It is doubtful that I am the only person in the country who doesn’t care that LeBron James took his act to Miami. He’s from Ohio and knows how crappy the weather is in Cleveland, even though the game of pro basketball is played indoors. Too bad, actually. The NBA ought to have some outdoor games like the NHL does with their Winter Classic — the 2011 game is New Year’s Day at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. I would love to see Shaq and Kobe and some of the big men shoot it out in Lambeau Field in January.

Of the most popular pro sports, basketball is my least favorite. That is part of the reason I didn’t care one way or the other about the super-hyped LeBron Sweepstakes. Sure it was a lot about LeBron saying: “Look at me.” Although the whole deal with Dewayne Wade and Chris Bosh along with the possibility of Hall of Famer Pat Riley coaching, if he returns to the bench from the Heat front office, could turn out to be one of the most brilliant moves in professional sports. Or not. I just don’t give a flying puck.

One thing I will say for pro basketball: Stamina. But that is a quality required in large doses in many other sports, yes, even in futbol. Oh, and there is one more word essential to the NBA: Money. Lots and lots of money.

Those poor schmoes in Cleveland who had their hearts broken by LeBron King James, one has to believe, just didn’t have enough money. What makes a young man stray long distances from the only home he has ever known? Money. Or the military. Or a two-timing girlfriend. Or college. Or the circus. Or San Francisco. There is a long list after all. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe the “Deal of the Century” involving the Miami Heat doesn’t evolve around money. But I don’t think so.

That is because money is so, so important to so, so many people. Why this woman from the billing office of a local Catholic hospital was just plain un-Holy this morning when she called me out of my late-sleeping slumber and asked why I hadn’t paid my bill. The reason was that it was a worker’s comp claim my employers owe. But you’d have thought I had taken all of the money straight out of this woman’s pocketbook and snatched one of her babies. She ended the phone conversation with one of those really snide “Have a nice days.”

I had a lady tell me “Have a nice day” at the dump other day. As a matter of fact, she got really into telling me to have a nice day and then finally said she hoped God would take away my pain that made me so angry. I told her that He needn’t bother, that my pain would disappear in about 10 seconds when she was no longer in my rear view mirror.

Well, I’ve strayed off the path now. My whole train of thought has just jumped the tracks and started folding down a cliff like a Cajun accordion at a fais-do-do. Ay-yee!

It is time to put a merciful end to this post. So keep cool and well fed. Until next time, this is your old buddy EFD saying “Your feet only smell when someone can smell them.”

Funny how one school starts talking. The others start talking. Pretty soon you got a lot of chaos and an athletic conference ends like a pair of old, ragged underwear. Not a pretty sight! The Big 12 seems as if it is folding before our very eyes. Colorado has accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10, Nebraska could joint the Big 10. The Pac 10 would also like to have Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

How old is the Big 12 anyway? Like 15 years old, or something? It came as a merging of some Big 8 and Southwest Conference schools. Some didn’t get to come along to the big party from the SWC like Rice, SMU, TCU, Arkansas. Hey, it couldn’t have been the Big 16 could it?

Of course some of these schools are matched sets because of rivalries. You can’t have Texas without Texas A & M and vice versa. Ditto for Okie and OSU. Or even Texas Tech and Texas A & M.

Then there is “poor” little Baylor at Jerusalem on the Brazos. With Ken Starr as its president. What would Ken Starr do? WWKSD? Impeach ‘em. Impeach the whole mess of them, that’s what.

“It’s time to bring in the 12th Man.”

I say have an all Texas conference: Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, Rice, Baylor, SMU, University of Houston, UT El Paso and maybe rotate two of the bigger but less well-known schools for a ninth and tenth every couple of years. University of North Texas one year. Texas State the next. Lamar, once it gets its revived team on its legs. Stephen F. Austin, I’m kind of biased there, of course. Maybe the two that does the best drawing revenue and, of course, plays well might just get tenure. Texas football is where it’s at!

But that is as likely to happen as Bear Bryant returning from the dead and herding all the young Aggie team out to Junction for practice.

