Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Indianapolis Colts vs. Miami Dolphins – Winners in the Trenches Will Win on the Scoreboard

by Kent Sterling

Two members of the Indianapolis Colts aren’t going to get a lot of sleep this week. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton and right tackle Gosder Cherilus will spend a lot of time preparing to face one of the most frightening left defensive ends in football as Cameron Wake of the Miami Dolphins will visit Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

Wake tallied 2.5 sacks Sunday against the Cleveland Browns in a 23-10 win. For the Colts to be successful Sunday, Wake is going to have to be neutralized either through Cherilus winning the battle or by scheming to diffuse his explosiveness off the end. Not only is Wake worth some sleepless hours, DT Randy Starks comes in on passing downs and creates havoc from the inside.

The reason the Colts may be able to run the ball a little bit is that Wake is indifferent in trying to stop the run. He didn’t pursue the ball with a lot of energy last Sunday unless it was in the hands of Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden.

Once the Dolphins got the lead against the Browns after trailing 7-6 at the half, the hounds were turned loose, and Weeden was made very uncomfortable. He threw 59 passes, but only four traveled 20+ yards from scrimmage, and only one of those was completed. Weeden looked a lot like Tony Eason did during Super Bowl XX against the rabid pass rush of the Chicago Bears.

Weeden’s deep ball percentage last year was only 11%, but he cut that in half last week despite trying to mount a fourth quarter comeback against the Dolphins.

It was exactly for games like this that GM Ryan Grigson signed running back Ahmad Bradshaw. The Dolphins aren’t very good against the run – or at least they weren’t against Trent Richardson. This is also an excellent team against whom to throw short to intermediate passes, and that’s what Hamilton prefers. If Bruce Arians vertical attack were still being used by the Colts, Luck’s life insurance carrier wouldn’t sleep Saturday night.

The Dolphins offense is a study in mediocrity. There are a few games that Robert Mathis should have circled on the schedule and this is one of them. Tackles Jonathan Martin and Tyson Clabo were weak on Sunday – particularly the formerly very good Clabo. The receivers are led by Brian Hartline, Mike Wallace, and Brandon Gibson, and there isn’t a whole lot of risk taking with Hartline and Gibson. Gibson is a good-enough-to-stay-in-the-NFL guy who will make the occasional play, but drop balls he shouldn’t at the worst times. Not great speed, not great hands, and not elusive after the catch, Gibson’s inclusion on a roster signifies an acceptance of mediocrity.

Wallace was a major free agent signing in the offseason for the Dolphins, and after whining about his five targets and one catch compared to Hartline’s 14 and nine, it’s likely Tannehill will take do what he can to get Wallace involved. Tannehill was ranked 26th in his rookie season in deep balls thrown, but he was in the top ten for completion percentage on those throws. The Browns got to Tannehill four times, which led to his limiting deep balls to only four. Only one of those was completed.

The running game is driven by the efforts of backs Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas. Against the Browns, those two ran 18 times for 17 yards – and the Dolphins won! How? The Dolphins aren’t going to score or control the clock by running the ball.

As for the Colts, they beat the Raiders because Grigson was smart enough to draft Andrew Luck #1 overall in 2012. Luck was a splendid field general Sunday completing 18-23 for 178 yards. On balls thrown less than 20 yards beyond the line, Luck was 18-19. When the Raiders blitzed, they got to Luck three times, but he completed 10-11 for 100 yards and one TD. When not blitzed, Luck was 8-12 for 78 yards and one TD. The moral of that story is that regardless of the defensive game plan, Luck is really good.

Throwing the ball is only half the battle in completing a pass, and Reggie Wayne is as good as there is on the other end. He was targeted eight times, and caught all eight passes for 96 yards. There were five defenders that Wayne beat to earn those five catches. He is the gold standard, and with only moderately talented targets elsewhere, Wayne and tight end Dwayne Allen must make plays for the Colts to score enough to win.

The Colts season and this game will be determined by the excellence of Luck. They aren’t good enough yet on the defensive side of the ball to win without Luck playing at a very high level. Other than DE Lamar Houston, the Raiders are average to poor virtually everywhere, and the Colts nearly lost their home opener to them, and that was with Luck playing on an elite level.

This game against the Dolphins is a pretty good matchup for the Colts. Oddsmakers have the Colts as a three-point favorite. Home field being worth three points tells us that no one really knows what to make of these two 1-0 teams. When all else is pretty close to even as these two teams are, pick based upon the quarterback. Luck has won enough to believe that he will continue to win, and the Colts should do just that.

Keys for the Colts:

Luck gets rid of the ball quickly, rolls left (away from Wake), or steps up quickly as Wake’s sacks usually result from beating RT wide.
Bradshaw and Ballard run right effectively
Find a way to creatively put pressure on Tannehill
Play with the lead – makes some sense, doesn’t it?

