« Shinseki to Vet. Affairs | Main | Change clothes, and go... » NFL Open Thread07 Dec 2008 12:53 pm
The Cowboys must win today. I shouldn't say that given what happened with the Giants last year. Still we need this one.
UPDATE: G-Men go down. I think that means more for the Eagles than the Giants. Keeps the Eagles in the hunt. Giants should be fine. I'd be more worried about no Plax down the stretch. Comments (108)Comments on this entry have been closed. |
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The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood
Cowboys should win by a close margin. I think the Lions get their first win today. NO beats Atlanta setting up the monday night game with TB and Carolina. Philly beats NY to muddy up the waters just a little. Miami takes care of Buffalo to stay in the hunt. And the Deadskins go down in flames to B more.
WOW! Hixon on the Giants just dropped a perfect pass for what would have been an 85 yard TD.
I think the Cowboys have a good chance of getting 5 fingers to face. I say Steelers by a TD, Philly gets whooped & Jets by 10 over the 49ers.
I think chances are that the 'Boys are running into quite an ass-whuppin' today. Tashard Choice is nice but he ain't no Marion Barber. T.O. might pretty much fold up after the first quarter against Pitt's pass defense. And Romo will be going it virtually alone with a suspect o-line against a beastly pass rush.
Other than the Giants and the Titans, the Steelers might be the most physical team in the league. And the Cowboys don't do physical real well. Playing at Heinz only makes it worse.
On the bright side, at least no one will be subjected to national broadcasts of the Texans or Lions this week.
Bad day not to have Barber. The Cowboys will have a very difficult time winning in Pittsburgh without him.
WOW! G-Men with a FG block returned for a TD with 7 ticks left in the 1st half. UNBELIEVABLE.
I watched that Steelers game last week. I think they are the most physical team by a decent margin.
Long-time lurker and fellow Cowboys' fan here. I agree, we MUST win this one.
The Saints' chances of making the playoffs took a major hit last week, but this is a grudge game, so I'm still invested. You know some variation of this saying--I'm a fan of New Orleans and whoever is playing the Falcons this week.
Brian
You aint gonna run the ball on the Steelers anyway. So what they need is just anybody and that includes Choice, to run the ball a few times just to set up the play action pass. Whats going to be big today for the Cowboys is Roy Williams the reciever. He is tall and can go get it just like TO and there are few teams that have two WR with their size and speed and ability to go up and catch the ball. Look for Roy Williams to have a huge game.
I hate that the Lions went down again. Pour out a little liquor for DougEMI
Just wanted to put this game into perspective, if the Cowboys lose, they still leap frog Atlanta(who lost today) for the final and sixth spot. The Giants losing today actually make it possible for the Cowboys to win the division. Thw Cowboys would need to win out and The Giants to lose at least 1 more game...but it is possible.
Watching the Patriots play the Seahawks, I'm not sure Tedy Bruschi survived that stroke a few years ago.
I am going to call out the commentators today when they eff up. Just now the Steelers stopped the fullback for the Cowboys on fourth and short and the commentators said it was because the oline didnt get and push. Thats bullsh!t. Witten got handled by Harrison. If it wasnt for that Grant could have walked past the first down marker
Detroit's going 0-16 this year. If Tim Tebow goes into the draft next spring, he'll be a Lion. God help him.
I totally forgot that those fools were letting Pacman back today. Its going to be a nail biter
2 shaky qb's
2 shaky running-games
2 shaky O-lines
2 sack-happy D's
I'm throwing out the conventional wisdom on this one...
nice win for the bears of chicago---we needed that one badly.
we have our next two games at soldier field, and it's gonna be coldy and snowy. and we have forte. if we capitalize we're set up nice to take our division.
Bill Parcells used to say that hidden yardage was a killer. This is exactly what he was talking about. The Cowboys go for it on their own 34 yd line don't get it, they hold the Steelers to 3&out and their punter kicks it 30 yds. Had the Cowboys punted the ball, they get it inside the 20, they get the ball back in their own territory, 1st play Choice runs it for 11 yds and if they punt the ball insead of go for it they are already in fg position...instead, they fumble the ball and because they went for it, Steelers recover it already in fg position...if it was a fumble
Too many assumptions there Keith
the only assumption was where the punt would have landed, if they punted. Everything else actually happened.
Romo FAIL.
4 turnovers on 7 possessions with 5 minutes to go in the first half.
Given that I'm a very, very, very sad Browns fan, however, I find no delight Pittsburgh's success. But given how the game's going, I'm sure they'll turn the ball over at an opportune moment.
