Football Hall of Fame-Levels of Honor?

Washington Redskins Art Monk and Darrell Greene were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend. I defer to the summary at the Art Monk Hall of Fame blog to describe how great it was!

Now I can sit back and wait and hope that Russ Grimm, Joe Jacoby, and Bobby Beathard might one day make it.

I originally planeed to sit back, ignore the silliness of Doctor Z and all the naysayers, and revel in the moment.

But after the inductions on Saturday and the game on Sunday I had a chance to catch a show on the NFL network about the “Top Ten Players not in the Hall of Fame“.   One-Steve Tasker-I was not familiar with.  Others-like Alex Karras-I thought was already in the HOF. I am mystified why Jerry Kramer has not been inducted.

But as I watched the show the ego of some of these guys rose up from the screen like steam off a hot road after as summer shower…and it caused me to ask what are they thinking, and also to wonder are there levels of honor at Canton and Cooperstown?

What are They Thinking?

The “what are they thinking” came to me via Ken Stabler…

First, two points:

a) If there is a flaw in the Football HOF process, it is the very limited number of sportswriters who vote, and who can thus stop a nominee. 
b) There is a constant discussion of whether the decision should be based solely on what happens on the field or if off the field concerns, actions, and activities should be considered.

Stabler is blocked apparently because (1) while he was brilliant over 5-6 years, he played for 14, and he wasn’t so brilliant then, and (2) certain off the field activities. Paul Zimmerman (Dr. Z) was briefly interviewed as part of the show saying “I will never vote for Kenny Stabler as long as I live”, and Stabler supporters go on about how his partying should not be held against him.

Zimmerman is a little different. His opposition is based in an act more than simple late night partying:

In his prime, while it lasted, he was very accurate. Then he became consistently inaccurate. His teammates wondered why. That’s as far as I’ll take this one. A few years ago, the person presenting him at the enshrinement meeting mentioned how he had “always been cooperative with the media.” My hand shot up as if it were on a spring, and I reminded this ninny about how the Snake invited Bob Padecky of the Sacramento Bee down to the Redneck Riviera to do some offseason interviewing. And when Padecky showed up, all of a sudden Kenny’s buddies on the Mobile PD found some drugs that had been planted in the writer’s car, and off he went to the joint. For a night. Then he was released with no charges filed. Yeah, Kenny will make it. After I’m morto.

This was a big deal at the time. Invites a writer-who had been critical-to do an interview, gives him the run around after said writer gets into town, writer gets set up for a drug bust. Oh, and the interviews?

Most of Padecky’s time in the bars [for interviews] was spent either waiting for Stabler or listening to Stabler harangue him for his journalistic shortcomings

You can call this one way or the other. Did Stabler set him up? I don’t know…but it doesn’t look good. More to the point, while this is off the field conduct, it is the direct result of on the field activities…Padecky wrote for the Sacramento Bee, and had been critical of Stabler’s performance.

So all you Stabler guys out there…you want him in, you have to address this. Otherwise…

Levels of Honor

Then there is Chris Carter, who everyone is up in arms because he did not go in his first shot. Big Deal…Vince Lombardi didn’t go in on his first shot, and his name is on the trophy awarded to the Super Bowl winners! But to hear the Carter folks talk, this is some terrible insult.

I am reminded of my time in the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society at UVa. A probationary member has to give a speech, and have his/her effort approved by the membership present. A majority present voting for you meant you passed the speech. If the speech was good, it was nominated for best of semester. A member could even move “unanimous consent” for approval and dispense with voting. Many felt such a motion was an administrative tool to streamline the process for clearly deserving speeches. Others felt that “Unanimous approval” was an honor in itself that should be reserved for only the best presentations. It was not unusual to see Old Guard members vote no on a “UA” motion, then vote to approve the speech in a general vote.

The reaction of the Carterites strikes me in the same way. They act as if there are levels of honor in the Hall of Fame, that the guys approved in their first year of eligibility get a special medal attached to their bust. I imagine some of the voters think the same. It seems to me that Hall of Fame membership is like pregnancy-you either are or you are not, and there are no degrees of the condition. But that observation is tempered by other conditions.