Keys for the Dolphins:

Limit drops
Protect Tannehill long enough to stretch defense with Wallace
Move Wake around in zone blitzes and set up wide. He is almost exclusively left DE, but lining up across from LT Anthony Castonzo would give Colts fits.

Pick – Colts win 20-16

Oklahoma State Answers SI Piece With Bizarre Compilation of Rebuttals – Including Tweet from ESPN’s Jason Whitlock

by Kent Sterling

Are the OSU Cowboys the rootin-tootinest outlaw program in America, or did SI get it wrong. Time will tell.

It’s hard from a distance to know for sure whether allegations in Sports Illustrated of wanton disregard for NCAA rules within Oklahoma State University’s football program are baseless, absolutely factual, or somewhere in between. All we have to judge right now is the first of five pieces in a series, and now a page on the Oklahoma State University website that list responses from university bigwigs as well as some rather random folds from several walks of life.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

None of it is incredibly inflammatory or wacky, but I’ve never seen anything like it. Not sure who was in charge of culling Twitter for pro-Oklahoma State/anti-SI rhetoric, but it led to some interesting – maybe even baffling reading. Academic institutions rarely rely on ESPN analysts for ammunition to dispel negative press, and while I’m reasonably sure that neither Jason Whitlock nor Darren Rovell were asked to come in on the side of the Cowboys, there is something unseemly about seeing their tweets in this forum.

Below are the most interesting of the tweets and statements on the page, followed by pithy commentary from me.

“Oklahoma State University is deeply troubled by these claims. We will investigate the accuracy of the allegations and take all appropriate action. We do not condone or tolerate improper conduct in our athletic programs. OSU requires everyone affiliated with the university to follow the rules and adhere to the highest ethical standards.” Statement from OSU President Burns Hargis

What Hargis didn’t say is that losing is also not tolerated, and if the “highest ethical standards” are adhered to but Mike Gundy’s team loses, he will be fired without a second thought. Ethics in college athletics equates to not getting caught or putting a harsh spotlight on the university.

“In Monday’s news conference, I apologized to our fans and mentioned phone calls I had made to other Big 12 athletic directors prior to the release of the first article from Sports Illustrated. To clarify, my apology was in regards to the negative publicity that was coming our way. My apology was in no way an admission of wrong doing by OSU Athletics.” OSU Athletic Director Mike Holder

Why would an athletic director apologize to anyone if the journalism is trash and the story isn’t partly factual? Holder broke the first rule of self defense – never apologize. Only the guilty apologize. I don’t think Nixon ever said he was sorry.

“Let me say this ti [sic] all of you, I was never paid or said anything negative about OSU, That Evens [sic] guy is trash for what heworte! [sic] He took what I said and flipped it to his own words! I never said anything about Bobby Reid, Defo, or John Talley! I am embarrassed and shamed of this articale! [sic] I was lied to about what this articale [sic] is about and for that I apologize to everyone for! This is something that will get resolved and I will see to that myself! The guy wrote lies! So for all of you flipping out on me, don’t believe everything you read just because its in a book or magazine! “ Rodrick Johnson, via Twitter

Not sure Rodrick did much to help the academic reputation of Oklahoma State. “Ti” instead of “to” is an easily explained typo, but “articale” was used twice. Minus the misspellings and threatening language, that is pretty close to what everyone says when people flip out on them for what appears in print.

“Kudos to Oklahoma St AD Mike Holder for a tremendous statement ahead of the SI allegations. Clinic on how you do it. Pledge transparency.” Darren Rovell, Twitter

The pledge of transparency and the delivery of transparency are very often quite different. Way too early to issue kudos to anyone for anything in this mess.

“My God, this might be the journalistic crime of the century. Boomer Sooner got to write takedown of Okie State. Unreal. #plushesahack I’m too jaded and cynical so you tell me. Is this 10-month SI investigation into Okie State as cliche/pointless as I think? Long live Taylor Branch and original reporting/perspective. The “Dirty Game” is shamateurism, not $100 handshakes.” Jason Whitlock, Twitter

Curious that Oklahoma State would choose to use tweets from Whitlock on their website. I like Jason, but when I have asked several nationally repeated columnists about his work, they all said the same thing, “Oh, you mean the last honest man?” He trashes other journalists with regularity, but some deserve to be trashed. My money is on lawyers from Time Warner (conglomerate that owns SI) being very particular in their vetting of the information reported in this series that continues through the week. Whitlock may be right that this investigation is cliche and pointless as he’s not only “the last honest man”, but correct quite a bit.

