I am getting a major headache listening to the whining and chirping on Sports Talk Radio this week, regarding the awarding of  the 2014 SUPER BOWL  to the new GIANTS/JETS stadium in New Jersey. One would think that the game was being awarded to a city inside the Arctic Circle.  When did the NFL become Arena Football that has to be played in a climate controlled environment? The following are my specific responses to yesterday’s announcement from the NFL meetings.

    Has no one noticed the recent pattern that if an NFL owner builds a new stadium, primarily with personal financing, not taxpayer dollars, they are rewarded with a Super Bowl? Let’s see now... the next 4 Super Bowls are  now scheduled to take place in...

INDIANAPOLIS, where the COLTS have a two year old venue to play in.

NEW ORLEANS, where the reward of getting the game is for Tom Benson keeping his team in town, and the New Orleans area for battling back from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.

DALLAS, where JERRY JONES  has plowed in excess of $1-billion of his own money into his new stadium/palace.

NEW JERSEY, where over $1.5-billion has been financed primarily by two of the League’s marquis franchises in the GIANTS & JETS.

    The awarding of the Super Bowl to New York/New Jersey has more to do with internal NFL-politics than anything else. The League’s owners, with a few exceptions, take care of each other. There was no way guys like JONES, KRAFT, McNAIR, BLANK, IRSAY, etc. were not going to take care of each of their brethren and repay MARA, TISCH & JOHNSON for their previous support on key issues and votes. It also gives the NFL a chance to tie into the emotion of 9/11, and show support for a city where their corporate headquarters have resided from day one.

    Now let me take a shot at the weather issue. Pro Football has always been a game that has been subject to the whims of Mother Nature and weather. The League has it’s roots solidly planted in the northern half of the U.S. Most of the South was too pre-occupied with college football to even pay attention to the pro game until TV revenues began to make the NFL a potential cash-cow in the late ’60’s. Until the AFL became a factor, the NFL went no further South than old D.C. and L.A. Some of the most fascinating Play-Off Games in NFL history have taken place in cold, snowy weather conditions. And the League and the fans have survived those bad weather games quite nicely.

    As far as complaints about fairness and integrity of the game conditions requiring a Southern clime, I say rubbish. How has it been fair for teams from Buffalo, Boston, Green Bay, Chicago, Denver, et al to always travel to play the championship finale in a climate controlled scenario that favors teams geared to play wide open Offensive Schemes because they play the bulk of their games in warmth and sunshine. I would maintain that the warm-weather and dome teams have enjoyed an unfair advantage over cold-weather teams for decades.

    It’s not going to destroy the integrity of the game to play in less than ideal weather conditions. Football is the sport that doesn’t cancel it’s competition because of rain, like baseball. This game can be played in the mud, or on frozen turf occasionally.

    As for the whining about fans having to sit through cold and windy conditions, my response is suck it up, or sell your tickets to some real football fans. Way too many gameday spectators at the Super Bowl are sponsors, celebrities and executives, who don’t even go to NFL regular season games. If those folks can’t survive the elements for three hours than let them sell their tickets to some real football fans. We might end up with a more knowledgeable and enthusiastic audience in attendance at the stadium for the game.

    This perfect weather scenario also panders to the Fantasy Football mentality that has permeated the game. The game of football depends greatly on the performances of the ‘Big Uglies’ who pound each other all day long in the trenches, while skill position players prance around. A defensive struggle, with the deciding factor perhaps being the ability to run the ball, will not set the NFL game back a decade. At worst it will provide some entertaining variety from the standard fare.

      I will grant that weather could have serious consequences to the hordes of fans and celebrities who must travel to and from the NYC area for the event. If so, travel creativity will be a huge concern. That can happen even further South when you play your League’s Championship in February... just ask the folks in Atlanta. But creativity, and perseverance, will resolve most of those issues over the course of a full week. If need be, there are enough residents in the local area to fill the gaps at any/all gala events associated with the Super Bowl.

    The 2014 SUPER BOWL being played in New Jersey, will not be Armageddon for the NFL, and pro football fans. Let’s move on and play football. I say solid decision for the League. Let’s let the purists have a shot at watching a football contest that makes the elements part of the overall scenario.

