John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Thinking out loud…and wondering what things men are actually better at than women…
• Ok, I was thinking this week that my better half is, well, better than me in a lot of stuff. So before I developed an instant inferiority complex, I decided to compile a list of five things I KNOW that I’m better at…and for the most part, feel that most men are better at than women. Listed below, feel free to share, agree and/or disagree…
• Bob Costas said this past week that the nickname “Redskins,” as in the 81-year-old Washington Redskins, is a slur…that it can’t possibly honor heritage, or a noble trait. Gee, thanks Bob for getting up on your soap box to preach to us. Never mind the fact that most Native Americans aren’t offended. But I would ask one question. Why has it taken you so long to come out against this name? It’s offensive now, and wasn’t a year ago? Five years ago? 25 years ago? You’ve been with NBC for how long? Oh…NBC just took up the issue? I see. Guess you did too…
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST• Not for nuthin’…but the Washington Redskins actually started as the Boston Braves, and then became the Boston Redskins before moving to Washington. In reality, on that inaugural Redskins team, four players and the coach were Native Americans. The helmet logo was designed with the assistance of an Indian reservation in South Dakota. I’ve never been a fan of the team, nor have I really liked owner Daniel Snyder, either. But he’s right to stick up for what he believes is a source of pride, respect, strength and courage…not racism. And four out of five Americans agree…
• A true story…did you know that the Cartoon Network actually took the “Speedy Gonzalez” mouse character off of their airwaves in 1999 because they feared he portrayed several ethnic stereotypes and misrepresented Mexican culture? In 2002, fans of the character – including the United Latin American Citizens – campaigned to get him back. He’s still a very popular figure in Mexico and throughout Latin America. Lighten up, Francis…
• A pure Boston/New England sports night for the ages last Sunday wasn’t it, when in a span of about 3 and-a-half hours Tom Brady tossed a game-winning TD throw against the Saints with five seconds left…and David Ortiz slammed a game-tying granny in the bottom of the 8th against Detroit? Both were such unbelievable moments, there’s just no way Disney accepts the movie script – or even rejects it…
• Is it 2004 all over again?
• Just wondering…but do any of the Red Sox players questioning the fairness of Jhonny Peralta’s return to the Tigers – after serving his suspension for PED’s – think that he’s still juicing? Or that there’s still PED’s in his system? And would they have a problem if he was on THEIR team?
• And just when I was getting ready to thump Jim Leyland for blinking first in the staredown with John Farrell, he goes and pulls the Austin-Jackson-to-the-eight-hole-in-the-lineup-thing for the Tigers…and they thump the Red Sox in Game 4. That’s why he’s the manager, and still, one of the best in the game…
• I’ll say this about Jake Peavy – he stunk. But he manned up in shouldering the blame, refusing to point a finger at the bobbled ground ball by Dustin Pedroia in the second inning that could have been an inning-ending double play…and turned into a five-spot for Detroit. Admirable. He might not get the chance to make up for it this year, however. And Pedey? He gets a pass. Nine Pedroia’s on my team will kick your team’s ***…
• Thing #5 that Men are definitely better at than Women - men are definitely better at swearing than women. Most men I know can curl your nose hairs with their descriptive phrases – not exactly an admirable trait – and while I know a few women who talk like sailors (and do sailors really talk like that, or is that just a saying?), there’s no doubt that curse words slip off of a man’s tongue like bullets fired from a machine gun compared to the softer, gentler sex…
• The Trouble with America, Part I: Need another example of why Obamacare is a bad idea? When your ex-teammates rat you out, it’s not good. Even the Presidents’ former Press Secretary calls the roll out “embarrassing…”
• Tweet of the Week I – from @TheHoopGroup: “The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with them…”
• Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe is getting the credit for taking the now-iconic photo of Torii Hunter going over the wall, and the police officer (27-year vet Steve Horgan) with his hands raised in the bullpen at Fenway Park, as David Ortiz’ grand slam against Detroit in Game Two of the ALDS rocked our world last week. “I knew he was going over,” was how Grossfeld described his impeccable timing, in coming up with the signature moment of one of Boston’s best sports days – ever…
• Tweet of the Week II – from @ESPNStatsInfo: “Jon Lester now has 4 postseason wins, passing Babe Ruth and Bruce Hurst for most by a Red Sox LHP.” That's some company...
