MORE PETRINO ARROGANCE, NFL'S FAN "CODE OF CONDUCT," LEAF LOOKING AT HARD TIME & ONE OF THE BEST STORIES I'VE EVER POSTED HERE...DON'T MISS IT
If there was any doubters out there about Bobby Petrino's culpability in the scandal he created at the University of Arkansas, the arrogance he displayed in the hiring of his mistress should alleviate those doubts. In the job opening listed by the football program had some specifics that all applicants would have to be able to pass. Like having a minimum 2-years experience in a football program. A bachelor's degree required & a master's degree preferred. That masters would need to be in a field related to college sports programs. Only three persons were interviewed for the job by Petrino of the 159 applicants. One, Ben Wilkerson, was a 4-year starter at LSU, an All-American center on a National Championship team. He played 5-years in the NFL, received a masters degree in sports management & worked for the LSU football program the past 3-years. The second interview was granted to a young lady, an Arkansas grad with 2 master's degrees in sports management & sports business. She was a former academic tutor for the football program & was charged with organizing summer football camps for high school students on-campus. Neither of these applicants were suited for the job according to Petrino, but his mistress, Jessica Dorrell, was. She hasn't got a master's degree in any field & had zero experience in the football program. Are you last few doubters beginning to understand the legal implications of his decision? Have you ever heard the term "class action lawsuit?" It's what the University would be facing from many or even all of the 159 applicants who now know they never had a shot at the job since they weren't sleeping with coach Petrino. It should also be noted many of his current players have said publicly Athletic Director Jeff Long made the right decision in firing Petrino. If you still have doubts, there's nothing I or anyone else can say that will apparently sway your opinion, you only care about winning & everything else, like morals, fair play, legal issues & bad P.R. for the University, aren't nearly as important. That's too bad, because firing Petrino was the right decision.
It's been 6-months since Detroit Lions' running back Jahvid Best sustained a concussion. To date, he still has not been cleared by team doctors to return to football. Best suffered, what I've said here before, was the single scariest concussion I personally have ever witnessed. He was injured against Oregon State in what would be his last collegiate game. As I've said before, Linda & I thought he might have been killed when it happened. Thankfully, he recovered & was allowed to play again, but now, one has to wonder if Best will ever play again. More importantly, will Best begin to have long term effects from these concussions, 4 in all, three at Cal & one with the Lions. There comes a time when playing football is no longer the most important thing in a young man's life, this could be one of those times.
Jahvid Best airborne, seconds before landing directly on his head, Oregon State vs. Cal.
During the 2011 playoffs, NFL security made a good move to place undercover personnel in NFL stadiums dressed in the visiting teams' garb. They wanted to reduce fan violence & abuse, which is a good thing. It worked to some extent, complaints of rowdy fans was down & it only took a few ejections to get their point across to those who tend to get out of line. Now the league intends to take it a step further & I think this is going way too far. The NFL wants fans ejected by league or stadium security to be required to pass a test on the new "Code of Conduct." So how do you study for such a test? You pay $75 for a 4-hour online course & then correctly answer 70% of the questions. Without passing the test, you will be barred from all NFL stadiums. How they intend to enforce this is unknown to me but the league appears serious about this plan. They did state if you were found at an NFL game without passing the Code of Conduct test, you would be arrested for trespassing & prosecuted. Anyone else see an ugly P.R. problem coming out of this plan?
Ryan leaf has been charged with four felonies, 2 counts of burglary & 2 counts of illegal possession of prescription drugs. He remains in custody in Montana while their authorities & those in Texas decide if leaf has violated his 10-year probation granted after Leaf's conviction in 2010. He has had a serious addiction to prescription pain killers for some time & his problem has reached the point he is dangerous to himself as well as others. It's very possible Montana authorities will defer to their counterparts in Texas if they decide to revoke his probation & imprison him. Leaf could be facing 5-years or more.
