The New Reality of College Football

 

Welcome to the new reality of college football! What is this new reality? Is it parity? Is it NIL? I think those are factors but that is not the reality that I am thinking about. No, the new reality of college football is the current NFL reality, mediocrity. 

With onset of this Wild West mentality where anything goes, what we can expect is mediocre football at best. Why? Well, there will be no depth as depth transfers to play right away. No one wants to sit the bench, work hard in practice and be developed over time because they no longer have to wait. If your current school will not start you, there is a school out there that will. To land top freshman recruits, programs are now forced to guarantee true freshman playing time. That leaves little time to be developed and no time to grow and mature. 

We have already seen this in the NFL. College players have been leaving their colleges earlier because they can get paid right away in the NFL. We have seen the deterioration of the skill positions in the NFL. Quarterback play has seen an increase in interceptions and a decrease in completion rates. Wide receivers drop more balls and blame other factors. The running back is no longer a prominent position on the field. Coaches are hired to counsel and manage egos and not coach football. I can't even watch the NFL anymore, and college has quickly arrived at the same door.  

I admit it. I don't like it. I am starting to see to many things that resemble the NFL game. So, what's the answer? I am not sure there is one. There is plenty of money in support of the game so those who watch football for football will probably fad into the woodwork. The game will miss the football purist only if he or she can't be replaced, but my bet is that for a while they will be replaced by a new bred of fans. Those wanting all the other things besides football. The drama ... the storylines ... the feuds ... the plots ... All of these things will be added to football to make it more appealing and people will go and cheer, but for what?

The game will have changed, and purists like me will be long gone, but are we needed? Probably not. It will go on without us, but I don't think it will be the same and that is sad. Those cheering their team on ten years from now will not recognize the football I knew and loved. They will never know the beauty of the game where every kid had a place on the team. There was no bigger, faster, stronger program ... no flying around tackling with your head down. The game back in the day taught more than football. It was a chance for boys to learn to be men. It was a place where hard work was rewarded and being physical was taught in all the right ways. It was field where every player learned the benefits of team and the determent of individuality. 

The game of football I knew taught so much more than football and it appears that this version of the game is gone and being replaced by money, power and fame. Something inside me says this will not end well, but what do I know.  

Sad But True

 

Here is a new feature to this blog. I call it "Sad But True." In this section, I will post facts that are sad, weird, hard to believe and even outlandish but are also true. So, here we go!

Pluto did not get to make one full orbit around the Sun between its discovery as a planet and its demotion from planet to dwarf planet. It takes 248 years for it to orbit the Sun. Pluto was discovered on February 8, 1930 and it was demoted from full planet status to a dwarf planet on April 24, 2006. That is our first "weird but true" fact!  

Fallacies and the News

 

It would be amusing if it were not so sad, but watching the news is like watching a rolling list of fallacies, especially in this election cycle. It is hard to believe our country has sunk this low in such a short period of time.

As we prepare to elect a president, I ask you what policies does your candidate support? Do you know them?  In my lifetime, I don't think I have ever experienced an election where my reasons for voting were more about the other candidate. Both candidates call each other names and the media (local and national news) do the same. There is no reporting from a neutral position anymore and the reporting itself has dropped to a new low, but the more disturbing aspect is the number of fallacies we see from the news. Let's run through a few. 

First, there is the ad hominem fallacy which is attacking the messenger to distract you away from the message. We see this from both camps as they name-call each other and their supporters. We see this from reporters, famous news media, other politicians, sitting governors and mayors and directors of state and local agencies. It is like we live in one big middle school. 

Second, we see circular reasoning in almost every report these days. Next time you watch a report notice that the conclusion is that which started the report, which is supported by premises that presuppose the conclusion. An example of this would be candidate A is immoral and you shouldn't vote for candidate A because of his/her immorality. 

Third, the straw man fallacy is used often on both sides of the isle. This fallacy involves labeling your opponent in a certain way or with an untrue easily defeated position and then continue to attack that position. 

Fourth, we see the Post Hoc Ergo, Propter Hoc (After this, therefore because of this) used by the media often in fact-checking segments where they make logical leaps that cannot be made. If an event A occurs and then is followed by an event B, with no direct causal relationship, but an appeared or assumed one, the media will let the public assume and these days the media will actually add speculation to make the better case. 

Fifth, there is the fallacy of accent. This occurs when the reporter adds emphasis or accent to words in a report to suggest something that is not really there. This one occurs a lot by accident but its increase suggests that the care for remaining a neutral observer and reporter of facts is no longer a concern. 

Sixth, contextomy, or quoting out of context, happens all the time. When a reporter interviews someone and only quotes a portion of the quote to imply something very different than what was said is actually slander, is it not?. Another version of this is headlines that imply something different than what is in the story. 

I could go on all day, but my point is that the media, the news, reporters ... all of them have lost our trust and with good reason. They can no longer be trusted because their reporting is slanted and bent one way. They have moved beyond reporting and into the arena of influencing. They are no longer reporting facts. They are now trying to convince you of something or convert you to some candidate. 

