Morning.
From the "Talks too much" studios, let's buckle up.
Wisconsin buffoonery
The Wisconsin high school sports authority - a collection of knuckleheads known as the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) - have reached a new low in our country-sapping chase to give everyone a trophy and neuter the individual toughness of our future generations.
The WIAA has issued a rule banning chants that could potentially hurt the feelings of players on other teams. Among those chants mentioned by the WIAA were "Airball" and "Scoreboard" - two of the most common (and cleanest) from high school student sections anywhere.
When pressed on the he WIAA in its ever cowardice had their communications director send out a statement that the WIAA did not ban any specific chant as mush as it sent a guideline of potentially hurtful possibilities and the suggestions were "a guide to help our schools in promoting positive chants."
Assorted Sports Equipment on BlackBuckets. Simply buckets. (Or is that too strong of a choice of words that could potentially offend or trample the delicate sensibilities of our young people who may or may not be reading.)
Where to start? OK first, here's a big class of shut the heck up WIAA. Really? This is the biggest problem you have among your athletic programs? We're betting not.
Next, one of the most valuable lessons high school sports can deliver - one that is worth far more than the successes the winners or potential scholarships for the selected view - is dealing with adversities and setbacks.
Dealing with the pressure of playing on the road and earning the satisfaction of quieting a hostile road crowd are two of the most greatest joys of playing really competitive high school hoops. Now, whether they realize it or not, the WIAA is trying to take that joy from so many. And why? We feel certain it's in large part to protect the emotional well-being of one glass-case-raised child whose mother was offended when he heard "Airball, Airball" at Rival High when, he you know, tossed up an airbag that she raised holy havoc about it.
Instead of standing up to Momma Airball, obviously the WIAA caved and turned its back to one of the fundamental truths of all of sports: Don't want to (fill in the blank), then don't let them.
Think about it. Don't want the opposing team to run up the score, well, stop them from scoring. Don't want the other player to run his mouth, then shut him down. Don't want the other team to celebrate at home plat after a home run, don't hang the curve ball.
And if you don't want to hear "Airball" or "Scoreboard, well, don't shoot airballs and score more points than the other team.
Now, to make matters worse, the WIAA has suspended one of its players for sending out a Tweet that read "Eat S*** WIAA."
OK, let's get this straight: We in these parts have three basketball players who play four extra games before being dealt with after allegedly raping a teammate with a pool cue, and the WIAA jumps in on a high school girl who voiced protest with profanity?
Wow. You stay classy Wisconsin.
This is so much worse than the "Everyone gets a trophy crowd" of youth sports for so many reasons. First youth sports are supposed to be somewhat inclusive, and believe it or not, trophies (as cheap and plastic as they can be) can help with that.
This is high school sports, however. This is supposed to be about pride and competitive and preparation. Not pampering and sugar-coating and emotional censuring.
Taking it a step further, this is the latest example of leading and governing for the individual squeaky wheel rather than leading and governing for the good of the masses or the proper common goal for all.
So it goes.
---
NFL movements
And the Los Angeles Rams, come on down.
FILE - In this Oct. 7, 2015, file photo, St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke walks in the hallway during a break of National Football League owners meeting, in New York. Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, is the first day for teams to apply for relocation and St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants to move the franchise to Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) The NFL voted 30-2 to allow the Rams - and owner Stan Kroenke's awesome $1.86 billion vision of an NFL compound in Carson, Ca. that could house everything from the Pro Bowl to the Super Bowl to the NFL draft to added production space for NFL Films - to move to L.A. The Rams will play in the Coliseum until 2019 when Kroenke's state of the art facility will be completed.
The other two teams that petitioned to move to L.A. were left in a far different spot.
The San Diego Chargers were given an extension to either a) see of San Diego voters will approve giving nine figures of funding to a new stadium project; or b) figure out a deal to share Kroenke's palace with the Rams.
If the Chargers decide to forgo or can't come to an agreement with the Rams, the Raiders were given permission to try to negotiate a deal with the Rams.
But Raiders owner Mark Davis was less than thrilled with the outcome. In truth, the Raiders' lease with their digs in Oakland expired at the end of the 2015 season, and as Davis said, the Raiders' future could be anywhere across these United States of America.
Side note: It's worth mentioning here that Raiders ownership has secured some potential land outside of San Antonio that is available. There was thoughts that the agreement in principle for that land was thought to be a threat to the Oakland area, but now, the potential San Antonio Raiders just took another possible step forward.
