D3: The Life and Times of "Iron Mike" Ditka

                There are few players that embodied the attitude that Mike Ditka had. He was one of the greatest tight ends of all time because he revolutionized the position. Aside from being an amazing blocker Ditka astounded defenses with his hands and his route running. Mike blazed past defenses in his rookie year in 1961 by catching 56 passes for 1076 yards in the Dark Age of passing, when a linebacker or cornerback could take your head off and get away with it. Three years later he caught 75 passes in a season, a record that was not broken until 1980. He wound up his 12-year career with 427 receptions for 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns. For two seasons he was in Philadelphia. At that point the Eagles were not a very good team, and Mike Ditka didn’t want to be there. He was considering retirement before Tom Landry came along and whisked out of retirement. He spent four years in Dallas and his best year was 1971 when he helped the Dallas Cowboys reach the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. Mike Ditka caught the final touchdown in a 24-3 in over the Dolphins. During his time in the NFL, Mike Ditka earned the name “Iron Mike” for his grittiness and the attitude he showed on the field. After several years with the Cowboys as an assistant he was hired as the Head Coach of his first team, the Chicago Bears. Many thought at that time that he was not head coaching material. The Bears had trouble getting good at first, but it very apparent that Ditka’s edge had made an impression on the Bears. They soon rose in the ranks among the great teams. They were led by one of the most fearsome defenses of all time. The defense was led by Mike Singaltery, Otis Wilson, and Wilber Marshall at the linebackers, while Richard Dent, William “The Fridge” Perry, Steve McMichael, and Dan Hampton, and the Secondary was full of no slouches either because they were led by Garry Fencik and Dave Duerson. Ditka had made a phenom out of “The Fridge” who was put in on goal line situations and one game the legend rose to a height that had never been seen before. Against the Green Bay Packers “The Fridge” led the way for Walter on a touchdown, and even caught one. Ditka led the Bears to a 15-1 record. In the playoffs there was no competition the Bears held the New York Giants scoreless and defeated Eric Dickerson and the Los Angeles Rams 24-0. During the week of the game he emphasized that they(Bears) were the Grabowski, a hardworking,  blue collared team, and the Rams were the Smiths. In Super bowl XX the Bears blew out the Patriots in the Super Dome. It really was no contest at all, and by half time the Bears had the game won. Maybe the highlight of the game was “the Fridge” running over the defenders to score a touchdown. That was maybe the pinnacle of Ditka’s career; he had a lot of great seasons with Bears, before he was fired in 1992. He had 3 lack luster seasons with the Saints. Ditka was notorious for trading his whole entire draft for Ricky Williams. Ditka’s career as a player and a coach was filled with many highs and lows, but many people remember him for the intensity and his attitude he showed as a player and as a coach.

D2: Steroids in Sports

                When many people think of steroids they think of sports because sports and steroids/performance enhancing drugs coincide perfectly with sports. The names that mainly pop up in this topic are the big hitters, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sam Sosa. These men have been convicted and have been proven to have used steroids in baseball. The one question that people ask is, do PEDs make sports more interesting. The answer usually is, no because they want everyone on an equal playing field, but there is that small group of people that find that when people use steroids it creates a certain sense of entertainment in a sport because there is that hidden fact. To me personally I find that steroids don’t make the game interesting, that they ruin the sport that they are being used. A guy may get a higher signing bonus than another person because they used steroids and the other person didn’t. Many current and former NFL players have used steroids or some form of a Performance Enhancing Drugs, Shawne Merriman, Deacon Jones (HOF), Deion Sanders (HOF), Julius Peppers, Jimbo Covert, Steve McMichael, Shaun Rogers, Tony Mandarich, Dan Pastorini, Marcus Stroud, Tim Couch, Ron Yary (HOF), Ricky Williams, David Boston, Ray Edwards, Rodney Harrison, Joe Klecko, Bill Romanowski, John Matuszak, Mike Webster (HOF), Rocky Bleier, Mike Golic, Shawn Springs, Brian Bosworth, etc., these were not the only NFL players to use steroids, but these former and current players are the most interesting because some of them had star studded careers. Other well-known athletes that may have used PEDs include Ben Johnson former Olympic Sprinter for the Canadian Track and Field Team, Alex Rodriguez who signed the largest contract in MLB history at an astonishing 275 million dollars, Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, the governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc. There is always a common theme with many athletes that use some form of PEDs, their body always seems to break down later in their career, I don’t know much about the after effects of the PEDs, but I think it is just bad karma for them cheating. In the words of the late Johnny Cash, “God gonna cut them down”. I guess he did.