College Football – If SI Report True, Oklahoma State Deserves Death Penalty, or Rule Book Is Meaningless

by Kent Sterling

“Hey, Mark Emmert! I dere ya to come to Stillwater with yer fancy lawyers an’ prove we did sum thin wrong!”

If the journalism is solid, the NCAA has two possible responses to the five-part report Sports Illustrated is releasing one part per day this week about the rampant corruption at Oklahoma State from 2001-2011. They can disembowel the program by issuing the death penalty, or they can throw the rule book in the trash can and acknowledge that the rules and potential penalties have no effect on what many view as corruption, and others see as a market economy working as it should.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

The first part of the series available today deals with cash being paid to players in a variety of ways – through bonuses, on demand cash payments, and shadow jobs. You can read the piece yourself, and will likely have the same response I did. Of course this happens. The players have great value to the university, and the boosters love access and wins. How would cash not migrate from thick wallets in the pockets of cigar chomping businessmen into envelopes given to players?

The image and reality of college athletics are so far apart that either the NCAA is filled with morons – something I don’t believe – or they are unwilling to view themselves as an organization with any responsibility to dedicate resources to ensuring fairness in the enforcement of its rules.

It would be wonderful to believe that football programs can effectively police themselves, but anyone who believes cash, sex, grade fixing, and drugs don’t find their way into players lives with the tacit approval of those running many programs is absurd. There might be outlier programs that are run in accordance with the rules, but they are likely the least successful in the FBS.

If the NCAA wants to ever be taken seriously again, it has to respond in a profound way to these reports, and it can’t be as the result of an exhaustive 18-month investigation. If SI’s George Dohrmann and Thayer Evans can uncover what they did in 10 months as journalists, it stands to reason the resources of the NCAA can be brought to bear to achieve the same results in a truncated time frame.

Assuming these allegations are true, (the coaches implicated by the anecdotal evidence offered by former players deny everything), not only should the Cowboys program be imploded, everyone involved should be banned from coaching at an NCAA member institution for life. That includes current Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy and LSU coach Les Miles, who coached in Stillwater during a significant portion of the decade the report discusses.

The time has come for the NCAA to decide who and what it is. For how much longer can they continue to issue edicts and rules that are so wantonly disregarded and continue to function as anything but a laughing stock as an oversight organization trusted to maintain a level playing field in the big money world of college football?

I’m not certain which option would provide the more positive result – the NCAA bringing hell down about the corrupt, or abdicating as a watchdog. America was presented with the same conundrum less than a century ago as prohibition removed the distillation and sales of alcohol from legitimate businesses, and unwittingly turned it over to criminals for 13 years. Law enforcement was no match for the thirst of Americans who wanted their whiskey. In 1933, America gave up the fight and breweries and distilleries retooled.

What I do know is that the middle ground where the NCAA currently sits is untenable and reduces the respect fans and members have for it every time a story like this is written.

Available a week from today will be an exhaustively researched book by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian called “The System.” It’s a fascinating work that celebrates the glory and uncovers the scandal of big-time college football. None of the illicit behavior is surpassing, but all of it embarrasses the NCAA.

In it, the 20th chapter tells the story of the recruitment of five-star running back Ricky Seals-Jones, currently a freshman at Texas A&M. His father was offered up to $700,000 if Ricky chose their school.

Everyone accepts as fact that colleges offer a barrel filled with cash for top ranked recruits. The money is paid by bobos to family members, and there is no trail from the school to the athlete so the NCAA is powerless to stop it. This is the first time I can recall a father getting specific about the offers, although he does not reveal the schools.

The NCAA is bruised, battered, and perhaps not ready for another fight for the soul of college athletics. If they are, reforms are needed to provide them the teeth needed to gather on the record testimony. If not, NCAA President Mark Emmert should stand at a podium and admit defeat. The corruption may be too big, rendering the rule book meaningless.

Forty-four Years Ago Today, The 1969 Chicago Cubs Fell from First Place and from Grace

by Kent Sterling

After 24 years of mediocrity, the Chicago Cubs were on the precipice of doing what many thought impossible – win.

1969 was the first year of division play in Major League Baseball, and the Cubs appeared ready to take advantage of the new construct to beat five other teams rather than nine to advance to the postseason for the first time since losing the 1945 World Series in seven games to the Detroit Tigers.

A little boy’s dream died on September 10, 1969. A lot of little boys’ dreams died that day.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

The 1969 Cubs were a happy group who took a city’s mind off Vietnam, Nixon, inflation, assassinations, the trial of the Chicago Seven, and all manner of unpleasantness that dominated the news. There was less Len O’Connor and more Wendell Smith on WGN-TV News through that summer of grace.

