I don't quite get it
First off, it's been eons it seems since I put anything up. I blame the holidays, simple as that so lets move on. Football is the topic of choice today and the discussion revolves around the games MVP. LaDanian Tomlinson of the San Deigo Chargers was named the NFL MVP this past week. To be honest I wasn't all that surprised that he won, but rather with the margin with which he won and the person who finished in third place.
Tomlinson won the MVP with 44 out of a possible 50 votes....you don't have to know much about math other than that's a lot....it's like 88% of the vote. In second place was Drew Brees, quaterback for the New Orleans Saints. In case you've been living under a rock for the last 7 or 8 months or if you're just becoming aware of this football game we play in America, the Saints have kinda been a big deal. They came back to New Orleans while being nomads last year, playing mostly in San Antonio, Texas and they have far exceeded expectations and help bring some joy to a place that was in desperate need of it. (Though I will say there is something to be said for getting the Superdome up and running so quickly while there are still areas of the city in need of cleaning and repair, but that's another rant for some one a whole lot smarter than me....which means pretty much anyone).
Well, I pretty much thought that Brees would get a good chunk of votes because he was the new quarterback of the team and he helped to lead its resurgence and it made for an uplifting story and yada yada yada (I mentioned the bisque). I didn't agree with this theory, I thought Tomlinson should win and in a landslide. I just thought that there would be some people voting more for the story of the Saints and it turns out I was wrong and well as is often the case when I'm inocorrect, it was a good thing.
I mean Brees had an amazing season not only in the numbers department, but he took a team that picked to pretty much take up space and turned it into a team that's a threat in the playoffs. Then again every team that is in the playoffs is a threat this year, except the Giants, but you get the idea. Took nothing, helped make it something. Well it was unfortunate for Brees that Tomlinson had an even better season.
So Tomlinson won the MVP in an avalanche, fine with me, makes me happy but this is where the weird thing happened. The Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning finished third in the balloting with two votes. I don't understand how he got the two votes. Well OK, maybe I do, but I can't help but ask why.
He put up his typical gaudy numbers and helped lead a team that went 12-4 (though remember they were 9-0 at one point). Yes there defense is terrible and the offense is the only reason they win games. Without Manning would the offense be in some sort of disaray? I would say most likely. They lost running back Edgerin James, though Joseph Addai filled in nicely toward the end of the season. But somehow, I can't help but think there was someboday out there more valuable and more deserving of those two votes than Manning. I would have put Steve McNair before Manning, along with Champ Bailey or Larry Johnson or Tom Brady or even Chad Pennington....and yes that's not a typo on the last one.
I feel like Manning got the two votes simply because he's Peyton Manning and you can't have an MVP vote with Peyton Manning getting a vote. Have I wasted too much time on this, I think so, but the internet is a wonderful place for waste so here my words be. Sadly they don't end here.
As odd as I found the Peyton Manning thing, this was something couldn't understand at all. San Deigo Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, who was suspened 4 games this season for violating the leagues substance abuse policy (ie- roiding it up) somehow finished third in the balloting for defensive player of the year. My issues here a two-fold. One, you got caught for cheating in the middle of the season, shouldn't that disqualify you for I don't know, any post season awards or honors? I would like to think so, but yet again I am wrong. Lets be fair, Merriman was most likely not the only person taking illegal performance enhancing drugs and playing football, but he got caught so nuts to you sir you live with the consequences of getting stuck with your hand in the cookie jar, no post season accolades for you, come back in one year.
The other question for me, is where is the moral outrage over all of this? In case you've missed it, steroids in baseball have been kind of a big deal lately. Masses of people are ready to crucify Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, amongst others for their suspected use of performance enhancing drugs. So why does no one care about the Merriman thing? If proof that McGwire used enhancers during his career surfaced it would be the news event of the year. There would be planes writing messages about it in the sky.
But Merriman gets caught and there is much of nothing said about it. The Merriman equivalent in baseball would be Ryan Howard (an up and coming star, like Merriman) playing the first 25-30 games next season, getting busted for taking steroids, serving his 50 game suspension then coming back and helping the Phillies win their division. If that happened in baseball, people in newspapers and on TV and radio talk shows and folks with junky lil blogs on the internet would have you believe that it would be the untold 8th sign of the apocolypse that had just occured. You know, old testament stuff, volcanoes erupting, fire and brimstone, blood raining down from the sky, dogs and cats living together, ya know mass hysteria.
Perhaps even more worrisome is the cavalier attitude of Merriman about all of this. Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins, who won the defensive player of the year award, when asked whether or not he thought Merriman deserved consideration said, "...you really shouldn't be able to a fail a test like that and play in this league to begin with." and "I think you're walking a fine line and sending the wrong message." Merriman responded by sending Taylor a hat and t-shirt with his personal logo on them and a bag of popcorn so Taylor could "...watch us in the playoffs." Fine response to a legitimate criticism, be an ass.
We hear so much from all these baseball writers voting for the hall of fame and their reasons for voting or not voting for McGwire. More often than not we hear about them being moral arbitrators or protecting some semblance of the truth or some junk like that. Well, until these people step forward and say something in thier space about Shawne Merriman, a man who was actually caught cheating, then they should put their keyboards and pens and paper away because their words should carry no weight. It makes no sense to rip one man down from a pedastal they put him on in the first place and then sit by quietly while they let another help and try lead his team to a title.
I know there's something more to all of this, somehow, someway, but I just don't quite get what it is. So I'll stop rambling here on this, for the time being. That and my parents are threating to leave for the Chinese restaurant without me and who am I to turn down a free meal. I know what you're thinking, who leaves for a restaurant at 4:40 in the afternoon? Well that answer would appear to be my parents, so until later.
