Except for the Bears and Colts, NFL teams are already hard at work preparing for next season. Along with new head coach hires there has been a good amount of staff turnover around the league. However, there is one move in particular that has stood out to me and while it hasn’t received much national attention it deserves to be discussed.
The Cleveland Browns have spent the early part of their off-season revamping their offensive coaching staff. The Browns offense has been anemic the last couple years so cleaning house was only logical. It was even more logical to go outside the organization and hire San Diego assistant Rob Chudzinski as the new offensive coordinator. Chudzinski comes over from a Chargers team with one of the most dynamic offenses in the league. Cleveland needed a change in offensive philosophy after averaging a dismal 14.8 points per game in 2006.
What defies logic is that the Carolina Panthers felt inclined to hire Cleveland assistant Jeff Davidson as their new offensive coordinator. Following a season where the Carolina offense lacked production and coordinator Dan Henning was frequently criticized for being too conservative, the organization had to make a change. However, to hire an assistant from a team that just dismantled its offensive staff hardly will win over the confidence of the players or fans. If the team was worried about being too conservative the last place to look for an offensive coach was in Cleveland. You think Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith heard about the hire and were immediately excited about the prospect of resembling a Cleveland offense that scored the third fewest points in the league this past season (32 fewer than Carolina). Don’t think so. Just don’t expect to see a repeat come next season with all the “experts” picking the Carolina Panthers for a trip to Super Bowl.
Smart. Original. Sports Discussion + Analysis.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
MIA: The NHL
About a month ago I was channel surfing one night and stumbled upon Rocky IV for the 9,000,000,000,000th time. The late James Brown is singing "Living in America," Rocky looks confused, and Apollo Creed is dancing around the stage while Ivan Drago stands in the center of the ring…. about to kill him. Obviously, I put down the remote, sat back, and watched this modern day Sly Stallone classic. So Rocky doesn't throw in the towel, Apollo is left having convulsions in the middle of the ring with absolutely no medical personnel on the premise, and the Russia calmly explains, "If he dies, he dies." Everything is peachy.
Then we go to commercial and I realize I’m not watching TNT, but Vs (or Versus, I'm still not sure). Confused, I check the display to see what else is on this mysterious station and up next…Rocky V! I get excited even though it’s Rocky V. Could this be my dream come true...a station that just plays the Rocky movies in a continuous loop or possibly for good measure throws a curveball once in a while and shows Cobra or Over The Top!! Wowie!!! Alas, No. Only in a perfect world I suppose. With never hearing of Versus in my life I actually checked the channel line up card from the cable company. The card says the station is OLN. The plot thickens. Now I have to make the extra effort to go online. Come to find out OLN (Outdoor Life Network???) had changed its name to Versus. The name change took effect a few months back to coincide with the new NHL hockey season.
The NHL made a deal with OLN to be the exclusive cable provided of NHL games prior to last season. Now I may not be a hockey fan, but as a sports fan I had not heard anything about the NHL on Versus debut. As a matter of fact, I never hear anything about the NHL these days. Sports talk shows don't spend a second on it and I never see anything written about the league. I'm surprised SportsCenter still shows NHL game highlights. Does anybody care about the NHL? Does the NHL care if anybody cares? As an outsider it sure doesn't look that way. Then something funny happened last week.
Apparently, last Wednesday the NHL held it's first All-Star game since 2004. Yes, the NHL All-Star Game was held during the middle of the week with no promotion or fanfare. The All-Star game is supposed to be an event, a celebration for both the league and the sport. The NHL has received very little attention since the 2005 strike and with good reason. Nobody missed the game while it was away and few have a pulse on the league now. It is hard to tell if the NHL even has a pulse because when it comes to marketing their product the league is comatose. There will always be the diehards who will support the game of hockey, but they are the minority. The league needs to attract new fans to the game yet there hasn't been one visible attempt made by the NHL to expand their fan base.
I'm not a big proponent of the NBA because of how the league ruins the game of basketball (plus the Knicks suck), but marketing their product is something the league actually does right. The NBA has become an internationally recognizable brand. The NBA All-Star game has little to do about the actual game and more about a weekend long event marketing the league and it's players. Fans and media are given access to a plethora of events taking place during the entire weekend. The NBA has even moved the Rookie - Sophomore Game to Friday night to extend television coverage to of All-Star weekend to three days. Many fans look more forward to NBA All-Star Saturday Night with competitions like the Slam Dunk Contest and Three Point Shootout. Did the NHL even hold any skill competitions this year? I have no idea and neither does any sports fan that isn't a hockey nut because there wasn't one bit of promotion done by the league. The NBA uses the All-Star game and all that it encompasses as an opportunity to market their product to the masses. It is essentially a three-day advertising blitz by the NBA for the NBA. This year the NBA brings the party to Las Vegas. Why? Because it's all about the spectacle and there is no better stage than Vegas for David Stern to showcase his product.
