Bark At The Moon.

America's favorite dog lover is getting even more heat lately -- SI's Don Banks pens a piece with the usual un-ID'd sources to state that Falcons QB Michael Vick definitely knew about the dog fighting and breeding going on at his Virginia property, which is really no big shock to any of us if actually true and verified. How do you not know what goes on at a home you own. That's really kind of tough to do, especially when your cousin is the one living in the house.

Again, let's be fair to Vick -- the sources Banks notes have known Vick, and say he likes the dog fighting subculture. There's no proof; the investigation has to take its course.

Vick is now THE subplot of the NFL season, if he manages to elude suspension under The Iron Fist of Rog, and he was even before all this dog breeding stuff came up. The Falcons are banking the entire franchise this season on Vick's arm, and Bobby Petrino has repeatedly stated that he wants Vick to take more responsibility for the plays on the field, to get him more involved. They traded Matt Schaub, the so-called insurance policy.

A make-or-break year in Atlanta is now more of a make-or-break year for Vick's career. The problem is that the Falcons' division (the NFC South) may shape up to be one of the most competitive. A revived Saints team is the class of the division; Carolina should be back on the ups after a disappointing season. Tampa Bay will be mired at the bottom, but the Falcons will be fighting to get a playoff spot from the get-go. Will Vick be able to put the problem behind him by leading his team, or will he even have the opportunity to lead that team if the investigation finds other unsavory aspects?

(Semi-unrelated update: Pacman Jones' lawyers have compiled a helpful PDF of every NFL arrest. Thanks, Deadspin!)

That's The Sound Of Another "Fire Millen" Sign Being Scrawled.

The FanHouse exists at AOL for a reason: to find the little things that some of the rest of us would completely gloss over in the muck of Peter King's usually mediocre column, and it only matters to me because it concerns my rooting interests. This is how much Mike Shanahan and the Broncos offered Millen for Calvin Johnson, about a month before the draft:

A month earlier Denver had offered two first-round picks, a second-rounder and two third-rounders, plus veteran linebacker Al Wilson, but when the Broncos wouldn't substitute another second-round pick for the injured Wilson, Millen turned them down. With that, the bar was set high.

Wow, that's a lot of stupid -- on both ends. Not only was the Rat Fink willing to mortgage the entire goddamn franchise on Calvin Johnson (never a guarantee, given the way WRs are dropping in value as far as the marquee player list goes), but he was willing to ape what the Saints did to draft Ricky Williams, and inherit the NFL's dunce cap from Millen as far as miserable personnel decisions go.

Yet Millen still said no. Is William Clay Ford, Jr. just a puppet, a marionette controlled by Millen? Detroit fans might just have reasons to consider that possibility.

Is Dwayne Jarrett Paying For Mike Williams Or For Receivers In General?

GMs may tell you that elite receivers are a dime a dozen, and they likely are. But how does that explain the slide down the board of Dwayne Jarrett to the second round, when he was clearly tagged as first-round talent? The L.A. Times is claiming a bad performance against Razorback corner Chris Houston (picked four slots before him) and the spectre of Mike Williams haunted his status.

Jarrett had a lot of people saying he should have stayed at Southern Cal, including Keyshawn Johnson, serving as an ESPN analyst, and the man Jarrett wound up making expendable, and Pete Carroll is now using Jarrett and fellow receiver Steve Smith (the one now with the Giants), along with some other first rounders, as examples of staying until you're certain you're a first rounder.

Eric over at Seal Clubbers wonders if all the apparent de-valuing of wideouts has to do more with a slimming gap of talent between the elite tier and everyone else, or that certain teams know how to evaluate WR talent and others don't. A lot of teams are inherently conservative, and the regular style of throwing deep in the NFL, while it hasn't gone by the wayside, is kind of on the decline, in part to minimize mistakes by the quarterback that would lead to interceptions. WR success in the NFL is just as tough to measure as QB success; Calvin Johnson is the only WR in the past few years that everyone agreed was can't miss. And his thought is pretty spot-on; as I would apply it to Jarrett -- Dwayne fell because the talent levels are closer for WRs now, not that people really associated him with Mike Williams. Williams tried to come out after his sophomore season, following Maurice Clarett's challenge of the NFL's draft rules -- let's not forget Jarrett had one more year under his belt of college ball than Williams did.

Is the Randy Moss trade another sign of that? No. I don't think the Moss trade happened because the Patriots placed his value correctly to their team, necessarily. I think it also had to have something to do with Moss being willing to renegotiate his contract for the team -- tons of teams were in line for Randy, but he had to be willing to knock millions off his salary next year. The Patriots have enough chips in their corner when it comes to Super Bowls to entice elite players to take less money.

(Photo: AP/Rick Havner)

Guess The Panthers Won't Be Throwing Him The Damn Ball.

The Charlotte Observer, at this time, just has a breaking news headline on their front page regarding the release of WR Keyshawn Johnson today, with no real details yet.

Keyshawn was one of the highlights of ESPN's draft coverage last weekend, and probably ought to seek a broadcast role soon should he decide to hang it up, but that's not the reason I bring up the draft coverage. If you watched last weekend, I'm sure some of you saw Johnson interview Dwayne Jarrett after the Panthers picked him in the second round, and it looked uncomfortable. Jarrett was mumbling about how happy he was to be there, and Keyshawn ably filled the holes by talking about how he was going to mentor his fellow USC alum, teach him how to play in the League, while everyone else on ESPN's coverage had a look on their faces that screamed, "AWK-WARD."

Guess he won't get that chance. Wonder if the Panthers brass filled Jarrett in on that actually happening, like, "Are you ready to start alongside Steve Smith?" Doubt it, but that Johnson-Jarrett convo now joins the Awkward Hall of Fame.