Ron Santo clicked his heels every time the Cubs won a home game, and manager Leo Durocher ranted at umpire Shag Crawford until he was sent home. Ernie Banks smiled as he enjoyed his final productive season at the age of 38 with 23 home runs and 106 RBIs. And Chicago fell in love.

Just five weeks before September 10th, the Cubs lead in the NL East was nine games, and the coronation appeared to be guaranteed. Three weeks after the Cubs fell out of first, the margin was nine games again, but in the wrong direction.

For those who can’t remember, 1969 was a lot like the Bartman play, but it took two months rather than the blink of an eye and a Moises Alou fit of ill-temper. I’m not sure which is crueler to fans – the quick pop to the back of the head, or the torture of a prolonged demise.

Fans in Chicago were never the same. Cubs fans knew the team sucked from 1946-1968, but with shrewd deals that brought Fergie Jenkins, Randy Hundley, Bill Hands, and Jim Hickman, the Cubs nucleus of hall of famers in Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams had the help they needed to win.

The gaping hole in centerfield was the only weakness in the starting eight, and the Cardinals appeared to be the biggest hurdle in the Cubs way to paying off the loyalty of a fan base too long left dormant in October as others took their turns enjoying the fruits of their faith.

The black cat the leaped (or was thrown) onto the field at Shea Stadium has been blamed for the Cubs demise, as has day baseball. At that point, every game at Wrigley started at 1:20 p.m., and people said that the Cubs dealt poorly with fatigue as the season progressed because of the adjustments from night games on the road to the day games and back again.

The truth was that the Cubs had four great players (Banks, Williams, Santo, Jankins), six or seven good players (Don Kessinger, Glenn Beckert, Randy Hundley, Bill Hands, Kenny Holtzman, Jim Hickman, and maybe even Paul Popovich), and a bunch of very marginal major leaguers. As a result, Durocher needed to trot out the same guys day-after-day, and the grind of the season finally took its toll.

The core of the 1969 Cubs continued to play together for four more seasons, all of which ended in disappointment. Chicago learned to believe that the Cubs were destined to come up short, and the team has never been able to shed that image. In fact, they have only reinforced it through memorable postseason collapses in 1984 and 2003.

Next month (October 14th to be precise) we will have another day of mourning as the 10th anniversary of the Bartman Game will be marked.

The current tragic state of the Cubs is far less cruel than what fate was dealt to fans in 1969, 1984, and 2003, but being a fan of those teams, while ultimately disappointing was much less troubling than following the current team.

The Cubs not only have no interest in competing, but the owner lied with a straight face when saying that the team might move from Wrigley Field if approval for upgrades was not granted. If not for Wrigley Field, the Cubs would struggle to draw one-million. This is a bad team by any definition with ticket prices that rival the highest in baseball.

In 1969, 1984, and 2003, I felt cheated by the baseball gods. In 2013, Cubs fans are being cheated by a greedy owner who hides behind the facade of rebuilding a farm system with 16 year-olds and preaches patience. I will be patient – at home.

The 1969 team was magical, and because of their love for the game, each other, and their fans, remain heroes.

A just finale for Ernie Banks career as a hitter would be a final swing of a Louisville Slugger to the knees of the current pencil neck owner who pledges adoration for the Cubs while filling his pockets with the hard earned shekels of fans too blinded by their worship to see the theft of which they are a victim.

Jim Mora Jr. Press Conference Discussing Player’s Death Interrupted by Idiot Member of Media (Video)

by Kent Sterling

“What a moron!” is something I’ve shouted internally hundreds of times during press conferences. The questions that reveal a total lack of understanding of a situation, the callous lack of empathy, and the occasional fits of anger from the media are consistent sources of embarrassment for people who cover news and sports as professionals.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

UCLA coach Jim Mora, Jr. was in the midst of speaking eloquently about the tragic death early Sunday morning of receiver Nick Pasquale, who was killed when hit by a car while walking in his hometown of San Clemente, when a video technician covering the press conference took or made a call and spoke loudly enough to distract Mora and be heard on mic in the video below just over halfway through.

Mora responded the way you might expect by telling the guy to shut up. When the guy told Mora to “Go on,” well, that was more or less the end of the news conference.

People who consistently behave as though what they are doing is the most important thing on the planet are an anathema. A boy is dead. A coach mourns. And a stooge talks on his phone.

There have been plenty of examples that I’ve seen representing indifference to the person behind the podium, but not many that have been this foolish and insensitive.

I’m glad that Mora called out this buffoon. Only through humiliation are these episodes eliminated, assuming the media member is bright enough to recognize that he’s been humiliated.

Mora then returned to speak with the beat writers covering the team.

