Midseason report: Part Two

So in my last posting, I put my sports analyst skills to the test and talked a little bit about the first half of the 2007 NFL season, mostly who I thought were the top offensive performers. In this part of the midseason report, I'll go onto the defensive side of the ball, and go through who I though were the all-pro defensive players from the first half.

Lets start with the d-line. For the AFC, there have been a few standout guys , but the two that I feel have had the largest impact for their teams are Jared Allen of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Elvis Dumervil of the Denver Broncos. Allen, the anchor for the Chiefs D-line, is also the league leader in sacks, with 9.5 at weeks end, and Dumervil is second on the AFC with 8.0. Dumervil has also tacked on 4 pass deflections and 1 interception to the stat sheet, as well as 3 fumbles forced, while Allen has 2 forced fumbles. (Other Notables: Jason Taylor, Paul Spicer, Robert Mathis)

As for the NFC, there are defintly some new faces that are shining in the league this year in terms of the front four on defense. I think the most outstanding new star is Trent Cole of the Philadelphia Eagles, who all deserves a lot of the credit for any of the success Philly has had on D this year. His athletic ability and constant pressure on the QB has given him an NFC leading 9.0 sacks at weeks end, and he has also posted 48 total tackles, which is well above average for a d-end. For the other NFC defensive end, I have been extremely impressed with New York Giant Osi Umenyiora, who has finally pushed passed Michael Strahan as the best defensive end on the team, and possibly in the conference. He is tied with Cole and Aaron Kampman for the NFC lead in sacks with 9.0, having 6.0 of them come in the game against the Eagles, an NFL record. Umenyiora has also posted 29 tackles, has 3 forced fumbles, 2 recovered, one of them for a touchdown. (Other Notables: Darryl Tapp, Aaron Kampman, Andre Carter)

Now onto the anchor for the defensive line, the defensive tackle. The AFC has a few defensive tackles that have been standouts for the past few years, and they have continued to do the same the first half of this season. Albert Haynesworth has rebounded from the incident when he stepped on Cowboys offensive lineman Andre Gurode, and has returned to being the dominant D-tackle he was drafted to be when he was picked 15th overall by the Titans back in 2002. He has 30 total tackles and 5.0 sacks at weeks end. (Other Notables: Marcus Stroud, John Henderson, Amobi Okoye)

The NFC is stacked with amazing talent in the middle of the d-line, and it was impossible to pick just one standout player for this position. I'm giving a three way tie to Darnell Dockett, Shaun Rogers, and Tommie Harris, of the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Bears, respectively. Dockett is leading all NFL DT's with 8.0 sacks, and also has 39 tackles and 2 forced and recovered fumbles at weeks end. Shaun Rogers showed his amazing athletic talents by taking an interception back 66 yards the other week, something unheard-of for a defensive tackle. He also has 4.5 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries so far. Lastly, Tommie Harris has been a forced to be reckoned with for the Chicago Bears. This has been a constant theme since he came into the league, and he has tacked on 23 tackles and 7.0 sacks to the stat sheet so far this year. (Other Notables: Jovan Haye, Kevin Williams)

On to the beasts on the second level, the linebackers. I would have liked to keep it to just two outside and one inside linebacker here, but I cannot keep one of these outside backers out. The first being James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers. His 6.5 sacks is good enough for second in the NFC for linebackers, only behind my next candidate, Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots, who has 8.5. Harrison also has 6 forced fumbles, 3 recovered, 57 tackles, and 1 pick. The last outside linebacker is Thomas Howard of the Oakland Raiders. Arguably the best coverage linebacker in the NFL, Howard has 12 pass deflections, 4 interceptions, 2 of those returned for touchdowns, and he has also made 60 tackles and 1.0 sack. Those numbers right there are good enough to get him into the probowl. For my AFC inside linebacker, I gotta go with DeMeco Ryans of the Houston Texans. Although he is only in his 2nd NFL season, he has already established himself as one of the top linebackers in the NFL. His 74 tackles is good for fourth in the AFC, and he has also added 2.0 sacks, 1 pick, 3 fumble recoveries, one of them which he returned for a touchdown. (Other Notables: Ray Lewis, DJ Williams, Shawn Merriman)

