I simply can't believe the Utes. I'm giddy on everyday except Sunday (see last post). Their defense is the most stifling I've seen it since Gary Anderson was the defensive coordinator in 2008. They aren't getting as many sacks, but they are still pressuring and that has lead to turn overs. A lot of turn overs! 19 to be exact. In 6 games that amounts to 3.3 per game. 13 of which are interceptions. That is more than a great backfield, it also is a great front seven.
With all the love going to the defense, I have to say, for the first time since 2008, I don't hate the offense (see all other Utah centered posts). It's still the same, tired read option centered pile of crap, but this time, it seems to have a purpose and identity. The "throw game" is actually functioning. It's not just back shoulder throws to the outside sideline this year. There is a lot of over the middle posts, screens to the WR's and RB's, button hooks, and actually quite a few down the field streaks. I am shocked at how open this offense is compared to a year ago.
Travis Wilson is operating with efficiency and I am excited to watch the offense. Booker is running over, threw, and around people. He can't be tackled. In an interview with ESPN, he said his dad always told him to never let the first guy tackle you. He's a mini Marshawn Lynch. He is going to have a long NFL career making people pay for hitting him. It's going to be fun to watch.
The atmosphere at RES is electric. It's been loud and obnoxious for years. This year, we've upped the ante. The North End Zone is insanity an I love it. The MUSS is crazy as always and the middle seems to have caught on. We are loud, and we are Ute Proud to be part of Ute Nation!!
Go Utes!!!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Offense needs to change!
I hate the offense. Actually, hate may not be strong enough. I loath the offense. I have for three years. Now, let me be clear, we are talking Seahawks here. Not Utes, because that is just a strong dislike at this point. I am talking about the horrid school yard offense that is the Seahawks. I know a couple of coaches who could do more with less than they have. Most are little league, but at least they understand the concept of running the ball.
Statistically, the 2015 version of the Seahawks offense is very mediocre. Most of which is Russel Wilson working magic. It reminds me of Warren Moon on those bad Houston Oilers teams. For those of you under 30, that's the Tennessee Titans before they were in Tennessee. They were bad, really bad.
The rookie Thomas Rawls has more yards per carry than Marshawn Lynch. The reason why is in one game, he had so many cutbacks he was able to run away from a slow Chicago defense. The offense seems to be centered around a single idea, let Wilson run around and make something happen. That works some times, a lot actually. You can not sustain a season by running that way. The line is terrible and can't pass block. They can barely run block, which is essentially blocking the guy in front of you and hopefully the next guy up the field. This team is going to bury itself because they can't block for poor Wilson. It's where most of the blame lies.
Granted, they have given up 2 fourth quarter leads and lost games they shouldn't have. It's not the defenses fault. It seems like they are on the field the entire fourth quarter because the offense can't sustain a drive. Up by 17, any normal team would line up and run the ball. Not Seattle though, they will go shotgun, fake to the RB and Wilson runs for his life. They traded for Jimmy Graham and use him like Luke Willson. Why even go get that guy if you're not going to line him up in the slot? Even I can tell they are confused by his skills.
For the last three years, it seems as though they have become more and more reliant on Wilson's scramble ability and have simplified the offense so much that no NFL defense is scared any more. Do you want to know what I would do? Actually, I know you don't, but I'm going to tell you any way.
Line up in the Pistol (for those that don't know, it's the quarterback lining up half way between under center and shotgun), two WR's and two TE's or one TE and one FB. Have one of TE's (Graham?) switch between being in the slot and lining up beside Wilson. Use them like a wing back, either motion them out or leave them there as a blocker. That's the offense that best suits the personnel. You could even put both WR's on the strong side and have Graham out by his lonesome on the weak side. That uses him more effectively than anything the Seahawks have done so far. This line up also is more run oriented and you can play action pass out of it much more effectively. This line up also helps the o line out because it's easier to block in this scheme. Bottom line, line up and hit them in the mouth. Be the soul sucking bully's you want to be. Not this pseudo spread "option" offense. It doesn't work in the NFL.
Darrell Bevell should be fired. I would say do it now if you have any faith in Tom Cable to run an offense. I don't, so I'm not sure what I'd do. Pete Carroll needs to also focus on shoring up that offensive line. If he can't do that in the off season, maybe he needs to be relieved of his personnel duties. That being said, for the most part, I've really liked what he's done there.
All in all, Go Seahawks!!
Statistically, the 2015 version of the Seahawks offense is very mediocre. Most of which is Russel Wilson working magic. It reminds me of Warren Moon on those bad Houston Oilers teams. For those of you under 30, that's the Tennessee Titans before they were in Tennessee. They were bad, really bad.
The rookie Thomas Rawls has more yards per carry than Marshawn Lynch. The reason why is in one game, he had so many cutbacks he was able to run away from a slow Chicago defense. The offense seems to be centered around a single idea, let Wilson run around and make something happen. That works some times, a lot actually. You can not sustain a season by running that way. The line is terrible and can't pass block. They can barely run block, which is essentially blocking the guy in front of you and hopefully the next guy up the field. This team is going to bury itself because they can't block for poor Wilson. It's where most of the blame lies.
Granted, they have given up 2 fourth quarter leads and lost games they shouldn't have. It's not the defenses fault. It seems like they are on the field the entire fourth quarter because the offense can't sustain a drive. Up by 17, any normal team would line up and run the ball. Not Seattle though, they will go shotgun, fake to the RB and Wilson runs for his life. They traded for Jimmy Graham and use him like Luke Willson. Why even go get that guy if you're not going to line him up in the slot? Even I can tell they are confused by his skills.
For the last three years, it seems as though they have become more and more reliant on Wilson's scramble ability and have simplified the offense so much that no NFL defense is scared any more. Do you want to know what I would do? Actually, I know you don't, but I'm going to tell you any way.
Line up in the Pistol (for those that don't know, it's the quarterback lining up half way between under center and shotgun), two WR's and two TE's or one TE and one FB. Have one of TE's (Graham?) switch between being in the slot and lining up beside Wilson. Use them like a wing back, either motion them out or leave them there as a blocker. That's the offense that best suits the personnel. You could even put both WR's on the strong side and have Graham out by his lonesome on the weak side. That uses him more effectively than anything the Seahawks have done so far. This line up also is more run oriented and you can play action pass out of it much more effectively. This line up also helps the o line out because it's easier to block in this scheme. Bottom line, line up and hit them in the mouth. Be the soul sucking bully's you want to be. Not this pseudo spread "option" offense. It doesn't work in the NFL.
Darrell Bevell should be fired. I would say do it now if you have any faith in Tom Cable to run an offense. I don't, so I'm not sure what I'd do. Pete Carroll needs to also focus on shoring up that offensive line. If he can't do that in the off season, maybe he needs to be relieved of his personnel duties. That being said, for the most part, I've really liked what he's done there.
All in all, Go Seahawks!!
Monday, February 23, 2015
NFL FInal...
OK OK I get it. The Seahawks should have run the ball. Yes Patriot fans, I understand that. Yes Bronco fans, I see that Pete Carrol meme you posted, about him throwing you the fast food instead of handing it off, funny...
Here's the main deal, it was a great play. Rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler made the play of his life. He saw the play coming, aggressively went after it, and beat Ricardo Lockette to the ball and physically beat him for the ball. Great play. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Oakland offered him a huge paycheck because of it.
The play call though? One time out left, 14 seconds, 2nd and goal from the 1 yard line. Down by four. 3 plays, to get in. The entire defense geared to stop 1 man. What would you call? For me, it wouldn't have been the crossing rub. It still would have been a pass though. I would have run a play action bootleg to the left and give STRICT orders to Wilson to throw it to a wide open receiver, run it in ONLY if he's got an open lane, or throw it away. If you don't score, it's about a 5 second play, which is a long play considering the time but throwing the ball away stops the clock and conserves the ONLY timeout you have left. With about 9 seconds left and on 3rd down, give the ball directly to Lynch, not a read option, which NE had been blowing up all day, but directly to Lynch following Will Tukuafu up the A gap on the left side of the line. If he doesn't get in, use the timeout to conserve what's left of clock, which by average would be about 3-5 seconds. At this point, I would struggle between trying to ram it in again, or throw a fade to Chris Matthews, who had a breakout game in the Super Bowl. I guess it would depend on the result of 3rd down. Either way though, Monday morning quarterbacks would all debate the decision making.
I did, I mean come on, the best RB in the game, biggest bully as a RB anyway. Give him the ball! Really looking at the time and scenario's going into that, you've got to understand why. After the gut punch feeling faded and I started looking at it a bit more objectively, I asked myself what I would call, and the above scenario came to mind. I can't see any other way to save the clock and still get more than 2 chances at punching it in. I guess you could run it on 2nd down, call a timeout and throw it on 3rd and hope you can run it or throw the fade on third. I would not though, I'd go the earlier described route.
I've also heard the ridiculous story about they the Seahawks wanted to make Russel Wilson the MVP instead of Marshawn Lynch because Wilson is a better ambassador of the Seahawks. Lynch's malcontent attitude had been a distraction leading up to the game. Had it really though? Most those "press members" that were torturing him for a soundbite weren't sports reporters, they were there for Vogue, or Esquire or some other stupid mag/tv show that no one in there right mind cares about. So the garbage they were spewing wasn't a real distraction anyway. I also don't believe Pete Carrol would make a franchise decision like that in the 32 seconds he had to make it. I think both he and Beville (who I've thought is an at best, below average play caller for three years) thought it was the right decision for the win.
Did it work? Nope. Would they be heroes if it did? Probably. Look at the decision to run "refrigerator" Perry instead of Walter Peyton in the '85 Super Bowl. The dude was a defensive tackle. He could have fumbled, but he didn't. He scored and the Bears won. Ditka was a genius. Though he second guesses that decision now because he thinks Walter Peyton deserved the score and the MVP, at the time he defended it by saying it was the right one for the team. I'd bet if the Seahawks had scored, people would be saying genius for not calling the ever expected run and scoring. It didn't work, therefor they are fools.
As for the off season so far, who would you resign? Two contracts of import are up. Russel Wilson, who could be the face of the Seahawks and the league as the best of the next generation of QB's, or the almost 30 year old RB whose Beast Mode destroys defenses and helps the team in several ways. You can do both, but you can't do both for long term without hand cuffing your finances. You already have the highest paid defensive backfield in the league, do you want the highest paid offensive backfield in the league? If so, where is the money for the offensive or defensive line? WR's or LB's?
All in All, Go Seahawks!!!
Here's the main deal, it was a great play. Rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler made the play of his life. He saw the play coming, aggressively went after it, and beat Ricardo Lockette to the ball and physically beat him for the ball. Great play. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Oakland offered him a huge paycheck because of it.
The play call though? One time out left, 14 seconds, 2nd and goal from the 1 yard line. Down by four. 3 plays, to get in. The entire defense geared to stop 1 man. What would you call? For me, it wouldn't have been the crossing rub. It still would have been a pass though. I would have run a play action bootleg to the left and give STRICT orders to Wilson to throw it to a wide open receiver, run it in ONLY if he's got an open lane, or throw it away. If you don't score, it's about a 5 second play, which is a long play considering the time but throwing the ball away stops the clock and conserves the ONLY timeout you have left. With about 9 seconds left and on 3rd down, give the ball directly to Lynch, not a read option, which NE had been blowing up all day, but directly to Lynch following Will Tukuafu up the A gap on the left side of the line. If he doesn't get in, use the timeout to conserve what's left of clock, which by average would be about 3-5 seconds. At this point, I would struggle between trying to ram it in again, or throw a fade to Chris Matthews, who had a breakout game in the Super Bowl. I guess it would depend on the result of 3rd down. Either way though, Monday morning quarterbacks would all debate the decision making.
I did, I mean come on, the best RB in the game, biggest bully as a RB anyway. Give him the ball! Really looking at the time and scenario's going into that, you've got to understand why. After the gut punch feeling faded and I started looking at it a bit more objectively, I asked myself what I would call, and the above scenario came to mind. I can't see any other way to save the clock and still get more than 2 chances at punching it in. I guess you could run it on 2nd down, call a timeout and throw it on 3rd and hope you can run it or throw the fade on third. I would not though, I'd go the earlier described route.
I've also heard the ridiculous story about they the Seahawks wanted to make Russel Wilson the MVP instead of Marshawn Lynch because Wilson is a better ambassador of the Seahawks. Lynch's malcontent attitude had been a distraction leading up to the game. Had it really though? Most those "press members" that were torturing him for a soundbite weren't sports reporters, they were there for Vogue, or Esquire or some other stupid mag/tv show that no one in there right mind cares about. So the garbage they were spewing wasn't a real distraction anyway. I also don't believe Pete Carrol would make a franchise decision like that in the 32 seconds he had to make it. I think both he and Beville (who I've thought is an at best, below average play caller for three years) thought it was the right decision for the win.
Did it work? Nope. Would they be heroes if it did? Probably. Look at the decision to run "refrigerator" Perry instead of Walter Peyton in the '85 Super Bowl. The dude was a defensive tackle. He could have fumbled, but he didn't. He scored and the Bears won. Ditka was a genius. Though he second guesses that decision now because he thinks Walter Peyton deserved the score and the MVP, at the time he defended it by saying it was the right one for the team. I'd bet if the Seahawks had scored, people would be saying genius for not calling the ever expected run and scoring. It didn't work, therefor they are fools.
As for the off season so far, who would you resign? Two contracts of import are up. Russel Wilson, who could be the face of the Seahawks and the league as the best of the next generation of QB's, or the almost 30 year old RB whose Beast Mode destroys defenses and helps the team in several ways. You can do both, but you can't do both for long term without hand cuffing your finances. You already have the highest paid defensive backfield in the league, do you want the highest paid offensive backfield in the league? If so, where is the money for the offensive or defensive line? WR's or LB's?
All in All, Go Seahawks!!!
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Sea!! Hawks!!!
Go Seahawks!!
First, The NFC championship game was once again one of the most fantastically fascinating feats of football ever seen. It was 55 minutes of the worst football I have seen out of them since the Dan McGuire years. 3 of the 4 INT's Russel Wilson threw were bounced off the WR's hands into the air and had a fun tip drill for the defense. The 4th was a terrible throw. Just trrable (said in a Charles Barkley voice). Kearse redeemed himself in catching a TD in OT to send the Packers ... well, packing.
I doubt anything in the Super Bowl can match that 5 minutes of football. Nobody is even talking about that though. Every one is concerned with the newest "cheating" scandal coming out from the Patriots organization. Deflategate is the latest thing to come out of Foxburough since Spygate of 2007. Even though they have appeared in 2 Super Bowls since getting caught spying on other teams practices, they haven't won since 2005. Not saying that it correlates (yes I am), I'm just saying that it should be acknowledged that coincidence.
That being said, is it really a big deal? Former NFL journeyman QB Jeff Blake did an interview saying that all teams do it. Before 2005, when the NFL mandated that the teams each provide their own 12 game balls and they would supply 8 K balls to each game, the NFL supplied 24 game balls to each game. Jeff Blake said that he would get a bag with the balls in it and the rest of the QB's and he would dump them out to check them. He said most of the time they were too hard, so they'd let a little air out and squeeze it to check them. They wouldn't check the PSI (pounds per square inch) or anything, just to make sure they felt right. There was no deceptive tactics involved, there was no malice involved. Just trying to make sure they felt right. I believe the same thing happened here.
The NFL ref's are also reported to give the balls a nice squeeze to make sure they feel right.
So no one except the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts really cares about this. Ironically, the losers of the last two games against the Pats.
Is this cheated? I don't know how to answer this. I would say, I guess. If you are driving 65 in a 60 MPH zone and get pulled over, you'll get a ticket. Even if you are getting passed in the next lane. However are you putting more people in danger than the idiot passing you? Is it something everyone else is doing as well? That's the crux of this. Everyone is doing it. It really isn't that big of a deal. However because it is from the Patriots and Bill Belicheat, they have a slight reputation doing anything to win. If you get pulled over for going 5 over the speed limit while also having 10 other speeding tickets, they may revoke your license. So is this a big deal, not really. Is this a big deal for the Patriots? Potentially.
I put more on the NFL for not actually checking the balls. They squeeze them before the games. They don't stick an air gauge into it and check the PSI. If they are holding someone responsible for doing the same thing, they need to check themselves.
This coming after the same season where they suspended Adrian Peterson for his off the field issues, reinstated him and within 24 hours suspended him indefinitely. Did he beat his child? Maybe, from the pictures I'd say yes. Did the NFL mishandle the situation? Yes. What about Ray Rice? There is video (click at your own risk) evidence where his then girlfriend, now wife, and he walks into an elevator and get into an argument and he knocks her out. Closed fisted decks her. Instead of showing any kind of remorse, he looks pissed she couldn't get up. When the elevator doors open, he pulls her out by her hair. Doesn't pick her up out of concern, or even try to revive her. Drags her out by her hair. TMZ released the video that the NFL said didn't exist. The NFL didn't discipline Ray Rice until the media released that video.
While this situation isn't nearly as sad nor as bad as those situations, they have still mishandled this situation and good ol' Roger Godell is looking worse and worse.
To top that off, they won't leave Marshawn Lynch's paycheck alone!! He is clearly talking to the media as per his contract. Yes that is a bit of sarcasm but the fact they fine him for his lack of participation and the brand of hat, HIS brand, is ridiculous. I get the participation is part of the deal, however the dude clearly has an issue with mobs of people in his face. When he gives an interview that is one on one or where he is in control, he gives great soundbites and is engaging and warm. I think the NFL needs to back off of him and leave him be. Quinton Gather, former Utes RB and current coach on the Weber State staff, is good friends with him from their childhood. He interviewed on a station that I accidentally came upon (which I won't mention because of their heresy) and mentioned many of these same facts. He even told a story of when the Utes were playing Washington in Seattle Marshawn Lynch came into the hotel where the team was staying and was engaging, warm, kind and inviting. Just don't inundate him stupid media types that get into the Super Bowl media week.
