odds and endzones: when the game loves you back

the world of football is a weird one. to succeed in it, the individual must possess talent, confidence, and focus that measure off the charts. this makes the inhabitants of this weird world, you know, absolutely nothing like you and me. in a nod to this strangeness, fuhbaw presents odds and endzones, a collection of weird news from the football world that promises to run randomly and without warning.

$#!%@ a lot of ink was spilled last year over a 37 year old quarterback, but don't expect that trend to continue despite another old man qb plying his trade at the age this year. david epstein over at si.com put together a fascinating portrait of aaron garcia, the veteran arena league player. garcia's story is one brimming with as much odd dedication - what with his 14 years of service in the hardscrabble league - as it is hard luck. the list of his varied injuries and surgeries is nearly as engrossing as his almost shots and near misses. while garcia's story is a great one, what really made my jaw drop is the almost nonchalant mention that he pulls down six figures a season, low six figures, but six figures nonetheless. it's a startling sum from what amounts to a third tier league. and speaks to the power of television contracts, in particular the afl's 2006 agreement with espn.

$#!%@ the nfl continues its push into the larger world with a second regular season game at london's wembley stadium this upcoming season. last year's contest pitted the giants and dolphins in a muddy, sloppy game. despite that game's general ugliness, it didn't deter interest in this year's match-up between the chargers and saints. according to reuters, the first batch of tickets - nearly half of wembley's 81,000 football seats - sold out in 90 minutes yesterday, at the same rate as last year's flurry of demand. that's good news for the league which has committed to two more seasons beyond this one in the united kingdom. there's talk of eventually expanding further into europe, but first the league will need the uk experiment to be an unqualified success.

$#!%@ peter king began this slowest of offseason weeks going deep on tarvaris jackson in his monday morning quarterback column. king expressed hope that the minnesota quarterback in his third year is ready to lead a ridiculously talented team through a serious playoff run. mds over at the fanhouse pokes holes in king's arguments, specifically king's use of stats that aren't telling, to support his belief that jackson will never be a quality starting qb in the nfl. but the last word of the week goes to zac at throwing into traffic. zac dives right into jackson's paradox, his dual nature, possessor of incredible talent and moments of baffling incompetence. however, if minnesota truly desires greatness, zac argues that the vikings need jackson:

If the team is going to get everything it can out of RB Adrian Peterson, it’s going to need to get defenders out of the box, and neither Frerotte nor Booty is shaking defenses down. If Jackson even starts to find a rhythm, however, there’s not a single throw he can’t make, and that, combined with his mobility, forces defenders to adjust.

the picture zac paints for the vikings upcoming season is one vibrant colors. there is no middle ground left, and, apparently, no place for game managers. zac's thought piece is definitely well worth a read.

battles: afc east

how's my offseason going? i'm glad you asked. it's reaching the point where if we're not talking about grown men running into each other in full pads, i really don't want to hear it. i can't pick apart weary statements made by coaches to repetitive questions asked by beat reporters, seeking out any slight perceived or real. there's so little actual controversy this time of year. in fact, this is the anti-controversy season. everything's been coated with air freshener. every junker and dragster is buffed to a high gloss before the twists and turns of training camp, the unexpected detours of preseason games, then the dead-on sprint of the regular season.

but what about these sundry moving parts that will make up each team? building an nfl roster is a year round job, occasionally some tinkering, sometimes a full on chop job. players come and go from rosters all season and offseason. but the major addition and subtraction to all rosters happens in those first months of the offseason already behind us, that is until the waves of training camp cuts throughout august and early september.

camp is still two months away, only scattered organized team activities and minicamps between now and then. there's no better time to look at those coming camp battles that will most define each team. let's start with the afc east.

bills

everyone in buffalo is likely to hawk the progress of rookie receiver james hardy. but a couple pitched battles on the defensive side might mean more to the bills success next year. corner and defensive tackle were the bills top targets in the draft and free agency respectively, but you need at least two good ones and another solid one at both positions to turn them into a strength. while buffalo has high hopes for leodis mckelvin, their first round selection from troy, they're expecting an immediate impact from marcus stroud, the tackle they traded for from jacksonville. who plays opposite stroud the majority of the time is big question. will john mccargo live up to expectations? what about spencer johnson who backed up the best tackle tandem in the league at minnesota? or what of the two slightly undersized, third year pros jason jefferson and kyle williams?

stroud played his days at jacksonville opposite john henderson, whose size and power complimented stroud's combination of size and quick first step. buffalo will need solid production at the three technique, or under tackle, if they plan on putting stroud at the nose. if one of the other four tackles emerges in camp, the pressure on the young corners will lessen. and the bills who slogged through fourteen wins in two seasons can perhaps ugly their way into the playoffs.

dolphins

the trick with the dolphins is picking the most important camp battle - there's so many to choose from. pencil jake long in on the line's blind side. but who's blind side? josh beck's, josh mccown's, or chad henne's? will ronnie brown be fully recovered? or will the enigma ricky williams battle it out with rookies jalen parmele and lex hilliad? will defensive backs emerge from a bunch of unknowns and so-far busts? jason ferguson will man the nose tackle, but who surrounds him as two-gapping ends? if the fins are to have any chance this year to surprise observers, with so many questions, i think it will have to happen along the lines. their offensive line is strangely devoid of much controversy. therefore the question of defensive end moves front and center in training camp. rookies phillip merling and kendall langford will fight for playing time against converted tackles vonnie holliday, paul soliai, randy starks, rodrique wright, and matt roth. the competition might be most wide open in all of camp. can the rookies adjust to the speed of the nfl game? can the veterans make the shift to manning the edge instead of pushing the interior?

the quarterback competition might have a longer term impact on the team, but it won't matter much to this season if the offensive and defensive lines continue to be unmanned turnstiles. i look for holliday who's made a career of hanging on but not being dominant to lead the group through the season. if either merling or langford have to start because the vets can't handle the edge, expect another ugly season against the run especially early in the schedule.

