Best of 2019: Best of Everything Else

Super writer/critic extraordinaire Ty has already covered the best albums, the best movies, the best television shows, the best podcasts, and the best sports moments of 2019. Today I am going to give the rest of the stuff of 2019 some love. We will cover books, tech, video games, and a few other corners of society not given the top five/ten treatment by our publications. Let’s get started.

Best Video Game of 2019

Untitled Goose Game is the game we needed in our lives at this very moment in history. It appeals to young and old alike, and for very different reasons. I talked with a nine year old about the game, and then spun the game as an allegory for President Trump.

As for the game itself? You are a goose, and you are here to terrify a small village. You get from place to place by solving puzzles that involve your goose stealing things, scaring kids, and causing general mayhem.

It is awesome.

Best Movie Trailer for a Movie Released in 2019

This should have been the first trailer for Joker, but then Cats came along. A movie trailer needs to be memorable, and oh boy was the Cats trailer memorable for all the wrong reasons. The movie looked horrifying and stupid at the same time. I spent most of my time watching and rewatching the trailer asking myslef why would such an such actor be in this thing. My answers never came. Cats shows us that the best of us need to be told every now and then. The trailer was our first warning.

Best Movie trailer for a Movie Released after 2019

In 2019, the DC movie Universe started to catch up with Marvel. Aquaman came out in late 2018, but was the top movie in the early months of 2019. Shazam was a modest hit, and well like by the critics and the audience. Joker was a megahit and the most talked about movie of the year. Then around Thanksgiving we were given our first look at Wonder Woman 1984. The setting was spot on, the music was incredible, and the movie itself looks amazing. June 5th, 2020 cannot get here soon enough.

Best Book of 2019

Great new books come out every year. What is truly the best is usually left up to a person’s personal preference. Many times the best book we read in a given year came out in a previous year. The best book for 2019, or the most important to read book, is George Orwell’s 1948 novel 1984.

In 1948, George Orwell understood the dangers of screaming fake news and blind loyalty to a government that has an agenda counter to the benefit of the people they serve. In 2019 we live in 1984’s world, and we do not care. It could never happen to us is what we said when we first read Orwell’s dystopic story. In 2019 we need to read 1984 to acknowledge the fact we live in this society.

Best Tech of 2019

It is hard to judge new technology until we have seen it in action for a year or more. All the big tech sites with praise anything Apple, and then quietly say how bad the tech was years later, see the Apple Pencil and Macbook keyboard.

Apple is not alone in the blind praises bestowed by the tech media on the companies and personalities the writers so desperately want to have access to. That is why the Tesla Cybertruck is the best tech of the year.

The cybertruck look stupid, it will be grotesquely overpriced, and it will be bested by a real car company in the not so distant future, but the Cybertruck will be considered the first heavy duty pickup to normalize the idea of an all electric truck for the masses. In the not so distant future when Tesla is gone, the tech media will continue to remind us that the Cybertruck was “first”. They will not be totally wrong.

Best Written Thing on the Internet

In 2019 the website Deadspin.com entered a death spiral. The owners decided to lay down the law on the creators, and the creators revolted. The end of one of the most important internet sites had dawned. Before the true endgame, former editor Megan Greenwell wrote an insightful and scathing piece about the current state of internet journalism. We live in a world where traditional journalism, i.e. newspapers, radio, and televsion, has been sacrificed on the alter of capitalism. The internet was where real journalism was still breathing it’s survival breaths. Then the corporate raiders came for the internet. Clicks, likes, and trash were valued more than the talents of creators. Megan Greenwell saw this, was fired, and then left the last parting shot. Forget about all the “traditional” media think pieces on the world around us. Megan Greenwell gave us a true look into the future we are moving towards. Read her words and be wary.

Best Visual Thing on the Internet

The Peloton is stupid. Exercise is good, but the cult like, false view of wealth, that the Peloton sells is poisonous. The company/cult’s newest ad reflects the toxic image the overpriced spin bike is selling.

Enter a hero. Ryan Reynold’s owns a gin called Aviator and he sought out the woman in the Peloton ad. Together they made the greatest ad of the year. Who knew that gin was more progressive, and respectful, than an exercise device. Now we know.

