The Sports Rumors

Bold Men Take Bold Actions

Everyone has an opinion on how to fix the New York Knicks.  You ask the roughly 20 million New Yorkers out there and you’ll get 20 million different ways to do it.  But at the end of the day, everything I’m hearing is the same stuff just recycled and reworeded.

“Fire Isiah Thomas.  That’s the problem!”

“Get rid of Isiah and trade Stephon Marbury.”

“Trade Jared Jefferies and Marbury for solid young guys… and get rid of Isiah.”

If this were a video game in which you could package a $20 million dollar bust of a player along with an overpaid Jared Jefferies, and trade them for Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, then yes, these ideas would work.  If firing Isiah Thomas would suddenly make the Knicks play at an elite level like they were with their last coach, Larry Brown, then yes, you have solved the problem.  (Note to readers:  I was being sarcastic about Larry Brown).  Fixing a team that is in utter disarray is not as simple as it seems.  You can’t trade your junk for someone else’s goods with the click of a button.  This is real life, with real people and real issues.

Common consensus among those who are familiar with the NBA, the salary cap, and how things really work is to move the priciest and most disappointing players piece by piece.  You start by getting rid of Marbury and his large salary.  You move Zach Randolph, who you just acquired this past year by the way, and clear up some space.  You go down the list of overpriced players and move them, piece by piece, until you have cleared some cap room.  You bring in a new coach who will breathe new life into the city and the team.  Take care of all that and make a run at Lebron, Wade, or Melo in two years.  If we lived in a clean world without politics and hidden agendas, then this would work. 

However, things aren’t that simple.  Do you think Knicks owner James Dolan is really that dumb when it comes to Isiah Thomas?  Do you really think that he doesn’t see the fact that Isiah Thomas is not a good coach?  Of course he does!  But what we don’t know is the exact reasons for Dolan choosing not to fire, or anger, Isiah Thomas.  Much like Marbury had “dirt” on Isiah, it seems through rumors and people who know what’s what, that Isiah has a lot on Dolan.  This team is so dysfunctional, from the ballboys to the owner, that common logic and common sense don’t apply.  You can talk about moving this player and that player until your blue in the face. Your ideas are probably great, definitely better than what the Knicks have done up to this point, but those ideas and scenarios don’t matter because there is more than what meets the eye with the New York Knicks.  We simply don’t know the dirt that’s been swept under the rug for years, the same dirt that is keeping franchise benefiting moves from being made. 

Here’s where my idea or suggestion comes in.  It’s time for David Stern to get involved.  He is the commissioner of the league and he is the one who oversees everything.  We’re not talking about the struggling Seattle Sonics or the Milwaukee Bucks organization.  We’re talking about a marquee franchise in the most marketable city in the country, if not the world.  New York is not Memphis.  New York is New York.  You cannot have this kind of a bottom feeding franchise in your most marketable segment. 

Take any sport.  Let’s look at the NFL.  The NFL draws the most interest when its marquee teams have success.  Hate them or love them, but the Dallas Cowboys draw interest from everyone.  The New York Giants draw interest from everyone.  The Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Skins and so forth all draw a lot of interest because their markets are so enormous.  They are nationally relevant.  San Diego Chargers barely sold out their playoff games!  Ditto with Tampa Bay.  Big teams in big markets make leagues successful.  Look at the MLB.  Baseball is at its peak when the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox are involved.  Your opinion, good or bad for either team, is irrelevant.  You are interested either way; better for the league.  The success of failure of the Kansas City Royals doesn’t mean jack.  The failure of the Yankees or Sox means something.  And more directly, look at the NBA.  Come playoff time this year, I guarantee you the ratings will be higher than they have been in recent years.  I guarantee it.  You know why?  Because the Boston Celtics are good.  Because the Los Angeles Lakers are good.  People watch because they want to cheer them or hate them.  Either way, they’re watching.  The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs of recent years have both been better basketball teams than the current Lakers and current Celtics.    No one cared.  People crave Boston.  People crave LA.  People want to see New York!

