NFL 2011 season

[Valmy]

I was shocked to see that they didn't rank Snyder as the worst owner out there.  I mean, I guess he's not trying to move the franchise, but he's devoted to ruining it.

Yep his desire to keep the team in DC to torture the fans is his lone saving grace.

Still 112th out of 120 is basically a tie for worst.

[Ed Anger]

Mike Brown is the anti-christ.

[Strix]

I guess the Carolina Hurricanes aren't so bad, they are listed just behind the Ravens! 

[CountDeMoney]

NFL proposal reportedly features 16-game Thursday night schedule

A 16-game Thursday night TV packaging beginning in 2012 reportedly is among the parameters of a new collective bargaining agreement being discussed by NFL owners during their meeting Tuesday in Rosemont.

Team representatives took a lunch break and returned to the meeting, some with suitcases in hand, a sign the meeting may not last much longer.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that a key element of the proposed agreement is the understanding that players will accept approximately 48 percent of all revenue, minus a $1 billion credit off the top.  In the previous CBA, players received 60 percent of revenue, but the figure did not include the $1 billion credit.

The figure apparently is acceptable to the players because projections say NFL revenue should double to $18 billion a year by 2016.  Teams also may be required to spend more than they have in the past.

Also expected to be part of the new deal are a rookie wage scale, free agency after four years and better health care and pension benefits for retirees.

The proposed 18-game regular-season schedule reportedly would be designated as negotiatible, but wouldn't be mandated.

Negotiations between the league and the players are expected to resume Wednesday.

[Neil]

Sounds good to me.  Just settle it, guys.

[Valmy]

Rookie salary cap plus keeping the 16 game schedule please.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Rookie salary cap plus keeping the 16 game schedule please.

Yeah Id definitely be happy with this.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Lockout entertainment:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/7836326dd7/field-of-dreams-2-nfl-lockout-with-taylor-lautner?playlist=featured_videos

I laughed at Cromartie hitting on the chick.

Edit:  Deleted scenes, Ray Lewis @ :22: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/2f22727a20/field-of-dreams-2-nfl-lockout-with-taylor-lautner-deleted-scenes

"You drop it, you might as well go back to that Twilight thing"

[jimmy olsen]

ESPN ranks the Bengals and Redskins the two worst franchises in the the four major sports leagues:

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/teamrankings

106. Minnesota Vikings
107. Buffalo Bills
108. Seattle Mariners
109. New York Knicks
110. Washington Wizards
111. Florida Panthers
112. Chicago Cubs
113. Detroit Pistons
114. New York Islanders
115. Atlanta Thrashers...er Winnitoba Jet Bears
116. Toronto Raptors
117. New York Mets
118. Minnesota Timberwolves
119. Sacramento Kings
120. Toronto Maple Leafs
121. Washington Redskins
122. Cincinnati Bengals

Go Winnipeg Jet Bears!

Seriously though, that list is fucked up. Memphis Grizzlies are #9 and the Boston Celtics are #40! The San Jose Sharks are #13 and the New England Patriots are #38! The Colorado Rockies are #8 and the Red Sox are #79! The Texas Rangers are #12 and the Bruins are #72!

[Neil]

What's so fucked up about that?

[CountDeMoney]

A sad day for Mobtown, and all of football.

Legendary Colts tight end John Mackey dies at 69
By Mike Klingaman, The Baltimore Sun

3:05 PM EDT, July 7, 2011

As one of football's great tight ends, the Baltimore Colts' John Mackey used to bull his way past the goal line, dragging tacklers on his back. As the first president of the National Football League Players Association, he carried his brethren into the modern era of free agency and big-money contracts.

Mackey, whose off-the-field exploits were as important as his accomplishments on it, died Wednesday of frontotemporal dementia, a disease he had battled for 10 years, at Keswick Multi-Care Center in Baltimore. He was 69.

Bull-necked and indominable, Mackey forged a reputation with the Colts as an explosive receiver able to turn a short look-in pass into an 80-yard touchdown. The club's No. 2 draft pick in 1963, he redefined the role of the lumbering blocking end.

He revolutionized that position, said Don Shula, the Colts' coach from 1963 to 1969.

"Previous to John, tight ends were big strong guys like [Mike] Ditka and [Ron] Kramer who would block and catch short passes over the middle," Shula said. "Mackey gave us a tight end who weighed 230, ran a 4.6 and could catch the bomb. It was a weapon other teams didn't have. "

In his nine years with the Colts, the club won a Super Bowl and three conference championships. Of Mackey's 38 touchdown receptions, 13 were for 50 yards or more, including an 89-yarder against the Los Angeles Rams in 1966. That score, on the game's first offensive play, was the longest of the 290 scoring passes in John Unitas' career.

"[Mackey] didn't have the best of hands," Unitas once said. "But his running ability was second to none. "

His most famous catch came in the 1971 Super Bowl, when he grabbed a twice-tipped pass from Unitas and raced 75 yards for a touchdown in Baltimore's 16-13 victory over Dallas.