Money is what it’s all about. Who gives the best deal with the most TV appearances, bowls, all that jive. Forgive me for being football-centric but that is all I really care all that much about when it comes to college sports. I know basketball is huge, Texas and Rice, big time in baseball and Baylor? Tort law and intelligent design?

This will either be really good for college, especially football, or really bad. I can’t see how it might turn out in between. But that’s me.

This year, unlike many years before, I am pumped up about the Super Bowl.

What is this, the 42nd National Football League championship, or XLIVif you like the NFL’s Roman numeral version? I am sure there is some reason why the NFL has used Roman numerals all these years, but I don’t know why and don’t care. I just know that I probably haven’t really looked forward to watching the Super Bowl — for football and not the commercials — since probably No. XX. That was when Mike Ditka’s wacky bunch of Chicago bears, including Jim McMahon and William “Refrigerator” Perry as well as superb running back Walter “Sweetness” Payton played and beat New England.

There is some irony in that particular game as it relates to XLIV. That game was played in the Louisiana Superdome, home of NFC champs the Saints. Also, the Bears’ defensive coach, who said that the team had wasted its draft pick earlier that year on “The Fridge” Perry, was none other than Buddy Ryan, whose son, Rex, was head coach of AFC championship loser New York Jets. Buddy Ryan is a whole ‘nother story in itself. All the ties are like playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, only its not.

Wonder if the referees stopped at Best Buy in Beaumont on the way to Miami?

But yeah, I plan to be in front of the TV starting about 1 p.m. Sunday to catch all the hype leading up to the game. That is because of the New Orleans Saints. I suppose I have been rooting for the Saints since they returned to play in the Superdome after the devastating Hurricane Katrina. I know that isn’t being a fan for very long in their 40-something year history, but after all, they really sucked for so many years.

That sounds rude, I know. But I am not the only one on the Saints’ bandwagon who is riding along and doesn’t, frankly my dear, give a damn what anyone says.

I saw the evacuees from Katrina pouring across the Texas line into my area of Southeast Texas. Then, they had to evacuate once more as Hurricane Rita pounded just about the easternmost fourth of Texas. Even though I was 80 miles away from the Gulf during Rita, it was “hurricaning” outside. Then came Hurricane Humberto in 2007, which I slept through. Next was Hurricane Ike the following year which I watched for most of the night as it whipped through Beaumont.

Fortunately, I didn’t suffer much from any of those storms except for the lack of electricity for a number of days. But my neighbors in Southeast Texas  and Southwest Louisiana did, some greatly. So you might say my cheering on the long-suffering Saints was a matter of “hurricane-related empathy.”

It is going to be a more difficult task to root for the Saints too, because they are playing the Indianapolis Colts. I like them as well. Or rather, I like Peyton Manning, who many think IS the Colts. But I will not have near the difficulty in loyalty that Manning’s family will. Dad Archie, of course, was the Saints quarterback in the bad old days. Thus, Giants quarterback and Peyton’s brother Eli, and non-pro football brother Cooper, all have ties to the Saints. So did Petyon. Rick Reilly, the ESPN Magazine scribe who is without a doubt one of the best sportswriters around these days, wrote a piece on ESPN.com the other day about the Manning family’s dilemma. It sounds damn near excrutiating, not only because of their family ties to New Orleans and the Saints, but because of what it means for the Saints to be playing in the Super Bowl after years of failure and then Katrina.

“In summary,” wrote Reilly, “you must either have had your heart removed by corn tongs or be in the Manning family if you’re not pulling for the Saints.”

I couldn’t agree more.

I suspect the “the game” reference probably holds true in the Twin Cities  where the folks have more reason than most cities to hold a grudge against Texas. There was a little play that became known as the “Hail Mary Pass” in 1975 in which Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach hit wide receiver Drew Pearson on a 50-yard desperation pass. Pearson caught it and backed into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. Vikings players and fans protested then and now that Pearson was guilty of offensive pass interference on cornerback Nate Wright who fell to the ground during the reception. The TD knocked the Vikings out of the playoffs.

As an aside, some nastiness ensued after the play including a ref getting struck on the head by a whiskey bottle thrown from the stands. The assault knocked the zebra out with his wound requiring 11 stitches.

