This week Eagles offensive tackle Winston Justice has become a hub for NFLPA news, telling teammates on Twitter to follow him for updates and giving information about players meetings, like this tweet:
This kind of leadership from individual teams is what the players need to avoid a lockout. I don't like taking sides on things, especially when I could potentially cover them, but this blog is also for opinions, and I for one hope that the owners can somehow be reasoned with to avoid a lockout. I'll save my points for why I support the players for comments, so feel free to post your views on the quickly looming lockout.
Mike Vick was slated to tape an interview with the almighty Oprah on Wednesday, but canceled for "personal reasons." T.J. Walker of Forbes gives some good insight on why it would have been in Vick's PR interests to do the interview, but others believe the Eagles were behind the cancellation, largely due to the fact that Oprah is a dog-lover. Some reports were that PETA was prepping Oprah to give Vick tough questions, the kind that would be not be comfortable to answer, while others say it was the talk of current owners of dogs Vick used to fight being in attendance. Vick may not have pleased Oprah, seeing as the interview won her a bet with Piers Morgan (who hardly seems rich enough to gamble in Oprah's league, but a win's a win, right?) that she would get to talk with Vick before Morgan did. Tom Weir of USA Today seems to think that Vick has angered Oprah by canceling, but I really think she has better things to do than smite someone who is trying to rehabilitate his image. If the interview is rescheduled, I hope to be able to attend; so that I can report back to you the feeling in the room, and to support my team's newly franchised quarterback.
In other news, Mark Buehrle has backed off of comments he made regarding Vick getting injured, to a degree. I think the best thing that could happen would be Vick sitting on the third baseline as the Phillies beat the White Sox in the World Series. But pitchers and catchers just reported the other day, so it'll be a long season. Hopefully Rangers' second baseman Ian Kinsler's comments about Vick's and Desean Jackson's lack of attending practice is not a sign of things to come. His comments make even less sense due to the fact that there was no news of either Eagle missing practice through the 2010 season. I think he's just mad we got Cliff Lee. Had to work that in somehow. Anyway, no Phillie has said anything about anyone in any other sport. They make the news with wins. Sorry, forgot this was an NFL blog for a moment there.
Finally, to mesh former Eagle news with Andy Reid news, Joe Banner went on WIP and criticized (I feel rightly), the Redskins' benching of QB Donovan McNabb. I was and am a McNabb fan, despite all the negativity, and benching him for Rex Grossman (especially making him a third-string QB) was wrong. Banner also made an open-ended remark that if the Eagles organization ever felt Reid couldn't get them to the Big Game, they'd be open to changing team leadership. Interesting remarks coming so soon before Reid's contract is up. Kinda makes you wonder.
After three weeks of speculation and turmoil, the Eagles finally have a defensive coordinator. Andy Reid hired the Eagles' offensive line coach, Juan Castillo to take over the defensive reigns nearly a month after firing Sean McDermott and just days after interviewing the Bears' Jon Hoke. The reactions from the Eagles' defensive squad was mixed. Fans and Eagles analysts were surprised by the move, with many arguing that Castillo's hiring was foolish since his last defensive experience was at Texas A&M and Kingsville High School from 1982 - 1989. The move is very interesting, given the coaches they have interviewed or considered thus far.
One hint at the decision's logic came in the hiring of Howard Mudd, the Colts' former offensive line coach. This hiring seems comparable to the hiring of Jim Washburn on defense. Mudd's name is legend in the NFL, capped off with his final run with the Colts in 2008, ranking second in the league in sacks allowed. Mudd will definitely bring improvements to an offensive line that has struggled since the days of Donovan McNabb. If Mudd is still half the coach he was two years ago, the O-line should be able to offer Michael Vick more protection from the increasingly difficult defensive lines that began to visibly chip away at the quarterback this past season. We can only hope that Castillo will be able to pick up the defense again after 20+ years.
Hey, did you know NFL players played a game, and no one, not even the guys in the game, cared?
Yeah, the Pro Bowl.Yawn.
The big news ‘round these parts, or, you know, at least how they pertain to me and y’all, my dozens of readers, is that I’ve decided on how to format my columns / posts / rantings / ravings / whatever you want to call’em.
As I’m sure many of y’all have noticed, I post in the mornings, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.I had one “breaking news” post regarding the Falcons losing their QB coach, and will write blog posts like that when the occasion presents itself, but I decided that since I have a fairly easy to follow schedule, I should have some kind of reliable format to help me write, to make it fun to read, and basically, every hack writing about the NFL has a schtick, and this will be mine in as much as I’m not the first to do such things, nor will I be the last.
