A Dangerous Move

The National Football League owners vote to move kickoffs to the 35 yard line is sold as an effort to promote safety in what is one of the most violent - and entertaining - plays in professional football. And therein lies the rub: how much can the league tinker with its rules to protect its players without altering the character of the game, a game whose popularity is largely predicated on its inherently violent nature?

The Distraction

All the whining by conservative commentators over Rush Limbaugh being unceremoniously dumped from the investment group seeking to purchase the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League is quite comical and more than a bit disingenuous, particularly when they gloss over than negative statements he has made about black people throughout his career. The point that gets overlooked is that Limbaugh's chances of being welcomed into the exclusive club of NFL owners were slim and none, even before the firestorm of reaction he received once the matter was made public. The bottom line is that this conservative group were not welcoming of a polarizing figure whose membership would hit them where it hurt the most: in their pockets.