Kyle and I share our week 15 bets
What’s it like being a Lions’ fan? It sucks! It flipping sucks! And yesterday was a prime example why!
Lions’ quarterback Jared Goff orchestrated a great 4:21 drive to hit a field goal that gave the Lions a 17-16 lead. The Ravens then got the ball back with little over a minute remaining. The Lions got the Ravens into a 4th and 19 but Lamar Jackson found Sammie Watkins for a 36 yard pass to give the Ravens a first down with 7 seconds remaining. Jackson spiked the ball setting up a 2nd down from the Lions 48. The next play Jackson hiked the ball but threw the ball away, setting up a Justin Tucker field goal that bounced off the bottom of the upright to bounce in and give the Ravens a 19-17 win. The issue however was there wasn’t one, wasn’t two, but three penalties committed by the Ravens the play before. The officials missed the Ravens’ delay of game penalty, missed the false start by the left guard, and finally didn’t call the intentional grounding on Jackson’s incomplete pass…yet another example of the officials of the NFL screwing the Lions. This is added to the laundry list of times the officials have screwed the Lions out of a win. And it’s at the point where something needs to happen about it.
What I wish happens today is when Dan Campbell takes the podium to address the media he says we got an apology from the NFL saying they missed a couple calls at the end of game. Than Campbell takes a piece of paper, wads it up, and throws it straight ahead and tells the NFL to take this apology and shove it. Then walks off the stage. Then Martha Ford walks on the stage and says enough is enough, the Ford company will have zero to do with the NFL until something is changed with the officials year after year screwing the Lions out of wins. The Ford organization demands that official Scott Novak be fined and suspended for missing 3 calls on the same play, that cost the Lions the game. I know that will never happen. But it’s something that dramatic needs to happen to stop the Lions getting screwed by the NFL.
End of the day I’m just a Lions fan who’s sick of losing games because of NFL officials.
Where were you? I was on the tennis court, and my phone began to go crazy. Is my phone going crazy on a college basketball Sunday unexpected? No, but the person I was playing with, their phone started to go crazy too. I picked up my phone and I had messages saying “OMG did you hear?” “I can’t believe it!” “Crazy” I was confused, looking through the messages. I then got the notification that Kobe Bryant had died in a plane crash. I was in shock...I was in shock so much that I dropped my phone to the ground. I looked at the person I was with and they were in just as much shock as I was. I couldn’t believe that Kobe was gone, I also couldn’t believe that a passing of someone that I personally didn’t know, someone I had seen in person twice play basketball was having this effect on me. We decided that neither one of us wanted to play tennis that day and left the court.
When I look back at the career of Kobe….5 time NBA Champion, 2 time NBA Finals MVP, One MVP, 18 time NBA All Star, 4 time NBA All Star Game MVP, 11 time All NBA First Team, 2 time All NBA Second Team, and 2 time All NBA Third Team...you can clearly see that he’s one of the best players to ever play the game, and let's face it if he was still here he would tell you that he is the best to ever play the game. But one of the things that made Kobe different was his willingness to help other players become good. One of the stories that someone told me was their kid was playing a soccer game, and Kobe was the coach of the other team. After the game Kobe went over and talked to the girls on the opposing team and told each of them something that they did well. Can you name another NBA Hall of Fame player that will do that? Because I can’t! That was the type of person Kobe was.
When Kobe retired he was rarely seen around the game of basketball... the only time you saw him at a Los Angeles Lakers game was when they retired his number. He didn’t want anything to do with the game of basketball. But then his daughter Gianna aka Giggi started asking him questions about the game. She pulled him back into the game, and Kobe eventually founded team Mamba. Kobe was coaching a 12 year old AAU team...name another Hall of Fame player that is considered one of the greatest of all time that would do that. In an interview with Slam, Kobe said “I have them until they are in college, so I have a six year plan on how to teach them the game of basketball” Honestly let that sit in for a second. That quote blows my mind and speaks volumes about the type of person Kobe was after he retired. Kobe was having positive effects on people's lives.
