Every Sunday the Wild Shamrock blog will fill you in on the happenings of the NFL. Mostly about free agent signings and trades and predictions about where players will end up.

THE LEGION OF BOOM ERA IS OVER

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: This is one of the few teams in the league I can not stand. Love seeing the tear down of the legion of doom, but at the same time it sucks. Tear downs do happen due to the salary cap in the NFL. But it’s a league where one year you can go first to worst, then the following year you can jump from worst to first. I do love seeing defenses stay together, especially great ones in a pass happy league. Plus in the league is fun to hate certain teams. These are the teams that have all the villains not chilling. However I do like when these teams fall. That’s what’s been going on in Seattle. Even though they still won 9 games and almost made it to the playoffs. But they paid all these villains big time money, now they have to tear it down. Sherman cut. Michael Bennett traded to the Eagles.  More moves pending. Now if they can get the ring leader, Pete Carrol, the heave ho, it would be very delightful. Maybe he would go back to his USC job and try to cheat out another national championship. Ooops they took that away.

WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE LEGION OF DOOM WITH THE TEAM PICTURE

ONE TEAM’S JUNK IS ANOTHER TEAM’S TREASURE:

THE SUPERBOWL CHAMPS ADDED A BIG PIECE TO THEIR PIE.

It seems to me the Bennett Brothers would be problems on a bad team or a younger one. Bad locker room guys.

PHILADELPHIA: The Eagles have landed Michael Bennett. This guy will improve an Eagles line that is already pretty damn good. Loved how they pressured Tom Brady at the end of the Superbowl. Michael Bennett is one of the best in the league over the last five years. Plus the Eagles are Superbowl champs and have plenty of people to keep Michael Bennett in line.

MEANWHILE: Poor Marty Bennett was cut by the Patriots. Remember he was the one who had no gas left in the tank in Green Bay. Then the Patriots come calling and his injuries are forgotten. He eventually got derailed before the playoffs started.

SAN FRANCISCO: The 49ers are a team you hate some years and like other years. Before, Kaepernick liked to get his needs dirty and blowing wind about his stands. I thought he was quite annoying in his hey day flexing his arms, showing off his tats, and making a simple first down. Then last year they get Jimmy Garoppolo who I may add is undefeated behind center. So maybe I might like them. Not any more. They signed Richard Sherman. The biggest cheap shot artist in the league. You know he was going to stay in the division to haunt his former team. That’s the kind of citizen he is.

If he can play well like he is capable of, this move will help the 49er defense. Especially the 49ers are on the rise because of Jimmy. It’s always good to solidify your defense at the same time. However if his injury comes back to haunt him, this move can back fire. Villains usually go down at the end of the movie. Could the locker room be in jeopardy as well with this tool in the shed?

LA RAMS: Rams have been very busy as they are improving their defense. Especially the secondary. They signed Green Bay Packers veteran, Sam Shields, and then they traded for two other secondary pieces. Two very good talents but two interesting  personalities. First Marcus Peters from the Chiefs who loves to steal referees’ flags and throw them in the stands.

Perhaps Peters is looking for something to do after his playing days are over. Then you traded for Denver’s corner back Aqib Talib. Now Michael Crabtree for the Raiders can wear his jewelry proud so Talib will have to find another way to get his family or his gal gifts for Christmas.

This looks like a great secondary on paper. Plus the Rams’ defensive coordinator is Wade Phillips who will get the most out of his units.

BUFFALO: They have never been too crazy about Taylor. It seems like they could never find something better on the open market so they end up keeping Taylor. With lots of options out of the free agent market. Lots of great choices in the draft. They have traded Taylor to the Browns. Bills have been collecting draft picks like hoarders. This move they get another high pick. Plus they shave 10.5 million off their salary cap. I think they need one of those quarterbacks from the draft. I also think they should add a bridge type quarterback to the mix as well.

CLEVELAND IS ROCKING: The Browns have been very busy so far. First they traded for Dolphins wide out Landry. Then they added Buffalo quarterback Tyrod Taylor to the mix. They traded last years quarterback they drafted, Deshone Kizer, to the Packers. If I were Brett Hundley, I would be pissed off  with that news as he did pretty decent last year backing up Rodgers.

Jarvis Landry is a nice pick up. However the money you will pay him, he’s not worth it. He’s a slot guy – many catches, but not a lot of yards after the catch is my problem with him and for that type of money.

Tyrod Taylor is a guy that can get the Browns some wins especially after going 0-16. Taylor does not turn over the ball. Interceptions have been a big problem in Brownie land. He will have better weapons to throw to than he had in Buffalo. As long as Josh Gordon does not go off on drinking binges and stays away from the Mary Jane brownies, this team with a few more moves could turn their franchise around. I think they should draft another quarterback as well. Just to have that position covered for once.

Dedicated Fans participate in the Cleveland Browns Perfect Season Parade outside FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio on January 6, 2018. After finishing the NFL season a ?perfect? 0-16 the Browns decided to have a parade. (Photo by Max Arnold/Sipa USA)

QUARTERBACK PREDICTIONS

So Taylor is the first quarterback chip to head to another team. Where do the rest of the free agent quarterbacks land?