Take a look at the Carter clip, and you notice that no one deals with the mathematics of the situation or the politics. No one notes that by consensus each class will be 4-7 members. So if this year’s class had only six members, that means one more could have come in…so maybe Carter was not the first round lock you thought. So they could have taken him in…even though it meant two wide receivers in the same class.

There will alwasy be obstacles. As long as voters are limited by statutue or agreement on how many can go in per class, deserving folks will be left out. As long as the voters focus on statistics, then offensive linemen will be underrepresented. As long as voters focus on the recent past, then older players will be ignored (i.e., what about Tommy Nobis?).

I can understand the Carter clique being disappointed, but their comments are way to whiny for my taste. One is either in the Hall or not, no matter whether you go in on the first ballot or not.

Perhaps Chris Carter should take a page from a man who waited many years for his induction. As Art Monk said:

“Getting here did not come without controversy, as I’m sure it did with some of the guys sitting behind me. But through it all, I’m here with a greater appreciation for something that not every player is able to achieve and for the people who stood up for me and spoke out on my behalf.”

It took a deserving career, years of manfully shouldering disappointment, and a concerted, non-stop effort to get Art Monk the recognition he deserves…years of waiting he should not have had to endure, but no complaints were heard from Art Monk.

Maybe The Snake Squad and the Chris Clique should take notes.

Monk HOF 2008-The Truly Important Upcoming Election

The banners have not come down from the Florida primary, and the nation looks toward Super Tuesday where those still standing battle it out next week.  My fellow bloggers are even now sharpening their keyboards to wax eloquent about the chances of their candidate of choice.

Let them.  The truly important election on my horizon comes on Saturday, Februrary 2, 2008.

The occasion?  The Football Hall of Fame voters gather at the Super Bowl to select the 2008 Class for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

The listis down to seventeen players, including three Washington Redskins, with Joe Jacoby missing the cut. The three ‘Skins remaining are Russ Grimm, Darrel Greene, and the oft and unjustly overlooked Art Monk.

It is my opinion that Art Monk indisputably should be in the HOF. It is a crime against logic and nature he is not already so honored. His numbers, his performance, the standard and the example he set say he should be in. Perhaps no one phrased it better than Hall of Fame Member Ronnie Lott, a man who went head up on Monk numerous times:

“There’s nothing negative to say. He has the numbers, the catches, the championships….You have a Hall of Fame for all it represents. I know he represents all that it’s about. Integrity, love and passion for the game, community, what he gave back. Look how he conducted himself. Nobody I know deserves it more.”

Many of the naysayers have come around. Peter King changed to the pro-Monk camp last year, and apparently Paul Zimmerman of SI is coming around.

I know the arguments against him…Monk wasn’t the first option, Monk only made three All-Pro teams, Monk doesn’t have signature plays. But the sports writers who trumpet these options not only conviently choose to forget that it was Art Monk who was selected for the NFL All-1980’s team, along with Rice, Largent, and Lofton. Each of the last three is in the HOF, and players who made more All-Pro teams are not.

It also surprises me that in a time when the league is cracking down on questionable conduct by its players, and sports writers around the country say it is long overdue…these same sportwriters will turn around and say when voting for the HOF off the field actions should not be considered. This hypocrisy leads Michael Irvin to be inducted while Monk stays in queue…only to see Irvin arrested on drug charges within a month of being selected.

One thing is for sure-if the voters are sincere about these objections, then Darrel Greene has to be a first round induction. Greene has the numbers, was the DB the opposition avoided, had the physical gifts, had the signature plays (running down Tony Dorsett in 1983, running down Eric Dickerson in a 1986 playoff game, his “hurdle” punt return against Chicago in the 1987 playoffs), and has the community standing. So, if all the objections against Monk to date were sincere, then you almost have to select Darrel this year.

Russ Grimm deserves to go, and I think it would be especially fitting after the way he was so badly treated by the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. The 1980’s ’skins are badly underrepresented, and I think inducting Monk and Greene at the same time is fitting and proper.

However, I have worries…and I have worries that go beyond the specious and rebutable arguments offered against Monk to date.

One concern is the lack of immediate conversation to date about the selection.  Normally by now King and Zimmerman have posted articles about the upcoming HOF selection, and given some idea as to how the winds were blowing.  Not so to date…and I have no idea what that means.

