Bill Madden is somewhat disturbed that Barry Bonds has made his way back to baseball as a special spring training instructor. Because Bill has difficulty with equivalency and understanding how Act X by Person Z can be completely separate from Act Y by Person B, he wonders what Bonds being accepted by the Giants organization says about whether Pete Rose should be accepted back into baseball's loving arms. See, Bill seems to think there is some sort of connection between betting on baseball and taking steroids. He seems to believe that because betting on baseball isn't as severe of a crime (which is a personal opinion) as using steroids then perhaps Pete Rose should be welcomed back by MLB and allowed in the Hall of Fame. The issue is that Bonds' steroid use and Rose's gambling are two separate issues that don't tie in with each other even though the penalty (not being in the Hall of Fame) is very similar. If Person A gets arrested for a crime that carries a life sentence (such as being arrested for the third time for selling enormous amounts of cocaine) and Person B gets arrested for a crime that carries a life sentence (such as murdering 10 people), simply because the selling of cocaine feels like a lesser crime doesn't mean Person A's sentence should be reduced. Person A and Person B committed separate crimes that resulted in the same sentence. The severity of one person's crime should not lessen the sentence for the other person's crime. Bill Madden doesn't see it this way.
One can only imagine what Pete Rose must have been thinking last week
seeing convicted felon Barry Bonds, an arrogant, surly “anti-ambassador”
of baseball his entire career, who cheated his way past Hank Aaron to
the all-time home run record and then lied about his use of steroids to
everyone, including a federal grand jury, back in uniform for the San
Francisco Giants as a special spring training instructor.
Showing posts with label not weird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label not weird. Show all posts
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
8 comments MMQB Review: Peter is Still Transcribing Strangers' Cell Phone Conversations Edition
Two weeks ago Jabari Greer told us about the state of the New Orleans Saints locker room and also gave us a allegorical tale to think about all week. I learned in the comments that I sound like an "autistic fucking retard" when I talk about other teams in the NFC South. That was the sum total of comments I got on the post, which is always heartening. This week Peter King is back and he is talking about Johnny Manziel, talks about the lessons learned from the Aaron Hernandez situation (other than the obvious "don't kill someone" and "you can't ever predict what athlete will do in their free time" lessons of course), and he yet again writes down a person's telephone conversation word-for-word. To anyone in the world who may be near Peter King while talking on the phone, please either (a) stop talking when Peter starts to leer your way or (b) immediately threaten him with violence if he doesn't stop doing this people. This madness must be stopped. Writing down a stranger's cell phone conversation is about 1-2 steps away from peering in your neighbor's window for a few hours to see why there is always loud sounds coming from the living room. Basically, I think Peter is working his way up to being a peeping tom.
Good morning. Happy to be back after my annual summer break.
Is this as opposed to Peter's semi-annual summer break? Summer happens once a calendar year, so any summer break has to be annual.
The beginning of the training camp trip is five days away, in Oxnard, Calif., with the Cowboys. Always my favorite time of the year. Everybody's got hope, much of it legitimate, and the stories are new and fresh.
Lately a few of the stories are new and fresh, while a lot of times during training camp the stories are somewhat old and repetitive, such as "Will Brett Favre come out of retirement, which player is holding out or hasn't signed their franchise tag, etc." A lot of other stories are just continuing stories from the end of the last NFL season.
Then there's the new project, The MMQB, I'm heading up. That's the new NFL-centric website that'll go live starting next Monday morning.
Peter should really reconsider the title for the project. "The MMQB" isn't very catchy and I'm not sure an entire sports site should be named after the chief editor's (or whatever Peter will be) signature column. The main column and the site should not be named the same thing in my opinion.
First, the story about Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, the Heisman winner, getting sent home from the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, La., on Saturday. It's an NFL story, at least in part, because Manziel is likely to play one more season at Texas A&M, then declare for the NFL following his second season in college.
This is of course assuming Johnny Manziel has another great year at Texas A&M and would not need to come back to college for his junior year to increase his draft stock. So it is an NFL story because it involves the Heisman Trophy winner and the Manning Passing Academy. Still, I find it hard to believe it is "likely" Manziel will play one more season at Texas A&M since we haven't seen how Manziel will play during the upcoming college football season. It seems Manziel loves college and doesn't need money, so who is to say he is "likely" to leave Texas A&M after the upcoming season?
The campers arrive on Thursday, take the field Friday and Saturday, watch a throwing exhibition by the college and pro quarterbacks there Saturday night, then leave late Sunday morning. One of the draws is having some top quarterbacks come -- and not just the Mannings. Kids are excited to be in the presence of quarterbacks like Johnny Manziel, who was assigned to one group of between 12 to 16 young passers.
I don't know Johnny Manziel, but I know he is focused on his fame, partying and being seen as much as he is focused on being a quarterback. Maybe it just seems that way. My point is that it doesn't shock me Johnny Manziel went out partying Friday night and whoever was in charge of inviting him to be one of the camp quarterbacks probably should have taken his maturity into account prior to inviting him to be one of the camp quarterbacks.
Manziel was spotted at a bar in Thibodaux early Friday morning, and he was late for one of the Friday coaching sessions. No one's sure where he was Friday night, but he was a no-show for a two-hour session Saturday morning, and the staff had to cover for him.
There are no excuses for Manziel, but it's not like he hasn't shown anyone willing to follow him on Twitter or has paid attention to news about him on the Interwebs that he loves to go out and party. He needs to be more mature, but I won't ever take him seriously as an NFL prospect until he shows he is as focused on football as he is on being a celebrity. In fact, I feel like he enjoys being a celebrity more than he enjoys being a talented quarterback that led to his celebrity.
Home, 400 miles away in College Station, would seem to be a good place to get some rest Saturday night and recover from whatever ailed him. But two Twitter followers tweeted out information early Sunday morning that Manziel was at a bar in College Station, and one tweeted a photo of a white-t-shirted Manziel in a bar there.
This is an interesting story, but it also doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know. Manziel is talented, but he's not exactly serious about anything that doesn't involve partying. This makes him a normal college student.
On Sunday, Manziel's dad, Paul Manziel, texted Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News that Johnny was "resting and recuperating from dehydration."
That's quite a tale.
It's not quite a tale, it's a lie. In 2013, "dehydration" is shorthand for "hungover" or "too tired to do anything productive because the person has been out partying for a couple of days in a row."
So why does this matter? Manziel is a tremendous multi-purpose talent as a quarterback. But his size (6-foot-0 and 195 pounds, approximately) and suspect arm strength will work against him when the NFL studies him.
Of course talent trumps all, always, so if Manziel has another great year at Texas A&M an NFL team will take a chance on Manziel at some point whenever he declares for the NFL Draft.
You remember how Ryan Leaf became such a shaky pick after Peyton Manning in the 1998 draft. Leaf's immaturity and drinking doomed his NFL career.
Leaf even "looked" like an NFL quarterback stereotypically should look, while Manziel is undersized for the position. Maybe Leaf was drafted higher than he should have been because he had all the measurables, but Manziel is going to have to convince NFL GM's he can withstand an NFL pass rush and is big enough to play the position...as well as try not to show up to the Combine or individual workouts drunk or hungover.
If Manziel doesn't want to make his stock plummet, he'd better start partying a little more carefully, and with some hydration.
Or he could party, but still focus a little bit more on playing quarterback and focus a little bit less on making sure his celebrity status helps his social life. He's a college kid though and he doesn't seem to love football as much as he loves what football has brought him in terms of status.
The lessons of Aaron Hernandez.
There are so many. But I'll write about three of them.
One of the lessons is "learn to predict the future" and I'm not sure that's a lesson we can blame the Patriots for not knowing how to succeed in learning.
2. Since Scott Pioli left the organization in 2009, Belichick doesn't have anyone to argue him off troubled players. Not that Pioli won all the time. "But,'' someone with knowledge of the Patriots front office told me,
This "someone with knowledge"? Scott Pioli, probably. We know he and Peter are close. Not Brett Favre and Peter King-close, but pretty close to where they would share a milkshake using one straw and not be embarrassed by it.
"there's no one there with Scott's balls anymore. Bill needs someone to challenge him, and I don't think he has that now."
(Scott Pioli) "Peter, be sure to write something about me having "the balls" to challenge Belichick. Make me sound tough."
(Peter King) "Will do boss!"
Would Pioli have challenged Belichick on Hernandez, or on Alfonzo Dennard, the seventh-round corner who will have to leave camp in August to go to a probation trial in Nebraska and who last week was arrested for DUI? I don't know, and there's no guarantee those picks wouldn't have been made anyway. But this isn't the first time I've heard the Pioli thing.
Does Peter share an agent with Scott Pioli? I'm just wondering because Peter has talked about Pioli a couple of times in MMQB in a positive light, so I'm just assuming Marvin Demoff ordered Peter to help Pioli find another GM gig.
It's not like Scott "Mr. Tough Guy" Pioli who has the balls to challenge Bill Belichick hasn't made his own personnel errors. When he was the GM of the Chiefs he did employ Jovan Belcher who killed his girlfriend and then himself. So in terms of finding guys who need to challenge Bill Belichick to keep troubled players off the roster, I'm not sure Pioli is the best example to use.
You hate to think morbid thoughts like this, but really: With how wasted Russell and Heckert, both team executives, were when driving-while-impaired, it's very fortunate someone wasn't killed.
That's not a morbid though, that's the exact reason that drunk driving is illegal. The reason drunk driving is illegal is because anytime someone gets behind the wheel drunk it is fortunate that someone isn't killed. To acknowledge this isn't morbid.
But the league is noted for giving first-strike (but serious) offenders a path back to their jobs, if they mend their ways and do just what they're supposed to do. That's why firings aren't likely. Rehab and a serious smack on the wrist -- for both men -- are more likely.
Who needs a front office to help make decisions during and immediately after Training Camp, right? I know John Elway certainly doesn't.
Then Peter goes on to talk about Matthew Berry's new book about fantasy sports. After having a month off I sort of hoped there would be more NFL-oriented content in MMQB rather than the usual filler stuff that populates the column.
Stat of the Week
There's been much discussion about the spate of offseason arrests in the NFL, highlighted by the Aaron Hernandez murder charge, of course. And, of course, one arrest is too many. But it's probably unrealistic to think that men with more money, on average, than the general public wouldn't get into some trouble, regardless how much preaching the league does about it.
