{"id":82941,"date":"2019-09-11T13:03:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T13:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=82941"},"modified":"2023-04-13T21:25:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T21:25:42","slug":"whats-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/whats-message\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the Message?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
\n<\/strong><\/em>
\nIf you are a sports fan (and you know I am), this should be the absolute best time of the year.<\/p>\n

Major League baseball is winding down with the battles for berths in the playoffs at stake.\u00a0 Each baseball game, if your team is still alive, takes on added importance.\u00a0 Who isn\u2019t watching the standings every day?<\/p>\n

Add to that the start of the high school football season.\u00a0 We are only three weeks in and already there have been some great match-ups.\u00a0 It looks like the regular season is only going to portend what should be some great playoff games for the District titles.\u00a0 And then it is on to the state playoffs.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not forget the start of the college football season.\u00a0 Of course, the really good teams schedule some \u201cpatsies\u201d at the beginning, but there are always some interesting results, none better than this past weekend when Army<\/a>–Michigan<\/a> went to double overtime before Michigan eked out a 24-21 win.\u00a0 Army was in position to win the game in regulation.\u00a0 There will be plenty of great games the rest of this season.<\/p>\n

And then, there\u2019s the NFL<\/a>.\u00a0 It started Thursday night with the upset win by the Packers<\/a> over the Vikings<\/a> and continued when the Eagles<\/a> came back from a 17-0 deficit to beat the Redskins<\/a>.\u00a0 The march to the Super Bowl<\/a> has begun.<\/p>\n

So, can it get any better than this time of the year?\u00a0 Only if something spoils it.\u00a0 And that happened for me and, I\u2019m sure, plenty of other fans.\u00a0 You see, I hate to see bad behavior rewarded.\u00a0 It seems to rear its ugly head all the time anymore in the sports world.\u00a0 And that happened again when the New England Patriots<\/a> signed Antonio Brown to a $15 million contract ($9 million guaranteed) after he was released from the Oakland Raiders<\/a>.\u00a0 It is also reported Brown could get another $20 million if he signs for next season.<\/p>\n

He was a horrible teammate at Pittsburgh<\/a> and an even worse one at Oakland with excuse after excuse not to practice in the preseason.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t play for the Steelers.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t wear the helmet prescribed by the NFL to promote player safety.\u00a0 Without his preferred helmet, he just could not practice.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t keep his mouth shut around the Raider GM.\u00a0 He, literally, would not \u201cplay ball.\u201d\u00a0 The Raiders finally let him go for violating his contract.\u00a0 And who did not want to applaud the Raiders for standing up to Antonio Brown?<\/p>\n

And then he gets rewarded by the New England Patriots, a team that is easy to dislike anyway.\u00a0 There are some who feel the Patriots talked to Brown while he was under contract to the Raiders.\u00a0 That would be a violation of the rules, but haven\u2019t they done that before?\u00a0 Owner Bob Kraft even offered to let Brown live at his house if he desired.\u00a0 If you already hated the Patriots, add this to your list of reasons.<\/p>\n

Remember how we always talk about football being a team sports.\u00a0 It is a \u201cme\u201d sport for Antonio Brown and wouldn\u2019t you like to see just one time that arrogance and selfishness would be punished?\u00a0 And it never seems to happen anymore.\u00a0 Instead, it gets rewarded.<\/p>\n

The best time of the year for a sports\u2019 fan became tarnished this weekend.\u00a0 I can only hope that the Patriots find a way to lose this season and I really hope Antonio Brown is the reason!\u00a0 That could be the right message after the Patriots, once again, sent the wrong one.<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Even though the Giants<\/a> looked awful against the Cowboys<\/a> on Sunday, Saquon Barkley rushed for 120 yards and caught four passes for 19 yards. He sprinted for 59 yards on the second play of the game.\u00a0 And he was not used all that much \u2013 only 15 touches.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Nazareth\u2019s<\/a> Jahan Dotson had a two touchdowns, 109 yard receiving game for Penn State<\/a> this past weekend. It is really fun to watch our local high school players excel at the highest levels.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Maybe the Cleveland Browns<\/a> just have to get out of Cleveland so they can change their name. This was supposed to be their year with Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham, Jr. starring for their offense.\u00a0 Well, on Sunday the Tennessee Titans<\/a> beat them 43-13.\u00a0 They looked like\u2026 well, the Browns.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. The Phillies<\/a> just won\u2019t let us quit on them. They are only two games behind the Cubs<\/a> in the wild-card chase.\u00a0 They are tied with the Brewers<\/a> and only the Diamondbacks<\/a> are a bit closer to the Cubs.\u00a0 The wild-card chase certainly keeps up the interest.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. RCN-TV has a terrific football lineup this weekend. On Friday night, the undefeated Nazareth Blue Eagles take on the undefeated Freedom Patriots<\/a>.\u00a0 Saturday night, watch Parkland<\/a> visit Bethlehem Catholic<\/a>.\u00a0 We kick off our Lafayette College<\/a> schedule Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm when Sacred Heart<\/a> comes to town.\u00a0 All the games are LIVE.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            GARY\u2019GUESSES (LAST WEEK \u201311-4-1)\u00a0 (YEAR-TO-DATE \u2013 73%)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            CAROLINA<\/strong><\/p>\n

            PHILADELPHIA<\/strong><\/p>\n

            BUFFALO<\/strong><\/p>\n

            TENNESSEE<\/strong><\/p>\n

            DETROIT<\/strong><\/p>\n

            BALTIMORE<\/strong><\/p>\n

            NEW ENGLAND<\/strong><\/p>\n

            DALLAS<\/strong><\/p>\n

            HOUSTON<\/strong><\/p>\n

            PITTSBURGH<\/strong><\/p>\n

            SAN FRANCISCO<\/strong><\/p>\n

            MINNESOTA<\/strong><\/p>\n

            KANSAS CITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

            RAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

            CHICAGO<\/strong><\/p>\n

            CLEVELAND<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. If you are a sports fan (and you know I am), this should be the absolute best time of the year. Major League baseball…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s the Message? - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s the Message? - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 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