The Sports Rumors

Today’s Rundown 9/18

 **NFL Week 3 Power Rankings are up but first…”

*I don’t know if many of you stayed up last night to watch the entire Redskins-Eagles game, or if you even tuned in at all. I have to admit, if you weren’t a fan of one of the two teams, you probably wouldn’t want to watch more than the first quarter because it was a complete defensive battle. However, here’s what you missed. You missed the Redskins defense keep the Eagles from scoring a touchdown. You missed Eagles fans boo’ing McNabb after every missed throw in the second quarter. You missed Brian Westbrook have a Barry Sanders like run that resulted in only a field goal. You missed the Redskins get to the Eagles 1 yard line with 14 seconds left, only to commit penalty after penalty and move back to around the 20. You missed Campbell throw a beautiful touchdown pass to Cooley right after that. You missed the Redskins offensive line, shorthanded, dominate the Eagles linemen and linebackers. You missed the Redskins take a 20-9 lead, cut to 20-12. You missed the Eagles get down inside the Redskins 10 with less than two minutes to go. You missed the Eagles 4^th and 6 pass right at the first down marker to Kevin Curtis. You missed Laron Landry jack Curtis up and end the game. You missed my hometeam improve to 2-0 and put an arch rival into a 0-2 debacle. You’ve waited all spring and summer for NFL games… now man up and stay awake so you don’t miss football.

*Donovan McNabb has done an interview on HBO and the highlight of it being where he says that black quarterbacks are not treated fairly. He went on to mention that he’s criticized more than Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time and go into what’s fair and what’s not because this is a really sticky subject. I will go over a few quick points though. ESPN radio host Colin Cowherd made the argument that Ryan Leaf and Drew Bledsoe got booed often also. With all due respect, neither one of them led their team to four conference title games and one Super Bowl last I checked. McNabb has to realize that the reason he gets booed or criticized as much as he does is because he is not as good as Peyton Manning or Carson Palmer AND because he lives in one of the harshest cities in the world. I criticize Philly fans all the time for being fair weather fans and too tough on their players (maybe that’s why they haven’t won jack in over 20 years as a city). But McNabb also has to understand that unless you’re setting NFL records, throwing six touchdowns in a game, or winning a Super Bowl, you can’t expect to get that same love; especially in Philadelphia.

I do think it’s petty to use the race card because McNabb has seen plenty of love with his Pro Bowl appearances and endorsement deals. It’s no secret that his leadership qualities have been questioned, even before the T.O. drama. Just last night, Ron Jaworski pointed out that many players have said McNabb is a “management guy” not a “players’ guy”.

I think McNabb is a great quarterback and he will continue to be great, whether it’s with Philly or not. However, I don’t like that he used the race card; the same race card that Rush Limbaugh used so recklessly a few years back. Donovan should know better.