The NHL could sure use a showcase to open the eyes of the general public to the game. This past weekend was a dead weekend for sports and a perfect opportunity for the NHL to be on showcase. Instead, it was decided to schedule the game smack dab in the middle of the week with little mention and absolutely no promotion. This equals nobody watching.
Ratings for the game dropped 76% vs. the last All Star Game in 2004. According to Nielsen Media, the game managed only a 0.7 rating meaning it was watched by a measly 474,298 households. Not what the NHL had in mind in terms of promoting the sport. Gary Bettman should think about heading over to the NBA offices and getting a refresher course in Marketing 101 from his former boss David Stern.
Though a funny thing happened. The NHL actually did manage to garner national attention resulting from the All Star Game. Stories were written about the game and sports talk shows were finally talking about the NHL. One problem. All that talk wasn't about the game itself, the final score, or who won MVP…it was ridicule over the fact that an episode of the forty-year old ‘Andy Griffith Show’ on TV Land got a higher rating than the NHL All Star Game. Finally, the NHL created a buzz.
Then we go to commercial and I realize I’m not watching TNT, but Vs (or Versus, I'm still not sure). Confused, I check the display to see what else is on this mysterious station and up next…Rocky V! I get excited even though it’s Rocky V. Could this be my dream come true...a station that just plays the Rocky movies in a continuous loop or possibly for good measure throws a curveball once in a while and shows Cobra or Over The Top!! Wowie!!! Alas, No. Only in a perfect world I suppose. With never hearing of Versus in my life I actually checked the channel line up card from the cable company. The card says the station is OLN. The plot thickens. Now I have to make the extra effort to go online. Come to find out OLN (Outdoor Life Network???) had changed its name to Versus. The name change took effect a few months back to coincide with the new NHL hockey season.
The NHL made a deal with OLN to be the exclusive cable provided of NHL games prior to last season. Now I may not be a hockey fan, but as a sports fan I had not heard anything about the NHL on Versus debut. As a matter of fact, I never hear anything about the NHL these days. Sports talk shows don't spend a second on it and I never see anything written about the league. I'm surprised SportsCenter still shows NHL game highlights. Does anybody care about the NHL? Does the NHL care if anybody cares? As an outsider it sure doesn't look that way. Then something funny happened last week.
Apparently, last Wednesday the NHL held it's first All-Star game since 2004. Yes, the NHL All-Star Game was held during the middle of the week with no promotion or fanfare. The All-Star game is supposed to be an event, a celebration for both the league and the sport. The NHL has received very little attention since the 2005 strike and with good reason. Nobody missed the game while it was away and few have a pulse on the league now. It is hard to tell if the NHL even has a pulse because when it comes to marketing their product the league is comatose. There will always be the diehards who will support the game of hockey, but they are the minority. The league needs to attract new fans to the game yet there hasn't been one visible attempt made by the NHL to expand their fan base.
I'm not a big proponent of the NBA because of how the league ruins the game of basketball (plus the Knicks suck), but marketing their product is something the league actually does right. The NBA has become an internationally recognizable brand. The NBA All-Star game has little to do about the actual game and more about a weekend long event marketing the league and it's players. Fans and media are given access to a plethora of events taking place during the entire weekend. The NBA has even moved the Rookie - Sophomore Game to Friday night to extend television coverage to of All-Star weekend to three days. Many fans look more forward to NBA All-Star Saturday Night with competitions like the Slam Dunk Contest and Three Point Shootout. Did the NHL even hold any skill competitions this year? I have no idea and neither does any sports fan that isn't a hockey nut because there wasn't one bit of promotion done by the league. The NBA uses the All-Star game and all that it encompasses as an opportunity to market their product to the masses. It is essentially a three-day advertising blitz by the NBA for the NBA. This year the NBA brings the party to Las Vegas. Why? Because it's all about the spectacle and there is no better stage than Vegas for David Stern to showcase his product.
The NHL could sure use a showcase to open the eyes of the general public to the game. This past weekend was a dead weekend for sports and a perfect opportunity for the NHL to be on showcase. Instead, it was decided to schedule the game smack dab in the middle of the week with little mention and absolutely no promotion. This equals nobody watching.
Ratings for the game dropped 76% vs. the last All Star Game in 2004. According to Nielsen Media, the game managed only a 0.7 rating meaning it was watched by a measly 474,298 households. Not what the NHL had in mind in terms of promoting the sport. Gary Bettman should think about heading over to the NBA offices and getting a refresher course in Marketing 101 from his former boss David Stern.
