GILL DISMISSES A STARTER, JERRY RICE CALLS IT QUITS & WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE CHIEFS
Turner Gill, head coach for the Kansas Jayhawks, said on Friday he had dismissed starting defensive tackle Jamal Greene after he was arrested early Friday morning. He was charged by police with armed robbery after he & former teammate Vernon Brooks allegedly committed a home invasion on an apartment, forcing the occupants to lie on the floor at gunpoint. Brooks had been booted from the Jayhawk program earlier in the spring for the proverbial "violation of team rules."
I won't be surprised if the Mountain West Conference extends an invitation to Boise State to become their 10th member. The MWC doesn't have an automatic bid in the Bowl Championship Series, but with the recent success of TCU, Utah & BYU, adding Boise might push them over the top. It would certainly add to the conference's overall non-con winning percentage. The Broncos are pretty screwed in the WAC if they don't get to a BCS game, because the conference doesn't have any rock solid commitments from bowl committees with the exception of Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, which is played in Boise anyway.They probably wouldn't join until 2012 at the earliest. The Western Athletic Conference would be crippled if they were to lose Boise State, they bring so much revenue for the rest of the league. Other than Fresno State & Hawaii, the conference doesn't have too many desirable programs for the bowl committees. Boise has already scheduled games with BYU & Utah beginning in 2011. The Mountain West has had an outstanding non-conference the last two seasons & adding Boise State would enhance that record no doubt.
The best receiver & possibly the best player in NFL history, Jerry Rice, has hung up his spikes. His golf spikes that is. Rice had been working very diligently towards a second career on the Nationwide Senior Golf Tour. He shot an opening round 92 on Thursday & followed that up with an 82 yesterday, 30 over par. But at the end of yesterday's round Rice was informed he was disqualified. Finishing dead last at 168th after 2 rounds wasn't embarrassing enough, he was disqualified for his caddy using a digital rangefinder during the round. Rice was humiliated, saying "it was a total rookie mistake, I've really embarrassed my self here the last few days. I think my time on the pro tour is over right now." Probably a good decision for a guy who always competed at the top of his profession, 30 over par isn't competing, it's just embarrassing.
Is HDTV hurting season ticket sales for NFL teams? I think it could be when you take into account the down economy & the DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket package. I mentioned the other day the New York Jets were having trouble selling PSL's for their new stadium. There's no denying, being their is much more exciting, it can't be duplicated in your family room. I used to travel 1,500 miles every fall to see a couple of games at Arrowhead. The experience was truly unique. I brought non-Chiefs' fans with me & they were amazed at the electricity you feel when you enter the parking lots at Arrowhead. Linda & I made good money back then, we don't have the same disposable income now. But just like every other football season since it's inception, we have DIRECTV's NFL Sunday Ticket. With all the bells & whistles you can add to this package, it's still under $400. Buying 2 upper deck endzone season tickets will run a Jet fan $1,800, that doesn't include parking, which starts at $50 per game, or concessions. These upper deck seats don't require a PSL. If a fan was to buy 2 tickets to one game, he could get away for less than $300 & still have that "stadium experience", then add the Sunday Ticket package & your football experience is a lot more reasonable. I can't recall a time when there were so many blackouts on local TV. I think it will get worse before it gets better, the economy just hasn't improved enough for the average fan to justify shelling out thousands to go to the stadium. Especially for the fans of bad teams. You don't get blacked out on Sunday Ticket except when the local team is on local TV & then either way, you can see your team. I wish we could go to every Chiefs game like we used to, I started buying my own season tickets in 1966, but it's become so costly it's just not going to happen.
