Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Washington Post: Tom Boswell: Yankees Are Monuments To Baseball Success
(www.washingtonpost.com)
posted 3 days ago by The Yankee Clapper to aging, great baseball players, injuries, pennant race, veteran leadership, yankees
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15 comment(s)
Boz pays homage to the gritty, gutsy, scrappy, first place 2013 underdog Yankees:
Read More...Perhaps for the first time in their history, the Yankees now epitomize exactly the kind of team that always used to try to beat them: a group of inspired-by-adversity, too-old-or-too-young, one-last-chance players who band together to prove that baseball is a team game, not just an aggregation of talent and fat contracts.
Put a few all-star seasons, such as Cano’s 31 RBI, Kiroda’s 1.99 ERA and Rivera’s 16 ...
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< 1 2 3 4 >In fairness to Cousins, he saved the day against the Ravens and then beat the Browns on the road. They wouldn't have been in the playoffs without what he'd already accomplished for them this season.
That said ...
This is was a no-win situation. If you make the move of pulling RG3 up 14-0 in the 1st quarter and then LOSE with Cousins ... well, I would argue Shanahan gets roasted in the media far worse than he's getting it today. Granted, with hindsight, it would've been the correct decision. But I'm not going to fault the coach too much for playing his best player - especially if the player kept reassuring him he could still go. And I say that as someone impressed with what I've seen of Kirk Cousins - I think he's a future starting QB somewhere in the league.
Joe Webb is a guy drafted as a wide receiver and then kept at QB as a project, who got thrown into starting at the last minute having literally never taken an NFL snap before. Kirk Cousins was drafted specifically to have a talented backup QB behind RGIII and has won NFL games this year. It's idiotic to compare the two situations or the two players.
Matt Schaub was a backup.
There was a moment during the game yesterday where RGIII ran/limped to the sidelines to gain a few yards. At that point, they should have pulled him from the game. No one would have complained (he was noticeably hobbling) and if they still lost they would have had an excuse.
The baseball equivalent is watching a starting pitcher struggle in the 8th inning to get the ball over the plate, having a manager come out and ask him "How do you feel?", the starter saying "I'm a little gassed but I can get the next guy out.", and the manager leaving him in.
And because he concussed himself on that play.
With that line and those receivers against that defense, they would have needed Griffin to win. But he broke down, so they lost. End of story. They weren't winning in Green Bay anyway.
Everything looks "insightful" if you cherry pick sentences and not read the entire post.
But anyway Shanahan had to know that once Seattle adjusted to the fact that RGIII wasn't RGIII anymore that the Redskins' offense was going to sputter. I don't see how Shanahan coming into this game could expect his team to score 14 points in their first two drives of the game but even if he did expect that does he expect his team to score 21 points in the game? 25? 30?
I would love to know how many points he thinks his offense was going to score in that game with RGIII as QB. I thought they were incredibly lucky to get 14 points and I remember the announcers were commenting on RGIII lack of mobility in the first quarter and that eventually Seattle was going to adjust. If they could see it and if I could see it then Shanahan and his coaches could see it as well and probably saw it well before game time.
I thought he hit his hand or something. His throwing was fine in the 1st quarter. After that he was clearly off.
So they weren't winning without a healthy RGIII so they send out a hobbled RGIII who then get hurts and then they keep him playing until he gets hurt again? So they weren't going to beat the Packers so they play an injured RGIII in this game? These are your reasons for playing RGIII?
Is it too much to ask to look up a stat or two before your latest round of idiocy? Joe Webb has certainly had more positive moments in the NFL than Kirk Cousins.
I see "Little" chance of that ever happening.
Actually, that's not true.
He hadn't thrown a pass this year, but he had 152 pass attempts in 2010/11.
He got banged up in the first quarter but he was hobbled already entering the game and clearly had lost a step coming into the game.
The problem wasn't starting RG3, it was that he tweaked his knee in the first quarter. I didn't see the exact play, but other people have pointed to a specific play. Pretty much from the end of the first quarter he did nothing, and it was obvious he was hurt, so obvious that the Seahawks immediately started putting 8 in the box and daring a guy who could not push off his front leg to throw the ball.
It's the Grady Little decision of football except I don't think the Redskins are gonna win it all next year. If they blow their first chance at a franchise QB for 20 years then Shanahan deserves to live in DC sports infamy.
/// throws chair
Obviously, this is a minor point in the context of the whole discussion, but Joe Webb played significantly in 2010 and 2011 (over 100 passes thrown). He threw some picks, but he looked like a guy that would give you a fighting chance.
Precisely.
The reason is that they thought he was healthy enough to win, like he did against Philly and Dallas. They jumped up 14-0, so they seemed right. Unfortunately, his health went downhill during the game and things fell apart. What are you going to do, guys get hurt. Yeah, they probably should have pulled him after that QB run where he limped out of bounds.
So all this back and forth and all this bashing of Cousins and you basically agree with virtually everybody who said Cousins should have been brought in? Ok, nice talking with you.
So really, there are multiple folks that need to be told that there is a difference between sitting on the bench for a few years and growing into the starting role and being thrown into the playoff fire in your rookie season after barely playing all year? There isn't an obvious difference to anyone? If Shanahan had someone more seasoned ready to go he probably would have been more aggressive with the hook on Griffin.
I'll assume you don't know who the Redskins 3rd QB is.
Huh. I must have misheard the telecast. Thanks for the correction.
And even if Cousins is not the next Jeff Hostetler, you aren't doing crap versus Seattle or Atlanta without a semi-healthy RG3. So protect your franchise QB for the next 10 years. It's not like RG3 is 35 with the Over The Hill Gang for teammates. There is a tomorrow, or there was anyway.
