Things I'm Thankful For In Sports

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and had the opportunity to spend it with either good friends or family. This time of year always delivers some fantastic match-ups in the world of sports. It used to just be the NFL that took center stage around Thanksgiving, but now we are treated to some big time college football games, early season battles between power conferences in college hoops, and the usual NBA and NHL schedule of games. So, I woke up this morning after Thanksgiving and thought, "what am I thankful for in the world in sports?" I felt compelled to share....

I'm Thankful For:

- Teams like TCU and Cincinnati for keeping the BCS system a complete mess

- Les Miles and his on-field interviews and post-game press conferences (Love hearing the Midwest accent down South)

- Matt Barkley only being a freshman (and being humbled in his first season, which hopefully motivates him for next season)

- The Pac-10 for finally being more than just USC and 9 other schools (Although, I kinda miss those days)

- Tim Tebow finally leaving Florida after this year (This blog is a better blog just by mentioning Tim Tebow's name)

- Paul Johnson coming to Georgia Tech and Josh Nesbitt for being as tough as any player in the country, and having another year of eligibility.

- Chris Johnson of the Titans for giving Adrian Peterson a good debate as to who's the best running back in the NFL

- Aaron Rodgers toughness (sacked more than any other quarterback and has yet to miss a game)

- Jay Cutler proving that karma does exist. (Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to....Jay Cutler)

- The NFL Redzone Channel (it's like handing the remote control to someone and letting them find the best moments in the best games)

- The Atlanta Hawks making an early statement that they could contend with the top teams in the East.

- Rick Sund trading for Jamal Crawford

- Josh Smith taking one 3-pointer all season

- Brandon Jennings saving basketball in Milwaukee

- Tyreke Evans, Johnny Flynn and Ty Lawson keeping the NBA in good hands at the point guard position for the next 7 years

- That I don't live in the NYC/NJ area as an NBA fan.

- The Suns and Nuggets giving the Lakers a fight in the Western Conference

- March Madness: which reminds us just how exciting a college football playoff could be.

- Big Monday on ESPN: Big East basketball never fails to disappoint.

- John Calipari taking the Kentucky job, setting up a ruthless in-state recruiting war with Rick Pitino

- Tyler Hansbrough finally leaving UNC and taking his off-balance-falling-down-hook-shot, wide-eyed, always bleeding, get all the calls, to the NBA, where he will be the perfect fit for Larry Bird's Pacers.

- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's columnists Jeff Schultz and Mark Bradley for continuing to inspire me

- Sportsradio 790 The Zone for continuing to entertain me

Finally, I'm thankful for all you supporting me with this "hobby" of mine. Expressing myself about various sports topics is something I've always wanted to do, even if it's just for fun. I have enjoyed everyone's feedback and commentary to various columns. The beauty of sports is its unscripted every day. Every year produces new storylines and more importantly, thought provoking ideas for the Monday Morning Point Guard.

Happy Holidays,

Andy Rosenberg

Time for The Irish To Head East

Notre Dame football isn't special anymore. There I said it, now let's work off this premise for the basis of the following column...

For the past decade plus, Notre Dame football has had their own set of rules. They choose to remain independent, rather than be affiliated with a conference. They have their own television contract with NBC, and have their own set of rules to earn an automatic bid for a BCS bowl game (must finish in the top 8 of the BCS standings). All that being said, for the past decade plus, Notre Dame football has been irrelevant.

Aside from their yearly rivalry games with Michigan and USC, Notre Dame isn't exactly tackling an imposing schedule year after year. Each season appears to be a mix-mash of random opponents, who more often than not, aren't even ranked in the top25. This year it was Nevada, Purdue, Washington State among others. Next year it's Tulsa, Western Michigan and a few service academy schools as always.

I'm sure the NBC contract is a nice cash cow for the university, however, being part of a conference isn't so terrible when you gain a share of it's television revenue and access to bowl games that agree to take teams from certain conferences. If you are lucky enough to be in a conference that sends two teams to a BCS bowl game, your university just doubled it's postseason football earnings.

So, isn't it time for Notre Dame football to join a conference? Since their basketball program is part of the BigEast, let's start there. Big East football is a BCS affiliated conference and most of the marquee teams end up on an ESPN at some point throughout the week. Is the competition good enough for Notre Dame? Hmmmm...let's see. Notre Dame played Pittsburgh this year and lost. Notre Dame played UCONN this year and lost. As for Cincinnati, well, Notre Dame football doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Cincinnati football right now. Throw in games versus West Virginia and Rutgers, on top of their yearly traditional games with USC and Michigan and suddenly Notre Dame's schedule is looking respectable. Guess what, Notre Dame could lose to USC and Michigan every year and still earn a BCS bid by winning their conference title in the BigEast. This proposition sounds more logical and perhaps an easier hill to climb versus their current "special rules."

