The Dugout – Tributes and Perspective
RIP Flip
Basketball suffered an immeasurable loss when Flip Saunders passed away this week. A tragic and heart-breaking thing. He died of cancer aged 60.
Saunders had a 35 year career as a coach, including 17 seasons as a head coach in the NBA, winning 654 games. During those years he spent time with the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards but he’s most remembered for what he did with the Minnesota Timberwolves, nurturing a young Kevin Garnett straight out of high school into one of the greatest players of his generation. He coached the Wolves from 1995 to 2005, his best season coming in 03/04 when his team won 58 games and lost in the Conference Finals to the LA Lakers.
Saunders returned to the T-Wolves in 2013 as an executive and assumed head coaching duties for the second time last season. He was diagnosed in June with a “treatable and curable” case of Hodkin Lymphoma but complications arose and it was announced recently that he was unlikely to take his place on the sidelines for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. He’d spent the last month in hospital and passed away on Sunday, US time.
Of the many touching tributes to a wonderful man and a gifted coach, the most powerful of all came from his best player, Kevin Garnett – who returned to the Wolves in February, reuniting with his old mentor. It was expected that the pair were going to try purchase the team when KG retired in a couple seasons.
The Timberwolves had started to practice on Sunday when Newton (MT GM) got word from Taylor (MT Owner) of Saunders' death. Practice was halted and a devastated Garnett left the floor, walked to the parking garage at the practice facility and sat down in the spot marked for Saunders. He posted a picture of the moment on his Facebook page with the message "Forever in my heart ..."
Rest In Peace, Flip.
The Season Commences…
The coolest thing ever now would be the Minnesota Timberwolves winning the NBA in their coach’s honour, though a quick look at that roster tells you it’s pretty unlikely they’ll even threaten the playoffs.
Anyway, the season tips off this week and that’s reason to celebrate. Regardless of how many wins your team is projected for, this is the point at which optimism is at an all-time high. The future is yet to be written, the anticipation is everything. Here are some pre-season ditties to get you in the spirit:
Although don’t put any faith in that list there because everybody should know that the best play of preseason was this:
If you want a proper preview, get in on these ones from these very same pages. Cannot wait.
EASTERN CONFERENCE PREVIEW
WESTERN CONFERENCE PREVIEW
The Hayne Refrain VII
It was a dramatic week for Jarryd Hayne, kinda surprising for a fella that didn’t even play.
Yep, for the first time in his NFL career, Hayne was made inactive for a game. Reggie Bush returned from injury and Mike Davis was favoured in the third RB spot. This was not a huge shock after last week’s debacle, Hayne’s skill set at running back is not yet well-rounded enough to guarantee him snaps and if he’s not getting those then he doesn’t need to be there. What had got him into games in the first place was his punt returning abilities but after two fumbles through six weeks, there were questions there as well.
The fact is there are other players who can be trusted to take return duties. With those two fumbles and also a couple bad reads, his return game simply isn’t good enough either to justify taking him in as a specialist special teamer. He’ll keep learning and growing and he’ll get his chance again soon as one of the guys in front of him inevitably gets injured again.
Which actually looks like an inevitability, that’s not a careless choice of words. Leading RB Carlos Hyde claimed last week that he’s playing with a stress fracture in his foot, which is bad enough that he had to sit out a few snaps last week after putting too much pressure on it. That could easily become too painful to deal with – if this team lose him then they’re in even bigger trouble. Also Reggie Bush seems perpetually injured, he’s missed three games already in 2015. That leaves only Hayne and Davis and both are rookies. Nothing came of the Pierre Thomas trials last week but if there were a lengthy injury to a RB, you can expect this team to act in some way.
Hayne has only played 28 of the 49ers 383 offensive snaps during the first six games, earning himself 8 carries for 25 yards and a 7-yard reception from that. No, this does not mean the end of his NFL career. It’s just a hurdle for him to get over, and a reminder to him but also to us that this whole journey has not and will not come easy.
Speaking of hurdles, though…
For the record, the Niners were comfortably beaten by the Seattle Seahawks. Maybe not such a terrible game for Hayne to miss.
Also of note is the growing rumour that the San Francisco 49ers are considering a multi-million dollar trip to Sydney next year for a pre-season game to be hosted at ANZ Stadium.
49ers owner John York:
"It's something we'd definitely consider with the NFL. We're fully aware of the interest Jarryd Hayne has created in Sydney and Australia. I've met fans from Australia at every game this year. The support is incredible."
CLICK HERE FOR A WORLD SERIES PREVIEW!!!
NFL Week 7 Power Rankings:
- New England Patriots (Last Week = 1)
- Green Bay Packers (2)
- Cincinnati Bengals (3)
- Carolina Panthers (5)
- Denver Broncos (4)
- Arizona Cardinals (6)
- New York Jets (7)
- Atlanta Falcons (8)
- New York Giants (NA)
- St Louis Rams (NA)
What If I Told You…
When You’ve Been Injured For Too Long…
Halloween Goodness
Edelmania
Hmm…
Standing Up For Yourself
Do Not Buy Kia!
Right, with that sentiment cancelling out the product shilling herein, now you can neutrally enjoy the latest in Blake Griffin’s acting career.
Good Week:
Kirk Cousins (Washington R**skins) – Welll whaddaya know, cut out the picks and there’s a mighty good QB in there. Cousins helped rally this team to their largest ever comeback, down 24 points in the second quarter to win 31-30 on a pass to Jordan Reed with 24 seconds remaining. Cousins threw 33-40 for 317 yards and 3 TDs.
Dan Campbell (Miami Dolphins) – Given the completely contrasting performances of this team with Joe Philbin as coach and with Campbell as interim, you’ve gotta think DC’s got a big shot at the full time gig. Two powerful wins have got Miami back to 3-3 and there’s a long way to go yet. There’s an argument that Ryan Tannehill has never looked better than against the Texans (albeit it was against the Texans), breaking the NFL record for consecutive completions (25! – his first 18 in this game and last 7 in week 6) on his way to a 18-of-19 passing, 282 yards, 4 touchdowns game, his only incompletion coming in the fourth quarter (plus three of those TDs were for 50+ yards).
Bad Week:
Arian Foster (Houston Texans) – His season started with an injury and it ends with an even worse one. A torn Achilles, x-rays to confirm or deny. Foster is the most talented offensive player on this team (except for perhaps DeAndre Hopkins) and will end the season with a mere 63 rushing attempts. Things going from terrible to even more terrible for the 2-5 Texans who were 41-0 down against the Dolphins this week before restoring some parity as Miami stopped trying. Plus their backup QB, Ryan Mallet (who’s pissed at losing the starter’s role) missed the team charter to the game and had to buy his own plane ticket.
Don Mattingly (Formerly of the LA Dodgers) – Mattingly was brought in to tie all the strings of that ball club together. He was the genius to take the talent and mould it into something special, yet after another disappointing playoff exit, the Dodgers and Mattingly have parted ways. It was a mutual decision, apparently. Mattingly is now likely to get the Marlins manager’s job while the Dodgers are taking their time before making any decisions on his replacement. Gabe Kapler is a name that keeps getting mentioned.
Player of the Week:
Daniel Murphy (New York Mets) – Still him, coz he’s still slugging. Six straight games with a playoff home run. Plus it’s seven games in a row with at least one hit, one run and one RBI – something only Lou Gehrig has ever done previously. Add NLCD MVP to his recent achievements.