You cannot win when you turn over the ball three times. You simply can't. I know Barber isn't playing, but we need to calm down.
But the D is making me proud. Romo has to calm the fuck down and manage the game at this point.
Your damn right Romo needs to calm down, but it would help if Garrett stopped calling the game like they were in a dome or in Miami. 15 degree weather with a 20+ mile an hour cross wind...run n' shoot! Geesshh...
are u sure he's not reading this blog? 2 good decisions put them in FG range...
Nick Folk is money!
Dig the first half stats. Those turnovers killed us. Not saying we'd be blowing them out--but 10-0 is possible.
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/boxscore?game_id=29733&displayPage=tab_box_score&season=2008&week=REG14&override=true
Here is what I hope Garrett does at half time.
1. Run at Harrison so when he goes inside it can be exploited
2. Use more two tight end sets to cut down on Pittsburg's ability to blitz
3. GET THE BALL TO ROY WILLIAMS. They are singling him up and playing off coverage. The comeback is there all day to his side.
4. Half rollouts would help but I don't know if thats Romo's deal.
5. More crossing routes with Max protection. Its hard to do all that man to man if you gotta chase someone across the field, but Romo will need time to let the routes develop.
Its really not that bad, but turnovers are killing us.
TNC, I think you ought to start a blogger beef with Cole--he called your Cowboys evil, after all.
Deep thought question.
If the 49ers beat the Jets today, will the media say it was because Singletary has them playing better, or will they focus on Brett Favre.
Since I hate Brett Favre I am having a hard time choosing which one I would rather happen.
Getting the right people on the field so they dont have to burn timeouts would be a good idea, also. Also it appears (via the radio)Roy Williams has plantier fascinitis, or how ever you spell it.
Plantar fasciitis (fashee-itis), and it hurts like hell. Been there, done that, not fun.
No one has mentioned the skins, the real losers in the giants and (maybe) cowboys games. Damn it. They better win out.
Fuck! Sack the motherfucker already!
I'll be watching 'Skins-Ravens tonight. Should be a tough game.
The Cowboys just scored a TD, Romo to Owens. Dallas 10-3.
unbelievable...Romo...
From the way he is running, maybe Choice let a fire under their asses, wouldn't be the first time:
http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/12/let-tashard-choice-handle-the-halftime-s.html
B ware of the Ware-wolf!
It can't be said enough.
D-Ware is a BEAST!
huge drive for dallas...if they get a TD on this drive...man, it will be a steep uphill for the Steelers
Why in hell do they keep putting the fullback in the game? He is HURTING the offense!
Steelers have outscored their opponents 77-9 in the third qtr this year, before this game.
Choice has already gained more yards on the Steelers this year than any outher rb all year.
Helluva series for Burnett. Tennessee alumni!
Goddamn that conversion hurt us...Rothelisberger has a cannon. I still like how the D is playing.
That sack was HUGE!
wow...2 completely different halfs this far...this game is getting interesting...
Hamlin just earned his money!
D Fence Bay Bay!!
Wow. This D is better than I thought. The trouble with play-action is that if you can't run the ball in the first place, no one is scared.
If you haven't already and its still open, everybody needs to go vote for Bradie James to go to the pro bowl. I used to hate that stiff mofo but he has been balling out of control this year!
They need to take Deon Anderson out of the game so they can block Palomalu when he tries to blitz off the edge
For the AFC folks, Pats just squeaked ahead of Seattle and Jets are trailing SanFran ... the AFC East isn't over yet either.
Crap. The Steelers are looking fine, I leave the room to do the laundry, and they go on and give up 10 points. No more leaving the room for me!
Commentator is full of sh!t. Heath Miller initiated the contact so if they were gonna call pass interference it would have been on him and not Davis. Thats why they need more ex Defensive players in the booth.
Per my deep thought from earlier, the 49ers did in fact beat the Jets. A third option occurs to me that they might blame it on the arrest of Jet's captain Shawn Ellis instead of giving Singletary his props
Horrible spot. They gave him at least a yard
How do you not have somebody in the flat on that one. Whenever they have a close set like that they ALWAYS try to beat you to the flat. That was stupid!
You can't turn over the ball. You just can't.
G-men about to win division via the Steelers. Awesome. Would've been better if we'd hammered the Eagles and picked up that bye.
If I were a Cowboys fan, that would feel like a punch to the nuts.
