Author: Dave Ettinger

Dave is a Trending News Sports Writer for Athlon Sports, covering breaking and trending news across major sports, including NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, college football and basketball. With over 10 years of experience in sports media, Dave’s versatility extends to television, radio, and journalism. In addition to his role at Athlon Sports, Dave works in TV Production at ESPN, where he manages the production, editing, and processing of shows and events that re-air across ESPN's network of channels. Prior to joining ESPN, Dave served as an Executive Producer at WFAN and CBS Sports Radio, further solidifying his expertise in sports media. Dave earned his bachelor’s degree in Media Communications from SUNY College at Old Westbury, bringing both his education and extensive industry experience to his roles across various platforms.

2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductees

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 1 Comment

Congratulations to the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees.  Congratulations Warren Sapp, Bill Parcells, Jonathan Ogden, Dave Robinson, Larry Allen, Curley Culp, and Cris Carter!!  It is the most prestigious honor a football player or coach can receive.  This years ballot was certainly loaded with worthy candidates, but unfortunately only a certain number of players can make it in each year.  Which begs the question, why in the world are there minimums and maximums for the number of players that can be inducted into the Hall of Fame every year?  I personally don’t understand this concept.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame is supposed to be the measure of a players or coaches career and whether they deserve to be enshrined along side other legends of the game.  Here are a few quick excerpts I grabbed from the Pro Football Hall of Fame website that should shed some light on the subject:

“The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 46-person Selection Committee is charged with the vital task of continuing to be sure that new enshrinees are the finest the game has produced.”  That is the first line from the Pro Football Hall of Fame website under the Selection Process Tab.  My intention is not to disrespect the Hall of Fame, but only to educate.  See guys, logic would dictate that the Hall of Fame should only allow in the best of the best.  This means that setting minimums and forcing inductees into the Hall of Fame makes no sense whatsoever.  Here’s another quick excerpt from their website: “There is no set number for any class of enshrinees but, the Committee’s current ground rules do stipulate that between four and seven new members will be selected each year.”  If you set a minimum and a maximum on the amount of inductees you will or can have for each year, you are doing a disservice to the Hall of Fame.  If you have a “weaker” list of players to select from on a given year, but you are forced to induct at least 4 players, you are watering down the contents of the Hall and therefore not sending only the best of the best to the promised land.  On the flip side, if you have a year like 2013 where you have 8 worthy candidates, then you are forcing someone to wait at least an extra year to enter the sacred Hall of Fame.  For example, this year Michael Strahan deserved to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, however he was the 8th best player on the list this year, so he must wait.  Why??  You got me.  I have no freakin’ clue.  Hopefully someone can explain it to me.  It’s hard for me to understand how the NFL, a multi-billion dollar machine, can get something so simple so wrong.  I did notice that in 1973 and 1976 they only inducted three players, so  maybe there is hope for change after all.  Here’s a little side note that I have to mention:

Man do I feel bad for Dave Robinson.  For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, Dave Robinson was announced immediately following Jonathan Ogden on Sunday prior to the big game.  Whoever decided the order that the inductees should be announced should be fired.  With a Pro-Ravens crowd on hand, you had to know that Jonathan Ogden was going to get a standing ovation.  Even Dave Robinson noticed it.  You could faintly hear him say, “Damn it’s bad after that.”  Why you wouldn’t put Ogden last is beyond me, but as you can see the Hall of Fame doesn’t seem to be getting anything right.

Congratulations class of 2013!!  Better luck next year Mr. Strahan.

Out of Darkness(Super Bowl Recap)

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 4 Comments

The Super Bowl was certainly worth the wait this year wasn’t it?  It had a little bit of everything.  There were offensive explosions, big plays, a little bit of controversy, and definitely a whole lot of drama.  Let me start by saying congratulations to The Baltimore Ravens for becoming Super Bowl Champions.  This was a team victory that took every member of the Ravens to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Baltimore.

Just as I expected the Ravens jumped out to a lead, I just didn’t know they were going to grab that big of a lead.  Did anyone really expect them to dominate that much in the first half?  Now, I myself have underrated Joe Flacco up until this point.  I always thought he had a great arm, and physically he is built like your standard pocket passer.  However, I just never thought he was a guy who would take his game to the next level, and play as well as he did on the grandest of stages.  Boy did he ever, and prove all of his naysayers wrong in the process.  Joe Flacco in his 5th NFL season, outplayed 2 Canton bound QB’s on the road en route to his first Super Bowl appearance.  He played mistake free football throwing 11 TD’s to 0 INT’s in these playoffs.  His stellar play culminated in his first Super Bowl victory and the honors of being named Super Bowl XLVII’s MVP.  While Flacco continued to impress and quiet the critics, this was a team effort and we must give credit to all 53 men on the Ravens roster.  Flacco was the MVP of the game, but the two most crucial plays of the game were made by Jacoby Jones(a dazzling 56 yard receiving TD and a 108 yard kickoff return for a TD).  Anquan Boldin has played like a men possessed, matching his regular season TD total(4) in these playoffs.  The defense that everyone was calling too old to compete was able to contain Kaepernick when it mattered most.  Kaepernick did get his yards on the ground and a rushing TD, but it was the pressure applied from the outside that forced Kaepernick into traffic and caused rushed throws.  Once again the Ravens definitely outplayed their competition, but I saw the better team on paper(the 49ers) make numerous little mistakes throughout the entirety of the game; and that ultimately cost them.  Their long list of inexcusable mistakes began right from their first drive.  On the first play from scrimmage, Kaepernick threw a beautiful ball to Vernon Davis for a 20 yard gain.  On a delayed flag, it turns out that Davis was called for an illegal formation negating the completion and backing them up 5 yards.  This was a sign of things to come.  On the Ravens first possession, it appeared that the 49ers defense made a stop on a 3rd and 9, however Ahmad Brooks had jumped off-sides.  This gave the Ravens another shot at a much more manageable 3rd and 4.  What happened on the very next play?  You guessed it, a touchdown pass from Flacco to Boldin.

