A House Divided: SoCal Crosstown Rivalry Fandom-Which Side Of The Fence Are You On?

For every sports fan out there one of the most common questions that they have very likely been asked at some point is what team or teams do they like to root for. Finding out the answer to that question is likely more interesting if a particular city, state or country has more than one team that plays in the same league.

For example, in the greater Los Angeles area where my family and I live, both of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels (who play in Anaheim, California), play their games as members of the Major League Baseball (MLB) professional sports league. The Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers play in the City of Angels for the National Football League (NFL). Both of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers are yearly participants of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks call the National Hockey League (NHL) their home.

For those sports cities like Los Angeles who have more than one professional sports team in each league, fans will usually have only one team that is their favorite to root for most of the time. Up to this point in my life I don't think I have ever met or come across someone who has said that they root for both teams equally in a particular sport. They will usually have only one team or teams that they root for or are a fan of in a given sport. These various rooting interests for only one team in a particular sport served as the inspiration for this new series of blog posts at Tim's Sports World about crosstown rivalry fandom.

Without further ado I now present the first installment of this brand new series about crosstown rivalry fandom which will focus on the sports teams that play in the Southern California region or area!:

Clayton Kershaw Photo (Top) Courtesy Of:

Wikimedia and Arturo Pardavila III on Flickr

Under CC BY 2.0 License.

Mike Trout Photo (Bottom) Courtesy Of:

 Wikimedia and Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA  Under CC BY-SA 2.0 License.                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                 

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD) Vs. Los Angeles Angels (LAA) (MLB)

Both of the Angels and Dodgers baseball teams of Major League Baseball (MLB) have called the Southern California area their home now for the last 50 to 60 years or so.

The Dodgers moved to the Los Angeles area from Brooklyn in New York in 1958 and played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 1958 to 1961 before moving in to Dodger Stadium in 1962, while the Angels franchise played their first ever season in team history in 1961 at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. After the 1961 season the Angels played their home games at Chavez Ravine (A.K.A. Dodger Stadium) from 1962 to 1965. Since the 1966 season the Angels have called Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, California their home ballpark.

Both teams also play their games in two separate leagues with the Dodgers playing in the National League while the Angels take on competitors from the American League. Even though these two teams have played in separate leagues throughout their history, there are times throughout the season each year when both teams have played each other. When that happens, those series of games are referred to as the "Freeway Series" due to the fact that many of the fans can go to the games by driving on the freeways in the Los Angeles area. As a matter of fact, the one freeway that has access to both cities and stadiums is the 5 Freeway.

When it comes to figuring out the rooting interest of both teams, this is probably the one that is the most easy call for me to make as a fan. Since my family and I have been fans of the Angels for as long as I can remember, it's a no-brainer that they would come out on top in this contest.

There was even a period of time for a few years during which my dislike for the Dodgers was so intense that I would be really mad or upset if they were either beating the Angels in the head-to-head match ups or were having a much better season than the Angels were.

If I remember things correctly, this was also around the same time that Frank McCourt owned the Dodgers which also added to the intensity of my animosity of the Boys in Blue. Now that Frank McCourt no longer owns the team however, my negative views of the Dodgers have changed considerably over the last few years but not enough to the point where I would choose to root for them over the Angels when they play against each other.

Jared Goff Photo (Top) Courtesy Of:

Wikimedia and Jeffrey Beall Under

CC BY 4.0 License.

Philip Rivers Photo (Bottom) Courtesy Of:

Wikimedia and Jeffrey Beall Under

CC BY 4.0 License. 

2. Los Angeles Rams (LAR) Vs. Los Angeles Chargers (LAC) (NFL)

This same city National Football League (NFL) sports rivalry is the newest one to have arrived recently in the Southern California area. For the Rams this is now the second time in their franchise history that they have played a large part of their games in the state of California after a long detour in St. Louis, Missouri while the Chargers are currently playing in only their second season ever in the city of Los Angeles. Before that of course, they spent their previous seasons playing in the city of San Diego, California.

In terms of now having not one, but two football teams in Los Angeles after an absence of over 20 years, I'm still not quite used to knowing that the NFL has now had two teams come back and or move to the area once again and playing here over the last couple of years. As a sports fan when I was growing up, I actually got very used to not having a football team or teams in the city of Los Angeles for quite some time. As a result, I started to like the freedom of being able to choose which football team to root for if I wanted to do so. It was during that time that I became a fan of the Dallas Cowboys for a little while.

As of right now though, I have not really been a fan of any one football team in particular. That being said, if I had to choose which L.A. team football team that I currently prefer over the other, I guess I would have to go with the Rams due to their recent overall success. That endorsement however is not a ringing one when compared to some of the other rivalries that are included in this article.

Kobe Bryant Photo (Top) Courtesy Of:

Wikimedia and Keith Allison from Kinston, USA

Under CC BY-SA 3.0 License.

Chris Paul Photo (Bottom) Courtesy Of:

Wikimedia and Verse Photography

Under CC BY-SA 2.0 License.

3. Los Angeles Lakers (LAL) Vs. Los Angeles Clippers (also abbreviated as LAC) (NBA)

The next Southern California crosstown rivalry comes from the third of the four biggest professional sports leagues in North America. That is the rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This is a Southern California sports rivalry that has, for the most part, been very one-sided throughout its overall history.

