Pansy League Digest Vol 1 Week 3 2009
by showtime on Sep 24, 2009 5:11 PM EDT
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I thought I would share some thoughts on recent articles I've read on the PPG and elsewhere regarding the fines that Steelers players and others receive from the NFL when they break the rules. I have a bad feeling this may become a recurring topic for Steelers fans as the season progresses. First off Hines Ward discusses the hit he provided to Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers.
Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward on the NFL's new blocking rules: "If I get another opportunity to hit somebody, I'm going to take it.
No, I'll still hit him, I'll just get fined," Ward said. "It's either that or try to hurt somebody. So you either fine me or you want me to end someone's career. I'd rather take a fine than end someone's career, so I'm not going to change."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09267/1000425-66.stm
Now I've heard the cinci fans crying about this hit, and I've heard all the empty threats from ravens fans and players, and I've seen Hines' smiling face after he gets first down after first down en route to big Ws. I totally agree that he shouldn't change his playing style, and his willingness to take fines shows his devotion to the team, but what about any flags that might be thrown? That doesn't lead to positive yardage. This is a tough question to answer. Thanks NFL for taking joy from our lives.
Here's a link to some standard issue Cincinnati jaw flapping on the topic:
http://www.cincyjungle.com/2009/9/23/1052283/hines-says-that-he-would-hit
Next up Carson Palmer's opinion:
Palmer told the media in a conference call yesterday that it was "actually unfortunate for Hines to go through what he went through because he was just playing football."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09267/1000425-66.stm
Thanks Carson. As of today I now have a very small shred of respect for you. But I still haven't forgotten the sour grapes you had after your beating in the playoffs in 2005. Yeah yeah, cry me a river, Kitna performed just as well as you would have. If you don't want you knee broke don't let people wipe their shoes with the Towel.
Next up is appalling news from the events in the windy city on Sunday:
Steelers safety Tyrone Carter said this morning he was fined $5,000 by NFL officials for his open-field hit Sunday on Chicago tight end Greg Olsen, a penalty he plans to appeal and a charge of leading with his helmet that he vigorously denies.
"Yeah, they banged me for the hit. $5,000. Unreal," said Carter, "He was a big-target receiver, he's like 6-6 or something like that. Here I am 5-9. How am I going to hit a guy 6-6 in the head? And I got hurt on the play. It's crazy. But that's what they said and that's what they fined me for, but I can't let that stop me how I play the game.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09267/1000509-66.stm
I know the Nation is not thrilled with Carter's quotes about how he should have taken himself out of the game before Little Jay Cutler banged in 6 right in his face. That play may have cost the Steelers their vengeance for the whupping that the man-child laid on the Steelers @ Mile High in prime time in 2007. But to hear that Tyrone is getting fined for a great play like that makes me sick. The NFL is a physical sport! That's why people watch it! Defenses need to be able hit people to jar catches loose. Sorry NFL if that makes for lower scoring games and less catches for the slack-jawed masses to enjoy. Are you new here? Big Hits are where it's at!
Don't worry Tyrone, I remember meeting you in the lobby of the Continental during SB week. I still love you.
Next let's look over at the detestable Cowboys and the very questionable Flozell Adams.
Dallas Cowboys tackle Flozell Adams was fined for the second week in a row after tripping New York "Football" Giants Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora during Sunday's loss in Dallas. Adams was fined $12,500 for both incidents ... which led to Tuck's shoulder injury
Tuck and Adams have spouted a few words at each other sync. Tuck called the trip "bush league," to which Adams replied, "Tell him to stay up, it ain't my fault."
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/260650-flozell-adams-fine-but-was-it-enough
It ain't your fault? Wow. Ok, so if you hit a guy while on defense to knock a ball out you get a fine. If you are an O lineman and trip someone, which is a totally blatant violation, and actually knock the player out of the game, that deserves the same punishment? This is a mockery of justice in my opinion. Spare me with the difference in the fine amounts, the difference is quite immaterial to those in these players' salary range. If anything Carter's was much worse because I presume he makes a fraction of what the Cowboy's tackle makes. Fozell is a repeat offender who cheats to make plays and gets away with it. And we have to hear people cry about Hines and Harrison when they make physical plays.
To sum up all this bitching, I just want to say this. My favorite part of the NFL is the brutality. To paraphrase James Harrison, I like to see people get hurt. Not injured, but hurt. The NFL is going down the wrong path with all of these fines and rules. If they keep in this direction I see only wussier and wussier games. Our own Zen master warrior said it best himself "[football] just loses so much of its essence when it becomes like a pansy game."
...
BTW, this article here
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3646392
Is a great trip down memory lane to see the ridiculous fines the Steelers players had to pay for their 6th NFL title in 2008. The refs actually had to come out to practice to explain what the hell was going on.
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Stop Feeding the Beast
“The NFL is a physical sport! That’s why people watch it!”
