brainofdtrain, you know Meier was drafted by Atlanta, right?
As a Bengal fan, I'm cautiously optimistic about this. I'm a little concerned that a potentially good young receiver may not make the team but, really all the young guys except Shipley and Briscoe(the two receivers they did draft) had opportunities to show something last year and really didn't take advantage. Even Caldwell faded late in the season.
posted by srw12 at 08:45 PM on July 28, 2010
bravo! I love this. It sound's like he'll get his high school diploma (from the first article: "Tyler is being home-schooled and will graduate early, his father said") and Instead of spending the next two years playing for the benefit of others, financially, he can get paid himself. The key, I think will be good advisers (imagine being suddenly immersed in a foreign culture at 18).
I do like the idea of some sort of minor league system, maybe even in cooperation with the NCAA, so that the OJ Mayos and Derrick Roses of the world don't have to pretend to be a college student for a year (really, they only pretend for a semester) in order to get paid for their talent.
posted by srw12 at 10:40 AM on May 05, 2009
BornIcon, If you watch the replay (which is all I'm privy to because I'm stuck in Bengal-land where highlights of other games are always more interesting than the one I'm watching) he's blocked into the ground and then gets up about half-way and lunges at Brady's lower leg. He was not "pushed into the quarterback by an O-lineman."
posted by srw12 at 02:28 PM on March 26, 2009
This hits that injured Brady and Carson Palmer before him were not cheap shots.
... depends on your definition of "cheap". They were within the rules, yes. However, IMHO wrapping a QB's planted ankle and driving your shoulder or helmet into their knee is a cheap shot that's going to snap an ACL every time.
posted by srw12 at 12:26 PM on March 26, 2009
Now maybe we can get the Bengals to follow suit and fire Mike Brown... oh, wait....DAMMIT!!!
posted by srw12 at 03:41 PM on September 24, 2008
Just to play devil's advocate: If what Campeau-Laurion says is true, then this is ridiculous. However, the fact that the police have a completely different story and he's not sure whether he's going to pursue legal action makes it seem a little fishy to me.
posted by srw12 at 09:24 AM on September 03, 2008
Seconding BornIcon. Tinman, Doehead, Are you guys intellectually lazy in all pursuits or just when coming up with quips for online blogs? I hope its the latter, for your sake. As for the actual subject...
First off, if I were Brown I wouldn't resign him. But, in fairness, I don't have his incredible lack of awareness, or lack of caring, about his public perception. You've got plenty of receivers without Henry plus you signed Utecht and Perry looks healed and ready to catch some passes out of the backfield. That being said, you can make an argument, perhaps not a good one, that he was acquitted in the incident that got him released. Actually, scratch that. Upon proofread that's a stupid argument. It'd be awesome, if unlikely, if they end up releasing him before the season because injuries end up being bot as bad as originally thought.
posted by srw12 at 10:04 AM on August 21, 2008
Sad thing is I'm sure some team will pick him up and wait for him to be done being suspended (you just know he'll be sitting out at least half a season if he's allowed to play again at all). He was great when on the field. Frustrating that he was too dumb to constrain himself.
posted by srw12 at 09:43 AM on April 07, 2008
Interesting read. Its nice to see basketball offensive philosophies move back towards actual basketball skills (Driving and Shooting) and away from the sort of grind it out "thug-ball" style that has been pretty pervasive (I became very familiar with it during Huggins' years at Cincinnati). It strikes me as similar (not just because it was mentioned in the article) to the style of ball international teams have been using to kick our asses in the Olympics and the World Championships lately.
posted by srw12 at 10:57 AM on February 14, 2008
I guess people just want to follow, witness, and be part of history. I gotta' say that, after reading Scoop Jackson's article on following Tiger's round last year (...which I'm too lazy to find back), I've been wanting to see him play in person very much because I want to be able to tell my grandkids that I saw him play live in his prime. On Preview: what chicobangs said for short.... oh and... apples to oranges. Different generations of equipment, courses, etc.... almost impossible to compare them. ...Maybe courses but I don't think different/better equipment makes that much of a difference. If it did, all those rich doctors I used to caddy for would have been out on tour winning tournments.
