According to Merriam-Webster, a do-over is…a new attempt or opportunity to do something after a previous attempt has been unsuccessful or unsatisfactory. The following organizations are getting an opportunity for a do-over or surely would like the chance at one…and badly.
The Green Bay Packers: Green Bay plays at Arizona in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday night. In week 16, the Packers lost at Arizona 38-8…and the game really wasn’t even that close. So, can the Packers (7 point underdogs) pull off the upset…I highly doubt it (my expectations are still very low), BUT if Arizona’s Carson Palmer becomes Carson Hoyer (the Stave of the NFL), the Packers do have a legitimate chance. Palmer, in only 1+ career playoff games (he tore his ACL in the first quarter of his first career playoff start) has these playoff numbers…19 for 37 (51.35%), 212 yards, 1 TD/1 INT, and a passer rating of 66.5. Not exactly numbers that should strike fear in the Green Bay Packers, but Palmer just completed an MVP type season…342 for 537 (63.7%), 4671 yards, 35 TD/11 INT, and a passer rating of 104.6…so which Palmer will show up on Saturday night and can the Packers continue their offensive rhythm from last week…this is the suspense that is making this week SO long.
The Los Angeles Rams: The Rams are moving back to Los Angeles, and in my opinion, that is where they belong. The St. Louis Rams (in the NFC West) just didn’t make sense…besides, St. Louis is a baseball town with a little bit of hockey sprinkled in. Growing up, I enjoyed watching the LA Rams (Ram It!)…they were an exciting team to watch with the likes of Eric Dickerson, Jim (don’t call me Chris) Everett, Henry Ellard, Flipper Anderson, and Kevin Greene. Now that the Rams are going to call Los Angeles home again, I hope they go back to their old color scheme as well…a chance at a double do-over!
I love the classic look!
I also enjoyed this piece on the @LaraMS Twitter handle…sometimes you really can’t make this stuff up.
The WIAA: Oh boy, where do I even begin here. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that the WIAA is getting absolutely pummeled in the PR department (it is the second time this week, where I was asked in California, what is wrong with Wisconsin…the other, Making a Murderer, of course). The WIAA’s fun started way back on December 22nd with a sportsmanship email to schools (Seasons Greetings¡). Then on January 4th, April Gehl took to the Twitterverse to express her opinion about said email…
Last Friday (January 8th) a five-game suspension was handed down to Gehl and the WIAA hasn’t been the same ever since. Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) continues to pile on and Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) is going to have his take (One Big Thing) on SportsCenter tomorrow night (be sure to tune in).
While SO MUCH has already been discussed on this topic (ad nauseam), here is my final take (I hope)…
To the WIAA…lay off the Twitter (and all social media) for a LONG while…every time you have posted something in the past few days, you have been lambasted (and rightfully so)…as NO ONE is taking you seriously right now. Give this till at least March or April…by then, people will have already forgotten about this fiasco (or moved onto something else).
To Hilbert High School…you may want to look at your code of conduct. A five-game suspension for a tweet seems kind of harsh (is this the norm…what do other schools in your area have in place). Also, I hope you are having a good and thorough discussion with your entire student body on what is appropriate for social media. Kids will be kids…but let’s try to be more proactive in the future.
To April Gehl…your 15 minutes of fame are long passed. DELETE the tweet and move on with your high school career. Do you really want to be known as this girl for the rest of your life? We all make mistakes (especially as teenagers), but showing a little remorse may have gotten you less of a suspension (and a follow-up apology tweet is long overdue).