Quick Hits (2-2-06)
Some assorted thoughts from this week in football:
1. Isn't it amazing how often athletes in any sport get to a big game, are told approximately 23,486 times not to say something that might end up on the other team's bulletin board, and some schlup still manages to piss off the other team? The fact that it was a relatively minor player such as Jerramy Stevens amuses me even further. On the flip side, if this is what Joey Porter as a Pro Bowl LB needs to get himself up for the Super Bowl, of all things, that's kind of sad.
2. Donovan McNabb, I and the rest of sports fandom recognize you were dumped on by Terrell Owens, J. Whyatt Mondesire, Rush Limbaugh, et. al. over the last couple of years. It is indeed sad when a classy athlete such as yourself gets treated like dirt. Still, one of the things I have admired about you through all of this is the fact that you just went about your business and always took the high road. I still think you're classy, but I question why you would now talk publicly about the divisiveness in the 2005 Eagles locker room when your whole approach to the T.O. saga for months was "If you have a problem with me, come talk to me, not the media." I know you didn't name names, but I fail to see what good can come from a team's QB noting that no one came to his defense in an inter-team squabble.
3. Interesting column from Jason Whitlock on ESPN.com regarding what Brett Favre really meant during that interview a couple weeks ago. I never would have thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. Check it out.
4. A lot of fellow Buckeye fans read this blog, so I will mention that it looks like we ended up somewhere around the top 10 on signing day, with a reported good incoming class of LBs. We needed that.
OK, there are your talking points. Discuss.
1. Isn't it amazing how often athletes in any sport get to a big game, are told approximately 23,486 times not to say something that might end up on the other team's bulletin board, and some schlup still manages to piss off the other team? The fact that it was a relatively minor player such as Jerramy Stevens amuses me even further. On the flip side, if this is what Joey Porter as a Pro Bowl LB needs to get himself up for the Super Bowl, of all things, that's kind of sad.
2. Donovan McNabb, I and the rest of sports fandom recognize you were dumped on by Terrell Owens, J. Whyatt Mondesire, Rush Limbaugh, et. al. over the last couple of years. It is indeed sad when a classy athlete such as yourself gets treated like dirt. Still, one of the things I have admired about you through all of this is the fact that you just went about your business and always took the high road. I still think you're classy, but I question why you would now talk publicly about the divisiveness in the 2005 Eagles locker room when your whole approach to the T.O. saga for months was "If you have a problem with me, come talk to me, not the media." I know you didn't name names, but I fail to see what good can come from a team's QB noting that no one came to his defense in an inter-team squabble.
3. Interesting column from Jason Whitlock on ESPN.com regarding what Brett Favre really meant during that interview a couple weeks ago. I never would have thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. Check it out.
4. A lot of fellow Buckeye fans read this blog, so I will mention that it looks like we ended up somewhere around the top 10 on signing day, with a reported good incoming class of LBs. We needed that.
OK, there are your talking points. Discuss.
posted by Lock Ness Monster at 11:27 AM
7 Comments:
Well sorry Buckeye fans, my Gators and Noles were rated #2 & #3 in this years recruiting class. Just wish my Canes were rated higher. I mean really, it IS all about the "U". No other college football team has has had more first round picks in one year than the Canes.
Donovan, what were you thinking? Not only was it meaningless for you to voice your opinion months after the whole T.O. saga, but did you have to make it a race issue? Will it ever stop? I like Donovan as a player and a person, but I agree with Lock Ness's viewpoint on this subject.
Sorry, dude, I gotta call you on this. I realize you're from Florida and all that, but how can you say "my Gators", "my Noles", AND "my Canes"? I realize that I haven't even lived south of the Mason-Dixon line at any point in my life, but I'm pretty sure those 3 teams are all archrivals. Pick one, man!