Two Seahawks Leave The Nest.

This post was mostly an excuse to use a great mugshot yet again, but it seems Jon Gruden will take any castoff you can think of to assemble his bunch of privateers in Tampa Bay this season, and that now includes former Seahawk tight end and bad example Jerramy Stevens, someone who is enough of a mark-ass mark to be hated on by his own team's fans even before he got busted for DUI a couple of months back. Why Gruden wants or needs him -- especially with the other Alex Smith already as the starting TE -- is the bigger question. Now, the Bucs have a logjam at both TE and QB.

Seahawks GM Tim Russkell may be suffering from some form of brain lock, though, or may be hitting the bottle too -- why trade the best of your stockload of wide receivers in Darrell Jackson to a division rival for a defensive end, instead of dropping the dead weight of Nate Burleson, for example? Because apparently Jackson was less than thrilled with the organization for not paying up and re-negotiating his contract. No one will miss Stevens, but the latter move may hurt the Hawks enough to where the Rams and the Niners could knock them off their perch as the champs of the NFC West.

On Its Surface, This Trade Seems Weird.

Apparently Randy Moss has received his ticket out of Oakland, and he's headed to....New England?!?

Yes, that's right. Apparently the Hobo Genius has decided to take on the outspoken/troubled/what-have-you receiver for a fourth round pick, but not without some obvious changes, both financial and otherwise. Moss will renegotiate his contract to fit with the Patriots' priorities, but there is this paragraph:

Far more important to coach Bill Belichick than any financial concessions by Moss, though, are the promises by the nine-year veteran receiver that he will fit into the Patriots' culture, an atmosphere in which players are expected to subjugate personal performance for team goals. Moss has long been one of Belichick's favorite players, in part because of his competitive nature and desire to step to the forefront at critical junctures of games, but the Pats' coach would not have made the deal without being comfortable that it is a good fit for everyone.

Apparently the rest of the front office (GM Scott Pioli) and locker room (Tom Brady, probably Tedy Bruschi and Richard Seymour) leaders have signed off on this, and that there will be enough leadership in the locker room to mitigate any sort of "threat" Moss poses to team chemistry, if his word isn't good.

My judgment is that most of Moss' on-the-field shortcomings have come because he's played for organizations that aren't as stringent, structured, and disciplined as the Patriots (also mediocre organizations) -- where there aren't really any organizational (rather than PR) consequences for admitting that you slack off, etc. However, he can't fuck around on the Hobo. It's a good trade for a fourth-round pick. Moss is not T.O., not by a long shot, and the Hobo has had players before that had reps as malcontents (see Dillon, Corey.)

First Round Cheers and Jeers.

CHEERS:

Cleveland Browns - Nabbing the best offensive line player available in Joe Thomas and then having the balls to go for Brady Quinn after his Aaron Rodgers-like slide. Good first round on paper. Hope it pays off. Not sure if trading up for Quinn was worth your first-rounder next year, though.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Trading down to Denver's #21, getting two extra picks in the third and sixth rounds, and still getting Reggie Nelson at #21. Well played, sirs.

University of Miami - even in an off year, they get three 'Canes in the first round.

San Francisco - getting both Patrick Willis and Joe Staley in the first round is good trading to shore up your LB corps and your O-line.

JEERS:

Miami Dolphins - You have miserable failures at quarterback and want to trade for an aging, injury-prone one. Brady Quinn isn't exactly as good as hyped, but he's still probably a better shot down the road than what you have and what you're planning (John Beck from BYU in the 2nd, really?) Then, you take Ted Ginn, Jr., who's kind of frail and not exactly in a class with Dwaynes Bowe and Jarrett as far as WRs go. Even Matt Millen thinks that's bad draft strategy.

(Update: After I published, ESPN showed Fins coach Cam Cameron explaining the pick at a presser -- he apparently has known the Ginn family for years, promises Ted Ginn, Jr. will be a sensation. Uh huh. DS commenter Upshaw's Leash nailed it -- this is out of the White House school of press conference spinning.)

Philadelphia Eagles - trade your first round pick to Dallas when you could have nabbed Paul Posluszny there. Did Andy Reid find his kid's drug stash?

Brady Quinn - just 'cause I drink that Golden Domer Haterade (they bottle and sell it at areas around USC.) Karma's a bitch, baby. That uniform really should say #2, since the Browns decided to take Thomas before you, but if they gave you a #2 brown jersey, the nameplate might as well read "Steamer."

Every team needing a WR passing on Dwayne Jarrett - stop looking at combine 40 times and watch some goddamn game tape, people.

Welcome To Denver, Mr. Moss.

Say hi to our first-round pick, DE/OLB Jarvis Moss out of the national champion University of Florida Gators. Shanny probably didn't need to trade one of our two third round picks plus a sixth-round pick to the Jags in order to make sure to get him, but I'm happy to have him, nonetheless. We needed a pass rusher, we got one with the possibility of being Jevon Kearse-like, and hopefully with less injury trouble down the road.

251's a little skinny for a 6'6" DE, but if that doesn't pan out there, he would probably make a decent LB, and that's a place where you can always use some back-up there too. I like the pick, as you can clearly tell.

Draft Day.

Late to the party -- yay, hangover. If you're watching, Deadspin and Rumors and Rants are doing live draft coverage of each pick. Here are some cobbled thoughts right now. More to come after the first round is done, including the look at the Broncos picks.

