SB Nation User Blog: harperslaw

Mathis breaks finger, could have ligament damage

harperslaw — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:14:04 -0000

Mathis breaks finger, could have ligament damage

A weak pass defense may get a little weaker. Rashean Mathis will have surgery to repair his broken finger. Luckily the Jags have a bye, and the surgery is not season ending.

NFL Revenue Sharing: How it works

harperslaw — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:43:42 -0000

Jerry Jones is back up to his old tricks. After putting my 3-month old down after her 1 AM feeding I flipped on HBO. Joe Buck Live (very boring show) had Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban on as guests. And Jerry couldn’t resist preaching his newest cause: blowing up the NFL’s revenue sharing plan.

Now, as I’ve mentioned several times, I’m a conservative states’ rights kind of guy. When I hear revenue sharing my mind starts racing. Screw Jerry Jones. Revenue sharing is what has elevated the NFL to more money and more success than some countries. Wait, isn’t revenue sharing just another way to say redistribution of wealth? Well, if a person makes their money they should keep a majority of it. If a team’s not making enough money maybe they deserve to fail. But that would mean that my Jaguars would definitely fail… I break into a cold sweat and spend the rest of the night questioning everything I stand for in this life.

Jerry’s goal in all of this is just that; play on the heart strings of people (“Well, if he made the money he shouldn’t have to give it to the incompetent Mike Brown and the Bengals.”) I did a few Google searches with the goal of finding out what revenue is shared, and why Jerry has such a problem with it.

Revenue Sharing: Fairness or Socialism in Sheep’s Clothing?
The big 3 of sharing is TV Contracts, gate sales, and general merchandise sales.

TV Contracts (and other “generic” sponsorships): Dallas, Green Bay, Jacksonville, et al… receive the same check from the TV contracts. Seems appropriate as the NFL ensures that all teams have their games televised despite popularity (or lack thereof). As a conservative I find no fault in this. Every team is 1/32nd of the NFL and deserves equal share of general contracts, whether it is Gatorade or a National TV contract from CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN.

So what’s Jerry’s beef with that? The fact that Jerry went behind the NFL’s back and made deals with non-NFL sponsors Nike, Pepsi, AmEx, and Dr Pepper. The NFL, in retaliation, sued Jones. Jones countersued, and in the end they “settling”, though Jones was allowed to keep his stadium’s sponsors. My view as a conservative is that is fine: sell your stadium’s soul, if you wish, and have the urinals sponsored by “Bearnie Madoff Ponzi Schemes: Make Money the Easy Way”.

Gate Sales: Jacksonville’s ticket sale issues run even deeper than what some think. You see, the Jaguars do not keep their gate receipts, only 60%. The other 40% goes into a generic pot that is split between the teams (some Jag fans have cried “Why doesn’t Mr. Weaver just ‘buy’ up the seats so we can see the game on TV? That is why. Not only would the Jaguars be out that lost revenue, but they would also have to shell out an additional 40% to the league).

Jerry’s beef: I’ve invested almost $1 billion of my money plus another $900 million in tax payer money in my state of the art monument to myself, and I have to share 40% of my gate revenue with the Jaguars, Bengals, and Vikings? So what if I have to play those teams every 4 years, it’s my money and I should keep it. Maybe Mr. Jones has a point, I thought originally. However, as Lee Corso would say, NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND. Dallas’ stadium drives up league revenue and consequently drives up player costs (they get 60% gross of the NFL’s profits). Jerry, if you drive up mandatory player costs, and there’s still a minimum salary cap, then you sir need to pony up the cash. Maybe I’d be more sympathetic if there was no minimum cap, but as long as the cap is in place, and teams are required to spend a certain amount then sharing 40% of the gate revenue is needed.

Merchandise: If you go out to NFL.com and buy a MJD jersey, guess what? That money isn’t going directly to the Jaguars. It goes to the league, and it divides the proceeds among the 32 teams.

Jerry’s beef: I see girls in Dallas running around in those pink Romo jerseys yet Jacksonville is making bank off of that. BULLSHIT! Not only did I have to put up with his f$*#()$# Jessica Simpson induced breakdown in December, but I’m not profiting as much as I should. Maybe Jerry has a point. But once again, the players get 60% of the gross revenue, and as long as its mandated that teams must spend a certain amount then it’s fair.