But sadly I’m thinking about those lives that he won’t affect now. His daughter Giggi was on the path to become one of the greatest women's basketball players of all time, and she was only 13 when she passed away in the same helicopter crash. She was going to inspire a whole group of young athletes the same way her father did. With Giggi’s basketball talent and Kobe (who spoke high praise of women's sports) they were going to help have the WNBA reach heights that it could only dream of. Thinking about all those little kids that won’t see Giggi on the court, is sad. Plus all those girls that were on the AAU team, and Kobe won’t be able to teach those girls the game of basketball, and what it takes to be the best. In that same Slam interview one of the parents said our girls are playing basketball 7 days a week and in the summer they are doing two sessions a day, which seems crazy, and Kobe replied well you want to be best don’t you. That’s the teaching that is lost to those kids, and that’s sad.
As I sit here at my desk looking at my Mamba Mentality canvas, I’m thinking about the effect Kobe has had on my life. The Mamba Mentality is a reminder to not half ass anything for me, to try and improve to learn your craft. To be the best and to push yourself, but more importantly to pick yourself up when you fall down. I wake up at 4 everyday, why? Because of Kobe, how crazy does that sound? Kobe said by getting up early and working on his game, when others sleep, that’s helping him get ahead and stay ahead of the competition. When I wake up and crunch numbers for betting, fantasy football, horse racing or whatever, that’s why, because I want to be the best at it, and stay the best at it. It’s crazy that someone I’ve never met, someone who didn’t even play for my favorite team...in fact he shot down a trade to the Detroit Pistons, can have that effect on my life. My screen saver on my phone for years has been the Kobe quote “If you’re afraid to fail, then you are probably going to fail.” And that’s the quote I think about when attacking life or thinking about taking a chance on something.
Well it was only a matter time, and yesterday was the day it was announced.....the Detroit Lions and quarterback Matthew Stafford have agreed to part ways. Stafford was the first round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2009...ever since then he’s been the face of the franchise. In Stafford’s time in Detroit he’s taken the Lions to the playoff 3 times…now I know some of you are thinking that’s awful, but that’s more then any other quarterback had done in the history of the Lions. Plus let’s not forget the 2014 playoff game when the officials completely screwed the Lions. Pass interference was called, the ball was moved, then the game was stopped and the flag was picked up. Even if the officials had changed their mind about the pass inference, Dez Bryant ran on to the field from the sidelines, and that should have been a 15 yard penalty.
One of the first plays that endeared Stafford to Lions’ fans was agianst the Browns when he was sacked, separating his shoulder, but there was a pass interference in the end zone....meaning the Lions had the ball on the one yard line. Stafford was helped off the field but the Browns called timeout allowing Stafford to be able to come back into the game. Stafford with a sperated shoulder came
in and threw a touchdown pass to win the game.
But after years of disappointment Stafford has finally had enough, and frankly I don’t blame him. The Lions wasted Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders’ careers, and they were doing the same with Stafford. Wherever Stafford ends up he will finally show the rest of the league how good he is.
Thanks for the ride number 9, it’s been a hell of a run.
Why is being a Lions fan frustrating? Lions embarrassed the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-16 taking their record to 2-3. So as a fan you look at their schedule and see that they have Falcons, Colts, Vikings, Football team, Panthers, and Texans in their next six games. That’s one game against a team with a winning record (Colts at home), one game against a team with a 500 record (Panthers), and 4 games against teams with losing records. Now your head starts spinning....if they go 4-2 they will be 6-5 going into December, or 5-1 will be 7-4 going into December and they have a shot at the playoffs. Yes PLAYOFFS!!!! After blowing double digit leads vs the Bears, Packers, and Saints and losing all 3, me yelling for coach Matt Patricia’s job and I’m thinking playoffs? Yup that’s right! Then the mind starts spinning even more....De’Andre Swift ran for 116 yards and 2 tds, maybe we do have a number one running back? Are we finally going to be a balanced offense and not rely on football god Matthew Stafford to carry us?
Now let’s fast forward to next Sunday. After a week of talking shit to everyone that the Lions are going to make the playoffs, wearing a different Lions shirt everyday, and ordering a new De’Andre Swift jersey, I’m sitting on my couch with a half drank bottle of Wild Turkey next to me thinking how the hell the Lions blew a 14 point lead to the Falcons and realizing that we aren’t going to make the playoffs, and going to have to hire a new GM, coach and start over. That my friends is why it’s frustrating being a Lions fan.
