Well, I told you so. Three series and one pick. Not a good day for Manning. It's not difficult to see what's going on in the NFL.
I'm interested to see if the NFL gives the Colts a tough schedule, next year, or if it keeps giving them these cakewalks, despite supposedly basing scheduling on prior year performance.
It's good to see the Colts on a losing streak.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
I TOLD YOU SO!
For weeks, I've been having fun with the crying Hoosiers, telling them that their Colts are a weak team with a weak quarterback, both of which is sheltered by the NFL from having to play outside in the cold. Last week's loss against the Jets was a nice confirmation that I'm still the best handicapper of the back-room dealings at the NFL.
We all know what the Colts threw last week's game - they couldn't afford to have their weak QB get exposed as such in a bitterly cold game where he needed the win for a record and isn't good enough to pull it off. Manning is awkward and frail in the cold, and he simply couldn't be exposed to an injury. It's going to be 10 at game time, today.
Well, the NFL can't keep cold weather games off the Colts' schedule, entirely, since it is a cold-weather league, played during the coldest part of the year, so the NFL helped the Colts by putting their lone cold-weather game at the end of the season where chances were high that the Colts could rest the starters.
Now, after much confusion, someone let Kravitz at the Indy Pravda in on the reason for benching Manning during the Jets game.
"BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Just sit, baby. After last Sunday's fiasco, how can the Indianapolis Colts justify playing any of their top people in today's abjectly meaningless game against the Buffalo Bills? Can you imagine the fan revolt if Indy uses its starters beyond one series, much less one play? We will hear the cries as far as Orchard Park, N.Y.:"
You just figured this out now, Bob? Did you deduce this on your own, or were you fed today's column by the Colts' front office?
The Colts have to lose today. If the Colts win with a backup QB, their fans will be howling for someone's head for causing the Colts to miss the Perfect Pats' record. The problem for the Colts is that there's another record at stake, today: most wins on a season, held by the '84 49'ers, the '85 Bears and the 'o7 Pats. If the Colts lose, today, they lose a shot at moving into that highest level of NFL greatness.
Buffalo's pretty horrible, and Painter played at Purdue and other Big 10 stadiums, where he became decent playing in the cold. He's certainly not afraid of it. The Colts could legitimately win, today, despite their own attempts to throw the game.
We'll see if the Colts read my article in time to realize that the real NFL record is still on the line. If they give Painter some weapons, we'll know that they're actually trying to match the record only the big boys hold. If Painter does well, and if the refs don't cheat and give him a win, as they do with Manning, Painter will have legitimately accomplished something.
We all know what the Colts threw last week's game - they couldn't afford to have their weak QB get exposed as such in a bitterly cold game where he needed the win for a record and isn't good enough to pull it off. Manning is awkward and frail in the cold, and he simply couldn't be exposed to an injury. It's going to be 10 at game time, today.
Well, the NFL can't keep cold weather games off the Colts' schedule, entirely, since it is a cold-weather league, played during the coldest part of the year, so the NFL helped the Colts by putting their lone cold-weather game at the end of the season where chances were high that the Colts could rest the starters.
Now, after much confusion, someone let Kravitz at the Indy Pravda in on the reason for benching Manning during the Jets game.
"BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Just sit, baby. After last Sunday's fiasco, how can the Indianapolis Colts justify playing any of their top people in today's abjectly meaningless game against the Buffalo Bills? Can you imagine the fan revolt if Indy uses its starters beyond one series, much less one play? We will hear the cries as far as Orchard Park, N.Y.:"
You just figured this out now, Bob? Did you deduce this on your own, or were you fed today's column by the Colts' front office?
The Colts have to lose today. If the Colts win with a backup QB, their fans will be howling for someone's head for causing the Colts to miss the Perfect Pats' record. The problem for the Colts is that there's another record at stake, today: most wins on a season, held by the '84 49'ers, the '85 Bears and the 'o7 Pats. If the Colts lose, today, they lose a shot at moving into that highest level of NFL greatness.
Buffalo's pretty horrible, and Painter played at Purdue and other Big 10 stadiums, where he became decent playing in the cold. He's certainly not afraid of it. The Colts could legitimately win, today, despite their own attempts to throw the game.
We'll see if the Colts read my article in time to realize that the real NFL record is still on the line. If they give Painter some weapons, we'll know that they're actually trying to match the record only the big boys hold. If Painter does well, and if the refs don't cheat and give him a win, as they do with Manning, Painter will have legitimately accomplished something.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The NFL Needs Expanded Instant Replay to Rebut Charges of Game-Fixing
Week upon week, the Colts receive calls from the officials that result in Colts' wins and cause everyone in America to scratch their heads in amazement. Consequently, there is now an avalanche of discussion openly claiming that the NFL is fixed, rigged, manipulated and managed. Tim Donaghy showed us how easy it is to manufacture outcomes in NBA games. As both the NBA and the NFL are heavily officiated, it would be a simple matter for the NFL to manage games as the NBA allegedly does.
I was recently asked whether I thought instant replay in the NFL is a good idea. I responded that, yes, it is a good idea, but it doesn't go far enough. With holding and pass interference penalties having no standard for being issued, and since a single call decides victory, it is time for the NFL to enhance the integrity of the game and give reassurance to the fans that the contest is an honest fight.
To restore trust to the fans and to reassure us all of the legitmacy of the sport, each and every holding, block in the back and pass interference call needs to be subject to automatic official review. A panel of three reviewers should vote on the call, and their votes should be publicly displayed and archived.
