The Boys are Back in Town

Seattle Seahawks: Media Day

The craziest thing that was taken away from the NFL’s media day on Tuesday is that the league threatened to fine Marshawn Lynch a half a million dollars if he did not participate. The other thing is that the Seattle Seahawks are an old school football team, especially on defense.

First, as most people think that Marshawn Lynch’s interviews are ridiculous, I would have to say they are brilliant. Finally someone is sticking it to the media, you know the people that write their thoughts and use clips of any interview to make it sound however they want. Ok not all of them do that but why even chance it. Some people don’t care, but with Lynch, people aren’t going to make him look stupid again. Everyone now suffers and some don’t like it. That was very apparent when a reporter asked him “Why are you being a jerk?” Lets be honest, as stupid as the media makes him look, he did go to Cal for 3 years.

We all know that Lynch is not the role model that we want our kids to look up to, he has been fined each of the last two games for inappropriate gestures after scoring, but what is the difference between not saying anything to the media and saying the same thing over and over again? He doesn’t get fined. One thing you can’t deny is that Lynch is loved by his teammates. You can call it Beast Mode or something else, but next time Lynch starts to put defenders on their backs, take a look at the Seahawk’s sideline. You will see that the swag starts with Lynch and quickly carries to both sides of the ball.

You can call it momentum, or being confident, or swag if you want, when the Seahawks defense gets on a roll it is very hard to do anything on them. Being confident and outspoken might not be as popular in today’s softer National Football League, but in the golden days of the league, it was all about the swag and championships usually followed. Look at the best defenses in NFL history, the legendary No-Name defense of the 1972 Dolphins went undefeated. The nasty defense of the 1985 Chicago Bears won a championship. Ronnie Lott and company sent people out on stretchers in San Francisco in the late 1980’s. Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens dominated the league in 2000. Warren Sapp’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers made opponents pay for showing up on Sunday during the 2002 season. Now the Seattle Seahawks are very similar to all of these dominating teams. The one thing that makes them all similar, they make you fear being hit and they let you know just how good they are. It is nothing new to football, it just looks bad during a time that hard hits and trash talk is looked down on.

One thing will be certain Sunday, the Seahawks defense will show up ready to play and if that swag carries over from the second half of the Packers game, the Super Bowl will not be that entertaining.

MAYDAY JAY JAY

Twitter @MayDayJJSports

Nothing To Do This Weekend? Watch 24 Hours of Action

For most people this weekend marks a weekend full of rest before the big game next Sunday. Wait, wait, wait… I forgot that you do have the Pro Bowl to watch if you want to see what Friday walkthroughs look like for professional athletes. Unless you want to watch some racing, and by some racing, I mean 24 hours of none stop racing.

At the Daytona International Speedway this weekend, drivers from every series in the world will all meet up to race for 24 straight hours. At 2:10pm on Saturday afternoon, teams will take the green flag hoping that their equipment will hold up and they will be in victory lane 24 hours later.

Don’t think this race can be competitive, think again. Last year, the team that won crossed the finish line less than two seconds ahead of second place. In 2009, we saw the closest finish in the 24 hour race history, 0.167 seconds. No that is not a misprint, after 24 hours the margin of victory was 0.167.

Chip Ganassi has won five out of the last nine 24 hour races at Daytona setting the record for most wins by an owner along the way. Ganassi will again have the well-known 01 and 02 cars in the field this year. The 01 car will have veteran Scott Pruett leading the way.  Pruett is tied with Hurley Haywood with five overall wins, this could be the year Scott Pruett becomes the all time winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The 02 car though, might be the sexiest car in the race, at least to American race fans. Well-known Indy car drivers Scot Dixon and Tony Kanaan will join NASCAR rookie of the year Kyle Larson and fellow NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray. Look for both of these Target sponsored cars to be fighting at the end.

            In other classes it is hard to go against Andy Lally, who has more wins and podium finishes than anyone in the history of the Grand Am Class. While the final minutes tick off the clock, it will be a surprise if Lally’s #44 is not fighting for the win.
            For someone to confidently pick a winner of this race is crazy. You will see brake pads being changed, body parts being repaired, and all kinds of other maintenance taking place on pit lane and sometimes it comes down to the seconds used by the crewmembers.
            Don’t take my word for it, save your money for Super Bowl weekend, stay in and tune in to watch the prototype cars fly by other classes on the high banks and fast straightaways of Daytona International Speedway’s road course. Check your local FOX channels for television coverage or you can catch all the coverage on Fox Sports Go and IMSA.com.
            If you enjoy it, the best part of this great event is that usually you can find four-day infield/ grandstand wristbands for 90 bucks. Comment if you know about another 4 day sporting event that will allow you in for 90 bucks. 

MAYDAY JAY JAY

Twitter @MayDayJJSports

CHEATING: Time for the NFL to Hammer Down

The NFL had been under a lot of scrutiny this year, but now in the aftermath of the second largest blowout in an AFC championship game (1991 Bills 51- Raiders 3) the NFL is again investigating a familiar team. The New England Patriots were at it again and ESPN is reporting that 11 of the 12 footballs used were under the legal weight (air pressure) during the downpour Sunday evening.

            This year alone the NFL has determined to stop putting up with people breaking the laws. Starting with the Ray Rice case at the beginning of the year and the Adrian Peterson case a couple weeks into the season, the NFL has stood tall against illegal actions off of the field. New policies have included a two game suspension for first time DUI offenses and a six game suspension for the use of PEDs. Targeting fouls are at an all time high and the protection of players on the field is being enforced more than it ever has. Is it time for the NFL to take a stand against cheating and make the penalty so severe that no team thinks about doing it, I say yes.

            In 2007 we had spygate, where Patriots coach Bill Belicheck was fined a half a million dollars but was not suspended at all. The Patriots did lose their number one draft pick, but with a loaded team picking near the end of the first round, it really did not punish the team. At the most it gave them some more cap room to get a free agent. Even if video taping the defensive signals during the Jets practice had no impact on the game, it was done to help the team win the game. How many helmet to helmet penalties do you see where the receiver is falling to the ground and gets hit in the head. Even though the defender went low the penalty is still called.

            Then we have the New Orleans Saints. Coach Sean Payton received a year suspension for bounty gate (name a defender that  does not try to hit his opponent as hard as he can anyways). Payton was not even the mastermind behind this bounty program anyways, but because he is the head coach, he gets the punishment.

            The head coach is in charge of the whole program. If this air pressure situation is found to be true, punishment needs to be harsh for Belicheck and other involved. Harsh enough that the next time The New England Patriots, or any team, want to get an advantage on their opponent, they will go back and watch more game film instead of thinking about cheating.

MAYDAY JAY JAY

Twitter @MayDayJJSports