I saw about two minutes of the Seahawks – Bears game last weekend and turned it off. I tuned out and took a nap right after the Seahawks punted from what appeared to be the Bears’ 41 yard line on fourth and 1 early in the first quarter. I could be wrong on the yards and distance since I wasn’t paying close attention, but the point was Seattle was playing not to lose instead of playing to win. That told me it would likely be a long day for the under .500 playoff team led by one of many coaching carpetbaggers - Pete Carroll.
By contrast, The Patriots went for 2 down 2 to the Jets when most coaches would have played it safe and kicked the PAT. New England was playing to win. Granted they didn’t win, but you could clearly see with that move why the Pats overachieved all season long. We predicted NE’s playoff demise a week ago, but that won’t stop this corner from also making the case this was Mr. Bill’s best single-season coaching job ever. He didn’t win a championship, but did lead a team in transition to the #1 seed in the rugged AFC in 2010.
As for the playoffs, I have felt for the past few weeks the best organization in pro sports – the Steelers – would be the best bet to be left standing when the smoke clears. I see no reason to change that view. They are solid once again in all three phases, are experienced at playing at this time of year and are the most physical team left in the post-season. I would be surprised if the Jets keep it close this weekend. Of course, I have been wrong before.
Jim Thome re-signed with the Twins this past week. I wonder if the Indians made a pitch for him. He signed a one-year/$3 million deal. Granted, the Twins are a contender and he probably preferred such a club, but the Indians would have been wise to attempt to bring him back. It would be a good PR move and the guy is still a better left-handed bat than anything they have at 1B/DH heading into 2011.
Boy, did Brett Favre retire one year too late. His legacy was slightly tarnished by how he played this season, and the fact that for the first time in his career, he was banged up all year. More importantly, is reputation was damaged even more with the public airing of his alleged tendency to chase the office staff skirts. Had he not played in 2010, some of these sordid details might not have been made public, or at minimum, would not have received as much media attention since all Favre had to do was say the following to the commissioner or anyone else who asked – “Hey, I’m retired. This never came up when I was playing. And I’m not answering any questions now. I am no longer an employee of the NFL. Please respect my privacy wishes.”
The Indians hired Mike Hargrove recently as a “special assistant’ meaning he will be doing some consulting, working with players in Spring Training and doing some PR appearances. Good move. I prefer he were in the dugout full-time as the head chief and said so when the opening came up after the 2009 season. However, this is a step in the right direction. Grover has spent the bulk of his baseball career in this organization. He and his wife still live in town and are very active in the community. Besides all that, he knows what he’s doing.
The NFL really has it figured out. There’s a reason it is the most popular sport in this country by far. It has five distinct seasons – camp, the regular season, the playoff/Super Bowl, free agency and the draft. Each is covered by the media 24-7 with fans following every two-a-day session, rumor, 40 times, etc., like it’s the end of the world if your team doesn’t sign the Ravens’ free agent nickel back to a 4-year deal. Talk about PR heaven. This is why a semi-meaningless regular season Monday night football game outdraws a MLB championship series contest every time. And we are about to enter “draft-nick” heaven. This is when Mel Kiper and company become God-like in the minds of so many. This part of “NFL Year Round” is the most ridiculous season of all for me. Year in, year out, there are more free agents in the NFL than there are first round picks at any given time. That’s all you need to know about the “experts” and their views.
Every time Phil Jackson opens his mouth, I think “pompous ass.” Of course, if you’ve won as many titles as he has, you are allowed to be full of yourself. The fact that he has coached arguably two (MJ/KB) of the game’s half dozen best players of all-time doesn’t hurt.
Carmelo Anthony may be the most overrated NBA player of all-time. The guy has won absolutely nothing. He’s a terrific scoring machine. However, he’s an average rebounder, average passer, subpar defender and not exactly a team leader. When he came into the league, I compared him to Paul Pierce in terms of skill set when everyone else grouped him with James & Wade. I’m not sure now he will ever reach Pierce status although some morons already believe he’s there. Pierce already has a title, has improved his defense over the years, has been willing to sacrifice numbers for the good of the team and he doesn’t make waves. Pierce is going into the HOF. Bottom line – Anthony is not a “great player.” At least not yet, regardless of what you hear.