Its better than the Seahawks letting Meriweather waltz unmolested through the line and strip Seneca Wallace before he's even taken his second drop step.
Good thing for the Patriots, though.
1 TD 3 Ints and a fumble. I can't remember the last time I saw a Cowboy single-handedly lose a game. Romo literally put points on the board for the Steelers. You can't do that and hope to be a playoff team.
Look for TO to lose it in the postgame interviews like he just did on the sidelines. What a loser
HAA! The Boys blew it again in December! To be honest with myself, I'll admit Ta that Romo had a poor game, but like Joe Buck said, he hasn't seen a defense like this one. This defense is as good as theirs was in the Super Bowl run of 2005, and maybe better than any of the ones they've had in the 90s even. Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd, Porter and Gildon and now Harrison and Woodley. I give the Cowboys front seven credit though, they came to play. Now lets go Skins gainst them filthy dirty purple uniform wearin birds!
Well, they can be a play-off team with Romo as qb, they have been the last two years. He needs to be better sometimes, but at the same time he is their only chance at winning anything. He sucked this game, it was a tough place to do anything and the Steelers are #1 defensive team for a reason. They didn't lose last year against the Giants because of him. They lost this game because of him, but he is still their best chance at winning, and about 20 other teams in the league would rather have him at qb than the guy they have. What all that means in terms of winning a super bowl, who knows. All I know is at this time last year the Giants fans thought they would never win a Super Bowl with Eli Manning at qb.
Jay,
Where's "San Fran?" I know there is a city called San Francisco. That's where I work. They also have a football team called the San Francisco 49ers (which embarassed the New York Jets today). But I don't know of any place called "San Fran."
And while we're at it, I don't know of a place called "Frisco," either.
Thank you, Tony. It's not often I get a Christmas present from an NFL QB.
GO SKINS!
I didn't see the game--maybe there was nothing to praise, but you haven't said a good word about the Steelers this season. And yet, 10-3...
Sgwhiteinfla,
It's already begun. Go to Sports Illustrated's website. Don Banks, in his "Snap Judgments" column, is saying "the Jets are frauds." Although he does give props to Shaun Hill.
Look, I know the 2008 49ers are not the 1988 49ers. But still, they should get some credit when they actually win a game. I am predicting them to go 8-8 this season, not bad, but not good (of course, it really depends on how badly Frank Gore is injured). Unfortunately, it is too little-too late as the Cardinals have just won the NFC West today.
And I do want to congratulate the Cardinals. It has been a long time since they won a division. Good luck to them.
Beware the reigning Super Bowl Champs.
It really is a shame the Cowboys football team doesn't live up to the standard set by its cheerleaders.
Question from the Redskins-Ravens game:
A few minutes ago, a Ravens defender got a hand on the Redskins punt, but it still went about 20 yards downfield past the line of scrimmage. As the ball came to a stop, a Redskins player picked it up.
Q. Why didn't the Redskins maintain possession? A Ravens player had already touched the ball, so shouldn't it have been a free ball for anyone to recover and run with?
The Redskins player picked it up far enough upfield that it would have been a first down for them.
Man, the Steelers offense has been shaky all season, but the defense always keeps the game close enough so that it only takes a couple of big plays to win a game. Great game by the Cowboys D, though.
Fighting Words
The funny part is that Singletary inserted Shaun Hill as QB as soon as he was named interim Head Coach reportedly over the objections of Mike Martz. But you didn't see them mention that in the SI story did you? They don't really want Singletary to keep that job. But I think he just might do it in spite of the media haters. All I know is that they have won 3 out of their last 4 and have a good opportunity to win at least 2 more after their horrendous start.
low-tech
On partially blocked punts it doesn't count like it would if a punt returner or someone else muffs the punt or touches it when its on the way down. Its a quirk of the rules but it makes sense because if the punting team could recover a partially blocked punt then you would be penalizing the other team for rushing the punter and being successful. Also if you partially block a punt you can't be called for running into the punter.
"I didn't see the game--maybe there was nothing to praise, but you haven't said a good word about the Steelers this season. And yet, 10-3..."
Meh, I haven't said a bad word about them either. I haven't said a good word about a lot of good teams. Blogging reflects what I'm thinking right now. It isn't comprehensive.
Second deep thought of the day.
We have more black Head Coaches in the NFL right now than we do in Division 1 College Football.
This is a tricky rule. There are two important points to understand:
1. While you have live balls on both blocks and muffs, they are live for different reasons and covered by completely different rules.
