Kaspers Korner

     Many former National Football League players have come out, and have criticized the NFLPA for not doing anything.  However, when someone offers help, and an idea do not make them feel like a horses ass.

     That is exactly how I feel right now.  A horses ass, pissed off, upset, and angered.  Why, you can thank Cookie Gilchrist, and Booker Edison for that. 

     A couple of weeks ago I tracked down Cookie Gilchrist.  Hoping to get some contact with other former players to get a benefit going for former Buffalo Bills Alumni that need help.   Mr Gilchrist said he would give my number to Booker Eidson who lives in the area.  Well a week passed, and nobody called. 

     So, I called Mr Gilchrist back, and asked for Booker’s phone number.  He said he would call me back cause it is in his cell phone, and had to get it.  After about five minutes he called back, and gave me a number. 

     Then I called that number, and Mr Edison answered.  I asked if he would like to meet over the weekend to discuss a benefit plan that I had, and he agreed to it.  I called today to confirm that meeting, and this is how it went.  Hello is Mr Booker Eidson there?  No, this is a pay phone.  Basically I was setup. 

     Why do this to someone who just wants to help.  Who is also a business man, and actually has a plan.  I was planning a huge autograph session to kick off the football season on September 1st at Alumni Arena at UB. 

      Well thanks to a couple of ungrateful people.  That wil never happen, and I know it will be dissapointing to a lot of people.  Especially, since I was really trying hard to get this done for Bills fans to honor Cookie Gilchrist one more time.

      I will try one more avenue with another former Bill through a contact.   If this one fails, and I get jerked around again well they can go around in pain with no help like I do any many other former highschool football players.  For I suffer from osteoarthritis.  I have suffered from it for ten years.  The pain is at time debilitating.  So, I know how it feels.

     Danny Briere’s agent announced what everyone was bracing for.  That being that Briere is going into free agency.  With free agency right around the corner it is time to say goodbye to the captains. 

     Both of them will receive over six million dollars a year.  Something that most fans cannot justify the Buffalo Sabres spending.  Especially, with Tim Connolly coming back fully healthy, and Drew Stafford proving that he belongs on the club.

    The unfortunate thing is that both should still be here.  Darcy Regier dropped the ball on this one.  Briere was looking for the five years 25 million dollars last year.  Also, Drury was marked a bery important player to the Sabres.  Still, they waited to the last second to try and sign him. 

    Fans should be upset with the Sabres.  The two players that people love the most will be gone thanks to procrastination.  However, I have the benefit of looking at this through a business owners eyes.  Since, I own my own cleaning business.

     One of the things that owners do is look down the road.  In other words predict and forecast what things should be.  The Sabres did this very poorly.  However, they cannot afford to give the kind o years that both men are asking for.

    All business owners do not like to put so much payroll into very few people.  The fact being that the league is regresssing back to pre lockout days makes Briere useless to the Sabres.  Which, with one bad contract, can mess up your payroll for years. 

    For example, lets say you sign Briere to a six year 36 million dollar deal, and then have to cut him after four years.  Here is how the CBA works.  The Sabres would owe Briere one third of the remaining money.  Which is four million, since 12 million remained. 

    Then would have to count that against the cap this way. The four million would get spread out double the number of years remaining on the deal.  Since there was two years remaining the four million would be spread out over four years.  Which would mean one million in dead cap money for the next four years.

    So, does it really make sense at all to even sign players to long ter huge contracts.  HELL NO IT DOES NOT!!!!!!  The Sabres are on a tight budget since they cannoy reaise ticket prices at will to gain more revenue.

    With the cap out of control and CBA proving that it is a crappy document the Sabres hands are tied. They cannot lose money for it means bankruptcy again, and that might mean the end of the Sabres.  So pick your poison people.

     In an interview on WGR 550 current players president Troy Vincent conceded that the union needs to do more in the disability area.  Which, is a huge win for retired players.

     Vincent interview is a damning statement against Gene Upshaw.  Vincent went on to state that he and other current players are worried about the disability issue.  Citing that concussions are a worrisome problem for current players.

