tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47007578876190214832024-03-18T21:19:51.002-07:00The Village Elliot's Sports Blog A blog about sports and especially the Cleveland Browns .The Village Elliot.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04067573537341001185noreply@blogger.comBlogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-47707437040904381972021-07-05T05:13:00.000-07:002021-07-05T05:13:18.541-07:00Cincinnati Reds have no choice but to deal Nick Castellanos<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2bEDopTPO5zRcpgRRrsT1c9mPrM_OOTlBXSaATNrggUyvwrSHPxPVJS1Ox9oeB7ebFbf0F9qbupobCphGIj7cfSytOL62_fIJ0q46jf1Eu7xsqlPP0ZelhCW-jVqJ0YKzfY9Q2xn-Iri/s800/image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2bEDopTPO5zRcpgRRrsT1c9mPrM_OOTlBXSaATNrggUyvwrSHPxPVJS1Ox9oeB7ebFbf0F9qbupobCphGIj7cfSytOL62_fIJ0q46jf1Eu7xsqlPP0ZelhCW-jVqJ0YKzfY9Q2xn-Iri/w603-h401/image.png" width="603" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every Reds fan loves Nick Castellanos, but he is only under contract for this season, and the Reds will be left with nothing if they elect to not trade him this season. Castellanos is a hard-nosed, old-school ballplayer and he is playing out of his mind this year, currently hitting .340 with 16 home runs and 53 runs batted in. Plus he hustles and gets the rest of the team fired up. Dare I say he has a bit of Pete Rose in him? What's there to not like? </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, the thing to not like is the fact that the Reds cannot afford to sign players like Trevor Bauer and Nick Castellanos, and it does not make sense to simply gift wrap them for the Dodgers and the Yankees. Get something for them! </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is this sick fan logic that says that the Reds are two games over .500, so there is a 1% chance that the Reds will win it all this season. Plus, Nick seems to be happy in Cincinnati, so perhaps he will re-sign at a price the Reds can afford, at about 10 cents on the dollar...</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">No, no, no. This is not Fantasy Island, this is reality. Castellanos is not leading a charge to the World Series and is not re-signing with the Reds. Instead, he will sign a huge contract with the Boston Red Sox or someone next off-season, and the Reds will have nothing, and the fans will be totally shocked and outraged. Well, let's break the cycle.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Reds do not have to give Castellanos away. They can do what the Cleveland Indians do in this familiar situation. They do not just trade their players for minor leaguers, but instead deal for a combination of Major League players who can help now, plus prospects who can help in a year or too. So yes, they take a hit, but not a fatal one, and they can stay in the race. Get VALUE. Last season, they traded Francisco Lindor and they got back two shortstops. Amed Rosario is probably playing better than Lindor, and he can play outfield when Andrés Giménez is ready. They also got some deep prospects in the minor leagues. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Reds have a fundamental problem that somehow they signed two very high priced third basemen in Mike Moustakas and Eugenio Suarez. They have to face the awful fact that Moustakas cannot play second base and Suarez cannot play shortstop. Nor can they move one guy to first base because Joey Votto has a no-trade clause. They also signed Shogo Akiyama, hoping he would learn to hit at age 33. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">They need to unload some of these contracts. So here is what I propose. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Reds trade: Nick Castellanos, Mike Moustakas or Eugenio Suarez, and Shogo Akiyama. This package provides some major offense to a pennant contender and offloads some major payroll. Akiyama is in no way better than Aristides Aquino. It is preposterous to play a 33 year old ahead of a player who has 25 home runs in 286 big league at-bats. The front office is just playing Akiyama to justify a stupid contract, and they need to rectify their mistake and move on.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Reds get: A major league outfielder or perhaps a shortstop with one year remaining on his contract, two significant prospects, and a bullpen pitcher. This does not knock them out of the race. They can only play one third baseman at a time. They have other outfielders, though not like Castellanos, obviously. But bullpen pitchers are always needed. This offseason, the Reds will have reduced their payroll by like $30 million dollars and can sign a real ballplayer to replace Castellanos. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-32691002408173853252020-09-22T07:17:00.003-07:002020-09-22T07:17:33.722-07:002018 O-Line Stats Cleveland Browns<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgey_sBreZfjP8W0mq8OirzqdsynDpQUL695HpDLfbd0_j6IXS7BrILbf5S2Zd0asRMtQwzhDeGNNkcVrRqY9ftuJZo-4V6T6tsTyB3YuRF45aww_anBavi0lki0PSnrzYDb923nYw1mkqU/s1600/Browns+Sacks+Allowed+2018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1261" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgey_sBreZfjP8W0mq8OirzqdsynDpQUL695HpDLfbd0_j6IXS7BrILbf5S2Zd0asRMtQwzhDeGNNkcVrRqY9ftuJZo-4V6T6tsTyB3YuRF45aww_anBavi0lki0PSnrzYDb923nYw1mkqU/s640/Browns+Sacks+Allowed+2018.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharNvMWUcTxqTqtyqPkfAtL3VqVIJBx4gW5_7cAvwpAVxI7aUtjU8x8lZP-4K87OPluqYaeBgwI0O4Iq1w70S5U-_YHMYUq7BNR325crJk6zifdhtUaITSp_SfrqBCE4eVspnSA8qVbpKi/s1600/Browns+Hits+on+QB+2018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1261" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharNvMWUcTxqTqtyqPkfAtL3VqVIJBx4gW5_7cAvwpAVxI7aUtjU8x8lZP-4K87OPluqYaeBgwI0O4Iq1w70S5U-_YHMYUq7BNR325crJk6zifdhtUaITSp_SfrqBCE4eVspnSA8qVbpKi/s640/Browns+Hits+on+QB+2018.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xiJ2bWgQd0VY7zctmUlVZXhnQ1cwsC6msWxnK2P2atN-503Z_tfPo4OCtNGxblZnuQXnsZ9jUi-8akfcLJBA2ScCMeQ4A7zT0O-FHrL8sK6h5oPgRzbG-NGPhcMaUn4hG6gm9HPTYpLm/s1600/Browns+TFL+2018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1261" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xiJ2bWgQd0VY7zctmUlVZXhnQ1cwsC6msWxnK2P2atN-503Z_tfPo4OCtNGxblZnuQXnsZ9jUi-8akfcLJBA2ScCMeQ4A7zT0O-FHrL8sK6h5oPgRzbG-NGPhcMaUn4hG6gm9HPTYpLm/s640/Browns+TFL+2018.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-69218449589067370762019-10-23T17:01:00.000-07:002020-01-08T03:43:50.028-08:002019 BRowns Stats, misc<br />
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</div><table style="width:75%"><tr> <th>Player</th> <th>Position</th> <th>2019 cap charge</th> </tr>
<tr> <td>Damarious Randall</td> <td>S</td> <td>$9,069,000</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Greg Robinson</td> <td>T</td> <td>$6,400,000</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Drew Stanton</td> <td>QB</td> <td>$3,250,000</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Rashard Higgins</td> <td>WR</td> <td>$2,025,000</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Joe Schobert</td> <td>LB</td> <td> $ 743,489</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Eric Murray</td> <td>FS</td> <td>$ 741,826</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Juston Burris</td> <td>WR</td> <td>$720,000</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Justin McCray</td> <td>G</td> <td>$645,000</p></td> </tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-9BDOV90QlBTSNRD-fpDAAMLpnojL-J3hO6msjj6tn6idSMuRrWTwX5Jr1AmATMTwHE1aOeyC0gg95Qxe4pDnLG2M92YJKDHRmxGVFrH1iHjVaEmwojB_rrxo493dm3Nyb9LZ91YysjE/s1600/Browns+Big+Bucks+2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="557" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-9BDOV90QlBTSNRD-fpDAAMLpnojL-J3hO6msjj6tn6idSMuRrWTwX5Jr1AmATMTwHE1aOeyC0gg95Qxe4pDnLG2M92YJKDHRmxGVFrH1iHjVaEmwojB_rrxo493dm3Nyb9LZ91YysjE/s640/Browns+Big+Bucks+2a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #783f04; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>*multiyear contracts can be discounted in Year 1.</i></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlftGiGu0xshFd-dwj3P0IaamihgbWeNLk48tkLQcftrp4rMvV1d2Fe5KG1XCdOpoBEtmmwcZSLMW2ojqnCWRr2KlIssY1t3YwH859z_3bnITuzWnAKegyQJfCav42NWQyw9E8zI9Oxr0/s1600/Browns+Big+Bucks+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><img border="0" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="717" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlftGiGu0xshFd-dwj3P0IaamihgbWeNLk48tkLQcftrp4rMvV1d2Fe5KG1XCdOpoBEtmmwcZSLMW2ojqnCWRr2KlIssY1t3YwH859z_3bnITuzWnAKegyQJfCav42NWQyw9E8zI9Oxr0/s640/Browns+Big+Bucks+2.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>*multiyear contracts can be discounted in Year 1.</i></b></span></span></td></tr>
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<table style="width:100%"><tr> <th>Player</th> <th>Position</th> <th>2019 cap charge</th> </tr>
<tr> <td>Damarious</td> <td>Randall</td> <td>$9,069,000</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Eve</td> <td>Jackson</td> <td>94</td> </tr>
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</div>.The Village Elliot.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04067573537341001185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-6628224664514753782019-04-13T21:30:00.004-07:002020-09-03T09:20:55.493-07:00Browns Pro Football Focus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-41057340954826783412019-02-03T10:44:00.001-08:002019-02-03T10:44:15.595-08:00Pythagorean Win Percentage Slightly Favors Patriots in the Super Bowl<br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Pythagorean win percentage is calculated based on points versus opponents points. Game-to-game variation is all over the place but over the course of a season you might try to find a trend. It doesn't prove anything, and I wouldn't place a bet because of it, but the Patriots have gotten better as the season has gone on, and the Rams started out truly dominant, but are not quite as one-sided as the season has gone on. Of course, they are also playing better teams in the playoffs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So both teams are pretty good, no doubt, but this simple form of analysis is consistent with the Las Vegas opinion that the Patriots might deserve to be a slight favorite. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Patriots have been getting better as the season has gone on. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIrQMEdP5kNihHRefsp3DxuAVNAVa6Y2GV5jxSgQ5FjDtmpn7MHq9fWV9_4zVmyLZg2Vaal4L9C6XX0DYqvGvc7pfbVZc5deki5zY3NCs-nH69spLPc3yzcTN3xk7ag_U0bLpgfucScxp/s1600/2018+Rams+Pythagorean+Win+Pct+Downtrending.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="986" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIrQMEdP5kNihHRefsp3DxuAVNAVa6Y2GV5jxSgQ5FjDtmpn7MHq9fWV9_4zVmyLZg2Vaal4L9C6XX0DYqvGvc7pfbVZc5deki5zY3NCs-nH69spLPc3yzcTN3xk7ag_U0bLpgfucScxp/s640/2018+Rams+Pythagorean+Win+Pct+Downtrending.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Rams are a very good team, but were more dominant at the beginning of the year, and less so towards the end of the year . </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIrQMEdP5kNihHRefsp3DxuAVNAVa6Y2GV5jxSgQ5FjDtmpn7MHq9fWV9_4zVmyLZg2Vaal4L9C6XX0DYqvGvc7pfbVZc5deki5zY3NCs-nH69spLPc3yzcTN3xk7ag_U0bLpgfucScxp/s1600/2018+Rams+Pythagorean+Win+Pct+Downtrending.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="986" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIrQMEdP5kNihHRefsp3DxuAVNAVa6Y2GV5jxSgQ5FjDtmpn7MHq9fWV9_4zVmyLZg2Vaal4L9C6XX0DYqvGvc7pfbVZc5deki5zY3NCs-nH69spLPc3yzcTN3xk7ag_U0bLpgfucScxp/s640/2018+Rams+Pythagorean+Win+Pct+Downtrending.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Rams are a very good team, but were more dominant at the beginning of the year, and less so towards the end of the year .<br /></span></td></tr>
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<br />The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-52017234702665440422019-01-27T11:14:00.000-08:002019-01-27T11:14:03.656-08:00Browns rreceiving Stats Miscellany <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-49377130676019652092019-01-23T04:35:00.002-08:002019-01-23T06:48:19.269-08:00Rams/Saints No-Call May Not be the Fault of the Officials<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Rams/Saints playoff game ended with a blatant non-call of Defensive Pass Interference when Nickell Robey-Coleman plowed Tommylee Lewis with a good solid helmet-to-helmet hit. Yet pass interference was not called. They also could have called blatant helmet-to-helmet contact and that wasn't called either.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can watch the No-Call of the century with NFL Game Pass: </span><a href="https://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2019012000/2018/POST3/rams@saints" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">https://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2019012000/2018/POST3/rams@saints</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />Saints fans might feel better if the NFL fires the officials. But that is too easy and does not solve the problem. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">First, let's be clear that there is no dispute, none whatsoever, that the non-call was an error. But what the media has not done a good job of pointing out, is that although both pass interference and helmet-to-helmet are blatant on instant replay, the officials were not watching through the TV camera. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Look where the Head Linesman and Side Judge are positioned and ask what they can actually see from their positions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Though I am far from an expert on officiating, as far as I know the Side Judge is supposed to make the call, and he is correctly positioned, downfield and a few yards out of bounds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To make a correct call, the side judge would have to see, with his own two eyes from where he was positioned, the following: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">a. Pass interference. Did the defender interfere with the pass?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">b. Catchable ball. Was the ball thrown such that the receiver had a legitimate possibility to catch the pass?