Week 10 Thursday Afternoon Punter

Vack from holidays!

Week 10 Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) What a crazy ending in the Jags - Texans game. Man, every Gus Johnsons game! Good job by the NKnicks for distancing themselves from the Law of Gus Johnson. Now they just play boring games.

2.) Tie game. Overtime. About a minute and half left. Both teams with one timeout left. Ball within your own three. You got a choice. Run the ball and get a tie. Or go for a loss. What do you do? Well, if you're Eric Mangini, you go for the loss. He coached scared. You could get ripped for settling for a tie, but not for going for the win. Well, if you so badly want to go for the win, you should have gone for two at the end of regulation down by one. The Jets were desperate for the Browns to not run out the clock. Call me crazy, but I subscribe to the theory that what the other team wants you to do is generally not good for you. Horrible job there.

3.) That said, Jericho Cothery clearly injuring himself during a play, seeing his QB in trouble and sprinting to make a diving catch was one of the most remarkable things I've seen on a football field. More than the Hail Mary. The only thing that really beats it is....

4.) Michael Vick. It's not everyday you see a pro athlete look like he's on an entirely different level than his peers. That said, let's all calm down. It's been a couple of games. He might continue to perform fantastically, but let's see it first. I love the way he's playing, but now he's being talked about as if he's unstoppable. He's not the greatest QB ever, and even the greatest QBs ever have been stopped. I really hate saying this before he plays the Giants, though.

5.) I did love how people were talking about how the Cowboys offense is different now that Wade Phillips is gone. Jason Garrett had autonomy oer the offense anyway. The difference this week was that Jon Kitna looked like Peyton Manning.

6.) Mario Manningham's very talented. Home run threat. Reliable hands. Is going to put up big numbers while Steve Smith is out with injury. Giants should shop him after the season. Manningham's not a smart WR. Not nearly as much as Smith. Too many times I've seen him catch a pass near the sideline and bring his second foot out of bound when he had room to shorten his stride and get in, or run a thrid down route short of the marker (just pass the yellow line!), or, worst of all, catch a thrid down pass for a first down and then retreat behind the marker to try to break his guy and get tackled short. Don't get me wrong, he's a great number three WR and would be a really good number two, but I would like to see what they could get for him.

7.) I seriously reccomend going to NFL.com videos and watching the Anatomy of The Plays segments. Mike Mayock does a brilliant job breaking down every asoect of the play and shows you all that goes into a success. A must watch.

Limerick of the Week

The Knicks I continue to support
Though they're sucking on the court
Giants get torched by Vick
It all makes me sick
How long till pitchers and catchers report?

Peace

Week 9 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

Week 9 Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) How can you not love the way Mike Vick is playing? He's finally playing the way we'd all hoped he would. Well, outside of those who thought he was an elite QB in Atlanta. The thing with Vick always was was that if he could ever develop into a good passer and use his running as one option, not THE option, he'd be a QB like we'd never seen. He seems to have become that. Unless they fear injury, Philly should lock him up now. You can't let a talent like that hit the market.

2.) The Cowboys worry me this week. Changing coaches in the middle of a season sometimes lights a fire under the players, especially those who'd quit on the old one. Dallas is not short on talent. If the Giants sleep on them, they could be in for an upset.

3.) Great win for the Jets. Down 10 with four minutes left. Sanchez bounced back from playing a bad game to help get the win. That's what you want to see from a young QB. I have to be fair, that's what I always harped on when Eli was young.

4.) It is funny, though, how winning a game makes people forget how bad things were uring the game. At one point in the Jets game, the Lions were up by three with first and goal just outside the five. The Jets lined up with too many men on the field and were forced to call a timeout. Then on second down, it happened again! They burned two timeouts in a close game with most of the fourth quarter left. That's terrible. Still, players are dumb. Say you're the player who realizes that you need to run off the field to acoid a penalty. Now the other team has first and goal at around the six. Now, you can try to run off the field, drawing attention to yourself and telling the offense to snap the ball for a free play, or cost your team a timeout in a close game. What should you do? The correct answer there is secret choice C. You should run up to the line and touch an ofensive player, get called for encroachment (a dead ball penalty), give the offense half the distance to the goal (3 yards) and save your vital timeouts. If you can't stop them from the three, you probably wouldn't have stopped them from the six. Timeouts are more important there than three yards.

5.) It is interesting how much people hate the BCS, yet talk about the NFL in the same way. This week I heard so many media people talking about which teams can win the Super Bowl and which potential playoff teams may as well go home. That's stupid. Anything can happen in the playoffs (Yep, you guessed it, I'm about to make a Super Bowl XLII reference). Just ask the 18-0 Patriots. I wonder how many media people were talking about the Giants as a team that could win the Super Bowl.

6.) I don't understand why the Browns refuse to commit to Colt McCoy as the starter. He's already at least as good as anyone on the team and has a high ceiling.

7.) The roughing the passer penalty against Philly when Peyton's helmet was touched was ridiculous. It should more of a judgement call, not so strict that allows for no interpretation. And the penalty on the Collie hit was even worse. That was a reaction to the result, not the actual play. You shouldn't throw a flag because a hit looked vicious or the hittee isn't getting up.

Limerick of the Week

In July I was crushed by The Decision

October forced me to make a World Series revision

My picks were bad

Still, not as sad

As seeing Wade Phillips exiled from the division.

Peace

Week 8 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

So the Giants won the World Series. Doesn't matter. This brings up the age old philosophical question: If a team wins a World Series and no one sees it, does it matter? More importantly, if a team wins a World Series and it's not the Yanks, then did that season happen?

No and no.

My bitterness aside, game four is what was most important about this series and the coming offseason. With the Rangers down 2-1, Tommy Hinter started instead of Cliff Lee. Cliff Leem who was the answer for the Rangers. More important than game 4 is that if the series went 7 Lee wouldn't have been available. I don't see why Lee could not pitch game 4, Hunter 5, Wilson 6, and Lee again on 7. Oh of course, Cliff Lee has never pitched on 3 days rest.

I hate that point. Pick whatever workhorse pitcher you want; Halladay, Sabathia, anybody, they hadn't pitched on three days rest until the first time they did. Every pitcher had never pitched on short rest until he did. Manuel refused to do it to Lee last year and Washington id the same this year. Makes me woner if Lee isn't saying that he can't go. If that's the case, than he's no ace. Apart from that being a wicked rhyme, it's also true. An ace needs to demand the ball whenever his team's down. I thought Girardi should've started Sabathia in Game 4, followed by Burnett, Pettite, and Sabathia.I don't know why that didn't happen. Supposedly he didn't want anyone else on short rest, so having forseen that issue Pettite should've pitched Game 2 and he'd have been on normal rest on game 6. That's not the point, anyway. The point is, that after Giving the Yanks a very good start on Game 5, Sabathia told Girardi he was available to relieve in game 6... on one day's rest. He's not the only ace that would do that. Any ace would. I think Lee didn't.

On another note, I was beginning to think that the idiotic moves plaguing the Knicks for the past decade were over. I thought we were in the dawning of a new era. The "New New York Knicks" as their calling themselves, would be different.

I was wrong.

For the past decade, consistently the best part of being a Knicks fan was getting to hear Gus Johnson call 50 more games than most people do. Not only did I get to hear Gus Johnson on a regular basis, I got a different Gus Johnson. I got Gus Johnson rooting for my team announcing the games. He was way more over the top than he usually was. He had John Sterling type catchphrases for each players ("My name is Al Harrington, and I make baskets!"). It was amazing. I was looking forward to getting to hear Gus Johnson calling the action for a quality Knicks team. No such luck. For some reason the Knicks decide to let Gus go. I don't get it. I feel betrayed. This is more inexpl;icable than them trading Ewing. For me to say that, well, you could see how hurt I am by this. On to the TAP.

Week 8 Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) Randy Moss would be a Jet today if the Jets had their way. Unfortunately for them, they don't have first priority. So he probably wouldn't end up there, but man what a perfect fit.

2.) As for Childress cutting Moss. I think he was sick of hearing everyone say he didn't have the guts to bench Favre and tgus was the ramatic way to prove them wrong. It's like if a guy became so desperate to prove he wasn't having money problems that he pulls a 100 dollar bill out of his pocket and tears it to pieces. It doesn't really prove anything, just that you're an idiot. Now you're out a 100 dollars for nothing.

3.) A Chargers Vikings Super Bowl, man I gotta stop making predictions. Or predict a Jets and non Giants Super Bowl.

