Author Archives: gordonglantz

Ride My See-Saw

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moodybluescenter

By GORDON GLANTZ

@Managing2Edit

GORDONVILLE – Of all the bologna that should keep me up at night – or, in my case, up while trying to take my afternoon nap – who is or is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should not be among them.

But it is.

You just can’t teach a grumpy old dog new tricks, especially when he has yet to chew his way through the same rawhide bone.

Just to repeat – a nut graph, if you will – I could, and maybe should, just leave it alone. All my all-time favorites are long-since inducted. That arm’s-length list goes from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to U2 and The Clash to all the obvious Classic Rock icons (Beatles, Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, etc.).

I hocked upon a righteous drum solo for Bob Seger, and was almost committed to a mental institution when one-hit wonder Isaac Hayes got in first, but all was made right a year later. I then began screaming for Genesis, Rush and Journey.

Inducted, inducted and inducted.

But the sports half of my brain get reconcile the more artsy-fartsy way the Hall goes about laying out nominees and coming to its final conclusion each year.

And even though fans vote – the only reason likes of Rush, Journey and others got in – the snot-nosed critics are still able to force their agenda of such extreme inclusion of forms of music that really are not Rock and Roll that obvious choices remain excluded.

This year’s list of 19, of which a grand total of five will be inducted, is no exception. I see some I’m happy with and others that don’t pass the smell test.

And I’m still left wondering what Bad Company, the Doobie Brothers and Steppenwolf ever did to be treated with such blatant disregard.

After I huff and puff, I’ll cast my vote. And then I’ll sit back and contemplate therapy as a day perfect for napping, like when it’s raining, is lost starring at the celing.

Let’s look at the list and I’ll give one of three answers – Yes (in bold), Maybe (italics) or No – for whether or not induction is deserved. I won’t give the “yes” nod for more than five, but a maybe means I can live with it.

  • Bon Jovi – Yes (Not a huge fan, but I was a first-hand witness to their impact and you can’t deny the body of work and the songs that continue to resonate).
  • Kate Bush – Maybe (Good music, but a little too quirky and out the mainstream to break into my Top 5. Still, I’d be OK with it).
  • The Cars – Yes. Hell Yes. (My favorite band for a stretch in ninth grade. I did out-grow them but still appreciate the tell-tale body of work and the obvious influence on other bands that came after. To me, they are on the same level as The Talking Heads, who were inducted a while back. How did that happen, you may wonder? Critics loved The Talking Heads and were never really into The Cars. It’s a New York vs. Boston thing).
  • Depeche Mode – No (I mean, they had their moments but, uh, no).
  • Dire Straits – Yes (A no-brainer, really, so brace yourselves for the inevitable WTF moment).
  • Eurythmics – No (A few OK songs does not a Hall of Fame career make, sorry).
  • J. Geils Band – Yes (This is a case of waiting until somebody dies –in this case, J. Geils himself, to act. Pretty damned pathetic).
  • Judas Priest – Maybe (We are talking about heavy metal icons with a hefty catalogue, but going in before metal pioneers Steppenwolf wouldn’t be right).
  • LL Cool J – No (But it will happen, and at the expense of an act or artist way more deserving, mark my words. Rap isn’t my thing, but I can appreciate it and where it’s coming from as a form of urban expression. That said, it is a whole different genre that should have its own Hall of Fame).
  • MC5 – Maybe (And only because they are pretty good. Still, the body of work just doesn’t measure up. Line them up against Steppenwolf, for example, and that should end this discussion).
  • The Meters – No (They keep coming up on the nominee list like acid reflux. Until somebody explains to me why, when Todd Rundgren or Boston and singer-songwriters like Harry Chapin and Gordon Lightfoot get no love, I’m going to keep going for the Alka-Seltzer when I see them listed).
  • Moody Blues – Yes (It’s even more of a no-brainer and so overdue that I might miss two naps if they don’t get in).
  • Radiohead – Maybe (Not my cup of tea, but there seems to be a compelling need from the board to leapfrog bands from this era over people who may not be around to appreciate being inducted much longer).
  • Rage Against the Machine – Maybe (I can appreciate the impact, and I dig Tom Morello, but I’m just not feeling it).
  • Rufus featuring Chaka Khan – Maybe (I can’t put it in my obvious Top 5, but they like to look like to do the annual “politically correct thing to do,” and this is not this band’s first time on the nominee list. For what it’s worth, “Tell Me Something Good” was the first 45 I ever bought, so I have a soft spot. Just not that soft).
  • Nina Simone – No (Her own bio lists about every genre under the sun – from Jazz to Soul to Gospel – but not Rock and Roll. Her only Top 40 hit, “I Loves You, Porgy,” reached No. 18 (No. 2 on R&B charts) in 1959. We can appreciate the longevity and respect in the music business, but this would be like putting a rugby player in the football hall of fame).
  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Maybe (Actually, not maybe. Yes, but as a pioneer selection. How she, as a more of an inventor of what became Rock and Roll than Bill Haley and his friggin’ Comets, is not in is beyond me)
  • Link Wray – LOL (not means no, as in N-O.).
  • The Zombies – Maybe (I really like their stuff but there just isn’t enough of it).

So, the summarize, from this list (and I could come up with five more deserving inductees fast than you can say Boston, Styx, Foreigner, America and Warren Zevon), we have: Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits, J. Geils Band and Moody Blues — with  special “pioneer” designation for Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Now go forth and stuff those ballot boxes.

I need my sleep.

 

Shooting To Kill

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Dan May

By DAN MAY

When I served in the US Air Force, I took an M-16 automatic rifle with me to my job. Every day. I carried multiple magazines filled with 30-round banana clips, which afforded me the capability of firing off 120 rounds in mere seconds. A few simple squeezes of a finger. And how many times was I called on to use that capability?

Zero. Zip. Nada.

Not one single time did I fire off that gun in the line of duty. It’s a dangerous weapon. And so now, thinking back to that, I for the life of me cannot come up with one single reasonable scenario in which I would need to use that weapon in my day to day life. It’s not for hunting, it’s not for sport. It has one purpose and one purpose only.

To kill people.

And the idea that that dangerous weapon that has no reason for being in anyone’s hands who isn’t in uniform defending the country, is a frightening and deadly thought. As we have just witnessed. Measures need to be taken to prevent this from being in the hands of ANYONE, much less available to mentally unstable individuals.

And yet it is.

If you want to own a gun, go right ahead. You can have as many hunting rifles, shotguns, pistols, muskets, etc., as your heart desires. But I think we should put a number on the amount of these military type weapons one person can own. And I’ve come up with that amount. And I think it’s the perfect amount. The reasonable amount. The necessary amount.

Zero. Zip. Nada.

Letting You Go

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PETTY2

By GORDON GLANTZ

@Managing2Edit

GORDONVILLE – How am I feeling in the aftermath of the sudden death of Tom Petty?

I feel like I lost a family member.

That’s a pretty powerful statement, and I really yearn not to be easily given to hyperbole, but I don’t swing for the fences on the first pitch without have been under the influence of perhaps the best writer of first verses in the history of Rock and Roll.

That would be none other Petty, who will write no more songs – with historic opening salvos — but leaves behind unlimited masterpieces ranging from his best-known songs to deep album cuts.

To understand, you would have to understand the inner G2 and how music in general, with Petty’s music near the top of the charts, has shaped all I am – for better or worse and all points in between.

My wife and daughter certainly didn’t flinch when I was pretty much hysterical upon learning the news Monday – news that changed slightly, saying he was near death – to learning that he was gone.

It seemed an odd reaction on the same day as the indiscriminate mass killing in Las Vegas, which drew more anger from me, as a longtime gun control advocate, than sentimentality.

I mourn for those who lost their lives, and those who a scarred by the experience, and can’t really fathom the shock of their loved ones.

