Tag: sports

If you want to join the White Buffalo, Nate, defending champion Clay, and me in the upcoming VPFL season, let me know now….

Q: Randy Moss’ retirement made me wonder about the five player-specific NFL career highlight films that would be worth buying. My personal list would be Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Moss, Brett Favre and Ronnie Lott. There are players with better career numbers, but for “did you see what he just did” moments, these guys have to be at the top of the list.
— Eric, Ann Arbor

SG: I like this idea — seems like a natural for iTunes. (My five would be Moss, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, O.J. Simpson and Earl Campbell.)

Mine would be: Fran Tarkenton, Randy Moss, Barry Sanders, Reggie White, and Sammy Baugh.

Tarkenton for the ridiculously long scrambles, Moss for the deep routes, Sanders for the impossible escapes, White for the sacks, and Baugh just to see the all-around QB/DB/punter performance.

I still remember Reggie White playing against the Vikings. They called an ill-advised roll-out that called for Cris Carter to go in motion, then stay in and block the free defensive end, who happened to be White. White didn’t bite on the line feint, but stayed home, then literally threw Carter five yards into Warren Moon with one hand. He was dragging Moon down when the whistle blew and “in the grasp” was called. I was at that game with seats on the 20-yard line, the play was right in front of us, and it was the one of the most physically dominating defensive plays I’ve ever seen in the NFL; keep in mind that Carter was neither a small wide receiver nor a bad blocker. Even the most hard-core Vikings fans roared after that play.

It’s fascinating how one’s memory remembers things incorrectly. Until I found the clip, I would have sworn that White a) beat an initial blocker and b) actually knocked Moon down with Carter.

I don’t hate this as much as I did last year and two years ago. First, because the team has no expectations. Second, because no one believes McNabb is a first-rate quarterback anymore. Third, because they are paying a reasonable price for him. Fourth, because it will give Ponder some time to develop.

If they can shore up the line a little better, McNabb should still be reliable enough to give AD and Toby some running room. He simply cannot be any worse than the Tarvaris Jackson Experiment. Of course, it would be very helpful if Rice would be resigned at WR and another free agent WR would be in order to give McNabb more targets.

Anyhow, it’s not the big move it would have been in the past, but unlike then, it’s one that actually makes sense. One has to wonder about the decision of the Seattle Seahawks to not only sign Jackson, but pay him second-rate starter money. At least Seattle fans can look forward to the “hold the ball high above your head as the pocket collapses move”. I always enjoyed that.

I’m not a big Barcelona fan, but I loathe Manchester United. United started out fierce, but once the Barca defense withstood their early pressure, it was clear that the Spaniards were the better, more talented team. United keeps trying to send the ball long to Chicharito on the left side, while Barcelona is controlling the ball and patiently working it up the field with a short, ping-pong passing game. Messi is clearly looking for opportunities to make through passes that the strikers can run onto for one-touch shots.

Update: it’s now 3-1 Barca. The United midfield simply can’t stay with the Barcelona mids, who are creating one dangerous opportunity after another.

Fortunately for NFL fans, the Obama lawyer’s plan to point a gun to the head of the existing NFL structure appears to be falling apart:

[E]ven with his effort to lift the lockout on the verge of sleeping with the fishes, Smith continues to talk tough. “It’s a disappointment obviously that as far as we can tell this is the first sports league in history who sued to not plays its game,” Smith told reporters after Monday’s ruling. “Congratulations.”

We’re not sure what that means.

The league hasn’t sued anyone. The league wants to impose economic pressure on the players via a lockout, and the players decertified and filed an antitrust lawsuit in the hopes of blocking the lockout. Today’s ruling that the lockout won’t be lifted pending resolution of the appeal by the Eighth Circuit hardly represents the NFL suing to not plays its game.

With a reversal of Judge Nelson’s ruling now looming, Smith’s comments likely have less to do with shaping public opinion and more to do with scrambling to keep the players unified, even if doing so requires Smith to distort the facts in the hopes of playing to the players’ emotions.

Even those who initially took the side of the players have to realize now that the players, or at least their representatives, simply do not have the good of the game at heart. The owners may be every bit as greedy, but at least they have the long-term view and the enlightened self-interest to understand that the goose that lays the golden eggs is to be fed and treated well, not slaughtered. Smith’s strategy is to “win” by threatening to destroy the league in its current format and turn it into the English Premiership, where only two or three teams have a reasonable chance of winning each year.

As requested. I don’t have much to add, except that I really wouldn’t mind the Vikings drafting another quarterback just to increase the odds that we might end up with a half-decent one. But we probably need offensive linemen.

Here’s hoping it is not the last one, what with the players attempting to turn the NFL into a European soccer system where there is one heavy favorite every year and only two other big-spending teams have any shot at the title. My only thoughts on the actual draft this year are as follows:

1) Cam Newton is a stretch and will not be a star quarterback. Great athlete, but I doubt he’ll be able to read NFL defenses or have the patience to stay in the pocket and find receivers. If he’s willing to work hard, his upside is Michael Vick. Not awful, but you’re not likely to win a Super Bowl with him either. Looks like Vince Young 2.0.

2) The Vikings need to draft Mallet or Dalton. Yes, they’re not likely to be stars either and yes they’ll probably be overpaying, but they have more of a shot than Newton and more of a shot to be decent starters than Joe Webb. The NFL is a quarterbacks league. I would draft a QB first every single year until I had a keeper; there is no shortage of bad teams with great linebackers or wide receivers.

Well, so much for the Bison. The third time wasn’t the charm. But Day One wasn’t a bad one for upsets, as it goes. It was nice to see Mr. Pitino sent home early.

Almost forgot… this would be your open March Madness thread.