Tony Romo Takes A Homeless Man To See “Role Models”.

We heard about this yesterday but hate to write anything prematurely (the Giants are going to win another Superbowl).

Last weekend Tony Romo took a homeless man who goes by the name ‘Doc’ to see “Role Models” at a Cinemark Theater in Dallas.

The story goes, Romo spotted him outside the theater trying to get some change and offered to take him to see the movie. They went into the theater and Doc was a little embarrassed so he sat a few seats away from Romo:

Romo, who confirmed the story but didn’t want to elaborate, waved Doc over to sit by him and his friend. Doc sheepishly mentioned that he hadn’t showered in a few days.

“Don’t worry about that,” Romo said. “I’m used to locker rooms.”

Nothing about any of this makes much sense.

The best I can figure is that Tony Romo is either some kind of religious guru, a really nice charitable guy or a little crazy.

There were reports of him helping a couple change a tire earlier this season.

It is a nice story.

But the Cowboys still suck.

Plaxico Burress Suspended For 1 Game.

Plaxico Burress has been suspended for 1 game by the Giants organization for undisclosed reasons.

I hope that what happened is that Plaxico came to a practice with a bottle of Jose Cuervo and the following situation took place:

Tom Coughlin: Burress! What are you doing! Put that Cuervo away and go shag some balls!

Xico: Call me Xico. That’s pronounced S-I-C-O. XICO!

Tom Coughlin: You can’t drink booze at my practices!!

Xico: Like hell I can’t! I Won a Superbowl bich! Kiss My ring! Kiss it!

Tom Coughlin: Burress! PUT THAT BOTTLE AWAY AND GET YOUR SUPERBOWL RING OUT OF MY FACE!

Xico: So that’s how it’s gonna be? All right then. (punches Tom Coughlin right in his 210 year old nose). I JUST WENT STEVE SMITH ON YOUR ASS! THAT SHIT IS FACTORIAL!

(end scene).

If it wasn’t something like that, it probably wasn’t that interesting…

For a star player to do something bad enough to get suspended by his own team when there are reporters or cameras around? It had to be something bad. This is the NFC East. Michael Irvin tried to kill one of his teammates with a pair of scissors and didn’t get in trouble. YOU WIN AT ALL COSTS.

Good thing they gave him a contract extension and pay raise…

Plaxico Burress Gets Paid.

Plaxico is probably one of the coolest first names in sports.

It has an ‘X’ and the term ‘ico’.

His nickname could be ‘Plax’ or ‘Xico’ (SICKO).

It’s pretty neat.

But one thing that isn’t all that neat is Plax’s career stats.

Burress has NEVER caught 100 passes in a season. His highest yardage total was 1325 yards in 2002 (he also caught a career high 78 passes that season).

And Burress is not getting any younger.

The thing that has always annoyed me about Burress is the fact that he is the perfect size to be an elite wide receiver (6′ 5″ 226 lbs., strong). He’s the type of guy who should have been catching 85 passes a season from the get go and racking up 1100 yards each year easily.

You know how tall the average starting Cornerback is in the NFL?

Me neither.

But it is not even remotely close to 6′5″.

Burress has only broken 1,000 yards 4 of his 8 years in the NFL. He’s only hit double digit TDs twice (the last two seasons).

Eli Manning clearly loves having Burress as a target. I think if the Giants had someone who was a serious deep threat lining up opposite Plaxico, Burress would benefit greatly (statistically).

And I’d always like to put Burress in the top tier of true active #1 Wide Receivers (a group of guys who have the speed, height, build and proven success to be considered such).

But Burress needs a big breakout season.

If he catches 6-7 passes a game I think he’ll get there this year.

Maybe he’ll earn the contract he just signed.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s no Roy Williams (who is easily the most frustrating wide receiver in the NFL for his size and legitimate talent level). But I’d like to see Plaxico earn the nickname Xico this season.

Giants Beat Redskins. Jim Zorn Looked Shitty. Jason Campbell Needs Work.

Listen to me Jim Zorn. I’m not a Redskins fan. I never will be. But tonight was absolutely infuriating. Tonight’s NFL season opener was like watching two guys with one leg each trying to kick one another. 

