Stumbling and Reactive

The headlines in football for the past two weeks have been both disheartening and encouraging.  Disheartening because the media is dominated by horrific stories of violence against women and children and the passion and pageantry of America's great game is being overshadowed.  Encouraging because, for once, absurdly criminal and inexcusable behavior is not being ignored or swept under the rug.   In fact, I sense a sea change in the expectations of the viewing public that we are moving to a era where high profile athletes will be held to the norms of civilized society.  

Ray Rice struck his fiancé in an elevator and knocked her unconscious.   Let's be clear: the facts of this case have never been in dispute since it occurred in February 2014.  The NFL followed its existing policy and cleared him to play after 2 games since the civil punishment was served by attending a class.  The fault of his lack of punishment lies not with the NFL but with the state of New Jersey, by allowing a man to avoid criminal punishment for assault with the wife-beaters-equivalent of traffic school.   But when the NFL "discovered" that the public found that response offensive, they developed a new policy- 6 games for the first offense of domestic violence and expulsion for the second.   The fact that an employer has to write a policy specific for dealing with domestic violence (and not any criminal behavior) is the first of many indications the NFL has a huge problem.   Then, when the inside-the-elevator video became public, the NFL found their excuse for reversing their previously lenient handling of Ray Rice.  In doing so, their chose to ignore their "new" domestic violence policy and went straight to a indefinite ban.   

Stumbling and reactive.  

When Adrian Peterson was indicted for child abuse for beating his son with a stick, the Minnesota Vikings deactivated him for the next game, in which they were soundly beaten by the New England Patriots   They had no obligation to suspend him; he had been indicted and the civil proceedings of his trial would drag on for another year.   He had not been found guilty of anything.   So, they promptly reinstated him.   Then came the flurry of public backlash, and the Vikings reversed course.   Again.   (Note: as pointed out by Keith Olberman, the Vikings suspended QB Chris Cook in 2011 for the entire duration of his criminal trial for domestic violence, then welcomed him back when he was found innocent)

Stumbling and reactive.  

When Jameis Winston stood up on a table in a campus cafeteria and shouted "f**k her in the p***y", Florida State suspended him for one half of their next game, a very high profile Prime time match with Clemson and ESPN Game Day on campus.   Then came the flurry of public backlash.  Sure, here is a teenager repeating an internet meme he found to be hilarious and empowering.    What's wrong with that?   When you have been accused of rape, the image of a man shouting about intercourse which he finds funny is really not the image you want to portray.   Combined with his citation for shoplifting crab legs in the Spring and you have to conclude that Winston is a boy with a very poor sense of moral behavior.    Certainly not the kind of person I would want to be an employee (of course, the NFL may be willing to overlook that).   On Friday, the night before the game, the school extended his suspension for the entire game.   Their excuse was that "further investigation" revealed more about the incident.   Yeah, whatever.   They bowed to public pressure and did the right thing.  

Stumbling and reactive.   

The NFL and College football would do themselves a favor by becoming a bit more proactive in these matters.   Rather than subjectively deciding on discipline in reaction to public opinion, they need to write specific policies and stick to them.   Not employing criminals would be an excellent place to start.   

Is the NFL beholden to public opinion?   No!

Is the NFL beholden to the free market?  You bet your sweet ass it is!

Would I get fired for doing what Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, or Jameis Winston did?   Yes!   I am a physician and my hospital and university take a dim view of criminal behavior.   I would be protected temporarily by due process but I wouldn't be permitted to treat patients during that time.   I concede that not all professions have such standards (note that I left out the word "high" before the word "standards").   Should the NFL (or any professional sports franchise) adopt this level of expectations?   That's a decision that easily made by the free market.  If the viewing public continue to buy merchandise and tickets, if the TV networks continue to shell out franchising fees, and if advertisers continue to buy airtime, then yes, the NFL is welcome to employ as many criminals as it does.   But when advertisers like InBev (Anheuser-Busch) and Marriott begin to reconsider their financial commitment to the league, the NFL realizes it's time to change.  

As for Jameis Winston, he has an uphill climb ahead of him if he wants to win another Heisman Trophy.   To do so, his performance on the field must be significantly better than anyone else and the voters will have to conveniently forget the criteria for the trophy:  

"The outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work"

I don't think that possibly committing sexual assault, stealing crab legs, and shouting profanity in a cafeteria demonstrate the pursuit of excellence with integrity. 

Fight on,

Hans

PS: And now some good news.   The cadets at Texas A&M have the honored duty of caring for Reveille, the school's beloved mascot (who is also considered to be the highest ranking member of the corps)  Sometimes, this duty goes a little beyond combing her hair and taking her for walks.  In last Saturday's game versus SMU, Ryan Krieder, Reveille's handler, put his body on the line and deflected an incoming SMU player, protecting her.   He has been hailed as a hero and will be gifted a pair of boots by the corps' commandant.    

