Chad Ochocinco, I hope you're listening.
Two incidents involving touchdown celebrations occurred this weekend. The first involved Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Falcons defensive lineman John Abraham. The second involved a CBS broadcaster and a lot of New York Jets, particularly Shonn Greene and Rex Ryan.
So, now we examine the difference between having a good time and rubbing it in.
In the case of Aaron Rodgers, Abraham decided that, being down by two touchdowns against one of the league's most talented quarterbacks, a sack entitled him to make fun of Rodgers's championship belt celebration. Rodgers responded by driving down for an eventual rushing touchdown (which he himself ran) and exaggerating the celebration.
As far as the original cele goes, there's really no problem. The guy likes it when his team scores, so he does a cool little move as part of the excitement. It's not like he demands attention or gets in anybody's face.
How do I know? The simplicity of Rodgers's move is the big clue here. If he wanted attention he'd come up with something that got his whole body involved and probably lasted at least a little longer. But this is no different than a fist pump, except that it's much more original.
In the case of the two staging a celebration battle over it, I don't see a problem either. Abraham was foolish to do what he did given the circumstances, there's no doubt about that. But he did it because he was caught up in the moment. When you're as frustrated as the Falcons were, you look for small things to get adrenaline pumping. That's exactly why he did what he did. And as for Rodgers's response, good for him. He was basically showing Abraham what happens when you mock an opponent stronger than you.
But the celebration involving Shonn Greene and many Jets teammates was completely uncalled for.
I didn't have a problem with his Jets teammates running into the end zone. I did have a problem with Rex Ryan joining them. Sorry, but you're the head coach, dude. Celebrate on the sidelines all you want. But running onto the field as a coach is a no-no. Period. You can say Ryan was caught up in the moment. Uh, so? How many coaches do you think have been in the same situation? How many ran onto the field? That's what I thought. Coaches are held to a higher standard than players. They are expected to behave in a way that provides a good example. But Ryan proved once again that he never grew up. Coaches are supposed to be mature, Rex, and you've been anything but.
And Greene's celebration was fine. Until it became a "nap time" celebration. Such a celebration clearly was made so he could get a camera to look at him. Not to mention the disrespect of it. The game wasn't over yet, but Greene was basically saying that given the circumstances, he might as well sleep for the rest of it. Unacceptable. Get excited all you want. Have your players run in, but no coaches and no "nap time". It goes too far.
People seem to be on opposite ends of the coin when it comes to celebrations, but the truth is that some are OK because they are the result of pure excitement and emotion or the desire to have fun, but there comes a point where a player must remember that the game must be treated with respect.
Act like you've been there before.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Round 3 picks
Forgot to post last week's picks. I split them. Got both of Saturday's right and both of Sunday's wrong.
Forget that though, time for Round 3.
AFC Championship
I was disappointed and infuriated to see the Jets move on yet again. Now they'll face a tough Steelers team that's been lights-out in the playoffs.
Bottom line: I'm not sure I consider Ben Roethlisberger a future Hall of Famer, but when playoff time comes around, he's one of the best in the business. Two Super Bowl rings at his age is pretty good. Sanchez won't be able to handle the defense that the Steelers bring. He just isn't good enough. Troy and Co. will shut down the New York offense, while Big Ben leads the Pittsburgh offense to a couple of touchdowns, which is all that they'll need.
Steelers 17, Jets 6
NFC Championship
Will somebody pour a bucket of water on Aaron Rodgers? The man has been unbelievably good. Good enough for me to stick by the team I had originally picked to win the Super Bowl. The Pack is dynamic on both sides of the ball, and now they've beaten Philly and CRUSHED a universally-considered powerful Atlanta Falcons team.
Don't get me wrong, the Bears are good too. If any defense can handle Rodgers and Co., it's them. But I don't see them doing it.
Packers 24, Bears 10
Forget that though, time for Round 3.
AFC Championship
I was disappointed and infuriated to see the Jets move on yet again. Now they'll face a tough Steelers team that's been lights-out in the playoffs.
Bottom line: I'm not sure I consider Ben Roethlisberger a future Hall of Famer, but when playoff time comes around, he's one of the best in the business. Two Super Bowl rings at his age is pretty good. Sanchez won't be able to handle the defense that the Steelers bring. He just isn't good enough. Troy and Co. will shut down the New York offense, while Big Ben leads the Pittsburgh offense to a couple of touchdowns, which is all that they'll need.
