http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/08/08/mmqb/index.html?eref=sihp

 I saw in MMQB that Peter King picked Larry Fitzgerald over AJ as the receiver he'd most like to have on his imaginary team. The quarterback on that team is probably Brett Favre. He did so based partially on age (which I think is the only area where Fitzgerald has a legitimate advantage over AJ) but based the rest of his decision almost entirely on Fitzgerald's stellar playoff run two years ago. As you may know, AJ has not been to the playoffs, and therefore does not have a comparable body of work.  Fitzgerald also never had Zoolander "throwing" to him.

I don't actually respect his opinion, but it still annoyed me. "Hey, this guy was really good in the playoffs and this other guy's never gotten a chance to play in the playoffs! Obviously, that first guy is better!" There's a word for this. In fact, an entire discipline to dedicated to explaining how wrong this is. The discipline is rhetoric, and the word is fallacy. I would heartily recommend that Mr. King consult this wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy . I'd argue that Mr. King is engaging in generalization here, but honestly this argument is probably susceptible to several catergorizations.

Just for comparison's sake, when Andre was Fitzgerald's age at the time of his playoff run, the Texan's leading passer was Zoolander and their leading rusher was Ron Dayne. Instead of starting across from Anquan Boldin, AJ lined up with late-period Eric Moulds.  The year was 2006, and while we were just stepping back from the ledge, the bottle of bleach was still firmly in hand. Even now I'd say it's still in the back of the fridge, just in case.  So forgive Andre if he didn't make it to the super bowl and have a dazzling performance in the post season that year. I'm sure he would've loved to do that. Frankly, I think there's a point to be made of the fact that AJ still plays for us despite the fact that until recently, he's been the best player on one of the worst teams in football. We're lucky to have him. I think we're luckier than the Cardinals, but I'm no Peter King.

Note: Added to front page by Tim. Thanks, Jimbo.

Link here.

I fail to see how this development could actually surprise anyone. Personally, I am disappointed that Jacoby Jones won't be given the platform to express himself as an artist and as a football player that he so clearly deserves. But you know, as long he resists the urge to fumble, I'll probably recover. On the upside, more Rex Ryan, which is exactly what the world needs.

Last week, a child at the school where a friend of mine works won a "Meet a Texan" contest that the Texans had. As a result, they got to spend the day with a Texan. The Texan which they got to spend the day with was Dominique Barber.  Dominique came to school, where he answered questions like "Do you cut peoples hair?" "What is your favorite haircut to give people?" (because you know, he's a barber) completely unrelated to football along with questions like "What position do you play?" about football in the most patient way possible.  The kids loved him. He spent a good bit of the day hanging out with the first graders in their classroom (some of whom were special education students) and really impressed everyone there. I'm sure it's an experience those kids will always remember and treasure, I certainly know at their age I would have.  

We criticize the Texans a good bit around here, but one thing I think we can all agree on is that they're an asset to our community, regardless of their play.  They've always been a very classy organization, and that's something that makes me proud to be a fan. Anyway, I just thought I'd share.

Just the labor boys, allegedly.

Don't know that this will have an impact on play this year, but it could evolve into a different kind of problem. Of all people it seems a bit surprising that this is something that the Texans would take an interest in, though this article is so nebulous it's impossible to tell.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/09/01/nflpa.collusion.ap/index.html?eref=si_topstories