SB Nation User Blog: DannoE

Another Reason Why BBS Is Dead Wrong

DannoE — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:59:26 -0000

Another Reason Why BBS Is Dead Wrong

He called this self-serving piece of garbage by Jason Whitlock an "honest" article. I myself think it's... garbage.

Bottom line, reporters need to be LESS a part of the story and not MORE of one. They all need to stop writing in the first person, stop thinking about their own personal reactions to things, and bottom line, treat their business like a business.
I don't care if some sports reporter loves the game. It's his JOB to report accurately and honestly. There are many other jobs and many other would-be writers if, for whatever reason, some reporter doesn't like what he or she has to do to keep food on his family's table.

As for the rest, following the money is a good start. Answer the question, "Who benefits?" and you will be on the road to good reporting. Miss that, and you've missed the point.

OT: SB Nation in today's WSJ

DannoE — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:47:33 -0000

OT: SB Nation in today's WSJ

Hey guys,

I was surprised to see SB Nation in today's Wall Street Journal, in a piece about online advertising. The blogs comprising SBN are essentially targeted communities, and hence they attract targeted advertisers, a field that's a rarity in advertising right now in that it's actually growing.

Jimmy, I get the feeling that you guys got covered primarily because of the connection to Yahoo--mentioned prominently in the 3rd paragraph--but I was more surprised by the fact that Gannett and USA Today. Isn't Gannett the owner of the Tennessean? That's a clever back-door way to make it into print, my man.

Anywho, fascinating business model. I'd love to learn more about it.

This weekend's game...

DannoE — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:06:22 -0000

...sucks!

Thank you, Alge Crumpler.

*sigh* That is all. You may all go back to your regularly scheduled sulking.

Crap. I need 75 words. Well...

1. Am I the only one who's seen on the news that Jessica Simpson is now fat?

2. Did you need another reason to hate Tony Romy?

3. Is that one good enough?

4. Did I mention that I'm still pissed off at ol' Alge? If we get rid of Scaife and keep Crumpler, I'm gonna move to Mongolia.

I sent the following note to David Climer...

DannoE — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:04:14 -0000

... in reference to this morning's article, titled "Titans shouldn't turn to Young unless necessary."

Mr. Climer:

I don't understand why you think Collins is playing better than VY would have in the same spots. I grant you that he was better in the first half of the season than Young was for most of last season, but the numbers since the second Jags game tell a completely different story:

Collins since the 2nd Jaguars game: 61 of 113 (54%) for 706 yards with 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions and 2 fumbles

Vince Young in weeks 12-15 last season: 69 of 109 (63%) for 806 yards with 4 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and 2 fumbles

And that's with Norm Chow calling the plays and the mighty Chris Brown in the backfield. And against MUCH tougher competition. And more to the point, I think Collins is about 6-for-60 on third down conversions in the last month and a half against any team that is not the Detroit Lions. More than anything, that's what has killed the Offense.

Look, seriously, I would ask that you consider the following: VY was successful until teams got enough tape to study. Then they developed a way to defend against him, and he struggled. And then Kerry Collins was successful--right up until teams, even bad defensive teams like the Texans--got enough tape to study him. And now he's struggling. So the problem isn't the quarterback. In fact, they are nearly identical in effectiveness. The problem is that the Offense is predictable to a ridiculous degree. But that is exacerbated by the fact that the QBs are both highly mediocre, and the wide receivers either cannot or will not get separation.

I personally think that the Titans won't win another game this season, but the idea that they shouldn't make some changes to at least TRY is not sound in any way.

Thanks to Jimmy for what passes for stats in this note.

My $.02 is that Climer is a uselessly negative guy whose negativity unfortunately infects the entire Tennessean staff, and I'm happy that I finally got a chance to take a shot at him. And while I applaud his willingness to not cheer mindlessly for the home team, his inability to back his assertions with anything that even closely resembles research not only takes away from his talking points, it makes a mockery of his entire staff. In short, he is my least favorite sports writer; I think he's the Justin McCariens of Southern sports coverage.