jets

sure the jets couldn't score last year, but they didn't reach a 10-6 wild card spot in 2006 by outgunning their opposition. they controlled the line of scrimmage, especially on defense in crucial situations. last year, their front seven crumbled. an aggressive trade brought kris jenkins from carolina to man the nose. free agency brought calvin pace to man the strongside outside backer. then the draft brought in vernon gholston to man the weakside outside backer, the dansby opposite pace. new york spent some dough on the offensive line and you can bet that kellen clemens is getting the first look at quarterback. some jets fans might be tearing out their hair over receiver, but it looks like running back might be the bigger question to the coaching staff. thomas jones was the chicago offense 2005 and 2006. and i thought he looked good behind a dismal jets line last year despite a low yards per carry. still with two undersized waterbugs in leon washington and jesse chatman and recent free agent signing musa smith, a battering ram inside, the job looks to be fair game.

i think jones has the legs still to hold onto the job, but chatman and smith look to get a lot of reps. washington was the team mvp last year, doing a bit of everything through a losing campaign, might be again forced to prove himself mostly on special teams and trick plays. either way, i get the sense the jets plan on running the ball a lot this upcoming season.

patriots

new england may have lost the super bowl along the offensive line over the balance of three and half quarters, but little looks to change upfront. at linebacker, a couple of rookies in jerod mayo and shawn crable could steal some playing time from a veteran group, but unless either truly impresses, expect belichick to put jets castoff victor hobson ahead of mayo and crable on the depth chart. no, with the loss of asante samuel and randall gay, corner looks to be big fat head scratcher on the roster. the pats may have drafted terrence wheatley and jonathan wilhite, but you can bet they hope to develop free agent bargains fernando bryant and lewis sanders to man the spot opposite ellis hobbs.

nobody's done better in the defensive backfield with less over the balance of the decade than belichick. so i don't doubt new england will get along just fine through the regular season. still it will be interesting to watch who emerges, and if one of the rookies can make the leap, maybe to nickleback. of course, practicing opposite randy moss and wes welker won't hurt anything except their confidence from time to time.

the business of business

i fully intended an in-depth and illuminating post last week about the collective bargaining agreement. but i couldn't force myself to focus. i became that kid who swapped his ritalin for a handful of mars bars, leg fidgeting, limited attention span running over everything else in the room besides my computer and collected research.

the cba and the owners decision to opt out it for 2011 season is certainly the biggest league development in the last week, if not the offseason. yes, we'll have football as usual this season and next, then an uncapped year in 2010. after that, if no deal is in place, the owners will likely lockout the players.

as a packers fan, it's hard not to get a sick feeling at the thought of revenue sharing and the salary cap disappearing into thin air. plus, the cba will be a fulcrum on which many big issues turn: reasonable contracts for rookies, a potential 17th game, more or less guaranteed money for players, the competitive balance between the 32 teams. yes, this is big stuff.

yet it's difficult to mobilize all the requisite interest an issue of this magnitude deserves. the last cba was an eleventh hour agreement, one which made strides for the nfl player's association, typically the weakest of the major sports unions. obviously, the owners were still unhappy with giving the players 60% of the total football revenue. but nfl players play a brutal and demanding sport without fully guaranteed contracts unlike their brethren in the mlb and nba.

i might possess some natural sympathy for the player's side in the coming struggle, but there is no league without the owners. the business side of the league needs to be smooth sailing, and there are plenty of issues on that side that require attention, not least of which the ballooning contracts for rookies. paying the top players in the draft big money is directly diverting money from proven veterans and free agency. it's forcing some bad business decisions especially for the league's worst teams, the ones who are supposed to be helped not hindered by the draft.

in effect, this fight is a necessary one, but one waged on a playing field strewn with hundred dollar bills, both sides trying to carve themselves off as big of a portion of that fattened cow standing at midfield as they can. the nfl isn't hurting for popularity and team revenues are at all time highs. the league is also pushing itself into as many revenue streams and markets as it can reasonably handle.

and that's all great. i want there to be nfl football into perpetuity. but there's always a bit of revulsion on the fan's side, witnessing such a fight over money. we react to the game as something outside of the corporate capitalist reality we live and work in. we spend money hand-over-fist on game tickets, cable packages, jerseys, nfl films dvd's, consoling or celebratory shots of whiskey, etc., to gain a reprieve from those monthly budgets, home mortgages, and car payments.

i don't know if pro sports qualifies as fantasy, but there's something simple about it, something that plays to virtues we've seen obscured during the rise of industry. it's the knowledge that a game is just a game, and that's what makes it important.

i might be able to work up some interest in the coming labor fight if they treated it like a skills competition, setting up all the issues against each other. if the rookies want to keep their millions and millions, they have to beat out the veterans in tim krumrie's hand fighting drill. if the owners want to roll back the players' piece of the pie, they have to figure out some way to literally get the shirts off the players' backs. the league could broadcast it in the downtime following the draft and before training camp opens. a whole new set of mel kipers, with law backgrounds, could pop up all over the internet with scouting reports. it could be another reason to not watch baseball until the last month or two of the season.

barring a televised american gladiators approach to the negotiations, i won't be writing much on the cba, instead i'm training my focus back onto the upcoming season, real football as it were... which feels so remote yet promises to be back soon. fuhbaw will start looking at the most heated training camp battles that are on the horizon. i can't see the owners and players killing the golden goose even if the negotiations again go to the eleventh hour. if they are so foolish then my gaze at pro sports might glaze over permanently.

marvin lewis has had it with your reasonable behavior

fuhbaw plans a nice long post for friday morning hitting some of the big issues of the week. in the meantime, head over to throwing into traffic where zac tackles the perhaps the oddest news item of the week, this one out of cincy, the franchise that 'knows' how to conduct an offseason. keep up the crazy faith, marvin, whatever that is...

nails, meet coffin

considering the time of year, it's been a surprisingly busy nfl news week. but before fuhbaw delves into the nfl owners decision to opt out of the current cba or the st louis rams potential return to los angeles (and whether the team is even for sale) i want to offer a few final thoughts on the seeming end of spygate.

a week and a half ago, i addressed spygate's sudden end with a note of finality. in the tense months following the super bowl, the public encountered so much uncertainty. we learned a little, then a little more, then some accusations were thrown around... then, well, walsh's evidence came forth. some of the details of the patriots' cheating were certainly new. but walsh wasn't spygate's deep throat.

