*****OUTRAGE OF THE DAY*****
Leave it to the two previous Super Bowl coaches to make total asses of themselves this week:
ASS OF THE WEEK #1: Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens
I can't believe the nerve of Baltimore Raven's head coach Brian Billick. Two hours before the Eagles-Ravens game last night, Billick threw a hissy fit and pulled his Super Bowl Champions off the field and announced he would not field his team unless the tooth fairy spread angel dust over the field and miraculously hemmed all the seems and a perfect world. He cited "safety" as the reason for his actions. The game was summarily (gulp!)???cancelled!
What the ****!!!!!!!!!!!
Is the NFL insane to allow this monstrosity to happen?
This sets a horrible precedent whereby NFL head coaches can now decide NOT TO PLAY a game, if they so wish. Of course, no one denies the field surface in Philadelphia is one of the NFL's worst. Big ****ing deal. Bad field conditions are nothing new in the NFL. Bad fields are a common problem in football, always have been, and always will be -- dating back to the formation of the league 80 years ago.
Since George Halas strapped on a leather helmet, NFL teams have played in driving rain, freezing snow, ice, lightening, fog, intense heat -- and are generally impervious to field conditions. NFL teams have played on baseball diamonds, worn-out turf, dirt fields, dust, sheets of ice, and ankle-deep mud. That's one of the things that makes this game GREAT above all others -- that NOTHING, and I mean NOT A GOD DAMNED THING -- stops an NFL game. NOTHING! Not a war. Not a Presidential assassination. The game goes on!
17 below weather (Green Bay 1967)??play on!
Oppressive heat in Tampa (any September game)?..play on!
Fog so thick you can't even see your hand in front of your face (Eagles-Bears 1987)?..play on!
A Presidential assassination (November, 1963)??..**** it, play on!
A driving snowstorm in Buffalo (take your pick of examples)?.flip the coin and play the game!
Forget frostbite, dislocated ankles, or physical injury. THE GAME GOES ON!
The Chicago Bears played in Wrigley Field in the 60s -- where the wood and metal stands protruded into the end zone and made things dangerous for any receiver that ran a slant pattern. The Minnesota Vikings played in the old Met until 1981, where a chain-link fence with razor wire was two feet from the field an tripped up more than a few wide receivers. The Houston Oilers played in the Astrodome for 25 years, which was essentially a concrete convention hall. The rips in the carpet at the old Busch Stadium were often 1-2 inches wide. The Cardinals dealt with it and played like men. Those were hazardous field conditions. Veterans Stadium, with or without its new turf, poses no worse a problem than stadiums where thousands of other NFL games have been played for over 80 years. But no one in the NFL EVER complained about Wrigley Field, the Met, the Astrodome, or Busch Stadium, let alone threatened to pull a team off the field minutes before the game started. NEVER!
Brian Billick knew what he was getting into when the Raven's team plane landed in Philadelphia. It's the same field (more or less) that every NFL team has played on since 1971. That's 250 games with seems, and problems with the turf. If Billick thinks the field is tough on his Ravens -- consider the fact THE EAGLES HAVE TO PLAY ON THIS FIELD TEN TIMES A YEAR! But Billick suddenly became the poster-boy for "safety," coincidentally just a few days after losing his star RB (gee, you think he might have an ulterior motive?).
One word: BULLSHIT.
Billick tried pulling this stunt once before, in last year's pre-season game at the Washington Redskins. It was raining heavily, and Billick wanted the game cancelled early because the field was "dangerous." Is this professional football or a junior-high ballet? After last night's fiasco, the Baltimore Ravens organization should be fined $10 million by the NFL and they should be forced to forfeit a regular season game. YES, THEY SHOULD FORFEIT A REGULAR SEASON GAME! It is not the team's or the coaches' option if they want to play pre-season games or not. All teams are obligated to show up and play pre-season games. That's why they make a schedule. You don't pick and chose. It's not a golf match. It's a football game. If they do not play, that upsets the competitive balance of the league -- since some teams are therefore less susceptible to injuries and have an advantage. Otherwise, any head coach could say it's too hot, the field stinks, or come up with any other lame-ass excuse in order to avoid injuries. It's a crack-ass excuse that speak volumes about what a coward Brian Billick is and shows an appalling lack of judgement that the NFL did not hold his feet to the fire and FORCE him to play this game.
Billick's actions, threats, and the league's lack of backbone in NOT forcing the Ravens to get their asses out on the field where 60,000 fans were already in the seats waiting is a monumental embarrassment to the great tradition of football. It is an embarrassment to the Ravens organization and a stain on the Super Bowl trophy. Congratulations to the brave Eagles fans who booed the decision, broke out windows at the stadium, and showed everyone what a joke this fiasco was. If I was at the game, I would have blockaded the Ravens' team bus and probably been arrested.
Hopefully, it won't rain in any of the Raven's other pre-season games. Who knows? Brian Billick might be afraid some of his players might fall down and slip on a wet field. We can't have that happen, right Billick?
I'm absolutely disgusted.
(NOTE: In late news conference, it was made to appear this was a "joint" decision by players and coaches. Screw it. I'm not buying the party line. Had Billick not started the dispute in the first place, this game would have been played).