So what is Jerry's vision then: It's every man for himself. If a team wants to compete they'd better build themselves a new, $2 billion stadium to drive up revenue. Charge fans $30 for the right to stand around and watch the game from a foyer. Charge fans $1500 for the right to buy season tickets in the nosebleed sections.

Kids, dangerous days are ahead for the NFL.

-Further Affiant Sayeth Naught-

Harperslaw

Change and the Jaguars: Is the spread-offense the future?

harperslaw — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:53:57 -0000

On offense, I fear I've been closed minded...

I suppose, being a conservative guy, that this has carried over to my football ideology. Run the ball, convert 3rd down, throw the ball effectively, win 17-13 and everyone is happy. I like big, physical wide receivers, a running back committee consisting of a balanced “every down” guy, a scat back that with good hands, and a physical pounder to get the tough yards. I like massive, physical offensive linemen that will, in the 4th quarter, physically dominate a tired, demoralized defense.

However, after watching the first 2 weeks of this season I don’t know if my “dream team”, in today’s game, is really possible. Oh sure, the Ravens and the Vikings have made it work for them. In fact, up until last year it had worked in Jacksonville. But I fear that these teams are on the verge of being antiquated in today’s basketball on grass. Don’t get me wrong; these teams, like past-Jacksonville teams, will be the teams everyone hates to play. They’re hard hitting, physical teams, but in the end they’ll fall short of the ultimate goal of the Super Bowl.

Jerry Jones slithered in to an interview the opening night of his monstrosity of a stadium. NBC asked Jerry about the collective bargaining agreement and revenue sharing. Jerry never came out and said it, but he intimated his super stadium was the future; teams will either have to drive up revenues to “survive” or perish. They asked Jones about football in danger of becoming baseball (i.e. high revenues succeed where low revenues fail), and Jones simply stated the owners should be concerned with maximizing revenues for themselves and players, and the players would then only have to worry about playing.

Click here to continue reading...

Kids, the days of revenue sharing, I fear, are coming to an end. The Jacksonville’s and Buffalo’s of the NFL: get ready. To channel Vic for a moment, "Small market teams may have to get very, very creative with personnel."

The more I watch, the more I’m convinced that the future of NFL offenses is (gag me) the spread (or “Wildcat”, whatever you want to call it). By Wildcat though, I mean an Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, Tyler Thigpen,…(takes a shot of whiskey) or even Vince Young. Just not a running back playing Quarterback.

I fought the concept, I deplore the thought, but a “Tim Tebow” might just have to be the future of Jacksonville. WHAT? He can’t make all the throws, questionable accuracy at times, etc… But we’re projecting him into a pro offense. When I say “Tebow” I mean a quarterback that will willingly take off down-field if they don’t see the open receiver, someone with smarts, and someone that is a leader. A quarterback that works within the system and takes what the defense gives them. Is that specifically Tebow? No, there are other guys that can do that. But I have a feeling we will see a young quarterback on the roster next year with college experience in the spread whether it’s Tebow or someone else.

The fullback is a dying position. The H-Back is an up and coming position. Run blocking for these guys is not a priority; catching passes is. Today when a team gets to the 2 yard line how often do we see them spread teams out? How many times have we seen those quick WR screens only to have the cornerback miss what used to be a sure tackle in the open field? How many times do we see guys in space turn a 5 yard gain into a 20 yard gain? The spread would be a way to get more of those opportunities.

The Jags already have a few of the pieces in place for this possible future (2 pass blocking tackles – performance issues aside, quick fleet-footed receivers – Mike Thomas we think, and a great pass catching fleet footed power back – MJD).

I see bubble screens, quick outs, slants, draws, reverses, and direct snaps to the back. I see the “wildcat” spread, only instead of a back or receiver it will be a scrambling quarterback. I see Percy Harvin’s and Jeremy Maclin’s becoming every bit as valuable as a solid running-back. I see hybrid Felix Jones’ playing a wide receiver/running-back role (ie Percy Harvin at Florida). I see this becoming a game of speed and agility rather than power.

