I Am Quitting the NFL

Regular readers of Burbania Posts will know that there was a time when I watched a whole lot of football.  I even religiously tuned in to the 24-hour infomercial that is the NFL Network. I wrote about it here (check out the sports pages in my archives).  I made predictions.  The first Sunday of our church year is called "Kickoff Sunday" partly because we are kicking off the new year...and partly because the new season begins that afternoon.  The point is, I was almost a super fan.  The only thing keeping me back was that I couldn't bring myself to engage in the frightening debates at the bottom of the "comments" section on NFL.com.

I got into it in a roundabout way.  I live in a place where baseball remained king for longer than anywhere else (Go Red Sox!). It was as a youngish adult that I turned to the fandom of professional football. It began by hanging out with the Phys. Ed. majors in my dorm. I embraced it with the zeal of a convert. That is coming to an end now. 

In fact, the end began a few years ago with the slow erosion of my trust in the institution of the NFL.  I don't think I have to go into details, do I?  There were a number of ill-conceived labor disputes culminating in the absolutely ridiculous lock-out of the referees.  I took a break then, because I don't cross picket lines, even TV ones.  Then there were the revelations around concussions.  Perhaps most importantly, I (and others) had the creeping suspicion that the league and it's owners didn't particularly care about the health of players and former players as much as they cared about message control.    About a third of the way through last year's season, I turned off the TV and didn't return until the Super Bowl.

"Protect the Shield" is the unofficial slogan of Commissioner Roger Goodell and it has made him very popular among his employers.  The league does its best to project an image that is as pure and wholesome as eating apple pie at a church social, but reality keeps sneaking in.  Do I need to mention that racial slur used as a "mascot" in our nation's capitol?  The league keeps saying that it is respectful--even an honorific--to Native Americans even though pretty much everyone they aren't paying says it isn't.  This week we get to hear that there are new rules around players committing acts of domestic violence.  Why?  Because the league just discovered that most fans view it as more heinous a crime than smoking pot.  The two-game suspension of Ray Rice seems a bit too much like the punishment parents give out to kids when they secretly think their child can do no wrong.  What world do they live in?  Protect the shield.  Always make sure the money keeps rolling in.  That is their world.

Here is what I saw before I turned off the TV.  In earlier times I had seen a pleasant diversion, an interesting metaphor for the struggle of life, even a certain regional pride as I watched my home team.  In that last game, though, something was different. I saw a wealthy old billionaire high-fiving his billionaire friends while his employees permanently damaged their heads, spines, legs and backs in pursuit of...something.  On the sideline was the caricature of the sort of horrible, screaming, obscene middle-aged suburban dad most of us try not to become at youth sporting events.  I asked myself if I wanted to be the sort of person who condones this.  The answer, it turned out, was "no".  

Look, I am not anti-football per se.  You will see me at the annual high school Thanksgiving game and maybe at a couple more.  What I am is anti-NFL, at least in its current incarnation.  The game has problems.  It has really, really big problems that trickle down to that high school field and need to be addressed in an open, honest, forthright manner.  No pretending.  No fakes.  Deal with the issues and I will come back.  Don't and I won't.  I can go outdoors and spend time with my family on Sunday afternoons.  I am quitting the NFL.

Back in Time for Kickoff

Yesterday was the first day of school for the boys.  Each one goes to a different institution.  Each one has a different schedule.  Two of the schools were new to us.  One of them is in the town next door.  Not surprisingly, they all survived and returned home with much to share.  Church is starting up, too.  Also, the first grader and I noticed the change in the air and the falling of some small leaves on our walk to school.  For many of us it is time to get to work in earnest, to put away the thoughts of vacation (OK...after the long weekend) and figure out what our year will bring.

For me the fall brings quite a bit along with it.  Much of it is good.  Still, I found myself looking up articles on stress amongst middle-aged suburbanites today.  There is at least one sermon on the subject, I think.  I have no idea when I will be able to get to it though...

What I want to talk about now, however, is one of the great distractions for us this time of year.  On September 9 we at Eliot Church will celebrate "Kickoff Sunday" and so will the NFL.  For us it means a return to Sunday School and the "regular" worship format.  More folks will be around reconnecting and making new friends.  It will be great to see everybody.  For the NFL it means that they will resume beating on each other in pursuit of points.

We have a tradition around this event here at Burbania Posts.  Each year I make predictions for four divisions of the NFL.  For fans and scholars of the sport, they are meant for mild entertainment.  For others it is a ministry.  I mean it.  Here is why.  Every year at about this time people start to get invited to social gatherings with people they don't know so well.  Neighbors often fall into this category.  So, too, do your spouse/partner's co-workers.  When this happens you need a "go to" topic that everyone will agree is relatively safe.  Politics is out among strangers or anywhere alcohol is served.  Religion is also out (colleagues).   So we have the weather ("Hot today".... "Yes it is") or sports.  At this point, if you don't know what is going on with baseball there is little hope for you.  Skip to football.

Now, attempting light conversation about the NFL is tricky these days.  It would be foolish not to recognize the landmines of 1) player health, 2) the referee's stike, and 3) Tim Tebow.  The first two are political hot potatoes.  The last is a theological one. 

Briefly my opinion: 1) the NFL is an OSHA violation and they need to shape up.  2) Pay the refs for God's sake.  They do good work and deserve it.  Pre-season judging (with replacements) was largely impressionistic. 3) The problem with Tim Tebow the icon (rather than the person, who seems like a nice sort of guy) is that he is used by some folks as proof that somehow Christians are oppressed in an overwhelmingly Christian country.  I find this annoying.  He isn't being oppressed.  Tebow doesn't play Quarterback because he isn't a very good passer.  In fact, he probably ranks fourth in the New York Metropolitan Area.  The #2 QB of the Giants (David Carr) is probably better than both Tim and Jets starter Mark Sanchez (who is also better than Tim).  People should calm down and let him be an H-back, which I predict he will do brilliantly.

OK, I have gone very long so...without further ado...

The AFC East

Last year I predicted that the Pats would win, followed by the Jets, the Bills, and the Dolphins.  I actually was almost right.  The Dolphins beat out the Bills in the end.  This was a technicality, though.  In reality they had the same sad record of 6-10.

This Year

Once again I am picking the Patriots of New England to win it.  They should be better this year.  Yes, they went to the Super Bowl but--honestly--no one who seriously watched the AFC Championship game can realistically believe that they didn't just get lucky.  In fact, their biggest stroke of luck wasn't sneaking past the Ravens but getting to play the absolutely horrible Tebow-led Broncos the game before.

I am going with the Bills of Buffalo for the second spot.  They have come along nicely this off season, acquiring Mario Williams to shore up the defense and finding other key elements on all sides of the ball (yes, there are three sides).  As long as they can pound away (or even pick away) on offense, their defense will win them games.

The Jets of New Jersey will be third.  This is not because of Tim Tebow.  He will help them win a couple of games against really bad teams and maybe surprise a contender.  Actual QB Mark Sanchez will do the same.  The problem is the rest of the team really isn't much more than loud.

Then (sigh) the Dolphins of Miami.  They will get better as they break in some young players.  This year, though, it just isn't happening for them.

