BMarsh-Gate part 1

By Jason Jones



We are now completely lost with the whole Brandon Marshall holdout saga I have affectionately dubbed, “BMarsh-Gate” (it doesn’t really ring). Granted, most residents of Bronco Nation’s greatest fear is that this is another in long line of terrible decisions by one Josh McDaniel. Understand one thing from me, the Jay Cutler situation was one big cluster screw admitted by an angry rhinoceros through the back door. Dropped the ball, misunderstood, oversight…whatever you want to call it, Josh McDaniels handled that situation as poorly as it could possibly be handled.
Spending a future first round draft pick in order to draft a CB in the second round may very well have been a reach (a reach that I am happy to see unfold on the field. Alphonso Smith, considering his size, has first round and more importantly, top 20 talent), is easily laudable…yet easily attacked as well. The offseason acquisitions concentrating in the defensive secondary were good ones, but no attempt to address the front seven? And then only drafting one player in the front seven? REALLY? It is clear that one of two things is happening here. Either, Josh McDaniel has a clear plan of action that will create a whole, “system over parts” scenario…or, more likely, McDaniel thinks he has a plan and believes he can just do what he wants to and it will all work out in the end like a masterful plan. The latter is just the arrogant approach to drastic change that the Denver Broncos fans cannot handle. As for trying to pin the Brandon Marshall situation as a rose by a different color… tap the breaks at least this early in the discussion.
Yes, connections can be made from Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall. They are not the result of the same problem rearing its ugly head again and Josh McDaniels not having the stones to see it for what it is. It is in fact, a domino theory. Begging the question does not cover it. It is more like forensic evidence to aid the prosecution. Jay Cutler for whatever reason decided he longer wanted to be in Denver. We will not go into great depth about Cutler. Just know this, my opinion centers around the immaturity he most likely displayed in a sort of toddler-esque hissy fit when some of the control he had over that franchise went out the door with Mike Shanahan. Is Jay Cutler better than any other option the Broncos find themselves in (present players or potential trade/free agents)? YES. The impact does not stop there. The biggest difference that I see between Cutler and Marshall is in the eventual new surroundings. Did Cutler go to a better offensive team and/or scheme? ABSO-LUTE-LY NOT. In Denver he had Marshall, Royal, Scheffler, and arguably the best young offensive line. In Chicago, a good to great defense depending on health, a decent offensive line, and a wide receiver core that probably couldn’t make the Mission Viejo High School Varsity. Is Brandon Marshall in a great offensive situation? Barring the QB change, YES. On the surface one might ascertain the conclusion that everything is the same minus a top 10 QB. However, the interest should be peaked once said QB is no longer in the equation. Even with Cutler there was no assurance that McDaniel would have utilized Marshall in the same way that Shanahan did. But with Cutler gone, it is almost a foregone conclusion that the offensive scheme will change in the conservative direction. Kyle Orton may be an effective, yet not impressive QB…but clearly he is no Cutler. From Brandon Marshall’s perspective, one would have to lean toward Marshall on his concerns. If the offense is not as open and aggressive, then Marshall does not get as many deep passes or even passes that utilize his YAC ability. Thus, it seems obvious that with all of the changes made (+new coaching staff, -Pro Bowl QB, +highly anticipated rookie RB) Brandon Marshall would feel that his personal production will go in any direction except for two. Right where they have been or up.
Should Marshall be concerning himself with personal goals? You might not think so, but it would suggest Marshall to not be human if he didn’t. On the field Marshall has contributed like a $10 Million a season type of player. Off the field, more like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, but we’ll address that momentarily. In any given profession, when an employee far exceeds the job description (and I don’t mean you stayed late on Friday to finish a report for Monday) he/she is expected to be compensated for their efforts. Now in the real world there are no contract holdouts. However, whether we as fans like it or not, there is a process by which players can address a financial agreement…in fact is a contract holdout. It is the only tool that a players has to demand the discussion. It is step one in the NFL players instruction manual on contract negotiation. If you don’t particularly like that, well, then hate the process and not the player. Let’s look back at the financial discrepancy which spawned this entire situation. Brandon Marshall is set to make $2 Million (and change) for 2009. When stacked up against all of the NFL WR’s in 2008, Marshall makes almost $8 Million less than what market proclaims his value is at. $8 MILLION LESS??? For those who cannot connect those dots, that’s a starting linebacker, a starting defensive tackle and decent tight end. That is a lot of money to be missing. That’s like a person doing a job who’s market value is $100,000.00 and only getting paid $25,000.00. All I am saying is that I get it. I understand.