D1:Madden Moments

                Throughout my time playing video games one game has always been my favorite, Madden. Me and my brother Leyton have had some crazy games in the past 8 years in playing Madden. One game that really sticks out in my mind was really the first game that I actually made it close against Leyton because up until that point he used to destroy me. This time was different and it was a matchup between two super powers in Madden 06, the Patriots and the Colts. The Colts were offensive juggernaut with Peyton Manning at quarterback (99 overall), Edggerin James at running back, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Brandon Stokley at wide receiver, and Dallas Clark at Tight end. The Patriots had a rock solid defense. That was highlighted by Tedy Brushci, Mike Vrabel, Richard Seymour, Asante Samuel, Ty Law, and Rodney Harrison. Of course they had Tom Brady. The game went until the final seconds and it came down to a two point conversion. I was 65 to 67 and I threw a screen pass to Marvin Harrison that had worked all game, but Leyton tackled me on the one yard line. Another game that was memorable to me was the offensive shootout between the Vikings and the Bears that went down to overtime. Tavaris Jackson had over 700 yards passing and 8 touchdowns. Adrian Peterson added over 300 yards of rushing and a bunch of touchdowns. The game really was one team scored and then another team scored. The final score 106-103.  It ended on an overtime field goal by me. We also had another epic game between the Colts and the Chargers when I was down 49 to 14 with about 5 minutes left in the quarter. I started to put up some points and started to create turnovers, and suddenly it ended up being a 1 point game that literally went down to the final seconds. I had the ball and I threw a pass over the middle where it was in field goal territory, but I got up the ball, and I was spiking it time had expired, thus ending the game. There were many other games that did  not make the cut, but in many other games it ends up being me that chokes or blows the game in the end, but these games always turn out to be interesting.

C2: The 1995 Cleveland Browns-A Cruel Joke

          I recently watched a documentary on NFL Network on the 1995 Cleveland Browns and it was pretty eye opening. When many people think of the Cleveland Browns, the first image that pops into their head is loser, but did you know that at one point they were picked to go to the Super Bowl, yeah that’s right the Cleveland Browns! At the beginning of the 1995 Season they were picked to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl that year. Something along the way happened to the chance of that ever happening. In 1995 the Cleveland Browns were also not the only Cleveland team to be gunning for a championship title; the Cleveland Indians were in their first World Series in more than 40 years. The Browns had started off 3-1 when Art Modell announced that the Browns would move at the end of the season. This news reverberated around the NFL and may have ruined their chances at a possible Super bowl run, because they finished 5-11. Cleveland fans were in at outrage and many people thought that it looked like scene from a war torn country in the Middle East. The Browns in their final game in Cleveland may be one of the most memorable games in Cleveland. The Browns fans had brought hack saws and ratchets to the stadium to take away any possible mementos form the Browns Stadium. At the beginning of every new drive the opposing offense would have to drive away from the “Dog Pound” because of the fact that Browns fans were throwing benches over on to the field. The Browns won their last game in Cleveland and at the end there was a very emotional moment. The Browns players walked over to the “Dog Pound” and they hugged the Browns fans for possibly the last time. Steve Everett, (the Browns Center), walked over and he was grabbed by them and they wouldn’t let go. They tried to grab on to anything that they possibly could grab onto. The Browns ended up moving to Baltimore to become the Ravens. What many people don’t know is the number of current coaches and GMs they had on their staff. They Bill Belichick now with the Patriots as their head coach, Nick Saban: Alabama’s head coach, Jim Swartz: Lions head coach, Kirk Ferentz: Iowa’s head coach, Eric Mangini, Scott Pioli: Kansas City’s GM, and Thomas Dimitroff: Atlanta Falcon’s GM. The most painful thing for Browns fans to watch was when the Ravens won the Super bowl in 2000, due to that Art Modell their former owner was the owner of the Ravens and that Ozzie Newsome was the general manager, (long time Brown’s tight end and general manager). The Browns felt like that was their Super Bowl. It must have been painful to see Bill Belichick win three Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots. That must eat away at the very soul of the Browns fans to know that they had a Championship owner and coach on their team. The fans of Cleveland have been waiting for a title for so long and it seems like the football gods didn’t want them to have that chance. One must wonder, what if the Browns had never moved, maybe they would have a Super Bowl title or two. One thing that you can say if you are a Cleveland fan, it was fun while it lasted.

C1:Going For Broke

            Many would think that when you are an athlete that the money you make can last you a life time. That is a common misperception because many athletes go broke after retiring. In a 2009 “Sports Illustrated” they claimed that an astonishing 78% of NFL players go broke three years after retiring. And 60% of NBA players go broke five years after retiring. Many of these athletes when they are young make bad choices and bad investments. On Tuesday, October 2, ESPN will release another 30 for 30 Film called “Broke”. This film is based on how athletes blow off so much money and end up broke after they retire. Another bunch of reasons that they go broke is because they make bad investments, giving out money to inflated networks of friends and family, and wasting money on unnecessary things such as double bowling alleys. When many athletes are young they don’t know the importance of money and how much you can do with it.  Phil Hanson former Buffalo Bills defensive end once said to his teammates,   "A dollar saved today is 10 dollars tomorrow." Many of his teammates at the time such as Marcellus Wiley, ESPN Analyst, said that they didn’t know the true value of the dollar and many of them were more obsessed with having more expensive things than the next guy. Many times these young kids think that they are invincible and that they will never go broke, but when reality sets in its too late. Another ESPN Analyst Hugh Douglas said that he lived cheap because he knew that if he lived that luxurious life he would be broke. Maybe this will change something, but until then many athletes will have to figure out how to make good investments and learn how to budget their money. Someone once that this lifestyle is a blessing, but also a curse because you live a lifestyle that not many other people can live it, but you have to know how to budget your money.