Ndamukong SUH-per Dirty

It has been confirmed, Ndamukong Suh is Suh-per dirty. 

Suh, who is a frequent recipient of the Roger Goodel bad behavior award, was at it again in the Detroit Lions 27-15 loss to the undefeated Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Day 2011. 

Suh was ejected in the 3rd quarter with over nine minutes remaining and the Lions trailing 7-0 to the Packers.  The unsportsmanlike penalty kept a Green Bay drive alive and resulted in Packer touchdown on the very next play on a 1 yard run by John Kuhn.

The replay showed Suh pushing Green Bay Packers lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith into the ground several times before kicking at him and landing his right foot to Dietrich-Smith's right arm. 

"Now, I love being different," Suh says. "I love people saying that I'm not like other people. It's a compliment to me. I think I'm different in a good way. Not a bad way."  - interview with Jason Quick, The Oregonian

Ndamukong Suh has been fined multiple times by the commissioner and has had a number of "borderline" dirty plays.

His excuse?  The Suh version of "a lady in the streets and a freak in the sheets:"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, I definitely think I'm bipolar," Suh said. "On the field, I'm ferocious and want to cause havoc and definitely have a mean streak. Off the field, I can control myself. I can go into a boardroom or any meetings and be cordial like I was brought up by my mother. (Mlive)

Suh has got it wrong on multiple levels. 

If you body slam a quarterback (Andy Dalton) by lifting, rotating, and slamming after the QB has thrown the ball - it is dirty.

If you push a guys head down into the ground multiple times and then kick him -it is dirty.

Additionally, as I correct Suh on the difference between being misunderstood and being dirty - let's correct his self diagnosis of having bi-polar disorder (Psychology Today).  Having a mean streak on the field and being a mama's boy in the boardroom has nothing to do with bipolar disorder.  In fact, statements like that make Suh seem disingenuous, deceiving, and in denial about his on the field actions.  Suh insinuating he has bipolar disorder is irresponsible, wreckless, and not acceptable.   

Suh is not mislabeled, he is not that much more of an athletic freak then others in the NFL, and he is not bipolar because he is mean on the playing field and fake in a boardroom. 

Ndamakong Suh is Suh-per dirty and soon will be Suh-spended by the commissioner.

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
@OldNFLBalls

3 Reasons Why Brett Favre Could Be A Chicago Bear

ESPN's Rachel Nichols

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will have surgery on his broken right thumb after breaking it trying to make a tackle on San Diego Chargers cornerback (and U of A Wildcat) Antoine Cason in the Bears 31-20 win over the sinking ship that is the San Diego Chargers.

Caleb Hanie will start in place of the injured Cutler, who is expected to miss the rest of the regular season for the Chicago Bears (7-3).  Rookie Nate Enderle is now elevated to the backup quarterback behind Hanie.

The Bears are expected to take a look at available quarterbacks on the open market.  Today, the Houston Texans (who have their own QB shortage due to Matt Schaub's season ending foot injury) worked out Jeff Garcia, Trent Edwards, Brodie Coyle, and Kellen Clemens. 

The Texans  worked out Jeff Garcia. 

Which leads to this question - Could Brett Favre become a Chicago Bear?

Aside from pointing some fun at my Chicago Bear faithful, there are some signs that the old gray gunslinger coming to Chicago is plausible. 

Three Reasons Why Favre Could Be a Bear:

1.  Rachel Nichols - every one's favorite red head and paid stalker of Brett Favre from ESPN is reporting on the Jay Cutler situation.   If Ed Werder shows up, Bears fans should get very nervous.
2.  Bus Cook- Both Jay Cuttler and Bret-tastik share the same agent, Bus Cook.  You know what they say in the NFL....same agent, same (insert whatever here).
3.  Piss off Green Bay Favre Fans - Yes!  Could you imagine the Brett Favre faithful sitting down at Brett Favre's Steakhouse in Green Bay on Christmas night to enjoy their holiday feast- only to see Old Number 4 quarterbacking the Bears to a victory over the Packers?  Thus, ending the Packers chances at an undefeated season.  The '72 Dolphins love this idea. 

It is fun to banter about the circus that is Brett Favre, especially with the sound discussion points detailed  above. Hell, it is fun to banter about Brett Favre anytime a quarterback goes down in the NFL, CFL, or AFL.

