Are you ready for some football?

[Bloodstalker]

Well, I am still hanging in second, despite being down 20 points going into last nights game....TO gave me ebough to win this week Partial credit must go to Ned...Portis came through with some needed point. I managed to win despite Bledsoe producing 1 point for my team this week.

That said, I know have a clear 2 game hold on second place, and am only a half game out of first (damn ties)

For the record, since the cheerleaders have been posted, I have only lost one game with my cellar dwelling second team....Pennington has been the pickup of the year for me

[Gwalchmai]

Quote:

Originally posted by HighLordDave and the three words she uses to describe herself are, "Ambitious, energetic".

What's the third word?

[HighLordDave]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gwalchmai What's the third word?

Maybe that's a result of public schools in Philadelphia. I don't make this stuff up. You can view her official biography here as well as connect to a link to the Eagles lingerie calendar.

[Bloodstalker]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gwalchmai What's the third word?

That was probably her idea of three words...she's a cheerleader after all

[HighLordDave]

Well, after having let my column be disrupted by getting a new job and my internet surfing timecut to a fraction of what it was, here are my end of the year thoughts about the NFL:

1. During the Super Bowl, a friend of mine who is a Raiders fan had a flashback to third grade when he shaved the neighbour's cat and got spanked. With the Bucs winning the Big One, it only goes to prove that 1) defense wins championships, 2) parity is good for the league and 3) any team except the Bengals under Mike Brown has a chance to go all the way. Way to go Bucs!
   
2. Two things need to be fixed about the NFL: 1) OT needs to be adjusted so that 80% of games aren't decided without each team touching the ball and 2) the referees for the playoffs need to be picked as a crew, not individuals. Other than that, the well-oiled machine that is the NFL will continue to chug along ahead of all other professional sports in the United States.
   
3. I don't know what the hell 49ers owner John York wasthinking by getting rid of a head coach who had more wins than Bill Walsh with less talent. I know that Bill Walsh doesn't want anyone around who people may think is better than he was (even if they are), but York is a complete and utter moron for getting rid of Mariucci. I hear that York's best friend among the other NFL owners is Mike Brown. If that's the case, the people of the City by the Bay are in for some dire times.
   
4. Of all the teams to win the Super Bowl in the last few years, the Bucs have the best chance to repeat. They're in good shape capwise, and they have a core of veterans who I believe will take less money to stay together in Tampa instead of cashing in on their Super Bowl rings and getting rich somewhere else. I think Brooks, Sapp, Barber, Lynch and Rice all appreciate what Tampa Bay has done for them as a group and they'll be content to make a little bit less money to stick with Jon Gruden for a few more years. If nobody offers Monte Kiffin a head coaching job (and unfortunately I doubt anyone will offer the 60 year old defensive coordinator a job), they Bucs defense will be a force to be feared for a couple more years until the years start to catch up with them.
   
5. A bunch of reasonably good veteran QBs are going to be hitting free agency this year. This coupled with a QB rich draft should mean that every team has a shot at landing someone with either starting experience or a high rookie upside, for a fairly low cap number. The free agents include Brian Griese, Jake Plummer, Trent Dilfer, Kordell Stewart, and Shaun King. The QBs coming out in the draft include Carson Palmer, Byron Leftwich, Brad Banks, Chris Simms, Rex Grossman, Dave Ragone and Ken Dorsey. While some of these guys will undoubtably fail to pan out wherever it is they land, it means that a QB for every system will be available for a low price.
   
6. Being a copycat league, there will no doubt be a rush to implement the same type of forumla the Bucs rode to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the Bucs system is predicated on two things not every team is going to get: personnel and coaching. I don't think that many teams will be able to duplicate their success.
   
7. On the flip side, I look for the Raiders to be dismantled by the salary cap next year. While Jerry Rice and Tim Brown say they're coming back next year for another shot, I hear that Oakland is around $20 million over next year. Even if they keep Gannon, Rice and Brown for the veteran minimum (God knows they don't need any more money), the Raiders are still looking to restructure about 20 contracts and purge their roster the way the Jaguars did after the 1999 season.
   
8. I think Dallas will be a Super Bowl contender in two years, three years at most. They've got a reasonably good defense and fair talent everywhere else (except QB, but they can pick up someone through free agency of the draft, see above). I think the Tuna will turn the franchise around and he will keep Jerry Jones out of the football side fairly effectively. Unfortunately, I think that once he has some success, Jones will start showing up around the Tuna like he did around Jimmy Johnson and then the wheels will fall off (again).
   
