EL BARRIO, EL FALLS: Been super busy writing for our sister site so I haven’t had much time for non-rugby related news but I did squeeze something out, just for you guys. On the menu for today are Domestic Violence and the NFL Again, NY Red Bulls Choke and #Sagerstrong.
NFL v Domestic Violence: Stop me if you have heard this before. NFL Player beats up girlfriend/wife/mistress/woman he is sleeping with and the police are called. It is reported and the player is arrested goes to court but all the while playing football games. Then the video emerges and all of sudden the team and league is appalled and the player is cut. The team claims the player never gave them all the information and they were unaware of bad the incident was. This is what happened with Ray Rice, but now the star running back is Kareem Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs. Rice became a pariah and the incident ended his career, but that wont be the case for Hunt. It is not that Hunt’s is not as bad (Hunt pushed a woman down and kicked her while down compared to Rice’s knockout punch and dragging), it is that the league PR machine has learned from the incident. Hunt was suspended immediately after the tape came out and put on the naughty list aka the Commissioner’s Exempt list, so he can’t practice, play or even attend an NFL game unless he pays for a ticket himself. So he will go in the dark and stay quiet, unlike Rice until this blows over. And if you don’t believe me, the Washington Ethnic Slurs just signed Reuben Foster after San Francisco placed him on waivers following his domestic violence arrest. Washington was the only team that did, and poor Doug Williams had to go out there and say it was a united decision because he is the only person in the organization the fans like. Hunt will join a team like Jacksonville or Cincinnati next year, a good team that is not big in the spotlight but needs a quality RB. Heck, it may be Washington even as they don’t have much of any morals.
NY Red Bulls Choke: New York teams are always good bets for the choke job. I am not even counting the upstate experts in Buffalo. It seems to be the teams I support, the Mets, the Jets, the Knicks and now we can induct the NY Red Bulls into that group. The Red Bulls have been the best regular season team in the MLS 3 out of the last 6 seasons. Unfortunately this is ‘Murikka and not Europe so regular season doesn’t mean anything, only winning the playoffs does. So 23 years as one of the first teams in the MLS and still no title. Newer teams have come and won the title while Red Bulls fans still wait. This year was particularly brutal as New York chased down Atlanta United to win the regular season title and claim the number 1 seed. The MLS playoffs are a weird set up the conference semi-final and conference final are best of 2, that’s right 2, so essentially it 2 games in one, where the team that scores more goals after games wins w/ away goals the tie breaker. The Final is a one game winner take all. The Red Bulls in the conference semi-finals didn’t play their trademark press system in the first game on the road but played not to lose and lost 1-0. They won 3-0 at home in leg two so lesson learned right? Nope. In the Conference final they sat back again and got torched 3-0 on the road and at home when the needed a miracle, they scored their 1 goal in the 89th minute. Thanks for coming out fans, sorry you support the Jets of MLS.
#Sagerstrong: Last night the NBA had #Sagerstrong night and commentators and some coaches did their best impression of sager with their eccentric jackets. It was a nice touch and a fitting tribute for the deceased CraigSager for a solid guy, who was a bit quirky, hence the jackets, but a good person and good at his job. I hope this becomes a yearly thing. Here is the picture gallery if you want to check it out.
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