Why is everyone so down on Andy Reid??

7) I'll admit that I'm not privy to much info about Andy Reid as a Bengal fan, but I don't see why this guy gets made fun of so much. It seems like everyone is always ragging on him. Eagles fan, Simmons, general NFL fans. Everyone is knocking Andy Reid.

Check out the guy's record:

1999 - 5-11
2000 - 11-5 - NFC Divisional Round
2001 - 11-5 - Division Champs; NFC Championship Game
2002 - 12-4 - Division Champs; NFC Championship Game
2003 - 12-4 - Division Champs; NFC Championship Game
2004 - 13-3 - Division Champs; Super Bowl
2005 - 6-10
2006 - 10-6 - Division Champs; NFC Divisional Round
2007 - 8-8
2008 - 9-6-1 - NFC Championship Game

The guy is now in his 5th NFC Championship game in 10 years. That's a bad coach?? If Marvin Lewis was headed to his 5th AFC Championship game in the last 10 years, the Bengals would currently be playing on Marvin Lewis Field at Paul Brown Stadium and fans would be rubbing the gold statue of him that was built outside the stadium on their way into the game. I'm not even joking. Meanwhile, Andy Reid seems to be fighting to keep his job even though the guy has a great shot to get to his 2nd Super Bowl this year. The Eagles are probably the best NFC franchise of this decade. I don't care what his challenges are like. All the guy does is win. I'll worry about the challenges if the guy is going 6-10 every year, but I can live with it if he's going to the NFC Championship game.

Maybe Philly fans are looking for a change of scenery or something, but sometimes the grass isn't always greener when you start looking around. Andy Reid hasn't exactly been a slouch in Philly. I'm surprised at how much heat he gets. Every team is going to have a down year in the NFL from time to time with injuries and personnel losses, but Reid has won more often than not in Philly.

I've said this before about Andy Reid and I'll say it again. If Philly fans don't want him, I'll personally drive to Philly and escort him to Cincinnati. I'd be thrilled to have him even if he does look like Craig Stadler's long lost twin these days.

6) I don't know anything about Jim Caldwell, but I'm a little leery of this hire by the Colts. Is Jim Caldwell really the guy that you want for the last few great years that you might get out of Peyton Manning?? You have Peyton Manning in his prime!! That's a big time job that a good coach would want. Who knows how much longer Peyton Manning is going to be really good, but now you are rolling the dice with a guy who was a complete failure at Wake Forest and has never coached anywhere else. That just seems really risky.

And it’s not like Dungy was some risky hire. He was about the safest hire the Colts could have made when they hired him. Caldwell is not a Dungy redux by any stretch. We have no idea how this guy will pan out.

Wouldn't a guy like Shanahan love to take a job like that?? If they hired a big time coach, they could make a serious push in the next couple years to win Peyton another ring. Isn’t that the goal?? It just seems like Indy has gotten stagnant. If Caldwell doesn’t shake things up, you are wasting the last few good years where you can shoot for a ring.

I know the new trend in the NFL is for teams to hire no-names like John Harbaugh and Ken Whisenhunt, but I still think Indy probably would have been smart to go outside the family and try to re-energize that franchise.

5) No team owns a down year in the NFL like the Baltimore Ravens. It seems like they come out of nowhere whenever there is a year with extreme parity. If New England and Indy and some of the other big names aren’t a factor, the Ravens seems to pop back up. They can win games with defense and special teams and toughness when there are no great offenses out there.

It’s amazing how limited the Ravens’ game plan was on Saturday, but yet they somehow won that game. Somewhere Jim Tressel was smiling about that game plan. Run the ball up the middle twice, deep out on 3rd down, and punt. Keep it close, make some plays with your defense, and then put together one half-decent drive in the fourth quarter to win it. And Tennessee got lulled into the trap. The Ravens probably could have gotten away with punting on 3rd down at times in the third quarter.

I’m a big fan of John Harbaugh. He seems like a really good coach. He’s already one of the better clock management/timeout/challenge coaches in the league. If you can motivate, game plan, make adjustments at the half, and manage the game on the sideline, you’re already in my top 10 coaches on that alone. There are so many coaches who can only do 1 or 2 of those things (see Lewis, Marvin) or even none (see Crennel, Romeo).

