Storming the Court
As I watched in awe as Jimmer Fredette hit ridiculous shot after shot against San Diego State Wednesday night, my jaw dropped to the floor. Not because of Jimmer (though he is extremely impressive), but because of the fans that decided to rush the floor after the game. BYU is currently the 9th ranked team in the nation. They were favored in the game by five and a half points. They didn't do anything impressive. They did what they were supposed to do. Why would you rush the floor?
BYU is not the only place where this is happening. After Indiana's win against #19 Illinois last night, what did the students decide to do? Of course, they decided to storm the floor. I don't care how terrible you have been since Tom Crean has taken over the program, it doesn't mean you can storm the court when you beat the nineteenth best team in the country. You are storming the court after beating the 5th best team in the Big Ten? Really? You're better than that. If Bobby Knight wasn't the most self-confident person in the world, he would be embarrassed to be associated with Indiana basketball.
Then we come to Providence. Providence beat Villanova this past week and decided to storm the court. This was the second time in a week that Providence had beat a ranked Big East opponent, which means Providence had just accomplished the exact same feat less than a week before their game against Villanova. This game wasn't special. There was nothing great about this game.
Students need to understand when it is appropriate to storm a court. If you're team is in the Top 10, you can NOT storm the court unless it is the last game of your conference season and the victory seals a conference championship. Otherwise, if you are in the Top 10, get off the floor. After that, you should really only be on the floor if you beat the #1 team in the nation or if you beat your rival while you have been struggling and they are playing great. All in all, there are very few reasons to storm a basketball court.
The Tennessee Titans
I'm confused. Why did the Titans publicly state that they are going to trade or release Vince Young? I, along with most of the sports world, was under the impression that the Titans were going to trade or release Young because they were planning on extending Jeff Fisher's contract. Now they're getting rid of Jeff Fisher. It seems as though they don't really have much of a plan for this offseason. I just don't understand how an NFL organization could be run so badly.
The only thing I can think of is that the Titans organization is really starting to lean toward drafting Cam Newton with the 8th pick. Cam Newton seems like the exact type of player that would drive Fisher absolutely crazy. He doesn't necessarily have the best skill set or work ethic and seems eerily similar to a certain quarterback that just ran Jeff Fisher out of town.
The NHL All-Star Game
Calm down. I know there is typically no reason to talk about the NHL, but the NHL All-Star Game this year has possibly the coolest concept of all-time. Instead of allowing voters to pick the starting line-up of each conference, the NHL took the two highest vote-getters from each conference and allowed them to pick their team. Maybe I'm the only person that thinks that is really cool, but I think it is amazing. What is cooler than essentially playing a pick-up game and having all-stars pick their own team? Tell me that this idea would not be absolutely amazing at the NBA All-Star game.
Who gets picked first? Who takes Kobe? Who gets picked last? And how pissed off is the guy that gets picked last? How did the NHL (arguably the worst profressional sports organization) come up with such a genius idea? Why am I asking so many questions? All I know is that the 48 minutes that would ensue would be the most entertaining NBA All-Star Game ever because each player would be playing with a passion that we've never seen before because each player would actually care about the game.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Billy Madison Quarterback Pyramid
Last week, I got into an argument with one of my friends regarding the best quarterbacks in the league and I realized a flaw in the ranking system. Numerical ranking is not the best way to rank players. The difference between the 1st and 5th quarterback is not the same as the difference between the 5th and 10th quarterback. To accurately reflect the talent level of each quarterback, it is necessary to rank the quarterbacks into a pyramid with the most elite quarterbacks at the very top and the worst quarterbacks at the very bottom. Because pyramids aren't that exciting, I decided to form the pyramid using quotes from one of my favorite movies, Billy Madison. It's somewhat of a convoluted idea, but it's going to be a long post, so I decided to add a lot of links to keep those of you not keen on reading entertained.
The GOO! Level: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning
Brady and Manning are on the GOO! level because that is the reaction I have each time I watch either of these two quarterbacks play. Each time I see them play they do something I've never seen a quarterback do before. By the end of their respective careers, Manning and Brady may go down as the two best quarterbacks of all-time.
Just about any record set by Brett Favre in the last five years will likely be broken by Peyton Manning in the very near future. Manning is currently trailing Favre by 17,000 passing yards, 119 passing touchdowns, and 138 interceptions. At Manning's current pace two of those records will take about 4 years to break and the other one will take 8 years to break, let's just say Favre's interception record is probably safe for a long, long time. I know he has had playoff troubles, but he is still extremely effective and most of the reason why the Colts are ever in the playoffs to begin with. Manning helped usher in the recent quarterback revolution, which has led to an increasing number of quarterbacks calling plays at the line of scrimmage and an ever-increasing number of weird sounds and hand-motions. The things Manning does as a "quarterback" are more like the activities of a coach or offensive coordinator and require a level of sophistication previously unneccessary to play the quarterback position.
Like Manning, Brady is also one of the smartest quarterbacks in the league and runs the Patriots offense to perfection. The Patriots' offense is dependent on Brady's skills and ability to spread the ball around the field to all of his receivers. Brady is able to get the absolute most out the talent around him including castoffs and late-round picks. With Brady at the helm, the Patriots are 97-30 in the regular season and 14-5 in the postseason. Tom Brady wins football games. It's as simple as that. He is a winner in every sense of the word and his leadership has led the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories.
Though it isn't easy to choose between the two and there are definite arguments for each quarterback, it is very easy to see that these two quarterbacks are on a level by themselves and the rest of the league is trying to catch up.
The "I can't wait until I get to higkh school" Level: Aaron Rodgers
As an avid Brett Favre hater, I have been cheering for Rodgers since the moment he became the Packers starting quarterback. Rodger's arm is ridiculous and his intelligence is phenomenal. I would love to put him on the same level as Manning and Brady, but I simply cannot do it yet because of his lack of playoff experience and Super Bowl rings. He just simply has not been in the league quite long enough, but with his skill set there is no doubt in my mind that in a few years we will see him rise to the same level as Brady and Manning and has already begun to do so this postseason. Rodgers brings a swagger and confidence to the Packers that every team needs to have, even if his swagger is a bit undeserved. (Sure he's never won a championship, but I have no problems with a little cockiness.) (Also, anyone who has ever looked like this, this, or this has significantly more confidence than anyone on this Earth has ever needed. Yup, that was a double parentheses.)
The Jackpot Level: Drew Brees and Philip Rivers
Drew Brees and Philip Rivers are on the "Jackpot" Level of the pyramid because that is the feeling you get as a fan of the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers. Brees was a bit of a late bloomer, but his blooming has resulted in one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Like Manning and Brady, Brees manipulates defenses and calls a lot of plays at the line. He throws the ball all over the place and puts up a lot of numbers, but experienced somewhat of a down year this season. Standing only 6 feet tall, Brees lacks the prototypical NFL body that both Brady and Manning possess. I'm not saying that Brees still can't make all the throws, but I think his lack of size makes being an NFL quarterback a bit more difficult for Brees than other elite quarterbacks.
The Chargers took a huge gamble in drafting Eli Manning to use him as trade bait in the 2004 NFL drafter and with Rivers, they have hit the Jackpot. Rivers is a superior quarterback to Eli Manning because of his decision making and overall skills. Rivers has an absolute rocket arm and can make just about any throw. The thing that helps put Rivers on the same level as Brees is his leadership. Though some people call his trash talk childish and the tantrums he throws immature, I believe that the passion he puts into the game is invaluable to his team and helps push them to a different level. In his time in San Diego he has yet to win a ring, but with an injury-plagued team returning to top form next season the Chargers will certainly have a good chance at next year's Super Bowl.
The "You know how badly I could beat you, right?" Level: Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger may have been the hardest quarterback on this entire list to rank. I truly don't think that he is better than the next level of quarterbacks from a skill standpoint, but the intangibles Roethlisberger brings to the table makes him one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He was given his own level essentially for his playoff success. There was no way I could not reward Roethlisberger for winning big games every year and being on the verge of winning his third Super Bowl ring, which would give him as much hardware as Tom Brady. That is impressive no matter how average your skills as a quarterback may be.
Don't get me wrong, I know that Roethlisberger has a big arm, but his accuracy is very average. Let's just say if I needed to pick a quarterback to throw a ball through a 2'x2' square from 40 yards away, Roethlisberger would not be the quarterback I would choose. But if you would tell me that I need a touchdown with 53 seconds left and it's 3rd and 17 from my own 40, I am picking Ben Roethlisberger to get the first down to keep that drive alive and eventually score that touchdown. Roethlisberger just finds a way to make the plays he needs to make. If you need proof, just check out his Super Bowl game-winner to Santonio Holmes or his game-winner-setter-upper to Antonio Brown against the Ravens.
