Let Me Give Them Their Props

I've been critical of ESPN in the past.  My complaint has always been that their coverage is too star driven and has too many biases, which questions their ability to be fair and balanced.

But here's the bottom line: star driven content sells.  If it didn't, they wouldn't discuss it so much.

Scott and I have been working on this blog for just over three months.  The most discussed posts on our blog almost always have to do with Alex Rodriguez or Terrell Owens.  I may criticize ESPN for over-publicizing every move that each of these stars makes, or having clear biases towards east coast teams or sexy story lines.

Yet it's these topics that get sports fans to talk.  And that's all the network can ask for.

They cover sports.  That's their job, sure.  But their job is also to entertain.   Apparently, A-Rod, T.O., Kobe, and LeBron are the topics that sports fans want to hear about most.  It's easy for us as sports fans to blame ESPN or other media for spending too much time on these topics.  Yet the fact remains that when they talk about it, we talk about it.  Consequently, if we talk about it, we're going to watch more coverage of it, and media like ESPN continue to flourish.  

So let me give ESPN their props.  Do I get annoyed with wall-to-wall coverage of T.O.?  Yep.  As sports fans we all get sick of it at some point.  But the Worldwide Leader knows what it's doing when it comes to topics to cover.

When you start to get annoyed again that you're hearing too much about these superstar players, ask yourself whether you've been discussing the same things recently.  The answer is probably yes.  And that's why you're hearing about it so much on ESPN.

T.O. to Buffalo

Well that ended quickly.  Terrell Owens is a Buffalo Bill.  ESPN's John Clayton reports the Bills have signed the star wideout to a one year contract worth $6.5 million.

According to the report, a press conference today is supposed to make this official.

The fact that Owens signed so quickly makes me think there couldn't have been that big of a market for the controversial wide receiver.  Whether "several" teams were interested or not, no matter how you define the term, the fact that he has agreed to a contract so quickly must mean that he didn't think he'd find something better.  

Why else would anyone sign with the Buffalo Bills?

It's freezing there, it's one of the snowiest cities in the country, it's not a metropolis, and it's been trashed by former players as a destination to play professional football.  Not to mention it hasn't been a relevant NFL city since the days of Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly.

Furthermore, the Bills went 7-9 last year, finished in last place in the AFC East, and after starting the season 5-1 finished the year 2-8.  They had a complete meltdown against the Jets which almost propelled their division rival into the playoffs, when they were still battling for a spot themselves.  They have a mediocre quarterback in Trent Edwards distributing the touches, and an offense that ranked 25th in the league and a passing game that ranked 22nd.

But it sounds great, T.O.  Have fun!

Listen, the fact that Owens signed this quickly I suppose is good for him because he won't have to worry about where he's going to play or if he'll play like some speculated.  But a one year deal for $6.5 million for a future hall of fame wide out is not exactly a great deal.  Sure, he's 35 years old, but he's caught 38 touchdowns over the last three seasons.

He must have thought this was the best offer he'd receive this off-season.  There's no way you can convince me he'd be making Buffalo his football home otherwise.  At least now that concludes the T.O. watch for the rest of football's off-season.  Now we'll await ESPN's wall-to-wall coverage of training camp in Orchard Park, NY this summer.

Weekend Headlines

A few musings from Friday night in the world of sports...