So David Stern needs to get involved NOW before it gets too late and the Knicks miss the boat on having a chance to nab one of the young anchors of the league (Lebron in particular). 

What exactly should he do? 

David Stern is a very, very bright man.  Though I don’t always agree with his decisions (dress code for example), I have always had the utmost respect for how he handles his matters and keeps the league relevant, despite the fact that it has to compete with the NFL when football season is at its peak interest.  If I were in Stern’s shoes, I would take this bold, unprecedented action. 

Have a meeting with James Dolan.  Tell him he has three months to make some drastic changes that will show that he is on track to getting the team better.  That starts with firing Isiah Thomas, followed by moving some of the enormous, wasted contracts and freeing up cap space.  I’m not giving him half a year; I’m giving him three months.  If I don’t see him making moves, taking action, then that’s it.  He’s out.  I don’t know the legal course of action that would need to take place but there are ways of forcing someone to sell their stakes if you really want to them to.  Sometimes, as the big boss, you have to be a bully for the sake of the future success. 

The new owner, whoever it may be, would have a daunting and difficult task but he could go down as a New York legend if he pulls it off.  Here are the immediate moves, in order of necessity. 

Trade Stephon Marbury to whoever is willing to give you the highest draft choice in return.  I don’t care if it is the second round pick number 20; take it.   

Same thing goes for Jared Jefferies.  He may not even be worth a draft choice, so take the cheapest bum off of the other team who is willing to take his contract on and leave it at that. 

Inside, you have Zach Randolph, Eddy Curry and David Lee.  You want to keep David Lee because he’s a good teammate and a good character guy you want to have.  You need to move either Curry or Randolph.  I’ll move Randolph because he has a history of having attitude issues and his contract is significantly bigger.  I don’t care about how he’s acting right now; I’m going by reputations and history, and his isn’t very good.  I’d trade him for the best young player (low salary) or draft choice that I can get in return.  You know you’re not going to get a player as skilled as Randolph, but I’ll take 40 cents to a dollar at this point. 

That leaves you with Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, David Lee and Eddy Curry as your nucleus.  You are still stuck with heavy salaries with Malik Rose ($7 mil), Quentin Richardson ($8 mil), and Jerome James ($5 mil).  Trade them to whoever wants them for future draft picks or expiring contracts if you can get them.  Even if you trade Richardson to the freaking Heat for a 2011 second round pick, do it.  You are getting all of these disgusting rosters off your books.  You have to come to grips with the fact that you will not be competitive for the next two years, but you are building for the future. 

Your roster, if you move all those salaries off your books in the next 12 months or so will look like this by the start of the 2009 season; Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson at point, Mardy Collins at shooting guard, Renaldo Balkman at small forward, David Lee at power forward, and Eddy Curry at center.  If you win 20 games, congrats-a-freakin-lations.  We’re not worried about 2009.  You have now freed up money to throw at Bron Bron, who seems to have a fondness for New York (much to the dismay of his hometown, Cleveland).  You also have accumulated some draft picks, which may or may not be worth anything.  You also have money to chase down some other free agents and if you have a solid young coach, someone like Eddie Jordan, then you are set.  You will be a playoff team the instant Lebron signs with you and big time players will want to come play in New York and be a part of turning around one of the greatest franchises in all of sports.

If they follow this path, bite the bullet and be terrible for the next two years but clear the salaries and the current administration, the years 2010 through the day Lebron James retires will be oh so nice. 

Make it happen David Stern.  We want New York to be New York again. 

Tony Romo’s Guide to Breaking Up

There are certain situations in which you have to put your sports rivalry hatred aside, sit back, and enjoy a funny story. This is one of those times. As you know, I am no fan of Tony Romo’s or the Dallas Cowboys. I hate both of them very, very much. But I heard about this story and had a hell of a laugh because it is so ridiculous.

