That play illustrates why Belichick is the smartest coach in the league. He knows nobody thinks of trying anything on an extra point, and he waits until the extra point is especially meaningful before pulling the trick out of his hat. And it's not like it's an especially ingenious trick requiring expert knowledge of the game, just someone taking advantage of the automatic tendencies of every other team in the league.
So, three Grantland football podcasts in a row have been cancelled, and with all the shit that's going on at ESPN who knows if they're going to come back. So does anyone have any recommendations for good football podcasts?
Not to ruin the BB circlejerk, but thats not exactly a new idea. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-...-leaps-over-line-to-try-and-block-extra-point Collins timed it perfectly and executed it like a boss, but its not some ingenious wrinkle that Belichick came up with. He's a ridiculous enough coach without hyperbole.
Parker's podcast is back. http://thebillsimmonspodcast.tumblr.com/ or you can scroll through Jim Rome's "takes" and pick out the ones related to NFL. Although, I don't really like Simmons' podcasts, as I think he's better in print.
I'm pretty sure he quit writing, he's talking about the TV show and nothing else. Lots of people leaving Grantland, on the pop culture side anyway. I bet they're going going to axe that stuff and fold the sports people into ESPN proper. Have they said anywhere about why the podcast has been cancelled?
Sadly, Rembert is not going to work for Simmons. Hopefully, Barnwell is the next to go from the charred carcass that is Grantland.
The thing about Barnwell is that he's, by and large, portable. He could do the exact same analysis elsewhere and relatively little would change as long as management weren't too micromanagey about it (ditto for Lowe). They write (very good) sports analysis, but largely stick to sports. Rembert and Serrano are different, though. There aren't many places in the sports world that deal with their tone and content; where can Rem write about the Hawks, Kanye, and Ferguson for the same gig? Within sports, Deadspin, the Classical, and Vice Sports are the only ones that come to mind. Deadspin is too small time for Rembert and doing anything but running the whole show at Vice Sports probably would be too. I doubt the latter is an appealing job to him. Hence the decision to move beyond the narrow confines of sports specific outlets and go to NYMag. Honestly, if Serrano leaves, I'd expect him to do the same. The vast majority of his work isn't sports specific. I'd expect him to end up somewhere like GQ, Esquire, NY Mag, or Vice.
The only real issue I have with his podcasts is that he sucks up to his guests all the time. To be honest for the last couple of years I've enjoyed his podcasts more; his writing really hasn't evolved since 2008 or so. Hell he even said so himself once that sportswriters only have a shelf life of 10-15 years - I don't necessarily agree with that sentiment in absolute, but I think his style of writing qualifies. This is what I'm banking on. That no matter what happens at ESPN, Barnwell, Lowe, Mays, and the other Grantland sports writers will either stick around or land somewhere else and continue what they're doing.
I remember thinking when Romo's recovery time first came out "Ok, so we're stuck with Brandon-fucking-Wheedon for a bit...but if we go 4-3 in Romo's absence, we'll be 6-3 when he comes back, and then can run away with this shitty division. And that's attainable, right?" Well we've been 0-3 since then so hopefully we can get a fucking W with Cassel.
Patriots have dropped 10 passes today, Brandon LaFell has dropped 5 of those. I've worn WR gloves, no idea how these passes that are hitting their hands are just getting missed. These guys are way better than this. These Jets have me antsy, Todd Bowles knows what the fuck he's doing.
Wtf? How does Arizona get that so wrong? If Ellington stays in bounds, and they run instead of Palmer's stupid pass decision, Baltimore gets like 30 seconds with no timeouts. How are professional coaches this stupid?!
That's a great question. Also, the Grantland podcast is back. There was a short goodbye to the editors that left and they brought on Rembert as a guest. Looks like everything will be back to normal.
My. Fucking. God. Tom Brady IS hate fucking the entire league. He is playing out of his goddamn mind. He has 20 touchdowns, 2400 yards and 1 interception that was a tipped up pass and not even his fault. WITH A LINE PUT TOGETHER WITH CURLY STRAWS, TEARS AND PAPER. Are you fucking kidding me? This shit is fucking insane. The Patriots defense has always been given the side-eye with the whole "Bend, don't break" defense but guys like Collins, Jones and Hightower are beginning to really affect shit. Shout out always to Rob #2 for just swatting passes out the air. If Brandon LaFell remembers how to catch footballs this shit is going to be insane. This team is the most focused the Patriots have ever seen. It's crazy seeing Brady go up to the line and Tom Brady is simply shouting out "GRONK GET ON THE LINE" or "GRONK GET OFF THE LINE" just to make sure there aren't any offensive penalties and the play looks right. Just he is willing this team to be where it is right now and my god it's a thing of fucking beauty. My girlfriend looked at me and said "Now I know what it looks like when you really love someone."
What a god awful game in Denver. They all looked like shit. Everyone. Earlier in the day I looked at the SO and a friend of ours and said "I'm not feeling very good about the game tonight." Having a buy when the team is on a roll is never good. I realize it is good for injuries but in this case I'd have taken the ladder. Peyton looked better than he has in the last 2 or 3 games (actually the entire season). He was throwing spirals and long balls which he really has not been doing. Fucking Mile High.
This is kind of cool....one of my friend's son used to play for the Oregon Ducks. She sent me a picture of her son defending against Odell Beckham in college: