Another Chapter to the Plaxico Burress Story

After a huge 21-14 victory for the New York – football – Giants, Plaxico Burress trots off the field happy. When talking to reporters he expresses that he is thrilled with his team’s big win, as well as his reunion with the team that drafted him 8th overall in the 2000 draft. The one thing that he did not do was apologize.

Tom Coughlin decided to bench Plax for the beginning of the Giants game on Sunday due to treatments the Burress skipped earlier in the week. The short version is that he was supposed to show up for treatments regarding his injured neck on Saturday morning. He never showed up, saying that his neck was fine and he didn’t see the treatments as necessary. New York’s Wide Receiver didn’t make a huge contribution while he was playing; only recording 15 yards in three receptions.

This seems to be an issue that the Giants, simply, cannot resolve. Their best offensive player is also their biggest heartache heading into Week 9. Burress has a total of 356 yards this year (59/game), 3 touchdowns, on 28 receptions. The part that New York is upset with is that he has zero remorse for the conflicts, and he continues to violate team and NFL rules. He just doesn’t care.

He has a track record of screwing up this year. He was suspended for 2 weeks earlier in the season for breaking even more rules and was fined a total of $45,000 by the NFL (criticized refs). Looking at the bigger picture, Plaxico Burress has been punished 5 different times in the past 4 weeks by either his team, or the NFL. Now, the Giants can live with the league hammering Burress for his comments about the refs. What they can't deal with is a star player who continually acts as if he can do anything he wants as long as he produces on the field.

With Plax continuing to think that he is above the law, his relationship with Tom Coughlin worsens and worsens. Burress says after the game that his job is to catch passes and that everybody will not always see eye-to-eye. He would later also state that it was a “simple miscommunication.”

It is obvious that Coach Coughlin and Plax do not get along. When asked about the situation after the game, Tom acted like the questions were not valid. On Sunday, after the game, Plaxico said that, “Coughlin doesn’t know me. I typically work with the WR’s Coach and the Offensive Coordinator and not Coach Coughlin. He doesn’t know how I do things,” and when asked about their relationship, Burress just says, “I would say it’s a working relationship.”

Though it's very easy to misread people when they talk around questions, that isn't the case in this situation. Burress has never been high on Coughlin's rules -- and there have been published reports that Burress has violated more of those than we'll ever know -- and this seems very much like a clash of wills. In fact, Burress has been making headlines off the field for months now, going all the way back to the offseason when he was lobbying for a new contract that he eventually received. My view on it? I think that Plaxico knows he can now do whatever he feels on doing because the Giants are stuck with him for another 5 years.

The thing that New York really needs to worry about is keeping this team together. Teammates such as Amani Toomer and Shaun O’Hara have publically said that they are sick of the whole Burress-situation. Sick of talking about him over the team’s success. A huge factor to last year’s Championship run was the team’s chemistry and it is obvious that the chemistry might be in jeopardy. Not only do they lose chemistry but if Plax is sitting on the sidelines, they lose a ton of big-play capability and young bucks (like Smith and Moss) are forced to step up and pick up slack. I would say that they are without-a-doubt the best team in the NFC but this whole thing leads to an enormous downfall. The question I ask you is... Can the Giants repeat as Super Bowl Champs while dealing with this mess?


Please tell me what you think in the comment section below.

Justin Hulsey
StLDieHard24@gmail.com
http://www.thejaystick.blogspot.com/

Ranking the Big-12 Quarterbacks

This is, officially, the year that the Big-12 passes the SEC in conference dominance. This could possibly be the best Big-12 class that has ever been put together, and it shows. All this due largely in part to the Big-12 Quarterbacks who have been simply astonishing. It is almost guaranteed that at least 3 of the Heisman finalists will be from the B-12 and will be QBs. The Quarterbacks are so good that a guy like Oklahoma State’s junior Zac Robinson, one of only three quarterbacks in the nation to rush for more than 800 yards and throw for more than 2,800 last season, can't get a sliver of national attention. When it comes to QB rating, the Big-12 owns 4 of the top 5 spots, 3 of 5 in passing yards, 3 in completion %, 4 in TD passes, and on and on and on. The Big-12 Quarterbacks are simply blowing away opponents and putting up some hefty numbers doing so.

