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18 May 2009

Ten Things I Think I Think About The Dr. Z Benefit Tonight

Coming to you live from the East Orange Ramada -- and in proper Peter King form -- here are 10 things I learned tonight at the Dr. Z benefit event.

1) Dr. Z looks good. He's completely aware and alert, and according to his wife has made amazing progress in physical therapy. Unfortunately, he still can't speak -- if any of you have relatives who have had a bad stroke, you know that sometimes the words just get completely scrambled between brain and vocal cords. (Aphasia, although Dr. Z's problem is solely creating speech, not understanding it.) From what I gather, much of the money raised tonight will go towards some intense speech therapy.

2) Adam Schefter is still alive. Apparently, he is hiding in Dick Cheney's undisclosed location until his new ESPN contract kicks in, but he came out of hiding tonight to be on a panel with myself, Sal Paolantonio, and K.C. Joyner.

3) Everybody believes that Brett Favre to the Vikings is a done deal.

4) Secret reason why Brett Favre might want to sign with Vikings: Brad Childress has shocking comedy skills. Unable to attend, he sent in a little video of him goofing off and begging Dr. Z for a mock draft so he would know who to pick. It's hard to describe how funny Childress was without actually watching it yourself.

5) Best exchange during the question-and-answer with the two New York coaches (or as close as I can remember):

Questioner: "I'm a Jets fan, and listen, I love that Mark Sanchez is able to throw the ball deep, but don't we need somebody to go catch it?"

Rex Ryan: "Well, we happen to feel..."

Questioner: "Wait, I have a second part also. What's up with Vernon Gholston?"

Rex Ryan: "Ummm..." (pause) "Let's see if I can answer that first question."

6) In his answer to this question, Ryan was very high on David Clowney as the Jets' deep threat in 2009.

7) Best question asked of the coaches: Female journalism student who asked Rex Ryan about rumors that the Jets are interested in Plaxico Burress. With Tom Coughlin sitting right there next to him, of course. Coach Coughlin was silent on the issue with a cheshire cat grin.

8) While lots of people are talking about Michael Vick, there actually don't seem to be teams that are really interested in him. The one rumored dark horse: Believe it or not, the Patriots -- not as a backup quarterback, but more as a Wildcat-type weapon. The Patriots have spent a lot of time this offseason trying to find their own response to the Wildcat, and were also very interested in drafting Percy Harvin.

9) Coolest attendee: Yogi Berra. Really!

10) The 18-game season is coming. It is really just a question of what the owners will have to give the players association to get them to agree to it. All the owners feel the money is there to be taken. Dick Ebersol of NBC Sports was also in attendance and was nice enough to talk a little bit about the television outlook on the longer season. As he pointed out, the money that is there to be made per week is not the same if you stretch the regular season into January, because the big advertising season is over after Christmas. Adding two more games doesn't equal 9/8ths the income. On the other hand, January basically gives the NFL a captive audience in the Midwest and Northeast. The NBA, NHL, and NASCAR are not happy about the prospects of an NFL season that extends into the third week of February.

The whole thing was very cool and Peter King was pretty amazing to put it all together.

Posted by: Aaron Schatz on 18 May 2009

36 comments, Last at 25 May 2009, 6:29pm by Ruben

Comments

1
by I am excellent at making love (not verified) :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:07am

Thank you for sending this along. As Vikings fan and witness to his play-calling, I am already familiar with the comedy stylings of Brad Childress.

30
by Tundrapaddy (not verified) :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 1:39pm

Well put - I couldn't have said it any better. I'm sure paying Brett Favruh millions will make a huge difference on those 'handoff on 1-10 to Peterson' plays.

2
by Key19 :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:41am

Great stuff. If you think of any more things you think you think/others think, post them!

3
by Lou :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 2:55am

i had thought the 18 game schedule would just replace the final 2 pre season games with the first two weeks of the regular season. and add one extra bye week. shouldn't that only add one week to the season? thus making the superbowl second week of february at most?

4
by Jerry :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 3:23am

My impression is that they'll play the exhibitions the last two weeks of August and start the season the weekend after Labor Day. It's better for TV, even with the post-Christmas advertising falloff that Ebersol mentioned.

10
by poboy :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 1:27pm

Goodell just said in his press conference that the season will start after Labor Day, even if they go to a longer schedule.

12
by Kevin from Philly :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 2:00pm

I guess they're looking at an April Fools Day Super Bowl.

32
by AnonymousToo! (not verified) :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 5:58pm

I'm not sure yet if I'm in favor of extending the season or not, but NASCAR can go and climb a tree as far as I'm concerned. (That sounds more homespun and charming than go f--- themselves, doesn't it?)

5
by Temo :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 9:25am

9) Coolest attendee: Yogi Berra. Really!

Trust me, if you live in NYC, it's hard NOT to run into him at some point, somewhere. He is a fairly entertaining person though, which is probably why people always invite him to stuff.

6
by Dr. Homunculus (not verified) :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 9:49am

Certainly teams have to be even more wary about Vick given the possibility that Goodell will levy some kind of additional suspension this season. Besides, is he still the physical freak he was a few years ago? If not, I can't think of a compelling reason to sign him. Even if I were a GM/coach with a more-than-passing interest in Vick and skin tough enough to weather the inevitable PETA protesters, I still don't think I'd be willing to do more than extend a training camp invitation and, if he sticks, a veteran-minimum contract.

