March of the Meatheads
It's April, so that must mean the hockey thugs are out in force once more; namely the meatheads masquerading as the Anaheim Ducks.
For the last two years, the same team have bullied and battered their way into the playoffs and then left a nasty odour over the Stanley Cup playoffs with their brand of 'hockey.' In 2007 it worked all the way to a Finals victory; last year Dallas managed to trip them up early.
Now they are on the march again after a fight-fuelled series 'victory' over San Jose that leaves hockey proponents struggling to defend their sport as anything other than an excuse for a jolly good punch-up.
If the NHL is ever to dig itself out from the bottom of the major sporting heap (and fight off the potential challenge of MLS and other 'minor' sports), they simply cannot allow these stick-carrying storm-troopers to dominate another Cup series.
Hockey will simply be derided by most commentators and left to wallow in its own goon-infested waters with an ever-decreasing audience.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
View From America (edited version also posted on SkySports.com 04/22/09)
“It's an intense poker game, and no one's showing their hand.”
Those are the words of University of Southern California quarterback Mark Sanchez, and he’s not talking about a game of cards. He’s referring to the amazingly tight-lipped advance period to this year’s NFL Draft, which will finally reveal all its secrets this weekend.
Normally, you can count on several teams tipping their hand in some way to indicate which way they will go once they are officially ‘on the clock’ for their pick in the annual selection of the cream of the college football talent (a situation so alien to British sport it would positively boggle the mind of the average soccer manager).
And, once it is known who some of the early choices will be, and where they will go, much of the Draft falls into place like a row of toppling dominoes.
But not this year. And there are two (at least) reasons for that.
Firstly, there is no clear, consensus No 1 pick. Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford is top (Bull)dog for some, but others do not rate him even the best QB available this year, leaning towards USC’s Sanchez or even Josh Freeman of Kansas State.
For others, it is a question of the ‘safe’ choice, like Baylor offensive lineman Jason Smith or even Wake Forest’s superb standout linebacker Aaron Curry.
(In this instance, ‘safe’ merely means backing the horse with the less likelihood of being a $70million bust, which leads on to Point Two……)
Secondly, there is now SO much money tied up in the top picks, some teams consider it a bit of an albatross, something to be avoided lest they end up forking out a king’s ransom (plus a prince’s wages and queen’s allowance) for a player like Ryan Leaf, who famously bombed at San Diego after the 1998 Draft, or the anonymous Heath Shuler, a No 3 selection by Washington who failed with both the Redskins and New Orleans and was out of the league within five years.
The bottom line is, for every Peyton Manning or Troy Aikman there are five Tim Couches or David Carrs, players who are destined to be career bench-warmers rather than guaranteed starters – franchise killers, if you like.
When you consider Miami signed last year’s No 1, lineman Jake Long, to a five-year, $57.5million contract, it is the stuff of a general manager’s nightmares to plough that much guaranteed money into ANY college draftee, no matter how star-studded he may appear prior to joining the pro ranks.
Basically, you are asking the team with the top pick to splash out at least $11million a year on someone who just might end up being a washed out drug addict.
(OK, that may be a touch extreme; it’s been a while – some 18 years, in fact – since Todd Marinovich proved to be almost the ultimate bust with the Raiders, but the specter of that kind of horrendous mistake, or that of the steroid-fuelled Tony Mandarich at Green Bay in 1989, still lingers in the NFL air like the whiff of another bad government bailout)
The other ‘wild card’ in this year’s game of bluff and counter-bluff (and the Draft has very much become a game of steely-eyed subterfuge as the leading teams try to mask their intentions in order to position themselves to snap up a ‘bargain’) is that hapless Detroit have the weighty responsibility for that opening gambit.
As a result of not winning a game since December 23, 2007 (actually, the toothless Lions have won only ONE of their last 24 outings), the 0-16 record-breakers get to go first on Saturday. And, depending on who you listen to, they may be the most reluctant suitors since someone announced Lucrezia Borgia was looking for a new husband.
Just to start with, Detroit have a truly terrible recent history in the Draft. The likes of Joey Harrington (picked No 3 in 2002, and now a distant No 3 on the depth chart at New Orleans), Mike Williams (a No 10 in 2005, now absolutely nowhere) and the epically-named Ikaika Alma-Francis (a defensive end from the 2007 second round who has managed precisely two starts) have all helped heap embarrassment after embarrassment on the Lions.
