He Said, She Said: The end of the McDaniels-Cutler Saga

The debacle of Jay Cutler’s off-season in Denver is finally over. If only things were that easy for Josh McDaniels.  Jay Cutler was a cannon-armed QB with seemingly limitless potential, lacking only the looks of his bodybuilding namesake.  Josh McDaniels had great success nurturing QB talent such as Brady and Matt Cassell . He is a coaching prodigy reminiscent of a younger, slimmer, handsomer, classier version of Eric Mangini. It was also the first time ever where the coach was better looking than the star athlete of a pro team. Yet what on the outset looked like a marriage made in heaven quickly devolved into an ugly mess.

It was McDaniels’ bone-headed attempt to deal Cutler in a 3 way trade for his boy Matt Cassell that started this whole mess. When you are blessed with a young talent like Jay Cutler, why would you go and try to deal him right off the bat? Especially for a player like Cassell who isn’t even as talented. McDaniels had it so good, but wrecked it for no reason. It would be like if a post-Full House John Stamos had left Rebecca Romijn for his high-school sweetheart. It reeks of a coach wanting the player he is familiar with rather than working with the talented youngster he already has. It’s the same thing I do in Madden when I gut a team’s roster and trade for my favorite players. Good Video Game Strategy, not so much for running an NFL franchise.

From here on this situation got uglier than my March Madness Bracket(I’m looking at you, Pitt). It became a case of McDaniels’ stubbornness vs. Cutler’s fragility. It’s very hard to know what actually happened in the war of words, but I think if McDaniels had come out at the start and categorically said Cutler would not be traded, period, Cutler would still be a Bronco. If he had babied Cutler a bit at their infamous meeting, the same might be true. But the rest is history, and now McDaniels has gone from looking like the next Belichek to the next Isiah Thomas. McDaniels is now minus a franchise QB, having to mend fences in the locker room and with a disillusioned fan base. Broncos fans are crying, Bears fans are rejoicing, Mike Shanahan is laughing, and Josh McDaniels may be well on his way to becoming a cautionary tale.

The good looking Jay Cutler would also tear apart NFL defenses.

Thoughts while watching the Celtics-Lakers game: Wait is that Karl Malone???

In honor of Bill Simmons, I am doing a running diary through the game tonight(or at least until I get tired of writing).  Commence!:

• Playing off of yesterday’s Phelps blog, Karl Malone is doing analysis for TNT.   The NBA’s version of Clarence Thomas took a break from fathering illegitimate children to do some pregame.  Karl Malone, who fathered 3 children out of wedlock including one with a 13 year old girl and never spoke to or gave child support to any for years afterward, was palling it up with EJ and Kenny.   Yet despite his sins of being a terrible father and committing statutory rape, he faced no jailtime and now does TNT analysis.  Phelps is losing sponsorship, was suspended,  and faces charges for smoking weed at a frat party.  But I digress…
• Whales were once fierce land scavengers before taking to the sea???  I DON’T BELIEVE IT!!!!  I am definitely watching this Nat. Geo Channel Show ‘Morphed’.
• Kobe is a great player and great scorer.  But Lebron is a better all-around player right now than Kobe will ever be.   Better rebounder, better passer, better defender, infinitely better teammate and leader.
• Rondo was criticized earlier for not being smart when he missed layups going to the hole.  After hitting a nice running layup, Collins reminded us that the Celtics are a much better team when Rondo is aggressive to the hoop.  Can’t have it both ways Doug!
• You know why they call him the mailman??  Because he doesn’t father illegitimate children on Sundays!(Hey, writing jokes is hard…ask Carlos Mencia).
• Don’t know how TNT will deal the Barkley situation.  My guess is he will be reinstated because of his ratings draw by the end of the season.  This has to be one of the uglier scandals I’ve seen in a while though.  Going to cheat on your wife while driving drunk, then using the sexual favor as justification will not play well with arresting officers, or fans.  Suddenly his planned run for Governor of Alabama in 2014 doesn’t look so promising!
• Love watching this game get testy.  Good to see Rondo not afraid to go toe-to-toe with Kobe.  KG just gave Odom that crazy-man stare that Ali used on Liston.
• KG is gone with 4:22 to play.  Bad news for my C’s.
• Kobe buries in Pierce’s face another 3 to burn the Celtics.  Note to self:  Don’t criticize an opposing team’s star player in a blog if the game is not yet over.  I’m dreading Kobe’s phone call after he reads this tomorrow.
• The Lakers mug Ray Allen who can’t get off a real shot, and the C’s are done.  Props to the Lakers for coming into Boston after losing Bynum.    I am going to sleep before Karl Malone can speak to me again.  Good Night people.

Free Michael Phelps: Why we should lay off the Golden Boy

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For those who may not have heard, a certain swimmer by the name of Michael Phelps was recently photographed smoking marijuana from a bong at a party near the University of South Carolina. The fallout has the national media buzzing about the newest golden boy’s fall from grace. Phelps’ act was without a doubt stupid; celebrities cannot just toke up at frat parties and expect not to be seen. But condemnable? No.

Marijuana is illegal in this country, yes. But if you think a 23 year old male smoking reefer at a party is uncommon in this country, think again. And no, I’m not just talking about the NBA. Some fans have even labeled it a ‘betrayal of trust’. This does not even mark the most embarrassing storyline or photo of the past year for Phelps, dicounting a DUI four years ago at age 19. He is currently in a relationship with a Vegas club waitress that has done multiple nude spreads in magazines. Show these pictures to your kids, parents! Photos recently surfaced of Phelps with a hand on a stripper’s leg at a club. This is wrong on MULTIPLE levels. Phelps is quite possibly the most popular man in the country not named Obama and a ‘sex symbol’(I have to admire any barrel-chested man who can be called a ‘sex symbol’ while having a waistline thinner than one of the Olsen twins). He shouldn’t have to resort to risking his reputation at a strip club to see beautiful naked women.

Adding to Phelps’ troubles, the South Carolina Police are gathering evidence to mount criminal drug charges against Phelps. This is coming from the state that jailed a Black HS senior for having sexual relations with white student two years younger(OK, maybe that was Georgia, but we’re splitting hairs here people). For me personally, I never envisioned my tax dollars going to prosecute kids caught with a bong in a cell phone picture. This is why I worry how the stimulus money will be spent. Suddenly a bailout of the porn industry doesn’t sound so bad!

Again what Phelps did was extremely stupid. But pundits and parents alike should take a step back before condemning a 23 year old kid for doing…what 23 year old kids do. And Michael Phelps must get back to doing what great swimmers do best…vanishing into obscurity for four years.

Hope you enjoyed my blog