Tomlinson won the MVP with 44 out of a possible 50 votes....you don't have to know much about math other than that's a lot....it's like 88% of the vote. In second place was Drew Brees, quaterback for the New Orleans Saints. In case you've been living under a rock for the last 7 or 8 months or if you're just becoming aware of this football game we play in America, the Saints have kinda been a big deal. They came back to New Orleans while being nomads last year, playing mostly in San Antonio, Texas and they have far exceeded expectations and help bring some joy to a place that was in desperate need of it. (Though I will say there is something to be said for getting the Superdome up and running so quickly while there are still areas of the city in need of cleaning and repair, but that's another rant for some one a whole lot smarter than me....which means pretty much anyone).
Well, I pretty much thought that Brees would get a good chunk of votes because he was the new quarterback of the team and he helped to lead its resurgence and it made for an uplifting story and yada yada yada (I mentioned the bisque). I didn't agree with this theory, I thought Tomlinson should win and in a landslide. I just thought that there would be some people voting more for the story of the Saints and it turns out I was wrong and well as is often the case when I'm inocorrect, it was a good thing.
I mean Brees had an amazing season not only in the numbers department, but he took a team that picked to pretty much take up space and turned it into a team that's a threat in the playoffs. Then again every team that is in the playoffs is a threat this year, except the Giants, but you get the idea. Took nothing, helped make it something. Well it was unfortunate for Brees that Tomlinson had an even better season.
So Tomlinson won the MVP in an avalanche, fine with me, makes me happy but this is where the weird thing happened. The Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning finished third in the balloting with two votes. I don't understand how he got the two votes. Well OK, maybe I do, but I can't help but ask why.
He put up his typical gaudy numbers and helped lead a team that went 12-4 (though remember they were 9-0 at one point). Yes there defense is terrible and the offense is the only reason they win games. Without Manning would the offense be in some sort of disaray? I would say most likely. They lost running back Edgerin James, though Joseph Addai filled in nicely toward the end of the season. But somehow, I can't help but think there was someboday out there more valuable and more deserving of those two votes than Manning. I would have put Steve McNair before Manning, along with Champ Bailey or Larry Johnson or Tom Brady or even Chad Pennington....and yes that's not a typo on the last one.
I feel like Manning got the two votes simply because he's Peyton Manning and you can't have an MVP vote with Peyton Manning getting a vote. Have I wasted too much time on this, I think so, but the internet is a wonderful place for waste so here my words be. Sadly they don't end here.
As odd as I found the Peyton Manning thing, this was something couldn't understand at all. San Deigo Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, who was suspened 4 games this season for violating the leagues substance abuse policy (ie- roiding it up) somehow finished third in the balloting for defensive player of the year. My issues here a two-fold. One, you got caught for cheating in the middle of the season, shouldn't that disqualify you for I don't know, any post season awards or honors? I would like to think so, but yet again I am wrong. Lets be fair, Merriman was most likely not the only person taking illegal performance enhancing drugs and playing football, but he got caught so nuts to you sir you live with the consequences of getting stuck with your hand in the cookie jar, no post season accolades for you, come back in one year.
The other question for me, is where is the moral outrage over all of this? In case you've missed it, steroids in baseball have been kind of a big deal lately. Masses of people are ready to crucify Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, amongst others for their suspected use of performance enhancing drugs. So why does no one care about the Merriman thing? If proof that McGwire used enhancers during his career surfaced it would be the news event of the year. There would be planes writing messages about it in the sky.
But Merriman gets caught and there is much of nothing said about it. The Merriman equivalent in baseball would be Ryan Howard (an up and coming star, like Merriman) playing the first 25-30 games next season, getting busted for taking steroids, serving his 50 game suspension then coming back and helping the Phillies win their division. If that happened in baseball, people in newspapers and on TV and radio talk shows and folks with junky lil blogs on the internet would have you believe that it would be the untold 8th sign of the apocolypse that had just occured. You know, old testament stuff, volcanoes erupting, fire and brimstone, blood raining down from the sky, dogs and cats living together, ya know mass hysteria.
Perhaps even more worrisome is the cavalier attitude of Merriman about all of this. Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins, who won the defensive player of the year award, when asked whether or not he thought Merriman deserved consideration said, "...you really shouldn't be able to a fail a test like that and play in this league to begin with." and "I think you're walking a fine line and sending the wrong message." Merriman responded by sending Taylor a hat and t-shirt with his personal logo on them and a bag of popcorn so Taylor could "...watch us in the playoffs." Fine response to a legitimate criticism, be an ass.
We hear so much from all these baseball writers voting for the hall of fame and their reasons for voting or not voting for McGwire. More often than not we hear about them being moral arbitrators or protecting some semblance of the truth or some junk like that. Well, until these people step forward and say something in thier space about Shawne Merriman, a man who was actually caught cheating, then they should put their keyboards and pens and paper away because their words should carry no weight. It makes no sense to rip one man down from a pedastal they put him on in the first place and then sit by quietly while they let another help and try lead his team to a title.
I know there's something more to all of this, somehow, someway, but I just don't quite get what it is. So I'll stop rambling here on this, for the time being. That and my parents are threating to leave for the Chinese restaurant without me and who am I to turn down a free meal. I know what you're thinking, who leaves for a restaurant at 4:40 in the afternoon? Well that answer would appear to be my parents, so until later.
posted by MC at 12:43 PM
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