With all of that being said, I'm saying GO SEAHAWKS!!!!
First, The NFC championship game was once again one of the most fantastically fascinating feats of football ever seen. It was 55 minutes of the worst football I have seen out of them since the Dan McGuire years. 3 of the 4 INT's Russel Wilson threw were bounced off the WR's hands into the air and had a fun tip drill for the defense. The 4th was a terrible throw. Just trrable (said in a Charles Barkley voice). Kearse redeemed himself in catching a TD in OT to send the Packers ... well, packing.
I doubt anything in the Super Bowl can match that 5 minutes of football. Nobody is even talking about that though. Every one is concerned with the newest "cheating" scandal coming out from the Patriots organization. Deflategate is the latest thing to come out of Foxburough since Spygate of 2007. Even though they have appeared in 2 Super Bowls since getting caught spying on other teams practices, they haven't won since 2005. Not saying that it correlates (yes I am), I'm just saying that it should be acknowledged that coincidence.
That being said, is it really a big deal? Former NFL journeyman QB Jeff Blake did an interview saying that all teams do it. Before 2005, when the NFL mandated that the teams each provide their own 12 game balls and they would supply 8 K balls to each game, the NFL supplied 24 game balls to each game. Jeff Blake said that he would get a bag with the balls in it and the rest of the QB's and he would dump them out to check them. He said most of the time they were too hard, so they'd let a little air out and squeeze it to check them. They wouldn't check the PSI (pounds per square inch) or anything, just to make sure they felt right. There was no deceptive tactics involved, there was no malice involved. Just trying to make sure they felt right. I believe the same thing happened here.
The NFL ref's are also reported to give the balls a nice squeeze to make sure they feel right.
So no one except the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts really cares about this. Ironically, the losers of the last two games against the Pats.
Is this cheated? I don't know how to answer this. I would say, I guess. If you are driving 65 in a 60 MPH zone and get pulled over, you'll get a ticket. Even if you are getting passed in the next lane. However are you putting more people in danger than the idiot passing you? Is it something everyone else is doing as well? That's the crux of this. Everyone is doing it. It really isn't that big of a deal. However because it is from the Patriots and Bill Belicheat, they have a slight reputation doing anything to win. If you get pulled over for going 5 over the speed limit while also having 10 other speeding tickets, they may revoke your license. So is this a big deal, not really. Is this a big deal for the Patriots? Potentially.
I put more on the NFL for not actually checking the balls. They squeeze them before the games. They don't stick an air gauge into it and check the PSI. If they are holding someone responsible for doing the same thing, they need to check themselves.
This coming after the same season where they suspended Adrian Peterson for his off the field issues, reinstated him and within 24 hours suspended him indefinitely. Did he beat his child? Maybe, from the pictures I'd say yes. Did the NFL mishandle the situation? Yes. What about Ray Rice? There is video (click at your own risk) evidence where his then girlfriend, now wife, and he walks into an elevator and get into an argument and he knocks her out. Closed fisted decks her. Instead of showing any kind of remorse, he looks pissed she couldn't get up. When the elevator doors open, he pulls her out by her hair. Doesn't pick her up out of concern, or even try to revive her. Drags her out by her hair. TMZ released the video that the NFL said didn't exist. The NFL didn't discipline Ray Rice until the media released that video.
While this situation isn't nearly as sad nor as bad as those situations, they have still mishandled this situation and good ol' Roger Godell is looking worse and worse.
To top that off, they won't leave Marshawn Lynch's paycheck alone!! He is clearly talking to the media as per his contract. Yes that is a bit of sarcasm but the fact they fine him for his lack of participation and the brand of hat, HIS brand, is ridiculous. I get the participation is part of the deal, however the dude clearly has an issue with mobs of people in his face. When he gives an interview that is one on one or where he is in control, he gives great soundbites and is engaging and warm. I think the NFL needs to back off of him and leave him be. Quinton Gather, former Utes RB and current coach on the Weber State staff, is good friends with him from their childhood. He interviewed on a station that I accidentally came upon (which I won't mention because of their heresy) and mentioned many of these same facts. He even told a story of when the Utes were playing Washington in Seattle Marshawn Lynch came into the hotel where the team was staying and was engaging, warm, kind and inviting. Just don't inundate him stupid media types that get into the Super Bowl media week.
With all of that being said, I'm saying GO SEAHAWKS!!!!
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Let's get this over with
This holiday season has been a bit dramatic for fans of the University of Utah football program. A local radio station here in Utah, which I won't mention because the lack of professionalism from them (just an opinion blog, not a professional saying this), "reported" that Kyle Whittingham would most likely not return to the U. I've already mentioned this in a previous post and won't go back into that detail because of it. It is relevant here however.
First, I am not critical of a journalist who posts something shocking that proves to be wrong. It happens. Your job as a journalist, or as they are now called "media members", is to gather information from insiders that the public doesn't have access to. The good ones release this information before any one else does. A journalist fact checks, media members speculate. To fact check you need to gather as much information from as many sources as possible. It seems as though this did not happen in this case. It seems as though three specific media members have acted very irresponsibly and released speculation before confirming it from other sources.
I am very critical of sensational media who mistake themselves as journalists. I don't think it has a place in journalism. Sure, Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart are great entertainment, but they aren't journalists who report the news. They react to the news. It's a very important distinction. It has it's place and it works. Jim Rome seems to have found his niche doing similar things in the sports world. It's great and it's fun.
In this case it seems to be a case of mistaken identity with a media source. The radio station in question has several media members I respect because of their talent. Some of which I respect but don't enjoy their brand of entertainment. It happens. My issue, as well as many other peoples issues are this, the report is thus far unfounded. First it was the Tweet heard round Salt Lake, next it was the newspaper article based on said tweet, followed by the radio jockey confirming the reports. Next thing that happened was Dr Hill release a statement saying that these rumors "have no validity." Even if these rumors become true, it was released in a very unprofessional way.
I say this not because of the statement released by Dr Chris Hill, I say it because of the counter information coming out from every other media outlet in the SLC area. It seems as though the facts were not checked. Another media member, who used to work very closely with the original Tweeter, tweeted "My most reliable source told me today that @Utah_Football rumars are wildly overblown and they would be shocked to see Whitt resign or be fired." This was before Dr Hills statement. It was also one of several tweets/reports from other media sources outside of this one station.
Since the statement by Dr Hill, the radio station has done everything they can to perpetuate the rumors because they got lambasted by the Utah Faithful on twitter. I myself have been blocked by the media member who tweeted out The Tweet heard round Salt Lake. I find that humorous in many ways that I won't get into. If you can't say something nice....
The crux of all of this is that it's recruiting season. I watched the Army East West high school all star game today and USC, Georgia, Ohio State and several others received verbal commitments during the game. Two of the Utah High School athletes that participated in that game did not list Utah, Utah State or BYU as major options for schools. That's another issue that I won't get into here, but it needs to be fixed. Utah has a recruit from Texas that lit up twitterverse during his high school bowl game that follows closely what is going on. I can see the drama turning some kids and their parents off from Utah.
We also don't have either offensive or defensive coordinators in place. Recruits don't know what offense they would be in. This drama seems to have put the Head Coach position in question as well, which makes it worse. They don't know if the coach will be back next year. Unless they are die hard fans of the school and want to play there no matter what, the commits Utah already has may be rethinking. In fact, several have been reported to have visits to Oregon State ironically enough.
This could be put to end really quickly by someone who hates all things media related. I doubt he hates journalists, he just hates the sensational and social media aspects of his job. That is very well documented. In my opinion, Coach Kyle Whittingham needs to make those hires/promotions quickly. Not just to get the systems in place, but to also get his recruits on board. It would address these rumors without addressing them directly, which I think he would rather do. He seems to get chippy in press conferences when asked about things he deems irrelevant.
I say let him ignore this. Let him treat this as the nuisance it has become for him. Just make those hires/promotions quickly and announce them immediately. Even if it's just the defensive side and he wants to take his time on the offense to get it right for once, announce it. If he is staying at Utah.
The longer we wait for any word from the program outside of the AD, the more worried I am getting. I am not alone in this either, several Utah Faithful have expressed their sense of dread at the fact we may be looking at an entire new system coming off a 9-4 season and one of the best defensive performances we've seen in Utah since 2008.
Lets get this over with. Go Utes!!!
First, I am not critical of a journalist who posts something shocking that proves to be wrong. It happens. Your job as a journalist, or as they are now called "media members", is to gather information from insiders that the public doesn't have access to. The good ones release this information before any one else does. A journalist fact checks, media members speculate. To fact check you need to gather as much information from as many sources as possible. It seems as though this did not happen in this case. It seems as though three specific media members have acted very irresponsibly and released speculation before confirming it from other sources.
I am very critical of sensational media who mistake themselves as journalists. I don't think it has a place in journalism. Sure, Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart are great entertainment, but they aren't journalists who report the news. They react to the news. It's a very important distinction. It has it's place and it works. Jim Rome seems to have found his niche doing similar things in the sports world. It's great and it's fun.
In this case it seems to be a case of mistaken identity with a media source. The radio station in question has several media members I respect because of their talent. Some of which I respect but don't enjoy their brand of entertainment. It happens. My issue, as well as many other peoples issues are this, the report is thus far unfounded. First it was the Tweet heard round Salt Lake, next it was the newspaper article based on said tweet, followed by the radio jockey confirming the reports. Next thing that happened was Dr Hill release a statement saying that these rumors "have no validity." Even if these rumors become true, it was released in a very unprofessional way.
I say this not because of the statement released by Dr Chris Hill, I say it because of the counter information coming out from every other media outlet in the SLC area. It seems as though the facts were not checked. Another media member, who used to work very closely with the original Tweeter, tweeted "My most reliable source told me today that @Utah_Football rumars are wildly overblown and they would be shocked to see Whitt resign or be fired." This was before Dr Hills statement. It was also one of several tweets/reports from other media sources outside of this one station.
Since the statement by Dr Hill, the radio station has done everything they can to perpetuate the rumors because they got lambasted by the Utah Faithful on twitter. I myself have been blocked by the media member who tweeted out The Tweet heard round Salt Lake. I find that humorous in many ways that I won't get into. If you can't say something nice....
The crux of all of this is that it's recruiting season. I watched the Army East West high school all star game today and USC, Georgia, Ohio State and several others received verbal commitments during the game. Two of the Utah High School athletes that participated in that game did not list Utah, Utah State or BYU as major options for schools. That's another issue that I won't get into here, but it needs to be fixed. Utah has a recruit from Texas that lit up twitterverse during his high school bowl game that follows closely what is going on. I can see the drama turning some kids and their parents off from Utah.
We also don't have either offensive or defensive coordinators in place. Recruits don't know what offense they would be in. This drama seems to have put the Head Coach position in question as well, which makes it worse. They don't know if the coach will be back next year. Unless they are die hard fans of the school and want to play there no matter what, the commits Utah already has may be rethinking. In fact, several have been reported to have visits to Oregon State ironically enough.
This could be put to end really quickly by someone who hates all things media related. I doubt he hates journalists, he just hates the sensational and social media aspects of his job. That is very well documented. In my opinion, Coach Kyle Whittingham needs to make those hires/promotions quickly. Not just to get the systems in place, but to also get his recruits on board. It would address these rumors without addressing them directly, which I think he would rather do. He seems to get chippy in press conferences when asked about things he deems irrelevant.
I say let him ignore this. Let him treat this as the nuisance it has become for him. Just make those hires/promotions quickly and announce them immediately. Even if it's just the defensive side and he wants to take his time on the offense to get it right for once, announce it. If he is staying at Utah.
The longer we wait for any word from the program outside of the AD, the more worried I am getting. I am not alone in this either, several Utah Faithful have expressed their sense of dread at the fact we may be looking at an entire new system coming off a 9-4 season and one of the best defensive performances we've seen in Utah since 2008.
Lets get this over with. Go Utes!!!
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Go Seahawks!!!
Seahawks win the NFC West again!
The road to the Arizona goes through Seattle.
I can't believe after so many years of mediocrity that I have enjoyed the last four years of pure awesomeness that is this team. After the Superbowl domination of last year, many people said it would be a one and done team. After the mid-season struggles, many people echoed that statement. Since Kam Chancellor and Bobby Wagner (go Aggies) came back from injury, the defense has been allowing a paltry 6.5 points per game. 6.5. Less than a touchdown in a league where Troy Aikman (can't he be fired yet?) says it's unfair to compare his stats to the guys of today because the league is built to score points through the air.
The defense is once again the most dominant force in the NFL. Pete Carrol has once again used his defensive expertise to lead a team to greatness. He has taken that defense to heights no one knew could exist in today's NFL. All the while having a completely different offense than he has anywhere else he has been. It's because, once again, he hires an OC, tells them I'm a defensive guy, you coach the offense and I'll coach the defense. He hires good people and allows them to do their job (Whittingham could take a page out of his book). Do I love their offense? Nope. I think they could line up under center, and pound the crap out of the defense with Lynch, Turbin (go Aggies), and Michael following a fullback. However, it's not MY style that counts. They spread you out, run the ball, and hit you medium to deep off play action. Russel Wilson blows you away with his scrambling and running. This team beats you up on both sides of the ball. The last ten games, the team playing the Seahawks have lost the next week. That's how bad they beat you down.
I'm very proud to call myself a 12. I've been a 12 before being a 12 was a thing.
Years ago, walking into a sports apparel store wearing a Seahawks shirt and Mariner's hat an older man walked up to me. He asks if I'm married and I curiously respond in the affirmative. He said to me "Well, she must really love you."
"She does thank you," hesitating to here his response to my next question, "why do you say that?"
He looks at my shirt and replies, "She knows you're loyal." turns and walks away in victory.
I stood there shocked at the brilliance of the mild mannered cut to the throat. If I could have, I would have demanded a standing ovation from the patrons and staff of the store. As it was, I was to stunned and punch drunk to think of anything else than wow.
These are the things I've been dealing with my whole life. Knowing that, with very few exceptions, the Hall of Fame is littered with bad things the Seahawks have allowed or done. Dave Krieg and Warren Moon owning the most fumbles ever by QB's. Allowing 7 sacks in one game to the late, great Derrick Thomas who was quoted saying the only one that mattered was the eighth one he missed. Dave Krieg stepped up into the diminishing pocket and threw a glorious, albeit wobbly pass to Brian Blades in the end zone to win the game, just as Derrick Thomas recovered from his earlier bypass and smacked him. The knowledge that Bo Jackson's best game(s) came against the Seahawks. Most people can still see Bo carrying "the Boz" into the end zone from 5 yards out. Or him running into the tunnel after his 98 yard run. Same game. In the Kingdome.
Those are days long past and the Seattle Seahawks are, for the second straight year, the most ferocious team in the NFL. It all started with the BeastQuake run. Where the reaction from the crowd of Marshawn Lynch's run for a touchdown in the playoff game against the Saints registered on the richter scale at nearby Mt Rainier.
The Legion of Boom is young, brash, talented, cocky, and rarely out of place. The linebackers are young, fast, strong, and gap savvy. The line is a pack of spitting dogs who want to torture anyone who stand in their way of getting to ball. I LOVE THIS DEFENSE!!!
Lead the way to another Super Bowl victory!!
Go Seahawks!!!!
The road to the Arizona goes through Seattle.
I can't believe after so many years of mediocrity that I have enjoyed the last four years of pure awesomeness that is this team. After the Superbowl domination of last year, many people said it would be a one and done team. After the mid-season struggles, many people echoed that statement. Since Kam Chancellor and Bobby Wagner (go Aggies) came back from injury, the defense has been allowing a paltry 6.5 points per game. 6.5. Less than a touchdown in a league where Troy Aikman (can't he be fired yet?) says it's unfair to compare his stats to the guys of today because the league is built to score points through the air.
The defense is once again the most dominant force in the NFL. Pete Carrol has once again used his defensive expertise to lead a team to greatness. He has taken that defense to heights no one knew could exist in today's NFL. All the while having a completely different offense than he has anywhere else he has been. It's because, once again, he hires an OC, tells them I'm a defensive guy, you coach the offense and I'll coach the defense. He hires good people and allows them to do their job (Whittingham could take a page out of his book). Do I love their offense? Nope. I think they could line up under center, and pound the crap out of the defense with Lynch, Turbin (go Aggies), and Michael following a fullback. However, it's not MY style that counts. They spread you out, run the ball, and hit you medium to deep off play action. Russel Wilson blows you away with his scrambling and running. This team beats you up on both sides of the ball. The last ten games, the team playing the Seahawks have lost the next week. That's how bad they beat you down.
I'm very proud to call myself a 12. I've been a 12 before being a 12 was a thing.
Years ago, walking into a sports apparel store wearing a Seahawks shirt and Mariner's hat an older man walked up to me. He asks if I'm married and I curiously respond in the affirmative. He said to me "Well, she must really love you."
"She does thank you," hesitating to here his response to my next question, "why do you say that?"
He looks at my shirt and replies, "She knows you're loyal." turns and walks away in victory.
I stood there shocked at the brilliance of the mild mannered cut to the throat. If I could have, I would have demanded a standing ovation from the patrons and staff of the store. As it was, I was to stunned and punch drunk to think of anything else than wow.
These are the things I've been dealing with my whole life. Knowing that, with very few exceptions, the Hall of Fame is littered with bad things the Seahawks have allowed or done. Dave Krieg and Warren Moon owning the most fumbles ever by QB's. Allowing 7 sacks in one game to the late, great Derrick Thomas who was quoted saying the only one that mattered was the eighth one he missed. Dave Krieg stepped up into the diminishing pocket and threw a glorious, albeit wobbly pass to Brian Blades in the end zone to win the game, just as Derrick Thomas recovered from his earlier bypass and smacked him. The knowledge that Bo Jackson's best game(s) came against the Seahawks. Most people can still see Bo carrying "the Boz" into the end zone from 5 yards out. Or him running into the tunnel after his 98 yard run. Same game. In the Kingdome.
