The TNS were, to all intents and purposes, a covers band. There was 'Beast in my Pants', and the never-completed 'Kurt Russell's Beard', but none of the members really wrote songs. I think Ed liked the idea of writing songs, but he never got around to it - and was in thrall enough to the Ramones that he never got much further than an E-bar power chord.
When I brought along my guitar, and Tortoise Head was formed, the original members were:
Lee C: drummer, banjo player, and insouciant presence. He was my sister's boyfriend for a time, and I remember once chasing him round the school playing field for a good 5 minutes, him laughing all the way, after he had booted me while playing lunchtime football.
Rich: guitarist, whose elder brothers' love for Genesis had a regrettable impact upon his psyche. Rich was, in his quiet way, a comic genius, whose sex- and scatology-obsessed themes were keystones to the Tortoise Head humour. His greatest line was givend when we had a holiday on the farmland of one of Ed's family's friends, in Stithians, Cornwall. As we put up the tent, the paterfamilias came to see what we were doing. 'Are you going to dig a latrine?', he asked, jokingly. 'I don't dig latrines, said Rich, 'I fill them.' When Rich and Ed went to Aberystwyth university in 1987 (Ed dropped out after a term and joined myself and Si at Warwick) the letters he sent, sure markers of a degree of psychological disintegration, sent me into gales of laughter. I still have them, though at 39, they're a harder read than they used to be.
Lee E: bass player, driver, and for some time de facto financial supporter of the band, as he was the only one working while the rest of us were at university. Lee was an unreliable bass player; not unskilled, but with a poor sense of the beat, rendering him hardly rock-steady as a part of the rhythm section. (This meant I had to play a tight rhythm guitar even when I got confident enough to be more adventurous, limiting the Tortoise Head sound.) His driving was invaluable though, especially when borrowing his dad's Transit van to cart the gear down to Ed's house. Lee had a succession of cars: a much-loved oxblood Cortina Mk4, in which the first compilation tapes were aired, and which provided us with means to go on the first 'Lads' holiday, to Cornwall; a Rover SD1, a remarkable thing that once saw us doing over a ton on the M11 on a trip from Essex to Cambridge which took a bare 40 minutes; and the red Austin Healey Sprite (a re-badged MG Midget) whose two-seat limitations ultimately proved to be an irritant.
Ed: rockist extraordinaire. Especially when he swapped the donkey jacket for a rocker's leather motorcycle jacket.
Me: my musical sensibility was different to the others, though we shared a similar sense of humour. (Ed and I were particular fans of Spike Milligan.) I was always into literate guitar pop lilke Elvis Costello or Lloyd Cole, classic 60s rock like The Who and the Stones, plus current indie bands like The House of Love and the Pixies.
Simon: an ex-officio member of the band and, I would say, my best friend in my teenage years. Si started many hares that I have spent the last 25 years running down (Ballard, Philip Dick, Iain Sinclair, and more music than I could mention, but particularly the Velvet Underground, REM, Cocteau twins, etc etc). Ed always cast Si as a doctrinaire NME-reading indie kid (anti-rockist in those days) but that didn't tell the whole story; Si just derided the metal lineage (Sabbath, Metallica, Iron Maiden) that Ed held dear, albeit with some degree of irony. Although he had a love-hate releationship with the band, Si was usually at practices/ 'jams' and later played drums and percussion on my early home-recorded 'solo' material, before I discovered the joys of samples and loops and the Atari ST.
Rich's family moved to Wales in 1987, and he found it increasingly difficult to stay around and play, even though older brothers and sisters were still in Essex. He eventually drifted out of the band, by degrees rather than by decision.
I didn't want to play just covers. Being in a band, I thought, was about playing your own stuff. I can't remember the first song I wrote, or the first one I sang to the band. I remember churning out something and mumbling the lyrics into a mike in Ed's billiard room (a nerve-wracking experience overcome by the sembalnce of ego), and the reception wasn't exactly enthusiastic, but encouraging and kind. This led eventually to us working on riffs or whole songs that I'd come up with at home. The first one was going to be called 'Lacanau to Figueras'. It goes: dum-dum-dah-dah-dum, dah-dah-dah-dum...
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Why I am giving up the Arsenal, no.6
I have been relenting of late. I too have been scouring the blogs, wondering how good Samir Nasri is, wondering whether we'll sign Ben Arfa, laughing at the Robinho rumours and Hleb's idiotic agent. The circulated new kit looks like the 1998-2000 one with the white panel down the side, one of my favourite Arsenal kits. (We won nothing in it, though. The old supporter's superstition dies hard.)
It's the Premiership I really dislike. I hate the hype, the money, the cultral poverty, the bling. It's showbiz, really, and so Platini et al are missing the point when they decry the lack of English talent. When the FA created the Premiership/ Premier League and Sky pumped all that money in, what we have now was an inevitability. The EPL is probably 'the most exciting league' in the world: but it's much more like the IPL, the Indian Premier League 20/20 cricket circus, than anyone would want us to believe. It's razzmatazz, spectacle, Prime Time: and it has very little to do with English players. For as we know by looking at the England team, English players are NOT the best in the world.