I think the main issue some people have with professional athletes getting arrested is there is an assumption that having more money means a person would have less need to act like a fool and get arrested. It's a incorrect notion of course.
The question is, is the NFL's rate of arrest much higher than the general public's?
So let's use the larger number, and to be mathematically fair, let's use a one-year period: July 15, 2012 to July 14, 2013, which was Sunday. By my count, there have been 55 arrests of NFL players in that year.
Number of arrests of NFL players in the last year: 55.
Estimated number of players currently under contract in NFL: 2,880.
Percentage of players arrested in the last year: 1.9 percent.
Now for the general population. Look at the last year the FBI has complete stats for, 2010.
Number of arrests of American adults: 11,479,500.
Estimate number of American adults living in 2010: 235,205,700.
Percentage of American adults arrested in 2010: 4.9 percent.
My point is, we know the arrests are an ugly part of football the league and the Players Association need to constantly work to reduce. But it's not so easy to simply say, "Too many players are getting arrested." Compared to what, exactly?
I think the fact NFL players who get arrested are much more high profile than the average person gets arrested is what causes the perception that NFL players are in trouble more than most.
Also, I love the second-to-last and last sentence Peter just wrote. He said:
But it's not so easy to simply say, "Too many players are getting arrested." Compared to what, exactly?
I don't know Peter, why don't you ask yourself why you used a very close approximation to this phrase in this very MMQB:
There's been much discussion about the spate of offseason arrests in the NFL, highlighted by the Aaron Hernandez murder charge, of course. And, of course, one arrest is too many.
Compared to what, exactly, Peter?! One arrest is too many compared to what? As always, do as Peter says, not as he does.
Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week
Ten Favorite Things of My Summer Vacation:
This is the part of MMQB where Peter brags about all the cool things he got to do on his annual summer vacation (again, not to be confused with his quarterly summer vacation). The only thing less interesting than seeing pictures of someone's vacation is hearing someone talk about their vacation, but the only thing less interesting than hearing about someone's vacation is to read about their vacation.
1.Experiencing Vancouver with my family. Some of you -- yes, you especially, Donny Brasco -- have knocked me over the years for hyperbole. But I found Vancouver, on my first extended trip there, to be the most underrated city in North America.
It's also a good place to shoot movies because it isn't as crowded or as expensive as other cities.
3.Catching a fish at Pike Place Market in Seattle. No. I mean, really catching a fish.
Thanks for clearing that up.
We bought a 12-pound Copper River salmon as a gift for some friends, and the guy there asked if I'd want to catch it as he threw it from where the fish were iced to where they got cut up for delivery. "Of course!'' I said. So I went behind the counter and he threw the slippery guy, and I caught it, letting it thump off my hands and slide into my chest. Then I held it up triumphantly.
It's the little things that please Peter. Then Peter lurked around the market for a few hours to see what kind of cell phone conversations he could hear and then transcribe into a notebook. I'm kidding of course. Peter would never hang out at a market in Seattle and listen to other people's conversations. That would be crazy to try and eavesdrop in a crowded market. It was in Massachusetts on a train when Peter dropped in on a cell phone conversation and transcribed it for everyone who reads MMQB to (not) enjoy.
8.Four Sunday nights without MMQB responsibility. The column's a labor of love, folks. You know that. But watching junk-food TV, reading Inferno by Dan Brown, napping in the chair or going to see a play (we did score seats to Lucky Guy one night, the play with Tom Hanks in it), and not obsessing about Aaron Hernandez or Matthew Stafford's contract and thinking of an angle is a very good and relaxing thing.
Understandable, but Peter does realize he can include NFL-only related content in MMQB and cut the column by half doesn't he? Most of the stuff in MMQB are quotes, Tweets, and things that Peter thinks which generally aren't entirely NFL-related. So he could make his life easier in writing MMQB by talking about the NFL-only and not worrying about stretching the column out to a certain length.
10. Seeing the Red Sox sweep a waterlogged twinbill at Fenway Park over the Rays. That three-hour rain delay sure was fun. The train trip back and forth on the Acela is always good. Except on the ride back, we had the displeasure of sitting across the aisle from two Manhattan realtors, husband and wife, who spoke at normal conversational volume for 3.5 solid hours into their iPhone 5 headsets and drove most of the rest of the car out of its mind.
Here is the part of MMQB where Peter strikes back at those who talk on a cell phone in public. I have no issue with Peter being annoyed by someone talking on their phone in public, but listening to the entire conversation and transcribing it as opposed to ignoring it seems like a really weirdo thing to do. Plus, wouldn't writing down the conversation and listening to the entire thing be something a person not annoyed by that conversation would do? Isn't ignoring the conversation, or trying to, the logical and normal thing to do if you don't like the conversation that is taking place?
I wrote this down, as close to word-for-word as I could, somewhere between New London and New Haven hugging the Connecticut coastline:
Writing down these conversations and posting them in MMQB isn't getting back at these people, it only tells us that Peter King is a really creepy guy. After all, who writes down a stranger's conversation and then relays it to other complete strangers?
I'm not sure if Peter is familiar with the realty industry or what being a realtor entails, but a lot of being a realtor involves having to negotiate and use the cell phone to contact potential buyers and sellers with asking prices and other pertinent information. Much of this information is time sensitive, as a realtor couldn't simply sit on an offer being made by his/her client because another offer could come in and be accepted in that time. So while public cell phone conversations are annoying, Peter should understand these realtors couldn't necessarily just sit on the train and not contact the buyer/seller they are trying to contact.
I won't force you all to read through the transcription of this conversation had by the two real estate agents, but suffice to say, it sounded like a lot of negotiation by phone.
Jewelried woman: "Sorry, you still there? Connection's not great. Sorry ... I'm going to repeat: I am about to lose my patience. You don't have the answers for me. You know what that property is worth, and I know what it is worth. You can't BS me ... So should I go through those files? Should I allocate those numbers elsewhere? ... You think it's not necessary ...''
Suited slim man, thinking he can be heard through a bad connection if he screams: "On a TRAIN. YES. SORRY! ... YOU GOT ME? YOU GOT ME?'' ...
Frustrated hangup. RINGGGGGGG.
Suited slim man: "Sorry, you know, the connection. I am ON A TRAIN!''
Jewelried woman: "Call you then, okay. Bye.''
Suited slim man: "We have to do a credit check. Yes, Brad has all that ... No, it's not your decision or my decision. It's the government ... I would love it. I would SO love it. You have no idea how much I'd love it ... Oh, you do?''
Jewelried woman: "I got that in play. Correct ... We're moving forward in good faith.''
Again, I do find people who talk on the phone in public to be annoying, but these are two realtors whose entire job is to ensure a real estate deal is made and it appears both individuals had urgent matters they needed to discuss. You can't tell me if something important happened in the NFL that Peter King wouldn't be on his cell phone talking about it on the Acela. Anyone who has bought a home knows once an offer is made and there are multiple offers on the table, time becomes somewhat of the essence. Since Peter was so kind to be a creepy stalker and transcribe the conversation it is easy to read that it seems like two urgent deals were being made. Why does Peter have to transcribe the conversation though? Be less weird.
Not even to Bridgeport yet. How did we survive?
Ignore them.
"All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid"
-- @roddywhiteTV, Atlanta wideout Roddy White, after George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the death of teen Trayvon Martin in Florida Saturday night.
"I understand my tweet last nite was extreme. I never meant for the people to do that. I was shocked and upset about the verdict. I am sorry.''
-- @roddywhiteTV, 12 hours later.
Everyone just be sure not to shock or upset Roddy White at any point or else he will urge you to go kill yourself. So no surprising him by jumping from around a corner while he is walking on the street. Otherwise, suicide will be your best option.
"Aaron Hernandez's lawyers just filed a motion to have his trial moved to Sanford, Florida.''
-- @HubbuchNYP, Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.
The Zimmerman trial was in Sanford.
Yeah Peter, we got it. If you explain the joke...
Ten Things I Think I Think
Because, again, the rest of this column was filled with NFL factoids like Peter's 10 favorite items about his vacation, Tweets about the George Zimmerman trial, and a transcript of a conversation two strangers had on a train. So with all those NFL facts, it's about time Peter told us what he thought.
2. I think we report on the money too much. Sometimes, as with Flacco, it's a significant story. Other times, no one cares. The only time someone cares is when, as in the case of Wes Welker, it means he won't return to play for the Patriots. That's big. But whether a guy makes $3.6 million or $4.9 million only matters if it affects what happens to a team's cap.
But often times those stories about a player's contract directly affects a team's cap, so that's why the story gets reported. I get what Peter wants to say, though I do find it funny that Peter is commenting on over-reporting of NFL news while also starting an NFL website in less than a week, but many times a player's contract is reported in terms of his cap number and how it affects a team's cap space.
4. I think when I read the 30 or so headlines over three or four days about Colin Kaepernick wearing a Dolphins cap, I thought: "The football media needs a longer vacation." Is it a good idea to wear another NFL team's cap? No -- marginally. But it might be cause for the mildest rebuke in media history, not cause for long columns to be written.
Of course Peter is starting an NFL-centric website next week, but he feels the need to even mildly rebuke other writers for headlines about Colin Kaepernick's hat. As always, do as Peter says, not as he does. He doesn't think there needs to be long columns written on Kaepernick's choice in hats, but I would bet if MMQB (the site) were up now then there would be a column about the hat. It's hard to understand Peter talking about football media needing a longer vacation and knowing a week later he will start an NFL-centric site.
5. I think $10.5 million a year sounds about right for top-three left tackle Ryan Clady.
Peter King just a few lines earlier in this MMQB:
2. I think we report on the money too much...But whether a guy makes $3.6 million or $4.9 million only matters if it affects what happens to a team's cap.
There is no report from Peter how the $10.5 million affects the Broncos cap space either. Peter does this consistently. He chides others for doing something Peter himself does. Why comment "we" report on money too much and state money only matters if it affects what happens to a team's cap, THEN write down how much a certain player re-signed for while not addressing how it affected the team's cap? Take your own advice, Peter.
7. I think I agree with Mike Florio on this one: I may not agree with Donovan McNabb saying the Matthew Stafford contract is a bad one, but I appreciate the fact that he has the stones to rip the establishment and to say Stafford hasn't earned his new big dough -- something too few former players and coaches do.
