Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The Vault
The Vault is full and it is going to blow.
1. Okay, the sports bars were full and I had to listen to Brad Sham and Charlie Waters radio broadcast of the game. Hey Brad and Charlie are great, and I often listen to them and turn down the sound on the TV to hear them talk but I have a game to watch when I listen to them.
My beef now is with the NFL. I have heard some reports that the NFL wants cable companies to pay around the $40 million range to broadcast the NFL Network on its basic cable. If the cable company offers to pick it up on its digital package, the games will be blocked if they still don't pay. Okay if you are ESPN, I can see why you have a beef. But the NFL Network is getting in over its head. Think about it, if it were not for the games, the Network is not worth watching unless the only sport you care about is the NFL. I heard that its headline show, Total Access, kind of like the Sportscenter for the Network led off its broadcast with the Packers acquistion of a backup QB for Brett Favre. That was the lead story? The NFL better back down its deals because I am not supporting the NFL on this. I can't see the NFL happy with the 4 people in my city who watched the game. I thought it was all about ratings but let's see where this goes. The NFL figured that the cable companies would cave in once the games started but no it did not. $40 million for 8 games? Fox sports net is not worth that much.
2. The defense of the Cowboys is going to be the Achilles heel of this team. We will not win giving up the big plays that we did on Saturday. Roy Williams continues to show he is a little overrated at safety. Still a hard run stopper but awful at pass coverage. Yet he was voted into the Pro Bowl based on who he is and not what he does. Terance NEwman I feel was snubbed and should have gone to the game. But the point is now the opposing teams will attack deep and not try to run the ball on the Cowboys. We cannot win the Super Bowl this way.
3. TO spitting on a player is disgraceful. TO, no matter what they say, you cannot spit on the player, I don't care what they say. I am so sorry that they insulted your manhood and you feel you have to get even and prove you are a man by spitting, hey you are a jerk but hey you are still a man. They say this will ruin his rep but man how do you ruin something that is already bad as it is?
4. Wow. Michael Irvin actually criticized TO for the spitting incident. I guess he would have really taken some heat if he had defended TO. He has often come to the defense for most of TO's antics and criticized Bill PArcells, Drew Bledsoe and Donovon McNabb. I guess the spitting incident would have been hard to defend.
5. Cowboys play the Eagles on Christmas Day but man the Eagles concern me. It is not the feeling I had against the Giants but still it is an uneasy feeling. It will be a close game. Jeff Garcia is playing great and would love to stick it to TO.
6. I love Christmas and it is still my favorite holiday. But it is a bad sports holiday. The usual lineup for a number of years was a college football game in the Blue-Gray bowl and a NBA doubleheader. At least with two NFL matchups, this Christmas is a little better. Thanksgiving and New Years are still the best sports holidays.
7. I can't believe this. The Giants are 1-5 in their last 6 and if the season still ened today, the Giants would still be the sixth seed in the playoffs. How bad is the NFC?
8. On the other hand with 4 teams at 8-6, the AFC faces the possibility of 23 10-6 teams missing the playoffs.
9. Is there not a more disappointing team than the 6-8 Carolina Panthers?
10. It seems the same thing that plagued the Cowboys against the Saints now plagues the Saints. A team that ripped the Cowboys defense could not score more than 10 points against the lowly Redskins? MAybe the Saints have peaked already.
11. The Brawl between the Nuggets and the Knicks was another ugly example of the macho attitude that plagues the teams in todays sports. So Knicks coach Isaiah Thomas is mad that the Nuggets starters are still in the game late so warns the players not to go near the basket? If I am a coach, and I am going to be blown out or am in the process of being blown out, I am going all out and trhying to make the other team play hard, and in return, I want the other team to play hard as well. And if that means leaving the starters in, then do it. It is a 4 quarter game. Not a 3 1/2 quarter game. Play me full out and try to win and play your butt off. Don't show me the mercy rule. Maybe that is why your team Isaiah is a bunch of losers. Of course being in the Eastern Conference, I can't tell the difference.
12. Someone has suggested to me that the NBA brawls, as few as they are are highlighted more than other brawls around the league. Some say race is a factor. I have to kind of agree to a point but only to a point. I tried to remember any brawls that happened in the NFL recently and I cannot remember any. The college football brawl I remember is Miami and Florida International and I remember a big deal being made out by this. I also remember a baseball incident involving my Rangers where pitcher Frank Francisco threw a chair into the stands and was made a big deal but not as much as this one was. So maybe becasue the NBA is traditionally been know as a dominately a black players league, maybe it is a factor. The white media does not like to see this behavior and gives the league a black eye about this. When Nolan Ryan punched out Robin Ventura back in 1993, he was a hero. But if Carmelo Anthony did that now, he is a thug. Don't get me wrong. What Anthony did was wrong. He should not have punched and was given an appropriate suspension for his actions. But I feel there is a double standard with the NBA. David Stern knows his league has had an image problem the last few years and it reached the ultimate sin with the brawl at the Palace two years ago. And now he is trying to clean up the league. I also feel the Brawl 2 years ago has made the media on high alert when these kind of things have happened and they will be put under the microscope.
13. I do not know if Nuggets coach George Karl was running the score on the Knicks to get back on what they did to Larry Brown. But again, I see nothing wrong on what he did. You play a ame for 4 quarters, not three or 3 1/2. That again is why the Knicks are soft and mentally weak.
14. Jim Mora Jr. calling for his alma mater's job. Again much ado about nothing. One the job is not open. That is why he commented like this. It his alma mater. If you look at what your dream job is or doing your current job at your dream workplace, would you not say that you would love to work there. I hear people at my workplace saying, that they would love to work at such and such place or so and so place. It happens everywhere. Mora got excited about maybe coaching his old school. Had the job been open, I think maybe you might have a reason to get mad. I thing what ticked off fans and Falcons owner Arthur Blank, was what Mroa said that if his team was in a playoff run, it would not matter, he would apply. Problem is that the Falcons are in a playoff run. If he gets fired over this, it would be sad. If he gets fired over not making the playoffs, a little more justified.
