Walker's Farewell to Football Rants

It's officially over. Football season is done, and around the Walker Sports offices, things are a little slow and a little quieter. It is going to take us some time before we can get into the full swing of watching basketball on a regular basis. Thank God we still have Walker's Rants to look forward to every week. That's right, no off-season around here... Walker's Rants are a go.

A-Rod got caught for using steroids five years ago. He has since come clean to Peter Gammons, and I guess all is right in the baseball world. What do I take away from this situation? A-Rod is so self-conscious and neurotic, it is no wonder he chokes in October...

No one cares that Miguel Tejada was caught lying to congress... I mean seriously...

A three month suspension for Michael Phelps? It's his off-season: that's barely a slap on the wrist...

Well I am glad to see that Michael Jordan is at least admitting how bad of an owner he really is. Any improvements the Bobcats have seen recently are due to Larry Brown...

I am very excited about the upcoming NASCAR season, despite the economic woes; there is some potential for some interesting driver's winnings races...

Elton Brand is damaged goods, and he will never return to his dominate double – double form, and that's a shame too...

Is the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue still relevant?

I am very relieved to hear that Charles Barkley will soon be back on the air again. His suspension was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen…

Why are people making such a big deal that they are playing G-E-I-C-O instead of H-O-R-S-E. I mean who didn't play a game of P-I-G when they were younger?

The NFL Pro-Bowl is painful to watch. Instead of moving it between the Super Bowl and the playoffs they should just cancel the damn thing...

I love that Lane Kiffen is getting under Urban Myers skin already. I don't care if Tennessee loses by 50 to Florida it makes for good college football. College football has become way too PC...

Ranking college signing classes is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. It based far too much on potential...

UConn basketball is peaking at the right time. Now let's see if they can hold it together during the tournament...

It feels great to see Six Nations has kicked off again. Too bad the Irish look to pedestrian in their attack to truly compete for the title...

All of A-Rod's numbers should not be consider legit after what came out this past weekend...

Expect the Dallas Cowboys to move T.O. in a draft day move...

Big Ben playing with broken ribs during the Super Bowl is an impressive feat, especially considering some of his escape routines...

Steel TownDraft Pick

274 days ago

Score 2

I think a 5 on 5 flag football tourney would be the best thing for the pro bowl. 8 or 16 teams playing short games. the top 8 (or 16) vote getters are captains. The rest of the players line up and get picked school playground style.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 2

They used to do that. Remember the flag football games on the beach, then whats his name tore his ACL and that was the end of that

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Steel TownDraft Pick

274 days ago

Score 0

I remember thinking when I saw that years ago that playing football on the beach was asking for a knee or ankle injury. I think they need to move it to the game venue. There will always be a chance of getting hurt in these things. They will have to cancel the game to get rid of the possibility of injury.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

274 days ago

Score 1

I was thinking that the Pro-Bowl could become a "Best Prospects" type of bowl where you pick the best players within their first, let's say, three years in the league. We could also invite several older players only if they weren't invited within their first three years.

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CheezerAll-Star

274 days ago

Score 2

That was me. Must have timed out.

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Pittsburgh GunnyMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 1

Ireland did beat France in their opener so they are off to a good start.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 0

They should have beat Franch, and don't get me wrong it was a good game. But Right now the Irish are playing as well as O'Gara's foot will take them. Their backline is far to stagnant in their attack. They cannot be that way against Wales. What I will say though is England seemed to have the same problem last weekend though

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SSreportersLegend

274 days ago

Score 8

NBA All-Star Week(end) - Slam Dunk Contest, 3 point shootout, Rooks vs. Sophs, etc.

MLB All-Star Week - Home Run Derby, Celebrities Game, etc.

NHL All-Star Week(end) - Skills Competition, Rookies vs. Sophs, etc.

NFL Pro Bowl - Nothing but the game. The "superstars" competition is on the NFL Network and it's edited anyway.

Sensing a pattern here.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 0

Very good point SS

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JuTMSY4Legend

274 days ago

Score 1

But in all those other sports, they play mid-season and their game is easier (in terms of resting) to play... For god's sake, they play doubleheaders in baseball...could you play a doubleheader in football?

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SSreportersLegend

274 days ago

Score 1

Then the other option is what AGM Linebacker said, get rid of the Pro Bowl.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 3

But they could revamp the skills position, and by the time the pro bowl rolls around over half the league has been off for a month so fatigue should not be an issue. A flag football game, or a punt pass kick competition will not hurt an NFL athlete.

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Steel TownDraft Pick

274 days ago

Score 1

Exactly SS. And answer this, what are your favorite parts of the all star festivities for the other three leagues? I know mine are the Slam Dunk Contest, the Home Run Derby, and the Skills Competition (the trick shot contest still needs some work). The games are fun too, but they are not enough to generate any real buzz on their own.