Considering Stafford has had one really good, injury-free season I am a little shocked the Lions re-signed him with three years left on his contract. I like Stafford, but if you look at his numbers they are impressive in terms of yardage he has thrown for, but he has started 44 of 64 possible games in his career and didn't show great improvement from 2011 to 2012.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
b. Isn't the All-Star Break supposed to be the halfway point of the season? Or reasonably close? Boston's season is three-fifths done: 97 down, 65 to play.
No, the All-Star Break isn't necessarily supposed to be the halfway point of the season. It's supposed to be an exhibition game that takes place in the middle of the MLB season, but I don't think it has to be at the halfway point. It's supposed to break up the two halves of the MLB season, but these "halves" aren't necessarily real halves and what does it even matter?
d. Love watching Yasiel Puig.
You would.
f. I hope I'm wrong, for the sake of the fine people of Houston. But after being the most tangential NBA fan in America for the last couple of years, I would not want to hitch my wagon to Dwight Howard. Not for a third of what the Rockets paid him.
You are an idiot if you wouldn't take Dwight Howard for a third of what the Rockets paid him. I always enjoy how Peter always discounts his opinion about the NBA prior to giving an opinion on the NBA. Give an opinion, that's fine, but don't keep saying how your opinion doesn't mean anything when it is obvious you think your opinion does mean something.
h. Not a big golf watcher, truth be told. But I watched some over the break, and I really need to figure one thing out:What is it with screaming "GET IN THE HOOOOOLLLLE!!!!!'' after every tee shot? It was cute when Bill Murray did it, dweebs. It's dweebish when you do it on every tee shot.
Don't like it, don't watch golf. I'm annoyed by Chris Berman and don't watch anything he is the announcer for on ESPN. There is a thing called a "remote control" where you can mute the television.
i. If you don't think I'm telling the truth, ask the annoyed-looking person next to you at the next PGA event you attend.
Or just transcribe their phone conversation complaining about this happening and then publish this phone conversation in a national NFL column.
m. Beernerdness: Five good ones from my vacation ... 1: Manny's Pale Ale (Georgetown Brewing, Seattle). Just one of my all-time faves. So flavorful. 2: Hoppyum IPA (Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, N.C.) Very pleasant surprise.
Who knew the South had alcohol that wasn't just moonshine? Ugh, Peter and I have something in common. I will have to pour all of my Hoppyum IPA down the sink now.
n. Wish I could review the first episode of The Newsroom, but I didn't quite finish this in time to watch last night. Next week I'll have some thoughts ...
Please don't.
next week, when the next column is the first thing you'll read on our new site, The MMQB.
I still don't like the name of the site, but no one asked me. It just seems like naming the site the same thing Peter names his Monday column is uninspired.
The Adieu Haiku
Getting nervous. Why?
The MMQB cometh.
New site. Next Monday.
I'm hoping the Adieu Haiku doesn't come with MMQB to the new The MMQB site. My hopes will probably be dashed though.
Good morning. Happy to be back after my annual summer break.
Is this as opposed to Peter's semi-annual summer break? Summer happens once a calendar year, so any summer break has to be annual.
The beginning of the training camp trip is five days away, in Oxnard, Calif., with the Cowboys. Always my favorite time of the year. Everybody's got hope, much of it legitimate, and the stories are new and fresh.
Lately a few of the stories are new and fresh, while a lot of times during training camp the stories are somewhat old and repetitive, such as "Will Brett Favre come out of retirement, which player is holding out or hasn't signed their franchise tag, etc." A lot of other stories are just continuing stories from the end of the last NFL season.
Then there's the new project, The MMQB, I'm heading up. That's the new NFL-centric website that'll go live starting next Monday morning.
Peter should really reconsider the title for the project. "The MMQB" isn't very catchy and I'm not sure an entire sports site should be named after the chief editor's (or whatever Peter will be) signature column. The main column and the site should not be named the same thing in my opinion.
First, the story about Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, the Heisman winner, getting sent home from the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, La., on Saturday. It's an NFL story, at least in part, because Manziel is likely to play one more season at Texas A&M, then declare for the NFL following his second season in college.
This is of course assuming Johnny Manziel has another great year at Texas A&M and would not need to come back to college for his junior year to increase his draft stock. So it is an NFL story because it involves the Heisman Trophy winner and the Manning Passing Academy. Still, I find it hard to believe it is "likely" Manziel will play one more season at Texas A&M since we haven't seen how Manziel will play during the upcoming college football season. It seems Manziel loves college and doesn't need money, so who is to say he is "likely" to leave Texas A&M after the upcoming season?
The campers arrive on Thursday, take the field Friday and Saturday, watch a throwing exhibition by the college and pro quarterbacks there Saturday night, then leave late Sunday morning. One of the draws is having some top quarterbacks come -- and not just the Mannings. Kids are excited to be in the presence of quarterbacks like Johnny Manziel, who was assigned to one group of between 12 to 16 young passers.
I don't know Johnny Manziel, but I know he is focused on his fame, partying and being seen as much as he is focused on being a quarterback. Maybe it just seems that way. My point is that it doesn't shock me Johnny Manziel went out partying Friday night and whoever was in charge of inviting him to be one of the camp quarterbacks probably should have taken his maturity into account prior to inviting him to be one of the camp quarterbacks.
Manziel was spotted at a bar in Thibodaux early Friday morning, and he was late for one of the Friday coaching sessions. No one's sure where he was Friday night, but he was a no-show for a two-hour session Saturday morning, and the staff had to cover for him.
There are no excuses for Manziel, but it's not like he hasn't shown anyone willing to follow him on Twitter or has paid attention to news about him on the Interwebs that he loves to go out and party. He needs to be more mature, but I won't ever take him seriously as an NFL prospect until he shows he is as focused on football as he is on being a celebrity. In fact, I feel like he enjoys being a celebrity more than he enjoys being a talented quarterback that led to his celebrity.
Home, 400 miles away in College Station, would seem to be a good place to get some rest Saturday night and recover from whatever ailed him. But two Twitter followers tweeted out information early Sunday morning that Manziel was at a bar in College Station, and one tweeted a photo of a white-t-shirted Manziel in a bar there.
This is an interesting story, but it also doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know. Manziel is talented, but he's not exactly serious about anything that doesn't involve partying. This makes him a normal college student.
On Sunday, Manziel's dad, Paul Manziel, texted Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News that Johnny was "resting and recuperating from dehydration."
That's quite a tale.
It's not quite a tale, it's a lie. In 2013, "dehydration" is shorthand for "hungover" or "too tired to do anything productive because the person has been out partying for a couple of days in a row."
So why does this matter? Manziel is a tremendous multi-purpose talent as a quarterback. But his size (6-foot-0 and 195 pounds, approximately) and suspect arm strength will work against him when the NFL studies him.
Of course talent trumps all, always, so if Manziel has another great year at Texas A&M an NFL team will take a chance on Manziel at some point whenever he declares for the NFL Draft.
You remember how Ryan Leaf became such a shaky pick after Peyton Manning in the 1998 draft. Leaf's immaturity and drinking doomed his NFL career.
Leaf even "looked" like an NFL quarterback stereotypically should look, while Manziel is undersized for the position. Maybe Leaf was drafted higher than he should have been because he had all the measurables, but Manziel is going to have to convince NFL GM's he can withstand an NFL pass rush and is big enough to play the position...as well as try not to show up to the Combine or individual workouts drunk or hungover.
If Manziel doesn't want to make his stock plummet, he'd better start partying a little more carefully, and with some hydration.
Or he could party, but still focus a little bit more on playing quarterback and focus a little bit less on making sure his celebrity status helps his social life. He's a college kid though and he doesn't seem to love football as much as he loves what football has brought him in terms of status.
The lessons of Aaron Hernandez.
There are so many. But I'll write about three of them.
One of the lessons is "learn to predict the future" and I'm not sure that's a lesson we can blame the Patriots for not knowing how to succeed in learning.
2. Since Scott Pioli left the organization in 2009, Belichick doesn't have anyone to argue him off troubled players. Not that Pioli won all the time. "But,'' someone with knowledge of the Patriots front office told me,
This "someone with knowledge"? Scott Pioli, probably. We know he and Peter are close. Not Brett Favre and Peter King-close, but pretty close to where they would share a milkshake using one straw and not be embarrassed by it.
"there's no one there with Scott's balls anymore. Bill needs someone to challenge him, and I don't think he has that now."
(Scott Pioli) "Peter, be sure to write something about me having "the balls" to challenge Belichick. Make me sound tough."
(Peter King) "Will do boss!"
Would Pioli have challenged Belichick on Hernandez, or on Alfonzo Dennard, the seventh-round corner who will have to leave camp in August to go to a probation trial in Nebraska and who last week was arrested for DUI? I don't know, and there's no guarantee those picks wouldn't have been made anyway. But this isn't the first time I've heard the Pioli thing.
Does Peter share an agent with Scott Pioli? I'm just wondering because Peter has talked about Pioli a couple of times in MMQB in a positive light, so I'm just assuming Marvin Demoff ordered Peter to help Pioli find another GM gig.
It's not like Scott "Mr. Tough Guy" Pioli who has the balls to challenge Bill Belichick hasn't made his own personnel errors. When he was the GM of the Chiefs he did employ Jovan Belcher who killed his girlfriend and then himself. So in terms of finding guys who need to challenge Bill Belichick to keep troubled players off the roster, I'm not sure Pioli is the best example to use.
You hate to think morbid thoughts like this, but really: With how wasted Russell and Heckert, both team executives, were when driving-while-impaired, it's very fortunate someone wasn't killed.
That's not a morbid though, that's the exact reason that drunk driving is illegal. The reason drunk driving is illegal is because anytime someone gets behind the wheel drunk it is fortunate that someone isn't killed. To acknowledge this isn't morbid.
But the league is noted for giving first-strike (but serious) offenders a path back to their jobs, if they mend their ways and do just what they're supposed to do. That's why firings aren't likely. Rehab and a serious smack on the wrist -- for both men -- are more likely.
Who needs a front office to help make decisions during and immediately after Training Camp, right? I know John Elway certainly doesn't.
Then Peter goes on to talk about Matthew Berry's new book about fantasy sports. After having a month off I sort of hoped there would be more NFL-oriented content in MMQB rather than the usual filler stuff that populates the column.