Notre Dame football needs a makeover in a big way. They need to re-brand themselves and be part of something special again. Removing the 'independent' tag is a great place to start.

It's Not the Length of the Contract, But The Tempature of the Seat

They are the head coach for different sports in the State of Georgia. They both started their season with reasonable expectations. Right now, one is exceeding those expectations and one isn't living up to them. Welcome to the world of Georgia football coach Mark Richt and Atlanta Hawks head coach, Mike Woodson.

Mark Richt has a contract that runs through December of 2013. Mike Woodson has a contract that runs through Memorial Day. Through 11 games, Mark Richt is 6-5. Mike Woodson was 9-2. Is it possible that the coach without the contract is feeling a lot more comfortable on his seat than the one with a guaranteed paycheck for the next four years?

Richt has been under fire pretty much all season long for being too loyal to his friend, defensive coordinator, Willie Martinez. He's been called 'too nice and too soft', which, if you believe in the statement, "a team takes on the personality of their coach", doesn't bode well for the Bulldogs in the present and perhaps the future.

Georgia looks like a program that forgot how to reload, and that typically falls at the feet of it's head coach. This is a program that lost two first round draft choices, in quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno. Momentum can be a tricky thing to maintain. The fact that the Georgia Bulldogs have been trotting out a senior without any leadership skills is troubling. The fact that the Georgia Bulldogs will now have to start a quarterback next year who has never taken a college snap in a meaningful game is troubling. What are the expectations for next year? New quarterback, new learning curve? That word 'momentum' is going to rear its head again, but for all the wrong reasons.

That brings us to the $64,000 question: is Mark Richt on the hot seat? My personal assessment is, the seat is very warm. Mark Richt has earned the right to come back next year and prove that this season was an aberration, not a trend. However, he has certainly put himself in a tight spot. He is sitting on a very warm seat with a very young quarterback next year.

Back in Atlanta, Hawks head coach Mike Woodson probably wishes he had a contract that ran through 2013. His team is off to a phenomenal start, yet he's coaching with zero job security. To Coach Woodson's credit, he has remained focused and made this season about the team, not his own personal situation.

One difference between Woodson's situation and Richt's is that Woodson has always had to play the hand (rosters) he's dealt. For years the dealer (Billy Knight) wasn't very kind to him. Finally, two summers ago there was a 'dealer' change and suddenly Woodson is playing with a full house. The problem now is he's not sure if the pit boss is going to ask him to leave or comp his room.

Two jobs in two different sports. Two completely different contract situations. One seat is getting hot, one seat is getting cold. Yet at the end of the day, the one thing they both have in common - the pressure to keep winning.

Where Did The Green Grass Go?

With the firing of Charlie Weiss at Notre Dame as inevitable as him having a 2nd dessert at Thanksgiving next week, this opens up a coaching carousel frenzy, the likes we haven't seen since the Alabama job became vacant a few years ago.

Coaches are competitive people by nature. They seek out challenges and want to win at the highest level and, the dirtiest little secret --be in the spotlight while doing it all. How many coaches have left a quality job that provided them a solid foundation, for greener pa$tures and more exposure?

Rich Rodriguez comes to mind. He had it pretty good in quiet, serene Morgantown, West Virginia. He gave it all up for a program where winning a national title is the expectation every year.

George O'Leary...remember him? Georgia Tech fans do. He had things cookin' for the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta. He knew how to beat Georgia, he won National Coach of the Year in 2000, was scooping up talented kids in the fertile Atlanta recruiting landscape, but success and stability wasn't enough. He wanted more and that led him to chase a dream of coaching at Notre Dame. If not for that "typo" on his resume about his experience, he would have landed in South Bend. Now he's on the hot seat in Orlando at Central Florida. I didn't know there was a hot seat at Central Florida.

How about the guy who won a six SEC titles and a national championship down in Gainesville? The ol' ball coach, Steve Spurrier, resigned abruptly in 2002 from the Florida Gators. It was only a matter of time before he caught the NFL carrot dangling in front of his face all those years. Of course, it didn't hurt to have Daniel Snyder's deep pockets holding the stick at the other end.

My advice to Brian Kelly, who is the King of Cincinnati right now...Don't Do It! What's wrong with winning the BigEast every year and playing in a BCS bowl game? Expectations are high, but manageable.

College coaches get bored with success in one place too long apparently. We see it all the time in college basketball as well. Mike Montgomery made Stanford basketball a perennial top25 program every year. He recruited smart, talented California kids who bought into his system. Yet for reasons unknown, he left this stable, consistent program for......get ready........the Golden State Warriors! Fortunately for Montgomery he had a mulligan in his back pocket and was able to jump at the job opening across the bay at Cal-Berkley, where he now has the Golden Bears in the top20.

