Good news for the Texans!

ESPN.com reports that the Air Force Acadamy is relieving the Texans of their offensive coordinator. Finally some good news! Troy Calhoun will be replacing long time head coach Fisher Deberry at AFA. Hopefully, he'll take David Carr with him as offensive coordinator. Together, they could replace the triple option attack with a triple tight-end offensive scheme. This would allow a QB similar to Carr the ability to have 3 or 4 people to throw a pass to, as opposed to normal formations that eliminate up to three players by having them line up near the sideline and running more than 8 yards away from the line of scrimmage.

Speaking of the triple option: who hires a guy as offensive coordinator a guy who played college ball and coached in a triple option scheme? I guess that's why the Texans had the slot guy run a fake reverse behind Carr on every play. I just assumed he was there in case Carr fumbled when he got sacked once every 5 downs.

Well, I guess Calhoun as OC shouldn't be all that surprising. The guy who's the head coach is most notable for backing up John Elway and being the offensive coordinator for the Broncos. Doesn't Shanahan call most of the plays for the Broncos? Kubiak has only shown an arrogance that he can turn around a loser for a quarterback and use anyone for running back. And what's the deal with the Texans being Denver's 'B' team? Ron Dayne, the Texans' current backup quarterback, and there are probably others.

Whoever ends up as the Texans' offensive coordinator needs to do something to liven this offense. And that person needs to fight for someone different under center. Somebody who's been a winner as an individual and as part of a team. And I'd appreciate somebody who's name isn't Brady Quinn.

Why not Houston?

Alright, I said I wasn't going to do it anymore, but I did. I read Bill Simmons' latest article on ESPN. This one covered the topic of Allen Iverson. If I would have quit reading three paragraphs from the end, I would have completely agreed with his article. (Of course the Clippers or the Celtics are the logical choice for The Answer to end up. Anywhere else would be absolutely absurd.)

Mr. Simmons holds basically Joe's stance on A.I., only much more articulate. I've heard a couple (*cough*) times from Joe that Iverson is amazing to watch live. I'd believe it, it seems like he's the hardest working player on the court. Always moving without the ball, always getting steals. (By the way, how does somebody who has led the league in steals in multiple seasons get labeled as a defensive liability?) He does cause problems off the court, but on the court he solves them. Why do they call him what they do? However, some teams in the midwest or Utah have logical concerns with bringing that kind of attitude into their regions. I don't believe he'll quit causing problems.

There is one place where he'd fit in with the new attitude. I'm talking about the new epicenter of hip-hop, the domain of Beyonce, Mike Jones, Chamillionare and Johnny the Jeweler and the other Johnny the Jeweler. That's right: Houston! Why not? Get rid of the 28 year old with the 58 year old back and bring in The Answer. A.I. can get his grills and his blings without the annoyance of airplanes and their stingy anti-drug rules. And guns are encouraged in Texas! He'll fit right in!

Seriously, I'd be excited to watch him play basketball in Houston. I'd try to be at the first game, sitting as close as I could. He can score, he can dish the rock. He can be the one who leads this team of role players. McGrady won't lead, he won't make others better. He isn't even that good himself. Alas, there are two reasons that Houston's answer won't be Allen Iverson. One: Jeff Van Gundy is a finicky, control obsessed downer of a head coach. He's got a decent player in Bonzi Wells sitting on the bench, while in Van Gundy's "doghouse." T-Mac hasn't had a problem with Van Gundy because he doesn't really care about winning. And Yao hasn't had a problem because Van Gundy can't speak Chinese. Iverson would probably just take the last spot on the bench from Wells and sit there for the rest of the year if he played for Van Gundy. Two, and most importantly, Houston athletic teams absolutely refuse to provide a product worth getting excited about. Mario Williams over Bush and Young? Let me go out and buy season tickets! (That's the topic of the next post.) Rudy Gay. Not too bad. Wait ... Shane Battier!?! That hasn't exactly lit up the box office. Don't see a lot of Steve Novak jerseys flying off the shelf.

If Allen Iverson is The Answer, the question is: Why not Houston?

