Hammered Hank

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan Mcnabb must leave Philly. Not because he is past his prime, but because the Philly fans turn on a player faster than anyone. Last season, McNabb was injured and Jeff Garcia stepped in and did a great job . After that, the fans called for Garcia to be the starter. Now, As McNabb is out for a couple of weeks, A.J. Feely stepped in and almost beat the invincible New England Patriots. i am sure after that the fans are going to be calling for him to be the starter. McNabb needs to start over in a new city and show the fans that they were wrong. They have already started to think about the future in drafting Kevin Kolb out of Houston. Let McNabb go somewhere like Tampa Bay or Chicago, where he will have a new beginning and the fans will treat him as he should be, a tough, winning quarterback that still has a lot to give to whoever wants him.

There is a trend going on in college football that seems to almost be ruining the game. The Athletic directors and Boosters was results and they want them now. This creates a problems in the fact that coaches seem to be only give three years to give these results. Every coach has a style they prefer and it takes a while for these coaches to get the recruits that will fit that style. This means that when they arrive at a university, they are working with the players that fit the previous coaches style and must use those players for at least two years. A prime example is Tyrone Willingham, who when he arrived at Notre Dame had a bowl appearance but struggled as he started to implement his own recruits. This was not enough for the AD though as Willingham was fired and Weis was brought in. Weis immediately had success as Willinghams recruits came into their own and ended up being great players. Now Weiss is getting his players in there and had a terrible season this year as his young team adjusts to college football. There is a reason the Pittsburgh Steelers have had very few losing seasons in the past thirty years, they have had only two coaches until this year. There was consistency and the coach had his type of players. Lets only hope that Weis isn’t canned as he tries to get the Irish back into the National Championship race as he gets his players in the program.

If you haven’t noticed, the New England Patriots have a different look to them this year. They acquired Dante Stallworth, Wes Welker and Randy Moss. These new acquisitions have also changed the way they run their offense, which looks a lot a lot like Texas Tech’s. They pass the ball 50 times a game and run it less than 20. The problem with this is that, like with Tech, they are able to run up the score but will they be able to stop the high power offenses in the long run. Tech is able to score, but still seem to lose a few games along the way. The Patriots defense is aging and starting to show it while other defenses are starting to figure out the patriots… they cannot run the ball with efficiency, like the Packers as well. This is all good until the competition improves in the playoffs and I think the Patriots are going to be upset unless they are able to run the ball in the future.

Our thoughts and prayers are out to Redskins safety Sean Taylor who was shot early this morning in his Florida home. Early reports are that he was shot in his leg hitting his femoral artery causing much blood loss. He is still listed in critical condition and the worry is that there was so much blood loss that is restricted oxygen to the brain. It is unsure the cause of the shooting but robbery has not been ruled out. This is a cowardly act and we hope that Taylor gets through this and has a full recovery.

Is it just me or do the Kansas Jayhawks look like the San Antonio Spurs of football? I know they just lost this past weekend, but they are the most fundamentally sound football team I have seen in a long time. The quarterback, Todd Reesing, throws the ball where it need to go and does not turn it over. He had 30 TD’s and only 4 int’s going into their game against Missouri. That is pretty efficient. The receivers catch the ball with their hands and don’t turn it over wither. With the defense, they do something that has become a lost art, they wrap up. This is what the Spurs do in basketball, they don’t turn it over and don’t have high scoring basketball, they pass, move without the ball and make smart plays. Though a National Championship may be out of the question, a BCS Bowl game is not and i want to congratulate the most fundamentally sound team in football, the Jayhawks.

Who will win the Heisman Trophy? Tim Tebow set a record with 20 rushing and passing touchdowns in a season for the 9-3 Gators. Darren McFadden is, without a doubt to me, the best player in college football but his teams is not very good. Dennis Dixon would be my favorite if he hadn’t torn his ACL. He is the Best player on BCS team. Todd Reesing doesn’t have a chance even though his Jayhawks are 11-1 because no one thinks Kansas is very good and Chase Daniel has had about 10 min of press time and no one knows who he is, but i have a solution for you, don’t give it to anyone. It seems that no matter who wins it, there is going to be some reason that people feel they didn’t deserve it. Why don’t we just save the trophy for next year and not give it out merely because they had to pick someone. There is no certain winner of it and maybe, for the sake of the trophy, just save it and not pick a winner by default.