• Need another example of New England’s emergence as a football region, rather than as a baseball haven? Pats-Saints had a 35.1 TV rating in Boston…better than one out of every three TV’s in use were tuned into the football game. Sox-Tigers? 20.6 – or about one in five. Hut, hut…
• CBSSports.com has Kentucky as a near-unanimous pre-season #1 in college hoops, over the defending national champs from the other side of the state in Louisville. Makes that December 1st date at the Barclays Center pretty enticing…doesn’t it Friar fans? Just sayin’…
• The Friars are actually picked a bit higher than I thought they would be in the Pre-season Big East coaches’ poll, although I’m still confused by their being selected behind both St. John’s and Villanova – whom they swept last season. Plus, a bit of a slight to Kadeem Batts, who was the co-winner of the league’s Most Improved award last year and made 3rd team all-Big East. He couldn’t get past honorable mention this year, while the league’s returning top scorer, PC’s Bryce Cotton, was a 1st team pick. If the team fares well, Cotton will be a legit Player of the Year candidate…
• As we mentioned here a couple of months ago, the Friars will play only one pre-season game prior to the regular season tipping off against Boston College November 8th. They chose to scrimmage another Division I school, revealed this week as Harvard – and they’ll do it on the road. No tickets will be sold, no one other than game personnel may attend, as per the rules. The Crimson are Top 25 caliber, so it should provide a great test. And boy, would that be a great ticket to sell, if they could…
• Welcome back to the Big East, Austin Croshere. The former PC all-Big East forward and NBA veteran will join the television coverage of league games on Fox Sports 1. Croshere has entered the media realm since retiring from playing with the Indiana Pacers, as the team’s radio analyst…
• The Pawtucket Times’ Brendan McGair tweeted from Big East media day that Bill Raftery is going to be on the mic for Fox Sports 1 at PC’s opener against Boston College November 8th. That will definitely put a little bit of big-time on the line for an early season game. Onions!
• Commissioner Val Ackerman said this Wednesday – and she’s absolutely right – the teams, the coaches, the players absolutely feel pressure this season in living “up” to the expectations of the former Big East. They should embrace the pressure because it won’t go away…it’ll be there every time some media member mentions it in an interview, or when FS1 talks about it to a national audience. How does this Big East compare?
• Of course, we know it can’t. But it can re-earn its reputation by being competitive within the league, by winning non-league games, and by the best players performing at a high level so they gain national attention…all trademarks of the old conference. Doug McDermott or Bryce Cotton going off for 40+ on some team would help. Win the games they should, and win more than half of the games they shouldn’t. Not an unreasonable request. The spotlight will be glaring…
• Any questions about Aqib Talib’s ability to be a shutdown corner? After what he did to Saints’ uber-TE Jimmy Graham last week, I’ve got three words: Pay. The. Man…
• And three more: Get. Well. Soon…
• While the loss of linebacker Jerod Mayo to a season-ending muscle injury is tough to take, and his loss in the lineup hard to overcome…the toughest loss could be the potential loss of Talib in the secondary. Not only has he been the real MVP this season by shutting down other teams’ premier receivers, his personality and “swagger” have been contagious within the secondary and throughout the team. He’s been looked up to…by several players in the locker room…
• If you had told me before the season the Patriots would not have Welker, Gronk and Hernandez on offense, then lose Wilfork, Mayo and maybe Talib on the other side…plus Vereen, Ridley, Amendola and a few others out for short spells, I would have said 1-5 was more likely than the 5-1 where the team currently stands after six weeks. There’s still a long way to go, but this could be Bill Belichick’s best coaching job – ever…
• I’m at the point now where you can just wake me up to tell me Rob Gronkowski is playing football…because I no longer care. He's been medically cleared? If he’s in there, great. If not, that’s fine, too. This Patriots team is showing a strong sense of resiliency without him…and if the wookies (rookie wide receivers) can actually learn to catch the ball, watch out…
• Oh yeah, almost forgot. Happy Buttfumble week!
• Did you see in the New York media this week that Rex Ryan told his players “don’t do nothing for your wife,” meaning perhaps, rest your legs from that long walk to take out the trash. Or rather, according to some players, to also resist the need to…you know…take the kids to soccer practice…
• Thing #4 – Being sick. Men are WAY better at being sick than women, especially in my home. Men can milk a cold for days – weeks, even. Moaning, complaining, aching, sneezing, coughing…yup, gotcha beat there. This goes for injuries, too…sprained ankles, bruises, scrapes and scratches. Where are the bandages? Most women I know – including my girlfriend – are way tougher. Got the flu? Pish-posh. Headed for the door…to work. Where’d you get that bruise, honey? Dunno. I’m going shopping…
• Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson is something else. Sure, it’s awful to hear that his two-year-old son (whom he had never even met until he was in a coma) allegedly died at the hands of a monster – his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend. In the aftermath of the heart-wrenching story, it turns out – perhaps – Peterson has as many as seven children, at least five of them born out of wedlock with different mothers. Yo, AD (which stands for All Day, his nickname). Play on the field, not off of it…and spare us the personal repopulation of the world…
• Is it hot in here, or is it just me? The world’s population, when I was born in 1959, was three billion. The last census result revealed in 2011 pegged the total of humanity on this planet at seven billion. It will probably be eight billion in another five years or so. Three words: Birth. Control. Please…
• Thought Rick Reilly had lost his fastball when he moved on from Sports Illustrated to ESPN. Nope. This is so incredibly touching – about a young Patriots’ fan in Foxboro who has befriended Robert Kraft – you simply need to read it for yourself. It will make your own troubles seem rather pointless…
• Don’t look now, but Nate Leaman’s PC hockey Friars swept then 11th-ranked Minnesota State last weekend, and swept themselves into the national Top 10 rankings this week at #10. The power play was a thing of beauty against the Mavericks (not the Screaming Eagles) last week. Ya might want to go check these guys out…maybe against #1 ranked Miami (Ohio) next week…
• This week’s feeling old moment…this week was the 25th anniversary of Kirk Gibson’s “I don’t believe what I just saw” home run, in Game One of the 1988 World Series against Dennis Eckersley. Has Eck’s hair (er, moss) changed one bit since then?