15. Nothing new on the Barry Zito front. Don't know if he is coming. I mean if we have a rotation with Zito, Kevin Millwood, and Vicente Padilla in the 1-2-3 spots on the rotation, I think we could be contenders if is all about pitching. And Eric Gagne passed his physical and is our closer. I just wish we had another strong bat in the lineup.
16. Bob Knight is one win away from tying Dean Smith and two away from passing him. i have tickets to both the next two games and if he wins, will witness history in person. But if this is important, how caome there are still tickets available to a once in a lifetime moment? I had always imagined a significant college basketball record being broken at the likes of Indiana, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Syracuse or even UCLA. But not Texas Tech and in Lubbock, TX.
17. Allen iverson was traded to the Nuggets. Makes the Nuggets more favroable but I wonder if there are enough balls for both AI and Carmelo? I mean, AI and Webber could not get along, I wonder when we will here the first signs of friction with these two.
18. I hear people say that AI will get along with George Karl because he is like AIs' former coach Larry Brown. Excuse me, I don't think AI and Brown were exactly holding hands and skipping through the fields together during therir frosty relationship in Philadelphia. Expect some tension between Karl and AI.
19. Just when we bury the Colts for good and sing the Bengals flying high moments, The Colts put a big beatdown on the Bengals.
20. Lebron James is suffering fatigue and he is not 22 yet?
21. Remember when the Alabama was the premier college head coaching job? Now they still don't have a guy and probably will have to beg people to interview. Try a fellow SEC rival, Sylvester Croom at Miss. State.
22. Miss USA going into rehab. Just strip her crown. If you came name me one Miss USA from the last 25r years not named Vanessa Williams, then you can realize how overrated this award is, much like the Heisman.
23. Prince is doing the Super Bowl halftime show. Okay Prince, sing WHen Doves Cry, 1999, Let's go Crazy and end it with Purple Rain.
Vault is cleaned out finally, Merry Chrismas!
1. Okay, the sports bars were full and I had to listen to Brad Sham and Charlie Waters radio broadcast of the game. Hey Brad and Charlie are great, and I often listen to them and turn down the sound on the TV to hear them talk but I have a game to watch when I listen to them.
My beef now is with the NFL. I have heard some reports that the NFL wants cable companies to pay around the $40 million range to broadcast the NFL Network on its basic cable. If the cable company offers to pick it up on its digital package, the games will be blocked if they still don't pay. Okay if you are ESPN, I can see why you have a beef. But the NFL Network is getting in over its head. Think about it, if it were not for the games, the Network is not worth watching unless the only sport you care about is the NFL. I heard that its headline show, Total Access, kind of like the Sportscenter for the Network led off its broadcast with the Packers acquistion of a backup QB for Brett Favre. That was the lead story? The NFL better back down its deals because I am not supporting the NFL on this. I can't see the NFL happy with the 4 people in my city who watched the game. I thought it was all about ratings but let's see where this goes. The NFL figured that the cable companies would cave in once the games started but no it did not. $40 million for 8 games? Fox sports net is not worth that much.
2. The defense of the Cowboys is going to be the Achilles heel of this team. We will not win giving up the big plays that we did on Saturday. Roy Williams continues to show he is a little overrated at safety. Still a hard run stopper but awful at pass coverage. Yet he was voted into the Pro Bowl based on who he is and not what he does. Terance NEwman I feel was snubbed and should have gone to the game. But the point is now the opposing teams will attack deep and not try to run the ball on the Cowboys. We cannot win the Super Bowl this way.
3. TO spitting on a player is disgraceful. TO, no matter what they say, you cannot spit on the player, I don't care what they say. I am so sorry that they insulted your manhood and you feel you have to get even and prove you are a man by spitting, hey you are a jerk but hey you are still a man. They say this will ruin his rep but man how do you ruin something that is already bad as it is?
4. Wow. Michael Irvin actually criticized TO for the spitting incident. I guess he would have really taken some heat if he had defended TO. He has often come to the defense for most of TO's antics and criticized Bill PArcells, Drew Bledsoe and Donovon McNabb. I guess the spitting incident would have been hard to defend.
5. Cowboys play the Eagles on Christmas Day but man the Eagles concern me. It is not the feeling I had against the Giants but still it is an uneasy feeling. It will be a close game. Jeff Garcia is playing great and would love to stick it to TO.
6. I love Christmas and it is still my favorite holiday. But it is a bad sports holiday. The usual lineup for a number of years was a college football game in the Blue-Gray bowl and a NBA doubleheader. At least with two NFL matchups, this Christmas is a little better. Thanksgiving and New Years are still the best sports holidays.
7. I can't believe this. The Giants are 1-5 in their last 6 and if the season still ened today, the Giants would still be the sixth seed in the playoffs. How bad is the NFC?
8. On the other hand with 4 teams at 8-6, the AFC faces the possibility of 23 10-6 teams missing the playoffs.
9. Is there not a more disappointing team than the 6-8 Carolina Panthers?
10. It seems the same thing that plagued the Cowboys against the Saints now plagues the Saints. A team that ripped the Cowboys defense could not score more than 10 points against the lowly Redskins? MAybe the Saints have peaked already.
11. The Brawl between the Nuggets and the Knicks was another ugly example of the macho attitude that plagues the teams in todays sports. So Knicks coach Isaiah Thomas is mad that the Nuggets starters are still in the game late so warns the players not to go near the basket? If I am a coach, and I am going to be blown out or am in the process of being blown out, I am going all out and trhying to make the other team play hard, and in return, I want the other team to play hard as well. And if that means leaving the starters in, then do it. It is a 4 quarter game. Not a 3 1/2 quarter game. Play me full out and try to win and play your butt off. Don't show me the mercy rule. Maybe that is why your team Isaiah is a bunch of losers. Of course being in the Eastern Conference, I can't tell the difference.
