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Around SBN: Cal RB Jahvid Best Seriously Injured, Carted Off Field

The Ballad of Big Mike

With nothing left for this season but to fantasize about what's to come, this article by Michael Lewis- for the New York Times Magazine(Sept. 24, 2006), seemed appropriate. It's the story of a kid who literally came from nowhere- and now may end up back there when we draft him. Seriously, I highly recommend the piece. There's something triumphant about it.

3082867314_1f2e37898a_medium

via farm4.static.flickr.com

In a way, I almost hope that, though we need him desperately, he doesn't have the misfortune to end up here. I mean, ask Willie Anderson how that worked out for him. Guy gives ten years of his life- and way more than ten years' wear and tear on his body to this organization for what? His name on some Ring of Other Also- Rans & Misfortunates in that Monument to Mediocrity down by the river?

Talk about ambivalence. Run away, Michael Oher! Fake an injury! Tank the combine! Do whatever you must to avoid the life sentence of a Mike Brown affiliation! We'll understand and franchise Scott Kooistra!

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Excellent Article...

He sounds like a great player. It would be almost tragic to comdemn him to a career as a Cincinnati Bengal.

"Ryan, Things in here don't react too well to bullets." - Marko Ramius

by TarZander on Dec 4, 2008 9:57 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

awesome Micheal Oher story

It’s in the article and in the book “The Blindside” that’s largely about Oher.

From the first play of the game, the Munford defensive end who lined up directly across from Michael targeted him for special ridicule. The Munford player was about 6-foot-2 and couldn’t have weighed more than 220 pounds, and yet he wouldn’t shut up. Every play, he had something nasty to say.

Hey, fat ass, I’m a kill you!

Hey, fat ass! Fat people can’t play football! I’m a run your fat ass over!

The more he went on, the angrier Michael became, and yet no one noticed. Freeze ordered up plays that called for Michael to block a linebacker or to pull and sweep around the right end and leave the defensive end across from him alone. The first quarter and a half of the scrimmage was uneventful — until Freeze called a different sort of play.

Leigh Anne rose from her seat to beat the crowd to the concession stand and so had her back to the action when the people in the stands around her began to laugh.

"Where’s he taking him?" she heard someone say.

"He’s not letting go of that kid!" shouted someone else.

She turned around in time to see 19 football players running down one side of the field after the Briarcrest running back with the ball. On the other side of the field Briarcrest’s No. 74, Big Mike, was racing at full speed in the opposite direction, with a defensive end in his arms.

From his place on the sideline, Sean watched in amazement. Freeze had called a running play, around the right end, away from Michael’s side. Michael’s job was simply to take the defender who had been jabbering at him and wall him off. Just keep him away from the ball carrier. Instead, he had fired off the line of scrimmage and gotten fit — which is to say, gotten his hands inside the defender’s shoulder pads — and then lifted the Munford player off the ground. It was a perfectly legal block, with unusual consequences. He drove the Munford player straight down the middle of the field for 15 yards, then took a hard left, toward the Munford sidelines. "The Munford kid’s feet were hitting the ground every four steps, like a cartoon character," Sean says. As the kid strained to get his feet back on the ground, Michael ran him the next 25 or so yards to the Munford bench. When he got there, he didn’t stop but piled right through it, knocking over the bench, several more Munford players and scattering the team. He didn’t skip a beat. Encircling the football field was a cinder track. He blocked the kid across the track and then across the grass on the other side of the cinder track. And kept going — right to the chain link fence on the far side of the grass.

Flags flew, grown men cursed and Sean called Michael over to the sidelines.

"Michael," said Sean, "where were you taking him anyway?"

"I was gonna put him on the bus," Michael said.

Parked on the other side of the chain-link fence was, in fact, the Munford team bus.

"The bus?" Sean asked.

"I got tired of him talking," Michael said. "It was time for him to go home."

