Stormin Norman Rumack

While visiting Syracuse University, I met a graduate student who turned out to be one of the most fascinating individuals who I had ever met, and one of the strongest in terms of her survival skills.

Kayleen ( no last name will be used here ) has gone through the trauma of an absentee and allegedly alcoholic birth father, ( her mother later re-married ) a two year battle with anorexia, the rigorous physical demands of gymnastics training at the level of national qualifying for the United States team, and to add to that, the not so unusual transition through the teen years, where mean spirited girls become quite cruel to other girls who they feel threatened by, for whatever reason, and also dealing with all kinds of insecurities of their own. Kayleen also was diagnosed with symptoms that are usually associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, in which she experienced repeated nightmares about her father, which she recalls as being very frightening, as well as panic attacks.

Incredibly, Kayleen...

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While every manager and coach in almost every sport is hired to be fired at some point, it was so refreshing to a hear a fellow manager speak our very loudly, in support of West Ham United’s Avram Grant. He took over a weak team this season, and because they are still trying to climb out of the relegation zone, the fans are upset and growing more impatient. The owners of the team, according to ESPNsoccernet, were about to hire Martin O’Neill and dismiss the former Chelsea and Portsmouth bench boss last week,but O’Neill decided against taking the job. Grant,who I have never met, doesn’t get much support in the media, and many journalists mention his less than upbeat or outgoing personality,as something they don’t really care for. That may be a reason why there is hardly ever a sympathetic or supportive perspective that is written about him. With that in mind, David Moyes, the Everton manager, ahead  of his game against West Ham at Goodison Park this past Saturday, ( a 2-2 final, with a tying goal in the 90th minute...

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I can’t ever recall in my lifetime, when an NFL player has taken as much criticism from peers in the league, as has Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. This stems from his sitting on the sidelines after hurting his knee during the playoff game with the Packers at Soldier Field. Cutler left during the third quarter of a 21-14 loss in the conference championship. Cutler was diagnosed on Monday, with a sprained medial collateral ligament, as detailed by ESPN.com. That network has interviewed both present and past NFL players, who have questioned his attitude, in terms of both not playing to whatever degree he could still contribute,even if he would be severely limited in his ability to perform at an elite level, or at the very least, to appear to be doing something useful on the sidelines with the players or coaches, and not sitting on the bench, looking lost and absorbed in his own world.

The critics have included Trent Dilfer, Derrick Brooks, Heath Evans, Tom Waddle, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Darnell Dockett,and...

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Can you imagine the uproar, if sports stadiums in North America and in other parts of the world, banned alcohol from being purchased or consumed in any form ? I’ve never been much of a drinker anyway, although I do enjoy a beer or a glass of wine on occasion. If legislation of this type was  passed, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it, and it certainly wouldn’t stop me from attending sporting events. In fact, I might be even more inclined to attend, knowing there was a good chance that I wouldn’t  have to encounter or any obnoxious morons, who have no interest in controlling their consumption.

I have spoken to friends and media colleagues on this subject, and some of them have suggested, that the absence of alcohol would substantially hurt the revenue streams of the professional sports teams involved. I doubt that very much. More than likely, those same people would eventually consume other beverages and food as well. They would adapt to the circumstances, like most mature adults eventually do. Long before...

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So far, so good for the tough talking New York Jets, who have so far backed up their bold braggadocios behavior, with back to back playoff victories, squeaking by the Colts in the final seconds of the game 17-16, and pummeling the Patriots, 28-21, in a game that they dominated much more than the score indicates. Ben Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers from a 21-7 deficit to the Ravens, and led them to a 31-24 win. Roethlisberger is 9-2 in the postseason. The Jets are taking the high road this week, with plenty of praise for Big Ben in particular. As noted in ESPN.com, Rex Ryan remarked: “I’ve never seen a guy take the hits he can take and also make people miss the way he does and be accurate on the run.” The Jets saw the Steelers earlier this season, and beat them 22-17, with Roethlisberger averaging a season-low 6.0 yards per attempt. All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu missed that game, and is now playing with a strained Achilles’. Pittsburgh is 31-8 with him in the lineup since 2008, and 6-7 without him. Tight end...

