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.

Tuesday Ramblings - Decisions by Two Jags

It is always enjoyable to listen to Herm remind you why you play the game. On Sunday there were two crucial coaching decisions made by Jags – one by the Coach of the Jags, and one by a world-class Jag-off, Bill Belichick. Both coaches decided to try to win the game by trying to play keep-away. However, I think the decision by Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio was actually riskier than the decision by Bill Belichick, yet no one is talking about it.

Today we listened to everyone and their brother dissecting the Patriots decision to go for it on 4th down from inside their own 30 yard line. The decision was blamed on Belichick’s ego, his fear of Peyton Manning, his lack of confidence in his own defense, or his overconfidence in Tom Brady. While I still don’t agree with the decision, I think it can be summed up that Belichick went for the jugular and for the win with the ball in the hands of his team. He was trying to keep the ball away from the Colts, because whether Manning drove his team 29 yards or 70+ yards, a TD would win the game for the Colts. He was following Herm’s message, but it blew up bigger than Oprah at an all-you-can-eat buffet. (Wait, is she fat or skinny now? Whatever, I’m too lazy to look, and either way, in another 6 weeks, she’ll be fat again, or skinny. Whatever……)

That got me thinking about the play at the end of the Jaguars-Jets game at the Meadowlands, when Maurice Jones-Drew took a knee at the 1 yard line instead of scoring a touchdown with under 2 minutes left in the game. MJD has been praised as making an extremely smart play, and being unselfish and more concerned with winning the game than padding his own personal stats. By taking the knee, the Jags were able to run the clock down and kick the chip shot game-winning FG as time expired. However, I think it was an extremely risky call by Jack Del Rio and not nearly as intelligent as the media made it out to be.

When MJD took the knee, the Jaguars were LOSING the game. It was compared to the Brian Westbrook play in 2007 when Westbrook went down at the 1 against the Cowboys and allowed the Eagles to run out the clock. The difference? The Eagles were WINNING the game, 10-6 at the time, and they then knelt 3 times and the clock ran out, game over. The Jaguars left themselves with the need to make a field goal to win the game. Now I get that the odds of missing a chip shot field goal are about as high as the chances of Blake Lively not wearing a shirt to show off her two best friends (or maybe they’re our best friends? Either way, here is an article about the friends with a slideshow.). Yet, there still is a chance of a botched snap, a bad hold, a gust of wind, a false start, a missed block, etc. or something disastrous that causes a miss. And if any of those disasters happen, the Jaguars would have LOST the game. Remember Tony Romo fumbling the snap in the playoffs against the Seahawks? Or Gary Anderson, who hadn’t missed a FG or extra point all season, shanking the kick in the 1998 NFC Championship? Strange and crazy crap happens in football, and Del Rio chose to play keep away from the Jets, and risked losing the game. And that doesn’t even take into account the fact that if MJD scores the TD, the Jets would have been down 6 and have a rookie quarterback, not Peyton Manning, who would have been trying to drive his team down field for a touchdown. And if the Jags convert the 2 point conversion, they would have locked in a win or OT even if the Jets drove down and scored.

I’m a fan of intelligent football, but I think the general media has missed the boat on this one. It was not intelligent, it was risky. The biggest difference between the Del Rio and the Belichick decisions? One worked and one didn’t. Can you imagine the backlash if the Jags would have missed the kick? Del Rio would have already cleared out his office and would be calling Eric Mangini to save him a place in line at the unemployment office. Both calls were bad decisions by the coaches, but when it works, you’re a genius, when it doesn’t, you’re a jag. Or in this case, when it works, you're a Jag and when it doesn't, you're a Patriot.

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Could the Browns be any worse? They have scored 5 TDs in their 9 games. They are an embarrassment to the league, and I have no idea how they can keep Mangini around next year. And now, their only legit offensive weapon, Josh Cribbs was taken to the hospital after the game in an ambulance. Can Browns fans stomach drafting another Notre Dame quarterback (Jimmy Clausen) with the first pick in the draft? Remember when the Browns were competitive and John "Mr. Ed" Elway used to rip their hearts out or Ernest Byner would fumble? It's sad that those were the days of glory and they seem tremendously better than the current situation.