Those are days long past and the Seattle Seahawks are, for the second straight year, the most ferocious team in the NFL. It all started with the BeastQuake run. Where the reaction from the crowd of Marshawn Lynch's run for a touchdown in the playoff game against the Saints registered on the richter scale at nearby Mt Rainier.
The Legion of Boom is young, brash, talented, cocky, and rarely out of place. The linebackers are young, fast, strong, and gap savvy. The line is a pack of spitting dogs who want to torture anyone who stand in their way of getting to ball. I LOVE THIS DEFENSE!!!
Lead the way to another Super Bowl victory!!
Go Seahawks!!!!
Saturday, December 27, 2014
What the?
Ok, so I'm hearing everything from Gary Anderson to Utah because of a flub from Oregon State not paying his $3 mil buyout, to Lane Kiffen, Dan Mullen and even Mike McCoy. Kyle Whittingham is still the coach officially and none of these rumors are substantiated at all. Yet, I will address how I feel about each.
Gary Anderson, how would this work? I think as a football move it's my favorite from this list. The likely hood of this I don't see at all, but that is what a rumor is right? Just speculation, which is what I'm doing here. From a PR standpoint, it's scary as hell. Gary Anderson just left 3 years on his deal at Wisconsin to go to Oregon State. This could be a huge mess for OSU if they don't pay the buyout and get him inked. They've already held press conferences and hired assistants. Could get scary for Utah, Whittingham and Sitaki as well. Utah would now have the drama of the entire situation looming over it's head for the next ten years minimum. Would Sitaki come with him? If so, than the problem was Whittingham and not Dr Hill. If, I really mean IF, that happens, how would fans feel about the whole situation? I think the fire on Dr Chris Hill's seat that has started the last few weeks would be extinguished, for now. If that happens and the ire turns towards Whittingham, where would he go to escape it? DC for the Chiefs? That seems unlikely, though probably the best best bet to stay under the radar. Sit out a year and take over for BYU? Highly unlikely. I've heard he has a strong distaste for the fan base since the "fight" with his wife and brother in the stands. Though, you never know. Utah fans would relish the 2016 game and hope the Utes just piled on the hapless Cougars. Again, Anderson wouldn't do that. Can you imagine the personal bridges that would burn as well? Whittingham would never speak to Anderson, Sitaki, Tuiaki or Kaua'aha'a again. This is more than football, it's personal.
Lane Kiffen, just no. No. HELL NO. WHY EVEN CONSIDER THIS GUY?! He's cheated at every level. From deflated balls, changing a players number to cause confusion for who knows what end, to bailing on Tennessee after getting canned from the Raiders where Al Davis said he felt fooled by this guy. USC was justified in firing him at an airport after a game. He's proven to be a liability to a program rather than a benefit. NO!!
Dan Mullen, I don't understand this one at all. Not in the least. His only loyalty to Utah is when he came from Bowling Green with Urban Meyer as the QB coach. He went to Florida when Urban Meyer did as his OC. Coach Mullen even stole Brian Johnson from Utah. Good for Johnson, but would Brian come back to Utah? Is Whittingham the problem there too?
Mike McCoy, here is wishful thinking on anyone's part. I'd still take Gary Anderson, though Mike McCoy is intriguing. It fits the trend however, offensive mind after defensive mind. Since Jim Fassel was fired in 1989 they went defense with Ronnie Mac, offense with Meyer, defense with Whitt. Yes new Ute fans, the Same Jim Fassel who coached for the New York Giants. However, McCoy has earned enough respect in the NFL that even if the Chargers lose on Sunday to the Chiefs (ironic isn't it that I've mentioned them twice in this blog, could it be that this NFL game has Utah implications?) and he gets fired, he lands at least an OC job in the NFL. I don't see him stepping back down to college. He's never done it anyway. Whose to say the recruiting aspect wouldn't suit him. Don't get me wrong, the one time I met him he was a great guy who seemed very charismatic and he could do wonders in living rooms. Imagine being a 17 year old drop back NFL style QB choosing between Oregon, Oregon State and Utah and you have Mike McCoy sitting there telling you he knows what it takes to be an NFL QB. The fun part to this would also be imagining who the defensive hires could be. Anyone would want to work with him. Maybe I'm talking myself into this one a little more...
My vote is Kyle Whittingham for at least one more year. I do believe at this point, that's the most we'll get as fans of the Utes.
Gary Anderson, how would this work? I think as a football move it's my favorite from this list. The likely hood of this I don't see at all, but that is what a rumor is right? Just speculation, which is what I'm doing here. From a PR standpoint, it's scary as hell. Gary Anderson just left 3 years on his deal at Wisconsin to go to Oregon State. This could be a huge mess for OSU if they don't pay the buyout and get him inked. They've already held press conferences and hired assistants. Could get scary for Utah, Whittingham and Sitaki as well. Utah would now have the drama of the entire situation looming over it's head for the next ten years minimum. Would Sitaki come with him? If so, than the problem was Whittingham and not Dr Hill. If, I really mean IF, that happens, how would fans feel about the whole situation? I think the fire on Dr Chris Hill's seat that has started the last few weeks would be extinguished, for now. If that happens and the ire turns towards Whittingham, where would he go to escape it? DC for the Chiefs? That seems unlikely, though probably the best best bet to stay under the radar. Sit out a year and take over for BYU? Highly unlikely. I've heard he has a strong distaste for the fan base since the "fight" with his wife and brother in the stands. Though, you never know. Utah fans would relish the 2016 game and hope the Utes just piled on the hapless Cougars. Again, Anderson wouldn't do that. Can you imagine the personal bridges that would burn as well? Whittingham would never speak to Anderson, Sitaki, Tuiaki or Kaua'aha'a again. This is more than football, it's personal.
Lane Kiffen, just no. No. HELL NO. WHY EVEN CONSIDER THIS GUY?! He's cheated at every level. From deflated balls, changing a players number to cause confusion for who knows what end, to bailing on Tennessee after getting canned from the Raiders where Al Davis said he felt fooled by this guy. USC was justified in firing him at an airport after a game. He's proven to be a liability to a program rather than a benefit. NO!!
Dan Mullen, I don't understand this one at all. Not in the least. His only loyalty to Utah is when he came from Bowling Green with Urban Meyer as the QB coach. He went to Florida when Urban Meyer did as his OC. Coach Mullen even stole Brian Johnson from Utah. Good for Johnson, but would Brian come back to Utah? Is Whittingham the problem there too?
Mike McCoy, here is wishful thinking on anyone's part. I'd still take Gary Anderson, though Mike McCoy is intriguing. It fits the trend however, offensive mind after defensive mind. Since Jim Fassel was fired in 1989 they went defense with Ronnie Mac, offense with Meyer, defense with Whitt. Yes new Ute fans, the Same Jim Fassel who coached for the New York Giants. However, McCoy has earned enough respect in the NFL that even if the Chargers lose on Sunday to the Chiefs (ironic isn't it that I've mentioned them twice in this blog, could it be that this NFL game has Utah implications?) and he gets fired, he lands at least an OC job in the NFL. I don't see him stepping back down to college. He's never done it anyway. Whose to say the recruiting aspect wouldn't suit him. Don't get me wrong, the one time I met him he was a great guy who seemed very charismatic and he could do wonders in living rooms. Imagine being a 17 year old drop back NFL style QB choosing between Oregon, Oregon State and Utah and you have Mike McCoy sitting there telling you he knows what it takes to be an NFL QB. The fun part to this would also be imagining who the defensive hires could be. Anyone would want to work with him. Maybe I'm talking myself into this one a little more...
My vote is Kyle Whittingham for at least one more year. I do believe at this point, that's the most we'll get as fans of the Utes.
What brought me back
Whirlwind sports news and no one to talk to about it. Well, with all due respect to my wife, the glazed over look she gave me when talking about Gary Anderson's coaching pedigree made me realize I need to sit down and write again.
So I'm back doing something I love, writing about sports. Being able to get my thoughts and feelings out in a medium I respect, regardless if any one else reads it or not, brings me joy. Feeling the weight of opinions expressed being lifted off my shoulders in grand way.
I love sports. Standing in line at a gas station on Christmas day, talking to a stranger who I just met about the state of Badger football because of the sweater he was wearing warms my soul. Instant comradery with someone who I have no business talking to. Coach Gary Anderson is our link. My favorite defense that went from Utah to Utah State to Wisconsin has now landed at Oregon State.
What's the state of Badger football? How comfortable do you feel with the new coach? Oh, I love it. Great hire, he's been there before. However I would have loved to see what Coach Anderson could have done. It's to bad he felt the need to go somewhere else. How do you feel about him stealing your DC? Oh I don't know, from what I've heard he's a great guy, but I haven't really loved the defense since Coach Anderson left. Don't get me wrong, it's really good. Under him though it was great with less talent. This is one of the reasons I love sports.
Now, on to a darker topic. The state of Utah Football is drastically different today than 2 days ago. First let me tell you the sequence of events as I know them. I will qualify all of this by saying I do not, let me repeat, I do NOT have a #Source. I don't have any inside information and what I know is hearsay from people who do have sources. Right now that's really mucky water because it seems as though we are all hearing multiple stories from multiple "sources". Again, let me tell you the sequence of events.
2014 has been tumultuous for the Utah offense. The defense was better than it's been since 2008 (Coach Anderson's last year at Utah). Highlighted by the defensive line play once again. It seems as though every year since Coach Whittingham has taken over there is NFL talent on the line. This year there is one of the best talents the Utes have ever seen in Nate Orchard. 18 sacks in a single season. He's not just a pass rusher though. The dude's a beast who disrupts every aspect on field. He bull rushes lighter tackles and guards into the QB or fly's around the bigger guys with unbelievable speed. You don't get anywhere when you rush at him because he closes the gaps by taking on several blocks unlike most pass rushers. You don't get anywhere by rushing away from him because he runs it down from the back end. You still have to block him because of his speed. On the other side of the line is Hunter Dimick. A speed rusher who compliments Orchard perfectly. I'm not going to break the entire line down, just say that they are fantastic. They earned their nickname Sack Lake City with only rushing four most times.
The linebackers went through some injuries and saw several different starters through out the year. I can't even fathom how good this defense could have been with a healthy Gionni Paul in the middle. He was a dominant defender who made an instant impact when he came back from injury.
The secondary was good as well. Really though, because of the d-line, they really didn't have to hold out for too long most of the time. When they did though, they got exposed. Brian Blechen was constantly out of place and took really bad angles on fast receivers which gave up huge plays against Washington State, Arizona and Oregon. Again though, they were beset by injuries and they looked great many times in the year. Eric Rowe was, at times, a huge bright spot, but like most DB''s, other times he looked like he got cocky and got beat deep.
The offense is a totally different story. The first three games of the season, against sub par opponents, they were on fire. Throwing the ball down the field with accuracy and running over and through everyone. Once the competition stiffened up at Michigan, the offense stumbled, badly. They once again ranked near the bottom in the Pac-12 in nearly every category except rushing (thanks Booker). Travis Wilson was much beleaguered throughout the year until Kendal Thompson played and the offense was miserably one dimensional. It seemed as though there was a rift between Coach Whittingham and Offensive Coordinator (and buddy) Dave Christensen concerning who the QB should be and what type of offense should be run. This rift deepened throughout the year to where it was obvious in the Oregon game when, still contestable, Coach Christiansen pulled Travis Wilson in favor of Conner Manning, a redshirt freshman who had seen zero playing time and probably third string reps in practice. Welcome to the Pac-12 son, go out there and beat the eventually number 2 (champion?) ducks. This move turned a close game into a blowout.
Despite this, they won 9 games including their bowl game, having the hardest schedule in NCAA for the second year in a row. Huge year, on a junior and sophomore laden team. The upside for this team looks incredible.
Less than a week later, all hell has broken lose. Kalani Sitaki has taken what is considered a less than lateral move to Gary Anderson's staff at Oregon State as the DC. Ilaisa Tuiaki, the artist behind the d-line, went with him. Utah twitterverse exploded blaming everyone from Coach Whitt to Dr Chris Hill, the AD. All the while still exclaiming how wonderful coach Sitaki is. Coach Christensen has taken the "running game coordinator" job at Texas A&M. He took a step down to get away from what seems like an over bearing Whittingham. However, the Ute twitterverse is again exploding, this time blaming Chris Hill. With 8 OC's in 8 years, you'd think people were used to this type of thing. however, it sent a mini shock wave throughout the Utah media center so every one to their sources to find out what is going on.
It seems as though a growing rift as been forming between Coach Whitt and Dr Hill. Again, seemingly because of the lack of extension of the assistant's contracts. It's amazing that a twenty year partnership, if not friendship, can be broken so easily. I think there is more to it than what we are hearing. Whitt has shown loyalty and expects it in return. Dr Hill is a Utah man who has build the entire athletic program from the laughing stock he inherited to a power house football program, a top 20 (rebuilt) basketball program and many more accolades. He is and should be about the health of the business of Utah Football.
It pains me to see this going on as a die hard Utah fan who has been going to games since before Ronnie Mac. It would have been easier had Utah not been as dominant as they were and won 9 games. If they had again not made it to a bowl game, Coach Whittingham, and the rest of the staff would have been let go.
You have to feel that Dr Hill has options in the works. You have to also feel that someone with the resume of Coach Whittingham has options as well. I've heard rumors from him taking over the BYU program (how does that make Broco feel?) to being Andy Reid's DC at Kansas City. If Jim Harbaugh doesn't take the Michigan job, rumors also have Whitt there. If Whitt does leave, Dr hill had best make a splash because it puts him on the clock.
Best case scenario I see happening here is that Coach Whittingham fulfills his current contract threw next year and leaves with his head held high and hopefully a Pac-12 championship under his belt. Hey, I can dream right?
Tell me what you think and what you are seeing in this.
So I'm back doing something I love, writing about sports. Being able to get my thoughts and feelings out in a medium I respect, regardless if any one else reads it or not, brings me joy. Feeling the weight of opinions expressed being lifted off my shoulders in grand way.
I love sports. Standing in line at a gas station on Christmas day, talking to a stranger who I just met about the state of Badger football because of the sweater he was wearing warms my soul. Instant comradery with someone who I have no business talking to. Coach Gary Anderson is our link. My favorite defense that went from Utah to Utah State to Wisconsin has now landed at Oregon State.
What's the state of Badger football? How comfortable do you feel with the new coach? Oh, I love it. Great hire, he's been there before. However I would have loved to see what Coach Anderson could have done. It's to bad he felt the need to go somewhere else. How do you feel about him stealing your DC? Oh I don't know, from what I've heard he's a great guy, but I haven't really loved the defense since Coach Anderson left. Don't get me wrong, it's really good. Under him though it was great with less talent. This is one of the reasons I love sports.
Now, on to a darker topic. The state of Utah Football is drastically different today than 2 days ago. First let me tell you the sequence of events as I know them. I will qualify all of this by saying I do not, let me repeat, I do NOT have a #Source. I don't have any inside information and what I know is hearsay from people who do have sources. Right now that's really mucky water because it seems as though we are all hearing multiple stories from multiple "sources". Again, let me tell you the sequence of events.
2014 has been tumultuous for the Utah offense. The defense was better than it's been since 2008 (Coach Anderson's last year at Utah). Highlighted by the defensive line play once again. It seems as though every year since Coach Whittingham has taken over there is NFL talent on the line. This year there is one of the best talents the Utes have ever seen in Nate Orchard. 18 sacks in a single season. He's not just a pass rusher though. The dude's a beast who disrupts every aspect on field. He bull rushes lighter tackles and guards into the QB or fly's around the bigger guys with unbelievable speed. You don't get anywhere when you rush at him because he closes the gaps by taking on several blocks unlike most pass rushers. You don't get anywhere by rushing away from him because he runs it down from the back end. You still have to block him because of his speed. On the other side of the line is Hunter Dimick. A speed rusher who compliments Orchard perfectly. I'm not going to break the entire line down, just say that they are fantastic. They earned their nickname Sack Lake City with only rushing four most times.
The linebackers went through some injuries and saw several different starters through out the year. I can't even fathom how good this defense could have been with a healthy Gionni Paul in the middle. He was a dominant defender who made an instant impact when he came back from injury.
The secondary was good as well. Really though, because of the d-line, they really didn't have to hold out for too long most of the time. When they did though, they got exposed. Brian Blechen was constantly out of place and took really bad angles on fast receivers which gave up huge plays against Washington State, Arizona and Oregon. Again though, they were beset by injuries and they looked great many times in the year. Eric Rowe was, at times, a huge bright spot, but like most DB''s, other times he looked like he got cocky and got beat deep.
The offense is a totally different story. The first three games of the season, against sub par opponents, they were on fire. Throwing the ball down the field with accuracy and running over and through everyone. Once the competition stiffened up at Michigan, the offense stumbled, badly. They once again ranked near the bottom in the Pac-12 in nearly every category except rushing (thanks Booker). Travis Wilson was much beleaguered throughout the year until Kendal Thompson played and the offense was miserably one dimensional. It seemed as though there was a rift between Coach Whittingham and Offensive Coordinator (and buddy) Dave Christensen concerning who the QB should be and what type of offense should be run. This rift deepened throughout the year to where it was obvious in the Oregon game when, still contestable, Coach Christiansen pulled Travis Wilson in favor of Conner Manning, a redshirt freshman who had seen zero playing time and probably third string reps in practice. Welcome to the Pac-12 son, go out there and beat the eventually number 2 (champion?) ducks. This move turned a close game into a blowout.
Despite this, they won 9 games including their bowl game, having the hardest schedule in NCAA for the second year in a row. Huge year, on a junior and sophomore laden team. The upside for this team looks incredible.
