Last week in TMQ, Gregg decided he was the only person to remark on the academic angle of the 2011 Orange Bowl between Stanford and Virginia Tech. He decided this without doing any sort of research or an Internet search on whether other writers had remarked about the academic angle of this game. Gregg also criticized the University of Maryland for being greedy for money (and I am sure Gregg pimped out his new book repeatedly in TMQ a few weeks ago simply because he has no need for book sales, and therefore money) and thinks coaches should choose to do a "surprise" two-point conversion attempt more often from the field goal kicking formation. This week Gregg talks about the young quarterbacks in the NFL and how great they are playing. Naturally, Gregg skips over the part where two of these young quarterbacks, Griffin and Luck, also happen to be highly-paid, highly-drafted glory boys. Gregg usually tells us these type of players don't work as hard as undrafted or lowly drafted players, while these players also have an air of entitlement about them. Gregg glosses over the fact Griffin and Luck don't meet his stereotype for first round picks. As usual, Gregg ignores any evidence that he finds inconvenient when trying to prove a point.
Three rookie quarterbacks -- Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck and Russell
Wilson -- led their teams to monster wins, one on "Monday Night
Football," the other two on the road. The road wins were both comebacks,
Luck was drafted #1 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft and Griffin was drafted #2 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft, while Russell Wilson was a third round pick. This will go unmentioned by Gregg Easterbrook in regard to his previous belief that highly-drafted, highly-paid glory boys don't work as hard or perform as well as undrafted or lowly drafted players.
Now add that two of the quarterbacks were the first two choices of the
draft, while the third was a guy his own college team wanted to get rid
of.
There is really no other way to say this other than this is a complete and utter lie. This isn't an opinion that Gregg Easterbrook is espousing. He is taking facts and twisting them around into a lie. Russell Wilson was not unwanted by his college team. He had completed his undergraduate work at N.C. State and chose to transfer because N.C. State had Mike Glennon ready to play quarterback for them over the next two seasons. Tom O'Brien wanted a quarterback who would participate in spring practice, which Russell Wilson was unwilling to do since he was playing in the Colorado Rockies organization at that point. So Wilson refused to participate in spring practice and N.C. State released him from his scholarship and he transferred to Wisconsin. N.C. State didn't want to get rid of Wilson, but they wanted a quarterback willing to participate in spring practice and Wilson was off playing baseball at that point.
Wilson is a lesser-known player whom even Seattle passed on high in the draft.
"Lesser-known." He only led his college football team to the Rose Bowl last year. Who has ever heard of the Rose Bowl anyway?
In 2011, his college team, North Carolina State, told him to take a hike, because the Wolfpack wanted to start someone else.
Again, this is an outright lie. Gregg Easterbrook is an embarrassment to journalism. He takes facts and twists them around into what he wants them to be. Russell Wilson wasn't told to take a hike. Tom O'Brien wanted a quarterback who would participate in spring practice and Mike Glennon would do so, while Russell Wilson would not. Glennon had two years of eligibility and Wilson had one year of eligibility, as well as the option of playing at another school. N.C. State stated Glennon would be the starter and Wilson CHOSE to transfer. It worked out for all parties.
Out of the many things I don't get about ESPN, I don't see how they can allow a columnist to blatantly twist facts around and lie. It's all about the entertainment aspect though isn't it? Facts and journalistic integrity be damned.
But Griffin is a lot faster than Tebow, and throws the ball a lot
better. Griffin's glowing aura even caused the Redskins' defense to play
well in the fourth quarter.
No, it didn't. You are an embarrassment to the human race.
How many rookie quarterbacks have ever defeated the defending champions on "Monday Night Football"?
If he doesn't do any research to find out the answer to this question, then Gregg can just claim Robert Griffin is the only quarterback ever to do this.
Luck rolled to buy time, saw everyone in the end zone well-guarded,
flipped the ball to Avery -- then sprinted downfield to try to get a
block.
Yes, he sprinted "downfield." That whole 14-15 yards he had to sprint "downfield" to get a block for Donnie Avery was very helpful. What a team player. You would think Luck was an undrafted free agent and not a highly-paid glory boy the way he hustled those 14-15 yards "downfield."
Joe Montana could not have run the Colts' final drive any better.
Forlorn at 2-14 last season, Indianapolis now has a strong chance of the
playoffs -- and is 7-1 in close games, an indicator of a poised rookie quarterback.
Being 7-1 in close game is also an indicator of good coaching and just a little bit of fortunate happenstance.
North Carolina State told Wilson to hit the road so it could start a 6-6 quarterback.
Mike Glennon is also projected to go pretty early in this year's NFL Draft, which is a little factoid Gregg Easterbrook left out. N.C. State did not tell Russell Wilson to hit the road. They wanted him for spring practice and Wilson did not want to attend spring practice and wanted to play baseball for the Rockies.
The guy who made that canny decision was fired a few days ago, but that's another matter.
O'Brien's firing had nothing to do with choosing Glennon over Wilson. Not to mention, Wilson is the guy who wanted to be a baseball AND football player, while O'Brien preferred he stick to football. If anything, O'Brien was correct that Wilson be a football-only athlete.
Luck and Griffin are very well-known, Wilson not so much.
This is idiocy. Russell Wilson had been pretty well known throughout his college career until he went to Wisconsin and became very well known. Then he was named the Seahawks starting quarterback and is now becoming a household name.
But his matinee-idol looks should make Wilson popular as a product endorser, unless he's "too short" for that too.
Gregg wants to know why Russell Wilson didn't get named one of "People" magazine's Sexiest Men of the Year. Wilson has everything Gregg Easterbrook looks for in a man...if only Wilson would do more shirtless photo shoots.
Are the Broncos winning too fast?
Now here's a forced debate that "First Take" somehow overlooked. Are the Broncos winning too fast? Should they intentionally lose games? Why does Gregg Easterbrook come off as so smart when discussing national issues, but comes off as an unintelligent idiot when discussing the NFL?
"Is LeBron James too good?"
"Does LeBron James' talent actually make the Heat a worse team?"
"Tim Tebow...too sexy for his shirt? Does it really make him hurt?"
"Are the Patriots winning too many games in the regular season to where they don't have any wins left for the postseason?"
"Tom Brady...is he a better quarterback with longer or shorter hair?"
"Is Russell Wilson delicious man-meat or just a good pin-up?"
When Manning was at Indianapolis, in the 2005 and 2008 seasons the Colts
won their division, and then the best seeding, so soon they lost focus,
then were defeated in the postseason opening round at home.
Gregg knows the Colts lost focus because he knows what everyone is thinking at all times. Right now, Gregg is very unhappy with me because he knows I think he's hack writer who lies to cover up for his lack of NFL knowledge.
As Tuesday Morning Quarterback noted in September,
though Schiano claims that attacking a victory formation worked for him
at Rutgers, this tactic never resulted in a turnover, let alone a
Rutgers victory. Schiano simply isn't telling the truth about his
unsportsmanlike tactic.
As I noted in September, Schiano hasn't ever had a turnover created, but there have been fumbles caused by Schiano-coached teams in circumstances such as this. While I don't like the tactic, and a turnover has not resulted, the possibility of a turnover due to a fumble is present.
Why does the city of Tampa want to be represented by a little bully who
breaks a sportsmanship standard observed by everyone else in football?
Probably for the same reason ESPN wants to be represented by a writer who lies and deceives his audience in order to cover up for his lack of NFL knowledge...because of wins and pageviews.
Stats of the Week No. 5: Twice this season, Seattle has won games decided by official review on the final play.
Or in less fancy terms, twice this year Seattle has won a game by scoring a touchdown with no time left on the clock. Touchdowns are now automatically reviewed by the replay booth.
Stats of the Week No. 9: New England is on pace for 445 first downs; the NFL record, by New Orleans, is 411.
If Sean Payton coached New England then he would have his players commit penalties on plays that don't result in first downs in order to get a chance to replay the down so this record could get broken.
Trailing Atlanta 17-7, New Orleans faced second-and-goal on the Falcons'
5 with 12 seconds remaining before intermission, out of timeouts. Drew
Brees threw underneath to Darren Sproles, who was stopped at the 2,
where the clock expired. Sometimes an underneath throw can work in this
situation, as Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson demonstrated. But it was
the fifth consecutive snap on which Brees had thrown short to Sproles,
so there was no chance of surprising the defense.
There was no chance of surprising the Falcons defense which is why they left Darren Sproles wide open on the play. I bet Gregg thinks NFL defenses often use a defense tactic of not covering a player to show the offense they aren't surprised when that player gets the ball. Basically the moral here is it's fine to throw underneath to score a touchdown if it works, but if a team throws underneath and doesn't get the touchdown then they shouldn't have thrown underneath. Gregg always relies on the outcome when determining whether to criticize a head coach's decision or not.
Sweet 'N' Sour Play of the Week: Leading the Flaming Thumbtacks
7-3, Houston reached first-and-goal on the Tennessee 5. A man came in
motion toward the left; he and everyone else zone blocked left; Matt
Schaub play-faked and bootlegged right, throwing to uncovered backup
tight end James Casey for a touchdown, and the Texans never looked back.
Sweet. Houston bootlegs more than any other NFL team -- how could the
Titans have been completely surprised by this action?
Is Gregg too stupid to understand the idea of a play-action fake? The reason the Titans were surprised by this is because the Texans also run the ball a lot, so there is a chance the running back and not Schaub has the ball. That's the entire purpose of a play-action fake, to confuse the defense as to who has the football.
The sci-fi show "Revolution," a surprise hit for NBC, just reached its
midseason cliffhanger. Actual line by a character: "Run, you fools!"
Viewers have been saying that to the screen since the series began.
This is true, other than the fact viewers obviously haven't been saying "Run, you fools" since the show became a surprise hit. To be a surprise hit, there has to be viewers watching the show to make it a hit. Gregg, you have failed again.
Many recent forms of entertainment -- "Revolution," "John Carter," the
"Assassin's Creed" video games -- feature bloodless instant death by
sword. Actual death by sword is gruesome; the body is ripped open, the
victim struggles and gasps.
"John Carter" was rated PG-13, so they can't show a person's body being ripped open. The same thing goes for "Revolution." It is on NBC and gruesome deaths aren't often seen on networks like ABC, NBC, and CBS. So I'm not entirely sure what Gregg wants. He complains about unrealistic violence on television poisoning our nation's mind, but he also seems to want more graphic death scenes on television.
Then Gregg starts in on his weekly "Television shows aren't realistic when it comes to violence" rant. It's boring and used-up. Let's move on.
Then again, in "Gunfight at the OK Corral," made in 1957, Morgan, Virgil
and Doc are all shot and fine minutes later; the bad guys who get shot
all die instantly.
So Gregg has absolutely no point and this is just how Hollywood has chosen to show gun violence for the past 55 years. I'm glad we get to hear Gregg rant about the inaccuracy of modern television shows when this is a 55 year trend in Hollywood.
Now the premise: One must suspend disbelief to watch any sci-fi.
Gregg knows this, yet he bitches about science-fiction television shows every single week in TMQ.
What I am not willing to believe is that after the House and Senate
Armed Services Committees approved tens of billions of dollars to build
an ultra-gigantic top-secret anti-electricity installation, then
suddenly all electricity stopped, yet not one single person in the White
House, Pentagon or Congress put two and two together. It would have
been TOTALLY OBVIOUS that someone turned on the machine.
If I had to spend the holidays with Gregg Easterbrook I would try to poke his eye out with a chicken bone or do myself a bigger favor and just not spend the holidays with him. Spending any time with this blowhard academic douchebag would be less preferable than roaming the streets eating out of a trash can so I wouldn't be putting myself in a position to listen to Gregg bloviate.
Bigger complaint: If an electricity-neutralizing field existed, all
people and animals would die. The mammal nervous systems use electrical
current: The voltage gradient between neurons is what handles signals.
Can't ESPN find someone to write about the NFL that doesn't bore us to death with "look at how smart I am" bullshit?
Leading 33-21, the Lions had second-and-10 in Colts territory with 4:24
remaining. Run, advance the clock! Instead incompletion, incompletion,
punt. Indianapolis scored the winning touchdowns as the clock expired.
Had the Lions simply run up the middle for no gain on their
second-and-10 and third-and-10 snaps, Detroit almost certainly would
have won. Instead Detroit twice stopped the clock, keeping the Colts
alive.
I thought "Fortune favored the bold"? Jim Schwartz was just trying to show his team that he is serious about winning the game. According to nearly everything Gregg Easterbrook has ever said, doesn't this mean the Lions should have won the game since Jim Schwartz told his team he was playing to win by being aggressive? Or does "Fortune favor the bold" only when "The outcome of the game favored the bold," so when a team is bold and loses a game, then clearly that team shouldn't have been so bold?
It's so hard to keep up with all of Gregg's rules, especially since they change constantly depending on the outcome of the game he is discussing and what point he is trying to prove.
The Lions are first in the league in passing. Offensive coordinator
Scott Linehan has been a head coach before, and may want to be a head
coach again. Perhaps Linehan was more concerned with padding the Lions'
passing stats than with icing the game.
He was being bold! Gregg claims to love it when teams are bold. Don't punt! Be aggressive as a head coach in telling your team you want to win this game! Don't mega-blitz, but be bold!
That is unless none of these tactics work, in which case a team should have punted, should not been as aggressive as they were, and should have blitzed rather than just rush four.
Maybe what started Detroit's epic collapse was a coordinator caring more about his own career than about the team.
This is Gregg's takeaway from the Lions choosing to try and get first downs at the end of the game rather than milk the clock. Scott Linehan wasn't trying to be aggressive in putting the game out of reach, he was trying to pad his stats.
First Andy Reid fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, in order to
deflect criticism from himself; since Castillo was fired, the
performance of the Philadelphia defense has declined. After Sunday
night's loss at Dallas, Reid fired defensive line coach Jim Washburn, in
order to deflect criticism from himself. Yet it was the Philadelphia
offense, which Reid runs, that gave up the killer turnover late in the
contest. It was Reid who made the decision to put the ball into the
hands of novice Bryce Brown, who essentially did not play in college and
who had fumbled twice the previous week.
Brown is a hard-working, lowly drafted player, which Gregg conveniently leaves out of this discussion. Brown has also run for four touchdowns and 347 rushing yards over the last two games. So while LeSean McCoy is injured, Bryce Brown is a turnover-prone but highly capable running back.
The trophy is announced Saturday, and Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M may
become the first freshman winner. But just as TMQ disqualifies
quarterbacks from my annual Tuesday Morning Quarterback Non-Quarterback
Non-Running Back NFL MVP, I disqualify quarterbacks from the Heisman,
too. Here are my votes:
Gregg votes for three offensive linemen as runners-up to the Heisman. The issue I find with this is that a quality offensive line requires five players to work together, while the Heisman is an individual award. Yes, a quarterback or running back relies on his teammates as well, but an offensive line blocks as a unit, so one offensive linemen could give up a sack when it wasn't his fault he gave up the sack.
Runner-up: Rick Wagner, Wisconsin, offensive line. You don't rush for
539 yards against a ranked team without a great offensive line.
Right, and other than naming Wagner a Heisman finalist based on one game, the biggest problem is giving one member of this offensive line individual credit for Wisconsin rushing for 539 yards against a ranked team.
Heisman Trophy: Manti Te'o, Notre Dame, linebacker.
Te'o has been the most important performer in Notre Dame's unexpected
run to the BCS title game. He tackles as well as anyone who has ever
played football.
That's some high praise right there from Gregg. I'm sure this isn't just an opinion Gregg is giving about Te'o being one of the best tacklers in football history and he has statistical evidence to back this claim up. He just forgot to backup this claim with evidence this week, but I'm sure he'll be more clear on how he came to this conclusion next week.
He's a former Eagle Scout. He's a Mormon who grew up in Hawaii, combining this year's presidential election qualities.
This is so incredibly irrelevant as to whether Te'o should win the Heisman or not.
Manziel needs to prove he isn't a one-year wonder.
The Heisman Trophy isn't a lifetime achievement award. It is for the best college player in the nation in a given year. If Manziel is the best college football player for 2012, then he should win the award. That's the bottom line.
Wisconsin and Alabama huddled up and ran between the tackles,
exhausting the defense with hard-hitting blocking while not snapping
more than usual -- 60 plays for the Wisconsin offense, 72 plays for
Alabama.
Is the pendulum swinging back toward power-rush tactics? Sixty or 70
well-executed power-rush plays may tire a defense more than 80 or 90
Xbox passing downs.
Absolutely. Let's overreact and say the pendulum is swinging back towards a power-rushing offense based on two games out of thousands of college football games. That's doesn't seem reactionary at all.
Recently The New York Times quoted a Jackie Cohen of San Francisco. Her job? She "edits a blog about Facebook."
This is not nearly as "real" of a job as writing lies about the NFL and bitching about how unrealistic science-fiction television shows are. That's some real work right there.
Leading Jacksonville 7-3, Buffalo faced fourth-and-5 on the Jaguars' 37.
This is a classic Maroon Zone situation -- too close to punt, too far
to attempt a field goal. Bills coach Chan Gailey went for it, and his
charges failed. But going for it and failing can be better than
launching a mincing fraidy-cat kick: Going for it tells the players
their coach is challenging them to win the game. Buffalo went on to
prevail 34-18.
Of course Buffalo only won this game because they went for it on fourth down in this situation. There's no other logical explanation for the 16 point differential between these two teams, other than to explain it saying a failed fourth down attempt caused the Bills to play better.
Weasel Coach Watch: Northern Illinois won the MAC title on Friday
night, positioning itself for a BCS bid, the biggest bowl date in the
school's history. And just hours later, coach Dave Doeren walked out on
his promises to take a higher-paying job at North Carolina State.
Brian Kelly has "walked out" on two college football teams and Nick Saban "walked out" on two college footballs and an NFL team. They have been punished by having to meet in the BCS Championship game.
I fail to understand how taking a better and higher paying job is being "a weasel." So if I took a higher paying job with a bigger company would that make me a weasel? How is trying to earn as much money as possible, while furthering your coaching career being "a weasel?" Doeren got a good job offer and he accepted it. Gregg Easterbrook is trying to tell us he has never taken a job with another company or magazine in his life in an attempt to further his career? Or is it fine for Gregg to do this because he's Gregg Easterbrook and the rules don't apply to him?
Hidden Play of the Week: Hidden plays are ones that never make
highlight reels, but stop or sustain drives. Trailing Chicago 14-10 with
1:11 remaining in regulation, the Bluish Men Group faced fourth-and-3
at midfield. The crowd thought the game was over; the Bears' defense
thought the game was over; Russell Wilson threw for 7 yards to tight end
Zach Miller.
So Gregg believes the fourth down conversion that kept a drive alive for the Seahawks and allowed them to go on and win the game is a "hidden play?" This fourth down conversion seems like a very unhidden play considering it helped the Seahawks go on to win this game.
Indianapolis facing third-and-11 on the Lions' 17, all Detroit needs is
to play straight defense and get an incomplete pass. It's a six-man
blitz! Touchdown to Donnie Avery: step 1 of Detroit's epic collapse .
And of course in Gregg's fictional world where all of the assumptions he makes are correct, the Lions would have just dropped four men and played "straight defense" (whatever the fuck that is) and then automatically the Colts would have thrown an incomplete pass.
Illinois State 38, Appalachian State 37 (Division 1AA playoffs). The
Redbirds' Sam Martin blocked a PAT attempt in overtime to seal the
victory.
Thanks for reminding me, asshole.
Next Week The San Antonio Spurs find a mysterious amulet that restarts their older players.
I wish there was an amulet that would help Gregg Easterbrook write a better weekly NFL column.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
7 comments MMQB Review: A Eulogy in Haiku Form Edition
When we last heard from Peter King he was criticizing the Steelers use of Charlie Batch as the third-string quarterback and wondering why the Steelers didn't better prepare themselves better for injuries to their starting and backup quarterbacks like zero other NFL teams have done. This week Peter discusses the tragedy in Kansas City, gets some deep thoughts from Brady Quinn, and had ProFootballFocus evaluate Jovan Belcher as an NFL player since that's so important to do right now and all.
