5 Minutes for Blogging, Jan. 9
Fast and Furious…
1. I DON’T CARE WHAT THE SCOUTS SAY ABOUT TIM TEBOW … Florida’s championship QB can quarterback my team, anytime. So spare me the talk about footwork, accuracy, mechanics. Some quarterbacks are winners. Some quarterbacks make the big plays with the game on the line. Some quarterbacks just inspire belief and confidence. You just want the ball in their hands at the end of the game. Tebow is in this category. He’s the anti-Bulger.
2. WELCOME TO THE ST. LOUIS RAMS COACHING SEARCH BOWL, SATURDAY ON CBS: It’s Baltimore @ Tennessee in the AFC playoffs, 3:30 p.m. kickoff STL time. This is your chance to check out two candidates for the Rams job: Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, and Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. And Rams’ coaching-search consultant Dan Dierdorf will be the color analyst on the CBS broadcast. Maybe Dierdorf can do a little advance work for Rams GM Billy Devaney. Then again, DD can just go with the flow and rubber-stamp Jim Haslett.
3. NON-SPORTS OBSERVATION OF THE DAY: OK, I keep getting these e-mails from people I don’t know, inviting me to join their LinkedIn network. Just a quick question: what the hell is this? OK, in the beginning, I’d receive an invite from some folks that I did surely know — sportswriters, editors and such — and I thought, “Why not. I’ll link up with them, even though I have absolutely no idea what it is, and what it’s supposed to do for me. Maybe this will make it easier to exchange Bruce Springsteen concert bootlegs, or something.” Now the damned thing is like a virus. LinkedIn invitations come from all over the place. A guy who works at Walgreens invited me to join his LinkedIn network, and I’m at a loss to understand how this will help me. Do I get a discount on Zantac tablets? Does it mean that I can now open a bag of Doritos at Walgreen’s and eat them as I walk the aisles, not having to pay up until I reach the register?
Memo: I’m LinkedOUT …
4. IF CHRIS PEREZ WANTS TO BE THE CLOSER IN 2009 … he has to diversify and come up with an alternative pitch. When behind in the count, the big man threw fastballs to RH batters 93 percent of the time last season. Behind in the count to LH batters, he threw the gas 96 percent of the time. According to STATS LLC, here are some of the batting averages against Perez when he fell behind last season: 1-0, .500. 2-0, .400. 3-1, .333. (He did fine on 2-1 counts). Perez has a popping fastball, but in the bigs, the hitters can rip on it, especially if they know it’s coming.
5. KURT WARNER WEATHER UPDATE: As they head into Saturday night’s NFC playoff game in Carolina, much has been made of the Arizona Cardinals’ failures in the eastern time zone this season. But what about their QB, Warner, and cold weather? Because Warner has played so many games inside climate-controlled facilities in St. Louis and Glendale, Ariz., it’s unusual for him to have to perform in frigid conditions. Warner has made only four NFL starts when in games played at a temperature under 40 degrees, and the results weren’t handsome: 50.7 completion rate, 3 TDs, 11 INTs, and a QB rating of 41.8. Yikes. But here’s some potentially good news for Kurt and his fans: the forecast for Saturday night in Charlotte is a temperature of around 50 degrees, with a chance for rain. It may get wet. But it isn’t supposed to be cold. Still, this is a tough assignment for the Cardinals; the Panthers are 8-0 at home this season.
60-SECOND BONUS: I failed to note the Jan. 8 birthday of the late great Elvis Presley. My three favorite Elvis songs: (1) Suspicious Minds; (2) Kentucky Rain; (3) In the Ghetto. Question: did you prefer the younger, slimmer Elvis or the older, Fat Elvis? I’m weird. I liked the paunchy, white-jumpsuit version of Elvis. Why? No. 1, I’m a fat guy. No. 2, I have a bizarre childhood memory that I can’t shake. We were supposed to go see Elvis in concert at the Baltimore Civic Center. It was my only shot at seeing him. I must have been 11 or 12 years old. We show up, and wait, and the concert was canceled. Why? well, as it turns out, as written in the local newspapers the next day, Elvis reportedly ate 9 banana splits backstage before the show and became violently ill. Awesome.
-Bernie
Bernie,
Ditto on Tebow…he is a winner, a gamer, a balls to the walls, no nonsense, in your face SOB that just knows what it takes to beat you. He is a rare athlete that does not come along very often…I hope he gets a chance to play at the NFL level as I think he will surprise a lot of people.
I hope the Rams coaching search has generated a lot of interest because of the opportunity and not because they are looking for any warm body….so far it sounds like everyone and anyone has thrown their hat in the ring…when is Billy Devaney going to narrow down his choices?
Linked in? Welcome to the club…I made that mistake two years ago…I have more links than Hillshire Farms!
The upside to Perez closing in 2009 may be the fact that he came up mid year last season, so it may still take some time for opposing hitters to get a feel for him…the real challenge for him closing games may come in 2010 if still has not developed a decent wrinkle pitch.
