Thursday, September 29, 2011

D-Ssouth' Blog NFL Rankings Week 4

Aaron Rodgers Interview on Michael Irvin Show - Has Not Spoken to Brett Favre in a Year


There really is no use putting up no more than 12 teams. What use is it to rank teams like Seattle, KC or Carolina (though I am a big time Cam Newton SEC fan).Even some of the 2-1 teams are not very good. Can you say Cleveland?

I am sure that as the weeks ahead begin to shake out the pretenders from the contenders, we will get a clearer idea of the real big dogs for the season.

So, without further talk, here we go, the debut of the 2011 NFL DSouth rankings.

1. Green Bay Packers 3-0 - So many weapons, great innovative coaching and able to win on the road.

2. Detroit Lions 3-0 - Calvin Johnson is a beast and once a team like this, with a QB so young starts to win they believe the can beat any body. In a since, it reminds me of Dallas of the early 90's

3. Thee New Orleans Saints 2-1 - I realize that the Saints D will give up all the yards in the world but will make a crucial interception, a big sack or cause a fumble at the right time to give the ball to the best QB in the NFL with weapons galore.

4. Dallas Cowboys 2-1 - You may not like Tony Romo but I'm sure he takes his $10 million plus and doesn't care what we think. The Boys are rich with talent and can bang with the best of them.

5. New England Patriots 2-1 - Still has the best coach and the best system in the league. Defense needs some serious pass rushing help and line needs to get more physical.

6. Baltimore Ravens 2-1 - Just a nasty D and if Flacco can actually make some plays, this team could be very dangerous.

7. Buffalo Bills 3-0 - I know they are undefeated, and I know  they had a great come from behind win against the Pats but I am still very cautious to rank them too high. If this were a college, the Bills would be like Clemson. You just can't trust them yet despite the big wins.

8. Da Raiders 2-1 - On here simply because of Darren McFadden. Just as nasty as they come out of the SEC. Big test this week against the Pats.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers 2-1 - Their line better get better real fast or they will be carting Big Ben off the field real soon. People talked about the age of the D early but my favorite coach, Mike Tomlin, got these boys playing well.

10. NY Jets 2-1 - Ugly loss against Oaktown and may have been surprised by the physicality of the Raiders. It will not happen again. With that said, if Mr. Pretty Boy Sanchez doesn't find a pair of marbles and get that West coast, I wanna be Tom Brady, behavior out of him, this team will never reach it's potential.

11. NY Giants 2-1 -  A big win against Philly puts them in good position but until Eli can deliver that type of performance week-in and week-out, they will not be the NFC East champs.

12a. Houston Texans 2-1 - A down year in the AFC South due to the Colts issues makes the Texans the favorite and they have proved that they can score, but the D is still suspect.

12b. LSU TIGERS 4-0 - SEC..........nuff said.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Orchard Park Bills

First I need to say that I have a history with the Buffalo Bills most of you do not know and I do not wish to expound on it. Lets just say that I don't actively root for the Bills even though I live here. Also, being that I do not read the local paper or watch the lame local news, I really have no feelings vested in what they do. But with the Bills being 3-0 and coming off of a huge win against Punk Brady and the Pats. I must say that they have showed a lot of heart and most of all athleticism during this first part of the season. It's good coming in work and seeing people so enthused and excited. I must admit the city needs it. Let me say it again - THE CITY OF BUFFALO NEEDS IT.

When you really get down to the nitty-gritty, the Bills are not Buffalo, they are the Orchard Park Bills. The reason I am making this an issue is because of something George Wilson, the Bills starting SS said after the game when discussing the crowd at Ralph Wilson stadium and how the players feed off of the noise of their 12th man. His statement was good for publicity but totally off base. To paraphrase, he said the Bills have a special relationship with the Buffalo community. What community is George referring to? The suburbs? I have been in the Queen city for over 13 years and that organization has never been close, related, involved, and rarely seen in the real community here - except when the players come to town to pick up a sista or two, or 50 if you were talking about Eric Moulds back in the day. Players like Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, or Nate Odoms never identified with the city.