• The Celtics must be out to prove how little value Kevin Garnett actually has to the team's success.  Boston is now 4-2 without "The Big Ticket" in the lineup, and put forth an outstanding effort at home Friday night against the Cavs.  A game back in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the game, Boston came out on a mission and out-willed Cleveland 105-94.  The Celts made it their mission not to let LeBron James beat them, and they succeeded.    LBJ had just 21 points, six rebounds and five assists, but shot a miserable 33-percent from the field.  Mo Williams was great, scoring 26 points on 8-15 shooting, but if he's the only guy doing well for Cleveland you know they're in trouble.  Granted, the game was in Boston which no doubt was an advantage for the Celtics.  But the fact that Cleveland played as poorly as it did last night at TD Bank North Garden sends the message that if they don't nail down that top seed before the regular season ends, they're going to have to figure out a way to win in Beantown if they hope to reach the NBA Finals.  The Celtics are now 49-14 and while KG may be out another week or so, Boston is showing it doesn't need him for now.  A big statement was made between the top two teams in the East, and right now it appears Boston has the upper hand.
• Speaking of the Association, while the top teams in the East are the cream of the crop in the NBA, the opposite could be said about the teams holding the bottom seeds in the conference.  With their 15-point victory over Milwaukee Friday night, the lowly Chicago Bulls have now taken sole possession of the 8th seed in the East.  Let me be the first to tell you this Bulls team is not good.  The fact that they would make the playoffs if the season ended today is merely a product of the fact that there are just too many teams that qualify for the post season in the NBA.  I know, I know.  It would theoretically be good for the league if the Bulls made the playoffs because of Chicago's market size and the fact that Derrick Rose is one of the league's bright young stars.  But if the NBA were smart, they'd allow just 6 teams from each conference to make the post season and have the top two seeds earn a bye like the NFL.  Is it perfect solution?  Well, no, frankly.  But it's better than having teams like Chicago or Milwaukee who are five and six games below .500 respectively earning a spot in the playoffs.  That's really a joke, isn't it?
• Thankfully I didn't go to Florida State, nor am I a fan of their athletics.  It's not that I don't like them, but man are their fans bumming tonight.  The NCAA slapped the Seminoles with four years of probation and may force the football program to forfeit some of their wins in the record books as punishment for their academic cheating scandal.  Bobby Bowden's 382 wins ranks 2nd all time to Joe Paterno, who has just one more career win.  But if he has to give back some wins JoePa really distances himself in that book, doesn't he?  The 'Noles football program will have to forfeit two scholarships in recruiting this year and one next season, and that's just part of the problem.  Other sports are going to lose a bunch of scholarships and victories too.  Apparently the track and field program will have to give up three NCAA championship crowns.  That's what happens when a reported sixty-one FSU athletes cheated on an online test in 2006 and 2007, and also were provided the answers to tests and had papers written for them by university staff.  A couple of things I thought when I saw this:  1) While this is pretty significant corruption, athletes at every school in America cheat.  If they were going to cheat, they should have been better cheaters.  2)  What does it say about the pressure to win at FSU when university staffers are cheating for these athletes?  Apparently Myron Rolle didn't need the help.  Maybe they should be recruiting smarter athletes so they can handle the academics so FSU doesn't have to spoon feed them to keep them on their respective teams.  Or here's a thought, mandate some study time in their practice schedule!  Florida State basketball is actually good this year, but forget about that for a while.  Now that recruiting takes a hit the upstart team will decline, and so will seemingly every other sports team in Tallahassee.  Yikes.
• Is there a bigger joke than agent Drew Rosenhaus's claim that there are "several teams" interesting in signing Terrell Owens?  I guess the thought would be plausible if he hadn't thrown in the thought that he won't identify the teams that are in fact interested.  If you can't identify teams, then how can we believe there are several teams interested?  Conventional wisdom would suggest Oakland is interested, because they'll take anything they can get.  But beyond that, who?  San Francisco?  Maybe Washington?  That's three teams, which wouldn't suffice for my definition of several.  This could end up going a lot like the Manny Ramirez situation went.  No, T.O. won't end up signing back with the Cowboys, but Rosenhaus will try to create a market that doesn't exist for a player with significant character flaws.  Like Ramirez, there's no question that you'd want T.O. for the talent he possesses.  But how many teams want a guy who seemingly obliterates every locker room he enters?  Rosenhaus is doing his job as an agent, trying to create some leverage to find Owens a contract.  But please, enough with this garbage about how there are several teams interested.  I cannot believe that's true.  Can you?

Something To Think About...

No matter how many teams he's ruined, quarterbacks he's insulted, offensive coordinators he's pissed off, Terrell Owens, now a free agent, still presents one of the more difficult quandaries in sports.