ESPN.com is reporting the Chiefs might be interested in Cowboy WR Patrick Crayton. Dallas has told Crayton & his agent to seek a trading partner as they don't see a bright future for Crayton in 2010. The 31-year old has had a decent career as a slot receiver & punt returner. He has caught 36, 50, 39 & 37 passes the last 4 seasons & caught 20 touchdowns during that period. He returned 2 punts for scores last year as well. I really don't see Crayton coming to the Chiefs. The return portion of his game doesn't interest me as they drafted a fine punt returner in Javier Arenas. His age is against him, they already have Chris Chambers who is getting up there in years. I guess what it boils down to is he better than Jerhemy Urban? Yes I think he's quite an upgrade over Urban, so maybe the Chiefs are interested, who knows?
I've taken a lot of flak here as well as two sites for The Kansas City Star, Upon Further Review & The Redzone. People don't agree with my assessment regarding Glenn Dorsey or my constant lobbying for another high quality offensive tackle who could play on either side. As I cruised around internet today I spotted a piece on FOXSports.com about the top-10 NFL players needing a new team to play for or a new position on their current team. The Chiefs were the only team with more than one player on this dubious top-10 list & they had three! Derrick Johnson, according to FOXSports, is a 4-3 outside linebacker, not a 3-4 inside guy. They claim he's wasting his talent playing in this scheme for Kansas City. He was ranked 9th. Coming in at #6 was Brandon Albert. They like Albert a lot, just not as a left tackle, they believe he should be using his brawling skills inside at guard or at right tackle. I have agreed with this premise for some time. Ranked at #3 has been my biggest gripe for over a year, Glenn Dorsey. Like me, they thought he was ill-suited for a 3-4 DE. He's too short, he's over matched every week by a left tackle & he's wasting a promising career playing in this defense. He should be in a "3 technique" defensive tackle, not facing the opponents best blocker week after week. So for all you people who have called me names & questioned my understanding of everything from blocking schemes to talent evaluation I say..............nothing really. Hell, I'm just glad someone else joined me in pointing out some of the obvious deficiencies this club is saddled with. It's fine when you're first to point something out, but when no one else joins you, the finger pointers get all fired up & start taking their shots. I don't want to be right in this regard, I want all three to be all-pro, I want the Chiefs to be great again, honestly, I'm sick of being crappy. Since this team won Super Bowl IV, they've won 2 playoff games, that's forty freakin' years gang! So for all the folks out there who call me negative & a hater, read the previous line over a few times & you'll understand why I feel the way I do.
I won't be surprised if the Mountain West Conference extends an invitation to Boise State to become their 10th member. The MWC doesn't have an automatic bid in the Bowl Championship Series, but with the recent success of TCU, Utah & BYU, adding Boise might push them over the top. It would certainly add to the conference's overall non-con winning percentage. The Broncos are pretty screwed in the WAC if they don't get to a BCS game, because the conference doesn't have any rock solid commitments from bowl committees with the exception of Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, which is played in Boise anyway.They probably wouldn't join until 2012 at the earliest. The Western Athletic Conference would be crippled if they were to lose Boise State, they bring so much revenue for the rest of the league. Other than Fresno State & Hawaii, the conference doesn't have too many desirable programs for the bowl committees. Boise has already scheduled games with BYU & Utah beginning in 2011. The Mountain West has had an outstanding non-conference the last two seasons & adding Boise State would enhance that record no doubt.
The best receiver & possibly the best player in NFL history, Jerry Rice, has hung up his spikes. His golf spikes that is. Rice had been working very diligently towards a second career on the Nationwide Senior Golf Tour. He shot an opening round 92 on Thursday & followed that up with an 82 yesterday, 30 over par. But at the end of yesterday's round Rice was informed he was disqualified. Finishing dead last at 168th after 2 rounds wasn't embarrassing enough, he was disqualified for his caddy using a digital rangefinder during the round. Rice was humiliated, saying "it was a total rookie mistake, I've really embarrassed my self here the last few days. I think my time on the pro tour is over right now." Probably a good decision for a guy who always competed at the top of his profession, 30 over par isn't competing, it's just embarrassing.
