Thank Kerr for the Sun-set

As the NBA regular season winds down, the once proud Phoenix Suns are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs. Fans in the desert can place the blame squarely on general manager Steve Kerr. Phoenix currently sits ninth in the top heavy Western Conference. After the top nine, there isn't a team out West sniffing any hope of making the playoffs. The problem for the Suns, however, is that only eight teams per conference make it into the league's second season. Phoenix will be hard pressed to sneak into the eighth spot with power forward Amare Stoudamire out the rest of the season with an eye injury. Even with a healthy Stoudamire, the Suns would of had an uphill battle because the franchise's problems began much earlier.

The Suns problems began when Robert Sarver took over ownership of the team in 2004. The saving grace at this point in time was that chairman Jerry Colangelo remained in charge of the franchise. This allowed Phoenix to sign Steve Nash and to ascend to one of the elite teams in the NBA under head coach Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni's system and ':07 Seconds or Less' philosophy allowed players like Nash, Joe Johnson, Quinton Richardson, and Shawn Marion to flourish and turned Amare Stoudmire into an unstoppable force. In his four full seasons at the helm, D'Antoni churned out 232 regular season victories. This despite losing Stoudamire for the '05-'06 season and still guiding the Suns to the Western Conference Finals.

The Suns success during those years overshadowed the questionable moves being made behind the scenes. Despite still overseeing the franchise, Jerry Colangelo's hands were tied in improving the roster due to Robert Sarver's reluctance to add payroll. The Suns under Sarver have been notorious for essentially selling off first round draft picks for cash in order for Sarver to save a few bucks. Those discarded draft picks resulted in talented players like Luol Deng and Nate Robinson playing elsewhere in the league. In addition, Phoenix had to trade away both Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson due to financial considerations. The bottom line is that the Suns were always paper thin and missing one last piece that could get have put them over the top.

The downfall in Phoenix began when Jerry Colangelo left the franchise and Steve Kerr was hired as GM in 2007. Kerr and Sarver were longtime friends going back to college at Arizona, however, Kerr had no prior management experience. Kerr believed that the D'Antoni's style wasn't condusive to winning a championship and decided to turn the Suns into a more conventional team. The first step in this process was to trade for Shawn Marion for Shaquille O'Neal last season. The move immediately made Amare Stoudamire less effective inside with Shaq clogging up the paint and stifled the Suns' run and gun offense. The end result was a first round exit to the Spurs in the playoffs.

After the season, D'Antoni and the Suns parted ways as Kerr's actions made it clear than D'Antoni's style of play was no longer welcome under the new regime's watch. Kerr wanted to implement a more defensive oriented approach and hired Terry Porter as head coach. Suns fans know how that decision played out as the team never looked comfortable playing in Porter's system. Kerr's experiment lasted all of half a season before having to fire Porter and put the one assistant coach remaining from D'Antoni's staff, Alvin Gentry, at the helm of the team. Kerr and Porter couldn't produce the results on the court that D'Antoni did year after year and both the players and fans were frustrated. To say that Kerr's moves so far have been an utter failure is a huge understatement.

Kerr has felt compelled to allow the Suns to revert back to their old tricks for time being. Too little, too late. He comes out of this looking bad regardless of what the Suns do going forward. Kerr tried to force a culture onto a team that just didn't fit the personnel. The Suns had become highly successful and popular around the league playing their uptempo style. Kerr was convinced the Suns couldn't win the championship playing that way. By playing his way, Kerr has the Suns out of championship contention all together and back in the lottery. Maybe this time Mr. Sarver will feel compelled to actually keep that draft pick.

Bang for the Buck in NFL Free Agency

As the NFL off-season continues to roll along, free agency has generated vast buzz and fanfare. While Major League Baseball franchises - not named the Yankees - have pulled in the spending reins due to these trying economic conditions, NFL teams have been more than willing to spend in record amounts. Just another reason why baseball needs a salary cap. There have been some surprises like Terrell Owens being exiled from Dallas and winding in Buffalo of all places. There have also been some head scratching behavior like Arizona allowing franchise savior Kurt Warner to hit free agency before coming to their senses.

Then there are some things that never change or surprise like the Washington Redskins' drunken spending. The Redskins and owner Daniel Snyder have become notorious with overspending on veteran players. Does anyone remember Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, or the purging of the New York Jets roster a few years ago? Well, looks like the 'Skins have somehow worked their way back under the cap, but certainly did not learn from their mistakes.

