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Title: My 2 Cents Archives December 1-15, 2009
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Blog Entry: DECEMBER 14-16, 2009 CARDINAL SIN How can you go to the Super Bowl last year, be in a weak division with the Rams, Seattle and the 49ers. And play this bad of a game against your divisional opponent on Monday Night Football? 6 turnovers, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! The Cardinals were not ready to play from the first drive, they had 3 off sides penalties IN A ROW on the opening drive of the game. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! Please someone explain to me how do you thoroughly defeat the Vikings and come out and have almost as many turnovers as points against the Niners? HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? I don’t even want to pull up the stats for this game, just trust me it was ugly. Why did Warner only throw to Fitzgerald? Even if the guy is double covered he was still forcing the ball to Larry Fitzgerald. Boldin is pretty good and even though he caught 5 passes it seems like he was not involved in the offense. Arizona really had a let down, after a great win last week the Cardinals could not get up for a Monday Night game. Come on, WHAT IS THAT?! As far as San Francisco goes, Alex Smith is just so inconsistent. The name Alexander means protector of the people, a defender of men, but not of footballs that’s why he threw 2 interceptions. For every one good, accurate pass Smith will throw three terrible ones. And this is after throwing for 310 yards last week, Smith must improve. DECEMBER 14, 2009 NFL THOUGHTS The Saints are 13 and 0. They are sure making things interesting the past 2 weeks. An overtime win in D.C. and yesterday an inexplicable fake of a game winning field goal that did not result in a first down and thus gave the ball to Atlanta with over 2 minutes to go and only up by 3. Chris Redman was so inaccurate on the drive otherwise they may have had a chance to win. New Orleans is playing it close but they do not have home field yet, it’s between them and Minnesota. Maybe it should not matter, a dome is a dome is a dome. Minnesota beat Cincinnati . I wrote that the Bengals will need more offense if they want to go far in the playoffs. In the Bengals’ defense they did play a team that is playing extremely well at home. This was an average effort for Favre, only 192 yards passing, one INT, maybe he‘s wearing down. “85“ is having an average year with 62 rec, thus far. Where you at 85? Dallas is done, this team is not focused and not hungry. The Titans win big with Chris Johnson playing like an MVP. Johnson has 1509 yards and is averaging 6.2 ypc. Brees, Favre and Payton Manning are having MVP type years but Johnson is off the charts in the rushing category. Brees has over 30 tds and that’s already a fantastic year, oh, and he hasn’t lost. Washington won but they beat the Raiders so it should not really count. However, Brian Orakpo is ridiculous good, the guy has 11 sacks in 13 games as a rookie. Orakpo is one of the few bright spots on this team. The Colts are undefeated. Indianapolis beat the Broncos despite a record setting performance by Marshall, 21 receptions in a single game. Indy did this before some years ago they went 14 and 2 then lost, at home in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Steelers. I’m just writing that it’s hard for me to trust these Colts. Philadelphia beat the Giants without a defense. I wrote that Philly would win the East but they’re going nowhere once they do. The passing of Jim Johnson is really hurting this defense. They’re simply not as good. The worst is the tackling, I have not see the Eagles tackle this poorly ever. What has happened to the Giants? They got on a great run and won the Lombardi Trophy 2 years ago, since then, NOTHING! Green Bay, my Super Bowl pick, is winning despite the fact that Rodgers did not throw a TD pass. Now I know they beat a terrible Chicago team but it was a divisional game, on the road. The Packers’ defense is stifling but is vulnerable to the pass. The Pack will need a better offensive output to win in the playoffs. DECEMBER 12-13, 2009 GREAT CAREER MOVE Woods the philanderer will be just fine, I’ll argue that he’ll be even better off financially in the future. There is nothing like controversy to make ones popularity shoot through the roof. Always Be Closing Nice guys finish last. As the great Alec Baldwin said in Glengarry Glen Ross, “Nice guy, I don’t give a shit. Good father, f*&# you, go home and play with your kids. You want to work here, CLOSE” Tiger certainly did CLOSE, over and over and over again. Now that Woods has been found out he is even more popular and that will translate into bigger bucks down the road. A brilliant move was to take off from golf “INDEFINITELY.” People will be starving to see this man appear in a tournament, everyone will be asking how will this affect him? This running around with a dozen women and then disappearing from the public eye will create such curiosity that the next tournament Woods shows up at aught to be in the desert. There