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">c. Helmet to helmet. If there is no pass interference, was there helmet to helmet contact?<br /><br />From the replay, we know that all three questions were yes, yes and yes. But the side judge was in good position only to see one out of three factors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">From where he is positioned he should have clearly seen the Robey Coleman hit Lewis eons before the ball gets there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But does the Side Judge think the ball is catchable or not? That is less obvious. The ball was thrown behind the receiver. From the vantage point of the replay camera, it looks like it was a make-able catch. But the side judge has the wrong angle to determine how far behind the runner the ball lands. He could easily have thought the ball was less catchable than it was.<br /><br />So, probably the Side Judge saw definitely that the defender got there too early, but might not have seen if the ball was catchable (not to mention the fact that the NFL rule book does not define catchable). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Other officials were probably in position to see that the ball was catchable, but there is no mechanism to communicate that information to the Side Judge. You only have a conference if someone throws a flag, and the Side Judge did not throw his based on what he saw, and the other officials apparently did not want to overrule a perfectly positioned Side Judge. That protocol may need to be reviewed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well okay, if the Side Judge did not have the angle to rule on uncatchable ball, what about helmet to helmet? Well, here again, TV had the perfect angle and the Side Judge did not. Even though in this case it was a solid hit, the sides of the helmets collide rather than a head-on collision, and neither the Side Judge nor the Head Linesman are in good position to see the point of contact. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Really the TV camera had the perfect angle to see the play, and the TV camera is not used to assess a penalty. That is the real problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The announcers did not do a very good job of analyzing the no call. Yes it should have been a penalty. The reason why it was missed was probably not incompetence of the official, but was more probably due to the lack of positioning to see "catchable ball" and "helmet-to-helmet" in this case. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To get that call right the NFL flatly has to have the TV camera to see it. Firing the official might make people feel better, but very likely there needs to be a rule change. The NFL Rules Committee will have to look at how it impacts the game overall. Not every call is blatantly blown like that, so drawing the line between confirming and overturning is not simple. My gut feeling, however, is that some form of challenge will be put in place soon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is understandable that Saints fans are upset and want to get a do-over for the game, but that is not going to happen. Improving the rule might make them feel better, but what is done is done. We need to cut the official some slack, and the ball should be in the court of the NFL Rules Committee. </span><br />
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.The Village Elliot.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04067573537341001185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-35220473627860030202018-09-12T03:27:00.002-07:002018-09-12T03:56:16.953-07:00Why Sam Darnold's NFL Debut is a Shock<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kqHSvjJcHbKcm8SRzYWUETwkWWBK9Y79ivMSAdpjChllj0hfKjj4jH4gAfccZKrPEbEKCEMbAItmB4fHp32nnYwE9wZeW5y8d7TKJGWr7ji55R7ZnkO3kXPf1fTAU8yo9XztY39spTQK/s1600/ny-1536704423-ixsfpkpgpo-snap-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1400" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kqHSvjJcHbKcm8SRzYWUETwkWWBK9Y79ivMSAdpjChllj0hfKjj4jH4gAfccZKrPEbEKCEMbAItmB4fHp32nnYwE9wZeW5y8d7TKJGWr7ji55R7ZnkO3kXPf1fTAU8yo9XztY39spTQK/s640/ny-1536704423-ixsfpkpgpo-snap-image.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sam Darnold's debut is not the norm for 21 year olds (Jose Juarez / AP).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sam Darnold won his first game in the NFL. What's unusual about that is that he is only 21 years old. Rookies who start their first game before their 22nd birthday are usually terrible. The record for wins that first season is six (Jameis Winston and David Woodley).<br /> The list below is for every QB who had his first start before his 22nd birthday, and shows the QB's won-loss record in that year. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> There were three QBs who had winning records as a 21 year old rookie: Woodley at 6-5, Jacky Lee at 2-1, and Jack Concannon at 1-0. That's it. The table below shows the won-lost record for the rookie year of every qb who made their first start at age 21. It's pretty grim, so if you are faint of heart, you might not want to look. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> These days, players can enter the NFL as underclassmen, so the 21 year old qb is a little more common now. Back in the old days, the only guys who could enter the NFL at age 21 were those who skipped a grade in elementary school or something like that. </span></div>
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Some qbs have won their first game, but not very many. Fran Tarkenton had a fantastic start, throwing four TDs and running for another. But he went 1-8 the rest of the season. The future Hall of Famer had to struggle for a while before his career took off. </div>
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Woodley is the outlier, actually having a decent year at 6-5 for a good Dolphins team. Kosar managed to start a playoff game in his rookie year, though the Browns lost it. </div>
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Hence Darnold's victorious start is a bit of an anomaly. After emulating his idol Brett Favre by throwing a pick-6 in his very first pass, he settled down and finished 16 for 21 for 198 yards and 2 TDs. Most importantly, the Jets won the game 48-17 over the Lions, who played like kittens.<br />
We'll see how well Darnold does later on. The fact that he simply won a game is impressive in his own right.<br />
The Cleveland Browns have done this experiment three times, with Bernie Kosar, Johnny Manziel and DeShone Kizer. Kosar grew up to be a star, whereas Manziel was out of the league after two tumultuous seasons.<br />
It should be obvious that a 21 year old is too young to base an evaluation on that first year. Going down the list below, several of the 21 year olds went on to become Pro Bowlers and even a Hall of Famer in the case of Tarkenton.<br />
That's why I was down on the decision to start Darnold and very surprised that he won. I would have much rather started Josh McCown until such time as the team falls out of contention, and only then consider starting the rookie. <br />
21 year old quarterbacks are like your little brother. They might grow up and surprise you later on, but for now they are easy to beat up, fall for your tricks and generally not that bright. They might be more formidable in a few years but for now they are usually not that tough. </div>
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Rookie W-L Records for 21 year old QBs since 1960.</div>
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-69489417039746047072018-08-10T08:14:00.000-07:002018-09-06T18:56:18.832-07:00Ex-Browns QBs Destroying the NFL after Game 1 of Exhibition Season (Really!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>UPDATE: I included Josh McCown's totals and also realized I had forgotten a few ex-Browns qbs (hey, there are a lot of them! Even I have a hard time tracking them). <br /> No, it doesn't mean anything because it's all about backups in game one of the exhibition season, but you have to admit it's an amazing stat. I doubt whether it has ever happened in the NFL before. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />*********************************************************************<br />Yeah I know, NFL PreSeason is meaningless, but check out the results from ex-Browns Quarterbacks around the NFL. There are 12 of them on NFL rosters right now. It might be that some of these guys are not totally to blame for the Browns' ineptitude. Like, ex-Browns threw for over <i><b>1100 yards </b></i>in Week 1 of exhibition season! They also threw for 6 TDs vs only 1 INT!!<br /><br />Bwahahaha!</span></div>
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Update, after Preseason, 11 of the ex-Browns made it onto NFL rosters. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB91Z1eC_mRnGXxsUZQDIjmNPWlHiEDOskvDVu9R0LlCApDASxrGAWTbG6J5BZSObn76QPKaRxQQ6pgtLAxPN4mhijCtfFAAEbl7ILVI9M5GsYPA_LdbmARd_4AIhvlc7et4FEy9VT3aJi/s1600/Ex+Browns+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="680" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB91Z1eC_mRnGXxsUZQDIjmNPWlHiEDOskvDVu9R0LlCApDASxrGAWTbG6J5BZSObn76QPKaRxQQ6pgtLAxPN4mhijCtfFAAEbl7ILVI9M5GsYPA_LdbmARd_4AIhvlc7et4FEy9VT3aJi/s640/Ex+Browns+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><b></b>The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-43623517461246293672018-08-05T02:36:00.000-07:002018-08-06T14:49:20.084-07:00Cleveland Browns Upside Down Receiving Totals from 2017.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> If you look at the stat sheet from the team, you realize that something is seriously wrong. Namely, wide receivers were unusually unproductive in 2017. The table lists the yardage totals last year as well as the position that generated those yards. The names are withheld for the moment in order to observe the positional trends.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghA034TX5qXHtFB1CHZN2eI7XBhY9QeTnRs2-C6ZoWk_5eGWevSCofDh4J9s8Z5fPP75vXuDTYODLmOsSB1VaySpQy4Ox6RNF3or8xyqJLqGJ34h4KM6GRgZ2k5KP_4y97keZfW4XRh7Qf/s1600/Browns+rec+yards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="327" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghA034TX5qXHtFB1CHZN2eI7XBhY9QeTnRs2-C6ZoWk_5eGWevSCofDh4J9s8Z5fPP75vXuDTYODLmOsSB1VaySpQy4Ox6RNF3or8xyqJLqGJ34h4KM6GRgZ2k5KP_4y97keZfW4XRh7Qf/s400/Browns+rec+yards.jpg" width="375" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">First of all, let's consider what I call the Greg Little Line, of at least 700 reception yards. Greg Little was a receiver who did not last long with the Browns and was infamous for getting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties at bad times plus celebrating too much over modest accomplishments. Despite his poor reputation --and by the way, let me add that Little was a great blocker and did well on special teams as well--Little got 709 yards his rookie season. So just as baseball has the Mendoza line (.200 batting average), I think the Browns should have a Greg Little Line as the minimal acceptable yards for a starting wide receiver in the NFL. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Browns had no one over the Little Line in 2017. Weirdly, wide receivers are not anywhere near the top of the list. Instead, the second string running back and part time slot receiver led the team by far, followed by two tight ends. Among WR, the best performance was from the WR3 role (Ricardo Louis), who is now injured and out for the year. The nominal WR1 and WR2 (Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman)were down near the bottom of the list partly because of suspensions and injuries respectively. Still both players failed to catch as many as 50% of the balls intended for them which ranked them both near the bottom of the league.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Partly that might be explained by the fact that the Browns quarterback was a 21 year old rookie who had left college early. That has never been a formula for success. Nevertheless, he could complete passes to running backs and tight ends and even to the WR4 (Rashard Higgins), but not to his supposed top receivers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Second string running back (Duke) was by far the best receiver, operating out of the slot at times. The two tight ends (Njoku and DeValve) also performed much better statistically than the wide receivers, with more yards, and bringing in completions a higher percentage of the time..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />The point is, if you just look at the numbers, from a positional standpoint the Browns had very little production from the wide receivers in 2017. In fact, it is downright amazing how little they contributed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's possible that the same group of underperformers at WR might improve in 2018 with a new quarterback, a new Offensive Coordinator and improved talent around them (especially Pro Bowl slot receiver Jarvis Landry). Maybe this is the year that Corey Coleman stays healthy and focused, and Josh Gordon plays like his old self again. Both guys are capable of playing at the Little Line at least, even thought neither guy has done much the past few years. These guys are at the top of the depth chart not because they have earned it, but because there is no one else at present. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's also possible that some of the young additions like Antonio Callaway and Damion Ratley might be given the opportunity to start. Callaway in particular has a very high talent level. The main concerns about him are off the field, which makes him a bit like Josh Gordon. If he's not suspended, play him! Ratley is a raw talent but also has game breaking ability. He may need a while to learn, but there is no reason why he can't push some of the underachievers away and earn some game snaps. </span></div>