As soon as Roethlisberger gets to the playoffs, he becomes a different player and as far as I'm concerned that's what I want in a quarterback. I want my quarterback to play his best games on the biggest stages. This past weekend, I kept hearing people say that the Jets needed to blitz more and get pressure on Roethlisberger, but the sad thing was the Jets were blitzing. Roethlisberger is just unbelievably good at avoiding a rush. He doesn't have the quickest feet or the best moves, but his awareness of the pocket around him and when to get outside of the pocket are uncanny. Put all of these intangible skills together and you have a quarterback that is unlike any other in the league.
The "R-O-C!-K" Level: Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, and Michael Vick
I could not find this link on the Internet and I was deeply saddened. So for those of you who don't know, this is a reference to the scene in which Billy's father tells him that he rigged a spelling bee in the 2nd grade for Billy to win. He then questions Billy's spelling of the word rock. When Billy doesn't realize that rock is not spelled R-O-K, he yells "R-O-C!-K". (Much funnier viusally than in writter word. That explanation just made me realize why Billy Madison was never converted into novel form.)
These four quarterbacks are all on the R-O-C!-K level because they are just one "C" away from spelling rock correctly and becoming top tier quarterbacks. For Flacco, the letter C represents consistency. To Flacco's credit, he is becoming a better quarterback each year he has been in the league. This can be a very tough thing to do on a winning team like the Ravens because with a team built to win championships, Flacco is rarely given a chance to develop his skills as a passer and his skills as a winner. With a great defense behind him, Flacco has never been asked to go out and win a game for his team by throwing it over 40 times in a single game and this has made his development as a quarterback much slower than most other quarterbacks. (Flacco has thrown 40 or more times only twice in his three-year career, while Aaron Rodgers has done it 10 times in the exact same period of time.) Though he has consistently gotten better, he has yet to be consistently good. When you average out his stats, Flacco is certainly a good quarterback, but instead of a consistently straight horizon, there are hills and valleys from game to game.
To correctly spell rock, Matt Ryan needs to get a championship. The record Matt Ryan has put together in his first three seasons as starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons has certainly been impressive. I can honestly say that I didn't believe Ryan would be a successful NFL quarterback, but he has proved me wrong from the second he got in the league. Ryan was drafted third overall in the 2008 NFL draft and asked to be the franchise quarterback of the Falcons from day one and has put together a professional record of 33-14. Ryan looks a bit more comfortable as a passer than Flacco and really looks to have found his stride this season. With a 20-1 home record under Ryan going into this season's playoffs, it was a bit surprising to see the Falcons lose so convincingly to the Packers, but, like Flacco, Ryan is still in a very good position with a great team for next season.
Clutch represents the "C" that Matt Schaub is searching for. In the past few years, Matt Schaub has developed into a top-tier quarterback...in fantasy football. Unfortunately for Schaub, fantasy is far from reality. Though Schaub has put up some huge numbers as the quarterback of the Houston Texans, his ability to win games, or lack there of, has killed the Texans' playoff chances year after year. This season was an absolute nightmare for Schaub as the Texans lost close game after close game simply because of a lack of execution at the end of games. The most striking example of this came during the Texans' Monday Night loss to the Ravens when Schaub threw a pick six (interception returned for a touchdown) to lose the game for the Texans. To become a top-tier quarterback, Schaub needs to learn how to win games and close out victories.
Michael Vick is searching for control to spell rock correctly. As I have stated previously, Michael Vick might not have what it takes to be an elite quarterback or a game manager, but it isn't physical tools that hold him back. The leaps and bounds Vick made as a quarterback this season prove that Vick is still learning how to play the position and can only get better under Andy Reid. The main problem with Vick is attempting to control his legs. For most of his career, everyone has focused on how well Michael Vick can run and the plays he makes with his legs, but since becoming a Philadelphia Eagle, Andy Reid has attempted to make Vick focus on his arm. Vick has an absolutely incredible arm and can throw the ball just about anywhere on the field, but at times his accuracy is questionable because his footwork or concentration is just a little bit off. If he can learn how to control his legs and continue to harness the ability of his arm, he can become a better quarterback and possibly even elite. (I am not advocating for Vick to stop running. I am simply advocating for him to begin using his arm and use his legs as a last resort instead of vice versa. This should help to continue improving his passing ability.)
The "I'll turn this bus around. That'll end your precious little field trip." Level: Josh Freeman, Matt Cassel, David Garrard, Jay Cutler, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tony Romo, Eli Manning
These quarterbacks all take on the craziness of Chris Farley's character because you never truly know what these quarterbacks are going to do. On any given day at any given time, these quarterbacks may turn the proverbial bus around and ruin your field trip by making any variety of terrible decisions. These are the quarterbacks who throw into double and triple coverage. These are the quarterbacks that decide to throw off their back foot and try to make the big play instead of just throwing it out of bounds. And these are the quarterbacks that leave you shaking your head after most of these plays. Notice though that I said most of these plays. About 75% of the time these boneheaded decisions will turn out badly, but for a few games every year these quarterbacks will look like the best in the entire league, simply because somehow their terrible decisions turn into great catches by the talented playmakers around them. Just take a look at Eli Manning's game log from this season to understand just how varied his performances are from week to week.
The "I know how you kids like 'em EXTRA SLOPPY!" Level: Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Colt Mccoy, Sam Bradford, Kyle Orton, Chad Henne, Jimmy Clausen, and Tim Tebow
Each of these quarterbacks is on the "EXTRA SLOPPY" Level because that is just about the only type of game each one of them can win. None of these quarterbacks are going to have a four touchdown masterpiece like Brady or Manning, but they are extremely capable of winning a game 19-14 or 21-17. I'm not saying that these quarterbacks will never hop up to another level because some of them are very capable of making a jump (particularly Bradford and Stafford), but as it is right now these guys just don't know how to be great NFL quarterbacks yets.
(On a sidenote, I'm very intrigued with what Tebow can become. Not because he has a great skill set or an NFL body, but simply because he just works too hard not too be successful. I know a bunch of you just read that and rolled your eyes because all NFL players work hard, which would therefore make it seem like Tebow is nothing special, but I'm not sure anyone is like Tebow. It's just something about him and the way other players immediately connect with him and follow him that makes me think he will be successful.)
The "Who would steal thirty bagged lunches?" Level: Matthew Hasselbeck, Donovan McNabb, Carson Palmer, and Kerry Collins
(Another sidenote: Why has Matt Hasselbeck decided that after 11 NFL seasons that he likes to be called Matthew? Isn't that something he would have told people much earlier in his career? Is he planning a post-football career as a Shakesperean actor and being called Matt wouldn't earn him enough respect? The whole situation really boggles my mind.)
These four quarterbacks comprise this level, not because they are sasquatches, but instead because of the expectations put on them. After many great and even some elite NFL seasons, these quarterbacks are now a nearly constant disappointment. Matthew led the Seahawks to the playoffs five consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2007 and put up some pretty impressive numbers, but has since nearly fell off the planet. This season he threw for an absymal 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. After an unbelievable 2005 season (32 TD and 12 INT) and a good 2006 season (28 TD and 13 INT), Palmer was being hailed as the next great quarterback and has managed to escape criticism since then by......Actually, I'm not sure how he has managed to escape criticism. He simply has not been good since those two seasons and I think people are finally beginning to understand this. Donovan McNabb is without a doubt the greatest quarterback in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles. Unfortuanately, he now plays for the Washington Redskins. It's not good. Nothing more really needs to be said.
Kerry Collins has the 11th most passing yards in NFL history. That is not a mistake. He really does. And he's not very good, which really makes it perplexing how he managed to pass for the 11th most yards in NFL history.
The "T-T-T-Today Junior!" Level: Alex Smith and Jason Campbell
No one is really too sure when either of these quarterbacks will develop into legitimate quarterbacks, but the 49ers and Raiders are both hoping that it will be t-t-t-today. Coming out of Utah, Smith was a product of Urban Meyer's spread offense, which NFL scouts have since become very critical of. The spread offense can create a very sound passing attack and strong offense in college, but it definitely doesn't produce talented NFL quarterbacks. As far as Campbell is concerned, after being drafted 25th overall by the Washington Redskins in 2005, he has shown brief glimpses of talent, but has never been able to sustain the effort over a full season. Luckily for him, Al Davis has fallen in love with him, which means he will likely be the Raiders' starting quarterback until Davis dies...or is he already dead? I'm not really sure anymore.