Happily, at least, the man most responsible for their recent history of Draft futility (88 picks since 2000, barely 20 still on the roster; four first-round wide receivers, of whom only Calvin Johnson remains; 12 defensive linemen, and only four survivors, none of whom are considered starters), ex-general manager Matt Millen, is now out of the game.
But the thorny problem of how you rebuild a team as bad as this, even with two first-round choices and two third-rounders, remains another millstone around their collective necks.
The fans have already stated their preference for Curry (at a fan event to unveil the team’s new uniforms on Monday, they chanted the name of the Demon Deacons outside linebacker, along with cries of ‘Don’t draft Stafford!’ – talk about getting your boos in early!) and he would certainly come with a (slightly) smaller price-tag than the Georgia quarterback.
Many pundits still believe the Lions would be only too happy to trade the top pick for something more manageable and less high-risk (like, presumably, buying some of the government’s toxic bank debts), so don’t rule out some serious Draft-day machinations behind the scenes.
The rest of the Day One process at New York’s Radio City Music Hall should fall into place depending on what happens with that fateful No 1, so viewers should pay special attention to the first half-hour or so (each team has 10 minutes for their choice in Round One, remember).
Curry, Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree, Baylor’s Smith, Texas D-lineman Brian Orakpo and Virginia’s standout O-lineman Eugene Monroe are the Fancied Five on ESPN’s Scout’s Inc (one of the most accurate pre-Draft predictors in recent years), so Stafford may well be one of the biggest losers when push comes to shove.
But it is a brave (or truly poker-faced) man who goes out on a limb just at the moment. I do know it will be riveting TV as the teams try to fathom the labyrinthine options that unfold on the day while the players in the spotlight sweat over their future prospects.
Expect New England to pull the trigger on various trades and switches (the Patriots have no less than 11 selections this weekend, including four in the first 58) and Pat White to be one of the most intriguing possibilities, as the Virginia quarterback is also fancied as a receiver/runner in a Wildcat-type option scheme which many see as the next big ‘wave of the future.’
Just don’t expect much to happen according to a set scheme, as this year’s Draft truly has the scope to be one of the wildest in recent years.
“It's an intense poker game, and no one's showing their hand.”
Those are the words of University of Southern California quarterback Mark Sanchez, and he’s not talking about a game of cards. He’s referring to the amazingly tight-lipped advance period to this year’s NFL Draft, which will finally reveal all its secrets this weekend.
Normally, you can count on several teams tipping their hand in some way to indicate which way they will go once they are officially ‘on the clock’ for their pick in the annual selection of the cream of the college football talent (a situation so alien to British sport it would positively boggle the mind of the average soccer manager).
And, once it is known who some of the early choices will be, and where they will go, much of the Draft falls into place like a row of toppling dominoes.
But not this year. And there are two (at least) reasons for that.
Firstly, there is no clear, consensus No 1 pick. Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford is top (Bull)dog for some, but others do not rate him even the best QB available this year, leaning towards USC’s Sanchez or even Josh Freeman of Kansas State.
For others, it is a question of the ‘safe’ choice, like Baylor offensive lineman Jason Smith or even Wake Forest’s superb standout linebacker Aaron Curry.
(In this instance, ‘safe’ merely means backing the horse with the less likelihood of being a $70million bust, which leads on to Point Two……)
Secondly, there is now SO much money tied up in the top picks, some teams consider it a bit of an albatross, something to be avoided lest they end up forking out a king’s ransom (plus a prince’s wages and queen’s allowance) for a player like Ryan Leaf, who famously bombed at San Diego after the 1998 Draft, or the anonymous Heath Shuler, a No 3 selection by Washington who failed with both the Redskins and New Orleans and was out of the league within five years.
The bottom line is, for every Peyton Manning or Troy Aikman there are five Tim Couches or David Carrs, players who are destined to be career bench-warmers rather than guaranteed starters – franchise killers, if you like.
When you consider Miami signed last year’s No 1, lineman Jake Long, to a five-year, $57.5million contract, it is the stuff of a general manager’s nightmares to plough that much guaranteed money into ANY college draftee, no matter how star-studded he may appear prior to joining the pro ranks.
Basically, you are asking the team with the top pick to splash out at least $11million a year on someone who just might end up being a washed out drug addict.