12. Someone has suggested to me that the NBA brawls, as few as they are are highlighted more than other brawls around the league. Some say race is a factor. I have to kind of agree to a point but only to a point. I tried to remember any brawls that happened in the NFL recently and I cannot remember any. The college football brawl I remember is Miami and Florida International and I remember a big deal being made out by this. I also remember a baseball incident involving my Rangers where pitcher Frank Francisco threw a chair into the stands and was made a big deal but not as much as this one was. So maybe becasue the NBA is traditionally been know as a dominately a black players league, maybe it is a factor. The white media does not like to see this behavior and gives the league a black eye about this. When Nolan Ryan punched out Robin Ventura back in 1993, he was a hero. But if Carmelo Anthony did that now, he is a thug. Don't get me wrong. What Anthony did was wrong. He should not have punched and was given an appropriate suspension for his actions. But I feel there is a double standard with the NBA. David Stern knows his league has had an image problem the last few years and it reached the ultimate sin with the brawl at the Palace two years ago. And now he is trying to clean up the league. I also feel the Brawl 2 years ago has made the media on high alert when these kind of things have happened and they will be put under the microscope.
13. I do not know if Nuggets coach George Karl was running the score on the Knicks to get back on what they did to Larry Brown. But again, I see nothing wrong on what he did. You play a ame for 4 quarters, not three or 3 1/2. That again is why the Knicks are soft and mentally weak.
14. Jim Mora Jr. calling for his alma mater's job. Again much ado about nothing. One the job is not open. That is why he commented like this. It his alma mater. If you look at what your dream job is or doing your current job at your dream workplace, would you not say that you would love to work there. I hear people at my workplace saying, that they would love to work at such and such place or so and so place. It happens everywhere. Mora got excited about maybe coaching his old school. Had the job been open, I think maybe you might have a reason to get mad. I thing what ticked off fans and Falcons owner Arthur Blank, was what Mroa said that if his team was in a playoff run, it would not matter, he would apply. Problem is that the Falcons are in a playoff run. If he gets fired over this, it would be sad. If he gets fired over not making the playoffs, a little more justified.
15. Nothing new on the Barry Zito front. Don't know if he is coming. I mean if we have a rotation with Zito, Kevin Millwood, and Vicente Padilla in the 1-2-3 spots on the rotation, I think we could be contenders if is all about pitching. And Eric Gagne passed his physical and is our closer. I just wish we had another strong bat in the lineup.
16. Bob Knight is one win away from tying Dean Smith and two away from passing him. i have tickets to both the next two games and if he wins, will witness history in person. But if this is important, how caome there are still tickets available to a once in a lifetime moment? I had always imagined a significant college basketball record being broken at the likes of Indiana, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Syracuse or even UCLA. But not Texas Tech and in Lubbock, TX.
17. Allen iverson was traded to the Nuggets. Makes the Nuggets more favroable but I wonder if there are enough balls for both AI and Carmelo? I mean, AI and Webber could not get along, I wonder when we will here the first signs of friction with these two.
18. I hear people say that AI will get along with George Karl because he is like AIs' former coach Larry Brown. Excuse me, I don't think AI and Brown were exactly holding hands and skipping through the fields together during therir frosty relationship in Philadelphia. Expect some tension between Karl and AI.
19. Just when we bury the Colts for good and sing the Bengals flying high moments, The Colts put a big beatdown on the Bengals.
20. Lebron James is suffering fatigue and he is not 22 yet?
21. Remember when the Alabama was the premier college head coaching job? Now they still don't have a guy and probably will have to beg people to interview. Try a fellow SEC rival, Sylvester Croom at Miss. State.
22. Miss USA going into rehab. Just strip her crown. If you came name me one Miss USA from the last 25r years not named Vanessa Williams, then you can realize how overrated this award is, much like the Heisman.
23. Prince is doing the Super Bowl halftime show. Okay Prince, sing WHen Doves Cry, 1999, Let's go Crazy and end it with Purple Rain.
Vault is cleaned out finally, Merry Chrismas!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Picks
Here are my picks for Week 15:
Seattle over San Francisco
Dallas over Atlanta
Baltimore over Cleveland
Green Bay over Detroit
New England over Houston
Tennessee over JAcksonville
Miami over Buffalo
NY Jets over Minnesota
Pittsburgh over Carolina
Chicago over Tampa Bay
New Orleans over Washington
Arizona over Denver
NY Giants over Philadephia
ST Louis over OAkland
San Diego over Kansas City
Indianapolis over Cincinnati
Seattle over San Francisco
Dallas over Atlanta
Baltimore over Cleveland
Green Bay over Detroit
New England over Houston
Tennessee over JAcksonville
Miami over Buffalo
NY Jets over Minnesota
Pittsburgh over Carolina
Chicago over Tampa Bay
New Orleans over Washington
Arizona over Denver
NY Giants over Philadephia
ST Louis over OAkland
San Diego over Kansas City
Indianapolis over Cincinnati
Monday, December 11, 2006
The Vault
Let's open up the vault.
1. To quote Randy Galloway from a long time ago "Unprepared. Heartless. Clueless. Disorganized. Disgraceful. Overconfident. Outcoached. Outplayed." No better way to put the Cowboys loss to the Saints last night. Saints coach Sean Payton clearly had a plan and now the whole NFL has a blueprint on how to beat Tony Romo. You just got to keep him in the pocket so he can't move and make adjustments. I knew the Cowboys and Romo would have a bad day soon. The signs had been everywhere. I just thought it would be against the Giants. Now Romo must show that he can bounce back from a bad game where he can prove he is more of a Brett Favre or Tom Brady and not a Rex Grossman.
2. The Cowboys and Roy Williams in particular need to know that they have to tackle now and then and not always look for the big hit. Wrap up your opponent instead of trying to lay the wood on him.
3. Bill PArcells what were you thinking? Take a timeout and let the booth decide if that is an incomplete pass! You cost your team a 15 yard penalty. You cannot throw the challenge flag in under two minutes.
4. Saw the TO interview on ESPN with Michael Irvin. You know, Parcells is clearly winning the battle here. TO is an idiot. He clearly needs psychological help and bad. Anyone who throws a big Hollywood bash for their own birthday party says something about the guy. Parcells is clearly handling the situation better than any of the other coaches he has had and there is one thing TO does not have that he has on all the other teams and that is a huge support base. Most of these players will not side with Parcells on an issue with TO. That is why TO was the only one crying about Mike Vanderjagts' release. A crybaby identifies with his own.
