Bleacher Report - Articles by Jarrod Moore

A Romo Manifesto; Get on Or Get Out!

Jarrod Moore — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:44:48 -0500

Now that Tony Romo is not turning the ball over there is a new phenomenon happening; people are shutting up. Finally.

I am writing this article not to other fan bases, because I understand them hating on Romo, they are haters. And jealousy is a bitch. No, this article is for Cowboys fans, especially you bandwagoners, I started pulling for them in 1993, couldn't point out Dallas on a map, fans. Stop bagging on this guy. He is really, really good.

And the better question; Would you like some of the guys before him back? No! Not Troy Aikman, these guys;

Vinny Testaverde

Drew Bledsoe

Quincy Carter

Chad Hutchinson

Ryan Leaf

Anthony Wright

Clint Stoerner

Randall Cunningham

Those are the starters between Aikman and Romo, and we can throw in Brad Johnson who started three games last year. Again, Would you rather have any of those guys over Romo? I sure as hell wouldn't.

This guy has taken way too much blame for the problems of this team, most of it unfair, and most of it coming from inside Cowboys Nation. Romo has had some problems, but let's get real about what people say about him;

Romo chokes in the clutch —Hmmm, he has the highest fourth-quarter passer rating in the NFL, as he did last year. And the most you can ask from your QB is to give you the lead the last time he has the ball in his hands. Of the two losses this year he is 1-of-2 in the stat. All the defense had to do in that Giants game was make a stop and they let the G-Men drive all the way down the field and kick a game-winning field goal, so in my opinion, that is on them.

Romo can't win in the playoffs —geez this is his fourth year as a starter, give the guy a break. News flash, it took Peyton Manning until his sixth year to win a playoff game. No, Romo didn't play well in the Giants playoff loss, and a fluke cost him in the Seattle game, but the Cowboys wouldn't have been near the playoffs without him either year.

Romo doesn't protect the ball well enough —He has started to protect the ball better lately, but his turnovers don't bother me that much, that is who he is, just like Brett Favre (who does own the record for career INTs mind you). He is gonna make some bonehead plays, but he is also gonna make plays no other QB in the NFL can (see the TD against the Falcons at the end of the first half). You take the good with the bad, and he has a whole lot more good than bad.

I am a realist, so I understand that the QB in football gets way too much credit and way too much blame, and being the QB of the Dallas Cowboys, there is a whole lot more of each, but as Cowboy Nation, we have to unite in support of the best QB we have had in a long time (by the way, let's be honest, Troy Aikman would get murdered behind this line that cannot pass block). Leave the hating to losers like Trent Dilfer on HYPE.

Why You Shouldn't Pull for Kobe Bryant

Jarrod Moore — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:37:17 -0400

What would you think of a co-worker who did the following:

Only got to your office after crying his way out of another?

Had high sales in part because he stole potential sales from other co-workers?

Forced management to transfer another, more successful salesperson ("salesman SHAQ") out the door, because of jealousy?

After getting "salesman SHAQ" transferred, continues to live off his accounts, claiming his own greatness off of them?

After getting "salesman SHAQ" transferred, promised to be a leader and produce to the success level of recent years, only to have revenue fall to it’s lowest point in seven years?

After being unable to produce without "salesman SHAQ," demanded a transfer to another office saying that management didn’t do their part to build a successful sales force around him?

Gave himself his own nickname?

Publicly berated a new salesperson ("salesman Bynum") for his perceived deficiencies?

Publicly berated management?

After his wife couldn’t make it to the Christmas party at P.F. Changs, because she was taking care of their newborn, proceeded to have a tryst with a waitress in the restaurant bathroom? (Maybe the Christmas party is in Colorado).

Consistently talking about how great he is, and acts like he is entitled to lore of the greatest, most revered salesman in the history of the company? (Let's call him "salesman 23," or "salesman 45" if you prefer?)

Would you like this person?

I wouldn’t.

I would make sure I never gave any credit to this person. I wouldn't help to inflate his ego, because he didn’t earn it and didn’t understand what it means when people say, “Greater than the sum of our parts.”

