Tuesday Ramblings

Went to a great Stephen Kellogg concert this past weekend. Despite having some issues with his guitars early in the show, he put on a hell of a show. It was his birthday, his parents and wife were in the audience, and he was taping the show for a CD and DVD, which all combined to create a high energy show where he showed his passion for his music, playing for almost 2 hours. Dressed like Tom Petty and sporting a shaggy beard that somehow works for him, he jumped and played guitar all over the stage keeping the crowd dancing and singing along. I also highly recommend for his newest CD “The Bear” which came out a couple months ago. The concert was a great mix of his new songs, his older songs, and some jam sessions showing off the considerable talents of his band, The Sixers.

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Wait, Steven Seagal has been a cop for the past 20 years? Really? I thought he was just a bad-acting, martial arts guy who had dramatic lines like “Whoa. Shut the music off.” when he comes across a drugged out, topless Erica Eleniak jumping out of a cake on a cruise ship in Under Siege (yeah, I just dated myself a little, but it was one of those great HBO moments growing up). But I guess he ate his former actor self and now A&E is following him around as he corrects all the wrongs on the means streets of Jefferson Parrish, Louisiana. It’s basically “Cops” starring Steven Seagal, which sounds like a skit from Saturday Night Live.


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A dominating performance last night by the Saints in New Orleans, as the Saints really took it to the Pats. While it would have been unlikely, didn’t it seem strange that Bill Belichick threw in the towel with five and a half minutes left, down by 3 touchdowns? I also think he again showed he has no confidence in his defense to stop a good offense (similar to in Indy) by going for it on 4th down 3 more times. But all that being said, the story should be the Saints, and how much faster, quicker, and well-prepared they looked on the big stage with the big lights against a big time team. The Saints and Colts are rolling through the league and playing “can you top this” like Justin Timberlake and John Mayer with the hottest chicks in Hollywood.


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So they finally cut Charlie Weis off from the all-you-can-eat buffet at Notre Dame. You have to feel for him a little bit, as he was a student at the university and obviously coaching there had to have been a dream come true for him, only to have it fail miserably. Now the rumor mill gets going and all the coaches will give out their Nick Saban line “I am not going to Notre Dame” until the huge contract is placed in front of them, and then they suddenly show up wearing the leprechaun costume.

The latest is Bob Stoops of Oklahoma, who is supposedly at the top of Golden Dome list. While he earned the nickname “Big Game Bob” early in his career, he has lost 5 straight BCS bowl games, laying some bad eggs along the way. Then again, he has gotten to a BCS bowl in 5 of the last 6 years, which would be an enormous improvement from what Notre Dame has done recently.


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Looks like Bobby Bowden is going to retire this morning. I guess they decided against making a sequel to Weekend at Bernie’s. The guy is a legend and led a Florida State program that was among the best in all of college football for a solid 20+ years. It’s kind of a shame the way he had to take a nudge to get out, but at least he saved himself a little bit of his dignity by not being fired. Tip of that dopey straw hat to you, Bobby, and there are likely a few tears behind those Oakley shades.

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And how do you think the mood was in the locker room after this game? Hockey player accidentally whacks his own goalie in the head when trying to hit the goal in frustration. Wow.

The Demise of the Answer & Bobby Bowden is Bernie

Before getting to today’s post, we need to take a moment of silence. It’s been confirmed that Bobby Bowden is actually recreating Weekend at Bernie’s. Not knowing the score or the time in a postgame conversation is another nail in the old man’s coffin. Time to hang up the straw hat, Bobby.

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Even though NFL week 10 starts tonight with the Bears at 49ers, I refuse to move Degenerate Friday to Degenerate Thursday. Maybe it’s that I’m bitter with the NFL for putting games on the NFL Network, and since I have Time Warner Cable, I have to go out to a bar to watch the game. Wait, I guess that’s not that bad of a penalty…………. Anyway, I’m taking the Bears (+3) over the 49ERS. The Bears have looked horrendous in getting crushed by the Bengals and Cardinals; however the 49ers don’t have the passing game to take advantage of the poor Chicago secondary. And with Vernon Davis shooting his mouth off, the Bears defense will be fired up to knock him around. Mike Singletary may have to drop his trousers again to motivate his team to rebound from this tailspin.
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I linked to the story about Allen Iverson on Tuesday, but wanted to get into it a little further today. Iverson has always been a lightning rod, from his high school days when he was convicted in a brawl in a bowling alley, to college when he dominated the Big East, to the pros where he produced a tremendous amount of points, steals, turnovers, shots and bumps & bruises. And yet, he never won a championship. Now he has taken a leave of absence after 3 games with the Memphis Grizzlies, who had just signed him in September as a free agent. So what do we make of Allen Iverson’s career?

