Sports

[Spurt]

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@PARedbird wrote:

@Spurt - Congrats to Wemby!  I'm not one bit surprised at him receiving that award - well deserved!

As far as the Cowboys, I'm really glad I don't live down there anymore as I could never stand Zeke and was sick of hearing about him on the Sports all the time and he seems to have a big ego.  Ugh!

Stay safe down there - have been seeing/hearing on the news about the severe rain and flooding down in Texas!  

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@PARedbird 

Great minds think alike because I never liked Zeke either because of his ego and his inappropriate conduct "antics".....

Appreciate your concern, thankfully all the big rain and flooding is East of us, Houston especially got hit with flooding....we just got a tiny bit of rain.....we are going thru a mini heat wave temperatures in the low to upper 90's for 3 days....WHEW!!! Then a cooler front is coming in Friday with temperatures in the upper 70's/80 with a 30% chance of thunderstorms....

[teganslaw]

Rashee Rice is under investigation for an allegedly assault at a Dallas nightclub. I don't know if there is any tape of this account. Maybe this really happened or it's a case of someone taking advantage for money. Whichever, this doesn't bode well for Rice who already committed felonies.

The team should release him because of the felonies, but they seem reluctant to take charge of the situation. Players have been  released for less offenses. Hunt was given a low grade as owner, and he doesn't deserve any higher if he continues to back such a player. The Super Bowl trophies are starting to become tarnished. 

[gardenman]

@teganslaw 

Yeah, Rashee Rice seems intent on getting kicked out of the NFL. The Chiefs, Cowboys, and Raiders have a reputation for tolerating the bad boys as long as they perform, but even for them, there's a limit. Rashee Rice is very close to going over that line, even for the more tolerant teams. His stats are okay, but not special. He's 24, so he's not a kid any longer. A 21-year-old fresh out of college, you can excuse a bit more. The Chiefs invested a second-round pick on the kid in 2023 so they don't want to give up on him too soon, but at some point, you have to stop the bleeding and cut the kid loose. He's likely to be suspended because of his earlier car accident. And he doesn't seem to have learned from that. 

Suspending knuckleheads can sometimes do more harm than good. Isolating them from the team, team activities, and team oversight is often the worst thing you can do. Coaches and GMs breathe easier when their guys are in the house again and under their watch and supervision. That January/February-April period and then late June through most of July period where they're off-limits is terrifying to team execs. That's when the knuckleheads tend to get into the most trouble and there's no one saying, "Don't do it!"

[gardenman]

The 2024 NFL schedule will be released on Wednesday, May 15th. Then things will get pretty quiet until training camps start.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

The 2024 NFL schedule will be released on Wednesday, May 15th. Then things will get pretty quiet until training camps start.

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@gardenman @teganslaw 

Looking forward to the team video schedule releases....

[gardenman]

Eagles runningback Kenny Gainwell says the cause of the Eagles' collapse last year was a disconnect between the people upstairs and those downstairs. It's been rumored that Nick didn't want to fire his DC Sean Desai, but the word came down from above to make the move. It didn't work. The defense and team as a whole regressed after the firing. 

Was Matt Patricia, the replacement DC, lobbying the execs to make the move? Was he getting help from Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick vouching for Patricia as a good replacement? Jeff Lurie is a New England guy, has a lot of respect for the Patriots, and is reportedly close to Kraft and Belichick.  We don't know and will probably never learn the whole truth, but the rift seems to have been mended and everyone's on the same track again.

The Raiders reportedly tossed a coin to decide between Brock Bowers and Terrion Arnold in the first round. At least that's what they told Arnold after passing on him in the first round. A lot of teams promise a guy that if he's there they'll take him, then don't. Arnold was apparently given such a promise by the Raiders. They called him up after the pick of Bowers to let him know that it was between the two and they opted for Bowers, reportedly after tossing a coin to decide. Eh, okay. Maybe not the most scientific way to pick a player, but it could be worse. They could be like the Falcons.

