It’s Always Darkest…

Have you ever had the experience where something bad occurs, whether it is a tragedy or just something you feel guilty about (like a car accident or a fight with a loved one) and over the next several days there is this vague pained feeling in the back of your mind?

No matter what you are thinking about or doing, no matter how happy you are, there is this little grey cloud following over your head like in all of those cartoons?

After a weekend in which my personal football teams performance could best be described as ‘apocalyptic’ that is where I am this morning. Let’s review (shortly, because this is painful):

• FSU lost to Georgia Teach by 3 after reaching the GT three yard line with 45 seconds left in the game when Marcus Sims fumbled the ball.
• The Broncos lost at home to the Chad Pennington led Dolphins and mustered a grand total of 7 yards rushing
• My fantasy team lost because I benched Thomas Jones (22 points!) for Joseph Addai (6 points).

Needless to say, the prospect of looking back and reviewing this weekend’s games isn’t too appealing to me at this moment.

Anyway, being the professional that I am (insert your own joke here), I will go ahead:

• I really don’t want to talk about the FSU/GT game so let me just say a couple things and then move on:

o        If you are tracking the most painful losses of my FSU supporting career, an initial top-nine off the top of my head would probably look something like (painful being some undefined combination of importance and manner in which they lost):

1.      1993 Notre Dame

2.      2000 Miami

3.      2001 OU (Orange Bowl / BCS Title game)

4.      1991 Miami (Wide Right #1)

5.      1997 UF (Sugar Bowl – National Title game)

6.      1995 UVA

7.      1999 Tennessee (Fiesta Bowl / BCS Title game)

8.      1997 UF

9.      2008 GT

o        Despite how they lost, FSU didn’t really deserve to win that game. The FSU defense has always (and when I say always – I mean ‘for decades’) struggled with mobile quarterbacks. A team of fast, aggressive defenders, they always tend to over-pursue and seem to lack the discipline necessary to shut down a triple-option attack (except when they used to dominate Nebraska every year in a bowl game in the late 80’s/early 90’s). The only reason that FSU was even in the position to rip the hearts out of all their fans was that GT’s starting quarterback Josh Nesbitt, twisted an ankle and left the game in the 3^rd quarter.

o      As for ‘the play that won’t be named’, I just don’t understand why it happened at all. Why was Marcus Sims (he of 19 carries all season) given the ball over Jermaine Thomas or Antone Smith? If Thomas was too tired to carry and Smith too banged up to carry twice, why not keep the ball in Christian Ponder’s hands? My favorite goal line play is a quarterback naked bootleg – putting the QB on the edge with a run/pass option. If you don’t want to put the ball in the air, how about our own option which had been used successfully earlier?

o      Last comment - I need to move on before I try to open the door and jump out of the plane and get beat down by my fellow passengers. Despite the pain of this game, in essence it did very little to impact FSU’s season. Even if they had finished the season with one-loss they aren’t in the BCS title mix. With 2 losses they still have a good shot at playing in the ACC title game (they need to win out and have Wake lose one more game – a team that got taken to overtime by Duke on Saturday). Kind of like a paper-cut, this game was very painful but in no way fatal.

• Speaking of fatal losses, for probably the first time ever I can commiserate with the Longhorns. What a brutal painful loss. Another game in which they didn’t really deserve to win yet had the chance in the final minute. It would be tougher to say who is more likely to never recover from their blunder Marcus Sims or Longhorn freshman safety Blake Gideon who dropped a gimme interception that would’ve clinched the win.
• I would also like to thank the Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs who ensured that the FSU loss would barely be a footnote in the national media. I remember the days when an FSU loss was the lead story in any sports broadcast and it was pure misery. It’s nice that a loss barely registers – much easier to begin the healing.
• I haven’t read this anywhere so I hope I can claim first mover status by officially declaring that we all should begin preparing for a Penn State / Florida BCS title game. I don’t want to see it, you don’t want to see it but much like another High School Musical, we all know it is coming.
• Speaking of the Gators, it is clear from the phrases used by a few of you to find this site, that I am not the only one to notice ridiculous man-crush Gary Danielson has for Tim Tebow. For those of you that are interested, the comments that raised this site to the top of your search results are here and here (though my personal favorite line is a one-liner located here).
• Moving on to the NFL before I start throwing things, we have the Broncos.
• I know it is everyone’s favorite story line about how the Broncos have faded since their strong start. What we are all forgetting is that the Broncos are one botched call by a ref and a missed field goal from starting the season 1-3 rather than 3-1.
• You aren’t going to win many (ok, any) games when you account for 14 total rushing yards. Seriously has that ever happened in the NFL? That is one decent run. The last time I saw stats like that was an early season UF non-conference game.