These are just a few of the things I saw in 2019 that made an impact. While companies like Peloton and any trust fund idiot that owns a website tried to push society backwards, we had heroes like Megan Greenwell, Ryan Reynolds, and an untitled goose to give us the catharsis we need. In 2019 we were also gifted with the reminder of what was warned in 1948, and we were able to observe pop culture’s hubris with Cats. All in all there were scares and hope in the year 2019 of the common era.

Bring on the 20’s.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Drew Magary has Always Been Good. This Week He is Great.

Here is your medal Mr Magary

Today I want to throw some love to one of my personal favorite writers, Deadspin and GQ's Drew Magary. This past week, if fact in the past two days, I have read two of his articles that both speak so loudly to me, and both for totally different reasons. These pieces are truly unique to Magary's style, and I have not been able to stop thinking about either of them.

The first is one he wrote for The Takeout, where he calls out the "mayonnaise bullies". I am a person who doesn't like mayo, and I have never, ever heard the end of it. Everyone always tries to get me to try different kinds, mayo with added flavors, homemade mayo, pretty much any type of mayonnaise. Now, I am not opposed to eating tuna fish or potato salad, but I have my limits. But, I am a person that prefers a mustard or vinegar base. When it comes to things like coleslaw, give me vinegar. And when it comes to potato salad or tuna, I actually prefer a mustard base, preferably, a spicy mustard. Magary touches on the bullying in his piece so perfectly. He talks about people looking at him like he's an alien when he tells them he doesn't like any form of mayo. He talks about how he gets almost yelled at for his dislike. But he then goes into why he doesn't like it. He perfectly explains his distaste for thing, especially at a barbecue, that seem to need mayo. He talks about how restaurants are almost pushers with their need to put mayo on things. One certain aspect he brought up that made me scream, "YES", while reading, was the fact that some places don't even ask, they just put it on sandwiches and burgers. That is so mean and nasty. It is such an unexpected and unwanted surprise when getting something you don't expect to have mayo on it covered in mayo. I cannot get the Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich anymore because of the inordinate amount of mayo they put on it. Even when I ask for no mayo, there seems to be a light schmear of it regardless. It is infuriating. But, it is nice to know that Magary feels the same way I do, and he put it out there for a ton of people to read. I love it, and I agreed with pretty much everything he wrote in that piece.

The recent article Magary wrote for Deadspin spoke to me in a totally different way, but was my push to write about him today. Today he called out Barstool Sports. For the record, I have spent zero seconds on Barstool Sports, by choice, but from what I have gleaned since it was formed, it is a blog spot for the annoying Boston fan base. Oh, and they also like to steal material from people that actually worked hard to create it, only for it to be stolen by some hacks. I have also heard about their culture of cyber bullying, and how poorly they treat women. This is the same company that offered a lady a 50 dollar gift card after stealing her material. That is ridiculous. But, for Magary to go out and call them out, and fully expect to get blowback from their frat boy douche bag fan base, I applaud him. The fans of Barstool Sorts are meatheads on Rob Gronkowski's level. They are younger versions of Bill Simmons. They are the type of idiots that voted for this current government. They are mean and nasty and hide behind screen names. I loathe Barstool Sports. So does Magary. He called them out so perfectly. He talked about all their problems since they were formed. He talks about the cyber bullying, even citing certain incidents. He put up videos of the horrific Portnoy, the guy that started the site, basically shaming anyone for saying he was stealing from them. Barstool Sports is for morons, and Magary made that very clearly known. They don't know anything about sports, outside of Boston. They stink and they are rude. I liked this article so much because he really did put himself out there to be ridiculed, but he could care less, which will only further upset the morons that will say mean things to him. He wrote the piece with no fear, and again, I felt like applauding him after reading it. It is a truly great piece.

Drew Magary is a great writer, who isn't afraid to take chances and shake things up, and I respect the hell out of that. I, obviously, highly recommend these 2 pieces. But, beyond that, I recommend everything Magary writes. The dude rules and I cannot wait to read what he writes next.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He may hate mayo, but sriracha, Ty puts that stuff on everything. It is the bomb.

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Let Me Respectfully Explain How Tony Romo is Now the Most Overrated Sports Broadcaster Ever

Today I’m going to throw some short, but blazing, heat towards Tony Romo.