senator arlen specter was instrumental in bringing to light the extent of the patriots video taping. before his informal meeting with commissioner roger goodell, the public wasn't aware coach belichick admitted to goodell that the cheating spanned his entire career with the patriots. the shock of that admission, combined with the now redacted story by the boston herald that a tape of st louis rams practice before their super bowl against the patriots existed, created a climate of suspicion.

after talking with walsh, senator specter called for further investigation, even referencing baseball's mitchell report. without evidence to support new accusations, specter's call was met with indifference. perhaps it's a general fatigue on the media's and public's part. despite the nfl's poor handling of the scandal - much of the fallout could have been avoided with a little transparency upfront - they seem to possess enough clout with the public to avoid further scrutiny. i don't think people are concerned with the particulars of how the patriots cheated. and i don't think people worry that football will become professional wrestling, despite specter's warnings.

with the scandal's end a lot of talk early this week surrounds belichick's legacy. peter king believes the public will forever see him as a villian. michael david smith projects opinions about him will soften with time and continued success. the boston globe's bob ryan can barely deal with the taint he feels will carry over all the past and subsequent accomplishments of this patriots regime.

i wonder if the patriots would be more or less reviled if they would have completed the perfect season? would straining against such dominance even seem worth it. sure, fans of the jets, bills, dolphins, maybe steelers and colts would never let them forget about past improprieties, but the super bowl win completing a perfect season might have dampened the critics who wonder how much the cheating figured into their past success. of course, they didn't win, so we'll never know.

about that question of how much the cheating mattered, let me offer this thought. there's no doubt that new england wasn't the only team to commit this long-time infraction. but if we're going to apply all these impressive platitudes to belichick's genius then we must recognize the impressiveness of the patriots organization of this video taping operation. if belichick can wring an advantage that others can't from cut-rate players in the secondary, what kind of advantage can he wring from a purely illegal competitive advantage?

certainly, for those of us who've read the very good biography by david halberstam, the education of a coach, belichick's repeated references to his success springing from watching tape more thoroughly than anyone else take on a malicious tone. halberstam created his portrait of belichick, and to a lesser extent belichick's right hand man ernie adams, focusing on their scholarly, complete, and insanely competitive approach to football. and at the heart of that, halberstam placed their study of film. in conjunction with wright thompson's pre-super bowl piece on ernie adams, a portrait searching for its subject, one which motions to adams's genius as well as his culpability in the scandal, belichick and company are certainly facing a complex legacy.

and we can only wonder from here on out if the patriots will find a way to cheat with a similar magnitude. will adams, the director of football research, and the belichick, the genius coach, fashion another insidious ill-gotten edge? will they continue to operate in the space between the fair and the unfair advantage? the question will persist. and, i think the genius tag is what makes the weight around the franchise's neck.

it's fitting to remember that before this whole spygate mess, the patriots were respected, sometimes grudingly but respected nonetheless, for demanding an otherworldly excellence from their players. will their top brass now demand it of themselves?

writing under the influence

per general policy at fuhbaw, i steer clear of off-field stuff. the internet has no shortage of gossip, rumor, and innuendo. plus, i don't particularly care if ben roethlisberger or matt leinart gets hammered with cute girls. i'll touch on personal issues as they relate to play on the field (see: mario williams) or larger consequences for a team (see: michael vick). it's not an indifference to these players as people, rather i doubt how much we actually know them as people.

therefore i don't intend to pass judgment on seahawks linebacker lofa tatupu who was nabbed for drunk driving, at least not on tatupu as a person. what interests me about the incident is the reaction surrounding his arrest and subsequent apology. the linebacker of samoan descent is generally viewed as one of the good guys, whatever that means. he's an active backer on the field, undersized but solid at the point of attack and shifty in coverage. he quickly assumed a leadership role on a generally strong defense. he says all the right things to the media, which is to say, he crafts a respectful, if incredibly bland, public persona.

so when the seattle times reported tatupu was arrested in a mcdonald's drive-thru for driving while intoxicated, the news met an initial wave of surprise. tatupu this offseason signed a lengthy and lucrative contract extension. during the post signing press conference, general manager tim ruskell and coach mike holmgren cited tatupu's character and leadership. he figured to be a safe investment.

the initial seattle times article includes a statement of apology from tatupu released through the team. the statement is sufficiently contrite and humble. the times felt strongly enough about tatupu's sincerity they devoted an entire follow up article to his apology. in essence the follow up restates the same team released statement while filling in a few more facts about the arrest, a redundancy simply headlined: Seahawks' Tatupu apologizes after arrest.

contrast that with another recent nfl player arrest. cedric benson, running back for the bears, was busted in texas for boating under the influence. the initial report noted that benson was maced and subdued. from that point, all the other facts outside of his actual arrest remain disputed.

the authorities report benson resisted arrest. benson and witnesses from his boat claim he was cooperative, but the police were combative. on the same day that the chicago tribune reported benson's intention to fight the charges, rick morrissey wrote an editorial dismissing benson's claim out of hand and calling for his head rolling its way out of halas hall. morrissey's piece is fittingly subtitled: Arrest gives Bears reason to dump him before training camp. morrissey ties the authorities side of the arrest to benson's lack of production and fires a couple shots at the team in general for keeping around some questionable character sorts. morrissey certainly wasn't alone in jumping to the conclusion that the authorities initial report was correct one.

like tatupu, benson never before ran afoul of the law while a pro (cedric had a couple run-ins in college that may or may not be excusable). unlike tatupu, benson hasn't perform to expectations on the field. nor has benson made nice with the media in his three years in chicago. oh, and benson is black while tatupu is samoan.

just because cedric benson is a bad running back doesn't mean he's a bad person. just because lofa tatupu is a good linebacker doesn't mean he's a good person. this is where the lines in sportswriting starts to blur. there's a difficult balance to achieve between a player's biography, the play on the field, the public's intense curiosity, the media's suffocating presence. into this hazy realm, the man and the player can be confused, prejudices start to emerge, ulterior motives come to the fore. in the rush to judgment, all of us assemble what little we know and throw it together. it's even worse when we choose to ignore some of what little we have at our avail.

i don't know what these arrests mean for both tatupu and benson. they could both be wonderful guys, they could both be lowlifes. what does concern me looking at the two very different set of reactions is what these incidents say about us who read, write, or rush to judgment of others

odds and endzones: breakroom beatdown

the world of football is a weird one. to succeed in it, the individual must possess talent, confidence, and focus that measure off the charts. this makes the inhabitants of this weird world, you know, absolutely nothing like you and me. in a nod to this strangeness, fuhbaw presents odds and endzones, a collection of weird news from the football world that promises to run randomly and without warning.

