The oath to “never forget” is used a lot, but the lifespan of that oath depends on how long it takes to forget it and then remember it. It can take decades, years, months, and weeks for it to fade and then disappear.
In sports, however, it takes minutes until the next shot, punt or power play.
Last week, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa received a massive amount of national attention after leaving Thursday’s game with his third concussion on the job. Calls for him to leave the game to prevent lifelong neurological impairment (if it’s not too late) were shouted from the mountaintops and echoed in the valleys.
Say it with me: “This puts everything into perspective!” Yeah, right.
On Sunday, during the Jets and Giants games, no fewer than six hits to the head were seen (only one was penalized) to the silence of the CBS and Fox announcers and studio commentators.
But what else is new? I don't want to upset Roger Goodell, whose concern for the mental and physical health and well-being of NFL players can be seen in his persistent advocacy of playing more regular-season games in exchange for more television money and betting operators associated with low-risk wagers.
So what we missed (and couldn't be overlooked without thinking about Tagovailoa's plight three days earlier) was, at best, ignored. Next up!
Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center continues to report suicides of NHL boxers who were crippled after taking one too many league-sanctioned hits to the head, but last season local media and fans quickly adopted Rangers one-trick pony Matt Rempe as their best friend — for now.
At the same time Rempe was being embraced and celebrated like a pug, former Ranger Chris Simon, hailed for his professional enthusiasm for taking and delivering blows to the head, committed suicide at age 52, his final act, having suffered the inability to live with brain damage, CTE.
So never forget it. Just don't mention it if you happen to remember it.
The voices on television avoid something to talk about nothing.
The mindless chatter from the NFL's television cronies on the payroll continues. Beyond a mute button, there is no escape.
From the CBS studio, Nate Burleson reported that professional misanthrope Tyreek Hill had “a pregame incident” and then returned to providing empty filler material. This is a show that's easily ignored for its empty content, but when it had an actual story to tell (Jaguars-Dolphins was a CBS game, so its team was in its place), we got nothing.
On Sunday, Fox's Mark Schlereth was so vocal once again that he missed the game-long absence of Kayvon “The Snow Angel” Thibodeaux, the Giants' 2022 first-round draft pick, who is no longer an all-situation defensive player and is often on the bench, as if he couldn't play because he was wearing school clothes.
At the end of that broadcast, Fox's Chris Myers told us the Giants lost despite “a career day” from WR Malik Nabers, who was playing in his second career NFL game.
College football, pardon the misnomer, is at least as bad.
With 4:05 left in the first quarter, Kansas led 14-6 and on ESPN, commentator Anish Shroff declared: “It was a short-possession game.”
Did he think we hadn't been watching? Or did he not know what he was watching? The game had included four series of plays that had run out: two touchdowns and two field goals. It was a game of long possessions.
Hey, Roger Goodell, you sycophantic faker, what do you want me to do with all these emails (at least 150 of them) suggesting that P. Diddy is the perfect candidate for what you've allowed to become family-friendly Super Bowl halftime entertainment?
Would you like me to send them to you or include them in the annals of “It’s All About Our Fans” and your testimonies that “betting on NFL games is bad for society”?
And hey, Rob “The Kids Are Our Top Priority” Manfred and Steve Cohen, wanna pick up some discounted tickets (no extra charges!) to Sunday night’s Mets Fan Appreciation/Depreciation Day, the home finale moved from 1 p.m. to midnight for ESPN’s money?
As of Thursday, seven readers, all parents, had sent me messages representing about 60 ticket purchases for Sunday's game. With school and work the next day, they're now worthless.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara scored three times against the Cowboys on Sunday. Hooray for Alvin! He was the star of all the highlights.
Yet some viewers might have wondered how Kamara, after a brief suspension in 2023 in exchange for a financial settlement and a guilty plea after nearly trampling an innocent man to death, is still allowed to make millions on Goodell's “Stop the Hate” NFL.
Vols fans can pay a 'talent fee'
The University of Tennessee will now add a 10 percent “talent fee” to the price of football tickets to better bribe football players into showing up (to practices, not the university).
That's right, now UT fans can join the rich yahoos in helping rent players!
Add that to the two games they have to buy and pay to win (this season by a combined total of 140-3 over Chattanooga and then Kent State), and it's never been more essential for season-ticket buyers to serve the Volunteers as voluntary suckers.
Am I in any way surprised that the Mets television crew is still doing that ridiculous, impressionable, childish, wasteful “last Mets tradition” of ripping the jerseys off teammates who have game-ending at-bats? Does the same apply after the game-ending batter scores on an error?
It makes me, well, sulk that the Mets seem to find ways to embrace unpleasant displays during and after the game.
And SNY's penchant for showing morons, many of them seemingly wasted, in the stands could be replaced with more worthwhile ones, like outfield lineup shots.
While we're at it, after SNY's pitch charts and Gary Cohen claiming the last pitch was a “96 mph sinker,” maybe Ron Darling can explain how a 96 mph breaking ball is thrown.
Life isn't fair. I've known Ed Cohen since he was 16 and working hard to become a polished sportscaster eager for action and tips. After spending his time in the minor leagues, he earned his spot as the Knicks' radio commentator.
Last season, after more than six years at the Garden, his vocal cords began to betray him. At 41, married with two children and a great vocal talent, he is finished, at least for now, as he continues to search for a cure.
Based on what was seen Sunday night on NBC, Texans quarterback CJ Stroud is special. He made completing lateral passes on short runs look easy.
It is also worth noting that Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth let the game breathe.
Collinsworth, who often tells us he could see what was coming after it arrived, reminded us of his heyday by highlighting pertinent blocks by tight ends. Excellent and useful demonstrations.
I remain baffled by those chosen to be television and advertising heroes.
Bill Belichick, a miserable Patriots coach, has joined Deion Sanders, a proven hustler and God-certified braggart, in being portrayed and further enriched as athletes that Americans absolutely adore.
