A Little Bit of This & a Little Bit of That

 A Little Bit of This:

I was reading about Aaron Rodgers' torn Achilles tendon injury in relationship to his dislike of his offensive linemen cut-blocking the defensive line. I've only decided to write a little about football, mostly about the NFL this year, so I haven't paid much attention to the lesser known details of the sport, cut blocks being one of them. As it was explained, the offensive lineman throws himself at that legs of the in-charging defensive end or tackle to stop him from getting to the QB. Rodgers' complaint is that if the this particular block doesn't work, the D lineman is far more apt to get to the QB quickly, which means that if a team offensive coordinator likes the idea of cut-blocking, the QB must get the ball out of his hands quickly. Rodgers claims this does not allow him or other QB to improvise. I had to visulaze the action for a while before I could see that I agreed with Rodgers.  I think what bothered me the most about this strategy was the part about the offensive lineman "throwing himself" at the legs of the defensive lineman. Yes, this is a QB issue, but it seems to me it is a defensive linemen's issue. I was under the impression that cut-blocking was not allowed in the NFL any more. It seems to me any aggressive attack against the legs from the knees down is a receipe for serious injury. Ancles, Knees. Danger, right/ Am I wrong? Besides, I don't see the point of limiting your QB by forcing him to throw until he is ready. Most great QBs get the ball out of their hands efficiently. Efficiantly does not mean "hurry up." So, what is the point of cut-blocking? Seems anti-QB to me. 

A Little Bit of That:

Has anybody noticed there is no longer any off season for basketball, the pros and international ball especially? Looking back to the end of the NBA season, I'll bet there hasn't been a week where hasn't been some game or some important issue or event relating to basketball. This morning I read that there has been a two game match between NBA team Ignite and a Aussie Perth pro team. Soon to come,t here will be more games feature many of the 2024 NBA draft choice. Yes, you heard me, 2024. These wannabes don't show up on my calender until a year from now, but there I was reading about these kids and that the NBA scouts were at the games evaluating. This is closing in on mid September. NbA training camp is about two weeks away. Then it's full on hoops. Am I complaining? I can watch hoops any chance I get, but I worry about overplaying can lead to voer injury. The body must have time to rest, to heal, even if there is no injury, the body, like the mind, needs times of peace. It is not quite the same analogy, but I recall that baseball coaches do not teach youngsters to throw curveballs until well into high school. 

And more of That:

Will somebody explain to me why whenever I change channels to avoid looking at a commercial, that channel is also showing a commercial? On a related note, watching sports and the channel goes to a split screen, why does the commercial get the larger screen? One of these days we're going to wind up simpley watching commercials, no content, just auto insurance, beer and car ads and of course the ubiquitous drug commercials with all the weird names. Where have all our contents gone, (like the flowers and the soldiers) we'll ask each other, and scratch our heads because we've forgotten. 

Here's a Haiku about football

A perfect spiral
Cut the air in flight , I watched it
Laying on my back. 

Back Bloging. Books First

I always feel guilty when I forget to blog. I apologize, but I had a good reason. I've been finishing the 3rd novel in my Brovelli Brothers Mystery series: The Case of the Volkswagen Hippie Bus. Oh, by the way, the second in the series: The Case of the '66 Ford Mustang will launch this coming October. So, apologies and excuses done with, let's begin, starting in reverse order: Literature and Life first, sports second.