The Recap
The GOO! Level: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning
Brady and Manning are on the GOO! level because that is the reaction I have each time I watch either of these two quarterbacks play. Each time I see them play they do something I've never seen a quarterback do before. By the end of their respective careers, Manning and Brady may go down as the two best quarterbacks of all-time.
Just about any record set by Brett Favre in the last five years will likely be broken by Peyton Manning in the very near future. Manning is currently trailing Favre by 17,000 passing yards, 119 passing touchdowns, and 138 interceptions. At Manning's current pace two of those records will take about 4 years to break and the other one will take 8 years to break, let's just say Favre's interception record is probably safe for a long, long time. I know he has had playoff troubles, but he is still extremely effective and most of the reason why the Colts are ever in the playoffs to begin with. Manning helped usher in the recent quarterback revolution, which has led to an increasing number of quarterbacks calling plays at the line of scrimmage and an ever-increasing number of weird sounds and hand-motions. The things Manning does as a "quarterback" are more like the activities of a coach or offensive coordinator and require a level of sophistication previously unneccessary to play the quarterback position.
Like Manning, Brady is also one of the smartest quarterbacks in the league and runs the Patriots offense to perfection. The Patriots' offense is dependent on Brady's skills and ability to spread the ball around the field to all of his receivers. Brady is able to get the absolute most out the talent around him including castoffs and late-round picks. With Brady at the helm, the Patriots are 97-30 in the regular season and 14-5 in the postseason. Tom Brady wins football games. It's as simple as that. He is a winner in every sense of the word and his leadership has led the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories.
Though it isn't easy to choose between the two and there are definite arguments for each quarterback, it is very easy to see that these two quarterbacks are on a level by themselves and the rest of the league is trying to catch up.
The "I can't wait until I get to higkh school" Level: Aaron Rodgers
As an avid Brett Favre hater, I have been cheering for Rodgers since the moment he became the Packers starting quarterback. Rodger's arm is ridiculous and his intelligence is phenomenal. I would love to put him on the same level as Manning and Brady, but I simply cannot do it yet because of his lack of playoff experience and Super Bowl rings. He just simply has not been in the league quite long enough, but with his skill set there is no doubt in my mind that in a few years we will see him rise to the same level as Brady and Manning and has already begun to do so this postseason. Rodgers brings a swagger and confidence to the Packers that every team needs to have, even if his swagger is a bit undeserved. (Sure he's never won a championship, but I have no problems with a little cockiness.) (Also, anyone who has ever looked like this, this, or this has significantly more confidence than anyone on this Earth has ever needed. Yup, that was a double parentheses.)
The Jackpot Level: Drew Brees and Philip Rivers
Drew Brees and Philip Rivers are on the "Jackpot" Level of the pyramid because that is the feeling you get as a fan of the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers. Brees was a bit of a late bloomer, but his blooming has resulted in one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Like Manning and Brady, Brees manipulates defenses and calls a lot of plays at the line. He throws the ball all over the place and puts up a lot of numbers, but experienced somewhat of a down year this season. Standing only 6 feet tall, Brees lacks the prototypical NFL body that both Brady and Manning possess. I'm not saying that Brees still can't make all the throws, but I think his lack of size makes being an NFL quarterback a bit more difficult for Brees than other elite quarterbacks.
The Chargers took a huge gamble in drafting Eli Manning to use him as trade bait in the 2004 NFL drafter and with Rivers, they have hit the Jackpot. Rivers is a superior quarterback to Eli Manning because of his decision making and overall skills. Rivers has an absolute rocket arm and can make just about any throw. The thing that helps put Rivers on the same level as Brees is his leadership. Though some people call his trash talk childish and the tantrums he throws immature, I believe that the passion he puts into the game is invaluable to his team and helps push them to a different level. In his time in San Diego he has yet to win a ring, but with an injury-plagued team returning to top form next season the Chargers will certainly have a good chance at next year's Super Bowl.
The "You know how badly I could beat you, right?" Level: Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger may have been the hardest quarterback on this entire list to rank. I truly don't think that he is better than the next level of quarterbacks from a skill standpoint, but the intangibles Roethlisberger brings to the table makes him one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He was given his own level essentially for his playoff success. There was no way I could not reward Roethlisberger for winning big games every year and being on the verge of winning his third Super Bowl ring, which would give him as much hardware as Tom Brady. That is impressive no matter how average your skills as a quarterback may be.
Don't get me wrong, I know that Roethlisberger has a big arm, but his accuracy is very average. Let's just say if I needed to pick a quarterback to throw a ball through a 2'x2' square from 40 yards away, Roethlisberger would not be the quarterback I would choose. But if you would tell me that I need a touchdown with 53 seconds left and it's 3rd and 17 from my own 40, I am picking Ben Roethlisberger to get the first down to keep that drive alive and eventually score that touchdown. Roethlisberger just finds a way to make the plays he needs to make. If you need proof, just check out his Super Bowl game-winner to Santonio Holmes or his game-winner-setter-upper to Antonio Brown against the Ravens.
As soon as Roethlisberger gets to the playoffs, he becomes a different player and as far as I'm concerned that's what I want in a quarterback. I want my quarterback to play his best games on the biggest stages. This past weekend, I kept hearing people say that the Jets needed to blitz more and get pressure on Roethlisberger, but the sad thing was the Jets were blitzing. Roethlisberger is just unbelievably good at avoiding a rush. He doesn't have the quickest feet or the best moves, but his awareness of the pocket around him and when to get outside of the pocket are uncanny. Put all of these intangible skills together and you have a quarterback that is unlike any other in the league.
The "R-O-C!-K" Level: Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, and Michael Vick
I could not find this link on the Internet and I was deeply saddened. So for those of you who don't know, this is a reference to the scene in which Billy's father tells him that he rigged a spelling bee in the 2nd grade for Billy to win. He then questions Billy's spelling of the word rock. When Billy doesn't realize that rock is not spelled R-O-K, he yells "R-O-C!-K". (Much funnier viusally than in writter word. That explanation just made me realize why Billy Madison was never converted into novel form.)
These four quarterbacks are all on the R-O-C!-K level because they are just one "C" away from spelling rock correctly and becoming top tier quarterbacks. For Flacco, the letter C represents consistency. To Flacco's credit, he is becoming a better quarterback each year he has been in the league. This can be a very tough thing to do on a winning team like the Ravens because with a team built to win championships, Flacco is rarely given a chance to develop his skills as a passer and his skills as a winner. With a great defense behind him, Flacco has never been asked to go out and win a game for his team by throwing it over 40 times in a single game and this has made his development as a quarterback much slower than most other quarterbacks. (Flacco has thrown 40 or more times only twice in his three-year career, while Aaron Rodgers has done it 10 times in the exact same period of time.) Though he has consistently gotten better, he has yet to be consistently good. When you average out his stats, Flacco is certainly a good quarterback, but instead of a consistently straight horizon, there are hills and valleys from game to game.
To correctly spell rock, Matt Ryan needs to get a championship. The record Matt Ryan has put together in his first three seasons as starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons has certainly been impressive. I can honestly say that I didn't believe Ryan would be a successful NFL quarterback, but he has proved me wrong from the second he got in the league. Ryan was drafted third overall in the 2008 NFL draft and asked to be the franchise quarterback of the Falcons from day one and has put together a professional record of 33-14. Ryan looks a bit more comfortable as a passer than Flacco and really looks to have found his stride this season. With a 20-1 home record under Ryan going into this season's playoffs, it was a bit surprising to see the Falcons lose so convincingly to the Packers, but, like Flacco, Ryan is still in a very good position with a great team for next season.
Clutch represents the "C" that Matt Schaub is searching for. In the past few years, Matt Schaub has developed into a top-tier quarterback...in fantasy football. Unfortunately for Schaub, fantasy is far from reality. Though Schaub has put up some huge numbers as the quarterback of the Houston Texans, his ability to win games, or lack there of, has killed the Texans' playoff chances year after year. This season was an absolute nightmare for Schaub as the Texans lost close game after close game simply because of a lack of execution at the end of games. The most striking example of this came during the Texans' Monday Night loss to the Ravens when Schaub threw a pick six (interception returned for a touchdown) to lose the game for the Texans. To become a top-tier quarterback, Schaub needs to learn how to win games and close out victories.