As everyone on earth knows, Tony Romo has been dating Jessica Simpson. They went off to Mexico before NFC Divisional round, a round in which Romo’s Cowboys lost. Recently however, rumors had been circulating that Romo is trying to break it off with Simpson. Before I continue, let me give you a flashback story:

When Tony Romo tried to break up with Carrie Underwood (his previous girlfriend), she was upset and intent on making it work. He called her over for dinner one night. She came to his house expecting some sort of romantic ordeal. Instead, Romo had a microwave dinner while sitting on his couch infront of the TV. That was the end of Romo-Underwood.

Now back to today. So Romo apparently called Simpson while she was in LA around the 17^th or 18^th of January. He tried to break up with her. She knew it’d be a PR disaster for her to be dumped by the star quarterback from Texas. She wasn’t having that.

Fine. Tony Romo asked her to come to his house in Texas. He told her they’d be going on a trip. Now, if you’re Simpson, you’ve got to be thinking the trip is going to be somewhere like the Bahamas, Jamaica, or some exotic island.

False.

Tony Romo took Jessica Simpson on a HUNTING TRIP! Yes. A hunting trip. Now, for those who don’t know, when you hunt down a deer for example, you go up to its dead body, cut its belly open and take out all the guts. Then you carry the gutted carcass back to your truck and then to your cabin. You rip off all the skin and then you hang the meat so that all the blood drains off of it. After that, you cut it up and freeze it. There’s no television, no paparazzi, no masseuse, no fancy restaurants. Try and imagine the uncomfortable feelings Simpson must have been feeling.

So now, reportedly, Romo and Simpson are no more. Chalk up a win for Romo. Hilarious.

Jessica Simpson + Hunting = ???

Memo to Donald Sterling: Shut Up!

Stories like these really irk me.  I mean, they really get me fired up.  If you are in your waning days of “football mode” and have yet to tune into the NBA, let me explain what I’m about to talk about.  Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has gone out publically and said that he will make a change if head coach Mike Dunleavy doesn’t “turn this thing around”.  Currently, the LA Clippers are 13-25 and last in the Pacific division.  I can understand how under a normal team’s circumstances, this comment by the owner would be somewhat acceptable.    

However, we’re talking about the Los Angeles Clippers.  This team has been a complete joke for the last 20 years.  Who has been the general manager for the last 20 years?  Elgin Baylor.  Who has been the owner?  Donald Sterling.  Who has been the head coach for the last few years, years in which the young Clippers took Phoenix to Game 7 in the playoffs?  Mike Dunleavy.  So you’re going to tell me that NOW you feel that you can make a change?  You didn’t want to make a change for 15 plus years that Elgin Baylor kept showing up at draft lottery shows to see if he could get the highest pick for his sorry roster? 

Mike Dunleavy is dealing with two starters being injured and unable to play; Sean Livingston and Elton Brand.  Sean Livingston is a tall, lanky point guard who is up and coming in this league.  He lacks offensive skills right now, but has the ability to shut down opposing point guards.  That’s important in the west when you have guys like Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Baron Davis, and Deron Williams. Elton Brand is a top 8-12 player every single year.  He also plays the important position of power forward in the west.  So there is a reason the Clippers are struggling.  I’m not going to say that Mike Dunleavy should get a free pass forever and ever just because he got the Clippers to be relevant for the past few years.  But the guy is trying to shoot a gun without bullets!  Give him a chance to reload his roster and if he’s still struggling, then feel free to call him out. 

Similar to Dunleavy’s public response, I’d love to see the Clippers go out and get another coach.  There is no one out there right now, no one, who could do a better job with a Clippers team decimated by injuries than Dunleavy.  Donald Sterling should go back to keeping his mouth shut and let people who know basketball run the basketball team.  End of story.    

Little Things Go Along Way

Public perception.  Media saviness.  24/7 sports news coverage. 

We’re in 2008 people.  Every athlete knows how every action of theirs is watched, talked about, gossiped about, and written about.  Who you’re dating, your conflicts with teammates or coaches, what you say on the field, who you associate with off the field; all of this is public knowledge.  Bloggers like myself, millions of us, write about it every day.  Opinions are shaped and formed from all of these branches of media outlets. 

