Walker's Rants is Ready To Kick 2009 in the ASS

Welcome back everyone after a brief amount of time off to celebrate the New Year we are back and ready to face 2009.  This will mark the third year of Walker’s Rants, and you better believe we are ready to bring the heat this time out.  So as we prepare to grow a year older, you can rest assured that we are only getting better with age. With that being said, it’s time to kick off the 2009 with a new edition of Walker’s Rants.

The San Diego Chargers should trade L.T....

2008 was a horrible year to be a fan of UVA athletics...

Why is it so long till the BCS Championship game?

I love Charles Barkley, but he has to be more careful and clean up his act some, especially if he wants to continue to stand on a pedestal and preach to others...

Next year, we are doing bowl predictions without the spreads. The spread absolutely killed us this season...

Matt Millian is a good choice to be a broadcast analyst for NBC. No one said you have to be a good front office man or even a good player to be able to sit in the studio and talk about football...

The Pats should tag Matt Cassel, and let Brady play till week 6. If Brady can't go, bring in Cassel and start working on a plan to ship Brady out to another team. I guarantee, the Patriots won't be stuck with either QB, if they want to move either one (even a hurt Brady) someone will pick up a QB...

Ohio State looked far more impressive in their Fiesta Bowl lost than I ever thought they could. Terrelle Pryor is going to be a special player for them someday very soon...

The trash talk between Florida and Oklahoma should not be news. Tebow started it anyways when he said he could shred a Big 12 defense. This is what happens when you have 8 months between the regular season and the Championship. We don't play the Super Bowl in March...

Don't worry Tar Heel nation, losing a game to Boston College is not the end of the season. However, anything less than a national title would be a disappointment...

Tony Dungy should announce his retirement this week. He has completed everything he could ever do in his career, and now he deserves the time to sit down and rest...

The Big East is the best conference in the NCAA right now, when it comes to basketball and as an ACC guy that hurts me to say…

The Texas Longhorns will win a national title match with Colt McCoy running the show next season…

How about the Big 10 this season in bowl games? Damn!!

The downside to all the firings at UVA is it means Al Groh will get at least two more years. FAIL...

Fox Sports should never be allowed to do college football again, or at least if they are going to do it, bring in their NFL crew. That college crew they are using now is horrible...

Stop bitching about there not being a playoff in College football. We all get it...

Sj-hypocycloidAll-American

306 days ago

Score 3

If SD traded LT, they'd be doing it as a favor to LT. But then again, he did choose to sign with them. But then I have to wonder how much he has left? He's been doing this for 8 years, and has been the focus of that offense. That's a long time for a feature back who gets 300+ carries every year. How long before he hits the wall? Emmitt Smith, at a comparable age and years of service had three more "average" (for Emmitt) - productive, but declining - years before heading to Arizona.

I'd hate to see Tony Dungy go. He's a good coach and class act. The NFL (hell, all of sport) needs guys like him to stick around for a good long while.

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

306 days ago

Score 4

Hasn't LT hit a wall? Doesn't he hit it every season at week 17?

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

306 days ago

Score 2

That's exactly what I was thinking RawB. Every year we find ourselves in the playoffs asking the same what if questions about LT.

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JuTMSY4Legend

306 days ago

Score 4

The Pats should tag Matt Cassel, and let Brady play till week 6. If Brady can't go, bring in Cassel and start working on a plan to ship Brady out to another team. I guarantee, the Patriots won't be stuck with either QB, if they want to move either one (even a hurt Brady) someone will pick up a QB...

Actually, I think they should do the exact opposite. ACL injuries for QBs take a while, so why not give him time and let Cassel work. Worst case scenario, Cassel sucks and Brady comes in trying to save the season. Or I guess maybe, Cassel is ridiculous and you consider keeping the hot hand?

If Brady starts the season and sucks...then he's got no value. He's an overpaid, injured, past his prime QB in that scenario (Rawb mentioned this in BBB15's Cassel Franchise article).

Assuming the Pats franchise Cassel (and I believe they will), he'll play out that contract and be an FA in 2010 (which may work to his advantage). There will be no trading and I think the plan is to let him start in 2009 until Brady clearly is healthy.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

306 days ago

Score 2

You make a very good point about Brady still needing time to mend. I would not be opposed to letting Cassel start the season as the Pats QB and let Brady heal up.

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CheezerAll-Star

306 days ago

Score 2

I'd trade Brady now. You showed that you can go 11-5 with Cassell and an aging defense. Trade Brady and add some youth to the defense.

It's 2001 all over again.

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

306 days ago

Score 4

Cassel is 11-5 as a Patriots QB, 4 of those wins came from the NFC West, which means the Pats were 7-5 against everyone else.

Tom Brady is 101-27 as Patriots QB, that includes a 3-1 mark in the Super Bowl, and 4-1 in the AFC title game. He has proven he can win, he's proven he can win on the big stage. Last year he threw 50 TDs and 8 INTs. With essentially the same offense, Cassel threw 21 TDs and 11 INTs. Cassel's not bad, but the comparisons between him and 2001 Tom Brady are nothing more than statistical coincidence and sheer speculation. Perhaps Cassel will be as great as Brady one day, but Brady's already great.

It is not 2001. It's 2008 (well, 209 technically), and Cassel had Randy Moss absorbing double coverage over the top, and Wes Welker, perhaps the best underneath WR in the game. Those guys are a QBs best friends.

Moreover, trading Brady now would be like selling Microsoft stock in 1987. You'd get nowhere near the value a QB of his calibre is worth. He's hurt, and if you try to trade him, teams will think he's hurt even more than he is.

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JuTMSY4Legend

306 days ago

Score 2

Miserable metaphor, but i Agree 100% Rawb ; - ) Cassel is adequate-to-good. Brady (whether its the system or his talent) took that offense to a 16-0 record pace. I think franchising Cassel is a stop-gap to avoid wasting the season, but he's not the franchise QB...Brady is

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

306 days ago

Score 1

I like that metaphor. MSFT took a bit of a downturn in 1987. I bet a lot of people got out, pocketing 200% profit and thinking they were geniuses.

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

306 days ago

Score 2

So 200% profit ISN'T genius enough?

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Davis21wylieMVP

306 days ago

Score 5

Millen is a great choice as a studio analyst. Viewers just need a disclaimer or something on the screen... whenever he opens his mouth to give football analysis, the truth is actually the polar opposite of what he just said.

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Davis21wylieMVP

277 days ago

Score 3

LOL, a Detroit NBC affiliate actually took my advice...

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

277 days ago

Score 1

Wow, nice work D21. Send this comment to the station that did it.

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