HAYNESWORTH ON AN ISLAND, HAWAII CATCHES A BREAK & YET ANOTHER P.C. PHRASE..."ENHANCED SEASON"
As if things weren't bad enough in Albert Haynesworth's world, now he has alienated numerous Redskin alumni as well as the player/president of the NFLPA. Joe Thiesman, Mark Mosely, Charles Mann, John Riggins & Art Monk have all spoken out against Haynesworth's refusal to report to Washington OTA's & mini camp. Haynesworth just received installment #2 of his $100 million free agent deal signed last February. That installment was $21 million in April & since receiving the check, he hasn't shown his face anywhere near the Washington Redskins. Several current teammates have trashed him too. Now the NFLPA's player president, Kevin Mawae, has told Haynesworth to either start playing or give the money back. The Redskins made it clear Tuesday they want their $21 million returned if Haynesworth doesn't intend to honor his contract. Mawae said "it's really quite simple, if you don't want to play football, don't take the money from a football team." Mawae, a former teammate when Haynesworth was with the Titans, said in a radio interview yesterday he "told Albert face-to-face, man-to-man, he could be the most disruptive defensive force in the league, but he needed to be more committed to the team, he just hadn't shown that week after week." Considering it's the NFLPA who would have to go to bat for Haynesworth if legal action is taken, losing the support of the active player wing of this union seems pretty short-sided. But then Albert has always been about Albert, selfish doesn't begin to describe his personality.
The Utah Utes have officially joined the PAC-10 conference. So the PAC-10 has 12 teams, the Big-12 has 10 teams & the Big-10 has 12 teams, right? That's another issue altogether. As I see it, the PAC-10 has brought in two teams that will generate almost zero dollars for the conference in Utah & Colorado. Utah, with a population under 3 million, has three major universities that split that population almost evenly, Utah, Utah State & BYU. The largest enrollment is at BYU, the other two are almost identical. I think it's a great deal for Utah, they finally get into a conference with an automatic BCS bid. This is truly a competitive national program that like Boise State & TCU, get very little respect from the BCS or the national media for the most part. I won't get started down that road, it's a very sore subject with me. Anyway, the PAC-10 whiffed on Texas, OU etc & settled for Utah & Colorado, I think they got the worst of the deal. In a time when USC has been ravaged by the NCAA, the media & the public, the PAC-10 needed some good news to push the Trojan mess onto page 2. Annexing Colorado & Utah isn't it. I still don't "get it" when it comes to inviting Colordao into the PAC-10. They have a broken-down football program, a non-existent basketball program, no baseball team(huge in the PAC-10), no soccer team, in fact, the Buffs only compete in a total of 9 Division I men's & women's sports. They don't even dent the Denver TV market in ratings, what is the allure? I missed it somehow. Back to Utah for a second, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch has been stirring up trouble with the BCS because teams like Utah, Boise & others have been consistently excluded from the major bowl picture. costing these schools millions. He went toe-to-toe with Bill Hancock, BCS Chairman, in April regarding the alleged practices of his organization. Hatch went on record in the senate yesterday saying "just because Utah is in the inside looking out now doesn't change my focus on the BCS one bit at all, their are still many inequities in the way they award bowl ratings & bids." Senator Hatch, while I admire your stance on the BCS, can we plug the freakin' hole, clean up the gulf, get a few more million Americans back to work & stop burying us in more debt before we worry about the BCS?
The NCAA did a good thing yesterday, they are going to allow the heavily sanctioned USC Trojans to play their previously scheduled game in Hawaii on September 2nd. NCAA rules prohibit teams on probation from scheduling an extra game in Hawaii because they see a trip to Hawaii for players, administration & fans as a reward for a program that is being punished. But that punishment really hurts Hawaii, they depend on teams coming from the mainland & bringing large blocks of fans, to enhance their economy & keep their athletic budget as close to break-even as possible. Remember, Hawaii teams in all sports fly to the mainland for every single road game, a very expensive endeavor. It's the football games, especially with major schools, that help to balance the books. The NCAA did a good thing.
The Chiefs have yet to sign a single draft choice. More than half of the NFL's teams have signed most of their draft picks. Ten teams have yet to sign even one, Kansas City is one of those teams. Linda & I plan to attend the Chiefs' training camp at Missouri Western University this August & we want to see the newest Chiefs. It's hard to gauge the progress being made if the players Kansas City is depending on to lead them out of the recent past, aren't on the field practicing & learning.