Indiana Football – Despite Loss, Hoosiers Headed in the Right Direction

by Kent Sterling

Indiana Football is headed in the right direction, and the reason lies in the eyes and words of the players and coaches, not in what has happened against Indiana State or Navy.

I had an interesting conversation with ESPN’s Jason Whitlock a couple of years ago about whether he, or anyone, really needs to attend the games to cover a team. His point was valid, watching a game from a press box is not nearly as revealing as what you can see on television, and you can get the quotes during the postgame via the internet. My sense was that Whitlock didn’t like to travel for reasons of convenience rather than being in the best position to watch the game, but I get his point.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

Watching the behavior of the people involved immediately following the disappointment of a loss or joy of a victory is very instructive. Going to Bloomington for the games these past two weeks, and then observing the players and coaches made available gives context to words that would be otherwise inaccessible.

The Hoosiers players and coaches appear to believe that the most important play is the next one, and that their season will be defined by the effort made from this point forward. There are a lot of athletes and coaches who pay lip service to that philosophy, but few actually buy into it.

I played high school soccer a lifetime ago, and our most hated rivals were the Trinity (Louisville, KY) Shamrocks. I detested those bastards. Every single time we played them, I could not wait to get tangled up with one of their wings and put him on his ass. Beating Trinity was the best – only slightly ahead of beating Indianapolis Heritage Christian, St. Xavier, or any other team we played. The two times we played Trinity my senior year, a play I made led directly to the winning goal being scored for Trinity. I remember exactly where I was for both plays, what specific physical movement I made to cause them to be able to score, and I still feel the pain. It’s like the games ere yesterday. Putting a loss behind you is hard work requiring discipline.

After talking to three players (TE Ted Bolser, K Mitch Ewald, and WR Cody Latimer), and listening to three coaches, including head coach Kevin Wilson, I believe the Hoosiers are more focused on looking ahead to Bowling Green Saturday than looking back on a disappointing loss that was a good bounce or two from being a historically weird win. I’ve never seen a team win a game without a defensive stop, have you?

Wilson’s demeanor specifically is very interesting. When he was hired, Wilson appeared to be completely bereft of a sense of humor or ability to see a moment in life as anything more than motivation to work even harder than he already did. The thought that Wilson might allow the players to blow off some steam during yesterday’s practice, less than 24 hours removed from a disappointing loss, was an impossibility.

It wasn’t as though the game was forgotten, but the discussion of what went wrong was very forthright and clinical. There was a complete acknowledgement of the corrections that need to be made, but they didn’t carry the loss as unnecessary emotional baggage.

Now Wilson is not a stand up comedian. He looks like a coach, talks like a coach, and walks like a coach, but he seems to be completely minus the anger that lesser men would indulge.

I’m not that telling the team in the locker room as Wilson claimed today that they would score every possession and make a play on an onside kick to win imbued his defense with the confidence needed to get a stop, but what Wilson lacked in optimism he made up for by being very close to correct.

Not only do I like what Wilson and his coordinators have to say, but the way in which they say it. It would be very easy to see what happened Saturday night to a team that was a double digit underdog and go fire and brimstone, but this is a long season, and the behavior exhibited by the leaders of this team show that they believe brighter days are ahead. The only way Indiana will reverse course and begin to win is for Wilson and his staff to believe that day is coming.

It sure seems like they do, and that’s how the work gets done.

St. Louis Rams Beat Arizona Cardinals 28-24 – Sam Bradford Still Not the Answer, But Robert Quinn Comes Thru

by Kent Sterling

There are worse ways to start a season than by beating a division foe at home – losing comes immediately to mind – but the gap between where the Rams are and where they need to in order to get to where they believe they are going is a little wider than fans would like, and much of that gap exists between Sam Bradford and what an elite quarterback looks like.

Bradford is very accurate, but there are occasional lapses in decision making that make the Rams prone to turning the ball over. Criticizing a guy who went 27-39 for 299, 2 TDs, and only one pick sounds strange – especially after he led the Rams to a fourth quarter TD and two field goals to come back from 11 down in the fourth quarter – but it’s accurate.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

Coach Jeff Fisher is trying to build a defense stout enough that the Rams can win without a great quarterback, but that has become very difficult in this era of the NFL. Does Bradford have the stuff to rise to the level of Joe Flacco? Maybe. Is the Rams defense the equal of the Ravens? Not yet.

There is a ceiling for the defense that is a lot higher than that of Bradford.

Ask me what is wrong with Bradford, and I have trouble coming up with an answer more specific than, he just doesn’t look right back there. The balls are on target and on time more often than not, but I feel the same way about Bradford as I did my son’s hearing when he was a baby. I had no way of knowing whether Ryan could hear or not, but I was terrified that he couldn’t. Sure enough, his tonsils were like ping pong balls and his adenoids were like hunks of flank steak. Once they were removed, he was fine. Bradford is just missing something that has nothing to do with delivering the ball or moving in the pocket.

