Quick Thoughts on Jonathan Martin & Richie Incognito

I've been short of time this month, but I just wanted to post some quick thoughts on Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito affair, and the effect of it upon my favourite NFL team, the Miami Dolphins. For anyone unfamiliar with the story, Martin left the team in mid-season because of alleged bullying, led by Incognito. Firstly, and most importantly, when Dolphins veteran John Denney was asked for his opinion on the Wells report, he stated, "Ted Wells can go into any one of the 32 teams in the entire league and he's going to come out with the same investigation, same results." I think this is really important to state. I have read countless articles over the years which have praised the standards and setup of the Pittsburgh Steelers, so why did former Steeler and Dolphin of a mere few months Mike Wallace come to the defence of Incognito? Because I suspect the kind of hazing/teasing/pranks that took place are standard across the league. Does this make Incognito innocent in all the proceedings? Clearly not, and actions such as seeking to burn the fine book detailed in the Wells Report show that (and obviously the repeated use of racist terms is unacceptable). In my opinion though, that shows someone who has been pampered to due to his athletic ability, throughout his life, and has never been disciplined or told in any form that such behaviour is wrong. Now don't get me wrong, boys will be boys. Jonathan Martin complained about comments about his sister. Workmates of mine have seen pictures of my sister and made comments, and while they have not been to the same extremes, they haven't always been tasteful either. Have I complained? No, because such chat goes on between guys, and I know they're not being serious. As I've mentioned before, I moved around a fair bit through my childhood, and this led to some difficult times being the new kid at various schools. Do you know when the bullying stopped? When I stopped showing that it bothered me. Sometimes you have to make a change yourself, however difficult that may be, however unjust it may seem that you have to be the one to make a change first. Additionally, the way both the initial affair and subsequent report were detailed in the media were not balanced. Did anyone report that Martin, for whatever reason he deemed correct, talk about women in the same way as Incognito? Did anyone mention that in his lowest times Martin admitted to being an abuser of alcohol and controlled substances? No, because they didn't suit the narrative. Incognito, the guy with trouble in his past, Martin from a family of Harvard graduates, who himself attended highly regarded Stanford. To be clear, I don't think that either Incognito or the Dolphins have behaved perfectly in this whole affair. Indeed, I think it is the latest in a long line of public relations disasters under the ownership of Stephen Ross, and Incognito has more than enough on his record to show he is a less than stellar character (although on the evidence of his damaging his own sports car with a baseball bat, I also suspect mental health issues). However I don't think Jonathan Martin's move to San Francisco will be the last time we hear of him being involved in some form of controversy. For his sake, I hope I'm wrong.

A Month In Sporting Torment

Anyone who knows me really well knows I love sport, and especially my teams, but to say the least this month hasn't been the happiest month sports-wise. When I say it hasn't gone well, I mean it has been historically bad. Let's take it team-by-team:

Crystal Palace: Lost every single game, including a 4-1 home defeat to Fulham which included an incredible goal (I refuse to use the term "worldie") by Fulham striker Pajtim Kasami. This culminated in the departure by mutual consent of manager Ian Holloway, who I had only passed and said good morning to a month earlier prior to our home defeat by Swansea City. Really, really not a good day. For reasons I never completely understood Holloway wasn't completely accepted by some members of the Palace support, and although I had seen us play badly under his watch an element of patience, a delivered promotion and a personal belief that he was a good guy (backed up by this link found by my friend Ben after his departure) I felt it was a shame he left. I think we're poorer for his exit, regardless of present form.

Atlanta Braves: It's October, time for more Baseball heartache! At least the Braves managed to win a game in October, and indeed they even won a play-off game in their series to the Dodgers. But a series defeat, culminated by a game four loss snatched from the jaws of victory, stung. The Braves still haven't won a play-off series since 2001. On the bright side, having a work colleague who is a Cleveland Indians fan helped on the basis that you see Postseason Baseball futility isn't solely limited to Georgia's capital city.

Miami Dolphins: Remember the 3-0 start? Remember the 3... and oh, yeah, whatever happened to that? It all went pear-shaped, that's what. Just like Palace, the Fins lost every game in October and now sit with a 3-4 record. There's no sign of coach Joe Philbin leaving though, which I think is a good thing. He's a good coach and a good guy, and hopefully he's here for the long haul. Fixing the offensive line might help though.