You have been warned.

He’s been getting a ton of praise lately for his ability to “call plays before they even happen”. Just go to any sports page or social media platform and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. People are acting like he’s an Oracle. Like he’s Nostradamus or some shit like that. I do have to give credit to 2 sites that have called him out recently. Both Deadspin and the ever brilliant Onion have talked a little shit about him too. Deadspin is a legit site, and they brought up some good points in their piece, suggesting we pull back the reins a bit on what makes for a great announcer. The Onion was much funnier with it, saying that he should have studied as much tape when he was a player, and maybe he would have won something of note. Their piece is a riot.

I’m mostly with Deadspin here. Sure, the fact that he will call out a play is cool, but most diehard sports fans do that weekly when they watch their team. My dad and I can successfully call about 90 percent of Michigan football’s offense. And we’ve been able to do that for 2 decades now. I have some friends that love teams like the Thunder and Bulls, and they know just about every time a pick and roll is coming. Hell, I know that when James Harden has the ball he’s going to pound it for 17 seconds and shoot a step back three or drive. I’m pretty sure even RD himself can tell you Joey Votto’s exact approach when he steps to the plate. I bet you he knows when Billy Hamilton is going to steal a base too. When you watch a sport enough it’s not that tough to notice commonalities. And when you’ve played the sport at the highest level I bet it’s even easier. My dad, my friends, RD and myself are never called “geniuses” or “wizards” or “oracles”. We are looked at as obnoxious fans.

So why does Romo get a pass? I think it’s because he was such a mediocre player, but he’s so likable, that the big time journalists and companies want him to be successful somehow some way. They will sing his praises when he calls a play before it happens. They also gave him a pass as a player although he never made it to an NFC title game. The praise for him is absurd and it drives me nuts that I have to keep hearing how great he is. He’s an okay announcer, but he’s no John Madden, Pat Summerall, Doris Burke, Chris Webber, Chauncey Billups or any other big time person that’s done this. He’s right in the middle for me.

I feel like Tony Romo has already reached overrated status as an announcer, and he did that way faster than as a player. Romo is mediocre at everything he does. He’s so blah. The accolades need to stop and stop now. He’s no genius.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He can speak for himself on not being a genius, but the head editor is fully on board with people calling RD a genius. This is the man that discovered Ty, the biggest genius on all of the internet.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

It is Time to Talk About What Peyton Manning has Done Wrong

Being a shill for bad pizza is one of many alleged crimes Peyton Manning should answer for.

Around this time last year, one or two weeks after the Super Bowl 49, all I heard about on ESPN and all other sports media shows was "deflategate". These outlets couldn't talk about this non story enough. ESPN itself has multiple channels that have sports programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and I'd venture to say that at least 10 to 12 hours, passed around all their channels, ran some kind of story related to "deflategate".

For those of you that forgot, "deflategate" centered around some under inflated footballs in a game that the Patriots won 45-7 over the Colts. I've written a bunch of stuff on this non story. It's stupid and pointless and it gives people another reason to hate on the Patriots. "Deflategate" is the most nonsensical story I've ever heard. Is it morally and ethically wrong? Yes. But, is it cheating? Absolutely not. Not even close. Go ask anyone QB out there and they will all say that they like to have the balls a specific way. When Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was asked about this, he said he always had the ball boys take a little air out of the ball for an easier grip. When Aaron Rodgers was asked about this, he said he likes the balls to be over inflated to give him a better grip. Basically, any QB will do anything to gain an advantage. "Deflategate" is akin to watering down base paths in baseball, or using a certain basketball in a certain arena. It's morally wrong, but people tend to look the other way. Who really cares and who really thinks that under inflated footballs helped the Patriots win? No one that has some sense and intelligence.

So, I figured that this year, with the recent allegations and new stories coming out involving Peyton Manning and sexual assault and having HGH delivered to his home, that ESPN would be all over this. These are actual real news stories involving another Hall of Fame QB also coming off a Super Bowl win. These allegations are much, much more serious than some under inflated footballs. I mean, we are talking assaulting a female staffer while a student at Tennessee and the HGH thing, that is steroids. With how much time is being dedicated to getting rid of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, I figured both these stories would be plastered all over all sports media.