posted by srw12 at 12:32 PM on January 29, 2007
I would love to think this has been a bad coinsidence with the Bengals....but I doubt it. Why? What makes you doubt it? There were, what, 4 bengals arrested over the last year (depending on how you count Askew, who was cut). Aside from Henry (which yeah, I'll admit I didn't feel good about cheering for those two touchdowns lastweek), how many of those guys have contributed significantly? That's right, none. Thurman was already suspended (BTW Lewis had his locker cleared out before he was suspended for the rest of the year by the league... I wouldn't expect to see him in a Bengals uniform again), Nicholson hasn't even been active all three games and, if he is, only plays on special teams, And Rucker just went on IR. My point is there are 50 other players (the vast majority, by the way) who are not in trouble and are contributing exponentially more to the success of the team than those who have been arrested. or even a cab. sheesh. ... That's what I keep thinking. Or even, given that they were probably in a bar full of Bengals fans, finding some one where they were sober enough to drive them home
posted by srw12 at 12:39 PM on September 28, 2006
As others have said, there's "hey, look and me I'm a freak!" celebrations and then there's "Dude, check this out. You'll like this." celebrations. I think Johnson's figured out the difference. I watched him at noon in the middle of the week last season (can't remember what day of the week) in Tower Place (Downtown Cincy shopping center) with a Local TV news camera crew he was just interviewing random people in the food court. Laughing having a good time. Hi-f'ing-larious watching him sneak up on a guy wearing his jersey. Its the same atitude I see coming through on the field "Down there, South Beach, everything’s open until 6 in the morning. There’s none of that here. That’s perfect. I’m not here to be in the clubs." ...paints a pretty accurate description of Cincinnati night-life, too.
posted by srw12 at 10:18 AM on August 28, 2006
Matt Leinart is a low-life... blah blah blah... Why all the vitriol for a guy you've never met? Yes, I think its a horrible idea for a quarterback to holdout. Mostly because a full training camp is hugely important for a quarterback. However, just because he held out for a better deal doesn't make him a bad guy, or a "low-life" necessarily. A lot of it is usually driven by the agent. NEWS FLASH: Leinart wasn't going to be of much use to Arizona this year either way.
posted by srw12 at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2006
I like what they're doing. Establishing a pool of players committed for three years. So no begging players to participate when someone backs out because they got like an ingrown toenail or something. Getting Coach K was smart too, I think. The international game uses more zones than the NBA game so a college coach makes sense. You could almost make an entire starting line-up from the 2003 draft class. I think James and Anthony would be a dream SF rotation. Lots of cool possibilities with this team. Especially with including defense-oriented guys like Bowen. Its nice that they've finally figured out that you can't just build the team around scoring.
posted by srw12 at 10:28 AM on July 20, 2006
holden, (not to quote myself but...) "one of if not the best" I knew Collinsworth had a good rookie year but was too lazy to look up his stats. Warrick's numbers were only high because Akili Smith had no one else to throw to, what with Scott's broken leg and all.
posted by srw12 at 02:08 PM on June 15, 2006
Portland's "jail-Blazers" I think that might be a stretch. the vast majority of the guys Lewis has brought in have been good character guys. Plus, if I remember correctly, his college issues were limited to problems with his coaches. Although, I guess that would/could point to issues with authority...
posted by srw12 at 09:57 AM on June 15, 2006
My question is, at what point do you cut your losses with a guy like this (I realize they can't cut him because of this according to the NFLPA)? Or do you keep him around and hope that someone smacks him around and/or he comes to his senses? I have a feeling Henry's going to be a good receiver in the NFL, or at least he could be if he ever gets back onto the field after his (almost certain) suspension and I'd hate to see the Bengals get rid of him only to have him straighten-up and turn up as the top receiver on another team. Then again, it could hurt a team that already has larger concerns about a higher profile player in a slightly higher profile position to keep him around.
posted by srw12 at 08:20 AM on June 15, 2006
at 6'4" with non-fused ankles, my head is near the ceiling of most planes I've been on, regardless of model, and my knees are pressing against the seat in front of me. I can't imagine how bad it would be to be 6'11".