"That play turned the game around for us," said Glenn Ressler, then the Colts' starting guard. "If you needed a clutch catch or a block, you'd get it from John. He embodied what the Colts were all about."

Elected in 1992 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Mackey refused to accept his ceremonial ring in Indianapolis, where the Colts had moved in 1984.

"I will do it in Baltimore," he told Hall officials. "That is where I played. "

Mackey won out. He received the ring in Memorial Stadium, at halftime of an exhibition game between Miami and New Orleans.

"John was a fighter, a man with great integrity, one who wouldn't roll over for anybody," said Bob Vogel, an All-Pro tackle who played beside Mackey. "Nothing he did was from the perimeter. Whatever he took on, he was totally involved."

The son of a Baptist minister, Mackey grew up in Roosevelt, N.Y. He turned down an appointment to the Naval Academy to attend Syracuse University. There he studied economics, made All-American and roomed with a running back named Ernie Davis -- the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy.

Mackey would model himself after Davis, who died of leukemia at 23.

"Ernie was big and fast, like a hurricane," Mackey said. "He could run past you or knock you down. But he was never arrogant.

"He motivated me."

The 19th player chosen in the 1963 NFL draft, Mackey impressed his Colts teammates even before he signed a contract.

"The first time I saw John was when he walked through the locker room, after practice, to meet Shula," said Ordell Braase, defensive end. "John was wearing a suit, and right behind him were his lawyer, physician and a couple of others in suits, too.

"I thought, 'What's going on here?' Back then, most players negotiated their own deals, but Mackey had a task force with him. I said, 'By God, this guy is not going to get taken.'

"He was focused on what he wanted, and I admired him for that."

"He was a tough physical specimen, an unbelievable ballplayer and a good, good man," said Lenny Moore, the Colts' Hall of Fame running back and one of Mackey's closest friends. "People will never fully understand the impact he had on negotiations between players and owners, and the stuff we were after. John unlocked those gates -- no, he knocked the doors down."

As a first-year starter, Mackey caught 35 passes for more yardage (726) and touchdowns (seven) than either of the Colts' veteran wide receivers, Raymond Berry or Jimmy Orr.

"I'm not surprised [at the numbers]," Orr said. "John was faster than both Raymond and I."

Nearly 50 years later, Hall of Famer Berry marvels at Mackey's feats of yore.

"Getting blocked by John was like being hit by [boxer] Sugar Ray Robinson. He exploded into you, like lightning," Berry said. "He was fireplug-solid, not so much tall as broad. It was difficult to find a piece of him to get your arms around."

Among Berry's keepsakes is an NFL highlights film that features the 6-foot-2 Mackey at his best. In a 1966 game against Detroit, No. 88 caught a 6-yard pass and proceeded to ricochet off opponents.

"Gathering a short pass from [quarterback Gary] Cuozzo, Mackey broke one tackle, somehow escaped from the clutches of three more defenders who appeared to have him at bay, bulled his way past two more tacklers and outran the rest of the Lions for a 64-yard touchdown gallop," The Evening Sun wrote the next day.

Said Detroit coach Harry Gilmer: "He [Mackey] was knocking everybody down as he went, and I thought he was going to come over and knock me down, too."

The play was vintage Mackey, teammates said.

"Defensive backs fell off of him like gnats," said Jerry Hill, a fullback. "John didn't have a fluid gait -- he looked like a plowhorse -- but you didn't want to touch him for fear of getting caught up in the wheels."

Mackey thrived on contact, said Vogel:

"Some times you had a sense that, given the option, John would rather run over you than outrun you."

No team respected Mackey more than Green Bay, the Colts' archrival in the 1960s.

"He was the criteria by which you measured tight ends," said Dave Robinson, the Packers' All-Pro linebacker who regularly squared off against him. "If you played well against John Mackey, you could play against anyone."

The Packers' strategy against Mackey was direct, said Robinson:

"[Coach] Vince Lombardi said, 'If Mackey catches a short pass, I want everyone to rally around him. Don't let the safety try take him down.'"

At the same time, Mackey's crushing blocks roiled Green Bay's linemen.

"Willie Davis [the Hall of Fame defensive end] would holler, 'Just keep that Mackey off of me,'" Robinson said. "I tried. But I never left Baltimore without dragging the next morning."

A three-time All-NFL selection, Mackey also played in five Pro Bowls. In a 10-year career (the last with the San Diego Chargers), he caught 331 passes for 5,236 yards.

In 1969, while still playing, he made the NFL's 50th anniversary team as pro football's all-time tight end.

"To be on the field with John was eerie," said center Bill Curry, his roommate with the Colts. "It was like being in the presence of Superman."

Mackey's kryptonite? Bugs.

"He hated them," Curry said. "Once, before practice in Westminster, running back Tom Matte dropped a live cicada down John's pants. He didn't know it until we were in the huddle and everyone heard this whirring noise.

"John looked up, all serious, and said, 'What's that? Is one of them in here with us?' Then he felt the thing in his pants.

