Will Griese Bring The Bears Out Of Hibernation?

Well Coach Lovie Smith sure hopes so.

Smith announced today Brian Griese will be the starting quarterback on Sunday for the Chicago Bears replacing the struggling Rex Grossman. After last year’s Super Bowl appearance, anticipation is high for the now 1-2 Bears. Aside from losing a number of key players due to injuries, former starting quarterback Rex Grossman’s performance has been less than average. Thus far he’s had six interceptions, been sacked nine times, and has only had one touchdown. Not exactly the start the Bears had hoped for. So can Griese save the day for the Bears? It appears he may be the Bears’s only chance. Coach Smith has supported Grossman for weeks now with the hope he would bounce back and at least play as good as he did last season during the first five games. In 2006 he led the Bears to the Super bowl and unfortunately he is credited with helping them lose the Super bowl as he threw two interceptions which caused them the game. He has been inconsistent in his 5 year career, which is why the Bears have yet to give an Extension to his expiring contract. After last week’s performance it was inevitable Grossman be replaced. Well we’ll see on Sunday if a mediocre Griese can bring the NFC Champion Bears out of hibernation.

Three Wrongs Don’t Make A Right

The unfolding of society right before our very eyes.

The only thing I want to know is…what is going on with Oklahoma State? If you haven’t already heard (or saw) Coach Mike Gundy’s rant after their 49-45 win over Texas Tech, take two minutes out of your day. It’s definitely worth watching. Thing is, the guy didn’t say one word about the game. He went off on the column that writer Jenni Carlson put in the The Oklahoman about his now benched quarterback Bobby Reid during the week. She said, and I quote “Bobby Reid stood near the team charters last Friday night, using his cell phone, eating his boxed meal. It would’ve been normal post-game activity but for one thing. His mother was feeding him chicken.” Seriously, I couldn’t make this stuff up.

So I have a few questions before we indulge head first into this. Why oh why Bobby would you be sitting outside the team bus with your mother letting her hand feed you food? I mean, there are your teammates, cheerleaders, coaches, fans and God knows who else around – not necessarily in that order. You as the quarterback are supposed to be the toughest cat in the litter. Not usually the biggest, not always the best; but always the leader. The man who has the respect and trust of the other 10 teammates out there with him, off the field as well as on. I just don’t get what you were thinking. I’m 23, you’re 21. My mom started letting me cut my own meat at 8. The reason it took me so long was because she forbid me to have sharp articles before that. Call it a lack of dignity; call it depression from losing your job. Call it what you want to call it but you have to cut that out. No really.

Now for the writer Carlson. No one appreciates a great angle on a story better than me. I try my best to take my spin on a story and give it to you a way no one else would. I am not sure if I would take a kid and shank him in the kidney with my high heel shoe either. Jeez, what were you trying to prove? You want to bash his play, fine. You want to say the kid can’t hold his own in the pocket, so be it. Throwing him under the bus to get a better story might not have been the most moral thing to do. The Oklahoman is a paper that reaches over 200,000 readers. Correct me if I’m wrong, but last time I checked there wasn’t much going on in the state of Oklahoma other than college football. So now you just put Reid out there. Not just for the bus to see him being fed, but the whole state.

Let’s not get carried away here either. The kid lost to Georgia 35-14. He was 18 for 35 with 196 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Those aren’t the worst numbers in the world. But that was that. Gundy yanked him and started Sophomore Zac Robinson the next game against Florida Atlantic. Seemed pretty sudden. As per Carlson, the redshirt junior Reid had it coming. She then proceeded to go in for the kill. More than hinting that Reid was soft when it came to playing through injuries and could have been out there on some occasions. Then she flat out says that the reason he was benched was because of his attitude. See this stuff, I’m fine with. But when you go questioning a player’s manhood it takes it to another level. This brings us to the point where I started this whole thing off – Coach Gundy.