The proven talent at this position goes way deep in the conference. Yet each of them has something to prove either as an individual or as the leader of a team for the rest of this college football season. For example, Mizzou’s Chase Daniel(no ‘s’) must beat Texas and win in the Big-12 Championship to have a shot at the National Championship, as well as the Heisman Trophy. If 2008 continues to fulfill its headline as The Year of the Quarterback in the Big 12, it will be because these 12 players have overcome the hurdles that await them.

With that said, I have brought it upon myself to rank the top-5 Big-12 QBs from best to “worst”.

Note: These rankings have NOTHING to do with NFL potential or readiness but to do with their ability in the NCAA and how they conduct themselves on the football field.


1. Colt McCoy
In 2006, McCoy surpassed all expectations for a redshirt freshman. He even set a then-NCAA first-year record with 29 touchdown passes. Last season, that number fell to 22, while his interceptions rose from seven to 18. Mack Brown took all responsibility of McCoy’s “decline” saying that they put too much on him, asking him to lead that team as a sophomore, and also pointed out the Colt was simply not ready to be that guy that everyone thought he was.

After a year of maturing and preparing to become the leader of his team, McCoy is pwning everybody. Halfway through the season, you would have to admit that Colt has the Heisman firmly in grasp. McCoy, like Matt Stafford of Georgia, can combine the benefit of two years' experience with an easier brand of leadership that comes with age.


2. Sam Bradford
Bradford led the nation in passing efficiency as a freshman with a rating of 176.5, which was a tie for the seventh-best single-season rating in history. He threw 36 touchdowns and only eight interceptions, and he completed 69.5 percent of his passes. I would say Bradford has more than proven that he has received his vaccine for a sophomore slump.

Bradford is 2nd in the nation in TD passes and leads in QB rating, the list goes on and on. Sure, his team lost to Texas this past week, (which was why I flip-flopped him and McCoy) but Bradford still threw for a mind-blowing 390 yards and 5 touchdowns. His only Achilles heal might be interceptions. He threw 2 against Texas and is on pace for 12 on the year which might be a little more than desired when you consider he really isn’t throwing that much.


3. Chase Daniel
The senior from Southlake, Texas, has played his entire career as if he has needed to prove something. He had to prove Texas wrong after they stopped recruiting him after his Junior year in high school. He had to prove that a man of his size (6-0, 225) could play big-time quarterback. He had to prove that Missouri should be taken seriously in the conference and on national stage. Daniel has done all of that. He has thrown for 10,235 yards, 78 touchdowns and only 27 interceptions (all Mizzou records). Last season, he was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and finished fourth in the Heisman vote.

Now, he needs to prove that he can rebound himself and his team from an embarrassing loss to Oklahoma State that should have never ever happened. Daniel threw the ball 52 times for 390 yards, 1 TD, and (oh my) 3 INTs. Some think that the OKST game draws a close to all Heisman hopes for Chase but I would have to disagree. With big wins over Texas, Kansas, and then the B-12 Championship, not only would Chase become the front-runner again but would also propel his team back toward #1.


4. Graham Herrell
Like his predecessors in Lubbock, Harrell has stats on steroids. In 2007, Harrell threw for 5,705 yards and 48 touchdowns, both of which led the nation. But, like Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonny Cumbie and Cody Hodges before him, Harrell has garnered more stats than he has respect. Unfortunately, the skepticism will continue even while the Red Raiders challenge for the Big 12 South championship.

Most skeptics think the way they do because, yes, Texas Tech throws the ball like nobody out there. Herrell threw it 713 times last year and is on pace for 600 this year. He already has more attempts than most teams will gather all season. However, this year is different than last for Herrell. Herrell has only thrown 3 interceptions so far compared to last year’s 7 at this point in time. He finished with 14 last year and will be around 6 this year. That will grab many voters when they case their ballot. It takes an extremely good QB to only throw 6 interceptions on 600 pass attempts.