Less than a week later, all hell has broken lose. Kalani Sitaki has taken what is considered a less than lateral move to Gary Anderson's staff at Oregon State as the DC. Ilaisa Tuiaki, the artist behind the d-line, went with him. Utah twitterverse exploded blaming everyone from Coach Whitt to Dr Chris Hill, the AD. All the while still exclaiming how wonderful coach Sitaki is. Coach Christensen has taken the "running game coordinator" job at Texas A&M. He took a step down to get away from what seems like an over bearing Whittingham. However, the Ute twitterverse is again exploding, this time blaming Chris Hill. With 8 OC's in 8 years, you'd think people were used to this type of thing. however, it sent a mini shock wave throughout the Utah media center so every one to their sources to find out what is going on.
It seems as though a growing rift as been forming between Coach Whitt and Dr Hill. Again, seemingly because of the lack of extension of the assistant's contracts. It's amazing that a twenty year partnership, if not friendship, can be broken so easily. I think there is more to it than what we are hearing. Whitt has shown loyalty and expects it in return. Dr Hill is a Utah man who has build the entire athletic program from the laughing stock he inherited to a power house football program, a top 20 (rebuilt) basketball program and many more accolades. He is and should be about the health of the business of Utah Football.
It pains me to see this going on as a die hard Utah fan who has been going to games since before Ronnie Mac. It would have been easier had Utah not been as dominant as they were and won 9 games. If they had again not made it to a bowl game, Coach Whittingham, and the rest of the staff would have been let go.
You have to feel that Dr Hill has options in the works. You have to also feel that someone with the resume of Coach Whittingham has options as well. I've heard rumors from him taking over the BYU program (how does that make Broco feel?) to being Andy Reid's DC at Kansas City. If Jim Harbaugh doesn't take the Michigan job, rumors also have Whitt there. If Whitt does leave, Dr hill had best make a splash because it puts him on the clock.
Best case scenario I see happening here is that Coach Whittingham fulfills his current contract threw next year and leaves with his head held high and hopefully a Pac-12 championship under his belt. Hey, I can dream right?
Tell me what you think and what you are seeing in this.
Friday, July 5, 2013
NBA free agency so far
First thing first, the Jazz. So far in this offseason the Jazz have given up two draft picks who may or may not turn out, a trade exception worth a cool $11 million, a D-league 2 guard named Murphy, and another $9 million trade exception. What they got in return is (in order) Trey Burke (@Trey_Burke3), who in my mind will be the best PG in this draft and already a 4/1 favorite to win Rookie of the Year, and 3 expiring contracts from Golden State worth $20-24 million which include Brandon Rush (@BRush_4), Richard Jefferson (who could provide leadership and length off the bench) and Andris Biedrins (if this 7 footer plays more than 10 minutes a game, we have serious issues) plus two UNPROTECTED first round draft picks (2014, 2017) and a 2nd rounder in there somewhere.
Trey Burke will not, in my mind, be a consistent all star. He can however, stabilize a position for Utah that has been lacking since the D-Will trade. Harris and Mo are good players and natural athletes, but neither one fit the Jazz system. Dennis Lindsay thought the same. This trade proves it. It basically gave the Jazz no room to sign very many of the free agents still hanging out there (more in a minute). If Burke starts from the get go the Jazz could very well, and are predicted to, win less than 20-30 games. I'm not saying I'd be happy if that happens. I like Kevin O'Connor's idea of always building to be better. Sometimes you do have to have growing pains in order to grow however.
If Brandon Rush has recovered from his ACL tear and Richard Jefferson can muster his walker onto the court for some meaningful minutes, this team might not be so bad. I think the starting 5 of Kanter, Favors, Hayward, Foye (please?) and Rush has the potential to be dominant defensively, all the while scoring 50 points a game. With Burke, Burcs (get used to that) and Jefferson coming off the bench, I see this team as maybe a 35-40 win squad. After that, Corbin may lose his job and Lindsay can plug in someone he likes there as well.
The only issue I am seeing is Sloan and Malone, both of which have huge issues with losing to get better. Sloan would coach this team to win 50 games. I don't see Corbin having the ability to do that.
Next year the Jazz will be in a similar position as they were this year with a much deeper draft staring them in the face as well as a much, much deeper free agent pool. They are in a position of strength right now they haven't since the Stockton draft.
With all that being said, let me retouch on where some of the free agents have gone thus far. "Big" Al Jefferson signed with the Charlotte Bobcats for a 3 year $41 million deal. Good for him. Although I disparaged his game quite often (I put a premium on defense, I don't know why....) he is, by all reports a good guy. He showed up and did his job, which is more than I can say about his predecessor as the go to guy in the paint. Al, good on you man!
DeMarre Carroll (@DemarreCarroll1) was a shocker. He signed with Atlanta for a 2 year $5 million deal. I loved the self proclaimed junkyard dog. He was an animal and gave 110% every night. Again, good on ya man. I wish you nothing but success.
Here is the one that really gets me though. I understand it, but I don't like it, nor do I have to. Paul Milsap is one of my favorite players to ever play for the Jazz. He is an undersized (listed at 6'8, probably closer to 6'6 1/2) power forward who was to small to play at the college level. All he did was lead the NCAA in rebounds for four years. Paul was the number 47 pick in the second round by the Jazz and wasn't ever expected to play. He did. He lead the team in rebounds and steals the past two years. Yup, rebounds and steals. Odd combo, but he did it. When the trade for Favors happened, Paul was basically told to take a back seat. He turned around and said "Take the seat from me." With his aggressive play and ability to adapt his game, you couldn't put him on the bench. He has that never say never attitude and was willing to gnaw his way to success. He also signed with Atlanta to join DMC and Kyle Korver with a 2 year $19 million deal. Congrats Paul, you deserve it. I will continue to sport my green 24 Jazz jersey with pride!
Now on to more inconsistent things: Dwight Howard. The man makes Brett Farve look decisive. Early reports today had the Warriors as the leading candidate for the big center, where those came from who knows. Then Houston reemerged as the front runner and it was even announced he had made his decision. He was taking his talents to Houston. Within minutes he told the Lakers he was 50/50 on them or the Rockets. What? Well, next thing I read is that he's looking at that extra $30 mil and licking his lips. So D-12 still a Laker? Nope, as of now (with still 5 days to be official) he is going to follow Yao Ming and the Hakeem the Dream as big men in Houston. Honestly, if that sticks, I fear the pick and roll of the Rockets. Harden dishing to Dwight? Yikes. I'm just glad that he is scheduled for a trade demand in about two and a half years, right when the Jazz should start improving to contention.
As for the Lakers, I hate to say this, but it's better off without him there. Kobe is still the man and when he returns, they could not co-exist. It's much better this way.
To round out the Utah Jazz roster as of now:
Trey Burke-PG,
Alec Burcs-SG/PG, Brandon Rush-SG,
Gordon Hayward-SF/SG, Richard Jefferson SF, Marvin Williams-SF,
Derrick Favors-PF/C, Jeremy Evans-PF,
Enes Kanter-C/PF, Rudy Gobert-C
It looks like Jamaal Tinsley is still on the radar for the Jazz and maybe another veteran or two willing or sign a 1-2 year lower money deal for the PG spot.
All in all, I say go Hawks this year and rooting for the Jazz to show improvement, and the Warriors to lose every game. Go JAZZ!!!
Trey Burke will not, in my mind, be a consistent all star. He can however, stabilize a position for Utah that has been lacking since the D-Will trade. Harris and Mo are good players and natural athletes, but neither one fit the Jazz system. Dennis Lindsay thought the same. This trade proves it. It basically gave the Jazz no room to sign very many of the free agents still hanging out there (more in a minute). If Burke starts from the get go the Jazz could very well, and are predicted to, win less than 20-30 games. I'm not saying I'd be happy if that happens. I like Kevin O'Connor's idea of always building to be better. Sometimes you do have to have growing pains in order to grow however.
If Brandon Rush has recovered from his ACL tear and Richard Jefferson can muster his walker onto the court for some meaningful minutes, this team might not be so bad. I think the starting 5 of Kanter, Favors, Hayward, Foye (please?) and Rush has the potential to be dominant defensively, all the while scoring 50 points a game. With Burke, Burcs (get used to that) and Jefferson coming off the bench, I see this team as maybe a 35-40 win squad. After that, Corbin may lose his job and Lindsay can plug in someone he likes there as well.
The only issue I am seeing is Sloan and Malone, both of which have huge issues with losing to get better. Sloan would coach this team to win 50 games. I don't see Corbin having the ability to do that.
Next year the Jazz will be in a similar position as they were this year with a much deeper draft staring them in the face as well as a much, much deeper free agent pool. They are in a position of strength right now they haven't since the Stockton draft.
With all that being said, let me retouch on where some of the free agents have gone thus far. "Big" Al Jefferson signed with the Charlotte Bobcats for a 3 year $41 million deal. Good for him. Although I disparaged his game quite often (I put a premium on defense, I don't know why....) he is, by all reports a good guy. He showed up and did his job, which is more than I can say about his predecessor as the go to guy in the paint. Al, good on you man!
DeMarre Carroll (@DemarreCarroll1) was a shocker. He signed with Atlanta for a 2 year $5 million deal. I loved the self proclaimed junkyard dog. He was an animal and gave 110% every night. Again, good on ya man. I wish you nothing but success.
Here is the one that really gets me though. I understand it, but I don't like it, nor do I have to. Paul Milsap is one of my favorite players to ever play for the Jazz. He is an undersized (listed at 6'8, probably closer to 6'6 1/2) power forward who was to small to play at the college level. All he did was lead the NCAA in rebounds for four years. Paul was the number 47 pick in the second round by the Jazz and wasn't ever expected to play. He did. He lead the team in rebounds and steals the past two years. Yup, rebounds and steals. Odd combo, but he did it. When the trade for Favors happened, Paul was basically told to take a back seat. He turned around and said "Take the seat from me." With his aggressive play and ability to adapt his game, you couldn't put him on the bench. He has that never say never attitude and was willing to gnaw his way to success. He also signed with Atlanta to join DMC and Kyle Korver with a 2 year $19 million deal. Congrats Paul, you deserve it. I will continue to sport my green 24 Jazz jersey with pride!
Now on to more inconsistent things: Dwight Howard. The man makes Brett Farve look decisive. Early reports today had the Warriors as the leading candidate for the big center, where those came from who knows. Then Houston reemerged as the front runner and it was even announced he had made his decision. He was taking his talents to Houston. Within minutes he told the Lakers he was 50/50 on them or the Rockets. What? Well, next thing I read is that he's looking at that extra $30 mil and licking his lips. So D-12 still a Laker? Nope, as of now (with still 5 days to be official) he is going to follow Yao Ming and the Hakeem the Dream as big men in Houston. Honestly, if that sticks, I fear the pick and roll of the Rockets. Harden dishing to Dwight? Yikes. I'm just glad that he is scheduled for a trade demand in about two and a half years, right when the Jazz should start improving to contention.
As for the Lakers, I hate to say this, but it's better off without him there. Kobe is still the man and when he returns, they could not co-exist. It's much better this way.
To round out the Utah Jazz roster as of now:
Trey Burke-PG,
Alec Burcs-SG/PG, Brandon Rush-SG,
Gordon Hayward-SF/SG, Richard Jefferson SF, Marvin Williams-SF,
Derrick Favors-PF/C, Jeremy Evans-PF,
Enes Kanter-C/PF, Rudy Gobert-C
It looks like Jamaal Tinsley is still on the radar for the Jazz and maybe another veteran or two willing or sign a 1-2 year lower money deal for the PG spot.
All in all, I say go Hawks this year and rooting for the Jazz to show improvement, and the Warriors to lose every game. Go JAZZ!!!
Monday, June 10, 2013
NBA Finals... Then and Now.
Once again the NBA Finals are here and ironically enough, once again it seems to be the ultimate team vs. the ultimate player. I've always held a belief that in team sports it's the team, not the player(s) who make the magic. Austin Caulie's 4th and 18 "magic happens" catch wouldn't have happened if the O line didn't do their job and the QB didn't do his job. It's the team, not the player. I have this argument for everything from paying college players to which teams are more successful. In basketball though, the line blurs often from team to super star player. The Micheal Jordan Bulls were not nearly the same team without him while he was "playing" baseball. They were still coached by the Zen Master, they still had Karl Malone's top 5 player in Pippen, but both years they finished around .500 and got bounced early in the playoffs. The previous three years and the next three years the blew by everyone in the playoffs to win 6 NBA Championships. So does the superstar make the team in the NBA?
For those of you that would answer yes, I would ask which NBA champion can be considered the sole good player on his team? Magic, Bird, MJ, Russell all had all star casts. The only one exeption I would give would be early Wilt Chamberlain who was a superstar athelete in a short white man's league. Pistol Pete never had good teams around him and therefor, never won a championship. So, does the team make the superstar? I would also say no.
I count fewer superstars than many of the pundits. I don't count the Steve Francis, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook's of the world. They are prolific scorers and demand a lot of attention in that sense. But what else do they give you other than inefficient possessions? Melo doesn't defend, Iverson didn't pass, Westbrook is only just now beginning to learn to be more efficient because of an amazing teammate but still doesn't defend well. As Sloan used to say, defense is all about effort. They just don't care about that side of the court. Who are my superstars in the league today? Kevin Durrant, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant (fading fast) and Tim Duncan. Other than that, I have a lower tier (Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Zach Randolph, Tony Parker), and a scorers list (Melo, Westbrook, Jefferson) and defenders (Chandler, Tony Allen, Ibaka) list. Real superstars though are very few. Even with that being said, where did Lebron take the 07 Cav's. They blew through a weak eastern conference and got beat up in the finals by a very well coached, well developed team. Let's go back to 01. How did the MVP Iverson fair with no one around him? His 76ers imploded and could barely win one game. So in all, I would dare someone to tell me it's still a superstar league
I digress, we have a superstar led team in which they are depending the King to get things done on both ends of the court. It seems as though every year we have this conundrum. Team vs Superstar. Most of the time though, it's more than that. MJ had Pippen, Kerr, Luc Longley and my favorite, Rodman. In one on one, the current Heat roster would blow away those Bulls, in every position but one. The NBA is 5 on 5 though and that was a much better team. However, with Ray Allen, Shane Battier and the Birdman (I love that guy!) coming off the bench, I think Miami is a better team than I previously have given them credit for. However, San Antonio is the most fundamentally sound team in the last 13 years. They have the best coach in NBA history (IMO), led by arguably the best F/C in NBA history and the best pure PG in the current NBA with Manu driving, dishing and shooting. Splitter and Leonard are two of the best young players in the league as well. They all compliment each other perfectly. The only knock I have is they only have player capable (if anyone truly is) of guarding the King. When Leonard is out, the are forced to throw different looks at him using a combo of Parker, Boris Diaw and Danny Green to attempt to hold him under control.
This year, D-Wade is LeBron's Pippen and Bosh has turned into Longley (I won't even give him the credit of Dennis Rodman). The issue is, unlike the Bulls of the 90's, they don't have the same quality coach who can reign and direct the personalities. What you get is a lot of standing around and watching while King James does everything. In Chicago, not as much in L.A. but more so than in Miami, you had a superstar who worked within a system that worked. MJ not only worked the system but he worked within the system. I'll go back to the '97 finals, game six against the Jazz. Coming out of timeout, Steve Kerr has said that though Jackson drew up a play to get Michael the shot, MJ pulled Kerr aside and said, (paraphrasing here) They know it's coming to me, when they double, I'll kick it to you and you'll hit the shot. The play played out just as Michael said it would and the Bulls dashed my dreams.
Game 1 was really exciting. You had a great team effort by the Spurs. They locked down Wade and forced Bosh outside his comfort zone (I would let him shoot long threes all day long). Great individual efforts by all involved, specifically Parker, Leonard and Duncan. And coach Pop controlled the pace of the game with subs. He sat Duncan with two fouls and when it started to look like the Heat would rally, Pop put Duncan back in to get some stops. James put on a clinic. He dominated on both ends of the court and when they needed a stop, he was chasing Tony Parker all over the place better than any one else did. The result: Spurs stealing the advantage and winning game one.
Game 2 was quite different. James did not have a stellar offensive game but played well defensively. Bosh was aggressive and even a bit nasty inside 12 feet, where he belongs. Wade played well without spending to much time on the ground, which surprises me. All in all, the Heat played as a team and the Beat the Spurs handily. The play everyone is talking about though is the Block. I'll say this, it was epic. It was an epic block at a not so key moment of the game which states his newish step on the throat mentality. Every championship style player has that finish him off mentality. However, it was also an epic fail, and should have been a technical foul. It was an arrogant, selfish move to stand there with his chest puffed out like he was a rooster looking for a fight while the rest of his team was down court trying to get a play off. About 8 seconds later you see him running down court by his self. It turned out well, but that was a boneheaded, ridiculous play that should not get rewarded. I think ESPN should show his pic next to a rooster and have THAT be the highlight, not the dunk. Show everyone what kind of player he is. Along with his literal sprinting down court every time a call goes against him, (needs a tech again) and his throwing his arms up like he just got zapped with a taser. MJ would put his hands on his hips and shake his head. That was in the days you were allowed to talk a bit to the refs. If LeBron wants to be compared to greatness, I will compare every step of the way.
The NBA should also hold their "stars" to a higher standard rather than letting them get away with that kind of nonsense. It has always bothered me that they don't call fouls on players like that because fans don't want to see them not in the game at key moments. Well, I say it's up to the player and coach to make sure that happens. Ref's should look at a play, not the player. One way to fix the worst officials in all of sports: call games objectively. Everyone knows they don't. Hell, if they did, Shaq would have been just above average because he committed offensive fouls nearly every time he touched the ball. Jordan wouldn't have scored the last bucket as a Bull the way he did. Not because he pushed off, (and he did) but because he hacked Malone (who flopped to try and "draw" a foul) at the other end of the court. It sets a bad image for the league, who, to their credit, has come a long way from the thug image of the Iverson/Artest/Arenas days. It's just disgusting to see that adolescent crap coming from one of the spokesman for the league. It's disheartening to see the league allows it. And ESPN promotes it with their continuous replay of the full play.