Everyone in my age group grew up with baseball being America’s pastime. The memories I have of going to Tiger Stadium growing up are great. I remember fighting with people for home run balls, getting to the stadium early to watch batting practice and trying to get autographs. When you grow up you start to notice more things, that as a child you turned a blind eye on. Now being an adult, I can see that America’s pastime is dying a slow death, and the powers to be in baseball don’t think they are, and aren’t doing anything to change their ways. We’ve all known that person who is stuck in his way and doesn’t want any help. That is Major League Baseball.
Major League Baseball had a chance to start early and be the only major sport going in the USA. But greed can be a huge root of evil. And because of greed, the MLB hasn’t started. March 16th, the MLB announced that the 2020 regular season would be postponed. The MLB commissioner announced that the season would start around the beginning of July, and games would be added to end of the existing regular season calendar to get a full season in. Now let’s think of that...Why? Baseball already plays 162 game season which is way too long. Starting the season late, playing the 162 games, means your playoff games are now in November. Let’s be real, if someone has a chance to watch college football/NFL or baseball, what will they watch? So, by starting the season late and playing 162 games you will take fans away from the sport. So that not happening was probably a blessing in disguise.
On March 27th, MLB is still hoping to play a 140-game season, but doesn’t want to play in an empty arena. Empty arena? That’s what MLB was concerned about? Did they not realize that all of us are dying for sports on TV? Yes, you lose the ticket sale, food, parking, and merchandising revenue. But on the flip side the owners wouldn’t be spending as much money. They wouldn’t have the food cost, the cost of security and what not. So, the overhead cost would drop.
April 10th MLB is reportedly considering using spring training facilities in Florida and Arizona. I know someone who works for an MLB team and this had legs. The issues were that it rains so much in Florida it would be hard to get all the games in, and the heat in Arizona during the day would force games to be played at night. Then it was they were going to play in Arizona...but that would take out the east coast TV market. Then on April 20th, MLB was considering breaking into 3 divisions with games being played in Arizona. Florida, and Texas. This was giving me hope that they would get on the field.
But sadly, they aren’t on the field yet because of greed. Owners and players both want money. They keep rejecting the others’ proposal. So, greed is a big issue that MLB is having, with both sides wanting their cheddar. Honestly, the CBA is up in 2021 and the players should have taken a hit this year and used that when negotiating for a contract next year.
NBA markets Lebron James, NFL markets Tom Brady. So, they market the sport’s top stars. Why doesn’t the MLB do that? That’s a huge issue right now and a common-sense issue that MLB could easily solve. Mike Trout is the best player in the MLB and one of the true greats to play the game and the MLB does nothing to promote him. They are truly missing the boat by not using him to draw fans into the game. More importantly they are losing that young boy seeing Trout play and inspiring him to start the game of baseball. According to Little League International participation in Little League has declined 1-3 percent for the last 18 years. One of those kids who isn’t playing could be the next star of the game. Losing kids to not playing means baseball is dying a slow death. Using Trout and promoting him will help draw those kids back into the game.
Another issue is the cheating. The Astros cheated their way to a World Series championship stealing signs, and wearing electric monitors that told players what pitch was coming. I honestly felt that MLB missed the boat by not dropping a bigger punishment down on the Astros. You have to think about it, the same way as when you punish a kid. If the punishment isn’t that severe then the kid will do it again. The Astros punishment wasn’t that bad so of course teams will cheat again. The punishment they gave the Red Sox was even weaker than the Astros punishment. Then look at the steroid usage, and the performance enhancing drugs, that helps players set records. Personally, I feel that players who used drugs shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame and their pension should take a hit. If you want to nip drug usage in the butt have the punishment affect someone’s pension. They will stop using it for sure...nothing affects someone more than taking away their money.
