“It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game, and this type of conduct will not be tolerated. We have made significant progress in changing the culture with respect to player safety and we are not going to relent. We have more work to do and we will do it.”

The NFL would love for everyone to believe they’re about to drop the hammer on Sean Payton, Gregg Williams, Mickey Loomis and a bunch of New Orleans Saints players because their actions were a detriment to the health of opposing NFL players. As we all know, the NFL has taken an increased interest in player safety over the last few seasons with rule changes to protect quarterbacks, receivers, and kick returners. The problem is, ending violence and injuries in the NFL is like trying to end piracy on the internet…… it’s a pipe dream. You cannot end serious bodily harm in football without irrevocably breaking the game, and you cannot end piracy on the internet without irrevocably destroying the world wide web.

So what do you do?

You pussyfoot around the issue and introduce various rules and ordinances to give the illusion that things are going to get better and that you’re proactive in your quest. The NFL is a multi-billion dollar business that has pulled off the magical feat of marketing a bloody, violent, gladiator sport to the masses as a family friendly entertainment option. It’s a star crossed relationship that shouldn’t work, and both participants in this love-affair keep up a charade so the house of cards doesn’t come tumbling down. The American public tunes in every Sunday and pretends that there aren’t 22 guys trying to legally cripple each other, and the NFL pretends they’re making vigorous progress towards the “safe NFL” that’s going to appear one day.

So where does the New Orleans Saints suspensions fit into all of this? It’s politics.

In exchange for the NFL selling us an inherently violent game as our national pastime, they go the extra mile in keeping up the image of the league (and more importantly, the dollars flowing). This means no black people “acting black” in the endzone, no criminally inclined players, and no rogue coaching staffs giving bonuses for injuries.

No individual comes before the league. No individual screws up the cash cow.

The two minute and thirty second intro left me a bit skeptical on whether or not I wanted to keep watching, because haven’t we all seen Floyd running his mouth on HBO a million times? The “Money Mayweather” image, drama, and confrontation video packages have been ran ad nauseam in order to sell fights and I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn to say we’re all sick of it. The drama and loud-mouthed antics are the reason Floyd is rich and famous (because quiet and polite boxers don’t back up the Brinks trucks), but to focus on that aspect of Floyd Mayweather alone does a huge disservice to his skill. Luckily after two and a half minutes, the video focuses on the early days of Floyd’s career and his ascent to stardom. This is the kind of video that boxing fans live for, technical mastery by a young hungry fighter on his way to the top. Oh how quickly we forget….

Floyd’s long forgotten domination of the late Diego Corrales was absolutely masterful.

Check out more boxing videos from Gorilla Productions on their YouTube channel.

Chad Ochocinco had a kick ass, environment killing, black instrument of mechanical death built for his 32nd birthday. Check it out.

Jamal Charles has been the best second half running back in the NFL not named Chris Johnson, and sometimes that can push defensive players over the edge. During his franchise record breaking 259 yard rushing performance, Jamal Charles was dropped on his head by a frustrated Robert Ayers… check it out.

But of course…. at the end of the day Jamal Charles and the Chiefs had the last laugh. Get on the good foot….

Sorry bud, I refuse to take you serious as an expert if you speak to me wearing a blanket/jacket hybrid. I realize black people don’t do well in the cold but…. C’mon son.

It’s equally ridiculous that they’re calling the “Papajohns.com Bowl”, I wonder if my friends and I could scrape up enough pennies to sponsor a bowl game? They’ll obviously give them to anyone who is willing to pay for it.

Various fans and sportswriters across the country are letting out a collective whine in reaction to Michael Jordan’s Hall Of Fame speech from last night. Instead of taking the typical route which consists of reading a bland speech word for word and giving a step-by-step story of your career, Jordan spent 20 minutes explaining things that lit his competitive fire, things that motivated him, things that made him relentless in his pursuit of being the best at what he did.

Of course, Jordan didn’t take the ‘aww shucks, you guys really like me?’ road, he took shots at everyone he believed crossed him in the last 25 years. There are many who see this as displaying a lack of tact or class, but I prefer to see this as Michael Jordan being Michael Jordan. This is the same man who would absolutely rip the hearts out of his competitors chests in the 4th quarter when he had the big stage. His body may have aged, but one of the biggest infernos of competitive fire we’ve ever seen is still burning inside his heart and he made sure he knew it.

If you want to see Michael Jordan lie and tell everyone what they want to hear, go watch a Gatorade commercial. If you want to hear Michael Jordan be who he is…. listen to his Hall Of Fame speech. Could we really ask for anything better than what he gave us?

Here’s a video of the speech, courtesy of 3030FM.

I don’t know if it’s the fact that he seems to be having so much fun before, during, and after the race…. or the fact that he makes crushing his opponents look so damned effortless. All I know is…..it’s working… whatever it is.

This is the true mark of a superstar.

heres a backup vid in case the first one dies.