Jim, when you are down 9 points and there are 3-4 minutes left in the game and you have the ball, please use timeouts accordingly. On 3rd and 7, don’t throw the ball 2 yards from the line of scrimmage. 

I don’t know if the play calling was what was pathetic tonight or if Jason Campbell really doesn’t know the offense yet and just felt most comfortable chucking it to Santana Moss all night…

Also, you guys MIGHT want to try to go deep and set up a big play every few possessions. You know…like…when you have to punt 7 times.

Clinton Portis seemed to be ready to play tonight. At one point it looked like he was lecturing Zorn on the importance of reacting to the Giants defense and calling plays accordingly. Portis ripped off a few decent runs, but everytime Jason Campbell dropped back to pass, it made part of me die a little.

Campbell is not someone who is normally bad. I mean, he didn’t throw an interception tonight. He just wasn’t playing smart football. You don’t go short on 3rd and long. You don’t keep going to the same receiver. You don’t run TOWARDS the side of the pocket where the blitz is coming from.

Tonight John Zorn would have been a better head coach than Jim Zorn.

John Zorn is a MacArthur Foundation certified genius. I’m sure he would have thought of a way to pull off an easy when when the Giants CONTINUALLY let the Redskins hang around…

Terrible.

One of my personal highlights of the night was Eli Manning’s face after throwing the interception.

But the pick aside, Eli was solid. He seems to have a boatload more confidence. Or did tonight anyway. 

Plaxico Burress also appeared to be the legitimate elite #1 WR that he should be. 

Oh and Derrick Ward WILL BE picked up in your fantasy league ASAP. Especially if you get reception points.

This game was the Redskins’ to win.

I wish the Patriots played these Giants at the Superbowl…

Kevin O’Connell Should Be The Patriots Back Up Quarterback.

While flipping back and fourth between the DNC and the Patriots @ New York for the preseason closer, a few things became apparent:

1. Matt Cassel kind of sucks.
2. Matt Gutierrez is slightly better than Matt Cassel at this point, but also does not inspire any confidence should Brady go down.
3. Chad Jackson should be a legitimate receiving threat this season.
4. Michelle Obama would be the most attractive First Lady ever. By Far.
5. Kevin O’Connell is who I trust with this team.

The Patriots pre-season play has been slightly less than inspired. Laurence Maroney still looks like he’s running uphill all of the time, the defense looks like ti is weak, the offensive line seems old and unable to stop a pass rush.

I’m sure some of this could be a product of injuries. Some of it could be new players trying to find their ground. Some of it could be a 2007 season hangover.

But the bottom line is, Tom Brady hasn’t taken a snap with this team in any games yet this season.

Far be it from me to try and exaggreate healthy concerns for Brady or make excuses for him, but I think he should be ready for the season opener. The thing is, if he actually is hurt in any serious manner, or if he were to get hurt seriously, this Patriots team would sort of die with Matt Cassel at the helm.

Matt Cassel had the benefit of starting every pre-season game. That means he had the starters around him and the starters of the defenses going against him. And you what he did? Suck. Consistently.

Matt Gutierrez had flashes of being all right. He seems like he could be a backup.

The kind of guy that could lead a great team to a 6-10 record.

Matt Cassel has played like a quarterback that would lead the Patriots to a 2-14 record.

But last night we had the pleasure of seeing the rawness of Kevin O’Connell. And yeah, I understand he was playing against the Giants 3rd string. But guess what? He was playing with the Patriots 3rd string as well.

Kevin O’Connell is a gamer. He just seemed to have that swagger that successful quarterbacks need.

I like that he is mobile, I like his toughness and his passes really did seem to be crisp and on point (except for that timing route where he messed up and threw way behind someone, but that type of thing can happen to any quarterback on occasion).

I honestly do feel like Kevin O’Connell could lead this Patriots team to a 9-7 record should Brady be out for the season if he plays for a whole year the way he did int he 4th quarter last night.

In fact, had the Patriots defense found a way to stop the Giants with about 1:45 left int eh game, there is no doubt in my mind that O’Connell would have led the Patriots to a ridiculous come from behind victory.

