Josh Gordon: What's Good For The Goose....

I didn't get a chance to blog about this Thursday before last, when it was a hot topic, but to me it's still worth talking about.
The news about Josh Gordon's 1 year suspension sent "shock waves" around the league. The questions began. "Why should he get 1 yr? Maybe the League is too harsh on Marijuana infractions?! Shouldn't Josh be allowed more inclusion to his team EVEN though he's suspended"?! It was like a literal love fest for Josh Gordon. The man smoked pot and got busted. He even tried to say it was second hand smoke (I mean really!).  Let me get this right. This Wide Receiver, Josh Gordon, who plays for the Browns (*Snicker*), is a Fantasy Football hero in many circles, is on a team that has had 20 something Quarterbacks in 15 yrs, plays on the same team with Johnny Manziel and all of these things make a case for "bending" the rules for a player that can't be bothered with trying to follow the rules and stay clean?! Hold On Playa.
Everybody is losing their minds over Josh Gordon and I'm over here like what about Justin Blackmon? What about letting him be closer to HIS team? He SURELY hasn't been helped with the distance that comes from suspension. Did anyone think of him this week when leniency ruled the day for JG?! No. Not one person. But I did. Because once you are on my team, you are on my team. Lots of similarities between JG and Justin Blackmon. Both in trouble in college and come into the NFL with those same problems.
Unfortunately, I have to wonder why no one felt this way about Justin Blackmon last year? Was it lackluster Quarterback play that would likely not garner much attention, fantasy football or otherwise? Was it that he played for Jacksonville Jaguars and we are considered low man on the totem pole in the NFL? Jacksonville: not storied enough, not proven enough, no rabid fan base? Please. You don't even know me.
Well, Josh Gordon, I just want you to know, second hand pot smoke or not, What's Good For The Goose Is Good For The Gander. You aren't better than Justin Blackmon. Please get clean and stay clean.

PS- Peeps. I can't say this enough. There is nothing, NOTHING, special about the Browns. But guess what?! The NFL and the Players Union are now "negotiating" to find a better solution than 1 yr suspensions. I will repeat. Where was everyone when Justin Blackmon was suspended last year?! Oh yeah. I forgot. He's JUST a Jaguar. 

MDK In The House

We MUST Protect This House

Always Imitated, Never Duplicated

Just a Jaguar

People..It's Training Camp

Today, I went to my first Training Camp practice of the 2012 season for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was HOT!! I was excited to See Blaine Gabbert, Rashad Jennings, Laurent Robinson to name a few. I was disappointed Maurice Jones-Drew aka Pocket Hercules and Justin Blackmon were not in attendance. I really try to be objective and not take a side between owners and players, but I can't help but wonder what will come of the Jones-Drew holdout situation. It never bodes well for a player to hold out and miss training camp. For example, Chris Johnson, Running Back Tennessee Titans. He held out until September 1. He only had 4 touchdowns the whole season. He averaged 4 yards per carry. He had the fewest first downs in the 4 yrs. he played. By all accounts, not a successful season. If Jones-drew holds out til the end of training camp, it could happen to him too. Or even worse. I've actually heard whispers of him being traded. Owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Shad Khan, has said Jones-Drew has 2 yrs. left on his contract and will not give him a new deal. Not to mention fantasy football implications. I might've jinxed the whole situation. At the end of last season, I said "With all of the new changes going on with the Jaguars, I don't care if they get rid of the entire team, except Jones-Drew and Scobee." Of course I didn't actually mean it. Losing makes you think desperate things. So, let's hope something happens and soon.

Justin Blackmon, Justin Blackmon, Justin Blackmon. The excitement of the draft pick!! The letdown of the DUI. The letdown of him not being at training camp. I think he's pretty ballsy to think it's OK to miss training camp because he has no deal. Dude, you are on your second DUI. You lose bargaining capability when you act like a reckless teenager. GET TO CAMP!!!! Has anyone seen the movie "Jerry Maguire"?  Unfortunately, many of the quotes from that movie rule my life (that will be covered in another blog), but one of my favorite is when Kelly Preston, who plays Jerry Maguire's fiancee, is helping him figure out his next course of action after losing his job as a sports agent. He decides to open his own agency. However, most of the clients he had at the big firm wouldn't come with him. He is down to 2:  Rod Tidwell, an aging, primadonna wide receiver who needs a new contract with the Arizona cardinals and a rookie, Frank Cushman, about to go to Number 1 overall in the  NFL draft. Kelly Preston says "Cushman saves all". Justin Blackmon (could) saves all. It could happen. The Jaguars could go from the worst passing team (relative obscurity)in the NFL to the best. But it can't be done without our first round draft pick, Justin Blackmon. Justin, please come to camp.