The Redskins wasted no time breaking the bank by shelling out $100 million to former Titans' defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Haynesworth has proved to be a dominate force on defense, but tossing that much money at a interior linemen is a risky proposition. The only position franchises should be throwing that type of money at is quarterback. Albert Haynesworth isn't carrying his team to victory week in and week out like Peyton Manning.

If Washington's spending had stopped there then maybe the decision to acquire one of the most dominant defensive players in the NFL could have been rationalized. Not surprisingly, however, the Redskins were only getting started following up the Haynesworth signing by handing CB DeAngelo Hall $55 million over six years. The Redskins obviously saw something in Hall during his short stint in Washington last season that the rest of the NFL had missed because no other NFL team was going to pay Hall that kind of money. Over the past two seasons, Hall has looked like a player on the decline rather than one worthy of another huge contract after proving to be a bust last season in Oakland.

So for those keeping track, Washington has committed $155 million to two defensive players. For good measure, Mr. Snyder and company decided to pay Bills castoff G Derrick Dockery $26.5 million over 5 years. The grand total for the three free agent signings - roughly a cool $182 million. Meanwhile, division rival and NFC East champions, the New York Giants were able to find value in free agency to help boost the team's defensive front seven. The Giants bolster their already strong defensive line with the signing of former Dallas DE Chris Canty and Seattle DT Rock Bernard. Canty received $42 million and Bernard $16 million while Atlanta free agent OLB Michael Boley signed for $25 million.

In total, the Giants committed $83 million to three key defensive additions, which is $20 million less than Washington gave Haynesworth alone and about half of what the Redskins spent on Haynesworth and Hall combined. This is just an example of how these division rivals couldn't be any different in how they build their respective teams. The Redskins tendency to spend has consistently made headlines, but hasn't translated to victories on the field. The Giants, on the other hand, have been able to find value in free agency and develop talent through the draft that helped them win the Super Bowl last year. The way things stand right now, the money is on the New York, not Washington, to be in Miami at the end of next season.

Stop Crying Paulus

By GM Be Nasty
Special to Bleeding Sports

Greg Paulus and the rest of those pathetic McDonald's All-Americans from Duke got slapped around again, this time by the Eagles from Boston College. The loss marks Duke's 4th in the highly overrated ACC. This league is not even in the same ballpark as the clearly dominate Big East. Someone should inform Joe Lunardi of this fact who declared this week that the ACC is the best conference in America. Mr. Bracketology who does nothing all day but fill out NCAA brackets quotes RPIs and strength of schedules as the basis of his argument. Too bad everyone knows that those figures are so flawed and basically meaningless. Wake up ESPN, the Big East is head and shoulders above every conference in the country and will prove it come March.

By the way. Paulus stop crying you little girl and learn to move your feet on defense. It was highly comical watching Tyrese Rice break your ankles every other time down the court.

Steel-ing the Super Bowl

It is about time to wrap up Bleeding Sport’s coverage of Super Bowl XLIII. Here are the five themes for this year’s big game:

1. High Drama

The Super Bowl had some lulls, but overall the game turned out to be a classic thanks to an unbelievable fourth quarter. The last fifteen minutes was all you could ask for in a championship game. First, the Cardinals remarkably stormed back to take the lead and then Big Ben made the plays to lead the Steelers to victory.

Ben Roethlisberger deserves a lot of credit for simply carrying the Steelers on his back and winning his second Super Bowl. With that said, Super Bowl XLIII will also be remembered as the Super Bowl with the most mysterious officiating in history. In particular, two pivotal calls or lack there tainted the game.

2. The Difference between Victory and Defeat

Super Bowl XLIII reinforced a common thought in the NFL of how games usually come down to one or two plays. This year, the NFL Championship was essentially determined by one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl history that completely changed the game. The Cardinals had a first and goal at the Steelers’ 1 yard line with under one minute to play in the first half. If the Cardinals score they go into the half with a 14-10 lead and the ball to the start the second half after trailing 10-0 earlier in the game. All the momentum was with Arizona. That was until Kurt Warner’s pass for Anquan Boldin was thrown right into the gut of Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison. Harrison’s wild length of the field interception return will be one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl history and also one of the most infamous.

3. Bad Officiating

The officiating in Super Bowl XLII was downright embarrassing – plain and simple. The Harrison interception return completely changed the complexion of the game and the play should have never resulted in a touchdown. First, it is debatable if Harrison even reaches the endzone on the play and while the play was reviewed it can be argued that he was down before the ball broke the goal line. While the Harrison play is debatable, it should have been a moot point. Harrison would have been knocked out of bounds at the Cardinals’ thirty yard by Arizona running back Tim Hightower if it wasn’t for an obvious illegal block in the back by the Steelers’ Lamar Woodley. Well, the foul was obvious to most everybody but the officials who failed throw a flag on the play allowing Harrison to score to change the face of the Super Bowl. Making the play more amazing was the fact that the officials threw a flag on almost every other play the rest of the game.


