I would even call Brett Favre a bit of a fraud, considering how he closed out the final month of his season (coughs). I think many Packers fans owe Green Bay management an apology because Rodgers is obviously the better QB now.

As a fellow fan of Springsteen (though not nearly as crazed as Bernie, I’m sure), I also find it rather strange that The Boss will be performing at halftime. He’ll put on a great show, no doubt, but will it have all those “extras” performing on the field while he and the band play? (shudders)

1. Rams player petition: Ha ha ha! That is really funny. Seasoned Pro Bowler QB Mark Bulger gets beat by a rookie? I agree with the PSL holder! The players should have done for Haslett what the Niners did for Singletary!

Note: Word is Martz is out and management want Linehan as OC. That is a joke! Mike needs Mad Mike!

Limo1
Las Vegas, NV

Interesting comments on Shanahan, Gruden and Jones. Goes to show that a team is typically only as good as the players on the field. Although, some coaches are better at scheming plays with less talent. The Favre saga cracked me up. Don’t know why he chose to vocalize on that subject before his team’s biggest game in a few years. Hooray for Pennington for sticking it to the Jets. On Springsteen performing at the Super Bowl….MaCartney, The Stones, U2 and Tom Petty did it. I’d say he’s in pretty good company when it comes to his geezer rock contemporaries. Maybe the boss just likes football and a good party?

Mostly spot on. Building a case that Shanahan is a fraud based on a winning percentage of “only” .557 without Elway is a reach.

I have no vested interest in the Broncos or Shanahan. But would anyone around here have a problem with averaging 9 wins per year? Not me.

well put, AW.

besides, if you were allowed to play a lackluster game of football, act like you didn’t care, and show zero motivation, you WOULD want you boss to stick around.

Whole heartedly agree with you Bernie Re the Boss, I am a dieheard fan as well, going all the ways back to the stone poney days. Have been put off by all the political stuff recently, but still feel that halftime “show”, which really is nothing but a commercial, just doesn’t feel right. Maybe his fee is going to charity, I guess I can understand that.

big dog, if you’re upset about the boss playing the super bowl, how po’ed will you be when he goes on american idol? these guys all will chase the last buck, or bit of fleeting fame…
as for the player petition, i agree with the consensus, if the players want haslett back, all the more reason to go in a new direction…

Bernie, Bernie, Bernie!! obviously you haven’t watched many Northwestern Wildcat games this year…Coach Fitzgerald should be coach of the year for that team…they have an Outstanding QB and good receivers…In addition their running back who was injured and missed the last 4 games of Big Ten Play is healthy again…Back up the Truck-my money is on the Wildcats, as badly as i’d like to see the Tigers win!! The Tiger bandwagon wheels will fall off tonite and come morning, people will wonder if Mike Alden was nuts to offer the contract extension and extra $$ to Pinkel…once again, we’ve been had!! Northwestern 37, Mizzou 27!! remember you read it here first!
Haslett is also a fraud! re-cycling needs to end! it’s not how hard you work but how you work!!
Jackson IS one heckuva player!! what he did yesterday against the Falcons was unbelievable!! but concern about his “moodiness” and durability are suspect…is he a “TO” wearing a running back number?? thought the O-line play yesterday was improved…what happened to Richie? no, i didn’t miss him? no reason for bulger to be 19 of 30 with the protection the O-line gave him most of the day…again, the guy is focused on one receiver and that’s it! if the guy isn’t opened, he’ll throw it anyway…as far as the few good passes he made threading the needle, every squirrel will find a nut once in a while…

The petition sounds like something a grade school team would do. What makes the players on a team that is 2-14 think that anyone wants to hear what coach they want to have. Get rid of the whole bunch and start over.

We should give Secretary Paulson his very own bail out bonus for managing to give away 350 billion dollars without any oversight what so ever. Guess what? The greedy bastards on Wall Street ARE writing the rules.
Have any of the PD reporters ask John Mozeliak if the cardinals are still in operation? Sure has been a long time since cards have made any news. The natives are restless.

Cornhead….why? Is it their loss to Indiana or their biggest win vs. Illanoys that makes you so sure?

And Bernie…what “halftime adjustment” are you referring to? I wasn’t aware that MIZZOU was already down and the first half was in the books? Basically, what are you talking about?