If the Ravens win the Super Bowl this year, what will their legacy be?? They’d have 2 Super Bowl titles in the 00s, but I’ve never felt like the Ravens were the premier franchise in the league at any time. History would probably treat them better than they deserve because we’d look back and see 2 rings and assume they were an all-time great team. Don’t get me wrong, the Ravens are a great franchise that just hums along, but I’ve never thought about them in the same breath as the Colts or the Pats or even the Steelers.

4) Where did all these Asian guys come from?? It seems like every team these days is trotting out some dude from Thailand or Vietnam or some other Asian guy who can run and play. It definitely seems like a trend in football that more and more guys are coming out of Samoa and Phillipines and some of those random Asian countries. I swear, ND should be recruiting five Asians and Samoans a year.

3) In the last four years of the NFL Divisional Round, the home team with the bye is 7-9. Road teams went 3-1 this year. It's almost gotten to the point where you are better off NOT having a bye in the playoffs. It totally kills your momentum, and the other team can get into a rhythm with their first round game. If Arizona had gone into Carolina without that game against Atlanta, they probably would have gotten smoked. But they found something that clicked in the first round, and suddenly they got hot. Same thing for Philly to some degree.

I think Tennessee was up for that game against Baltimore, but Baltimore was maybe a little more “playoff ready” after that game against Miami. They had already been through a war. Not sure if Tennessee was prepared for that type of game against the Ravens.

I still can’t get over that Tennessee-Baltimore game on Saturday. That was the game of the weekend if you ask me. When Ray Lewis practically decapitated Ahmad Black on the sideline, I about lost my mind. What a hit. Dan Dierdorf’s reaction is phenomenal. “WHAT A SHOT!” Diabolical! That was the moment when that game went to another level, and Dierdorf is just excited to be a part of it. Ray Lewis brought everything he had, and Black just bounced up. Great stuff.



2) Even though I’ve been rooting for a team that plays in the same division as them for 20 years, I will never understand how the Steelers do it. The “magic” of the Steelers remains a mystery. Look at this defense:

DE - Aaron Smith - Northern Colorado - 4th round
NT - Casey Hampton - Texas - 1st round
DE - Brett Keisel - BYU - 7th round
LB - Lamarr Woodley - Michigan - 2nd round
LB - Larry Foote - Michigan - 4th round
LB - James Harrison - Kent State - Undrafted
LB - James Farrior - Virginia - 1st round (Jets)

CB - DeShea Townsend - Alabama - 4th round
CB - Ike Taylor - Louisiana-Lafayette - 4th round
S - Troy Polamalu - USC - 1st round
S - Ryan Clark - LSU - Undrafted

That’s the best defense in the league?? How do they do it?! Their best player this year and the Defensive Player of the Year, James Harrison, was not even drafted!! He was a linebacker at Kent State who was cut twice, and now he’s an All-Pro. Check out that d-line. Casey Hampton is an elite player, but the other two guys are filler-types. The Steelers disprove everything I’ve come to believe about football that you need elite players on the d-line to be successful. They just turn over the roster year after year after year, and nothing changes. Their defense is great every year, and playing linebacker for the Steelers is practically a guarantee that you will be a Pro Bowler someday.

The only bonafide “studs” that they drafted on that defense are Polamalu and Hampton. Everyone else is either a mid-round guy, a signing, or a complete no-name. It’s amazing. And they are like that every year.

The Steelers really aren’t even that great with their drafts every single year, but it doesn’t even matter. Mendenhall was hurt, Limas Sweed looks like a possible bust, their first rounder last year Lawrence Timmons has done nothing. There are a ton of “misses” in their draft history if you go back and look at it.

Doesn’t matter. They just find these unheralded guys and plug them in there under LeBeau. The only real big time 1st round guys the Steelers have on their roster are Roethlisberger (I refuse to call him “Ben”), Polamalu, Hampton, and Santonio. That’s basically it.

I don’t know how they do it. Steelers football…toughness, attacking defense, and physical play. The formula never changes. It has to be the system or whatever, but you still need players too. They never seem to be in any type of rebuilding mode even though their roster is always changing.

Very frustrating stuff for a Bengals fan. If you want to be relevant in the AFC North, you have two great franchises that you have to beat every year. There are very few down years for either the Steelers or the Ravens.

1) Hopefully Charlie Weis watched these games this weekend and realized that physical football wins, especially on defense. Then again, Weis probably saw the Zona game, fell in love with all the ways they were flinging it around, and immediately drew up three new jump ball fades to Golden Tate.