9. I don't think Barrett Robbins will play in Oakland next year. In fact, unless he comes out and lets the world know where he was on Saturday (and he has a reasonably good excuse), I think there's a fair chance that he never plays on another NFL team. The league is forgiving of mistakes, but not of abandonment.
   
10. My fantasy team lost its opening game to the eventual division winner and while I had my league's leading QB (Gannon), the #2 RB (Ricky Williams), the #2 TE (Tony Gonzalez) and the #2 defense (Eagles), I missed the playoffs and finished second in my division. My weakness was at the WR position where I never had consistency and made too many roster moves. Oh, well, there's always next year . . .

I would like to thank everyone who has read my column this year, even if you only stopped by for the cheerleaders.

Speaking of whom, in honour of their world championship, I’d like to present a representative of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleading squad, Michele. She’s an advertising consultant and a graduate of Emory University. She likes seafood, the BMW X5, and the colour green. Her hero is her mother and she used to be on a bowling team.

http://www.buccaneers.com/images2002...os/michele.jpg

In addition, I’d like to share this photo which was taken of some of the cheerleaders who took part in the Enduring Freedom Tour that went to Afghanistan to raise “morale” among the troops.

http://www.buccaneers.com/images2002...freedom/16.jpg

You can also check out a preview of their 2003 swimsuit calendar here.

Here's to football!

[Tybaltus]

Quote:

Originally posted by HighLordDave Of all the teams to win the Super Bowl in the last few years, the Bucs have the best chance to repeat. They're in good shape capwise, and they have a core of veterans who I believe will take less money to stay together in Tampa instead of cashing in on their Super Bowl rings and getting rich somewhere else. I think Brooks, Sapp, Barber, Lynch and Rice all appreciate what Tampa Bay has done for them as a group and they'll be content to make a little bit less money to stick with Jon Gruden for a few more years. If nobody offers Monte Kiffin a head coaching job (and unfortunately I doubt anyone will offer the 60 year old defensive coordinator a job), they Bucs defense will be a force to be feared for a couple more years until the years start to catch up with them. A bunch of reasonably good veteran QBs are going to be hitting free agency this year. This coupled with a QB rich draft should mean that every team has a shot at landing someone with either starting experience or a high rookie upside, for a fairly low cap number. The free agents include Brian Griese, Jake Plummer, Trent Dilfer, Kordell Stewart, and Shaun King. The QBs coming out in the draft include Carson Palmer, Byron Leftwich, Brad Banks, Chris Simms, Rex Grossman, Dave Ragone and Ken Dorsey. While some of these guys will undoubtably fail to pan out wherever it is they land, it means that a QB for every system will be available for a low price. I think Dallas will be a Super Bowl contender in two years, three years at most. They've got a reasonably good defense and fair talent everywhere else (except QB, but they can pick up someone through free agency of the draft, see above). I think the Tuna will turn the franchise around and he will keep Jerry Jones out of the football side fairly effectively. Unfortunately, I think that once he has some success, Jones will start showing up around the Tuna like he did around Jimmy Johnson and then the wheels will fall off (again). I don't think Barrett Robbins will play in Oakland next year. In fact, unless he comes out and lets the world know where he was on Saturday (and he has a reasonably good excuse), I think there's a fair chance that he never plays on another NFL team. The league is forgiving of mistakes, but not of abandonment. http://www.buccaneers.com/images2002...os/michele.jpg In addition, I’d like to share this photo which was taken of some of the cheerleaders who took part in the Enduring Freedom Tour that went to Afghanistan to raise “morale” among the troops. http://www.buccaneers.com/images2002...freedom/16.jpg You can also check out a preview of their 2003 swimsuit calendar here. Here's to football!

Hrm...well the Patriots didnt have any of the salary cap issues, and many players werent self centered and only thinking of the money, but they didnt come close to repeating. This was because they lost momentum and changed plans and had a panic attack...so thats another thing I think the Bucs will overcome, but Im a believer in trends, and TB wont repeat next year. People will have them figured out. And players could burn out, and often a team that suffered so little injury one year strives on it the next. There is no QB depth there. They have to look to the draft for a backup.

