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This week, Jim and I will be
headed to Boston for Gay Super Bowl III. We'll
be leading the Los Angeles Motion - the two-time defending
champions - into the tournament that now features seven gay
flag football teams from across the country.
I love the fact that it is in
Boston, since it is just 80 miles from here I grew up in Harwich,
Mass. It will be a trip home for me, to play
football with a team made of completely gay men - another
chapter in the development of my life from a closeted kid on
Cape Cod to an openly gay athlete.
Hopefully, my trip home will
be a bit more exciting and fulfilling than the guys who took
reunion trips in the NFL this week.
Emmitt got stuffed in
Dallas. Holmgren got clobbered in Green
Bay. Mariucci lost in San
Francisco.
While the headlines before
the weekend talked about "reunion," it was the
games that were all about PAYBACK that stood out on Sunday.
One of the things most
pundits failed to take into account in the offseason was the
transformation Randy Moss was going through.
While most kept saying that the team was leaderless and that
Moss "plays when he wants to play," they failed to
see that he was starting to want to play all the time.
Right now, Mike Tice has to be the leading candidate
for Coach of the Year. He has taken a team that Denny
Green left in shambles and has given them purpose, focus
and confidence. They also have a two game lead in
their division and, get this, a two game lead for the wild
card spot. Don't know if the Vikes, five years later,
are still smarting over the 1998 NFC Championship loss to
these same Atlanta Falcons - but, at 5-0, they're
reliving that season.
Last year saw the Cleveland
Browns give up a big lead in the Wild Card game over the
Pittsburgh Steelers as Tommy Maddox continued
his comeback season. This year, the Browns' return to
the Big Ketchup Bottle pitted two teams that suffered
embarrassing losses at home the week before. Again,
the Browns built a late lead but, this time, they didn't
give it up. In picking the Steelers third in the
division this year, I said, "I can't help but think they are just missing something."
Right now, they're missing a quarterback. With Kordell
Stewart (who at least understood the Steelers'
complicated offense) gone, the only place to turn for the
Steelers is Charlie Batch. With Amos Zeroue
not doing much and Jerome Bettis alienated by his
demotion, there are problems in the running game. But
the killer here: the Steelers have given up the eighth
most points this season. It'll be a long road to hoe
now for the men in black.
Dante Hall is being
mentioned as an early League MVP candidate. Every
highlight real has him on it. Several times.
Yet, he is still not getting the props he deserves.
Yes, he scored on kicks four straight games. But, it's
those other kick returns that make him a yet-to-be-stopped
force. When he doesn't score, he gives the Chiefs
the ball near midfield or beyond. For a team whose
strength is the run, it's a lot easier to pound the ball 50
yards than 80 - thus, the team scores touchdowns instead of
field goals. As long as Hall can continue to put the
Chiefs in a great spot, whether he scores or not, the Chiefs
will keep winning.
Finally, we have the payback
session that was the most lopsided because one side wasn't
allowed to show up: Rush Hour. Last week, Rush
Limbaugh, in criticizing Philadelphia Eagles
quarterback Donovan McNabb and the way the press
handles him, said:
"Sorry to say this, but
I don't think he has been that good from the get-go. I
think what we've had here is a little social concern in the
NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black
quarterback do well, black coaches and black quarterbacks do
well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and
he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that
he didn't deserve."
It didn't offend anyone on
the set last Sunday when he said it because it wasn't
offensive. He was making a social commentary on the
media and their role in sports. He was not saying
Donovan McNabb is a bad quarterback because he's black -
that implication isn't even in his words. He simply
said that McNabb isn't that good and people in the media
want you to think so because they have some social concern
about this issue.
You then had the NFL coming
down hard on Rush's comments and, undoubtedly, having a hand
in his firing. What no one seems to have mentioned,
though, is the fact that the National Football League DOES
HAVE an affirmative action program in place that forces
teams to interview black head coaches.
It shouldn't be a surprise
that the guys in the studio didn't react much to Rush's
comment. Chris Berman said he didn't even catch
it when it was said. The criticism was directed at the
media and not at McNabb's race - the comment itself was not
nearly as bad as (you guessed it) the media afterward wanted
you to think it was.
On the flip side, we've had
NFL players using the word, "faggot," saying they
don't want to play with any gay teammates, etc.... The
sports media has covered these things, but have you ever
heard Berman say, after an athlete's anti-gay comments,
"It angers me. I'm angry for all the hurt, angry
for hurt of the show, for us, for sure, but more for you,
the viewer"? No - because, in the sports world,
you can say whatever you want about gay people and get a
little slap on the wrist. If you make an offhanded
comment about the media's coverage of race - you get fired.