We all know the Rick Pitino mess with the Knicks and Celtics and Bill Donovan's 15 minutes of fame with the Orlando Magic.

Bottom line, there is no shame in getting comfortable with quality of life or managed expectations by a fan base (which more often than not, these coaches set) . Sometimes the dream job many of these coaches are looking for is right in front of them...it's the one they currently occupy.

Falcons, Ryan Need a New Catch Phrase

The Atlanta Falcons are the franchise with the slogan, "Never had back to back winning seasons." So please excuse this cynical writer if he understands why there is no one on Madison Avenue willing to take the phone call from Falcon's owner Arthur Blank, who insists it's time for a new tagline!

The Falcons are coming off a dream season in which they went 11-5 with a rookie head coach, general manager and quarterback. The team made a monster off season acquisition by signing future hall of fame tight end Tony Gonzales. They bring back a pro bowl running back and wide receiver in Michael Turner and Roddy White. Then, of course, there is the cerebral 2nd year quarterback, Matt Ryan. Hmmmm....cerebral. Sounds good on paper. I'm guessing that means he watches a ton of game film. Some 'experts' have even said he reminds them of one of the Mannings. At this point, I'm guessing they mean little Eli.

Matt Ryan was crowned "the next big thing" by many NFL experts. Heck, he even landed a national endorsement deal with Gillette. Unfortunately, right now the only close shave for Ryan is whether or not he can lead this team to a winning record in consecutive seasons.

In four of his last five games, Ryan has thrown at least 2 interceptions (a total of 10 over that span). The problem is many of those interceptions have been at critical moments in a game. For a guy who studies tons of game film, you have to scratch your head at these stats. Most of those passes were overthrown balls too. If he's as smart as everyone around him says he is, then you can only assume he will get better and learn from these mistakes.

The Falcons started the season 4-1. Since then, they have lost three of their last four. More troubling, they have won only one road game this year. If this losing trend continues, can you say 8-8? That doesn't smell like a playoff team, and more importantly to the marketing department, it means another season with the same tagline, "Never had back to back winning seasons."

An In 'Depth Analysis'

Regardless of sport, one of the primary roles of a general manager is to create a roster that has depth. In the NBA, where there are only 12 active roster spots, it's virtually impossible to have success without it.

Through the first 3 weeks of the NBA season, the Atlanta Hawks have shown off their new 10-man rotation like a child with a new toy Christmas morning. Sometimes all it takes is one key off season trade or free agent signing such as Jamal Crawford to change the complexity and depth of a team. Crawford joined the Hawks this summer, in a trade that was more like stealing candy from baby, when General Manager Rick Sund shipped the enigmatic combo of Acie Law and Speedy Claxton to Golden State, for the career 19-point-per-game guard, Crawford. Talk about showing off a new toy...Sund is still grinning ear to ear over this maneuver.

Jamal Crawford enables Hawks' head coach Mike Woodson to have a leader and bonafide scorer on the floor with the team's second unit. Throw 14 year veteran Joe Smith into the mix, along with ZaZa Pachulia, Mo Evans and rookie Jeff Teague, and the Hawks have a steady collection of players off the bench that Woodson has confidence in to give the starters a breather.

Just a few years ago the Hawks bench was more like two chairs, as it consisted of really two guys: the departed Josh Childress and ZaZa Pachulia. These two reserves combined probably couldn't average the 17 points per game Jamal Crawford is currently putting up for the Hawks.

The last two seasons, the Hawks bowed out in the playoffs to opponents who had a deeper bench. To the Hawks credit, they made the appropriate changes this offseason, and if last Friday night's win in Boston was any type of barometer, it looks as though this season's team has the depth and experience to hang with the contenders in the East.

Early Observations from the Association

The NBA season is only a few weeks old, but there are already some great story lines developing:

We are seeing this year's crop of NBA rookie point guards, not only get quality minutes, but stuffing the stats sheet.

Although he's been exiled to Sacramento, rookie Tyreke Evans is off to a monster start for the Kings this year. With the team's leading scorer, Kevin Martin out for awhile, look for Evans scoring to increase even more. Johnny Flynn in Minnesota is making Timberwolves fans forgot about Ricky Rubio, at least in the here and now. Flynn has already taken away minutes from the teams off season free agent signee, Ramon Sessions. In Denver, speedster Ty Lawson is taking every advantage of learning the ropes behind Mr. Bigshot, Chauncey Billups. Lawson not only has earned quality minutes with the second unit, but Nuggets coach George Karl has allowed Lawson to play alongside Billups at times throughout the game. The Milwaukee Bucks, who are on the verge of falling off the map of relevancy in the NBA, appear to have found a future star in Brandon Jennings. The 20 year rookie, who bolted for Europe right out of high school last year, has been very impressive for the Bucks, giving this lifeless franchise a pulse. Finally, here in Atlanta, head coach Mike Woodson is going against his own traditions, and including point guard Jeff Teague into the everyday rotation off the bench.