Steelers 17, Jets 6
NFC Championship
Will somebody pour a bucket of water on Aaron Rodgers? The man has been unbelievably good. Good enough for me to stick by the team I had originally picked to win the Super Bowl. The Pack is dynamic on both sides of the ball, and now they've beaten Philly and CRUSHED a universally-considered powerful Atlanta Falcons team.
Don't get me wrong, the Bears are good too. If any defense can handle Rodgers and Co., it's them. But I don't see them doing it.
Packers 24, Bears 10
Last week: 2-2
Playoffs Overall: 3-5
Saturday, January 8, 2011
NFL Playoffs: Round 1 picks
The playoffs are back, and it's time to start picking again.
Today we have the Seahawks, winners of the "Shortcut Bowl" going up against the defending champion New Orleans Saints. Not exactly hard to match up. One team is 7-9 and lucky to be here, the other 10-6 and arguably one of the best in the league. And as fun as it is to go underdog, I'm taking the Saints in this one.
At night, Peyton Manning leads a wounded offense against I-can't-keep-my-trap-shut-even-when-I-lose Rex Ryan and his Jets. As bad as the Colts have been this year, they closed on a 4-game winning streak, and they are still the Colts. The Jets receive what they deserve for the sidelines incident and get pounded by the Colts in a blowout.
Tomorrow sees the third-seeded Philadelphia Eagles go up against the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers. The Green Bay defense doesn't screw around, so I see Vick getting shut down in this one. On the other side of the ball, the thing that the Eagles do well is what Aaron Rodgers does well against: Blitz. The Packers match up good in this one an get the win.
And last but not least it's Ravens vs Chiefs. As good as Baltimore is, they remain a bad turnover team, and you don't win playoff games when you don't take care of the football. I'm going Chiefs in what should be perhaps the closest of all four games.
Today we have the Seahawks, winners of the "Shortcut Bowl" going up against the defending champion New Orleans Saints. Not exactly hard to match up. One team is 7-9 and lucky to be here, the other 10-6 and arguably one of the best in the league. And as fun as it is to go underdog, I'm taking the Saints in this one.
At night, Peyton Manning leads a wounded offense against I-can't-keep-my-trap-shut-even-when-I-lose Rex Ryan and his Jets. As bad as the Colts have been this year, they closed on a 4-game winning streak, and they are still the Colts. The Jets receive what they deserve for the sidelines incident and get pounded by the Colts in a blowout.
Tomorrow sees the third-seeded Philadelphia Eagles go up against the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers. The Green Bay defense doesn't screw around, so I see Vick getting shut down in this one. On the other side of the ball, the thing that the Eagles do well is what Aaron Rodgers does well against: Blitz. The Packers match up good in this one an get the win.
And last but not least it's Ravens vs Chiefs. As good as Baltimore is, they remain a bad turnover team, and you don't win playoff games when you don't take care of the football. I'm going Chiefs in what should be perhaps the closest of all four games.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Martinez acquisition smart, if a little confusing
It's great to have Victor Martinez aboard.
But where do we put the guy?
Martinez is known for two things: 1. being a big hitter and 2. being a lousy catcher. The Tigers' biggest problem offensively is at catcher where their choice was bad (Alex Avila, at .228) or worse (Gerald Laird, at .207). Martinez could fill that hole and give the Tigers a formidable lineup. But it would cause problems in the field, where Martinez's lousy defense would lead to a lot of stolen bases for the other teams.
The Tigers could DH Martinez, but that would take the spot from Carlos Guillen, forcing him to split time with Will Rhymes at 2nd base. And, though he played lousy in the second half, I'm sure the Tigers would like to find at least a shared spot for Brennan Boesch, which would be very hard to do should they DH Martinez.
In the end it comes down what the Tigers value more: offense or defense.
But I think a compromise is most likely here. A rested catcher is like a pitcher who hits 100 mph: every MLB team wants one. The Tigers will play a variety of lineups. When Martinez is catching, they can rotate Guillen and Boesch in the DH slot, maybe sometimes play both and sit Rhymes. When Martinez (and the Tigers' pitchers) takes a breather playing DH, Boesch will sit and Guillen and Rhymes will rotate. And when Martinez sits, well, I'd imagine it would be pretty similar to when he plays catcher as far as Guillen, Rhymes, and Boesch are concerned.
A likely scenario could be 70 to 90 games at catcher and about 40 to 50 in the DH slot. No matter what they do, the Tigers will likely have a lot of rotating going on.
But isn't that the definition of the Jim Leyland era?
But where do we put the guy?
