Big Orange Michael

Both teams from Tennessee (both pro and college) were at a crossroads in terms of their seasons. The Vols and Titans had some early successes that kindled some optimism but there were still a lot of questions out there. Both teams faced big tests this past weekend.

And, unfortunately, both teams failed the tests.

The Vols had everything lined up to take the next step in their return from the end of the Fulmer era and the year under he-who-shall-not-be-named. But the issues that have plagued us all year on both sides of the ball reared their ugly head and just wouldn't go away. The lack of ability to snap the ball consistently is plaguing us, throwing off timing. (And it could only get worse with Tyler Bray out due to his broken hand). The inability to run the ball and have consistent place kicking (seriously, we have a whole soccer team over there. Surely one of those players would like the chance to place kick! Hell, we've got a whole women's team we could audition as well. Either that or we put the UT Medical Center on figuring out a way to clone the Colquitts so we can have a punter again. Or maybe Jeff Hall has a son or daughter who is ready to step onto campus....) haunted us. Meanwhile, I think the Vols lost a lot of momentum when the refs took away our touchdown that would have tied the game. At that point, the air seemed to drain out of the team and Neyland Stadium.

The one piece of good news that I see is, ya know, Matt Simms played well enough to almost beat LSU last year. So, you never know.... (Yes, my glasses are orange-tinted...why do you ask?)

Meanwhile, the Titans....oh, the Titans.

It's like we have some mental block on the Steelers. I refuse to blame their terrible towel curse since I have to point this out yet again--it's just a stupid piece of fabric!!!!! Steeler fans who get all up in arms when anyone questions their stupid terrible towel make me ill.

But for some reason, the Titans looked like that pathetic team that played Jacksonville instead of the team we saw the last three weeks. I think a big part of it was the multiple chance to get a TD on the first drive and coming away with only a field goal. Another is the fact that Chris Johnson got his playmaker money, but hasn't earned it this year. He got his cash, but I guess we don't get any of his dash.

A terrible weekend for my favorite teams....well, maybe not the Redskins who on a bye got some distance from Philly and New York, who both lost. How long and hard did I laugh to see the Philly dream team go to 1-4? Long and very, very hard....

Labels: Redskins, tennessee football, Titans

posted by Michael Hickerson at 10/10/2011 04:46:00 AM | |

As a fan of both teams, you'd think I'd be happy no matter what the outcome. After all, one of my teams won this afternoon. And I got to be there to watch them play.

Unfortunately, that isn't necessarily the case.

I think a lot of Titans fans figured the Redskins would be an easy win after the way they were pushed around on Monday night by the Eagles. You let a team run up 28 points in the first quarter on the way to a 59 point win and it seems like they'd be easy pickings for the Titans.

Not so much this afternoon.

The complete lack of ability to adjust or cover on third down was terrible and terribly evident all this afternoon. The past three games, the Titans have been gashed over the middle with receivers or backs for the other team wide open. And when you get little or no pressure on the QB and allow them time to pick apart the defense and find these openings, it adds up to a long afternoon for your defense.

Not helped by the offense. This high-powered offense (we were first in the league in scoring a few weeks ago) has hit some big speed-bumps the past three games. We scored nine points in four and a half quarters today. Our only TD came from special teams.

You could sense the crowd at LP Field wanting to erupt, wanting to get excited, wanting something to go crazy and cheer about. It almost happened on the 4th and 2 TD pass to Randy Moss that was called back because of a phantom offensive pass interference call. That was a turning point for the game and this team. It could be a turning point for the season. Instead of going up seven, we are forced to punt and things continued to be mired in neutral for this offensive team.

Interestingly, the crowd wanted to get behind Randy Moss somehow. You could sense it. And yet, my big concern about him being a distraction seems to have been misguided. Or maybe it's that someone else on the team has stepped up to take that place. Apparently, Vince Young hurt himself during the game and was pulled by Fisher. I get that. But then, Vince's actions after the game and possibly during the game (not going to try and get back in) may have been the final straw for him here in Nashville. We thought he'd grown up a bit from his tantrums a few years ago, but he appears to have reverted and stepped back today.

A few weeks ago, I heard Rudy Kalis speak at my church and he was asked about Young and if he'd come into maturity. What Kalis said in response was interesting and I think we saw it played out today. He stated Young might have peaks and valleys to come and that we'd seen a peak. And that a valley could be coming for his maturity. Looks like we saw that today.

I just wonder if this will lead to Vince no longer being a Titan after this season is over.

And if any of this coaching staff will be held accountable. I know I said I was almost ready to climb on the Get Rid of Jeff Fisher bandwagon. Not sure if I'm on board yet, but I'm definitely on the Replace Chuck Cecil bandwagon.

