Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Rant #1,152: Sports Talk

If you do not like sports, today's Rant is not for you.

But some things have happened recently that are worth talking about.



First of all, my New York Knicks are an abomination, and something happened yesterday that really put an exclamation point on this season, even though it really had nothing to do with the season.

The Knicks' point guard, Raymond Felton, who has been through a horrible season on the court, was in court yesterday, but a real court.

He has been charged with illegal possession of an unregistered firearm, and could get two years in jail for his indiscretion.

The details are pretty murky, but evidently, his estranged wife contacted her lawyer when she discovered the firearm in her home, and the lawyer contacted the authorities.

Felton turned himself in, amid another media circus.

The Knicks and the NBA have each not made a statement, but you can bet that there will be something said, and done, to Felton once this all comes out in the wash.

The next things are a bit happier on the sports front.



The WWE Network premiered on Feb. 24, amid a lot of fanfare and a lot of scrutiny.

This virtual NetFlix of wrestling features everything anybody would ever want to watch related to the WWE, including past pay per view events, and the draw is the newer pay per view events.

A lot of carriers are not happy about this, but now, if you want to see Wrestlemania, you don't have to cough up over $50 to do so. With a paid subscription of $9.99 per month, you get every pay per view that the WWE has to offer.

This is throwing the multi-million-dollar pay per view industry into a tizzy, because there is no reason to get a WWE pay per view--or any pay per view--the old fashioned way.

Right now, the jury is out on the network--it is only available online on your phone or tablet device, and although we have it, it was difficult to load, and once we got it, the picture does freeze up from time to time--but as an initial subscriber, we have been told that the glitches are being fixed as we speak.

Time will tell if this thing will work as it is. If not, the WWE at least can be commended for going out of the box to do something really different.

The next sports-related story is really about society in general.



Jason Collins, a journeyman NBA player, recently signed a 10-day contract with the New Jersey Nets to play basketball for them.

Normally, this would not cause such an uproar, but he is a media sensation because he is supposedly the first openly gay player to play in any of the four major U.S. sports.

The Nets claim that they signed him for basketball reasons, not because of his sexuality, but that is a load of nonsense.

They even had him and coach Jason Kidd pose in a photo that was reminiscent of the one that was taken when Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a contract with the Dodgers.

Whatever your feeling on this, Collins has now become the media darling of the world, and his jersey has become a top seller, residing along with the likes of Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony. That really is something.

But as long as the media covers him as a gay basketball player, this obscures the fact of the supposed "real" reason that the Nets signed him--to help their team.

Look, if the guy helps the team, he is a great addition, if he can't play, he is a bum.

And that is whether he is gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, what have you.

The media loves circuses, and they love to create their own circuses more than anything else, and they certain have done that with Colllins.

But let's stop referring to him as a "gay" player. He is a basketball player, and that is why he was signed.

Supposedly ...


And finally, pitchers and catchers and other players have reported to Florida for baseball's annual spring training.

With snow still on the ground here, and lots of cold weather to go, it warms my heart that baseball is right around the corner.

You know just that when the first pitch is thrown.

During this winter of my discontent, I can't wait.

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