Monday, January 26, 2009

Kobe, Thy Name is Dick

I couldn't help but laugh when I read that Kobe Bryant thinks he could help the Philadelphia Eagles at wide receiver.

The man can't lead the LA Lakers to a title without riding on Shaq's coattails. Now he thinks he could lead an NFL team to the Super Bowl. Not only is he arrogant but he's delusional too.

Basketball can be a physical game. Football is a constant physical game. Kobe thinks that when they get into the redzone they could just lob it to him. To use his words, he'd just "Moss" it; referring himself to Randy Moss.

I'd like to see the look on Kobe's face the first time a linebacker or safety cracks him over the middle.

Plus receivers are required to do a lot of things besides catch the ball. They need to block down field, run decoy routes and other "team" things. I somehow don't think any of this is hard wired into Kobe's whining thin skull.

Then again, WR is the diva position of the NFL. Kobe might fit in there.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

2009 NFL Draft

I'm just now starting to read up on the draft and see who is going where. Of course my interests are with who the Texans are going to draft. They have the 15th pick. Will it be another defensive linemen? A speed end to help take the double teams off Mario Williams? Will it be a defensive tackle to free up DeMeco Ryans in the middle? Or Rey Maualuga if he falls to them?

Or do they trade down and try to pick up an extra pick in the second? I can't remember if they don't have a second round pick due to the Matt Schaub trade with Atlanta. I'll have to look that up.

For now, I'm just compiling websites and other sources to read for my draft information.

I'm not much of a draft geek. But I might try this year.

Anyway, for now here are a couple of sites I'm using:

NFLdraftscout.com

Scott Wright's Draft Countdown

Saturday, January 17, 2009

New Blog Feature - Official Hack List

I've added a link of official hacks. The links are in order of irrelevance.

Leading off the list is the Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice. Justice is the official mouth piece for the University of Texas. Just a couple examples: A raw deal for UT from flawed system and UT claims another win for the ages. His wonderful column featuring Vince Young when the Titans came to town was well received. Who really wants to read about the whining, crying, pouting, sulking back up quarterback of the best team in the NFL at the time? Evidently Justice and the Chronicle editorial staff did. The backlash on the comments section was hilarious. My personal favorite comment went along the lines of "Is this the first feature on back up quarterbacks in the NFL. I can't wait for your feature on Brooks Bollinger."

Not only is he shill for the Longhorns, he evidently carries a personal grudge against the Texans. On one of his recent columns was pretty much a crying session because the Texans fired his buddies...the strength coach and a trainer. They were friends going back to the days when Justice covered the Redskins. The column is filled with stories and quotes from unnamed sources and no support. Bigfatdrunk at DGDG&D does a great job of picking the column apart.

Andy Perloff's Against the Grain is probably the worst blog out there. He claims to be "not your average football anaylsis." He's right in one aspect. It's not average. It's well below average. I've also taken to calling him Captain Obvious because he doesn't have one original thought in his blog. Like this week's gem. He writes about the Chargers shouldn't be afraid to let LT walk. I haven't heard this idea or discussion any where. I love to go onto his comment section and rail on him. I hope he keeps writing cause I love to go read the train wreck.

It took me a while to label Jason Whitlock a hack. However his column giving Tony Dungy and the Colts defense a pass while blaming the loss Peyton Manning earned the hack label. His continued excuse making for Ball State's last two losses also factored in him earning the title of hack. I have more about my recent Jason Whitlock - Hack post.

Jerome Solomon hasn't posted any hack material lately but take my word he's still a hack.

More coming to the list is warranted.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Kobe Clutch Shot vs. Spurs and What the Clip Doesn't Show

Great game that was played last night between the Spurs and the Lakers Wednesday night. So good that well some wished it had ended differently. Someone posted the video below of Kobe Bryant's last second three against the Spurs. From the video you would think the game was over.



Notice how much time is left in the game. And then notice where this next clip picks up.



The Laker fan who posted would have you believe that the game ended with Bryants 3 pointer and his silly bouncing testicles dance.

Even is the Lakers had won the game, his bouncing balls dance would still look silly. See, ever since Shaq O'neal was forced out in favor of Bryant, Bryant has been a great player but not a player capable of making those around him great. The Lakers had their first return to the NBA title game since O'neal was sent packing. Bryant preceded to lead the Lakers to a big game six lead only to lose the big lead as well as the series. That's a big time tiny testicle moment.

Sorry Kobe but you have no reason to be flexing your nuts until you do something that Shaq helped you do and that's win a title. No MVPs, no scoring titles or individual awards will make up for lack of leading a team to the title.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

NFL Playoffs

I started writing this as the Steelers vs. Chargers playoff game wound down. Chargers put up a fight for what? A half?

The Eagles and Giants game was a good game. I can't say that I'm surprised with the result. It's quiet obvious that the Giants weren't the same since Plaxico Burress went hunting late night at a club. It's a shame that one players performance can affect a team's season like this. It's a bigger shame that no one on the team could step up and at least fill his shoes partially.

The Cardinals continue to surprise. I thought they would get smoked by Atlanta in the wildcard round. Then I thought they would get routed by the Panthers. Guess they showed me. Now they host the Eagles in the NFC Championship next week. And I had left them for dead.

Why did the Panthers even show up? They were just flat out embarrassed by the Cardinals. They were out played on both sides of the ball. No excuse for a performance like that. It's every body's fault they played like that. Coaches and players shouldn't show their faces around town for a while. It was a pathetic effort for a team that is more talented than what they showed on the field. They shouldn't even be able to look at themselves in the mirror after that stinker.

I'd call the Raven's upset of the Titans a mild one. The game was the sloppy low scoring affair that I expected. Both teams were flagged numerous times but the Titans made the most mistakes.