That being said, I have no doubt that Ladanian Tomlinson would give his heart and soul for his team.  I have no doubt that he is a tough player and he has the resume to back it up.  He has played through injury before, even when the games didn’t matter during the years of San Diego’s mediocrity.  I truly believe him when he says he thought he would be ready to go for the game, but simply couldn’t after the first two series.  I believe him. 

He is upset that people, such as Deion Sanders among other analysts, are questioning his heart and desire.  He is frustrated that people are looking at him as if he didn’t give it his all in the most important game of his career to date.  It doesn’t help that Philip Rivers is being touted for his bravery and passion by playing through his knee injury after having it scoped just days before.  I can understand his disappointment, but Tomlinson could have easily avoided it.  Easily. 

When you’re the star player of not just a team, but of the entire league as he is, you have to have understand that all eyes are on you.  Given that this was the AFC Championship game, even more eyes are on you.  If he didn’t want to be criticized for lacking heart, he should have shown some emotion on the sideline.  That’s what it comes down to.  Sitting on the bench, isolated from teammates for the majority of the game, having a big jacket on and wearing a helmet with a black tinted visor shows me and other viewers nothing.  You are being watched and judged based on your actions.  His actions the week before against Indianapolis included being caught on camera laughing on the sideline with a friend while the Chargers were down in the second half.  I’m not saying run around jumping up and down, because you can’t.  You have an injured knee.  However, standing near the coaches or talking to your offensive teammates between possessions shows that you are not only interested in the game, but trying to contribute the best you can.  If you can’t contribute physically, then contribute with your vast knowledge.  Tell Michael Turner what you’re seeing from the sideline, tell Rivers what kind of things you’re seeing from an angle that he can’t see, help your team the best you can.  By sitting on the bench and not communicating or showing interest and watching the game on the jumbotron, you’re showing that you don’t care.  I’m sure he does care, but what people see and hear on TV is what shapes their opinions about athletes. 

“Give it your all”.  How often do we hear that in sports?  Give it your best, your everything.  Well, I know that if I can’t contribute the way I normally do, I will find ways to try and help my team the best that I can.  Had LT taken off the helmet, put on a beanie, stood with his teammates and broken down what he saw or helped them with encouraging words, his character and passion would not have been questioned.  This would be a non story.  It needs to be pointed out that LT doesn’t owe anyone an explanation about how he was or wasn’t involved in the game.  However, if he’s going to be upset about how the media and fans are talking about him, he should take his actions, or lack thereof, into consideration.    

My opinion of Tomlinson has always been that he is an unselfish, team-first, genuine superstar that will go down as one of the best runningbacks who ever played.  But last Sunday, he was not a good teammate.  That’s my opinion, and my opinion is based on what I see. 

In sports, perception is reality. 

Is someone worried about 19-0?

Tom Brady reemerged in SoHo with a bouquet of flowers and a walking cast, which triggered several cries for an explanation, to which he responded that you get nicks and hits, and that he would have to be on a stretcher to miss the SuperBowl. Hours later he was back in two shoes. So what does Tom Brady /RedSox Patriots need to stress? I don’t know, but something is definitely on Brady’s mind… or head. Apparently, maybe not for long?? Brady was seen walking into a 7th Ave building which plays host to a number of medical offices.  Page Six first called the podiatrist (maybe a checkup on the ankle?) but the response was “No, he wasn’t here.”  Next they called the chiropractor (tasted more grass than he was used to against SD?), but “No, he didn’t come in.”  But the trichologist’s response (hair restoration) was “No comment.”  Wha?  But isn’t the leading cause of hair loss stress?  What could be stressing you when you are the posterboy for uberchic right now, and setting records as well?