This election is a great example. What do you actually know about each candidate's policies and positions? I bet not a whole lot. Why? One answer ... the media. They have stopped being the watch dog for the people and have become one-sided. It is really sad but not all that surprising. If you are still getting your news from a local or national channel understand one thing ... It is not news as much as it is propaganda. This is where we are and I don't see it getting any better anytime soon.    

Morality and the Election

 

We sit a mere 22 days away from the next presidential election. Whether you are on the left or on the right, if you're honest, you have to admit that the two candidates on the current docket are lacking. Can we not unite on that? Both of our parties have let us down, but even less surprising, is some of the rationale people are tossing about to justify their decisions. 

Several have publically declared that they are voting for candidate A, not because of policy or economy, but because of morality. They are voting for candidate A because candidate B is morally bankrupt. On the surface, it sounds nice and presents a moral standard, but once we dig into this thinking, what we find is the opposite. 

If you want morality to serve as your standard then, from my position, neither candidate is an option for you. Both candidates have huge moral issues. A vote for one candidate over the other on moral grounds tells me a few things. 

First, to imply that one candidate is a morally superior candidate to the other is to repeat tired speculation thrown about carelessly by the network news (See my last post on whether you can trust the news or not.).   

Second, it implies that you are part of the base of one party and asserting that party's mantra. Suggesting one candidate is morally superior is a party line and an arrow both parties use to shoot at each other.  

Third, presenting either candidate as morally superior is, forgive me for this, delusional. Morality dissolved as a concern during the Clinton years. If morality is your standard then I guess I am wondering how you can vote for anyone.  

This last point is for those of us who claim Jesus Christ as Savior. Condemning anyone for their past is out of step with what the scriptures teach. First, your past has been wiped clean; God does not hold your past against you and He certainly does not give you the authority to hold another's past against them.

In Matthew 7, Jesus commands us to not judge; He goes further and tells us not to judge others or we will be judged in the same manner in which we judge others. He goes on to warn us that we tend to look at the speck in our brother's eye and miss the log in our own. The point is we love to judge ... why? I think it is so we can point out another's sin hoping people ignore our own. Jesus reminds us n Matthew 7 that there is only one judge and when He returns He will set all things right. That job is not yours or mine. Our job is to be found faithful and obedient to Jesus Christ, who is found in the word of God.  

Let's agree that both candidates have moral issues; both candidates will not save us from our fate, which is set. So, how should you vote? Well, this is not a spiritual issue, in my opinion, as much as I wish it were one. We are not voting for a savior, a pastor or anything moral; that shipped sailed a long time ago. We are voting for sinful horribly-flawed candidates who represent direction, policy and governance. To ignore all of those to vote for one candidate as a rejection of the other's past sins is flawed and upside down. 

As a Believer, if morality is your issue then neither candidate should be morally acceptable, but you and I are not morally acceptable either ... without Jesus Christ. What is the difference between who we are and who both candidates are? It is Jesus. There is nothing good in us other than Jesus. As Believers, we are called to a higher standard. We are called to live according to the standards laid out before us in scripture and then we are called to live them out before a watching world. How we do that matters, even when voting.  

   

The News

 

I was getting in my cardio workout on the stair master today and caught a few MSNBC pundits talking about how Trump's lies and misinformation is infringing on hurricane relief. Now, I am no Trump pundit but I am also no Harris pundit. My attitude is resigned to choosing the lesser of two evils in this election, but is it really that bad?

I am not sure it is, but I do know one thing for sure—the news will not be a help to us. These two pundits were trying to make the case that Trump was causing issues with current efforts for Hurricane Milton. The facts are these:

The hurricane, as I write this, has yet to make landfall. All evacuation efforts and preparations are completed. It is now time to hunker down and survive this storm. Trump has nothing to do with this storm nor will he be a help. The point is this: The news, which presents itself as neutral and as truth, is neither. And, they have also become very bad at their job.

A quick glance at the last debate and the moderators will provide some evidence in support of my thesis. Both moderators rushed to fact check JD Vance concerning his claim about illegal immigrants in a certain small city, and their fact check was a statement by the city administrator. The problem is who fact checks the city administrator or, better yet, who fact checks the moderators. Both came off as pompous and arrogant, not neutral and truthful.

Can we trust the news anymore? Well, with headlines like, "Experts have been screaming about storms like Milton, Republicans refuse to listen." Or this one, "Trump face-plants again while trying to insult Harris' intelligence." On this particular website there are twelve stories about Trump and they are all negative. Every mention of the Republicans is negative. Every mention of Harris is positive and every mention of the Democrats is positive. This organization presents itself as news and many people read it as news, but it is not news. It is pure propaganda. 

I am not Republican nor am I Democrat; I am independent and it is people like me actually elect politicians. Sadly, I no longer get my facts from the news. Each has a side and each slants to that side. Headlines are designed to pull you into the article which has nothing to do with the headline. I have found the news to be a waste of time when it comes to facts. However, as far as entertaining, if you can get your sense of humor in a good place, reading the news can be humorous if it does not make you cry first. 

