CHAN GAILEY TO BILLS, A NEW HALL OF FAME, A SAINT IS A SAINT & GREENBERG'S GAFF
Chan Gailey was very unceremoniously dumped by Kansas City Chiefs' head coach Todd Haley just before last season began. Gailey was a class act, keeping his mouth shut, when he could have easily trashed the brash decision by Haley. Well Gailey comes out in better shape money-wise. He was introduced as the new head coach in Buffalo this afternoon. Gailey has a tough, uphill task to rebuild the Bills & make them competitive within the AFC East, a division with 2 playoff teams & a Miami squad that was in the playoff hunt until the last few weeks, finishing 7-9. I think Gailey's first order of business is going to be contract decisions on Terrell Owens & Marshawn Lynch. Both were a disappointment last season & both are not signed for the 2010 season. Since Gailey has always been an offensive coach, I don't see him taking very long to decide the pair's fate in Buffalo. The offensive line needs an influx of new talent & the defense lacks a consistent pass rush. There are some excellent components in place with the Bills, but several really poor personnel decisions have hamstrung the Bills on both sides of the ball.
Another coaching move that many didn't see coming was Mike Nolan's departure from Denver. He was hired as their defensive coordinator & no one could question the dramatic improvement of the Broncos' defense. He was tasked with switching over to a 3-4 scheme, get the right players in place & make it work, which until the last few games, it was pretty remarkable how well Nolan had managed the transformation. The semi-collapse in the last 4 games, losses to Indy, Oakland, Philly & Kansas City, was as much an offensive issue as Nolan's fault. Plus teams discovered ways to attack Nolan's patchwork defense & exploit the spots not manned by top defensive talent. No reason was given for his departure, but he will be employed again almost immediately. The Miami Dolphins are expected to sign Nolan & he'll have a far better starting cast to work with than he had in Denver.
There's a new Hall of Fame dedicated to players from black colleges. I was surprised to find out there had never been one. Since integration didn't begin until the mid-50's in college football, only the predominately black schools gave African-American football players a place to play. Black colleges continued to be a major source of talent clear into the 1980's. The NFL seldom drafted players from black schools, there were a few notables that surprisingly didn't make the Black College Hall of Fame's inaugural class, like Willie Davis(NFL Hall of Fame) & Steve McNair(held the NCAA record for total offense for several years). The first group to be inducted is loaded with some true superstars. Grambling coach Eddie Robinson certainly deserves to be in the first Hall of Fame class, he of 408 wins at Grambling. Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan, Deacon Jones, Willie Lanier, Willie Gallimore & Jerry Rice join Robinson in the first to be enshrined in the new Hall of Fame. All deserving this honor without question, congratulations to them all!
The late Hank Stram, himself an NFL Hall of Famer, is recognized as the first coach to scout, draft & sign a lot of players from black colleges. There's no questioning that fact, it's a part of his Hall of Fame display. All one has to do is examine the Chief's roster from the 1960's when they won 3 AFL Championships, played in the first Super Bowl & won Super Bowl IV. Buchanan(Grambling), Lanier(Morgan State), Otis Taylor(Prairie View), Emmitt Thomas(Bishop), Frank Pitts(Southern), Wendell Hayes(Humboldt), Robert Holmes(Southern), James Marsalis(Tennessee State), Willie Mitchell(Tenn. St.), Mack Lee Hill(Southern) & Gloster Richardson(Jackson State). Stram was way ahead of the NFL in this regard & in preseason & inter-league play, it showed.
Heath Evans, Saints fullback, is truly a Saint. His foundation is raffling off the following package:
(2) 40-yardline club level tickets for the NFC Championship game
$1,000 cash toward travel/meals/lodging expenses
VIP parking pass
A 'meet & greet' with Evans after the game, regardless of the outcome
$756.25 to cover the federal taxes on the prize package
That's a complete deal isn't it? Every dime raised from the sale of raffle tickets will go toward helping children & families affected by sexual abuse. God Bless Evans, the Saint who is truly a Saint.
I've watched ESPN2's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" for many years. Way back before they were on TV, I'd listen to them on the radio as I drove home from my swing shift at Bellagio, they came on the air at 3AM Pacific time. I've always enjoyed the banter between 'Greeny & Golic' plus they have a roster of regularly scheduled guests during football season that offer a lot of great analysis. Beginning yesterday, their TV slot was preempted by live Australian Open coverage, they were joined in progress after the day's final match. For that reason, I haven't been watching as much as usual. So yesterday, I missed about 20-30 minutes of the show, so I had to go to YouTube to view the clip that is causing an uproar. Coming out of a commercial break, Mike Greenberg said "Welcome back to Mike & Mike in the morning here on a Martin Luther coon, uh King Day Monday." Unfortunately, he did say it & just as unfortunately a decision was made to offer an apology late yesterday. If the people at ESPN thought Greenberg's gaff was worthy of an apology, why was it not done in the show's next segment? Why did it take until late yesterday? I don't believe Greenberg has a racist bone in his body & let's hope this doesn't get blown way out of per portion. I remember a weatherman in Las Vegas said exactly the same thing & was fired even after an apology. I believe he stumbled on his words, I believe his apology, Harry Reid got a pass right?