Not clipping, but you get the idea.


4. Big Players Making Big Plays

Despite the lousy officiating, there were some wonderful individual performances in this game. Kurt Warner dismantled the Steelers’ vaunted defense in the fourth quarter on his way to the second best passing performance in Super Bowl history. Amazingly, Warner has now played in three Super Bowls and has put up the top three passing yard performances in the game. Mr. Warner is on his way to the Hall of Fame. Lock it up. At the same time, Larry Fitzgerald introduced himself to the nation as the top offensive threat in football. Quiet all night, Fitzgerald exploded in the fourth quarter and his second touchdown left the Arizona Cardinals two and half minutes away from becoming World Champions.

The most impressive performance of the game, however, came from Ben Roethlisberger who avoided defenders and constant pressure all night to make the plays when the game was on the line with an assist from Santonio Holmes. Big Ben willed, carried, and dragged the rest of his teammates to victory. The Steelers had no running game and couldn’t convert in the red zone, but Roethlisberger was able to keep plays alive and make just enough of them to win the game.

5. More Bad Officiating

But the game wasn’t over just yet. After the Roethlisberger to Holmes connection gave Pittsburgh the lead, Arizona still had one last shot to steal the game. Only the Cardinals were robbed of that last prayer down field, but more inept officiating. On what became the Cardinals final offensive play of the game, Kurt Warner tried to buy time in the pocket before cocking his arm back for a heave toward the endzone. At that moment, the Steelers’ Lamar Woodley hit Warner’s arm, but the Cards’ QB was still able to bring his arm forward and football traveled five yards forward before it was recovered by a Pittsburgh defender. Looked like an incomplete pass, traveled like an incomplete pass, but ruled a fumble on the field. Surely, the play would be reviewed. Only the review never happened. Inexplicably, the Steelers’ offense was able to kneel on the ball to end the Super Bowl without a pivotal, highly questionable call on the field ever being reviewed!

The chain of events that transpired at the end of Super Bowl XLIII goes beyond explanation. The Warner fumble was clearly a questionable call and quit possibly the wrong call was made. Why did the upstairs official not rule that the play should be reviewed by the referee on the field? The NFL attempted to run some damage control the day after the game saying that the play was indeed reviewed and that the call on the field was correct. The question becomes when and how was the play reviewed? For a play to be under official review the upstairs official calls down to the head referee on the field. It is the responsibility of the referee on the field to then review the play from the replay booth on the sideline. This never happened. The play was never officially reviewed and the fact that this error happened in the biggest game of the year is intolerable. For some strange reason, however, nobody mentioned this after the game. For some reason, the entire incident was swept under the rug immediately. How such a blatant mistake could be made highly suspicious. Even more suspicious is how the five hundred analysts between NBC or ESPN all failed to question the ending of the contest.

One conspiracy theory for the reason the play wasn’t reviewed is due to a fifteen yard penalty called on Pittsburgh linebacker James Farrior. After the fumble recovery, Farrior removed his helmet on the field while celebrating. If the play had been reviewed and overturned, the Cardinals would of have the ball at the Pittsburgh 30 instead of the 45 due to the penalty making a throw in the endzone much easier. Imagine the controversy if Warner was somehow able to find Larry Fitzgerald one last time for the game winning score. Instead, football fans never had the opportunity to see Warner make that final heave and it’s a shame. For that reason, despite all the wonderful plays and moments, Super Bowl XLIII will forever have a black cloud hanging over it.

Super Bowl Pick'em

Welcome to the Bleeding Sports 2009 NFL Playoff Pick'em Finale! Sadly, this is the last Sunday with football until September. It's sickening just thinking about it. The NFL season just flies by way too fast. But don't worry sports fans, 72 weeks of NBA playoff basketball is just around the corner. Sigh. At least, we all have March Madness to look forward to. Before then, however, the Super Bowl needs to be played. So without further ado here are the Bleeding Sports Super Bowl picks from the CEO, G. Francis and The Pickmeister, J. Daniels.

