If I am Oakland, San Francisco, Atlanta, or any other team looking for help at the WR position for next season, I am going to try and sign Kelly Washington from the New England Patriots. I can already hear the collective “WHO????” Washington was drafted a couple of seasons ago by the Bengals and was stuck behind Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmenzadeh, and Chris Henry on their depth chart and was given only limited opportunities to show that he could play. In his limited opportunities he convinced me that he could play. In order to move up on the depth chart he went to a different team, the Patriots. Subsequent to his signing the Patriots picked up Moss, Welker and Stallworth. Again Washington got buried on the depth chart. Did he pout? Did he throw in the towel? Nope, he works hard on special teams and has bought into the Patriots mantra of all role players making contributions. To me that shows he has good character. Good character and good talent are kind of nice to have in a player so I would definitely be giving him a shot.
While I am speaking of diamonds in the rough, I should pay compliments to whomever in the Packer organization knew to pick up Ryan Grant. That’s great work. Those diamonds in the rough are out there for anyone smart enough to look.
Speaking of Ryan Grant, wasn’t it this blogger who during last season wrote that the impending retirement of Tiki Barber was a non-issue? I seem to remember writing something to the effect that the Giants would find another running back an move on. Well, so far they’ve found 3 running backs: Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Ryan Grant. And all three have advanced 2 rounds further into the playoffs than the recent Tiki Barber led Giants were able to reach. I rest my case. This game of football isn’t that hard to figure out.
Actually, that should read “sorry, Niner fans.” I do not intend to refer to the sorry Niner fans who acted so superior for all of those years. I believe it will be a long time to come before those sorry Niner fans can act cocky once again. I have come to this conclusion since learning of the Mike Martz hiring. This proves to me that the current Niner regime is in disarray, has no vision and will fail miserably. This has got to be the worse example of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole as I’ve ever seen. Alex Smith still is inmature and needs nuturing. Do you think he will get that from Martz? I don’t think so. At least from their respective reputations, I don’t see coach and QB getting along very well. Another problem is that the strength of the Niner offense is still Frank Gore and isn’t Martz adverse to running the ball. Further, the Niners invested a top ten #1 pick a couple of seasons ago on a TE. Name a TE who has succeeded in a Martz offense. In fact, name a TE in a Martz offense. If the Niner regime feels the hiring of Martz will lead to putting more points on the scoreboard they may be correct. However, they may be overlooking the fact that when you run a Martz offense you HAVE to score more points. Martz offenses commit more big mistakes and give up more points than traditional offenses. And there is a subtle need for more points as well. Because the Martz offenses do not run the ball, the game is longer putting more pressure on the defense. But hey, maybe the thinking under the current Niner regime is that Nolan will reign in Martz. Under those circumstances it still won’t work. Nolan has a vision of how to win. Martz has a vision of how to win. Each will be forced to compromise their vision and that creates a lack of leadership and commitment and ultimately can only lead to mediocrity at best, and total melt down at worst. Sorry, Niner fans.
Wikipedia defines the unicorn as a legendary creature, shy and elusive. It could be captured only by unfair means. Everyone has a unicorn - mine happens to be a particular car. And yes, it was captured unfairly indeed.
Anyone who knows me understands this vice. I’ve owned and driven more cars than anyone I know. Except for three that come to mind, all of those cars, trucks and SUVs were of my choice. Like other little boys growing up, when it came to automobiles, I wanted to drive everything with wheels.
Well this unicorn is unique in many ways. If you put it on a motorshow stand, everyone will stare at it. But when moved away from the spotlight and placed on a crowded freeway or a Safeway parking lot, it fades discreetly into anonymity. It’s not an LA face with a new pair of installed Ds screaming “hey, check these out”. It’s elegant and subtle - I dig that.
Many might compare this to Nicholas Cage’s Eleanor in “Gone In 60 Seconds” - but I don’t want to go there. Remember, Eleanor was scrapped in the end… Besides, I can’t imagine Eleanor being the sexiest of names (I apologize now to all table dancers named Eleanor).
After years of waiting, a unicorn popped up not in Paris, London, LA or NY… but in the car capital of the world - Sacramento. The online pictures were disenchanting, the price was expectedly high, the impression I got was “hmmm, another one out of reach”.
Confucius said that “destiny is simply opportunity seized” - was that Buddha or Tony Robbins? Maybe it was Dr. Phil? But at least it answers why I haven’t bought a car in three years.
In the last days of 2007, news of this Sacramento “coachworks” closing its doors to open a new one sometime in 2008 brought the car back into my attention. The car was being re-offered at an unfairly reasonable price - I seized it (and haggled further, of course).
At the showroom floor, during the test drive, and throughout my long stares at the unicorn after parking it on back on the dealers lot, the only thought in my mind was “would I want to tell my grandkids some long story about that reliable Toyota or would I want to tell this story?”
“I’ll take it.”
I had to leave it at the “coachworks” for a while and it should be delivered this coming week. I don’t need to say the unicorn’s make or model - it’s a personal prize. It’s probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done (well, except for that time in high school with the vice principal during archery class - ahhh, I digress). You could go as far as saying it’s moronic. But maybe it’s that moronic side, that resistance to the vicissitudes of life, which brings me to these unreasonable decisions. Then again, it’s the most fun I’ve had without being naked.