Coach, I know you were mad but you made it twenty times worse! When I read the article I just kept thinking, what if she had wrote that about me? After seeing the post game interview I thought, what if he was my coach? Being a quarterback myself I realize how personally one would take an attack of that nature. Embarrassment to the 11th degree. But for someone else to have to come out publicly and literally scream in their face for five minutes, that takes the cake. Adding insult to injury again. Gundy went as far out as to ask Carlson if she had any children, to which the reply was no. He then told her he knew it, because no one with a child would say what she said. Coach…hello? Your team just won a squeaker and gave up 646 yards passing to the Red Raiders Graham Harrell. How about talking about your defensive backs, or lack thereof? No, the whole time he just yells and screams at this writer. Talks about how Reid went crying home to his mum. At this point, I had to shut it down. There’s no not feeling bad for this kid at this point. He went from the Cowboys quarterback to the states black sheep in a matter of one week and a 757 word column.

What is going on in America these days? Our beautiful fall weekends that were meant for college football now have to be filled up with garbage such as this? I just don’t get it. In this situation it’s not two wrongs don’t make a right, it’s three. Bobby, you’re a man. Start acting like it. If you don’t win your job back by the end of this year, consider buttering it up — cause you’re toast. A true sophomore one up on the depth chart means you don’t ever see the field again. It’s now or transfer. Coach, come out and say why you benched the kid after losing to then 13 ranked Georgia. There won’t be room for speculation. Even though your backup lost 41-23 the next week to Troy. That’s in Alabama in case you were wondering. And as for Carlson…There isn’t really that much left to say. There’s something that you gain from this game that lingers into life. Something that if you didn’t play or coach football, you just wouldn’t understand. The one thing that you have out there to keep you going is the respect and love of everyone else knowing they can’t do it without you there. If you don’t have that, you don’t have anything. It’s sacred, there’s honor in it and there are rules…you broke them.

In case you care to indulge, follow the link to see the interview and read the original article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3034387

Who Wants it More?

The National League teams in the playoff hunt might as well be playing musical chairs; when the music stops, who’ll be the only one without a spot to sit? With the Mets and the Cubs losing 3 in a row at this writing on Thursday night, while the Padres are hanging by a thread with the loss of 2/3 of its starting outfield in one night thanks to Milton Bradley, who’s left to care? Oh yeah, the Rockies seem to want it and the Phillies just keep hitting and hitting and hitting. When it’s all said and done, will the Cubs be undone without the necessity of having another appearance by Bartman? Will the Mets complete a historic collapse of the proportions never seen before? From out here in the West, we are pulling for the Padres over Arizona and we just yawn and see another post-All Star game swoon by the Dodgers who don’t seem to be able to put together a team that can play together or get along. This time next week it will all be over and we’ll be rooting for the eventual winners and NOT feeling bad about the losers since like the kids in musical chairs, when you don’t walk close to the chairs and anticipate the music stopping you fall down and go Boom!How many 0-3 teams are there in the NFL? The answer is 5 and thank God it’s only that many since the teams that were 0-2 and finally won did it by the skin of their teeth or fell into a great situation when the other team coughed up its lunch. Does anyone think that Donovan McNabb and Kevin Curtis will put up those numbers again in the near future? What about Oakland; how many times can the man-child coach, Lane Kiffin freeze the kicker of the opponent and have the guy miss a field goal? The Giants just got lucky and held on for one goal line stand….one, and poof they won a game while the Chiefs still can’t get yardage from Larry Johnson but came face to face with a Vikings team that has no regular and experienced quarterback. These teams aren’t good but lucky. The ones that remain winless are just plain bad. What are the coaches saying about them? Well Sean Payton doesn’t seem upset, Scott Linehan claims he’s being too careful with Marc Bulger, Cam Cameron keeps hoping that the real Trent Green will show up, Bobby Petrino knows his season went to “the dogs”….sorry, couldn’t resist, and Dick Jauron blames JP Losman for getting injured. It’s pathetic. You know how they say that the haves and have-nots in our society are growing further apart…well it seems that way in the NFL as well. If you’re a fan of any one of these teams, be afraid, very afraid that this won’t end anytime soon.