(OK, that may be a touch extreme; it’s been a while – some 18 years, in fact – since Todd Marinovich proved to be almost the ultimate bust with the Raiders, but the specter of that kind of horrendous mistake, or that of the steroid-fuelled Tony Mandarich at Green Bay in 1989, still lingers in the NFL air like the whiff of another bad government bailout)
The other ‘wild card’ in this year’s game of bluff and counter-bluff (and the Draft has very much become a game of steely-eyed subterfuge as the leading teams try to mask their intentions in order to position themselves to snap up a ‘bargain’) is that hapless Detroit have the weighty responsibility for that opening gambit.
As a result of not winning a game since December 23, 2007 (actually, the toothless Lions have won only ONE of their last 24 outings), the 0-16 record-breakers get to go first on Saturday. And, depending on who you listen to, they may be the most reluctant suitors since someone announced Lucrezia Borgia was looking for a new husband.
Just to start with, Detroit have a truly terrible recent history in the Draft. The likes of Joey Harrington (picked No 3 in 2002, and now a distant No 3 on the depth chart at New Orleans), Mike Williams (a No 10 in 2005, now absolutely nowhere) and the epically-named Ikaika Alma-Francis (a defensive end from the 2007 second round who has managed precisely two starts) have all helped heap embarrassment after embarrassment on the Lions.
Happily, at least, the man most responsible for their recent history of Draft futility (88 picks since 2000, barely 20 still on the roster; four first-round wide receivers, of whom only Calvin Johnson remains; 12 defensive linemen, and only four survivors, none of whom are considered starters), ex-general manager Matt Millen, is now out of the game.
But the thorny problem of how you rebuild a team as bad as this, even with two first-round choices and two third-rounders, remains another millstone around their collective necks.
The fans have already stated their preference for Curry (at a fan event to unveil the team’s new uniforms on Monday, they chanted the name of the Demon Deacons outside linebacker, along with cries of ‘Don’t draft Stafford!’ – talk about getting your boos in early!) and he would certainly come with a (slightly) smaller price-tag than the Georgia quarterback.
Many pundits still believe the Lions would be only too happy to trade the top pick for something more manageable and less high-risk (like, presumably, buying some of the government’s toxic bank debts), so don’t rule out some serious Draft-day machinations behind the scenes.
The rest of the Day One process at New York’s Radio City Music Hall should fall into place depending on what happens with that fateful No 1, so viewers should pay special attention to the first half-hour or so (each team has 10 minutes for their choice in Round One, remember).
Curry, Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree, Baylor’s Smith, Texas D-lineman Brian Orakpo and Virginia’s standout O-lineman Eugene Monroe are the Fancied Five on ESPN’s Scout’s Inc (one of the most accurate pre-Draft predictors in recent years), so Stafford may well be one of the biggest losers when push comes to shove.
But it is a brave (or truly poker-faced) man who goes out on a limb just at the moment. I do know it will be riveting TV as the teams try to fathom the labyrinthine options that unfold on the day while the players in the spotlight sweat over their future prospects.
Expect New England to pull the trigger on various trades and switches (the Patriots have no less than 11 selections this weekend, including four in the first 58) and Pat White to be one of the most intriguing possibilities, as the Virginia quarterback is also fancied as a receiver/runner in a Wildcat-type option scheme which many see as the next big ‘wave of the future.’
Just don’t expect much to happen according to a set scheme, as this year’s Draft truly has the scope to be one of the wildest in recent years.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
View from America
I know what day it was this week, but did we really have to have a series of stories that made you go ‘Huh?’ Yes it is the close season – the silly season, if you prefer – yet that’s no reason to ensure every report seemed to have a touch of All Fools Day about it.
But then much of the news emanating from the NFL this week – and the American media’s coverage of it – is likely to leave you shaking your head in astonishment, sadness or depression. Or all three at the same time.
It was almost like a parade of the bizarre as we had a cavalcade of gridiron hubris and debris, starting with Ryan Moats, continuing with Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress, then concluding with Cutler and, most head-shakingly of all, Donte Stallworth.
First there was Houston running back Moats and his wife being detained at gunpoint by a super-officious police officer in a hospital car park while his wife’s mother lay dying inside the hospital.
This was one the media could REALLY get their teeth into and it quickly became a major circus, with the Moats family maintaining a dignified stance while the news folks whipped themselves into a state of near hysteria over the officer responsible.
