GodsendJen

Its NFL draft time and the Falcon's don't have a real shot at landing a marquee player that fans will actually care about. So instead of talking draft Falcon's fans are talking Dog Fights.  No, we don't mean the kind of dog fighter you watch with fascination at the end of Top Gun.  We mean the literal thing.  Dog versus dog, starvation induced limb-ripping action.  All this stems from the recent reports that a Virginia house owned by Michael Vick is apparently the site of dog fights, or at least appears to house a number of neglected abused dogs that look like they are primed for fighting.  Here is some insight provided by the AJC:

The Humane Society of the United States issued the following statement from Wyane Pacelle, president and CEO: "The Humane Society of the United States has heard troubling reports for some time that Michael Vick has been involved in organized dog fighting, and we fear that this investigation may validate that very disturbing allegation."

"We have well-placed sources in the dog fighting underworld," John Goodwin, deputy manager of animal fighting issues, told the Journal-Constitution. "His involvement has been brought to our attention numerous times. We pay people for information that leads to arrests."

Goodwin said The Humane Society did not know the location of a dog fighting of Vick's until Wednesday's investigation.

According to a records search by the Journal-Constitution, Vick owns the property at 1915 Moonlight Road in Smithfield, Va.

Vick, of course, blames the apparent degenerates among his extended family:

"The issue will get resolved. It's unfortunate I have to take the heat behind it. If I'm not there, I don't know what's going on. It's a call for me to really tighten down on who I'm trying to take care of. When it all boils down, people will try to take advantage of you and leave you out to dry. Lesson learned for me."

Thanks Mike.  We love it when you do your part to help improve the rep of the Atlanta Falcons and the Virginia Tech Hokies. Vick is supposed to appear at the draft with several other former Hokies as part of a ceremony related to the recent shootings at VT.  Does anyone else wonder if Roger Goodell is arranging a flight delay?  Also makes you wonder if Goodell is going to exercise his new ability to punish players for hurting the game.  Vick might not be Pac-Man Jones yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some discipline come down if these reports are true.

After two and half years of living here in 'Dawg land it looks like I'll finally get the on field evidence I need to shut up all the Georgia fans who surround me daily.  Of course it took my team having their worst season in several years to set this show down up.  The Hokies will be shutting down that 'Dawg offense in the Peach Chick-Fil-A a Bowl on Dec. 30.  The only question left is how much money can I make by accepting the friendly wagers that will surely be offered up by my acquaintences here.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl Information

The real stat of the game is that we held the nation's top scoring offense to 7 points and only 80 yards rushing.  Coming into this game Clemson averaged almost 250 rush yards/game.  The Hokie defense was amazing to watch.  I don't know what Bud Foster saw ahead of time but we knew what play to expect on every one of Clemson's offensive snaps.  Everyone knows that the Tiger's tailback tandem carries the workload for them, but we kept managing to send 8 guys to the same side of the field their back chose to run from.  Foster is incredible and watching his unit work when they feel like they have something to prove is always a treat.

After the BC game 2 weeks ago he took away the coveted defensive lunch pail.  When Erin Andrews asked Bud after the game if he was going to give it back to the players now he was non committal.  His response is classic and I hope he was serious.  It was something like "I think I'm going to hold onto it until the players out work me, and they haven't done that yet."  Way to go Bud.  After that performance I'd say you earned the right to carry the lunch-pail another week.

A solid running game and incredible defense.  That is the Hokie Football that made a name for Virginia Tech and I'm so glad to see it return.

Wednesday marks Coach Beamers 60th birthday.  Boy do I hope none of our players decides to shoplift a gift for him.  We have a couple of wide receivers who haven't been suspended for a game yet.  I just hope they aren't feeling left out.  Of course petty theft isn't something our boys are known for.  We get DUIs, mouth off to police and break windows on vehicles.  Maybe I shouldn't dwell on such things...but it isn't like there are any recent stats I would prefer to mention.  Two but-whoopings and 6 personal fouls so far this year.  So much for the effectiveness of fining players a portion of their bowl stipend for such fouls.  Aaron Rouse is up to 3 personal fouls all by himself.  What happens when his fines exceed the stipend?  Does he need to hold up a McDonalds and start paying out of pocket? 

