Good News for People Who Love Bad News - Sports Edition

Maybe it just seems like a lot because of the news cycle being cable news'd and Twitter'd, but it sure seems like there's been a lot of bad news coming from the sporting arena in the past week.

Rose's Thorn

Saturday saw the end of the Bulls' season with the injury to Derrick Rose. I didn't have them winning the East even if he was healthy, but it seems like everyone (experts, media and public) believes that the Bulls needed a healthy Rose to have a chance to compete for the title. The Bulls looked hot out of the gate in Game 2 by taking a 9 point lead into the second half, perhaps playing off of the emotion of trying to prove themselves absent their point guard. However, Philly charged back quickly and beat the Bulls handily in the second half while evening the series. I still think the Bulls will win the series, but the next series against Boston or Atlanta may prove to be too much w/o their leader.

In case you were curious, the fire extinguisher glass won--again.

On Monday, Amare Stoudemire put a new meaning to attacking the glass. Unfortunately, this attack away from the basketball court. Fortunately, it involved him only using one hand instead of two. In frustration, Stoudemire punched a glass with his left hand after the Knicks' 10 point loss in Miami which put New York down 2-0 in the best of 7 series. He will miss Game 3 and is expected to miss the rest of the series. Which means he'll miss Games 3 & 4. Luckily this wasn't the Eastern Conference Finals or NBA Finals, or else we'd be hearing a lot more about this.






Tuesday had a faux pas of a different kind. If you use Covers.com for gambling advice or navigate ESPN.com's back pages, you may have heard of the name Sarah Phillips before Tuesday. This story was featured prominently enough on Twitter yesterday to trend nationally. The young freelancer from Oregon was the subject of a damning profile on the site Deadspin.com that showed Sarah and a longtime friend/boyfriend scamming people through the use of these writing platforms and social media (notably "buying" followers on Twitter). They promised part-ownership in their start-up website for a certain amount of money from people.

Luckily, they didn't scam too many people out of their money. Unfortunately, her actions bring to light the hiring practices of websites, whose editors can go forever without actually meeting the people they are paying to write. According to the articles, ESPN.com & Covers never interviewed Phillips before hiring her, and nobody at either company can claim to ever have met her. Apparently, this isn't an uncommon practice. I suppose you can still con people even if you put a face to your email.

And finally, the biggest NFL news today was supposed to be the doling of punishment for the Saints players in Bounty-Gate. However, it took a back seat to the apparent suicide of Junior Seau.  These two events connect so well that the timing of Seau's death is scary. The day started with the punishments. Four players were suspended - with the harshest penalty given to Jonathan Vilma (16 games). All players plan on appealing the ruling. If social media is any way to measure how the Player's Association is looking at the ruling, many NFL players are against this ruling.

Meanwhile, Seau was found dead in his house with a gunshot wound to the chest. Eerily similar to the suicide of former Bear Dave Duerson, who shot himself in the heart so that his brain could be studied for the effects of concussions on the brain. It's unreal to think that these guys do something like this while being cognitive enough to realize what they are doing. But who the hell knows what's going through their minds when they are doing this? The NFL is going to be facing severe litigation in the next 5-10 years as these concussions are studied and likely proven to cause post-football symptoms that lead to depression and often suicide.

The players who are against the rulings dished out by the commissioner are missing the point. As the head of the NFL, Goodell cannot continue to watch his product get dismantled. I've heard a little chatter in the past about the NFL going the way of boxing (a once major sport in America that has become obscure for the most part - at least in the overall sporting landscape). The extinction of the NFL could come in our lifetimes, especially if Goodell were to just close his eyes and pretend nothing was happening. I sure as hell don't want a future son of mine to play football, knowing everything I know about what happens to these folks after football.

 Punishment was hefty for the bounties. Good.

These punishments were necessary to ensure that bounties will never be a part of the NFL again. If you want to take that chance as a player, you'll be looking at an even stiffer penalty (possible ban I'd say). The NFL doesn't want this concussion issue to get out of control. Regardless on whether it's shown that Seau had post-concussion symptoms that led to this, the NFL has to make sure to protect its product - its players. Too bad the players don't see that. In 20 years, they may want to thank Goodell for trying to make their profession safer.


Update: 5/4/12...This week just keeps getting weirder and weirder with bizarre sporting stories, another for the worse. While shagging fly-balls in batting practice, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera suffered an ACL injury in what is likely his last year as a pitcher. Before the year, he said this would be it. I'm not sure he wants to go out like this, but then again, he may not have a choice. If you're a sports fan and weren't moved by his press conference as he sat there in disbelief over what happened, then you're not a real sports fan.

Rivera's career may be over due to a freak injury.

I expect two kinds of idiots to come out of the woodwork for this story: (1) those who say he shouldn't be shagging fly balls when he's apparently been doing it his entire career with no problems and (2) those idiots that take joy in Rivera's injury. If this is it for Rivera, what a terrible way to go. According to an ESPN stat I just saw, his 2.21 ERA in the live-ball era (since 1920) is the best ERA for pitchers with minimum 1000 innings pitched in their careers.

Rivera seems to be a respected person around major league baseball, with even a lot of Yankee haters appreciating his quiet, humble dominance. If this is the Sandman's Exit, it's been a hell of a ride for the last guy in major league history with the #42 jersey (retired by baseball for Jackie Robinson).

Enough of the bad news, or good news for people who like bad news. I'm done.