So now that Eli Manning has done twice what every winning Quarterback in Super Bowl history has done, which is, single-handedly win the big game, we now have to immediately rank his place in history among the elite.
Forget that just last year (2010) Eli led the NFL in interceptions, the second time he has accomplished this feat. He also did it in 2007. None of that matters because the talking heads will now and forevermore refer to the one and only winner of the Super Bowl as the starting QB of the winning team regardless of how the game played out.
Just sit back and listen over the next few days. "Eli" won "his" second Super Bowl. "Eli" now has more than Peyton so that automatically makes "him" better. They'll talk about how many Super Bowls Joe Montana won and how many this QB and that QB won and in the process likely suggest that poor ol' Tom Brady is washed up because "He" couldn't beat "Eli".
Don't get me wrong. I like Eli Manning and was actually pulling for the Giants. But to assign the victory to and only to the Quarterback is ridiculous. Is Eli good? Yes he can be very good. Does he belong among the best QB's ever? Not yet, even though he has now apparently won 2 Super Bowls all by himself.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Cost To "Free UAB"
So the Students at UAB have started a "Free UAB" campaign and as proof that the Birmingham Alabama campus is free from their perception of the tyrannical grip of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees, they want a new on campus football stadium. Here is their pitch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMqjHtq8OTg&feature=player_embedded
Now lets examine the current state of finances in the athletic department as it relates to football. Donations to UAB football dropped 26 percent from 2005 to 20010, according to UAB's most recent NCAA financial reports. In 2009 the football program received double ($2 million) what was projected it would need ($935,552) and still lost $1.7 million.
Does everyone understand why UAB wants a new place to play? Absolutely, yes we do. Are we willing to foot the bill for a 27,500 seat $75 million stadium? I for one say get out of the cellar in attendance in the "Sun Belt Conference" before you expect anyone to take you seriously. In 2011 the Blazers averaged 16,579 in home attendance and everybody is well aware of the routine give away program that is offered at each UAB home game that it took to even reach those abysmal numbers.
It's time to breakout one of the most appropriate if also most overused cliches in the book and remind the Free UAB crowd: If you can't run with the big dogs, then stay on the Legion Field porch.
Now lets examine the current state of finances in the athletic department as it relates to football. Donations to UAB football dropped 26 percent from 2005 to 20010, according to UAB's most recent NCAA financial reports. In 2009 the football program received double ($2 million) what was projected it would need ($935,552) and still lost $1.7 million.
Does everyone understand why UAB wants a new place to play? Absolutely, yes we do. Are we willing to foot the bill for a 27,500 seat $75 million stadium? I for one say get out of the cellar in attendance in the "Sun Belt Conference" before you expect anyone to take you seriously. In 2011 the Blazers averaged 16,579 in home attendance and everybody is well aware of the routine give away program that is offered at each UAB home game that it took to even reach those abysmal numbers.
It's time to breakout one of the most appropriate if also most overused cliches in the book and remind the Free UAB crowd: If you can't run with the big dogs, then stay on the Legion Field porch.
Righ Or Wrong
Another National Signing Day for college recruits is in the books and another #1 class for Coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. If it's true that history has a tendency to repeat itself, then after the Tide's 3rd top ranked recruiting class in 4 years they can expect to find themselves back in the BCS Title game before their time in Tuscaloosa is done.
While the Bama Nation was all smiles and giggles at the end of the day the same cannot be said for one recruit that found himself on the outside looking in. Darius Philon 3 star DT out of Vigor High School in Mobile had been committed to Alabama for 6 months and expected to sign with the Crimson Tide on signing day, but just two weeks before the big day he was informed that there likely now would not be enough room for him to come in with the rest of the class and he was asked to take a Greyshirt and delay his enrollment.
While some have opined that he had other options that included waiting out the time period and then joining the team, others feel that the Coaching staff should have honored the scholarship to the point of possibly losing another, potentially higher rated player in the name of principle.
It's not for me to say since I don't know anything about private conversations that went on between the player and coaches. But I can say this. Given the stature of Nick Saban and his oft testy relationship with the media, then add in the many times he stresses doing things the right way, and he is sure to come under some harsh scrutiny over this situation. If this happens you can all but bet that who ever is doing the writing or talking will reveal their prior feelings for Saban which will likely determine the direction of the slant on the story, for or against.
Everything wasn't done right by the coaching staff, and the young man could have made a different decision. Both are true and makes neither a villain nor a saint and any attempt to categorize either only one way is inaccurate and unfair. Just remember, if we lived in a perfect world I would be sipping Margaritas on the deck of my Luxury Yacht in Charlotte Amalie right now instead of hacking away about the events of the day.
While the Bama Nation was all smiles and giggles at the end of the day the same cannot be said for one recruit that found himself on the outside looking in. Darius Philon 3 star DT out of Vigor High School in Mobile had been committed to Alabama for 6 months and expected to sign with the Crimson Tide on signing day, but just two weeks before the big day he was informed that there likely now would not be enough room for him to come in with the rest of the class and he was asked to take a Greyshirt and delay his enrollment.
While some have opined that he had other options that included waiting out the time period and then joining the team, others feel that the Coaching staff should have honored the scholarship to the point of possibly losing another, potentially higher rated player in the name of principle.
It's not for me to say since I don't know anything about private conversations that went on between the player and coaches. But I can say this. Given the stature of Nick Saban and his oft testy relationship with the media, then add in the many times he stresses doing things the right way, and he is sure to come under some harsh scrutiny over this situation. If this happens you can all but bet that who ever is doing the writing or talking will reveal their prior feelings for Saban which will likely determine the direction of the slant on the story, for or against.
Everything wasn't done right by the coaching staff, and the young man could have made a different decision. Both are true and makes neither a villain nor a saint and any attempt to categorize either only one way is inaccurate and unfair. Just remember, if we lived in a perfect world I would be sipping Margaritas on the deck of my Luxury Yacht in Charlotte Amalie right now instead of hacking away about the events of the day.
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