                                

  3/04/2010                            National Scouting and the NFL have a problem to deal with relative to the timing mechanisms and procedures related to the 40-yard Dash at the recently completed COMBINE event in Indianapolis. This sprinters unit of measure can be overrated relative to actual football performance, but it must be uniform in its application to all competitors. And it seems pretty clear to me that there were issues with timing accuracy throughout the proceedings.

        TAYLOR MAYS obviously did not post the fastest 40-time at the COMBINE, but he ran his 40 a lot faster than the number he is being officially credited for. That is clear to anyone who has watched the NFL Network simal-cam video which shows MAYS crossing the finish line just a hair behind JACOBY FORD, who was credited with the fastest 40-time of the event at 4.28 seconds. If JAHVID BEST ran a 4.35/40 then how can MAYS be listed at 4.43 when he finishes clearly ahead of BEST.

        The NFL owes all of us fans a little more of an explanation as to what happened to create that discrepancy, and some others. DEVIN McCOURTY ran a heck of a lot faster than his official listing of 4.48, and comes to mind as another player who paid the price for some faulty timing equipment. The primary reason they owe Draftniks an explanation and perhaps some corrected numbers (if that is possible), is because we sat and watched hour after hour of TV coverage, which in turn allowed NFL Network to sell a heck of a lot more commercial time than they would have running replays of old games in those time slots, to significantly fewer viewers. And the overriding premise of all this, from a TV perspective, was that we as fans would get some of the most accurate and up to date information about these prospects, some of whom will dot our favorite teams’ rosters next Fall.

       During the time I watched the proceedings (which was of course way too much by any rational guideline) I noticed at least five pauses over three days for adjustment work needed on the timing equipment. And it might have been more than that, as I must confess I did not watch every minute of the coverage. Is it way out of line to suggest that perhaps not all the issues were corrected in a timely manner, if at all? I think not. Come on NFL man-up and tell us more about what went wrong. This year I will be paying more attention than ever to the 40-times on Pro Days. Normally these numbers are the most flawed because of serious variances from one testing site to the next. But I’m not sold on the consistency or accuracy from Indy any more at this point.

     

        Nice job by NFL Network to run that simal-cam piece before going off the air on Tuesday afternoon. Yeah, they could have done more, but they are after all an in-house network. And after having spent 30 years in the business world, in a Management position, there is a point at which you back off internal criticism of those above you. It’s kind of like peeing in the wind. Pick your spots, make your point and move on. And I liked the way RICH EISEN talked over the video-replay then quietly moved on. See the tape for yourself (if for strange reason you haven’t already) @  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDhYKZHKh4Q .

        One last comment on this situation. A big shout-down to DEION SANDERS, who was all over the “mistake” made by the NFL Network employee who was handling their unofficial timing of the runs. DEION asked twice for a shot of their employee, who messed up so badly. SANDERS was ready, willing & luckily not quite able to completely throw his co-worker under the bus, when in fact it sure likes like his number was a lot closer to reality than the COMBINE reported. Quite the team player that SANDERS guy is. If you were half the man you think you are DEION you would offer up a public apology to that cohort, who probably works all year for a salary less than you make for showing up for a half-day in a suit to comment on the proceedings. Just another example of why NEON DEION has never been one of my favorites on, or off, the field.

Pigskin Paul Guillemette

Editor/Publisher

                                                   

    I just finished watching the TEXAS vs. the NATION All-Star Game and my immediate response is that I am glad that I drove home to Wisconsin from Mobile last Sunday not to El Paso. The play on the field was almost unwatchable at times today. If ever a venue needed to find a way to bring Declared Underclassmen to participate in the proceedings to add to the talent base, this is it!

    This game is now 4 years old and has done well in establishing its place on the All-Star landscape, while other games, like the Hula Bowl, have disappeared. But if the game is to ever reach puberty it must seriously improve the level of play on the field come game day. The two overall components in an upgrade effort would be to increase the overall quality in pads, and Coaching on the sidelines and during practices. The latter may be the most difficult to impact because I seriously doubt that the NFL is looking to send more team Coaching Staffs to this or any other game venue beyond that of the Senior Bowl any time soon.

    The bringing into the fold of some of the Declared Underclassmen should be a doable thing, with a little old-fashioned display of brass balls. There are more than a few strident voices within the NCAA who rail at this concept as some kind of inducement for players to leave school early. As preposterous as that notion is, there would be some college football backlash for the first All-Star Game to include underclassmen on its rosters. But if the demise of your game is the other consequence the choice of what to do seems clear to me. The official list of said players is officially released by the NFL by the middle of January. That leaves plenty of time for this, the last All-Star Game on the calendar, to invite and include a dozen or so players from that list on its rosters.