Do you sign the talented superstar, and willingly accept the superstar's baggage and surrounding bull crap in hopes that he continues his past trend and does make your team better, or do you forge ahead with your "team first attitude" and hope that a second rate wide out corps can get the job done?

On the radio in New York, it's being talked about as I write this.  Should the Giants pick him up?  How about T.O. in Gang Green?  The Raiders, as is the legally required mandate in all NFL free agent talks, come up in the discussion as well.

What I want to know is, do you think he's worth it for your team?  I know we've got a bunch of Bear fans reading this, how do you feel about Owens playing for your squad?  Any other fans reading, please get at us.

I find it interesting to hear what people have to say about him.  There's really no denying how much better he's made teams and players.  Tony Romo, Donovan McNabb, and the Eagles as an organization can all vouch for that.  But, how many other great players switch teams as often as Owens does?  Thus, the issue.

Let me know...

(For the record, if the Bucs had a quarterback of any repute, I'd say go after him, just to see.  But, seeing as how Luke McCown could very easily be the starting QB, I'd hold off on a big name wideout for now).

ESPN Poll Question Yields Crazy Results, Sparks Great Debate

Did you see this poll question on ESPN.com? If you haven't, let me bring you up to speed:

(Disclaimer: I have mentioned before these poll questions are not exactly scientific. However, it's alarming when you see some of the absurdity of fan voting, to say the least.)

Which record will be hardest to break?

• Wilt Chamberlain: 100-point game
• Joe Dimaggio: 56-game hitting streak
• Wayne Gretzky: 2,857 career points
• Jerry Rice: 208 career touchdowns
• Cy Young: 511 career wins

Now take a second or two to decide for yourself.

If you don't think Cy Young's 511 career wins or Wayne Gretzky's 2,857 career points are the only acceptable answers, you're crazy. Those records would be impossible to break. More impossible than any other records listed in this poll question.

Think about it. That's 25 wins per year for 20 years, and then a pitcher would have to win 11 more games on top of that just to tie Cy Young. With the way pitchers get injured now a days, and with five man rotations, and bullpens that rob wins from starters daily, no one will ever get close to that figure. Not even within 100 wins, in all likelihood. Greg Maddux pitched 23 years in the major leagues and won 355 games. And he never got hurt in his career. How could we ever expect to see another pitcher even reach Maddux, let alone Young?

That had 40% of the vote. How it didn't have a higher percentage is baffling. The only other record that seems impossible to break is Wayne Gretzky's 2,857 career points. Somehow, only six percent chose this one. Probably because they know nothing about hockey. Let me explain:

Wayne Gretzky's record of 2,857 career points is 970 points ahead of Mark Messier for first all time. Think about that. Almost 1,000 more points than any other player in history. That's insane. For someone to break that record, a player would have to average 115 points per year for twenty five straight years. Last year, just two players eclipsed the 100-point mark, just to give you an idea of how difficult this would be. I don't see anyone coming close to Gretzky. Ever.

The other records pale in comparison, but somehow Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game earned 36-percent of the vote. Kobe Bryant scored 81-points in a game just a year ago. There are plenty of NBA teams that make it their prerogative to play no defense. As great a performance as the hundo was, would you be shocked if someone did it in the next few years? I wouldn't be.

Joe Dimaggio's 56-game hitting streak was amazing. But there have been players who have gotten "close" over the last few years. In 2005, Jimmy Rollins had a 36-gamer. In 2002, Luis Castillo had a 35-game. I know what you're thinking, they still needed 20 and 21 more games to tie Joe D. True. But it's not a record that could be impossible to break like Gretzky's or Young's. (The player to get closest to Joe Dimaggio's record since he set the record, FYI, is Pete Rose, who had a 44-game hit streak in 1978.)

