Still crazy after all these years

Is "South America's Team" really deserving of a Super Bowl? Logo: Pinterest … the Vikings and Bills are more deserving than the nefarious 'boys The Cowboys one of two teams that are “most deserving” of winning the next Super Bowl? I can agree that the Chargers are deserving, since they have never won a Lombardi Trophy. First, the Cowboys have the most money, the most expensive venue, and the most financial resources of any team in the NFL. The fact that they have not won a Super Bowl in a quarter-century is their fault, and it does not mean that they deserve to win one. Eleven other teams besides the Chargers have never won a Super Bowl, and some of them deserve one more than South America's Team. So, how did this expert on “analytics” arrive at this conclusion? Who is Bill James? According to the author of the article, his headline is based upon the same formula that Bill James uses for baseball, It’s easy to sit back and look at which teams are the co

The enigmatic Bud Dupree Photo: Pro Football Weekly … horrible draft: Then look at 2016 These NFL draft gurus on ESPN love to pump the NFL draft, giving them superbly meaningless grades after the selections have ended just to improve their TV ratings. However, the only way to grade a draft is to look at it five years later, and that is how the current woes of the Pittsburgh Steelers can be evaluated. Just look at the 2015 draft, one made five years ago. I am grading it today, giving it a C-/D+. That is how bad it was. To refresh your memory, here are the picks from 2015 with my 2020 grades beside them, 1st Round - Bud Dupree, OLB. Grade: C- 2nd Round - Senquez Golson, CB. Grade: F 3rd Round - Sammie Coates, WR. Grade: D+ 4th Round - Doran Grant, DB. Grade: F 5th Round - Jesse James, TE. Grade: B+ 6th Round - L.T. Walton, DL. Grade: C+ 6th Round - Anthony Chickillo, OLB, B- 7th Round - Gerod Holliman, S. Grade: F Okay, maybe I am a little tough, but combine this

Nick Saban, Alabama, and Dabo Swinney, Clemson earned  $18 million collectively in 2019 Photo: USA Today … should the university/college focus be on education, not athletics? If Dabo Swinney would earn the same amount as he did last year over the next decade, the Clemson football coach would be a $100 million man. Would this money be better spent on the students at Clemson instead of the athletes? In addition, the problem in 2020 is that no one even knows if the season will take place at all because of the coronavirus, so paying a salary like that could be outrageous. As a result of what the universities and colleges had to undergo this spring, they have lost tens — and possibly even a hundred — million dollars. Penn State president Eric Barron said Thursday that the school is projected to lose “at least $260 million over the next 14 months,” according to the Centre Daily Times. Barron asked all top PSU administrators to take a 10 percent pay cut. He is going to

Chuck Noll, Four Super Bowl Trophies All because of the NFL Draft -- the day the Steelers have no first-rounder … hard to envision the Steelers even winning their division in the future Not since 1967 have the Steelers gone without a first-round draft pick. That was two years before Chuck Noll arrived, and Noll immediately made his presence felt in the first draft. According to a tremendous biography of Noll by Michael MacCambridge, the new coach was the only one in the team’s scouting department who wanted to draft Greene, who went on to become a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the NFL Hall of Fame as one of the greatest defensive linemen of all time. Over the next five years, Noll argued for establishing his super bowl teams by intelligent drafting. Terry Bradshaw was first in 1970, Franco Harris in 1972, and Lynn Swann in 1974 followed, and each is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame. Five more picks from that era made the HF: Mel Blount, Jack Ham, Ja

Lamar Jackson (center), does not need Marquise or Antonio Photo: Baltimore Ravens website Lamar Jackson, the tremendous young quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, had a phenomenal year in 2019, one that led to an NFL MVP award. Well, almost phenomenal. He choked in the playoffs, though some of that may have resulted from coaching decisions, not ones on the field. During this season, Jackson did well on the ground and through the air. Jackson completed 265 of 401 passes (66 percent) for 3,127 yards and 36 touchdowns. In addition, he carried the ball 176 times for 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging seven yards a carry. It was a fantastic regular season as the Ravens won 13 games and looked like a real possible challenger to the Kansas City Chiefs for the right to represent the AFC in the title game. Coach John Harbaugh’s choice to sit down Jackson in the final game against the Steelers, one that did not matter in the final standings. The result was that Jackson did not p

Coach Don Friday, PSU-Harrisburg Photo: Athletic offic e ... and Happy Birthday, Coach! When he took over the Penn State-Harrisburg men’s basketball program six years ago, he knew that the program had never experienced any significant success. This year, the fruits of his labor over the last six seasons came to fruition as the Lions captured their first conference championship as it won the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) on Feb. with a 76-69 win over Lancaster Bible College on Feb. 29. That earned them a spot in the NCAA Division III national championship race, earning their first victory ever with a first-round win over John Hopkins, which had been ranked sixth in the country entering the tournament. PSU-Harrisburg won 21 games this season, another school record. As a result, Coach Friday was named 2020 ECAC Div. III Coach of the Year, Friday was named NEAC Coach of the Year and led Penn State Harrisburg to its-first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. They made the mo

The "Big House," University of Michigan Will it host more than 100,000 this fall? Photo: Wikipedia The moves appeared to be minor and inconsequential, but in the world of the coronavirus and college athletics, the moves were very forboding. The University of Cincinnati ended its soccer program that had been in existence for more than 40 years. Earlier, Old Dominion University dropped its wrestling program. Meanwhile, at a more fundamental level, colleges and universities throughout the country are wrestling with a basic fundamental component: Continued existence of the schools themselves. Will sports continue to be dropped? When it comes to the fall, most college presidents are more concerned with the continued existence of their institutions and the students who attend them, not the athletic programs. The athletic programs are on very shaky ground whether they are Div. I or Div. III, The foreboding feeling around the college sports industry is that the cuts

Beaver Stadium whiteout: Will they return in the fall? Photo: Getty Images The decision was devastating, but it had to be made. The first concern for college athletic administrators is the health of the athletes. The first concern for the presidents of the universities is the health of the students. So, when the coronavirus entered the United States, and when medical professionals said that the only sure fire way to combat it [without a vaccine] was social distancing, then the decision was simple: Cancel the conference tournaments and even more damaging, the NCAA Basketball Championship. The money that is raised from that is distributed to the members schools and conferences. And, in late March, the NCAA made an announcement about that loss of money. $375 million The Associated Press made the announcement in a story that outlined the problem, Canceling March Madness because of the coronavirus pandemic will cost the NCAA about $375 million that it would have distributed to 350 s

Tom Dempsey kicking for the New Orleans Saints Photo: Pinterest The Covid-19 virus has claimed more than 8,300 lives in the United States, and a legendary professional kicker in the NFL was one of the victims on Saturday. According to CBS News, Tom Dempsey was an inspirational NFL player. Despite being born with only half a right foot and no right hand, the tenacious kicker had an 11-year NFL career. Dempsey kicked a record 63-yard field goal with the New Orleans Saints in 1970. Dempsey never let his disability keep him from chasing his dreams. In high school, he was a standout lineman, and was also on the wrestling and track teams. He made the leap to college ball, playing defensive end at Palomar Junior College in California. Dempsey was fitted with a special shoe that allowed him to swing his leg and drive the ball like a polo player using a mallet, and Dempsey’s career started to thrive. Tyler Sullivan, “Saints legendary kicker Tom Dempsey dies at the age  of 73 from COV