Why Do I Continue to Read Peter King?

[coremiller]

It's also not to crazy to argue that this Broncos team could be his best supporting cast. The Denver D is probably better than any Colts' D during the Manning era. On the offensive side; Demarius Thomas is elite. Erik Decker is a nice complement to Thomas. McGahee was having a very nice season before getting hurt and they hardly missed a beat with Moreno taking over. There is an argument there which is exactly what he was saying.

Maybe if you count the D, but his offensive supporting cast can't hold a candle to the 04 Colts that had Harrison/Wayne/Stokely/Clark as the main receivers and Edge James as the RB. Stokely's 68 catches/1077 yards/10 TDs made him only the third best receiver on the team, while James had over 1500 yards rushing averaging 4.6 ypc and also caught 51 passes. That was one of the most loaded teams talent-wise of all time.

 

[Corsi]

Maybe if you count the D, but his offensive supporting cast can't hold a candle to the 04 Colts that had Harrison/Wayne/Stokely/Clark as the main receivers and Edge James as the RB. Stokely's 68 catches/1077 yards/10 TDs made him only the third best receiver on the team, while James had over 1500 yards rushing averaging 4.6 ypc and also caught 51 passes. That was one of the most loaded teams talent-wise of all time.

Stop telling me, "You can't compare any team to the '04 Colts and what they did." Yes I can. It's my job to compare, then pick the winner.

 

[Sille Skrub]

I don't mind PK and MMQB is still a must read for me every week.

I mean, you know what you are going to get. Skim the annoying parts and it's still a worthwhile read.

 

[Cousin Walter]

As much as I am loathe to admit it, he was right on that count.

You mean you're loath to admit.

I know how trivial this is, but using "loathe" when you should use "loath" and using "beg the question" incorrectly to mean "raise the question" are the only two things about which I can't just keep quiet.

 

[JimBoSox9]

Stop telling me, "You can't compare any team to the '04 Colts and what they did." Yes I can. It's my job to compare, then pick the winner.

But that's what makes the tweet so annoying, is if it's a response to coremiller (generically), because its willfully misinterpreting the point. Coremiller isn't telling PK he can't compare them, he's doing his own comparison and picking his own winner. He's allowed, you're allowed, we're all allowed. It's taking the opposition point of view and re-framing it as an oppression of your own POV, and only assholes do it.

 

[Vandalman]

At least we know PK has a sense of humor:

Peter King ‏@SI_PeterKing
RT @dankmtl: The only time I hurl is when I read your column, Pete ... Join the thousands.

 

[Leather]

This is less of a PK thing than a sports website thing, but:

I hate video features. Give me a fucking transcript. PK has "1 minute drills" on every team up on CNNSI, and I'm sorry but I'm not going to watch that shit. In addition, I have to imagine lots of people who check out CNNSI at work aren't going to bother, either. What, is Peter King such a fine looking dude that SI feels the need to put him on display?

Fuck that.

 

[Corsi]

b. Does Eddie Money think the Geico commercial is going to, like, rejuvenate his career? Not helping yourself, Eduardo. Eddie's playing Quapaw, Okla., on Friday night, and two tickets to paradise will cost you $40. Total.

Does Peter King not understand that Eddie Money has a sense of humor and is willing to poke fun at himself? And why does King feel the need to mock the guy for having to play a small room in a random town in Oklahoma in order to pay his bills? What an arrogant fucking asshole.

 

[PBDWake]

Does Peter King not understand that Eddie Money has a sense of humor and is willing to poke fun at himself? And why does King feel the need to mock the guy for having to play a small room in a random town in Oklahoma in order to pay his bills? What an arrogant fucking asshole.

Hey, that was the Evo-Shield Burn of the Week! Don't get burned by a lousy offensive line, use Evo-Shield! [sub]Not guaranteed to rejuvenate Peter King's career[/sub]

 

[Leather]

Yea, that's being deliberately obtuse. It's quite clear that the joke of the commercials is that Eddie Money, former pop star, is now a has been that works at a travel agency. Which is amusing, in an ironic sort of way, because his most famous song is about...having tickets to travel to paradise. The joke couldn't be more fucking obvious if it had a director's commentary.

