NFL rules, Ines Sainz stretched it until it broke

By now you have seen Calvin Johnson's catch in the end zone on Sunday against the Bears that was somehow ruled an incomplete pass. I don't want to spend too much time explaining why it was ruled that way, except to comment that the NFL has ended up with a nonsensical situation. By parsing and defining to a ridiculous degree, they called a dramatic game-winning catch an incompletion, while everyone watching on their couch or at the pub saw it as it clearly was.

Another nonsensical situation is the investigation by the NFL and the NY Jets of the treatment Ms. Ines Sainz received while working on an interview of the Jets' quarterback Mark Sanchez. Again, I won't repeat the entire story, except to comment that this incident stretches reality to the breaking point. We can accept that a sports journalist needs access to the locker room to do her job, and to restrict access to women journalist would be discriminatory. We understand that while they are doing their job they should be allowed in to the locker room without hindrance, and that everyone should act professional and like grownups.

In this case it appears that many Jets instead acted like hormonally-supercharged teens, gawking and going in for a closer look and flirting with Ms. Sainz. This would be mildly reprehensible, if she hadn't built a career purely on her looks and sexuality, and didn't bill herself on her website "the hottest journalist in Mexico". Ms. Sainz isn't reporting the news, she is trying to create the news and inject herself into the proceedings. She tries to titillate and create a response based on her appearance, and here apparently she succeeded.

Albert Haynesworth is getting a raw deal

If you read Sports Illustrated or the papers or watch sports commentary on TV, Albert Haynesworth is universally reviled as the worst example of the new breed of selfish athletes who sign huge contracts and then don't live up to them. Walking, talking, breathing best example of 'person with no credibility' Deion Sanders just asked Marshall Faulk, on the NFL Network 8 hour pre-game show, "what happened to players signing contracts and then saying to themselves that they had to live up to them and show they deserved them", or words to that effect, while referring to him.

I don't want to spend a lot of time defending Mr. Haynesworth, as he is a reprehensible human being for other reasons, but this holier-than-thou preaching that he should 'honour' his contract is poppycock.

When Mr. Haynesworth was a free agent, he did not entertain any offers from any team that was running a 34 defense (3 linemen, four linebackers). He only negotiated with teams than ran a base 43 (four linemen, 3 linebackers). He signed a contract with the Redskins because they offered him a ridiculous pile of money, but also because they run a base 43, and have for years.

One reason was to preserve his health and avoid injuries. As a defensive tackle, he is expected to take on one blocker straight up, and penetrate gaps, at which he excels, whereas his role in a 34 would be that of a nose tackle, holding the middle, taking on two blockers consistently and getting frequently "caught in the wash" when bodies are flying around and likely to take out his knees. Careers are short enough, he knows that he is more likely to play longer and be healthier when he retires by refusing to play nose tackle.

Some people claim that it is a selfish desire to protect his stats, because by playing NT he would have fewer opportunities for tackles and sacks. While this might seem shallow and unsuitable for a player in a team game, this is what stars do. They get a lot of say in how and how much they are used. Albert, as a free agent under the rules collectively bargained by NFL owners and players, had every right to say to a team where and how he would be used.

Which brings us to a really important point: Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, didn't have to sign Mr. Haynesworth if he felt these demands were unreasonable. Instead, he gave him a contract he now regrets. He then hired coach Mike Shanahan who brought in a staff who want to install a 34, and force Mr. Haynesworth to play a position he specifically was assured by Mr. Snyder he would not have to. The villain here is Mr. Snyder, who should have informed Mr. Shanahan of the promise he made Mr. Haynesworth and his agents. The Redskins are the ones who didn't honour the contract, not Mr. Haynesworth.

NFL contracts in general are very one-sided. Players sign these and have to honour them, but teams can release these players before the contract ends, and not have to pay them. Some money is guaranteed, but most isn't. For most players, none of the amount is guaranteed. So if they overperform and play at a level higher than their compensation would indicate, they are locked in and must continue to play while being underpaid. If they underperform, and the team feels it's not getting the bang for the buck it deserves, it can cut the player and not have to pay him anymore.

