LEADERS JUST AREN'T WHAT THEY ONCE WERE

I realize they are easy targets, but I have to respond to those bloggers who still refer to Vince young as a great leader, after the wounded guidon appeared on the sideline of the Titans' victory at home over Houston today.

A great leader? Yeah, all great leaders hang out in strip clubs, and pout and cry like babies. Wonderful example to follow. He'd do real well in combat. Another "friendly fire" fatality. If it wasn't so cold, Young and his Texas U./Titans posse could have taken off their shirts and sniffed armpits on the sidelines.

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THE MORE THINGS CHANGE IN TITANLAND, THE MORE...

First, the Nashville Scene came out with its annual Boner Awards (think Esquire magazine's annual Dubious Distinctions awards) and on the cover was Vince Young sucking his thumb.

Then...

"He's (Vince Young) one of our leaders."
-- Ahmard Hall, Tennessee Titans fullback, from Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean

"If he's one of your leaders, then your team is not worth a dime."
--Willie Daunic, 104.5 The Zone radio, in response to Hall's comment

Wow, Daunic may amount to something yet.

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Bud Adams is backing Young for one reason

Bud Adams cares more about sticking it to the city of Houston than he does about Vince Young.

It's amazing how the Nashville media misses the entire point when Adams makes some comment that sounds positive regarding Young.

Young is still a local hero from his high school football days in his hometown of Houston. Young is still a state college football hero from his days at Texas University.

What better way to get back at all your enemies in Houston, mad for abandoning them, than to draft Young? With all the money Adams has paid him, and the still dim hope he can lead his Nashville team to the Super Bowl, Adams must still back Young, even if the dream is getting dimmer.

Let's get it straight. Adams is not all that high on Young. Young is just a tool to leverage a dream against those in a city who turned against the turncoat owner.

-- Bryce Martin

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It's sometimes not fair to compare, but...

-- In Peyton Manning's worst year (his rookie year) his stats are doubly better than Vince Young's best year.
-- This year, Brett Favre will pass for 3,000 yards a 19th consecutive season. Vince Young has never passed for 3,000 yards in a season.
...

Just How Smart is Rusty Smith?

Smith threw three interceptions and could have easily had six or seven in his first NFL start for the Titans Sunday versus the Houston Texans. Most of his passes that were on target looked wobbly.

I know it's the NFL and all that rot, but it was still a pathetic showing by a QB who has played the position for several years and practiced so long on the training field.

But he's smart. That's one thing any member of the Titans coaching staff never fails to mention. If so, why then did he in the post game press conference refer to his victorious opponent as "Texas"? If "Houston" and "Texans" is not clear (and apt) descriptions in his mind by now, what is?

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Thanks Randy Moss for showing Yankee his due
By Bryce Martin

I've listened to Mark Howard of 104.5 The Zone in a pleasant voice recite how Paul Kuharsky is, down deep, a creampuff, a really nice guy behind the obnoxious facade. Of course, that's coming from a fellow Yankee.
So, it was really nice to see Randy Moss put Kuharsky in his rightful place during a short, initial "news conferece" conducted by the Titans' newest wide receiver Wednesday afternoon.
Moss, who has been around some, surely noticed right off that Kuharsky was a Yankee. You can't always tell, mind you, but with certain ones, such as Kuharsky, it is obvious to those who can sort them out. They have a certain look, just as a Southern Bubba does. Plus, when the voice followed, that had to seal the deal. Moss had to be anticipating a question only a Yankee could phrase... in its asking and in its voicing.
Moss had every reason to recoil. Yankees are accepted as rightful humans deserving of their share of oxygen only in the Northeast where they are among equally obnoxious counterparts.
If I wasn't already a Randy Moss fan, I am now.

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Is Jon Miller really a Hall of Fame-type announcer?
By Bryce Martin

NOTE: Jon Miller was in the news recently, and that reminded me of a past article in 2003 where I had mentioned him. It is reprinted below.


From the Merchant of Venom, Vitriol and Verisimilitude:

I've noted before from this sounding board how baseball broadcaster Jon Miller pronounced the Atlanta Braves' Rafael Furcal's last name three different ways in one game, actually in less than a minute in one game. There is no excuse for it.

I do not know what the practice is now, but I know that the Associated Press once sent out as part of its regular Teletype package a list showing how names were to be pronounced for any particular event. The AP got the lists from the various teams. My last name, for example, is pronounced Mar-tin. If I said I preferred Mar-teen, then that is how it would be listed for pronunciation.

Once a name was codified, so to speak, it was nearly impossible to change later on. The way a name was properly pronounced was considered important. Such pronunciation keys or guides are available from college and pro sports information departments.

When Dennis Rodman played for the Chicago Bulls, the public-address announcer for the Bulls always introduced him as being from "Southeast Oklahoma State University." It is Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Either no one noticed, cared, or wanted to bother in getting it right. Any of the three possibilities would likely fit Rodman. The error would be no different than referring to Western Kentucky's college teams as West Kentucky, or Northwestern University as Northwest University.

The most famous gaffe of this type is the one that gave the NFL's Tony Dorsett his "stage" name. His last name was always spelled Dorsett, but until he heard a PA announcer erroneously insert a long "e" at the end; he had never considered the possibility.

I know no one is perfect, and I like Mike Keith a whole lot and I think he does a great job with his play-by-play work for the Titans. In fact, I turn off the sound on my television and tune in Keith on the radio when the Titans are on the road. He does get the big bucks, though. For that reason and due to the fact he should know how to pronounce the names of all the Titans players and he should show consistency in doing so, I must criticize him for referring to Craig Hent-rich as Hent-rick. It is his job to get it right. Also, it helps to actually read what it is you are writing about. Print journalists take note.

Titans Football. That was the only wording on the front of the shirt worn by Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, "Titans Football" -- without the quote marks, of course. Fisher wore the shirt on the sidelines during the contest with the Steelers, and a similar one Sunday versus the Patriots. But, not according to The Tennessean sports columnist Joe Biddle. Biddle wrote a column after the Steelers-Titans game, in which he compared Fisher and Pittsburgh's coach, Bill Cowher. Biddle's point was that the two coaches were very much alike and that although they wore identical Reebok shirts for the game, there was a minor difference.

"The only difference was Jeff Fisher's shirt had 'Tennessee Titans' written on the chest while Bill Cowher's had 'Pittsburgh Steelers' on the front," Biddle wrote.

Fisher's shirt, in actuality, read "Titans Football," as I have mentioned. A little thing? Yeah, if you do it. However, Biddle gets paid to get even the little things right. Especially the little things.

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