On to the 2nd quarter we go with a score of 7-3(Baltimore).  The 49ers started with the ball on their own 20 yard line.  Four plays and a quick two and half minutes later, they found themselves all the way down to the Baltimore 24 yard line, primed and ready to score.  On the very next play Lamichael James(doing his best Michael Vick impression), while attempting to turn a run for a loss into a small gain, FUMBLES THE BALL back to the Ravens.  They proceed to charge down the field and score another TD to make it 14-3.  At this point that score could easily be flipped had the 49ers taken care of the ball and avoided silly mental mistakes.  Now at the time I really hated the fake field goal try by the Ravens, and while I still don’t know if I would have done it, I only slightly dislike it after having time to think about it.  In hindsight it worked perfectly.  John Harbaugh kept the pressure on the great Kaepernick and challenged him to demonstrate his ability to overcome adversity in a 2-minute drill from his own 6 yard line.  He went 3 and out and gave the ball back to Baltimore with a short field.  You’ll never guess what happened next; oh wait yeah maybe you can, touchdown Flacco(am I sensing a theme here?).  I think you all know what happened next.  After what I thought was a pretty decent halftime show(we get it Beyonce, we think you’re hot, and you think you’re really really really really hot), Jacoby Jones returned the opening kickoff of the 2nd half 108 yards for a spectacular TD.  This made the score 28-3 and most of the sports world thought that was the nail in the coffin, but it wasn’t.

The 49ers came out for their first offensive possession in the 2nd half and what came next was exactly what everyone was expecting, right?  Eh probably not.  There was a power outage throughout the ENTIRE STADIUM.  This unprecedented turn of events caused a delay that lasted 34 minutes!!  This occurring on the biggest stage in the world is uncalled for, embarrassing, and down right inexcusable.  Needless to say I’m sure heads are rolling today.  Now all you conspiracy theorist out there can blame the power outage for the swing of momentum in the game, but the 49ers are way too talented to get blown out.  You are probably the same group of people blaming karma for Chris Culliver’s horrid performance last night.  For those of you who don’t know, Culliver is taking a great deal of flack for his anti-gay comments from media week.  Psssssst, Culliver isn’t very good, and the better Harbaugh knew that and took advantage of his opponents weakness.  Which brings me to my next point.  John Harbaugh clearly out-coached his little brother, Jim.  When it came to clock management, play calling, and overall scheme I found Jim to be outmatched in all areas.  Jim did give it his all though in pleading to the referees after Kaepernick’s 4th down try fell to the ground incomplete.  I’m not one to blame the referees for “costing” someone a game, but even my Grandma could see that was a hold.  The Ravens defender must have been childhood friends with Crabtree and really wanted to give him a huge; that’s all.  In retrospect the 49ers should only look at themselves for missed opportunities, not at the referees.

In the end, the play of Flacco, Jones, Boldin, and the Baltimore defense proved to be too much for San Fransisco.  It’s not all bad news for San Fran though.  If you saw that Jell-O commercial you’d know that the city of San Fransisco is getting 10,000 free cups of Jell-O’s chocolate pudding from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. today.  So keep your heads up guys, you get to have pudding today!!  In all seriousness, the 49ers should take the positives from last nights game.  I know it’s heartbreaking to be that close to victory and then have it snatched from you at the last moment.  However, this was a great experience for a young team led by a great young quarterback.  From what I’ve seen from Colin Kaepernick I believe that the sky is the limit for him and his squad.  Don’t be surprised if you see the 49ers being fitted for rings a year from now.  Finally, let us all be thankful there will be another NFL season next year, so Ray Lewis definitely doesn’t get the last word.

Knicks Roll

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

Just as I suspected, the Knicks rolled through the Sacramento Kings en route to a 120-81 blowout victory. Also just as I thought it was a very solid team effort. Amare was a perfect 10-10 from the field, JR and Novak combined for 12 3-pointers, and Chandler ripped down 20 boards. After the Knicks started out as cold as Lance Armstrong’s heart(1 for their first 13 from the field), I don’t think they missed a shot the rest of the way. Now I don’t want to blow this win out of proportion because the Kings are pretty much the worst team in the league, but as a fan it was fun to watch. If you had told me the Knicks would score 120 points with Carmelo only scoring 9 of them, I would have told you you were crazy. That is exactly what happened. They didn’t need Melo do much tonight, which is something I can get used to. Obviously we will need Melo to be at his best come playoff time, but to know that we can rely on our bench to not only hold a lead but extend it is a luxury. As long as Coach Woodson can manage the minutes of this squad, they should be in good shape. Welcome to first place New York Knicks!! Lets see how long we can stay there.

How bout ‘dem Knicks!!

