I just have a few thoughts for this week. I want to give you my thoughts on who the next Pittsburgh Pirates manager will be. It is my humble opinion that it will be one of two men....either Joe Torre or Tony LaRussa. I know that Jim Tracy is an upstanding man and a good manager but damn, who can put a winning season together with the talent that is proivided you in 'Da Burgh?
I would love to see Torre or LaRussa land in Pittsburgh. Do you know why? Because then we will see what kind of leaders they really are. Let's face it, anyone can win if you are the manager of the Yankees or the Cardinals. I mean how hard can it be with a payroll upwards of $100 or $200 million?
Hey Joe and Tony, you both want to be included in the talk about the greatest baseball managers of all time. Well if you really want to be counted as one of the best, accept the challenge, come to Pittsburgh, manage the Pirates and turn a once proud franchise into a contender. Do that and we will REALLY consider you one of the best.
I know the Nutting family would have to be willing to consider hiring one of those two. In fact I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that is why Jim Tracy was released in the first place, because the thought of having Torre or LaRussa possibly available as your manager was too good to pass up.
Gentlemen the ball is in your court. Don't run, accept the challenge and solidify your name in the annals of major league baseball history. Consider the Pirates OFFER!!!! When they actually offer it!
Now the second thing I wanted to rant about was the rediculous, "Hey let's wait til the very last second and call a time out when the kicker is already kicking the ball to win the NFL football game."
This rule need changed. I thinks it's a stupid rule that a head coach can call timeout at the very last second before the ball is snapped. I don't know why I feel this way, but I do and let me tell you that I hate the Dallas Cowboys but I am happy for Nick Folk for hitting the shot from 53 yards twice and winning the game.
Roger Godell, "Get the rules committee together and change the rule." It's only fair to the kicker. I would hate for this silly rule to change the outcome of the Super Bowl. Even if the rule is legitimate, there's something not right about it......I just don't know what it is.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Are the Bengals About to Implode?
Following Monday night's somewhat embarassing 34-13 loss to the best CHEATERS in professional sports, The New England Partriots, images of the Bengals demise began to be broadcast all over the sports world. Scenes of Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson sniping at each other and reports of head coach Marvin Lewis loudly dressing down his team for being selfish.
What else is new? If the Bengals want to win, the front office must step up and remove the cancers from this team chalked full of talent. Some Bengals players are selfish, and too bad Chad Johnson, but you are the #1 culprit. All you seem to care about is how much attention can be focused on you - period!
Carson Palmer doesn't appear to do the things you do? Nor does T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rudi Johnson, or many, many other of your teammates. Why you? You are a great athlete but not a great team player.
Now many people including yourself can say, "How could I possible know what kind of team player you are!" Guess what? I don't know what kind of a team player you are, but ESPN sure loves to give me strong ideas though. You are a publicity stunt artist. A Terrell Owens wannabe, if you will.
Chris Henry will be able to comeback in four more games. Wow, then what happens?
The Bengals are faced with a bye week this Sunday. My suggestion is that Marvin Lewis had better get control of his team or else they are going to stay in the basement of what is turning out to be a weak AFC North Division.
The Cincinnati Bengals front office I am sure, has begun assessing the situation when it comes to their head coach and his ability to not only control his team but get them to actually listen and respond to his authority. But then again, it is the Bengals we are talking about nd ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers sent them packing in the playoffs two years ago they've never really been the same. Ever since that game the Bengals are 9-11.
The Bengals season is on the brink. They have a week to get their act together and respond to their critics, and in the process save their season and their coach's job. Chad Johnson has come out publicly and said the interception that cost them the game Monday night was his fault. Hey Chad, that's a start.
What else is new? If the Bengals want to win, the front office must step up and remove the cancers from this team chalked full of talent. Some Bengals players are selfish, and too bad Chad Johnson, but you are the #1 culprit. All you seem to care about is how much attention can be focused on you - period!
Carson Palmer doesn't appear to do the things you do? Nor does T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rudi Johnson, or many, many other of your teammates. Why you? You are a great athlete but not a great team player.
Now many people including yourself can say, "How could I possible know what kind of team player you are!" Guess what? I don't know what kind of a team player you are, but ESPN sure loves to give me strong ideas though. You are a publicity stunt artist. A Terrell Owens wannabe, if you will.