Catch phrase if you get stuck:  "Don't forget about Special Teams!"  No one pays attention to this part of the game but they suspect that students of the game do.  This is good for sage nodding.  You can then follow up with anything.  Remember that in the AFC East it "comes down to Special Teams"...which means kicking and punting, by the way...

Now my advice is to memorize what I have written and pretend these brilliant insights are your own.  You will thank me later when your spouse's co-worker's husband runs out of things to say about meteorology.

The Hot Stove and Ezra Stiles Gannett

One of the more exhilarating things about March is that the "free agency period" for both professional football and the liberal church occur at the very same time.  For one, I follow NFL.com and boy, has it been interesting.  There were many big moves.  Some of them will no doubt look like acts of brilliance this time next year.  Others will be head scratchers.  For the comings and going of my colleagues--at least in the UUA--I check out the Hot Stove Report on Facebook.  The Hot Stove is followed mostly by clergy and search committees and--now after a few years--former search committee members.  Links will be provided below.

One thing that I see during this period for both groups is a certain mentality of high expectations and big dreams.  In a way this is good.  It makes churches and teams look closely at who they are and who they want to be.  It makes ministers and players think in similar terms.  The purpose, after all, is a good match.  In both cases not just any person will do.  A minister--like a football player--has to fit in to the system and the culture.  It is not just a case of getting the very best or the most popular person because each organization's "best" is different.  Sometimes folks realize this.  There are very good personnel people and search committees in both the NFL and the UUA.  Sometimes, though, they don't.  The pastor may have an imperfect or unrealistic understanding of his or her abilities.  The church leadership (in search or not) sees greener grass elsewhere.  Whether this gap can be bridged is one of the challenges of being in relationship over time.

These days, too, there is a tendency to try to quantify and measure tasks that are unmeasurable.  There is a sense in which pastoring and playing are arts They naturally defy easy description.  Still the folks doing the hiring often haven't done the work, themselves (interestingly it is becoming less common in the NFL for coaches to do the hiring and opportunities to have a clergy person on a search or personnel committee are rare).  They may want to focus on those skills that help them in their own jobs (transferable or not) or break things down into seemingly more controllable tasks and pieces.

Why do they do this?  I think it is because they--search committees of both stripes and stakeholders in general--are tense.  It takes courage to step away from the bullet points and statistics and take the leap based on those "intangibles".  This is why during the recent Payton Manning sweepstakes two teams--the Broncos and the 49ers--tried to hire him even though their own quarterbacks had taken their teams to the playoffs.  Alex Smith--who came within a few feet of the Super Bowl--got to keep his job because Tim Tebow's Broncos got Manning.  Tebow has gone to New York.  Smith has stayed in San Francisco and a relationship now needs fixing. 

Meanwhile,  there is no clear evidence that Manning will be the player he was with the Colts.  Different teams have different systems and different cultures.  Yes, by the way,  this chasing after celebrity happens in churches, too.

Churches in search, of course, have a luxury that football teams do not.  They can take another interim year.  There seems to be quite a bit of this going on right now.  Ministers I know have also turned down offers for congregations that--while perfectly fine for someone else--just wouldn't work for them. It is a good, thoughtful move when this happens.  That said, my heart goes out to the people and congregations that have made this choice. Now there is yet another year of uncertainty ahead. 

So for these folks I am posting a brief paragraph about the ministry from the Rev. Ezra Stiles Gannett.  He was quite the lion of Unitarianism in his day.  It should be said, though, that he comes from the tightly-wrapped, often-ill, self-recriminating branch of my profession.  A kind and brilliant man who rarely cut himself any slack.  It is a branch that many of my colleagues are familiar with, so understand that he writes with experience to us today from back in 1839.

All ministers were not made for the same kind of work.  Each holds the ministry according as he [or she, it was 1839 after all] has received mercy.  One loves study, another action; one is of a logical turn of mind, another feels the truth which he cannot reason out; one will touch and subdue his hearers on Sunday, another's powers of persuasion must be exercised in private...Now what can be more absurd than to place all these different capacities of usefulness upon one Procrustes' bed, and stretch and lop until they are all brought to what is considered the standard of  ministerial service!  ...

I have known so much needless suffering to be endured by ministers, and so much unjust comparison to be instituted by the people, that I am the more anxious to expose the error of imagining that there is only one road of professional success; that what one person does well another can and ought to do equally well.  Hence the impatience of a congregation when they hear a better preacher than their own, forgetful of the influence which he exerts in private....We cannot all be alike.  Our success must lie in different lines of usefulness.  It is through a variety of endowments, and, therefore of exercises, that the church must be benefited.  "As every man hath received the gift," says the apostle, "even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold"--mark the word!--"the manifold grace of  God."


Here are links to the NFL
And the Hot Stove Report

My prayers are with those colleagues and churches in transition.  Good luck and God speed.

Thanksgiving Dinner Will be at 4:15

You must eat Thanksgiving Dinner dinner after 4:15pm.

Why?  Well the reason should be obvious but I will help you.  You see, tomorrow there will be a wide variety of individuals sitting down together to that festival of over-abundance known as the Thanksgiving meal, right? If you are fortunate, some of these folks will be people you know and love.  Others will be people you just know.  Others are spouses and dates of your cousins and siblings and, really, you just hope they fit in.  Well, have you ever wondered where the folks in the last groups go before and after dinner?  In enlightened households they watch football.

Yes, I know, togetherness blah, blah family blah blah.  However, on Thanksgiving Day we ask these poor folks to sit through 4-8 hours of over sharing, gossip about people they don't know, and (if they are potential permanent family members) silent yet obvious judgement.  Of course, there will be the relentless one-upmanship as well that will manifest itself as a long, boring, yet oddly intense conversation about things like cranberry sauce. 

There will be those who want to flee.  Let them.

There are people who will need a refuge.  They need a place to unwind and be a tad less festive.  You might know someone like this.  You may be someone like this...even if you don't normally follow the game.  So...hosts, put the TV in a side room near the wine and beer table so they will be out of the way and well fed.  Then, if you don't join 'em yourself (and there will be times you want to), check in on them from time to time.  You will hear them laughing and talking.  They will smile at each other.  It will the be happy no-pressure room. In fact, they will become friends and occasionally come out of their den to check on the rest of you (and to steal appetizers)!

 Simply put, football lubricates the social contract between your dad, your sister's new boyfriend, your cousin's wife and all people like them. Yeah, they watch the game.  Still, that isn't all they do.  There are conversations to be had, after all. This frees you up to do...whatever it is that the non-football watchers do...talk about food?

So what about 4:15?  Well, that is the easy part.  You see, there are three games on Sunday but the most interesting one is first.  The Detroit Lions will host the Green Bay Packers at 12:30pm.  Detroit--who always plays on Thanksgiving--has possibly the best team they have ever had.  Green Bay, however, is even better.  That said, it has also been traditional on this day for the Lions to lose in spectacular fashion.  This year is different.  This year they might win.  The Packers are efficient, lovable football heroes.  Even your slightly aloof more sophisticated-than-thou relations will allow that they enjoy the Packers.  They are a non-profit, after all, in the smallest major-league city in the nation.  The Lions on the other hand are from Detroit and owned by the Ford family.  The Lions are mean, dirty, and profane.  I love Detroit.  I am picking the Lions to win and I will be cheering for them.

