Major League Baseball yesterday made its annual announcement listing everyone who was not elected to the Hall of Fame.
Doesn’t it feel that way? Doesn’t it always feel as if the rejects get more ink, electrons, air time, social kvetching and barber shop chirping than whoever gets voted in?
In other news, David Ortiz will be enshrined on July 24 in Cooperstown.
I sat in my truck for a few minutes Tuesday afternoon with my radio tuned to Sirius XM NFL Radio 88, as it always is (except for a couple of hours every Saturday morning when I get my funk on). I was transfixed by Sean Payton’s press conference following his announcement that he is stepping away (not down) after 16 years of coaching the Saints. I came away with two impressions.
- That man really needs to get away. He is truly on the ropes.
- Payton is a complex and fascinating human. Hard and jagged like an uncut gemstone. But also both loving and loved.
It is my view that Payton’s time in The Big Never Easy was unique in NFL history, mostly because of the mutual dependence between the Saints and the people of New Orleans in literally keeping each other’s heads above the water. Payton time and again simply would not let New Orleans drown. And he did that while winning a shitload of games and designing one of the most prolific offenses the league has ever seen.
No wonder he’s exhausted. One more memory that made me smile as I listened to my truck radio. That onside kick to start the second half of the Saints’ Super Bowl win over the Colts was the ballsiest thing I ever saw.
Yeah, there was BountyGate. Payton didn’t put out the Hit List, but he didn’t do enough to put a stop to it. And he paid a heavy price. It all has clearly taken a crushing toll.
Rest and peace, Coach. See ya again soon. Of that there is no doubt.
I’m just wondering. Who is more delusional and who has had a more stunning fall from grace?
Rudy Giuliani?
Or Aaron Rodgers?
Rodgers probably thinks this blog is about him.
Rudy is just trying to find his teeth.