Fight club

Sparring with Redskins, Bills and Hemingway

Andy of Rockville, Md., advises me to stick with the "thank you for your kind words" sentiment, rather than abbreviating it. I realize this is no big deal, and most of you out there don't give a, uh, damn about how I phrase my thank you's, so I'll just go back to the old way and let the thanks fall where they may.

Andy also wonders about Stephen Davis' role in Steve Spurrier's Redskins offense. At the league meetings in March we queried Spurrier about his commitment to the running game. He took great pains to point out all the great runners he had at Florida -- Fred Taylor, Errict Rhett, etc. Unless he was blowing smoke, I think he'll try to get some serious mileage out of Davis, with the passing game as an accompanying weapon. Finally, andy asks: "How soon until the Cowboys figure out Spurrier's offense?" Figuring out an offense is no problem in the NFL. Everyone has tapes. Stopping it is another matter. The first Cowboys-Skins confrontation, on Nov. 28, by which time Dave Campo will have seen and studied Spurrier's entire bag of tricks, is one I'm greatly looking forward to ... make that, to which I'm greatly looking forward. I know there are English teachers out there.

Another Spurrier question from Dave of Gibsonia, Pa., this one concerning his win-'em-all attitude toward the exhibition games. I've always felt that coaches who put emphasis on winning these things have some growing up to do. But then again, Vince Lombardi won a lot of them, so where are we? It still makes me uneasy. College coaches usually come into the NFL with that mindset. I was beat man on the Jets during Lou Holtz's ill-fated season of 1976. The first game the Jets won was an exhibition against the Oilers in the Astrodome. After the game Holtz found an old mimeograph machine somewhere in the bowels of the stadium and printed up copies of a victory song he'd written. He handed them out and had us all sing his song on the plane home -- players, writers, stewardesses, everyone. Did I sing? You betcha, until the defensive coach, Walt Michaels, in the seat next to me, told me to shut the hell up. It went to the tune of Caissons Go Rolling Along.

Win the game, act like men, we're together win or lose,

New York Je-ets keep rolling along ...

(Who says I can't remember things?)

It was the highlight of a Jets season that went straight downhill.

Lots of Bills questions from Scott of Rochester, N.Y. First of all, he's tired of hearing all the gushing about "Bledsoe's divinity." Wants my take on Bledsoe and his offensive coordinator, Kevin Gilbride. I'll defer that one to my next e-mailer and answer both at once, OK? Scott isn't sold on Travis Henry's running, either. I think Henry showed some passion last year, particularly in the Thursday-nighter in Jacksonville. Can he carry the running game? I'm not sure, but I, too, like Sammy Morris as a complement, maybe even as the No. 1 guy, but they seem committed to Henry. Scott is also less than enthusiastic about Gregg Williams' coaching. I say give him another year. The Bills played hard last season. I didn't think they were outcoached.

Finally, we get down to the real stuff. The Beale Street Pub at South and Gregory in Rochester. You say good steaks. Fine. When you mention pink lemonade at the bar, you're starting to lose me, and the job is finished when you mention the blues singer, Mary Tait. I don't care how good the entertainment is. When I'm at a restaurant I like to eat, period, without distractions.

Thanks, incidentally, for the kind words. There, I've said it. Al of Boston is rougher on Bledsoe, arguing that the days of the statuesque pocket passer are over. Besides, he's not wild about the supporting cast. I disagree. Dan Marino would still be effective today ... well, maybe not today because it's Friday and the season hasn't started yet ... effective in this era. And I like Bledsoe's weapons -- Moulds, the rookie, Josh Reed, Jay Riemersma down the seam. Will the QB and the coordinator click? That's the question. I think Gilbride is better working with established players than young ones. It's not the offense I worry about with Buffalo, it's that D-line.

To Liam of Boston: Thank you for saying nice things. First business, then personal questions. He doesn't buy either Cowboys QB, Carter or Hutchinson. I agree with you about Hutchinson, who looks stiff ... don't misquote me, I didn't say "like a stiff," I said stiff. Carter is still a work in progress. Might take a while. A long-winded way of saying I'm not wild about him, either, but I think their defense will keep them in the hunt.

Now the questions about my past. Did I really box with Ernest Hemingway? Yes. My best friend in high school was Paul Lansky, whose father was, well, you know who. We wanted to be fighters, so after school we used to go down to George Brown's gym on West 57th Street in NYC to train. Brown had been the trainer for the old middleweight champ, Harry Greb. It was kind of a celebrity gym and Hemingway was the No. 1 celebrity. He liked to get in the ring, and they'd put me in with him because we were about the same size, although I was only 15 and 16 at the time. Brown's instructions to me were always the same. No right hands. He didn't want some wild-assed high school punk driving away his best customers. I have to laugh when I hear descriptions about how good a fighter Hemingway was. Actually he was a big, burly guy who liked to try to maul you in the clinches. You had to watch yourself. What the experience did for me was to develop a good left hand, since, as I mentioned, I couldn't use the right.