Sad, unfortunate and very avoidable. But that was just the appetiser for what we had in the next several days as the newshounds scented more heavyweight fare.
The long-running case of Vick re-surfaced with reports that the disgraced Atlanta quarterback has agreed to repay some $6.5million of bonus money on the understanding the Falcons will be happy to cut their ties with their former franchise star.
Happy? Delirious would be more like it. While Vick will be hoping another team is desperate enough to take a chance on the Georgia jailbird. Many are still trying to get their heads around the fact the ex-Virginia Tech passer is a declared bankrupt and yet still appears to have millions squirreled away somewhere in order to try to buy his way back into the league.
But that head-scratcher almost paled into insignificance compared with the latest word on New York Giants receiver Burress, still facing two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, who managed to get his case adjourned until June while he fights to get $1million back from his team.
The Giants refused to pay the final instalment on his $4.5m bonus due in December, reasoning that the fact Burress had shot himself in the leg and earned a four-game ban, not to mention a date in front of a New York judge, was conduct liable to bring the terms of his contract into dispute. This one is also going to ‘overtime’ at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia (not a happy hunting ground for the Giants, you would think), with another delayed decision at the behest of the NFL Players Association.
Possibly the most curious note, though, was that struck by the New York Times, who reported Burress’ lawyer Benjamin Brafman was “trying to resolve the gun possession charges against his client.” And there we were thinking that was the court’s job.
Brafman, apparently, is hoping for a plea agreement that would help Burress avoid the 3½-year minimum sentence which the charges carry. Good luck with that in the land of Mayor Michael ‘No guns in MY city’ Bloomberg, by the way. Which all leaves Giants head coach Tom Coughlin looking on in complete mystification. No wonder he said this week: “You have to have thought it out.” Which he clearly has. And isn’t touching that one with a 10-foot barge pole just now.
Then came the latest fracas involving Denver’s wantaway quarterback. Having thrown all his toys out of the pram and sulked in the corner for 10 days (the length of time, apparently, over which he refused to return phone calls from Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and coach Josh McDaniels), Cutler has officially outstayed his welcome with the team that finished last season so miserably.
Bowlen’s pronouncement on Wednesday that “Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos” was that of a frustrated, irritated multi-millionaire who doesn’t understand a 25-year-old star’s “me first” mindset in today’s team-ethic NFL. Now both parties are heading for a bitter, rancorous divorce which suits neither and will hurt both of them in the season to come (unless Tennessee really are one of the 12 reported teams in the hunt for Cutler’s signature, in which case the player would certainly be the winner).
The ex-Vanderbilt signal caller clearly is a major talent, but the lack of maturity in much of his posturing (not to mention the little matter of 18 interceptions last season) suggests he still has a lot to learn, and he is going to have to shake off the effects of a major ‘Jay Is A Jerk’ bandwagon currently revving up in Colorado if he is prosper anywhere else.
The final item on this week’s NFL agenda is one of pure tragedy. For the league, for the Cleveland Browns, for oft-injured wide receiver Stallworth – and especially for 59-year-old construction worker Mario Reyes.
Reyes was the pedestrian killed by Stallworth’s car in Miami last week and there is nothing odd or funny to report about what has unfolded since, with the player himself clearly traumatised by the events, which have now become a manslaughter case with the news he was well over the Florida alcohol limit (a reading of .126 compared to the legal requirement of no more than .08).
The charges carry a 15-year sentence and the wideout who has started just seven games since signing a 7-year, $35m contract with the Browns in March last year will become the new, sad poster child for the ‘don’t drink and drive’ campaign in south Florida.
We started the week with the foolish and ended up with the catastrophic. We can only hope it gets better from here but, with more, surely, to come from the likes of Vick, Burress and Cutler, you do sometimes wonder if commissioner Roger Goodell has the impossible task of keeping the lid on such silly-season shenanigans.
Is it September yet?
I know what day it was this week, but did we really have to have a series of stories that made you go ‘Huh?’ Yes it is the close season – the silly season, if you prefer – yet that’s no reason to ensure every report seemed to have a touch of All Fools Day about it.
But then much of the news emanating from the NFL this week – and the American media’s coverage of it – is likely to leave you shaking your head in astonishment, sadness or depression. Or all three at the same time.