Read More… 

Favre vs Brady? Not So Fast

Unbelievable.  That’s the only word I can think of that accurately describes the Giants season, from start to finish.  I’m talking about when they were 0-2, down to the Redskins in game three with their season 30 minutes away from being finished.  They followed that up with a six game winning streak.  Then they began slumping towards the latter part of the season with everyone, including myself, saying that it’s the same old Giants who collapse in the final stretch of the season every year.  There was a point in the final two weeks where it looked as if the Giants could possibly miss the playoffs entirely.  Had they not beat Buffalo, it probably would have been the case.  However, they got through it and made the playoffs with a 10-6 mark.  The path to the Superbowl?  At Tampa Bay, at Dallas, at Green Bay. 

There is no one out there, including all the Giants fans, who thought that they could have won those three games when the playoffs started.  Nobody.  The Tampa Bay game was a 50/50.  I didn’t think it really mattered who won.  The Dallas game was one where I would have liked the Giants to win, but didn’t think it was all that likely.  The Green Bay game?  I gave the Giants no chance.  But here they are, winners of three straight road playoff games and on their way to the Super Bowl. 

Eli Manning hasn’t played at a level that is unforeseen, but he has played good enough to keep the Giants in every ball game.  He has stayed away from the mistakes that have cost him to be called out by any and everybody.  He’s not fumbling the ball, not throwing interceptions, he’s managing the clock, and he’s throwing the ball away when needed.  You can’t ask for much more at this point.  The Giants defense has played superb.  You take away that one 90 yard touchdown pass that Favre had and you can see that the Packers had a miserable game offensively.  They couldn’t run the ball.  They were inconsistent in their passing game.  Even the Giants special teams played decent.  Most of all, this team has confidence that is through the roof right now.  That’s dangerous. 

Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin have shut up the critics in New York, at least for the next two weeks.  As much as I hate the Giants, given they are an arch rival of my Redskins, it is a lot harder to route against them than I thought.  I guess it’s because America loves the underdog.  It’s hard to route against a team that was already officially a 14 point underdog in the Superbowl before they even got to thaw out their fingers.  Sometimes it’s nice to see a great story rather than a great team win a title.  The Giants are a great story. 

And oh by the way… Tiki Barber.  Eli Manning says what’s up. 

You Might Not Want to Read This if You’re a Dallas Fan

My intentions were to write this piece yesterday, but I obviously didn’t get around to doing so. I wanted to hit on a few topics and throw my valuable two cents out there, starting with this past weekend’s dvisional round of the playoffs.

The Patriots won’t, can’t, be stopped. The Jaguars put everything they had out there and Tom Brady responded by going a nearly perfect 26-28. I’m not going to harp on this too long and I’ll leave it at this; The Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl by double figures.

For all the love Ladanian Tomlinson gets for being a team player and being focused and devoted to the success of the team, he sure didn’t look like he was really interested in what was going on in the third quarter when he was seeing laughing and joking with a buddy on the sideline. I would have much rather seen him hanging around the coaches and watching the game with some interest. His team was losing at that point; it wasn’t like they were up 20.

While I’m on the topic of LT, I wanted to get another thing off my chest. Last year, he whined like a pansy about how the Patriots showed “no class” by dancing on the field after beating the Chargers. He went on to say that it was a reflection of their head coach. Well, LT, your team puts itself out there to be ridiculed and mocked the way they dance and celebrate after every god damned play, including yourself at times. Luis Castillo and Shaun Phillips go out of their way to do ridiculous, and unpleasant to the eye, dances. No one wants to see two fat asses dancing jiggling on the field after stopping a runningback for a one yard gain. And don’t get me started on Philip Rivers and the amount of trash talking he does considering he’s an average, at best, quarterback. If you’re going to go out there and dance and celebrate like idiots after every play, then don’t whine to the media when you get stomped by New England next week and they mock your absurd and unnecessary shows of celebration.

The legend of Brett Favre continues. I can sit here today and admit that I was 100% wrong in the offseason to say that he should have retired. I now have come around to agree that Brett should retire whenever he wants to. He has earned it. The level he has that young team playing at, along with himself, is nothing short of remarkable. I don’t think the game against the Giants next weekend will be close, despite the Giants amazing road record. I have the Packers winning by a landslide, only to go on to lose to the Patriots. But if there is anything I’ve learned this season, it’s that you never know with Brett Favre. I wouldn’t be shocked if he somehow pulled the miraculous upset. I really wouldn’t.