At 4:15pm there will be another game.  It features the other traditional T-Day team, the Dallas Cowboys who will be playing the Miami Dolphins.  On Thanksgiving there should be at least one cold-weather team in each game.  Warm-weather teams are an abomination to the sport!  Dallas should win this game, but I dislike them intensely.  Miami has an outside chance of an upset (and I devoutly hope they take that chance) mostly because the Cowboys are over-hyped prima-donnas.  Anyway...4:15 is a good time for Thanksgiving dinner.  The second game will be messy and hard to watch after the first game, which will be a wonder to behold.  Also, your football-watchers will be primed for a break and feeling ready for any social awkwardness during dinner (just don't ask them to pray).

Finally, there is an evening game on NFL Network.  It isn't so much a network as a 24 hour infomercial for the National Football League.  However, if the evening seems to be dragging on (the game starts at 8:20) and you have this exalted station, put the game on.  It should be a good one.  You will have to slog through a bunch of saccharine drek about the two head coaches.  They are brothers.  Get it?  Brothers...playin' football...on Thanksgiving?  Once that is over, though, the game should be very good.  The San Francisco 49ers will be playing the Baltimore Ravens. Both teams are division leaders.  The QB's Alex Smith (SF) and Joe Flacco (BAL) are competent, but both teams rely on defense and a brutal running game to win.  It is football that your ol' grampa would appreciate.  I am picking the Ravens.

So...to Recap...  Lions, Cowboys (please God, no!), Ravens

By the way, if you are feeling a bit out of your element, Thanksgiving is a good day to learn about football.  Those in the know will be eager to help you.  Good topics of conversation involve Aaron Rodgers ("is he as good as (Peyton, not Eli) Manning/ (Bret) Favre"), Ndomukong Suh ("is he mean/dirty/awesome?"), Reggie Bush ("Can he really be an every down back?", Tony Romo ("why Tony Romo?")  The aforementioned coach brothers (the Haurbaughs) and how the Ravens aren't as good without Ray Lewis.

November Simplicities

Late fall has its own aesthetic.  Today, for example, the sky is a unbroken slab of white.  The ground ranges from the dark green of our dead grass to the reddish-brown, yellow-brown, grayish-brown, and plain-old brown of the dead leaves.  There is the black, too, of the cold mud and a haziness to everything.  Even the people are wearing their seasonal earth-tones.

It isn't hard to slip into a contemplative mood when the world looks like this.  Holidays are--in part--an exercise in memory and nostalgia.  Thanksgiving is only a week away and I am remembering the years when we would go down to my grandparents' farm for the holiday.  I worked there most of the summer during high school so many of my memories are of toiling through various agricultural pursuits.  However, our November visit was somewhat more relaxed.  We would show up a day or two early and leave a day or two late with the Christmas tree strapped to the roof of our car.  The last Thanksgiving I celebrated at the farm was when I rushed back from seminary in Chicago.  My grandfather--who was born in the farmhouse--had died there a couple days before.

Maybe this is why I feel the need to be active and outdoors right now.  In those days we would knock around the barnyard or up into the Christmas trees (yes, we sold trees), returning only to shower, throw on a blazer, and eat.  Then we would go outdoors again.  Work, walks, and really sad looking football were the staple of our days.

Today I took the camera out to get some photographs for the church newsletter.  It is a weekly online publication and I like to drop a few pictures in there to make it more interesting.  I walked though the woods along the aqueduct and then over to the non-profit, organic, community farm.  It was nice to be there.  I think I did a good job of not getting in the way.

I captured quite a few images.  For reasons already mentioned, they were mostly inadequate.  They didn't translate well to the flat frame.  I kept trying to catch a picture of the falling leaves.  I have been thinking about them as I continue to drop those things in my life that provide me with undue complication.  I have written about this earlier, but it occurred to me that nature, itself, is releasing that which is unnecessary for these dark days.  It is good to know you are not alone, even if your only companions are trees. 

Of course, no one is ever completely alone in the 'burbs.  I bumped into some church people and their friends on their own explorations.  Also, as I wandered around, a yellow dog attached himself to me and eventually tried to follow me home.  When I brought him back to the farm I was reminded of the fact that--sometimes--the things that attach themselves to you--like goofy dogs--are OK.

Oh...and goats, too...

Here is the link to the earlier post I mentioned...

Occupy Burbania II

I have been pretty pleased with the state of our young people lately, so I was disappointed to hear about the riot at Penn State.  I have met too many impressive college students and recent graduates--both liberal and conservative--to make any generalizations right now.  That said I am not happy.  Yes Joe Paterno was fired.  Yes he is a famous football coach.  He is also a famous football coach who failed to report a case of sexual abuse and by his silence contributed to a cover-up that has hurt many more children and families.  I'm sorry (but not really).  He had to go.  I hate to think of the message this riot sends to victims of such abuse.  If I didn't know better I would ask if perhaps there was something else kids could be protesting these days.  Of course there is, and they are.

My college professor friends occasionally tell me about all their students who don't quite understand what is going on in the world around them.  They are interested in their careers or dating or sports.  They don't read their assignments much less the newspaper.  Big ideas are lost on them.  I believe these people are real and exist on every campus in the nation.  Penn State is not unique in this.  Still, that is not the whole story.  The pictures in the New York Times yesterday were of Penn State students calling for Paterno's firing.  I assume they still go there today.  Also, I continue to see these folks marching and speaking in other ways much closer to home.

This past weekend we went in to Boston for a couple hours to take part in a march.  We had a good time and I am glad we went.  That said, our experience was the sort that critics of Occupy--particularly those on the left--would recognize.  We went down for an event publicized on the web, both on Facebook and on Occupy Boston's official page.  Apparently it didn't happen.  We ended up hanging out with a few other folks from the 'burbs who had also seen the notice and eventually there were enough of us for a short tour of the financial district.  I would say that we were roughly 100 in number.  That number includes me, my wife, and our three kids, making us 5% of the 99% on that morning.

On our way to lunch afterward we ran into another group of about 100 protesters who apparently checked the MoveOn.org page and started from somewhere else.  There was rumor of another small march somewhere else in town as well.  We never saw them, but it doesn't mean they weren't also there...

I suspect that this will be the norm for while.  It is getting colder.  Life is getting more frantic for those of us with children who also work and live some distance from downtown.  There are problems with winter coming, too.  These smaller marches--at least for now--keep the movement on the minds of many. I think how the Occupy movement adapts will say a great deal about its viability for the future and its ultimate impact on our national discourse.

Part of this adaptation, of course, has been to branch out into surrounding communities.  We had our first "Occupy" meeting on Sunday afternoon.  It was a very suburban affair.  We met in the library.  The regular activists and civic leaders were joined by others interested in the "brand".  There was a reporter from the local paper and a camera from a local TV station.  There was some concern from some folks that there would be an encampment somewhere.  Really it looks like we will be doing more episodic things that give people here a chance to participate without turning their lives upside-down. 