JaMarcus Russell is already gone (good move, Raiders); Matt Millen drafts another WR, but Calvin Johnson's better than any of the guys before him. Cleveland passes up on the Domer QB for the tackle who'd rather go fishing from Wisconsin. Tampa takes Gaines Adams as consolation (and are probably on the phone with Millen.) The Skins take a good safety, and Adrian Peterson goes to the Vikings...Quinn's probably going to the Dolphins.

Broncos, listen to me: WE WANT SOME GATOR CHOMP. PICK JARVIS MOSS OR REGGIE NELSON IF AVAILABLE.

AMAZING FEATS OF STUPIDITY UPDATE: The Miami Dolphins have now just gone completely stupid, as in "Man, fuck yo' team" stupid. I've ragged on Brady Quinn a lot, but man, passing on him was, in Jimmy Johnson parlance, DUH-UMB. Taking Ted Ginn at #9 is fifteen picks too high. Miami, you just made Matt Millen look like he knows how to draft.

BRONCOS UPDATE: Shanny trades up to #17 with the Jags and drafts Jarvis Moss!

A 17-Game Regular Season?

That possibility might come sooner than you think. Roger Goodell is just as committed to promoting the NFL in overseas markets as Paul Tagliabue was, and in order to increase the commitment to games played in those markets, there's some early exploration of possibly increasing the regular season to 17 games, the most likely option being getting rid of a pre-season game (not like any one of us out there will really miss them.)

"One negative [to playing overseas games] is you're taking a game away from fans here," Goodell said before an annual meeting of sports editors at league headquarters in New York. "We've discussed whether to cut one preseason game and add a 17th week. It would create more inventory, and that has some appeal. We're chewing on that. The issue is: How do you create more inventory?"

Aside from the corporate jargon perversion of the word "inventory," it's a fairly basic idea that will likely go nowhere -- these things always bog down in various NFL committees. I suspect most people out there would think that any extra NFL game that means something is a good thing, as opposed to another meaningless pre-season matchup, but I'm not sure extending the season another game for international games would really help grow the game overseas. We've seen the clear evidence of how the NBA makes inroads in foreign markets with players from Europe and Asia -- I have a hard time believing American football, much as I love it, can translate to those same audiences. We're not exactly hearing about NFL Europe blowing up the world.

NFL Considers 17th Regular Season Game [Washington Post]

(Photo credit: AP, via WashPost)

What To Make Of Todd Sauerbrun?

Yeah, yeah. Punter signs with old team after current team botches matching rights paperwork, blah, blah, boring. Bear with me for a minute, though. It's really not so much about Todd Sauerbrun so much as the way he flies under the radar in terms of scrutiny over his prior suspension for use of ephedra, banned by the NFL after Korey Stringer's death.

As far as the errata in the contract, it's kind of surprising to see the Patriots botch one by something so simple as not putting the match offer clause on a separate page. However, the extent to which it was actually necessary to shell out to keep him wouldn't be that much. Punters and kickers don't grow on trees, but they have long shelf lives -- finding a replacement isn't as hard as you'd think as far as punting goes. Field goal kicking -- well, that's another matter. Bill Parcells' career is littered with examples of bad FG kicking -- both in favor of and against the team he's coaching.

If you'll remember, Sauerbrun was part of the investigation of several Carolina Panther players accused of juicing -- while he never was caught or charged on that one, he was suspended for four games last season over that ephedra incident, and it wound up costing him his job in Denver, as he was cut and replaced by Paul Ernster for kickoffs and punts.

Sauerbrun was able to fly under the radar on the fallout, what little actually turned out to be there, because of his position and the perceived nature of it (kickers unathletic, can show up pudgy, etc. Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is even guilty of this, claiming the punter is the one player on the team who can show up fat and he won't care.) Now, the attitude towards roids in football isn't as fucked up as the one baseball has with itself and the recent era, and that's because football these days is not a sport that rides its history very hard, and when you are top dog in the U.S. sporting landscape, you don't have to lean on your past.

If Sauerbrun had been a skill player on the offense or defense, someone would have two shits about his ephedra use. Ask around now and everyone will likely say "Todd who?" We believe most of the offensive and defensive lines are loading up -- they don't make men that big in nature, or so we think; skill positions are the main ones that concern us, the exception being Shawne Merriman, whose sheer dominance made him a star. Kicking deeper downfield and higher in the air for field position isn't high on the concern of abilities that can be improved, neither are attempts ot emergency weight loss.

Sauerbrun's pressures are no different, though, expressing concern about his weight all the time, and saying he had been fined by the Panthers for eating. No matter how good you are at your job, that may lead you to take some measures you would usually be more careful about. He's lucky no one really gives a crap about the punter unless it's fourth down and they're trying to back the opponents into the corner.

Ricky And The Rams?

It sounds like Rams coach Scott Linehan is highly interested in Ricky Williams if the running back is reinstated by the NFL after his suspension for violating the NFL's drug policy (although he probably shouldn't have said so publicly.)

But by all rights, he ought to be. Williams is a capable backup, and that's what St. Louis needs in a league largely going to two-back systems to cut down on wear and tear. While having Stephen Steven Jackson as your starter cuts off any need for alternating series, carries, etc., it's always good to have an insurance policy. We don't really know where and or if Ricky fits in with Cam Cameron's new regime down in South Florida. Linehan knows Williams, having served as the Dolphins' O-coordinator under Nick Saban prior to leaving for St. Louis.

It completely depends on what Miami management would want in exchange for him, however, because he's still under contract with the Dolphins. To more practical matters, let's note that Ricky is 30 -- not completely gone, but this is the age where running backs usually lose a bit more in the tank. Still, perfect capability for a backup RB, and the Rams could probably land him for a late first-day draft choice. Anything higher than third round pick wouldn't be worth the trouble, though.

