Ward Just Doesn't Get It

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was made to sit out Sunday night's game against the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers coaching staff along with team doctor's determined that Big Ben shouldn't play because he was suffering headaches when exerting himself, a symptom of post concussion syndrome. Wide receiver Hines Ward still wanted Roethlisberger out there because it was a big game. Ward said that in the past he has lied to doctors about how he felt after a concussion and intimated that Roethlisberger should have done the same thing for the sake of the team. Now I am not a Steelers fan and I really didn't have any good or bad feeling towards Ward, until now. Hines Ward let me tell you this you are an idiot. I am all for playing through pain and "manning up," except when you are dealing with the brain. Do you really think Roethlisberger and his family would care if the team beat the Ravens if in the process he received another concussion and suffered permanent brain damage? This is his fourth concussion since 2006 should he really be taking any chances with his future health? For Ward to suggest that he lie to doctors just proves he doesn't care about Ben the person only about wins and losses, what a great team captain. I think Ward owes Big Ben an apology and should be made to look up the names Mike Webster, Justin Strzelczyk, and Merrill Hoge all former Steelers who had issues with concussions. Two of the three are dead, is one game against the Ravens really worth it?

Today's Song of the Blog: Promises in the Dark - Pat Benatar. Benatar is one of my favorite all time female singers and the song is one of her best. I love the way the song starts off nice and slow and builds. Just one of many quality songs from the height of her career.

Hey all if you like this or heck if you hate it at least go and check out the first few chapters of my baseball novel 33 Summers at: http://www.darrenpare.com/Announcements.html Or if you just want to go ahead and by one you can go here: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/33Summers.html

A Dozen Sports Things I am Thankful For.

Well as we all know Thursday is Thanksgiving Day and so without further ado I bring you the sports things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for:
1. The one handed catch football, except when that catch is being made against the Patriots or by any member of the Colts.
2. A curveball that makes a hitter's knees buckle.
3. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson running over would be tacklers.
4. The Yankees pinstripe uniforms, to me they are classic and classy.
5. A nice clean solid board and bone rattling check in hockey.
6. A basketball player that drains a three and instead of cheering for himself hustles back on defense.
7. Watching a right fielder with a cannon for an arm throw a seed to home and snuff out a potential run.
8. The flea flicker in football, especially when it is Tom Brady and the Patriots.
9. That my brother is a Red Sox fan. We cheer for the same team in every other sport, but we are polar opposites in baseball, yet we find a way to discuss baseball and be civil, which I can't say about too many fans on either side.
10. The shine of the ice at a hockey game after the zamboni has been out.
11. Guys like Kevin Faulk that don't put up the biggest numbers, but are there when the team needs them.
12. The MLB Network. I watch this channel way too much, but if my cable company took it away I would revolt.

I hope you all enjoy time with your family and friends this Thanksgiving, and maybe next year the NFL will give us better games to watch on turkey day.

The Song of the Blog: Today's tune is Misery Business by Paramore, a rocking song by a a strong female lead singer.

Hey all if you like this or heck if you hate it at least go and check out the first few chapters of my baseball novel 33 Summers at: http://www.darrenpare.com/Announcements.html Or if you just want to go ahead and by one you can go here: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/33Summers.html

The Biggest Problem Facing the NFL

This past week two star running backs have visited the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and that isn't good news. The Philadelphia Eagles Brian Westbrook and the Washington Redskins Clinton Portis both went to Pittsburgh because of problems after suffering concussions on the field of play. There is much debate on the long lasting effects of multiple concussion on players, but there have been links to depression, dementia, and a decline in cognitive skills. Names from the past such as Andre Waters, who committed suicide, and Mike Webster, who died at age 50 not being able to care for himself, are the horror stories that show what can happen when concussions aren't treated properly. Stars like Steve Young, Troy Aikman, and Merrill Hoge have had their careers shortened by multiple concussions, but seem to be doing well in their post NFL careers in broadcasting. The main thing it appears is knowing when to hang them up and even though I am not a doctor I think that time has come for Brian Westbrook. Westbrook suffered two concussions in the span of three weeks among numerous other injuries he has had during his career. Obviously it is a decision that is up to Westbrook, the Eagles, his doctors, and his family, but I really hope I won't hear Westbrook's name on ESPN ten years from now in a story comparing him to Webster and Waters.

Song of the Blog: A slow sappy song is today's Song of the Blog, Everything I Own by Bread. You might say what 38 year old man would ever confess to liking such a song, well that would be me. I remember this song from way back in the 70's when my older siblings would be listening to WJBQ out of Portland, Maine. I've always liked it and still do, so let the taunting begin.

