Welcome to December, and I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. This week’s column was planned to be exclusively devoted to an NFL review as the league hits the home stretch; but I feel compelled to comment on Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger first.
As you’ve no doubt heard, Tiger Woods was involved in a car accident at 2:30AM near his house, and was very sketchy with the details to both police and media. Amid the (predictable) media firestorm that ensued, Tiger was alleged to engage in extramarital activities by several sources – then Tiger issued an apology for ‘transgressions’ against his family. This has prompted all sorts of outrage/surprise/bloviating from the media, which saddens me but does not surprise me.
Look, he didn’t admit it, but it’s fairly obvious that Tiger made a foolish decision here, probably an affair of some sort. Clearly that’s wrong – just as clearly, it’s NONE OF OUR BUSINESS. The car accident was news, because he might have been injured and had his career affected. His behavior with the police (he essentially avoided talking to them for days) was also newsworthy simply because it was so odd – but now that it’s clear that he is physically healthy, it’s time to leave the man alone. Every one of us has made decisions we wish we could have back, and just because Tiger has chosen a public profession does not give the media or the public the right to root into his private affairs. I’m continually disgusted with the tabloid coverage of performers and athletes**. Just because they have physical gifts, for some reason we (fans and media) expect them to be above reproach in their private life and their decisions. When these individuals fail to live up to that impossible standard, the media seems to take great delight in ripping them – and a sizable percentage of the public ENJOYS such coverage.
(**Politicians, I put in a separate category – they are our ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES and have chosen over and over again to put themselves in front of the harsh glare of the spotlight, and drive the future of our country in one way or another. As such, I believe that it’s fair to hold them to a very high standard of personal conduct – what they do is far more important than hitting a golf ball or making a movie, and being able to trust them should be paramount.)
I encourage you to take a moment and recall your worst decision – ask yourself if, during the aftermath, you could have handled the strain of dealing with the national media along with your own friends and family. Tiger has chosen to be a pro golfer, and as a result of that and his brilliance with the sticks he has almost no privacy. To a certain extent this is understandable, and I wouldn’t trade with him for all the tea in China – but there HAS to be a boundary, beyond which he CAN have a private life. Let’s try to respect that.
On to Big Ben and his concussion – last week it seemed all week that Roethlisberger would play Sunday vs. Baltimore, despite the concussion he suffered the week before. However, late in the week it was suddenly announced that he would NOT play – a decision that apparently didn’t sit well with star WR Hines Ward. In a national interview, Ward indirectly questioned Ben’s toughness, saying:
“I’ve been out there dinged up; the following week, got right back out there. Ben practiced all week. He split time with Dennis Dixon. And then to find out that he’s still having some headaches and not playing and it came down to the doctors didn’t feel that they were going to clear him or not — it’s hard to say…I’ve lied to a couple of doctors saying I’m straight, I feel good when I know that I’m not really straight”.
He also said that the locker room was “50-50” in terms of agreeing with the decision. What a classless, stupid thing to say to any reporter, much less on a national broadcast. Once again, we see evidence that many, if not most players simply do not understand the difference in severity between a normal bruise or sprain and a concussion. Brain injuries have been shown to be cumulative, and I’ve read a study that shows a link between multiple concussions and dementia in later life. As Steeler fans we all should be familiar with the Mike Webster story, a Hall-of-Fame center who died at age 50 after suffering chronic traumic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease – likely as a result of multiple concussions. Webster was reknowned for his toughness and durability, and the ‘macho’ culture required playing through any injury if at all possible, and in many cases never reporting them to the medical staff. Many other ex-football players have been diagnosed with similar problems, and concussions have ended many pro careers (Steve Young comes to mind immediately, as does Eric Lindros in hockey). In addition, Ward called out his own QB here, a man who has been sacked and hit more than any QB in the league over the past 3 seasons, and who played through a separated shoulder most of 2008. How can you publicly question your QB like that?