Do you think Mike Vick didn’t know that he’d be drug tested while on bail awaiting sentencing when a condition of his bail deal was to NOT take any? How is that possible if he is represented by an upstanding, super bright and ethical lawyer like Billy Martin? If I’m Billy I don’t want this guy to ruin my reputation. Hey, I know you need to relax when you’re facing prison time and don’t want to think about it but isn’t that why you have doctors who prescribe Valium, Xanax and Ativan? Hey Mike, I can recommend a great MD for you who will feel your pain. Makes you think again about the trap door water bottle from last year doesn’t it? I know it makes me think about it.

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com and listen to me on the Sports Journey Radio Show.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC

Things Just Keep Getting Worse for Vick

Does he deserve the treatment he’s getting? Well that of course depends on who you ask.

As Michael Vick was being indicted today on State Dog fighting charges, supporters of Vick turned out for a town meeting in Atlanta that was sponsored by ESPN. After listening to the panel and a few comments from the audience I had to ask myself what was the point of this meeting. Really, what was ESPN hoping to accomplish? Would this meeting change the public’s opinion, would it help his case, would it make you like or dislike him any more or less? I mean truly what was the point, I just didn’t get it. It was quite obvious the audience was predominately Pro-Vick. For example, when John Goodwin, a spokesperson for the Humane Society vividly described Vick’s actions in the Dog fighting Case he was booed and jeered, but when Pastor RL White gave his comments supporting Vick he was cheered and applauded. I guess the issue I have is not about whether or not we love Vick as an athlete but more about him as a person and his respect or lack of for life, whether it be an animal or a person, his actions were in my opinion barbaric. Do I feel that he deserves a second chance- Absolutely, I sure do; everyone deserves a second chance to fix their wrongs and make them right. We can’t deny that he is a great athlete who has done a lot for the city of Atlanta, the Falcons Organization, and the National Football League. He has definitely made them all a lot of money with his popularity over the years. I don’t condone what he did but I do believe in giving someone a second chance. Yes he made a huge mistake and used very bad judgment and I am not trying to make light of the horrific nature of what he is accused of doing but seeing firsthand in my community how people can get caught up doing bad things for a number of reasons, I’m not that quick to persecute him.

Vick, who already faces up to 5 years in the Federal Case now also faces up to 5-10 years in the state case. He has been indefinitely suspended without pay from the NFL, has been dropped from all his major sponsors, is being sued by a Canadian Bank which claims he defaulted on a $2.5 million dollar line of credit, and the Falcons have recently filed a grievance against him in which they are attempting to recoup $20 million of his $37 million dollar signing bonus. So one has to ask does he deserve the continual ridicule & treatment he’s getting. Some say yes and others say no, it’s really just a matter of one’s opinion. Prior to this case Michael Vick had never been convicted of a crime and was known for doing great things in his community. Unfortunately now Vick will no longer be known as the Superstar athlete but plagued as the face of an awful Dog fighting ring all due to his poor decision making. It’s really not about race and I think it’s sad the media is trying to make it a black and white issue. It’s equally upsetting to see.

“The Jet’s” Sports Journey Game of the Week

Virginia Holds Tough To The Last Minute… Wah-Hoo-Wah.
(3-1) Virginia 28 • (2-2) Georgia Tech 23

On Georgia Tech’s opening drive, what everyone at Scott Stadium hoped wouldn’t happen, happened. Tech struck early with a 56 yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Jones before some of the tailgaters on the lawn even reached their seats. But on the ensuing drive the Wahoos moved the ball with ease up the field using their tandem pair of tight ends in Jonathan Stupar and Dontrelle Inman. They set up a four yard touchdown run by running back Cedric Peerman (28-144 yards, 1TD) to settle up the score at sevens with 11:22 left in the first quarter.

Coach Al Groh made a risky fourth and one quarterback sneak call on the Virginia 44 that worked out in his favor. That led to a shotgun designed running play for quarterback Jameel Sewell (16-25 177 yards 1TD) that he took four yards around the end to score. That impressive drive spanned over six minutes and 94 yards, putting the Cavaliers up 14-7 with 2:27 left in the first

Then to add insult to injury, the very next series Virginia’s defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald took a batted ball that was left hanging in the air just a tad to long back to the house for a 25 yard interception return for a touchdown. At this point, the whole stadium erupted and you could feel the momentum in the air. Or so we thought.