My other concern is that Dan Snyder has torpedoed the good ship Monk by virtue of his scavenger hunt for a new coach.  One thing that has been consistently lacking in the Snyder era is a sense of good feelings about the Redskins by the national media.  I think Monk has caught some of the brunt of that. 

I won’t rehash the past football season.  However, in the wake of the Redskins overcoming their difficulties and making the playoffs I thought there would be some diminution of that feeling, or at least that it wouldn’t be as overt.

Then Joe Gibbs stepped down, and Dan Snyder not only did not select Gibbs heir apparent Gregg Williams but he released Williams from his position as HC/Defense.  Snyder has gone on to interview everyone under the sun, reinforcing the reputation he had pre-Gibbs as a rich owner who was smart enough to make the money to buy the team but not smart enough to get out of the way and let the football people run the football team.

I worry that the Redskin nominees this year will be hurt by a Snyder backlash, but I hope and pray that this is the year that Art Monk makes the Hall.  It is an honor well deserved grossly overdue.

One last note-I believe Art Monks case for the HOF is so strong and convincing that only folks with axes to grind (like the Dallas rep who regularly talks down Monk) or some physiological inability to process the information of his credentials would vote against him. 

The same will be the case on replies for this post, where I will depart from my normal posting policy.  Don’t dare come around these parts talking trash about Monk and expect to get a comment posted.

Yep, I’m a homer. 

Go Art Monk, and good luck on Saturday!

In Minnesota, NFL=No Family League

Minnesota Vikings safety Troy Williamson lost his grandmother last week, and missed three days of practice and a game to attend her funeral.

Now it is announced that the Minnesota Vikings, who may have missed the message from the league office that the NFL was supposed to be family entertainment, have fined Williamson $25,588.24 of his $435,000 base salary.

When asked his take on the situation, that towering, cowering pile of jello Coach Brad Childress replied “”It’s really kind of out of my realm”.  Then, showing he knows on which side his bread is buttered, Childress came up with the decision is based on an organizational “business principle” .

I can see how the financially strapped Minnesota franchise wants to save money, I understand the need for organizational discipline, and I imagine the Minnesota franchise is determined to react more strictly to certain behaviors after the sexboat scandal of a couple of years ago, then the ticket shenanigans of former coach Mike Tice.

But this is ridiculous.  This is about the principle, not the money…because he still has the other 400K+ to fall back on.

Apparently the grandmother did die, apparently he did attend the funeral and was with his family. He told them he was going, they knew he would be missing practice and a game and they knew why-and they still fined him….and Vikes fans wonder why they are not considered one of the class organizations in the league.

You have a league riddled with players who beat their women, literally engage in murderous activities, drug abuse, steroid abuse, and often act as if they are above the law. They get to keep playing with nary a slap on the wrist. Let’s face it, Michael Vick and the PacMan are attempts by the league to get right with the public.

Then you have a player who does the right thing, the same thing most of us would do instintively, and the team fines him $25K? They should have found him a plane to fly him home and bring him back instead of fining him.

What kind of example does they expect to set? Did the Vikings think if they let Williamson go, other players would encourag their family members to die so they could cut practice?

Jerry Glanville said the NFL stood for “Not For Long” when castigating a ref. Some call it the “No Fun Leage” when it banned overexubrant TD celebrations.

I suggest that in Minnesota, at least, NFL stands for the “No Family League”, because any league that would fine a man for attending the funeral of a family member has no claim, no claim at all, on being family entertainment.

Michael Wilbon Gratuitously Disses Redskins

I am a long time reader of the WaPo sports section, and I fondly remember my father praising the prose of the immortal Shirley Povich, long time sports columnist extraordinaire for the Post.  But things have changed.  It seems that while the wordsmithing is almost as good as those by-gone days, too many writers are slaves to a POV that often has no point in reality…like today’s gratuitous diss of the Redskins.  For once, he should have held onto some Al Davis wisdom.