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The 11-5 Bears won the first game between the long time rivals, on September 27, by 20-17 at Soldier Field. The 10-6 Packers, won at home in the final game of the season, 10-3, preserving their spot in the playoffs as the sixth seed in the NFC. If the Packers were to win, they would join the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers as the only #6 seeds to play in the Super Bowl. In the playoffs so far, Aaron Rodgers has thrown for three touchdowns at Philadelphia, in their 21-16 win, and he went 31 of 36 for 366 yards and three TD’s in last Saturday’s 48-21 win at Atlanta. Rodgers has a 125 passer rating over his last nine games, with 22 touchdowns and two interceptions, as noted by ESPN.com. He has won four of six starts against the Bears,completing 68.6% of his passes, with seven TD’s and four interceptions. In that final game of the season, Jay Cutler threw for 221 yards and a touchdown, but he was sacked six times, and picked off twice. In the Bears playoff 35-24 win against the Seahawks, he threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns....

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Generally speaking, people who are successful in life, have some common characteristics. They never quit working towards the goals they have set for themselves. Self discipline is also very important, along with the ability to focus on a single or multiple tasks simultaneously, without getting distracted by other issues which can be dealt with at another time. In other words, they are well organized.

One other trait which is a key ingredient, is people skills, in terms of the ability to get others to want to work with you, and for you. These same individuals, are usually good listeners, and understand the basics of leadership.

On Wednesday,  I received a message from Doug Marrone, the head football coach at Syracuse University, and a Bronx, New York native, who also played college football with the Orange, from 1983-1985. I had recently left him a message that I would be visiting the school in the last week of January. Even in the middle of the very busy recruiting period, which is the case for...

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I have written quite a bit about the theatrics of trash talk in this website, and to no one’s surprise, it became a major topic of discussion leading up to, and after the Jets big upset win over the Patriots at Foxborough on Sunday. I have made it clear that I think a lot of it sounds really stupid, and does not reflect well on those who participate in it, especially before and after the game, with some of the remarks and behaviour seeming to be very personal, and insulting. I don’t really care which locker room it originates from.

The way this child like behaviour degenerated over the week and continued until the game’s conclusion, solidifies my point on how rediculous it is. I certainly understand heat of the moment comments during the course of the game.That is to be expected in a pressurized environment, which is a part of professional sports, and even more so in a game where bone rattling hits are involved. If the verbal exchanges were limited to the match, then I probably wouldn’t even bother...

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The Jets, led by coach Rex Ryan, have certainly provided everybody with loads of trash talk. After defeating the injury depleted Colts, in the final moments of the game, they now take on a healthy and very dominating team. Last week, Ryan told everybody that the game with the Colts was “personal” for him, in wanting to defeat Peyton Manning, who had a 5-1 record against teams that Ryan was coaching . Once again, this game is “personal” for Ryan. As he told ESPN.com: “This is about Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan. There’s no question. It’s personal. It’ about him against myself, and that’s what it’s going to come down to.” Earlier in the season, the Jets defeated the Patriots 28-14 in week 2. On December 6, Belichick’s boys destroyed Ryan’s squad 45-3 in Foxborough. Since a 34-14 loss at Cleveland on November 7, New England has won eight straight by an average of more than three touchdowns. Some of those wins were against quality opponents, like the Steelers, Bears,Packers, and the Jets as well. The Patriots have forced...

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Even with their playoff win over the Saints last week, 41-36, it’s still a bit difficult to set aside Seattle’s regular season record of 7-9. Having said that, the Seahawks also defeated the Bears 23-20 in week six, when Chicago was 4-1. They sacked Jay Cutler six times. As noted by ESPN.com, Marshawn Lynch rushed 17 times for 44 yards in that game, while Mike Williams caught 10 passes for 123 yards. The Bears were without Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs in that game. Seattle did not make any turnovers in that match, and Jay Cutler had just returned from being sidelined with post-concussion symptoms.  The Bears very tough defense, completed the season tied for third with 35 takeaways. Chicago became a much stronger team later in the season, in rushing for more than 100 yards in eight of their last nine games, as opposed to their first seven, when they only reached that mark twice. In the 2006 playoffs,  the Bears beat the Seahawks 27-24 in overtime, before losing the Colts in the Super Bowl, 29-17. Seattle has...

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