5. Word to ESPN. Fire Michael Irvin. After that interview with Owens, it is clear to anybody that TO is a jerk and a troublemaker. Even all the other analysts on the set said so. But inspite of the obvious, Michael Irvin sides with TO and says he is having a good year. MAybe Irvin needs to stop smoking that crack he has been keeping in his car.
6. Can anybody get the QB on the Cowboys besides Demarcus Ware? There will probably be some personnel decisions made in regards to the defensive line involving Chris Canty and MArcus Spears. Canty had been involved in 2 fights during the week leading up to the Saints game.
7. The Cowboys are by no means out of the race. I am not one to rule out a team until late in the year. Teams I feel that are out of it? The Steelers, Cardinals, Raiders, Lions, Bucs, Redskins, Browns, Texans, 49ers and Packers.
8. Here are my Power Rankings for the NFL:
1. San Diego
2. Baltimore
3. Chicago
4. New Orleans
5. Indianapolis
6. New England
7. Dallas
8. Seattle
9. Cincinnati
10. Jacksonville
11. NY Jets
12. Kansas City
13. Denver
14. NY Giants
15. Philadelphia
9. We are watching probably one of the greatest players in history with Ladainian Tomlinson and his unbelievable season. He may be better than Jim Brown or Walter Payton and I know he is better than Emmitt SMith and BArry Sanders.
10. The Chargers had taken a lot of heat for trading the number 1 pick in 2001 to get Tomlinson instead of drafting Michael Vick. Gee I wonder how that turned out?
11. Tiki Barber rushed for over 10,000 yards on Sunday. 10,000 is like the 500 home runs for baseball, it used to be automatic that if you got that number that you were in the HAll of Fame. Now the numebr has kind of diminished but Barber is a HAll of Famer, first-ballot. I am not sure about Curtis MArtin buit Barber will get my vote along with Marshall Faulk.
12. I just had a feeling that Vince Young would be a deciding factor in his return to hometown Houston. A huge touchdown run in OT sealed it and made the Texans even more foolish for not taking him or Reggie Bush in the draft in favor of MArio Williams.
13. The MVP should be a tie with Drew Brees and LAdainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson for reasons I already mentioned and Brees because statiscially he is having a great season and on pace to maybe shattering some single season yard records. Plus he is doing it with a team that was in total disaray a year ago in the Saints. So co-mvps.
14. JAson Taylor defensive player of the year, Sean PAyton coach of the year, MArcus Colston Rookie of the year.
15. Coaches that may be fired or gone in the offseason?
Buffalo Dick JAuron-staying
Miami Nick Saban-depends on ALabama's offer but I feel he is staying
NY JEts ERic MAngini-staying
New England Bill BElichek-staying
Baltimore Brian Billcik-staying
Clevleland Romeo Crennel-staying
Cincinnati Marvin Lewis-staying
Pittsburgh Bill Cowhler-depends on rest of the season
Houston Gary Kubiak-staying
Indianapolis Tony Dungy-staying
Jacksonville Jack Del Rio-staying
Tennessee JEff Fisher-staying
Denver Mike Shanahan-staying
Kansas City HErman Edwards-staying
Oakland ARt Shell-staying
San Diego Marty Schottenheimer-depends if he can win a playoff game, maybe the Super Bowl
Dallas Bill PArcells-depends on how team finishes
NY Giants Tom Coughlin-depends on how season finishes
Philadelphia Andy Reid-staying
Washington Joe Gibbs-staying
Chicago Lovie Smith-staying
Detroit Ron MArineli-staying
Minnestoa Brad Childress-staying
Green Bay Mike MCCarthy-staying
Atlanta Jim Mora-depends on how team finishes reg. season
New Orleans Sean Payton-staying
Carolina John Fox-staying
Tampa Bay Jon Gruden-staying
Arizona Dennis Green-gone
St Louis Scott Lineham-staying
San Francisco Mike Nolan-staying
Seattle Mike Holmgrem-staying
Yes, after looking at all the coaching situations, only 1 is guaranteed to change for sure. Not a good year for an assistant coach or head coach looking for a job this offseason.
16. HEy how about Tom Brady yelling at his teammates after being shutout?
17. The Colts will not win the Super Bowl by giving up almost 400 yards in rushing.
18. Super Bowl Pick right now would be San Diego and New Orleans.
19. No NFL Network and now my Cowboys will be on the game for this Saturday. So what do I do? I am going to hang out at a local sports bar and hang out for about three hours which is my plan. But, I am sure that all the people in my area who have cable, which is probably most of the city will head to the most popular sports bar to try and catch the game. How early should I be there and can I hold a table for three hours? My big fear is that next year the NFL Network will not balk at the cable companies demands and may add more games to the schedule and of course, the Cowboys being AMerica's team will probably be on it again. I just cannot believe the NFL is happy with low ratings for the NFL Network games.
20. Kenny Lofton might not make me forget about Gary MAtthews Jr.
21. If Barry Zito turns down less money to go to the NY Mets, this is bad for the Rangers franchise. I mean, this means we could grossly overpay all the pitchers on the free agent market and they still do not want to come to the Metroplex. Without pitching, my Rangers have no chance.
22. I hate the BCS but I do love the 2v weeks before the BCS games because of all the football bowl games. I just love to watch football and it is the most wonderfull week of the year. Yes even the Papa Johns Bowl.
23. The Big Ten better add more games to the schedule after Thanksgiving if they want to have a shot at the BCS game.
24. Don't believe it. David Stern is actually giving in to the players. He never gives in. Always known for his hard-line stances, I am surprised he is going back to the old ball. He should have never messed around with the ball in the first place.
25. Allen Iverson is on the trading block. I do not know if I would want him on the Dallas MAvericks or San ANtonio Spurs. There is no question he plays his heart out, but because he plays his heart out, that wear and tear has cost him a few more years in the league that what he would normally play and has affected his play throughout the last few years. Plus there is the PRACTICE issue.
