An Open Letter to Commissioner Goodell

Dear "Commish,"

I saw an article on ESPN last week about you addressing the drop in NFL viewership.

You blamed a number of things; the debates, lack of competitiveness, and then you shifted the blame from things like the anthem protests and even said you're not really sure that you're actually losing viewers.

Well I can tell you, you are. And the problem starts with you.

You've lost your players, they don't like you. You come off as super unrelatable in interviews, so you lose the common fan. You're starting to lose the owners --- the only reason you even HAVE a job. You overstep your punishment bounds when you're angry...and then sometimes you do nothing. 

Like this week with Josh Brown. 

The Giants kicker ADMITTED to beating his wife. He thinks he's a God. He thinks she deserved it. 

YOU MOVED HER TO A DIFFERENT ROOM DURING THE PRO BOWL BECAUSE HE WAS HARASSING HER AND EVERYONE INVOLVED ACKNOWLEDGED SHE NEEDED SOME TYPE OF PROTECTION.

So how in the hell did he end up on any roster for this season?

And how is it a one week suspension for him?

Commissioner, I'm sure you're aware that for the first time in the last few years SNF is ranking #1 in TV ratings with the female demographic of 18-49 year olds. You have said yourself you have people analyzing loss of viewership.

Your shops sell tons of women's gear, probably even more than men's gear because guys will wear one jersey every game, and plenty women I know have to have a new outfit every week. (I'm one of those. I will very rarely repeat.)

Why in the world would you alienate that demographic?

You literally did not apologize for the uptick in calls for excessive celebration and unsportsmanlike conduct for guys celebrating on the field because they "are role models to young children everywhere."

Well guess what? I literally do not give one damn about whatever dance someone does in the end zone. I don't care if someone dances after sacking my quarterback. (I'm actually too busy yelling at someone on the offensive line.)

I do care that you just sent the message that beating women is not as bad as possibly deflating some footballs. 

That being a role model is simply limited to what people can see, not the admittance of their actions.

That I, as a female football fan, am only important to you as long as I'm buying bedazzled gear and tickets. Whatever it is that I do that continues to ensure you get your paychecks...and then your sleep well at night.

You can't preach about players being role models, and then drop the ball so royally.

If you really care about the NFL, and saving this league, then you'll step down. You'll let someone who hasn't lost every last shred of dignity they had left step in and try to save things. You would stop putting monetary profit above the wellbeing of your players and doing whatever it takes to preserve/increase those profits.

You would let someone who doesn't alienate a large part of it's fanbase by sending conflicting messages two year apart step in and clean up the mess you've made.

I think Sam Ponder summed it up best for me.

XOXO,

Kate

On the opposite side of the coin, Texans Wide Receiver DeAndre Hopkins is donating $1,000 for every touchdown he scores this month to raise awareness and provide assistance for DV victims. THIS is the link for the specific program he's supporting, but I encourage everyone to make a donation to any Domestic Violence Victim support program.  Many women are far too afraid to seek help or often feel powerless when they do. You can help. 

Thursday Night Football

Maybe it's because for the first time (...ever?) I'm actually paying attention to Thursday Night Football, but I realized this week just how incredibly stupid it is.

For those who don't personally know me and have stumbled across this blog, first, welcome, and second, you must know that I am a diehard Texans fan. It's a large (the only) reason why I actually am paying attention to TNF this week, along with the apparent tragedy that is, we picked navy blue color rush uniforms...and so did the Patriots. So these little beauties will not be making their 2016 debut.

(I say screw it- lets break em out for Deep Steel Sunday. They deserve to see a field.)

However, while I get the general discontent with being likely the only team that will not take the Thursday Night Football field in "color rush" uniforms in 2016, I just have a problem with the fact that NFL teams are taking the field on a Thursday night AT ALL.

You know for a league that's fighting a lot of backlash about caring about the safety of it's players-- enough that a major motion picture was made about what concussions are doing to ex players and how the league doesn't give a flying flip about it-- you would THINK they would take a step back and say, "is this potentially dangerous?"

"BUT KATE-- I READ AN ARTICLE THAT SAYS IT ISN'T BASED OFF GAME STATISTICS."

Yeah- so did I. A very very small sample size through the first 9 weeks of the season. Can you imagine how mad I would be if my team were already beat to hell-- which by the way, we are. We're currently missing 3 starters on the O-line-- and I had to play on short rest and prep in week 15? A time when nobody on the 53 man roster is feeling great.