Also, expect a nice letter from Big Rog about the whole spiel, Coach Linehan -- that would be called "tampering."

The NFL Will Tell You What To Wear And When To Wear It.

We all know the NFL's a stickler about sponsorships, what logos you can see on your person in uniform, how your uniform ought to be worn, etc. Bengals WR Chad Johnson gets the most attention and the most fines for rocking the orange chin strap, the odd shoe colors, and the custom nameplates, etc. Coaches Jack Del Rio and Mike Nolan had to accept Reebok as their tailor and designer before the NFL would permit them to go all Tom Landry on the sidelines.

Now, Bears LB Brian Urlacher has hit the fine board for a cool $100 Gs, and it's apparently all over a goddamned drink and a cap:

Urlacher was fined for drinking vitaminwater and wearing a vitaminwater hat during the media session in Miami leading to the title game. Gatorade is the NFL's official drink.

That's pretty damn harsh, and it's a first-of-its-kind fine in terms of it happening in the Super Bowl. Former Bear QB Jim McMahon got slapped with something similar back in the day. Reggie Bush got nailed for $10,000 when the league was able to see that he was rockin' his Adidas (Reebok logos only, people!)

The cap I kind of understand. But Urlacher couldn't even drink whatever he wanted to drink, he had to clear it with the league first? (Plus, the fact that it cost 100K because it was during Super Bowl week is mind-boggling.) Next thing you know someone will get fined for eating a Quarter Pounder at a press conference. (The last result I came up with for official fast food sponsor revealed that Burger King was the official fast food restaurant.)

Problem is, guys get fined a lot less than $100K for more problematic stuff. T.O. spitting on DeAngelo Hall got him $35K, and Tyler Brayton and Jerramy Stevens got $25K and $15K a piece for in-game scuffling (Brayton's extra 10 gr. was for a knee in the crotch; most people will tell you Stevens deserved it, especially Seahawks fans.)

Clearly, Roger Goodell is just as interested as protecting the millions in sponsorship rights that funnel in as he is the league's image, if not more.

(Update: Flubby at KSK has obtained a copy of Goodell's letter regarding the fine to Urlacher, with some examples of acceptable headgear.)

We Play GM, Day 2.

AA's still posting the rest of the first round picks in the Sports Bloggers Mock Draft, so go have a look. New picks every 15.

I took Texas safety Michael Griffin for the Broncos, as both desired Gator players (Reggie Nelson and Jarvis Moss) were off the board by the time I picked, and none of the D-linemen in the draft at that point were first-round pick worthy. Many mock drafts have Griffin as an early second-rounder, but I took him over Miami's Brandon Meriweather because he's less likely to get in off-the-field trouble (Meriweather, you'll recall, is one of the instigators in that Miami-FIU brawl from last year.)

I'm drafting for the Saints in the second round.

Miami Quarterback Follies.

Must be something in the water down in the Florida area that makes the front offices of their pro football teams insane regarding quarterbacks. We'll gloss over the whole mess of Tampa Bay, bringing in Jeff Garcia to compete with Chris Simms and Bruce Gradkowski (right, adding Bruce only to be a completist) and trading for Jake Plummer, who then retired -- Gruden must just think that if he has four going into camp, one of them just has to be starter-quality enough to hurl it to Calvin Johnson, whom the Bucs are clearly man-crushing over hard enough to consider trading up for (more on Mr. Johnson later.)

The situation in South Florida is getting messier -- after the Dolphins dealt for both Daunte Culpepper and Joey Harrington prior to the 2006 season, big things were expected, as numerous pubs had the Dolphins deep in the playoffs, and SI put them in the Super Bowl against Carolina (yeah, that prognostication turned out well.) Culpepper stayed hurt after rushing back from the first surgery, and Harrington was his usual inconsistent. The play of the two is probably another factor of what drove Nick Saban to Tuscaloosa. It ought to be stated that this continued morass at QB is his fault, but Cam Cameron and the front office haven't done a hell of a lot to solve the problem so far. Harrington is now backing up Michael Vick in the ATL, and it's assumed Culpepper will be on the way out, as the Dolphins try to grab Trent Green from the Chiefs, who feel they no longer require his services with Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle on the roster.

Most sane people who observe the NFL on a regular basis would want nothing to do with Green as far as a trade goes at this point in his career (if he were to be cut, someone would give him a contract offer); however, not a lot of GMs in sports are considered sane. GM Randy Mueller probably rubber-stamps the coach's decisions on personnel, and if that's the case, the Cam Cameron era will be a short one. Now, Trent Green is not a bad QB, but many of us happen to remember this little hit from last year against Cincy:



(Yeah, the video stinks, and I don't think it was a cheap shot. It's the only clip of the video I could find on YouTube.)

Green was out for the majority of the season due to that concussion, and I think it was a mistake for Herm Edwards to go back to him in the playoffs after missing that much time. Why the Dolphins want a 36-year old QB is another question entirely, especially after David Carr was on the market and available for less (Green's agent wants to re-negotiate his contract with the team that acquires him.) It is a slight mistake to consider Green "extremely durable," as he missed an entire season with the Rams due to a freak injury, and Kurt Warner then stepped in and took his job (quite well, if a Super Bowl is good by anyone's standard.) The Dolphins had enough problems with Culpepper, whose injury put a few more virtual years on his already-30 self. Acquiring Green would be a bonehead move when what the team needs is a new or slightly used younger QB for a semi-stable future (Brady Quinn at #9 in the draft would not be a bad way to go, if he falls that far.) The Culpepper experiment, if it is over, ought to be instructive in the sense that it is time to start fresh on the offense, especially when New England has re-stocked yet again and the Jets dealt for Thomas Jones from the Bears. The defense will still be tops in Miami; acquiring Joey Porter is actually a help, even though he's on the way down as an individual player, he's still useful to a team, and he, Zach Thomas, and Jason Taylor look like a hell of a combo on paper.

