retailguy
12-01-2007, 02:50 PM
10-2. Certainly no one, except possibly Iron Mike (and I think he was drunk at the time), could have predicted this. Clearly, I did not believe it possible. I was wrong. Way wrong. Probably the most wrong prediction I have ever made in my life, and considering I am an awful gambler, that’s saying something. :oops:
To make it worse, I was utterly convinced I was right, and no one on the face of this earth could have convinced me that I was wrong. I was not open to new ideas because I’d seen many failures in the last 10 years in the NFL. I hadn’t seen anyone succeed with the model that Ted was implementing, the closest was probably Andy Reid, and he, being the best exception certainly didn’t “make it” either. Now, for those of you pointing to Bill Bellichek and Scott Pioli, please don’t. That team was built primarily with low priced free agents, but we haven’t even really had enough of those to make a difference.
Looking back, I was supportive of Ted, not withstanding several jokes, over the first 18months. I always acknowledged that Ted was a good discoverer of talent, but made it clear that I really didn’t like him as a leader or as a person. I still feel that way, but, sometimes bad leaders can still lead. Clearly he can find talent, but it’s more than that, he can find talent that can be developed. That’s a much different task, and probably everyone will agree with me that it’s a much more difficult job. Today, I guess I assume that he can channel that ability into some form of leadership. I am finding that I’m reversing my viewpoint, even though he has yet to secure the 4th Green Bay Lombardi Trophy. I now think that’s possible. In September, I didn’t think it was even a bad dream. It was simply unattainable.
My frustrations exploded on March 3rd when it was announced that Ahman Green was leaving Green Bay for the warmer confines of Houston. I knew Ahman was old, and considered by many to be over the hill. To a certain degree, I agreed with them, however, still believed that he was the best running back on the roster by a wide margin, and letting him go, was just plain stupid. The free agent crop was poor, at best, and worse, it didn’t look good for drafting a running back, as there were only two, one who was injury prone and overvalued (another wrong opinion), and the second I really didn’t like and didn’t fit the scheme either.
Knowing the line was poor, even with the late season improvement, I believed that a strong running back was critical to the success of the team. (In week 13, that’s been shown to be slightly inaccurate too). Nonetheless, I couldn’t see where he’d get a replacement, even if Ahman was old and over the hill. I knew that the solution wasn’t on the roster. I thought, at best, they could be Samkon Gado types for a few games, but wouldn’t be a consistent threat. Then, he drafted Brandon Jackson, and I had a bit of hope, for 2008 anyway. I just thought he was too raw to make a difference this year. I thought that maybe, if McCarthy and Co. could somehow motivate Wynn, maybe the combination might work. When he made the cut down day trade for Grant, I actually praised him for doing “something”, but didn’t see how a guy who had never had a regular season carry, and had spent the year on the Giants practice squad could bail him out of the mess he was in. (wrong again….)
While I knew that players can and do improve from year to year, our chances hinged on ALL or most of them anyhow, improving. I knew that wasn’t likely, and I interpreted that to mean it was impossible. That frustrated me even more (if that was even possible). While I expected improvement, I also expected many blown assignments, many young players not on the same page, and that would result in many vanilla plays and schemes which good teams would pick apart in the second half of games. This hasn’t happened either. That is clearly a credit to McCarthy and his coaching staff, who I wasn’t extremely high on either. (At least I’m consistent, right?...lol).
After watching the Eagles game, I was very quiet. Pleased with the win, I looked at how they played and thought how long of a season it would be. I got a glimmer of hope after the San Diego game, but considering how poorly the Chargers had played to that point, I figured it was a bit luck and a bit good fortune in terms of the timing.
I started to believe the week after the bye week, but still expected a letdown and a long losing streak at some point. After the Broncos/Chiefs game, I began to truly believe. To me, that two game road trip is the most impressive pair of wins this season.
Today, I’m not really concerned with the loss at Dallas. I question whether or not it was smart to keep KGB and Woodson on the bench, but McCarthy has done so many things right this season, I’ll defer that to him. He’s clearly earned that, and I intend to give it to him. I don’t expect the team to lose again in the regular season, and am beginning to believe that the division championship is an achievable goal. I’m not going to look at the Super Bowl (believe me, with my prediction skills this is a GOOD thing…). I will say this, that, from this fan’s perspective, if they lost all remaining games, I’ll still be pleased.
I was frustrated that Brett’s final year would be wasted, and just pissed that with a few well placed veterans this team could’ve got lucky and won some. Once you win some, you just never know. Well, today November 30th, here we sit at 10-2, with a playoff berth and the second playoff seed coming with one win and two losses (Tampa and Seattle). Worse for me, it was done without ANY help from a free agent veteran (marginal or not). Clearly that is a good thing, but doesn’t bode well for my prediction skills.
In closing, I want to be clear. I still don’t like Ted. But today, I respect the job he has done quite a bit more. I wouldn’t choose him as a friend, I won’t believe much of what he says, but, to this point, he’s done a hell of a job building this football team. I hope this success will continue and I believe it will. I’m officially back on the bandwagon (even if I have to ride in the back), and will endeavor not to lodge a single complaint through the next offseason.