Is Peter King trying to rejuvenate his career now by adding Marketing Guru to his list of accolades?

 

[Leather]

I will say this, though:

King takes, IMO, almost the right stance on the RGIII disaster.

• Griffin was so obviously not himself, and so tentative moving around, and the Redskins and their medical staff should have seen this. Griffin clearly has a they'll-have-to-drag-me-off-the-field mentality and needs to be protected from himself. Shanahan should know this. I believe he should have pulled Griffin out of the game before the half, for good.
• Washington's Griffin-led drives after its first two scores went 8, 3, 23, 4, 17 and minus-12 yards. In 41 minutes after his team went up 14-0, Griffin generated four first downs. In the game Washington had to play without Griffin, fellow rookie Kirk Cousins led a 38-21 rout at Cleveland Dec. 16. By the middle of the second quarter, it was obvious to anyone watching that a healthy Cousins would have been a better option than a limping Griffin.

Which is all true, and forms the basis for why most people think that Shanahan was nuts/selfish/idiotic/reckless for leaving RGIII in the game.

But then, there's this:

I do not -- do not -- blame Shanahan entirely here.

Really? But you just said: "Shanahan should know this. I believe he should have pulled Griffin out of the game before the half, for good."

Even if there's a frosty relationship between noted team orthopedist James Andrews and Shanahan, Andrews is on the staff, at least in part, because he's the foremost expert on knees in the country. He should have the power to speak up when he sees something obviously wrong with the franchise quarterback. And Griffin is not blameless here either. He's an adult. If he swears over and over he's fine, the coach has to listen to that and take that into account. "I wasn't lying,'' said Griffin. "I was able to go out and play, period."

But...but...Shanahan is in charge. He's the only guy that has the power to pull Griffin! King concedes that Shanahan "should have known" that Griffin was not going to come out voluntarily, and that he should have seen the fucked up knee. Moreover, putting all that aside, he should have seen, not as a doctor but as a head coach, that RGIII was not helping the Redskins win.

So I'm not putting the black hat on one man. It's unfair. But let this be a lesson to this team, and every other one in the league: It's best to put safeguards in place before something like this threatens the short-term future of the starting quarterback in the heat of a playoff game.

Oh, I see, Shanahan is not totally culpable because the Redskins didn't put up safeguards to prevent Shanahan from making a stupid, reckless, decision regarding a franchise QB. And this is King's defense of Shanahan?

 

[Leather]

Think of the Baltimore Ravens. Think of the name of the team. The Ravens are much more a part of the sporting lexicon than the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, Memphis Grizzlies and Carolina Hurricanes. And you know all those

Talk about damning with faint praise. Jesus.

2. New England (12-4). Four weeks ago tonight, 35 minutes into the Houston-New England game, New England led 28-0, and Tom Brady had four touchdown passes. Wade Phillips is on his fourth roll of Tums this morning just thinking about it

If King had only written "fourth roll of toilet paper", I would have never said a bad thing about him again.

 

[RingoOSU]

Does Peter King not understand that Eddie Money has a sense of humor and is willing to poke fun at himself? And why does King feel the need to mock the guy for having to play a small room in a random town in Oklahoma in order to pay his bills? What an arrogant fucking asshole.

That's how Davey Jones died.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Here's what ole Peter said about Cutler on WEEI in January 2011, after he left the NFCCG with an MCL sprain:

Touching on the Jay Cutler controversy, King said: “There’s no question in my mind that Cutler was limited and was not going to be able to be himself and wasn’t going to be totally right. No question about it. However, I think there are more than 10 starting quarterbacks in the NFL, including the one who plays in this town, who would not have come out of the game. They would have said, ‘Tape it up as tight as you can, and put a knee brace on — do something — but I’m playing in this game.”

Added King: “Am I saying he should have played? No. I’m not saying he should have played. What I’m saying is there are players who would have played with what Jay Cutler had.”

Asked if he was questioning Cutler’s toughness, King said: “Yeah, a little bit. But I have to say, without any question, we’re not in his body. We can’t tell. You’re asking me if I question his toughness. And the answer is yes, I question it. But I think it’s natural to question it when you have players out there who are saying, in essence, that, ‘I would have played with that.’ And I think a lot of them would have.”

