The Noise Factor

A terrible tragedy in sports.  Another athlete losing his life prematurely.  It always sits bad with sports fans when you hear about someone as young as Sean Taylor being killed in his own home.

That said, how does this kid not have a full-proof alarm system to keep murderers out of his crib?  This should be a warning shot for all athletes who don’t have a proper security system in their home.  Totally irresponsible.  Taylor has an infant he must protect.  It is hard to protect his kid when he is now being fitted for a box. 

Other stuff….

- Tonight’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys is nice and everything but if you expect me to be as pumped for this game as the New England v. Indy game you are sorely mistaken.  Green Bay and Dallas are a notch below them - when all teams are healthy.  Obviously Indy looks sluggish without Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney. 

The only thing I will be looking for this game is a touchdown from a Green Bay running back.  I want to see if Brett Favre is actually happy for the guy or if he just walks off the field without emotion like he has for quite a while.  Yet if he tosses a touchdown he is jumping all over the place like a little kid.  Is he happy his team scored points or is he just happy that he got to throw the ball?  Evidentally it has to be the latter.  Makes me feel like the over-the-top tribute video last Thanksgiving should have been done for guys who are better team players. 

- I don’t know what’s worse: finding out Joe Kennedy dies at the age of 28 or that the Toronto Blue Jays are still trying to sign him. 

- Sticking with Toronto, people have been peeing themselves while asking how the Raptors aren’t doing better this season.  I can tell you why: East teams are healthier than they were last year.  Boston and Milwaukee were decimated with injuries last season and fell off the map.  Toronto capitalized.  Well, those 2 teams beat them - along with a up-and-coming Orlando Magic team that improved with the acquisition of Rashard Lewis.  3 games Toronto would have won last year and that would put their record at 11-4 rather than 8-7.  Hell, taking 2 of the 3 would give them a 10-5 record which is still impressive.  But until a team begins to lose their top players one by one Toronto will be in a dogfight all season long.

- I am guessing the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will be playing with 4 outfielders and no shortstop this year.  That said, was Jon Garland worth giving up Orlando Cabrera?  I know he is in his final year of his contract but unless you get Tejada or move Chone Figgins to short (which isn’t ideal), what are you going to do?

- Dear Tampa Bay: You got an arm that could break out for you, but giving up Delmon Young could prove costly.  The guy you need to get rid of is Elijah Dukes.  If you traded him for Milton Bradley you’d be upgrading in the citizen department.  But I will say this about Dukes: He nearly took out an entire level at The Rogers Center last year with a bomb that left in a hurry.  The man has game but is he worth the trouble if he’s leaving the training facility to photoshop a gun for text messaging women?

- Let’s talk hockey…or not

- Neil Rackers: good kicker, bad in the clutch.  This is not the first time he’s missed a kick to help win a game for the Cardinals.  Hitting a cameraman was not cool either.  Just shows that he’s not composed under pressure - something you need out of your kicker when crunch time calls for you to deliver.

Speaking of delivering, lunch has been delivered and I must hit that up.  Enjoy your day.

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America’s hat is oblivious to the big matchup in College Football.  Except for me, who has the channel on ABC watching Ohio State just punch a TD in to make the score currently at 7-3.  But as all eyes are on that game, us Canadians are looking at hockey.  So overall we aren’t having a stellar day.

Neither is Barry Bonds…

- And after 4 years Barry has been indicted for tax evasion and perjury.  Even if you believe there is no chance Barry can escape what is coming to you, we all should know better.  I keep going over the charges in my head and I am still not convinced the feds "have him".  Bonds’ defense will find a way to exploit the lack of credibility the crown witnesses will be.  The investigators will do their thing on the stand, but will anyone roll over Bonds knowing they could find themselves stuck with perjury charges themselves?  You think you can get a guy convicted because several junkies say he did it?  Doubt it.

Knowing what we know now, my prediction is hell be guilty of tax evasion and not guilty for perjury.  He’ll spend a couple or more months in jail and then he’ll wait and see if he reaches the hall of fame on the first ballot.  I would not be surprised if Barry is held out in his first year of eligibility.

- So Alex Rodriguez opts to leave his agent, Scott Boras, out of the negotiation process with the New York Yankees.  He did not go Kenny Rogers and fire the guy during this process, he just got someone else to speak to the Yankees.  That is a total joke.  If you think Boras deserved it then you have no clue about commitment and loyalty.