However, Favre becoming a Chicago Bear is about as likely as Jay Cutler and Kristi Cavalleri romantically reuniting, becoming tweethearts, and getting engaged again.

Uh-oh.


Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
@OldNFLBalls

You can read more of Craig's views about the world at Life of CT.

Houston Cougars Remain Undefeated, Spurred on By Corso "F" Bomb

The Houston Cougars continued their dream season by defeating the Southern Methodist University Mustangs 37-7 at Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas.  The Cougars are one of two undefeated teams left in the BCS system along with top rated LSU. 

Oklahoma State, the Number 2 team in the nation, was upset last night in Ames, Iowa by Iowa State in overtime.

Houston, 11-0, was led by sixth year senior Case Keenum.  Keenum threw for 318 yards, 1 TD, and rushed for another.  The Cougar defense allowed only 24 yards rushing on 26 SMU carries while creating 2 SMU turnovers.

The Houston natives were blessed with the presence of ESPN's College GarmeDay and the usual cast of characters (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herstreit, and Lee Corso) on the Gameday set...and they did not disappoint the Cougar GameDay fans that turned out.

Check out Lee Corso dropping the "F bomb" during his selection of the Cougars to win over the red, white and blue of SMU:

ESPN College Gameday and Youtbe:

I love Carl Lewis' reaction to the "f" it by Corso.  Lewis, a Houston alum, is not immune to public "uh-ohs" himself:  (Carl Lewis singing)

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
@OldNFLBalls

Texas A&M AD Refers to Texas as "TU"

My Texas A&M friends will appreciate this email.

The email from Texas A&M athletic director, Bill Byrne, appears to be notes by athletic director Bill Byne after a conference call with other Big 12 AD's in July of this year.

Byrne jots down legitimate concerns about the University of Texas and ESPN Longhorn Network marriage:

"Why did ESPN overpay tu?"

For those of you not familiar with the University of Texas (UT) and Texas A&M rivalry, the use of "TU" is not a term of endearment to A&M's in state rival.

from Dallas Morning News:



For those of you not familiar with the University of Texas (UT) and Texas A&M rivalry, the use of "TU" is not a term of endearment to A&M's in state rival.

The email also indicates that ESPN has a little influence within the NCAA offices.  This leaves little doubt as to why Texas A&M had the urgency to move on to the SEC when they had the chance.

At least Bill Byrne didn't roll out any insensitive notes about Bevo. (Bevo is UT's or TU's longhorn mascot.)

 Eat more Chikn

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
@OldNFLBalls on Twitter

DAY 2 Presidents Cup: USA Maintains 2 Point Advantage

The United States held serve at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia.  The United States, led by the teams of Phil Mickelson/Jim Furyk and Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson take a 7-5 lead into weekend play.  The Mickelson/Furyk and Watson/Simpson tandems have both won 2 points through the first two days for the USA team.

There will be 10 points up for grabs on Saturday, followed by 12 individual match play contests on Sunday to conclude the tournament.

Day 2 Fourball Results

International/USA	Result
Els/Ishikawa v. Watson/Simpson	USA Wins 2 and 1
Baddely/Day v. Johnson/Woods	International Wins 1 Up
Scott/Kim v. Mickelson/Furyk	USA Wins 2 and 1
Ogilvy/Choi v. Haas/Watney	International Wins 1 UP
Yang/Allenby v. Kuchar/Stricker	USA Wins 4 and 3
Goosen/Schwartzel v. Mahan/Toms	International Wins 2 and 1
Els/Ishikawa v. Watson/Simpson	USA Wins 4 and 2

Tiger Woods failed to win a point on Friday for the second consecutive day, as Woods and playing partner Dustin Johnson were defeated by Australian captain Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day 1 Up.

Where do these dudes shop?

The conditions at Royal Melbourne were extremely tough on a very windy day with a high in the 90s.  Temperatures are expected to top out in the low 70s over the weekend with a high probability of rain, which should make the slick greens somewhat manageable for the final two days.

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
@OldNFLBalls

How Much Is Your Favorite MLB Team "Liked" on Facebook?

This whole Facebook thing isn't going away, is it My Space? 