Michael Vick is searching for control to spell rock correctly. As I have stated previously, Michael Vick might not have what it takes to be an elite quarterback or a game manager, but it isn't physical tools that hold him back. The leaps and bounds Vick made as a quarterback this season prove that Vick is still learning how to play the position and can only get better under Andy Reid. The main problem with Vick is attempting to control his legs. For most of his career, everyone has focused on how well Michael Vick can run and the plays he makes with his legs, but since becoming a Philadelphia Eagle, Andy Reid has attempted to make Vick focus on his arm. Vick has an absolutely incredible arm and can throw the ball just about anywhere on the field, but at times his accuracy is questionable because his footwork or concentration is just a little bit off. If he can learn how to control his legs and continue to harness the ability of his arm, he can become a better quarterback and possibly even elite. (I am not advocating for Vick to stop running. I am simply advocating for him to begin using his arm and use his legs as a last resort instead of vice versa. This should help to continue improving his passing ability.)
The "I'll turn this bus around. That'll end your precious little field trip." Level: Josh Freeman, Matt Cassel, David Garrard, Jay Cutler, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tony Romo, Eli Manning
These quarterbacks all take on the craziness of Chris Farley's character because you never truly know what these quarterbacks are going to do. On any given day at any given time, these quarterbacks may turn the proverbial bus around and ruin your field trip by making any variety of terrible decisions. These are the quarterbacks who throw into double and triple coverage. These are the quarterbacks that decide to throw off their back foot and try to make the big play instead of just throwing it out of bounds. And these are the quarterbacks that leave you shaking your head after most of these plays. Notice though that I said most of these plays. About 75% of the time these boneheaded decisions will turn out badly, but for a few games every year these quarterbacks will look like the best in the entire league, simply because somehow their terrible decisions turn into great catches by the talented playmakers around them. Just take a look at Eli Manning's game log from this season to understand just how varied his performances are from week to week.
The "I know how you kids like 'em EXTRA SLOPPY!" Level: Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Colt Mccoy, Sam Bradford, Kyle Orton, Chad Henne, Jimmy Clausen, and Tim Tebow
Each of these quarterbacks is on the "EXTRA SLOPPY" Level because that is just about the only type of game each one of them can win. None of these quarterbacks are going to have a four touchdown masterpiece like Brady or Manning, but they are extremely capable of winning a game 19-14 or 21-17. I'm not saying that these quarterbacks will never hop up to another level because some of them are very capable of making a jump (particularly Bradford and Stafford), but as it is right now these guys just don't know how to be great NFL quarterbacks yets.
(On a sidenote, I'm very intrigued with what Tebow can become. Not because he has a great skill set or an NFL body, but simply because he just works too hard not too be successful. I know a bunch of you just read that and rolled your eyes because all NFL players work hard, which would therefore make it seem like Tebow is nothing special, but I'm not sure anyone is like Tebow. It's just something about him and the way other players immediately connect with him and follow him that makes me think he will be successful.)
The "Who would steal thirty bagged lunches?" Level: Matthew Hasselbeck, Donovan McNabb, Carson Palmer, and Kerry Collins
(Another sidenote: Why has Matt Hasselbeck decided that after 11 NFL seasons that he likes to be called Matthew? Isn't that something he would have told people much earlier in his career? Is he planning a post-football career as a Shakesperean actor and being called Matt wouldn't earn him enough respect? The whole situation really boggles my mind.)
These four quarterbacks comprise this level, not because they are sasquatches, but instead because of the expectations put on them. After many great and even some elite NFL seasons, these quarterbacks are now a nearly constant disappointment. Matt
Kerry Collins has the 11th most passing yards in NFL history. That is not a mistake. He really does. And he's not very good, which really makes it perplexing how he managed to pass for the 11th most yards in NFL history.
The "T-T-T-Today Junior!" Level: Alex Smith and Jason Campbell
No one is really too sure when either of these quarterbacks will develop into legitimate quarterbacks, but the 49ers and Raiders are both hoping that it will be t-t-t-today. Coming out of Utah, Smith was a product of Urban Meyer's spread offense, which NFL scouts have since become very critical of. The spread offense can create a very sound passing attack and strong offense in college, but it definitely doesn't produce talented NFL quarterbacks. As far as Campbell is concerned, after being drafted 25th overall by the Washington Redskins in 2005, he has shown brief glimpses of talent, but has never been able to sustain the effort over a full season. Luckily for him, Al Davis has fallen in love with him, which means he will likely be the Raiders' starting quarterback until Davis dies...or is he already dead? I'm not really sure anymore.
The Recap
Things you'll notice:
- I'm not very good at making pyramids on Powerpoint. I did try really hard, though, which should count for something.
- I've put "I'll turn this bus around. That'll end your precious little field trip." Level and the "I know you kids like 'em EXTRA SLOPPY" Level on the same level, but divided them like they were fruits and vegetables. I did this because both these two levels are very similar and deciding between them is a matter of personal preference. I happen to like game managers more than guys that have the potential to give me a huge game, but some people don't feel the same way.
- If Roethlisberger ends up winning his third Super Bowl next weekend, the "You know how badly I could beat you, right?" Level will move on top of the "Jackpot." Level. There is just no way I can have a guy with three Super Bowl rings that low in the pyramid.
- This idea is extremely convoluted and if you've read this far, I applaud you.
- Billy Madison is a great movie.
- It's about time for me to end this post.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Fired Up Friday
Ed Werder
Earlier this week, ESPN published a story about Brett Favre and his thoughts on the rest of the playoffs. Favre spoke glowingly of Aaron Rodgers (who he has gone on record saying he dislikes) and stated that the Packers were the best team in the playoffs. One of my first posts on this blog speaks of the hatred among Packers fans for Favre and how unusual of a situation Favre has put himself in. This story was the first part of Favre attempting to win the love of Packers fans again, which will allow him to be the legend he once was in Green Bay.
This "story" is just another example of the ridiculous nature of modern sports journalism. Instead of attempting to break an interesting story, Werder simply printed the thoughts Favre gave to him an email. This, just like Lebron James' "The Decision", is another example of athletes attempting to report news themselves. Instead of actually interviewing Favre and asking him tough questions, Werder allowed Favre to control what was reported, which essentially makes the athlete the journalist. Werder's "story" is the furthest thing from journalism and, in my opinion, an embarassment to ESPN as a whole.
The New York Jets
Last week, I had discussed how much I loved the Jets' trash-talking and how it was paramount to their success. The Jets have done essentially no trash talking this week and keep talking about how much they respect the Steelers. I really don't think this is the way to go about winning the game. No one will admit it, but in a way I think the Jets' trash talking last week distracted the Steelers from carrying with their business as usual.
Also trash-talking has become the Jets' season. They have been talking themselves up and playing with a undeserved sense of accomplishment all season and now all of a sudden they are going to stop doing this. Why? Why stop playing with the confidence you had all season? It makes no sense. Instead of backing down from your cockiness, they need to continue to embrace it and use it dominate their next game.
Playoff Quarterbacks
The quarterbacks left in the playoffs at this point are extremely impressive. One of my friends, Steve Mahne, had mentioned that Roethlisberger is 9-2 with 2 Super Bowl rings, while the other quarterbacks remaining are 7-2 with no Super Bowl rings. Though this obviously means that Roethlisberger is significantly more experienced than these other quarterbacks, the record of the other quarterbacks isn't bad at all.
Rodgers is 2-1, Cutler is 1-0, and Sanchez is 4-1. All of these quarterbacks are either in their first or second year in the playoffs and all of them have been impressive so far. Rodgers has been UNBELIEVABLE thus far in his playoff career, completing 75.3% of his passes, and compiling a Quarterback Rating of 129.4. Cutler has won his one and only playoff game and looked very good throwing the ball in last week's game against the Seahawks. Sanchez has yet to do anything truly stunning or amazing in the playoffs, but has been remarkably consistent and has kept the Jets in every playoff game he has participated in, which is all you can ask for from a game manager like Sanchez. Great quarterback play makes playoff games considerably more watchable and should make for a great weekend of football
Earlier this week, ESPN published a story about Brett Favre and his thoughts on the rest of the playoffs. Favre spoke glowingly of Aaron Rodgers (who he has gone on record saying he dislikes) and stated that the Packers were the best team in the playoffs. One of my first posts on this blog speaks of the hatred among Packers fans for Favre and how unusual of a situation Favre has put himself in. This story was the first part of Favre attempting to win the love of Packers fans again, which will allow him to be the legend he once was in Green Bay.