Is Springsteen selling out??? I mean, he spent most of the TODAY show to promote the Magic album. He does have a new album dropping in January. Also, isn’t NBC promoting a song that Bruce wrote solely for the NFL or the Superbowl?? Yikes! Say it ain’t so, Bruce??? Are you becoming a shameless huckster for a buck? Are you becoming the Jon Voight of Rock & Roll??? The horror…the horror…

1.a better way to put the pathetic-player-petition-to-keep-their-interim-coach-ploy into context is to compare the players to division rival SF who had a winning record under their mid season replacement and have subsequently removed his interim tag already, no petition needed.
2.hope springs eternal? as always you are a home town journalist and maybe that is why i like to read
3. already writing about brett farve is like already writing about the nfl draft. just sharpening your (nearly irrelevant) non-season football writing skills. A classic Bernie Miklasz statistical comparison to other qb’s under mvp consideration would have been a better use of your blog, or do you only have access to the baseball statistical database. Who cares about brett farve, who is a fraud when it comes to his ability to win consistently without a good coach i.e. Holgrem which leads me to…
4a. excellent observation, but you left out a 2,000 yard rusher with the initials TD and perhaps by giving Cutler a comparable running back and any type of competent defense, more success would come Denver’s way.
4b. he still won, which is more than Martz and I can’t remember you calling him a fraud only “mad” all the time.
4c, 5, 30 second bonus, all excellent observations.

How can anyone decide if Haslett should stay or go without knowing his plans for next year? What coaches would he keep and what new coaches would he hire? What players does he want to build around and what players does he want to jettison? Bottom line will probably be how well Haslett’s plans and thinking mesh with Devaney’s because I trust Devaney to build a winner here.

Bernie, as soon as I heard about the Rams petition during the game yesterday I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I then thought of you and what you would likely say here and on the air (1380) during your afternoon show. What a joke!
This is a classic case of the innmates running the looney bin. Are they serious? Here’s what the Rams need to do (in order):

1. Hire a President of Football Operations to replace Z. (Dierdorf, Big Tuna or someone that knows the business).
2. Hire a head coach. Crap shoot here, but we need to do a better job in selecting our new coach than grabbing onto some “pedigree” coordinator that ends up not being very smart.
3. Draft smartly. Use our draft choices to select:
a. Kick@#$ middle linebacker.
b. Strong OT/OL.
c. Secondary help (corner, safety)
d. With the remaining picks: quarterback, additional lineman (O & D), linebackers & secondary.

4. Rebate back to PSL holders and season ticket holders through 2009 incentives and promos, some of the $$ they in-effect flushed down the toilet over the past few years. They need to get aggressive on bringing the fans back : (See STL Blues).

The Rams need to run their team like a business–one that values the customer and the employee. I get the feeling Chip wants to do the right thing but the team needs to get a grip in regards to putting a decent, playoff-caliber team on the field. This starts at the top and goes all the way down through the players, equipment guys and marketing folks. If they don’t fans will continue to stay away and this team will be history in STL. This isn’t a case of plunking down a few bucks to entertain you or your family and friends on a Sunday afternoon. Pro sports represent a significant investment for most fans and quite frankly if the product is poopy most will find other things to do with their hard earned dollars. Instead of the players going out to sign autographs at sports venues they should spend a day with a fan to see just how good they have it. Maybe then they would put forth a better effort and not act like a bunch of spoiled, overpaid brats that they have become.

Sorry for the rant.

Bryan (Imperial)

Bernie, I enjoy your new extra points and pithy comments. I hope you are right on Mizzou , but for some reasons the Tigers have not been emotionally up since OSU. Daniel has been off for a lot of reasons but to this observer he appears to have lost some arm strength. As a season ticket holder I am looking forward to next year; maybe I am unusual but I have grown tired of hearing how great the Tigers were or should have been. I am proud that 23 seniors are all graduating.

I’ll apologize in advance for being off topic - goes toward a prior blog - mark my words, Charlie Weis will be a success at Notre Dame. Willingham left him with mediocre talent, which Weis has now upgraded. However, his guys are mostly freshmen and sophomores this year. Next year will be the year they turn the corner. The Hawaii coach said he thinks Claussen will be a Heisman trophy winner as he was amazed by how good a QB he is. Unlike Gary Pinkel, Weis is a good x’s and o’s coach to go along with his recruiting. As for Mizzou v. Northwestern, I am first and foremost a Missouri fan, but after their lackluster effort against KU, in a game they apparently didn’t take too seriously, I have little faith in their ability.
The Big XII North came down as Mizzou was going up, but now it will start coming up and Mizzou is heading down. We had our chance at greatness, and we let it slip away. Pinkel will never coach in a BCS game, but Charlie Weis at Notre Dame will. Believe it or not, I am not a Notre Dame fan, but a clear-thinking college football fan who is extreeeemely disappointed with the Missouri Tigers. I remember a few years ago when Gary Pinkel was giving an award I think at the MAC to Brad Smith, and he was listing all of Brad’s accomplishments on the football field, and I was thinking to myself about Pinkel that he was the only coach who could have this great QB and still only go .500.

I like coach Haslett but here are the facts;
……………………G..W..L….pct……
2005 New Orleans Saints 16 3 13 0 .188 — –
2004 New Orleans Saints 16 8 8 0 .500 — –
2003 New Orleans Saints 16 8 8 0 .500 — –
2002 New Orleans Saints 16 9 7 0 .563 — –
2001 New Orleans Saints 16 7 9 0 .438 — –
2000 New Orleans Saints 16 10 6 0 .625 1 1
CAREER 6 years 96 45 51 0 .469 1 1

Add in the 2 wins and 10 losses with the Rams and his record is;
47 wins
61 losses
That’s not real good in any league no matter how you slice it.

