It’s just Cameron Indoor Stadium and the #1 team in the nation... no biggie
The Duke Blue Devils have been the fifth-ranked team in the nation for the past three weeks, but that changed quickly after a crazy week in college basketball.
A loss from the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, in addition to Ohio State, Texas, and Pittsburgh falling apart last week, landed Duke at the top of the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls.
Why is this important?
Ice, ice baby. Duh-nuh-nuhnuh, nuh-nuhnuh-nuh.
I suppose you can’t control an ice storm, but that wasn’t the only issue in Dallas this week, as The host city of Super Bowl XLV (that’s the number 45 in roman numerals, folks) encountered a number of problems. It was enough to prompt someone to create superbowlsuit.com, a site designed for disgruntled attendees of last night’s game to share their grievances.
So let us recap what went wrong:
Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star reflected on some of the other issues, including rolling blackouts and canceled events. The length of cab rides between Dallas and Arlington was apparently 45 minutes long, too. He also claims that Indianapolis will be plenty more prepared for the Super Bowl in 2012 (if there is one).
It’s just nice to see Dallas have a terrible season, and then flounder as the host of the 2011 Super Bowl.
It makes being an Eagles fan a bit more tolerable this time of year…
Other observations from this weekend:
And he's good at Wii?! This guy!
"Hey, Don. You hear Fitz wants me in Arizona and not you?"
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported yesterday that Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb at the top of his offseason wish list.
Fitzgerald is entering the final season of his $40 million contract, and the Cardinals brass apparently went to him for advice regarding the quarterback disaster dilemma. Derek Anderson, Max Hall, and John Skelton split snaps in Arizona in 2010 in the wake of the retirement of potential NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. That went well…
It’s understandable that the Cardinals want Fitzgerald to stay in town after 2011, so asking his opinion may not be a bad idea. But the blurring of the line between player and members of the front office could get a little messy. We’ve heard players lobby to bring guys in. Donovan McNabb was very vocal about Terrell Owens joining the organization years ago, but the Cardinals did something different here. They reached out to a player to get an opinion. Just food for thought.
As far as Kolb goes, the embattled backup to Michael Vick, he can’t be traded until a new collective bargaining agreement is in place, and who the hell knows when that’s going to happen? View full article »
Kolb can keep the visor, but the Eagles will probably want the helmet back.
According to a league source, the Philadelphia Eagles will apply the franchise tag to Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick next month. The move will ensure that Vick remains an Eagle for the duration of the 2011 season, and conventional wisdom suggests that in that time frame, the Eagles will work to sign Vick to a long-term deal.
In the meantime, I’m sure Vick will be pretty happy making approximately $20 million next season, which is about the average salary of the five highest-paid players at his position. That’s what a franchise tag entails, so I’m sure Vick’s debtors are smiling right now. View full article »
Dick Jauron is reportedly on his way out of Philly.
Via a tweet from @ProFootballTalk, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has reported that Eagles secondary coach Dick Jauron has filled the defensive coordinator vacancy in Cleveland.
Mike Florio asked Browns head coach Pat Shurmur about the report and here’s what he had to say.
“I really don’t want to confirm that. I think it’ll become public and official from the Browns’ side of things very quickly. Dick is a very well respected guy in the profession, A guy that I have known for a long, long time. I think that’ll be public at some point, the direction that we’re gonna go.”
It seems like he said everything we need to hear… except for, you know, he didn’t confirm it.
Jauron was hired last February by the Eagles to serve as a secondary coach and senior assistant. Previously, he spent 10 years as a head coach in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and most recently, the Buffalo Bills.
In those years, he had only one winning season. The 2001 Chicago Bears won the now-extinct NFC Central, but lost Jauron’s only playoff game as a head coach. That team lost to the Eagles.
If Jauron departs for Cleveland, he’ll join new head coach Pat Shurmur. Shurmur had a tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles as well, much longer than the eleven months that Jauron has been with the team. Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post elaborates.
Prior to joining the Rams, Shurmur spent 10 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles (1999-2008). He served as the team’s quarterbacks coach from 2002-08 and helped Donovan McNabb to three Pro Bowl selections during his tenure. In 2008, McNabb set Eagles single-season records with 345 completions and 3,916 passing yards.
Between those two and former Eagles GM Tom Heckert (who now has the same job title with the Browns), Cleveland has on helluva Philadelphia connection. But nothing is officially set in stone regarding Jauron.
If he does indeed join the Browns staff, Eagles fans shouldn’t be too concerned. It’s not clear how serious the team was about making him their defensive coordinator. Many have subscribed to the school of thought that suggests that Jauron was only a fall-back option for the team, and if the Eagles wanted him as coordinator, it would have happened already.
Jauron’s only year in Philadelphia happened to be the year where the Eagles earned the title of “Worst Red Zone Defense in 25 Years”. The Birds allowed 31 passing touchdowns. There’s a lot of blame to share here, and Jauron deserves at least a little bit.
His departure would mean that by the beginning of next season, they’ll have a new defensive coordinator, a new line coach, and someone else to replace Jauron with responsibility in the secondary. An overhaul may not be a bad thing for this team, whose woes on both sides of the ball were often hidden by the “Michael Vick band-aid.” The drastic changes may be as necessary on the sidelines as it is on the field itself.
Your thoughts?