So stop watching. Money talks, andthe NFL is not losing money because of any of the rules it has made in the past 10 years. In fact, by keeping players healthier, they are probably making more money off jerseys and the like.
The NFL will never make decisions based on what bloggers write. If you want your voice to be heard, stop buying NFL merchandise, NFL tickets, or watching games.
by CarlWeathersMustache on Sep 25, 2009 6:12 AM EDT reply actions
I think you missed the point
I was bored and there were three articles that I read that I felt I could tie together. I’m sure if the NFL somehow knew what I wanted, they would do the opposite just to spite me. And all I can make is idle threats. There is NOTHING short of cat 5 hurricane that could stop me from being in my seat at 4PM on Sunday. Now if they keep going this direction for the next five years with the TOs and the romos and ENDLESS decrepit old man sagas, AND keep wussifying the sport, maybe it will be too much and get boring and I’ll stop. Right now were are on the road to ruin, but not at crap city yet.
Are you the poster that said you actually stopped buying merch because of the new rules? I know someone here said that.
"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."
And thats why they do what they do
Since there aren’t too many Cat 5 Hurricanes, looks like they have you by the balls. They got us all by the balls. And they can yank and twist all they want, because there is NO alternative.
The only solution is an Obama takeover of all national sports. End the privatization of the league offices. Eliminate the players union. Unseat Fuhrer Goodell and open up a discipline committee with multiple people, fan proposed rule changes. Democracy is needed. For the fans make the game.
They got me alright
I’m unemployed right now and all I can think of is this HUGE game on Saturday 8PM in Happy Valley and the other HUGE game this Sunday in Cinci. I wake up thinking about it, try to go to sleep thinking about, spend all day thinking about it. I am truly obsessed. The problem is the huge emotional payoff last year. Only one team’s season doesn’t end in tortured heartbreak.
"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."
Good read
I was actually over at the Cincy Jungle reading their stuff on HInes before I read this. Its quite comical watching them wine about a legal hit (at the time). Then they are jawing about how HInes said he would “do it again”. I think they failed to see why he said that though. He was saying he would rather hit them high then take out their knees and end their career. I guess they only read what they wanted to read.
" I’m glad we play Pitt twice, and not Tenn this year." - Salty Browns Fan.
"I guess they only read what they wanted to read."
Exactly! But the question is, if Hines hits people high, he’ll get flagged and whatever play he was springing with his block will come back. His style of play is being legislated out of existence.
I just hope we can turn it around on the league like the Steelers did with the “Mel Blount rule” What happened after that? Oh yeah Bradshaw won to SB MVPs. No big deal.
The question is how can we exploit this rule. I’m coming up blank.
"It was an attrition football game and you know we like that."
Double Standard
What I honestly hate, is the fact that on ESPN, or everywhere more or less, the most hyped things are hits right? Big hits get big play on TV. We all love them.
And they are a tool used to cause turnovers, drops, and general malaise.
But yet the league has to put the reins down on them, despite knowing full well they want the hits to continue. By their own promotion of the hits, they say they want them. Yet they make it harder to do them legally.
Ways to exploit it
If you didn’t notice, Hines blew up someone in the Titans game. He will find a way to lay the wood legally and the masses will cry and he will smile. We will smile and the league can’t do jack. Just like they didn’t fine him in Week 1, they won’t fine him this week either. Hines knows how to block and is very intelligent, he isn’t going for the knees but he’ll explode into the guys chest and theresno rule against that. They just wanna make sure you dont hit the face. Wait and watch and enjoy.
Hines is great, but...
Ward is my favorite Steeler and one of the greatest ever to play in the NFL. But I still don’t think he needed to throw that block on Rivers last year. Rivers was trailing the play and Ward didn’t need to block him at all. All that did was give the Bengals another chip on their shoulders for the Steelers (as if they needed one).
i agree with your article
and you made an interesting point about rules and fines that are obviously necessary from keeping football becoming a dirty sport (such as Adams tripping of players) and ones that just aren’t warranted considering football is a violently sport (such as the blind side block). the league would’ve done much better by simply not allowing one player to hit another player in his helmet/head EVER…unless the hittee leads with his head. it has nothing to do with whether the player is looking at you or not cuz how can an offical actually know if the player about to take a hit is looking at the guy coming to knock him into next week or not?
for example, more than once ray lewis was guilty (no not for killing someone) but for only paying attention to the ball carrier and not paying attention to everything else. he’d be completely taken out in a block from someone like cedric wilson. no way would a WR like that actually be able to easily take out a LB like lewis, it would happen because he wasn’t paying attention to anything else around him. yet he was generally facing the guy, so if the hit would’ve been in the head region should that be a penatly even though it wasn’t on his “blindside”? just make every block in the head region illegal whether the guy is looking or not and take the subjective part out of it. sorry for the rant
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