4.) Mike Shannahan thinks we're all idiots. He benches McNabb at the most critical point in the game for whatever reason and brings in Grossman. Maybe that could've worked, maybe the backup QB kick starts the offense and they march own the field. Still doesn't mean it's the right move. Especially if you're going back to McNabb as the starter. Even more especially if your ace in the hole is Rex Grossman. Then after the game he tries to drown everyone's criticisms in some football jargon, throwing around words like "two minute offense terminology" As we all know, the two minute offense is simpler than the regular offense. Running plays are all but eliminated. That's half the playbook. Also, it needs to be simple enough to call at the line, in a hurry, I don't think it can be all that complicated.

5.) How can you not like Josh Freeman? Ahem, "When you look at this guy, here's a guy who's a football player. A football player in the National Football League that wins football games." I think black guys deserve some of that too. Eight career wins, six fourth quarter comebacks. Impressive.

6.) Watched the NFL redzone channel for the first full Sunday this week. That thing is awesome. I mean if the Giants aren't playing, game breaks are my favorite parts of games, this channel is all game breaks. Absolutely worth the money, or the time to find it online, which I may or may not have done.

7/) Nice job by Rex Ryan throwing his punter under the bus after a terrible fake punt. Ryan said the punter has the green light to go whenever he wants. That's a you problem. You don't give punters or kickers green lights, and if you do you make sure you give them the re light when it'd be moronic to go. They're punters. Not QBs. Don't give them authority.

Limerick of the Week

Off the team did the Vikes Moss kick

I guess he and Childress didn't quite click

Now he'll sign with the Pats

The we gotta say congrats

To BB for somehow getting a free draft pick.

Peace

Week 7 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

There's always a backlash against anything that's popular. It happens with almost any great athlete. celebrity, or organization. The United States is the most criticized country worldwide, yet everyone wants to live here. How much ripping does ESPN take? But nobody would want to live without it. That goes for this World Series, as well. Most everyone who wasn't a Yankee or Philly fan wanted to see the Giants and Rangers in the Series. They justified this by saying things like "I want to see new blood win it", which would be fine if it were true. In reality, these people just didn't like the Yanks and/or the Phills. As a result, all these people who wanted to see new blood will not be watching.

They would if it were the other two teams.

Hey, I'm no different. If in the NBA conference finals you had the Lakers against he Jazz and the Celtics against the Bulls, I'd be pulling hard for the Bulls and Jazz. I'd be happy if they won, but I wouldn't watch the Finals. Or at least not as much as if it were the Lakers and Celtics.

Now before I get to my next point I want to say, the Rangers would have beaten the Yankees without Cliff Lee. They were the better team. Their starters outpitched Yankee starters, their bullpen was overall superior to the Yankee bullpen, their hitting, fielding, baserunning, and managing were all better.

With that said, I've always been fascinated with the events of July 9, 2010. That was the pleasant Friday that sports fans woke up to find out that Cliff Lee was headed to the Yankees. It was a done deal, according to everybody who covered the sport. There were a formality or two to be taken care of but both teams had agreed and it was over. The hours passed and still, Lee was definately headed to the Yankees, though neither team had made it official. Then there came some whispers that the deal was no longer as done as first reported. Seattle, reportedly was having cold feet. Still time passed. Then, suddenly, WHAM! News breaks that Lee had been dealt to the Rangers.

Now let's all recall the climate in baseball on that ay. The Yankees were rolling. They seemed to be clearly the best team in baseball. Adding Lee to a rotation that already boasted ace Sabathia, Hughes, who was still rolling, and Pettite having a terrific season. It was almost laughable. The Lee story became such a forgone conclusion that discussions had already begun as to whom the Yankees would leave off of their three man rotation in the ALDS. The rest of the season was a formality, start preparations for the parade.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers were floundering. They were the best team in the AL West, but that was more to do with a lack of competition than anything great the Rangers were doing. Moreover, Texas was being run by Major League Baseball, Tom Hicks having gotten in to financial issues. Therefore, the Rangers were in transition and couldn't take on any more money until they were officially sold. They were in negotiations to try to land Lee, but were not willing to offer what the Mariners wanted. Seattle, allegedly, reaches a deal with the Yankees. This, let's face it, would have been bad for Major League Baseball. The rich getting richer, buying championships, competitive imbalance and all that garbage would be all anyone talke about as the Yankees routed their way to a 29th title. Now, Seattle doesn't pull the trigger with the Yankees and gets what they want from Texas, at the same time defusing the chance that the Yankees would walk to a title and raising the value of the team being run by Major League Baseball. I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying.

Look, when trades are being negotiated, this all I assume, the party with the player everyone wants, tries to raise the asking price by claiming they're getting better offers elsewhere. It's up to the other teams to decide whether or not to believe them. Sometimes a story may even be leaked to the press to sway negotiations. The only people that might know whether or not a deal is agreed upon are the two teams and MLB. The problem here is that MLB happens to be one of the teams that want the player in question. When they find out what deal is agreed upon, they can offer a slightly better deal. Which isn't exactly a level field.

It's like in a fantasy league. Where two teams agree on a trade. The commissioner contact one of the managers and says "You accepted that?! Here' I'll offer you something better, then vetoes the original trade and gets his push through. I know this sounds far fetched, but there are three things in sports you'll never convince me of:

1.) LeBron made his decision the morning of "The Decision" or even that summer.

2.) That was actual blood on that sock.

3.) The events on July 9, 2010 regarding the Cliff Lee trade were totally Halal.

Week 7 Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) The league can't stay away from controversy. I mean, this week there were no illegal hits, no helmat to helmet anything. Hell, even Monday Night Football took the graphic of the two helmets colliding out, but now we got to talk about replay and it's shortcomings. Ben gets stripped going in to the endzone, dogpile ensues, refs rule TD. Miami comes out with the ball, but since that's not obvious in the replay and the refs unloaded the ogpile by signalling T, the Steelers players can argue they just let go, the refs can't give Miami the ball just take the TD away. Why don't refs get encourage to let a play finish before making a ruling? Let them fight for the ball, see who comes out with it, then tell everyone that the ruling is a TD. That way, all your bases are covered.

2.) Wade Phillips doesn't get it. In the fourth quarter, Giants were up by 18 with around 7 minutes left. Dallas had a fourth an goal and they go for it. Look, if you want to make a comeback, you'll probably need a FG anyway, so why not take it there? I know you want TDs, but a FG is needed and basically guaranteed there while a TD is at best a 50-50 proposition. The problem is, it doesn't look that good. Going for three down 18, but that's the call.

3.) Great challenge by Coughlin on a Dallas punt that was owned at the one. Someone in the Giants noticed that the guy who kept it from going in to the endzone stepped out of bounds and was the first to touch the ball. The guys in the booth never saw that. Touchback.

4.) I figured out why Collinsworth is considered to be the best color guy.He's good, that's not a doubt, and he does avoid cliches which helps, but the biggest thing, and he said this before, is that he doesn't follow the ball. He's said before he watches the line live and the play on replay. That's ridiculously smart. Most fans know enough to know what they just saw happen with the ball. So explaining that just seems obvious most of the time, but we rarely watch the lines. So when, right when the play ends, Collinsworth starts talking about something he saw in the line or a trend he's noticed he seems really informed because we only see it on the replay. Good tactic, don't know why more guys don't use it.

5.) Favre's hurt. Obviously. He limpe after every pick an after the game which obviously means that he's obviously hurt. Never mind that he ran around like a kid out there when he thought he threw a TD to Harvin.

6.) Spent all of Sunday in the car so missed all the games, which made some of the scores (Saints/Chiefs, Raiders/Broncos) all the more shocking. Well, since I didn't get to see much football, I didn't have many thoughts I think I thought about thinking. I think.

Week 7 Limerick of the Week

The Giants needed no extra reason

To put an end to Dallas's football season

But Texas beat the Yanks

So I advance a thanks

To the Giants for ending Texas's baseball season.

Peace

Week 6 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) A lot's being made about the big hits in the league and how to protect the players. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but the best way to protect the players is to give them less protection. The penalties on hitting defenseless receivers are hard to avoid. Safeties are taught to seperate the player from the ball. You can't ask them to judfe whether or not the player is defenseless or not. It's a split second's decision and a split second is the difference between a receiver being defenseless and a receiver side stepping the hit and escaping for a 72 yard touchdown. I hear people rationalizing that the reason there are more head injuries now then there used to be is that doctors are better equipped at diagnosing them. While that might be a part of the reason, I'm not sold that it's that simple. The equipment players wear now is so much more advancedthan what they use to. They're lighter, more comfortable, and safer.This, I think, gives the players sense of immortality that previous generations lacked allowing defenders to launch themselves at the opposition with no fear of what injury might befall themselves. I mean, what is the purpose of shoulder pads? Sure they protect you, but mostly they allow you to hit others without fearing of hurting your shoulder. It's like, if you took the gloves off of boxers, there would probably be less head injuries because a boxer's hands would usually be too sore before they reach the point of doing any serious damage. Or maybe not, I'm just guessing here.