This "story" is just another example of the ridiculous nature of modern sports journalism. Instead of attempting to break an interesting story, Werder simply printed the thoughts Favre gave to him an email. This, just like Lebron James' "The Decision", is another example of athletes attempting to report news themselves. Instead of actually interviewing Favre and asking him tough questions, Werder allowed Favre to control what was reported, which essentially makes the athlete the journalist. Werder's "story" is the furthest thing from journalism and, in my opinion, an embarassment to ESPN as a whole.
The New York Jets
Last week, I had discussed how much I loved the Jets' trash-talking and how it was paramount to their success. The Jets have done essentially no trash talking this week and keep talking about how much they respect the Steelers. I really don't think this is the way to go about winning the game. No one will admit it, but in a way I think the Jets' trash talking last week distracted the Steelers from carrying with their business as usual.
Also trash-talking has become the Jets' season. They have been talking themselves up and playing with a undeserved sense of accomplishment all season and now all of a sudden they are going to stop doing this. Why? Why stop playing with the confidence you had all season? It makes no sense. Instead of backing down from your cockiness, they need to continue to embrace it and use it dominate their next game.
Playoff Quarterbacks
The quarterbacks left in the playoffs at this point are extremely impressive. One of my friends, Steve Mahne, had mentioned that Roethlisberger is 9-2 with 2 Super Bowl rings, while the other quarterbacks remaining are 7-2 with no Super Bowl rings. Though this obviously means that Roethlisberger is significantly more experienced than these other quarterbacks, the record of the other quarterbacks isn't bad at all.
Rodgers is 2-1, Cutler is 1-0, and Sanchez is 4-1. All of these quarterbacks are either in their first or second year in the playoffs and all of them have been impressive so far. Rodgers has been UNBELIEVABLE thus far in his playoff career, completing 75.3% of his passes, and compiling a Quarterback Rating of 129.4. Cutler has won his one and only playoff game and looked very good throwing the ball in last week's game against the Seahawks. Sanchez has yet to do anything truly stunning or amazing in the playoffs, but has been remarkably consistent and has kept the Jets in every playoff game he has participated in, which is all you can ask for from a game manager like Sanchez. Great quarterback play makes playoff games considerably more watchable and should make for a great weekend of football
Friday, January 14, 2011
Fired Up Friday
The BCS National Championship Game
Going into this Monday's National Championship Game everyone was expecting to see a very exciting game with a ton of points scored, but instead of two high-powered offenses exchanging highlight plays and impressive long-lasting drives the teams slopped through the game and bored me to death. I understand that the score was close throughout the whole game, but sloppy football doesn't really excite me. I'm not saying that these two teams weren't the two best teams in the nation, but that was just an ugly football game and I didn't find it exciting. I refuse to buy into the media's claims that the National Championship was a great game this year.
The problem with this game, as well as many other bowl games, is the ridiculous amount of time between each team's final regular season game and their bowl game. It is nearly impossible to expect the best game of the season out of teams in bowl games when they have been forced to take more than a month of since their last game. The NCAA needs to find a way to shorten up the length of time in between these games, especially the BCS games. I'm tired of seeing teams struggle in the first quarter as they get their rhythm back and finally be able to turn it on as the second quarter begins.
A Playoff System in College Football
As the National Championship game came to a close, I tweeted "After such a sloppy game, TCU should claim to be the Co-National Champions," and I meant it. There is no reason for TCU to claim they aren't the national champions. Just because the NCAA decided to start calling a certain game the National Championship and handing out a trophy for it doesn't mean that TCU shouldn't be able to call themselves national champions. Though low-scoring, the Rose Bowl was a very well played game between two strong teams and proved that TCU was one of the best teams in the nation, maybe even the best team. TCU answered the questions many haters, myself included, had before the game and finished the season as one of two undefeated teams in the nation. With no clear cut best team in the nation, there is an obvious need for a playoff system.
I could sit here and explain why we need a playoff system, but there is no reason for it. Every college football fan knows why there should be a playoff. Everyone knows that the BCS system is ineffective. But this doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that college presidents, college coaches, and even some college players don't want a playoff system. The only thing these people care about is MONEY.
Every year, the city of Pasadena knows that they will make two billion dollars because of the Rose Bowl. The economic boom of bowl games and the money made is completely dependent on the fan bases of each team. Bowl games need college students and college alumni to fill up the stadiums. These fan bases are typically able to make one trip to a college bowl game each year. The playoff system would lead to three or four games for these fans to travel to and it seems relatively unlikely that they would be able to fill three or four games at neutral sites up with two fan bases.
Even if you would be able to guarantee that these tickets would get filled and people would be to travel to three of their team's games, there are still college presidents to please. Over the last 20 years, the bowl system has turned into a very sophisticated group of legal contracts signed by a ton of different college and conference presidents. To successfully implement a playoff system, there needs to be a significant amount of legal work done to please all the people involved who will stand to benefit economically from the bowl stystem.
Instead of people arguing for a playoff system, we need to begin assembling the country's smartest lawyers to begin looking at the legal work needed to create a playoff system.
Cam Newton = Tim Tebow
I am getting really tired of people claiming that Cam Newton will be successful because Tim Tebow has been successful in the NFL. First off, since when is starting three games and leading your team to one victory successful? In his three starts, he has only completed 50% of his passes and has a QB rating of 82.1. This is NOT a successful QB. That is a quarterback who has managed to sneak up on a few teams and be relatively successful, but not anywhere near an elite QB.
Second, though the promotion of Tebow has been sickening, few people in the league have a better work ethic than him. He works extremely hard and will do whatever possible to become successful. Have we ever seen anything like that out of Newton? No. We have learned to question Newton's character and some people are even thinking that NFL GMs will force Newton to take a lie detector test. I simply just do not see Newton being able to have the same success as Tebow in the NFL because he will not do everything in his power to become a successful NFL QB.
Trash Talk
Anyone who knows me knows that I love to talk trash. Nothing is better than some good trash talking and I have absolutely loved the talk between the Jets and Patriots this week. A lot of people believed that Rex Ryan and Antonio Cromartie were ignorant to begin riling up the Patriots and giving them motivation, but I could not disagree more. The Jets have talked trash all year and there is no reason for them to stop doing it just because they are facing the Patriots. By talking trash, the Jets have taken all the pressure off of Mark Sanchez, which is exactly where it should be. Without the trash talk, we would all be focusing on Sanchez's weaknesses and he would have to deal with questions about his inadequacies as a quarterback, but instead we are worried about the stupid things Ryan and Cromartie have said.
Though everyone believed that the Patriots would stay out of the trash talking because they like everyone to think they are one of the classiest organizations in the league (Cough...Spygate...Cough), but Wes Welker was having none of that. Welker's press conference yesterday was absolutely hilarious. Earlier in the year, a video surfaced which highlighted Rex Ryan's unusual foot preferences and Welker had an absolute field day with it. If you watch this video, Welker very subtly makes fun of Ryan throughout the whole press conference and doesn't crack even a smirk. Perfectly delivered and hilarious. Sublime acting, Mr. Welker. Absolutely sublime.
Going into this Monday's National Championship Game everyone was expecting to see a very exciting game with a ton of points scored, but instead of two high-powered offenses exchanging highlight plays and impressive long-lasting drives the teams slopped through the game and bored me to death. I understand that the score was close throughout the whole game, but sloppy football doesn't really excite me. I'm not saying that these two teams weren't the two best teams in the nation, but that was just an ugly football game and I didn't find it exciting. I refuse to buy into the media's claims that the National Championship was a great game this year.
The problem with this game, as well as many other bowl games, is the ridiculous amount of time between each team's final regular season game and their bowl game. It is nearly impossible to expect the best game of the season out of teams in bowl games when they have been forced to take more than a month of since their last game. The NCAA needs to find a way to shorten up the length of time in between these games, especially the BCS games. I'm tired of seeing teams struggle in the first quarter as they get their rhythm back and finally be able to turn it on as the second quarter begins.
A Playoff System in College Football
As the National Championship game came to a close, I tweeted "After such a sloppy game, TCU should claim to be the Co-National Champions," and I meant it. There is no reason for TCU to claim they aren't the national champions. Just because the NCAA decided to start calling a certain game the National Championship and handing out a trophy for it doesn't mean that TCU shouldn't be able to call themselves national champions. Though low-scoring, the Rose Bowl was a very well played game between two strong teams and proved that TCU was one of the best teams in the nation, maybe even the best team. TCU answered the questions many haters, myself included, had before the game and finished the season as one of two undefeated teams in the nation. With no clear cut best team in the nation, there is an obvious need for a playoff system.