"He ripped those pants off, in the middle of the field, with 300 people watching."

At the same time, said Curry, "John had the presence of mind to yell, 'Surround me! Surround me!' to the rest of us.

"Of course, we all scattered."

Once, at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium, groundskeepers removed the pre-game tarp, revealing thousands of writhing red earthworms.

"John took one look at those things and said, 'They're not going to get on me,'" Curry said.

He caught a half-dozen passes that day but never hit the ground. The 49ers couldn't bring him down. At game's end, his was the only white jersey on the field.

Despite the accolades, Mackey was no shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. Most believe his involvement with the NFLPA kept him out of Canton until his 15th and final year of eligibility.

As the union's first president after the 1970 merger of the NFL and American Football League, Mackey quickly raised the owners' ire. That July, he organized a three-day strike that won the players $11 million in pensions and benefits. In 1972, he filed and eventually won a landmark antitrust suit that brought them free agency. (The union bargained it away in 1977.)

"He was the right man at the right time," said Braase, who preceded Mackey as head of the player's association. "We were a fractured group until John began putting permanence in [the union's] day-to-day operations. He hired administrators and a general counsel.

"He had a vision for that job, which was more than just putting in time and keeping the natives calm. You don't get anything unless you really rattle the cage."

Mackey's legacy can be found in those million-dollar contracts the NFL's players enjoy, said Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens general manager.

"All of the benefits of today's players come from the foundation laid by John Mackey," said Newsome, himself a Hall of Fame tight end. "He took risks. He stepped out. He was willing to be different."

As the current lockout drags on, even leaders from the league acknowledged Mackey's positive impact.

"John Mackey was one of the great leaders in NFL history, on and off the field," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "He was a Hall of Fame player who redefined the tight end position. He was a courageous advocate for his fellow NFL players as head of the NFL Players Association. He worked closely with our office on many issues through the years, including serving as the first president of the NFL Youth Football Fund. He never stopped fighting the good fight."

His death came at an apropos time, as the union continues to resist making significant concessions originally put forth by owners.

"John Mackey is still our leader," said DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFLPA, said in a statement. "As the President of the NFL Players Association, he led the fight for fairness with a brilliance and ferocious drive. His passion continues to define our organization and inspire our players. His unwavering loyalty to our mission and his exemplary courage will never be forgotten."

Off the field, Mackey leaned highbrow. He drove a Bentley. He emceed a concert by the Baltimore Symphony at the Lyric Theatre. He did a weekly sports report on WJZ-TV and served as sports director of WEBB radio. He starred in a CBS quiz show, Alumni Fun, as a member of the Syracuse University team. He published his autobiography, Blazing Trails.

"John was an elegant guy, from his vocabulary to the way he conducted himself in public," Vogel said. "He enhanced the image of athletes. He raised the bar."

Mackey is survived by his wife, Sylvia, of Baltimore, to whom he was married for 47 years; a son, John Kevin Mackey, of Atlanta; two daughters, Lisa Mackey Hazel of Bowie, and Laura Mackey Nattans of Baltimore; and six grandchildren.

Plans for a memorial service are pending. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Association For Frontal Temporal Degeneration, Radnor Station Building 2, Suite 320, 290 King Of Prussia Rd, Radnor, Pa. 19087, or to the Sports Legacy Institute, P.O. Box 181225, Boston, Mass. 02118.

[katmai]

Yeah saw that earlier.

[Ed Anger]

ESPN is being a damn cocktease by showing those NFL films team season shows. Fuckers are making me crave the foosball. It also isn't helping that BTN is in overdrive with the Big Ten past games.

dammit.

[CountDeMoney]

It also isn't helping that BTN is in overdrive with the Big Ten past games.

I watched last year's Wisconsin-Ohio State the other day.

I jizzed. Lulz.

[sbr]

ESPN ranks the Bengals and Redskins the two worst franchises in the the four major sports leagues:

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/teamrankings

106. Minnesota Vikings
107. Buffalo Bills
108. Seattle Mariners
109. New York Knicks
110. Washington Wizards
111. Florida Panthers
112. Chicago Cubs
113. Detroit Pistons
114. New York Islanders
115. Atlanta Thrashers...er Winnitoba Jet Bears
116. Toronto Raptors
117. New York Mets
118. Minnesota Timberwolves
119. Sacramento Kings
120. Toronto Maple Leafs
121. Washington Redskins
122. Cincinnati Bengals

Go Winnipeg Jet Bears!

Seriously though, that list is fucked up. Memphis Grizzlies are #9 and the Boston Celtics are #40! The San Jose Sharks are #13 and the New England Patriots are #38! The Colorado Rockies are #8 and the Red Sox are #79! The Texas Rangers are #12 and the Bruins are #72!

Go back and read what the rankings really are.  They're not a list of the bestest franchises, it is a list of the franchises who treat their fans the best, and the fans that get the most "band for the buck."  I'll bet each of the non-Boston teams gave their fans more wins per dollar spent than the Boston teams did.