Posted on January 9th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
For the first time in a long time, Washington’s NFL team is receiving near-universal praise for a football decision. It’s hard to believe, so let it sink in.
There’s no doubt that the business side enjoys league-wide props regularly, considering the amazing job it does in making a dollar out of 15 cents. Like president Bruce Allen said last week, “We’re winning off the field.”
Regrettably, his other job title at that time was general manager, a position charged with victories based on the scoreboard. Using that metric, Washington has been pitiful during his five-year reign, 28-52 overall and 7-25 the past two seasons.
All that losing on the field apparently struck a nerve, finally leading owner Daniel Snyder and/or Allen to realize that real change was necessary, not more talk. Washington swung and connected on what looks like a home run, reportedly hiring Scott McCloughan to take over as GM and lead the woeful football operations.
Finding a more-highly respected candidate would be difficult. McCloughan has spent 20 years in the NFL with the Packers, Seahawks and 49ers, and each team reached the Super Bowl while he was there or shortly thereafter.
As a senior personnel executive with Seattle, he had a hand in drafting Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner and Bruce Irvin. According to a lengthy feature on McCloughan in last month’s ESPN The Magazine, this was his draft report on Wilson: “Obviously we are really interested in passers with better height, but this guy may just be the exception to the rule. He has the ‘it’ factor.”
In a prior stint with the Seahawks, as director of college scouting from 2000-05, McCloughan could point to a couple dozen draft picks throughout the team’s Super Bowl XL roster. He left to become the Niners’ vice president of personnel from 2005-08 and was promoted to GM for his final two seasons with San Francisco, where he was instrumental in selecting a bevy of prominent players, including Frank Gore, Patrick Willis and Vernon Davis.
He’s a disciple of former Packers GM Ron Wolf, who hired him as a Green Bay scout in 1994, and thus a firm believer in building through the draft. His philosophy is there’s no such thing as too much young talent or too much depth, because smart picks stuck behind smarter, more experienced picks can always be traded for more picks.
That’s what the Packers did after drafting Mark Brunell and Matt Hasselbeck while McCloughan was in Green Bay. The lesson on stockpiling was hard to miss; the Packers previously had traded for Bret Favre. They later drafted his successor, Aaron Rodgers, and traded Favre to the New York Jets.
Such shrewd maneuvering in D.C. has been restricted to fantasies.
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Posted on January 5th, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
Horseshoes adorn the team helmets. For all we know, acorns accompany each meal, a rabbit’s foot hangs in each locker and four-leaf clovers are stitched on each jock.
That’s how fortunate the Indianapolis Colts have been for the past 17 years.
Most franchises never have the opportunity to draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick and watch him blossom into an all-time great. But fate smiled on Indy in 1998, when the Colts selected Peyton Manning, and made a return visit in 2012, when the team picked Andrew Luck.
A player’s surname has never been more appropriate to a particular franchise.
Having led his team to the playoffs for the third time in as many seasons, Luck won his second postseason game in Saturday’s 26-10 victory against Cincinnati. He threw for 376 yards and completed 70 percent of his passes (despite a half-dozen drops). His passing yardage was 345 yards through three quarters, before Indy emphasized the ground game.
Prior to the Colts shutting him down, Luck demonstrated the assets that make him great – size, strength, athleticism, mobility, vision and accuracy – on a 36-yard touchdown to Donte Moncrief. Luck stepped up in the pocket and threw on the run while a Bengals’ defensive lineman was mauling him, hitting Moncrief in stride with a perfectly placed pass as the wideout crossed the goal line.
“It’s a quarterback-driven league,” Colts guard Jack Mewhort told the Indianapolis Star afterward. “It’s proven stuff, and for a guy to do what he does and make the plays he makes on a regular basis, you can’t take that for granted. There are guys all over the league sitting home right now, and plays like that (touchdown to Moncrief), that’s why we get to keep playing.”
Indy is growing accustomed to its current exceptional passer, who is rewriting records that belonged to the former guy. For instance, when Luck passed for 370 yards against Washington in Week 13, he set the franchise mark for 300-yard games in a season (10), surpassing Manning (nine).
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Posted on January 1st, 2015
I love the way you straighten my tie
Kiss me on the cheek
Tell me I’m “fly”
Raising my confidence, to conquer the world
How glad I am, I made you my girl
You’ve grown to a woman of class
Intelligent and fine
I love your body
But I’m in love with your mind
I will always be faithful, hardworking, honest and true
God blessed me, the day I met you
It’s for these reasons that success is certain
I give you a standing ovation, at least three curtains
We will win together, if we both stay true
It’s for these reasons and more, I truly love you
I have the holiday spirit in the holiday season
We’re at Christ’s birth, the true reason
Lights, trees and vivid colors, gifts abound
From fathers and mothers
Families reconnect around the world,
Cousins, sisters and brothers
God’s steady grace has blessed us and many others
Then comes the New Year’s parties and we’re oh so fly,
I grin from ear to ear, as you straighten my tie
– Warren Jay Lowe
A native of Lackawanna, N.Y., outside of Buffalo, Lowe is a former public school teacher who was forced into retirement due to injuries sustained on the job during a student’s blindside attack. Now a freelance writer, he’s battling life-threatening heart failure while waiting for a transplant. Those who wish to assist – either monetarily or with encouraging words – may visit his page on Help HOPE Live. He can be reached at wllowe@yahoo.com.