Chicago Bulls: The Bulls season began on Tuesday... with a defeat. Which makes perfect sense this month. At least Derrick Rose's surgically repaired knee seems to be better for not playing last season. Now excuse me while I go and find some wood to touch.

Warrington Wolves: Who? Yes, my infrequently mentioned Rugby League team, who I took on board due to my best friend at University. This month saw them play in their second consecutive Grand Final. Of course it finished with a second consecutive defeat. I haven't told my friend Chris about the sporting month I've had. I don't think he'd blame me, but it isn't worth mentioning. Also if I'm honest I know it doesn't mean to me what it meant to Chris. When I'm happy about Warrington results I'm happy for Chris, when they've lost a big game I think about what it means to Chris. Arguably this could be worse for me, let's just move on.

Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks are doing... pretty well actually, winning 10 of their first 13 games this season. Small problem, like the Bulls they're at the start of their season, and to all intents the start of the NHL season is effectively meaningless. In recent years top seeds have come a cropper in the Stanley Cup play-offs, and therefore it seems to be more important to be in the Stanley Cup play-offs instead of just being highly-seeded within those. It seems that all tickets are equally capable of winning the raffle. On a positive note, winning is better than the alternative.

Hopefully one day soon, preferably from a Braves perspective also in October, I'll have a blog post where I can report exactly the opposite from what I'm writing today. For the time being though I'll welcome even a small improvement.

Sporting Images of a Decade

One of the good things about where I work presently is we're allowed to choose our own desktop wallpaper. Obviously there are some limitations, but that didn't stop me from piecing together some sporting highlights of the last decade, shrinking them into pictures small enough not to annoy anyone and then distort them further by knocking them down in to black and white. The images I chose? The following:

400 while hitting .400. The curtain call Chipper Jones took after his 400th Home Run for the Braves. The one constant for the Braves in the decade, still my favourite player to see playing at Turner Field (more on TV these days, sadly).

Andy says sssh. Last day of the season, 2004/05. Andy Johnson steps up to take a crucial penalty against Charlton Athletic. He buries it in the bottom corner, then runs past a big section of Charlton fans with a finger over his mouth. It still makes me laugh. Pity the end result wasn't better though.

Anaheim Ducks, Stanley Cup Champions. Scott Niedermayer lifts the cup after the Ducks won the 2007 Stanley Cup. Pretty simple, still a great moment for me personally.

Ronnie runs over New England. September 2008. The 0-2 Dolphins head to New England to face the hated Patriots. The Fins were on a run of having lost 20 of their last 21 games. The Patriots hadn't lost a regular season game since losing to the Dolphins in Miami... in 2006. Cue the Wildcat's introduction (or the reintroduction to the single wing, if you prefer), Ronnie Brown running for four touchdowns, throwing for another and barreling over Ellis Hobbs in the process. The South Florida franchise has been on a mostly upward path ever since.

The Bulls draft Derrick Rose. Following a pretty lousy decade (compared to the fabulous 90s) the Bulls struck lucky in 2008, winning the draft lottery and the rights to draft Memphis guard Derrick Rose. He's no Jordan (he's a much different player) but at least he's a better pick than Eddy Curry and he offers a great hope for the future with the right pieces around him.

And in case you're wondering, to the left of those pictures I put a January 2010 calendar, which means this wallpaper is now effectively redundant. Time to start the creative process again!

Not the best weekend

Well, on a sporting front anyway. Palace lost 4-1 at Preston on Saturday, and then the Dolphins lost in New England last night (a result which locked up the AFC East for the Patriots). I have to say that at about 11pm last night I was kicking an empty bottle of Diet Coke around the kitchen. I wasn't happy.

Why do all my teams have to become utterly useless? In two games last week the Ducks (yes, the Stanley Cup Finalists of six months ago) conceded thirteen goals in two games. Just when I didn't think it could get any worse I read that the Braves will be cutting their payroll for the upcoming season. Great.

It didn't even feel that I had an especially productive weekend doing anything. At least Lorraine enjoyed herself - she visited Ibrox last night for the first time, and Rangers beat Dundee United 2-1.

On the bright side Neil is coming up for the weekend on Friday. And I heard the Lightning Seeds' song "Marvellous" on the radio for the first time in years last night. I'm tempted to make it my theme song for next year:

"Things could be marvellous,
Things could be fabulous... soon."

Good song on a bad day.