By the way, if Weis wins 9-10 games next year, could he put himself back into the mix for NFL jobs?? Couldn't he make a "hey, I've proven that I can win with experienced players" argument to an NFL team that is looking for an offensive guru?? Just a thought. I doubt it would ever happen, but you never know.

1) Big game for the Irish tonight in Louisville. I would love to see us win at least one out of the next two at Louisville or at Syracuse. Tonight would be HUGE because we have generally played really well at Syracuse against their zone.

Should be an interesting game. If we are fired up and come out shooting well, we have a great shot. Louisville has been playing better, but they are still really up and down.

Bill Parcells

As great as he was a head coach, is it possible that the lasting legacy of Bill Parcells in the NFL is that he’s the greatest GM/personnel director/franchise builder of all-time?? The man has taken over five NFL franchises in his career (Giants, Pats, Jets, Cowboys, and Dolphins) and has turned all of them into winners. Five for five. That’s almost 1/6 of the league. Miami was 0-13 at this time a year ago. Now they are sitting at 8-5.

Hiring Bill Parcells to run your NFL team is just about the safest bet in sports. If you hire Bill Parcells, he is going to come in, evaluate your personnel, identify your needs, bring in players who fit those needs and his vision for a successful team, and then hire a top notch staff to coach them (including himself in the past). I had never even heard of Tony Sparano until he got hired by the Dolphins, and now he’s leading an 8-5 team that was the worst team in the NFL a year ago. Give Parcells a year or two, and he will have you in the playoffs.

One thing that Bill Parcells has always understood that his protégé, Charlie Weis, has never seem to figure out is that everything starts up front in the NFL. Parcells has always been a proponent of big, physical offensive and defensive lines, and that’s where he usually starts with his franchises. If you watched Tony Romo last year, he was never touched when he’d go back to pass. He can thank Parcells for that line. He immediately went to work doing the same thing in Miami with the Jake Long pick (who is looking like a future Pro Bowler). Maybe Charlie Weis will learn this lessons in the offseason.

Crazy thought, after Parcells retires from Miami, maybe the Irish could bring him to South Bend as the “football AD.” Not the business side guy or anything like that, but a GM for football who can come in, identify problems, and make the right hires to get the program back to a championship level. Not sure how much that would cost us or if he’d even be remotely interested, but maybe he’d like to try to rebuild a college franchise one time after all these stints in the NFL.

Brady Strikes Back

Can I take back what I said about Derek Anderson in my last post about the Browns?? He looked awful last night, and resembled the Derek Anderson who looked really shaky down the stretch last season. Throwing behind receivers, melting down under pressure, no confidence, and bad body language. Now, he's got a concussion and a bruised hand. Spark up that QB controversy!! In contrast, Brady Quinn looked better last night than he did in the opener. He was getting the ball down the field a lot more frequently, making good decisions, and he had some nice escapes under pressure.

Derek Anderson is starting to emerge as a big time Jekyll & Hyde type QB. He looks good in certain situations, but also looks awful whenever he's not in his comfort zone. Unless he's in a groove or an ideal situation (at home, ball in opposing territory), he has issues. I watched most of his games last year, and he only seemed to lead the Browns to scoring drives when they had the ball in great field position. If you put him in a pressure situation or a tough road environment, he collapsed. Last night, Anderson was up against it in a hostile environment, and he completely fell apart. Not a good sign. His performance against the Jets in the preseason opener was an indication that he might have turned the corner, but yesterday confirms that Anderson is probably still the same streaky player that he was last year.

Just checking the Cleveland Plain Dealer website, the comments on the Browns game last night seem to indicate that the fans are ready to see what Brady Quinn can do in these next two preseason games. I agree. I think Brady should get an opportunity to start the game on Saturday in Detroit and play with the starting o-line and skill guys. It's tough to tell how well he is playing when he is going against 2nd and 3rd teamers, so why not give him a shot at starting while Anderson recuperates from the concussion?? Give Brady a chance to play behind Joe Thomas and Steinbach and throw to guys like Stallworth and The Soldier and Braylon (if healthy). If he goes up to Detroit and performs well, I think the fans are going to start calling for Brady to get another start in the final game against the Bears.