One suggestion I liked was the idea of putting tents and signs on our lawns.  This would keep the movement in the minds of our fellow Burbanians while allowing us the opportunity to utilize our comfy beds.  It is also culturally sound.  We live in separate houses.  Why wouldn't we occupy the 'burbs in a way that is spread out as well?

Either way, the conversation continues.  Last night we had a philosophy group discussion about Henry David Thoreau, Adin Ballou, and their influence on movements like Occupy and the Tea Party.  This worked for us as a way to discuss some the issues we find important.  We will be doing this again (and probably again after that).  Agree or disagree, Occupy has gotten people out here thinking big thoughts.  It is a great feeling. 

Thank you scruffy college students.  Keep up the good work.



Michael Vick, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Second Chances

The Story of Michael Vick is, I think, pretty well known by even non-football fans.  This Sunday he is returning to Atlanta where he first played in the NFL.  It is also the place he left when the bottom fell out and he went to prison.  Now he is a big star again with the Philadelphia Eagles, trying to re-write his place in the world.

Here is a link that I found interesting, both because of the QB in question and because of the church.  It made me think about the life of congregations and the act of forgiveness.  It is apparently in two parts, I have only seen the piece on the left...

The Rest...and More Predictions

OK, it is time for me to decide on the other two divisions to follow this year and the decision is a difficult one.  I have written about this before.  Last year, I chose the AFC West and the NFC West.  As such, I selected the two worst divisions in football.  The NFC West, in particular, was unimpressive.  They managed to produce the first team ever to win their division with a losing record.  That cannot be rewarded.  The only reason to follow the AFC West is to keep tabs on the crazy in Denver where the incumbent Kyle Orton (not brilliant but reliable) may be replaced by Tim Tebow based at least partly on Tebow's evangelical street-cred.  This is interesting in a sociology of religion kind of way...but it feels too much like work.

Also, all the teams were so bad that it was a freefall to the bottom.  That creates a difficult environment for making rational decisions.

Therefore the west is out and they are being replaced by the AFC North and the NFC South.

AFC North

This year, the turbulence for these teams is restricted--for the most part--to the field.  The Pittsburgh Steelers have tended to put the cap on this division, leaving the Baltimore Ravens to fight for a Wild Card spot.  This year we find the Ravens already one game up on the Steelers.  In fact, they beat the Steelers 35-7.  Both these teams are very good, but I do not see Pittsburgh getting ahead of Baltimore.  Besides, I don't like (Steelers QB) Ben Rothlisberger and my mother-in-law lives in Maryland.

The other two teams are...well...really, really bad.  They both play in Ohio, which is all you need to know about them.  However, I do have some other useful information for those awkward social situations I mentioned earlier.  Both teams are in a rebuilding phase and who "wins" third place may very well come down to injuries.  The Cleveland Browns are slightly ahead in the rebuild and their QB, Colt McCoy seems to have that "special something" sports people call "intangibles".   Yeah, I know, he has best sports name since Speed Racer.  Still, I like him.  The Bengals beat the Browns this past Sunday but Colt shouldn't loose any sleep over it.

Predictions

Ravens (Say "hi" to Gramma, kids!)
Steelers (Will get the wild card and "play angry" but will lose to the Ravens...again)
Browns (Because someone has to come in third)
Bengals (They are on a five-year plan to mediocrity.  Let's hope they make it)

For the BBQ No one pays attention to the Browns and Bengals so you are safe making things up about them.  The Browns have the best uniforms in the NFL.  For years they have been trying to get brown to go well with orange. 

Where I come from, one is not allowed to say nice things about the Steelers.  There are reasons for this that a quick google search will get you up to speed on.  If there is a pause in the conversation and it is your turn to talk, you cannot go wrong by saying "well, it is really hard to beat that Raven's defense" at which time someone will say "yeah, and Flacco is no slouch either."  Joe Flacco is Baltimore's QB.  It is true.  He is not a slouch.

Also fun: The Ravens are named after a certain poem by Baltimore's favorite son Edgar Allan Poe...which is awesome and might get some of you on safer conversational ground.

NFC South

I just can't do it...

...There is no reason to pay any more attention to the NFC.  Sure, there are the Saints, who everyone wishes would win another championship game.  There is also the entire NFC East to consider.  However, the Cowboys play in the NFC East and we do not want to encourage them...

So how about...

The AFC South?

This is fun.  These folks have had the unthinkable happen to them.  Peyton Manning, the best Quarterback in football (yes, he truly is) has injured his neck and will not be playing this year.  I personally hope he retires.  No one should risk another neck injury.  I would be unable to watch his games for the potential catastrophe implied in every offensive play.  The absence of Peyton means that the Indianapolis Colts will not win their division this year.

So where does that leave us?  The Houston Texans are the logical choice.  However, I am going with the Jaguars of Jacksonville.  Call it a hunch but I think that their somewhat old-fashioned offense (that means they are a running team) will keep the defense fresh (it takes longer for running teams to score).  Also, they seem to "want it more".  Perhaps this is because they will all be fired at the end of the year if they don't make the playoffs.  I am not making that up! Sure, no one goes to their games and the owners would like to move to LA...but think of the earthquakes!  The Texans are always the next-big-thing.  My bet is that they stay that way.

Wait, there is another team, isn't there?  That would be the Tennessee Titans.  They, too, have a decent running game, but there other parts aren't quite as good.  They lost their coach.  They are rebuilding.  Also, their QB situation is tenuous.  Placeholder Matt Hasselbeck is ancient.  Yes, the Jaguars have a placeholder, too.  But I think Luke McCown is better than people give him credit for.  Yes, I just said that.  If you are feeling brave, you can say that, too.

Predictions:

Jaguars (Surprise!) 
Colts (Contrary to popular belief, they are more than Manning...but they don't make the playoffs)
Texans (Maybe they beat the Colts...)
Titans (Hopefully they don't injure RB Chris Johnson.  They will want him next year)

At the BBQ: It may be best to avoid talking about these folks.  If you absolutely must, remember that the "Jaguars will surprise people this year" and "the Colts are such a finesse team".

There you have it:  three AFC divisions and one from the NFC.  Good luck in all your sacred fall endeavors...

How Could I Forget?  All of New England will curl up in front of the TV tonite for A Football Life: Bill Belichick.  You can too!

First Week Down and Predictions

I realized yesterday that in the list of upcoming posts I forgot an important one: football predictions.  The first week of the season is over and now it is time for me to briefly pontificate on the subject of who is worth talking about during backyard Burbanian cookouts.  This is a service I provide to those of you who don't follow the NFL but still want to be able to make light conversation with the spouses of your own spouse's work friends....and folks at weddings and the like.

Now, I do watch football.  I like its complexity.  I like its larger-than-life elements.  I also like the fact that I have never played it myself, which means I don't have any negative schoolboy baggage to cart around.  Finally (and perhaps the biggest reason) I like it because it is on Sunday afternoons and there are days when all I want to do after church is have a beer and watch 250 lb humans pound the living snot out of each other.  I'm not proud of this, but it's true...

Traditionally, I select four divisions.  This gives me the opportunity to concentrate on the game while also leaving plenty of time for work and family.  Here are the first two divisions I will be profiling.  They are both back from last year because they are quite good and fun to watch...

