I realize the reason for "bloggers" to write is to get your attention, and/or get your "dander" up. I also realize that by writing my "inspired rants" that they have achieved their goal. I also realize that I am becoming one of them when I begin to respond in kind.
I do not want to be a "blogger," I want to put thoughts together for the three of you that read this blog to enjoy, or peruse, or at least glance at.
Thank you again for getting this far with me (and sorry for forgetting to sign off while ranting).
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
ESPN BS
Gregg,
First I would say spend the time, hours of time, that coaches do watching the film from Sunday and you will see, one, that if Favre had run he may have made it back to the line of scrimmage, but probably not, because there were two linebackers spying him until he released the ball, and they were waiting, hoping, for him to run so they could take his head off, and they are significantly faster than Favre, without his bad "wheel." Two, let's see, put the ball on the turf five times and lose three of them, drop balls that you normally catch, call two running plays setting up this third down and don't make a yard, and then oh yea, send personnel on the field for third down and don't count, thus backing up that kick five yards. What else?? Have an offensive line that can't get Adrian Peterson a yard when needed, and can't protect your quarterback, and let's not forget the 63 yard kick return you allow, not unlike your special teams play against the Bears in a game that Favre did everything possible, and impossible, to win the game in spite of all the flaws in this team and its coaching staff.
But you are right Gregg, this is all about Favre, but only because you and your colleagues at ESPN have decided it should be that way disregarding journalistic integrity and/or fact. Please don't let either of those get in your way!! All Brett Favre want's to do is play football. All ESPN wants to do is villainize him because that is more fun and keeps people reading.
Brett Favre, felled by his fatal flaw
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By Gregg Easterbrook
Hamartia. The "tragic flaw" described by Aristotle: A leader cannot control his own inner shortcoming, which causes him to achieve the reverse of what he desired. In "Antigone," the king, Creon, tells himself he is acting in the interest of the city, when actually he is acting to glorify his own ego -- this hamartia destroys him. Brett Favre comes up a bit short of a character in ancient Thebes, but on Sunday he was brought low by hamartia all the same. It was not enough for Favre's team to reach the Super Bowl -- he had to get the credit. Game tied with 19 seconds remaining, Favre scrambled at about the New Orleans 40-yard line, with open field ahead of him. All he needed to do was run a few yards, hook-slide, call timeout, and the Vikings' strong-legged kicker, Ryan Longwell, had a solid chance to win the NFC championship. But the credit had to go to Favre; he had to throw a spectacular pass at the end, so television announcers would swoon. So he heave-hoed a dramatic across-the-field pass. It was intercepted, and the Saints won in overtime.
Perhaps you are thinking, "It was just a dumb mistake, and the whole thing happened in a couple of seconds." No. Two years of Favre's life built up to that moment. For two years, Favre has insisted that entire NFL franchises, the Jets and the Vikings, become thralls to his celebrity. He has used his stature to demand, demand, demand -- the crux of the demands are always attention and publicity for himself. Now he is brought low. In two of the past three seasons, Favre has lost in the NFC Championship Game. Each time, his team seemed poised to win at the end; each time, Favre's final play was a disastrous interception. And each of those title losses eventually came in overtime -- to punish Favre for his hamartia, twice the football gods allowed him to come so close, so close, then denied him. Favre has been brought so low, he is now being laughed at in Wisconsin, and he has only himself to blame. Aristotle would not be surprised by the ending of the Favre saga. If, of course, it was the ending.
First I would say spend the time, hours of time, that coaches do watching the film from Sunday and you will see, one, that if Favre had run he may have made it back to the line of scrimmage, but probably not, because there were two linebackers spying him until he released the ball, and they were waiting, hoping, for him to run so they could take his head off, and they are significantly faster than Favre, without his bad "wheel." Two, let's see, put the ball on the turf five times and lose three of them, drop balls that you normally catch, call two running plays setting up this third down and don't make a yard, and then oh yea, send personnel on the field for third down and don't count, thus backing up that kick five yards. What else?? Have an offensive line that can't get Adrian Peterson a yard when needed, and can't protect your quarterback, and let's not forget the 63 yard kick return you allow, not unlike your special teams play against the Bears in a game that Favre did everything possible, and impossible, to win the game in spite of all the flaws in this team and its coaching staff.
But you are right Gregg, this is all about Favre, but only because you and your colleagues at ESPN have decided it should be that way disregarding journalistic integrity and/or fact. Please don't let either of those get in your way!! All Brett Favre want's to do is play football. All ESPN wants to do is villainize him because that is more fun and keeps people reading.