There is no doubt that the guy could put the ball in the hoop, he’s 16th all-time in scoring, and 2nd among players under 6’5” (behind only Jerry West). He is a 10-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year in 1997, League MVP in 2001, and 3-time All-NBA selection. He’s also led the league in turnovers twice (12th most all time), and field goal attempts four times (and was 2nd or 3rd another four times). He is a physical marvel, and it is amazing that at his size, he has been able to take the beatings and continually crash to the rim. However, is he another example of a player who filled up the stat sheet at the detriment to the rest of his team and winning? His only team that made the NBA Finals was the beneficiary of some suspect officiating and a missed 7-foot jumper by Big Dog Robinson (don’t get me started). Otherwise, he has never led a team to a championship. And even when surrounded by talent, such as the 2004 Olympics (LeBron, Wade, Anthony, Duncan), they only managed a bronze medal.

I think he’s a pure physical talent, but the fact that he has been so selfish and such a terrible leader over his entire career has held him back from being among the greatest to ever play the game. The league climbed on board A.I.’s bandwagon, when the league was trying to find a suitable replacement for Jordan, and the entire league was full of selfish, egotistical, immature, poor leaders – Iverson, Vince Carter, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Antoine Walker, Latrell Sprewell, etc.

Maybe his legacy is perfectly explained by his most famous tirade about practice. “Practice? We talkin’ bout practice. Not a game, not a game. Practice……” Perfect example of the poor leadership skills and selfishness that held him back. But it was amazingly entertaining.
Or there is the remix, which incorporates Jim Mora, Dennis Green and Mike Gundy:

Coaching Past the Expiration Date

I am no fan of Florida State football and definitely not a fan of Bobby Bowden, but the current situation is a complete mess and cannot end well for either side. I mean, we’re talking “Britney Spears marrying that Jason Alexander in Vegas” or “the Atlanta Falcons hiring Bobby Petrino” or “letting Rex Ryan and Andy Reid into an all-you-can-eat buffet” type of disasters.

There is no doubt in my mind that the time has come, well it actually came more than a few years ago, for Bobby to hang it up. His teams have slipped noticeably since 2001, and are now a far cry from the 90s, when Florida State was guaranteed to be in the top 10 and the tomahawk chop was always in a top bowl game. Unfortunately, Bobby’s enormous ego has gotten the best of him, and continues to hang around trying to make sure he tops the other past-his-time old foggie – Joe Paterno – for the all-time wins record. But for that tool from the Board of Trustees to come out with a statement about what Bobby will do was also a stupid move. The guy built FSU into a top-tier program, and even though he has now rode it down to mediocrity, he deserves to go out by being celebrated with class. And if that turd of a trustee really cared about FSU football, he would understand that causing controversy is going to do nothing but hurt the school’s image and destroy recruiting, which guarantees a longer time before the program is relevant.

Bowden started coaching FSU in 1976, and had them in back-to-back Orange Bowls in 1979 and 1980. He then did not lose more than 2 games in a season between 1987 and 2000. Unfortunately, since then, he has lost at least 3 games every season, including 7-6 records in 2007 & 2008. The only positive thing to come out of FSU in the past 9 years has been that fan girl – Jen Sterger.

Speaking of Joe Pa, what are the odds that he retires before he dies? I know it’s a morbid thought, but that crazy old dude is never going to leave. I understand the concept that he has “earned the right” to step down when he wants to, but doesn’t he have any trusted advisors that can give him a sense of reality? He is completely a figure-head, and is not really doing any coaching or recruiting for the team. The only value he is bringing is pity (like when he broke his leg on the sideline) and unintentional comedy (like when a reporter asked him if he wanted the field named after him and he responded with “I don’t think much about being dead.”).

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I think the Braylon Edwards trade has a chance to be a great one for the Jets & for Edwards himself. However I think the Jets should take some precautions to enhance the likelihood of success. Edwards has always been accused of being easily distracted and not focused on being a football player, rather choosing to pay attention to being a star. And obviously, moving to New York could be throwing gasoline on that fire. So I think the Jets should force him to live in New Jersey and ban him from coming into the city. Living in Jersey, he’ll be forced to focus on football, because unless he’s going to be distracted by white cars with dark tinted windows and big rims, big-haired women or cement-gelled hair on dudes, he will have nothing but football to focus on.

The guy is a big-time football talent – a big WR with the speed to get downfield and go up over DBs. He provides a great security blanket for Mark Sanchez, and in the new disciplined environment of Rex Ryan, Edwards could thrive. We’ll see how it actually plays out, but I think the Jets got one last kick of Eric Mangini.

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One final note…..on Deion Sanders, arguably the best player to ever come out of Florida State. What is this guy doing? He has ties to Michael Crabtree’s agent, and is at the heart of the 49ers tampering charges against the Jets. And he was the reason Dez White (one of the best WR in college) of Oklahoma State just lost his eligibility to play college football. Oh, and Deion is employed by the NFL Network, so he’s an employee of the league. Deion, what are you doing? I know you think you’re a businessman, trying a reality TV show, rapping and selling a hot dog cooker……but maybe you should just stick to talking about football in a studio and stay away from college players.

(The quality of the video is terrible, but it seems to be the only one out there).