Cutler Reaction: The Anti-Favre

By Beaker

My apologies for any lack of posting on my part.

Like you care.

Just been busy that’s all.

However, something did pull me out for a brief second to offer my piece of shit thoughts. That’s the whole idiotic “controversy” about Jay Cutler. If Bret Favre was the cum that covered splattered over the media that willingly swallowed it, Cutler is the condom that left them unsatisfied. I don’t know what I just wrote. 

Fuck it. I’m owning it. Hear that LeBron?

In any event, I don’t think I ever witnessed such unsubstantiated retardedness in all my useless life of watching sports.

Anybody who took a “Maurice Jones-Drew” position is a boob with a wart on their eyeball. I don’t care that Jay Cutler is an “asshole” and may even be have a low pain tolerance. It’s nobody’s business to make a comment from their comfy couch.

And if you’re going to do it, make damn sure that the slander you’re hurling is backed up by something called proof to back your venomous bull. And no, chiming in with a “oh, he’s standing on the sidelines on his knee ergo he can play” is not legitimate.

It’s a logical fallacy rooted in circumstantial perception.

It reminds me of the losers who somehow attempted to connect that moosebush Sarah Palin to the Tuscon murders. What a bunch of decrepit intellectual morons.

Apparently, slander without proof is all the rage now as long as it makes a stretchy point in your private defunct mind.

As you can tell, I’m annoyed. A tad.

***

All this tough talk by athletes makes me puke. Not that it matters, but I played soccer on a torn ACL and all it proved is I was an idiot for damaging it more. I even played on a badly twisted ankle (ah, the miracle of cortizone), dislocated shoulders and even a loose tooth during a hockey game. Bobby Clarke eat your heart out. Basically, I played sports at maybe 60% during most of my life. I know, wah-wah, life stinks and sucks.

What I’m saying I kinda get the whole thing.

Yeah, I know, I didn’t have money at stake, but I had everything equal to any competitive bastard and that’s the desire to damn play and WIN. Sports is all relative. Whether you play AAA or big leagues, athletes all share the same DNA: To play and win. Playing with an injury that’s preventing you to slug your way to victory sucks big time.

The one thing I learned in life is no matter how much you feel something, if you can’t prove it shut the hell up. There’s no way to judge Cutler. An MCL sprain is not something one can easily quantify. Because one person decides to play on a bum PCL or MCL doesn’t mean another can.

There are degrees to it you know.

I don’t care about Jay Cutler. While I don’t think he deserves the insane attacks,  he’s a big boy. What I care about is the pressure we put on kids to go out and play on serious injuries lest we deem them “pussies.” Also, if you have a serious injury, you’re, more often than not, rarely helping your team or mates.

The real pussies are the ones who can’t face an injury with maturity. Or the ones who don’t own their Twitter comments.

That all being said, don’t get me wrong. Sometimes you have to play through pain. No doubt about it. It’s just that with the Cutler thing, fucking injured players were slamming him. Effen media jumped to all sorts of conclusions – journalistic integrity my ass. It just wasn’t cool.

Speaking of the media, I don’t get these guys sometimes. One minute they’re urging teams to take injuries like concussions seriously, but somehow a knee is not important?  I guess it didn’t matter he was thrown around and sacked like a cheap potato all year.

Let it all play out. If his own teammates come out and slam him or facts come out suggesting he wasn’t that hurt and he quit, then we can revisit it. Until then…

Shut up.


Moss’s Big Loss

By Beaker

Just a quick post about the New England Patriots. After what they’ve done to the Steelers, Jets and Steelers (three of the best defenses in the NFL), and witnessing the growth of their invincibility factor, I thought about one Randy Moss.

Here’s a guy blessed with talent while probably coming from little growing up, who was lucky enough to not only make the big time, but to be part of the most successful team in the last 15 years. The Patriots are wicked good and he wasted a chance to be a part of it.

It’s been quite the ride watching the Patriot offense go absolutely berserk without Moss. Talk about sending a message to someone. Of all the teams to verbally bash!

He now wallows around the league like a soulless vagabond, first with the dysfunctional Minnesota Vikings, and currently with the  increasingly dysfunctional Tennessee Titans.

It could have all been different for Moss. Alas, his ego has taken a massive bite out of his logic.

All that’s left is for the Pat Rack to win the Super Bowl to make Moss realize the error of his ways.


College Football Offense Rankings

By Vince Mullins

Fantasy College Blitz

Same variables as the defense rankings, but flipped over to the offense. So we want low yards per point (YPPT) to rank higher as it takes fewer yards to score. And high PPG for obvious reasons. Darned if a lot of the same teams are on this list too.