2.) The Giants are worst in the league at converting third and three or less. That's of no real surprise. They're playing on Monday night this week, watch them. Anytime they're in third and short away from the goal line, Manning's in the shotgun. I can't emphasize enough how meticulous this is. I mean, at least have the threat of the run. That isn't to say that they don't run from th gun in these situations, but that's the point. A run from the shotgun is effective when the defense is sure you're passing and, therefore, not really holding the line. If you're in the gun in short yardage, the defense will be weary towards the run and inside hand offs aren't nearly as effective when the defense is looking for them. They've converted a few of these, but mostly because Bradshaw made three people miss and just passe the chains.

3.) By the way, I nominate "Playing ahead of the chains" as the next football cliche that will be run into the ground mercilessly.

4.) That was absolutely a pass interference on Denver at the end of the Jets game. It had to be called. It's just a shame that a team could do everything wrong at the end of the game and be rewared so handsomely. I think defensive penalties in general are ridiculously harsh. Offensive holding is a ten yard penalty and a repeat of the down. Defensive holding is a five yard penalty and automatic first down. That hardly seems fair. Defensive holding should be a ten yard penalty and if the offense passes the marker it's a first down. I've seen too many times a team fail on third and 15 plus and be rewarded with an automatic first down because of a five yard penalty. Offensive pass interference is the same as offensive holding while defensive pass interference is a spot foul and automatic first down. I don't think defensive PI should be changed, but I think offensive PI should be changed and enforced strongly. An offensive PI should be however many yards ownfield from the line of scrimmage the penalty occurred and a loss of down. It's not fair that a defense could get a fifty yard penalty but offenses can't. Morewover, offensive PU needs to be called more, just look at the Texans Chiefs game. Andre Johnson blatantly pushed the defender away from the ball and the refs called defensive PI solely because there was contact. Maybe PI should be challangeable.....

5.) Why do the Packers get such a free pass? I see no real difference between the Packers and the Cowboys: Both teams have bad coaches who tend to mess up the ends of games, both teams have high powered offenses, both teams feature great regular season QBs who fold in big spots. I don't get it.

6.) When Vick gets healthy, it's time for Reid to make a call on the future of the team. If he thinks the future is with Kolb, then he's the starter. If not, you go with Vick.

7.) LDT is such a jerk. He was asked if he enjoyed the Charger's struggles, he grinned and said no comment is needed, the smile says it all. Moreover, he got a Jets tattoo and said that his years in San Diego are dead. Why spit in the face of those fans that cheered you for your whole career because you don't like the way the organization treated you? That hurts the fans. Plus, what did the Chargers do to him that was so terrible? After three paltry seasons they decide he was no longer a starting HB? Here's a newsflash for Tomlinson: The Jets thought the same thing! They brought you in to be Green's backup. If you were so confident in your abilities during the off season, why didn't you sign an incentive laden contract with San Diego and agree to compete for the starting job?I dislike the Chargers and hate their front office, but I don't blame them for this oe.

8.) I don't buy that Revis is so hurt. There's no way he can cover so well if his hamstring's as bad as the Jet PR is making it out to be. He didn't get toasted on any play last week, he was always steo for step with the WR, but Orton put the ball where it needed to be to be caught. No DB can cover a perfect throw. Revis's problem is that people think he's hurt and Cromartie's playing so well so offenses will go after Revis. If the Jets want to help him, stop making excuses and put it out there that he's a hundred percent and looks great in practice and put him on the other team's number one WR and let his reputation work for him. He's playing just as good as last year but teams think it's okay to go after him, so they are.

Limerick of the Week

Yankee fans are beginning to sweat

We can't help but bite our nails and fret

He can't get an out

Against hitters so stout

There's never been a pitcher in history worse than A.J. Burnett

Week 5 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

With the MLB post season going strong, well going anyway, the media focus has turned to replay, or lack thereof, in baseball. I enjoy how every controversial call has to be analyze through the prism of what would have happened had replay been used, like there haven't been enough instances already. Look, if there are people who are still against replay, I on't know what it'd take to change their mind, but clearly a play in Game 2 of the NLDS won't do it.

Replay is simple when it comes to baseball: Have an ump in the booth watching the game and he could signal down if a call nees to be overturned. Most every baseball fan can tell what a call should be, so it'd be no problem for an ump. Use it for everything. Everything. Safe or out, fair or foul, everything. If it's really close then the call on the field stands. I don't understand why people, even those who are staunch supporters of replay, get uncomfortable when it comes to calling balls and strikes. I hate that every ump has a different strike zones, and even those vary throughout the games. Use a questech- like device to determine balls an strikes. Get them right.

I hear three arguments against replay:

1.) It'll slow down the game. That's crap. In fact, it'll slightly speed up the game. Any fan can figure out if a call's been blown within watching two replays. That's a hell of a lot shorter then the mandatory arguments by players and managers. If a blown call can't be recognized that quickly, it's not worth overturning.

2.) Smaller market games ten to have less cameras and, therefore, less available replays than bigger market games. If you're in a small market an the game's not televised, nobody cares about your game anyway. Just kidding, kind of. Look, unless the game's being recored by drunk with his camera phone, there will always be enough cameras.

3.) I like the human element. Human element is great, agreed. I mean, marriages without human elements would probably suck, but we don't need human elements in our officiating. It'd better for umpires to be right then human.

On to the TAP

Week 5 Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) The Giants have looked impressive ever since Tiki Barber questioned Coughlin's control over the team. If they continue to impress, we may have to rethink Barber's role in the 2--7 season. Might have to send him a ring.

2.) If Jenn Sterger doesn't put in a complaint against Favre, I on't see why he should be suspended. If you read the original story that came out about this months ago, she din't consider it harrasment, she use to laugh at him. That might be a shot to his pride, but definately not grounds for suspension.

3.) I do love how ESPN celebrated Favre getting TD and yards milestones, while downplaying the fact the he also broke the recor for most fumbles. Is Favre a notorious fumbler? No, but when you compile stats, you tend to compile the negative ones too.

4.) In baseball we just had the year of the pitcher, through five weeks in the NFL this is the year of the defense. That's what's causing all this unpredictability so far. Name a powerhouse offense this year. You can't. You can name offenses that should be great. When's the last time that's happened? Accepting this, it's no wonder that the three most impressive so far (Baltimore, Pittm NYJ) are the three best defenses.

5.) Okay refs, I was with you with the Calvin Johnson incompletion, but now you've lost me with calling Michael Spurlock's catch good. He caught the ball, went down out of bound where the ball was knocked loose. How is that completing the process? How is that any ifferent than Johnson? My only guess is that the NFL, after the Johnson play, decided it's going to change the rule an told the refs to be a little leniant on those plays. Remember this if they change the rule after the season.... [I swear I wrote this paragraph before seeing this. I just finished my 10 and went to PFT to make sure I didn't miss anything and this is the top story.]

6.) I know the Charger's struggles have little if anything to do with their offense. Still, it looks real bad when you're struggling and you have a Pro Bowl WR waiting to be paid. Also, how is this not a bigger eal? Here's an elite WR, in his prime, who's on his way to missing an entire season ue to contract issues. Has this ever happened?

7.) How have the Browns not turned to Colt McCoy yet? I mean, elhomme's not the answer and Wallace isn't the future and the Browns aren't the present.

8.) I think it's time to say that the Chiefs and Bucs are pretty good. Not great, but good enough to beat any team that sleeps on them.

9.) It's great when there are two games on and they sync up perfectly so as a play ends in one game, another's about to be snapped in the other. Though Peyton Manning messes that up every time. You flip to the Colts game and they're line up, but Manning takes forever to snap it so that you end up missing a play in the other game.

10.) If Revis knew he wasn't going to be covering Moss, and I have to figure he did, then he shouldn't have spent the week talking trash about him. That's weak.

Limerick of the Week

There'es problems every now and then

Over at ESPN

A former football croney

Says Kiper is a phoney

And we may never see his hair again.

Peace

Week 4 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) I don't really blame Nate Clements for his fumble while returning a potentially game icing pick. The guy was trying to make a play. Credit goes to Roddy White for chasing him down and stripping the ball away, but it wasn't the worst move I've ever seen a DB make. He never saw White. The only blame I pin on him is that he slowed down to direct his blockers, he should've realize that somebody would be able to catch him from behind. Would it have been all around better to just go down as soon as he caught it? Of course, but it's not like he was trying to break through tackles, White was the first guy to touch him. It was a far less egregious mistake than any DB intercepting a pass on the offense's last drive fourth down.