I'll be supporting Turkey at Euro 2008, by the way.
So, I'm still in limbo. My love for the Arsenal refuses to die, but I despise the league they play in. Can Arsenal secede and play in La Liga, please?
It's the Premiership I really dislike. I hate the hype, the money, the cultral poverty, the bling. It's showbiz, really, and so Platini et al are missing the point when they decry the lack of English talent. When the FA created the Premiership/ Premier League and Sky pumped all that money in, what we have now was an inevitability. The EPL is probably 'the most exciting league' in the world: but it's much more like the IPL, the Indian Premier League 20/20 cricket circus, than anyone would want us to believe. It's razzmatazz, spectacle, Prime Time: and it has very little to do with English players. For as we know by looking at the England team, English players are NOT the best in the world.
I'll be supporting Turkey at Euro 2008, by the way.
So, I'm still in limbo. My love for the Arsenal refuses to die, but I despise the league they play in. Can Arsenal secede and play in La Liga, please?
Blood on the tracks - Miami style
After last season's traumatic 1-15 record, the installation of a new coach, general manager and VP of operations (Tony Sparano, Jeff ireland, Bill Parcells), the release of around 20 players and the signing of roughly the same amount, and a 2008 draft which was rated very good, things have been looking up for the Dolphins.
The one irritant has been the status of the 'face of the franchise', star defensive end Jason Taylor. A mainstay of average-to-poor Dolphins teams over the last 11 years, Taylor was acclaimed NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, a year when the Dolphins' overall record was a mediocre 6-10. Last year, disputes with new coach Cam Cameron undermined the team; this off-season, 'Twinkle Toes' Taylor has been participating - very successfully - on the tv show 'Dancing with the Stars'. Much to the chagrin, it seems, of Sparano, Ireland, and Parcells.
Parcells in particular is seen as an old-fashioned, macho type who would scoff at the 6-foot-6 Taylor dancing on national television, and who (it is assumed) holds Taylor's confessed desire to go to Hollywood after he finishes with football in contempt. Rumours have circulated for months that Taylor would be traded, despite the fact that soon after he was installed, Parcells declared that Taylor would play as a Dolphin next year or would retire. No trade has happened, and as he was dancing with the stars, Taylor did not attend 'voluntary' training activities. And this week...
Parcells' dictat seems to be coming true. At one of the Dolphins' OTAs (Organised Team Activities, off-season mini-camps)coach Sparano declared that Taylor would not be at the upcoming veterans' mini-camp, nor would he be at training camp proper in the summer. Taylor was, in effect, 'holding out' for a trade to a contender, wanting to finish his career with a shot at finally getting to a Superbowl. The Dolphins coaching team called his bluff by going public: and on the Dolphins blogs, even fans who were supporting Taylor before now seem to be turning. Nothing has really changed much, but tactically, the Dolphins' hardball approach seems to be paying off: the blame is switching to Taylor and his ambitions.
Most Dolphins fans had seemed to be happy with Taylor's desire to pursue a Hollywood career after retiring from football, but recent comments that he (Taylor) would rather be remembered in 10 years time for his Hollywood career, rather than for football, have put a lot of Dolfans noses/ beaks out of joint. The holdout, from a team which seems to be making great strides towards improving its roster and organisation as a whole, now feels much more like a betrayal.
What now? A trade to San Diego has been mooted, but whether this comes to anything, we will see. Why would even a contender, looking for that last piece in the jigsaw, risk taking Taylor when they know that he is looking at one year, two tops, of playing time, and when half his mind might be on his would-be career as the next version of The Rock? Miami have, by all accounts, been 'shopping' Taylor to see whether a trade was possible, but what the teams were offering (a fourth-round pick in next year's draft) seemed to massively undervalue Taylor. Whose fault? It's more Taylor's than the Dolphins, I would say - if he wanted to go to a contender, 'Dancing with the Stars' was a sure-fire way to scupper that deal by ensuring the Dolphins would get very little in return. If he was anticipating a goodwill gesture, as with the release of that other fan favourite Zach Thomas (who subsequently signed with Dallas), he read Parcells and crew all wrong. For someone who now appears to put his own career before the team, this doesn't say much for his ability to plan, or to strategise.
The one irritant has been the status of the 'face of the franchise', star defensive end Jason Taylor. A mainstay of average-to-poor Dolphins teams over the last 11 years, Taylor was acclaimed NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, a year when the Dolphins' overall record was a mediocre 6-10. Last year, disputes with new coach Cam Cameron undermined the team; this off-season, 'Twinkle Toes' Taylor has been participating - very successfully - on the tv show 'Dancing with the Stars'. Much to the chagrin, it seems, of Sparano, Ireland, and Parcells.