Now, to the CJ-related tangent: If the Dolphins release Culpepper, what's the temptation the Raiders have to sign him? It re-teams him with Randy Moss, and leaves the Cryptkeeper and Coach Lunch Money (TM The Hater Nation) with an opportunity to draft the aforementioned Calvin Johnson, and ship Jerry Porter out of town. You could say that JaMarcus Russell is a younger, healthier version of Culpepper, but Al Davis is probably sick of waiting around (he may not have many more years to be patient) for a QB to develop; he's been down that road before. Of course, Culpepper post-injury only has a few good years left, which would leave the Raiders in the same damn situation come three or four years later.

The Schedule Is Here.

It's the first tantalizing note of the NFL returning -- first the schedule, then the draft, mini-camps, camp, pre-season, and then....oh, how I've missed you, football.

1. Sun, Sept. 9 at Buffalo, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS
2. Sun, Sept. 16, OAKLAND, 2:15 p.m. MDT, CBS
3. Sun, Sept. 23, JACKSONVILLE, 2:05 p.m. MDT, CBS
4. Sun, Sept. 30, at Indianapolis, 4:15 p.m. EDT, CBS
5. Sun, Oct. 7, SAN DIEGO, 2:15 p.m. MDT, CBS
6. BYE
7. Sun, Oct. 21, PITTSBURGH, 6:15 p.m. MDT, NBC
8. Mon, Oct. 29, GREEN BAY, 6:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN
9. Sun, Nov. 4, at Detroit, 1 p.m. EST, CBS
10. Sun, Nov. 11, at Kansas City, 12 p.m. CST, CBS
11. Mon, Nov. 19, TENNESSEE, 6:30 p.m. MST, ESPN
12. Sun, Nov. 25, at Chicago, 12 p.m. CST, CBS
13. Sun, Dec. 2, at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. PST, CBS
14. Sun, Dec. 9, KANSAS CITY, 2:15 p.m. MST, CBS
15. Thu, Dec. 13, at Houston, 7:15 p.m. MST, NFLN
16. Mon, Dec. 24, at San Diego, 5 p.m. PST, ESPN
17. Sun, Dec. 30, MINNESOTA, 2:15 p.m. MST, FOX

Three Monday nighters, a Thursday, and one Sunday nighter (and depending on how both teams look come week 12, that Chicago game could be flexed in for NBC.) That's a lot of prime-time exposure.

I say 3-0 to start, possible loss to Indy even with a better secondary with Dre Bly (we can now cover both Harrison and Reggie Wayne), good shot at beating SD at home, now that they're run by the NORV!!! Pitt might be a toughie, but it's at Mile High. Green Bay = pushover. Detroit stinks. Possible loss to KC on the road, but they're aging and not improving. Travis Henry goes monster on his old team; could go either way in Chicago depending on the Sex Cannon and whether the Bears D is OK. Beat the Raiders twice, beat KC at home. Houston will still suck. Another possible loss to the Bolts; Vikings are not exactly a devastating team. Naturally, this all depends on Jay Cutler stepping up. Saw some good things, saw rookie mistakes, but he has a legitimate franchise back in Travis Henry now, and that will help.

I think this could pan out for a 12-4 season, especially if Shanny drafts someone to buck up that defensive line and get the sack numbers the Horseheads have been missing since Trevor Pryce left. Speaking of the draft, Awful Announcing has set up a Sports Bloggers Mock Draft, and I'm drafting for....surprise, the Broncos. Should be fun. If you have any suggestions for draft picks -- of course, I'm leaning towards a D-lineman or LB, leave 'em in the comments.

Power Tripping.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has decided to get his David Stern on. Chris Henry gets an eight game suspension, and Pac-Man Jones will be off the whole year, both without pay.

Henry's suspension, I get. The guy's been arrested and charged several times for dumb DUI stuff, and has been suspended by the league and benched by his team for it. But most of Jones' suspension is based in response to an incident in Vegas he hasn't even been charged for yet (and I place heavy emphasis on "yet," because it looks like the prosecutors of whatever county in Nevada that Vegas happens to be in are likely to press felony charges against him.)

In a letter to each player, Goodell wrote: "Your conduct has brought embarrassment and ridicule upon yourself, your club, and the NFL, and has damaged the reputation of players throughout the league. You have put in jeopardy an otherwise promising NFL career, and have risked both your own safety and the safety of others through your off-field actions. In each of these respects, you have engaged in conduct detrimental to the NFL and failed to live up to the standards expected of NFL players. Taken as a whole, this conduct warrants significant sanction."

I know Jones has stuff hanging against him from Georgia too, but this is based on a recent PR nightmare for the league, and it would have been better, not to mention at least resembling the appearance of fair, if Goodell had waited until charges were actually filed in Nevada. There's plenty of time left before the actual season gets underway, but then again, his hands were probably tied -- he had to take action before the draft and free agency were completed, or risk leaving the Bengals and Titans with holes they couldn't attempt to fill.

Hat tip: With Leather.

Nothing Could Be Finer Than To Be In Carolina In The Morning.

That's David Carr's logic, inking a contract with the Panthers to be Jake Delhomme's backup.

It was hard to type that with a straight face. Let's put the over/under of Carr getting named the starter at 6 regular season games for all intents and purposes, given how poorly Delhomme played last season. Coach John Fox can say Jake is the starter all he likes; Delhomme is officially ON NOTICE with this signing -- put up or get dropped.