posted by srw12 at 11:15 AM on May 30, 2006
Well, I am a Spurs fan but, I was wanting the series to end earlier so the Spurs could get to work figuring out how the hell they can counter that style of play and maybe pick up a big man besides Duncan who's worth something in situations like that. I couldn't believe that they couldn't find a better counter to the Mavs strategy besides Duncan and, basically, 4 guards. I was hoping they'd come up with a better strategy that played more to their strength, which is most certainly not to run up and down the floor and try to out-score a clearly faster team like the Mavs. And anyone talking about people complaining about foul calls above, I don't want to ever hear you complaining when a call doesn't go your fav' team's way... and I'll be watching... seriously, I will... okay no I won't because I'm too lazy... My point is that, for the die-hards of almost any sport, its hard to believe your team could lose on their own so they gotta' find a way to blame someone. As for the Spurs themselves whining, I'm admittedly biased so my not thinking they complain more than anyone else probably means little. I personally try to avoid worrying/complaining about calls as I figure, over a long enough time-line, calls (good or bad) go both ways about evenly
posted by srw12 at 01:56 PM on May 23, 2006
(last comment before deletion)
posted by srw12 at 01:04 PM on March 17, 2006
Funny, I was just researching this topic a bit recently because of a game here in Cincinnati between local North College Hill HS (ranked #2 nationally, at the time at least... don't know if they still are) and Oak Hills Academy(Ranked #1). I thought it was interesting that Oak Hills doesn't play in a league but rather travels the countryside. Oh, and Akeem Olajuwon? I'm guessing, hoping actually, you mean Sam Bowie, blaktrain (on preview: Dammit! too slow). And everett, just my $.02 but I would have gone after the missing apostrophe in "cant" as I think that sentence works with either "their" or "there".
posted by srw12 at 03:33 PM on March 01, 2006
srw12 is still a little mad...blah blah blah... Bungles... No, he's not mad at all. In fact he's amused at the website linked above as well as people's reactions to it. He's also amused by himself making comments in the third person so he want's to thank you, bigbutch, for causing it. ...oh, and he thinks you meant "finally"...
posted by srw12 at 08:24 AM on February 15, 2006
I can't figure out what's more funny: The site itself, that people are still, apparently, hung up on the Super Bowl outcome, or the seemingly incessant need for "Stiller" fans to run in and form a 'tard circle so they can all get their "shut-up! we won! You lost! Quit whining!! Go Steelers!!" rocks off at the mere mention that the officials may have had a slight hand in determining who won the game... Not much else going on it Pittsburgh?
posted by srw12 at 04:10 PM on February 14, 2006
I hope he doesn't rush recovery either but I don't think the organization will let that happen. I seriously doubt they'll get Kitna back no matter how much anyone lobbys for it. I certainly don't blame him for not wanting to be in Cincinnati while its cold. I'd keep that place in So Cali if I were him. oh and... It was a clean hit, there is nothing to be bitter about. Impressive baiting attempt but, I think your missing the point. If my first two seasons as a starting QB were ended with knee injuyies, I might be a little bitter, regardless of dirty or clean hits. Not every NFL story is about the Steelers.
