waning interest

You've got to figure I'm a big football fan. Otherwise, why would I create a site like this?

But, the NFL is making it harder for me to enjoy the game. I don't get the NFL network. I automatically can't see a game each week. I don't have the Sunday ticket, so I get whatever games they want to give me on Sunday afternoon - and with the new rules if Miami is at home, I get the Phins and one other game. I also can see Sunday and Monday night, but Monday night football just isn't the same since it moved to ESPN.

And I used to love catching the off game on Saturdays near the end of the season. Now, they don't exist except on the NFL network.

...its too bad that most of the Sunday and Monday night games have been mediocre, because that doesn't help anything.

I think they need to find a new way to let me see the games!

Gus (the kicking mule)

Gus was quoted earlier this week as saying:

"I found out that coach Saban wanted to bench me for that last game of the season, because I had a bunch of incentives on the line, and it could have saved the organization money. But Scott [Linehan] told him, 'He's the guy who's gotten us this far. There's no way we can bench him now.''

Of course, Saban refuted this too....

The talk won't die

There's still more talk about Nick Saban heading to Alabama to be the head coach. This time, its being reported on the NFL.com website. But, lets be real here. Nick said again today that he is not interested in the Bama job, and in fairness the article made it clear that the Tide wants to land Saban as their coach and will stop at nothing to get him - and that includes convicing him to go there.

TMQ says...

Gregg Easterbrook (a/k/a The Tuesday Morning QB) had this to say in his weekly column:

The Football Gods Chortled: When bumbling coach Mike Mularkey quit the Bills last winter and went to Miami as offensive coordinator, Neil Easterbrook, an Official Brother of TMQ and a diehard Bills' fan, immediately pronounced: "This is great, now Mularkey will coach against Buffalo twice a year and do just as bad for the Dolphins as he did for us." And yea, verily, it came to pass. The Bills swept the Dolphins this season and outscored them 37-6, the sole Miami touchdown coming with a minute remaining in a rout. Hey, Wayne Huizenga -- don't ever fire Mike Mularkey!

You'd think it would help (but you'd be wrong)

Mike Mularkey coached the Bills for a couple of years. He knows most of the players, a lot of tendencies, and certainly has some insider information about the field and conditions in Buffalo.

And yet, for the second time this year, none of that mattered, as Buffalo flat out beat Miami.

Why is it that having Mularkey wasn't a help in beating the Bills? And I believe that it was more of a help to Buffalo because they knew what kinds of plays he would call. Very odd indeed.

TV Coverage

So, I saw the TV distribution map for CBS this past weekend, and I noticed the Phins-Buffalo game was only shown in So Florida, parts of western NY, and an area on the west coast that must be where Joey Harrington is from (he went to Oregon, of course).  Too bad they had to see his performance.

 

Odd

I was reading through the game logs for the game, and noticed this exchange -

 

On Miami's first drive, they faced a 4th and 4:

4-4-BUF31

(9:58) (Shotgun) J.Harrington pass short right to W.Welker to BUF 29 for 2 yards (K.Thomas, K.Ellison). Flat pass, caught at BUF 32.

 

So, there should have been a turnover on downs, and Buffalo should have taken over at the 32, right?

 

But, instead, the next play reads:

 

1-10-BUF29

(9:51) J.Losman pass incomplete deep left to L.Evans (A.Goodman). Receiver and coverage at MIA 28, left sideline.

 

And the subsequent downs show the yard line as the same.  Uhhhh....yeah....

I've seen teams suck before...

...but I didn't see this one. I was out of town, and the game wasn't shown there. I decided to go out and do other things, rather than sit and watch some other game...I got back around 9, but didn't have internet access. So, I turned on ESPN, and waited for a score.

20 minutes later, I had to do a double take when I saw it. 21-0 didn't phase me. Joey Harrington with 20 yards passing did. And then I saw Zach had 21 tackles. That must be a typo, right?

Harrington had an abyssmal performance. I don't think I can recall seeing something worse than that. And Zach....He had 35% of his teams tackles, and forced two fumbles. Did anyone else play in the game? And how did they lose?

I returned home yesterday, and discovered that Tivo hadn't recorded the game, either. I'm guessing it did record it, but quickly deleted it after the outcome was known. So, I have not, and will not see this game. I guess that's just as well.

I have read all about it, though. And I can sum it up thusly: they sucked. And I'm starting to have my doubts about Mr. Saban, because how can a team perform *that* badly?