2.) Good job by Philly fans on treating McNabb the right way. I know it's weir to congratulate a fan base for cheering the greatest QB in their franchise's history who never wanted to leave andwas never in any serious controversy but this is Philly fans we're dealing with here.

3.) The Eagles' offensive line might be bad, but it's not as bad as it's made out to be. People point to the hits and sacks taken by Vick in his three games, but fail to remember that mobile QBs tend to get hit and sacked more than their less agile counterparts. I realize that this seems counterintuitive, but runners never believe a play is dead and hold on to the ball longer. They'll also try to break away from a closing defense, where most QBs would just throw it away. The point is, sorry stat guys, offensive lines cannot be judged by any statistical measurement I'm aware of, you actually have to watch.

4.) Take the Bears offensive line: they gave up 10 sacks against the Giants. That's bad, but not solely on the line. Cutler holds on to the ball a ridiculously long time. In the first half, the Giants had nine sacks, most of which were on straight four man, maybe five man, rushes. So they had 7 guys in coverage. Meaning what? Cutler had less people open and wait for a WR to break free. Cutler doesn't come out for the second half. The second half, where the Giants D smells blood and finally the offense starts scoring. They're going after the QB with abandon then. Yet they only got one sack. Did the O Line suddenly get better players? The Giants certainly didn't back off. Todd Collins made sure he'd get rid of the ball.

5.) What has Mike Martz done that gets him labeled an offensive genius? He was the coordinator for the greatest show on turf. A team he ha d nothing to do with putting together. So he led an offense that featured Kurt Warner (who it turned out could be an elite QB), Marshall Faulk, Issac Bruce, Tory Holt, among others. I'd say it take some sort of genius to keep that unit from being great. In Detroit and San Francisco he did nothing. So where's the genius? How come nobody runs the "Mike Martz Offense"? Because there's no such thing, It's an offense that sends most WRs to varying levels of deep and keeping one intermediate route and a check down HB. In short, it's the offense you'll see employed at Lincoln Park on weekends.

6.) I love analysts who are surprised at what Matt Schaubb is able to do. Or talk about Peyton Hillis as if they've never heard of him. This is why every analyst should be require to compete in fantasy football. There's just somethings you learn from there. Schaubb, for example, has put up empty numbers for a few years now. His numbers have competed with the best. So, media, don't be surprised at what he's doing and be less surprise if he disappears later.

7.) LDT killed my fantasy football season last year so this is the last I'll speak of him until he ever stinks again.

8.) Can't totally blame Jim Caldwell for trying to keep the Jags from playing for overtime at the end of their game. Starting from their own 20, they gave the ball to MJD who went for eight yards and Caldwell called time out. Now, I see what he was doing. He wanted to get the ball back rather than risk the Jags get the ball in OT, but after an eight yard run, it's tough to imagine you'd keep them from picking up at least the first. It could've worked. Gerrard threw an incompletion the next play so there's a TO saved and all you need is a third down stop. Had he succeeded no one'd say a word.

9.) If Darryl Johnston wasn't annying enough as a Cowboy homer and all around horrible analyst, he had to share that he's skinny because he has a hard time putting on weight.

10.) I hate Darryl Johnston.

Limerick of the Week

A great weekend, the Giants actually won

The clouds parted and revealed the sun

Tiki got booed

Jerry gettin sued

Damn, I really, really loath Darryl Johnston.

Peace

Week 3 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

NOTE: The letter "C" is being really moody on my keyboard so forgive words that should have that letter in them, but don't I tried to fix all that I found, but probably missed some.

Week 3 Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) A pass that hits the WR in the hands gets intercepted, a pass thrown left handed into the endzone gets intercepted, a safety on a questionable chop block call, a missed FG, a fumble near the endzone, a delay of game before another field goal, a missed FG after the delay, a second personal foul on the right tackle after the missed FG after the delay... what a terrible loss by the Giants. Manning threw for over 300 yards and no TDs. They only mustered one TD. They killed themselves. They were the better team, but extremely undisicplined. Next week's game against the Bears is huge. Not only does the season hinge on it, but Coughlin's future also hangs in the balance. We'll see if he can get through to the players or if they've tuned him out. Five personal fouls?! Come on!

2.) This random note is courtesy of my fantasy football free agents search tool: Right now in the league there's a C.J. Spiller and a C.J. Spillman. I know this means nothing but I kind of find that fun.

3.) When are coaches going to figure out how to play the end of games? In the game between the Chargers and Seahawks, the Chargers were down by 7 deep in Seattle's territory. They had fourht and 10 at around the 15 with a little over 3 minutes to go. Their play clock ran low for some reason, so now they have two optiones: A.) They could play for overtime and go for the TD right there. If that's the case, they should call timeout seeing as how they won't need them for regulation or B.) They could take the delay penalty, kick the still short FG, and use your two timeouts and the two minute warning to stop Seattle and get the ball back and try for a game winning TD march. Instead, Turner opted for option C.) Take the penalty, move back five yards and go for the endzone in hopes of ompleting a tough pass and then saving your timeouts to stop Seattle amd go for a game winning FG in regulation. Now, I understand why that's appealing, a last second FG is easier than a last second TD and you have a tie and overtime to fall back on to. But if the situation presented is of an extremely difficult TD or an easy FG, go for the easy FG and try to win the game. I didn't explain this right, I know it could've been simplified, but you guys are smart enough to wade through my ramblings and finding sense.

4.) After Week 1, Mark Sanzhez has played really well. He's not making mistakes and doing enough to win, but the Jets D, again like last season, let the team march down the field at the end of the game with minimal resistance. Miami didn't close the deal there, but that had more to do with Miami than the Jets. Just something they should be weary about.

5.) I haven't seen Ron Mexico play this well since, well ever. It looks like he's figured how to be a running QB rather than a throwing RB like he used to be. It's not a fluke, he's here for good.

6.) Why again had Hester stopped returning kicks?

7.) I find it kind of funny how the analysts are ripping Eli Manning for throwing a left handed pass that was deflected and eventually intercepted into the endzone. Don't get me wrong, it was a stupid move. He needs to know better. He's completed that before, but in the middle of the field when everyone's spread out, in the endzone everyone's condensed so there's less room so the passes need to be thrown with conviction. That said, isn't that the kind of crap that made the media fall in love with Favre? Wasn't Eli just gunslinging there?

8.) It was fantastic to see the Saints call timeout just before the ball was snapped for the game winning FG in overtime by the Falcons, as usual the players didn't hear the whistle and the play went on, only to have the Saints black the try and the Falcons kicker nail the FG on his second try.

9.) The Steelers have to be the scariest team in the league. 3-0 without their QB? Impressive.

10.) There's no way McNabb should recieve anything less than a standing ovation on Sunday. Greatest QB in franchise history, was shipped out, didn't force his way out, never embarassed the franchise.

Limerick of the Week

The NFL is full of violent hits

Bloody fingers and broken bits

Yet with all the pain

You gotta complain

After a very personal foul from Shaun Smith

Peace

Week 2 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

Week 2 Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) Great win for the Jets. Offense looked sharp and defens looked disciplined. Although it did seem that Moss didn't seem as motivated once Revis went down. He committed what might be the greatest sin I could think of a WR committing: A pass was intercepted by Cromartie, who was covering Moss on a go route one on one, in front of him. I mean there are only three ways a pass is intercepted in front of a reciever by a single coverage corner on a go route: 1.) The DB is a ton faster than the WR, 2.) The DB beats the WR on a jump ball and comes down with the ball, 3.) Thw WR quit. Moss is fast enough to get to any deep ball that the DB could catch up with and nobody beats him on a jumo ball. So what's left?

2.) The Titans recovered a late onside kick when the ball bounced off the Steelers' DB, former Giants great, Will Allen. Any Giants fan will tell you that there is no way that Will Allen should be on the "hands" team.

3.) The Eagles should go forward with their QB situation as if they just spent a high pick on Kolb and this is his rookie year. Vick, it seems, would be able to take this team farther than Kolb, but Kolb's their future. If the Eagles want to win this year, they should go to Vick. Worst case scenerio: Vick bombs and you switch to Kolb and embrace your future. If you go with Kolb now and he struggles, and he will, the fans will call for Vick and Kolb's confidence is shot. Suddenly, you've a lame duck starting QB and a rattled young QB. OK the Eagles just said Vick's their starter, but I'm not erasing all of this and thinking up something else.

4.) Have the Ravens ever lost a game that wasn't the refs' fault?

5.) Far be it for me to defend Favre from the media, but I don't care what they think he looks like and how motivated he looks. It'll be funny how much younger Favre could look when the Vikings win.

6.) Carson Palmer's brother is his backup QB. So if you're him, do you root for your brother to play well or are you hoping for him to suck and you get the starting job?