• Thing #3 – Growing a moustache. Not a fair comparison, you say? You haven’t seen some of the women I’ve seen. Still, as direct descendants of the primate family, men have body hair pretty much over most women. We win. Except for the bearded lady at the circus…
• A great piece in the Newark Star-Ledger last week on Seton Hall basketball guard Tom Maayan, who was called home to Israel for military duty just a couple of weeks after playing in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden last March. And then, somehow, returned to South Orange, NJ five months later after his training to be a solider. It helps put life from other corners of the globe in perspective…
• Have you heard about the latest “tool” in recruiting wars? A mobile app is being developed for prospective recruits that allows the athlete at any time, at the touch of his smartphone or tablet, the ability to call up information, highlights and stats on the big school that is after him. Or her. Short, well-pointed video messages that can be viewed over and over and over again…legally…by the prospective student athlete. Since the NCAA prohibits leaving printed recruiting info behind with prospects, how is this legal? It will be available to anyone for download. And free…
• Really? Houston Texan fans booed QB Matt Schaub as he was carted off of the field last week with an injury? That’s…that’s almost Philadelphia-like. Stupid is as stupid does…
• The trouble with America, Part II: Entitlement gone awry…
• Save your complaints. Yes, this is primarily a “sports column.” Last time I checked, however, I paid my taxes, and my investments took a hit just like yours did…
• Thing #2 – Drinking beer. Now, I DO know some women who love their beer. But you know those round protrusions on the front side of most male torsos? They’re not called “beer guts” for nothin.’ Physiologically speaking, men in general can simply drink/consume more. They can also get it down quicker…which usually leads to something else men are better at. The belch…
• My buddy Statbeast sez: “I love you so much, I could never live without you.” Mrs. Statbeast, sensing he was pulling her leg: “Is that you talking or is it the beer?” The Beast: “Neither. It’s me talking to the beer…”
• Tweet of the Week III – from @NYPost: “Anthony Weiner says he would be mayor if it wasn’t for the internet.” Hmmm…is that a little like saying if my aunt had ****, she’d be my uncle?
• In the “Now I’ve heard it all” department…in China, you can actually earn up to $50K per year as a professional, umm, fart sniffer. Apparently, there are no EEO rules involved. Capitalism at its finest. Equal opportunity for all…
• Thing #1 that Men are definitely better at than Women – Football. Sorry ladies, I know many of you are great fans, love football, love your favorite players. Some of you probably play fantasy football, too. But men organize wedding dates, child birth dates and major family events around GAMES. If you’re like me, you invent a contraption (before ear buds) for your transistor radio to catch a game DURING your best friends’ wedding, while standing as a groomsman in front of hundreds, providing play-by-play for the rest of the wedding party. (True story. Most everyone thought it was a hearing aid. I lied.) Sundays aren’t holy days because of the neighborhood church service. And only men really play football – with all due respect to the women who try…but are there tens-of-thousands of people in the stands for women’s pro football, and millions more watching on TV? Uh, no. There might be tens-of-thousands of “fans” watching a women’s Lingerie Bowl game…but it ain’t the QB’s arm or the RB’s speed they’re watching…
• Now that I’ve sufficiently upset any female (every female?) that has read this today…here’s something for you. What women are definitely better at than men…
• From the mailbag this week – Stephen from Edmonton in Alberta, Canada writes via Facebook: “Hypothetical - the following players are not injured: Mayo, Talib, Wilfork, Gronk, Vereen, "On-the-mend-ola" and let's just say all the other supporting crew for arguments sake. So the whole team is healthy. Realistically, how confident are you that we beat the Broncos, not just once, but beat them twice, assuming we play them again in the playoffs? Because honestly, that offence they have is worrisome...” Stephen: As the saying goes, there’s a lot of football to be played between now and then. However, in your hypothetical, I’d say the Patriots would still have a good chance to win straight up like that for two reasons – one, because the defense is still improved. And two, because the regular season game is in Foxboro, not Denver. If the playoff game were to be in Denver, not so much. Oh, and three – because Bill Belichick LOVES to game plan for guys like Peyton Manning…
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
• Don’t forget to join us for GoLocal Sports on 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am! Call in (401) 737-1287, or text us at 37937…and send email to the show - [email protected] .
• The recently released “Rhode Island Radio” from Arcadia Publishing is available for sale, and the book tells the story of the 91-year history of radio in our state through photographs, clippings and memories from many of the personalities who have graced our airwaves. If you’re in search of the gift that says “Rhode Island,” you’ve found it. Or, find it in local bookstores and online right here…
