Logging

TV:  Hard Knocks

They cut the tight end Les Brown this week.  You can see it on the screen - he's just too small.  His head is smaller than the rest of the guys, the guys he's playing against.  He got pushed around on blocks.  He got tuned up by cornerbacks.  It seems obvious to me he isn't an NFL player.  They tell him to go bulk up.  What does that mean?  Hit the juice and come back next year?  Also, guy hasn't played in several years.  I just don't see it happening.

I don't find this show depressing.  I find it inspiring.  Football is giving all these people - the players, the coaches - something they can do they feel passionate about.  The sadness and the tragedy of not making the team or retiring or getting traded are because what they are trying to accomplish is great -- to rise above all the other amazing athletes and competitors.  These men get to see how they measure up.  So much of the rest of the world is spent wallowing away in niches or in provincialism.  These guys get to compete against the best and see how they stack up.  What an amazing opportunity.  And of course, most fail.  Most get cut, most have short careers on mediocre teams.  Guess what?  That's life.  Not everyone is a winner.  These guys get to experience it in real-time, in a heightened environment at a young age.  I think very few of them would trade in this experience - whether they succeed or fail.

Watching this show makes me think pro athletes deserve the money they make.  And makes me think the Miami Dolphins are going to be lousy this year.