It was almost like a parade of the bizarre as we had a cavalcade of gridiron hubris and debris, starting with Ryan Moats, continuing with Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress, then concluding with Cutler and, most head-shakingly of all, Donte Stallworth.
First there was Houston running back Moats and his wife being detained at gunpoint by a super-officious police officer in a hospital car park while his wife’s mother lay dying inside the hospital.
This was one the media could REALLY get their teeth into and it quickly became a major circus, with the Moats family maintaining a dignified stance while the news folks whipped themselves into a state of near hysteria over the officer responsible.
Sad, unfortunate and very avoidable. But that was just the appetiser for what we had in the next several days as the newshounds scented more heavyweight fare.
The long-running case of Vick re-surfaced with reports that the disgraced Atlanta quarterback has agreed to repay some $6.5million of bonus money on the understanding the Falcons will be happy to cut their ties with their former franchise star.
Happy? Delirious would be more like it. While Vick will be hoping another team is desperate enough to take a chance on the Georgia jailbird. Many are still trying to get their heads around the fact the ex-Virginia Tech passer is a declared bankrupt and yet still appears to have millions squirreled away somewhere in order to try to buy his way back into the league.
But that head-scratcher almost paled into insignificance compared with the latest word on New York Giants receiver Burress, still facing two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, who managed to get his case adjourned until June while he fights to get $1million back from his team.
The Giants refused to pay the final instalment on his $4.5m bonus due in December, reasoning that the fact Burress had shot himself in the leg and earned a four-game ban, not to mention a date in front of a New York judge, was conduct liable to bring the terms of his contract into dispute. This one is also going to ‘overtime’ at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia (not a happy hunting ground for the Giants, you would think), with another delayed decision at the behest of the NFL Players Association.
Possibly the most curious note, though, was that struck by the New York Times, who reported Burress’ lawyer Benjamin Brafman was “trying to resolve the gun possession charges against his client.” And there we were thinking that was the court’s job.
Brafman, apparently, is hoping for a plea agreement that would help Burress avoid the 3½-year minimum sentence which the charges carry. Good luck with that in the land of Mayor Michael ‘No guns in MY city’ Bloomberg, by the way. Which all leaves Giants head coach Tom Coughlin looking on in complete mystification. No wonder he said this week: “You have to have thought it out.” Which he clearly has. And isn’t touching that one with a 10-foot barge pole just now.
Then came the latest fracas involving Denver’s wantaway quarterback. Having thrown all his toys out of the pram and sulked in the corner for 10 days (the length of time, apparently, over which he refused to return phone calls from Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and coach Josh McDaniels), Cutler has officially outstayed his welcome with the team that finished last season so miserably.
Bowlen’s pronouncement on Wednesday that “Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos” was that of a frustrated, irritated multi-millionaire who doesn’t understand a 25-year-old star’s “me first” mindset in today’s team-ethic NFL. Now both parties are heading for a bitter, rancorous divorce which suits neither and will hurt both of them in the season to come (unless Tennessee really are one of the 12 reported teams in the hunt for Cutler’s signature, in which case the player would certainly be the winner).
The ex-Vanderbilt signal caller clearly is a major talent, but the lack of maturity in much of his posturing (not to mention the little matter of 18 interceptions last season) suggests he still has a lot to learn, and he is going to have to shake off the effects of a major ‘Jay Is A Jerk’ bandwagon currently revving up in Colorado if he is prosper anywhere else.
The final item on this week’s NFL agenda is one of pure tragedy. For the league, for the Cleveland Browns, for oft-injured wide receiver Stallworth – and especially for 59-year-old construction worker Mario Reyes.
Reyes was the pedestrian killed by Stallworth’s car in Miami last week and there is nothing odd or funny to report about what has unfolded since, with the player himself clearly traumatised by the events, which have now become a manslaughter case with the news he was well over the Florida alcohol limit (a reading of .126 compared to the legal requirement of no more than .08).
The charges carry a 15-year sentence and the wideout who has started just seven games since signing a 7-year, $35m contract with the Browns in March last year will become the new, sad poster child for the ‘don’t drink and drive’ campaign in south Florida.
We started the week with the foolish and ended up with the catastrophic. We can only hope it gets better from here but, with more, surely, to come from the likes of Vick, Burress and Cutler, you do sometimes wonder if commissioner Roger Goodell has the impossible task of keeping the lid on such silly-season shenanigans.
Is it September yet?
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