Let’s Stump The Commissioner

OK, boys and girls here are the questions: what is a grand jury indictment and does it mean that I have to suspend or fire someone? All three commissioners of major American sports are learning criminal law; and not by choice. Which poor commissioner would you like to be today?

Roger Goodell? Well, he’s got a grand jury indictment of Mike Vick to tend to; the name on the number 1 selling jersey in the NFL is under indictment and has just been suspended from training camp. The NFL is performing its own internal investigation to see if any of Vick’s activities, alleged or not, violate NFL rules or the code of conduct. Can you tell me if there is a code that allows electrocution of dogs, oh yeah, allegedly? What’s next for Vick? He has hired high profile criminal defense counsel Billy Martin who has handled other athletes’ cases. But what’s his defense? This week Vick will be officially arraigned and plead to the charges. Not a pretty sight.

Bud Selig? Good old Bud’s between a rock and a hard place. Does he attend Barry Bonds’s games in anticipation of being at the ballpark when Barry breaks Hank Aaron’s record? Does that mean he believes the leaked grand jury testimony that Bonds admitted to smearing stuff on his body that he had no idea contained illegal steroids? Or does it mean that the same grand jury hearing testimony about whether or not Bonds lied to them isn’t about to hand down an indictment for perjury? With Bonds’s former girlfriend squealing literally and figuratively by posing in Playboy and telling her stories about pocketed gains by Bonds of money from autograph signings, the IRS’ name has been bandied about. Selig’s gotta wonder what he did to deserve this…oh yeah, he looked the other way in the 90’s. Oops, sorry.

David Stern? He found out that a league referee is being investigated by the FBI for throwing games to affect the point spread and the over/under on NBA games. The official has resigned, saving Stern the problem of Roger Goodell about what to do about the guy and if he should still be on the job. But…the investigation isn’t over and the ref could squeal himself to get a lighter sentence. That would mean this isn’t an isolated case and the integrity of the league’s games are in question. Does it smell like pro wrestling to you? It does to me if there is more than one referee involved. The feds will bring charges and arrest the guy or seek a grand jury indictment.

Notice the threads here? Indictments, grand juries, and what to do about the individuals who are protected by union rules but whose unions seem to be distancing themselves from them.

So who’d you rather be?

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com and listen to me on the Sports Journey radio show every Saturday.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC

One Chance

It’s funny in life how some things can make you laugh, and some things can make you cry. But every once and a while you cross that rare something that sparks both emotions – something that makes you cherish the little things you normally don’t think about – and in the process, teaches you important lessons about yourself.

Jamell Edwards made that moment possible for me.

I met Jamell about 8 years ago at the Joe Namath Football camp. He was an average 17 year old football player with aspirations to one day play college football. There was only one problem: Jamell lacked the support of both his legs. Instead, he had two prosthetic legs, which let him run the forty with the speed of an extremely fast tortoise. I didn’t think much of it during our initial meeting; Jamell seemed like a nice enough guy but we went on our separate ways after camp ended.

The next July I had a different experience when I returned to camp as a coach. I had been going through some turmoil as thick as the Meadowlands weeds myself, due largely to my then recent decision to turn down a full scholarship offer from a small Division II college in Massachusetts. It was a very stressful process opting to remain at Monmouth University in New Jersey and not play anymore. In many ways, football had been the driving force in my life and its absence was felt.

I was still struggling with these personal decisions when I made the trek to camp that July. Football camp was meant to be a summer job, and my chance to get back on the field. The last thing I expected was an experience that would rejuvenate my spirit and help teach me what is important in life. And then I saw Jamell.

There he was – with his smile as bright as pearls and a heart the size of Alaska – ready to dive head first into the training sessions. I asked Jamell how everything had been going, and what his future plans were. To my surprise, he told me his dreams of playing college football were still alive but he was facing two obstacles – one, his prosthetics were about as good for football as Namath’s one barred helmet, and two, he had to convince a college coach that he was good enough to play on his team.

I watched a makeshift tape of Jamell performing everyday activities: walking, jogging, and doing so much more than I would if I faced his limitations (it’s drinks with the little umbrellas all the way for me). The tape was touching, but it didn’t bring me to tears. They would come when I heard from the man himself. I challenged anyone to sit with Jamell and try to control their emotions while he enthusiastically talks about his dream – his dream to be one of the first people with prosthetic legs to ever play college football.

