After the Pro Bowl teams are announced there are always snubs and debate, but this one seemed strange. Which QB should have made the Pro Bowl roster in the AFC?
QB 1:
4,467 yards (Leading the NFL)
68.9% completion percentage (#3 in the league)
8.21 yards per attempt (#4)
27 TDs (#6)
14 INTs
99.1 rating (#6)
QB 2:
4,212 yards (#4)
65.7% completion percentage (#7)
7.81 yards per attempt (#10)
28 TDs (#5)
12 INTs
97.4 rating (#8)
Both QBs have Pro Bowl WR's, average running games, and are on winning teams. But of course, QB2 was selected over QB1.
I didn't know women were stuffing the ballots. Come on!
This week against the New York Jets, Jim Caldwell, coach of the undefeated Indianapolis Colts, benched his starters in the second half to rest up for the playoffs. With homefield advantage wrapped up, the Colts had nothing to play for except for the undefeated season and history. Of course the Colts lost, creating a creating a bighubbub over history or health. Here are the generic arguments for and against benching your starters and the ESPN versions.
However, the Colts situation provides some interesting side notes. Peyton Manning has never missed a start in his career, and has only missed one snap ever due to injury. Meanwhile, Anthony Gonzalez, the #2 WR going into the year, tore up his knee in week 1 without even being touched.
The Colts recent playoff history itself is ripe with contradictions to these arguments. In 2008 and 2007, they finished the seasons on long winning streaks, but rested their starters in the last weeks, only to lose in their first playoff game. 2005 and 2004 were similar situations, either 8 game winning streaks or starting 13-0, but neither year did they get to the AFC Championship game after resting their starters in the last week.The exception was in 2006, which after starting 9-0, the Colts stumbled down the stretch and had to win to secure the 3rd seed, in route to their Super Bowl victory.
Therefore, looking at Indy’s past they should have played it out, but the recent undefeated run by the Patriots proves an example otherwise.New England went for the undefeated season and were a miracle catch away from going 19-0, but will just be known as a Super Bowl runner up.Speaking of Tom Brady, even if Caldwell is proven right, and Indy wins the Super Bowl, Brady will still have 3 Super Bowls to Peyton’s 2. However, if they went undefeated, Peyton could claim something pretty boy Brady cannot, and have a piece of history with the ’72 Dolphins.
At least my fantasy team didn't suffer for it this year.
ri·val·ry (rī'vəl-rē)noun : one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess
Never underestimate the power of a rivalry.
"It means everything," Browns do-it-all wide receiver Josh Cribbs said. "There are a lot of Steelers fans around the city so I hope people go to work and kick those Steelers fans."
As witnessed in the Steelers/Browns game, rivalry games mean more than records and can change the outcome of seasons.Pittsburgh was defending Super Bowl champs and coming off a four-game losing streak, went into Cleveland to face the lowly 1-11 Browns.However, with nothing on the line except pride against its rival, the Browns pulled off the upset, beating the Steelers for the first time in 12 tries, sending Pittsburgh’s record to 6-7, and most likely out of the playoff race.
Some rivalries become dormant or one-sided, due one team’s dominance, like the Steelers.It has happened in other rivalries too, since USC has owned Notre Dame recently, as has Ohio State over Michigan. However, this should not end the rivalry, but merely lessen its greatness for the time being. So, what factors help maintain a great rivalry?
Here are some of the top rivalries I can think of in the major American sports to explain the criteria:
Here are the criteria to consider (in no particular order):
Standings – The rivalry should mean something on a championship level for the sport.While Army/Navy is a historic rivalry, neither team has won a title since 1945. Many other college football rivalries are heated within the state, but are not noticed outside the state since it usually does not influence national titles (Oregon/OSU, Alabama/Auburn, VT/UVA, Cal/Stanford, USC/UCLA, Texas/T A&M). Meanwhile Ohio State/UMich has affected the Big Ten Title/Rose Bowl berth 47 times and the two teams have combined for 18 national titles. The USC/ND game contributed to 22 titles and the Red River Shootout hosts combined 11 titles between Texas/Oklahoma.In NCAA Basketball, the UNC/Duke rivalry has two of the winningest programs, but since they rarely, if ever, meet in the NCAA tourney, the national title implications are limited when they play. In the professional rivalries, most teams are in the same division so they meet often in the regular season, but their rare nationally significant meetings are in the conference championship games (Yanks/Sox, Colts/Pats), with the exception of Celtics/Lakers in the Finals.
History-A good rivalry has lasted for generations and can date back to the origins of the game. The college rivalries mentioned all started from 1890-1926. Yankees/Sox started in 1901, Packers/Bears in 1922, while Canadians/Maple Leafs were part of the “original six”.