But RG3 gets 'some of the blame' for not recognizing he should not be playing and thus asking out?

 

[Corsi]

Here's what ole Peter said about Cutler on WEEI in January 2011, after he left the NFCCG with an MCL sprain:

That's some epic fence sitting, right there.

 

[Leather]

His position is one that allows him to absolve head coaches for bad player-injury decisions, while at the same time play up the "football players are supposed to be tough" credo that requires a code of silence on behalf of the players.

IMO, it's a really chickenshit position to take, in that it's so clearly self-serving. King doesn't risk ever blaming a coach, so his contacts in teams' front offices are safe. Likewise, no player is going to dare say to him "You're wrong: RG III should have been pulled" or "You're wrong: Cutler was too hurt to play" because that would out them as not being a "Warrior" or some bullshit.

King can't seriously claim to be pro-player safety (regarding concussions, say) and at the same time say that a player bears anything more than the duty of honesty toward his coach/trainer regarding his injury in determining when he should be pulled from a game. This "Hey, the player needs to say when he's done!" position is blatantly bullshit, and King's own treatment of Cutler is Exhibit A as to why.

 

[Leather]

I mean...is Kirk Cousins also to blame because he didn't tell Shanahan that he thought he could play better than RGIII last night?

That's not too far removed from what King is suggesting - that the players should tell the head coach what personnel to use.

 

[Dogman]

I mean...is Kirk Cousins also to blame because he didn't tell Shanahan that he thought he could play better than RGIII last night?

That's not too far removed from what King is suggesting - that the players should tell the head coach what personnel to use.

It's akin to a parolee telling a judge he won't hold up any more convenience stores now that he served his third of three different stretches for each of the three convenience stores he held up. Judge an convict are both to blame.

 

[DJnVa]

Does Peter King not understand that Eddie Money has a sense of humor and is willing to poke fun at himself? And why does King feel the need to mock the guy for having to play a small room in a random town in Oklahoma in order to pay his bills? What an arrogant fucking asshole.

Well, it's probably not actually a small room in a random town. It's a casino on an Indian Reservation.

It's not MSG or Vegas, but it's what a lot of older entertainers do these days.

And akin to his Starbucks shit, he thinks the cost of the tickets is reflective of the quality of the show.

 

[Leather]

It's akin to a parolee telling a judge he won't hold up any more convenience stores now that he served his third of three different stretches for each of the three convenience stores he held up. Judge an convict are both to blame.

But that analogy is flawed in that the judge must weigh not only the potential harm to society, but also the potential harm to the parolee. Sure, the judge might be partially to blame if the parolee violates his parole, but he was not negligent in his duties purely by virtue of giving some weight to the statement of the parolee. Judges do not have unlimited authority, nor is their sole duty to protect society from criminals. Individuals, even criminals, have rights that must be considered.

There is no such tension in the Shanahan/RG III relationship. Shanahan's job is, simply, to use his ultimate authority in on-field matters to maximize the fortunes of the team, both short term and long term. The wants/attitudes of his players are only relevant insofar as they exist under that premise.

Leaving RG III in there did harm to both the short term and long term prospects of the Redskins. Hence, Shanahan failed at his job. RGIII's personal desire to stay in the game is 100% irrelevant.

 

[JohnnyTheBone]

Does Peter King not understand that Eddie Money has a sense of humor and is willing to poke fun at himself? And why does King feel the need to mock the guy for having to play a small room in a random town in Oklahoma in order to pay his bills? What an arrogant fucking asshole.

Peter King must really consider himself a funny guy. If you really want to rip on Eddie Money, however, this is how it's done: http://boston.cbsloc...-canceled/feed/

Edit: Link is to Toucher and Rich from 1/6/2012

 

[johnmd20]

How can anyone look at that Eddie Money commercial and not feel bad for Eddie Money that he has to do that commercial to get by? At least he's getting paid to take a shot at himself.

 

[Dogman]

But that analogy is flawed in that the judge must weigh not only the potential harm to society, but also the potential harm to the parolee. Sure, the judge might be partially to blame if the parolee violates his parole, but he was not negligent in his duties purely by virtue of giving some weight to the statement of the parolee. Judges do not have unlimited authority, nor is their sole duty to protect society from criminals. Individuals, even criminals, have rights that must be considered.