That said, thanks for backing me on the whole McNabb issue. Having had more time to think about it, I imagine that interview was born out of the lack of hype surrounding this year's Super Bowl. Michael Smith probably just got bored and said, "I know what will generate some buzz! I'll ask Donovan about T.O.!" I'm sure that while McNabb was undoubtedly and rightfully seething about all that has taken place, he wasn't looking to talk publicly about matters he has always maintained should be handled in private. Whatever McNabb's motives were, though, the fact remains that he said those things and he will have to deal with the consequences of that in the locker room in 2006 and beyond.
I have to agree with Kirk on the florida football comment. That's like being a Yankees AND Red Sox fan (not possible).
As for the other points
1) Jeremy Stevens really didn't say anything big. Joey Porter is just a hot head.
2) I agree with you in principle but if you look at all the crap D Mac has taken from reporters, 'fans', and T.O., staying silent was impossible.
I mean how much crap can you take before you start to look weak for not responding. The way he's handled himself and responded hasn't tarnished his image at all. As for the race card I would say it wasn't the brightest decision but understandable considering T.O. probably had that intention in saying it.
I agree with a lot of what Ahamed's saying. Stevens's comments weren't in the slightest intended as a swipe at the Steelers. However, knowing that Porter is a hothead (the entire Media Day he probably was thinking "Just give me a reason!"), it was probably in Stevens's best interests to just say something like "We feel good about our chances." Save anything stronger than that for inside the locker room, especially since it's a known fact that Porter plays better when he's talking.
I also agree that McNabb has to say something to avoid appearing passive. I just don't think he had to say that stuff about guys on his team taking T.O.'s side and what it showed about their character. Lots of players on that Philly team right now are on edge, and comments like that make McNabb appear combative. He has to be a strong leader, true, but he also needs to build back some of that chemistry he rightfully pointed out that the Eagles have lost. You don't do that by saying "Some guys don't support me. You know who you are." That seems to me to be awfully close to "You're either with me or against me." When it comes down to it, though, I may just be bitter about having to dredge up all of this McNabb-T.O. stuff when I was looking forward to hearing only about this big game I hear the NFL's having this weekend.
Vern, I can't speak for anyone else with absolute certainty, but for my part, I don't think it's impossible to like more than one team in a particular area of sports. I also don't think there are any hard feelings anywhere on this site (we're just talking sports, after all). The thing is, though, while it's possible to say I'd like to see a particular team do well (for instance, I wanted the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl tonight becuase I don't like the Steelers), you can't as a conscientious sports fan unconditionally love multiple teams that could end up playing one another. I found it odd that you seemed to talk about the three major Florida NCAA D-I football teams as if they were your own, and that's the only point I (as I suspect the others) was trying to make. I think we can all appreciate, however, the way that you clarified your allegiance. The only thing I have to add to my response to your comments is that individual colleges make their own schedules and that the NCAA has nothing to do with that. Therefore, the fact that the three major Florida schools play each other is their own respective faults, except that now in the case of Florida State and Miami, it's the ACC's fault. In any event, I don't see how any NCAA conspiracy could possibly enter the picture. If the schools didn't want to play each other, they don't have to (again, except for when the ACC madates that the 'Noles and 'Canes play one another).
I will warn you that you will get some flak from time to time on this site from a few Buckeye fans for feelings such as what prompted your comments in your most recent post, but from your perspective as a 'Canes fan who got your heart broken in the Fiesta Bowl a few years back, I can understand your feelings on my team. I may not agree with them, but I can understand them. But that by no means is saying that you shouldn't say what you're thinking. That is, after all, what an interactive sports talk forum such as this is all about.
Silly me. That's the one drawback of not talking sports face-to-face; sometimes idiots like me take things too literally. My bad. Let me try to get into the spirit of things...
I know you didn't just make fun of our mascot. I mean, have you SEEN Brutus punch the goalpost? I wouldn't want to mess with him. And what on earth does a deranged stork have to do with Hurricanes? I've always been confused by that one.
I had actually heard before that he was called Sebastian the Ibis; "stork" just sounded better in a trash-talking scenario than "ibis". However, thank you for your National Geographic-worthy commentary on hurricanes and wildlife.
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