Am I the only one who thinks those damn hand dryers in the john are useless? It takes me longer to dry my hands than to take a piss.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
10 Weekly Items
10 Weekly Items
Don't you love how these morons in the media who spent a %$#@load of time last week going over the "strategy" for the new playoff overtime rules? What F%$#@ing strategy? Win the flip, take the ball and shove it down their throats for a touchdown and the game is over. The last time I checked, it’s awful hard to score if you don’t have the football. I'm sure there is some idiot out there that has it calculated you should defend first, especially if the wind is over 20 mph and there are at least 1,000 Jews and/or 5,000 Catholics (of which I am one) in the stands of a stadium that seats 65,000 or more - unless of course you have a starter on defense named Rex – then all bets are off. Ridiculous!
Here’s a warning to those NFL teams that are considering taking Cam Newton in the first round – don’t! Not because of talent level, although he’s is far from a polished passer, but because I would not make this guy the face of my franchise for the next 10 years based on his, let’s say, “checkered history.” Would I draft him – yes, in round 2 and no earlier. Had he gone 20-of-26 with 3 TD tosses and 80 yards rushing against Oregon, Kipper and company would have him in the top-5 – can you say J. Russell.
By the way, I saw where the Auburn All-American D-tackle was giving the Oregon All-American running back “the business” in that pile. You can tell a lot about a coach by how he handles that situation. I lose respect for a head coach who doesn’t pull the guy out for a couple plays after earning such a penalty. But then again, I have a suspicion we will hear more about Auburn and its recruiting of players (i.e. Cam Newton and/or others) in the future. Here’s hoping it doesn’t turn into another Reggie Bush case five years down the road and people are sending back the hard ware they won. Of course, in Newton’s case, his old man will probably have the stuff on E-bay by Spring Break.
I found it ironic the OSU defensive player who picked off that late Arkansas pass was one of five guys who sold stuff to help pay mom’s rent, buy pizza, or whatever. There is no way in the world those 5 players should have been playing in that game. The precedent set by the NCAA and OSU is clear – you F%$#@ up and we catch it before a BCS Bowl game, and we’ll give you a get out of jail free card until next year. What happens if one or more of these guys decides to turn pro now? Had Posey come up with 9 grabs, 111 yards and 2 TDs, and moved way up in the minds of pro scouts, he would have been crazy not to turn pro. Then what? And for Tressel to demand they come back before agreeing to play them in the game clearly smacks of pure personal gain for the coach. Tressel gets everything he wants – his team is intact going into the Arkansas game and stays intact through the large majority of Big 10 play in 2011. How convenient? Nice work Jim. Where the hell was the AD in all this? With all his faults, could you see Bobby Knight pulling this stunt?
As for paying college players, one last time – they get, at minimum, a $100,000+ education grant when on scholarship. Isn’t that payment enough?
Speaking of Oregon, how do you come up with a defense where you have a DE/OLB, who weights 250+ pounds, trying to cover a 190 pound wide receiver downfield? On more than one occasion, the Ducks had that coverage called. One more time – it’s impossible for a linebacker to stay with a running back, so how do you scheme a large defender matched up with a WR? It’s the equal of a basketball power forward trying to cover a point guard in space – can’t be done. Are you telling me there isn’t one coach on that Ducks’ staff that would red flag that during the 5 weeks of practice prior to this game? Here’s how it should go – “Hey coach (to D-coordinator), with all due respect, do you really think it’s a good idea to have one of our bigs trying to stay with that little guy downfield?
