Our gladiators?...Over all the years we have mentioned (1926 to 2006), football has blossomed into a fabulous sport with millions of fans, billions of dollars in revenue, and all the excitement that goes with these numbers. We just wish its rooters would surrender the nonsense that football is really, "The last of gladiator gladiator (Latin; swordsman) Professional combatant in ancient Rome who engaged in fights to the death as sport. Gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, the intent being to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world. sports." Meaning how bold and brave and noble it is. They refuse to settle for reality--that football is tough, physical, and very often thrilling to watch. Our favorite high school and college coaches are content to settle for a mature piece of philosophy: "Football is not a sport for everyone. The small, the light, the delicate, and particularly the timid should look elsewhere for their sport." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We buy that. What we have trouble accepting1 are the human collisions and the mountainous size of the people doing so much of it. This becomes scary when you see the speed, power, and aggressiveness of the athletes. We're beginning to read too many articles on concussions, broken body parts, and punch-outs. On one pretty weekend in October, we read about 31 college football players being suspended for their parts in a third quarter brawl brawl n. 1. A noisy quarrel or fight. 2. A loud party. 3. A loud, roaring noise. intr.v. brawled, brawl·ing, brawls 1. To quarrel or fight noisily. 2. between Miami and Florida International University Florida International University, primarily at University Park, Miami; coeducational; chartered 1965, opened 1972. A research university, it has 18 colleges and schools and many specialized centers and institutes, including those in biomedical engineering, database . The next thing we saw (on TV) was simply mind-boggling. The first time we had ever seen anything like it was the battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima was fought between the United States and Japan in February and March 1945, during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. The U.S. invasion, known as Operation Detachment, was aimed at capturing the airfields on Iwo Jima. in Technicolor. The second time was in a football game in the pros (2006). Following a 5-yard TD run by running back Julius Jones, Dallas Cowboys Haynesworth was slapped with a five-game suspension. Our hero did not take all of this standing up. He sat down and began crying and apologizing. "I am not an animal I Am Not an Animal was an animated series telling the tale of highly intelligent animals rescued from a vivisectionist laboratory and forced to live on their own. The series was made and directed by Peter Baynham. ," he sobbed. "And I would like to plead for another chance. I have never done anything like this before and I will never do anything like it again." While he was mopping up his tears, the police checked Haynesworth's dossier and discovered that he had two similar incidents in the past. We are still wondering how he had made out on his SAT's |
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