Chris Henry will be able to comeback in four more games. Wow, then what happens?
The Bengals are faced with a bye week this Sunday. My suggestion is that Marvin Lewis had better get control of his team or else they are going to stay in the basement of what is turning out to be a weak AFC North Division.
The Cincinnati Bengals front office I am sure, has begun assessing the situation when it comes to their head coach and his ability to not only control his team but get them to actually listen and respond to his authority. But then again, it is the Bengals we are talking about nd ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers sent them packing in the playoffs two years ago they've never really been the same. Ever since that game the Bengals are 9-11.
The Bengals season is on the brink. They have a week to get their act together and respond to their critics, and in the process save their season and their coach's job. Chad Johnson has come out publicly and said the interception that cost them the game Monday night was his fault. Hey Chad, that's a start.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
It's Not Over Yet for the Mountaineers
How is it teams that ranked better than West Virginia and, according to some, are better than West Virginia lose to teams much worse than USF but yet those teams remain ranked ahead of West Virginia?
Don't get me wrong, Friday night's game was a nightmare, and in fact is one most fans - and coaches for that matter - would like to forget, but South Florida beat unranked Auburn who beat Florida, and unranked Colorado beat Oklahoma. South Florida was ranked #18 and West Virginia falls to #12 and both Florida and Oklahoma stay ahead of West Virginia. Who knows what would have happened to West Virginia had USF been unranked.
Before you go ranting about how those teams ARE better, I don't think it matters at this point of the season to begin arguing this point. There is still too much football to be played.
The Mountaineers just have to win and their fans have to be patient.
South Florida still has to play, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Louisville
Rutgers still has to play, Cincinnati, South Florida, WVU, and Louisville
Louisville still has to play, Cincinnati, WVU, USF and Rutgers
WVU still has Cincinnati, Rutgers and Louisville
Plus, what's going to make things even more interesting is when Pitt or UConn sneak up and smack someone. Syracuse did it to Louisville so you know it can happen. It just doesn't bode well for the Big East as a conference, or does it? Can the national media criticize the Big East, or is the Big East improving so much that the teams at the bottom have enough to shake things up a little?
Add to all of this the fact that the big boys ahead of the Mountaineers in the rankings still have some big games to play. This weekend Florida visits LSU, and Oklahoma plays Texas in the Red River Rivalry.
Ohio State plays Purdue this weekend also, and still has to play Wisconsin on November 3, and then there's always the BIG GAME in the BIG HOUSE.
USC still has Oregon, Cal, and UCLA remaining on its schedule.
West Virginia just has to focus on winning their games which is all they should be doing anyway. Scoreboard watching doesn't matter at this point, winning out does and in the end, with a little help from a team here or there, everything will fall into place.
I still think WVU will get a BCS bid, if they win out.
Don't get me wrong, Friday night's game was a nightmare, and in fact is one most fans - and coaches for that matter - would like to forget, but South Florida beat unranked Auburn who beat Florida, and unranked Colorado beat Oklahoma. South Florida was ranked #18 and West Virginia falls to #12 and both Florida and Oklahoma stay ahead of West Virginia. Who knows what would have happened to West Virginia had USF been unranked.
Before you go ranting about how those teams ARE better, I don't think it matters at this point of the season to begin arguing this point. There is still too much football to be played.
The Mountaineers just have to win and their fans have to be patient.
South Florida still has to play, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Louisville
Rutgers still has to play, Cincinnati, South Florida, WVU, and Louisville
Louisville still has to play, Cincinnati, WVU, USF and Rutgers
WVU still has Cincinnati, Rutgers and Louisville
Plus, what's going to make things even more interesting is when Pitt or UConn sneak up and smack someone. Syracuse did it to Louisville so you know it can happen. It just doesn't bode well for the Big East as a conference, or does it? Can the national media criticize the Big East, or is the Big East improving so much that the teams at the bottom have enough to shake things up a little?
Add to all of this the fact that the big boys ahead of the Mountaineers in the rankings still have some big games to play. This weekend Florida visits LSU, and Oklahoma plays Texas in the Red River Rivalry.
Ohio State plays Purdue this weekend also, and still has to play Wisconsin on November 3, and then there's always the BIG GAME in the BIG HOUSE.