Yeah, it was preseason. And he isn’t exactly a polished gem. But I think Bill Belichick would be making a huge mistake if he cut Kevin O’Connell. His raw athleticism and gamer mentality alone should be enough for Belichick to keep him around.

I liked what I saw in O’Connell last night. It made me wish I would have seen him at San Diego State University.

I also like that he is from Knoxville. Superdrag is from Knoxville. And they are decent folks.

O’Connell seems liek the type of player Belichick loves. He’s big, he’s athletic and based on his performance last night, I have no doubt that he would be willing to do anything to lead his team to victory (Including playing Safety or being on special teams).

There needs to be a spot for this guy on the roster.

Cadillac Williams Placed on the PUP List. Michael Strahan Shows Us How Retired Athletes SHOULD Act. The Ravens Have QB Issus Already. The Red Sox Will Trade For Mark Kotsay. Goings On At Chair. All That And Andy Rooney.

Carnell “Cadillac” Williams is looking more like a Cadillac Cimarron these days than the Escalade he once was.

Willimas was great in 2005 and had flashes of quality in 2006 and 2007 before injuries derailed him.

The Bucs have put him on the PUP list, which means he can’t play for weeks 1-6. It also means they do not have to waste a roster spot on him early in the season when he wouldn’t be healthy enough to play anyway.

This is not the kiss of death to Carnell’s career though. He could still even come back this season around week 7 or 8 and give the Bucs a mid-year boost (when they will likely need it due to other offensive players being injured by that point).

The real concern is, whenever a running back who is quick and makes cuts hurts a knee or ACL/MCL, you tend to wonder how that will affect their play in the future. Carnell isn’t exactly big enough to become a bulldozer, and those are usually the guys who have fewer issues recovering from this type of injury.

Hopefully the Bucs will have what they need in Graham and Warrick Dunn to make thing shappen with the running game.

Michael Strahan again makes fools of us all.

He announced earlier this week that he would consider coming back to the Giants who have lost Pro Bowl Defensive End Osi Umenyiora for the season.

Strahan and Umenyiora were sort of the only reason why the Giants won the Superbowl. Miracle catch, Patriots supreme overconfidence and Belichick’s poor coaching aside.

Remember that I predicted a sub-par follow up campaign for the Giants this season on Friday afternoon BEFORE Umenyiora even was injured. Now? Well, they will at least have something to blame it on.

Last year the Giants were sort of like the Colorado Rockies. They were just the team that got hot at exactly the right time. They outplayed the Patriots and rightfully won the Superbowl.

But I think a lot of that magic was sort of lightning in a bottle.

Especially if McNabb stays as focused and locked in as he seems to be and the Cowboys remain the Cowboys. That won’t be an easy division.

Kyle Boller could potentially ALREADY be done for the season. He supposedly is unable to raise his arm over his head. The Ravens did not like the results of the first MRI, so are sending him somewhere else for a second opinion.

By the way, what is up with all this second guessing of medical professionals going on right now? I understand a second opinion for Boller, sure. But I heard on Friday that Shawn Merriman has seen something like 5 doctors in hopes that one of them would tell him its fine to play on a knee with two torn ligaments and that he won’t need the surgery. He needs the surgery. If he wants to be able to walk and not need a knee replacement at 32, he NEEDS surgery. People are abuzz about hwo his career might be over.

Troy Smith is injured right now as well (I think tonsillitis?) and as a result Joe Flacco will be their starter for the last preseason game.

I also expect the Ravens to sort of have a QB controversy all season long. So…This is just sooner than expected.

Mark Kotsay might be headed to the Red Sox.

Anyway, Kotsay could be a decent bat for the Sox. As logn as they don’t have to give up anything to get him, they should do it.

This Red Sox team is so injured it is alarming. Mike Lowell, JD Drew, Bartolo Colon, David Aardsma and Julio Lugo are all on the DL right now. This is trouble.

In Chair news, we are half way through our NFL 2008 Previews. Expect more of them. Full of words and predictions and purdy pictures stolen from the intranets.