26. Has anyone seen Greg Oden of Ohio State? There is no way that kid is 18. I look younger than him and I am 29.
27. Monday Night Football tonight or as others have called the beginning of the Brian Griese era. IF the Bears make it to the Super Bowl, it will be uglier than the Ravens run six years ago. Grossman or Griese do not impress me. The Bears will win 20-7 and next week, we will all be talking about why Bears coach Lovie SMith sticks with Grossman and his bad play from the week before.
28. The baseball free agenst signings of Red Sox and JD Drew. I mean if Curt Schilling has to defend you before you even take the field? How bad is that? And the Royals signing Gil MEche to a mega contract? Andy Pettite returning to the Yankees? Oh boy.
29. Bengals CB Deltha O'Neal is the 8th Bengals player to be arrested, this time of drunk driving charges. Saw a headline that head coach Marvin Lewis was embarrassed over the arrests. It took you 8 arrests for you to be embarrassed MArvin? Do something coach. Either there is no discipline or the players do not listen to it.
Vault is closed, gotta go!
1. To quote Randy Galloway from a long time ago "Unprepared. Heartless. Clueless. Disorganized. Disgraceful. Overconfident. Outcoached. Outplayed." No better way to put the Cowboys loss to the Saints last night. Saints coach Sean Payton clearly had a plan and now the whole NFL has a blueprint on how to beat Tony Romo. You just got to keep him in the pocket so he can't move and make adjustments. I knew the Cowboys and Romo would have a bad day soon. The signs had been everywhere. I just thought it would be against the Giants. Now Romo must show that he can bounce back from a bad game where he can prove he is more of a Brett Favre or Tom Brady and not a Rex Grossman.
2. The Cowboys and Roy Williams in particular need to know that they have to tackle now and then and not always look for the big hit. Wrap up your opponent instead of trying to lay the wood on him.
3. Bill PArcells what were you thinking? Take a timeout and let the booth decide if that is an incomplete pass! You cost your team a 15 yard penalty. You cannot throw the challenge flag in under two minutes.
4. Saw the TO interview on ESPN with Michael Irvin. You know, Parcells is clearly winning the battle here. TO is an idiot. He clearly needs psychological help and bad. Anyone who throws a big Hollywood bash for their own birthday party says something about the guy. Parcells is clearly handling the situation better than any of the other coaches he has had and there is one thing TO does not have that he has on all the other teams and that is a huge support base. Most of these players will not side with Parcells on an issue with TO. That is why TO was the only one crying about Mike Vanderjagts' release. A crybaby identifies with his own.
5. Word to ESPN. Fire Michael Irvin. After that interview with Owens, it is clear to anybody that TO is a jerk and a troublemaker. Even all the other analysts on the set said so. But inspite of the obvious, Michael Irvin sides with TO and says he is having a good year. MAybe Irvin needs to stop smoking that crack he has been keeping in his car.
6. Can anybody get the QB on the Cowboys besides Demarcus Ware? There will probably be some personnel decisions made in regards to the defensive line involving Chris Canty and MArcus Spears. Canty had been involved in 2 fights during the week leading up to the Saints game.
7. The Cowboys are by no means out of the race. I am not one to rule out a team until late in the year. Teams I feel that are out of it? The Steelers, Cardinals, Raiders, Lions, Bucs, Redskins, Browns, Texans, 49ers and Packers.
8. Here are my Power Rankings for the NFL:
1. San Diego
2. Baltimore
3. Chicago
4. New Orleans
5. Indianapolis
6. New England
7. Dallas
8. Seattle
9. Cincinnati
10. Jacksonville
11. NY Jets
12. Kansas City
13. Denver
14. NY Giants
15. Philadelphia
9. We are watching probably one of the greatest players in history with Ladainian Tomlinson and his unbelievable season. He may be better than Jim Brown or Walter Payton and I know he is better than Emmitt SMith and BArry Sanders.
10. The Chargers had taken a lot of heat for trading the number 1 pick in 2001 to get Tomlinson instead of drafting Michael Vick. Gee I wonder how that turned out?
11. Tiki Barber rushed for over 10,000 yards on Sunday. 10,000 is like the 500 home runs for baseball, it used to be automatic that if you got that number that you were in the HAll of Fame. Now the numebr has kind of diminished but Barber is a HAll of Famer, first-ballot. I am not sure about Curtis MArtin buit Barber will get my vote along with Marshall Faulk.
12. I just had a feeling that Vince Young would be a deciding factor in his return to hometown Houston. A huge touchdown run in OT sealed it and made the Texans even more foolish for not taking him or Reggie Bush in the draft in favor of MArio Williams.
13. The MVP should be a tie with Drew Brees and LAdainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson for reasons I already mentioned and Brees because statiscially he is having a great season and on pace to maybe shattering some single season yard records. Plus he is doing it with a team that was in total disaray a year ago in the Saints. So co-mvps.
14. JAson Taylor defensive player of the year, Sean PAyton coach of the year, MArcus Colston Rookie of the year.
15. Coaches that may be fired or gone in the offseason?
Buffalo Dick JAuron-staying
Miami Nick Saban-depends on ALabama's offer but I feel he is staying
NY JEts ERic MAngini-staying
New England Bill BElichek-staying
Baltimore Brian Billcik-staying
Clevleland Romeo Crennel-staying
Cincinnati Marvin Lewis-staying
Pittsburgh Bill Cowhler-depends on rest of the season
Houston Gary Kubiak-staying
Indianapolis Tony Dungy-staying
Jacksonville Jack Del Rio-staying
Tennessee JEff Fisher-staying
Denver Mike Shanahan-staying
Kansas City HErman Edwards-staying
Oakland ARt Shell-staying
San Diego Marty Schottenheimer-depends if he can win a playoff game, maybe the Super Bowl
Dallas Bill PArcells-depends on how team finishes
NY Giants Tom Coughlin-depends on how season finishes
Philadelphia Andy Reid-staying
Washington Joe Gibbs-staying
Chicago Lovie Smith-staying
Detroit Ron MArineli-staying
Minnestoa Brad Childress-staying
Green Bay Mike MCCarthy-staying
Atlanta Jim Mora-depends on how team finishes reg. season
New Orleans Sean Payton-staying
Carolina John Fox-staying
Tampa Bay Jon Gruden-staying
Arizona Dennis Green-gone
St Louis Scott Lineham-staying
San Francisco Mike Nolan-staying
Seattle Mike Holmgrem-staying
Yes, after looking at all the coaching situations, only 1 is guaranteed to change for sure. Not a good year for an assistant coach or head coach looking for a job this offseason.