OUR MADAM SHAMROCK HAS SOME IDEAS

QUARTERBACK           TEAM

DREW BREES                STAYS WITH THE SAINTS

KIRK COUSINS               MINNESOTA

NICK FOLES                   STAYS WITH THE EAGLES

A.J MCCARRON               CARDINALS

SAM BRADFORD             BRONCOS

CASE KEENUM                BILLS

TERRY BRIDGEWATER   JETS

JOSH MCCOWN                JETS

Madam Shamrock occasionally likes to drink, especially around St.Paddy’s Day. We will see if her mind or her crystal ball is cloudy or clear on these predictions.

The Minnesota Timberwolves continue to collect former bulls. Maybe Tom Thibodeau has seen the light at the local church. Former Bulls head coach is on a mission from God. His mission is getting  the band back together. He was able to orchestrate a trade with the Bulls in the off season and got his lead singer in Jimmy Butler. Then they have Taj Gibson on the drums. Jamal Crawford on the keys. Let’s not forget Aaron Brooks on the sax.  Now the Thibodeau has added Derrick Rose. Since he is a part time player, he can play the triangle. Might be asking too much for Rose also to handle the maracas. Now the Timberwolves should seek out Joakim Noah and add him to the horn section of other X bulls they can gather up.

People still argue today that  Tom Thibodeau ran Rose and others in the ground in Chicago? Thibodeau had a mind set never leave your foot off the gas petal. The same philosophy as Bill Belichick has running the Evil Empire Patriots. How did the Eagles beat the Patriots in the Superbowl? By not using the Atlanta Falcons second half  play book in their Superbowl appearance and making sure they kept going for the jugular. Derrick Rose went down with a knee injury late in a game the Bulls had wrapped up. It was a playoff game. Derrick’s knee could of of went out the following game in the first quarter as well. Thibodeau continued to win despite the Bulls front office craziness. He continued to win even though the front office did not help him add new talent to the mix. They even ignored the coaches’ suggestions on players in the draft. Look how that turned out. The front office hoped and prayed that Rose would come back. Rose did. But he was not the same player like he was in 2011 when he was the MVP of the league. John Paxson and Gar Foreman put all the eggs in Rose’s basket and all’s they came up with was scrambled eggs of a mess. They eventually chased the coach out of town. Then traded all the pieces they had. Now the Bulls are all about tanking for draft picks these days.

Derrick Rose started the season in Cleveland. He needed a few weeks to find himself and do a little soul searching. He ended up coming back to play for the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers were not doing so well so they decided to trade Rose to the Jazz. Actually Cleveland got rid of another X bull in Dwayne Wade as they sent him back to Miami. Meanwhile Rose was released by the Jazz and never even suited up for them. This tells me most of the Bull’s players through the days of Thibodeau and after are not even worth it. All of Paxson and Foreman’s guys. As their dollar values should be dropped to paying them pesos. Rose I believe does not have a lot left in the tank to offer. I’m sure he will work a few minutes off the bench for the Timberwolves down the stretch in a few games. It depends if he still has his posse telling the organization when he is available to play like in those years after the injuries. The Bulls kept hoping Rose’s buddies would give the Bulls permission to play him more than once a week.  Paxson and Gar Foreman let Rose handcuff them and still paid him big money for what? The Bulls slowly sank in Lake Michigan. While Paxson and Foreman dressed up like women and pushed the kids aside and abandoned ship. They should have unloaded him way earlier. Eventually it was too late to come up with something on the fly as they tried. This led the Bulls to get rid of Taj Gibson who was a great rebounder and played very well on defense. Him and Jimmy Butler were the only two Bulls players that were worth something. As the draft picks were left on the roster, you scratched your head and wondered why they chose him or him.

The Timberwolves will use Rose if needed. He will come off the bench to rest players if needed. Maybe you get a slight spark from him here and there. He is not going to take over a game for your team. If they do get anything it will be coach Thibodeau that will get anything left out of a guy who’s just a shell of himself and far away from the player he used to be. A guy that was worried 20 million dollars would not be enough to provide for his family. It’s the addition of Jimmy Butler that has this team playoff bound. Guys like Gibson will get the dirty jobs done. Overall if the Timberwolves can stay healthy I think they can get deep in the playoffs with the guys they already have. They have to get Jimmy back to health. If so they might be able to merge to the second round this go around, not like those Garnett teams who were unable to get out of the first round.  In the future if I was Thibs, I would stay away from X Chicago Musicians. They will need to add another major guitar player to the mix in the future to get past the Golden State festival. They will find out they also will need another triangle player after a few games, after they see that the red rose at one point soon has wilted away completely.

In life things can be so unpredictable. Things can fall into your lap. Things that can happen can make you take another fork in the road. You can be on top of the world and then you can be free falling down the side of a mountain the next day. What kind of person are you when your whole world is turned upside down? Some fight to live another day. Some fall in an instant. While some make it a mission to turn the tables and get back to the top of the mountain. When it is all said and done, it shows you what kind of person and what kind of strength you really have. It is not the kind of strength working out in the gym can do for you. It is what your mindset is all about. Like an old saying, if you set your mind to something you can accomplish whatever you want to. I thank Marty McFly in Back to the Future is where I remember those words. However many others have dawned on those words in my lifetime and yours.