Parcells in particular is seen as an old-fashioned, macho type who would scoff at the 6-foot-6 Taylor dancing on national television, and who (it is assumed) holds Taylor's confessed desire to go to Hollywood after he finishes with football in contempt. Rumours have circulated for months that Taylor would be traded, despite the fact that soon after he was installed, Parcells declared that Taylor would play as a Dolphin next year or would retire. No trade has happened, and as he was dancing with the stars, Taylor did not attend 'voluntary' training activities. And this week...
Parcells' dictat seems to be coming true. At one of the Dolphins' OTAs (Organised Team Activities, off-season mini-camps)coach Sparano declared that Taylor would not be at the upcoming veterans' mini-camp, nor would he be at training camp proper in the summer. Taylor was, in effect, 'holding out' for a trade to a contender, wanting to finish his career with a shot at finally getting to a Superbowl. The Dolphins coaching team called his bluff by going public: and on the Dolphins blogs, even fans who were supporting Taylor before now seem to be turning. Nothing has really changed much, but tactically, the Dolphins' hardball approach seems to be paying off: the blame is switching to Taylor and his ambitions.
Most Dolphins fans had seemed to be happy with Taylor's desire to pursue a Hollywood career after retiring from football, but recent comments that he (Taylor) would rather be remembered in 10 years time for his Hollywood career, rather than for football, have put a lot of Dolfans noses/ beaks out of joint. The holdout, from a team which seems to be making great strides towards improving its roster and organisation as a whole, now feels much more like a betrayal.
What now? A trade to San Diego has been mooted, but whether this comes to anything, we will see. Why would even a contender, looking for that last piece in the jigsaw, risk taking Taylor when they know that he is looking at one year, two tops, of playing time, and when half his mind might be on his would-be career as the next version of The Rock? Miami have, by all accounts, been 'shopping' Taylor to see whether a trade was possible, but what the teams were offering (a fourth-round pick in next year's draft) seemed to massively undervalue Taylor. Whose fault? It's more Taylor's than the Dolphins, I would say - if he wanted to go to a contender, 'Dancing with the Stars' was a sure-fire way to scupper that deal by ensuring the Dolphins would get very little in return. If he was anticipating a goodwill gesture, as with the release of that other fan favourite Zach Thomas (who subsequently signed with Dallas), he read Parcells and crew all wrong. For someone who now appears to put his own career before the team, this doesn't say much for his ability to plan, or to strategise.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
A History of the Tortoise Head, part 4
I walked into Ed's billiard room with the guitar I had bought from him, and no amplifier. Rich Laxton was there, his guitar (a Stratocaster) plugged into the PA, which was a 'head' and two large cabinets/ speakers. TNS was finished, and I'd kind of invited myself to come and play. I plugged in and we 'jammed' a bit. Ed, I think, played the tambourine.
This was the first time I'd played music with anyone, a nervy first date with new partners. It was a relief to find out that they didn't mind if I wasn't a very good player, that I was in fact pretty bad; they weren't too hot themselves.
But it was the buzz (rather than the fuzzbox), the counterpoint and the raw noise you can make with two players (even better when you add drums and bass), the interaction and interconnection with even the most rudimentary techniques, which addicted me to the experience of being in the band.
'Jamming Me', sang Tom Petty (on a track from the Let Me Up album), over and over on a compliation tape. And that's what Tortoise Head did. We jammed, and it jammed me, jazzed me, thrilled me. There's nothing quite like playing music with your mates, and still I miss it very much.
This was the first time I'd played music with anyone, a nervy first date with new partners. It was a relief to find out that they didn't mind if I wasn't a very good player, that I was in fact pretty bad; they weren't too hot themselves.
But it was the buzz (rather than the fuzzbox), the counterpoint and the raw noise you can make with two players (even better when you add drums and bass), the interaction and interconnection with even the most rudimentary techniques, which addicted me to the experience of being in the band.
'Jamming Me', sang Tom Petty (on a track from the Let Me Up album), over and over on a compliation tape. And that's what Tortoise Head did. We jammed, and it jammed me, jazzed me, thrilled me. There's nothing quite like playing music with your mates, and still I miss it very much.
Why I am giving up the Arsenal, part 5
Today I was able to watch the last 15 minutes of the Arsenal-Everton match, Arsenal's penultimate match of the season. In fact, I turned on the tv just as the Bendtner header hit the back of the net.
I see this as a small step on my road to recovery. The metaphor has changed: this isn't a divorce from the Arsenal, or a trial separation; I've been forcing myself to go cold turkey, to forge a different relationship with the team and the club. It's beginning to work. I no longer need to deny the Arsenal, but they don't retain the power over me that they did. It feels a whole lot healthier.