I could sit here and explain why we need a playoff system, but there is no reason for it. Every college football fan knows why there should be a playoff. Everyone knows that the BCS system is ineffective. But this doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that college presidents, college coaches, and even some college players don't want a playoff system. The only thing these people care about is MONEY.
Every year, the city of Pasadena knows that they will make two billion dollars because of the Rose Bowl. The economic boom of bowl games and the money made is completely dependent on the fan bases of each team. Bowl games need college students and college alumni to fill up the stadiums. These fan bases are typically able to make one trip to a college bowl game each year. The playoff system would lead to three or four games for these fans to travel to and it seems relatively unlikely that they would be able to fill three or four games at neutral sites up with two fan bases.
Even if you would be able to guarantee that these tickets would get filled and people would be to travel to three of their team's games, there are still college presidents to please. Over the last 20 years, the bowl system has turned into a very sophisticated group of legal contracts signed by a ton of different college and conference presidents. To successfully implement a playoff system, there needs to be a significant amount of legal work done to please all the people involved who will stand to benefit economically from the bowl stystem.
Instead of people arguing for a playoff system, we need to begin assembling the country's smartest lawyers to begin looking at the legal work needed to create a playoff system.
Cam Newton = Tim Tebow
I am getting really tired of people claiming that Cam Newton will be successful because Tim Tebow has been successful in the NFL. First off, since when is starting three games and leading your team to one victory successful? In his three starts, he has only completed 50% of his passes and has a QB rating of 82.1. This is NOT a successful QB. That is a quarterback who has managed to sneak up on a few teams and be relatively successful, but not anywhere near an elite QB.
Second, though the promotion of Tebow has been sickening, few people in the league have a better work ethic than him. He works extremely hard and will do whatever possible to become successful. Have we ever seen anything like that out of Newton? No. We have learned to question Newton's character and some people are even thinking that NFL GMs will force Newton to take a lie detector test. I simply just do not see Newton being able to have the same success as Tebow in the NFL because he will not do everything in his power to become a successful NFL QB.
Trash Talk
Anyone who knows me knows that I love to talk trash. Nothing is better than some good trash talking and I have absolutely loved the talk between the Jets and Patriots this week. A lot of people believed that Rex Ryan and Antonio Cromartie were ignorant to begin riling up the Patriots and giving them motivation, but I could not disagree more. The Jets have talked trash all year and there is no reason for them to stop doing it just because they are facing the Patriots. By talking trash, the Jets have taken all the pressure off of Mark Sanchez, which is exactly where it should be. Without the trash talk, we would all be focusing on Sanchez's weaknesses and he would have to deal with questions about his inadequacies as a quarterback, but instead we are worried about the stupid things Ryan and Cromartie have said.
Though everyone believed that the Patriots would stay out of the trash talking because they like everyone to think they are one of the classiest organizations in the league (Cough...Spygate...Cough), but Wes Welker was having none of that. Welker's press conference yesterday was absolutely hilarious. Earlier in the year, a video surfaced which highlighted Rex Ryan's unusual foot preferences and Welker had an absolute field day with it. If you watch this video, Welker very subtly makes fun of Ryan throughout the whole press conference and doesn't crack even a smirk. Perfectly delivered and hilarious. Sublime acting, Mr. Welker. Absolutely sublime.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Free Love
Tuesday night I was privileged enough to watch the San Antonio Spurs play the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Though many people would probably tell me that watching this year's Timberwolves team is more of a punishment than a privilege, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and decided I would make a few observations from the evening.
1. Someone needs to get Kevin Love out of Minnesota.
There are only a few players in this league that I truly enjoy watching play and Kevin Love is one of them. I love watching Kevin Love rebound. Rebounding is an art form and though almost every player in the league has the ability to do it, very few do it well. Being an exceptional rebounder requires a great understanding of the nature of missed shots. You need to understand the angles that rebounds come off of the rim, the likelihood of getting a rebound in a particular position, and the position you need to grab that rebound. Love understands these things to a greater extent than ninety percent of the entire league.
It is an absolute shame to see a player of Kevin Love's caliber stuck in Minnesota. I understand that with 30 teams in the NBA there has to be good players stuck on bad teams, but I can't help but feel sorry for Love. In most cases, the great players stuck on bad teams are guys that are front runners that score a ton of points and look out for themselves, but Love is nothing like this. Love prides himself on making his teammates better. We have long heard about the phenomenal strength of his outlet passes and how great of a passer he is. As I watched Love intently on Tuesday, I was able to see just how much effort he exerted and how much he cared about his team.
It's sad to see a budding superstar who truly gives his best effort night in and night out stuck on a team like the Timberwolves. Love is surrounded by the foreign twin towers Darko Milicic and Nikola Pekovic. Milicic is starting to understand how to be an NBA center, but is still not very good and Pekovic just looks awful. He has terrible footwork and even worse hands. He constantly looks lost and seems to have no idea what is going on during each play. The rest of the team is filled with lottery pick busts and guys with questionable character with the exception of veteran point guard Luke Ridnour. The team assembled by David Kahn is an absolute joke, not because he has the worst talent in the league but because the team he assembled has nothing in common.
2. The Milwaukee Bucks actually work hard and play hard.
As I watched the Timberwolves on Tuesday night, I started to realize how big of a difference a good coach can make. From a talent standpoint, the Bucks are better than the Timberwolves, but not that much better. The thing that struck me most was how little effort the Timberwolves put into each play. When Scott Skiles became head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, the Bucks PR people introduced the newest advertising slogan, "Work Hard, Play Hard". Typically, these slogans are just cheesy catch phrases that the team can put on a whole bunch of t-shirts and towels and make some money, but on Tuesday night I realized that the Bucks truly follow that slogan. The differences in the effort between the Bucks and T'Wolves could not have been more drastic.
3. My love for Matt Bonner has reached dangerously high levels.
In one of my earlier posts, I discussed how much I loved the San Antonio Spurs and had mentioned how much I loved Matt Bonner. At first I thought I loved him because of his red hair and general lack of talent, but as I watched him even more I realized that there are even more reasons why I love him. I love the fact that I can compare his talents to the talent of myself and some of my friends. I love that he only shoots threes and drives to the right with his right hand. I love that I can talk about how awkward his game is. I love watching the reaction of players that play against him after he hits a shot in their face because it is absolutely priceless. (Wow. I have a problem. I need to stop.)
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Here is the newest song from the guys over at 3 A.M. Records. If you listen to my radio show, these are the guys who made the opening to our show. They make a ton of great music, so check them out.
1. Someone needs to get Kevin Love out of Minnesota.
There are only a few players in this league that I truly enjoy watching play and Kevin Love is one of them. I love watching Kevin Love rebound. Rebounding is an art form and though almost every player in the league has the ability to do it, very few do it well. Being an exceptional rebounder requires a great understanding of the nature of missed shots. You need to understand the angles that rebounds come off of the rim, the likelihood of getting a rebound in a particular position, and the position you need to grab that rebound. Love understands these things to a greater extent than ninety percent of the entire league.
It is an absolute shame to see a player of Kevin Love's caliber stuck in Minnesota. I understand that with 30 teams in the NBA there has to be good players stuck on bad teams, but I can't help but feel sorry for Love. In most cases, the great players stuck on bad teams are guys that are front runners that score a ton of points and look out for themselves, but Love is nothing like this. Love prides himself on making his teammates better. We have long heard about the phenomenal strength of his outlet passes and how great of a passer he is. As I watched Love intently on Tuesday, I was able to see just how much effort he exerted and how much he cared about his team.
It's sad to see a budding superstar who truly gives his best effort night in and night out stuck on a team like the Timberwolves. Love is surrounded by the foreign twin towers Darko Milicic and Nikola Pekovic. Milicic is starting to understand how to be an NBA center, but is still not very good and Pekovic just looks awful. He has terrible footwork and even worse hands. He constantly looks lost and seems to have no idea what is going on during each play. The rest of the team is filled with lottery pick busts and guys with questionable character with the exception of veteran point guard Luke Ridnour. The team assembled by David Kahn is an absolute joke, not because he has the worst talent in the league but because the team he assembled has nothing in common.
