As we fondly recall our celebration of this Columbus Day, let it not obscure the fact that Christopher Columbus was a sadistic, genocidal bastard who is single-handedly responsible for the torture and murder of the entire native population of Taino Indians of Cuba, along with thousands of others in the region as well. Just sayin’. What an exciting win! How nice to **** the New York Jets on prime time instead of the other way around. The Wildcat was brilliant on that last touchdown; those last two minutes were much more stressful than they needed to be, however. More on both later. Ricky Williams makes me happy and wistful at the same time; to see how damn good he is even now, but also to think of how good he might have been had he never met Lenny Kravitz. If I ever get to meet Lenny, I promise you with all sincerity that I will kick him right in the balls. I’m getting so used to seeing Channing Crowder burst into the Offensive backfield and then whiff on a tackle that it doesn’t even faze me anymore; of course, next play he gets in and just BLOWS UP the Jets’ Wildcat formation (Seminole, my ***) to make them go 3-and-out. Too bad Miami’s Special Teams fell asleep on the ensuing punt and allowed the long fake that eventually resulted in a TD for the Jets. Then @4:55/2nd, they got bent over AGAIN! This time it leads to a field goal; TEN POINTS you can put squarely on the STs in this game. How disheartening do you think is it to this Defense that they play their asses off, hold a team to a punt, and then have to go right back out to defend because of our pathetic STs? TWICE!!! Then @7:55/3rd, we finally get decent field position at the 47 after a Jets punt—and a penalty calls it back to the 36. Special Teams screwed us all night long, made all the more painful by the Jets’ success in the same area; not to mention watching Mike Westhoff celebrating on the wrong sideline. We have a vast, continent-sized multitude of reasons to hate Wannstedt, but firing the best Special Teams Coach in the league has to be near the top. We’ve never been the same since. Tell you what: you can call Rex Ryan names, make fun of his weight and say anything else you want, but the man’s Defense makes it look like they’re playing with 13 men on the field instead of 11. On that blitz just before the end of the 1st quarter, I couldn’t believe how many guys were after Henne and yet how many were still right on their man in coverage. OUTSTANDING job of working with what he has on the Jets; clearly he did not allow himself to become spoiled by having all that talent to work with in Baltimore. Kris Jenkins was both lined up in the neutral zone AND jumped offsides on that play @8:30/2nd, when he swam over Jake Grove and beat Donald Thomas to tackle Ricky in the backfield. He got away with one—with the Umpire looking right at him, right over Center. And surely the Head Linesman or the Line Judge had to have had a clear view of where Jenkins was lined up, if not his initial jump. ****ty work by the Officials…and the Announcers, who lavished praise on Jenkins and didn’t mention where he was lined up, nor the fact that he jumped the count and that his set hand came over the ball before it was snapped. Look at the play again in slo-mo if you can and tell me different. And that ABSOLUTE HORSE**** PI CALL on Will Allen @ 5:20/4th was just an unforgivable fumble by Officials on national television, in prime time. Awesome first drive by Miami to open the game, but aside from a couple of bright spots the rest of the half was painful to watch. So how do we feel about not giving up a 3rd and a 5th for Braylon Edwards NOW? The Jets and Dolphins both needed a number-one Receiver, a go-to type; the Jets went out and got him. The Dolphins didn’t. Right there is a microcosm of what this current Dolphins’ regime consistently gets wrong—the BIG decisions. They seem to mostly get it right in the small things; low draft picks, UFDA signings, low-to-mid-level free agents. But their big free agent signings have left a lot to be desired, and the deals they have passed on always seem to go right—for the team that actually makes the deal. And the big signings, well…Ernest Wilford, Eric Green and Gibril Wilson might just be the worst set of signings ever for the franchise. You can hope that Jeff Ireland is learning on the job and that he might make fewer of those mistakes as time passes; but for now, it is a concern that the pattern could repeat and we could sign more duds next year, as well as continue to pass on relatively cheap opportunities to improve the team. I’m convinced that Dan Henning must have Multiple Personality Disorder. There’s no middle ground with him; it seems to be either brilliance or sheer stupidity, nothing in-between. The exact