The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard!
July is finally here. Thank goodness, because I was getting tired of all the corporate “pride” pandering everywhere I turned. I prefer the American flag over the rainbow flag.
I heard some punk rambling about Independence Day being nothing more than a capitalist cash grab and how there is nothing about America worth celebrating in 2023. I would love to boot that individual across the ocean. I would Justin-Tucker his ass somewhere—maybe China? I guess that is the beauty of America—that person has the right to say whatever, and I should not punt them across the ocean because that would be wrong.
I always say there are two guarantees for me every July. I watch Independence Day and pretend to be Will Smith, my hero! I am a man who gets jiggy with it, blows up aliens, saves the president, marries a stripper and shows the world how badass America is.
While Will Smith may be one bad dude, he has nothing on the King of Wieners! Joey Chestnut is America! Joey Chestnut is a wiener machine! Joey Chestnut is 2023’s best hope to solve racism! Joey Chestnut is a Bad Mama Jama once again set to eat more than 70 dogs and buns this year. Anyone who says hotdog eating is no sport, I say smack the naysayer with a wiener!
Joey is a man who ate 121 cream-filled Twinkies in only six minutes. In 2011 Joey casually walked up to Taco Bell and ate 53 soft shell Tacos in 10 minutes. The man went down to Texas and ate 56 sausage kolaches in eight minutes. Insanity! He recently ate an 18-pound cherry pie in eight minutes and the legend also holds the chicken wing record: 182 wings in 30 minutes. Madness!
So, raise a wiener and let us say a toast to the greatest American athlete ever, Joey Chestnut! Look, I don’t say this lightly, but LeBron James is a bum in comparison to the greatness that is Chestnut.
All this wiener talk now has me thinking about transgender athletics. Ha! Come on, you know that’s kind of funny.
To some of you, it’s probably absolutely infuriating—how dare I make a joke like that—but do you know what is truly infuriating? Allowing biological males to compete against biological females in sports! From high school sports to the NCAA to some of the biggest stages in sports, this madness continues to happen.
I had someone recently get upset with me for bringing up transgender sports every month in these articles. I said to that person that the polls show that Americans are overwhelmingly not okay with it. Yet most of those same Americans are too afraid to say anything about it in real life. So here I am with this platform saying it over and over.
Biology matters in sports. It’s why we have gender separation. The integrity of female athletics will not return as long as men can compete with women.
Enough wiener discussion—onto another topic.
NFL’s Stance on Gambling Feeling Hypocritical
Apparently, the NFL wants to lie in bed with gambling companies and shove gambling sites down fans’ throats, and then act outraged and upset because we have young players in the league who are addicted to gambling.
As much as I joke, I am being serious here. This is a mess. The NFL needs to change its policy. We all know NFL players betting on the NFL is an absolute NO! But looking at what happened to Titans offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere just feels wrong. I understand rules are rules and NPF has nobody to blame but himself, the policy still sucks.
Bro was suspended six games for violating the gambling policy. NPF didn’t bet on any NFL games but he made legal bets on non-NFL sporting events, and the infraction was the location. Had Nicholas made the bet on his phone across the street at the Walmart or just one inch off the Titans’ property line, he would have been fine.
It just leaves a sour taste. Anyone who listens to Titans radio these days, and just about any sports podcast or radio station for that matter, it seems the gambling companies have all the advertising money. It’s getting obnoxious hearing Buck Reising or Dawn Davenport ramble about the best picks of the day—“Free money!” they say—followed up by another gambling ad, followed by that same announcement that I know you sports fans have all heard—“If you know someone with a gambling problem, we are here to help, call 1-800 . . .”
I get it: money rules the world. I just now feel like the NFL walks this hypocritical line with gambling, only being okay with it when convenient and when it’s making them a ton of sponsorship money.
The middle of the summer is the time of the year when sports slow down in a lot of ways, but we still have a few things going on. The Atlanta Braves have a super team and it’s impressive—historically scary! It’s homer city in Atlanta and they are sending a franchise record eight players to the All-Star Team.
That’s insane. Give this team another ring, it almost feels destined. With a championship in 2021 and the team looking spectacular here during 2023, it is a great time to be a Braves fan. Let’s not have another case of the great ’90s Braves teams that we look back upon and say “they should have won two more championships.” Chop on!
Also, a quick shout-out to the Nashville Soccer Club, a team on fire. This group of men currently sits with the second-most points in all of MLS—that’s out of 30 clubs. Nashville Soccer is playing good enough ball to win it all. They are scoring and they are defensively sound. The goal differential for Nashville is a thing of beauty. I won’t ramble anymore about soccer now, but something magical is brewing at Geodis Park. I highly recommend buying a ticket and going to a live game in that new venue. It’s special!
Alright, let’s wrap it up, the Z-Train is rolling into the station! Hope you all have a wonderful July. I don’t discriminate, I truly wish you all a happy summer. In life we all should be free to live as we see fit, but in the world of sports, biology matters!