The Browns have all the weapons to be a great offensive team, but they need to get consistent play at the QB position. I think the jury is out on whether Anderson can be that guy. You can win games with Derek Anderson, but I wouldn't trust him in a big game or in a tough pressure situation. The Browns drafted Brady Quinn for a reason. He was supposed to be the franchise guy, and I still don't think that has changed. Anderson could be a very good backup QB, but I don't see him as a legitimate franchise QB. Considering that the Browns maybe could have received a 1st round pick for him in the offseason, there might be some serious regrets in the front office if Anderson turns out to be a bust.

As Cosmo Kramer would say, "Poise counts!!" Anderson struggles in the pocket under pressure and Brady Quinn doesn't. Anyone who watched Brady Quinn in college remembers a guy who always had a knack for avoiding pressure or staying in the pocket and making a tough throw under pressure. Pocket awareness is a gift. You can either do it or you can't. It's not something you can work on. Brady has it.

The question is whether Romeo Crennel has the guts to pull the trigger if it becomes clear that Anderson is not the answer and Brady is. Romeo has been really loyal to Anderson so far, so I feel like he will probably let Anderson completely tank before making any type of change. Perhaps Romeo should think to his New England days about another young QB who was clearly better than a veteran guy ahead of him on the depth chart.

Who Dey (I guess)

Well, tonight kicks off another exciting season of Bengals football with the preseason debut live on ESPN from Lambeau Field against the Packers. While most of America will be watching intently to see how Aaron Rodgers looks under center, Bengal Nation will be looking for some signs of life out of the orange and black stripes.

It would be easy for me to proclaim that the 2008 season (there will certainly not be an -09 element to that 2008 for this team) is probably the least excited I've been about a Bengals season in my lifetime (and that would include the depths of the Jeff Blake-Carl Pickens-Darnay Scott eras when 5 wins was a gift), but screw it. I'm taking on a new attitude this year with the Bengals. I don't care if we go 4-12 this year. I'm just going to enjoy this year, watch the Bengals do Bengal-like things all year, and just enjoy watching the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. I might buy the Mel Kiper Jr. Draft Guide in the next couple weeks so that I'll have the whole college football season to scout players for the upcoming top 8 pick that I expect to see out of the Bengals this year. Looking forward to it.

Totally new attitude for me this year. Just happy to have an NFL franchise in Cincinnati. That is what ownership wants out of me as a fan anyway. I should be thankful that we just have a team, and asking for wins is being "greedy." I don't care if we give up 30 points a game with no pass rush, don't care if our o-line has no push again this year, don't care if Chad flakes out on every pass over the middle or runs the wrong route and then curses out Carson Palmer, don't care if Marvin has four awful challenges by the end of week two (I dare anyone to find a worse challenge coach in the NFL than Marvin), don't care if we come out every second half with ZERO adjustments, don't care if we run the most predictable offense in the NFL, don't care if Marvin has the frumpy "I have no idea how to fix the problem but I'm going to frown like I'm really disappointed in my team" look going after another defensive meltdown, don't care if the Bengal players are openly questioning their coach in a mic-ed up segment, and I don't care that the Bengals have the smallest scouting department in the NFL and no GM.

Just give me 16 games of lousy football, and that's all I can ask for.

For what it's worth, I'm not even remotely embarrassed to admit that I sort of embraced the Browns last year and found myself flipping over to watch them quite a bit (even when the Bengals were playing). They are a fun team to watch, and I got a little caught up in the excitement of their games. When the Bengals neglect their fanbase for 18 years (and counting), I'm not going to apologize for flirting with some other teams.

The Browns opened their preseason last week against the Jets, and they looked really impressive before the rain delay. Mark it down right now. The biggest steal of the offseason (assuming that he stays healthy) might be Donte Stallworth. I kind of forgot that the Browns signed him, and he looked spectacular for them. He's a perfect fit for what they are trying to do. Get him the ball underneath and open up things out on the perimeter and down the field for Braylon Edwards. And that's before you start talking about The Soldier (who is the best tight end in the NFL if you ask me). The Browns have a really good offensive line with Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach, and they suddenly have a load of weapons.

As far as the quarterback position is concerned, I think I might have been wrong on Derek Anderson. My assumption all offseason (which I have been saying to every Browns fan I know) was that the book would get written on Derek Anderson during offseason film study, and that he would revert back to a stiff and a turnover machine this year. I figured that Brady Quinn would be taking this team over by about week 6. After watching Anderson in the preseason game (and reading a little more about the preseason reports), I'm suddenly not so sure about that prediction. Anderson looked really good against the Jets, and he appears to have a little more feel for the short passing game than he did last year. I have to say that I was really impressed with him. He looked like he just took the reins of the QB job and isn't looking back.

