This will be a bit of a rant, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. (Coming back to this line after writing the blog. I did not keep it short. I went pretty deep. I was on a roll. Strap in.)
I hardly left my couch in an attempt to watch football the entire weekend. I felt kinda disgusted with myself, and felt like a lazy slug. Whatever. I enjoyed it. I watched two games particularly closely this weekend: Colorado State at Colorado in college football on Saturday night, and the Dolphins at my New England Patriots on Sunday night.
I was rooting for Colorado (I am not a Buffalo, but my friend and co-writer Aidan is, so it’s fun to root for them with him), and obviously the Patriots.
Although the Patriots lost, the game had some cool things happen (including 1st round pick Christian Gonzalez’s first career pick and his locking down of Tyreek Hill), so while the game was frustrating, it was a good watch for the most part.
The Colorado game was among the most exciting college games I’ve ever watched. Colorado played pretty poorly for much of this rivalry matchup, and Colorado State played with a serious chip on their shoulder, holding a two score lead into the fourth quarter. It was clear from the first quarter that my Colorado -24.5 spread bet was nuked, so I felt pretty dumb for placing that one. However, an absolutely thrilling end to the game that included a 98-yard two minute game-tying 8-point touchdown drive late in the fourth followed by two overtimes made the game a blast. Shadeur Sanders showed elite poise and cold-blooded precision (which he later referred to as “Brady mode”) in the fourth quarter and overtimes. The guy is a star and should have a bright future on Sundays.
Now, this blog today isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s about the people and things that put dark clouds over otherwise pleasant sports-watching experiences.
Holy shit, I’m getting annoyed just thinking about it. Why do people do these things? Do they not like liking things? Do they want to drag others into their personal misery? I just don’t get it.
Excuse me, I’ve been so rude. I haven’t even really said what I’m really talking about. The truth is that it’s not one particular thing, but more of a broad category of actions and events that fall under the umbrella of “putting a wet blanket on the entertainment factor of sports. This weekend, especially in the two games I was focused on, I noticed an uptick of this in a few ways. I’ll talk about the more serious one first, because it’ll be more fun to end the article on a lighter note.
The first one is tragic. I’m being 100% serious on this one. It makes me very sad. In the crowd at the Patriots game, a fan died. The death was completely preventable, and the reason he died is so unbelievably stupid that it should infuriate anyone with a brain or a heart. A Patriots fan and 30-year season ticket holder from New Hampshire, 53-year old Dale Mooney, was beaten to death by multiple punches from a Dolphins fan, while apparently being restrained by another Dolphins fan. Apparently, Mooney was at the game with his son. I can’t imagine how horrible and traumatic this must be for the son.
What the fuck?
It was a bit difficult to really ascertain the whole story with the videos of the incident, and I’m sure something prompted the altercation and there was likely plenty of alcohol involved. I normally enjoy videos of fans fighting at games, because it’s pretty much always two dudes who are visibly drunk, fat, and stupid, leading to very unathletic and generally harmless looking fights. But unfortunately, real damage was done this time, and it makes me sick. It didn’t even seem like a real fight – more of just a beating. That’s murder (if that’s the case).
How braindead do you have to be to get physically violent over a literal game that you are not actually playing in? I mentioned what teams the people were fans of, because although it shouldn’t matter at all, it was likely a major factor in why there was a fight or beating or whatever it was. I can’t even comprehend how that can be justified. Like, “Hey asshole! You were born in a different city than I was and you have a hobby of rooting for different 27 year olds tossing a ball around than I root for? Fuck you!” When it’s done light-heartedly, It’s good fun. I’m a huge Boston sports fan and get emotionally invested in games. Hell, I’m writing a blog about it. It’s not something that I take seriously enough to let it get in the way of the greater scheme of my life, nor should it be. Dale Mooney should not have died, and that shit ruins the game for everyone. Rest in peace.
Side note: I am aware that being born in different places and having allegiances to a regional idea has been fuel for major wars and geopolitical conflicts and tensions for much of history. We here at A2Z Sports are able to understand the intricacies and importance of international relations and global politics and policies, and are steadfast in our beliefs that war is not a favorable scenario for mankind, and that the consequences of a modern war would likely be cataclysmic. We believe that war should only come in the event of upholding the freedom and safety of the world and people who live on it, and only if there is an active threat to those ideals. There is no equivalent caveat that allows for idiot boozebags to hurt each other over their favorite teams.
Okay, now that that’s done, I’ll continue with progressively less serious matters that put a damper on sports fun.
