Hey Y'all it's your favorite SportsGal89 Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn the buildin'!!
When your team loses a game, you expect that your energy will be a little low. The days after a game loss are painful, especially as the season progresses and math starts to take place and you realize that if the losses add up, so do the odds of your chances of progressing any farther than the regular season. Wins, however, wins are supposed to be a joyous occasion. Wins no matter how sloppy, give you another day to breathe, to rejoice, to be excited that you are one step closer to your goal.
As fans we live through the wins and losses of our teams. They are emotionally taxxing, especially because often we feel just as much a part of the game as the players. Wins can be disappointing though, especially when you survey the cost it took to earn that win, injuries etc.
Today, I woke up feeling disappointed in a win, that I should be rejoicing in. Last night, the Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals met up for the third time this season in the AFC Wild Card game. Here's what I knew, the game was going to be intense. While the Bengals are not our rivals so to speak, the matchups we have had this season have intensified with emotion. Growing up in the heart of these two great teams I understand what is at stake. As an Ohio Native, the Bengals have risen to over the years to be a pride for our state, second to our real national football team- the Ohio State Buckeyes :P.
In regards to a rivalry, the Steelers longstanding rivalry has been the Cleveland Browns. The Ravens have become a formidable opponent because the battles since the Ravens became a team have become exciting to watch. Two teams having strong defenses and energizing offenses. But as of late, with restructuring this rivalry while still very much at the heart of the fan base and a high point for the NFL hasn't been crazy.
Saturday's game was met with much anticipation. The NFL issued strict notices to both teams and to referees to keep their players and the game in line. During warm-ups both teams were forced to stay on opposite ends of the 50 yard line, and were separated by heavy security. Chippiness was expected, a tussle or two was expected, but what was displayed was a disgrace.
The game started slow, in that there hadn't been a score for much of the first two quarters. Both defenses were holding the other teams offense pretty steady. I was getting bored quite frankly at how slow the game was going and was excited for the game to ramp up. It didn't help that technical difficulties also made the game slow, because for much of the game there was no commenting due to equipment failure and a power outage.
But then the game fired up, Steelers scoring first (a field goal), then scoring again (another field goal). And then came the tussles, which in many games can be expected. Athletes get ramped up, you start running your mouth and then hands go flying. I get that those things are expected.
But here's what's not expected, Coaches not role modeling proper sportsman behavior (and yes I am giving the side eye to the Steelers sideline), players not regarding their own or other players safety (Vontze Burfict, and regardless of what you say to me, that man had an agenda. He was worked up the entire course of the game and continued to egg on a hostile environment throughout), players not being good sportsman (Looking at you Ryan Shazier, of my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes, you acted like a 5 year old who just got another kid caught for teasing you, while an injured player is laying on the ground after a collision with you. Whether or not the call was the right call, whether or not what you were hearing from the stadium was frustrating, we all know that when a man lays still on the ground, you pay respect. Even if it is the opposite team. As a cheerleader for my elementary school football team, that was rule number one. You kneel, you clap and cheer when they get up, but you pay respect) and finally, the level of injuries that came and high emotion that were behind them.
Bernard's hit was a tough call, was there a connection with the helmet- yes. Does the ruling suck that he wasn't defenseless, yes. For any fan watching a hit like that, sucks! It totally sucks seeing a player injured. And maybe I am taking this a little more seriously, considering that I watched Concussion recently, but we owe our players more when we use them for entertainment. We have a responsibility to protect them as much as the other players, coaches, referees and the league is supposed to.
Then you have the hit against Antonio Brown and that one was even tougher to watch. When tape slows down as watching on TV always does and you watch Antonio's head wobble it is not easy to watch. Especially when this is a critical player for your team, a name you hear game in and game out. Pacman Jones is spending too much time off the field talking about Antonio Brown faking the hit. You don't take a hit like that and fake it, the same that you can't fake medical records or Drs. Assessment.
Finally, you have Big Ben's hit. I don't think that Burfict was gunning for him the way that others might. I think you had a high emotion game and the hits intensify that emotion. I would hope lessons have been learned from the Saints' bounty days. It wasn't the hit that disgusted me, it was the actions of the fans that disgusted me. Throwing bottles at a player who is being carted off the field is disgusting. You spit on the game that you call yourselves a fan of.
As much as any individual representing the Ravens literally infuriates me, there would be nothing that would make me desire to throw something at them, especially when they are injured and heading into the locker room.
But here's what, at the end of all of that, my team won and I am not happy about it. I am disappointed. No one won that game with the way it was played and that disgusting display. There were no winners in the sport that I loved on Sunday night, well maybe the NFL with it's ratings. But a young kid is going to get the impression that this is how you act when you play for the NFL and that is sad. No one wins when that display reminds me of the Detroit- Pacers melee. While there wasn't a brawl to that magnitude on Sunday night, the display of grown men, adults was just as disgusting as that fight.
So as I look to Sunday, I am saddened knowing that the game against the Broncos won't be anything like that game against Cincy. I am saddened to say that Cincy has unfortunately written it's identity entering in next season based on that display. And all I can do is shake my head.
That's all she wrote folks...
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