7
by DGL :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 11:22am

Wait, isn't "Ten Things" supposed to have all these sub-items so that it actually runs to like 37 things? C'mon, Aaron, you're disappointing us.

8
by Sophandros :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 11:36am

"Wait, isn't "Ten Things" supposed to have all these sub-items so that it actually runs to like 37 things?"

In a row?

-------------
Sports talk radio and sports message boards are the killing fields of intellectual discourse.

17
by dbostedo :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 5:40pm

"Try not to list more than 10 things on the way through the parking lot......hey you, get back here!"

18
by Tom Gower :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 7:38pm

Well, I appreciated this, even if no one else did.

23
by bengt (not verified) :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 2:44am

I don't appreciate your ruse, sir. Your cunning attempt to make us believe you were the only movie buff here.

27
by Bowl Game Anomaly :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 10:53am

I wasn't even supposed to be here today!

(Formerly "The McNabb Bowl Game Anomaly")

9
by njjetfan12 :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 11:57am

Are you really staying in East Orange? That sucks

11
by Anonymous1 (not verified) :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 1:58pm

Since when does NE need Vick to gameplan for the wildcat? They handled it pretty well the second time they faced Miami with a depleted defense.

And NE also drafted a guy Julian Edelman who offers nearly as much as an athlete/former QB as Vick would without the PR backlash.

I would place the odds of Vick landing in NE at less than 1 in 10 million.

13
by poboy :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 2:31pm

I'd take that bet.

14
by rk (not verified) :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 3:24pm

If someone gives you 10 million-to-1 on anything you take it. If John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar I am going to be a very rich dude.

15
by Bill Barnwell :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 3:45pm

Please keep your comments related to football, regardless of what you may or may not think about PETA. Thanks!

19
by Temo :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 9:04pm

Bill Barnwell doesn't care about animals.

26
by Sophandros :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 8:57am

In the event that Vick is reinstated, PETA will be football related.

-------------
Sports talk radio and sports message boards are the killing fields of intellectual discourse.

28
by Bill Barnwell :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 1:00pm

No, it won't.

31
by dbostedo :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 2:35pm

Well, maybe not PETA per se, but maybe PETA's protests of NFL games and teams, or owners and their companies. I would assume as long as you're talking about PETA in light of those football matters, it would be fine?

33
by plaznos (not verified) :: Thu, 05/21/2009 - 3:07pm

It's not as though that organization would be the only group of people protesting Vick's presence. The man will be forever mired in a muddled hail of boos tempered by a few drunkenly defiant cheers, and when playing visiting games will be greeted with such coincidentally-selected gems as "Who Let the Dogs Out" on the PA system.

36
by Ruben (not verified) :: Mon, 05/25/2009 - 6:29pm

...or the opening few seconds of "Caught Stealing" by Jane's Addiction. Man, that'd be hilarious...

16
by phillyangst :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 4:16pm

Sorry to hear the season will be extended. Too much of a good thing can't always be good. I hope the players decline [extension]on the basis of their future health. Maybe the NFLPA can negotiate guaranteed health coverage over the rest of their lives since the player contracts aren't.

"Greed is good."
-Gordon Gekko

20
by Temo :: Tue, 05/19/2009 - 9:06pm

I thought philly people weren't allowed to be angsty since the World Series title.

21
by masoch (not verified) :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 12:05am

Errr... I'm *really* not trying to be nitpicky, or snarky, or call Aaron out, or whatever, but this kind of bugged me:

Why was the fact that the journalism student was female relevant? Was that comment intentional or unintentional sexism? Or am I revealing my latent sexism by reading too much into it?

(Just saying, one would think it would be "journalism student asks silly question" unless one (knowingly or unknowingly) holds the belief that females aren't capable of something...)

22
by masoch (not verified) :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 12:07am

Then again... it was the "best question asked..." so maybe Aaron thinks females are MORE competent?

24
by CornerBlitz (not verified) :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 3:38am

Vick as a Wildcat option with Moss, Galloway and Welker as options to throw to? If that magic Patriot water that made Corey Dillon and Randy Moss act right works on Vick, that'd be just plain scary.

I sincerely believe that Vick's best option is as a Wildcat guy. He was a better QB than any RB in the league and a better runner than any QB in the league, but that didn't make him an elite QB. With the resurrection of the formation now known as the Wildcat, though, he could potentially put up some sick numbers...and the concern about his fitness as a full-time NFL QB would be less of a concern.

The rest of it was a good piece, although Favre to the Vikings and the 18-game schedule offend my purist sensibilities to no end. Godspeed a recovery to Dr. Z.

29
by countertorque :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 1:11pm

"...but that didn't make him an elite QB."

It didn't make him a good or average QB either. Vick never ranked above 30th in DYAR or DVOA.

25
by CornerBlitz (not verified) :: Wed, 05/20/2009 - 3:39am

By the way, who would have ever thought BOSTON was the place to make misguided souls happy?

34
by plaznos (not verified) :: Thu, 05/21/2009 - 3:14pm

So many players have come and gone; their statistics fade as the years go by.

35
by PHn (not verified) :: Fri, 05/22/2009 - 3:23pm

I lost myself in a familiar forum. I closed my eyes and I typed away.

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