7.) Speaking of brother QBs, two of them played against each other this past week if you hadn't heard. The Giants tried to be too cute on both sides of the ball.Defensively they played with three safetys and one LB with Deion Grant playing the role of a small LB. They were daring Indy to run and Indy did. All over them. It took far too long for the Giants to adjust, but by then it was already too late.

8.) Offensively, they came in knowing that the Colts D is undersized, fast, and struggles againt the run. They also came in knowing that the Colts know this. I guyess they figured that the Colts would be so geared up to stop the run that they (the Giants) can take advantage with misdirection. This was illustrated perfectly on their first offensive snap of the game when they faked a run up the middle and gave it to Manningham on an end around. It didn't work. Speedy defenses are great as misdirection. What they're not good at is power running and the Giants barely used any of that. The few times they brought out a power set, they ran away from the extra lineman. Then, before you knew it, it was too late to adjust. Also, Jacobs should be suspended and the Giants can't get rid of him soon enough. He's gotten soft ever since he got paid.

9.) Watching Freeney and Mathis run around the Giants tackles as if they were stuck in quicksand reminded me once again of an idea someone brought up to Peter King in a mailbag once. The reader pointed out how many teams have gone to having at least one pass rushing specialist. Sometimes the specialist comes in on only passing downs. He's smaller and quicker than traditional pass rushers. So why then don't teams have pass blocking specialists/ A cross somewhere between a tackle and a tight end. I forget King's reason why this wouldn't work, but I don't think it was much good.

10.) I have seen the future of football offenses. It's in college right now. It's called the pistol. In the shotgun, the QB stands five yards behind the center so to be able to survey the defense better and get to his reads quicker. Cool. But the HBs stand next to the QBs and their game is hurt because they have to wait for the ball to be caught by the QB and handed to them before they an start running meaning that runs out of shotgun are limited to variations of draws. While in running plays when the QB is under center, the HB is sprinting forward as soon as the ball is snapped and gets the ball as he passes the QB going the other way. The pistol combines the best of both. In the pistol, the QB stands four yards behind center, so his advantage is basically the same. The HB, however, stands 3 yards directly behind as if they're in a power i and the QB is the fullback. So now on running plays, the HB takes off forward like he does in normal running plays where he stands between five to eight yards behind center. With the influx of spread offenses, but the decline of running in those offenses, the pistol seems like the perfect answer.

Limerick of the Week

Viking fans are starting to fret

Inside them panic begins to set

AP stopped at the one

Favre not having fun

Childress needs to go back to his funky headset.

Peace

Week 1 Tuesday Afternoon Punter

There is no way Felix Hernandez should win the Cy Young over Price or Sabathia. Just wanted to mention that before I began. On thae subject of baseball, I was flipping between the Jets/ Ravens and Yankees/ Rays. On one hand there's the season opener for two teams I don't particularly care for. which was poorly played. On the other hand, my favorite baseball team is locked in a classic pitcher's duel with first place in the division and the league on the line. I watched more of the Jets game. That says it all about baseball vs. football, really.

On to the TAP.

Week 1 Power Rankings

1.) Every team that 1-0

16.) Indy Colts

17.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (They beat the Browns, doesn't count)

18.) Everyone else who's 0-1

Week 1 Thoughts I Think I Thought About Thinking

1.) The Detroit Lions lost fair and square. The refs absolutely got the call right. Johnson went to th e ground and came up without the ball. That's incomplete. Nobody can argue that the refs were wrong. Arguing that the rule's the problem, but not the refs. As for the rule, I wouldn't want it changed. I mean, is it too much to ask someone who's paid to catch the ball to catch the ball? Think about it logically, if a center fielder leaps, gets a line drive in his glove, has a knee hit the ground, followed by his glove hitting the ground, and the ball popping out, what's the call? It's a hit. Same thing here: Johnson goes up and grabs the ball and puts it in his right hand while in air, hits the ground, puts the hand with the ball in front of him to stop his fall and the ball pops out.. It's incomplete. The rule says, as you've probably heard a dozen times already, that on the sidelines and in the endzone, if you go to the ground in the process of making a catch, you gotta get up with the ball. So now I hear people asking how Lance Moore's two point conversion was successful in the Super Bowl. It wasn't the same play. He caught the ball short of the endzone and reached, thus completing the process of the catch and making another move, for the endzone and broke the plane before the ball got knocked loose. He completed the catch THEN reached, so as soon as the nose of the ball crossed the goal line, the play was over. Both calls were right.

2.) Wow, there was some ugly football, namely offenses, this week. Either it was just Week 1 rust or MLBs "Year of the Pitcher" is leaking into other sports.

3.) For the past few years, the Texans and the Niners are everyone's surprise picks to make a run. This season most people, myself included, thought that only one of them would be good, Looks like we picked the wrong one.

4.) Alex Barron is not the goat of the Cowboys loss. Don't get me wrong, he had a terrible game, no doubt about that. The fact, though, is that he's just not that good of a player. He shouldn't be a starting tackle. He didn't do anything stupid or uncharacteristically terrible that would warrant him goat status. Let's say a defense has one great corner and one mediocre to bad corner who on a critical play gets matched up with a great wideout. The wideout burns him for the winning score, would you call the db the goat? No, he just got beat. Samething with Barron. Orakpo abused him all night. I don't understand why, on a critical play where your QB will need time, Barron was left alone to deal with someone he proved he couldn't handle. Brron looks bad because of the fact that it looked like the 'Boys had one and suddenly it gets called back for his penalty. If he hadn't held, Romo would have gotten smoked in the backfield and that would've been the end of the game. And, really, nobody would even know Alex Barron's name today. The real turning point of that game at the end of the other half. First, the Cowboys decide to run a play with 4 seconds left and amile from the endzone. Then, Romo gets under pressure *Nobody remembers which lineman let the pressure get in) and just flips the ball to Choice a yard down the field rather than throw it away. Then, Chouce trues to do something with the ball, gets stripped, and watches DeAngelo Hall run away for what ended up being the difference in the game.

5.) How do the Colts, knowing the Peyton Manning is the entire team, give Mario Williams a free release to the QB?

6.) Oh Philly, mired in a QB controversy already? Like me make it easy for you. Kolb had a concussion. I know you like rushing people back from that type of injury, but try to refrain from ruining another career, will you? Keep him out for a few weeks at least. As for Vick, he did look impressive. Looked like the Michael Vick of young, never thought I'd see that again. Still, the Packers had prepared for Kolb so temper your enthusiasm a little. Let's see him do it a few more times before we name him top dog. No, I'm not above easy jokes. What I didn't like about Viick's performance was when he forced a pass into the endzone when it seemed like he had room to run it in. He said afterward that he's trying not to be selfish. Taking a sure score over a possible score is not being selfish. In fact, giving up a sure score and going for a possible score to avoid being selfish is, in itself, selfish.

7 .) Oh man, the Giants are going to be killed this Sunday night. No way Peyton goes 0-2, especially against the Giants defense. He'll have great field postion to look forward to as the Giants special teams is horrendous.

8.) Speaking of horrendous, how about the Jets offense? Mark Sanchez looked like he wanted no part of the Ravens defense. He wouldn't even look down field. He looked like a guy joining a pick up basketball game with people who are way better than him. He passes the ball as soon as he touches it, sometimes even to the wrong team. When the other team stops covering him, he'll still stand near a defender just so he won't look open and be forced to handle a pass. In short, he looked like me at the Boys' Club.

9.) Antonio Cromartie illustrated once again that 60% of a cornerback's success comes from building a reputation of being shutdown and relying on teams to not throw your way. Of course there are some corners who are legitimately shutdown, but they're rare and don't last long. Take Champ for instance: He used to be a complete shutdown corner. He isn't anymore. He's still good, but not elite anymore. Yet he shuts down recievers now because teams have decided You Do Not Throw Champ Bailey's Way.

The worst thing that happens to there corners is that they get paired up with a better corner. It happened when Deltha O'Neal joined the Broncos during Champ's prime. Denver was supposed to have the best pass defense in the league, but O'Neal got exposed because it was either go at him or go at Champ. Look, all CBs give up room to WRs, it's impossible not to. The great ones just give up less room than their teammates so people don't throw their way. It's like the old joke : Tw0 campers come across an angry bear. One camper says, "I'm glad I brought my running shoes." The other says, "You can't outrun a bear." To which the first replies, "I don't need to outrun the bear, I just need to out run you." Cromartie was able to outcover his teammates in San Diego, but he can't outcover Revis so he will be picked on and exposed.

10.) I'm no fan of Ray Lewis's, but the hit he put on Kellar at the ned of the game was the absolute textbook hit. No way you could get flagged or fined for that. It was perfext.