Troy Smith Heisman acceptance

This is an addition to Austin's post. And also to point out something else I saw online.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0612/cfb.smith.heisman/content.9.html

I was impressed by how dapper Troy Smith looked as he accepted the Heisman. The three piece suit is a nice touch with the red and white tie and the red pinstriped grey suit. A subtle but thoughtful ode to Ohio State. Maybe coaches need to look at this picture and inspire their own wardrobes. Bright orange suit coats? At least Weber tried. Look at these. Sampson with Oklahoma. Sampson with Indiana. I guess they'd have to pay him more to wear a different tie.

I would agree with what's being said about the Heisman and the Maxwell. I think the Maxwell usually goes to the assumed second place in the Heisman voting. How did two awards come about, anyway? And why is there an offensive player of the year category, wouldn't this be the same as the Heisman, too? And then, why is there a quarterback of the year award if they're just going to give it to the quarterback of the best team in football? Why not give it to the Hawaii quarterback? He did get close to setting the single season TD record (I'm not sure whether he got there or not.) So what if he plays in a gimicky offense, somebody still had to throw the ball. If you aren't going to look at numbers, look at a team that overacheived in the face of adversity. I'm thinking somebody like Paul Thompson for Oklahoma. Re-establishing himself as a quarterback and being able to lead the Sooners to only two losses and a BCS bowl game, in a year in which Adrian Peterson was knocked out halfway seems pretty impressive to me. This is along the lines of Vince Young winning the QB of the year award last year.

Speaking of Vince Young, did anyone catch the highlights of him single handedly beating his hometown team? Made me sick. Brady Quinn, you think you might like Houston?

AI and the Pizza Ranch

Allen Iverson is the hardest working basketball player around. I don't like the NBA very well, but AI is a good ball player. He's crazy off the court, but who cares when you have a guy who will sacrifice his body everyday? When I was a Memphis I went to a Grizzlies 76ers game. He played harder than anyone and he was injured. I think any team that can get him should take him. I personally would like to see him go to Minnesota so I could go to a game. We'll see what happens, but the 76ers really messed this up. Also, people who talk about him being selfish are wrong because who's he going to pass the ball to Kyle Korver? No offense to Korver, but I'd rather give the ball to AI.

I went to Pizza Ranch today and it was delicious. I've never eaten anything quite so greasy, but it was excellent. I never thought any pizza could be greasier than Pokey Sticks, but this place is. There pizza is like Pokey sticks soaked in butter or something. I feel like I should take a shower since I ate there. Anyway, according Ty their dessert pizza is "Heaven in your mouth." If you ever have a chance, everyone needs to eat there once.

Today's Urban Dictionary word of the post (www.urbandictionary.com) :

Hasselhoffing

The act of changing a colleague's desktop wallpaper to display the manly physique of David Hasselhoff.

Dear God man! I leave my workstation for a few moments to visit the big boys room and you've Hasselhoffed me!

Thursday Night Football

I'm sure everyone was talking about that amazing game last night around the water cooler this morning! They were most likely talking about Wille Parker setting a Steelers record for the most rushing yards in a game with 233. Or maybe they were possibly discussing the Steelers running the table and having an outside chance of making the playoffs and defending their title? Nope, not unless they have NFL Network they weren't talking about this. In fact, most people, me included, had to be reminded there was a game last night. Wasn't it a Thursday night? Aren't Thursday nights in the television world devoted to Grey's Anatomy and the OC? When I think of Thursday, I don't think NFL (unless thoughts of Turkey, Stuffing and Pumpkin Pie are also on my mind). My point is this is rediculous for the NFL Network to broadcast games on Thursday nights, especially when most of the nation won't see it either because 1) they don't have a dish 2) they are watching Grey's Anatomy or 3) they simply forgot about football because its Thursday! Not to mention they are taking some great games away from viewers. NFL Network started this "new tradition" on Thanksgiving by giving us a third game to watch! Except it was actually a decent game because the Lions weren't playing in this one (Sorry Joe) and I didn't have to hear about Tony Romo and Terrell Owens. The Broncos and Chiefs! I can't wait! Oh wait, I can wait, and I will wait until the next morning in the paper when I can finally see the score. Granted NFL Network will one day, most likely, end up on Cable networks but even then its a Thursday night. Football, NFL speaking, is meant to be played on Sunday when everyone can just sit and waste away another day after being wasted the previous two. And then, just like any good meal, theres leftovers on Monday Night Football, and I prefer to think of MNF as leftovers and not sloppy seconds because MNF is one of the greatest things in sports. So, NFL Network you messed this one up because I shouldn't have to choose between getting a dish or cable, I shouldnt have to worry about updating my fantasy lineup on a Thursday night, and I know espcially that Jeremy (Jmeeks) shouldn't have to choose between football and Grey's Anatomy. Afterall, being an NFL fan is the epitamy of laziness and should only require the amount of energy needed to walk to the fridge/bathroom (usually in that order) and changing the channel and ferouciously clicking the mouse to see how your fantasy team is performing.