So just how bad are we doing?  The four teams we beat so far this year have 6 wins between them (3 of those wins belong to the Cincinatti Bearcats).  Our next 4 opponents have 19 wins between them.  Then we face 6-1 Wake Forrest. (And oh what a sad year it will be if we loose to the Demon-Decons!)  All kinds of proud "trends" are ending.  For some time Frank has held claim to being the 3rd Most Winning Active coach.  Last weekend Jim Tressel tied him for that mark.  With the way Ohio State is playing we can expect Tressel to pass us with our next loss.  We hadn't lost an ACC road game since joining the conference...until last Thursday. We had also posted 11 straight Thursday night wins on ESPN.  We've dropped from the rankings in both the AP and the USA Today coaches poll.  We aren't included in the BCS rankings either--and Tulsa and Rutgers are listed. 

So who is to blame?  Is it the "757" for giving us players with a week work ethic and a penchant for getting into trouble?  Is it the 4 new coaches on our staff?  Maybe Bryan Stinespring for our lack of offense? Or whomever continues to play "consistent passer" Sean Glennon at QB instead of using "very athletic but with off field issues" Ike Whitacker? (Though rumor is Ike is getting more reps in practice this week...so maybe a change is in the works.) Spin the wheel and take your pick. 

Me, I'm blaming Daryl Tapp.  For years we've been hearing about and seeing that blasted lunch pail our defense passes around to reward work ethic.  Tapp kept it for most of the last two years...so what did he do after getting drafted?  He took it out to Seattle where it probably sets in his locker.  We have 25 former players who are active on current NFL rosters and as far as I know Tapp is the first one who thought it would be "ok" to take that lunch pail with him. I don't care the Foster gave it to him.  It was a bad move and Daryl should rectify it.  Sure, we got a replacement tin can....but it obviously lacks the mojo the previous one had.  So please Daryl, for the love of God, fed-ex that lunch pail back to Frank with a birthday card.  I think we need it.

In our most successful years the Hokies have won with excellent defense and special team, assisted by a two back running game on offense.  This year circumstances have forced us into an offensive scheme where we use a single back and several wide receivers.  The problem isn't that Brandon Ore isn't good enough to go it alone.  The sophomore is in his first year as a starter, but he's capable of getting some big runs and reliably picking up 3 or 4 yards on other caries. 

The problem we face is two-fold.  Because he's the only back we can't run as often as we have in the past.  Even with great durability you don't want to push your luck with your only running back--and lets not forget he had shoulder surgery in the offseason.  Even more troubling, imho, is that having a single back makes the oposing defense's job so much easier.  Two backs usually means two running styles.  One back will be the speedster who makes the big runs.  The other is the locomotive who might not be as fast but is strong enough to pick up yards with a couple of defenders hanging onto his leg.  The defense has to work harder and either shift plans based on the offensive personel or play a more generic defense that would do an ok job of defending against either back but not a great job against either.  Our opponents don't have to worry about that this year.  They can count on Ore being the only runner to stop and plan accordingly.  Through in some problems getting the passing game to work reliably and you have the makings of a really crappy season, at least by our standards.

I'm not ready to burn my tickets yet, but I sure am less enthused about watching them right now. Unfortunately I get the same feeling about our defense.  They are so unenthused by what the offense can do to keep us in the game that they are slacking off and not bringing the pain on every play.

4:13
Someone sent Bryan Stinespring a memo.  It reads "Hey Bryan, did you know we are allowed to run the football on offense?"  Brandon Ore follows with a rushing touchdown to get us on the board.  21 - 7 with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

4:05
Touchdown #3 for Georgia Tech. 4:12 remains in the first quarter.

4:02
They blocked our punt and take over on our 25 yard line.

4:00 pm
Three possessions into the big showdown with Georgia Tech and I'm not sure if I can continue.  We are down by 14 with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. Our offense is not designed to play from behind.  But then our defense isn't designed to put us in this position either.

