On the TunneySide of Sports January 18, 2021 #831 Up next… Keep Your Forks
After further review… It’s an American tradition that’s part of our folklore. After mom or grandma planned, prepared, cooked and served the big family dinner on Sunday afternoon, and while the dishes were being cleared, she would say, “Keep your forks!” To all those crowded around the table that meant, yum, somethin’s good a-comin’! Some might visualize it as pie a la mode, or chocolate cake, but whatever lay ahead, it was gonna be good!
After our horrendous 2020 year, with massive COVID-19 illnesses and deaths and with our normal lifestyle uprooted, can we look forward to an improved 2021? Perhaps the Cleveland Browns and maybe the Buffalo Bills are willing to keep their forks close at hand. Both had their forks ready to go in 2020 and did very well. Both made the NFL playoffs where they hadn’t been for a long time. Their fans could see it coming during this convoluted 2020 season what with the virus raising its ugly head from time-to-time and teams not knowing who would be healthy to play on any given Sunday.
Then, too, some teams who were projected to be playing in Super Bowl LV next month didn’t even make the playoffs. Are their fans already writing-them-off for the 2021 season or just hoping for a successful NFL draft in April?
I can’t help thinking of Herm Edwards’ attitude when his New York Jets in 2002 went 1-3 in October. Edwards was facing a questioning room full of frustrated reporters (is there any other kind?) who were challenging their coach if he was going to write this season off. Coach Edwards fumed as he responded, “You play to win the game.”
“Hello? You play to win the game! That’s the great thing about sports, you play to win! I don’t care if you don’t have any wins, you play to win! If you’re telling me it doesn’t matter, get out, ’cause it does matter!” His response was emphatic. It’s a central belief of his, through his playing and coaching career, and in his personal life as well. Edwards, after tenures at New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, has just finished two successful seasons as head coach at Arizona State University, where his Sun Devils were able to only play four games, winning two. This year ASU is pre-season ranked in the top 25 of the NCAA with their Sun Devil forks in hand.
Will you keep your fork handy for an improved 2021?
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Be safe!
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