Eli Manning will guest host Saturday Night Live on May 5th. His brother Peyton hosted the show after he won the Super Bowl.
Look for the NFL to release the entire 2012 regular season schedule on Tuesday. I'll have the highlights as well as the Chiefs' complete schedule as soon as it's released.
In other Chiefs' news, the team added three more draft prospects to their private workout schedule. Memphis nose tackle Dontari Poe, Texas A&M running back Cyrus Gray & Georgia center Ben Jones will workout & be interviewed by the team. Be advised Scott Pioli often uses these private workouts to send false signals to his draft competition. It's very possible they will draft 5 or 6 players who weren't brought in for the workout.
The Chiefs will give away one of the new Nike jersey's to each season ticket account, that's one per account, not per ticket. The jersey's can be custom ordered with any number or name. They will also come with the Lamar Hunt commemorative patch a a new patch celebrating the team's 50-years in Kansas City. Pretty cool idea.
Roger Goodell needs to decide what he intends to do in regards to punishing Saints' players involved in the bounty program & implement it. The 2012 NFL season officially begins today & with players coming into the training facilities, they need to know their fate. I doubt any of them will be suspended with the exception of linebacker Jonathan Vilma who allegedly threw $10,000 on a locker room table before the 2009 NFC Championship game offering it to anyone who knocked Brett Favre out of the game. I can see some fines coming, but the Saints organization has been severely punished for the bounty program & any sanctions aimed at the players will have to be approved by the NFLPA or the league will have another mess to deal with as the union could appeal every single suspension, dragging this thing out even longer.
Tim Tebow had quite a weekend. On Friday, he hosted a charity golf tournament for his foundation that helps kids at risk. At the live auction after the golf, Tebow auctioned himself off for an entire day & night to the highest bidder. He went for $100,000, seriously he did. An older couple bid $100K just to hang out with Tebow for an entire day. Tim went to the Yankees game on Sunday & when his picture was plastered all over the video board the boos rained down. He kept smiling thruout, as the camera stayed on him to show his reaction. For those who don't know, Yankee fans are normally Giant fans, it's Mets fans that like the Jets. Giants fans don't much care for Jets fans, get it? This explanation probably won't be in any of the stories you read or hear about Tebow's booing. Much of the media loves bashing this kid every chance they get, so it will most likely be something like "Te-boo greeted at Yankee Stadium."
I expect most of the players carrying their team's franchise tag to stay away from off-season workouts. Most haven't signed their tender offers, which is the average salary of the top-5 players at their position. Dwayne Bowe, Drew Brees, Matt Forte & Ray Rice are just a few of the NFL stars who will most likely be absent at the first OTA.
Linda tipped me off to this story & I'm glad she did, it's a wonderful story. Hueytown High School senior Courtney Alvis wasn't going to her senior prom. She has battled acute T-cell leukemia since November of 2010. She underwent two complete rounds of chemotherapy & her cancer is finally in remission. What originally was a pain in her chest turned out to be a massive tumor that was crushing her right lung. The chemo caused her to puff up & gain weight, she lost all of her hair, tho it has started to grow back. Courtney figured she wasn't going to her prom, she didn't look like herself & no one had asked her for a date. Her parents were broken-hearted for their daughter who fought so hard against leukemia only to miss her prom. Her dad talked to his brother who put out the word for someone to ask her to the prom. A friend of her uncle, who owned a catfish restaurant in Tuscaloosa, knew some people in the Alabama football program & asked for help. A couple of days later her uncle told Courtney to buy a dress, a date would show up to take her. She got hair extensions, a manicure & a new dress. Courtney did indeed have a prom date. When her doorbell rang Saturday night, Bama running back Trent Richardson stood on the porch clad in a white tuxedo, corsage in hand. Richardson volunteered to take Courtney, he wasn't able to go to his senior prom because his mother was battling cancer, which she finally beat. Richardson, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy & a certain top-10 NFL draft pick, could've been out with his friends at a club or on a date, but chose to take a leukemia survivor to her senior prom. Word of this leaked out & local TV stations were at the school to interview Richardson. He said it was an honor to be with Courtney & he was there for her, not to talk to reporters, it was her night. Folks, I don't care who this young man plays for in the NFL, I'm going to be a huge fan, what a class act. One more thing in this amazing story, Courtney was named prom queen Saturday night.