The bottom line is that Hines Ward was WAY out of line to try to play doctor here; the ACTUAL doctors recommended Ben sit, and he and head coach Mike Tomlin wisely heeded that advice. Yes, it was a big game, yes, the Steelers might miss the playoffs – what does that matter compared to Ben’s life? Football is a rough game, but people can live good lives even with replaced hips, knees, torn rotator cuffs, etc. Brain injuries are different, and MUST be taken seriously. I applaud the NFL for taking steps to properly diagnose and treat concussions, I applaud the Steelers for sitting Ben, and I hope that Hines Ward will read up on concussions and their potential effect post-career.
On to our (abbreviated) NFL review: In the AFC, the division leaders are NE (7-4), CIN (8-3), IND (11-0), and SD (8-3). The only real surprise there is the Bengals, obviously…in the NFL Preview columns I predicted NE and SD to easily win their divisions, and while I didn’t pick Indy, I knew they’d be a good team. They might be the luckiest 11-0 team in history – they have had so many close calls lately, it’s unfathomable to me that they will finish 16-0. I predicted the Steelers and Ravens to both go 11-5, which is now impossible since both sit at 6-5 and they play each other again. Denver is 7-4 but has been skidding after a 6-0 start; after that, the entire conference is very mediocre, and it seems likely that 10-6 will get the final wild-card slot.
If Pittsburgh can beat the Ravens at home and win against Oakland, Cleveland, and Miami (no sure thing with this Steeler team), they stand a good chance to make the postseason. Baltimore’s defense has been surprisingly shaky this season, if not for the emergence of stud RB Ray Rice Baltimore would be in real trouble. Looking at my preseason picks, my big hits were the AFC East as a whole, the West aside from Denver (and they still may finish 8-8), JAX, and TEN. I missed badly on CIN, IND, and especially HOU, who has lost all the close games that Indy has won – watch out for Houston in 2010.
In the NFC, things aren’t looking nearly as rosy for my picks so far – the division leaders are DAL (8-3), MIN (10-1), NO (11-0), and AZ (7-4). GB and PHI are in good shape at 7-4; aside from the Giants and Falcons at 6-5 most everyone else is pretty much out of luck for 2009. The only current leader I had picked was NO, I expected a rebound but they have exceeded my expectations – there’s no way I can see anyone beating them until the NFC title game (barring them sitting their starters in week 17, a real possibility since they will lock up the division and a bye no later than week 15). I expected Dallas and Minnesota to falter this season – the Cowboys have looked very shaky at times, but at 8-3 are still in good position to make the playoffs and be a factor. My East playoff picks, Philly and the Giants, are still hanging in – I actually still believe that Philly will win the East, although I think the Giants have suffered too many injuries on defense to win 10 games.
Minnesota is another story – I fully expected Favre to be a disaster, instead he’s having the best season of his whole career! INT’s have always been a problem for him; this season he’s only thrown 3. That’s unsustainable, look for him to throw 4-6 the rest of the way, but I blew it on Brett and the Vikes, they are the real deal and look to be the Saints’ main competition for the NFC title. Green Bay is improved, but their defense is still not good and with the injuries they sustained last week I cannot see them as a true threat in the playoffs – either MIN or NO will torch them.
Out West, I had picked the 49ers, and while they aren’t out of it by any means, their continued problems at the QB position have them at 5-6 – a shame considering they play good defense. Arizona has surprisingly sustained their great run defense from last postseason, allowing them to control more games, especially on the road where they are a shocking 5-1 so far. The rest of the West is a disaster as expected.
With five weeks to go there’s very little decided, especially in the AFC – but the odds-on favorite to win it all has to be New Orleans, with the Vikes a close second. Every AFC team has a fatal flaw that could be exposed by one of those teams, as the Patriots found out Monday night. Should be an interesting finish to the season!
Dave Glass can be reached at buggyracer@verizon.net.