But I can understand the gut-punch of losing family. You live five decades and it gets to be hard to avoid.

And “family” is not just those who share your blood.

When the magic of Rock and Roll gets into your blood, your family tree takes a different form.

It can be a stranger whose art was such that he seemed like they knew you.

And it includes those who are there for you in moments of extreme darkness and light, moments when your range of emotions can be explained – or enhanced – by a well-written and performed song.

And not many combined those skills better than Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers.

They came along at the tail end of the Classic Rock era, which runs roughly from the arrival of The Beatles in America (1964) until the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever spawned Disco Fever and seemingly forced Bob Dylan to ask Jesus what the hell was going on.

And yet Petty’s clan, with roots firmly in 1960s sensibilities, was easily grandfathered in as a Classic Rock act, although the raw sound on those foretelling first two albums – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1976) and You’re Gonna Get It (1978) – made for a nice bridge between AOR (album oriented rock) and the burgeoning punk rock scene.

That status would be further cemented when he later joined forces with the likes of Dylan, former Beatle George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne of ELO fame in the Traveling Wilburys for two albums (1988, 1990) and the deal sealed with an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

As honors go, it was as well-earned as it was deserved.

When Damn The Torpedoes came out in 1979 – and shot right up to No. 2 – that album’s classics (Refugee, Here Comes My Girl, Don’t Don’t Me Like That, Even The Losers, etc.) joined airwaves already populated by songs from his first two releases (most notably Breakdown and American Girl from the first and I Need To Know and Listen To Her Heart from the second).

At the time, I was transitioning into high school and was trying to find my place in a world where I was, for all intents and purposes, just another kid.

The songs resonated. No matter where I was, or what I was doing, I stopped in my tracks. It was a natural instinct. They just reached out from the radio and grabbed you.

I couldn’t quite explain how or why, but they did.

By the time of his next album — and my personal favorite, 1981’s Hard Promises – I began the arduous, and still ongoing journey, of putting pen to paper to try and make sense of it all.

And writing lyrics, for me, was a natural fit.

I listened to a lot of music, and pondered the messages being sent, to direct me on this quest.

For all the Prog Rock concept albums that made it almost easier to dabble in free-form writing that barely made sense – even to myself – I began to marvel at the way Petty, among others, who could keep it real with concise prose that pretty much told it all in a simply-stated way.

It was a knack I longed to have, and I marveled at Hard Promises songs like The Waiting, Letting You Go, A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me), Something Big, A Thing About You and most especially Insider (with Stevie Nicks singing background vocals).

I longed to be able to do it like that.

But the waiting was the hardest part.

To this day, in many ways, those are the types of lyrics I’m trying to write.

On our last SpringHouse Revival CD (check us out on Spotify and iTunes and shame on you if you have to “like” our Facebook page), co-writer Terri Camilari and I were going for the Tom Petty vibe, while keeping our own identity, in the offering Million Dollar Words, during which I was channeling my inner Petty telling someone who can’t get to the point to, well, just get to the effin’ point.

And with Terri’s vocals, I liked to imagine it was Stevie Nicks doing a Petty cover.

I had carried Petty with me a long time, and it was time for a homage.

Way back in my senior year of high school, a lot was going on. I had freedom with a car (1975 Chevy Malibu that dripped oil), a job as a dishwasher/bus boy to pay for gas and the Sixers won the title.

Petty was still at it, putting out another record to play in the backdrop – Long After Dark – and songs like Change of Heart, You Got Lucky and Straight Into Darkness continued to form the soundtrack of my insistence on having an existence to call my own.

I also had something else that year: An actual girlfriend (even the losers get lucky sometimes). But, lo and behold, she dumped me a few about six weeks before the senior prom.

I could have tapped into my long list of “just a friend” girls to take, but I was never really into going anyway.

I hatched a better plan with dateless running mates.

I returned my tux, and used the money (tickets were cheaper in those days, and there were no pre-sales 64 weeks in advance) for two concerts – Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

Seger was great, and Petty was even better.

Best proms I never went to.

And every time Seger or Petty came to town, I went back for more (plus their live albums put me in the house countless of other times).

Except the last time, last summer, when a pending vacation made me miss the Petty show.

It is now a regret that I will just have to live with, and one I mitigate with the bigger picture.

In college, I remember my friends and I performing a mock awards show in 1985 and naming Southern Accents – Rebels, Don’t Come Around Here No More, etc.— as the album of the year.

The concert, at the Mann Music Center on a gorgeous summer night, was surreal.

As for the album of the year thing, it still remains a silly tradition of mine, and a lot of Petty’s records – 1999’s Full Moon Fever (featuring  Free Fallin’ and I Won’t Back Down)  through to 1994’s solo-acoustic Wildflowers to 1999’s Echo and 2014’s Hypnotic Eye have pulled in the honor known as the “Gordie.”

During my college years, when I was earning my doctorate in Dylaniac studies (and writing some of my best-ever lyrics) – while barely maintaining a 2.0 in my real-world classes – I was able to see the Heartbreakers back up Dylan and Petty while trading off sets of songs (Zimmy took a few breaks).

Petty’s subsequent release, the underappreciated Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough), best known for Jammin’ Me, wreaked of Dylan’s influence.

Petty was not too happy with the effort, but I still dig it.

As I allegedly matured, my musical tastes sort of solidified. My “Big Four” – Bruce Springsteen, U2, Dylan and Petty – has never changed.

I adore dozens upon dozens of other artists, but none – not even SpringHouse Revival – can break into that group.

Petty has earned that same stature with legions of other fans through a dedication to craft (you’ll note how quickly he rattled off those classic albums in lockstep with my formative years) that had to come at a cost for such a young guy.

Addiction cost him his first marriage and put his latter career in temporary peril, but he was still there – with new music just as brilliant as the classic songs that invaded my soul, dating back to when I was kid to being a parent.

Every year, when we get Sofia’s picture taken, we use a song title to give it a theme. When she was real little, it was not much of a fight. We used Springsteen’s “She’s the One” for Year 1, for example. But as music grows in importance to Sofia, she has had insisted on other songs more to her liking.

Knowing that Year 10 of her life would mark the end of the annual tradition, Laurie and I pressed her hard for American Girl.

Even though Sofia collects “American Girl” dolls, she was reluctant, pushing for something by her own family member, Taylor Swift.

But we made her listen to the song.

After a moment of silence, she said, “Yeah, that one is pretty good.”

Victory (although it helped the cause that Swift has her own nifty cover version of the song).

That picture just went up on the wall, and it takes on enhanced meaning.

I will think of our lost family member every time I look at it, knowing I can bring him back to life with the music that will last as long as skeptical kids also can’t deny what they are hearing.

During the shock of the news Monday, I couldn’t even get through Free Fallin’ without a breakdown.

Today, I heard Mary Jane’s Last Dance and I was good to go, playing his music all day, grateful for the years of lyrical inspiration and stone-cold grooves while driving down the road on a summer night with the windows down.

That’s the story of Tom Petty and me.

And it explains why I felt like I lost a family member, as overly dramatic as some may think it sounds.

On such a horrible day, with the tragedy in Vegas, I had to wonder why it had to happen then.

And I fell apart more than maybe I would have on another day.

I was, pretty much, inconsolable.

While Sofia hugged me up during my meltdown, she exuded some of her wisdom beyond her years and said that “it could be worse.”

One could take that many different ways, but you would have had to have heard her tone – and to understand how much on the same wavelength we are – to get it.

And I got it.

It could have been worse — way worse.

These ears ravaged by years of having a Rock and Roll heart could have not taken in the music of a dropout from Gainesville, Fla. who made his way to California to somehow buck the odds and strike gold.

What a loss that would have been, as that would have meant him not being a member of the family.

And that notion, of not finding him at all, would have been worse than losing him.

Way worse.

