American Football (NFL, College, etc.)

Geezer wrote:That used to be Raider ball.

I don't really know what Raider ball is these days. They're always blacked out, so I almost never get a chance to see them.

Raider Ball eh? Basically a lot of penalties. We used to have a nice West Coast offense thing going but that turned into long passes from Collins that usually get intercepted :hehe: :sweat:

BMW wrote:

It just hit me: your wifey is from Pennsylvania... She must be so excited.

From Pennsylvania? Well, true, but more importantly (according to her), she's from Latrobe where the Steelers' training camp is. :woot: Definitely not an Eagles fan here. God forbid! :hehe:

And excited? No, I think "gone off the deep end" is probably a better desciprtion. :rofl: Heck, she's already got the Super Bowl party planned and the Steelers haven't even played a down in the playoffs yet! :dancing: According to her, there's no way the Steelers aren't going to make it to the Super Bowl. Man, if something goes wrong and they don't make, it's going to be downright depressing around here. Oh, that's right, she says I'm not even allowed to think that! :bonk:

i think marty's a good coach, but i don't think he's coach of the year. it would be like saying that dungy's CoTY cuz manning won the passing award. i think marty's benefitting from the fact that drew brees took it upon himself to overcome the whole 'phillip rivers' thing and improve his game. brees should definitely get the 'most improved player' award. :victory:

i believe that cowher should get the CoTY. figuring how many injuries the steelers have overcome (maddox, staley, burress, etc.) and yet, still find a way to beat the pats and eagles, it's simply amazing.

i also think that curtis martin should get the 'old-man-still-kicks-some-serious-azz' award. if you remember, curtis set a lofty goal of 1500yds before the season began. i admit i wrote it off as a joke. :sweat:

Cowher might make it interesting, but the Chargers were 4-12 last year and Brees was a has been... Now he's Pro Bowl-bound and the Chargers are 12-4 and took the AFC West going away... I think that's more surprising than the Steelers going 15-1... :)

bmwracer wrote:Cowher might make it interesting, but the Chargers were 4-12 last year and Brees was a has been... Now he's Pro Bowl-bound and the Chargers are 12-4 and took the AFC West going away... I think that's more surprising than the Steelers going 15-1... :)

hm, i do agree that the charger's run was really good, but was it a product of marty or drew brees? what i'm trying to say is: if i were to take cowher and put him in SD, i'm pretty sure he could have had a similar year (12-4, my opinion). but do you feel that if you were to put marty in pitt w/ all those injuries, he would have gone 15-1? (i doubt it - again, my opinion).

Wow! I just watched USC crush OU in the Orange Bowl to take their second National Championship in a row.

So now I have to wonder. Will all those supposed experts who said Cal was "exposed" by losing to Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl now turn around and say OU was exposed as a lousy team?

Na! They'll probably just say the field was too slippery, and that's why OU lost. (Everyone knows the Pac 10 doesn't play big time, tough guy football.)

Man -- USC's Carroll, OU's Stoops, Cal's Tedford. This might very well be shaping up to be another "golden age" in college football.

And by the way... if it seems I'm a little obsessed with coaches... I'm a Niner fan, and I think the coach you get has a huge impact on the kind of team you get. Before hiring their coaches, USC, Cal, and OU were all considered dead programs. Beyond reclaimation. The glory days nothing but a distant memory.

I've been thinking a lot about coaches lately.

OU sucks. Gatorade is better. That game pissed me off. The momentum died after that fumbled punt and it just went downhill from that point. Some may wonder how someone like me, who lives in Southern California, hate USC. Well, let me clarify it a bit. I'm a UCLA fan. We would rather see USC fail than win.

FusilliBernie wrote:OU sucks. Gatorade is better. That game pissed me off. The momentum died after that fumbled punt and it just went downhill from that point. Some may wonder how someone like me, who lives in Southern California, hate USC. Well, let me clarify it a bit. I'm a UCLA fan. We would rather see USC fail than win.

Count me in on that, brother: I hate 'SC with a passion *high five*...

They're like the Dallas Cowboys of college 'ball.

Geezer wrote:And by the way... if it seems I'm a little obsessed with coaches... I'm a Niner fan, and I think the coach you get has a huge impact on the kind of team you get.

even if you are a niner fan, i totally agree w/ you, Geez! :mrgreen:

i, too, believe that the coach has a huge impact on the team, BUT i don't believe that impact is as substantial in college ball as it is in the nfl. i don't follow college ball too much cuz i just feel there's such a disparity and unfairness between the various universities that it takes away from competition.

in the nfl, however, it's been shown time and time again that coaching is vital to winning. it's been very rare that a junk coach has taken a team to a championship or even improved the team significantly. that's why i believe that a lot college coaches can't survive in the nfl - they're not really that good, they're just products of very large football programs.

jholic

i don't believe that impact is as substantial in college ball as it is in the nfl. i don't follow college ball too much cuz i just feel there's such a disparity and unfairness between the various universities that it takes away from competition.

I'm gonna disagree with you here.

In terms of disparity between the various Universities... remember, the college system is broken up on the basis of competetive level.

Division 1 Division 2 Division 3.

Division 1 teams have to meet minimum standards to remain a division 1 team. Size of student body, size of stadium, funds available, scholarships available, etc.