right call is followed by mind-numbing, stupefying, absolute and pure ignorance of the reality of the moment. Okay, here’s what I really believe: that David Lee is calling some plays—the brilliant ones (after all, the Wildcat is HIS baby, not Henning’s), while it’s Henning bringing in Pat White at the goal line with seconds left in the game———to hand off the ball. I think it was Ron Jaworski who pointed out that Miami simply didn’t pick up the blitz well at all, and that it was a trend from the beginning if the season; I believe that a large part of the reason for that is that Henning just seems to ignore the situation of each play on its own, and just call a play that he expects will work regardless of real-world action…almost as if he’s calling them in a vacuum. I’ve pointed it out before, that Henning doesn’t seem to have a full grasp of individual play situations or personnel activity or condition when he calls plays, and I believe it more as the season progresses. If you’re curious as to why the talking heads ridicule and question the Wildcat in general—although not so much when we run it—look no further than how incompetent other teams are at it. And I believe that besides having the advantage of employing the guy who “invented” it for the NFL, David Lee, the reason we are so good at it is : Ronnie Brown. And then: Ricky Williams. NO OTHER TEAM has as potent a one-two punch as the Dolphins do in the running game, and it is what makes the Wildcat such a deadly weapon for the Dolphins. It’s why we will be running the Wildcat and its evolutionary offspring for years to come, while other teams will abandon it—or even beat themselves with it. But I ask you: why…WHY don’t we throw more out of it? Ronnie threw once, successfully, from the formation, and attempted another throw which didn’t work. If the Wildcat is to evolve—and make no mistake about it, it will NEED to evolve—it must have a passing element more than 2% of the time. As effective as it is now, even with teams committing one Safety to the LOS in order to defend it, imagine if we could keep them from doing that by passing intermediate and (occasionally) deep from the formation. To sleep, perchance to dream… And now…random thoughts: Gloria Estefan singing the Monday Night Football opening theme! ¡Viva Cuba, CARAJO! Marc Anthony did a very nice job with the national anthem; understated but soulful—no vocal acrobatics needed. A Big Poppa Pump sighting @3:10/4th! Will there NEVER again be a Kicker in the city of Miami who can reach the end zone on kickoffs? TED GINN! Nice catch down the middle for that score. I hope he can build on that and have a nice season, not to mention a nice career for us. Am I betting on it? No. Tony “Predator” McDaniel is an unholy terror in the pass D. I’m shamelessly pushing that nickname. Sean Smith will be All-World before he’s done. He’s scary-good now; thinking of him a couple years down the line is scintillating. Too bad Vontae Davis isn’t getting it quite as quickly. I think he’ll “get it” eventually; maybe being humbled was exactly what he needed in order to tear down before he can rebuild. On one Special Teams coverage play, Jason Allen reached the ball carrier at least 10 yards out in front of the closest of his teammates; he then proceeded to whiff on the tackle. Completely whiffed, didn’t even touch the guy. It was a microcosm of Allen’s pro career. Gibril Wilson has progressed…to actually being a good player for the opposing team. I swear, before the next game someone should put a #28 Saints uniform in his locker. Seriously, man; how bad does it have to get before Wilson is permanently sat DOWN???!!! Why do we hang on to bad players so long? Yet a high-ceiling kid like Chris Williams has some bad luck and we can’t jettison him fast enough. HELL OF A CATCH by Anthony Fasano on the ground of the end zone for a touchdown! Joey Haynos had better learn to catch the ball with his hands, or eventually—somewhere down the line, sooner or later—there will be heartbreak. Having said that, Haynos may just have the highest upside of any of our young players besides Sean Smith. Mike Tirico commented that Jason Ferguson “blocks out the sun;” he really is one big guy. This really is the best crew on Monday Night Football since Gifford, Meredith and Cosell. Are they playing the King of the Hill theme song after Miami scores? Sounds like it. It would be better than that goddamn techno/rap version of the fight song. Nabo’s Fairy Princess Award? Come on; after his second weak-assed effort in a row, was there any doubt?! Enjoy, Gibril, and congrats on being the first player to win this dubious-as-it-is-obscure distinction twice. If you’re still here next week, just remember: there’s more where that came from.
I was reading an article that said more schools are teaching the truth about Columbus, that he was a piece of ****(and technically a failure) The Broncos have actually managed to have a solid passing game out of the wild cat, if Sundays game was any indication.
I'll be watching the Donks with great interest to see how that develops. And yeah, Columbus...what a prize. Just goes to show that when rich white men write history, anything can be "reality." The ones that really crack me up are the Italians, who proudly claim that scumbag for their own when he was actually Spanish or, more likely, Portuguese.
About as disheartening for our offense to make plays and score TD's then watch the defense let the opposing team march right on up the field and score?
Well Nabo, why don't you tell us how you really feel about Columbus? I highly recommend that you don't include Genoa on your itinerary should you visit Italy one day. There's more than one monument to Columbus there. I shudder to think of your reaction had they built that monstrosity at Government Cut. As to the game, it came on at 2:30 here, so I couldn't watch it, but I would have loved to have seen the Hail Mary, Ricky's last minute TD, and what must have been stunned looks on the Jets' and their fans faces.
Just wondering OT, have you seen evidence that he was actually Spanish? He's always been described as Italian, but having convinced the Spanish crown to finance his voyage.
He was Italian.......his connection to Spain and Portugal was that he was looking for someone to sponsor his voyage. Those countries being two of the main sea faring nations of that era.
Olindo Mare used to lead the league in touchbacks when he kicked for us. But since then, we can't seem to get anybody to put it in the endzone for more than once or twice every few weeks.
Yeah Carpenter has been pretty sold on FG's but his kickoffs leave a lot to be desired....in fact that could be said of the entire special teams unit. They've improved in kick coverage but our blocking on returns is killing us...
No one really knows, of course. But everything I've read leads me to believe that Columbus was Portuguese; they were the preeminent sailors of their time in terms of skill, although the Spanish had the advantage in numbers and financing. And think about it: do the words "Italian Navy" flow smoothly off the tongue? Even in Roman times, their ships were geared more for war than exploration; the Etruscans were more seagoing, but purely as mercantilists. Also take into account why on earth the Spanish Monarchy would ever finance exploration by an Italian and not a Spaniard or, at worst, a Portuguese?
I've thought about this a lot for a while now, watching the decline of kicking in general in the league. What I think is that with soccer becoming as popular as it has in this country, generating more pro opportunities for players, fewer of the top soccer players are going to the NFL seeking pro salaries. The NFL used to pretty much get to cherry-pick U.S. soccer talent; now, not so much. And I think that's where the difference lies. Also with increased popularity comes a dilution of talent; every kid in America seems to be playing soccer, and between school and extra-curricular leagues, there are enough outlets that they can all play regardless of talent.
It's generally accepted that he was born in Genoa, altho as you said, there's no real proof......however there are some facts about his early life that would tend to point to Genoa as his birthplace. But without any birth records, it's just conjecture.
Meh...just like Columbus' "accomplishments," history belongs to those who could afford the scribes and the parchment.
lol...true However the voyage itself, at the time was like when we first went to the moon....it was quite an accomplishment and led to the age of discovery Much to the dismay of the indigenous ppl....
No doubt; you can't minimize the degree of difficulty. It's what he did with it that taints what could have been a better legacy.
I couldn't find it on Youtube just now, but I love the scene from Loony Tunes: Columbus: The earth ees-a round like-a the-a apple Ferdinand: Eet ees flat like the pancaaaake. Columbus: Eet ees-a round-a like-a my-a head. BONG! Ferdinand: Eet ees flat like yu head.
As ronnie said in his SIrius interview, he's been so successful at the WC and others may not be as successful because he has practiced it the most. Nice write up Nabo. Fun read.
Practice makes a difference; also having two of the most talented Running Backs in the league, of about the same size and speed and power, being able to split Defenses' focus. What Miami has is the now-proverbial perfect storm for the Wildcat.
