Football
December 5, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
The answer from a football standpoint is maybe. From a personal standpoint my answer is I hope they don’t. First, some background. When last we looked in on the 2018 Redskins, their quarterback, Alex Smith, had suffered a horrible leg break. Longtime Skins backup QB Colt McCoy had assumed command. No one questioned McCoy’s elevation. But McCoy needed a backup. For that job, Washington selected Mark Sanchez. In doing so
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November 19, 2018 — Steven Hayward
Now that was some kind of football game, so long as you think defense is nearly an afterthought in the NFL these days. I tweeted in the 4th quarter that we ought to just call tonight’s Rams-Chiefs game the Super Bowl and skip the postseason this year. But for my money, the greatest game I ever saw remains the 1981 overtime playoff between the Miami Dolphins and the San Diego
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September 10, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
The NFL kicked off its 2018 season last Thursday with a game between Philadelphia and Atlanta. Despite the attractiveness of the matchup, television ratings were down 8 percent from last year’s opening Thursday night game. And last year’s rating were down 12 percent from the previous year’s. This prompted President Trump to tweet: Wow, NFL first game ratings are way down over an already really bad last year comparison. Viewership
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May 23, 2018 — John Hinderaker
The NFL has unanimously adopted a policy that is intended to end the controversy over players protesting the national anthem: players are not required to be on the field while the anthem is played, but if they are on the field, players (and staff) must stand. This is an instance of actions speaking louder than words. A lot of nonsense was said and written last season about the anthem protests,
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April 28, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
JK Scott is the punter for last season’s national champion University of Alabama football team who, during a recent team visit to the White House, initiated a prayer for President Trump. He described it this way: I said ‘Hey, Mr. Trump, would you let me pray over you.” “He said ‘Yeah, come on.” From there, Scott put one hand on Trump’s shoulder and the other on his chest. “And I
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April 12, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
On Tuesday, the University of Alabama football team visited President Trump at the White House. Trump honored the team for winning another national championship. The visit featured an impromptu prayer: Shortly after President Trump delivered his remarks, a group of players approached him and, after exchanging a few words, began to pray. The huddle showed the president bowing his head while a player placed his hand on Trump’s shoulder as
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March 28, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
A reader and friend informs me of an omission from my list of all-time great University of Michigan basketball players. The omitted Wolverine is Bennie Oosterbaan. I don’t know whether Oosterbaan rates among Michigan’s twenty best basketball players, but he’s arguably the school’s best athlete ever. Oosterbaan earned All-American recognition five times; twice in basketball (1927 and 1928) and three times in football (1925, 1926, and 1927). He earned nine
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January 9, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Bo Scarbrough is the second string running back for the University of Alabama. Or maybe third string. During the regular season, he had the second most carries of any Crimson Tide running back, but last night he had the third most (four carries in all). To be fair, the second or even third string running back at Alabama would probably vie for all-conference honors at many a school. Moreover, Scarbrough
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October 17, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Hoping to bring an end to kneeling during the National Anthem, NFL owners are meeting with the players’ union. To smooth the way, the League has endorsed legislation that would mean lighter sentencing for drug felons. It’s unlikely that the NFL’s endorsement counts for much at this juncture. For one thing, it’s widely understood that Roger Goodell has enough trouble managing his own business without branching off into the nation’s.
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October 16, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post wants to create that impression. Its story on the subject is called (in the paper edition): “Trump may have bolstered kneelers’ legal position.” No sound argument supports this notion. The Post’s Tracy Jan who, according to the paper “covers the intersection of race and the economy,” peddles the view that Trump’s talk about revoking the NFL’s tax breaks means that the government is now infringing free expression.
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October 9, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Jemele Hill is an on-air ESPN personality. In the last few years, ESPN has become notorious for emphasizing politics over sports; Ms. Hill is part of the problem. Last month, she denounced President Trump as a “white supremacist” after he criticized NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem. After that incident, she apologized for “letting her colleagues and company down” with the white supremacist tweet. She did not, however,
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October 8, 2017 — John Hinderaker
The latest on the National Anthem controversy in the National Football League: Vice-President Pence attended the Indianapolis Colts game today to see Peyton Manning’s jersey retired. (Indiana is, of course, Pence’s home state, where he served as governor.) But Pence walked out when a handful of players refused to stand for the Anthem: Vice President Mike Pence has left the 49ers-Colts game after about a dozen San Francisco players took
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October 2, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Colin Kaepernick has received favorable publicity for pledging $1 million in charitable donations. But according to the Washington Times, $25,000 of that money has been donated to an outfit called Assata’s Daughters, which is named after former Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur. Assata Shakur was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1973 shooting death of New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster. He was sentenced to life in prison, but
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September 28, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Deshaun Watson, a rookie, is the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans. Last year, he led Clemson to the national championship. This year, his pro career is off to a good start. Watson’s paycheck for his first NFL game was $27,000. Instead of pocketing the money, he divided it into three and gave $9,000 apiece to three of the team’s cafeteria workers who lost their possessions when their homes were
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September 28, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
While poorly educated athletes, egged on by leftist commentators, indulge in Black Lives Matter based protests against their country, evidence pours in that black-on-black crime is the real threat to black lives and that attacks on policing are causing an increase in such crime. Heather Mac Donald has the details. She points out that nearly 900 additional blacks were killed in 2016 compared with 2015, bringing the black homicide-victim total
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September 26, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
As I argued yesterday, the Washington Redskins “won off the field” (as well as on it!) Sunday with their approach to the playing of the National Anthem. Though it grieves me as a Redskins fan to admit it, I think the Dallas Cowboys also won in this respect last night. Rich Lowry writes: Last night, the Cowboys kneeled before the anthem and then stood when it was played. This seems
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September 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
I’ve been a Washington Redskins fan since 1958. I almost never miss a Redskins game and rarely watch NFL regular season games that don’t involve the Redskins. However, if the Redskins had refused to come out on the field during the playing of the National Anthem or if most the team had taken a knee while the Anthem was played, I think I would have ended my 60 year relationship
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