For the first time since they've been hired, we'll hear from the Eagles' new coordinators today. They've been kept out of touch since being hired and now get trotted out for their first Q&A session. I don't expect to hear much of significance from them. They're happy, love their players, can't imagine a better situation, etc. The usual stuff. Both are league vets who know how to play the media game. If they say anything about schemes or concepts it'll likely be a smokescreen to throw off the competition.

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

Gee, It looks like the team's front office guys get a script  on what to say after the draft.......Washington has already had all their Press Conferences and said just exactly what you wrote 

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw @PARedbird @sunshine45

@LavernLuvsShoes 

Start saving your money now, it looks like the NFL is getting ready to reach into our wallets again, it's looking like Netflix may get one or both Christmas games.....and they say the Grinch is just a fictional character...I think not!!!

[gardenman]

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@Spurt wrote:

@gardenman 

Gee, It looks like the team's front office guys get a script  on what to say after the draft.......Washington has had all their Press Conferences and said just exactly what you wrote 

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Yeah, the only time I remember any team ever saying they got robbed in the draft was way, way back when then Eagles' coach Vermeil was targeting a wide receiver (Perry Tuttle) and had told his friend, Bills head coach Marv Levy that, trusting him. Levy had then hopped in front of the Eagles to get Tuttle and Vermiel was very unhappy and "settled" for Mike Quick. Quick ended up with a Hall of Fame caliber career while Tuttle flopped. Vermiel's post-draft press conference made it very clear he was deeply disappointed in the pick and he'd wanted Tuttle.

In general, every GM, coach, and owner will say "We got the guy we'd targeted! We had him graded much higher than where we picked him! We couldn't believe he was still there!" And most of it is a lie. In this draft, the Eagles were reportedly very high on one of the offensive linemen who they thought might fall to them, and also Brock Bowers. I believe those were picks 1A and 1B, but both were gone so they opted for option 1C. Quinyon Mitchell is a good, solid pick, and probably the guy they had the highest rating on at the time, but given the whole draft pool to pick from he'd have been maybe tenth on their list.

In round two they were targeting Cooper DeJean as was clear in the video they released of the draft. When the Rams hopped in front of them they got very depressed and thought they'd lost him. Then they were absolutely gleeful when the Rams took a defensive lineman instead. They ran to the phone to finalize the trade with the Commanders and grabbed DeJean. Even then he was their second highest-rated corner as they took Mitchell in the first. 

With rookie minicamps starting (and in some cases concluding) teams are starting to find out just what they got in the draft and their undrafted free agents. Some teams are likely very impressed. Some are likely very worried. It's not unusual at this stage to have an undrafted kid come in and look better than the highly drafted kids. Sometimes the draft picks look at things post-draft as being "mission accomplished," while the undrafted kids are fighting for a chance to make the roster. 

Former WR Steve Smith is trying to light a fire under Eagles rookie WR Johnny Wilson by saying the kid's not an NFL wide receiver. At 6'-6"/6'-7" and 230+ lbs, he's not a typical WR that's for sure. He runs a 4.52 forty. A good route runner. Catches the ball well. A smooth route runner. A willing blocker. A good all-around athlete. Steve Smith tends to say things to get a rise out of a player and see if they'll respond. He tests their competitiveness in this manner. "Prove me wrong!" is his go-to line. He wants them to succeed and prove him wrong. I think he sees the potential and wants to be sure it's optimized. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[gardenman]

I'll typically subscribe to Netflix for a month each year to catch up on the Great British Bake Off, so it may be December this year. Catch the holiday programming on Netflix and the NFL then cancel and wait for next year. June looked like a quiet month on my schedule this year and I thought I might subscribe then, but if they're getting the NFL games in December, it'll be December instead. It works out the same to me either way. I'll just take it for a month, watch everything I'm interested in, cancel, and wait for the next year to repeat the cycle.