On Sunday morning, I was talking to Joe Linta, the agent for the late Jovan Belcher, about the state of mind that might have made the Chiefs linebacker shoot his live-in girlfriend nine times with his own mother in the house and then, less than an hour later at the Chiefs' training facility, put the same gun to his head and pull the trigger.
"In this crazy state of mind he must have been in,'' Linta said, "I truly believe he didn't go to the facility to make a spectacle of himself, or to do anything like Columbine. If you knew the kid, you knew how grateful he was for what he'd been given, with the chance to play in the NFL. I believe he went there for one reason -- to thank them. To thank Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel for helping make his dream of being an NFL player come true.''
Absolutely not. Belcher wasn't trying to make a spectacle or anything of the like. He murdered his girlfriend by shooting her nine times and then just wanted to thank Pioli and Crennel for all they did for him before he committed suicide. In a way, it's very precocious what Belcher did.
Linta didn't know how right he was.
Belcher was just a good kid who wanted to thank his coach and General Manager for taking a chance on him as an undrafted free agent. He shot the bitch because she got in the way of this apology.
Belcher made the team as a special-teamer and backup inside linebacker. The next year, when Crennel arrived as defensive coordinator, Belcher became a two-down inside linebacker, starting and coming off the field on passing downs. He started 41 of 43 games under Crennel's tutelage, and he played well enough last season to merit a substantial raise: He signed a one-year deal for $1.927 million this offseason.
But according to Bob Costas, if Belcher didn't have access to a gun then he and his girlfriend would still be alive now. A 250 pound linebacker who makes $1.9 million per year has no way of obtaining a gun or finding a way to kill someone if guns aren't legal to purchase.
I have only one recollection of Belcher before Saturday.
Because this tragedy needs to seen through what memories Peter King has of Jevan Belcher. Don't worry if this seems somewhat insincere and self-centered, Peter also memorializes Belcher's girlfriend at the end of this MMQB in the form of a haiku.
A hard-trying everyman. Every roster has 20 of them: low-round picks or free agents, fighting to stay in the league, fighting for the big contract, hoping to make enough money to do what Belcher did -- buy a Bentley, lease a home in a prosperous neighborhood, invite his girlfriend to live with him, and welcome their child into the world, which Belcher, 25, and Kasandra Perkins, 22, did this year.
A storybook existence if there ever was one...at least until Belcher murdered his girlfriend and made his child an orphan.
At one point while the two men were alone in the parking lot, the source said, Belcher said to Pioli: "I came here to tell you thank you. Thank you for my chance. I love you, bro.''
The source said Pioli tried to calm Belcher, but had little success. At one point, Belcher asked Pioli, "Can I talk to Romeo and Gary?'' Crennel and Gibbs, he meant.
Thanks for clearing that up. I initially thought Belcher wanted to talk to Romeo from the House of Capulet and Gary Glitter.
There will be counselors, for players who felt they didn't do enough to recognize Belcher's desperation, and for the three men who witnessed a man killing himself with a gunshot to the head. The counselors, according to one grief counselor I spoke with Sunday, will probably say something like this: Jovan made a decision by himself, having nothing to do with any of you. To Jovan, personal business had to be taken care of, and there was nothing that you could have done, so you can't punish yourself.
I don't know how a murder-suicide can be described in any way as "personal business" like Belcher had to step away from football for a few months for his mental health.
The fans at the game, Brady Quinn told me, "were amazing. We haven't given them much to cheer this year, but they came out and encouraged us from the minute we came out of the locker room. It was emotional. You just can't thank them enough for making the day OK.''
Then some things started happening that hadn't happened to the Chiefs in this miserable, fire-everyone year. The Chiefs had turned it over a league-high 32 times in their 1-10 start, and here they were, efficient. Touchdown, field goal, touchdown by halftime, and they led the Panthers 17-14 at the break. At one point, Quinn, a career 53 percent passer, completed 14 passes in a row -- the longest consecutive-completion streak of his NFL career. "I don't know what happened,'' said Quinn, a very religious man.
"Things" didn't just start happening and I can tell Brady Quinn exactly what happened. The Panthers aren't a very good team and they can't stop the run. The Chiefs were able to run the ball, which meant Quinn was able to get good matchups in the passing game and he played well. God or some magical angel didn't do it, the Chiefs did it.
"I'd like to think maybe I had some help, somewhere, from No. 59 [Belcher]. But no, I can't explain it.''
How nice of Belcher to go to the lengths of killing his girlfriend and then himself to help the Chiefs win games. It would have been nicer if he had just helped the Chiefs to win games while alive on the football field, but he had "personal business" to attend to it seems. Also, I'm not getting religious or anything, but Belcher isn't an angel helping the Chiefs win a game. He's a person who committed murder before turning the gun on himself, not an angel looking over the shoulder of his team as if this were some Disney movie.
Dormant players, disappointing players, woke up. Jonathan Baldwin caught his first touchdown pass of the year. Peyton Hillis ran for his first touchdown of the year. Tony Moeaki caught his first touchdown pass of the year.
Shit like this happens when you play the Panthers. The handicapped shall walk again, the blind shall see, and the mediocre shall quickly become very good NFL players. These are the miracles the Carolina Panthers are able to produce. If anything, the Panthers are the angels that helped the Chiefs win this game.
In the locker room, weary Chiefs players didn't know what emotion to have. Crennel told them to be sure to remember the family of Kasandra Perkins.
Oh yeah, her.
Tom Brady made history. (I have a feeling I'll be writing that sentence a few more times in my career, and his.)
Now there's a bold prediction. An active quarterback who will most likely go in the Hall of Fame quarterback is making history. Do tell.
No quarterback until Sunday had ever won 10 division titles in a career.
This is really as much of a team award as it is an individual award. Enough of all this talk about Tom Brady and how much history he is making, I want to hear what recollections Peter King has of Tom Brady. That's all that really matters and is the best way for me to have perspective on Brady's NFL career.
Charlie Batch gets the biggest win of his NFL life. And he's going to be sore when he wakes up this morning.
I said in the comments of a previous post that the odds Peter King takes back what he said the week before about Charlie Batch were 25%. Looks like the 75% won because Peter makes no mention of being wrong or explaining how a quarterback who he just last week believed shouldn't be the third quarterback on the Steelers team led a road win over the Ravens.
Last week: "What are the Steelers thinking having Charlie Batch as their third string quarterback? He's not able to move around and be productive enough to win games."
This week: "Charlie Batch is amazing. He can still toss that football around the field and lead his team to big wins when necessary."
The win, Batch said, was particularly emotional because, as he said, "I played bad last week, and I just figured Ben would probably come back this week, and maybe that's the last game I ever start in the NFL. To have one more chance, and to have it be a win over Baltimore, in Baltimore, it can't be much better.''
Peter King still thinks you are a bum, Charlie Batch.
Brady Quinn, drafted by the Browns in 2007, hasn't had a lot of great moments in the NFL. In fact, he hasn't had a lot of good ones. But yesterday was a great day for Quinn, and for his Chiefs. He was the most mature adult in the room -- the room being the entire NFL -- in Week 13 when he eloquently used his post-game platform to address the larger society and how it may have failed Jovan Belcher. "When you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it? When you answer someone back how you are doing, are you really telling the truth? We live in a society of social networks, with Twitter pages and Facebook, and that's fine, but we have contact with our work associates, our family, our friends, and it seems like half the time we are more preoccupied with our phone and other things going on instead of the actual relationships that we have right in front of us. Hopefully, people can learn from this and try to actually help if someone is battling something deeper on the inside than what they are revealing on a day-to-day basis."
Very deep. Good luck working on NFL players REALLY telling you how they are doing. The bottom line is when you ask someone how they are doing, you are being polite. I get what Quinn is saying, and while he's teaching us all a good lesson, did he ever take the time to find out if Belcher was battling something deeper than he was revealing? This is great advice after the fact, but from all reports no Chiefs player had a clue something was wrong with Belcher. It wasn't simply because the Chiefs players were too busy checking Twitter and Facebook either.
I'll be at FedEx Field tonight for the Giants-Washington game. I've got a good Sunday conversation with Russell Wilson in my notebook, and I plan to write about the rookie quarterback class for my mailbag Tuesday ...
Please do tell us about your conversation with Russell Wilson. Also, update us on Andrew Luck. How is he REALLY feeling. Does his neckbeard itch? What kind of music does he listen to? Look longingly in his eyes and ask the tough questions like, "When you are playing so well, what does it feel like to be so awesome?"
This week is a little different. I noticed that Jovan Belcher played only three defensive snaps in Week 12 against Denver in his first non-starting game of the season; he'd averaged 34 snaps a game on defense prior to last Sunday. So after the murder-suicide that took the lives of Belcher and his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins, I asked PFF.com czar Neil Hornsby to analyze just what kind of player Belcher, an undrafted free agent from the University of Maine in 2009, was.
I don't get this for a couple of reasons. Mainly, I don't get how what kind of player Belcher was is incredibly relevant in this situation. I realize this is a football column and Belcher was a football player, but quantifying what kind of NFL player he was seems irrelevant at best. In the same column where Peter uses Brady Quinn's words to determine what is really going on with a person and where there is an orphaned child and two dead parents it seems strangely out of place to try and sum up Belcher's football career. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way.
1. New England (9-3). What a schedule over the next two months, of games scheduled and not (yet) scheduled. Tick ... tick ... tick.
2. Houston (11-1). Just seven days until Texans-Pats, Monday-nighter, Foxboro.
3. San Francisco (8-3-1). Just 13 days until Niners-Pats, Sunday-nighter, Foxboro.
4. Denver (9-3). Just 48 days until Broncos-Pats, AFC Championship Game, Foxboro.
5. Atlanta (11-1). Just 62 days until Falcons-Pats, Super Bowl XLVII, New Orleans.
(OK! I hear you! Time to stop the stupid Patriots schtick!)
Why do I have a feeling Peter King is going to end up picking a different Super Bowl matchup than Falcons-Patriots once the playoffs start and then if it ends up being Falcons-Patriots he will want to take credit for this prediction? It would be very Easterbrookian of him.
7. Pittsburgh (7-5). In the immortal words of the most famous sportscaster in the history of Mason, Ohio, "You cannot stop Charlie Batch. You can only hope to contain him."
Last week Charlie Batch was nothing but a bum to Peter King.
8. Green Bay (8-4). Randall Cobb and James Jones: 108 catches, 16 touchdowns. Did you honestly think Aaron Rodgers' fourth and fifth options in his passing game this season would be that good?
The problem is these aren't Aaron Rodgers' fourth and fifth options in the passing game. Greg Jennings has been injured for much of this season and Donald Driver isn't the third option in the passing game anymore. So these are Rodgers' second and third options in the passing game. And yes, if I had known Gregg Jennings was going to miss a good portion of this season then I could see how Jones and Cobb would combine to have a pretty good season. Granted, maybe not this good, but it isn't like Jones has shown himself to be a complete bum over past seasons.
10. Seattle (7-5). Seattle will win the sixth playoff seed in the NFC, and maybe the fifth, by winning three of four down the stretch against a schedule that has 3-1 possibilities: Arizona, at Buffalo, San Francisco, St. Louis. Three of the last four in the din of CenturyLink Field. I like the Seahawks' chances.
We have a nice, big contradiction here. Just last week Peter King stated,
Adam Schefter broke the news last night just after the Seahawks' charter lifted off from South Florida to go home from a loss at Miami: Seattle cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner were handed four-game suspensions for violating the league performance-enhancing drugs policy...Seattle's December: at Chicago, Arizona, at Buffalo, San Francisco, St. Louis. Looks like 3-2 with Sherman, 2-3 without him to me.
Now Peter is saying he sees the Seahawks going 3-1 over the last four games. I guess one week is all Peter needed to see how wrong he was going to be. Of course most of us knew Peter was wrong by being reactionary towards the loss of these Seahawks corners. I wrote,
When the Seahawks go 4-1 over this stretch we will read Peter King just absolutely flabbergasted the Seahawks were able to do this. The Seahawks exceeded his expectations...no, OUR expectations. See "everyone" had the Seahawks written off based on Peter's pure speculation of their record without Sherman and Browner.
If you read MMQB every week and some of these little predictions aren't really that bold. The Seahawks are a good team and it seems silly to knock them to 2-3 over the last five games...at least to me. I guess Peter agrees with me on second thought.
13. Tampa Bay (6-6). Bucs will need a lot of help to make the playoffs because of Seattle's win at Soldier Field Sunday.
14. Indianapolis (8-4).
I think Peter is overranking the Bucs a bit here. The Colts are probably a better team at this point.
Andrew Luck threw a 42-yard touchdown strike while being tackled from behind in Detroit -- 42 yards from where he threw the ball to where LaVon Brazil caught it in the end zone. Luck makes some bad throws sometimes, but he's resilient and cold-blooded.
I guess whether it is fine for a quarterback to make bad throws all depends on whether Peter likes the quarterback enough to let him off the hook or whether the quarterback is resilient and cold-blooded, whatever the hell that is supposed to mean.
Then Peter chooses five offensive players as "Offensive Player of the Week." Why not just get rid of the category if you aren't going to choose one player? That's the purpose isn't it? Offensive PLAYER (singular) of the week.
Greg Zuerlein, K, St. Louis. So Zuerlein missed a 58-yard field goal attempt early and the Legend of The Leg was getting tarnished. But he booted a 53-yarder as time expired in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, then nailed a 54-yarder straight down Broadway with 26 seconds left in overtime to beat the mighty Niners 16-13. "I was just trying to make that kick and not think about anything,'' said Zuerlein of his game-winner. He did a good job.
It helps tremendously that he is so precocious. "Greg the Leg," more like "Greg that cutie-pie precocious kicker," amirightorwhat, Peter?
Romeo Crennel, head coach, Kansas City. Anyone who can witness one of his favorite players shooting himself in the head from a few yards away, then prepare his team to play a football game, and then coach that game 28 hours after the suicide -- he doesn't deserve Coach of the Week, he deserves to go give advice to Army Rangers about the focus it takes to excel.
Yes, Army Rangers can learn a thing or two from Romeo Crennel. Army Rangers taught by Romeo Crennel. I know Crennel is tough for seeing a guy blow his brains out, but I have trouble seeing Romeo Crennel (or nearly any NFL coach) giving advice on the focus it takes to excel to Army Rangers.
Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me
Our new college football maven at I, Pete Thamel, told me a great little fact I didn't know for the "Sports Illustrated NFL Podcast with Peter King" this week that I wanted to pass along.
Russell Wilson transferred from North Carolina State to Wisconsin to play his last season in 2011 because he had a baseball career option and wouldn't commit to playing spring football for the Wolfpack. And coach Tom O'Brien wanted his quarterback to play spring football, which backup Mike Glennon would do. Add to that the fact that Glennon might have transferred with two seasons of eligibility left if Wilson had been the starting quarterback for his final year in 2011.
This isn't really a "factoid," but instead is a college football story that played out a year ago. It was pretty big news since Wisconsin didn't have a quarterback and Wilson was seen as a quarterback who could help Wisconsin win a national title or put Wisconsin in the national title hunt...which Wilson did end up doing. This story interested a lot of people a year ago and passing this story along now is like passing along an NBA "factoid" about how Anthony Davis was 6'4" in high school and now he is 6'10". Neither of these stories are really "factoids" and the story about Wilson transferring to Wisconsin is a story that those who follow college football already knew.
Glennon, a 6-foot-6 prospect who should be picked in the top 50 of next April's draft, threw for 6,702 yards in two years, with 61 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.
Everything worked out great for all involved. Except, I guess, for O'Brien, who was fired last week. The 15-10 record in Glennon's two seasons wasn't good enough.
It's not that the 15-10 record wasn't good enough, it was that the consistent averageness of the N.C. State program wasn't good enough. O'Brien had a 40-35 record as N.C. State head coach.
Five games in five cities in seven days. Taking it back further, seven games in seven cities in 11 days. Popovich has a veteran team. Translation: old. And his responsibility is to his team, and not to TNT or the NBA. He should respect the league and the network televising the games, which he did by his team playing the a great game against the Heat and actually leading with a minute to go before losing.
I understand Stern trying to protect the best interests of the NBA. But in baseball, older star players get days off often, at least a couple a month. In football, many teams with nothing to play for in Week 16 or 17 (or both) take the week off. I'm sure the same thing happens in hockey. A coach should do what's best for his team, and if some fans are ticked off about it, I've got a suggestion for Stern: Don't ask teams to play a grueling sport four times in four cities in five nights.
As much as it might pain me, I agree with Peter on this issue. Gregg Popovich has a responsibility to his team, not to the Heat fans or to TNT. Yeah, Heat fans can be pissed off they showed up to see Duncan and Parker play, but they still saw a really good game. Plus, what kind of fans have Wade and LeBron on their team and can see them 41 games of the year, but get pissy because the opposing team didn't bring their best players? I don't even think Heat fans were upset, instead I think David Stern is just overreaching and proving why his tenure as NBA commissioner needs to end sooner rather than in February 2013 (or whatever date he picked). Stern is overrated as a commissioner and there is as long of a list of things he has screwed up as improvements he has made to the NBA game.
1. I think this is what I liked about Week 13:
If Peter's five "Offensive Player of the Week" picks are any indication, at some point Peter will just say he liked everything during Week 13.
b. John Abraham, the Atlanta defensive end, perennially underappreciated.
Usually I find when a sportswriter says a player is "underappreciated" I take it to mean he is underappreciated because the sports media doesn't give him the credit he is due. I'm not sure Abraham is underappreciated. He just signed a three year $16.72 million (the hyperspecificity of that deal must drive Gregg Easterbrook crazy) and he has made 4 Pro Bowls and 3 All-Pro teams.
f. Said it before this year and I'll say it again: Green Bay wide receiver James Jones is as underrated as any other receiver in the league. Look at the highlight of the first touchdown of the Green Bay-Minnesota game, how Jones picked the touchdown pass off the head of the Vikings DB in the end zone. What hands.
g. Amazing, isn't it, how quickly Randall Cobb has become the go-to guy for Aaron Rodgers?
Phenomenal. Shocking. It's almost like Aaron Rodgers makes his receivers better football players.
j. I didn't like the story, but it's a heck of a story, Jay Glazer's report that a Browns groundskeeper hanged himself at the Browns' practice facility Saturday.
Well, if the groundskeeper had killed his girlfriend then maybe Peter would care enough to evaluate the groundskeeper's ability when it comes to working on the Browns' field.
k. Congrats on your first NFL touchdown reception, MMQB guest columnist/Colts tight end Coby Fleener.
Remember NFL players, be nice to Peter King early in your career and you can guarantee positive coverage throughout your playing career. Every time Peter mentions Coby Fleener, he mentions he wrote a guest column for MMQB this past summer...not that it affects Peter's coverage of Fleener of course. Not at all. Fleener was the only NFL player to get his first career touchdown catch this past weekend.
l. Good camera work, FOX, catching Adrian Peterson looking up at the scoreboard for intelligence on the defenders chasing him on an 82-yard touchdown run.
This isn't the first time a camera has caught a player looking up at the scoreboard for intelligence on how many defenders are chasing him and where these defenders are at on the field. I read an article a few years ago about how why NFL players do this, so it seems pretty well known NFL players are prone to checking out the scoreboard or JumboTron. Good camera work by FOX, but this sort of thing happens fairly frequently, so it isn't out of the ordinary.
r. Speaking of clutch Steelers, how about the forced fumble by James Harrison? You just don't count the Steelers out.
Says the sportswriter who counted out the Steelers last week because they have Charlie Batch as their quarterback.
2. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 13:
b. I don't like the Chiefs-Panthers proceeding as normal, but I can't get too exercised about it, for a few reasons. First: The NFL's not going to cancel the game, so the game has to be played by the end of the regular season, Dec. 30. So if you postpone the game, when will you play it? Anything beyond Monday night and it makes players play on a short week, jammed in between games each team has every Sunday in December.