The Redskins, and owner Daniel Snyder, are the ones who should be enjoined by the chorus of media shills to respect their contractual obligations.

LenDale White is, like Rush Limbaugh, a big fat idiot

The coefficient of static friction is higher than the coefficient of kinetic friction. Dormant this has been long enough.

Let's get the ball rolling with a remark or two on our least-favourite NFL player, the inimitable Lendale White. Our chubby hero has bounced from Tennessee to Seattle to Denver this season, and has now suffered another of his many reversals of fortune.

We first met LenWhale when he was splitting carries with Reggie Bush in the University of Southern California National Championship team's backfield. He was variously described as being under-rated, being lost in the limelight focused on Reggie, or vastly overrated, riding the coattails of a pro-caliber offensive line. He declared for the NFL draft after his junior season in 2006, and then had a snack, which lasted about four months.

On draft day, he predictably fell out of the first round, based on his horrible conditioning and physical appearance. He claimed to not have been able to train because of a pulled hamstring, while the skeptic in every scout wondered if his pulled hamstring was actually caused by his poor physical fitness. The Tennessee Titans were the dupes who decided to take a chance on this second round 'bargain', picked him 45th overall, 15 picks before Maurice Jones-Drew, and were rewarded with years of petulance and underachievement. I can still remember LenDale taking the call from the Titans at home, surrounded by family and well-wishers, pumping his fist and shaking his head, wearing a white muumuu of a shirt which barely concealed and could not contain his man-breasts, and sporting an expression which plainly read: "I'll show them!"

He did no such thing. His career followed an entirely predictable arc: a failure to deliver on his athletic potential, a constant grumbling and grousing about not getting the credit he deserved from the fans and the media, and a long list of excuses and rationalizations for his poor play or fragility. All the doubters and naysayers who LenDale pouted about before the draft were absolutely right in their assessment of him.

Last season we saw him act as a correspondent for the "Jim Rome Is Burning" show, gleefully interviewing his teammates on camera, delighted with the attention. The most remarkable aspect of his pieces was the juxtaposition of his doughy physique (of which he was vocally proud and attributed to his recent abstinence from tequila) with that of his teammates, virtually all v-shaped action hero-Greek gods. Let's be clear about this: during the segments, they were bare-chested or UnderArmoured, and LenDale wore his muumuu. Thankfully.

Another indication that LenDale doesn't get it is that most of his interviews occurred in the weight room, where his teammates worked out diligently, and he clowned around. He beamed for the camera, heavy lidded and glassy eyed, his speech barely comprehensible, to the encouragement of Jim Rome, who called him one of the best correspondents yet.

This season, having purportedly lost thirty pounds, and yet still sporting a double chinned moon-face, LenDale was cut by the Titans. He was signed shortly thereafter by the Seahawks' Pete Carroll, their new coach and his former mentor at USC. He was released shortly thereafter, with a statement that read in part: "It became apparent at this time that LenDale was not ready to be a member of the Seattle Seahawks."

At approximately the same time, it was announced by the NFL that LenDale would be suspended for four games for violating the league's drug policy. It's hard to believe, based on the visual evidence, that he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug. While LenDale may have become lighter, he still displayed no noticeable muscle tone. The suspicion on this side of the keyboard is that he ingested a stimulant-appetite suppressant to reduce his weight, instead of working it off the old-fashioned way.

His career threatening to turn farcical, he was given another chance by the Broncos, whose depth at the running back position was non-existent after a rash of injuries. He seemed assured of making the 53 man roster, until he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the final pre-season game on Thursday night. While this is the kind of injury that happens frequently in sports which involve running and sudden bursts of acceleration, it's open to question whether years of overweight and lack of conditioning pre-disposed him to this injury.

So now he gets to serve his suspension on the couch. He has surgery to look forward to, followed by a year of painful rehab work to get back to the NFL. The outlook from here is not good, and his only saving grace will be his unfulfilled 'potential', the siren song which the desperate NFL head coach can never escape from.