As for Brady Quinn, I hate to say it since I love Brady Quinn and hope the best for him, but I'm not sure anymore that he is a better player than Anderson. I thought Brady looked really good last year in the preseason, but he doesn't look he's that much better this year (whereas Anderson appears to have gotten better). Brady is a great athlete and very intelligent, but he still doesn't have great touch down the field, and he had a really shaky interception where he tried to gun a ball at a receiver coming over the middle. Brady recovered from the pick and didn't look bad the rest of the way, but Anderson actually looked better. It probably helps that Anderson is playing with all those star skill players, so it would be interesting to see Brady get a quarter with the #1 guys. Guess we'll just have to see how the QB race plays out over the rest of the preseason and heading into the regular season, but I think that Anderson looks like the better player at this point. Brady has three more games to make a statement, so hopefully he plays well.

Should be an interesting race in the AFC North this year. The Steelers are still the favorite, and I would be crazy to pick anyone else in the division until someone unseats them. I do think that the Browns have closed the gap though. Their offensive line is really really good, and they appear to have all the skill position pieces in place. It will come down to how the Browns perform defensively. The NFL is all about line play these days. If you can't dominate up front one the offensive and defensive lines, you aren't going to be a great team. The Steelers have been dominating the other AFC North teams up front for almost 20 years now, so the Browns are going to have to get much more production out of their new d-line pickups. If they can find a way to beat the Steelers in the head to head matchups, the division is there for the taking.

I actually think this is an important year for the Steelers and especially Mike Tomlin. They looked like a typical Steelers team last year, but maybe not quite as nasty as they looked during the Cowher era. The Steelers still have the mystique, so I don't expect anything to come easy against them this year. I will be curious to see what their offensive line looks like without Alan Faneca.

Don't really know what the Ravens have looked like this offseason, but I don't see them making any noise in the AFC North until they have their QB situation straightened out.

Should be another entertaining year in the AFC North. With the brutal schedules that all the AFC North teams have to play (AFC South and NFC East for their divisional draws), I expect the division winner to be around 9-7 at best.

Favre and the Gang Green

As the resident Jets fan of We Is ND, I suppose it falls on me to comment on the recent goings-on regarding the former King of the Cheeseheads. First and foremost, thank the Lord that our long national nightmare is over - no more breathless reports about Brett and his family, no more crap about the ongoing soap opera between Favre and the front office in Green Bay, and no more awkward interviews with Aaron Rodgers about the future of the Pack. Speaking as someone who considers himself only moderately interested in the NFL, the coverage this story had been getting was bordering on the ridiculous. The Jets should receive some sort of compensatory draft pick for putting us all out of our collective misery.

As far as the trade itself goes, the most important issue (as a Jets fan) is whether the draft has a positive effect on the Gang Green, both in the short term and the long term.

THE LONG TERM

1. As was widely reported, the draft pick going back to Green Bay is conditional, and based on Favre's performance, along with the team's final standing. ESPN showed a graphic today listing the Jets' 4th round picks in the last 5 years. I was surprised to see that almost every player represented on that list could be considered a serious contributor - Kerry Rhodes is a Pro Bowler and the team's best defensive player, Jerricho Cotchery is on the verge of taking over the #1 WR role, and Leon Washington is one of the best special teams players in the league and a great 3rd down/change of pace back. Even if the Jets miss the playoffs, and that pick remains in the 4th round, that's quite a price to pay down the road. The Jets do have several picks in the 4th round based upon this season's offseason moves which lessens the sting a bit.

2. The Jets have widely reported that Kellen Clemens is the QB of the future and the face of the franchise going forward. While I have a built-in wariness of Oregon QB's in general (here's looking at you Akili and Joey), the move to get Favre certainly does nothing to help Clemens' development or confidence. Of course he'll probably say all the right things about learning from a Hall of Famer, but up until about 2 weeks ago, he was a lock to be competing for the starting job out of camp, and would likely be playing, and playing quite a bit, this year. What does it say about Clemens that the front office is so willing to kick him aside? And perhaps more importantly, what does it say about the front office that they're so quick to jerk him around without a second thought?