Today’s column by Michael Wilbon is a case in point.  Wilbon is a good, and sometimes great, writer.  He learned from Povich, and today is well regarded for his skills.  The only problem is that Wilbon indulges himself.  He drops names, mentioning how folks assume knows things because he is friends with (fill in the blank).  His columns often take the tact of that relative we all have who makes it a point to focus on all the negative things they see in you.  Why?  Because it is for your own good.  Wilbon seems to prefer the beautiful over the merely effective…as he did today.

This AM Wilbon looked at the likelihood of the New England Patriots finishing the 2007 regular season undefeated and suggested they won’t.  He noted that in 1991 the Redskins went 11-0 before losing, and lost two games that year by a total of five points.

One paragraph later Wilbon says the two greatest teams of the Super Bowl era are:

The two greatest teams of the Super Bowl era are the1985 Bears, who went 12-0 before losing to the Dolphins, and the 1989 49ers, who lost two games by a total of five points. Each won the Super Bowl. Those 49ers, created by the late Bill Walsh, who retired before that season, essentially invented offensive football as we know it today. With Montana throwing to Rice, John Taylor, Roger Craig and Tom Rathman, the offense is what the Patriots aspire to be. And the 49ers’ defense, hardly ever talked about, had Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, Keena Turner, Eric Wright, and a young linebacker who hadn’t totally lost his mind yet by the name of Bill Romanowski. The Niners were dreamy good.

Can’t really argue with the 1985 Chicago Bears, a great team that should have made more of an impact over the years but were stopped by the Redskins in Soldier Field in both 1986 and 1987.

But the 1989 49ers? Apparently they are top of pile because they were “Dreamy Good”…interesting criteria.

But by that criteria, are the 1991 Redskins, who also lost only twice by a total of five points…aren’t they one of the greatest teams of that era, on a level with the Niners?  Oh, noooo…because they weren’t “dreamy good”.  They only had a team that pummeled almost everyone, and lost the last game to Philly primarily because the Eagles announced their primary goal was to injure as many Redskin players as possible in a planned repeat of the 1990 “Body Bag” game.  Gibbs pulled key players early in a game that meant nothing to the Redskins playoff chances.  They could not possibly have been better than “dreamy good”.

Or were they?  Let’s check the stats. 

Both teams led the league in offense, with the Redskins scoring 485 points and the 49ers 442.

Advantage: 1991 Washington Redskins

The Redskins Defense was #2 in the league, allowing 224 points; the Niners #3, allowing 253 points

Advantage: 1991 Washington Redskins

The Redskins faced 11 teams that finished the year with 10+ wins.  The Niners?  only 8

Advantage: 1991 Washington Redskins

Of course, the Niners won their Super Bowl over a massively out-manned Denver squad 55-10…and how did they do it?  They followed the lead and the game plan of the…wait for it…1987 Washington Redskins team that won the SuperBowl 42-10 over Denver…including the famous 35-0 second quarter…so no advantage here.

Wilbon doesn’t like to admit he writes in Washington…he still perceives himself as a Chicago guy.  But when you ignore facts and indulge your sense of whimsy and appreciation of “beauty” at the cost not only of the local team but a team that is far superior to the one your are drooling over…that is just wrong.

You see, sometimes “dreamy good” is inferior to the teams who don’t have the sports writers seeking silly adjectives…or sportswriters who wallow in non-essentials and allow their objectivity to be eliminated by their desire to seem non-partisan.

Let’s face it…sometimes “dreamy good” is inferior to teams who to out and “just win”.

Karma Strikes, Justice Rules, and Pittsburgh Loses

Arizona 21, Pittsburgh 14.

How sweet it is! Team Rooney, now you know what goes around comes around.

As a loyal Redskins fan the only team I really dislike is the Dallas Cowboys.  But that support lives beyond the playing field…and because of it, as I noted last January, the Steelers seemed to be itching to get on my list.

The reason? The insulting treatment of Russ Grimm as they selected their new head coach following Bill Cowher’s retirement. At first it seemed like they would select Grimm. As events played out it turns out they probably never really wanted to hire Grimm but kept him dangling as a safe fall back. Their offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt saw the handwriting on the wall and grabbed the head coaching job in with the Arizona Cardinals when it was offered. Grimm, a Pitt alum, a Pittsburgh guy from birth, Assistant Head Coach and Line Coordinator under Cowher, thought he had a shot.