There is no such tension in the Shanahan/RG III relationship. Shanahan's job is, simply, to use his ultimate authority in on-field matters to maximize the fortunes of the team, both short term and long term. The wants/attitudes of his players are only relevant insofar as they exist under that premise.

Leaving RG III in there did harm to both the short term and long term prospects of the Redskins. Hence, Shanahan failed at his job. RGIII's personal desire to stay in the game is 100% irrelevant.

The judge could have simply rejected his parole like Shanny should have rejected RGIII's pleas to play. That's what I was getting at.

Please don't go all lawyer-y on me.

 

[Leather]

Ah. I thought you were defending him. As in, the judge deserves blame, as does the parolee.

I don't think RGIII deserves any blame.

 

[Dogman]

Ah. I thought you were defending him. As in, the judge deserves blame, as does the parolee.

I don't think RGIII deserves any blame.

No, this is all on Shanny like it would be all on a judge for letting the 3x convicted robber loose after his "I'm reformed" speech.

 

[Corsi]

Peter King must really consider himself a funny guy. If you really want to rip on Eddie Money, however, this is how it's done: http://boston.cbsloc...-canceled/feed/

Edit: Link is to Toucher and Rich from 1/6/2012

Your ink doesn't work, but this tweet from them cracked me up when the commercial debuted:

Its fantastic. His shoulders are attached to his cheeks. RT @GilliesStache84: tell me you guys have seen the Eddie Money Geico commercial.

https://twitter.com/...103299631902720

 

[pappymojo]

I mean...is Kirk Cousins also to blame because he didn't tell Shanahan that he thought he could play better than RGIII last night?

That's not too far removed from what King is suggesting - that the players should tell the head coach what personnel to use.

Maybe Mark Sanchez MY PARENTS ARE ILLITERATE INNER-CITY HARPS WHO RAISED ME TO BE PROACTIVELY STUPID told Rex Ryan that he sucked.

 

[pappymojo]

Maybe Mark Sanchez MY PARENTS ARE ILLITERATE INNER-CITY HARPS WHO RAISED ME TO BE PROACTIVELY STUPID told Rex Ryan that he sucked.

Not sure why that happened. Is 'should have' a swear word?

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

I believe that's the the filter for "s-hould o-f" instead of the proper "should have"

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Not sure why that happened. Is 'should have' a swear word?

Not when you type it correctly. Should "of" triggers the word replacement filter. Some of the mods apparently have grammar pet peeves.

 

[pappymojo]

aha. should've known

 

[JimBoSox9]

King can't seriously claim to be pro-player safety (regarding concussions, say) and at the same time say that a player bears anything more than the duty of honesty toward his coach/trainer regarding his injury in determining when he should be pulled from a game. This "Hey, the player needs to say when he's done!" position is blatantly bullshit, and King's own treatment of Cutler is Exhibit A as to why.

Just pointing this out because I think it caused the sidetrack with Dogman...The first time I read this, I interpreted it as "honesty about whether or not they can play" and not "honesty in regards to pain/feeling/diagnosis". You next sentence clearly contradicts that and caused me to go back and re-read until I got it, but I think that's where the confusion came from.

 

[Leather]

Fair enough.

 

[RingoOSU]

Text reads: "I bought a crappy beat-up old rocker at the second-hand store today for seven bucks."

"I think his name is 'Eddie Money.'"

 

[BigJimEd]

You guys are wrong about Eddie Money. He can still rock and is still a big draw. Eddie headlined The Scituate, MA summer festival last summer and pulled in at least a hundred fans for the free outdoor concert on a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon.

 

[JimD]

I guess Bowzer from Sha-Na-Na was busy that weekend.

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Fwiw, my buddy Dennis plays golf with Eddie Money all the time. They belong to the same country club in Thousand Oaks and he claims Eddie is still doing pretty well. I know he lives in Westlake Village, one of the wealthiest suburbs in Los Angeles. I'm not really a golfer but I keep asking to go with them the next time they play in the late afternoon. I just want to ask Eddie to, "Take me home tonight" when the round is over.