Ok, our new kicker isn't actually Moses, but at 46 Morton Anderson probably cheated off his paper on spelling tests in the second grade.  We needed a kicker, desperately.  I just never dreamed we'd find one so old.  Anderson hasn't taken the field in the NFL since 2004 when he was with the Vikings.  At one time Anderson was great.  He holds the franchise scoring records in New Orleans and Atlanta. Not surprising since he is only 76 points short of the all time NFL scoring record.  (Gary Anderson holds that distinction with 2,358 points. No word yet on if the two are related.) Anderson is from Denmark and his career highlights include kicking 3 50+ yard field goals in the same game.  I can't say that wouldn't be nice, but it happened in 1995 so I wouldn't hold out hope. It's possible he won't have the opportunity to do that for the Falcons again.  Koenen has a strong leg and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get a shot at everything over 40 or 45 yards.  Plus Anderson is OLD.  A 50 yard kick might be enough to put him in the old folk's home. He holds a handful of records related to kicks over 50 yards and his pro bowl appearances.  Record highlights from his wikipedia entry:

• Most points ever in Pro Bowl history - 45 (15 points after touchdown, 10 field goals)
• Most points after touchdown ever in Pro Bowl history - 15
• Most field goal attempts ever in Pro Bowl history - 18
• Most field goals in Pro Bowl history - 10
• Most field goals (50 or more yards) in NFL history - 40
• Most field goals (50 or more yards) in a season - 8
• Most field goals (50 or more yards) in a game - 3
• Most games played in NFL history - 354

He's also a member of the Danish American Football Federations Hall of Fame (Who even knew such a thing existed?) and the NFL's all decade team for the 1980s AND the 1990s.  The annoucement on the Falcon's site is filled with career accomplishments as well.  It's clear that he was clutch at one time, I just hope he still has it. 

The question this really holds for me is what exactly did Todd Peterson do?  I know we have cap issues but he had to have really ticked someone in our player personnel department off to not get the call.  Maybe Peterson is sore about us not renewing him earlier and is demanding unreasonable pay....but he was pretty good for us and I can't believe we didn't try to work something out.  I wish Anderson the best of luck but I'd rather have a younger proven commodity.  Maybe some friendly staffer up at Flowery Branch will email me an explanation because this really baffles me.

Oh, one other note about Morton Anderson....he last wore #7.  Hope someone told him was have a fellow on our team who is already pretty attached to that number.  Thankfully his old #5 Falcon's jersey is still available.

Falcons Story
ESPN Article
Anderson's Career Statistics

So far the Falcons have missed 6 of 8 field goal attempts.  Everyone in the media is singing our praises but that wont last if we keep passing up the easy points. Len P summed up our kicking performance in today's game quite well:

Second-year veteran Michael Koenen, who is handling all three kicking chores for the Falcons, missed four field goal attempts Sunday and squandered an opportunity to bury the Bucs early. Koenen was an equal opportunity scattershot kicker, missing wide left twice (from 36 and 40 yards), wide right once (30 yards) and having a 30-yard effort blocked. In two games, Koenen has now converted 2 of 8 attempts. His six misses are three times as many as last year's kicker, Todd Peterson, had for the Falcons.

I think our cap guy needs to crunch some numbers tonight and find a way to get us a real kicker.  I would be happy if we just brought Peterson back.  I don't know who he ticked off but he never missed a gimmie indoors from 30 yards.  We can still let Koenen have a shot at the stuff outside 45 yards.  If we really can't bring outselves  to pay for a kicker then we should turn this into a marketing gimmick and just pick some lucky fan to attempt our field goals.  They would have just as much luck as Koenen and we wouldn't feel nearly as bad when they miss.