Not hardly.

Shoot, I was ready to fall in behind the Steelers as my #2 team if Russ got the job. Instead, Team Rooney picked Mike Tomlin, Defensive Coordinator with the Vikings.

In retrospect, it made some sense…Tomlin, like Cowher and Chuck Noll before him, was in his mid-thirties and a highly regarded defensive coordinator. So why not tell Grimm up front they didn’t want him? I think they owed him that. Instead, the Steelers dangled him and dumped him. Professionally speaking, it was a crime against a good man.

Whisenhunt, not being a Rooney syncophant, recognized talent and hired Grimm as his Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Line Coordinator…and guess who the Cardinals were scheduled against in Week 4?

You got it.

Seems like in this blood match, it was the Arizona defense that stood tall. Arizona 21, Pittsburgh…..14

Now the blood has cooled and I doubt the Steelers will ever reach the level of the Dallas Cowboys. I mean, black and yellow is just too good a combo to hate for too long (as opposed to blue and silver). Nonetheless, I am glad to see Whisenhunt and Grimm get a little back today. The Steelers did a good man wrong, and it is my sincere hope that:

(a) During the Tomlin era the Steelers are “0 for Arizona”
(b) Russ Grimm gets a fair shot at the Redskins job after Coach Gibbs concludes his current stint.

Brother Rooney, now you know the wages of sin and the ravages of Karma…what you will learn is that it is the gift that keeps on giving.

ALSO: In the Karma Category, the SD Chargers under the tutelage of Norv Turner dropped to 1-3 today. 

You may remember that this is the team that went 14-2 under Marty Schottenheimer last year, and that Marty was fired for his troubles due to the personality issues between him and the team GM…and that the team waited to fire him until AFTER their offensive and defensive coordinators took head coaching jobs with other teams.

Yep, Karma lives…

I am Really Not One to Crow about the Redskins…

…if only out of an instinct for self protection.  Part of that is the sense of decorum and sportsmanship I was taught by my parents, and part is that there is always a Clint Longley-type around the corner ready to bring the loud talker back to earth.

However, after last night’s pregame show on ESPN, I feel the need to vent.

ESPN has seven (7)(!) guys in the pregame show.  They include

Chris Berman, Keyshawn Johns, Bill Parcells, Tom Jackson, Steve Young, Emmit Smith, and someone else.  All but one (Jackson) picked the Eagles over the Redskins, and did so w/o hesitation.

Then, to show just how widespread their opinion is echoed they showed a map of the USA, with red showing who thought the Eagles would win and presumably blue to show who thought the Redskins would win.  Yes, I agree they are strange colors…why not green and burgundy?

I say “presumably” would use blue because no blue showed up.  The ESPN survey showed no state-not even MD or VA…or even DC!…that had a majority of respondents saying Washington would win last night. Comments about McGovern and Mondale abounded.

Not surprisingly, the pregame comments and the color coded map were orphaned in the post game comments.

Why?  Because the ESPN sports team didn’t want to go on about how they and their respondents were almost uniformly wrong.  I can only assume Chris Berman did not bring it up because he was too busy trying to create new nicknames for obscure players.

Final Score: Washington 20, Philadelphia 12

Hail to the Redskins!

Art Monk gets screwed yet again

For the seventh time Art Monk has been denied.

Art Monk, for the non-football fans out there, played wide receiver for the Washington Redskins.  He retired with three Super Bowl rings, played in a fourth, at one time held both the single and career reception records for the NFL, the leader and role model for the 1980’s Redskins.  He played unselfish football, was a deadly downfield blocker, and by all accounts was a team player who did not demand the ball but instead played within Joe Gibbs run oriented system and was team leader on and off the field.

 And yet today, for the seventh time, Art Monk has been denied admission into the Professional Football Hall of Fame. Yep, he got screwed, rogered, fill in the verb.

To quote Jim Kelly, Former Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly-a Hall of Fame (HOF) member, on Art Monk:
“I still can’t believe he’s not in.”

Cowboy wideout Michael Irvin did get voted in.  I cannot say the did not deserve it, although one would think that if the HOF voters would send in someone with as many off the field problems as Irvin someone like Monk who was as solid off the field as on would be a lock, especially since he had better lifetime stats.