Now to “America’s Team”. For a second straight year, the Dallas Cowboys choked in the playoffs. It would take an entire page to cover all of the subplots associated with this team, so I’ll just hit on the main ones. Tony Romo brought this on himself. Yes, he has the right to do whatever it is that he wants to do in his free time. Yes, he’s a grown man who can choose to spend time with whomever he pleases. But there are times where you have to look at all of the possible outcomes of your actions when you are affecting as many people as he does. You have to realize that fans have invested millions of dollars all season long for tickets, merchandise and other things related to the Cowboys. You have coaches, players, an owner, that have all put years worth of work in to get to this point. Your team is in the best position to get to the Super Bowl. Now, that being said, you know that your team struggled its final month going into the playoffs. You know that there are things that you need to improve on in order to ensure a successful run. A trip to F’ing Mexico can wait! A trip with a celebrity girlfriend who notifies all the tabloid magazines about her whereabouts before she even reaches there, CAN WAIT. Spending time with Joe Simpson and the rest of the strange Simpson family, CAN WAIT. You have an obligation to a team and a city that is paying you millions of dollars to win in the playoffs, not just the regular season. Make a wise decision, especially knowing how last year ended, and spend your free time studying a little harder so that you don’t play as terrible as you did on Sunday in the most important game of your career up to this point. Using your free time to better yourself shows maturity and devotion. Well, Tony Romo dug his own grave and now he can go party the rest of the damn year with whoever he wants. You know what separates the great ones from the fads? Dedication 365 days a year. You can’t convince me that Tony Romo is as dedicated to the Cowboys as he should be in order for them to win a title, even if you cry in a press conference about it.

Which leads me to Terrell Owens. I saw right through that press conference and you should too. I’m not buying this, “that’s my quarterback, that’s my teammate” garbage. If this was Chad Johnson or Reggie Wayne or someone, then yes. But I’m supposed to believe the words of a guy who has publically humiliated every single quarterback that he has played with since becoming a star? I’m supposed to believe the guy who upset Jerry Rice, the best receiver to play the game, because he ran his mouth too much and showed no respect for anyone…not even Rice himself?! Now he’s crying for Tony Romo?! Get the hell out of here. If there is a master of publicity stunts in this world, it’s Terrell Owens. No one even brought up Romo at that point in the press conference. He wasn’t even mentioned! And Owens just goes into this highly emotional state of defending his quarterback?! Please. You should cry about how you had zero second half catches and couldn’t shake single coverage instead of shedding tears and defending your Joe Namath-wannabe quarterback who was partying in Mexico when he should have been partying with his playbook.

One more thing I wanted to throw out about TO that I just remembered. He was talking about “losing as a team” after having a bad game himself. Funny that when he had that hell of a performance in the Super Bowl in which he caught 9 catches for 100 plus yards and lost, he didn’t find that the Eagles lost as a team. He found it necessary to call out McNabb for being tired. You think if he had 10 catches for 145 yards and 2 TD’s against New York and the Cowboys lost, he would still say “we lost as a team” with tears streaming down his face? I think not. I know not.

F’ing Balling

The Los Angeles Lakers have won six straight, including last nights 100-99 victory over the Grizzlies, and 9 out of their last 10 to pull within .5 games of Phoenix in the Pacific Division. That’s probably because Kobe is doing his thing, and Lamar is grabbing all the “f’ing” rebounds, according to Andrew Bynum, who the Lakers may have lost to injury last night.

NFL Divisional Playoff Previews

Seattle @ Green Bay (-7.5)

Lambeu Field.  January 12^th.  30 degrees with snow showers.  Playoff game.  Brett Favre. 