From this point on in the finals, I will be rooting for a less babyish and flopping Spurs team. Who would have thought with Parker and Duncan you could ever say that?
For those of you that would answer yes, I would ask which NBA champion can be considered the sole good player on his team? Magic, Bird, MJ, Russell all had all star casts. The only one exeption I would give would be early Wilt Chamberlain who was a superstar athelete in a short white man's league. Pistol Pete never had good teams around him and therefor, never won a championship. So, does the team make the superstar? I would also say no.
I count fewer superstars than many of the pundits. I don't count the Steve Francis, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook's of the world. They are prolific scorers and demand a lot of attention in that sense. But what else do they give you other than inefficient possessions? Melo doesn't defend, Iverson didn't pass, Westbrook is only just now beginning to learn to be more efficient because of an amazing teammate but still doesn't defend well. As Sloan used to say, defense is all about effort. They just don't care about that side of the court. Who are my superstars in the league today? Kevin Durrant, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant (fading fast) and Tim Duncan. Other than that, I have a lower tier (Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Zach Randolph, Tony Parker), and a scorers list (Melo, Westbrook, Jefferson) and defenders (Chandler, Tony Allen, Ibaka) list. Real superstars though are very few. Even with that being said, where did Lebron take the 07 Cav's. They blew through a weak eastern conference and got beat up in the finals by a very well coached, well developed team. Let's go back to 01. How did the MVP Iverson fair with no one around him? His 76ers imploded and could barely win one game. So in all, I would dare someone to tell me it's still a superstar league
I digress, we have a superstar led team in which they are depending the King to get things done on both ends of the court. It seems as though every year we have this conundrum. Team vs Superstar. Most of the time though, it's more than that. MJ had Pippen, Kerr, Luc Longley and my favorite, Rodman. In one on one, the current Heat roster would blow away those Bulls, in every position but one. The NBA is 5 on 5 though and that was a much better team. However, with Ray Allen, Shane Battier and the Birdman (I love that guy!) coming off the bench, I think Miami is a better team than I previously have given them credit for. However, San Antonio is the most fundamentally sound team in the last 13 years. They have the best coach in NBA history (IMO), led by arguably the best F/C in NBA history and the best pure PG in the current NBA with Manu driving, dishing and shooting. Splitter and Leonard are two of the best young players in the league as well. They all compliment each other perfectly. The only knock I have is they only have player capable (if anyone truly is) of guarding the King. When Leonard is out, the are forced to throw different looks at him using a combo of Parker, Boris Diaw and Danny Green to attempt to hold him under control.
This year, D-Wade is LeBron's Pippen and Bosh has turned into Longley (I won't even give him the credit of Dennis Rodman). The issue is, unlike the Bulls of the 90's, they don't have the same quality coach who can reign and direct the personalities. What you get is a lot of standing around and watching while King James does everything. In Chicago, not as much in L.A. but more so than in Miami, you had a superstar who worked within a system that worked. MJ not only worked the system but he worked within the system. I'll go back to the '97 finals, game six against the Jazz. Coming out of timeout, Steve Kerr has said that though Jackson drew up a play to get Michael the shot, MJ pulled Kerr aside and said, (paraphrasing here) They know it's coming to me, when they double, I'll kick it to you and you'll hit the shot. The play played out just as Michael said it would and the Bulls dashed my dreams.
Game 1 was really exciting. You had a great team effort by the Spurs. They locked down Wade and forced Bosh outside his comfort zone (I would let him shoot long threes all day long). Great individual efforts by all involved, specifically Parker, Leonard and Duncan. And coach Pop controlled the pace of the game with subs. He sat Duncan with two fouls and when it started to look like the Heat would rally, Pop put Duncan back in to get some stops. James put on a clinic. He dominated on both ends of the court and when they needed a stop, he was chasing Tony Parker all over the place better than any one else did. The result: Spurs stealing the advantage and winning game one.
Game 2 was quite different. James did not have a stellar offensive game but played well defensively. Bosh was aggressive and even a bit nasty inside 12 feet, where he belongs. Wade played well without spending to much time on the ground, which surprises me. All in all, the Heat played as a team and the Beat the Spurs handily. The play everyone is talking about though is the Block. I'll say this, it was epic. It was an epic block at a not so key moment of the game which states his newish step on the throat mentality. Every championship style player has that finish him off mentality. However, it was also an epic fail, and should have been a technical foul. It was an arrogant, selfish move to stand there with his chest puffed out like he was a rooster looking for a fight while the rest of his team was down court trying to get a play off. About 8 seconds later you see him running down court by his self. It turned out well, but that was a boneheaded, ridiculous play that should not get rewarded. I think ESPN should show his pic next to a rooster and have THAT be the highlight, not the dunk. Show everyone what kind of player he is. Along with his literal sprinting down court every time a call goes against him, (needs a tech again) and his throwing his arms up like he just got zapped with a taser. MJ would put his hands on his hips and shake his head. That was in the days you were allowed to talk a bit to the refs. If LeBron wants to be compared to greatness, I will compare every step of the way.
The NBA should also hold their "stars" to a higher standard rather than letting them get away with that kind of nonsense. It has always bothered me that they don't call fouls on players like that because fans don't want to see them not in the game at key moments. Well, I say it's up to the player and coach to make sure that happens. Ref's should look at a play, not the player. One way to fix the worst officials in all of sports: call games objectively. Everyone knows they don't. Hell, if they did, Shaq would have been just above average because he committed offensive fouls nearly every time he touched the ball. Jordan wouldn't have scored the last bucket as a Bull the way he did. Not because he pushed off, (and he did) but because he hacked Malone (who flopped to try and "draw" a foul) at the other end of the court. It sets a bad image for the league, who, to their credit, has come a long way from the thug image of the Iverson/Artest/Arenas days. It's just disgusting to see that adolescent crap coming from one of the spokesman for the league. It's disheartening to see the league allows it. And ESPN promotes it with their continuous replay of the full play.
From this point on in the finals, I will be rooting for a less babyish and flopping Spurs team. Who would have thought with Parker and Duncan you could ever say that?
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Mail Man gets a chance to help the Milk Man deliver.
Sorry it's been a while since my last post. Baseball is back into full swing and things are right where they should be. The Mariners suck. Again. I am sitting at work staring at my White Sox calender wondering if my childhood love is finally fading. Even though the Sox are 3 games below .500 I find myself drifting towards that team more and more. I digress, let's talk about what everyone really wants to talk about, the Utah Jazz reaching back into history again.
Karl Malone has just signed on to join another former Jazzman Tyrone Corbin in coaching the young Jazz team. He actually signs on to be a part time "big man" coach. He fills a severe need much like recently departed former Jazzman Jeff "Horny" Hornecek (congrats at the head coaching gig Horny, hope you don't beat the Jazz) did with AK47 before become a full time assistant when the Legend stepped into retirement. If nothing else, this is a great sound bite machine. Karl, err, Coach Malone will most assuredly give us wonderful tidbits after each game he is at, which seems to be most home games. I just hope he doesn't confuse Enes Kanter (I had to do that, sorry...) with his Louisiana sayings. However, he has said some incredible things in the past. "Forget technique. Hit the guy across from you. Don't let somebody come in your space." That's the mentality that these young kids need. Even if Isiah Thomas still flinches when he hears Malone coming. Derrick Favors needs some aggression and some nasty that Malone can bring. I also hope that the Jazz can talk Paul Milsap into staying on board as a 6th man just to stay with fellow Lousianan Malone. Think of the nasty picks Kanter could throw and how hard Favors could roll to the basket. I'm drooling to think that this could happen. If this works, this could work really well.
There are some major pit falls though. Malone wants to be the center of attention. Larry H. Miller once said "He's a huge pain in the ass. But he's our pain in the ass." Will the organization put up with him being a pain in the ass when he is not directly putting up 28 ppg and 12 rebounds? What if he and coach Corbin have a falling out over a coaching decision? It won't be quite. Malone will tell the media that he wants the game plan to be an inside out, pick and roll game. Let's face it, because of his history, the media will flock to him first anyway. I would. What if he sees something on the court from Favors or Kanter that he sees as quiting? Yikes. What if he sees the off season routine of these guys and freaks out at them saying "When I was your age". Hell, what if Favors gets injured for 10 games? Malone would be all over him in the media for not preparing hard enough. Until the 1 year Lakers stint where he missed half the season with a knee injury, Coach Malone (that just sounds funny) missed more games due to suspension than injury.
Can you imagine if we can talk the stoic and recluse John Stockton into getting on the bench next to Ty? Man, that would look good. John and Karl on the bench with Ty. It would remind Jazz fans of my generation of why the fell in love with the team in the first place. I'm sure that Mark Eaton could take some time away from his restaurant and Thurl Bailey could come downstairs for a pick up game of Jazz legends vs. Jazz newbies. Wow, I just thought of this, we could field a larger team of Jazz legends that are here often enough than guys on the current roster. Yikes.
Do I think this is a saving grace for Coach Corbin? I don't know, but I think it's more of a blow up potential than anything else. All in all, I think the Jazz will suffer another sub-par year, and Coach Corbin goes the way of the Milk Man and disappears. Who would I like to see coach? I'm not sure, but I don't want to see another Jazz team that lacks an identity offensively and doesn't show the typical nasty I'm used to seeing in a Jazz team. Malone will bring that nasty back, in more ways than one.
P.S. sorry I got a little link happy, but some of them were pretty fun to look up.
Karl Malone has just signed on to join another former Jazzman Tyrone Corbin in coaching the young Jazz team. He actually signs on to be a part time "big man" coach. He fills a severe need much like recently departed former Jazzman Jeff "Horny" Hornecek (congrats at the head coaching gig Horny, hope you don't beat the Jazz) did with AK47 before become a full time assistant when the Legend stepped into retirement. If nothing else, this is a great sound bite machine. Karl, err, Coach Malone will most assuredly give us wonderful tidbits after each game he is at, which seems to be most home games. I just hope he doesn't confuse Enes Kanter (I had to do that, sorry...) with his Louisiana sayings. However, he has said some incredible things in the past. "Forget technique. Hit the guy across from you. Don't let somebody come in your space." That's the mentality that these young kids need. Even if Isiah Thomas still flinches when he hears Malone coming. Derrick Favors needs some aggression and some nasty that Malone can bring. I also hope that the Jazz can talk Paul Milsap into staying on board as a 6th man just to stay with fellow Lousianan Malone. Think of the nasty picks Kanter could throw and how hard Favors could roll to the basket. I'm drooling to think that this could happen. If this works, this could work really well.
There are some major pit falls though. Malone wants to be the center of attention. Larry H. Miller once said "He's a huge pain in the ass. But he's our pain in the ass." Will the organization put up with him being a pain in the ass when he is not directly putting up 28 ppg and 12 rebounds? What if he and coach Corbin have a falling out over a coaching decision? It won't be quite. Malone will tell the media that he wants the game plan to be an inside out, pick and roll game. Let's face it, because of his history, the media will flock to him first anyway. I would. What if he sees something on the court from Favors or Kanter that he sees as quiting? Yikes. What if he sees the off season routine of these guys and freaks out at them saying "When I was your age". Hell, what if Favors gets injured for 10 games? Malone would be all over him in the media for not preparing hard enough. Until the 1 year Lakers stint where he missed half the season with a knee injury, Coach Malone (that just sounds funny) missed more games due to suspension than injury.
Can you imagine if we can talk the stoic and recluse John Stockton into getting on the bench next to Ty? Man, that would look good. John and Karl on the bench with Ty. It would remind Jazz fans of my generation of why the fell in love with the team in the first place. I'm sure that Mark Eaton could take some time away from his restaurant and Thurl Bailey could come downstairs for a pick up game of Jazz legends vs. Jazz newbies. Wow, I just thought of this, we could field a larger team of Jazz legends that are here often enough than guys on the current roster. Yikes.
Do I think this is a saving grace for Coach Corbin? I don't know, but I think it's more of a blow up potential than anything else. All in all, I think the Jazz will suffer another sub-par year, and Coach Corbin goes the way of the Milk Man and disappears. Who would I like to see coach? I'm not sure, but I don't want to see another Jazz team that lacks an identity offensively and doesn't show the typical nasty I'm used to seeing in a Jazz team. Malone will bring that nasty back, in more ways than one.
P.S. sorry I got a little link happy, but some of them were pretty fun to look up.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
All Hail the Utah SPAZZ
Watching the Spazz play Wednesday was a little frustrating. First of all, the national media who can do no wrong could talk about nothing else but the Lakers and Rockets. Second of all, the Jazz themselves run an increasingly frustrating offense. It’s not the inside out model I don’t like. I love that. The inside post is my favorite position on the basketball court and sadly the good fundamental players at that position are becoming as rare as the snow in June. I’m not talking about the Blake Griffins and the lumbering centers. I’m talking about the Tim Duncan’s, the Moses Malone’s, the Karl Malone’s. These type of players are going the way of the dodo because it’s not sexy to watch a big guy defend in the paint like Dennis Rodman did in the 90’s. Nor is it sexy to watch a center sky hook a shot from 4 feet in front of the basket like Kareem Abdul Jabar in the 80’s. It’s more about what you can do to get on Sports Center. I.E. Blake Griffin, Carlos Boozer and Big Al Jefferson. All of which play the Matador style defense so well that I’ve overheard turn styles say they were jealous of those three’s collective ability to have people go by them.
What bugs me about the Utah Jazz offense is the fact that when Al Jefferson is on the floor everything stops around him. He gets the ball and it seems like the rest of the team stops, gets popcorn and watches the show. Not only that, Utah has four good quality big men. Millsap, Jefferson, Kanter (who is out for the rest of the season) and the young phenom Derek Favors. They should not only push the ball inside, but they should push it inside again. After that doesn’t work, do it again. But they don’t come anywhere close. They play a double high post game that drives me bonkers. Imagine Karl Malone playing either 15 feet outside or just at the free throw line. Not that I am comparing any of these guys to the great Mailman, but come on. Even Charles Barkley played deeper than these guys do. With that said, Gordon Heyward and Alec Burks are both very good players and I love that Randy Foye has come on and shot the three really well. I’m OK with all of that. In fact, I love that the Jazz have embraced the fact that a three point line actually exists (sorry Sloan fans, you know it’s true). The high post is good, the double high post is absolutely ridiculous with the bigs Utah has. In fact, I don’t like the double high post with one big and one guy who has no business playing the four. Jerry Sloan realized that even with AK47 playing the power forward position. Think about this: Gordon Heyward is about the same height and weight as Andre and he plays the three and the two. AK played the three but was more comfortable at the four. Sloan played AK at the four because he didn’t have anyone else, and they had Greg Ostertag at the five. So defensively they were really good. Offensively they were really, really bad. They did have however, a plan, and executed that plan. The plan now, if there is one, seems to be get the ball into Jefferson and watch him play and when the lack of movement and rotation bites them in the butt, let Mo Williams do whatever he wants and see what happens. Also on defense, guard the three point and hope Derek Favors or Enes Kanter can defend everything else. Oh oops, Jefferson is there again, so let them score and we’ll try to shot threes until the coach takes out Jefferson and we go back to an what might look like an offense.
I know it’s a simplistic view of what actually goes on, but I honestly think it’s one of two things here: Ty Corbin doesn’t have an offense he is comfortable running or he has zero control of the team. Sometimes I think they will pull it off because Paul Millsap and Gordon Heyward take over the game and run what resembles offensive plays. Then again, sometimes I think they are just following direction and it’s not good direction at all. I loved that they hired a guy who had Sloan ties. I loved that he was a former Jazz player and he seemed to run similar things to Sloan with a more modern twist. Right now, I don’t think it was the right hire. I am hoping they cut ties with him (which they won’t) and the new GM Dennis Lindsey will talk management into hiring long time Phil Jackson asst. Brian Shaw. Not that I’m a Phil Jackson fan, nor am I real fan of the Triangle offense. It’s that he has an offense and a defense he likes to run. From what I’ve heard, it’s not the triangle, but he believes in running plays and playing the right way. Maybe that is what Utah needs right now.
With them not only losing a must win game, but getting embarrassed on national TV again, with this talent, someone needs to be held accountable. Whether that’s the coach, or even the front office because of the lack of movement at mid-season, someone needs to be held accountable. And I reiterate what I’ve said since they didn’t trade him, if they re-sign Al Jefferson, I am a Seattle Sonics fan.
On a side note, come join me and my family at the Red and White game with me and my family this Saturday at 1 pm! GO UTES!!!
What bugs me about the Utah Jazz offense is the fact that when Al Jefferson is on the floor everything stops around him. He gets the ball and it seems like the rest of the team stops, gets popcorn and watches the show. Not only that, Utah has four good quality big men. Millsap, Jefferson, Kanter (who is out for the rest of the season) and the young phenom Derek Favors. They should not only push the ball inside, but they should push it inside again. After that doesn’t work, do it again. But they don’t come anywhere close. They play a double high post game that drives me bonkers. Imagine Karl Malone playing either 15 feet outside or just at the free throw line. Not that I am comparing any of these guys to the great Mailman, but come on. Even Charles Barkley played deeper than these guys do. With that said, Gordon Heyward and Alec Burks are both very good players and I love that Randy Foye has come on and shot the three really well. I’m OK with all of that. In fact, I love that the Jazz have embraced the fact that a three point line actually exists (sorry Sloan fans, you know it’s true). The high post is good, the double high post is absolutely ridiculous with the bigs Utah has. In fact, I don’t like the double high post with one big and one guy who has no business playing the four. Jerry Sloan realized that even with AK47 playing the power forward position. Think about this: Gordon Heyward is about the same height and weight as Andre and he plays the three and the two. AK played the three but was more comfortable at the four. Sloan played AK at the four because he didn’t have anyone else, and they had Greg Ostertag at the five. So defensively they were really good. Offensively they were really, really bad. They did have however, a plan, and executed that plan. The plan now, if there is one, seems to be get the ball into Jefferson and watch him play and when the lack of movement and rotation bites them in the butt, let Mo Williams do whatever he wants and see what happens. Also on defense, guard the three point and hope Derek Favors or Enes Kanter can defend everything else. Oh oops, Jefferson is there again, so let them score and we’ll try to shot threes until the coach takes out Jefferson and we go back to an what might look like an offense.
