This is one of the best times to be a sports fan -- baseball is rolling, the nightly thrills of playoff hockey are back, NFL draft speculation is rampant and the NBA playoffs are just around the corner -- but Thursday was a day for ranting.
Here's why:
• The NHL's self-proclaimed mission to clean up the cheap shots in its sport lost all credibility.
The league had seemed to become sincere about trying to protect players from the increasing number of concussions that are being diagnosed these days. Former NHL player Brendan Shanahan, given the title of senior vice president for player safety, has been monitoring closely every high stick and every hit from behind.
All season long, Shanahan released statements and videos breaking down the reasons why he was suspending players for certain acts. The transparency was commendable.
Hockey can be a vicious sport, there are going to be violent hits and serious injuries, but the NHL appeared to be taking legitimate steps toward trying to limit them as much as possible.
What came down Thursday was a severe setback to that apparent progress.
Shanahan and the league chose not to suspend Nashville defenseman Shea Weber for shoving the head of Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg into the glass, breaking Zetterberg's helmet, at the end of Wednesday's playoff opener.
The decision was a complete contradiction to the message that the league had been sending.
Was it because Weber is a star player? Was it because these are the playoffs now? Was it because Zetterberg wasn't injured? Was it because Shanahan, an ex-Red Wing, didn't want to give the perception that he was favoring his former team?
None of those reasons are close to acceptable. It comes down to one thing: Either you are trying to protect players from head injuries or you aren't.
Commissioner Gary Bettman, Shanahan and the league are saying one thing, but it's hard to believe them when there's this kind of inconsistency.
• Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reinstated center Derrick Nix to the team, a week after suspending him following Nix's arrest for marijuana possession and operating a vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance.
No problem with the reinstatement. Nix shouldn't -- and probably won't -- be named captain after this latest incident. However, he is a fun-loving guy who has worked hard to transform his body and improve his game. He deserves another chance.
What was annoying was to hear Izzo act as if no one should ever question anything in his program.
The police report on the Nix incident described the vehicle he was driving as a "2011 red Dodge Charger."
For nearly any college athlete, especially one who doesn't come from a wealthy background, to be driving such a new vehicle, it is going to raise some eyebrows these days.
That's not an insult to Nix and his family. That's not an insult to Izzo and his basketball program.
It's just reality. Such a situation is automatically going to be challenged.
As it turns out, reporters have confirmed that the police report was wrong and that the vehicle is actually a 2007 model. Nix said it belongs to his brother's girlfriend.
Great, but it had to be checked out.
Izzo, however, took "incredible offense" to having the issue even questioned. He threatened a "fist fight" with anyone who does.
That type of reaction was incredibly arrogant.
For as media savvy as he can be, Izzo is also seriously clueless to the business at times.
• Former Michigan basketball player Jalen Rose threatened to boycott the Wolverines' program following a report that university president Mary Sue Coleman doesn't think the banners from the Fab Five era should ever return to the rafters.
The banners were removed as punishment for the Ed Martin scandal during those years.
"I saw that U of Michigan has no plans to put back up our hoops banners," Rose, one of the Fab Five members, wrote in a message on Twitter. "Should I do like most of its former BBallers & never return? or should I ask for the $250K I donated for my Endowed Scholarship back & move it to another school? Stay tuned."
This is another example of how big money is damaging college athletics. Boosters and former athletes who donate large amounts believe they should dictate policy and they throw it in the face of administrators.
The fact is those Fab Five years were a complete fraud because of money players were being paid. It was right to take the banners down and it's right to keep them down.
• The New Orleans Saints choosing assistant Joe Vitt as the interim coach comes off as a total slap in the face to commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL.
Vitt is suspended for the first six games for his role in the club's bounty system, which is why the Saints need a replacement for head coach Sean Payton in the first place. Payton has been suspended for the entire season.
The interim top job should have gone to anybody but Vitt under the circumstances. His punishment from the league should have included a stipulation that he's not the one to fill in for Payton at any point.
Goodell messed up by not demanding that part and now the Saints appear to be sticking it to him.
Not a smart move by the club to put Vitt into the spotlight again when they should be trying to move away from the controversy.
OK, enough with the rants. Time to get back to the games, which is why we love this time of the year so much anyway.