The NFC is oozing with playmakers at the linebacker position, some of them young and some of them old. Starting off with the old, London Fletcher, the D III product of the Washington Redskins, was among the leaders in tackles at weeks end with 84. He has also picked off 2 passes, returning one of them for a touchdown. Patrick Willis, the rookie sensation drafted out of Ole Miss, is leads the NFL in tackles with 88 at weeks end, and has lived up to his top ten draft selection. Two surprising rising stars who have played outstanding are Michael Boley of the Atlanta Falcons, who has 72 tackles along with 8 pass deflections and 2 picks, and Rocky McIntosh of the Redskins, who has 71 tackles and 3.0 sacks. (Other Notables: DeMarcus Ware, Julian Peterson, Karlos Dansby)

Finishing up with the defensive backs, I'll list 2 corners and 2 safetys from each conference that I feel have had outstanding first halves. Starting with the AFC, I've got to give it up to my man Antonio Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers. He has established himself not only as one of the most athletic players in the NFL after this half of the season, but also as an upcoming shutdown corner. His 6 interceptions is good for tops in the NFL, as are his 18 pass deflections. He also has 2 touchdowns this season, both in the same game, and one being a record setting play for the longer play in the history if the game, when he returned a missed field goal 109 yards from the back of one endzone to the front of the other. My other AFC corner has got to be Asante Samuel, a guy that has established himself as maybe the best corner in the NFL. He has lead the Patriots d-backs all season with his play, and he has posted 18 tackles, along with 16 pass deflections, and 4 picks. Quarterbacks just do not wanna throw to him. My AFC safetys are two of the most intimidating and ferocious players in the league. Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens and Bob Sanders of the Indianapolis Colts. Reed has posted 22 tackles, along with 13 pass deflections and 5 interceptions, while Sanders has collected 49 tackles, along with 2.5 sacks, and 1 pick. The numbers are there, but the real thing with these guys is that they bring it every play of every game, and are among the top safetys year in and year out. (Other Notables: Terrence McGee, Clinton Hart, Champ Bailey)

My NFC picks go to some vets who have really played well this year, and have all been leaders on their respective defenses. My corners are Charles Woodson of the Green Bay Packers, and Marcus Trufant, of the Seattle Seahawks. Woodson has returned to his shutdown capabilities, those of which he had at Michigan and his good years with the Raiders. Having Al Harris back their with him also helps, who is another guy having a great year. Woodson's 42 tackles, 3 picks, and 1 td are solid numbers that have helped his team to their 8-1 record. Trufant also has 3 picks, along with 11 pass deflections and 44 tackles, 41 of them being solo. For my safety picks I'm going with Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins, and Adrian Wilson of the Arizona Cardinals. Taylor is tied for the NFC lead for interceptions with 5, and along with his 42 tackles and 14 pass deflections, he is known as one of the hardest hitters in the league. Wilson, maybe the NFLs most athleticly gifted player, has 44 tackles and 2 interceptions, not staggering numbers, but he is the heart and soul of that Arizona defense. (Other Notables: Anthony Henry, Ken Hamlin, Sheldon Brown)

My midseason report...for what its worth.

As you can see from the majority of my blogs, I am a fan of football. It's a great game, and not only do I play it, but I follow professional, college, and even a little high school ball. I enjoy playing, watching, and sometimes even writing about all things football, and thats why I decided to have it be my theme for the Sports Publication blog. I figured I'll give a series of three blogs for a chance to hone my analyst skills, and go over who I think are this years midseason all-pros, some surprises for the second half, and ill even make some predictions that I can go and look back at in January and see how bad they actually are.

