You guys rock. I want to talk about a few things mentioned in the comments, in case anyone missed them.
1. Travis Henry signs with Denver (John mentioned this). Already said what I want to say, and it's a great move.
2. Joey Porter signs with Miami for $20 million guaranteed (John). Porter's a very good linebacker, but he made the jump to superstar last year solely on the basis of personality. That's incredibly annoying.
Why would someone who craves the spotlight would be in such a hurry to sign with Miami? They're fast becoming one of the most irrelevant teams in the league, in my opinion. It's cute, though, that an NFL team features adult males named "Joey" on both sides of the ball.
3. George Karl threatening to bench Carmelo, which "The Goreman" saw mentioned on PTI. You can find Karl's words, sadly, in a Mark Kiszla column. (I know you guys aren't Woody Paige fans, but Kiszla is one hundred times worse.)
This is good and this is bad, and it's easy to see both sides. It's true, Carmelo is not playing as well as he can, but that goes for other Nuggets, too. Carmelo is perhaps being made a scapegoat. As the team's star, he gets the lion's share of the credit when they win. Being the scapegoat when it's going poorly is just part of the territory. It looks to me like the coach is trying to deflect blame from himself. But as an outsider, I can't tell if Carmelo's really blowing him off or if Karl is going back to the media games he played at his last coaching stops.
While Carmelo does look for his own shot a lot, and isn't well-rounded at all, there's no question the Nuggets would be worse if Karl actually followed through on his threats and benched him. It'd just be too big of a hole in the lineup. Certainly Allen Iverson can fill the role of go-to guy, but the Nuggets weren't very good when 'Melo was suspended, so that's not a real solution. I just hope this works, and lights a fire under the team, rather than making it all worse.
So far, so good. Carmelo had 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists last night as the Nuggets beat the Hornets 106-91. (You really have to see the lede to the Denver Post's game story to believe it.) The Nuggets play tonight at Golden State.
1. Travis Henry signs with Denver (John mentioned this). Already said what I want to say, and it's a great move.
2. Joey Porter signs with Miami for $20 million guaranteed (John). Porter's a very good linebacker, but he made the jump to superstar last year solely on the basis of personality. That's incredibly annoying.
Why would someone who craves the spotlight would be in such a hurry to sign with Miami? They're fast becoming one of the most irrelevant teams in the league, in my opinion. It's cute, though, that an NFL team features adult males named "Joey" on both sides of the ball.
3. George Karl threatening to bench Carmelo, which "The Goreman" saw mentioned on PTI. You can find Karl's words, sadly, in a Mark Kiszla column. (I know you guys aren't Woody Paige fans, but Kiszla is one hundred times worse.)
This is good and this is bad, and it's easy to see both sides. It's true, Carmelo is not playing as well as he can, but that goes for other Nuggets, too. Carmelo is perhaps being made a scapegoat. As the team's star, he gets the lion's share of the credit when they win. Being the scapegoat when it's going poorly is just part of the territory. It looks to me like the coach is trying to deflect blame from himself. But as an outsider, I can't tell if Carmelo's really blowing him off or if Karl is going back to the media games he played at his last coaching stops.
While Carmelo does look for his own shot a lot, and isn't well-rounded at all, there's no question the Nuggets would be worse if Karl actually followed through on his threats and benched him. It'd just be too big of a hole in the lineup. Certainly Allen Iverson can fill the role of go-to guy, but the Nuggets weren't very good when 'Melo was suspended, so that's not a real solution. I just hope this works, and lights a fire under the team, rather than making it all worse.
So far, so good. Carmelo had 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists last night as the Nuggets beat the Hornets 106-91. (You really have to see the lede to the Denver Post's game story to believe it.) The Nuggets play tonight at Golden State.
Comments
2. I think the Dolphins cut Joey Harrington to make room for other retreaded has-been QB's (i.e., Garcia and Plummer), thus confirming that no professional organization can have more than one adult man named "Joey."
3. The whole thing with the Nuggets is strange. It is not really a chemistry thing; it is more a matter of a lack of discipline. There is plenty of blame to go around for both coach and players. Benching Melo is a terrible idea, but reigning him in isn't, if there is some way to do it.
4. That lede is ridculous. Only the Denver Post could think Mark Kiszla is relevant, expecially from his outside-the-locker room point of view.
Garcia and Plummer went to the Bucs, not the Dolphins, but it doesn't matter because Harrington was indeed cut. My bad.
Dre Bly is weird. I can see a lot of reasons why you wouldn't want to play in Denver-it's not a big town, and it's kind of far from everywhere. But why would you want to play for Washington? At least the game passed our coach by only in the last decade or so.
I guess he's expecting one of those Dan Snyder mega-contracts. Speaking of which, $25 million for 31-year-old London Fletcher is a good start, but when are the Redskins going to say, "You think $80 million for Nate Clements is a lot? Watch this!" and blow us all out of the water with an offer? The suspense is killing me...
I guess Bly is from around DC and wants to come home to play. Plus, apparently we aren't offering an extension and the Redskins are (and it goes without saying that they will pay plenty).
And I can't wait to see a Redskins bidding war for medicore talent. Maybe if they weren't already so far over the cap they could give another Adam Archuleta $10 mill to play special teams.
I do have sympathy for athletes who, despite huge paychecks, can be moved across the country on a moment's notice at their employer's whim. I'd really hate that. But I don't think Bly should get to be a cornerback and general manager. But the Broncos were dumb to make the trade without accomodating Bly a little more. So I don't know.
aww carmelo... you forgot to mention humility