August 04, 2015
Several items in and around the world of sports while waiting for Chase Utley to get traded, Joel Embiid to have surgery and Chip Kelly to get active on Twitter:
First of all, we should all wish that every athlete had the eye of the tiger displayed by – you got it, Ronda Rousey. In what very well could have been perceived as one of the biggest ripoffs in the history of pay-per-view events, Rousey once again demolished her competition in less than one minute.
There were plenty of reasons to shake your head in disgust at the fight. In the first place, the cost was prohibitive, the time was absurd, as Rousey did not make her appearance until way, way past midnight here in the East, and the whole matter was settled in just over 30 seconds.
Heck, even American Pharoah takes more time to win a horse race. For that matter, the great Secretariat took about five times longer than Rousey to overwhelm the competition in his races. But it’s hard to imagine anybody felt ripped off by Rousey. After all, part of the reason anyone bought the fight in the first place was to see if Rousey could demolish another opponent.
And that she did.
It is just invigorating to see an athlete who can deliver on what is promised. Exhilarating to see an athlete who simply can’t wait to get out of the starting blocks and prove a point.
The next logical step is that opponents will not be expected to actually beat Rousey, but rather just last a certain amount of time. There needs to be a one-minute clock, and if any woman can last that one minute against Rousey, there should be some sort of prize.
There is no telling how long Rousey’s 15-minutes of fame will last, but at this pace, she could have about 30 victories in those 15 minutes, and all will be worth watching.
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Next up, is the painfully slow and never-ending saga of Tom Brady vs. Roger Goodell in the matter of deflated footballs.
The guess here is that the whole issue will be settled BEFORE those two are due to appear before a federal judge next week. Make no mistake, it might be that the courts have simply “requested” both Goodell and Brady to appear in a courtroom together, but that “request” should be viewed as a demand.
The net result of this should be that each side decides this has gone on long enough, and the parties come to an agreement on a reduced suspension.
If not, the two will look like dunderheads as they actually bring such a ridiculous issue to the court systems, and the judge would be well within his rights to paint the pair as Hee and Haw. Both Goodell and Brady will be painted as donkeys, along with the NFL and the New England Patriots.
If that doesn’t work, just put them in a room with Rousey who will get to the truth of the matter – in less than a minute.
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And what would a week be like without some sort of controversy surrounding Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles?
The latest events to send Twitter all achirp was Brandon Boykin’s assertion that Kelly cannot really relate to an NFL locker room. That sentiment was texted to a Philadelphia media member after Boykin was traded to Pittsburgh for a draft pick.
Well, for what it’s worth, Boykin might turn out to be correct. However, it’s hard to argue with the success Kelly has had with the Eagles in the two years since leaving Oregon and the NCAA for the NFL.
All of that hoo-ha about a college coach not being able to adjust quickly to the NFL sort of fell apart with Kelly’s early success. No doubt Kelly is walking a thin tightrope in thinking a team of NFL players will buy into some of his collegiate style of thinking, but it has been impressive to this point.
From the very beginning, it was assumed that if you hired Kelly you had to be “all in” on his methods. And that “all in” extends from ownership to the coaching staff, to the trainers, and even the fans.
In other words, the Eagles got exactly what they should have expected.
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In the aftermath of the trade that brought several prospects to the Phillies for Cole Hamels, there appears to be a growing sense that lame duck general manager Ruben Amaro might remain at that position at the end of this season.
Here is the only question the Phillies ownership should be asking about Amaro and his future as the team’s general manager – are they willing to give Amaro a new contract for more than two seasons?
If the answer is no, there is no way Amaro should be retained.
And since it would seem ludicrous to offer Amaro a three-year contract, it would be ludicrous to bring him back at all.
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Finally, if you want to know how important the sports landscape is to the reputation of a city, consider this past weekend’s escapades involving hitchBOT.
The robot was supposed to be hitchhiking across the continent and was supposedly mauled and taken apart in Philadelphia. Much of the event and its content on social media is likely a hoax, but the reaction did serve to indicate how much importance sports is to local culture.
The bots demise was generally met with an SMH response, followed by “well, it is the city that threw snowballs at Santa Claus,” and then story after story about the behavior of sports fans.
Indeed, forget the Declaration of Independence, the writings and inventions of Ben Franklin and all the history stuff.
None of it is as important to Philadelphia’s stature as the reputation of its sports fans. More than any city in the nation, Philadelphia has its sports fans as a natural resource – and it’s a renewable resource that will never end.