Considering these were two teams who were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs...how about don't play the game at all or have the players go on a short week? When has the NFL ever given a shit about making their players play on a short week? At least in this instance there would be a good reason to do so.
Second: Does it really matter if the game is pushed to Monday? Is that time enough to mourn and heal and get over the incomprehensible? Is playing 31 hours later much of a difference?
No, it is a gesture and is more symbolic than anything else. Plus, it prevents anyone from having to see two bad teams play each other. Not playing this game was in the best interests of the public as a whole simply because the two teams have been so bad this year.
e. Andrew Luck makes too many careless downfield throws. Terrible late-first-half pick in Detroit.
But...but...he is relentless and cold-blooded. That makes his interceptions absolutely no problem at all.
k. Questionable clock management and playcalling by Jim Harbaugh late. That's being nice.
Harbaugh does call Peter back, gives Peter good quotes and has an overall good relationship with Peter, so in return Peter does feel like he has to be nice to Harbaugh.
3. I think some good reporting came across the internet this morning, the story by Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada documenting 28 more cases of chronic brain damage in dead former football players. Fifteen played in the NFL, including Ollie Matson and John Mackey, who were Hall of Fame players. Boston University researchers continue to pave the way in this important subject.
I can't wait for Andrea Kremer to do a story on this for her new NFL Network show only to have the NFL refuse to air it because they question the validity of the research and want to have their own researchers "look into" this study.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. Rick Majerus won't go down as the greatest basketball coach ever, and many will remember his girth as much as his victories.
People will also remember he was accused of berating Lance Allred and mocking him for being deaf.
That's how I remember Majerus. He could be a bully at times, but he was also a great coach at times.
e. Be Glad You Don't Drive And Live in New York Dept.: Live in Jersey and go into the city through the Lincoln or Holland Tunnel, and your toll rose from $8 to $12 in September 2011. This weekend it went up to $13. Just another reason for the rest of the country to shake its head at New York City.
This from a guy who rode the train all the way back to Boston for a doctor's visit (there are no good doctors in New York City apparently). Peter is also a guy who probably buys 2-3 (or at least 1) $3 coffee per day from Starbucks or another coffee shop. The toll went up $1. Wasn't this tunnel flooded due to Hurricane Sandy? If so, be glad the toll only went up $1. If this increase is to help offset the cost of cleaning out the tunnels, then these are unfortunately the type of price increases that must occur to help pay to repair the city.
f. Bowl fever, baby. The Military Bowl, in Washington. Bowling Green versus San Jose State. The weirdest matchup, in a place a combined 3,700 miles from the two campuses.
Peter does realize bowl games aren't supposed to take place close to each team's campus, right? Bowl games are about money and finding two teams to play in order to make money. They aren't about playing games close to one team's campus.
j. Had a swell time at the Boston Ad Club's Sports+Entertainment Summit Thursday. Thanks for the invitation and the chance to talk to some good people.
You're welcome? Shouldn't this "thank you" go towards the people who organized this summit and not the entire MMQB readership? But no, Peter insists on publicly thanking people/organizations/inanimate objects in MMQB.
The Adieu Haiku
Kasandra Perkins.
Romeo remembered her.
We all should. Often.
Nothing like eulogizing Perkins in the form of a haiku. Boston Ad Club's Sports+Entertainment Summit get an entire sentence thanking them, while Kasandra Perkins got a haiku. I know Belcher's agent states he didn't intend to "do anything like Columbine," but it turns out that's exactly what he did. He committed murder and then turned the gun on himself to avoid paying a societal penalty for his actions. But hey, at least ProFootballFocus has quantified what kind of NFL player he was and the Chiefs will always have Belcher looking down helping them to win games.
On Sunday morning, I was talking to Joe Linta, the agent for the late Jovan Belcher, about the state of mind that might have made the Chiefs linebacker shoot his live-in girlfriend nine times with his own mother in the house and then, less than an hour later at the Chiefs' training facility, put the same gun to his head and pull the trigger.
"In this crazy state of mind he must have been in,'' Linta said, "I truly believe he didn't go to the facility to make a spectacle of himself, or to do anything like Columbine. If you knew the kid, you knew how grateful he was for what he'd been given, with the chance to play in the NFL. I believe he went there for one reason -- to thank them. To thank Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel for helping make his dream of being an NFL player come true.''
Absolutely not. Belcher wasn't trying to make a spectacle or anything of the like. He murdered his girlfriend by shooting her nine times and then just wanted to thank Pioli and Crennel for all they did for him before he committed suicide. In a way, it's very precocious what Belcher did.
Linta didn't know how right he was.
Belcher was just a good kid who wanted to thank his coach and General Manager for taking a chance on him as an undrafted free agent. He shot the bitch because she got in the way of this apology.
Belcher made the team as a special-teamer and backup inside linebacker. The next year, when Crennel arrived as defensive coordinator, Belcher became a two-down inside linebacker, starting and coming off the field on passing downs. He started 41 of 43 games under Crennel's tutelage, and he played well enough last season to merit a substantial raise: He signed a one-year deal for $1.927 million this offseason.
But according to Bob Costas, if Belcher didn't have access to a gun then he and his girlfriend would still be alive now. A 250 pound linebacker who makes $1.9 million per year has no way of obtaining a gun or finding a way to kill someone if guns aren't legal to purchase.
I have only one recollection of Belcher before Saturday.
Because this tragedy needs to seen through what memories Peter King has of Jevan Belcher. Don't worry if this seems somewhat insincere and self-centered, Peter also memorializes Belcher's girlfriend at the end of this MMQB in the form of a haiku.
A hard-trying everyman. Every roster has 20 of them: low-round picks or free agents, fighting to stay in the league, fighting for the big contract, hoping to make enough money to do what Belcher did -- buy a Bentley, lease a home in a prosperous neighborhood, invite his girlfriend to live with him, and welcome their child into the world, which Belcher, 25, and Kasandra Perkins, 22, did this year.
A storybook existence if there ever was one...at least until Belcher murdered his girlfriend and made his child an orphan.
At one point while the two men were alone in the parking lot, the source said, Belcher said to Pioli: "I came here to tell you thank you. Thank you for my chance. I love you, bro.''
The source said Pioli tried to calm Belcher, but had little success. At one point, Belcher asked Pioli, "Can I talk to Romeo and Gary?'' Crennel and Gibbs, he meant.
Thanks for clearing that up. I initially thought Belcher wanted to talk to Romeo from the House of Capulet and Gary Glitter.
There will be counselors, for players who felt they didn't do enough to recognize Belcher's desperation, and for the three men who witnessed a man killing himself with a gunshot to the head. The counselors, according to one grief counselor I spoke with Sunday, will probably say something like this: Jovan made a decision by himself, having nothing to do with any of you. To Jovan, personal business had to be taken care of, and there was nothing that you could have done, so you can't punish yourself.
I don't know how a murder-suicide can be described in any way as "personal business" like Belcher had to step away from football for a few months for his mental health.
The fans at the game, Brady Quinn told me, "were amazing. We haven't given them much to cheer this year, but they came out and encouraged us from the minute we came out of the locker room. It was emotional. You just can't thank them enough for making the day OK.''
Then some things started happening that hadn't happened to the Chiefs in this miserable, fire-everyone year. The Chiefs had turned it over a league-high 32 times in their 1-10 start, and here they were, efficient. Touchdown, field goal, touchdown by halftime, and they led the Panthers 17-14 at the break. At one point, Quinn, a career 53 percent passer, completed 14 passes in a row -- the longest consecutive-completion streak of his NFL career. "I don't know what happened,'' said Quinn, a very religious man.
"Things" didn't just start happening and I can tell Brady Quinn exactly what happened. The Panthers aren't a very good team and they can't stop the run. The Chiefs were able to run the ball, which meant Quinn was able to get good matchups in the passing game and he played well. God or some magical angel didn't do it, the Chiefs did it.
"I'd like to think maybe I had some help, somewhere, from No. 59 [Belcher]. But no, I can't explain it.''
How nice of Belcher to go to the lengths of killing his girlfriend and then himself to help the Chiefs win games. It would have been nicer if he had just helped the Chiefs to win games while alive on the football field, but he had "personal business" to attend to it seems. Also, I'm not getting religious or anything, but Belcher isn't an angel helping the Chiefs win a game. He's a person who committed murder before turning the gun on himself, not an angel looking over the shoulder of his team as if this were some Disney movie.
Dormant players, disappointing players, woke up. Jonathan Baldwin caught his first touchdown pass of the year. Peyton Hillis ran for his first touchdown of the year. Tony Moeaki caught his first touchdown pass of the year.
Shit like this happens when you play the Panthers. The handicapped shall walk again, the blind shall see, and the mediocre shall quickly become very good NFL players. These are the miracles the Carolina Panthers are able to produce. If anything, the Panthers are the angels that helped the Chiefs win this game.
In the locker room, weary Chiefs players didn't know what emotion to have. Crennel told them to be sure to remember the family of Kasandra Perkins.
Oh yeah, her.
Tom Brady made history. (I have a feeling I'll be writing that sentence a few more times in my career, and his.)
Now there's a bold prediction. An active quarterback who will most likely go in the Hall of Fame quarterback is making history. Do tell.
No quarterback until Sunday had ever won 10 division titles in a career.
This is really as much of a team award as it is an individual award. Enough of all this talk about Tom Brady and how much history he is making, I want to hear what recollections Peter King has of Tom Brady. That's all that really matters and is the best way for me to have perspective on Brady's NFL career.
Charlie Batch gets the biggest win of his NFL life. And he's going to be sore when he wakes up this morning.
I said in the comments of a previous post that the odds Peter King takes back what he said the week before about Charlie Batch were 25%. Looks like the 75% won because Peter makes no mention of being wrong or explaining how a quarterback who he just last week believed shouldn't be the third quarterback on the Steelers team led a road win over the Ravens.
Last week: "What are the Steelers thinking having Charlie Batch as their third string quarterback? He's not able to move around and be productive enough to win games."
This week: "Charlie Batch is amazing. He can still toss that football around the field and lead his team to big wins when necessary."
The win, Batch said, was particularly emotional because, as he said, "I played bad last week, and I just figured Ben would probably come back this week, and maybe that's the last game I ever start in the NFL. To have one more chance, and to have it be a win over Baltimore, in Baltimore, it can't be much better.''
Peter King still thinks you are a bum, Charlie Batch.
Brady Quinn, drafted by the Browns in 2007, hasn't had a lot of great moments in the NFL. In fact, he hasn't had a lot of good ones. But yesterday was a great day for Quinn, and for his Chiefs. He was the most mature adult in the room -- the room being the entire NFL -- in Week 13 when he eloquently used his post-game platform to address the larger society and how it may have failed Jovan Belcher. "When you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it? When you answer someone back how you are doing, are you really telling the truth? We live in a society of social networks, with Twitter pages and Facebook, and that's fine, but we have contact with our work associates, our family, our friends, and it seems like half the time we are more preoccupied with our phone and other things going on instead of the actual relationships that we have right in front of us. Hopefully, people can learn from this and try to actually help if someone is battling something deeper on the inside than what they are revealing on a day-to-day basis."
Very deep. Good luck working on NFL players REALLY telling you how they are doing. The bottom line is when you ask someone how they are doing, you are being polite. I get what Quinn is saying, and while he's teaching us all a good lesson, did he ever take the time to find out if Belcher was battling something deeper than he was revealing? This is great advice after the fact, but from all reports no Chiefs player had a clue something was wrong with Belcher. It wasn't simply because the Chiefs players were too busy checking Twitter and Facebook either.
I'll be at FedEx Field tonight for the Giants-Washington game. I've got a good Sunday conversation with Russell Wilson in my notebook, and I plan to write about the rookie quarterback class for my mailbag Tuesday ...
Please do tell us about your conversation with Russell Wilson. Also, update us on Andrew Luck. How is he REALLY feeling. Does his neckbeard itch? What kind of music does he listen to? Look longingly in his eyes and ask the tough questions like, "When you are playing so well, what does it feel like to be so awesome?"
This week is a little different. I noticed that Jovan Belcher played only three defensive snaps in Week 12 against Denver in his first non-starting game of the season; he'd averaged 34 snaps a game on defense prior to last Sunday. So after the murder-suicide that took the lives of Belcher and his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins, I asked PFF.com czar Neil Hornsby to analyze just what kind of player Belcher, an undrafted free agent from the University of Maine in 2009, was.
I don't get this for a couple of reasons. Mainly, I don't get how what kind of player Belcher was is incredibly relevant in this situation. I realize this is a football column and Belcher was a football player, but quantifying what kind of NFL player he was seems irrelevant at best. In the same column where Peter uses Brady Quinn's words to determine what is really going on with a person and where there is an orphaned child and two dead parents it seems strangely out of place to try and sum up Belcher's football career. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way.
1. New England (9-3). What a schedule over the next two months, of games scheduled and not (yet) scheduled. Tick ... tick ... tick.
2. Houston (11-1). Just seven days until Texans-Pats, Monday-nighter, Foxboro.
3. San Francisco (8-3-1). Just 13 days until Niners-Pats, Sunday-nighter, Foxboro.
4. Denver (9-3). Just 48 days until Broncos-Pats, AFC Championship Game, Foxboro.
5. Atlanta (11-1). Just 62 days until Falcons-Pats, Super Bowl XLVII, New Orleans.
(OK! I hear you! Time to stop the stupid Patriots schtick!)
Why do I have a feeling Peter King is going to end up picking a different Super Bowl matchup than Falcons-Patriots once the playoffs start and then if it ends up being Falcons-Patriots he will want to take credit for this prediction? It would be very Easterbrookian of him.
7. Pittsburgh (7-5). In the immortal words of the most famous sportscaster in the history of Mason, Ohio, "You cannot stop Charlie Batch. You can only hope to contain him."
Last week Charlie Batch was nothing but a bum to Peter King.
8. Green Bay (8-4). Randall Cobb and James Jones: 108 catches, 16 touchdowns. Did you honestly think Aaron Rodgers' fourth and fifth options in his passing game this season would be that good?
The problem is these aren't Aaron Rodgers' fourth and fifth options in the passing game. Greg Jennings has been injured for much of this season and Donald Driver isn't the third option in the passing game anymore. So these are Rodgers' second and third options in the passing game. And yes, if I had known Gregg Jennings was going to miss a good portion of this season then I could see how Jones and Cobb would combine to have a pretty good season. Granted, maybe not this good, but it isn't like Jones has shown himself to be a complete bum over past seasons.
10. Seattle (7-5). Seattle will win the sixth playoff seed in the NFC, and maybe the fifth, by winning three of four down the stretch against a schedule that has 3-1 possibilities: Arizona, at Buffalo, San Francisco, St. Louis. Three of the last four in the din of CenturyLink Field. I like the Seahawks' chances.
We have a nice, big contradiction here. Just last week Peter King stated,
Adam Schefter broke the news last night just after the Seahawks' charter lifted off from South Florida to go home from a loss at Miami: Seattle cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner were handed four-game suspensions for violating the league performance-enhancing drugs policy...Seattle's December: at Chicago, Arizona, at Buffalo, San Francisco, St. Louis. Looks like 3-2 with Sherman, 2-3 without him to me.
Now Peter is saying he sees the Seahawks going 3-1 over the last four games. I guess one week is all Peter needed to see how wrong he was going to be. Of course most of us knew Peter was wrong by being reactionary towards the loss of these Seahawks corners. I wrote,
When the Seahawks go 4-1 over this stretch we will read Peter King just absolutely flabbergasted the Seahawks were able to do this. The Seahawks exceeded his expectations...no, OUR expectations. See "everyone" had the Seahawks written off based on Peter's pure speculation of their record without Sherman and Browner.
If you read MMQB every week and some of these little predictions aren't really that bold. The Seahawks are a good team and it seems silly to knock them to 2-3 over the last five games...at least to me. I guess Peter agrees with me on second thought.
13. Tampa Bay (6-6). Bucs will need a lot of help to make the playoffs because of Seattle's win at Soldier Field Sunday.
14. Indianapolis (8-4).
I think Peter is overranking the Bucs a bit here. The Colts are probably a better team at this point.
Andrew Luck threw a 42-yard touchdown strike while being tackled from behind in Detroit -- 42 yards from where he threw the ball to where LaVon Brazil caught it in the end zone. Luck makes some bad throws sometimes, but he's resilient and cold-blooded.
I guess whether it is fine for a quarterback to make bad throws all depends on whether Peter likes the quarterback enough to let him off the hook or whether the quarterback is resilient and cold-blooded, whatever the hell that is supposed to mean.
Then Peter chooses five offensive players as "Offensive Player of the Week." Why not just get rid of the category if you aren't going to choose one player? That's the purpose isn't it? Offensive PLAYER (singular) of the week.
Greg Zuerlein, K, St. Louis. So Zuerlein missed a 58-yard field goal attempt early and the Legend of The Leg was getting tarnished. But he booted a 53-yarder as time expired in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, then nailed a 54-yarder straight down Broadway with 26 seconds left in overtime to beat the mighty Niners 16-13. "I was just trying to make that kick and not think about anything,'' said Zuerlein of his game-winner. He did a good job.
It helps tremendously that he is so precocious. "Greg the Leg," more like "Greg that cutie-pie precocious kicker," amirightorwhat, Peter?
Romeo Crennel, head coach, Kansas City. Anyone who can witness one of his favorite players shooting himself in the head from a few yards away, then prepare his team to play a football game, and then coach that game 28 hours after the suicide -- he doesn't deserve Coach of the Week, he deserves to go give advice to Army Rangers about the focus it takes to excel.
Yes, Army Rangers can learn a thing or two from Romeo Crennel. Army Rangers taught by Romeo Crennel. I know Crennel is tough for seeing a guy blow his brains out, but I have trouble seeing Romeo Crennel (or nearly any NFL coach) giving advice on the focus it takes to excel to Army Rangers.
Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me
Our new college football maven at I, Pete Thamel, told me a great little fact I didn't know for the "Sports Illustrated NFL Podcast with Peter King" this week that I wanted to pass along.
Russell Wilson transferred from North Carolina State to Wisconsin to play his last season in 2011 because he had a baseball career option and wouldn't commit to playing spring football for the Wolfpack. And coach Tom O'Brien wanted his quarterback to play spring football, which backup Mike Glennon would do. Add to that the fact that Glennon might have transferred with two seasons of eligibility left if Wilson had been the starting quarterback for his final year in 2011.
This isn't really a "factoid," but instead is a college football story that played out a year ago. It was pretty big news since Wisconsin didn't have a quarterback and Wilson was seen as a quarterback who could help Wisconsin win a national title or put Wisconsin in the national title hunt...which Wilson did end up doing. This story interested a lot of people a year ago and passing this story along now is like passing along an NBA "factoid" about how Anthony Davis was 6'4" in high school and now he is 6'10". Neither of these stories are really "factoids" and the story about Wilson transferring to Wisconsin is a story that those who follow college football already knew.
Glennon, a 6-foot-6 prospect who should be picked in the top 50 of next April's draft, threw for 6,702 yards in two years, with 61 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.
Everything worked out great for all involved. Except, I guess, for O'Brien, who was fired last week. The 15-10 record in Glennon's two seasons wasn't good enough.
It's not that the 15-10 record wasn't good enough, it was that the consistent averageness of the N.C. State program wasn't good enough. O'Brien had a 40-35 record as N.C. State head coach.
Five games in five cities in seven days. Taking it back further, seven games in seven cities in 11 days. Popovich has a veteran team. Translation: old. And his responsibility is to his team, and not to TNT or the NBA. He should respect the league and the network televising the games, which he did by his team playing the a great game against the Heat and actually leading with a minute to go before losing.
I understand Stern trying to protect the best interests of the NBA. But in baseball, older star players get days off often, at least a couple a month. In football, many teams with nothing to play for in Week 16 or 17 (or both) take the week off. I'm sure the same thing happens in hockey. A coach should do what's best for his team, and if some fans are ticked off about it, I've got a suggestion for Stern: Don't ask teams to play a grueling sport four times in four cities in five nights.
