Substance Not Style for the 5th Street

The mighty lords of cosmos have put things back in line. Yes, the Detoit Lions have lost. If they had beaten the Eagles I was heading towards the nearest bomb shelter, waiting for the apocalypse. But all is not right and this blogger (apparently there's over 2 million of us in the USA alone) wants to point out a few of them.

The Flop
1. One thing that needs to be addressed is politics. Yes its a sports column so I'm going to use a sports analogy and it entails substance versus style. In today's politial campaigns and media- style trumps all. "Vote for Bush, he has leadership qualities." "John Kerry shares your values ." another commercial sang. Think about how people evaluate head coaches in the NFL and you'll quickly see how silly those kinds of comments go. Bill Bellichek is many things, charismatic is not one of them. A popularity contest between him and a pet rock, the pet rock is getting the nod. But how many people are calling for his firing because of his lack of charisma? I'm pretty sure Tom Coughlin is wound so tight he fines his mother if she's late to a family function. But if he makes the playoffs, all of his personal shortcomings will be overlooked. In the NFL you don't see a head coach pleading for his job with his wife at his side because its the substance and results that counts, not the image. Ultimately candidates should be evaluated on results and policy choices - no different than coaches are. The next time someone tells you that someone should be elected president on purely on charisma, think about the Patroits and if they would have been better off with a charismatic coach.

2. On the topic of substance over style, how about those Jaguars? Pretty they are not. But they have given up only 28 points all year long. They have two mountains of men in the middle that crush opposing teams running games. They have a pass rush that would sack a QB, even if he were protected by barbed wire. Oh and Mr. Leftwhich is finding a way to win in the clutch. They beat the Titans and are quickly building an impressive resume for the playoffs. The question remains though, can they beat the Colts (although will they have a stadium after all these hurricanes may be an equally important question).

3. For a team that represents style over substance I turn to the Atlanta Michael Vicks. Don't get me wrong Michael Vick is the most exciting player in football. I'm pretty certain Michael Vick can score from anywhere on the football field and possibly from the Men's Room. But the key word is "can". Yesterday they edged the 0-2 Cardinals, by the score 6-3 ,when Arizona's Shaun King hit into a double play. Beating the Cardinals by 3 points does not bode well for future match ups against the NFC elite teams.

The Turn
4. The AL West is a close race. One game seperates two teams. Two games seperates three teams. And does anyone care? Hello? Is this thing on? Meanwhile off the East Coast Boston and New York continue to garner the headline. BoSox cut Yankees lead to 5 games , nation hold's collective breadth. Sure I realize everyone east of the Missippi River is fast asleep by the time the AL West games are over but a little respect please.

5. The River (random thoughts)
Is it just me or is the Brown's season already begining to approximate the proverbial "runaway train". A thrashing by the Giants? I'm not sure crack offensive coordinator Terry Robskie could guide an offense through a maze on the side of a Happy Meal let alone into the end zone. I'm glancing over and Peter King's column over at SI continues to steal my ideas. Don't think I'll forget this, Pete. Brett Favre v. Peyton Manning lived up to everything that was it billed to be. I got to believe that both defensive coordinator's were drinking heavily by the 4rth quarter. Finally apparently the secret to Mike Nugent's field goal skills is General Tso's Chicken. Who knew?