Watching Bradford and Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer on the field during the same game was a little surreal. They were so similar in their behavior and production that a look at the stats seemed in order. Again, Bradford – 27-39 for 299, 2 TDs, and a pick. Palmer was an almost identical 26-40 for 304 yards, 2 TDs, and one pick. The difference between the two was in the sacks. The Rams got to Palmer four times (including one that forced a fumble), and Bradford was kept clean by an improved offensive line.

A guy who was not missing anything yesterday was defensive end Robert Quinn, who ravaged LT Levi Brown as he harassed Carson Palmer relentlessly, notching three sacks and a fumble that was recovered by follow end Chris Long. Quinn also had three sacks against the Cardinals at the Edward Jones Dome in the 2012 season. Michael Brockers was a force in the middle against the run, Janoris Jenkins was effective when matched up against Larry Fitzgerald with two passes defended.

On field behavior was an issue for cornerback Cortland Finnegan as he accounted for 30 of the Rams 59 penalty yards, and that won’t keep them from beating the Cardinals, but against a lesser group, discipline mayhem must be practiced. If those penalties were a result of frustration over his poor coverage, that’s understandable. By my count, Finnegan’s receiver was targeted seven times. All seven resulted in receptions for a first down or touchdown.

The improvement along the offensive line didn’t have any effect of the Rams running game, which appeared to be missing Steven Jackson more than many believed it would. Rams running backs had 22 shots at running the ball and managed only 66 yards. Can Rams running backs get the yards needed on third down to be able to move the chains and extend drives? Who knows, but the Rams must not think so as the handed the ball off exactly one time on third down. That was late in the game, just prior to Greg Zuerlein’s game winning 48-yard field goal.

Early season games are tough to read. No team knows exactly who they are yet, and that works for the good as well as the bad. There are times when a couple of games with good results are enough to make believers out of a team, and the opposite is true too. The Cardinals are not going to be a good team, but they didn’t know that yesterday. The Rams are feeling pretty strong today despite an anemic running game, a pick six, a touchdown forfeited because the otherwise splendid Jared Cook didn’t secure the ball, and 4-for-11 third down efficiency.

There are many reasons to be pessimistic about the Rams next game at Atlanta this Sunday, but one excellent reason for optimism – the ability to overcome all of that to win an opener for the first time since forcing five turnovers by the Denver Broncos in 2006 to win 18-10 on six Jeff Wilkins field goals. Bradford was a wide-eyed freshman a full year away from his first action as a collegian at Oklahoma when the Rams won that game.

Now Bradford is in his second season with the same offensive coordinator, but one game into this very important season, he appears to be the same Bradford as he has been.

Ten NCAA Reforms that Should Be Immediately Adopted, But Won’t Be

by Kent Sterling

After reading the findings of several committees formed to examine and reform the mission of athletics on the campuses of large universities, my eyes and brain are weary. The principal recommendations involved forming more committees to prompt additional gathering of perspective and data.

Jesus. If bureaucrats are good at anything, they are good at forming committees where discussions can occur without any action being required.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

The truth is the chances of meaningful reform stand at zero because the people in these meetings are paid by the word rather than the deed. Success for these pedantic and inert procedurbyterians is determined by reports generated through meetings, rather than action.

No one has ever lost a job because they attended too many useless meetings. When decisions are made that require a concrete undertaking, someone is ultimately held responsible for the fallout. That puts jobs at risk, and what is the point of that?

So, despite all of this talking about athletic reform, those issues people find problematic will continue to exist because their solutions would require a measure of change for which a bureaucrat would have to assume responsibility. As we have discussed, that does not happen because if no one is responsible for a problem, jobs are safe, and the people responsible for the current mess are all long gone because the last time anyone tried to substantially change the game was 1939.

I do not enjoy sitting in endless meetings, and would prefer bold activity to mindless yakking, so here are ten corrective measures a consortium of college presidents could adopt to move the needle toward a more positive athletic experience for “student-athletes.” Several would bring with them a new set of less irritating problems, but we aren’t after perfection here. Striving for perfection is paralytic, and as a result, not a welcome goal for this Sterling Commission of one.