Gerry Fraley of The Dallas Morning News points out a laundry list of other reasons why Texas is the source of some understandable animus in the Twin Cities. This includes Dallas stealing the NHL team, the lopsided trade to Dallas for Herschel Walker and former Vikings owner and Texan Red McCombs threatening to move the team unless he got a new stadium. All in all it sounds more like a plot to an old “Maverick” episode than sports.

Despite the animosity and the fact its the Cowboys the Vikings that are up against each other in the NFL Wild Card match, the game has some interesting pieces involved. This includes the aged Brett Favre who still can throw a football pretty far and the Cowboys QB Tony Romo whom I heard a sports commentator on the radio today describe as a “cute puppy with  his hat on backwards.”

Seriously, Dallas has come a long way. I might even root for them. I am not one of those Cowboys bandwagon fans. I once long ago was a fan then I got turned off by that whole “America’s Team” thing. Since then I pretty much hated the Cowboys until that loudmouth Terrell Owens left. I would like to see coach Wade Phillips do good. As  I have mentioned before he is from my area — having graduated in the same Texas county in which I reside (Jefferson) at Port Neches-Groves High School. Plus, he is the son of probably my favorite all-time coach, Bum Phillips, who helped the Oilers provide some excitement in their games.

At the very least I plan to watch the game. As for the others, well New Orleans is my favorite NFL team left right now since the Texans didn’t make the playoffs. In the AFC, since the Texans didn’t have the cards in their favor I guess either Indianapolis or San Diego would do as my preference. I would like to see a New Orleans and Indianapolis Super Bowl or a Saints-Chargers Super Bowl. So many times though, I don’t get what I wish for so …

Have a fine football weekend.

All I can say to this is reflected in one of the acronyms used in the headline above, AFT. The acronym, pronounced in the phonetic alphabet we used in the military, is pronounced “Alfa Foxtrot Tango.” I don’t know if that is a widely-used acronym but it’s one I chose to use of the ilk popularized in the Stephen Coonts book and later movie “Flight of the Intruder.” That acronym was “Alfa Mike Foxtrot,” for “adios mother f***er.” I use the acronym “AFT” to mean “Alfa Foxtrot Tango,” to stand for “about f***ing time.”

I am sure there is an explanation why just now, in January 2010, the H1N1 shots are now finally available. The VA has known about the so-called “Swine Flu” for quite some time. A Houston VA press release from October noted:

“The H1N1 Flu is of concern to experts in the medical community because it is so new that very few people have any protection or “immunity” which means the virus may easily find vulnerable people to infect. As a result, it may spread rapidly to large numbers of people. Therefore, health care facilities may find it difficult to care for large numbers of patients with severe illness.”

The October release went on to say the hospital had received 300 doses of the vaccine and listed the priority of those who should get the vaccine. What they didn’t say was did the patients in those priority groups actually receive the shots? What do you want to bet that if I asked the Houston VA who, in fact, received the 300 initial doses I would be told that information cannot be released due to privacy laws?

I said there was probably an explanation why it’s taken so long to get the H1N1 shots to the general patient population within the MEDVAMC kingdom which includes outpatient clinics in Beaumont, Lufkin, Conroe and Galveston. I didn’t say it was a good explanation.

Fortunately, no large outbreaks of the Swine Flu have occured among veterans in this portion of Texas, at least no large outbreaks that come to mind. But the H1N1 is still a pandemic so it’s fortunate there aren’t more dead, especially older or our youngest, veterans.

When the pandemic is over, I hope the VA as a whole will do a thorough after-action review of their reaction to the outbreaks. I’m sure they will, but hopefully it will be honest and not just the same old glazed over horse s**t one seems to see coming from one VA report after another. The whole VA pharmaceutical system needs a careful going-over as well.  I can’t help but think — with such vast differences in medication given from one VA hospital system to another — that the acquisition of medications might be ripe for some kind of corruption. I’m not saying that’s the case, but it’s a suspicion.

Nevertheless, it’s AFT that the Swine Flu shots are available and unless I get the flu first or the VA runs out, I plan to get my vaccine during my next regular appointment in two weeks.