As much as it might pain me, I agree with Peter on this issue. Gregg Popovich has a responsibility to his team, not to the Heat fans or to TNT. Yeah, Heat fans can be pissed off they showed up to see Duncan and Parker play, but they still saw a really good game. Plus, what kind of fans have Wade and LeBron on their team and can see them 41 games of the year, but get pissy because the opposing team didn't bring their best players? I don't even think Heat fans were upset, instead I think David Stern is just overreaching and proving why his tenure as NBA commissioner needs to end sooner rather than in February 2013 (or whatever date he picked). Stern is overrated as a commissioner and there is as long of a list of things he has screwed up as improvements he has made to the NBA game.
1. I think this is what I liked about Week 13:
If Peter's five "Offensive Player of the Week" picks are any indication, at some point Peter will just say he liked everything during Week 13.
b. John Abraham, the Atlanta defensive end, perennially underappreciated.
Usually I find when a sportswriter says a player is "underappreciated" I take it to mean he is underappreciated because the sports media doesn't give him the credit he is due. I'm not sure Abraham is underappreciated. He just signed a three year $16.72 million (the hyperspecificity of that deal must drive Gregg Easterbrook crazy) and he has made 4 Pro Bowls and 3 All-Pro teams.
f. Said it before this year and I'll say it again: Green Bay wide receiver James Jones is as underrated as any other receiver in the league. Look at the highlight of the first touchdown of the Green Bay-Minnesota game, how Jones picked the touchdown pass off the head of the Vikings DB in the end zone. What hands.
g. Amazing, isn't it, how quickly Randall Cobb has become the go-to guy for Aaron Rodgers?
Phenomenal. Shocking. It's almost like Aaron Rodgers makes his receivers better football players.
j. I didn't like the story, but it's a heck of a story, Jay Glazer's report that a Browns groundskeeper hanged himself at the Browns' practice facility Saturday.
Well, if the groundskeeper had killed his girlfriend then maybe Peter would care enough to evaluate the groundskeeper's ability when it comes to working on the Browns' field.
k. Congrats on your first NFL touchdown reception, MMQB guest columnist/Colts tight end Coby Fleener.
Remember NFL players, be nice to Peter King early in your career and you can guarantee positive coverage throughout your playing career. Every time Peter mentions Coby Fleener, he mentions he wrote a guest column for MMQB this past summer...not that it affects Peter's coverage of Fleener of course. Not at all. Fleener was the only NFL player to get his first career touchdown catch this past weekend.
l. Good camera work, FOX, catching Adrian Peterson looking up at the scoreboard for intelligence on the defenders chasing him on an 82-yard touchdown run.
This isn't the first time a camera has caught a player looking up at the scoreboard for intelligence on how many defenders are chasing him and where these defenders are at on the field. I read an article a few years ago about how why NFL players do this, so it seems pretty well known NFL players are prone to checking out the scoreboard or JumboTron. Good camera work by FOX, but this sort of thing happens fairly frequently, so it isn't out of the ordinary.
r. Speaking of clutch Steelers, how about the forced fumble by James Harrison? You just don't count the Steelers out.
Says the sportswriter who counted out the Steelers last week because they have Charlie Batch as their quarterback.
2. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 13:
b. I don't like the Chiefs-Panthers proceeding as normal, but I can't get too exercised about it, for a few reasons. First: The NFL's not going to cancel the game, so the game has to be played by the end of the regular season, Dec. 30. So if you postpone the game, when will you play it? Anything beyond Monday night and it makes players play on a short week, jammed in between games each team has every Sunday in December.
Considering these were two teams who were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs...how about don't play the game at all or have the players go on a short week? When has the NFL ever given a shit about making their players play on a short week? At least in this instance there would be a good reason to do so.
Second: Does it really matter if the game is pushed to Monday? Is that time enough to mourn and heal and get over the incomprehensible? Is playing 31 hours later much of a difference?
No, it is a gesture and is more symbolic than anything else. Plus, it prevents anyone from having to see two bad teams play each other. Not playing this game was in the best interests of the public as a whole simply because the two teams have been so bad this year.
e. Andrew Luck makes too many careless downfield throws. Terrible late-first-half pick in Detroit.
But...but...he is relentless and cold-blooded. That makes his interceptions absolutely no problem at all.
k. Questionable clock management and playcalling by Jim Harbaugh late. That's being nice.
Harbaugh does call Peter back, gives Peter good quotes and has an overall good relationship with Peter, so in return Peter does feel like he has to be nice to Harbaugh.
3. I think some good reporting came across the internet this morning, the story by Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada documenting 28 more cases of chronic brain damage in dead former football players. Fifteen played in the NFL, including Ollie Matson and John Mackey, who were Hall of Fame players. Boston University researchers continue to pave the way in this important subject.
I can't wait for Andrea Kremer to do a story on this for her new NFL Network show only to have the NFL refuse to air it because they question the validity of the research and want to have their own researchers "look into" this study.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. Rick Majerus won't go down as the greatest basketball coach ever, and many will remember his girth as much as his victories.
People will also remember he was accused of berating Lance Allred and mocking him for being deaf.
That's how I remember Majerus. He could be a bully at times, but he was also a great coach at times.
e. Be Glad You Don't Drive And Live in New York Dept.: Live in Jersey and go into the city through the Lincoln or Holland Tunnel, and your toll rose from $8 to $12 in September 2011. This weekend it went up to $13. Just another reason for the rest of the country to shake its head at New York City.
This from a guy who rode the train all the way back to Boston for a doctor's visit (there are no good doctors in New York City apparently). Peter is also a guy who probably buys 2-3 (or at least 1) $3 coffee per day from Starbucks or another coffee shop. The toll went up $1. Wasn't this tunnel flooded due to Hurricane Sandy? If so, be glad the toll only went up $1. If this increase is to help offset the cost of cleaning out the tunnels, then these are unfortunately the type of price increases that must occur to help pay to repair the city.
f. Bowl fever, baby. The Military Bowl, in Washington. Bowling Green versus San Jose State. The weirdest matchup, in a place a combined 3,700 miles from the two campuses.
Peter does realize bowl games aren't supposed to take place close to each team's campus, right? Bowl games are about money and finding two teams to play in order to make money. They aren't about playing games close to one team's campus.
j. Had a swell time at the Boston Ad Club's Sports+Entertainment Summit Thursday. Thanks for the invitation and the chance to talk to some good people.
You're welcome? Shouldn't this "thank you" go towards the people who organized this summit and not the entire MMQB readership? But no, Peter insists on publicly thanking people/organizations/inanimate objects in MMQB.
The Adieu Haiku
Kasandra Perkins.
Romeo remembered her.
We all should. Often.
Nothing like eulogizing Perkins in the form of a haiku. Boston Ad Club's Sports+Entertainment Summit get an entire sentence thanking them, while Kasandra Perkins got a haiku. I know Belcher's agent states he didn't intend to "do anything like Columbine," but it turns out that's exactly what he did. He committed murder and then turned the gun on himself to avoid paying a societal penalty for his actions. But hey, at least ProFootballFocus has quantified what kind of NFL player he was and the Chiefs will always have Belcher looking down helping them to win games.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
5 comments Bleacher Report Writers Troll Us Yet Again
I am sure many of you have read the article about Bleacher Report that was in "San Francisco Weekly" last month. It essentially stated Bleacher Report uses algorithms to determine what topics for articles their readers will be wanting to read in the future and encourages their writers to overstate or understate their opinion when writing a column on these topics. So basically Bleacher Report is a site that writes articles with the sole intent of trolling their readers. Clearly this isn't a shock to anyone who has read any of the Bleacher Report articles I have ever posted on this blog. We've seen quite a few examples of the type of "journalism" some of the Bleacher Report articles embarrass themselves with. What makes matters worse is Bleacher Report seems to be gaining in popularity and credibility, which is a terrifying prospect. There are good writers at Bleacher Report, but to me, most of the writing appears to not meet the standard of interesting, intelligent or well-thought out writing that I would expect from a site that large. I guess that is what happens when you troll your audience.
Today I have two articles from Bleacher Report which exemplifies my issues with the site. The first one is entitled "Are Coach K and Duke Basketball Losing Their Luster with Recruits?" I find that Bleacher Report basically re-writes the same damn article every other week, so to none of my surprise we have seen this question asked before and I answered it with a resounding "no." This is a famous Bleacher Report method of writing. The title is used to troll the audience and get pageviews and then the content completely refutes the title. It's like if I wrote a blog posted entitled "Is President Obama Spreading Sexually Transmitted Diseases Through His Handshake?" or a more sports-relevant blog posting titled "Is Robert Griffin III Now the Best Quarterback in the NFL?" These titles are simply meant to get a reaction from readers. It's ridiculous and the site has no shame at times.
Let's start the slideshow!
It's undeniable—players who go through the Duke Blue Devils basketball program come out as better players.
Unless you want to count those players' performance in the NBA! (high-fives the nearest UNC Tar Heels fan)
However, Duke's inability to recruit with the other top programs in the country begs the question:
My question being how the hell do you think Duke can't recruit with the other top programs in the country?
Duke has the 12th ranked recruiting class for 2012 according to ESPN.
Duke has the 11th ranked recruiting class for 2013 according to ESPN.
I was going to rank Duke's class in Scout.com's rankings, but they have made their site almost unnavigable to my small little brain. The point is Duke still recruits with the big guys and the 2013 class is going to be in the Top 10 before all is said and done because they have 3-4 targets still uncommitted and they will probably land one of those guys.
The bottom line is this statement isn't true. Duke doesn't have an inability to recruit with other top programs. No one is recruiting as well as John Calipari and Kentucky are right now, but Duke has no issue recruiting with other top programs for players they want. But no, seriously, write an entire slideshow based on an opinion that is dressed up as a fact.
Here are a few ways the Blue Devils are losing their luster with recruits.
Remember this sentence. "Here are a few ways the Blue Devils are losing their luster with recruits." The argument is Duke IS losing luster with recruits. This is important to remember since the author refutes this statement very shortly.
Coach K's Tough Reputation
It's worth asking at this point if there are times when Coach K's hard-nosed reputation catches up with him in the recruiting process.
It loses the recruits who wouldn't fit the Duke system anyway. It's the same way Tom Izzo's reputation for tough defense and rebounding loses him some recruits, while the fact Syracuse plays zone defense costs them recruits. Even the best coaches can't be everything to everyone.
There's no way to prove it, as recruits rarely cite reasons for choosing against certain schools. But it's worth asking if Coach K is willing to pander to recruits to the extent that other schools do.
But fuck it, let's ask the question anyway and then create an answer that not-so-coincidentally fits the point the author wants to prove.
"Does Mitt Romney have genital herpes? There's no way to say yes or no, but the odds are good since he hasn't been caught in an affair with another woman."
Other Schools' Emergence
I've covered this before. How would other schools' emergence only affect Duke? It wouldn't. Other schools emerging affects the recruiting of all high-profile basketball programs. Since it is a college basketball-wide issue, this a Duke-only issue and therefore should not be included in this discussion.
The Kentucky Wildcats, UCLA Bruins, Baylor Bears and Arizona Wildcats have each done an exceptional job recruiting top high school basketball talent in recent classes,
How old is this author? Seven years old? UCLA, Kentucky and Arizona aren't emerging teams. They are historically good basketball programs. So the entire topic is not only ridiculous, but the author chooses the worst examples possible of emerging college programs.
It remains to be seen if bringing in this talent will translate to conference titles, but it looks as if these schools will be loaded for now and the future.
Other than the National Championship that Kentucky won last year and the Elite Eight the Baylor team made, it all remains to be seen how this recruiting of talent will work out for these teams.
"How will drafting Tom Brady work out for the Patriots? We'll see in the very near future!"
Are They Really Losing Their Luster?
From earlier in the slideshow:
Here are a few ways the Blue Devils are losing their luster with recruits.
So the author writes an entire column telling us why Duke is losing luster with recruits and one of his reasons for how Duke is losing their luster is "Are They Really Losing Their Luster?" Of all things holy, please explain to me how the hell this makes any sense. The author writes a hypothesis that Duke is losing their luster to recruits and then uses the opposite point of view as a reason why the hypothesis statement isn't true, but doesn't seem to have enough self-awareness to notice he just contradicted himself.
The Blue Devils will integrate freshman Rasheed Sulaimon into their guard rotation this year. Sulaimon was the 18th-ranked recruit in the nation in 2012 by Rivals.com, and as high as No. 12 by ESPN.com.
The Blue Devils also landed freshman Amile Jefferson, who Scout.com ranked as the 21st overall recruit in the country in 2012. Jefferson will also step into Duke's rotation as a freshman.
Despite not landing a top-10 recruit in 2012, Coach K still found two players in the top 25 who fit the Blue Devils' disciplined style.
(Bengoodfella bangs head on his desk repeatedly )
This is Bleacher Report everyone. The authors don't believe what they write and then aren't even good enough writers to not contradict their own point. So Duke is losing its luster to top recruits as long as you don't count the Top 20 recruits that are still committing to the school.
How Much Does it Matter?
I don't know, but you are the guy writing an entire fucking article about this, so it obviously matters to you in some way.
The Duke Blue Devils were hoisting the national championship trophy no less than three years ago, so it's worth asking if losing their luster is going to cost them in the all-important win column.
Because three years is an enormous amount of time to go between winning national titles. That's like decades. Will Tom Izzo EVER win another National Title? Isn't he so overrated as a coach?
Coach K has built the program up enough to sustain its level of dominance, even if the team isn't recruiting top-10 talent every year.
But you never answered your own question. Is Duke losing its luster with recruits? Answering your own statement that you believe Duke isn't getting quality recruits anymore with reasoning like "How much does it matter?" and a statement that Duke isn't losing luster doesn't qualify as a deep thought or any type of quality writing. It's simply writing a hypothesis and then directly contradicting it.
The author based his entire column around a statement, contradicted this statement and then asked if the statement even mattered. It's unbelievable this got posted on the Internet.
The next Bleacher Report article (it's not a slideshow, so here is a Kleenex for your tears at not being able to view a slideshow) is on how LeBron James needs a second NBA Title more than he needed the first one.
LeBron James finally got the monkey,
Racist.
better known as his first NBA title, off his back.
Now that that accomplishment is in his rear-view mirror, it's time for LeBron to focus on something that is going to have much bigger impact on his legacy—his second NBA title.
And here LeBron was thinking about just coasting for the rest of his NBA career. He has a new plan initiated after reading this article, he is going to try to win another NBA Title.
But to be the best of the best, and to enter into the realm of legitimate Jordan comparisons, he absolutely has to repeat this season.
Apparently this is a realm where two NBA Titles are now equal to six NBA Titles. In this realm, Derek Fisher and Robert Horry are both Hall of Fame-bound.
Almost every player that is considered a truly elite player repeated as an NBA Champion.
Sorry Tim Duncan, you aren't elite. You may have won four NBA Titles, but you may not be considered an elite player because they weren't back-to-back.
Sorry Larry Bird, you may not be considered an elite player either. You should have won back-to-back NBA Titles.
Magic Johnson did it in 1987 and 1988. Hakeem Olajuwon did it in 1994 and 1995. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1987 and 1988.
Kobe Bryant did it twice: First with Shaquille O'Neal in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and most recently by himself in 2009 and 2010.
Apparently the realm where this article was written is a world where Kobe Bryant won two NBA Titles by himself and Pau Gasol doesn't exist.
The point is the best of the best in the NBA win back-to-back titles, and LeBron needs to add that to his resume to continue to climb the mountain of the best ever.
Yeah, not really. LeBron could just be like possibly non-elite players such as Tim Duncan or Larry Bird and win multiple titles, but none back-to-back. I wonder what other arbitrary standard LeBron has to meet in order to be considered an elite player if that ended up happening?
If LeBron wants to truly be the king of the NBA, he has to start winning back-to-back titles, and his best chance at doing that is right now.
His best chance at winning back-to-back titles is right now mostly because to win back-to-back titles a player has to have first won one NBA Title. So yes, he doesn't have a very good chance of winning back-to-back titles during the 2013-2014 season if the Heat don't win the NBA Title this year. It's kind of hard to repeat as NBA Champions if you haven't won an NBA Title the year before.
The last thing LeBron needs is to win a title and to have the talent he played against be called into question. Winning a title when there are no teams to stand in your way lessens the value of that title.
And yet, this author puts Hakeem Olajuwon out there as an elite player for winning back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995 despite the fact the greatest basketball player of all-time, Michael Jordan, was retired. So apparently winning a title when the competition is weaker lessens the value of that title unless the author decides it doesn't lessen the value of the title. It's sort of a floating standard which can be adjusted to meet whatever point the author wants to prove.
In the East, the Boston Celtics reloaded with Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and Jeff Green.
And nothing strikes more fear in the heart of opponents than seeing Courtney Lee about to check into the game for the Celtics.
And the Brooklyn Nets transformed from a perennial lottery team to an obstacle to a Heat repeat almost overnight.
Exactly how again? They added Joe Johnson to a team that went 22-44 last year. I don't get how adding Joe Johnson to this team all of a sudden means the Brooklyn Nets are even close to the same class as the Miami Heat. The Nets are probably a playoff team, but they still have a center who can't rebound surrounded by Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace in the starting lineup. They aren't a Top 3 team in the East.
The L.A. Clippers have a new look with Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups and Jamal Crawford.
Damn, if it was 2005 I would be really impressed with the Clippers adding these three guys.
Now, more than ever, there is steep competition standing in the way of LeBron and a possible repeat. If LeBron can pull it off against the teams standing in his way, a second title will mean much more than his first one did.
Let's ignore the whole "LeBron has to win a title or else he is a piece of crap basketball player" narrative we have been fed for the past 9 years. Now LeBron has to win back-to-back titles for his career to mean anything.
A dynasty isn't easy to establish, and it's even more difficult when you have a target on your back because you talk about winning "not one...not two...not three..." NBA championships.
Again, that was a glorified pep rally. While the comments were stupid and good for a laugh now, I'm not sure they should be considered anything but bravado.
But his foolish statement two years ago will make a repeat and subsequent establishment of a Heat dynasty that much more sweet.
Well until someone at Bleacher Report writes the inevitable "LeBron James has to prove he can win back-to-back-to-back NBA Titles for his career to mean anything" article once the Miami Heat repeat as NBA Champions.
If he fails to repeat in 2013, the focus will shift from his greatness to his inability to do what other great players have done before him.
Or the focus will shift to the fact Larry Bird and Tim Duncan never on back-to-back NBA Titles and perhaps Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, or the superstar with whatever team wins the NBA Title this year is also an elite player. It is possible for an elite player to not win back-to-back NBA Titles. There are logical narratives that can be drawn if LeBron James and the Miami Heat don't repeat as NBA Champions outside of this being a sign that LeBron James isn't an elite player. It's not fun to be logical though. Logic doesn't get you pageviews.
If the 2012-13 season ends with the Larry O'Brien Championship trophy in his hands, though, he'll be well on his way to entering the realm of Jordan comparisons and legitimate greatest-of-all-time talk.
No, he won't. He will have two NBA Titles, which is far behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. James is going to be in the "greatest-of-all-time" discussion by the end of his career no matter whether he wins another NBA Title or not. I do appreciate the effort to troll the audience by putting the words "LeBron James" in the title and making a bold statement. That will really help this column get hits through Google searches. That's what it is all about isn't it? Quality and consistent writing doesn't matter, pageviews and a strong reaction to the column is all that really matters.
Today I have two articles from Bleacher Report which exemplifies my issues with the site. The first one is entitled "Are Coach K and Duke Basketball Losing Their Luster with Recruits?" I find that Bleacher Report basically re-writes the same damn article every other week, so to none of my surprise we have seen this question asked before and I answered it with a resounding "no." This is a famous Bleacher Report method of writing. The title is used to troll the audience and get pageviews and then the content completely refutes the title. It's like if I wrote a blog posted entitled "Is President Obama Spreading Sexually Transmitted Diseases Through His Handshake?" or a more sports-relevant blog posting titled "Is Robert Griffin III Now the Best Quarterback in the NFL?" These titles are simply meant to get a reaction from readers. It's ridiculous and the site has no shame at times.