Is HDTV hurting season ticket sales for NFL teams? I think it could be when you take into account the down economy & the DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket package. I mentioned the other day the New York Jets were having trouble selling PSL's for their new stadium. There's no denying, being their is much more exciting, it can't be duplicated in your family room. I used to travel 1,500 miles every fall to see a couple of games at Arrowhead. The experience was truly unique. I brought non-Chiefs' fans with me & they were amazed at the electricity you feel when you enter the parking lots at Arrowhead. Linda & I made good money back then, we don't have the same disposable income now. But just like every other football season since it's inception, we have DIRECTV's NFL Sunday Ticket. With all the bells & whistles you can add to this package, it's still under $400. Buying 2 upper deck endzone season tickets will run a Jet fan $1,800, that doesn't include parking, which starts at $50 per game, or concessions. These upper deck seats don't require a PSL. If a fan was to buy 2 tickets to one game, he could get away for less than $300 & still have that "stadium experience", then add the Sunday Ticket package & your football experience is a lot more reasonable. I can't recall a time when there were so many blackouts on local TV. I think it will get worse before it gets better, the economy just hasn't improved enough for the average fan to justify shelling out thousands to go to the stadium. Especially for the fans of bad teams. You don't get blacked out on Sunday Ticket except when the local team is on local TV & then either way, you can see your team. I wish we could go to every Chiefs game like we used to, I started buying my own season tickets in 1966, but it's become so costly it's just not going to happen.
ESPN.com is reporting the Chiefs might be interested in Cowboy WR Patrick Crayton. Dallas has told Crayton & his agent to seek a trading partner as they don't see a bright future for Crayton in 2010. The 31-year old has had a decent career as a slot receiver & punt returner. He has caught 36, 50, 39 & 37 passes the last 4 seasons & caught 20 touchdowns during that period. He returned 2 punts for scores last year as well. I really don't see Crayton coming to the Chiefs. The return portion of his game doesn't interest me as they drafted a fine punt returner in Javier Arenas. His age is against him, they already have Chris Chambers who is getting up there in years. I guess what it boils down to is he better than Jerhemy Urban? Yes I think he's quite an upgrade over Urban, so maybe the Chiefs are interested, who knows?
I've taken a lot of flak here as well as two sites for The Kansas City Star, Upon Further Review & The Redzone. People don't agree with my assessment regarding Glenn Dorsey or my constant lobbying for another high quality offensive tackle who could play on either side. As I cruised around internet today I spotted a piece on FOXSports.com about the top-10 NFL players needing a new team to play for or a new position on their current team. The Chiefs were the only team with more than one player on this dubious top-10 list & they had three! Derrick Johnson, according to FOXSports, is a 4-3 outside linebacker, not a 3-4 inside guy. They claim he's wasting his talent playing in this scheme for Kansas City. He was ranked 9th. Coming in at #6 was Brandon Albert. They like Albert a lot, just not as a left tackle, they believe he should be using his brawling skills inside at guard or at right tackle. I have agreed with this premise for some time. Ranked at #3 has been my biggest gripe for over a year, Glenn Dorsey. Like me, they thought he was ill-suited for a 3-4 DE. He's too short, he's over matched every week by a left tackle & he's wasting a promising career playing in this defense. He should be in a "3 technique" defensive tackle, not facing the opponents best blocker week after week. So for all you people who have called me names & questioned my understanding of everything from blocking schemes to talent evaluation I say..............nothing really. Hell, I'm just glad someone else joined me in pointing out some of the obvious deficiencies this club is saddled with. It's fine when you're first to point something out, but when no one else joins you, the finger pointers get all fired up & start taking their shots. I don't want to be right in this regard, I want all three to be all-pro, I want the Chiefs to be great again, honestly, I'm sick of being crappy. Since this team won Super Bowl IV, they've won 2 playoff games, that's forty freakin' years gang! So for all the folks out there who call me negative & a hater, read the previous line over a few times & you'll understand why I feel the way I do.
Comments