Well, that is unfortunately not the case. I turned on ESPN the other day when "NFL Live" was on because I naturally assumed that they would talk about these allegations and nothing else. I was very wrong. Not only did they not talk about it, they didn't even bring it up. Instead, they focused the entire hour long show on potential free agents at the tight end position. That's right, they figured that potential free agent tight ends were more important to talk about than two major stories involving an extremely high profile player. Could ESPN be anymore in the bag for Peyton Manning and the Manning family? They are just as bad as Jim Nantz when it comes to the blinders they put on whenever someone bad mouths "The Sheriff". It is appalling that they refuse to talk about these terrible, sometimes heinous accusations being brought up. When Nantz was asked, prior to the Super Bowl, why he doesn't talk about the HGH allegations, he blew it off and called it a "non story". This coming from the same guy that chastised Tom Brady last year for some under inflated footballs. Talk about a double standard. When ESPN finally did get an interview with Manning himself about the HGH, it was a total puff piece and they did not press him one single time. They basically told him that he was right and sided with him, claiming that the people accusing him where just jealous of his fame and success. This is the same network that ran, and still runs stories on "deflategate". It's sickening that they continue to defend Manning and his family when someone in his home is getting HGH sent to them. That is a performance enhancing drug and those are supposed to be illegal. I guarantee if Tom Brady, or any Patriot for that matter, had been accused of using HGH, ESPN would have been all over it, calling them liars and cheaters. But, they won't do that to the great Peyton Manning. They assumed, how could someone so wholesome cheat? Why would he do that? He would never under inflate footballs.

Well, thanks to the New York Daily News, once again no ESPN involvement, we come to find out that Peyton Manning may not be as wholesome as we portray him to be. A story was released last week claiming that while he was enrolled at Tennessee, he shoved his naked butt, testicles and penis into the face of a female trainer. When she brought this crime, yes that is a crime, to the higher ups at Tennessee, they blew her off, basically telling her that a student athlete was more important than her dignity. Then, after Tennessee paid this lady off and she moved on to do many great things as a trainer, including working with Olympians, the Manning family wrote a book and destroyed this ladies credibility. She couldn't get a job anywhere because everyone believed the "wholesome" Peyton Manning over her. Why would he lie and why would his family and the University of Tennessee lie about this? Well, as I just mentioned, what he supposedly did is a crime. You cannot force your genitalia in someone's face. What the New York Daily News story reported was, he shoved his genitalia into her face when she was occupied helping someone else. This is a very vile, very disgusting thing for a person to do. I know the Manning defenders will say that he was a kid and kids do stupid things, but this goes beyond stupid, this is disturbing. I was a kid once too, and I never thought to jam my business into anyone's face. Not ever. That takes a special kind of disturbed person. Then, to trash this lady in a book, how classless and guilty does that make one look? If I believed him before, I definitely don't believe him or his dad now. To publicly go after someone like that, that is an admission of guilt. Trying to make someone else look bad for your past childish and abusive behavior, another admission of guilt in my opinion. 

I have not heard anyone at ESPN once talk about this. The only hint of anyone talking about it was on "PTI" and all Wilbon and Kornheiser said is, "he has to speak about these allegations". They didn't attack him the way they attacked the "deflategate" stuff last year. The only people I've heard talk about these allegations are, the aforementioned New York Daily News, a great twitter follow @SportsTalkVM and the wonderful Deadspin. They are the only people that have come out and chastised this childish, abusive and criminal behavior that Peyton Manning showed while at Tennessee and while in the NFL. ESPN won't touch this story with a ten foot pole because they are afraid that they may piss off a powerful football family, but it is in their business to talk about these heinous crimes because that's what good sports journalists do. They don't hide from major stories involving major stars. They sure as hell didn't hold back from attacking Tom Brady, Bill Belichek and the entire New England Patriots franchise when they may or may not have under inflated footballs. So, why do they just stand on the sidelines and give the Manning family a free pass? Are they in bed with Papa John's too? If they are, get out of that relationship because Papa John is a monster and his pizza stinks. Are they afraid of Roger Goodell and the NFL? Yes, they one hundred percent are afraid of that and that sucks because it is really cheapening their own product.

