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Now with four games under their
belts, it is time to look at the NFL and ask the question just what
do we have?
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>In my humble opinion, the NFL is producing the worst brand of football the league has ever seen. Or have all the newfound experts, prognosticators and (yes) talk show analysts missed the boat on what good football really is? Perhaps a little bit of both.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Let’s start with the media-anointed stars of the league, you know, quarterbacks like Sanchez or Romo, coaches like Andy Reid, Todd Haley and maybe even Steve Spagnuolo. Better termed as: overrated. None of them seem to be getting the job done and yet they get granted weekly mulligans by the media.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>The NFL has become a league of who is popular and who gives good sound bites. If you are young and come from a good coaching tree, then you obviously will follow in your mentors’ footsteps .
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>WRONG.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Let’s take the Bill Belichek tree of assistant coaches who have flamed out – Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels, to name a few. All were run out of town because they did not get the job done.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Some would say they did not have enough good talent. I would agree with that. It is funny when you do not have Tom Brady or a good offensive line to coach, you don’t seem to be as much of a genius.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Then there is the talent. The difference-makers are few, the linemen no longer dominate and there are only a handful of receivers that are real threats. That includes the Rams, who have had a hard time finding a good receiver since the likes of Torry Holt and Issac Bruce left.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Yet if you turn on any show you would think this is the golden age of football. More like pewter, if you ask me.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>The players are soft, the coaches are unimaginative and the media has seldom a clue. Many would not know a good player if they were tackled by one, and yet I am supposed to believe that they know what they are talking about? “font-family: Verdana;”>Â
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Who runs the NBA? “font-family: Verdana;”>Â
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>While the NBA is in the midst of a lockout and progress has been slow with respect to negotiating, I am glad I now know who runs the league. If you think Commissioner David Stern is the answer then you would be wrong. This is the playerss league, or should I say the agents’?
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Earlier this week the most powerful agents with the best players sent a letter to the players instructing them to dig in and not give into a bad deal with the owners. The owners want to slash salaries by one-third which means not only would the players loose a lot of dough but so would the agents, and heaven help us if that were to happen.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>The agents are right, which is why they should have had a seat at the table. They are the ones who have the experience of negotiating contracts anyway. As long as they have a vested interest in this matter, there are some really qualified agents that could help this deal along.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>If you think there won’t be a season, think again. Too much money on the table for them to mess this up. Remember, this is not the NFL where the owners had a strike fund set aside along with the hopes of living off the TV money. It was amazing how quickly both sides were interested in getting the deal done when it was believed that the courts would not let the owners live off the TV money.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Blues blues “font-family: Verdana;”>Â
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>The Blues start another season tonight, and here we go again. In spite of the team being up for sale with shaky ownership and leadership at the top, they may be a better team on the ice. If only the owner and president would shut up and let players play and coaches coach. If this were the Cardinals, Rams, SLU or Mizzou, the people at the top would have been long gone and yet this pair continues.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>As for General Manager Doug Armstrong, he is the key. He has no money to spend but he is a solid hockey man. Too bad he cannot do something about the people above him.