Something’s rotten in Austin

Only a few thoughts to follow up on last night’s “Pasadena Massacre.” I am talking about the Citi BCS National Championship in which Texas QB Colt McCoy was knocked out of the game the first rattle out of the box. I think The Regents should just pay Mack Brown all those millions and move defensive coordinator and heir-apparent Will Muschamp up to head coach.

Man, the game just turned to Bevo poo after freshman Garrett Gilbert was sent in to replace McCoy. I don’t fault Gilbert. I think he showed some flashes of not-badness. It just seemed the game had been choreographed like a Broadway production starring McCoy and the stand-in hadn’t been properly trained to know where the other cast members were supposed to stand.

Gilbert made a few bad passes. He was supposed to, he is a freshman. He also threw some passes that should have been caught. It was if the hearts and souls of the remaining offensive players flew off to the locker room when McCoy departed with his injured shoulder.

Although the score, 37–21 Alabama, doesn’t really reflect it, the Texas defense looked pretty awesome. Alabama QB Greg McElroy was sacked a season-high five times. That is why I think the loss falls mainly on Mack Brown. It was like he never thought of the possibility his star quarterback and field marshal would get hurt. And since the defense was the bright  spot for Texas and that Brown has made defensive guru Muschamp his replacement, Brown should have himself replaced, at head coach at least. They could keep Brown in recruiting and PR. He seems to really excel there.

After watching the game, I believe that Texas could have won if McCoy had not been knocked out of the game. But that’s not a given. Running back Mark Ingram brought back visions of “The Earl of Texas,” that being Earl Campbell. Both were backs which reminded me of Hurricane Rita blasting her way through the Pineywoods. There wasn’t anyone able to stop her. The same goes for Earl and the Tide’s Ingram. As I heard one caller to a sports talk show say this afternoon, the game was one “played by boys against men.” In a way, the caller was right.

Still, you have to wonder what would have been had McCoy not been injured. And you wonder what round McCoy will go in the NFL draft who picks him. Also, I heard it said that Alabama’s McElroy had never lost a football  game since the eighth grade. How do  you think he will feel when he gets to the NFL and finally loses that first game?

So I go with something not important to millions worldwide, but nonetheless important here in the United States — the National Championship.

I say only the national championship because probably more people know what I am talking about with those two words than do not. That is, the four or five people who actually read this blog. The game tonight is formally titled the Citi BCS National Championship. The first two words make me cringe when I say that: “Citi,” as in bank whose tele-support people can give me major pains in the ass, and “BCS” for Bowl Championship Series a.k.a. Big Crappy System. I have a credit card for my job, a requirement of my job actually, through Citi. And, like many others, I think the BCS stinks as a way to pick champions. The simple way to improve picking champions involves playoffs. Thus more games. Thus more TV revenue, one would think. Thus perhaps not as many fans with their noses out of their collective joints over their teams either not making the cut or losing the games.

One also would not have to lose any bowls in such a system although I don’t think it would hurt to cut a few here or there since there are 34 bowls. I think that’s a bit much.

Texas is the underdog in the game, which is good in a way. I like underdogs, mostly. But I am rooting for the Longhorns. I know some of my more rabid Texas A & M friends and family might not like that. Some are so rabid they want to see A & M lose any game, period. That’s kind of how I used to feel about the Dallas Cowboys. I still am not much of a Cowboys fan but under certain situations I like to see them win.

I’m not going to analyze the upcoming game because I only know a little about each team having seen them play a few times and I speak of, mostly, Texas. All I can say is I hope it’s a good, clean contest and perhaps without the insanity some such games, including ones Alabama played, have produced. The 1954 Cotton Bowl comes to mind during which the Crimson Tide’s fullback Tommy Lewis jumped from the bench as he saw Rice halfback Dick Moegle heading up the sidelines toward a score. Lewis then tackled Moegle — keep in mind he had been sitting on the bench  — prompting the zebras to give Rice a touchdown and Moegle a 95-yard run. Rice won, maybe for the last time or so it seems, 28–6.

There is a lesson there. Maybe more than one but probably the biggest being don’t go on the field when your butt is supposed to be planted to the bench. See there, it’s pretty simple. Go ‘Horns!