Courtney Alvis' prom date, Trent Richardson
My Chiefs draft predictions continue later today.
It's been 6-months since Detroit Lions' running back Jahvid Best sustained a concussion. To date, he still has not been cleared by team doctors to return to football. Best suffered, what I've said here before, was the single scariest concussion I personally have ever witnessed. He was injured against Oregon State in what would be his last collegiate game. As I've said before, Linda & I thought he might have been killed when it happened. Thankfully, he recovered & was allowed to play again, but now, one has to wonder if Best will ever play again. More importantly, will Best begin to have long term effects from these concussions, 4 in all, three at Cal & one with the Lions. There comes a time when playing football is no longer the most important thing in a young man's life, this could be one of those times.
Jahvid Best airborne, seconds before landing directly on his head, Oregon State vs. Cal.
During the 2011 playoffs, NFL security made a good move to place undercover personnel in NFL stadiums dressed in the visiting teams' garb. They wanted to reduce fan violence & abuse, which is a good thing. It worked to some extent, complaints of rowdy fans was down & it only took a few ejections to get their point across to those who tend to get out of line. Now the league intends to take it a step further & I think this is going way too far. The NFL wants fans ejected by league or stadium security to be required to pass a test on the new "Code of Conduct." So how do you study for such a test? You pay $75 for a 4-hour online course & then correctly answer 70% of the questions. Without passing the test, you will be barred from all NFL stadiums. How they intend to enforce this is unknown to me but the league appears serious about this plan. They did state if you were found at an NFL game without passing the Code of Conduct test, you would be arrested for trespassing & prosecuted. Anyone else see an ugly P.R. problem coming out of this plan?
Ryan leaf has been charged with four felonies, 2 counts of burglary & 2 counts of illegal possession of prescription drugs. He remains in custody in Montana while their authorities & those in Texas decide if leaf has violated his 10-year probation granted after Leaf's conviction in 2010. He has had a serious addiction to prescription pain killers for some time & his problem has reached the point he is dangerous to himself as well as others. It's very possible Montana authorities will defer to their counterparts in Texas if they decide to revoke his probation & imprison him. Leaf could be facing 5-years or more.
Eli Manning will guest host Saturday Night Live on May 5th. His brother Peyton hosted the show after he won the Super Bowl.
Look for the NFL to release the entire 2012 regular season schedule on Tuesday. I'll have the highlights as well as the Chiefs' complete schedule as soon as it's released.
In other Chiefs' news, the team added three more draft prospects to their private workout schedule. Memphis nose tackle Dontari Poe, Texas A&M running back Cyrus Gray & Georgia center Ben Jones will workout & be interviewed by the team. Be advised Scott Pioli often uses these private workouts to send false signals to his draft competition. It's very possible they will draft 5 or 6 players who weren't brought in for the workout.
The Chiefs will give away one of the new Nike jersey's to each season ticket account, that's one per account, not per ticket. The jersey's can be custom ordered with any number or name. They will also come with the Lamar Hunt commemorative patch a a new patch celebrating the team's 50-years in Kansas City. Pretty cool idea.
Roger Goodell needs to decide what he intends to do in regards to punishing Saints' players involved in the bounty program & implement it. The 2012 NFL season officially begins today & with players coming into the training facilities, they need to know their fate. I doubt any of them will be suspended with the exception of linebacker Jonathan Vilma who allegedly threw $10,000 on a locker room table before the 2009 NFC Championship game offering it to anyone who knocked Brett Favre out of the game. I can see some fines coming, but the Saints organization has been severely punished for the bounty program & any sanctions aimed at the players will have to be approved by the NFLPA or the league will have another mess to deal with as the union could appeal every single suspension, dragging this thing out even longer.