AFC (American Football Conference) East

As a Patriots fan of long standing, this is my "home division".  I am very fortunate in that it is also the most fun to watch.  There is some turmoil in it right now, but that will sort itself out shortly.  The Patriots are the defending division champs though the Jets (who play in New Jersey) have done better in the playoffs.  The competition between these two teams will be stiff.  Neither has much to complain about.  Basically the Pats have the edge over the Jets when they are playing other teams.  The Jets, however, always play well against the Pats and usually win.  If New England expects to make it to the Super Bowl, they really need to figure out what to do about their division rival.

The other two teams are the Buffalo Bills who have been very bad for a very long time and the Miami Dolphins who have tended to be pretty good, but not good enough in a tough division.  This year you can expect this situation to reverse. 

The Bills defeated a (horrible) Kansas City Chiefs team in the first week.  Somehow, the usually incompetent front office in Buffalo realized that for them doing nothing in the offseason is much better than doing something, so they return with a good coach and a good QB, both acquired by accident in previous years.  The Dolphins on the other hand lost their opener to the Patriots.  Yes, the Pats are a good team, but the crazy-humiliating game had more to do with the poor play of an apparently out of shape defense than with anything else.  Chad Henne (QB) did pretty well as did their new star running back Reggie Bush.  That said, they are using the frail Bush as an every-down back so you can expect him to be injured soon...

Predictions

Patriots (They are just better)
Jets  (I think they will miss the playoffs this year)
Bills (Again, the path of least resistance will pay off)
Dolphins (Management should look at Buffalo's new model)

At the BBQ: You cannot go wrong saying things like "The Pats/Jets are looking good this year".  If you are feeling a tad brave, though, you could say "I think the Bills will surprise some folks".

NFC (National Football Conference) North

OK, these guys will also be close.  The Green Bay Packers  are the reigning NFL champs and the universal darlings of the sports world.  That's nice.  I don't think they will win the division, though.  It could have easily been the Chicago Bears in the big game if not for the injury to their QB Jay Cutler.  Elsewhere in the sports section I discuss said injury which--apparently--some folks feel wasn't serious enough to require his exit from the game.  I think they are wrong.  I feel Cutler will come out of the firestorm stronger.  Also, the balanced offense of the Bears ("balanced offense" means that they run the ball as well as they throw it) will put the division in their grasp once again (they won it last year).

The other two teams are experiencing a changing of the guard not unlike that of the AFC East.  The Minnesota Vikings are coming out of a truly horrendous experience that ultimately culminated in the final days of the Brett Favre story. Newbies will have to google Brett.  I don't have the time to get you up to speed.  Now they have a new coach and a new (to them) QB in Donovan McNabb, who threw for a whopping 39 yards Sunday.  That is really bad.  He will improve.  This has been a weird opener for many players as the prep time was reduced because of the lockout.  Still, I cannot see them defeating the Detroit Lions who are finally getting their acts together.  In fact, the Lions could mess things up for the current champs if the Packers are not too careful...and Lions QB Matthew Stafford stays healthy.

Predictions

Bears (If they stay balanced)
Packers (They will still make the playoffs, though)
Lions (They will also win the Thanksgiving Day game against the Packers)
Vikings (Play in a dome and have the only cheerleaders in the division.  Coincidence?)

At the BBQ   There is plenty of good stuff here already.  However, as a general rule, you could mention how good McNabb can be and question the general strength of his "receiving corps" (ball catchers) and the "offensive line" (the big guys up front).  Also you can start any statement about the Bears with "I know people don't like Cutler, but..." and people will nod sagely.  Actually that works for McNabb, too.  The other two QBs (Rodgers and Stafford) are super-popular prom-kings.

There ya go , my people...good luck this fall!

Update: Apparently the Dolphins fired Benny Sapp, a Cornerback (that's on the defense) basically on the strength of one failed effort on his part.  Here is a link.  It looks like the Dolphins have some serious management issues.

Finally: Here is the link to my defense of the aforementioned Jay Cutler.

Baseball Sunday and Summer Services

It appears that we are reaching that part of the UU Blog cycle when we talk about how churches should really have summer services. Talking about the issue can make us sound a bit like a broken record but--really--that's fine.  It is the sort of annual ritual that never quite reaches adequate resolution. It needs to be brought up again. 

Regular readers of Burbania Posts are, I think, well aware of my position on this.  Summer services in my congregation are used to try out new things.  We turn the smaller attendance and generally more casual atmosphere to our advantage by worshipping in a way that we might not otherwise.  It is fun.

This summer attendance has been higher than usual (though still way below what we expect when school starts back up again).  Maybe our attitude is paying off!  No matter what the reason, our regulars are enjoying themselves and, I think, the visitors are as well. Incidentally, some of my colleagues have mentioned the whole "summer visitor" thing and there is truth in that.  We have had many more this season than in the others.

I was back in the pulpit after a few weeks off.  In spite of that gap, I have been around church a lot this summer.  I have been here enough, in fact, to endorse the importance of having the pastor around even when most everyone else is on vacation.  God doesn't really go to the Cape, after all!  That said, I also believe that people need to have realistic expectations for the season.  In most liberal-to-moderate Burbanian congregations things will be smaller.  Again, this can be taken as a strength.  It is a time for people to learn and adapt, creating something new and different for when the rest of the church returns.

This was "Baseball Sunday" for us as we went from our worship service to Pawtucket, Rhode Island to watch the Red Sox AAA affiliate get destroyed by a team from Syracuse.  That, too, is something that we don't get to do the rest of the year.  It is our second time doing this and we learned from the first.  Reserved seats got us under the stadium roof, for example.  We also gave away our excess tickets to random folks at the gate "Courtesy of the Eliot Church".  They sat with us as well.

Perhaps I will post the "sermon" later.  I have written before about how our summer format is such that the whole service has an integrated "sermonish" feel, so perhaps it won't work all that well.  Our readings were from Babe Ruth (about liking pitching for the Sox better than batting for the Yanks), Jackie Robinson (about Hank Greenberg), Walter Johnson (about the 1924 World Series), and Paul.  We sang three hymns, all accompanies by the ukulele, of course.  They were "Abide With Me", Take Me Out to the Ballgame", and "Oh Freedom".  I received some nice comments about how the uke facilitates the singing without being overwhelming.  I also decorated the sanctuary with baseball-themed pictures, books, and such to help with the "immersion" experience.  Maybe next year the PawSox will actually win...

Football Season

So the sports world has been a bit surprised by all the public interest in the NFL since their lockout ended.  I don't know why.  The new contract is the product of many hours of conversation and compromise in light of the current global financial situation.  Neither side chose to paint the other as greedy,  godless and un-American beings bent on destruction of our nation.  Nor did either side choose spectacular capitulation as a negotiating strategy (yeah, you know what I'm taking about).  That meant respectful dialogue, give and take...you know where this is going...

Anyway, so sue me for taking refuge in football prognosticating.  It has been a rough week in many respects and it will get rougher. 

My first installment has to do with the rather tricky subject of division selection.  Regular readers know that I am too lazy to cover the entire league and instead choose two divisions from each conference.  Hopefully, they turn out to be the most interesting.  Last year was a mixed bag, with the AFC East and the NFC North delivering (though in different ways) and the "Wests" (both AFC and NFC) proving their minor league credentials once again.