Now before I address Marshall’s off the field issues, I’d like to address the alternate universe that is the Denver Broncos without Marshall and Cutler. Let’s assume I am correct in thinking that unlike most teams that do it, the Broncos actually have a large number of defensive players who will transition into the 3-4 defense rather smoothly. Just try to picture it from the opposing team’s defensive coordinator. What is there that scares you enough to gameplan accordingly? Can the QB beat you by his own Merits (Kyle Orton)? NO. Can the #1 WR beat you (this would be Eddie Royal)? NO. Can the #2 WR beat you (this would be Jabar Gaffney in this exercise)? NO. Can the starting RB beat you (this would be rookie Knowshon Moreno)? NO…at least not all by himself. Moreover, if the RB is the only weapon that might scare you, seems to me that the defense in question has one very tantalizing option…pin their ears back and let it fly, ON EVERY SINGLE PLAY. The beauty of football schematics is that they are a “tug of war” proposition. If the offense goes deep, then the defense cheats the safeties back. If the defense cheats the safeties, then the offense reacts by running the ball. It’s a very remedial analogy and naturally its more complicated than that, but you get the idea. If there is no threat to throw the ball deep there is no reason to defend against it. Even if Eddie Royal has the game of his life due to stacking 9 in the box and leaving him one on one with the CB, that still would not be enough to win. What does that leave you with? Short passes or runs (by an virtually immobile QB and rookie RB) against 9 in the box on every play. It would be like watching a seven year old playing Madden on the most difficult setting. The Broncos offense will never have a chance. Most likely, they would be drafting in the top 3 next year and hopefully Pat Bowlen will be looking to hire a new coach twice in as many years. I am not trying to singlehandedly put the eventual success or lack there of on the retaining or losing of Brandon Marshall. I am however, saying that in the era of NFL football, you cannot win without the threat of a big play player. Take any successful team in the NFL, then subtract all of their really good or pro bowl players. Now how good are they? Now Cutler and Marshall are not the end all be all of QB and WR, but they are the class of their team. With that in mind, take away Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne from the Colts. Its an outlandish premise, I know. With no Manning or Wayne, that team’s best players would be Addai and Clark. By no means threatening to any defensive coordinator. It is just not a viable option. McDaniel wants us all to believe that its all about the system. That his system would be effective no matter who is in the lineup. That’s a very nice notion, for Bill Belicheck who already has the players to fit the system. How did the Patriots go 11-5 with a starting QB who had not started since high school? Was the system or was it the parts around him or was Cassell really that good. The answer, a balance of all three. Is Cassell Tom Brady? Hell no, but he is decent. Moss, Welker, and the rest of the offensive unit more or less is the same. Insert one guy who is familiar with the system and the train should keep moving. The key is Moss. Moss is Marshall in this analogy. Royal could develop to be a lot like Welker. The offensive lines are similarly effective. Now take away Brady/Cassell and Randy Moss…now how effective are the Patriots on offense? You just cannot take Cutler and Marshall out of the equation like nothing is wrong and actually have the arrogance to believe the team doesn’t skip a beat. It just doesn’t work that way. Besides, if that is McDaniel’s plan…to slowly move Shanahan’s people and replace them with his own, I really hope he has passed along to Bowlen his 13 year plan.
You might be asking yourself, “that’s all fine and good, but what about Marshall’s off the field issues”? I will say that they are a factor but should not be weighed more than his on field ability. DISCLAMER: I DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CONDONE ANY VIOLENT BEHAVIOR TOWARD ANYONE, BUT ESPECIALLY WOMEN. You just cannot convince me that more than a handful of run ins with the law and one conviction is worth throwing away 206 catches, 2590 yards and 13 touchdowns in only two years. Especially when you note that Denver’s inability to find the endzone was so prevalent. Do to the fact that the case has not been finalized, I will do what most of us who inhabit the “Court of Public Opinion” almost never do. I will presume the innocent to be so until proven otherwise. I would like to indulge one idea is really nothing more than an idea. I have absolutely no evidence in any way to conclude this other than it all seems so odd. I infer that Brandon Marshall in his personal life is a very passionate and volatile person. I also infer that the significant other he has had are also passionate and volatile. It is not odd for anyone to have experience a couple who argue more than you do, get physical more than you do and yell more than you do. That does not make them bad people, just passionate and volatile. There are three interesting aspects to his case that I find particularly odd.

