All Over the Ice

I am going to mention a number of different things that are on my mind...

1. The Giant QB....Troy Aikman, Phil Simms, Jim Kelly, Steve Young. All had great NFL careers. They all also had slow starts to their careers. In addition, I appreciate Jordans' comment to yesterdays entry. The aspect of #10's family is a very important aspect of this story though in my mind. He receive many advantages that he may not have otherwise early in his football career (high school, college). Now that he is in the pros though, there is a certain reluctance by many fans to root for him right away no matter his performance. Much of that has to do with the fact that he has never been the underdog and has never blazed his own trail. He followed his bro and father. This is something that I feel he has to overcome to win certain fans over. Not all fans, but a certain group.

2. Brett Favre....Following Bill Parcells leaving the Giants I was in a bad place. Between the years 1991 and 1999 the Giants had only two playoff appearances. During that time Brett Favre became the best and more popular player in the NFL. I loved everything about him. From his cannon arm, to his "I don't give a fuck" attitude to his success and joy in cold weather. I bought a green Favre jersey and I cheered for him and the Packers second only to my (pathetic) Giants. Now that his career is coming to an end, it is fair to say that he is a no doubt Hall of Famer. When you look at his numbers they are amazing. He has done it all from MVPs to Pro Bowls to Super Bowls. His ironman streak is legendary. What I honestly like about him most though is his outright imperfection. He has the most all time INTs. He is known as much for his highlight TDs as for his crazy INTs. While he won Super Bowl XXXI, he threw six picks in a 2001 playoff game against St. Louis. he is known for never missing a game, but also for overcoming a pain killer addiction. I hope he keeps on playing, because I think he is still a decent QB in this league. I still love watching him, and i honestly believe that no matter what records of his last or are broken there will never be anyone close to the QB he was. I am not saying he was the best, but he sure was one of a kind and a legend in his own time. If my Giant QB could be most like any QB in history I would want it to be Brett Favre.

3. Hall of Fames....both the MLB the NFL are at a crossroads in their voting. Baseball has a big problem assessing the steroid generation. The NFL has a major problem with the skewing of stats from more of a run oriented league to a pass oriented league. Over all though, these Halls of Fame are going to have to deal with the issue of over-crowding at some point as well. I fully support the Bill Simmons idea of having a tiered Hall of Fame system. Too many undeserving people are getting in. Within 20 years the Halls of Fame will be a joke, so I hope serious consideration of restructuring happens soon..

4. BCS....I hate it just like every else does. There are a couple important things to remember though. Money controls everything involved in it. There will not be a playoff system in place for at least five years. There will be a "Plus one" system in place if not next season, then the year after. The fact that the National Title game is a week later this year shows that the NCAA and the TV Network (FOX) is ready to schedule it that way. I do not know how to plan a true playoff system though. Remember that the NCAA does not want to go up against the NFL playoffs through out January. I would assume that it would have to be the last three weekends of December and within the first week and a half of January. Any ideas are welcome, but I feel that it is clear that some sort of playoff system is needed. The "Plus One" is a good start, but very flawed.

5. Chicken/Egg (winning/running the football)...What comes first, winning or running the football. Last week Tiki complained about the Giants giving up on the run. Often times though teams are able to run the football because they have leads. I understand teams need to not abandon the run, but don't they also need to be in position to run the ball effectively?

6. Crazy baseball teams....Its like watching a train wreck. Every few years a bunch of teams have money so they decide to overpay players. There is not one contract this off season that I would call a bargain. The closest are the contracts that only run one year (Alou, Wolf), but even those are for higher than expected annual salaries. After the 2000 season there were big contracts signed...(Manny, AROD, Mike Hampton, Denny Naegle, Mike Mussina). Only one of those players have lived up to that contract to the extent that their team never tried to trade them. Even that player (Mussina) is misleading because he signed with the Yankees who have way more money than any other franchise in the league, thus they are able to deal with overpaying players much easier. In any event though, within two years the Cubs, Dodgers, Angels, and probably a number of other teams will be looking to trade the wildly overpaid players they signed this off season.

When I am more focused I will examine one of these or other issues further.

Random question of the week...Dudes, would you rather have a male or female barber?

Link of the week that can help someone else.....thehungersite.com...Everytime you go to this site and click on the link on the site you provide help. You can do this once a day, everyday.

STKAFI