For a few days now I've listened to the talking heads at ESPN promote "Separation Saturday" on ESPN and ABC this Saturday.  For those of you who have a life they are referring to the weekend's college football schedule.  This is a great schedule for fans.  There are seven games where ranked opponents face off against one another, and as the name suggests it should do a bit to separate the contenders from the pretenders.  But really, do we need to brand it and turn it into marketing hype?  What's wrong with saying "This is a great weekend for good college football...real matchups not gimmies are on the schedule?"   Instead all you hear from the talking heads all week is "Separation Saturday....games at noon, 3 and 8 pm." And besides, if you are going to market it do it right.  Don't make it sound like the day a divorcing couple is packing up their belongings.  This guy has the right idea.  He assigns a theme, but then goes on to explain it.  (And Joe, if you read this you will have to forgive me for linking to the site of a Michigan fan. But that poster is good stuff. Just remember that ND won. <oops! Guess I got ahead of myself.>)

Of course my team plays a patsy (Duke) but that is ok.  We prefer to play our big games on weekend when we don't have to share the slate with 12 other schools.  Personally I'm looking forward to the Louisville Miami game.  Its important to my team that Miami take care of business at this game.  Louisville lovers have been singing the Cardinals praises since back in their time at Conference USA.  I just don't buy into it.  We beat them last year just as soundly as we beat the Moutaineers.  I think the hype surrounding these teams is a conspiracy to make the Big Least sound like a real conference when everyone who watches football should be able to tell its mostly smoke and mirrors.  I'm just sorry that Bud Foster didn't call up Ralph Friegdan on Wednesday and offer up some tips on smothering that Rich Rodriguez spread offense.

I've been watching so much football I haven't taken the time to write about it. Rather than share more of my own blather (you know, Go Hokies, Go Falcons) here is some stuff I found interesting:

Technology at work in the VA Tech football program.  Its not just the body pod, its magic pills that transmit your core temperature back to a pda, shock detecting helmets and shirts that get hooked up to portable cooling systems.

A tear-jerker about Aaron Rouse and his decision to return for his last season at Tech.  Nothing like a sense of loyalty and a promise to his mamma.  If we do well this season his story will find its way into ESPN the Magazine or SI where it will become even more moving I'm sure.

My prediction for the most over-reported story of this season's Hokie football team.  One of seemingly 2 million stories on Brandon Ore's tenure at the 7-11 warehouse last spring. Yes it built character, whoopty-doo.

And let's not forget that Beamer Ball is back.  2 games and 3 blocks so far this year.  There was in interesting story about when and why Beamer Ball became so important.  Apparently we have to thank Deion Sanders and the whooping Florida State gave us way back in 1988 when he was their return guy.

On the pro front I do feel better after seeing the Falcons in action against the Panthers.  It's hard to tell how much we have improved given that Smith was out, but Abraham looked incredible.  I was disappointed in the performances of Roddy White and Ashlie Lelie.  Those two only combined for 10 yards receiving on a day when the offense was having its way with Carolina.  I love that we beat Carolina and Tampa Bay gets shut out by Baltimore.  Simms didn't look very good and with a bit of luck that will keep his confidence off balance when they play us next week.  If Abraham's late game injury wasn't serious then I'm confident he can rock Simms world--and wouldn't that be sweet.

The NBC NFL crew doesn't impress me.  They have 2 sideline reporters.  By my count that is 2 too many.  Add them to the mindless drivel that Maddens spouts forth and its enough to make you want to hit the mute button.  Of course all this pales compared to the new theme song that Pink belts out for them.  Its not that the song is bad, but it lacks energy and is an obvious knock-off of I Hate Myself for Loving You, a song that is apparently destined to be stuck in my head every Sunday night between now and the playoffs. I'm also sick of the endless commercials featuring Peyton Manning and his family.  I wish I had started counting them at kick-off today.  Somewhere there are college students taking shots each time one airs--and somewhere those college students are being admitted to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning.

How did your football season start if you are a fan of NorthEastern?  Well let's just take a snapshot of the first quarter:

• First possession, after getting sacked and making a stupid penalty you have to punt.  The opponent returns it to your 33.  Four plays later they score.
• Second possession, your QB is intercepted giving the oponant great field position at their own 45.
• Third possession, once again you punt--or at least you try.  The punt is blocked.  Three more plays and you are scored on again.