THE SHORT TERM

1. Obviously the main motivating factor behind this move is the desire to win now. While the Jets did make a bevy of moves this offseason to address some of their largest deficiencies, the bottom line is that they can't win the division. Nobody is beating New England in the AFC East, and even Buffalo is starting to show some signs of friskiness. Already, off the bat, their best opportunity to get into the playoffs is through the Wild Card. Barring a smattering of injuries, one has to think that both Indy and Jacksonville will be playoff teams again, with one of those teams taking the 1st Wild Card. That leaves exactly one playoff slot open for the rest of the AFC. While no one else in the AFC looks particularly frightening, teams like Denver, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland and others look just as good, if not better, on paper than the Jets. Can't say I like those odds too much.

2. Perhaps more importantly, the talking heads seem to be forgetting that Favre is only one year removed from a run of very poor seasons. Until last year, he was on a very clear decline, both in his athletic skills and his decision-making. Plus, now he's forced to learn a whole new offense, with all new personnel, and sit through the tedious meetings and film sessions he seems to hate so much. Is he really going to put forth the effort required to get up to speed? Does he really have that much left in the tank? Color me extremely skeptical.

In the end, I just don't see how the move gets the Jets into the playoffs. Perhaps it gives them a better shot this year, but is it worth it in the long run? I don't think so.

But I must admit - I'll be tuning in to watch Fireman Ed and the boys cheer on the Gang Green a little more often than I did last year. I guess that counts for something.

Rumblings and Grumblings

Since there's a lot going on in the sports world lately, let's run through a list of things of my mind. With apologies in advance to Jayson Stark, here we go.

- Has anyone at ESPN ever considered the possibility that the Packers genuinely think that Aaron Rodgers is better than Brett Favre?? Why does no one bring up that possibility?? Everyone talks about grudges and all this other stuff, but no one mentions football. Every analyst I've heard starts their discussion on Brett Favre by assuming that the Packers have a better chance to win with Favre at the helm than with Aaron Rodgers.

Do we know that to be true?? Isn't this the same Brett Favre who completely stunk for about 3-4 years prior to last year?? Isn't it entirely possible that the Packers think last year was a fluke and don't want to trot him out there again with their Super Bowl-caliber team?? Favre was AWFUL in the NFC Championship game, and it's not like he's getting any younger. In 2006, he had the lowest completion percentage of his career and threw 18 picks. In 2005, Favre threw 29 picks. 29!!

People are acting like the Packers are trying to trade Brett Favre in his prime or something. The guy is 38 years old and looked like he was mentally done after that NFC Championship game.

Look, I don't discount the fact that the Packers were tired of Favre's retirement/unretirement act and wanted to move on from all that, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they just think Rodgers has a better chance to lead this team back to the playoffs. They've watched Rodgers in practice for the last few years, and maybe they think he's ready to be the man.

Anyway, sorry to bring up Favre right out of the chute because I am as tired of hearing about it as anyone, but I felt like no one has addressed the possibility that the Packers made this move from a competitive standpoint.

- This article about Lebron James possibly leaving for Europe to play for $50 million a year really doesn't reflect all that well on LBJ if you ask me. If he actually left the NBA to play in some garbage Euro league just so he could market himself better and promote his image as a "global icon," then he officially would cease to be a relevant figure in American sport. He would be the David Beckham of basketball. In other words, a complete sham.

Europe?? Seriously, Lebron?? You're actually listening to Russian league offers just to promote your "brand"?? Are you a basketball player or a billboard?? I hope to god that he is not actually considering the idea of playing in Europe.

I get that Lebron wants to make money (everyone does), but I am surprised that he would value the dollars over things like....ummm...perhaps winning an NBA Championship?? An MVP award?? Becoming an all-time great?? If Lebron wants to truly be a "global icon," he could start by winning an NBA championship. He can make plenty of money in the NBA.

As far as Lebron's future with the Cavs, could the Cavs possibly have done less this offseason?? They've literally done nothing other than resigning Daniel Gibson. Ouch. Danny Ferry, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know what that guy has to do to lose his job. If Lebron wasn't on that team, they'd be one of the 2-3 worst teams in the NBA.