Seriously, show me one NFL player that says in week 15 he's feeling great and I'll show you a damn liar.

We want guys to beat their bodies, and they do beat their bodies, to turn around and do it 96ish hours later?

Let's break down a normal NFL week.

Sunday- GAME DAY! they've stayed at a hotel the night before, rather home or away, they're up early, fed, at the field ready to go.
Monday- Treatments/Recovery/Start next game's film study.
Tuesday- off day, usually, but definitely some film study on your own. Do you want to be THAT guy that doesn't know what the heck is going on? Your mistakes are usually pretty public.
Wednesday/Thursday/Friday- practice/film/treatments
Saturday- walk through-- travel day/ general hotel day.

(Don't believe me? Here's a more detailed version.)

LATHER. RINSE. REPEAT.


Most NFL players will spend 20 hours a week looking at film. Let's go ahead and call that a conservative estimate. Some with their coaches, some on their own. Some teams have required quotas. Pretty much every team downloads film to your tablet now and time before bed, downtime on your couch, time on the treatment table is spent watching film.

Can you imagine squeezing your weeks worth of work into a few days?

And let's talk about those treatment tables...

Every elite coach, doctor, training facility, scientist, trainer...etc is in agreement that the most important component of performance is recovery. LITERALLY, THE MOST. YOU CANNOT GIVE FROM AN EMPTY BUCKET.


Look at this graphic, intended for baseball, but the most relevant to the point we're making here.

(Source: Ryan Faer**)


But the NFL has decided that this is not important, these are elite athletes, they can handle the unnecessary stress on their body and the potential dangers that come their way from performing at a suboptimal level for the sake of it taking over ANOTHER night on TV and making even more money.

Do you really want a still recovering from back surgery JJ Watt to play a game on such short rest so the NFL can make more money? I don't.

I wish I could tell everyone to boycott Thursday Night Football, to send a message that it's absurd that we're expecting this out of guys, but that would make me a hypocrite. I can't miss my Texans playing, especially with the QB situation that Belichick is currently in. (I don't wish injuries on anyone but my goodness grumpy Bill is my favorite Bill.) I can however say, that this is the only TNF I will be watching this year.

It seems insane to me that we're allowing a league to place money far above the potential safety of its employees’ wellbeing, but... this is the NFL we're talking about.


XOXO,
Kate




** Ryan is a really great resource for both training and nutrition with an emphasis in corrective exercises-- which I just love. If you are an athlete or have an athlete in the family, I can not recommend his blog enough. He's worked with both high school and elite professional athletes and is someone who puts out quality information for every level.

A Fresh Start...

Hi, I'm Kate. You may remember me. I used to write highly opinionated sports blogs on here. 

And then I let it fall by the wayside.

To be honest, if you could see my drafts folder you know that I haven't TRULY abandoned this blog. I just got... scared? It's hard to write things that are important and passionate to you and subject that to other peoples opinions. 

In the last 8 months, I've written 12 drafts of the same article. It's one that will come to light when it's perfect, and it's getting there. I step away from it and realize that some of the things I wrote in a moment of passion are decidedly pointed, and I edit. But it's something that's incredibly important to me... so be on the lookout. It's coming VERY SOON. 

I thought we could get our fresh start going by me telling you what sports mean to me, the direction I plan on taking this blog, and a promise that I will not let my own insecurities get in the way of doing something that brought me a ton of joy. 

I don't think I can remember a single day in my life that sports didn't play some role in. Rather it was having the NFL playoffs on a phone at my cousins wedding reception, and everyone at the table watching, or being a teeny little thing staring wide-eyed at Jeter making those jump throws. (Fun fact: I almost broke my face trying to imitate it in my back yard.)

When we were little my mother, probably desperately searching for an outlet for our energy and our competitiveness, started sticking us in all sorts of sports. (Never soccer though. Taylor tried that for a month and it turns out, it's not our cup of tea.) We took swimming lessons as teeny little things and the promise of a sticker was it took for me to turn into this little, must win, must do things correctly, little competitor. Gymnastics came later with the frustrations of being very inflexible and the realizations that I would be far too tall to ever compete. Basketball, softball, poor attempts at cheerleading, worse tennis with my best friend, street hockey... you named it. One of us had our nose in it.

Our parents were also never shy about letting us watch sports on TV. I watched the Yankees every chance I got, I would check baseball stats in the Chronicle in the mornings, football was on the TV every Sunday, and every time my dad traveled for work my souvenir was some type of sport related t-shirt. My mother grew up in a family with an elite football playing brother, and mostly boys, and with that came the understanding that sports were important. 