Brett Favre, felled by his fatal flaw
Comment Email Print Share
By Gregg Easterbrook
Hamartia. The "tragic flaw" described by Aristotle: A leader cannot control his own inner shortcoming, which causes him to achieve the reverse of what he desired. In "Antigone," the king, Creon, tells himself he is acting in the interest of the city, when actually he is acting to glorify his own ego -- this hamartia destroys him. Brett Favre comes up a bit short of a character in ancient Thebes, but on Sunday he was brought low by hamartia all the same. It was not enough for Favre's team to reach the Super Bowl -- he had to get the credit. Game tied with 19 seconds remaining, Favre scrambled at about the New Orleans 40-yard line, with open field ahead of him. All he needed to do was run a few yards, hook-slide, call timeout, and the Vikings' strong-legged kicker, Ryan Longwell, had a solid chance to win the NFC championship. But the credit had to go to Favre; he had to throw a spectacular pass at the end, so television announcers would swoon. So he heave-hoed a dramatic across-the-field pass. It was intercepted, and the Saints won in overtime.
Perhaps you are thinking, "It was just a dumb mistake, and the whole thing happened in a couple of seconds." No. Two years of Favre's life built up to that moment. For two years, Favre has insisted that entire NFL franchises, the Jets and the Vikings, become thralls to his celebrity. He has used his stature to demand, demand, demand -- the crux of the demands are always attention and publicity for himself. Now he is brought low. In two of the past three seasons, Favre has lost in the NFC Championship Game. Each time, his team seemed poised to win at the end; each time, Favre's final play was a disastrous interception. And each of those title losses eventually came in overtime -- to punish Favre for his hamartia, twice the football gods allowed him to come so close, so close, then denied him. Favre has been brought so low, he is now being laughed at in Wisconsin, and he has only himself to blame. Aristotle would not be surprised by the ending of the Favre saga. If, of course, it was the ending.
Monday, January 25, 2010
BCS BS
How can anyone speak of equity, especially representing the BCS, when the Mountain West and the WAC combined take did not equal the $ 22 Million that the Big Ten and the SEC each received. And I am not certain (actually I am), but I do not believe that of the two games played between undefeated teams there was a Big Ten or SEC representative. How much money did those two bowls pull in?
I do realize it is not anywhere near this simple, but I also realize that none of this is anywhere near equitable, nor do we ever truly end up with a National “Champion” because there is no playoff system that gets us there. Even a + 1 system would be better than what we have now, especially with the incredible rust the teams play with at this point. These guys practice all the way through anyway, and nobody really cares about finals, or their studies, it is all about money, so let’s do what hockey and basketball and lacrosse all do, plus the other non-violent sports, and choose sixteen and go at it. I would settle for eight, but what we have now, is bad games between rusty teams, and a bunch of people, companies, schools and conferences getting rich and a whole bunch of others folks getting scr----.
Non-BCS conferences get record payout
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ESPN.com news services
WASHINGTON -- The five conferences that don't get automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series will receive a record $24 million from this year's BCS bowl games, augmented by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl matchup of TCU and Boise State.
BCS figures obtained by The Associated Press on Monday show the bulk of that money will go to TCU's Mountain West Conference, $9.8 million, and Boise State's Western Athletic Conference, $7.8 million, as non-BCS leagues sent two teams into the premier bowls for the first time.
[+] Enlarge
Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesBoise State's Kellen Moore delivers a pass before taking a hit from TCU's Jerry Hughes during the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4 in Glendale, Ariz.
The other three non-BCS conferences will divide the remainder.
The figures still lag behind the six BCS conferences. The Big Ten and Southeastern conferences received $22.2 million each, with $17.7 million going to each of the other four BCS conferences.
Critics in Congress who have taken aim at the BCS have cited what they consider an unfair distribution of BCS revenue. BCS executive director Bill Hancock told the AP the new numbers show the distribution is "fair and appropriate."
Boise State finished 2009 with a 14-0 record after toppling TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.
Boise State, ranked sixth in the BCS standings to finish the season, beat No. 4 TCU 17-10 after the Horned Frogs had dispatched the Broncos last season in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.
TCU, then ranked 11th in the BCS, prevailed 17-16 in the 2008 Poinsettia to edge the then-No. 9 Broncos.
Under the BCS system, the six BCS conferences get automatic bids to participate in top-tier bowl games while the other five don't.
According to Hancock, the distribution numbers support the current BCS system.
“
It's an opportunity for us to remind people that every conference had a chance to earn automatic qualification.
”-- BCS executive director Bill Hancock
"It's an opportunity for us to remind people that every conference had a chance to earn automatic qualification, and will again, based on the current evaluation," he said.