1. The woman’s lawyer contacted Marshall’s lawyer who offered to drop all of the charges for a disclosed amount of money. Then when that ploy didn’t work the woman’s lawyer offered the same resolution but for a lower amount of money.

2. The woman has a small gash in her thigh that required stitches from the hospital that she claims was the result of an enraged Brandon Marshall. Just a thought, but I have never heard of physical signs of abuse in a case like this that occurred on the meaty part of the thigh that was no more than 3/4 of an inch long and about the same deep. I have heard of a busted face, broken limbs, etc. If he was so enraged how would he be able to inflict such a small wound? That is the kind of wound that is purely accidental or meticulously planned out. I’m not suggesting the woman inflicting the wound upon herself, just that it is highly suspect.

3. Then the email. I won’t pull the conspiracy theory card here, but seriously. If that is the largest portion of the evidence, then this trial may not last long. The common conjecture has been that the email said something to the effect of, “please don’t ruin me”. Which could mean anything. It could mean, please don’t ruin me even if I did something wrong. It could also mean, please don’t ruin me in order to get money. I could mean any number of things.
The bottom line is that Brandon Marshall may have some issues he needs to address. Maybe he needs to be more careful who he surrounds himself with. By no means is Brandon Marshall Adam “Pac-Man” Jones. And he absolutely does contribute on the field. Would it be nice if none of these players had personal flaws? Sure it would, but that is not the NFL we live with. If he is guilty he is guilty, if not let it go. If I were the Denver Broncos, I would find a way to settle their issues and do so in a amicable way as far as public relations is concerned. The player has the right to ask for a raise, especially when he deserves it. The team has the right to deny it. The professional thing to do is to take everything in and have a dialogue that results in a logical and fair result for all considered. If after that, Marshall wants Larry Fitzgerald money and the team does not see his worth exceeding 10th best WR in the NFL, then they might be at a classic impasse. It is my opinion that if the Broncos offered some kind of extension that would be considered respectable, Marshall would agree. If the team were smart they would include a personal conduct clause that would void the contract keeping Marshall liable for the entire signing bonus if he were to get into more trouble.
All in all, whatever decision is made…it should be made with logic and consideration for all aspects involved. Note to Coach McDaniel: you need more tools in your toolbox. A hammer is not the all purpose tool to fix everything.

Stanley Cup Game 7: A Sport Changer

by Jason Jones



Every sports fan has a hierarchy of their favorite sports. What’s at the top, what’s at the bottom, and what doesn’t even make the list? I would like to think that my hierarchy is representative of a large portion of the American sports fans. On that list, NHL hockey has been firmly supplanted as the #4 sport with little to no chance of moving up the list. There are a number of reasons this has been the case. In no particular order…difficulty following the puck on television, too much action with no payoff (not much scoring), too many rules stagnate the flow of the game, and an overall arrogance applied to the coverage of the sport (if you don’t already belong to the hockey fraternity and already know everything, we’re not going to explain it to you. Hockey could go a long way toward grabbing non fans and casual fans if they had a John Madden type color analyst on the broadcasts). It’s one thing to watch a game and “get it”, it’s another thing entirely to understand every aspect. Take the NFL for example, they play to all level of fans from the overly critical (analyzing the pull blocking effort by the right guard) to the casual fan who only cares to see his team have the higher score at the end of the game. Somewhere along the lines, someone was able to explain it in a manner that made the game more interesting, not more alienating. We can spend a great deal of time debating the merits and deficiencies of the NHL, but now is not the time.

The fact of the matter is, good sports need great moments to ascend up the ranks. Hockey is a great game; the NHL is not necessarily a great league. The NHL has attempted to make great strides towards the marketing of their players and making the sport more appealing. Here in 2009 they did seriously drop the ball in regards to programming schedule. Excluding die hard hockey fans, the majority of fans in this country would say that hockey is #4, #3 at the absolute highest putting them behind the NFL and NBA. So why would Gary Bettman and the NHL be accepting of the programming schedule that puts a Stanley Cup game against an NBA finals on the same night and time while having a off day on either side? Are the people at the NHL headquarters really that arrogant? Now it is safe to assume that it was just unavoidable. I choose to believe that Gary Bettman is just that arrogant. Although the NHL is not doing everything they can to grow the sports interest and viewership, fear not their moment came nonetheless.

The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals was exponentially more exciting than their NBA counterpart. This series had all of the fringe details and storylines that go with growing the sport from the field of play as opposed to the marketing spin. On one hand the vaunted legacy and experience of the mighty mighty Red Wings. On the other hand, arguably the most talented young team of future hockey stars in the Penguins. The R word…Rematch! Would the dominant Red Wings continue their winning ways because they are the Red Wings, or would the young Penguins somehow find a way to assert their will and overcome Mt. Red Wing? That alone would be enough to draw in the casual fans. However, the way the series played out, was enough to make me consider moving the National Hockey League ahead of Major League Baseball. That is an astounding comment. America’s Pastime? Well, clearly that is no longer the case, but still. As an opposing viewpoint, while the NHL has aspired to grow based on the merits of the game not needing to adjust to society’s views, MLB has fallen because of its sins against society maintaining that, “because we’re MLB we will be just fine”. I do not base my opinion of baseball vs. hockey completely on the steroid era’s impact on my affection for baseball. Baseball is more and more becoming a “little league sport” (a game that is vastly more appealing to kids who play it than adults who watch it). The opposite could be said for hockey.