I mean honestly, for me, sports are a large connection to every extension of my family. 

It's been a connection to all of my grandparents from taking Pride in Houston teams with my Papa, discussing the Big XII's performance Sunday mornings with my Papa Sam, or spending my visits with my Grandpa Jim and Grammy talking about baseball, or this morning, the Tour de France. I've traveled all over watching my other cousins play sports and compete and some of those weekends are my favorite memories. In fact, I was in school in Oklahoma when my cousin was competing, and won, the state title in powerlifting, and it kills me that I wasn't around to make those memories. 

So for me, sports are more than just a pastime, they're a passion. Sometimes they're an escape from reality, and sometimes they make my reality awfully stressful, but they've always played an integral part in my life. 

XOXO

P.S. A family friend's wife told us when her husband was diagnosed with cancer to "send him sports stuff" to keep him occupied. I feel like I've very poorly kept up our end of that deal, so my inspiration to be a better writer is definitely him. So these next few are for you, BT.

BEDLAM and some playoffs.

Bear with me for a minute. I'm on breathing treatments and they make me shaky.

BUT SO DOES BEATING OU IN NORMAN IN THE BEDLAM GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE I STARTED BLEEDING ORANGE.

Holy mackerel. What did I watch?! 

I'm on day 8 of being sick. Like, REALLY SICK. In a desperate attempt to get out of the house, I ventured out to watch the game. In a super noisy restaurant that only cared about the SEC championship game.

With about 5 minutes left in the game, I was getting REAL over it. And desperate for the comfort of my couch. And my meds. I kept hanging around though because...I bleed Orange. Duh.

Then Rudolph throws a pick. Of course. Typical Bedlam outcome for my boys. We're done, I'm going insane. (More insane than I have been all day, which is saying something.)

AND we force a 3 and out...wait what? I'm getting excited, we have some time, and Rudolph can throw the deep ball. AND THEN WE ROUGH THE PUNTER. And I'm mad. Really mad. WASTING TIME. Don't take stupid penalties...which we were doing all game. 

And then the re-punt...to TYREEK HILL. 

I think I stood up somewhere around when he was crossing the 40 yd line the first time, and actually saying out loud, "no. no. what?! YES YES YES!"

See, you have to understand... I love my boys. Every one of them. But I LOVE Tyreek Hill. 

See, Gundy does this thing when he lands a commit on twitter where he'll say, "Pistols Firing from (insert city, state) #BeACowboy"

I don't know if one of those tweets has actually made me dance around my living room the way the one from Garden City, KS did. (Hill's junior college was located there)

He's fast. And he's gotten so shifty. And if he works to an outside edge or open space...HE GONE. 

(I've also rewatched that video 100 times while typing this alone.)

Anyways, an OT win and Bedlam victory is finally ours in Norman.

Defense showed up. Special teams showed up. Offense made the necessary plays (Minus some BIG drops from our receivers...). I'm a happy girl.

I still don't want Mike Yurcich calling plays for my team next year. And being bowl eligible is a HUGE deal this year. WE NEED THOSE EXTRA PRACTICES.

Btw, I stopped in the middle of typing this to relive the moment by giving a play by play to one of my favorite people...and I'm still so amped. Talking about it is so fun. What a buildup. Seriously. Could not have been scripted more perfectly/anxiety filled.

Isn't Bedlam such a fitting name for our rivalry? 

Now a quick blurb on my other football thoughts (since I'm getting annihilated in my picks in hockey tonight):

• HOLY OHIO STATE. Man they showed up. 
• I was cheering against Alabama (sorry teeny...i don't like losing my bets!) But they played well against a probably underestimated Mizzou team. They're in.
• Florida State also played decently against a surprisingly good Georgia Tech Team
• Oregon destroyed Arizona...so we know they're in.
• So what happens with #3 and #4? How do you take a TCU team that trashed their opponent today out and leave Florida State in iffff, their win was, and it was, better today? How do you take undefeated FSU out? What do you do with Ohio State? What do you tell Baylor? (You tell them that late season losses and tight games don't help...especially against Texas Tech this year). 

YES, Ohio State is literally KILLING IT, but TCU's loss was to a (at the time especially) VERY GOOD Baylor team AT Baylor. Ohio State's loss was to a very bad Virginia Tech team at home. I know when you lose shouldn't matter, but it does. If I'm on the selection committee, nothing changes. Especially because everyone wants that Alabama-FSU match up and they can guarantee it happens.

