McCown “Unimpressive”
April 29th, 2009
Raheem The Dream should feel fortunate Bill O'Reilly doesn't host a sports show.
Boy, Raheem The Dream really has the spin cycle working in overdrive.
Joe has called out the Bucs new coach just three months into his administration due to the fact he’s outdoing Chucky when it comes storytelling.
Consider that Michael Lombardi of the NationalFootballPost.com wrote in an article on the Bucs quarterbacks that Byron Leftwich was signed by the Bucs because thus far Luke McCown has been “unimpressive” in mini-camp.
Lombardi was asked if Bucs bust-in-waiting Josh Freeman would be the Week 1 starter this season, then Lombardi dropped this bomb:
Very doubtful, but he just might be able to beat out the other quarterbacks on the Bucs’ roster. All the talk about Byron Leftwich being signed as a smoke screen is just talk. I was told by a very good source that the reason they signed Leftwich was because Luke McCown was unimpressive in the recent mini-camp. The Bucs have many options at quarterback, but in reality, they have only one long-term solution — Josh Freeman, and he will play soon.
It’s time to play Bucs trivia:
Q. The Bucs signed Leftwich because:
a) Raheem The Dream wanted him to compete for the starting job;
b) The signing was nothing more than a smokescreen to make other teams think the Bucs would not draft Freeman; or,
c) McCown, who Raheem the Dream waxed poetic about for three months, is stinking the joint up?
Which is it Chucky, eeerrr, Ra’?
April 29th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Just curious — why do you think coaches need to be 100% truthful and air out dirty laundry? What good does that do the Bucs?
Certainly if you’re a fan I’d rather not have Raheem go to the media talking about how poor McCown played in minicamp or the real reasons that Leftwich was signed.
April 29th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Why do you think it’s OK to con fans? Or do you think the best way to get fans to cough up hundreds of dollars for tickets (and $8 beers) is to lie to them?
It’s not like the Glazer Boys have people beating down their doors in a rush to get season tickets.
Besides, Chucky was canned, in part, because he lied to players. As you can read in the link Joe provided in this post, what exactly has changed? If Chucky pulled these kinds of stunts, he’d be dragged by an angry mob down Kennedy Blvd.
Remember, when coaches talk to “the media” they are talking to you. “The media” is nothing but a vehicle for coaches to communicate to fans and (potential) paying customers.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
You’re obvioulsy unaware that McCown “torched” the defense at the recent mini-camp so badly, in fact, that Bates was goin’ berserk. At least, that’ the word from people who attended said mini-camp. No reason to think they’d be lying. Lombardi has no clue what’s going on here.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
So by your logic if Raheem said McCown played poorly at the last minicamp, fans would be rushing to the box office to buy season tickets because of his candor. Hardly.
Just look at Bill Belichek, the guy gives one word answers and lies through his teeth every chance he gets. This is cause he knows the only thing that results from giving up lots of information to the press is that your competitors gain an advantage.
On top of that name me one business that tells the straight truth to the press — it’s just dumb and bad business — if you don’t understand that then you are completely out of your depth.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Joe here,
Huge difference between straight truth to the press and not lying and getting caught in double-speak. It’s a nuance that Raheem The Dream needs to improve greatly. …Nobody expects The Dream to divulge information, but fans don’t expect or appreciate him getting caught with his foot in his mouth over and over.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
It’s not like we know for certain that Mike Lombardi is correct.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
uh:
Was part of the reason that Chucky was fired due to lying to his players opr not? If so, then why is Morris getting a free pass? Chucky got crucified for his lies.
If Joe expects people to be up front with him, but as a result that means Joe doesn’t have “depth,” that’s OK with Joe. Joe just assumes he has higher standards and doesn’t want coaches of his favorite team to be an overpaid used car salesman.
Being lied to isn’t exactly the way to coerce Joe into buying season tickets.
Raheem isn’t quite Bill Belicheat — in a lot of ways.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Dave:
Whoever starts at quarterback for the Bucs Joe hopes the guy torches the bad guys in the wrong color jerseys.
Joe still finds it a bit odd that, after three months of Raheem — and others — trying to convince us McCown is another Brett Favre, that Raheem goes out and gets two other quarterbacks.
Joe’s not saying that’s a bad thing, but if McCown was/is that talented, what’s the need to beef up your roster of quarterbacks?
April 29th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
But Joe — how well someone played at a minicamp is subjective. Maybe it was someone in the front office who isn’t aware of the intricacies of the new offense and what they were trying to accomplish that week. Is it not possible that Raheem considered his play acceptable while others did not?
Furthermore, I just don’t understand what you wanted Raheem to say? If he expresses any doubt in his QB, how does that help the team in any way even if McCown was unimpressive? It’s like playing poker Joe — even if your hand sucks you don’t tell everyone that.
Even if McCown was the worst QB Raheem had ever seen, it does Raheem or the Bucs no good to say so, especially before a draft that everyone thought the Bucs were looking QB.
The reason to beef up our QBs was obvious — after McCown, Griese isn’t NFL caliber anymore and Josh Johnson is a project at best.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Chucky got fired for a number of reasons, certainly his relationship with the players was one of them, another reason could be that he was not living up the the expectations he established in his first year here as head coach.
We consider this wonderfull game to be a sport, but the reality is that it is a business!
Let’s break it down into it’s individual components, shall we?
1) A game: WE want to win, THEY should lose…let’s do whatever it takes so long as we both play by the rules.
2) A sport: Pretty much the same as number 1.
3) A business: Full seats in the stadium mean more beer sold and more jerseys sold! A winning team is better than a losing team, The Glazers did not get to where they are by making stupid decisions. That does not mean that they are not human and they occasionally make poor decisions, but I dont believe that this ownership could possiby descend to the depths of the Culverhouse administration.
You and I have no idea what is going on in this organization as far as talent is concerned, I will leave that up to the head coach and offensive coordinator. If they have lied to me and you, I’m sure they have a reason.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
What do you expect the coach to say to his players or about his players? Of course they are going to pump them up as the coach, through the media, is not just talking to the team and fans, he is also broadcasting to other teams and coaches. Why would you announce that a player is too slow or can’t read the playbook? (and thereby diminish any potential value he may have had). A team may need one of these QBs even before pre-season is over. When I hear a coach say he is happy with a players performance I take it with a grain of salt; I expect him to say that. Its “coach speak”. It does not mean he wouldn’t try to upgrade that players position. There are not many positions on this team that could not be upgraded but the coach has to play the hand hes dealt and make improvements as he can.
When Chucky lied to players, they were big lies, real lies, like “I’ll get you your extension after the season”, then cut him.