The Ed Block Courage Award? Seriously?

So… in order to raise awareness of child abuse, we’re giving the award for the person on each team who shows commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Uh… and the Eagles voted for Mike Vick? Sportsmanship and courage? To raise awareness of abuse? Mike Vick? I’m all for giving Mike another chance in the NFL and all, but is he the guy that most embodies sportsmanship and courage? Seriously?

Scott Campisi

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Filed under The Latest : Comments (0) : Dec 24th, 2009

Thank God for the Redskins

In a burst of fortunate irony, the Cowboys got bailed out of their kicker situation by their good friends, the Washington Redskins. You all saw the game in week 14 where the Nick Folk missed the 24-yarder that would have finished the Saints, but many of you missed the game in week 13 where the Skins had the Saints beat, but missed a 23-yard field goal at the end of regulation… then lost in OT. Well, the Skins weren’t gonna put up with that kind of failure from a kicker. So they cut Shaun Suisham, who was 18 of 21 on the year, including that blown kick against the Saints. So now Folk is gone and Suisham is wearing the silver and blue.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Mr. Zorn. You are a Godsend. I hope you never ever lose job as head coach of the Cowboys’ rival.
Now wouldn’t it be sweet to see Suisham extend the irony by driving a couple of 50-yarders into the throats of the Redskins to win a close game Sunday night?

Scott Campisi

Filed under The Latest : Comments (0) : Dec 21st, 2009

Belichick was right!

Sunday night, on 4th and 2 at the NE 28, with 2:08 on the clock, the Pats went for it instead of punting.

So now you’re making Bill Belichick stand up and defend the fact that he tries to make the calls that give his team the best chance of winning? Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s Bill Belichick for cryin’ out loud!!! Show some respect. At least take a more reasonable look at the possibility that he might have made the best available call. Here’s how it breaks down.

The Pats in recent years convert on 4th-down attempts about 60% of the time. And if they had made it on 4th down, they almost certainly would have won because after a 1st down they could have gotten rid of both of the Colts timeouts and run 50-55 seconds off the clock, even without picking up another 1st down. So if the Pats had converted that 4th down, then even if they just ran into the line 3 times and punted, the Colts would probably have gotten the ball around their own 25 with 1:05 or so on the clock, with no timeouts, needing a TD. That heavily favors the Pats.

So if the Pats have a 60% chance of converting that 4th down, then by choosing to go for it, they have at least a 55% chance of winning the game.

But what are their odds if they punt instead of going for it? Let’s see… The Colts would most likely have gotten the ball around their own 30. Have you ever seen Peyton Manning in a situation where he had 2:00 and 2 timeouts and needed a TD from somewhere around his own 30? Have you? How did that work out for him? How did it work out for the other team who had punted the ball to him? Just exactly how often do you think Manning fails in that situation? And how often does he score? I don’t have the numbers, but I’d bet he succeeds close to 90% of the time in that situation. The guy is amazing! But let’s be more conservative than that and say he only scores TDs on about 75% of those kinds of drives. Can you agree to that? And then consider that the Pats were playing without most of their their pass-rush threats: without Tully Banta-Cain (who had just been injured), without Jarvis Green, without Ty Warren. The Colts would have been able to protect Manning easily.

Hmmm… that means that if the Pats had punted, the Colts would have had at least a 75% chance of winning, but probably much higher. And the Pats would have had at most a 25% chance of winning, probably much lower. But if Belichick goes for it, the Pats have about a 55% chance of winning.

I realize these numbers aren’t perfectly accurate, but they’re not too far off. So I’m getting tired of hearing people say, “you have to force the Colts to prove they can drive on you.” I mean… didn’t those people watch the 4th quarter? In two of the previous three Colts possessions, they scored TDs on 79-yard drives in 2:04 and 1:49 without calling a single timeout. They had already proven they could drive quickly down the field on the Pats. The Pats didn’t need to see any more proof to know they didn’t want to give the ball to Peyton Manning.

And remember the Super Bowl from the 2007 season? At the 2:00 minute warning, the Pats had the lead, but Eli Manning had the ball at his own 28, with 3 timeouts. How’d that end? Yeah, that’s right, the lesser Manning led a 72-yard TD drive to win it. Why didn’t the Pats just stop him if stopping a Manning is that easy?

So here’s the bottom line. If the Pats had punted, they would have lost. At least in going for it they gave themselves a chance. The decision was that they could willingly give Manning the ball, or they could TRY NOT to give Manning the ball. It was the right call.

Scott Campisi

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Filed under The Latest : Comments (0) : Nov 17th, 2009

How did Vince do?

For those of you who didn’t see the game, I just watched the Titans/Jags (on Tivo) to see how Vince Young did Sunday. Unfortunately, the game plan to protect him from himself, coupled with the terrible defense he was facing kept him from really showing whether he can do the job or not. He threw a large number of very short passes, including screens, swing passes, slants, and checkdowns, but those plays were successful, and shouldn’t be considered a negative. Due to a couple of nice plays made by tight ends and backs, VY finished with 8.3 yards per completion, and about 6.9 yards per attempt.

But his passes to WRs showed the game plan. He had 7 completions to WRs for only 41 yards. That’s less than 6 yards per completion on passes to WRs.

