An Obvious Question

After a long day's work, Yours Truly finally had the chance to sit down and watch some football the other day.

The New York Giants were leading Minnesota Vikings 23-7 with just minutes to go. Yours Truly's 7-year-old son, who is believed to be a football fan too (for being forced to watch A LOT OF football since he was a baby), was sitting on the left.

When the camera showed Adrian Peterson standing glumly on the sideline, Yours Truly said to his son, "This is the only good player the Vikings have on the offense."

And within seconds, the 7-year-old asked, "If he is so good, then why is he not playing?"

Any answer, Mr Leslie Frazier?

Only in Formula One

They all say that Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsports. The drivers, the history, the designs, the technology. None of them can ever be rivaled by other forms of motorsports.

And then there are the personalities.

Think about this: In what other sports can you find a major team owner who is wheelchair-bound (see Williams, Frank), a three-time champion who has a badly disfigured face due to a fiery crash (see Lauda, Niki), and a striking blond female driver wearing an eye patch due to the loss of an eye in a crash (see de Villota, Maria)?

Sadly the striking blond is not with us anymore as de Villota passed away last week at the age of 33, reportedly a legacy of her terrible crash last year.

RIP Maria.

What a Hoyer

Yours Truly just can't help feeling bad for Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer.

A career backup, this Ohio native took over from the ineffective Brandon Weeden and led the Browns to two victories in a row, despite having traded away their best offensive weapon in running back Trent Richardson. Then came his third start in front of his home fans and national TV audience against the Buffalo Bills.

Scrambling for a first down early in the first quarter, he slid too late and was hit from the side by the Bills linebacker Kiko Alonso, and their momentum buckled his right knee in an awkward way. The result is a torn ACL and he is out for the rest of the season.

Yours Truly was truly impressed when Hoyer made the New England Patriots team as an undrafted free agent and as the only backup to Tom Brady in 2009. Although seeing him stuck behind Brady for years, Yours Truly believed that he would be the next Matt Cassel, ready to lead another team when opportunities come. But things did not go his way and his stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals were far from impressive.

His breakthrough finally came this year but sadly, this fairytale story ended way too soon.

Hopefully there will be a fairytale comeback story too, just like Adrian Peterson.

Levi is Not What You Need

Two trades. Two very different approaches.

Earlier today, two offensive tackles were traded in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens obtained Eugene Monroe from the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Pittsburgh Steelers traded for Levi Brown from the Arizona Cardinals.

The Ravens have been inconsistent while the Steelers, frankly, have been abysmal. Both have glaring needs at the offensive line and the trades did not come as a surprise.

Monroe and Brown are both former high first-round draft picks, but their career are now at the opposite end of trajectory. While Monroe has been stuck in the purgatory named Jacksonville, he still managed to help produce a sustained running attack led by Maurice Jones-Drew. Many regard him as one of the emerging top tackles in the NFL. On the other hand, Brown, three years older than Monroe, has been called a bust and the Cardinals never have a great offense during his tenure there.

Now they are off to a new team, which may perhaps breathe new life into their career. While Yours Truly thinks that Monroe will become the second former-Jaguar (after linebacker Daryl Smith) to be a solid contributor for the Ravens this year, Brown will not fare much better than incumbent starter Mike Adams for the Steelers.

If trading for Brown is what the Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Todd Haley believe a move that can salvage their season (and perhaps their jobs), they could not be more wrong.