$#!%@ this isn't exactly a *news* item, but i thought it was too cool not to note. during the ravens first minicamp, a fight ensued that eventually included every player present. on wednesday, redskins tight end chris cooley chimed in about the roster-wide brawl. cooley blogs weekly at yahoo!'s shutdown corner. cooley brings proper context to the fight, mainly, that in such a brutal sport, camp fights are inevitable and often aren't a big deal... nothing too remarkable except for this hilarious passage:

Few jobs allow you to run at full speed to knock the hell out of your co-worker. Imagine it being okay to tackle Bob at the water cooler as long as it’s a clean hit. Forget any legal implication, just make sure to aim in the region of Bob’s chest and don’t forget to drive your legs through contact.

The thing is, Bob has a breaking point and it’s not long before Bob takes the water cooler and hits you upside the head. Bob’s retaliation would seem reasonable, however, it is ultimately counterproductive to a positive work environment. Bob should have paid more attention to his offer letter, where it clearly states that the chest is a clean hit, and that the water cooler has always and will always be in bounds!

certainly the best mental image conjured up this offseason. brilliant idea by yahoo! to provide a bigger stage for cooley.

$#!%@ former nfl player curtis whitley was found dead yesterday in his wes texas home. whitley played center in the league starting with the chargers then being a solid player on the first panthers teams in the mid-90s. in and out of trouble with the league for drug abuse, whitley finished up his career abruptly with the raiders. whitley was just 39 at the time of his death. though the death remains under investigation, whitley had an admitted long history with crystal meth. much sympathy for whitley, a guy who always struggled with his demons. in another news, no drug freaks me out more than crystal meth, it's like something out of a philip dick novel, the way it dramatically destroys abusers.

$#!%@ yesterday the usc trojans and the la coliseum agreed to a new lease. their agreement is for 25 years and calls for upgrades in the seats and video monitors. after trojans coach pete carroll flirted with the city of pasadena and the rose bowl, it still doesn't come as a huge surprise usc settled on the coliseum. of course, because the nfl doesn't find the facilities at the coliseum adequate for a pro team, don't expect this new lease to help bring pro football back to los angeles. in fact, this probably hinders such an effort. the city owns the coliseum and won't assent to allowing an nfl team play anywhere else. and as long as the coliseum makes the city just enough money, they won't do a complete overhaul. of course, no one says los angeles needs another pro team besides the trojans...

summer reading: the real all americans

here at fuhbaw, we don't just analyze problems, we offer solutions, too. to better face the football-free months admist summer's sweltering heat, fuhbaw presents some considerations for your summer reading list. first up are books that explore the early history of the game.

in its infancy, football was a sport of lightly officiated brutality. before facemasks, before helmets, a rough and tumble lawlessness ruled the sport. young men at the most privileged colleges and universities in the country developed a code of football that centered around a violent scrum, a pit of punching, kicking, and gouging. as football spread in popularity from the ivies west, it took a team of american indians from the newly founded carlisle school to prove what this new game was capable of, demonstrating the place of speed and guile over brute force. sally jenkins's the real all americans restores this singular legacy to this unique team often overlooked by history.

founded as american's western frontier was closing, the carlisle indian school was one man's attempt to solve the 'indian problem'. colonel richard henry pratt for good and ill sought to integrate the indian into american culture. he founded the carlisle school with this rigid determination, a dream utopic as it was dogmatic. but a strange thing happened over the course of carlisle's existence, the students made just as much of a mark on the institution as pratt and found ways to assert their indian-ness... most publicly through football.

much of jenkins's narrative of the ups and downs of the school is played across the backdrop of the closing of the west. civilization was taking hold quickly across the country and mechanization was bounding forth at an alarming rate. football acted as a proving ground of manhood in a world where those challenges seemed to be slipping away. for the students at carlisle, football became an obsession, a (sometimes) level playing field on which the supposed inferior indians proved time and again the equal or superior to their white counterparts. and despite pratt's initial reluctance to support the game, its violence leaving an early bad impression, he eventually championed football and the team's successes as proof his students ability and carlisle's value.

jenkins does a thorough job in illuminating the stories of not just the various students who made the carlisle team a national sensation in the years surrounding the turn of the century, she also integrates the politics of the time, the issues students and their families were grappling with in this era of sudden and irreversible change. the book places carlisle's successes in rich context, especially in contrast to their privileged opponents, harvard, yale, army, etc.

the real all americans also revels in the advancements the small and light indian team brought to the game, their ingenuity in devising new formations and trick plays. with coach glenn 'pop' warner, the carlisle indians developed an attack fully utilizing their incredible speed and field intelligence. also, jenkins corrects a common misperception that knute rockne's notre dame team was the first to feature a pass heavy attack... in fact, carlisle used such an offense to stun opponents in their 1912 season, one that nearly netted them a national championship before scandal brought down the school.

a lot of history and complexity intersects in the real all americans, but jenkins pulls it off with ease. my only criticism is wanting more in her excellent game summaries, a tribute more to her engrossing descriptions than any lack of substance.

further reading

carlisle vs. army by lars anderson. covering the same topic as jenkins, anderson approaches it through the prism of the 1912 game, singling out that contest's three most important personalities: pop warner, jim thorpe, and dwight eisenhower. a good compliment to jenkins's thorough account.

the breaker boys by david fleming. back when the nfl started small town teams were the rule not the exception. fleming tells the story of one of those small town teams, the 1925 pottsville maroons, and the controversy surrounding their stripped championship.

basic training camp

one of the issues i struggle with writing about football, especially the game itself, is the language used. for something such as football, a bounded world with clear rules and a distinct history, the words and phrases describing it rely on a hodgepodge of mixed metaphors and stock cliches. i've never found out just how an offensive line 'gels' much less why any team would want their blockers to turn into a jelly-like substance.