I read in the online Guardian today a piece about Florent Sinama-Pongolle, once a young French world-beater who was signed by Gerard Houllier's Liverpool (in emulation of Arsene's youth policy), who never made it there but who subsequently left for Spain and has carved out a decent career at, I think, Real Zaragoza. In last night's match, Pongolle was racially abused by Atletico Madrid fans. (As a by-the-way, Atletico's ground, the Vincente Calderon, is the only Spanish football ground I've been to. I saw Atletico lose to Celta Vigo there about 10 years ago. My Spanish is rudimentary, but you couldn't miss the vitriolic abuse aimed at the then Atletico coach, who I think was Claudio Ranieri. Not surprising, really: Atletico were rubbish.)
The abuse suffered by Pongolle made me think of the very real advances made in the English game to eradicate racism which, particularly in the stands (and the fans must take some of the praise for this) is much better than it was in the 1970s or 1980s. Watching a West Brom match from the late 70s on ESPN Classic, the post-match interview with then-manager Ron Atkinson revealed his dim-witted 'praise' of Cyrille Regis's and Laurie Cunningham's efforts along the lines of 'they were a credit to their race'; and this was a man whose elevation of the 'Three Degrees' (the other being Brendon Batson, who West Brom converted from an ordinary Arsenal midfielder to a very classy full back) was markedly progressive for the time, and whose later spell at Aston Villa was characterised by the number and quality of Black British and overseas players in the squad.
Arsenal have a long tradition now of Black British youth players who make the first-team squad. Among the first was Paul Davis. Bizarrely, he first registered with me when I watched (green with envy) an episode of Jim'll Fix It in the early 1980s, when Jimmy Saville arranged for a young lad to play a 10-minute mock game with Arsenal players - at Highbury! Paul Davis was one of those players.
He would be central to George Graham's Arsenal; strangely enough, as he was not a power-running midfielder like Michael Thomas or an all-energy wide player like the late David 'Rocky' Rocastle. Paul Davis was elegant, a thoughtful passer, a player without ego or flashiness, a player who would have fitted in perfectly with Arsene Wenger's teams. He provided the 'cultured' midfield play that separated George's Arsenal from other long-ball teams of the time, but his lack of ego, his ability to be the team hub, meant that he was never in the England reckoning. Like another excellent passing midfielder of the same period, Everton's Paul Bracewell, his very qualities left him overlooked. Any England team of the late 80s or early 90s would have been improved by Davis's presence; think of how bad Graham Taylor's England was. (Compare him to workaday players like Geoff Thomas, or Carlton Palmer.)In the 1991 season, when Arsenal played Tottenham at Highbury, Davis had tyro Paul Gascoigne in the opposition midfield. Not only did Paul Davis put Gascoigne in his pocket that day, marking him out of the game, he then went on to outplay and outpass his opponent. Arsenal won on the way to the title.
Sometimes it's metnioned that Paul Davis spent a long part of one season banned for an incident caught on television, but missed by the referee. Playing Southampton, he punched and broke the jaw of Glenn Cockerill, a mouthy (if skilled) midfielder. For Paul Davis, not exactly fiery of temeperament, to have done that, one can only surmise that the preceding 90 or so minutes had been full of abuse, niggling fouls, and, perhaps, even racism. Only the two of them know that for sure. But I was shocked when I saw the punch. A punch? Paul Davis?
He also scored one of greatest goals I have ever seen watching the Arsenal at Highbury. It was in the run-in to the 1989 championship season, a home game in March 1989 against Charlton. It was in the week of my birthday, so me, Ed and my very good friend Simon all went to see a midweek evening game. (This would have been the Easter vacation.) The game ended 2-2, and it was one of several times that Spring where we thought the Arsenal had blown it. (The later 1-0 home defeat to Derby, right at the end of the season, was the last and worst of these, and seemed to confirm Liverpool's title.) But, defending a corner, Arsenal broke away down the left. We were in the West Stand, as usual, watching, climbing to our feet, as Paul Davis sprinted towards the Clock End to support the break. Over came the cross, and Davis flung himself full length, a spectacular diving header, all the more stunning for its singularity: unlike Michael Thomas, who surged through oppsing defences regularly to score, Davis was not a prolific scorer. But this goal epitomised him: skill, drive, and total commitment to the Arsenal cause.
It seems now that Arsenal will lose Matthieu Flamini and Aleksandr Hleb to AC Milan and Inter Milan respectively this summer. Paul Davis was a one-club man, a wonderful and perhaps neglected footballer. How the Arsenal could do with a player of his skill, intelligence and commitment next season.
I see this as a small step on my road to recovery. The metaphor has changed: this isn't a divorce from the Arsenal, or a trial separation; I've been forcing myself to go cold turkey, to forge a different relationship with the team and the club. It's beginning to work. I no longer need to deny the Arsenal, but they don't retain the power over me that they did. It feels a whole lot healthier.