    Now before SCOTT WRIGHT calls me out in public, rest assured that I realize the premier Underclassmen are not going to sign-on to head to El Paso for this game. That means no CLAUSEN, TATE, ANTHONY DAVIS, or ERIC BERRY will make an appearance. But of the 40-plus annual underclassmen bent of pursuing their professional careers sooner rather than later I can see a dozen plus having interest and their presence spicing up the rosters.

    This year, for example, I could envision RB/RYAN MATHEWS, WR/ANTONIO BROWN, DT/BRIAN PRICE, S/MORGAN BURNETT, OT/BRUCE CAMPBELL, WR/DEMARYIOUS THOMAS, WR/DEZMON BRISCOE, LB/RENNIE CURRAN, and others choosing to boost their stock up closer to that elusive First Round by showing what they can do in El Paso. Even QBs like RUSTY SMITH might look better if they were throwing to THOMAS and BROWN, instead of SCOTT LONG and BRETT HAMLIN.

    I really don’t want to see the College All-Star Game circuit dwindle any further. The El Paso game has laid a solid foundation for itself, but it must move ahead. It needs added TV revenue from a more visible network like ESPN2, as opposed to the very limited market exposure of CBS-College Sports Network. And the primary avenue for that move is for more public interest in the game itself. Come on folks, respond to the pressure and make the move... before your game becomes invisible. These days public attention spans are shorter than ever. A couple more games like the one today could make the game irrelevant, and soon extinct.

PIGSKIN PAUL

    Even though I am totally prepared to defend the candidacy of TIM TEBOW again, I am going to shock you regular readers and take a totally different tactic here. I am going to present my overlooked candidate, whom I would vote for over the current favorite COLT McCOY, if I had a vote. From that football hotbed of CENTRAL MICHIGAN University, may I present for your approval QB/DAN LeFEVOUR.

    While COLT has been slinging the ball around and leading the widely publicized LONGHORNS to double-digit win seasons most of his carer in Austin, DAN LeFEVOUR has piloted the good ship Chippewas to their first 10-win season in forever, and most likely a spot in their 4th consecutive Motor City Bowl, which is the prize for wining the MAC Title Game.

    Even though the first response from most folks will be, ‘come on now, LeFEVOUR is playing for a lower level team, against inferior competition‘ I would argue the validity of that assertion.  I’m not going to the wall on this one, but I would counter by saying TEXAS has had a fairly soft schedule this season, and COLT has a lot more talent surrounding him each week than DAN has had. On my current list of Top 2010 NFL DRAFT Prospects I show 4 Longhorns ranked in my Top 120, besides COLT. I have no Chippewas on that list beyond DAN.

    TEXAS sits at 12-0 with a BCS Championship Game on the horizon unless they stumble against Nebraska in the BIG 12 Title Game.  CENTRA MICHIGAN goes to their Conference title game at 10-2.

    Both McCOY and LeFEVOUR are going to rank in the Top 10 in NCAA history for career passing yards and TD passes when they hang up their collegiate spikes. But that’s just a statistical tidbit, because the HEISMAN is awarded for the current season’s efforts. It is not supposed to be a lifetime achievement award.

    So lets take a peak at this season’s stats for two QBs who are arguably their teams’ leaders.

                                                    PASSING

LeFEVOUR        257/362-  71.0%- 2788 yds- 25 TD- 5 INT

                    RUSHING

McCOY                111- 368 yds- 3.3 ypc- 2 TD

LeFEVOUR        157- 650 yds- 4.1 ypc- 14 TD       

   The most telling number of their overall worth for the HEISMAN (in my estimation) is that magical figure of TDs, that a skill position player has accounted for personally. (Which is why I have been such a strong supporter of TEBOW over the years.) COLT has directly accounted for the Longhorns getting into the End Zone 29 times this season. LeFEVOUR has put them there 39 times.

    That’s my opinion , and I’m sticking to it.

  

 

10/16/09    This doesn’t exactly fit the Editorial Page criteria. But since it is based on my experience and observations, it fits here as well as under any other PPP Heading that I could think of. If you follow my site, and/or tweets then you are well aware I made a College Football Road Trip last week to Oxford, MS (home of the Rebels) to soak up a party Saturday on campus, and watch the ‘BAMA/OLE MISS football game. I am happy to say that the overall adventure was far more satisfying than the mismatch on the football field.