I am going to go on record and say that Facebook is here to stay, and so is the Facebook "Like" page.  In the beginning of Spring Training 2011, I decided it would be nice to track the "Fan Page Likes" of each Major League Baseball team.  I expect to correlate these numbers in the months ahead with each team and their fan base.

Today, I share the "Likes" of each team at the beginning of the year, and how each team fared in increasing "Fan Likes" through the 2011 season.

MLB Team Page -Facebook	As of 3/10/11 (000s)	As of 10/01/11(ooos)	Up/Down
NY Yankees	3270	4602	29%
Boston	2086	3040	31%
Chicago Cubs	1045	1417	26%
San Francisco	838	1184	29%
Philadelphia	785	1065	26%
St. Louis	628	900	30%
Atlanta	595	945	37%
Detroit	539	798	32%
LA Dodgers	534	803	33%
Chicago White Sox	526	758	31%
Minnesota	518	694	25%
Texas	494	822	40%
NY Mets	346	482	28%
Milwaukee	325	492	34%
Cincinnati	297	457	35%
Cleveland	292	465	37%
Tampa Bay	250	365	32%
Seattle	249	427	42%
Houston	247	358	31%
Colorado	247	396	38%
Oakland	244	279	13%
Anaheim Angels	223	357	38%
Toronto	217	339	36%
San Diego	208	331	37%
Baltimore	200	308	35%
Kansas City	177	259	32%
Pittsburgh	151	267	43%
Florida	137	203	33%
Arizona	109	190	43%
Washington	75	118	36%

How much is your team "liked" after their 2011 MLB season?

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
"Like Me On Facebook"
"Be My Friend On FB"

Presidents Cup: USA Leads 4-2

The United States team is leading the International team 4 - 2 after the first day of foursome play in Melbourne, Australia.  

The USA was led by wins from the Watson/Simpson; Mickelson/Furyk; and Mahan/Toms teams.  Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar stormed back to halve the final match of the day after trailing Aaron Baddely and Jason Day with two holes to play.  Bill Haas and Nick Watney also halved their match in assisting the USA golfers to the day 1 lead.

Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker were annihilated in the most anticipated match of the day by their international counterparts, Adam Scott and KJ Choi 7 and 6.  Tiger Woods former caddie, Steve Williams, is the caddie for Adam Scott.  It was the worst loss ever in Presidents Cup play for Tiger Woods. 



International/USA	Result
Els/Ishikawa v. Watson/Simpson	USA Wins 4 and 2
Ogilvy/Schwartzel v. Haas/Watney	Halved
Baddely/Day v. Johnson/Kuchar	Halved
Goosen/Allenby v. Mickelson/Furyk	USA Wins 4 and 3
Kim/Yang v. Mahan/Toms	USA Wins 6 and 5
Scott/Choi v. Woods/Stricker	International Wins 7 and 6
	USA 4 International 2

The United States has a distinct advantage as you can see by this picture below.  Happy Gilmore's former caddie is now on Hunter Mahan's bag - and appears to have cleaned up his look a little.  Nice, strategic move by Fred Couples to counteract the Tiger Woods - Stevie Williams divorce. 



Image Courtesy Golf Channel

Meanwhile, the International team has these dudes rooting for them:

Image courtesy Golf Channel

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
You can find me hanging out on Twitter @OldNFLBalls

2011 Aaron Rodgers vs. 2007 Tom Brady: Who's Better?

The Brady Edge:  Gisele

The 2011 dream season of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers just keeps rolling along.  After Monday nights precise dissection of the Minnesota Vikings, Rodgers is on pace to have the greatest season ever in the history of the NFL for quarterbacks.  A season that could surpass the performances of Kurt Warner and The Greatest Show on Turf in 1999; Drew Brees and the WhoDat Nation of 2009; Peyton Manning of 2004 (or pick most any year of his pro career);  and the 1984 Dan "The Man" Marino's magnificent season.

However, of all these great season's, nothing compares to Tom Brady's 2007 season.  Brady's accuracy, yards, touchdowns and ability to keep the ball away from the other team is the best statistical season on the books. 

