by Nick Brower | Mar 8, 2018 | SPORTS
The NFL Combine has always been about more than the on-the-field drills. Teams use this time to interview players and find out more about their off-field lives. This year has been no exception, but former LSU running back Derrius Guice said a few questions crossed the line. In an interview with SiriusXM NFL, Guice said one team asked him if he “liked men” and another team asked, “Hey, I heard your mom sells herself. How do you feel about that?”. Now yes, teams do need to do their due diligence when considering who to select in the draft but this is absurd. The first question is blatantly discrimination. Who gives a damn about a player’s sexual orientation? Michael Sam recently became the first openly gay man to play in the NFL and has proven to be a worthy NFL player. And even if he didn’t end up playing well it would have had nothing to do with him being gay. There is no place for this kind of discrimination in the league and I’m appalled. The second question about his mother is also way out of bounds. I might have jumped over the table if a team exec asked me that. Neither of these questions should have any weight in evaluating a player pre-draft. Should teams find out if a player handles himself professionally off the field? Definitely. But neither of these questions have anything to do with that. They were just trying to get under his skin and that’s flat out wrong. And this isn’t even the first time things like this have happened. Giants’ cornerback Eli Apple was asked if he was gay at the 2016 Combine, three other players were asked similar questions in 2013, and Dez Bryant was asked a similar question about his mother in 2010. The league has reprimanded teams for questions like these in the past but clearly not enough. They need to sort this out and do it fast. I just hope that this story does not affect Guice’s draft stock. His collegiate career proved he has a place in the league and many experts have him going in the first round. The kid can play and he deserves a chance, regardless of his answers to these ridiculous questions.
by Nick Brower | Mar 6, 2018 | SPORTS
The Arizona Diamondbacks will be bringing back a piece of baseball history this season. They will become the first team to use a bullpen cart since 1995. That’s right, pitchers will be driven from the bullpen to the infield this season at Chase Field. This is a tradition that dates back quite some time in our nation’s pastime. The Indians were the first team to use a bullpen vehicle in 1950 and the majority of the league followed suit by the mid 1960s. They were full blown cars back then. Golf carts took over around 1980 and the Brewers actually used a Harley Davidson and had pitchers sit in a side car in 1995. The carts were outfitted with ridiculous ball caps or baseball designs and it was all great fun. The Diamondbacks believe it is time to bring them back and hope it will receive a warm welcome. They almost jokingly commented that it might help speed up pace of play as well. The only rule on the books regarding the bullpen carts is that it must be made equally available to both home and visiting pitchers and may not allow pitchers any extra warmup time. The choice of whether or not to use it will be left completely up to the individual pitchers. It will be interesting to see how many players take advantage of the cart and how many continue to jog out to the mound. Either way it should be a somewhat fun but very silly addition to the game this season. Its completely unnecessary, these are professional athletes I think they can manage to jog a couple hundred feet. I do think it is fun for the fans in the stadium as it will add to the excitement of being in the ballpark. This will serve as a test for the rest of the league, lets see how far this gets.
by Nick Brower | Mar 6, 2018 | SPORTS
The Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr continued the dialogue about the NCAA on Monday. Kerr stated that he thinks players who declare for the draft but go undrafted should be allowed to return to their college teams. Kerr told reporters, “Don’t keep this ruse going. We all know what’s going on. Let’s do what’s best for the kid and give them some options, and work together between the NBA and NCAA to find the right system. I think it’s entirely doable if you people just open their eyes.” Currently, players who declare and hire an agent cannot return the NCAA, but those do not acquire an agent can. I’m 100% with Kerr on this one. Where is the harm in a kid returning to college in he isn’t drafted? The only person harmed is the player. There is no reason the declaring should force you to give up your remaining eligibility. There obviously has to be a balance here. I don’t think players should be able to flip flop on their draft eligibility and I don’t think players should be able to return to college just because they aren’t happy with who drafted them. But if a player goes unselected there is no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to return to college and continue to play and develop. The NBA and NCAA need to put money aside for once and start thinking about what is best for these young men.
by Nick Brower | Mar 6, 2018 | SPORTS
The Pittsburgh Steelers will place the franchise tag on star running back Le’Veon Bell for the second straight season. This tag will pay Bell $14.5 million this season, the average yearly salary of a running back in today’s league. Bell has previously said he will contemplate retirement if he was tagged again this season and has not backed down from this statement. Bell told ESPN on Monday, “I’m playing for strictly my value to the team. That’s what I’m asking. I don’t think I should settle for anything less than what I’m valued at”. Le’Veon clearly thinks he is worth more than the average back and he has the numbers to back it up. Bell is hands-down one of the most explosive players in the league, let alone at running back, and wants to be compensated as such. I don’t blame him, especially after playing under the tag last year. Bell says he will wait to make his decision on whether or not to play at all and would also consider joining the team during Week 10, which would give him just enough time to qualify for a season accrued. Long-term contract talks continue to stall as the Steelers have not produced a number that Bell believes is big enough. This confused me last year and really blows my mind this year. Pittsburgh, PAY THE DAMN MAN! Bell is the type of player you build championships around and I would want him as happy as possible. You just made Antonio Brown the highest paid receiver in the league last year, now cut the check for his teammate. Lock Le’Veon in and you basically guarantee a top five offense for the rest of their deals. I really hope the Steelers smarten up and get a deal done because I think Bell is serious about sitting out and he is a player that people all over the country look forward to watching on Sundays, including myself.
by Nick Brower | Mar 6, 2018 | SPORTS
Kevin Love has had quite a tough season so far. Unexplained exits from games, teammates placing blame on him for team issues, and most recently a broken hand. Love came forward this morning in an essay published through the Players’ Tribune to answer some questions. Love revealed that it was in fact a panic attack that forced him out of the November 5th loss to the Hawks and into a hospital. While he did not speak of it in this essay, sources close to the situation have reported that it was another panic attack that forced him out of the Oklahoma City game as well. This was the game that led to the team meeting in which there was plenty of finger-pointing, with a lot of them aimed at Love. Love writes in the essay about the first episode, “It came out of nowhere. I’d never had one before. I didn’t even know if they were real. But it was real — as real a broken hand or a sprained ankle. Since that day, almost everything about the way I think about my mental health has changed.” Love has started to see a therapist a few times a month and has looked to other NBA players for advice and comfort. Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan recently acknowledged publicly that he struggles with depression, and Love cited this as a big part of his inspiration to come forward about his own struggles. Love also used the essay to encourage others to be strong with their own mental struggles. He wrote, “So if you’re reading this and you’re having a hard time, no matter how big or small it seems to you, I want to remind you that you’re not weird or different for sharing what you’re going through”. Mental health has become an important topic in today’s society and is finally starting to be understood more. It is not something to be ignored and it not something to be ashamed of. Everyone has their inner battles and everyone copes with them differently. The important part is to be accepting of both yourself and others. Having mental struggles does not take away from who you are as a person. If you need help, seek it. If you can help someone, then do it. We are all in this thing called life together and we all need someone to lean on now and then. I applaud Kevin Love for coming forward to discuss his personal struggles and using his platform to inspire others. I wish him all the best and will continue to root for him going forward.