Former NFL quarterback Jim Kelly has been diagnosed with cancer for the third time after his playing days. In 2013, doctors gave him only a 10 percent chance however he was able to beat it. However cancer might be one of the meanest things in our life time. It came back one year later and it was one of the nastiest defenses Kelly would ever face. However Jim Kelly prevailed. He was living cancer free after that until recently, 2018. For the third time he has to battle something that has killed many people. It seems like everyone knows somebody from their own family or has a friend that the big C has taken. Somebody you have loved all of a sudden done. Jim Kelly will be fighting oral cancer. Oral cancer hits in the head or neck. Malignancies can form on the lips or the tongue. It could form in back of the mouth, throat, tonsils. Plus tissue around the jaw area. Some signs to watch out for that one might have oral cancer is trouble chewing and swallowing. Speaking difficulties and earaches. If a numbness occurs.

Jim Kelly started his career in the USFL with the Houston Gamblers. He put up big numbers in that league until it folded with Donald Trump’s help.   Then he played for the Buffalo Bills for 11 seasons in the NFL. He was one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game. He led the Bills to four AFC conference Championships. However he was tagged for four Superbowl losses. He did make it to NFL hall of Fame in Canton. Plus the Buffalo Bills have retired his number 12 jersey as well. Known for running the no huddle K-Gun offense in which he put up big time numbers in yards and touchdown passes.

On the grid iron Jim Kelly had a mind set and determination like only a small percentage of players have in the whole sport. The first Superbowl many said he should of won that one. If he did win that one maybe the next three after would have had different outcomes. He drove his team down field against the Giants in that first Superbowl appearance at the end of the game and gave his team a good chance to win that one. But Scott Norwood miss the kick. To lose a game like that and how they lost that game would of deflated most of the teams the following season. Jim Kelly came back the next year and the next year after that for a total of four times. This mindset and determination and some prayers helped him through those first two battles with cancer. The grit he shows, he’ll probably get through this next battle as well.

I have known a few people that had their own battles with cancer. Some fought it tooth and nails. I tell you the survivors and the non survivors have that mind set. Maybe you can say eye of tiger to survive. Some people would wither away. It’s something that fell in their laps that nobody wants. To be able to get through all the treatments. To muster up enough energy to try to get back to the things you normally do day to day. To keep fighting it when it has you down. The will to live takes over, the desire to hang on and be part of life takes them to another level. To hear people tell their stories. How they accepted a mission they did not want and slay the dragon to come on top is something out of this world.

At the end of the month Jim Kelly is due for his next chapter or he might think in his mind, next battle. In his own words, “I might have lost four Superbowls in a roll but I’ve kicked cancer’s butt twice.

Before his next battle he will still attend his next fishing trip. He will happily have a pole in one hand and a beer in the other. Jim Kelly will make sure he will stay positive around others. That is the rule in the Kelly family, no frown faces or negative words. Kelly, as all people, get their inspiration from somewhere. People who were inspired by him, he is inspired by their journey through these dark days.

For one thing Jim Kelly has surrounded himself with a great team like those Bills’ teams in the 1990’s. Jim Kelly’s huge family and friends along with former teammates. He has also got all his fans. Along with people that are in the same boat as him. With all the prayers even from Patriot and Dolphin fans it’s a very nice support system. Plus the medical staff that will kill the army of cancer cells trying to sack one of the gridiron greats. In the long run, Jim Kelly’s game plan will be about his wife and kids and with his own will he will strike another victory against the Big C. My  prayers are always with Jim Kelly. My favorite quarterback of all-time. Plus he’s a guy who is a star player but a regular Joe Six pack at the same time. Overall a great guy.

Is it time to pull the plug on the Chicago Blackhawks? Is it time to say the dynasty is very close to ending? Can you surround the main core with talent to get back to the playoffs? Is this main core taking up so much salary cap it’s hard to keep retooling on the fly? Something must give here. This season will be the first year in a long long time the Blackhawks will not make the playoffs. This coming after the early exit to the Nashville Predators in the first round of the playoffs last season. In which Nashville showed you a Hawks team very slow and filled with holes. Not enough depth. The young talent not able to catch up with the core. Some of the core crumbling in their old age.

The Blackhawks have been sliding before the first round against Nashville and it continued into this season. It hurts not having Marion Hossa on the ice. An aging super star with a skin condition had to hang up the skates for this season. His presence and his abilities on the ice were definitely missed. However he is getting older. Then usually Stan Bowman’s moves have all been golden. They thought trading for Brandon Sadd would help the captain, Jonathan Toews’, line get better like the glory days. In the process they interrupted Patrick Kane’s line trading away Artemi Panararin. Brandon Sadd has shown some flashes this year but mostly he had a down year. Then to see Brent Seabrook and Ducan Keith play on the decline. Maybe getting rid of Niklas Jalmarsson was the wrong defenseman to trade last off season. Then the biggest thing that happened to hawks is goalie Corey Crawford going down. With the salary cap they could not hold on to Scott Darling. You could see some of the band aids not sticking well as the team in whole has some glaring weaknesses. Back up goalies especially.

