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Journal NFLFan's Journal: NFL Thoughts: March 31, 2006 13

Journal by NFLFan

Thanks to everybody who commented on my last journal entry. I really appreciated your comments and wanted to reply, I even typed up responses, but I was having ISP problems that would not allow me to do so.

General NFL Thoughts:

  • Paul Tagliabue has been a very good commissioner and will be hard to replace.
  • I do not care one way or another about the new touchdown celebration rule. I would rather see a rule limiting the celebrations on non-scoring plays. I really do not care for some punk celebrating after an ordinary play or players just pushing and shoving after the whistle.
  • I do not want to see extra playoff teams added. Until this past year it was thought almost impossible to win a Super Bowl as a sixth seed and now they want to add more seeds?

Some Early Draft Thoughts:

  • The top pick has to be Reggie Bush.
  • So I forget, is Vince Young the next Steve McNair or Michael Vick or Randal Cunningham or a likely bust? If Young is the next Steve McNair then that is great. Oh now I remember, nobody really knows.
  • I am trying to figure out who I like best among Cutler, Leinart, and Young. I think Young is too much of a project compared to the other two right now. I liked the video I have seen on Cutler but those were highlights and his win-loss record is concerning. Matt Leinart is polished and a winner but there are concerns about arm strength and durability. Right now I like Leinart but Cutler is likely to after Leinart so Cutler could be put into a better situation, think Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger.
  • I scanned a few draft reports and came away thinking the draft was really thin at guard. I do not follow college ball so I really do not know.
  • I heard some draft guru the other day say that 10 cornerbacks could be drafted in the first round. If so, big mistake. Teams should almost always draft from the inside out.

Free Agent and Player Relocation Thoughts:

  • So Terrel Owens is a Cowboy. Not too much of a surprise.

    Thought it was interesting that they gave Terry Glenn a 5-year extension. I think it all means they are going to try to win right now. I think Parcells is gone after this season.

  • So the Seattle and Minnesota non-sense continues.
  • Wow, the Colts went out and got the best available kicker. Guess that is what you do when you are a field goal away from forcing overtime in a playoff game and your kicker badly shanks it.

    I do not remember this working for teams that have tried it in the past but the Colts are certainly better now than they were two weeks ago.

  • So the Patriots continue to lose free agents. Should really only be surprising news if you are a delusional Patriots fan. The most loyal fans of the of Patriots, while upset, seem to saying Belichick and Pioli always seem to make the right decision and that the fans must trust them. I remember when Cleveland trusted Belichick.

    I think the Patriots need to have a very good draft before they can talk about their Super Bowl dreams again.

  • So why do I dislike the free agent moves the Browns have been making? Actually I like their offensive line acquisitions, it is just the other signings I do not like. They probably overpaid for all these new players, as is the norm with free agency. Ted Washington is ancient. Willie McGinest is close to ancient though still productive. Joe Jurevicius is probably a #2 or #3 with durability issues. And I just cannot get excited about a punter.

    So will Cleveland be better than they were last season? Probably, but they probably would have been better if they had done nothing in free agency. Will they be good enough to make the playoffs? Probably not, I think they are at least a year away. How many of the recently signed free agents do I expect to be around when the Browns can be expected to do something in the playoffs? Bentley and maybe Shaffer, that is it!

    I just cannot get behind rewarding the players of other teams when those players are not likely to really help their new team in the future. Veteran leadership is overrated, or at least it is overrated when it is coming from some 10+ year veteran new to the organization who is there mostly there because that team was the highest bidder. I understand that McGinest and Washington had a pre-existing relationship with Crennel and that Jurevicius grew up in that area but that is not good enough for me! I would much rather see teams reward their own players or just keep their money than reward players from other teams. The low-end and middle-end free agents usually represent better value than their high-end counterparts.

    Like I wrote last time, a team can get better through free agency but they cannot get good through free agency. I think the Browns would be better served if they concentrated on getting better through the draft right now. Had the Browns just signed Bentley, Shaffer, and McGinest (or Washington but not both) then I think they would have been better off.

  • As for the Redskins, they are just delaying their salary cap mayhem. Sooner or later it is going to happen. Longterm I do not like their moves but they are already good. How good? With a little offense they could have been in the NFC Championship game and perhaps the Super Bowl.

    The Redskins have spent too much money to have nothing to show for it. They need to find a way to win now before things start to fall apart and I think their free agent signings take them closer to winning now.

Baseball Thoughts:

  • The World Baseball Classic did show some promise but the format stinks. It is just wrong for a team to be scrambling to advance if they only have one loss. The tie-breakers seemed sort of silly also.
  • Wow, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood both on the DL. Dusty Baker sure knows how to kill pitchers.
  • Baseball's Barry Bonds problem is a Bud Selig problem. I probably will always connect Barry Bonds with Bud Selig and steroids. Bud Selig has actually done a lot of good things during his time as commissioner but he always seems to take some meandering path and never acts until the problem is too evident. Steroid use seems to have exploded while Selig has been on the job and the writing has been on the wall for a while for baseball to ban steroids. Selig should have tried to ban steroids as soon as Mark McGwire shattered the home run record and admitted to using Andro, a steroid-like supplement.
  • What is all this talk about MLB honoring Bonds when he passes Ruth? Ruth does not hold the record. Players surpass other players statistics all the time and who honors them? I really do not care if some guy is almost at the top. Tell me when the guy is at the top.
  • Good to see some MLB sponsors speak up and say they will not support any Bonds-MLB celebration. I do not care if it is about satisfying the public.
  • It feels sort of dirty to watch spring training games on ESPN and see they are being sponsored by Basic Instinct 2.
  • Baseball is a game about numbers. Here are what I consider to be sacred numbers: 30, 56, 60 and 61, 191, and .400.
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NFL Thoughts: March 31, 2006 More

NFL Thoughts: March 31, 2006

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  • i realize showing up to work everyday isn't a big deal for most but still...

    or do you prefer 2131?
    • At least for my list, I just concerned myself with single season achievements. If I had wanted to make a more complete list I would still be at it and probably have to do some research. The numbers that I gave are the ones that most baseball fans should be able to give right away.

