Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Wednesday Gumbo


Chaos for Colts
A few months ago, I talked about how the loss of Harrison, Dungy and others might signal the end of an era in Indy. Some of you didn't buy it...sadly, it looks like I'm proving to be correct in this case.

Both Manning and Saturday spoke up about the lack of leadership at Colts pre-camp yesterday. The story was first broken here locally, but was picked up by EsPN later in the evening. It's noteworthy as Manning isn't someone who usually talks about coaching issues to the media...and he's had to deal with them in his career.

While I understand the logistics of the NFL pension plan and the problems that were created with changes to the policy for older coaches, I also know that what's happening right now for the Colts isn't acceptable. Furthermore, this is a bad sign of what might be to come under Caldwell if stability isn't reached in the next two weeks. They've already had wholesale changes on the staff, to not have someone clearly in charge of the most-important team unit is pretty egregious.

Tracy In
I don't like everything about Paul Tracy, but I do think the guy has stones...he's good for racing due to the simple fact that he's fearless and seems to display some of the grit of drivers from last generation...maybe that's why Foyt was so apt to give him a shot this week in Wisconsin. Hopefully, AJ decides Tracy is a good fit...and they can come to an agreement for the majority of the races left on the Indy Car Series schedule...Could be very good TV, if nothing else- You know Foyt and Tracy would end up fist-fighting after the Canadian gets overly agressive.

Painful
Tim's the Cavs fan on this site...but I think it's fair to say that both J and I are pulling for his squad to get to the finals. Watching the game last night, it's pretty clear that Bron has lost faith in his supporting cast. Last series, he was looking to dish the ball first and shoot second or third...Now, he's forcing the issue more than we've seen all season. I think it's a confluence of issues coming together to form the demise of the Cavs right now. First off, they're facing a Magic team that's shooting really well and forcing the Cavs to chase them on the defensive end of the court. Plus, the Cavs have no answer for Dwight Howard- an aging Z and Wallace tandem can't stay with him...and Verejao doesn't have the strength to provide enough resistence in the blocks. Atop that, Mo Williams and other Cavs simply aren't shooting the ball well-enough to keep the Magic honest.

It's going to take a big change for the Cavs to get to the finals and Nike's commercial investment in the Bron/Kobe rival to pay off. The digs from Kobe about all of his rings will be a lot less-funny for Bron if he's watching the ads during a Magic/Lakers Championship series.

A friend of mine is comparing the hype of Kobe v. Lebron to something that many of you might not remember...

8 comments:

T-Mill said...

I used to have Pump basketball shoes. Absolutely loved them! Any chance I can still get some, oh shoe guru?

J Money said...

Oh, Dan and Dave.... one of them failed to qualify for the Olympics (forget which) and the other finished something like 6th in Barcelona. Funny. Surprised they don't have the commercial in there that Reebok hastily shot that had the one not going pretending to be helping the other with his training for the Olympics....

Purdue Matt said...

I thought that the transition from Dungy to Caldwell would be fairly smooth and not reason to panic. Caldwell had worked alongside Dungy for many years and shares his coaching philosophies.

The loss of Moore and the OL coach, however, and the chaos it has created is not a good situation. I am a little worried now. Clyde Christensen (sp?) has been part of Dungy's clan for many years though as well.

Purdue Matt said...

I hope BronBron never wins a title.

boilerdowd said...

The Reebok Omni Pump (which was what Dee Brown wore) is available at a bunch of different places...The Pump that Shaq wore (a true high top) isn't available anywhere as it hasn't been retro'd.

I think Dan failed to qualify...I'm told that's odd because he was higher-ranked in the world.

Plang said...

The white guy failed to qualify, if that clears it up(work filters prevent me from watching the clip).

I think the loss of Moore hurts Manning a lot - he is the only Offensive coach Manning and a lot of guys on the offensive have had in thier NFL careers. That is a big change to swallow.

Ross McLochness said...

Sorry Plang, the white guy, Dave, did qualify.

If I remember correctly, Dan O'Brien failed on a relatively low pole vault height to complete his bed shitting.

Charlie Kelly said...

Plang I ve got something big you can swallow