 Otherwise the weekend was one of mostly watching all my football teams go down in flames save one. The Longhorns squeaked by Nebraska and thus will play in the National Championship against the Crimson Tide. I have to be almost apologetic in saying that I root for Texas because, as most of my friends are Republicans while I am a proud Democrat, most of my friends and relatives are also Aggies. Many are such Texas A & M fans that they will root for any team but “TU” or what they call The University of Texas (at Austin). That I don’t understand. It seems like we are all Texans and we would support a fellow Texas team fighting for the national title. But not so many Aggies.

 My high school fell in quarterfinals. I wasn’t surprised because Newton played No. 1 Daingerfield. My college alma mater, Stephen F. Austin was destroyed in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs — formerly NCAA Div. I-A — by No. 1 Montana. University of Houston was beaten by Eastern Carolina for the Conference USA championships. Last but certainly least in the NFL, my Texans got whipped by Jacksonville and slipped to 5–7.

 So yes that one-second nail-biter between the Cornhuskers and the Longhorns was my little bright light. Well, the Saints won in overtime but I didn’t get to see that because Fox cut completely the Saints’ exciting OT finish off for the Cowboys miserable loss to the Giants. I mean, I like Wade Phillips and all but give me a break.

 Needless to say it was a disappointing weekend. Not much snow. My favorite teams were mostly left trampled in the mud. My feet continue to hurt including my non-broken toe that feels now like a broken foot. Yet, the world continues to turn. One cannot watch cable TV news without everything being laid down in the context of politics. With every breath that Obama takes a new poll is released. Will his exhales excite the independent white Christian women or will his inhaling raise his numbers with the black male Muslim upper class cross dressers? Stay tuned. I’m sure we will find out eventually.

 First off, Afghanistan and the upshot of President Obama ordering 30,000 additional troops into whatever it is we are fighting over there.

 Flip a coin. Heads, you approve of the additional troops. Tails, you disapprove. That is how I look at the announcement of additional forces. I initially thought we should have gone into Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. Today, I’m not so sure. The only thing I am sure of is that we shouldn’t have invaded Iraq. That war is what one might call unjust, not to mention illegal. I haven’t heard it called “Bush’s Folly” or “Shrub’s Folly,” but it should go down in history that way.

 If the search and destroy mission for Osama bin Laden and gang should  not have been a federal criminal investigation — with help from the military and CIA — many of the troops and material poured into Iraq (not to mention the billions of dollars) could have went to Afghanistan.

 I guess the American in me believes that we should find some kind of victory both in Iraq and Afghanistan and leave. We need to figure out what it is we are there to do because I am not sure what our goals are now in those countries.

 As for Obama sending more trooops to augment the more than 70,000 already there — and the allies sending 5,000 more to help the almost 40,000 NATO and other foreign forces in Afghanistan — I say: “Let’s see if it works out.” He has offered a timetable, albeit a seemingly short one.  So if the situation doesn’t improve by whenever it is Obama wants a withdrawal to begin, then we get mad and jump up and down and say: “Bad Obama. Bad, bad Obama.” This seems as good as anything else I can imagine.

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 Next subject. Le Tigre. El Tigre.  Ang Tigre. The Tiger.

 Tiger, Tiger, Tiger.

 Why is the mainstream media doing stories on what was, initially, a rather odd car crash involving Tiger Woods?  Do viewers and readers of the media have such uninteresting lives that they MUST know the details of all the indiscretions of this sports (sports?) star? I have the most uninteresting life  imaginable, at least at the moment, and I don’t care about Tiger Woods” intimate moments. Let me be a bit more specific. I DON’T GIVE A RAT’S RECTUM ABOUT THE TIGER WOODS SCANDAL.

 Tiger Woods has not been elected to greatest golfer in the world or highest-paid sports star in the world. We do not own Tiger Woods. He has no obligation to tell the public zip. Sure, every star of every kind blames the media when things start to go South. But if anyone has a case against the media, this time it is Tiger Woods.

 It makes me both angry and sad to see great newspaper and broadcasting outlets report the latest on this scandal. Why don’t they report something really earth-shaking, like this?

