* You never want to see anyone get hurt. Having said that, it was hard to feel sympathy for Chicago Bears defensive end Lamarr Houston, who injured his leg on Sunday against the New England Patriots and had to be carted off the field. His injury was not fallout from a physically demanding game. It was because he was celebrating. More than a pratfall resulted: a torn ACL.
With less than four minutes remaining and his team being embarrassed 48-23, Houston sacked the Patriots’ back-up quarterback Jimmy Garopollo–not Tom Brady. But because look-at-me antics and boorish “swagger” are so embedded into the NFL culture and because network cameras follow it after every play, he couldn’t help but show off.
Not that it will impact others. It’s the way the NFL–National Football Lounge act–rolls these days.
* For all the (sexual assault, et al allegations) Jameis Winston (Florida State) and (autograph-selling allegations) Todd Gurley (Georgia) headlines, the recent academic scandal out of the University of North Carolina is the one that cuts to the quick on what’s wrong with big-time college sports.
It begs the quintessential question: Who the hell represents these schools on the fields and courts of revenue sports? And how did they get in? And how do they stay in? In too many cases it’s sham-students who require sham courses to maintain eligibility. Under-qualified, athletic Hessians representing the likes of UNC in Chapel Hill is the fundamental issue. Everything else ripples out from there.