Just a Few Observations

Bitter Fan alert!

The New York Times reported this morning that Jack "Of the River" Del Rio, coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars (pronounced Jag-Gwars not Jag-Wires, Stuart Scott), was set to implement more rigid personal conduct standards for his team.  Evidently, the Jags have had several players arrested throughout the season for alcohol/disorderly conduct type offenses.  (I apologize that I cannot find the link for this story; I read the paper edition every morning and this is not on the website for some reason.)  Admittedly, I've not watched as much Sportscenter this year, but this is the first I've heard of this issue.  Usually, whenever another team gets in trouble, writers and commentators always mention the Bengals, as if to imply that whatever said player did, it could not possibly compare to the paragons of infamy, the Cincinnati Bengals.  I am intrigued, however, because like the Bengals, the vast majority of the Jaguars offenses are substance abuse/personal responsibility type offenses.  This begs the question - will Roger "Goody Good" Goodell apply the same logic behind his absurd suspension of Odell Thurmond to the Jacksonville Jaguars?  This is the point where the lexicon of football can change:

If Goodell lays down the same degree of suspension (not necessarily length, but a sizeable length of time off), can we establish an "Odell Thurmond Rule," kind of like the "Roy Williams Rule," only dealing with low priced shots off the field vice cheap shots on the field?  If Goodell does not come down with severity, we still have an Odell Thurmond rule (sans quotes) - one that only applies to Odell Thurmond (an blatant bill of attainder for you Constitutional scholars out there.)

Note - this story is unrelated to the 4 game suspension of Marcus Stroud for steroid use.  As we all know, the NFL needs to penalize players that like to party off the field much more severely than players that undermine the integrity of an honorable game by cheating - it only makes sense...(sarcasm alert).  Further, let's celebrate those players that cheated in commercials - Shawne Merriman....

Also - I love how the national media (Peter King et al.) are slobbering over Ray Lewis' tirade following Baltimore's embarrasing loss to Pittsburgh last night.  They call him a leader, one who speaks the truth, a brutally honest poet of the street (OK, I made the last one up).  To me, he sounded like a bitter player that was throwing the other half of his team (the Offense) under the bus.  Moreover, he sounded like a whiny 8 year old who didn't want to admit that Pittsburgh kicked the crap out of his defense.  Had Chad Johnson called the defense out publicly along the same lines, he would be called out of line, a locker room cancer, and disrespectful of his teammates (he already is called these things and he has not publicly called out anyone on his team).  Call me crazy, but I'm feeling a bit better about the Baltimore game this Sunday.  Sweeping the Rat Birds might just save the season.