Question of the Post
What team has played in the most MNF games all time? and here's to hoping that one day I won't be asking who played in the most Thursday night games.

-AMeeks

Brady Quinn Player of the Year!?

Brady Quinn recently received the Maxwell Award given to the nation's top collegiate football player. He beat out Heisman Trophy favorite Troy Smith for the award. First, here's the article.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2690330

How in the world did Brady Quinn beat out Troy Smith for this award? Troy Smith is by far the best collegiate player this year. I guess one good thing that came of this is that there is now some Heisman talk and speculation in what has seemed like a one man race all year, but there is no way Brady Quinn is the player of the year. Brady Quinn is quite possibly one of the, if not the THE most overrated player in college football.

Troy Smith did manage to take home some hardware winning the Davey O'Brien trophy for the nation's top quarterback which he more than deserved. However, if I had to give Brady Quinn a trophy over Troy Smith it certainly wouldn't be the best player award! Troy Smith is an excellent quarterback and all-around player who has matured greatly over his tenure as the leader of the Buckeyes. He can run it when he has to, scramble to find an open receiver and also drop straight back and hit his target. Brady and Smith have similar stats this season with Quinn throwing for more yards and two more touchdowns, however Quinn got sacked 16 more times.

I am not a huge Big Ten fan, but I am even a bigger hater of Notre Dame and Brady Quinn. With that being said I respect Troy Smith and his willingness to change his style of play from a scrambling quarterback (611 yards rushing and 11 TD's) last year to a very, very good collegiate quarterback by cutting down his rushing this year to 233 yards and 1 TD this year. It would be a shame not to see Troy Smith win the Heisman this year. Did I mention that Notre Dame has two losses on the year and Ohio State is undefeated?

These people are just misinformed

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16095716/

I don't even really know what to say about this article. It's unbelievable that people would hold these views. It's probably a waste of time to even dissect this, so I won't. I just thought it was a good sampling of Texas' values.

I did like this last paragraph.

Though he now concedes the Muslims are probably not after his land, Baker
said he is obligated to go through with the pig races, probably within the next
few weeks, because “I would be like a total idiot if I didn’t. I’d be the
laughingstock now because I’ve gone too far.”

A total idiot? Too late.

More fantasy football

Since we're on the topic, I guess I'll post about it. I don't think any NFL player can complain about fantasy football. People will always be loyal to the teams they like. If anything, it actually gains individual players more fans. Case in point--Peyton "I look like I'm missing a chromosome" Manning. He's got the charisma of a rock (and not even an igneous rock). He would not have as many endorsements had it not been for fantasy football. (Once again, no proof but I think its a good guess).

Onto Jmeeks' comments about ticket prices and people still going. Lions and Raiders fans still go to the games. This alone shows loyalty to the team. Neither team has any fantasy stud (Exception: Roy Williams) so it's obviously not fantasy football making people go to games. I think at the end of the season, they should make these two teams play each other, the loser takes money from players, coaches, owners and general managers (especially Matt Millen) to give back to season ticket holders.