2. The punt is not technically a legal kick from scrimmage until the ball flies past the LOS.
On the block you have a loose ball that failed to become a legal kick so it's really exactly like a fumble on any other down. If a punter somehow managed to shank the punt directly sideways so it flew out of bounds before crossing the line it would be treated as a fumble out of bounds and a turnover on downs.
On the muff you have a completely separate rule that touching and failing to secure a kick causes a live ball, but that rule only comes in to play after the kick becomes a legal kick from scrimmage by passing the LOS.
Your guy's touching didn't prevent a legal kick from scrimmage or occur during a legal kick from scrimmage. In that case it isn't part of either rule so it has no impact at all on anything other than the ball's trajectory.
The Terrell Owens Overdose Watch begins NOW.
Romo was not great today but the interception returned for TD by Townsend was Witten's fault, not Romo's.
Too bad for Dallas because they played VERY well today. At least they're still in a wild-card spot.
But what about Owens crying near the end and afterwards. He's NOT team player.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER count out the Steelers. They started the 4th quarter down by 10 and got stopped on 4th and goal. It takes a lot of mental strength to think you still have a shot after that and they went on to score 17 unanswered points. GO STEELERS!
3/4 of the teams in a division of the AFC have black head coaches.
You know I thought it was funny that nobody made a big deal out of the fact that the first time a black coach took his team to the Superbowl that it was 2 black coaches doing it at the same time. But I am a little bit ashamed of myself that I hadn't realized that we have 7 black head coaches right now. Thats pretty close to a quarter of the 32 teams.
So how is it that out of 120 teams in college football we only have 3 black head coaches? That means even the bottom of the barrel teams aren't taking a chance on black head coaches. The more I think about it, the more pissed I am getting. How does this happen in 2008?
Hey, if blogging lets you be non-comprehensive, sports fandom should let me say unreasonable things, or give you trash, right?
Paul,
Not sure who counted out the Steelers.
Justin,
Fair enough.
Are we just so used to Ray Lewis being a beast that we don't get excited anymore when we see him act a fool? I gotta say, tonight the guy looks possessed! But the announcers are pretty ho hum about his performance. I guess thats what happens when you set your bar that high.
I'm not sure I see a plausible route to the postseason for the Redskins now.
Seahawks= Embarassing
Steelers=Tough as nails
Ravens= Scary D.
Pittsburgh Vs Baltimore next week will be fun to watch.
I can't stand watching the Vikings do their December thing. It hurts too much. The Bears are going to win that division by default.
How is it that Miami now has a shot to win that division? Crazy.
As a long time Miami fan, in fair weather or foul, I'm elated to see them in a 3-way tie for tops in AFC East after last year's 1-winner season.
(I think technically it's not a total tie, they're #2 if you consider tiebreakers)
Ray Lewis is going to be a Raider next season. It was just meant to be.
sgtwhiteinfla,
"So how is it that out of 120 teams in college football we only have 3 black head coaches? That means even the bottom of the barrel teams aren't taking a chance on black head coaches."
I can only say I'm ticked my alma mater (U of Wash) didn't interview Turner Gill as a possible replacement for Tyrone Willingham.
Also, I find it ironic Willingham in over a decade as a head coach never himself hired an african-american coordinator, the jumping off point to the head coaching ranks.
On the NFL, a perfect season for my pro and college teams looks certain as the Lions inched closer to winlessness by losing their most winnable remaining game.
Yeah Raves!! If the Cowboys would have shown up today we'd be in first right now... But it's all good we'll take it from them face to face next week!
Jim:
I dont know if you want to be a coordinator coming out of a Willingham program. They're ususally on the wrong side of .500 ... Not exactly the best place to jump off into a HC position.
They don't really want Singletary to keep that job. But I think he just might do it in spite of the media haters.
I was skeptical of Singletary, but he really has turned the 49ers around. At least we aren't an embarrassment to the league anymore. Beating the Bills away (first west coast team to win on the east coast) and the Jets at home at least shows they are a reasonable football team. People are downplaying the wins, (i.e. the Bills are falling apart, and the Jets don't travel well) but beating two teams in a row that had winning records isn't too shabby. After the last few years as a 49ers fan, I'll take it.
Green
Before Willingam went to U dub he had 6 winning seasons including 2 out of 3 at Notre Dame and 5 bowl games including a Rose Bowl out of 10 seasons. And Stanford wasn't exactly a powerhouse when he was named their head coach. He could have and should have done better in his hiring of assistant coaches because guess who hired him as an assistant at Stanford? Denny Green did.
