Nothing wrong with relaxing

There are a lot of things about the day-to-day conversation of sports media and the athletes they cover that bother me as a sane, rational individual.

There are few things that bother me more than the argument that athletes should spend all of their free time with their noses in playbooks.

The situation came up again this week as a host of wide receivers from the New York Giants football team used an off day after the team’s victory over Washington in the final week of the season to make a trip to Miami, where they were caught posing for pictures on a boat and partying with musicians at a nightclub.

Immediately the rancor arose.

They shouldn’t be partying. It shows immaturity. It lacks focus. They should be studying to beat the Green Bay Packers.

Now, my involvement in sports has never extended much beyond the sidelines, but I like to think I have a solid understanding of how the world works.

People go to work, leave work, and sometimes when they aren’t at work think about what they should be doing at work the next day or a project they should be rounding out next week.

It happens.

Most people also revel in the time they get to spend not working or thinking about work on the weekends, using that time to refresh and detatch from the constant pressure of the work environment.

Entire communties have been built around weekend getaways and quick vacations, some of those very close to home.

So why then, aren’t athletes afforded the same weekends, the same off time to detatch?

A group of close-knit 20-somethings with money to blow has every right to escape the Northeast winters to spend a day on a boat in Miami.

I’d be doing just that right now if I had time off, money to blow or access to a boat in Miami.

With temperatures dipping into the negative digits in the Flathead Valley, I’d settle for almost anywhere with temps above 40 degrees with no snow.

A bigger question: Just what do people think is in those playbooks?

Is there a cheat code that will make the defense disappear? A new play that is so complicated it can’t be learned in five days? Anything drastically different than what has been in the playbook since August?

Of all people, the argument was trotted out first this season against Tom Brady, a surefire Hall of Famer and possibly the league MVP, when he spent his four-game suspension sunbathing in Italy. His season turned out OK.

This isn’t the first time this argument has been made and probably won’t be the last this season.

It’s just surprising that while people enjoy their free time enjoying the product players put on the field, they spend little time thinking those athletes may want to enjoy some free time themselves.