 

Can’t Shoot Me Down Now

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Vegas Shooting

By GORDON GLANTZ

@Managing2Edit

GORDONVILLE – Nothing — outside of a Dallas Cowboys fan living in the Delaware Valley — is more annoying than a single-issue voter.

If that’s all you got, stay home. Please.

You need to have a lot of core issues, and be able to articulate the wherefores and whys – whether or not I concur – when asked to explain yourself.

As those who have waged war with me on Social Media know, I am not afraid to do so.

When it comes to issues, and prioritizing them, I’m an open book.

There is education, health care, environment, clear paths to citizenship for productive immigrants and a type of peace in the Middle East that means Israel isn’t obliterated in the process.

On most of those – and others (reforming the election system, from campaign finance reform to the way the primary/caucus schedule is laid out) – I am well left of center.

On others – like denying climate change equating to denying the earth is round – I am aligned with my man, Bernie Sanders, particularly on education and health care as human rights in a nation as plentiful as ours.

Only time I go astray is with the punishment fitting crimes like rape and child abuse (not to be confused with inherent injustices in the justice system with the “drug war”) and with supporting Israel (although those settlements are a bit unsettling when I consider long-range positive outcomes).

And on just about every issue, in general, I’ll meet you in the middle somewhat or be willing to agree to disagree and walk away on a handshake after a battle well-fought.

But not when it comes to my No. 1 issue.

And it’s No. 1 with a bullet.

There’s a hint even someone who thought Hillary Clinton was the lesser of two evils would get.

It’s gun Control.

You will never get me to agree to disagree.

And you will never get me to throw up my hands and say nothing more can be done about it.

And while we are sifting through the carnage from Sunday night’s mass killing (“mass shooting” is too tame), neither should you.

It has been said that if the horror at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary in December of 2012 didn’t do it, if didn’t change the stingiest of minds, nothing will.

It hit home for me because my prized possession — and .600 hitter in Fall Ball softball, Sofia — was roughly the same age at that time. I’ll never forget what it felt like dropping her off at school the next day and taking comfort in seeing police cars on the school lot.

This one at an a outdoor country concert hits home, too. I am a lifelong concert-goer, and the Tom Petty tragedy only reinforces my resolve to see all my heroes — and share them with Sofia — while we can.

The sad truth that the deaths of 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook only sent more people toward buying firearms, not less.

Probably of the same in the wake of Vegas.

Seems that what should make our hearts soft, turns them hard. What should make us find solutions, only leaves us creating more problems.

That’s kind of how and why we ended up with this slopstorm in the White House now, is it not?

But that doesn’t mean we give up trying.

Just sitting back and letting it all be is about as un-American as it gets, even for conditional patriots determined to make America “great again” (I’m still wondering when it was “great” to begin with).

How is that makey-greaty thing looking for you now?

If you still support America being the Wild West after all this, you are clearly a sub-human.

I don’t want to hear about banning cars because they kill, too. That’s just insanely inane.

Don’t tell me about the laws that are already on the books being sufficient, because they clearly are not.

We are as able to properly enforce them as I am of dunking a basketball (I’m 5-10 with a vertical leap of a half-inch) in the face of LeBron James.

Yes, some of the laws on the books, in theory, may give what equate to good lip service to generic concerns.

But we don’t need lips. We need teeth.

And doing the biting, with backing from our legislators, need to be the law enforcement personnel we are told we need to genuflect in front of with no questions asked.

I respect what they do, but they also knew what they were signing on for, which was to be soldiers on the home front.

And their country needs them.

Now more than ever, and just as much — if not more — than the troops in trouble spots like Afghanistan.

No one is going to convince anyone with opened eyes that our society is wired to be drug-obsessed because it helps lock up black and brown males at rates that dwarf those of freckled-faced kids named Biff in the frat house.

Therefore, we have drug task force teams – and their sting operations – from small municipalities to large cities.

It’s a noble effort, but don’t be deceived. I used to report on a lot of these in my newspaper days. There would be press conferences where the confiscated contraband would be laid out on a table, and most of it would be enough marijuana to have kept Bob Marley and the Wailers and Grateful Dead feeling mellow for several tours.

There might be a gun or two that were inadvertently gathered during the arrest of the largely “of-color” ring-leaders (who were usually just middle men taking the fall for someone else), but that’s it.

How about we legalize the marijuana – and include prostitution (another waste of law enforcement manpower) in that legislation – and focus all our efforts on undercover firearms stings?

Not saying they don’t happen, because they do.

Just not enough.

Needs to be a priority.

Priority No. 1.

And it’s dangerous work, going deep into the world of black market firearms wheeling and dealing, but it’s really the only way.

We can play verbal ping-pong over the validity of gun shows and how much closing loopholes would or would not do (my feeling is anything is worth a try). The truth is that the kind of firearms that most of these monsters acquire are done so through nefariously illegal means.

The Vegas shooter seemingly acquired most of his arsenal legally, and in the light of day, even while his mental state may have been visible to any arms dealer who gave a shit.

But we can find a way to regulate that a bit more going forward, while still letting hunters shoot Bambi, but the black market is still there.

Cut off the source, via undercover policing, and we may see a light at the end of the tunnel with a lot of these planned mass mayhem shootings – and gang violence on urban streets.

I’m not advocating disarming law-abiding gun owners, but I would like to define just what that means. It’s certainly not the gun owner with the gun loaded under their pillow.

Until he opened fire Sunday night, Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, was likely a law-abiding gun owner – at least by the very loosey-goosey definition – and now he is the lone-nut triggerman in the worst mass killing by shooting in modern American history (probably a lot of Native Americans were wiped out in one horrific stampede of the white man in the now fabled days of yore that made our culture one tied to the gun, with Wounded Knee coming readily to mind).

At present, authorities are stumped about his motivation. He was filthy rich, he was A-political, had no FBI file (although his father did) and not really a loser with the ladies.

My initial gut instinct was that he lost big at the casinos, but apparently he was winning, big-time, before going out in an inglorious blaze of infamy.

The argument about it being all about mental health goes out the window, too. Clearly, he was not in his right mind at the time, but he was not diagnosed as being criminally insane. He clearly had some internal bomb ticking inside, but he still had his wits enough to meticulously plan this out.

In a nation where you can get your hands on multiple military-style firearms and ammo as easily as a milkshake and a burger, we should be more worried – much more worried – about the guy who looks like an average Joe who can snap and go temporarily insane.

That is any of us. Just this past Saturday, I can into it a bit too much with the coach of the opposing softball team (although it was nothing YouTube viral-worthy). I have never fired a gun in my life (and only held one once), but who knows who I was dealing with, right?

The way our country is now, we simply can’t trust than we can will this ongoing horror show away.

We need to peel away at the onion, wiping away the tears it causes, and get to core of the issue. The Second Amendment is clearly so misinterpreted that it’s unfathomable to believe our elected misleaders – from both sides of the aisle – are more concerned with keeping the NRA placated than the health and well-being of their constituents.

Maybe because they are so much in a bubble, they don’t realize how easy it is to get a gun right now.

Heck, we had a garage sale this past weekend (before the softball game and aforementioned incident) and several older men – probably around the same age as this waste of human plasma – asked if we were selling any firearms or ammo.

Really?

Really.

And the fact that they asked tells me that they are able to circumvent a lot legalities by going to garage sales and flea markets.

They were so cavalier about it that they must find plenty while scavenging around on weekends.

And yeah, 999 out of 100,000 might just be collectors who get their jollies by diddling around with guns once their ED sets in, but what about the one – the one who snaps one day and sets up a sniper’s nest above a concert (or any larger gathering) and tries to top Paddock’s kill number.

Won’t happen?

Don’t kid yourself.

Not a question of if.

Just a question of when.

Not comfortable with that, either?

Maybe you need to check your priorities.