G. Francis - BS CEO

Arizona (+6.5) over Pittsburgh

Super Sunday...Steelers and Cardinals for the World Championship. The fact that the Cardinals are playing in this game is a feat in itself. The bottom line is that Kurt Warner and the Cards are indeed here and I'm taking them to win this game outright. The Steelers have been in the national spotlight all season with seemingly everyone of their home games featured in the national 4pm slot on Sundays. The Steelers defense has been dominant this season, but they haven't faced an offense like the Cardinals. If the Cardinals offensive line can give Warner time, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin will cause fits in the Pittsburgh secondary. The fact that Arizona head coach Ken Wisenhunt and assistant Russ Grimm were on the Steelers staff just two years ago gives the Cardinals a distinct advantage. Arizona used that advantage to defeat Pittsburgh 21-14 last season.

On offense, the Cardinals know the Steelers defensive tendencies and will take the Steelers out of their base defense with Wisenhunt's three wide receiver offense. Though the one unit that has barely been mentioned at all and could have the biggest impact is the Cardinals defense. The Steelers are average at best on offense and the Cardinals have forced twelve turnovers in three games this postseason. The Cardinals do a great job at pressuring the quarterback and the Steelers' offensive is the weak link. If the Cardinals can stop the run they will tee off on Ben Roethlisberger and force him into turnovers.

I expect it to be a close game especially with the way the Steelers keep teams in the game with their style of play. I'm putting my money on Warner, Fitzgerald, and Boldin to pull this game out for Arizona. Keep an eye on Boldin and Breaston especially with the Steelers paying extra attention to Fitzgerald.

Cardinals 27, Pittsburgh 24


J. Daniels - The Pickmeister

Arizona (+6.5) over Pittsburgh

You hear it all the time (and saw it last year) that defense wins championship. Pittsburgh’s D is damn good, you can’t argue with that, but Arizona’s have been playing out of their mind throughout the whole playoffs and will no doubt carry the momentum into the Super Bowl. To add to that, Big Bum loves helping out the other teams defense and the Cards will thrive off his mistakes. You can’t give Warner and his two beasts of receivers any short field opportunities, but Ben is going to do just that. Look forward to seeing fumbles, interceptions, and of course sacks as the Arizona D rattles Roethlisberger. Take the Cardinals with the points. Actually take the Cardinals to be the Super Bowl XLIII champs with a 24-16 victory.

The Perfect Britt?

The Super Bowl has yet to be played, but beside the Cardinals and Steelers the rest of the NFL is already looking toward next year. With the college football season ending and underclassman having declared for the draft, wannabe GMs have begun to rant about the prospects they want for their franchise. Those silly mock drafts that every sports outlet loves to release are all ready available to rile fans with a false sense of excitement.

One of the most intriguing positions entering this year's draft is wide receiver. Texas Tech man beast Michael Crabtree has garnered most of the attention and with good reason. Crabtree has been a force on the college level and will almost certainly be a top 10 pick. The reality is that most teams drafting in the first round won't have a shot at Mr. Crabtree and after him is a deep pool of talented players. Some of the names that have been thrown out there as potential first round picks are Jeremy Macklin, Percy Harvin, Hakeem Nicks, and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Each of them are nice players, but there seems to one standout wide receiver being left out of the mix despite being arguably more physically gifted than anyone of others mentioned including Crabtree.

The most intriguing prospect at the wide receiver position in 2009 is Rutger's Kenny Britt. At 6 foot 4 and 220 pounds Britt possess excellent size and physicality at the position to go along with game breaking speed. He average nearly 20 yards a catch during his breakout sophomore season in 2007. Britt also comes from a pro-style, run oriented offense at Rutgers and was still able to put up fantastic numbers.

While Crabtree is a dominant player, he lacks top end speed while Macklin and Harvin possess great speed, but lack the size of a top flight NFL receiver. These players also benefited from playing in spread offenses in college and history shows that putting up big numbers in the spread does not translate to success at the next level. As for Nicks and Heyward-Bey both have had much less success at the college level, are smaller, and are not vertical threats like Kenny Britt. Britt has number one receiver written all over him while the same can't be said for any of the other prospects mentioned other than Crabtree. If your team is able to grab Britt at the end of the first round or early in the second, jump for joy because you will have a draft steal.

Come to think of it, there is an NFL franchise who plays in New Jersey and needs to replace their big, fast, physical number one receiver. Britt is also from New Jersey and stayed home to play his college ball. Wonder how he looks in Blue?

Down Goes Philly! Down goes Philly!

Great job Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb. Once again you showed your ineptitude in the playoffs. You proved that "You are what we thought you were".

Long live the Junior Varsity Bills!

1-4 in the NFC Championship game and 0-1 in the Super Bowl.

Keep puking in the huddle Donovan.