Stat of the Week
There's been much discussion about the spate of offseason arrests in the NFL, highlighted by the Aaron Hernandez murder charge, of course. And, of course, one arrest is too many. But it's probably unrealistic to think that men with more money, on average, than the general public wouldn't get into some trouble, regardless how much preaching the league does about it.
I think the main issue some people have with professional athletes getting arrested is there is an assumption that having more money means a person would have less need to act like a fool and get arrested. It's a incorrect notion of course.
The question is, is the NFL's rate of arrest much higher than the general public's?
So let's use the larger number, and to be mathematically fair, let's use a one-year period: July 15, 2012 to July 14, 2013, which was Sunday. By my count, there have been 55 arrests of NFL players in that year.
Number of arrests of NFL players in the last year: 55.
Estimated number of players currently under contract in NFL: 2,880.
Percentage of players arrested in the last year: 1.9 percent.
Now for the general population. Look at the last year the FBI has complete stats for, 2010.
Number of arrests of American adults: 11,479,500.
Estimate number of American adults living in 2010: 235,205,700.
Percentage of American adults arrested in 2010: 4.9 percent.
My point is, we know the arrests are an ugly part of football the league and the Players Association need to constantly work to reduce. But it's not so easy to simply say, "Too many players are getting arrested." Compared to what, exactly?
I think the fact NFL players who get arrested are much more high profile than the average person gets arrested is what causes the perception that NFL players are in trouble more than most.
Also, I love the second-to-last and last sentence Peter just wrote. He said:
But it's not so easy to simply say, "Too many players are getting arrested." Compared to what, exactly?
I don't know Peter, why don't you ask yourself why you used a very close approximation to this phrase in this very MMQB:
There's been much discussion about the spate of offseason arrests in the NFL, highlighted by the Aaron Hernandez murder charge, of course. And, of course, one arrest is too many.
Compared to what, exactly, Peter?! One arrest is too many compared to what? As always, do as Peter says, not as he does.
Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week
Ten Favorite Things of My Summer Vacation:
This is the part of MMQB where Peter brags about all the cool things he got to do on his annual summer vacation (again, not to be confused with his quarterly summer vacation). The only thing less interesting than seeing pictures of someone's vacation is hearing someone talk about their vacation, but the only thing less interesting than hearing about someone's vacation is to read about their vacation.
1.Experiencing Vancouver with my family. Some of you -- yes, you especially, Donny Brasco -- have knocked me over the years for hyperbole. But I found Vancouver, on my first extended trip there, to be the most underrated city in North America.
It's also a good place to shoot movies because it isn't as crowded or as expensive as other cities.
3.Catching a fish at Pike Place Market in Seattle. No. I mean, really catching a fish.
Thanks for clearing that up.
We bought a 12-pound Copper River salmon as a gift for some friends, and the guy there asked if I'd want to catch it as he threw it from where the fish were iced to where they got cut up for delivery. "Of course!'' I said. So I went behind the counter and he threw the slippery guy, and I caught it, letting it thump off my hands and slide into my chest. Then I held it up triumphantly.
It's the little things that please Peter. Then Peter lurked around the market for a few hours to see what kind of cell phone conversations he could hear and then transcribe into a notebook. I'm kidding of course. Peter would never hang out at a market in Seattle and listen to other people's conversations. That would be crazy to try and eavesdrop in a crowded market. It was in Massachusetts on a train when Peter dropped in on a cell phone conversation and transcribed it for everyone who reads MMQB to (not) enjoy.
8.Four Sunday nights without MMQB responsibility. The column's a labor of love, folks. You know that. But watching junk-food TV, reading Inferno by Dan Brown, napping in the chair or going to see a play (we did score seats to Lucky Guy one night, the play with Tom Hanks in it), and not obsessing about Aaron Hernandez or Matthew Stafford's contract and thinking of an angle is a very good and relaxing thing.
Understandable, but Peter does realize he can include NFL-only related content in MMQB and cut the column by half doesn't he? Most of the stuff in MMQB are quotes, Tweets, and things that Peter thinks which generally aren't entirely NFL-related. So he could make his life easier in writing MMQB by talking about the NFL-only and not worrying about stretching the column out to a certain length.
10. Seeing the Red Sox sweep a waterlogged twinbill at Fenway Park over the Rays. That three-hour rain delay sure was fun. The train trip back and forth on the Acela is always good. Except on the ride back, we had the displeasure of sitting across the aisle from two Manhattan realtors, husband and wife, who spoke at normal conversational volume for 3.5 solid hours into their iPhone 5 headsets and drove most of the rest of the car out of its mind.
Here is the part of MMQB where Peter strikes back at those who talk on a cell phone in public. I have no issue with Peter being annoyed by someone talking on their phone in public, but listening to the entire conversation and transcribing it as opposed to ignoring it seems like a really weirdo thing to do. Plus, wouldn't writing down the conversation and listening to the entire thing be something a person not annoyed by that conversation would do? Isn't ignoring the conversation, or trying to, the logical and normal thing to do if you don't like the conversation that is taking place?
I wrote this down, as close to word-for-word as I could, somewhere between New London and New Haven hugging the Connecticut coastline:
Writing down these conversations and posting them in MMQB isn't getting back at these people, it only tells us that Peter King is a really creepy guy. After all, who writes down a stranger's conversation and then relays it to other complete strangers?
I'm not sure if Peter is familiar with the realty industry or what being a realtor entails, but a lot of being a realtor involves having to negotiate and use the cell phone to contact potential buyers and sellers with asking prices and other pertinent information. Much of this information is time sensitive, as a realtor couldn't simply sit on an offer being made by his/her client because another offer could come in and be accepted in that time. So while public cell phone conversations are annoying, Peter should understand these realtors couldn't necessarily just sit on the train and not contact the buyer/seller they are trying to contact.
I won't force you all to read through the transcription of this conversation had by the two real estate agents, but suffice to say, it sounded like a lot of negotiation by phone.
Jewelried woman: "Sorry, you still there? Connection's not great. Sorry ... I'm going to repeat: I am about to lose my patience. You don't have the answers for me. You know what that property is worth, and I know what it is worth. You can't BS me ... So should I go through those files? Should I allocate those numbers elsewhere? ... You think it's not necessary ...''
Suited slim man, thinking he can be heard through a bad connection if he screams: "On a TRAIN. YES. SORRY! ... YOU GOT ME? YOU GOT ME?'' ...
Frustrated hangup. RINGGGGGGG.
Suited slim man: "Sorry, you know, the connection. I am ON A TRAIN!''
Jewelried woman: "Call you then, okay. Bye.''
Suited slim man: "We have to do a credit check. Yes, Brad has all that ... No, it's not your decision or my decision. It's the government ... I would love it. I would SO love it. You have no idea how much I'd love it ... Oh, you do?''
Jewelried woman: "I got that in play. Correct ... We're moving forward in good faith.''
Again, I do find people who talk on the phone in public to be annoying, but these are two realtors whose entire job is to ensure a real estate deal is made and it appears both individuals had urgent matters they needed to discuss. You can't tell me if something important happened in the NFL that Peter King wouldn't be on his cell phone talking about it on the Acela. Anyone who has bought a home knows once an offer is made and there are multiple offers on the table, time becomes somewhat of the essence. Since Peter was so kind to be a creepy stalker and transcribe the conversation it is easy to read that it seems like two urgent deals were being made. Why does Peter have to transcribe the conversation though? Be less weird.
Not even to Bridgeport yet. How did we survive?
Ignore them.
"All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid"
-- @roddywhiteTV, Atlanta wideout Roddy White, after George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the death of teen Trayvon Martin in Florida Saturday night.
"I understand my tweet last nite was extreme. I never meant for the people to do that. I was shocked and upset about the verdict. I am sorry.''
-- @roddywhiteTV, 12 hours later.
Everyone just be sure not to shock or upset Roddy White at any point or else he will urge you to go kill yourself. So no surprising him by jumping from around a corner while he is walking on the street. Otherwise, suicide will be your best option.
"Aaron Hernandez's lawyers just filed a motion to have his trial moved to Sanford, Florida.''
-- @HubbuchNYP, Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.
The Zimmerman trial was in Sanford.
Yeah Peter, we got it. If you explain the joke...
Ten Things I Think I Think
Because, again, the rest of this column was filled with NFL factoids like Peter's 10 favorite items about his vacation, Tweets about the George Zimmerman trial, and a transcript of a conversation two strangers had on a train. So with all those NFL facts, it's about time Peter told us what he thought.
2. I think we report on the money too much. Sometimes, as with Flacco, it's a significant story. Other times, no one cares. The only time someone cares is when, as in the case of Wes Welker, it means he won't return to play for the Patriots. That's big. But whether a guy makes $3.6 million or $4.9 million only matters if it affects what happens to a team's cap.
But often times those stories about a player's contract directly affects a team's cap, so that's why the story gets reported. I get what Peter wants to say, though I do find it funny that Peter is commenting on over-reporting of NFL news while also starting an NFL website in less than a week, but many times a player's contract is reported in terms of his cap number and how it affects a team's cap space.
4. I think when I read the 30 or so headlines over three or four days about Colin Kaepernick wearing a Dolphins cap, I thought: "The football media needs a longer vacation." Is it a good idea to wear another NFL team's cap? No -- marginally. But it might be cause for the mildest rebuke in media history, not cause for long columns to be written.
Of course Peter is starting an NFL-centric website next week, but he feels the need to even mildly rebuke other writers for headlines about Colin Kaepernick's hat. As always, do as Peter says, not as he does. He doesn't think there needs to be long columns written on Kaepernick's choice in hats, but I would bet if MMQB (the site) were up now then there would be a column about the hat. It's hard to understand Peter talking about football media needing a longer vacation and knowing a week later he will start an NFL-centric site.
5. I think $10.5 million a year sounds about right for top-three left tackle Ryan Clady.
Peter King just a few lines earlier in this MMQB:
2. I think we report on the money too much...But whether a guy makes $3.6 million or $4.9 million only matters if it affects what happens to a team's cap.
There is no report from Peter how the $10.5 million affects the Broncos cap space either. Peter does this consistently. He chides others for doing something Peter himself does. Why comment "we" report on money too much and state money only matters if it affects what happens to a team's cap, THEN write down how much a certain player re-signed for while not addressing how it affected the team's cap? Take your own advice, Peter.