The Cincinnati Bengals have assembled quite a group of receivers. Quarterback Carson Palmer was somewhat hamstrung with their limited receiving corps late last season & Marvin Lewis has made certain there won't be a repeat this year. At wide receiver, the Bengals currently have Chad Ochocinco, Andre Caldwell, last season's #2 pick Jerome Simpson, free agents Antonio Bryant & Matt Jones, plus 2010 draftees Jordan Shipley & Dez Briscoe. Throw in 2010 #1 draft pick tight end Jermaine Gresham & 2009 #2 pick Chase Coffman, also a TE, it's obvious the Bengals are flush when it comes to receivers. Should make for some interesting camp battles. Bryant is coming of season-ending knee surgery, Jones off a year-long suspension for drugs & Coffman was lost for the entire season rehabbing from the foot surgery he required from a 2008 Alamo Bowl injury. Shipley has been tearing it up in OTA's & mini camp playing the slot position. Word is, he has already supplanted Matt Jones in that spot. Briscoe continues moving in slow motion, this kid had better pick up the pace, the NFL is a step up in every regard, his comprehension & execution have to accelerate appreciably or he'll find himself cut.
The Philadelphia Police appear to be going after Marvin Harrison as a "person of interest" in a murder case. I honestly believe both the police & NFL security had serious doubts about Harrison since last summer. Why then would NFL teams avoid even bringing him in for a "look-see". Since when is 37 too old for some teams? He caught 60 passes in the 2008 season & has 1,102 lifetime along with 128 touchdowns. His name was never mentioned during the off-season last year. This investigation is in high gear & Harrison appears to be at the top of the list for the police.
In this absurd politically correct world we now are apart of, I have a new term for you, "enhanced season." This sprung from the lips of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell when he was asked about extending the season from 16 to 18 regular season games while dropping 2 games from the preseason schedule. Goodell said "we really don't need 4 preseason games." Which is true, but if they cut the preseason schedule in half, they will have to find a way to develop younger players, a minor league if you will. Without NFL Europe, the league can't wait for some of the "development projects" would in time, can become productive players. Can the UFL be that minor league vehicle? How about the Arena League? Probably not on the AFL, the field dimensions are the biggest stumbling block in making that transition. When the league doesn't have a collective bargaining agreement, I think asking players to player longer in overtime was a big hurdle to clear, but requiring them to play two additional regular season games is another thing altogether. I question the timing of this issue, at a time when the concussion board has just begun their work toward safer playing conditions, this might not be the time to ask players to practice & play another two weeks. If the league wants increased revenues from those two extra games, they will have to give back a large percentage of it to the players or this has no shot at being approved by the NFLPA. Goodell also said that with "the enhanced season" idea, an enhanced off-season would have to be examined as well. I question just how much a players' body can take if they're not given time to rest & recoup. I like money just like the next guy, but there comes a time when added profits have to be weighed against being able to walk when you're 50-years old, have some sort of short term memory in retirement, not become a surgical crash-test dummy as a senior citizen. The NFL is so far ahead of any other sport in America, let's not run it aground trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of it or it's players.
The Utah Utes have officially joined the PAC-10 conference. So the PAC-10 has 12 teams, the Big-12 has 10 teams & the Big-10 has 12 teams, right? That's another issue altogether. As I see it, the PAC-10 has brought in two teams that will generate almost zero dollars for the conference in Utah & Colorado. Utah, with a population under 3 million, has three major universities that split that population almost evenly, Utah, Utah State & BYU. The largest enrollment is at BYU, the other two are almost identical. I think it's a great deal for Utah, they finally get into a conference with an automatic BCS bid. This is truly a competitive national program that like Boise State & TCU, get very little respect from the BCS or the national media for the most part. I won't get started down that road, it's a very sore subject with me. Anyway, the PAC-10 whiffed on Texas, OU etc & settled for Utah & Colorado, I think they got the worst of the deal. In a time when USC has been ravaged by the NCAA, the media & the public, the PAC-10 needed some good news to push the Trojan mess onto page 2. Annexing Colorado & Utah isn't it. I still don't "get it" when it comes to inviting Colordao into the PAC-10. They have a broken-down football program, a non-existent basketball program, no baseball team(huge in the PAC-10), no soccer team, in fact, the Buffs only compete in a total of 9 Division I men's & women's sports. They don't even dent the Denver TV market in ratings, what is the allure? I missed it somehow. Back to Utah for a second, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch has been stirring up trouble with the BCS because teams like Utah, Boise & others have been consistently excluded from the major bowl picture. costing these schools millions. He went toe-to-toe with Bill Hancock, BCS Chairman, in April regarding the alleged practices of his organization. Hatch went on record in the senate yesterday saying "just because Utah is in the inside looking out now doesn't change my focus on the BCS one bit at all, their are still many inequities in the way they award bowl ratings & bids." Senator Hatch, while I admire your stance on the BCS, can we plug the freakin' hole, clean up the gulf, get a few more million Americans back to work & stop burying us in more debt before we worry about the BCS?