In reading comments on why people weren’t going to the game people complained of games being “boring”. I find the Jaguars’ 9-0 win over the Steelers on Monday night back in the day exciting, but apparently the mainstream fans want points, big plays, and 35-34 games, not 9-0 “yawn fests”. The spread, when done right, will put points on the board.

It may take some time and growing pains, but in the next few years passing records will begin to fall. The football field is 100 yards x 53 yards (approximately), and these teams will use every inch of it to remain competitive.

Further Affiant Sayeth Naught...

-Harperslaw

Poll

Would you prefer hard-nosed, smash-mouth football, or High-flying, finesse-passing offenses?

Give me a game like the 9-0 victory against the Steelers anyday

267 votes

I want to see NCAA types of scores... Why ever run the ball?

48 votes

There's a poster of Marty Schottenheimer hanging on my wall...

33 votes

348 votes | Poll has closed

Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League

harperslaw — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:30:24 -0000

Showtime has debuted a 5 part documentary series called "Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League."

http://sports.sho.com/full-color-football.html

It's a little bit slow moving, but some of the stories and commentary provided by former players and former interviews are worth the 60 minutes each week. I especially loved West Texas' own Sammy Baugh talking about the old Polo Grounds and why he is anti-cities ("That's why I'm a country boy...I can go outside and take a leak whenever I want").

2 other quick interesting stories:
Abner Haynes ("We kick to the clock") was originally drafted by Pittsburgh. Haynes told the story of Bobby Layne and Buddy Parker showing up at his house at 5:30 in the morning, both so drunk they could hardly stand. They cheerfully informed Haynes the Steelers we drafting him. Haynes' father, a minister, immediately let his son know that he would not be playing for the Steelers. After meeting Lamar Hunt Haynes ended up with the Dallas Texans.

The Dallas Texans and Dallas Cowboys were both fighting for supremacy for fans (you were either one or the other). The Cowboys often played on Friday nights (as did all the high schools), so Lamar Hunt and the Texans ran a promotion if a fan would bring a ticket stub from a high school game they'd get into Texan games for free.

Also, for those that are impatient and want to know everything immediately you can visit http://www.remembertheafl.com/AFL.htm.

Bouman's Out

harperslaw — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:06:24 -0000

The Jags have released Todd Bouman.

http://jaguars.com/news/article.aspx?id=8176

I thought Bouman would hang around until McCown learned the offense. I was wrong. Gene the Destroyer is serious about the youth movement. Can't say I'm upset or torn up about this decision; Bouman was a decent backup a few years ago, but he's definately hit a wall.

I'm still thinking they're not done adding; I can see them adding one more young qb when this is all said and done.

How Darwin Walker turns into Derrick Harvey, Steve Slaton, and Joe Flacco

harperslaw — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:56:20 -0000

How Darwin Walker Enabled the Texans Steve Slaton and Duane Brown

Welcome to the crazy world of trades. Just as one pebble can start an avalanche one trade can trigger an explosion of activity.

Darwin Walker, in 2007, was coming off a solid season playing for the Eagles. He had 36 tackles and 6 sacks in 15 starts. He added 2 more sacks for the Eagles in their 27-24 NFC Divisional playoff loss to New Orleans. However, times were changing. Walker had 2 years left on his contract, but he wanted more paper. After failed contract negotiations Walker wanted out. And the Eagles complied.

The Eagles traded Walker and a conditional 2008 draft pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for linebacker Takeo Spikes and journeyman quarterback Kelly Holcomb. The pick was contingent upon Walker showing up to Bills training camp; Walker never did. Walker, still wanting his payday, held out of Bills’ camp. Had the Bills done nothing Walker would have returned to the Eagles, and they would have the Eagles 6th round pick as a parting gift.

However, the Bills made a different move. A Chicago defensive tackle, Tank Johnson, had just been cut due to his many legal problems, and Chicago badly needed a defensive tackle. Buffalo traded Walker’s rights to the Chicago Bears for their 5th round 2008 draft pick.

Enter the Jacksonville Jaguars. After missing much of the 2007 season, the management in Jacksonville felt that Marcus Stroud had more value in the form of draft picks. The Jaguars traded Marcus Stroud to Buffalo in exchange for the Bears’ 5th round pick and Buffalo’s 3rd round pick. Leading up to the 2008 draft many people were worried about the defensive line, but it wasn’t the tackle position they were most worried about; it was defensive end. Jacksonville traded their 1st, two 3rds (including Buffalo’s), and a 4th round pick in exchange for Baltimore’s 8th pick in the 2008 draft. Enter Derrick Harvey.