16. HEy how about Tom Brady yelling at his teammates after being shutout?
17. The Colts will not win the Super Bowl by giving up almost 400 yards in rushing.
18. Super Bowl Pick right now would be San Diego and New Orleans.
19. No NFL Network and now my Cowboys will be on the game for this Saturday. So what do I do? I am going to hang out at a local sports bar and hang out for about three hours which is my plan. But, I am sure that all the people in my area who have cable, which is probably most of the city will head to the most popular sports bar to try and catch the game. How early should I be there and can I hold a table for three hours? My big fear is that next year the NFL Network will not balk at the cable companies demands and may add more games to the schedule and of course, the Cowboys being AMerica's team will probably be on it again. I just cannot believe the NFL is happy with low ratings for the NFL Network games.
20. Kenny Lofton might not make me forget about Gary MAtthews Jr.
21. If Barry Zito turns down less money to go to the NY Mets, this is bad for the Rangers franchise. I mean, this means we could grossly overpay all the pitchers on the free agent market and they still do not want to come to the Metroplex. Without pitching, my Rangers have no chance.
22. I hate the BCS but I do love the 2v weeks before the BCS games because of all the football bowl games. I just love to watch football and it is the most wonderfull week of the year. Yes even the Papa Johns Bowl.
23. The Big Ten better add more games to the schedule after Thanksgiving if they want to have a shot at the BCS game.
24. Don't believe it. David Stern is actually giving in to the players. He never gives in. Always known for his hard-line stances, I am surprised he is going back to the old ball. He should have never messed around with the ball in the first place.
25. Allen Iverson is on the trading block. I do not know if I would want him on the Dallas MAvericks or San ANtonio Spurs. There is no question he plays his heart out, but because he plays his heart out, that wear and tear has cost him a few more years in the league that what he would normally play and has affected his play throughout the last few years. Plus there is the PRACTICE issue.
26. Has anyone seen Greg Oden of Ohio State? There is no way that kid is 18. I look younger than him and I am 29.
27. Monday Night Football tonight or as others have called the beginning of the Brian Griese era. IF the Bears make it to the Super Bowl, it will be uglier than the Ravens run six years ago. Grossman or Griese do not impress me. The Bears will win 20-7 and next week, we will all be talking about why Bears coach Lovie SMith sticks with Grossman and his bad play from the week before.
28. The baseball free agenst signings of Red Sox and JD Drew. I mean if Curt Schilling has to defend you before you even take the field? How bad is that? And the Royals signing Gil MEche to a mega contract? Andy Pettite returning to the Yankees? Oh boy.
29. Bengals CB Deltha O'Neal is the 8th Bengals player to be arrested, this time of drunk driving charges. Saw a headline that head coach Marvin Lewis was embarrassed over the arrests. It took you 8 arrests for you to be embarrassed MArvin? Do something coach. Either there is no discipline or the players do not listen to it.
Vault is closed, gotta go!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Picks
Here are my picks:
Pittsburgh over Cleveland
Atlanta over Tampa Bay
Baltimore over Kansas City
Indianapolis over Jacksonville
Minnesota over Detroit
New England over Miami
NY Giants over Carolina
Cincinnati over Oakland
Philadelphia over Washington
Tennessee over Houston
San Francisco over Green Bay
Seattle over ARizona
NY Jets over Buffalo
San Diego over Denver
Dallas over New Orleans
Chicago over St Louis
Pittsburgh over Cleveland
Atlanta over Tampa Bay
Baltimore over Kansas City
Indianapolis over Jacksonville
Minnesota over Detroit
New England over Miami
NY Giants over Carolina
Cincinnati over Oakland
Philadelphia over Washington
Tennessee over Houston
San Francisco over Green Bay
Seattle over ARizona
NY Jets over Buffalo
San Diego over Denver
Dallas over New Orleans
Chicago over St Louis
Monday, December 04, 2006
The Vault
The vault is open. Lets see what is inside:
1. Told you it would be close. This game scared me. I knew the Giants would be coming in with a chip on their shoulder and it showed with all the emotion yesterday. 4 personal foul penalties. I wondered what Tony Romo would respond to adversity and he did well, considering he did not play well for most of the game. I knew it was bound to happen. Romo came in handy and nailed the game in the final minutes something that magicians like Elway and Montana did often. i know it is too early to annoint him like Bill Parcells says but that was a great final drive.
2. Be honest Cowboy fans. Did you not think why did we not keep Mike Vanderjagt after that botched field goal try early in the game by Martin Gramatica? I was. But he quickly rebound and mad 3 field goals including the game winner.
3. No way in hell huh Jeremy Shockey?
4. You know, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman talk too much during the telecast and I had to put the game on mute for a while and just watch.
5. The Giants have issues. 4 personal foul penalties and 9 penalties all together. Tom Coughlin is usually a very dicipline-oriented coach coming from the Bill Parcells tree of coaching. But look at his emotion on the sideline. How can a team show discipline when he can't show discipline with his emotions? Bill Parcells has some restarint at least.
6. The Cowboys should seriously consider giving more carries to Marion Barber rather than Julius Jones. Barber has just that gift that seems to get through the barricade of players blocking the end zone. I sometimes have felt that the reason he is so good is because of that workload, not carrying as much has caused his production to increase, but I would like to see how far he can go.
7. The Broncos might want to reconsider putting Jake Plummer back in at QB. Jay Cutler made decisions last night that make Jake Plummer look like Joe Montana.