I can’t understand how this society, who loves the ‘Hoosiers’ aspect of both basketball (and life in general), could possibly pull for Kobe Bean Bryant.

Kobe may be a great person and a great teammate, but from his action I can’t believe either is true.

What annoys me most is fact the people want to compare him to "His Airness."

Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time.

The only part of Kobe’s game that is better is his ability to hit buzzer beaters. Sure, that is great. But so is teamwork.

Jordan knew that taking a shot when you're doubled is not the best shot, so he passed to Scottie Pippin, Steve Kerr, John Paxon, B.J. Armstrong, and even Bill Winnington.

Look it up, he gave up game winning shot attempts to pass it up to a guy with a better look. That is how you become a great teammate. That is guy who "gets it." That is a guy who should be remembered forever.

Not Kobe. Not a guy who chucks up bad shots so he can pose for the camera. Not a player that has won nothing as the "number one" on a team.

What is the next thing he is going to do in order to "Be Like Mike?" Retire three times, play baseball, and continue to run the Bobcats into the ground?

And just in case you think I’m just being a hater, let's look at the numbers.

In his career Kobe scores 25.1 ppg. That is 10th all-time. Pretty good, unless you look deeper.

His career field-goal percentage is .455. Not good. Not in the top 250 all time.

Beat out by such studs like Junior Bridgeman (.475), Vinny Del Negro (.474), Avery Johnson (.478), Mark Aguirre (.483), and Sherman Douglas (.484).

Noticed I used guards and small forwards to show you that even a good to semi-good player could make this list without being a big man.

Oh by the way, Jordan’s percentage was .496, ranking him 117 all-time. (Lebron’s is .471. Ouch "LeBron Haters.")

To make it more even towards guard play, how about we discuss Kobe’s three point percentage.

A sizzling .341!

Not even top 200 all-time. He falls behind those sharpshooters Rasheed Wallace, Keyon Dooling, Josh Howard, Keith Bogans, Shane “Whose your Daddy?” Battier, and Morris Peterson. (Does Mateen Cleaves come with that?)

So he is a taller, better looking, less tattooed Allen Iverson (who also happens to score more points per game all-time, than the Black Mamba).

So if you think that the "Next Jordan" should have bloated stats, a bloated ego, no championships without a hall of fame big man, and questionable moral, then I guess Kobe is your guy.

I’ll take LeBron.

Why It Is Hard to Be a Clemson Fan: A Choke Artist Manifesto

Jarrod Moore — Sun, 24 May 2009 12:13:52 -0400

Clemson chokes...again.

How many times have we all seen this headline? Too many. On too many occasions have Clemson athletics let the fan base down and let anyone that believed in them down.

As someone who bleeds Burnt Orange and Northwestern Purple this is a hard article to write. But they say the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one.

We have one.

Tate George in the tourney. Calvin Johnson in the breakout freshman game. Being the only team to not make the tournament, after being the last undefeated team. The choke job in the second half of the 2006 season. NEVER beating UNC in Chapel Hill. And the latest, turning a pre-season top 10 team into a 7-6, suicide-inducing dumpster fire.

That is just a few of the lowlights.

Is Clemson the only choke job athletic program in America? No. But, I think that we are the most visible.

I heard a national radio personality say the other day, "The Cubs are gonna win the Central every year, and Duke is gonna is gonna go the the Final Four, and Clemson is going to win the National Championship every year. I not buying it anymore."

That is what we have been relegated to—a national joke.

I'm not saying that I have the answers, or that I won't pull for the Tigers. I'm saying it is embarrassing and it makes me crazy.

There are a lot of fans in every fan base that will never admit weaknesses, and Clemson doesn't have any shortage of those. We need to start getting honest with each other and expect more.

The newest national embarrassment (not including losing in the first round of the tournament...again) is our hiring of Dabo Swinney.

I like Dabo. I don't know what he will do with the football program, but hope he succeeds, because I want Tiger football to succeed. But, nationally, I think that people scratched their heads at us hiring a guy with a funny name and no experience.

(I would like any non-Clemson fans reading this to leave a comment about your thoughts on us hiring Dabo).

Clemson fans talk a lot about the 1981 National Championship. As someone who was two weeks old when that happened, we need to get over the past and look towards the future.

