"like any other second-year coordinator who’s never done the job."

I guess it doesn't take much coordination to run LJ 26 times per game...

Re: Vernon Davis' non-catch--I saw Mike Pereira (sp?) on NFLN and he convinced me with his explanation that it was an incomplete pass.

Man... that picture IS awesome.

That picture deserves its own ESPY.

looks like a late hit to me.

I have to say that the OK State coach should have controlled his temper a little better, but I have no problem with him calling out the columnist publicly. When a guy's compensation is a scholorship, getting personal regarding his relationship with his mother is a pretty vile thing to do. Actually, it's pretty out of bounds even for a professional athlete, but I'm willing to give columnists a lot more slack when they opine about guys who are cashing large checks. I mean, if it's acceptable for this columnist to be critical of a college qb, and use his private interaction with his mother as the basis of the criticism, well, I say there may be very few barriers that cannot be crossed in attacking the columnist in response, so maybe the coach actually was being restrained.

If you're stuck in a hole, just dig your way out!

#2 Athelas.
If it was not a complete pass, it would've been an interception.

Three things :
Pierce is great.
LJ's father is a coach isn't he ? LJ would be a better play caller than Herm "when you go three-and-out it’s hard to get rhythm as a play caller" Edwards...
The picture of the Chiefs Mascot is hilarious !!!!!

Also, to illuminate the idiocy of the columnists point of view, that having a bit of a momma's boy relationship with one's mother, after reaching adulthood, precludes a man from being mentally tough enough to succeed in competitive environments, reflect on the fact that the renowned pussy Douglas MacArthur was coddled by his mother well into adulthood. This was a case of columnist using her forum to mount an ad hominem attack on a amateur athlete, which is a rotten thing to do.

"would've" should've been "should've"

We have two fouls on the play.

Personal foul, excessive celebration, on the fan.

Personal foul, piling on, on the mascot.

The fouls offset. We will replay the video.

Re 5:
You didn't see him get pushed from behind? You can't control that. You can't ask him to change in mid-air.

It's a shame Gundy isn't an former NFL coach. Those would make a nice Coors Light ad.

Re: Chiefs mascot

The article is rather funny, too. Some other classic lines, though not necessarily quotes:

You can only imagine how Larry Johnson, who was manhandled all day (24 carries, 42 yards), felt seeing someone in a Chiefs jersey running in the open field.

The crowd erupted in the loudest cheers of the day. The Chiefs’ sideline erupted in laughter. The cheerleaders erupted in dance. There were a lot of eruptions.

Obligatory Herm reference:
In the Chiefs’ meeting room, there’s a sign put up by Edwards. It reads: “Know your role. Do your job.�

There's a lot more funny there (if you're not a Chiefs fan), but this post is long enough. So long as Herm follows his own motto, we'll be rolling in quotes until 3 weeks after Armageddon.

I can't use the internet today. Where is this picture everyone is talking about?

Will, I'm with you on that. While the video is kind of funny because of how intense he gets, he's probably right, it's pretty slimy. Anyway, the Mascot is my new hero, and I'm glad to see Herm not only doesn't know how to gameplan, but also can't manage his players. Coach of the year.

I'm picking up KC Wolf for my doomed IDP league team. Think I can count him as a DL?

The mascot was great, but it still ranks second on my list of favorite moron on the field moments. When I was a kid, I think 1970, the Colts were in Baltimore, and some drunk ran onto the field, and actually grabbed the ball as the teams were huddled. The drunk made the mistake of heading toward the Colts' defensive huddle, whereupon Colts' middle linebacker, a somewhat nasty fellow, treated the drunk like he would an opposing running back attempting to catch a pass while crossing the middle. Just laid him out. If you ever get a chance to see the "America's Game" episode of the 1970 Colts on the NFL channel, Curtis and some of his teammates recall the incident, and it is pretty funny. Curtis still looks to be in pretty good shape, and he is still a bit intimidating. If I recall correctly, he says what he misses most about playing is the violence.

The Cedric Benson stuff is pretty illuminating as well. The list of guys who rely on instinct to have very successful college careers, and then discover that ain't enough in the NFL is pretty long. Unfortunately, the list of guys who don't change their behavior after making that discovery is nearly just as long. Why, exactly, did the Bears keep Benson and let Jones go? Cap hit entailed in moving Benson off the roster? Or did they actually think Benson was a better player?

I lived in Missouri for ten years, and have been to several Chiefs games, and know many rabid Chiefs fans, and nobody has yet been able to explain to me why the Kansas City Chiefs have a wolf mascot. Heck, until today I always thought it was a muskrat or a vole or something.

#2: Yeah, the call makes a little more sense after watching it.