This is the first trade deadline Stan Bowman has been involved in with the Hawks trading away players. Not adding pieces for the playoff run, but instead collecting draft picks and younger unknown players. Last week they traded Michael Kempny to the Capitals. Before Monday’s deadline, they sent Tommy Wingles to the Bruins as everyone knew teams would want him as he is veteran and needed for a playoff run. Then they traded former 2013 first round pick Ryan Hartman to the Nashville Predators. Hartman, who is a local kid, seems to always be in Joe Quenneville’s dog house. He had a promising rookie campaign and scored 19 goals. He was known for dumb penalties in which he led the Blackhawks in that category this season. He only has 8 goals and 16 assists in 56 games this season. Is this a kid who will flourish with another coach?

Ryan Hartman… I wonder is it too early to give up on a young talent. This is the problem with the Blackhawks. I think the young talent that they do have don’t have enough time to develop. With this constant retooling and shuffling, you’re getting rid of young players and holding onto hopes of your old core still having enough gasoline in the tanks. Patrick Sharp was a waste of time bringing him back. Seabrook and Keith should be traded away. I would shut down Crawford for the rest of the season. Give the new guy they just called up most of the games for the rest of the season in front of the net. Jean Francois Berube played great against one top team in the conference, the San Jose Sharks, last week. Maybe you can get lightning in a bottle finding your back up for Crawford with him next year.  Your need for a solid back up for Crawford is one of your main concerns next season.

I would build the team around Crawford, Cane, and Toews.  Keep the young talent you have. Guys that have been very productive and growing with the team. Guys like Artem Anisimon, Alex DeBricat and a Nick Schmalz should not be traded. I think keeping Brandon Sadd, who is still young will rebound and get back to his old ways. Perhaps Sadd is your biggest trade chip without trading away Cane or Toews. Then continue building it with all young talent. Fast skaters and perhaps you can salvage one more cup with some of the main core. They need to get rid of some of these guys making big money and not doing much these days. This would also help your salary cap issues you have every single year. It’s frustrating seeing them lose young guys because you’re over paying guys who once were main staples and very productive now they can’t even get the biscuit in the basket. The retool on the fly is not working. Time to scrap that plan and come up with a new one for next season. However the top brass has to be patient and let the new guys develop with some of the older guys. By doing  this it would get the hawk head back to glory like it always should be.

I know fire fighters, paramedics, police officers and soldiers are heroes. They go beyond putting their lives on the line everyday. What about coaches? You can compare them to comic book superheroes. The Batman and Spiderman have their logos they wear on their underoos. Coaches in schools wear the school logos on their clothes. Some years when coaches are up in age, it looks like they wear tights. Both Batman and Spider Man do not get paid for their heroics. While coaches don’t get paid extra for going beyond their duties. Fire fighters,  police officers, paramedics and soldiers’ jobs going in are to save lives.

When I was younger I played many organized sports. Lots of coaches were very good. One of them stood out the most out of any of the coaches I have played for. I played grammar school basketball. After two years without winning one single game, it was coming down to the year without an eighth grade basketball team. Finally somebody rose up when the season was on the brink, took the job and was paid no money. He took a rag tag group like the Bad News Bears and turned them around. That year was special because we won three games. It’s not the games we won or all the losses. Coach Mike Berry taught us to be better people. Taught us to be men. Taught us the fundamentals of the game. How to work as a team. The man molded young minds. The things he did beyond was pay his own money to get the team in tournaments to compete. Our own school higher-ups did not want to waste money on a group like us. We were just a bunch skinny white boys from the burbs playing a game we loved. No way none of us would soar into the NBA. But as a group we have been friends forever. Mike Berry was not shy about inviting the group to his house to break bread with him and his own family.

This week a nasty school shooting occurred in Florida. It was a massacre with 17 dead. You can say what you want or who’s to blame. You can say all the schools need armed security guards. The liberals will blame the Congress about the gun laws. The Republicans will respond that if everyone had guns these things would not occur like they have. I think they can make it a tad harder to get a gun. Not make it easy going through a drive thru while you order a burger. These things happen for many reasons. Some people have bad parenting that does not help. Plus the cries for help are not reported from people in authority or peers. It’s probably all of the above in some way. Everyone has their own set of opinions on the subject. But we can all agree that it is horrible. It needs to be stopped.

