How about that Tebow III?

On a recent NFL Total Access, The Playmaker Michael Irvin quoted the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians 1:27:  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.  Of course, this is the King James translation.  I always preferred the NIV and NASB myself.  The NASB translates it:  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.  Now wasn't that better?

The quote was sited in regard to the offense Tim Tebow is running in Denver right now.  "This offense is foolishness, but is confounding all of us analysts who think we are wise", said Irvin.

Absolutely correct.  I have no objections to that statement.  I would only ask one further question:  Where the hell were you guys back in 2006 when all of us were being confounded in Tim Tebow's freshman year?  We went through that whole toxic shock resulting from exposure to the spread-option zone-read offense back in 2006.

You know the Florida Gators won the BCS Championship that year by spanking a very polished Ohio State team?  That the first of two championships we didn't think they could win.  After they won their second championship in 2008, over a Sam Bradford led Oklahoma Sooner team, it became very clear that this foolishness works.

However, it's clear you guys missed the party back then.  The looks on your faces resemble the look I had on my face back in 2006.  I wrote about that several times during the 2010 draft.

I have always been something of a Florida fan since the days of Steve Spurrier.  I totally loved that beautiful Gillman-Coryell offense he ran back at Florida.  I was a big fan of Danny Wuerffel back in those days also.

When Urban Meyer arrived in Florida... well... hehehehe... Let's just say I was quite upset by early results.  We had a two-headed QB monster with Chris Leak at the helm most of the time.  He was the nominal passer.  The Fearless Freshman Tim Tebow would come in on short yardage situations.  They would line up with 5 wide and an empty backfield.  Tim would run the football straight up the middle where there was no hole.  He would wind up popping for 7 to 15 yards a shot when there was no gap in the defense and no room to run.  I had no idea how the hell he did it, but the fans went berserk every time he came in.  It was a love affair from day one.

I thought it was the wackiest offense I had ever seen in my Goddamn life.  I wished they would fire Urban Meyer so we could get coach Spurrier back in there and run that beautiful Gillman-Coryell offense again. The Zone-Read-Option was an insult to my intelligence.

But then Florida's BCS championship victory over Ohio State stunned me.  I had no idea how they managed to get there, much less win in such convincing fashion.  I just had to accept the fact that the system works.

Tebow grew on me enormously.  I developed quite a bond with the kid.  This was the son I wished I had sired.  I later discovered he has exactly the same Moon, Venus and Mars signs I do.  The kid's emotional composition, sense of aesthetics, and drive are the same as mine.  We have quite a score according to Sirus 1.1, incidentally.  Of course, mentioning this would annoy Tebow to no end.

Fast forward to the 2010 draft.  It became clear that my Rams were going to replace Marc Buldger, a move I did not support.  However, if we were going to replace Buldger, it had to be Tebow as far as I was concerned.  I told everybody how much I loved this kid.  I wrangled on-line endlessly with those who favored Sam Bradford.

At the time, we didn't think Tebow would go in the first round.  I wanted to use the #1 pick on Ndamukong Suh, and get Tim with the #33 pick.  As it turns out, this would not have worked.  Just imagine where we might be today if we might have pulled it off somehow...

I hate to mention it, but the Broncos have 300% more victories than my Rams do right now.  Whooopse... did I say that?  Don't take it personally, Sam.  We didn't equip you for victory his year.  We had absolute rubbish at the WR position until John Elway gave us the gift of Brandon Lloyd.  I've been shouting this at everybody who will listen, incidentally.  We'll get you Justin Blackmon in this year's draft.

In summary, Michael Irvin is quite correct when he says this foolishness is confounding the wise. Still, I wonder why you guys didn't know all this by the beginning of 2009?  Don't you watch college football?  Am I the only one?

You might say that can't work in the NFL, but it is obvious that it does.  Further, it's based on the same great principle that the Gillman-Coryell offense is:  Just hit it where they ain't.  Attack the emptiness and avoid the fullness, as Tzun-Tzu says in The Art of War.  If you always attack the weak spot in the defense, you'll always enjoy moderate success.  It's just that simple.