For the majority of time that this rivalry has been around, it has been dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers. Over the last few years though, the Clippers have done a good job at fielding some very competitive teams while the Lakers were not very competitive. That being said though, the overall dominance of the Lakers as one of the marquee franchises in the NBA cannot be ignored. From watching some of the greatest basketball players that have played for the purple and gold during my lifetime in Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to enjoying the excellent deep playoff runs of the three-peat championship Lakers teams from 2000-2002, there is one clear winner in this rivalry and that is the Lakers!

Now that they have added LeBron James to the fold as a free agent to start the 2018-2019 season, it will be interesting to see if the team can be good enough once again to get back to the playoffs after a drought of a few years and compete for a championship.


Dustin Brown Photo (Below) Courtesy Of:
Wikimedia and JulieAndSteve
Under CC BY 2.0 License.

4. Los Angeles Kings (LAK) Vs. Anaheim Ducks (ANA) (NHL)

The last Southern California crosstown rivalry comes from the sport that I have watched the least of. That is the rivalry between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Even though I don't really watch that many hockey games to begin with, I have watched enough of them to have a favorite team to root for and follow in this rivalry. That team would be the Los Angeles Kings.

Since my dad has been a fan of the team throughout the years, that is one factor which made it easier for me to be a fan of the team as well. Another factor that also influenced me along the way were the few years that they put together a solid stretch of being in the Stanley Cup playoffs from 2009 to 2014. During this time the team would end up winning the Stanley Cup at the end of the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 seasons.

As for the Anaheim Ducks, even though they have also won a Stanley Cup championship in 2007 and did so before the Kings won a pair of their own a few years later, I have never really been a fan of that team at all since the time they were established in 1993 as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. At this point in my life when it comes to the Ducks team and how I view them, I probably feel a stronger connection to the Ducks' teams that were featured in the Disney movie franchise of the 1990's which served as the inspiration for the real team.

Since those teams weren't real ones though, I think I'll just stick with my original team allegiance pick of the Los Angeles Kings. That being said though, since my level of interest in the sport hasn't been at the same level of the other sports such as baseball, if either the Kings or Ducks are in the playoffs in a given year as has been the case previously, it wouldn't bother me too much to root for both of them. If that scenario were to happen in the future however, I would give a slight edge to the Kings.

Closing Thoughts:

As the famous saying at the end of the Looney Tunes cartoon series goes, "That's all folks!" With the exception of the local college teams that are in the area as well as those other teams who play for the Major League Soccer (MLS) professional sports league, I have discussed all the professional sports teams that play their respective games in the Southern California area and my subsequent rooting interests for each of them. The main reason why I chose to not include any of the other college or pro sports teams in the Southern California area such as the UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans and the Los Angeles Galaxy is because I don't follow those sports as closely as I do when compared to the four main sports leagues that I chose to be a part of the discussion.

Now that you guys know where I stand as a fan with regards to those teams, it would be interesting to find out if we're on the same page or if there will have to be some lines drawn in the sand. In any case, feel free to continue rooting for whoever you want and I hope we can still be friends, even if we happen to be on opposite sides of the sports rivalry fence.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2018-All Rights Reserved

  

To Charge Or Not To Charge?...To Ram Or Not To Ram?...: Those Are My NFL In Los Angeles Team Fan Support Questions.

Photo Courtesy Of:

Wikimedia

And

Jeffrey Beall under CC BY 4.0 License.

Photo Courtesy Of:

Wikimedia

And

CASportsFan under CC BY-SA 4.0 License.

Yes it's true! The world of Shakespearean literature titles and the sports blogging universe that is known as Tim's Sports World have finally come together and crash landed into each other for the first time in history! How is that for hyperbole?

All kidding aside that comes with making up an admittedly cheesy Shakespearean sports post title pun, one of the best things for me about watching football games in the National Football League (NFL) and growing up in the city of Los Angeles in the '90's was having the freedom to choose which team I wanted to root for or not root for.

During this time, there were (and still are) friends and family members of mine who are fans of the Raiders, 49ers and Rams and Cowboys and Chargers respectively.The list is somewhat lengthy and mostly includes my mother Letty's friends and family.

As far as I know, two out of the three uncles on her side of my family have been lifelong fans of the Raiders going all the way back to when they were in Los Angeles in the 1980's and 1990's. Another lifelong friend of my mom's family is a fan of the Rams, so he has already staked his claim i this discussion most likely. Another uncle and a cousin also on my mom's side of the family are fans of the 49ers and Cowboys respectively. There is also another cousin in my mom's family whose husband and her family are fans of the Chargers. At least they were fans of the Chargers when the team was still in the city of San Diego which was pretty close to where they live in Oceanside. Now that the Chargers have moved to Los Angeles as of the 2017 NFL season, I don't know for sure if those members of my family are still fans of the team now that the team has since been relocated to Los Angeles. If I had to guess, I would venture to say that they are still fans of the Chargers but who knows? Lastly, on my mom's side of our family, there is one other cousin who does have a favorite football team like I used to for the most part, but like me, his favorite team is not and has never been a part of the Los Angeles or the state of California sports scene. That team would be the Kansas City Chiefs! To this day, I have never quite figured out how the fandom for the Chiefs came to be a reality for him? Then again, I don't think that I have ever asked him how became a fan of the Chiefs so that might have something to do with me not knowing about his story as a Chiefs fan living in L.A.!