Limerick of the Week

Jets, Niners, and Botls fans are sick

Philly fans hyped about Michael Vick

Can't wait for the day

When I can finally say

That I got to shake Eli Manning's hand.

Peace

NFC Tuesday Afternoon Punter

NFC West

1.) San Francisco 49ers - Has an 8-8 tean ever won a division? I don't think the Niners will be 8-8, mind you, but this division really makes that seem possible. This is the make or break year for Alex Smith. This year we find out if Smith can lead a winning team or is, say, David Carr, who also happens to be on the team. Smith is better than people give him credit for. He really seemed to improve when they went to an almost exclusive shotgun offense (Smith never took a nsap from under center before the pros), and that didn't seem to hamper the running game much. He has some weapons too. We all know about Gore, Davis, and Crabtree, but the addition of Westbrook could help spell Gore and give Smith a fantastic safety blanket. Their line is starting two rookies, so their development is worth keeping an eye on. Their defense is among the best in the league, but m 49er sources (Dasser) tell me that their corners are cause for concern. Also, they've a great punter.

2.) St. Louis Rams - Quit shaking your head. This is only through process of elimination. I literally placed the other two teams here and changed my mind. Eventually what this came down to is that this is a quarterback league and the Rams are more solid at QB and HB than the other two teams. Bradford has first year star potential. They have a great running back, who will also be a help to Bradford in the passing game. The WRs, or lack thereoy me. The defense, under second year defensive coach Spags should be improved, though Head Coaches who were "geniuses" on one side of the ball as coordinators will generally be weak on that side of the ball: Dungy, Billick, Cranell, Gruden, the list goes on. Still, it has gone the other way too so...

3.) Arizona Cardinals - Derek Anderson at QB and Beenie Wells at HB do not add up to a great season. Throw in the fact that they lost their best defensive player (Dansby) and another of their top defensvie players (Rolle), this can get ugly. Larry can only do so much.

4.) Seattle Seahawks - Pete Carroll must be convinced that Charlie Witehurst is a franchise QB. Otherwise, it makes no sense to not have taken one in the draft. Hasslebeck is injury prone and past his prime. I don't trust their running game or their WRs. Carroll will be gone by the middle of the next season, whenever that turns out to be.

NFC South

1.) New Orleans Saints - They will come down to earth a bit this year. A great defensive scheme can only mask a lack of great defensive players up to a point. This team will have to outscore their opponents this season, which they're more than capable of doing. Though I see that as being their fatal flaw in the postseason.

2.) Atlanta Falcons - Bounce back year. Ryan's learned that the league's not as easy as it seemed during his rookie year, now he'll learn that, with his tools, it's not as hard as it seemed last season. Gonzalez will turn back the clock for one more year.

3.) Carolina Panthers - Matt Moore has serious Jeff George Phenomenon potential. Was surprisingly good at the end of last season, but now he's on tape and won't sneak up on people. Won't be surprised to see Clausen by Week 9.

4.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - What can you say? A coach and QB who've a ton to prove, and that's being optimistic. Let's just move on.

NFC North

1.) Minnesota Vikings - The dome helps keep Peterson and He Who Plays Like a Kid Out There fresh. Which will be key for the postseason because it's finally going to happen again: The Gunslinger is going to the Super Bowl. Great defense and timely offense will be successful. My biggest concern is Brad Childress's headset messing this up. What a matchup of coaches I'm calling for in February: Norv Turner vs. Brad Childress's headset. I must be losing my mind.

2.) Green Bay Packers - Great team on paper. Too bad the game isn't played on paper. Too badd, too, for the Packers that their games aren't mostly played indoors. Their offense is built for warm weather and I think the best chance they have of going to the Super Bowl is getting in the playoffs via Wild Card. That way they'd play January games (according to my picks) in either Minny, New Orleans, San Francisco, or...

3.) Chicago Bears - Jay Cutler is like most modern video games: Looks amazing, seems to have everything you'd want and yet... yet there's something missing. Something you'd find in almost all of the vintage games. You can't really name what it is, but it's there. The old games aren't as complex or realistic as the new ones, but they're still fun. You could hand me a SNES with NBA Jam T.E., Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Mario World, Super Metroud, A Link to the Past, and Donkey Kong Country and I'm set for months. Would you really be able to say that about any game that came out this year a decade and a half from now? But some of the newer games are legitimately great and maybe Cutler 2011 could be like that. I doubt it though. Did any of that make sense?

4.) Detroit Lions - Taking the step from pathetic to feisty young team who could upset anyone if they're not careful. A year away from being a team that hangs in the Wild Card race until Week 14.

NFC East

1.) Dallas Cowboys - Kind of gave this away in the Green Bay pick if you were reading carefully and even if you weren't, it wasn't all that subtle. They've a stud a QB, a three headed running attack that will kill fantasy seasons worldwide, and a fantastic set of WRs/TEs. Defense is a question mark despite the fact that Wade Phillips is a defensive minded coach (see?). However, when it came to the East, I had a tough time picking an order of finishing. I could see every team winning it and I could see each team finishing last. Dallas just seems the team that needs the most to go wrong to have a disastrous season.

One note on the Cowboys: they, along with a couple of other teams carry a kickoff specialist and on their active roster. This is in addition to a seperate FG kicker. The FG kicker is more accurate while the KOS has the bigger leg and routinely gets touchbacks on kickoffs. I love this idea and don't know why more teams don't use it. I mean, I'm sure that guys who can place kick a football a long way are not rarer than guys who can accurately place kick a football. Former soccer players definately could qualify as are former college kickers who didn't get drafted because their lack of accuracy. My point is, these guys shouldn't be hard to find. Most FG kickers are accurate under 45 yards, shaky under 55, and can't reach after that. This guy gives you at least a shot from 60 yards away. He might not make it, but he'll also eliminate any chance of a run back if this were the end of a half situation. Is the 45th man on the roster really that important that you can't spare him? In a league that preaches field position, it's shocking that most teams are content with kickoffs that come down at about the 10 yard line.

2.) Washington Redskins - A marked improvement at QB and a giant leap at head coach call for a big season out of the Skins. The Skins, though, would have been great 8 years ago with McNabb, Portis, Johnson, Santana Moss, Cooley, and Galloway. This does sound like a perfect Dan Snyder offense, but I think an angry McNabb will make up for it.

3.) New York Giants - I see both the Giants and Eagles finishing 7-9 so I was going to write it as a tie, but that seemed weak. So instead, I put it this way so at least it looks like the Eagles are finishing way behind. As for the Giants, their offensive line is shacky. It's the last hurrah, at best, for most of those guys. If they're able to hold up at all, the offense will be good. If the running game is good, then the offense will be great. The problem's on the other side of the ball. I know you shouldn't take too much from the preseason, but if in all four games it's clear that the other team is targetting the middle of the field at will with their WRs and TEs running the seams without any apparent coverage and the defense never seems to develop an answer for that then, well I think that's one time you could be worried about what you see in the preseason. I think tight ends can torch this defense for its lack of linebackers and the NFC East, with Celek, Witten, and Cooley should have no problem there.

4.) Philadelphia Eagles - Kevin Kolb might end up being really good, but he's going to have to have some growing pains along the way. I see him struggling in the beginning and then eventuakky figure it out. Just hope the Andy Reid takes some pressure off of him by allowing the running backs to actually carry the ball. Strange convept, I know, but strange enough that it just might work. Not a fan of the defense anymore.

Limerick of the Week

The Decision made LeBron easy to jeer

Big Ben probably should've laid off the beer

Tiger crashed his Caddy

Haynesworth became too fatty

But at long last opening kickoff is nearly here!

Peace

AFC Tuesday Afternoon Punter

Sorry about the late start this year. I was webless for basically the past month. No worries though, you'll all be refunded for the past couple of entries. Before we begin I have some news: I was promoted! No longer the reserve punter anymore (Mostly because most reserve punters happen to be starters at other positions rendering the title obsolete). So now, on to it.

AFC East

1.) New England Patriots - People seem to forget that it was the Pats who won the division last year. I see no reason for them to not repeat. Brady's two years removed from his injury now, though Palmer was never the same after the same injury, I think Brady's poised for a big year. Not 40+ TDs, mind you, but mid 30s sounds about right. The emergence of Julian Eddleman last year bolsters their receiving corps. Their defense does worry me somewhat, but it's always better than the sum of its parts thanks to the HC.