 

Dear Deity …

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Stan Horwitz

By STAN HORWITZ

PHILADELPHIA — This morning, I woke up to the horrible news about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. They’re saying that at least 50 people perished and at least 200 people were injured by the sniper while attending a country music festival at the Mandalay Bay.

My condolences to the victims and injured and their friends and family. Not enough thanks can be given to all the heroes who helped take out the shooter and stop him from doing even more harm. Bravery like that is a rare trait.

I saw that my state’s own senator Pat Toomey offered his prayers to the victims, their friends and families. Other politicians are no doubt doing the same. How nice of them to offer prayers at this tragic time in our history.

Maybe instead of Toomey and his fellow senators and President Trump just offering useless prayers to the dead and their survivors, they actually do something real to fix this problem of violence in our country. These mass shootings seem to be growing in frequency and body counts. Prayer isn’t helping. I doubt it hurts, but it obviously isn’t helpful either.

Here’s my prayer: Dear Deity who knows all blah, blah, blah and who presumably saw this tragedy blah blah blah coming yet did nothing blah blah blah to prevent it, blah, please blah blah let those shooting blah blah blah victims blah blah blah go to your blah blah Candy Land.

If I did believe in the power of prayer, I would pray every day to the God in which I believe to stop the violence from occurring in the first place.

But what do I know?

Tweet Home Alabama

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roy-moore

By GORDON GLANTZ

@Managing2Edit

GORDONVILLE – So what is it all really about, this kneel-or-not-to-kneel controversy stirred up by the “president” recently?

Was it really about what NFL players do before a game during the national anthem?

Given the fact that the players generally weren’t on sidelines for pre-game pomp until 2009, around the time the military and the NFL struck a mutually beneficially deal to exploit the new brand of conditional patriotism spawned after 9/11, not really.

Was it about this generation’s Curt Flood, Colin Kaepernick, who is not even playing this year – and is seemingly in hiding?

Nope, not really.

For the answer, peel away the layers and see what’s left.

With his make-believe empire crumbling around him, the “president” stirred his pot of diversion while in Mobile, Alabama.

He was campaigning for Luther Strange, who was about to engage in a runoff election against Judge Roy Moore in a special election to fill the senate vacated when former senator, Jeff Sessions, made the fateful choice to of going from deep-fryer into the fire and become the attorney general.

This is in Alabama, y’all, where “heritage” is a dollar-store disguise for hate.

The kind of place where baseless claims have hit a bull’s eye with his base, where “real” Americans fly flags of treason next to the Old Glory that is to be honored without dissent.

When the “president” tossed Crimson-colored meat to his ravenous followers and ranted about “firing” (there is no such term for NFL players, who are “cut” or “released,” usually with financial consequences for the team that signed them to contracts) those “son of bitch” (i.e. black) football players, it was to appeal to the lowest common denominator in the state that ranks 45th in education.

If they were a little quicker on the uptake, they might have known that a grand total of 10 players out of more than 1,000 took a knee during the previous week’s national anthem.

After he threw his stink bomb, an estimated 250 took a knee.

Seemingly, it lacked a spiral.

Playing his own “Trump” card, the far-right Moore, who was backed by former White House advisor scorned Steve Bannon and holds extreme views like wanting to ban homosexuality (always have to wonder about those who doth protest too much), waived around a gun at a rally a few nights later.

The message: You don’t out-Alabama an Alabama boy in Alabama.

He won by 10 points.

A sweet win for Moore and more Tweets from the “president.”

And that’s what this was all about.

It wasn’t about the NFL’s “son of a bitch” players at all.

It was about who was going to out-Alabama each other the most, in a race to the bottom in an appeal for the bottom-feeder vote.

In the end, it was Moore – hailing from Etowah County, which most known for a still-simmering 1906 lynching case after a white woman was killed – who was able to out-Alabama the slick-talkin’ billionaire Yankee from New York.

This is the Alabama where its “Black Belt Region,” where a large number of black voters live, are subjected to systematic voter suppression tactics (driver’s license centers closing before elections where photo IDs are required).

This is the Alabama where former governor and presidential candidate George Wallace was one of the last segregationist holdouts.

This is the Alabama where they are generally too dumb to realize that the Florida-based band Lynyrd Skynyrd was purportedly merely mocking the Wallace mindset in the state’s unofficial anthem, “Sweet Home Alabama.”

But the “president,” well, he “loves the uneducated.”

That’s probably why he doesn’t love the NFL, and its owners and players.

Turned out the “son of a bitch” players, and the owners who won’t “fire” them, are more sophisticated than he is on his last good day (if anyone can remember when that was).

What he learned – or should have – in his proxy battle with Bannon in the state that ranks fifth all-time in deaths by lynch mob is that more NFL players, and other pro athletes, are more educated than he would like.

Those interviewed – including NBA megastars Stephen Curry and LeBron James — after what will likely be the tip of the protest ice berg were they were as articulate about their reasons as the supposed leader of the free world was incapable of making sense of the issues.

It’s only going to get more intense when basketball season starts, and don’t be surprised if some of the NHL’s 25-30 players “of-color” players make a stand — or kneel — as well (despite being a league that includes many Europeans).

Being surrounded by sycophants afraid to tell him the truth, the “president” fails to realize that one is not a “son of bitch” for peacefully protesting while a White Nationalist/Neo-Nazi/Klansman – the “base” that Bannon told him to coddle – are not full of “many fine people.”

And when you ducked service in the military yourself with mythical bone spurs, you might be the last one to be preaching about disrespect to the flag and the military.

And for those who follow sports closely, who know that athletes with contracts are not at-will employees to be “fired” on a whim – you know, like on a reality TV show — his motives not only seems curious but were also exposed to a larger audience.

The “president” has his own axe to grind with the NFL, which rejected his bid to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014. The antipathy goes back further, when he tried to force a merger with the USFL (he owned that league’s New Jersey Generals) and the NFL but saw his smirk turn to a frown when his awarded $1 in anti-trust lawsuit.

The result of the backfire?

The USFL, which was doing well in the spring, was dead – just like his many bankrupted companies – and a lot people were out of work, not just those on his team.

Was all this on his mind during the rant, which also included belligerence about the league attempted to catch up to itself on the concussion issue (one that also affects members of the military)?

Maybe.

But that’s not what this was all about.

This was about one thing.

It was about a state that proved not to be such a sweet home to his brand of bitter divisiveness.

It was about Alabama.

 

 

 

Hoping This Chase Won’t End In A Crash

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Ertz

By GORDON GLANTZ

@Managing2Edit

GORDONVILLE — While I’m not much of a fan of chase scenes in films – especially when they are clearly being used as space-eaters to cover up a lame plot – there are enough storylines woven into the fabric of the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles that there is little to no reason not to cut to the chase from the jump.

What should we expect this season, the second in the tenure of head coach Doug Pederson and key members of his staff (offensive coordinator Frank Reich and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz) and second in the redemption of de facto general manager Howie Roseman and sidekick Joe Douglas?

Enough intrigue to rival Game of Thrones, that’s what.

Prediction?

Honestly, and not to cop out, but I can’t tell you. Not in terms of wins and losses. Overall, I think this team could be a bit better than last year’s 7-9 squad that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on too many occasions.

But the schedule is pretty exhaustive, beginning with two road games against the Redskins and Chiefs. And if the Eagles come in for their home opener against the Giants in Week 3 at 0-2, they are in must-win territory in September and could be behind an 8-ball that will grow to the size of the world’s largest 8-ball in Tipton, Missouri.

One would suspect the Eagles will again find themselves in close games, putting the magnifying glass on just a handful plays that will tip the scales one way or the other in those few contests.

Neither 6-10 nor 10-6 would surprise me, although I find it difficult to see this team scale the 8-8 wall without a few yet-unknown stars being hatched along the way.

