The hazards of football cannot be denied, no matter how good you are or how much promise you have. In 2016 Jake Butt, was a first team all-American tight end at Michigan. He won every award given to tight ends that year. Rather than choosing to not play in a meaningless bowl game for Michigan in his final year, he felt committed to the team and chose to play, when other all-Americans were opting out of the bowl games to focus on the upcoming NFL draft. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious injury in the game, that significantly reduced his draft status. He fell from being a projected high first round pick to a fifth-round pick. Four seasons and two surgeries later he has retired from the NFL because he knew his body could no longer take the wear and tear. He feared if he continued, his body would be damaged for life. At age 27 he has retired from the NFL and joins this years B!G Network as an analyst for the upcoming football season. Fortunately, Jake prepared himself for this possibility and took his education at Michigan seriously. I look forward to listening to his insight this coming year. See my Quote of the Day.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Retribution- punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act.
It is also a common practice used by politicians to punish others when things do not go as planned or a party member steps out of line. It seems that retribution is more important to our politicians than it is to do pass laws that benefit the citizens and society.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You could tell NFL camps opened this week. Newspapers, sports radio, and TV have exploded with articles about the local NFL team. Like Spring training for baseball, this time of the year is when optimism reigns. Even the Lions fans are optimistic at this time of year. It is an amazing phenomenon that has no basis.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
She got what she wanted. Will it be a blessing or a kiss of death? Per the Detroit News, former President Donald Trump endorsed Republican Tudor Dixon to be Michigan’s next governor on Friday night, ending a month’s long and hostile fight for his support just four days before the primary election. In a statement, Trump labeled Dixon of Norton Shores a “conservative warrior” and said she is ready take on Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom Trump described as “one of the worst governors in the nation.” “Tudor Dixon will make a great governor and has my complete and total endorsement,” Trump said. “She will not let you down.”
It may help her in the Republican Primary on August 2, but my guess is that it will feel like a great big weight around her neck come November by the time the House Select Committee gets done with its investigation.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please feel free to share my blog.
Elections Matter. Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence and mass killings?
Orchid of the Day: Cameron Young, for holing out his second shot from the fairway for an eagle two in today’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.
Onion of the Day: The flash flooding that is wreaking havoc in various parts of the country.
Quote of the Day: “My body’s just beat up. If your body’s always beat up, there’s an opportunity to kind of be like a warrior. I was able to always push through it. Even though I was injured in college often, I would never miss a practice. It would never affect my ability to just play. But even as I sit here, now, man, I golfed (a few) weeks ago, and my back is fricking screaming at me. Knees, joints, I just took a beating, and that’s the price to pay for the glory and the fun you get to have playing the game. They go hand in hand.”
“Part of the reason why I came to the University of Michigan is to hedge your bets. If you go here, the world is essentially your oyster. It was to the point where I said, as much as I love the game, the price I was paying had outweighed the joy. It had started to rip away some of the passion. I’m getting injured just too often. Is it God? Is it destiny? Is it fate? I don’t know. Whatever it is, it had gotten to the point where it didn’t make sense for me to continue pushing on the way I’m pushing on.”
“That was a really tough decision. A lot of really tough months where I’m sitting there like, ‘Damn, did I make the right decision? I was questioning whether I could have kept pushing. It’s the wrong decision if I sit on my couch all day and complain and wonder what if. But if I sit there and I say, I’m gonna try to find a way to make an impact beyond football — one day, I’m going to be a father, I’m engaged right now and one day I will be a husband. Those things are more important than football, even though there’s a lot of people in the football space that say football is all hail and it’s No. 1. There’s a number of things that are more important than football.” Jake Butt on choosing to end his NFL career.
Question of the Day: Is the wear and tear that football takes on those who participate at the collegiate and professional levels, worth it in the long run?
Video/Image of the Day: Belle Isle as never seen before from the camera of a drone.