I really enjoy the writing and football passion of Sports Illustrated's Peter King. His interest in football includes everything that makes the game tick. From the equipment managers and coaching connections to the chess match strategy that takes place in every game. It's not just about the players and their statistics. His new MMQB (Monday Morning Quarterback) wedsite presents all of that and so much more. King strives to educate the readers on all aspects of the game. It's great stuff. So is his MMQB podcast that popped up this week. His chats with Eli Manning and Matt Ryan were terrific. It was his conversation with fellow Sports Illustrated writer Greg Bedard that made me wince. It was only a couple of things and not the conversation as a whole.
In talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers, King referred to Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau as a Hall of Fame coach. LeBeau is in the Hall of Fame and he is a football coach but he is not a Hall of Fame coach. I've never heard Tennessee Titans head coach and Hall of Fame guard Mike Munchack referred to as a Hall of Fame coach. It's because he's not. King isn't alone. I recall one football talking head saying that LeBeau's induction could open the door for other excellent assistant coaches. Many people seem to forget or simply don't accept that LeBeau was a senior committe nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player. I suppose that people make this mistake because they know LeBeau best as a terrific defensive coach and so few remember his days as a Detroit Lions cornerback. They just assume that he made it as a coach. I was surprised to hear King make this mistake seeing as he was in the room to vote on Dick LeBeau for the Hall of Fame.
The other little nugget that popped up in this conversation is something that has been bugging me since the 2005 NFL Draft. Bedard said that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers greatly benefited from the time spent playing behind Brett Favre. Bedard's reasoning was that Rodgers didn't show the quarterback that he would become while he was at Cal. From his fall to #24 in the 2005 NFL Draft to comments like this from Bedard, I wonder if anyone actually watched Rodgers play football at Cal. I really don't get it. He was a fantastic college quarterback. In two years at Cal I saw a lot of the quarterback that amazes everyone today. I had no doubt that he would one day excel in the NFL. His game against USC in 2004 was a masterpiece. Sometimes I wonder if the supposed experts say this stuff about Rodgers to cover up for the mistake that so many made on draft day. The Packers were lucky that so many were blind. I've always wondered if they still select Rodgers if they drafted even ten spots earlier. It's no wonder that Rodgers always plays the game with a chip on his shoulder. No one has ever been willing to admit that they screwed up in evaluating him in 2005.
Outside of that, even including that, Peter King's MMQB website and podcast are must-see and must-listen stuff. Check it out.
Cal hosts the Portland St. Vikings today. Any school named Vikings usually attracts my attention. That isn't what first attracted my attention toward Portland St. I first heard about the school in 1980 when they took apart Delaware St. by the astounding score of 105-0. That was the first I heard of quarterback Neil Lomax and offensive innovator Mouse Davis. The 2013 version of the team put up 57 points last week against Eastern Oregon. Hopefully the Vikings far fall short of both point totals today. Cal won the only other meeting between the two teams in 2006, 42-16. I prefer it when Cal challenges themselves with their non-conference schedule. This year they did that with Northwestern last week and Ohio St. next week. Supposedly, today's game against Portland St. is a break but you never know. It wasn't too long ago that UC Davis chopped down the mighty Stanford Cardinal. Go Bears!
I wish that I could watch this game on TV but I have Directv. Those clowns and the Pac-12 Networks are still in their juvenile pissing contest.
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