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Posted on 01/16/2005 9:02:03 AM PST by CounterCounterCulture
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This says it all as sports columnist are the most ignorant sports fans out there but have the biggest egos. I've never read or heard a single sports columnist that knew the first thing about sports.
What is in doubt here? Even the USC website cites the incident. Do you think that USC just showed up at Alabama one day? Bryant had to schedule them. Do you doubt that Cunningham wasn't called into the locker room? Again, that is on the USC website as well. What do you want, signed deathbed confessions?
Take off your Michigan googles for a moment and you're stop embarrassing yourself.
Would that include the 9-2 Florida team in 1997 that beat the 10-1 Tennessee team that was ranked #2 and played in the 'national championship' game?
When you play good teams, your big players have to step up to win the game for you. Manning was always on the wrong side of that. Peyton Manning was totally jobbed out of that heisman. Do you ever think that a Tennessee CB would win the Heisman over a Michigan QB? Hell, Chuck Long from Iowa almost won the Heisman over Bo Jackson. That shows how much sense and how much of a midwestern bias there is in the heisman voting.
Well, I think a UT corner might have won it, had they played the #4-ranked team in November and the player had caught a 37-yard pass that set up a touchdown, intercepted a pass in his own end zone, returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown and limited their best receiver to two catches.
As it was, Charles was saving Michigan's season against Ohio State while Manning was running up the score against Kentucky. Then they escaped Auburn in the SEC Title game by one point. The most outstanding football player in the country was certainly wearing blue and gold.
Some players are more oriented to two-way play than others, for largely the reasons you layout. What the Pats proved this season is that if you have smart enough players and a good enough system anybody can be two-way. Belichick's system is basically built around the idea of taking any 53 smart dedicated players and making them win, and it was severely put to the test this year. If it inspires more coaches to look for two-way players in their roster those coaches will probably be making a mistake. Though every team needs one or two gadget plays that feature guys lining up on the wrong side of the ball, if only to make the other team point and worry.
Any team who loses a star kicker is going to be in trouble, field goal kickers put up more game winning points than any other position in the game. But other than Viniteri I think the Pats can survive any injury to the team, Brady would probably be the second most painful loss because he really is the perfect QB for Belichick's system, but I'm sure the One True Bill could build a new system around a different QB if he had to.
Nice day to you too. I'm not vouching for my sports knowledge, just my understanding of news office operation. And if columnists are so ignorant why are you citing Ralph Wliey?
What is in doubt here? Even the USC website cites the incident. Do you think that USC just showed up at Alabama one day? Bryant had to schedule them. Do you doubt that Cunningham wasn't called into the locker room? Again, that is on the USC website as well. What do you want, signed deathbed confessions?
Of course the game had to be scheduled, and of course Cunningham was brought into the locker room. And of course the south started recruiting black players. But I don't totally buy the idea that this was all a big mind game for Bryant. You can have your story and believe that, and I'll believe that Bear Bryant's racism was turned when everyone else's was, on the field that day.
Take off your Michigan googles for a moment and you're stop embarrassing yourself.
I'm going to assume that statement was supposed to make sense. Where can I buy some googles? Maybe google.com has them...
Field goal kickers are like closers in baseball. The good teams have the best of them.
Thats BS. Terrell Buckley for FSU did that exact thing against Michigan at Michigan and he didn't win the heisman. Deion Sanders didn't win the heisman either.
Lots of teams that play for a national championship have great players - that's why they play for the national championship. Most of those teams also have big rivalry games with top ranked opponents late in the year too. During those games, lots of stars have big games. You're acting like Woodson was the only guy that's ever had a big game versus a rival.
Ask any college coach who they would have rather had on their team and I guarantee almost everyone would have gone for Manning.
Manning was a victim of overexposure. He came back for his 4th year and people were tired of hearing about him. People were looking for a reason to give it to someone else. Its the same thing that happened to Michael Jordan and Barry Bonds in the MVP voting. It was assumed that Manning was a lock and people wanted to vote another way.