Posted on January 1st, 2015
By DERON SNYDER
Once again, it’s time to check off some items on my “TIDU List” – Things I Don’t Understand:
*Why fans should trust Bruce Allen.
The president of Washington’s NFL franchise emerged from his cocoon Wednesday and promised changes after another wretched season. Just like he did after 2013, 2011 and 2010 He vowed to hold everyone (else) accountable and shared the (missing) keys of successful football teams: “It’s good players, good coaches, good chemistry – that’s the winning formula.”
That’s a sound blueprint but useless in the hands of an incompetent architect.
*How the Winter Classic will get old.
The NHL shot and scored in 2008 with the first Winter Classic. The event brings a Super Bowl-air to host cities and draws plenty of viewers to TV. Last year’s game drew more than 100,000 fans and tied a 39-year-old TV ratings mark. More success is sure to follow Wednesday when the Capitals host the Blackhawks at Nationals Park.
But staging six outdoor games last year was overkill.
*Why the 49ers couldn’t appreciate Jim Harbaugh.
Before parting ways with his highly successful coach, owner Jed York should have considered the Dallas Cowboys. That franchise hasn’t been the same since Jerry Jones butted heads with Jimmy Johnson. Harbaugh didn’t win a Super Bowl, but he reached one and three NFC title games while going 49-22. Those types of coaches make personality conflicts worthwhile.
If the 34-year-old owner is looking for a perfect union, he’ll learn.
*How top-shelf colleges will voluntarily end the arms race.
Michigan gave Jim Harbaugh $5 million per year, more than double Brady Hoke’ salary. Alabama pays Nick Saban $7 million per year and will give him a bump if NFL interest warrants. According to the USA Today database, the average FBS coach’s salary has doubled – to nearly $2 million – since 2006.
As Patrick Ewing would say, big-dog programs make a lot but they spend a lot.
*Why Ndamukong Suh didn’t get a stiffer penalty.
The Detroit defensive tackle, who appeared to intentionally step on QB Aaron Rodgers and originally was suspended for the Lions’ playoff game, won his appeal. Fox analyst Mike Pereira said nothing would’ve been said if the players involved weren’t named Suh and Rodgers. But past history should be part of the process for flagrant foulers like Suh.
A playoff game was too harsh but sitting out next season’s opener sounds right.
*How a 2-3 road trip would be disappointing.
The Wizards’ grueling stretch of five games in eight days – against elite Western Conference foes – started well. They won at Houston on Monday but were throttled at Dallas on Tuesday. They’ll face Oklahoma City next before completing the Texas Triangle at San Antonio and conclude the trip at New Orleans. Brutal.
They’ll disagree, but there’s nothing wrong if that last game is the next win.
*How a devastating in-and-out combo won’t elevate Georgetown.
The guard – Big East Preseason Player of the Year – is listed at 6-3 and 214 pounds. The center – neither first team, second team nor honorable mention – is listed at 6-10 and 350 pounds. Together, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and Joshua Smith have led the Hoyas back to the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2012-13.
This one-two punch should lift them higher than No. 25.
*What Tom Izzo was thinking against Maryland.
Michigan State’s hoops coach called two timeouts in the final 16 seconds of regulation Tuesday, first erasing a game-clinching layup and then giving No. 12 Maryland a chance to set up its offense. Dez Wells hit a game-tying 3 and the Terps won in double OT. “It was my choice not to foul at the end of the game,” Izzo said. “… I haven’t done that for 20 years. We’ve done OK.”
The Turtle says “thanks!”
*Why the Atlanta Falcons won’t have their pick.
The five NFL coaching vacancies offer high visibility, located in the nation’s Top 9 media markets. Gigs in places like New York, Chicago, San Francisco/Oakland and Atlanta usually aren’t open at once. While each has some appeal, the Falcons have a franchise QB, a free-spending organization and they play in the NFL’s worst division.
The Dirty South looks like the clear choice from here.
*How NCAA coaches can claim ignorance.
A headline grabs your attention: “Confessions of a Fixer.” The Chronicle of Higher Education report deals with grade shams, not point spreads, a cheating scheme that helped hundreds of college stars. “Mr. White” says many coaches directed players his way and some assistants admitted guilt to the Chronicle. But coaches like UNC’s Roy Williams are clueless?
Control freaks can say they don’t know, but not knowing is against their nature.
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By DERON SNYDER
