January 4th, 2013 will go down in Chiefs history as the day that they fired Scott Pioli. A polarizing figure in Chiefs fans mind for the wrong reasons, mostly poor decisions and losing. Pioli came to the Chiefs as the NFL Executive of the Year and was the homerun hire back in 2008 when he was hired. He mad the mistake in hiring Todd Haley.
I never thought Todd Haley was a bad coach but Pioli wanted him to be the "face" of the franchise and I think Haley wasn't ready for that pressure. Haley is more suited for the coach that just does press conferences and other events. Keep Haley out of the public eye and don't try to undermind him and it will turn out fine.
Now on to Andy Reid. What a hire for Clark Hunt. The Chiefs went out and hired maybe the Top 2 or 3 canidate out their behind John Grudden and Lovie Smith. I think this fit is better for the Chiefs because they need to upgrade on offense to be a competitive team in the NFL. Reid is the coach that has the talent evaluation and the moxy to do it.
Here is how they can do it:
Step 1) Find a good QB - whether by the draft or thought Free Agency (Hello, Kirk Cousins or fingers crossed Chase Daniel - Hey I can dream can't I?) and get him in here. Then don't just stop there keep drafting QB's. Much like where in baseball the pitcher is the hot commodity QB's are the big time currency in the NFL.
Step 2) Upgrade the offensive line - Brandon Albert and some other guys, that's what the Chiefs have on the line. Upgrade so that during the middle of the year, you don't lose your Center and have to replace him with a Gaurd. Depth is key as far as linemen. Being a Mizzou fan I can see where this will hurt your team.
Step 3) Find a WR or Two - Okay, I hate Dwayne Bowe. He is lazy and drops too many passes to be an elite receiver, but he is by far the best that the Chiefs have had since Eddie Kennison? For that very reason the Chiefs need to find some receivers, weapons if you will. Four effective WR are better than one Dwayne Bowe.
Step 4) Find a backup for Jamaal Charles. It's time for them to find a young RB to come in and help Charles. He has maybe 3 good years left on his career and they need to have someone to fill the void as soon as Jamaal can't any longer.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Is Carl Edwards in trouble?
Rank Name Pts Wins
1. Matt Kenseth 676 1
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 651 1
3. Greg Biffle 632 1
4. Jimmie Johnson 618 2
5. Tony Stewart 586 3
6. Kevin Harvick 586 0
7. Denny Hamlin 584 2
8. Martin Truex Jr. 584 0
9. Brad Keselowski 573 3
10. Clint Boyer 572 1
11. Carl Edwards 541 0
*Wild Card winners: Kyle Busch and Joey Lagano
Carl is in big trouble folks, last year runner up, in the Sprint Cup Series may not make it to the Chase as a championship contender. Carl needs to get his act together and win some races or start consistently finishing in the top 10, even the top 5. If he doesn't then as they currently sit, he will miss the cut by being eleventh.
Now I know what you are thinking. Yes, there are still plenty of races until the Chase but my question is what is Carl's chance at winning a race beforehand.
Race Chance
New Hampshire Moderate
Brickyard 400 - Indy Moderate
Pocono High - Best Track
Watkins Glen Low
Michigan High
Bristol Moderate to High
Atlanta High
Richmond Moderate
Friday, July 13, 2012
Why can't the Royals overcome and win?
During last weeks All-Star game the Royals came out to provide record crowds at the Futures game, Home run Derby and the actual game itself, plus many more activities as well. This does make you wander, "Why can't they field a better team?
Now, I know that the Royals are a "small" market team but I don't buy that load of crock. It is proven by the draw of the KC fans and also a fact that if a good team is on the field the fans show up to the games.
This comes down to who owns the team, David Glass. David is a man who gained his wealth through Wal-mart. Unfortunately, he runs the team with same principal as Wal-mart, "Always Low Prices, Always." He hand-cuffs General Manager Dayton Moore and doesn't let him sign and key Free Agents. Moore must get his free agents from the bargain bin or "Low price/Low risk" players.
One good thing the Royals and Moore have started to do is pay their draftees and players more upfront. This is one method that the Royals must and can do to get good players. However, without a change in approach to the team, we won't see the prime years or 27 - 32 years of players like Hosmer and Moustakas.
Now you may ask what the solution to this situation may be.
One: Would be for the fans to pack the stadium and generate more money so they can afford to buy better players through free agent signings. This is a great idea and I love the idea but the Glass family would probably just pocket the money.
Two: Would be to force the Glass family to sell the team to someone from the Kansas City area. The Glass' are from Arkansas and aren't fans of the team. They run it too much like a business that watches spending to maximize profits. Baseball is a business that you need to invest in your team to make money. If the Royals were sold to some KC people they would invest in some good players because they are fans and would want to win at all costs.