Willingham actually recruited me in high school and I thought he was a helluva coach but if minorities don't help each other, it won't get done. Notice one thing, I posted that we have 7 black head coaches in the NFL now last night. One of them, Tony Dungy, was hired as one of the youngest Defensive Coordinators at Minnesota by who? Again Denny Green. And 3 out of the other 6 black head coaches were on Tony Dungy's staff in Tampa. And Dungy has a black Defensive Coordinator and a black Assistant head coach whom is being groomed for a head coaching job on offense so he is still growing his coaching legacy while vying for the title every year. So just like Obama has said and Dungy has shown being diverse doesn't mean you sacrifice excellence.
Amen. Granted, I'm a Nebraska homer, but for the life of me I can't understand why Gill doesn't have AD's around the country tripping over each other trying to hire him. Buffalo's 8-5, spanked the No. 12 team to win their conference, and are playing in a January bowl game. I don't care how much you like another guy, an AD this year is insane to not even interview Gill. I mean, dude is taking the best-pre-Gill-1A-season-was-3-wins University at Buffalo to a January bowl; you'd think he wouldn't be able to turn around in the shower without bumping into an Auburn booster.
Charlie Strong, the Defensive Coordinator at Florida should also be getting a lot of consideration but he isn't. Think about this, Tennessee gets throttled every year by Florida's defense but they selected a guy who has been an offensive coordinator for exactly one year and won exactly 5 games as a head coach in the pros before getting fired. All this Saturday when I was watching the Gators defense punch an Alabama offense in the mouth that was supposed to man handle them and wear them down for 4 quarters I just kept asking myself how the guy that runs that defense doesn't even get an interview with my alma mater. But how about this, there is a rumor that Charlie Strong can't get a job in the SEC because he is married to a white woman. Think im joking? Here is an article by Spencer Tillman on cbs sportsline that talks about it.
http://www.sportsline.com/cbssports/story/11103282
Off the top of my head, I can think of a number of hypotheses to explain the disparity in black head coaches in college vs. the NFL, but I have no idea if any of them are true.
1. Are there a higher % of black players in the NFL vs. college? If so, since being an ex-player is one of the best ways to jump into a coaching spot, that could explain part of it.
2. Longevity/turnover--At least at the better programs in college, it seems like head coaches tend to stick around for longer than they do in the NFL. So there's more inertia--it takes longer for the coaching ranks to react to changes in society than is the case in the NFL.
3. Racism, overt or covert--lots of the best college football programs are in the south. Are administrators there more averse to hiring black head coaches? Are administrators there or elsewhere more averse because they think it might hurt recruiting and/or fundraising?
4. Job qualification hurdles--I think most universities require a college degree in order to be hired as head coach. How many ex-players in college/NFL actually got their degrees? Does this percentage vary with race?
Doug T
Take a look at this article from 2003 and many of your questions will be answered. Short answer: Because it hasn't been done before a lot of white college ADs and white college presidents are leery of hiring a black head coach. Shorter: Racism.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_12_33/ai_104211688/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1
Just a question: why does Fox let Troy Aikman cover Cowboy games?
Isn't Tony Romo's the name of a steakhouse? I hear they got good Delmonicos there.
Pittsburgh loves their Stillers and Big Ben. Smooches to Mike Tomlin. Good job, Steel Curtain. My wrist still hurts from waving my Terrible Towel.
BTW, the shortened form for the City of Pittsburgh is _never_ Pitt. That is a college here in town, thus using Pitt always refers to college ball.
The right shortened form for Pittsburgh is the 'Burgh. I don't really use it myself, but it does refer to NFL ball.
The reason the NFL does so much better than colleges in hiring black coaches is the Rooney Rule. The hiring of Mike Tomlin is the prime example of why the Rooney Rule works.
Tony Romo needs to stop trying to pretend he's a tough guy from Wisconsin and wear some sleeves. You've been living in Dallas, playing in a dome, just admit you're cold and keep your arms warm. Could this have something to do with his abysmal December record? I know the wind was floating some balls on him, but on the sidelines he was staying next to the heater, and kept blowing into his hands on the field. The announcers noted that he had made mention of the cold not bothering him because he was a Wisconsin native, but, really, you live in warmer climes for awhile and you lose your tolerance. The guy just looked cold to me.
Not that I'm complaining -- Go Steelers!