Tom Brady 2007 Full Season:

2007 Full Season	COMP	ATT	PCT	YDS	Y/A	INT	TD
07 Brady	398	578	68.86%	4806	8.314879	8	50

Aaron Rodgers is now challenging that beautiful Brady season. 

For the sake of comparison, let's look at 2011 Aaron Rodgers through nine games and the first nine games of Tom Brady's 2007 season:

2007 Tom Brady vs. 2011 Aaron Rodgers:
(thru 9 games)

Legend	COMP	ATT	PCT	YDS	Y/A	INT	TD
07 Brady	219	299	73.24%	2686	9.24	4	30
11 Rodgers	215	295	72.88%	2869	9.73	3	28

With 56% of the precincts reporting, it is too close to call in the '07 Brady vs. '11 Rodgers race for the greatest QB season ever.

Let the debate begin.

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
@OldNFLBalls

*This was a pure look at statistical supreme seasons.  I did not take into account changes in rules that obviously allow the offense a little more freedom than Dan Marino had in 1984. 

2011-2012 NBA Season In Jeopardy - NBAPA Decertification Near

NBA labor talks have broken down according to Billy Hunter and NBAPA has hired David Boies to file anit trust legislation on behalf of the NBAPA against the league.

Players will decertify and become a trade organization.

The end result of the decertification and the anti trust legislation will  likely result in the chances of the season being canceled for the 2011-2012 NBA season.  More lawyers, more legislation, more courts, more nothing......

Time to follow Beshiktas and Deron Williams.

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley
@OldNFLBalls

Penn State Scandal: Brand Above Honor

Let's face it, the nation's moral compass is broken from Wall Street to K Street.  Corrupt, cover up and  carry on as if nothing has happened is the new acceptable practice.

The brand that IS Penn State football is synonymous with Joe Paterno.  Penn State University's athletic department motto is "Success with Honor."  How did  something as sick and disgusting such as child abuse be allowed to be swept underneath the Nittany Lion rug for so long?

Branding:
A company's brands are amongst its most valuable assets. Brand names and images are a major element of competitive positioning-often the key to differentiation and sustainable competitive advantage (enhanced cash flows, greater customer loyalty, faster adoption of brand extensions, and more). Brands are important "strategic assets." Unfortunately, current accounting practices do not treat brand and customer relationships as "investments," and tend to marginalize the value of brands.  --(ISBM website at PSU: (link))

 Protectionism of the Penn State brand - that's how.

Unfortunately, it is something we experience to frequently in our modern day society.  The brand that IS Penn State football superseded personal responsibility.  They lied, ignored, retired, and conspired to protect their brand.  They did it because Penn State Football was their most "strategic asset."

Now they will pay the price.

Joe Pa Drunk With Power

Joe Paterno was on the Penn State coaching staff for 62 years, head coach for the better part of 46 years winning a Division I football record 409 football games and two national championships.  Jerry Sandusky was with him for 30 of those years. 

While Joe Paterno and Penn State football program may have never been involved in NCAA violations, they have had their fair share of issues that are morally insensitive or negligent.

In 2006, Paterno was petitioned by the National Organization of Women to resign because of comments he made related to Florida State linebacker, A.J. Nicholson, days before the Orange Bowl. Nicholson was accused of sexual assault, however no charges were filed.  (Nicholson later pleaded no contest to a burglary charge in 2006, arrested on domestic violence charges in 2007 (which were dropped), and arrested on a probation violation of the 2006 burglary charge in 2009).

MSNBC:
"There's some tough -- there's so many people gravitating to these kids. He may not have even known what he was getting into, Nicholson. They knock on the door; somebody may knock on the door; a cute girl knocks on the door.  What do you do?"

"Geez. I hope -- thank God they don't knock on my door because I'd refer them to a couple of other rooms," Paterno continued. "But that's too bad. You hate to see that. I really do. You like to see a kid end up his football career. He's a heck of a football player, by the way; he's a really good football player. And it's just too bad." -January 2006.

In other words - He's a really good football player, better football players competing on the field help the Penn State football brand, and the Penn State football brand is more important than some football groupie girl that gets assaulted. 

Penn State's football program was exposed in 2008 by an ESPN Outside the Lines special highlighting 46 Penn State football players charged with 163 criminal offenses between 2002 and 2008.  Paterno's said "we read them the riot act, and hope for the best."  This sounds like an organization with a disciplinary policy that starts and ends with -hope for the best football players, regardless of character policy.  

