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By Anthony De Franco  February 8, 2010, at 10:23 am  There was a time in which WCWP’s Matt Soldano chided myself and Jason for being the “only people who watched the UFC.” This should make him cry. Here is a little piece of news from sports video game site Pastapadre:
In sales news UFC 2009 Undisputed has passed 3.5 million resulting in it becoming a “Platinum Hit” on the 360 and “Greatest Hit” on the PS3. That makes it the second best selling sports title domestically behind Madden which is extraordinary for the first year in a new franchise. NBA 2K10 has passed 2 million in worldwide sales which is a significant number as well.
That’s right. The first iteration of the UFC’s new franchise just outsold the greatest basketball game of all time, which 2K10 is, and it’s really not an argument.
While it doesn’t mean that MMA has surpassed basketball as a sport, it does show a little something.
By Jason Comack January 6, 2010, at 3:42 pm At 6-0 I was drinking the Josh McDaniels kool aid.
Of course 10 weeks in the NFL can often feel like an eternity and boy has a lot changed in 10 weeks.
Like everyone else who owns a sports website I couldn’t comprehend any of the Broncos off-season moves. They fired Shanahan abruptly, owing him 14 million, to hire a blue eyed baby face coach to turn things around. Three years ago no one questions this move. Three years ago Charlie Weiss isn’t a pariah in South Bend, Eric Mangini is still the “Man-genius” and Romeo Crennel hasn’t failed so famously McDaniels was suppose to be different. After all he was the guy that developed Brady was the selling point, that was suppose to set Josh apart. So what happens? McDaniels arrives on the scene, cleans out the coaching staff, feuds with his star QB and diva WR. McDaniels put the pressure on himself. Then 6-0 happened. The Patriot game happened. The Marshall hug happened. Denver had found their new Golden Boy. I went on 4th Down and compared Josh McDaniels to Bill Walsh (gulp.).
So what went wrong?
Simply put McDaniels made every mistake that his predecessors made;
- Step 1: Alienate Players. Marshall, Scheffler and Cutler. Shaun Rogers, Cribbs, Edwards.
- Step 2: Arrogance With The Media. Check.
- Step 3: A questionable draft track record. Moreno, Smith, Ayers, Quinn. Clemens, Gholston, Schlegel.
- Step 4: Bring In Your guys. Gaffney, Leach. Barton, Coleman, Elam.
Ultimately Step 3 and 4 lead to the Broncos decline. McDaniels inherited a roster with star pieces and little depth and did his best to entirely turn it over. Only problem is he got absolutely no production from any of his draft picks and immediately cut back the playing time of the established starters. He choose “his guys” over guys that were better players. Why do you think Eddie Royal, coming of a 90 catch season, didn’t play. Why do you think Moreno, who struggled mightily played while Peyton Hillis never even got a look. Scheme and talent can make up for a lot in this league but your players have to buy in. Clearly there was a rift between the Shannahan hold overs and the McDaniels faithful. There’s no other explanation for a team failing to show up against two awful teams when it mattered the most.
Magini had the same problems in NY. He played his guys, his scheme, feuded with Farve and it got him fired. He started his Cleavland stint the same way. He exiled Rogers on Day 1, Jamal Lewis decided to retire, James Davis got hurt in “non contact practice injury” and players complained to the union about long bus rides. He painted over a mural of Jim Brown. It seemed he had learned nothing. He brought in his guys even though they failed him in NY. Then something changed. The last 4 games of the season the Browns didn’t roll over and die. They fought to save Mangini’s job and it culminated in a win streak and a Gatorade bath for the much maligned coach.
This is exactly why Cleveland hired Mangini. Remember this is the same franchise that let Belichick get away. Remember the circumstances of his firing? He exiled Kosar tried to install his guys and his system and the fans and media turned on him. It wasn’t his X’s and O’s that got him canned. He went to New England learned the error of his ways and of course the rest is history.
McDaniels undoing will never be about football knowledge it’ll be in the way they handle their football knowledge. McDaneils will know more about football then I can learn in three lifetimes but that skill alone can only take you so far.
By Anthony De Franco November 29, 2009, at 3:16 pm Here’s an interesting article from PFT. Got a few million dollars hanging around? Then you can own part of the worst run franchise in the history of sports!
As a world of children and grown-up children who act like adults so the children won’t get scared begin to make out their Christmas wish lists, here’s a item for consideration.
A 10-percent stake in the Oakland Raiders.
Jay Glazer of FOX reports that the the team is trying to sell that amount of franchise, in an effort to raise money.
We’ve separately learned that, while a partial sale is possible, the efforts aren’t yet fully active. No investment firm has been engaged, for example, and no aggressive attempt has been made to scare up a buyer.