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.The Village Elliot.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04067573537341001185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-48513004250279531362018-07-31T19:03:00.000-07:002018-07-31T19:36:10.987-07:00Paul Brown and the Birth of the Cincinnati Bengals. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <br /> When I was a kid, growing up in Berea Ohio, a suburb of football-crazy Cleveland, Blanton Collier was Coach of the Browns. But I got interested in reading about football, and read about the incredible Browns teams of the 1940s and 1950s, how Coach Paul Brown started the team in the All-America Conference and won all four championships that that league ever head, then came to the NFL and continued to win Championships. At the same time, the players seemed to be always quality individuals, like Lou Groza who lived in our town and was universally loved. I remember asking my Dad, "Dad, what happened to Coach Paul Brown?" The stunning, incomprehensible reply was, "Art Modell fired him, son." <br /> That didn't make sense to me. How could this fantastic Coach who won so many games and produced so many outstanding players have been fired? Surely there was some mistake?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The firing of Paul Brown rocked not only by little world, but the Ohio football universe. This was an event that rocked Ohio football for decades. Paul Brown was not just a Coach, but one of the greatest of all time. His Browns didn't even start in the NFL, nor the AFL, but the now-defunct All-America Conference, which existed from 1946 to 1949. The Browns won all four championships during the league's existence, going 47-4-3. Many observers thought that Paul Brown was a coaching genius, and his team was the equal of any in the NFL. Of course the majority of sportswriters pooh-poohed that idea, smugly agreeing that the caliber of the rival league was in no way comparable to the NFL. This belief went out the window after the Browns won their first game in the NFL, versus the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. They won the NFL Championship that year also.<br /><br />Brown's teams won 3 NFL Championships and finished first in their conference 10 straight years and 12 times out of 13. He was every bit the equal of Bill Belichick. He had many of the same personal characteristics too, including a desire for total control of football operations, and a stern, demanding personality that put off many players. <br /><br />Later, I came to understand that it wasn't just about football. There were very complex, serious financial issues. The previous owners of the Browns, had an understanding with Coach Brown that he would have an increasing ownership role of the franchise. Not everything was in writing, and thus it is hard to say how much obligation Modell and the team had to its only Coach. Even today we may not know the full story, but in order for Modell to get out from under that commitment, he felt that he needed to fire Brown.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /> That is not the first time a Coach has been fired, nor would it be the last. But coaching </span><span style="font-size: large;">wasn't just a job for Brown--any one of several teams would surely have hired him at top dollar--but it was the loss of HIS team, and probably millions of dollars. In any case Paul Brown took it very hard, and never forgave Modell. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> For a few years Paul Brown stayed away from the game, and became almost a recluse. But gradually,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Brown decided to rebuild. Rather than taking a ready-made job in the NFL, he would become Coach and Owner of an expansion team in Cincinnati Bengals. He would re-do what he had done in Cleveland. Hence the Cincinnati Bengals were born.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Growing up in Cleveland, nobody that I know of was upset that there was a new Ohio team in the AFL team. It was more like, hey great! Our former Coach has a new team! Twice as much football for us!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> The Bengals were built with some of the same characteristics as his old Browns teams, with quality individuals. The talent level was not there, but the 1968 Bengals were still a hard nosed running team, with fullback Paul Robinson gaining 1000 yards. </span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKlB9KXMbqbhwlgj-r5yfpsSdWyUo47gpV9wFqHKRXETcOl-r1x_Qzu0e65gkpzX6hBgGoOi84tajc5PCiQgyYR7vBWLNrFdKfQHDvKcPZEoDv4EkT4WkdITcmPb6FX4c1DEMvYsXfpTT_/s1600/Paul_Robinson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="404" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKlB9KXMbqbhwlgj-r5yfpsSdWyUo47gpV9wFqHKRXETcOl-r1x_Qzu0e65gkpzX6hBgGoOi84tajc5PCiQgyYR7vBWLNrFdKfQHDvKcPZEoDv4EkT4WkdITcmPb6FX4c1DEMvYsXfpTT_/s640/Paul_Robinson.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">The 1968 Bengals featured uniforms that were very similar to the Cleveland Browns, and perhaps not surprisingly featured a 1000 yard runner in Paul Robinson, as well as a premier tight end in Bob Trumpy. </span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Brown's team evolved quickly. The 1969 team featured an outstanding quarterback in Greg Cook, who played his college ball at the University of Cincinnati, who at that time played under the radar in the Missouri Valley Conference. By all accounts, Cook was an emerging superstar when as a rookie he led the league in yards per attempt and yards per completion. However, he suffered a severe shoulder injury and tried to play through it, which ended his career. He tried bravely to come back, but was able to throw only three more passes after his rookie season. There is no way to know for sure how great he might have become, but for one year, rookie Greg Cook was right up there with the likes of Namath and Lamonica. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Greg Cook is the greatest quarterback you never heard of, playing one year with the Bengals after a sensational career at the University of Cincinnati. </span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FdMTMUbbdkcDlDjzWCksJlYCHZrJ0LpVrfExx80QsoWekR6afOGk2Ggvoo87JeK7WJxH6dlgBmuRdSeBZbk-hZeI7YEtgiZIa73GGYmeeH7YDKCy-VYl9JAiHCdxHKzf1kTNfAwqN89y/s1600/Paul+Brown+and+Sam+Wyche.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="564" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FdMTMUbbdkcDlDjzWCksJlYCHZrJ0LpVrfExx80QsoWekR6afOGk2Ggvoo87JeK7WJxH6dlgBmuRdSeBZbk-hZeI7YEtgiZIa73GGYmeeH7YDKCy-VYl9JAiHCdxHKzf1kTNfAwqN89y/s640/Paul+Brown+and+Sam+Wyche.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Despite his look of consternation at the criticism he is receiving from Coach Brown, young Sam Wyche would eventually become Coach of the Bengals and lead the team to the Super Bowl against the 49ers and their Coach, former Bengal Assistant Bill Walsh.<br /><br /> </i>The merger of the two leagues led to three teams coming to the AFC: the Browns, Steelers and Colts would play in the new AFC. As a result, the Bengals and the Browns were in the same division. The Bengals, of course hated the Browns, and even in exhibition games tried to win at all costs. To compensate for losing their star quarterback, Offensive Coordinator Bill Walsh devised a short passing game with Virgil Carter and Sam Wyche at quarterback, which was the forerunner of the West Coast Offense. The next year, another unknown quarterback, Ken Anderson from tiny Augustana College, would appear on the scene. Eventually, in 1981, Anderson and the Bengals would make it to the Super Bowl, only to be thwarted by their former Offensive Coordinator and the San Francisco 49ers. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FNW-EtLSSuuMYqSAa-7WnnpN84hdhpv7Iiv8zekJkNLUgI2HfI2i7jVTLJq788bd8bCke73kf3r-N1j4kESuaudgwhBxlSE1iwZnw-MfZYhNblivb9xTib8ciJ-bZAYGE0zZuCSCZ9R6/s1600/Bill+Walsh+and+Paul+Brown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FNW-EtLSSuuMYqSAa-7WnnpN84hdhpv7Iiv8zekJkNLUgI2HfI2i7jVTLJq788bd8bCke73kf3r-N1j4kESuaudgwhBxlSE1iwZnw-MfZYhNblivb9xTib8ciJ-bZAYGE0zZuCSCZ9R6/s640/Bill+Walsh+and+Paul+Brown.jpg" width="528" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Bill Walsh was possibly not considered to be quite tough enough to succeed Brown as Coach of the Bengals, but he did all right with the 49ers and a kid named Montana. </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> One of the things I didn't like about the merger of the two leagues is that it forced fans to choose between the Browns and the Bengals. Browns fans have had our ups and downs with Art Modell for firing Brown. It didn't bother us a bit to see our old Coach restart his career in Cincinnati. We could understand why Paul Brown hated Modell and his former team, but we didn't hate the Bengals, at least not at first. Brown had done nothing wrong but get fired by Modell.<br /> Sometimes I used to get into disputes about whether it was fair game to be a Browns fan, but to have a dislike for the owner. My friend Morris and I used to argue about that. I was still upset at Modell for firing both Marty Schottenheimer and Paul Brown as well as many other sins (trading Hall of Famer Paul Warfield for Mike Phipps comes to mind). Morris used to say that I was not a true Browns fan for not supporting Mr. Modell. Well, one fateful day in 1995, that little debate was ended. Morris,almost in tears, admitted I was right about Modell. Paul Brown's team was moving to Baltimore. <br /> </span></div>
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-30363653370926514202018-07-28T05:44:00.000-07:002018-07-28T05:55:03.686-07:00Second Guessing Coach Shula 50 years Later: Should Unitas have Started Super Bowl 3? <div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">If you were Coach Shula, would you have benched NFL MVP Earl Morrall for the great Johnny Unitas?</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I can't believe I am writing this article, but I need to vent my spleen. In an earlier article, I wrote about the amazing upset by the New York Jets over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, which is still the most compelling Super Bowl of all time for me. Briefly, in my view the AFL was more innovative than the NFL and knew how to generate takeaways via the Zone Defense and Bump-N-Run, and they were better at the Blitz and countering the Blitz with the Hot Read and Hot Receiver, and made better use of the quarterback's ability to call audibles. That's how an 18 point underdog dominates its opponent, and by the way the next year a 14 point underdog was even more dominant. You can find this article here: </span></div>
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<a href="http://clevelandbrownselliot.blogspot.com/2018/05/some-insights-on-how-miracle-jets-of.html" target="_blank"> Super Bowl III was not a Fluke. Why the AFL beat a Superior Team</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">and the Chiefs upset here:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://clevelandbrownselliot.blogspot.com/2018/05/what-about-super-bowl-iii-did-you-not.html" target="_blank"> What about Super Bowl III did you not get? Kansas City Chiefs Destroy Vikes in SB IV.</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, I had a huge response on that blog, and many of the readers felt strongly that Earl Morrall was to blame, and if only Don Shula had started Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas, the Colts would have surely won that game. Shula himself occasionally expressed regret about not having inserted Unitas at halftime. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Obviously, the Colts had their chances. If they could have done it again without five turnovers and a blown flea flicker, maybe they would have won. But they could not have foreseen that in advance, and you don't get do-overs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thee idea that Unitas should have started is not only wrong, at least in my opinion, it's crazy. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Supposing you were Coach Shula, you would not start Johnny Unitas for the following reasons: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Your team has gone 13-1 in a presumably much more powerful league (the previous two years the NFL teams beat the 14 point spread). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Your Colts gave up only 144 points (10.3 points per game), tied for the lowest in NFL history for a 14 game season (the 1963 Chicago Bears also gave up only 144 points). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. You have the league MVP in Quarterback Earl Morrall. He has led the NFL with 26 TD passes, 4 more than the second place guy. He is number two in Yards and Yards Per Game. He was comfortably ahead almost all the time and didn't have to pass that much, or he would have led the league in yards, too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. Morrall has taken first string reps for the entire year. Unitas has not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">5. In your last game, your team won the NFL Championship 30 to 0. And NOW you want to make a change? Really?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">6. In the one game you lost, your boy Unitas went 1 for 11, with 3 INTs. Overall, for the season he was 11 for 32 (34.4% completion), for 134 yards, 2 TDs and 4 INTs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">7. Unitas is 35 years old and you have no guarantee that he is going to be able to perform. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Hey most experts believe he was the greatest of all time, but how sound is his arm? You can't know how long his arm is going to hold out, and at no point in the season has he looked like his old self. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So Coach Shula, are you nuts? You're going to bench the NFL MVP for a guy who went 11 for 32? To play the New York Jets,a team of unknowns? Who are they? You are going to be laughed out of the stadium if you sit Morrall. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As it turned out, Earl Morrall had a terrible game with 3 turnovers and a blown play in which he somehow did not pick up Jimmy Orr during a flea flicker. Unitas came into the game in the second half and did better. He threw only 1 INT, an underthrown and completed 11 passes out of 24, a 45.8% completion rate. His quarterback rating was an abysmal 42.0. <br /><br />Namath, on the other hand, was never pushed. His favorite receiver, Don Maynard, had a pulled hamstring so they used him only as a decoy. He still went 17 for 28 with zero INTs and a rating of 83.3. So, if the Colts are going to get a do-over, so will the Jets. If the game had been closer, Namath might have launched an aeriel bombardment of his own. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">In Super Bowl V two year later, Unitas would have the chance to redeem himself in the Super Bowl versus the Dallas Cowboys. Do you remember that game? Evidently not. Unitas went 3 for 9 with 2 INTs before getting injured, leaving his team behind by a touchdown, 10-3. So in came Earl Morrall, who also had a shaky game versus the Doomsday Defense, but the Colts scored 10 unanswered points to win 13-10. Early 70's football was characterized by tough defense. Morrall also received two more rings as a backup with the Dolphins. He did not play in those Bowls, but did contribute during the season, especially for the 1972 undefeated season when he rescued the Dolphins in the championship game, subbing for injured Bob Griese. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, looking at the total stat line, Colts qbs just had a tough go of it in the Super Bowl. In SB3, Unitas relived Morrall and lost, and in SB5, Morrall relieved Unitas and came from behind to win. I would say overall, Morrall had the better career performance in Super Bowls than Unitas, though neither was very good. Total stat lines: </span><br /><br /><b>Unitas (2 Super Bowls, 1 ring): 14 for 33, 42.4% 198 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTS</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Morrall (4 Super Bowls, 3 rings): 13 for 32, 40.6%, 218 yards, 0 TD, 4 INTS</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRqosPGHz-FVIZxo8NPrkXsMwmKOxfQnMmoN_OlKNKsCt-fEFiOC8UgrimcyGi1E-ZwaY7f7rr18d7rUTIaeJn-vMHOGuqvTSzN3Js5vbQ4cM_CCaqF0tBHICJ00wbFMcT5x_kN4QW6MM/s1600/Morrall1-300x274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="300" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRqosPGHz-FVIZxo8NPrkXsMwmKOxfQnMmoN_OlKNKsCt-fEFiOC8UgrimcyGi1E-ZwaY7f7rr18d7rUTIaeJn-vMHOGuqvTSzN3Js5vbQ4cM_CCaqF0tBHICJ00wbFMcT5x_kN4QW6MM/s640/Morrall1-300x274.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Earl Morrall relieved injured Johnny Unitas in Super Bowl V with the Colts down by 7, and led them to score 10 unanswered points for a 16-13 redemption versus Bob Lilly and the Dallas Cowboys. If Morrall was 17 points better than Unitas in SB V, why would you think Unitas would be so much better in SB III? </span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Earl would pick up two additional Super Bowl Rings, 3 for his career, as a backup for the Miami Dolphins. He saved the perfect season for the 1972 Dolphins by subbing for an injured Bob Griese in the AFC Championship and leading the team to victory over the Steelers. Morrall, by the way, was selected as first team All Pro that year, starting 9 times. You want to call him a career backup, fine. But he's a backup with an MVP award, 2 All Pro seasons, 4 NFL Championship rings, 3 Super Bowl rings, and 102 NFL starts. He was 63-36-3 as a starter and overall his teams went 150-103-12 Super Bowl 3 was one of his worst games, but in my view the NFL was simply not prepared to play football the AFL way, and that was proven in Super Bowl 4 when the Kansas City Chiefs steamrollered the Purple People Eaters of Minnesota. It's very hard to second guess Coach Shula. The NFL just had to get beat before they could learn.<br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VhXfWrk9pnEqZSGUcXG9JrZmU8xG9J2lzGNYgeMKDyLriCXFO-xMaKqZPYoBbkdV1FJzIPvYJ4ChnGooh7Z3tBDx3TijxuwfEouq6ran8cZHa1TzK3OD9wOhKdW_XqTk9GRt7tf30Vpt/s1600/17Yepremian2sub-obit-superJumbo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1324" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VhXfWrk9pnEqZSGUcXG9JrZmU8xG9J2lzGNYgeMKDyLriCXFO-xMaKqZPYoBbkdV1FJzIPvYJ4ChnGooh7Z3tBDx3TijxuwfEouq6ran8cZHa1TzK3OD9wOhKdW_XqTk9GRt7tf30Vpt/s640/17Yepremian2sub-obit-superJumbo.jpg" width="528" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Do you remember Garo Yepremian's attempt to imitate Joe Namath after a blocked kick in Super Bowl VII? His lead blocker on that blown play was none other than holder Earl Morrall, who also made All-Pro that year in addition to collecting his second Super Bowl ring.</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span> tThe Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-37002050697647364072018-07-16T15:42:00.003-07:002018-08-01T11:34:42.871-07:00RIchie Scheinblum, My Favorite Ballplayer<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCl2dyj6IePhJqAZXqRE9Q7p53nIhYeuejQAdtZYciQRo0cB86kYfOnFqM2CD_d5oArGULV56ep1R5Jvd12XbOP43Vr7eIHRb7FAMHg0A8LMpFpvWfiOvHqvhU9MQ-jElvFQDFlte_5TpO/s1600/Richie+Scheinblum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="248" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCl2dyj6IePhJqAZXqRE9Q7p53nIhYeuejQAdtZYciQRo0cB86kYfOnFqM2CD_d5oArGULV56ep1R5Jvd12XbOP43Vr7eIHRb7FAMHg0A8LMpFpvWfiOvHqvhU9MQ-jElvFQDFlte_5TpO/s640/Richie+Scheinblum.jpg" width="554" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Richie Scheinblum was my favorite ballplayer as a kid, even though he batted only .218 for the Indians with one home run. </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">My favorite baseball player as a kid? That's easy. He was Richie Scheinblum of my hometown Cleveland Indians. Why? Well, it's a little bit hard to explain, but Richie came along in the late 1960s when I was old enough to think about baseball a little. Richie represented inspiration, ambition and hope, and later I identified with his struggles against adversity. I also liked his name, which sort of rolls off your tongue, almost as good as Rocky Colavito. I didn't realize it was a Jewish name at the time, not that it mattered to me, but later I came to appreciate that he was one of a relatively small number of Jewish ballplayers in the Major Leagues. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> The Cleveland Indians of 1968 were brilliant defensively and had one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, with Sam McDowell, Luis Tiant, Sonny Seibert and Steve Hargan. The ERA for the staff was 2.66, which was absolutely amazing. They just couldn't hit. Tony Horton and Duke Sims were the only real power hitters, with 25 home runs between the two of them. The entire rest of the team hit only 36 for the year, an unbelievably low number. Star rightfielder Rocky Colavito had been sent away the previous year, and so the stage was set for someone new to step in.<br /> So, here comes Richie Scheinblum, who played right field like Colavito. He had bashed the baseball all over the place in the minor leagues, and most importantly, he was a switch hitter. That was huge. I knew that Mickey Mantle was a switch hitter, and that he had been taught by his Dad, "Mutt" Mantle. Mutt had the idea that switch hitting would be the wave of the future. The reason is that a right handed pitcher can throw a curve ball at your head, and have it curve for a strike. Now how can you hit something like that? Well, Mutt Mantle's solution was to learn to bat left-handed to take away the advantage of the curve ball from the right handed pitchers. His boy Mickey seemed to do okay, slugging the third most home runs in history up to that time, despite a difficult injury history. <br /> In 1968, it wasn't crazy to think that everyone would become switch hitters, and in fact the Yankees took it seriously. They had a ton of them in addition to Mantle. Roy White, Tom Tresh, Horace Clark and Gene Michael could all switch hit. Then a bit south of Cleveland in Cincinnati, Pete Rose was a switch hitter in addition to being the most hustling ballplayer around. Pete only led the majors in batting average, so perhaps there was something to this switch hitting business.<br /> Could Richie Scheinblum be the answer to the Yankees dominance in switch hitting? Why not? <br /> But Richie got off to a horrible start with the Indians in 1969, going 0 for 34 to start the year. He was terrible. But if anything this only cemented my bond with him, because I was equally terrible. I was in a slump of my own that year, and in fact went hitless the entire year. In fact my slump would continue the rest of my adolescence, and it was not until my junior year in High School that I learned how to hit. 22 years later I would resume my hardball career playing in Japan, this time with moderate success, but that is another story. But back to Richie. I suffered with him, as he never did turn it around for the Indians, hitting only .186 with a single home run. But I never gave up on him. Never ever. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> It crushed me when the Indians sent him down to the Minor Leagues. Back then, they had a rule that once you had been back and forth a few times between the Minors and Majors, you had to stay in the Minors for an entire season. At age 27, for Richie that represented the kiss of death. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> But Richie starred again in the Minor Leagues and was ultimately traded to the Washington Senators. Richie destroyed Triple-A, batting over .400 most of the year before ending up at .388. Alas, he still could not succeed at the Major League level, once again hitting under .200 after a late season call-up. Not even having Ted Williams as a manager could help him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> But then something weird happened. He was traded to Kansas City and installed as the every day right fielder, and lo and behold he started to hit. A lot. In fact he was leading the league in hitting in June before getting injured, but still wound up at .300 for the year. Then just to prove it was no fluke, he hit .307 the next year. After that he slumped and bounced around for a few years and eventually went to Japan where he had two excellent seasons as a power hitting rightfielder for the Hiroshima Carp. An Achilles injury cut short his further adventures, but he was in the Bigs long enough to show that he belonged. <br /> So Richie Scheinblum made it in the Major Leagues, though he did not revolutionize Cleveland baseball like I had expected. Maybe that is kind of symbolic in its own way. His Cleveland experience was sheer agony, but he went on to great success elsewhere. Cleveland sports fans would see that pattern repeated a few times over the years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*******</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Epilogue </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I had an analogous experience as a late blooming ballplayer, though at the amateur level of course.. I never felt that I played up to my ability in Pony League, mainly because I psyched myself out worrying, kind of like Richie in his early days. So at age 39, 22 years after my last whiff in Pony League, I found myself in Japan working as a research scientist. I found out that they had hardball leagues for adults, which scarcely existed at that time in the US. N Softball yes, but this was hardball in Japan. Japanese people can not understand why grown adults would want to play soft-toss. Shouldn't that be for little children? <br /> I was okay as a backup right fielder for the Sapporo O-Jays. We were named after the music group, a favorite of my manager Kanno-san. We played only like 10 games and I had fewer than 20 at bats. But I got a few hits, and stole a few bases despite my ripe old age. The next year I returned to Dayton and played two more years of amateur hardball, which was just starting up. I was not good but I did hit over .300. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD111CoN-FJuAyWpRKDID_DTOOkqf47NF3E_iJQhbwLTOjg496wU0IECnFVzrxWfYzdhyvykp5BcqUWsZ5tmEUdHGISaGnc6APZFVeW9aUsoZ1NbleUa8G9149djCbLhCzYV9lhyphenhyphen-Uhskn/s1600/scheinblum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="608" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD111CoN-FJuAyWpRKDID_DTOOkqf47NF3E_iJQhbwLTOjg496wU0IECnFVzrxWfYzdhyvykp5BcqUWsZ5tmEUdHGISaGnc6APZFVeW9aUsoZ1NbleUa8G9149djCbLhCzYV9lhyphenhyphen-Uhskn/s640/scheinblum.jpg" width="460" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sugoi Richie! Richie starred for the Hiroshima Carp for two full seasons before an Achilles injury ended his career. </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1909841_1019126715499_4570_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=8068a8949a90c1e43e5d3aae1fbfecd5&oe=5BE880C1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="600" height="478" src="https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/1909841_1019126715499_4570_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=8068a8949a90c1e43e5d3aae1fbfecd5&oe=5BE880C1" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was not a big success in Japanese baseball. But I felt like I belonged. Note my Ichiro Suzuki "Blue Wave" cap. Very stylish. </span></div>