                        I’m going to walk you through a chronicle, in condensed form, of what I saw and felt on Game Day Saturday, October 10th, 2009 in Tupelo/Oxford, Mississippi.

                                       

        It is 5:10 AM Saturday morning and I am in the shower at my COURTYARD Hotel in Tupelo, MS. I am rinsing the shampoo out of my hair and hoping to get out of the shower before my REB host ED, calls my room to make sure that I am up and moving (my idea, not his). I make it and when the phone rings I assure him that I will be in the lobby to meet him at 5:30 sharp. That’s when we start out on our 45 minute drive to Oxford for a 2:30 PM kick-off. I pack a small bag of items, including extra clothes, because even though we are hoping for better weather later on, it is overcast and misting... as best as I can tell in the pre-dawn darkness.

        Ed is his usual smiling self when I get to the lobby with his constant morning cup of coffee in his hand. He woke up at 3:30 because he is a morning person, and because these game days are a tradition for him and his family. He has a daughter, and a son currently enrolled at OLE MISS. His youngest son William, and his friend Spencer are along for the adventure. Spence, thank God, looks like a non-morning guy... more of my ilk. As we climb into the van ED advises me that we are about to engage in the first game day tradition, and he slides a CD into the dashboard console. It’s the Ole Miss Marching Band playing the school fight song, the Dixie Trilogy & other spirited tunes.  I’m thinking this is played at a higher volume when only the immediate family is in the vehicle.

    As the wiper blades sweep away the steady mist that is falling Ed assures me that once we get into Lafayette County, also known to him as God’s Country, the rain will cease. As we get close to our exit in Oxford the slight mist is almost gone, and traffic is a little heavier than he anticipated for 6:30 in the morning. We wind through the Southeast end of campus which features two new buildings going up; one for athletics and one to house the Law School. The rest of the buildings are graceful, old brick buildings.

    I can see the football stadium less than a half-mile past the arena. Two parking lots and some tennis courts and we’ll be in the stadium. After a few calm Hotty Toddy greetings to some regular tailgate neighbors we are off for my campus tour before the crowds fill in every square inch of The Grove. There are tents everywhere we walk. Most are empty, having been put up just after midnite Friday when the squatters may claim their respective territories. It’s still not even 8 AM yet, but at least it is gray daylight and not raining as we walk.

    Most of the buildings we walk past are historic venues, meticulously kept up. The newer buildings  blend in aesthetically. The season for maximum floral displays is just past, but in my mind’s eye I can imagine what a rainbow of blossoms and colors this campus will be come early Spring in about 5 months. Up ahead I see a tent city in front of the original classroom building, know as the Lyceum. But this is not THE GROVE yet. This is the smaller tent city called The Circle.

       

    We’re back at our tent site and it feels more like lunch time than 9:30 AM. It is not clearing off, and even though we do not have rain a wind has kicked up and I think the temp is dropping. Remember now, I am the Yankee who came south. I have serious doubts that it will be sunny and in the lower 60’s for kick-off as TWC promised ED at 4:00 AM. ED places a cell phone call to his neighbor who is driving up to meet us this morning. We have chairs staked out along the curb in front of Ed’s vehicle to save Billy a parking spot. We have ‘game day neighbors’ all around us now. WILLIAM is eating brownies; Spence is eating cold KFC; I pop a Coke; Ed flips and pours the first beer of the day. It has to be in a cup per campus rules. Another campus rule (selectively enforced) states that coolers containing alcohol must have a locking device on them. If left unattended, without locks, the Campus Police may dump the contents of non-secured coolers. I’ve been out of college for so long that I had forgotten some of the interesting rules colleges have to come up with to deal with a population of 18-22 year-olds, who are walking/talking libidos and hormone factories. Ed and I go to sit in the van to get out of the damp wind.

    Just a bit before 11:00 AM Ed gets a call from his neighbor Billy who we guide into their parking spot by use of cell phones. Billy & Ben & their wives join us for a walk up to THE GROVE which is now in full social bloom. Navigating through the human traffic is now a bit more complicated than it was over 2 hors ago. The CIRCLE is abuzz with partiers, and so is the GROVE. Complicating matters are the damp cold and dormant grass walkways in the GROVE which are quickly turning to mud from yesterday’s rain and today’s human traffic. We find Stephen and his friends and everyone in our group (except of course yours truly) spots people they know in the Mobile Tent. But it matters not, because if you are here with a friend then you are a friend as well.