I read in the online Guardian today a piece about Florent Sinama-Pongolle, once a young French world-beater who was signed by Gerard Houllier's Liverpool (in emulation of Arsene's youth policy), who never made it there but who subsequently left for Spain and has carved out a decent career at, I think, Real Zaragoza. In last night's match, Pongolle was racially abused by Atletico Madrid fans. (As a by-the-way, Atletico's ground, the Vincente Calderon, is the only Spanish football ground I've been to. I saw Atletico lose to Celta Vigo there about 10 years ago. My Spanish is rudimentary, but you couldn't miss the vitriolic abuse aimed at the then Atletico coach, who I think was Claudio Ranieri. Not surprising, really: Atletico were rubbish.)
The abuse suffered by Pongolle made me think of the very real advances made in the English game to eradicate racism which, particularly in the stands (and the fans must take some of the praise for this) is much better than it was in the 1970s or 1980s. Watching a West Brom match from the late 70s on ESPN Classic, the post-match interview with then-manager Ron Atkinson revealed his dim-witted 'praise' of Cyrille Regis's and Laurie Cunningham's efforts along the lines of 'they were a credit to their race'; and this was a man whose elevation of the 'Three Degrees' (the other being Brendon Batson, who West Brom converted from an ordinary Arsenal midfielder to a very classy full back) was markedly progressive for the time, and whose later spell at Aston Villa was characterised by the number and quality of Black British and overseas players in the squad.
Arsenal have a long tradition now of Black British youth players who make the first-team squad. Among the first was Paul Davis. Bizarrely, he first registered with me when I watched (green with envy) an episode of Jim'll Fix It in the early 1980s, when Jimmy Saville arranged for a young lad to play a 10-minute mock game with Arsenal players - at Highbury! Paul Davis was one of those players.
He would be central to George Graham's Arsenal; strangely enough, as he was not a power-running midfielder like Michael Thomas or an all-energy wide player like the late David 'Rocky' Rocastle. Paul Davis was elegant, a thoughtful passer, a player without ego or flashiness, a player who would have fitted in perfectly with Arsene Wenger's teams. He provided the 'cultured' midfield play that separated George's Arsenal from other long-ball teams of the time, but his lack of ego, his ability to be the team hub, meant that he was never in the England reckoning. Like another excellent passing midfielder of the same period, Everton's Paul Bracewell, his very qualities left him overlooked. Any England team of the late 80s or early 90s would have been improved by Davis's presence; think of how bad Graham Taylor's England was. (Compare him to workaday players like Geoff Thomas, or Carlton Palmer.)In the 1991 season, when Arsenal played Tottenham at Highbury, Davis had tyro Paul Gascoigne in the opposition midfield. Not only did Paul Davis put Gascoigne in his pocket that day, marking him out of the game, he then went on to outplay and outpass his opponent. Arsenal won on the way to the title.
Sometimes it's metnioned that Paul Davis spent a long part of one season banned for an incident caught on television, but missed by the referee. Playing Southampton, he punched and broke the jaw of Glenn Cockerill, a mouthy (if skilled) midfielder. For Paul Davis, not exactly fiery of temeperament, to have done that, one can only surmise that the preceding 90 or so minutes had been full of abuse, niggling fouls, and, perhaps, even racism. Only the two of them know that for sure. But I was shocked when I saw the punch. A punch? Paul Davis?
He also scored one of greatest goals I have ever seen watching the Arsenal at Highbury. It was in the run-in to the 1989 championship season, a home game in March 1989 against Charlton. It was in the week of my birthday, so me, Ed and my very good friend Simon all went to see a midweek evening game. (This would have been the Easter vacation.) The game ended 2-2, and it was one of several times that Spring where we thought the Arsenal had blown it. (The later 1-0 home defeat to Derby, right at the end of the season, was the last and worst of these, and seemed to confirm Liverpool's title.) But, defending a corner, Arsenal broke away down the left. We were in the West Stand, as usual, watching, climbing to our feet, as Paul Davis sprinted towards the Clock End to support the break. Over came the cross, and Davis flung himself full length, a spectacular diving header, all the more stunning for its singularity: unlike Michael Thomas, who surged through oppsing defences regularly to score, Davis was not a prolific scorer. But this goal epitomised him: skill, drive, and total commitment to the Arsenal cause.
It seems now that Arsenal will lose Matthieu Flamini and Aleksandr Hleb to AC Milan and Inter Milan respectively this summer. Paul Davis was a one-club man, a wonderful and perhaps neglected footballer. How the Arsenal could do with a player of his skill, intelligence and commitment next season.