---
NFL Playoffs
We will breakdown the games tomorrow. (And yes, even offer some picks.)
But for today we offer an interesting feature story on Panthers quarterback and soon-to-be NFL MVP Cam Newton.
It's well done, and well sourced. It focuses on the guy that physically, right now, is the second-best athlete out there behind LeBron James.
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2016, file photo, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) celebrates on the sidelines late in the second half of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in Charlotte, N.C. Nearly every coach and every player heading to the playoffs will insist how beneficial skipping wild-card weekend is. It’s all about the bye in January. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn, File) Who else is 6-5, 260 pounds and runs a 4.5? Newton would be a Pro Bowler at least five positions - can you image him at strong safety or as a slot receiver - dear Lord, the carnage - and may have one of the five strongest arms in football.
The story, though, plays off his love for outlandish fashion - something that he has had since his youth - and crosses into his decisions that straddle (at times violating, at times flirting with, at times staying short of) some invisible line of old-school tradition that mixes sportsmanship with a subtle hint of personal preference. It's a line that Cam pushes almost every week, be it on purpose or by accident as the Panthers' game-changing quarterback enjoys every play and every moment of every game.
Newton's ability to rub his critics the wrong way - something that seems even more silly compared to the antics of the Bengals and Steelers last weekend - is an intriguing part of the magic of the game.
Newton's actions - like his physical skill set and potential - is something we have very rarely seen from a quarterback. And we all know - rightly or wrongly - quarterbacks are treated differently.
More times than not, that difference hinges on winning and losing, or at times not winning enough or not winning the big games as often as someone else.
We get that. You can debate it, because football is the ultimate team game and we but the ultimate value of winning - and the high price of the accompanying contracts - on the quarterback.
For Cam though, it's not about the winning. Dude has won at every single level, including leading the Panthers to a 15-1 mark this year. No, for Cam it's about how he's winning.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) celebrates with fans after an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016. The Panthers won 38-10. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn) Whether it's the differences about style - both playing and fashion - or his exuberance that borders on showmanship, how Cam is winning has become an issue for some.
To that, well, that's your opinion, and you certainly are entitled to it.
But we also believe that expecting these guys to line up in a Gladiator movie every Sunday from early September until February (if they are lucky) and try to fit their success in a sport that takes years off their lives into an acceptable box of proper post-touchdown behavior that is the modern-day equivalent in a lot of ways to a finger bowl seems unfair and in a lot of ways a huge double-standard.
Think of the thin divide between the "He doesn't show enough emotion - where's passion?" to the "He's over the top, celebrating a first down like that - punk?" categorization of today's 24/7 second-guessing sports consumption.
If you don't like Cam, cool. If you like Cam, cool.
Either way, dude is having fun and changing the way the game is played.
---
This and that
- Big night for college hoops upsets as No. 1 Kansas lost to No. 11 West Virginia and No. 3 Maryland fell at Michigan. So it goes.
- Yes, the numbers for ESPN were down for the college football playoff game this week. They even dropped below the NCAA hoops title game on CBS from last April. That said, the financial well-being of ESPN (which is owned by ABC which is owned by Disney) is, like almost all of Disney's properties for the next generation, going to be covered by the awesome success of Star Wars. In addition to the historic success of "Force Awakens" comes news that the wheels are spinning on a spinoff feature film about a young Han Solo. May the Cash be with you.
Tennessee football coach Butch Jones, right, poses with the team's new defensive coordinator, Bob Shoop, during a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Knoxville, Tenn. (Amy Smotherman Burgess/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)- UT officially announced Bob Shoop as its new defensive coordinator. That big news also made TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer proclaim that the Vols are college football playoff bound. Yep, Shoop is the difference. We're with Weeds - UT in '16. Year of Trump and Butch and the Olympics in Rio. Giddy-up. (Yes, that's sarcasm. And did anyone else think Weeds may have been trying to jinx the Vols? No, not Weeds, right?)
- LeBron is killing it right now, and an accurate social media heckle helped jump start his hot streak.
---
Today's question
Have you submitted your mailbag entry?
As for a Rushmore, let's go a little outside the box. On this day in 1979, the YMCA folks filed a lawsuit over the Village People's song, "YMCA" - which makes more sense than the YMCA suing over the Village People's "In the Navy" of course.
"YMCA" the song would be a contender for most common stadium music, even today.
What's the Rushmore of Stadium/Arena songs in sports?
Go. (And remember the mailbag.)