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

Another win for the Knicks, and another solid team effort. The Knicks as everyone knows are working their way through an “easy” stretch of games on their schedule. On a night where Carmelo Anthony struggled from the field, shooting just under 32% from the field(7-22), the Knicks showed why they don’t need their superstar to be spectacular every night to win. Amare is getting better every night and dare I say he’s slowly getting it on the defensive end. He needs to continue being fed in the post because he’s a nightmare matchup for just about every forward in the league; especially the 2nd string forwards. Raymond Felton had a big night, and continued to show just how valuable he is to the Knicks. With that being said, he really needs to stop sticking his hand into places it doesn’t belong. All we need is for him to re-break that finger and watch him get shut down for the season. He’s just as important to this cog as Melo, Chandler, and Stat. Tonight the Knicks continue their home stand against another mediocre opponent, The Sacramento Kings. This should be another easy victory, but you can’t underestimate anybody. I’d like to see Shumpert get more involved and show the defensive intensity he showed in the 2nd half of last nights game. Hopefully we see another solid team effort and of course another win. Miami is off tonight so a victory against the kings would bring us to a tie for first place in the east. Let’s go Knicks! Let’s keep the momentum going!

So much for objectivity huh?? Enjoy the game.

I have roid rage

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 2 Comments

Steroids and professional sports, they go together like peanut butter and jelly don’t they? People might say, ha that’s funny. What people don’t realize is that it’s only funny because it’s true. Steroids are prevalent in every professional sport known to man, whether we want them to be or not. Now, I’m going to do my best to write this piece objectively, for if you ask me there is no right answer on how to handle this issue. I want to shed some light on the topic of steroids, while withholding my opinion, for now. I know steroids is a serious issue, but from the general public’s standpoint we will never know the whole truth of what transpires. And that right there is the problem. With the procedures the major sports have in place, there really is no surefire way to bring every steroid or performing enhancing drug user to justice. Psssst, want to know a secret? They don’t want you to know who’s using illegal drugs. They like it the way it is. By they, I mean everyone that’s bringing home an enormous paycheck thanks to those users. I know, its shocking. See at some point in time whether it’s right now or 20 years ago, from your bench-warming professional athlete all the way up to the best players in the game, guys have used performing enhancing drugs. It’s everyone and it’s everywhere. People now a days are being naive or just really don’t want to admit it, but everyone is doing it. There are tons of examples I can make, but I’ll try to start with the best ones.

This issue isn’t a new one. If you’re one the naive people I mentioned earlier, try to open your mind and see the world for what it is and it might make this easier to realize. People in this world do drugs. Now, I personally don’t do them, but people have been doing drugs since they were discovered. That part shouldn’t be a surprise. This goes for our heroes in sports 100 years ago all the way up to our rising stars today. See, “back in the day” guys were doing different kinds of drugs, and some were doing the same drugs that are being used today; there was just no testing going on at those times. I know I know, a lot of you out there are saying, well how do you know that? You don’t know any of this as a fact! And they are right, I don’t know any of this to be true. That’s the beauty/horror of this argument. There is no clear-cut winner of this argument, and without catching someone red-handed there really is no way to condemn someone for using steroids. There is public pressure and mounting circumstantial evidence in most cases, but it’s difficult to draw a hard line between guilty and innocent. Even if your name has been hinted at being in the discussion of illegal drugs, you’re guilty. Think about it this way, it certainly would be painful for me to learn that Mickey Mantle or Joe Dimaggio did something “illegal” to gain a competitive advantage, but that’s the harsh reality that could have been very possible. Thank god we will never really know for sure. To say it would be damaging to the foundations of America’s pastime would be an understatement.

Everyday you’re hearing about someone new being tied to PED’s. You’re also hearing people’s names that you would never look at and say, oh yeah he definitely “juiced”. No, that’s not a Jose Canseco reference. I wish that guy would shut his mouth and stop trying to make a few bucks at the expense of others. It’s your fault your broke and nobody else, so stop ratting people out and just go away. Anyway, think about it, Rafael Palmeiro was busted for steroid use. He looked like a normal guy who just happened to be really really good at baseball. Someone who’s 6 feet tall and 215 pounds doesn’t exactly scream I do steroids. Most people have this misconception that steroids are this magical pill that makes you huge, and cut, and turns you into an athletic monster that’s twice the size of your former self over night. That’s not how it works. Let me reiterate that I don’t do drugs, and I don’t condone the use of drugs. However, steroid users still have to put in their time in the weight room. They still have to pour out blood, sweat, and tears to achieve their goals. It’s not magic from a cartoon like Popeye’s spinach that turns you from dud to stud in 5 seconds. Not everyone takes steroids and doubles in size and starts hitting 7357 home-runs like, ahem Barry Bonds, ahem. I wish we could get rid of steroids, PED’s, deer antler spray (hahahaha), and all of this illegal nonsense all together. Unfortunately, it’s just not possible. Some people are trying to take a stand against it thought and that’s great. The voters for MLB’s hall of fame are at the forefront of the fight. In this years hall of fame ballot you had arguably the best hitter of all time (Barry Bonds) and the best pitcher of all time (Roger Clemens) on the ballot. Neither of them got in because of their ties to PED’s. Actually, no one got in from the entire ballot. That hasn’t happened since 1996, and it is only the 8th time in the history of baseball that no one was elected to the hall of fame. Think about that, one of the best hitters of all time and one of the best pitchers of all time used PED’s to gain a competitive advantage. There are more names tied to drug use than I have time to mention, so I’ll leave that to George Mitchell. Logic dictates that almost everyone out there has, at minimum, tried PED’s.