The one thing that really troubles me is this:  Tim Tebow can pass.  He's just not doing it right now.  He had a college QBR of 175 over his entire four year career in the SEC.  He had massive passing numbers in 2007, the year he won the Heisman.  I have seen him throw the football vastly better than he has done it lately.  I know he can pass.  I think you guys have given my boy a complex.  He's heard you say he can't throw the ball so many times, he is starting to believe it.

Shake it off, Tim.  Remember who you are.  Don't listen to the bullshit.  You threw the ball just fine back in college.  Do what you did back then.  Just make your decision and throw with confidence. If you get your passing confidence back, the Broncos can run the table and go 11-5.

The 1990 Cowboys: Water and Earth

So our series on the elemental compatibility of the great dynasties has now reached the 1990s and that means the Dallas Cowboys. For me, this was a good one. I enjoyed these Cowboys. They were comprised of a number of 1966 babies, like myself, and they oppressed the 49ers something fierce.

Don't let anybody con you. The Cowboys got the better of that rivalry, and it wasn't all that close. That is why they were the team of the decade and the 49ers were not.

I enjoyed the 1990s Cowboys for a lot of reasons. Probably the most important was the black-eye they dealt to the West Coach offense. The Cowboys brought back the 4-3 defense after an era when the 3-4 was completely dominant. Their fast 4-3 defense was more than able to control the 49ers very, very powerful WCO.

Further, the Cowboys played a pretty conventional I-Formation Erhardt-Perkins offense. They ran on 1st & 2nd down most of the time, and they passed on 3rd down. The plays and the play calling were simple. They were just so talented nobody could stop them. They beat the hell out of their opponents in their one-to-one match ups. Even though the offense was basic and simple, it seemed like a flying circus because it often resulted in explosive plays.

I found these guys easy to like. That is probably because they were primarily Water and Earth guys, perfectly compatible with a Virgo guy like me. If you are a Virgo, you can't help but be proud that the Water and Earth alliance whupped the Air boys of San Francisco. No wonder these teams didn't like each other.

I find it interesting that Troy Aikman is a Scorpio and Michael Irvin is a Pisces, and these two are still best buddies to this day. Scorpio and Pisces is one of the greatest match ups on the synastry board. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were a Scorpio Pisces combo. So to were John Gotti and Sammy the Bull Gravano.

I find it more interesting that Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith (Taurus) are 180 degree opposites. As you know, opposites attract. Taurus and Scorpio just might have the most powerful oppositional attraction of them all. These are both very fixed and stubborn signs, so if they agree in the beginning, they will always agree with each other.

It was my impression that there was never even the slightest crack in the unity of Aikman and Smith. These two were teammates and battle buddies for life, period. The end of the story. You couldn't divide them. There was no need to mention it. It was just understood that these two were on the same sheet of music.

It's also very interesting that Alvin Harper is a Cancer and Jay Novacek is a Scorpio. Troy had excellent timing and chemistry with both of them. So we have one each of the three water signs in the reciever corp: Michael Irvin (Pisces), Alvin Harper (Cancer) and Jay Novacek (Scoprio). That's a perfect trio.

I also find it interesting that this chemistry this receiver corp began to break down when Alvin Harper left and Aquarius Kevin Williams showed up.

The one big exception is Moose Johnston. Of course, the Moose is an Aquarius. Nevertheless, he was an instrumental part of this offense, and a highly regarded teammate. This must have been a case of special affinity.

This entire unit was under the command of an Taurus offensive coordinator by the name of Norv Turner. Scorpio Troy Aikman has so much regard for this particular Taurus that he asked Norv to introduce him at his Hall of Fame induction. This was at a time when Norv's rep was at a fairly low ebb. That's oppositional attraction folks. This is also the stubborn loyalty of the fixed signs.