Geography- Rivalries are fueled by constant interaction and proximity.The campuses of Duke and UNC are only separated by 8 miles.OSU/UMich and Oklahoma/UT share state borders. This is an important argument for the lesser college rivalries mentioned earlier since these in-state rivals could grow up together, recruited together, see each other in the workplace/streets every day. Most professional rivalries share similar geographies, for the exception of the Cowboys and Celtics/Lakers.In fact, if you drew a map, by conference in the NFL, each division’s team’s city locations would not overlap. USC/ND does not fit in this category.
Current – Great rivalries need to pass the test of time as well, similar to standings earlier.If the newest generation doesn’t know or see the rivalry then it can fade away.This is also true of the “top ten rivalries of the 2000’s” types. The Colts/Pats are a great rivalry and can top this category (4 Super Bowls, 4 MVPS, met in AFC playoffs 3 times in 4 years), but it didn’t really exist before Brady and Manning. The OSU/UMich game in 06 with the teams meeting as #1 and #2 and the two classic Sox/Yanks series in 03 and 04 help their causes as well.But in the “what have you done for me lately” culture in sports you can say the OSU/UMich rivalry as lost its luster recently since the Buckeyes have won 6 straight. The current one sided nature of some of the other rivalries also contributes, since Notre Dame, Redskins, and Browns have not held up their end of their important rivalries in the past 10-15 years. The rest of the NFC East and AFC North teams have combined to win 4 Super Bowls in the 2000’s, so most of those rivalries have stayed relevant. The Lakers and Celtics met two years ago in the Finals renewing their old rivalry and maintain the best records this year.
Memorable Games- Similar to current play and standings, rivalries will attract more national attention and gain in greatness due to “instant classic” type games. Obviously each rivalry has plenty to choose from: Aaron “bleeping” Boone, The Red Sox 3-0 ALCS comeback, Bucky Dent, OSU/UMich 06 shootout, Howard Heisman, Bush Push, Baby Hook, No K, on and on.If you look at the Colts/Pats, in their 10 meetings since 2003, only 2 were decided by more than 10 points. Meanwhile some of these rivalries have produced clunkers over the years.
Frequency-Going hand and hand with memorable games is the frequency these rivalries occur. The Red Sox and Yanks played each other 18 times in the 2009 regular season, making each one more memorable.The college football rivalries mentioned have played 18 times since 1991. UNC/Duke and the NFL rivalries play at least two but no more than a possible three-four times a year. Therefore, one individual game has drastically different significance depending on the rivalry. 44% of the time UMich and OSU play it is for the Big Ten title. Meanwhile, only 26 out of 2,064 times the Yankees/Red Sox have played has it been for the American League title (3 ALCSs, a play in game, and 2 regular-season ending series).
Background Stories-The last factor going into a great rivalry is the background stories that sports writers love.The most famous in this group could be the Curse of the Bambino, fueling the Sox/Yanks for so many decades. These also include individual rivalries like Magic/Bird, Brady/Manning, Woody/Bo, past betrayals, like Ravens/Browns, or controversial plays that come up every year like the Bush Push.
If you can think of more criteria or rivalries, let me know.
After the Browns traded Braylon Edwards last month, he joined an infamous list of Cleveland Browns first round failures since their reincarnation in 1999. Here’s the company he joins:
· 1999 – #1 overall pick - Tim Couch, no longer on the team, out of football · 2000 – #1 - Courtney Brown, no longer on the team, out of football · 2001 – #3 - Gerard Warren, no longer on the team · 2002 – #16 - Willie Green, arrested for drunk driving and marijuana possession in 03, no longer on the team, out of football · 2003 – #21 - Jeff Faine, traded · 2004 – #6 - Kellen Winslow II, self-proclaimed soldier, tore his ACL popping wheelies on a motorcycle, traded · 2005 – #3 -Braylon Edwards, led league in drops last season, got into a fight outside a night club, traded · 2006 - #13 -Kamerion Wimbley, still on the team, but rumored to be traded · 2007 – #3 - Joe Thomas, still on the team · 2007 – #22 -Brady Quinn, still on the team, but rumored to be traded · 2009 – #21 - Alex Mack, still on the team
That’s only four remaining players on the team out of the eleven drafted. I began to think how bad could this 36% retention rate actually be as compared to the rest of the NFL during this time frame? The Lions drafted several bust receivers in a row, Cincinnati and Oakland have been laughing stocks for a while, but how is their draft success percentage compare to the Browns? Well, as it turns out, you guessed it, Cleveland is dead last. Here is the chart below:
Where does your team rank? (if you click on it, its more readable)
Some of the methodology and notes: · San Diego has the highest success rate at an astounding 90%, and the most remaining players at nine. · Washington and Chicago also have only four remaining players, but had one less draft pick than the Browns. · Miami has only drafted seven players, but six are still on the team. · Detroit, San Francisco, and New York Jets had the most picks at 14. · Houston still counts since they have had nine picks, which is about average. · The asterisks: o Jevon Kearse left Tennessee and came back, so I included him. o I did not count Larry Johnson. o I did not count Chris Samuels or Sean Taylor. · The NFC South has the best percentage at 67%, while the NFC West is worst at 44%. · I could weight the picks, since the Colts and Pats picks during this time frame weren’t in the top three overall five times, like the Browns, but that’s for a different day. · I’m sure there’s some correlation I could do between standings and these rankings, but also for another day.