some descriptions are confusing, like 'gelling'. some are lazy, like anything borrowed from baseball. but quite a bit of football's language derives from war. field generals, campaigns, blitzes, trenches, platoons, etc. no doubt football more than another sport shares some analogies with war. complex maneuvers are accomplished by repeated drilling, action starts and stops suddenly, necessary but interchangeable parts flow on and off the contested field.

but football is not war. the brutality, meaning, and stakes don't even compare. sometimes in the intense and focused world of the locker room, that distinction is lost (see: lieutenant winslow's 'i'm a soldier' rant).

yet it's safe to say three nfl hopefuls won't confuse the two worlds... lions safety caleb campbell, bills fullback mike viti, and giants punter owen tolson are all former army players and west point trained cadets attempting to latch onto their respective teams. while none is guaranteed to make a nfl roster, a relatively new rule at the academy allows cadets to delay their service commitment while they remain on professional sports rosters. the cadets must complete recruiting duties and serve eventually, either actively or as part of the reserves depending on how long they play in the nfl.

campbell was the only of the three drafted and probably possesses the best chance of making a team (tolson and viti came to their teams as undrafted free agents). immediately after the draft, a few articles about campbell popped up. some questioned his priorities choosing the nfl over service. some lauded his military training, in effect over preparing him for the rigorous world of the nfl. yet many expressed a hope that campbell could avoid serving in one of the war torn battle zones he most likely would be preparing for now that his career at west point is at a close.

i'll not question the priorities of any of these players. the army put in place this new policy, none of these players forced it upon west point's top brass. and, in such a highly competitive world, luck and timing will be as much to credit for any success campbell, tolson and viti attain. it's the last sentiment that imparts to me some unease.

before i continue let me say, i did not support the decision to invade iraq. nor do i agree with much of how the war continues to be handled. yet, i am no pacifist. military and the threat of force is vital to this country's place in the modern world. i'm deeply appreciative of the sacrifice our military makes to defend this country, sacrifices that have been all too necessary.

i have friends who've served in branches of the armed forces, some still serving. i've never quite known how to talk about issues which are so clearly a matter of life and death to them, yet remain so remote and abstract to me. there's an uncomfortable barrier that comes down between the civilian and the soldier at pivotal moments. my life feels comforting and ridiculous by comparison, my concerns trivial. i can only imagine this same barrier works inside every soldier when he or she comes home to civilian life after serving.

the decision by campbell, tolson, and viti to try their hand at pro sports is basically not an issue in which to insert our beliefs about this war, that war, or wars in general. it's a decision as deeply personal as everyone else's choice to volunteer or not volunteer for our all-volunteer armed forces in the first place. all three players will serve eventually, some sooner than others. all three enrolled in west point when our country was already engaged in war. they know the stakes, they've arrived at a difficult decision. as tolson told the new york times:

Obviously, we’re sort of torn. We have our buddies, football players, classmates, who are going to be overseas. But it’s going to be a different mission, and we’re still going to be helping the Army positively and helping West Point.

there is no statement against the iraq war involved here in any of these decisions. we can and should discuss the wisdom or efficacy of this new policy by west point, but i don't know of any insight i've gained from reading about the politics surrounding each of these three individual decisions.

strangely enough, campbell's, tolson's, and viti's stories are now about football. and a shot that most can only dream about. this isn't about you or me or the bush administration. we're not talking about heroes, we're talking about people, people trying to walk that line between citizen and soldier, a line sometimes fine, sometimes broad. and a line uniquely theirs.

death of a giant killer

well, that's it. wait, is that it? that can't be it...

the new england patriots videotaping scandal which opened one of the greatest football seasons in recent memory threatened to drag down the dynasty of this decade. as the news comes to us, however, further disgrace was averted for one of the nfl's flagship franchises.

shortly before the super bowl the boston herald reported the existence of another tape - another tape beside the ones commissioner roger goodell destroyed after his investigation into the cheating scandal was complete. this 'new' tape allegedly contained the st louis rams' final walkthrough before the super bowl against new england, a game that ended in a shocking patriots upset.

after this latest super bowl, matt walsh, a former new england employee emerged, claiming to possess damning evidence against his former team. somewhere along the way, matt walsh and his threats were conflated with this tape of the rams' final walkthrough.

as reported by the new york times on wednesday night, this is not the case. the tapes walsh sent the nfl jive with everything coach bill belichick and the patriots divulged to the commissioner during his investigation. certainly, no tape of the rams' super bowl walkthrough was provided.

while i'm still not clear on how taping an opponent's practice is more cheating than taping an opponent's in-game signals, the distinction was strong enough for the nfl and the public at large. i hesitate to say the nfl dodged a bullet in this case, if the rams walthrough tape doesn't exist, then there's no bullet to dodge. yet there's no doubting its best for the patriots and the league that this super bowl walkthrough tape doesn't exist.

important to remember, too, is how the league could have avoided the past several months of accusations and worst-case scenarios. the general public had no idea that coach bill belichick confessed to the commissioner a long history of taping opponents signals. so little was explained and the tapes handed over to goodell for his investigation were destroyed soon after that most observers and fans assumed the punishment meted out was solely in response to the taping of the week one game between the jets and patriots.

not until senator arlen specter called the commissioner in for a chat did the public discover that belichick admitted to taping opponents signals for much of his head coaching career. during this time of uncertainty, walsh's accusations surfaced. in effect, the potency of his claims derived from this uncertainty. had the nfl been forthright with the extent of belichick's admissions, its likely that walsh's accusations would never had the damaging public relations effect that it did through the past several months. suspect journalism and ensuing speculation attacked the patriots' past improprieties. but, most importantly, a calculated silence abetted it.

a further question, is anyone at the herald sticking by the story? i'm not prone to conspiracy theories, and it's highly doubtable the commissioner wields the requisite might to muscle diverse media outlets to get in line, but there's a noticeable lack of fire where there's been a lot of smoke...

unless new evidence surfaces, then, yes, this is the end of spygate, patriotgate, cameragate - whatever watergate reference i'm sick of typing due to its lack of imagination. i harbor no ill will against patriots fans or their team. yes, new england has long been the purveyors of boring football. recalling a single pre-randy moss highlight reel that doesn't end in a field goal is a mind numbing task.