Now I could go on forever with all the different big names that have used PED’s and how they effected their sports in a positive way, and in turn damaged their own livelihood and personal image, but I won’t. I think you get the point by now. If these drugs are the difference between making the team or not, or recovering from an injury in 3 months opposed to 6 months, or hitting a home-run or only having warning track power, you are going to use them. See like I said before, they don’t want you to know everyone who uses. Why you ask? Cycling is literally built on doping. Lance Armstrong finally admits what we all knew for years, who cares. They couldn’t give his trophies to anyone else because virtually everyone in the sport has been caught doping. Thanks to PED’s baseball became relevant again in the 90’s. Thanks to the “steroid era”, we learned what chicks have apparently always known, we dig the long ball. You can keep Mark Mcgwire and Sammy Sosa out of the hall of fame all you want, but you can’t tell me you weren’t watching that home-run race in the summer of ’98. I know I was. I was 12 years old, and I was captivated by each and every home-run trot, every chest bump by Mcgwire, and every shuffle down the first base line by Senor Sosa. I know I get goosebumps just thinking about it. They literally brought baseball back to life. And football, I mean let’s be real. Football has practically been built on HGH and PED’s. It is a violent sport that will stay that way because well, we want it that way. We don’t watch football for the kickers and to watch QB’s slide to safety. We watch for the huuuge hits and spectacular plays.

Since Steroids, PED’s, and HGH have all contributed to the growth and popularity of many of the sports we enjoy today, how do we go about testing for them and ultimately removing them entirely? I personally think we should put serious random testing in every sport. We should come up with a definitive list of what is banned and what is okay for athletes to use, and then we should institute random monthly tests for everyone. I know some would say well that would be too expensive, but let me tell you something; for the amount of money these organizations and franchises generate, they’ll find the money from somewhere. This should take place in all sports at all levels, because the real message behind this conversation is to keep children away from these drugs. Do I think these changes will ever take place? Nope. Cynical of me I know, but it’s just like anything else, it will only change if we stand up together and do something about it.

Lastly, what do I think we should do with all the tainted players that based on statistics alone should be in the hall of fame? I also don’t know if there’s a definitive right or wrong answer, but I will do my best to tackle that topic in my next article.

Tigah Tigah Woods Y’all

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 2 Comments

After the fog lifted from Torrey Pines and Tiger Woods won for his 8th time there, has the fog finally lifted from Tiger Woods recent struggles?  Which Tiger Woods are we going to see in 2013?  Let’s see if we can shed some light on these valid questions.  Tiger Woods won his 75th PGA Tournament(2nd All-Time) on Monday and showed flashes of his former self in the process.  While he did shoot a pedestrian even par(72) in his final round, he comfortably won The Farmers Insurance Open by 4 strokes.  Come Tuesday morning there was definitely talk of how well Tiger played, and what we should expect to see out of him this season.  However, it didn’t seem like we were overloaded with the Tiger Talk we’ve grown accustomed to.  Now maybe it’s because we’re all gearing up for the Super Bowl or more likely it’s because 90% of “golf fans” don’t watch unless 1 of the 4 majors are on TV.  In that regard, golf is a sport like tennis.  It doesn’t really carry casual fans.  It’s not like Football where every game matters and you have instant action on every play.  It was also the first real tournament of a nearly 10 month season.  With that being said, Tiger Woods is usually the only reason people watch golf.  You can hate Tiger Woods the man, (like most of us do) but as a golfer we all root for him, let’s be honest.  I know I root for him when he’s on the golf course.  We want to watch history being made right in front of our eyes, and that’s OK.  Stop fighting yourself and just appreciate what Tiger Woods can still accomplish on a golf course.  By his own standards, yes Tiger had a down year in 2012, but let’s put this “down year” in perspective.  The guy still won 3 out of the 19 tournaments he played in.  By the way, how nice would it be to only have to work 19 weeks out of the year?  Poor Bastard.  Back to the point, there are amazing golfers out there that would give their left arm to win 3 professional golf tournaments in their LIFETIME.  That’s how difficult it is to win a golf tournament on the professional tour.  So yes compared to the Tiger of 2000 where he won 9 out of 20 tournaments and 3 majors, and was on his way to the “Tiger Slam”, Tiger had a down year in 2012.  But compared to the rest of us, he was still spectacular.  So what can we expect from Tiger this year?  A tough question that even I’m not completely sure of a confident answer yet.  I know that I want him to win a handful of tournaments and a major, and I definitely know that the networks and golf itself need him to play well.  People aren’t plopping themselves in front of the tube on a beautiful Sunday in June to watch Bubba Watson and Keegan Bradley battle it out.  Let me take time out your regularly scheduled program to give a quick shout-out to The Wheatley Hills Golf Club in East Williston, where I was raised.  This is one of the courses Keegan Bradley called home while attending St. Johns University since they didn’t have their own course on campus.  Now back to El Tigre(that’s spanish for The Tiger).  So, from a ratings standpoint and for the interest level of golf fans everywhere, we are pulling for you Tiger.  Tiger’s golf game though, like everybody’s is not perfect.  Here is a snapshot of Tigers troubles in 2012.  He stands to improve on his driving accuracy(where he ranked 55th) and his approach shots from between 75 and 150 yards.  I bet you’ll be surprised to learn that in 2012 he ranked a dismal 117th in Greens In Regulation between those distances.  That statistic is slightly deceiving considering in total Greens In Regulation, he ranked 29th.  Now Tiger always lived with his accuracy issues off the tee(in 2000 he ranked 54th and 2006 he ranked 139th).  Those are arguably the two best seasons of his career.  However, when he’s piling up wins and expanding the size of his trophy case, he’s got the putter working and mentally he’s got his head in the game.  Golf more than any other sport is a mental challenge.  It is the only sport where you are competing against yourself, so you become your biggest obstacle.  You know what the biggest difference is between the guy who heads into Sunday with the lead and crumbles(cough, Lee Westwood, cough), and Tiger Woods?  Mental toughness!  When things start to go awry on the course, you need to clear your head and move on to the next shot.  I’ve seen a lot of guys unravel right before my eyes because they let one errant shot turn into two and then it’s like rolling a snowball down a mountain.  I mean no disrespect to Lee Westwood by the way.  He is the #8 ranked golfer in the world, his career earnings are approximately 36 Million Dollars(insert Dr. Evil Voice here), you’ve probably heard of him, but he only has 2 PGA victories, and 0 majors.  Just as a reminder Tiger Woods has 75 tour victories and 14 majors.  What Tiger has also done better than any other golfer in the history of the sport, is intimidate his opponents.  Back in the day, other golfers used to fear him!  They would find themselves watching him win with the rest of us rather than believe they actually had a chance to defeat him.  If Tiger wants to get back to his old self, he’ll need to start doing these things once again.  I think that Tiger should focus mostly on the mental aspects of his game and his sheer intimidation over his peers.  This will be a recipe for success.  As we’ve seen in recent past in major tournaments, it’s not the guy making up ground that wins, it’s the guy who remains steady and keeps his head above water.  With this mentality, I believe that Tiger can cause his opponents to once again falter on Sundays in 2013 just the way he did in the beginning of his career.  Let me attach some numbers to my predictions.  I believe that if healthy for the entire year, Tiger Woods will win 4 tournaments and 1 major.  Of course he has the ability to win 3 majors and 9 tournaments again, I mean he still is Tiger Woods.  But, I don’t see a year worse than last year.  Even at his worst I still think he’s a top 10 golfer in the world.