Then division 1 teams are broken down again to put them in conferences that play on more equal footing. (The Pac 10 vs the MAC isn't just geographic)

The committment varies from school to school, but the colleges do work to limit the disparity between the schools. For example, USC doesn't schedule games against... Wagner College on Staten Island.

As to the importance of a coach in college... my best example all time is Jeff Tedford at Cal.

Tom Holmoe, former 49er, former Stanford Coach, former 49er secondary coach was the HC at Cal for 5 or 6 years.

In his final year, with all his players on board... his team turned in a 1 and 10 season.

The next year, with Tedford in charge, and mostly the same cast of characters, the team had a winning season and went to a minor Bowl game.

The year after that (this past year) Cal won 10 and lost 1 (to USC).

Same school, same money spent, mostly the same players... totally different result.

Carroll's resurection of the moribund USC program speaks to the same point.

Or go smaller... the job Meyer did at Utah this last year taking that team to an undefeated season.

Coaching makes a huge difference in college. (And by the way, almost all NFL coaches started out coaching in college.)

As it does in the NFL.

The NFL takes the best players from college.

Everyone talks about the top end of the salary cap. But there is a minimum.

The difference in the players athletic ability is measured in hundreths of seconds & millimeters.

Coaching seems to be the only aspect of football that isn't codified and standardized. And I'm starting to think that that's what makes it the difference maker.

Okay! I haven't heard Dr. Dork say so yet, but local sports radio (KNBR) is saying that Erickson has indeed been fired.

THANK YOU SANTA!!!!!!

Geez, you must have been good this year. Here is the ESPN article. Erickson fired with three years left

I just hope that they have someone in mind, unlike the Mooch firing which brought Erickson. As of yet, no word on GM Donohue's fate.

Yahoo! news is saying that both Erickson and Donohue are gone.

Really, the problem is 90% (give or take) John York and Denise DeBartolo-York.

Oh well.
-PCM

Okay, Niner-faithful, you got your wish and Erickson is gone... Now, who will take his place and who do you want to take his place?

Let the madness begin. :hehe:

BMW

The madness has well and truely begun at all of the Niner sites I frequent.

Carroll, Tressell, Fischer, Fassel---

Maybe Seifert! Does Walsh want to come back? How's Sam Wyche's throat problems? Is he healthy enough to coach full time? Or has working as a QB coach worn him out?

The wish lists go on for miles.

People are breaking down everything York said in his press conference, looking for hints and clues about who he might have been talking about.

Must have "real" NFL experience. Must be a winner. Must bring discipline.

Who could that be???

It was all pretty funny to read until my eyes started to cross and blur.

Bottom line, none of us has any more an idea of who'll come in next than does York. And I don't think York has the first clue.

I'm just pleased that he looked down at the field and realized that what he'd turned the Niners into was bad. Another year or two or three wasn't gonna make it better. And he had the sense to scrap it and start over.

I'd love to see Pete Carroll come up to coach the Niners.

I'd also love to see Miki Nakatani climbing in through my bedroom window.

Either would be great. Neither is absolutely and totally impossible.

But I'm not gonna plan on either of those things happening.

Yeah. But Pete Carroll said he doesn't want to go back to the NFL (Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel) and personally, I don't think he's fit for that kind of level of football. Yeah, I already know, he was with the Giants(?) Anyway, I want 49ers to get like Jim Fassell or maybe even Romeo Crennel. Mike Holmgren, if fired, might even be offered a job. While, I, single and without an occupation, is sitting here waiting for a phone call back from York. But to be honest, was Dennis Ericson really a bad coach? No. York and Donahue just happen to suck so much that they give him crap players. It's like the team is made up of the people in this forum. hahaha..jk. Really, who cares what coach the 49ers pick. All I really care is if he's had a decent reputation. Not even Vince Lombardi or Tom Landry could save the team. So let's go back to the most important subject at hand, 1st overall draft pick.
I think the priorities should be something like this.
OL
DL
DB
DT
WR
DE
RB
QB

Don't take this list too lightly, the Niners suck in every category, even K and P. My opinion? Just take the best player in the draft.

Oh yeah...some fun facts for you guys and gals. My conditioning trainer from last year trained Matt Leinart right after Carson Palmer was drafted. Matt Leinart was a 3rd string QB who rose up to become a 1st string QB. My trainer kept mentioning it to boost his program.

From what I remember of Pete Carroll he coached New England once before right? Took Bledsoe and company to the superbowl but only to lose to Favre right? Well I'm glad to see him so successful at USC. I'm not really much of a college football fan but with what Carroll has at USC, I'd stay. Sometimes if you have everything and you're happy just leave it. Don't fix it if it ain't broken right. Sort of like Coach K sticking with coaching college basketball and not the NBA. :D

Geezer wrote:
I'd love to see Pete Carroll come up to coach the Niners.

I'd also love to see Miki Nakatani climbing in through my bedroom window.

HAHAHAHAHAA, if you had to choose only one, which would it be? :hehe: :hehe: :hehe: :hehe:

How about Norm Chow for the Niners??

Geezer,
You're right, you've got faith! It's been a tough year for you as a 49er fan. :shakehead: Man, I feel for you. But, hey, things are looking up . :woot: Looks like you got your wish - Erickson is gone and so's the front office. Things can only get better from here, right? :victory: Gambatte!
Now, if only my Steelers would " go ... all ... the ... way"!