Now let's fast forward to the fourth quarter.  Your team is finally within field goal range with very little time left on the clock.  The field goal unit comes in and you think you just might get some points on the board before the game is over.  What happens?  The field goal attempt is blocked.

The lesson here?  If you are a 1-AA team don't start your season against a top 25 powerhouse--even if they are rebuilding.  It's just not pretty.

I went to the Falcons preseason opener against New England and I have to say the most astounding athletic feat was accomplished before the opening kickoff.  In case you missed it one of our beloved Frisbee-Dogs set the new indoor world distance record for catching a Frisbee.  His handler threw the Frisbee down field over 74 yards and the little pooch tracked it down and caught it.  (The handler really should get some of the glory, I mean how many people do you know who could throw a Frisbee straight 74 yards?)  Of course the local media is so wrapped up in their infatuation with D.J. Shockly ("Shock" as they call him) that they have completely failed to include the Frisbee dog in their post-game write-ups. Yes, D.J. managed to complete a 14 yard pass to put is in field goal range---but on his first drive he couldn't quite manage to keep the ball moving. Bryan Randel showed some amazing rushing ability on his drive, but his passing game was just ok.

How did the players who will actually see playing time this year fare? Our starting defense made it clear that all the hype is useless against the run.  Cory Dillon ran through them like water through a sieve.  John Abraham had a nice sack that forced a fumble...but that was against the second tier of New England players.  All I can say is if our run defense doesn't improve DeShawn Foster and Cadillac Williams are going to have their way with us in a most unpleasant fashion. 

As for the offense?  T.J. Duckett had a couple of nice runs.  Jurious Norwood looks like he might provide some sizzle.  Vick looks like his escapability is back, but the much touted chemistry between him and the young receivers might have been overstated. Michael Jenkins had a nice catch for a touchdown in the game (pass compliments of Matt Schaub I believe) but Roddy White didn't do anything worth mentioning.  We let Michael Koenen handle the field goal kicking and I have to say I thought he did a bang-up job.  The kicks all looked a bit lower than I'd be comfortable with, but the distances made up for it.  The distances ranged from 40-50 yards.  Maybe we should keep Yelk around for kick-offs and let Koenen handling the scoring opportunities.  I'll also take this opportunity to share a random fact garnered from the Shayne Graham chat transcript--the balls used in the NFL are harder than college balls.  Something tells me that affects kickers more than QBs and Receivers.

Here's hoping the offense and especially the defense can start living up to their hype when the season starts.

Football Football Football Football Football Football.....what do you do when your team ends the season playing like a bunch of low-class hooligans?  You weed out some bad apples and then impose martial law with some strict consequences.  This plan is how coach Beamer spent his offseason.  The AD took cares of that weed problem in the winter and now Frank is making it clear he's serious about stamping out sloppy play and bad decision making.  The Times-Disgrace explains (emphasis mine):

Post-2003, the issue was cleansing the squad of selfishness and leadership voids. This time, the focus is on cleaning up the program's act, a worthy goal. To that end, Beamer has expanded his system of punishments that covers such items as blowing off class and blowing out the refs and sideswiping opponents after the whistle blows and costing your crew 15 yards of real estate.

As always, players who miss class or get whistled for acting-out penalties will face early-morning running - but at 6 a.m. Sundays and not mid-week, as before. Chronic offenders will forfeit playing time. And - this being the hit-'em-in-the-wallet innovation in the penal code - those personal-foul and unsportsmanlike no-no's will cost the perps a portion of their bowl stipend for food and entertainment.

"We've just got to make sure we get to a bowl," Beamer said yesterday. "If we don't get to a bowl, my whole thing is screwed up."

Now this leaves me wondering a few things--like exactly how much is that stipend for food and entertainment? And why on earth doesn't this code of conduct address off-campus issues?  As I recall the young Mr. Vick's worst transgressions occured outside the confines of campus.  You have to start somewhere, and this is a good place, I just think they could have done more.