That brings me to what I really think is the problem, and that is the fact that ESPN is hiring unqualified yes men and women to be their anchors and broadcasters. Their bosses, the NFL included, tells them to jump and they ask, how high. They are brain washed people that are terrible at their jobs. These crimes that Manning is being accused of should be talked about a whole hell of a lot more, but until ESPN hires some competent people, I will continue to go to much better news sources like the New York Daily News, @SportsTalkVM and Deadspin. At least they have the guts and the know how to attack this cheater and sexual assaulter.

Screw you Peyton Manning, you are the Bill Cosby of the NFL.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Do Not Change the Rules for Bad Free Throw Shooters

Plenty of open hoops to practice some free throws

So, I was reading one of my favorite websites this morning, Deadspin, and I read an article entitled, "NBA Teams Have Found Creative New Ways to Intentionally Foul " about the intentional fouling that is going on in the NBA right now to put poor free throw shooters at the line. This isn't the first I've heard about people wanting this rule changed. This is probably the one hundredth time I've heard people griping about the "hack a whoever" strategy that teams are employing. Like I said, Deadspin did a whole piece on it today, it's a great read, and I've heard sports writers and journalists I really admire like Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons also complaining about this strategy.

Well, I'm here today to tell everyone that I side with Jalen Rose on this topic. He was on some kind of NBA countdown show on ESPN and he said something along the lines that these guys are pro athletes and they should learn how to shoot free throws. He doesn't mind the "hack a whoever" strategy and neither do I. I 100 percent agree with Rose's assessment. These guys get paid millions upon millions of dollars and they can't make more than 40 percent of a shot that is about 13 feet from the rim and zero defense on them. It's a "free throw", defense is not allowed. I coach 9, 10 and 11 year olds that are better free throw shooters than these guys that get paid real money to play basketball, that's a shame. It's upsetting that such an easy shot has become so hard for particular big men, I'll get to some of them in a minute, that it literally slows this fast paced game to a halt. NBA games should take no more than 2 to 2 1/2 hours, but with this big men unable to shoot free throws, the games are stretching to 3 plus hours sometimes. That's ridiculous.

Let's look at three particular poor free throw shooting big men. First, I want to point out Shaquille O'Neal. The reason Shaq is first, no one made a stink when teams were "hack-a-shaqing" throughout his Lakers run. It was deemed "smart coaching" and a "good strategy" at the time. What's baffling about Shaq, he was a decent free throw shooter in college and his first couple of pro seasons. Then, he put more muscle on his body and he just stopped working on free throws in practice. It got so bad for him, he was literally shot putting the ball to the hoop. Still, he was about a 50 percent free throw shooter, even at his worst. It was bad, but not as bad as some current players. Shaq was also bigger than anyone playing at the time, so most of his attempts at the free throw line came on "and one" plays. He'd make his shot, usually a dunk, and only have to shoot one free throw. I mentioned Shaq first because of the double standard that is coming up with the next two players I'm going to mention.

Like I said before, when people were intentionally fouling Shaq, it wasn't that big of a deal. I don't recall anyone saying they needed to change the rule. Now, we have two of the absolute worst free throw shooters I've seen in my 20 plus years of watching NBA basketball, DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond. When these two step to the line, look away because you'll see something very ugly. The kids I coach are told to not watch the two of them play because of how poorly they shoot the ball. Now, I don't like DeAndre Jordan, that's been well chronicled on the site, but I think Andre Drummond has potential to be a game changing type of player. He has perennial all star potential and he puts up huge rebound numbers. But, his free throw shooting is so atrocious and that's holding him back from being a big time player. Just go back a couple of weeks and look at his free throw stat. He was 13 for 36. That is downright terrible. His team still won the game, but man, that's a bad, horrendous stat line. Just awful. DeAndre Jordan, he's so bad at free throw shooting, he's been pulled in critical moments of critical playoff games because his coach doesn't trust his free throw shooting. He has decent form, but the shot always goes wide, either left or right, doesn't matter, it's ALWAYS wide. I mean, he has even air balled multiple free throws in a single game multiple times. You are getting paid huge money DeAndre Jordan to play basketball, so you should never, ever air ball a free throw. Never. That is awful. How does an almost seven footer air ball a free throw? It's just appalling.

