mcdaniels

Now baseball has their “hoodie”

Jeromey Balderrama

OriginalHoodie McDHoodie

Quick Reaction: Even though we’ve grown tired of Bill Belicheat’s hoodie (which has also spawned Josh McDaniels taking that tradition to Denver), it seems that another coach has decided to join this exclusive club of fashion-insensitive coaches: Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays coach Joe Maddon (Maddon, not Madden):

TBHoodie

Maddon’s hoodie however, has caused much more controversy, since baseball still insists that baseball managers need to wear the same uniform that their batters and pitchers have on.  Yes, they may be permitted to wear a team coat if it’s cold, but certainly not a hoodie.  All that changed this month when MLB Brass decided that Maddon wearing a hoodie would not ruin the tradition of the game, and reversed their original ruling.

Belicheat, inspired by Maddon’s courage, decided to send him a Patriots hoodie.  However the story didn’t specify whether Belicheat chopped off the sleeves before he sent it.

This story reminds me just how ridiculous it is to see these middle-aged & older men wearing these baseball uniforms as if they’re going to step into the batter’s box.  This makes as much sense as having Josh McDaniels or Mike Shanahan strap on some shoulder pads, or George Karl putting on some baggy shorts.  I’m glad baseball’s loosened the reins a bit for cold weather gear, but they should really relax these rules for all games.  Maddon admitted he didn’t want to wear a shirt & tie, but it’d be nice to see these managers in a nice polo or something.

Does your coach do this?

Jeromey Balderrama

Sometimes when you’re at the stadium you miss some great gems like this. 

We were in the South Stands, too focused on leaving and didn’t notice McDaniels going North this fired up.  Man is that cool.

I know some people may see this and say “Act like you’ve been there before coach”, but I for one am glad to see a coach react the same way that players and fans do after a big win like this.  Earned or not, McDaniels has endured a lot of crap from fans and the media since he arrived in Denver.  He’s done what was unthinkable back in July and defnitely deserved this moment.  Congrats coach, and best of luck being the tar out of the Chargers.

Cutler-Gate

Jeromey Balderrama

Ever since that last weekend in February, when the rumors circulated that Cutler was about to be traded, I’ve tried to lie low and simply let this blow over.  Here we are three weeks later, with the same problem that only seems to be getting bigger.

 jaycutler

When I first heard this, I was furious at Coach McDaniels.  The thing that made the Broncos such a great coaching prospect was the fact that we had such a prolithic offense, led by a young and talented quarterback – and somehow McDaniels managed to screw all of that up.  He got rid of Offensive Coordinator Jeremy Bates, basically fixing something that wasn’t broken.  Then when the opportunity arised to get his coveted pupil Matt Cassel, it became clear that a 32-year-old first-time head coach was going with what was most familiar with him.  Stupid? Maybe, but understandable in this case. Nonetheless my blame was on McDaniels for that first day.

Then came Cutler’s reaction, which made me flip-flop and turn my frustration towards him.  I understand how initially he felt the way that many fans did, but he has to realize that this is a business, that at one time or another players’ names are brought up in trades.  Cutler hasn’t reached that elite untouchable status of Manning. Even Tom Brady, who is always compared to Manning as the best QB, was probably discussed in trades.

Broncos fan-wise, it’s been agonizing to have every trade scenario under the sun that involves your QB – none of them good.  If a team’s looking for a QB, they don’t have a good one to offer you.

Peter King offers an excellent recap of the situation.  He summarizes Cutler’s predicament the best by writing:

Maybe Cutler can’t take the dissing he feels from McDaniels, or maybe he’s fabricating the dissing to justify in his own mind going somewhere else. I don’t know. But I do know this: If I had the choice of Denver, Tampa Bay, Detroit and the Jets, and the Denver coach has worked successfully with Tom Brady and Matt Cassel, I’d be thinking very hard about not burning a bridge that can’t be reconstructed.

The more I’ve been reading, the more I think the person responsible for this mess is Cutler’s Agent Bus Cook.  Read this article and take that into account.  Bus Cook has been associated with four words: The Brett Favre Saga – need I say more?

Right now I wish that the NFL was playing games, because winning would likely cure this problem.  In the meantime, I just wish owner Pat Bowlen would call Cutler and McDaniels into his offense office, then walk out and lock the door behind him until these grown men can work out their issues.