Go Army, Beat Navy!

DannoE — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:09:02 -0000

It's the first Saturday in December, and that means that today is the Army/Navy Game. The Middies have won six straight, but this year i think Army's gonna do it. We've won three games (3-8, vs. Navy who is 7-4), so who knows? I believe.

'Course Army's problem is at least in part in recruiting, and judging by those ugly-ass camouflage uniforms, they're gonna keep struggling there. Argh. With over 200 years of tradition, there's never, ever a need to try to keep up with styles. Still, that's my team.

Go Army! Beat Navy!

The Ditka/Ryan Coaching Tree

DannoE — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:53:13 -0000

Hey 9'ers fans,

We're having a discussion over at Music City Miracles about Titans' Offensive Coordinator Mike Heimerdinger's offensive roots, and I made the argument that Heimerdinger, through Jeff Fisher, is essentially a disciple of the Ditka/Ryan school of thought, as perfected in the 1985 Bears.

Now obviously Mike Singletary was also on the 1985 team and is also now an NFL head coach. So in looking for trends in this particular school of thought, I'm wondering what your observations have been since Singeltary has taken over? Specifically, how has he forced Mike Martz to change the Offense? It's a critical piece of the argument because Martz is a known quantity. Any changes are therefore more than likely a direct reflection on the base offensivphilosophy.

Just FYI, I may well turn this information into an article somewhere down the line. If I do, I'll let you know when and if it gets published.

Here's the link if you want to see the original discussion: http://www.musiccitymiracles.com/2008/11/13/660320/the-heimerdinger-offense

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

P(Wins) Power Rankings and Predictions

DannoE — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:05:11 -0000

* AFC *
Power Ranking	Team	Wins	Losses	Points For	Points Against	P(Wins)	Wins Expected
1	Tennessee Titans	9	0	220	117	0.817	13
2	Pittsburgh Steelers	6	3	198	140	0.695	11
3	Baltimore Ravens	6	3	212	150	0.694	11
4	New York Jets	6	3	255	190	0.668	11
5	New England Patriots	6	3	188	160	0.594	10
6	San Diego Chargers	4	5	244	218	0.566	9
7	Jacksonville Jaguars	4	5	198	186	0.537	9
8	Miami Dolphins	5	4	192	182	0.532	9
9	Buffalo Bills	5	4	192	189	0.509	8
10	Indianapolis Colts	5	4	191	197	0.482	8
11	Denver Broncos	5	4	224	251	0.433	7
12	Cleveland Browns	3	6	172	194	0.429	7
13	Houston Texans	3	6	209	254	0.386	6
14	Kansas City Chiefs	1	8	145	243	0.227	4
15	Cincinnati Bengals	1	8	125	236	0.182	3
16	Oakland Raiders	2	7	113	218	0.174	3

* NFC *
Power Ranking	Team	Wins	Losses	Points For	Points Against	P(Wins)	Wins Expected
1	New York Giants	8	1	262	160	0.763	12
2	Carolina Panthers	7	2	191	133	0.702	11
3	Philadelphia Eagles	5	4	251	180	0.687	11
4	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	3	200	147	0.675	11
5	Arizona Cardinals	5	3	234	184	0.639	10
6	Chicago Bears	5	4	237	194	0.616	10
7	Atlanta Falcons	6	3	211	174	0.612	10
8	Green Bay Packers	4	5	237	206	0.582	9
9	New Orleans Saints	4	5	236	229	0.518	8
10	Washington Redskins	6	3	171	168	0.510	8
11	Dallas Cowboys	5	4	216	219	0.492	8
12	Minnesota Vikings	5	4	210	215	0.486	8
13	San Francisco 49ers	2	6	171	230	0.331	5
14	Seattle Seahawks	2	7	170	231	0.326	5
15	Detroit Lions	0	9	151	277	0.192	3
16	St. Louis Rams	2	7	128	282	0.133	2

Wild Card Round - Wild Card Rnd: Predicted Winners listed first.