In these sticky situations, heroes rise up. A football coach who does security at the school he graduated from is a superhero that comes out of this horrible day. Aaron Feis who graduated from the school in 1999. As a student he played on the grid iron and loved the game of football. It did not take him long after he graduated to come back and be the football coach at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. He was head coach of the Junior Varsity team for 8 seasons. He’s been an assistant coach these days for the varsity team. He’s been coaching the offensive line. In which their job is protect the quarterback. He probably played offensive line in his own playing days. This was a man whose job and passion was to protect people. When the shit hit the fan people thought firecrackers were being lit. He had different thoughts as he ran towards the action. Then he came face to face with the danger. A mad man named Nikols Cruz. Like a quarterback that is about to be sacked, Aaron Feis became a human shield once again and this time it cost him his life. However all the lives he was able to save. Just like on the field all the quarterbacks that were able to continue the play. It is very sad but he goes out a Superhero. A real superhero. The people he saved could go on and do great things in this world. Maybe protect schools from this kind of nightmare. He was a guy that probably reached people on the playing field. He was a guy that you could stop in the office and shoot the shit. Those moments he probably made people better. He leaves a family that loved him. It tears their hearts out but they know what he has done for mankind. He was doing it for mankind way before this incident took place this week.

This brings me back to the coach I had named Mike Berry. This was a guy that gave you a mind set you can do anything you want in life, if you work hard for it. Keep dreaming because you can get there. Our Most Holy Redeemer Raiders rag tag group did very well in life. I can not speak for everyone but in my opinion I would like to say Mike Berry had something to do with that. We had a few guys go play high school basketball. One actually played overseas and grew a mustache after high school. This group came out with a fire fighter. It came out with a guy that helps fight forest fires, some would say a smoke jumper. We have some engineers. We even have a guy that went over to Iraq and fought for our country and saw lots of combat. We had some guy that helped the homeless and his work he did for the nursing program at a major University. We have the one guy with some radical ideas, but harmless. We even have some computer savvy men in our group of bad news bears. Those three wins are not many but it built something in every one of us. If Mike Berry did not take the team that year maybe basketball would have been over for most of us. Maybe without him molding us maybe some of us would have turned out different. Maybe some of us take the wrong road in life. I think Mike Berry would of done the same thing Aaron Feis did this week in Florida. Never underestimate a man that carries around a whistle. These are the real heroes that help make the world a good place. It’s too bad some fall through the cracks. Mike Berry and Aaron Feis are probably up in heaven coaching a game as you read this. Abraham Lincoln is probably doing a windmill dunk for one of the teams.

During the 1990’s I was a huge Buffalo Bills fan. Still one on this day. Out painting the town red I was awoken by the phone the next day. One of my friends wanted to console me talk me off the ledge on the bad news about my Buffalo Bills. I could be like Sophia from the Golden Girls, picture this… 1992 Oilers versus the Bills in Buffalo. I was a young lad in high school. Now you will ask what the hell I was doing painting the town red in high school? Drinking under age is what we did time to time. However that is not the power point of this story. I was told my Bills were getting their bums beaten in as that is the rated G version of the conversation that took place. The Buffalo Bills were looking for redemption from losing two Superbowls in a row. This was a game that hall of famer Jim Kelly was hurt and could not play. This game should of been over as the Oilers were up 35-3. I got off the phone and looked at the television. It felt like a gut punch to the tummy seeing that.

Now present day, a team that felt like the sky was falling. The kind of gut punch the Colts probably felt when they hired Josh McDainels then to see the snake weasel out of the job he accepted. He went back to the pied piper who accepted the snakes from Saint Patrick who drove them out of Ireland centuries ago. The pied piper, the leader of the Evil Empire. He needed his Viper back. It was like the Cobra Commander crawling back to the Serpentor. Being a bird that can’t fly the coop without their mommy, the colts were now in a pickle. They were gut punched by the Evil Empire like everyone else has been in some way against the Patriot storm troopers.

In 1992 in Buffalo it was a slaughter. The Houston Oilers invaded like an old Western movie and took over the town. The town was a blood bath. The gates of the old saloon in town were off their hinges. People slumped over their card games. Lots of bottles of whisky shattered. Puddling on the floor next to the crimson colored blood spilled that afternoon. Warren Moon was the black Sheriff from Blazing Saddles as he went through town on his horse with swagger. He looked at the towns people in triumph. Now he’s ready to take his Oilers to the next town over and steal their gold. It was a bad scene. It was that bad taste that was left after that kick by Scott Norwood in the 1990 Superbowl. Where Darth Bill Belicheck was working for the Giants, not quite Darth Vader yet.

The Oilers ready to string up the rest of the Bills in town square that day. However something changed. Somebody rose up from the burnt ashes and dust of the mayhem that took place in the first half. It was like the rise of the Batman. It was like Shane or John Wayne coming back into town to save the day. Frank Reich and THE COMEBACK. This was one of the best games I ever saw. Years later I did watch the first half of this game. Frank Reich’s brilliance that had him finishing 21-34 passes for 289 yards 4 touch down passes and one interception. Most of it was done in the second half as the game was something out of Tale of Two Cities. He brought the Bills back and they went on to win 41-38 in overtime.

