by rich on August 11, 2010
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you probably know that Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis is holding out from camp in hopes of getting a new contract. ESPN has made it their priority to cover this Revis story like it’s a natural disaster. They’ve done interviews, asked their “analysts” the same questions countless times, posted a “Darrelle Revis holdout counter” on their website, and continue to monitor the situation minute by minute. ESPN has all hands on deck for this, and it’s absurd. The guy isn’t giving birth, Christ. I can already tell I’m going to hate this whole fiasco. And with every ounce of ESPN’s attention focused Revis’s way, I have a feeling I might not be alone in this.
These types of things never end well for the parties involved. The Jets talked up giving him a new contract, but then balked at re-working his deal shortly before camp. Now Revis’s camp is firing off scud missiles of their own, calling the Jets ownership a bunch of liars. And then there’s fat ass Rex Ryan, the “peacemaker” of the bunch, trying to get all the parties to sit down so they can talk out the differences. Thanks Don Corleone. The idea of bringing all the parties together is good in theory, but there’s no way it would ever actually work. Instead, the tension will continue to mount, the Jets will continue to get frustrated, and Revis will continue to sit on his couch collecting pay checks until the Jets front office grows some stones and gives him what he’s worth.
Without Revis, the Jets are a pretty average team. Yeah, ESPN, I said it. They aren’t the Super Bowl darlings that many are pegging them to be, especially not without the services of their best player. With Revis on the field, the Jets defense is one of the best units in the league. Without him, they simply aren’t. Who’s scared of rookie Kyle Wilson and Chargers cast-off Antonio Cromartie chasing wide receivers all day? Not me, not a lot of guys, and especially not guys that have already done Cromartie for 20+ grabs in a game and are now in the same division as him.
Unless Rex Ryan can convince both sides to meet up (preferably for Ryan at TGI Fridays, his treat), this situation is going to continue to get worse. Words, not contract proposals, will continue to get exchanged and it’s entirely possible that we don’t see Revis at all this year. If that’s the case, the Jets are screwed. Either way, with the manner in which ESPN will continue to coddle this situation, all of us sports fans who try to stay informed on a daily basis are screwed. That sucks.
by rich on August 5, 2010
With Alex Rodriguez becoming the youngest player to reach the 600 home run plateau yesterday, the speculation of him reaching Barry Bonds record of 762 career home runs will surely become more prominent. On the surface, it’s easy to believe that he can being that he’s only 35 years old. I say that only because there are still haggard assholes like Jamie Moyer who are still pitching at the age of 73 and, in terms of age, baseball years run differently from other sports. But A-Rod’s pursuit of the most hallowed record in the sport seems more like a long shot than a sure thing.
Let’s say, for arguments sake, Rodriguez finishes the year at 30 home runs. He’s at 17 now, which means he’ll have to find a power surge the last two months of the year to do it. For him to reach Bonds, he’d need to hit another 150 home runs, which would be a pace of 30 a year as he reaches the age of 40. Thirty homers a year is reasonable, isn’t it? I mean, A-Rod is one of the most prolific power hitters of our generation. Not so fast. Rodriguez’s power numbers have been on a steady decline since his 54 home run season of 2007, and even my assumption that he can get to 30 this year is a bit of a reach. It’s time to face what we once believed and then were tricked into disregarding during the steroid era; players can’t keep up that kind of home run pace as they get older. Which makes what Bonds did even more mind blowing. [click to continue…]
by ryan on August 4, 2010
The news of Brett Favre’s impending retirement was (understandably) met with lots of skepticism, from Rich and I to just about everybody in the free world that’s ever heard of the asshole. Now, less than 24 hours later, we’re hearing that Favre looks set to play in 2010 if his health permits. In the words of Gob Bluth, COME ON.
This ongoing saga makes the boy crying wolf look like amateur hour stuff. A day ago, Brett Favre was the selfish prick whose indecisiveness kept the Vikings from making a run at someone like Donovan McNabb. Today, he’s the same old Brett we’ve grown to hate the last few years. Indecisive. Sketchy. Unreliable. Dishonest. And apparently savvy with modern mobile technologies.
Listen, asshole. You had a great year last year and you have a team truly capable of winning the Super Bowl, even with a failure of a head coach. I don’t buy your BS about never sending text messages; that many different sources can’t be wrong. This is about remaining the undisputed media whore of professional sports. It’s about making ESPN squirm. It’s about sending pictures of your penis to sideline reporters. It’s about you, Brett. It always is.
by rich on August 3, 2010
When I last spoke to Mel Kiper before Aprils draft, he gave me plenty of insight on how to build a deck…and a little bit on what to look forward to in the draft. Being that the season is just around the corner, I shot Mel an email and asked him a few questions about the upcoming season and what to expect. Here’s how our conversation went.
Rich: Mel, long time no talk, how’ve you been?
Mel: Rob, I’ve been great. Pouring over scouting reports for the upcoming college season, anticipating bragging to Todd McShay about being right on all 30 of my first round predictions for this coming NFL year.
Rich: Mel, it’s Rich, not Rob. And what are you most looking forward to…other than being right, of course.
Mel: Rob, lemme tell you something. I call McShay ‘Todd McGay.’ Is that his name? Technically no. Does that make me wrong? Absolutely not. To answer your question, I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving the most. Great holiday. Great food variety and because of that a higher ceiling than most other holidays.
Rich: Mel are you talking about the Thanksgiving games you’re looking forward to? Pats at Lions, Saints at Cowboys, and Bengals at Jets. That’s a pretty good slate of games.
Mel: I’m talking about turkey. A reliable bird, what you see is what you get. Great upside on the tryptophan, great variety of meats, a solid reliable meal pick. Stuffing, real hit or miss option. Work ethic is a question when talking about making it, you’re not always going to get its best stuff. I like the potential in it though, it can go inside, it can go outside, it can go on top of turkey.
Rich: Mel, we’re not going down this road again. You did this to me last ti-
Mel (interrupts): My step-brother Mike, now there’s a guy to really keep an eye on. When you talk about steamed vegetables, Mike has to be right there in terms of top overall chefs. Squash, zucchini, lots of color, great on paper, but not always easy to execute. Mike isn’t flashy in the kitchen with pastries, not a highlight reel type of guy, but you have to appreciate what he does on the vegetable side of the food pyramid. I think this alone will project him to have a good overall career with the family.
Rich: Oh come on. Can we talk about football for once? Isn’t that what you get paid to do?
Mel: Before we go any further, we should mention pies. Apple is a can’t miss prospect. You really see the classic ingredients in it, a vintage player in the scheme of things. But the one I like the most this year is pumpkin. A polarizing item the rest of the year, but really brings it on that Thursday in November. Excellent combination of pumpkin and whipped cream, can really tackle any man’s appetite and sack them directly onto the couch.
Rich: I’m done with this. I don’t know why I bother.