Davis lands with one foot, starts to bring the other one down, but Polamalu starts him spinning before it hits. The second one doesn't come down under its own power, but he can still make the catch if he holds onto the ball until all of him hits the ground.

He doesn't, and the ball comes loose, and it would be an interception off of what is technically a tipped pass if the ball doesn't hit the ground before his arm does a jai-alai impression.

Click my name for the YouTube of the mascot. True brilliance.

Re 21 - I think when the Chiefs moved from Dallas to KC, the fan club was called the Wolfpack. the Wolf mascot derived from that. But I have no idea why they were the Wolfpack.

Re 20 - Based on their conventional stats last year, I think TJ and Benson were interchangeable. Based on their FO stats, they were about the same and you could argue, if nothing else, to keep the younger back.

TJ/Benson
Rush DPAR 25.5/17.9 (note TJ had almost twice as many carries)
Rush DVOA 5.6%/15.1%
Success rate 48%/47%
Rec DPAR -6.1/1.0 (Benson had very few passes thrown to him)
Rec DVOA -34.0%/8.3%
Catch% 77%/80%

From the outside, Benson doesn't look like a great "Character guy" or "Locker room" asset. Maybe TJ is, but there is some reason he's now on his 4th team - maybe he's not a coach's favorite.

I'm not a Bears fan or Benson backer, and I don't mean to ignore intangible issues, but based solely on-the-field 2006 performance plus age, I can see going with Benson.

Re the KC Wolf's play -

That's what happens when you have a HoF mascot. Check link.

Also, it's always worth reading Joe Posnanski.

Did you know: KC Wolf (the KC Mascot) is the first NFL mascot to be inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. Really.
.
No, Stealy McBeam will not make it. We got 5 Super Bowls, we don't need a damn mascot.

re 20

Will, Jones demanded a trade. There's not really much more to it than that. It wouldn't even have mattered if had they let him be the starter this year. He wanted out.

I thought some of you might find this interesting, as you may know Jones soda has the non-alchoholic beverages at Qwest Field (seahawks). They just sent out an email regarding a neww seahawk collector pack. This is from the email:

So here's a tribute to the Seahawks....
a limited collector's pack of the flavors they
have tasted throughout their career.

2007 Jones Soda Limited Edition Seahawks
Collector Pack. Special flavors include:

Natural Field Turf, Perspiration, Dirt,
Sports Cream and Sweet Victory

Antonio Pierce is hilarious. I know in players vs. New york media, the players never win, but listen to some of the questions they ask. I'd come up with some great sarcastic responses myself if I was subject to that after every game too.

Re 5:
You didn’t see him get pushed from behind? You can’t control that. You can’t ask him to change in mid-air.

ROTFL! Of course, if this sparks another thread-dominating David-Akers-as-cheap-shot-artist argument, I'm going to kill you.

#28 - Do they also sell Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans there? They have grass, which I think is the same as "natural field turf".

Glad I read this before lunch...

#6 - Well, from the quote, it wasn't a dug-up "private interaction" - it was in a parking lot, in public. Which is different. And MacArthur aside, do you really think that, in the modern sports culture, being a momma's boy, that clearly, is value-neutral in the eyes of the other athletes? I have a hard time accepting that. He's not a kicker, he's a QB, and for good or ill that carries with it expectations, and among them is a certain macho independence.

Additionally, the coach benched him, and from the sounds of it was less than forthcoming as to why. The coach's tirade seems almost as much about someone second-guessing him rather than "attacking" an adult student. For all his claims of "come after me", the real charge seems to be he put a shaky QB in front of his team and then tried to quietly remove the problem, got caught and is trying the very ad hominem attack he's accusing the journalist of to defend himself. I.e., he she is coming after him, and this is his his way to weaseling out of it. But then I don't know the guy beyond this event - who knows?

"do you really think that, in the modern sports culture, being a momma’s boy, that clearly, is value-neutral in the eyes of the other athletes?"

See:
Boucher Jr., Robert "Bobby"

#28: Is one of the new flavors Mike Holmgren's Tears?

What I dislike the most about the Oklahoma St incident is apparently the reporter has no problem roasting the kid in print, but can't handle it when it happens in front of her peers.

Ever heard the phrase don't dish it out if you can't take it?

I didn't know the OK columnist was a chick.

The coach's rant was funny as all get out, but counterproductive. Now all I can think is that Bobby Reid is a sissy momma's boy.

The worst part about the Gundy rant is that ESPN instantly started mocking it. I think there's a lot of people out there who heard it and largely agreed with him, but it's always nice to see the Brotherhood of Sports Media band together against any attack.