I should conclude my preview of this game by just pasting those 5 statements over and over, but I will elaborate for those who are not familiar with the point I’m trying to make.  Seattle is not going to go into Lambeu field with their non existent run offense and beat Brett Favre in a playoff game, especially while it is snowing.  You think Matt Hasslebeck is going to be able to throw all over that Green Bay secondary that features Charles Woodson and Al Harris?  I don’t.  You think Shaun Alexander and Co. will be able to muster up much of a run game at Green Bay, after they couldn’t do it against Washington in Seattle?  I don’t. 

There is no question that Seattle’s front four is impressive.  Patrick Kerney is a monster.  I’ll be honest; I didn’t think he was AS good as he looked against Washington last Saturday.  But let’s not forget that disrupting the game of Brett Favre is not the same thing as disrupting the game of Todd Collins, with all due respect.  Throw in the fact that Green Bay running back, Ryan Grant, has been as good as anyone in the league as of late, and you’re looking at a pretty big problem.  He has amassed 770 yards on 141 carries over the past eight games.  That comes to a 5.4 yards per carry average. 

I’ll put it as simple as I can.  Green Bay’s young defense (youngest in the league) will outplay Seattle’s old and talent lacking offense.  Seattle’s young defense will play well against Green Bay’s offense, but not well enough to hold them under 20 points.  I foresee Green Bay feeding off of the Packer faithful early, jumping ahead in the first quarter, and never looking back.

Final Score

Seattle 13

Green bay 24

Jacksonville @ New England (-13.5)

All week long, I have heard nothing but praise for Jacksonville and how they are the team that has what it takes to knock off the big bad wolf.  They have the dual running threat.  They have the quarterback that doesn’t make mistakes.  They have the front four that can put pressure on Brady and leave 7 others to congest the passing lanes.  People.  There is a reason Vegas has set them as 14 point underdogs. 

Everything that we have heard about how good Jacksonville is, the Patriots heard too.  Everything that we, in our coaching genius minds, have come up with to beat the Pats; the Patriots heard too.  All this water cooler talk, “Yeah Jim to beat the Patriots, the Jags will keep Brady and Moss off the field by running Taylor and Jones-Drew effectively and the Jax defense will get enough stops because that front four is going to harass Tom Brady.  Yep, this is the week the Pats fall.”

Bull.

The Patriots are going to win and they will win big; here’s why.  They will have an answer for the two headed monster that is Taylor & Jones-Drew just like Pittsburgh did.  Do you know how many yards the two of them got combined on the ground?  77.  Do you know WHY Jacksonville beat Pittsburgh on the road?  It wasn’t because of their formula for success.  It was because of a 96 yard kick return by Jones-Drew and two interceptions by Mathis.  THAT is why they won.  All of the things people have said the Jaguars will do against the Patriots is the same stuff they failed to do against the Steelers.  David Garrard, the mistake free quarterback, made mistakes.  He didn’t even complete 10 passes.  Think about that for a moment.  9 completions in 4 quarters means slightly more than 2 per 15 minutes.  The passing game failed.  The running game failed.  So now what makes you think that they will suddenly hit on all cylinders against New England?  Oh, and that front four of the Jaguars.  Yeah, they are pretty good.  But that defense gave up 29 points to Pittsburgh, most of them in the second half.  You know who is really good in the second half?  Tom F’ing Brady. 

All the angles we take and the studying we do as fans still fails to give us insight on what Belichick is going to do.  I couldn’t tell you with certainty if the Patriots are going to come out and run the ball 30 times with Maroney or if they’re going to pass 30 times in the first half with Brady.  You just, don’t, know.  What we do know is that Tom Brady can beat you in two styles of football.  He can beat you with the clock management, run the ball with a pass here and there type of game (see previous Patriot championships), or he can beat you with 5 guys spread out like it’s a video game. 

