Great work by Phil B today. Be sure and check out his look at Sunday's game tape, and then move on his article on the noticeable decrease in holding calls. This is the kind of work that might eventually lead to comment from the NFL. It's going to take enough people noticing it and asking to put pressure on them to answer.
I've finally almost finished obtaining my copy of Sunday's game, and should have a new Wednesday feature up late this afternoon (NOTE: Never mind). Demond and I will record 18 Plays tonight.
Links:
Harrison is sued. The article is pretty hilarious. First of all, it omits the fact that the 'victim' is a felon (10 years for homicide). Secondly, it omits the fact that he was already charged with making false statements to the cops about this incident. What it does do is include this hilarious quote:
"Look, it's our position that Marvin Harrison was the shooter," said Dixon's attorney, Robert M. Gamburg, according to the Daily News. "But even if you believe the other theory, Marvin's gun was still used in the shooting, so he was negligent for leaving the weapon where someone else could obtain it."
So the dude's attorney says, "Yeah, Marvin shot him, but even if he didn't we still want money" That sounds like a real bang up case you got there, Mr. Lawyer-man. Have fun with that. Apparently the suit itself says that it is possible that someone else shot Dixon with Harrison's gun. High comedy. The 'victim' apparently doesn't know who shot him.
The case is only for $100,000, which seems really low to me. If there was anything to this, I'd think Marvin would have GLADLY settled it for that much or more.
Dr Z. moves us up a few spots
Shake nails it. He just did the leg work comparing Eli to Peyton counting seasons 2-5 of their careers. Um, Peyton's better. And no, it's not close.
Gary Brackett was named the AFC Defensive Player of the week. The Colts suck for having him at middle linebacker. Listening to sports radio can make you stupid.
Ross Tucker's quote about Jags fans is priceless:
"...people are going to comment on the Jags having arguably the worst fans in the NFL, and I will not dispute that in the slightest. People in Jacksonville would probably be more excited to watch an SEC clash between Kentucky and Vanderbilt"
Told you so.
Reader Steve sent this article written by his wife Amy. It describes their experience of being Colts fans in enemy territory and then staying until the end on Sunday. Good on them for hanging in there.
Phil B says that Hayden is out this weekend. It's Tim Jennings' world, the rest of us are just living in it, 10 yards away. He also echoes some of the things we've said here today on other topics.
Stampedeblue has a brilliant interview with ex-Colt Tony Mandarich. Ok, I say this with zero sarcasm: I honestly thought we already knew he was on steroids back in the MSU days. Seriously, when I heard he had 'come clean', I was like, "really? Didn't we know that?". He was a solid player with the Horse for three years. I'm glad he turned his life around in time to help the Horse, but more glad he turned his life around for himself and his family.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
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22 comments:
If you want the NFL to start throwing holding flags....get Saint Tony and Lillipution Bill to throw a hissy fit to the rules committee.
You can promptly expect a 'point of emphasis' sequence the following year.
Jerry Jones is also on the committee and he wants fewer flags. Polian said it's a point of dispute in the meetings
JC, when a referee straight out tells a player "I know your being held, but I wont call it unless I think your going to make the play", something is definitely wrong. Makes me wonder if they said the same thing to the Colt receivers during the 2003 AFC title game against the Pats.
Marvin being sued for the Philly shooting. I think it's just a cash grab, but after all the conflicting reports that have come out it's pretty clear that only two people know what happened, the "Victim" and whoever was firing Marvin's gun at him.
BTW: JC, the holding referred to in the article (which I know you didn't read) is offensive holding, not defensive. That wasn't clear from my post.
I commented on Marvin in the updated post
Marvin could settle for 100,000 and still make 7.5 million this year just in salary.
Seriously. I expected to see $1,000,000 at least.
Marvin should still settle it just to have it go away. Or maybe he wants his day in court, who knows.
The defendent has zero credibility (he already lied to the cops) so I'm not sure how he plans on winning his case.
I'm unable to articulate what a pulp I would beat Greg Easterbrook's face to if I ever met him.
Seriously...I'd catch assault in the first to hit that dude in the mouth.
Did you already post his article about how eli is better than Peyton? I'm sure you have. But I just stomached half of it and now I have to leave work and drive around for 20 minutes because I'm hostile and dont wanna take it out on my employees.
He sucks.
I'll echo those sentiments, JC. It's probably the dumbest headline I've ever read.
I crunched the numbers for year 2 through 4 games of year five. Short story Peyton was better at everything. Long story here
Ataboy, Shake. Great work.
CJ has been starting over Ugoh because Ugoh is still hurt, but practicing.
CJ is expect to get the start again this week.
link
Good.