Taking a quick look at the intensity level of NFL fandom on my dad's side of the family, other than my dad who was a fan of the 49ers before I was born and also while I was growing up and my aunt and her family who are fans of the Chargers, I'm not really sure if anyone else besides them are big fans of the NFL and the sport of football in general.

As for me, as a kid growing up with a huge interest in sports by mostly watching them on T.V., I started out as a Dallas Cowboys fan when I started watching football games many years ago. Approximately, at the same time that I started to get interested in following the Cowboys was also around the same time that they started going downhill after parting ways with head coaches Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer. Perhaps I was partly influenced to be a fan of the Cowboys as a result of the team's overall success back then and I was also most likely influenced by my cousin that I mentioned up above earlier who was also a fan of the Cowboys.

Since that period of time has come and gone, I have not had what you would call a legitimate or real rooting interest in any NFL team to be honest with you. As I mentioned above however, the fact that I don't actually have a favorite NFL team that I root for is something that has not really bothered me all that much since I have really liked having the freedom of watching football games and not having a dog in the fight so to speak. it is also worth mentioning that since I don't really have a favorite NFL team that I root for, my stress levels from watching the games are very low as compared to when I watch an Angels game in Major League Baseball (MLB) for example.

Jumping ahead to the NFL games that I watch presently, right now I don't really watch an entire football game in its entirety all the way through. These days, in order to quench my thirst or appetite for watching football games, my family and I have the NFL RedZone channel as part of our  TV multi sports channel viewing package from Dish Network. The great thing about the channel is that instead of focusing the viewer's attention on a single Nfl game, the channel bounces around from game to game. If you are not a fan of any particular football team or you don't have any rooting interest in any specific game, then I highly recommend that you get the NFL RedZone channel if you don't have it already to begin with.

With regards to me being able to keep track of what goes on during each and every NFL game on Sundays on the NFL RedZone channel, I should also mention that it can be a very tough balancing act in trying to watch the channel at the beginning of each season in September and into October due to the conflicting schedule of MLB games in September and October at the same time as well. Since baseball is by far my most favorite sport to watch and thusly has my top viewing priority and attention, once the regular season and the playoffs schedule wraps up in the sport of MLB, it then becomes much easier for me to give more of my full and undivided attention to watching NFL games and the NFL RedZone channel.

In terms of trying to figure out for me which of the two football teams now located here in the Los Angeles to possibly support as a fan, each one has its own share of pros and cons. For the Rams, since they have moved back to the city of Los Angeles after spending many of the last few years in St. Louis until now, they have not experienced a whole lot success as a sports team franchise since moving back to Los Angeles in 2016. In 2016 the Rams finished their season with a final win-loss record of 4 wins and 12 losses after getting off to a 4 win and 9 loss start to that season under the team's then head coach at the time named Jeff Fisher. Fisher was then subsequently fired by the team after that very slow 4 and 9 start and was replaced by John Fassel on an interim head coaching basis for the rest of the 2016 season. At the time that Fisher was replaced by Fassel as the interim head coach in 2016, Fassel served as the Rams special teams coach going all the back to the 2012 season. So far in the 2017 season, the Rams have a record of 4 wins and 2 losses and are in first place in the NFC West division under yet another new head coach in Sean McVay.

When looking at the prospects of possibly supporting the Chargers football team as a fan, one important factor for me does play a very big part in deciding whether or not I will support or root for them. That is the fact that until they made the move to Los Angeles for the beginning of the 2017 NFL season, the Chargers didn't really have a very long, rich and memorable history in Los Angeles other than in 1960 when they were a team of the American Football League (AFL) during their first year of existence. To be a new team in Los Angeles, unless you have had my undying and faithful devotion previously as a fan, you will probably not be given my full and undivided attention after a full season of playing in a new city such as Los Angeles. Maybe with the more time and years that the Chargers spend as a team here in Los Angeles, I might possibly decide to root for them if they become a successful sports team here in Los Angeles.

Having taken all of the above into consideration on this fan support and rooting Los Angeles football team question, it seems to me that the safest bet for me to go with right now would be the Los Angeles Rams! On the other hand however, I never really had any fan allegiance whatsoever to begin with when the Rams were in Los Angeles during their first go around in the City of Angels. To that I say why couldn't team owners Al or Mark Davis of the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders  let cooler heads prevail during that team's relocation negotiations over the last several years and move that franchise back to Los Angeles?! I'm sure the Black Hole bandwagon would have and maybe still has enough room to add someone who could be a possible new team fan member like me to the club!

Tim Musick
Copyright 2017
All Rights Reserved. 

One Small Step For The NHL And The NFL In Las Vegas...Two Giant Leaps For The Golden Knights And Raiders In Sin City

T-Mobile Arena-Home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Photo Courtesy of:Wikimedia And Tomas Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

underCC BY-SA 2.0 License.