When you sign with an agent to represent you, they are the ones you ask to negotiate your deals.  If you don’t want him or her to represent you then fire them.  What Rodriguez did to Boras was a slap in the face.  Yet nobody wants to talk about that because of their despise of Boras.  Fair enough, but what A-Rod did was another example of his putrid selfishness.  Who was there for Alex when things were tough in New York?  Boras!  Who defended A-Rod when people were all over him for poor play, playoff chokes, defensive blunders, stripper boning and little league acts on the field?  Boras!  So for A-Rod to turn his back on his agent at any time is ridiculous.  He made his bed with Boras and this decision to leave him out of the latest deal shows how A-Rod has no guts - further explains why he may never win a World Series.

- Make no mistake about it: the success of the Green Bay Packers has been their improved defense this season, followed by their quarterback minimizing mistakes.  To say the Packers are where they are because of Brett Favre is a slap in the face to the defense that has shut teams down and to the receivers who are vastly underrated.  People want to whine about Brady winning the MVP because he has better weapons than Favre is a cop-out.  Brady has better numbers, at this point in time, than anyone in NFL history. 

Again, the Brett Favre fan club has an overflow of fans who reside in the "impartial" world of the media.  And Favre only wishes he was as selfish as A-Rod.

- You may think Chad Johnson is selfish, I’ll call him an above average wide receiver.  He is exactly what you want out of your teams #2 wide receiver - because that’s what he is.  If he has aspirations of becoming a #1 someday he’ll need to stop dropping passes and make plays that elite receivers make.  He may think he is the best, but he’s outside the top 10 until he proves otherwise ie. catch the balls elite receivers catch.

- The NHL….Uh, nevermind eh!

- Can Michigan stop dropping passes?

- Did you see the play in the Cleveland game?  I saw that with the sound down and I want to confirm that the play was done by Lebron, right?  He is the one that purposely tossed the ball out of bounds only to jump for it and passes it out to the open man, right?

Tomorrow night I will be in Buffalo for the Sunday Night game.  Glad I don’t have to watch NBC pregame and feel bad for Bob Costas with that sad-sack crew he has to carry.  Pretty bad when I pray for Cris Collinsworth to talk over everyone.  Or hope that Al Michaels just cuts in and takes over.  Regardless…

Buffalo 10 - New England A LOT MORE THAN 10.

Have a great weekend.  Interception Michigan.

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What a hell of a week for Football!? As if we needed a 6 TD performance from Tom Brady to say “WOW!”. Thanks to some interesting scores and final scores we have plenty to discuss…

- The Miami Dolphins not only have a great shot at 0-16, they played as if they want to go the entire season winless today versus Buffalo. The Bills couldn’t complete a pass, gain any momentum or even have anybody stay on the same page in the first half of the game and yet Miami could only muster 3 points. Buffalo did everything they could to lose the game but Miami obviously wanted it more.

- Last week I had a discussion with The Bro on coaches who have been put on a pedestal for quite some time yet escape unpunished for their coaching flaws which cost their team games. We know about Brian Billick, who I actually like as a coach. But last week Mike Holmgren made sure his Seahawks gave Cleveland a win by simply calling poor plays and allowing certain people to see the field more than they deserve (see: Alexander, Shaun). Well add another ex-super bowl winning coach to that list. In fact, not only did his team finally win this week but this overrated mind has two titles: Mike Shanahan. This cat doesn’t get the picture. First he continues to play Travis Henry who has clearly showed he is not up for the task. Secondly, when he finally plays Selvin Young he decides that his amazing yards per carry wasn’t good enough to take touches away from Jay Cutler. Dear Mike: if you want to get your football team back into the mix and win some games you should take advantage of your great offensive line and your effective running game rather than hinge your hopes on a kid who still hasn’t reached the playing level of Jake Plummer.

The genius cards can be ripped away from these three coaches anytime folks.

- This may be the paragraph that causes controversy: Watched the entire Minnesota v. Green Bay game and watched the Packers dominate that putrid Vikings defense. I say to The Bro, “If Green Bay doesn’t score 40 points then they should be take the loss.” 34-zip. Nice job, but the Vikings should have been trounced by 40+. A real team would have done that. Oops, I just put down the Packers. They are a good team and deserve praise, so why did they not get 40? Maybe they were just being nice.