By my count, he only threw 3 passes to targets deeper than 12 yards. Two were in the 12-15 yard range, and were completed nicely. The other went deep and should have been an easy INT, but the DB dropped it. Vince did have a very nice 7-yard completion to a WR though; he spun out of trouble, rolling deeper and to his left, then flicked a perfect pass on a hookout to convert 3rd and 6. He also had a nice 6-yard TD on a fade that wobbled terribly but was placed perfectly.

Ultimately, his team’s 305 yards rushing made Vince’s passing pretty much irrelevant. But if the Jags had been able to stop the run and take away the short pass, then what would have happened? Really, we have no way of knowing for sure, so we’ll have to wait for the Titans to play a better team.

Scott

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Filed under The Latest : Comments (0) : Nov 4th, 2009

I’m Sorry, but I just can’t buy it.

So much has been said about Patrick Crayton’s outstanding performance on the heels of being benched both from his starting WR position and from his punt return position. People point out how he came out with a cliche on his shoulder and caught a huge TD and ran back a punt for another TD. Yeah, Yeah, that’s great, and all… but let’s take a real look before we get too caught up in this Crayton-worship.

A quick look at his stat line for Sunday shows that he came up big with 2 enormous catches for 9 humongous yards. Oh, but one was in the endzone though… so let’s take a look at that. Romo dropped back, got in trouble, ducked and spun away, the dodged two other guys, then stood up, looked into the endzone, ran toward the line of scrimmage, then found Crayton, who was just then getting open from single coverage. Uh… they guy was covered well for about 6 or 7 seconds. The fact that he finally pulled away and caught a 5 yard TD pass is not exactly going to bring him resounding praise in the film room.

And what about that punt return. Did you see those tackles he broke, those tacklers he juked, the elusiveness he showed? Neither did I. He took about 2 steps to his right with no one in his face, then he ran straight up the middle of the field. It wasn’t genius on his part.

I’m not criticizing him; he did what he was supposed to do. I’m criticizing the so-called analysts who think this is a sign of what he can do when he’s got something to prove.

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Filed under The Latest : Comments (0) : Oct 28th, 2009

What have you got to lose? Let Vince Play

Last year on this very blog there was a discussion about putting in Vince Young at the Titans’ quarterback position. I opposed it because they were 11-1 at the time, and Vince had never been any good when he had played in the past.

But this is a different situation. They’re 0-6. It would take a miracle just for these guys to finish at 8-8 and miss the playoffs by 2 games. They’re not going to the postseason. So why not find out what VY is?

If he really is what the Titans hope he is, then they’ve discovered the savior of the future. If he can’t get it done, then they know they can let him go and move on. If for some reason these next 10 games aren’t enough to prove it, then they should be the experience he needs to be able to prove it by the end of next year’s training camp. There’s no negative at all that can come from putting Vince in. They’ve got a free pass around the pitfall of how to get more experience for a young QB without risking a season.

I don’t believe for one minute that Kerry Collins is the problem, but they’ve got plenty to gain from seeing what VY is, and absolutely nothing to lose.

Scott

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Filed under The Latest : Comments (1) : Oct 28th, 2009

Now that’s funny!

I’ve always been a big fan of the humor (sometimes intentional, sometimes otherwise) that comes from sports interviews and press conferences. I loved John McKay’s lines like “3 or 4 plane crashes and we’re in the playoffs” and his famous response to the question of how he feels about his team’s execution: “I’m in favor of it.”

I loved the quote from DeMarcus Ware after the Cowboys fell to 2-2 in 2006: “It’s 2-2 now, so we got… what… eleven games left.”

I love Butch Davis’s classic quote on the Browns’ costly mistakes against the Bolts in 2003: “Take 17 points off the board and it’s probably a very different outcome.”

But I have to say Romo’s quote from Sunday is already one of my favorites. It wasn’t just funny, it was pretty clever.

They asked him what problem he was having (concussion, neck problem, shoulder…) because he looked like he was hurt after getting hit while running the ball on 3rd and 18.

First he made the usual kind of joke… “Yeah, I really don’t remember.” Okay… that’s a little smile, but then, coming back to re-answer the same question of what problem he’s having… Romo says, “Actually I just broke up with a girl recently.”

Oh, that one’s precious. He’s laughing at himself, at the media, at the world’s obsession with celebrities’ love lives. That’s definitely one to remember.

Scott Campisi

Filed under The Latest : Comments (0) : Oct 27th, 2009

Friday Night Highlights – 9-25-09

It is time for Friday Night Highlights again! The Tigers are hosting the Lobos tonight and Pleasant Grove is hosting their homecoming at what will hopefully be their last home game at the Middle School venue.

Updated Scores:

Texas High Tigers 17
Longview Lobos 28
3rd
Arkansas High 31
J.A.Fair 0
H
North Lamar 14
Pleasant Grove Hawks 49
3rd
Liberty Eylau Leopards 31
Paris 23
H
Redwater Dragons 0
Hooks Hornets 9
4th
Henderson 7
Atlanta 7
2nd
New Boston 19
Linden Kildare 14
Final
DeKalb 6
Paris Chisum 32
3rd

Filed under The Latest : Comments (0) : Sep 25th, 2009

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