We also premiered a new column this morning called “An Open Letter” or “AOL”. “AOL” of course being an acronym that was previosuly unused in common vocabulary. “AOL” will deal with the tough issues. The serious issues. All while being a forum where I can bitch relentlessly about things that are not necessarily related to sports.

Please, say hello to Chair.

-YR

2008 NFL Preview: NFC East

Washington Redskins

There are a few things wrong with the Redskins. The first is that Jason Campbell is still a giant question mark.

Campbell has played in 20 NFL games. Through 20 games he has thrown for nearly 4,000 yards, 22 TDs and 17 INTs. His QB rating is 77.3.

None of that seems all that remarkable.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt seeing as he isn’t exactly surrounded by amazing targets. But the way I see it, he has about 4 weeks to prove that he maturing and becoming a better quarterback. Or else.

Behind Campbell is 73 year old Todd Collins and newcomer Colt Brennan (that picture of him on ESPN the magazine just made me want to punch him in the face).

Before even getting into the rest of the Skins offense, let’s just take a look at those crucial first four games:

1. @ Giants

2. Saints

3. Cardinals

4. @ Dallas

The way I see it, the Skins will be lucky to come out of those 4 games at 2-2. If Jason Campbell is less than remarkable through those games, he’ll be on the bench (for a couple of weeks).

In the backfield they have Clinton Portis who was sort of back in form last season and Ladell Betts who seems to be a decent second option (he had a shit load of yards in 2006 when Portis was hurt).

The receivers in Washington still don’t scare me. Or anyone.

Santana Moss seemed invisible last season. So did Antwaan Randle El. The 1400 yards receiving, 112 catches and 4 TDs they put up combined would have been great if they counted as the same player on my fantasy team last year. Instead it was Russian Roulette playing either of them.

Of course the Skins still have Chris Cooley who is a solid receiving TE and gets all the TDs these days. Plus they drafted Malcolm Kelly (6′4″ 219) and Devin Thomas (6′2″ 218) who are supposed to end up being options 3 and 4 on the depth chart. I hope for the sake of Redskins fans those guys can catch a poorly thrown pass.

The Redskins Defense still seems to be middle of the pack. Nothing seems horribly wrong here, but there is also little to shit your pants in celebration over.

If Jason Campbell does the 1-3 with 4 TDs and 9 INTs thing and gets benched, the Redskins are lucky to finish 7-9.

If Campbell grabs the league by the sack and turns into a monster, they finish 9-7 or 10-6.

If Todd Collins turns into the starter for the whole season, they finish 8-8.

If Colt Brennan becomes the starter midway through the year and plays better than he should be able to as a rookie, they can finish 9-7 or 10-6.

My definitive prediction is a 6-10 record for the Redskins in 2008.

Philidelphia Eagles

As you’ll recall, I like Donovan McNabb.

If he plays 16 games this season, the Eagles could be a force.

If McNabb reclaims the glory of his early years, with additions to the defense, the Eagles could finish as high as 14-2.

They really have an EASY schedule.

If McNabb is in 2002 form, they should probably split with the Cowboys, maybe split with the Giants and maybe lose to the Browns or Steelers. That’s about it.

Worst case scenario, if McNabb is healthy, the Eagles should finish 10-6 no problem.

They have one of the best and most versatile running backs in the NFL in Brian Westbrook. They have Correll Buckhalter who could be a banger to change things up (I have been assured by Palmtross and other Philly fans that Buckhalter is far better than his stats prove).

True, the wide receivers still don’t look great. But last year Kevin Curtis looked like Jerry Rice one week (maybe McNabb can elevate him all year if healthy), Reggie Brown should be all right and LJ Smith is a consistently good receiver.

Plus they have Jason Avant and Hank Baskett, both of whom are young and have been decent 3 and 4 guys.

The Eagles defense is young and fast at linebacker. This is one position it definitely pays to be young and fast at.

The starters on the Eagles defensive line are 50/50 from what I can tell. Mike Patterson had a solid season last year. He’s only 25 and if he continues to grow at DT he should be a treat to watch. Trent Cole who plays Defensive End is a guy who seems to contribute a lot to the defense. He is also only 25.