Leave it to the two previous Super Bowl coaches to make total asses of themselves this week:
ASS OF THE WEEK #1: Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens
I can't believe the nerve of Baltimore Raven's head coach Brian Billick. Two hours before the Eagles-Ravens game last night, Billick threw a hissy fit and pulled his Super Bowl Champions off the field and announced he would not field his team unless the tooth fairy spread angel dust over the field and miraculously hemmed all the seems and a perfect world. He cited "safety" as the reason for his actions. The game was summarily (gulp!)???cancelled!
What the ****!!!!!!!!!!!
Is the NFL insane to allow this monstrosity to happen?
This sets a horrible precedent whereby NFL head coaches can now decide NOT TO PLAY a game, if they so wish. Of course, no one denies the field surface in Philadelphia is one of the NFL's worst. Big ****ing deal. Bad field conditions are nothing new in the NFL. Bad fields are a common problem in football, always have been, and always will be -- dating back to the formation of the league 80 years ago.
Since George Halas strapped on a leather helmet, NFL teams have played in driving rain, freezing snow, ice, lightening, fog, intense heat -- and are generally impervious to field conditions. NFL teams have played on baseball diamonds, worn-out turf, dirt fields, dust, sheets of ice, and ankle-deep mud. That's one of the things that makes this game GREAT above all others -- that NOTHING, and I mean NOT A GOD DAMNED THING -- stops an NFL game. NOTHING! Not a war. Not a Presidential assassination. The game goes on!
17 below weather (Green Bay 1967)??play on!
Oppressive heat in Tampa (any September game)?..play on!
Fog so thick you can't even see your hand in front of your face (Eagles-Bears 1987)?..play on!
A Presidential assassination (November, 1963)??..**** it, play on!
A driving snowstorm in Buffalo (take your pick of examples)?.flip the coin and play the game!
Forget frostbite, dislocated ankles, or physical injury. THE GAME GOES ON!
The Chicago Bears played in Wrigley Field in the 60s -- where the wood and metal stands protruded into the end zone and made things dangerous for any receiver that ran a slant pattern. The Minnesota Vikings played in the old Met until 1981, where a chain-link fence with razor wire was two feet from the field an tripped up more than a few wide receivers. The Houston Oilers played in the Astrodome for 25 years, which was essentially a concrete convention hall. The rips in the carpet at the old Busch Stadium were often 1-2 inches wide. The Cardinals dealt with it and played like men. Those were hazardous field conditions. Veterans Stadium, with or without its new turf, poses no worse a problem than stadiums where thousands of other NFL games have been played for over 80 years. But no one in the NFL EVER complained about Wrigley Field, the Met, the Astrodome, or Busch Stadium, let alone threatened to pull a team off the field minutes before the game started. NEVER!
Brian Billick knew what he was getting into when the Raven's team plane landed in Philadelphia. It's the same field (more or less) that every NFL team has played on since 1971. That's 250 games with seems, and problems with the turf. If Billick thinks the field is tough on his Ravens -- consider the fact THE EAGLES HAVE TO PLAY ON THIS FIELD TEN TIMES A YEAR! But Billick suddenly became the poster-boy for "safety," coincidentally just a few days after losing his star RB (gee, you think he might have an ulterior motive?).
One word: BULLSHIT.
Billick tried pulling this stunt once before, in last year's pre-season game at the Washington Redskins. It was raining heavily, and Billick wanted the game cancelled early because the field was "dangerous." Is this professional football or a junior-high ballet? After last night's fiasco, the Baltimore Ravens organization should be fined $10 million by the NFL and they should be forced to forfeit a regular season game. YES, THEY SHOULD FORFEIT A REGULAR SEASON GAME! It is not the team's or the coaches' option if they want to play pre-season games or not. All teams are obligated to show up and play pre-season games. That's why they make a schedule. You don't pick and chose. It's not a golf match. It's a football game. If they do not play, that upsets the competitive balance of the league -- since some teams are therefore less susceptible to injuries and have an advantage. Otherwise, any head coach could say it's too hot, the field stinks, or come up with any other lame-ass excuse in order to avoid injuries. It's a crack-ass excuse that speak volumes about what a coward Brian Billick is and shows an appalling lack of judgement that the NFL did not hold his feet to the fire and FORCE him to play this game.
Billick's actions, threats, and the league's lack of backbone in NOT forcing the Ravens to get their asses out on the field where 60,000 fans were already in the seats waiting is a monumental embarrassment to the great tradition of football. It is an embarrassment to the Ravens organization and a stain on the Super Bowl trophy. Congratulations to the brave Eagles fans who booed the decision, broke out windows at the stadium, and showed everyone what a joke this fiasco was. If I was at the game, I would have blockaded the Ravens' team bus and probably been arrested.
Hopefully, it won't rain in any of the Raven's other pre-season games. Who knows? Brian Billick might be afraid some of his players might fall down and slip on a wet field. We can't have that happen, right Billick?
I'm absolutely disgusted.
(NOTE: In late news conference, it was made to appear this was a "joint" decision by players and coaches. Screw it. I'm not buying the party line. Had Billick not started the dispute in the first place, this game would have been played).