This morning on my walk, I was greeted with "Love that T-shirt" by four fellow-walkers. As a retired English teacher, (that was my career after 10 years playing in the NBA.) this made me happy. My T- shirt is black with white lettering. On the front is a picture of a cartoon smiley face book. The caption reads: Ban the Fascist, Save Our Books. If you haven't noticed, there are many Republican governors and Republican state legislators who are passing legislation banning books of all types from school libraries and county libraries state wide. I will leave for another blog, Texas closing high school libraies in Houston and converting them into disciplinary centers. OMG!  I taught high school AP senior English for 24 years in Reno High School. Nevada is by no means a liberal state. So, from time to time, as a teacher I encountered conservative flare-ups from some school board members. In one such case I had included Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon on my summer reading list for incoming seniors. The novel is, i grant you, a tough read, but I felt it was touching and profoundly important for students heading to college as most of mine were. Within hours of my distributing the list, my principal got calls from parents who did not want their children to read a story with a good deal of explicit sexual content. These were conservative and religious parents. What was the result of these calls? Well, the governor of Nevada didn't go ballistic and begin banning books, I can assure you, and I my family were not threatened as teachers and librarians are being threatened today. What did we do? We simply provided an alternative book for the kids to read, one that satisfied parents and me. In this case alternative novel was Earnest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. Look, I'm not using this platform to na na parents who overly oversee their children's book choices, even though I feel strongly that by the last years of high school, such scrutiny interferes with their children's ability to understand the society they are about to become a part of as adults. My point is BANNING BOOKS IS WRONG AND A SLIPPY SLOPE TO A FACIST CONTROLED SOCIETY. I believe absolutely that people of good will can solve problems, even the hardest problems. We did in Reno. It can happen throughout the country. 

Now, back to sports:

Congratulations to Co Co Gauf for winning her first U.S. Open title. There has been some fabulous tennis being played this year. Hopefully, you didn't miss the 20 year old Ben Shelton defeating a more seasoned Francis Tiafoe to make it to the Semi Finals. He lost to the incredible Novak Djkovic, but was not blown away. I was happy to see that the USTA allowed Russian and Belarussian players to compete while not allowing them to play under their national flag in protest of Putin's invasion of the Ukraine.

 Given how well our young American players performed, it looks like America is back in the pro tennis scene. I was sorry to see the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz lose. It will be the Russian Medvedev facing Djokovic in the finals. It is hard for me to cheer for Djokovic after his refusal to take his COVID shots. 

I'm not sure I can be enthusiastic about America's international basketball prospects. Our FIBA team will not bring back any medals this year. Germany and Lithuania smashed us on the boards and made our defense look pathetic. Canada beat us yesterday for the Bronze. Of course, this should not have surprised anyone as we were not playing with our best pros but with a cast of young upcoming NBA stars. As long as we don't play with our best players in the FIBA World Cup, we can look forward to more losing seasons in international competition. The world has generally caught up to us in basketball. That's good thing. 

I like to think I played some part in tje growth of basketball overseas. KC Jones, John Havlicek and I were the second group of American basketball players to travel to West Africa to promote the game back in 1964. The year before Bill Russell and Bob Cousy went. In 1965, again I returned with Si Green and in 1985 I spent 4 months by myself touring West Africa coaching. African players are now playing all over Europe and players of African decent are common in the NBA. The way things are going with International basketball, I would not be surprised in a few years down the line, there will no longer be an NBA but an IBA, the International Basketball Association, comprised of 4 Conferences: Asian, European, African, and Americas. 

Here is a poem I wrote about tennis. 

Tennis Tournament in Chinatown

    For Peter Sears

His first serve slices pencil thin
over the net and drops like a broken elbow,
skittering to the side out of reach,
and after his next serve curves like a new moon
to my forehand, then changes direction
like a scythe to my back-hand, I know
I’m in trouble. Forty-love, the first game
his, won on a squirrelly shot that, were it not
a ball, might well have been a squirrel.
 
My service, a hard one with top-spin
comes just in time to save me from disgrace,
or so I think. In the split second I see it
catch the corner, a certain winner, it returns
to me as a butterfly attaching itself to the silk
thread of the net, as delicate as a brushstroke,
before fluttering off where I can’t touch it.
 
I’m thinking this is not tennis but an ancient
form of art, disguised as tennis for the purpose
of torture, invented in the court of the Sung
Dynasty, and it is the sly Emperor Hui-Tang
himself on the other side of the net.
He is staring at me, crouched, his whites
gleaming in the sun, racket spinning in his hand,
waiting for me to decide how to paint
the rising peacock. Will I paint the left leg
or the right leg first? Meanwhile I’ve two balls
in my hand, confused, wondering which one
to serve and which one to place in my pocket.