     Vincent himself is worried about long term damager to his brain. An incident were Vincent was knocked out cold was ussed in the concussion summit.  You can pretty much conclude that it was a wakeup call for Vincent.

    However, in the pension area Vincent went on to state that Gene Upshaw has done a lot in the area of pension benefits.   Which, will prolong the fight of retired players.

    Vincent interview was briliant, and a breath of fresh air.  It is nice to see that someone is willing to step up to the forefront and protect thier views.  Eventhough some might say that they are wrong.

    The current players would be foolish to not capitalize on this.  They should take the moment to kick out Upshaw, and make Vincent head of the union.  For Vincent is openminded, but you must make a really good arguement to sway him.

     I heard the gruesome news that Chris Benoit killed his family, and then himself.  Immediately, I had this though run through my head.  He is another case of brain injury aquired through a sport that he worked in that caused his demise.

     Now, unfortunately everyone is trying to correlate the link to steroids.  Which, in fact and reality is false.  How do I know Benoit became a victim of head injuries.  That ultimately affected his life.  Well it is simple.

     Let me present to you Dr. Bennet Omalu.  Dr. Omalu was the forensic nueropathologist that did the autopsies on Pittsburgh Steeler hall of fame center Mike Webster, and former NFL player Terry Long. 

     Dr. Omalu concluded, after countless research and study, that both of them suffered from mental diseases that were attributed to brain injuries suffered while playing. 

     In simple terms if a linemen suffers just slight trauma to the brain consistently over a year of playing football his brain would change in a manner that would make him easily able to acquire mental diseases such as depression, bipolar, alzhimers, and dementia.

    Now, with that all said how is this related to Chris Benoit.  Simple, what was the move that Benoit used to setup his finishing move the Crippler Crossface.  It was a flying headbutt off the top turnbuckle.  This move would easily cause slight trauma to the head.  Now, add slight trauma to the head, stars before your eyes, consistently over years. 

    The evidence is right there already.  Countless perscriptions, and a restraining order.  The restraining order back several years ago stated that Benoit was a violent person.  Most likely he acquired a bipolar.  Which, one of the symptoms is violent mood swings.

    However, after talking to Dr. Omalu we will never know.  He talked to a source close to the case.  The source stated that Benoit’s brain matter was to deteriorated to do any testing.

    So, folks this piece of history will be one that every will speculate for years to come.

    A congressional commitee will be held tommorrow on disability payments.  However, Gene Upshaw, the person that congress wants to hear from, decided that he will not attend the hearings. 

    To me personally as a business person that is a slap in the face.  When your boss comes to you, and wants to know what the hell is going on you answer them.  The fact is the government is the ultimate boss, and they want to know what the hell is going on.

     However, Upshaw decided that the problem was not worth his time in answering.  Instead one of his henchmen will be there answering questions. 

     Usually when someone tells their boss to piss off they usually get fired.  That is essentially what he will do.  It is pretty clear that Upshaw is not going to sit down with anyone and discuss the problems.

    Congress unfortunately must now act, and force Upshaw to do something legally.  Right now that is their only immediate hope. For if this does not work then it will be a long hard battle.  A battle that retired players are going to have to get creative with.

     In a stunning announcement, Daniel Briere announced that he has yet to receive an offer from the Buffalo Sabres.  To many Sabre fans that news is really bad.

    Many Sabre fans that were holding out hope of both of the captains returning.  However, with the annoucement all those hopes have been dashed. 

    It is pretty clear on the  fan front that the Sabres are interested in keeping Drury.  However, keeping Briere is something that looks impossible. 

    Also, with the decision to go more defensive minded.  People like Briere will not fit into the scheme.  So, it looks like it will be time to say goodbye to Briere in a week.

    Hopefully Darcy knows what he is doing.

     Sabre fans can breathe a sigh of relief today as the Buffalo Sabres went through the entire National Hockey League draft without trading Chris Drury, or Danny Briere.

    It looks like the rumours are false about Chris Drury.  That being, acording to Hockey Buzz.com, Drury was going to be traded to the San Jose Sharks.  Now, that doesn’t mean that San Jose is not interested in acquiring Drury.  What it means is that the Sabres believe in themselves enough that something will get done before July 1st.