Other quick observations:

Steve Nash and Phoenix Suns appear to be back on track out West. The Suns are off to a 6-1 start and there is already internal chatter that the team is in a much better place now that Shaquille O'Neal is no longer on the roster. Conversely, in Cleveland the Cavs are a very pedestrian 4-3 after seven games and many are wondering if the pairing of Shaq and LeBron was a mistake.

New York/New Jersey basketball is an absolute mess. The Nets and Knicks are a combined 1-13 so far this year. This is quite the price to pay for two franchises who sacrificed it all for a shot at King James or Dwyane Wade next summer. With no behind-the-scenes hand shake deal done for either prize recruit, these two clubs may be staring at years of ineptitude. The Nets, however, have nice pieces in Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, along with potential shiny new digs in Brooklyn.

My team to keep an eye on out west is The Oklahoma City Thunder who are a respectable 3-3 right now. Kevin Durant is a superstar in a very small market. He is surrounded by two potential future All-Stars in point guard Russell Westbrook and forward Jeff Green.

Early surprise team out East is the Miami Heat. D.Wade, and his 28 ppg, keep the Heat hot and competitive on any given night. If Jermaine O'Neal stays healthy and Michael Beasley keeps his head on straight, Miami will give teams fits again this year.

Don Nelson and Allen Iverson. Two guys who's best days are long behind them. Nellie has created an absolute mess in Oakland with the Warriors, shuffling rotations and minutes like a deck of cards. It's time for a fresh voice and new leadership in the Golden State. As for 'A.I.', signing with Memphis clearly wasn't 'the answer.' What's sad is nobody wants this career 27 ppg scorer on their roster, particularly the contenders. Iverson is like the guy in science class who comes over to your table to mess up your CHEMISTRY experiment. If the contenders don't want him and the bad teams know he won't maintain a positive attitude through all the losses, then perhaps retirement is 'the answer.'

Again, it's early, but all indications are pointing towards Lakers/Celtics 2.0 next June. Both teams had huge off season additions with Ron Artest joining the purple and gold and Rasheed Wallace donning the green shamrock in Boston.

Look, we all know that the NFL rules the roost, but the NBA is still healthy and ratings are up on all the national broadcasts. If the first few weeks of the NBA season is any indication as to how this season will unfold, you can bet 'amazing will happen' in a city near you.

Who Moved My Cheese?

It has to be tough for the humble, hard working people of Green Bay, Wisconsin. This is a town of a meager 100,000 people. Of those 100,000 people, nearly 70% of them watched the one blue collar employee, who clocked in for work every day for 16 years without missing a shift, show up in a purple uniform and shut the 'Green Bay Packing Company' down.

Brett Favre is no longer one of them. He's no longer the automatic "Employee of the Month" September through January. Brett Favre is more like that big shot corporate executive from New York City who flies into some small market to announce that the factory is about to close. On Sunday, Favre took center stage and told 72,000 fans this isn't personal, this is all about business. The business of winning football games. If you are under performing, you will be stomped on by your competition. That's exactly what happened to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. It was a hostile takeover by their neighbors across the border.

For any organization to succeed, it needs strong leadership. Brett Favre on Sunday showed why at the age of 40, the Minnesota Vikings wanted him to be their CEO on the field. The ability to perform on the big stage, under pressure, is the trait of a winner. This past summer, the Minnesota Vikings quietly posted an ad which stated, "CEO Needed. Must Know How To Win." Well, once Brett Favre's resume landed on Vikings coach Brad Childress' desk, the interview process was over....job filled. Tavaris Jackson, "we'll keep your resume on file for 6 months, should the position re-open again."

The Packers, on the other, decided to promote from within. They wanted to go in a younger direction and decided the CEO-in-waiting, Aaron Rodgers, was ready for the large corner office with the great view. The only problem is, when they hired him, his resume said: "2005-2007: Held Clip Board." Sure, Aaron Rodgers watched how a great CEO performed from a far. However, leadership isn't as easy as watching and mimicking. More often than not, you just either have it, or you don't.

The Packers, under Rodgers are in danger of missing the playoffs for the second straight season. The shareholders of the Green Bay Packers are starting to get restless. If this football factory doesn't start producing winning seasons soon, you can bet there will be some personnel changes.

The famous business author/motivator Dale Carnegie once said, "People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing." Brett Favre returned to the blue collar town where he developed his work ethic. His stay was short, his mission accomplished and he had tons of fun doing it.