Shonn Greene for Heisman
Big Ten's leading Rusher, Leads FBS
144 yards per game
6.2 yards per carry
08 TDs per game > 06 GPA

by shake n bake on Dec 4, 2008 11:05 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

just a little southern style exageration…where’s the part where the entire munford roster jumped his ass when he got to their sideline with the hood ornamnent?lol.
but nice article and fun reading.

here’s a true story..there was a linemen at my high school who never played before but he was 6-8 400lbs..one of his first practices he fell hip first onto a kid already on the ground and crushed his face mask onto his nose..the kid was cut but okay. the humble giant quit the next day because he didn’t have the heart to hurt someone…he then wrestled heavy weight and won all by forfit.

by raven on Dec 5, 2008 1:15 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

If we get Oher to play LT, what are we going to do with Levi Jones, and his gigantic contract?
Do you think that Browns would trade us Steinbach back for him…..

If we could get Willie back, would the Browns trade us Steinbach for Willie and Levi?

I guess letting Steinbach go was the right decision. We don’t really need good interior linemen anyway, and we can just cut Jones, and Anderson after giving them big bonuses, and start over giving a huge contract to Oher, who maybe good, but could be the next Levi Jones.
and who says we need a GM.

by R.F. Mehl on Dec 5, 2008 8:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

RE:

“If we get Oher to play LT, what are we going to do with Levi Jones, and his gigantic contract?”

I’m not certain Mehl, but I think his cap hit would be just under $2 million. That figures for cutting him this season, and could drop if he was cut next year.

Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.

by Kirkendall on Dec 5, 2008 8:53 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

I guess I was just trying to underscore how much of a waste of money resigning Jones has turned out to be.
Cap hit or not, I think cutting Jones is the best idea. We need a tackle that can play.
The real question is if we get a LT with the first round pick, does that make Collins obsolete, or can he play another position? Unfortunately, fixing the line is not a one position change, while it is something that could be done in the offseason if intelligent wholesale changes are made, but will probably take a few years.

by R.F. Mehl on Dec 5, 2008 9:40 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

RE:

Making a complete uneducated guess. But if the Bengals do go left tackle in the draft, I would suspect that they’ll move Collins to right tackle, and let Stacy Andrews walk. I like him a lot, but Andrews isn’t “franchise” worthy money.

Even if they keep Andrews, they could move him to right guard and decide a different avenue for Bobbie Williams. I personally don’t see any significant gains either way.

Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.

by Kirkendall on Dec 5, 2008 12:42 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

and if for some reason

Oher is gone- say to the Lions ahead of us(though I suspect they’d go either Stafford or Bradford whichever declares), there are Andre Smith from Alabama and Eugene Monroe from Virginia with not a lot of drop off. With any of those guys watching Carson’s six, I’m comfortable and you put AC at RT, Whit and Bobby at guards, and either Jonathan Luigs or Antoine Caldwell(either in the 2nd round. Mack’ll go in the 1st) instead of Ghiaciuc at center…? Let Ghiacuic, Andrews and Jones go- Andrews through free agency and the others by whatever you can get out of them in a trade. And, while we’re at it, let’s lose Utecht and replace him with either the tight end from Okla. St.(Brandon Pettigrew) or OU(Jermaine Gresham) and get Jorvorskie Lane in here from A&M at fullback.

by IgnatiusJReilly on Dec 5, 2008 5:37 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

MY IDEA

i say the bengals draft Oher, okay?

then we trade houshmanzadeh and levi jones to the raiders or the seahawks for their first round pick.

And then we draft chris wells with that pick.

P.s. cut ghiachuc and get an actual center in the 2nd round

Fire Mike Brown+hiring GM= CHAMPIONSHIP

by Braveslax1012 on Dec 7, 2008 8:47 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Housh and Guy-check

Both are free agents after this year. Can’t trade/cut either. Though if we traded Chad……

Totally agree about a RB though. We need one. Benson? Meh. I suppose he could service for a year or two before we draft a franchise-style back. But we need to stock pile the line. First two picks has to be the line, IMHO.

Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.

by Kirkendall on Dec 8, 2008 3:39 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

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