Fantasy College Blitz Offense Rank 04Dec2010 

1    Boise St.
2    Wisconsin
2    Oregon
4    TCU
4    Auburn
6    Oklahoma St.
7    Ohio St.
8    Stanford
9    Hawaii
10    Northern Ill.
11    Nevada
12    Utah
13    Virginia Tech
14    Georgia
15    Alabama
16    Tulsa
16    Arkansas
18    East Carolina
19    UCF
19    Houston
21    San Diego St.
22    Kansas St.
23    Nebraska
24    Southern Miss.
25    South Carolina


A Greater Challenge Awaits Calvillo

This was supposed to be a post about the Montreal Alouettes winning its second straight Grey Cup after defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders (the same team they beat in 2009) 21-18 in Edmonton. The victory solidified Montreal’s claim to a CFL dynasty.

However, after the game Alouettes QB Anthony Calvillo, the cornerstone of the Alouettes dynasty,  revealed he will undergo surgery to remove a “lesion on his thyroid.” Thyroid cancer generally has a high success rate, however, he may have to remove half his thyroid. He doesn’t believe his career to be in jeopardy at this point.

Still. It was shocking news.

He played with this weighing in his heart for most of the season unbeknownst to the public.

It must have been hard to manage those emotions and the stress that undoubtedly accompanied it.

It’s not the first time the Calvillo faces a major health issue. In 2007, his wife Alexia was diagnosed with B-Cell lymphona.  

As for the game itself, this was possibly his best Grey Cup performance completing 29 of 42 passes for 336 yards. The Als outpasses, outrushed and controlled time-possession the Riders for the entire game despite the controversy of the poor treatment faced by Montreal all week leading up to the game. Recall the Riders were hooked up with the est accomodations including easy access to practice facilities while the Als were bussed in to the field also questioning the quality of the hotel they were in.

Defensively, the Als never really gave QB Darian Durant a chance to capitalize on Saskatchewan’s talented receiving corp.

Interestingly, neither team turned the ball; cold weather notwithstanding. Als receiver Jamel Richardson was the MVP.

All these stats mean little today for Calvillo and the Alouettes family as they prepare for a different kind of challenge. A challenge that is not easy to prepare for.


Eagles Have Work To Do

Can someone explain to me why the Philadelphia Eagles are weak when it comes to time management, timeout usage and challenges? It seems this has been a continuous problem under Andy Reid’s stewardship.

They almost threw away that came against the Indianapolis Colts last week.

They possess a dyamic offense and a defense that’s slowly getting its stuff together, but all that can easily come undone in critical moments of a game  if they don’t manage those intangibles better mentioned earlier.


He Just Doesn’t Get It

By Beaker

Some guys just get the benefit of every doubt because of the talent they possess. I get that.

But how many times does an athlete putting his own interests over the team have before people realize they’re just not worth the headaches?

Randy Moss is beyond an enigma at this point. Right now, he’s just plain daft. Everywhere he goes his mouth shoots off like Yosemite Sam shooting at the sky. He barely played a full game with the Vikings before they waived his cantakerous and cancerous ass.

Moss. What an appropriate name at this point.

Some fans are willing to accept Moss into their camp. It’s easy to understand why. The guy can catch and run.

However, what’s the trade-off? And is it worth the time and cost?

That’s the question an organization has to answer when it comes to one Randy Moss.


A Tyrannical Decision By The CFL

I’m not impressed with the CFL one bit right now.

October is breast cancer awareness month, yet the league thought in its obvious limited wisdom to fine Winnipeg Blue Bombers fullback Jon Oosterhuis $200 for wearing….pink gloves? The color associated with breast cancer. 

I don’t see ANY problem with letting players wear pink gloves or shoes. An exception was made in the NFL and for the life of me can’t understand why the CFL wouldn’t either.

They do it in soccer as well for the record.

Bad, myopic call CFL.

They’d better hand over that $200 to a breast cancer charity.


Cahoon Catches 1007

By Alex

In the last post I discussed Don Hutson and Jerry Rice. In this piece, space will be devoted to Montreal Alouettes receiver Ben Cahoon who recorded his 1007 catch in a 46-19 victory over the Calgary Stampede moving him past the great Terry Vaughn as the all-time CFL leader for receptions.

In addition, the Utah native becomes only the ninth player in North American pro football history to nail down 1000 or more receptions. Coming into this season, Cahoon has caught for 1000 yards or more for eight straight seasons (nine in 13 seasons).

Not bad at all.

Cahoon, or Ca-hoooooooon!, as fans call him, is one of the finest athletes to ever grace the Montreal sports landscape. And there have been quite a few iconic sports figures: Jackie Robinson, Gary Carter, Maurice Richard, Guy Lafleur and Jacques Villeneuve. to name a precious few.

Over the years, I’ve spoken to many football fans much older than me and they’ve all claimed Cahoon – nicknamed The Silent Assasin –  is one of the greatest receivers they’ve ever seen either in the CFL or NFL – or anywhere else. I certainly am of the opinion he’s among the best slotbacks I’ver ever seen. It’s like he has mighty putty on his hands.