Frank Reich is the same man that help come up with a game plan to beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Philadelphia Eagles who have never won a Superbowl in their team history. Reich help put in a plan for the Eagles back up quarterback that worked very well against the Evil Empire. Now he’s the new Sheriff in town for the Indianapolis Colts. They even took a picture of him signing the contract then announced the deal to their fans. Last week dark skies were clouding the Indianapolis skies. Now the Colts are feeling hopeful and they should. Frank Reich has accomplished much more as a player and a coach and guy that played College football for a big program, then some snake named Josh McDaniels. Some day… it might not be this upcoming season…might not be 2019 season but the Colts Fans will thank the weasel Josh McDaniels for slithering home to Billy boy. Because when the Colts beat the Patriots. Or if Andrew Luck leads the colts to the Superbowl, it will be Frank Reich that made this come together. Josh McDaniels did set the franchise back a tad for him backing out last minute. If the snake stayed it would of been a city burning from Josh McDaniels stupidness over the burning rubber of the tires flying around the race track. Let the comeback start today in Colts land.

If I was a Colts fan and heard that Josh McDaniels was going to be the next head coach, I think my days as a fan of that team would be done. I would drop my season tickets like a bad habit. Then the sudden news that Josh McDaniels is not accepting the job, I would be setting up the parade route. Can you do what Cleveland did and have a parade route for a perfect season of no wins? Instead of the year without a Santa Claus the year with without a coach. How many times do you get second chances? I’m not a Colt fan. However you know that the owner Jim Irsay is a moron. Maybe this lucky break might be what the franchise needed. Like the day Peyton Manning walked into your building kind of break after you drafted him.

The only thing Josh McDaniels has done right in his career as a head coach was sniff out what Jay Cutler actually was. He inherited a 500 team in Denver. Then followed that year up with another 8-8 season. He was off to a 6-2 season. Then lost 8 out of his last ten games. Then the following year he was 3-9 fired week 13. He drafted Tim Tebow as a quarterback. Where credit was due with Cutler, credit was quickly taken away with Tebow.  Many players at the time did not want to play for this guy. He was a young hot shot thought he knew more than everyone else in the room. Is running an offense that has Tom Brady behind center something pretty much anybody can do? Why is this guy so special? Did not see it then and not seeing it now.

Only thing I can tell you is McDaniels is a tool just like all the assistants that have come from the Belicheck’s tree under the bridge. Belichek chokes the life out of them and sends them on their way to fail. Belichek might only deal with people that are inferior to him.

If I were the Detroit Lions after the Superbowl, I would have hoped for Matt Patricia to run home to Bill Belichek. Was not impressed with that defense on the biggest stage of the year. Look at the bafoons that Belichek let go. Eric Mangini went 23-25 with the Jets. Then actually got another job and went 10-22 with the Browns. Romeo Crennel 24-40 with the Browns. He might have done the best with the Browns. Then 2-14 with the Chiefs. Then Charlie Weis who still being paid for his stellar work in college. For the Irish he went 35-27 and then went 6-22 with Kansas. Then Bill O’Brien did some good work with Penn State. However 31-33 with the Texans. History has only rotten fruit picked off the Belichek tree. It’s no Andy Reid tree where it’s filled with bright big shiny apples of success. Look at most of the league and how many of the successful coaches came from the Walrus.

Could this be some revenge ploy from the Patriots? The Colts are the ones that ratted out the Patriots in deflate gate. If that is the fact then wouldn’t Josh McDaniels even be a bigger moron as he is just a pawn in some rich man’s revenge. Did the Patriots promise him something much bigger? What does this tell you about Matt Patricia? He is the assistant that is replaceable. Everyone gets cold feet and changes their mind. But this idiot accepted the job. They made an official announcement. They even waited until the Patriots were done with the season. McDaniels even screwed people that he wanted as assistants. Now they are in limbo after agreeing to help this sorry ass of a man. If McDaniels knew that Jim Irsay is not the type of guy he wanted to work for, why didn’t he do some research before any interviews? Even McDaniels’ agent quit on him. If this guy does not get something from New England in the future he will not get another offer from any other team in the league. Something definitely smells in the State of Massachusetts. Just add this story to the never-ending Santa’s nice list of why most people hate the Patriots. I think the Colts are now in a tough situation. They are behind as the draft and free agency are on the horizon. Whoever they hire now will be better off in the long run than that bum McDaniels. It will be a tough few months ahead but they will find someone to right the ship that has taken damage from the Evil Empire once again.

In the 70’s, the World Football League appeared and fizzled instantly. In the 1980’s, the USFL was born. A league that lasted for 4 years. It was a new league with many new ideas. It was known as the fun league. It was a league with many young superstars. It was a league with many old veterans not quite ready to hang up the spikes.

It had celebrity owners. This league had hot cheer leaders. They played in Spring time. The league had some great years and some down years. It was a good brand of football as the games were mostly well fought to the end. Especially the playoffs. Perhaps this league could have stuck around longer. Then the owner of the New Jersey Generals, Donald Trump, screwed that up. His great idea was to compete against the NFL. Change it up and play fall games instead of the spring games like they had been playing in the previous three years. The league folded. Then the NFL took all the moving parts, all the good ideas, and stripped down the USFL carcass to the bone.

Other leagues like World League of the American Football league appeared in the 90’s. It had teams from Europe. Eventually the NFL bought this league. Then they made it NFL Europe subtracting the American teams. The United Football League had four whopping teams. The Canadian League still existed through all of this. They made changes. They had some American teams at one point.