As the year 2017 continues to roll along, the professional sports landscape will also be undergoing some major changes that has never been seen before. Specifically, those major landscape changes will occur during the upcoming month of October and no it has nothing to do with a new playoff format being implemented by a certain sports league or anything like that.

The big piece of sports news to watch and keep our eyes this time around during the upcoming month of October is that is supposed to be the time when the latest and newest major league professional sports expansion franchise known as the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL) will have their arrival in the sports world and will subsequently become the first ever professional sports team in the history of any of the core four North American major league sports leagues to call the city of Las Vegas home.

What is even more surprising to me about this Las Vegas sports scene thing as a whole is that it is the NHL that will be taking the first brave and bold steps into Sin City where traditionally what happens there supposedly stays there. If you would have asked me my thoughts about which of the big core four North American major league sports leagues would have gotten a team to Las Vegas first, my answer most definitely would not have been the NHL! I would have actually thought that either the NFL or NBA would have been the first professional sports leagues to bring a team to Las Vegas either through relocation or expansion.

A case could also be made that Major League Baseball (MLB) could have and should have been among the first of the four professional major league sports entities to consider the possibility of having a team franchise there, but given how slowly the process goes with regards to other topics of discussion in MLB and how quickly or not those discussions seem to progress and come to fruition, such as the implementation of instant replay and the recent changes to the intentional walk procedures that have been put in place over the last few years as well as already having a minor league team in Las Vegas with the Las Vegas '51's, then it is easy to see why MLB has not done much up to this point as far as looking into the possibility of having their own major league team there is concerned. Facetiously as a huge fan of the sport myself, it's worth some time considering that at least it is good to know that MLB is still doing a very good job of keeping up the traditional view of itself as the slow evolving game that in general tends to move new things and trends along at a snail's pace.

Joe Maloof of the Maloof Family.

The credit for such a groundbreaking sports story in the history of Las Vegas goes to inaugural team owners Bill Foley and the Maloof Family. Foley will reportedly serve as the majority owner of the team with a 70% ownership stake in the team with the Maloof Family owning the remaining 30% of the team.  What is even more surprising to me about the whole thing is that it is the NHL that will be taking the first brave and bold steps into Sin City where traditionally what happens there supposedly stays there.

If you would have me my thoughts about which of the big core four North American major league sports leagues would have gotten a team to Las Vegas, my answer definitely would not have been the NHL! I would have actually thought that either the NFL or NBA would have been the first professional sports leagues to bring a team to Las Vegas either through relocation or expansion.

But upon further consideration a professional sports league like the NHL might just be the perfect guinea pig to test just how viable and popular a professional sports team in Las Vegas can be. probably due to the fact that the NHL is generally considered to be the least popular of the four major league professional sports leagues in North America behind the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Basketball Association (NBA).

For the purposes of playing a little bit of a Devil's Advocate scenario in this particular situation, if having a professional sports franchise in Las Vegas from either one of the core four North American major league sports leagues doesn't work out for some reason or another, (which I think will not be the case most likely), then we can at least take some comfort in knowing that such an experiment has already been done over the course of the next few years starting in 2017 and onward and depending on how well or not so well it turns out in regards to the futures of both the NHL and the NFL, then we can more easily determine if the Las Vegas sports scene as a whole could be considered a success or not for the potential futures of the other big professional sports leagues such as Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association and Major League Soccer (MLS) in Las Vegas.

Hypothetically speaking, if it turned out to not be a success with the the NHL, then the other leagues would probably most certainly reconsider any future plans that they may have in Las Vegas based on how successful or not the NHL and the NFL both are during their time there. As I've already mentioned above however, hopefully it won't turn out to be the most extreme worst case scenario of absolute failure over the next few years for the future of sports in Las Vegas and it is a prosperous future for the entirety of the sports franchise landscape over there for many years to come!

While I see no reason about why having a professional sports team or franchise in Las Vegas won't be successful in the near future or in the long run as well, I can certainly understand why the other professional leagues aside from the NHL and the NFL would be a little gun shy at first about breaking new ground in one of the most famous and well known gambling capitals of the world due to the potential conflict of interest ramifications that would potentially arise from such a partnership between the city and the leagues or teams which I will detail a little further later on in this post.    

At this time I would also like to offer my sincerest apologies to any soccer fans out there who might feel bummed or slighted in any way about being left out of the discussion when it comes to talking about which sports leagues are generally considered to be the most popular in North America but it's just a simple fact that professional soccer leagues like Major League Soccer (MLS) and other soccer leagues from around the world  still have quite a ways to go to catch up in terms of overall fan popularity.    

Speaking of other teams and professional sports leagues who also have big plans to move to Las Vegas in search of a new home, the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) will soon follow suit along with the Golden Knights when they themselves will be relocated to Sin City as well by the year 2020. Hopefully there will be a day in the future when the city of Las Vegas will have a professional sports franchise from every major league sport in North America to call its own, MLS included (even though more than likely, I probably would not be very interested myself in following along with any potential games or seasons that a prospective MLS franchise in Las Vegas would play.)