Dolphin draft, part 2
A quick explanation of positions in American football. The roster is basically split into three units – offense, defense and special teams. In each, a line of scrimmage is formed with the opposition, and behind them will be a number of other players in specialist positions. On defense (the Fins will run a 3-4 defense next season) the team will set up like this
Defensive End - Defensive/Nose Tackle - Defensive End
Outside Linebacker - Inside LB - Inside LB - Outside LB
Safety - Safety
Cornerback (CB) - Cornerback
This is called 3-4 because there are three down linemen and 4 linebackers. The tackle, in a 3-4 called the nose tackle, is primarily a large, immovable run-stopper, attempting to block the creation of gaps for the opposing running back to knife through. The two defensive ends (DEs), big but much more mobile, attempt to put pressure on the opposing quarterback, by pushing back the opposing offensive line. They will also help stop the run. The two outside linebackers will be big, athletic, quick players whose job it is to penetrate the opposition backfield and hurry up, or if possible 'sack' (tackle and force to the round for a loss of yards) the quarterback. They will also try to direct any outside running plays back into the middle so the ILBs can stop them. The inside linebackers will try to stop the the run if that's the play, but would also have to drop into covering opposition receivers (especially 'slot' receivers and tight ends who come across the middle on shallow routes looking for quick, safe short passes). The safeties are smaller but have to be physical, and read the play and have to cover sideline-to-sideline to help out their cornerbacks or cover receivers themselves. The corners are quick guys, often converted wide receivers whose handling skills didn't quite make the nut, who mark or cover opposing receivers downfield. Cornerbacks are highly coveted and very well paid in comparison to safeties.
The glamour positions on offense are the skill positions: quarterback (QB), running back (RB), wide receiver (WR). On defense, the glamour positions would be the DE or OLB who rushes the quarterback and gets sacks. For the Fins, their star player is a DE/OLB, Jason Taylor. The problem with Taylor is that he is an 11-year veteran, earns big money, has never been in a Dolphins team that has had a sniff of the SuperBowl, and who wants out. Oh, and he is currently wowing them on American tv hit Dancing with the Stars, much to the Big Tuna's chagrin.
Jake Long, this year's number 1 pick, is a left tackle (LT). While not glamorous, a quality player at this position is much sought-after, as they protect the right-handed QB's blindside and stop him being pounded face-first into the FieldTurf by opposing DEs. A great LT can make an ordinary QB look good by giving him time to find open receivers. Conversely, a great QB with no Offensive line protection will still get smashed into the dirt facemask-first. Teams often run to the right, so the right guard and right tackle should be good blockers with drive to make holes for the running back. The Fins starting LT last year, Vernon Carey, is being moved back to right tackle (RT), and a free agency signing, Justin Smiley, will (it seems) play left guard (LG) (to help rookie Long). The rest of the Dolphins draft looked like this:
2a: Philip Merling, DE (a steal at this pick, projected to go much higher)
2b: Chad Henne, quarterback (QB) (solid, a player the Fins were looking at at 2a)
3: Kendall Langford, DE (a huge, quick run-stuffer who will be a monster in two years)
4. Shawn Murphy, G (will compete for RG spot)
6a. Donald Thoma, G (again will compete at RG)
6b. Jalen Parmele, Running Back (big and fast, to help out starters Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, both coming back from injuries)
6c. Lex Hilliard, a 'tweener' back, part RB and part Full Back (a bigger, slower running back who blocks for the RB and could be used on short-yardage and goal-line situations where strength and power at the key)
7. Lionel Dotson, Defensive tackle (DT)
After the draft has finished, NFL teams are able to sign any undrafted college player as a 'rookie free agent'. The Dolphins have currently picked up about a dozen. Most won't make it. However, they've picked up three possible 'keepers': Kelly Poppinga, a LB whose brother already plays in the NFL; Davone Bess, a smallish receiver from Hawai'i who has great hands and is tough – could play the slot, a position the Fins need; and most excitingly of all Jayson Foster, a tiny (5'7”) by NFL standards QB/ WR/ kick returner, who has blistering speed and is very elusive. The Big Tuna phoned Foster personally to offer him a contract, so he's one to watch.
Except for the two RBs, Bess and Foster, you can see that the Tuna and his comrades didn't go for the skill positions, the glamour positions. Henne at QB isn't exciting, but could be a solid pro. The Fins have gone for some VERY big men on O-line and defense, building the foundations. Next year the Fins will be a mean, tough, big, bruising team who hit hard, run the ball down the opposition's throats, beat 'em up and win ugly. In the Dan Marino years, the Dolphins were a finesse team; since his retirement, they've been on the slide. Not any more.
Oh, back to Ted Ginn Jr. He was the Fins first pick in last year's draft, when the Dolphins had the number 9 overall. Fans were appalled at this selection as they wanted QB Brady Quinn, who subsequently slid down to 22, where he was selected by the Cleveland Browns, but didn't get to play much through the excellence of the incumbent Derek Anderson. Ginn, I think, will eventually be a good receiver. The Fins signed Ernest Wilford, a big 'possession' receiver, as a free agent to complement him.