If Manning had put up those numbers playing for Michigan or Notre Dame, they would have renamed the Heisman trophy the "Manning Trophy".
True...they can win the game for you when put in position.
But not even Mariano Rivera can win if he's put in the game down 10-3 to the BoSox!
Point: You've got to start well and finish well. When the Pats needed Brady to put them in position, he was fabulous. (He's 7-0 in overtime, too!)
Mannings are the QBs that teams want. Bradys are the ones they need.
And the better teams know when to and when not to rely on them. You never see the Pats give up on a drive 40+ yards out and expect Viniteri to win it for them, they always try to get 1 more yard and move him in closer... unlike the Jets Saturday.
After following the Eagles and all Phily teams since 1947, I was pleased at the Defense and Don yesterday. If Vick is to be stopped, it will be the defense led by Kearse and Dawkins who will stop him and the running game. The Eagles have been dissed but if they play the same defense that showed up against the Vikes, they will win. Can you imagine a guy like me remembering Steve VanBuren beating the Chicago Cardinals in the '40's twice and then Van Brocklin beating the Packers? Can you imagine my frustration that even in 1980-81, the Eagles could not win and then these last 3 years? Perhaps a win next week will end that frustration. After all, just getting to the Bowl that shall never be named will be good enough for Eagles' fans. Because, in Philly parlence, there will be next year.
Are you also doubting that McKay was a close friend of Bryant?
Are you saying Woodson didn't do those things or that they weren't critical to beating Ohio State and saving their national championship.?
In that era, Tennessee was expected to win 9 or 10 games a year with the teams they had. What they were missing was elevation - the spark of leadership that takes you all the way (think Terell Owens for the Eagles.)
Manning flunked his big test in Gainesville, and when November came all he had was Vanberbilt and Kentucky to play against. Had UT been 11-0 Manning most likely would have gotten the Heisman.
Well the Sox did get to Rivera in Game 4 but you're right that it's better to avoid him all together.
As long as the defensive coordinator doesn't allow the Vick mystique to put the zap on their head and make them be stupid he's highly beatable. Tampa keeps shutting him out, the lowly Cardinals held them to two FGs. Rush the gut, play smart, play your positions, don't panic, make him use his arm and his passer's brain neither of which is very good, and walla the Falcons go down in flames.
100% correct. I never understand why a team will shut it down 30 yards out and expect a kicker to win the game with a 47 yard field goal. The patriots coaching staff knows what they're doing and try to get every yard.
On the game winning drive against the Rams in the Super Bowl Brady hit Brown on a big throw that would have given Vinatieri a 55 yard attempt. The Pats didn't get conservative and Brady hit Wiggins for a seven yard completion to get Adam a little closer and he drilled the kick right down the middle.
The one thing you can't do against Vick is blitz him and miss. The best approach is to surround him in the pocket and deny him those running lanes.
Tennessee couldn't beat Florida because Fulmer didn't know how to beat Spurrier. Fulmer finally figured it out and Spurrier left.
This things happen a lot. Cooper knew how to beat everyone else, but didn't know how to beat Michigan. Before that, Florida would have had a half dozen SEC championships if they could have figured out a way to beat Georgia. Ending the Georgia dominance was the first priority of Spurrier when he came in.
Bill Curry couldn't figure out how to beat Auburn either at Georgia Tech or Alabama.
Hermann Edwards needs to take the heat for that.
It's almost like they can see the litle red line CBS puts on the field and think that's all they need. It's OK to send the kicker out from 47 if you've run out of clock or downs, but you better not run out of clock or downs by choice and do it, make the other team make you kick it from that far out. Notice how the Steelers kept driving in OT, it was obvious their first choice was to run it in for a 6 point win, the Jets finally got the stop inside the 20 and then finally they went for the FG. But I've got a buck that says in the alternate universe where Pit converted on that 3rd down they ran on 1st and 10 from the Jets 14, it's the safe smart play.
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