While I don't agree with
Rush's reasoning - that the media is trying to promote
McNabb because he's black (I happen to think he's a pretty
darn good quarterback in his own right) - the overwhelming
criticism of Rush's comments, the
cowardly overreaction of Tom Jackson (who didn't
say anything while Limbaugh was there in the studio but
waited a week, when Limbaugh wasn't there, to attack his
former co-worker), and the complete lack of defense of them,
leads me to one conclusion: maybe Rush was right.
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--I was
watching sports this weekend when a political campaign broke
out. Living in California in a heavily Democratic district
with the gubernatorial recall two days away, I got
prerecorded calls from some heavyweights. Barbra
Streisand called during USC-Arizona State on Saturday,
urging me to vote no on the recall. Al Gore did the
same as I was switching between A’s-Red Sox and
Tennessee-Auburn on Saturday night. And on Sunday, the Big
Dog called during Kansas City-Denver, with Bill Clinton
asking for my support. Wish I could have told them I already
voted absentee a week ago.
--Dante
Hall’s brilliant 93-yard punt return to help Kansas City
beat Denver, 24-23, is the play of the year in the NFL to
date. It was positively electrifying, as Hall ran right,
then backwards, then cut back left and sprinted down the
left hash mark for his fourth kick return for a score this
season.
--The
Chiefs are 5-0 for the first time in their history
and look like the team to beat in the AFC. Their defense is
especially impressive, shutting down the Broncos on several
possessions down the stretch.
--Wonder if
Philadelphia Eagle fans have their pulse rates
down yet. The Iggles had a comfortable 27-16 lead over
Washington with less than two minutes to go, but then
disaster nearly struck. First, the Redskins kicked a 53-yard
field goal to cut the lead to 27-19. They then recovered an
onsides kick and got the ball back. Then, inexplicably, the
Eagles defense fell asleep and let receiver Darnerien
McCants get open for a 32-yard TD pass with 13 second to
go. The Skins, though, failed on a 2-point conversion and
the Eagles hung on.
--Green
Bay’s easy 35-13 win over Seattle was huge for the
Packers. I buried them after they lost to Arizona, but they
seem to have righted time and should be in the playoff hunt.
It’s hard to see them catching the 5-0 Vikings who
keep rolling even with QB Daunte Culpepper hurt.
--Carolina
(4-0) has only given up 48 points this season. The Panthers
aren’t exciting to watch, but a stout defense and a solid
running game is a winning formula.
--What a
wild game in New England, won by the Pats over
Tennessee, 38-30. Their were 31 points scored in the
fourth quarter, including 21 points in a three-minute span
late in the game. The fans became extra loud after the Red
Sox forced Game 5 of their baseball playoff series and it
seemed to energize the stadium.
--How did
Oakland blow an 18-lead and lose to the Bears?
I still can't figure it out except it points out that the
Raiders are in for a long season.
--The
San Diego Chargers are now the worst team in football.
They are 0-5, blew a late 14-point lead last week, then lost
27-14 to 0-4 Jacksonville on Sunday.
--My reaction to Cyd's
pro-Rush Limbaugh remarks: Pish-posh. Limbaugh was wrong
about what he said and he has deserved all the criticism
he's received. It's funny that he blames the media, when he
is part of it and when he spends 15 hours a week ridiculing
and mocking those who don't share his world view. His
statement that the media are rooting for Donavan McNabb
and other black QBs is demonstrably wrong. This may
have been the case 15 years ago but not any longer, as
anyone scanning the Philadelphia media after an Eagles loss
can attest.
Limbaugh is a know-nothing
blowhard who tried to inject politics into an NFL show that
had been blessedly free of it. In watching the ESPN show on
Sunday, it was obvious the cast were having a ball and one
sensed it was because Rush was relegated back to radio,
where he and his unthinking Dittoheads belong. ESPN's Tom
Jackson said it best:
"A player in this league
who has a young son called me and his son now wants to know
if it is OK for blacks to play quarterback. Rush Limbaugh's
comments could not have been more hurtful.
"He was brought in to talk football, and he broke that
trust. Rush told us that the social commentary for which he
is so well known would not cross over to our show. He said
instead he would represent the intelligent, passionate fan.
We know few fans, passionate or otherwise, who see Donovan
McNabb, a three-time Pro Bowler, with two championship game
appearances, being somehow artificially hyped because of the
color of his skin.
"The fact that Donovan McNabb's skin color was brought up at
all was wrong. Especially in the context of the brotherhood
of this show." |