Of course they added (and severely overpaid for) Asante Samuel to the Defensive Backs where if they have a healthy Brian Dawkins and Sheldon Brown, they can cause some serious trouble.

The only thing is, the fate of this Eagles team is on McNabb. When he was great, he carried them. When he is hurt, they are unpredictable and bizarre.

McNabb NEEDS TO STAY HEALTHY AND BE GREAT or the Eagles will be mediocre due to a lackluster offense (unless you have a great QB, Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, Jason Avant and Hank Baskett might be the worst 4 starting WRs in the NFL…Kevin Curtis is a born #2, Reggie Brown has never carried a big load in his career and is still a little wet behind the ears, Avant and Baskett are unproven in spite of being the right size.)

This season is on McNabb.

My definitive prediction is a 10-6 record for the Eagles in 2008.

New York Giants

Even posting that picture makes my insides churn.

The Giants (like the Patriots) are a very similar team to their 2007 squad. The key difference between the two, in my eyes, is that while the Patriots have tried to upgrade or at the very least added depth and youth to their defense, the Giants have lost Michael Strahan and Jeremy Shockey (granted they didn’t need his injury prone ass to win a Superbowl) and not made any significant additions.

What I think MIGHT happen to them, is that they might be like the Ravens were after they won a Superbowl. They might be too happy to have won. Maybe they’ll be a little tired. Maybe they’ll be sluggish.  Maybe they won’t have the same drive.

Plus they WILL have more people (especially those New York fans) expecting more from them. Maybe that will be tough.

And I’m just gonna say it, Eli Manning is not nearly as good as Donovan McNabb when McNabb is healthy. If McNabb stays healthy all season and the Cowboys stay healthy, I really do think they Giants will finish 3rd in a much much tougher AFC East.

The Giants have a series of decent running backs behind a solid offensive line. But their receiving options? Plaxico Burress is always hurt. He’s great when he plays. He’s easily the second best receiver in the NFC East. But he gets hurt a lot. Then you have Amani Toomer who is on the wrong side of 30 and then Helmet catch guy David Tyree who has clearly ALREADY made the best catch of his career. There is no way in hell that guy can ever outdo that catch.

The defense is similarly strong, but maybe a little less so.

Their success will be dictated by how focused they are. It will also be based upon how good the Eagles and Redskins are. Let’s assume that both the Eagles and Redskins win 1 game agains the Giants. We’ll also assume the Cowboys win 1 against them. That is 3 losses. Not far-fetched at all. They have to play Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Minnesota on the road. Those are 3 games they could easily lose. That brings them down to 10-6. Throw in the fact that the teams they are playing that can beat them at home seem to be the Cowboys, Eagles and Seahawks….that would take them to 7-9. But I doubt they lose 9 games. The defense is too good.

My definitive prediction is a 9-7 record for the Giants in 2008.

Dallas Cowboys

I know that a lot of people expected the Cowboys to win the Superbowl last season.

The Cowboys expected to win it.

They played like chumps when it mattered.

I hate the Cowboys. I always will.

And you know what? They are WEAKER offensively in 2008 than they were in 2007.

WRs, T.O. and Patrick Crayton. Jason Witten at TE. Crayton is a piece of garbage.

RBs, Marion Barber. Yeah, I like the way he runs when he is the running back, but before this year, he has never been a workhorse. Can he withstand starting for 16 games?

I even hate talking about them. I wish them all the worst.

But my definitive prediction is an 11-5 record for the Cowboys in 2008.

Donovan McNabb Laments The Loss Of T.O., Is Prepared To Leave The Iggles

I like Donovan McNabb. I honestly always have.

There was a point around the 2001 season when I thought to myself “Wow the Eagles might actually be relevant again. This guy is amazing.”

In the 2000 and 2001 seasons, McNabb threw for over 3,000 yards each year and had 21 and 25 TDs respectively.

Its also important to keep in mind that those were not Eagles teams of champions and they came damn close to becoming champions.

The 2000 roster featured absolutely no running back (Duce Staley was the starter and had a whopping 1 TD and 344 yards, Darnell Autry had 334 yards and 3 TDs) and a receiving crew of Chad Lewis, Charles Johnson and Torrance Small. Those are three names you aren’t ever going to hear in the same sentence as the words Hall Of Fame.