5. Todd Reesing
The Jayhawks went 12-1 last season in no small part because of Reesing. He is listed at 5-11, which must be in his platform cleats, yet Reesing threw for 3,486 yards, 33 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He also proved, as Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has said all along, that the spread offense doesn't need tall quarterbacks, only smart ones.

Todd is off to a very familiar start for himself in his Junior year, on pace for more pass yards but three fewer TDs. However, it is evident that the Jayhawks are not quite as good as their team last year but still has a respectable 16th ranking. He will have to show what he is made of with some ridiculous games left that include: #1 Texas, #4 Oklahoma, #7 Texas Tech, #11 Mizzou, as well as Nebraska. That means that Kansas only has two games left that they will be favored in and only one sure-thing win. Pretty stupid of me to say that though, as this season has been anything but sure-thing.


There you have it. There aren’t many (if any) conferences out there that can say their #5 QB is as good as Todd Reesing is, and there aren’t any that can say they have 5 QBs as superior that these men are.

Please tell me what you think at the comment section below.


Justin Hulsey
StLDieHard24@gmail.com

Changes Under Way for the Rams

Remember the Mike Martz years? The old saying is “you get a little good with the bad” right? Well that’s exactly what that era in Rams’ history was. You had the “Greatest Show on Turf” years when we dominated the league... but we also had times when you had to ask yourself what the hell is Mike doing? He is an offensive genius and I cannot deny him that.

Then came along Scott Linehan. A complete change from Martz, Linehan was calm, cool, and collective. After years with the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins, Scott had finally landed his first head coaching gig EVER. Expectations where high and the fans were looking for the glory years once more. Trust me, I was one of them.

Well that was then and this is now. Now Scott Linehan is fired. Last week Monday, Chip Rosenbloom gave Linehan the (expected) boot. Scott Linehan took control of an 8-8 team in 2006, and was fired September 29, 2008, after the team started the season 0-4 following a 3-13 performance the previous season. Linehan’s combined Rams’ record halts at 11-25 in three years. He was 1-1 in the playoffs, playing both games in his first season in ’04.

His firing was inevitable following a 0-4 start in which the Rams’ were arguably the worst team in the NFL. Losses to the Eagles (38-3), the Giants (41-13), the Seahawks (37-13), and the Bills (31-14) brought the combined score to umm about 116-29... making us the team with the worst offense and defense in the NFL J. It was so bad that I was convinced that Mizzou could beat them. The Rams’ have lost 17 of their past 20 games (8 in a row), most of them being absolute blow outs. During the Week 4 game against the Bills, signs even read “Congress: Bail out the Rams!!!”

It was no doubt that the Rams’ wanted Scott out as well. Two days after Linehan benched team QB Marc Bulger, Bulger and RB Steven Jackson publically ripped Linehan. Jackson saying, “I just don't like it at all. There are more people that can take the blame for this. I don't think it's fair that one person takes the blame. You don't put your head guy, the general, the staple center, and you bench him with no excuse. It's not right,” and Bulger reportedly saying, “I can’t and won’t ever play for that man again.” So now, Scott, you have your two biggest stars tired of you, what else could go wrong…. except for being fired!

Since then, Bulger (Rams’ highest paid player ever) has regained his job and will be starting Week 6. Speaking of, the road ahead is not easy. The Rams play the 4-1 Washington Redskins this week, followed by the 4-1 Dallas Cowboys the week after.

Linehan needed to be fired but he is not the only one. The team can also blame recent drafts, as well, for the recent suckiness. This year’s past draft was the best I have seen in a long time for the Rams after drafting future stars Chris Long, Donnie Avery, Justin King, and Keenan Burton but before that the drafts were awful. Sure, in 2007 we got Adam Carriker who has turned out to be not half bad but we also drafted Brian Leonard? Jon Wade? Who is he? In 2006, (the punk who always gets us pentalized) Tye Hill? Joe Klopfenstein? Claude Wroten? Again in 2005, Alex Barron is not playing like a 1st rounder three years ago. The rest of that draft class you ask? There are no current starters besides Barron. These guys are supposed to be really good by now! What’s going on, front office?