Oo Yea I almost forgot….The Super Bowl

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

Does anybody else hate the fact that we have to wait an extra week for the Super Bowl? Personally, I hate it. Now I know this will never change because god forbid we take money out of anyone’s wallet. That would be a crime. But, from a fans perspective it really irks me that we have football every Sunday for 20 weeks in a row, and then before the most important game of the year we decide to take a week off. The only thing in sports worse than this is the time they take off before the College Football National “Championship”. Now I get why they take the week off. It helps set the stage by building up the anticipation for the game, the players get to have time with their families and friends in a different city every year, and the NFL gets to grab its share of the prize through player appearances and media week. Also, the host city boosts its economy while the NFL is in town. With all that being said, I still wish they would do away with the circus that is media week.

Lets move past the things we can not change. However, I do think the week off has an effect on the outcome of the game. The Ravens have been riding this wave of “destiny” as some would call it. When people say that Ray Lewis is destined to win this Super Bowl in his last season, I say they are carrying momentum through the playoffs. Most of this momentum is due to getting injured players back at the right time and Joe Flacco playing out of his mind right now doesn’t exactly hurt either. In my opinion the week off definitely favors the 49ers. It gives some of the injured 49ers a chance to get healthy, most notably Justin Smith. And it could possibly slow the Baltimore train that steamrolled its way through New England(which feels like a month ago not a week ago). Now am I saying that I want the Ravens to win and it’s an unfair advantage for them to have an extra week off? No not at all. I actually want the 49ers to win, due to my slight dislike of Ray “I didn’t do it” Lewis. What the Ravens need to do to win this game is try to be the more physical team. That is not an easy task when playing San Francisco. If you have watched them play this year you’d know that Navorro Bowman, Patrick Willis, and Aldon Smith are beasts on the football field. So, lets assume that the 49ers are going to be the more physical team on Sunday. How else can the Ravens win this football game without divine intervention? Well, a heavy dose of Ray Rice would be a nice start, but that will only be effective if Joe Flacco starts the game by taking deep shots down the field. This will stretch the field, keep the 49ers secondary honest, and prevent them from creeping towards the line on running plays. Once a nice balance of run and pass has been established that should allow an opportunity for them to go play action to Torrey Smith or Anquan Boldin throughout the game. This game plan should allow the Ravens to regain their momentum they’ve been carrying the past couple of weeks. While I believe this will work in the first half and the Ravens should jump out to an early lead, I don’t see them sustaining their offensive attack. Ultimately, I think the outcome of this game will come down to the team that is more physical and whichever QB plays better. I’m not going to lie, I’ve been waiting for Colin Kaepernick to make a huge “rookie” mistake that will cost his team a game. It just hasn’t happened yet, and I’m not about to pick this game for it to start. I think he’ll play mistake free football and manage the game as he has done since he took the reigns of this machine 10 weeks ago. I see this being a close game where the Ravens jump out to an early lead. However, in the end I see the 49ers controlling the time of possession and just playing too physical a brand of football for the Ravens to withstand. Sorry Ray, your “path” ends in New Orleans. You’ll have only your own shortcomings to thank for losing this game. My prediction for this game is 27-23(San Francisco). Enjoy the game!