But today was a classic example of Brett Favre’s selfishness yet again. Ryan Grant had a massive TD to get the game going and Favre was nowhere to be found for the celebration. But he throws a TD and he’s jumping up and down all excited. Um, what the hell is that? Was Brett wishing he could have been the one to break the ice during the game or does he really hate handing the ball off THAT much? Now obviously nobody will ever call the man selfish and if they did they would say he’s all about being a competitor. Really? Well I can recall him taking off his helmet during the Super Bowl and running around the field with it in his hand and in the air. Not only was he drawing attention to himself but he showed the other team up. Tell you this: TO does that same stunt and he gets ridiculed. Favre does it and people admire his ‘emotion’. That is bullcrap. If you don’t think the man is selfish you should ask Javon Walker.

- The MVP race should look like this: 1) Brady 2) Moss 3) Derek Anderson 4) Tony Romo 5) Marvin Harrison.

Marvin is proving each week just how valuable he is to the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning. No way does Peyton drop 6 INT’s under Marvin’s watch. Unlike Reggie Wayne, Harrison has no trouble catching tough passes or finishing routes. This guy is proving just how great he is by not playing. And lets remember that he once stood as the only player with an outside shot at Jerry Rice’s reception record. Now we wonder just how good he will be once he is back. That was not a good injury to watch over and over again.

- There is no such thing as a moral victory. Don’t tell me Cleveland had a moral victory today. All they showed today was that they can’t get the job done. They should have finished off Pittsburgh and they didn’t. This is football and these players go out to beat the other team (or at least they should). None of these players walked back into the locker room after losing to Pittsburgh saying, ‘we got a moral victory’. No, all they got was another loss they didn’t need today. Cleveland could have propelled themselves into a team to watch out for but now they are just like every other fringe team in the NFL: a team with a fighting chance this week but will choke a victory away when needed. Romeo Crennel could have used a Dennis Green speech today.

- Detroit needed today’s game against Arizona and they let Kurt Warner think it’s 1999. I guess the Lions weren’t ready to pour the Gatorade jug all over Head Coach and 24’s former head of CTU Bill Buchanan after losing to the Cardinals. With that missed opportunity the Lions still have to play the Giants, Cowgirls, Packers and Chargers the rest of the way. If they blow their chance of 10-6 or a playoff spot after the 6-2 I bet their head coach will wonder if leaving Jack Bauer’s side was a good idea afterall.

- With an 0-8 start to the season is it too much to ask St. Louis to win their division? I don’t think so - the division is heinous. Aside from Green Bay and Pittsburgh the Rams have very winnable games the rest of the way. Look, 7-9 may not do it for the NFC West but the way things are going for that division almost anything can happen. Keyword: almost. Just have to wonder how they’d be doing if Marc Bulger, Steven Jackson and Orlando Pace were healthy all year. I know my fantasy team took a big hit with them along with Cadillac Williams.

Side note: I feel Remembrance day is a lost memory these days as we separate ourselves from the veterans of yesterday who defended my country of Canada. I’m proud of the people who have committed their lives to better mine, whether its being in Afghanistan right now or battling in combat in world war II. Because of them I can walk around my country speaking english rather than Nazi. A wise man once told me a true friend is someone who would die for you. I would not call these soldiers true friends but I can call them heroes. They have earned it. So let’s never forget those who have made our daily lives a better place.

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My pants are still up along with my zipper.  Don’t get any ideas.  Sickos.

By the way, want to mention that the Samsung T10 I just recently got a hold off is the sickest MP3 audio and video player I’ve ever seen and you all should check it out.  Seriously, you need to do a google search and check it out.  Unreal machine.  Why am I mentioning it?  Only because I have about 6 songs in my head and I’m on the jazz like Hannibal Smith.

While I’ve been listening to my favorite tracks I have been thinking about sports and have kept my eye on blog-nation.  So excuse me while I get off on some issues:

Football

- You can look at the Don Shula situation and spin the comments he made any way you want.  The fact is, he and the rest of the 1972 Miami Dolphins squad take that undefeated team thing WAY too serious.  Otherwise, why would they bother getting together to pop the cork on champagne to celebrate another year of having their record stay intact?  Don’t they know that their perfect record will never be taken away from them?  Obviously not.  Therefore, Shula is going to be defensive about that season and how New England could be the next team to join them.   Without a doubt he made those comments because they protect that legacy like its an 8-month old infact.  It’s been 35 years boys - let it go.