Baltimore, feeling a crunch at the quarterback position, traded back into the 1st round. They traded the Jaguar’s 1st (26th overall) and the Jaguar’s 3rd (89th) overall to the Houston Texans. With Houston’s 18th pick the Ravens selected quarterback Joe Flacco.

And the Texans? They used the Jaguar’s 1st and 3rd round picks to select Offensive Tackle Duane Brown and phenom runningback Steve Slaton in the 3rd.

So there you have it…The NFL version of the Kevin Bacon game. Darwin Walker’s hold out and trade demands ultimately ended up turning into:

Philadelphia
Takeo Spikes, LB
Kelly Holcomb, QB

Chicago
Darwin Walker, DT

Buffalo
Marcus Stroud, DT
Steve Johnson, WR

Jacksonville
Derrick Harvey, DE
Thomas Williams, LB (from Dallas)
Chauncey Washington, RB (from Dallas)

Baltimore
Joe Flacco, QB
Fabien Washington, CB (from Oakland for Baltimore’s 4th rounder)
Tavares Gooden, LB

Oakland
Arman Shields, WR (from Baltimore’s 4th round pick)

Houston
Duane Brown, LT
Steve Slaton, RB
Dominique Barber, S

Dallas
Orlando Scandrick, CB (from Buffalo through Jacksonville – 5th rounder)

If you feel I've omitted anything, or made any errors, please let me know. I find chain reactions like this interesting, and thought you all might find it interesting too.

Poll

Which team got the best of the trades?

Jacksonville - Harvey will be a beast!

26 votes

Philadelphia - Takeo Spikes was a beast!

0 votes

Buffalo - I love Marcus Stroud!

1 votes

Baltimore - A Franchise QB and a decent corner

30 votes

Houston - Your Left Tackle and the poor man's MJD

17 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

Favre to Sign with Vikings

harperslaw — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:45:06 -0000

Unrelated to the Jags, but the Vikings have reportedly signed with the Vikings. Chris Mortensen estimates the deal is worth between $10 to $12 million. There is a news conference scheduled for 6 PM EST.

I know most of us are disappointed about the exhibition last night by the Jags, but remember, it could always be worse. The Brett Favre drama continues.

Why do I think that Brad Childress is gone at the end of this year?

I'm Sick of Ignorant Fans

harperslaw — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:25:59 -0000

I post this out of frustration, because I am sick of stupid fans saying stupid things.

"jarnette77 (6/2/2009 at 7:19 PM)

Report Violation the jags will get the qb thing right next year when the prodigal son will return; timmy tebow will soon be trucking afc south linebackers. tickt sales problems? a thing of the past. anyone who actually lives in jax knows exactly what i'm talking about. the problem is not the number of football fans in jax, its the number of jaguar fans. if the jags can tap into the huge gator fan base filling the stadium won't be a problem. and SILENCE all you tebow haters, he will be much better than david garrard. i remember garrard at east carolina, do you? not half the player tebow is now, but a comparable skill set. i'm just sayin... " It made my head hurt. Draft a player because he'll sell out the stadium because he's a local guy? That has to be, without a doubt, one of the stupidest posts I've ever read.

UPDATE: Fanaticism isn't always a good thing.

jarnette77 (6/4/2009 at 3:12 PM)

i repeat: if you think its "idiotic" to draft a player who will sell tickets, you're either extremely naive or extremely stupid. you sound like you read too much "ask vic". hey buddy: vic ketchman gets paid the same no matter what city the jags are playing in. he doesn't care about keeping the team here. spare me with all your geeky "bap" garbage.

winning alone is not enough to sell tickets in jax. that was proven last year, when we were among the conference favorites and only sold out 1 game. I DON'T CARE WHAT THAT SAYS ABOUT THE FANS IN JAX. I DON'T CARE WHETHER WE "DESERVE" A TEAM OR NOT. I JUST LIKE HAVING ONE AND I WANT TO KEEP IT.

and enough with all your fla/tebow hating. of course a huge percentage of jaguar fans are also gator fans, the campus is 60 miles from jacksonville municipal. you don't like it? tough. pick a new team to root for. if you think tebow is merely a "good...overhyped college football player" then you have let your hate cloud your rational thought. he is a GREAT, HISTORIC college football player who has the SAME SKILL SET as garrard, except he THROWS IT MUCH BETTER THAN GARRARD DID AT EAST CAROLINA.