I genuinely can't imagine how anyone could side with the columnnist in the OSU incident. Maybe Gundy could have stood to stay a little bit more composed, but based solely on how she's handled this incident, the columnnist is a repugnant person.

I genuinely can't imagine how anyone could side with the columnnist in the OSU incident. Maybe Gundy could have stood to stay a little bit more composed, but based solely on how she's handled this incident, the columnnist is a repugnant person.

Someone needs to be credited for the Escape Club reference -- but this mean that Gisele Bunchen's legs are in the video - -and who's holding those flags anyway?

Dired, does that mean every interaction you have with a family member in a public place, observed from a distance, is reasonable fodder for speculation regarding your faults as a human being? I'm sorry, but merely being with a family member in a public space does not give the media legitimate reason to make wholly speculative assertions regarding an athlete's character. An athlete slaps his wife around? Sure, that's fair game, because slapping one's wife around is, clearly, extremely morally unacceptable action. Being fed chicken by one's mother? Well, it strikes me as a little weird as well, but since when is being a little weird a comment on one's character?

The writer was making a specific insinuation; that the behavior of this athlete with regard to his mother was indicative of a lack of mental toughness. Whatever one's opinion of today's sport's culture or what attitudes are prevalent in today's sports culture, that is simply an empirically stupid thing to insinuate, for historical examples abound of men who were coddled by their mothers to a degree considered abnormal, who then went on to be extremely tough-minded competitors, in business, politics, and yes, sports. Writers who insinuate things which are empirically stupid are writing badly, and the editors who don't reign such writers in are editing badly.

The coach was not very effective in his argument, and frankly it is bit of a shame, for a person skilled in hostile rhetoric could have publicly eviscerated this incompetent hack, likely leaving her a gibbering mess as the cameras rolled. Shame it didn't happen that way, but unlike a "professional journalist" a football coach's primary professional responsibility is not public communication.

Hmm - I see a late hit and taunting, and the Wolf didn't even make the open-field tackle when he had the chance. And he's still a better defender than DeAngelo Hall.

The OKState situation is similar to the (latest) Milton Bradley incident; there are some responses that aren't justified whatever the provocation. Do the Cowboys not employ an SID? (I make no judgement on the article itself - OSU is pretty much irrelevant to me, as is any team that gets romped by a Sunbelt opponent.)

Re 39:
Right, because no adults should be criticized. I don't remember any outcry over Travis Dorsch being made fun of every single week in the school paper.

This is just another opportunity for some people to bash the media and act all outraged. Good job protecting all the poor children whose fragile egos can't handle any criticism.

Meanwhile, the coach gets a free pass for acting like a petulant child and deflecting all criticism over his coaching decisions and recent loss.

peachy, like I said I don't think the coach is a skilled rhetoritician, but when a "professional journalist" produces something as bad as that piece, I have no problem with a coach very publicly cutting the writer to pieces. I just wish it had been done better.

I never read the journalist's report - I really don't care enough. Maybe she's a horrible hack or just made a big mistake this one time. But the rant itself is interesting, in that it feels scripted and incredibly deliberate - I do honestly feel this is more about the coach and "his program" than any actual empathy for the kid he benched. The journalist found a situation where the starter for a 1-A program was benched and found some low-hanging fruit. You can condemn her for taking what appears to be a cheap-shot, but the insinuation that the coach makes - that it's no one's business how the team is run and the program should enjoy media privacy when weird stuff seems to happen - seems ridiculous, self-serving and cynical. I don't see a man defending another man, I see a man defending his program, and ultimately, himself by clumsily (if loudly) attacking the journalist with the ex-starter as a convenient pawn. Your mileage may vary.

mactbone, it's crappy writing, pure and simple, and for the life of me I can't understand why people who get paid to write shouldn't be publicly humiliated when they produce crappy writing, in the same manner that the writers try to publicly humiliate athletes or coaches who perform poorly.

Well, dired, if you can't be bothered to read the column which the coach was responding to (and that's fine, of course) , I guess I don't understand why you could be bothered to form an opinion about that response, one in which you speculate about the interior state of mind about the coach.

By the way, dired, the coach specifically states that attacking him, the adult who is getting paid for his performance, is perfectly acceptable, and in no place does he say that how the team is run is no one's business. He does assert that there are factual inaccuracies in the piece, which I certainly am not in a position to judge.

I think the most logical conclusion is that the columnist and the coach are both idiots.

re: 44

That was precisely my point - it ought to have been done better. One unprofessional act does not excuse or justify another, and Gundy should have known that. Every other head coach has the occasional problem with media coverage of his team, but you don't see Carroll or Stoops or Meyer or Tressel putting on such a ridiculous exhibition.