The UnNatural Disaster that is the NY JETS

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

Hey let’s hop in our time machine and go back to 2009. Come on, this will be fun. So here we are beating quality teams on the road in the postseason. We come one win shy of a trip to the Super Bowl, but it was certainly a successful season. We have a top 5 rushing attack, top 5 defense, very good receivers, and an up and coming quarterback who’s confidence is building game by game. Our coach is a defensive minded coach who seems to know how to rally the troops every Sunday. Quick let us fast forward to the present day. We are in my estimation the most poorly run organization in the NFL, and we are the laughing stock of newspapers and sports talk shows nationwide. I’m going to tell you how we got from where we were to how we became the most entertaining circus since Barnum and Baileys. Then I’ll break down step by step what we need to do to get back to Super Bowl contention.
After consecutive trips to the AFC Championship in ’09 and ’10, you’d think the Jets would have a blueprint for success in their back pocket somewhere. Well someone from the Patriots obviously infiltrated the Jets organization as a spy and did that flashy memory erase thingy from Men In Black. Yo, Tommy Lee Jones is looking old as hell isn’t he? Which brings me to Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzanegger. Guys, you’re like 100! Stop making action flicks! You guys look ridiculous! Anyway, here’s why the Jets have crumbled over the past two seasons. Mark Sanchez is Alex Smith. They are both mentally weak, and they are at the peak of their potential; game managers. If Sanchez is going to be your guy you need to cater to his needs. Which is really the Jets biggest problem. If you need to have a perfect roster built around your QB just to be successful, then Sanchez isn’t your guy. You want my professional opinion? Sanchez is a bum. A franchise QB should be your captain and leader! He shouldn’t sulk and let his play circle the drain because your owner brought in Tim Tebow. That is the only time I will bring up that guy in this entire article because he’s obviously horrendous and isn’t worth wasting my breath on. Clearly not a football move, clearly for $ and front page headlines, blah blah blah we all know this already. Somebody stuff a sock in Skip Bayless’ mouth and tape it shut please. He obviously gets paid to play devils advocate because even he cant believe the garbage that spews out his mouth. Anyway, the Jets need someone to smack them silly and then sit them down in front of a mirror. If it sounds like a duck, and walks like a duck, then it’s probably a, yup you got it, a duck. Rex Ryan needs to get fired because he’s not the guy. If you’re not going to fire him then at least tell him to shut his trap. Mark Sanchez is also not the guy, so why don’t we extend his freakin contract for no good reason. I mean come on!! The jets have literally done the exact opposite of what they should be doing. And as if last year couldn’t have gone any worse, why don’t we express to the rest of the league that we WANT to trade Darrelle Revis? Yup sure great idea Mr new General Manager guy, lets find the only way possible to get less value out of him. He only missed almost an entire season with a serious injury. And he’s only about the most stubborn guy in the world when it comes to contract negotiations. So lets please trade him for a 5th round pick and a bucket of chicken. All my Seinfeld fans out there got that one. What they should have done was trade him when his value was highest. Unfortunately that time isn’t now so they need to keep him until after the season starts, let him play well, and then trade him for as many pieces as possible. For all of you Jets fans out there that drink the Rex Ryan kool-aid, we are going to do this because we are NOT GOOD and we are in rebuilding mode. Dumb Fan #1: We are? Really? Me: Uh yea we suck. On that note, we need to start from scratch and rebuild this franchise. We need to get a bunch of draft picks for Revis and start to clear cap space for 2 years from now. Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez need to be fired and we need to start filling all of the holes on the roster. Those holes include : at least 2 WR’s, 2 RB’s, a TE, 2 O-Lineman, and a pass rush. Oo yea I almost forgot, we also need a QB, but that’s just a tiny little detail. How silly of me. So, as anyone with eyes can see, we have a lot of work ahead of us before we can think about the playoffs. Lets get to work then. Think you have the answer to the Jets problems?? Leave your ideas in the comment section below…..