The news is no longer the news, but there are those out there who swear by the news. Here is a challenge! Find a story ... any story that presents the facts without a slant one way or another. Bet you can't do it! If you find one, please leave a comment and tell me where it is and I will give you all the credit. So, where do you go for the facts? Today, you have to find them yourself, but you have the whole World Wide Web at your disposal. If you don't have the facts, it is no one's fault but your own. Happy Hunting!   

The Beginning of the End of Professional Sports

If you have not heard about what happening to the Houston Astros this past week, then, your are living on a remote island and probably have other things that are more important. If that is you, good for you!

If that is not, then let's talk. Both their manager and their general manager were suspended for a year, and then, fired by the owner. The team lost draft picks and was fined $5 million dollars, and all this was for what? Stealing signs!

Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy? I mean, come on... stealing signs? Really? We have got real issues in sports like domestic violence, steroids, brain injuries, and MLB is throwing the book at the Astros for... stealing signs. Am I the only one who thinks this smells funny?

When I played baseball long ago, if you were good it didn't matter if you knew what pitch was coming or not. As a matter of fact, I played against pitchers who were so good they actually told you what was coming, and you still couldn't hit it. If stealing signs is so wrong and such an affront to baseball then every church softball team needs to be penalized. I mean, come on... you know that ark is coming. I believe this landmark case is the beginning of the end of professional sports for one simple reason... they have forgotten who they are.

Baseball is a sport... period. So is basketball, football and hockey. The game entertains and provides fans a means of supporting their favorite team, at least it used to do that. I used to enjoy going to MLB games, but no more. Now, I am reading about a professional league handing out fines as if it is a government, as if a sign on a baseball field is necessary for national security. I have read all the pundits, and they, too, have forgotten that these sports are... sports. There is a reason for this lapse in memory, and that reason is green. No, I am not taking about envy; instead, I am talking about money.

A professional athlete, on average, gets paid more in one season that most of us will see in our lifetimes, and I will throw actors into this lot as well. I stumbled onto an article the other day that documented the highest paid employee in each state. Most of the states had, as their highest paid employee, a college football coach. Are you serious? How can that be? Answer me this question: how come we vilify wealthy CEOs, but idolize wealthy athletes and actors?

There are actually people positing that the punishment is not harsh enough? This is like the the issue the New England Patriots dealt with several years ago regarding the proper inflation of footballs. I am from the north so I know that if you leave a properly inflated football out in the cold it looses air. Anyone who has played football knows this, and yet, all the "professionals" just knew that the Patriots cheated. This is just another example of how professional sports are losing their minds.

So, what are we to do? What are we, the lowly, who fork out our hard-earned money to see a sport that really cares very little for us anymore, to do? Well, if you want to follow my lead then stop paying for professional sports. I gave them up a long time ago. I have better things to do with my money than to throw it at a sport that has forgotten who it really is. So, while I still remember who I am, I am going to stop supporting those who think they are more important than they are. That makes sense to me; what about you?

Change

What is change? Lisa Ower has a great article in Forbes on change. If you want a different perspective on change then read Lisa Ower's article. Click HERE to read the article. There is a lot in that article that will make you think.

In the last ten years, I have seen so much change that I have changed because of the amount of change I have seen. I have seen change in computers, phones, television, movies, athletics and education, but the change I have seen in culture is most disturbing.

Culture has lost something in all that has changed in culture. There is something missing. What I see in culture is a hyper-intense focus on self, manifesting as individualism masquerading as happiness and contentment. If you doubt me just sit down and watch a few commercials. You will pick up on the theme of self pretty quickly. So, here is the problem as I see it... culture is about difference. Difference unites through a commonality, and yet, a culture that is only focused on individualism does not develop a commonality that unites difference.

This focus on individualism is a polarized focus on self, which has a very bleak future. We already see evidence of this in our current culture. If you doubt me, then, answer this question. Name one thing, anything, that unites different people. Name something everyone will agree on. I can't think of anything anymore. Ten years ago I would have said patriotism, but even that will no longer work. Commonality is the blood of culture, especially a culture like ours.

Cultures are melting pots of difference, but if nothing unites difference then, the difference wins. The problem is that there is a lot of difference so which difference wins. Just look at our political system. Yes, there are technically two parties, but are there? I would suggest that there are more than two parties inside the two parties. There are moderates, hyper-liberals, socialists, ultra-conservatives and many more. In the past, some of these would not be acceptable, but now we hear that all ideas are welcome. But, are they?

Whether you are talking culture or a road, each requires guidelines. Everything cannot be acceptable. Guard rails and speed limits are the commonalities for most roads. They keep all the differences safe and secure. Culture is, in some ways, the same as a road. So, what are the commonalities in current culture? What are those things that keep all the difference safe and secure? I am struggling to come up with anything... what about you? I would love to know your thoughts! Hit the comment section. Thanks!