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Allen Iverson and the Grizzlies came to a “mutual agreement” to put Iverson on waivers and allow him to go sign with another team. I really hope that agreement was “you will be getting $0 from the Grizzlies and will refund any and all money already paid to you by the Grizzlies.”

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ESPN is in the middle of a 24-hour college basketball marathon that included a game in Jersey City that started at 6:00 am. There is your proof that schools will do anything for the right pay day. There is nothing to be gained for the coaches, players, or the fans by playing at that time. So the only reason to consider it is the payday for the athletic program. I’m not saying I’m against it, because what other time would anyone watch Monmouth? Other than when you're trying to put on SportsCenter and you're strangely amused why there is basketball on TV. I’m just saying I hope the schools are honest about why they did it.

Week 5 Hangover - Love/Hate

Thankfully it was an awesome fall weekend in the Northeast, so it made up for the lack of really interesting football games. Good weekend to get outdoors, go to a game, spending time in Central Park or going to an apple orchard. Granted there were a couple of overtime NFL games, and the Florida-LSU game was close, but not exactly lighting up the scoreboard. So as always – hit up Peter King, Michael Silver or Mike Florio/Gregg Rosenthal for full summaries, these are my quick hit loves/hates.

LOVE

- The Broncos are officially real. After a strong comeback win against the Pats, I’m now not just a believer in the Broncos, but I’m a big fan of Josh McDaniels. His emotions after the game were awesome, and it was obvious that even though he respects his former mentor and team, he loved sticking it to them. And Vonnie Holliday is still playing and still effective!?!?! And Kyle Orton is 26-12 as a starting quarterback.

- Matt Ryan is showing he may belong among the discussion of the top 5 QBs in the league. And he may be ready to lead the Falcons to the promise land. He dismantled a good 49ers defense on the road and with the exception of his hiccup against the Pats has been dominant. If Atlanta can also run the ball effectively, they’re dangerous to the Giants, Saints and Vikings. Ryan is kind of like Matt Leinart – except the exact opposite. He’s focused on football, smart and mature.

- I respect Tony LaRussa’s success as a manager, but it was enjoyable to watch that jag-off get swept out of the playoffs.

- Not that anyone knew, or cared, but a big win for the US Soccer team over Honduras to qualify for the World Cup next year in South Africa. Not so much for the win, but the ridiculous political situation surrounding the game.

- Peyton Manning has practically wrapped up the MVP award way too early in the season. Over 300 yards every week, and this team is absolutely incredible. I don’t know what else to say about Herman Munster – the dude is on track to win his 4th MVP award.

HATE

- 1-2 on the college picks this week, so not a great start. Although that UW-OSU game was tough because Wisconsin actually physically dominated the Buckeyes, yet got their butts kicked. Pathetic. It was a hideous game to watch.

- Is there a more overrated QB in the country than Terrell Pryor? Yes, he’s an athete. No, he’s not a QB. He was 5-13 for 87 yards and rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries – and won. The only guy that’s close to being as overrated is that kid at Ole Miss: Jevon Snead. Talked about as being a challenger to Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford at the top of draft boards, he’ll now be lucky to get drafted in the 3rd round if he’s not smart enough to stay in school for his senior year. Snead has 9 TDs and 9 INTs with a completion percentage under 47%.

- The Browns-Bills game…….time to consider contracting those two teams. Wow – 6-3? Derek Anderson was 2-for-17, and he won the game! Maybe the Browns should draft Pryor, he seems like a perfect fit.

- Rough weekend for Boston sports. Red Sox collapse at home in the 9th to finish getting swept, and Pats blow a 17-7 lead and Brady loses in OT for the first time in his career. The Freedom Trail will be a trail of tears this week.

- The Raiders circus continues. Sure looks like Tom Cable is going to get arrested for assaulting his assistant coach. What a mess. Oh, and on the field they suck harder than Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian combined.

- Not sure if many people saw it, but in the 3rd quarter, while the 49ers were getting their lunch eaten by the Falcons, Dre Bly picked off a pass at his own 15 yard line and as he crossed his own 25 yard line, started to do a little Deion dance to celebrate his great play. The only problem? He was promptly caught from behind by Roddy White (who already had over 200 yards receiving by toasting Bly repeatedly), and stripped of the ball and the Falcons recovered. Mr. Bly, you sir, are an ass-clown.

- People get paid to do “research” like this? Unreal.