If I had to offer up my own prediction on which team will have the most success in Las Vegas between the Golden Knights and the Raiders to start out, I would put my money on the Raiders to have more success initially. Since the Golden Knights are going to be an expansion team from the start of their history, they will more than likely be facing an uphill battle during the first few years of the teams existence. On the other hand, given how the timeline of events should work out for both teams, it is entirely possible that the Golden Knights could already be quite a successful franchise in Las Vegas by the time the Raiders arrive as new residents of Las Vegas in 2020. You would figure that having a three year head start on the proceedings over the Raiders can only help  and hopefully not hurt the Golden Knights cause during that period of time.  

The upcoming arrival of two of the four big name professional sports leagues is big news in itself because for many years and decades previously until now, the only professional sports teams of any kind in Las Vegas were of the minor league variety. Until the Golden Knights arrive later this year in Las Vegas and begin their inaugural 2017 season, the only professional sports team that currently calls Las Vegas home is the Las Vegas 51's of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) at the Triple-A (AAA) level of Minor League Baseball (MiLB).

As I alluded to above earlier in this post, the biggest and most obvious reason why Las Vegas has not had a major league franchise team yet up to this point is most likely because of the city's well known reputation as a gaming and gambling mecca throughout the world.

As a sports fan like me, it should be easy to understand why Las Vegas's reputation as a gambling mecca has made each of the four major North American professional sports leagues a little apprehensive over the course of the last several years, decades and centuries about having any major league professional sports team in Las Vegas up to this point in time. That is most likely due in large part to the possible (perceived and or otherwise) conflict of interest aspect of the relationship there could be between any of the four major league professional sports  and Las Vegas's casino gaming industry on the whole.

On the other hand, now that the world and society in general has evolved and continues to evolve in the year 2017 and beyond in the 21st century, as a fan it's nice to see that as of right now, at least 2 of the 4 professional major league sports leagues such as the NHL and the NFL are getting smart, brave and possibly bold enough to venture into the new, exciting and yet uncharted territory that is the Las Vegas major league professional sports landscape over the next few years to come. Add to that the fact that the gaming and gambling industry as a whole has already made a ton of money over the years for itself on live sporting events' betting, that should provide even more incentive and be all the more enticing for each of the remaining major league sports (MLB, NBA and MLS) to have their own potential expansion franchise or team relocation move there sometime in the near future hopefully.

With that in mind, I would just like to say that for Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Soccer (MLS), it is now up to you and it's your move next to determine what kind of future, if any, your respective leagues will have in the city of Las Vegas. Your time on the Sin City Major League Sports Clock starts now!

Tim Musick
Copyright 2017
All Rights Reserved.

Promoting NFL Referees To Full-Time Status Would Be A Good Starting Point To Fixing League's Officiating Shortcomings

One of the more well-known of the NFL'S officials Ed Hochuli is an attorney off the field.

Photo courtesy of:

Wikimedia 

and

Thinh Nguyen

under

CC BY 2.0 License

Unless you've been living under a rock the last few years or so, I don't need to tell you that the National Football League is the most popular sport in terms of the ratings and viewership numbers it generates.  Fans of the gridiron just can't seem to get enough of for whatever reason.  Maybe it's the overall strategy of the game or the hard hits.

The allure of football would lead you to believe that it's decision makers, such as the Commissioner and the Owners would do everything in their power to ensure that the quality of the officials they employ are the best they can be.  Every professional sports league should strive for greatness from their officials. On the other side of the coin, fans know that not all officials have a perfect track record in their career.  

What football fans may not know is that unlike the other Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) or the National Hockey League (NHL), the officials of the National Football League (NFL) have other jobs and careers in addition to the work they do on the football field.

As I've mentioned before, if you've been paying close attention, one of the things I really look at when watching sports is the work of the officials in charge of making the calls in addition to watching a game for pure entertainment value.  I know that once I really got interested in all things officiating in all the major sports, I was initially surprised by the fact that NFL officials are not employed on a full-time basis.  I must also point out that those who are among the league's best officials have my utmost respect knowing that they are doing the best job they can do while holding down another occupation.

I don't expect to see any immediate changes to the league's officiating procedures and policies on this matter any time soon but it is something worth keeping an eye on in future seasons.  In the meantime, we can continue getting whatever enjoyment you get from the most popular sport in North America. Just remember that the officials are doing the best job they can the next time you feel the urge to put your hands in your head over a blown call for whatever team you root for.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2016
All Rights Reserved.

Will Smith's "Concussion": What Will the NFL Have to Say About the Fresh Prince's Latest Film?

Will Smith's newest movie Concussion is slated to hit theaters on Christmas Day.  In it, the former Fresh Prince of Bel Air star plays Dr. Bennet Omalu.  Omalu's name is most likely not well known in many households across America, but what he discovered throughout years of painstaking research has no doubt had an effect on the way the National Football League does business today.

Dr. Omalu's groundbreaking discovery is what is known today as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE.  CTE affects those athletes who have had a history of repetitive brain trauma, such as concussions.  Junior Seau is perhaps among the most well-known former NFL greats who fell victim to the disease in 2012 by committing suicide.  It wasn't until sometime later that it was discovered that Seau had been suffering from CTE.

