Gregg Doyel can actually make me argue against one of my favorite players

December 14th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

Gregg Doyel has always been something of a mystery to me. There’s no question he’s a good writer; he (probably) wouldn’t be working for CBS Sportsline were he not.

But where Doyel could use the mighty powers of his position, and the Internet, for good, he instead uses them to kind of be an asshole to people in his mailbags. Honestly, it’s funny, but it’s also a dick move, and it would be a lot easier to respect the guy were he not so seemingly fond of the negative attention.

Oh, and sometimes he writes things like this.

The MVP strikes like lightning, but he’s no Bolt

He already owns the NFL’s single-season touchdown record, and has three games left to put it beyond mortal reach. His team has the best record in football, and he is the biggest reason. He is the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Phew. For a second there, your headline confused me. I thought you were going somewhere else than LaDainian Tomlinson on this one. Fortunately, that’s beyond normal reason, and you’re not unreasonable, are you Gregg?

His name is not LaDainian Tomlinson.

Oh.

Sorry. This line of thinking probably comes as a shock. Every time you turn on a television or open a magazine, you are notified that San Diego’s Tomlinson is this season’s MVP. You are reminded of his record number of touchdowns from scrimmage — 29 and counting — and told that he is the MVP as if this is gospel, something to be argued only by an idiot.

I’ll be your idiot.

You said it, not me. But seriously, is it really so renegade to suggest that Tomlinson might not be the most deserving, despite his otherworldly statistics? After all, the most prominent football writer in the country, Peter King, has steadfastly pimped Drew Brees for the award, not only for his crazy statistics, but for the impact he has had on a ravaged area of the country still recovering from a debilitating disaster (whether or not the main victims of the disaster have actually had a chance to, you know, get tickets in the Dome). I mean, if Peter King is going the other way on Tomlinson, there’s wiggle room here, provided the player can at least top Brees’ accomplishments, or, at the very least, there’s a shred of intelligence in the argument for said player. (WEEKEND UPDATE: Bill Simmons, the nation’s most prominent sportswriter, period, is also a Drew Brees proponent. So there’s the two most prominent sportswriters in the country saying the MVP doesn’t belong to Tomlinson, Gregg. Ugh.)

Because Devin Hester is your MVP.

Ha, oh, tell me this is a joke man. I love Devin Hester, but come on. Really? Devin Hester? Go on.

With an NFL-record six returns for touchdowns this season, Hester’s also your Rookie of the Year — but let’s not minimize his value to the Chicago Bears or his impact on this 2006 season by pigeon-holing him into the most conventional award possible.

A rookie can be the MVP. It’s allowed. Not that we need a precedent, but if it’ll make you feel better, fine. Here are your precedents: Rookie MVPs happened in the NBA with Wilt Chamberlain (1960) and Wes Unseld (’69), in baseball with Fred Lynn (’75) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001), and in the NFL with Earl Campbell (1978).

And it should happen this season with Devin Hester.

Hester won’t win because of his rookie status and his specialized role — although Redskins kicker Mark Moseley was MVP in 1982 — and because of Tomlinson, who is on pace to run for 1,780 yards, catch 64 passes and score 36 touchdowns. The Chargers (11-2) have the best record in the AFC. Tomlinson is a strong, strong candidate for MVP.

But to eliminate Hester, to consider the matter closed without even hearing his side, is the very thing you’d expect from the sports media. One or two sportswriters can be brilliant. A group of them, voting en masse? Lemmings. Show them a cliff, give them LaDainian Tomlinson, and watch them race each other to the rocks below.

As if your original sentence didn’t stress the fact enough, yes, Gregg, we get that you consider yourself different from your colleagues. You’re no lemming; you’re a renegade take-no-prisoners bad ass … guy that writes about sports. How very brave of you. Devin Hester.

But seriously … Devin Hester?

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Here we go again…

April 10th, 2006 | Posted by Matt

Our favorite columnist/wanna be journalist Andy Katz is at it again. Today ESPN’s Katz reported that John Calipari is in “serious negotiations” with N.C. State regarding its head coaching position.

This is not the first time Mr. Katz has made a blunder with a head coaching vacancy. But in this situation, he might just be onto something. He makes a good point in the article, saying that Calipari would be “in the Triangle with Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams.” He goes on to call Calipari the “king of Conference USA,” which would be his biggest reason not to leave Memphis.

As usual though, we’ll leave it up to the real journalists in this country to give us the final word on the situation - or at least until we see Calipari at a press conference with an N.C. St. hat on.

(Update: Andy Katz is not the only one reporting this. Gregg Doyle from CBS SportsLine.com also says Calipari is in ’serious negotiations’ with N.C. State.)