The Los Angeles Lakers….Oh how the mighty have fallen

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 2 Comments

So I have this friend that is a “Big” Lakers fan.  You know the type, they talk all kinds of smack when they’re great, and they try to explain to you how they knew this was going to happen now that they’re spiraling out of control.  He’s the type of fan that probably hopped on the Lakers bandwagon around the turn of the century, you know when Shaq was still there and they started winning consecutive titles again.  So rewind to before the preseason even started, and let me recap what this “fan” had to say.  “Dude, there is no way the Lakers aren’t going to win the title this year”.  “Did you see that picture of our starting five?”  Yeah, well that “all-star” caliber starting lineup has only played 132 minutes together so far this season.  How’s that working out for you?  I’m here to tell you who’s to blame for this train wreck, and that their season, while it has been a disaster so far is not completely lost yet.  Any major problem you have in an organization, a business, or even your own family always starts at the top.  Let me see how I can say this without having a potty mouth, ummmm, okay got it: “poo doesn’t travel uphill.”  The problems in a family don’t start with the kids, they start with the parents.  The problems with a business don’t start with the $12/hour employee, they start with the owner(s).  So, why would the dysfunction that is the Lakers have started with the players?  It obviously started with ownership and upper management and trickled down to the coach and finally has effected the players negatively.  So when you watch the Lakers struggle on both ends of the floor, you can’t blame Kobe Bryant, and you can’t even blame Dwight Howard.  For the root of the Lakers struggles let’s look up, first at Jerry Buss.  Yes, I said Jerry Buss.  Who is that is ruining one of the greatest franchises in sports history?  That would be Jim Buss.  And, who is it that made Jim Buss Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Lakers?  Yes! You are correct again, that would Jerry Buss.  I’m tired of these ultra wealthy business men whom mostly created their multi-million dollar businesses on nothing but hard work and a brilliant idea, just handing over their fortunes to their self-entitled kids.  Our kids don’t always turn out to be carbon copies of the best form of ourselves(as much as we want them to).  Just because daddy was a great entrepreneur and knew how to run one of the most successful sports franchises of all time, doesn’t mean little Jimmy Buss can follow suit.  With that being said, and now that Jim Buss is making decisions in Los Angeles, we can all point our fingers at him.  Jim Buss decided this past November to hire Mike D’Antoni, not Phil Jackson.  I know that all of you reading this already knew that but let me write that again.  HE HIRED MIKE D’ANTONI OVER PHIL JACKSON!  So as hard as it was to get past that, let’s get past that.  Now am I saying that the Lakers would be 25-17 instead of 17-25?  Most of you might say no, but I’d say uh, yeah maybe they would be.  We are talking about PHIL JACKSON HERE!  He’s one of if not THE greatest coach of all time.  Again, we can’t change the past so let’s analyze the present.  Let’s keep playing the blame game(I don’t know about you, but I’m having fun with this)and all point our fingers at Mike D’Antoni.  Mike D’Antoni is not the answer for the Lakers.  With that being said, I don’t know if Mike D’Antoni is the answer for anyone in the NBA.  His style of coaching, if you can call it that, just doesn’t win championships.  See, this is isn’t the Minnesota Timberwolves who were content just getting to the Conference Finals.  The Lakers are like the Yankees, it’s championship or bust.  Everyone is asking if the players should be adjusting to their coach or if the coach should adapt to the players on his roster?  This is a very dumb rhetorical question if you ask me.  Obviously, the answer is the coach must tweak his coaching “system” to fit the players on his roster.  Players in the NBA are who they are.  That mind sound vague or confusing, but it’s true.  You can’t ask Kobe Bryant to lock down the other teams best player and then score 30 points on 65% shooting every night.  As great as he still is, he’s not 24 anymore.  You also can’t expect Steve Nash and the rest of these three toed sloths to sprint down the floor and play at a pace that’s better fit for an Olympic track.  No disrespect to Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, and that guy who changed his name to the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard, but they are just too old and too slow to play at this frenetic pace.  That’s like taking a 1988 Pontiac station wagon out to the race track and expecting to blow by people on your way to the checkered flag.  It just doesn’t work like that.  Now, like I said earlier, I don’t believe D’Antoni is the answer in L.A., but I don’t see the Lakers firing another coach mid-season and carrying anymore extra payroll.  So it looks like they’re stuck with D’Antoni, for now.  I read an exchange between Grantland’s Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons last night.  It was actually pretty interesting.  They were pretty much saying how D’Antoni is so stubborn, he’d rather go down with the ship then try to adjust his own style.  Here is an excerpt from Bill Simmons:”He’s basically saying, I’m here only because of my system.  I can’t actually coach.  If you give me the wrong players for my system, it doesn’t matter – I will keep using the system anyway, because Plan B would be coming up with a more inventive way to coach these guys.  And I can’t do that.  I’m not good enough.  So if it’s OK with you, I’d like to go down in flames with my system.”  Personally I think he is spot on with what should be going through D’Antoni’s head.  I’m sure he’s already gone through this kind of inner conflict, when he was the coach of the Knicks.  If only someone in the Lakers organization had sat down Jim Buss, taped his eyes open so he couldn’t look away, and forced him to watch the first half the Knicks 2011-2012 season, they might not be in this predicament.  This is like a horrible remake of an already horrible movie.  We all know how it’s going to end.  So now that we’ve established the chain of command that put this in motion, let’s talk about the players on the floor.  Everyone is also trying to blame Kobe Bryant for the Lakers troubles.  To those critics I say, are you out of your mind?  Kobe Bryant is 34 and is having another phenomenal season.  Also, to the critics who try to call Kobe a selfish player, he is in a system that asks him to shoot as many times as possible.  People are also trying to blame Dwight Howard for their struggles.  Yes, he’s having a down season compared to his own standards, but he’s still averaging 16.7 points, 12 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game.  Man, what horrible numbers, especially on a team that has Kobe Bryant shooting as many shots as humanly possible.  What also boggles my mind is why Dwight Howard has been playing through an injury that is obviously affecting his play.  They should have rested him until he was 100% or as close to 100% as he can get before playing him.  Dwight Howard can become a free agent at the end of this season, so the Lakers should be doing everything in their power to keep him healthy, happy, and in purple and gold next season and many more seasons to come.  Now on to Pau Gasol.  He is a special talent, and can be a key component to a championship caliber team.  Don’t believe me?  Just check Gasol’s numbers and minutes from their last two championships.  This, just like every other players struggles can be attributed to one person, Mike D’Antoni.  Which leads me to another great point that Bill Simmons made yesterday, he said: “I’m glad we finally got to Pau.  Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you’re a professional basketball coach and your system is telling you, “I should play Early Clark more than Pau Gasol,” you need a new system.”  I couldn’t really come up with a better way to say that, so I let him say it for me.  Thanks Bill.  In closing, if you ask me what the solution is, you have to do what no one in the world would do, fire D’Antoni, and hire a 3rd coach in a single season.  From a purely wins and losses perspective, this is the only move Jim Buss should be thinking about.  Unfortunately we all know that owning a sports team is strictly a business venture for 99.9% of owners, and he’s not going to come out of pocket to hire a 3rd(even if it would be the right one, cough, The Zen Master, cough)coach.  Little Jimmy is probably upset that Phil’s setting up shop with his little sis.  Resentment is an ugly character trait, Jim.  Especially when it aids in your own self-sabotage.  The other fix I would make is to play to Kobe, Pau, and Nash’s strengths.  And that is to let Nash orchestrate the offense like he knows how, while favoring the Kobe side of the floor slightly in each possession.  Let Dwight Howard get healthy, and I’m sure you’ll see the production we’ve all been expecting.  Now as for Pau, get him the damn ball inside the post!  He’s a great passer for a big man so even he can find Dwight Howard from there.  And most importantly he is a great low-post player, stop forcing him to shoot 18 footers.  If you take time to look at his numbers, you’ll see that they are far better when he is inside the paint opposed to outside roaming the earth, like Quentin Richardson in that old D’Antoni Pheonix system.  How dumb are the Knicks by the way(says the Knicks fan)?  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, and fool me 3 times, well I don’t know what you call that.  The D’Antoni “system” got us with Quentin Richardson, Amare Stoudamire, and then Mike D’Antoni!!  Really?!?!?  Come on Man(said in a Keyshawn Johnson voice)!  Finally, let Ron/Metta I’m not calling him that scare the other teams best player into submission.  Or play physical, whichever way you want to go with it.  The Metta guy isn’t what he used to be either, but if he stops expending energy on the offensive end and focuses all his efforts to the defensive end, they might have a recipe for success.  Back to reality we go, the Lakers need to win between 25 and 29 games to have a shot at the playoffs.  Is it likely? No.  But, I’m telling you there is a chance.

