Josh Benner

Tag: Buffalo

  • No, NFL does not need to model its OT after college football

    No, NFL does not need to model its OT after college football

    College football overtime is not real football. You don’t have kickoffs or punts. It takes significant aspects to the game out of play. You’re also starting in field goal range. This season, college football added the truly horrible rule of resorting to a series of 2 point conversion attempts in the third overtime. I hear people talk about this model and say its what the NFL could do because it’s “fair.”

    That’s the sports commentary today after the epic playoff game last night between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. The last 2 minutes of regulation saw three touchdowns and a field goal. It was the most exciting back and forth to end a football game I’ve ever seen. As the fourth quarter clock ticked to zero, the Chiefs hit a game tying field goal to send it to overtime.

    Once they got to overtime, the Chiefs won the coin toss. After the dramatic end to the fourth quarter it seemed underwhelming. Neither defense was getting stops at that point. And the Chiefs relatively easily drove down the field and scored a touchdown.

    Game over.

    Without the Bills ever having the ball in overtime.

    They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes. I’d add a third. People not liking football overtime. Football overtime is hard. Baseball is easy. You just keep playing one more inning until someone wins. Basketball is easy. A five minute overtime will ensure both teams get multiple possessions.

    But football? How do you decide a winner? In both college and the NFL, a clear goal of overtime is to have it be short. Football is a brutally violent and physically demanding sport. You want to limit how many extra plays and hits these guys are taking after having just played a full football game.

    So then how do you decide a winner? College overtime isn’t it. I think that suggestion overlooks just how good NFL players are. If the Bills-Chiefs game were decided by college overtime, they’d still be playing this morning!

    I hear the argument that Buffalo didn’t get a chance. They have three chances. They had the lead with less than 2 minutes to go. Lost it. They got the lead again with :13 seconds left. Allowed a tie. In overtime, they also had another opportunity to get a stop. They failed all three times. So I don’t agree that “they didn’t have a chance.” They had three chances.

    “Well they couldn’t stop Kansas City!” Ok. But to win the game, at some point, they were going to have to. If Kansas City scores (as they did) and Buffalo gets the ball and scores, then what happens? Does the next score win? Then that goes back to KC getting the advantage. Do you play 15 minutes? The NFL teams themselves have no interest in changing the rule to play a full 15 minute quarter by default in OT.

    This brings me back to the beginning. I get that the conclusion to last night’s game was an underwhelming way to finish an amazing game. But I also understand that football does not lend itself to a perfect overtime format.

    No matter the current format or a format where both teams get the same number of possessions, ultimately SOMEONE’S defense needs to make some plays. Personally, I have no problem with this format being the deciding factor after teams have already played 60 minutes of football.

    Life isn’t fair. Make something happen.

  • Another city tries to troll Chick-fil-a

    Chick-fil-A_-_Hillsboro,_Oregon.jpg
    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

    Another story regarding an airport Chick-fil-a. There had already been recent stories of politicians trying to block or hinder Chick-fil-a locations at the San Antonio and Buffalo airpots.

    Now it’s San Jose who has set its sites on the popular chicken restaurant. Next month, a new Chick-fil-a is set to open at the San Jose airport. Ir’s an agreement which was made last year.

    As is often discussed, Chick-fil-a was founded with Christian values, is closed on Sundays, and donates money to Christian organizations who adhere to Christian values (among those values, traditional marriage).

    The San Jose city council (who approved Chick-fil-a opening the location) unanimously voted to fly rainbow flags near the new Chick-fil-a.

    What planet are we living on?

    How childish can you be?

    Santa Clara county supervisor Kevin Yeager said, ““to counter the bigotry of Chick-fil-A and to let people know that even though there’s that restaurant there, the city is showing its support for the LGBTQ community.”

    Many in our society hate the values and teachings of Christianity.

    These attempts to troll Chick-fil-a are a display of that hatred.

    Do elected officials have nothing better to do than to troll and antagonize a successful restaurant that provides jobs? We live in a free country. If people don’t like what Chick-fil-a believes in, they don’t have to go there. Some airports have tried to shut down and interfere with Chick-fil-a.

    Matt Walsh, writing for the DailyWire put it well:

    This is not normal or healthy behavior. An adult should be able to cope with the fact that not every other adult in the world necessarily agrees with everything they do and think. There are many companies run by people who hold views I find abhorrent. I either choose to patronize those establishments or not, but I am not going to spend years of my life trying to penalize them for the crime of failing to abide by my every ideological whim.

    Despite all of the vitriol and opposition, Chick-fil-a continues to dominate as one of the most profitable and beloved fast food restaurants in America. Meanwhile those who oppose the restaurant are doing a great job helping them get lots of free publicity from media outlets.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner  has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.

  • Politicians decide to pick on Chick-fil-a

    800px-Chick-fil-A
    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

    Chick-fil-a has been the target of political ire in two different states in as many weeks. In late March, the San Antonio city council approved a new dining area in Terminal A of San Antonio International Airport. The agreement had originally included opening up a Chcik-fil-a location, but the council didn’t give approval until Chick-fil-a was excluded from the agreement.

    While Chick-fil-a is one of the most beloved fast food restaurant chains in America, famous for it’s chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, lemonade, and excellent customer service, the company also has a strong foundation of Christian values which permeate throughout the chain.

    Chick-fil-a does support organizations who share in the company’s traditional values, and some of those organizations oppose same-sex marriage. Among those groups are the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and the Salvation Army.

    One piece of the story that I feel rarely gets mentioned in media reports is that FCA and the Salvation Army happen to oppose same-sex marriage and value traditional marriage, but that is not the primary reason for the existence of these organizations. It’s a result of their Biblical values.

    The issue with airports discriminating against Chick-fil-a is that there isn’t evidence that the company actively discriminates against anyone. They serve everyone. And considering the federal funds which the airport receives, it’s illegal to discriminate against a company based on their religious values.

    A similar situation happened last week when Chick-fil-a was given approval to open up at the Buffalo airport. Once again, people tried to block it.

    Do politicians have nothing better to do?

    A person has the ability to choose not to eat at Chick-fil-a if they find the company’s values to be so offensive that they just can’t support it.

    It’s also ironic that I think of the calls to be inclusive, tolerant, and accepting, but then people want to bash a company for being true to their values. It’s this idea of “we’re inclusive, and if you’re not inclusive in the way we think is right, you should be excluded.”

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner  has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.