For the AFC quarterback, I gotta give it to Tom Brady. This is obviously no surprise. He is leading the best team in the NFL to a possibly undefeated season, and doing it in record breaking fashion. With his 30 touchdowns and 2 picks thrown at week eights end, he is on pace to shatter a whole lot of QB records. (Other Noteables: Ben Roethlisberger, Derek Anderson, David Garrard)

For the NFC signal caller, I'm going to have to go with my man Brett Favre. It was a tight race between him and Romo, but the way Brett plays in the clutch and has turned up the play of average guys like Greg Jennings and Donald Lee to the point where they look like Robert Brooks and Mark Chmura, pushes him past Romo for the midseason NFC all-pro QB. (Other Notables: John Kitna, Jeff Garcia, Matt Hasselbeck)

At running back, the AFC comes to a tie between Joseph Addai of the Colts and Willie Parker of the Steelers. Addai not only does it on the ground, but is a force to be reckoned with as a receiver out of the backfield. This dual threat is a nightmare for defenses, as he is on pace for over 1200 yards rushing, and 400 yards receiving. Parker on the other hand has been an absolute workhorse for the Steelers. His 212 carries is by far the most in the NFL (Marshawn Lynch is a distant second with 196), and his 4.1 yards per carry has lead him to 873 yards of offense after nine games. (Other Notables: Marshawn Lynch, LaDanian Tomlinson, LenDale White)

For the NFC, there was no question as to who the most valuable running back was. Adrian Peterson has run all over defenses, despite his team only being able to win 3 of their first 9 games. After posting the single game rushing record in only his eight game (296 yards), his astound 6.4 yards per carry has him over 1000 yards at the half way point. (Other Notables: Brian Westbrook, Marion Barber)

There are a lot of receivers playing extremely good football this season, and narrowing down to just two from each conference was difficult, but for the AFC, I have been very impressed with obviously Randy Moss, but also Braylon Edwards. Randy has proven himself before, but got away from his game with an unsuccessful stint in Oakland. Connecting with Tom Brady in New England has rejuvenated his career, and with 12 touchdowns and almost 1000 yards at week nines end (924 to be exact), I must say I am excited to see what he's going to do in the last 7 games of the Pats season. As for Braylon, he has had a breakout season. After being drafted 3rd overall by Cleveland three years ago, he has proven he was worth that high of a choice, and if he keeps it up, he will be a show in for the pro bowl, and possibly have lead his surprising Browns to a playoff berth, their first since re-entering the league in 1999. (Other Notables: Reggie Wayne, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Wes Welker)

For the NFC receivers, I think that Plaxico Burress and T.O. have set the bar. They both have 8 touchdowns at weeks end, are both on pace for well over 1000 yards receiving, and both their teams have winning records and are looking like two of the top teams in the NFC. (Other notables: Joey Galloway, Torry Holt, Larry Fitzgerald, Roddy White)

I'll finish this blog up with the tight ends from each conference. For the AFC, I have to give it up to Kellen Winslow. He has been another vital piece in the Browns surprising first half. He leads all NFL tight ends in yards, and third in catches for an AFC tight end, behind only Tony Gonzalez, and Antonio Gates. His 12 catches of over 20 yards leads all tight ends in that category. (Other notables: Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Dallas Clark, Heath Miller)

Lastly, for the NFC tight end, Jason Witten is my man. He has torn it up, being one of Tony Romos top receivers. His 47 catches is good for third in the league, tied with Winslow, and his five touchdowns, good for tops in the NFC, has him as a serious goal line threat. (Other notables: Jeremy Shockey, Donald Lee)

Keep checking up for my defensive all-pros, as well some predictions for the second half.

