The Train Daddy is back and it’s a new year! Hakuna matata, 2016—it means no worries! Nothing new here, though; as always, I bring the same genius level of sports news entwined with life lessons and today’s social issues. Yippie!
I love writing for the Pulse. Every issue is a new story and it’s only for my personal enjoyment that I do this. It’s not my job, but it is my passion and hobby. So what was your New Year’s resolution? Maybe turning your jelly rolls into muscle? Maybe you’re a lazy slob and are vowing to work harder? Maybe you’re an addict and desperately wish for sobriety? Maybe you’re a bad parent and you vow to be a good one? Maybe your marriage is in the dumps and you vow to sexy it up? Maybe you treat your dog bad? . . . Well, you suck then!
I don’t know what your resolution is; I do know that life is too short to not enjoy the beauty of living, so better yourself, eat healthy, sleep well, spend time with loved ones and watch football. So what’s in store for the first article of 2016? We have Peyton Manning, Black Lives Matter, Al Jazeera, LeBron James, the funky Titans, and The NBA vs. the NRA.
All aboard, the Train is rolling out the station. Choo-choo!
So, the Islamic extremists are even after Peyton Manning. That’s a joke, ha-ha. OK . . . not funny. Al Jazeera isn’t ISIS, it is a worldwide Arabic news outlet and one of the largest news organizations around the world. The network holds to Islamist perspectives and is stationed around the world. So what do we know about Peyton Manning and allegations Al Jazeera seemed to imply?
In 2011, when Peyton was being treated at the Guyer Institute in Indianapolis, a so-called intern named Charles Sly stated that packages of HGH were being shipped out all over the place with Ashley Manning’s name attached to the shipping label. Peyton, a patient of Dr. Leonard Guyer in 2011, was recovering from four neck surgeries. Manning said he only received holistic treatments, adding that any treatment his wife received is her business. Come on Peyton, sounds fishy!
This isn’t Dr. Guyer’s first rodeo, in 2010 he was found guilty for illegally importing HGH from China, and also had problems with not paying his taxes for more than 5 years. Charles Sly, the supposed intern, is a mystery in himself, and Al Jazeera’s primary source for the story has recanted all his statements saying they were untrue and basically that he lied. What-what chicken butt?
Peyton stated, “The report wasn’t true Sunday, it’s not true today. It won’t ever be true.”
Peyton is furious over the allegations and even his homies at NFL Countdown came to his rescue. Keyshawn Johnson stated, “If he said he didn’t do it, it didn’t happen.” Tom Jackson stated that it was a fabricated story and the lowest shot possible for Al Jazeera to attack Manning’s family. Mike Ditka even said, “Al Jazeera is not a credible news organization. They’re garbage, that’s what they are”
For an alleged HGH user, Peyton has many people backing him up and crying foul. Compare this to any of Tom Brady’s supposed allegations against him—everyone was comfortable agreeing that Brady was full of crap before any evidence was released that could frame him. They love Peyton and hate old Tommy boy!
For decades now, this country has been obsessed with performance-enhancing drugs inside the world of sports. Roger Clemens spent a lot of time fighting an uphill battle, even going to Congress to fight for his reputation. Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds were all jacked up beyond reasoning with steroid-infused muscle towards the end of their careers. Lance Armstrong was a hero and an inspiration to millions with his Live Strong brand and then, overnight, became a total fraud. Marion Jones had to give back her Olympic medals. I truly hope Peyton can ride this out and prove this is all a load of crap. It does smell and look fishy, though. The NFL needs to step up their HGH testing, Major League Baseball sure learned its lesson—it’s about integrity, folks! Peyton is a hero of mine, but if these allegations come to bear fruit he may very well put the very first taint ever on the Manning brand.
Enough Peyton talk; so, if you watch the news, well, you know about Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was tragically shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland after pointing a toy gun at the cop. If you know anything about sports than you know that LeBron James is kind of a big deal in Cleveland, and if you have followed the Black Lives Matter movement over the past year then you know they’re loud (and, in my opinion, do more harm than good).
After no charges were brought down on the officers involved in the shooting death of Rice, activists called for LeBron to take a stand and boycott future games. No doubt this shooting was a tragedy, but it appears to be an accident. I once heard someone say if you can’t trust a jury’s decision then you don’t trust your neighbors. The movement “NoJusticeNoLebron” hashtag on Twitter expected compliance from the superstar, and since they didn’t get it some people were upset. James was asked in a press conference about it and stated he wasn’t knowledgeable enough on the situation to even talk about the incident involving Tamir Rice.
The worst reaction was from this fool Shaun King, a loud, outspoken activist and columnist for the New York Daily News. King stated, “I don’t know why, but I was floored at the astounding ignorance of LeBron on Tamir Rice.” But what would you expect from a man who recently did a story stating that Christmas and Easter were used as tools of white supremacy—what a moron! LeBron James doesn’t have to answer to anyone but the basketball court. They pay, he plays. These activists want to cry that James isn’t using his platform to elevate their agenda; they might as well call him an Uncle Tom. It’s 2016 now, chill out folks. Listen, pray, talk it out. America holds opportunity for all. We fix problems if we unite, not divide and protest. Just remember this, people: There are many good cops out there who deserve praise for what they do. The existence of a few bad apples doesn’t mean you cut down the tree!
The NBA vs. the NRA: It’s time for a shootout—one side uses balls, the other uses firearms. Who shall win? The NBA is taking sides on the gun debate, partnering with Everytown for Gun Safety, former New York Mayor Bloomberg’s counter to the NRA. Typically, professional sports leagues promote causes that don’t cause backlash, such as fighting breast cancer or supporting Habitat for Humanity.
Director and Knicks superfan Spike Lee directed some ads featuring Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Joakim Noah and Carmelo Anthony, discussing how guns have affected them personally. Considering these athletes are admired by many children, they can have an impact with their words. I want my kid learning that guns are dangerous, that guns are to be respected at all times, and that there is a difference between a criminal with a gun and a law-abiding citizen with a gun. The NBA wants to teach people that guns are all bad, that guns do nothing but kill and that guns have no place in the hands of a normal citizen. The NRA wants to teach you that guns are a constitutional right that law-abiding citizens deserve, how to handle them safely and how to use them when deemed necessary. I always loved this statement: “Outlaw guns, and outlaws will have them all.” Gun control is a hot topic I understand. My family and I all have them, we respect them and we look down on any who abuse them. I support gun safety, not gun regulation.
Let’s wrap this thing up with some Titans talk and pure speculation, shall we? So, the Titans don’t have a head coach, and guess who just got fired? Good old Chip Kelly did. The former Eagle/Oregon head coach is jobless, and his protégé Marcus Mariota is in need of a man with a plan. The rumors say Kelly was a control freak and jackass; well, they did give him full control in Philly. Marcus Mariota and Chip Kelly have chemistry after their time together at Oregon. Chip Kelly was even willing to do whatever it took to trade up for Marcus in last season’s draft so he could become an Eagle (but failed). It was even well known that Marcus’s father was adamant that his son would thrive under a Chip Kelly-run offense in the NFL. Marcus became a Titan, and now Chip may be able to get what he wanted: Marcus! The Titans are one of the few teams in the NFL desperate enough to give Kelly full control and let him run his quick-tempo offense. Just speculation, but it may happen, and I would be excited if it did. The Titans need some kind of drastic change. Maybe, just maybe, with Chip and Marcus together they can duplicate that magic they created when they were both Oregon Ducks.
The Train’s rolling into the station; ’til next time, choo-choo!