I know it’s a simplistic view of what actually goes on, but I honestly think it’s one of two things here: Ty Corbin doesn’t have an offense he is comfortable running or he has zero control of the team. Sometimes I think they will pull it off because Paul Millsap and Gordon Heyward take over the game and run what resembles offensive plays. Then again, sometimes I think they are just following direction and it’s not good direction at all. I loved that they hired a guy who had Sloan ties. I loved that he was a former Jazz player and he seemed to run similar things to Sloan with a more modern twist. Right now, I don’t think it was the right hire. I am hoping they cut ties with him (which they won’t) and the new GM Dennis Lindsey will talk management into hiring long time Phil Jackson asst. Brian Shaw. Not that I’m a Phil Jackson fan, nor am I real fan of the Triangle offense. It’s that he has an offense and a defense he likes to run. From what I’ve heard, it’s not the triangle, but he believes in running plays and playing the right way. Maybe that is what Utah needs right now.
With them not only losing a must win game, but getting embarrassed on national TV again, with this talent, someone needs to be held accountable. Whether that’s the coach, or even the front office because of the lack of movement at mid-season, someone needs to be held accountable. And I reiterate what I’ve said since they didn’t trade him, if they re-sign Al Jefferson, I am a Seattle Sonics fan.
On a side note, come join me and my family at the Red and White game with me and my family this Saturday at 1 pm! GO UTES!!!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Take me out to the ball game
For years I've been a fringe baseball fan. I love going to the Bees games and taking in all of the sights, smells and sounds of a summer evening game. The crack of a bat, the chatter of the crowd, the popcorn, peanuts, the drunken stupor of the guy next to you. I love all of it. I love the tradition of the 7th inning stretch and signing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." I really enjoy walking into a ball park and feeling like you are stepping into tradition and history. It's not something you get with football or basketball on any level. But baseball oozes such feelings on almost every level. I don't mean the hyper competitive little league where parents are yelling at the umps or even heckling the other 10 year old kids, which is a major problem in all sports. I really mean the old ball fields that feel like you could watch your dad holding his dad's hand walking into park pointing at the sights and explaining the game to his boy. Baseball has that feeling, for good and bad, of always looking into it's history. Even the new parks, with all the entertainment options and new architecture, feel nostalgic. Mostly anyway, I haven't been to the Disney park that house the Los Angeles of Anaheim of California in the southern part of the state below Hollywood but not quite to Chino Angels, but I hear even with all the extra stuff they have, it's a great field.
I recently flew over Chicago and it made me smile to see all this foriegn land where large buildings were seemingly sticking up out of the earth like the crystals in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and dotting the landscape were the beautiful diamond shapes that told me there were children here who were laughing and having a good time with their teammates who would become life long friends.
Baseball means history changing events. This week a movie is hitting the theaters about a few men who changed the history of sports and hopefully the history of mankind. 42 is the story of Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers. For those of you with no historical sense of greatness, it was April 15th 1947 and Jackie Robinson was the first man to break the color barrier in all professional sports. This was more than 20 years before the Titans in Virginia. If you get nothing out of this Baseball love fest of mine, get this: Jackie Robinson is a national hero and you should see this movie for it's historical significance alone. Or at least read as much as you can on it.
I say fringe though because as a Mariners fan it's hard to watch sometimes. What I mean is that I walked into a sports apparel store wearing a Mariners cap and a Seahawks shirt and a random man there asked if I was married and after my positive response, he said "Your wife must really love you." I said "Thanks, but why do you say that?" "Because she knows you are loyal." The Mariners have dashed my hopes more often than Michael Jordan. Not as bad mind you, but more often.
In fact, I don't like the structure of the league very much at all. Don't get me wrong, I love the dynamic between the NL and AL with the DH. But what I really don't like is the lack of disparity among the league. Honestly, how bad is Kansas City? And did you know that the Pittsburgh Pirates are in fact a Major League team? (sorry David, I had to mention it). Miami and Tampa Bay both have Major League teams, though the people there don't yet realize it. This league is not set up as a league to succeed. It's succeeds despite that fact. It is truly set up for the rich to get richer and the poor to suffer longer. The Yankees, the Red Sox, the Dodgers now, are set up to buy their way into the World Series and more often than not, it works. In a perfect world, the league would work together to make sure that the playing field was level. I love the theory of Money Ball and how it works to not ever over pay for a statistic, but also not fall in love with a "5 tool" guy who has never won. All in all, I love the game but not really the league.
Now I've been going to Jazz games my whole life and I love them. I've sat everywhere from the 7th row all the up to the last row and loved every second of all of it. I love the modern feeling of the arena. I also have been going to college football games for as long as I can remember and I've been to quite a few stadiums and even some old ones. They are great fun places to be and watch football, but none of them offer that same feeling of ease and nostalgia that Spring Mobile ball park gives. It's not the park either, it's baseball. Why do you think three quarters of all the good sports movies are about baseball? It's because of the feelings that it spurs in all of us with a heart.
Recently I had the opportunity to go and watch the Mariners play the White Sox in Chicago. I took the hour long train ride from my hotel to U.S. Cellular field. I walked in by myself, an outsider in an unknown land. I had even forgotten my hat at home and because of my Scandinavian heritage, I had to buy the hat of the enemy (not my first White Sox hat though). The clouds were grey and ominous. I sat in my seat as to not draw attention to myself and curled up to keep myself warm. The first pitch was thrown by a 9 year old girl who was representing the girl scouts and she tossed that sucker dead on over the plate into the catchers mitt. The crowd really cheered for first time. The wind settled down a bit and the White Sox took the field to the first rays of sun I'd seen all day. My shoulders relaxed, my senses opened up to the baseball atmosphere that surrounded me. An old man was sitting next to me and we started to chat while we watched the game. He grew up on the north side of Chicago. Three up, three down for the Mariners. He was an usher for the Blackhawks and Cubs while earning his doctorate. He had worked at all the major sporting arena's in Chicago. This man was a treasure trove of information. Felix Hernandez started blowing batters away as I quietly cheered to myself. I asked him about Wrigley field and he told me it felt like home to him and he hoped the don't lose the nostalgia when they remodel. Felix retired the side in order. We talked of baseball fields across the country and his love of the great game. Top of the 2nd, Raul Ibanez is on second when Jeff Keppinger reaches on a fielding error (worst stat in all of sports) Mariner's up 1-0. The guys behind us who are season ticket holders begin talking to us about the man's incredible history and start picking his brain just as I was. Bottom of the forth the Sox finally get a hit off King Felix. He talks about the legacy of a place like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park and how places like these should be held in great honor. Also of how architects shouldn't be allowed to touch a baseball field unless they know baseball. He references my now known teams foul pole debacle. When Safeco Field was built, the architect put the poles in foul territory, in contrast to the rest of the world where they are actually in fair territory. Bottom of the fifth, White Sox Hector Gimenez sac fly to center allows Conor Gillaspie to score. 1-1. A breeze blows in and it becomes a little chilly again. We start talking of all the cold weather games we'd been involved with. Me talking about Utah vs BYU, Boise State at BYU etc. and the guys behind us talk about a Blackhawks game they went to at Soldier Field. The old man decides to let us feel special for only a moment before telling us of a Notre Dame game he ushered for where the bleachers had iced over the night before and they couldn't chip it off fast enough because of the snow still falling. It still sold out and the Irish won. Bottom of the sixth Alex Rios hits a two run shot shot out of left field. White Sox 3-1. The older gentleman decides to leave us at this point to find some nachos in a baseball cap. Literally $12 of food over flowing from a plastic White Sox helmet. Awesome. The other guys and I continue to talk sports, and Chicago. They are both in the 200 club. Which means they've been to over 200 White Sox games. They tell of places to go and see in Chicago. I have to go see the bean. During the 7th inning stretch all the fans, and I do mean all the fans stand and sing at the top of their lungs. "Root, root root for the WHITE SOX!!" By the way, shame on you Bees fans. I know you are one of the best selling tickets in the AAA, but small traditions like this get more mocked than anything sometime. Bottom of the 7th, sac fly allows Conor Gillaspie to score again. White Sox 4-1. I have to go check out the bar on the 96th floor of the Hancock building. It over looks the whole city and gives a view of the most amazing sunset you'll ever see. They had decided they'd seen enough of the 17th row on the 3rd base line. We moved down to three empty seats on the sixth row, right behind the dugout. Top of the 8th with a man on and no outs, Michael Saunders homers over the left field wall. 4-3 White Sox. We start talking Bulls and how I laughed while watching the Nets and Bulls two nights prior because with Boozer screaming "AND ONE!!" and Deron scowling at everyone and shooting threes whenever he wants to, I felt like I was watching a Jazz scrimmage form 4 years ago. Top of the 9th, two outs and a man on first, White Sox still leading by 1 the crowd gets up on their feet and starts cheering on their young closer Addison Reed. He blows by the batter with his first two pitches making it an 0-2 count. The third pitch goes a wee awry and the count gets up to 1-2. The next pitch was fouled back into the crowd. Still 1-2. 96 MPH fastball right down the gullet leaves the Mariners waving goodbye. I say goodbye to my new comrades, they console my loss while cheering their win. I walk up the stairs and leave the park. As I do so, the clouds start coming back out and cover the sun and the wind picks up a little bit more. By the time my train ride was over, the rain had begun to pour down. Nothing could ruin this perfect day for me.
I recently flew over Chicago and it made me smile to see all this foriegn land where large buildings were seemingly sticking up out of the earth like the crystals in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and dotting the landscape were the beautiful diamond shapes that told me there were children here who were laughing and having a good time with their teammates who would become life long friends.
Baseball means history changing events. This week a movie is hitting the theaters about a few men who changed the history of sports and hopefully the history of mankind. 42 is the story of Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers. For those of you with no historical sense of greatness, it was April 15th 1947 and Jackie Robinson was the first man to break the color barrier in all professional sports. This was more than 20 years before the Titans in Virginia. If you get nothing out of this Baseball love fest of mine, get this: Jackie Robinson is a national hero and you should see this movie for it's historical significance alone. Or at least read as much as you can on it.
I say fringe though because as a Mariners fan it's hard to watch sometimes. What I mean is that I walked into a sports apparel store wearing a Mariners cap and a Seahawks shirt and a random man there asked if I was married and after my positive response, he said "Your wife must really love you." I said "Thanks, but why do you say that?" "Because she knows you are loyal." The Mariners have dashed my hopes more often than Michael Jordan. Not as bad mind you, but more often.
In fact, I don't like the structure of the league very much at all. Don't get me wrong, I love the dynamic between the NL and AL with the DH. But what I really don't like is the lack of disparity among the league. Honestly, how bad is Kansas City? And did you know that the Pittsburgh Pirates are in fact a Major League team? (sorry David, I had to mention it). Miami and Tampa Bay both have Major League teams, though the people there don't yet realize it. This league is not set up as a league to succeed. It's succeeds despite that fact. It is truly set up for the rich to get richer and the poor to suffer longer. The Yankees, the Red Sox, the Dodgers now, are set up to buy their way into the World Series and more often than not, it works. In a perfect world, the league would work together to make sure that the playing field was level. I love the theory of Money Ball and how it works to not ever over pay for a statistic, but also not fall in love with a "5 tool" guy who has never won. All in all, I love the game but not really the league.
Now I've been going to Jazz games my whole life and I love them. I've sat everywhere from the 7th row all the up to the last row and loved every second of all of it. I love the modern feeling of the arena. I also have been going to college football games for as long as I can remember and I've been to quite a few stadiums and even some old ones. They are great fun places to be and watch football, but none of them offer that same feeling of ease and nostalgia that Spring Mobile ball park gives. It's not the park either, it's baseball. Why do you think three quarters of all the good sports movies are about baseball? It's because of the feelings that it spurs in all of us with a heart.
Recently I had the opportunity to go and watch the Mariners play the White Sox in Chicago. I took the hour long train ride from my hotel to U.S. Cellular field. I walked in by myself, an outsider in an unknown land. I had even forgotten my hat at home and because of my Scandinavian heritage, I had to buy the hat of the enemy (not my first White Sox hat though). The clouds were grey and ominous. I sat in my seat as to not draw attention to myself and curled up to keep myself warm. The first pitch was thrown by a 9 year old girl who was representing the girl scouts and she tossed that sucker dead on over the plate into the catchers mitt. The crowd really cheered for first time. The wind settled down a bit and the White Sox took the field to the first rays of sun I'd seen all day. My shoulders relaxed, my senses opened up to the baseball atmosphere that surrounded me. An old man was sitting next to me and we started to chat while we watched the game. He grew up on the north side of Chicago. Three up, three down for the Mariners. He was an usher for the Blackhawks and Cubs while earning his doctorate. He had worked at all the major sporting arena's in Chicago. This man was a treasure trove of information. Felix Hernandez started blowing batters away as I quietly cheered to myself. I asked him about Wrigley field and he told me it felt like home to him and he hoped the don't lose the nostalgia when they remodel. Felix retired the side in order. We talked of baseball fields across the country and his love of the great game. Top of the 2nd, Raul Ibanez is on second when Jeff Keppinger reaches on a fielding error (worst stat in all of sports) Mariner's up 1-0. The guys behind us who are season ticket holders begin talking to us about the man's incredible history and start picking his brain just as I was. Bottom of the forth the Sox finally get a hit off King Felix. He talks about the legacy of a place like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park and how places like these should be held in great honor. Also of how architects shouldn't be allowed to touch a baseball field unless they know baseball. He references my now known teams foul pole debacle. When Safeco Field was built, the architect put the poles in foul territory, in contrast to the rest of the world where they are actually in fair territory. Bottom of the fifth, White Sox Hector Gimenez sac fly to center allows Conor Gillaspie to score. 1-1. A breeze blows in and it becomes a little chilly again. We start talking of all the cold weather games we'd been involved with. Me talking about Utah vs BYU, Boise State at BYU etc. and the guys behind us talk about a Blackhawks game they went to at Soldier Field. The old man decides to let us feel special for only a moment before telling us of a Notre Dame game he ushered for where the bleachers had iced over the night before and they couldn't chip it off fast enough because of the snow still falling. It still sold out and the Irish won. Bottom of the sixth Alex Rios hits a two run shot shot out of left field. White Sox 3-1. The older gentleman decides to leave us at this point to find some nachos in a baseball cap. Literally $12 of food over flowing from a plastic White Sox helmet. Awesome. The other guys and I continue to talk sports, and Chicago. They are both in the 200 club. Which means they've been to over 200 White Sox games. They tell of places to go and see in Chicago. I have to go see the bean. During the 7th inning stretch all the fans, and I do mean all the fans stand and sing at the top of their lungs. "Root, root root for the WHITE SOX!!" By the way, shame on you Bees fans. I know you are one of the best selling tickets in the AAA, but small traditions like this get more mocked than anything sometime. Bottom of the 7th, sac fly allows Conor Gillaspie to score again. White Sox 4-1. I have to go check out the bar on the 96th floor of the Hancock building. It over looks the whole city and gives a view of the most amazing sunset you'll ever see. They had decided they'd seen enough of the 17th row on the 3rd base line. We moved down to three empty seats on the sixth row, right behind the dugout. Top of the 8th with a man on and no outs, Michael Saunders homers over the left field wall. 4-3 White Sox. We start talking Bulls and how I laughed while watching the Nets and Bulls two nights prior because with Boozer screaming "AND ONE!!" and Deron scowling at everyone and shooting threes whenever he wants to, I felt like I was watching a Jazz scrimmage form 4 years ago. Top of the 9th, two outs and a man on first, White Sox still leading by 1 the crowd gets up on their feet and starts cheering on their young closer Addison Reed. He blows by the batter with his first two pitches making it an 0-2 count. The third pitch goes a wee awry and the count gets up to 1-2. The next pitch was fouled back into the crowd. Still 1-2. 96 MPH fastball right down the gullet leaves the Mariners waving goodbye. I say goodbye to my new comrades, they console my loss while cheering their win. I walk up the stairs and leave the park. As I do so, the clouds start coming back out and cover the sun and the wind picks up a little bit more. By the time my train ride was over, the rain had begun to pour down. Nothing could ruin this perfect day for me.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
I'm back... again
Hello all you faithful and awesome followers!! I know you've missed me and I've missed doing this so I'm back to give my schpiel on sports as we know it. Here is a quick rundown of everything that has happened in my biased sports world since my last post.
Utah football: one meh year with Norm Chow (now the HC at Hawaii) was attempting some weird combo of the spread and west coast offenses and one abysmal year under the youngest offensive coordinator I've ever even heard of (I mean really? BJ was the QB for the team in 2008) and where even the defense looked lost most of the time. Throwing up seemed a more pleasurable experience than watching the garbage that was displayed by the Utes. In fact, every coach but one that the Utes beat in the Pac-12 has got fired over the last two years. And the Mike Leach experiment in Pullman is yet to be decided. That is how bad the were. However, in the off season, they finally made a solid choice (hopefully) in offensive coaches. Bryan Johnson is still the co-coordinate, but they brought in Dennis Erickson (yes that Dennis Erickson, of the Miami two time national championship and leaving to coach the Seahawks) to help him along. They have narrowed the offense from a non functional "multi" scheme mess to a fast paced spread offense. Erickson has been quoted in saying he wants at least 80 offensive plays a game. The Utes averaged under 65 last year. So that's a huge jump. That's Oregon like numbers. Hopefully they can hit it and Travis Wilson proves he is a bigger man than Jordan Wynn was.
Running Utes Basketball: New coach, same results... so far. They did go nuts and beat two teams in the conference tourney this year and show some major promise. But I seem to remember saying something like that in 2004...