Pay coaches not one dollar more than the average salary of a fully tenured professor, but allow them to earn tenure in the same way a professor can. Paying coaches more than $5 million to recruit and educate students results in priorities that are nowhere near the best interest or mission of the university.
Eliminate freshman eligibility. Adapting to college life is tough enough without worrying about knocking down jump shots in front of thousands. In truth, I believe freshman are quick to embrace the collegiate lifestyle, so this move would be mostly symbolic. It would also cripple the one-and done rewards for basketball programs thrilled to welcome those basketball players who know before setting foot on campus that their collegiate experience is more a purgatory prior to their real goal, rather than a choice to seek higher learning.
Allow athletes to control and monetize their likeness in the same way professional athletes do. Money earned is not held in a trust. It is paid immediately to student-athletes just as it would be to any other adult. Players are allowed to enter an agreement with an agent for the purpose of capitalizing on their image – just as an other adult is.
All athletic practices must be held during times not ordinarily devoted to academics. Too often, athletes are steered away from majors and classes that utilize periods that are convenient for coaches to hold practice.
Games must be played Thursday through Saturday to reduce travel during the week. I would prefer the Ivy League schedule of playing Friday and Saturdays, but that’s not realistic.
Coaches who are found to break NCAA rules are banned for coaching at at NCAA member institution for the rest of their lives. No appeal. Support an atmosphere of academic fraud – gone. Bid for a recruit – gone.
Players in all sports are given as part of their scholarships a $100 per week stipend to cover ancillary expenses like laundry, clothes, food other than what is provided by the school. Some student-athletes are unable to engage in normal live type activities, and are unable to work for the cash needed to do so. After scaling back the wages of coaches to professorial levels, there should be plenty of loot to spread around.
Recruiting is limited to one month per year for all sports. The relentless barrage of texts, calls, and letters isn’t good for recruits or coaches. During that month, there is no limit on number or types of contacts.
There is no limit on number or types of games coaches can attend to watch prospective student-athletes.
Practices and individual workouts can be scheduled throughout the 12-month calendar for up to 30 hours per week. To not allow that restricts the amount of improvement student-athletes can reap as they prepare to play professionally. If college football and basketball are to be used as a de facto minor league feeder system for the NFL and NBA, student-athletes should be allowed to prepare as well as possible.

There you have it in just over 800 words. Reforms that make sense presented without authoring an encyclopedia-esque set of volumes.

College is supposed to be for the benefit of the student-athletes who donate so much energy to the universities they attend. Keeping both eyes on that focus can’t help but improve systems and opportunity.

Doing the right thing is always much more complicated than it should be.

Indianapolis Colts Go to 1-0 with Less Than Convincing 21-17 Win Over Oakland Raiders

by Kent Sterling

Enjoy every game Andrew Luck plays. As Colts fans found out with Peyton Manning, the end comes before they are ready to say goodbye.

All the Colts who contributed mightily to the Colts opening day win over the woeful Oakland Raiders, please stand up. If your name isn’t Andrew Luck, Reggie Wayne, or LaRon Landry, sit your asses back down.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

The problems with the performance of the Colts were many and profound, but as was the case last season, Luck and Wayne are the NFL’s answer to Compound W – the warts melt away quickly enough to allow the Colts to win games they otherwise shouldn’t.

Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson knew exactly what the score was after last season, and many adjustments were made to the roster to upgrade the areas of gravest concern. Landry was one important upgrade at safety, and he responded with a gaudy 15 tackles.

We’ll have to watch the tape to see who was responsible for the relentless pressure Luck sometimes dodged and sometimes didn’t. He was sacked four times by a defense that wasn’t expected to be able to deal with the arsenal of offensive weaponry presented by the Colts.

Luck threw for two touchdowns and ran for the clincher with 5:20 left in the game. That represented his eighth comeback in just 17 games. Reggie Wayne was typically excellent with eight catches for 96 yards.

There were several moments where the game’s outcome hung in the balance, and the Colts coaching staff had the good sense to put the ball in the hands of its best two players. As the Colts tried to put themselves in a position to score with 7:52 left, they faced a third-and-two on their own 42. Luck dropped, stared a hole in Wayne, and slipped the ball in for a gain of nine. It was simultaneously simple and elegant, moved the sticks, and showed that while the acquisitions during the offseason were a noble effort to upgrade C players to B players, with the game on the line Luck and Wayne are the guys trusted to execute.

The running game was like the 6 1/2 years Alfonso Soriano spent with the Chicago Cubs. The ball either flew out of the park – like on Luck’s game-winning scramble from the Oakland 19, Vick Ballard’s first run from scrimmage for 12 yards, or Ahmad Bradshaw’s 13-yarder up the middle on the first drive of the second half (which came on third-and-31. Or they were strikeouts like on the 12-of-20 rushes that gained three or less yards from its two running backs.

The Colts offensive line will need to protect Luck at a higher level. After a rookie season that saw the franchise sacked 41 times, the Raiders put the Colts on a pace to yield 64 sacks.

