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SIDELINE ARCHIVE Unnecessary Hits To The Pocket / Upset: BYU October 17, 2008 Romo's Pause / Seattle Seahawks October 15, 2008 Weekend Prep: Red River and More October 10, 2008 College Football's 'Crossroads' Weekend October 9, 2008 Gramatical Error October 7, 2008 Turning The Page September 30, 2008 So Cal 'Quizzed — But Who Will Answer? September 26, 2008 3rd Tuesday Panic Button / Forté Yard Dash September 23, 2008 Two and Oh; Oh and Two September 22, 2008 No More NCAAffeine September 11, 2008 Week 1 College Football September 6, 2008 How To Spell Heisman / Chad Ocho Cinco September 1, 2008 Why the Favre story STILL won't go away August 18, 2008 Olympic Notes / Ricky's Still Relevant August 14, 2008 Committee Meetings August 9, 2008 Let the QB Battles Begin August 8, 2008 Slinging The Slinger — More Favre August 6, 2008 Welcome to the 2008 season July 28, 2008 Plus One May 27, 2008 Draft: The Morning After April 28, 2008 Draft: Thinking the Unthinkable April 25, 2008 Draft: Ready For The Long Haul April 23, 2008 Sofa–bound Sport April 16, 2008 Post–Winter Wonderland April 11, 2008 Six Impossible Things February 4, 2008 Brady's Misdirection Play February 3, 2008 Colorful Language January 23, 2008 Let the Romo–bashing begin: Dallas lost January 14, 2008 Bowl Bites: The Wrap January 10, 2008 All About The Coaches January 1, 2008 Bowl Bites 3 and A Communication Breakdown December 29, 2007 Bowl Bites 2 December 27, 2007 Bowl Bites 1 December 23, 2007 The Empty Chair - Coach Situations Vacant December 22, 2007 For Some, The Playoffs Are Now December 15, 2007 A Certain Lack Of Welcome December 13, 2007 Unrelated Notes November 29, 2007 Two Thanksgiving thoughts November 22, 2007 Halftime: NFC November 9, 2007 Halftime: AFC November 8, 2007 London, Part 2 / A Tale of Two Chads / A Game of Intimidation November 4, 2007 Damp Squib / Other London Notes October 29, 2007 Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em / Dolphins – The Aftermath October 23, 2007 The Dolphins Did What? October 18, 2007 Notes on the Defenses October 13, 2007 Habits to be Broken October 12, 2007 Overtime October 13, 2007 This Week's Starters October 6, 2007: USF: Covering The Spread / Fantastic Football September 27, 2007: Grossman: The Final Act? / McNabb, the Epilogue September 24, 2007: Eagles QB in Slight Controversy September 21, 2007: Leftwich's Parting Gift to Jacksonville? / Boos cruise September 18, 2007: Notre Dame M.I.A. September 16, 2007: Looking Beyond NFL Wk. 1 September 12, 2007: Best Hope For Heisman September 10, 2007: Coaching Hot Seats / AP Poll Feeling ’Appy September 7, 2007: The NFL’s Prime Cuts September 5, 2007: Michigan Falls to Killer Apps September 3, 2007: Look Out Couch / The Taint's On You, Bud September 1, 2007: |
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SPORTS SIDELINE 
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale Slinging The Slinger Two thoughts on Brett Favre — because I just know you're all keen to have more Favre coverage. First, can sportswriters and bloggers stop writing articles bemoaning how the Brett Favre story won't go away? It's much the same as the conceit where a TV reporter reports on the number of TV reporters reporting on the Brett Favre story, while the camera points at all the media trailers one of which, presumably, is their own. Personally, I'm going keep mentioning Favre as long as the whole silly saga keeps going. Second, How's this for an off–the–wall idea: send him back where he came from: Atlanta. The Falcons originally drafted Favre back in 1991 before trading him to Green Bay. It would be fitting for Favre to finish his days where it all started, the Falcons would get publicity, the Packers could be sure he wouldn't play in their division and reasonably confident he wouldn't show up in the postseason. With Matt Ryan already in place in Atlanta and with no question that he's going to be the starter by next season at the latest, there's an implicit limit on how long anybody will humor Favre sticking around, and they wouldn't have to throw Ryan to the wolves this year. Yahoo! sportswriter Michael Silver's 2008 owner rankings — easily as essential as live coverage of Favre's plane landing — once again placed Saints owner Tom Benson among the worst. This year's excuse appears to be Benson's comments on the CBA, but two years ago, Silver rated him 32nd of 32 over rumors that he might move the franchise elsewhere (which hasn't happened). On both occasions, he cited the Benson Boogie, Tom's celebratory dance, as if that was somehow germane to the rankings. I can't claim to have met Tom, but did chat recently with part–owner Rita Benson LeBlanc (overlooked by Silver), and I'm calling foul on this low ranking. While Rita's 'Saints–in–the–community' PR is omnipresent — there's barely a question she can't turn to the subject — there has to come a point when we accept two things: (1) The Benson family DOES have the Saints involved in the city of New Orleans, be it for community or business reasons. Rita's enthusiasm for New Orleans and the ongoing project there is evident when talking to her. And almost certainly genuine. Despite the family's San Antonio connections, if they can make the Saints work in (and for) New Orleans, they'll be there. (2) This is still a business, the same way every NFL team is. The Bensons can't be expected to struggle away in a non–viable location while somebody else swoops in on a lucrative San Antonio market. Maybe Rita Benson LeBlanc has more time and energy to invest in New Orleans than her grandfather does, to shape the existing market. And judging from tickets sales these past three years in a potentially depressed region, it's hard to see it working much better. So, how about forgetting what is said (or danced) by Tom Benson, and instead looking at the situation on the ground: the city supports the team, the team supports the city, and most preseason predictions have the team in the thick of the playoff hunt. And when was the last time you heard of a protracted, ill–tempered hold–out in New Orleans? Was there something else this week? Oh yes, the small matter of actual NFL action. It was something of a Washington weekend with the induction of Darrell Green and Art Monk into the Hall of Fame, followed by a 30–16 victory over Indianapolis in the first preseason game. In the early going, the better drives were put together by Indy, but it was a different Colt, Colt Brennan who made an impact with two touchdowns and a near–perfect performance to turn the game around. Brennan, whose Hawaii career produced the most passing yards in 1–A history, slumped to the 6th round with suspicions of being a 'system' quarterback. If so, he certainly likes coach Jim Zorn's system in Washington. Brennan threw with confidence, and looks like a steal already, regardless of a sidearm throwing motion. Nice to see there's still a slinging quarterback in the NFL. I can't remember the last one. |
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