Word is also out that Beamer is ticked that our field goal and punt blocking has plummetted over the last 3 years.  It should be interesting to see what happens this year since he is putting a renewed emphasis on it.  With an unsettled QB and so manny new starters a few choice blocks--especially if they are returned for a score--could be the difference in a game.

Its the time of year when you can finally hear the wonderful clicking of football pads whacking into each other on the practice field.  The Falcons are back in camp and welcoming fans to stop by.  Dorothy and I went by last Friday night for the fireworks spectacular dud and had a grand time.  It was her first practice visit and she was amazed that she had such access to the players.  Of course the big stars didn't find time to sign autographs, but she was thrilled beyond belief when Bryan Randal gave her his sweat towel.  Ah, another young fan created.

I made a tabblo of this pictures, check it out:

Its that time of year when you can sense football season up ahead.  That sensation is much scarier this year than usual.  My team lost 12 starters from last year.  14 players from last years team are on NFL rosters.  That adds up to a heaping lot of talent that we need to  replace.  What could make it more challenging?  Try losing 4 members of the coaching staff--the most coaching turnover the Hokies have had since 1992.  Our new coaches are reponsible for the Quarterback, Defensive Backs, Offensive line and Deffensive Line. We haven't hired lightweights in those positions (the new QB coach is a former D1 head coach at NC State, the new DB coach came to us from the Chicago Bears) but wow.

The annual pre-season annalysis is starting to flow and there is pleanty of hope in what I'm reading.  There is even a sense that we will put a large emphasis on character this year after the last few seasons that were filled with the soap opera that was Marcus Vick and enough personal fouls in games to shame a sailor.  (I can't help but wonder if this change is spurred on by the fact that the evil Wahoos had a better recruiting class than us for the first time in years?) 

My favorite quote of the preson this far is from ESPN's Blue Ribbon Year Book.

The Hokies still view themselves as underappreciated underdogs in the blue-blood ACC. The truth is that Virginia Tech is a legitimate powerhouse, a program that reloads, not rebuilds.

If they get good quarterback play -- particularly avoiding mistakes -- the Hokies have the defense and special teams to hang with anyone in the country. Again.

How healthy is Beamerball? Of the 101 players on the spring roster -- and that's a pretty healthy number to start with -- 66 have had a redshirt year to get bigger, stronger and more mature.

Who knows.  Put togather all those redshirt players and our patty cake schedule for September and maybe we'll be back in the mix again.

Go Hokies :)

Wow. For spots enthusiast who didn't know already, there is a company out their helping you in your battle to make sure junior appreciates your college team.  Team Baby Entertainment has a selection of DVDs and other merchandise to start the brainwashing training out on the right foot. Soft merchandise includes sunshades, mobiles, puzzles and books.  The DVD itself features officially licensed footage of Hokie sports, mascot, marching band and campus attractions to expose children to Virginia Tech in an exciting, playful and educational manner. I don't know what's worse: that we brand our kids so young, or that I want to buy the dvd for my nephew.

Head over to Hey Jenny Slater and check out the rundown of who your college football team would be if they were a Simpson's character.  All I can say is that dude has way way way too much free time on his hands.  I don't agree with making my boys Krusty the Klown, but overall its amusing so go already.  Thanks to Deadspin for highlighting it today.

Some highlights:

Notre Dame: Montgomery Burns
Been around since the beginning of time; the amount of money and power he controls is massive, absurd, and quite frankly, a little scary. The kind of guy everyone in town loves to hate -- but they'd switch places with him in half a second.

Miami: Snake
A straight-up thug and proud of it. If you don't fear him, you're a fool; if you don't dislike him, you're just a dick.

Florida State: Police Chief Clancy Wiggum
Oh, man, what a season. It's no cakewalk being an aging football coach, juggling a punchless offense and a growing nepotism controversy like so many juggling balls . . . two, I suppose. Still an authority figure, mainly because nobody else stepped up to take the job, but getting easier and easier to laugh at.

Virginia Tech: Krusty the Klown
Famous, powerful, living the kind of celebrity life anyone in his circle would gladly trade for. Yet each is haunted by his own demons of self-loathing -- Krusty is constantly worried he's going to be exposed as a no-talent fraud, while the Hokies are constantly worried they really are going to be pumping gas one day for the kids over in Charlottesville.