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-12451049277646738812018-07-15T19:32:00.000-07:002020-06-19T14:53:34.465-07:00The Cincinnati Reds, Joe Morgan and Reinventing the Second Batter<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZ_Zdz05KBENUFEUT3XZC7kh1JtplbCkn2K21k-SuVbh8LOl-HnQJftt0pmMpQAlU5Lral83l9PnPs4Phl6ZnvRF7n4xTtxen6BLQV-TkXXMooxBg_TXElRqGLQad_yZHGUrWrRLSl7O8/s1600/reds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="318" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZ_Zdz05KBENUFEUT3XZC7kh1JtplbCkn2K21k-SuVbh8LOl-HnQJftt0pmMpQAlU5Lral83l9PnPs4Phl6ZnvRF7n4xTtxen6BLQV-TkXXMooxBg_TXElRqGLQad_yZHGUrWrRLSl7O8/s640/reds.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Four key cogs in the Big Red Machine: Tony Perez, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan & Pete Rose.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let's wind the clock back a few years to the late 1960s, when pitchers were dominant and home runs were a rarity. 1968, the Year of the Pitcher, stands out because Carl Yastrzemski was the only guy to hit .300 in the entire American League, while in the National League no one was able to hit 40 home runs (Willie McCovey was tops with 36) and only four guys hit 30 or more home runs. That year the Los Angeles Dodgers had no one with more than 10 home runs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Low scoring, and low power numbers resulted in a much different game than today's game. Late 1960s baseball featured much more emphasis on stolen bases and bunts. Consequently, the second batter in the lineup was often the team's best bunter. For example, Cincinnati's Pete Rose was a very good leadoff hitter and the Reds liked to have light hitting Tommy Helms batting behind Rose in order to bunt him over or run the hit-and-run. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This all changed when the Reds made a huge trade before the 1972 season, giving up Helms and slugger Lee May for Joe Morgan, pitcher Jack Billingham and outfielder Cesar Geronimo. Now they had a guy who stood 5'6" with a tiny strike zone and excellent discipline at the plate, so he got on base as often as Rose plus Joe was a prolific base stealer. They experimented with Joe at leadoff, second and third in the order, although Pete greatly preferred batting leadoff. Little Joe wasn't very big, so in his early career the thought was that he should be a contact hitter, hit to the opposite field, bunt and move the runner along. In other words, his career trajectory was more or less similar to Tommy Helms, with the added dimension that Joe could steal bases and get on base via walks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Reds' brain trust, with Manager Sparky Anderson and Hitting Coach Ted Kluczewski, settled on an unorthodox strategy. Rose would bat leadoff rather than the faster Morgan, but instead of trying to steal bases, he was to stay put on first base. That opens up the right side of the infield as the second baseman has to cheat over a little anticipating the steal attempt and the first baseman has to hold the runner on. Forget about the bunt, let's move Mr. Rose along with a base hit, shall we? Joe, a left-handed batter, was going to look to PULL the ball and bat Rose over to third base or even drive him in with extra bases. In other words, the second position in the order was going to do damage rather than giving himself up most of the time. After Morgan, the Reds were going to come at you with the likes of Bobby Tolan, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez.<br /><br />My guess is that Klu and Sparky were not primarily thinking of Morgan as a power hitter. They were thinking that was going to lead the National League in batting average by hitting line drives through the hole in the right side of the infield and walk 100 times a year. The home run power was a bit of an unexpected bonus. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Probably the Reds were not the only team to consciously reinvent the role of the #2 batter, but they were among the most obvious practitioners and benefactors. They won the pennant in 1972 after going 82-80 the previous year. </span><span style="font-size: large;">It may surprise you to be reminded that the 1972 Reds didn't hit that many home runs, but they were second in the league in runs scored because of their super productive front end of the batting order. At that time, Dave Concepcion hadn't learned to hit, and so the 6-7-8 batters were Dennis Menke, Cesar Geronimo and Concepcion, none of whom distinguished themselves offensively that year. </span></div>
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-28678119349041859712018-06-20T17:55:00.004-07:002018-06-20T17:55:49.248-07:00The Woman Who Replaced Hammerin' Hank Aaron<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_R0we9pmgifJjUorrpxUuzjLwq6wgY3-o6OmEraaE3IzcILpdnxlOnlz-hYbNRcicGG_tdcQGxWktiW3pKRlhSJnFiyxyfi1FI47j8QSIpJoZ95N2tVBe0SH79auPnlWRLqPzLd5NeZZo/s1600/tonistone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="230" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_R0we9pmgifJjUorrpxUuzjLwq6wgY3-o6OmEraaE3IzcILpdnxlOnlz-hYbNRcicGG_tdcQGxWktiW3pKRlhSJnFiyxyfi1FI47j8QSIpJoZ95N2tVBe0SH79auPnlWRLqPzLd5NeZZo/s640/tonistone.jpg" width="521" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>BELIEVE IT! Toni Stone played second base in the Negro Leagues, replacing a young prospect whose contract had been sold to the Milwaukee Braves, one Henry Aaron. </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some people have wondered whether a woman could play professional baseball against men, and in recent years a few players have done so: Eri Yoshida and Ila Borders come to mind. But it's not really a new phenomenon. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Back in 1952, the Indianapolis Clowns were a professional baseball team in the Negro American League. As their name implies, they were partly sports and partly entertainment, a little like the basketball Harlem Globetrotters. However, they were serious enough about baseball to play well enough to to win Pennant, led by a star shortstop named Henry Aaron. The shortstop caught the attention of the Major Leagues, and it wasn't long before he was signed by the Milwaukee Braves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> So who replaced Henry Aaron on the Clowns? Believe it or not, Henry was replaced by Toni Stone, a young woman who had played on men's semi-pro teams as a teenager. It was mor0e than a gimmick, as she hit a respectable batting average (.243) including a hit against the legendary Satchel Paige. Her contract was eventually sold to the Kansas City Monarchs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Nor was Toni the only female player and maybe not the best. Mamie "Peanut" Johnson managed win with 33 games versus 8 defeats for the Clowns. She was joined by Connie Morgan, who like Toni played second base. She is shown below with former Negro League star Jackie Robinson.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4m4XVkz0JmXRUIfGfXqxyyJwCg2wlDhvChUvome_Rhb52zMVpC_pSRIH6wFc7DzCl0bD2XWVa0ae_3bhtnlnayuT3esTHMYoVOF-oqhdRSop1sjMxk-l7yespR_wkT1r7VoyWiZ4XA8z/s1600/Jackie+Robinson+and+Connie+Morgan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="497" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4m4XVkz0JmXRUIfGfXqxyyJwCg2wlDhvChUvome_Rhb52zMVpC_pSRIH6wFc7DzCl0bD2XWVa0ae_3bhtnlnayuT3esTHMYoVOF-oqhdRSop1sjMxk-l7yespR_wkT1r7VoyWiZ4XA8z/s640/Jackie+Robinson+and+Connie+Morgan.jpg" width="483" /></i></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Second Lieutenant Jackie Robinson gives a few batting tips to Connie Morgan of the Indianapolis Clowns. </i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I remember years ago, someone asked Hammerin' Hank if he thought a woman would ever play Major League Baseball, and he replied that he thought a woman might be able to play second base. I thought that was a curious comment...until now I can put two and two together and know that three women actually did play baseball in the Negro Leagues. </span></div>
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-49355852677167105732018-06-13T18:19:00.003-07:002018-06-13T18:19:53.174-07:00LeBron James, the Next NBA Player Coach?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Would LeBron Agree to be the Player Coach of the Cavaliers? I think they should find out, and Tyronn Lue is on his way out anyway. </span></b></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I believe LeBron is gone from Cleveland and hated owner Dan Gilbert. He can get any amount of money he wants from any team in the NBA, so I don't really care who he signs with. If there is any chance of keeping him in Cleveland I would do it. But we don't have that great of a team to offer him. Kevin Love and Larry Nance Junior are okay, but not superstars like Durant or Hardin or guys like that. But what if we made him the Player Coach? Maybe that would be appealing enough that he might consider it. </span></div>
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There have been several player coaches in the NBA, with Bill Russell being by far the most successful, winning two world championships. Other notables include Lenny Wilkins, Dave Cowens and Bob Cousy. </div>
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So why not LeBron? Lost in his athletic greatness is the fact that he has an incredible basketball mind, with near total recall in breaking down a game that he has just played in. For that reason, he is incredible to listen to when he is interviewed. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Part of the reason that Tyronn Lue is getting criticized is that LeBron had too much power, so no one would listen to the Coach. That problem gets fixed if LeBron is the Coach. In any case, Lue could not get his team to play acceptable defense. Maybe LeBron could exert better control on the players. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I think the Cavs' recruiting pbolems are due to uncertainty surrounding LeBron. If he were definitely going to play, the team should have no problem in recruiting star players to join the team. That's going to happen as players will descend on Cleveland in the off-season, hoping to have a shot at playing with and for LeBron. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> What have we got to lose?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> LeBron for Player Coach. Fire Lue. </span></div>
The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-87544131317614172202018-05-28T15:39:00.001-07:002018-05-28T17:16:56.401-07:00What about Super Bowl III did you not get? Kansas City Chiefs Destroy Vikes in SB IV. <div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Hank Stram and the Kansas City Chiefs were miles ahead of the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. </span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Did the NFL learn anything from its ignominious defeat in Super Bowl III? Not really, and neither did the sporting world, judging by the 14 point spread favoring the Minnesota Vikings over the Kansas City Chiefs for Super Bowl IV after the 1969 season. <br /> I continue to be amazed at how many people still make excuses for Baltimore even to this day. <br /><i> Well, it was that washed up old man Earl Morrall's fault.</i> Really? The NFL Man of the Year, who later would earn 3 Super Bowl rings? He's the reason the Colts lost?<br /><i> Well, the Colts would have won if they had started Johnny Unitas.</i> So you're 18 point favorites and you have the NFL MVP at quarterback, but you want to bench him for the Super Bowl and start a guy who had 11 completions on the year? Really? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Be that as it may, the sporting world pretty much regarded Super Bowl III as a fluke. Maybe Joe Namath was a sorcerer and cast a spell on Baltimore. But this would all be rectified by the Minnesota Vikings, who--this time--really were the greatest team of all time, or so went the narrative. Hence, the</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Vikings, aka the Purple People Eaters, were installed as 14 point favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The 1968 Colts had set several defensive NFL records. But all those records were broken by the Purple People Eaters, led by a front four of Alan Page, Jim Marshall, Carl Eller and Gary Larson. All four made the Pro Bowl along with safety Paul Krause. They gave up the fewest points in history, even fewer than the Colts, fewer than 10 points per game. Incredibly, they were the number one defense versus the run, AND the number one defense versus the pass, and it wasn't close. They also let the NFL with 30 INTs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Quarterback Joe Kapp, who had come to the Vikings from the Canadian Football League, also made the Pro Bowl along with receiver Gene Washington, as the Vikings also led the NFL in points scored. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> So, what about the AFL? Well, frankly they were considered to be 14 points worse than the NFL, a scant four points better than the underdog Jets of Super Bowl III. But there would be no Namath to create a miracle for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs were led by two-time NFL reject Len Dawson at quarterback, who had been traded by Pittsburgh and then cut by the Cleveland Browns. Dawson was another guy who had stats that look silly by today's yardstick, with 9 TDs and 13 INTs. That get's you benched today, but it got Dawson to the AFL Pro Bowl (actually referred to as the AFL All Star game at that time). Weirdly, backup Mike Livingston also made the AFL All Star game after subbing admirably for an injured Dawson for about half the season. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: start;">Fullback Robert Holmes, who plowed forward for 612 yards, also made the All Star game, even though halfback Mike Garrett actually led the team with 732 rushing yards and another 432 receiving yards. T</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">hey also had Otis Taylor and Frank Pitts at WR. Defenders who made the All Star game included LBs Willie Lanier and Bobby Bell, CB Jim Marsalis, and S Bobby Bell. Yet despite that impressive list, there was not much question in the minds of most observers that the Chiefs did not match up against the Vikings. Nor for that matter, did any of the other NFL teams. The Vikings were just too good and could not be challenged by any other team on earth. Any hope for another Joe Namath miracle evaporated when the Chiefs beat them in the AFL playoffs. Hence, there could be no stopping the Vikings in Super Bowl IV. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> There is only one slight problem with the narrative. The Vikings did not blow away the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Instead, the Chiefs took the Vikings behind the tool shed and beat them up, much worse than the Jets had beaten Baltimore the previous year. And just like the previous year, the NFL turned the ball over repeatedly against the zone defense. Was it just bad luck? Well, how do you explain the utter humiliation of the Vikings Front Four? Remember, all four made the NFL Pro Bowl, but the Chiefs rang up 151 yards on 42 carries. 42 carries? That is an insane total. In 1969, I doubt if there was any team that lost an NFL game with 42 carries. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> For those who want to blame Super Bowl III on Earl Morrall or Johnny Unitas, neither of those two star players was in Super Bowl IV. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Once again, the AFL won without an aerial bombardment. QB Len Dawson was ruthlessly efficient, but never challenged and did not have to throw much. He threw the ball only 17 times all game long, because the Chiefs were so thoroughly dominant there was no great need. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Hi Mr. Kapp. Please meet Buck Buchanan and Curly Culp. </span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> One of the great things about this game was that Coach Hank Stram was wired for sound, and he is hilariously funny yet also insightful. Some of the best quotes, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just keep matriculating the ball down the field, boys!"