Joe Paterno is a legendary football coach that was drunk with power.

Protectionism of the Penn State Brand

From Comedian Andy Borowitz, "Until yesterday, I did not realize that the Penn State football team had a school, too." 

The magic hypocrisy wand does not end with Joe Paterno.  The "yes" people around the program, including the administration, have been fueling the protectionism of the Penn State brand since 1998 related to Sandusky.

Improper acts with Sandusky and an underage male were reported in 1998 according to the grand jury report, mysteriously one year prior to Sandusky's retirement.   Although no charges were filed in this case by now missing D.A. Ray Gricar, Sandusky was informed by Paterno that his head coaching aspirations would not come to fruition at Penn State - even though he was widely considered the logical successor.  In an apparent compromise - Sandusky would retire, Penn State would cover these improper allegations up protecting their brand, and Sandusky would have more time for his "hands on" approach at the Second Mile Foundation. 

Evidently, the school administration does not enforce the same school policy it has for students....unless you consider forced retirement with access to the university offices for alleged child abusers the same policy.

Former university president, Graham Spanier:

Spanier, the university president, said the school encourages students to cooperate with law enforcement and offers assistance to victims with counseling, medical services and opportunities to file complaints. If the courts dismiss a case for lack of evidence and university officials are confident an athlete did something wrong, the school or coach still can reprimand and discipline that student, he said. -ESPN Outside The Lines

This elite collusion and public defiance by the administration fueled by moral insensitivity to protect the Penn State football brand is unacceptable.  They must be held accountable. 

What Are The Potential Consequences

The legal troubles for Penn State University are far from over and may be just scratching the surface of a deep conspiracy that potentially involves the pimping of victims to prominent Penn State University donors according to Mark Madden who penned an article about the alleged abuse over six months ago in the Beaver County Times.  From a criminal perspective - conspiracy is not outside the realm of possibilities.  It is possible that investigators may find the cover up has gone on prior to 1999 when Sandusky was fired  retired from the program.  If what Mark Madden suggests is true about the boys being "pimped" out to donors, there is no doubt a conspiracy concealed these heinous crimes. (There is no statute of limitations if conspiracy is found to be involved in withholding factual evidence associated with the Sandusky case.)

All of this to keep a Penn State football brand sacred and to continue promoting a football brand that was responsible for a $53 million profit last season according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.  The scandal will cost the school a significant amount of sponsorship and merchandise revenue.  In addition to potential revenue losses, it may impact the school's credit rating.  According to a CNN Money article, Moody's Investor Services will evaluate the school's highly rated credit status based in large part to student demand and a strong national brand.  With almost $1 billion worth of rated debt, a downgrade in credit rating based on reputation could cost the school significantly. 

The lost revenue in the form of merchandise sales and increased borrowing costs may be the least of their problems.  This week a Florida jury awarded a civil claim in the amount of $100 million against Nell Doherty, a former Catholic priest with the Archdiocese in Miami.  This was a landmark judgment concerning child sexual abuse by a priest.

Miami New Times:

According to other lawsuits, Doherty's alleged monstrous behavior dates back to at least 1972, when he legally adopted a teenage boy and was believed to have often slept in the same bed with him. The church did little to investigate. Several others accusations of child abuse surfaced, but the archdiocese did nothing to notify authorities until 2002. Doherty voluntarily retired in 2004. 

Sound familiar?  

Final Thoughts
The weakest person in any society is more important than the most powerful corporation, or in this case the most powerful football team -paraphrase of Keith Olberman

At the end of the day, protecting the Joe Paterno "brand" and the Penn State football "brand" was more important than innocent children who are victims. 

It's time we stop people that reside on Planet Narcissist and hold them accountable for wrecking the future in the name of their next bonus check, their next recruiting class, or their next victim.

Until Next Time,

Craig Turley

A request to the PSU Smeal College of Business on the potential brand impact was not returned.

Sources:  Penn State Smeal College of Business, Wikipedia, ESPN, MSNBC, St. Petersburg Times, WereBucked.com, Beaver County Times, CNN Money, and Miami New Times

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