So I have an error correction and retraction to print, dear readers. As it turns out, the Jimmy Johnson who coached the Cowboys is a Leo, not a Cancer as I originally thought. As it happens, there are a lot of Jimmy Johnsons in world of sports and football, and one of them is a Cancer. I find it interesting that Terry Bradshaw's best buddy is a Leo.

Obviously there is a lot of affinity between us Virgos and 'dem Leos; a lot more than I originally suspected. I've been learning a lot about this lately.

The fact that Jimmy Johnson is a fiery fire sign guy sheds much light on why Troy Aikman was so hesitant to play for this guy, why he never fully trusted Jimmy, and why that relationship never really blossomed.

The composition of the offensive line is interesting. It's a mixture of Fire and Earth. Fire and Earth do mix with some difficulty. This is what is known as a ceramic mixture. It does work better if you get side-by-sides like Leo and Virgo, or Sagittarius and Capricorn.

This was a fantastic offensive line. This composition underscores the fact that the Offensive Line is a separate unit from the skill positions, and some mixture is permissible here.

So Sam Bradford reminds you of Troy Aikman, aye?

Did I have something to do with that?

I seem to recall doing a comprehensive blade-job on the very notion of drafting a QB #1. I wrote a piece called "The Only Time it Every Worked Out" prior to the 2010 draft and I sited Troy Aikman and the Cowboys as the one and only time taking a QB #1 resulted in an all-out, smash-bang hit for the team that selected him.

The object was to spell out in absolutely clear terms what ungodly low-percentages you face when selecting a QB #1 in the draft.

At the end of that piece, I compared the 4 QBs at the top of the heap in 2010 to Troy Aikman. I found all of them wanting in one respect or another. I stated that the only dude who even kinda sorta reminded me of Troy was my bambino: Tim Tebow.

Shortly after that I began reading so-called leaks from the Rams organization that stated Sam was the most accurate passer since Troy Aikman. I raised one eyebrow like Spock, and wondered how Peyton Manning felt about that statement. I felt the statement was self-refuting and left it at that.

Then all of a sudden, I hear famous scouts declaring Sam had the best private workout since Troy Aikman. Interesting... I thought they said the same thing about JaMarcus Russell.

Then suddenly, after Devaney drafts Sam, he decides that Sam is going to wear #8 rather than #14. Of course, it is a violation of sports taboos to renumber a QB between college and the pros. We superstitious dudes believe that this often leads to busts. What was the reason for this violation of superstitious taboos? Keenan Burton, a WR who did not make the squad (on one of the most depleted WR rosters around) had already been allocated #14. Surely there must be a better excuse for that?

Devaney and Bradford felt it was a nice tribute to fellow Oklahoma QB and #1 pick Troy Aikman. Incidentally, he graduated from my alma mater UCLA, not Oklahoma as the conference falsely stated.

Now, Michael Irvin is singing this song. He says Sam is a good professional young quarterback, much like Troy. Of course, we know that the NFL Network is the official mouthpiece of the 32 teams of the league. They are asked to single certain promotional songs to stir-up the echoes of official promo statements made by the 32 teams.

While it does my heart some good to think this just might work out after all, I have considerable reservations about these comparisons. Are these comparisons warranted? Let us count the similarities:

1. They are both quarterbacks
2. They are both from Oklahoma
3. They are both right handed
4. They are both around 6-4
5. They were both #1 picks
6. They are both extremely accurate.
7. They were both highly professional young QBs (at least once upon a time)
8. They are both Scorpios

There is a bit of data-noise in each of those statements, but I will set that aside. Suffice it to say, I think the comparison is strained. I watched both of them play through their entire college and Pro careers thus far, and I think there are systematic, health, mechanical and stylistic differences that make them plenty distinct.

Don't you think so?

Of course, my draft campaign failed utterly, however, I did raise some hullabaloo inside Ram-circles. I wonder if I mounted a unsuccessful pressure campaign that raised enough ruckus to draw some direct counter-measures? What do you think?