Given these regular and inexplicable calls that inure disproportionately to a single team's favor, it's likely that some U.S. Attorney or some investigative reporter, somewhere in the U.S., would start to take a keener interest in the sport. Dan Moldea seems convinced that the NFL is fixed, but he doesn't have subpoena power or the power of the front page.
Many Americans have turned away from Sunday Football, because they doubt its legitimacy. I would think that the NFL would take a simple step to restore the image and integrity of the game. Since a single call determines a winner, it's important to get each and every call right. Let the refs know that someone has to sign off on their calls, and we might start to get less puzzling games.
I was recently asked whether I thought instant replay in the NFL is a good idea. I responded that, yes, it is a good idea, but it doesn't go far enough. With holding and pass interference penalties having no standard for being issued, and since a single call decides victory, it is time for the NFL to enhance the integrity of the game and give reassurance to the fans that the contest is an honest fight.
To restore trust to the fans and to reassure us all of the legitmacy of the sport, each and every holding, block in the back and pass interference call needs to be subject to automatic official review. A panel of three reviewers should vote on the call, and their votes should be publicly displayed and archived.
Given these regular and inexplicable calls that inure disproportionately to a single team's favor, it's likely that some U.S. Attorney or some investigative reporter, somewhere in the U.S., would start to take a keener interest in the sport. Dan Moldea seems convinced that the NFL is fixed, but he doesn't have subpoena power or the power of the front page.
Many Americans have turned away from Sunday Football, because they doubt its legitimacy. I would think that the NFL would take a simple step to restore the image and integrity of the game. Since a single call determines a winner, it's important to get each and every call right. Let the refs know that someone has to sign off on their calls, and we might start to get less puzzling games.
Another Week, Another Hope For a Colts Loss
Let's all get a good hate going for the tax-sucking fascist Colts, the leader in public-option Football. Let's also hope that Manning isn't successful at running his favorite play, "50-yard automatic pass interference right, on three."
Go, Titans.
Go, Titans.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Quitting By Expanding
Obama says he needs 30,000 more troops and four more years in Afghanistan so he can quit the "war." This doublespeak is akin to telling your wife that you need to sleep with your mistress 20 more times in order to end the affair.
Ending the "war" in Afghanistan is easy. Order the troops home. Given the cargo planes and aircraft carriers at our disposal, all troops can easily be out within two weeks. The troops can swiftly be returned to civilian life, and the unconscionable and profligate "war" spending can be brought to an immediate and abrupt halt. It truly is as simple as that. The American Conservative ran an excellent article, last year, on this very process, though it discussed an Iraqi withdrawal.
Nation building is a failure, and our efforts there are doomed to an embarrassing and bankrupting end. Only our hubris convinces us otherwise. We are not Afghani, and we are not of their ways and mores. Whatever government or social order we craft will be of our hand and mind, not theirs, and will thus fit uneasily upon them, being vigorously shaken off the moment we depart.
Dangerously, so many Americans see the military as our national "home team" who we must cheer to victory. "Support the Troops" has become conflated to mean "We Must Win." Winning, as conceptualized by most Americans, is an overly simplistic concept that contemplates binary outcomes akin to this weekend's Football game. Our foreign wars, however, are not sporting contests with scoreboards, game clocks, rules and agreed methods of ascertaining a winner.
Every dead American and Afghani is another unrecoverable and morally unjustifiable loss, and every additional billion dollars added to our National Debt further drives America to the brink of dissolution. Throughout history, nations have learned that foreign wars of adventure deplete the treasury and drive the country into poverty. Our American arrogance convinces us that we are exceptional, immune from macroeconomic realities. We are going to learn a painful lesson in these eternal economic realities, presently evidenced by the sinking dollar and soaring metals prices.
To employ a cliche, the only way to win this game is by not playing.
Ending the "war" in Afghanistan is easy. Order the troops home. Given the cargo planes and aircraft carriers at our disposal, all troops can easily be out within two weeks. The troops can swiftly be returned to civilian life, and the unconscionable and profligate "war" spending can be brought to an immediate and abrupt halt. It truly is as simple as that. The American Conservative ran an excellent article, last year, on this very process, though it discussed an Iraqi withdrawal.
Nation building is a failure, and our efforts there are doomed to an embarrassing and bankrupting end. Only our hubris convinces us otherwise. We are not Afghani, and we are not of their ways and mores. Whatever government or social order we craft will be of our hand and mind, not theirs, and will thus fit uneasily upon them, being vigorously shaken off the moment we depart.
Dangerously, so many Americans see the military as our national "home team" who we must cheer to victory. "Support the Troops" has become conflated to mean "We Must Win." Winning, as conceptualized by most Americans, is an overly simplistic concept that contemplates binary outcomes akin to this weekend's Football game. Our foreign wars, however, are not sporting contests with scoreboards, game clocks, rules and agreed methods of ascertaining a winner.
Every dead American and Afghani is another unrecoverable and morally unjustifiable loss, and every additional billion dollars added to our National Debt further drives America to the brink of dissolution. Throughout history, nations have learned that foreign wars of adventure deplete the treasury and drive the country into poverty. Our American arrogance convinces us that we are exceptional, immune from macroeconomic realities. We are going to learn a painful lesson in these eternal economic realities, presently evidenced by the sinking dollar and soaring metals prices.
To employ a cliche, the only way to win this game is by not playing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)