WAS should really look into the draft for a backup for Ramsey. Give Mathews and Weurffel the boot, if Spurrier is smart. Heh. Which means theyll probably dwell with their current 3-headed monster. MIA needs a backup. ARZ needs a starter and a backup. DEN needs a backup. SEA needs a backup. KC needs a backup. PIT needs a backup. HOU needs a backup. DAL needs either a starter or backup...its a mess there. GB needs a backup. CIN needs a starter. NYG need a backup. NO needs a backup. Among a few more....yeah...theres room for those guys...but who's gonna shine? Is a young phenom like a Brady or Pennington hiding in there? Well Rigone would be the surprise, I think. Hes either going to be another one of those sits-back-and-learns-then-comes-out-of-nowhere QB's or hes going to be a flop. I think. Thats my prediction.

I agree. Tuna is just too good.

I agree. Disappearing like that on Super Bowl eve...thats just not good. I wonder what happened/what he was thinking.

Youre the man, HLD. Youre the man.

[HighLordDave]

A follow-up to a couple of my previous comments:

The Bucs are about $1.6 million over next year's projected salary cap, while the Raiders are about $46 million over. In addition to being close to the cap, the Bucs don't have a first round draft pick to eat up cap space, so they can keep the essentials of their team together for another title run next year by restructuring a couple of contracts and making some smart moves in free agency.

However, as our friend Tybaltus points out, Tampa Bay was lucky not to be riddled with injuries this year, so they could very well end up in the gutter of a division that is getting crowded with fairly good (if underachieving) teams. On the flip side, if Tampa Bay can stay free of injuries, even if teams can figure out their scheme, it takes a lot of athleticism to keep up with their defense, something most teams in the league cannot do. Plus, their offense will have another year to learn Gruden's west coast scheme, so if they pick up a speed receiver in the draft, they may be really deadly.

On the other hand, being $46 million over means that next year's Raiders team will be very, very different from the one that took the field this year. I look for them to be completely overhauled with a lot of guys released and a lot of dead money counting towards the salary cap.

[Bloodstalker]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tybaltus Hrm...well the Patriots didnt have any of the salary cap issues, and many players werent self centered and only thinking of the money, but they didnt come close to repeating. This was because they lost momentum and changed plans and had a panic attack...so thats another thing I think the Bucs will overcome, but Im a believer in trends, and TB wont repeat next year. People will have them figured out. And players could burn out, and often a team that suffered so little injury one year strives on it the next. There is no QB depth there. They have to look to the draft for a backup. WAS should really look into the draft for a backup for Ramsey. Give Mathews and Weurffel the boot, if Spurrier is smart. Heh. Which means theyll probably dwell with their current 3-headed monster. MIA needs a backup. ARZ needs a starter and a backup. DEN needs a backup. SEA needs a backup. KC needs a backup. PIT needs a backup. HOU needs a backup. DAL needs either a starter or backup...its a mess there. GB needs a backup. CIN needs a starter. NYG need a backup. NO needs a backup. Among a few more....yeah...theres room for those guys...but who's gonna shine? Is a young phenom like a Brady or Pennington hiding in there? Well Rigone would be the surprise, I think. Hes either going to be another one of those sits-back-and-learns-then-comes-out-of-nowhere QB's or hes going to be a flop. I think. Thats my prediction. I agree. Tuna is just too good. I agree. Disappearing like that on Super Bowl eve...thats just not good. I wonder what happened/what he was thinking. Youre the man, HLD. Youre the man.

One major difference between the Bucs and the Pats....The patriots defnse wasn't in the same league as the Bucs. It was mostly due to the coaching staff getting the most out of what they had. teams know what TB does defensoivly, they haven't changed anything in the last few years, and everyone knew what they were gonna be doing this season, but they have something you can't take away in scheming...speed. They close on the ball so fast, even if they do get out of position, it doesn't hurt them as much as other teams. Factor in that the Bucs, unlike the Pats last year, have been in the playoffs for several seasons, and I don't think you can really compare the two.

I do agree, they are in trouble if they don't get a decent back-up QB though. And, as HLD pointed out, get a speed reciever. If this team can put up 20 points week to week, they should be very scary.

Redskins...sigh....they need recievers, probably a RB and let Ramsey play the whole year. It won't help that, yet again, there will be a new defensive scheme to learn in Washington.

@HLD....the SF/Cinn connection is scary to think about. People keep talking about SF's track record in player managment and personell decision, but this ain't the same crew that brought the bay5 Super Bowls.

BTW, My fantasy team got beat in the first round of the playoffs. Everyone on my roster had bad days on the same day

[HighLordDave]

If you love football (and if you're reading this thread, you must), then you need to go to here to vote for your favourite NFC Cheerleader, and you must go here to vote for your favourite AFC Cheerleader.

It is your civic duty!!!

As we say here in West Virginia, "Vote early and vote often."

You should also check out the Cheerleaders Gallery.