Crazy Uncle Pete Goes Pro
Who knew after all the talk about Urban Meyer retiring that it would be his West Coast counterpart that would end up leaving college football? Who knows exactlywhy Pete Carroll is taking the Seattle job. Investigations, strained relationship with the AD, ultra-competitiveness, and 7 million other reasons have all been mentioned. The BSD mind reading device is still down but the important thing is that it's hard to imagine anyone doing the job that Pete Carroll did. Let's be honest one loss seasons and Rose Bowl victories were considered disappointing seasons. It's unclear if USC's loss is other Pac 10 gains (most notably UCLA) but as recruiting is local don't be surprised.
The clincher for Carroll was that he was promised the world's largest Shwarma
The biggest thing in Mangini's one year tryout I think is the building storyline/expectation that there will be a NFL lockout in 2011. More and more teams motives and decisions seem to be influenced by a predictions of a lost season. This expectation seems to mirror a growing sense of a similiar fate to the NBA's 2011 season. I'm not sure why the owners seem to so hellbent on lockouts. One only needs to consider how the public reacted to the MLB work stoppage, factor in a disgruntled populace living with economic stagnation and massive unemployment in 2011, and the anger seems all too predictable.
Like a Panda on a slide this is going to end badly
96 Points!
I will say this much the Packers Cardinals game was an exciting game as could be imagined. Comebacks, onside kicks, missed field goals, overtime, and a little bit of offensive firepower. Ok a lot. At minimum I think this game represents a coming out party for Aaron Rodgers. It's hard to have seen Rodgers play and not think he's one of the top QBs in the NFC. I will say I was most happy for Kurt Warner. If rumors of his retirement are true, I'm glad he got to put on one last great show...
I will say this much the Packers Cardinals game was an exciting game as could be imagined. Comebacks, onside kicks, missed field goals, overtime, and a little bit of offensive firepower. Ok a lot. At minimum I think this game represents a coming out party for Aaron Rodgers. It's hard to have seen Rodgers play and not think he's one of the top QBs in the NFC. I will say I was most happy for Kurt Warner. If rumors of his retirement are true, I'm glad he got to put on one last great show...
It seemed apropos that in the same weekend the Eagles and the Patriots had their collective prides stomped on. Neither team was really ever in the game and in the end both left the field humiliated. Both have been totems of consistent excellence...at some point nearly every year you could ask if Eagles/Patriots would win the Super Bowl without being laughed at. I'm starting to think those days are over. The Eagles are still faced with a what about Mcnabb routine and a defense that is a shell of if its former self. Without Jim Johnson I'm not sure if they can return.
Before the quick Patriots will be back line consider their recent draft history. Only 3 players from their entire 2006 and 2007 draft classes were active this weekend. Yes a time when those draft picks should be dominating the cupboard is bare. Perhaps Belichek will figure it out or this is Brady's first season back from a knee injury or this was only one game. However it's also possible (even probable) that the Patriots days of being elite are in the past.
Totally unrelated but did anyone else know Superman fought Ali in 1974?
For Safety Sake
Rachel Bilson tested out the BSD- Cleveland bomb shelter. It seems to be roomie and with copious amounts of natural light. Thanks Rachel
3 comments:
1) I think Pete Carroll is certifiably insane to be (a) leaving USC for the NFL and (b) specifically leaving USC for the Seattle job. Unless there are NCAA sanctions coming down the pike or he and his AD suddenly had a falling out, there is no logic to taking the Seattle job, even if it's for twice as much money as he earns in college. NFL coaches probably only last an average of 3.5 years on the job before they're fired so there's clearly less job security for Pete Carroll in the NFL than there would've been at USC (assuming no mitigating circumstances). Further, given that Pete Carroll has already been to the NFL and been fired twice, we can already say that it's not like his first two go-arounds demonstrated some great level of aptitude for the pro game. So, why give up arguably the best job in college football for one of the 32 identical, dreary NFL jobs? Seattle's team is in the shitter and they're clearly in need of a major rebuilding. Why would a win-now coach like Carroll -- after all, paying $7M/year represents a win-now mentality -- want to oversee a rebuilding job?
2) NFL owners are regressing from visionary revenue-sharers to where baseball owners were about 15 years ago, namely, that they're living in a divided house among haves and have-nots. As baseball owners proved, when management has no solidarity, it tends to get ugly fast in labor disputes. The only saving grace for NFL owners is that the NFLPA is so weak and compromised that even management disharmony may not improve the NFLPA's bargaining position. After all, we still don't have guaranteed contracts...
3) The Packers-Cardinals game was the most entertaining NFL game I've watched in a very long time. It reinforced my feeling that only baseball benefits in a pitcher's duel/defensive struggle. All other sports -- football, basketball, and even hockey -- are better to watch when the offenses are executing to near-perfection. That being said, both the Packers and Cardinals displayed a level of defensive incompetence that I haven't seen in a long time from playoff teams. Neither team knows how to tackle. The Packers, especially, looked like defensive pretenders out there.
4) I couldn't be happier that the Eagles and Patriots lost. While I think the Eagles will be fine in the long run because they draft well and seem to have more/better playmakers on offense than at any other time in their recent run, I do believe the Patriots are in deep trouble. They've been trading in and out of drafts for years now and it's clear that they have a talent deficit on defense and at RB. Belichick has been outcoached enough times over the past two years that I'm simply not sure that he can claim the title of the NFL's best coach any longer. I don't know who that title falls to but I'm not sure it's Belichick. Not after some of the losses his team has endured the past few years.
5) I could easily devour that pyramid of shwarma. Easily.
6) I could easily devour Rachel Bilson. Easily.
1. I've heard that Carroll was on the outs with his AD...but even setting aside whether he should have left USC, the bigger issue to me is: why Seattle? If he really wanted to jump back into the NFL, he should have made that known - and then he'd likely have been courted by many higher-profile, more promising teams.
2. Considering how popular and successful the NFL is today, a lockout would be a disaster for ownership. Baseball is surging and the NHL is finally growing a fan base again as well. The NFL has absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose by a measurable work stoppage.
3. Philly will be back, in part for the reasons you both identify and in part because there still isn't a dominant team in the NFC. While there are plenty of good teams, there's no reason to think that Philly can't tweak a little and stay in the mix in the next few years. The reality is that the Eagles just screwed the pooch these last two weeks, and also ran into a red-hot team - there is no more or less to be gleaned from the results.
4. In contrast, the AFC does seem to have at least one and maybe two dominant teams in the Colts and Chargers. While the Pats are still a good team, that merely throws them into the pack of teams that could finish anywhere from 3rd to 8th in the standings - just as likely to roll to the AFC title game as to bow out at home in the Wild Card round. The question is whether the team can make the necessary changes to ascend back to the top two of the conference - not easy to do when you have to contend every year with the well-run Steelers and Ravens, and the myriad other talented conference teams that are on the rise.
1) Pete carroll is clearly doing this for the money! by the way, for those who haven't seen it, mark sanchez mocks pete carroll and says jokingly, "he's making a poor decision, statistics show it's not a good decision." that was hilarious.
2) i hope if the nfl goes on strike that no more pandas will fall off of slides. that could be dangerous!
3) cards-packers game was awesome!
4) the patriots have a poor defense all season long. they also could use a talented rookie RB w/ some speed to mix things up. i agree w/ above comments about eagles being closer (desean jackson, young RBs, etc).
5) i can't believe ali fought superman. superman had to have won.
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