Thursday, January 29, 2009

First Public Response from Chucky

Jon Gruden finally commented in public since his dismissal from the Bucs Head Coaching job. I'm glad he did after taking some time off with his family. He's considering some opportunities which are sure to come along. Like he mentioned, he's a coach and he loves it. He has that passion and love for the game of football that I admire. The fact a few panty-wastes (read: Simone Rice, Michael Clayton, and Jeff Garcia) came out in the press lately slamming him and his way of doing things just shows you can't make everybody happy. Besides, those guys aren't exactly model football citizen's themselves and are already known for creating waves elsewhere in their past and/or for talking out of their asses anyway. The fact Jon leaves the Bucs as the winningest coach in the franchises' history with over 100 wins proves he must have been doing something right.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Paps and Javy re-upped

Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox agreed to a 1yr/$6.25 million contract today to make Paps the highest paid arbitration-eligible closer in history. In addition, the Soxs re-signed Javy Lopez for a 1yr./$1.35 million contract. Here's the news, and hopefully they'll be able to work out a longer term next time.

No word on the Captain yet after John Henry visited him in Atlanta last week.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Gruden is Gone

I fought off the pressure to post early Saturday morning when I saw the news that my Buccaneers had fired Jon Gruden. I didn't have the same feeling about Bruce Allen, but it all was too serial for me to deal with rationally. I can't say I was all that shocked, but I was surprised. Even so, the main feeling was numb.

When I swore my allegiance from the Cowboys to the Bucs in the mid nineties, Tony Dungy had taken over and was beginning to build the Bucs up from the crap-pile that Hugh Culverhouse had left them in. After drafting Dilfer and almost making the Super Bowl with Shaun King, Dungy was replaced by the high strung Jon Gruden. Lo and behold, the Bucs won the Super Bowl title the following year. The honeymoon last 7 years, with a losing record after that first year, and the Glazer ownership had enough.

Now we have Raheem Morris taking the reins. I was worried how I would accept this change in the guard. I was excited about the Dungy to Gruden change because I was already a Gruden fan before he came aboard. With Morris, I basically know nothing. I knew he was interviewed for some other jobs, but most coaches don't just rise up from the shadows and take the top job just like that. I guess its more previlent than it used to be, but still.

So, after sifting through my thoughts over the weekend to make sure I would be able to maintain my loyalty to the Bucs, I'm now looking forward to seeing what we got. I'm ok, Gruden will be ok, and all will continue forward. Now, lets get a good offensive coordinator to get our offense moving, and strive to continue to win.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Man vs. Food (Hey, its Youk!)

I came across this on Surviving Grady today with a clip of a recent episode of Man vs. Food from the Travel Channel. They snipped it down to mainly the part where Kevin happens to be munching nearby. Good to see him..."The Greek God of Walks". The MLB Network reported Youk and Paps are up for arbitration. I guess we'll see how that works during the next few weeks.



Afternoon Update: The Red Sox and Youkilis agree to a long term deal (4yr./$41mil w/$13 mil option after) this afternoon which will keep Youk around a while. Yea!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Something New

New Year. New Red Sox. New inside presence for the Blue Devils. Two new losses for the Tar Heels. And....a new Mayne Street:



And a new Red Sox Hall of Famer:



The Dukies have been playing well. Henderson has been asserting himself (FINALLY) and Zoubek has been playing strong in the middle. Here's some top plays courtesy of Blue Planet from the win over Florida State this past weekend. (Note the slam by G and the hustle defense that always keys the Duke runs):