       

    Just a bit before after 11:30 Ed tells me we are headed up to the GROVES archway, which marks the beginning of the Walk of Champions. There we will watch the players arrive by bus ad begin their walk to the stadium, and part of the Ole Miss band will play after they arrive. The ’walkway’ through the grove is a brick path about 5 feet wide, that dissects the tent city that is the GROVE. Sounds like a plan to me, so William, Spence, Ed and I start up the path to the gate. As we walk up the path Ed says to a student passing him that he hasn’t heard the Hotty Toddy cheer all morning. So at the top of his lungs the student kicks things off...

    ‘Are you ready?’ he yells. Hundreds of voices yell back... ‘Helllllll Yes!  Daaaaamn Right!’

Then thousands break into the cheer.

                ‘Hotty Toddy, Gosh almighty

                Who in the hell are we...  Hey!

                Flim flam, Bim Bam

                Ole Miss By Damn!

                Wuuuuuuuuuuu!’

    No two folks here will give you the same answer as to what the cheer actually means, or where it came from, but those associated with Ole Miss all know the it by heart. And its damn impressive when thousands echo it around the GROVE. I can’t join in because my head can’t get wrapped around the words and retain them. But I smile and join in on the Rebel whoop at the end.

    We get ourselves a spot to stand maybe two deep no more than 10 feet from the archway. In about 15 minutes we hear the police sirens leading the player buses up the hill to their appointed starting point for their pre-game walk. Someone is passing out little Rebel flags and Ed hands one to me. As Coaches and players climb off the bus and pass through the archway I am yelling and waving a Confederate flag over my head. When in Rome?!

    After the team passes through the gate we move up about 15 yards to get closer to the band (a small unit thereof) which plays the Alma Mater. Then they break into their beloved Trilogy of Slow Dixie- Battle Hymn of  the Republic- Fast Dixie. Now you see, I have this down pat thanks to Ed’s playing of the CD back at 5:30. I’m not singing along with Dixie, but my sensibilities are not offended.  It’s a great tune, it is tradition and about a third of the musicians in the band playing it are black. That’s what I call coming together with school spirit.

    We meet up with the boys and head back to our tent site for pre-game lunch and potty stops. By about 1:45 we are ready to walk over to the stadium. Yes, that’s right, there is actually going to be a football game.

    The sun never comes out in Oxford today. The stadium is nothing fancy, but it is clean and bright (even in the mist). I also notice that the bleacher seating is a bit more generous than let’s say at Lambeau Field. My fat butt notices and appreciates the extra couple of inches allotted in Row 33, for Seat 8. The game itself is not much of a contest. Though the Ole Miss Defense puts up a gallant struggle the Offense is completely stymied all day long by the overpowering ALABAMA Defense. The fans hang in there, but with the final Rebel punt with a little over 6 minutes to play, and being on the wrong side of a 22-3 score most folks seem to decide that THE GROVE, the CIRCLE or home would be a better place to be than Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. And so the sad early exodus begins in earnest, including us.

    We trudge off to the GROVE to say goodbye to Ed’s son and daughter. WE haven’t actually seen Allison yet today, though Ed has spoken to her on his cell several times. She is on the Ole Miss women’s Track Team, and they have been in Alabama most of the day at a meet. It is muddy, dark and subdued in THE GROVE.  The coeds and female alums all have mud packed on their bare feet if in sandals, or caked all over their boots otherwise. Those two forms of footwear appear to be the only female options that meet dress code on a football Saturday in Oxford. I’ve not seen a female in sneakers yet today. And it is getting colder every minute now. The partying here may not last as late as usual tonight. After a few goodbyes we head for the van to pack up and start back to Tupelo. It is now about 6:00 PM. After a bite to eat en route we finally hit the hotel at about 9:30. I say my goodbyes and thank-yous to the boys and then Ed. I politely decline his invitation to join them at 6:30 AM for breakfast at the Waffle House. I ask for an 8:15 wake-up call as I walk by the front desk. That’s early enough for me. I want to dream a bit longer and reflect on an amazing experience: SEC Gameday on the OLE MISS campus.