Carr went to Carolina for the lack of pressure -- he can get himself back together after being assaulted on a constant basis in Houston, plus, he lands a damn good chance at gaining a starting spot, and you can smell the QB controversy coming at Panthers camp. It's the best situation overall, because if he does become the starter, he has Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson as WRs, and a developing stud RB in DeAngelo Williams.

Stupid teams that should have offered better money and a starting job to Carr: Vikings, Chiefs, and Browns. Especially the damn Vikings. Better hope Tarvaris Jackson pans out.

You Can't Fix A System Designed To Be Broken, Part IV.

Here are Parts I, II, and III of the prior deconstruction of Jason Whitlock's multi-column "solution" to fix men's college hoops and college football. And Part IV (hopefully final) is a doozy, because now he's dug himself so far into the hole that he won't be able to dig out: his final grand proposal is to scrap Title IX, calling it a welfare system. Not new, not particularly revolutionary, but incredibly reactionary and stupid, and is akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water. Let's get started.

Today, I drop the other shoe. I point out the benefactors of the continued exploitation of these directionless athletes and how fixing football and basketball players will end the gravy train of other non-black athletes.

Great. So the goal is to completely scrap the athletic opportunities for students who (gasp) are actually at college or university to go to school and get a degree in order to see that black men get one, even if they may not necessarily be aiming for it? If this is your idea of improving the lot of black men (which I am in favor of in general), count me the fuck out.

You could argue, and I will here, that the NCAA is in the business of recruiting impoverished, poorly educated black athletes for the purpose of securing gigantic TV contracts so that its schools can fund sports primarily played by white kids. The NCAA, rather than take a portion of the revenue it generates off its football and basketball players and invest in those athletes' intellectual and academic development, chooses instead to divert those revenues to volleyball, softball, baseball, golf, tennis, women's basketball and track athletes and their coaches.

Because they have resources that already exist in order to invest in their athletes intellectual and academic development: THEY ARE CALLED CLASSES AND ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIPS. It's very simple. If you stop riding the men's hoops and football players so hard to be pseudo-pros, cut down on the travel schedule, and make sure they go to class and take the exams, then you have what you want in the first place. But no, that cuts down on the gravy train for the universities, and they want to hoard that money. They use Title IX as an excuse, and as far as excuses go, I'd say it's a damn good one.

While the athletes remain eligible, the NCAA cuts deals to get them more and more television appearances on every night of the week. It's a vicious cycle that has produced the mess we have today. The athletes know they are being used for money, and they express a hard-to-digest hostility and sense of entitlement because of it. The NCAA, NBA and NFL ignore the athlete (who did not choose his environment or dysfunctional upbringing) and allow him to rot until age 18, and then wonder why he is hard to bring under control at age 23 or 24 when he's been handed several million dollars.

It is not the responsibility or job of the NCAA or any of the professional leagues to educate and develop an athlete before the age of 18, regardless of what you might think. That is incumbent upon parents and teachers at the lowest levels, and at higher ones, local, state, and federal government. I shall repeat my notes from prior installments: EDUCATION IS NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN EMBRACE BY DEMAND. That love has to be developed and nurtured. It is not the responsibility of an athletic association to educate its athletes. If they truly are students, then it is incumbent upon their universities, and the NCAA accounts for this, however flawed the standards are (and they are highly flawed) for men's hoops and football.

The intervention process must happen much sooner. Major League Baseball builds academies in foreign countries hoping to develop future major leaguers. But we can't build outreach programs to help our young football and basketball players develop academically and socially? We know there is a need for this. We know it's the right thing to do.

Yes, it is. Then ask your local school district, get your city councilman's attention, get the state house or assembly, the state senate, the mayor, the governor -- make it your mission to be active and demand these programs that help academic development for all children who need it, especially those in impoverished areas. I cannot repeat this enough: Whitlock aligns himself indirectly with a generation of American society that got theirs and said "fuck you" when it came to standing up and advancing the causes for equalizing funds in public education or advocating alternatives such as adequate vouchers (I'm not a voucher fan, but at least it's something.)

I am not in favor of paying college athletes money. Has money solved TuPacman Jones' problems? He needed counseling at age 12 and 13. He needed a strong alternative from hanging with the boyz 'n the 'hood at age 14. The NCAA and professional sports leagues should have given him an alternative long ago.

Please see the above response again. My blood is boiling over this now. Just because you don't want to pay them doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to earn money on the side, take a job. If the sport is a full-time job, then they should be able to get a bit of a stipend for it. Didn't you just advocate such a stipend in part three, saying the NCAA should give a poor student-athlete a $2,000-$3,000 stipend based on academic effort? Either you want a stipend or you don't want to pay them. Pick one.

A portion of the money that these athletes generate should be invested in the athletes who generate the money. Many of the non-revenue sports should be club sports. What we have now is a comfortable welfare life for Olympic athletes. I'm not knocking those athletes. I'm suggesting there's a lot of fat in their budgets. Why should any of them ever compete in an event that requires them to get on a plane or stay in a hotel?

Fine. No more athletic championship tournaments for golf, tennis, gymnastics, fencing, etc. Then, watch as there are no more Olympians come every couple of years. Every golf phenom will go the Michele Wie route of turning pro at 16 rather than the Tiger Woods route of spending a few years learning how to win at Stanford. Kids who are good at their sports, but have lesser to no expectations of going pro will have no opportunity to test their skills against the best in the country, and figure out what it means to win at a higher level.

You think amateur sports are professionalized enough? Just wait. With this solution, we'll be digging into high schools more and more as the NCAA funds its version of the AAU camps, and athletes in other sports enter tournaments at younger ages because they know there's no quarter for them in college.