posted by srw12 at 09:37 AM on January 30, 2006
Whether its being selfish or not, it is probably true that only a handful of players in history could drop 80+ points in a single NBA game regardless of the opponent. I think this is especially interesting because of the column on ESPN.com (which I now can't find back for the life of me... also because I'm lazy and not an "Insider") a week or so ago about the Dallas game where he scored 62 and sat out the 4th quarter. The columnist argued, and I agree, that he should have gone for 80 that night. The gist of the reasoning being that, if you're Kobe Bryant, you're not there to make your teammates better(say what you will about his current teammates but I don't recall him leading the league in assists when they were winning championships a few years ago and he was surrounded by talent. In fact, a quick glance at is career numbers shows that his assists were only slightly higher than they are this year) you are a scorer and as a scorer you shouldn't let historic opportunities slip by. In 10 years, nobody's going to remember the Dallas game where he could have gone for 80+ but didn't because he wanted to be a good-sport (whatever that means...). What they will remember is the game that he did drop 81 on the Raptors. If I had his skills, I'd keep scoring until they stopped me (5 on 1 maybe???). And if you're going to tell me you wouldn't, you are a better man that I. Why not go for the history books? And for the record... No I'm certainly no Kobe fan on or off the court
posted by srw12 at 12:19 PM on January 23, 2006
it's the Bengal's lack of it that lost that game ...exactly, no one's denying that they lost because they couldn't stop the Steelers when it counted, well at least I'm not. This team hasn't had a defense since the bye week. They won games with offense (defense wins championships... football games can be won by offense. look at the Colts the last 2 or 3 years or the Rams when they won the Super Bowl a while ago). Losing their top offensive weapon prevented them from having a chance. Any Bengals fan know its only a matter of time before Kitna starts bouncing passes off linebackers. Kimo was devestated that Palmer was hurt ... You've never done anything intentionally that you immediately regretted? If so you're a better man than I. I don't think it was necessarily intentional either but Kimo being devestated doesn't prove anything beyond Kimo having a conscience. and Kyle Orton couldn't lead a horse to water. That's like saying Trent Dilfer lead the Ravens to the Super Bowl...
posted by srw12 at 03:08 PM on January 13, 2006
I'm curious how Carson Palmer would have stopped the Steelers offense in the second half? By continuing to pile on the points Like he did last game, there-by forcing the Steelers to throw more which is pretty much how the Bengals won in December. I'm not making excuses. Don't count me with the "We would have won" folks but our chances of winning went from "pretty even" to somewhere between slim and "snowball in hell" after Palmer went down. Sure they could have still won with Kitna but he would have needed a lot of help because well, let's face it, Sharky's no Carson Palmer Why is the concept of an offense's perfomance helping its defense (especially a weak one like Cincinnati's) so difficult to grasp. You think Manning and his offense isn't an important part of the Colts' defense (yes, I said defense).
posted by srw12 at 02:38 PM on January 13, 2006
I think this pretty much sums up my opinion on the hit (granted, its the writer of Bengals.com's opinion, but I think its a good one none the less). saying it was a bad or questionable hit doesn't equal saying it was dirty or the injury was intentional or that Kimo's a bad guy. Good guys do bad things in the heat of the moment. If Kimo had just fallen and rolled into Palmer's leg, I'd have no problem. The grabbing of the ankle and driving of the shoulder is what makes it questionable to me. And, cut us Cincinnati fans some slack. We just had the Bengals best season in 15 years basically ended on the second offensive play in the first playoff game. That leaves a lot of pain and woulda'-coulda' room. I thought the chances were better than average that they would loose but not like that. Hasn't been a good week for ACLs in Cincy.
posted by srw12 at 10:16 AM on January 13, 2006
Well, he is a linebacker after all. A high level of brainpower isn't exactly required unless he calls the plays, which I don't watch enough Steeler football to know whether he does or not. He must have been seething during the gadget play last week against the Bengals. Probably thought Randle El should have just run straight ahead.
posted by srw12 at 02:35 PM on January 12, 2006
SAME OLD BENGALS! Please spare me this crap as it makes you look like an know-nothing idiot. Unless you're refering to the old Bengals as in 15+ years ago when they routinely lead the league in offence. The Bengals of the last 5-10 years were lucky to win 4 games regardless of who they played, easy or hard schedule, and I think we can objectively say that these aren't those Bengals. I don't know if they win with Palmer not getting hurt but I know they'd stay more competitive. Pamer has made the defense better all year by giving them a lead to defend and forcing the opponents to take risks. That's how we beat the Steelers last time. And no, sorry, I can't root for the Steelers. Not because I think the play was dirty, injuries happen when big guys run into each other. Steeler fans are too annoying and besides, Indy's the next closest NFL team.
