1.
When this Talking Points author would become upset after his favorite college football team lost, his father would say “kids, ballgame.”
It begged the question whether it was fair to invest so much emotion in something as fickle as young men playing a game.
A story in an upcoming issue of ESPN The Magazine shows the toll that investment can take on players. Especially Johnny Manziel.
The article describes Manziel’s life as being a living hell since he won the Heisman Trophy last fall. Some close to the quarterback are worried that the constant attention and scrutiny could derail his career.
Football players at big-time programs should know what they are getting into. But is it reasonable to expect young men to handle that pressure flawlessly when our laws say they can’t be trusted to buy a beer?
2.
Yet another example of why baseball should expand use of instant replay occurred Monday.
Boston had the potential tying run called out at home plate in the eighth inning of a 2-1 loss to Tampa. Umpire Jerry Meals later admitted he blew the call.
If you take pride out of the equation, umpires should be stronger proponents of expanding instant replay. After all, isn’t getting the call correct the whole point?
3.
Word out of NFL headquarters is that officials might put the brakes on Chip Kelly’s hurry-up offense with the Eagles.
“We have to make sure teams understand that they don’t control the tempo, our officials do,” NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told The Wall Street Journal.
It’s unreasonable, however, to think Kelly’s NFL offense would look exactly as it did at Oregon. His quarterbacks can’t be exposed to NFL-caliber hits the way his college schemes allowed.
Adjusting to the NFL tempo is one of many tweaks Kelly will make.