During the course of camp I talked extensively with Jamell about the seriousness of this issue. That was one big goal. I asked him if he would be happy to be the first person facing his physical challenge to ever play a down in a college football game (with two prosthetics, not one). He looked at me with unbridled enthusiasm and responded, “All I want is the chance.” I explained there is a good possibility he might not make it, and he knew that. He was a dreamer, but also a realist. Yet he has the drive of the best pros in the NFL. If I were a coach, I would jump on him like a hundred dollar bill lying in the middle of Times Square.

So I did what any good friend would do at the time. I made a new tape and sent it out to college coaches of all sorts. In short, I told them Jamell expects nothing from you. In fact, the last thing he expects is to be an outcast who receives special treatment. And when he falls, it’s ugly. But you know what? He gets up just as fast as anyone else and is ready for the next play. You cannot teach heart, especially on the level that Jamell exhibits on a daily basis. To all you college coaches out there I strongly urge you to give Jamell the chance. That’s all he is asking. Take a chance and I believe you’d be repaid tenfold.

You may ask yourself, “Is it worth the risk? What’s in it for me?” Let’s think about that for a moment. Although it’s the last thing on Jamell’s mind, imagine the effect on public relations, donations to your program, who knows what else. Chances are, Jamell would come to your school and find out how hard college football really is. How nitty the gritty gets in the trenches. He may reach the realization that he may never be part of a starting squad. Then what? Then he stays on the team and has the heart of a lion. He comes to every practice to work out and get better; not only that, to make your team better. One down, that’s all he is craving.

I once read a Rick Reilly article on the back page of Sports Illustrated that told the tale of a coach who played a boy with severe autism. The kid got the ball and nobody touched him. He ran the wrong way, in fact. Nobody cared about the impact on the game however; because they were too busy crying their eyes out. Things like that have extraordinary rewards. If this kid can play, why cant Jamell, who has been playing his whole life? What if Jamell gets his sport prosthetics leg sponsorship? What if he shows you he has the animal instinct of Jaws mowing people down in the backfield? You would be a genius. If not? You’ll have the bright-smiled Jamell standing on the sideline happy as can be because he finally made his dream come true.

Like I said, Jamell expects nothing from you. All he asks for is a shot, a shot for something he isn’t ready to give up.

Well I’ll tell you what Jamell, I gave up football and you are one of the only reasons that I would ever think of going back. Not because I miss it. Because you let me see how lucky I am just to be able to sprint, never mind play at a division IAA school. I’m proud of you Jamell, and if they aren’t willing to give you a shot, I will.

You can have my scholarship anytime…

*Since this article unfolded, 5 years have past. Jamell missed out on his opportunity to play college football and has since directed his efforts towards coaching. He resides in South Carolina where he intends to finish his degree and make a difference in the life of children much like himself. It’s not always the best athletes or the difference makers who deserve their 15 minutes of fame. Everyone does. He is a friend I will never forget who helped me through one of the toughest times in my life. So I thought I owed him this…I wanted his story to be heard.

What’s A Dog To Do?

