The rest of the gang here is taking Ron Artest at his word and using his story to encourage their drinking.  So, Duffs are 2-for-1 tonight.  Afterall, Ron Artest says he drank at the half to help spread the word and we are more than willing to follow!  

With the holiday season underway, it is officially time for NFL football Thursdays.  The first post-Thanksgiving Thursday contest?  The Jets and Bills...in Toronto.  Um, yeah.  And the fans are pretty excited about it.  Official tailgating sections.  No parking.  Yeah, good times.  Nothing like taking a team out of their home stadium - where they actually, you know, have some fans...left - plunking them down some 70 miles down the road where no one cares.  Now, I know this is the Bills' thing, not the NFL's, but for a league that seems to be so in control how does this happen?  Reminds me of the old Hartford Whalers when they'd have a home game against the Bruins - a good 60% of the crowd was wearing black and gold.  NFL.com had the game streamed live, which was cool...too bad it was such a crappy game.  So far, the two NFL games played under this arrangement have downright sucked.  I can picture the commish with his head in his hands.  

 

Now, if you thought Adrian Peterson was fast on the field - if not a little prone to putting the ball on the ground - you haven't seen him after the game.  How does 109 MPH in a 55 sound to you?  Man, I got pinched doing 87 in a 65 and it cost me a couple of hundred bucks.  I don't even want to think about what that fine is going to run him.  Now, I kinda knew I was going too fast.  I don't believe for a second that he didn't know how fast he was going.  And the hassle I got, you'd think I'd been caught trying to ditch a body - he gets sent on his way.  I don't get it.  Perhaps I was cited for driving while uninteresting.  

 

Mark Mangino is apparently out as the University of Kansas head football coach, despite generally positive results on the field, he's been a bit - how to say - a knob-end as my British compatriots might say.  This is a dude that's 500 lbs of pure fat and he's slapping around football players?  I suppose if you've accepted a scholarship, you're going to be somewhat more predisposed to take some abuse, but seriously?  I'm thinking whatever is coming out must be true for a football player to admit that this Jabba-the-Hutt stunt double slapped him around.  I'm thinking the standard for this internal investigation was as follows: take the embarrassment factor for admitting a situation and rate the credibility of the accuser on a proportionate basis.  Seems reasonable enough...at least here.  

 

Something else that seems reasonable enough is the NFL's new policy on head injuries.  A week after Ben Roethlisberger was going to play after having his bell rung, then didn't play and had his toughness questioned - to the point of being called a "Drama king" by teammates - the league has specifically directed teams not to play known-concussed players and have asked players to be candid about their injuries.  According to the link here, 32 players of 160 questioned (20%) said they had hidden the effects of a concussion.  According to wikipedia, the rate of concussion in the general population is 6 per 1000 people (0.006%).  Football is a violent game and it's not surprising the rate of head injury would be high, but it would seem prudent for the players to be candid.  I admit a bias against some of the rules the NFL has implemented, but this is one that may not go far enough but is movement in the right direction.

 

For my final note, Hofstra University is pulling the plug on their football "Pride."  Northeastern University here in Boston recently did the same, and between the two are losing about 150-years of Football.  Northeastern cited a $3Million annual cost, Hofstra cited a $4.5Million yearly cost for the program.  The tough economic times have now cost two programs in as many weeks, but more than anything these costs could be off-set with some school body support - and that has clearly not been the case: Hofstra was supporting about 4500 fans a game.  So much for pride...or "flying Dutchmen" depending on your age.  

 

 

 

DON'T FORGET:   The first annual YouGabSports Festivus Awards.  I'm still looking for nominations for the Gab Cups and the Sleestaks.  Next week's Roundtable will be the unveiling of the nominees.  Make sure you get your voice heard!

 

Have a great weekend folks.  Festivus is only a few weeks away!