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Michael Rand started RandBall with hopes that he could keep lies from conquering the minds of the weak. So far, he's only succeeded in using the word "redacted" a lot. He welcomes suggestions, news tips, links of pure genius, and pictures of pets in Halloween costumes here, though he already knows he will regret that last part.
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Posts about Professional football
Daniel Snyder will 'NEVER' change Redskins name, he says
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 9, 2013 - 5:57 PM
Per USA Today:
Daniel Snyder is owner of the Washington pro football team he grew up adoring. Would he ever consider changing the team name that many American Indians and others believe is a racial slur?
"We will never change the name of the team," Snyder told USA TODAY Sports this week. "As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season."
What if his football team loses an ongoing federal trademark lawsuit? Would he consider changing it then?
"We'll never change the name," he said. "It's that simple. NEVER — you can use caps."
This will be a fun story to remember when they do change the name someday.
TFD: Packers wearing throwback tan, blue and brown colors this year
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: May 6, 2013 - 5:26 PM
Green Bay wore the throwback jerseys -- which imitate the jerseys the Packers wore in 1929, which may or may not have made the stock market collapse -- in 2010 and 2011. What you can't see in the picture is the tan pants; you can see the dark blue jersey and the, um, milk chocolate-brown (?) helmets.
We actually think they look kind of cool. We're only guessing here, too, but maybe the height-sensitive Aaron Rodgers demanded that Green Bay bust them out again? Per this Yahoo blog, it seems likely (and yes, we Googled "colors that make you look taller" to find this:
You have probably already heard that wearing darker colored clothing can actually make you look slimmer. Opting for colors such as black, navy blue, forest green, maroon, and chocolate brown can make you look slimmer -- and ultimately taller.
At least for one game, the wee Rodgers will feel taller.
Another great old video: 1983 NFL draft, with Dolphins pick of Dan Marino getting panned
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: April 25, 2013 - 4:33 PMIf the 1976 Twins video wasn't enough nostalgia for you, let's take Jose Canseco's time machine forward seven years from then to 1983. This is what people wore. This is how TV looked. And this is what people thought of the Dolphins' pick of Dan Marino (below).
Also, note that we will post a thing or two here tonight from the Vikings' draft party at the Metrodome. New uniforms! New players! Beer! What could go wrong?
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To tweet or not to tweet draft picks before they are announced? That is the question
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: April 24, 2013 - 3:17 PMTwitter provides us with all sorts of conundrums we never could have predicted even a few years ago. They range from the serious -- such as how social media impacted/impeded/aided the search for the Boston Marathon bombers and how the stock market temporarily plummeted after the AP Twitter feed was hacked -- to the somewhat silly.
In that latter category is a great emerging debate over whether NFL reporters should tweet out selections from the NFL draft before they are officially announced at the podium.
The NFL Network and ESPN -- as well as their respective sites -- took heat last year for ruining the suspense of the draft. So this year they have a new game plan. Per SI.com:
While ESPN and NFL Network will compete fiercely for audience this week, they have once again come together for a gentleman's agreement on the subject of tipping draft picks. Both networks have pledged not to show images of players on the phone in the green room at Radio City Music Hall. In addition to that, both networks tell SI.com that they will tell staffers not to report pick-by-pick selections on their Twitter feeds prior to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announcing the picks on the podium. The Twitter edict will extend into the second round of the draft. Teams have 10 minutes to pick in the first round, seven minutes in the second round and five minutes for the rest of the draft.
"Our fans have told us they would rather hear from the Commissioner and I think it is a better TV show when we speculate and let the Commissioner do it," said ESPN NFL senior coordinating producer Seth Markman, who oversees draft coverage for the network. "I have said in the past that [ESPN reporters] Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen can basically announce all the picks before they are made if they really wanted to. It goes against a lot of our instincts as journalists and it's totally different than anything I deal with, but we feel like it is a win for the fans and our viewers."
We get it. But we also say this: It's an unrealistic thing to ask of reporters and it's an unrealistic view of how things work in 2013. Communication flows differently, and information evolves in seconds instead of minutes or hours. Maybe it's one thing to keep it off of the TV since it's all in the name of the entertainment product, but to stifle the information on Twitter -- where people expect to know things first and are specifically looking for information -- is ridiculous.
Fortunately, this only extends to those two outlets. Jason La Canfora from CBS, among others, will not be participating in the charade. Per The Sherman Report:
[La Canfora] intends to tweet as much as possible. Beware: that includes upcoming picks before they are revealed on TV (if he gets them) to his nearly 300,000 followers. He also will be contributing updates to CBSSports.com.
“We’re not a broadcast partner for the draft,” La Canfora said. “I will be trying to get the information out as quickly and accurately as possible. What event is made more for Twitter than the NFL draft? If the teams have the information; if the guys in the production truck have the information; if the commissioner has the information; why wouldn’t passionate football fans want it as well?”
Exactly. In summary: We understand ESPN and NFL Network doing it, but we still think it's ridiculous to limit their tweets. For everyone else, it is fair game. Period.
Weekend Links with Jon Marthaler: Here's hoping for some Target Field doubleheaders
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: April 20, 2013 - 11:20 AM
Jon Marthaler bakes up a delicious batch of links for you every weekend. Other times, you can find him here. Jon?
The Twins have had three games canceled this week, leading to some down-the-road scheduling problems, including a pretty good possibility of a day-night doubleheader with the White Sox. Most people, I think, know the day-night doubleheader drill - the teams play once, clear the stadium, then play again that evening, effectively as if the teams played a day game and a night game on the same day.
Now, players hate doubleheaders -- you would too, if you had to work a double shift. Managers hate them for ruining pitching staffs. Front offices hate them for causing more logistical headaches than they're worth. And so the scheduled doubleheader has disappeared from modern baseball.
Frankly, though, as a fan I can't think of anything better. I'm someone who takes work off each year for the first two days of the NCAA tournament because of its wall-to-wall basketball; if the Twins scheduled a traditional back-to-back doubleheader, I can guarantee I would buy tickets, at almost any price. An entire day of baseball? What could be better than that?
I know that this terrible extended winter is causing problems for the Twins' schedule, and I know that nobody from the team wants two games on the same day. But I can't help hoping that, somehow, this leads to six straight hours of baseball at Target Field later this season.
* On with the links:
* Jesse Lund at Twinkie Town did a long and interesting Q&A with Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony. And if facts aren't your forte, RandBall's own Stu also wrote an Onion-style article about the Twins' new $15 "All You Can Yell" promotion.
* John Gagliardi is in many ways Minnesota's living football saint, but out in Washington, their own passed away - Pacific Lutheran coach Frosty Westering. Chuck Culpepper at Sports on Earth writes about his career and legacy.
* The TVFury blog has an engrossing interview with sportswriter, columnist, and best-selling author Peter Richmond.
* Eight years ago, former NFL defensive tackle Al Lucas died from an on-field hit during an Arena Football game. At Grantland, Robert Weintraub writes about Lucas's life -- and considers how the NFL would deal with this kind of tragedy.
* At The Classical, Colin McGowan listens to a Bill Simmons / Colin Cowherd podcast, and wonders, in his words, "how this could possibly be what so many people want."
* Grantland's Graham Parker reviews the history, and the new incarnation, of the entirely fan-created MLS Supporters' Shield. At the same site, Brian Phillips looks at the career of Matt Le Tissier, who at 44 is temporarily coming out of retirement to play for his obscure local club on the island of Guernsey.
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