Next up is injury. I was thinking of mainly Travis Hunter of Colorado here, but I’d also like to mention Nick Chubb really quickly. The guy had a gruesome leg injury while in college at Georgia, came back better than ever and proved himself as an elite running back in the NFL, and now has suffered another devastating leg injury, ending his season. No one wanted to see that. Wishing him speedy recovery.
Travis Hunter’s injury is less serious, and he should be back in a few weeks, but it looks as though he’ll miss both the Oregon and USC games for Colorado. Now, the Buffs were going to be underdogs in those games regardless, but it would have been much more exciting to watch these matchups if we could see Boulder at full strength as they try to continue to shock the football world. Hunter plays both WR and CB at a high level for that team, so losing him is like losing two elite players at once, making the outlook on the upcoming games more bleak. What makes it worse is that the hit was totally unnecessary. I won’t go as far as some (who are acting like the guy shot Hunter), but the hit was dirty because it was late and Hunter had already pulled up. It shouldn’t have happened, and now we’ll miss out on an exciting player for a few weeks. What a bummer, man. I wouldn’t count out Coach Prime and the Buffs yet, though.
Next on the docket, the refs in the Patriots-Dolphins game. More specifically, the refs on one particular play late in the game. If you watched the game or used social media that night, you probably know what I’m talking about already.
Everyone loves a big man play, and everyone loves laterals. The Patriots were attempting to appease both of these desires with a desperation fourth down throw to TE Mike Gesicki, who was stopped well short of the first. Before going down, however, he managed to chuck the ball to second-year guard Cole Strange, who made a twisting jumping catch and rumbled towards the sticks. It was really close, and the refs originally ruled that he got it. Everyone (other than Dolphins fans) was in a state of euphoria after seeing the big man carry the rock for the first.
Then came the stupid loser refs who probably loved to remind the teacher to collect homework and always made sure to report all underaged drinking to their RAs in college.
After replaying it for what felt like forever, they determined that the ball was probably a few inches short, then gave Miami the ball, which effectively ended the game right there. Keep in mind that earlier in the game, Bill Belichick challenged a play where Rhamondre Stevenson was ruled short despite seemingly having the distance, and the refs decided that they couldn’t overturn it due to a lack of “irrefutable evidence”. That challenge wasn’t a total waste, though, as we got an unreal Belichick clip.
The evidence to overturn Strange’s glorious first down gallop didn’t seem any more “irrefutable”, yet they seemed okay with it in that instance. The inconsistency was frustrating, and they ruined an electric play that would have led to an exciting ending when they could’ve let it stand in the same way they did for Stevenson.
Did the refs get it right? Maybe; it seemed more likely that he was short honestly, but it wasn’t a certainty. Are the refs nerds who hate cool things? Yes, and after further review, that is “irrefutable”.
Lastly, I will talk about people who whine about Colorado. In a larger sense, this is about people who complain to be a contrarian to something that excites most people in sports.
Coach Prime taking over Colorado and overhauling a 1-11 disaster to a team that’s 3-0 this year after winning against last season’s national runner-up (TCU), and two rivals (Nebraska and Colorado State) is the best story in sports right now. People are talking about Colorado and tuning into the games. I saw that 3 of the 5 most watched games so far this season were Colorado’s games. The recently downtrodden program just had celebrities like Offset and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on their sidelines for the Colorado State game. They even got a walkout performance by Lil Wayne. It’s a big story, and people are loving the underdog Buffs and their outspoken leader, Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders. The whole thing is a mix of showmanship, excitement, and inspiring performance on the field.
I get that they get a lot of coverage, and that some people may get a little annoyed hearing about Colorado so much, but sports media is going to cover the biggest story the most, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s a fun story. Try to enjoy it. If you, for whatever reason, hated Colorado before this season and still do, I can respect that, but for the rest of the haters, it’s time to grow up. It’s been 3 weeks. It’s not even to the point where you’ve been hearing it for too long, like when commentators give the most over the top praise to guys like Patrick Mahomes and you’re hearing it every week for three straight years. It’s an exciting in-season story. Deal with it.
I sometimes like to scroll through Twitter or a Reddit thread for a game when I’m watching, and too put it lightly, people are not dealing with it very well. It’s a constant barrage of people saying they hate Deion Sanders and Colorado and they hope the program never has success. Relax, people. If you’re at this point, it’s time to log off, go outside, and figure out what’s really making you so angry, because it can’t really just be an intriguing college football storyline.
Even the Colorado State head coach complained about Coach Prime wearing a hat and sunglasses for interviews or press conferences, despite also frequently wearing hats in interviews. It was bizarre and came across as a bit jealous.
Colorado is here, and who knows how long their hot streak will last. It could be over next week, or it could run all season. Either way, try to enjoy the ride.
Sports are supposed to be fun, people. Let’s do our best to keep it that way.