Carolina should have no trouble taking care of business…they are a good team not challenged with as many “what if’s” as Arizona.
I get sick thinking about eating nine banana splits…
Had the King been on an all day “bender” that day with Boog Powell and John Mackey, then munchies ensued? Why nine banana splits? Why couldn’t he have got sick eating nine crab cakes instead? Or were the banana splits dessert?
Great songs by Elvis? I got nothing…..
Over and out
I like Tim Tebow but after listening to numerous sports analysts say that he probably won’t be drafted as an NFL quarterback it makes me wonder if he is the next Eric Crouch.
sorry Bernie, you are leading with your heart, not your head on this one. Did you see the replay of the play where Tebow was intercepted by the Dlineman who dropped back in Zone coverage? Tebow is a great kid, but doesn’t have the skill set to plaly qb in NFL. It’s a different position than in college. Prime example, Vince Young, who wouldn’t have said he was the greatest competitor after Champ gave vs. USC. He singlehandedly carried UT to victory. Look at what his skill set has brought to the NFL>.
Tebow’s outstanding leadership and play at the highest college level has earned him due recognition as a great “college” QB. Is not that where NFL teams get most of there players from in the draft? The NFL would be foolish to pass him up. Tebow has the kind of leadership skills that make common men heroes. By that I mean no one thinks to much of the guy until the guy leads them to victory fight after fight.
I liked the younger, trimmer Elvis. He had an innocence and a style about him that appealed to the young people in away that was dreamy. He was fresh and he was Kool and for a while Elvis lived the American dream. He was crowned King and that is why the King still lives.
Regarding LinkedIn: I had the same experience with Facebook. For the first month, I was pleasantly surprised every other day to get a note from a long-lost friend or classmate that had found me. Then, a bunch of strangers and people I’d rather forget wanted to be friends.
I got very comfortable with the IGNORE button, and soon enough, the dopey requests stopped.
Sorry, prefer the skinny Elvis in a hip-shaking contest with Ann-Margret in “Viva Las Vegas.”
Yep. Tebow is a leader. A true winner. He makes his team better. He “inspires belief and confidence”. All great points that contain a lot of truth to them.
Does that make him a great QB at the next level? I think all the points listed above are part of the equation, but not all of it. I don’t see him as an NFL QB. However, I do think there will be other options at the next level for Tebow, because he is such a great athlete. Having the heart and passion to win is important, but mechanics, footwork, and accuracy are an important part of the equation, as well.
I agree with you on Perez. From what I saw of him towards the end of last season, it would appear though that he had gained some confidence in his slider. I felt that towards the end of the year he made some major strides from where he was when he was first called up.
I think the same can be said about Jason Motte. If he is going to stick in the big leagues, and be a force coming out of the pen for TLR this season he is going to have to develop a second pitch.
Yo Bernie,
Tim Tebow has heart, too bad heart doesn’t always make it in the NFL. As for Elvis, I think all of his songs sucked. He and the rest of the Sun Records lot just ripped off black music. I must admit I just watched a video of Muddy waters, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells from The Montreaux Jazz fest in 1974, so I have a biased opinion. Selling millions does not make it good!
Bernie amen on Tebow as a gamer and a good QB prospect. What are these scouts on? He has size, a strong arm, he can run, he shows passion and emotion. He can side up with me in a battle foxhole anytime. Id rather have Tim at the helm rather than the pitiful, lifeless, expression with his chinstrap covering his mouth, excuse of a QB we have here in Bulger. If we could land this kid in the 3 round or so what a deal. He will make someone someday glad they did!
Despite being a ‘honk’ for the SEC (particularly Alabama) all I can say is, how can you not respect what Tebow does on the field and off? You hit it on the head yesterday my friend when you said the key word when describing him - WINNER! That is one thing no one can teach. People also need to realize when he is on the field he talks trash and is one of the most competitive players in the college game today. I can remember his freshman year when he tried scoring one last touchdown in the closing seconds with the game well at hand against the Tide. The year prior Bama threw a bomb for a TD with under 2 minutes to go and a 24-7 lead over the Gators. Don’t forget, his final two college choices were Florida and….Alabama. He is the player you hate to play against, but would love to have as your teammate.
Elvis songs:
1) Suspicious Minds
2) (you’re so square) Baby I Don’t Care
3) Bossa Nova Baby/It’s Now Or Never/Jailhouse Rock (tie)
I don’t know. I guess I am a sucker for some of the songs he performed in his movies. Who wears a sweater by the pool and sings????? There was only one….
Bernie,
I’ve been in the minority in my support of Mo so far. But hearing the BoSox sign Saito for about 1.5m makes me scratch my head. I am definitely not for signing a 41 year old Hoffman, but Saito seemed to have a good upside. Even if he had an injury.
Thanks B!