As it is, we have the guys we can count on – and the lost causes we probably know we really can’t – and those somewhere in between.

As we now scrutinize the 53-man roster heading into Week 1, it seems to be more one of hope than nope, but a blessing from the Pope wouldn’t hurt, as bad bounces and injuries – not to mention gameday decisions from Pederson – might make the ultimate difference.

And now, if you dare, let’s sort out this Magical Mystery Tour:

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK (2): *Carson Wentz, Nick Foles

Summary: Unlike last year, less latitude will be given to Wentz, who was thrown into a sink-or-swim narrative in 2016 when Sam Bradford was dealt to Minnesota with the season beckoning. Although Wentz set some rookie records, and took almost every snap, most of the records – such as Bradford’s for completions by a rookie (379) were the result of Wentz setting the franchise mark for passes thrown (607) and by throwing the second most all-time by a rookie in NFL history. All in all, we can safely say that Wentz – for whom the Eagles gave up a great deal in assets to acquire at second overall – treaded water when tossed in the deep end.

What has changed between then and now? Wentz sought counsel from a quarterback guru, took his receivers for pre-camp getaway in his native North Dakota and studied more film of himself than Warren “You’re So Vain” Beatty. For good measure, the Eagles reached back into their recent past and brought in Foles, the last Eagles quarterback to play in a Pro Bowl, to serve as backup. Assuming Foles’ aching throwing arm heals up before being pressed into action, this seems like an upgrade over a raw Wentz and Chase Daniel as backup.

Eagles-SprolesRUNNING Back (5): *LeGarrette Blount, Darren Sproles (left), Wendell Smallwood, Corey Clement (R), Donnel Pumphrey (R)

Summary: For a position where the leading rusher in the preseason, Byron Marshall, landed on the practice squad, this group sure attracted a lot of attention. Blount, who led the league in touchdowns with 18 in New England last year, didn’t do much in the preseason, while Sproles didn’t play at all as a precaution heading into what will likely be the final year of his borderline Hall of Fame career. There were barely any snaps for Smallwood, the talented but oft-dinged sophomore back who could prove to be an X-factor between Blount’s power game and Sproles’ as a third-down option. That left the discussion between that of compare and contrast between Clement and Pumphrey, who was drafted in the fourth round to ostensibly be the next Sproles in 2018. Thing is, if Clement were the fourth-round pick and Pumphrey the undrafted free agent, it would have been a quick conversation. As it was, Clement – a South Jersey native and this year’s Rocky Balboa figure who had a strong senior year at Wisconsin – played too well to cut. The harsh reality about Pumphrey was that he looks more like a poor man’s Kenjon Barner, a former underused Eagle just released by the Chargers, than a poor man’s Sproles.

This may all be much ado about nothing. Sproles will get the most touches, and the hope is that Wentz has mastered the art of the screen pass to make the best use of Sproles in the open field, while Blount will be the guy in short yardage and the goal line and the end of games when trying to secure leads. In between, there should be plenty of chances – 10 touches, maybe – for Smallwood.

TIGHT END (2): *Zach Ertz, Brent Celek

Summary: For the first time since Ertz was nabbed in the second round in 2013, this is not a power-sharing arrangement. It’s Ertz’s chance to prove himself to be an upper-echelon tight end, and he will need to do that with more than just a few big games to pad his numbers. Ertz will likely benefit from the addition of NFL-caliber receivers on the outside and burgeoning chemistry with Wentz. Celek, still a reliable underneath target, likely winds down his career here blocking and being a spiritual leader.

UNCLASSIFIED (1): Trey Burton

Summary: You could just label the fourth-year man out of Florida a tight end and be done with it, but, even there, it’s a tough call whether his spot on the depth chart is before or after Celek. Burton caught 37 passes last year – for an average just under nine yards per reception and one touchdown. The plan is seemingly for that catch total to go up to the 45-55 range, for maybe a 10-yard average and a few more scores. That will come with Burton lining up as a traditional tight end, a motion tight end, a slot receiver and out of the backfield. Since it is likely the Eagles dress just three running backs on game day, Burton would be next up in the dire event of two injuries. Ditto at quarterback, with only two, and long snapper. Did we mention that Burton is one of the team’s best special teams players as well?

WIDE RECEIVER (6): *Alshon Jeffrey, *Torrey Smith, *Nelson Agholor, Mack Hollins (R), Marcus Johnson, Shelton Gibson (R)

Summary: So, a year ago, Jordan Matthews was going to move from his comfort zone at slot receiver to wherever Pederson felt he had the best match-up for his default No. 1 receiver. Starting outside were Nelson Agholor, then coming off an uneventful rookie year, and the infamous Josh Huff. A year later, after trading Matthews – in spite of his kinship with Wentz – Agholor moves to the slot and legit veteran outside receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith step into the mix. They do so looking to reclaim some lost mojo on their recent production, but the preseason revealed the obvious upgrade in skill and professionalism. This is the last chance for Agholor to show a pulse – especially with Hollins, a fluid rookie, waiting in the wings. Johnson is the more under-the-radar “Rocky” story. Cut last year and re-signed in the offseason, he shined in camp enough that Roseman began working the phones to bring in corners, and then he nailed down a roster spot while worrying about his family back home in the Houston area. Right now, Johnson (6-foot-1, 205 pounds, sub-4.5 40-yard dash) is a more size-speed guy than a finished product but, if dressed, will help on special teams. Gibson, like Pumphrey, only made the team because he was a draft pick – although he did look somewhat more in the flow of the offense in the final preseason game.

Eagles-KelceOFFENSIVE LINE (8): *Jason Peters, *Isaac Seumalo, *Jason Kelce (left), *Brandon Brooks, *Lane Johnson, Halapoulivanti Vatai, Stefen Wisniewski, Chance Warmack

Summary: From the outside looking in, this is one of the best lines in the whole NFC, if not the whole NFL. From this view? Eh. I’m not even sure if it’s the best in the NFC East, but I’ll take second – behind the Cowboys – and it will have to be in order for Wentz to utilize his new targets and for a better run/pass balance to be achieved. Peters, like Sproles and Celek, is nearing the end of the line. Unlike them, the success of the team rides more directly on his shoulders. Next to the aging longtime left tackle will be a first-year starter, and second-year man, Seumalo. There is upside there, but also a learning curve. While Kelce does some things that most centers don’t, like blocking 20 yards downfield on screens, he remains like the shortstop who hits 25 home runs but can’t crack the Mendoza line and isn’t really much more than an average fielder. His shortcoming is physicality in the trenches. Whenever the Eagles face a 3-4 team with a stout nose tackle, they are at an immediate disadvantage. The jury remains out on right guard Brooks, who was an above-average run blocker and below-average pass protector, making him an average player who had some personal issues going on as well. Right tackle Johnson is much like Ertz, his fellow member of the 2013 draft class. He goes in as a Pro bowl talent who still has to pay his own way to get there. The Eagles will start the season with only three reserves – center/guard Wisniewski, guard Warmack and tackle Vatai – but all have starting experience. In the case of Wisniewski, quite frankly, it might be an upgrade if pressed into action at center or guard.

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE END (5): *Brandon Graham, *Vinny Curry, Derek Barnett, Chris Long, Steven Means

Summary: In a calculated risk, Roseman and Co. decided to address the secondary – in a draft loaded with blue-chip corners – by improving the pass rush and drafting Barnett in the first round. Time will tell if it was luxury they couldn’t afford, but the early glimpses of Barnett are that of an absolute beast who will likely overtake the perpetually underachieving Curry as the starter right before or after the bye week (Nov. 12). Long provides a steady veteran presence after winning a ring with the Patriots last year, while Means just played too well, for the second preseason in a row, to cut. As a matter of fact, this onetime journeyman received a contract extension. Graham, a second-team All-Pro choice last year, will get the most snaps in what will be a heavily rotated group.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (5): *Fletcher Cox, *Timmy Jernigan, Beau Allen, Destiny Veao, Elijah Qualls (R)

Summary: With all due respect to Bennie Logan, who tended to break down by midseason and not draw significant double teams away from Cox, Jernigan’s ability to play in the other team’s backfield is an upgrade the brass is counting on. Allen just returned to the fold after a freak injury while working out in the offseason, but should get up to game speed and reprise his third tackle role. In the meantime, the cat-quick Veaeo and intriguing Qualls will get chances to appear on the radar.