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

A picture of Eddie riding a golf cart with a couple of inflated SoCal ladies on his arms and a sign that says something along the lines of "Get fucked Pedro... err Peter King." would be fantastic.

 

[24JoshuaPoint]

Doesn't he have a hot daughter that plays with him sometimes too? I forgot why or where i heard that.

(null)

 

[Reverend]

Doesn't he have a hot daughter that plays with him sometimes too? I forgot why or where i heard that.

(null)

How did you get here?

(null)

 

[barbed wire Bob]

Doesn't he have a hot daughter that plays with him sometimes too? I forgot why or where i heard that.

(null)

Eddie Money's daughter. Her name is Jesse.

 

[MoVaughndotORG]

Eddie Money's daughter. Her name is Jesse.

Does Mike Carey's website only have pictures of people wearing black and white stripes? That's a guy obsessed with his job.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

And now, of course, you can come up here to Portland and see Eddie Money Unplugged. Because of course you'd want to do that. Someone invite PK. He can have an Allagash or two while he's here.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

Dang, I was annoyed by letting myself read Peter King today. I got sucked in by the headline over lunch: "Longwell relishes unexpected chance to rewrite history."

Okay, sounds interesting. Is he going to be the oldest guy to kick a field goal in the playoffs or something? Let's find out:

Longwell, 38, who hadn't kicked anywhere since the Vikings cut him in training camp, will be the Seahawks' kicker Sunday in Atlanta. Four years ago, he was a 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty from a field goal that would have put the Vikings, not the Saints, in the Super Bowl against Peyton Manning and the Colts. Imagine if he gets the chance to win a game this month ... and put the Seahawks in the Super Bowl against Peyton Manning and the Broncos

So, I know PK probably doesn't write his headlines, and the Internet is full of bait-and-switch headlines, but what about this might involve rewriting history, exactly? If he kicks a winning field goal for the Seahawks, he gets a chance to do something he didn't get a chance to do last time - but it's not like he's got a history of being a choker and he could come through, or he's playing for the Vikings who could come through in the clutch when before the didn't, but rather one kicker might get a chance to kick a field goal to win a game (he may not even get to play in) to send a totally different team to face another totally different team in the Super Bowl featuring exactly one player from that former team he never got a chance to play against.

Um ... wow?

But, let's just pretend that stupid set of circumstances would justify the headline and move on, since there's lots of other stupid stuff here. I'm not even going to go into whether not getting to try a field goal counts as a "regret" or not (I mean, don't you regret bad things you did, or chances you didn't sieze? He just didn't get a chance to do something, but, whatever, he said regret to PK and he parroted it, I guess).

No, I'm going to quibble with the way this whole thing is framed: "He was a 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty from a field goal that would have put the Vikings, not the Saints, in the Super Bowl against Peyton Manning and the Colts."

Oh, really?

It seems to me like he was a Brett Favre interception away from trying a field goal!

PK himself notes it was 3rd and 10 from the 33. Longwell had hit exactly 2 50+ yard field goals all season, so the try was hardly a fait accompli. Understandably, the Vikes wanted to run another play and pick up some more yardage. Yet "Longwell was on the sidelines, ready to go in to try a field goal of 50 or 51 yards, or maybe a couple of yards shorter, after one more rushing attempt." Is that what Longwell thought they should do? No, that's what PK thinks they should have done, in order to give this kicker a go at it.

But: What rushing attempt? PK himself specifically notes THEY CALLED A PASS PLAY before the penalty. So, there was never going to be "one more rushing attempt." There was going to be a passing attempt. And that passing attempt, if it picked up 5 or 6 yards would have put the Vikings right back where Longwell wanted to kick from penalty (and, also, "Only thing wrong was, Tahi -- either sent by a coach or mistakenly thinking he should be on the field instead of Berrian -- ran into the huddle." Hey, Pete, you're talking to Ryan Longwell, who was there, right now - perhaps you could ask him?). And when they did the passing attempt anyway, what happened? Oh, yeah, Favre threw a fucking interception, like he probably would have done before the penalty (or taken a sack or choked in some other spectacular way).

But that wasn't Favre's fault of course: "Though normal wisdom with a gun-slinging quarterback like Favre in the game would call for a safe run to try to get Longwell two yards or so closer, the coaches called for a pass."