7. I think I agree with Mike Florio on this one: I may not agree with Donovan McNabb saying the Matthew Stafford contract is a bad one, but I appreciate the fact that he has the stones to rip the establishment and to say Stafford hasn't earned his new big dough -- something too few former players and coaches do.
Considering Stafford has had one really good, injury-free season I am a little shocked the Lions re-signed him with three years left on his contract. I like Stafford, but if you look at his numbers they are impressive in terms of yardage he has thrown for, but he has started 44 of 64 possible games in his career and didn't show great improvement from 2011 to 2012.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
b. Isn't the All-Star Break supposed to be the halfway point of the season? Or reasonably close? Boston's season is three-fifths done: 97 down, 65 to play.
No, the All-Star Break isn't necessarily supposed to be the halfway point of the season. It's supposed to be an exhibition game that takes place in the middle of the MLB season, but I don't think it has to be at the halfway point. It's supposed to break up the two halves of the MLB season, but these "halves" aren't necessarily real halves and what does it even matter?
d. Love watching Yasiel Puig.
You would.
f. I hope I'm wrong, for the sake of the fine people of Houston. But after being the most tangential NBA fan in America for the last couple of years, I would not want to hitch my wagon to Dwight Howard. Not for a third of what the Rockets paid him.
You are an idiot if you wouldn't take Dwight Howard for a third of what the Rockets paid him. I always enjoy how Peter always discounts his opinion about the NBA prior to giving an opinion on the NBA. Give an opinion, that's fine, but don't keep saying how your opinion doesn't mean anything when it is obvious you think your opinion does mean something.
h. Not a big golf watcher, truth be told. But I watched some over the break, and I really need to figure one thing out:What is it with screaming "GET IN THE HOOOOOLLLLE!!!!!'' after every tee shot? It was cute when Bill Murray did it, dweebs. It's dweebish when you do it on every tee shot.
Don't like it, don't watch golf. I'm annoyed by Chris Berman and don't watch anything he is the announcer for on ESPN. There is a thing called a "remote control" where you can mute the television.
i. If you don't think I'm telling the truth, ask the annoyed-looking person next to you at the next PGA event you attend.
Or just transcribe their phone conversation complaining about this happening and then publish this phone conversation in a national NFL column.
m. Beernerdness: Five good ones from my vacation ... 1: Manny's Pale Ale (Georgetown Brewing, Seattle). Just one of my all-time faves. So flavorful. 2: Hoppyum IPA (Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, N.C.) Very pleasant surprise.
Who knew the South had alcohol that wasn't just moonshine? Ugh, Peter and I have something in common. I will have to pour all of my Hoppyum IPA down the sink now.
n. Wish I could review the first episode of The Newsroom, but I didn't quite finish this in time to watch last night. Next week I'll have some thoughts ...
Please don't.
next week, when the next column is the first thing you'll read on our new site, The MMQB.
I still don't like the name of the site, but no one asked me. It just seems like naming the site the same thing Peter names his Monday column is uninspired.
The Adieu Haiku
Getting nervous. Why?
The MMQB cometh.
New site. Next Monday.
I'm hoping the Adieu Haiku doesn't come with MMQB to the new The MMQB site. My hopes will probably be dashed though.
Monday, March 26, 2012
3 comments Mark Kriegel Disapproves of Peyton Manning's Choice to Sign with Denver
For be it for me to feel bad for pro athletes, but there are times I become convinced they just can't win no matter what they do. Many bashed LeBron James for taking his talents to South Beach when he got the opportunity for free agency. He wanted to win an NBA Title, so we knocked him for calling in help from other stars in order to win an NBA Title, and then criticized him for not trying to win a title on his own in Cleveland. Then when Peyton Manning becomes a free agent we have writers like Mark Kriegel who criticize him for not going to a team that is closer to winning a Super Bowl. Kriegel even criticizes Manning for wanting to win the Super Bowl himself (as if the NFL isn't a team game), but then he also previously criticized James for teaming up with Wade and Bosh. Manning chose the wrong team by signing with a team Mark Kriegel felt wasn't close enough to winning a Super Bowl, but LeBron James had hubris for signing with a team he felt gave him the best chance to win an NBA Title? Kriegel can't have it both ways. He can't criticize one player for do whatever it took to chase a ring, but criticizing another player for not chasing a ring efficiently enough.
I am sure Rick Reilly is happy, because he wanted Manning to go to the Broncos. Even if Reilly's analysis was a little bit off, I think Denver isn't a terrible place for Manning to be. Manning really didn't have any terrible choices, other than Miami of course. Mark Kriegel disagrees.
At the heart of each NFL franchise is a heartless machine, flawed but merciless, aspiring to completely rational prognostication.
So, so very deep.
Tim Tebow rejuvenated a franchise. The fans loved him. Sure. But they’ll get over it.
Neither flesh nor feeling is supposed to enter the equation. It’s a cost-benefit analysis. The question is not what you’ve done lately. It’s what will you do tomorrow?
This just in: Sports are a performance-based industry. Players are judged and evaluated on whether they perform at a high-level or not. Mount your horse and spread the word to the masses!
In that respect, as a football brain, the mind of Peyton Manning is without equal.
He's like the Albert Einstein of the NFL. Or, as Bill Simmons would say and everyone else would disagree with, Manning is the Malcolm Gladwell of the NFL.
His gift for anticipation, while imperfect, remains superior to any computer program.
Mostly because computer programs aren't often seen playing quarterback in the NFL. Or are they?
(Bengoodfella puts his laptop on a field with a football on top of it and starts running wide receiver routes. Nothing happens.)
Yep, it turns out computer programs aren't very good at anticipation and in terms of playing quarterback in the NFL, computer programs appear to be inferior to humans.
(Though anyone who has played Madden when the computer is in "Fuck you, you aren't winning" mode knows that computer program is unbeatable and superior to even the best NFL quarterback.)
Still, the Broncos? I don’t get it.
Other than they have a very good head coach, have an increasingly good defense, a great offensive line and won a playoff game last year with a running back at quarterback? Yeah, why would a quarterback want to join a team with any of these attributes?
He can rationalize all he wants. But at some level, there’s an element of hubris at work here.
He is an athlete. They run on hubris. Most elite athletes are told from the time they are in junior high how talented they are. A life without hubris is a life they don't recognize.
I like how Mark Kriegel states that LeBron James has hubris for going to Miami and joining up with other stars in order to win an NBA Title, and then states Peyton Manning has hubris for going to an NFL team that Mark Kriegel doesn't see as acceptable or close to winning a Super Bowl. It's all hubris. If a player chooses to become a free agency, there is an element of hubris because that player is saying he can do better away from his former teammates. If a player forgoes free agency and re-signs with his current then there is an element of hubris because he is saying there isn't another NFL team that is closer to winning a title than the one he is currently playing for.
In Mark Kriegel's world, everything has an element of hubris.
"Oh, you just passed me in the left lane. I guess you are saying your car is faster than my car. There is an element of hubris here."
"Look at that family's hubris! They are going to McDonald's while we are eating at Chili's. They think McDonald's tastes exactly like Chili's does, just at a lower price. What a bunch of egotistical assholes."
"What's that Fido? You want to chase a stick? I think you are letting hubris take control. You don't believe I can throw a stick far enough to where you couldn't find it. Go straight to Hell!" (immediately has Fido put to asleep)
It’s spectacular, really, the most admirable sort of arrogance, a Sinatra lyric come to life. Peyton Manning will do it his way, or, in terms of his football mortality, die trying.
I can't believe his ego either. Where does Manning get off CHOOSING where he should play after becoming a free agent? Who does he think he is? One of the best quarterbacks of all-time? Does Manning think he is so great that a team could go from making the playoffs for a decade with him as quarterback to only winning two games because he got injured and isn't that team's quarterback anymore? The ego on this guy, thinking he makes such a huge difference on an NFL team.
Consider LeBron James’ Decision, as it became a touchstone for fans of all sports. Much of what makes James and the Heat so unsympathetic is the idea that the most talented basketball player on the planet still had to stack the deck.
And yet, when a player doesn't stack the deck he gets criticized for not going to the "right" team that could help him win a Super Bowl more quickly. Sometimes the players can't win.
Manning is the opposite of LeBron James.
And yet, Manning gets criticized the exact same way as LeBron James got criticized. If they are opposite, then why is Mark Kriegel's reaction to each player's destination once they reach free agency the same?
At 35, coming off his fourth neck surgery, he believes in himself more than he believes in his personnel. He cares less about the roster than controlling the offense, his offense.
So it is egotistical to believe in yourself?
OK, I don’t presume to know what he’s thinking.
Other than stating you know exactly what Peyton is thinking of course when you say he cares less about the roster than controlling the offense. Other than knowing Peyton's state of mind to the point you know hubris controlled his decision to join the Broncos. Other than those two things, Mark Kriegel won't presume to know anything Manning is thinking.
But I’d kind of like to comprehend what has already become the single most significant personnel move of this or any other NFL season.
He joined a playoff team whose biggest weakness was at the quarterback position. Again, the Broncos made the playoffs, despite inexperience/ineffectiveness at the quarterback position. Manning's presence fixes the biggest issue with the Broncos roster.
The Broncos are run by a Hall of Fame quarterback who knows what it takes for an older quarterback to win a Super Bowl. The head coach for the Broncos has taken his four teams to the playoffs, including two NFC Championship Games, with Jake Delhomme as the best quarterback he has ever coached. The Broncos have a fairly young defense that improved as the season went along and have two tight ends in Dante Rosario and Virgil Green that are athletic pass catching tight ends.
The Tennessee Titans I could understand. Manning is the most Southern guy in sports. He went to school in Knoxville. His wife is from Memphis. He’s got 11-month old twins.
What does having 11-month old twins have to do with being "Southern?" Is there something in the water in Tennessee that causes a higher incidence of twins being born?
A contract for life in Tennessee? That’s basically a piece of the team. Makes sense, no?
It makes sense if you want a contract for life with the Tennessee Titans. If you don't want a contract for life with the Tennessee Titans and want to keep your options open for the future it doesn't make a lot of sense to accept this offer.
By not choosing the Titans, then, it stands to reason that he made a football decision.
Or he chose not to play for the Titans. Simply because we don't understand it doesn't mean it was a bad decision.
Who cares if Manning’s agent, Tom Condon, advised his other big client here, Alex Smith, to turn down a $24 million offer from the 49ers last week?
