The Sports Curmudgeon

Does anyone remember “Commitment to Excellence” and/or “Pride and Poise”? Those were more than slogans; those phrases represented what the Oakland Raiders franchise sought in its teams from year to year. And it worked. The Raiders were a great franchise for a long time. After yesterday’s game, Al Davis said something along the lines that he wanted to win and that he would make it work for the Raiders. That’s not nearly the same thing.

The Raiders were shut out for the third time this season and for the second time at home. That’s awful; and the awfulness compounds upon the fact that this shutout came at the hands of the St. Louis Rams whose defense had been giving up just over 25 points per game this year. The Raiders turned the ball over 3 times on interceptions and had another play that should count as a turnover. When the blocking broke down in a punting situation, Raiders’ punter Matt Turk had to eat the ball instead of kicking it and having it blocked. That kind of performance often leads to losing, but to suffer three shutouts in a season with all the rule changes to favor the offense in the last 20 years is outrageous.

Aaron Brooks said after the game, “It’s embarrassing because we’re better than that.” Sorry, if you can’t score on the Rams’ defense after playing 13 games in a season, you aren’t better than that. You just stink! Brooks seems to have a personal streak going in terms of strange comments after games. This one was off-center but last week he responded to negative comments about the offense by saying “I swear to God, we’re trying out there.” You might be able to sense just how far this franchise has fallen; neither of those statements would ever have come into Ken Stabler’s mind …

One more Raiders note, they gave up 4 sacks yesterday bringing the season total to 66. But even the ineptitude of this Raiders team cannot possibly assault the NFL record for sacks allowed in a season. That record stands at 104 by the 1986 Eagles. When you are in a discussion about “sports records that may never be broken”, keep that one in mind. It represents an average of 6.5 sacks per game!

The Raiders along with the Detroit Lions are in a free-fall to see who will garner the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft next spring. The Lions have been miserable for so long that even I have to fire up some long dormant synapses to recall the days when the Lions inspired feared as a franchise. That would be in the 1950s with Bobby Layne at QB and Joe Schmidt at middle linebacker and Dick “Night Train” Lane in the secondary. It’s not a certainty, but let’s assume that the Lions get that first pick for a moment. I read somewhere that the Lions have had the first overall pick three times in the past and they have drafted the Heisman Trophy winner all three times. So, should we pencil in Troy Smith as a Detroit Lion under those circumstances?

Lots of folks project that Notre Dame QB, Brady Quinn, will be the first overall selection in the draft and become someone’s “franchise quarterback”. Here’s what a team drafting Brady Quinn should hope for:

That Brady Quinn will be as productive at QB as the “Brady” that plays in New England has been.

The Lions do have a shot at the first overall pick based on their recent history. In the ignominy-filled “Matt Millen Era”, the Lions record in December is 5-21. That’s even worse than their cumulative record in that “Era” of 23-71… Ouch!

A strange story developed over the weekend. Former NFL QB, Quincy Carter was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana in Irving Texas. Given that Carter had run-ins with the NFL substance abuse policies during his career, that’s not what makes this story strange. The really strange part of it is that he was released on $500 bail and the bond was posted by Randy Galloway who is a sports columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Carter did not have $500 to bail himself out of jail; this is a guy who played in the NFL for about 5 years; I remember him with the Cowboys and the Jets; he may have played for someone else too. I recall he went to camp with a CFL team (Montreal I think) and was cut without making the squad. He was also drafted by a MLB team and spent some time in the minor leagues. So, although he never made any “eight figure salaries” in his career, he made more money than most folks do by the age of 30 - - yet he didn’t have $500 to post bond for himself.

Here’s what Randy Galloway had to say about his involvement in this matter as reported in the rival paper, the Dallas Morning News:

“I’ve had a lot of fun with Quincy over the years, his problems and everything else. But it’s Christmas, and Quincy Carter is in jail and I hate to see that happen… For him to be in the position today where he can’t post a $500 bond, there’s unfortunate problems in his life.”

Kudos to Randy Galloway here – though he certainly does not need words of praise or acclaim from me. But as I looked at this situation, it came to me that there is a void that the NFL marketing weasels have not filled. There is a niche market that cries out for a “promotional partnership” with the NFL and when it’s filled, it will be NFL players who can benefit. Here’s what we need:

Big Jake’s Bail Bond Services LLC - - The Official Bail Bondsman of the NFL.

Finally, recalling the brouhaha that developed when it became known that the Dolphins had used audio tapes of previous Patriots’ games to try to get an edge and understand Tom Brady’s calls at the line of scrimmage, Greg Cote had this observation in the Miami Herald:

“Let it be hereby stated that coach Nick Saban officially missed a rare opportunity by not claiming his team’s controversial eavesdropping was authorized under The Patriot Act.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…