The Hashmarks
I said that the Raiders were stupid for signing George and Howard and I took
a lot of heat for that. Well, now both of those morons are making excuses
for their lack of production. The Raiders went 7-9 last year with Tim Brown
returning punts and Jeff Hostetler leading the offense and at 3-7, with an
unfavorable finishing schedule, they'll be hard pressed to equal that with
their two "Messiahs."
A couple of weeks ago Howard talked about how he had to make a lot of fair
catches because of the Raiders' defense and that's why he's only averaging
8.8 yards per return (Of course, fair catches have NOTHING to do with how
averages are calculated). Funny but if it continues at this rate, he will
finish with 26 fair catches ONLY 2 more than Tim Brown had last year and his
average will be only .5 yards better than what Tim Brown got last year. Oh
and as for that fair catch crap, Darrien Gordon has made quite a few himself
and YET, he's breaking 70-80+ yard returns. Give it up, Dismal, you're a
failure and you'll always be one. If you put as much effort into your JOB as
you did in making excuses for your failures, you'd actually justify that
salary that Al "I've got Alzheimer's" Davis paid you.
Jeff George is blaming the play calling for the offense's troubles. Oh, never
mind the fact that Jeff has thrown some bad passes and the team has converted
28.3% of its 3rd down plays (Only St. Louis, 27.6, New Orleans, 26.3 and
Buffalo, 23.6, have done worse). George has all these great stats, however,
he continues to come up short. But, I guess he's going to blame others like
he did in Indianapolis and Atlanta.
                                   ****
BTW, if there's STILL some doubt as to where the problem with the Saints
lies, their game against Oakland should have cleared it up. Oakland, which
entered the game as THE worst rushing defense in the league, held the Saints
to 59 yards on 25 carries. Puhleeze, if you still believe that the problem
is the QBs or the running backs then you're just being stubborn.
                                   ****
I have to laugh at a reporter who claims that the Alliance coaches were
biased against Michigan when they voted for Florida State as Number One
instead of Michigan. If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black.
Nebraska, which beat a Missouri team that is better than many realize, HAD
to win by at least 40 points in order to stay Number One. All those media
polls for several weeks leading up to last weekend's games were their way
of letting the rest of us know that as long as one of the Big 10 teams won,
they were going to be Number One. Nothing that FSU or Nebraska could do,
short of winning by 40 or more points, would have allowed them to stay ahead
of The Pig 10 team in the AP poll.
Where does the guy get off blasting the coaches for voting the Number Two
team as Number One after they beat the Number Five team while the Number
Four team beats the Number Three team (If they had been any other team
besides Penn State, they wouldn't have been as high as they were after their
close wins over Minnesota and Northwestern). He and his kind had made it
perfectly clear as to how they were going to vote for two weeks and he has
the gall to act as if the coaches had done something wrong. Puhleeeze.
                                   ****
The Bleachers
I'm glad to see Maddux finish second to Martinez and not Neagle. Frankly, I
think that Kyle and Schilling should rate ahead of Neagle as well. What I
would like to know is how a guy from the Dallas Morning News failed to put
Maddux on his ballot. It wouldn't have made a difference, however, how can a
guy not even list him on his ballot.
                                   ****
I don't think I've ever seen a more moronic owner in the league than Peter
Angelos. He got the perfect manager for his team and watched as Davey took
them one step further each year and then had the gall to say that he was
going to review Johnson's status after the season. Oh and then he hires Ray
Miller, a guy whose Minnesota adventures would make you laugh. Baltimore
doesn't deserve Angelos.
                                   ****
Enjoy your title Marlin fans because the $34 mil payroll cut that the team
is about to take is going to lop off most of their talent (Alou's trade to
Houston is step number one).
                                   ****
The Baseline
I'm still laughing at the Sonics and their moves last year. Why in the hell
they would pay so much money to Jim McIlvaine is still beyond me and because
of that, they were forced to trade Kemp. As I said when the trade was made,
Milwaukee won the trade and Seattle came in second (and if they can sign
Baker, they could make it a very close second) and Cleveland didn't change
their status at all. Now, McIlvaine is 1 of 11 and NOT in the starting
lineup. Getting Baker was a good move, however, it's a move that they forced
themselves into last year when they made the bonehead signing. With Kemp
happy, the Sonics could have made it back to The Finals.
Now let me say this: Baker will provide them with a better presence if they
make The Finals. He IS a half court player and has been for several years.
Seattle affords him a chance to be an open court player during the regular
season but if he's going to do them any good, he's going to have to play
half court during the playoffs. I think that he's better at that than Kemp
was and that could make a big difference in The Finals, where half court
offense is essential.
                                   ****
When Jeff Van Blunder said that Pippen's loss would mean very little to the
Bulls because Michael's still in Chicago, I laughed so hard that I made
myself cry. Pippen, as well as Stockton, is a 12+ win player. People that
thought Chicago was going to collapse a couple of years ago did so because
they had no idea how much the other players on that team meant. Sure, Jordan
was The Man, however, The Man NEVER wins a championship (Ask Oscar Robertson
or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar if the Bucks would have won that year without either
of them OR Curtis Perry, Jon McGlocklin, Bob Dandridge, etc.). Pippen hasn't
been just another one of Jordan's teammates for quite a while and anyone who
believed that he wouldn't be missed severely is out-to-lunch.
                                   ****
Ok, raise your hand if you bought into Larry Brown being able to do anything
with that sorry bunch of losers known as the 76ers. Even with the Clippers,
Brown NEVER ran up to a bunch like this and what really makes me mad is that
he is looking to trade Stackhouse when Jerry's not even the problem. Come on,
Larry, kick some butt and get Iverson to do HIS job. The team finally won
after Iverson gave out 15 assists last night.
                                   ****
BTW, while I like what Pitino has done, I have to thank him for relinquishing
Rick Fox's rights. Fox has been outstanding for the Lakers and has allowed
them to move Horry to power forward and let Rooks and Campbell come off the
bench and make the Lakers a lot better than they were last year (6 players
are in double figures and Horry is .4 away from making it 7).
                                   ****
Ok, Tim Duncan is the front runner, however, I think that this will be one
of the closest votes for ROY in a while. There are several rookies that have
gotten off to great starts and this should be a really tough field to pick
from.
--- TrekEd 1.00
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