Football gets an awful rep for player safety. What about baseball? In baseball a pitcher can throw a ball at someone because they broke one of baseball’s unwritten rules. Think about that.... if you or I went in the streets, took a ball and threw it at someone’s head what would happen to us? We would get charged with assault. In MLB nothing happens and it’s considered part of the game. MLB needs to get away with throwing pitches at players. I get it, sometimes a pitch will get away from someone. But you can tell when someone is throwing at someone, and that person should be punished.
Lastly pace of play. NFL and MLB average 3 hours for a game, but the pace of the game is different when watching. Something has to give, to speed up the game. In this time of technology, you need action to keep the fans engaged. NFL does that, MLB doesn’t
MLB season should be 3 months in now, but it’s not because of the COVID19 pandemic. During the down time , do you think MLB is trying to solve the problems that it’s having? MLB is thinking about money short term and that’s going to affect the money flow in the future. Sadly, it wouldn’t surprise me that in 30 years MLB wouldn’t be around.
With quarantine coming to an end in the Chicagoland area (hopefully), I decided to take a look back on my time during lockdown and see what I learned.
1. I’m not that good at video games anymore. The last video game system that I owned was a XBOX360. Cleaning one day I found it and decided to fire it up. To my shock it actually worked. I found NCAA10 and decided to start a season with the University of Vanderbilt. I finished the season a disappointing 3-9!!! The last time I played that game I won 3 National Championships in 4 years when playing as CMU. So, my skills had gotten way worse.
2. I will never take a Wednesday night Marlins/Orioles game for granted again. Sports as all of you can tell is my life. It’s how I make my money with the betting, fantasy sports, and providing my betting service to all of you. When my dad retired he told me that without work you lose what day of the week it is. I now fully understand that comment.
3. I don’t need a gym. I work out every day, some would say that I overtrain. When I got the message from Heather that the gym was closing I was like,....what the fuck do I do now? Well I’ve had the DDP yoga app for a while now, and decided to do that twice a day. The improvements in my strength, balance, flexibility and no more hip pain is amazing. I also took up running outside, and to my surprise it’s way better than I thought it would be. I doubt that I will rejoin Xsport once it opens back up.
4. When COVID19 hit I was shocked by the people that were messaging me asking how my family and I were doing. On the flip side of that I was shocked by the people that I thought would check in on me who didn’t. Oh well, guess I know who’s not making the Christmas card cut this year
5. If my brother tells me to watch a show, I watch the show. When this COVID19 hit my brother told me to watch this show called Banshee that was on Cinemax, and now streaming on Amazon Prime. I went into the show with a low bar and holy shit it was amazing.....About an ex con who impersonates a Sherriff. Good watch!
6. I need to clean under my bed more. I hate cleaning! I mean hate!!! And like everyone I have a ton of stuff under my bed. So, I decided to clean it. When cleaning I found stuff that belong to ex-girlfriends, clothing I thought that was lost, two one-hundred-dollar visa gift cards, and the prize jewel UNC Jordan basketball shorts!!!
7. I need a schedule to function. Before the quarantine I had a schedule but it changed from day to day. The night before I would look and figure when my downtime was and plan what to do during that time. When the quarantine hit I tried the.... do whatever, and wing the day ....and I got nothing done.
8. The kid still has it in the stock market game. I played the stock market years ago, flipping stocks buying low and selling high. But being busy during the day I wasn’t in front of a computer to do that . This quarantine time has allowed me time to do that, which has greatly helped my retirement fund.
9. The brewery next to me has half price growlers on Tuesday! I’ve lived in this town since graduating from college, and have spent many late nights, first dates, and afternoons drinking with friends at this brewery, and I had no clue. Needless to say, I’ve become a regular on Tuesday’s for curbside pickup of growlers.
10. Tough times don’t last, tough people do. This is the phrase that was told to me by my grandma and my parents when growing up. When COVID19 hit I saw a lot of people losing it, and worrying. I started planning and bettering myself. I figured everyone always says if I only had time, I would do X, Y and Z. Well that’s what I did.
11. I SUCK at lower level horse racing tracks. I usually take Monday and Tuesday off from playing the ponies, but with the quarantine, and no sports I decided to play the lower tracks and OMG, I suck. I need to stay with the bigger tracks
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