 But showing appreciation for those who are serving or who have served this year will not be limited to free dinners from Golden Corral on Monday,  November 16, and Applebee’s on Wednesday evening (Veterans Day).

 Lowe’s is offering a 10 percent discount on in-store merchandise up to purchases of $5,000 from Nov. 6 through Veterans Day. This is according to media reports I have seen. I saw nothing on their Web site about it. I would call first and ask if interested. Home Depot is likewise offering a 10 percent discount through Veterans Day. Check the Web site article for lists of limitations.

 I am unsure how long any of these corporations have shown their appreciation for veterans other than Golden Corral. The buffet and grill restaurant has held the Veterans feast for the past eight years. Their Web site notes they have served more than 2.1 million meals to active duty military and veterans during these occasions.

 Applebee’s requires some kind of proof of service such as a picture of the veteran in uniform, military or retired military ID card, DD-214 or veterans organization card. Their list doesn’t include a VA patient ID card, so I wouldn’t count on that getting you a free dinner. Applebee’s is also offering a limited number of items on their menu for the gratis meal — six to be exact — but they all look pretty good.

 Golden Corral does not require proof of ID. I still would take some though. You never know if your waiter understands the rules and having your papers in order might avoid having to get a manager and making a scene. I have been only once for Golden Corral’s meal, a couple of years ago, and I wasn’t asked for an ID.

 A number of other restaurants and businesses are giving free or discounted meals or merchandise across the country including, or did so over the weekend. Some of these also honor those uniformed folks serving in public safety such as police, fire and EMS. You just need to check around and see, I suppose, because I don’t have a full list. I wish I did.

WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT

  Disappointing would be an appropriate word to describe yesterday’s Houston-Indianapolis game.

  The Texans came in with a respectable 5–3 record for the first time in their history against the undefeated Colts. Still, there was no way the Texans could beat Indianapolis, right? Well, even though they weren’t throwing hand grenades or playing horseshoes, they almost pulled off an upset. Even more, the Texans should have won this one.

  A big examination was taking place on Beaumont-Houston’s ESPN Radio, the Ticket, this afternoon, as to the blame for the Texans 20–17 loss to the Colts. It was a controversial fumble at the Colt’s one-yard line by Houston running back Ryan Moats, said some. It was flat out turnovers and stupid penalties, said others. It was kicker Kris Brown, still others said while you could almost see heads nodding through the many radio receivers throughout the Houston-Beaumont area.

 Brown could easily be seen as the goat that ate the chance to knock off the Big Dog Colts. The Colts saw their lead cut to a narrow margin at the end of the first half when the Texans’ kicker perfectly nailed a 56-yard field goal. Brown, coming into the game, had a perfect extra point record and he left with that intact at 25-for-25 upon leaving Indy. He wasn’t exactly Mr. Automatic with 9-for-13 coming into the game but neither was he Mr. Aromatic. That path to Mr. Smelly quickly changed in the estimation of some Texans fans when Brown had a chance to send the game into overtime. 

 But just as plane crashes hardly ever have one cause, neither do lost football games. Somehow the clock quickly ticked off until it was stopped at one second — amazing in itself that Houston didn’t lose because of poor time management. Brown seemed like a sure shot for a 42-yarder to tie after kicking one a very respectable 56 yards. However, the ball went up and up and just freaking missed the goal with a veer to the left.

  Well, Coach Dan Kubiak thought his team did okay considering they were playing Peyton Manning’s Colts. I have to say I feel the same way although, as I mentioned before, I am very disappointed.

 As for one goat. It wasn’t Kris Brown. It wasn’t one play. It wasn’t the refs. It wasn’t Moats’ fumble. It was all of those wrapped up with penalties that were just dumb, though as I have noted  here before I sure as hell couldn’t have done better.

 The Texans now are neither down nor are they out. They have to play the Colts again at the end of this month and beat them. They have to beat the Titans again the week after next week’s bye. That theoretically should be easy against a now 2–6 team that only picked up its second win just yesterday by beating the equally lackluster 49ers. But theories are like a**holes, everybody’s got one and every once in awhile something goes wrong with them. Then you got your Rams, Seahawks, Jaguars and Dolphins in no particular order followed at the end by the Patriots. The Patriots. Yes.  Uh-huh.

