The No Fun League is a pretty terribly run organization. It’s certainly an excellent business, but it’s pretty crap as far as quality sporting goes. From the tinker bell Roughing the Passer rule to the 6 required flags per play, the games are sometimes difficult to watch. I still enjoy football, but the rules don’t make it easy.
The worst rule, perhaps, is for OT. The team that wins the coin toss gets to win the game. Not literally, but it may as well be that way. It’s sudden death, so it’s a matter of moving down the field to within 45 yards of a field goal and then making that. Often, teams get much closer. If they make it, the game is over. It’s inane. I mean, hell, a game of beer pong even allows for rebuttal (depending on house rules; check with your local party animal for details).
What the NFL needs to do is play a full 15 minutes in OT. They won’t be that sensible, but a new rule has been proposed.
The competition committee recommended Monday to the 32 owners that a team losing the coin toss and then surrendering a field goal on the first possession should have a series of its own in OT. Such a rules change would need 24 votes for ratification.
This is still fundamentally unfair. The first team to get the ball still has a huge advantage because if it scores a touchdown, the other team has no offensive reply. This is effectively half a football game: one offense, one defense. Goodell et al are making progress, but they’re being jackasses about it. Just play a full 15.
Not only does the NFL have the worst overtime rules of any sport at any time ever, but it makes its games so boring so much of the time with all its reviews and friggin’ flags.*
*I have little to no personal interest in any of the playoff teams that are left (which includes the Saints and Vikings right now).
Asshat Trooper Michael Galluccio risked the health of a soon-to-be-born baby and its mother for the sake of giving someone a ticket. That ticket was overturned because it was given improperly. The trooper got off without a real scratch. He should have been suspended without pay for at least a day for his stupidity and rule internalization. He wasn’t. No huge injustice. Now take this incident. If the officer is not fired, he should at least be suspended, given a pay cut, and put on some sort of administrative probation. He clearly can not do his job correctly.
Officer Robert Powell pulled over Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats’ sport utility vehicle outside Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano as he and his relatives were hurrying to see his dying mother-in-law on March 18.
Callers are tying up 911 lines to complain about the stop.
Police are asking people to stop calling 911 to sound off about the incident, because the calls are keeping dispatchers from responding to emergencies.
People are also calling the police department directly — some from as far away as Lansdale, Pa., Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Dallas police estimated Thursday night they are getting about 150 calls per hour.
Moats spoke with Kevin Scott and Greg Hill on 105.3 The Fan KRLD-FM on Thursday about the incident.
Video from a dashboard camera inside the officer’s vehicle revealed an intense exchange in which the officer threatened to jail Moats.
He ordered Moats’ wife, Tamishia Moats, to get back in the SUV, but she ignored him and rushed inside the hospital.
She was by the side of Jonetta Collinsworth, 45, when her mother died a short time later.
Collinsworth had breast cancer.
“Get in there,” said Powell, yelling at 27-year-old Tamishia Moats, as she exited the car. “Let me see your hands!”
“Excuse me, my mom is dying,” Tamishia Moats said. “Do you understand?”
Moats explained that he waited until there was no traffic before proceeding through the red light and that his mother-in-law was dying, right then.
Moats couldn’t find his insurance paperwork and was desperate to leave.
“Listen, if I can’t verify you have insurance…,” Powell said.
“My mother-in-law is dying,” Moats interrupted.
As they argued, the officer got irritated.
“Shut your mouth,” Powell said. “You can either settle down and cooperate, or I can just take you to jail for running a red light.”
It is quite irrelevant what the result is with the dying mother-in-law. This is awful, irresponsible, dumb, unthinking, robotic rule internalization. It deserves punishment whether she lives or dies. Unfortunately…
At one point during the stop, a nurse walked out from the hospital and talked to a guard.
The guard walked up to Powell and can be heard saying, “Hey, that’s the nurse, she said that the mom is dying right now. And she’s the one saying get him up there right now before she passes.”
On the video, Powell can be heard saying, “All right. OK, I’m almost done.”
Powell can be seen walking toward Moats and handing him the ticket.
“Attitude is everything, OK?” he is heard saying. “All you had to do was stop and tell me what was going on, more than likely, I would have let you go.”
…
By the time the 26-year-old NFL player received a ticket and a lecture from Powell, at least 13 minutes had passed.
When he and Collinsworth’s father entered the hospital, they learned she was dead, the Dallas Morning News reported in Thursday’s editions.
Let’s recap: Man is rushing to hospital. He sees a red light and slows down to be sure no traffic is coming. Thus, he has accomplished the point of the law concerning red lights: to prevent collisions. Note, this is after 1:30 a.m. After being sure of everyone’s safety, he runs the red light. An officer sees this and attempts to pull the man over. The man puts on his hazard lights, pulls into the parking lot of the hospital, and everyone explains, in plain language, what the situation is. At least two people ignore the police officer and run inside. The police officer does not chase these people, call for backup, or taken any action that indicates he believes anyone is trying to run from the police. A security officer and a nurse both explain to the officer why he is being such a fucking retard. He still finishes up his ticket. He then tells the man how he should behave. Woman dies while this happens.
At what point is this okay? Sure, give the guy the traffic ticket. A good case can be made that he achieved a high enough level of safety to run the light, but people aren’t infallible. So maybe he gets a ticket. But detaining him? The officer clearly did not think the other people in the vehicle were trying to escape. He didn’t even really try and make them stay. What good reason could he have for detaining the driver? Ah, right. “Attitude is everything.” The officer determined that it was in everyone’s best interest if he treated people like 3rd graders and taught them how to behave. Awesome.
For the Sake of Science 