will be so much media, so many fans and just casual observers that an ordinary golf course will not be able to accommodate the crowds. In turn the corporate sponsorship should be huge, If you are a corporation you can’t pass up such an opportunity. You advertise where the people are and boy will there be people at almost every event Woods appears at for quite some time to come. And so the rich get richer. DECEMBER 11, 2009 THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTESS, ANOTHER VOLS-ALATION. Lane Kiffin may have Tennessee on NCAA probation faster than in any championship games. The NCAA is investigating the school for using “HOSTESSES” women and men, but mostly women, to recruit athletes. The violation is that they were doing it off campus. You just have to love Lane he will bend any rule, break any law and do what ever he has to to win. College coaching is about recruiting and Lane will have to get more personally involved in his work if he wants to succeed in the college game. Ever school uses “hostesses”, “campus guides”, “call girls” what ever you wish to call them to lure potential athletes to their school but there are certain unwritten rules that one has to abide by. Don’t go doing that stuff in another school’s back yard. These hostesses were in South Carolina, that’s a long way from Tennessee. You can’t be off campus to HOST and South Carolina the state is way off of the University of Tennessee’s campus. It’s good too see effort from your coach just as you see from your players but you have to understand your environment. This here is the deep south and football means a whole lot to these folks. In addition these schools are ultra competitive and territorial so you have to watch yourself. Maybe Lane will learn that. For Tennessee’s sake hope he does it soon. DECEMBER 8-10, 2009 THE WEEKEND RECAP Florida, WHAT HAPPENED? Man did they make me look foolish. Never did I think that they would get run over as they did, play after play after play. I tip my hat to Alabama, all season they looked like they were due for a loss but they found a way to win to get to the SEC Championship Game. In the championship game, however, they were dominant. They actually looked like the team with a balanced offense, McElroy looked like the Heisman candidate not Tebow. That Florida defense was no where to be found just incredible how poorly they played. Knowing they had to stop Ingram they allowed him to rush for 189 yds. WHAT! Texas was disappointing in their “LUCKY” win. Nebraska is not bad defensively they did expose the Longhorns’ lack of offense. The Black Shirts caused 5 turnovers against Oklahoma to win that game. Everyone knows it McCoy and Shipley and a little Newton. Texas looked terrible how are they going to score against Alabama with the best defense in the nation that has now found an offense to go with that defense. They could not possibly score more points against Alabama. But I have been writing and saying that Alabama is overrated and maybe just maybe Texas finds a way to score more points. The Fiesta Bowl matchup is a sham just like the BCS is a sham. I would have much rather seen Boise State against Cincinnati and TCU against Alabama. At least TCU against Florida, give me something intriguing. As it stands right now the Rose bowl is the most intriguing matchup of offense versus defense. I like that defensive minded Pacific Life Holiday Bowl between Arizona and Nebraska. Saints win in OT. New Orleans beat the Redskins after the Redskins really outplayed the Saints for 58 minutes but unfortunately for Washington there are 60 minutes in a ball game. Washington had a monumental collapse in the last 2 minutes to eventually lose the game. The kicker missed a 23 yard FG, and this guy has not been waived yet. That is why some teams only have 3 wins. The Green Bay Packers are quietly playing good football. The offensive line which was just awful earlier in the year is really coming together, the 3-4 defense has 2 rookies on it and it has taken some time but this group has come together along with some veterans like Charles Woodson and is putting a lot of pressure on apposing QBs. Watch for the Pack they can sneak up somebody come playoff time. DECEMBER 5-7, 2009 WATCH THIS! Florida @ Alabama (Atlanta) As I have been writing all year, I have not seen a better defense than Florida and I think Alabama is overrated. Although the Tide put a nice quarter of offense together last week against Auburn, one quarter does not an offense make. Florida will miss Dunlap, the idiot was driving drunk, but they have a great scheme and should be good to force a pick or two. Alabama has no offense other than Ingram and Jones but most importantly they have no one else to turn to if those guys are shut down. Florida by 9. Texas @ Nebraska (Arlington Texas) The Longhorns did well, I picked Oklahoma but too many injuries and the loss of Bradford derailed the Sooner’s chances. Texas, however, behind McCoy has been very good, but not great. Never the less they will win the BIG 12. I picked Nebraska in the North and they won by default. The Cornhuskers’ D will not look as good against this