Gang, it's a big week by all accounts, right? Right.
Remember the mailbag, and if you have any changes/tweaks to the bowl challenge, let us know.
NFL Power Poll
We know that the quarterback gets too much credit and too much blame for the success in football considering the nature and the emphasis of team sports. But is it disproportional in the NFL?
There is no position that can swing the expectations and the results of a team than having great quarterback play.
Look at the teams positioning themselves as the best in the NFL. It's fairly easy to see - there are four of the five best quarterbacks in the game today and one team that has the best roster helped in part because it has the best value at quarterback. That's the reason quarterbacks get so much credit and blame
Look, too, at the teams circling the drain of the league, and know that while there are a litany of problems within each of those franchises, the questions at quarterback are the foremost concern.
Look as well at the most disappointing teams in the league: San Francisco, Chicago and New Orleans. The 49ers and the Bears have talented pieces and have been betrayed by quarterbacks who the teams invested huge contracts because they hoped they could carry a franchise. The Saints have a legit top-five guy taking snaps and still have not been able to win, which screams at the holes elsewhere on the roster.
So maybe the value of quarterbacks can't be overstated. Neither, too, can the freedom some of the elites get.
Tom BradyTake Tom Brady for example. Brady was caught Sunday night doing his best Andrew Dice Clay impression and dropped a river of curse words that are still hanging over the greater San Diego area. You stay classy, San Diego. Brady said to blame the networks for showing him in the heat of battle and how emotional players have to get.
For the most part we concur with Brady, and if you are going to put those super sensitive mics all around the field with grown men playing a sport filled with grown men trying to destroy each other, well, you're rolling the dice.
Tiger WoodsStill, did we not crucify Tiger Woods for similar language in similarly stressed moments in an emotionally charged sports setting? That's right, Tiger's not a quarterback.
Power Poll
1) New England
2) Seattle
3) Green Bay
4) Denver
5) Indianapolis
Bottom five
28) Tampa Bay
29) New York Jets
30) Jacksonville
31) Oakland
32) Tennessee
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Butch's contract
Vols head coach Butch Jones raises his arms while walking off the field to celebrate his team's 24-17 win over the Commodores in Nashville.Tennessee has rewarded Butch Jones with close to a $700,000 annual raise, with two years added to his deal and a lifetime of free crew cuts at Super Cuts. OK, we made that last one up, but how has Butch and his Sgt. Carter from Gomer Pyle flat-top not worked out some sort of hair deal? Hey, if it's good enough for Troy Polamalu, it's good enough for the leader of Team 118 and beyond.
Seriously, did Butch deserve an extension?
He's 11-13 and the AD praised his work in the classroom with the Vols academics. He returned the Vols to the postseason. He has crafted a couple very nice recruiting classes. He is 0-6 against rivals Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
Those are the facts, some good, some bad.
So is two years of Jones worth redoing the deal and signing on for $3.6 million annually through 2020 making Jones the highest paid state employee in Tennessee?
Here is ace columnist Mark Wiedmer's view.
Thoughts? Was an extension and raise warranted?
We can each side of the 'warranted' debate for Jones, who has restocked the cupboard but is still 11-13 - the same record as Dooley through his first 24 games - heading into the bowl.
But the question of needed is a resounding yes from the UT perspective in our view.
Whether Butch was a serious candidate or not for Michigan put the onus on Dave Hart and Co. to do everything possible to keep Jones specifically and continuity in general within the program.
Period. And, if that meant overpaying in the future for the peace of mind of today and to avoid having to restart in two weeks, that is completely reason enough for the extension.
Yes, the numbers seem obscene - an annual raise of almost three quarters of a million bucks - but that's the price of doing BID-ness in the SEC, rightly or wrongly. It's also a clear and direct definition of market value, and Jones' value escalated rapidly when his name got mentioned in concert with Michigan.
(Side note: We're pretty sure that Jomo may have been the first one to mention the Jones-to-Michigan storyline, and since that has allowed Jones a monster payday and the Vols some comfort in signing their coach through the rest of the decade, maybe Jomo is a closet Vols fan trying to help? Heck, he could be related to Butch for all we know. Billy, check into this, can you?)
Did Tennessee get Jimmy Sextoned, the move where name dropping coachers for open gigs equals big paydays that is named after the famous agent that represents a large percentage of college coaches? Maybe.
So there you go. Giving Butch a raise was the right move in a crazed coaching climate was the right move whether you think it was warranted or not.
In the words of Will Money in "Unforgiven" - "Deserve's got nothing to do with it."
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UTC update
We had Russ Huesman on Press Row on Monday. Sorry no transcript.
Here were the highlights:
• He said no group on the Mocs has improved as much as the offensive line.
UTC head coach Russ Huesman is the Southern Conference's coach of the year.• He acknowledged that Mrs. Huesman was well aware of the bone-bruising 31 carries son Jacob had in the second-round win.
• He said this group had a similar feel to his last team at Richmond - which is a pretty good feel since that Spiders group won it all. He said the defensive line at UTC is better than that bunch, especially at the tackles, but that the Richmond secondary was more experienced.
• He said his favorite New Hampshirite (and we may have called them New Hampshirerians, which we actually prefer to tell you the truth) is Chip Kelly, who Huesman called a friend.
Quick Rushmore of New Hamshirerians: Adam Sandler, Alan Shepard, Robert Frost and Earl Silas Tupper, who yes, invented Tupperware.
More Mocs: Here's today's story by UTC football ace Stephen Hargis.
And if you are curious about such things, the New Hampshire Wildcats are a 2.5-point favorite according to Vegas.
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This and that
- The Big 12 snub in the college football playoffs was at least in part because the league did not have a true champion, which has raised a discussion about the league needing a title game. Wonder what would have happened if Notre Dame, which is still a football independent so it obviously does not have a conference much less a title game was in the mix. Since the Big 12 is looking at a title game sooner rather than later, may be this will be the straw that stirs the Irish toward a real conference affiliation.
President Barack Obama meets with Britain's Prince William in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday, Dec. 8, 2014.- OK Kate and William, the Royal couple, are in the U.S. and took in an NBA game Tuesday. Apparently the folks at the Barclay's Arena chickened out and did not put the future King and Queen of England on the "Kiss Cam." We think that is an opportunity lost.
- From the folks at the Morning Drive on The Golf Channel, here's a video of a little kid reacting after missing a short putt. This also could be called "The Bubba Watson."
- John Wall went for 26 points and 17 assists in a double-overtime win Monday night. It was an emotional scene afterward when Wall collapsed in tears talking of the death of a 6-year girl whom Wall had befriended in the last year. John Wall may be the 5-at-10's new favorite NBA player.
- Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is not overly impressed with Johnny Manziel. Describing the possibility of preparing for Manziel this week rather than the struggling Brian Hoyer, Lewis said, "You gotta go defend the offense. You don't defend the player - particularly a midget." So what do you really think Marvin?
- The three Heisman finalists were announced. Amari Cooper, who was named SEC offensive player of the year, Melvin Gordon and Marcus Mariota will be invited to NYC where Mariota will win. OK, fine.
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Today's question
Gang, feel free to offer insight on any of the above.
We also are looking for any ideas or tweaks on the bowl contest.
As for today's Rushmore, let's spin this one a little differently.
Today's Kirk Douglas' 98th birthday and the 73rd birthday for Beau Bridges. What's our Rushmore of talented families of actors?
Go.