the great New York Giant linebackers during the Bill Parcells’ years, has been quoted as saying that he would not let his grandchildren play the game. That’s Harry Carson talking, not Dr. Benjamin Spock. And he is not alone. Would you let your son play, thereby risking brain trauma? President Obama himself has said that he would probably say “no” if he had a son. My bet is that the avalanche of lawsuits, as well as the shock and sadness of high-profile suicides, will take a measureable toll on the game and that twenty years from now, it will be a very different sport.

A related issue is a second avalanche of lawsuits regarding workers compensation awards. With many former NFL players partially crippled for life, and a staggering percentage of them financially broke, why should the taxpayers have to assume the burden of their support? Weren’t they crippled on the job? Where are the teams’ insurance carriers? Isn’t there both a legal and a moral obligation here? Someone, somewhere is going to begin asking such questions. Perhaps then the most interesting spectacle will be the gyrations of the owners, those civic giants, and the press that covers them. Stay tuned.