But I also wouldn't want to be on that committee, cause SOMEONE is going to be mad, well a lot of someones, and that's a lot of pressure.

Anyone miss the computers yet? But seriously, for giggles, I'd love to see what the computer rankings are in comparison to the human picks. Interesting I bet. (And this is coming from someone who the computers screwed in 2011...WE WANT LSU.) Maybe next year we see an 8 team playoff... Or 6 with a  bye week for top 2? WHO KNOWS! DRAMMAAAAA.

I'll be sure to blog my playoff reaction late tomorrow, a girl's gotta work after 8 days with the plague. 

XO

Why I don't care that Marcus Mariota got a speeding ticket.

I'm actually exhausted. And sore. My muscles hurt. The good hurt...but nonetheless.

Also, it's 10:30 and I have to be up at 5. But I'm sitting here writing this because I'm angry.

Why am I angry? I'm scrolling through twitter, simultaneously having heart attacks over both the Rangers and Canucks games when a tweet comes across.

"Marcus Mariota received a speeding ticket this weekend." 

It has several thousand retweets. The story is the top story on the CFB ESPN page.

Now excuse my language, but...

WHO. GIVES. A. SHIT?

Seriously? Who cares? Yeah 80 in a 55 is dangerous but, and this may just be because I'm a Texan, it is NOT uncommon to see someone going 25 over. 

Heck, I've been pulled over twice in one day for almost 20 over. (I was ready to be done with my road trip.) And it wasn't freaking national news.

He got a ticket, as he should have. I'm sure that cop lectured him, followed by some variation of "go ducks," and I'm sure his parents had a word of two with him. Heck, I'm sure he even got an earful from his coach. BUT THE NATIONAL MEDIA?

Like, when did this become a market? Why are sports programs becoming more like E! News and TMZ rather than telling me about SPORTS.

WHY DO WE CARE?

Tonight, I'm watching the Rockets, (I still don't like you Les or Daryl), and I hear the announcers talking about Dwight Howard being accused of child abuse... while a play is folding out on the court. 

So I look up the story. His baby mama is accusing him of child abuse for spanking his son with a belt. 

1. It's called discipline. Ask me how many times my parents had to come at me with a belt. Once. Because I learned my lesson. Yeah I screamed bloody murder. Did it hurt me? For a minute. Did I behave like I was supposed to 98% of the time. YES. 
2. REFER TO #1 AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL YOU GET IT.
*steps off soapbox*

But this is a conversation going on literally in the middle of a game. 

I.DO.NOT.CARE.ABOUT.HIS.PERSONAL.LIFE.I.AM.WATCHING.BASKETBALL.

Unless you are telling me about how he is helping out in the community, during a break, I don't care.

I DONT CARE.

(Have I said that enough?)

At the end of the day, my boss cares about my performance at work. She may ask me how my personal life is going, because on some level we are friends and not just coworkers, but she does not then turn around and broadcast that to everyone around us. She does not send it out in a company email, or post about it on her Facebook. Why? BECAUSE IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MY JOB.

Do you know what I want to hear when I turn on ESPN? CBS Sports? Any other major sports network?

Analysis. I want to know what it is in Kershaw's pitch sequencing, his delivery, that makes him so damn good. I wanna know how the changes to goalie pads are affecting scores. How the new rules are changing the game. How football players are making improvements. Why certain offensive lines can give their quarterback so much time.

Why does that team that looks so mediocre on paper play so well together? 

Heck, just tell me whats going on. Make predictions. Tell me so and so has a case of the yips. I can't watch every sports game I want to. Theres not enough space on my wall for that many TV's and my brain probably couldn't handle the overload. But for the love of everything stop turning my sports into gossip hours.

Stop making these people's job a 24/7 thing. You think there's not enough pressure to be perfect on the field? Now they have to be flawless human beings off the field? 

If I really want to know what's going on with Mariota, or any athlete's personal life, I'll follow them on twitter and let them tell me.

XOXO

p.s. if we STOP clicking on stories like these above, and stop giving them an audience to talk to...we could have our normal sports channel back. (I'm hopelessly optimistic)

RIP Oscar Tavares

I've spent the better part of the past two hours randomly tearing up, staring at my computer, searching my head for the right words to say to comfort some of my friends, and the right words to say on here.

But seriously, what feels correct when someone younger than you loses their life? How do you tell someone who shared a field with them a short while ago that everything will be okay? 