posted by srw12 at 08:46 AM on January 09, 2006
I was going to say that resting him(Palmer) the first year made a big difference. Then I thought about Peyton starting from day one in Indy. I concur with all above who say that a decent amount of Palmer's success has to do with the players surrounding him. no QB is going to put up good numbers when he's running for his life behind a swiss cheese O line. And what mick said above about Kitna cannot be overstated, he's been like an extra coach to Palmer and seems to have a higher football aptitude than he's given credit for. We Bengals fans (yes, I was one of the suckers who held out hope each of those 14+ years, really only 12 or so before Marvin Lewis came to town and we knew, that "this will be the year it gets better") have suffered through an organization taking, what seemed like, forever to learn that you can't just through the latest hot QB on the field without adequate protection and expect to set the world on fire. Who knows if Akili Smith would have... okay, bad example, nevermind. Funny how some around Cincy wanted the Bengals to draft Harrington...
posted by srw12 at 10:03 AM on December 16, 2005
Sounds like its a little early to make Super Bowl promises......especially if your The Cincinnati(spelling correction mine) Bengals..... who made a Super Bowl promise?
posted by srw12 at 11:22 AM on October 03, 2005
Well, I guess if you want to change the national perception of UC basketball, you've got to get rid of Huggins. He's so intrenched I didn't think she'd have the stones to do it. Here in Cincinnati, I think many (myself included) have overlooked/forgotten about the sheer volume of off-court incidents involving his players (Little torturing his roommate, Wingfield assaulting cops, et cetera) until reading about them in various articles over the last 12 hours or so. As a side note, from this column on ESPN "There are coaches who aren't tied to a school who are available such as... former Virginia coach Pete Gillen"(Gillen also being the former Xavier coach that refused to shake Huggins' hand after a Crosstown Shootout). That would be quite a FU to Huggins to replace him with Gillen.
posted by srw12 at 10:37 AM on August 24, 2005
How dumb do you have to be to think that any of this is going to get you a new contract? Not to mention, how are you going to continue to make your case for a new contract by out-performing your current one when you've alienated your headcoach, your offensive coordinator, and the quarterback who's supposed to throw you the ball? It just seems like horrible business sense. It would make more sense to come in, be a good teammate, catch even more passes, score even more touchdowns, win the whole thing and then speak up again next offseason. But then again, I'm not a reciever worth $7 million, so what do I know. Do you really think there's a team out there going "Oh Man! we gotta' get that guy!"? (outside of the Raiders, of course)
posted by srw12 at 11:03 AM on August 12, 2005
I think you could make an excellent case for Ginoboli or Duncan for MVP. Horry would be a stretch. As responsible as he was for Game 5 and as big as some of his plays were last night, that's only 2 out of 4. Duncan puts up 20 and 10 so often that it amost becomes white noise that people miss. In the series, Manu plays good Spurs win, he plays bad and they lose. Maybe they should have been co-MVPs. I think after last season, the Olympics, and then this season, Duncan looked, from games 3 through 6, like he was worn down. I imagine him, outside of the victory parade, taking a nap for the better portion of the next 2 or 3 days. When the bankshot started falling, I thought the Pistons were doomed.
posted by srw12 at 10:33 AM on June 24, 2005
An organized NBA minor league system isn't gonna provide these kids anything except for some payment system Exactly, they would be getting paid to play ball instead of having to pretend to be a student. its really just a case of owners saving themselves from themselves.
posted by srw12 at 01:10 PM on June 22, 2005
I couldn't agree more, Weedy. It has always seemed, to me, like an odd concept to tell someone they need to go to college to work on their game. Last I checked, you can't major in Basketball in college, officially anyway, (although, I guess, there's always Phys. Ed. or sports management). It seems that there should be some sort of alternative like being able to draft someone to the minor leagues like in baseball or hockey. That being said, as an NBA fan(the only one I know, really) I'm happy there won't be a lockout.
posted by srw12 at 03:42 PM on June 21, 2005
I don't really hear a lot of kids saying " when I grow up I want to be a bear" or"...a Lion" or "...a Laker". I hear a lot of "I want to be a basketball player" or " a Linebacker".. but even if they do, the statements listed make about as much sense as "I want to be a Dragon". I guess it just seems too easy to just pick some random animal and add an "s" to the end. not very original.