Comments are appreciated, and hopefully most will be kind. I’m not endeavoring to start another flame war, or divisive battle. We’ve had enough of those.
To make it worse, I was utterly convinced I was right, and no one on the face of this earth could have convinced me that I was wrong. I was not open to new ideas because I’d seen many failures in the last 10 years in the NFL. I hadn’t seen anyone succeed with the model that Ted was implementing, the closest was probably Andy Reid, and he, being the best exception certainly didn’t “make it” either. Now, for those of you pointing to Bill Bellichek and Scott Pioli, please don’t. That team was built primarily with low priced free agents, but we haven’t even really had enough of those to make a difference.
Looking back, I was supportive of Ted, not withstanding several jokes, over the first 18months. I always acknowledged that Ted was a good discoverer of talent, but made it clear that I really didn’t like him as a leader or as a person. I still feel that way, but, sometimes bad leaders can still lead. Clearly he can find talent, but it’s more than that, he can find talent that can be developed. That’s a much different task, and probably everyone will agree with me that it’s a much more difficult job. Today, I guess I assume that he can channel that ability into some form of leadership. I am finding that I’m reversing my viewpoint, even though he has yet to secure the 4th Green Bay Lombardi Trophy. I now think that’s possible. In September, I didn’t think it was even a bad dream. It was simply unattainable.
My frustrations exploded on March 3rd when it was announced that Ahman Green was leaving Green Bay for the warmer confines of Houston. I knew Ahman was old, and considered by many to be over the hill. To a certain degree, I agreed with them, however, still believed that he was the best running back on the roster by a wide margin, and letting him go, was just plain stupid. The free agent crop was poor, at best, and worse, it didn’t look good for drafting a running back, as there were only two, one who was injury prone and overvalued (another wrong opinion), and the second I really didn’t like and didn’t fit the scheme either.
Knowing the line was poor, even with the late season improvement, I believed that a strong running back was critical to the success of the team. (In week 13, that’s been shown to be slightly inaccurate too). Nonetheless, I couldn’t see where he’d get a replacement, even if Ahman was old and over the hill. I knew that the solution wasn’t on the roster. I thought, at best, they could be Samkon Gado types for a few games, but wouldn’t be a consistent threat. Then, he drafted Brandon Jackson, and I had a bit of hope, for 2008 anyway. I just thought he was too raw to make a difference this year. I thought that maybe, if McCarthy and Co. could somehow motivate Wynn, maybe the combination might work. When he made the cut down day trade for Grant, I actually praised him for doing “something”, but didn’t see how a guy who had never had a regular season carry, and had spent the year on the Giants practice squad could bail him out of the mess he was in. (wrong again….)
While I knew that players can and do improve from year to year, our chances hinged on ALL or most of them anyhow, improving. I knew that wasn’t likely, and I interpreted that to mean it was impossible. That frustrated me even more (if that was even possible). While I expected improvement, I also expected many blown assignments, many young players not on the same page, and that would result in many vanilla plays and schemes which good teams would pick apart in the second half of games. This hasn’t happened either. That is clearly a credit to McCarthy and his coaching staff, who I wasn’t extremely high on either. (At least I’m consistent, right?...lol).
After watching the Eagles game, I was very quiet. Pleased with the win, I looked at how they played and thought how long of a season it would be. I got a glimmer of hope after the San Diego game, but considering how poorly the Chargers had played to that point, I figured it was a bit luck and a bit good fortune in terms of the timing.
I started to believe the week after the bye week, but still expected a letdown and a long losing streak at some point. After the Broncos/Chiefs game, I began to truly believe. To me, that two game road trip is the most impressive pair of wins this season.
Today, I’m not really concerned with the loss at Dallas. I question whether or not it was smart to keep KGB and Woodson on the bench, but McCarthy has done so many things right this season, I’ll defer that to him. He’s clearly earned that, and I intend to give it to him. I don’t expect the team to lose again in the regular season, and am beginning to believe that the division championship is an achievable goal. I’m not going to look at the Super Bowl (believe me, with my prediction skills this is a GOOD thing…). I will say this, that, from this fan’s perspective, if they lost all remaining games, I’ll still be pleased.
I was frustrated that Brett’s final year would be wasted, and just pissed that with a few well placed veterans this team could’ve got lucky and won some. Once you win some, you just never know. Well, today November 30th, here we sit at 10-2, with a playoff berth and the second playoff seed coming with one win and two losses (Tampa and Seattle). Worse for me, it was done without ANY help from a free agent veteran (marginal or not). Clearly that is a good thing, but doesn’t bode well for my prediction skills.
In closing, I want to be clear. I still don’t like Ted. But today, I respect the job he has done quite a bit more. I wouldn’t choose him as a friend, I won’t believe much of what he says, but, to this point, he’s done a hell of a job building this football team. I hope this success will continue and I believe it will. I’m officially back on the bandwagon (even if I have to ride in the back), and will endeavor not to lodge a single complaint through the next offseason.
Comments are appreciated, and hopefully most will be kind. I’m not endeavoring to start another flame war, or divisive battle. We’ve had enough of those.