Three: Last option would be to force Glass to move the team to another city and ask the MLB to get another expansion franchise. We could call them by the name "Monarch's" just like the former Negro-League club. Personally this would be terrible idea because their is a risk that Kansas City would never get a team back to take the Royals place.
The biggest deal is that Royals fans need to support their team or you will lose that Major League team. Just keep supporting the team because they will turn it around if they can get some pitching.
Now, I know that the Royals are a "small" market team but I don't buy that load of crock. It is proven by the draw of the KC fans and also a fact that if a good team is on the field the fans show up to the games.
This comes down to who owns the team, David Glass. David is a man who gained his wealth through Wal-mart. Unfortunately, he runs the team with same principal as Wal-mart, "Always Low Prices, Always." He hand-cuffs General Manager Dayton Moore and doesn't let him sign and key Free Agents. Moore must get his free agents from the bargain bin or "Low price/Low risk" players.
One good thing the Royals and Moore have started to do is pay their draftees and players more upfront. This is one method that the Royals must and can do to get good players. However, without a change in approach to the team, we won't see the prime years or 27 - 32 years of players like Hosmer and Moustakas.
Now you may ask what the solution to this situation may be.
One: Would be for the fans to pack the stadium and generate more money so they can afford to buy better players through free agent signings. This is a great idea and I love the idea but the Glass family would probably just pocket the money.
Two: Would be to force the Glass family to sell the team to someone from the Kansas City area. The Glass' are from Arkansas and aren't fans of the team. They run it too much like a business that watches spending to maximize profits. Baseball is a business that you need to invest in your team to make money. If the Royals were sold to some KC people they would invest in some good players because they are fans and would want to win at all costs.
Three: Last option would be to force Glass to move the team to another city and ask the MLB to get another expansion franchise. We could call them by the name "Monarch's" just like the former Negro-League club. Personally this would be terrible idea because their is a risk that Kansas City would never get a team back to take the Royals place.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The Chief's Draft
Dontari Poe: NT, Memphis(1st Round)
Dontari is a very raw talent that RAC believes he can turn into one of the best NT in all of the AFC if not the entire league. He didn't have a very stat filled career for the C-USA Memphis Tigers but the kid mopped up at the NFL combine. Only time will tell if this kid is a stud or a bust, but my bet is that he will do what he is asked. Clog the middle and make it hard for teams to run up the gut and pressure the QB by taking up blockers.
Jeff Allen: OG, Illinois(2nd Round)
Jeff played very well for the poorly coached Fighting Illini this past year. Expect to see Jeff on the field sooner than later to help the Offensive line. This kid can play and will be helping the line in-case of injury and also in platoon action.
Donald Stephenson: OT, Oklahoma(3rd Round)
Donald is a Kansas City native that is coming back to his hometown NFL team. RAC believes that he will be project and won't likely see much playing time in 2012. This looks like a move to insure a replacement for Brandon Albert if he doesn't resign with the Chiefs after next season.
Devon Wylie: WR, Fresno State(4th Round)
Devon is a quick agile receiver that projects to be the slot receiver. He may be the sign of the end of Dexter McCluster but we will have to see how that plays out in the fall. Of course people are going to compare him to Wes Welker because he is white and small, but I think this kid has a real chance of coming to this team and making a contribution in either the passing game or return game.
Dequan Menzie, SS, Alabama(5th Round)
Dequan is thought to be insurance for the defensive backfield if they need help in the nickel. He will be used on occasion and is a need that was addressed.
Cyrus Gray, RB, Texas A&M(6th Round)
Gray will come into provide depth at RB. The backfield is loaded now with J.Charles, P. Hillis, and D. McCluster back there(well at least for now). He was brought in just in case Jamaal struggles with his knee injury and Hillis has a mediocre time. This kid will be valuable in the future but the roster is too loader to see him play right away.
Jerome Long, DT, San Diego St.(7th Round - #1)
Backup and special teams. Don't know much about
Junior Hemingway, WR, Michigan(7th Round - #2)
Backup and special teams. Don't know much about
Dontari is a very raw talent that RAC believes he can turn into one of the best NT in all of the AFC if not the entire league. He didn't have a very stat filled career for the C-USA Memphis Tigers but the kid mopped up at the NFL combine. Only time will tell if this kid is a stud or a bust, but my bet is that he will do what he is asked. Clog the middle and make it hard for teams to run up the gut and pressure the QB by taking up blockers.
Jeff Allen: OG, Illinois(2nd Round)
Jeff played very well for the poorly coached Fighting Illini this past year. Expect to see Jeff on the field sooner than later to help the Offensive line. This kid can play and will be helping the line in-case of injury and also in platoon action.