</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> "Kassulke (Viking SS Karl Kassulke) was running around there like it was a (foreign)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> fire drill. They didn't know where Mike (Garrett) was. Didn't know where he was! They look like they're flat as hell."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">" Nice going, baby! The mentor! 65 toss power trap! I tell ya that thing was there, yes sir boys!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In addition to providing entertainment for us fans, Stram's mike conveys the obvious truth that the Vikings could not cope with the Chief's playbook. Dawson would later write, "It was obvious that their offense had never seen a defense like ours.(</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Len Dawson, "Super Bowl IV," Super Bowl: The Game of Their Lives, Danny Peary, editor. Macmillan, 1997. ISBN 0-02-860841-0</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">)" There were a huge number of innovations that the AFL had, that the NFL was only starting to recognize by 1969. They first of all had the zone defense with the bump and run press coverage. It wasn't really a secret by that time, but the Vikings were not used to playing against it, whereas all of the Chiefs' games used it</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. The AFL had the hot read, in which the receivers would shorten their routes in the event of a blitz. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Stram had a very complex "Offense of the Future" which used multiple formations, shifts and unorthodox plays. Stram loved to call reverses on overagressive defenses, and speedy Frank PItts ran three of them against the Vikings. It's not so bad if they catch you once with a reverse. But if you get caught three times, that usually means you are slow learners. Stram was able to read the brute-force Vikings like a textbook, whereas the Vikings were still trying to progress from DC Comics to Marvel.<br /> The final score was 23-7, and it could have been much worse. Just like the Jets the previous year, there was little reason to throw the ball, and for the most part Kansas City was willing to grind it out on the ground. So that's what they did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At some point, you have to admit that the AFL was not so weak after all. One game might be a fluke. But the Jets gained 142 yards on the ground, and the Chiefs gained 151. Thus, these games were won in the trenches, not due to some flukey quarterback play. It would be fair to say that two years in a row, the NFL got pounded into submission. Had the situation demanded more throwing, the AFL passing game would have probably made the statistical difference even worse. John Madden used to say, "the best team really does win the Super Bowl," and I believe he was right. The Chiefs really were that good. Over two games, the NFL had been favored by 32 points, and they lost by 25. That's a 57 point swing in two games. I mean, come on, you have to realize at some point that something was up. In my opinion this probably represents the worst failure of Las Vegas oddsmakers to handicap football games. One game might be a statistical fluke, but two upsets in a row with a combined 57 point swing? They were incredibly off. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In this observer's mind at least, the Jets and Chiefs were playing with significantly better playbooks, and that has a lot to do with their dominant wins in the Super Bowl. Their advantage was lost to some extent in the 1970 off-season, as the leagues merged, and NFL Coordinators were at last obliged to figure out what was in the AFL playbooks. In 1970, the merged leagues saw the old NFL teams generally outplay their AFL counterparts, though the new American Football Conference won the Super Bowl again, with Baltimore now residing in the AFC. Ironically, this time Johnny Unitas started but got injured, and Earl Morrall came in and rang up 10 unanswered points as the Colts eked out a 16-13 victory over the Cowboys, who like the Vikings were an expansion team beginning to flex their muscles. Youth was being served, both inside the NFL as well as the AFL. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Um, don't look at this, kids. Maybe the key to the Super Bowl was to have a nice cigarette at halftime (this photo is actually from SB#1). </i></span><br />
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-59220611424319642112018-05-19T18:37:00.003-07:002018-05-19T18:43:17.430-07:00Cleveland Browns Acquired Team Guys on Offense<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Jeff Janis has only 17 catches in his career but is a special teams ace and valued backup.</i></span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Drew Stanton's numbers are not exciting. But he is a backup QB that has a habit of winning games. </span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The Browns have gone out of their way to obtain guys who are good leaders in the clubhouse, paying a steep price for "character guys" in each position group on offense, including quarterback Drew Stanton, OL Donald Stephenson, WR Jeff Janis. These guys are not the necessarily the best available players but do stabilize an offensive unit that was essentially devoid of veteran leadership when Josh McCown was sent packing and Joe Thomas wound up on IR. You can see a plan emerging. The team will have at least one sane voice in each meeting room during the week. <br /><br />Stanton, Stephenson and Janis do not have eye-popping scouting reports from Pro Football Focus, and in fact are each considered below average, but they are all Coach-on-the-field type guys that will act as a bridge between the coaching staff and the young Browns players. None of these guys figure to be starters, but they are going to establish the right kind of leadership.<br /><br /> Janis may be particularly important because the Browns' best receivers are not considered quite the bedrock of stabilty, with off-suspended Josh Gordon and protege Antonio Calloway. Corey Coleman has also generated some minor off season drama with an alleged off-the-field altercation as well being called out for inadequate conditioning in 2016. Hopefully Janis can help to stabilize these talented but possible troubled players. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Cleveland Browns contemptuously trashed their veteran leadership last year. Unquestionably the leader of the offense was Josh McCown, a guy who would do anything for the team, and supported the other quarterbacks no matter what. No less an authority than the Browns' bad boy Johnny Manziel explained it thusly on Twitter: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> "Draft a QB in the first round and put him into a toxic Quarterback room vs. what it was like my second year with [Josh] McCown,” Manziel said. “COMPLETELY different situation. It’s all about the right fit and mine in Cleveland wasn’t right. That’s just the facts. I also have nobody to blame but myself.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Manziel's tweet was probably a bit ill advised, as even the mildest of controversy is not what his career needs right now, but nevertheless the salient point is that he articulated very well the need for sanity in the quarterbacks' meeting room. Josh McCown created a much better environment for the other quarterbacks as they tried to assimilate the complexities of the Browns' offense. The quarterback room is like a war room, where plans are made up and plays are created and modified. Most of the burden falls on the Coaching Staff, but the players are part of that process also. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Browns GM Sashi Brown, on the other hand seemed determined to eliminate veteran leadership, for reasons that are not clear. Perhaps he thought he could help to mold a new cadre of loyal Browns by relying on younger minds. In any case, McCown was sent packing as well as the unquestioned leader of the defense in Joe Haden. Also sent packing were star linebacker DeMario Davis, S Jordan Poyer, CB Tramon Williams and other guys who have been around the league for a while. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This year, the Browns again ejected all quarterbacks including DeShone Kizer, Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan. But most importantly, future Hall of Fame lineman Joe Thomas is retired. This presented the Browns with a leadership vacuum among the players if not a talent vacuum and that is probably why the Browns brought in Janis, Stanton and Stephenson. Having veteran starters like Tyrod Taylor and Carlos Hyde is going to help also. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Veteran defensive starters Jason McCourty, Jamar Taylor, and Danny Shelton are also gone this year, despite seeming to have played well last year. In their place are </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">E. J. Gaines, Demarious Randall and T. J. Curry. The</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Browns have addtional veteran presence on defense with former All Pro Jamie Collins, Jamie Meder, Chris Kirksey and perhaps Tank Carder, so on that side of the ball they were better off than the offense. <br /> The Browns seem to have pursued a plan of acquiring not just talent but leadership on the offensive side of the ball. My guess is that even if the box score doesn't mention guys like Stanton, Janis and Stephenson, their presence is going to be felt by the rest of the team. </span></div>
The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-73612297056338949082018-05-15T06:39:00.000-07:002018-05-15T06:39:33.432-07:00Browns WRs in 2017 Struggled. How Bad was It? <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9uWkL4_MrPskWeTZk5FtsNYLVZWXICcKoXzKO6dIhzD3PS1UcS-yABjbbVb0TjAeySA5Wuy3yvb61q42-XGJOBSxb2_Vk3WEhMbZpu-8qKW-e6cGklze-qPKACpZoGMlk_MBhYgDQTJK/s1600/Corey+Coleman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="633" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9uWkL4_MrPskWeTZk5FtsNYLVZWXICcKoXzKO6dIhzD3PS1UcS-yABjbbVb0TjAeySA5Wuy3yvb61q42-XGJOBSxb2_Vk3WEhMbZpu-8qKW-e6cGklze-qPKACpZoGMlk_MBhYgDQTJK/s640/Corey+Coleman.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Corey Coleman had a shot to keep the Browns' last drive alive last year, but came up short, sending them to their 16th loss of the season. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Looking back on the infamous 2017 Cleveland Browns season, one of the most painful subjects is the wide receivers. I'm actually an optimist about the Browns. You might not have recognized that last year when I had the audacity to suggest that they were only a four win team, much of it due to weakness at the wide receiver position. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> "Four wins? Kennel, have you flipped your lid? Hey, they signed Kenny Britt! Plus young prospects like speedy Corey Coleman, Ricardo Louis and Hollywood Higgins! Victories are assured!" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Well, that's not what happened. They were even worse than I imagined. Corey Coleman broke the same hand he injured last year, and never showed an ability to catch the ball, though he is fast and elusive with the ball. <br /> The table provides a few stats about how bad they were, but in reality does not begin to tell the full story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In terms of catch percentage (balls caught divided by targets), they were epic underperformers. The Browns did have Hollywood Higgins catching more than half his chances, but all the other wideouts were under 50 percent. Frankly this is incredible. The table shows their rank according to percentile both for Catch percentage as well as their overall ranking by Pro Football Focus. Not that PFF is always right, and I doubt whether the Browns get the same level of attention as other teams, but at least they made the effort. <br /><br /> PFF's ranking is based on 116 WRs in the NFL which is essentially three starters per team, plus 20 extra top extra wide receivers.<br /> The catch percentage stat is based on a different pool from Pro Football Reference, because they include tight ends and running backs, resulting in a total pool of 212 players. So I used a percentile basis. So, for example, PFF ranks Josh Gordon as 83rd percentile meaning that 83% of the group is not as good as him. Conversely, his catch percentage 2.8 percentile means only 2.8% of the group was worse. <br /> Josh did see a lot of double coverage and did not have a very accurate qb throwing passes his way, but I wonder if his ranking by PFF might be a bit generous. How could you be 83rd percentile in overall performance if you're one of the poorest performers at catching the ball? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> But n</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">o matter how you slice it, the rest of the Browns wide receivers struggled to catch the ball, and the guys at PFF were not very impressed. It would be very hard to conceive that a guy ranked 12th percentile (i.e., Corey Coleman) could be an NFL starter. Catching fewer than 40% of the balls thrown his way is just an amazing stat and not in a good way. Corey will either improve or a new starter will be found. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> You can blame some of the problem on young quarterback DeShone Kizer, but tight ends David Njoku and Seth DeValve plus halfback/slot Duke Johnson had respectable stats with the same quarterback. Wide receivers just really did have a difficult time in 2017. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Kenny Britt actually was sent away last year, but it would not be surprising to see the other Browns receivers pushed for their jobs in 2018. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VvcjtlFX7guSigitV57OqmDA-H6PXO6qVCqiZ4sVbhwJhvpX6GH2qUooMS3cuAJrHKdK7M1Ho_TfLu7ztLF0gpCOxcnPCZx3il7ts2-unXs04wKTN7J64Mp6N7f45XyMoS5D6Ms2kNxg/s1600/hollywood+higgins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="480" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VvcjtlFX7guSigitV57OqmDA-H6PXO6qVCqiZ4sVbhwJhvpX6GH2qUooMS3cuAJrHKdK7M1Ho_TfLu7ztLF0gpCOxcnPCZx3il7ts2-unXs04wKTN7J64Mp6N7f45XyMoS5D6Ms2kNxg/s640/hollywood+higgins.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hooray for Hollywood! Rashard Higgins caught a few footballs in 2018 but is considered by PFF to be in the bottom 5% of the NFL. Ouch. </span></td></tr>