Now, you can blame it on the people who bought the season holders but they're the faithful, rich fans. I say rich because season tickets crazy expensive. Now, I say faithful because every year you pretend your team had a good draft and a good offseason even if you know it's not true. This creates a hope for 8-10 wins in the NFL, which is a huge improvement from 2-3 wins. The same thing happens every year with the Lions. My friend Mike and I always have this discussion:
"How many games are they going to win this year?"
"They're going to win 8 games this year."
We both say it sincerely, and it doesn't happen. Oh well, life goes on and we'll repeat it again in the fall of '07.

Fantasy Sports and Whinny Football players

Fantasy sports have killed some of the team loyalty that has been a hallmark of professional sports. But at the same time, I never watched NFL before, because I didn't have a team that I really liked (and I won't until the Texans get rid of Carr) and didn't really have time. But now I can catch the games on Sunday and it gives me something to watch for. Cowboys?!? Yuck! Cowboys can suck it! Wait, I can get Tony Romo off free agency? Go Cowboys Go!

What does Plummer want from the fans? At least those people went to the game, and were loyal enough to have you starting for their team. They pay 80 dollars for crappy seats in the snow to watch you play the game that you get paid millions of dollars to play, and you're bitching because they don't live and die with every game? Players are always the first ones to shake off a loss after the game - if you don't care that much, why should I?

Anything that gets more eyeballs on more games is good for the NFL and, ultimately, players.

Fantasy Football/First Post

Alright, so Jmeeks invited me to be a contributor to this blog and requested this be my first post. Fantasy Football has become extremely popular around America and apparantely somewhat popular amongst the NFL itself. This is a link to an article on ESPN.com about the subject and a few thoughts:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&id=2684942
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the article:
"Playing New England, I can't be happy with him throwing a TD pass, but in theback of my mind, I'm like, 'Yeah, I just got six points in my fantasy league,'" June says, laughing.Cato June-Linebacker for the Colts"
When it first started, I was a little naive on this stuff," Akers said,laughing. "A guy came up to me and said, 'You're my fantasy kicker,' and I'm like, 'Dude, what are you talking about? Maybe I shouldn't be hanging out withyou.'"David Akers-Kicker for Eagles
"I have some old friends who are trainers and some buddies," Broncosquarterback Jake Plummer said. "I give them a tip every once in awhile. Ithink the best one was when Reuben Droughns started for us and no one knew hewas going to start.Jake Plummer- You suppose he told those same friends,
"Hey, drop me and pick up Cutler I'm getting benched. Actually, SHIT!, if you are stupid enough tohave me in the first place there is no need for my advice you are already outof the playoffs."Another Plummer quote:"I think it's ruined the game, actually," said Plummer, recently replaced asstarter by rookie Jay Cutler. "There are no true fans anymore, because if Ilose a game I come out of Invesco Field and there's not a Denver fan mad that I lost, but happy because I threw three TDs. When I was growing up, I was afan of my team, not the points I'm getting."
-Actually I think he meant to say this the other way around. It's more like I win a game and come out of Invesco Field and theres not a Denver fan happythat we won, but mad because I threw three picks!"
"I scored three touchdowns against the Cowboys," Cooley said, "and I ended up beating my own team because of myself. I was way more happy about the game. Icould really care less.Chris Cooley TE for Redskins
"All they care about is whether I get 150 yards and two touchdowns, whereas all I care about is whether or not we win. So there's an incongruity in thewants."Tiki Barber--Tiki is just pissed because he usually lives up to the 150 yardsbut they give it to Brandon Jacobs in the redzone


Look for future posts to include subjects such as Rex Grossman's struggles and of course the BCS argument.

Alright, so this is my first post. The first couple might be a little rough, but I'm sure they'll improve as I get used to writing in a non-report format.