Back to the Linehan being fired... Who took his spot? Good ole Jim Haslett. Our former Defensive Coordinator who allowed 116 points! Hooray! Now, don’t get me wrong... I kinda like the guy but that sentence just does not sound right, “Defensive Coordinator who allowed 116 points!” I am just saying, some have a legitimate excuse to think he is the wrong man for the job. Believe it or not, Rosenbloom actually insists that Jimmy is, in fact, not the Interim coach but the full time, all out coach of the Rams. With Haslett taking the reins, former assistant coach and LB coach Rick Venturi will now take the Defensive Coordinating job.

In a recent St. Louis Post Dispatch interview with Haslett, they discuss a variety of things Haslett is going to change off the field to create more discipline that really impressed me. Take a look:

You’ve already made some interesting decisions. You wanted the bushes trimmed around the practice field, and you wanted some boxes and stuff cleared out of the lobby. Why?

“[…] The main lobby is not a holding center for boxes and stuff. If you are a guest and you walk in, the main lobby is the first thing you see. You don’t have stuff thrown all over your living room – boxes and garbage thrown around. And when the players walk onto the field, the bushes are about 10 feet high – they’re overgrown and there are weeds. That doesn’t mean you’re going to win or lose games, but I think it’s the appearance that, hey, this is a nice organization […].”

Also, you’ve taken the benches out of the indoor practice facility. Why?

“We are not sitting on benches. We’re not sitting on helmets. This is not the Greatest Show on Turf anymore where guys could just sit around and get up and practice. We’re not that type of team anymore. […] I don’t want guys sitting on helmets. I don’t want guys sitting on the railings. Sitting on bags. Sitting on the benches. You’re only out here for two hours. Concentrate on what you’ve got to do, and I don’t think we need to sit down.”

What is your general football philosophy? How do you go about the business of winning games?

“First of all, you’ve got to have good players. You’ve got to have the right type of players. I like guys that are tough, hard-nosed guys. That like playing the game. I don’t think you draft guys now unless they love the play the game. The money should not be an issue. On the field, I think field position’s big in the National Football League. You have to play well enough on defense. You’ve got to know what you have on offense. You’ve got to know what kind of players you have. Can you score a lot of points? Are you a grind-it-out football team? There’s more than one way to skin a cat. […].”

You can see the rest of this interview at www.stltoday.com.

For me, that is the best attitude the guy could have. He thinks outside of the box and knows what needs to be done off the field as well as on it in order to win football games. The dude knows what he is doing and has been in this situation before. In 2000, Haslett was hired in New Orleans to try and rejuvenate a 3-13 team the year before. Not only did he improve the team, he led them to a 10-6 record, their first ever playoff win, and a ton of accolades for himself including the AP Coach of the Year.

Who knows how this will all play out. Haslett has the swagger and the right mindset to turn the talent we have into some victories. We may be worse than before, or we just might decide to stop jacking around and get something done with this season before it’s too late.


Justin Hulsey
StLDieHard24@gmail.com

Writing Positions

We are always looking for help here at FANdemonium Sports! We currently have three writers, but are interested in getting a fourth.

It would be nothing too, too serious. There would be no definite pay but profit sharing is possible if you hang around. We would just be asking for at least an article per week regarding general sports (unless you specialize in a certain sport)... look at the previous posts for examples.

This is a great opportunity to get your stuff out there for 30-80 of different people per day. It looks great on resumes, and is just a fun thing to do with your free time - writing about sports that is.

If you ask any of the other two writers that put their content on this site, I am sure they would tell you that I am pretty laid back as to what you write. If I need something about a certain topic, I may send you an email... but about 90% of the time I just expect a weekly article. Basically, you can write about whatever you want as long as it is about something in the world of sports. I view it as a hobby, not a job... therefore, I would not treat you as an employee but as a friend that also likes sports.

Thanks. I appreciate your time, and look forward to hearing from you.

The FS Team

Including myself, we have three writers here at FS... but we are always open to discussing a job with anyone.