Finally, Jerry Rice's record of 208 career touchdowns. Great, sure. All these records are great, or presumably they wouldn't make this poll question. But Rice isn't that far ahead of all his competitors. According to Pro-Football Reference, Rice had 197 career receiving touchdowns. The next man on the list? Terrell Owens, with 139 career TDs. Now T.O. has 139 career receiving touchdowns, 141 overall. He's only 67 touchdowns behind. Now I'm not saying he'll break Rice's record, because he probably won't. But he could potentially play five more years, and he'd have to average 13.4 touchdowns per season to get to that mark. If he hadn't gotten hurt in 2005, where he missed nine games, he might have six to ten more scores. Assuming he had ten more touchdowns on his total, he would only need to average 11.4 more touchdowns per year to get there. The point is, it's manageable. Someone will get there eventually. And for the record, it only received about two percent of the vote.

There's my take, now I want yours in the comment section. I would imagine this would drum up some discussion. Many thanks to my uncle Larry for pointing this out to me.

The Next T.O.?

What is it about wide receivers?

Add Anquan Boldin to the list of pass catchers who are bad apples. He can go right to the top of the group that includes Terrell Owens, Chad Ocho Cinco, (or Chad Johnson, depending on the year or jersey lettering), Randy Moss and others.

After Arizona's win yesterday over Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Game, a win sending his Cardinals to their first Super Bowl in team history and their first title game in 61 years, Boldin did not celebrate with his teammates. Instead, he was seen ducking out of University of Phoenix Stadium early, evidently angry about his limited role in the Cardinals offense Sunday. This is the same Boldin whose status was uncertain for the game after he strained his hamstring in wild card weekend and didn't play in the Divisional Round.

For a guy looking to find his way out of Arizona at the end of the season, he's making a strong case to be traded after the Super Bowl.

Like the other bad apple wide receivers in the NFL, Boldin shares some common characteristics. He's selfish, he overrates his value to his team's success, and he makes it very difficult for other teams to want to put up with his antics.

He was seen yesterday yelling at Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley during the game. Boldin was apparently livid that he didn't have a bigger role in the Cardinals offense. (He had four receptions in the game for just 34 yards.) But Boldin wasn't the receiver with the hot hand, and Haley was using Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston more exclusively because unlike Boldin, both are healthy.

Both Haley and Boldin are downplaying the incident, saying that emotions were running high at the heat of the moment. And Boldin claims today that he's all about the team and wants whatever's best for the Cards' success. But when it's the heat of the moment, isn't that when the truth comes out?

And how do you defend deserting your teammates during the celebration for the biggest triumph for his football team in six decades?

Boldin is suffering from the same thing most big named wide receivers suffer from at some point in their careers. He's learning that he's not critical to his team succeeding on the offensive side of the ball. When he's used, he can be a great asset. But the Cardinals didn't need him to advance to the NFC Championship, and they didn't really need him to win it either. He's learned that he's easliy replaceable. While Boldin used to be the top option for the Arizona passing game, Larry Fitzgerald has stolen his thunder and has received all the accolades and headlines.

Sound appealing football fans? You want this guy on your team? Another big-egoed receiver with wounded pride?

The Cardinals are just the newest team to prove that having a big named wide receiver can help you (a.k.a. Larry Fitzgerald), but they're not always crucial to a team's success (Anquan Boldin).

There's no question Fitzgerald has been phenomenal in this incredible playoff run for Arizona, but a good quarterback and a well executed offense can push a team over the hump regardless of the names running routes each play.

Wide receivers have to learn to share the football, and that they're part of a team. Never has their been a wide receiver who by himself had lead a team to Super Bowl victories. Boldin is just the next big-egoed wideout that has had to learn that the hard way.

So if the Cardinals win the Super Bowl, his teammates shouldn't let him celebrate, no matter what his role in the game. He walked out on them. He doesn't deserve the glory.

Not Worth The Hassle

According to various sources, Terrell Owens might be on his way out of Big D.

After a season in which Owens stirred up trouble (surprised, right?) with his quarterback and, of all people, his tight end, there is some thought that T.O. might be on the outs. Though the likelihood of such an occurrence appears to be slim because Jerry Jones isn't in total agreement with the above school of thought, the fact that we're even talking about it means that his welcome has been worn.

In what seems to be yet another chapter in the "Is He Really Worth It?" book being rewritten on an almost twice daily basis, Terrell Owens has basically forced another team to think about getting rid of him. Which on its face in an ideal world would appear to be insane.