Suspend reality and visualize if Detroit had won game 7. It would’ve been great for Detroit. It would’ve been great for their fans and everyone who enjoy Detroit Red Wing hockey. There is nothing wrong with that. However, the fact the game concluded the way it did means more for hockey overall than it could have for Detroit or Pittsburgh on their own. This was not just some game that would crown a winner. This was a young inexperienced team walking into the Joe with little more than a shred of hope of getting anything but a loss…again. Not to sound too sensational about it, but this game had a sense of dire optimism against all odds, shades of Team USA over Russia in 1980. Was it really that big of a deal? Hell no, but in the moment it felt that way. I doubt any of us will ever see anything as monumental as 1980. In addition, Marc Andre Fleury looked like he belonged back in juniors when he had played between the pipes at the Joe. He in turn possibly played the game of his young career on the biggest stage. Clearly he had the save of his life. Also, there was a Willis Reed moment, albeit a much lesser of an impact than the original. Sidney Crosby who is supposed to be this generations Mario Lemeiux, was nearly nonexistent in this series…so his Willis Reed moment was not as serious as perceived. It did however, provide added drama. If he wasn’t already, Evgeny Malkin asserted himself into the discussion between Crosby, Ovechkin, Zetterberg, and other elite talents in the man’s NHL. Not to mention, Jordan Staal may just be creeping out of older brother’s shadow. Not to take anything away from Detroit and their pain, but this was a phenomenal series with an appropriate conclusion. If you were to objectively list the greatest championship games (including series clinchers), this would absolutely be on that list.

I know it hurts the team that loses, without fail. However, Detroit fans can maintain solace in knowing that they were a partner in a game (and by some extension the series) that may in the long term grow the sport.
Oh, did I mention…I DON’T CARE ABOUT HANDSHAKES!!! Can we get over ourselves please? Hand shake lines are for Cricket and Little League.

Fantasy Focus...Initial Observations for RBs

by Jason Jones



It is always my intention to give as much perspective on fantasy sports as I can long before the rest of the world chimes in. The more you see and interpret the better prepared you will be when draft day arrives. This season is a complete disconnect from the previous few.

For the longest time I have asserted that LaDanainian Tomlinson is the unquestioned #1 pick until further notice...This is further notice. I don't even think that I in good conscious can even put him in the top five among RBs. Without a shadow of a doubt, it should be obvious that Adrian Peterson is 1 and Michael Turner is 2. After that begins the conjecture.

If you subscribe to the school of thought that dictates you base the bulk of your decision on previous season's production, you might just go chalk. Names like Matt Forte, Chris Johnson, Clinton Portis, and Marion Barber may come to mind. The other premier concept is to take a rough estimate on a players 2-3 year clip of production. These players would include, Willie Parker, Tomlinson, Steven Jackson, Larry Johnson, etc. I would like to include the "upside" aspect to the argument. This would include players who had good rookie or second year campaigns or rookies that have yet to play that could have significant seasons.

I supply this idea due to the fact that my first fantasy football championship had a couple of Vikings that no one gave much credit to at the time, but who's draft value was undeniable. The 2000 Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss. Both of which were taken at great value rounds and proved to be a major contributor to that run. A more recent example is Adrian Peterson's rookie season. He was my 3rd RB taken in the sixth round. Don't let Matthew Berry tell that it is never a smart idea to draft rookies or for upside.

Running backs at the top of the draft is just not going to be as sure a thing as in the past. It will take a greater deal of research and the crunching of numbers to hit RB just right this season. Understand that the following 15 RBs list takes into consideration all of the previously stated criteria as well as details like, new coaching staff/philosophy, additional offensive players (LT,WR, TE) that may effect how a RB performs, stylistic strengths and weaknesses, and other factors.

Adrian Peterson
Michael Turner
Brian Westbrook
LaDainain Tomlinson
Steven Jackson
Willie Parker
Marion Barber
Knowshon Moreno (R)
Matt Forte
DeAngelo Williams
Clinton Portis
Chris Johnson
Marshawn Lynch
Maurice Jones-Drew
Jamal Lewis

Please understand that it is early JUNE. This list will be picked over and re-evaluated at least 20 more times before the start of the regular season. Just my initial observations.