Photo Courtesy of:Wikimediaand

Angulo otimo under CC BY-SA 3.0 License

Other than the 2013 PBS Documentary entitled League of Denial, there aren't too many works of film or television that have been a real eye-opener to the story of CTE.  The League of Denial documentary was pretty groundbreaking itself in shedding light to years of the National Football League staying quiet on an issue that over the years, greatly effected the safety of its own players. Hopefully with the Christmas Day release of Concussion, the game of football can be even greater than it already is going forward.  Not to mention possible medical advancements for treatment in the field of CTE in the coming years.



Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved.  

Hey Closeted Athletes!...Stop Worrying And Start Living!

Billy Bean-Major League Baseball's Ambassador of Inclusion.

Photo Courtesy of:Wikimedia and Greg Hernandez from California, CA, USA under CC BY 2.0 License

Baseball has Major League umpire Dale Scott, a veteran official with 30+ years of experience on the job and Billy Bean, Major League Baseball's Ambassador of Inclusion.  There's also minor league ballplayers David Denson in the Milwaukee Brewers organization and Sean Conroy of the Sonoma Stompers, an independent minor league team not affiliated with any of Major League Baseball's 30 clubs.  Football has Michael Sam.  Basketball has Jason Collins, referee Violet Palmer and Sheryl Swoopes. Soccer has Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe and Robbie Rogers. 

Abby Wambach 

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia

and Hmlarson under CC BY 3.0 License

If you're having trouble figuring out what these athletes and sports officials have in common, it is that they are all out of the closet when it comes to their sexuality while enjoying various degrees of success in their careers at this point in time.  This post isn't necessarily about those individuals who have shown a willingness and a certain comfort level to be open to the public about their lives, but rather those athletes or officials out there who for one reason or another still choose not to disclose that part of their personal lives. I should also mention that I'm not saying you should go about your daily life worrying about what others might think about you when it comes to how you feel about your own sexuality whether you are an athlete or not.  The choice of opening up that part of your life to others should be yours and yours alone to make.
  

As I've grown older and have continued to watch sports and media in general over the years, one thing I've come to realize is the power that any athlete celebrity or other public figure has as a role model to kids and adults of society at large.  Now I generally don't view any athlete or celebrity as a role model as it relates to my life because I believe that term should be reserved for someone in a person's life who they feel a close connection to such as a parent, teacher or other close relative, but I can certainly understand why some people in today's society would view athletes or other sports officials as potential role models-especially among younger sports fans who start to form their own beliefs and opinions about what goes on in the world around them at an early age.  To those other individuals who fall under the Public Figure category who identify (secretly or otherwise), themselves as members of the LGBT Community, I hope you realize the potential impact your story might have on someone's life down the road.


So as we wait for the next big name athlete or sports figure to open their closet door as society becomes even more accepting of these individuals than they already are, it is my hope that 10-20 years from now, what someone chooses to do in their personal life becomes a non-issue and people can be free to go about their daily lives however they choose to do so without the fear of being judged by others.


Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved.

The Toy Department of Life: Ranking The North American Four

Baseball.  Basketball.  Football.  Hockey.  In no particular, these 4 sports are what I like to refer to as the North American Four.  Soccer doesn't count among them since it hasn't really been among the most popular sports in North America throughout much of its history.  Those four major sports can also be put into the so-called Toy Department of Life because they help serve as a type of distraction to help take our minds off certain things going on in our lives that may cause stress or other personal obstacles we may face on a daily basis.



As a sports fans throughout a given year, I like to focus my viewing efforts on the four sports listed above.  The one guideline I will use in ranking each sport is I will focus on my own opinions and viewpoints on each sport from the past year or so.

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia and

Frederick Dennstedt from Los Angeles, USA under CC BY-SA 2.0 License

1. Major League Baseball (MLB)-America's Pasttime will most certainly be at the top of this list no matter what season it is.  The fact that there's a game being played everyday of the week during the regular season is a definite plus.  I don't care if some fans out there view the sport as boring and slow at times.  At least teams not named the Boston Red Sox or New York York Yankees have joined in on the championship train in recent years.

2. National Football League (NFL)-The one sport that plays its regular season games on one of three (sometimes four, when Saturday games are added later in the season), days in a week.  The Sunday slate of games (Sunday Night Football included), to go along with Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football make it pretty easy to remember when a gridiron game is taking place in order to satisfy your weekly football fix.  What also beneficial for NFL fans watching on television is that the majority of each week's games can be found on one of the big three networks in CBS, FOX and NBC.  For those who have access to ESPN, the NFL Network and NFL RedZone, all your viewing bases are covered-so you should have no excuses for not keeping up with this gladiator sport if you consider yourself a die-hard fan of the yardage game.

Photo Courtesy of:Wikimedia

and Aude under CC BY-SA 2.5 License

3. National Hockey League (NHL)-The excitement of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is enough to put the game invented by America's neighbors to the North in the #3 spot on this list.  The emergence of the Kings and Ducks as perennial doesn't hurt either.  I also like giving my Grandmother a hard time whenever I watch because she has trouble following the puck from time to time.

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia

and Keith Allison under CC BY-SA 2.0 License

4. National Basketball Association (NBA)-If the Lakers of recent vintage would come out of their Dumpster Fire phase of the past few seasons, the squeaky sounds of sneakers running across hardwood floors would be moved into the third spot.  Until that happens, Adam Silver and company will have to wait a little longer for my full and undivided attention.



Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved.

The Sports Elitist Lifestyle

All future Mike Trouts of the world will need to graduate to the varsity level for me to take notice.

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia and

Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA under CC BY-SA 2.0 License

One of my core beliefs in life is one should strive for the highest possible standards you can achieve. If you are not striving to be the best at something than you won't be able to fully appreciate true greatness and excellence.

This is the the way I approach all of my sports viewing today.  I consider myself to be living the Sports Elitist Lifestyle.  That means when I do watch sports, I only concern myself with what's going on at the major league levels of all sports.  So welcome to the club Nathional Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL).  Sorry NCAA and all other developmental leagues across America.

As a kid I have many memories of attending my fair share of minor league sporting events.  While they were each fun in their own way, I always felt I could never get fully invested into learning about the future athletes whose ultimate dream is to make it on the big stage.  That maybe due to the fact that in the minor leagues of sports, winning is secondary to making a name for yourself and getting noticed.  The enjoyment of minor league sports seems better suited for someone who has the time and patience for evaluating the pros and cons of the future talent the bigger leagues have to offer.  The future Mike Trouts will have to make the big show for me to take notice of their talents.  Until then, they are only prospects with potential to be great.

Another area of my life where my only interest is in seeing the best aspect of a certain sport is my lifelong goal of seeing all 30 Major League ballparks in baseball.  I have very little interest in seeing every single minor league ballpark throughout the United States.

Yes I'm a sports snob and I'm proud of it!

 

Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved
    

March Madness?!...Not So Fast My Friend.

 Living the life of an uber sports fan can be hard to juggle at certain times of the year. Right now I'm doing all I can to balance this juggling act.

Sports is no different than any other aspect of everyday life in that events unfold at an always increasing pace. As in any other aspect of everyday life, there are four very distinct and very different seasons a la Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.

The new year begins with a bang as the NFL gets things going in January with the arrival of its playoff journey to crown the ultimate champion.

February continues on the natural leisurely path with the world's most watched television of the year at the beginning of the month.  You may have heard of it.  Advertisers call it the big game because that's what the league tells them to call it.  They have to do this because whatever the shield wants the shield gets.  If advertisers stray from this doctrine, you better believe they are going to be hearing from the almighty Commissioner Goodell and his cronies.  We fans call it what it is...THE SUPER BOWL!

Once March rolls around, the sports dialogue gets ratcheted up EVEN MORE to an insanely high volume.  As Nigel Tufnel in Spinal Tap put it so eloquently in perhaps the film's most memorable scene, the sports speakers are pushed to eleven as we reach the end of yearly cycle's first quarter pole.

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia and

Ucla90024 under CC BY-SA 3.0 License

This is when brackets are busted, spring training signals the dawn of the 7 month marathon that is the Major League Baseball season and the march, (no pun intended), to the NBA and the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs hits full bore! When you put it those various ingredients all together simultaneously, it is enough to drive the senses crazy.  

This is where I am right now.  I just need to remember to and remind myself from time to time to adjust adjust my internal head noise when needed. Right now the speakers are at eleven.  Level five would certainly be nice.  Not too loud and not too soft...JUUUUUUUUUST Right!

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia and

Frederick Dennstedt from Los Angeles, USA under CC BY-SA 2.0 License

At least I can find solace in knowing that a new baseball season is so close I can almost taste it. BRING ON THE 7 MONTH LOVE AFFAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved.

As Roger Goodell's World Turns

With his less than stellar reputation, Roger Goodell is always on the proverbial Hot Seat.

During the NFL'S regular season and playoffs I couldn't find time to offer my take on the continuing tumultuous tenure of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  Well with the scouting combine freshly completed and the draft more than a month away, I figured now would be a very good time to offer my thoughts on Roger Goodell's world.

The bottom line plain and simple is that since he became commissioner of the most popular of the four major North American sports leagues in 2006, he has fallen well short of my expectations as a fan.  From the snafu of the Ray Rice investigation to Deflategate, Goodell has made a couple of things very clear.  He is very inept for one reason or another at overseeing the various investigations of alleged criminal activity and his handling of numerous player suspensions is at times beyond comprehension!  We all know that 2 games was more lenient than it should have been given the evidence and circumstances of the Ray Rice case.  As far as the Deflategate episode goes, that is a totally different situation which I will expand on in a future post.

In all likelihood however, Goodell's job status will remain safe as long as the NFL keeps making huge gobs of money under his watch.  If the tide starts to turn the other way I would give serious consideration to finding a replacement for Goodell's services.  There's no telling what will happen on the next episode of 'As Roger Goodell's World Turns.'  Your guess is as good as mine.

 

Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved    

NFL Institutes New Goal Post Slam Dunk Penalty

Let's just call the new penalty the "Jimmy Graham Rule."

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia

Jeffrey Beall under CC BY-SA 3.0 License

When will the ridiculousness end?!  At this week's owners' meetings, the NFL decided to make slam dunks into goalposts after touchdowns illegal.

The reason for this new penalty apparently is to guard against the goalposts being bent out of shape, thus becoming a little lopsided.  This particular scenario occurred in a game on November 21 of last year when Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints bent the goalpost in the Georgia Dome against the Atlanta Falcons.