Hemingway was a well-liked figure in the gym. A nice, friendly guy. He'd come in there hungover a lot of the time, and wrap himself in some sort of rubber thing and get into the steam room to sweat out the booze. Then he'd get into the ring. His nickname at Brown's was Broadsides. Paulie, my buddy, became captain of the West Point boxing team. A fine little lightweight. I never did much, although I was never knocked off my feet. Oh yes, what's my favorite of Hemingway's writing? Has to be a short story, since I've always felt that he was better at story-length than novel-length. Probably a story called The Light of the World, about two prostitutes, each of whom claimed to have known Stanley Ketchell, the middleweight champ.

Finally, who would win in an eating contest, me or Peter King? If the Flaming Redhead weren't around, me. If she were there, Peter, because she'd stop me, for health reasons, before things got really ugly.

Nathan of New York likes the idea of Blaine Bishop replacing Damon Moore as the Eagles' strong safety. Moore's coming off a knee injury and could come back. He's young. Bishop has taken an awful lot of hits and I think he's definitely on the downside, although he might be fairly effective in Jim Johnson's system.

Two e-mailers can't understand my ranking of Steve Young, Troy Aikman and Brett Favre in that order. The two e-mailers are, get ready now, Brad of Nashville, Tenn. and Robert of Madison, Wisc. First of all, let's remember that I said that all three are legitimate Hall of Famers. The complaints center around my ranking Favre No. 3, behind Aikman, although the Young pick doesn't seem to upset anyone. OK, if I needed a TD to win a game, and there were two minutes and no timeouts left, I'd pick Favre. But I chose Aikman over him on accuracy. Favre simply gets too impatient at times and lets it fly when and where he shouldn't.

Dan of Colorado Springs, Colo. wonders what Matt Millen's agenda is in Detroit. First, I think Millen wanted to get the finances straightened out. It wasn't reflected in the record last season. This year he wanted to get speed on both sides of the ball, since he felt that the Lions' biggest problem was inability to motor. Millen got roped into the Harrington pick. On his own, he might have gone for Jammer. But if Harrington lights it up, then Millen will look like a genius. And if Harrington is on the bench this year, or if he plays and struggles, then Millen will have to hope that it comes together for the kid in 2003. I just hope Matt will be around to see it.

Thanks to Dave of Cherokee Meadows, Colo., for his sentiments. Question: Is Mike Shanahan in a must-win situation with Griese, and how deep into the playoffs must the Broncos go for this season to be considered a success? I like Shanahan as an offensive thinker. I don't like some of his free agency acquisitions, namely Eddie Kennison, Leon Lett and Chester McGlockton last season. I think Ed McCaffrey's recovery is crucial to the operation. All the guy does is win ballgames for you. To me, just as important as how far they go in the playoffs is how they play down the stretch, particularly in that December roadie against Oakland. If they get blown out, look out. Everyone will be hollering for scalps.

Interesting question from Bob of Cambridge, Mass., regarding Terrell Davis and the Hall of Fame: Should runners require fewer great years than players at other positions, since running back is such a high-risk occupation? It's hard to make rules about this. You go by feel. My feeling about Davis is the same one I put forth for many years about Lynn Swann. Quality over quantity. I always like the guys who save the best for when the stakes are highest. I think Davis is Hall of Fame material, but would I vote for him? The same answer as always: Depends on who he'd come up against.

Second part of question: Why do I predict that I'll probably misrank a team in future Power Rankings to make up for misranking it in the first place? Because I'm trying to be honest. We all play the old compensation game, except that most people don't admit it. But this is only early in the season. When the serious ranking is done at the end of the year, it's no more Mr. Nice Guy. And I thank you, Mr. Cambridge, for your nice words.

Jim of Nashville wants to know how important is it for a coach to be a tough disciplinarian as opposed to a "player's coach?" (Interesting aside. My tired fingers originally typed in "couch" for "coach" and I think I like it better than way ... I prefer a couch to be tough and firm up your back, etc.) OK, we're back on track again. I think style is incidental. Two things matter most: 1) honesty, and 2) the feeling of his players that the guy knows what he's doing. In a pinch, he can even get by without being totally honest at all times, but if the players feel that he's a dummy it won't matter if he's a disciplinarian or a nice guy or a combination of both. They won't perform for him.

Bruce of Raleigh, N.C., thinks Houston GM Charley Casserly is a loser in the old personnel selection department. He points to the acquisition of Tony Boselli. I disagree. Some of his drafts in Washington tanked, but the way I judge it is to look at the picks, and this goes for free-agency selection as well, at the time they're made and rate them right then, not six months or a year later when you're an expert through hindsight. I've had very few arguments with Charley's decisions, repeat, at the time they were made. The Boselli pick? Well, everyone loved it back in February. Now that the guy's career is in jeopardy, all the hindsight experts are ripping it.

Finally, you can't stand the name Texans, which, as you say, was used once and should have been retired. I agree. When it was first announced, I said, what a copout. Couldn't they have found anything more imaginative than that? I mean, think of what's left in the entire animal kingdom, for instance -- the moles, pigeons, pigs, aardvarks. "Go 'Varks!" Has a real ring to it.

Have a comment or question for Dr. Z? Click here.

 

Related information

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video