At this early date, therefore, I have only decided on two divisions.  The other two might get cut...

First the Keepers:

AFC East:  The early storyline here is the arms race betwixt the Jets and the Pats.  Both teams have made key acquisitions in the last couple of days.  Both are viewed as marquee teams likely to challenge for the Super Bowl.  The past few years have seen the Pats win the division and the Jets move ahead of the Pats in the playoffs.  Very exciting stuff.

Of course, there are two other teams.  The Buffalo Bills continue to aggressively pursue a move to Toronto by proving that they could be a reasonable farm team for Toronto's CFL Argonauts.  The other team (Miami Dolphins) has so far decided not to compete much this year either, avoiding any temptation to get a quarterback to play for them (Denver's Kyle Orton being the most obvious upgrade).  They also have taken on Reggie Bush, a high-quality RB when he is well and when he ummm...doesn't carry much.

Players to Watch:  Chad Ochocinco (Pats) and Darelle Revis (Jets)

NFC North  The soap opera the Vikings provided us last year should continue for a while longer until QB Donovan McNabb shows what is "left in the tank".  I am going out on a limb and saying that there is plenty in there.  It will be up to the coaches, though, to scheme in ways that work for him.

The Lions are looking better all the time.  However, they haven't given much thought to the offensive line, so we can expect to see a plethora of QB's this year.  Jay Cutler of the Bears will get his chance to show that he is not the whiner many people think he is.  I never had this opinion of him, actually.  However it seems traditional for Bears fans to despise their QB's.  Why?

Finally there are the Super Bowl defending Packers.  Not a bad lineup of teams and only one (the Vikings) bothers to have cheerleaders.

Players to watch: Donovan McNabb and Jay Cutler

And the other two divisions.

AFC West These teams are traditionally horrible.  There is just some really bad football that gets played by these teams.  The only reason to watch is because of the odd-but-intriguing elevation of Tim Tebow to sainthood in Denver.  If Orton doesn't get traded (he is slightly better than Tebow but doesn't paint bible verses on his eye-black) maybe there will be a QB controversy.  Otherwise the Chargers will likely win the division so no real need to watch.

Of course Tebow could turn out to be good which might pull me back.  However, I am thinking next season will be a break-out year for him.

NFC West Boring....(snore)...

OK, Tavaris Jackson (Seahawks) may turn out to be interesting...

Links:

Here is a link to my post about Cutler and the Myth of Toughness

And the Argos

Interesting Link: Michael Irvin in Out Magazine

Today is the day I do the work of getting together the order of service for Sunday.  I also need to start thinking about the sermon, itself.  Thanks to my "Church Musician" status, this process has become a bit long and involved.  Therefore, I have little time to write today.

I do have an interesting link for you though.  Michael Irvin will need no introduction to football fans.  During his playing days he was a larger-than life character and stereotypical sports "bad boy".  Now as an announcer, he retains a bit of that charm.  This month he is on the cover of Out magazine talking about his brother who was gay, the pressures he felt around issues of sexuality throughout his career as a football player, and about his current position on gay marriage, among other things.  Religion geeks might be interested in knowing that he is the son of a Primitive Baptist pastor and is now a member of TD Jakes' congregation.

He also speculates about how an openly gay athlete would fare in any of the big leagues.  It turns out, he is optimistic. 

For what it is worth, Irvin is now a respected elder statesman in his world.  What he says hold a great deal of weight to many.  You may want to read it...

Here it is.

A Community in Transition

Every community changes...constantly.  Just as with any living thing, there are endless adjustments.  There are moments of birth, of growth, and of death.  Every era in an organization comes into being, cycles through its life, and then moves on.  However, there are times when astute observers notice previously unseen changes in a system and are then able to see other shifts that are no doubt on their way.  We are only human, after all.  Many times a change that seems sudden is really a long time in the making.

Consider the National Football League, for example.  Changes are coming soon.  The economy has altered the playing field.  Its major actors have as well.  There are new safety rules.  There are new issues around competitiveness.  There are, of course, issues around compensation.  This past week the owner-enforced lockout was briefly lifted.  Then darkness came again as the the league filed an appeal and was granted a "stay".  This conflict didn't happen overnight.  It comes from years of record profits and the final pressure to find new ways to share them. It gets increasingly difficult, I believe, for the owners to cast themselves as victims.  However, perhaps when you are that privileged, it is hard not to see yourself as snubbed and oppressed by all around you.  Those cruel, cruel, baristas didn't get your coffee right this morning, Mr. Kraft.  You deserve a better coffee and a nation weeps with you...

Far away (but not far enough, sadly) from the board room, actual teams are in transition.  The draft wrapped up and (someday) there will be free agency, retirements, and such that will remake teams and cultures.  These changes will determine the future success of these organizations.  I am talking football here, but feel free to insert your own organization.  In many ways we are all the same.

One team in transition is Mr. Kraft's New England Patriots.  This is clear from the draft news.  The Pats picked players to fill important holes and maintain their perennial contender status.  They first chose an Offensive Tackle.  This is no surprise.  Next came a Cornerback.  This is...a bit.  Last year's big draft acquisition was a corner, too.  The backfield, it appears, will become a strength next year.

Then things got a little odd for a while.  They drafted two Running Backs, Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley, who possess complimentary skills.  Then they picked a Quarterback, Ryan Mallet.  Remember what I said about noticing changes that have already occurred and planning for ones that will come soon?  Well, here you are.  Sometimes the changes we recognize aren't always that welcome are they?  Even if everything turns out OK in the end.

Let's start with the Running Backs.  What change did the team recognize?  For years the Pats have had a backfield committee, led not by their ostensible starter (or "premier" back) but by the consistent third-down, change-of-pace presence of Kevin Faulk.  Faulk is in his late thirties, which in RB years in like your late 90's.  His committee includes a couple of other  grey and grizzled old guys, Sammy Morris and Fred Taylor.  They are some of the most popular Patriots on the current team. Faulk is one of the most popular ever. 

When Faulk was lost for the season early last year, the fan-base went into mourning.  Others stepped up, of course, and things went on.  Now change has come in the form of younger legs.  At least two of the old guys will probably have to leave the team.  It is quite possible that all three of them will retire together.  I hope that it is a good departure.  When Faulk leaves (either this year or next), the only player on the roster to have participated in all four Belichick-era Super Bowls will be Tom Brady.  That is organizational change.

Speaking of Brady.  That Ryan Mallet is no normal third round QB.  He dropped on draft day because of "character issues".  Do not doubt for a moment that he is a contender.  No, Mallet won't be replacing Brady soon, but he is a real presence and will influence the narrative from now on.  He is very good.  Interestingly, during the draft more than one analyst described Mallet's game as being like that of the man Brady replaced, Drew Bledsoe.
This is Tom's first time as the old guy fighting off the youngster.  All his other backups have been just that (Matt Cassel was a surprise).  I wonder how he will handle it?  Organizational change, after all, often reflects of brings about personal change.  Bledsoe did as well as anyone in this situation so there is at least one example of moving on gracefully.  Bledsoe--a huge star in his day who led the Pats to a Super Bowl against Brett Favre's Packers--saw his demotion as a time to start planning for the future.  He started for five more years on lesser teams (Bills and Cowboys) and then retired to make wine and roast coffee.  He wanted to be near his family.  Now his only football connection is coaching his son's Pee Wee team...the Patriots.