Before the UFL had their cup of coffee, the XFL was a one year wonder as well with more teams and more money to spend. Vince McMahon, the head of WWE, the guy that brings you all the wrestling was like Vanilla Ice, a one hit wonder in the football world.  In 2001 the league started with a bang. Then in week two it definitely had a whimper. The combination of wrestling and football did not go smoothly and like that another football league was born and died in the same year.

In 2020, the XFL is coming back. Same owner Vince McMahon is giving it another go. A do over. This time he’s not going to combine the wrestling aspect with Football. So the WWE will not advertise for the XFL like they did in the past. That means no wrestlers giving the play by play. Vince McMahon says this go around will have reformed his rule book. His game will be safer. Everyone will have to stand up during the National Anthem. There goes Colin Kaepernick’s comeback attempt.

In the original XFL, Vince McMahon rushed things that resulted in poorly played football early in the season. The games got better but nobody was watching. He had crazy rules in his brand of football in the beginning. No fair catches. He had a mad scramble for the coin toss. Two guys running for the ball at midfield. Whoever got the ball won the toss. Resulting in players diving for the ball. One player separated his shoulder out for the year. Teams empty out the strip clubs for cheerleaders. Which could be bad and good. Mom may not like it. Players got to wear nick names on the back of the jerseys rather than their last name. The famous Rod Smart aka “He Hate Me.” The announcers were exhausting to listen to. Like a Mean Gene type doing the play by play. The names on the helmets were from horror movies gone bad. It was a bad scene. Which included rule changes in the middle of the season. Football on the fly.

Vince McMahon and the XFL the second go around could learn from the past mistakes. They even have time to improve their brand of football before 2020. So far they are talking about a quicker game. They will only play ten games. Plus playoffs. They will only have 8 teams to start. They have 40 man rosters with winning incentive contracts.

Is there enough meat left on the bone to add another league like the XFL? The NFL season and the College Football season followed by all those bowl games. Then to continue to watch football after the Superbowl. February is a very bad sports month. Don’t we need time to decompress from all the football?  Then in the month of March things get better. Are we going to watch football during March Madness? The NBA and the NHL games get interesting with playoffs on the line. Will we care to watch Johnny Football battle it out with Tim Tebow for a week five match up in the XFL?

When I was younger I loved the USFL. That was a different league. It was a different time. They had players. They had top players. Players that are in the Football Hall of Fame. The XFL will have players that failed in the NFL. They will have players that have never been drafted in the NFL. I think its just a bad time to bring in another football league with all these concussions. Will the XFL have looser rules? This becomes dangerous. Hope they have a lot of lawsuit money in the kitty. Would an Insurance company go belly up backing that kind of league? How many great players will play for contracts with only incentives and not a worthwhile base salary? In the state Of Illinois the government is trying to ban football under the age of 12.That tells you football in the future might be like the Gladiator fights. Might be prisoners playing the game to get out of their cell for some better food. More yard time.  Plus to go up against the NFL never works well. This league will be like a train that is going too fast and is about to derail. Yes people will be there to watch the derailment. But after that it will be back to re runs of Gomer Pyle and Barney Miller.

One the most talked about conversations that happens on your bar stool is which is the best Rocky movie. In what order do you rank the Rocky movies? I’m sorry if you have not seen any of the Rocky’s. I do know a person that has not seen any. Yes and an adult, not a baby just coming out of the womb. I find it hard to believe. However I took an Uber ride home a few weeks back and the girl had never seen a Star Wars movie. Just bad parenting I call it. Kids growing up not seeing the classics. No wonder so much violence is out in the world these days.

The Rocky conversation might take place in the wee hours of the night. The music is down low. Everyone is up to a twelve pack. Then you know that one person out of your  crowd that starts this conversation. Maybe not even a month ago the same scene might have had the same conversation. Maybe take out a few people and add a few new butts on their stools. People have different opinions on which one is the best. People seem to agree Rocky V is the worst of them all. Let’s see if I can shed a little light on this subject and reveal what I think is the best order. I start with the worst to first. Maybe the Bears can do that next season.

#6. ROCKY V   I agree with the majority that this one was the worst of the Rocky series. The part I did like in this was when Rocky punched the Don King wannabe character in the face at the end.

I did like a few lines in Rocky V: Tommy Gunn Morrison punched Paulie. Rocky says, “You knocked him down, how ’bout tryin’ knocking me down?”

Then Rocky says, “my ring is outside”

#5. ROCKY II  I loved all the Rocky’s. But this one they try to live a life away from the ring. The love story continues. Rocky and Adrian get married. Then they struggle to make ends meet. It takes a long time. Finally the rematch happens. Then Rocky wins the belt. Love the ending. Lot of boring stuff to get there.

#4.ROCKY BALBOA   Before this movie even came out, people were all negative about this one. I kept an open mind about it. This movie was done very well. It really goes back to the roots of the original Rocky. Rocky owns a restaurant. Talks to his patrons about the fights he has. Then how he misses his wife Adrian and visits the cemetery every day. Then he steps back in the ring for one final fight.