In my opinion, since the Bills moved to Orchard Park in the 70's they moved their community focus to the suburbs also. Yes they may have a gratuitous showing in the inner-city, but for the most part, their contribution to 'Real' Buffalo has been void. More than likely, mostly every African-American citizen of Buffalo would tell you the the Bills have no impact in the city of Buffalo. In fact, the city is set up this way all together.

For those of you who do not know, according to the census, Buffalo was the 6th most segregated city in the USA (http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/03/29/most_segregated_cities/slideshow.html). People live in the suburbs, drive to the city, work and make their money in the city and then spend it in the suburbs. There is even a highway built along the water, which easily takes them to and from the suburbs without having to drive past the 'hood'. I can go on forever about issues of Buffalo but let me get back to the subject at hand - the Orchard Park Bills.

The problem with the Bills begins at the top with it's owner, Ralph Wilson. For reasons beyond the scope of this blog, I do not have a nice thing to say about Mr. Wilson personally, so I will stick to what I do know. What I know is that Mr. Wilson moved the Bills stadium from the city to the suburb of Orchard Park in 1973. A well to do, high-middle class neighborhood, Orchard Park is known as having a very racist past, even to the Buffalo Bills players who play there. Mr. Wilson will tell you that he moved the stadium because the old War Memorial Stadium ,where the Bills were housed in the 1960's, was run down and old. In addition, post AFL-NFL merger, the NFL mandated a stadium had to have a capacity minimum of 50,000 while War Memorial Stadium only had a max of 47,000. So Ralph moved to Orchard Park. I'm not blaming Mr. Wilson for the demise of Buffalo, but I believe that move, along with the segregated attitude of white Buffalonians really killed the city. We are talking about a city that can't and will not develop the Waterfront to bring in new business. We are talking about a city that it's main college, University of Buffalo moved it's main campus to THE SUBURBS. They moved to get out of the city. Really? I'm sure there is a 'logical' explanation for this but when it's all said and done, we know why.

I can go on about some of the borderline racism of the city but let try to get back to the subject a hand - the Orchard Park Bills and how they have no relationship with THE CITY OF BUFFALO AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE CITY. George Wilson needs to stop modeling and acting and get the rest of his boys down to the inner-city and get active with these kids who are in need of them as mentors and role models. And you are telling me, Mr. Ralph Wilson, who had the foresight to buy the Bills for $25,000 (now worth over $800 billion), doesn't see how much he can impact Western New York as a whole by putting a new stadium, downtown, on the waterfront? Not only would there be a sense of pride for the city, but the measurables are jobs - IN THE CITY, tax dollars  which can be used to fund schools, more hotels and new businesses opening. In other words, the Baltimore model.

Buffalo has a lot of potential and there are pockets of greatness here already but until the mindset is changed and the economy is open to ALL people it will always be a second class city. The Orchard Parks Bills can change this by just being involved. Ya heard!!!!!!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Tom Brady is a PUNK

Two years ago I attended a New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots game at the Super Dome in New Orleans. It was during the Saints Superbowl run and the dome was rocking. The dome is always a tough place to play. It could be deafening in there and on this night it was exceptionally loud. It was my first game to see the Bless You Boys play since I was about 10 years old. Me and the Kenilworth Krew (all of my childhood buddies) were there and it was a special night. The Saints were undefeated and the Pats were coming in to the lions den. This game would be the Saints big test. The football world wanted to know if they could play against the big boys and their field general Tom Brady. This was the mighty Patriots.They were 2001-2003-2004 Superbowl Champions. They have a genius as a head coach and the dynasty label.

The Pats took the early lead and it looked like Brady was well....Brady. Boom boom boom score. Looked like two outcomes were going to happen in my mind. Either the game was going to be an all out shoot out because Brady looked very sharp, or it was going to be an embarrassing blowout for the Saints and it would start a downward spiral. The kind of loss that sends a team like the saints in to a 5 game losing streak, a playoff loss and a total let down.

What actually happened was Drew Brees was perfect, the crowd stood up and got crunked and I learned something about the leader of the Pats - Tom Brady.