This is the most gruesome 18 pages I have read in many a year: the indictment against Michael Vick and 3 others. The feds sprung a huge surprise on the sports world on Tuesday when Vick was charged with federal crimes of conspiracy to create and operate, in the state of Virginia, an illegal dog fighting operation as well as acts in furtherance of those aims. The extra added attraction in the document was enumerating the multiple ways the losing or sick dogs were executed; not put to sleep or euthanized but truly executed. Google Vick and you’ll find places to read the facts, if you have the stomach for it. The text of the indictment consists of facts gathered by prosecutors and presented to a grand jury in the kind of detail that only eye witness testimony and gathering of financial records could have produced. The document only identifies these witnesses as “persons known to the grand jury”. The facts go farther than Vick’s mere ownership of the house in which the heinous acts were perpetrated. That is all he has admitted to. He allegedly bought the property and had the house and its accompanying other buildings on the property created for this purpose as well as forming a company called Bad Newz Kennels. He is charged with buying dogs and having them shipped to and from fights, attending the fights, betting on them, funding the company and at least agreeing to certain of the executions. As with other high profile personalities, the acts seem impossible to believe when you look at the face of the alleged perpetrator. Remember Kobe and Ray Lewis? Charges were eventually dropped when the charges were unable to be corroborated in a fashion that would convince a judge or jury that a trial would bear out what the prosecutors/DA’s got handed down in arrest warrants or grand jury indictments. So let’s not run to convict him yet. However, in this post-Duke lacrosse era it would be hard to fathom a prosecutor being stupid and acting too quickly; and it doesn’t seem to be the case here since it took more than 3 months from the original date that the house was uncovered as the center of the dog fighting ring for the indictment to be handed down. Up until the news crossed the wire, no one even believed Vick would be implicated in any crime. There was no pressure on the grand jury since his involvement was really off the press radar; I believe it was one of the best kept secrets in recent memory that there was this amount of testimony and evidence to put him in this position. That is why I believe there is more to this than bad facts and a rush to judgment. Plus, this is a very famous federal prosecutor’s office that has handled the Scooter Libby matter and other federal offenses. The judges in this courthouse don’t put up with any BS and they move cases along quickly. Vick’s first hearing at which he will officially be arraigned and plead to the charges coincides with the first day of training camp next week. Ain’t no way that is gonna be put back for his convenience; not in what they call the “rocket docket” in which delays are not allowed. According to records, the prosecutors obtain guilty pleas in 90% of all cases brought in this office. Of the remaining 10% more than 9 out of 10 result in convictions. Kobe and Lewis lost their endorsements while still remaining on the rosters of their teams. Vick’s football fate will more than likely be decided by his team’s owner if he hears from sponsors about pulling money from the Georgia Dome. That’s what did in Don Imus, remember? It wasn’t the uproar or growing public revulsion; it was immediate action taken by his show’s sponsors after the famous press conference at which the basketball team got up and showed their beautiful faces to the world. Nike might wash its hands of Vick if they start to see these aren’t mere allegations; good thing their commercials for the “Michael Vick Experience” are in the past, huh? In the meantime, it is a horrible time for the Vick family and the Atlanta Falcons. When did you think you’d ever believe that little brother Marcus was the “good brother”? Or for that matter that when Vick was called a coach killer by Jim Mora Sr. that it would be god’s animal creatures not humans that were involved. As this matter unfolds we may see the ugly spectacle of one or more of his 3 indicted co-conspirators roll over on Vick to save their asses. Don’t think he’s not thinking about that possibility. If convicted on all counts the punishment includes up to 6 years in federal prison as well as six figure fines and forfeiture of all gambling money won by the defendants. Wonder what the GM who decided to trade Matt Schaub is thinking about today? Daunte Culpepper anyone?

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com and listen to me on the Sports Journey radio show every Saturday.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC

Top 10 Things…

Top 10 things you won’t hear muttered during the 2007 college football season…

10.) Tim Tebow is just not the answer that Florida has been looking for.

9.) USC’s skill players just had a horrible day today.

8.) Rutgers? Who’s Rutgers?

7.) Colt Brennan threw for less than 300 yards this week.

6.) That’s funny; no one was arrested or suspended this week.

5.) Oh, he had to miss the second session of practice. His manager at Chili’s is a stickler about him leaving work early.

4.) Mississippi State has a realistic shot at taking it to the SEC (Can also easily be related to the ACC, just use Duke).

3.) Who, Joe Pa? They extended his contract through 2015.

2.) Yea, that was a tough game for Hawaii this week.

1.) I know, that was an unbelievable playoff game.

The Seniors Are Heading The 2007 Class

If you’ve been listening to Sports Journey radio during the past year you know that I’ve believed that Kevin Durant was the best college basketball player period. You also know that I advocated (assuming Durant and Greg Oden would enter the 2007 NBA Draft) that Durant be chosen No. 1 [I argued that, but truth be told I would have chosen Oden first in a heartbeat]. But I also made it clear that I was against Durant, Oden or any other freshmen entering the draft.

Freshmen, no matter how talented they may be, are not prepared to excel at the NBA level.

The evidence of the difficult transformation to playing with men was evident in the performances produced by the highly touted Durant and Oden in this year’s NBA Summer League held in Las Vegas. In Durant’s first two games, he averaged 18 points per game, but shot an anemic 25 percent from the floor. He’s offensive excellence shown in college was disrupted by the physicality of the NBA game. Additionally, Durant has failed to hand out one assist and managed to grab only two rebounds.