2.) New York Jets - I don't see it. I don't see the greatness this team's supposed to have. They went 9-7 last year with their last two opponents laying down for them. They might've beaten the Bengals anyway, but not the Colts. In the playoffs they beat the Bengals again. Then in the second round beat the Chargers by three with Kaeding missing three field goals. The Jets will tell you they have an all time great defense. They don't. Their defense is among the best in the league right now, but is nowhere close to the pantheon of all time great defenses. No all time defense gets picked apart the way the Jets did in the second half of the AFC title game. It was like Peyton was calling their plays. As for their offense, it's okay. They have a really good o line. Shone Greene has to prove he can carry the load for an entire season and LDT's done, regardless of what LDT tells you. As for the Sanchize, he went 12-20 TD to int ratio. Flipping that is a solid season. Not great, but solid. Yet flipping it would mean going +16 in the ratio. That's asking a lot. Peyton between his first and second year managed to go +13 and he's among the greatest of all time. The only reason I'm picking the NYJ second and not third is that I'm aware of my dislike for the team and think it's possible I'm drinking too much haterade.

3.) Miami Dolphins - A really underrated team last year. They played tough against the best in the league. Marshall will be Henne what Burress was for Manning. I know there's an opportunity for an easy joke here, but I'm above that. The defense, with the addition of Dansby will be improved. If Henne tales the Sanchize jump, he'll go for 20-6 this year. I don't think anyone thinks that's happening. Still, the Dolphins will be contenders this year, so long as they don't shoot themselves in the foot. I couldn't resist.

4.) Buffalo Bills - Edwards is not the QB of the future, si I don't understand why they didn't draft one. The team's rebuilding, by the time they're ready to win, they're still going to need a QB. I don't get it.

AFC North

1.) Baltimore Ravens - They are who everyone thinks the Jets are. Strong defensive team with a young franchise QB, and great running game. Boldin, Mason, and Heap give Flacco great targets and the core D has one more year left in them.

2.) Pittsburgh Steelers - I think they are a year away from being great again. Ward and Randle El don't do it at receiver. I know they've got Mike Wallace and Miller, but is that enough? Their line's not great which gets me worried about Mendenhall. The D will be improved with Troy back.

3.) Cincinnati Bengals - The addition of Owens worries me. They were a running team last year, will they shift to a passing offense to pacify him? Owens and Ochocinco are playing nice right now with Ochocinco literally calling himself Robin to Owen's Batman, but how long will that last? I could see this team falling apart. They even have the potential to finish behind...

4.) Cleveland Browns - Played hard for Mangini down the stretch last year, then promptly got rid of the QB. Not a fan of Jake's. The sooner McCoy starts, the better. Had a great draft might as well get your QB of the future reps now so he'll be ready when the rest of the team is.

AFC South

1.) Indianapolis Colts - Peyton Manning is their QB.

2.) Tennessee Titans - Vince Young wins. They guy has a great record 26-13 QB record according to football reference. He didn't lose his job to Collins because of on field stuff, remember it was his attitude that got him becnched. Chris Johnson's great, but will not repeat last year's numbers.

3.) Houston Texans - Last year was the first in which Matt Schaub played all 16 ganes and he put up fantastic numbers. With a lack of a running game, teams will tee off on Shcaub and I don't see him playing the whole season.

4.) Jacksonville Jaguars - MJD is great, nothing else is on this team. There's quite a bit of good, but not great. Playing in a tough division and against the NFC East will hurt this team badly.

AFC West

1.) San Diego Chargers - Having a living person at running back will take loads of pressure off of Rivers, though the loss of Jackson hurts. The defense is good enough, not great. Being able to beat up on a bad division will keep this team rested and have them be fresh for the playoffs. This is key because they're going to the Super Bowl. Yep, you read me. The Chargers will be going to Dallas in February. I know it's Norv Turner, but still.

2.) Oakland Raiders - I'm losing a lot of credibillity with this division. Campbell will do wonders for this team. Not a fan of the coach's. Still, their defense and special teams is good and the offense will begin to catch up. Actually, with Lechler, Janikowski, and Higgins they may have the best special teams in the league.

3.) Denver Broncos - When you have three QBs, you have no QBs. They also have no Dumerville t or Marshall to boot.McDaniels is going to feel the heat this year.

4.) Kansas City Chiefs - Matt Cassell is not an NFL starting QB. Also, Weis and Cranell will not be able to duplicate the magic of the New England years.

NFC next week.

Limerick of the Week/ Offseason

McNabb cures the Skins' QB fear

The Jets think that they're upper tier

Ben's rep is in tatters

All that really matters

Is that guns will be slung for another year.

Peace

Does Udonis Haslem Get a Special to Announce His Decision?

"The Decision" left me speechless. I hoped that James would choose to play for the Knicks, though I never really thought he would. I thought he'd go to Chicago or back to Cleveland. Once Wade and Bosh announced that they would be taking their talents to South Beach, I thought Miami was officially out of the running. There was no way James would go there. I mean, he was a competitor, he was proud, he was confident, no way he would be okay with playing second fiddle on Wade's team.

I hear a lot of people ripping James for creating a super power in the NBA. I don't begrudge him for that. If all three players went to Cleveland or Chicago, there'd be no doubt that it would be James's team. Miami, though, is Wade's city, Wade's team. There can be no argument that the ball's in Wade's hands at the end of the game.

It's like this: Let's say DC Comics decided to make things more interesting in their universe and had Superman move to Gotham City to fight villians like the Joker, Two Face, and the Penguin alongside Batman. Now, they're supposed to be a team, but would there be any doubt that Superman's become a glorified side kick despite being more powerful? Had they joined forced to fight villains in Metropolis or a neutral city, Superman would be the alpha dog, but not in Gotham. Same with LBJ and Wade.

While it was a douche move to set up an hour long special to leave your hometown, it was an even douchier move by Jim Gray to try to be cute and stall. I mean, Jim Gray, really? Dennis Miller wasn't available?

Still, at least the NBA has a team everyone can hate. How long before their head coach has "family issues" and forces Pat Riley to reluctantly atep in?

Peace

Back From Hiatus

I know I've been away for a while. It's to be expected. All government officials take breaks in the summer. Here are some quick hit thoughts on the past month in sports. Or at least, as best as I can remember them.

The NFL Media Has Spoken: Barry Bonds Should Be a First Ballot Hall of Famer

The most bizarre story to come out of the fact that last year's Defensive Rookie of the Year failed a drug test was that the NFL writers had a re-vote fir DROY... and Cushing won again. The re-vote was done to, apparently, punish Cushing, yet he was left on the ballot. The NFL writers made it clear, by voting for him again, that they don't care too much about PEDs in their sport and, really, neither do we. So why the double standard? Why do NFL players get free passes for PEDs while MLB players get branded with a scarlet "S"? They shouldn't. The punishment, or lack thereof should be even handed. So MLB players who've come under PED suspicion should be judged by their numbers alone. PEDs could be mentioned of their Hall plaques, but they should not be unofficially banned.

Jim Joyce Was the Best Thing That Could Happen to MLB, and Armondo Gallaraga

The fact that a blatantly obvious call on replay was missed by an umpire on the last batter of a perfect game, put into public awareness an issue in baseball much more serious than PEDs: The need to keep an important game being blown by a missed call, While a perfect game seems important, it's not in the grand scheme of things. It's an individual achievement and as such is not more important than any other regular season game. So the issue was brought to the forefront by what seemed to be a vital moment without actutally being so. So it didn't tarnish the season.

MLB needs replay. Okay, not necessarily replay per se, but a way to utilize modern technology to improve the game. It's not really complicated. You take balls and strikes decisions away from the umpires and hand it over to a QuesTech type program, This is monitored by an umpire in a booth who instantly buzzes the result down to the home plate ump to make the call. The rest of the game is also watched by the ump in the booth who can buzz down anytime a call needs to be overturned. This keeps umps from having to huddle, then disappearing into the clubhouse for a few minutes, then coming out and explaining to everyone what happened. A replay official will also all but eliminate arguments., thus helping speed up the game. More on that below.

As for the man that seems to have been screwed by the call, this could not have worked out better. By the end of next season I'll wager most people won't remember that Dallas Braden threw a perfect game. They might remember that Halladay did. Everyone will remember Gallaraga.

A perfect game is an individual achievement. So it doesn't matter if it's acknowledged, as long as the person who did it knows what hed did. It's like this: Say I'm playing baseball at Lincoln Park and Alex Rodriguez happens to walk by and asks to have an at bat. I'm on the mound and a friend pulls out his cell phone to record the event. I go on to strike out Rodriguez on three pitches. Now, none of this officially happened, but are you going to try to convince me that I didn't actually strike A Rod out because it's not official? Obscure example, I know, but I just wanted to fit in a way to strike out a great player. It's my blog, my rules.

So there.

Anyway, Gallaraga knows he threw a perfect game, everyone knows he threw a perfect game and really that's all that matters. Still, he's getting more publicity than any perfect game hurler I can remember.