Donald Stephenson: OT, Oklahoma(3rd Round)
Donald is a Kansas City native that is coming back to his hometown NFL team. RAC believes that he will be project and won't likely see much playing time in 2012. This looks like a move to insure a replacement for Brandon Albert if he doesn't resign with the Chiefs after next season.
Devon Wylie: WR, Fresno State(4th Round)
Devon is a quick agile receiver that projects to be the slot receiver. He may be the sign of the end of Dexter McCluster but we will have to see how that plays out in the fall. Of course people are going to compare him to Wes Welker because he is white and small, but I think this kid has a real chance of coming to this team and making a contribution in either the passing game or return game.
Dequan Menzie, SS, Alabama(5th Round)
Dequan is thought to be insurance for the defensive backfield if they need help in the nickel. He will be used on occasion and is a need that was addressed.
Cyrus Gray, RB, Texas A&M(6th Round)
Gray will come into provide depth at RB. The backfield is loaded now with J.Charles, P. Hillis, and D. McCluster back there(well at least for now). He was brought in just in case Jamaal struggles with his knee injury and Hillis has a mediocre time. This kid will be valuable in the future but the roster is too loader to see him play right away.
Jerome Long, DT, San Diego St.(7th Round - #1)
Backup and special teams. Don't know much about
Junior Hemingway, WR, Michigan(7th Round - #2)
Backup and special teams. Don't know much about
Friday, April 20, 2012
Faurot Field Stadium Expansion
In regard to Mizzou's Stadium, which is Memorial Stadium and the playing surface is named after former coach Don Faurot, expansion is dearly needed. This expansion is not only to accommodate all the visitors that come to the SEC games but also make the concourses and bathroom bigger to make the game day experience better. Currently Faurot is at 71,003 and that is small compared to many of the SEC schools.
Many suggestions have been made on how to make the stadium bigger and one thing we all know is that they are going to be putting a luxury box just like the press box on the side that faces Providence. However, there have been many ideas bantered about RockMnation and TigerBoard. Some of these ideas range from moving the hill and the Rock "M" close to the playing surface to removing the track and moving the fans closer to the benches.
Many pundits of the Hill say that it is a tradition and we could never move it, but the truth is that only thing that we can't move is the Rock "M" and Coach Pinkel has already said that it will not be removed. This is the best option in my opinion because it eliminates a place for sound to escape the stadium and puts more fans closer which makes the place feel tougher to play. An added bonus is that we wouldn't put those dumb portable bleachers that make our school look po-dunk when they roll them out for the big games. The biggest downfall of this would be the amount of fill needed to bring that up to the rest of the structure. This project would be costly but would pay for itself overtime.
A research project on how soccer teams play with a track and without a track is drastic. The influence that the crowd can make by being close is drastic, so many Tiger fans would like to see the current stands extended down to the grassy hill that butts up to the brick retaining wall. Those against this will tell you that the sight lines would be terrible at those places and all you would see is the numbers from the back of the new matte black helmet. One other problem exists and that is the field is already fairly close to bedrock. Originally the site where the football stadiums sits was a rock quarry years ago and they used the profile of that quarry and the land to create the bowl shape and the hill. Thus, in order to create the proper site lines for fans they would have to blast out the limestone bedrock that is under the playing surface to lower it. Not saying that it can't or wouldn't be done but there are cheaper ways to add seating.
Another option being talked about is adding a second deck to the South endzone. This would essentially add 10,000 seats to the existing structure. Many folks, including myself, love this idea to add seating. They would just need to build around what is already there, but there are some problems. Rumors say that the low water table in that area hamper the stadium from going any higher. The new structure wouldn't be stable and would be dangerous for fans to sit, let alone cheer and stomp.
We know one thing and that is the stadium will be upgraded and seating will be added. With exception of the new luxury boxes we don't know where and how, so we will have to wait. My guess is that these plans of the turf and expansion will be released after we are officially in the SEC. So look around for those because now it will be a dead period for Mizzou Athletics for a while. So, sit back and relax and enjoy the ride.
Many suggestions have been made on how to make the stadium bigger and one thing we all know is that they are going to be putting a luxury box just like the press box on the side that faces Providence. However, there have been many ideas bantered about RockMnation and TigerBoard. Some of these ideas range from moving the hill and the Rock "M" close to the playing surface to removing the track and moving the fans closer to the benches.
Many pundits of the Hill say that it is a tradition and we could never move it, but the truth is that only thing that we can't move is the Rock "M" and Coach Pinkel has already said that it will not be removed. This is the best option in my opinion because it eliminates a place for sound to escape the stadium and puts more fans closer which makes the place feel tougher to play. An added bonus is that we wouldn't put those dumb portable bleachers that make our school look po-dunk when they roll them out for the big games. The biggest downfall of this would be the amount of fill needed to bring that up to the rest of the structure. This project would be costly but would pay for itself overtime.
