The Patriots look like the most dominant team in football in a long time. Their defense is awesome thanks to the addition of Adalius Thomas but the offense is better than ever before. They finally have a superstar receiver. A receiver that has dogged the past three seasons. A receiver who was named captain of a team then decided to take plays off.
Randy Moss really could have been the next Jerry Rice. I know Jerry Rice didn't play on many bad teams but if he did, he still would have displayed the same work ethic as if he were on a SuperBowl champion. Randy Moss pouted and didn't want to play on the team anymore. He was forgotten about, not even ranked in the top two tiers of WRs in the NFL. The Raiders gave up Moss for only a fourth rounder and now he is maybe the best WR in the league. Moss basically gave up on several season, even with Minnesota, just so he could get out of there. Now he might get everything he wants.
You can't take away anything from the man's athleticism. He is awesome. But he is an example of what is wrong with athletes today. When they pout, when they flat out give up, they end up getting what they want. T.O. left the Niners and the Niners got nothing and TO went to a superbowl. These athletes get paid so much money and the give up on plays, bad mouth their own players to the media, purposely lower their trade value, and then they play with Tom Brady or Donovan McNabb and lead the league in TDs.
I play sports because I love them. Because when you are out on a field or a court, I know that many people can't play. I am lucky. I may not even be good but competing, being out there, playing with friends, gradually improving is fun. Winning is fun. Winning when you aren't expected to win is even more fun. If I just dogged one play, I would not be happy. I don't get paid for it. I play for the love of the sport, the love of competition. So many kids see these spoiled athletes and want to be like them. All out, all the time. That is the only way to play.
Randy Moss might be a great athlete but I will never respect him as a player.
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3 comments:
Lance....nice thoughts....I have never respected Randy Moss as a person but we can't refute what this man can do when he is motivated and "feels" like playing the game.
To be honest, I can't blame him for being a bitch when he was on the Raiders....you and I have both experienced being in work situations where management was clueless and had no idea how to motivate or lead a group. I compare our experiences to being part of a Raiders organization led by Al Davis. I mean, the hiring of Norv Turner (nice work in San Diego so far) and Art Shell display a lack of competence that would make the most motivated player think twice about going hard on every play.
I am certainly not justifying Moss's behavior, however, I think it's really easy to critique professional athletes because they are playing a game and making astronomical amounts of money. Losing breeds complacency (hell, I think we would know that better than anyone following the Warriors the past decade and a half) and some players can rise above that (a la Jason Richardson) to set a positive example and others like, Randy Moss, have no leadership abilities when times get tough to will their teams to win.
A professional, like Jerry Rice, would go out each Sunday and play hard every down...unfortunately, in this day and age, those kind of players are becoming less and less frequent.
Yeah, Moss knows how to "pick his spots." But he's doing a great job as a front-runner this year.
Hi Lance! I can't comment on your sports stuff, but I just wanted to stop by and say hi!
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