8. I wonder what Merril Hoge is thinking about his thoughts on Vince Young. Hoge has said regularly that he is not impressed with Youngs play and did not even think that Young should have been drafted in the first day much less the first round. Now Young is starting to do well and with not a lot of talent around him. I still don't know the name of his receivers.
9. The Jets are a sellper team in the upcoming weeks. The final four teams they play having losing records in Miami, Oakland, Minnesota and Buffalo. They could easily be 11-5. Eric MAngini is looking like Bill Bellichek Jr.
10. Bengals player Reggie McNeal was arrested for trying to enter a night club after it was closed in Houston. Someone better sit down with Marvin Lewis and get this team straightend out. I don't know if they can afford another arrest.
11. The Colts are not really convincing to me as a Super Bowl contender and I feel the real contenders are the San Diego Chargers. If the Super Bowl were to be tomorrow, I would pick Dallas-San Diego.
12. Rex Grossman had a QB rating of 1.3 yesterday in a win. First I don't know how they figure out the QB rating but don't you get a QB rating for a pass attempt? I still don't think Griese is the answer but the Bears need to simplify their offensive schemes and quit trying to make all these big plays and let Grossman get back to basics.
13. No NFL Network yet, probably never will.
14. BCS. Well it came, it saw, and it pissed a lot of people off. The BCS did not get it wrong. It did exactly what the human polls did. For some reason, the voters did not want to see a Michigan-Ohio State rematch and tried to vote another team No. 2. In this case Florida. Also it was evident last week that USC was voted No.2 as well. I think a rematch would have been fine. I am not sold entirely on Ohio State-Florida match, at leat not as much as Michigan-Ohio State or Ohio State-USC. So I do not know why the pollsters were so intent on getting a different team to play. Well it was a pretty bad BCS mess. But I love it. When USC lost, I was just like yes, the BCS is messed up again. Maybe a playoff will come of it. No probably not. This is the only sport where they vote on who gets to go to the title game. Can you imagine in baseball if that was the case? The Yankees would always go. If the entire regular season is a playoff, than it is sure messed up. A 8 or 16 team playoff will not make the regular season less of a factor. There are no guarantees whow will go to theplayoffs and if you want a higher seeding, you have to play to win. So don't tell me that Ohio State or Michigan would rest all their players instead of playing a fierce game. I think they would have had their hearts more into that game than they will for USC.
15. People are giving a lot of heat on Urban Meyer for his campaigning to get Florida into the BCS title game. I have no problem with what he did. He had to. I don't like the BCS system but it is the system that has to be used and in order to get what a team wants, you have to do whatever you can. I tell you who Michigan fans should be mad at, that is Lloyd Carr. Carr should have done what Meyre was doing and start campaigning for his team. MAybe instead of listening to Meyer put down the Big Ten and the teams in the conference, he could have poked some jabs at Florida's margins of victories over its opponents. Meyer knew that this would be the only way the Gators could go to the BCS title game. Is it fair? No, but you got to do what you got to do. That is why Steve Spurrier always ran up the score when he coached the Gators, to impress the voters.
16. The SEC teams can now stop whining about how their conference always get subbed and now can see they got in the game when Auburn got jilted back two years ago. Don't say the system is not good for the SEC any more guys.
17 . The list of Bowls is ridiuclous. The Papa Johns bowl? Please.
18. A report has said the Rangers offered 6 years $102 million to Athletics pitcher Barry Zito. Whoa. I know he has won the Cy Young and is a left handed starter which benefits the Ballpark in Arlington. But he is a fly ball pitcher, not good for the Ballpark and he benefited from playing in Oakland, a pitcher friendly ballpark. Better hope this is not a Chan Ho Park mistake or worse, a A-Rod mistake.
19. Same report also says that the Rangers will offer Vicente PAdilla a contract of 3 years in teh $30-$33 million dollar price range. For some reason or another, Padilla loves to pitch in the heat, and there is no better place for heat than the Ballpark. Plus, he was probably overall our best pitcher last year. I say go for it, at least we know how he responds to the conditions in the Metroplex.
20. I never have seen so much hype over a freshamn player like Greg Oden for Ohio State. Since when was he annoited the next Lebron James?
21. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said thanks but no thanks to the Miami FL head coaching job. Good. Don't make the same mistake Colorado coach Dan Hawkins made when he left Boise State.
22. I am rooting for Boise State to beat Oklahoma.
23. Dwaye Wade was named SI's Sportsman of the year. No problem with that.
24. Troy Smith for HEisman still.
25. I have no problem with Jim Tressel abstaining from voting in this poll. I mean, he would have made one team mad and they are probably still mad at him but, what could he do? His motives for voting for a certain team would have been questioned, I know I would have. But something needs to be done so these coaches are not afraid to vote for somebody in the polls.
26. Barry Bonds was not offered arbitration by the Giants. Ireally thought the Giants would offer, so I would be shocked if there are any takers.
The vault is empty, I am leaving.
1. Told you it would be close. This game scared me. I knew the Giants would be coming in with a chip on their shoulder and it showed with all the emotion yesterday. 4 personal foul penalties. I wondered what Tony Romo would respond to adversity and he did well, considering he did not play well for most of the game. I knew it was bound to happen. Romo came in handy and nailed the game in the final minutes something that magicians like Elway and Montana did often. i know it is too early to annoint him like Bill Parcells says but that was a great final drive.
2. Be honest Cowboy fans. Did you not think why did we not keep Mike Vanderjagt after that botched field goal try early in the game by Martin Gramatica? I was. But he quickly rebound and mad 3 field goals including the game winner.
3. No way in hell huh Jeremy Shockey?
4. You know, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman talk too much during the telecast and I had to put the game on mute for a while and just watch.
5. The Giants have issues. 4 personal foul penalties and 9 penalties all together. Tom Coughlin is usually a very dicipline-oriented coach coming from the Bill Parcells tree of coaching. But look at his emotion on the sideline. How can a team show discipline when he can't show discipline with his emotions? Bill Parcells has some restarint at least.