As always it seems, the safety and health argument figures to have prevailed here and I have no issues with that.  On the other hand, what's wrong with having a player being about to celebrate a big moment in a game such as a touchdown?

I'm coming to the realization that the game of football as I once knew it is not the game that it used to be some years back.  I'm okay with certain changes geared towards protecting players from concussions, but rule changes involving player celebrations seems a little excessive.  The NFL is surely not doing itself any favors to live down its nickname of the "No Fun League."

Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved    

NFL N-Word Penalty Is Beyond Ridiculous

Starting next season, the NFL is going to penalize players and teams 15 yards for the use of the N-word.

My question is when did the NFL become a nanny state?  I think the owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell are totally blowing it on this one.  Just let the players play the game and don't bow down to how the general public perceives the league.  This stupid penalty would also make the job of the officials on the field more difficult because you know there's going to be a time when they will probably penalize the wrong player.

Bottom line Mr. Goodell and the owners who employ you: STICK TO MORE PRESSING FOOTBALL ISSUES!

Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved.  

Jim Harbaugh Done In San Francisco?

So it seems Jim Harbaugh may have already worn out his welcome as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.  For a coach who has led his team to three straight NFC Championship Game appearances, that seems really surprising for a guy who still has two years remaining on his contract.  Or is it?

Now you may be saying come on Tim, you're crazy!  I may be crazy but hear me out.  

First, let me say I like Jim Harbaugh.  I gained renewed interest in the 49ers because of his hiring.  What he has done in two plus years in the head coach position is pretty remarkable considering where San Francisco was just a few years ago.  

With that being said, I'm probably not the only football fan who thinks Harbaugh is a total control freak.  It's probably to the point now two years in that the organization is tired of his antics and they just might want to do what's in the best interests of both parties and just move on.  

One thing I can tell you is if that happens, Harbaugh won't be out of a job for long.  Teams will be lining up at his door seeking his services regardless of the headaches he may cause.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved

Tim's Two Cents-February 8

The Saints Go Marching On.  Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints in the big game?  This year: nobody!  Not even Peyton Manning.  I know I predicted the Colts would win, but I couldn't be happier with the result.  At least my prediction that the Saints would score 31 points was spot on.  Even though my dad's prediction didn't come true, he wasn't that far off on the scoring margin of 14.  He had predicted the Colts would win by 16. 

Congratulations to the Saints and the city of New Orleans.  The Saints played like they wanted it more.  They were the more aggresive team.  I applaud them taking a chance on fourth down in the first half and doing an onside kick to begin the second half. 

On the other side, Peyton Manning started out well in the first half leading the Colts to a 10 nothing lead in the first quarter.  In the second half, it was the Saints, not the Colts, who made the adjustments and took control of the contest, outscoring Indy 25 to 7 after the first quarter.

The overall broadcast by CBS was also very good.  Jim Nantz and Phil Simms were stellar on the call.  They treated the game for what it was, just another game.  That's how it should be done.  I was happy to see that there were very little talk of Archie Manning and there were no snapshots of Kim Kardashian.  In other words, I'm glad this didn't turn into a celebrity event like the Oscars.

Another enjoyable aspect of the game was the officiating crew.  The pace of the game was excellent.  It was flying by very fast.  The officials also let the players play.  Call me crazy, but I think there were no more than 10 penalties called, 8 to be exact.  That's my kind of officiating.  If I were a referee, I wouldn't call penalties unless it is really blatant.

Once again, congratulations to Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees and the Saints.  New Orleans will definitely be partying well past Mardi Gras.

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and dbking under CC-BY 2.0 License    

Tim's Two Cents-February 7

The Countdown to Glory Begins.  The day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived.  We are less than six hours from the big game between the Saints and the Colts. 

The opponents in this matchup make it hard to root against one team over the other.  The opposing quarterbacks are two of the best liked in the game and they are awesome competitors.  Peyton Manning has a knack for leading his team to late game winning drives.  Drew Brees has led what has been the most prolific offense in the NFL this season. 

How can you not also root for the city of New Orleans?  What has happened in that city since Hurricane Katrina is something special.  The Superdome is probably the loudest stadium in the league, but it won't be a factor today. 

As the days leading up to the game have gone by, I find myself conflicted in my heart and my head.  For the Colts to win, Peyton Manning has to be, well, Peyton Manning.  That is he has to be the general on the field leading his troops in battle.  On defense, all signs are pointing to Dwight Freeney giving the ankle a go.  How effective he'll be remains to be seen.  He definitely won't be 100%, that I'm fairly certain of.

For the Saints it's simple, they have to keep Peyton Manning on the sidelines and force some turnovers.  Drew Brees also needs to continue doing what he has done as one of the best quarterbacks in the game today.  The best quarterback is the one he's facing today.

So here we go.  After a week long wait, I'm going with my head and taking the five and a half and the Colts to win their second Vince Lombardi trophy in four years.  Colts 35, Saints 31.  Sorry Who Dat nation. 

For the record, my dad's also picking the Colts to win by 16, but he won't give a final score.  Newflash dad, that's not how this works!

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and BrokenSphere under under CC-SA 3.0 License