Let me be the first to say that no one is happier about the season and numbers that Brett Favre is putting up. But the point of this is to question whether he is enough to carry that offense through the postseason. This is a great story of how the Packers, after everyone was calling for Favre to retire, have jolted to an 8-1 to this point and it has been because of his passing and his talented defense. With that being said, i don’t think that is going to be enough. It is clear that they do not have a great and possibly not even a good running game.

i know there are going to be those that say, “They just put up over 100 yards against the best run defense in the NFL in the Vikings.” Let me ask you this, where were they when they weren’t playing the best run defense? Why were they not putting up0 those numbers against teams with a poor run defense? It was not there. It is not going to be there for games to come either. Favre is putting up these gaudy numbers with seven or eight defensive backs defending the pass for the fact that they are not able to run. What is going to happen in the games when they play legitimate teams that are able to defend the pass and their run game in non existent? That is just something to think about. i am so glad that Favre is having the season he is having, but I am afraid people are getting too excited about another Super Bowl for the Packers when they are a running game away from even having a chance. i guess we will all find out when the Packers play the Cowboys and they could both possibly be 10-1.

I recently receive a call from a friend with a question he wanted me to ponder. “If Kansas and Oklahoma meet in the Big 12 championship game, and it is a close game but Kansas loses, is there a chance they can meet in the BCS Championship?” I thought about it for a second. At first I thought there was a chance that was possible, pending LSU and Oregon both lose again. After a while though, i just think that only one of them can play for the title, and the next in line would be West Virginia.

Here is the scenario: Kansas beats BCS ranked #5 Missouri, which drops Mizzou out of contention with two losses. Then, pending the losses previously mentioned, # 1 ranked Kanses plays #2 Oklahoma for the Big 12 title, The winner of that, whom I think will be Oklahoma will advance to the top spot, but even though Kansas has just one loss, they will drop to 6 or 7 and West Virginia will move to the second spot. There are going to be many out there that will say that Kansas deserves to be there since they put up such a strong performance against the Sooners. I give you this though, there is going to be a team in Michigan that is going to feel very slighted if this were to happen. And the voters are going to not allow this to happen because if the mighty Wolverines did not give a chance, then there is no way they are going to allow a “basketball” school to have that chance. There again is why I feel that Kansas has no chance of playing for the National Title even though many may feel they will deserve if they have a close loss to Oklahoma and beat the fifth ranked team in Missouri.

Let’s start this out by giving a big, deserving congratulations to Tony Romo. I know there are people out there that think this is a bad move, Skip Bayless, but I feel this was a great move. All this guy has done has win 11 of his first 16 starts. The only two players that I can think of in their first full year of football with this kind of success if Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady. Both of whom have at least one Super Bowl ring.He has also taken this team to a 6-1 start this season, all without their most sure handed receiver in Terry Glenn. There are many out there that also think the Cowboys are not as good as their record shows to this point. Every week they go out there with the haters proclaiming they don’t have a chance and they still find a way to win. Six turnovers by Romo and they still find a way to win. They do have the one loss to the Patriots, who are playing like no one has ever seen before. So while many of you sit there and downgrade the Cowboys success, I would like to just say I will see you in Tempe om February 3rd.

I am not sure if you know this or not, but it turn out that touchdown celebrations tear apart a team. It is true. When a person celebrates, the rest of the team think that player is hurting their chances of winning and a huge fight breaks out. Are you kidding me? I can understand when a player uses a prop and it penalizes the team fifteen yards, but when they do a Riverdance or put on a “Future H.O.F. 20??” coat on the sidelines, who are they hurting? A linebacker doesn’t see the celebration and think, “that is bad for the team, I think I am going to miss a tackle on purpose cause he doesn’t need to celebrate.”

When you see players on the sidelines arguing, it isn’t for the fact that they celebrated, it is because these players are the best the world has to offer and they, more than likely, have never been on a losing team. Being the competitors they are, they are not sure how to handle this and frustration is the first thing that occurs. I feel it is necessary for these athletes to go through some sort of adversity to kind of “ground” them and make them understand they are going to continue to have to work and get better rather than just rely on the abilities that got them there in the first place.

Let’s face it people, it is not the celebrations that is causing these teams and performers to struggle, i think it may have a little to do with their arrogance. They have been so good at what they do for so long that when the competition seems to have caught up with them and it frustrates them, and hopefully will drive them to work harder. Everyone loves the Barry Sanders’ of the world that when they score, they act like they have been there before. But many do like the celebrations that do go on as well in this new world of the No Fun League.