Baltimore (6) @ San Diego

New England (5) @ NY Jets

Philly (5) @ Chicago

AZ Cardinals vs. Tampa Bay

Divisional Round:

Titans vs. Patriots

Ravens @ Steelers

NY Giants vs. Cardinals

Panthers vs. Eagles

Championship Round:

Titans vs. Ravens

NY Giants vs. Panthers

I've been known to criticize FO's rankings, mostly because I feel like sometimes their statistics miss the bigger, more obvious picture. This is a simpler analysis, using P(Wins), which is a formula that I've no doubt many of you have seen. That said, I went away from straight P(Wins) predictions for the playoffs to reflect the fact that there will be more drama if the Ravens come to Nashville for the AFC Championship as well as for the considerable home-field advantage that AZ possesses in their stadium. Finally, I cannot bring myself to believe that the Jets can beat the Pats in the playoffs under any circumstances.

Comments are more than welcome. Criticisms will be taken with a grain of salt.

Are the Redskins the NFL's Yankees?

DannoE — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:47:16 -0000

Are the Redskins the NFL's Yankees?

This is an excellent article over at the Chagers SBN blog. Their blogger, Da Bolts, is one of the more talented guys on SBN's network--as is patently obvious from his analysis of the salary cap and the implications for the League if a new CBA isn't produced in a timely manner.

Bottom line, Da Bolts notes that the Ttians have the best organization in football (measured in dollars of salary/win) but that if the Cap is repealed, the Titans will almost certainly become permament also-rans in the NFL--for lack of ability to pay marquee players. Like it or not, Tennessee simply cannot afford the kind of total salary payouts that places like Dallas, Washington, and Boston can.

Chris Simms got CUT!

DannoE — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:13:18 -0000

The most amazing news I've ever heard is that QB Chris Simms got cut this afternoon to make room for an extra punter.

That sound you hear is me slapping my forehead repeatedly.

I guess this means that VY is healthy enough to play backup, which presumably means that he's also healthy enough to start. Which is fine. I mean, I'm on board with playing VY as the back-up for the rest of the year, and indeed, if Collins were to get injured, then I'd think having VY start would be better than having Simms try to start with a less-than-complete understanding of the playbook.

But... I think a lot of us thought that the Titans' best move this off-season would be to let Collins go elsewhere in pursuit of another starting gig while hoping that VY can get his head and ass wired together again. In which case, having a backup with some talent would seem to be a pretty good plan. Indeed, Simms seemed ideal given everything we've seen this year. But now, if VY implodes again, we're looking at hard times next year.

Anybody got a thought about this?

I (obviously) more than a little disappointed. I mean, my faith is VY is in the gutter. I simply do not believe in him anymore. And while I'll be more than happy to be proven wrong on this point, until that happens, I was pretty damned happy to have Chris Simms hanging around on the roster. No?

Newbie Training Question

DannoE — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:27:25 -0000

Hey guys,

Okay, let me admit this up front: I am new to the sport of cycling in every way. Last year I started biking to work (well, to the train station, which is about a mile from my house), and it quickly blew up into a whole full-blown thing.

So here's my problem: I did two triathlons this year (a sprint and a mini), which was great, but since I come from a swimming background, I was basically one of the first guys out of the water and then promptly spent the next hour-plus getting passed by, well, everyone. I mean, I know I'm never gonna be Greg LeMonde or anything, but I would like to at least get in the neighborhood of my potential. In my last race, my bike split averaged 19.4 mph. That's probably not terrible, but that said, I'd bet everyone on this board can go faster than that for a comparable 14-mile jaunt.

Bottom line: how do I get faster without sacrificing the time I need for training in the other disciplines? Should I just be riding longer at every pop, or should I do some kind of intervals? Is there some really basic, basic guideline of which I'm just ignorant?

I'm a husband and father of two, so training time is at a premium, but I can make time for anything within reason, especially on weekends.

Thanks!