Hey Bud, Really?

OK, I supposed at first that this could be a fake, but the report is being generated by Jim Wyatt, highly respected Titans Beat Writer for The Tennessean, and even though I can't get those guys to get my delivery straight, I still trust them. This was the first of TWO double barreled salutes the 86 year old Titans owner fired at the Buffalo Bills sideline during the Titans/Oilers 41-17 thumping of the Bills. The second came ON THE FIELD as time ran out. WITH THE COMMISSIONER IN ATTENDANCE!
Now some of the players think this is cute, even funny. And Bud will gain a certain measure of "Street Cred" in the locker room. Assuming this wasn't fired at Jeff Fisher for not getting Vince Young in the line up sooner, or to his own team for blowing the first month and a half of the season, or at my co-host Brad Hopkins for saying he didn't even get a letter after he retired, this is incredibly crass! If those same players let the double birds fly on the field, how much would the fine be? 10k...20k...50k per bird? I'm not sure, but I do know that a few years ago, one bird cost Jake Plummer $5,000 and Mike Vick got $10,000 for the putting the twins up to his OWN crowd...But what do you hit a guy who owns half of Texas with? I mean, the Titans are worth a reported One Billion dollars, and Adams paid $25,000. Clip him for an oil field or two? In any event, if the league has any credibility, he needs to get hammered for it. My only question is....WHY, Bud?

Sammy Sosa now a white dude?

Not much to say here...but, wow? Sammy Sosa a White guy? Here is the story....

Shemp....er, Matsui the right call...

OK, I know you have to be of a certain age to get the Shemp Howard reference...ya know, Larry, Mo, Curly of Three Stooges fame...Shemp and Joe are sometimes forgotten, if not critical Stooges...but the fact is Shemp...I mean Hideki was the right call for Series MVP. The arguments against are, DH and only 13 at bats, tied for the fewest ever by a World Series MVP. To me, those are exactly the same arguments for. In spot duty, the guy goes 8 for 13, with 3 homers and 8 RBI! Now defense and pitching are great, but someone has to produce runs and this guy did it at critical times. With A-Rod scuffling a bit and Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano MIA, Matsui came through in spades!
Captain Jeter is the other contender, and Lord knows I consider Jetes the greatest Yankee of them all, but for his .407 series average, he only knocked in one run, and struck out 6 times, often leaving men on base.
Some random thoughts; How big does the All-Star game look now when a DH wins the MVP...the AL continues to dominate the Mid-Summer Classic, get the home field advantage, and this year it paid off. Guess it does matter...Wouldn't you think that Matsui, a Yankee for 7 years now, could speak enough English to do a simply baseball interview by now? And speaking of interviews, does Chris Rose really have the gravitas to be handling the post game stage after a World Series? And finally, why is Hedeki Matsui "Matsui" and Ichiro Suzuki "Ichiro"? I mean, if Matsui goes to Seattle to finish his career with his countryman, what will they put on his jersey? I, for one, hope we never find out...

All We Can Do!

Ok...we don't know what is wrong with the Titans. Maybe Vince Young can fix this. But just as likely, this is all about the "Curse". You remember. December 21st, 2008. Titans 31, Steelers 14. And then, there it was...the Stomping of Myron Cope's Terrible Towel. Now, as a life long Cleveland Browns fan, I knew what was coming. Misery. No Super Bowl, not even a playoff win over Baltimore to set up a Steeler redo. Nope, I knew it was DONE! Now, 8 straight losses later, it was time to do something about it. So in the idle time during commercial breaks in the Dawghouse, we started batting ideas around. A Ouija board or seance was suggested, to contact Myron Cope directly and ask for forgiveness...but none of us were thrilled with the idea of messin' with the occult. In fact, Hop said, "I won't even come in studio THAT day!" So we thought, "If LenDale and K-Bull would sign one of those things, and we shipped it to Myron's charity, maybe that would do it!"
Of course, this meant getting two aggravated, 0-6 NFL players to go along, and you know what? They said, "Sure!" Any port in a storm, I guess. So the Boys signed, Keith Bulluck even asked how he could make a cash donation, and we shipped the towel to the Allegheny Valley School for Children and Adults with intellectual developmental disabilities. We need to thank WKRN TV (Channel 2) in Nashville and WTAE TV (Channel 4) in Pittsburgh for helping us make this happen. The Mexicutioner, Al Llamas, was in charge of actually handling the Terrible Towel and getting it signed, since Hop and I refused to touch the thing...and, after all, he is a Steeler fan.
NOW LET'S WIN A FOOTBALL GAME!

Fresh From the SEC Office...

Seems to be a ton of confusion about the ruling on Terrance Cody's helmet removal at the end of the UT-Bama game...A big part of this involves when the clock ran out and the establishment of possession. What would have happened had time been left on the clock? And if UT had recovered, could they have re-kicked, since the ball didn't travel past the Line of Scrimmage? So I asked Charles Bloom at the SEC office and this is what he said, "Thom – If there would have been time on the clock remaining, and based on what happened on the play, Alabama would have taken possession and a personal foul would have been called. If the kick goes past the line of scrimmage, the ball is touched by the receiving team, the kicking team recovers it would be the kicking team’s ball. If the ball stays behind the line of scrimmage, the kicking team can recover and take possession. Hope that helps. Charles" Seems pretty clear to me. One thing UT could have done was make an effort to recover the ball and advance it for a TD...again, since it hadn't gone past the LOS. finally, I got an e-mail from a UT fan irate that the SEC was conducting a cover up on behalf of Alabama! What a minute, isn't that what Alabama fans say, right before "Roll Tide!"?

Rocky Block

Make no mistake, Alabama did not deserve to win this one. Yeah, Terrance Cody got the push and made the blocks, but amounted to a battle of soccer players. Lee Tiffin made his kicks and Daniel Lincoln did not. So it took a Tiffin to beat the Kiffins. And if Alabama doesn't figure out how to get the passing game going, this season of promise will dissolve into a Capitol Bowl type of year. Of course, every championship season has it's measure of luck, and Bama just cashed that check...
As for UT, all the talk about them getting worse before they get better is bunk. These cats can flat out coach, and we know they can recruit. They are on the scene and will become a factor next season...

And Now the "If I Offended Anyone" Apology

And now a follow up after Jeff Fisher issued the "If I offended anyone" apology, complete with the "Check your priorities" closer... Be careful what you ask for…the reason the NFL is the 900 lb. gorilla it is is because people care, with great passion and big money, they care…if you laugh at that passion, then you are laughing at the very foundation of the NFL…Now Fisher issues some sort of veil apology, hiding behind the great charity work his was performing on behalf of Tony Dungy and the worthy Rockettown organization, founded by Christian artist Michael W. Smith, a close friend of Fisher's…Fine, but how does mocking his own team, and fans, further the cause? How about coming out, introducing Dungy, and then saying, "Coach, do you have a few minutes after the event to come down to practice and help me fix this mess...come on', you're not a Colt anymore, help out the Titans!!!" The place goes nuts, it gets national attention on ESPN, and Titan Fan sees Fisher doing anything to save the day…

What if a player pulled this stunt…how about KVB or Keith Bulluck or Chris Johnson rocking Colts gear and saying they “Want to feel like winners?” I’m calling BS on this move…