Eagles-Kendricks dejectedLINEBACKER (6): *Nigel Bradham, * Jordan Hicks, *Mychal Kendricks (left), Najee Goode, Joe Walker, Kamu Grugier-Hill

Summary: Behind what appears to be a defensive line that might be stealing the headlines reserved for the offensive line, this group – if healthy – has a chance to do some easy cleanups and make plays. Hicks, in the middle, could arguably be the best player on the defense and is the unit’s most ascendant player. Bradham is earning his doctorate in Schwartz’s system, but more snaps will have to be found for a playmaker like Kendricks, who appears to be hitting his prime. Though essentially a rookie after missing last season, Walker is the likely fourth linebacker, while Goode and Grugier-Hill will be looked on to excel on special teams.

OUTSIDE CORNER (4): *Ronald Darby, *Jalen Mills, Jaylen Watkins, Rasul Douglas (R)

Summary: The Achilles’ heel of the defense for what seems like infinity will hopefully got a boost from a consistent pass rush, linebackers who excel in coverage and the combination of substantive additions. If that sounds familiar, it is almost verbatim of what I wrote last year about another cast of medicine men brought in to cure our ills at cornerback. The difference this year is that we are not looking at stop-gap guys. There seems to be a plan and vision of a future devoid of a revolving door of Bradley Fletchers and Leodis McKelvins. Darby, a former second-round pick of the Bills, has all the requisite physical tools and is immediately inserted as the No. 1 of the future after being acquired in a swap for Matthews and a third-round pick. There will still be a learning curve, as with Mills, a second-year man who played as well as could be expected in extended snaps last season as a seventh-round pick. He eventually will go to the slot when Sidney Jones, the 2017 second-round pick red-shirted this year with a ruptured Achilles, returns next season. Watkins is the defense’s version of Burton. In addition to special teams prowess, he can line up anyway in the secondary. Douglas, who led the nation in interceptions last year as a first-year starter at West Virginia, was drafted in the third round and is likely not to dress much on game day. He remains a work in progress but also part of a light at the end of tunnel that finally isn’t an oncoming train.

SLOT CORNER (2): *Patrick Robinson, Dexter McDougle

Summary: Robinson is this year’s lone carpet-bagger whose claim to fame is being a first-round pick and claim to shame is not living up to that before seeking refuge here. To Roseman’s credit, seeing Robinson getting torched by young receivers early in camp was enough to add Darby – albeit at the high cost of Matthews while banking on Agholor to arise from his coma and fill the void. To Robinson’s credit, he embraced a chance to stay on as the slot corner and made Ron Brooks expendable. While McDougle made the team after being added in a last-minute trade, he is only an insurance policy right now.

SAFETY (4): *Malcolm Jenkins, *Rodney McLeod, Corey Graham, Chris Maragos

Summary: Theoretically, a strong point. Jenkins and McLeod did a lot of chasing as the season wore on last season, but we will blame that on breakdowns around them. There’s only so much you can do on the back end when the pass rush is intermittent and the corner play non-existent. Graham is a key veteran who can be deployed in some packages. All that is separating Maragos from the Pro Bowl as a special teams choice is that the designation generally goes to players from playoff teams.

SPECIAL TEAMS

LONG SNAPPER (1): Rick Lovato

Summary: If it came as a surprise that the beloved snapper/magician Jon Dorenbos was traded away (almost unheard of for a snapper), it really shouldn’t have. There were signs a year ago that they were looking for a more cost-effective solution when a training camp roster spot was eaten up by a fella named Chris DePalma. Well, he didn’t make it, but Lovato – after filling in for an injured Dorenbos at the end of last season, did. If we don’t mention Lovato’s name at all – except for a special teams tackle or fumble recovery – then the mission was accomplished. If not, well, I wouldn’t want to be Roseman.

PUNTER (1): Donnie Jones

Summary: Now in the twilight of his career, but reliable, he fended off a formidable challenge this summer from undrafted rookie Cameron Johnston. Let’s hope the Eagles don’t live to regret it (i.e Brad Wing, now of the rival Giants).

KICKER (1): Caleb Strugis

Summary: He’s coming off a real good year, but yet he doesn’t inspire confidence. It might because he looks like he is 12 years old, or it might just be because he would need another solid season to settle any restless stomachs.

RETURN GAME: Sproles will reprise his role as punt returner before the curtain falls. The kickoff return job is likely to go to Smallwood, with either Hollins or Agholor also back deep, although some of the defensive backs – such as Watkins – have kick returning on their resumes.

COVERAGE UNITS: There seemed to be some slippage in this area during the preseason, but the hope is that it was more the net result of mixing and matching personnel and less that they will miss Bryan Braman, who was not retained as a free agent, or that coordinator Dave Fipp has been “figured out.” While Burton has made himself an integral part of the offense, Maragos is primarily just a special teamer now. Watkins and Grugier-Hill will be asked to become leaders of a next generation that will include Hollins, considered one of the best special teams players in college football the last few years.

* denotes starters

This preview/column/analysis first appeared at phillyphanatics.com

Everybody’s Talkin’

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Tom Hampton

By TOM HAMPTON

Antifa.

No, wait…ANTIFA! ANTIFA ANTIFA ANTIFA!!!

Is it more scary if I shout it over and over again? Try to make it sound intimidating?

In case you haven’t gotten the memo, ANTIFA is the new right-wing boogeyman…the new dog whistle that’s supposed to give them an easy label to slap on everyone who disagrees with them. It’s all over social media…I even had some nutjob try to tell me last night that Rachel Maddow was “Anti FA” (sic).

If you’re “of a certain age”, you’ve seen this movie before.
“ANTIFA” is the new “SOCIALIST”, which was the new “LIBERAL” – brought to you by that political genius Lee Atwater, who made Willie Horton famous almost thirty years ago.

The thing that ends up being lost on the folks for whom these false flag labels are such delicious fodder is that – well, yeah…the irony is almost comical.

“ANTIFA” is a chopped label for “Anti-Fascist”…I’ll leave it to you and Google to determine whether that’s a label someone should be ashamed of. As for me – I’m not gonna lose any sleep over being labelled “Antifa” by a social media troll.
Before that – remember how “Socialist” used to be the slur of choice? That one was especially delicious coming from folks who were on Medical Assistance, Food Stamps, Welfare or some other form of Government-provided aid…using the word “Socialist” as a term of derision for those with whom they had some form of political disagreement with, while benefitting from the very definition of the word.

And of course, there was “Liberal” – which came into fashion as a derogatory term for us softies on the left during the Bush-Dukakis race in 1988 and eventually subsided in the shadow of newer, less rationally explainable terms in its wake.

To wear the label of Liberalism as some form of shame was handed off to the media in the backfield at that point in time, and some of them are still running with that ball, all these years later. Somehow, a few suits in front of news cameras managed to spread the notion that “Liberals” were somehow inferior, and in the wake of the Reagan Fever that swept America in the eighties, a lot of basic notions were forgotten.

Somewhere along the way, folks managed to conflate “Liberal and Conservative” with “Democrat and Republican” – they forgot all about the tectonic shifts that took place during the Civil Rights era and Nixon’s subsequent Southern Strategy – and how Republicans inherited the Conservative mantle as the Dixiecrats of old died off or were replaced in Congress.