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-78489390170073869032018-05-14T12:23:00.001-07:002018-05-14T14:03:56.070-07:00The Super Bowl Drought for the Old Guard NFL, 1968-1983<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> You might imagine that the old school NFL--teams that were established prior to the merger of the All America Conference and the NFL in 1950--continued to dominate. In fact, that pattern started to emerge with Super Bowl I and II taken by Green Bay, who basically obliterated everything in their path. The pattern was shattered by the New York Jets and Joe Namath after the 1968 season. But would you believe that it would take FIFTEEN YEARS before the old school would win another Super Bowl?<br /><br />That's correct. To clarify, by Old School I am referring to the teams that were with the NFL prior to the merger with the All America Conference in 1950, and stayed in the NFC after the merger with the AFL in 1970. Specifically, these teams were New York Giants, Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, St. Louis (formerly Chicago) Cardinals, and Los Angeles (formerly Cleveland) Rams. <br /><br />I got interested in this question based on some commentary in the Remember the AFL group on Facebook.<br /><br />The old Cleveland Browns (now Ravens) and San Francisco 49ers were originally in the AAC and joined the NFL in 1950. But the Browns as well as the Steelers and Baltimore Colts (who actually replaced the defunct Dallas Texans in 1953) joined the AFL in 1970. So for the purposes of accounting, I have grouped the former AAC teams with the Steelers and Colts. They are all transplanted teams, and thus differentiated from the Old Guard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The NFL expanded a few times as well. It seems like the Dallas Cowboys have always been in the NFL, but in reality they were an expansion team, along with the Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints, set up to counter the AFL. They were later followed by Tampa, Seattle, Houston and the new Browns. Generally the expansion teams not from Dallas have had a hard time winning Super Bowls. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, let's recount the 15 year drought between wins by the Old School. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />AFL teams namely the Jets, Chiefs and (transplanted) Colts won Super Bowls III through V. The next teams that won were the expansion Cowboys (twice), and the AFL Dolphins (also twice). The Steelers won four times in the 1970s, and the Raiders won twice. They were followed by the 49ers winning the first of their four championships, before Washington finally managed to win Super Bowl XVII.<br /><br />A case could be made that the Old School had become stodgy and complacent. The new, hungrier teams from the AFL as well as the new expansion teams (especially the highly innovative Dallas Cowboys) created a superior brand of football. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The NFC had a comeback of sorts, winning 13 straight between 1985 and 1997. But even that was not so much the Old Guard reasserting itself, but the continuing success of the Cowboys (Expansion) and 49ers (Transplants), both of whom were among the dominant teams. In all, the Old School won the Super Bowl only 11 times after its dominant 2-0 start. That's fewer than either the transplant teams or the AFL teams. <br /><br />Dallas skews the results among Expansion Teams with 5 wins, while Tampa Bay, Seattle and the Saints are the other Expansion Teams to have turned in a win.<br /><br />Old School 13 wins</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once the script changed in Super Bowl 3, the football world was changed forever, and the Old Guard never fully recovered. </span><br />
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-46286577196245227082018-05-03T18:34:00.003-07:002018-05-05T07:47:57.909-07:00Super Bowl III was not a Fluke. Why the AFL beat a Superior Team<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Super Bowl III, considered by many sports historians was not a fluke in my opinion. The New York Jets were 18 point underdogs, and yet they spanked the Colts 16-7, and it wasn't that close. New York led 16-0 and gave up a fourth quarter touchdown after Baltimore pulled quarterback Earl Morrall in favor of Johnny Unitas, who had been injured all year. <br /> This was a case of a superior game plan defeating a team with superior athletes. The Colts never saw it coming, just as Goliath never thought about the need to defend against a 120 mile an hour stone until a split second before his death. <br /><span style="font-size: large;"> I've been interested in this literally for decades, but I really learned a lot from corresponding with </span>sports historian and author Bob Lederer, who collected great information for his new book, <i>Beyond Broadway Joe--The Super Bowl Team That Changed Football.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> In Super Bowl III, the poor Colts defenders wondered why it was that quarterback Joe Namath always seemed to have the right play called to defeat their hitherto invincible Blitz. How could Joe know that the blitz was coming? Well, the answer is that Joe didn't know. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Bob was able to confirm for me that the Jets knew how to change the play after the snap via the "hot read," and the Baltimore Colts did not. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">The Jets actually changed the play when the Blitz came, AFTER the snap. The "hot receiver" would shorten his route so that Namath could dump it off quickly. The Colts had no such play, meaning that they had to guess whether the Blitz was coming BEFORE the snap, and they were basically stuck running the play that was called. If it was the wrong play, they just had to live with the results. So no wonder Namath always had the answer for the Baltimore Blitz. He could adapt in the middle of the play, whereas Baltimore could not. They just couldn't figure it out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Bob Lederer confirmed that for me, after I had wondered about that for years. Try as I might, I couldn't find a reference on the internet explaining the origin of the "hot read." I once met Browns star running back Greg Pruitt at a Browns Backers affair at Tuty's in Beavercreek Ohio, and asked him that question. Greg came along a few years later (1973) and wasn't completely sure when the hot read came along, but did say that the Browns implemented a form of that for him. His job changed depending on who he was supposed to block. If it was a linebacker, it was his job to pass block. But if it was a defensive lineman, then he was to head out in the flat for a short pass. <br /> Bob also reminded me that in 1968, many quarterbacks did not even have the option of creating an audible. The strategy varied from team to team, but play calls were sent in from the sideline when a substitute player would enter the game on every play; i.e., a "messenger guard" or "messenger tight end." They knew how to use the audible, but not all quarterbacks had permission under most circumstances. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> On the other hand, Namath was allowed to call an audible at the line of scrimmage based on what he was seeing from the defense. If Joe wanted to change the play call, he could, and then if the blitz came, there was yet another change in the middle of the play. That was one of the strategic advantages that the Jets had. <br /> Another huge advantage was the way that the quarterback dropped back to pass. Earl Morrall backpedaled with short steps, facing forward to see the entire field all the time. It was like dink dink dink dink dink dink dink clunk clunk bloop. Namath, on the other hand, turned sideways and glided back about 12 yards in his seven step drop and threw a noticeably faster ball. It was like swoosh swoosh swoosh kapow. Hence he had much more time to throw. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Namath's Jets won with </span><span style="font-size: large;"> ball control, dink and dunk offense that avoided turnovers and sacks. The Jets also had a sophisticated defense, using zone coverage and the "bump and run." These tactics were evolved in the AFL. The Colts were one of the first teams in the NFL to use the zone defense, but that was old hat for the Jets. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Defensive lineman Gerry Philbin</span><span style="font-size: large;"> made me laugh in some interviews many years later. Do you know the old adage that defensive linemen hate ALL quarterbacks, including the quarterback of their OWN team? Well, it's probably true. Gerry seemed to be really frustrated by Joe's tendency to be erratic at times. His viewpoint seemed to be that the defense was going to win the game as long as Namath didn't screw it up. Maybe he was right. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> In that same vein, Curt Gowdy mentions during the Super Bowl III telecast that the Colts used to refer to star halfback Tom Matte (a converted quarterback) as the "Garbage Can." Gowdy explains that that Matte always gains a lot of yards "without really looking like it." But that's not it at all. That nickname was applied by defensive lineman Alex Karras, who scornfully implied that Matte padded his stats by getting supposedly easy yards in non-key situations, rather than the "tough yards." Matte, it must be understood, was handsome like a quarterback, dressed well and spoke well. That was enough to earn him the same type of flak normally reserved for the quarterback. Matte's teammates thought it was funny, and the nickname stuck. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> But no matter. Although Joe Namath was unquestionably the most sensational star of the AFL that's not the only story. There's also the AFL tactics that gave them a major advantage. Then, just to prove it was no fluke, the Kansas City Chiefs beat up the Minnesota Vikings, the Purple People Eater team that was even better than Baltimore, so they said. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Lederer's book is not out yet, but I have already ordered mine from Amazon.com. </td></tr>
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-38830482700620409002018-04-29T08:21:00.001-07:002018-04-29T12:47:12.860-07:00Review of the Browns 2018 Draft<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The last time the Browns drafted a quarterback and a cornerback in the same round ? Just four years ago, amazingly enough. So, is Mayfield the next Johnny Manziel, and is Denzel Ward going to be the next Justin Gilbert? Stay tuned Browns fans. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Browns had an excellent draft by any measure. Some fans are complaining, they should have taken so-and-so, and nobody else in the NFL is worth drafting. Of course, that's nonsense. If you have a guy who can throw the ball farther than John Elway, it can't be that bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Baker Mayfield throws the ball better than anyone I can remember. He's in the class of Marino and Elway Are there risks? Sure there are. Off the field, he has a penchant for getting in trouble, and that could cost him and ruin his career. But this is football, no one is guaranteed to be able to suit up more than one game at a time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Selecting Denzel Ward at fourth overall disappointed a lot of fans given that big bad Bradley Chubb was still available. Defensive end is hugely important, and these guys get their name called all the time for sacking the qb and stopping the run. Cornerbacks are boring. If they are very good, nothing happens all game long because the qb never throws at him. So it may be that Ward is a much more significant force than you might imagine based on media impact. We drafted him because we have to beat a team that has Antonio Brown on the roster. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> If you've read Mark F Barnes' excellent reviews of Austin Corbett, this is a guy with very good OL skills who will be considered at tackle or guard if Joel Bitonio moves outside to replace Joe T. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Nick Chubb is a guy I've really liked. People are worried about a knee operation 3 years ago, but he was devestating at the end of last year, 145 yards versus Oklahoma. He is a power back, perfect for a cold weather ball control team. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> In the 3rd round they went DE with Chad Thomas. He is not going to start because of Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah, and Carl Nassib is pretty decent too. They must think he's pretty good to take a defensive end at that point of the draft. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Anthony Calloway (Round 4) is a first round wide receiver who can't stay out of trouble. Can the Browns help him turn his life around? Maybe, but we have more than our share of troubled wide receivers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> In the back of the draft, you start looking for specialty team players and longshots. Probably linebacker Geneard Avery, </span><span style="font-size: large;">5th round, Damion Rately (6th), and Simieon Thomas (also 6th) will probably not start unless they make a big splash in the Pre-Season. </span><br />
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The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-27098686525305057512018-04-28T19:28:00.000-07:002018-04-28T19:28:25.910-07:00The Village Elliot's 2018 NFL Draft Scorecard: He Knows Nothing About NFL Football!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsRxmHPTE1s0ws3HuGw0vYwrw2FDV-ZmJ8tfe-9l8gbb8vBF-mlMbmNqTBJJTunB7InQ6ZW1bWtMLEu4NhYeWdLGBdKVpN7Z2LPl8zXgXbtfYMHIPVz1Ip8i6We3EPo_RaLO24jlp2psu/s1600/1524795321031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="931" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsRxmHPTE1s0ws3HuGw0vYwrw2FDV-ZmJ8tfe-9l8gbb8vBF-mlMbmNqTBJJTunB7InQ6ZW1bWtMLEu4NhYeWdLGBdKVpN7Z2LPl8zXgXbtfYMHIPVz1Ip8i6We3EPo_RaLO24jlp2psu/s640/1524795321031.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So, how'd I do in prognosticating the draft? It's rather humbling, because the main result is that it proved once again that I know nothing about NFL football. But here is my self assessment concerning my main predictions.<br />