Above all, Ben Cahoon is a model citizen and outstanding, humble individual. His arrival in Montreal has only enriched our sports culture and Sportsperspective salutes this great achievement.


Don Hutson Dominance Fades Into The Distance

By Alex

It’s not as subjective as the “Mark Messier is the greatest leader in sports history” assertion, but the “Jerry Rice is the greatest receiver ever” has an objective flaw in it as well. Its name is Don Hutson.

When I was growing up, Rice, then with the San Francisco 49ers, was arguably the top receiver in pro football. As his career evolved into a legendary one, so did the thought he was the best ever.

In its totality, Rice’s body of work is awesome. One can’t be faulted for concluding he was the best of them all. However, the thing that never sat well with me is Rice didn’t actually dominate his position for as long a period as Green Bay Packers receiver Don Hutson.

Hutson played between 1935 and 1945 (half the time of Rice’s career which lasted from 1985 to 2005 platooned between four teams) all with the Packers. In that short time frame, he led the NFL for most seasons leading in pass receptions with eight, five of those were consecutive years (1941-45 and still a record. In 1942, Hutson scored 17 touchdowns and earned 1 211 receiving yards…in 11 games) – Lionel Taylor of the Denver Broncos of the AFL  is a distant second with five – and was tops for eight of his 10 seasons played.

 He led in receiving yards for seven seasons, four consecutive seasons in most yards gained, five in leading the league in scoring and  Hutson was king of receiving touchdowns for nine seasons.

His 99 TD receptions after his retirement in 1945 stood for 44 years before Seattle Seahawks reciever Steve Largent broke it.

In other words, basically, Hutson dominated his position roughly 90% of the time he was around.

I would say he was, to borrow a hockey analogy, Phil Esposito-like in his dominance, but I wonder if it was more in the Gretzky mould.

If you notice, Rice dominates the “most in a career” statistics making his career value (thank you Bill James) fantastic but in terms of peak value and concentrated dominance, Hutson wins hands down.

And, to those of you who put weight in championships (sometimes overblown in my view), both Rice and Hutson went 3-1 in title games.

Above all, Hutson and his legendary coach Curly Lambeau revolutionized the game in terms of the passing attack. Don Hutson is regarded as the game’s first modern receiver.

Oh. Hutson was an excellent kicker as well (it wasn’t uncommon for players to hold multiple positions back then) and a solid safety who made 30 interceptions in six seasons, including a league-leading eight interceptions in ten games in 1943. He also intercepted the ball six times for most in 1940.

All this points to one thing: Jerry Rice was masterful over his career, but no one dominated the position like Don Hutson.


Stats Corner: CFL’s Team Of The Decade

By Alex

Prime Minister Wilfird Laurier’s proud proclamation that the 20th century belonged to Canada may have come up short, but there’s no doubting who owned the start of the 21st century in the CFL: Tte Montreal Alouettes.

Between 2000-2009, the Alouettes compiled a 115-65 regular season record. This translates into a .640 winning percentage. Their worst record came after that infamous collapse in 2001. Even with such turbulence the club still finished 9-9. They’re the only to team to not have one losing season during that period. In fact, since their return in 1996, the Als have not recorded one single losing record.

Here’s how the rest of the league shaped up:

British Columbia Lions 108-71-1 (.603)

Edmonton Eskimos 97-82-1 (.542)

Saskatchewan Roughriders 91-87-2 (.511)

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 90-88-2 (.506)

Calgary Stampeders 86-91-3 (.486)

Toronto Argonauts 80-98-2 (.426)

Hamilton Tiger-Cats 61-118-1 (.342)

Ottawa Renegades 23-49 (.319)

What about the playoffs? Well, Grey Cup wins specifically. True, the Als “only” won two titles but they did reach the finals a whopping seven times. Relative to their powerful regular season record, the low amount of titles garnered them a comparison to baseball’s Atlanta Braves. The Braves, as you recall, were a perennial power in the National League and the most consistent of all MLB teams only managed one World Series in five attempts.

Another sports giant, since we’re on the subject, that falls under this category is Italy’s soccer club Juventus in Champions League play. Relative to their status, the club has two CL titlesSome feel it should be more. However, Juve has reached the finals an impressive seven times – like the Alouettes. How bad is two titles? Considering that Manchester United, Inter Milan and Barcelona have three each, I’d say not that bad. Not too many teams can win this coveted and prestigious trophy.

Could be worse for the Als. They coulda been compared to the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings.

And the rest of the CFL’s Grey Cup record looks like this:

B.C. 2-1

Edm. 2-1

Cal. 2-0

Sask. 1-1

Tor. 1-0

Image from CFL.com