The Bledsoe story is a telling one in this case, actually.  Brady is quoted as saying that he plans to play the next ten years.  He didn't say that they would be with the Pats.  Brady is not the young man who rose to prominence so many years ago.  He is now a husband and father.  He is also a supermodel (and, yes, married to one).  Boston isn't big in the supermodelling world.  At some point he will want to be with his family in California doing celebrity things, maybe shilling his buddy Drew's wine.  The Bay Area teams stink.  He could end up playing there for a few years while getting ready for his new life.

Change is coming.  It is coming to football teams, to billionaire owners, and it is coming to you and me.  Maybe your changes don't quite fit with my examples.  That's not much of a surprise.  We don't really live in a sports metaphor do we? Still,  how we deal with change is important.  Does it crush us?  Are we unable to let go?  Or do we move with as much grace as we can muster into new arenas?  Brady, Faulk, and all the rest of us need to ask ourselves at times whether we want to be like Drew Bledsoe or like Brett Favre.  Really, its not that hard a choice.

Oh...and vote for Drew Bledsoe for Patriot's Hall of Fame.  You don't want Parcells to get in on his first year of eligibility, do you?

James Joyce and Feats of Athletic Prowess

I always thought of Joyce as more of a sedentary creature.  You know what I mean?  I picture him drinking, smoking, and writing...perhaps sleeping when he must.  Still, this doesn't seem to faze the folks at the "James Joyce Ramble" in Dedham, MA.  Apparently it all somehow makes sense to honor Joyce while hosting a 6.2 mile race to raise money for Dana-Farber and Amnesty International.  This year my wife was running.  So I went and took pictures.

The mixed themes were embodied by the participants in the final product.  The race--which is certified as a qualifying race by some officiating body--was dominated by a group of truly fast people.  After them came the normally fast folks out for a good healthy competition.  Then there were walkers, going from station to station while enactors (the fourth group) read selections from Joyce's most important works.  Everyone had a good time, I think.  The distribution of folks, however, was still interesting.  One of the readers used sports metaphors to describe the reader-culture.  The "rookies," for example, are always stuck with Finnegan's Wake to see if they have enough stuff for the next year. 

It was this particular work that inspired the original founding of the race.  Back in the eighties, someone thought that since reading Joyce is such a workout, it went well with running.  Yeah...really.  That is the official explanation.  The race's mission statement reads, "Running is an expression of freedom and poetry, both of which embrace the deepest values of life.  The Ramble embraces these values as an expression of charity, a plea for human rights and a celebration of art."

While waiting for our wife and mother to run by, the kid's and I listened to this woman...

...read from Finnegan's Wake and this man...

...read from Dubliners in front of this house...

...which has serious structural issues but is the oldest house in Dedham and the ancestral home of some Vice-President.  Then she ran by...

...(clearly the happiest runner in the picture) and then we went home.

Astute readers will recall that yesterday was a Sunday.  I am back on sabbatical for one more month.  One of the great things about sabbatical is that we get to do things we cannot normally do.  My wife likes to run races.  Since so many races are on Sundays (a good day for non-clergy families), usually her options are limited by my need to be in church.  It was fun to be able to do this. 

Perhaps today I will go and make a Joyce purchase.  I loved Dubliners but--sadly--that is where my reading ends.

Incidentally her time was excellent.  Boasting is OK...right?

Hops. Meadville. Manny.

I took some time out on Good Friday to plant my hop rhizomes in these buckets.  The three clustered together are all Chinook.  Chinook is a rather feisty high-alpha (bitter) hop used by some American brewers to make themselves feel manly.  However, it also has a rather pleasant flavor and aroma...and they are supposed to be fairly good growers.  Next to them is the Kent Goldings rhizome.  I am not sure I can still call it that.  The word "Kent" in this context is in reference to where it was grown originally (County Kent, England, UK).  It is the classic hop for many of the English-styled ales.  Perhaps it should be called "Parsonage Goldings" now.  Finally, in the big purple bucket, is the Brewer's Gold rhizome.   This one shares characteristics with both of the others.  I will be using it for aroma and flavor in my homebrewed beers.

I will blog more about the hops if they manage to survive.  A couple of the Chinooks were quite dry when I planted them and the others may just fail to thrive in their new homes.  They are in buckets for the simple reason that--as a parsonage dweller--I possess the renter's sense of impermanence.  Also there will be a great deal of work on the house this summer (paint and septic) so the hops need to be more mobile than other plants.

Since there isn't much more to say on this subject I have a few (unrelated) links...

The conversation continues around the Meadville/Lombard situation.  There have been additional comments made to the post by Scott Wells.  I am pleased to hear from current students, though the issues seem to have been muddied a bit and combined in a great big--slightly tense--ball.  For example, I really don't think there are too many people who doubt the need to sell property.  It had to be done.  It would be good to move on to more important viability, image, and culture issues.  That said, the background information on why the "TouchPoint" curriculum came into being was much appreciated.

Also, here is a thoughtful piece at Rev. Cyn (Reverend Cynthia Landrum) and some very thoughtful comments that coincide with much of my own experience with M/L.  Though she graduated only a year after me, I did not know her.  I was on a "six year plan" of my own devising.  Still, her impressions of the place ring true for me as well.

Finally, for those of you who follow baseball and are still able to read the New York Times.  Here is a link to a very good story about the brilliant and sometimes troubling Manny Ramirez.  Here also is a link about the attempts of some colleges to get around Title IX

Boston Marathon

There is only one international athletic competition in my town and that is the Boston Marathon.  The marathon winds its way through various municipalities in Burbania before plunging into the city for the big finish.  The boys and I made sure to get up and walk into town in time for the big race, which is still wrapping up and will be for some time.

After grabbing some snacks we made our way to Mile 10 to see the elites run past.  Most of my pictures didn't come out well (sports photography was not a career option).  However, here are some that did...

See?  Mile 10...

The women ran on our side of the street so I got some OK pictures.  The men ran on the other so I only got one even moderately good one...

Hellen Mugo

Desiree Davila...Did she come in second?

I don't know who this is, but she was very fast and near the front...

Someone named Grandt, obviously.  I think she was behind the first group...but not too far behind...

Ryan Hall, Bekana Daba, Geoffrey Mutai, Gilbert Yegon.  I didn't get a good shot of the runners next to Mutai and behind Yegon...anyone?   Mutai went on to win and--I believe--set a new record.  Ten miles is still pretty early in a marathon.

...and Alistair Cragg...great name...he's Irish...

I should note that the marathon is a big party for those of us not running, which is a good thing since we were cut off from home by the race....

A popular local karaoke singer and public access TV celebrity kept us entertained

Matt Carriker, Eliot Church's Assistant Pastor and Birthday-Boy sold snacks to raise funds for the West Virginia WorkCamp trip...

...and...well...some of the runners had a party, too...

