Archive for the ‘Football’ Category

Youngstown State product, Donald Jones, had his best Sunday as a professional.  Jones did some damage and scored his first NFL touchdown in the Bills 49-31 come-from-behind win over the Bengals.  Jones finished the game catching five of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s passes including a 28-yard touchdown reception.  Jones’ five catches are a career-high and so were the 70 yards he compiled on the five receptions.

Jones also ran an end-around but the Bengals offense was not fooled, and Jones only gained one yard on the reverse.  The playing time Jones received was partially because the Bills had to pass to get back into the game.  Lee Evans running 60-yard go routes continuously will force him to take a play off here or there. With the opportunity, Jones may have secured himself additional playing time in the very near future for the Bills, who started the season 0-8, but have won two games in a row.

James Harrison is many things.  Loudmouth, All-Pro, Egomaniac, Super Bowl Hero, Steeler.  The one thing that Harrison should not be called is a cheap shot artist.  Shame on the NFL for making Harrison the reason for hiked up fines and suspensions for supposed “cheap shots”. 

The NFL is messing up here.  I have heard all of the arguments in the past six days.  The athletes are so much better these days (so is the equipment).  If an NFL player is so much faster than 40 years ago when a helmet looked like a deflated ball, then it would be more difficult to deliver a cheap shot intentionally.  Granted, there have been blatent cheap shots over the years, but how far is the league going to go to protect players and take the barbaric rawness that fans have come to love?

In fairness to Harrison, if he were trying to permanently injure Josh Cribbs, he must be faster than he showed returning a fumble in a Super Bowl a couple of years ago.  Cribbs is hard to just tackle.  How many times have you seen the Browns best weapon juke and make a defender dive and look stupid.  For Harrison to be able to pinpoint Cribbs’ earhole, and deliver a perfect shot with malice is too hard to do.  Who makes the decision on what is malicious and what is clean? 

I’m upset with the new mindset.  I joked a few years back about how the quarterbacks of the NFL would soon be wearing white pinneys and flags.  If you accidentally hit one of them, you will be ejected from the NFL and forced to play arena football in Canada.  Ah, if only Vince McMahon would reactivate the XFL and encourage good hitting… 

Former Youngstown State University Penguin Donald Jones is making a good impression at the NFL Scouting Combine.  Jones went South to condition for the combine appearances, and thus far, all of the hard work seems to be paying off.  Under the watchful eye of trainer Mike Gough at the Athletic Edge Sports Facility in Bradenton, Florida, Jones has worked tirelessly to get bigger and faster.

Jones ran a 4.47 40-yard dash.  More impressively, he was able to bench 225 pounds 20 times, tying him for first in that category with all other participants.

Jones was officially measured at 6′ and weighed in at 214 pounds.

Earlier this year, Jones participated in the Under Armour Senior Bowl.  He was the first Youngstown State player selected to play in that game since Ron Jaworski was picked in 1972.  Jones’ selection made him only the fifth FBS player named to participate.

In his Senior season, Jones set a record for catches in a season with 77.  Against Missouri State and Southern Illinois, Jones twice tied the YSU all-time record with 11 catches in each game.

You can follow Jones on Twitter, his user name is @DaJones81.

Here is a link to the player profile I ran on Donald Jones during Youngstown State’s most recent football season.

Growing up a New Orleans Saints fan sucked.  Since I was ten years old, in 1977, I have rooted for New Orleans.  Living halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland and geographically nowhere near Louisiana always made my explanation of rooting for this team even harder.  As new Super Bowl and NFL Champions, the Saints have helped remove the weight of 33 years of torture in a three-hour span.

As a youngster, I heard it all.  New Orleans merchandise was tough to come by in Ohio.  There was no NFLShop.com in 1977 and merchandise was hard to find.  With each Christmas, I was asked what I wanted.  I selected the obvious stuff:  Atari, Microvision, Bike, and every year, I would ask for a Saints shirt.  I got the obvious stuff, but never got a Saints shirt until 1981.  It was a #38 George Rogers home replica and I wore it until the paint fell off.

I heard all of the mularkey at school.  Everything from, “Tom Dempsey cheated, he used a nine-iron“, to “Hey Paneech, they are 0-3 already, get out your bag”.  It got old and never went away.  If a schoolmate wanted to unnerve me all they had to do was fire up the Saints jokes.

In college, more of the same.  Remember, the Steelers were just coming off of a dynasty and the Browns and Bernie Kosar were winning division championships, so I was getting slagged both ways.  By the time I graduated college, I owned a Bobby Hebert and a Rickey Jackson shirt.  It was really heartwarming to see Rickey get into the Hall of Fame as I still feel he may be the most unheralded linebacker to ever play the game.  Wanna credit someone for ‘Who Dat?”, I’ll give you a hint.  Long before Ochocinco, Jackson wore a towel tucked into the side of his pants with a little stick figure drawing on it. Dig up the tapes, the crowd was screaming Who Dat a long time ago in the Superdome.  ‘Dat’s Who.’