Oden struggled as well. His stat line (9.5 points on 60 percent shooting, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game) doesn’t read as miserable as Durant’s, but he’s averaging nine fouls per game (summer league allows 10 fouls per game). While a few poorly played summer league games do not constitute a career, the struggles experienced by Oden and Durant provides evidence that the transformation is more difficult for the younger players.

Freshmen do not, in my opinion, possess the maturity to understand the nuances of the game. Most of their career they have been excelling on talent.

While Oden’s summer league play was cut short because of sickness and Durant’s play has been sickly, rookies like Dominic McGuire, Arron Afflalo, and Demetris Nicholas, are all playing well in the NBA Summer League.

Could it be coincident or maybe the good play of McGuire, Afflalo and Nicholas can be attributed to the maturity gain from four years of college.

McGuire, the 47th pick of the Washington Wizards, has played phenomenal. The 6-foot-8, 215-pound attacks the basket like a man with a mission. He rebounds, blocks shots, plays defense and has shown a keen ability to make the right pass. His overall court awareness is what you learn with maturation.

Like McGuire, Afflalo (a four year starter at UCLA) has performed well in the summer league. The 6-foot-5 guard, drafted 27th by the Detroit Piston, is averaging 16.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. While he’s only shooting 36 percent from the field, he is getting to the charity stripe better than six times per game, and is playing better defense than expected. He will fit in well with the Pistons and provide some needed help for Chauncey Billups.

Nicholas, last year’s Big East scoring leader, is continuing his scoring prowess with the Knicks. In just 23 minutes of play Nicholas, drafted 53rd by the Portland Trail Blazers, but traded to the New York Knicks, is averaging 14.7 points per game on 55 percent shooting, and 50 percent from the 3-point arc. He is also dishing out 3.3 assist per game.

Oden and Durant might be can’t miss investments, but it just might be seniors like McGuire, Afflalo and Nicholas, whose dividends are realized immediately.

Is It An Exhibition Or A Real Game?

Gee, what do you think I’m talking about…huh? The MLB All Star game of course. It’s a bad combination of ingredients that when mixed makes you sick to your stomach…or it just makes you crazy and prone to bad decisions. Tony LaRussa was still throwing up the next day from the gastric distress that forced him to keep Albert Pujols on the bench with 2 out in the 9th, the bases loaded and his team down by only 1 run. He allowed Aaron Rowland, a great defensive outfielder to hit and he promptly popped up to end the game. Poof…there goes home field advantage in the World Series for the National League. Poor Tony had to accommodate the 2 different approaches to the game and only if all the stars and moon are aligned will that allow you to happily win the game and get all the players chosen to play on the field. Tony had to think about the tied game that forced a public outcry about the All Star game; such an outcry that what people in their heart or hearts knew was an exhibition game was turned into a game that couldn’t end in a tie and had to be won for it to be relevant. Thus, the idea that home field for the World Series would be awarded to the winning league was born. God knows I bash Bud Selig every chance I get but on this issue, he gave in to his worst judgment. His original decision was the right one which was to shut down a game that was threatening to go into the middle of the early morning and would have forced the managers to keep one pitcher out on the mound until it ended because they had emptied their bull pens in an effort to make the exhibition a good one. LaRussa was holding back Pujols in case of a tie and thus didn’t reach the tie he held him back for. Got that? I know, I know it’s insane but that is the result of being afraid to clear your bench of the players that fans need to see vs. having to face a tied game. Maybe this will cause another outcry and make MLB choose what they really want the game to be. I vote for the way it used to be and take the World Series out of it for Pete’s sake.

The throat that roared. When was the last time you heard of a grown up getting his tonsils out? So I guess this clears up the age issue about Greg Oden. He really is 19 looking like 39 and the kid has tonsils the size of golf balls. Let’s leave aside the bad jokes that could be made about that comment and respect that fact that he has been sick as a dog for a while. I suffered from tonsillitis til I was 22 and then it disappeared but not until I got a bout every year complete with high fever, a throat that hurt like hell unless I was sucking on ice chips and taking penicillin until it all went away in a week. Let’s give him a huge “do-over” for the two bad games he played in the Vegas Summer League in which he committed 19 fouls and realize that a big man takes some time to be great. He has had his head turned around by the speed and skill of NBA players and he’ll learn how to play. As a wise guy once said, you can’t teach 7 feet.