Let's start the slideshow!
It's undeniable—players who go through the Duke Blue Devils basketball program come out as better players.
Unless you want to count those players' performance in the NBA! (high-fives the nearest UNC Tar Heels fan)
However, Duke's inability to recruit with the other top programs in the country begs the question:
My question being how the hell do you think Duke can't recruit with the other top programs in the country?
Duke has the 12th ranked recruiting class for 2012 according to ESPN.
Duke has the 11th ranked recruiting class for 2013 according to ESPN.
I was going to rank Duke's class in Scout.com's rankings, but they have made their site almost unnavigable to my small little brain. The point is Duke still recruits with the big guys and the 2013 class is going to be in the Top 10 before all is said and done because they have 3-4 targets still uncommitted and they will probably land one of those guys.
The bottom line is this statement isn't true. Duke doesn't have an inability to recruit with other top programs. No one is recruiting as well as John Calipari and Kentucky are right now, but Duke has no issue recruiting with other top programs for players they want. But no, seriously, write an entire slideshow based on an opinion that is dressed up as a fact.
Here are a few ways the Blue Devils are losing their luster with recruits.
Remember this sentence. "Here are a few ways the Blue Devils are losing their luster with recruits." The argument is Duke IS losing luster with recruits. This is important to remember since the author refutes this statement very shortly.
Coach K's Tough Reputation
It's worth asking at this point if there are times when Coach K's hard-nosed reputation catches up with him in the recruiting process.
It loses the recruits who wouldn't fit the Duke system anyway. It's the same way Tom Izzo's reputation for tough defense and rebounding loses him some recruits, while the fact Syracuse plays zone defense costs them recruits. Even the best coaches can't be everything to everyone.
There's no way to prove it, as recruits rarely cite reasons for choosing against certain schools. But it's worth asking if Coach K is willing to pander to recruits to the extent that other schools do.
But fuck it, let's ask the question anyway and then create an answer that not-so-coincidentally fits the point the author wants to prove.
"Does Mitt Romney have genital herpes? There's no way to say yes or no, but the odds are good since he hasn't been caught in an affair with another woman."
Other Schools' Emergence
I've covered this before. How would other schools' emergence only affect Duke? It wouldn't. Other schools emerging affects the recruiting of all high-profile basketball programs. Since it is a college basketball-wide issue, this a Duke-only issue and therefore should not be included in this discussion.
The Kentucky Wildcats, UCLA Bruins, Baylor Bears and Arizona Wildcats have each done an exceptional job recruiting top high school basketball talent in recent classes,
How old is this author? Seven years old? UCLA, Kentucky and Arizona aren't emerging teams. They are historically good basketball programs. So the entire topic is not only ridiculous, but the author chooses the worst examples possible of emerging college programs.
It remains to be seen if bringing in this talent will translate to conference titles, but it looks as if these schools will be loaded for now and the future.
Other than the National Championship that Kentucky won last year and the Elite Eight the Baylor team made, it all remains to be seen how this recruiting of talent will work out for these teams.
"How will drafting Tom Brady work out for the Patriots? We'll see in the very near future!"
Are They Really Losing Their Luster?
From earlier in the slideshow:
Here are a few ways the Blue Devils are losing their luster with recruits.
So the author writes an entire column telling us why Duke is losing luster with recruits and one of his reasons for how Duke is losing their luster is "Are They Really Losing Their Luster?" Of all things holy, please explain to me how the hell this makes any sense. The author writes a hypothesis that Duke is losing their luster to recruits and then uses the opposite point of view as a reason why the hypothesis statement isn't true, but doesn't seem to have enough self-awareness to notice he just contradicted himself.
The Blue Devils will integrate freshman Rasheed Sulaimon into their guard rotation this year. Sulaimon was the 18th-ranked recruit in the nation in 2012 by Rivals.com, and as high as No. 12 by ESPN.com.
The Blue Devils also landed freshman Amile Jefferson, who Scout.com ranked as the 21st overall recruit in the country in 2012. Jefferson will also step into Duke's rotation as a freshman.
Despite not landing a top-10 recruit in 2012, Coach K still found two players in the top 25 who fit the Blue Devils' disciplined style.
(Bengoodfella bangs head on his desk repeatedly )
This is Bleacher Report everyone. The authors don't believe what they write and then aren't even good enough writers to not contradict their own point. So Duke is losing its luster to top recruits as long as you don't count the Top 20 recruits that are still committing to the school.
How Much Does it Matter?
I don't know, but you are the guy writing an entire fucking article about this, so it obviously matters to you in some way.
The Duke Blue Devils were hoisting the national championship trophy no less than three years ago, so it's worth asking if losing their luster is going to cost them in the all-important win column.
Because three years is an enormous amount of time to go between winning national titles. That's like decades. Will Tom Izzo EVER win another National Title? Isn't he so overrated as a coach?
Coach K has built the program up enough to sustain its level of dominance, even if the team isn't recruiting top-10 talent every year.
But you never answered your own question. Is Duke losing its luster with recruits? Answering your own statement that you believe Duke isn't getting quality recruits anymore with reasoning like "How much does it matter?" and a statement that Duke isn't losing luster doesn't qualify as a deep thought or any type of quality writing. It's simply writing a hypothesis and then directly contradicting it.
The author based his entire column around a statement, contradicted this statement and then asked if the statement even mattered. It's unbelievable this got posted on the Internet.
The next Bleacher Report article (it's not a slideshow, so here is a Kleenex for your tears at not being able to view a slideshow) is on how LeBron James needs a second NBA Title more than he needed the first one.
LeBron James finally got the monkey,
Racist.
better known as his first NBA title, off his back.
Now that that accomplishment is in his rear-view mirror, it's time for LeBron to focus on something that is going to have much bigger impact on his legacy—his second NBA title.
And here LeBron was thinking about just coasting for the rest of his NBA career. He has a new plan initiated after reading this article, he is going to try to win another NBA Title.
But to be the best of the best, and to enter into the realm of legitimate Jordan comparisons, he absolutely has to repeat this season.
Apparently this is a realm where two NBA Titles are now equal to six NBA Titles. In this realm, Derek Fisher and Robert Horry are both Hall of Fame-bound.
Almost every player that is considered a truly elite player repeated as an NBA Champion.
Sorry Tim Duncan, you aren't elite. You may have won four NBA Titles, but you may not be considered an elite player because they weren't back-to-back.
Sorry Larry Bird, you may not be considered an elite player either. You should have won back-to-back NBA Titles.
Magic Johnson did it in 1987 and 1988. Hakeem Olajuwon did it in 1994 and 1995. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1987 and 1988.
Kobe Bryant did it twice: First with Shaquille O'Neal in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and most recently by himself in 2009 and 2010.
Apparently the realm where this article was written is a world where Kobe Bryant won two NBA Titles by himself and Pau Gasol doesn't exist.
The point is the best of the best in the NBA win back-to-back titles, and LeBron needs to add that to his resume to continue to climb the mountain of the best ever.
Yeah, not really. LeBron could just be like possibly non-elite players such as Tim Duncan or Larry Bird and win multiple titles, but none back-to-back. I wonder what other arbitrary standard LeBron has to meet in order to be considered an elite player if that ended up happening?
If LeBron wants to truly be the king of the NBA, he has to start winning back-to-back titles, and his best chance at doing that is right now.
His best chance at winning back-to-back titles is right now mostly because to win back-to-back titles a player has to have first won one NBA Title. So yes, he doesn't have a very good chance of winning back-to-back titles during the 2013-2014 season if the Heat don't win the NBA Title this year. It's kind of hard to repeat as NBA Champions if you haven't won an NBA Title the year before.
The last thing LeBron needs is to win a title and to have the talent he played against be called into question. Winning a title when there are no teams to stand in your way lessens the value of that title.
And yet, this author puts Hakeem Olajuwon out there as an elite player for winning back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995 despite the fact the greatest basketball player of all-time, Michael Jordan, was retired. So apparently winning a title when the competition is weaker lessens the value of that title unless the author decides it doesn't lessen the value of the title. It's sort of a floating standard which can be adjusted to meet whatever point the author wants to prove.
In the East, the Boston Celtics reloaded with Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and Jeff Green.
And nothing strikes more fear in the heart of opponents than seeing Courtney Lee about to check into the game for the Celtics.
And the Brooklyn Nets transformed from a perennial lottery team to an obstacle to a Heat repeat almost overnight.
Exactly how again? They added Joe Johnson to a team that went 22-44 last year. I don't get how adding Joe Johnson to this team all of a sudden means the Brooklyn Nets are even close to the same class as the Miami Heat. The Nets are probably a playoff team, but they still have a center who can't rebound surrounded by Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace in the starting lineup. They aren't a Top 3 team in the East.
The L.A. Clippers have a new look with Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups and Jamal Crawford.
Damn, if it was 2005 I would be really impressed with the Clippers adding these three guys.
Now, more than ever, there is steep competition standing in the way of LeBron and a possible repeat. If LeBron can pull it off against the teams standing in his way, a second title will mean much more than his first one did.
Let's ignore the whole "LeBron has to win a title or else he is a piece of crap basketball player" narrative we have been fed for the past 9 years. Now LeBron has to win back-to-back titles for his career to mean anything.
A dynasty isn't easy to establish, and it's even more difficult when you have a target on your back because you talk about winning "not one...not two...not three..." NBA championships.
Again, that was a glorified pep rally. While the comments were stupid and good for a laugh now, I'm not sure they should be considered anything but bravado.
But his foolish statement two years ago will make a repeat and subsequent establishment of a Heat dynasty that much more sweet.
Well until someone at Bleacher Report writes the inevitable "LeBron James has to prove he can win back-to-back-to-back NBA Titles for his career to mean anything" article once the Miami Heat repeat as NBA Champions.
If he fails to repeat in 2013, the focus will shift from his greatness to his inability to do what other great players have done before him.
Or the focus will shift to the fact Larry Bird and Tim Duncan never on back-to-back NBA Titles and perhaps Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, or the superstar with whatever team wins the NBA Title this year is also an elite player. It is possible for an elite player to not win back-to-back NBA Titles. There are logical narratives that can be drawn if LeBron James and the Miami Heat don't repeat as NBA Champions outside of this being a sign that LeBron James isn't an elite player. It's not fun to be logical though. Logic doesn't get you pageviews.
If the 2012-13 season ends with the Larry O'Brien Championship trophy in his hands, though, he'll be well on his way to entering the realm of Jordan comparisons and legitimate greatest-of-all-time talk.
No, he won't. He will have two NBA Titles, which is far behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. James is going to be in the "greatest-of-all-time" discussion by the end of his career no matter whether he wins another NBA Title or not. I do appreciate the effort to troll the audience by putting the words "LeBron James" in the title and making a bold statement. That will really help this column get hits through Google searches. That's what it is all about isn't it? Quality and consistent writing doesn't matter, pageviews and a strong reaction to the column is all that really matters.
Monday, December 3, 2012
7 comments ...Our Pets' Heads Are Falling Off!: Week 13
This week we were reminded that Russell Wilson is the clutchiest of the clutch quarterbacks, that is unless you count Andrew Luck, who is the clutchiest of clutch Hall of Fame quarterbacks. By the way, in reading Peter King's story on Luck in this week's "Sports Illustrated" he referred to Luck twice as "precocious." Keep that man away from playgrounds. He has a fascination with grown men who are like children.
Atlanta Falcons 23 New Orleans Saints 13
"Franchise defining" is how ESPN described this win. Hyperbolic much? Yes, this was a great win for the Atlanta Falcons, but "franchise defining?" Let's not oversell the story. So if Atlanta goes 14-2 this year and then gets beaten in the first round of the playoffs are we going to look back at this Saints game and say, "That's where the Falcons defined themselves in that game against the Saints." Of course not, a franchise defining win would be a playoff win for the Falcons at this point. This win over the Saints doesn't define the Falcons as anything greater than what we already knew they were. They are a very good team, but the question for them is whether they can make a playoff run or win a playoff game. So any playoff win will be "franchise defining" because that will define where the Falcons are as a franchise. The Falcons have won plenty of regular season games over the last four years, so another regular season game win doesn't define them. The playoffs define them. The Saints just kept turning the ball over and what was worse than losing the game for them is that Drew Brees' streak of games having thrown a touchdown pass has ended. Take away the Super Bowl from the Saints and that's fine, but just leave them with their valuable personal achievements. Sean Payton is probably very upset this morning that the Saints lost, but more importantly he is probably calling Drew Brees telling him that win or lose this game, he would have found a way to extend that streak of games with a touchdown thrown. In reality, the Falcons weren't great on offense. They were 1-11 on third down and had 283 total yards, but they created five turnovers and that's good enough to win the game.
Kansas City Chiefs 24 Carolina Shit-the-Bedders 21
Is Ron Rivera fired yet? I think this is rock-bottom in my opinion. Allowing Brady Quinn to shred your defense and losing to the Chiefs. Newton was pretty inaccurate as he tends to be and the defense couldn't produce a turnover when they needed to...or at all. The Chiefs had a great game plan going against the Panthers. The Panthers can't stop the run, so just run the ball. This game should not have even been played really. I don't know when this game should have been played, but I believe it should have been postponed due to the tragedy of a murdered woman and an orphaned three month old child. Sadly, the biggest abomination of the aftermath of this whole incident was either Dwayne Bowe's idiotic Tweet about how this win was for Jovan Belcher or Bob Costas' naive editorializing at halftime about how if there weren't guns then Belcher and his girlfriend wouldn't be dead. Apparently he doesn't think Belcher's murderous rage caused their deaths. Stupid. Stick to football and moralizing about sports, little guy. So I've quit really caring about this Carolina season and now I am just waiting for Rivera to be fired and to see if another coach can figure out how to teach Cam Newton to fix his mechanics or dump a pass off to a running back instead of constantly looking for the big play. The Chiefs can savor this win and hopefully for their fans this doesn't do anything to stop the eventual firing of Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel.
Dallas Cowboys 38 Philadelphia Eagles 33
Tony Romo, winner. That's the story this week after the Cowboys beat the Eagles and then next week when he throws two interceptions he will go back to being the worst quarterback in Cowboys history who also just happens to have the most touchdown passes in Cowboys history. The perception of Romo changes as the win blows. Bryce Brown had another really good game running the ball, proving that perhaps his excellent Monday night performance against the sieve-like Panthers defense wasn't a fluke. He did fumble the ball again, further frustrating Eagles fans who at this point just want a dynamic playmaker on the roster who doesn't fumble constantly. I don't know what I think yet about Nick Foles, but I think a great running game is helping him to be a better quarterback and get used to the speed of the NFL game. It's also no coincidence that Tony Romo looked exceptionally sharp and DeMarco Murray happened to be back from injury. A quarterback's best friend is a really good running game and without the running game the Cowboys were asking Romo to be something he probably didn't have a good chance of being. The Cowboys were fully in control of this game, even to the end, until the Eagles returned a 98 yard punt for a touchdown but failed to get the two point conversion. I'm sure Gregg Easterbrook would argue the Cowboys should have gone for it on fourth down rather than punt, seeing as how he knew the punt would be returned for a touchdown and all.
Buffalo Bills 34 Jacksonville Jaguars 18
Look at the Bills on a roll now, just winning games. Remember in last week's MMQB Peter King made a comment about how Chad Henne needs to be the Jaguars 2013 starting quarterback? Yes, I believe that was written by Peter. I said the Jaguars would have screwed up if Henne was the 2013 starter. This week Henne was 18-41 for 208 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He's not the answer. He is AN answer, but not THE answer. If Henne is the unequivocal starter for the Jaguars in 2013 then they are destined for bad things. I'm not anti-Henne, but he isn't the Jaguars franchise quarterback. Granted, there may not be a franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft so maybe the Jaguars should draft a quarterback and sit him while Henne proves he isn't the answer. For the Bills, I'm not understanding why C.J. Spiller is only getting 14 carries in this game when he has a 5.5 ypc average and is the Bills' best game breaking running back, but I'm also not a coaching genius like Chan Gailey. Maybe Gailey just likes Fred Jackson because he is undrafted. The Bills rushed the ball 46 times on this day, so it is clear they had a game plan that worked. Don't look now, but the Bills are 5-7 and Ryan Fitzpatrick played pretty well, even though he only threw the ball 17 times. It appears the Bills are going to play well enough this year to make some believe Gailey should stick around for another year. I'm not sure that's a good or a bad thing for Bills fans.
Seattle Seahawks 23 Chicago Bears 17
Maybe it is just me, but I feel like the Bears and the Seahawks play each other a lot for two teams that are in completely different divisions in the NFC. Anyway, Russell Wilson has added his name to the great QB class of 2012. What a year for rookie quarterbacks. This year's class is like last year's crop of quarterbacks, just a whole lot better and seemingly less flukier. Really, the best part of this game was when Sidney Rice got knocked the fuck out when catching the game-winning touchdown pass. I take that back, Rice claims he was alert the whole time and did not get knocked out. Surrrrrrrrrre, he's probably just afraid Jim Harbaugh would find a way to hand his starting position over to another player. Richard Sherman had an interesting perspective on the season:
"The ball didn't fall our way in some of the games this year,"
Well, that is true...unless you want to count the couple of times the ball did fall the Seahawks way this year. The Seahawks defense did a pretty good job of shutting down Matt Forte and Jay Cutler was efficient but not exactly stellar. More importantly, the turnover-creating Bears defense gave up 459 yards to the Seahawks. I'm not sure this is just a result of the game going to overtime or not, but I am surprised the Bears defense gave up that much yardage. It just shows the power of Russell Wilson, he can even make the Bears defense not play well. I'm sure this loss isn't the fault of the Bears defense and is Cutler's fault somehow. Tom Jackson probably chalks it up to Cutler not saying "hey" to the security guard prior to the game or something.
Indianapolis Colts 35 Detroit Lions 33
Andrew Luck is the definition of clutch. Actually, clutch is the definition of Andrew Luck. Either way, once his neck-bearded bust makes its way into the Intergalactic Pro Football Hall of Fame in the year 2123, this is going to be the one game we remember as what defined him...until the next game when he throws a comeback on a team. Then that game will be what defined him...until the next time he throws a comeback on a team. You get the point. We should get used to this stuff from Luck. Many of the decisions Luck is making this year seems to be working out well. He dumped a pass off to Donnie Avery with the last chance to win the game and Avery ran into the end zone untouched. It was a risk to throw the pass short of the end zone, fortune favors the bold (when a team ends up winning the game), right? I'm impressed by Luck as well, but he has no running game, which makes how well he played at the end even more impressive to me, but also tells me how he puts up so many passing yards. He threw the ball 54 times and only completed 24 of those passes. All of that is forgotten because the Colts won the game, but looking behind those numbers 54 passes and only completing 24 of those (along with three interceptions) against a not-very-good defense isn't going to win most games. I know the football world is all over Luck right now, but there are signs of his struggles that lie below the result of this game. As for the Lions, if they weren't out of the NFC playoff hunt last week, then they are for sure now. If I am them, then I probably invest in some defensive players this offseason, whether through the draft or in free agency. Putting up 33 points should be enough to win a game.
Green Bay Packers 23 Minnesota Vikings 14
So how bad has Christian Ponder been lately? He was 12-25 for 119 yards in this game. I know he doesn't have Percy Harvin, but 12-25 for 119 yards speaks more to his struggles than it does a lack of receivers. The Vikings had an interesting perspective on this game in which they gained 240 yards on the ground and the defense gave up 435 total yards, including allowing the Packers to go 9-16 on third down:
"As we walked into the tunnel, Everson Griffen was behind me talking. He was like, `Why does it feel like we won? But we're leaving here with a loss," Peterson said. "That's the type of feeling it was. We know that it's things that we did that cost us the game."
If this game feels like a win to the Vikings players then they have bigger problems than their performance on the field. The Vikings threw two interceptions and couldn't move the ball through the air, while Aaron Rodgers only threw 8 incompletions in 35 attempts. This certainly didn't look like a win for the Vikings. Since the Packers won this week it is time for sportswriters to jump back on the Packers bandwagon after jumping off immediately following their tough loss to the Giants last week. The Packers are back in the Super Bowl hunt, at least until they lose again, in which case the media will overreact and count them out again.