Do you remember things when you were three years old? How about four years old? Or perhaps when you were six? No? Well welcome to the world of Cleveland, where you are born into dashed hopes due to the exploits of all time greats named Jordan and Elway. Look closely at the highlight reels of the now instant classic hall of famers, who are the sad saps wallowing in misery? Yes, that is Cleveland. That is the city I am from and proud of it for some reason. Granted I only lived in the mistake by the lake for three years, but most of my family is from there and I went there every Christmas to enjoy real snow. But once again, the point is that I grew up living and loving this town and its sad sap teams regardless of the horrid heartbreak that came with it.
Here comes my own heart breaking tale with this city’s teams in case you don’t know. The Cavs and Indians were terrible for most of the early 90’s, but the Browns were decent, until some guy, I will politely call an asshole, cut the favorite son in the midst of a good season. The Browns did win one playoff game against the Patriots (awkward) but lost to the Steelers. New Generation Lesson 1. And then oops. Another asshole decided to move the team to the Wire, I mean Baltimore. So that ends that gut wrenching tale. Lesson 2. The Cavs of course limped on losing to some guy named Jordan for years, and for some reason we had Shawn Kemp.
Once the Browns were removed, we had to turn to another team in the city, and luckily there was a new stadium, a new slugger, and new drugs no one knew about. Due to the awesome adventures of Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, and Albert Belle the Indians went to the World Series when I was in 5th grade, but of course lost in 7 games. In hindsight, the Braves and their rotation were all hall-of-famers, but that year was their only championship in the ten years of their dominance, so it’s not as crushing. I guess Lesson 3. Two years later, we make some deals, and get to the World Series again against an expansion team. We’re winning in game 7 and have a good closer to seal the deal, but oops, not good enough, he blows it and I go to sleep crying and we lose in extra innings. Lesson 4. There will always be next year, right? Umm….not really. Welcome to MLB free agency 2k edition. Manny Ramirez gone, Jim Thome gone, Lofton gone, Alomars gone. So by the time the league almost got into another strike in 02 the Tribe was just a shell of its former self.
And then the Browns came back. (Notice no smiley faces or exclamation points). Due to the success of the Jags and Panthers expansion years, the NFL decided to shit on the new expansion Browns so the first couple years were quite uneventful. But one year we pulled it together with a backup quarterback and were beating the Steelers. (Tommy Maddox? Really?) This is when I learned first hand that throwing stuff at the tv during a horrible Browns collapse was not acceptable because the outcome was supposed to be expected. Lesson 5.
May 22nd 2003: The Day it should all change:
After many years mired in mediocrity between the Cavs, Indians, and Browns, the sad sap City won for once. The little bouncing ball went the to the city that had its own river go ablaze. Cleveland won the NBA draft lottery. (Granted we had the worst record that year and had the best odds to win it, but still) Mark it down. Just looking at Mr. Gund’s face, you knew who he was taking with that pick, Detroit at #2 was on the clock (they took Darko Milicheck instead of Carmelo, Wade, Bosh, etc different post, different time).
In the meantime, the Indians pulled out of free agency hell and put together a good team in the 07 season with the best player since Man Ram in Grady Sizemore. However, they never got over losing a 3-1 lead to the Sox in the ALCS and traded away consecutive Cy Young Award winners, who ended up facing each other in the World Series. The Browns struggled for many more years, but had a good season in 07, falling a game short of the playoffs. They of course tanked in 08 and are on their 5th head coach since coming back, which is as many as the Steelers have had since 1965. The new regime traded away several first round picks and is now starting a terrible qb to prevent incentives for the backup.