ESPN: The World Wide Leader in Overhyping

Another week, another example of how ESPN over-hypes everything in the sports world. I am sure most avid football fans tuned into the match up of the undefeateds this past weekend when the New England Patriots traveled to Indianapolis to face the Colts in the RCA dome. The two teams combined for a record of 15-0, and this lead to the week long coverage by ESPN, with the game being mentioned and analyzed on every show, every hour, every day. This theme is pretty standard for ESPN, as this is the occurrence with most major sports happenings these days. I guess I should be used to it by now, and since I still watch most of the coverage even though I do not enjoy the over-hyping, I'd say in a way I am used to it. It has gotten to the point where ESPN actually admits that they are overhyping these games. Last week, while watching Sportscenter, Kenny Mayne made comments on two different occasions that were blatantly stating the obvious. He said, "and we will overhype the colts patriots game" and, "here on ESPN we will overhype this matchup more than any other station." Coming from Kenny Mayne on a Tuesday, it's funny, but by Saturday night, your just sick and tired of hearing the words Colts, Patriots, Peyton Manning, and of course, Tom Brady.

The worst part about this whole thing is that it is only going to get worse. Sports are a business that is increasing, and will only continue to do so. There were also be a demand for sports, which creates the constant demand for sports coverage. With all the money that is in sports, and the amount of media attention that is drawn to a game like the undefeated Colts playing the undefeated Patriots, there is no reason for sports stations not to overhype thee types of events. And as for me, I will keep on watching, so will you, because we have no other choice.

The tale of Dobbs Ferry Football: Part Two

The next year was a completely different story. I was a freshman, and me and the rest of my class served as the tackling dummies for a team that would go undefeated until the state championship, where at the Carrier Dome, our team hit a road block named Mike Hart, the current running back and heisman hopeful for the Michigan Wolverines. He was a sophomore at the time, but age did not matter. He was as impressive on that field that day as he is presently, running over and around defenders just like he does every Saturday on national television for the Wolverines.

2002 was a storybook year of sorts. We came into the season with high hopes, as we were ranked among the top teams in the state. After starting off the season 2-0, we were feeling pretty good about where we were headed, until a unsuspected event ended my season, and side tracked a few others as well. A bunch of us ate out at our pre-game dinner at a Westchester hot spot called Candlelight, known for the wings. After the meal, we all packed into whatever car we could fit in, and headed home. You see, after taking a hit on the football field, you can usually pop right back up to your feet and get ready for the next play. But when your car, going 40 miles per hour, slams head on into a telephone pole, well, thats just an impact one cannot put into words. This car accident was a life changing event for me. Although I was sitting behind the passenger seat of a four door Honda accord with my seat belt on, I took the brunt of the injuries. I ended up spending a week in the intensive care unit at Westchester Medical center, and spent a total of 15 days in the hospital. I sustained a ruptured spleen, a punctured lung, and had a good amount of internal bleeding from other injuries. I was able to rejoin my team after not even being on the sidelines for week 3 and 4. We were 4-0, and we were rolling through opponents. We cruised all the way to the state championship for the second straight year, although there were a couple of exciting finishes with last second victories along the way. In this years state championship, we would be playing the Dolgeville Blue Devils, an undefeated team from the Middle-of-Nowhere, New York. They were a bunch of giant farm boys, but they were good. They were ranked #1 in the state, and we were right behind them at #2. I could only watch from the sideline of the carrier dome, but I watched my team come out flying. We had a commanding lead all game, and had controlled the pace of the game well, but Dolgeville never gave up. They came back to tie the game in the fourth quarter, 35-35. We drove down the field on that last possession, and got into field goal range for a kicker. It was almost a forty yarder, but our guy booted it through the uprights. Dolgeville could not connect on their final desperation play, and the little guys from Dobbs Ferry won it all, and ended the season at a perfect 12-0.

It was tough for me to have to sit out my sophomore year, but I think the whole experience with the car accident has helped put me where I am today, and helped me gain the success on the athletic fields, as well as off, that I have had in recent years. I could not play another sport for the rest of the year, but in that off season, me and the rest of my teammates worked harder than ever to help our chances of repeat championships for my junior and senior year. Did it happen? We'll see in the last part of the Dobbs Ferry Football Trilogy.