We are no longer a power like the Danny Ford days, we are now the team that has more talent than everyone we play and still can't beat them, except the Gamecocks.

If the football team played with the heart of the basketball team, we would be undefeated every year.

Which brings me to what is happening in Littlejohn. I would say our deficiencies in basketball, have less to do with coaching and more to do with not having elite players, and having crooked ACC refs.

I don't believe in Dabo yet, but I DO believe in Oliver Purnell! He has the only program on campus that overachieves. But that doesn't make the inevitable chokes hurt any less.

I have met Clemson fans that would rather be completely irrelevant (like the University of South Carolina) as opposed to what we are, choke artists. I don't know about that, but I'm damn sure not happy with where we are.

I love Clemson, I love the Rock, the Hill, Tillman, and the Paw. Which is why it hurts so much ever year.

College Football's 10 Dumbest Statements Coming into the 2009 Season

Jarrod Moore — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:33:03 -0400

There is a lot going on in the offseason in college football, and I have heard a lot of dumb things said...but these take the cake.

1. Ole Miss is a top 10 team.

This is ridiculous. Let me break the suspense for you...Ole Miss '09 = Clemson '08. As a Clemson fan I can see this coming; this team has no idea how to deal with being the trendy pick.

Let's not forget who is coaching this team. Houston Nutt has never been good dealing with expectations. For God's sake, he couldn't win with one of the best backfields in college football history at Arkansas. What makes anyone believe he can get it done?

Another comparison for you: Houston Nutt = Tommy Bowden.

While the soft part of the schedule will allow for the Rebs to feast on losers like Memphis, SE Louisiana, UAB, and Northern Arizona, where are the rest of the wins going to come from? Let's face facts: Ole Miss cares about the pre-game party in the Grove more than what goes on inside of Vaught-Hemingway. I'll believe it when I see it.

2. USC is not the team to beat in the Pac-10 this year.

This is one that I cannot fathom. Pete Carroll has lost countless All-Americans and countless coaches, but he keeps winning.

He has been the coach at SC for eight years...he is 88-15! Wait—let that sink in, and then factor in that six of those losses were in his first year. Washington had three fewer losses last season than Pete has at SC in his career.

Last year Oregon State beat them and was in the driver's seat for the Pac-10 title—and then proceeded to gag. The Trojans will probably have to lose two in the league not to win the crown for the eighth consecutive year. Where are those losses?

3. This is the year Florida State is back!

This is only the eighth year in a row I've heard that. Get real. Full disclosure: I hate FSU, but they had one of the best runs in college football history in the '90s. NEWS FLASH! The '90s are over.

This team has no receivers, young unproven running backs, and nobody in the secondary; they lost their only proven pass rusher, and their QB is Riley Skinner with a spear on his helmet.

As long as Bobby Bowden is still the coach, this program is treading water with cement shoes.

Which brings up another topic—who are the players listening to? You have one historically great coach who can barely put coherent sentences together and a coach in waiting who has no idea when the waiting will end.

It seems that people around the program know it is time for Bobby to hang it up, especially with the cloud of forfeited wins hanging over him. Sadly, I believe he is so afraid of dying without something to do after retirement (which he has said himself) that he is willing to destroy what took him so long to build.

4. This is the year Jimmy Clausen puts it together.

NO! I believed the hype.

I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. I was WR...WR...WR...WRONG. Sure, Ron Powlus V.2 looked great last year when Notre Dame finally won a bowl game. But let's get real; it was Hawaii. He is the brother of two other highly regarded prep QBs that were not any good (Casey had impressive bloated numbers, but he didn't live up to the hype either).

Casey, err, Rick, err, Jimmy Clausen has happy feet, cannot make all the throws, is not accurate, and is still a little shell-shocked by the beating he has taken behind that hideous O-line for two years.

Sure, he will look good when they beat Washington and Washington State to win the Crapple Cup, or when Nevada or Navy (oops) comes to town. What is he going to do when facing teams that are tougher, more talented or better coached than his?

They will lose to Michigan State, Pitt, BC, and UConn—and then there is the inevitable 40-point beat down by USC.