But “Liberal” and “Conservative”? Those have always been pretty accurate labels.

Now, I’m not ranting with the direct purpose of slandering Conservatives, because – where traditional Conservatism is concerned, anyway – on the surface, the two terms are nothing more than labels for differing political viewpoints. Blonde and Brunette. City Slicker and Country Boy. Punks and Mods. Jocks and Nerds. Liberals and Conservatives.
And it likely would’ve remained within that echelon until someone decided to try to weaponize the word “Liberal” and make it derogatory…and the world played along.

But, y’know – I’m sorry, but I ain’t playin’ that shit.

Call me a Liberal all day, every day. I’m happy to wear that label.

It’s tempting to rehash the laundry list of instances where Liberals fought for, bled for, and – in some cases, DIED for many of the things we take for granted nowadays…from voting and civil rights to the 40 hour work week. But if you care about that at all, you know that already – and if you don’t, you won’t care now, either.

So call me Liberal. Or “Socialist”. Or “Antifa” if you want.

Because all you’re doing is publicly telling the world that you’re declaring yourself to be on the wrong side of history.

Again.

 

 

Birds With A Burden

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Barnett-Curry

By GORDON GLANTZ

@Managing2Edit

GORDONVILLE — In high school, I was more freak than geek.

In adulthood, well, another story.

If my adoration for Star Trek isn’t enough, I often prefer documentaries over movies – especially if the movies in questions are sequels to sequels of rebooted sequels full of car-chase scenes, unrealistic fight sequences and gratuitous violence.

Then there is sports. I was always fascinated with drafts – all drafts, but football in particular.

I remember running home from school, turning on KYW and waiting for a report on the NFL Draft (I’m old enough to remember it being on a weekday and not in prime time). I was glued to the TV when the draft was broadcast on ESPN for the first time, and fascinated to learn – from a fellow counselor at Blue Bell Day Camp named Bill – that there was this thing called the “Ourlad’s Guide to the NFL Draft.”

Yes, I’m a draft geek, which put me in the Fantasy Football realm (always downhill after the draft).

That may be why I’m one of the few who boldly goes where no one with a life goes and watches as many preseason football games as possible.

And when it comes to the Eagles, well, I go one step beyond. From the VCR of yore to the DVR methods of the present day, I make sure I gather all the worthless knowledge I can about undrafted free agents with as much chance of making the team as I do.

With the 2017 preseason upon us, and the first glimpse of new faces – or others in the limelight of expanded roles – it is a time to dream through the eyes of others.

Like all good geeks.

But through it all – and through my training as a journalist – I can keep it real, too.

For every longshot that snares the last spot or two on the 53-man roster or turns up on the practice squad, the fortunes of the Eagles and their championship drought dating back to five years before I was born are going to ride on the shoulder-padded shoulders of players who need to live up to their advance billing.

At present, I have the Eagles anywhere from 6-10 to 10-6. That’s a big gap, especially since 10-6 would likely mean at least a wild card berth in the playoffs.

I also expect a lot of close games – games that are decided not so much by the final score but by the few key plays that turned it around one way or the other.

Who needs to make these plays, making the difference between 6-10 and 10-6 and all points in between?

These guys do:

1) Carson Wentz, QB: “Ah, come on,” you say. “Cut the kid a break.” Nope, can’t go there. That was last year. Wentz only started a season and a half in college. And while he led North Dakota State to a pair of national titles, it was at a lower level than Division I. The 16 starts last year were bonus time. Now we need to see some progress. Wentz has all the tools – size, arm strength, mobility, leadership skills and what has been billed as a photographic memory – but the football graveyard has a whole section for quarterbacks buried after the same obituary was written. Last year, especially early, we saw a glimpse of the possibilities. But we also got a heavy dose of reality. While he took almost every snap, learning on the job, we learned that his mechanics were so off that it was painful to watch. And in this system, the West Coast offense, he needs to do two things that Donovan McNabb subsisted on (despite being woefully inconsistent on short- and medium-range passes ): throwing a deft screen pass and being fairly accurate on the deep ball. Last year, we chalked up Wentz’s misfires to inexperience. This year, with an offseason to work on it with a quarterback guru, and with Darren Sproles to catch screens and newcomers Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery to get open deep, the franchise quarterback is under both a microscope and magnifying glass to get the ball into those hands.

Eagles-Ertz2) Zach Ertz, TE: Here in Philly, we sometimes get caught gazing at our own bellybuttons. When that happens, we are prone to think the guys in green are more impactful than they truly are in the overall picture. Here is where the Fantasy Football geek in me pays dividends. I know, from my own painful experience with Ertz and from the litany of Fantasy draft guides I read, that Ertz – a non-entity as a blocker in the real world – is in the upper middle class of tight ends (i.e. not in the top 10, but not quite middle of the pack) when it comes to receiving production. The major issue here has been the Red Zone. Out of 17 targets – more than one per game (he played in 14) – Ertz had four touchdown catches in 2016. The year before,  he had just two. There have been injuries and excuses made, but the fact is that a one-way tight end with his size and the skills he has flashed should be a security blanket for a young QB. That’s what Ertz needs to be, and not just in a double-digit game or two to pad his statistics. Stay healthy, get open and catch the ball. Two-way tight ends are coming back into vogue, so his time in Philadelphia – let alone the league, at least as anything more than a role player – could be more numbered than we realize on the surface.

3) Derek Barnett/Vinny Curry, DE: Violating two rules here: 1) putting undo pressure on a rookie, like Barnett and 2) cheating a bit by putting two guys together in one entry. However, the Eagles went into the offseason desperate for an upgrade at cornerback and had the good fortune of a draft that was deep in corner prospects. Some teams chose to use that depth as a reason to wait, but it was a luxury the Eagles could not afford. The wiser move – particularly after some surprises in the 13 picks before them – was to swim against the tide and take Marlon Humphrey (Alabama) or Adoree’ Jackson (USC) or Garreon Conley (Ohio State). Instead, they went with Barnett, who was clearly the guy they had fixated on all along. The thinking was that a relentless pass rush was the panacea for sub-par corners trying to hang with super human wide receivers. And let’s be honest here, they are placing all this pressure on Barnett because Curry, despite a hefty contract that says otherwise, has not consistently produced (especially since getting said contract) as a pass-rushing specialist. Last year, for example, the since-vanquished Marcus Smith had as many sacks (2½) as Curry. In fact, nine of Curry’s 19 career sacks came in 2014. In football years, than may as well be 1914. So now we have Barnett, whose name comes attached with Reggie White because he broke White’s sack record at Tennessee, being asked to step in and be in contention for NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year in order to justify his choice. Since the pick, I have gone back and watched some Tennessee games on the SEC Network (total geek move, I know), and he was an absolute beast. Not only did he make plays, but he did it at key times. Let’s hope that carries over, as the Eagles went for a corner in the second round, Washington’s Sidney Jones, who is likely to miss the season with an Achilles injury that bumped him out of the first round. As a bonus to Barnett being dominant, maybe Curry can recapture some of his 2014 form and the two – in combination with Brandon Graham – can create enough consistent pressure to offset the still unaddressed weakness at corner. Additionally, this trio – and we can only really count on Graham right now – can free up space for defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and middle linebacker Jordan Hicks to come clean and make plays. It’s a ripple effect that needs to happen.

4) Jason Peters/Lane Johnson, OT: May as well go back and draw water from the 2-for-1 well once more, because this is really where the house of cards could ultimately stand or fall. Peters, while likely ticketed for Canton, is not playing at that high of a level anymore. At age 35, he has been to nine Pro Bowls and is a six-time first- or second-team All-Pro selection, but most of those honors now come by rote from voters who don’t see him on a play-in-and-play-out basis. Though signed through 2019, via extension from his “best friend” Jeffrey Lurie, the realistic hope is that he stays intact for the 2017 season. If he doesn’t, Johnson moves from right tackle – a spot where was becoming stone-cold dominant before leaving a 3-1 team with a 10-game suspension for his second PED strike – to left, and Hal Vaitai moves into the right tackle spot. Then again, given Johnson’s history, he better not take even a Tylenol without a team official present. The Eagles really need both bookends on the field. If that happens, the run game will be effective enough that Wentz won’t have to throw 50-plus times per game.

