Wayne Thomas

According to ESPN.com former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks Head Coach Mike D’Antoni has agreed to a four year deal to become the newest Head Coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

This move comes as a bit of a surprise because as of a couple of hours ago all of the signs were pointing towards The great Phil Jackson returning to coach the Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. 

Reportedly the deal with Jackson broke through because Jackson was asking for too much, “the moon”, to return to the team. Jackson was said to be asking for about $12 million per year, more control over the roster, and the OK to take off of some road trips during the season. Jackson retired after the 2011 season due to health reasons. 

Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well it seems that the Lakers and the mainstream media are insane. The Los Angeles Lakers made big splash deals over the summer to acquire the great Steve Nash and the man formerly known as SuperMan...Dwight Howard.And of course mainstream media can’t get enough of the Lakers now, hyping them up to be one of the best teams ever and to be the top challenger to dethrone the Champion Miami Heat. The Lakers should be good, but they won’t be what their being hyped up to be. They won’t be an all time great team, they won't break or challenge the 96-97 Chicago Bulls record winning season of 72-10, they probably won’t even be the best team in the West...Oklahoma City and a guy named Kevin Durant has a big say in that.I know what you're saying to yourself right now “the Lakers have Kobe, Dwight, Nash, Gasol, hell they even have World Peace...of course they’ll win it all”. I know you're asking how could I possibly come to the conclusions that they’ll disappoint?

Today the Washington Redskins get their first opportunity to unleash their new weapon and quarterback Robert Griffin III against a division foe for the first time when they play the New York Giants at 1:00pm. Griffin has passed every other test so far in his rookie year in the NFL, and if I had to guess I would say that he’ll pass this one too.



Washington is coming into the game with a 3-3 record after a big win last week over the Minnesota Vikings. RG3 sealed the victory over the Vikings with a memorable 76-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. The play was impressive because before the snap Griffin realized that the Vikings were bringing what's called a double-A gap blitz. He knew that he would have to throw to his hot read or, with his dynamic athleticism and running ability, he would have a huge lane to run through if the Vikings didn’t run the blitz correctly. They didn’t and he made the right decision and then the rest is history.

                                Sunday’s game in New York vs the Giants will be the first division game of the season for the Washington Redskins. The winner of the game will be in first place of the NFC East which creates even more intensity and urgency to an already big game. The NFC East is known as the toughest division in football and the trademark of the division is what we call “big boy football” tough, physical, hard nosed play, along with dominating the line of scrimmage and running the ball down the other team’s throat.And that description brings me to my key to victory, which is to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Firstly on offense...the oline must fire off the ball and get good push in the run game, and then give Rookie Quarterback sensation Robert Griffin III enough time in the pocket to complete passes and get in rhythm in the passing game. The two go hand in hand, creating running room for Alfred Morris will force the Giants to overcompensate and bring extra defenders in the box and up to the line of scrimmage to try and stop the run.

The old adage in the NFL is that you have to have a pro style pocket quarterback to win the Super Bowl. Ala Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Kurt Warner, Phil Simms, Terry Bradshaw, etc , etc. There have been exceptions with some scrambling quarterbacks winning the Super Bowl such as Roger Staubach, Steve Young, Aaron Rodgers, and John Elway. But for the most part NFL owners, coaches, and general managers would always say that a running quarterback can't win a championship and that a prototype pocket passer is needed to win.But today that way of thinking is starting to change. Its not that teams want running quarterbacks now...its the fact that running quarterbacks have evolved over time into now being dual threat quarterbacks, a QB who can pass just as good as he can run, and thats what the NFL is starting to realize with QB’s like Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III leading the charge for the dual threat QB. In the past you had guys like Randall Cunningham and Michael Vick who came into the league wanting to run a majority of the time.