Seahawks: The Pete Carrol thing is going much better than I originally thought. They have drafted well and attacked the free agent market this year and are a favorite to come out of the NFC West, even with the 49ers Super Bowl loss.
The Utah Spazz, I mean Jazz. They look great against the mid range teams and have even learned to beat the lower level teams. But they seem star struck whenever they see a really athletic and disciplined team. They are currently in the 9th spot in the west with seven games left and 1/2 game out of the 8th spot. Honestly it doesn't look good to make the playoffs and even if they do, they'll be playing the Spurs again. Yikes. If they re-sign Big Al Jefferson, the biggest defensive liability I've seen since, well Boozer, I'm becoming a Sonics fan again. Even though they may not even have a team next year, I'll just wear my old green and gold and wait.
The Mariner's. They look solid. they are a grand 2-0 this year and I am super excited about the next 400 or so games they play in a season. On a side note, I may actually be becoming more of a White Sox fan than I have before. Those who've known me for a long time know that I've quietly sported the gear since I was 14, but now I'm actually starting to follow them a bit.
All in all, I'm back. Back again. Look who's back.
Utah football: one meh year with Norm Chow (now the HC at Hawaii) was attempting some weird combo of the spread and west coast offenses and one abysmal year under the youngest offensive coordinator I've ever even heard of (I mean really? BJ was the QB for the team in 2008) and where even the defense looked lost most of the time. Throwing up seemed a more pleasurable experience than watching the garbage that was displayed by the Utes. In fact, every coach but one that the Utes beat in the Pac-12 has got fired over the last two years. And the Mike Leach experiment in Pullman is yet to be decided. That is how bad the were. However, in the off season, they finally made a solid choice (hopefully) in offensive coaches. Bryan Johnson is still the co-coordinate, but they brought in Dennis Erickson (yes that Dennis Erickson, of the Miami two time national championship and leaving to coach the Seahawks) to help him along. They have narrowed the offense from a non functional "multi" scheme mess to a fast paced spread offense. Erickson has been quoted in saying he wants at least 80 offensive plays a game. The Utes averaged under 65 last year. So that's a huge jump. That's Oregon like numbers. Hopefully they can hit it and Travis Wilson proves he is a bigger man than Jordan Wynn was.
Running Utes Basketball: New coach, same results... so far. They did go nuts and beat two teams in the conference tourney this year and show some major promise. But I seem to remember saying something like that in 2004...
Seahawks: The Pete Carrol thing is going much better than I originally thought. They have drafted well and attacked the free agent market this year and are a favorite to come out of the NFC West, even with the 49ers Super Bowl loss.
The Utah Spazz, I mean Jazz. They look great against the mid range teams and have even learned to beat the lower level teams. But they seem star struck whenever they see a really athletic and disciplined team. They are currently in the 9th spot in the west with seven games left and 1/2 game out of the 8th spot. Honestly it doesn't look good to make the playoffs and even if they do, they'll be playing the Spurs again. Yikes. If they re-sign Big Al Jefferson, the biggest defensive liability I've seen since, well Boozer, I'm becoming a Sonics fan again. Even though they may not even have a team next year, I'll just wear my old green and gold and wait.
The Mariner's. They look solid. they are a grand 2-0 this year and I am super excited about the next 400 or so games they play in a season. On a side note, I may actually be becoming more of a White Sox fan than I have before. Those who've known me for a long time know that I've quietly sported the gear since I was 14, but now I'm actually starting to follow them a bit.
All in all, I'm back. Back again. Look who's back.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
What a Wynn!
Sure, the week after I blast Jordan Wynn for the first time he actually shows he can still play. He played better tonight than he has since his freshman year. How did he go from lofting balls across a ten yard space that were in the air for what seemed like ten minutes to zipping the ball into double coverage and completing those passes? Where has this guy been? Was he holding back in the first two games because he knew BYU was coming? Was he perfect though? Not really, he lead some of his WR's into some massive hits. In fact, I don't think DeVonte Christopher knows his own name right now. Plus, on two occasions, if BYU DB's could catch, they would have turned the ball over on gimme interceptions. However, he played really well tonight and it was wonderful that it came against BYU.
Speaking of holding back, when did the O-line learn to block? It was amazing to see Jordan sitting back in the pocket with all the time in the world. I think one of the major changes was bringing Vakapuna in more. He seems to know the blocking schemes better than White IV. That blitz pick up in the third quarter to let Wynn toss the ball to Anderson for that 56 yard run was amazing.
Speaking of that, thank you Norm Chow for changing your offense enough to allow Wynn to get comfortable. A lot of shotgun plays and 5 step drops rather than the 3 step drops he was having issues with last week. As well as moving the pocket a bit more than usual for a Chow coached offense.
The Defense though. These guys are all ball hawks. All of them fly to the ball to tip, pick, hit, put a helmet on it, pull, push, anything to get the ball back. It's amazing. It may be the most opportunistic defense I've ever seen at Utah. The bend but not break thing looks to me to be bend until we take it philosophy.
Were the Utes perfect tonight though? Not even close. Utah had 29 yards rushing in the entire first half. That is unacceptable. They did fix it though with a dominating second half where Utah's O-line was blowing holes in the defense so big you could drive Miss Daisy through it. I would love to see more Harvey Langi inserted with Vakapuna and White IV. Make it a three headed monster. Also, while I am dreaming big, I might as well ask for sooner take aways so the defense doesn't look like they are getting pushed into the endzone. But this bodes well for the rest of the year.
If Utah plays the way they played tonight, I don't see anyone in the South beating them. The Pac-12 South is Utah's to lose right now. IF they can keep up what they have been doing, 10 take aways in 2 games in an amazing stat and needs to be relished and continued for them to be really successful. I'll see up close and personal on OCT 1 against Udub, so I'll be more able to tell you then. But I am really looking forward to that game and seeing the Utes dismantle another former Coug in Sark (who I really like and route for unless they are playing Utah or WSU, just like I route for BYU unless they are playing Utah or WSU).
Also, I am going to get back into my routine of last year where I would post predictions and thought on Thursday nights (hopefully before those games) and it looks like this week could be interesting for another conference re-alignment craze. Pitt and 'Cuse just applied to the ACC in what looks like could be the death of the Big East unless they take some of the Big 12 schools that would be left in the wake. I'll get more into this later, but I really hope that the SEC remains at 14 schools and the Big 12 rebounds by getting BYU, Air Force and TCU to join them and the Big East stays together as well. I love regional sports with the occasional travel game in the regular season.
All in all though, what a great night to be a UTE!
Speaking of holding back, when did the O-line learn to block? It was amazing to see Jordan sitting back in the pocket with all the time in the world. I think one of the major changes was bringing Vakapuna in more. He seems to know the blocking schemes better than White IV. That blitz pick up in the third quarter to let Wynn toss the ball to Anderson for that 56 yard run was amazing.
Speaking of that, thank you Norm Chow for changing your offense enough to allow Wynn to get comfortable. A lot of shotgun plays and 5 step drops rather than the 3 step drops he was having issues with last week. As well as moving the pocket a bit more than usual for a Chow coached offense.
The Defense though. These guys are all ball hawks. All of them fly to the ball to tip, pick, hit, put a helmet on it, pull, push, anything to get the ball back. It's amazing. It may be the most opportunistic defense I've ever seen at Utah. The bend but not break thing looks to me to be bend until we take it philosophy.
Were the Utes perfect tonight though? Not even close. Utah had 29 yards rushing in the entire first half. That is unacceptable. They did fix it though with a dominating second half where Utah's O-line was blowing holes in the defense so big you could drive Miss Daisy through it. I would love to see more Harvey Langi inserted with Vakapuna and White IV. Make it a three headed monster. Also, while I am dreaming big, I might as well ask for sooner take aways so the defense doesn't look like they are getting pushed into the endzone. But this bodes well for the rest of the year.
If Utah plays the way they played tonight, I don't see anyone in the South beating them. The Pac-12 South is Utah's to lose right now. IF they can keep up what they have been doing, 10 take aways in 2 games in an amazing stat and needs to be relished and continued for them to be really successful. I'll see up close and personal on OCT 1 against Udub, so I'll be more able to tell you then. But I am really looking forward to that game and seeing the Utes dismantle another former Coug in Sark (who I really like and route for unless they are playing Utah or WSU, just like I route for BYU unless they are playing Utah or WSU).
Also, I am going to get back into my routine of last year where I would post predictions and thought on Thursday nights (hopefully before those games) and it looks like this week could be interesting for another conference re-alignment craze. Pitt and 'Cuse just applied to the ACC in what looks like could be the death of the Big East unless they take some of the Big 12 schools that would be left in the wake. I'll get more into this later, but I really hope that the SEC remains at 14 schools and the Big 12 rebounds by getting BYU, Air Force and TCU to join them and the Big East stays together as well. I love regional sports with the occasional travel game in the regular season.
All in all though, what a great night to be a UTE!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Utah Falls Short
Utah fails to capitalize on 3 USC turnovers and falls to the Trojans 17-14. The biggest hit came on the final play when John Cullen got blown up by a USC lineman (again) and a 41 yard field goal attempt by Utah was blocked and ran back for a touchdown that was called off because of an unsportsmanlike conduct call on the USC bench (long enough sentence for you?).
A lot of people will talk about how competitive Utah looked and the how they fought to the end blah blah blah. What should be talked about is how will Utah over come the 2 glaring flaws on the team. The Offensive line is not only bad, but it makes swiss cheese look like a better choice. Even worse than that, Jordan Wynn looks really bad. I mean really, really bad.
I'm not a QB coach nor could I be, but almost everything I have seen from him this season looks wrong. I don't know if his shoulder hasn't rehabbed correctly so his shoulder no longer rotates right (see my dad's shoulder injury) or what else could be wrong. I'll tell you though, that side arm delivery is a new thing that developed at the end of the season last year after his injury. It's what get the ball knocked down at the line of scrimmage. It's what floats the ball to the receivers. It's what takes the any zip out of the ball. Zip? What am I talking about? I've seen 4 year old's throw a ball with more power.
His 3 step drops don't look right either. He steps back 2 and 1/2 steps and tries to launch the ball off his back foot. What should happen is he takes 3 steps back and than throws it, not on his 3rd step. The best throws were when he was either in the shotgun or a 5 step drop (only if he had time). Wynn had no time to make any good decisions and couldn't make the quick throws that were needed when USC blitzed.
When he got any kind of pressure he would spin, turning his back to the play and not looking downfield. You can't do that and expect to know where everyone is on the field. That was very evident as well and USC started blitzing because of it.
Also, every deep throw was under thrown and at least 4 times the balls that were caught could have been bigger plays if they were on target. Particularly on that last drive. Twice he over threw the wideout and on one of those plays the WR dove out and caught the ball with no one within 20 yards of him. The second one was so over thrown that the diving attempt by the wide open WR was still not good enough. If he is 100% healthy, he is having the same mental block that you see some catchers do where they can no longer throw the ball back to the pitcher. If he's not, it may be time to move onto the back up.
I also want to blame this on the O-line. I haven't seen a Utah team with only 82 yards rushing for a long time. This Utah O-line has done it 3 times in the last two years. Aside from Tony Bergstrom, this line looks like Carlos Boozer on defense. John Cullen, the LT looks good but makes too many mistakes. Most of the sacks came against him, or the LG on that side as well. Plus his play on that field goal attempt was ridiculous. He is suppose to be this strong thug of a man and got stood straight up and walked back into the kicking lane. It was absurd and shouldn't have happened. I don't care who or what is pushing against you, your job is to not let him do that. They only time I've ever seen anything like that is when Bingham had a DT who picked up a guard and threw him at the QB. The DT was 6'4" 335 lbs and the OG looked like he was 5'5" and 185 lbs. John Cullen is HUGE. 6'5" and 300 lbs. It is not OK that Utah's best option at LT is getting thrown around like that.
The defense of Utah looks pretty good right now, but not great. The bend but not break philosophy works well for them but they bent a LOT. It seems as though they got a lot of breaks by the turnovers, but they were great plays by the defenders, not mistakes by the offense of USC. In fact, Utah could have and should have had 2 more INT's. One could have even been a pick 6 and would have changed the game from the get go. I do feel bad for them though because the offense put them in bad spots every time.
I don't want to get on the Norm Chow head hunt band wagon... yet. But I will say this, why not call plays that work? I saw 2 run plays work really well for Utah and they never called them again. The toss sweep worked really well to the left side and the stretch play worked really well to the right. Every other run I saw was either off tackle or A gap and it just wasn't working. It almost looks like Norm Chow doesn't have the faith in his athletes to call the outside plays.
I didn't watch the BYU game enough to break anything down. From what I've heard, Brandon Doman called a pretty conservative game plan in the second half. Even running the ball on a crucial 3rd and 8. Hopefully for Y fans, Jake Heaps can learn to put the ball in the end zone sooner than later. I just hope it doesn't happen next week.
Go Utes!
A lot of people will talk about how competitive Utah looked and the how they fought to the end blah blah blah. What should be talked about is how will Utah over come the 2 glaring flaws on the team. The Offensive line is not only bad, but it makes swiss cheese look like a better choice. Even worse than that, Jordan Wynn looks really bad. I mean really, really bad.
I'm not a QB coach nor could I be, but almost everything I have seen from him this season looks wrong. I don't know if his shoulder hasn't rehabbed correctly so his shoulder no longer rotates right (see my dad's shoulder injury) or what else could be wrong. I'll tell you though, that side arm delivery is a new thing that developed at the end of the season last year after his injury. It's what get the ball knocked down at the line of scrimmage. It's what floats the ball to the receivers. It's what takes the any zip out of the ball. Zip? What am I talking about? I've seen 4 year old's throw a ball with more power.
His 3 step drops don't look right either. He steps back 2 and 1/2 steps and tries to launch the ball off his back foot. What should happen is he takes 3 steps back and than throws it, not on his 3rd step. The best throws were when he was either in the shotgun or a 5 step drop (only if he had time). Wynn had no time to make any good decisions and couldn't make the quick throws that were needed when USC blitzed.
When he got any kind of pressure he would spin, turning his back to the play and not looking downfield. You can't do that and expect to know where everyone is on the field. That was very evident as well and USC started blitzing because of it.
Also, every deep throw was under thrown and at least 4 times the balls that were caught could have been bigger plays if they were on target. Particularly on that last drive. Twice he over threw the wideout and on one of those plays the WR dove out and caught the ball with no one within 20 yards of him. The second one was so over thrown that the diving attempt by the wide open WR was still not good enough. If he is 100% healthy, he is having the same mental block that you see some catchers do where they can no longer throw the ball back to the pitcher. If he's not, it may be time to move onto the back up.
I also want to blame this on the O-line. I haven't seen a Utah team with only 82 yards rushing for a long time. This Utah O-line has done it 3 times in the last two years. Aside from Tony Bergstrom, this line looks like Carlos Boozer on defense. John Cullen, the LT looks good but makes too many mistakes. Most of the sacks came against him, or the LG on that side as well. Plus his play on that field goal attempt was ridiculous. He is suppose to be this strong thug of a man and got stood straight up and walked back into the kicking lane. It was absurd and shouldn't have happened. I don't care who or what is pushing against you, your job is to not let him do that. They only time I've ever seen anything like that is when Bingham had a DT who picked up a guard and threw him at the QB. The DT was 6'4" 335 lbs and the OG looked like he was 5'5" and 185 lbs. John Cullen is HUGE. 6'5" and 300 lbs. It is not OK that Utah's best option at LT is getting thrown around like that.
The defense of Utah looks pretty good right now, but not great. The bend but not break philosophy works well for them but they bent a LOT. It seems as though they got a lot of breaks by the turnovers, but they were great plays by the defenders, not mistakes by the offense of USC. In fact, Utah could have and should have had 2 more INT's. One could have even been a pick 6 and would have changed the game from the get go. I do feel bad for them though because the offense put them in bad spots every time.
I don't want to get on the Norm Chow head hunt band wagon... yet. But I will say this, why not call plays that work? I saw 2 run plays work really well for Utah and they never called them again. The toss sweep worked really well to the left side and the stretch play worked really well to the right. Every other run I saw was either off tackle or A gap and it just wasn't working. It almost looks like Norm Chow doesn't have the faith in his athletes to call the outside plays.
I didn't watch the BYU game enough to break anything down. From what I've heard, Brandon Doman called a pretty conservative game plan in the second half. Even running the ball on a crucial 3rd and 8. Hopefully for Y fans, Jake Heaps can learn to put the ball in the end zone sooner than later. I just hope it doesn't happen next week.
Go Utes!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Draft Quandary
Who do the Jazz take at 3? Who do the Jazz take at 12? Do they draft the 3rd pick with the 12th pick in mind? Or do you pick the "best available?" For that matter, who is the best available? In my opinion you follow what has historically worked for not only your franchise, but in the league for years. Let me back up and I'll get back to this in a moment.
I'm not going to give a Mock Draft here. They are all over the internet by people who know a lot more than me about these players. I'm going to say what I hope doesn't happen in this draft, but looks more and more like it will happen. It looks like the Jazz are going to be picking Brandon Knight at 3 and a front court player at 12. I have seen Centers, Power Forwards and Small Forwards all in that spot.
There is an idea in the NBA that scoring Point Guards win. I don't believe it because I've never seen it. Magic Johnson was an anomaly so I don't want to here about him in this argument. Isiah Thomas had to have the perfect defensive team built around him to win it in Detroit (Dennis Rodman again). Other than those two though, no PG has been the focal point of the teams offense and the "star" of the team and have it work. Let's go back a little.
If we go back 20 years, that puts us at MJ's first in 1991, but let's go back 5 years before to 1986 with the Celtic's last of that era. They beat the Houston Rocket's led by Hakeem Olajuwon with an aging team starring the one and only Larry Bird. After that, you have the Lakers led by Magic and Worthy, and than the Detroit Bad Boys with Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas (Rodman x2). After that is the Bulls for 6 of the next 8 and MJ was the leader with Scottie Pippen as the leaders of those teams (Rodman x3). The other 2 years, Hakeem's Rocket's.
