Here we goooooo! this sunday will be hard one for me. I have my hometown team that I rep, than I have my professional team that I played for on the other side. I still yell J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS! when i see them win but when it comes to my purple birds I cawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww just as loud! I kept thinking of a way to route for both of my teams and I came up with wearing one of my Ravens shirts and my Jets hat and rotate series of cheering. My blood bleeds purple but before it changes purple it pumps green.
Round 2 ladies and gentlemen, and I mean the Ed Reed saga continues. Ed will be making another guest appearance to the charm city. It's ironic how in one season he has been signed to two teams that both are on the Ravens schedule. To me his road is beginning to look like Jerry Rice's road when he left the 49ers to the Raiders to the Seahawks to retire back home a 49er. So my question and some thing to ponder about is will Reed circle back home to retire a Raven where he should be or will the Jets be his last stop?
A very very touchy topic in the NFL today and very very strong words said by Incognito. Myself being a high school athlete, college athlete and a NFL athlete I have heard words thrown around towards other players but never in the direction to degrade or belittle a team mate. I know for a fact that being on the field and going in to hostile stadiums and towns racially charged words and words to hurt you emotionally are said by fans and players from the opposing team but never by a team mate.
In the situation of Incognito and Martin I do believe some of the things said by Incognito did push the limits of verbal trash talking and belittling because some of Incognitos attitude and words filter outside of the locker room and was recorded. One coach that I had when I was with the New York Jets Coach Herm Edwards said it best when we would have our team meetings was that what you do in the public will be seen and broadcast because of who you are and always remember someone is watching at all times. I say to say Incognito let what was allowed in the locker room to run over to the public life because his behavior was accepted in the locker room by the other players and he believed that it would be accepted in the public eye.
As a African-American his words were disturbing but mainly from what I saw in the video of him in the bar shouting and yelling the word NIGGER over and over again in a drunken state. His behavior that was displayed in the locker room and towards Martin I believed was seen as acceptable behavior because his team mates didn't see anything wrong with it because they accepted him as an honorary African-American. That right there doesn't put the majority of the blame on Incognito in my eyes I believe the rest of the players that allowed that to take place share that blame because it created a comfortablility for Incognito to do what he did. So I posed the question just as the title of this blog states, when does words in the lockeroom push the limits?
The title of this post has puzzled my mind since i began playing organized sports in 1990. We often talk about race issues that still exist in the world and how some of those teachings have trickled down to the kids and how we as people display certain racisms and ill will towards our own race and genders in 2014 when we should be pass those ignorant ideologies. One thing that i have seen as I grew up playing sports from a youth to a professional and as a fan was people of different races come together for those 2 to 3 hours as 1 and enjoy one that time with each other.
I have always been puzzled by a game that can eliminate peoples personal opinion about another person, group, race and gender and allow them to interact with them as though they were in the same family. Years and years ago the structure of games developed through different dynasty's were to entertain the masses and our modern version of games do the same. However, does the word sports in the modern age hold more weight than trying to bring people together to vote, to attend church, to attend a community event or rally or has the love for sports began it's reintroduction of how history's ancestors and people veiwed game's?
My eyes have seen sporting events as the ultimate peace keeper through my time of playing and watching. I have high-fived teammates from different races, backgrounds and beliefs to high-fiving people at professional games as a fan from the same backgrounds and have enjoyed food and conversation with them. To take it a step futher and to open your mind, has Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a Dream" speech of seeing races joining together come to light finally?
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! there's been a changing of the guards in the AFC north. Year after year the top two teams to roam and slaughter the AFC north has been a tug of war between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, there's been a new out look by the Bengals and the Browns.
The Bengals began their surgents two years ago with making noise and kicking at the door by two playoff appearances in a row but falling short until this year. They have become a household name this year to win their division with strong game play week after week and sit atop the north with a 6-3 record. Their next opponent will be the Baltimore Ravens who are having a tough season thus far after an amazing super bowl winning season.
The Cleveland Browns, who since 2007 has lost to who has been labeled the AFC north's bully the Baltimore Raven's until November 3rd 2013. The Brown's did some bullying of their own to the Raven's the entire game with a aggressive defense and a fluent offense led by Jason Campbell who went toe with the AFC north's bully. A final score of 24-18 doesn't speak nearly of how bad the Brown's actually beat the Raven's.
So a question I leave for you to think about is has the AFC north changed it's face of the division or is this just a one year fluke?
