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Thing of The Day: Roger Godell don't be that guy

So apparently Roger Godell the commissioner of the NFL basically said the public is "misunderstanding" how the NFL handles domestic violence cases and it is more complicated than it appears. Okay well I have a few things that I also don't understand
Why do you guys fine people like Brandon Marshall and Deangelo Williams for wearing cleats for important causes? How come you care more about the dress code than safety?
How come you have a private doctor on the sideline but it is the teams decision if the player can come back in the game. How come the public basically has to force you to show your information yet you expect everyone to give not even give but be thankful that you are allowed to give the NFL information. How come there are games on Thursday night even though it is obvious that it is not safe.
You do realize that at a majority of companies the "locker room behavior" equals behavior that gets somebody FIRED. How come you guys still don't do stuff to raise mental health awareness. Why was none of this known about Josh Brown until others made it public. On the thought of that why do you care more if Tom Brady deflates footballs compared to actually I don't know doing things to promote mental health after a player literally KILLED HIMSELF AT AN NFL FACILITY.
How come you make 32 Million dollars a year? Also you are supposed to be a commissioner did you know they were supposed to be equal to owners and players.
So congrats Roger Godell you make 32 million dollars a year (oh and when you claimed you were making nothing during the strike everyone even the misunderstanding public knew you would get a payday at the end) I expect you to be able to understand that domestic violence is completely inappropriate. You want to know why you say this something because you have nothing to lose. Oh and also your rich owners barely even pay for their own stadiums. I know they are so expensive yet in Canada you are not allowed to do that. .
So here are some suggestions: Quit saying we don't understand things and quit acting like the NFL and their owners, employees and players are above others.
I wouldn't mind if it did like I get this world is not fair. Just don't act like it is don't act like the NFL treats everyone like any other company. We might not understand but here is something I understand: Common sense. Do you?

Sincerely,
Someone who know more than you think
PS: If you care so much help doctors and show your concussion records take some responsibility.

Thank you Stan Wawrinka

First I am not saying it is good that he had a panic attack. For those of you who don't know Stan Wawrinka had a panic attack before the US Open final. I only have two words as a response (obviously it is more)
Thank you
Thank you for being honest. Thank you for reminding us that athletes are just people and not super human robots. Thank you for inspiring males and showing males that they can come up and tell the truth and how they feel.
You have gained at least one fan today

Why the NFL and NCAA make me agitated

So I was watching Thursday night football and I heard something: apparently a non-team doctor needs to help with the concussion tests now. But it is the team doctor that gets to clear the player. How does that make sense?
I also saw that players were getting suspended for textbooks. Really? These two things put me over the edge where I need to say something.
The NFL and NCAA need to get their priorities straight. Quit caring about stupid things like money over a movie as a wrong and worry about things that are important. Quit saying you care about academics when teams are going to Dublin. You should be worrying about things like the Baylor scandal and realizing the sexual assault is a huge problem among NCAA athletes. You should be putting in guidelines that make the incidents go through the regular police like anyone else. You should be worrying about coaches taking advantage of players instead of just the stupidest small violations. Also worry about all the actually crimes going on and not the rule violations
I want to make clear that most people are good people and are doing the right thing.
As for the NFL well they really got me going. So you are going to have independent doctors but team doctors, who are hearing it from coaches, still make the decisions. Today is world suicide prevention day and a few years ago Jovan Belcher took his own life. There are players addicted to pain killers. But instead you are worrying about Brandon Marshall (the receiver) wearing green cleats, which were to raise awareness for mental health. Or saying you want to do all these things and wear pink for cancer for a month but when Deangelo Williams wants to wear it all year around to honor his mother, you fine him.
GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT!
I am worried that there will be more tragedies before there are changes. I hope that I am wrong.

Thing of The Day: Why Everyone Should be Watching ESPN Tonight

Tonight at 9:30 there is a panel on ESPN called an Undefeated Conversation: Athletes, Responsibility and Violence. I am not sure what it is going to be like but I think everyone should look into it.
Also this article is something people should look at
Dear Fellow White People
I usually don't post political stuff. But this is for all the people that see my posts about the Simpsons saying how important football is as a meme and I think it is important to talk about this stuff.  Meaning the article not the Simpsons.

Thing of The Day

Muhammad Ali painted and did lots of things. However, his dad discouraged it. It ended up well for him but it is okay to do what you like.

Thing of the Day

I usually say the MLB messes up. But great job last night in naming the batting titles after Rod Carew and specifically Tony Gwynn.