Tech was forced to punt with 13:20 remaining in the half. A reviewed play showed that the ball was actually fumbled and recovered by Tony Clark. This enabled tech to start their drive on Virginia 30 yard line. A very big mishap for the Cavs.

Running back Jonathan Dwyer made them pay dearly for it, taking a second down run for 21 yards and a score. That Brought Tech back within seven with 12:15 remaining in the half.

Virginia then put in their freshman quarterback Peter Lalich (4-10 56 yards 1INT) to switch things up a bit. One thing that was strange and should definitely be noted is that the Cavs didn’t complete a pass to a wide receiver until about nine minutes left in the half. It was irrelevant on the drive though, they went three and out and had to punt.

Techs quarterback Taylor Bennett (17-40 230 yards 1TD 1INT) showed great poise keeping the ball to the sidelines during their two minute drive leading to the half, but time was running low and they had to burn their last timeout with 0:08 seconds on the clock. This was capped off by a field goal by Travis Bell, making the score 21-17 going into the half.

Tech came out strong in the second half, coming right out and hitting another field goal for 49 yards by Bell. Virginia could feel Tech breathing down their neck with the score now 21-20. After a few series of patty cake, a.k.a. punts galore, Bell came through again making a career long 51 yarder look easy. This gave Tech their first lead since four minutes into the game 23-21.

Lalich mustered up a nice drive for the Cavs on the next series, but showed his greenness throwing a 2nd down deep ball into coverage, only to have it intercepted by Morgan Burnett late in the third quarter.

With 9:04 left in the game the Cavs had to punt. Not something you want to be doing at this point, but it worked out in their favor. Joe Torchia muffed the catch and Virginia recovered on their own 25.

The Cavs then made Tech pay for that mistake. On the first play Sewell threw a touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Staton Jobe with 8:24 remaining, making the score 28-23. “When I heard the play call in the huddle, I knew it was my opportunity to come back and make a play.” Jobe said. “The play developed just like we do in practice, and Jameel (Sewell) made an incredible throw.”

The only chance that Tech had after this point was halted by a serious injury to Tech’s Correy Earls. He had to be taken off on a stretcher with a neck injury. The stoppage of play happened right before a critical 4th and 1 for Tech. They never recovered. A false start penalty and then a sack gave Virginia the ball with 4:39 remaning.

Once the ball was back in the Yellow Jackets hands, they did nothing of importance with it. With two minutes left, Tech turned a first and ten into a second and forever with two, I repeat, two holding penalties in a row. This was when Tech decided to throw in the towel and make the score official.

Virginia now sits atop the ACC Coastal division in first place with their conference record now reflecting a perfect 3-0. With their next three games being out of conference, they should stay there at least through the middle of October. Coach Al Groh said that he believes it is the reserve that his team has that got them there. “I think we are where not a lot of people thought we would be right now,” he said.

As for Tech, the road doesn’t get easier with time. They take on Clemson, Maryland, and Miami in the upcoming weeks. Tech has some offensive hurdles they have to jump if they want to be a team that comes back into the top 25. But right now, that is the least of their problems. After all, you have to win the games first…

Is OJ News In The Sports World?

I was asked on TV this week what the listeners of Sports Journey were saying about OJ. I laughed and said that OJ hasn’t been a relevant sports figure in decades and any rabid sports fan doesn’t care about him other than as a gossipy tidbit and a great excuse to stop talking about Notre Dame, the Eagles and the Giants being O-fer on the season so far. But you know what? I spoke to a famous sports agent in this town and he told me that he was a good friend of OJ’s in the old days and was riveted to the screen during the bail hearing; no kidding. So I guess it depends on your age, if you were around when OJ was setting the record for running yardage in a season and became the first Heisman trophy winner to be inducted in the pro football hall of fame. The truth is that HE still thinks of himself as a sports figure and here’s the reason: he was a running back and had an offensive line to block for him as he burst out from behind to grab yardage. Last week he had a group of men burst through the door of a hotel room as he came out from behind them and ranted, raved about his “s—t”. Makes sense to me. And let’s face it, can you think of anything more offensive he could have done? So he has stayed true to the way he became a super star except he’s 60, there IS no offensive line any more and he might be caught up in a Vick-like episode in which he gets snared on a conspiracy charge with the buddies all singing to the cops to get a deal while telling all about OJ. It’s just sad.

