Bounty Hunting & Big Games

BobLee
March05/ 2012

Are the Saints really Sinners of the worst kind?  Do you really care so long as your favorite player isn’t carted off?…..  Tar Heels win last week’s “Greatest Game Ever”….. and BobLee recalls Sam Huff, Gaylord Perry and Tim Stoddard.

The Nawlins Saints were running a bounty-hunting pool and such pools are nothing new in the NFL.  So the NFL is one step closer to being Thunderdome.  The Violent World of Sam Huff is even more violent than we thought….. but do we really much care?  What’s next?  NFL cheerleaders doing porn videos?   They’re already doing that too.

What was your reaction to the news about “bounties” in the NFL encouraging players to “take out” key opponents?  Did you feign righteous indignation?  Did you pretend your favorite team doesn’t do it?  Did you enjoy those Nutcracker Suite films that John Facenda used to narrate for NFL Films?  Me, I thought about Gaylord Perry.

Remember Jim Perry’s notorious brother Gaylord?  If you do, why?  Not because he won 318 games and is in the Hall of Fame.  Because Gaylord was notorious for throwing “spitballs”.   Nobody could ever catch ol’ Gaylord despite Gaylord playing for eight different teams over a 21-year career.

ASIDE:  Best Gaylord Perry anecdote….. Gaylord was a terrible hitter.  In 1963, one of his first manager – Alvin Dark – said “they’ll put a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run”.  In July 1969, a hour after Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin landed Apollo 11 on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit a home run.

My point about Gaylord throwing spitters is how did he play for eight different teams over 21 years and no one figured out how he did it?  The same for the NFL having “bounty pools”.  With players switching teams regularly do you really think “the word would get out” about what was going on?  Of course players knew about it.

When an opposing team’s player is carted off the field with a serious injury only the lowest of the low among fans actually cheer.  Be assured there are indeed cretins who do cheer such.   But everyone cheers BIG HITS right?  When their QB is blindsided at top speed by a modern day LT….  when a modern day Jack Tatum hits a leaping wide receiver full speed.  The difference between a career-ending injury and “a big hit” is God’s grace and maybe a matter of an inch.  The difference between “dirty” or “clean” is whether their guy or our guy is the hitter or the hittee.

Whether there was a bounty pool or not, football has always been a very violent game played by very violent men.  For a player to say “but I wasn’t trying to “hurt” him” is silly.   Hard hits hurt.

George Patton said “War is not about dying for your country.  War is about making that poor bastard on the other side die for his country.”  Big time competitive football at any level is about inflicting more “hard hits” on “them” than they inflict on you.

It is what it is.  The NFL will levy a really big fine on the Saints and likely ban Greg Williams from the league.  They probably should.  A lot of tongues will cluck about cleaning up the violence….. but the violence is an essential part of the spectator appeal for the NFL.  Fights are part of the NHL.  Wrecks are part of NASCAR.

I’m not being “holier than thou”.  I enjoy watching football too.  Behold Thunderdome!

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Tar Heels Vindicated By Beating Duke !!!  Royz Boyz’ decisive win over Duke “meant more” than the earlier loss to Duke ???  Well no, it doesn’t.  Both were simply regular season games that lead up to what REALLY matters to both programs and to their fans – March Madness.  But before that we have to endure the irrelevance of The ACC Tournament.

Carolina became the first team in ACC history to win a regular season championship AND get clobbered by 30+ points while doing so.  Congrats to Roy and The Tar Heels.

Yes, I’ve seen the YouTube proving decisively that “Rivers walks every time he touches the ball” proving decisively that Karl Hess & Johnny Swofford are both acolytes of Satan and they and their descendants should rot in hell for eternity.  Yawn and double yawn.

I thought we proved that with the “Shane Battier flops” YouTube.  Or the “Tyler Hansbrough gets away with murder” YouTube.   If there had been YouTubes in the mid 70s would there have been a “Tim Stoddard (or Marc Iavaroni) carries a pair of brass knuckles in his shorts” YouTube?  I bet so.

Goggle-eyed goobers scream “Why don’t THEY do something about the rotten ACC officials ?” …… “What?”….. “I don’t know, just something.”….. “You mean like call more fouls on YOUR team?”…… “Well no, that’s not exactly what I had in mind.”….. “Oh.” 

Today’s hysterical nutjobs crying about no-good cheatin’ refs are the direct descendants of hysterical nutjobs who cried about the same thing 20-30-40 years ago.  In some cases its the very same hysterical nutjobs.

I totally understand the “why” of the conference tournament.  I don’t blame Little Johnny or a secret cabal run out of Bristol.  Maybe there will be a Randolph Childress or Fred Lynn that will create his own mini-legend over the weekend.  For NC State or another “bubble team” there is a chance to “make the magic 64”.

Do people still get all ooey gooey about it?  Will there be stories of astronomical prices for tickets?  Will anyone from Boston College show up…. fans or players?  I “get it” and I will have the flat-screen on at least Saturday and Sunday but I certainly won’t build my weekend around it.   Will you?

Will Sam Huff or Gaylord Perry be there?

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