Not Manning. What Tom Condon advises his other clients really shouldn't be much of Peyton's concern.
What’s more, given his time served, winning is not to be confused with a division title. Winning means winning a Super Bowl. But again, that’s the strange part here.
So it's strange that Mark Kriegel's personal opinion of which teams are close to winning a Super Bowl isn't the same as Peyton Manning's opinion? If Mark Kriegel wants to talk about hubris, how about the hubris of believing your personal opinion should be so widely held to the point you criticize an athlete for making a "wrong" decision because it doesn't agree with your opinion?
Only one team among the finalists for Manning’s services seems Super Bowl ready. That would be San Francisco.
In your opinion. By stating this opinion, Mark Kriegel is ignoring other factors like a team's head coaching situation, the contract he would be offered and how much control he would have over the team's offense. Manning probably liked that he would have full control over the Broncos offense, the Broncos had a defensive-minded coach, and they have a General Manager who understands what an aging quarterback wants to be successful.
Even if the 49ers are more Super Bowl ready, they aren't necessarily a perfect fit for Manning. They have a head coach who is offensive-minded and therefore would meddle in Manning's offense to an extent. Manning probably wouldn't have the control he craves over the 49ers offense. The 49ers also play in the same division as Peyton's brother. This could have had an impact on Manning's decision. Also, the addition of Randy Moss may have been a negative in the 49ers column as opposed to a positive. Manning may not want to play with Randy Moss. We don't know. This is even assuming Manning sees the 49ers as more Super Bowl ready, which is nearly impossible to even know prior in March, when the season doesn't start for nearly six months.
More apparent is Manning’s simpatico with head coach John Fox and team president John Elway. Makes sense.
So there is your answer.
The Broncos have two promising young receivers, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker. They have Willis McGahee, coming off a wonderful, if surprising season. He’ll turn 31 in October, ancient for a running back. They have Ryan Clady at left tackle, first-team All Pro — in 2009.
I think the Broncos have an underrated offensive line. Four of the five starting linemen are 25 years old or younger. So the 49ers may have a great offensive line, but the Broncos don't have a bunch of stiffs. As far as McGahee goes, the NFL Draft is coming up, so there is a chance the Broncos will look to upgrade the running back position.
Joe Staley, the Niners’ left tackle, only made the second team, but just last year. At running back, Frank Gore is coming off his fifth 1,000 yard season, but is still only 28.
Nice attempt to deceive your readers. Kriegel mentions McGahee will be 31 in October, but puts Frank Gore's age as 28 years old...despite the fact Gore turns 29 in May 2012. Kriegel projects the age of the Broncos running back who doesn't turn 31 until AFTER the season starts, but doesn't project the age of the 49ers running back who turns 29 BEFORE the season starts. He does this to make it seem like there is a three year gap in their ages as opposed to a 17 month gap. Whatever you have to do in order to prove your point I guess.
Then there’s the receiver position. San Francisco — one score from Super Bowl XLVI — is stocked with talent: Michael Crabtree, tight end Vernon Davis and Randy Moss working on an incentive-based contract.
Randy Moss is a complete question mark. It's very possible Manning doesn't want to work with Moss. I'll give him Crabtree, Davis and even Manningham. Still, Denver has Decker and Thomas, both of whom will probably thrive with Manning throwing them the ball. I still give the edge to the 49ers, but I don't see ability as being a problem for Decker and Thomas. Yes, the 49ers look to have an advantage in the passing game, but in Denver Manning will have full control of the passing game. I'm not sure he would have had that in San Francisco.
(As I mentioned in my Reilly post a few weeks ago, I still like the Cardinals receivers with Manning throwing them the ball as compared to every other team in the running for Manning's services...except the Titans. I like their receiving corp the most with Manning as the quarterback.)
The disparity in talent is more obvious on defense. Denver’s includes Von Miller; Elvis Dumervil, who’s still coming off surgery, and Champ Bailey, who’ll be a 34-year-old cornerback when the season starts.
Dumervil was coming off surgery last year too and he had 9.5 sacks. Von Miller has All-Pro potential and was only a rookie last year. I won't suggest the Broncos defense is on par with the 49ers defense, but I think the Broncos defense improved as the season progressed.
Anyway, in what world does Manning have to justify which team he chooses to play for next year? What's wrong with not choosing to play for the "best" team? I fail to see a situation where Manning has done a disservice to the NFL and to himself by making what he perceives to be the best decision for him and his career.
There are three first team All-Pros — Patrick Willis, Navorro Bowman and Justin Smith — and two more mere Pro-Bowlers, Carlos Rogers and Dashon Goldson.
Unless, perhaps, you’re Peyton Manning. Then you try to win them yourself.
So unlike LeBron James, Peyton Manning should have chosen to team up with the best possible team in order to chase another Super Bowl ring? I'm not a LeBron James defender by any stretch of the imagination. Why should Mark Kriegel criticize Manning for not choosing the team that has the "best" chance to win a Super Bowl when he criticized LeBron for choosing the NBA team that had the "best" chance to win an NBA Title? It's that a bit contradictory.
Peyton Manning went to Denver. We have no idea at this point if it was a bad decision or not. It's where he chose to play and he shouldn't be criticized for not going to the team Mark Kriegel sees as "best" for him to go to.
I am sure Rick Reilly is happy, because he wanted Manning to go to the Broncos. Even if Reilly's analysis was a little bit off, I think Denver isn't a terrible place for Manning to be. Manning really didn't have any terrible choices, other than Miami of course. Mark Kriegel disagrees.
At the heart of each NFL franchise is a heartless machine, flawed but merciless, aspiring to completely rational prognostication.
So, so very deep.
Tim Tebow rejuvenated a franchise. The fans loved him. Sure. But they’ll get over it.
Alex Smith got the 49ers further than they had been in 14 years. Yes. So?
Well, Alex Smith got the 49ers further than they had been in 14 years, but a lot of that had to do with the 49ers excellent defense. That's probably part of the reason the 49ers were looking to upgrade at the quarterback position this offseason. This excellent defense is also the reason Mark Kriegel thought Manning should have signed with the 49ers.Neither flesh nor feeling is supposed to enter the equation. It’s a cost-benefit analysis. The question is not what you’ve done lately. It’s what will you do tomorrow?
This just in: Sports are a performance-based industry. Players are judged and evaluated on whether they perform at a high-level or not. Mount your horse and spread the word to the masses!
In that respect, as a football brain, the mind of Peyton Manning is without equal.
He's like the Albert Einstein of the NFL. Or, as Bill Simmons would say and everyone else would disagree with, Manning is the Malcolm Gladwell of the NFL.
His gift for anticipation, while imperfect, remains superior to any computer program.
Mostly because computer programs aren't often seen playing quarterback in the NFL. Or are they?
(Bengoodfella puts his laptop on a field with a football on top of it and starts running wide receiver routes. Nothing happens.)
Yep, it turns out computer programs aren't very good at anticipation and in terms of playing quarterback in the NFL, computer programs appear to be inferior to humans.
(Though anyone who has played Madden when the computer is in "Fuck you, you aren't winning" mode knows that computer program is unbeatable and superior to even the best NFL quarterback.)
Still, the Broncos? I don’t get it.
Other than they have a very good head coach, have an increasingly good defense, a great offensive line and won a playoff game last year with a running back at quarterback? Yeah, why would a quarterback want to join a team with any of these attributes?
He can rationalize all he wants. But at some level, there’s an element of hubris at work here.
He is an athlete. They run on hubris. Most elite athletes are told from the time they are in junior high how talented they are. A life without hubris is a life they don't recognize.
I like how Mark Kriegel states that LeBron James has hubris for going to Miami and joining up with other stars in order to win an NBA Title, and then states Peyton Manning has hubris for going to an NFL team that Mark Kriegel doesn't see as acceptable or close to winning a Super Bowl. It's all hubris. If a player chooses to become a free agency, there is an element of hubris because that player is saying he can do better away from his former teammates. If a player forgoes free agency and re-signs with his current then there is an element of hubris because he is saying there isn't another NFL team that is closer to winning a title than the one he is currently playing for.
In Mark Kriegel's world, everything has an element of hubris.
"Oh, you just passed me in the left lane. I guess you are saying your car is faster than my car. There is an element of hubris here."
"Look at that family's hubris! They are going to McDonald's while we are eating at Chili's. They think McDonald's tastes exactly like Chili's does, just at a lower price. What a bunch of egotistical assholes."
"What's that Fido? You want to chase a stick? I think you are letting hubris take control. You don't believe I can throw a stick far enough to where you couldn't find it. Go straight to Hell!" (immediately has Fido put to asleep)
It’s spectacular, really, the most admirable sort of arrogance, a Sinatra lyric come to life. Peyton Manning will do it his way, or, in terms of his football mortality, die trying.
I can't believe his ego either. Where does Manning get off CHOOSING where he should play after becoming a free agent? Who does he think he is? One of the best quarterbacks of all-time? Does Manning think he is so great that a team could go from making the playoffs for a decade with him as quarterback to only winning two games because he got injured and isn't that team's quarterback anymore? The ego on this guy, thinking he makes such a huge difference on an NFL team.
Consider LeBron James’ Decision, as it became a touchstone for fans of all sports. Much of what makes James and the Heat so unsympathetic is the idea that the most talented basketball player on the planet still had to stack the deck.
And yet, when a player doesn't stack the deck he gets criticized for not going to the "right" team that could help him win a Super Bowl more quickly. Sometimes the players can't win.
Manning is the opposite of LeBron James.
And yet, Manning gets criticized the exact same way as LeBron James got criticized. If they are opposite, then why is Mark Kriegel's reaction to each player's destination once they reach free agency the same?
At 35, coming off his fourth neck surgery, he believes in himself more than he believes in his personnel. He cares less about the roster than controlling the offense, his offense.
So it is egotistical to believe in yourself?
OK, I don’t presume to know what he’s thinking.
Other than stating you know exactly what Peyton is thinking of course when you say he cares less about the roster than controlling the offense. Other than knowing Peyton's state of mind to the point you know hubris controlled his decision to join the Broncos. Other than those two things, Mark Kriegel won't presume to know anything Manning is thinking.
But I’d kind of like to comprehend what has already become the single most significant personnel move of this or any other NFL season.