Federer hears the foot steps down the hall. Rafael Nadal took Roger to 5 sets in the Wimbledon final and had 2 games in which he could have broken Federer’s serve that would have led to a victory. The fact that the outcome was in doubt until 15 minutes prior to the end was news in and of itself. Talk about history repeating itself: Borg’s 5th title came the year that McEnroe had taken him to 5 sets after that famous 30 minute tie breaker to win the 4th set. McEnroe took over the mantle after that. It appears that Nadal has it figured out and now he has to execute on the plan. What’s interesting is that Federer never gets that close to Nadal on his beloved clay courts but Rafa almost spoiled the party last Sunday on Roger’s home court, so to speak. These two can save men’s tennis for the foreseeable future if they go back and forth trading titles. Let’s see how they both fare next month in NY but I gotta guess that New Yorkers will be rooting for a guy that they never thought they would: a Spaniard in Capri pants.

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com and listen to me on the Sports Journey radio show every Saturday.

 

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC

They call him Joe Pa…

“Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won’t taste good.”

- Joe Paterno

There are many things that I have taken out of my four years at college. Some things I am proud of, and there are many that I am not. For most, college is an experience. A time to find yourself coming into adulthood, and for a lot of kids it is their first time away from their parental figures. Many things happened there to shape me into the person I am today, but nothing impacted me more than my Senior Thesis professor. When I first met her, I thought she happened to look something like a beached whale. I came to find she wasn’t that fond of me either after seeing my midterm grade of D+. But that all changed after listening to another one of her antagonizing lectures.

She was rattling off something about our 70 page paper that would be due at the end of the year, and then she said it. “Well, I went to Penn State…Of course I know Joe Pa.” So after class I grabbed her ear and talked Penn State football to no end, for over a full hour to be exact. I wanted to know how it was to attend a huge university where football dominated the talk of the air for all 12 months of the year. This conversation would change our relationship forever. Needless to say at the end of the semester I deemed her as one of my favorite professors of all time. What a small world it is.

I don’t mean a small world in a sense of knowing people. But more in a sense that even the most miniscule detail can bring two people together to talk of things they never thought they even shared in common. Joe Paterno seems to have this effect not so much just on people that are interested in football, but everyone in the last three generations of our human race.

Every year throughout the past decade there seems to be whispers in Happy Valley for the neck of Joe Pa. Even though the Nittany Lions went 20-5 over the past two seasons, his biggest disbelievers love to harp on the fact that they have had four losing seasons in the past six years. Although this might be true, their 83 percent graduation rate leads the Big Ten while placing third nationally among all NCAA Division I-A public schools. If you ever talk to any Penn State Alumni football players, you always get the same response. “Joe Pa prepares you to become a man. The things he teaches you go so much further than the football field itself and into the realms of life itself.” From LaVar Arrington to Tamba Hali, he’s made players from all walks of life into winners. But he doesn’t stop there.

Paterno is 80 years old if you’re counting, but is still sharp and witty. If you talk to him about his two national titles and five undefeated seasons, he says it’s something that doesn’t mean a thing to him. Right now, he’s focused on the present. With a 307-80-3 record, it would be hard to say that the man has lost even an ounce of focus. Throughout his 33 years as head coach he has led his teams to 19 bowl victories, had 11 or more wins in 12 different seasons, coached 23 first round draft choices and has had 20 different teams post a finish in the top 10. But these are just some of his on-field accomplishments. I tend to admire the off the field ones even more.

You all know that I am a huge fan of discipline. This past April six football players were arrested after an off campus altercation that involved All-Big Ten defensive back Anthony Scirrotto. So instead of punishing the individuals, he put the hammer down on the team itself. After each of their six home games this upcoming 2007 season, it will be mandatory for all 100 or so players on the roster to comb the seats row by row of Beaver Stadium to pick up all their 107,000 faithful have left for them…to clean. Paterno said he was more disappointed in the five other players that were involved in the altercation because of not talking Scirrotto out of a possible hostile situation. They win together, they lose together, but most importantly, they are all held accountable for each others actions.

“Throughout my life, I have always had the ability to concentrate on what has to be done and not worry about things I can’t do anything about.” These are the words from the man himself. He has so many things that he has said to his players over the years to teach them not only about football, but also the trials and tribulations of life and its shortcomings. After coaching much of 2007 from the press box because of an injury he sustained from a play on the sidelines, Joe Pa seems as ready as ever. But what else can he accomplish that he already hasn’t?