Things seemed to get better as Hebert and four great linebackers knocked the unbeatable Rams out in 2001.  However, other than hosting a few Super Bowls, the Saints would be a disappointment through the playoffs when they made it.  Again, the bag was back, the insults were flying, and I still stood by my team.

Just a couple of years ago, the Saints played well enough to get to the NFC Championship game, but ran into a buzzsaw in Chicago.  Dome teams do not play well in the snow.  Lesson learned, but enough respect garnered to keep the bag in that top right drawer.

As I watched the Saints win the Super Bowl, all I could think of was how to destroy my ‘Aint’s’ bag.  I dreamt of everything from setting up a lawn chair in my garage and flicking matches into the driveway until I hit the bag causing it to burn.  I thought of treating it like a pet and giving it proper burial in the backyard.  I even thought of giving it to my cousin who is a Browns fan, he needs it these days.  What I ultimately chose was to keep the bag, now over 30 years old, as a reminder of how things go in cycles through our lives.

If you are a fan of a sports team that has struggled for awhile, hang in there, things will eventually change.  It is way too easy to become a Yankees fan or to hop on the Kobe Bryant train.  This way is much more satisfying. 

Everyone who watches football cannot seem to understand why New Orleans is a seven point favorite against Arizona in this weekends playoff game.  Without question, the line is wrong and New Orleans should be -12 and here is why.

Usually when a team rests their starters (i.e. Indianapolis) down the stretch of the regular season, they can expect an early exit from the playoffs.  In this case, the Saints were banged up and needed to rest key players the last couple of weeks, losses to Tampa and Carolina. 

Drew Brees and his receivers are rested and healed.  On the other hand, Kurt Warner and Arizona just won a great game, in overtime, against Green Bay.  True, the win provides momentum.  By adding Anquan Boldin back into the mix, Arizona will have their own chemistry issues.  Not only that, but an exhausting win in the first week of the playoffs takes its toll on a team.

On paper anyway, the Cardinals and Saints are more evnly matched than one would assume.  In real life, however, the Saints will be fresher and tougher this week.

Prediction:  New Orleans 47, Arizona 34 

Cleveland has recently announced that Mike Holmgren is the new Browns Team President.  The deal was very generous as the former Packers and Seahawks Coach is set to make $10 million per year.  Some say it is a great move because Holmgren is battle-tested and knows the steps that have to be taken.  Here are five reasons why Holmgren will ultimately fail in Cleveland:

1. Early success by the Browns over the next couple of years will have people chirping about what a great job Holmgren is doing.  Naive people take notice, this is a case of ‘Bill Parcells Syndrome’, when you go somewhere that is rock bottom and have moderate success and the media calls you a genius for “turning things around“.  Nothing stays the same.  If the Browns finish 2009 with three or four wins, and the Holmgren group goes 8-8 next season, fans will be yapping their praise toward Holmgren.
2. The Browns did not check the references.  Didn’t this experiment already happen in Seattle?  Holmgren was paid generously by a city that had never won much and got a Seahawks team to the Super Bowl, as a coach.  With the fancy GM/President hat on his head in Seattle, Holmgren floundered until he was placed exclusively on the sidelines to coach.  A month later, and what I sensed as fear of not being able to get close to the success of the Super Bowl Seahawks team, you started hearing Holmgren say he wanted off of the sidelines and was just tired of coaching.
3. He needs to make moves now, if he is going to make any.  Will Eric Mangini be back as the coach?  Will Brady Quinn return as a quarterback? A Starter?  Will Josh Cribbs, all 180 pounds of him, get moved to running back?  (Brilliant move Browns fans.  You might as well bring back Michael Dean Perry to return kickoffs since Cribbs is busy.)  If Holmgren plans on making changes, he needs to make them at around 4:05 PM on January 3rd when the regular season comes to an end.  In the typical Browns draft style of what feels like picking names out of a hat, Holmgren needs to pick one side of the ball to beef up for next season, probably the needier of the two, defense.  Draft a good linebacker from USC instead of passing on him twice so he can destroy you twice a year in Cincinnati.
4. No Brett Favre.  Brett Favre was in his prime when Holmgren had him in Green Bay.  Now, at age 40, Favre is leading a Minnesota team and has had his name thrown around in the MVP circles.  Did Holmgren underachieve with Favre in Green Bay?  You bet he did.  Favre was the perfect cornerstone to build a team around and there just wasn’t enough winning going on, yet one Super Bowl victory with Reggie White, Sterling Sharpe, and of course Favre made him a “good coach”.
5. Keep the wallet open.  Holmgren will probably can Mangini.  Who is next, Urban Meyer?  The Browns will then be paying several coaches instead of one.  Romeo Crennel is still on the payroll, Mangini would surely collect a check for a few more years, Holmgren is now making rock star money, and whomever is selected to lead the fiasco next year will be handsomely rewarded.  Will there be any money left to pay players with?

Sorry Browns fans, I wish the future had something for you.  If you are content with making the playoffs a couple of times over the next five seasons then rejoice, that plan is now in place.  If you wanted to exceed just making the playoffs, then be bitter about the hiring of Mike Holmgren.