My Monday columns will be known as Monday Morning Falcons Hangover (if you hadn't already noticed).During the season, the main story will of course by my op-ed take on the Falcons’ most recent Sunday Game.I’m sure I’ll be writing a short, facts-and-stats-based recap of game soon after it’s over, but the Monday post will be my opinion on what went wrong, what went right, etc.
After that, on Mondays only, I’ll post The Seven Things I Know in the NFL.The fun part is, this section won’t always be Falcons related, so it lets me spread my NFL wings a bit.
I’ll be calling my Wednesday posts: Wednesday Football Two-A-Days, because I’ll not only write about the Falcons, but about the Georgia Bulldogs Football team, the SEC, or college football in general for that true, Southern taste of football life.
My Friday columns will be called: Thank Goodell It’s Friday!Yeah, I know, cheesy.I’ll write about what the Falcons need to do to win that weekend’s game, and then I will give my full slate of predictions.
After the Seven Things on Monday, the College Football on Wednesday, and the Predictions on Friday will come the bits I’ll do for all three days I write.First up is Today In History.I love history.I love how history is a cycle that repeats itself.I am two classes shy of obtaining my history degree from UGA.I want to teach history.It’s fairly self-explanatory.I’m going to find an interesting piece of historical trivia and share it with y’all.Learning is fun!
After the seven things will come Film Real on Mondays, TV Dinners on Wednesdays, and The Jukebox on Fridays.I love movies, some tv shows, and music as much as I do sports, and I’ll share some of that with y’all.
After that comes Smart Quotes, which are some of my favorite quotes from famous (or infamous) people throughout time.
And I’ll finish my scheduled posts with Hey, Check This Out! which is the expression used most to rope unsuspecting bystanders into seeing some cool or funny video on YouTube.I will post said video for your enjoyment / amusement.
Alright, now that y’all have the roadmap for how this is going to work from now on, let’s roll.
The Seven Things I Know in the NFL
1)It makes total sense that MeAngelo Hall wins the MVP of a game predicated on individual skill and talent, and not meshing that skill and talent within the concept of TEAM.
2)If Commissioner Goodell and the owners want to make the Pro Bowl meaningful in any way (which would improve ratings), they would do away with paying the losers of the game and only pay the winners.All players get the trip to Hawai’i, but only winners take home a check for $50,000.
3)If I were David Akers, there is no way in HELL I could ever play for Andy Reid again.Not when Andy Reid knew what he knew, and still blamed Akers for the loss against the Packers. Just an inexcusable lack of tact from a coach who is able to find the time to coddle a dog-killing sociopath, but has no room in his heart for a father with a cancer-stricken child.
5)I know it was against a base defense (kind of like what Mike Smith has the Falcons play all of the time), but Matt Ryan can cut it loose longer than 20 yards.I hope Smitty & Mularkey were paying attention Sunday.
6)Anyone willing to pay $200 to stand outside Cowboys Stadium to watch the Super Bowl on what amounts to a big television is a fool, not worthy of his or her money.
7)The Green Bay Packers “PictureGate” is the kind of distraction that can derail a team’s drive for a title.Not good, Cheeseheads.Not good at all.
Today in History
On 31 January 1865, the United States Congress formally passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery for all states in the Union, including those in rebellion.This Amendment was deemed necessary by President Lincoln, because the Emancipation Proclamation was mostly a symbolic gesture that would have no power under Constitutional Law once the Civil War was concluded, and did not include the Border States, such as Kentucky. The 13th Amendment paved the way for American life as we know it today; suffrage for all, black, white, men, women. For Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball. For the Civil Rights Movement. For an America that can elect a President who is a black American (whether he was actually worthy of those votes is another debate entirely NOT for this discussion). The 13th Amendment was a triumph of the goodness men can do. Let us be grateful today for the the anniversary of that momentous occasion.
Film Real
Late winter (after football season) is a great time to catch up on films that we wanted to see during football season, but perhaps never got around to due to real life (errands, chores, Honey-Do Lists, Holidays, etc) getting in the way.
A fun, well-reviewed film that was released at the end of the summer / beginning of autumn, Red, is a tale of retired CIA Agents played by Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren, who have become a liability for the Agency, so they send their best “cleaner,” played by Karl Urban (Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings), to take care of the problems those four pose.