So anyway. You guys don't know much about me. I'm 5'0" tall and I'm pretty quiet and shy but you wouldn't know that from what you read here. None of my friends went to training camp today. So I was flying solo. I had to find my way to the front of the plastic fence that surrounds the practice field. I must say that was no easy feat. I was surrounded by people and a few kids. I was entranced by watching the wide receivers and the tight ends catch balls from the 4 quarterbacks. I was looking for miscues and dropped balls and there were some.  And, you know maybe I'm just too amateurish and I don't know what I see (insert eye roll here).The Tight Ends were catching balls being thrown and the testosterone around me kept saying "oh he boggled that ball" "oh he almost didn't have that one". Seriously??!! They were "catching" the balls. I COULD NOT SEE ANY boggling. I really hate haters. It's freaking Training Camp. The guys aren't even in pads. During part of the practice, they took their helmets off. It's not even close to being the real thing and it's the second day of practice!!!! Totally new offense with Mike Mularkey. And these haters are talking about Boggling? Get a hold of yourselves testosterone!!!

Yes I know. I have an entire gallon of Kool-Aid in my fridge. I drink it every day. I don't care. I'm All In.

MDK in the House

We must protect this house.

P.S. I had an opportunity to go to the Jaguars Women's Football Clinic on Wednesday of this past week. It was fun and educational for someone like me who LOVES football. I was surprised to find out there are women's flag football teams in Jacksonville. I got to try field goal kicking, defensive drills, wide receiving, throwing, 20 yd dash, and vertical leap to name a few. Here is a picture of yours truly performing the Vertical Leap. Can you tell I LOVE to watch the NFL Combine??!!

What Jacksonville Jaguars and Murdered Out Cars Have in Common

Do you see these cars? Can you tell me why they are different from other cars?
Some cars think they are "murdered out". They black out the tail lights, but still have SHINY rims. That's not murdered out. Some people paint their cars flat black and leave the shiny trim and emblems. Some people black out the whole car, buy black rims with silver edge. That's not murdered out peeps. Do you know why people do these things to their cars? They want to be stealth. You will never see these cars coming.
So you're asking "what does that have to do with football?" Well, tonight, while I waited 20 minutes for my Lemon Pepper Rotisserie Chicken at Publix, I decided I would start scoping out Fantasy Football  magazines. It's never too early and there is no off season. I started browsing through the FF magazine. Maurice Jones-Drew is listed no.4 in running backs. Well OK. Justin Blackmon is listed no. 41 in wide receivers. Ouch. You know because apparently to these idiots we still have Jack Del Rio coaching. Apparently new coaching and ownership means nothing to these people. I took a look at Marcedes Lewis on the tight end list and then I half threw down the magazine back into it's spot and returned to the deli for my rotisserie chicken. I realize the Nay Sayers make more money by being negative than positive. Just know this Matt Ryan would not be Mattie Ice without Coach Mularkey. And Coach Mularkey is our new coach. So Nay Sayers, LISTEN UP: IT'S A NEW YEAR, IT'S NEW OWNERSHIP, IT'S NEW COACHING. I don't care what you say, we are going to sneak up on you like these stealth cars.
One final car that snuck up on me around Daytona several weeks ago:

NFL, you are next to be snuck up on. The Jaguars will be stealth. We will be the underdog. Bring the hate and nastiness. We will feed on it like yesterday's spaghetti. Keep trash talkin'. It's on.

MDK in the House

We must protect this House.