And how emotional has this week been? Between the shootings in Ottawa and being in the middle of watching a field full of guys living their dream when finding out a young talent has been taken too early...man.

I didn't know Oscar Taveras. I know guys that play with him. I know guys that used to play with him. I know guys that simply know him because the baseball world really is like a huge family in most aspects. I've never heard a negative thing about him. 

I know that he had fun playing a game he loved. It was evident in watching him play. I know that he was very talented, and that his bat had a huge upside. And as is evidenced by his teammates tweets today, I know that he was someone that people enjoyed to be around.

And I know that his life was cut far too short. 

I had another blog post intended for today. It's mostly written, but publishing it doesn't seem right, so I'll hold it for tomorrow. 

I know this is short, but the only other thing I have to say is that, Taveras' legacy will live on through his teammates that never take for granted stepping on that field because life is fragile, and nothing is guaranteed. It is my hope that no matter how many years your career lasts, that feeling of gratitude never fades, and that people getting to live their dreams take a moment to soak that in every once in a while.

My heart and my prayers are with Oscars family, friends, and teammates, and those of his girlfriend as well. My hope is that they are both resting easy in the presence of our ever faithful God and His glory. 

XOXO

When A "Goon" Goes Too Far...

I don't write about hockey a ton on here because I'm from Texas and the vast majority of the people that I KNOW read this are from Texas, and therefore, know little to none about hockey.


But I love the sport. October is one of my favorite months just for the sole fact of postseason baseball, NFL/College football, and the start of hockey season.


I fully intended on writing about what a joke I think Thursday Night Football is, but then tonight, in an AHL hockey game I saw something that made me FURIOUS.


To catch those of you who do not watch hockey up, the AHL is essentially the AAA level for hockey. It's a league of teams that are affiliated with NHL teams, and used as a development tool for players. 


It was neat two years ago because we still had a team in Houston, and during the lockout, all of the young guys who could safely be optioned to their AHL affiliates (a complicated stipulation that would take far too long to explain), were sent down. 


Meaning that two years ago when OKC (AHL Affiliate of Edmonton) came to Houston, I got to see 3 first overall picks, and 2 additional outstanding players, sitting 4 rows off the ice. There were some guys there from Edmonton who told us that it was cheaper for them to fly to Houston, buy tickets to the game, and pay for a hotel, that it would be for them to score those same seats in Edmonton, if by some slim chance in hell tickets that good came up on the resale market.


In short, the AHL is a really neat way to see the NHL's talent of tomorrow. I miss having a team near me. 


Anywho, in tonights Adirondack/Rochester game a fight broke out between Trevor Gillies (ADK) and William Carrier (ROC). And by fight I mean, Gillies started wailing on Carrier's face (it was rather one sided), takes him to the ice, and then actually pick Carriers head up, and slams it back onto the ice.


Thank God hockey players wear helmets.


Think I'm exaggerating? Here's the video.






In the world today, where we fully understand the repercussions of head injuries, this is inexcusable. As a remotely decent human being...it's inexcusable.


Don't get me wrong. I think there's a place for fighting in hockey. I believe in it as a tactic, and I love that it's the kind of sport where you can put someone in their place for playing a little dirty. 


I don't like cheap or dirty shots, and Trevor Gillies is a master at them. (Still don't believe me? Do a quick youtube search of "Trevor Gillies Fights." The Tangradi elbow to the face is just one of many.)


I don't think there's a place for them in any sport. Very few things make me more mad than an illegal chop block in football. It's a play DESIGNED to hurt people.


And picking up someone's head and slamming it into a surface, helmeted or not, is a move that I expect from a thug on the Houston streets. Not a guy who has more than likely worked his ass off to play the game he loves for a living.


What scares me the most about situations like this is the league wide fallout. How often do we see one person ruin it for the bunch? At what point does the NHL/AHL feel like they have to draw a line about the "enforcers" and "goons" of the game. 


Seriously, at what point do you trust that fighting isn't crossing a line. That referee had his hands on the guy, trying to separate them, and then that move. How do you trust that a goon on the ice is just going to use fighting as a tactic, and not potentially damage a guy for the rest of his life.


Hockey is dangerous enough, heck all sports are dangerous enough, without intent to harm in there. We've all seen freak accidents that have set players back for months. I don't want to know a sports world where people are intentionally dirty all the time. You'll find that most of the teams or players that I hate across all of sports tend to play dirty. 


Trevor Gillies has a history of this type of behavior. IF he has a job after tomorrow, I will be thoroughly disappointed.


XOXO