Enter the post Jordan era in the NBA. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry, I fell asleep again thinking about those early years. But here we go, Tim Duncan's Spurs in '99, '03, '05 and '07 (the only year when someone other than Duncan dominated that team). The Laker's winning 3 in a row with Shaq and Kobe starting in 2000 and going on to the Celtics, the Heat, the Pistons, more Lakers and on into this year with Dallas winning it. The Piston's were the only team dominated all year long by a point guard. His domination though is not the same as what some would have you believe. His domination was not in using up possessions in trying to score as much as he could, he dominated by setting up a good offensive scheme and taking the RIGHT shots. Before the pair of Piston guards, you have to go back to Dennis Johnson with Seattle in '79 before you find a team that won the NBA championship with a dominant PG. His contributions were also of a different nature than what is perceived today as a good or even great PG. His were the records that John Stockton broke, steals and assists.
So why is it that all these young PG's want to be the next Daron Williams? Why don't they want to be the next Stockton, Dennis Johnson, Steve Nash, Marc Jackson, or Gary Payton? Hell, if I was an up and coming PG, I'd settle for the next Steve Kerr. He was a five time NBA champion. 3 with the Jordan Bulls and 2 with the Duncan Spurs. I mean who can forget the story of Phil Jackson calling a play at the end of game 6 in the '97 finals and Jordan grabbing Kerr after the TO and saying "they are going to double me, be ready and hit the shot."
For that matter, why are organizations going after these guys with the shoot first mentality? Where has that gotten these PG's in the recent past? D-Will got the Western Conference finals once, Chris Paul has yet to get there. What about Ty Lawson? Not even that close. OK, the younger guys, look what happened to New Orleans this year when the Mavs crowded the passing lanes and confused Westbrook. What about in the east? Derrick Rose may be the one to buck my theory... eventually. But not yet. His team got beat when they faced a team that actually played defense.
I think that to win in the NBA you need 3 things. 1 guy in the middle to mess with the other teams psyche on either end of the court, a distributer in the back court to get the ball to the real playmakers and a dominating wing player. Take this years Mavericks. Dirk Couldn't win the whole thing until Tyson Chandler got there. Great defensive player who can score when needed. With Jason Terry on the wing to open the middle for Dirk and Jason Kidd feeding them the ball, winning combo. And don't tell me the Bulls lacked a middle man. Dennis Rodman is in my opinion one of the most under rated 4's in the history of the game. Steve Kerr once said that with the "worm" under the basket, who wouldn't shoot with confidence? If you missed, he just took the ball out of the air and gave you another shot. That's also why I don't think the Heat will win until they figure the down low issue out. They have 3 players that are all the same, wing players who love the mid range jumper. We can go the Celtics here with Garnet, Pierce and Allen (Rondo was huge here, as a passer). We can go Lakers with Fisher, Kobe and Gasol and before that Fisher, Shaq and Kobe. Go back and look, almost every PG that has won an NBA title has been the "oh yah, I forgot about him" guy on the team.
We here in Utah were spoiled by having the best prototypical PG in the history of the game in Stockton and we took what we had for granted. The issue the Jazz had was they never had that 3rd piece until it was almost to late. Plus they ran into the buzz saw that was 23. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but you even look at the teams that lost most of these finals. The teams that repeated all had the same combo. The teams that showed up one year just to go back to the obscurity that is the middle ground of the NBA are the teams that thought they could buck the system. I.E. The Nets (with a younger, Kidd and Harris), the 76ers (AI), I would place the Sonics here too, except they had Payton, Kemp and Schrempf. So they had the combo that worked, but when they got to the finals, they were awestruck by the Bulls and were completely out matched. I mean Gary Payton asked MJ for his auto graph after Game 1.
All in all, I guess I am saying that I think the Jazz are in for another D-Will type era if they draft another scoring PG and I'm not really looking forward to that. But I would love feedback to see what you think and who you think they should get.
I'm not going to give a Mock Draft here. They are all over the internet by people who know a lot more than me about these players. I'm going to say what I hope doesn't happen in this draft, but looks more and more like it will happen. It looks like the Jazz are going to be picking Brandon Knight at 3 and a front court player at 12. I have seen Centers, Power Forwards and Small Forwards all in that spot.
There is an idea in the NBA that scoring Point Guards win. I don't believe it because I've never seen it. Magic Johnson was an anomaly so I don't want to here about him in this argument. Isiah Thomas had to have the perfect defensive team built around him to win it in Detroit (Dennis Rodman again). Other than those two though, no PG has been the focal point of the teams offense and the "star" of the team and have it work. Let's go back a little.
If we go back 20 years, that puts us at MJ's first in 1991, but let's go back 5 years before to 1986 with the Celtic's last of that era. They beat the Houston Rocket's led by Hakeem Olajuwon with an aging team starring the one and only Larry Bird. After that, you have the Lakers led by Magic and Worthy, and than the Detroit Bad Boys with Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas (Rodman x2). After that is the Bulls for 6 of the next 8 and MJ was the leader with Scottie Pippen as the leaders of those teams (Rodman x3). The other 2 years, Hakeem's Rocket's.
Enter the post Jordan era in the NBA. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry, I fell asleep again thinking about those early years. But here we go, Tim Duncan's Spurs in '99, '03, '05 and '07 (the only year when someone other than Duncan dominated that team). The Laker's winning 3 in a row with Shaq and Kobe starting in 2000 and going on to the Celtics, the Heat, the Pistons, more Lakers and on into this year with Dallas winning it. The Piston's were the only team dominated all year long by a point guard. His domination though is not the same as what some would have you believe. His domination was not in using up possessions in trying to score as much as he could, he dominated by setting up a good offensive scheme and taking the RIGHT shots. Before the pair of Piston guards, you have to go back to Dennis Johnson with Seattle in '79 before you find a team that won the NBA championship with a dominant PG. His contributions were also of a different nature than what is perceived today as a good or even great PG. His were the records that John Stockton broke, steals and assists.
So why is it that all these young PG's want to be the next Daron Williams? Why don't they want to be the next Stockton, Dennis Johnson, Steve Nash, Marc Jackson, or Gary Payton? Hell, if I was an up and coming PG, I'd settle for the next Steve Kerr. He was a five time NBA champion. 3 with the Jordan Bulls and 2 with the Duncan Spurs. I mean who can forget the story of Phil Jackson calling a play at the end of game 6 in the '97 finals and Jordan grabbing Kerr after the TO and saying "they are going to double me, be ready and hit the shot."
For that matter, why are organizations going after these guys with the shoot first mentality? Where has that gotten these PG's in the recent past? D-Will got the Western Conference finals once, Chris Paul has yet to get there. What about Ty Lawson? Not even that close. OK, the younger guys, look what happened to New Orleans this year when the Mavs crowded the passing lanes and confused Westbrook. What about in the east? Derrick Rose may be the one to buck my theory... eventually. But not yet. His team got beat when they faced a team that actually played defense.
I think that to win in the NBA you need 3 things. 1 guy in the middle to mess with the other teams psyche on either end of the court, a distributer in the back court to get the ball to the real playmakers and a dominating wing player. Take this years Mavericks. Dirk Couldn't win the whole thing until Tyson Chandler got there. Great defensive player who can score when needed. With Jason Terry on the wing to open the middle for Dirk and Jason Kidd feeding them the ball, winning combo. And don't tell me the Bulls lacked a middle man. Dennis Rodman is in my opinion one of the most under rated 4's in the history of the game. Steve Kerr once said that with the "worm" under the basket, who wouldn't shoot with confidence? If you missed, he just took the ball out of the air and gave you another shot. That's also why I don't think the Heat will win until they figure the down low issue out. They have 3 players that are all the same, wing players who love the mid range jumper. We can go the Celtics here with Garnet, Pierce and Allen (Rondo was huge here, as a passer). We can go Lakers with Fisher, Kobe and Gasol and before that Fisher, Shaq and Kobe. Go back and look, almost every PG that has won an NBA title has been the "oh yah, I forgot about him" guy on the team.
We here in Utah were spoiled by having the best prototypical PG in the history of the game in Stockton and we took what we had for granted. The issue the Jazz had was they never had that 3rd piece until it was almost to late. Plus they ran into the buzz saw that was 23. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but you even look at the teams that lost most of these finals. The teams that repeated all had the same combo. The teams that showed up one year just to go back to the obscurity that is the middle ground of the NBA are the teams that thought they could buck the system. I.E. The Nets (with a younger, Kidd and Harris), the 76ers (AI), I would place the Sonics here too, except they had Payton, Kemp and Schrempf. So they had the combo that worked, but when they got to the finals, they were awestruck by the Bulls and were completely out matched. I mean Gary Payton asked MJ for his auto graph after Game 1.
All in all, I guess I am saying that I think the Jazz are in for another D-Will type era if they draft another scoring PG and I'm not really looking forward to that. But I would love feedback to see what you think and who you think they should get.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Utes first Pac-12 season
9/1- Montana St
9-/10- @ USC (Div)
9/17- @ BYU
10/1- Washington
10/8- Arizona State (Div)
10/15- @ Pittsburgh
10/22- @ California
10/29- Oregon State
11/05- @ Arizona (Div)
11/12- UCLA (Div)
11/19- @ Washington State
11/25- Colorado (Div)
So there it is, Utah's first Pac-12 schedule. I'm going to be a little biased here but also use some reason. I don't see anything that keeps Utah from being a major contender in the South Division and maybe even going to the Conference Championship game in the first year. First let me say that Utah is lucky not to have to play the 2 best teams in the conference in Oregon and Stanford, than indulge me as I break down the schedule.
Montana St gives Utah their first win and puts them at 1-0 and let's them not show to much of what they will be doing offensively. That will play well with them facing their first conference opponent the next week. I think Utah will be pumped up for it and I think Lane Kiffen is a moron. A low scoring win for the Utes putting them at 2-0, 1-0 in both the conference and division. Than Utah hosts Washington, who is coached by Steve Sarkisian, former BYU QB under Norm Chow and also, former USC QB coach under Norm Chow. This game will also be a close win for Utah, making them 3-0 and 2-0 in the Pac-12. Than they face the most dynamic passing attack they will face all season in Arizona State. This game will come down to the pass rush of Utah. If they can get to the QB, they can keep it close and fight for the win in the 4th quarter, however, if they can't get to the QB, they will get blown out because they don't have the talent at CB to keep the Arizona St. WR's covered to long. I'm going to say Arizona St. in a close game making Utah 3-1 and 2-1 in conference and 1-1 in the South Division. The Utes get a slight rest from the Pac-12 schedule here and go to Pittsburgh who will be trying to find themselves under new head coach Todd Graham. My first instinct here is Utah and move on, however, after thinking about last years meeting, and also how well Utah played against Notre Dame last year, I'm going Pittsburgh in a close, hard hitting battle making the Utes, 3-2. Utah gets to 4-2 at Cal and wins another at home against the high flying Beavers the next week making them 5-2 and 4-1 in the Pac-12. Utah goes into Arizona and beats them in another hard hitting match up getting to 6-2 overall, 5-1 in conference and 2-1 in the South division, all the while trying to chase down the Sun Devils. Then Utah goes to UCLA and puts up 45 points on them, just so Coach Chow can show his distractors what they did in not letting him run his own offense. Also adding 1 more win in each column, overall, conference and division. Than they go to Pullman and play the Cougars. With my affinity for Washington State as well, I'm just going to say it will be a win and leave it at that. Utah is now 9-2 overall, 7-1 in the Pac-12 and 3-1 in the South Division coming home to face their bitter rival, the Colorado Buffalos. And, as history shows, Native Americans eat Buffalo meat, (I'm sorry, I had to go there, at least once) Utah wins this one going away making them 10-2 overall, 8-1 in the Pac-12 and 4-1 in the South division. That puts them in a tie with Arizona St. for the top spot in the division losing the chance to play against Stanford in the Championship game.
Some of the games I think could go the other way, I debated on the Arizona, Pittsburgh, Washington and even USC. It could be the other way real quick to, this is the Biased Sports Report though and I reserve the right to be a practical homer. And of course, this is all dependent on Jordan Wynn's play in the new offense, which I think fits him MUCH better than the spread option, which no one thought was ever an option with him back there. But as is, here is my breakdown of the division.
PAC-12 South Division:
Arizona State: 10-2 overall, 9-1 Pac-12, 4-1 South
Utah: 10-2 overall, 8-2 Pac-12, 4-1 South
Arizona: 7-5 overall, 5-5 Pac-12, 3-2 South
USC: 6-6 overall (Lane Kiffen fired), 4-6 Pac-12, 2-3 South
UCLA: 4-8 overall, 3-7 Pac-12, 1-4 South
Colorado: 3-9 overall, 1-9 Pac-12, 0-5 South
This is all from someone who has not attended any spring games or practices of any team outside of Utah but who followed the Pac-10 as a fan of Washington State over the years and I truly believe Utah is in a sweet spot to surprise people this year. They don't have to play Stanford or Oregon and they get the toughest Division opponent at home. USC and UCLA or both going through some tough times and I don't see it getting better this year and Washington isn't quite there yet. Man, that North division looks to be scary for a while. My prediction is the Stanford to the Rose Bowl and Oregon to the Fiesta Bowl with only 1 loss. Mean while, Arizona State and Utah or left out of the BCS but both get to play tough opponents in bowl games and show that the Pac-12 is no longer USC and the rest.
9-/10- @ USC (Div)
9/17- @ BYU
10/1- Washington
10/8- Arizona State (Div)
10/15- @ Pittsburgh
10/22- @ California
10/29- Oregon State
11/05- @ Arizona (Div)
11/12- UCLA (Div)
11/19- @ Washington State
11/25- Colorado (Div)
So there it is, Utah's first Pac-12 schedule. I'm going to be a little biased here but also use some reason. I don't see anything that keeps Utah from being a major contender in the South Division and maybe even going to the Conference Championship game in the first year. First let me say that Utah is lucky not to have to play the 2 best teams in the conference in Oregon and Stanford, than indulge me as I break down the schedule.
Montana St gives Utah their first win and puts them at 1-0 and let's them not show to much of what they will be doing offensively. That will play well with them facing their first conference opponent the next week. I think Utah will be pumped up for it and I think Lane Kiffen is a moron. A low scoring win for the Utes putting them at 2-0, 1-0 in both the conference and division. Than Utah hosts Washington, who is coached by Steve Sarkisian, former BYU QB under Norm Chow and also, former USC QB coach under Norm Chow. This game will also be a close win for Utah, making them 3-0 and 2-0 in the Pac-12. Than they face the most dynamic passing attack they will face all season in Arizona State. This game will come down to the pass rush of Utah. If they can get to the QB, they can keep it close and fight for the win in the 4th quarter, however, if they can't get to the QB, they will get blown out because they don't have the talent at CB to keep the Arizona St. WR's covered to long. I'm going to say Arizona St. in a close game making Utah 3-1 and 2-1 in conference and 1-1 in the South Division. The Utes get a slight rest from the Pac-12 schedule here and go to Pittsburgh who will be trying to find themselves under new head coach Todd Graham. My first instinct here is Utah and move on, however, after thinking about last years meeting, and also how well Utah played against Notre Dame last year, I'm going Pittsburgh in a close, hard hitting battle making the Utes, 3-2. Utah gets to 4-2 at Cal and wins another at home against the high flying Beavers the next week making them 5-2 and 4-1 in the Pac-12. Utah goes into Arizona and beats them in another hard hitting match up getting to 6-2 overall, 5-1 in conference and 2-1 in the South division, all the while trying to chase down the Sun Devils. Then Utah goes to UCLA and puts up 45 points on them, just so Coach Chow can show his distractors what they did in not letting him run his own offense. Also adding 1 more win in each column, overall, conference and division. Than they go to Pullman and play the Cougars. With my affinity for Washington State as well, I'm just going to say it will be a win and leave it at that. Utah is now 9-2 overall, 7-1 in the Pac-12 and 3-1 in the South Division coming home to face their bitter rival, the Colorado Buffalos. And, as history shows, Native Americans eat Buffalo meat, (I'm sorry, I had to go there, at least once) Utah wins this one going away making them 10-2 overall, 8-1 in the Pac-12 and 4-1 in the South division. That puts them in a tie with Arizona St. for the top spot in the division losing the chance to play against Stanford in the Championship game.
Some of the games I think could go the other way, I debated on the Arizona, Pittsburgh, Washington and even USC. It could be the other way real quick to, this is the Biased Sports Report though and I reserve the right to be a practical homer. And of course, this is all dependent on Jordan Wynn's play in the new offense, which I think fits him MUCH better than the spread option, which no one thought was ever an option with him back there. But as is, here is my breakdown of the division.
PAC-12 South Division:
Arizona State: 10-2 overall, 9-1 Pac-12, 4-1 South
Utah: 10-2 overall, 8-2 Pac-12, 4-1 South
Arizona: 7-5 overall, 5-5 Pac-12, 3-2 South
USC: 6-6 overall (Lane Kiffen fired), 4-6 Pac-12, 2-3 South
UCLA: 4-8 overall, 3-7 Pac-12, 1-4 South
Colorado: 3-9 overall, 1-9 Pac-12, 0-5 South
This is all from someone who has not attended any spring games or practices of any team outside of Utah but who followed the Pac-10 as a fan of Washington State over the years and I truly believe Utah is in a sweet spot to surprise people this year. They don't have to play Stanford or Oregon and they get the toughest Division opponent at home. USC and UCLA or both going through some tough times and I don't see it getting better this year and Washington isn't quite there yet. Man, that North division looks to be scary for a while. My prediction is the Stanford to the Rose Bowl and Oregon to the Fiesta Bowl with only 1 loss. Mean while, Arizona State and Utah or left out of the BCS but both get to play tough opponents in bowl games and show that the Pac-12 is no longer USC and the rest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)