            What a rush! Thanks again Ed... it was all you said it would be, and then some.

    

8/23/09    I’m back with this page a little bit sooner than I expected, but thanks to the recent developments in Eden Prairie and Hattiesburg I decided it was almost mandatory to make a few comments, since I certainly have thoughts and opinions on the matter like most folks. I wanted to wait a week or so for two reasons:

1. 1)I wanted to make sure I let a little time take some of the edge off of my gut responses.
   

2. 2)I also wanted to make sure FAVRE didn’t change his mind and head right back to Mississippi.
   

            So after a full week of watching and thinking, where is my head at regarding BRETT, BRAD & the VIKINGS?

On BRETT    It is clear that he loves football, and can’t stand the thought of really being out of the limelight. I guess those are both pretty logical observations in the big scheme of things. Once BRETT retires to southern Mississippi we won’t hear much of, or from him, until he comes up for Hall of Fame election. At age 40 he will have more years than he wants to even think about, to mow his grass and hunt and fish.

        The only thing I find just a tad disingenuous on BRETT’s part is his constant proclamation that it has never been about him... it’s always been about team. I watched his Press Conferences for 15 years in Wisconsin and I never heard him stand up and say that he stunk-up a game, and wanted to apologize to his teammates for letting them down. Whenever things went bad he talked about giving his all, and doing all that he could possibly do. But he sure loved to bask in the glory of the good times when the team won, and/or he set another record.

     But if he is silly and vain enough to want to throw himself to the wolves of the NFL’s defenses one more year then so be it. I just hope that when he finally gets laid out and can’t take the field because of injuries it won’t be anything that seriously threatens his health, long term off the football field.

On CHILDRESS    I think the folks in VIKINGS-land have a real credibility crisis with their Head Coach. Despite having said the door was closed near the beginning of Training Camp when BRETT said no, seemingly for the final time, it was

BRAD who picked up the phone after the First Pre-Season game, and called BRETT one more time to ask “pretty-please” if he would become a VIKING. On paper he has made his team better, and I am sure most of the current VIKINGS players were glad to see BRETT don a VIKINGS jersey. But don’t think for a second that there will not be more guys than just JACKSON & ROSENFELS, who are going to have second thoughts about how much credence to place on BRAD’s  future promises and guarantees to his players.

On VIKINGS FAN Expectations      I had the VIKES pegged as close runner-ups to DA BEARS in the NFC North this season in my Power Rankings. Even taking into account that this is no longer MVP Candidate BRETT (because of age and NFL wear and tear over two decades) on paper the QB position looks a lot stronger in Minnesota with FAVRE/ROSENFELS/BOOTY as your trifecta. JACKSON probably has to be the odd man out because of money and broken promises. I will voice my skepticism that FAVRE can play a full 16 game schedule this season, never mind 2-3 Play-Off games to boot. I agree with PETER KING that a better scenario would have been to keep FAVRE under wraps until mid-season and then bring him in to lead the second half push to the Play-Offs. So be ready for some bad with the good VIKINGS faithful. Congrats and good luck VIKINGS fans.

    I’ll throw in a couple more comments here related to the FAVRE signing. He has already paid the VIKINGS organization for his contract with additional season and single game tickets sales, as well as a mad rush for FAVRE jerseys. That’s a big deal, because in case you missed it folks more than half the teams in the NFL are not sold out for all their games, the VIKES among them... until now perhaps.

    An interesting media note, at least to me, is the response to this FAVRE  scenario by PETER KING and his long time employer Sports Illustrated. It is clear that KING feels used by FAVRE over he past few years. Peter put out some pretty strong assertions based on direct conversations with BRETT, only to look like a tool when BRETT waffled again.

    I just got my August 31st issue of SI and found two interesting “slaps” at FAVRE. In the upper left hand corner of the cover is a logo of a crossed out #4, and the message ‘100% FAVRE FREE ISSUE.’ On the inside in the SCORECARD section on Page 19, is an article about the VKES QB situation without one direct mention of FAVRE, just the plights of JACKSON, ROSENFELS & BOOTY.

    Seems to me that SI and their main football writer feel just as jilted by Good Ole Boy BRETT as a lot of PACKERS fans do. Those wooden bridges burn pretty easily, folks.

