Happy Hump Day Gabbers, and welcome to the almost New Year's edition of Whip it Out Wednesday.
Looks like the Yankees aren't the only team in New York willing to fork out big money to bring in a big name... the Mets, fresh off what can only be described as a Murphy's Law season, forked over 66 mil over four years to bring in Jason Bay and hopefully shore up their issues in left field. Bay has a hell of a bat, but we'll see how well the power numbers hold up playing at Citi Field, the Mets cavernous new home. Really though, Bay should be a nice addition to a lineup that should be welcoming back Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, and that already featured David Wright. Just too bad they couldn't bring any more pitching in, as they're still stuck with a rotation featuring Johan Santana and not much else. But it might be good enough to get them second place in the AL East... maybe even a Wild Card spot. Just don't start making any plans in October Met fans.
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is on the hot seat after allegedly forcing WR Adam James, son of ESPN analyst Craig James, to spend time in a secluded, dark room on two occasions after the WR was diagnosed with a concussion. Couple of quick opinions on this one: first off... what the fuck was Leach thinking with this one? You know who the kid's father is... if you're going to do some stupid shit like that with any player on your team, why make it him? If you have a problem with the guy, his work ethic or his attitude towards your staff, dismiss him... don't do something stupid and expect daddy not to come to the rescue and make you and your program look like shit.
Next, to the TTU WR coach that had to come out and question the kid's work ethic and attitude: Who the fuck are you? You're supposed to be the adults here; let Leach handle himself, don't go throwing mud at the kid here.
To the university itsself: don't fire Leach over this. The guy has not only brought you to 10 bowls over 10 years, he's got the support of your entire fan base. Not only is it going to KILL recruiting, not to mention your program, for the next decade if you get rid of Leach, it's going to kill you at the box office as well. You don't have to do something just because somebody at ESPN said to do it.
Based on everything I've seen here so far, it looks to me like Adam James is mostly at fault here. From what the coaches have said, it seems like he's one of these "do you know who my father is" douchebags who feels like they can do whatever they want becasue a couple of people have seen daddy on TV before. Seems like he's pissy about his PT, and about having to work just as hard as anyone else on the field, and instead of just transferring to a different coach where the coaches will allow him to walk all over them, he's decided to stay in Lubbock and send the coach packing, thanks to daddy and the ESPiN mafia.
But it looks like in this situation, much like the Mark Mangino saga, the coach is the one who will be forced out.
The rosters were announced yesterday for professional sports most pointless All-Star game, the Pro Bowl. No real suprises, and no glaring ommissions this year. Just glad Favre wasn't the starter... and at least Phillip Rivers didn't get screwed over this year.
As for former Indianapolis city council president Beurt SerVass, who demanded a refund for all Colts fans in attendance at Sunday's game in which coach Jim Caldwell pulled the starters in the third quarter, I say shut the fuck up. Even when you WERE city council president, nobody gave a fuck what you had to say. I don't know why politicians think they have a well respected opinion on anything they say, or why they think anybody wants to hear it... and this is just another example of that. Look, Caldwell was looking at the big picture, not at making history. Sure, it might come back to haunt the team in the long run, or it might end up helping the team... what if he had played Peyton Manning the entire game, and Manning gets injured? Then you have the same jagoffs out here saying the exact opposite. I'd much rather see my team go 15-1 and WIN a Super Bowl than to see them go 16-0 and NOT win one. I'm sure every Pats fan around here will tell you the same. So go back to your bullshit local government job and let the football people handle the football decisions, and the next time you want to talk about anything, do the world a favor and just don't do it.
That reminds me of growing up in Warren, MI, about a block away from they Mayor's house. The guy would strut around the neigborhood like he was better than anyone else around, and really nobody gave two shits about him. I also remember the day I was hanging out with a friend across the street and the mayor's wife started screaming at him and throwing his shit out on the lawn! He saw us sitting across the street and came over in PR mode... telling us "not to worry...everything was going to be okay". I remember looking right at him and asking him "well why should I give a fuck about what is going on at your house, so long as you keep doing the piss poor job you are running this city". Don't think he liked getting that kind of guff out of a 17 year old kid... but then again, don't think I exactly gave a rat's ass, either. This guy, just like the former head of the Indianapolis city council... just a couple of douchebags that seem to think they're much more important than they really are. Of course, I also hold the same amount of respect for "local" politicians as I do for national politicians.
And with that I'll end this by saying that I wish a safe and happy New Year to everybody here at YouGabSports. Hope that next year brings you all of the best. Thanks for reading and for any comments you leave on the way out.
When Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder finally rid the franchise of Vinny Cerrato, he decided to stay with the umbrella of Redskins legacy without losing his seemed mission of building his own legacy.
He hired Bruce Allen as to become the seventh general manager in the teams 78 years of existence. Three of the previous seven general managers are members of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame, which includes Allen's father George Allen.
Though Bruce Allen did not work in the front office for a NFL franchise until 1995, when he was nearly 40 years old, he had experience playing the game. He was drafted in the 12th round of the 1978 draft by the Baltimore Colts as a punter. The Colts head coach was Ted Marchibroda, who had served as an offensive coordinator under his father from 1972 to 1974 with the Redskins.
The Oakland Raiders had just returned to Oakland after a 13 year excursion in Los Angeles in 1995, and Allen was hired to work beside Hall Of Famer Al Davis. The pair oversaw a team that went to one Super Bowl, and won the AFC West three times in his eight years with the team.
Allen was named the winner of the George Young Executive of the Year Award in 2002, as the Raiders reached the Super Bowl. He left that Oakland to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the 2003 season.
The move reunited him with head coach Jon Gruden, who had been the Raiders coach from 1998 to 2001. Gruden then joined the Buccaneers in 2002 and got revenge for being fired by the Raiders by defeating them in Super Bowl XXXVII. Both men stayed with the Buccaneers until they were fired at the conclusion of the 2008 season.
Now Snyder is asking Allen to follow a long line of success at the Redskins general manager position. The first one ever was Dick McCann, who has a memorial award named after him that is annually given to sportswriters for contributions to the game by the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. McCann was a former sportswriter himself, and the first executive director of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. It was his idea to have the media to select those enshrined.
Bill McPeak was the general manager and head coach from 1961 to 1965. Though his teams lost mostly, including a one win season in his first year, his era is most remembered for acquiring legendary Redskins like Sonny Jurgensen, Charley Taylor, Bobby Mitchell, Chris Hanburger, Jerry Smith, Len Hauss, Pat Richter, Joe Rutgens, Ron Snidow, and Paul Krause.
He was replaced by Hall Of Famer Otto Graham, who lasted three years because of bad draft picks. His best pick was punter Mike Bragg, a fifth round selection in 1968. He was then replaced by Hall Of Famer Vince Lombardi. Lombardi's first draft year produced just three players, none higher than the sixth round. That choice, linebacker Harold McClinton, joined eighth round running back Larry Brown to become vital members of Redskins lore.
Lombardi's second draft year brought in Bill Brundige, Mack Alston, Manny Sistrunk, and Paul Laaveq, but he was unable to coach them because he died of cancer a few weeks before the 1970 season started. Washington then brought in George Allen the next year.
The George Allen Era was a time where many draft picks were traded off in order to procure the services of veterans that Allen was familiar with. It brought the team their first postseason play in 26 years and their first Super Bowl appearance. The Redskins won their division three times in his seven years, and went to the playoffs five times. He left the team after a contract dispute following the 1977 season.
He was replaced by Bobby Beathard, who had worked with McPeak on the 1973 Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins. Beathard stayed until 1989, leading the Redskins to three Super Bowls in the 1980's. It was the work of Beathard that laid down the groundwork for a team that went to four Super Bowls in ten years, winning three times.
He left the team in 1989 and joined the San Diego Chargers. He was replaced by Charley Casserly. He had worked for the team since 1977, starting as an unpaid intern under George Allen. Casserly moved his way up the organizational ladder, and helped Beathard put together the Redskins as a decade long dynasty in the NFL. He is well known for putting together the replacement team during the 1987 players strike. The replacements went undefeated in three games before the strike was over.
Casserly specialized in finding great players late in the draft, or signing undrafted players. Men like Joe Jacoby, Jeff Bostic, Brian Mitchell, Stephen Davis, Jimmie Johnson, Gus Frerotte, Brad Badger, Rich Owens, and Shawn Barber became big parts of several Redskins teams. Casserly also drafted Frank Wycheck and Keenan McCardell in late rounds, though they became Pro Bowl players with other teams.
Since Snyder fired Casserly after the 1999 season, the Redskins tradition seemed to be exiled as well. Suffering through a decade of the incompetent Vinny Cerrato, the team had just two playoff seasons and six head coaches. Now the onus is on Allen to bring a stability to the organization that they have not had since the day his dad was hired.