The Raiders went with the very athletic Terrelle Pryor under center because other than his wheels, the offense has nothing to keep defensive coordinators up nights. Minus Pryor’s improvised 112 yards on 13 carries, the Raiders producers 59 yards on 20 carries.

That would be acceptable if the Colts weren’t schedule to face both Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick this season. If they think Pryor was tough to corral, imagine if Pryor had an accurate arm, a great running back like Frank Gore or Marshawn Lynch, and receivers like Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis, or Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate, and Sidney Rice.

The Colts escaped today’s game with a win because Luck is quickly becoming special – a player who can be counted upon week-after-week to provide game changing heroics. Doubters need only watch other respected field generals like Carson Palmer and Sam Bradford to see exactly how unique his gifts are.

His stat line of 18-23 for 178 yards and two TDs isn’t gaudy, but nothing about this 23 year-old is – except the number of wins he piles up wherever he goes.

Some random thoughts

Greg Toler was understandably enthusiastic during his first game in a Colts uniform. He was in front of the home crowd, and wanted to make a good impression, but the histrionics after every tackle was ridiculous. A win is a win in the NFL, but this was not a game with much but the result to celebrate. The defense’s effort was mediocre to be kind. Toler’s cavorting belied a lack of understanding that the Colts have a long way to go before they can content with the NFL’s best.
There is no excuse for the Colts not using timeouts after the two-minute warning. The Raiders converted a fourth-and-9 with 1:52 to play at their own nine. The clock was irrelevant to Oakland because they would be able to easily run four more plays to try to score a touchdown that would give them a 24-21 lead. If the Raiders had found a way to score late, the Colts would have had all three timeouts, but very little time left. If the Raiders didn’t score, the Colts could have exhausted the time remaining regardless of how much remained. The percentages heavily favored using the timeouts. Not doing so was like hitting a 16 against a five in blackjack.
The penalty on the Raiders for hitting a defenseless Darrius Heyward-Bey was a little goofy in that the hit that was flagged didn’t even result in his tackle (if it was on Kevin Burnett). The referee said it was on #23, but Tracy Porter was nowhere near the play. There was a little nudge from Tyvon Branch, but that wasn’t late or excessive. Burnett hit DHB hard, but it didn’t bring him down. How defenseless could he have been if it didn’t cause him to go down. At any rate, if I can’t figure out who the hell the flag was on, there shouldn’t have been one.
If the Colts don’t take a significant step forward this week, they are going to be in trouble against the Dolphins, and 1-1 is not acceptable given their schedule if the Colts want another shot at the postseason.

Hagan & Sterling at 11a on 1070 the Fan Might Be Best Ever with Pacers Paul George and Bernard Whittington

by Kent Sterling

What the hell else is there to listen to on local sportstalk in Indianapolis than “Ahead of the Curve” with Fox 59’s Chris Hagan and me? Nothing. No station thinks enough of you to produce a local show.

It would be easy for Chris and I to breeze through the two hours knowing that there were no other choices for people on their way to West Lafayette and Bloomington for week two of the college football season, but that isn’t how we roll. Every week, we work to put together the best show possible.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

Today, we will welcome the Indiana Pacers all-star Paul George to the show for the first time. Paul will be in West Lafayette with teammate George Hill tailgating prior to the Boilers matchup against Indiana State getting people jacked up for the auditions for the G2 Zone, and he’ll tell you why the Pacers run to Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals was no fluke.

We will also talk to one of the plaintiffs in the recently settled lawsuit against the NFL over the long term effects of repeated head trauma, and he should be a very familiar voice to Colts and Hoosiers fans. Bernard Whittington will talk about the $765 million settlement as well as the challenges faced by former NFL players. Bernard does great work with the NFL Alumni Association, and knows about what former players face following retirement.

We will also preview the Hoosiers game against the Midshipmen of Navy. Navy runs a triple option defense, and Indiana coach Kevin Wilson was nervous enough about this game to bank an extra three days of practice by scheduling Indiana State on a Thursday. Navy upset the Hoosiers last season, and coming off a 73-35 win over Indiana State, IU is feeling very productive.

The Colts are getting ready for a visit from what experts expect to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, and we will talk to the host of the Raiders pregame to find out why the Colts might have anything to fear from the Silver and Black.

The National League Central is heating up after the Cardinals 12-8 win in St. Louis last night. Yadier Molina was targeted by a fastball in the seventh inning, and hit one of the pitches that followed into the deep, dark night for a three-run jackerton. Adam Wainwright and Jason Locke will both try to reverse their recent skids tonight in a game for first place.

If that isn’t what they call “appointment listening” in radio management seminars, I don’t know what is. Today at 11a, or come back here later today for podcasts of the interviews.

It goes without saying that this will be the best two hours of my week, but I’ll say it anyway.