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1. Josh Allen would be the first overall pick: WHIFF!<br />
2. Bills move up in the draft for a qb: CORRECT.<br />
3. Giants Draft Barkley: CORRECT. <br />
4. First three picks will be QBs: WHIFF.<br />
5. 4 QBs taken in the Top 10: CORRECT.<br />
5. Huge 3 team deal: WHIFF.<br />
6. Jets draft Darnold: CORRECT.<br />
7. 6 QBs in Round 1: WHIFF<br />
8. Browns trade down from Pick 4: WHIFF<br />
9. Dolphins trade up for Rosen: WHIFF<br />
10. Denzel Ward drafted before Minkah Fitzpatrick: CORRECT<br />
11. Mason Rudolph drafted in Round 1 (Arizona): WHIFF.<br />
12. Patriots draft Lamar Jackson and Shaquem Griffin in Round 1. WHIFF! WHIFF!<br />
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Pics I totally blew are Shaquem Griffin, who I believe will be a star on defense and would make the end of the first round; Mason Rudolph who I felt was a first rounder; ditto for Combine freak Will Hernandez and Derrius Guice.<br />
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<br />The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-61572029940814048842018-04-20T16:52:00.000-07:002018-04-20T16:52:09.938-07:00Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph Belong in the First Round. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEH52XiK3n-zenjJ8MYZAJPJHJL-Ins-zzza_6RgquTTXoGhoc9CyrfbNau7F5kH50k87aJJm6IZqErMs5ZeT7Ymo1kFWQRbfiwyCmCIYLAdqVMUg0tWb0kNKqnfOFY0n9kKKrCrBcQ9Ii/s1600/Baker+Mayfield.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="826" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEH52XiK3n-zenjJ8MYZAJPJHJL-Ins-zzza_6RgquTTXoGhoc9CyrfbNau7F5kH50k87aJJm6IZqErMs5ZeT7Ymo1kFWQRbfiwyCmCIYLAdqVMUg0tWb0kNKqnfOFY0n9kKKrCrBcQ9Ii/s640/Baker+Mayfield.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Elliot Kennel, you stupid jerk! Did you really say Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph might be better than me? Man, I'm putting you on my enemies list!"</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Call me crazy but Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph are darned good and belong in the first Round. Let's think this through a little bit, shall we?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> First, Mason Rudolph has done everything Baker Mayfield has done, except get arrested or grab his crotch on national TV. I mean, 4900 passing yards, 37 TDs and 9 INTs. Jeepers. Well, of course he did that in the Big 12, and it may be argued the Big 12 does not know how to play pass defense. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> That may be true, but isn't that the same conference that Oklahoma plays in? Mason Rudolph is known for having a deadly accurate deep ball and has plenty of arm strength, though quite not at the level of Mayfield or Allen. I think both Mayfield and Rudolph are candidates to play in Game 1, depending on who drafts them. Rudolph seems to have the right kind of work ethic to succeed in the NFL, whereas Mayfield is going to have to work hard to shake off the comparisons with Johnny Manziel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Like Mayfield, Josh Rosen has also alienated a few people with his mouth. It's not that he's said or done anything bad, but there is some concern that he might not have the right kind of personality to play quarterback in the NFL </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> CBS Sportsline, incidentally, ranks Mason Rudolph as the top quarterback in America in at least one mock draft, but 10th overall. They also like Lamar Jackson at 11th overall. That's probably not a bad estimate for where he will be taken. The main gripes against Lamar are that he is a running quarterback, has his mother for an agent, and scored poorly on the Wonderlic intelligence test. Well, all those are true. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I am not crazy about running quarterbacks, either, but this fellow is just as talented if not more so than DeShaun Watson. Jackson will probably never have to pass against a seven man front, because other teams are going to have to stack the line to prevent him from running wild. So it may be that Jackson is not quite the passer of the other five, but he doesn't have to be. He will succeed.<br /> The Wonderlic flop didn't have to happen. I blame his inexperienced agent (namely his mother) for not preparing him for the test. There are test taking strategies that a normal agent would prepare his client for (i.e., if you don't know an answer, should you guess or not? How much time should you spend on a tough problem before giving up and moving to the next). I doubt whether his well-intentioned but inexperienced agent knew how to prepare. Hence her son wound up being embarrassed. Thanks, Mom. But irrespective of test scores, he ran a complex Louisville Offense and is clearly football smart. I'm not buying the stupid quarterback narrative. Jackson will be a star. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Per my own evaluation, I'd go with the following order: Allen, Darnold, Jackson, Rudolph, Rosen and Mayfield. But I think the draft order will be Allen, Mayfield, Rosen, Darnold, Jackson, and Rudolph at the end of Round 1. Really I'm comfortable with all 6 guys. Although Mayfield and Rosen may have some perceived risk factors, it's still a worthy gamble that they will grow up to be star players. </span></div>
The Village Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11916370177299816244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4700757887619021483.post-55229430089493068612018-04-14T06:17:00.000-07:002018-04-25T15:03:55.975-07:00Village Elliot's 2018 Mock Draft 3.0 Saquon to Giants, Lamar Jackson to Pats , Browns trade back, Buffalo, Denver trade up. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">******************************************************</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> I updated the draft after the New England deal that brought them an extra first round pick. I think that becomes Lamar Jackson. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Of course, mock drafts are ridiculous because there are so many things that people can do that every prediction will soon fall apart. Nevertheless, like a moth driven to fly into a flame, I have a compulsion to try to predict the future and read the minds of NFL General Managers. I'm going to take my best shot at predicting some absolutely improbable future events. Thus, I have the following outlandish scenario to propose for my mock: I think the Bills want to move up, and the Browns and Giants are interested in moving down. The first three picks are going to be quarterbacks.<br /><br />Here's how it goes:<br />1. Browns draft Josh Allen. He has the most talent but lousy stats. I think that the stats can be overcome. Mainly, he needs to throw to people better than a converted point guard as his top wide receiver and things will improve.<br />2. A three way deal with the Browns, Giants and Buffalo results in Buffalo moving up all the way to Number 2 and they draft Baker Mayfield. I didn't make this up completely, as it was rumored a few weeks ago. Buffalo sends a 2nd and 3rd round draft pick to the Giants, who move back to 4th overall. Buffalo then sends the Browns two number one picks this year (12th and 22nd) and their first round pick in 2019. So, when all the carnage is over, Buffalo gave up 1,1,2,3 plus number 1 in 2019. Phew! But if Baker Mayfield is good enough to lead them into the playoffs, it's worth it (he won't). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. The Jets are up next, and they go for Sam Darnold, the gunslinger from USC. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">4. The Giants get their guy to help out Eli, namely Saquon Barkley, to create a more balanced offense. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">5. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Miami Dolphins</span><span style="font-size: large;"> move up by trading Denver three picks in including 11th overall in order to get their guy, Josh Rosen. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">6. Indianapolis drafts Bradley Chubb, the brilliant defensive lineman. They really didn't want a quarterback anyway, since they are banking on Andrew Luck coming back. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">7. Tampa Bay solidifies their secondary by drafting Denzel Ward, the shutdown corner from Ohio State</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">8. Chicago Bears draft Quenton Nelson, to take care of Franchise QB (they hope) Mitchell Trubisky. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">9. San Francisco 49ers take Minkah Fitzpatrick. The draft always seem to deliver top defensive talent to San Francisco in Round 1. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">10. Oakland Raiders select </span><span style="font-size: large;">Roquan Smith, ILB, Georgia. Jon Gruden needs to fix the Raiders' defense. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">11. Denver stakes Will Hernandez, G, UTEP, who was a Combine stud. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">12. With the Bill's pick, Cleveland goes for Mike </span><span style="font-size: large;">McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame. They need to replace Joe Thomas. This is a no-brainer. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">13. Washington Redskins go with defense, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Vita Vea, DT, Washington. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">14. Green Bay Packers </span><span style="font-size: large;">The Packers try to plug a leaky secondary with </span><span style="font-size: large;">Derwin James, SS, Florida State. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">15. Arizona Cardinals. Hey, did everyone forget about Mason Rudolph? He had four fantastic years with Oklahoma State and is ready to play NOW. He might make the All-Rookie Team. Arizona was not able to move up, and is overjoyed with Rudolph. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">16. Baltimore Ravens address a need for a wide receiver, by selecting </span><span style="font-size: large;">Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">17. Los Angeles Chargers select </span><span style="font-size: large;">Da'Ron Payne, DT, Alabama. If you want a great defense, just draft someone from Alabama. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">18. Seattle Seahawks need to replace Richard Sherman, and pick </span><span style="font-size: large;">Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">19. Dallas Cowboys</span><span style="font-size: large;"> pick</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Courtland Sutton, WR, Southern Methodist.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">20. Detroit Lions get a pash rusher by selecting </span><span style="font-size: large;">Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">21. Cincinnati Bengals (from Buffalo) adds to Marvin Lewis' defense with T</span><span style="font-size: large;">remaine Edmunds, ILB, Virginia Tech. They have to replace often-suspended Vontaze Burfict.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">22. Cleveland Browns did not get Saquon Barkley, so they take another stud runner in </span><span style="font-size: large;">Derrius Guice, RB, LSU. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">23. New England selects Lamar Jackson, and the entire NFL groans. Why didn't we think of that? Jackson is the most talented qb in the draft, but obviously fits a running quarterback style offense that most teams don't like. The Patriots don't care, they can morph into any kind of team that they want on a particular Sunday. Jackson may also decide to be on the field at the same time as Tom Brady, and emulate Kordell Slash Stewart. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">24. Carolina Panthers get </span><span style="font-size: large;">Isaiah Wynn, OT, Georgia. They want to protect Cam Newton. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">25. Tennessee Titans draft </span><span style="font-size: large;">to re-establish their defensive line, and they go with </span><span style="font-size: large;">Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">26. Atlanta Falcons bolster their front line with </span><span style="font-size: large;">Taven Bryan, DT, Florida. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">27. New Orleans Saints recently learned how to play defense. Great idea, so they will add </span><span style="font-size: large;">Rashaan Evans, ILB, Alabama.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">28. Pittsburgh Steelers </span><span style="font-size: large;">select </span><span style="font-size: large;">Jaire Alexander, CB, Louisville.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">29. Jacksonville Jaguars were hoping for a qb to slide because they hate current starter Blake Bortles. Finding none, they take James Washington, WR Oklahoma State. Nobody could cover him at the Senior Bowl. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">30. Minnesota Vikings go with Leighton Vander Esch ILB, a sideline-to-sideline linebacker.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">31. New England Patriots </span><span style="font-size: large;">draft Shaquem Griffin. He's gotten plenty of attention for overcoming the handicap of having only one hand, but what is being missed is that he is an incredible player. He also weighs 229 and runs a 4.3 40 yard dash. People who think he is a day 3 pick are insane. Watch the film and believe your eyes. He is a first round draft pick. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">32. Philadelphia Eagles need some O-Line help and go with </span><span style="font-size: large;">Kolton Miller, OT, UCLA. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well that's a lot to have happen. Do you think I will get anything right? </span></div>
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.The Village Elliot.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04067573537341001185noreply@blogger.com0