o        While the stat in itself is shocking, the broader issue is how it changes how the Broncos are defensed. When you don’t have to worry about running, it is much easier for the defensive line to rush the quarterback (<cough> 3 sacks <cough>) and drop extra players into the secondary (<cough> 3 interceptions <cough>).

• As for the much-maligned Bronco defense, they actually didn’t play all that bad. Put in bad situations with 3 interceptions, they held the Dolphin offense to one touchdown (the other TD came on a pick-six). The Wildcat offense was so ineffective, that the Dolphins shelved it before the end of the first quarter. The biggest negative was that the defense couldn’t stop the Dolphins when they needed late. Pennington’s relentless dink-and-dunk offense allowed the Phins to burn clock with the running game being stuffed.

o      I am just glad that I didn’t make another bet with my friend Doug (huge Dolphins fan) like the last time these two teams played when, after the Broncos lost, I was supposed to wear a pair of Dolphins Zubaz out for a night out on the town (bet still not paid up).

• The other game we got in Denver was the Titans / Packer match up. Despite being an early jumper of the Titan bandwagon (if for completely wrong reasons), I am not really sold on these Titans. Can their defense-first, conservative time-control offense win throughout the playoffs? Normally I would say no, but this seems to be one of those changing of the guard years, as past dominant franchises begin to fade (Colts) and their younger counterparts haven’t matured quite yet (Bills). Have you seen any team in the AFC that you think the Titans would really struggle with? I haven’t.

o      What do we really know about the Packers (other than they made the absolute correct decision in choosing Aaron Rodgers)? Nothing about them has shown them to be anything but a mediocre NFC team yet they took the Titans to OT?

• In the NFC, the big match-up was the Giants / Cowboys. I didn’t get to see it but I think the stats pretty much say it all. The Cowboys had 183 yards of offense and 4 turnovers. Does any team win with that many yards and turnovers? Who knew how badly the Boys would miss Tony Romo (though they did lose 2 of their last 3 with Tony under center). The saddest part of all of this is that the Cowboys may lose so many games before Tony gets back that we won’t even get to enjoy Tony’s inevitable first round playoff flame-out.
• Also in the NFC, don’t look now but the Arizona Cardinals appear to be a lock to win their division. Sure, it is more due to abdication by every other team but still, the Cardinals? Winning a division? Might be time to start stocking the cellar with bottled water and Vienna Sausages.

While I am mopey and whiny about the performance of my football teams (and I didn’t even get into my fantasy team - oy), I am trying to look on the bright side. As I said, the Noles are still in a good position to play for the ACC title and the Broncos may still have a chance at the division given how bad all of the other teams in the AFC West are playing.

There is also one much brighter side just around the corner.

If god really is an accountant and I needed to suffer all of those losses over the weekend to ensure a win in a much, much more important contest to be decided on Tuesday then I guess I am happy to do my part.

As they say:

It is always darkest before the dawn and hopefully a new day is about to dawn.

