The Jacksonville Jaguars

[duvaldude08]

My thoughts. Gabbert is a complete waste of a QB. He had the receivers, the O-line was protecting and he looked completed uncapiable of doing anything. It was good to see the combo of Blackmon and Shorts back together again. And our defense cant stop a nose bleed. We had a chance and they completly blew it. And Gabberts turnovers really doomed us. Im sick of his ass. Not to concerned about Jockel. Shit happens. It has nothing to do with "karma". Like we are the only team to every trade a player to another. Hell we traded Monroe to do a damn good team so we actually did him a favor. This team isnt doing anything this year, Im just upset Jockel wont be able to continue his development.

[KenFSU]

^^^Eh. Wake me up when Grantland and Bill Simmons matter (I never heard of Grantland until now).

Check it out sometime, even if you don't like Simmons. Grantland was a little rough at rough at first, but they've consistently pumped out some of the very best sportswriting in the country in the last year or two.

They had an epic piece on Jacksonville University's NCAA title run in 1970:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7744074/how-jacksonville-earned-credit-card-paul-hemphill

Great article just went up to on the state of professional sports in Oakland:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9754585/is-oakland-destined-lose-professional-teams

[copperfiend]

I don't mind Grantland (although it tries a little too hard to be clever). And I think Simmons can be a good writer, especially when it comes to the NBA. But that article was full of cheap shots. He somehow tried to make a point about being able to buy Jaguar jerseys for cheap. He failed to mention that they were last year's style. He also took a shot at the city for the Super Bowl. And the Fred Taylor comments were pretty classless.

[funwithteeth]

Grantland's Zach Lowe is the best writer on the NBA anywhere. Bill Barnwell is a pretty decent NFL writer, too.

I never could stand Simmons, even when he was just an ESPN guy.

[Gators312]

Karma is trading Eugene Monroe in part so Joekel can start playing the other side of the line

I think it's Murphy's Law not Karma.....Monroe was sent to a better situation on a competitive team, how was that negative Chi?

[Gators312]

My thoughts. Gabbert is a complete waste of a QB. He had the receivers, the O-line was protecting and he looked completed uncapiable of doing anything. It was good to see the combo of Blackmon and Shorts back together again. And our defense cant stop a nose bleed. We had a chance and they completly blew it. And Gabberts turnovers really doomed us. Im sick of his ass. Not to concerned about Jockel. Shit happens. It has nothing to do with "karma". Like we are the only team to every trade a player to another. Hell we traded Monroe to do a damn good team so we actually did him a favor. This team isnt doing anything this year, Im just upset Jockel wont be able to continue his development.

I'm with you DD.  Gabbert just pulls the ball down too often looking to run.  He's scared playing behind that OL and I don't know if he even has the smarts to play the position. He is athletic, but he doesn't think quick enough if his first read isn't there.

Even behind a good OL I don't know if he will ever make it as a starting QB in this league.  Once again, he just doesn't make good reads, and has yet to show he has the QB brains to make the plays.

[avonjax]

Ok here I go with being overly sensitive about the Jags. I just read an article by Bill Simmons, whoever he is, that I found through a link on ESPN. Ok it's one thing to have fun with a sports team that has hit rock bottom, but I can't take anyone seriously or without insult when their comments are personal and garbage.  He sounds like some of the morons that consistently comment on the TU message boards.
I know this may be the worst NFL team ever, but there are still 11 games to go so until the end of the season we still can't make that call.  And how easy people like Simmons forget how extremely bad a handful of other NFL teams have been in the past.
We are not the only team that has never been to the Super Bowl.
But the thing that put the article and it's asshat writer into the garbage zone is his attack on the Jags past success, our past players, our coach, our owner and even our city. Sorry Mr Simmons you thought our Super Bowl was depressing and if you were here I hope you were miserable.

[avonjax]

I see I'm late to the party. Just read the article. I thought it was classless.

[KenFSU]

^ Completely agree on Zach Lowe. His breakdowns in particular are just so far beyond what anyone else is doing these days.

I've got mixed feelings about Simmons. He is still absolutely incredible when it comes to the NBA (my favorite pro league, by a mile). His recent Tracy McGrady Hall of Fame piece, as well as the Tim Duncan retrospective he did during the NBA Finals, were all kinds of fantastic. Love his over/under NBA preview podcasts as well, and his Big Book of Basketball was legitimately important and engaging. 30 for 30 was incredible, especially the first run, as well.

All that said, he's gotten pretty obnoxious. He tries so hard to be the "everyman" sportswriter that catapulted him to such popularity, but he seems to be finding it harder and harder to resist being Mr. Hollywood. Can't get through a column or podcast without some annoying name-droppy reference about sitting in the sixth row of the Oscars, or texting back and forth with Kobe Bryant, or his ridiculous (for his age) Vegas exploits. He's also developed this bad habit of assuming his basketball expertise makes his knowledgeable on the rest of the sports and pop culture world. His hockey and Breaking Bad analysis in particular can get pretty cringeworthy. And when him and Klosterman get going together, ohhhhh boy.

As far as the Jags thing goes, it's just lazy writing. Swinging at the low hanging fruit. Click bait. It is what it is.

[funwithteeth]

I'll give you that Simmons's basketball stuff is better than anything else he writes about, but it's still hampered by his aggravating tendency to try to compare unlike things in totally unmeaningful ways. You mentioned that Tim Duncan retrospective. Simmons starts off that piece comparing Duncan to South Park(!), but all they have in common is the former began his pro career around the same time the latter went on the air. That's it! It's not surprising that Simmons has such fondness for the just-as-smug Chuck Klosterman, given their affinity for sledgehammering pop-culture ephemera into anything they write.

[KenFSU]

Simmons starts off that piece comparing Duncan to South Park(!).

That Duncan/South Park thing did seem right out of the Klosterman handbook of stupid analogies.

Still get a kick out of Mark Ames of the New York Press tearing into Klosterman back when everyone was still fawning over Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs:

http://nypress.com/the-flip-flop-king/

[funwithteeth]

I've managed to go several years without reading anything Klosterman has written, but that article is reminding what I hated about him. Thanks!

[duvaldude08]

I am just so urked with Gabbert. How dumb can one person be. Without Jockel and Monroe the offensive line easily had the best game of their season. He had a clean pocket the entire time and was still running like something was there. Not to mention constantly dropping the football constantly. What fucking idiot of a QB does that in the NFL? I was pissed our defense didnt hold at the end, however Gabbert his turnovers it what doomed us.

[fsquid]

If the Redzone didn't exist and I had to watch these games, I think I would slit my wrists.

[Keith-N-Jax]

I wouldn't and don't  read these articles, much less continue to repost them and give them more life than they deserve. Go Jags,