posted by srw12 at 12:30 PM on May 07, 2003
I guess I'm in the minority but I like the singular team names (i.e. The Reign, the Fire, the Crew, the Lightening, et cetera) because it sounds unified as apposed to a group of animals, which comes off as being more individuals than a unified team. That being said, The Flight blows goats as a name for a team. Sadly, I think most of the good singular team names are taken.
posted by srw12 at 09:09 AM on May 07, 2003
insomnyuk, I noticed the absence of the center matchup in your analysis. As a Spurs fan for years, I'm not really a huge fan of shaq but the Bulls had nobody at center that could even contend with him. Jordan could pour in fifty, but that would be cancelled by shaq's fifty plus. Then it comes down to the second guys and I think Kobe is currently better than Pippen was. I don't see how the bulls win. Close series, no doubt about it. But the Bulls would be able to do nothing against shaq. The Nets are exhibit A in that case.
posted by srw12 at 09:00 AM on June 14, 2002
amen, grouchydude. I couldn't agree more. all the goofiness with arguing who should have won and the French Judge 'submitting to certain pressures'. BS! the competition is decided by Judges alone, meaning that who the judges pick to win is the winner period, paragraph, end of story. whining about not winning is foolish. the only difference in this year's Olympics is that the judge actually admitted to it. Without an objective scoring system, to me, figure skating and gymnastics are nothing more than dinner theatre.
posted by srw12 at 09:18 AM on March 15, 2002
Having missed the races on Saturday night, I did not hear his comments. Based on the quotes in the article linked, I'm not sure I find what he said arrogant. Sounds mostly like a racer's confidence. He wouldn't be the first of any kind of race participant to say "I(or we) would have own if (some sort of adverse situation) hadn't happened". Confidence is a huge part of being able to step out onto the ice/court/field/pooldeck/curling-whatever-it-is-they-play-on. Every athlete believes heshe's the best in the world. If he's such an arrogant prick, why was he so happy to win silver in his first event? Seems that if he's what you say he is, he should have been doing a Nancy Kerrigan on the podium.
posted by srw12 at 12:18 PM on February 26, 2002
folks, figure skating by the very nature of the competition is biased and subjective [tangent]that's why I really don't watch it and have been praying for the day NBC loses the Olympic broadcasting rights so less broadcasting time is devoted (wasted?) on figure skating(dinner theatre?)[/tangent]. I happened to watch most of the competition last night because my gf was over and not much else was worth watching on TV. Arguing over who should have won is silly beyond words. By the competition's very nature, the performer who the judges picked to win should have won.
posted by srw12 at 11:27 AM on February 22, 2002
I thought the call was questionable at first as well but then I looked up the rules. On the replay, the Korean definitely made a quick move sideways to block Ohno. During the race, I thought "well that's what I would have done too" but, then again, at that time I didn't know the rules. The Korean should have. What I loved about the race is how Ohno just decided in one straightaway that he wanted to pass everyone and would have gone from 5th to 1st in a very short distance had the Korean not blocked him, that was sweet.
posted by srw12 at 08:13 AM on February 21, 2002
Really this was just part of the sport. Ohno knows that and was gracious on the medal stand. Other things gone wrong at the Olympics (figure skating) were potentially cheating. This was just part of the sport. The Chinese guy violated the rules with his initial contact with Ohno and was disqualified. The rest was legal. My question for those complaining about the Austrailian is would you be upset if Ohno happened to be in his position and won the gold?
posted by srw12 at 12:16 PM on February 18, 2002
The NFL will begin suspending players for "dangerous and flagrant" hits
Couldn't there be some solution along the lines of "If you lead with your head and cause a concussion that removes the hit-ee from the game, you have to sit out as well" or something along those lines? You'd have to have an independent doctor on hand to do a concussion evaluation, I'm guessing. I'm sure a policy would have to be way more specific than I'm getting here but, I think it would encourage more actual tackling than just hitting. And really, the decline in tackling seems, to me anyway, to be an underlying issue here (I'm a Bengals fan so I know all about the decline in tackling).
posted by srw12 at 04:11 PM on October 21, 2010