- Put me down as someone who likes the NFL's new policy on stadium conduct. Maybe I sound like a prude, but the fan behavior in NFL stadiums has really taken a bad turn in the last 5-10 years. I went to just about every Bengal home game in the 90s (yes, it was depressing), and it was generally pretty family friendly and a nice Sunday afternoon type of crowd. In many ways, it was similar to what you would see at most college stadiums today (families, professional people, very little fighting or trash talk other than maybe for a Steelers game). There was usually some light tailgating around the stadium, but it was fairly low key and mostly friendly. Even if you went down to the game with some buddies, you were really going for the game itself. Maybe you have a couple beers, but nothing too crazy on a Sunday.

Fast forward to my recent trips to Bengal games, and it is like a whole different experience. Constant fights breaking out, all kinds of trash talking and obscene language, people who are passed out at the games and getting hauled off to a drunk tank, and even crazy drunken women getting into it. NFL games have turned into a white trash family reunion. I've only seen it in Cincinnati, but it's been happening at stadiums around the country. The NFL has morphed into a very "adult" league when you see it live almost to the point where it would be really uncomfortable to bring your family to a game. NFL fans have gotten out of hand, and I think it was hurting the live experience at NFL games.

Again, we're talking about a Sunday afternoon. A Sunday! Nothing wrong with going out and partying it up on a Friday or a Saturday, but is it really necessary to get completely bombed out of your mind at 10 am on a Sunday, get into a fight with some opposing fan you don't even know, and get arrested?? Do these people have jobs?? How do they function on Monday morning at work when they are being hauled off to a drunk tank on Sunday evening??

I like Goodell's new policy, and I think it was needed. Goodell is a very bold commish, but he really seems to have a good feel for changes that are needed. I like what he did with the draft to cut down on pick times (although I'd rather go back to a noon start), and I like the player conduct rules. He must have been getting reports from around the league about bad fan behavior, and decided it was time to take a corrective action. I think it's a great move.

- Moving on to the Olympics, it is very cool to see that former "Lost Boy of Sudan" Lopez Lomong is going to be carrying the US flag at the Opening Ceremonies. If you haven't heard his story and subscribe to HBO, I would recommend the Real Sports segment that was done on him. It is great stuff, and he is an easy person to root for.

- As far as the Olympic hoops are concerned, (taking off my American flag lapel pin for a minute), here is the team I'd love to see in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

PG - Ty Lawson
SG - Wayne Ellington
SF - Jerel McNeal
PF - Tyler Hansborough
C - Hasheem Thabeet

Bench - Sam Young, Sherron Collins, Darren Collison, Scottie Reynolds,
Gerald Henderson, Luke Harangody, Earl Clark, AJ Abrams, Tyler Smith

Give me the amateurs, and I would happily cheer them on to a bronze medal. Never been a fan of the "pros in the Olympics" thing. They talk the talk about being excited, but it has always felt contrived to me. The college guys would be legitimately fired up and play their hearts out for the name on the front of the jersey. And if you wanted to add some spice to it, then include the draft eligible guys and insert Rose, Beasley, Mayo, etc in there.

Until then, my support for US basketball is pretty tepid at best, and I'm not going to lie that I will probably hop on the bandwagon of some random Euro or South American team. I think the US team is focused this year and likely to dominate with their renewed commitment to Olympic basketball under Coach K, but it still feels like an excuse to market NBA players in a corporate setting if you ask me. And the same thing applies for me when it comes to that half-baked golf match they put on every other September (if I have to root for someone, I'm pulling for Lee Westwood to carry "us" to another title at Valhalla).

- Just go ahead and put some no-name down on the Wannamaker Trophy right now for this week's PGA Champion. This tournament has a Rich Beem/Shaun Micheel type winner written all over it. Either that or a Euro who plays this course like it's Carnoustie. It sounds like "The Monster" at Oakland Hills is going to be impossible with the 238 yard par 3 17th hole and 498 yard par 4 18th hole to finish things up. Considering that the last major championship winner at Oakland Hills was Steve Jones at the 1996 US Open, I don't have my hopes up for a great champion coming out of this tournament. Anthony Kim fans, there's always next year.

- Finally, let's end with a great article from Monday's Indianpolis Star about the rise of high school football in the state of Indiana. Very interesting stuff about how popular high school football has become in this hoops crazy state in the post-Peyton Manning era. I hope it's true because it would be good for ND, IU, and Purdue football (I suppose we need Purdue to be good so that our schedules look better in future years).

What do you think Indiana natives?? Is the Hoosier State becoming a football state?? It would seem hard to believe.