Coming on the heels of a 50+ point ass-beating by LA, it has been nearly 4 months since a number of my so called friends and acquaintances chastised me for predicting my Cavaliers unfortunately would win at the most 29 games and could very well be a mere 20 win team if they quit early and Byron Scott failed to motivate them to compete. You know who you are. I wouldn’t normally mention it, but a couple of you actually ridiculed me at the time, including one instance where the term “delusional” was used to describe me. So – who’s your daddy now?
I see where my boy Warren Cromartie ran his mouth on twitter. You have to love those social networking sites – ditto for the world’s premier narcissist (LBJ) taking a shot at the Cavaliers when they are down. As I have said, today’s technology, where every pro or major college athlete can let the world know what they are thinking in mere seconds, causes headaches for those in the PR business. The media loves it, but the PR pros have to deal with the ramifications. I’ll say this – if you run your mouth, you’d better be able to back it up or you look like a complete fool. Call me old fashioned, but I like folks who take the high road and just play. Good luck this weekend Tom Brady.
The Browns hired a new head coach this week and he isn’t a household name with a proven winning track record. That’s not the route I would have gone, but I wish him luck nonetheless. I know nothing about him other than the offense he ran last year was 26th in the NFL. Like everyone else, I’ll watch and see. But think about it – the bar has been set awful low around here since 1999. If he wins half his games or more, they’ll probably put a statue of him down Superior Avenue somewhere. And that’s the sad truth for the current NFL football climate in NE Ohio.
To close things out, I have one comment on the Arizona shooting incident of last week. This is for those morons who are trying to make more out of it than it is. Yes, it was tragic in many ways – especially for the loss of life and the effect on the families involved. However, it had absolutely nothing to do with our current political climate or discourse. And it had nothing to do with this nation’s value system as a whole. To draw some unsubstantiated parallels to politics or society borders on the ridiculous. Here’s the truth – in a nation of 308+ million people, you will have a few nuts. Period. And some of those nuts will unfortunately act on their sick belief system and harm others. It’s happened through history and will continue to happen. It can’t be avoided. Some folks simply aren’t wired right. And it’s an insult to my intelligence to try to link such an incident to other parts of society. So stop the nonsense you morons. Unfortunately, with our present 24/7 news cycle, everything is magnified, analyzed, taken apart and re-packaged by those who have agendas. I simply refuse to fall for this re-packaging of information, nor should you.
Don't you love how these morons in the media who spent a %$#@load of time last week going over the "strategy" for the new playoff overtime rules? What F%$#@ing strategy? Win the flip, take the ball and shove it down their throats for a touchdown and the game is over. The last time I checked, it’s awful hard to score if you don’t have the football. I'm sure there is some idiot out there that has it calculated you should defend first, especially if the wind is over 20 mph and there are at least 1,000 Jews and/or 5,000 Catholics (of which I am one) in the stands of a stadium that seats 65,000 or more - unless of course you have a starter on defense named Rex – then all bets are off. Ridiculous!
Here’s a warning to those NFL teams that are considering taking Cam Newton in the first round – don’t! Not because of talent level, although he’s is far from a polished passer, but because I would not make this guy the face of my franchise for the next 10 years based on his, let’s say, “checkered history.” Would I draft him – yes, in round 2 and no earlier. Had he gone 20-of-26 with 3 TD tosses and 80 yards rushing against Oregon, Kipper and company would have him in the top-5 – can you say J. Russell.
By the way, I saw where the Auburn All-American D-tackle was giving the Oregon All-American running back “the business” in that pile. You can tell a lot about a coach by how he handles that situation. I lose respect for a head coach who doesn’t pull the guy out for a couple plays after earning such a penalty. But then again, I have a suspicion we will hear more about Auburn and its recruiting of players (i.e. Cam Newton and/or others) in the future. Here’s hoping it doesn’t turn into another Reggie Bush case five years down the road and people are sending back the hard ware they won. Of course, in Newton’s case, his old man will probably have the stuff on E-bay by Spring Break.
