Thursday, November 13, 2008

Ted Thompson's Day Off-A MMTTB Report

Since we last visited the bosses of Cheeseville, the Pack has dropped two games AND resigned Aaron Rodgers through 2014. This has to be one of the most baffling moves of the reign of Thompson and McCarthy. On one hand, they draft Brian Brohm in the second round, and now, before the halfway mark of his first season, the ink Rodgers to a massive deal, despite only being one game over .500 at the time. I realize that there is some cap advantage to doing this deal before the end of this season, but ultimately, it makes the Packers brain trust seem eerily similar to Ferris Bueller's pal Cameron of whom Ferris said,

"Cameron has never been in love. At least, nobody's ever been in love with him. If things don't change for him, he's gonna marry the first girl he lays, and she's gonna treat him like s*** because she will have given him what he has built up in his mind as the end all be all of human existence. She won't respect him, because you can't respect somebody who kisses your ass. It just doesn't work."

Thompson and McCarthy jumped into bed with Rodgers too soon, and now they married him. Since then, the Pack has dropped two games including losing to the Vikings in a game in which Rodgers couldn't win despite a defensive and special teams score.

Oh, and Brett Favre? He's been uneven but the Jets are 6-3 and looking to claim a division title if they can beat the Pats tonight.

This week, it seems that the collective MMTTB IQ is about on par with a kid who would steal his dad's vintage Ferrari. Let's place them at about 110, but with a low self-esteem that makes them do really stupid stuff.



Links: Big Sexy hates on some coaches, including Mad Jack.

CHFF thinks the Colts are rolling

Mike Tanier had a great line today:
Texans at Colts: Sage Rosenfels wants to redeem himself for his fourth-quarter fumble against the Colts in Week 5. And his other fourth-quarter fumble in Week 5. And his fourth-quarter interception in Week 5. And the interception he threw in the red zone at the end of the third quarter against the Vikings. And all of the passes he threw right into Ray Lewis' chest last week. And ... well, he'd like a mulligan for all of 2008, if that could be arranged. Colts.

The Sports guy is back. Honestly, he's been pretty weak for a while now, but I laughed out loud 5 times reading this column. His platform for Czar of Sports is flawless. Pieces like this are why people bothered to read him in the first place. He still seems to act like he wants to get fired, but I'll hand it to him...he was on his game today.

20 comments:

shake'n'bake said...

Aaron Rodgers does have a higher DYAR, DVOA QB rating and ANY/A.

Come on, you guys are way too good to be judging QBs by wins.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Shake...the whole point of this has been to track the 'media' opinion of MMTT. Read the Whitlock piece I linked to and you'll find exactly this argument (although he goes easier on Rodgers).

If you check the archives, most weeks I included the word 'media IQ'. I just thought everyone had caught on by now. It's supposed to be funny not serious.

The truth is that Rodgers has mostly played great this season (although I thought he was a mess on Sunday against the Vikings). I do think it's stupid to sign him for six years on the basis of 7 games.

If MMTTB isn't funny...I'm sorry. It certainly shouldn't be taken seriously.

Deshawn Zombie said...

I apologize...I guess I hadn't used the term 'media IQ' since week one.

It'll come back next week.

But still, I glued a mouse head on their faces and once called them nearly divine.

The point isn't to parse the DVOA of Favre vs Rodgers. It's to track how the two are thought of by the press. That means simple things like wins, losses, picks and TDs.

shake'n'bake said...

Wow, I missed the boat on that one. I doubt that's the first serious comment I've made on these. I've thought they were funny, but I thought that was on top of real analysis.

I fail.

Deshawn Zombie said...

It's ok. You were still better than the people who ripped me for being pro-Packers early on.

I found another blog commenting on it, questioning my sanity for loving on MMTT.

I'm just trying to make people laugh a little.

Julio Queiroz said...

Not entering the actual MMTB discussion, I just loved the reference...

shake'n'bake said...

Simmons seems to be having some issues with ESPN. I'm not going to hope for him to get fired, but I do think he'd be way funnier if he was of the Disney Corp's leash.

shake'n'bake said...

"A college football playoff system"

"a three-game exhibition season for the NFL with two regular-season bye weeks (not one)"

"no NFL division champ can make the playoffs unless it wins nine games"

"a forced agreement where the NFL Network is carried by all cable systems"

He has me. Simmons for Sports Czar.

Demond Sanders said...

It's the not the NFL network situation that bothers me, although I agree everyone should carry it.

Someone must bring the NFL Sunday ticket to cable. I'm not a big one gov't interference in private business, but it is necessary here. All of the cable systems should be allowed to carry it if they choose. The NFL can charge us whateever they want per season, that's not my complaint. But they must grant equal access to it.

Anonymous said...

I have to disagree with the Sunday Ticket comment - it is available to anyone that wants it, just on DirectTV. I realize that some people cannot get DirectTV because of regulations from homeowners' associations or landlords, but those are issues that are not inherent in DirectTV. After all, the same landlords or associations could eliminate cable access or television antennae thereby making all television off-limits.

DirectTV is in direct competition with cable providers for your business. They negotiated with the NFL for exclusive rights to provide their customers with Sunday ticket. It’s the NFL’s prerogative to license its product in that way, just as it has the right to cable and satellite providers whatever it wants to carry the NFL network.

Sprint is the only mobile-phone company to carry NFL mobile which allows you to listen to all games and view NFL network games on your phone, but you never hear anyone complain that the NFL didn’t have the right to sell the rights to that service exclusively to Sprint.