Pigskin Paul Guillemette/Editor

7/2009   It has been quite some time since I used this EDITORIAL page, and I do not intend to get preachy with it at this time. I want to take a few moments to reflect on the American Football League. I’ll try not to get maudlin, but the only League to successfully compete with the NFL,  and force a merger, is near and dear to my heart and love of football. This season in the NFL is being used to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the old AFL, by “The Foolish Club” back in 1959. THe NFL Hall of Fame has a special exhibit celebrating that League’s birth which includes a retro game in August in Canton featuring the BILLS vs, the OILERS (now TITANS) the weekend of the Hall of Fame 2009 induction ceremonies.

    Growing up n New Hampshire I was a GIANTS fan in the mid-fifties, when I discovered Pro Football at about age 9. There was no national network coverage of the NFL in those days. Local teams controlled their own broadcast rights, and the GIANTS owned the TV airwaves (no cable) in New England through a Boston-based affiliate. A second Boston station beamed up CLEVELAND BROWNS games with JIM BROWN pounding his way to NFL greatness. My dad was a marginal fan, but whenever we went to my uncle’s house for Sunday dinner in the fall, the TV was on until both teams’ games were finished. I found out later his love of the game was based primarily on the bets he placed on the games at the Irish-American Club earlier in the week. But in fairness, he really did love the game of football. He and I would sneak out of the dining room to catch every play possible, and my love of the NFL was born. I much preferred the football action to the boring conversation at the dinner table. I cut my NFL teeth rooting for CHARLIE CONNERLY, Y. A. TITTLE, FRANK GIFFORD, ANDY ROBUSTELLI, SAM HUFF, ROOSEVELT BROWN, et al., and listening to CHRIS SCHENKEL call the action. There could be no doubt listening to his game-call that the GIANTS had the greatest collection of NFL talent in the history of the League. I was absolutely stupefied that they ever lost and always lost n Championship games to the likes of the PACKERS and BEARS.

    Then n 1960 I read in the Sports Section that a new pro football League was being formed and would have a team just 50 mies from my house named the BOSTON PATRIOTS. And thus, my love affair began with the AFL. I bought some packs of FLEER AFL football cards. I remember  quite clearly that I opened about a half-dozen packs and realized I had not heard of any of the players pictured. JETS Head Coach SAMMY BAUGH (yes, that SAMMY BAUGH) was the only name I was familiar with. No matter... I was soon hooked.

                    FLEER 1961 DOROW                 TEAM LOGO 1960              FLEER STICKER ’60               FLEER ’60 COACH CARD

    Suffice it to say, I followed and loved my old friend the NFL, as well as the new kid on the block, the AFL. The play in the NFL was obviously of superior quality, but the AFL had high-scoring, offense dominated games and created incredibly more colorful characters to capture our attention. Some of their early QBs were older than my dad, which fascinated me for some reason. In BOSTON, VITO ‘BABE’ PARILLI became their franchise QB in his mid-30’s , and he succeeded BUTCH SONGIN who was in his 40’s. SONGIN by the way was probably better known in New England as a hockey player for B.C. than for his football prowess. And yes, as pictured below, THE BABE was a back-up in Green Bay in the fifties, twice. 

   

    SONGIN                                THE BABE IN GB            IN BOSTON               LOCAL HERO BELLINO

   

    The AFL was noted for recruiting and signing local heroes for their teams to stir up local fan support. I clearly recall mighty-might, Winchester, MASS native JOE BELLINO, who won the 1960 HEISMAN for his stellar play at the Naval Academy, getting a contract from the PATRIOTS upon his return from active military duty in 1965. He was too small, and too slow for even the AFL game, but he drew lots of interest from New England fans during his 3-year career primarily returning Punts and Kicks in a PATRIOTS uniform.

    I could go on and and on, but you’d probably stop reading, if you haven’t already. I encourage you to go to www.nfl.com, and check out the articles on the AFL celebration this season. There is a soon to be released book, by KEN RAPPOPORT, called, THE LITTLE LEAGUE THAT COULD. I will be reading the book as soon as I can obtain a copy, and will provide you with a review. I will also be throwing out a few more stories based on my AFL remembrances over the course of the year.

     Enjoy the celebration and memories. Trust me, you younger readers, when I tell you that the AFL changed the NFL into the League, and the game of Pro Football, as we currently know and love it. By the way... a thank you to the two men (still living) who were original AFL team owners and who still head their own NFL Franchises: RALPH WILSON/BILLS & BUD ADAMS/OILERS/TITANS.