A guy that is one of the best receivers in the league year in and year out, a guy that is coming off his third straight season of at least 1000 yds and 10 TDs. Not bad. Again, ideally, not bad.

Yet, when you consider all of the heartache that comes with Owens, the answer is simple: get rid of him.

Like our friend Manny Ramirez, T.O., despite his great on-field abilities isn't worth the hassle, nor should be rewarded for his antics. If there was some sort of thing as karma, guys like Owens and Ramirez wouldn't be able to get new contracts in new places with new teammates. They'd be actually punished for carrying on and complaining and jaking and jiving and showboating and lolligagging and anything else that fits under "these are the type of athletes/humans" most everyone can't stand.

To bring it back to football, my feeling is that no wide out is really worth the trouble. As great as T.O. was in Philly's run to the Super Bowl a few years back, truth is, most wide receivers simply aren't worth the effort.

League's leading wide receiver, Andre Johnson, hasn't played in the playoffs in his career. In previous years, the Patriots, Ravens, Bucs, and Steelers have won Super Bowls without the help of a top-notch WR.

Of the top 14 guys leading the league in yardage from that spot, only one is still playing-Larry Fitzgerald. Of those 14, only seven made the playoffs.

This isn't to say wide receivers serve no purpose. Come on, I've watched an NFL football game before. I know they have purpose, that they can change the course of a game. But, the honest truth that people need to come around to realizing is that while it might be fun to have the big name wide receiver, it may not be wholly worth it.

Especially when that guy is Terrell Owens.

Much Ado About Nothing

Every year, all we hear about from the talking heads on TV is how good the Dallas Cowboys will be, or how good they are.

They have so much talent, they proclaim.  This will be the year they break through and represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, they'll shout.

But, as usual, the talking heads are wrong.  "America's Team" is much ado about nothing.

Sure, they have a good quarterback in Tony Romo.  The Eastern Illinois product has been impressive in the regular season over the last three seasons for the Boys, posting a QB rating over 94 each year and amassing 81 touchdown passes.

Yet he's also choked in big spots for Dallas, costing them opportunities to really cement themselves as a legitimate force.  Remember the first round of the playoffs in 2006? The botched snap?  Or the NFC Divisional Game last year when the Giants held Romo's great offense to 17 points at home in a loss to the Giants?  What about just a couple of weeks ago, when Romo's pick-6 cost the Cowboys a much needed victory in Pittsburgh in the final minutes?

They have a bevy of good running backs.  Marion Barber, Felix Jones, now Tashard Choice.  All three have been effective.

They have a bunch of big name receivers (Jason Witten and Roy Williams being among them).  They have the loud-mouthed, cocky Terrell Owens, who is so important to the worldwide leader they have Ed Werder devoted to covering his every move.  Owens has never won a Super Bowl, and while it can be argued that without him the Eagles would have never reached the big game in 2005 (2004 season), he is credited with destroying locker rooms more than he is helping them.

Their defense is good at times.  But this past week, as Scott mentioned in this week's Monday Morning Longsnapper, the defense allowed two 75-plus yard rushes and they blew a golden opportunity to cement their playoff status at home. 

And yet they're still the big talk on the networks all week long.

Let's look at the facts.  Other than last season's 13-3 record and #1 seed in the NFC playoffs, the Cowboys have won nine games each of the two previous seasons, and six the year before that.  This year's team has only nine wins, and with a loss this week may be the third 9-7 team in the last four years.  Does a 9-7 team really deserve as much attention as this one gets?

Do something in the playoffs first.  Do something that actually matters.  As a fan of the biggest choke team in sports history, I know that people get tired of watching a team fail to fulfill expectations year in and year out.  Until Dallas actually has multiple good regular seasons, and at least advances to the NFC Championship, what are we talking about here?  All this team has is a bunch of big named players that can't do anything when it counts the most.

They may have a lot of big stars on the field, and a star on their helmets.  But until they win something, they're much ado about nothing.