Hancock said that the BCS has helped all 11 conferences get more access, revenue and opportunity to play in the postseason. The previous record for non-BCS conferences was $19.3 million, set last year, he said.
Still, the figures aren't likely to win over critics in Congress.
Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, has cited the revenue discrepancy as a reason for his legislation that would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff. The bill passed a subcommittee last month but faces an uphill battle in Congress.
In a telephone interview Monday, Barton responded to the figures with a shrug.
"What is the BCS theoretically about? I thought it was about the best teams playing the best teams," he said. "This simply acknowledges the reality that's it's not about that, but about revenue sharing. It's an economic cartel."
In the Senate, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has called on President Barack Obama to ask the Justice Department to investigate whether the BCS violated antitrust laws, arguing that the millions of dollars at stake justify oversight by the federal government.
"The BCS system favors one set of schools over others," Hatch said in an e-mail. "While the money being divided up by the privileged conferences at the expense of nonprivileged conferences is astounding, the principles being violated are even more astounding."
Craig Thompson, commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, last year called the money distribution system "grossly inequitable."
Thompson did not return phone calls seeking comment on the BCS numbers.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
I do realize it is not anywhere near this simple, but I also realize that none of this is anywhere near equitable, nor do we ever truly end up with a National “Champion” because there is no playoff system that gets us there. Even a + 1 system would be better than what we have now, especially with the incredible rust the teams play with at this point. These guys practice all the way through anyway, and nobody really cares about finals, or their studies, it is all about money, so let’s do what hockey and basketball and lacrosse all do, plus the other non-violent sports, and choose sixteen and go at it. I would settle for eight, but what we have now, is bad games between rusty teams, and a bunch of people, companies, schools and conferences getting rich and a whole bunch of others folks getting scr----.
Non-BCS conferences get record payout
Comment Email Print Share
ESPN.com news services
WASHINGTON -- The five conferences that don't get automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series will receive a record $24 million from this year's BCS bowl games, augmented by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl matchup of TCU and Boise State.
BCS figures obtained by The Associated Press on Monday show the bulk of that money will go to TCU's Mountain West Conference, $9.8 million, and Boise State's Western Athletic Conference, $7.8 million, as non-BCS leagues sent two teams into the premier bowls for the first time.
[+] Enlarge
Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesBoise State's Kellen Moore delivers a pass before taking a hit from TCU's Jerry Hughes during the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4 in Glendale, Ariz.
The other three non-BCS conferences will divide the remainder.
The figures still lag behind the six BCS conferences. The Big Ten and Southeastern conferences received $22.2 million each, with $17.7 million going to each of the other four BCS conferences.
Critics in Congress who have taken aim at the BCS have cited what they consider an unfair distribution of BCS revenue. BCS executive director Bill Hancock told the AP the new numbers show the distribution is "fair and appropriate."
Boise State finished 2009 with a 14-0 record after toppling TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.
Boise State, ranked sixth in the BCS standings to finish the season, beat No. 4 TCU 17-10 after the Horned Frogs had dispatched the Broncos last season in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.
TCU, then ranked 11th in the BCS, prevailed 17-16 in the 2008 Poinsettia to edge the then-No. 9 Broncos.
Under the BCS system, the six BCS conferences get automatic bids to participate in top-tier bowl games while the other five don't.
According to Hancock, the distribution numbers support the current BCS system.
“
It's an opportunity for us to remind people that every conference had a chance to earn automatic qualification.
”-- BCS executive director Bill Hancock
"It's an opportunity for us to remind people that every conference had a chance to earn automatic qualification, and will again, based on the current evaluation," he said.
Hancock said that the BCS has helped all 11 conferences get more access, revenue and opportunity to play in the postseason. The previous record for non-BCS conferences was $19.3 million, set last year, he said.
Still, the figures aren't likely to win over critics in Congress.
Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, has cited the revenue discrepancy as a reason for his legislation that would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff. The bill passed a subcommittee last month but faces an uphill battle in Congress.
In a telephone interview Monday, Barton responded to the figures with a shrug.
"What is the BCS theoretically about? I thought it was about the best teams playing the best teams," he said. "This simply acknowledges the reality that's it's not about that, but about revenue sharing. It's an economic cartel."
In the Senate, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has called on President Barack Obama to ask the Justice Department to investigate whether the BCS violated antitrust laws, arguing that the millions of dollars at stake justify oversight by the federal government.
"The BCS system favors one set of schools over others," Hatch said in an e-mail. "While the money being divided up by the privileged conferences at the expense of nonprivileged conferences is astounding, the principles being violated are even more astounding."
Craig Thompson, commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, last year called the money distribution system "grossly inequitable."
Thompson did not return phone calls seeking comment on the BCS numbers.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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