Yep-consider this: 

Receptions:
Monk: 940
Irvin: 750
Swann: 336
Stallworth:537

Career Yards:
Monk: 12,271
Irvin: 11,904
Swann: 5,462
Stallworth: 8723

Career Touchdowns:
Monk: 68
Irvin: 65
Swann: 51
Stallworth: 63

Yep…in these three main categories (Recep., Yds., and TD’s Art Monk had better numbers than at least three of these Hall of Famers…and he is still denied admission. Shoot, Art Monk had more receptions in his career than Swann and Stallworth combined!

Some voters say he was not flashy enough…but the last time I checked flash was not supposed to be an admission requirement. Excellence, superior performance, a quality career was what I thought was the deal. If flash is the deal, then prepare spots for Brian Bosworth and Terrell Owens ASAP.

I always thought it would count for Monk that he compiled his statistics despite not having a consistent quarterback.and it should.

Look at the boyos up top…during entire Irvin’s career he had Troy Aikman, HOF QB throwing to him. During Swann and Stallworth’s entire career, they had Terry Bradshaw, HOF QB, throwing to them. Monk had the following throwing to him-Joe Theisman, Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams, and Mark Rypien. None of these guys will make the Hall without a ticket.

Stallworth and Swann backers will say their careers were cut short by injury and wear and tear, so the numbers should not matter. Monk was the guy who ran the tough routes, the 8 yard drags over the middle when the game was on the line…and yet the only serious injury he took was a broken leg at the end of the 1982 season…so apparently great numbers compiled over a long career have no place in Canton.

Then there is the writers hypocrisy, which is as bad and as blatant as most elected officials. They rag on Monk saying he was not the main threat, that the real starts of those Redskins teams was the running game.

If so, where are the Hogs? Russ Grimm was on the ballot, but did not make the finals. Joe Jacoby, Mark Schlereth, Jeff Bostic, George Starke, Jim Lachey..none of these guys were even on the ballot. The only Redskin player of the 80’s in the HOF is John Riggins, and he had left the team by the time they beat Denver in 1988 and Buffalo in 1992. The constant players on those Redskin teams were Jacoby, Grimm, Bostic, Butz, and Monk (Darrell Green came along in 1983)…and none are in the HOF.

Some say well, the ’skins won two of their rings in strike years. True…but doesn’t it say something for a player who continues to function and maintain excellence in trying circumstances, who continues to produce when the situation is in flux? Then there is the 1991 team, which without being showy was one of most the dominant teams of the last thirty years…and Art Monk was the clear leader of that team by demeanor and by example.  Accepting and playing a role like that got Harry Carson into the HOF, why not Art Monk?

Objectively speaking, there is no reason for not to vote for Art Monk to get in the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

I believe the only reason he is not in is because he is Redskin, and their owner is a jerk.

I bet dollars to donuts that if The Squre or his son owned the ’skins instead of The Danny, things would be a lot different.

Yes, I know it is easy to bash Brother Snyder. But the numbers, the career excellence, everything that should count for a HOF career is there. There must be some tangible reason Monk is not in the Hall…and I have come to believe it is because of the ill will Snyder has caused.

If not, and if someone else knows the reason, let me know.

In the meantime, hope springs eternal and I shall start looking for February 2008 as the time Art Monk receives the accolades he deserves.

SUN Microsystem and the Steelers…

Russ Grimm is headed to Phoenix to join the Whiz, and it is my sincere hope that after next year he gets the head coaching job he deserves.  As he has a position and has not been left high and dry by the Steelers ungrateful and completely dishonest actions, this will be my last last vent on the situation.

 The Pittsburgh actions in this matter reminds me of SUN Microsystems…talk a really good act, but in fact are as vicious and perhaps worse than the competition.

You see, in my day job I do a lot of technical purchasing…I am one of the folks who found a new line of work via the IT boom.  Ten years ago was that Microsoft were a bunch of buccanners, vicious profit maximizers who wanted to rule the world and used their desktop dominance to send out bad software and make the actual users serve as Beta testers.  On the other hand, Sun Microsystems was this IT god who put our hardware that worked, had a robust OS, and were just the polor opposites of Microsoft in attitude and approach.