Tim Tebow had quite a weekend. On Friday, he hosted a charity golf tournament for his foundation that helps kids at risk. At the live auction after the golf, Tebow auctioned himself off for an entire day & night to the highest bidder. He went for $100,000, seriously he did. An older couple bid $100K just to hang out with Tebow for an entire day. Tim went to the Yankees game on Sunday & when his picture was plastered all over the video board the boos rained down. He kept smiling thruout, as the camera stayed on him to show his reaction. For those who don't know, Yankee fans are normally Giant fans, it's Mets fans that like the Jets. Giants fans don't much care for Jets fans, get it? This explanation probably won't be in any of the stories you read or hear about Tebow's booing. Much of the media loves bashing this kid every chance they get, so it will most likely be something like "Te-boo greeted at Yankee Stadium."
I expect most of the players carrying their team's franchise tag to stay away from off-season workouts. Most haven't signed their tender offers, which is the average salary of the top-5 players at their position. Dwayne Bowe, Drew Brees, Matt Forte & Ray Rice are just a few of the NFL stars who will most likely be absent at the first OTA.
Linda tipped me off to this story & I'm glad she did, it's a wonderful story. Hueytown High School senior Courtney Alvis wasn't going to her senior prom. She has battled acute T-cell leukemia since November of 2010. She underwent two complete rounds of chemotherapy & her cancer is finally in remission. What originally was a pain in her chest turned out to be a massive tumor that was crushing her right lung. The chemo caused her to puff up & gain weight, she lost all of her hair, tho it has started to grow back. Courtney figured she wasn't going to her prom, she didn't look like herself & no one had asked her for a date. Her parents were broken-hearted for their daughter who fought so hard against leukemia only to miss her prom. Her dad talked to his brother who put out the word for someone to ask her to the prom. A friend of her uncle, who owned a catfish restaurant in Tuscaloosa, knew some people in the Alabama football program & asked for help. A couple of days later her uncle told Courtney to buy a dress, a date would show up to take her. She got hair extensions, a manicure & a new dress. Courtney did indeed have a prom date. When her doorbell rang Saturday night, Bama running back Trent Richardson stood on the porch clad in a white tuxedo, corsage in hand. Richardson volunteered to take Courtney, he wasn't able to go to his senior prom because his mother was battling cancer, which she finally beat. Richardson, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy & a certain top-10 NFL draft pick, could've been out with his friends at a club or on a date, but chose to take a leukemia survivor to her senior prom. Word of this leaked out & local TV stations were at the school to interview Richardson. He said it was an honor to be with Courtney & he was there for her, not to talk to reporters, it was her night. Folks, I don't care who this young man plays for in the NFL, I'm going to be a huge fan, what a class act. One more thing in this amazing story, Courtney was named prom queen Saturday night.
Courtney Alvis' prom date, Trent Richardson
My Chiefs draft predictions continue later today.
Rich,
with the Chiefs shifting to a zone-blocking ground attack in mind, how do you see David DeCastro in that type of system?
Also, with all due respect, I think burning a in rounder on an over-aged rookie passer is being overly aggressive.
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John,
Good to hear from you.
I think DeCastro is an elite guard prospect who can excel in any blocking scheme. I haven't been this impressed by a guard in a very long time.
I'm not suggesting the Chiefs draft Weeden, what I am saying is if they want a QB, I'd rather go Weeden than wait 2-3 years for Tannehill. I believe Weeden is much closer to being ready right now. I also listed him first because I try to list them in the order I think they'll be drafted & Weeden figures to go quickly once the 2nd round begins don't you think?
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