AFC Championship Recap

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 3 Comments

Let me be the first to say that I was wrong.  I tried to pick this game with my brain rather than my heart(my heart bleeds green when it comes to football), which seemed like the right thing to do at the time.  As I wrote in my preview, I figured that the Patriots offense would be too much for the Ravens to handle.  Boy, was that not the case.  It turned out that the Ray Lewis driven defense was too much for Tom Brady to handle.  They put pressure on Brady and forced him to throw 2 interceptions.  Everyone is blaming the Patriots loss on continual small mistakes like the drops they had throughout the game.  If you watched the entire game, you would have seen that it was more than that.  The Patriots were completely outplayed and supremely OUT COACHED.  I don’t put out coached in that it looks like I’m yelling font because of my strong dislike for Bill Belichick.  I say it like that because he was simply the 2nd best coach on the sidelines on Sunday.  That is a rare occurrence for someone considered to be the best coach of his generation.  And, while that might be true, let’s delve into the mistakes that he made that cost him another trip back to the promised land.  Now we all know there was no Gronk, but we’ve known that for some time now so that’s not part of the problem.  For me it all started with their decision to run the ball on a 3rd and 2 on their second offensive drive.  This possession was the first of many trips to the Ravens red zone that did not end in a touchdown(The Patriots were 1 for 6 in terms of touchdowns inside the Ravens 25 yard line).  I think Ridley is a nice little back that should be successful for years to come, but what they should have done was play action to him and allow Hernandez to delay across the middle.  I mean all they needed was 2 yards and an inch.  Now let us move on to what I would call Bill Belichick’s worst blunder of his career.  Let me paint a picture for you of where they were.  The Patriots got the ball back on the ravens 43 yard line, with 2:32 on the clock in the 2nd quarter, and all 3 timeouts.  That kind of time on the Ravens side of the field is an eternity for Tom Brady, usually.  So they proceed to get a first down on a really nice 4th and 1 play where Tom Brady pretended to be getting a new play called in to his headset and Woodhead take a direct snap for a 1st down.  They were then forced to use their first timeout.  This play caught the Ravens completely off guard, and they seemed to be heading for 7 points right before the half to extend their lead to 17-7.  This would not be the case, and here’s where everything went awry.  After two incomplete passes, Brady completed a nice pass to Hernandez going towards to the right sideline, and what does Hernandez do?  Instead of running out of bounds and saving their 2nd timeout, he spins up field and maybe gains 2 yards out of the play.  Here, at the ravens 10 yard line, the Patriots are forced to burn their 2nd timeout with 26 seconds left in the half.  Now, even after that first blunder, having 26 seconds left and a timeout would lead you to believe that Brady can still get off 3 plays and try to punch one in the end-zone.  This was also not the case.  On the next play, Brady gets forced out of the pocket to his left and rather than throw the ball away he runs up field for a lousy 3 yards, while throwing his leg up high in his slide and nearly catching Ed Reed in his “family jewels”.  This was clearly intentional and while I knew Brady had inherited that smug cold-hearted attitude from Belichick, I never saw Brady as a dirty player.  Anyway, the Patriots jump up, doing their best Dallas Cowboys/Tony Romo impressions and act like they are going to get back to the line and spike the ball.  Instead they let the clock run all the way down to 4 seconds.  This forces them to call their final timeout and kick a field goal on 2ND DOWN!  The words awful, horrifying, and horrendous just don’t do this 2 minute drill justice.  I haven’t seen a horror movie this bad since The Wicker Man.  Have you seen this movie?  Man, that is some bad stuff.  You would think that Nicholas Cage would still want to make good movies, since he’s broke and all.  “Yeah, I think I’ll buy another island today.”  Yeah good investment, buddy.  Anyway, back to the ineptitude of Bill Belichick.  So, instead of going in to the half up 17-7, the Patriots carried a 13-7 lead into the locker room.  Now this may not have mattered in the grand scheme of things but it was a microcosm of how this game played out.  Once Aqib Talib went down with an injury Anquan Boldin became the Patriots worst nightmare.  Talib’s backup made Boldin look like Larry Fitzgerald out there.  Can someone please get that man a QB in Arizona, I mean how bad do you feel for that guy?  The Arizona Cardinals’ general managers are actually depriving us of a chance to watch a great show and possibly history.  Fitzgerald was primed and ready to become the next Randy Moss, or better.  Yea I said it, but the guys just never had anyone to throw him the ball.  I digress, again.  In the end, the pressure was put on Tom Brady to throw, throw, and throw some more once they got down in the 2nd half.  I have to put a tiny bit of the blame on the drops and little mistakes(lets call that %10), some of it is on Brady(maybe 30%), but I leave most of the blame for Belichick to shoulder(the other 60%).   I must give credit to the Ravens defense though who hung tough with Brady.  Also, Joe Flacco seems to save his best for when he’s going up against the best.  He outplayed Brady, again.  Only this time there were no dropped touchdown passes.  This game was never in doubt once the Ravens took the lead.  Now it’s on to the SuperBowl for Joe Flacco and the Ravens.  So the question is, will Joe Flacco rise up against the stingy 49ers defense or will he fold and let this golden opportunity slip through his fingers?