So much the better when it's a politician giving his opinion on the draft. Florida governor Charlie Crist talked to Jaguars ownership about drafting Tim Tebow in order to sell more tickets. I'm glad the governor took time out from his busy schedule to tell an owner of a private business how to run it. Florida is such a paradise that the governor can spend time constructing a NFL draft board. He is so confident of reelection that forget the campaign for governor. It's a campaign to keep the Jags in Jacksonville. Forget that the Jags already have a quarterback that can run and throw (throw better than Tebow at that), the governor wants to market Tebow.
It's December and like the changing of the leaves, the Cowboys lose. In an important divisional game against a team that has last more games lately than won. It certainly isn't lack of effort on offense. Tony Romo threw 3 touchdowns and no picks. Marion Barber had the only miscue on a rare fumble. Austin Miles, Jason Witten and a Roy Williams appearance all had big days. If there was any knock on the offense it why was Romo putting the ball up 55 times? What's going on with the running game?
If blame is due lay it at the feet of the defense and special teams. The defense allowed Brandon Jacobs to cut loose on a short pass. Jacobs turned the pass into a 74 yard TD. Dominik Dixon ran back a 79 yard punt after he appeared contained. Kicker Nick Polk didn't do anything to help the cause by missing a 42 yard FG attempt.
Steeler Nation must be in full melt down mode. Earlier in the year I expressed some concern about the Steelers and their offense. They started off 1-2 before righting the ship and reeling off five straight. The hit the skids hard with four losses in a row now. The Bengals own the division this year and the Steelers almost pulled off the win. If I'm a fan the two losses that obviously concern me are the KC and Oakland games. Those are two winnable games against bad teams yet the Steelers came up short. They have three tough games against Green Bay, Baltimore and Miami.
On the other hand, Raider Nation must be giddy as school girls. How many wins is that now? Outside of Oakland, who cares? The bottom line is the Raiders are still the same bad team they were when the season started. JeMarcus Russell might be on the bench but Bruce Gradkowski isn't the answer. Until the Godfather Emperor Palpatine dies or brings in a GM with a free strong hand, the Raiders will still suck.
Case in Point: Palpatine's selection of WR Darius Howard-Bey. For the Steeler game he was inactive. The first round pick is inactive. Why? I didn't see him on the injury report. The Raiders screwed the pooch on another first rounder. The Raiders needed all that speed to get all those long balls from Russell. Right? Just look at his game stats for the season. A freaking joke. I guess he and Russell can sit on the bench and eat hot dogs. Look at your future team Raider fans.
Michael Vick had a nice homecoming versus his old team. Unlike others, I want him to succeed. He made his mistake and paid a heavy price. We are all entitled to redemption if it a genuine gesture.
Like I stated last week, the NFL more than likely had caught up with the Patriots. They've been looking stale. Almost like the feel that they should just show up and win. The don't scare anyone. As the losses mount, the intimidation factor diminishes. In fact, I doubt anyone really fears them anymore. This week the Dolphins took them down.
I wonder what Daniel Snyder was hoping for when Jim Zorn was stripped of play calling duties? I know he was trying to get Zorn to quit so Snyder wouldn't be on the hook for his contract. Zorn didn't take the bait. Somebody else is calling plays but the results are the same. Same old Redskins, different Sunday. This time they let the undefeated Saints off the hook. As long as Snyder has owned the team he still doesn't get it. He needs to let someone else run the football operations. He's obviously a smart business man. He wouldn't be loaded otherwise. So why can't he realize that the same aspects apply to running a football team? It's not his personal fantasy team.
In the Sign of Things to come category, the NFL ended the $110 million a year revenue sharing program. The ESPN article doesn't say which revenue program since there are many including TV money, gate receipts and merchandising. I'm assuming the merchandising program is the one ended. Basically all the money from team merchandise sold is pooled and divided up between teams. The article implies that it was used to subsidized lower revenue teams. That is likely false. It's not a subsidy. It's shared revenue. Now it helps those lower revenue teams but the other teams receive the same amount.
What baffles me is that in the commentary and analysis I've read this week, no one has mentioned it. I'm not done with my weekly reading so I don't know what I've missed.
The move could be a sign of how the owners plan on negotiating with the players. The players plan on filing an appeal to an outside arbitrator to rule on the move. The players contend that the revenue sharing is a bargained issue and the league can't unilaterally end it without the NFL Players Association approval. The owners contend that it only applies to cap years. That next year will be uncapped and therefore there is no need for the program to exist.
If the clause ESPN is quoting is correct then the NFLPA will probably win:
"The revenue sharing program described to the NFLPA by memorandum dated March 10, 2006, has been determined by the NFLPA to be satisfactory. Any material modification to that program must also be reasonably satisfactory to the NFLPA.
I'm going to go without name a JeMarcus Russell Player of the Week and a line of the week this issue. It's already a long column....until next week, hopefully.