Another coaching move that many didn't see coming was Mike Nolan's departure from Denver. He was hired as their defensive coordinator & no one could question the dramatic improvement of the Broncos' defense. He was tasked with switching over to a 3-4 scheme, get the right players in place & make it work, which until the last few games, it was pretty remarkable how well Nolan had managed the transformation. The semi-collapse in the last 4 games, losses to Indy, Oakland, Philly & Kansas City, was as much an offensive issue as Nolan's fault. Plus teams discovered ways to attack Nolan's patchwork defense & exploit the spots not manned by top defensive talent. No reason was given for his departure, but he will be employed again almost immediately. The Miami Dolphins are expected to sign Nolan & he'll have a far better starting cast to work with than he had in Denver.
There's a new Hall of Fame dedicated to players from black colleges. I was surprised to find out there had never been one. Since integration didn't begin until the mid-50's in college football, only the predominately black schools gave African-American football players a place to play. Black colleges continued to be a major source of talent clear into the 1980's. The NFL seldom drafted players from black schools, there were a few notables that surprisingly didn't make the Black College Hall of Fame's inaugural class, like Willie Davis(NFL Hall of Fame) & Steve McNair(held the NCAA record for total offense for several years). The first group to be inducted is loaded with some true superstars. Grambling coach Eddie Robinson certainly deserves to be in the first Hall of Fame class, he of 408 wins at Grambling. Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan, Deacon Jones, Willie Lanier, Willie Gallimore & Jerry Rice join Robinson in the first to be enshrined in the new Hall of Fame. All deserving this honor without question, congratulations to them all!
The late Hank Stram, himself an NFL Hall of Famer, is recognized as the first coach to scout, draft & sign a lot of players from black colleges. There's no questioning that fact, it's a part of his Hall of Fame display. All one has to do is examine the Chief's roster from the 1960's when they won 3 AFL Championships, played in the first Super Bowl & won Super Bowl IV. Buchanan(Grambling), Lanier(Morgan State), Otis Taylor(Prairie View), Emmitt Thomas(Bishop), Frank Pitts(Southern), Wendell Hayes(Humboldt), Robert Holmes(Southern), James Marsalis(Tennessee State), Willie Mitchell(Tenn. St.), Mack Lee Hill(Southern) & Gloster Richardson(Jackson State). Stram was way ahead of the NFL in this regard & in preseason & inter-league play, it showed.
Heath Evans, Saints fullback, is truly a Saint. His foundation is raffling off the following package:
(2) 40-yardline club level tickets for the NFC Championship game
$1,000 cash toward travel/meals/lodging expenses
VIP parking pass
A 'meet & greet' with Evans after the game, regardless of the outcome
$756.25 to cover the federal taxes on the prize package
That's a complete deal isn't it? Every dime raised from the sale of raffle tickets will go toward helping children & families affected by sexual abuse. God Bless Evans, the Saint who is truly a Saint.
I've watched ESPN2's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" for many years. Way back before they were on TV, I'd listen to them on the radio as I drove home from my swing shift at Bellagio, they came on the air at 3AM Pacific time. I've always enjoyed the banter between 'Greeny & Golic' plus they have a roster of regularly scheduled guests during football season that offer a lot of great analysis. Beginning yesterday, their TV slot was preempted by live Australian Open coverage, they were joined in progress after the day's final match. For that reason, I haven't been watching as much as usual. So yesterday, I missed about 20-30 minutes of the show, so I had to go to YouTube to view the clip that is causing an uproar. Coming out of a commercial break, Mike Greenberg said "Welcome back to Mike & Mike in the morning here on a Martin Luther coon, uh King Day Monday." Unfortunately, he did say it & just as unfortunately a decision was made to offer an apology late yesterday. If the people at ESPN thought Greenberg's gaff was worthy of an apology, why was it not done in the show's next segment? Why did it take until late yesterday? I don't believe Greenberg has a racist bone in his body & let's hope this doesn't get blown way out of per portion. I remember a weatherman in Las Vegas said exactly the same thing & was fired even after an apology. I believe he stumbled on his words, I believe his apology, Harry Reid got a pass right?
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