Martinez is known for two things: 1. being a big hitter and 2. being a lousy catcher. The Tigers' biggest problem offensively is at catcher where their choice was bad (Alex Avila, at .228) or worse (Gerald Laird, at .207). Martinez could fill that hole and give the Tigers a formidable lineup. But it would cause problems in the field, where Martinez's lousy defense would lead to a lot of stolen bases for the other teams.
The Tigers could DH Martinez, but that would take the spot from Carlos Guillen, forcing him to split time with Will Rhymes at 2nd base. And, though he played lousy in the second half, I'm sure the Tigers would like to find at least a shared spot for Brennan Boesch, which would be very hard to do should they DH Martinez.
In the end it comes down what the Tigers value more: offense or defense.
But I think a compromise is most likely here. A rested catcher is like a pitcher who hits 100 mph: every MLB team wants one. The Tigers will play a variety of lineups. When Martinez is catching, they can rotate Guillen and Boesch in the DH slot, maybe sometimes play both and sit Rhymes. When Martinez (and the Tigers' pitchers) takes a breather playing DH, Boesch will sit and Guillen and Rhymes will rotate. And when Martinez sits, well, I'd imagine it would be pretty similar to when he plays catcher as far as Guillen, Rhymes, and Boesch are concerned.
A likely scenario could be 70 to 90 games at catcher and about 40 to 50 in the DH slot. No matter what they do, the Tigers will likely have a lot of rotating going on.
But isn't that the definition of the Jim Leyland era?
No doubt Brady deserves MVP
Good news, PETA.
Last week, Tom Brady broke the record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
I know what you're thinking: so what?
Well, let's dissect this milestone. Did you stop to consider that, first and foremost, an interception is a turnover. I'm not a huge stats guy, but any football expert will tell you that turnovers are the game's most important statistic. You can outgain your important by hundreds of yards and lose. You can do better in the red zone and lose. You can commit more penalties and win. But very rarely do you turn the ball over more and win.
Furthermore, an interception-free streak is one of the toughest to keep intact. So many things, a hit from a defender while throwing, a receiver who misread his route, a gamble that didn't pay off, a corner who just seems to be having a career day, or the good 'ol Hail Mary, can break it up.
And it's not like Brady isn't performing in a risk-free way. Generally, with 3,701 yards and 34 touchdowns comes a decent amount of picks in the process. But not this time.
Let's not forget that Brady has the Patriots sitting atop the AFC, while his biggest competitor for the award, Michael Vick, will more than likely have his Eagles settle for the 2 or 3 seed. And Vick has the advantage of throwing to Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, while Brady is flinging the ball to mostly no-names and young players. Sure, there's Welker, but he hasn't been healthy all year. And the other big name, Deion Branch, wasn't doing so hot before he was the Patriots acquired him (coincidence?).
Tom Brady has the award seized in a stranglehold. Heck, at this point, he's giving his 2007 self a run for his money.
Last week, Tom Brady broke the record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
I know what you're thinking: so what?
Well, let's dissect this milestone. Did you stop to consider that, first and foremost, an interception is a turnover. I'm not a huge stats guy, but any football expert will tell you that turnovers are the game's most important statistic. You can outgain your important by hundreds of yards and lose. You can do better in the red zone and lose. You can commit more penalties and win. But very rarely do you turn the ball over more and win.
Furthermore, an interception-free streak is one of the toughest to keep intact. So many things, a hit from a defender while throwing, a receiver who misread his route, a gamble that didn't pay off, a corner who just seems to be having a career day, or the good 'ol Hail Mary, can break it up.
And it's not like Brady isn't performing in a risk-free way. Generally, with 3,701 yards and 34 touchdowns comes a decent amount of picks in the process. But not this time.
Let's not forget that Brady has the Patriots sitting atop the AFC, while his biggest competitor for the award, Michael Vick, will more than likely have his Eagles settle for the 2 or 3 seed. And Vick has the advantage of throwing to Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, while Brady is flinging the ball to mostly no-names and young players. Sure, there's Welker, but he hasn't been healthy all year. And the other big name, Deion Branch, wasn't doing so hot before he was the Patriots acquired him (coincidence?).
Tom Brady has the award seized in a stranglehold. Heck, at this point, he's giving his 2007 self a run for his money.
Sorry!
I know it's been a while since my last post. I've been unbelievably busy with hockey, school, and guitar. I'll try to post as often as I can.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tigers' only hope: Follow the Red Wings' example
The trade deadline is approaching, and the Tigers are ready to make a move.
They may pounce on Houston's ace Roy Oswalt. They may pick up a bat, such as that of the Nationals' Adam Dunn.
