Right on cue: Peter King trumpets the Pats and Cowboys as Super Bowl favorites. King is so blinded by his favorite teams and coaches that he can't even make a prediction like this without looking like a buffoon. Really, I think he makes all predictions based on what he'd like to write about. Check out King's insight into how he picked this matchup.
He mentions a few other "contenders." Nowhere on the list is the defending champ, the Steelers (not entirely a bad thing, but still). Let's see, the Steelers return almost all starters, have a still-improving young QB, a dominant defense, and filled their only obvious hole with a very promising rookie WR. Nah, they couldn't possibly make another playoff run....
Yet he finds room in the AFC for the Miami Freaking Dolphins. A team with complete turnover at QB resulting in the importation of a former Pro-Bowl QB who looked positively pathetic last season before going down with some major injuries. A team that just lost one head of their two-headed monster at running back. A team with a good but aging defense. Sure, the Dolphins were a good middle-of-the-pack team last year. But a 2006 Super Bowl would require fast assimilation by new offensive faces and one-last-hurrah-better-than-all-previous-seasons' by a defense who's window is definitely closing. I'm not even saying the Dolphins won't be good. But to consider them before the team who just won a Super Bowl is embarassing.
And then he details how the Pats and Cowboys won't have great regular seasons. How the Pats have lost so many players. And how the Cowboys have lots of guys with great potential. And how regular seasons that are tough will translate into playoff success due to "soft" schedules in December. Where is the logic? I think in the last few years the playoffs have proven that regular season success is a requirement for pos-season success, if only because it's an indicator of how healthy a team is. Whatever.
I will make two predictions based on Peter King's prediction.- Neither the Pats or Cowboys will play in the Super Bowl. The Pats will be good and I like them, but they won't get past the Colts, Steelers, Broncos, Bengals and perhaps even the Chargers. The Cowboys do have great potential but need way too much to go right. And, like so many season's past, Bledsoe's numbers will get worse as the season goes on.
- Both teams won't go better than 2-2 in the month of December. NFL schedules have a way of making utter fools of those who try and predict the "strength" of a schedule. In the Cowboys final games (New Orleans, at Atlanta, Philadelphia, Detroit) I don't see how you can pencil in a W agains ATL or PHI, and I look forward to John Kitna making Bill Parcells regret not signing him in the offseason to be the starting QB for the Cowboys. The Pats (at Dolphins, Texans, at Jags, at Titans) have two obviously tough road games plus two matchups that are completely unpredictable in May. It's not a given that the Texans are suprisingly competitive in Decemeber and that Vince Young won't turn everything on it's ear at the end of the season for the Titans.
I haven't had anything good to say about Ruben Droughns' latest. It's sad, really. His wife did sound a little weird in the paper following the DUI acquittal. And it's maybe fun to imagine what might be going on there. But whatever the case, it does not sound like fun to have incidents like that. Hopefully this is not representative of a recurring, negative tendency in Mr. Droughns. He certainly seems like a nice dude, for whatever that is worth.
Memo to Phil: We want to win a Super Bowl. But we don't want to be the Ravens. In fact, if we get a collection of convicts on this team I'm pretty sure my die-hard Browns fan days will come to an end. Stamp this sh!t out now. Please. I like Droughns, but if he isn't, in fact, likable then oh well -- cut him loose and give the job to someone else. I really hope that is not the case, obviously. However this is ultimately something by which the front office will be judged.
Another Memo to Phil: Come October when Charlie Frye suffers some minor injury that will keep him out of a start or two, we will REALLY WISH WE HAD A VETERAN BACKUP QB. Especially if the Browns are around .500 and there is a lot to play for. I realize there aren't any particulary attractive QB on the market, but all you have to do is ask yourself one question. If you need to win a game or two to keep the season afloat, would you rather start Ken Dorsey, Derek Anderson, or Jay Fiedler?