The Boys Are Back in Town

Before diving into the Cowboys/Broncos game from this past weekend, I have 3 comments on the Olympics I need to get off my chest:

• First a shout out of congratulations to Walter Dix. As someone who also spent many, many hours almost killing myself on the Mike Long track, I take immense pride in a fellow Nole coming up so huge on the largest stage in the world. Congrats Walter, good luck in the 200. Even Alachua county is rooting for you this time.
• Second, I am happy to report that despite hours of brainwashing by Al Trautwig and Tim Daggett I feel even stronger than ever that all judged events have no place in the Olympics. The ridiculousness that is endured on a nightly basis where no one can understand or explain why one competitor wins over another is absolutely ludicrous. Add in that whole tie-break fiasco and I most certainly won’t be counting the days until the next gymnastics meet. Since when would it be so bad that two competitors who performed equally well both get gold?
  • Can you imagine if this was applied to other sports? Like track? “Well, it looks like the two Jamaicans have tied for second in the women’s 100 here at the Bird’s Nest. And the judges have awarded the silver to Kerron Stewart for having a quicker start out of the blocks and maintaining better form over the first 50 meters.”
• Finally, did you see that coach for U.S. Pole Vaulter Jenn Stuczynski, after she won the silver? I won’t recap it here (this does a great job of summarizing both the incident and my reaction to it). Two points though:
  • Think what you will about gymnastics or diving (as I clearly do), you have to give the coaches a ton of credit. No matter how bad of a belly flop or face plant is performed by one of the athletes; the coaches are always there with a hug, high-five and words of encouragement. There is no underestimating how important that is to these athletes.
  • Jenn, since clearly your coach won’t say it, let me just say: congratulations. Fantastic job. There is no shame in losing to the greatest athlete of all time in your event (who set a world record during the event). You did a great job. When you come to your senses and ditch whats-his-name, try giving Dennis Nobles a call. As for coach, well let me just say I hope he finds some enjoyment from his time in Beijing. After that performance I can’t imagine a lot of world class athletes will be beating down his door.

Whew I feel better. Ok, on to the game.

With less than a week until my fantasy draft I find myself having a hard time watching football games without constantly looking at it from the fantasy perspective. With that in mind, I decided to review the game from the fantasy point of view.

Quarterback

Broncos – In case you haven’t noticed (and you probably haven’t), Jay Cutler is having a great pre-season. He started off against the Cowboys with 12 straight completions and finished 16 of 20 for 178 yards and a touchdown. Yes, this was against everyone’s Super Bowl favorite Cowboys defense. He picked them apart. While he may not be in the top tier of quarterbacks, with the Broncos weak schedule, he has to be a strong consideration for a spot start in case of injury or bye week. Especially after the first two weeks when he gets Brandon Marshall back.

Cowboys – I’m not sure if Tony confused ‘pre-season’ with ‘post-season’ but Romo didn’t look real sharp. While there was absolutely no pressure from the Bronco defense (shocking, I know), Tony still didn’t do much. He ended the day 6 of 9 for 33 yards. Part of this was the clock eating drives of the Broncos early in the game but clearly he had no luck going downfield in his couple drives (long of 10 yards). I know he is a top four fantasy quarterback, but I think fantasy owners are going to need to be willing to suck up a few dreadful weeks to get those outstanding weeks.

Running Back

Broncos – You got me. Seriously, I got nothing. I can’t even tell you who to talk about, let alone how they are going to do. Andre Hall and Selvin Young are both getting equal time with the first team and both look equally good. Based on his stats last year you would lean toward Young, but given his history of injuries and Mike Shanahan’s love of screwing fantasy running back owners, I don’t think either of these guys have upside worthy of wasting a high draft pick oh him. If someone gambles on Young way-too-early in the draft I might pick up Hall late (do you really need that second defense?) and stash him on the bench to see how many carries he gets those first few weeks. Don’t forget everyone’s summer crush Ryan Torain will be back just in time to ruin someone’s fantasy playoff performance and there is also Anthony Alridge who should get some of those valuable swing passes and sweeps each game.

Cowboys – Marion Barber is a consensus late first round pick. Call me as conservative as Bill O’Reilly but I tend to want my first round picks to be the clear number one on their teams. The more I have seen both Hard Knocks and the Cowboys play the more and more convinced I am that Felix Jones is going to be the scourge of all Barber owners. Jones is going to get carries and passes this season. Remember Duce Staley? Brian Westbrook’s rookie year, Duce had over 1500 yards from scrimmage. The following year he had 845. You think Jerry Jones will keep his fellow Arkansas alum off the field as much as Westbrook that rookie year? Sure Marion will get the majority of the goal line carries which helps his value but don’t say I didn’t warn you when he is right back sharing time with Felix Jones.

