This Football Blog

I’ve added a few. Good events supporting good local causes at Edwards Books in Springfield. Scroll down.

Is it just me or does Deion Sanders’ little George Foreman routine seem just a little bit pathetic? I mean, what’s really going on here? You don’t come out of retirement after three years at age 37 and succeed in the NFL. You just don’t. Even if your body’s up to it, which Deion’s may well be (he was always a superb athlete), the game’s probably passed you by. And, let’s face it, you retired in the first place for a reason (or a number of reasons) and healing can’t have changed all of them. I don’t think you can play in the NFL unless you have something major to prove, and I’m not sure Deion does. And, you know, whatever he doeshas to prove can and probably will be proven in one or two games. Come November, I think Deion’s gonna be wondering what the hell he’s doing.

I think I know what’s up. I think Deion is like that high school sports star who hangs his identity on the glory he gets on the field, then, after graduation, discovers the world has little use for him anymore. (“He could throw that speed ball by you, make you look like a fool, boy.”) He tried to stay in the public eye by turning broadcaster, but it just didn’t work out (mostly because he was one of the worst sportscasters in the history of bad ex-jock sportscasters). So he’s gonna try to get it back by putting on the pads again. Maybe it’ll work, but I have a feeling he’s just gonna end up looking silly.

I like Deion as a player. I mean, he was more than a bit hard to take early on, when it clearly irked him that he wasn’t Bo Jackson. But after Bo got hurt and Deion could look like maybe he really was the best athlete in the game for a while, he seemed to settle down some. He concentrated on playing. And after he gave up the two-sport-star fantasy and just played football, he was amazing to watch. The guy was a force on the field; there’s no denying that.

Still, 37 is old for professional football. There aren’t many guys out there like Jerry Rice and Tim Brown who can keep going in a young man’s game for so long. And I don’t think three years rest is gonna help that much. It’s not like Deion gets to start back as a 34-year-old (which ain’t young by NFL standards, anyhow). To play football at that age, you have to be doing it for the right reasons. And I just get the feeling Deion isn’t. I guess time will tell.

So, you know, if you’ve ever spent any time over at my other blog, The Moon Hoax, you know that I sometimes have some sort of strong opinions about certain things. Football stuff sometimes. Like it kind of annoys me that a league that tolerates spouse abusers, repeat drunken driving offenders, maybe even a murderer, and, of course, homophobes and assholes as far as the eye can see, goes so far out of its way to persecute the pot smokers, ’cause, you know, these guys are role models for our American youth. (I’m not saying all pro football players are bad guys. Far from it. I’m sure most of them are decent folks. What I question are the priorities of the NFL.) I’ve also got my opinions about some players’ abilities, broadcasters, and other stuff, like who’s likely to win what games on a week-to-week basis. So that’s what I’ll be getting into here. The football stuff. The rest of it stays at The Moon Hoax.

This is also where you’ll find an up-to-date list of upcoming events featuring … um, well, me. It’s over there on the left. We’re in the process of adding dates, so, you know, if there’s nothing near you, keep on checking in. Or if ya want, shoot me an email and tell me where you want me to show up and we’ll try to make it happen. Or, better yet, contact your favorite store and ask them to bring me in. No, wait, don’t ask. Demand. Yeah, that’s it. Demand it. Hey, you’re the customer, right? Who the hell are they to say you can’t have what you want? Why are you letting these bookstore types push you around? Isn’t it bad enough that you get treated rudely in record stores? Are you going to let them ruin the book shopping experience for you now, too? That’s what I thought. So stop twiddling your thumbs; get out there and make them bring me in to read or sign or dance a jig (I don’t actually dance jigs, but they don’t have to know that now, do they?). Go.