Being halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, I always seem to hear more from the Steelers fans.  I do not really like or dislike either team, but the Steeler fans who have run their mouths for the past twelve months (on their latest run) sicken me. 

I respect the way that the Rooney Family does their thing.  They don’t indulge in the free agent market, nor do they re-sign many of their players who become free agents.  They use a system to recycle a philosophy instead of players. 

The Browns, on the other hand, spend all kinds of money on the wrong free agents, have an unstable front office, and seem to pull names out of a hat on draft day.  On one cold Thursday night in Cleveland, I wanted the Browns to win.

What made Cleveland’s 13-6 win so satisfying to me was that I didn’t have to hear the fans of either team.  The 2-11 Browns fans are probably pissed that their team blew draft position for a win, albeit against the hated Steelers.

The usually arrogant Steeler fans were nowhere to be found this past weekend.  When you happen to see a known Steeler fan and call them out, they heavily rely on history and “six rings”.  The past is done.  What have you done for me lately?  It is now hockey season in Pittsburgh.  Those defending champs should fare better than the Steelers did this season.

The most verbal feedback I ever took from the locals was when three weeks ago, right here on this website, I predicted that Pittsburgh would not make the playoffs.  Everywhere I went, I caught an earful.  That earful has taken a sharp decrescendo with each passing week.  Sorry Steelers fans, you cannot win all of the time.

Browns fans, you have my sympathy.  By beating a half-hearted Steeler team Thursday night, you have probably gained the pleasure of suffering with Eric Mangini and Brady Quinn for a couple of seasons. 

I know that there are still five weeks left in the NFL’s regular season.  I also know that people who vote like to do things to shake the can sometimes.  In this case, considering Brett Favre over Drew Brees for the NFL MVP would be a travesty.

Brees threw at least five passes in New Orleans 38-17 pasting of New England that could only be caught if thrown to a perfect location.  He has been doing this game after game all year long.  As a biased Saints fan, I have watched Brees shred defenses with this sort of precision passing all year.

How many people think the Saints are a flash in the pan now?  This was supposed to be the game that proved what a rouse this team was.  Yeah, they play in a crappy division, but so has Pittsburgh for the last few years.  When the Saints are in full stride, the only way to beat them is to outscore them, and I just do not see that happening. 

Looking at the rest of their schedule, New Orleans has a Thursday game with Dallas in a couple of weeks that could pose a threat to going undefeated.  They also play scrappy Atlanta again, but I don’t think anyone can beat the Saints this season.  They can beat themselves, which is probably the better choice.

Give Brees the trophy now.  And thank you San Diego a million times over for the gift you have given New Orleans!

Ben Roethlisberger has a bad headache.  Charlie Batch has a bad wrist.  Troy Polamalu is still gimpy.  Welcome to the other side of the spectrum Steeler fans, it’s called bad luck, and you didn’t have too much of it last season. 

Losing to Kansas City in Week 11 and dropping to 6-4 is only part of the problem.  Yeah, I know, you get to play the Browns again.  Can Dennis Dixon solve all of your problems?  uh, no.

Dixon (pictured while getting hurt at Oregon) is an athlete who probably didn’t work much with the first unit at practice.  The way it was drawn up, if Ben got hurt, Charlie would put his cape on and fly in to save the day.  I don’t know if Dixon will even play.  Ben is claiming he is fine, but with all of the chances the Chiefs had to sack him (and couldn’t) how long will he last against the Ravens this weekend?

The offensive line has struggled.  Last year the defense was bailing a subpar offense out almost every game.  This year, the shoe is on the other foot, as the Steelers have given up a return touchdown in an NFL record of eight straight games.  The Rooney’s won’t stand for it, that’s why Pittsburgh always rebounds.  However, the hourglass is running thin and even though Cincinnati only has a one game lead, they beat Pittsburgh twice to control a tiebreaker.

I’m already hearing the array of comments from Cleveland Browns fans on Sunday’s 38-37 loss at Detroit.  The Browns had a 21-point first half lead and blew that by halftime.  Some Browns fans are whining about a pass interference call which gave the Lions an untimed down to win the game on the one.  Looked like pass interference to this impartial viewer. 

What is fascinating about the loss is that going into the game, Cleveland had a whopping five offensive touchdowns on the year.  Brady Quinn tossed four touchdowns in the loss.  Pinch yourself Browns fans, then say ouch because you can’t dream this stuff up.

Other Browns fans are playing the “Whew, we almost won and blew our first overall draft pick chances”.  Sorry Browns fans, you only get to pick one player with that strategy, you need about 20 to be a .500 team next year.

Again,  I don’t enjoy seeing the Browns lose.  I would prefer they win a few games as they truly are the laughing stock of the NFL these days.  Call it sympathy, but Eric Mangini can’t get a royal straight flush if all the kings were taken out of the deck.  They just don’t have the personnel to win right now.  Bring Drew Brees in, it would make no difference.

It’s basketball season on the Shores of Lake Erie, as of 4:12 pm Sunday.  Even the best and most patient fans in football – Cleveland Browns fans – have to be regurgitating with disgust.