their lack of artistry aside, the patriots built a team on (mostly) unimpeachable character and sound football principles. at least, it's the kind of stuff that plays well to the crowd. the perfection almost attained was grounded in an old-school domination that has long eluded the game, at least at the pro level. this domination should have been undeniable like lombardi, like the bear-down chicago bears, but it flashed us a fatal flaw.

if spygate is truly set to recede quietly into the background then i want to thank the whole mess for providing the final ingredient that sweetened the giants super bowl victory. make all the jokes you want, but how many fans of sundry nfl teams would have believed in week 16 they would be cheering wildly for the team from new york to land the upset of the young century? as confirmed by my experience at the draft, fans of the 31 forged common ground against one. that's a truly spectacular villainy at work - a roguish cap tipped in your general direction, foxboro.

the thin man

marvin harrison. the quiet man. the anti primadonna. the media’s counterpoint to randy moss tantrums or terrell owens batshit insanity. average in height. slight of frame. one of the game’s best receivers for an eight year stretch. a slippery ghost on the field. in and out of his breaks with deceptive speed. a consummate technician. a record holder without any of the chest thumping.

that marvin harrison finds himself in the middle of some shady shit. reports surfaced last friday that harrison faced police questioning during an investigation of a philadelphia shooting earlier in the week. a strange constellation of details emerged: a fist fight, a bar harrison owns called playmakers, shots fired, armor piercing slugs from a rare belgian gun, a car wash harrison owns where the slugs were recovered, harrison's extensive gun collection including the rare belgian gun.

i don’t know what happened. very few people do. and the police are proceeding through the investigation with caution. we might not know the truth for quite some time. there is no body count, only a couple of injuries.

i generally take athletes for what they are, fallible mortals prone to the same mistakes all humans are. i chuckle to myself while reading training camp puff pieces about so-and-so’s refreshing humility. i don’t doubt the sports world is filled with hard workers and stand-up individuals, but i just can’t imagine the athlete who has ascended the pinnacle that is pro sports without possessing a supreme self confidence, an overlarge ego even. no matter how hard sportswriters try to shoehorn a certain player into the 'average joe' myth, he's just not gonna fit.

so here we have marvin harrison, stand in for the average guy in the crazy world of pro football, mixed up in a situation anything but ordinary, anything but average. however, if we remember that harrison is an athlete extraodinaire, possessor of fabulous wealth, hailing from a rough and tumble background, are these murky details so unique?

a rash of recent crimes have targeted athletes like tampa bay corner phillip buchanon, knicks center eddie curry, and texans corner dunta robinson among others. rookie steelers running back rashard mendenhall was mugged in chicago over the weekend. the tragedy of sean taylor shook the small world of the nfl very hard by all accounts. guns, enemies, shady opportunists, bravado igniting tempers... a big bullseye, difficult to wear.

marvin's public identity rests foremost on his quiet nature, his lack of complaint, his even temper. he's not prone to the histrionics associated with his position on the field. (though, i think the wide receiver/diva issue is overstated, a pre-written complaint for lazy sportswriters to file instead of delving further into the issue at hand.) others have raised the question, what do we really know about marvin harrison? what do we really know about any athlete? who's foolish enough to bear his soul to reporters looking for any angle, any eye catching headline?

yet there is an undeniable quality to marvin which makes this news shocking. i’m a bit of a football fanatic (does the blog give it away?) and still i have no recollection what marvin harrison’s voice sounds like. i know i’ve watched him interviewed, i’ve listened to him at postgame press conferences. yet his voice left no traces in memory.

upon hearing the reports over the weekend, i was taken aback. at this stage i'm not inclined toward belief or disbelief. the world of sportswriters is usually rife with kneejerk reactions and mad dashes to judgment. but harrison's situation instead is invoking a holding pattern, a rare wait-and-see approach.

last week, after the bizarre anything-but-epic confrontation between buzz bissinger and will leitch on costas now, traditional media and sports blogfrica both scrambled to define and redefine their relationship with each other and with sports as a whole. one of the common mainstream media complaints with blogging is a complete disregard for their subjects (suppressing urge to go off on a media-blogging tangent). yet in marvin's case, both print and net are offering a nearly universal disbelief.

is really any difference between deadspin's headline 'marvin harrison? really?' and the local beat's 'too early to defend or blame harrison'. in fact, the most informative and insightful article i've read comes from that rumormonger mike florio writing at the sporting news about the legal scenarios of the case based on the facts known or suspected.

again, at this juncture, nothing is for certain. marvin might be all that we've believed him to be for the balance of his career. he might be guilty of a crime in some capacity of another (and he still might be who we've believed him to be for the balance of his career). he might be a gun crazy sociopath. we just don't know. and by 'we' i mean the traditional media and the bloggers all groping in the dark.

episode iv

new hope (that's right, fuhbaw brings the geekdom in several flavors). rookies from the 2008 class are acclimating to their new nfl cities. the step is a big one no doubt. the athlete bubble persists in some degree, but the small world of the college campus, the unchecked status, the easy godhead, gives way to a more primordial struggle.

the accolades and accomplishments of a college career only earn these rookies the price of admission. fourth round draft picks flame out faster than male hairdressers at a madonna concert. every first round lock is potentially tattooed with the word 'bust' in gothic font across his chest. seventh round tackles whose a scouting report decries a lack of athleticism might yet turn out to be that nasty tempered mauler on the right side (like my man tauscher).

in the lead up to the draft, everyone cautions disbelief at all things read or heard. false reports abound, leaked from front offices, filtered through the media, setting up feints and smokescreens. in april, the often contested gossip of the nfl season is exchanged for outright lies.

i might caution disbelief at much read or heard after the draft as well. lies and deception aren't to blame. rather a distinct optimism that most writers and fans don't wear well beats at the heart of these post-draft articles and essays. hope and faith both form the bedrock of being a fan, but as a group sports fans prefer to keep that core a couple layers below the surface.

training camp is nearly three months away. at this point every sixth round draft pick is a lock to make the team, provides an instant upgrade, is a bucket drawn from the well of potential, etc, etc. most general managers consider a draft class producing three solid starters culled from an average of eight players selected a very good draft. consider that and realize how lofty these hopes are. no matter, the love fest dissipates into the hot july air after that first collision of shoulder pads.