Now, these guys that want the rule changed think it's unfair to the other players on the court and it's unfair to the fan. I say, practice your god damn free throws. It's the second easiest shot in basketball, behind the layup/dunk. There's no one guarding you. You get 10 seconds to shoot the ball. All you have to deal with is some dumbass fans yelling stupid shit at you. I know you guys can dunk and rebound. I sure as hell hope you'd be good at that. Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan are both close to seven feet tall, they should be able to dunk and rebound with ease. When you're a pro, your game should be well rounded. I mean, at least Shaq made 50 percent of his free throws. Drummond and Jordan both shoot in the low 40's and I believe Drummond dipped into the mid 30's after his 23 missed free throws the other night. I'd suggest, instead of working on your next alley oop, or outlet pass off a rebound, which they both excel at, spend all of your practice time on free throws. Also, go into the gym on off days and work on your free throw shooting. You guys are pro athletes. Your only job is to make your game better.

This is why I agree with Jalen Rose. Everything I said above, he's said multiple times on multiple sports shows. The NBA shouldn't have to change their rules so these pathetic free throw shooters gain another advantage. These guys should work on their free throw shooting, or they should get used to sitting on the bench in crunch time. It's as simple as that. I really like you, everyone at Deadspin, Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons, but to suggest changing the rule is asinine. I am 100 percent on Jalen Rose's side. Learn how to shoot a god damn free throw.

That's your job.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. In 1998 he hit one hundred percent of his free throws, 2 for 2. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Cowboys and the NFL do not care about the safety of women

This means more to the NFL than decency and repsect

Today I was going to write an irrational hatred sports blog about the Dallas Cowboys.

A lot of people hate the Cowboys and I'm one of those people, but I hate them for different reasons. That blog will have to wait until a future date because I have a newer, even bigger problem with the Dallas Cowboys and one irrational hatred blog wouldn't be able to cover it. This deserves it's own separate blog. I have a big, big problem with how this team is handling this Greg Hardy situation.

From the top of this organization all the way to the bottom, they've mishandled this whole ordeal. First of all, the Panthers did the right thing when they cut ties with this monster last offseason. I know he was under contract and that he was supposed to come back after his year long suspension for hitting a woman, but the Panthers did the right and respectable thing cutting ties with him completely. They wanted to move on from this horrible person, and they didn't want him involved with anything they did as a team. That's a wise decision by a front office. So, he gets released and he's a free agent able to sign with any team willing to take a chance on this woman abuser. Who should that team be? None other than the god damned Dallas Cowboys.

America's team they still call them.

What a crock of shit.

The Cowboys are no longer America's team. They're almost as irrelevant as the Cleveland Browns. ESPN is the only network that seems to cover these two teams like they matter. They don't. But, of course the Cowboys signed him. They needed a pass rusher and they went out and got one of the better pass rusher in the league. They figured, who cares that he's a loose cannon that, at any minute, will turn on you and use physical abuse if necessary, they needed a defensive lineman.

Prior to this season, world class moron Roger Goodell gave Hardy a ten game suspension, then dropped it to four games when a court agreed that was enough for his heinous crime. Let me say it again, he physically abused a woman. He beat her and left brutal bruises on her body and a court agreed that he would only miss the same amount of games that they tried to give Tom Brady for under inflating footballs. How on Earth is this allowed by the most popular sport in the US? Why do they let these abusers back on the field so soon? I guess, if you're a good enough football player, what you do in your personal life doesn't matter. You can be a woman abuser like Hardy. You can beat children like Adrian Peterson and you can bully teammates so much that they consider suicide like Richie Incognito did. Doesn't matter, these guys are good football players, so they get second, third, fourth and so on and so forth chances. Some stupid ass GM for some irrelevant team will sign them.