Per a league source, the reality in Oakland is that the limited partnership contains several aging members (or, in some cases, the widows of deceased members). Some of the members might want to dilute their interest in the team.
So, here’s the plan: If someone is willing to back us, Jason and I come up with a big plan to basically rebuild the Raiders. It may or may not involve creatively getting rid of Al Davis. We’re kidding. As if he could be killed by conventional weapons.
By Anthony De Franco November 17, 2009, at 2:36 pm Oh baby, this is really going to hurt the Playoff chances of the Chiefs. Oh…wait… For Rotoworld:
NFL suspended Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe four games for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing substances.
The suspension begins immediately and will keep Bowe out until Week 15. It’s worth noting that Bowe reported to spring workouts 30 pounds overweight. He spent much of the early season in coach Todd Haley’s doghouse, and the suspension may alter the team’s long-term plans for him. With Bowe returning in time for many fantasy playoff games, he’s worth keeping on rosters.
This is not going to help his case for being this team’s franchise receiver. While Bowe is a great player, he isn’t an irreplaceable piece. He’s not Andre Johnson. Will Todd Haley freak out and look to get him off the team?
He shouldn’t. This is a lost season anyway. Why should the Chiefs worry about Bowe being on something now? In fact, they should be excited that this happened now. This way, unless he really is an idiot, he won’t get caught during a season which could actually matter.
I know that people are going to start talking about him being traded soon, but that’s not gonna happen.
By Anthony De Franco November 6, 2009, at 10:59 am We here at this site were really disappointed by the franchise mode in Madden this year. While it’s understood that this year’s Madden development team was fixing what was essentially a broken game, certain things really screwed it up. For me, the biggest thing was the screwed up simulation stats and the pre-set player progression system really killed it.
Well, EA Sports is pulling something new out of it’s bag with Madden Ultimate Team. Check it out:
It seems like a really good idea. Maybe this is the thing that will keep me playing Madden into Febuary. It also seems like it’s ripe for creation of what is basically a Madden fantasy league.
By Anthony De Franco October 20, 2009, at 10:51 pm I love the way that most Jet fans are reacting to their team this week. After winning their first three games, every single one of them started thinking Super Bowl. Mark Sanchez was the greatest rookie quarterback of all time, and Rex Ryan was the most brilliant man to ever coach a game of football. This was the season that every Jet fan was waiting for since Joe Willie trotted out of Super Bowl III as the most popular athlete in the world for that one day in 1969.
Now, after three straight losses everyone has jumped off the bandwagon as if it was on fire. They have basically denounced their teams, and started talking about how they wished they were fans of a real football team. They are all doing everything short calling Mark Sanchez a bust.
The reality of the situation is that the 3-0 start clouded the judgment of a fan base whose team has serious holes. The team simply needs improvement in many areas, and they are nowhere ready to win now. In fact, they are probably still a few years away from serious competition, but no one wants hear that.
Why did everyone think that Mark Sanchez wasn’t going to go through his share of growing pains? I’m not suggesting that anyone could have predicted the five interception debacle that was last Sunday afternoon, but did anyone really think that he was going to be perfect the entire season? Looking like Vince Chase from Entourage only gets you so far.
Why did anyone in the world think that Rex Ryan was going to be a perfect head coach in his first season? For all the good he did with the defense in weeks one and two, he hasn’t really done a whole lot since. Kerry Collins spent the second half of the Titans game doing his best impression of Joe Montana, The Saints moved the ball well, Ted Ginn made Darelle Revis look terrible, and this week, the coup de grace, his defense lost to Havard grad Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Why did anyone think that this team would remain in perfect health? After all, this is a club that has one of the league’s thinnest rosters. Now that Kris Jenkins is out for the year with a torn ACL, Sione Pouha is going to be anchoring the most important position in the Jets 3-4 defense. When Lito Sheppard was out, opposing wide receivers were left quivering in fear of Dwight Lowery. Jerricho Cotchery missed time and the Jets had to call Danny Woodhead up to the active roster AND change his position from running back to wide receiver. Every single NFL team is going to deal with injuries, but the ones that are prepared are the ones that contend for championship. Quality depth is just as important as having good starters. The Jets simply don’t have it.
Instead of the Super Bowl team that Gang Green fans thought they had, the Jets are simply another mediocre football team. Sanchez is still a work in progress. Ryan, while an excellent defensive coordinator, is still a first year head coach. Most importantly, the Jets roster is just not set for a push deep into the playoffs.
Rather than leaping off the cliff, Jets fans simply need to see the big picture. Work in progress means that there is potential there. Sanchez will be the franchise QB of the New York Jets. Rex Ryan can be a winning coach with some experience. One more good draft can be enough to get the depth they need.
Just don’t expect the world from this team so quickly, and you won’t be disappointed.
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