"best available" or not, the jags should draft tebow for what he will do for the franchise ON and OFF the field. he'll be the 1st great one from fla, just like p manning was for tenn, favre was for so miss, etc.

Patience - It's not a virtue for nothing

harperslaw — Wed, 20 May 2009 02:25:08 -0000

The American Revolution was fought from 1775 till 1781 (approximately 6 years).

America declared independence on July 4, 1776. In 1777, the founding fathers' decided that the country would run best using the Articles of Confederation. That experiment lasted until 1789 (approximately 12 years).

In 1812 those pesky Brits were back, and after 3 years they went back over the pond in 1815.

Fast forward to today, and it seems we've lost all patience. Can you imagine America fighting the same enemy on and off for 40 years? We want our news now, we want our sports scores now, and if we wait longer than 90 seconds for our food at McDonald's we start to get impatient.

So what does my rambling mean?

The American Revolution was fought from 1775 till 1781 (approximately 6 years).

In 1812 those pesky Brits were back, and after 3 years they went back over the pond in 1815.

So what does my rambling mean?

The Jaguar Nation is a young one. It's been spoiled by so much success early on. Yeah, there are a lot of reasons why the average fan won't buy tickets: it's too hot; NFL tickets, even Jaguar tickets, are expensive; the Jaguars don't put up 40 points a game (ie it's boring to them); they haven't won a Super Bowl; they play in a division that's not exciting (by that I mean there's not 20+ years of history between the teams)...

The excuses can go all day and all night, but think of it this way, in my opinion.

The United States shocked the world by toppling Britain, and enjoyed great early success. However, it became abundantly clear the Articles of Confederation were not working (Shack Harris, big name free agents, poor drafting, no true leadership...) 12 years later the constitution is written and 12 of the 13 colonies/states ratify it (13 years if you count the slackers from Rhode Island). Through that time America enjoyed a lot of highs and lows, but our forefathers hung in there.

The Jaguars have been in the league for 15 years. They had some success early on, had some set backs, but they are still alive. This year The Emperor and Jack have clearly defined the Jaguars constitution; a commitment to good scouting, player development, personal fortitude, and work ethic. The team will not gamble in free agency, and are committed to the future, not right now. I think that's a great start to the new Era of Jaguars' football.

Today loyalty is hard to come by. I live in West Texas, and this is Dallas Cowboy Country. However, starting about 5 years ago New England Patriot jersey's start popping up every where. I finally stopped a guy one day and asked him, "Hey, why the Patriots and not the Cowboys or Texans?" The guy looked at me and mumbled "I love the Patriots. They won those Super Bowls, man. They're great." I asked him when he started thinking that way, and he told me "2004". Bandwagon fans, gotta love them. After further questioning the guy could name one player, Tom Brady. Will MJD turn into our Tom Brady? Only time will tell.

Right now the Jags need as many butts in the seats as they can get, but in the long term I want more BigCatCountry fans in the seats than 'hey, why don't we trade for <insert big name, overpaid wide receiver here>." Our boy Wayne Weaver seems committed to the future of Jacksonville, and I hope that soon the excuses will start to fade. I hope that the casual fans educate themselves and invest themselves in this team. And I think it will happen. All it takes is some time.

Finally - Film on Derek Cox

harperslaw — Sun, 03 May 2009 05:30:31 -0000

Somebody may have already posted this, but here is a highlight clip of Derek Cox.

What I saw...In most of the clips, athletically he looked like a men among boys, especially on kick returns. He ran through several arm tackles, and looks smooth. He's tall and lanky, and I think he may need to add some muscle or he'll be abused by the more physical NFL receivers.

His picks came off mostly badly thrown balls. I saw a couple of heads up plays. He looks a little raw, but I see a lot of potential there. If he does end up starting in a couple of years this will be a great move by the Gene.