Quarterback Kerry Collins threw one interception while LenDale White fumbled on the Raven's 17 near the end of the half and Alge Crumpler fumbled at the goal line with nine minutes left in the game. The Ravens didn't turn the ball over once. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco almost stepped out the back of the endzone for a safety late in the game. Post game replays showed he didn't step out. The Ravens clearly caught a break when a delay of game wasn't called on the game winning drive.

I was over at titansonline.com just to read the reactions. For the most part they were level headed. No calling for Vince "Son of Zeus" Young to start. No one had to be talked in from a ledge. There were a few whining about the safety not being called and others crying about the no call on the delay of game. The last gripe is legitimate but one also has to consider the three turnovers. If the Titans don't shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers, they probably win the game.

Such is life. You win some and you lose some. The Ravens just played a better game than the Titans.

And Jason Whitlock hasn't emailed me back on me calling him out on his Dungy/Sproles lovefest but blaming the Colts loss squarely on Peyton Manning's shoulders. I know he gets a ton of emails but I've called him out so many times I figure by now he'd answer one of my accusations.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Jason Whitlock - Hack

Congratulations Jason Whitlock. You've finally made my list of hacks. You now join the elite list of hacks that I keep. Currently on the list is SI bloger Andrew Perlof plus the Houston Chronicle's columnists Jerome Solomon and Longhorn mouthpiece and Vince Young sack massager Richard Justice. Steve Rushin, formerly of Sports Illustrated, once held a spot here. Over the his last few years at SI I removed his name off the list. He writing and story telling improved leaps and bounds. Then he was let go. I'm still puzzled by that move.

But back to Whitlock. Whitlock is Foxsports.com's angry black man. Whitlock's writing is a mixed bag. He can be thought provoking, funny, angry and occasionally praise people. I like someone who has a different take and has some teeth to his writing. Whitlock sometimes can be very good. Whitlock sometimes can be very bad. I gave him plenty of leeway when reading him because of his sometimes thought provoking writing.

After reading this week's column and taking in his Ball St. campaign, I have no choice but to officially consider him a bonafide hack.

His NFL Truths this week couldn't be anything further from the truth.

Point ten - He places the blame of the Colts playoff loss on Peyton Manning. Like him I used to consider Manning a Class A choke artist. Then he won a Super Bowl. I don't consider him a choke artist anymore. He's not the most successful playoff quarterback to ever live but he isn't the worst playoff quarterback either. If you want to talk choke artist then talk about Tony Romo. Not many choke artists win Super Bowls.

In the same point, he exonerates Tony Dungy of any responsibility of the playoff loss. Quoting Whitlock's words,"He (Dungy) was resurrected from Tampa to make Indy's defense good enough to win in the postseason." Yet in his seventh NFL Truth he sings the praises of Darren Sproles. Sproles ripped that vaunted Dungy Colts defense and special teams for 328 all purpose yards.

To say that Manning is to blame and not Dungy is asinine. Manning only threw for 310 yards and a touchdown. What else does Whitlock want? For Manning to put on a cape and fly to the endzone? I put the blame more on Dungy and not making any adjustments to try and slow down Sproles. Or is Sproles so good that Dungy can't stop him? Sproles was having a one man parade on the Colts defense and special teams. But that's Peyton Manning's fault? Manning wasn't out there to make the tackles on Sproles.

There is plenty of blame to go around. The nonexistent running game, Sproles exposing the Colts defense and Tony Dungy are all to blame. Placing the blame solely on Manning is pretty weak and I'm no Manning fan.

I agree of his assessment of Matt Millen appearing on NBC. I was screaming R. Lee Emory Full Metal Jacket style at my TV for Millen to get the f**k off my screen. I take exception though to him comparing Millen to ESPN's Rick Reilly. Reilly is one of the best sports writers around. Reilly funny, thought provoking, off beat, some times irreverent and just damn good. And comparing Millen to O.J Simpson is definitely a stretch. Yes Millen is the worst general manager in the history of the NFL. Millen though didn't kill his ex-wife (allegedly by some) or go storming into a hotel room with buddies and guns to repo sports memorabilia. That's definitely a low blow that even Millen doesn't deserve.

Finally, what the hell is going on in the world when I come to the defense of Manning and Millen. I think my mind is going to melt.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Thomas Hilton R.I.P.

This news came as a shocker. Thomas Hilton wrote the Texans Fan blog for the Houston Chronicle. Cause of death hasn't been released and I don't think it's relevant. He was only 36.

I only read his blog occasionally but Hilton was well respected in the small Texans blogosphere. You might not like his opinions or think he was full of it but if you confronted him with it he'd handle it with class and respect.

I noticed he hadn't posted in a while. I knew he was a PhD. student so I figure that he just didn't have time or that he quit writing for whatever reason. Then the link on the Chron website just disappeared. It was while reading Texans Chick Stephanie Stradley's blog that I found out about Hilton's passing.

From the reading I did do of Hilton's blog, I is evident that he was a huge Texans fan and definitely loved to write and debate about the Texans.

So it's a shock to lose him but I hope he's above happy to know that many of us will miss him. He left more than just a ripple on the Texans online community.

My Sports Allegiances

My favorite teams are in no particular order: Houston Texans, San Antonio Spurs(NBA champs 99, 03, 05, 07, 14) and the Houston Cougars, Pittsburgh Penguins (Stanley Cups 91, 92, 08, 16, 17)
My secondary teams are: Houston Dynamo(MLS Champs 06, 07), Houston Astros (NL Champs 05), Houston Rockets (NBA Champs 94, 95)
Teams I Hate: Anything out of Dallas
Teams I Enjoy Seeing Lose: Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies, Baylor Bears football
Teams that are Insignificant: rice owls