Forget about whether or not the Tigers have the prospects available to land one of the monsters, or even one of the lesser valued players such as the multi-position veteran Mike Lowell. Let's just say, for argument's sake, they do.
Well, even if that's true, the fact remains that these guys are in a heap of trouble right now. The Tigers are 3-8 since returning from the All-Star break, despite the fact that the schedule since then including a four-game series in Cleveland. Cleveland! The Tigers had a golden opportunity to seize the division lead. Minnesota had opened the door by beating down the Chicago White Sox. Did they pounce by defeating that last-place team? Nope. The Tigers not only failed to win the series, they not only failed to split the series, they failed to win even ONE GAME of that series.
Ouch.
And speaking of ouch, did we mention the injuries? Magglio Ordonez and Brandon Inge are both out for 4-6 weeks now, and Carlos Guillen is hurting as well. Let's remember that the Tigers are only 7 games into their 32-game tour of American League teams above .500.
How can they expect to beat those guys when they have a lineup composed primarily of bench players and Toledo Mud Hens? What do Miguel Cabrera, Gerald Laird, and Ramon Santiago, all have in common? Answer: Among the starters for Sunday's afternoon game, they were the only ones with at least a year of major league experience. Other than that, not much. Santiago is a utility-man who usually plays about 80 games a year. Laird is hitting below .200.
Three veterans in the lineup, and only one of them is an above-average hitter (Granted, Cabrera is much better than just above-average).
In a rookie-heavy lineup, it certainly doesn't help when your most productive rookie of the season (Brennan Boesch) is in the midst of what looks to be a serious slump. Aside from Boesch, only Austin Jackson has been successful this year. I mean, take a look at the lineup card for that Sunday afternoon game: Scott Sizemore batting sixth? A couple weeks ago he wasn't even on the roster. A lineup with Sizemore batting sixth makes me feel pretty queasy, and that's not how anyone should feel about their team when in the midst of a pennant race.
If there's anyone the Tigers can take advice from at this point, it's probably the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings know what it's like to be in a deep, dark hole, with no easy way out. They fought off injuries, lack of rest, and the loss of some key guys in the offseason. Somehow, they found their way into the playoffs.
I'm still not sure how they did it, but the Tigers better find out.
They may pounce on Houston's ace Roy Oswalt. They may pick up a bat, such as that of the Nationals' Adam Dunn.
Forget about whether or not the Tigers have the prospects available to land one of the monsters, or even one of the lesser valued players such as the multi-position veteran Mike Lowell. Let's just say, for argument's sake, they do.
Well, even if that's true, the fact remains that these guys are in a heap of trouble right now. The Tigers are 3-8 since returning from the All-Star break, despite the fact that the schedule since then including a four-game series in Cleveland. Cleveland! The Tigers had a golden opportunity to seize the division lead. Minnesota had opened the door by beating down the Chicago White Sox. Did they pounce by defeating that last-place team? Nope. The Tigers not only failed to win the series, they not only failed to split the series, they failed to win even ONE GAME of that series.
Ouch.
And speaking of ouch, did we mention the injuries? Magglio Ordonez and Brandon Inge are both out for 4-6 weeks now, and Carlos Guillen is hurting as well. Let's remember that the Tigers are only 7 games into their 32-game tour of American League teams above .500.
How can they expect to beat those guys when they have a lineup composed primarily of bench players and Toledo Mud Hens? What do Miguel Cabrera, Gerald Laird, and Ramon Santiago, all have in common? Answer: Among the starters for Sunday's afternoon game, they were the only ones with at least a year of major league experience. Other than that, not much. Santiago is a utility-man who usually plays about 80 games a year. Laird is hitting below .200.
Three veterans in the lineup, and only one of them is an above-average hitter (Granted, Cabrera is much better than just above-average).
In a rookie-heavy lineup, it certainly doesn't help when your most productive rookie of the season (Brennan Boesch) is in the midst of what looks to be a serious slump. Aside from Boesch, only Austin Jackson has been successful this year. I mean, take a look at the lineup card for that Sunday afternoon game: Scott Sizemore batting sixth? A couple weeks ago he wasn't even on the roster. A lineup with Sizemore batting sixth makes me feel pretty queasy, and that's not how anyone should feel about their team when in the midst of a pennant race.
If there's anyone the Tigers can take advice from at this point, it's probably the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings know what it's like to be in a deep, dark hole, with no easy way out. They fought off injuries, lack of rest, and the loss of some key guys in the offseason. Somehow, they found their way into the playoffs.
I'm still not sure how they did it, but the Tigers better find out.
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