Although I have a very bitter feeling towards college football right now, I have no disagreement with the BCS. Much like jmeeks, I hate the Big 10 (I guess they're universities don't teach them how to count to 11)* and feel absolutely no pity towards Michigan. They had their chance to win the national championship by beating OSU. I think Michigan really would have a good shot at beating them, but I think you have to give Florida their chance. On that note, I also think that USC is better than Florida. They choked last week, and it was a rivalry game, which of course can go either way no matter what the talent level. Just ask the Hawkeyes about losing to a much worse ISU team 5 out of 8 years or something like that. This is why the 4 team playoff would be awesome. I'd much rather exclude the 5th best team than the 3rd best. Also, if they did it this way, they would still use the BCS and the bowl games. They would probably make more money off of this than the previous way (this is just purely a guess). Those are my feelings.

My next thoughts are going to be on the national deficit. Here's a national deficit counter http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
I think this is getting out of hand. Whatever, I guess we'll just pay for it later. Thats probably what a person who lost their house due to credit card debt said also. Sure, part of it is this war, however, the tax cuts were a large cause for this problem. What Bush appearently doesn't understand is that when you cut income, you must cut spending.

Anyway, I'm going to stop before I get frustrated, however, I'm going to leave you with the Urban Dictionary word of the post:

	nicotini	53 up, 22 down
	An alcoholic drink that includes nicotine as an ingredient. Usually made with vodka in which tobacco has been soaked. Generally billed as an alternative for smokers in smoke-free establishments. After the citywide smoking ban came into effect, my only option was to drink an occassional nicotini while barhopping.

WTF?

BCS Scandal

First post of the new era. Lets get started.

There are a lot of reasons I don't think that Michigan got screwed:
1) I don't like the Big Ten, therefore, I don't feel sorry for them
2) Michigan had its chance to beat OSU and become the unanimous #1 and guarantee itself a spot in the championship (more on that later)
3) Florida won its conference, which included a championship game. Michigan, did not (see #2)

On, and on. The big ten was weak this year, but I would say the SEC was, too. I don't like that the Big Eleven doesn't have a championship game, because it thinks it fares better without one. Like I said, a bunch of reasons. Back to #2 above, I came across this article on ESPN.com this morning. I took issue with all of it, but this last part especially.

But none of that matters now. Instead, Carr is taking his Wolverines to the Rose Bowl presented by Citi to face a USC team that had one loss on Saturday -- and controlled its own BCS destiny -- but two losses by Saturday night.

Michigan never had that chance. It was 11-1 on Nov. 18. It was 11-1 on Dec. 3. But between then and now, the Wolverines apparently became the cellulite queens and somehow lost the swimsuit portion of this ridiculous BCS beauty pageant.

Michigan didn't do a thing wrong. And yet Carr was the one who had to console his team Sunday night. He did it, but here's guessing he wasn't Mr. Congeniality.

Uh, Michigan did have a chance to control its own destiny. Right till the horn sounded in Ohio Stadium on Nov. 18. They knew going in that if they win, they go to the BCS championship. But they didn't. So now, they have to take what the polls are giving them. (Little take off on Corso in NCAA football for the PS2).

You know who didn't have a chance to control its own destiny? Boise State, apparently. So they played a crappy schedule. They beat all the teams on it, but the best they can do is hope to play a BCS game. Notre Dame, apparently, doesn't have these worries.

Who else didn't get to control their own destiny? Any team from the Big East not named Louisville. Seems like a curious constraint placed on Rutgers when they were playing against Louisville (and even West Virginia to a degree). Rutgers wins, they are on track for a possible Big East title and BCS game. Louisville wins, they are on track for a possible spot in the BCS championship.

Same with Arkansas. If they win, are they playing in the title game? Probably not. Why not? Because they aren't Florida. Or LSU. Or heck, even Alabama. Arkansas lacks the name recognition necessary to be considered a major player in college football. (See Rutgers, above)

So, I don't buy Michigan's sob story. BCS may be subjective and inconclusive and a broken system. Yet, it seems to me Michigan and Ohio State both were as close to controlling their destinies as you can be in college football. On November 18, two teams lined up knowing that one would advance to a spot in the national championship game. Hmm, isn't that how a playoff works?

New Idea

Well, here's the new idea: Joe, of the previously included IM fame, will be co-author of the blog. We'll bounce ideas off one another and hopefully give both of us better ideas to write about. I'll try to keep the postings short to give this a more 'discussion' feel.