USC still has Oregon, Cal, and UCLA remaining on its schedule.
West Virginia just has to focus on winning their games which is all they should be doing anyway. Scoreboard watching doesn't matter at this point, winning out does and in the end, with a little help from a team here or there, everything will fall into place.
I still think WVU will get a BCS bid, if they win out.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Missing NFL Network? Blame "Sunday Ticket" deal.
Back-to-back matchups of AFC playoff contenders kicked off the NFL Network's Thursday night series of late regular season games in November. These games averaged around 4 million viewers - one-third the average audience for ESPN's Monday Night Football. Take into account that these games also air on broadcast TV in the primary media markets of the participating teams, with the home team's market getting the game as long it is sold out 72 hours before game time, and the numbers provide a glimpse of the uphill challenge the NFL Network faces.
When the NFL was moving forward with the launch of its own network in 2003, did the league and its owners believe that the addition of late regular season matchups to the network's slate of programming would be enough to entice major cable players like Time-Warner and Cablevision to add the channel to basic tiers? The lack of NFL Network on major cable systems can likely be attributed to payback on the part of the cable owners for being shut out of the opportunity to make the NFL's lucrative Sunday Ticket pay-per-view package available to cable customers.
Currently, DirecTV has an exclusive deal with the NFL, making them the sole provider of NFL Sunday Ticket in the United States until 2010. Past history suggests DirecTV will try to renew the contract before the deal expires to hold onto this key marketing piece for continued subscriber growth. Prior to the NFL's latest television deal, other satellite and cable providers were allowed to bid on the rights to carry NFL Sunday Ticket if they agreed to carry the NFL Network. However, DirecTV still won exclusivity for the package, bidding over $700 million a year to do so.
The lack of viewership or interest can be attributed solely to the lack of NFL Network's presence on some of the nation's major cable systems. Both major satellite TV providers - DirecTV and Dish Network - have added the channel on their basic tiers, reaching more than 27 million subscribers. Two major cable providers, Comcast and Cox, are carrying the NFL Network, with Comcast only making it available on its digital tier to less than a third of its total subscribers. Cablevision, Time-Warner and Cablevision have balked at adding the channel in a disagreement over placement (NFL Network wants analog or digital basic carriage, while operators advocate tier positioning) and cost (about a 70-cent monthly subscriber fee).
While the money and will of the NFL owners will be enough for them to wait out this battle with the cable operators, the recent actions by cable giants Cablevision, Time-Warner and Charter must have NFL execs scratching their heads a bit about the decision to ink the exclusive DirecTV deal.
When the NFL was moving forward with the launch of its own network in 2003, did the league and its owners believe that the addition of late regular season matchups to the network's slate of programming would be enough to entice major cable players like Time-Warner and Cablevision to add the channel to basic tiers? The lack of NFL Network on major cable systems can likely be attributed to payback on the part of the cable owners for being shut out of the opportunity to make the NFL's lucrative Sunday Ticket pay-per-view package available to cable customers.
Currently, DirecTV has an exclusive deal with the NFL, making them the sole provider of NFL Sunday Ticket in the United States until 2010. Past history suggests DirecTV will try to renew the contract before the deal expires to hold onto this key marketing piece for continued subscriber growth. Prior to the NFL's latest television deal, other satellite and cable providers were allowed to bid on the rights to carry NFL Sunday Ticket if they agreed to carry the NFL Network. However, DirecTV still won exclusivity for the package, bidding over $700 million a year to do so.
The lack of viewership or interest can be attributed solely to the lack of NFL Network's presence on some of the nation's major cable systems. Both major satellite TV providers - DirecTV and Dish Network - have added the channel on their basic tiers, reaching more than 27 million subscribers. Two major cable providers, Comcast and Cox, are carrying the NFL Network, with Comcast only making it available on its digital tier to less than a third of its total subscribers. Cablevision, Time-Warner and Cablevision have balked at adding the channel in a disagreement over placement (NFL Network wants analog or digital basic carriage, while operators advocate tier positioning) and cost (about a 70-cent monthly subscriber fee).
While the money and will of the NFL owners will be enough for them to wait out this battle with the cable operators, the recent actions by cable giants Cablevision, Time-Warner and Charter must have NFL execs scratching their heads a bit about the decision to ink the exclusive DirecTV deal.
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