He joined a playoff team whose biggest weakness was at the quarterback position. Again, the Broncos made the playoffs, despite inexperience/ineffectiveness at the quarterback position. Manning's presence fixes the biggest issue with the Broncos roster.
The Broncos are run by a Hall of Fame quarterback who knows what it takes for an older quarterback to win a Super Bowl. The head coach for the Broncos has taken his four teams to the playoffs, including two NFC Championship Games, with Jake Delhomme as the best quarterback he has ever coached. The Broncos have a fairly young defense that improved as the season went along and have two tight ends in Dante Rosario and Virgil Green that are athletic pass catching tight ends.
The Tennessee Titans I could understand. Manning is the most Southern guy in sports. He went to school in Knoxville. His wife is from Memphis. He’s got 11-month old twins.
What does having 11-month old twins have to do with being "Southern?" Is there something in the water in Tennessee that causes a higher incidence of twins being born?
A contract for life in Tennessee? That’s basically a piece of the team. Makes sense, no?
It makes sense if you want a contract for life with the Tennessee Titans. If you don't want a contract for life with the Tennessee Titans and want to keep your options open for the future it doesn't make a lot of sense to accept this offer.
By not choosing the Titans, then, it stands to reason that he made a football decision.
Or he chose not to play for the Titans. Simply because we don't understand it doesn't mean it was a bad decision.
Who cares if Manning’s agent, Tom Condon, advised his other big client here, Alex Smith, to turn down a $24 million offer from the 49ers last week?
Not Manning. What Tom Condon advises his other clients really shouldn't be much of Peyton's concern.
What’s more, given his time served, winning is not to be confused with a division title. Winning means winning a Super Bowl. But again, that’s the strange part here.
So it's strange that Mark Kriegel's personal opinion of which teams are close to winning a Super Bowl isn't the same as Peyton Manning's opinion? If Mark Kriegel wants to talk about hubris, how about the hubris of believing your personal opinion should be so widely held to the point you criticize an athlete for making a "wrong" decision because it doesn't agree with your opinion?
Only one team among the finalists for Manning’s services seems Super Bowl ready. That would be San Francisco.
In your opinion. By stating this opinion, Mark Kriegel is ignoring other factors like a team's head coaching situation, the contract he would be offered and how much control he would have over the team's offense. Manning probably liked that he would have full control over the Broncos offense, the Broncos had a defensive-minded coach, and they have a General Manager who understands what an aging quarterback wants to be successful.
Even if the 49ers are more Super Bowl ready, they aren't necessarily a perfect fit for Manning. They have a head coach who is offensive-minded and therefore would meddle in Manning's offense to an extent. Manning probably wouldn't have the control he craves over the 49ers offense. The 49ers also play in the same division as Peyton's brother. This could have had an impact on Manning's decision. Also, the addition of Randy Moss may have been a negative in the 49ers column as opposed to a positive. Manning may not want to play with Randy Moss. We don't know. This is even assuming Manning sees the 49ers as more Super Bowl ready, which is nearly impossible to even know prior in March, when the season doesn't start for nearly six months.
More apparent is Manning’s simpatico with head coach John Fox and team president John Elway. Makes sense.
So there is your answer.
The Broncos have two promising young receivers, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker. They have Willis McGahee, coming off a wonderful, if surprising season. He’ll turn 31 in October, ancient for a running back. They have Ryan Clady at left tackle, first-team All Pro — in 2009.
I think the Broncos have an underrated offensive line. Four of the five starting linemen are 25 years old or younger. So the 49ers may have a great offensive line, but the Broncos don't have a bunch of stiffs. As far as McGahee goes, the NFL Draft is coming up, so there is a chance the Broncos will look to upgrade the running back position.
Joe Staley, the Niners’ left tackle, only made the second team, but just last year. At running back, Frank Gore is coming off his fifth 1,000 yard season, but is still only 28.
Nice attempt to deceive your readers. Kriegel mentions McGahee will be 31 in October, but puts Frank Gore's age as 28 years old...despite the fact Gore turns 29 in May 2012. Kriegel projects the age of the Broncos running back who doesn't turn 31 until AFTER the season starts, but doesn't project the age of the 49ers running back who turns 29 BEFORE the season starts. He does this to make it seem like there is a three year gap in their ages as opposed to a 17 month gap. Whatever you have to do in order to prove your point I guess.
Then there’s the receiver position. San Francisco — one score from Super Bowl XLVI — is stocked with talent: Michael Crabtree, tight end Vernon Davis and Randy Moss working on an incentive-based contract.
Randy Moss is a complete question mark. It's very possible Manning doesn't want to work with Moss. I'll give him Crabtree, Davis and even Manningham. Still, Denver has Decker and Thomas, both of whom will probably thrive with Manning throwing them the ball. I still give the edge to the 49ers, but I don't see ability as being a problem for Decker and Thomas. Yes, the 49ers look to have an advantage in the passing game, but in Denver Manning will have full control of the passing game. I'm not sure he would have had that in San Francisco.
(As I mentioned in my Reilly post a few weeks ago, I still like the Cardinals receivers with Manning throwing them the ball as compared to every other team in the running for Manning's services...except the Titans. I like their receiving corp the most with Manning as the quarterback.)
The disparity in talent is more obvious on defense. Denver’s includes Von Miller; Elvis Dumervil, who’s still coming off surgery, and Champ Bailey, who’ll be a 34-year-old cornerback when the season starts.
Dumervil was coming off surgery last year too and he had 9.5 sacks. Von Miller has All-Pro potential and was only a rookie last year. I won't suggest the Broncos defense is on par with the 49ers defense, but I think the Broncos defense improved as the season progressed.
Anyway, in what world does Manning have to justify which team he chooses to play for next year? What's wrong with not choosing to play for the "best" team? I fail to see a situation where Manning has done a disservice to the NFL and to himself by making what he perceives to be the best decision for him and his career.
There are three first team All-Pros — Patrick Willis, Navorro Bowman and Justin Smith — and two more mere Pro-Bowlers, Carlos Rogers and Dashon Goldson.
It’s defense that wins championships, right?
Right, that is how the saying goes. The two teams that met in the Super Bowl last year were ranked 27th and 31st in total yards given up during the 2011 season. Maybe Manning thinks the Broncos defense can win him a Super Bowl.Unless, perhaps, you’re Peyton Manning. Then you try to win them yourself.
So unlike LeBron James, Peyton Manning should have chosen to team up with the best possible team in order to chase another Super Bowl ring? I'm not a LeBron James defender by any stretch of the imagination. Why should Mark Kriegel criticize Manning for not choosing the team that has the "best" chance to win a Super Bowl when he criticized LeBron for choosing the NBA team that had the "best" chance to win an NBA Title? It's that a bit contradictory.
Peyton Manning went to Denver. We have no idea at this point if it was a bad decision or not. It's where he chose to play and he shouldn't be criticized for not going to the team Mark Kriegel sees as "best" for him to go to.
Friday, May 15, 2009
11 comments Tim Keown Hates Kobe Bryant's Face
I am not a huge hockey fan but there is a hockey team located 80 miles from where I live so I watched the Hurricanes-Bruins game last night and I must admit I was very pleased about the outcome. Sometimes when I am watching the Hurricanes I am even able to forget they used to be the Hartford Whalers. I hated that team name. For reasons unknown, I just hated it. The Hurricanes name doesn't make much more sense because Raleigh is not located in Florida and hasn't been hit by a tremendous amount of hurricanes lately but I get over it. Either way, I liked the outcome. Now I am fully prepared for a 4-1 Penguin series victory.
Back to Tim Keown and Kobe Bryant. He hates how Kobe Bryant looks when he is playing basketball. This may seem unimportant to 99% of the population, but not to Tim Keown.
The strangest moment of the NBA playoffs took place during Game 3 of the Lakers-Rockets series, when Kobe Bryant hit an 18-foot turnaround jumper from the left elbow with Shane Battier's right hand in his face.
THAT is the strangest moment of the playoffs? None of the fights between the teams have been weird, not Big Baby running over a child on the sidelines, not Mark Cuban yelling at Kenyon Martin's mom, but Kobe Bryant hitting a jump shot?
Bryant immediately began shaking his head with a look that indicated he smelled something really bad. This -- as you know -- is Kobe's dismissive face, the one he now makes after nearly every basket.
I don't think it is odd that Kobe gets super motivated to be guarded by Shane Battier who, as Michael Lewis wrote, is one of the few people that is supposed to be able to guard Kobe. I think Kobe is just being extra specially motivated, so he is not smiling, but being intense. There is nothing wrong with a player being intense. We beg Dwight Howard to be more intense.
The strange part came afterward, when he started back downcourt and turned to the TNT broadcasters at center court and yelled toward commentator Doug Collins.
"He can't guard me," Bryant said. Shaking his head, his mouth curled downward in a semicircle of disgust, he stared down Collins and said it again, "He can't guard me."
Kobe Bryant is completely ripping off Michael Jordan from the 1992 NBA Finals when he raised his arms to the announcers calling the game on NBC in reference to the fact he was red hot and he knew there was nothing the Blazers could do about it. That is considered an important and memorable moment in his career, yet when Kobe does it, it is weird.
Writing this comment by Kobe was weird, is weird.
When Harlan asked his partner what it was all about, Collins sounded genuinely perplexed. "I'm not sure," he said, and they quickly and quietly moved on.
For anyone who doesn't recall, I think it is about this article. Really as a journalist for ESPN you should be able to reference this column by Michael Lewis and be able to understand this is why Kobe is sort of taunting Battier and saying Battier can't stop him.
And that's the deal about Kobe: None of us is sure. How can a guy with that much talent play with such little joy?
Does anyone remember Michael Jordan ever playing with joy? He was insanely competitive on the practice court and during games. He berated teammates for missing open shots, for not being ready for his passes, and he practiced as hard as he played. There is a book called "The Jordan Rules" about this by Sam Smith. Kobe is the exact same way. In fact his personality is Michael Jordan incarnate, it's just Kobe has a much different public perception painted of him for some reason.
Jordan is seen as having worked hard all the time to make his teammates better, while Kobe is seen as insanely competitive who doesn't enjoy the game...yet there is not a huge difference in their faces on the court. They play the game intensely.
Larry Bird is known as one of the greatest trash talkers of all time. That's all he did on the court. Kevin McHale may still be scared of Bird's wrath. Basketball is the job of these players, some take it seriously.