I think all the talk about 'liberal professors' and the like tends to give people the wrong impression; most colleges and universities are deeply conservative. They may not vote Republican, but they don't like change, and there's usually an 'old guard' that likes things done their way. In the NFL, team ownership is a lot more diverse, and a lot more flexible (depending on the owners!) as a result.
"I'm a Nebraska homer, but for the life of me I can't understand why Gill doesn't have AD's around the country tripping over each other trying to hire him."
I agree. Buffalo's D-1A record pre-Gill was 10-69. Auburn would be a great spot for him. (of course U of Wwould have been better. )
Well, the Boys ars still in the chase; don't panic TN, even if they lose to the Giants, Atlanta has Tampa Bay next weekend. Nonetheless, against Pittsburgh, Indy, or Tennessee at the end, it's hard to imagine they have that je ne sais quois--their coach has never come up with a big one, and the overall Dallas mo this past coupla years--a lot of sizzle, not so much steak, and anyday now TO coming out and saying the problem is they don't get the ball enough in his hands--ho hum.
But I believe you wrote somewhere that you once lived in Philly, went to college in DC, and now live in NY, so how exactly did you become a Cowboys fan? Why?
And woeful as we Niner fans have been, the We Like Mike theme is growing.
Persia
NFL team owners are diverse? Really? How many of them aren't old white guys? I mean they did have a woman, but Georgia Frontiere (sp) passed away not too long ago. By the way, you do know that Wayne Huzienga was claiming he was selling the Dolphins this year because Obama is a socialist right?
The NFL changed because of the Rooney Rule period. But don't get it twisted, this is all relatively new. When Dungy got his job in 1996 at the Bucs there was exactly 2 other Black Head coach and one was the guy who had originally hired him as a coordinator, Dennis Green the other was Ray Rhodes in Philly. So basically you are talking about the last 12 years that diversity has come to the NFL ranks. And the only thing that changed in all that time was in fact the Rooney rule.
Thanks, sgwhiteinfla and SeanH, for your cogent explanations of the punting and punt blocking rules.
NFL team owners are diverse? Really?
Yes! But not in the sense of their not being old white guys--- sorry that wasn't clear. Some of them are families, some are business owners, and IIRC there are some 'collective/business partnership' owners, though I could be remembering that wrong. Leadership in colleges is far more fossilized, at least in my opinion. There may be different Presidents, but much of the leadership remains the same, and is part of the same network. No one can just pony up a lot of cash and buy a university with a strong college team.
And I'm not trying to diminish the impact of the Rooney rule either.
Persia
Who do you think picks the Presidents and the Atheletics Directors who in turn pick the head coaches in college football?
I can tell you for sure that its not some broke liberal/conservative professors, thats for sure.
Check into the word "booster" as it pertains to college football and the hiring and firing of coaches and you will see that just like in the pros money talks and bullsh!t runs a marathon.
sgwhiteinfla (and Doug T) and Persia,
EXACTLY. The boosters are the problem here. The boosters are relatively unregulated, are a constant source of trouble for programs (NCAA violations, ethical scandals, pushing for the hiring and firing of certain coaches with no ethical or in some cases even logical guidelines) yet due to the unmitigated amount of cash and influence they have with / over most major Division I programs, nothing will be done about it.
Take the corrupting influence of lobbyists on our political process and transfer it to an NCAA landscape and there is your answer.
And I guarantee you most of the boosters in Southern and Midwest programs are explicitly not comfortable with a Black man being the face of their program--think about (formerly) red states and Blue Dog Democrats and then think about their NCAA programs (Florida, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Nebraska, Colorado, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky, etc.)
I am a little surprised that liberal bastions like Minnesota, Oregon, California, New Jersey, etc. havent been more progressive in this regard tho.
"Yeah Raves!! If the Cowboys would have shown up today we'd be in first right now... But it's all good we'll take it from them face to face next week!"
@Green,
Dream, on, man(woman?)! The Stillers D is scary good right now. We will take your best shot. And we will win.*
*Of course, this statement depends on our offensive line being able to protect Big Ben and Big Ben not trying to do too much and thus force a turnover or two. In short, flip a coin!
Shawn
I think you guys would do best to avoid our best shot...
Ask Mendenhall...
Heh I'll best Ben still has nightmares about that hit from Bart Scott a few years ago...
Green,
They'll take that shot and keep on comin'. In case you haven't noticed, the Stillers have built a system that lets 'em plug people in and keep chugging along at high speed. Ben, Hines, Troy, and the gang will give as good as they get. Time will tell.
@Juba-- thank you! That was a bit of my point, that got lost, lost, lost.