Texas offense as they did against the rest of the teams in the North. Some say Texas is not as good on offense if you stop Shipley but they have offense to go to someone else if that happens. That‘s why it‘s Texas by 9. George Tech @ Clemson (Tampa) Georgia Tech ran all over the ACC and Clemson came on late with C.J. Spiller. Both teams looked terrible last week neither had any intensity, maybe they were saving it for Tampa. This will be the closest game of the day. Can pick them both, no. I think Clemson will be better than they were in their first meeting and Spiller has to come up big as he has all year in big games. But the Yellow Jackets are so potent on offense they may keep the ball for so long that Spiller may not be on the field long enough to make an impact so he will have to do it on special teams. That is why I like Georgia Tech by 6. Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh By losing to West Virginia last week Pitt has made this a far less interesting game. But Cincinnati wants to stay undefeated in case the unthinkable happens and Texas loses. The Big East is wrapped up but the National Championship is still out there in the land of possibility. Cincy has so much offense they can give some away. Maybe they can give some to the Panthers, they can use some offense. Cincinnati by 10. DECEMBER 3-4, 2009 BACK TO PRACTICE Allen Iverson didn’t want to practice, his attitude was always in questions, his desire always in flux and now AI has come full circle to his original team to make one last chance to make that first impression. All athletes will tell you they want to win but how hard they are willing to work is another issue. There is an old saying, “50% OF SPORTS IS 90% MENTAL,” well let me write that the other 50% is work ethic. The “I” in AI stands for INDIVIDUAL, Iverson was the consummate “individual” player. To this day he is still crying about being the starter, never have I heard from this man that he is willing to do what ever it takes to win a championship only that he wants to start. It takes a lot of hard work to be great, it takes even more to be a champion and Iverson never cared about being either one. A natural athlete who got by on his skills but never took the extra steps to become the elite player that he could have become. Iverson never made his teams better like all the great players do. Michael Jordan would lift weights before games, that’s on game day, I never heard of players lifting weights on game day. I remember watching Isiah Thomas play in the late 80’s and early 90’s. At 6 feet Thomas was the only player I saw who could take over a game and early in his career Iverson was the same way but he faded and found other things more important, his focus shifted and now his career is over. Iverson cared more about the stardom and the money. It was said many times how Michael Jordan’s salary on the court was so much less and incomparable to his endorsement deals off the court, Jordan got his money later in his career but he knew that he would always be compensated so his focus on winning was never misplaced. That is why Iverson will pretty much be remembered not for his play but for those famous words, “WE’RE TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE!" DECEMBER 1-2, 2009 FIVE YEARS OF FUTILITY Why do some coaches get a long time to rebuild programs and others don’t? Why would a school as rich in tradition as Notre Dame with a middle name “FOOTBALL” be starting yet another search for its fourth coach in thirteen years? It is precisely because of its rich tradition and because this particular school’s full name is Notre Football Dame that it will yet again attempt to find a coach who can bring it back to prominence for its success is imminent. When all you are know for is your famed coaches, your star players, when films have been made about you and when you are the only school in country that has its own television contract, you will not be generous with the time you allow a coach to bring you back to that position of supremacy where you know you belong. You see it should never take too long to rebuild at Notre Dame, it’s what they do there, they play football. What a luxury it must be to recruit players and be able to tell them that they are guaranteed 5 nationally televised games a season. The thing is that this is not some program that has been down and out, like Rutgers for instance. If Rutgers does not give the coach 7-10 years to establish himself to build a grass roots program and reconnect with the community that would be unfair. For a team like Rutgers there is very little history or tradition so it’s not a rebuild, it’s an all out BUILDING of the program. But with the Irish there is no down and out, there is no reconnecting with the community there is only the continuous maintenance of success. Everything is always in place in South Bend there is always plenty of money which is tremendously important. Great programs turn around in a hurry, just look at Oklahoma with Stoops, USC with Carroll, and Alabama with Saban. Notre Dame is one good coach away from being back on top, who it will be, however, is different issue.