Month: May 2011 (Page 28 of 35)
Bucs’ head coach Raheem Morris refuted a St. Petersburg Times report that the team has already decided to move on from troubled cornerback Aqib Talib.
“Just to say that we’ve come out and made a decision about what’s going to happen with Aqib Talib’s future is completely false and bad information,” Morris said.
“The NFL has a discipline policy for our players that is also part of the collective bargaining agreement. Discipline throughout the league and off-the-field issues are always handled through the league office,” Morris said. “There are extra things internally that we do. We might fine people, we may take money, we may sit you out of practice, we may sit you out of games, we may not allow you to participate in certain things.
“The public stuff and the public knowledge is always handed down by the NFL, usually. Right now, the guy has not been judged. Once he gets judged, I’m sure the NFL, or whatever happens there, will step into play. Then we will step into play also.”
This is smart on Morris’ part. You don’t want to even suggest that you’re going to cut a guy that hasn’t been proven guilty of anything (even though the odds are clearly stacked against Talib). If Morris and the Bucs did, they would be inviting the media and fans to scrutinize their decision-making.
If or when Talib is found guilty and the NFL makes a decision on his future, then Morris and the Bucs can get involved. Until then, Morris has it right: We (Bucs) haven’t made a decision about anything regarding Aqib Talib.
For the third year in a row, Patriots superfan Fitzy goes to the NFL Draft in New York City.
USA Today’s Jack Carey wrote an interesting piece on Thursday about how the Department of Justice has sent a letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert asking why the association does not have a major-college football playoff.
Christine A. Varney, assistant attorney general in the Justice Departmen’s Antitrust Division, pointed out in the letter sent Tuesday that “serious questions” continue to arise as to whether the BCS system is consistent with federal antitrust laws.
Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff recently said he plans an antitrust lawsuit against the BCS, and Varney wrote that 21 professors have requested the Justice Department conduct an investigation of the system.
“Your views would be relevant in helping us to deternine the best course of action with regard to the BCS,” Varney wrote.
NCAA spokesman Bob Williams, in a statement Wednesday, said that the association will respond when it receives the letter.
“It should be noted that President Emmert consistently has said … that the NCAA is willing to help create a playoff format for Football Bowl Subdivision football if the FBS membership makes that decision,” he said.
To date, the FBS schools have opted to stick with the bowl system.
When I was reading the article, I was waiting for someone to mention how the Department of Justice should have bigger things to worry about than whether or not the NCAA has a playoff system. And then it came…
Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director, has long expressed confidence that the BCS complies with the law. “With all that’s going on in the world right now and with national and state budgets being what they are, it seems like a waste of taxpayers’ money to have the government looking into how college football games are played,” he said.
Matthew Sanderson, a founder of PlayoffPAC.com fired back with a good response:
“I’m surprised the BCS still trots out that tired argument. This issue may not be of international importance, but this is a billion-dollar enterprise involving tax-exempt entities and institutions of higher learning.”
Whether the Justice Department has bigger fish to fry is irrelevant now: The issue is on the their radar whether the NCAA disagrees or not. And if the NCAA is violating anti-trust laws, then maybe we’ll finally see a college football playoff some day.
Or nothing will come of this and the crooked BCS will continue to rip everyone off.
Finally, the NFL Network has wised up when it comes to its Thursday night broadcasts.
Assuming there’s even a season next year, Brad Nessler will do the play-by-play for the Thursday night broadcasts on the NFL Network, while Mike Mayock will be his color man. Nessler, who mostly does college football and basketball announcing, has an outstanding voice and brings some much-needed experience to the Thursday night booth. For those who follow the NFL draft coverage every year, you know Mayock knows his football (even though he can be a tad over-the-top at times).
This is a major improvement over the brutal trio of Bob Papa, Joe Theismann and Matt Millen. Of course, those three weren’t quite as bad as Bryant Gumbel, but that’s like saying Rebecca Black’s studio version of the song “Friday” is better than her acoustic rendition. Either way, it’s crap. (Who was the genius at the NFL Network that thought of the brilliant idea to have Gumbel announce Thursday night games despite the fact that he had zero play-by-play experience? His I’m-better-than-all-of-you style was a perfect fit for blue-collar NFL fans.)
The NFL Network is doing itself and fans a solid by going with Nessler and Mayock, although the revamping shouldn’t stop there. The network needs to take a long, hard look at its production quality as well, because for years the Thursday night broadcasts look like they’re being shot in a cave. It’s hard to explain, but the sound and lighting have never looked right to me, even on a HD screen. And they could play the games in a surround sound theatre and it would still sound muffled.
That said, Nessler and Mayock are a great fix. Nice job, NFL Network. It’s too bad only 34 get the network…
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