Return of the MAC

Actually, don't call it a comeback, they been here for years. There are rarely, if ever, any bluechippers going to Mid American Conference programs out of high school and its schools don't often get more than a couple of guys drafted in the first couple rounds of the draft each year. However, if you look around the league, there is an rather high number (relatively) of MAC grads (or non-grads) considered elite at their positions.

This is just off the top of my head because I couldn't find a recently updated list of MAC Alums in the NFL. VanDelay Sports has the best one, but it appears to be at least five years old.

QB- Ben Roetherlisberger, Steelers (Miami)

RB- Michael Turner, Falcons (Northern Illinois)

WR- Greg Jennings, Packers (Western Michigan)

DE- James Harrison, Steelers (Kent State)

TE- Antonio Gates, Chargers (Kent State)

PR- Josh Cribbs, Browns (Kent State)

There are also a few guys in recent memory who were among the top at their position such as:

DE- Jason Taylor, Dolphins (Akron)

WR- Randy Moss, Patriots/Vikings/etc. (Marshall)

CB- Asante Samuel, Patriots/Eagles (Central Florida)

Why are so Many Quarterbacks Getting Injured this Year?

Out for the season:
Chad Henne, torn shoulder muscle
Matt Schaub, broken foot
Matt Cassel, broken hand
Jay Cutler, broken thumb
Jason Campbell, broken collarbone
Peyton Manning, neck


Missed one or more games:
Michael Vick, broken ribs
Sam Bradford, sprained ankle
Kevin Kolb, turf toe


Expected to miss one or more games:
Matt Hasselbeck, sprained elbow


Playing hurt:
Matt Stafford, broken index finger


Benched for poor play:
Donovan McNabb
Rex Grossman/John Beck
Kyle Orton
Luke McCown
Kerry Collins


Six guys are out for the season and four have missed more than one game (or are expected to). Add that to the five scrubs who lost their jobs and almost half the teams in the NFL have trotted out a back-up QB for some or most of the season.


I don't have an answer to the title of this post, but I wanted to point out this seems like a high percentage of leading men missing a significant amount of time. Especially interesting is the ever-increasing number of rules the NFL makes to protect the QBs, and here we are with almost one-third of them missing games this year due to injury.

The Luckstakes, Pt. III

The legend of Luck continues to grow after  Here's round three of the rankings, through Week 8.

1. Dolphins, 0-7 (Last rank: 1)

You can't knock Miami's competitiveness. They dominated the Broncos for 55 minutes only to blow it and Matt Moore looked like a good NFL player for a half against the Giants in Jersey before sucking in the second half. Everyone in the lockerroom keeps saying how pissed they are about the Suck for Luck talk, but being pissed and being good at football aren't the same thing. This team finds ways to lose games and their owner is 100% invested in getting the #1 be it by 'earning it' or making a trade.

2. Colts, 0-8 (2)
Absolutely murdered by the Saints, who then went out and got pounded by the Rams. They're terrible, but it's looking like 18 may come back for a few games late to see what he's got left. Peyton will win one or two of the last three games of the year (TEN, HOU @JAX) if he comes back around then.

3. Cardinals, 1-6 (4)
Kolb is terrible, and now he's hurt. Larry Fitzgerald needs a good QB to be as great as he can be. This team sucks and would be all over Luck.

4. Broncos, 2-5 (6)

Tebow has looked unfortunately terrible for most of his two games as starter. I drink the Tebow kool-aid 24/7 and expect him to win enough games to stay out of the top 5 picks in the draft. Watch for Elway to make a trade for #1 to get a stud Stanford QB like himself.



5. Rams, 1-6 (9)
Bradford misses a game, St. Louis wins against one of the best teams it's played all year. Maybe the Rams QB of the future is AJ FEELEY. Really though, Bradford hasn't played well this year, but if they get Luck and trad Bradford, there won't be much of a market for an injury prone (remember his time at Oklahoma) regressing QB. Good news is they have four games left vs. Seattle and Arizona.


6. Seahawks, 2-5 (NR)

TJax looks decent then awful. However they get to play St. Louis twice and Arizona once more so they'll be able to finish with enough wins to preclude them from getting Lucky, but watch out for Landry Jones or Matt Barkley.

7. Jaguars 2-6, (7)
Blaine Gabbert looks more like a hockey player with that hair. He probably would pronounce his name Gay-Bear or Gah-Bear if he was an NHL center instead of a QB.


8. Washington, 3-4 (NR)
Beck and Grossman are awful. So have been most of their QBs this decade besides Jason Campbell. Not just this decade... Maybe since Mark Rypien...am I forgetting a good Washington signal caller?


9. Vikings, 2-6 (3)

Christian Ponder is looking pretty decent in hanging with the Packers in his first start, then beating the Panthers in his second. They'll win a few games this year and not draft (or need to draft) Luck.

