The Philadelphia Eagles mourned yet another death of a former player from the early 90s, 6'-4", 290 lb. offensive lineman Tom McHale. While McHale was never a star athlete in the NFL, it is a sad affair and hopefully the last one for a long time. McHale can be added to the list of died-too-young Eagles from that era, including Jerome Brown, Reggie White, and Andre Waters (am I forgetting anybody??).
Considering that most players who played then are or would be only in their late 30s to early 50s now, that is a disproportionate number of deceased players from one team. Hopefully this is just coincidence, but it makes one wonder about the level of danger and damage these young men battled thru week in and week out. Not a pretty picture when you think about it.
R.I.P. Tom... be sure to give Reggie a pancake block in your next practice game in the big football field in the sky...
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Soul Not So Strong Anymore?
It's quite likely that even the most die-hard Philly sports fan didn't notice that Derrick Strong was cut from the Philadelphia Soul on May 19. While this type of transaction wouldn't normally catch my attention, I just had to think about what a shame it is to have a last name like Strong and get cut from a professional football team.
Kind of like a guy named Takeo Spikes getting cut from the Eagles.
Or like Bill Champion, a Phils' pitcher in the 70s, never even making it to the playoffs.
Or like Don Biggs being one of the smallest guys on the Flyers in 1989-90.
Or like Dave Hoppen, a 6-11" center for the Sixers, only recording 29 blocks in his NBA career of 169 games.
Ok, so I don't know what my point is. I guess one's last name does not necessarily reflect on the field/ice/court performance, or something like that.
Kind of like a guy named Takeo Spikes getting cut from the Eagles.
Or like Bill Champion, a Phils' pitcher in the 70s, never even making it to the playoffs.
Or like Don Biggs being one of the smallest guys on the Flyers in 1989-90.
Or like Dave Hoppen, a 6-11" center for the Sixers, only recording 29 blocks in his NBA career of 169 games.
Ok, so I don't know what my point is. I guess one's last name does not necessarily reflect on the field/ice/court performance, or something like that.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
College Recruiting and the Head Coach Issue... Total Insanity
I read an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer today about a press conference that Penn State football coach Joe Paterno held yesterday. In the article, Paterno talked about how people always ask him how long he'll be coaching Penn State. I assume this is meant to reflect some sort of future stability at Penn State, or lack thereof, when a recruit decides what school to attend. To that I say... this question is totally insane.
In principle, this question is actually not totally insane. Sure, if I'm a budding star football player, I'd most certainly like to know which coach I'm going to be playing for. It would give me a sense of what to expect, and allow me to find the coach that best suits my preference.
But in reality, this question is totally insane. Coaches switch jobs, get fired, retire, or become lame ducks left and right. Just think about these names in recent years and consider how stable the college coaching profession really is (click on the links to see coaching changes from the past year in each respective sport):
College Basketball Coaches
-Billy Donovan
-Fran Dunphy
-Roy Williams
-Bobby Knight
-Kelvin Sampson
College Football Coaches
-Rich Rodriguez
-June Jones
-Dennis Franchione
-Bobby Petrino
-Chan Gailey
Those are some big names that have changed places, in both sports. So what it comes down to is the overall program. Coaching changes occur on practically a weekly basis, across the country. That's the reality of college sports now. What recruits really should be looking at is the overall program. Is it strong? Is it up and coming? Is it going downhill? Worrying about what coach is going to be there next year, or next week for that matter, is pretty futile. Kind of like timing the stock market-- will it be up this month? Down this month? Or over the next four years will it be pretty good overall? Long term is always the best way to go.
So yes, Coach Paterno is nearing the end of his career, unless he finds the fountain of youth (maybe he already has?), but I think every athlete in America knows what he's getting with Penn State football. As the saying goes, "It is what it is." In fact, in today's game, college sports are more about the overall brand than they are about the coach. But some people haven't caught on to this fact of life.
While some people are busy trying to follow the dizzying coaching carousel, I think athletes are much better off trying to figure out how they'll fit in the whole program-- how they mesh with the entire coaching staff, the entire team, and the entire university. That's the most sane way to look at it all...
In principle, this question is actually not totally insane. Sure, if I'm a budding star football player, I'd most certainly like to know which coach I'm going to be playing for. It would give me a sense of what to expect, and allow me to find the coach that best suits my preference.
But in reality, this question is totally insane. Coaches switch jobs, get fired, retire, or become lame ducks left and right. Just think about these names in recent years and consider how stable the college coaching profession really is (click on the links to see coaching changes from the past year in each respective sport):
College Basketball Coaches
-Billy Donovan
-Fran Dunphy
-Roy Williams
-Bobby Knight
-Kelvin Sampson
College Football Coaches
-Rich Rodriguez
-June Jones
-Dennis Franchione
-Bobby Petrino
-Chan Gailey
Those are some big names that have changed places, in both sports. So what it comes down to is the overall program. Coaching changes occur on practically a weekly basis, across the country. That's the reality of college sports now. What recruits really should be looking at is the overall program. Is it strong? Is it up and coming? Is it going downhill? Worrying about what coach is going to be there next year, or next week for that matter, is pretty futile. Kind of like timing the stock market-- will it be up this month? Down this month? Or over the next four years will it be pretty good overall? Long term is always the best way to go.
So yes, Coach Paterno is nearing the end of his career, unless he finds the fountain of youth (maybe he already has?), but I think every athlete in America knows what he's getting with Penn State football. As the saying goes, "It is what it is." In fact, in today's game, college sports are more about the overall brand than they are about the coach. But some people haven't caught on to this fact of life.
While some people are busy trying to follow the dizzying coaching carousel, I think athletes are much better off trying to figure out how they'll fit in the whole program-- how they mesh with the entire coaching staff, the entire team, and the entire university. That's the most sane way to look at it all...
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