You know what element people forget to add to their formulas for beating the Patriots?  Luck.  You need to play your best game of the year on offense, your best game of the year on defense, avoid any mistakes on special teams, and then hope for some luck.  You need to hope that a ball slips out of Brady’s hands inside his own 20.  You need to hope that Randy Moss drops a wide open pass on 3^rd and 10.  You need to hope that one of your corners gets hold of a tipped ball and runs it back for a touchdown.  Basically, if you are Jacksonville, you need the 96 yard return of Jones-Drew and the two interceptions of Mathis, PLUS a great game from Garrard and the rest of the team to have an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter.

Problem is, Jacksonville might have spent all of their luck in the last game. 

Final Score

Jacksonville 17

New England 41

College Football Players…NFL Head Coaches… Money… Power…

Another busy day at work for me which means I don’t have much time to say too much (I don’t know if that’s for the better or worse). Regardless, here’s what’s on my mind.

Ryan Mallet, quarterback of Michigan, will be transferring out because new coach Rich Rodriguez runs a spread offense and his pocket style passing has no place in it. Consequently, Mallet will be ineligible to play for one year, while Rodriguez obviously won’t be. I don’t know if I can think of a scenario in sports right now that screams injustice and double standard more than the way college football players and college coaches are treated differently. I understand that the NCAA doesn’t want players hopping around from school to school as if they were in the NFL. But there has to be some middle ground. Off the top of my head, the easiest solution to this is for college players to be able to transfer out of a school if their current coach is replaced and not face a penalty of one year. So for Mallet’s example, he can transfer to wherever and be eligible to play right away because his previous coach, Lloyd Carr, was replaced. This current system of transfer penalties if you will is not fair and has to stop.

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I can’t remember where I read it, I think it was in Sports Illustrated, but it was about some writer making the case for how it is unfair that college players are not paid for playing college football. The argument, as I’ve heard for years, is that they bring in so much money for the schools via bowl games and television contracts etc, that it is unfair that they don’t see a dime. Excuse me? Last I checked, the average college education for four years in a public institution costs somewhere in the ballpark of $80,000. That is instate mind you. So getting a full ride to a higher level education by playing a game in which they get PLENTY of other “unofficial” perks isn’t enough? B.S. College football players have it great, and I don’t care if they play for Duke or USC. A program paying for your entire education that will give you the fallback of having a plethora of jobs available to you when you graduate (assuming they aren’t going to the NFL) is more than enough compensation. And not to mention the fact that you are treated like a God even if you’re the third string offensive lineman. So enough with the “lets pay college athletes” crap.

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If I hear one more person say either of the two statements, my head will literally pop off:

1. Bill Cowher said he’s not considering a return to the NFL until 2009. He said so.
2. Pete Carroll won’t leave USC for the NFL unless it’s on the west coast.

Let me address the first statement of idiocy. Really? Bill Cowher won’t listen if someone is dangling control of personnel decisions and $8-10 million? He’s going to pass that up to stay as an analyst with CBS? That’s funny because I remember the likes of Dennis Green, Marty Schottenheimer, Dick Vermiel, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Parcells (twice) saying that they were going to stay in the booth. Don’t be naïve and think that if becoming the highest paid coach with a good team would be something Cowher would pass up for the sake of remaining as an analyst.

The second ludicrous statement. Now that it is official that Pete Carroll is considering the Atlanta Falcons job, do you think that he wouldn’t listen hard if Washington (playoff team), Baltimore (a season removed from being 13-3) or other teams came calling? “I don’t see Pete Carroll leaving USC for anywhere but the west coast” to quote friend and site contributor Basil. Last I checked, Atlanta ain’t on the east coast buddy. Holding out for a west coast NFL job means that Carroll would wait for Seattle, San Diego, or the greatest job of all, Oakland. Yeah, so much for that theory. Carroll will jump at the first opportunity he gets if the right pieces are in place. What are the right pieces? Money and power. I previously thought that Carroll would also want a somewhat established team or at least a team with a tradition and history. I guess that flies out the window if he’s considering Atlanta; the worst job to take over in the league right now and a town with no football history/tradition. You have a head coaching vacancy, and you have power to offer with a lot of money to throw in, give Pete Carroll a call.