Hey Guys check out the first few chapters of my baseball novel, 33 Summers at: http://www.darrenpare.com/Announcements.html

Another Strange NFL Weekend

Another week of NFL football is in the books and there are plenty of stories to talk about that I won't even bother to touch on the biggest one Bill Belichick's fourth quarter call. We will start off with the Cincinnati Bengals who went into Pittsburgh and took care of the Steelers 18-12. The win put the Bengals one game ahead of the Steelers in the AFC North. The Bengals then fortified their running back corps by signing former Kansas City Chief Larry Johnson. I don't blame the Bengals for signing him, but I do hate to see a guy get rewarded for acting like a complete ass and leaving the Chiefs with no real option other than to cut him. Instead of playing out the string for the woeful Chiefs, Johnson is now in the middle of a playoff race. Is it wrong of me to hope that he blows out a knee on his first play with the Bengals. Speaking of the Chiefs today it was announced that wide receiver Dwayne Bowe will be suspended four games for using performance enhancing drugs. Of course since this is the NFL and not Major League Baseball this will be a story for a day and will quickly be swept under the rug. Only baseball gets screwed by the media for drug violations. Finally we check the crazy old person file and find Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams. While his team was playing the Bills in Buffalo the 86 year old owner starting flipping the bird several times to Bills fans. One would think at 86 years old that the guy would have grown out of such childish behavior, but maybe like his fellow owner Al Davis he has gone over the edge with no hope of coming back. Adams was fined by commissioner Roger Goodell $250,000 for his antics. Some will say the old dude was just having fun. I say the old dude needs to realize that there are kids around and maybe its time he acted his age and set an example.

Song of the Blog: Today's random song of the blog is Cumbersome by Seven Mary Three. A good rocking song from the 90's grunge scene. The band had a few other hits but this is the only one that struck a chord with me.

Hey all if you like this go check out the first few chapters of my baseball novel 33 Summers at: http://www.darrenpare.com/Announcements.html Or if you just want to go ahead and by one you can go here: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/33Summers.html

I'm Baaack!

Sorry about the long break between posts was dealing with a little H1N1, but now I am back and we can take a quick trip around the sports world. The most important thing from this past weekend, at least in my world, was the Patriots winning against the Dolphins, 27-17. The best part is they completely shut down loud mouth Joey Porter who recorded zero sacks and zero tackles. Porter is such a blowhard that it is great to see him avoid the media after the game. I guess he couldn't come up with anything clever to say about his double bagel. I was happy to see that Manny Ramirez picked up his $20 million option with the Dodgers, at least we won't have to hear how Manny thinks he is worth $30 million a year for five years and how 31 teams in MLB are interested in him. Even though I am a Celtics fan I was kind of happy to see them lose on Friday night to the Suns 110-103. People were getting carried away saying that the Celtics might not lose until the new year, well now all that talk can cease and the C's just go about their business and work on improving the team game to game. Okay new blog feature: The Song of the Blog. This will just be a random song from my MP3 player. It may be some lame 70's song or some hair band from the 80's, or even a country tune. You may hate it you may like it, we welcome your opinions.

The Song of the Blog is Desire by Ryan Adams. I first heard this song used on an episode of House and was hooked right away. I don't have any other Ryan Adams tunes on my MP3 player and I can't I have listened to many, but at least this one is a good song.

Hey all if you like this go check out the first few chapters of my baseball novel 33 Summers at: http://www.darrenpare.com/Announcements.html Or if you just want to go ahead and by one you can go here: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/33Summers.html

Mea Culpa and More

Last Saturday I posted my latest entry to this blog and I must apologize for it. I bemoaned the fact that the college football schedule didn't seem to have much going for it, and I was wrong on that one as the Alabama and Tennessee game came down to the last seconds, while Iowa barely beat Michigan State, and USC hung on to beat Oregon State. We had a few exciting finishes while the one game I thought might be a battle wasn't when TCU crushed BYU 38-7. While I was banging on college football, I should have been calling out the NFL. Sunday's games were just plain awful as 10 out of the 12 games were double digit losses, though the ten point Minnesota loss to Pittsburgh was a pretty tight game so lets say 9 of 12 stunk. If it wasn't for fantasy football I probably would have watched something else. I guess all I can hope for is a more entertaining week next week. Well the Yankees made the World Series on Sunday and in turn made me a happy man. I hate to kick a man when he is down, but I fail to understand Mike Scioscia bringing Scott Kazmir and not Jered Weaver right away. One thing about starters coming out of the bullpen is you don't know how they will react, obviously Kazmir did not react well, while that question had already been answered with Weaver and his performance in game five. Some might say the two runs that the Angels let up in the eighth didn't matter and I say it was much more comfortable as a just a fan to have a three run lead I can't imagine what it meant to the Yankees themselves.

Hey all if you like this go check out the first few chapters of my baseball novel 33 Summers at: http://www.darrenpare.com/Announcements.html Or if you just want to go ahead and by one you can go here: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/33Summers.html

More Random Thoughts for the Weekend

Well here we are at the start of another jam packed sports weekend, so here are a few things that have been running through my brain. I'm not big on the NFL playing in England. I know the NFL didn't run it by me before they made their schedule, but really is the game big enough across the pond to warrant these regular season games being played there. I don't mind if you throw them some meaningless preseason game as a bone, but leave the regular season games on this continent. Also while I'm on the London game why would you send Tampa Bay, don't you want the Brits to see good football not a blowout. On to a weekend of college football that really is lacking in a wow match up. The biggest game is TCU versus BYU not really a classic battle. Don't get me wrong some games will probably wind up being good ones, but the chances look pretty slim. Now onto the biggest fish of them all game six of the ALCS. It is supposed to be played on Saturday, but the weather in New York might have other things in mind. As a Yankees fan I hope that the game gets played on Saturday and the Yankees wrap it up in game six, because if they don't then momentum certainly shifts to the side of the Angels. Enjoy the sports weekend everybody.

Hey all if you like this go check out the first few chapters of my baseball novel 33 Summers at: http://www.darrenpare.com/Announcements.html Or if you just want to go ahead and by one you can go here: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/33Summers.html