The Cubs, Mets and Red Sox are holding their breath. The Cubs took most of the season pushing past the Brewers and Cards for first place in the NL Central, the Mets have been atop the NL East seemingly forever and the Red Sox are revising their theory that they are unbeatable in the AL East. Could we ask for anything more for pennant races in the last week and a half of this season? I think not. The Red Sox are taking out the voodoo dolls to chase away the thoughts of 1978 and a shrunken 14.5 game lead as their vaunted pitching turns to crap. The Mets are losing to the likes of the Washington Nationals and the Cubs are fighting to stay ahead of the Brewers and the monstrously huge and productive Prince Fielder. In the meantime, only the Sox have the wild card sewn up in the event they blow the division; so the Cubs and Mets better get their collective you-know-what together and do it NOW. For Cubbie fans its déjà vu all over again and for Mets fans, they are wondering who to hang from a tree if it all goes up in smoke. Could Willie Randolph face his first true test of how strongly management feels about him as the manager of the club? Tune in next week as the final weekend of the season might prove hard to watch in NY and Chicago.

Does anyone wonder if the NY football Giants will win a game this year? OK, I know I’m pathetic as a follower of the G-men; wearing a Plaxico Burress jersey in public doesn’t get me any points other than on the geek squad but come on, have some heart will you? Haven’t you ever worked for a company you hated and on top of it you didn’t respect your boss? What about a place where there were no super stars but there is a brother of a super star heading up the main division of the company; and he stinks at it? That’s the Giants now with only one player that I know being happy about being on the field; that guy is the back up running back Derek Ward who is becoming a star at the expense of the injured Brandon Jacobs. But looking at the schedule I think at best they can win 3 games and that’s only because the Jets and Atlanta are reeling as well. Then maybe by the time they play the Bills in December, something will have happened to change things. So if they are 2-14 I won’t be surprised nor feel bad. I’ll just pray for Charlie Weiss to blow out of Notre Dame where he will be thrown to the ground by alumni and crawl all the way to the Meadowlands; a place he knows from back in the Parcells era. Now do you see how pathetic I am?

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC

Can The City Of Brotherly Love Cut A Brother Some Slack?

I’m sure that’s what Donovan McNabb is probably thinking right now.

Being a Philadelphia Native and a die-hard Eagle Fan myself, I know how brutal the Fans of Philly can be. When our Eagles are up, we have nothing but Love for them but when they are down, we can be worst than the opposing team’s fans. Really, where’s the loyalty people of “Brotherly Love”? We need to show McNabb the same type of love the Green Bay Packer’s show Brett Farve when he’s struggling. Just as Coach Andy Reid stated, it’s more than just being about Donovan, he’s one player; it’s more about the team. The team needs to play better. Yes, we are 0-2, but it’s still early in the season, and one thing the Eagles are known for is turning things around mid season. So Eagle Fans relax and stop being so critical, give Donovan a chance as he has been nothing but loyal to the City of Philadelphia, we make it to the playoffs every year. In 2006, the Eagles claimed our fifth NFC East Division Championship in 6 years, and McNabb led us to our First NFC Championship and subsequent Super Bowl appearance in 2004; something the Eagles had not been able to accomplish in over 24 years. So cut McNabb some slack and give the man some credit. If he can stay healthy and increase his accuracy we actually might have a good season, I am very optimistic. E-A-G-L-E-S!!! Go Eagles!

Give The Kid A Break

Jimmy Clausen holds the reins to the worst offense in college football. No, seriously.

