Two Commentary Articles From PBP

[Nublar7]

Obsession with shoes makes Dolphins players sole mates:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2005/09/25/a9b_darlington_0925.html

The question was a simple one.

"Why do you have so many shoes?" I asked Dolphins offensive guard Rex Hadnot, pointing toward nine pairs of size 15 Nike cleats piled at the bottom of his locker.

Hadnot looked up at me from his chair, his eyes glaring as a reminder that he could easily make room for me in his stomach.

"You've got to be comfortable, man," Hadnot said.

Fair enough, I responded. But one more question: "Have you actually worn all of those shoes?"

That's it. I'm toast. Dead as Dave Wannstedt's NFL coaching career.

"You need to, like, break them in and stuff, man," Hadnot said.

Then, in a moment of sudden clarity, Hadnot glanced at the mountain of shoes. He glanced back at me. Then back at the shoes.

"You know," he said, his eyes focused on his locker, "I don't have any idea why I've got all those shoes."

It was a glorious revelation. So, will he finally rid himself of this shoe domination?

"Now why would I do that?" he said, noting that his contract with Nike lands him nearly 20 pairs of shoes a year. "They're free."

Clear thinking needed on player concussions:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2005/09/25/a9b_bedard_0925.html

Zach Thomas likes to joke about all the concussions he has had in his life.

There was the one in college at Texas Tech. And two years ago against the Redskins, when the sideline "flipped" in his mind. He had four in two weeks back when Jimmy Johnson was the coach. Oh, and the yard gate knocked Thomas for a loop when he was in fifth grade  his first concussion.

But Thomas is still ticking in his 10th season and doesn't take concussions too seriously. Even though the deaths of former Steelers Terry Long and Mike Webster were blamed in part on the effects of football-related head trauma.

"Just part of the game," Thomas said.

Thomas may not be worried, but somebody in the Thomas family is.

"You bet I am," his mother, Bobby Thomas, said from the family home in Pampa, Texas. "One of my biggest worries is about the concussions. After the last one he had, I thought it won't be too soon whenever he decides he wants to quit playing. It will kind of be a relief for me."

Hearing that Webster, a Hall of Fame center, and Long, a guard, died at age 50 and 45, respectively, gave Bobby Thomas more pause. So did the death last week of boxer Leavander Johnson. "There's so much we don't know," she said.

 

[Maynard the Hammer]

thanks.

but are these the only subjects saban is allowing these guys to discuss?