Thing of The Day

Congratulations to Tim Duncan. In the days where there is all these negative things Tim Duncan never got in the news, and showed that athletes are regular people. I love that he could have sold humble pie because he had so much of it.  So congratulations on a great career because you honestly deserve it.

Thing of the Day

Does anyone else think it is crazy how much NBA players are getting paid? It is insane

This is Ridiculous

This is fine as long as the teams agree to give the rest of the money to charity. In all seriousness this is not right
http://deadspin.com/evil-congressmen-want-to-make-living-wage-for-minor-lea-1782859513

Are You Serious Marlins President David Samson?

Okay I though about putting this in my thing of the day. But I just have to say it what Dee Gordon did was wrong. But Marlins president David Samson's reaction made me just as upset. Here is what he said:
“Dee Gordon is a very important part of our team and we all love him and support him,” Marlins President David Samson said. “That said I do not like or condone what he did. He is an important member of this organization and will be for many years to come. It is a huge, huge disappointment to the kids to our fans, to his teammates and to everyone in our organization who works hard every day to put a product on the field that all Miamians can be proud of.”
Okay so this might all be true but the last part of this is not.  How about the way you completely ripped off Miami into getting a stadium. How about the way Samson said Miami was going to build a winning team and then scrapped it after a year. What about the way the Marlins claimed that they were losing money when it turns out they were making a hefty profit? 
If you don't believe me just watch this
David Samson on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
I could not find the first part of the segment. But, I think that for a lot of kids and fans the actions of David Samson and the Miami Marlins are pretty disappointing as well.

Thing of the Day April 29

Hi everybody,
I hope you are all having a good day. I just heard about the news that Dee Gordon has been suspended.  I am very saddened by this for a number of reasons. First of all it obviously ruins reputations and make the game look bad as well as taking people's jobs. But I also don't like how nobody says this but taking steroids also can lead to side effects.

Should celebrities and athletes in particular be role models?

So at first I wanted to write an article about whether celebrities (athletes in particular) but celebrities should be almost obligated advocates for things like domestic violence, mental health awareness and awareness of things the media won't reveal. But first before I could think should they go over the top I had to think should they be role models in the first place.
These thoughts started years ago when I was watching one of my favorite TV shows, Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame  and it was about a commercial done in 1993 for Nike. Charles Barkley was in the commercial and he said I am not a role model. Barkley, at the peak of his career, outraged a lot of the public. So should celebrities be role models? My answer is no but it is more complicated than that.
First of all, it is not black and white. Athletes can be role models sometimes and not other times. Celebrities change. Sometimes they will be great role models for the camera. For example, Brandon Marshall is a huge advocate like mental illness but he had legal problems at points he was not always a role model.
I will focus mostly on sports because of the amazing amount of people that watch sports and that is kind of one of the areas I know best.  But here it goes this my reasoning.
So first of all it needs to be considered that we like to support a team. So athletes might not be a good person or a good role model but they are in their hometown. Is it expecting too much of celebrities to be perfect role models? I think it is. Also as said people change.
Another thing is that with social media and just how we view celebrities they don't get a private moment very often. So Ariana Grande said some things that led to outrage. But, she was in an elevator. You would think that you would have privacy there.
But there is more to consider. Some people might just be quiet and not very good advocates.
But there are three big reasons. First back to the TV show about Charles Barkley the number one reason that you couldn't blame him for not being a role model was simple: He wasn't a role model. If we expect celebrities to be role models people might have role models that shouldn't actually be them.
2nd, we wouldn't appreciate the people who are role models and are advocates for what is right. We would not know who was real and who was fake.
Lastly, and most importantly, what exactly should a role model be. To me I have respect for Demi Lovato because she is a huge advocate for mental health. But, I also like her because she is real. She doesn't try to act perfect. But, if you have a 5 year old do you really want them to see all the struggles? I wouldn't.
So to answer this question there are two part: No we shouldn't expect them to be and we should be more appreciative of the ones that are. Celebrities are just people they are just a sample of the population. I don't know if this answers the question but maybe it gets people thinking.

Athletes Who are good role models

So there are so many articles about how athletes are getting in trouble with the law, morality issues and just problems. So here is a list of athletes who are great role models. These are a few of many.

