Thursday

So after Tuesday's rant, I'm off to the kinder, gentler soul today with some real serious questions about athletes and athletics.  I had actually started this yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, but ran into a conflict with work (Egad!) and wasn't able to get the message out.

My thought actually got co-opted this morning on the Mike and Mike radio show on ESPN2 when one of their guests, Mark Schlereth, led a pretty humorous discussion on the wearing of a wedding ring in a professional football game.  The holder for the New York Giants in last Sunday's game, Sam Weatherford, was wearing his.  I noticed this at the time Sunday when they repeatedly replayed the winning field goal for viewers, several times in slow motion and with a spotlight on the hold.

I actually thought there would have been a rule banning this kind of thing in the NFL.  I mean, we had to put band aids over the ear lobes of any of our sixth grade AAU girls if they had on earrings that couldn't be taken off.  And most safety procedures in manufacturing, or other blue-collar labor jobs have prohibitions against hand jewelry.  But I guess no such rule exists with the pro's.

Then again, Weatherford is a kicker, and those guys usually come from another planet.  The guy's Man-Card may be placed on probation.

But it does raise the question about the appropriateness and usefulness of non-essential paraphernalia in sports.   Or, perhaps more interestingly, does wearing jewelry create a legitimate case against the activity being considered a sport?

What does a wrist watch do for a golfer, a sprinter or a rower?  Who knows what a NASCAR driver might have under that fire suit?

Baseball players wear a wide range of neck apparel, from gold chains to hemp loops.  With baseball being a sport rife with superstitions, these neck things probably all have stories.

For basketball players, I think its the silly headband.  You see a few guys wearing these things.  If head sweat was really a problem, why wouldn't everyone have a band?

OK.  Need to get back at it.  We are continuing to have LAN issues and coordination with our phones.  The IT experts want to toss blame to Quest.  Why wouldn't they?  It surely can't be anything that they have control over. 

More here later.

BCOT