Spit Blood: Aug 5, 2011

Friday, August 5, 2011

Andy Dalton: Sink or Swim

I meant to take a few days off from posting about the various former Frogs in pro camps and do a larger-scale update on Monday, but that story about Kerley was way too good to wait on...and besides, it's never a bad thing for potential future Frogs to read about the guys who have played here that are now making millions in the NFL- right?

Now CNNSI has a feature story about Andy Dalton on their front page, written by Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Be warned, though: Daugherty does not seem very enthusiastic about the prospect of his hometown franchise putting a rookie QB out there "to get

killed," and "get eaten alive" as former Bengal QB Norman Esiason (yeah, I went there) puts it.

It's certainly easy to understand their aprehension- after all, these are still the BUNGALS. But after having witnessed two of my own sad-sack "hometown" teams (Rangers and Mavs...and I was born here, smartasses) finally taste success and Dalton's magic over the past four years, I can buy some of the optimism about #14's future being touted by Cincinnati OC Jay Gruden and QBs coach Ken Zampese. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I do know this: I'll be watching more of the Bengals than any other NFL team without stars on their helmets.

Mark Sanchez tells us what we already know

It seems as if Jeremy Kerley might have a bright future with the New York Jets. He's apparently been taking snaps with the first and second teams in practice, and Jets' starting QB Mark Sanchez had pretty good things to say about him in this article from The Star-Ledger's Connor Orr:

"Baller," Sanchez said. "He's just a baller. He's doing great. For a guy who didn't know much of the playbook coming in, he's picked it up really fast. He's a yes-sir, no-sir kind of guy, puts his head down, goes to work, takes coaching really well and the players really like him."

Friday Morning lulz.

Yes, that is real. And it is NOT spectacular.

Just when we thought Boise couldn't get any worse, they go and do something like this and totally redeem themselves! Although I'm not sure it gets much worse than the Poulan Weedeater Bowl, this re-branding of the old Humanitarian Bowl played on the blue turf is certainly a close second. Fun fact! The new bowl will feature teams from the WAC and the MAC which not only means that with Boise moving to the MWC and being unavailable for selection this game will sell literally 50 tickets each year, but that with New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas all featuring teams from those Conferences, four of the top five potato consuming states will be represented. So congratulations, Texas, we are officially fucking FAT! I'll be honest - the renaming kind of makes me nostalgic for Lee Corso because can't you just see him seizing his way through "THAT MUSTA BEENA HOT POTATA!!" references on Gameday highlights whenever a receiver dropped a pass? Memories...

Also, in what would be considered "dark comedy" along the lines of Louis CK, comes this from our friends in Alabama. Basically the setup is this: Alabama has lots of deadbeats who do not pay their child support, so in order to lock them up the police have to go to comically absurd lengths. And what better way to reach bottom of the barrel class evaders from one of the most undereducated states in the country? Why, college football, of course! Just watch the video, I fear I've said too much already:

This just in: People do not like having their hearts toyed with in such a cruel manner. Also, cops are kinda dicks.

Homework for Remedial Frog Fans

If there's a TCU fan out there that I'd don't like, it's definitely the guy (or girl) who never shuts up about how big a Frog fan they are, talks incessant, hyperbolic shit to co-workers and friends who went to school elsewhere, criticizes the coaching staff for any minor misstep...and doesn't know a GD thing about the team itself. It's always funny when there's a momentous play in a game by a player that isn't one of the 2-3 stars that even my Mom knows and one these type of fans has to look in their program to figure out who it was. If you were one of those that saw the play above in last year's San Diego State game and were wondering who just caught the touchdown pass (it's Logan Brock, FYI), it's time for you to refresh your knowledge about the team for which you cheer.

Start by going back over the "taking inventory" posts I've compiled over the past few weeks, so you won't look like an idiot if Matt Brown or Jonathan Jones or Kenny Cain make a great play and you're stuck tugging on your friends arm to ask who #10 or #83 or #51 are:

-Quarterbacks
-Running Backs
-Wide Receivers & Tight Ends
-WR addendum
-Offensive Line
-Defensive Line
-Linebackers
-Cornerbacks
-Safeties
-Special Teams
-Coaching Staff

...and then if you're really wanting to sound like you know what you're talking about, take some time and get to know the entire roster. It may sound tedious, but you'll impress people when you know things like that the Brock brothers and Josh Boyce played high school ball with Baylor QB Robert Griffin, or in the event that a lesser-known player like former walk-on Billy Pizor scores a touchdown...which he did against UNLV in 2009.

Maybe I'm overreacting. After all, if you're a clueless fan in the stands...at least you're not still out at the tailgate/rave acting like you go to SMU. But I'm guessing that a lot of you fit the description above and don't realize that you look dumb...and would genuinely like to be a better-informed fan. So no judgement- it's not easy to know everything about a team that even the local media ignores 97% of the time, but this is your chance to play catch-up in the final few weeks before the season starts.