Though a funny thing happened. The NHL actually did manage to garner national attention resulting from the All Star Game. Stories were written about the game and sports talk shows were finally talking about the NHL. One problem. All that talk wasn't about the game itself, the final score, or who won MVP…it was ridicule over the fact that an episode of the forty-year old ‘Andy Griffith Show’ on TV Land got a higher rating than the NHL All Star Game. Finally, the NHL created a buzz.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
NFL Championship Game Picks by THE PICKMEISTER
Current Playoff Record: 3-5
The Brain Trust Conference Championship Games Picks
Current Playoff Record: 3-5
The Brain Trust Conference Championship Games Picks
Saturday, January 13, 2007
NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF PICKS
ROUND 2: The Brain Trust vs. The PickMeister
New England
Saturday, January 6, 2007
NFL PLAYOFF PICKS
It’s playoff time. The NFL Playoffs start today. What better way for Bleeding Sports to celebrate than with a little healthy picks competition.
Bleeding Sports welcomes The PickMeister to challenge the Bleeding Sports Brain Trust in a little NFL Playoff Pick'em. Bleeding Sports will be keeping score throughout the playoffs in this winner take all battle for illegal sports gambling supremacy.
So here we go. It’s the NFL Wild Card Playoffs. Let the games begins!
Home Teams in CAPS.
The PickMeister's Picks
Both these teams have been unimpressive in the ending weeks of the regular season, each losing 3 out of their last 4 games.
Like the Colts,
Some may say this is the easiest game of the week to pick, I however find it the most difficult. The Giants have proved to be the most inconsistent team in the league, leaving us all to wonder which Giants team is going show up. The first time these two teams met, the Giants won in overtime 30-24. The second meeting told a different story, with
The Brain Trust Picks
The one thing that the Colts have been able to do in the playoffs is crush teams at home in the Wild Card round. Just ask
As the PickMeister mentioned, both teams have played poorly as of late. Dallas has played well in Seattle the last couple of years losing last year on a patented Bledsoe interception late and winning 2 years ago in that memorable Monday night affair. In addition, this
Initially, the Brain Trust thought about picking the Jets. Then the PickMeister took the Jets and the Brain Trust began thinking more clearly. The Jets aren’t a very good football team. Yes, they won at
It’s tough for the Brain Trust to ever pick against the Giants. So why start now! Based on the way both of these teams have been playing there is no reason to think the Eagles won’t cover. However, the first game was close and so was the second game if Tiki bats down the ball on the Cole INT return. It’s tough to see this not being a close game and the Brain Trust still believes the Giants are the better team.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
BC Not Big Time
A belated commentary on the state of the Boston College football program.
The school recently hired a new football coach to replace the departed Tom O'Brien. News of O'Brien's jumping ship to ACC rival NC State surely made the Super Fans jump with joy. No more inexplicable losses to lesser opponents. Goodbye to that conservative, boring offense. Good riddance to O'Brien's no nonsense, no fun culture. No more trips to small market Charlotte, NC for the Car Quest Bowl or Car Care Bowl or Car Wash Bowl. Nope. It's time for a new era for college football in Chestnut Hill. Boston College is a program on the rise. After escaping from the Big East to join the ACC and pouring tons of money into a new athletics facility (all for its football program), it was only logical that the school go out and reel in a big time football coach. A sexy name that will lure recruits and national attention to Chestnut Hill. It's a new era for college athletics in New England....
It's The Jeff Jagodzinski Era.
EH.
The problem with BC is that they want to be a big time football program. They joined the ACC for one reason and one reason only: to make more money on the football program. However, there is a stark reality that the administration fails to understand. Boston College does not have what it takes to be a contender. The school doesn't have the size or the community support to be an elite program. Year after year, Bowl committees pass on the Eagles in favor of conference rivals with worse records because BC can't generate enough tickets sales. Boston College simply doesn't garner the same support from the surrounding community that most other ACC schools do. However, the even bigger problem is the program can't attract the elite talent to play football at Boston College.
It's an uphill battle to build a consistent winner in such an environment. And if anything can be said about the Eagles it's that they have been amazingly consistent. They boast the longest bowl winning streak in the nation. Accomplishments like that, if nothing else, demonstrate that Tom O'Brien was taken for granted as head coach. Boston College is not on an even playing with most other schools in the ACC when it comes to recruiting. The academic requirements at Boston College weed out many of the top high school players. Yet instead of finishing near the bottom of the ACC with the likes of Duke (a school that runs into the same recruiting challenges), BC has consistently been able to compete with Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Miami. Whether the Big East or the ACC, the Eagles have finished in the top half of the conference standings year in and year out. They do it with less talent than most of the teams they play against. They win because they are well coached.
So now Tom O'Brien is gone. Likely frustrated by his low salary and tired of the lack of respect he and the program received from both fans and foes. The administration at BC was also ready to move on. The coach had taken the team as far he could and the school didn't hide their displeasure with that fact the O'Brien wasn't much involved (let alone seen) on campus. It was time for a change.
