Category Reads Listens Views

Subversive Predictions for 2012

Time to set the league on its ear while I have a Coke and a smile.

Warning: If you use my picks to place bets, make fantasy picks, or enter other contests of prognostication, you are a fool and you deserve to lose. Unless you have a stroke of dumb-luck success and you’re giving me a cut of the winnings, don’t write me about your failure.

It’s that time of year, folks.

What a lame lead sentence. When isn’t it that time of year? If you’re an American sports fan, don’t you get tired of “that time of year?”

Barring the strategically accented tokens of estrogen, sometimes it all seems like an endless, besuited parade of middle-aged, balding, flaccid white men trying to tell us what time it is. CNBC lookalikes promoting, informing, and sometimes (if not purely by accident) entertaining the masses about an upcoming season. It’s all brought to you by corporations selling its brand of self-medication: booze, junk food, and pills marketed with hints of lurid fantasies to escape whatever part of reality you dread facing at any moment.

Welcome to [insert sport here] season, brought to you by Propecia, Viagra, and Celebrex. You’ll be able to hold your water, keep it up, and move your hips long enough without an ache so you can have just enough fun with that special someone before your skin develops a horrific rash, your kidneys fail, and your heart explodes. 

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20 Wishes for the 2012 NFL Season

Brandon Graham is embracing the bust label, but the joke he’s pulling is going to be on those that gave him the moniker. Photo by Scott Stuart.

With only days away from the start of the NFL regular season it means time is running out for us to project our hopes on the league, its teams, and its personnel. If the NFL genie granted me 20 wishes (Jimmy Johnson helped me negotiate this deal for the Genie’s right to Trent Richardson), here’s what I’d wish for. Continue reading

Reads Listens Views 8/24/2012

I can see my home from here! A photo from the surface of Mars. Kind of looks like Kansas with Georgia’s red clay. Cool, but not sure I want to live there.

Why I Thank You Every Week

Nearly eight years ago, I worked in the call center industry. Yes, thank you for that quick twinge of collective telepathic sympathy – the job is truly a weigh station for lost souls. Continue reading

Reads Listens Views 8/17/2012

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It’s fitting that this video tribute to Carl Pickens was set to the song made famous by the movie “Deliverance.” Because when Pickens went to Tennessee his demise made the Titans fans want to SQUEEEEEEE…

It’s okay, Carl. You were a terrific receiver.

Scavenger Hunt – Win a Free 2012 RSP

Somewhere in this blog is a page with a photo of a former high school football player who is a future Hall of Famer in the Continue reading

Reads Listens Views 8/10/2012

Views: My First Pair of Dawgs

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The only tandem of corners on the same team  to attend three consecutive Pro Bowls in NFL history.

There’s Still Time to Get The Jump on Impact Rookies And Sleepers

Training camp and preseason yields surprises every summer. Who would have thought Continue reading

Training Camp News and Notes 8/9/2012

Bill Belichick spotted kissing Aaron Hernandez’s elbow after a “boo-boo?” With those detailed road maps, the TE’s elbow wasn’t hard to find. That, and more substantive info from Bob Henry’s Training Camp Update at Footballguys.com Photo by Jeffery Beall.

With the help of numerous Footballguys.com writers, Bob Henry creates a weekly aggregation of camp news titled (simply enough) Training Camp Update. I can’t recommend it highly enough. The first issue is free to the public.

I’m going to quote some of the notes and provide my own take.

Carolina Panthers FB Mike Tolbert: Why I want to see All-22 analysis of Carolina this year. Continue reading

Reads Listens Views 8/3/2012

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Falcons receiver Julio Jones is a world-class physical talent as a football player. However, until he can make the plays you see in the video above, he’s still playing a “B-game.” Jones is a good player with flashes of excellence and this is the component of his craft to monitor in order to see if he takes the next step in 2012.

This Weekend

If Texas receiver Marquise Goodwin learns how to consistently gain and maintain position like he does on this catch, he has a future as a vertical threat in the NFL. Learn more from Sterling Sharpe in the link to a coaching video below. Photo by Aaronisnotcool.

More on the craft of gaining separation from the line of scrimmage, with a play-by-play example of Texas speedster Marquise Goodwin.

Coming Soon: Cecil Lammey Q&A

Finally, Lammey and I had a chance to spend an hour with a digital recorder running. The newly syndicated host of “Riding Shotgun” is an aficionado of cattle roping, boars, and running backs. I’ll let him tell you about the chaps – I’m still getting treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. Expect to see this posted at the eve of the regular season.

New Project on the Horizon: NSFW Week

Watch out now, I’m about to let it fly. Details below.

If you listen to The Thursday Night Audible Roundtable, I sometimes let my irreverent side out for a walk (with a choke collar and a sturdy leash). Somtimes I also do it here.  I don’t know when, and I’m not sure what form it will take just yet, but I have a feeling sometime this fall, I’m going to have a “Wildman Uncensored: Not Safe For Work Week at the RSP.”

Pretty much anything and everything I wouldn’t share and laying it down unfiltered. I’ll provide Continue reading

Another guy from my April No-Huddle Series looking good in camp. LaVon Brazill earning first-team reps. It’s early, but when a sixth-round pick gets a chance to take first-team reps that’s worth monitoring.

According to Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh, undrafted free agent Bobby Rainey “is opening eyes” in camp. Here’s an analysis of Rainey’s game, a player I compared stylistically to Ray Rice. With Bernard Pierce struggling thus far, and an unproven depth chart at the position, Rainey is making the most of limited opportunities thus far.

Skill Players to Monitor in August: Reads Listens Views 7/27/2012

The Template for Modern Quarterbacking

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Four Skill Players to Monitor In August

Arizona WR Juron Criner is a “Trust Me” player. See below (trust me).

One of the things we discuss regularly on the Thursday night Audible podcast is the importance of following the reports that the media files on players. These stories provide a brick-by-brick foundation about these players. Although these reports aren’t infallible, learning to filter truth from perception can have value. Below are players I’m monitoring this off season. Continue reading