5) Caleb Sturgis, K: Snicker at a kicker all you want. Your smiles will turn to frowns if he costs you a game – or two or three or five. There is no reason to suspect Sturgis won’t continue to be solid (135 points last season on the strength of an 85.4 percent accuracy rate), but we are talking about delicate geniuses here who usually wear out their two- or three-year welcome and need a change of scenery to get their mojo back. Consider this a preemptive warning that the meter on Sturgis – unless he is more Justin Tucker than Alex Henery – is running in his third year in green. Assuming he does not regress, it is vital he hit as many makeable kicks as possible while showing he can hit from a distance (53-yard long in 2016 and 55-yard long last season). In close game, a missed or made field goal can make all the difference between crying in your beer or raising it in victory.

This column/analysis originally appeared at Phillyphanatics.com

The ‘Rocky’ Class of 2017

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By GORDON GLANTZ

@Managing2Edit

GORDONVILLE — Blame it on George Washington.

No, not the high school in Northeast Philly.

No, not the double-decker bridge connecting Fort Lee, N.J., to Upper Manhattan.

Talking about the father of our country.

The original GW.

The guy who could tell no lies.

Why, you may ask?

Because when he led the rag-tag Colonial army to victory over the superior forces of the British Army, it was the upset of all upsets.

Vegas odds had the war ending, in Britain’s favor, within an over/under time frame of eight months. Instead, after eight years, a new nation was born.

And we Americans have embraced underdogs ever since.

Even if a nameless and faceless No. 5 seed is playing a No. 4 seed during March Madness, we are now genetically engineered to cheer for the No. 5 seed for no other reason.

In Philadelphia, where the country was born, we have an incurable case of US (Underdog Syndrome). We have it so bad that we erect statues to a fictional character, Rocky Balboa, because he was the ultimate cinematic underdog.

And when it comes to our football team, the Philadelphia Eagles, a new Rocky figure is born every August when some kid with a relatable tale to tell comes out of nowhere to make an unlikely run for a roster spot.

The franchise’s past includes many such figures – such as 1948 and 1949 title-winning quarterback Tommy Thompson, who was blind in one eye – but really came into focus during the tenure of Dick Vermeil, who molded a championship contender out of a lot of undrafted and recycled free agents and low draft picks.

The most notable Rocky figure in football gear is Vince Papale, whose story – although “Hollyweirded” – was told in the movie “Invincible.”

In actuality, another Eagle in the Dick Vermeil Era – Lem Burnham – may have made for a better flick. Originally a 15th round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1974 (out of U.S. International, where he played after a decorated four-year stint in the Marines), Burnham played with the Hawaii team in the ill-fated WFL (as did Papale, for the Philadelphia Bell) and then made the Eagles, albeit after stopover with the Washington Redskins and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Burnham led the Eagles in sacks with in 1977 with 10.

An undersized defensive end (234 pounds), he remained with the Eagles all the way through the 1980 NFC championship season, although he spent it on IR. Burnham then worked as the team psychologist for the Eagles and 76ers, and later the Baltimore Orioles before moving on work as an executive with the NFL and developing the rookie symposium.

The Buddy Ryan Era saw several Rocky types. Running back Junior Tautalatasi was a college backup out of Washington drafted in the 10th round who turned a big preseason, and a Keith Byars injury, into an opening-day start in the backfield. He started one other game as a rookie and caught 41 passes after settling in as the third-down back. Unable, or unwilling, to say his last name, Ryan dubbed the oft-injured Tautalatasi “Junior Smith.”

And who could forget Marvin Hargove? He was the Willingboro, N.J., native who had an OK college career at Richmond, but still asked Ryan for a chance. A receiver/returner, Hargrove ran a 4.5 40 and, probably as more of a PR stunt, was put on the training camp roster in 1990. Added to the roster during the season, he caught a touchdown pass from Randall Cunningham on his first snap, only to never catch a pass again before being released before the end of the season.

Running back Vaughan Hebron and quarterback Jay Fiedler each made the team as undrafted rookies under Rich Kotite. Hebron later won a Super Bowl ring with the Denver Broncos while Fielder bounced around, including a stint in Europe, before becoming the starter in Miami and leading the Dolphins to their only playoff win since Dan Marino retired.

Andy Reid was known for giving undrafted rookies opportunities and folk heroes included Sam “Truck Driver” Rayburn and receiver Chad Hall, who came by way of a hitch in the Air Force.

Since Chip Kelly generally had his 53-man roster set in his head no matter who did what in training camp, we’ll give him credit for current tight end Trey Burton – and deduct points for not even finding a spot on the practice squad for home-grown receiver Rasheed Bailey – and move to the present regime.

A year ago, in Doug Pederson’s first year, it was undrafted receiver Paul Turner out of Louisiana Tech who turned a strong preseason into practice squad berth and an eventual promotion to the active roster.

Which brings us to the present. Who will be this year’s player who steps out of the shadows and threatens to shake up the depth chart and, at the very least, create a nice storyline for a few weeks?

Here is a list of likely suspects to steal your heart:

1. David Watford, WR: A college quarterback (three years at Virginia, one at Hampton), Watford had a promising showing as a UDFA last summer while learning the receiver position, even catching a touchdown pass in a preseason game. He was kept on the practice squad and could really shine, without much advance fanfare this year. He was the athleticism and size (6-foot-2, 209 pounds) as well as a work ethic and desire to learn that has made him a favorite among the coaches, who seem to have seen more long-term potential than with Turner. He could just as easily become a fan favorite next. If drafted rookies Mack Hollins and/or Shelton Gibson struggle or Nelson Agholor continues to play himself off team while Watford makes plays, look out.

2. Aaron Grymes, CB: Like Watford, Grymes plays a noticeable position and one of dire need, meaning fans could be drawn to any light he might shine on a dark situation. Grymes, like Watford, played well last preseason – after standing out in the CFL – and could not only push for a roster spot but for playing time in nickel and dime packages.

3. Joe Walker, LB: Almost a lock to make the team, Walker is the reason the Eagles didn’t really go hard for linebacker depth during the offseason. A seventh-round pick last year, he had the team made before a knee injury. Still, for the average fan there is the out-of-sight, out-of-mind aspect that will make him popular in the preseason. Plus, the whole “battling-back-from-injury” angle always plays well in Philly.

4. Corey Clement, RB: Like Papale, Hargrove and Bailey, the undrafted 1,000-yard rusher last season at Wisconsin has the local thing working for him, as he is from Glassboro, N.J. Clement was projected be a mid-round pick but his tweener status – 5-11, 209 with middling speed and power – made him hard to peg and he slipped through the cracks. Nonetheless, backs in this category have found by-committee success in the NFL by just hitting the holes that are there without any extra fancy footwork. While fourth-round pick Donnel Pumphrey is the most likely rookie to excite in the preseason, Clement only has the likes of last year’s fifth-round pick Wendell Smallword and Byron Marshall in his way to carve a place for himself.

5. Randall Goforth, DB: An UDFA out of UCLA, Goforth was productive, passionate and always around the ball in college. His size (a generous 5-10, 190) makes him tough to project at safety, and a lack of elite speed (north of 4.5) limits him at just the slot as a corner. Still, a football player is a football player is a football player. As is the case with Grymes, the lack of clarity in the secondary creates a real chance here.

This column originally appeared at http://www.phillyphanatics.com