More Football Reads...

A great Malcolm Gladwell piece using the scouting of college football quarterbacks as an acedote for hiring in general. It will still probably teach you more about football than you currently know.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports with what's supposed to be the first of a two-part look at the Bowl business...you know how I feel.

Qadry Ismail Just Said...

"I'd go down on a guy in a minute" -ESPNNews' Qadry Ismail (in reference to whether or not the block that Trent Green got his concussion on was a dirty cut block) 7:45pm 10/7/07

Hard Knocks

As I’ve been slow to post about just about everything, I’ve been slow to post about this year’s edition of “Hard Knocks” showcasing the Kansas City Chiefs. While it thrills me to read first timer SCZA’s impressions, I feel bad for him as this edition is miles behind the Baltimore Ravens and even the Dallas Cowboys’ seasons of the show. With only two episodes left, it would take a long make-out session between Kelli Croyle and October Gonzalez for this season to be considered on par with the first two seasons. Here is why:

-The Borderline Guys: What makes this show work is that it focuses less attention on a team’s stars and more attention on guys 50 through 60 on the roster who have equal chance of making or not making the team so in the final two episodes when the final decisions are made and we meet Kansas City’s “Turk” (not McBride), we are nervous for them as they find out their fate on camera. I feel like after three episodes I know which of these guys are going to make it and which ones are not

Boomer Grigsby: No
Kyle Turley: Yes
Jason Dunn: Yes
Derrick Ross: No
Bobby Sippio: Yes
Casey Printers: No

-The Veterans: Eddie Kennison repeatedly asking Dwayne Bowe for Krispy Kremes isn’t exactly side-splitting. Tony Gonzalez and Donnie Edwards should be doing more than showcasing their wives. Damon Huard is doing an impression of Dennis Quaid’s character in ‘Any Given Sunday’.

-The Chiefs SUCK: This has been the theme of the past three weeks and I think HBO and NFL Films thought the Chiefs play in practice and preseason games was going to be comedy enough for this show. All its done is made me feel better about being a Bronco fan.

-Larry Johnson: While it may have been too much for us to expect a detailed play by play of the LJ negotiations, you know in case things never worked out, it would’ve been nice to see more than we did. LJ flying into Kansas City “just to change clothes”, followed by him nervously walking into Carl Peterson’s office then a cut to him running out and onto the practice field, while the production got me excited as an LJ fantasy owner it robbed us of access into by far the most intriguing plot of the Chiefs preseason.

That said, I love Gunther Cunningham and Tim Krumrie, Herman Edwards camera mugging and OF COURSE Kelli Croyle and October Gonzalez. I’ll be watching the next two weeks for sure and who knows, maybe the “Turk” will surprise us and Priest Holmes will get his release for all of us to see.

All-Star Games

I disagree somewhat with Paul on baseball's All-Star Game. Before that let me run down my opinions on each sports All-Star Game.

NFL Pro Bowl- By far the worst, half the named roster players sit out to the point that Trent Green and Steve McNair become "Pro Bowl Quarterbacks", there's no blitzing so the linebackers named to the game don't even get to show why they were named to the game in the first place. This absolutely should be replaced by a televised lavish banquet (like tonight's ESPY's) and the right to wear a gold patch on the shoulder of the best player (in the NFL) at each position.

NHL All-Star Game- So what if Alexander Ocherjlahjhsak from Tampa Bay had a Hat Trick. So did Oleg Jkrjewersac from Anaheim and Bret Hykcwzkcwzkckz from Edmonton. In fact the score was Who's He 12, Huh? 8.

NBA All-Star Game- An overly produced pickup game. Which takes place on what I call "Affirmative Action Day" after the Daytona 500. After Fox tries to find every black guy in Daytona, TNT shows pregame performances by Maroon 5, Foo Fighters, and Sugarland as both sports try to avoid being pigeonholed demographically.

MLB All-Star Game- I can see how Mets fans must hate the "This Time it Counts" clause, but even they have to admit this added to the excitement of last night's Bottom of the Ninth Inning. Of all the All-Star Games I've watched, last night felt the most like a regular season game. All the AL's runs were scored off pitchers on teams in Pennant contention as of the All-Star Break.

I know I'm in the minority in this but I like that every team must be represented in the game for a few reasons.

1) Feel good stories like Dmitri Young get to be told

2) Those that are still loyal Royals fans deserve the possibility of seeing a player on their team play in the All-Star Game even if it is Gil Meche. If a year came where three or four teams didn't have a player on the All-Star Game the game runs the risk of getting 5th place ratings in those markets and Fox would not get their moneys worth.

3) It also prevents a situation where three pitchers on one team need to be used in the game, rendering them useless the first three games of the second half.

I too have no idea why Tony LaRussa didn't pitch hit Albert Pujols for Aaron Rowand with the bases loaded. I think he may have forgotten Pujols was there and on his team that night. This might have been Tony LaRussa's first sign of age.