Houston Texans 24 Tennessee Titans 10
Well, it seems the Texans are already in the playoffs. 11-1 and 6-0 on the road will do that for you. The Titans turned the ball over six times in this game. They didn't play favorites with the turnovers, committing three fumbles and three interceptions. The Texans sacked Jake Locker six times, including one sack by J.J. Watt, most likely causing orgasmic convulsions by Peter King in the NBC viewing room, where he sits with Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and several other famous people he is too busy to name-drop right now. I was concerned by the Texans defense prior to this game, but they came out and looked strong. Maybe the Jaguars and Lions games were just a mid-season lull. For the Titans, they need to take care of the ball better, as well as help their receivers catch passes and not drop balls. The Titans had chances to win this game, including once when Locker was sacked and then fumbled the ball as the Titans were on the Texans seven yard line. The Titans lost two offensive linemen in this game, Steve Hutchinson and David Stewart, so maybe we can chalk some of the sacks up to those injuries. If I'm being critical, I would say the Texans had a +6 advantage in turnovers and only won the game by two touchdowns...but I wouldn't be that critical.
St. Louis Rams 16 San Francisco 49ers 13
8-8 Rams fans (well actually 7-8-1). Can't you feel it coming? A couple of weeks ago the Rams almost beat the 49ers in San Francisco and Peter King announced the Rams as a contender in the NFC West. This week they did beat the Rams in St. Louis. Heck, this game almost ended up tied if Zuerlein had missed with 26 seconds left in overtime. Perhaps it is just the Rams play the 49ers tough for some reason. Neither team ran the ball well and David Akers missed a field goal in overtime that would have won the game for the 49ers. Colin Kaepernick, who is the best quarterback on the roster in the opinion of Jim Harbaugh even though Jim Harbaugh didn't have this opinion three weeks ago, had just an okay day. This quarterback controversy in San Francisco wasn't going to be an issue unless either quarterback made it an issue and Alex Smith seems a bit miffed that he wasn't handed the starting quarterback job back after recovering from his concussion. Even though I don't love Alex Smith, I am sort of on his side on this one. I know the argument for Kaepernick is that he can do things Alex Smith can't, but Smith earned the starting job and shouldn't lose it because he banged his head too hard. On a day when the Rams struggled to run the ball, Sam Bradford played pretty well and the one turnover by the 49ers that turned into a fumble return for a touchdown for that crazy man about town, Janoris Jenkins, was the real difference in this game. Gregg Easterbrook would probably call this a "hidden play," but Gregg Easterbrook is an idiot.
New England Patriots 23 Miami Dolphins 16
I'm sort of surprised the Patriots didn't score 40 points in this game. I've taken it for granted they would score 40 points in almost every game from here to the end of the season. The Patriots didn't exactly have an aggressive game plan going into this game anyway. The Patriots ran the ball 32 times in the game and took the short passes the Dolphins were giving them, while the defense made life hard for Ryan Tannehill. It wasn't the sexiest of victories, but the Dolphins have a pretty good defense, though the Patriots defense played better on the day holding the Dolphins to 277 total yards and 3-13 on third down. The Patriots made it back in the playoffs and even went conservative enough to allow Stephen Gostkowski a field goal try on fourth down after Tom Brady fell the turf on third down to line up the attempt. That's ultra-conservative and probably not something we will see from the Patriots again. T.J. Simers imagines they were saving all their really creative plays for the Texans game that is coming up.
New York Jets 7 Arizona Cardinals 6
Avert your gaze and do not look directly at this game. These two teams combined for 426 total yards, 5 third down conversions (all by the Jets), five turnovers, and 34 incomplete passes in 59 attempts. It wasn't a sight to behold. As fun as it is to defend Mark Sanchez, he doesn't do much for himself by throwing three interceptions and requiring the services of Greg McElroy to relieve him from throwing more interceptions. I guess we could say McElroy led the Jets to victory. More than anything, he didn't screw anything up. I don't know if he is the solution to the Jets offensive issues or not. The Jets know what they are going to get from Mark Sanchez...in that they aren't sure from game-to-game what they will get from him. As far as the Cardinals quarterback situation goes, it is unfair to Ryan Lindley to put him out there when he clearly isn't ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. I don't know if he ever would have turned into anything in the NFL, but they are ruining him before they could find out. It's a shame he has to be in the game in his rookie year. Again, Jimmy Clausen is available through trade (okay, the deadline is passed). Carolina will take a 7th round pick or even an 8th round pick/box of powered Gatorade if the Cardinals would like Clausen's "services" as quarterback.
Denver Broncos 31 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23
It was 10-7 at halftime with the Buccaneers winning. By the end of the third quarter it was 28-10 with the Broncos winning. Going against Peyton Manning will do that to you I guess. The Broncos really struggled in the first half with penalties and could not seem to get down the field on offense. Von Miller returned an interception for a touchdown which put the Broncos up for good 28-10. I personally thought for sure Manning's arm and neck would be tested (and at times fail the test) in this season once the grind of the NFL schedule had caught up to him. He looks pretty good to me. Manning definitely isn't performing at the highest level that he has performed in his career, but he's making completions and seems to have a pretty good arm to throw the ball downfield. It helps Manning's neck and arm that he wasn't sacked once. I wonder when Bill Simmons will stop calling him "Noodles"? Probably never. Josh Freeman, another quarterback that Peter King was enamored with a few weeks ago, had another pretty sub-par game. As happens to quarterbacks, the pressure the Broncos were putting on him didn't allow him to get comfortable in the pocket. I wonder when the day will come that an opposing team will be able to get pressure on Manning and force him into mistakes? At this rate, it's looking like the playoffs are the first time we will see this.
Cleveland Browns 20 Oakland Raiders 17
Really there is no stopping the Cleveland Browns. This is two straight wins for the Cleveland Browns. Break them up! Brandon Weeden had two interceptions but played well overall and had 364 yards passing. Carson Palmer threw the ball 54 times because the Raiders apparently weren't pleased enough with the 5.0 ypc average their run game was averaging to actually make an effort in running the ball more than 17 times. Palmer underthrew a deep ball on a pass, that if accurate, would have led to a touchdown when the Raiders were already in field position. That 1st and 2nd round pick trade for Palmer isn't exactly looking better as the weeks and months go on. The Raiders had ten penalties in this game and couldn't stop the Browns from passing the ball.
"We can't stop the run, we can't stop the pass," Raiders cornerback Michael Huff said. "Things just aren't going well on defense.
Even though the Raiders can't stop the run or stop the pass, they are doing an excellent job of receiving the defensive plays from the coaches on the sidelines. This is happening an efficiently, timely manner so everything isn't lost for the Raiders defense. If the Browns don't watch out they may win 6 or 7 games and be considered a sleeper playoff team for next year. Of course it is hard to make the playoffs in a division with the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals, but at least there is some sense of optimism. I wasn't high on Brandon Weeden (I wrote that sentence and then realized what I wrote), but he's showing me that he could be a pretty good quarterback for a few years, even if he does qualify for his AARP card by the end of those few years.
Cincinnati Bengals 20 San Diego Chargers 13
Here's the first couple sentences of the game story,
Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals didn't flinch.
No, all they had to do was bide their time and wait for the San Diego Chargers to cough up another fourth-quarter lead.
I'll be shocked if Norv Turner is the head coach of the Chargers next year. What's interesting is Norv Turner and the Chargers have given up a lot of fourth quarter leads and the Panthers and Ron Rivera (who coached under Turner) have given up a lot of fourth quarter leads. It's probably best if General Managers when searching for a qualified head coaching candidate this offseason skip over any candidates who have an affiliation with the Chargers. They are just guys who will blow late leads. What's disappointing is the Chargers didn't even make a halfway attempt to run the ball and give the offense balance in this game. They ran the ball 11 times in the game, even though they were leading for most of the game. I'm not going to defend Rivers, but the play-calling is going to have to at least give some lip service to running the football. 11 rushing attempts in a game is pathetic. The Bengals defense again played a very good game and were able to sack Rivers four times. Of course when the defense knows the ball is being thrown it allows them to pin their ears back and rush the passer with force. Of course I'm not an offensive genius like Norv Turner, so I bet he already knows this.
Pittsburgh Steelers 23 Baltimore Ravens 20
Peter King doesn't understand how the Steelers can get away with having Charlie Batch as their third quarterback. He said this in MMQB after a terrible loss by the Steelers to the Browns last week, but this week Batch looked a lot better. I wonder what Peter has to say now? Batch went 25-36 for 276 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He is the third quarterback for the Steelers. How many third quarterbacks can put up numbers like that? How many backup quarterbacks can put up numbers like that? Now the reactionary media can jump right back on the Steelers bandwagon and say the Steelers will win enough games until Roethlisberger comes back to make the playoffs and then once in the playoffs anything can happen. The Steelers defense also did their part in sacking Joe Flacco three times and only gave up touchdowns on two of the three turnovers by the Steelers offense. So credit should go to them as well as Charlie Batch. It's another inconsistent offensive effort from the Ravens and Joe Flacco. I hate talking about consistency because it makes me feel like Joe Morgan, and some of the Ravens' struggles were based on what the Steelers defense was doing, but this was a disappointing effort from Flacco and the Ravens offense. Maybe my expectations for the Ravens are too high. At least they didn't lose to Brady Quinn or Ryan Lindley. Now THAT would be cause for embarrassment and a lot of soul searching.
Atlanta Falcons 23 New Orleans Saints 13
"Franchise defining" is how ESPN described this win. Hyperbolic much? Yes, this was a great win for the Atlanta Falcons, but "franchise defining?" Let's not oversell the story. So if Atlanta goes 14-2 this year and then gets beaten in the first round of the playoffs are we going to look back at this Saints game and say, "That's where the Falcons defined themselves in that game against the Saints." Of course not, a franchise defining win would be a playoff win for the Falcons at this point. This win over the Saints doesn't define the Falcons as anything greater than what we already knew they were. They are a very good team, but the question for them is whether they can make a playoff run or win a playoff game. So any playoff win will be "franchise defining" because that will define where the Falcons are as a franchise. The Falcons have won plenty of regular season games over the last four years, so another regular season game win doesn't define them. The playoffs define them. The Saints just kept turning the ball over and what was worse than losing the game for them is that Drew Brees' streak of games having thrown a touchdown pass has ended. Take away the Super Bowl from the Saints and that's fine, but just leave them with their valuable personal achievements. Sean Payton is probably very upset this morning that the Saints lost, but more importantly he is probably calling Drew Brees telling him that win or lose this game, he would have found a way to extend that streak of games with a touchdown thrown. In reality, the Falcons weren't great on offense. They were 1-11 on third down and had 283 total yards, but they created five turnovers and that's good enough to win the game.
Kansas City Chiefs 24 Carolina Shit-the-Bedders 21
Is Ron Rivera fired yet? I think this is rock-bottom in my opinion. Allowing Brady Quinn to shred your defense and losing to the Chiefs. Newton was pretty inaccurate as he tends to be and the defense couldn't produce a turnover when they needed to...or at all. The Chiefs had a great game plan going against the Panthers. The Panthers can't stop the run, so just run the ball. This game should not have even been played really. I don't know when this game should have been played, but I believe it should have been postponed due to the tragedy of a murdered woman and an orphaned three month old child. Sadly, the biggest abomination of the aftermath of this whole incident was either Dwayne Bowe's idiotic Tweet about how this win was for Jovan Belcher or Bob Costas' naive editorializing at halftime about how if there weren't guns then Belcher and his girlfriend wouldn't be dead. Apparently he doesn't think Belcher's murderous rage caused their deaths. Stupid. Stick to football and moralizing about sports, little guy. So I've quit really caring about this Carolina season and now I am just waiting for Rivera to be fired and to see if another coach can figure out how to teach Cam Newton to fix his mechanics or dump a pass off to a running back instead of constantly looking for the big play. The Chiefs can savor this win and hopefully for their fans this doesn't do anything to stop the eventual firing of Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel.
Dallas Cowboys 38 Philadelphia Eagles 33
Tony Romo, winner. That's the story this week after the Cowboys beat the Eagles and then next week when he throws two interceptions he will go back to being the worst quarterback in Cowboys history who also just happens to have the most touchdown passes in Cowboys history. The perception of Romo changes as the win blows. Bryce Brown had another really good game running the ball, proving that perhaps his excellent Monday night performance against the sieve-like Panthers defense wasn't a fluke. He did fumble the ball again, further frustrating Eagles fans who at this point just want a dynamic playmaker on the roster who doesn't fumble constantly. I don't know what I think yet about Nick Foles, but I think a great running game is helping him to be a better quarterback and get used to the speed of the NFL game. It's also no coincidence that Tony Romo looked exceptionally sharp and DeMarco Murray happened to be back from injury. A quarterback's best friend is a really good running game and without the running game the Cowboys were asking Romo to be something he probably didn't have a good chance of being. The Cowboys were fully in control of this game, even to the end, until the Eagles returned a 98 yard punt for a touchdown but failed to get the two point conversion. I'm sure Gregg Easterbrook would argue the Cowboys should have gone for it on fourth down rather than punt, seeing as how he knew the punt would be returned for a touchdown and all.
Buffalo Bills 34 Jacksonville Jaguars 18
Look at the Bills on a roll now, just winning games. Remember in last week's MMQB Peter King made a comment about how Chad Henne needs to be the Jaguars 2013 starting quarterback? Yes, I believe that was written by Peter. I said the Jaguars would have screwed up if Henne was the 2013 starter. This week Henne was 18-41 for 208 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He's not the answer. He is AN answer, but not THE answer. If Henne is the unequivocal starter for the Jaguars in 2013 then they are destined for bad things. I'm not anti-Henne, but he isn't the Jaguars franchise quarterback. Granted, there may not be a franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft so maybe the Jaguars should draft a quarterback and sit him while Henne proves he isn't the answer. For the Bills, I'm not understanding why C.J. Spiller is only getting 14 carries in this game when he has a 5.5 ypc average and is the Bills' best game breaking running back, but I'm also not a coaching genius like Chan Gailey. Maybe Gailey just likes Fred Jackson because he is undrafted. The Bills rushed the ball 46 times on this day, so it is clear they had a game plan that worked. Don't look now, but the Bills are 5-7 and Ryan Fitzpatrick played pretty well, even though he only threw the ball 17 times. It appears the Bills are going to play well enough this year to make some believe Gailey should stick around for another year. I'm not sure that's a good or a bad thing for Bills fans.
Seattle Seahawks 23 Chicago Bears 17
Maybe it is just me, but I feel like the Bears and the Seahawks play each other a lot for two teams that are in completely different divisions in the NFC. Anyway, Russell Wilson has added his name to the great QB class of 2012. What a year for rookie quarterbacks. This year's class is like last year's crop of quarterbacks, just a whole lot better and seemingly less flukier. Really, the best part of this game was when Sidney Rice got knocked the fuck out when catching the game-winning touchdown pass. I take that back, Rice claims he was alert the whole time and did not get knocked out. Surrrrrrrrrre, he's probably just afraid Jim Harbaugh would find a way to hand his starting position over to another player. Richard Sherman had an interesting perspective on the season:
"The ball didn't fall our way in some of the games this year,"
Well, that is true...unless you want to count the couple of times the ball did fall the Seahawks way this year. The Seahawks defense did a pretty good job of shutting down Matt Forte and Jay Cutler was efficient but not exactly stellar. More importantly, the turnover-creating Bears defense gave up 459 yards to the Seahawks. I'm not sure this is just a result of the game going to overtime or not, but I am surprised the Bears defense gave up that much yardage. It just shows the power of Russell Wilson, he can even make the Bears defense not play well. I'm sure this loss isn't the fault of the Bears defense and is Cutler's fault somehow. Tom Jackson probably chalks it up to Cutler not saying "hey" to the security guard prior to the game or something.
Indianapolis Colts 35 Detroit Lions 33
Andrew Luck is the definition of clutch. Actually, clutch is the definition of Andrew Luck. Either way, once his neck-bearded bust makes its way into the Intergalactic Pro Football Hall of Fame in the year 2123, this is going to be the one game we remember as what defined him...until the next game when he throws a comeback on a team. Then that game will be what defined him...until the next time he throws a comeback on a team. You get the point. We should get used to this stuff from Luck. Many of the decisions Luck is making this year seems to be working out well. He dumped a pass off to Donnie Avery with the last chance to win the game and Avery ran into the end zone untouched. It was a risk to throw the pass short of the end zone, fortune favors the bold (when a team ends up winning the game), right? I'm impressed by Luck as well, but he has no running game, which makes how well he played at the end even more impressive to me, but also tells me how he puts up so many passing yards. He threw the ball 54 times and only completed 24 of those passes. All of that is forgotten because the Colts won the game, but looking behind those numbers 54 passes and only completing 24 of those (along with three interceptions) against a not-very-good defense isn't going to win most games. I know the football world is all over Luck right now, but there are signs of his struggles that lie below the result of this game. As for the Lions, if they weren't out of the NFC playoff hunt last week, then they are for sure now. If I am them, then I probably invest in some defensive players this offseason, whether through the draft or in free agency. Putting up 33 points should be enough to win a game.
Green Bay Packers 23 Minnesota Vikings 14
So how bad has Christian Ponder been lately? He was 12-25 for 119 yards in this game. I know he doesn't have Percy Harvin, but 12-25 for 119 yards speaks more to his struggles than it does a lack of receivers. The Vikings had an interesting perspective on this game in which they gained 240 yards on the ground and the defense gave up 435 total yards, including allowing the Packers to go 9-16 on third down:
"As we walked into the tunnel, Everson Griffen was behind me talking. He was like, `Why does it feel like we won? But we're leaving here with a loss," Peterson said. "That's the type of feeling it was. We know that it's things that we did that cost us the game."
If this game feels like a win to the Vikings players then they have bigger problems than their performance on the field. The Vikings threw two interceptions and couldn't move the ball through the air, while Aaron Rodgers only threw 8 incompletions in 35 attempts. This certainly didn't look like a win for the Vikings. Since the Packers won this week it is time for sportswriters to jump back on the Packers bandwagon after jumping off immediately following their tough loss to the Giants last week. The Packers are back in the Super Bowl hunt, at least until they lose again, in which case the media will overreact and count them out again.
Houston Texans 24 Tennessee Titans 10
Well, it seems the Texans are already in the playoffs. 11-1 and 6-0 on the road will do that for you. The Titans turned the ball over six times in this game. They didn't play favorites with the turnovers, committing three fumbles and three interceptions. The Texans sacked Jake Locker six times, including one sack by J.J. Watt, most likely causing orgasmic convulsions by Peter King in the NBC viewing room, where he sits with Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and several other famous people he is too busy to name-drop right now. I was concerned by the Texans defense prior to this game, but they came out and looked strong. Maybe the Jaguars and Lions games were just a mid-season lull. For the Titans, they need to take care of the ball better, as well as help their receivers catch passes and not drop balls. The Titans had chances to win this game, including once when Locker was sacked and then fumbled the ball as the Titans were on the Texans seven yard line. The Titans lost two offensive linemen in this game, Steve Hutchinson and David Stewart, so maybe we can chalk some of the sacks up to those injuries. If I'm being critical, I would say the Texans had a +6 advantage in turnovers and only won the game by two touchdowns...but I wouldn't be that critical.
