After Tony Romo broke his collar bone, I commented on this site that this was the problem with becoming dependent on one guy. The Steelers had done that last year with LeVeon Bell. They seem to be doing it with Ben Roethlisberger. Some guy replied, "That's why they got Mike Vick."
I think it is apparent now, that getting Mike Vick was not the right move. I think you could search the universe and not find a quarterback who is a worse fit in the offense that was designed around Ben. He is the classic example of a square peg being pounded into a round hole.
However, it is also apparent the coaching staff did not have confidence in Landry Jones to be Ben's number one backup. Jones looked great in yesterday's game, but this would not be the first time a backup came in and had a great game, but faded later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Longley I hope Jones doesn't punch Ben in the locker room.
What Landry has going for him is that he has been with the Steelers long enough to know the system and has the minimum skills or better to run it. That was apparent yesterday. What is not apparent is why there was not a crash program to get Vick up to intellectual speed from the second he set foot on the property. If he was going to be the first replacement, when we had a guy who already knew the system, couldn't they have assigned someone to tutor Vick and cram the way you do the night before an exam? If all this was taking place, was he incapable of getting it? All we kept hearing after those first two games he played in was how he didn't even understand the language of the new system. The coaches essentially had to design an offense that fit Vick and do it under duress.
This seems to me as if the Steeler brain trust made some fundamental judgement errors in all that process. If Vick was so far behind the curve the moment Ben's knee was whacked, why was he "the next man up"?
It is apparent the Steelers lost confidence in Bell's backup going into the playoff game last year and brought in a guy who did not know the system at the last minute. Then they did the same thing this year when Gradkowski went down. They just got a guy who is the worst possible fit you could find. Why?
Monday, October 19, 2015
Sunday, October 18, 2015
American Pie
My
son is a song writer. Song writers are sometimes reluctant to discuss
the meaning of their lyrics. Remember Don McLean's early refusal to
explain American Pie? (The song, not the movie.) https://en.wikipedia.org/
Once
I asked my son what one of his songs was about and he said it was about
a really good sandwich he had eaten. I think he was just messing with
the Ol' Man. We have had many more serious discussions about his music
and he has revealed that all the lyrics throughout one of his songs are
not necessarily about the same subject. It is very difficult to match
the rhythm of the lyrics with the beat of the music and make it all
rhyme and be easy to sing and make some kind of sense and so on and so
on. Each song could be about a lot of different things.
Believe
it or not, this helped me with something that had been bothering me
since before my son was born, the lyrics in most of the songs of my
favorite group, Steely Dan. They don't make much sense, but they are
always kind of fun. "Is there gas in the car? Yes, there's gas in the
car." That's one of my favorites.
Once,
when I mentioned that Steely Dan was my favorite band, a guy said,
"They need to work on their lyrics." Many years later, I was talking to
a friend who, among many other things, was a singer, musician and song
writer. He said, "Steely Dan songs are not about the lyrics, they're
about the music." Another friend said, "What's wrong with their
lyrics?"
This
highlights the reality that communication is a challenge. Something we
say can and will be heard and interpreted in different ways by
different people. Frequently our words will be understood in a way we
never could have imagined. Are you married?
I've
been told that I am a pretty good writer. I guess I can thank the good
Sisters of St. Joseph for that. They insisted on correct spelling and
grammar and taught us how to diagram a sentence. But, as you know,
there is more to it than that.
I
frequently have things understood in concepts, but when I try to
explain my thoughts to someone, the words just don't seem to convey my thoughts
accurately.
Some
people seem to be very good, very quick at finding just the right words
to get an idea across verbally. The brain to mouth connection is very
good. My daughter is like that. With me, it seems to work better when I
write something. I need to write, then read, then erase and write
something better. I can't tell you how much I appreciate word
processors. They are a vast improvement over the pencils and erasers of
my youth, not to mention the chalkboards, on which I had to write, "I
will not shoot spitballs at Johnny" 100 times.
In
this message, as in many other things I write, I didn't know exactly
where I was going or how I would get there when I started. The act of
writing seems to help to clarify that concept that is buzzing around in
the cabeza.
So,
there you have it. Blogging seems like something I am meant to do.
Several of my friends agree. This is my first offering and I hope you
hang around for more.
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