case in point, an article at the st louis post-dispatch introducing and cautiously commending the rams 2008 draft class. writer jeff gordon concludes, 'But Linehan and Devaney expect this rookie class to do more than fill some lineup holes and provide more depth... they expect this class to help change the personality of the team'. sure, no tall order there. chris long can dramatically alter the rams' identity in-between midnight donut runs for marc bulger and orlando pace.

i don't mean to come off as overly pessimistic. this is the time to carve off a sliver of hope for the rookies struggling to learn the playbook, earn the respect of their coaches and peers, and climb the depth chart. (i believe in you, patrick lee, i really do...) but in this muddled search for the best 53 dreams are going to be crushed, paths re-routed, hard lessons learned. it seems that the forging of a team's identity is almost a secondary thing, something that happens by accident... not a collection of scouting reports, bench presses and forty times tallied up by elias sports bureau.

perhaps my incredulity starts with the feeling that this business of teams re-fashioning themselves is still a lifetime away. we're staring down the barrel of nearly three months of nothing football. and when the drought finally ends there are only scattered training camp reports to pour over and interrogate for clues.

fuhbaw is not going to take this long offseason lying down though. i have a couple ideas on how to make the football free months more tolerable. check back soon for a summer reading list and other fun activities.

war rooms i've known, part two

okay, back to football after our slight departure yesterday. let's shut the lid on the nfl draft. today fuhbaw wraps up our team-by-team draft breakdown complete with grades for how well our know your war room series predicted each team's draft last weekend. where else can you find this high quality of self deprecation?

afc south

colts. a typical bill polian draft, almost every player selected produced consistently at the college level, most at big time programs. from mike pollack to philip wheeler to jacob tamme to mike hart. polian also put together a hell of a sixth round nabbing four players all with potential to make the roster. indianapolis didn't do anything different than observers expected them to. it's only a strategy that's kept them near the top of the afc year in and year out. fuhbaw's grade: b+

jaguars. jacksonville put together perhaps the most aggressive draft day, turning several selections into two players, ends derrick harvey and quentin groves. corner trae williams was a solid pick late, but their two other selections of part time players out of usc is a little baffling. still, 'the scouting department's approach to targeting players is open ended'. and they like athletes. my analysis whiffed when i claimed jacksonville 'target[s] players at their value by trading down'. hmmm. fuhbaw's grade: c-

texans. houston despite lacking picks heading into the draft, smartly assembled another group of good prospects. trading down in the first round they still nabbed their target, tackle duane brown (tech's frank beamer coaches them up well) and accumulated picks which they turned into back steve slaton and safety dominique barber. they also selected a nice mix of projects - antwaun molden, frank okam - and producers - xavier adibi, barber. despite a good tackle and solid running back, this draft was again a defense heavy one. fuhbaw's grade: b-

titans. tennessee forges its own way come draft weekend. despite having their pick of every receiving prospect, the single largest need on the team, they reached for back chris johnson. johnson could turn into a fine back despite his small frame, but it's a curious move for a team that's selected running backs early the past two seasons. still, it's in keeping with the gambling nature of the titans, 'if they're not taking a chance on character, they're taking one on measurables'. the payoff of this class, including two sizable ends, a blocking tight end, and big backer, could mean an even tougher, more athletic titans team. it could also mean they can't score touchdowns, but i'll wager jeff fisher knows what he's doing. fuhbaw's grade: a

nfc south

buccaneers. tampa went with playmakers and speed early in their draft selecting corner aqib talib, receiver dexter jackson, and fleet of foot guard jeremy zuttah. and despite having five quarterbacks on the roster, they selected josh johnson in the fifth round. despite two smaller school prospects in jackson and johnson, gm bruce allan again focused on the power conferences, big 12, acc, big east, to draw talent. fuhbaw's grade: b+

falcons. atlanta gm tom dimitroff's first draft with the falcons was a bit of departure from the expected. hailing from the new england front office, dimitroff assembled his draft class in an un-patriot way, nabbing a skill player when bulk was still on the board, trading back into the first round for a tackle later. whether or not the eleven players atlanta selected possess that team first mentality noted in new england remains to be seen. they concentrated on some solid performers in sam baker, curtis lofton, and chevis jackson. but this team is more than one draft away. fuhbaw's grade: c

panthers. despite being fleeced by philadelphia while trading back into the first round to select jeff otah, carolina added some real talent that could contribute early to a team that struggled last year. jonathan stewart is a dangerous back who should benefit from otah's road grading run blocking. charles godfrey, dan connor, and gary barnidge all produced at high levels in college. with a talented roster already, a couple impact players from this draft should go along way. fuhbaw's grade: b

saints. new orleans finally addressed their ho-hum defense and did so aggressively, trading up for tackle sedrick ellis, a top prospect. this time around coach sean payton eschewed the small school route of his previous two drafts and focused exclusively on big programs despite my claim they would continue to mine overlooked prospects 'in all likelihood'. whoops. ellis, corner tracy porter, and tackle demarrio pressley will be expected to contribute soon to a lackluster defense. fuhbaw's grade: d+

afc west

broncos. after addressing their dreadful run defense in the draft last year and seeing no improvement, denver decided a different route, ignore it and hope it goes away. seriously though, the aging broncos continued to get younger, mostly on the offense side of the ball. tackle ryan clady and receiver eddie royal might start right away. several of their mid-round picks have the ability to contribute early at depleted positions in the secondary, backfield, and along both lines. also, fullback and seventh round selection peyton hillis comes highly rated. fuhbaw's grade: b

chargers. san diego lacked for needs heading int the draft. they also lacked for picks. still gm aj smith selected talented corner antoine cason in the first round, who should immediately man the nickel position and eventually compete with quentin jammer for starting time. smith also traded into the third round to nab jacob hester, a fullback/halfback hyrid who will back up ladainian tomlinson and play special teams. their remaining three selection were dedicated to role players who might never crack the starting line-up on this talented roster. fuhbaw's grade: a-

chiefs. it almost seems like kansas city had the draft that atlanta should've had. credit the chiefs for going to the trenches early and picking several talented players at key positions. the focus of the class is defensive tackle glenn dorsey and offensive guard/tackle brandon albert, both big bad dudes that could anchor their respective lines for a decade. add in corner brandon flowers, tight end brad cottam, and safety dejuan morgan and this could end up being the definitive draft of the kansas city herm edwards era. most likely, his fortunes will ride or die with this class's success or failure. fuhbaw's grade: b+

