NFL 2013 WEEK TEN

UPDATE: We told you the worm would turn, it was just a matter of when. Playing the team playing Jacksonville every week was a strategy destined to fail, and today it failed as the Jaguars upset the Titans on the road in Tennessee. Falling out of the pool at week ten  are David O Markus, Peter Sautter and Mark Vargo. Well played gentlemen. Just an unlucky week to bet against the Jags.  Already safe this week are Dan Lurvey, Rumpole, and Lucy Lew. We're down to at least three as Ken Weisman has the Saints sunday night and Alan Kaiser has Tampa Monday night. 

Eight survivors put it on the line this week in the survivor  pool- the deepest this many players have ever gone in our pool. 

We like the Giants along with Lucy Lew.  Peter Sautter. Mark Vargo,  David O Markus are all riding the Jaguar wave and picking the Titans. Query: have you ever considered the odds of a team going 0-16 in the NFL? It's a very long shot. 
Dan Lurvey liked the Dolphins, but switched at the last minute to the Steelers, always a dangerous move in a survivor pool.  Alan Kaiser likes the Bucs to smack the big bullies down. As always, Kenny Weisman brings up the rear and and picked the Saints a few moments before we posted.  Jon Colby, who was a few minutes away from winning it all last week and instead was knocked out,  was standing by to make Weisman's pick for him if he was unavailable. 

No picks today. Just some thoughts on the Dolphins and the NFL. 

The Dolphins have been exposed an outlier in the NFL. A team that will use players regardless of their character. 
Take for instance the incredibly successful NE Patriots and their good-guy image with QB Tom Brady. They would never tolerate a player like Incognito with his bad boy reputation. Oh wait- they drafted  TE Aaron Hernandez, and all he did was probably murder at least one individual, and maybe more. 

Well then take the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. There is a team that puts character ahead of on field performance. Oh wait- their superstar linebacker Ray Lewis was arrested for accessory to murder for a killing outside of an Atlanta nightclub in 1999. 

Well then take teams like the family owned Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Surely they take pride in using players that live up to the sterling standards of their communities. Oh wait- The Steelers two time super bowl winning QB has been accused of rape. Twice. And that hasn't stopped them from playing Roethlisberger every possible week he was available. And the Bengals have had six players arrested in recent years, led by Adam Pac Man Jones, who has had several arrests including an incident where a person was shot outside of a Las Vegas strip club. 


In fact from 2009-2012 the following teams lead the NFL in players arrested: 
Buccaneers - 14
Vikings - 13
Broncos - 10
Seahawks - 9
Dolphins - 7 
Browns - 7
Chargers - 7


The fact of the matter is that Incognito's disgusting behavior is the norm in the NFL.  This is a league founded on violence and toughness where rookies have to "earn their stripes" and players are not considered men if they look for resolutions to problems that don't start with punching the other guy in the face. 

The NFL is broken. The coaches seek and reward players who are "tough" and "mean".  Players who scare and intimidate others are revered.  You often hear players in baseball or basketball lauded for their intelligence. In football, players are complimented for just their physical attributes, brute strength, and ability to administer punishing blows on the game field.  Oakland Raider safety Jack Tatum, who paralyzed NE Patriot receiver Darryl Stingley for life with a vicious and unnecessary hit in a preseason game published an autobiography with the title "They Call Me Assassin." 

The NFL is a league that thrives on violence and intimidation. And all of a sudden they are "shocked! shocked to find out that there is gambling going on here"* and that players act off the field the way they are paid to act on the field. 

You reap what you sow. 


*quoting Captain Renault in Casablanca.