Then I went to work at a shop where I actually had to work with SUN, and I discovered that SUN was just as bad as Microsoft, and in many ways worse.  They would sell systems, and not make it clear that things like floppy drives (circa 2001) were not standard.  If you purchased a system with minimum memory configuration to take advantage of better pricing from third party merchants, SUN shipped the system with memory spread over all available memory slots, essentially making you buy memory from them that  you would never use.  All the while they engaged in this petty gamesmanship with reliable customers so they could grab a few more dollars, Scott McNeally, the SUN CEO, acted as if SUN never did anything wrong and was in fact the protector of IT users.

I came to realize that SUN was just as bad as Microsoft, except Microsoft made no bones about what they were doing.  SUN has a self righteousness to it that-along with a failure to adapt to the marketplace and the explosion of Linux-has been driving customers away for years.

The Russ Grimm episode shows me the Steelers have a lot in common with SUN Microsystems.  The Steelers put out this great “family” vibe, and the Rooney’s are such great folks, etc. etc. etc.  But the bottom line is they have no loyalty.  They are as bad as the Cowboys, except the Cowboys don’t try to camouflage their intentions.  They want to win, and will sacrifice those they need to .  Jerry Jones would not have kept a Russ Grimm hanging, even if only because it adds to his image of decisveness.

I may not be a smart man, but I know imposters when I see them…and that is what the Steelers and the Rooney’s are.

Russ Grimm-good luck in Phoenix.  And when the Steelers come to visit next season, I hope you and the Whiz and the Cards whack the bejeezus out of them.

The Cowboys have Company…

As noted in a previous post, the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the cusp of being my new favorite or new hated team.  For those tuning in late, they had a chance to hire from within and pick Russ Grimm, their offensive line coach and Assistant head Coach.  The other internal front runner chose to head off to Arizona, afraid that if he waited for the Steelers to choose they might not pick him, and he might not get a head coach position at all.

 Grimm stayed loyal, wanting to be coach of the Steelers, on his home turf, where he grew up, where he was a college star before heading off to a three super bowl ring, nominated for the hall of fame career with the Washington Redskins.

Instead, the Steelers chose to dump on Russ Grimm, so they now join the Dallas Cowboys in the tenth ring of hell, just below the level reserved for traitors. 

 Truth be told, if they had just cut Russ early so he would have chance at other positions being the softie I am I would have let bygones be bygones.  But they didn’t.  They kept him and held on while they interviewed other folks…people who I have not doubt are qualified.

It now seems the Steelers had no plans of breaking their tradition. No, no, not the one about hiring caucasian coaches…I mean the one about hiring as a new head coach someone in their mid 30’s, defensive coordinator, and from anothe team.

 Yep, it now seems that Grimsie never had a chance…and that they kept him around as an insurance policy…and now that they have a new head coach they no doubt will kick him to the curb.  I just hope he got severance, as he still had time to run on his contract.

I’d love to see him come back to the Redskins, but I don’t think Joe Bugel is going anywhere.

 Yep, all’s well that ends well…Chan Gailey-interviewed-goes back to Georgia tech.  Whisenhunt goes to a new gig in Phoenix, Rivera loses the shot but he is coaching in the superbowl…and put a superbowl ring on that finger and maybe Jerry Jones will come calling to get a replacement for the Tuna…and of course Mike Tomlin gets a the big gig with Pittsburgh.

And Russ Grimm gets to go home and sit and try to find a new job.

This really stinks.

Well, at least the Cowboys have company…

Osbourn HS Eagles-State Champions!

Today, my old HS team, the Osbourn High School Eagles of Manassas, Virginia, led by Steve Schultz, classmate of my sister, won the Virginia Group III, Division 6 state championship with a 42-20 victory over Chantilly HS.

Details here

 Congratulations to Steve, to star QB Brandon Hogan, and to all the Eagle faithful who have waited for this event since the Manassas City independent school system first opened classes in the fall of 1977!

 Amazingly, the game has been over for a couple of hours and while the news all about, and the WaPo can find time to immediately post about Edison losing to Phoebus, but no time to post immediately about the Northern Virginia team that wins the state championship.

 What are you gonna do?