Red is sharply written, with a witty sense of humor and crack comic timing displayed by the leads, who are even more impressive with their action work. Also, look for Brian Cox (X-Men 2, The Bourne Supremacy) in an extended cameo as a former KGB Agent.The film was recently released on DVD, and you can find it at a RedBox, from Netflix, on demand, or on iTunes.I recommend this film for pretty much anyone who’s a fan of smart action films in the vein of the last two James Bond films, or the first Die Hard film.Trust me, you won’t be sorry.
Smart Quotes
Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations and resentments flit away and a sunny spirit takes their place.
Mark Twain, 1897
Hey, Check This Out!
The video is kind of grainy (okay, it’s very grainy), but this is by far the funniest moment in Late Night with Conan O’Brien’s history.Man, do I miss the Walker Texas Ranger Lever. Damn you, NBC for holding the rights to all of Conan's old bits as well as the video rights of Walker Texas Ranger! (And yes, that IS Haley Joel Osment)
Let me start things off by breathing a sigh of relief. After I published Thursday's post, Twitter was suddenly ablaze with reports that an anonymous league source had said that Andy Reid told all DC candidates (who?!) that the job was closed. Immediately, it morphed into the belief that Jeff Fisher was indeed heading back to Philly. Not true. Thankfully, Les Bowen cleared everything thing up:
So with that out of the way, let's talk about the Eagles' needs. I don't think anyone would disagree that there are issues on defense that need to be addressed ASAP. Cornerback is the top position that needs to be addressed the most. For years, the Eagles had high-quality cornerbacks grounding the secondary, allowing them to make big plays. Now Asante Samuel stands alone, with Dimitri Patterson's performance this season being less-than-stellar. Until Nnamdi Asomugha is picked up by the Eagles or another team, there will be a lot of talk about him. The Eagles could use his speed and ability on the field, and the Eagles could draft a later-round pick to add depth to the position.
Depth would definitely be a good thing to have should the Eagles pick up Al Harris instead of Asomugha. Harris is an excellent CB, but has suffered his share of injuries lately. While this likely won't affect his ability to make plays, it is a concern.
Linebackers are also a concern, as their performance this season was underwhelming. There is hope that Jim Washburn can help fix this problem, but either a standout linebacker needs to be drafted, or there needs to be a pickup on the free agent market, coupled with a later-round linebacker. Carolina's James Anderson could shift Moise Fokou to a backup, and adding Minnesota's Chad Greenway or Kansas City's Tamba Hali would beef up the Eagles' linebacker corps immensely. Another good move would be to bring in Takeo Spikes for a year to help get Jamar Cheney up to elite status.
I'll focus on offense in another post. The biggest offensive assets, Mike Vick and DeSean Jackson, will not be going anywhere if the Eagles want a chance to win the NFC East again and go further in the playoffs. There's a way up, Eagles Nation. Let's hope Big Red, Joe Banner, Jeff Lurie and the rest see it.
This kind of leadership from individual teams is what the players need to avoid a lockout. I don't like taking sides on things, especially when I could potentially cover them, but this blog is also for opinions, and I for one hope that the owners can somehow be reasoned with to avoid a lockout. I'll save my points for why I support the players for comments, so feel free to post your views on the quickly looming lockout.
due to the fact that Oprah is a dog-lover. Some reports were that PETA was prepping Oprah to give Vick tough questions, the kind that would be not be comfortable to answer, 
while others say it was the talk of current owners of dogs Vick used to fight being in attendance. Vick may not have pleased Oprah, seeing as the interview won her a bet with Piers Morgan (who hardly seems rich enough to gamble in Oprah's league, but a win's a win, right?) that she would get to talk with Vick before Morgan did. Tom Weir of USA Today seems to think that Vick has angered Oprah by canceling, but I really think she has better things to do than smite someone who is trying to rehabilitate his image. If the interview is rescheduled, I hope to be able to attend; so that I can report back to you the feeling in the room, and to support my team's newly franchised quarterback.
and criticized (I feel 
rightly), the Redskins' benching of QB Donovan McNabb. I was and am a McNabb fan, despite all the negativity, and benching him for Rex Grossman (especially making him a third-string QB) was wrong. Banner also made an open-ended remark that if the Eagles organization ever felt Reid couldn't get them to the Big Game, they'd be open to changing team leadership. Interesting remarks coming so soon before Reid's contract is up. Kinda makes you wonder.