• Brandon Marshall: When it comes to mental health NOBODY gives back like Brandon Marshall. He started his own foundation for project 375 to raise awareness for borderline personality disorder. Also put Arian Foster on this list the second guy to come out with BPD.
• Corey Coleman: I don't know why, with so many college athletes there are a lot of great role models, but Coleman intrigues me. He is a forgiving person that did not come from an easy background.
• Jason Collins, Derrick Gordon and Michael Sam and Gareth Thomas: As 4 of the first big athletes to come out as gay (Thomas is a rugby player in London) I hope that they are an inspiration for anyone who feels like they are different to show they can overcome hurdles other people put in front of them. 
• Drew Brees and Kevin Durant: So there are a lot of athletes that give back to their community. But Brees and Durant (neither from the area where they play) gave back to the communities where they play (Brees in New Orleans and Durant in Oklahoma City) as both cities have gone through a lot. Durant is just cool. There are stories that if kids knock on his door and want to play video games with him, he will play with them. 
• Pat Neshek: First of all he has gone through a lot with his son. Second his pitching motion did not make it easy. Third as a guy from Minnesota it was a very cool moment when he was named an all star in Minnesota. But, as an autograph collector Neshek is absolutely the best. If you want an autograph for your kid this is who to send it to. 
• Tre Demps and Justin Jackson: So it is amazing how many athletes can make an impact on a few people. For me these two have been very generous and nice to me.

So please remember than when you hear about all these athletes not doing the right thing that there are many athletes that do the right thing. So instead of booing guys, well I guess I get if you do, cheer on some of these guys and the other great guys in sports.

Why We need to be careful With This and keep Athletes as People

So Ken Rosenthal is one of my favorite writers. He will be and he still is. Of course this means that I am going to disagree with something of his. It is about this article
Making Baseball Players More Popular is a Key to the next CBA (this is also based on a segment I heard on MLB NOW)
Okay so if you read this article you will understand why this is important. There are good reasons and if Ken Rosenthal had written the article differently I would have said yeah that is great.
But he used Zack Greinke. He talked about Greinke walking around San Fransisco and nobody recognized him. But there is one key that he did not mention: Greinke has mental illness.
Then today I heard him talk about Stephen Curry, and how baseball wanted players to be like him with promotions. However, I have a very simple counter: Tim Duncan?
How many commercials do you see Tim Duncan in? How much do you see Duncan marketing and promoting himself? San Antonio is by no means a big city.
Look I am not saying that Ken Rosenthal is wrong in his argument. I am just saying it needs to be done in the right way.
Heck we have a Stephen Curry; his name is Mike Trout. He has already done commercials, has not gotten in trouble and has a great smile. He is perfect.
But not everybody is. Some people might not be comfortable doing it.
Also is it America's baseball marketing bad or is it really everywhere? I get most Yankees games and they were playing the Mariners. Two Japanese pitchers, Hisashi Iwakuma and Masahiro Tanaka, were pitching. The play by play guy Michael Kay was talking about how many people in Japan were watching the game oh and by the way it was 2:30 am.
I understand Rosenthal's argument completely. But he did talk about money. Zack Greinke before this new contract already had over $110 million dollars. He doesn't need more money. If the teams aren't making every penny either you won't hear me complain.
All I am saying is if this isn't done right we won't have the chance to recognize Zack Greinke walking down the street.

Thing of The Day: April 15th

Hi everybody,
There has been a lack of articles the last few days for a good reason: I decided that I should write quality over quantity so I might not write an article every day. I will try to write either sports articles or mental health articles quite often though and there will always be a thing of the day.
I think sometimes things are important to sports are really important to the whole world. Today is Jackie Robinson day.
Even if you are not a sports fan there is a good chance you have heard of Jackie Robinson as he was one of the most important people in the civil rights movement.
As some people know I criticize sports leagues a lot. But I also do tip my cap (I mean this is a baseball article) where credit is due. MLB does an absolutely great job with Jackie Robinson day.
Hopefully someday the amount of African Americans in the Majors will rise up again. However, Robinson still has a huge impact on the players, because he really opened the door for Latino players as well. So players like Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, Mariano Rivera and Pedro Martinez and many others might have not been able to play if it wasn't for Jackie Robinson. Also, if it weren't for him we might have never seen players like Hank Aaron, Derek Jeter, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Ken Griffey Jr and many others.
So even if you are not a baseball fan please take a second today to realize what an impact Jackie Robinson had in general. Also, if you are a baseball fan I would try to listen to some of the players today. Hear them talk about what an honor it is to wear #42 today.
Have a good day everybody. I have a feeling I will be writing a sports article later today. But, tomorrow I will definitely be writing a very important article.