 So the Texans can still make the playoffs. Hell, they could go to the Super Bowl. I mean anything can happen and does happen in football, just look at Terrell Owens or John “Sandy Baby” Riggins — remember the latter’s drunken encounter with Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor? Perhaps those aren’t the best examples.

Football ended for Chester on Oct. 23 after what turned out to be their final game, which was against High Island. In that game, seven Yellowjacket players suffered season-ending injuries, according to the Beaumont Enterprise. With a student body of 58 attending Chester High School — located in a town of only 256 about 90 miles northeast of Houston — the football team is comprised of 20 of the 26 boys who attend classes there. Another student broke his foot the week before. You do the math.

Yes, the Yellowjackets could still field a team provided no one got hurt in the last two games. A team with a total squad of 12 also would not provide any rest for the weary. I can’t speak for the six Chester students who don’t play. Kids have all kinds of reasons why they don’t get into organized sports. The closest I got was as a varsity football and basketball equipment manager. Nevertheless, the coach decided it best to end the season while the school still had some able bodies for basketball season. That’s a joke, although I realize a bad one. The result was that the Yellowjackets forfeited its final two games.

The abrupt ending to the season may have left some kids and fans heartbroken but the coach’s decision was both without recourse and smart.

Canceling was smart because had more players suffered incapacitating injuries a whole raft of wrath might have been heaped upon the coach and administration’s head like players scrambling for a goal-line fumble. Society has become less tolerant with the idea of “playing hurt.” And with recent hearings about football brain injuries suffered by NFL players — the pros also being shown to influence youth football safety levels – the idea of “shaking off” an injury seems destined for such discredited medical practices as “bleeding” someone for various illnesses.

One must recognize the difference between traumatic brain injury as well as other potentially deadly and disabled syndromes related to concussions, and the normal broken bones and  dislocations which are common in high school football. Even concussions, or getting one’s “bell rung,” are not unusual. Two Chester players reportedly suffered concussions while the rest of the injuries along with a host of broken  bones and dislocations, according to Beaumont TV station KFDM. The Chester coach called the number of injuries incurred freak accidents.

But even orthopedic injuries these day in football at the high school level have been under scrutiny along with head injuries, all wrapped up under the category of sports safety.

A number of factors bring safety to the forefront of sports in general such as the size and athleticism of youth who workout on weights and some of whom take illicit steroids. Protective sports gear has also improved as has emergency medical care. Some notable cases, however,  exhibit tragic holes in protection from injuries.

The case of Will Benson is a particular example of gaps in safety.

Benson was a 17-year-old quarterback for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin who died after suffering cerebral hemorrhage during a game in 2002. Benson collapsed and was looked at by the team’s trainer and doctor but no ambulance or emergency medical technicians were stationed on the scene. Problems with the ambulance finding and accessing the patient were reasons almost a half-hour elapsed between the time Benson collapsed and was rolled into emergency surgery.

It wasn’t until 2007 that Benson’s dad was able to convince Texas legislators that sports safety needed improvement and “Will’s Law” was passed among which provisions include a requirement of safety training for coaches and trainers.

I have to admit that I read about Will Benson’s tragic case for the first time today. I suppose I have become somewhat numb following news of kids dying from sports injuries. What shocks me most is that in 45 years of watching high school football I can’t remember seeing  a game that did not have an ambulance standing by. This was even the case back in the day when EMTs — which I was certified as for 10 years — was just another unknown acronym and funeral homes usually operated the ambulances. This is even in the smallest of East Texas towns in which I grew up.

The machismo of the still overwhelmingly male sport of football has long dictated toughness as a rite of passage. One must decide whether such concepts are all they’re made out to be. But as was emphasized in the macho profession of firefighting in which I was involved some five years one can’t help someone in need if you are unable to show up. Translation: Don’t drive like a bat out of hell and all crazy en route to an emergency.

If the logical extension is taken for football, you can’t play if you’re hurt really bad. That can be taken for what it’s worth if logic can be applied amongst the emotional world of football.