2. The Milwaukee Bucks actually work hard and play hard.
As I watched the Timberwolves on Tuesday night, I started to realize how big of a difference a good coach can make. From a talent standpoint, the Bucks are better than the Timberwolves, but not that much better. The thing that struck me most was how little effort the Timberwolves put into each play. When Scott Skiles became head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, the Bucks PR people introduced the newest advertising slogan, "Work Hard, Play Hard". Typically, these slogans are just cheesy catch phrases that the team can put on a whole bunch of t-shirts and towels and make some money, but on Tuesday night I realized that the Bucks truly follow that slogan. The differences in the effort between the Bucks and T'Wolves could not have been more drastic.
3. My love for Matt Bonner has reached dangerously high levels.
In one of my earlier posts, I discussed how much I loved the San Antonio Spurs and had mentioned how much I loved Matt Bonner. At first I thought I loved him because of his red hair and general lack of talent, but as I watched him even more I realized that there are even more reasons why I love him. I love the fact that I can compare his talents to the talent of myself and some of my friends. I love that he only shoots threes and drives to the right with his right hand. I love that I can talk about how awkward his game is. I love watching the reaction of players that play against him after he hits a shot in their face because it is absolutely priceless. (Wow. I have a problem. I need to stop.)
----------------------------
Here is the newest song from the guys over at 3 A.M. Records. If you listen to my radio show, these are the guys who made the opening to our show. They make a ton of great music, so check them out.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Vick to My Stomach
As I watched Tramon Williams prance around with the pass he had intercepted to end the Eagles' season, my mind immediately went to the offseason of the Eagles. I immediately started to feel a bit queasy when I realized that next season would become the second season of the Michael Vick Era in Philadelphia.
Many people think this past season should get me excited about the Michael Vick Era. Vick is the most exciting player in football. He is also one of the strongest candidates for this year's NFL MVP. This season he proved to the football world that he is a much improved passer and a much better quarterback than he has ever been. Everyone knows how great of an athlete he is, but this year Vick finally proved that he can successfully play the quarterback position, which is something he had been unable to do in the past.
Knowing all of this I am still unexcited.
I have remained adamant throughout this season that Vick will always be one of the league's most exciting players, but he is not the type of player that wins your team a championship. As a season goes on, teams typically begin to figure out Vick and can begin to slow him down, making him less effective. This becomes especially true in the playoffs. After seeing Vick play in 16 different games, teams get a better understanding of the defensive schemes that work against him and the ones that don't, which leads to a more sophisticated defensive approach by most playoff teams. With strong defenses armed with smart gameplans, Vick has a 2-3 playoff record as a starting quarterback.
To win the Super Bowl in the modern NFL, there are only two types of quarterbacks your team can start. Your starting quarterback either needs to be a game manager that doesn't make mistakes or an elite quarterback. And by elite quarterback, I mean a quarterback. A field general. A guy that can make all the throws. A guy who makes the right calls at the line. A guy who can lead a team up and down the field flawlessly with his ARM.
Since 2001, here are the starting quarterbacks of every Super Bowl winner:
In that group of players, there are game managers (Dilfer, Johnson, 2006 Roethlisberger, E. Manning) and elite quarterbacks that won the game for their respective teams (Brady, P. Manning, 2008 Roethlisberger, Brees). I know this is going to be sickening to a lot of people, but even with all of the amazing talent Michael Vick has he cannot be a part of either of these groups. He will never be an elite quarterback that can win a game with his arm, but his ridiculous skill set will not allow him to be a game manager either.
Earlier this season, I insisted that the Eagles should have gone with Kevin Kolb as their starting quarterback. I went on to explain that playing Vick for the whole season would put the Eagles into a very sticky situation at the end of the season with Michael Vick as a free agent. Well, the Eagles started Vick for the entire season and now they are insisting on signing him to a long-term contract. Reports out of Philadelphia are that Kevin Kolb wants to be a starting quarterback and it's pretty obvious that Philadelphia will not be the place for him to do this.
In my mind I see this ending only one way. The Eagles will certainly sign Michael Vick to a large extension and be forced to trade Kolb, but there is one big problem: the pending collective bargaining agreement. Nothing can happen this offseason until a new agreement is signed. This long period of time will prevent teams from making rush judgments and a quick trade for Kolb. The Eagles are currently asking for two first round picks for the fourth year quarterback from the University of Houston. There is no way any team in the league will give up two first round picks. Asking for two first round picks is simply a matter of posturing by the Eagles organization, but every GM in the league knows that the Eagles cannot afford to pay for two starting quarterbacks especially if they give Vick the huge contract he is expected to sign. With the Eagles backed into a corner, they will be forced to give up Kolb for considerably less than they currently want.
The Kevin Kolb trade will lead to years of mediocrity by the Eagles. The Michael Vick Era will lead to years of first round playoff losses and near playoff misses. I have emphasized many times before that the NFL is cyclical. It is absolutely necessary to experience bad times for at least one season to once again ascend to greatness. The only exceptions to this rule are teams led by the two greatest quarterbacks of all-time, the Patriots and Colts, and it could be argued that even the Colts could use some high-end draft picks to reload their team for another multiple year playoff run.
Though I have disputed much of Michael Vick's success thus far in this article, there is no disputing that he can singlehandedly will a mediocre team to the playoffs. The Eagles defense this season was once again very mediocre. As a team, the Eagles didn't really deserve to make the playoffs, but Michael Vick willed them into the playoffs through a series of miraculous plays and games. Throughout the years, Vick has proved that he can take mediocre teams and even bad teams into the playoffs, but the problem is bad teams don't win in the playoffs.
With Vick, the Eagles will never have a bad year. At worst, the Eagles will be an 8-8 team which will lead to a lot of mid-level NFL Draft picks. Without an influx of young, upper level talent the Eagles will be unable to get the players they need to improve the team and make it capable of deep playoff runs on a yearly basis. Vick's spectacular talent will lead to mediocre teams overachieving during his entire contract, but never to any Super Bowl wins or terrible seasons. With Vick, the Eagles will be stuck in NFL limbo and are doomed to stay there until his contract expires. And as an Eagles fan, I cannot wait to see who's next. Too bad I'm going to have to wait five years...
Many people think this past season should get me excited about the Michael Vick Era. Vick is the most exciting player in football. He is also one of the strongest candidates for this year's NFL MVP. This season he proved to the football world that he is a much improved passer and a much better quarterback than he has ever been. Everyone knows how great of an athlete he is, but this year Vick finally proved that he can successfully play the quarterback position, which is something he had been unable to do in the past.
Knowing all of this I am still unexcited.
I have remained adamant throughout this season that Vick will always be one of the league's most exciting players, but he is not the type of player that wins your team a championship. As a season goes on, teams typically begin to figure out Vick and can begin to slow him down, making him less effective. This becomes especially true in the playoffs. After seeing Vick play in 16 different games, teams get a better understanding of the defensive schemes that work against him and the ones that don't, which leads to a more sophisticated defensive approach by most playoff teams. With strong defenses armed with smart gameplans, Vick has a 2-3 playoff record as a starting quarterback.
To win the Super Bowl in the modern NFL, there are only two types of quarterbacks your team can start. Your starting quarterback either needs to be a game manager that doesn't make mistakes or an elite quarterback. And by elite quarterback, I mean a quarterback. A field general. A guy that can make all the throws. A guy who makes the right calls at the line. A guy who can lead a team up and down the field flawlessly with his ARM.
Since 2001, here are the starting quarterbacks of every Super Bowl winner:
- 2001 - Baltimore Ravens - Trent Dilfer
- 2002 - New England Patriots - Tom Brady
- 2003 - Tampa Bay Bucaaneers - Brad Johnson
- 2004 - New England Patriots - Tom Brady
- 2005 - New England Patriots - Tom Brady
- 2006 - Pittsburgh Steelers - Ben Roethlisberger
- 2007 - Indianapolis Colts - Peyton Manning
- 2008 - New York Giants - Eli Manning
- 2009 - Pittsburgh Steelers - Ben Roethlisberger
- 2010 - New Orleans Saints - Drew Brees
In that group of players, there are game managers (Dilfer, Johnson, 2006 Roethlisberger, E. Manning) and elite quarterbacks that won the game for their respective teams (Brady, P. Manning, 2008 Roethlisberger, Brees). I know this is going to be sickening to a lot of people, but even with all of the amazing talent Michael Vick has he cannot be a part of either of these groups. He will never be an elite quarterback that can win a game with his arm, but his ridiculous skill set will not allow him to be a game manager either.