The coaching search was on. You heard names like Mark Whipple, Steve Mariucci, Kevin Gilbride, Jim Fassell, and even Doug Flutie. When the dust settled, BC decided on a cheaper....oh, excuse me....an up and coming, lesser named coach to lead its football program.
Boston College needed to shell out some cash for a more established coach to lead the program. If the administration really believes that BC football is among the elite then you need a name that can compete with the Butch Davis' and Charlie Weiss' of the world. Now maybe Jagodzinski and the "very dynamic offense" he is promising to bring to Chestnut Hill will attract some top notch talent, but that remains to be seen. While Notre Dame immediately became a force on the recruiting trail simply by hiring a known commodity as coach, it will take time for Jagodzinski and BC establish themselves. During that time, Butch Davis will be building a powerhouse at UNC, Miami and Florida State are more likely to turn their programs around than fall flat, and O'Brien will build a consistent winner at NC State.
Boston College needed to attract more talented recruits to the program. They needed to draw more attention to collegiate athletics in the Boston area. They needed to create a buzz around the football program. They needed an identity to distinguish themselves among the crowd in the ACC.
They needed a Name.
The school recently hired a new football coach to replace the departed Tom O'Brien. News of O'Brien's jumping ship to ACC rival NC State surely made the Super Fans jump with joy. No more inexplicable losses to lesser opponents. Goodbye to that conservative, boring offense. Good riddance to O'Brien's no nonsense, no fun culture. No more trips to small market Charlotte, NC for the Car Quest Bowl or Car Care Bowl or Car Wash Bowl. Nope. It's time for a new era for college football in Chestnut Hill. Boston College is a program on the rise. After escaping from the Big East to join the ACC and pouring tons of money into a new athletics facility (all for its football program), it was only logical that the school go out and reel in a big time football coach. A sexy name that will lure recruits and national attention to Chestnut Hill. It's a new era for college athletics in New England....
It's The Jeff Jagodzinski Era.
EH.
The problem with BC is that they want to be a big time football program. They joined the ACC for one reason and one reason only: to make more money on the football program. However, there is a stark reality that the administration fails to understand. Boston College does not have what it takes to be a contender. The school doesn't have the size or the community support to be an elite program. Year after year, Bowl committees pass on the Eagles in favor of conference rivals with worse records because BC can't generate enough tickets sales. Boston College simply doesn't garner the same support from the surrounding community that most other ACC schools do. However, the even bigger problem is the program can't attract the elite talent to play football at Boston College.
It's an uphill battle to build a consistent winner in such an environment. And if anything can be said about the Eagles it's that they have been amazingly consistent. They boast the longest bowl winning streak in the nation. Accomplishments like that, if nothing else, demonstrate that Tom O'Brien was taken for granted as head coach. Boston College is not on an even playing with most other schools in the ACC when it comes to recruiting. The academic requirements at Boston College weed out many of the top high school players. Yet instead of finishing near the bottom of the ACC with the likes of Duke (a school that runs into the same recruiting challenges), BC has consistently been able to compete with Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Miami. Whether the Big East or the ACC, the Eagles have finished in the top half of the conference standings year in and year out. They do it with less talent than most of the teams they play against. They win because they are well coached.
So now Tom O'Brien is gone. Likely frustrated by his low salary and tired of the lack of respect he and the program received from both fans and foes. The administration at BC was also ready to move on. The coach had taken the team as far he could and the school didn't hide their displeasure with that fact the O'Brien wasn't much involved (let alone seen) on campus. It was time for a change.
The coaching search was on. You heard names like Mark Whipple, Steve Mariucci, Kevin Gilbride, Jim Fassell, and even Doug Flutie. When the dust settled, BC decided on a cheaper....oh, excuse me....an up and coming, lesser named coach to lead its football program.
Boston College needed to shell out some cash for a more established coach to lead the program. If the administration really believes that BC football is among the elite then you need a name that can compete with the Butch Davis' and Charlie Weiss' of the world. Now maybe Jagodzinski and the "very dynamic offense" he is promising to bring to Chestnut Hill will attract some top notch talent, but that remains to be seen. While Notre Dame immediately became a force on the recruiting trail simply by hiring a known commodity as coach, it will take time for Jagodzinski and BC establish themselves. During that time, Butch Davis will be building a powerhouse at UNC, Miami and Florida State are more likely to turn their programs around than fall flat, and O'Brien will build a consistent winner at NC State.
Boston College needed to attract more talented recruits to the program. They needed to draw more attention to collegiate athletics in the Boston area. They needed to create a buzz around the football program. They needed an identity to distinguish themselves among the crowd in the ACC.
They needed a Name.
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