When you think of Notre Dame, the word tradition is the first thing that comes to mind. They have one of the nation’s most prestigious football programs with one of the most famous stadiums in the world that can send chills down your neck walking onto the field for the first time. Empty or filled, you feel the words of the ones who came before you whispering, “Play like a champion today”. I can only imagine the thoughts that went through the Fighting Irish’s true freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen’s mind the first time he touched that sign and took a look up at almost 81,000 adoring Irish faithful. I can almost guarantee you that whatever was going through his mind, it wasn’t this harsh reality that Notre Dame is going through.

Imagine coming out of high school the top ranked quarterback in the nation. Playing for one of the top ranked high schools in the country (Oaks Christian, CA) and never having lost a game that you started in your prep career (42-0). You have so many scholarship offers that you don’t even have to open your mail anymore because you can pick from any top 25 ranked school you please. Clausen won the 2007 Hall Trophy for the nation’s top high school football player and was named ‘Offensive Player of the Year’ by the USA Today. Throwing for almost 11,000 yards in his career, he also holds the California state record for career touchdown passes with 146. Who’s better than you kid? Nobody, that’s who.

Before ever even playing a down he had to have surgery on his throwing elbow and missed a good chunk of spring practice. Since he was off limits to the media, it’s not even like he could relate what really went on. But this is something that Clausen is used to, for his name was one of the most popular on the internet leading up to his senior season at Oaks Christian. So now fall is rolling around and Demetrius Jones is named the starter for reasons cited earlier in this paragraph. When the Irish opened up with a loss against Georgia Tech, it became the worst lopsided loss in Notre Dame history. Jones did not last long and was pulled out in the second quarter and replaced by junior Evan Sharpley. Things did not get better for the Irish.

The next week Clausen was slated as the starter. Nothing like not seeing the field in your first career college game and then getting thrown to the wolves in Happy Valley to play Penn State. To make things even worse (is that possible?) the Irish finished up the game 2 for 16 on third down conversions and with a whopping zero rushing yards for the day. Let’s face it; if you can’t run the ball you cannot win a football game. Things continued to look dismal the following week as well at Michigan. Anybody else starting to feel bad for this kid yet? If not, just wait.

Let’s take a step back for a second and look at the whole picture. It leaves a rather stifling taste in your mouth, even if you don’t bleed gold and blue. This season, the Irish rank last among all 119 Division I-A schools in offensive touchdowns (0), total offense (115.0 YPG), rushing yards (-14), scoring (4.3 PPG), and sacks allowed (23). I am not sure if you have heard of a little station in New York called NBC, but they are Notre Dame’s exclusive affiliate. So no matter where you are in the country, you can watch the Irish get pounded on basic cable. But all jokes aside, hear what Coach Charlie Weis had to say about the affairs of this season.

“It isn’t just the protection in the passing game, it’s a bad snap, it’s not running the ball efficiently. If you run the football, everything becomes easier. Now it’s easier to throw a play-action pass, now it’s easier to protect, now it’s easier to move the ball consistently.” I couldn’t agree with you more coach. But how do you run the ball when your offensive line is non-existent? This is where the root of the Irish’s problems occur. When you can’t run the ball, you can’t do anything – not set up the play action pass or even pass in general for that matter. In addition, when your true freshman quarterback has in the back of his mind that on this next play it is very possible that all four defensive linemen could end up on top of him again, who can blame the kid for not being focused?

In the Michigan game alone the Irish had -45 rushing yards, averaged 0.4 yards per play and were down by 31 points. Oh wait sorry, that was just the first half stats. For the game they rushed for minus-6 yards, averaging 1.4 yards per play. Fumbled a whopping six times, losing two of them and added on two more turnovers on interceptions. Does that sound like video game stats or what? I didn’t even think that was possible in real life. But, it sure is a grim reality for the quarterback who planned to come into South Bend and win four national titles (at least that’s what he said during his oral commitment speech).