Oh, I see. Brett Favre, the all-world quarterback who threw more touchdowns in NFL history than anyone else ever is now not to be trusted with the game on the line? That's quite the turnabout, Mr. King. Did Brett not let you lick his balls last night or something?

In fact, the AP write up of the game didn't even mention the ("all-time gaffe in Vikings history") penalty. But it did mention the interception: "There were nine fumbles and two interceptions, and the biggest mistake belonged to Favre. Flushed from the pocket in the final minute, he seemed to have room to run to set up a field goal."

So, basically, Favre fucked Longwell out of a chance to go to the Super Bowl, just like he fucked the rest of the Vikings with that terrifically dumb play.

But, you know, nice narrative about how this old kicker is going to get a chance to rewrite history after some nameless person screwed up and caused a five-yard penalty. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Gosh, I hope he gets a chance!

Addendum: "New Orleans won on a four-yard Garrett Hartley field goal in overtime." How in fuck do you kick a four-yard field goal?

Addendum 2: One of the top 10 things PK will be watching for this weekend (you know, the one where awesome playoff games are happening): "Head north, Tim Tebow. To the CFL. Unless a smart quarterback mentor like Mike McCarthy takes you on as a backup to an established starter, Canada is your best chance to do what you want to do, which is to become an every-down NFL starter. "I can't imagine a scenario in which he'll be a Jacksonville Jaguar -- even if he's released,'' new Jags general manager David Caldwell said Thursday."

Just please shut up.

 

[Doug Beerabelli]

Fwiw, my buddy Dennis plays golf with Eddie Money all the time. They belong to the same country club in Thousand Oaks and he claims Eddie is still doing pretty well. I know he lives in Westlake Village, one of the wealthiest suburbs in Los Angeles. I'm not really a golfer but I keep asking to go with them the next time they play in the late afternoon. I just want to ask Eddie to, "Take me home tonight" when the round is over.

If you hit a ball into an unplayable lie off the tee, you can sing "I Wanna Go Back."

 

[Corsi]

Peter King's contract is set to expire in a few weeks, but he's staying at SI. A source tells us that King has signed a deal for at least five years at the weekly magazine. An announcement is expected to go out tonight. There were rumors that King was being chased by NBC Sports and ESPN, and he left it an open question about what he planned to do. It cost SI a bit too: His salary is apparently going up.

http://deadspin.com/5975342/peter-king-is-staying-at-sports-illustrated

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Lofty raise.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Bet they served lousy coffee in the negotiating conference room

 

[loshjott]

Let me be the first to mention that King's Super Bowl picks both lost Saturday, and his Sunday picks also lost so he went 0 for the weekend.

EDIT: I'm wrong. He picked the Pats over Houston.

 

[Leather]

For starters, I enjoyed his little glimpse into the conversation between Lewis and Manning. It wasn't anything major, but it was a nice little anecdote that he didn't belabor or play up, or draw some hackneyed lesson out of. Peter King should do that kind of stuff more often: be observational, not judgmental, and not interject himself into the story. It read like an old article from SI, and that's a good thing.

likewise:

In their last three meetings, New England's beaten Baltimore twice, but Flacco has five more touchdown passes (seven to two) than Brady, and has thrown for 107 more yards.

Thanks for that stat. Interesting...telling, even.

Pats in the 11 regular season games with Gronkowski: 35 points, 433 yards a game.
Pats in the five regular season games without Gronkowski: 34 points, 417 yards a game.

Hey, keep em' coming! Good stuff, King!

Four storylines of the weekend:
Manning goes down in flames (with an asterisk).

*sigh*

The asterisk, of course, is that Denver safety Rahim Moore made one of the all-time dumb plays in a playoff game.

Don't do that. Don't call Manning one of the greatest QB's ever and then throw some other player under the bus when Manning had multiple turnovers in a game they lost despite having two special teams TDs. Manning came up small.

He had plenty of help, but the fact is, Manning's a 9-11 playoff quarterback with one Super Bowl victory who turns 37 in March, and he knows there aren't going to be many more chances. It's going to be a painful offseason for him.

Thank you.

No quarterback GQs it like Matt Ryan.