10. Panthers, 2-6 (8)
Newton is killing it. No shot they draft the kid from Stanford.

Dropped out
Eagles 3-4 (10)
Browns, 3-4 (5)

Gus LOVES the Yankees

The Yankees Are Not The Evil Empire

(Note: This article was the result of me losing a bet. Damn Kent State football team. 3 pts on Miami (OH)? Really? Also, I hate the Yankees)

There are a lot of people who go on and on about how the Yankees are the evil empire because they purchase talent all over baseball rather than developing it themselves. And that's very true. However, how exactly do you think that teams like the Pirates stay afloat? You can't possibly think it's because people actually love them. It's because the Yankees pay a tax that lets teams like that pull in profit while they're trying to rebuild. And don't blame the Yankees for the fact that the Pirates have been rebuilding for 19 years. You could probably raise a winning team from child birth faster than that. But the Yankees refuse to be the Pirates, and that shouldn't be used against them.

The basis of the argument that the Yankees are the evil empire is that they spend way more money than anyone else can. That's wonderful. You're going to tell me that it's bad that they should use all of their resources? And since when was spending money the way you become an empire? You become an empire by occupying foreign countries and demanding things like food, taxes, technology, military assistance, etc. Might I remind you that it's NEW YORK THAT'S CURRENTLY BEING OCCUPIED. But seriously, the Yankees buy the products that other teams make. That's not an empire, that's a trust fund. Big difference.

The biggest problem with the purchasing players argument is that the Yankees don't get to go out and buy a player whenever they want. Those players have to watch their teams refuse to give them an offer they like, and they have to let the Yankees compete with other teams in baseball. It's not like the Yankees get first dibs. Every one of these teams (think CC Sabathia here) has a chance to lock in the player or trade them for fair value. Why don't any of these teams do that? Because they get just as greedy as the supposed "evil empire of the Yankees."

Finally, it's not like the Yankees are the only team purchasing talent. Look at the Red Sox. They had a salary figure of over $160 million and still missed the playoffs! At least the Yankees are showing some success. If you're going to get mad at the system (and there are many reasons to do that), fine. But don't take it out on the Yankees.

The Luckstakes, Pt. II

Roughly two weeks ago, we examined the worst 10 teams in the league by record and ranked them by best chance to be the worst team in the league and get the #1 pick/rights to Andrew Luck. Here's round two of the rankings, through Week 6.


1. Dolphins, 0-5 (Last rank: 1)
This team is awful, undisciplined and poorly managed. They have just six TDs through four weeks and don't convert in the Red Zone or on third down. Owner Stephen Ross has privately admitted he's not that mad when they lose because of the Luck possibility. They'll probably keep Sparano through the end of the year to lock up the #1 pick.


2. Colts, 0-6 (3)
Sure, they could use a QB... in like five years when Peyton Manning retires. Peyton can obviously get a little attitude and what would he think/say/do if they drafted a high profile/virtual lock QB at #1? Doesn't help him win in the next few years, can't feel he'd be happy with that, or want to mentor him.



3. Vikings, 1-5 (2)
Haven't looked terrible, but with Ponder looking like he'll be named starter sooner than later, the rest of the season could be very telling... he does well, they're off this list; he sucks, they're locks for the top three.



4. Cardinals, 1-4 (7)
Similar to the Browns, they've looked bad against a bad schedule, one of the easiest in the league. Kolb doesn't look worthy of the pick they sent to the Eagles and the franchise will look to correct that if they get a high pick in April.



5. Browns, 2-3 (NR)
Two wins against the two worst teams in the NFL and neither were convincing. This team really isn't that good after high hopes this year and the 5th easiest schedule so far.



6. Broncos, 1-4 (6)
I've been waiting for years, and it's finally Timmy time. In my dreams, Tebow is going to go HAM and this team will win several games. In reality, they'll win a few. It's not that they've been that bad this year, but more of the competition they've faced. their opponents have a .750 winning percentage, toughest in the league.


7. Jaguars 1-5, (10)
Gabbert has been lukewarm, but the team just can't score enough to win games. They may draft Luck if given the opportunity and move Blaine to another team on this list.


8. Panthers, 1-5 (8)
Can score, but can't play enough D to win games. They'll put it together later and win a few. Even if they don't they're set at QB with Bam Bam Newton.


9. Rams, 0-5 (9)
Just an awful team this year. Scored THREE points vs. Green Bay on Sunday while accruing 400 yards. With Bradford at the helm, it's very unlikely they look for Luck. Shame that S-Jax has to spend his career on such a crummy team.