But even without a running back, McNabb ran for over 600 yards and had 6 rushing TDs. He averaged 7.2 yards per carry. Insane. Even though the 2000 Eagles were eliminated int he second round of the playoffs, it was truly a testament to McNabb’s grit and athletic ability that they even made the playoffs with that ramshackle offense.

McNabb led the Eagles to the NFC Championship in 2001, 2002, 2003 and in 2004 got them to the Superbowl.

The 2001 roster had a receiving crew of James Thrash as the number 1 (absurd and he had 833 yards and 8 TDs) as we’ve seen in years since, clearly McNabb MADE Thrash a better receiver. The other two receivers were a young Todd Pinkston and Chad Lewis who went from McNabb’s number 1 target in 2000 to his number 3 in 2001. Yikes.

2002 was Pinkston, James Thrash, an aging Antonio Freeman and Chad Lewis. Again, McNabb made the team around him better.

2003 was maybe McNabb’s worst seasonand he still was decent with a receiving crew of James Thrash, Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell. By this point James Thrash was mediocre, Pinkston had fallen to Earth after a stellar 2002 season and Freddie Mitchell got fewer receptions that Brian Westbrook and Duce Staley.

By the numbers, there is no way that the Eagles should have gone to the Conference Finals 4 years in a row. McNabb was their leader and he lead them there repeatedly with little more than spare parts on offense.

Of course the fall of Donovan McNabb sort of coincided with the loss of Terrell Owens.

In 2004, Eagles management finally said, “Wait a minute…if we give Donovan a talented receiver to throw to, we might could gets past the Conference Final this year!!!” And unfortunately, they brought in TO, who was available.

Of course 2004 was McNabb’s peak season. TO was catching everything. The Eagles went to the Superbowl and were defeated by the Patriots defense which just slightly outmatched the Eagles offense, TO had his whole “I won’t play” drama and then left for the Cowboys.

Since then, Donovan McNabb has been injured each season, I think part of that goes along with getting older, I know it’s also hard to rebound from losing a Superbowl (I hope this is something the Patriots can overcome). Even though McNabb’s INT numbers have dropped and he has become more of a pocket passer, he hasn’t really led the Eagles to the anything exceptional in a few years.

You can pin it on him if you want to. I’m sure the Eagles management has done so internally. I think the real story here is that when McNabb was young he didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to be great. He carried sub-par after sub-par Eagles team into the playoffs. Once he got to the Superbowl and lost it seems like the reality has set in.

I’m not saying that he is consciously playing worse or demanding better players or anything. But I think at this point in his career he is definitely entitled to them. Along with some slack from the fans and front office.

In a recent interview with Matt Mosley, McNabb shared some thoughts on T.O., his recent injuries and leaving Philly:

“In his situation, he’s finally maturing at age 35 [he's 34]. Sometimes it’s you, sometimes it’s me. [T.O.] thought for so long it was someone else, but at some point, maybe it dawns on you that it’s not everyone else’s fault. I think once Bill [Parcells] left, T.O. realized that Jerry [Jones] truly loved him. And now he has a quarterback that he feels comfortable with. He’s listening. Sometimes you have to understand the reality of the whole situation, and I think he did that.”

“It could’ve been great,” McNabb said. “What did we have, 30 TDs? You don’t see that type of combination very often. That’s like Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. We would’ve been up there.”

McNabb, in his interview with Mosley, said his knee and ankle injuries which limited his play the past two seasons may have been a blessing in disguise.

“[Last year] was a grind, but the injury actually helped acclimate me to being the type of quarterback that I’ve wanted to be. It’s helped me in certain areas.”

Asked about the Eagles’ chances this year, McNabb said: “I still put us at the top of the NFC. I feel confident in saying that because all the best teams are pretty much in our division. The Giants and Cowboys are coming off great seasons and the Redskins had a decent year.”

And McNabb also said he’s at peace with the prospect of eventually moving to a new team. The Eagles drafted quarterback Kevin Kolb a year ago, a decision which perturbed McNabb initially.

“I might end up somewhere else,” McNabb said. “And I’m prepared for that.”

It seems baffling that the Eagles have not released or traded McNabb yet. I thought for sure that they would and that he would go to Chicago and replace the absolutely pathetic Grossman/Orton combo (all though, Kyle Orton did feature one hell of a porn stache during that Monday Night Football game against the Vikings [Tarvaris Jackson] last season. I have to say, that was the worst quarterback duel I have ever witnessed).

The real question is, what does McNabb have left in the tank? Could he go to Chicago and be MORE successful with a worse running game and equally as bad (if not worse) receivers?

If you sent McNabb to Arizona, would be be throwing bombs to Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin? Would he have 40 TDs and 11 INTs and win the MVP?

Could he flourish anywhere at this stage in his career?

I think he probably can given the right situation. I just don’t think that situation would be in Philly or Chicago. He would need to go somewhere where he would have weapons and probably an offensive line that could protect him well enough to avoid him getting beat to shit week after week.

I hope for his sake that he does end up in such a situation. Because the NFL is low on quality quarterbacks and I truly believe that McNabb could be among the top 5 QBs in the NFL if he had the targets. It just seems like he’s been run of the mill the last few years.

Lakers Prepare For 18-1dom

 

Paul Pierce can be absolutely brilliant from time to time.

Game 7 against Cleveland he blew up at the right time.

Game 6 against Detroit he held his ground after a terrible offensive foul call (that easily COULD HAVE been a 4 point play) and piled it on in the 4th quarter.

Against the Lakers, I get the feeling Boston is going to need some shovels. They will have to dig in and grind it out like they did against Detroit in games 5 and 6 every single game.

I agree with Bill Simmons’ sentiment about wanting to be the “Nobody Thought We Could Do It” team. Nobody wants to be the “everybody knew we could do it” team.

If there is one good thing that came from the Patriots falling apart in the Superbowl, its the term “18-1″. No, not in the way people use it to taunt Patriot’s fans.

I have adopted the term to mean “when an entity’s extreme overconfidence in its inevitable success leads to its ultimate downfall”. Used in a sentence “man, I totally thought I was gonna bang that girl but it seemed like she knew I knew it and she started acting all weird. I pulled a total 18-1″. Or maybe “I’m a straight A student so i didn’t think I should bother trying to study for the SAT but when I got my score back it was a 790. 18-1.” It just seems fitting in certain situations.

The Patriots lost the Superbowl because they didn’t execute, Bill Belichick mysteriously decided to make the strangest play calls ever and they just seemed to be way out of gas.

Leading up to the Superbowl, everyone in this area of the country had already been celebrating like the Patriots won it already. People were already calling Belichick the greatest coach of all time, Tom Brady better than Joe Montana. The hype machine went crazy. And people started to BELIEVE the hype machine.

The Giants catch some luck, the Patriots eat some shit and the Superbowl is over.

I felt like I might have been the only person who was a nervous wreck going into the Superbowl. The Patriots had squeaked by for weeks. The Giants had all the momentum in the world, they didn’t peak early in the season, they played hard all year and came into the Superbowl knowing they could win even though no one else did.

And now I present to you, the 2008 Los Angeles Lakers.

A team that has the MVP. A Legendary coach. Some older guys who have been around. Some younger guys who don’t know their place yet. A high price player they bought to win (for almost nothing). A fan base that has already crowned them.

Does any of that sound familiar at all??????

The 2007-08 Lakers are the same team as the 2007-08 New England Patriots.

The Celtics and the Giants…well…lets see…

A coach who everyone laughs at due to his general badness most of the time and inability to get it done, a series of veteran players who have a chance to step up like they have never had before in their entire career, a couple of young guys in crucial positions who can make or break the team, role players GALORE (David Tyree anyone?).

I’m just hoping for the sake of my stomach that the Celtics sweep (yikes!).

But the key seems to be Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Those guys need it. Arm sock and all.

And then when the Lakers are walking off the court in LA after the Celtics win it in 5, the crowd can chant “18-1″, “18-1″ at the new chokers.

I’m dreaming hard here…