AL (After Lottery): After the Cavs won the lottery, they obviously took the Akron born home town kid Lebron James (Be warned, man crushing will ensue). After winning the Rookie of the year, the “King” took the downtrodden Cavs to the NBA Finals in 07. Of course, Lebron and his band of Fighting Cavaliers got swept by underrated Tim Duncan and the Spurs. Lesson 6. Then in the 09 season, Lebron won the MVP, best record, and swept his way into the conference finals. After dropping only the third home game of the year in Game 1, James came up with Cleveland’s first miracle in a while. Alas, it was not to be, as Mike Brown couldn’t figure out how to defeat the pick and roll, and the Cavs were done in six, preventing the Kobe-Lebron finals. After all the anguish and all the heart break this city has endured, we hopefully now have a savior. We now have a Jordan or Elway. If he goes to the Knicks in 2010 without delivering what he was born to do, the city with implode and destroys itself if it hasn’t already done so. Hell, if only he could play for the Browns.
Due to many allegations from people about my allegiances and my accusations of other people’s allegiances, I have come up with a plan/theory which will hopefully solve all fan base questions.
Due to the fact that we live in a country which embraces several sports (not just one, cough, soccer, cough) there comes a time in which some sports are favored than others. The NFL is regarded as the top sport in the country, with the Super Bowl being the biggest primetime event each year, etc. But talk to someone from Red Sox country, LA, or the South (where the Falcons, Panthers, Titans, and Saints don’t count) and we’ll differ. Obviously there are differences and some cities have stronger ties to other sports. Hence, allegiances waiver for each person and each city. That is where my hypothesis comes in. Not every fan is going to be dedicated to just one team or one college. Come Sunday the die hard college football team fan is bound to root for a pro team and visa-versa. The tailgating chest-painted “reliving his glory days” college football attendee is going to find his void the next day watching a NFL team, maybe starting an alum from his beloved college. Therefore there are two teams this now stereotyped fan roots for. How about when winter thaws out and the now stereotyped fan is in football withdrawal and must fill his weekends with sports to avoid going to home depot and olive garden with the wife? This is when college and pro basketball come into his life. At the same time the NHL and college basketball are kicking up. Eventually when the leaves start turning green, brackets are being filled out across the country and Mr. fan is checking his MLB depth chart. Then the NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA, Tennis and every other sport I failed to mention are in full swing until Labor Day, when Mr. fan places the order for his bbq tailgate the days before his favorite football team’s opening game.
The point is that after all of this, is that Mr. fan has many teams to choose from, and many allegiances. Which is his favorite? The NFL team he grew up with? The college he went to? The golfer who used to play at his course? The soccer team him and his coworker enjoy watching? That is where the 100% theory comes into play. The Theory is that your fanhood is divided up among your favorite teams (every sport, college, pro, etc) to 100%. For example, a stereotypical fan from Dallas might have his fanhood split 40% Cowboys, 30% UT football (went there), 10% Mavs, 10% UT bball, 5% Stars, 5% Rangers. This can obviously waver due to the season, but when it comes down to it, would Mr. fan be crying over a Stars loss more than a Cowboys one? Is Mr. fan more crushed over the Mavericks loss in the first rd vs the Warriors or the Cowboys loss to the Eagles last year? If you don’t believe in the percentages, just think about which Mr. fan would be more upset about. There is an inherent ranking system in your head. Where would you rank your teams? I know it seems cold and calculated, but think about it, you would give up whatever to see [blank] win the title this year. Which team is filling in that blank? It’s not just seasonal, there’s the draft, free agency, spring training, preseason, and recruiting to think about as well.
I’ll admit, after doing this, there are teams I watch all the time and root for that are only 5-10%. So should I be crushed when that team doesn’t make the playoffs, has the worst record, as compared to teams that are my 30%? That’s the point. You bite it and take the higher percentage. So next time you are whining about a team that is only your 5% against my 30%, don’t come crying.
In case you are wondering: Browns 30% UVA Football 20% Lebron and his band of Fighting Cavaliers 20% Caps 10% Nationals 5% UVA BBall 5% Skins 5% Tribe 1% Colts (Pretty much just Peyton) 1% Wizards 1% UVA Lacrosse 1% UVA Baseball 1%
(Fantasy teams do not count, since they traverse cities/teams and involve money. For example an Eagles pick 6 against the Browns ended that game but won me at least $50 at the time. Also national teams, like the US World Cup team, Olympic teams, etc don’t count because if you root against them you are a communist and should be arrested)
After a while of being lazy, I'm finally getting around to making a blog. Most of these posts are going to be Cleveland or Sports related. I have no idea how often I will update this, but think of it as an extension of my long winded away messages, and those were frequent.
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