Can Joe West Remind Me How Pathetic Yankees- Red Sox Games Are?

If you recall, the ump bashed Yanks=Sox games for their length. It's a legit beef, but there;s a reason why those games run so long.First, the games are usually exremely important so the pitchers agonize over every pitch, as the managers agonize over every move. Second, they're usually national games so the commercial breaks are longer. Third, and most important, both teams are built around high OBP and running up pitch counts. Add it all up. More pitches= more agonizing= more pitching changes= equal more extended commercial breaks= longer games.

Still, West's crew had taken their mission of shortening untimed games to absurd levels. Last week, Angel Hernandez, who made a statement in the season opening series by refusing to grant time to batters, did so again. Only this time it was a 1-2 count in the top of the ninth with the road team down. Carlos Pena raised an arm asking for time. Hernandez did nothing. The closer, seeing this, pumped a fastball down the middle for a called third strike. This was just the worst of the multiple horrible decisions made by West's crew in the past week. Those umps want to enjoy as much face time as the players.

Wanting to speed up the game is fine, but influencing the game to do so is ridiculous. How much faster will the game be is you keep people from stepping out? Five minutes? Ten minutes maybe? If you want to do anything, put a clock on the pitcher. Outside of that there's nothing you can do. You can't put milk back in the udder.

It's ABout Time

The NFL did absolutely the right thing awarding the New Giants Stadium a Super Bowl. Now I'm not thrilled of having to deal with tons of traffic, rushes, and media ripping New Jersey. Didn't want a Super Super Bowl there, but it's about time we get a chance a cold weather Super Bowl. The elements are a great part of the game and it's a shame that we try to eliminate them for out ultimate showdown. Chicago and Green Bay deserve Super Bowls. Every city should het one.Media members just cry about it because they don't want to go somewhere cold for there annual vacation.

That's it for now.

Peace

What, Exactly, Are We Witnessing?

In the past calender year, four of the biggest names in sports have hit the darkest parts of their respective years. We had an all time great baseball player admit to using steroids, getting divorced, and having his sportsmanship questioned. Not to mention a hip surgery. He came back to one of his most successful years. Then there was the greatest golfer ever having his personal life being dragged into public awareness to total embarrassment. He's struggled so far on his way back. Then there's the two time SUper Bowl winning young QB who's now been involved in two serious off the field issues.

Now we have LeBron James.

The Ringless King who now finds himself in his darkest hour as a pro. The self proclaimed Chosen One played terribly in the swing game of his series against Boston. At home, no less. With the upcoming off season, the spotlight's never been brighter on James. So bright that he seemed to wither the other night. His talent is being called in to question. His clutchness is being called in to question. Worse of all, his heart's being called in to question.

In short, he has the basketball world right where he wants it.

This is where the King earns his title. This is when the Chosen One reveals himself. This is when LeBron James proves he's worth the hype. When greatness is questioned, that's when greatness steps up to another level. Is there any question how Jordan would play tonight? Likewise, there is no question how LeBron will play tonight. He will carry his team, if not to victory, then to a valliant loss. If not, then he's not who we thought he was.

Then we some to the much hyped 2010 off season. I'll probably have to revoke my NYK fanhood for saying this, but this experience should crystallize to LeBron why he shouldn't even consider coming to New York. New York fans are different from Cleveland fans, Right now in Cleveland, the Cavs are IT. The Browns and Indians are both rebuilding at best. The fans are 100 percent behind the Cavs and now some of them are questioning LeBron. In New York, where fans could turn to the Yankees/ Mets or Giants/ Jets or Rangers/ Islanders/ Devils, the fans will be a whole lot less forgiving. If you don't perform to your 100 percent potential 100 percent of the time, the fans will turn. Don't get me wrong, if you win in New York, you';; be the King. If not, well ask Stephon Marbury.

With that said, please come to Knicks LeBron!

Peace

How Many Sports Blogs Have You Read That Contain a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Excerpt?

For the longest time, baseball players were judged mostly by how they seemed to perform on the field to the trained eye. What constituted a person having a trained eye was never made clear. It was clear, however, that in order to have an informed opinion , one must have had to have played the game at a high level at some point in his life. Or so the experts would have had us believe. Then really intelligent baseball fans came along who'd never really played the game above little league and decided that they could be just as knowledgeable as the "experts." Since they didn't have a "trained eye" they decided that they'd develop an objective way to judge players. Sabremetrics were born.

The old school baseball people shunned the stats people saying that stats didn't tell the whole story. They were right. The sabremetricicans, angered by this, argued that if stats didn't tell the whole story they certainly could tell most of it. They were right. The stats people gained so much steam over the past ten years that now they've become exactly what they hated: pompous. If you don't follow their way of looking at baseball, your opinion holds no value to them.

Of course, as most of these things go, the trith is somewhere in the middle. Stats are extremely helpful, but they don't tell the whole story. They don't take human nature into account. It's like the difference between Sherlock Hokmes and real life. I'll refer you to this excerpt from The Red Headed League".

---------------------

“Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.”

Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion.

“How, in the name of good fortune, did you know all that, Mr. Holmes?” he asked. “How did you know, for example, that I did manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's carpenter.”

“Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more developed.”

“Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?”

“I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use an arc and compass breastpin.”

“Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?”

“What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the elbow where you rest it upon the desk.”

“Well, but China?”

“The fish which you have tattooed immediately above your right wrist could only have been done in China....

------------------

Now, that might seem clear cut in a Holmesian universe, but not in real life. An illness can cause swelling in one hand. A breastpin can be picked up from anywhere, especially if it seems aginst the strict rules of an order the man's supposed to be a part of. And so on. While chances are that Holmes and the stats are right, there is room for human nature.

The stats guys loved Javy Vasquez. Turns out, he can't handle the pressure of a big city. What predicts that? Aside from the fact that he failed there before, but that's an argument an old schooler would make. Additionally, the stats love J.D. Drew. Always have. Go find out what any Red Sox fan thinks of him. Better yet, find out what Yankees and Rays fans think of him.

Still, there's room for some fantastic stats. Things that could greatly open up any person's understanding of baseball. The problem is, I don't want to have to do a research paper to understand any opf them. BABIP, for example, sounds like it could be worthwhile to know. It stands for batting average of balls in play, how a person fairs when he makes contact. Great, but what's good? I mean, what's an average BABIP? What's a good one? A great one? A bad one? These things are too difficult to find. They should be simplified. Any sit dedicated to the new era stats should give these vital pieces of information when you click on any stat:

1.) What the acronym stands for.

2.) What the stat means.

3.) Why it's relevant.

4.) What's an average number.

5.) What's good (Number and player example)

6.) What's bad (Number and player example).

Is that really too much to ask for?

Still, some stats seem unreliable to me. For example, FIP (Fielder Independent Pitching or anything the pitcher controls) is the current fad among stat heads on how to evaluate pitchers. There are some pitchers, though, that pitch to contact. About five years ago, Chien Ming Wang started a three year stretch where he was lights out for the Yankees. He'd a low ERA and WHI. Yet he didn't strike out or walk many batters or give up many home runs. Almost everything he did was dependant on his fielders So how could you get a reliable FIP with him?The few days he got lit up, he didn't have command so he walked batters and gave up home runs. That's skew his numbers because he didn't have many otherwise.

Now, the stats people want to get rid of RBIs. Rid of them. Entirely. They claim RBIs are a product of your lineup and supporting cast so are mostly luck and unreliable as an objective stat. Because, you know, God forbid you have a stat that relies on your team helping you out in a team game. So this baffled me. The argument I come down to is:

If you have three hitters who each came up with a runner on third and less than two out thirty times in a season and each consistency came up with the same result: Player A hit a sacrifice fly every time, Player B struck out every time, and Player C walked every time and each player had the exact same stats as one another for the rest of the year, which player would you want on your team? Now, if you look solely at the the "important" stats, Players A and B have the same OBP,, while Player C would have the highest OBP. Player A's BABIP would be significantly lower than the other players (whose would be identical.) Player A would obviously have the most RBIs, but they don't matter. Players A and C would have a higher BA than Player B, but BA doesn't matter either. So what stat, exactly would lead you to pick Player A over the other two? There can be no stat developed that takes RBIs into account, because why would they? They don't matter. Of course, the stats people will develop a new stat that covertly counts RBIs without admitting it and try to push that on everyone.

Look, the some of the best stats are OBP and Slugging. Niether of which were created by the sbremetricians, though they'd like you to believe otherwise. Those stats were brought to the mainstream by them, not created by them. This entry was not meant, at all, to bash the stats. It's just that I've gotten annoyed by the arrogance of stats people and their intolerance of anyone who doesn't totally submit to their way of thinking.

Peace.