6. The Cowboys should seriously consider giving more carries to Marion Barber rather than Julius Jones. Barber has just that gift that seems to get through the barricade of players blocking the end zone. I sometimes have felt that the reason he is so good is because of that workload, not carrying as much has caused his production to increase, but I would like to see how far he can go.
7. The Broncos might want to reconsider putting Jake Plummer back in at QB. Jay Cutler made decisions last night that make Jake Plummer look like Joe Montana.
8. I wonder what Merril Hoge is thinking about his thoughts on Vince Young. Hoge has said regularly that he is not impressed with Youngs play and did not even think that Young should have been drafted in the first day much less the first round. Now Young is starting to do well and with not a lot of talent around him. I still don't know the name of his receivers.
9. The Jets are a sellper team in the upcoming weeks. The final four teams they play having losing records in Miami, Oakland, Minnesota and Buffalo. They could easily be 11-5. Eric MAngini is looking like Bill Bellichek Jr.
10. Bengals player Reggie McNeal was arrested for trying to enter a night club after it was closed in Houston. Someone better sit down with Marvin Lewis and get this team straightend out. I don't know if they can afford another arrest.
11. The Colts are not really convincing to me as a Super Bowl contender and I feel the real contenders are the San Diego Chargers. If the Super Bowl were to be tomorrow, I would pick Dallas-San Diego.
12. Rex Grossman had a QB rating of 1.3 yesterday in a win. First I don't know how they figure out the QB rating but don't you get a QB rating for a pass attempt? I still don't think Griese is the answer but the Bears need to simplify their offensive schemes and quit trying to make all these big plays and let Grossman get back to basics.
13. No NFL Network yet, probably never will.
14. BCS. Well it came, it saw, and it pissed a lot of people off. The BCS did not get it wrong. It did exactly what the human polls did. For some reason, the voters did not want to see a Michigan-Ohio State rematch and tried to vote another team No. 2. In this case Florida. Also it was evident last week that USC was voted No.2 as well. I think a rematch would have been fine. I am not sold entirely on Ohio State-Florida match, at leat not as much as Michigan-Ohio State or Ohio State-USC. So I do not know why the pollsters were so intent on getting a different team to play. Well it was a pretty bad BCS mess. But I love it. When USC lost, I was just like yes, the BCS is messed up again. Maybe a playoff will come of it. No probably not. This is the only sport where they vote on who gets to go to the title game. Can you imagine in baseball if that was the case? The Yankees would always go. If the entire regular season is a playoff, than it is sure messed up. A 8 or 16 team playoff will not make the regular season less of a factor. There are no guarantees whow will go to theplayoffs and if you want a higher seeding, you have to play to win. So don't tell me that Ohio State or Michigan would rest all their players instead of playing a fierce game. I think they would have had their hearts more into that game than they will for USC.
15. People are giving a lot of heat on Urban Meyer for his campaigning to get Florida into the BCS title game. I have no problem with what he did. He had to. I don't like the BCS system but it is the system that has to be used and in order to get what a team wants, you have to do whatever you can. I tell you who Michigan fans should be mad at, that is Lloyd Carr. Carr should have done what Meyre was doing and start campaigning for his team. MAybe instead of listening to Meyer put down the Big Ten and the teams in the conference, he could have poked some jabs at Florida's margins of victories over its opponents. Meyer knew that this would be the only way the Gators could go to the BCS title game. Is it fair? No, but you got to do what you got to do. That is why Steve Spurrier always ran up the score when he coached the Gators, to impress the voters.
16. The SEC teams can now stop whining about how their conference always get subbed and now can see they got in the game when Auburn got jilted back two years ago. Don't say the system is not good for the SEC any more guys.
17 . The list of Bowls is ridiuclous. The Papa Johns bowl? Please.
18. A report has said the Rangers offered 6 years $102 million to Athletics pitcher Barry Zito. Whoa. I know he has won the Cy Young and is a left handed starter which benefits the Ballpark in Arlington. But he is a fly ball pitcher, not good for the Ballpark and he benefited from playing in Oakland, a pitcher friendly ballpark. Better hope this is not a Chan Ho Park mistake or worse, a A-Rod mistake.
19. Same report also says that the Rangers will offer Vicente PAdilla a contract of 3 years in teh $30-$33 million dollar price range. For some reason or another, Padilla loves to pitch in the heat, and there is no better place for heat than the Ballpark. Plus, he was probably overall our best pitcher last year. I say go for it, at least we know how he responds to the conditions in the Metroplex.
20. I never have seen so much hype over a freshamn player like Greg Oden for Ohio State. Since when was he annoited the next Lebron James?
21. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said thanks but no thanks to the Miami FL head coaching job. Good. Don't make the same mistake Colorado coach Dan Hawkins made when he left Boise State.
22. I am rooting for Boise State to beat Oklahoma.
23. Dwaye Wade was named SI's Sportsman of the year. No problem with that.
24. Troy Smith for HEisman still.
25. I have no problem with Jim Tressel abstaining from voting in this poll. I mean, he would have made one team mad and they are probably still mad at him but, what could he do? His motives for voting for a certain team would have been questioned, I know I would have. But something needs to be done so these coaches are not afraid to vote for somebody in the polls.
26. Barry Bonds was not offered arbitration by the Giants. Ireally thought the Giants would offer, so I would be shocked if there are any takers.
The vault is empty, I am leaving.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Picks
Here are my picks for the weekend:
New Orleans over San Francisco
St Louis over Arizona
Atlanta over Washington
Indianapolis over Tennessee
Kansas City over Cleveland
Chicago over Minnesota
NY Jets over Green Bay
San Diego over Buffalo
Houston over Oakland
Miami over Jacksonville
Dallas over NY Giants
Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay
Seattle over Denver
Carolina over Philadelphia
New Orleans over San Francisco
St Louis over Arizona
Atlanta over Washington
Indianapolis over Tennessee
Kansas City over Cleveland
Chicago over Minnesota
NY Jets over Green Bay
San Diego over Buffalo
Houston over Oakland
Miami over Jacksonville
Dallas over NY Giants
Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay
Seattle over Denver
Carolina over Philadelphia