      Ripken's consecutive games streak is amazing, especially considering he did it from the shortstop position. If I was doing a more complete list then I would definitely include it.
  • First of all, shame on you for not mentioning the rumors of Bill Parcells being interested in Joey Harrington, who, if he becomes a Cowboy, I will have to start hating him.

    But the sacred numbers.... hmmm... let me guess:

    Here are what I consider to be sacred numbers: 30, 56, 60 and 61, 191, and .400.

    At first, I thought 30, 56, 60, and 61 were perhaps years a certain team won the World Series, but the Philadelphia A's, New York Yankees, and Pittsburgh Pirates are all different teams.

    30: I'm going to g

    • 60 is the number of homeruns Babe Ruth had in a single season. 61 is the number Roger Maris had when he broke the Babe's record.

      NFLfan is basically saying that the steroid era homeruns MacGuire, Bonds, and Sosa hit do not count.

      I agree.
      • OK. I'll add one:

        51 is the number that non-steroid user Cecil Fielder hit for the Detroit Tigers in 1990. Had he not been so strikeout prone, he might have had more.

        I agree with the Babe Ruth / Roger Maris sentiment though.

        Speaking of Cecil.... I went to a game at Arlington Stadium where I saw Cecil's one and only stolen base - that was hilarious. The catcher didn't even make a throw, I think he might have been laughing at Cecil's "Free Willy" slide.

        I did see batting practice before that game. Wow.

        • Cecil's 51 just shows how hard anything over 60 is. 51 is impressive but sacred? Probably not. Ken Griffey Jr. is probably another guy who did/does it right, i.e. non-steroid user, and he had back-to-back 56 home run seasons.

          I have never experienced it myself but I have heard baseball people talk about how the ball sounds different coming off of a really great players bat. I remember reading about some guy saying he remembered what it sounded like to hear Ruth hit and that he did not hear that sound aga
          • OK, not sacred, just special to me, since I'm a big Tigers fan.

            Bo Jackson was another guy who if he connected could hit the ball a long, long way.

            Hmm.. how to get this across in type: Usually when most people hit the ball with a wood bat, people talk about the crack of the bat. When Cecil was taking batting practice, it was more of a *THWACK* sound - much louder, for one, and just sounded more solid, like he hit the ball dead center and right in the heart of the bat.

        • I remember seeing that one on TV, and the commentators couldn't stop laughing. I think they were just amazed that Big Daddy didn't leave a crater at 2B...

          Gotta love those early 90's Tiger linueps, with Fielder/Tettleton/Deer hacking and whacking for all they were worth. I remember going to a game in early July 1990 or 91, and sitting in the upper bleachers at Tiger Stadium as Mickey Tettleton hit two consecutive fly balls to the warning track in dead center (440 feet). They were spectacular outs, but I'm
          • I was in Detroit in that time period for a game, and got depressed that the visiting team was the Texas Rangers.

            I remember Rob Deer ending that game in the bottom of the 12th with a shot that landed 4 rows ahead of me, and we were in the upper deck in left.

            sigh... I miss Tiger Stadium. Comerica Park is nice, I finally made it up there this past September for a game against Seattle (Monroe, Polanco, Shelton, and Pena all hit home runs and Jason Grilli pitched a good game - then the Tigers busted it wide

            • The thing I'll always miss about Tiger Stadium, particularly in this era with everyone copying the Camden Yards look, is how the old Tiger Stadium featured two decks that wrapped completely around the diamond. You went to Tiger Stadium to watch a baseball game, not stare at the city skyline...

              That closed-in style also lent an air of mystery and anticipation when you went to the ballpark, parked the car, marched up to the stadium, went through the gate, made your way around to the appropriate section, and o
      • Totally right. I sort of cheated and included them both because Ruth hit his 60 in fewer games than Maris hit his 61, that is why Maris had an asterik next to his record for so long.
    • First of all, shame on you for not mentioning the rumors of Bill Parcells being interested in Joey Harrington, who, if he becomes a Cowboy, I will have to start hating him.

      A lot of people are said to have interest in Harrington. As for Parcells, the talk that he really did not want Owens shows he really is not in control.

      30: I'm going to guess that it's a 30 game winner, but mostly because I'm partial to the Detroit Tigers and the last 30 game winner was Denny McLain.

      Right. Probably an odd inclusion on th
  • So why do I dislike the free agent moves the Browns have been making?

    ok, I'll somewhat agree that washington is a little old, he's no casey hampton, but we needed help in that position badly. jason fisk was getting man handled on every play. JJ is a good receiver, I agree they sort of overpaid for him, but they needed a receiver with good hands. drops in critical situations have killed the browns the last couple of years.

    the browns have a long way to go, but at least they finally are getting help up fro

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