Congratulations Coach Pop & etc

 San Antonio's, already legendary coach, Greg Popovich will be inducted into Basketball's Hall of Fame this Saturday. I just finished reading a lengthy and well written article in The Athletic that sums up Coach Pop's life and career. It's great read. It begins with Pop's motto as a coach and human being: Get Over Yourself. As a retired high school teacher, it is an aphorism that should be engraved above he entrance of every high school in the nation and above the entrance to the White House. It should be part of every wedding ceremony and opening statement of every CEO at the beginning of every board meeting. It should be every minister's first words to his or her congregation. And very mornings whisper as one rises in the morning to start one's day.  

Coach Popovich goes into the BAsketball Hall of Fame having long ago gotten over himself. But those of us who have enjoyed watching his teams will never get over him and what he has meant to basketball and his county. 

ETC

Can anybody be mor petty than Donald Trump Tweeting or whatever he doe about how happy he was that our women's national soccer team lost in the FIFA World Cup? And why was that? Because the team includes Megan Rapinoe, a lesbian and a hero of previous teams who has been  critical of Trump while he was president. Trump could certainly benefit from Popovich's advice to get over himself. 

Trump's motto is: If you go after me, I'll come after you. Living with that motto, it's no wonder his soul is so dark. 

ETC

From Trump to a much happier subject: Congrats to Eric Bieniemy, starting his firs season as the Jets Offensive Coordinator. My guess is the Chiefs are going to miss his presence. I'm not sure if I'm correct, but I'd bet Coach Eric's last name Bieniemy originated from the French, bien  ami, perhaps somewhere around Lousiana. Bien Ami means beloved friend. Stuff like that doesn't translate to the rough and tumble of NFL football, but I've always imagined Coach Andy Reed and Erica Bieniemy after retiring sitting in rocking chairs side by side on a front porch with a cold brew in their hands and a plate of pork ribs balanced on their large bellies, talking football and remembering their good old days together. 

Onward and downward: Long time QB of the Packers and now the QB of the Jets, Aaron Rodgers, could stand getting over himself. I still can't get over his anti-vax stance, which in my opinion was all about how his health was more important than his teammates' health. 

Onward and upward: Jimmy G, new QB of the Raiders, wins the first game against his old team the 49ers. You read it first here. 

POPOVITCH  HAIKU    by Tom Meschery

One thousand wins

    And one loss keeps you awake

Staring into the abyss 

The NFL, My Second Effort and ETC

 Let's begin with ETC: Part of etc in the future is going to be about FANTABULOUS names in all sports. i'm not talking about  the players as athletes but the players' actual names. Yesterday's blog contained my first effort and a great one it was, it will reign supreme, numero uno, until I find one to surpass it. This name will not, but it is definitely Fantabulous: 49er cornerback. Drum roll, please: DEOMMODORE LENOIR. Brandon Aiyuk calls him, "his dog."  

Is Brock Purdy the answer to the 49er QB question mark. Last season was certainly a Brock Purdy coming-out party, but referring to a sport I know best, it's always the second year that tests whether a player can sustain and grow. Lot's of talk abuot Trey Lance being traded. Giving up on an athlete like that sounds dumb to me. What might he look like after a couple of seasons without an injury?  

I would have added Aiyuk to my Fantabulous names' list, but Brandon just takes the edge off Aiyuk. It's got to be first, last, and middle if possible to earn a sport on Meschery's Fantabulous Names List. 

Here's a Haiku about football

QB #1    By Tom Meschery

Watch the rabbit run,
Escaping the coyote
Mahomes evading tackles.

Beware NBA & etc

This morning I read an Athletic article about options for the Knicks looking to fill out their rosters. The title started out:  "Cheap options for the Knicks." I didn't need to read further. I've been thinking about this since reading how writers were congratulating Sun's GM, Jone for his acumen finding chepa players to surround his Big Three, assuming he doesn't consider Ayton, which would make it the Big Four. In the recent past, Teams over the cap apron(s) have been faced with the same problems as the Suns. Take the Golden State Warriors, for example, finding vets they can sing for vet minimums. In 2022 in worked out beautifully; in 2023, the Dubs were not so lucky. Just not the same caliber vets, excpet for Donte DiVincenzo. Here's my worry. As the money rises teams can offer, I can foresee the bulk of it going to the super stars and a great deal less of it distributed among the solid rotation players. I don't believe vet rotation players and their agents would deny that NBA championship teams are built around their Super Stars and those stars, like great film stars, deserve top salaries, However, if the difference between Star contracts begin to infringe upon the contracts of the rest of the team, thing couls get a bit dicey around the league. Without getting into politics, this possibility in the NBA could at some point in the future begin to look like the disaprity betwee wealth in this country where most of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the upper 2% of the population. 