Washington has had seven Hall Of Famers coach their teams. It started with Ray Flaherty, the man who invented the screen pass. He led the team to four championship games in his seven years, winning twice. One of his players, Hall Of Fame tackle Turk Edwards, coached the team for three years.
Washington was able to lure legendary Hall Of Fame head coach Curly Lambeau to the team in 1952, but he was gone after two mediocre years that saw the team lose star players Gene Brito and Eddie LaBaron to the Canadian Football League because of his coaching methods.
Graham's three years were also unsuccessful, but they were exciting to watch on offense via the play of Jurgensen, Taylor, Mitchell, and Smith. Lombardi only lasted one season, but his impact had a lasting effect on men like Brown and Hauss. Brown was discovered to be deaf in one ear by Lombardi, thus saving his career and leading him to becoming the 1972 NFL MVP.
George Allen followed, and his influence helped cement the famed rivalry against the Cowboys that had been brewing since 1961. A rivalry that ranks amongst the greatest in all of sports history for many reasons through several stories.
Joe Gibbs came in to Washington in 1981, and quickly became one of the winningest coaches in NFL history. He led the team to three Super Bowl wins with three different quarterbacks. He returned to the team after a 11 year retirement that saw him get enshrined into Canton, and he led the team to their only two playoff appearances of the decade.
When Cerrato pushed for Jim Zorn to follow Gibbs, he hired a guy who has shown he would not make a good offensive coordinator right now. Zorn was given the duties of head coach, and has shown himself to be out of his league thus far. This is shown by his having been stripped of several coaching duties the past few weeks.. His West Coast offensive philosophy has proven to be flawed for NFC East football, and this philosophy has yet to produce one NFL champion out of the division.
Now that Zorn appears to be ready to leave, it is important that Allen blow up the entire coaching staff in Redskin Park. None should return next year, with the exception of offensive line coach Joe Bugel, running backs coach Stump Mitchell, and defensive backs coach Jerry Gray.
The Redskins aggressively signed free agent defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, before the 2009 season, with a contract that could end up costing $100 million. Defensive coordinator Greg Blache, who inherited an excellent defense in 2008, has run a bland defensive scheme that has failed to create many turnovers. Haynesworth was recently sent home from practice by the lame duck coach Zorn for bristling at what he perceives as a lack of positive usage by Blache.
Hiring Bill Cowher may be just what Allen needs. Cowher is considered a defensive oriented coach, which would help play into a team already stout in that area. He is also known for his toughness, which is an area many feel Washington has lacked in recent years.
The one thing Cowher has going for him over potential hire Mike Shanahan is a true understanding on how to play in the NFC East. Cowher played for the Philadelphia Eagles as a linebacker for three of his six years in the NFL. A Marty Schottenheimer disciple who has led teams that could run the ball well, his Pittsburgh Steelers teams went to postseason play in ten of his 15 years as their head coach.
He is one of just six head coaches in NFL history to have captured seven division crowns, and only the second to coach his team to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons.
One other potential candidate could be Gruden, due to the fact Allen was his general manager already with two teams. Gruden also has experience in the NFC East, having served as an offensive coordinator for the Eagles from 1995 to 1997. Philadelphia went to the playoffs twice while playing with three different quarterbacks during his tenure. Gruden is known for stockpiling rosters with quarterbacks, having success with some.
What separates Cowher from the rest of potential candidates is his track record. He was brought up as a potential hire for the Redskins last year, but he opted to remain a television personality instead of coaching. Perhaps the image of working with the dysfunction of Cerrato and Snyder repelled him, especially after working with a classy organization run by the Rooney's in Pittsburgh.
Now that Snyder has promised to stop meddling for now, even though he frequently admits to knowing little about football, there is the thought that Cowher can be enticed to come to Washington to work with Allen. He went to college at North Carolina State in a time where the Redskins were the favorite team of the area. Even after the Panthers were born, there are still many football fans in the area that cheers for Washington.
Cowher has been successful wherever he has gone, which shows by the fact he was a head coach just eight years after retiring as a player. He was a defensive backs coach for the Cleveland Browns for two years, and helped make Pro Bowl cornerbacks Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield, along with free safety Felix Wright, better players. He coached for Cleveland over four years, and they made the playoffs each time.
As a defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs for three years, he helped Derrick Thomas, Deron Cherry, Albert Lewis, Bill Maas, Neil Smith, Kevin Ross, and Dan Saleaumua to two playoff appearances with defenses that finished in the top ten in each of his three years. Thomas, a Hall Of Famer, had his best seasons under the leadership of Cowher.