raiders. oakland with only five selections selected speed, speed, speed, speed, and speed. no doubt back darren mcfadden is a football player as is corner tyvon branch. their other three late picks might just be athletes. but this small class of five are all raiders type players. if branch and mcfadden perform to expectations, then it will be solid. any other production is a plus. fuhbaw's grade: a

nfc west

cardinals. arizona's draft was quiet, they didn't move around, they didn't make a lot of noise, but the strategy might well prove productive. corner dominique rodgers-cromartie, end calais campbell, and receiver early doucet might contribute immediately to a talented team. and as fitting for a ken whisenhunt coached team, the cardinals selected three linemen on day two they hope to develop while bolstering depth. one hates to raise the hopes of cardinals fans given the history so i'll just say my pre-draft analysis was dead-on, yay for me! fuhbaw's grade: a

49ers. san francisco didn't lack for needs, but they came up short on picks. new general manager scott mccloghan didn't wheel and deal for more either. still, with the few selections they had, they addressed their gravest needs, along both lines. defensive tackle kentwan balmer, guard chilo rachal, and center cody wallace will all need to be productive to bolster squads that suffered losses and poor play last year. the 49ers however have little leeway if this small draft class falters. fuhbaw's grade: c-

rams. st louis did nothing stellar on draft day, eliciting only mild surprise by making donnie avery the first receiver off the board among a weak class. but after a horrendous year plagued with injuries, the rams hope they've become more athletic especially along the lines. whether end chris long, tackle john greco, and guard roy schuening succeed in bolstering weak units will go along way in deciding the fate of coach scott linehan. elsewhere receivers avery and keenan burton and defensive backs justin king and chris chamberlain should have ample opportunity to contribute early for this talented depleted team. fuhbaw's grade: b+

seahawks. seattle didn't draft like a team desperate to keep their hold on the division. instead gm tim ruskell confidently selected players in the early rounds who may not contribute right away, yet project well in the long term. end lawrence jackson, tight end john carlson, and defensive tackle red bryant represent solid potential. while the second half of ruskell's draft was spent on needed role players like fullback (owen schmitt) long snapper (tyler schmitt) and kicker (brandon coutu). weird drafting a long snapper, but because the name 'boone stutz' equates to a curse word in the pacific northwest, an understandable move. as i noted, ruskell focused on big school and solid production. yet in a deep offensive line class, he strangely ignored one of the team's biggest needs in the long term. fuhbaw's grade: b

fuhbaw off topic: sports nerd fight!

by now, most of the sports blog world is abuzz with tuesday night’s throwdown on hbo’s costas now. you can see the clip in two parts over at awful announcing. for those unfamiliar, deadspin’s will leitch was invited on costas now, part of a panel consisting of author buzz bissinger and cleveland receiver braylon edwards (poor, poor braylon) nominally to discuss the place of blogging in sportswriting.

instead, bissinger, set-up by costas repeatedly, waylaid leitch with a lot of yelling and some non-sequitor points about responsible journalism (all the while spitting out strangled and garbled curses to make his point).

i must confess, i couldn’t watch the entire clip. as much as i generally like bob costas, his assistant high school prinicipal routine directed at leitch left me shuddering through memories of awful moments in my disciplinary history. it was obvious bissinger and costas cooked up a good cop/bad cop routine – a premeditated strategem not condusive in the least to open and honest debate.

what i did watch – which was most of the segment – confused me greatly. on the one hand, costas seemed to admit he and bissinger were taking issue with only a select portion of the innumerable sports blogs out there. on the other, they conflated this select portion’s taste for the absurd and propensity for vulgarity with bad writing. i must have missed that lesson in studying literature of the twentieth century. i didn’t know good writing necessitated an out-dated victorian sense of decorum (and all the hypocrisy that goes along with it).

perhaps insight can be gleaned from bissinger’s attacks. at his most incoherent, he took big daddy drew’s very intelligent article on the differences between traditional sportwriting and sports blogging to task. but instead of responding to the very insightful points raised by drew, bissinger chose to harp on an offhanded joke in the article (i don’t think there’s ever been more discussion about rich garces’s tits). never mind, drew paused to make fun of himself in the article as he does in almost every article that he writes. bissinger took a completely underhanded and sensationalist path to attacking the article. is this really the best defense for traditionalist media?

which brings me to my point. if leitch is going to be trotted and made to answer for the diversity of voices on the web, some of which he endorses and publishes, some of which he doesn’t, who’s going to answer for such hack journalists as don banks or jay mariotti?

don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of sportwriters that i love to read and read with regularity – bob mcginn at the journal-sentinel, rick gosselin at the morning news, peter king, etc. yet i’m supposed to believe that sports mainstream media is some unassailable tower when guys like michael silver and don banks are churning out crap on a weekly basis? i’m not even entirely sure that don banks likes football… his dreadfully uninsightful writing assembles a collection of cliches drawn from ap stringer game write-ups and encourages kneejerk reactions. for chrissakes, his regular column is called snap judgments, an indication of the value often contained within.

terrible sportswriting like that is precisely the reason sports fans have taken to the internet putting together their own opinions and analysis. bissinger, costas, and the rest of the howling media misses the essential fact that these bloggers comprise much of the lifeblood for sports fandom. they are fans first and foremost, fans that are so passionate they obsess, they craft elaborate jokes, they compile statistical research on a tuesday night – for the fun of it! and that’s what it is, for fun. it’s another way to enjoy sports. there’s nothing hallowed about sports in and of itself. it’s only meaning is what we fans bring to it. we want to discuss and argue and make jokes. we want to seek out opinions and analysis we can identify with.

i understand that costas and bissinger were simply protecting their turf. in a sense, the elaborate theater served to protect their access to athletes, which is a basis for their brand of sportswriting. whether or not, they really are protecting athletes or whether they should is another question. but if costas and bissinger are going to lump all sportswriters who publish on the internet as bloggers together, then i’m demanding an apology for don banks and his ilk’s barely tolerable journalism.

so please – bob, buzz – let me know why i should have to suffer banks but not enjoy drew?