The whole thread is about whether it was irresponsible to play him at all. Someone upstream suggested pulling him after going up 14-0 (although that might have been Sam which shouldn't count).
Edit: And #75 comes along.
I'll assume you don't know who the Redskins 3rd QB is.
I do. Another post where I can't tell if this is a joke or not. "Alright, we are up two scores, all we need to put this game on ice is some Rex Grossman magic".
I'd play RG3 in a wheelchair over Sexy Rexy.
It's a side issue, but I don't know why you'd want your starting QB to take every snap in every game such that your backup never sees game action.
Why not put the backup in in blowouts, just to ensure he takes some snaps in case, you know, he is suddenly needed in a playoff game.
I suggested pulling him after the second TD, because two plays prior to that second TD he clearly and obviously concussed himself on a play on the sidelines.
There aren't that many blowouts in the NFL.
Is his brain in his knee?
Whoa. Player health vs. coach getting heat from the media is "no-win".
Here again a comparison with the Strasburg situation. Rizzo took the heat and stuck to his guns. He might have been wrong about the best way to handle Strasburg but at least he didn't let fear of a media roasting change his mind.
Note, I doubt Shanahan gives a crap about whether he gets roasted in the media either, all he cared about was winning the game.
But, sorry, this is part of the attitude that has to go. A coach should get zero heat for not playing an injured player. And injured player should get zero heat for not coming back soon enough. And at no time should the word of a player be taken over the word of a doctor or trainer.
Yeah, but there have been plenty of games where the backup should have come in at some point and gotten some reps. As I said in the NFL thread, coaches and FO manage to not get fired not manage to win. Pull your QB and blow a 10 point lead and you're the bad guy. Keep your QB in and have him tear his ACL and be out for the season is just one of those thing and you don't get blamed for not making the proper decision.
It's no-win for the coach. He's getting ripped today for playing Griffin. If he pulled him early with a lead (and far less evidence of Griffin's lack of mobility) he's gonna get hammered for overcaution and not playing to win the game.
I'll give him that. Bad decision in my view, but he took the heat.
Not saying you're wrong, but good luck with that. People talk - whether they have any business doing so or not.
Because in blowouts, you're typically running the ball to run out the clock. IIRC, Webb has taken snaps this year, but never passed it because well it was a blowout I suppose.
If you're in a blowout and losing, I can kinda see a point in getting a young backup in there to learn a bit, but you're also putting him in a really tough situation where he has the defense licking their chops against the pass every play. Maybe you play it straight up and don't care about the score instead of passing every down, I don't know. I think the league does a terrible job developing QBs, and really should start some sort of summer developmental league.
To me that is the same argument that the gun people use regarding stricter gun controls, it won't stop all of the violence so it isn't worth trying. The same thing might apply in pro football, I'm sure that there aren't many blowouts in the NFL (I don't watch except for the playoffs); that doesn't mean that there aren't some, and that the backup quarterback(s) could get some game experience.
And a commerical with a young girl - won't somebody pleae think of the children!
I believe in rehabiliation. but playing football and hitting people hard enough to have snot bubbles come out of their nose while acting like a wild man isn't exactly community service.
As for medications and playing, I was given indocin, butazolidin and DMSO (an illegal PED) in large quantities in 1979 by the Giants organization in order to play through shoulder problems - at the AA level in Shreveport. At that time, no one did a complete medical workup before loading me up with anti-inflammatories to note that I had only 1 kidney and the protocol could have destroyed my working kidney, damaged my liver put me on dialysis.
No, his brain is in his head, which he slammed into the frozen turf while falling backwards, clearly concussing himself. If he had been hit by a lineman in the same spot and exhibited the same behavior afterwards, he would have been pulled for testing.
If Shanahan can't leverage his gravitas into "Robert was hurt, Cousins gave us the best chance to win, and oh I'm trying not to blow our franchise QB's knee out" then they should just hire his kid to be head coach and save on the salary.
Grossman did trounce the eventual Super Bowl champions twice last year by double digits (well, he starred in the first one and after 2 INTs in the first 7 minutes of the second one, he settled down and they were up by 20 pts late....)
The deificaiton of Ray Lewis has been sickening. Meanwhile, athletes like Bonds and Clemens and McGwire and Palmeiro are vilified.
This is a worse argument than you guys even seem to think, and not for all the reasons that have already been pointed out why it's a bad argument.
Webb sucked, and yet the Vikings played him over Ponder. Who is better - but was hurt. Clearly, there comes a point at which you have a better chance to win with your shitty backup playing than with your starter.
That point came for Shanahan the first time Griffin tweaked his knee. He should not have been out there. The kid couldn't run or throw. Waiting until Griffin snapped his ligament and literally couldn't stand up to conclude that the team had a better chance to win with Cousins was stupid, almost no matter how bad you think Cousins would have been.
And ETA: Grossman was inactive for that game anyway.
Precisely.
Hey, Rex has the most Super Bowl starts of anyone on the NFC side of the playoffs (tied with Rodgers). He's a proven winner!
Also curious that Melky Cabrera gets suspended for PEDs, people question whether the Giants should have their wins count with him in the lineup. Meanwhile, the Seahawks get a Pro Bowl corner suspended for PEDs, and the talk is only about how they should drop the appeal so he can play in the playoffs.
If I recall they showed the replay of him banging his head and taking off his helmet all throughout the game and afterwards.
I am not the only person to have seen it. I am the only person who has mentioned it on this thread so far. Neither of those facts in any way undermines the point. The play happened as I've described it.
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