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CheezerAll-Star

274 days ago

Score 2

"A flag football game, or a punt pass kick competition will not hurt an NFL athlete."

Tell that to Bill Gramatica, Pup

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Taytay 24All-American

274 days ago

Score 2

Following on ST's thought: I went to the NBA Rookie Challenge game in Atlanta in 2003, when Jason Richardson bounced the ball of Boozer's forehead in the closing seconds. It was a lot of fun with everyone trying to out-And1 each other, not to mention a lot cheaper than the actual All Star game.

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SSreportersLegend

274 days ago

Score 1

You've got the same favorites as mine, Steel Town.

More people are interested in the festivities than the actual game. The NBA All-Star game TV rating was at its lowest ever last year. The Pro Bowl rarely gets decent ratings, and the MLB on FOX just sucks.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 6

I said a NFL athlete Cheez not whatever Automatica Gramattica was

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SSreportersLegend

274 days ago

Score 0

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 3

Since when is Bill Gramatica an "NFL athlete?"

PPK would be fun to watch. And seeing the wide arrange of skills of players who did multiple things in college would be fun.

They should try to make the Pro Bowl more of an exciting game. Encourage gadget and trick plays, maybe even allow linemen to be eligible receivers.

The Pro Bowl is no worse than the NBA or NHL ASGs, it just comes right after the most exciting weeks of the season. The ratings will go up with it before the SB and not after. It'll be an appetizer, not a dessert.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 1

Yeah the biggest story out of last years MLB All Star game was JH smashing the ball out of Yankee Stadium. I don't even remember the game. Same can be said with any NBA All Star game, I remember Superman not the game. The NFL needs to take note of that and revamp some skills games and bring those out rather than trying to pretend the actual game matters.

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 2

"Ranking college signing classes is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. It based far too much on potential…"

YES!!!

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

274 days ago

Score 1

Why should Phelps get punished at all for imbibing a non performance enhancing drug in the offseason?

NASCAR should be crazy, lots of team mergers, budget cuts, etc. But a Hendrick car will still win the title.

Whoever is given the cover of the SISI is relevant, and that's a story. The issue itself is not, unless you have a subscription.

I used to play P-I-G too, but not because the Pork Council fronted me and my friends money to call it that.

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Sj-hypocycloidAll-American

273 days ago

Score 2

This whole A-Rod thing has made me a bit reflective. I have found that I no longer care about this crap anymore. I don't want to hear about it, and I want it to go away. I know that won't happen, so maybe it's time for me to go away. But I can't do that - not with the Phillies being defending champs.

So - what conclusions can we draw from A-Rod? His actions will not hurt baseball in the slightest. His numbers will stand - and they should, as should the numbers of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Roger Clemens - because MLB has a long history of looking the other way, and making A-Rod the sacrifical lamb is a bit silly, considering he is not the first roider and will not be the last.

ESPN's Mike & Mike have been whining and arguing about this all week, and it's getting kind of annoying. The local Philly radio guys (who are tools) have been wondering why roids in football is not a big deal, but it is in baseball. I am not really sure why that does seem to be true, but I have my half-assed theories.

I think that the two things that come to play here are baseball's holier-than-thou attitude. Simply put, I've always felt that baseball believed it was better than all other sports. This is just my perspective. It's likely that many will disagree, and that's fine. But when MLB has a problem, I think that people love to tear them down...and I think it's due to this attitude.

The other thing is that when someone in baseball gets popped, it's like a celebration. It's usually someone with a big name, someone who rubs fans or reporters the wrong way or someone who plays/played for the Yankees. What do Pettitte, Clemens and A-Rod all have in common? Pinstripes. The idea that winning is expected in pinstripes. Win at any cost. No judgment here - many teams should adopt this philosophy. But the Yanks are a lightning rod when it comes to fans. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground - they're either loved or hated. They're a great team just for their ability to spark such passion.

And as for the idea that it's a bigger deal in baseball and not so much in football...I think that if a roid guy was exposed in the NFL, and he played for the Cowboys....then there would be a pretty decent uproar.

And so it goes...I'll just wait for this to blow over, as these things always do, and wait for the season to start. Go Phils!

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

273 days ago

Score 2

Nobody made a big deal when Bill Belichick got caught breaking the rules...

Baseball fans are also extremely delusional about the game. They think there's some sort of purity to it. Rather, they believe there WAS some sort of purity, back in the day. That's why people like watching .080 hitting pitchers bat, because it's "pure." Even though the game was far from pure when it was segregated, or players were attached to their teams for life, or everyone was doing coke, etc.

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