Haslett has to go. The players can’t be allowed to make the choice of who is coaching them.

Hey Bernie, I agree, the decision on Haslett should not be made on the how the players feel or what they say, but the decision also shouldn’t be made on what the fans are griping about on talk shows, internet forums, etc. either. I love that Haslett is a risk taker. If he does bring in his own Offensive Coordinator, maybe we’ll see an offense with an actual identity. Still not happy that we’re in the red zone with a chance for a TD and yet again we throw another quick screen to Jackson over at wide receiver, settling for FG instead of a TD. Why play scared when you’re 2-13? What are we protecting? Let’s get Bulger to throw a TD pass in the red zone for crying out loud. To me that’s stupid, and it’s things like that upset me. They keep saying they have the personnel to build on and be successful, but then in crunch time they play scared, and then of course late in the game when we need to stage a last minute comeback, we lay a big fat egg again. So I’m not really sure what’s going to happen here. But after reading that article in the Post Sunday on Devaney, I sure do have hope that he will get us on track. Everything happens for a reason and this bad road the Rams have taken the last 6 yrs may lead them to a very long and prosperous one in the future with Devaney. We can only hope. Happy New Year !

Who cares about Notre Dame or Charlie Weis? Stick to the topic!!!

Bernie:

I agree with you totally about Bruce. Can’t imagine that he can be the sweat-drenched, possessed rocker that “proves it all night” in an 18 minute half-time show. But, perhaps a few nice close-ups of Patti will be worth it!

As a Cowboys fan, I’d gladly give the Rams a coach (Wade Phillips), an offensive coordinator (Jason Garrett), a deep-pockets owner (Jerry Jones) and a big-time receiver (T.O., just ask him), and ask for nothing in return.

At least Rams fans knew they had a bad team. Cowboys fans thought we had a great one, then had the life sucked out of us week after week after week.

Bernie…bernie…bernie.

I’m not neccesarily a fan of haslett, but i was doing some research on points per quarter by the rams and came across an interesting fact. The rams best quarter BY FAR, was the third quarter. You know the quarter where good game day coaches shine. The quarter when adjustments are made. The quarter where all good coaches win. I was admittedly surprized, but facts are facts. Granted Haslett hasnt been the best at being forthcoming with the press, but how many good coaches are?

That psl holder and you need remember that the rams defense was run into the ground by jay z and scott linehan with their idiotic drafts. And what the rams players are saying is that they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. If either you are the psl holder thinks the rams players liked having their MANHOOD taken away every sunday, you’ve both forgotten the value of having one. It supercedes money. And without a doubt haslett has
given that back to them. For the most part the rams have been competitive since haslett has taken over, at least as competitive as they can be. Thats what the players are saying with the petition.

I gurantee you, that with the same line (personally, i would put greco in for bell), steve jackson will be a monster next year. jay z screwed up jacksons year by signing him too, too late. Anyone with any football knowledge knew that his year would be injury marred.

Springsteen sucks. All his crappy, preachy songs sound the same. I’ll be changing the station at half time of the Super Bowl.

I am sick of Hasslet and Bruce Springsteen. If I have to listen about how Springsteen’s music is inspired by how horrible George Bush is, I am going to scream. I need to get all of my political advise from community college drop outs, like BRUUUUUUCE

Wow, that’s just shows the unending stupidity of the players in this organiztion. Of course I also believe that with pitiful, cry babies like Mark Bulger and Steven Jackson believing that they’re bigger than the team this “petition” for Haslett actually weakens his position for next year. He has to show that he has control over these players which he doesn’t. Scott Linnehan didn’t and Haslett doesn’t either. This team has got to be the biggest joke the NFL has ever seen and the only reason that the Rams weren’t the worst is cause the Lions just couldn’t deal with being outdone!

Who makes up the STL Today polls, and are they intentionally simplified so that a reasonable answer is not always possible? The classic example that comes to mind was the poll concerning the Cardinals’ greatest need this offseason, and didn’t give closer as an option. With the latest poll concerning whether to retain Haslett, how about a third option of “DEPENDS ON WHO’S AVAILABLE OR WILLING TO COME TO THE RAMS”, because this is the crux of the matter. If it’s between Haslett and Johnny Firstjob, I want Haslett. If Schottenheimer or Bill Cowher are in the equation, then bye-bye Haslett. But seriously, are the polls done by an intern, or what? In the future, I hope most intelligent options will be given consideration in the STL Today polls.

I don’t see a problem in the Rams trying a new guy or a retread. We’re forced to accept all the bad local broadcasters that keep turning up on the airwaves. Time to clean up these broadcast facilities also.