Craig Tyson Adams

Pursuing the life of a pug. A boxer. The smell of sweat and deprivation matched the humidity and heat from the lights. There had to be a better way of making a living. That time has passed. Once the taste was acquired, it was all over. I could smell the leather before it hit me. The twist of the hide tore at the flesh, leaving it raw only to be hit again. My arms ache after weeks of repetition and work. The effort that lasted until there was nothing left, only to push it further. The dull feeling of energy quickly dissipating made the body wish it had not consumed so much fast food hidden against orders. The time that should’ve been used to do more roadwork, as the endurance and lung capacity are now being felt at maximum capacity.  A flash of bright light makes me realize I need to bob and weave and move my head as another flash, while I think, tells me to hurry. My calves scream, but my thighs and back are moving perfectly in unison.  A spray of blood surprises me but then makes me

Rickey Henderson is the greatest base stealing artist of all-time. Nobody is close and nobody will ever challenge Rickey. When it comes to baseball, Rickey is like Madonna or Elvis or Ali. He’s known by one name. Rickey’s last name is superfluous. Just Google the name Rickey. It will auto fill his last name automatically. There is no more meaningful justification today than that. In baseball, the most meaningful act is to score runs.  Rickey has accomplished the baseball equivalent of the prime directive more than any player in history. It’s another of Rickey’s records that will be unchallenged. Rickey is Major League Baseball’s greatest leadoff hitter. It’s a position that is traditionally meant for a speedster with a premier ability to get on base. Rickey had an eye for the strike zone like an owl has an eye for prey. In 24 seasons, Rickey got on-base over 40% of the time. Rickey wasn’t just a base stealer and on-base machine. Rickey hit almost 300 home runs in Rickey’s career. 81

There are a lot of  protesting  protesters these days. It seems that protesting has become the thing to do again. Protesting is more popular today than it has been since the late 1960’s and early 70’s.  On college campuses, the streets outside government buildings and in town halls, large cities and small communities have experienced Americans of all walks of life protesting and demonstrating against issues real, and, at times, imagined. “We’re protesting because we don’t like what is going on!” said one protester who was protesting at a protest. “There are so many injustices that there are almost too many to count!” exclaimed another protester at one other protest. “The only way that someone can get their voice heard is through demonstration, picketing and protesting!” yet another protester proclaimed at yet another protest. There is another side to all the protesting. “We’re here to exercise our right to protest all the protesters who are protesting!” expressed an anti-protester.  “D

So far in the NFL Playoffs the kickers have been displaying pivotal domination.  They’re usually forgotten and disrespected. But, this year, they’ve been the ones left in the lonely high pressure spotlight.  If you look at their stats and how many points they score, you’d think they must be 6’9” and weigh 255 lbs and run like a sprinter.  In reality they might be 5’11” and weigh around 180.  Kickers never catch or even fall on a football. They only touch a football to put in on a tee. A kicker gets to wear a uniform so that a referee doesn’t think a fan ran out onto the field.  A kicker never has to hit the weight room if he doesn't want to. He doesn’t even have to wear pads. A kicker is the only guy on the team that hopes someone runs into him. That way he gets another chance to score if he misses.  You know how some guys watch their diets and wear out exercise bicycles? Kickers could eat pizza and drink beer all day as long as he splits the uprights. Nobody cares how fast he can

This NFL Wild Card weekend was great if you’re a football fan. I mean the NFL, and not the international game where they don’t wear pads and where the players don’t automatically collapse in a heap when someone exhales on them. Even in these days of COVID, it takes a few days before exhaling on someone results in them collapsing.  There were five games this weekend and that was enough. There is one tonight on Monday, and that is the game I’m looking forward to the most because the team that I root for, the Los Angeles Rams, are playing the Arizona Cardinals.  The Cardinals are the oldest franchise in the National Football League, having been the first team to join in 1922. They were in Chicago then, and because they don’t win very often, they were kicked from city to city until they ended up in the desert.  That said, the NFL games played this weekend ranged from entertaining to almost unwatchable.  First up was the Las Vegas Raiders against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals hadn’t w

NFL receiver divas treat Sunday like an unruly child in church. NFL receiver divas are ultra competitive and feel that all passes should go to them. When I’m playing Madden football , I always feel I need to throw to the number one wide receiver at least five times per game.That’s what they demand. As a quarterback, you’ve got to feed the number one receiver even if you have to force the pass into tight windows.  Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford fell for it recently. Last Sunday against the Ravens, Stafford threw a deep pass to Odell Beckham Jr. when he had two other receivers open underneath. By the time the bomb got to Beckham, there were three defenders on OBJ. A check-down pass would’ve gotten an easy first down. Instead, the Ravens got the ball and ultimately scored.  This is the thing with wide receivers. They are supremely confident in their abilities. It's an isolated position. They excel by getting the offensive coordinator to tell the quarterback to throw them the bal