Wide Receiver

Broncos – In case you didn’t get the subtle hints from my training camp time, Brandon Marshall is going to see a lot of balls coming his way this year (Cowboy game: 6 catches, 59 yards and 1 touchdown in less than two quarters). If the Broncos can find another threat during Marshall’s suspension that will keep teams from focusing on him, Marshall should have a big year. On the other side, Eddie Royal has been one of the breakout stars of Bronco camp and the Cowboy game (2 receptions for 67 yards) and has the inside track to playing opposite Marshall all year. He better play well, as for the rest of his career I will be comparing Eddie to DeSean Jackson – a similar player with better collegiate career who the Broncos passed on for Eddie. DeSean had 6 catches for 70 yards in Philly’s game against the Panthers on Friday. Just sayin.

Cowboys – T.O. is….T.O. He had a relatively quiet night against the Broncos (3 catches, 20 yards) but by this point we know what we are getting from T.O. As long as Romo has as much time as he did against the Broncos, Owens will have a big year. It would be helpful if the Cowboys could find a partner for him to take some of the attention but I don’t think Patrick Crayton (big, fat goose-egg on the catches) is striking fear in the hearts of too many defensive coordinators. Miles Austin had the biggest play – a 37 yard touchdown pass from Brad Johnson but then got injured and can’t really be considered a fantasy option until he takes Crayton’s job.

Tight End

Broncos – To me this is the most interesting position for the Broncos. The fantasy experts love Tony Scheffler and I’m not sure why. Yes, he has finished the last two seasons on fire but throughout camp and the two pre-season games he seems to be the Broncos third tight end. First is Daniel Graham, primarily for his blocking ability, though he still had 24 catches last year. Second has been Nate Jackson, who actually has more rececptions than Scheffler so far this year. In fact, Scheffler didn’t really start getting lots of balls until Jackson hit the IR last year. If Jackson is a better blocker than Scheffler than won’t he get the majority of snaps when the Broncos are keeping run and pass options open (like, for example – inside the 5 yard line)? If Scheffler screams “PASSS” to the other defense, doesn’t that limit his effectiveness and fantasy value? I am no fantasy expert, what do I know. I just think when I am looking for a tight end I would rather have a clear number one like Heath Miller or Alge Crumpler, who are rated below Scheffler.

Cowboys – Speaking of clear number ones, the Cowboys have Jason Witten. While he didn’t do much against the Broncos (zero catches), Romo’s vacation buddy is clearly one of the top five tight ends in the game (is it getting monotonous saying that every Cowboy offensive player didn’t do much? Sorry, you should have seen the game – yawn). Interestingly, the break out player of the game for the Cowboys was Rodney Hannah who had 4 catches for 52 yards. I have no idea how the Cowboys would fit him in, but he looked darn good – big and quick.

Defense

Broncos – If you are seriously considering drafting the Broncos defense after their performance last season, you need more help than I could ever provide. Despite, the Cowboys struggles, you need to remember that the Broncos defensive line is young, suspect and ineffective; their linebackers are unproven and the secondary is a combination of new or unhealthy. Other than that they are really solid.

Cowboys – Much like everyone else on ‘America’s Team’ the Cowboys defense is heavily hyped. Not that allowing the Broncos to march up and down the field, putting no pressure on the quarterback and giving up fourteen points in a quarter will change the hype. But I would think at a minimum it has to give someone drafting the Cowboys defense a moment’s pause.

Kickers

Does it really matter? All kickers are pretty much the same. Argue with me only if you spent a draft pick on Mason Crosby a year ago knowing that he would be the highest scoring kicker in the league.

Having said that, Matt ‘Brian Griese’ Prater hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency so far this season.

Actually, strike that, he has missed the first field goal of both games so far, he has been very consistent.