Labels: Redskins, Titans

posted by Michael Hickerson at 11/21/2010 04:50:00 PM | |

A couple of things not long enough for a full post, but too long for a Twitter update...

All weekend, I kept hearing about how tragic it was that Reggie Bush returned his Heisman and he was turning away all this heritage, rich tradition, etc. Yeah, not so much. See the Heisman lost all meaning as an award in 1997 when ESPN campaigned for Charles Woodson to get it over Peyton Manning. Since that time, the award has been a meaningless one....
Phil Fulmer goes on live TV and while he didn't open hand slap Tim Brando (who is the smarmiest sports reporter EVER), he did verbally slap Lane Kiffin. And I loved it. Can he be the next AD for the Vols, please?!?!
As proud as I am of the effort the Vols game Saturday against Florida, it still sucks to lose to the Gators for six straight years. My poor nephew doesn't recall a time when the Vols beat Florida. This needs to change starting next year.
If Vandy can beat Ole Miss, then so can the Vols. Houston Nutt, welcome to the hot seat.
Joining you will be Marc Richt of Georgia, who still has a loss to Florida looming and could lose to the Vols. I know, it seems unlikely, but Georgia tends to find ways to lose games they shouldn't and the UT vs Georgia game could qualify.
It was a terrible weekend for my favorite teams, football-wise. The Titans started a QB controversy when Vince Young was replaced by Kerry Collins. Thing was, neither was effective. Pittsburgh showed that if you shut down the run game and dare Young to beat you, you can rattle the Titans offense. If I were the defense, I'd be mad as hell as the offense. They gave us a lot of chances to win.
As for the Redskins, we still have kicker issues. How many times will this haunt us? Last year it was the Saints, this year the Texans. I will weep if the Texans make the playoffs and actually win a game.
On a good note, the Cowboys lost. I laughed a long time about that one.
Finally, ComCast gave us a free sample of NFL Red Zone and I've gotta say it was pretty awesome. Interestingly, the feed for CBS games was five seconds faster on NFL Red Zone than it was on my local CBS affiliate. I can see myself spending the five bucks a month to have this during the season.

Labels: football, Redskins, tennessee football, Titans

posted by Michael Hickerson at 9/20/2010 11:59:00 AM | |

Walking into handbell practice last night, someone asked me if I was feeling a bit down since I was wearing my Titans' sweatshirt. I replied that I was feeling a bit depressed to which the reply came, "Well, at least you can be happy the Saints won today and are doing well."

Then came the painful and awkward silence before I had to explain that I'm also a Redskins fan and that while I was sad the Titans lost, I was really, really upset, depressed, annoyed, felt-like-a-gut-punch-to-the-stomach and irritated by the Redskins' loss to the Saints yesterday in overtime. It's that same bitter feeling I have about a certain touchdown that wasn't a touchdown by a certain team that shall not be named but rhymes with Borida in Neyland Stadium a few years ago. It's just cruel to have you team go out and perform so well before things just implode and you find a way to lose.

Make no mistake--that's exactly what the Redskins did.

And, man it hurt.

Watching the updates scroll across my computer screen on NFL.com and seeing the updates during the Titans game, I kept wondering if we'd get enough points to beat the Saints. This was matched only by my annoyance that Fox refused to cut over to this game from our local market game in which the Eagles were having their way with the Falcons and the game was pretty much over by the time the fourth quarter started. Of course, Fox did then cut over to the game once we'd had every last moment of the Eagles game, just in time to see the Redskins driving down to get what should have been the field goal that put the game out of reach....

And then, it all fell apart. Fox cut away to give us the start of the Dallas vs New York game just as the Redskins' kicker missed a chip shot field goal to salt it away. It's a move I don't understand and I call shenningans on Fox for claiming it was NFL rules when I've seen CBS run the end of tight games over and cut into whatever national game they have as the late game on many an occasion. But chalk it up to one more reason to hate the Cowboys, so I guess I'm OK.

It left me scrambling, wondering how the final moments would play out. So, I found the live streaming of the Redskins broadcast on-line and listened in to the final painful minutes of the game.

On a side note, it was made even more painful by the Redskins' crew calling the game. Sam Huff and Sonny Jorgensen have been there since I last lived near D.C. close to 20 years ago and they were over the hill then. Man, it was just painful to listen to them sometimes. I take back everything I've said about Frank Wycheck over the years as being a less than wonderful color guy on the Titans' broadcast. Hearing Huff and Jorgensen as color analysts try to fill air time during two long and drawn out reviews was just painful. They may have been great Redskins in their day and they used to do a nice job on the radio...but boy the time has passed.

