ORLANDO - Glad to hear Chattanooga missed Snowmageddon 3.0 for the most part Thursday. It seems the worst is behind us now.
Hooray. Although the kids may need to attend school until June 21. So it goes.
From the satellite offices of the "Talk too much" studios, we're wrapping the Disney adventure in grand style, and we'll see you Monday back in the saddle.
FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2015, file photo, New England Patriots football defensive tackle Vince Wilfork smiles during a news conference in Foxborough, Mass. Wilfork, who won two Super Bowls with the Patriots, said Thursday, March 5, 2015, the team will not be picking up his option and he will become a free agent. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File) From John Proctor
Sweet buckets of Boston snow, are the Pats crazy enough to release Vince Wilfork to save salary cap money?
Their announcement that they would be willing to bring him back under a "reduced contract" reminded me ofyesterday's column on how much Manning was willing to give up and how it benefits the franchise at the expense of the players. They may save a bunch of cap money but cutting him lose will leave a giant hole, literally and figuratively, in the defensive line. How is this a win for the team in any way other than financial?
I'll hang up and listen.
JP -
Your assessment is spot-on - as was Stewwie's in comment on the Manning riff Thursday - and there is no gain for the Patriots.
But, aging talent is more the former than the latter in the NFL's eyes. Vince Wilfork is a cornerstone to that franchise - he's the third most critical piece of this decade-long-plus dynasty behind Brady and Belichick.
But NFL teams facing cap questions are forced to view cornerstones as dead weight.
The Patriots and the Steelers among the teams around the NFL have remained good through the salary cap era because they routinely and consistently release players a year too soon rather than a year too late.
Such is the case with Wilfork. Although, there likely were several area buffets/late-night breakfast joints that would have helped augment the contract offer to keep the 360-pound Wilfork in the greater-Foxboro region.
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From Disney fan
I have read your blog for years now, but this week was the first time I have been moved to writing in. Your tales from Disney have reminded me of fun trips there with my kids long ago.
This Jan. 23, 2009 file photo shows the characters Aladdin, Jasmine and Abu from the film, "Aladdin," on the "It's A Small World" ride, at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. An attorney says a disabled man, Jose Martinez, was awarded $8,000 by Disneyland after the "It's A Small World" ride broke in 2009, stranding him for half an hour while the theme song played continuously. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)What's your favorite thing about the park and and what has been the most surprising?
I love Disney and we went a bunch of times, but I love hearing from other people what is their favorite parts.
Thanks.
Disney fan -
We have little 5-at-10s - son Lee, 7, and daughter Madeline Ray, 4 - and this is the second time we've made the trek to the land of the Mouse. We went two years ago, and this trip has been worlds more fun because the kids are so much more into it.
This has been amazing.
The rides, the shows, everything has been great.
Our Rushmore of fun stuff this week: Watching Lee do the Jedi Training academy (and fighting Darth Vader on stage with a toy light saber - seriously), the Space simulator at Epcot, the Fantasmic show, and we took the kids to the Cirque de Soleil - oh my word was that awesome, and by all accounts likely ruined every circus ever for the tots.
In this Oct. 15, 2011 file photo, "Darth Vader" accepts the Ultimate Villain award from "Star Wars" creator George Lucas during the 2011 Scream Awards, in Los Angeles. A decade after George Lucas said "Star Wars" was finished on the big screen, a new trilogy is destined for theaters after The Walt Disney Co. announced Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, that it was buying Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4.05 billion. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)As for the surprising, well, the people watching here has been awesome in its awesomeness. There are a slew of folks here who take their Disney a touch too seriously if you know what we mean. Hey, our 4-year-old brought her Cinderella dress for breakfast with the Princesses, and there were a lot of 4-year-olds dressed like their favorite Disney characters.
There also have been a lot of 34-year-olds dressed like their favorites, too.
Disney has officially passed Augusta National and Churchill Downs as the place where you will hear the widest variety of languages.
There are three simple keys to detecting those from foreign lands:
- Puma. Roughly 90 percent of the people wearing Puma shoes or gear will be speaking another language.
- Disregard for patterns. Stripes and plaids. Dots and squares. Who cares across the pond? Apparently no one.
- Soccer jerseys.
Speaking of soccer jerseys, well, you know we're anti-jersey to begin with, but here are the worst jerseys for the common fan to wear in support of their favorites, and all of these were seen this week here at Disney:
- Cycling gear. Hey, if you want to wear it while riding, fine. But seriously, we need you favorite biker from Team Espana. Those get-ups leave little to the imagination, and for the real cyclists, being super-tight make sense because they are super-in-shape. For those that need the Rascal to get around the Magic Kingdom, well, maybe tights are not the best call.
- NBA jerseys. We saw a 400-pound dude in a faded and stained Larry Legend jersey this week, and the only way we knew it was Birds was the name on the back. The NBA jersey offers much too much insight into personal body hair as well. No thanks.
- NFL T-shirt jersey. At least if you are going to jersey up, go full speed. And if you have a full-blown jersey, you can keep wearing (if that's your thing) after a player leaves your team. Case in point, if you had an old-school, replica jersey of Peyton Manning's 18 with the Colts, that's still OK. The T-shirt jersey though has to go after the player leaves. (Exception of course is Derek Jeter, who is likely the exception to almost any rule anyway.)
- All others. Although, we will say that soccer jerseys are likely the coolest of a bad option.
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From Terry
OK, the Hawks are honoring Dominque Wilkins with a statue this week, and I wondered who else in Atlanta sports deserves a statue.
I know Aaron and P. Niekro have statues and there seems like some others.
If you were going to have a Rushmore of Atlantab sports -- of all types -- what four get statues?
Thanks and looking forward to hearing you on Press Row next week.
Former Atlanta Braves' Chipper Jones takes the podium during a pregame ceremony retiring his number before a baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday in Atlanta.Terry -
Thanks as always for the kind words and for always playing along.
If we had an Atlanta sports Rushmore - and put it on the other side of Stone Mountain maybe - well, that's going to be tough.
We would have to decide if this an Atlanta Rushmore or a Georgia Rushmore, because the obvious difference is Herschel of course.
If we are going to go strictly Atlanta, we'd likely go Aaron, Chipper, Wilkins and Ted Turner. Yes, that leaves off the Falcons, but who would be the face of that franchise?
We did Chipper instead of the pitchers because he was the only one that stayed his entire career with the Braves and that should count for something.
Great question. Anyone have a thought?
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