Maybe I should be annoyed about Phil Savage saying it's a good trait for players to be good Christians. I have a reflex against anything that smacks of too much religious overzealousness. But, I guess, I've also learned not to fear religion in the sense that it is generally a positive influence in a person's life. Whatever, that is besides the point. Reading PFT you'd get the impression that Savage is going way overboard, but reading the Canton Repository I get a totally different impression -- that Savage values character, and that, at least on a personal level, he's a relgious guy and appreciates that in players too. Yeah, I guess it's a problem if there were a large contigent of NFL free agents who were adamantly anti-religious or whatever. But I just don't see it being a big problem. We're not talking about a government official here. We're not even talking about an executive from a publicly traded company. We're talking about a GM for a privately held pro football team. And Savage seemed to be quite careful in making those comments.
Compare that with this story about the Colorado Rockies. I don't think the Rockies deal is that big of news either, but it certainly is a much, much bigger deal than Savage's comments.
The more I think about the "put a roof on CBS" proposal that is floating about, the more I feel like using primarily taxpayer money would be a bad decision. Look, if a roof won't be profitable then it shouldn't happen. I think everyone would agree on that. How about this... Estimate the amount of tax revenue attributable to hosting a Super Bowl in Cleveland. Tax that number and double or triple it. That's how much of the project should be paid for with conventional public tax money. I suspect that number is in the tens of millions, far short of the cost of the whole project. So where does the rest come from? Private funds. If the project is still not a profitable one after getting a one-time subsidy of tens of millions of dollars, then it isn't worth doing.
Carson Palmer: "I keep thinking of all the naysayers who don't believe I'll make it back. I'll prove them wrong." Count me as a naysayer.
Why are they fixing the Superdown in New Orleans? In the Katrina aftermath I was of the opinion that perhaps from that tragedy will spring forth a better rebuilt city. At the top of the list of "better" things would be a new stadium, even if it took years to accomplish. But instead the city is slapping a new roof on top of that thing and that is a big mistake. New Orleans was never known for good government (to say the least). I'm a little embarassed to think that Katrina might have washed away some of the incompetence. The NFL should be embarased too -- for encouraging this foolish reconstruction. Maybe they just don't want to have too much blood on their hands if the Saints leave town in the next decade.
Dave Ragone is picked up by the Bengals. This is the first move the Bengals have made all offseason that truly made sense and addressed their biggest need -- a quarterback to play when Carson Palmer isn't ready.
It's nice to see Cleveland guys play in the NFL and Ragone is no exception. He has some potential to be a decent John Kitna facsimile. But he won't be a true starter in the league. A lot of people wanted him to come to the Browns and, intriguing as that was, he just doesn't qualify as the veteran backup I think the team really needs.
For the Bengals, Ragone represents zero risk. Last year at this time Ragone was getting positive press and teams were reportedly interested in trading for him. Now, the Bengals pick him off the street and can try him out with nothing invested. IN that sense, it's a great move for the Bengals. On the field, however, Ragone will have to overcome a couple previous NFL appearances in which he looked rather overmatched. And I wouldn't consider a similar QB to Palmer either. So it's far from a sure thing that Ragone will be an asset.
Side note: What the hell are the Texans doing? First they keep David Carr. Then they pass on Bush, Lienart, and Ferguson. Then their GM hits the road. Now they are clearing up room on the QB depth chart. Sure, dumping Ragone does not represent a major move but it's yet another transaction where the team's plans don't seem to add up.
Not sure if this rises to the Jerimiah Pharms level of draft incompetence, but clearly the Bengals are going down a dangerous road by acquiring a lot of questionable types.
Non-Football
Australia's 50 richest performers in 2005:
- The Wiggles – $50 million
- AC/DC – $25 million
- Nicole Kidman – $22.3 million
I can't think of a suitable comment for this.
Oh yeah, I also read somewhere that before blue Wiggle Anthony got married he was named Australia's most eligible bachelor.
I can't think of a suitable comment for that either.
Oh wait, yes I can: Where the hell did I go wrong in my life?!?!?!?!!?