Justin Hulsey
Founder / General Sports Writer
StLDieHard24@gmail.com
Justin is a 16 year old living in a small town about 40 miles away from St. Louis, MO. His life and passion is sports. Not only a few sports, but sports in general. He is set to attend Missouri University for Sports Journalism (after two years at ECC) after his high school tenure is through. Once he is out of college, he looks forward to getting his career started with newspapers on his way to the ultimate dream of working in Bristol. His favorite teams are the St. Louis Cardinals, Rams, and Blues, the Chicago Bulls, Mizzou Tigers, SLU Billikens, and the Texas Longhorns.
Started FS in October of 2008.

Cory Guinn
General Sports Writer
cryguinn@yahoo.com
Cory is a 19 year old college student at North Greenville University where he is majoring in Print Media. He writes for the school newspaper covering sports and hopes to one day own his own sports magazine with his top goal of being part of the ESPN crew. He has been an avid sports fan for all of his life and wouldn't want it any differently. He is a serious fan of the Duke Blue Devils, Texas Longhorns, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Braves, and Dallas Cowboys.
Writer Since: January 2009

Joseph Kelley
General Sports Writer- specializes in MLB

opethguitarist@gmail.com
Joseph Kelley graduated from the University of Houston in December 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and is currently hanging out in Spring, Texas. Joseph's expertise lies in the MLB and fantasy baseball, but he follows everything outside of hockey. He has participated in fantasy sports since 2004. He is in charge of the FBJ Writer's League and runs many custom leagues. He writers for two other sites as well... MLB Center and Fantasy Baseball Journal.
Writer Since: April 2009


You can contact any of these guys by emailing the address listed below their name. However, for issues regarding writing positions, advertising, or any other important matter.. contact Justin, FS webmaster, at StLDieHard24@gmail.com.

Thanks, and make sure you leave a review... located at the bottom of the home page.

About FS

Well if you click on this link, then you are apparently somewhat interested in what FANdemoniumsports.blogspot.com is all about. Whether it be who we are here at FS or if you just want to know what the point of all this nonsense we write is, I am typing this up to let you know. I will try to cover how all this began, how it has gone, and how it is going. If you want to know anything else, feel free to contact me.

The site started in October of 2008 and has been chugging ever since. When it all began, the site was named "The Jay-Stick", but after wanting a more sports-sounding title I decided to make the switch to the current name, FANdemonium Sports (FS).

As I am sure you already know, the word "fandemonium" came from the word pandemonium which is often used in the sports world; meaning chaos, havoc, hell, uproar, medlam. The word originated in the book Paradise Lost; it was the capital of hell. I changed it to FANdemonium, and it only makes sense. As the blog indicates, the articles are for the FANS, by the FANS.

It all began with blogging on FanNation for a while until I wanted to take my stuff to the next level. I was familiar with Blogger and, therefore, decided I would start this blog. I did not know how long I was going to stick with it or how many people were going to check it out. I wasn't sure if I was going to get 40 views a month, or - our current average - 40 per day. With luck and persistant writing, it is choice B that has been working so far.

At the current moment, we are getting anywhere from 30-80 views per day. When I started this up, I had no idea what to expect. I knew that there would not be a ton of hits at first, but I have been pleasantly surprised thus far.

Other than myself, there are two other writers. Cory Guinn has been writing for FANdemonium Sports since February, and I couldn't have asked more from him. I wanted roughly one article per week and I get one every week, no exceptions. It is good quality material that I love associating with my site.

Lucas Cipkowski is our other writer here at FS. He specializes in the NBA, but can cover whatever needed when it comes down to it. He has been writing for us for about a month. Hopefully he will hang around for as long as possible.

Forget them guys though... In a nutshell, I am just a 16 year old that is crazy about sports. Am I an expert? I don't know... but I would like to think I know a thing or two. For that reason, I decided to throw together a spot to gather my work. Looking at things as a whole, I want FANdemonium Sports to be known as a place where you can find grade-A articles covering the world of sports. So far, I think we have accomplished just that.

Advertising

You need a place to advertise your site? We can do it here at FANdemonium Sports! I will accept a link exchange 100% percent of the time so send me an email. Contact me at StLDieHard24@gmail.com for more info.


Sites that we current have sponsership agreements with include:

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If you want to see your name on that list, you NEED to get ahold of me so we can work something out!