St. Louis Rams 16 San Francisco 49ers 13
8-8 Rams fans (well actually 7-8-1). Can't you feel it coming? A couple of weeks ago the Rams almost beat the 49ers in San Francisco and Peter King announced the Rams as a contender in the NFC West. This week they did beat the Rams in St. Louis. Heck, this game almost ended up tied if Zuerlein had missed with 26 seconds left in overtime. Perhaps it is just the Rams play the 49ers tough for some reason. Neither team ran the ball well and David Akers missed a field goal in overtime that would have won the game for the 49ers. Colin Kaepernick, who is the best quarterback on the roster in the opinion of Jim Harbaugh even though Jim Harbaugh didn't have this opinion three weeks ago, had just an okay day. This quarterback controversy in San Francisco wasn't going to be an issue unless either quarterback made it an issue and Alex Smith seems a bit miffed that he wasn't handed the starting quarterback job back after recovering from his concussion. Even though I don't love Alex Smith, I am sort of on his side on this one. I know the argument for Kaepernick is that he can do things Alex Smith can't, but Smith earned the starting job and shouldn't lose it because he banged his head too hard. On a day when the Rams struggled to run the ball, Sam Bradford played pretty well and the one turnover by the 49ers that turned into a fumble return for a touchdown for that crazy man about town, Janoris Jenkins, was the real difference in this game. Gregg Easterbrook would probably call this a "hidden play," but Gregg Easterbrook is an idiot.
New England Patriots 23 Miami Dolphins 16
I'm sort of surprised the Patriots didn't score 40 points in this game. I've taken it for granted they would score 40 points in almost every game from here to the end of the season. The Patriots didn't exactly have an aggressive game plan going into this game anyway. The Patriots ran the ball 32 times in the game and took the short passes the Dolphins were giving them, while the defense made life hard for Ryan Tannehill. It wasn't the sexiest of victories, but the Dolphins have a pretty good defense, though the Patriots defense played better on the day holding the Dolphins to 277 total yards and 3-13 on third down. The Patriots made it back in the playoffs and even went conservative enough to allow Stephen Gostkowski a field goal try on fourth down after Tom Brady fell the turf on third down to line up the attempt. That's ultra-conservative and probably not something we will see from the Patriots again. T.J. Simers imagines they were saving all their really creative plays for the Texans game that is coming up.
New York Jets 7 Arizona Cardinals 6
Avert your gaze and do not look directly at this game. These two teams combined for 426 total yards, 5 third down conversions (all by the Jets), five turnovers, and 34 incomplete passes in 59 attempts. It wasn't a sight to behold. As fun as it is to defend Mark Sanchez, he doesn't do much for himself by throwing three interceptions and requiring the services of Greg McElroy to relieve him from throwing more interceptions. I guess we could say McElroy led the Jets to victory. More than anything, he didn't screw anything up. I don't know if he is the solution to the Jets offensive issues or not. The Jets know what they are going to get from Mark Sanchez...in that they aren't sure from game-to-game what they will get from him. As far as the Cardinals quarterback situation goes, it is unfair to Ryan Lindley to put him out there when he clearly isn't ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. I don't know if he ever would have turned into anything in the NFL, but they are ruining him before they could find out. It's a shame he has to be in the game in his rookie year. Again, Jimmy Clausen is available through trade (okay, the deadline is passed). Carolina will take a 7th round pick or even an 8th round pick/box of powered Gatorade if the Cardinals would like Clausen's "services" as quarterback.
Denver Broncos 31 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23
It was 10-7 at halftime with the Buccaneers winning. By the end of the third quarter it was 28-10 with the Broncos winning. Going against Peyton Manning will do that to you I guess. The Broncos really struggled in the first half with penalties and could not seem to get down the field on offense. Von Miller returned an interception for a touchdown which put the Broncos up for good 28-10. I personally thought for sure Manning's arm and neck would be tested (and at times fail the test) in this season once the grind of the NFL schedule had caught up to him. He looks pretty good to me. Manning definitely isn't performing at the highest level that he has performed in his career, but he's making completions and seems to have a pretty good arm to throw the ball downfield. It helps Manning's neck and arm that he wasn't sacked once. I wonder when Bill Simmons will stop calling him "Noodles"? Probably never. Josh Freeman, another quarterback that Peter King was enamored with a few weeks ago, had another pretty sub-par game. As happens to quarterbacks, the pressure the Broncos were putting on him didn't allow him to get comfortable in the pocket. I wonder when the day will come that an opposing team will be able to get pressure on Manning and force him into mistakes? At this rate, it's looking like the playoffs are the first time we will see this.
Cleveland Browns 20 Oakland Raiders 17
Really there is no stopping the Cleveland Browns. This is two straight wins for the Cleveland Browns. Break them up! Brandon Weeden had two interceptions but played well overall and had 364 yards passing. Carson Palmer threw the ball 54 times because the Raiders apparently weren't pleased enough with the 5.0 ypc average their run game was averaging to actually make an effort in running the ball more than 17 times. Palmer underthrew a deep ball on a pass, that if accurate, would have led to a touchdown when the Raiders were already in field position. That 1st and 2nd round pick trade for Palmer isn't exactly looking better as the weeks and months go on. The Raiders had ten penalties in this game and couldn't stop the Browns from passing the ball.
"We can't stop the run, we can't stop the pass," Raiders cornerback Michael Huff said. "Things just aren't going well on defense.
Even though the Raiders can't stop the run or stop the pass, they are doing an excellent job of receiving the defensive plays from the coaches on the sidelines. This is happening an efficiently, timely manner so everything isn't lost for the Raiders defense. If the Browns don't watch out they may win 6 or 7 games and be considered a sleeper playoff team for next year. Of course it is hard to make the playoffs in a division with the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals, but at least there is some sense of optimism. I wasn't high on Brandon Weeden (I wrote that sentence and then realized what I wrote), but he's showing me that he could be a pretty good quarterback for a few years, even if he does qualify for his AARP card by the end of those few years.
Cincinnati Bengals 20 San Diego Chargers 13
Here's the first couple sentences of the game story,
Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals didn't flinch.
No, all they had to do was bide their time and wait for the San Diego Chargers to cough up another fourth-quarter lead.
I'll be shocked if Norv Turner is the head coach of the Chargers next year. What's interesting is Norv Turner and the Chargers have given up a lot of fourth quarter leads and the Panthers and Ron Rivera (who coached under Turner) have given up a lot of fourth quarter leads. It's probably best if General Managers when searching for a qualified head coaching candidate this offseason skip over any candidates who have an affiliation with the Chargers. They are just guys who will blow late leads. What's disappointing is the Chargers didn't even make a halfway attempt to run the ball and give the offense balance in this game. They ran the ball 11 times in the game, even though they were leading for most of the game. I'm not going to defend Rivers, but the play-calling is going to have to at least give some lip service to running the football. 11 rushing attempts in a game is pathetic. The Bengals defense again played a very good game and were able to sack Rivers four times. Of course when the defense knows the ball is being thrown it allows them to pin their ears back and rush the passer with force. Of course I'm not an offensive genius like Norv Turner, so I bet he already knows this.
Pittsburgh Steelers 23 Baltimore Ravens 20
Peter King doesn't understand how the Steelers can get away with having Charlie Batch as their third quarterback. He said this in MMQB after a terrible loss by the Steelers to the Browns last week, but this week Batch looked a lot better. I wonder what Peter has to say now? Batch went 25-36 for 276 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He is the third quarterback for the Steelers. How many third quarterbacks can put up numbers like that? How many backup quarterbacks can put up numbers like that? Now the reactionary media can jump right back on the Steelers bandwagon and say the Steelers will win enough games until Roethlisberger comes back to make the playoffs and then once in the playoffs anything can happen. The Steelers defense also did their part in sacking Joe Flacco three times and only gave up touchdowns on two of the three turnovers by the Steelers offense. So credit should go to them as well as Charlie Batch. It's another inconsistent offensive effort from the Ravens and Joe Flacco. I hate talking about consistency because it makes me feel like Joe Morgan, and some of the Ravens' struggles were based on what the Steelers defense was doing, but this was a disappointing effort from Flacco and the Ravens offense. Maybe my expectations for the Ravens are too high. At least they didn't lose to Brady Quinn or Ryan Lindley. Now THAT would be cause for embarrassment and a lot of soul searching.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
3 comments Jay Mariotti Has Changed By Not Changing
After having been in hibernation for the past two years (though he is very clear in interviews to point out he has been doing very many things during this time), it seems Jay Mariotti is slowly making his way back into the world of sportswriting and commenting. He has traded in his services as an ESPN screaming talking head, and from being the guy at AOL who serves to provide pageviews while the other columnists do the good sportswriting, in order to be the "outsider" who just loves to tell it like it is and shoot from the hip. That's his thing now apparently. He is "real" in a world of fakers. He's the guy screaming the truth while everyone else whispers lies. That's how he wants to be seen. He doesn't care for you, me or anyone else. He doesn't want to be famous anymore and it seems he spends most of his time now popping up to tell us he doesn't care if he is famous anymore. Also, he still loves sportswriting, which naturally explains why he isn't really doing it anymore. He writes for Chicago Side Sports, so perhaps that does count as sportswriting. In typical Mariotti fashion he writes for a Chicago site, but lives in Los Angeles. It's better that way. Now the people he bashes have to travel farther to try and kick his ass.
This seems like as good of a time as any to remember the time Mariotti wrote that college basketball conference tournaments are useless and only good for examples of greed. He posted this column and then after the Big East tournament was absolutely fantastic and had many close games and upsets, as fast as he could, Mariotti re-wrote the entire column as if he never originally wrote the conference tournaments were greedy and useless. I have written here for a while now and this is probably the most shocking example of a sportswriter who writes columns only for a reaction, fully not believing what he is writing. He completely changed his opinion of conference tournaments overnight in order not to look like a complete idiot when it turned out conference tournaments were good for more than making money.
The editor-in-chief of this fine sports site is floating column ideas.
He mentions something about Brian Urlacher being “the best Bear since Butkus,” which suggests Jonathan Eig either is overworked, listening to too many delirious Jeff Joniak highlights, or admitting that he vanished from Earth on a lunar reconnaissance mission between 1975 and 1987.
Exactly. We all know the greatest Bear since Dick Butkus is David Terrell.
Seems I must remind him about a running back from that era named Walter Payton, Sweetness for short, who not only is the best Chicago Bear ever but the greatest pound-for-pound specimen in the history of our savage national obsession known as professional football.
Clearly Mariotti's editor, who for whatever reason made a deal with the devil in having Mariotti write for his site, forgot about Payton and just doesn't have a differing opinion from Jay. What reasonable mind would have a differing opinion from Jay Mariotti?
Really?
What else, boss?
“How about a personal essay on why you like sports writing?” Mr. Eig offers. “Why sports? Why still?”
Why sports? Why still? This one, I like.
Well, release the balloons and let's start the party, because Jay Mariotti likes this idea.
Why continue to embrace a craft that literally almost killed me, a profession currently diluted by so many unskilled bloggers and corporate suckups that it has lost much of its soul?
See, Mariotti is not a corporate suckup. He doesn't even have a regular paying job with a corporation. He's such an indie sportswriter right now. He's actually listening to Silversun Pickups while writing this column, that's how indie he is.
One could only wish to be as skillful at sportswriting as Jay Mariotti used to be. It is hard to write columns criticizing athletes and coaches, calling for them to be fired, while blissfully ignoring under the bluster and angry screeds against everyone there isn't a lot of talent in what you write. If you don't walk the line well enough, you may see yourself as who you really are. It seems like it would take quite an ego to walk this line. Of course, I am just an unskilled blogger, so what do I know?
Because I still love sports, and because I still love to write. Sports + writing = sportswriter. And the fond memories still dance like nude women at Burning Man,
Jay Mariotti is hip and cool, he knows what Burning Man is. There are naked women there. How freaking super rad is that guys? Jay knows what's up with today's youth. Want to see him do the Macarena or the Electric Slide? What's up with all these crappy sportswriters today? Or as it is better known in song, "Who Let the Bad Sportswriters Out?"
I am blessed to have seen so much. How much do I love sports writing? I have a way of going through hell on the job and coming back for more.
This is not counting the hell Mariotti put our eyes and ears through as he yelled into the camera during "Around the Horn" and burned our eyes with "Blizzard of Oz" references when coming out of hiding to criticize Ozzie Guillen, only to go back into hiding upon hearing Ozzie wanted to kick his ass.
I had a heart attack during a bowl-game assignment, ending up drugged in a New Orleans hospital
Drugged just like at Burning Man, am I right?
I’ve had my life threatened so often by cowardly cyber assassins, many from the South Side,
Obviously no one needs to get their life threatened, even if that person is a first class troll and is Jay Mariotti, but I can't help but find deep irony in Jay Mariotti calling other people cowardly cyber assassins when he has done quite a hit job on players and managers himself.
Mariotti is a typical bully. He likes to carry out his personal vendettas against others in his columns and then claim himself as the victim when others (like Guillen often did) hit back at him. He can throw a punch, but he doesn't take one too well. You can even see this over the past couple of years. He burns up his goodwill and gets let go by ESPN and AOL once he runs into legal troubles. He doesn't act like he wants another high profile media job, which I don't believe because an ego like Jay Mariotti always wants a high profile media job, and plays the victim by painting himself as an outsider who has no urge to be a part of his mean ol' world of sportswriting anymore. I think Mariotti is still trying to be a bully, but he just lacks the platform to do so on a regular basis. He's lobbing bombs at athletes and teams in Chicago from a safe distance away in Los Angeles. So who is the cowardly cyber assassin again?
Mr. Eig says it sounds like I’m “bragging” about all this. Oh, yeah, the pride is just oozing here.
I believe Jay Mariotti takes pride in having others threaten his life. Playing the victim is a role he wants. He wants to throw the first punch, but cry foul when someone counter-punches. He can't leave a job, he has to leave a job and then bash as many people while walking out the door.
This is what Jay Mariotti does. He bashes people as soon as he knows he can stand clear of them. He bashed newspapers as soon as he left the employ of a newspaper, he has somewhat criticized ESPN after they let him go (but not too much because I believe he wants back in), and he consistently bashed Chicago-area athletes and coaches for what he saw as their shortcomings. So yes, I believe he takes pride in someone disliking him.
Being in the sports media, which included eight years on ESPN TV and 17 at the Sun-Times and a zillion radio shows, has made me a comfortable living for more than a quarter-century. It has paid for my daughters’ college education, allowed me to globetrot on the job like Anthony Bourdain, and given me entree to exceptional people and opportunities.
Plus Burning Man! Don't forget Burning Man! They have naked women there!
But the reason I still like sports writing has nothing to do with money or perks.
"It has nothing to do with the money or perks, but I can review the money and perks I received if you missed the list I just made. Just ask me and I can easily repeat them. Also, let me take this opportunity to say I am really glad I am out of the spotlight. I can write an entire column about how happy I am to be out of the spotlight if you want me to. Just ask."
What would you want me to write about, Obama and Romney? My subjective objectivity would be shot down as biased by rotten political media types with agendas. Music? Yeah, I want to try explaining the Katy Perry phenomenon.
13 year old girls buy records. 13 year old girls are lemmings. Therefore music that 13 year old girls like is going to be popular. There, I started to explain it.
Hollywood? Phonies everywhere.
It's very convenient that Jay moved out to Los Angeles then. Better to be close to his own kind.
Disgustingly, the Internet has spawned more than a few amateurs who write for junk sites emphasizing sleaze and fabrication, such as the dope who put $12,000 in a paper bag for what allegedly were photos of Brett Favre’s penis. Sometimes I cringe as bloggers and snark artists try too hard to get attention in nonsensical ways.
The idea of Jay Mariotti accusing others of seeking attention is too rich for me. I always love it when writers complain about bloggers online who work hard to get attention. It's a good generic villain to use as an example for how the decline of quality sportswriting is not their fault. You read it a lot in these type of columns about how the Internet and idiot bloggers (like me) are ruining everything. I fail to see how those with a smaller forum are the reason for the decline of quality sportswriting, but perhaps that is just me. Deadspin has quite a following, but I wouldn't consider what they do "sportswriting," and they shouldn't hurt the quality of sportswriting any more than "Playboy" hurts the circulation of "Time" magazine.
As Wilbon writes in the anthology:
“Let’s just say that things have changed and rather dramatically. Now anyone who can text or Tweet can be a sportswriter, in a sense, despite never having gotten any closer to ringside, to practice, the star’s locker, or the GM’s office than, say, a cashier at the corner grocery.
I also have enjoyed how some sportswriters, like apparently Michael Wilbon, believe their access to athletes is what sets them apart from bloggers. I can see how this claim would be partly true because access has certain advantages, but in arguing access to athletes is part of what separates Mike Wilbon from me, Mike Wilbon is essentially admitting it's privileges that aren't based on talent as part of what separates him from a really good sports blogger. Give a good sports blogger access, does that make him a good sportswriter?
Just the same, the Internet also remains a forum for premium sports writing—Bill Plaschke in Los Angeles, Rick Reilly at ESPN, Dan Shaughnessy in Boston, S.L. Price at Sports Illustrated, John Branch at The New York Times, and best-selling author Buzz Bissinger among the best.
I can't fathom how a person could believe Rick Reilly and Dan Shaughnessy are some of the best sportswriters on the Internet. I have to question whether Mariotti is intentionally trolling or has very little grasp on what great sportswriting should be if he thinks Rick Reilly and Dan Shaughnessy is "premium" sportswriting. Believe it or not, I don't hate any certain sportswriter, but from the point of view of a knowledgeable fan (which is where I try to come from) I don't believe Reilly and Shaughnessy are good at all. In fact, I would consider Reilly to be among the worst sportswriters given how many columns over the past two years he has absolutely mailed in or re-written from old columns. He's getting paid a lot to do very little.
Reilly and Shaughnessy are two writers who are employed by companies who mistake notoriety for fame and pageviews for quality writing. Quantity doesn't always equal quality. Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Mumford and Sons sell more albums than most other musicians. I don't think many people would argue they are the best band or artist currently making music though.
For every punk hack trying to increase hit totals by ripping an ESPN sportscaster, there thankfully are places such as The New York Times, USA Today and ESPN.com that have moved into the digital era by doing sports journalism the right way.
Shockingly, I have an issue with this statement as well. If this "punk hack" gets more hits ripping an ESPN sportscaster (which again, just seems like a very generalized statement), then doesn't that mean there are others who don't like this ESPN sportscaster? Just like there is a market for a Rick Reilly column, there is a market for those who don't like a certain writer. If the criticism is written well and without excessive vitriol then what's the issue? It's a point of view.
I’ve been consuming the news since I first picked up a paper in our Pittsburgh home and read stories aloud at age 3, stunning a room full of adults.
Jay Mariotti, child prodigy. There's nothing like bragging to your readers about how smart you were as a three year old. That's not pathetic for a middle-aged man to do at all.
"Let me tell you how fast I could throw a baseball at the age of 5! They wanted me on the 7-8 year old coach pitch team!"
Some people think I went away the last two years because of a court case; in truth, after compressing about 50 years of work into 25, I’ve merrily taken two years off in L.A. to recharge for the next 25.
Come on, Jay. So to recap, his absence from sportswriting over the last two years wasn't caused by the fact he was suspended indefinitely from AOL or he was basically fired from ESPN? Not at all. It just so happens Jay Mariotti's inability to work for the two major media outlets he was employed by coincided with the exact time he was looking to take a break and step back. It was all a crazy coincidence. This is what he wants us to believe. His unemployment from any major sports news organization because he wanted to recharge is just a crazy coincidence that just happened to occur as he was let go from two other major sports news organizations.
Someone asked if I prefer to have my old jobs back. Nope. I want my new job—multimedia in nature, commenting at large, dictated by the most important stories instead of each day’s news. Yes, the scandals must be covered, the jerks exposed, and the bad franchises scrutinized.
Jay is VERY happy doing what he is doing right now. Does he need to write another column telling us just how happy he is? He will do it, because he is just super-duper happy and just can't stop talking about it. It's not us he needs to convince though, is it?
But if I still was writing in Chicago, it would be the same five stories swirling in the same monotonous circle—Tom Ricketts and Theo Epstein perpetuating the 104-year-and-running Cub sickness, the White Sox staying competitive but not quite achieving what they should, whiny Jay Cutler symbolizing the continuing Bears’ trend of raising hopes and inevitably failing, the Bulls still letting you down in the post-Jordan years by not making bold moves to surround Derrick Rose with the necessary talent, the Blackhawks joyfully winning once and straining to get close again.
Prior to this column, Jay Mariotti had written two other columns for Chicago Side Sports. One column was about how whiny Jay Cutler symbolizes the Bears' trend of raising hopes and inevitably failing. The other column was about the White Sox staying competitive but not quite achieving what they should.