Not your average Packer

A story that caught my eye this past week was the death of a super bowl legend, Max McGee. Although his death, which happened after he fell from the roof of his home in Minnesota last Saturday while clearing away leaves, was a tragedy, the interesting part of this story was his career as a football player, on and off the field.

McGee's most famous on field moments occurred in the first super bowl, when he caught two touchdown passes from Bart Starr on a day in which he was not even supposed to be playing. Although McGee put up stellar numbers in his 12 year career (345 receptions with an 18.2-yard average per catch and 50 touchdowns), he had caught only 4 passes that year. McGee was thrown into the starting lineup after the second drive of super bowl I after Boyd Dowler got hurt and could not play due to a shoulder injury. "I was just sitting there, dozing in the sun, and Lombardi yelled 'McGee get the hell in there!' " McGee told Lee Remmel, the team's historian and a local newspaper reporter in those days.

McGee was said to have told Dowler before the game not to get hurt because he "was'nt in very good shape." He was referring to breaking team curfue the night before by having a night on the town. At first, McGee could not even go in the game because he did not have a helmet, he left his in the locker room, so he had to borrow someone else's. The interesting thing about McGee, along with many other players in that day and age, was they way they lived their celebrity status lives off the field. Back then players would not only indulge themselves in nightlife festivities after the game to celebrate, it seemed that these festivities carried on throughout the week, all the way up until the morning before the game. McGee, along with guys like Joe Namath, Bobby Layne, Paul Hornung, and many others, had a knack for the "good life", indulging themselves in liqour, ladies, and late nights. McGee was once quoted, ""When it's third-and-10, you can take the milk drinkers, and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time." This was just a testament to the way he lived and looked at life. He was known as a guy who would relieve the tension of a Packer team, under the stiff laws of Coach Lombardi, with his timely sense of humor. He was also known for his stubborn streak, which made it not so surprising that at 75 years old, he was trying to clear leaves of his roof. "It's hard to admit and distinguish the fact that you're no longer what you were, and you're no longer capable of certain activities," Jerry Kramer, who played with McGee for 11 seasons, said. "And I think we push the limit a little bit."

Players these days could not live the lives that many past players in that age did. With the physical and athletic abilities that the players have today, it is so important for guys to keep their body's in top shape not only in the off-season, but also in the regular season. I can attest to that myself, being a football player. I cant even imagine having to play a football game hungover, and McGee performed at an outstanding level after a night that probably included a couple to many shots of Jack. There is also the fact that the league under Roger Goodell has much stricter player conduct codes. As we have seen in the last year, guys don't get away with very much at all. Players from McGee's era talk about how back in their playing days, if a guy got pulled over for a DUI, one officer would drive them home while the other drove their car to safety.

McGee was a great character in a interesting time for the league. "I just lost my best friend," former teammate Paul Hornung said upon hearing about his death. He is obviously a man who will be missed, and hopefully, his life will be talked about for years to come.

(quotes taken from nfl.com)

The Tale of Dobbs Ferry Football: Part One

There are countless happenings in the sports world that I could write about in this blog. The mets record breaking collapse, the Rockies in the NLCS, another NFL pothead running back. The list goes on and on. Any of these issues with professional athletes might have been a good topic to go into, but I decided to dedicate this blog to a story that is close to my heart. A tradition that I went through. A school that I played for, in a town that loves friday nights under the lights. It is a story that wont be on sportscenter tonight. Its the tale of a football dynasty that most people will never hear about.

