January 27, 2010
There has been plenty of debate, including in this space, about the role Brett Favre played in Minnesota’s 31-28 loss to New Orleans Sunday in the NFC Championship Game.
But whatever you think about Favre’s horrible interception in the dying moments of the fourth quarter, the fact that he and the Vikings never got a chance to have the ball again in overtime of that game was only unfair, and is something the NFL has to address before another season begins.
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NFL | Tagged: Brett Favre, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants | 
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Posted by tbontemps1
January 26, 2010
When the Minnesota Vikings decided to sign Brett Favre last summer, they did it because they decided they would rather trust the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer than either Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson in the kind of spot the Vikings found themselves in late in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game in New Orleans.
Third down and 15 yards to go. Ball at the Saints’ 38-yard line. Nineteen seconds remaining. Favre dropping back, scanning the field, looking for a few more yards to give kicker Ryan Longwell a little easier kick than the 55-yarder he was looking at. And, as Favre rolled out to his right, it looked like things were going to break his way. The Saints, sure Favre was going to throw the ball, dropped back into coverage, and didn’t account for the aging signal-caller to tuck the ball and run for a few yards.
It looked like Favre, at a minimum, could pick up five yards, and perhaps as many as 10 or 12. Given Longwell’s range, which stretches into the mid-50s, taking off and running would have very likely given the Vikings the win, and Favre a trip to his third Super Bowl. Or, Favre could try to force a ball into his favorite receiver, Sidney Rice, who was 20 yards down field, and on the opposite side to boot.
But when faced with that critical decision – either to make the smart but simple play or the flashy but risky one – there was no choice in Favre’s mind. He promptly threw the ball to Rice, hurling it across his body and across the field, and watched it land right in the hands of Saints cornerback Tracy Porter.
And, really, there shouldn’t have been in the minds of any of the millions of people watching. Favre was always going to throw that ball. And he was always going to find a way to cost his team that game.
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2 Comments | NFL | Tagged: Alex Rodriguez, Brett Favre, Brian Dawkins, Corey Webster, Derek Jeter, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Ryan Longwell, Sage Rosenfels, Sidney Rice, Tarvaris Jackson | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
January 22, 2010
The NBA All-Star Game has long been considered the best all-star game in any of the four major sports. Both football and hockey have turned their games into soft, high-scoring affairs that take away the true grit and substance that make both sports so entertaining for fans to watch, while baseball’s all-star game, while entertaining, loses a lot of its appeal in the wake of the way Bud Selig has handled it (increased emphasis on getting everyone in the game, different pitchers just about every inning, the infamous tie a few years ago, the game determining home-field advantage in the World Series).
But the NBA’s game has held up over time. While there is less defense, clearly, in the NBA All-Star Game than in a typical NBA game, basketball is the easiest sport to transition to an showcase setting like All-Star Weekend is without losing the values people enjoy about the game. Because the game isn’t overtly physical, guys can play like they would in a regular NBA game fairly easily, thus making it look much more like a real contest.
And after he was voted into the Eastern Conference’s starting lineup, Allen Iverson still belongs on that stage.
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Leave a Comment » | NBA | Tagged: Allen Iverson, Bud Selig, Cowboys Stadium, Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA All-Star Game, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Pro Bowl, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Vince Carter, World Series | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
January 22, 2010
So in the past few weeks, the Buffalo Bills have hired a general manager and a head coach. That’s the good news.
The bad news? The team interviewed two internal candidates for the GM job – after stating they would do an exhaustive search of people from around the league, and after the Bills failed to make the playoffs for the entire decade – and chose to hire a 70-year-old man named Buddy Nix (who, coincidentally, sounds like George W. Bush), who had never been a GM before, and the team’s 91-year-old owner said he didn’t interview people outside of the organization because he “didn’t know them”.
They then fired the only other man that interviewed for the job yesterday.
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Leave a Comment » | NFL | Tagged: Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson, Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Bill Polian, Georgia Tech, Darryl Talley, Marv Levy, Buddy NIx, Chan Gailey, Tom Donahoe, Marty Schottenheimer, Brian Billick | Permalink
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January 15, 2010
Now that Gilbert Arenas is in the process of submitting a guilty plea on a felony gun possession charge, things should really start to get interesting.
After weeks of speculation about what they would do next, there is little doubt now, as my friend Adrian Wojnarowski spells out in this column, that the Washington Wizards will attempt to void the tens of millions of dollars remaining on Arenas’ max-level contract. That scenario has two possible outcomes, both with fascinating long-term ramifications for Wizards, Arenas and the league.