So basically, if Jay Mariotti were still writing in Chicago, he would be writing about the same stories he is currently writing about while living in Los Angeles. So a little research shows that Jay Mariotti is still talking about the same issues he used to talk about when he wrote in Chicago, and this is supposed to represent some sort of progression as a sportswriter. This man is nothing if not completely incapable of being self-aware.
At my count, L.A. has a dozen sports superstars—Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Jared Weaver, David Beckham
I'm guessing Mariotti didn't shock a room full of adults at the age of 3 with his counting abilities because that's 11 sports superstars. I know, I know, these are just details. That's Mariotti for you. The facts are just details. He claims he has grown as a sportswriter and is glad to be away from writing about the same five stories he used to write about, even though he is still writing about those stories, and 11 sports superstars is the same as 12 sports superstars.
and a Stanley Cup-winning hockey team.
The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010.
Chicago has…Derrick Rose. (No, Mr. Eig, Brian Urlacher is not a superstar anymore.)
It appears Jay Mariotti wants to be known as a fair weather sportswriter. He goes to the cities where the superstars are at.
What has excited me, since leaving Chicago four years ago, has been the chance to focus on the national picture.
Again, Mariotti's first two columns were about Chicago-based teams and he writes for a Chicago-oriented sports site. Was Mariotti not able to focus on the national picture when he was a regular on "Around the Horn" or writing for AOL? Of course he could talk about these topics, and he did talk about these topics, but for some reason he is acting like he could not. His reality and the world's reality don't seem to fit this claim he can now focus on the national picture, whereas he seems to think he could not do so previously. He could easily focus on the national picture working for AOL or ESPN, which of course he could and did do, but this is irrelevant because he didn't want those jobs back anyway.
As I begin to write this, I’m watching four baseball playoff games in a 12-hour span, also known as Bud Selig’s wet dream. You have Buster Posey proving why he’s MVP. You have Dusty Baker, a postseason flop again, running his team out of a potential big inning and losing another series. You have the Cardinals still carving out late-night miracles without Tony La Russa and Pujols, and the Washington Nationals flopping, in part, because management foolishly shelved Stephen Strasburg. You have Joe Girardi managing hours after his father died, and a night after he showed the wisdom and guts to pinch-hit Raul Ibanez for useless Alex Rodriguez.
All of these topics Jay could talk about 3 times a week on "Around the Horn" or write about when he was a regular columnist for AOL. There was nothing in his previous jobs that said he must talk about Chicago sports, yet Mariotti seems to indicate differently. Quite frankly, he is coming off as somewhat in denial at times in this column. He's claiming he can focus on the national picture now, yet he writes for a Chicago-based site about Chicago sports, and used to write for a national sports site (AOL) and appeared on the largest sports network in the United States (ESPN). He's claiming his legal issues didn't have anything to do with him disappearing for two years, yet it's all too much of a coincidence to be believed.
Out in L.A., every Nash highlight and Howard interview is devoured. The locals have nowhere near the passion of Chicago fans, not surprising in that Chicago sports are generational in scope and more people seem to grow up in Chicago and never leave than we see in any other American city.
This is the "Backhanded Compliment of the Day" everyone! Jay Mariotti moves away from Chicago to Los Angeles for two years and starts calling the entire city of Chicago "townies."
When the Dodgers and Angels missed the playoffs, despite outrageous payrolls that may swell to a combined $400 million next season, the fans complained for an hour or two, and then headed to the beach. They care, but they don’t live and die with every fastball, spiral, jumper, and slapshot as Chicagoans do.
But don't worry Los Angeles citizens, Jay Mariotti will still ruthlessly bunch you into one stereotype and judge you accordingly. Your time to hate him will come.
I hope Mr. Eig now understands why sports writing is a lifelong passion for me, assuming my life lasts much longer. Why do I like it? Because I’m pretty good at it, when others are not.
If he doesn't say so himself. Of course Mariotti needs to say so himself because I'm not sure there are many others who would agree with this statement.
And because I’m willing to argue, swear to Papa Bear, that Lance Briggs also has had a better career than Brian Urlacher.
We all know from the conference tournament column a few years ago that Jay Mariotti doesn't always believe what he writes, so I doubt he believes this statement either. This seems to be typical Mariotti saying something controversial for attention. It's just like something those bloggers do for attention.
This seems like as good of a time as any to remember the time Mariotti wrote that college basketball conference tournaments are useless and only good for examples of greed. He posted this column and then after the Big East tournament was absolutely fantastic and had many close games and upsets, as fast as he could, Mariotti re-wrote the entire column as if he never originally wrote the conference tournaments were greedy and useless. I have written here for a while now and this is probably the most shocking example of a sportswriter who writes columns only for a reaction, fully not believing what he is writing. He completely changed his opinion of conference tournaments overnight in order not to look like a complete idiot when it turned out conference tournaments were good for more than making money.
The editor-in-chief of this fine sports site is floating column ideas.
He mentions something about Brian Urlacher being “the best Bear since Butkus,” which suggests Jonathan Eig either is overworked, listening to too many delirious Jeff Joniak highlights, or admitting that he vanished from Earth on a lunar reconnaissance mission between 1975 and 1987.
Exactly. We all know the greatest Bear since Dick Butkus is David Terrell.
Seems I must remind him about a running back from that era named Walter Payton, Sweetness for short, who not only is the best Chicago Bear ever but the greatest pound-for-pound specimen in the history of our savage national obsession known as professional football.
Clearly Mariotti's editor, who for whatever reason made a deal with the devil in having Mariotti write for his site, forgot about Payton and just doesn't have a differing opinion from Jay. What reasonable mind would have a differing opinion from Jay Mariotti?
Really?
What else, boss?
“How about a personal essay on why you like sports writing?” Mr. Eig offers. “Why sports? Why still?”
Why sports? Why still? This one, I like.
Well, release the balloons and let's start the party, because Jay Mariotti likes this idea.
Why continue to embrace a craft that literally almost killed me, a profession currently diluted by so many unskilled bloggers and corporate suckups that it has lost much of its soul?
See, Mariotti is not a corporate suckup. He doesn't even have a regular paying job with a corporation. He's such an indie sportswriter right now. He's actually listening to Silversun Pickups while writing this column, that's how indie he is.
One could only wish to be as skillful at sportswriting as Jay Mariotti used to be. It is hard to write columns criticizing athletes and coaches, calling for them to be fired, while blissfully ignoring under the bluster and angry screeds against everyone there isn't a lot of talent in what you write. If you don't walk the line well enough, you may see yourself as who you really are. It seems like it would take quite an ego to walk this line. Of course, I am just an unskilled blogger, so what do I know?
Because I still love sports, and because I still love to write. Sports + writing = sportswriter. And the fond memories still dance like nude women at Burning Man,
Jay Mariotti is hip and cool, he knows what Burning Man is. There are naked women there. How freaking super rad is that guys? Jay knows what's up with today's youth. Want to see him do the Macarena or the Electric Slide? What's up with all these crappy sportswriters today? Or as it is better known in song, "Who Let the Bad Sportswriters Out?"
I am blessed to have seen so much. How much do I love sports writing? I have a way of going through hell on the job and coming back for more.
This is not counting the hell Mariotti put our eyes and ears through as he yelled into the camera during "Around the Horn" and burned our eyes with "Blizzard of Oz" references when coming out of hiding to criticize Ozzie Guillen, only to go back into hiding upon hearing Ozzie wanted to kick his ass.
I had a heart attack during a bowl-game assignment, ending up drugged in a New Orleans hospital
Drugged just like at Burning Man, am I right?
I’ve had my life threatened so often by cowardly cyber assassins, many from the South Side,
Obviously no one needs to get their life threatened, even if that person is a first class troll and is Jay Mariotti, but I can't help but find deep irony in Jay Mariotti calling other people cowardly cyber assassins when he has done quite a hit job on players and managers himself.
Mariotti is a typical bully. He likes to carry out his personal vendettas against others in his columns and then claim himself as the victim when others (like Guillen often did) hit back at him. He can throw a punch, but he doesn't take one too well. You can even see this over the past couple of years. He burns up his goodwill and gets let go by ESPN and AOL once he runs into legal troubles. He doesn't act like he wants another high profile media job, which I don't believe because an ego like Jay Mariotti always wants a high profile media job, and plays the victim by painting himself as an outsider who has no urge to be a part of his mean ol' world of sportswriting anymore. I think Mariotti is still trying to be a bully, but he just lacks the platform to do so on a regular basis. He's lobbing bombs at athletes and teams in Chicago from a safe distance away in Los Angeles. So who is the cowardly cyber assassin again?
Mr. Eig says it sounds like I’m “bragging” about all this. Oh, yeah, the pride is just oozing here.
I believe Jay Mariotti takes pride in having others threaten his life. Playing the victim is a role he wants. He wants to throw the first punch, but cry foul when someone counter-punches. He can't leave a job, he has to leave a job and then bash as many people while walking out the door.
This is what Jay Mariotti does. He bashes people as soon as he knows he can stand clear of them. He bashed newspapers as soon as he left the employ of a newspaper, he has somewhat criticized ESPN after they let him go (but not too much because I believe he wants back in), and he consistently bashed Chicago-area athletes and coaches for what he saw as their shortcomings. So yes, I believe he takes pride in someone disliking him.
Being in the sports media, which included eight years on ESPN TV and 17 at the Sun-Times and a zillion radio shows, has made me a comfortable living for more than a quarter-century. It has paid for my daughters’ college education, allowed me to globetrot on the job like Anthony Bourdain, and given me entree to exceptional people and opportunities.
Plus Burning Man! Don't forget Burning Man! They have naked women there!
But the reason I still like sports writing has nothing to do with money or perks.
"It has nothing to do with the money or perks, but I can review the money and perks I received if you missed the list I just made. Just ask me and I can easily repeat them. Also, let me take this opportunity to say I am really glad I am out of the spotlight. I can write an entire column about how happy I am to be out of the spotlight if you want me to. Just ask."
What would you want me to write about, Obama and Romney? My subjective objectivity would be shot down as biased by rotten political media types with agendas. Music? Yeah, I want to try explaining the Katy Perry phenomenon.
13 year old girls buy records. 13 year old girls are lemmings. Therefore music that 13 year old girls like is going to be popular. There, I started to explain it.
Hollywood? Phonies everywhere.
It's very convenient that Jay moved out to Los Angeles then. Better to be close to his own kind.
Disgustingly, the Internet has spawned more than a few amateurs who write for junk sites emphasizing sleaze and fabrication, such as the dope who put $12,000 in a paper bag for what allegedly were photos of Brett Favre’s penis. Sometimes I cringe as bloggers and snark artists try too hard to get attention in nonsensical ways.
The idea of Jay Mariotti accusing others of seeking attention is too rich for me. I always love it when writers complain about bloggers online who work hard to get attention. It's a good generic villain to use as an example for how the decline of quality sportswriting is not their fault. You read it a lot in these type of columns about how the Internet and idiot bloggers (like me) are ruining everything. I fail to see how those with a smaller forum are the reason for the decline of quality sportswriting, but perhaps that is just me. Deadspin has quite a following, but I wouldn't consider what they do "sportswriting," and they shouldn't hurt the quality of sportswriting any more than "Playboy" hurts the circulation of "Time" magazine.
As Wilbon writes in the anthology:
“Let’s just say that things have changed and rather dramatically. Now anyone who can text or Tweet can be a sportswriter, in a sense, despite never having gotten any closer to ringside, to practice, the star’s locker, or the GM’s office than, say, a cashier at the corner grocery.
I also have enjoyed how some sportswriters, like apparently Michael Wilbon, believe their access to athletes is what sets them apart from bloggers. I can see how this claim would be partly true because access has certain advantages, but in arguing access to athletes is part of what separates Mike Wilbon from me, Mike Wilbon is essentially admitting it's privileges that aren't based on talent as part of what separates him from a really good sports blogger. Give a good sports blogger access, does that make him a good sportswriter?
Just the same, the Internet also remains a forum for premium sports writing—Bill Plaschke in Los Angeles, Rick Reilly at ESPN, Dan Shaughnessy in Boston, S.L. Price at Sports Illustrated, John Branch at The New York Times, and best-selling author Buzz Bissinger among the best.
I can't fathom how a person could believe Rick Reilly and Dan Shaughnessy are some of the best sportswriters on the Internet. I have to question whether Mariotti is intentionally trolling or has very little grasp on what great sportswriting should be if he thinks Rick Reilly and Dan Shaughnessy is "premium" sportswriting. Believe it or not, I don't hate any certain sportswriter, but from the point of view of a knowledgeable fan (which is where I try to come from) I don't believe Reilly and Shaughnessy are good at all. In fact, I would consider Reilly to be among the worst sportswriters given how many columns over the past two years he has absolutely mailed in or re-written from old columns. He's getting paid a lot to do very little.
Reilly and Shaughnessy are two writers who are employed by companies who mistake notoriety for fame and pageviews for quality writing. Quantity doesn't always equal quality. Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Mumford and Sons sell more albums than most other musicians. I don't think many people would argue they are the best band or artist currently making music though.
For every punk hack trying to increase hit totals by ripping an ESPN sportscaster, there thankfully are places such as The New York Times, USA Today and ESPN.com that have moved into the digital era by doing sports journalism the right way.
Shockingly, I have an issue with this statement as well. If this "punk hack" gets more hits ripping an ESPN sportscaster (which again, just seems like a very generalized statement), then doesn't that mean there are others who don't like this ESPN sportscaster? Just like there is a market for a Rick Reilly column, there is a market for those who don't like a certain writer. If the criticism is written well and without excessive vitriol then what's the issue? It's a point of view.
I’ve been consuming the news since I first picked up a paper in our Pittsburgh home and read stories aloud at age 3, stunning a room full of adults.
Jay Mariotti, child prodigy. There's nothing like bragging to your readers about how smart you were as a three year old. That's not pathetic for a middle-aged man to do at all.
"Let me tell you how fast I could throw a baseball at the age of 5! They wanted me on the 7-8 year old coach pitch team!"
Some people think I went away the last two years because of a court case; in truth, after compressing about 50 years of work into 25, I’ve merrily taken two years off in L.A. to recharge for the next 25.
Come on, Jay. So to recap, his absence from sportswriting over the last two years wasn't caused by the fact he was suspended indefinitely from AOL or he was basically fired from ESPN? Not at all. It just so happens Jay Mariotti's inability to work for the two major media outlets he was employed by coincided with the exact time he was looking to take a break and step back. It was all a crazy coincidence. This is what he wants us to believe. His unemployment from any major sports news organization because he wanted to recharge is just a crazy coincidence that just happened to occur as he was let go from two other major sports news organizations.
Someone asked if I prefer to have my old jobs back. Nope. I want my new job—multimedia in nature, commenting at large, dictated by the most important stories instead of each day’s news. Yes, the scandals must be covered, the jerks exposed, and the bad franchises scrutinized.
Jay is VERY happy doing what he is doing right now. Does he need to write another column telling us just how happy he is? He will do it, because he is just super-duper happy and just can't stop talking about it. It's not us he needs to convince though, is it?
But if I still was writing in Chicago, it would be the same five stories swirling in the same monotonous circle—Tom Ricketts and Theo Epstein perpetuating the 104-year-and-running Cub sickness, the White Sox staying competitive but not quite achieving what they should, whiny Jay Cutler symbolizing the continuing Bears’ trend of raising hopes and inevitably failing, the Bulls still letting you down in the post-Jordan years by not making bold moves to surround Derrick Rose with the necessary talent, the Blackhawks joyfully winning once and straining to get close again.
Prior to this column, Jay Mariotti had written two other columns for Chicago Side Sports. One column was about how whiny Jay Cutler symbolizes the Bears' trend of raising hopes and inevitably failing. The other column was about the White Sox staying competitive but not quite achieving what they should.
So basically, if Jay Mariotti were still writing in Chicago, he would be writing about the same stories he is currently writing about while living in Los Angeles. So a little research shows that Jay Mariotti is still talking about the same issues he used to talk about when he wrote in Chicago, and this is supposed to represent some sort of progression as a sportswriter. This man is nothing if not completely incapable of being self-aware.
At my count, L.A. has a dozen sports superstars—Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Jared Weaver, David Beckham
I'm guessing Mariotti didn't shock a room full of adults at the age of 3 with his counting abilities because that's 11 sports superstars. I know, I know, these are just details. That's Mariotti for you. The facts are just details. He claims he has grown as a sportswriter and is glad to be away from writing about the same five stories he used to write about, even though he is still writing about those stories, and 11 sports superstars is the same as 12 sports superstars.
and a Stanley Cup-winning hockey team.
The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010.
Chicago has…Derrick Rose. (No, Mr. Eig, Brian Urlacher is not a superstar anymore.)
It appears Jay Mariotti wants to be known as a fair weather sportswriter. He goes to the cities where the superstars are at.
What has excited me, since leaving Chicago four years ago, has been the chance to focus on the national picture.
Again, Mariotti's first two columns were about Chicago-based teams and he writes for a Chicago-oriented sports site. Was Mariotti not able to focus on the national picture when he was a regular on "Around the Horn" or writing for AOL? Of course he could talk about these topics, and he did talk about these topics, but for some reason he is acting like he could not. His reality and the world's reality don't seem to fit this claim he can now focus on the national picture, whereas he seems to think he could not do so previously. He could easily focus on the national picture working for AOL or ESPN, which of course he could and did do, but this is irrelevant because he didn't want those jobs back anyway.
As I begin to write this, I’m watching four baseball playoff games in a 12-hour span, also known as Bud Selig’s wet dream. You have Buster Posey proving why he’s MVP. You have Dusty Baker, a postseason flop again, running his team out of a potential big inning and losing another series. You have the Cardinals still carving out late-night miracles without Tony La Russa and Pujols, and the Washington Nationals flopping, in part, because management foolishly shelved Stephen Strasburg. You have Joe Girardi managing hours after his father died, and a night after he showed the wisdom and guts to pinch-hit Raul Ibanez for useless Alex Rodriguez.
All of these topics Jay could talk about 3 times a week on "Around the Horn" or write about when he was a regular columnist for AOL. There was nothing in his previous jobs that said he must talk about Chicago sports, yet Mariotti seems to indicate differently. Quite frankly, he is coming off as somewhat in denial at times in this column. He's claiming he can focus on the national picture now, yet he writes for a Chicago-based site about Chicago sports, and used to write for a national sports site (AOL) and appeared on the largest sports network in the United States (ESPN). He's claiming his legal issues didn't have anything to do with him disappearing for two years, yet it's all too much of a coincidence to be believed.
Out in L.A., every Nash highlight and Howard interview is devoured. The locals have nowhere near the passion of Chicago fans, not surprising in that Chicago sports are generational in scope and more people seem to grow up in Chicago and never leave than we see in any other American city.
This is the "Backhanded Compliment of the Day" everyone! Jay Mariotti moves away from Chicago to Los Angeles for two years and starts calling the entire city of Chicago "townies."
When the Dodgers and Angels missed the playoffs, despite outrageous payrolls that may swell to a combined $400 million next season, the fans complained for an hour or two, and then headed to the beach. They care, but they don’t live and die with every fastball, spiral, jumper, and slapshot as Chicagoans do.
But don't worry Los Angeles citizens, Jay Mariotti will still ruthlessly bunch you into one stereotype and judge you accordingly. Your time to hate him will come.
I hope Mr. Eig now understands why sports writing is a lifelong passion for me, assuming my life lasts much longer. Why do I like it? Because I’m pretty good at it, when others are not.
If he doesn't say so himself. Of course Mariotti needs to say so himself because I'm not sure there are many others who would agree with this statement.
And because I’m willing to argue, swear to Papa Bear, that Lance Briggs also has had a better career than Brian Urlacher.
We all know from the conference tournament column a few years ago that Jay Mariotti doesn't always believe what he writes, so I doubt he believes this statement either. This seems to be typical Mariotti saying something controversial for attention. It's just like something those bloggers do for attention.
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