10. Eagles, 2-4 (NR)
Starting to play better and have no shot at finishing with #1 pick or drafting Luck if they do.


Dropped out
Seahawks, 2-3 (5)
Chiefs, 2-3 (4)

Remembering Dan Wheldon

Dan Wheldon, two time Indy 500 winner and 2005 IndyCar Series champ, died yesterday. Many of you know I'm in the motorsports business and through my work, I met Dan a handful of times. He was one of the first IndyCar drivers I ever met when his team came for a test at Mid-Ohio in 2009. I was nervous at first to talk with him because it was the first time I spoke to a driver that I had seen on TV a lot before I met him. 

When I awkwardly approached him by his transporter and introduced myself as "Jesse from the track" he shook my hand, smiled and and started chatting with me, instantly making me feel comfortable and at ease. I spoke with him a couple other times at the track when he'd compete here later in the '09 season and again in 2010. Always nice, always smiling, always dripping with coolness and looking like a movie star. There are a handful of athletes in each sport that just have that aura around them where if you didn't know who they were, you would still figure it out that they were somebody. Dan Wheldon was one of those guys, and not in an egotistical way, but had an undeniable swagger and an infectious attitude. 

Due to his free agency, great relationship with Honda and technical expertise, he was tabbed as the test driver for the lighter/faster/safer 2012 IndyCar machine. The first test of the program happened to be at my track, the day after the Honda Indy 200. Several members of our staff ogled our ways around the garage and loitered in pit lane, waiting to see history. Dan's helmet mic was broadcast through loudspeakers in the pitbox and we could hear his anxiousness and excitement to put the car on track. When he finally did, it was a quick lap and back to the garage for adjustments, but he spent hours providing feedback, helping the team with information to get the car ready for next year.

At one point during the test, I went to get a photo of him as he was sitting in the garage, talking with an engineer. He never once looked my way, intently focused on their conversation until I lined up a shot with my Blackberry and snapped it, figuring I'd have his profile. I looked at my screen and there was a steely-eyed, intense look right at me... I don't remember seeing his head move my direction when I took the pic, but there it was - sort of like Barney Stinson for HIMYM fans.

It's a shame for many reasons, especially because 2012 was probably one of the greatest (if not the best) years of his young life. He had a baby (his second child) in March, then won the Indy 500 in May in movie fashion by passing JR Hildebrand on the final turn. The younger, more affordable Hildebrand replaced Wheldon in the #4 Panther Racing entry after he was let go at the end of the 2010 season. Still without a ride after his second Indy 500 win, he jumped in the Versus booth for a few races, providing excellent insight and knowledge not often seen or heard in other former drivers-turned-broadcasters. 

One of the great oval drivers of this generation made sure to pass 10 cars in just 11 laps before the crash that took his life. After starting 34th out of 34 cars, with speed like that, I'm confident he would have finished in the top five at the very least, if he didn't win the whole freakin thing. I hope there's a racetrack in heaven that he can turn laps on all day without any pit stops.

Is Dallas Going to Become the New Boston?

Not in terms of me hating them - I always have love for the Big D - but in terms of the championship run Beantown went on from 2001-2011. The city I hate won three Lombardis,  a Larry O'Brien, a Stanley Cup and two whatever-they-call-the-World-Series-trophy-with-the-little-flags-on-its in eleven seasons. Though Dallas just earned its first 'ship of the millennium this summer with the Mavericks, it appears it could be on the cusp of something big.

The Rangers appear to be headed to their second straight World Series and have looked very good this October. Let's say they win it all this season. That would give Dallas two 'ships in one year and leave a full decade for the Cowboys and Stars to catch up. At the time the Patriots won their first Lombardi to start this streak, the Celtics weren't very good (coming off the Rick Pitino era), the Red Sox had failed to win the big one for eight-plus decades and the Bruins were typically low seeds if they made the playoffs at all.

The Cowboys have all the talent in the world, but clearly fall below expectations year after year. In my book, they'll continue to do that in the Romo era, but he's not going to have a star on his helmet for the next 10 years. The Stars had their best shot to win a few years ago, falling in the Conference finals in 2008, but they have a big budget, a nice group of young talent (Benn, Goligoski, Eriksson) and very good players in their prime (Lehtonen, Daley, Morrow, Ribiero) to work with.

Obviously, it's not likely that those two teams also win a 'ship soon or guaranteed that the Rangers win it all this year. I'm trying to jump ahead and make some bold predictions so we'll see how it all plays out.

Dallas did have a nice run in the 1990s with three Super Bowls and a Stanley Cup from 1993-1999. During that time the Rangers were good, not great and the Mavericks were awful, losing 60 games three times and never winning more than 36. If the Rangers win it this season, you could take a trip backwards and say while Boston winning seven titles in 11 years is more impressive, Dallas claiming or six in 18 isn't too shabby. It would be a tighter window to win 'ships in all four sports (15 years, Cowboys '96, Stars '99, Rangers and Mavs '11) than any other city not named Boston (note: I didn't actually check this but I'm pretty sure it's true).