ETC

After Basketball season ends, I blog less. I watch baseball, but baseball on television is a game for people who love statistics. Not that there isn't action. Watching pitchers is very satisfying, but I can only do it for so long. as pitching takes up over half of he time of the game. Whenever there's a homerun, I hear the voice of my dearly departed friend, Bill King, one time Voice of the Athletics: "It's going, it's gone, Holy Toledo! I've had the game explained to me by Larry Colton, one time Philly pitcher and now writer of great books. Read Counting Coups, you'll love the story of a Native American girls basketball team on it's way to a state championship. Even with Larry's tutelage, I know I'm not getting half the nuance of baseball. So I don't blog about it much.  

Of course there are so many sports I can write about. Presently, we have America's women competing for the FIFA World Championships. And I'll always have my eye out for tennis.  And I try not to miss major track and field events.  I know too little about winter sports such as skiing and iceskating that there's not interesting I could say about it, unless there is a rekated human interest narrative  involved.

 This all leads upt to the following:

Why not blog about the NFL and college football? Even though i recognize the sports' violence, I still enjoy watching football, especially the NFL, I guess because I prefer seeing sports played on the highest level. The only reason I can think of why I don't blog about football is simply that there are too many players to be taken into consideration to do a credible job. Twenty-two in all and most in positions I know little about except when pointed out to me by a color-commentator. Did you see what the left guard did to open up the hole for the running back? I did not, sorry Troy.  

But I have decided this season to go against my better judgement and write more about the NFL 

Allow me to begin: Hurrah, foe Justin Herbert for earning a five year contract worth $265.2 million. Note please that I didn't round up and kept the.2, which is about the total amount a teacher earns in ten years and probably less in a state like Mississippi. Ah, well. My wife is on board with this contract as she is an Oregon Duck and so is Justin. And she points out he went the full four years and graduated with a 4 GPA degree in science with an emphais in biology. Now we're talking roll model. 

Not to be upstaged by Herbert, Andrew Thomas, offensive tackle for the New York Giants has signed a contract worth $217.5 million. We're talking lineman here, I know zero about offensive tackles so i felt it would be a good start mentioning him. Well, I do know the job of offensive tackles is to clear a path for rurnning backs and to protect quaterbacks from getting crushed by defensive tackles. 

I'm a 49er fan. I go back as far a YA Tittle. I used to also be a fan of the Raiders, but when the team domped Oakland, I stopped. Vegas can have them. Although, I must say, if any city might carry on the raucous tradition of the Oakland fans it's Glitter City. Back to the 49ers: Nick Bosa has not showed up for training camp as his agent is working on the details of a new extended contract. I can't wait to see the numbers. I am a fan of Bosa, not only because he is a fabulous end rusher but because my wife's grandson,Jaxon, has named his cat Bosa.  

I don't think I'll push the envelope mush frurther for my first foray into football blogging, excpet for one last shot: The Winner of the All Time Name for an Athlete in any sport - Drum foll, please - is Amon-Ra-St. Brown. Like Wilt Champerlain's 100 point game, I doubt this will ever be surpassed.

 I leave you with this interesting factoid about football: In England in the 18th century, Rugby, the grandpa of American Football, along with Cricket, was the sport of the upper classes, while Football, which in America we call soccer, was thought of as the sport for the lower classes?  

HEAPS ON HEAPS

And now both bands in close embraces met,
Now foot to foot, and breast to breast was set.
Now all impatient grapple round the ball,
And heaps on heaps in wild disorder fall.
                 Matthew Concanen

               from A Match at Football
                     (1721)