Things are looking up in Miami. Now, if only they can resolve the Taylor situation. I thought he was going to be traded in the middle of round two of the draft – rumours had the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Tampa Bay Bucs after him. Hunched over the computer at 1.30am on Saturday night/ Sunday morning, I hoped he would be traded. As the Bucs pick came round, rumours picked up momentum. The Sun-Sentinel wrote that 'reports' were Taylor was to be traded. And as the Bucs were 'on the clock', the screen flashed 'trade' – but it wasn't the Dolphins who traded for this pick, it was the Jags. They took Quentin Groves, who the Fins were heavily interested in. Groves, like Taylor, is a DE/OLB. A lightbulb flashed above my head: will the Jags try to hold the Fins to ransom? But the Taylor to Jags deal seems officially dead now. There was no deal with the Bucs, only rumour. And now the blogs say: the Jags or another playoff contender will come back in if they want to have shot at the SuperBowl this year. Or Taylor will be traded for next year's draft picks. Or Taylor will stay. Whatever. But however this dance ends, the Fins are much better off with Big Tuna and his minions than they have been since the grandest days of Coach Shula and the 1972 team's own brand of beat 'em up, physical, 'smash-mouth' football. I can't wait for next season.
Defensive End - Defensive/Nose Tackle - Defensive End
Outside Linebacker - Inside LB - Inside LB - Outside LB
Safety - Safety
Cornerback (CB) - Cornerback
This is called 3-4 because there are three down linemen and 4 linebackers. The tackle, in a 3-4 called the nose tackle, is primarily a large, immovable run-stopper, attempting to block the creation of gaps for the opposing running back to knife through. The two defensive ends (DEs), big but much more mobile, attempt to put pressure on the opposing quarterback, by pushing back the opposing offensive line. They will also help stop the run. The two outside linebackers will be big, athletic, quick players whose job it is to penetrate the opposition backfield and hurry up, or if possible 'sack' (tackle and force to the round for a loss of yards) the quarterback. They will also try to direct any outside running plays back into the middle so the ILBs can stop them. The inside linebackers will try to stop the the run if that's the play, but would also have to drop into covering opposition receivers (especially 'slot' receivers and tight ends who come across the middle on shallow routes looking for quick, safe short passes). The safeties are smaller but have to be physical, and read the play and have to cover sideline-to-sideline to help out their cornerbacks or cover receivers themselves. The corners are quick guys, often converted wide receivers whose handling skills didn't quite make the nut, who mark or cover opposing receivers downfield. Cornerbacks are highly coveted and very well paid in comparison to safeties.
The glamour positions on offense are the skill positions: quarterback (QB), running back (RB), wide receiver (WR). On defense, the glamour positions would be the DE or OLB who rushes the quarterback and gets sacks. For the Fins, their star player is a DE/OLB, Jason Taylor. The problem with Taylor is that he is an 11-year veteran, earns big money, has never been in a Dolphins team that has had a sniff of the SuperBowl, and who wants out. Oh, and he is currently wowing them on American tv hit Dancing with the Stars, much to the Big Tuna's chagrin.
Jake Long, this year's number 1 pick, is a left tackle (LT). While not glamorous, a quality player at this position is much sought-after, as they protect the right-handed QB's blindside and stop him being pounded face-first into the FieldTurf by opposing DEs. A great LT can make an ordinary QB look good by giving him time to find open receivers. Conversely, a great QB with no Offensive line protection will still get smashed into the dirt facemask-first. Teams often run to the right, so the right guard and right tackle should be good blockers with drive to make holes for the running back. The Fins starting LT last year, Vernon Carey, is being moved back to right tackle (RT), and a free agency signing, Justin Smiley, will (it seems) play left guard (LG) (to help rookie Long). The rest of the Dolphins draft looked like this:
2a: Philip Merling, DE (a steal at this pick, projected to go much higher)
2b: Chad Henne, quarterback (QB) (solid, a player the Fins were looking at at 2a)
3: Kendall Langford, DE (a huge, quick run-stuffer who will be a monster in two years)
4. Shawn Murphy, G (will compete for RG spot)
6a. Donald Thoma, G (again will compete at RG)
6b. Jalen Parmele, Running Back (big and fast, to help out starters Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, both coming back from injuries)
6c. Lex Hilliard, a 'tweener' back, part RB and part Full Back (a bigger, slower running back who blocks for the RB and could be used on short-yardage and goal-line situations where strength and power at the key)
7. Lionel Dotson, Defensive tackle (DT)
After the draft has finished, NFL teams are able to sign any undrafted college player as a 'rookie free agent'. The Dolphins have currently picked up about a dozen. Most won't make it. However, they've picked up three possible 'keepers': Kelly Poppinga, a LB whose brother already plays in the NFL; Davone Bess, a smallish receiver from Hawai'i who has great hands and is tough – could play the slot, a position the Fins need; and most excitingly of all Jayson Foster, a tiny (5'7”) by NFL standards QB/ WR/ kick returner, who has blistering speed and is very elusive. The Big Tuna phoned Foster personally to offer him a contract, so he's one to watch.
Except for the two RBs, Bess and Foster, you can see that the Tuna and his comrades didn't go for the skill positions, the glamour positions. Henne at QB isn't exciting, but could be a solid pro. The Fins have gone for some VERY big men on O-line and defense, building the foundations. Next year the Fins will be a mean, tough, big, bruising team who hit hard, run the ball down the opposition's throats, beat 'em up and win ugly. In the Dan Marino years, the Dolphins were a finesse team; since his retirement, they've been on the slide. Not any more.