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Leave a Comment » | NBA | Tagged: Dwayne Wade, Detroit Pistons, LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Washington Capitals, Ron Artest, Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Chris Bosh, Caron Butler, Los Angeles Clippers, Gilbert Arenas, Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, David Stern, Ernie Grunfeld, Flip Saunders, Antawn Jamison, Washington Wizards, Abe Pollin, Ted Leonsis, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudamire, Andrea Bargnani, P.J. Carlesimo, Latrell Sprewell, J.J. Hickson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
January 13, 2010
How great must it be to be Lane Kiffin?
Less than 18 months ago, Al Davis was sitting in a press conference reading off a list of grievances against Kiffin after Davis had fired the then 32-year-old coach as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Among the chargers Davis leveled at Kiffin were that he was a “liar” and a “disgrace”.
Then, a few months later, Kiffin had been hired to succeed Phil Fulmer at Tennessee. He then hired his legendary father, Monte, to be his defensive coordinator, quickly assembled arguably the best coaching staff in college football and began competing with the top programs in the nation on the recruiting trail.
Now, just over a year later, Kiffin, after going 7-6, has jumped to one of the five best jobs in the country with his decision last night to become the head coach at Southern Cal.
And did I mention that he’s married to this woman?
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Leave a Comment » | College Football | Tagged: UCLA, Lane Kiffin, Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans, Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, Pete Carroll, USC, Reggie Bush, Monte Kiffin, Ed Orgeron, Norm Chow, Jack Del Rio, Mike Riley, Oregon State, Al Davis, Tennessee, Joe McKnight, Mike Garrett, Phil Fulmer | Permalink
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January 10, 2010
Pete Carroll has had a tremendous run of success at USC. In his nine seasons as head coach of the Trojans, Carroll compiled an incredible 97-19 record – good for an average of nearly 11 wins a year. USC won two national titles (and nearly won a third when they lost to Texas and Vince Young in the 2006 National Championship Game, arguably the greatest game ever played) and seven straight Pac-10 titles.
So why, after all of that success, after spending a decade as the king of Los Angeles, due to there being no NFL team in the nation’s second-largest media market, would Pete Carroll decide that now is the right time to move to the Seattle Seahawks as its new head coach
Some would argue that Carroll, who has two decades of NFL experience, simply wants to write a new legacy for himself in the pros after going 33-31 in four seasons as the head coach with the New York Jets and New England Patriots. Some would argue that his decade of dominance with USC leaves him with nothing to prove anymore in the college game. Some would argue that he wants a new challenge.
But, to me, this decision has nothing to do with any of those possible factors. Instead, I think Carroll is pulling a John Calipari – leaving just before a scandal that happened on his watch causes his program to be hit with sanctions.
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1 Comment | College Football | Tagged: Dallas Cowboys, John Calipari, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Memphis, New England Patriots, New Jersey Nets, New York Giants, New York Jets, O.J. Mayo, Pete Carroll, Pittsburgh Steelers, Reggie Bush, Seattle Seahawks, Texas, USC, Vince Young | Permalink
Posted by tbontemps1
January 4, 2010
The New York Jets are one of the most important teams in the history and evolution of the National Football League. Joe Namath’s guarantee – and subsequent victory – over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969 led to the official AFL-NFL merger, directly laying the foundation of what the league has become today.
But ever since setting that high-water mark in their history, it’s been a long, depressing 40 years for the Jets, as they’ve made their fans suffer through one excruciating loss after another.
There is the “Mud Bowl” in 1982, when Richard Todd threw three picks and the Jets lost to Miami in the Orange Bowl. There is Mark Gastineau’s foolish roughing the passer penalty helping Cleveland escape from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and eventually beat the Jets in double overtime. There is Dan Marino’s “Fake Spike Game” at the Meadowlands in 1994, with Miami beating the Jets and sending them from 6-5 entering the game to 6-10 at season’s end. There is giving up a 10-0 lead against Denver in the 1998 AFC title game, and Doug Brien’s two missed field goals in the 2005 Divisional Round, costing the Jets a game in Pittsburgh.
There was even last year, when the Jets, after bringing in Brett Favre in the offseason, completely collapsed down the stretch – including a loss in the Meadowlands to the Dolphins and their former quarterback, Chad Pennington – and again found a way to miss the playoffs, culminating in the firing of Eric Mangini and Favre’s departure.
But after their recent turn of fortunes, culminating with last night’s 37-0 thrashing off the Cincinnati Bengals, maybe things are finally turning around for the Jets. Maybe, after 40 years of misery, fans can stop waiting for the other shoe to drop.
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Leave a Comment » | NFL | Tagged: Atlanta Falcons, Bill Polian, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Carson Palmer, Chad Pennington, Cincinnati Bengals, Dan Marino, Denver Broncos, Doug Brien, Eric Mangini, Indianapolis Colts, Jim Caldwell, Mark Sanchez, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Peyton Manning, Pittsburgh Steelers, Rex Ryan, Richard Todd, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Permalink
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