The Dobbs Ferry High School football team has seen its share of ups and downs over the last few decades. In the 1980s, they were a powerhouse. Known as "the team of the decade", in a time before the state championship game, they were voted state champions four straight years by the New York State Sportswriters Association. From 1980-1989, Dobbs Ferry High School only lost eight games, and in that decade, there was a span in which they won over 50 straight games. Only about a decade early, from 1969-1973, Dobbs Ferry HS did not win a single game, and tallied a record of 0-40-2. The 1990s were a transitional period for the Dobbs Ferry HS football team, as they were forced to merge with the Hastings HS team. Hastings and Dobbs Ferry's are each others rivals, so you could see how these were not the best of times for either schools football squad. The merger lasted from 1993 to 1998, until a man named Jamie Block started a campaign to "wake the echoes" of Dobbs Ferry football. Coach Block, now the athletic director for Valhalla HS, another Westchester school, is very loved in the town of Dobbs Ferry. He was a phys ed teacher at the local elementary school, but Coach had a passion for football, and he knew that Dobbs Ferry needed to have its own team back up and running, dominating the county like it should be. He got legendary coach Frank "Skip" Violante, to return to Dobbs in 2000, after leaving when the team merged with Hastings to coach his sons at another Westchester HS named Somers High. Skip was the coach of the 70s, the 80s, and early in the 90s, and was known for his hard nose coaching. He was a very intense guy, and the faint hearted players usually would not survive on his roster for very long.

In 2000, the year before my class entered High School, Dobbs Ferry did not return to its form that most people thought it would. With a group of promising, but unexperienced young players, the Screaming Eagles went 2-6, and had the coaches and people of the town thinking that maybe trying to "wake the echoes" of Dobbs Ferry football wasn't such a good idea after all.

Figuring out what is out there in the sporting world.

Sport today has become one of the upper echelon businesses in the world. When you think about top things that employ people in the US, and offer successful job opportunities, sports are on that list. Things like finance, banking, food industry, stock broking, teaching, being a lawyer or doctor; sport now offers jobs and opportunities that are just as desirable as all of these, and it is was not always this way. In fact, a few decades ago, if a person said they wanted to pursue a career in sport, it meant they were headed down the path to becoming a gym teacher. Today, there is sports advertising, sports law, countless sport media outlets, public relations in sport, and many more areas of sport that offer great opportunities for people to have successful positions in the sporting world.

That brings me to myself. Along with the hundreds of other students at Ithaca College who are participating in some sort of sport studies. And of course we can't forget about the thousands more at all the other colleges and universities around the country who are studying the same things, all of who are looking to become successful in the world of sport, without actually playing it. What is out there for us? How vast is this sports society? I for one do not know exactly what I have got myself into. I decided to choose sports media as my major when I enrolled at Ithaca College based on the fact that I like sports. I felt that I could be successful at something that I am passionate about, and so I decided to look into this so-called "sports media" and run with it for awhile. Well in my third year into college, and internship-less, I am still unsure of what career path I am headed down. So why not take this time to look at some aspects of sport that seem appealing to me.

One thing that is appealing to me, and maybe can be something like a goal, is to reach a job on the professional level. By this I mean with a professional team, preferably in the big three: the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Professional Sports teams are big businesses, and they offer many jobs within their organizations. I am very interested in what goes on behind the scenes within the sports organizations, such as management, marketing, media relations, and things of that sort. Now obviously, money comes into play at some point. Everyone wants to make the big bucks, and a lot of areas in sport are known to not pay out very well. It seems like in sports, you're either making a lot, or you're not bringing in as much as you would like. It depends on what team you're working for, and what league that team is in. Obviously there is going to be a difference in what the Public Relations Director for the Arena Football League Chicago Rush makes, to what the same position on the National Football League Chicago Bears makes.

That brings me to why I chose Ithaca as the school I wanted to enroll in. Hopefully having a degree in Sports Media will give me the opportunity to find a job that has a good salary, and that I enjoy as well. Some different organizations in which previous graduates of IC have gotten jobs with include The Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Dodgers, the Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner, and many others.

I am excited to see where I end up in the future, and hopefully it will be with an organization that I can be successful in. One in which I can continue to rise in ranking in years to come, and become an important part of whatever organization that may be.