That leaves Michigan, Purdon't, and Stanford—do you think they will beat all of those teams? I don't. I have no confidence that Clausen can be the guy to lead this team to eight or nine wins, even with an improving D.

5. Colt McCoy and/or Sam Bradford are better QBs than Tim Tebow.

Come on! If you don't think Tebow is the best QB in the nation, you have an agenda or are just a hater. Is it annoying to hear about how perfect he is all the time? Hell yeah! But facts are facts.

All you Bradford/McCoy/whomever apologists, riddle me this: How many National Championships do those two have for their combined five years of starting? That is right: ZERO. Tebow...two (one as a "starter").

Has either of those guys called out his teammates after a humiliating loss and put them on his back en route to a championship? NO! Tebow? Yes! Is either of those guys going to be remembered as one of, if not the greatest player in college history? NO! Tebow? Yes!

Let it go haters. Enjoy a player this good; don't be jealous. And he gives children circumcisions.

6. Anything regarding Greg Paulus.

This guy sucked as a basketball player, and he will suck at attempting to play football too. Enough said. Can we stop giving it any coverage?

7. The Non-BCS teams deserve a chance at a Championship.

I'm glad that Boise State and Utah and Hawaii get to play in the BCS games sometimes; great for them. Let's stop acting like you could hang in a real conference for a season. You can't!

The only time any of these teams play BCS conference foes, it is always the Washingtons and Washington States of the world, teams that are bottom feeders in their own leagues. Yeah, every so often you get a win, either during the season or in a bowl game. Big whoop.

Appalachian State beat Michigan (which was hilarious); does that mean they could hang in the Big Ten? That would be a Big NO!

Utah, you had a fine season last year, and Bama was disappointed that they would be playing some nobody from the Mtn. West and played like crap.

You played great and won; good for you. But if I have to see another "Utah, Undefeated National Champs" line in somebody's message board signature, I'm gonna flip.

You are great at what you do; be happy with that. Don't act like you are a big boy. While Bama has to play LSU, Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, etc., you are playing the likes of UNLV, Colorado State, New Mexico, Air Farce, Wyoming, and San Diego State. That is close to the same thing, let me tell ya.

8. Lane Kiffin is good for Tennessee.

I've heard a lot of people say that Lane Kiffin is good for Tennessee because "despite all the stupid things he has said and done, at least people are talking about the Vols." You know what they will be talking about next? How Urban Meyer/Mark Richt/Nick Saban/Les Miles made him shut his man pleaser by kicking him in the ass on National TV.

How long is he going to be able to recruit when kids see him and his great coaching staff rip their hair out when Florida/Georgia/etc. is hanging oh-by-the-way touchdowns in the fourth quarter? At least Steve Spurrier, jack of all asses, checked his arrogance until, you know...he won something, like a game.

9. Teams are going to catch up with Paul Johnson's offense at GT.

Georgia Southern, Navy, and now GT. Has anyone caught up yet? NO! Sure, LSU looked good against them in the PEACH BOWL, but that had more to do with LSU scoring 28 in the second quarter so that the Jackets couldn't run the ball. They probably won't win any National Championships, but they are gonna beat a lot of people.

I remember when people said that Urban Meyer's offense would not work in the SEC; how is that going?

I think that GT will take a step back this year in terms of wins, but it is because of the fact that the D won't be as good. I bet all the people saying that teams are gonna catch up with Paul Johnson don't pull for squads with Tech on the schedule.

10. We need a college football playoff.

Sure, I would like a playoff in CFB, but it isn't going to happen unless a few things happen: 1) People stop watching BCS bowl games and 2) People stop going to BCS bowl games.

That's it. Stop spending your time and money on them, and they will stop having them.

But that is NEVER going to happen. So stop whining and do something about it, or just sit back and enjoy the controversy.

I know it is easy for me to say because my Clemson Tigers aren't going to a championship game until we get serious about being a championship-caliber program, which seems a long time from now.

Still, what makes college football so great is not the one game that determines a championship like the NFL; it is the tradition and the pageantry. It's because these are kids giving it all for their universities without pay, allegedly.

Would it be better with a playoff? Sure, why not, but I'm still counting down the days until kickoff without it.