I love he has the guy he fought in the original Rocky, the very first fight you see, working at the restaurant. This one is a movie that could be moved up I think, it was that good. Those people who spoke out before they even saw it, shame on you. You know who you are.

#3. ROCKY IV   Some would say this Rocky was the best. I think it could be any of the top three. James Brown is jamming in this one. Apollo Creed fights the Russian and gets killed. This has a lot going on in this one. Then Rocky fights the Russian in Russia in a classic fight on Christmas.

Some lines in this I loved. Drago says in Russia, “It’s like punching steel,” referring to Rocky.

Rocky’s trainer says to Rocky in the corner, “he’s not a machine he’s a man”

Then the famous speech at the end  If you can change. If I can change. Can’t we all change? That movie definitely fixed our relationship with the Russians.

#2. ROCKY III  All’s I have to say is Mr. T. He played Clubber Lang and he was a bad ass motherfucker. Rocky III could easily be number one as well. I thought this one had everything you want in a Rocky Movie. Rocky living the dream. Then he’s thinking retirement. Then Clubber Lang challenges him to a fight. They accept. Mickey dies. He loses the first fight against Clubber Lang.Then Apollo Creed trains him. Then Rocky has to fight the mental issues he’s having inside his head. Then the training. Done in a gym where Apollo Creed did his training when he was not a contender at the time. Paulie has some great remarks. Then the rematch which is awesome.

Mr. T playing Clubber Lang had some of the best lines in this film.

“HEY WOMAN, BET YOU DREAM ABOUT HAVING A REAL MAN.”

“BRING YOUR PRETTY SELF OVER TO MY APARTMENT TONIGHT. I’LL SHOW YOU A REAL MAN.”

Then the reporter asks Clubber, “What’s your prediction for the fight?” Clubber Lang says, “PAIN.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY, PAPER CHAMPION?” “I’LL BEAT YOU LIKE A DOG, YOU HEAR?”

#1.ROCKY  Rocky is about an underdog with a shot for the title. Stallone wrote this script and wanted to play Rocky in it. Hollywood wanted to buy the script off Rocky and get some other actor to play Rocky. Stallone held out until he was able to star in the movie as well. He took less money but he did a great job acting in it as well. The movie Rocky won many awards. It was an inspirational movie for any underdogs in the world. Rocky is a boxer who has not made it to the big stage. Not even ranked. He fights practically for peanuts and the love of the sport. The Creed fight gives him a shot because the other opponent could not fight due to an injury. It’s all about going the distance. He falls in love. It has everything you want in a classic movie. One of the best sports films of all time.

The question still is when is the return of Cory Crawford behind the net for the Chicago Black Hawks. Crawford has been out for awhile now as the Hawks have been struggling without their starting goalie. Goal tending is not the biggest issue right now for the Hawks. The Hawks has been too cute on the power play. Results are not many goals. The dirty work in front of the net is not getting done. The lack of not getting the loose pucks around the net and then putting the biscuit in the basket has been a head scratcher. Where’s the beef? Your talented defense men Seabrook and Keith have not scored the usual tallies that we are used to seeing.

With this list of problems the Hawks have sometimes used a line up change to get the team back on track. This is where Scott Darling comes to mind. I know Anton Forsberg and Scott Darling both have similiar stat lines this season. You could even say Forsberg has been a tad better. He has a better save percentage at .911 compared to Darling’s at .895. Goal allowed average Forsberg is doing better with 2.92 compared to Darling’s 2.94. Both are three games under 500 as a starter. Darling has played more games this season. So why would Darling benefit the Hawks right here right now more than the guy they already have?

If Scott Darling was still with the Hawks he would obviously be the back up. Darling had that back up motivation as all back ups should have and want to be the starter. Sometimes this motivation can be far more successful than being the number one guy and holding that job because you always have tomorrow to improve or the next game. When you’re back up and you want to showcase your talent and you do not know when your next game will be, it can be mind boggling. Many back ups at times start off very slow. Darling is the type who can throw a quick shut out in relief of Crawford. In which a shut out can help get the whole team on track as they see a guy come off the bench and stymie a team is huge. Darling has done that in huge playoff games as well. I think Darling also played well because he was in his home town. He’s from Lemont, Illinois. This would give a guy extra motivation to do well in front of family and friends, night after night. The thing that Darling had that is missed, is his relationship with Cory Crawford. That was a tandem they could bounce off ideas with each other. Both of them were great friends and probably still are. They help each other get better every day.

Darling and other former Hawks that were unsung heroes to the team, are big reasons why the Hawks go through these long periods of struggle. Guys like Darling and others did all the little things that no one else liked to do. These jobs need to get done to win lots of hockey games. With the salary cap it is very hard to keep these guys you want on your team. Now you have to keep reworking the lines until someone steps up. Plus you have growing pains with young guys as well. Plus you have your older guys that lost a few of their steps. That’s why a Darling is missed because he came in and helped pick up the team. He would be able to erase some of the mistakes made by guys that lost a pep in their step or rookie mistakes. Oh Darling, do we miss you.