Regardless, this kid Clausen can play. I’ve seen him throw; he is one of the most mechanically inclined true freshmen quarterbacks in the nation hands down. Only problem is, his spotlight happens to be a tad bit brighter and his margin for error a lot less. Not in his worst nightmare could he have imagined the fire pit he would walk into this season. The whole Irish squad is getting roasted over an open pit fire, and Coach Weis is being used as the fuel. This week, the Irish went back to a training camp mentality. What else are they supposed to do? They are going first offense versus first defense, again, again and again. I feel bad for them because their problems run deeper than the talent that they supposedly lack. They need to take a good look at themselves in the mirror and realize that everything that has been built up to become the pinnacle of American college football has now been torn down before they could even see what hit them. Give the kid Clausen a break; it’s not all his fault. But as for the rest of them…They need to go back to week one and find their hearts. I think they left them at Georgia Tech.

There’s A New #7 In Town

The question is can Leftwich save the day for the 0-2 Falcons?

Well it definitely can’t hurt their struggling Offense. This was a good move on the Falcons’s part as it will definitely help the ailing Falcons who have started the season on the road with two losses. It will give them depth and options at the quarterback spot. Don’t get me wrong, Byron Leftwich is no Michael Vick on the field, but he will definitely help the Dirty Birds Offensively and possibly become the new face for the Atlanta Falcons as we know starting quarterback Joey Harrington is not. I must admit I feel for Harrington because he was put in an unfortunate situation with Vick, the Falcon’s high profile star, being suspended from the league due to the Federal Dog fighting Charges. But at this point he has just not been able to step up to the plate. I mean come on, he’s already been sacked 13 times in only two games. Well stay tuned, as I don’t think it will be long for Leftwich to prove that he deserves the No.1 Quarterback position for the Atlanta Falcons. Hopefully this will be his opportunity to redeem his career as well as bring back the excitement to the footballs fans of Atlanta…

Video-Gate

Man, they say women are emotional in the work place! Roger Goodell says he’s shocked, shocked I tell you that there was videotaping on the sidelines of NFL games. He’s so shocked that he levied a record breaking fine, not against the team that allowed it but the head coach. The team was fined as well but only for half the amount of the personal fine. Why? Well that coach is the evil genius Bill Belichick who seemingly is only loved at home by his kids and in New England. If this were a nice guy like Wade Phillips or Norv Turner would the fine be a cool half a million dollars? I doubt it but then again would they have authorized this? See that’s the rub. The scuttlebutt in the league and outside in the press community is that the videotaping of coaches’ signals has been an open secret for a while, and not just in New England. But surely Eric Mangini, Jets head coach knew about the history of this stuff since he was spawned by Belichick and the feud between them, when Mangini left the Pats for the Jets head coaching job, seems to have stemmed from the fact that the Man-Genius was now gonna spill his guts to his new team about his old team. Some had speculated that the feud was begun just because Mangini had the temerity to leave the evil genius; that Bill B had the Hotel California mentality: you can check out any time but you can never leave. No matter why they got pissed off at each other, they now are locked in a death feud and if this were the Sopranos, some one would be booted off the show and not in a nice way. If teams were aware of videotaping then why is this a big story now? Why wasn’t there an investigation into it? You know how Barry Bonds apologists say that he is always targeted, as the face of steroids and it is unjust? Well, you’d be forced to make that argument about Belichick and the Pats if you follow that logic. Here’s another thought on this: did the taping make a difference? Who is to say but the debate will go on forever because that is what we sports fans like to do: argue about controversial subjects for decades. At the NFL owners’ meeting a few months ago teams rejected a notion that the defensive field captain should have a microphone in his helmet like the quarterback to get the signals from the coordinator or coach. Think that might pass now?

 

Oden out for the season

Is Portland cursed? When have you ever seen a team that has had so many first round picks be injured or just horrible? The young man must be devastated and at the press conference his coach looked like a deer in the headlights when talking about a season without the perceived savior of the franchise. The kid must be shell-shocked and you’ve got to wonder what this will do to his mentality about coming back after a whole year away. Jamal Washburn talked about his mental anguish as he progressed enough in his rebab routine that he was able to sit on the bench with the team during games; he said it was the worst time of his life. Only time will tell how Portland and Oden fair in the face of this awful news. As a Lakers fan I can tell you I now know that we have a better chance of squeaking into the playoffs without Portland in the mix.

Want more? Read my Daily Dose of Duffy column at www.incidentalcontact.com.

© 2007 Incidental Contact, LLC