The Hard Knocks Effect

This must be what middle age does to you.

Sure, I have not yet technically hit middle age quite yet but I have noticed some changes. Maybe not changes quite as obvious as the annoying hair like that last ‘change’ about twenty years ago but there are changes nonetheless.

The first hint was when I found myself on occasion rooting for a Steve Spurrier coached team.

I know – it scares me too.

Just a decade ago, literally my entire week could be made by a Spurrier visor being ripped off his head and thrown to the turf. There was nothing I loathed more in this world than Spurrier (well, almost nothing. Ever smell someone throw up? Yeech).

Even five years ago, when he joined me in D.C. as the coach of the Redskins and the Super Bowl hype went through the roof, I enjoyed nothing more than watch his pathetic press conferences as the never-ending arrogance was slowly chipped off him like the funk in that disturbing Axe body wash commercial.

But now that he has left the Swamp and Fed Ex Field behind and become the relatively harmless coach of the Gamecocks, I have come to enjoy his antics and his taunting.

If this is maturity…I don’t like it.

So now that I wear my visor in concert with Spurrier (occasionally), I have noticed another equally frightening development over the last week. I…. (gulp)…(deep breaths)…almost like the Cowboys.

Damn you HBO.

For those of you not willing to pay HBO’s extortionate rates, the Cowboys are the subjects of this year’s Hard Knocks, HBO’s sort-of annual behind the scenes look at one NFL team’s training camp. Last year we were subjected to Herm Edwards’ endless stadium step running and his underachieving, uninteresting Kansas City Chiefs. Given the Chiefs are the fierce rival of my boys in blue and orange it was never a concern I would find myself cheering for them. In fact, a full year later, still the only redeeming quality of my hours of Hard Knocks viewing was my introduction to Mrs. Brody Croyle. When Brody is inevitably waived and his NFL career ends, I will be here to console her.

But this year is different. While I have always hated the Cowboys and reveled in their annual playoff failures, I have found myself enjoying the series and have come to start to like some of the players, even T.O.. Yes, the scourge of the Forty-Niners, Eagles and Skip Bayless comes across almost exactly like you would almost never expect – relaxed, having fun and coming across as a good guy. His stuffing of Jerry Jones’ grandson in a bucket of ice water was one of the best moments on TV not involving Michael Phelps in the last month.  

NOTE: Did you ever think we would see a summer in which the two greatest sporting moments would be a tennis match and a swimming relay race? I don’t even know what to think about this. But I have to admit, I am a little frightened.

All of this begs the question – if even I can feel a small ember of warmth in the cold of my heart for the Cowboys, why don’t more teams give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the team, so we start to realize that these guys (despite all outward appearances) are human?

Brian Billick was a genius at this. As the participant in the initial Hard Knocks after the Ravens Super Bowl win in 2001 and then allowing John Feinstein unlimited access for the book Next Man Up during the 2004 season, Billick seems to have realized long ago that being open and honest with the media and your fans goes a lot further then being secretive and paranoid.

It could probably even be argued that Billick’s persona kept him in the job of Ravens coach for a season or two longer than he would have if he viewed the NFL on par with national secrets like some of his coaching brethren.

It is a simple fact that it is much easier to complain about and disagree with faceless football uniforms or maniacal coaches on the sideline than someone you feel like you know personally.

Look at the rise of the internet. It is a lot easier to be mean, rude and insulting from the safety of your keyboard – not that I know anything about that. In a face-to-face conversation a lot of those inept, incompetent and insulting comments posted on the internet would probably never see the light of day.

I am as critical on Mike Shanahan as anyone and much of that can be traced directly to his secrecy and his seeming belief that he knows better than anyone else all of the time. A little transparency and openness might make his decisions a little easier to understand.

Unless he keeps reading playbooks while on vacation. That is just sad.

Just reading the book mentioned the other day – A Few Seconds of Panic – provides more understanding of Shanahan and the decisions he makes than anything else we as fans ever get to see. I still may not agree with some of his decisions but I have a better understanding of how he arrived at them.