The fact of the matter is that the ability to watch NFL games is (unfortunately) not a right anymore than cable or satellite television is. I’d like the NFL to be more inclusive in how it chooses to license its product, but that doesn’t mean I want the government to tell them how to do it. If the government did that, the result would probably be a marked decrease in DirectTV’s market share, giving cable companies that much more power – do we really want that? With DirectTV in existence, at least we have a choice between satellite television and whatever cable company happens to offer services in our areas.

-BP (long-time reader, rare commenter)

Deshawn Zombie said...

How very libertarian of you, BP.

I understand and empathize with the sentiments, and generally favor small, less intrusive government (despite being accused of being a bleeding heart by my unibomber-like brother). In this case, however, I feel like there is too much public/private partnership with the NFL (Lucas Oil Stadium for example), to deny the significant number of customers who can't get direcTV and do pay taxes to support the NFL (ugh. I hate writing that) but can't get the Sunday Ticket.

That is certainly a well-reasoned and valid argument, however.

Personally, it works out great for me because DirecTV has the monopoly, they offer it down here in Argentina for cheap, whereas otherwise I'd be sunk. It doesn't seem right that I have access to more NFL here than many people do in the States though.

Anonymous said...

anyone else watching the nfl.com broadcast? wa-a-a-a-a-y too much studio time. not enough actual football being shown. it was just as horrible last week during the browns/broncos game. missed the 90 yd eddie royal td b/c someone thinks we want to watch 3 talking heads. instead of actual football. on nfl.com

seriously?

Deshawn Zombie said...

http://linksador.net/showtime/index.php?params=game/498/Football-1/

try this

shake'n'bake said...

wooo Pats lose. The game was really a win-win for the Colts, either way the loser dropped below them on tiebreakers. A Colts win puts them into a wildcard spot and if the Giants beat the Ravens too, the Colts will be in the 1st WC spot.

Anonymous said...

I'm still absolutely flabbergasted that in the one year that we're likely to come in 2nd in our division, the Pats are running 2nd too -- and if things stand that way at the end of the season we'll have the play them yet again next season as a result. Honestly, I'm tired of it -- I'm ready to have a year without a Colts-Pats game.

Anonymous said...

If there was a bigger case for why Favre leaving Green Bay didn't matter, it was Tannier's Walkthrough.

Though he neglected that Favre quitting on the Pack wasted two drafts picks on project QBs instead of drafting key role players that could evolve into starters later.

And really, if anything, I admire the guts of a guy who would rather lose with his dignity in tact, than win without pride.

But the funny line to all this: Favre was directly responsible for the Dolphins winning four more games than last year by getting himself pushed out the door. And he plays for the JETS mind you. Chad Pennington is a good quarterback. Good quarterbacks given the right kind of system to succeed in can do great things. Sure the Wildcat is the big thing and the reason why they're winning, but at least Miami isn't expecting Chad to stretch the damn field and open the running game that way.

But I digress, Miami has the same record Indy does. The Phins enjoy a blowout win in Foxboro and an inexplicable loss to Houston, though Andre Johnson is a beast. One of one two pass receivers to score a TD against Indy. If Indy keeps it up, doubtful since San Diego biszarely morphed into a passing machine while having decided to check a run game at the door, but say they do, I guess it'll be a useless factoid that Johnson and Donald Lee scored the only TD catches against the Colts.

And while I'm rolling down hill, I want just cap it off with some love for the BCS making games between high ranked teams on the road against unranked teams matter. Every loss could be the one that could prevent you from making it to the championship game. Remember the BCS is made up of polls, like the much ballyhooed Jeff Sangrin poll, first, then the computer crunches all the numbers. If Ohio State is making it to the championship game, yell at the pollsters who keep voting them there. Auburn got burned because no one voted for them OVER Oklahoma or USC. Embrace the one sport that prevents teams from packing it in at the end and backing in. Pete Carrol thinks it stinks that they got dropped in the BCS? Beat Oregon State like everyone thinks you should have and you don't need to worry about it. After all, if the BCS is somehow able to be a good method for finding the playoff teams, then the only thing it's doing wrong is that it makes the AP feel like the losers they are.

Can't wait for more gems about running the football and stopping the run out of ESPN. I wonder when they'll get someone from the modern NFL to spread actual knowledge on the game now. Vikings RUN DE FOOTBAWL AND STOP DE RUN and are 5 and 4. The Colts won a Super Bowl for remembering how to stop the run in 4 games after getting burned every single game for a 100+ in the regular season. At some point, someone will figure out that passing the ball has surpassed the run in terms of importance to winning. If the Raiders could field an offense, which Lane Kiffin took with him out the door btw, the Pathers would have to join the Chiefs as teams who fell into the Black Hole. Which is no longer the fanbase, but Namdi Asomugha. Steve Smith 1 catch for 9 yards? You kiddin'?! The fact that he plays on the Raiders means that we'll only be treated to knowledge of the last true shutdown corner in the NFL.

What a frickin' shame. Oh well, Peyton for MVP, screw Kurt Warner.

Deshawn Zombie said...

For the record, the Colts cross with the AFC East next year.

Pats at Colts is already on the schedule no matter where the teams finish.

Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Really? I feel like we just had the AFC East like a couple of years ago. Time flies, I guess....

Anonymous said...

Although, even as I wrote that I realized: a couple of years ago in a three-year rotation means that of course it's time again.

Anonymous said...

I'd be more towards cursing that the AFC East is mostly up this year. If they don't regress, severally easy lay ups just got contended.