     The Sabres should be making an all out effort to resign one of these guys.  For I must agree with the consensus opinion from the Mike Schopp and the Bulldog show on WGR.  If they do not get one of these guys signed claiming that they need to keep salary in check, well then they can forget about their waiting list for season tickets. 

     The unfortunate thing about the whole Drury and Briere situation is that they actually could of still have both.  Briere last year wanted a long term deal last offseason.  That would of paid 4.5-5.0 million dollars a year.  Which, by the current market standards is going to be a bargain. 

    Then if you would of conducted in season contract talks you could of have Drury cheaper also.  However, it has become very clear that Sabres general manager Darcy Regier has a huge case of short sightedness.  Something that can be very deadly to a hockey club.

    In any which way for Sabre fans it is Drury or Briere or BUST!!!!!

     Acording to  forensic neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, National Football League offensice linemen can suffer pugilistic dementia.  Which, is the same thing that boxers can suffer from.  This leads to one conclusion on my part, and that is the NFL is at a crossroads.

    Doing a research paper in high school I learned that early in the NFL’s history changes had to be made due to people dying in games.  Now, with it being revealed that linemen can develop dementia easily the NFL is at another crossroads.

    Personally I can testify to this.  If the NFL do not make changes to the game my kids will never play football. I do not care how much they beg me.  They will never play if things do not change within the game. 

    How do I know that other parents think like me.  Well it is simple.  My brother in law is getting married next year. It happens to be that his finace is actually a classmate of mine, and good friends with a couple of my teammates.  Both of my teammates have suffered some serious injuries.  She vowed never to let her son play football.

    With many parents now realizing that football is such a serious sport many are choosing to go into other sports.  Which, is bad for the NFL.  What it means is that the quality of players going into the NFL will dwindle.  It might even get to the point where the quality of play gets so bad that people tune into other sports.

    At any which way you look at it if the NFL does not make change then they are doomed.

     Gene Upshaw verbally has been berated by displeasire of his lack of attention to reetired players problems.  However, when a respected, high public profiled journalist takes up for the retireed players heads turn.  Especially, when it is the second time on the same program.

     Bryant Gumble in his HBO’s Real Sports show has for the second time called for players to dump Gene Upshaw.  This is the second time Gumble has called upon the players to do something.  However, for the players to do something you need to lock them all up in a room and show them a presentation of a lifetime.

    On WGR 550 sports radio Buffalo Bills quarterback JP Losman was asked if he though aobut the future, and life beyond football.  Losman replied that he does not think about the future.  Of course they do not.

     Most players do not think about life beyond football untill they know they might be about done with fooball.  That is the unfortunate part about this whole story.  They exactly become the people they never gave a damn about when they were playing.  By then it is too late.

     Untill somone gets players into one room lock them up in it, and give them a slide show of a life time they will do nothing.  I do not mean just any old footage.  I mean footage of Mike Utley and Denis Byrd going through rehab.

     Hopefully the players will take their fingers out of their ears.

     The National Football League’s Commisioner Roger Goodell has determined that the NFl will go along with Social Security disability rulings on former players.  The problem is that the Social Security disablity determing process is a joke too.

     I personall know the harsh reality of the Social Secuirty disablity determination board.  Why, becuase my own mother is disabled due to a degenerative brain cell disease.  Let me tell you that it could be clearly evident that you are disabled, but they still will deny you.

     Eventhough, she could barely walk the board denied her case.  My mother then appealed it and took on a lawyer to win her case.  The major problem that appeals take two years to be heard.  A disabled player by then could be homeless.

     There is so much that can happen between the time you send your appeal in, and the time that you appeal is heard a disabled players family could easily be on the streets.  That almost happened to my own family as we got behind, but thanks to a wonderful landlord things worked out.

     The fact is that there are a lot less players than people in America.  Taking on Social Security standards for determining disability eligibility is a common sense thing to do.  However, the Social Secuirty Administration is so backed up that the NFl just should follow the guidelines and determine their own cases. 

      Depending on the government is just simply the lazy way out of this mess.