In 1998, Paterno and his family donated $3.5 million to the University, taking his donation tally under his tenure to over $4 million. Joe Pa is a man who regardless of your personal opinion of him, he is a difference maker. And there is no doubt in anyone’s eyes, whether they want him as the head coach of Penn State or not, that cannot agree that he will leave Happy Valley a better place than it was before he got there. So here’s to you Joe Pa, this one’s for you. After all, it was because of this man who I never had met before that got me a B+ on a thesis paper which I am sure I didn’t deserve. What a small world it is after all…

Bonds’s Swan Song?

As I wait for the televised unveiling of the All Star teams for both leagues I say if Bonds didn’t make it, he should be picked by the manager for the National League. Jeez, the game is in his park and the tribute this year is for his godfather, Willie Mays who has stood by his side no matter what has been said about his god son. And let’s presume the best or the worst, depending on your point of view: Bonds will be the new career home run king by season’s end. I had earlier predicted he’d do it prior to the All Star game so I’m wrong; hell just sue me. Now my prediction is August 15. But you get the point, he is too important to the game and it would be the most obvious of snubs if the game happened without him in the line up. Hell, he’s so loved in San Fran that they’ll disrupt the televised show with signs and boos, protests and things thrown on the field. Just think of the image and sound of the crowd’s disgust. Bud Selig wouldn’t be safe to show up the fans would hate him so much. Whether that’s a good enough reason or not, that’s not the point. It’s the accumulation of it all. He will break the record, it’s his HOUSE, it’s his godfather’s tribute and I refuse to let Selig get any break no matter how small. OK, I hate him…..again, just sue me.

Mike Hargrove is depressed: No one just quits as manager of a big league team that is in the heat of a pennant race, on a winning streak and 11 games over .500. He’s lost his passion for the game he says. He’s clinically depressed is what I say. As a person who has suffered and is OK thanks to medication and a lot of love, I can tell you that it will be revealed, or uncovered, that he is suffering from depression. The only other explanation is that some bombshell of a discovery will be made about something criminal or marital or maybe even some dread disease. He’s agreed to stick around to help the team and interim manager with the transition for the bulk of the season but when I read the quotes from management I can tell that they know it is a good decision and aren’t expressing any reservations about it. Think about that for a second: when was Seattle relevant in the post season? The team is on a roll, it could very likely battle the Angels down the stretch and management just smiles, accepts the resignation and declares that it is happy for Hargrove that he made this tough decision. What do you think that means? Anyway, when something seems to be good to be true it is and the same for when it seems too bad to be the whole story. I wish him the best and I hope the players don’t get nuts as a result of the turmoil. They deserve an uninterrupted run at the pennant or wild card; they surely do.

Congress didn’t make nice with the NFL: A sub-committee in the House of Representatives hauled in lower tier of top management for the NFL this past week. The topic was whether or not they are messing with the mechanics of their disability policy to the detriment of ex-players. Neither Gene Upshaw nor the Commissioner was there but the general counsel was. Having been one for a large company I can tell you the last thing lawyers want to do is make public statements in front of Congress that vouch for a policy that is vilified by the press, the public, retired players and now some members of the House. You should have heard Maxine Waters go at the league reps. It wasn’t pretty but frankly what did you expect? They didn’t call them up there to make them seem like heroes. No one called them crooks but the gist of it all was that maybe they should try to make it easier for players to be declared disabled and eligible for benefits. They didn’t say to bend over and take it where the sun don’t shine; they want it to be as fair or unfair, depending on your point of view, as getting the Social Security Administration to make that decision for any US citizen. The Commissioner pre-approved that move while he was off in Europe folding the league over there and at a rookie meeting to show them the face of discipline they’ll have to live with now that they are a member of the league. But just the sound of Mike Ditka, getting all sputtery the way he does when he gets excited and is passionate about something was worth the 2 and a quarter hours of web cast viewing I did. Look, no one wants these guys to be homeless, without money to pay for medical bills or suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s, but there’s got to be a way for the league and its critics to figure out how to do something about it that is satisfactory to both parties. No one will get everything they want but that is the essence of a good compromise. Let’s see where this goes as the Hall of Fame induction date.

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com and listen to me on the Sports Journey radio show every Saturday.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC