I am not a professional wrestling fan, so excuse the cut and paste job, but one of the worst incidents in the history of wrestling was the Death of Owen Hart:
"On May 23, 1999, Hart fell to his death in Kansas City, Missouri, during the Over the Edge pay-per-view event. Hart was in the process of being lowered via harness and grapple line into the ring from the rafters of Kemper Arena for a booked Intercontinental Championship match against The Godfather. In keeping with the Blazer's new 'buffoonish superhero' character, he was to begin a dramatic entrance, being lowered to just above ring level, at which time he would act 'entangled,' then release himself from the safety harness and fall flat on his face for comedic effect—this necessitated the use of a quick release mechanism. It was an elaboration on a Blue Blazer stunt done previously on the Sunday Night Heat before Survivor Series in 1998. While being lowered into the ring, Hart fell 78 feet (24 m), landing chest-first on the top rope (approximately a foot from the nearest turnbuckle,) throwing him into the ring.....Meanwhile, WWF television announcer Jim Ross repeatedly told those watching live on pay-per-view that what had just transpired was not a wrestling angle or story line and that Hart was hurt badly, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation.Hart was transported to Truman Medical Center in Kansas City. While several attempts to revive him were made, he died due to his injuries."
Now I didn't watch the incident, but it was all over the news.
When they carted Hart out of the arena, several witnesses stated that he was already dead and they were trying to resuscitate him.
Vince McMahon made the decision to make the wrestlers keep wrestling....
On the last Monday Night Football telecast of the 2022 NFL season, Bills safety Damar Hamlin made, what appeared to be, a routine tackle. Once the play ended, Hamlin popped up from the ground and then quickly collapsed.
The Bills' trainers hit the field immediately and by all accounts their quick actions helped to save his life. The critical nature of the events unfolded on live TV in front of shell-shocked teammates and a nationwide television audience. It was a rare telecast than was broadcast on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN+. As the ambulance pulled onto the field itself, it was very clear the gravity of the situation.
I saw accounts of the incident burn through my social media feeds and I turned on ABC about a half an hour after the play. I saw an emotional Booger McFarland struggling to find the right words and talking about the frailty of human life being more important than football.
Here is where things turn to speculation:
I asked out loud "if the NFL knows Hamlin died on the field, why isn't the game cancelled?" The ABC broadcasting team was very obviously talking around the word DEATH.
Then today I came across this article at the Daily Mail:
Joe Buck, love him or hate him, is a respected veteran announcer with over 30 years of broadcasting experience. Why would he lie?
Short answer is: He wouldn't.
Why would the NFL lie? To cover their asses.
Here's what I believe happened. Again, let me emphasize the words I believe.
I believe that the NFL wanted to resume the game and the Bills Coaches and Players, and the Bengals Coaches and Players, both agreed that they weren't playing. I believe the NFL said, "we'll give you a few minutes to think about it." And that's when the NFLPA got involved.
How can I make such a reckless claim? Because an hour after that tackle, ABC was chocking their broadcast full of commercials and the game still wasn't cancelled or postponed. ABC was showing Bills staff packing up equipment on the sidelines. It was evident to all that the game wasn't going to be played. Because the teams dictated to the NFL that the game was over, not the NFL dictating terms to the teams. Why wouldn't the NFL cancel almost immediately? Because they were trying to figure out how to play, there's no other explanation as to why they waited over an hour.
Now that it's in the public domain that Hamlin died TWICE, the NFL doesn't want to look like the heartless, corporate bastards that they are. They aren't upset that they're heartless, corporate bastards, they're upset that they're getting called out on it. The NFL is going to try to tell you that they were worried about logistics. It wasn't a one hour decision if the NFL WANTED TO POSTPONE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Players weren't calling their agents saying "please let us play."
One minute decision. That's it.
This should have been the thought process: Goodell, or one of his lackeys, "holy crap, a player just died we can't play." Conversation over.
What happened was an hours worth of behind the scenes haggling. Haggling that obviously wasn't meant for public discourse, or else the NFL wouldn't be trying to smudge Joe Buck's name.
Do I think that Roger Goodell is any better than Vince McMahon?
No.
No I don't.
Just a month ago, I wondered why more NFL players weren't seriously injured.
"I'm not up to speed on the rules of rugby, I don't know how someone doesn't die every week in that sport. If you asked me the most dangerous (mainstream) sport, I would probably say rugby. The point is, if you watch rugby and don't know the rules of the sport, it just looks like a bunch of guys trying to injure each other and step on one another. Same thing with the NFL. Because I grew up watching football, I know the nuances and the subtleties of the sport, even if the Cleveland Browns aren't good at them. For someone not familiar with the NFL, they are probably amazed that players aren't carried off on stretchers on every play. Bottom line, the NFL manages the violence that they market to fans. Their business model is violence. Whenever they cite safety, it is laughable. If the NFL was really worried about safety, they would address these 2 critical issues regarding player safety: Why is the average players' lifespan 20 years shorter than the average American's? - Montreal Gazette Why do 99% of NFL players have CTE post-mortem? - Military Times If the NFL's angle is that players are trading years off their life for money, that's awful cold. Maybe they should just admit that.....To me, the NFL looks like a company that doesn't care about its workers and only cares about its customers enough so they don't sue them. 'Hey stupid Fred Hunt, you just described every company in America.' Yeah....."
Comments