I found it ironic the OSU defensive player who picked off that late Arkansas pass was one of five guys who sold stuff to help pay mom’s rent, buy pizza, or whatever. There is no way in the world those 5 players should have been playing in that game. The precedent set by the NCAA and OSU is clear – you F%$#@ up and we catch it before a BCS Bowl game, and we’ll give you a get out of jail free card until next year. What happens if one or more of these guys decides to turn pro now? Had Posey come up with 9 grabs, 111 yards and 2 TDs, and moved way up in the minds of pro scouts, he would have been crazy not to turn pro. Then what? And for Tressel to demand they come back before agreeing to play them in the game clearly smacks of pure personal gain for the coach. Tressel gets everything he wants – his team is intact going into the Arkansas game and stays intact through the large majority of Big 10 play in 2011. How convenient? Nice work Jim. Where the hell was the AD in all this? With all his faults, could you see Bobby Knight pulling this stunt?
As for paying college players, one last time – they get, at minimum, a $100,000+ education grant when on scholarship. Isn’t that payment enough?
Speaking of Oregon, how do you come up with a defense where you have a DE/OLB, who weights 250+ pounds, trying to cover a 190 pound wide receiver downfield? On more than one occasion, the Ducks had that coverage called. One more time – it’s impossible for a linebacker to stay with a running back, so how do you scheme a large defender matched up with a WR? It’s the equal of a basketball power forward trying to cover a point guard in space – can’t be done. Are you telling me there isn’t one coach on that Ducks’ staff that would red flag that during the 5 weeks of practice prior to this game? Here’s how it should go – “Hey coach (to D-coordinator), with all due respect, do you really think it’s a good idea to have one of our bigs trying to stay with that little guy downfield?
Coming on the heels of a 50+ point ass-beating by LA, it has been nearly 4 months since a number of my so called friends and acquaintances chastised me for predicting my Cavaliers unfortunately would win at the most 29 games and could very well be a mere 20 win team if they quit early and Byron Scott failed to motivate them to compete. You know who you are. I wouldn’t normally mention it, but a couple of you actually ridiculed me at the time, including one instance where the term “delusional” was used to describe me. So – who’s your daddy now?
I see where my boy Warren Cromartie ran his mouth on twitter. You have to love those social networking sites – ditto for the world’s premier narcissist (LBJ) taking a shot at the Cavaliers when they are down. As I have said, today’s technology, where every pro or major college athlete can let the world know what they are thinking in mere seconds, causes headaches for those in the PR business. The media loves it, but the PR pros have to deal with the ramifications. I’ll say this – if you run your mouth, you’d better be able to back it up or you look like a complete fool. Call me old fashioned, but I like folks who take the high road and just play. Good luck this weekend Tom Brady.
The Browns hired a new head coach this week and he isn’t a household name with a proven winning track record. That’s not the route I would have gone, but I wish him luck nonetheless. I know nothing about him other than the offense he ran last year was 26th in the NFL. Like everyone else, I’ll watch and see. But think about it – the bar has been set awful low around here since 1999. If he wins half his games or more, they’ll probably put a statue of him down Superior Avenue somewhere. And that’s the sad truth for the current NFL football climate in NE Ohio.
To close things out, I have one comment on the Arizona shooting incident of last week. This is for those morons who are trying to make more out of it than it is. Yes, it was tragic in many ways – especially for the loss of life and the effect on the families involved. However, it had absolutely nothing to do with our current political climate or discourse. And it had nothing to do with this nation’s value system as a whole. To draw some unsubstantiated parallels to politics or society borders on the ridiculous. Here’s the truth – in a nation of 308+ million people, you will have a few nuts. Period. And some of those nuts will unfortunately act on their sick belief system and harm others. It’s happened through history and will continue to happen. It can’t be avoided. Some folks simply aren’t wired right. And it’s an insult to my intelligence to try to link such an incident to other parts of society. So stop the nonsense you morons. Unfortunately, with our present 24/7 news cycle, everything is magnified, analyzed, taken apart and re-packaged by those who have agendas. I simply refuse to fall for this re-packaging of information, nor should you.