- Speaking of the Patriots, they pulled off the victory against the Indianapolis Colts and that should not have been a surprise.  As people around me felt Indy would take the game, I pointed out how close New England was last year despite no Rodney Harrison and having Reche Caldwell dropping 2 passes in which would have changed that game dramatically.  Randy Moss did not pull a Caldwell and drop crucial passes.  Plus Indy was losing Marvin Harrison, who is a bigger MVP on that team than people realize.  When you lose a receiver who is the only player that has an outside shot at Jerry Rice’s reception record it tells you just how great this guy is.  That said, picking New England was a no-brainer.  The overwhelming amount of penalties against the Pats and the underwhelming amount called on Indy along with the gigantic game by Joseph Addai was the reason Indy was in the game the entire time. 

- Tom Brady is the MVP.  He is about to put up the single greatest NFL season by any player at any position in HISTORY.  Randy Moss should be number 2.  Then you can throw in others like Adrian Peterson and Derek Anderson.  Hell, even throw in the man everyone seems to feel sorry for all the time, Brett Favre.  Why feel sorry for a Future Hall of Famer with passing records?  Stop!  Feel sorry for a guy who’s career has been cut short and stop trying to make us feel like we should cry for Brett Favre.

- If New England hasn’t had a great schedule, then please stop calling Dallas and San Diego great teams.  If they are so great like people say they are then New England has had a decent schedule.  You cannot have it both ways.  Unless you are Tila Tequila.

Baseball

- What else did you expect out of Alex Rodriguez?  Class?  Ha!  You wish.

- I know people love to crack on Curt Schilling, but this contract he just signed for with Boston is a reflection of himself; a man with character and confidence.  Love him or hate him, he has tried to do the right thing and he did that with this contract.

- How we know the Gold Glove award is full of crap: not one Colorado Rockies player wins a gold glove when their team fielding was one of the best in history.  Bogus award that doesn’t hold any weight unless we’re talking about Greg Maddux.

- Speaking of Maddux, will he hang around to win 400 games?  Don’t laugh at that.  He is 13 wins away from 360 and he’s still good enough to win 10-15 per season.  You think he’ll slow down or get hurt anytime soon?  Maybe, but if he pitches 2 more years and gets to 375, why not go until you hit 400? (Yes, I think this is far-fetched)

- As long as he doesn’t eat himself out of becoming a legend, 20 teams should be going after Miguel Cabrera.  Which player under 25 is more dangerous than him?

Basketball

- Yes I have read the a lot of the Laker blogs so I’ll say this right here: November wins mean nothing.  Phoenix takes care of Los Angeles when it matters: in April.  Case closed, and now we’ll see if Chicago really wants Kobe Bryant. 

- The season is early, so why is there a panic from fans?  Press the panic button when the season gets closer to 20 games in.  Until then, hope for some wins.

- I’ve watched about a quarter of San Antonio Spurs basketball so this question is posed to all of you: is Tim Duncan hurt or is age and wear-and-tear catching up?  The one quarter I watched he just did not look right.  I don’t want to jump to any conclusions because the season is very young, but damn he just looks sluggish.

- Yao Ming is huge.

Hockey

- Peter Forsberg and Eric Lindros.  One is hurt and may retire while the other just retired.  It’s been 15 years removed from the big trade which Lindros went to Philadelphia for Forsberg and about 1000 of his friends.  Had it been a one for one trade the then-Quebec Nordiques the Flyers still would have been screwed.  Forsberg is a hall of famer, a first-ballot guy.  Eric Lindros will only get in because of the mistake made on Cam Neely.  Neely was a nice player, not a hall of famer.  Lindros isn’t a first-ballot guy and as far as I’m concerned you’re either a hall of famer or not.  That said, my opinion doesn’t matter.  Lindros will get in but shouldn’t get in on the first ballot.  Hockey standards are very low, unfortunately.

- Speaking of low standards, the Toronto Maple Leafs are living up to their expectations and people are upset over that.  Why?  They were set up to fail before the season began.  The product on the ice is mediocre at best, so what’s the problem?  What pisses me off are the members of the media who give us bullcrap about how John Ferguson Jr is hogtied because of upper management.  WHAT?  I’d barely buy that argument if there was no salary cap, like the pre-lockout era.  But do you believe upper management love paying 20 million dollars to a mid-30’s player with Leukemia in Jason Blake?  Or how about 25+ million to 4 defenseman and 2 goaltenders?  They will be at 42 million dollars next year without Mats Sundin and 3 other key forwards on the Leafs this season.  That is not upper managements fault, that blame is on JFJ.

I’m heading to bed.  I’ve gotten off tonight.  And no this has nothing to do with me coming.  No pun intended

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