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      Did Manning and Wayne display poor sportsmanship?

      February 8, 2010 /

      Following their 31-17 loss to the Saints on Sunday night, Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne jetted off to the locker room like losing players of the Super Bowl always do. But what was noteworthy about their exit was that they ran off without shaking hands with their opponent.

      From FOXNews.com:

      Manning reacted stoically Sunday night after wide receiver Reggie Wayne dropped his team’s last gasp — a fourth-down pass in the end zone late in the fourth quarter. With hands on hips and his helmet still on, Manning returned to the sideline and stared at a video-board replay. He then headed toward the locker room before the final seconds expired in New Orleans’ 31-17 win.

      Was it poor sportsmanship for not shaking hands with Saints players? Sure. But after what had just transpired in Super Bowl XLIV, I wouldn’t want to look back either.

      The Boston Globe reports that Manning ran into Darren Sharper on the way out of his postgame press conference and congratulated him “profusely” while shaking his hand and giving him a hug.

      “I’ll certainly talk to Drew,” Manning said. “I certainly know how it was three years ago when we won. There’s not much consolation for the guys who didn’t win. There’s the stage getting set up and there’s the celebration. That’s the time for the Saints to celebrate. It’s their field. They deserve the moment. I certainly congratulate all their players, their organization. I will speak to Drew Brees, speak to Sean Payton. They deserve all the credit.”

      Manning is all class and I don’t think he was being a poor sport. Sure, it would have been better had he and Wayne sought out Brees and the Saints on the field, but what’s the difference in them congratulating them immediately after the game or a day later? Showing your respect is the most important thing and it sounds like Manning and Wayne are or did do that.

      Neither of those players have history of being poor sports, so I don’t think much should be made out of this.


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      NFL

      Players’ union not pleased with proposed CBA

      February 8, 2010 /

      Per ESPN…

      In the strongest comments yet by a players’ union official since NBA owners made a new collective bargaining proposal, vice president Adonal Foyle of the Orlando Magic said the offer put forth last week by commissioner David Stern’s office is “ludicrous.”

      “I think it’s a proposal that’s far-reaching,” said Foyle, the union’s second-in-command behind president Derek Fisher. “This [new proposal] has gone too far. It wants a hard cap, it basically will create no middle class and which, in effect, means none of the Bird rules would apply,” Foyle added, referencing the so-called Larry Bird exception that allows teams to exceed the salary cap to retain their own free agents.

      In addition to a hard salary cap to replace the current system of a “soft” cap, with its accompanying luxury-tax penalties for teams that exceed a certain payroll threshold ($69.9 million this season), owners have asked that contracts be shortened to a maximum of four years, Foyle said.

      A hard cap would likely increase parity. The NFL has a hard cap, so teams have to decide which players to keep even if they have an owner with deep pockets that would be willing to re-sign everyone. This is why dynasties are extinct in the NFL.

      NFL stars understand that every dollar they make is a dollar that the club can’t spend somewhere else, which is why we often see star players restructure their contracts to free up cap space. A hard salary cap provides a completely level playing field, which is one reason why there is so much parity in the NFL.

      The downside to the hard cap, especially in the NBA, is that with only five starters and 7-10 bench players, it’s difficult to keep continuity year-to-year. Fans want their teams to be able to keep their star players, which is where those “Larry Bird rights” come in.

      I don’t see the soft cap as a major problem, but if you look at a list of the top payrolls, there is a direct correlation between money spent and regular season wins. Is it fair? Not really. A hard cap would certainly level the playing field for small market teams like Milwaukee, Minnesota and Sacramento, as they would become far more competitive in the free agent market.

      The larger problem is the length of guaranteed player contracts. The proposed CBA would lower the maximum length to four years, which is a good idea. One of the biggest reasons for bloated payrolls is the guaranteed contract. They should shorten the max length or make the last two years of a six-year deal non-guaranteed, which would allow the team to cut the player and only pay, say, 50% of his salary.

      In any case, Foyle’s comments (i.e. ludicrous, rash, unfair) are worrisome, as it indicates that the two sides are very far apart at this point in time.