Unlike LeBron, though, Kobe can't let his game speak for him. He has to accentuate everything with the facial expressions and the dismissiveness.
I'll be honest at this point. I have never noticed any bizarre faces that Kobe makes on the court, but I have noticed LeBron James' faces all the time. He has a face where he squints his face up and makes it look like he is about to take a shit, he has a large yell he does after a big dunk, and he also has numerous faces he will make after he hits a three point shot. LeBron's game speaks for itself but he also makes facial expressions.
Both Kobe and LeBron let their games speak for themselves, but part of Kobe's aura is that he wants to destroy the opponent's will, not just beat him. He takes it as a challenge. Not that LeBron doesn't. If you forced me at gunpoint to name which player made more facial expressions on the court, it would be LeBron.
Hey, Kobe, we know you're great. You know you're great. Shane Battier knows you're great. How about letting someone else say it first every once in a while?
Clearly, Tim Keown has something against Kobe Bryant. Look, Kobe Bryant is an asshole on the court and possibly off the court. Everyone knows/assumes that but part of that reason is that he is insanely competitive like many of the great players before him. It's what makes him so great. I don't think this is something we should attempt to demean.
You see, I want to be able to enjoy Kobe's talent. I want to see it the way I see LeBron's: transcendent, mostly pure and emanating outward. It probably will never happen, though. Kobe won't let it.
I will admit that Kobe is not the most enjoyable player to watch. Mostly because I feel like his game is so calculating because...it is so calculating. He knows exactly what he wants to do and when he wants to do it. It seems like it lacks the spontaneity and excitement of LeBron's game. That being said, I still enjoy watching him play sometimes because of this. Apparently Tim Keown does not.
For a guy with such a constant flow of creativity running through his game, it's amazing to see how calculated he is about his image.
Again, I don't want to accuse Tim Keown of not knowing what he is talking about, but doesn't he remember a certain event in Colorado where Kobe's image took a hit? After that I am assuming Kobe wants to take control of his image and to be able to craft it in how he wants it to be seen. Which is what every other athlete does as well. Including LeBron James. I don't see how Tim Keown doesn't know this.
Maybe it's his attempt to answer the questions of the Lakers' toughness. I don't know, but in the playoffs, his performances generally follow one of two themes: (1) He takes over the game and taunts everybody in sight, demanding that all acknowledge his greatness or (2) he steps back and intentionally doesn't take over a game, in which case his attitude seems to be, "See what they look like without me?"
I know Kobe comes off as smug a whole lot, but this is the same thing that Michael Jordan used to do. He would take over a game if he needed to, but he would also let his teammates know that they can't do too much without him. We just view Kobe differently for some reason. The reason may be his smugness on the court, but I don't think his scowl means that he is trying to show up the other team, he is just very competitive.
But here's a radical idea: Stop with the smugness and the arrogance. Play your game and let your talent speak for itself.
I don't see how Kobe is any more or less arrogant than any other superstar in the league. I really don't. Any superstar has to have a certain amount of arrogance and smugness. Kobe's game is conducive to it because he plays so smoothly but I don't see it as arrogance as much as him competing.
And if you're not going to enjoy what you bring to the court, at least give us half a chance.
Fine, he plays the game joylessly. It's a job to him. Do you want him smiling all the time when he hits a shot? Then it looks like he is still being arrogant. If he makes no reaction then everyone thinks he is being smug. If he tells the announcers no one can stop him, then he thinks he is having fun on the court but it comes off as a scowl. What kind of faces do you want Kobe to make? Maybe photoshop some faces on him and then email them to him so he can peruse them and choose the appropriate face.
I barely understood this article.
I am not going to go all the way through Bill's chat from Thursday night but I am going to pick and choose some highlights that pissed me off and put them up. That's a lot of words to write about to cover the whole thing...
Back to Tim Keown and Kobe Bryant. He hates how Kobe Bryant looks when he is playing basketball. This may seem unimportant to 99% of the population, but not to Tim Keown.
The strangest moment of the NBA playoffs took place during Game 3 of the Lakers-Rockets series, when Kobe Bryant hit an 18-foot turnaround jumper from the left elbow with Shane Battier's right hand in his face.
THAT is the strangest moment of the playoffs? None of the fights between the teams have been weird, not Big Baby running over a child on the sidelines, not Mark Cuban yelling at Kenyon Martin's mom, but Kobe Bryant hitting a jump shot?
Bryant immediately began shaking his head with a look that indicated he smelled something really bad. This -- as you know -- is Kobe's dismissive face, the one he now makes after nearly every basket.
I don't think it is odd that Kobe gets super motivated to be guarded by Shane Battier who, as Michael Lewis wrote, is one of the few people that is supposed to be able to guard Kobe. I think Kobe is just being extra specially motivated, so he is not smiling, but being intense. There is nothing wrong with a player being intense. We beg Dwight Howard to be more intense.
The strange part came afterward, when he started back downcourt and turned to the TNT broadcasters at center court and yelled toward commentator Doug Collins.
"He can't guard me," Bryant said. Shaking his head, his mouth curled downward in a semicircle of disgust, he stared down Collins and said it again, "He can't guard me."
Kobe Bryant is completely ripping off Michael Jordan from the 1992 NBA Finals when he raised his arms to the announcers calling the game on NBC in reference to the fact he was red hot and he knew there was nothing the Blazers could do about it. That is considered an important and memorable moment in his career, yet when Kobe does it, it is weird.
Writing this comment by Kobe was weird, is weird.
When Harlan asked his partner what it was all about, Collins sounded genuinely perplexed. "I'm not sure," he said, and they quickly and quietly moved on.
For anyone who doesn't recall, I think it is about this article. Really as a journalist for ESPN you should be able to reference this column by Michael Lewis and be able to understand this is why Kobe is sort of taunting Battier and saying Battier can't stop him.
And that's the deal about Kobe: None of us is sure. How can a guy with that much talent play with such little joy?
Does anyone remember Michael Jordan ever playing with joy? He was insanely competitive on the practice court and during games. He berated teammates for missing open shots, for not being ready for his passes, and he practiced as hard as he played. There is a book called "The Jordan Rules" about this by Sam Smith. Kobe is the exact same way. In fact his personality is Michael Jordan incarnate, it's just Kobe has a much different public perception painted of him for some reason.
Jordan is seen as having worked hard all the time to make his teammates better, while Kobe is seen as insanely competitive who doesn't enjoy the game...yet there is not a huge difference in their faces on the court. They play the game intensely.
Larry Bird is known as one of the greatest trash talkers of all time. That's all he did on the court. Kevin McHale may still be scared of Bird's wrath. Basketball is the job of these players, some take it seriously.
Unlike LeBron, though, Kobe can't let his game speak for him. He has to accentuate everything with the facial expressions and the dismissiveness.
I'll be honest at this point. I have never noticed any bizarre faces that Kobe makes on the court, but I have noticed LeBron James' faces all the time. He has a face where he squints his face up and makes it look like he is about to take a shit, he has a large yell he does after a big dunk, and he also has numerous faces he will make after he hits a three point shot. LeBron's game speaks for itself but he also makes facial expressions.
Both Kobe and LeBron let their games speak for themselves, but part of Kobe's aura is that he wants to destroy the opponent's will, not just beat him. He takes it as a challenge. Not that LeBron doesn't. If you forced me at gunpoint to name which player made more facial expressions on the court, it would be LeBron.
Hey, Kobe, we know you're great. You know you're great. Shane Battier knows you're great. How about letting someone else say it first every once in a while?
Clearly, Tim Keown has something against Kobe Bryant. Look, Kobe Bryant is an asshole on the court and possibly off the court. Everyone knows/assumes that but part of that reason is that he is insanely competitive like many of the great players before him. It's what makes him so great. I don't think this is something we should attempt to demean.
You see, I want to be able to enjoy Kobe's talent. I want to see it the way I see LeBron's: transcendent, mostly pure and emanating outward. It probably will never happen, though. Kobe won't let it.
I will admit that Kobe is not the most enjoyable player to watch. Mostly because I feel like his game is so calculating because...it is so calculating. He knows exactly what he wants to do and when he wants to do it. It seems like it lacks the spontaneity and excitement of LeBron's game. That being said, I still enjoy watching him play sometimes because of this. Apparently Tim Keown does not.
For a guy with such a constant flow of creativity running through his game, it's amazing to see how calculated he is about his image.
Again, I don't want to accuse Tim Keown of not knowing what he is talking about, but doesn't he remember a certain event in Colorado where Kobe's image took a hit? After that I am assuming Kobe wants to take control of his image and to be able to craft it in how he wants it to be seen. Which is what every other athlete does as well. Including LeBron James. I don't see how Tim Keown doesn't know this.
Maybe it's his attempt to answer the questions of the Lakers' toughness. I don't know, but in the playoffs, his performances generally follow one of two themes: (1) He takes over the game and taunts everybody in sight, demanding that all acknowledge his greatness or (2) he steps back and intentionally doesn't take over a game, in which case his attitude seems to be, "See what they look like without me?"
I know Kobe comes off as smug a whole lot, but this is the same thing that Michael Jordan used to do. He would take over a game if he needed to, but he would also let his teammates know that they can't do too much without him. We just view Kobe differently for some reason. The reason may be his smugness on the court, but I don't think his scowl means that he is trying to show up the other team, he is just very competitive.
But here's a radical idea: Stop with the smugness and the arrogance. Play your game and let your talent speak for itself.
I don't see how Kobe is any more or less arrogant than any other superstar in the league. I really don't. Any superstar has to have a certain amount of arrogance and smugness. Kobe's game is conducive to it because he plays so smoothly but I don't see it as arrogance as much as him competing.
And if you're not going to enjoy what you bring to the court, at least give us half a chance.
Fine, he plays the game joylessly. It's a job to him. Do you want him smiling all the time when he hits a shot? Then it looks like he is still being arrogant. If he makes no reaction then everyone thinks he is being smug. If he tells the announcers no one can stop him, then he thinks he is having fun on the court but it comes off as a scowl. What kind of faces do you want Kobe to make? Maybe photoshop some faces on him and then email them to him so he can peruse them and choose the appropriate face.
I barely understood this article.
I am not going to go all the way through Bill's chat from Thursday night but I am going to pick and choose some highlights that pissed me off and put them up. That's a lot of words to write about to cover the whole thing...
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