Here's another analogy for you: you run a university that produces scientific scholars and patents that bring in lab funding and research money, so you give all your money to that department, and pull it out of the humanities by de-funding history, English, or music (no new desks, new building, or re-tuning the pianos in the practice rooms in the hall). That's what this is akin to -- screwing over a bunch more students than you started with.

It's called welfare or Title IX or stupidity or exploitation of football and basketball players who just happen to be primarily black, poor and in desperate need of the resources being funneled to white kids and their even whiter coaches.

I bet very few of those football and basketball players or their families are that stupid. The NCAA created a system, the coaches and players are trying to make their futures in it with "advisers" and "consultants" -- just don't call them agents, but that's what they are. This is the "posse" you decry so much, that apparently takes advantage of them -- these kids are not as dumb as you think they are, Whitlock; teenagers never are.

Black football and basketball players are not alone in having their hands out. They just happen to have sufficient justification. We need to do whatever it takes to put education in those hands long before they ever hit a college campus.

Sure. But stop making it incumbent on the NCAA, NBA, and NFL -- these organizations are utterly amoral when it comes to education, and it's probably better that way -- they'd screw it up or run it like AAU without the middle man. Here's an idea, expressed often, but worth repeating one more time: if you care so much about the downtrodden black student-athlete, then why not help his local city, state, and country care about him as a student and a black man rather than an athlete? Because that would dare to venture into the bigger picture of politics and the precepts we blindingly accept as part of American society (so you're poor, you can't afford school supplies, and your history textbook is ancient history of its own? Bootstraps, people!), and Whitlock either can't or won't bring himself to tackle those sacred cows. Minority students in urban areas get shafted because good schooling costs money, whether you move into good schooling in the burbs or pay for it in private schools, but that doesn't seem to matter too much -- the prism is still so small for him; looking at the politics of education, anything that might force him to take his focus off of sports and onto the context in which sports exists is clearly over his head.

Proposing a fix for a broken system like the NCAA while refusing to look at the bigger picture of education and money in American society as a whole is akin to calling yourself an expert in Shakespeare or Joyce after reading the Cliffs Notes.

You Can't Fix A System Designed To Be Broken, Part III.

Read the prior fisking of Jason Whitlock's first two installments of columns on fixing college basketball and football before this one; here's Part I, and here's Part II.

In Part III, Whitlock lays out his plan to improve the education of the big-time collegiate athlete for us. I feel like I should state that I think he means well (others may disagree), but the road to hell is re-paved on an hourly basis with good intentions. Let's get cracking. He has six parts of the basic position; to save space and your eyes, I will only re-post the ones in full with questionable assumptions.

1. True, especially considering the NCAA's mouthing of "academic integrity" and the integrity of amateur status. No major quibble there; if you're going to dump money into a TV sport and profess integrity, you're going to have to pay to ensure it, if you have any interest in doing so (and that's probably where we run into issues.)

2. I don't think anyone can argue with this one.

3. Football and basketball are dependant [sic] upon predominantly black, American-born athletes. A large percentage of these athletes are from impoverished, no-father-in-the-home backgrounds. Black youth culture has been corrupted by hip-hop/prison culture, which is hostile, self-destructive and anti-education.

First part, yes -- second, not so much. I made the same point in Part II: hip hop culture is not intertwined with prison culture, you cannot write or speak of them as if they were intertwined. Hip-hop culture, like most subcultures entwined and borne from a form of music, is about speaking an alternative truth. The truth of the war on drugs and the war on the poor is that black men, many non-violent offenders, are cycled through the prison/industrial complex to serve a machine of mindless prohibition. I don't think it's so much anti-education as a distrust of what's being taught, because history is written by the victors, and for centuries, black folk have been subjugated. We try to modify these faults as the years pass, but that doesn't mean they're still not there. Distrust of an education system didn't start with hip-hop culture.

Also, who's your copy editor?

4. That's probably safe to say -- if you were part of massive profits for your school, yet couldn't even take a stipend from an on-campus job, you'd be pissed too.

5. Poorly educated, hostile and resentful professional football and basketball players are creating a public-relations nightmare (potential loss of TV ratings) for the NBA and NFL by breaking the law off the field and projecting a hip-hop/prison image that makes their fans uncomfortable. These same athletes are contributing to an unhealthy image of American blacks at home and across the globe.

OK, so we take into account the Bengals, Pac-Man Jones, Ron Artest, and they're supposed to represent the majority of the image of players, including folks like Allen Iverson, who've been good citizens? Why are fans uncomfortable? Is it because media tends to overhype the bad actors (especially minority bad actors) in society to arouse fear, and since the media is controlled by the few, that image is the one that gets portrayed around the world?

6. The NFL and NBA are trying to crackdown on these athletes with dress codes and other get-tough policies. The new rules are necessary but will fail if not supported by an improved educational system for athletes.

Oy. Last column you wrote that these rules were as useful as the failed war on drugs and the war on the poor. Pick one. Either they're necessary or designed to fail.

The key to correcting what is wrong with football and basketball is education and tying the financial interest of the athlete to education. It is a mistake to give young people what they want. A wise parent and/or society gives young people what they need.

Ah, here's the thesis; interesting, but flawed, because actual athletic skill has fuck-all to do with education. I'll elaborate in a bit. The second sentence here seems innocuous enough, except you realize that we are talking about and dealing with 18-year olds. You can't force them any more.

The NFL and NBA need to go into partnership with the NCAA on its two television sports. The NFL, NBA and NCAA would all financially benefit from developing well-educated athletes...I'm against an age limit for entering the draft. I'm in favor of gigantic financial incentives for athletes entering the league after completing their college degrees and/or five years of college. A 22-year-old college graduate has far more to offer the NBA than a 19-year-old who spent one semester pretending to be a college student. The American college graduate also has far more to offer the NBA than a 19-year-old foreigner who American fans are unfamiliar with.

