Shout out to Peter King!
For this edition of the wire I will be borrowing a format from the great Peter King. His 10 things posts were legendary. He was the first person to show me the term coffeenerdness in addition to all the good football info I learned from him. So, here we go!
- If you don’t know Phil Mushnick by now then you should. His columns are peppered with arrogance and humor and quite a fair deal of insight about sports… if you are into that sort of thing. He has a lot to say about the NFL as of late and I think he is right. The NFL is screwing up. They are not capturing the moment and the opportunity this moment is presenting. This is not for lack of trying, mind you. However, there is trying and there is trying the right way…
- Staying on the NFL here, they really are trying with NFL flag. They’ve organized tourneys nationwide, and even promoted teams and curriculum in schools. It is not catching in every district. I think presently only 14 states have it in use at some level. Push harder. Give more money to go with the materials and curriculum. Then go next level and sanction youth tackle leagues from 12 to 14. You got this.
- Actually, Elite Athlete Management got this. At least here in AZ. The athlete management firm boasts sponsorship of the best youth teams at every age group they have a team. That’s a big deal. They win in flag. They win in tackle (same kids). I haven’t seen the basketball stuff yet, but I know they got it too. In fact, they’ve arranged to have a stadium for their youth teams. That’s crazy.
- The youth game is crazy and there is too much energy and attention paid at all levels. At the same time there is less than enough quality teaching happening.
- I am trying to teach my kid fundamentals of competition and how it feels to win and lose. He’s running middle school varsity track as a 6th grader and running against one of those Elite kids from above. Same age. They are the two sixth graders out there. He’s getting beat pretty bad and needs to improve. This is not me talking–finally–it’s him.
- Where he goes from here is a new tackle club, as discussed. The Irish is not going to be a very good team year one. Unless we get a huge influx of talent–specifically on the line–we need to think about D3 or 4 as a possibility. 12u football is about size and speed. We have speed in my kid, but where is that line?
- Left Instagram for a while. Withdrawal from social media feels like any other form of withdrawal.
- Coffeenerdness: I’m starting to appreciate darker coffee, which is to say less cream in the mix.
- I want to close this out by talking about the NFL. First, the Darnold situation has me genuinely confused. If so many coaches and players say he’s super good, then why hasn’t he been? What is missing there? I am formally willing to give the kid a chance this season. Hopefully, for his sake, he pops.
- The Rodgers thing has me really spinning. Can’t NYC just leverage one of those newly gained first round picks and bring a new A-Rod to town. Danny Drops is young and can learn a lot sitting behind that guy…