Friday, January 7, 2011
10 Things
10 things
Okay, I’m back. Yes, I have a little “Favre” in me. I was asked to continue to give my thoughts on occasion, so I will.
How the hell did Joe Thomas make the Pro Bowl again? This guy single-handedly got two quarterbacks hurt this season, and he certainly wasn’t consistently dominant in the run game. Yet he’s All-Pro. Ditto for Josh Cribbs. At least Cribbs has a semi-excuse – he was banged up all year.
I heard two nutty things this past week. First, ESPN was doing a promo on fans being able to follow Andrea Kremer’s tweets from the sideline of some Bowl game. What cogent observations could she possibly have? Here’s one possibility – “Hey, the purple team looks nice with that black trim.” Come on. She knows football like I know truck tires. Secondly, Rob Ryan may get an interview for the Panthers’ head coaching gig. Right. This guy has done nothing to earn such respect. When was the last time his defense, either in Cleveland or Oakland, finished in the top-5 in any defensive category? He’s mostly hot air. Mind you, if I were a reporter, I’d want to cover him. He’s fun as hell. But if I were a GM looking for a head coach, you have to be kidding. His act wouldn’t be considered funny if his teams had a.350 winning percentage. Ditto for his brother in NY.
I still don’t know how the Patriots are doing with it kids on both sides of the ball. I know they are the current popular favorites to win the Super Bowl, but I just can’t see it - too much youth/inexperience. The one upside is the play of the offensive line. Those guys are giving Brady a ton of time right now and he’s put up sick numbers because of it – with the exception of the Browns’ game. I’ll root for my boy Manning and the Colts. I love quarterbacks who make “O” coordinators basically useless during a game. It reminds of the good old days when you didn’t have multiple substitutions on every down and you didn’t go to four wides on third and 1.
Those of you who love the Arkansas QB – I have two words for you DA! He looks like a very similar creature to me. Granted, I haven’t seen him that much, but tall QBs tend to flame out in the NFL. Again, I wouldn’t take a QB in the first round unless he was a dead ringer for John Elway. They simply miss more often than not for me to reach just because everyone is looking for the next Peyton Manning in round #1. The odds are against it - big time.
Actually, the kid I do like is probably a second day pick – T. Taylor of Virginia Tech. If I ran a team, I’d team him with my boy Seneca Wallace and put in a few running plays in that system and drive D-coordinators in the NFL crazy. But you know that already.
The Luck kid said he’s staying at Stanford – which is an okay decision this time around since there won’t be big money for high picks anymore after they hammer out a new labor agreement. If this were 2009 and the kid said he was staying, I’d say he’s plain nuts (see Bradford). Still, if he has an off year or gets hurt next year, his pocket book will be affected – although not to the same level as before.
Someone tell Gordon Gee, that moron, that TCU or Boise State would kick his team’s ass 7 out of 10 times if they played this year.
There is nothing like the “Legend” and “Leaders” Conference dominating once again during Bowl season. Once again, the Big 10 showed how mediocre that conference has been in football for the past 15 years or so. On the flip side, congrats to OSU for finally beating an SEC team, even if they needed a “Butterfingers” performance by the Razorback wide receivers to do it.
By the way, if the Browns ended up with Ohio State’s #97 in the draft– Ironhead’s kid – I wouldn’t be disappointed. My only concern for him is his stamina. He came out a lot in that game last week versus Arkansas. He needs to get in better shape if he wants to be a force at the next level. The “O” linemen in the NFL will make him work a hell of a lot harder than the college kids.
As for Mangini, let’s hope MH does the right thing finally in Cleveland and hires a guy who has “been there and done that” (aka: win big at the NFL level). No more experimenting with coordinators in this town please. We have said for over a year that John Gruden would likely be the team’s next head coach and see no reason to change that view. If the fat man doesn’t want the gig himself because he like stealing money – and who can blame him, hire one of your boys who has had mucho success already. That would be JG.