The NCAA did a good thing yesterday, they are going to allow the heavily sanctioned USC Trojans to play their previously scheduled game in Hawaii on September 2nd. NCAA rules prohibit teams on probation from scheduling an extra game in Hawaii because they see a trip to Hawaii for players, administration & fans as a reward for a program that is being punished. But that punishment really hurts Hawaii, they depend on teams coming from the mainland & bringing large blocks of fans, to enhance their economy & keep their athletic budget as close to break-even as possible. Remember, Hawaii teams in all sports fly to the mainland for every single road game, a very expensive endeavor. It's the football games, especially with major schools, that help to balance the books. The NCAA did a good thing.
The Chiefs have yet to sign a single draft choice. More than half of the NFL's teams have signed most of their draft picks. Ten teams have yet to sign even one, Kansas City is one of those teams. Linda & I plan to attend the Chiefs' training camp at Missouri Western University this August & we want to see the newest Chiefs. It's hard to gauge the progress being made if the players Kansas City is depending on to lead them out of the recent past, aren't on the field practicing & learning.
The Cincinnati Bengals have assembled quite a group of receivers. Quarterback Carson Palmer was somewhat hamstrung with their limited receiving corps late last season & Marvin Lewis has made certain there won't be a repeat this year. At wide receiver, the Bengals currently have Chad Ochocinco, Andre Caldwell, last season's #2 pick Jerome Simpson, free agents Antonio Bryant & Matt Jones, plus 2010 draftees Jordan Shipley & Dez Briscoe. Throw in 2010 #1 draft pick tight end Jermaine Gresham & 2009 #2 pick Chase Coffman, also a TE, it's obvious the Bengals are flush when it comes to receivers. Should make for some interesting camp battles. Bryant is coming of season-ending knee surgery, Jones off a year-long suspension for drugs & Coffman was lost for the entire season rehabbing from the foot surgery he required from a 2008 Alamo Bowl injury. Shipley has been tearing it up in OTA's & mini camp playing the slot position. Word is, he has already supplanted Matt Jones in that spot. Briscoe continues moving in slow motion, this kid had better pick up the pace, the NFL is a step up in every regard, his comprehension & execution have to accelerate appreciably or he'll find himself cut.
The Philadelphia Police appear to be going after Marvin Harrison as a "person of interest" in a murder case. I honestly believe both the police & NFL security had serious doubts about Harrison since last summer. Why then would NFL teams avoid even bringing him in for a "look-see". Since when is 37 too old for some teams? He caught 60 passes in the 2008 season & has 1,102 lifetime along with 128 touchdowns. His name was never mentioned during the off-season last year. This investigation is in high gear & Harrison appears to be at the top of the list for the police.
In this absurd politically correct world we now are apart of, I have a new term for you, "enhanced season." This sprung from the lips of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell when he was asked about extending the season from 16 to 18 regular season games while dropping 2 games from the preseason schedule. Goodell said "we really don't need 4 preseason games." Which is true, but if they cut the preseason schedule in half, they will have to find a way to develop younger players, a minor league if you will. Without NFL Europe, the league can't wait for some of the "development projects" would in time, can become productive players. Can the UFL be that minor league vehicle? How about the Arena League? Probably not on the AFL, the field dimensions are the biggest stumbling block in making that transition. When the league doesn't have a collective bargaining agreement, I think asking players to player longer in overtime was a big hurdle to clear, but requiring them to play two additional regular season games is another thing altogether. I question the timing of this issue, at a time when the concussion board has just begun their work toward safer playing conditions, this might not be the time to ask players to practice & play another two weeks. If the league wants increased revenues from those two extra games, they will have to give back a large percentage of it to the players or this has no shot at being approved by the NFLPA. Goodell also said that with "the enhanced season" idea, an enhanced off-season would have to be examined as well. I question just how much a players' body can take if they're not given time to rest & recoup. I like money just like the next guy, but there comes a time when added profits have to be weighed against being able to walk when you're 50-years old, have some sort of short term memory in retirement, not become a surgical crash-test dummy as a senior citizen. The NFL is so far ahead of any other sport in America, let's not run it aground trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of it or it's players.
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