Anger Management

Oh boy. It's been a long night. Last night, the first night of the 2012 draft, the Jaguars were to pick 7th overrall. They moved up to the 5th pick. Unbeknownest to me, apparently the Jaguars outfoxed Coach Jeff Fisher of the St. Louis Rams. He apparently wanted Trent Richardson RB Alabama and then he was taken. He also wanted Justin Blackmon WR OSU. OOPS. The Jaguars traded up and took Blackmon 5th overrall. He was soo upset he shouted an expletive and slammed his glasses on the table. *giggle* Outdone by the Jaguars again. Flash forward to tonight's draft, 2nd and 3rd round. 2nd round, the Jaguars take Andre Branch DE from Clemson Then the 3rd round draft pick heard round the world was spoken: the Jacksonville Jaguars pick Bryan Anger California University. His position? PUNTER. Yes, Punter.We used our 3rd round pick for a punter. The NFL Network and Twitter had a field day. And yes I hung my head in shame.
However, upon further review, several things must be taken into consideration. First, Anger was the top punter in the draft class. by all accounts is phenomenal. Second, the Jaguars gave up their 4th round pick to move up to take Blackmon. So, they would not pick again until the 5th round. And apparently, they wanted a punter badly. Well, ok.
In my first fantasy football draft, I became disoriented by the drafting process and thought kickers were disappearing in the 3rd round. So I pulled the trigger, chose a kicker, and the move still lives on in my fantasy league. Every year, there's usually a chuckle around the 3rd round. I get asked, don't you mean to pick a kicker? I never did that again. Last season was particularly brutal at the punting position for the Jaguars. They tried to make Matt Turk a directional punter. He was not a directional punter and he ended up kicking for 20 yrds. here and 25 yrds. there. PAINFUL. All this could have been avoided if the Jaguars and Gene Smith would've paid Adam Podlesh. They didn't. And the Bears did. In addition to ALL that went wrong, a no brainer like punting wasn't a no brainer. Hence the 3rd draft pick is a Punter. God bless him.

We must protect this house.

MDK in the House

It's Not Called the Naive Football League.....

Guys, it's been awhile. I've missed this. Life has been a bit hectic lately. All of the football games, college and professional, kept me very entertained. You may ask why I have titled this post regarding naivete. Because it is a condition. A state of mind. It's suffered by most all of professional football fans. Even I suffer from it, occasionally.
Naivete: Believing that your team would never forsake your prize player. Hey, I wouldn't even say prize in some cases. More like beloved I guess.
What has brought me to this epiphany? The "recent" case of Peyton Manning. I'm not going there on when or if he will play for the Colts or any other team again. I am speaking of something a little more hidden but actually in plain sight. The highly anticipated Stanford vs. OSU Fiesta Bowl on January 2, 2012. I learned more in that game than I ever really wanted to know. Earlier in the day, Bill Polian, Indianapolis Colts GM, and Chris Polian, VP of the Indianapolis Colts, father and son I might add, were fired from the Colts. This event is seemingly out of the blue. As I am watching the game, different coaches and players are discussed. Todd Monken, the offensive coordinator for OSU is seen hovering around WR Justin Blackmon. Justin Blackmon is supposed to be a highly touted draft pick come April. Any idea who Todd Monken's previous employer was? The Jacksonville Jaguars. Then they pan to the other sideline. You know, the one with Andrew Luck on it? Oh, guess who one of the special teams coaches is? Brian Polian. His official title according to Stanford's website is: "Assistant Coach-Special Teams Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator. Recruiting what? College players to the NFL? Yeah I just went there. In other words, Brian Polian has allowed unfettered access between Andrew Luck and his father Bill Polian. It supposedly began in September when Bill Polian went to "scout" Andrew Luck at the Stanford vs. Duke game. I'm sure it began way before that. Possibly with Andrew Luck not going into the 2011 draft. He was waiting. Peyton was getting older with a crappy offensive line. An injury was lurking. It sprang in the form of an injured neck, that to this date has had 3 surgeries. Did I mention that Andrew Luck has hired an uncle who is a "newbie" in the NFL agent business. Oh and by the way, Andrew Luck's dad Oliver is the Athletic Director for West Virginia. He played in the NFL and he's a lawyer. Andrew Luck coming to Indianapolis will be no mistake. It has been a well planned coming out party. So what about Bill and Chris Polian getting fired? Bill and Jim Irsay, the owner of the Colts, have apparently been friends for around 30 yrs. No real animosity was shared when he was fired. I think he knew his job was done. He had brought Indianpolis to the limelight with Peyton Manning. Now, he's brought the draft's fatted calf- Andrew Luck. Also, I believe he was fired from there being a paper trail just in case "something" came up. He's probably about ready to retire anyway. The point of all this? Indianapolis fans quit being sheep and don't think for one minute that hasn't been collusion to lose the entire season-by the way lose to Jacksonville twice the first time that's happened in franchise history-gain the Number 1 draft pick and try to rule for the next 12 yrs. Jim Irsay has worked a beauty. Indianapolis quit crying. NFL is a business. Peyton's made plenty of money. As a formidable opponent, I really hate to see him go. What I would hate even more was if he was carted off the field on a stretcher and lived his days like Christopher Reeves spent his last days. Peyton Manning is definitely one of the greatest Quarterbacks to ever play. I have been blessed to watch him and stand 5 feet from him. But I know his injury and his surgery. I'm telling you he doesn't need to play more football. He WANTS to and somebody should talk to him about that.
God Bless Y'all Indianapolis. You've got master manipulators up there. Y'all gonna be all right.