Our seats were in the club level of the dome behind the Pats Bench and I saw some things that stuck with me that night. What I really took away was that Tom Brady was a total Punk. It wasn't one particular play but his whole game. This dude had happy feet. He was such a punk when it came to sitting in the pocket. He panicked like a you know what when Greg Williams started sending the pressure on him and once they began to knock him around, the punk just went in to hiding. I had seen it during the their Super Bowl game against the Giants. He just can't handle pressure and will even take a fall if the pocket collapses. I am talking about a guy who is considered one of the best QB's ever and he is a punk in the pocket. Yes, he is smart, talented, and when he is on, he will eat you alive. I am also aware that no QB likes to be hit, but I would expect him to Man Up. He reminds me of Dan Marino who I got to see up close first hand. As great a passer as Marino was he was a little whining baby and as that game progressed against the Saints, I saw how he just went in to a shell. That night I realized who he was - a front runner on an extremely great team in the early 2000's. Do you realize how awful the Pats have been in the playoffs in the past 4 years. One and done baby. They've lost to teams who put pressure on Brady and have no respect for him - specifically the Ravens, Jets and Steelers.

Looking at him play the Buffalo Bills today, I realized just how 'fragile' his mindset is and how he gets rattled.

He is way too Hollywood now and maybe he feels he should not be hit, or he is above being touched. Either way, I think his Super Bowl run is OVER and only he is to blame. He will continue to put up numbers because that is the nature of the watered down NFL we are seeing now but he will not have the guts to man up, sit in the pocket, and lead his team when the pressure is on. He benefited from a great team in the early 2000's and yes he is talented but when it's all said and done, at the end of the day, TOM BRADY IS A PUNK

Saturday, September 10, 2011

The NFL is tomorrow - WHO CARES

What up sports world. Happy NFL football eve. Though it seems the world revolves around the money, i.e, the NFL I am more of a college fan. Mainly because I like the homegrown rivalaries which they emcompas. Now I know there are some NFL games which have some type of mean spirited hatred, but it is fan based. In college, it really can take on a sense of pride for both the players and the fans. Games such as Auburn vs Alabama means something to the players and the game takes on special pride for the alumni. Most of the players are from the state of Alabama and most of them had to make the choice between accepting a schoolarship from either Bama or Auburn. When LSU plays Alabama, it's really the STATE of Lousiana vs the STATE of Alabama. Check out their rosters and see how many players hail from their school state. It means something. This weekend in the NFL, the best rivalry in my mind takes place between the Steelers and the Ravens. I love the animosity between the players and the passion that Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Troy Palamalu and Hines Ward play with. But what happens when these two teams suck in the future? Then there is no rivalry. The players will have no care about playing the other team and the fans disdain for the other team will wane. In the 90's, it was the 49ers and Dallas, it was the Bills vs the Dolphins and it was Denver vs the Raiders. Do any of these games have any meaning now? Do these teams even care about each other? The players have no animosity towards each other. When I was a player wayyyyyy back in the day for Oregon State University, we really sucked, but the Civil War, the game against in state rival Oregon, brought out the juice in both the fans and players. It was something special. I wasn't even from the state but really had a dislike for the Ducks. It didn't matter what the records were. All that mattered was winning the game. My senior year, we beat Oregon 21-10, Over 20 years have passed but I can remember the score and practically all the plays. It meant that much. The NFL is manufactured rivalries which come and go. Wherever the money is, the NFL exploits it. I'm not a hater, and I understand that the NFL is a business but with that I believe the NFLcomprimises the game of football. I believe the NFL actually sucks. It sucks because it rarely lives up to the advertised product, it sucks because the players seem more like creations from systems and not pure ballers, and it's just boring to watch a 4 hour telecast and I haven't even gotten to the behavior of the Chad Johnsons of the league. The NFL just doesn't do it for me anymore. But right now, at 9 pm in a Saturday night, I am watching about my 10th game of college football instead of the 3 games on a Sunday. So thank God for the NCAA and college football, and most of all thank God for the SEC - where men play football.