The one common theme the Hall Of Fame coaches of the Redskins has was a strong personality that had the players follow them to success. This is a leadership the team has lacked the past two seasons on the field, and ten of the past 11 years in the front office.
Now is the time for Allen to grab hold of the organizations reins and impose his will to win on every employee. Getting Bill Cowher to cajole every player on to greatness would be a start needed for a franchise that has been stuck in mediocrity for so long.
Once again... Congrats to the winners of this years YGS NFL.com leagues... (ME)... and to the losers.. (fRag).. thanks for playing, don't forget your version of the home game on your way out!
Anywho... The league for the YGS Playoff Challenge has been set up.
Go to the NFL.com site and click on the Playoff Challenge link. It will prompt you to create a team. After that, search the leagues available for the YGS Playoff Challenge. To join, enter the password: yougab. This will put you in amongst the cream of the fantasy crop for this year and give you a second chance to kick fRags ass!!!
This is the fight that boxing needs. This is the fight that boxing wants. This is the fight that the people want. Yet, the fight that needs to happen may not because of a disagreement between the two camps over, of all things, drug testing.
Let’s face facts; boxing isn’t the sport it used to be. Over the course of time, somewhere between the end of the 20th century and the start of the 21st, boxing has fallen out of favor while professional wrestling and mixed martial-arts have come to the forefront to take its spot on the podium. Boxing lost its luster after years of squabbles between which belts actually belonged to the champion and the complete lack of a people’s champion who would carry the sport.
Now, on the cusp of being thrust back into the limelight, the sports two biggest fighters cannot come to an agreement on the frequency of drug testing leading up to their proposed bout. Mayweather’s camp wants to have the pre-fight testing done and also wants random blood-testing done at any time leading up to the opening bell. Pacquiao’s group wants to submit to just three tests; one now, one 30 days prior to the fight, and one immediately following the fight. As of right now, this argument has lead to back and forth exchanges between the fighters’ promoters, including the threat of lawsuit by Pacquiao’s camp for defamation of character. On top of that, the Nevada Athletic Commission is now ordering immediate testing to take place for both fighters.
But why do we even have to listen to a disagreement over drug testing during a day and age where so many records and events have been tainted by the use or suspicion of use of illegal substances? If the Lance Armstrong, BALCO, MLB, and other steroid controversies have taught us anything, it is that all sports must remain vigilant about the testing of athletes to make sure that competition remains clean and fair for all parties involved. We cannot make exceptions, even if one party believes the means to be unfair.
What is good for the goose is good for gander, and in the interest of fairness, as well as the legitimacy of the competition, Pacquiao and Mayweather need to get this behind them and get on board with whatever testing is deemed necessary. Boxing needs this fight to happen. It doesn’t need another reason for fans to walk away.
IT'S OVER... IT'S OVER... Let the KINGS be crowned!!!
Both title games come down to the wire. Both title games decided by 5 points or less.
The Championship game for YGS-I was:
Sharks (10-5) vs. Stevespats (11-3)
Final Score: Sharks 85 - Stevespats 80
Congratulations Jeff Anderson.
I have a feeling that Mr.DeMarco will be buying a plane ticket to Indy after he 'borrows' the trophy from our Champion 'Sharks' and gives it to the Colts head coach in a fashion that would make even TheBeeze blush. The decision to sit EVERYONE on the Colts' roster cost Steve the title. But such is life when you draft one of the best rosters of the season. The Sharks played their game and took it to the house. Rivers, Grant, and L.Fitz did what they got drafted to do... Score touchdowns. Even OchoCinco got into the Title Touchdown bonanza!
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The Championship game for YGS-II was:
FourthandFragnoli (9-7) vs. FedUPS (10-6)
Final Score: FourthandfRag 73 - FedUPS 76
Congratulations Steve Felber.
This game could have had a different outcome if the managers let their wives set the starting rosters. Ol'fRag left 16 RB points on the bench, along with 5 possible WR points. That would've given fRag 94 points. FedUPS decided to leave 10 RB, 6 TE, and 3 QB points on the bench. That tally would have put FedUPS to 95. Still a win, but who in their right mind would have started Flacco vs. the Steelers??? Kyle would like to thank A.Rodgers for not saving a touchdown or two for him for this week. I would like to thank the Cards' defense for showing up when it really mattered. Kyle would like to kick his kicker R.Longwell in the junk for being junk.
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Anyway you shake it... It was a GREAT season. Thank you, one and all, for participating in the 2009 YouGabSports NFL Fantasy League. Keep your eye on your email and messenger for updates on the upcoming 2010 season.