Not a terrible idea at first sight, but the problem is that the NCAA is so much more than Division I-A -- there are thousands of member schools to be concerned with, so many of them that will never send a player to a professional sports leagues, and they will be left out of this subsidy and crying foul. I've never liked the age limit either, but do you have any proof of the back half of that statement? Ultimately, no pro league or scout will be judging based on how long that athlete has spent in college. The question is always, "Are they ready to play at the next level?" Thinking it could be anything else is delusion, regardless of how smart it is overall. I'm pretty damn sure a 22-year old who's played all four years in college probably has more to offer, but I can't assert that.

As for the 19-year old foreigner: wouldn't these be the same 19-year old foreigners that Whitlock believes play at a higher level than our own ballers?

So my step one would be for the NBA and NFL to institute a salary structure that paid college graduates and/or five-year college players significantly more than early entrants. Isn't this the way it works in most professions? The more educated you are the more money you earn as an entry-level employee...You could stagger the money non-graduates are paid based on the number of years they spent in college. The rule might entice foreign basketball players to enroll in American universities.

Professional sports are not most professions. Again, the problem is that the level of formal education is not important in the overall scheme of professional sports. The reason many white-collar jobs (including mine) rely on measures of formal education is because our jobs require a certain amount of it. Playing basketball or football for a living requires smarts and intelligence that aren't necessary directly linked to your skill with say, history. Formal education might improve your skill as an athlete (it will most likely help you get around a playbook more easily), but it won't ensure you have the talent to survive a physically demanding lifestyle.

With regard to foreign players: again, these are players whom Whitlock has said are already better skilled, so why put in a rule that's unfair to them? Also note that folks like Andrea Bargnani are the exception -- many foreign players these days come into the leagues in their early 20s, Manu Ginobili was in his mid 20s in his rookie year; Jorge Garbajosa is in his late 20s. Dirk Nowitzki was 20; that'll probably be less common. So why force them to go to American universities to earn what they're worth?

Step No. 2 would be for the NBA and NFL to recognize that college football and basketball are developmental leagues and that the NBA and NFL need to financially subsidize college football and basketball.

OK...don't mind that too much....

This subsidy is necessary because my other central belief is that the NCAA needs to get involved academically with its potential football and basketball players as they enter ninth grade, and the NCAA is going to have to offer modest financial rewards for its poor athletes who achieve academically and stay in college.

Oh, HELL NO. I have enough of a problem with high school sports being professionalized enough as is, and the NCAA should be getting involved with 14-year old kids? You can say academically all you want -- knowing the NCAA, it's not going to happen that way.

The NCAA needs to measure and reward academic effort. A formula needs to be devised that takes into account academic effort and achievement in high school and economic background and provides a freshman college athlete a stipend ($2,000 to $3,500 per semester). This stipend would only be available to the poor. And the stipend would increase each year based on the student's effort (attendance) and achievement (grade point average).

OK, so this stipend would only be available to the poor, and the well-off athletes who are barred from taking a part-time job or earning most forms of money while on scholarship are going to have to lean on Mommy and Daddy? There are middle-class athletes on scholarship whose parents are feeling the pinch, too; they might be able to squeeze sending in some money, but don't pretend that they couldn't use it either.

To replace AAU basketball, NCAA schools need to host their own four-to-five-week summer football and basketball camps that would be a mix of athletics and academics for potential recruits who are incoming high school freshmen to seniors. This would be expensive. It's also very necessary...You bring the recruits up during the time frame that the coaches are hosting their money-generating camps for rich kids with little real talent. The money from those camps is split up among the coaching staff and (in basketball) payoffs/speaking engagements to AAU coaches. I'd take all the profits from those camps (along with money from the shoe companies, which will have less interest in lining the pockets of AAU coaches) and spend it on academically, socially and physically nurturing 25 basketball and 50 football recruits for a month each summer.

It's a fascinating concept. I shudder to think what the NCAA would do if left in charge of it; they'd likely run it just like AAU is run right now. Basically, you're just consolidating, removing the middleman. Putting the NCAA in charge of anything involving an athletic camp and hoping that they will mix academics in is a mistake. There's no incentive to do that.

To ensure the integrity of a college athlete's academic progress, universities need to hire academic-athletic directors who report directly and only to the school president or chancellor. Their only concern would be the academic success of athletes. If academic fraud was uncovered, the academic-athletic director and the school's president would take the hit -- not a coach or athletic director.

Another needless level of bureaucracy. Keep the athletic director responsible for this. The problem is that the NCAA is made up of the presidents and ADs -- they aren't going to police themselves very well; the problems with the system are a feature, not a bug. We don't blame ADs enough as is for bad performance on and off the field or court, and now they should be let off the hook?

Money is driving football and basketball. We need to financially reward high-profile athletes for embracing education, and we need to financially penalize high-profile athletes who reject education. We should not deny the uneducated an opportunity to be professional athletes. Denial creates hostility.

Ever known anyone who just wasn't suited for university, just wasn't one of those people? I have, and this is a system that creates de facto denial. This essentially creates a new age limit by tying salaries to a concept that doesn't have as much to do with the primary function of a professional athlete.

I realize that Title IX and other factors (cries of racism by shakedown artists such as Jesse Jackson) stand in the way of implementing the solutions I suggest. I'll address all of that.

Nice to see the slam of someone who has actually gone out of his way to try and see that some of the gains made in the civil rights area were actually preserved instead of stripped by those in charge of the government. Can't wait for the next one.