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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 The 3rd Tuesday Panic Button No team has ever started 0–3 and won the Super Bowl (...and boy are you sick of hearing that statistic). Do you suppose there's a single 'oh–fer' coach out there who's really worrying about the Super Bowl or even the Playoffs? Right now, they just want to win that first game before their reserve parking space is reallocated. Of the five teams presently sitting at 0–3, all have coaches whose long–term tenure was debatable even before the season started. They haven't made it easy on themselves. Kansas City, was so clearly in rebuild mode that nobody truly expected much, but starting three QBs in three weeks doesn't bode well for the weak progress necessary for Herm Edwards to be safe come season's end. Across state, the St Louis Rams are about as bad as it gets right now. The Chiefs and Rams are quickly turning Missouri into the 'Please, Don't Show–Me' State at a combined 0–6 (thank goodness for Mizzou's Chase Daniel). Coach Scott Linehan was clearly on a hot seat, and right now it's more like a matter of when than if he goes, prompting a change from Marc Bulger to Trent Green at QB (...which solves their last–place rushing game and last–place defense how, exactly?). With Detroit starting 0–3, it's hard to imagine coach Rod Marinelli surviving long, and with Lions Vice Chairman Bill Ford reportedly saying team president Matt Millen should go, owner William Clay Ford can hardly justify things carrying on the way they are. Now overseeing his fourth coach, Millen's team has won only 27% of their games during his 8–year tenure. Once again, they are living down to expectations. You know that flatulent sound air makes when it leaks out of a balloon? That's the Cleveland Browns right now. This team was supposed to be a Cinderella story, but that orange helmet atop QB Derek Anderson appears to have turned into a pumpkin with a passer rating in the 40s. Their offense is hopelessly harmless at finding the endzone, with a high of 208 yards and 10 points. Coach Romeo Crennel had a 10 wins last season after 10 combined over the previous two, and his team is making 2007 look more like a fluke than a trend right now. The Bengals? Wipe your feet on the tigerskin rug. This week they at least put up a fight against the Giants, but their former strength — Carson Palmer and his fleet of receivers — have looked sleepy at best. The list of the listless will shorten this week, as the Bengals take on the Browns. The prospect of Brady Quinn's first NFL start may give us reason to watch this battle of the B–teams on Sky (in case you're wondering, the red button game is San Francisco at New Orleans, which should at least be high–scoring). For the rest of the winless, optimism is in short supply: KC plays unbeaten Denver, St Louis plays unbeaten Buffalo (another red button option for Rams masochists and Kevin Cadle only), while Detroit's NFL–worst run defense has two weeks to prepare for Chicago's Matt Forté. Speaking of whom... Forté Yard Dash So, in this year of numerous notable rookie running backs, who's in the lead for rushing yardage? Not Tennessee's Chris Johnson (276 yards); not Oakland's Darren McFadden (252 yards); not Dallas' Felix Jones (148 yards). It's Matt Forté of the Bears (304 yards), a workhorse I'm glad to have on my fantasy team. Yes, folks, there's a fantasy football anecdote heading your way. Forgive me the rare indulgence, and believe me, I suffer fantasy football more than I enjoy it. I own just one team in order to experience the phenomenon, but I still find it a overwhelming distraction to my football perspective, and in many cases my enjoyment of Sundays. This team of mine — Knute's Knightmares — began life a couple of seasons ago with a fifth overall pick that I used without any genuine enthusiasm on Shaun Alexander. That, of course, turned out to be a disaster. Alexander broke, my running game fell apart, and I managed only to win the 'best of the rest' bowl. Alexander left the Knightmares when I simply cut him late last season. Come fantasy draft time this year, I was absent for new–parental reasons, resigned to the idea that automated drafting would fill my roster with somebody. It did: Shaun Alexander. Then Travis Henry. Neither of whom are (or even were at the time) on NFL rosters. Thanks, Fleaflicker, nicely done. Why not just draft Red Grange as well? Do you know, they still have Doug Flutie as an available quarterback? (I'm not making it up!) With the third pick, it selected kicker Shayne Graham of the Bengals. I'm surprised it didn't take Otto Graham. So, a massive rebuilding project ensued. You should have seen the vetoes when I proposed selling Carson Palmer and TJ Houshmanzadeh for part–timer Maurice Jones–Drew and some kid named Matt Forté. Still, not enough vetoes to stop the trade. TE John Carlson, WRs Anthony Gonzalez and DeSean Jackson, RBs LeRon McClain and Michael Bush, and K John Carney all arrived as free agents. My starting QB remains Tony Romo, acquired as a free agent during that first season. Now, I wish I could tell you I'm 3–0 at this point, but alas I'm a better GM than I am coach, and usually bench the wrong guys each week, so 1–2 will have to do. But boy, am I glad I have Matt Forté and not Carson Palmer. |
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