I missed taking a picture of the guy in the gorilla suit and also missed all three of the people I went to watch!  Congrats to Rebecca, Luis and Tom!  I hope you had as much fun running the race as I did looking for you...

The Myth of "Toughness"

On Sunday I watched the NFC Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears.  Jay Cutler, the Bears starting Quarterback was pulled out early in the second half in favor of first, Tod Collins and next, Caleb Hanie.  This did not surprise me.  Cutler was clearly injured.  Blood from his throwing arm was staining his uniform, after all.  It turned out, however, that the bigger issue was his knee.  He tore his right MCL and could no longer plant his leg effectively to throw.

You would have thought, to hear the commentators and fans (and later current and former players), that instead of being injured in a football game, he had committed an unforgivable sin.  He had "quit" on his team.  He had failed to show "leadership" by not playing until he was "carted off the field".  More sports cliches were used to similar effect.  Poor confused Brett Favre was brough up repeatedly...as someone worthy of emulation (!).  I, for one, cannot see what the big deal is.

Look, I watch a lot of football.  I like a good game, but I, at least, don't see how it helps anyone to permanently injure a player merely to prove that that person has "toughness".  Professional sports--honestly--were they to disappear tomorrow would have absolutely no effect on the rest of the world.  It is entertainment, we would find other things to do.  The response from the players was particularly disturbing in light of the their union's current and much publicized concerns about injury.  Football is a dangerous game.  The union--representing the interests of the players who put themselves at risk--is trying to create a safer work environment.  Why generate gallons of peer pressure to make it more dangerous?  Why make the goal of safety harder to attain?

The real culprit here is the myth of toughness.  As kids we are trained by our parents to value this aspect of ourselves.  I don't have to tell you the social hierarchy of America's school system.  We all, dear reader, had a place in it at some point or other.  The "tough" varsity athletes reside at or near the top to the unending pride of parents and teachers.  The less "tough" make a place for themselves on the science and theater clubs or the debate team.  So given this culture and background, why, in that moment of manufactured drama known as "NFL Championship Sunday" wouldn't we seek out a villain? 

Incidentally, now people are blaming Cutler's personality for the situation.  Turns out he doesn't "let people (meaning the press) in".  Hmmm...I wonder why?  Is "letting people in" part of his contract?

I see two conflicting desires on the part of the media and the fans here.  On the one hand, we want these sports figures to be "role models".  We worry about this a lot.  We don't ask this from our artists, of course. I was big fan of Metallica and the Who as a kid and no one thought I would follow their lifestyles.  We do not (though we reall, really, should) even consistently ask it of ourselves as parents.  We assign that task, apparently, to physically gifted strangers.

We get all upset about steroids and other drugs (and yes, we should).  However, have we really considered the reason they are a constant issue in sports?  We tell the pros that they must be held to a "higher standard" than we hold ourselves to.  Yet we also perpetuate the "toughness" myth that makes it so hard for them to succeed.  Did Lance Armstrong "dope" during his remarkable run of Tour De France victories?  Honestly I would be surprised if he didn't.  The Tour--like a lot of other competative venues--is an OSHA violation in progress all because we want to see the "toughest Tour yet".  Lance was told to be "tough".   He was told to be a role model.  The requirement for role models in our world is simple...winning.

This is what we teach our children when we let them to play hurt--and many of us do.  It is what we tell them when we fill their free time with parent-run competitive pursuits--and many, many of us do.  This is what we tell ourselves when we push ourselves too far and wind up on crutches. 

This myth pervades our culture, not just in sports but everywhere.  We want to appear tough, we want to be seen as competitive at work and among our friends, with our neighbors at home and with Iraq and Afganistan abroad.  We swagger as much as we walk in our relationships. We don't want to collaborate or solve problems, we want to win.  How is that workin' for ya?

Perhaps we could try something out as a society.  Instead of raising up toughness as a great an necessary attribute, why don't we replace it with empathy?  What if our role models were people who could listen to others and make sound decisions?  Why don't we encourage each other to care?  Perhaps we should  be in touch with each other and with our own needs and feelings.  What if we praised Jay Cutler for knowing that his injury wouldn't make him the best option for the game?  Maybe the world would be just a bit nicer to live in.  Perhaps we could do with a little less toughness.

Here are a couple of links to stories about the Cutler situation.

This one is by Solomon Wilcots

and one by Frank Tadych

Wait 'til Next Year

The NFL season has, essentially, wound down to the two big weekends in which anything can happen (football-wise).  No doubt something will.  The four remaining teams are all capable of  winning the Super Bowl so--really--it is mostly about luck.  In most years the best games are played this upcoming "Championship Sunday"  (or "Championship Weekend" if they put a game on Saturday).  This year could very well be the same.  So... just a few quick predictions...

AFC Conference Finals  New Jersey Jets vs. Steelers of Pittsburgh

Could nobody win this game?  I mean, I would be OK with that.  As a fan I would be inclined to route for the Jets.  They are in the same division as the Pats, which I actually see as a plus in my fan-formula.  They play good football, too.  However, they are also really, really obnoxious and inexplicably so.  The Steelers, however, have the rather sketchy Ben Rothlisberger as their QB.  He is sketchy as a person (just google him if you don't know what I am talking about), not as a QB.  I wouldn't mind so much if it were the other way around...

I think I am crossing conferences this year.

As for who will win, who cares?  It is just a game.  That having been said, I do believe that the Steelers will pull this one out.  They are playing in Pittsburgh.  They are also playing at the top of their game and have an excellent defense.  The two teams actually match up well and, of course, the Jets beat the Pats on the road this week so who knows?  Actually, I do.  The Pats were over achieving this year.  They had problems on defense and a few on offense, too.  The Steelers don't have these problems.

Steelers 21-10

NFC Conference Championship  Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears

This should be an interesting game between two longtime rivals.  The Packers have the better QB and they seem to have more momentum coming in to this.  The "this" they will be going in to, however, will be Soldier Field.  First, Soldier Field is a postmodernist's dream stadium.  Second, the Bears play there.  Of course, they are both cold-weather teams so the conditions won't matter.  The Packers are regulars there so home-field won't matter much either.  Hmmm...

I am picking the Bears.  The reason is, shall we say, multi-faceted.  First, I thought they would do very badly this year and they didn't.  Second, OC Mike Martz has discovered the run game.  When Martz isn't dwelling in pass-land, his teams do very well.  The whole pass thing kinda fell apart on him in the 2001 Super Bowl (actually played in 2002) and people know what to do with his master plan.  Third, Jay Cutler is not pouting right now.  If he starts pouting this week, I say the Packers win.  Fourth, I used to live in Chicago and I have only the vaguest idea where Green Bay is.  Fifth, I have to pick somebody in a contest that could really go either way.  Sixth, Devin Hester and the shocking return game.

OK, that is enough of that.

Bears  38-36

Super Bowl 

Again, who really knows?  Who really cares?  This game is rarely as good as the commercials, but hope springs eternal...

Would it be wrong to pick the Packers to win the Super Bowl?  They seem like nice folks.

OK, when I am feeling sensible, I would say that the Steelers will edge out the Packers.  But I am not sensible and I am going with the Bears again....

Bears  17-13