Isn’t that all we ask for as fans?

So while I still may think that Wade Phillips and Tony Romo will never lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl title, I can at least understand why this team improved drastically under Phillips last year and I can understand why despite his public antics, T.O. is one of the best receivers in the game.

And to answer the un-asked question:

Yes, I think Bill Belichick would still be a total jerk if New England participated on Hard Knocks.

Pledges in the Coaching Fraternity

One of my pet peeves of the pre-season is teams that try to pretend they are better than they really are by doing more game planning or leaving 1^st and 2^nd teamers in longer than their opponents to help run up the score. I assume these coaches think they can trick their fans and the ‘experts’ into really believing that they are going to be surprisingly dominating this year but unlike college football, thankfully, high expectations won’t get a team anywhere. I would guess that when you see teams doing this, there is probably also a high correlation to coaches in their first season, trying to prove that their hire was the right move.

I remember when Steve Spurrier joined the Redskins, in his first game he left his University of Florida re-treads…I mean starters… in the game to run-up the score on the Forty-Niners, the final score being something like 35-10. Living in D.C. at the time, suddenly the radio was awash with expectations of great things (although coming off of Norv Turner and Marty Schottenheimer as head coach, can you really blame Skins fans for getting abnormally excited?). Of course after two seasons and a combined record of 12-20, Spurrier took his visor and scurried back to the golf course and the comfort of an SEC campus.

I get the sense that Wade Phillips is doing the same thing this year. In his first two games as head coach he has outscored the Colts and Broncos 54-30. When John Lynch came out this week and said that the Cowboys surprised the Broncos with their game planning and blitzing, it started to make sense (though that doesn’t excuse how bad the Bronco defense has looked in both pre-season games to this point). Coming out with two lackluster pre-season games would have re-enforced what most people (including myself) have said about the hiring of Wade Phillips: that it was a desperation move by Jerry Jones and that Phillips will have a hard time following in the footsteps and incredibly high waistline of Bill Parcells. Now with two dominating games, the already overblown hype that always surrounds the Cowboys is starting to reach New York Yankee levels.

If these new coaches have gone out of their way to endear themselves to the fans, then Cam Cameron is a pioneer – a rookie coach who seems to be actively trying to make Dolphins fans loathe him. Following Nick Saban’s ‘I would never take the head coaching job at Alabama…ummm, unless they offer me lots of money’ routine, Cameron came in with more goodwill from his fan base than probably any new coach in the NFL this year. Yet, we haven’t played a real game and he has already done nothing but antagonize his fan base.

With the number one issue in Miami being the never-ending quest to replace Dan Marino, Cameron’s first draft pick was (logically) a wide receiver/kick returner with a questionable foot– though at least Cameron is a close friend of the pick’s father. In the second round he did pick a quarterback…a 26 year old quarterback. Cameron’s next priority was to get 37 year old Trent Green from Kansas City, who missed most of last season due to a concussion and someone so valued by the Chiefs that rather than re-sign Green they will go into the season with an 11-year veteran back-up and second year middle tier prospect as their possible starters.

This week after two preseason games, Cameron (shockingly!) named Green as the starter for the season, despite a stat line of 10 of 22 for 101 yards, one interception and no touchdowns. He beat out fan- favorite Cleo ‘Laser’ Lemon (fan-favorite label based on an informal poll of my friend Doug, the one person I know who still admits to being a Dolphin fan) with their 2^nd round rookie draft pick, John Beck (did I mention he is 26?) languishing in 3^rd string. Cameron may have done more harm to the Dolphin quarterback situation than anyone since Ray Finkle kidnapped Dan Marino the week before the Super Bowl.

Cameron also cut last year’s starting tight end and traded one of their receivers to a division rival. It’s fine though they were only the two leading receivers for the team. Why would their new quarterback need them to throw to?

So while Phillips may be setting himself to be as big a regular season disappointment to his fans as Spurrier was, let’s take our hats off to Cam Cameron, a man who seems to take pride in giving no false hope to his fans. Let’s amend that – no hope period.