Let's just say that after watching the tape...
CJ was awful. Just horrible.
The HUGE sack of Manning on 3rd and 7, where Joe Addai valiantly tried to block Mario Williams? Yeah, CJ was left standing at the O-line having never blocked anyone, deeply confused, apparently forgetting that as the left tackle, he might just want to be sure that he tried to block THE BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER ON THE FIELD EVEN A LITTLE.
Awful. Piss poor awful.
By "good", I don't mean it's good that CJ is starting, just that it's because Ugoh is at full strength. It's never good when CJ starts at tackle.
I'm relieved that it's an injury not something personality or commitment wise with Ugoh. You never know with LTs. The pool of people who can physically play the position is so small you have to bring in guys with flaws. Flaws that might keep them out of the league if they were so physically gifted.
Even a great LT like Tarik had the false start problems, weight issues and suddenly retired at age 30.
You see it at WR too, with the dumb as a rock speed guys like Hester and the headcases like TO and Chad Ocho Cinco
"It's Tim Jennings' world, the rest of us are just living in it, 10 yards away."
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
What are the rules on chop blocking? Can the Colts coaches go "Listen Charlie, you're a decent guard, and maybe an okay right tackle, but if you keep having to play left tackle, you're going to get Peyton killed. From now on, your blocking assignment will be to fall over and hope that you trip up the guy you're supposed to be blocking."?
Also, what kind of fucked up logic is involved with holding? "I know you're being held, but I won't call it unless I think you're going to make the play.'? Well gee, fuckface, if I weren't being held, maybe I'd make the play?!
I'm all for letting the players play, but c'mon. Next thing you know, they're going to stop enforcing Defensive Pass Interference, and the Pats will start molesting receivers all over the field again.
On the other hand, is it possible that guys like Dwight Freeney are so big and so fast as to be functionally unblockable one on one? Are teams having to hold these monster DEs to keep them from killing QBs and racking up ridiculous sack numbers, along with blowing up every running play in the backfield on their side of the field? I can understand that as a rationale for some holding, but really, Freeney should be paying rent to some of these teams for as much time as he's spending in their backfields.
Adam displays a subtle touch with proafnity that I lack. Very funny.
Anybody take the time to read the reader comments after Phil B's Holding article--some funny stuff.
Regarding holding in general, Jeez is this frustrating and has been for a while. The NFL as a business should always be tinkering with refining its product, maximizing its financial gain, protecting its assets (players, brands, etc). It could do great things by having Al Davis pushed off a bridge. While wearing a Buick.
But I digress. If they want to change holding, then do it. Don't leave a rule on the books only to use it selectively. That's as dumb as... not enforcing rules because it's the playoffs. (cough, gasp) Hey, that Polamalu non-INT in the playoffs woke them up about the idiocy of phrasing like "a football move" and they cleaned up the wording. Do it again, to clarify things, guys.
They seem to want to stick their heads in the sand--having it both ways by keeping the rule in case they need it but then ignoring it most of the time. Uh, guys, just rewrite it so people know what they're up against. Or enforce it as it's written.
If I were a GM who just drafted a small but speedy DE and then this rule shift hit me, I'd be freakin' irate. A 250 LB DE will be easier to manhandle than a 300 LB DE who might be a step slower.
What if DEs started countering with head-slaps? (illegal since the days of Too-Tall Jones and Harvey Martin with their albatross wingspans) Okay, take the 15-yard hit twice a game but the LT is left sitting on the bench seeing double. Maybe that'll show the dicks:
Okay, NFL, you bend your own rules to protect the highest paid players, we'll bend them back to cold-cock your second-highest paid players, leaving the QBs even more vulnerable. Then let's see the pretty-boys on the cover of GQ with turf in their eyebrows.
Man, am I in a foul mood. Time to get back to work.
Bob's right. When you change enforcement of the rules, you change the strategy and tactics of the game. Small, fast teams are hurt most when holding isn't called. In baseball a few years back, some umps made up their own bizarre strike zones. 15" outside became a strike. Even if the ump calls it the same for both teams, it isn't fair. If you built a team around great hitting (e.g. Indians mid-1990s), you suffer from the changed strike zone. If you built a team around great control pitchers (e.g. Braves), the enormous strike zone is a godsend. Even if the ump calls it the same both ways.
In basketball, calling the game tight helps smaller, quicker players. "Letting 'em play" favors size and strength.
Changing the rules penalizes teams which have built their roster around the old rules.
stan
Though at least if you are getting consistent enforcement it's much easier to fix the problem. The refs don't suck they are just doing the wrong thing thinking that's what they should be doing.
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