As I said before, the Cowboys are also rans, the Bills haven't been good in over a decade and the Vikings are finally having their first real success since they drafted child abuser Adrian Peterson. I will say, Peterson, at least on the surface, seems to show some kind of remorse, but what he did what so heinous, I can't look at him without disgust. Incognito doesn't seem to care what people think of him and I'm sure he still bullies people and Greg Hardy is an insane person that should not be in the NFL. Let's look at some of the things he's done since being reinstated by the league. His first game back was against the Patriots. During the week of practice leading up to this game, while being interviewed, he made some odd and inappropriate remarks regarding Tom Brady's wife Gisele Bunchen. He said, and I'm completely paraphrasing, something along the lines of "I hope she's there to see me crush her husband" and "I hope that I see her and her sisters in the crowd because they're very attractive". I'm sure in his mind, he thought he was complementing them. He couldn't be more wrong. This is inappropriate and if anyone said stupid shit like this at any office job, they'd be fired in less than one second for sexual harassment. This was very bizarre behavior from Hardy. This should've been strike one and should've been a sign to the front office that more stupid ass, Neanderthal behavior was to come from this monster. The Cowboys did nothing about this situation. Then, a couple of weeks later, during a game, he verbally berated some special teams players for giving up a big play during a crucial moment of the game. You could see him, on live TV, screaming obscenities at these teammates of his. He threatened these guys with physical violence. Dez Bryant had to step in the way and be the voice of reason. Dez Bryant is one hell of a football player, but he should never be counted on to be the voice of reason. Hardy proved in this moment that nothing has changed with him. He's still the same psychotic monster that thinks the best way to solve conflict is physical abuse. After the game, Jerry Jones was asked about the incident and he said that he loved the compassion coming from one of the teams leaders. Are you flipping kidding me! This is not what a leader does. A leader doesn't scream in people's faces and threaten them with violence. This is what a psychopath does. How in the world can Jerry Jones think that this is, not only okay, but a sign of leadership? It's baffling. Then last week, Deadspin, one of my favorite websites, released photos from the night that Hardy abused his then girlfriend. The photos are haunting. They're some of the most brutal things that I've seen in quite some time. This woman had bruises all over her body. The 911 call was released and the back and forth between the caller and dispatch was scary. It was as bad as what I imagine the recording of the guy getting eaten by the bear in the movie "Grizzly Man" sounds like. It's also very terrifying to see what was said during the call. After all of this was released, Hardy released a statement and said what every repeat abuser says, "I'll never do this again", "I was young and dumb", "It was a lapse in judgement", basically, a bunch of crap. He doesn't mean these things when he says them. His law team gave him something to read and he read it. He didn't give it a second thought after reading and went about his day. I assumed he would have been cut before their game last night. I figured this would be the third strike and the Cowboys would have to let him go. He was and is becoming the nuisance that he is and he's a very big problem. He's the definition of a distraction. But, did the Cowboys and Jerry Jones do the right thing and let him go? Of course not. Jerry Jones said that the Cowboys were giving him the second chance he deserves. I'm at a loss for words.

How can Jerry Jones be so blind to doing the right thing? How can he think that he and the Cowboys can help make Greg Hardy a better person? They can't. My mother has worked with battered women and children for the last 20 plus years and she tells me all the time that these guys don't change. Once an abuser, always an abuser and I agree with her one hundred percent. Greg Hardy is a monster and should not be playing in the NFL. He shouldn't be playing football anywhere. He needs to be in anger management and taking classes on how to be less of a total asshole. I guess that I'm naïve though. How many correct decision has Jerry Jones made in the past ten years? How many correct decisions has Roger Goodell made since he's been commissioner of the league? The answer is a resounding ZERO. Both of these guys are morons and they will continue to let monsters like Adrian Peterson, Richie Icognito and Greg Hardy play as long as they're making money hand over fist. It's a shame because the NFL is the most popular sport in the US and young kids see this behavior and will think that it's okay to be abusive or that bullying is okay because if they're good enough at football, they can get away with it with very little to no punishment. That's a frightening scenario.

I long for the days when the biggest problem was Mike Vick fighting dogs. He went to jail for 18 months for that. He paid a very large price. Peterson, Icognito and Hardy, all they had to suffer was missing games for their horrible crimes. Use that as context for the next time you argue with someone about how the NFL punishes players harsher now than they did 5 or 10 years ago. Mike Vick went to prison. The three guys I mentioned, Hardy being the main culprit, have seen no jail time and they're all considered leaders of their respective teams. That's the state of the NFL today, and that's a crying shame for a sport I, and the rest of the country love.

Get your act together NFL. You're in danger of losing more fans by letting horrible people like these guys stay in the league.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He does not actual enjoy writing about anything the NFL commissioner does, it is quite frustrating. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.