Sportin Stuff

As a kid, I was riding in the car with my Dad one Sunday. We had just left the dealership where he was their Johnny Inkslinger. Dad was probably working on either the 2nd or 3rd set of books he kept for the owners. I was drinking free ice cold bottled Coke and polishing off my homework.
Somewhere up toward the end of Lynn Avenue in Turtle Creek, Dad pointed to our left and said, " that's one of the biggest 'sportin houses' in the county." I looked in vain for a plate glass window and a display case filled with trophies or sporting equipment.

I wasn't always the sharpest knife in the drawer back then. Not sure I got a whole lot brighter as I aged.

Thus, what I truly know about sports in general could probably be placed in one of my grandma's thimbles.

Fortunately, my lack of knowledge in regard to a particular subject has never been an obstacle to my discussing it - often. Some might even go so far to suggest, "he does not have an unspoken word in his head."

We have a grandson, Troy, named after another famous Troy. On Friday, our Troy was operated on for football injuries he sustained. They included a bilateral tear to his miniscus and other serious damages.

No, he's not the starting quarterback. He's just an all round great kid who loves the sport and has inherited some of his parents athletic talent. His injuries occurred during a scrimmage .The powers that be sort of "poo-pooed" his complaints.. They allowed him to continue to play. Things got worse days later and he finally received an MRI that revealed the seriousness of his injuries.

He had the operations early Friday and was sent home later that same evening. They call it a drive-thru. I favor the term "drive - by." The bloody tube was removed early Saturday morning at a local Sports facility - "not a sportin house."

It has been both fascinating and gratifying to hear all the publicity regarding the NFL's drive to reduce the number of concussions and other serious injuries these oversized players are receiving.

There have been rules changes - equipment modifications - and numerous rebuttals issued to the non-quarterback players who, like Baltimore's Ray Lewis, insist the latter group should be wearing a dress - or at least a classy looking tutu.

Football is a rough game. One need look no further than the injury list for Joe Paterno's Penn State roster for confirmation. Yet, college players are warned, "If you think college ball was rough you won't believe Pro ball."

The NFL likes to introduce "yesterday's heros" before their NFL's home team's game. It's usually in conjunction with a particular team anniversary that some publicity flak came up with to sell more pierogies.

These former players no longer run out of the tunnel. Many saunter, but, a growing number rely on the assistance of another retiree who probably got out of the game early.

If things continue, more and more of them won't leave that tunnel without assistance.

One wonders if - down the road - most of these guys likely will drive their own "Hover-Round's" onto the field, This is a three to four wheeled popular free wheeling conveyance for handicapped folks residing in assisted living homes, or houses with wide doorways.

The last group of those former jocks coming onto the field will probably be the ones with multiple concussions. It won't matter much how they arrive at the 50 yard line. Sad to say but, they probably won't know where they are anyway.

Injuries are a serious problem - no doubt. But, the NFL owners - in their infinite wisdom - and with their commish leading the parade - have alledgedly already approved a change to a 18 game schedule next year - up from their present 16. So, the logic is to spread the injuries over a longer number of weeks?

As reported here earlier. The owners claim to be losing money "big time". Unfortunately they made those claims just before studies were released that showed a dramatic increase in the number of NFL tickets sold in 2010 versus 2009.

Timing is everything. The union is decertifying. Expect a lockout.

One positive. A lockout should cut down on the injury statistics.

The owners have a "sportin house" all their own - unfortunately - and with the same result as the one Dad was attempting to point out.