Earlier this season, I insisted that the Eagles should have gone with Kevin Kolb as their starting quarterback. I went on to explain that playing Vick for the whole season would put the Eagles into a very sticky situation at the end of the season with Michael Vick as a free agent. Well, the Eagles started Vick for the entire season and now they are insisting on signing him to a long-term contract. Reports out of Philadelphia are that Kevin Kolb wants to be a starting quarterback and it's pretty obvious that Philadelphia will not be the place for him to do this.
In my mind I see this ending only one way. The Eagles will certainly sign Michael Vick to a large extension and be forced to trade Kolb, but there is one big problem: the pending collective bargaining agreement. Nothing can happen this offseason until a new agreement is signed. This long period of time will prevent teams from making rush judgments and a quick trade for Kolb. The Eagles are currently asking for two first round picks for the fourth year quarterback from the University of Houston. There is no way any team in the league will give up two first round picks. Asking for two first round picks is simply a matter of posturing by the Eagles organization, but every GM in the league knows that the Eagles cannot afford to pay for two starting quarterbacks especially if they give Vick the huge contract he is expected to sign. With the Eagles backed into a corner, they will be forced to give up Kolb for considerably less than they currently want.
The Kevin Kolb trade will lead to years of mediocrity by the Eagles. The Michael Vick Era will lead to years of first round playoff losses and near playoff misses. I have emphasized many times before that the NFL is cyclical. It is absolutely necessary to experience bad times for at least one season to once again ascend to greatness. The only exceptions to this rule are teams led by the two greatest quarterbacks of all-time, the Patriots and Colts, and it could be argued that even the Colts could use some high-end draft picks to reload their team for another multiple year playoff run.
Though I have disputed much of Michael Vick's success thus far in this article, there is no disputing that he can singlehandedly will a mediocre team to the playoffs. The Eagles defense this season was once again very mediocre. As a team, the Eagles didn't really deserve to make the playoffs, but Michael Vick willed them into the playoffs through a series of miraculous plays and games. Throughout the years, Vick has proved that he can take mediocre teams and even bad teams into the playoffs, but the problem is bad teams don't win in the playoffs.
With Vick, the Eagles will never have a bad year. At worst, the Eagles will be an 8-8 team which will lead to a lot of mid-level NFL Draft picks. Without an influx of young, upper level talent the Eagles will be unable to get the players they need to improve the team and make it capable of deep playoff runs on a yearly basis. Vick's spectacular talent will lead to mediocre teams overachieving during his entire contract, but never to any Super Bowl wins or terrible seasons. With Vick, the Eagles will be stuck in NFL limbo and are doomed to stay there until his contract expires. And as an Eagles fan, I cannot wait to see who's next. Too bad I'm going to have to wait five years...
Friday, January 7, 2011
Fired Up Friday
Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I have been vacationing in New Orleans for the last week and haven't been able to find a consistent wireless internet connection and therefore haven't been able to post anything to the blog. But no worries, I am back! YOU KNOW IT!
Chris Paul
On Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of watching the New Orleans Hornets take on the Golden State Warriors. I was expecting to see an up and down game with a ton of points scored, but since Dorell Wright singlehandedly killed the flow of the game I was only able to watch one quarter of good basketball. The reason the game was a pleasure was to watch Chris Paul. Chris Paul is absolutely phenomenal to watch live.
As Paul scored on two consecutive drives to the basket, my dad asked, "Why don't they make him shoot a three? He hasn't shot a three all night." I tried to convince him that he was just too quick, but as I was talking the Hornets showed a replay of the last play and my dad started to trail off mid-sentence. "Wow. I take that back. That defender was at least five feet away from him. Paul can really move, huh?"
It's not just Paul's quickness, it's just the way he manages a game. As I saw Paul surrounded by the likes of Trevor Ariza, Willie Green, Emeka Okafor, and Marco Bellinelli, I started to assume that the Hornets were near the bottom of the Western Conference, but to my amazement they were actually 21-14 and 7th in the Western Conference. The only reason for their success is Paul and in my mind nothing else. Paul doesn't make mistakes. He controls the flow of the game and somehow as a diminutive point guard controls the entire game.
Just as I started to discuss how great he is with my brother, I checked my Twitter account and immediately saw this tweet from Michael Smith, "Whether ur a Rondo, Rose, or Westbrook guy what's really cool is we're going 2 b having this best-PG-in-the-league discussion 4 a long time." Smith immediately tweeted that of course Paul, Nash, Williams, and Kidd were obviously in the discussion as well, but the fact that he would even make that first tweet shows disrespect to those other guys. Sure, Westbrook has highlight dunks and Rondo puts up gawdy numbers (22 assists in one game!!!), but truly great point guards control games and make their team better.
The four players Smith mentions second (Paul, Nash, Williams, and Kidd) are the point guards who understand what it's like to lead a team and make the players around them better. These guys might have a highlight play every once in a while, but night in and night out they are the reason why their team wins games. They are consistently great and the rock that every player on their respective teams lean on. These guys are so consistently great that it becomes much easier to reward these flashes in the pan and great single games rather than reward the best of the best for their consistency.
NBA Arenas
After watching Wednesday's game in the New Orleans Arena, I have now watched an NBA game at three different arenas. Once inside each of these arenas, I could not tell the difference. I know there is only so much you can do with such a large concrete complex, but please some architect get creative and do something cool with an arena. I am tired of walking into an arena and taking an escalator up to the second floor and seeing concession stands and vendors on each side. I don't care what it is, but someone do something different.
One of my favorite parts of going to a new baseball stadium is checking out the differences in that park. Checking out the things I have never seen before. I know obviously with an open air stadium, you have more options, you can put things different places, throw in a cool looking fountain, there are a ton of options. I truly hope a rich investor in Las Vegas or Seatlle reads this and decides to do something we've never seen before. My fingers are crossed. Someone please impress me.
Chris Paul
On Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of watching the New Orleans Hornets take on the Golden State Warriors. I was expecting to see an up and down game with a ton of points scored, but since Dorell Wright singlehandedly killed the flow of the game I was only able to watch one quarter of good basketball. The reason the game was a pleasure was to watch Chris Paul. Chris Paul is absolutely phenomenal to watch live.
As Paul scored on two consecutive drives to the basket, my dad asked, "Why don't they make him shoot a three? He hasn't shot a three all night." I tried to convince him that he was just too quick, but as I was talking the Hornets showed a replay of the last play and my dad started to trail off mid-sentence. "Wow. I take that back. That defender was at least five feet away from him. Paul can really move, huh?"
It's not just Paul's quickness, it's just the way he manages a game. As I saw Paul surrounded by the likes of Trevor Ariza, Willie Green, Emeka Okafor, and Marco Bellinelli, I started to assume that the Hornets were near the bottom of the Western Conference, but to my amazement they were actually 21-14 and 7th in the Western Conference. The only reason for their success is Paul and in my mind nothing else. Paul doesn't make mistakes. He controls the flow of the game and somehow as a diminutive point guard controls the entire game.
Just as I started to discuss how great he is with my brother, I checked my Twitter account and immediately saw this tweet from Michael Smith, "Whether ur a Rondo, Rose, or Westbrook guy what's really cool is we're going 2 b having this best-PG-in-the-league discussion 4 a long time." Smith immediately tweeted that of course Paul, Nash, Williams, and Kidd were obviously in the discussion as well, but the fact that he would even make that first tweet shows disrespect to those other guys. Sure, Westbrook has highlight dunks and Rondo puts up gawdy numbers (22 assists in one game!!!), but truly great point guards control games and make their team better.
The four players Smith mentions second (Paul, Nash, Williams, and Kidd) are the point guards who understand what it's like to lead a team and make the players around them better. These guys might have a highlight play every once in a while, but night in and night out they are the reason why their team wins games. They are consistently great and the rock that every player on their respective teams lean on. These guys are so consistently great that it becomes much easier to reward these flashes in the pan and great single games rather than reward the best of the best for their consistency.
NBA Arenas
After watching Wednesday's game in the New Orleans Arena, I have now watched an NBA game at three different arenas. Once inside each of these arenas, I could not tell the difference. I know there is only so much you can do with such a large concrete complex, but please some architect get creative and do something cool with an arena. I am tired of walking into an arena and taking an escalator up to the second floor and seeing concession stands and vendors on each side. I don't care what it is, but someone do something different.
One of my favorite parts of going to a new baseball stadium is checking out the differences in that park. Checking out the things I have never seen before. I know obviously with an open air stadium, you have more options, you can put things different places, throw in a cool looking fountain, there are a ton of options. I truly hope a rich investor in Las Vegas or Seatlle reads this and decides to do something we've never seen before. My fingers are crossed. Someone please impress me.
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