Oh, back to Ted Ginn Jr. He was the Fins first pick in last year's draft, when the Dolphins had the number 9 overall. Fans were appalled at this selection as they wanted QB Brady Quinn, who subsequently slid down to 22, where he was selected by the Cleveland Browns, but didn't get to play much through the excellence of the incumbent Derek Anderson. Ginn, I think, will eventually be a good receiver. The Fins signed Ernest Wilford, a big 'possession' receiver, as a free agent to complement him.
Things are looking up in Miami. Now, if only they can resolve the Taylor situation. I thought he was going to be traded in the middle of round two of the draft – rumours had the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Tampa Bay Bucs after him. Hunched over the computer at 1.30am on Saturday night/ Sunday morning, I hoped he would be traded. As the Bucs pick came round, rumours picked up momentum. The Sun-Sentinel wrote that 'reports' were Taylor was to be traded. And as the Bucs were 'on the clock', the screen flashed 'trade' – but it wasn't the Dolphins who traded for this pick, it was the Jags. They took Quentin Groves, who the Fins were heavily interested in. Groves, like Taylor, is a DE/OLB. A lightbulb flashed above my head: will the Jags try to hold the Fins to ransom? But the Taylor to Jags deal seems officially dead now. There was no deal with the Bucs, only rumour. And now the blogs say: the Jags or another playoff contender will come back in if they want to have shot at the SuperBowl this year. Or Taylor will be traded for next year's draft picks. Or Taylor will stay. Whatever. But however this dance ends, the Fins are much better off with Big Tuna and his minions than they have been since the grandest days of Coach Shula and the 1972 team's own brand of beat 'em up, physical, 'smash-mouth' football. I can't wait for next season.
Dolphins draft, part 1
Last weekend was draft weekend in the NFL. Every year, the teams converge (this time, in New York's Radio City Music Hall) to go through the two-day ritual of choosing the best of the American football talent that is produced by the college system. In seven rounds (two on the first day, five on the second) the NFL teams select what they believe to be the best young talent available, with the team with the worst record choosing first in each round, then proceeding in ascending order (worst to best), and the whole 32-team cycle working its way through some 250 young men over the space of 6 hours on the first day (8pm to 2am BST) and another 7 on the second.
In Britain, Sky Sports carried the first round, the first time I can remember them doing so, using the NFL Network feed. This went off after 11pm, after which it was me and my computer, switching between the NFL.com website and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel online blogs to get feedback and commentary on the proceedings.
The draft is the way in which bad teams can reconstitute themselves, and the Fins are very bad, 1-15 bad. As there is no transfer system in the NFL, acquiring proven or veteran talent can only be done through trades (swapping players or, more often, players for draft picks) or in Free Agency, when players hit the open market at the end of their contracts. Both methods are expensive and only serve to (a) acquire top talent in key positions (very expensive) or (b) acquire lesser talent to create depth in your squad or 'roster'. The Miami Dolphins went down route (b) in this year's free agency, picking up good (but not stellar) players to improve the talent base, especially in Special Teams (kick-off, punt and field-goal units, and specially returning units, when speedy players attempt to catch and run back the opposition's punt or kick-off). You might score three or four touchdowns in a season this way (although the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season scored their first ever punt-return TD in a franchise that came into being in 1976 – though were for a very long time absolutely awful). The Dolphins have a good returner in wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr (more of him later) but had four TDs chalked off for penalties because the Special Teams unit had been denuded of talent by the previous coach, Cam Cameron. He was fired after the Dolphins went 1-15 last season. The new Dolphins management, under VP Bill Parcells (the 'Big Tuna'), GM Jeff Ireland and coach Tony Sparano (a ringer for the crime novelist James Ellroy) used free agency to sign special teams standouts and improve depth. To get starter-quality additions, though, you look to the draft.
The Fins, having gone 1-15 last season, had the first overall pick. They also had the first pick in rounds 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, though before draft day traded their round 4 pick for Dallas Cowboys linebacker Akin Ayodele and tight end Anthony Fasano. I should add that Parcells, Ireland and Sparano were all at the Cowboys before coming to the Dolphins, and because they like what they know and know what they like, have raided the Cowboys ever since for coaches and players. I have no problem with this, unlike some Dolfans – the Cowboys are a good, solid team, a playoff team, much better than the Dolphins have been for four or five years, or more. If we can pick some of their talent, all to the good. The Dolphin then traded their running back Lorenzo Booker to the Philadelphia Eagles to get a fourth-rounder back.
The tension as to who the Dolphins would choose with their number 1 overall pick – a debate which had been raging on the blogs for months – was resolved in the week before the draft when the Fin announced they had signed offensive lineman Jake Long on a 5-year, multimillion dollar contract. I was happy with this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)