Virginia: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Went through long, difficult, trying ordeals to get from where they started out (the slums of India, a 32-77-1 record in the 1970s) to where they are now . . . which still ain't that good, unless you like working in a convenience store or spending your postseason on blue Astroturf. Then there's the whole mustache thing.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said he was privately approached about his interest in becoming the NFL's next commissioner. Bush said Tuesday the issue was discussed at a recent meeting with Patrick Rooney Sr., according to the 'South Florida Sun-Sentinel'.

Rooney's brother is Dan Rooney, owner of Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers and co-chair of the search committee looking to replace the retiring Paul Tagliabue.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5634820

This story is both interesting and terrifying for me. We know the Bush family are traditionally sports fans, but their focus has always been baseball first. I'm not sure what would qualify Jeb Bush as a candidate for NFL Commish and it really makes me wonder what other prominent politicos might have been questioned--and would any of them ever been questioned if Ms. Rice hadn't first introduced the notion of the Washington Insider as NFL comish to begin with?

The new job has seriously cut into my online reading time.  Those precious opportunities to read up on sports at work have dwindled to less than 15 mintutes in a given day.  So tonight I took some time to try and catch up.  I was hoping to find out how young Marcus did in his big Miami audition, but was pleased to find that two other VaTech players signed free agent contracts shortly following the draft. Jason Murphy, an offensive guard, signed as a free agent with the San Diego Chargers, while defensive lineman Tim Sandidge signed with the St. Louis Rams. This is quite an improvement over last year when we only had 3 guys selected on draft weekend.

At least there is a small bit of goodness in the midst of my crappy weekend....I personally like it when my college team serves as the minor leauge feeder team for my NFL team. Go Hokies.

Update:  The draft is over and it should be noted that my Hokies set a record this year with 9 players drafted!  Three of them went to Carolina and others landed with Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cleavland, Sandiego and Arizona. You have to wonder if you'll one day hear Huuuuuuumes echoing through steeler nation the same way it echoed through Land Stadium.  One more member of last year's team will probably get signed as well as our Character guy, Marcus Vick, was not drafted.  You know someone will take a chance on him...

The NFL owners and the player's association have ceased discussions, period. I don't think its that big a deal this year.  Yes, lots of good players will suddenly be free agents and have problems getting good jobs. Welcome to the real world.  But what about next year? 2008 and beyond?

Interesting things I've learned from the talking heads today:

• A typical business spends less than 30% of their revenue on player salariers.  The rest goes to overhead,R&D, marketing and even shareholders. The NFL players are asking for 60% of their team's revenue. They expect owners to pay for their overhead, transportation, and stadium costs with the other 40%.
• If their is no salary cap then their will also be no draft.  I don't really understand why this is the case, but John Clayton writes:
  
  Too bad the NFL could lose the draft in a couple of years if the collective bargaining agreement runs out. There might be a combine, but NFL teams will have to treat all college eligible players like free agents. That's a story for another time. 
  
  The draft has taken itself to new hype levels in recent years.  Not as big as the superbowl, but I do think its nearing March Madness proportions.  All those draft experts could be without anything to do.  All that coverage on the networks and in the media....gone.
  
• Almost half of the current NFL owners have never experienced labor strife or a strike.  Reports are that privately he has said that those owners might need that experience before they would understand why flexibility is good and why work stopages are bad.
• What happens with those TV contracts if there is a lockout or a strike?  The product wont be as valuable to the networks when play resumes afterward and you know the league will have to sacrafice part of the loot they are due in order to make ammends for that.
• Tom Condon (one of those big agenst with lots of clients) speculates that this could mean that a lot of rookies just wont get signed this year.  Certainly some teams (like Washington) might be stuck relying on rookies, but most teams will be uncertain on how to structure a contract for a rookie when no one knows if they will be playing or what the salary ranges will be in 2 years.
  

Maybe this is just a sign that I should invest lest time and passion into football.