Till next time.
Okay, I’m back. Yes, I have a little “Favre” in me. I was asked to continue to give my thoughts on occasion, so I will.
How the hell did Joe Thomas make the Pro Bowl again? This guy single-handedly got two quarterbacks hurt this season, and he certainly wasn’t consistently dominant in the run game. Yet he’s All-Pro. Ditto for Josh Cribbs. At least Cribbs has a semi-excuse – he was banged up all year.
I heard two nutty things this past week. First, ESPN was doing a promo on fans being able to follow Andrea Kremer’s tweets from the sideline of some Bowl game. What cogent observations could she possibly have? Here’s one possibility – “Hey, the purple team looks nice with that black trim.” Come on. She knows football like I know truck tires. Secondly, Rob Ryan may get an interview for the Panthers’ head coaching gig. Right. This guy has done nothing to earn such respect. When was the last time his defense, either in Cleveland or Oakland, finished in the top-5 in any defensive category? He’s mostly hot air. Mind you, if I were a reporter, I’d want to cover him. He’s fun as hell. But if I were a GM looking for a head coach, you have to be kidding. His act wouldn’t be considered funny if his teams had a.350 winning percentage. Ditto for his brother in NY.
I still don’t know how the Patriots are doing with it kids on both sides of the ball. I know they are the current popular favorites to win the Super Bowl, but I just can’t see it - too much youth/inexperience. The one upside is the play of the offensive line. Those guys are giving Brady a ton of time right now and he’s put up sick numbers because of it – with the exception of the Browns’ game. I’ll root for my boy Manning and the Colts. I love quarterbacks who make “O” coordinators basically useless during a game. It reminds of the good old days when you didn’t have multiple substitutions on every down and you didn’t go to four wides on third and 1.
Those of you who love the Arkansas QB – I have two words for you DA! He looks like a very similar creature to me. Granted, I haven’t seen him that much, but tall QBs tend to flame out in the NFL. Again, I wouldn’t take a QB in the first round unless he was a dead ringer for John Elway. They simply miss more often than not for me to reach just because everyone is looking for the next Peyton Manning in round #1. The odds are against it - big time.
Actually, the kid I do like is probably a second day pick – T. Taylor of Virginia Tech. If I ran a team, I’d team him with my boy Seneca Wallace and put in a few running plays in that system and drive D-coordinators in the NFL crazy. But you know that already.
The Luck kid said he’s staying at Stanford – which is an okay decision this time around since there won’t be big money for high picks anymore after they hammer out a new labor agreement. If this were 2009 and the kid said he was staying, I’d say he’s plain nuts (see Bradford). Still, if he has an off year or gets hurt next year, his pocket book will be affected – although not to the same level as before.
Someone tell Gordon Gee, that moron, that TCU or Boise State would kick his team’s ass 7 out of 10 times if they played this year.
There is nothing like the “Legend” and “Leaders” Conference dominating once again during Bowl season. Once again, the Big 10 showed how mediocre that conference has been in football for the past 15 years or so. On the flip side, congrats to OSU for finally beating an SEC team, even if they needed a “Butterfingers” performance by the Razorback wide receivers to do it.
By the way, if the Browns ended up with Ohio State’s #97 in the draft– Ironhead’s kid – I wouldn’t be disappointed. My only concern for him is his stamina. He came out a lot in that game last week versus Arkansas. He needs to get in better shape if he wants to be a force at the next level. The “O” linemen in the NFL will make him work a hell of a lot harder than the college kids.
As for Mangini, let’s hope MH does the right thing finally in Cleveland and hires a guy who has “been there and done that” (aka: win big at the NFL level). No more experimenting with coordinators in this town please. We have said for over a year that John Gruden would likely be the team’s next head coach and see no reason to change that view. If the fat man doesn’t want the gig himself because he like stealing money – and who can blame him, hire one of your boys who has had mucho success already. That would be JG.
Till next time.
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