Autumn Begins and a Trojan Fan Whines

The autumn equinox is still two weeks away, but don't tell the Iowa weather that it's still summer.  On monday this week the air turned a little cooler and suddenly the soybeans started turning yellow.  Flecks of gold waving in a cool northern breeze across the farmlands is our first distinct sign of fall.  For months, I hadn't even considered the idea of putting on a jacket or wearing long sleeves, no matter the time of day or night.  This morning I wore my first long sleeved shirt since June.  If I stop to consider that the change in season will inevitably lead to shorter days, darker mornings, and the looming onset of winter, I would be annoyed at this development.  But for me, this weather means picking crisp apples in Wilson's Orchard, sipping pumpkin spice lattes at Java House, and the smell of bratwurst grilling over open flame.  Best of all, football is back.

The second weekend of college games and first week of NFL brought a few surprises and gave us a slightly clearer picture of what to expect this year.  So many story lines appeared this weekend I completely lost track.  And there are few I feel compelled to discuss in depth.  So, I will cop out with a bulleted list of some random reactions.

• The Big 10 is horrible.  This headline was the lead story on almost every website Saturday night.  Unfortunately, its hardly news.  Pre-season power rankings of the big-5 conferences put either the ACC and Big-10 at the bottom.  And the conventional wisdom that the Big-10 is out of the national championship picture is a little too focused on the Eastern division (NOT Legend and Leaders! YAY!).  Not that I actually think a Big 10 team will knock off the SEC in a semi-final game, but let's remember that Penn State, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin are all undefeated.  Shaky and lucky to be undefeated, but undefeated none the less.  Penn State and Wisconsin has a chance (more on the Lions in a moment).
• UCLA is overrated.  Sorry, Bruin fans, but it's true.  I was perplexed at the love being thrown at the Bruins over the summer.  I agree that Brett Hundley is a great QB and UCLA is the likely front runner for the Pac-12 South title.  But top-10 in the country and dark horse for the national title?  WHAT?  Let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Two games in, and two close wins over mediocre teams (composite computer rankings of 80 and 82).  They have one more shot to get things on track with a (relatively) weak team in Texas (computer rank 37) this weekend.  Otherwise, they will be in for rude awakening when the Pac-12 season starts and they get smacked with some real offenses. 
• USC's attraction to controversy keeps overshadowing their very solid performances on the field.  Just when they knock off rival Stanford on the road to take a huge step forward in the Pac-12 race, all we hear about is Pat Haden leaving the press box to argue a penalty.  Yes, it was wrong to do that.  And the text message violated a rule.  Haden apologized and the Pac-12 leveled an appropriate fine.  But as someone who supervises highly skilled professionals, I can also understand exactly what happened.  Coach Sark was pissed at the penalty he drew.  And he was going off on the ref.  The compliance officer asked for Sark's supervisor.  And Haden came down to mediate and cool off the situation.  Coach Sark shouldn't need Haden to do this, but I have to intervene between angry ER docs and consulting Surgeons on occasion and I would rather be called in than something is said that we all regret in the morning.  One added benefit of Saturday's sideline incident is the players are psyched that their football-legend-AD totally has their back.  "You mess with us?  Coach Sark will fight for us!  Better yet, our AD CAME ON THE FIELD to fight too!  THAT TOTALLY ROCKS!"  But it won't happen again.  Bring on the Eagles . . . 
• Congratulations to Penn State for having their NCAA sanctions lifted.  I think that's wonderful that they were able to prove such a dramatic and consistent dedication to improving the atmosphere of their program.  In end, they wound up with a 2 year post-season ban and a total of 10 lost scholarships.  USC, by comparison, stayed out of post-season play for three years and lost a total of 30 scholarships.  Penn State is glad that their scandal was only a campus-wide conspiracy involving the President and Athletic Director that harmed children.  Had they been found to have one corrupt player and one assistant coach who "should have known" they might still be facing sanctions.
• An extra hour of College Game Day.  I really have mixed feelings about this.  Who could complain about one more hour of Chris, Kirk, Lee, and Desmond talking about the world's greatest sport?  But starting at 6 am on the west coast?  Kudos to the Duck fans for getting up so early.  At that time of day, I might as well stay up and go straight from work to the stadium.  Brutal.
• Ohio State is annoying.  The team that we all love to hate has some envious qualities.  Their band totally rocks.  Their animated marching formations has set a new standard in football.  I recently visited their ER and hospital I can sum it up in one word: WOW.  But their fans have swallowed their awesomeness way too much and they are even more arrogant than USC fans.  And that's saying a lot.  Take some manner lessons from Notre Dame and Nebraska, please.  All of which made the loss to Virginia Tech that more wonderful to watch.  Except for fact that the only fans more annoying than Buckeyes are Hokies . . . 

Fight on,

Hans