      NBA

      Freeney shows his toughness in Super Bowl

      February 8, 2010 /

      One player that will be overlooked in the Colts’ crushing 31-17 loss to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV is Dwight Freeney, who played the entire game despite having a tear in his right ankle.

      Freeney missed two weeks of practice in hopes that his ankle would be completely healed by kickoff and while he wasn’t 100%, he gutted the pain out and turned in a banner first half. In fact, he made one of the best plays of the half when he sacked Drew Brees and forced the Saints to settle for a field goal attempt when they were driving deep into Indianapolis territory in the second quarter.

      But following the game, Freeney admitted that the long layoff for halftime hampered his ability to play in the second half. He said his ankle stiffened up and despite his best efforts to loosen up on the sidelines, he just wasn’t the same player that he was in the first half.

      Regardless, his teammates respected his effort.

      From ESPN.com:

      “He worked is tail off, three, four times a day,” Colts safety Melvin Bullitt said. “I knew he was going to play. There was no doubt in my mind he wouldn’t. That’s just the type of person Dwight is. It’s hard we couldn’t get the win for him with him coming back so soon off an injury like that. It’s very disappointing. He came up with a big play at a crucial time for us.”

      We could play the “what if” game until we’re blue in the face. But had Freeney been healthy and played the entire game at 100%, there’s a possibility that Brees wouldn’t have completed 32-of-39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns.

      Of course, none of that matters to Freeney or the Colts but considering many people (myself included) thought he wouldn’t be effective, what he did in the first half was impressive.


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      NFL

      Bill Simmons’ Super Bowl XLIV pick

      February 8, 2010 /

      Like most of us, Bill Simmons fondly remembers when he’s right and quickly forgets when he’s wrong. For posterity, here is his Super Bowl XLIV pick:

      “For me, it comes down to this: I can’t pick against Manning in a big game. It’s just a bad idea. Hence, I like a relatively close game with Indy prevailing 31-23 (covering the 4½-point spread but hitting the under of 57½). Then we can spend the subsequent week wondering whether Indy could have gone 19-0. That will be a barrel of laughs.”

      — Bill Simmons

      If you were deciding between Simmons and Stalter, let’s hope you went with the latter. Stalter picked the Saints outright.

      Free Picks, NFL

      Brees completes true underdog story

      February 8, 2010 /

      It takes a special person to turn rejection into greatness.

      Some forget that Doug Flutie replaced Drew Brees during the 2003 regular season because the former second round pick couldn’t get the job done. That prompted the Chargers to acquire Philip Rivers in the 2004 draft and had he not held out that year, San Diego may have never taken another look at Brees.

      Brees played well in 2004 and 2005, which is why he was able to stick around in San Diego as long as he did. But the Bolts faced a major decision at the end of the 2005 season about what to do with Brees and Rivers. Do they commit to Brees and trade Rivers? Do they let Brees walk in free agency and go with an unproven Rivers?

      That decision was essentially made for them when Brees suffered a shoulder injury in the last game of the ’05 season. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder and when he went back to the Chargers looking for a new deal, they offered him a five-year, $50 million contract that paid only $2 million in base salary the first year and the rest was heavily saturated in performance incentives.

      The Chargers essentially offered him a deal they knew he would reject, which he did before hitting the open market. The team he wanted to play for, the Dolphins, was interested but they used his shoulder injury as an excuse to pass on him and sign Daunte Culpepper instead. The only team that showed any true trust in him was the Saints, whom he eventually signed with in March of 2006.

      Fast-forward four years to Sunday night in Miami. After shaking off a jittery first quarter, Brees went on to complete 32-of-39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns in the Saints’ 31-17 win over the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. He earned the MVP trophy by outplaying Peyton Manning, which is no easy feat. Brees was absolutely brilliant, as the Saints relied on him and the passing game the entire night. They trusted him to win them their first ever Super Bowl, just as they trusted him in ’06 when they were the only team that was truly interested.

      But despite the fact that he’s now a Super Bowl and MVP winner, what makes Brees special is not his on-field heroics. He’s special because at no time did he ever complain about his situation or seek revenge on the Chargers and Dolphins for taking a pass. Instead, he took everything in stride, embraced the city of New Orleans and turned a bunch of negatives into one huge positive. Not everyone can do that and that is what makes Brees’ story so impressive.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

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