A trophy in the hand worth two in the Bush?

Read the headline anyway you want.  Reggie Bush, depending on who you want to believe, gave back his Heisman trophy because he was told he was about to have it taken away, decided to beat the Heisman Trust to the punch. was tired of all the controversy and wanted to put it behind him or finally developed a conscience.  Whatever.  It was as I talked about last week, a bad decision by Bush, the Heisman Trust, everyone involved.

I’m just waiting for the other Heisman trophy recipients to start turning over their hardware, because Reggie isn’t the only cheater in the bunch.  We’ve all known for a long time that Bush took money from an agent, or agent wannabe and didn’t pay him back.  College football isn’t an amateur sport no matter how you slice it.  It’s never been.  And it’s everyone’s fault for it being that way.  But it isn’t changing anytime soon. 

I’ve told the story involving Heisman winner John David Crow. I promise you it’s not the only story like that involving a Heisman winner.  That doesn’t make what Bush did right.  That’s not the point.  But it’s interesting that the other Heisman winners will watch him burn at the stake and no one will step forward acknowledge their wrongdoings.  It’s not like I expect it.  It’s just an observation.

What do you think Bush should have done?  Should the Heisman Trust have said thanks but no thanks, Reggie.  You keep it.  All I know is that as a former Heisman voter, the award has taken another step toward irrelevancy.

Sexy women and naked men in a locker room

Over the past few days everyone has wanted to get their two cents in on the controversy regarding female reporter Inez Sainz being sexually harassed in the New York Jets locker room.  Wow, that’s a new story, athletes behaving like pigs around women?

There’s the contingent that wants to blame Sainz for wearing inappropriate sexy clothing to her workplace, led by none other than prescription drug addict and Mr. Sports himself Rush Limbaugh who’ll jump on any story with his large girth that might bring him listeners.  Throw in the Fox News hypocrites whose women dress in low cut sexy attire on the set.

Then there’s the women’s groups that want to argue about a woman’s right to do her job in her workplace dressed in whatever clothing she wants to wear.  That’s what the law says.

Hey, I’m the first to agree that Sainz has every right to be there and wear what she wants.  If it causes people to stare and make comments so be it.  It’s likely that’s what she wanted as well, or at least she's comfortable with it.  She is after all a former Miss Universe contestant in addition to being a sports reporter who has covered major events before dressed in a similar fashion.  She isn't even the person who filed the complaint.

This is as much an argument about cultures and our expectations of women’s dress in this country as it is about anything else.   

The other issue that has become a part of the story that is just as interesting to me is access to the locker room.  Many male reporters believe they have to have access to the locker room to get the real story because they’ve always had it.  I disagree.  There’s little to be gleaned from the locker room that you can’t get outside the door in interviews conducted in a separate room or sitting on the bench or around the batting cage before a game.  

Have all interviews done it a separate room and you wouldn’t have to stand around waiting for naked men to come out of the shower and talk with you while they rub deodorant under their arms or sit naked on a chair with ten other reporters with mics and tape recorders shoved in their face.  I’ve wasted way too much of my life waiting for sullen players to come out of training rooms and showers just to have them say they weren’t talking today.

Just keep all of the reporters, men and women, out of the locker room and this issue would be settled.  Make players come to an interview room.  Make it mandatory, a part of their contracts.  Good reporters don’t need the locker room to get the story.  Do business reporters get to sit in on company staff meetings to find out information about the business deal that was just done?

A few decades ago I would have felt differently.  Back then athletes tended to hang around the locker room forever and you could sit and have long conversations and sometimes drink a beer with them.  Back then you could glean really good information about the game and their personalities from those conversations.  That doesn’t happen anymore.  Those conversations happen elsewhere now. The rules have changed for everyone, not just women.  We need to change with them. 

Chiefs jump in the hot tub time machine for win over the Chargers

There was little pretty about it, but last night’s game between the Chiefs and Chargers is why the NFL is so popular.  The late Monday night game, played for much of the contest in a downpour was like jumping in the hot tub time machine with the Chiefs surprising the four time Western Division champs 21-14  holding off a furious last minute rally by Philip Rivers and San Diego.

After falling behind early, the Chiefs swamped the Chargers with big plays, starting with Jamaal Charles 56 yard touchdown run.  He now has 5 TD runs of over 40 yards since the start of last season, second only to Chris Johnson. In the second quarter, linebacker Derrick Johnson who had an outstanding game, forced a Ryan Mathews fumble and KC struck with a Matt Cassel to rookie tight end Tony Moeaki TD pass.

Finally, rookie Dexter McCluster electrified the crowd with a Chiefs record 94 yard punt return with less than two minutes to go in the half.  It was a scene reminiscent of the mid 90’s Chiefs of Marty Schottenheimer.  The newly renovated Arrowhead stadium thundered with a sound not heard in the last decade.

The Chiefs offense behind Matt Cassel did little to support the defense, which looked totally different under Romeo Crenell’s leadership.  Cassel threw for just 68 yards in the game.  Despite breakdowns, such as leaving Legadu Naanee totally uncovered for a 59 yard third quarter score, the Chiefs defense swarmed to the ball and pressured Rivers much of the night.  Former first round pick Glenn Dorsey played his best game as a Chief by far.

The crowd noise frustrated the Chargers and Rivers much of the night as San Diego was called numerous times for delay of game, but San Diego had one last shot when they drove to the KC 4 with 1:12 to go.  But the Chiefs defense held, something they’ve failed at every time in recent years.

The 21-14 win puts the Chiefs in an unfamiliar spot.  Sitting alone atop the AFC West after week one.