And so, I got to hear the Redskins find a way to lose. In almost the most painful way possible. By playing 58 good minutes of football only to implose in the last two and then overtime.

I guess if you're the Saints it's better to be lucky than good...because they were lucky yesterday.

I just wish it hadn't been at the expense of my team.

Labels: Redskins

posted by Michael Hickerson at 12/07/2009 01:30:00 PM | |

Dear Mr. Snyder,

As a life-long Washington Redskins fan, I've watched some of the off-field moves you've made since acquiring the franchise. That's why I'm writing to you today.

I saw on SportsCenter today that Packer legend and quarterback Brett Favre has asked the team for an unconditional release so that he can shop his services to any other team in the league. A quick rundown of teams that could use Mr. Favre's services was gone over and I was happy to note that the Redskins weren't in the list.

And it should stay that way. I know this is the type of move you usually gleefully make. For some reason, you keep confusing playing fantasy football with how you actually create a winning team in the NFL. And from that perspective, bringing in Favre would seem like "the most awesome move ever."

Now, I respect Favre and what he's done. That said, given how you missed the chance to hire Greg Williams as your head coach to continue the work Joe Gibbs did in his second tenure in D.C. and the fact that we need to build a team around a young core of talent and not overpaid veterans, I implore you to keep your checkbook firmly in your pocket on this one.

Please, please, please, Mr.Snyder. Is that asking too much?

Sincerely,
Big Orange Michael

Labels: Redskins

posted by Michael Hickerson at 7/12/2008 08:10:00 AM | |

Vols defeat Southern Miss, 39-19.
Titans defeat Jacksonville 13-10
Redskins defeat Miami, 16-13 in OT.

I got to see some or all of all three games.

Good weekend.

Hail to the Redskins!
Go Titans
GO BIG ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Labels: football, Redskins, tennessee football, Titans

posted by Michael Hickerson at 9/09/2007 03:55:00 PM | |

The NFL Network has got to be annoyed. I'm pretty sure one of the main reasons they decided to send a crew to televise last night's pre-season game of the Titans vs the Redskins was the chance to feature Vince "I'm on the cover of Madden 2008" Young on national TV.

And what does Vince go and do--violate team rules and get himself suspended for the game.

I bet that wiped out a ton of the pre-show prep the two announces for NFL Network had done, all about Vince Young.

It also lead to us seeing just how much the team needs Vince Young this year and how I am crossing my fingers, toes and anything else I can to make sure Vince avoids the Madden cover curse.

Wow, what a less than inspiring game . I'm not sure which of my two teams I'm more worried about when it comes to offense. The Redskins first string offense could do nothing with the ball....of course, the Titans didn't do a lot with it either. Again, part of it could be that Kerry Collins had no clue he'd be thrown into the first-team offense. And that unsettles me as well--because if he's one play away from jumping in and he looks that unsettled...

::doing the please don't get injured Vince Young dance:::

Anyway, not a great game...but then again, what pre-season game is a great game? I guess the good news is the defenses on both sides looked good.

It's too early to make any definitive statements...but I bet this will be a much different game when these two teams meet in the Super Bowl in February.

Labels: football, Redskins, Titans

posted by Michael Hickerson at 8/12/2007 11:55:00 AM | |

Does anyone else find the sound effects, voices and other such stupid antics that Chris Boomer and Tom Jackson do on ESPN's The Blitz NFL coverage annoying? I was just watching highlights of the Titans game vs Jacksonville and we were subjected to a bad Irish accent when Cortland Finnegan returned the fumble for a touchdown and the Pac-Man eating pellets sounds when PacMan had the ball. I've honestly found Berman's antics annoying for years and it's getting worse and worse. Who in the world told this guy he was funny? Just show us the highlights, please. Keep the annoying sound effects, voices and names to yourself.
It was a good weekend for my teams. The Vols, Lady Vols, Titans and Redskins all won. Merry early Christmas to me.
So, going into the Jacksonville game yesterday, I felt pretty sure the Titans were in for a letdown. And while the offense did have an off day, the defense was superb. I am pleased by how the Titans are winning as a team and extremely hopeful for next year. Sure, I'd love to see the Titans make the playoffs this year, but I'm not expecting it despite their success. Honestly, they'd get in and probably hit a wall. I'd rathre see them win out and go into the off-season on a positive note to build on for next year.

Labels: basketball, football, Redskins, sports, Titans, Vols

posted by Michael Hickerson at 12/18/2006 07:14:00 AM | |

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