A research project on how soccer teams play with a track and without a track is drastic. The influence that the crowd can make by being close is drastic, so many Tiger fans would like to see the current stands extended down to the grassy hill that butts up to the brick retaining wall. Those against this will tell you that the sight lines would be terrible at those places and all you would see is the numbers from the back of the new matte black helmet. One other problem exists and that is the field is already fairly close to bedrock. Originally the site where the football stadiums sits was a rock quarry years ago and they used the profile of that quarry and the land to create the bowl shape and the hill. Thus, in order to create the proper site lines for fans they would have to blast out the limestone bedrock that is under the playing surface to lower it. Not saying that it can't or wouldn't be done but there are cheaper ways to add seating.
Another option being talked about is adding a second deck to the South endzone. This would essentially add 10,000 seats to the existing structure. Many folks, including myself, love this idea to add seating. They would just need to build around what is already there, but there are some problems. Rumors say that the low water table in that area hamper the stadium from going any higher. The new structure wouldn't be stable and would be dangerous for fans to sit, let alone cheer and stomp.
We know one thing and that is the stadium will be upgraded and seating will be added. With exception of the new luxury boxes we don't know where and how, so we will have to wait. My guess is that these plans of the turf and expansion will be released after we are officially in the SEC. So look around for those because now it will be a dead period for Mizzou Athletics for a while. So, sit back and relax and enjoy the ride.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
New Mizzou Uniform's
These are the new Mizzou uniforms for football and I think they are a good change for the football program. My favorite is the black uniform because it is the most simple of the three uniforms. The white uniform is different because of the addition of the "anthracite" grey added to the shoulder pads. The good news about this is that it looks good live.
The Gold uniform is gold by the way, and one person may think it's yellow but hey it's a bold color to go with black. Mizzou fans need to stop acting like we have had Black and Old Gold forever. We haven't. The basketball team has worn that yellow gold for a long time, well into Norms Stewart's reign on the basketball court.
Don Barnes said that the main uniform combination for the home games will be the black jersey and gold pants combination. The away will be the white jersey with any combination of the 4 jersey pants. The Gold jersey will be worn for the Gold Rush game and an all black uniform will be worn for the Black Out game.
Now to the helmets. Mizzou has worn a M on the helmet since 1971 and now that's changing. My biggest complaint that was that the muddy gold on the helmet didn't match the yellow gold that the university is now using. It didn't match and looked awful. Now we have the Tiger Head in the oval as the main helmet and a all Gold Tiger head on a matte black helmet for the alternate. The alternate will be worn once a year with the gold jersey, surely during the gold rush game. I don't mind the change because the Tiger head is recognized as the University of Missouri and Mizzou but then I am only 24 and many of the years I have watched the M on the helmet the Tigers have been mediocre at best.
I think the argument that the M gets confused with Michigan is a valid argument but you can't tell me that it gets confused on the Michigan helmet. The helmets look nothing alike. It does get confused on hats and other apparel. Knowing that this is just a push for money and merchandise sales in a way, it makes me mad but then if it expands Mizzou so that our athletic program can get recruits nationally and improve the changes will be welcomed with open arms.
If you don't like this change voice your opinion but I think you are outnumbered by people that don't care and/or like the uniforms. This will stay the same until Pinkel or Alden are gone so get used to it because Alden has done so much to improve things at Mizzou that he will most likely retire a Tiger and he is pushing the logo and Mizzou. If you want change you will need to get Alden fired. Good luck with that.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The Block M is gone, such a sad day.
The Block M that is on Mizzou's helmet has been there since Al Onofrio took the job as coach of the Tigers in 1971. Over the years the Block M's style, color and size has changed. Many tradition or "TERDITION!!!!!!" people as I call them are very upset over the change.
Coach Pinkel has said numerous times that TigerHead and the name "Mizzou" is what people see and instantly recognize Mizzou and Missouri. This, at least I don't think, means people are getting Mizzou's helmet mixed up with Michigan's, but Pinkel has said that is why they are changing it. In all honesty I really don't care what is put on the helmet or anything like that, I just want my team to win.
Many tradition pundits will argue that if we let Nike change our identity going into the SEC that we will be laughed at and mocked. Yes, I will admit we are going into a conference that has a lot of stock in the past and tradition but sometimes they are stuck in the past. If you really look at the schools in the SEC, there are schools that don't follow tradition. It just seems that way because that is what we are told and we believe it.
Don't forget that we have been looking to change this for a few years now. Since they brought the TigerHead logo into the picture they have been changing our merchandise and it is really selling. We have been in the Top 20 in licensed apparel sells in the last few years. The honest truth is the Tiger Paw/Block M didn't sell because they were too closely matched to Clemson and Michigan respectively. Mizzou is now in a better place nationally because of our marketing and the Nike corp has brought to our school.
Helmets of the past:
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