It has recently been reported in the sports news world of a bounty program run by the New Orleans Saints coaching staff. My response to the news was “so what”.

Whether an athlete is playing a sport for pride or money there is always a premium bounty on the opposing team.

As a sports fan I would not root for my favorite team if I did not believe that the players on my team were not trying to destroy the opposing players by any means necessary while maintaining the rules of the game.

I am not advocating or condoning ‘cheap shots’ or illegal hits.

But if you are trying to eliminate and destroy a player with a legal hit and your coach gives you an incentive or reward for doing so, its all good!

What is the difference in giving out a game ball or 1000.00 at the end of a game for the player that made the biggest difference in the game?

If that means you get the reward for hurting an opponent so be it. If taking the opponent out legally was the means to the victory the rewarded player deserves the reward.

Every athlete on the Football field understands the opposing team is going to try and destroy them. Honestly they would want nothing less.

The bounty programs in Football have been going on for years and have not been a well kept secret. It might not be the popular moral opinion. But it is the reality of the game. To reward a player in excess for doing his job only makes the player play harder.

To compensate for the bounty system on the opposing end the NFL has fined players for excessive violence and cheap shots on defenseless players.

David S. Grant

Still waiting on Chris Paul (though it’s increasingly looking like the Clippers), in the meantime let’s look at some of the other deals that have went down.

TYSON CHANDLER (4 years, 65 million) Knicks

Initially this was to be a power move to lure Chris Paul.  Now it just looks like a sneaky good move that will anchor a suspect defense and give Amar’e a rest.  That being said, we are probably days away from the Knicks blowing up their team to make one final push at Paul or Dwight Howard.  It just wouldn’t be the Knicks if this didn’t happen.

Grade: B+

DAVID WEST (2 years, 20 million) Pacers

The key to this deal is two years.  Well done Pacers, this is a move teams make when they are no longer satisfied with just making the playoffs.

Grade: A-

JEFF GREEN (1 year, 9 million) Celtics

Despite the Lakers and Rockets chaos there may not be a team more unsettled than the Boston Celtics.  It may take a full season to win back the trust of their players.  That being said, I like the one-year deal for both the Celtics and Green.

Grade: B-

MIKE BIBBY (1 year, 1.4 million) Knicks

With Billups a victim of amnesty there was a need to find a veteran to play this role.  I would suspect they will load up on a couple more, but this is a good start for the money spent.  Plus, he wears a headband like an all-star, so there’s that!

Grade: B

CHUCK HAYES (4 years, 21.3 million) Kings

Hayes is a defensive big that looks 1-2 years away from being a double-double guy.  Maybe the next Charles Oakley?  One of my favorite signings up to this point, this of course means there is no way this works out.  Sorry Sacramento!

Grade: A

EARL WATSON (2 years, 4.6 million) Jazz

Two years?  Not when there are so many veterans signing one year minimum deals.  Sorry Utah!

Grade: D

KURT THOMAS (2 years, amount not disclosed) Trail Blazers

Thomas is 39 years old.  See Earl Watson.

Grade: D

Article written by David S. Grant. For more follow him on twitter @david_S_grant

So the game is a blowout and I am switching back and forth between a few games. It starts to get a little chippy between the players right before halftime. I make a mental note to turn back to the game for the last few minutes on the clock to see what happens at the end of the game.

Me and a few members of the family watching the game make a few comments and wagers on if there is going to be confrontations after the game. The opinions range from a fight on the court to a few players getting shot in a parking lot in the wee hours of the morning after the game.

I turn back to the game with 3:03 left on the clock. We all know what happens next. The point of this article is to discuss the outrageous errors of the coaching staffs and the Universities decisions after the altercation not to point out the obvious lack of sportsmanship and court safety shown by both teams.

What was Coach Mack thinking letting two of his players (Holloway and Lyons) talk to the press in a post game news conference?

For that matter what were the two coaches doing talking to the press without seeing the video evidence of the confrontation and having the answers?

Next we have Coach Cronin taking a hard-line stance and telling us that players will not be on the team if the video shows evidence of them being out of control.

Finally today the Universities announce the suspensions of the players involved in the altercation.

I am not going to go into the individual suspensions because it is not necessary to make my point. The bottom line is that the most severe punishment is a six game suspension.

First of all NO ONE should have said anything after the game!

Both coaches should have declined an interview until the situation had calmed down and the facts could be attained. Then all players on both teams should have been advised by the coaches that after they watch the video evidence of the altercation there will be players that won’t be apart of the team for the future.

Coach Cronin claims he told all his players to take their jersey’s off after the game because he was ‘embarrassed’. He should have told them to turn their jersey’s in and if they were on the team for the future he would hand them back at a later date.

The Universities should have given both coaches a 3 game suspension to start with.

Next all players that threw punches, kicks, or were uncontrollable by the coaches should have been immediately dismissed from the team. Then the players that were mouthing off and inciting the situation should have been suspended accordingly. If that means the teams need to forfeit a few games so be it.

The principle of sportsmanship and court safety should be the only thing that matters to both Universities.

Since obviously the Universities can’t get their acts together the NCAA needs to step in and dish out some justice.

I am all about being able to defend yourself and demand respect. But when you are blowing out a team by 20 points and they are mouthing off, you just walk off the court and let your play speak for itself.

WE SPEAK OUR MIND! NO PUNCHES PULLED HERE!

Interview by

Brian Dant

TFO: What sports did you play as a young man growing up in Aberdeen, Mississippi ?

Reggie: Football, Basketball, Ran Track and Power-Lifting team.

TFO: Who was your inspiration growing up?

Reggie: Walter Payton

TFO: Were you ‘highly’ recruited out of high school? Why did you choose Mississippi State?

Reggie: No I was not highly recruited, there were a few options, but I chose Mississippi State because it was close to home and had great program under Coach Jackie Wayne Sherrill.

TFO: What was your favorite moment in any college football game as an athlete?

Reggie: In 1996 MSU against Alabama, we beat them at home.

TFO: What was your NFL draft day like?

Reggie: Very low-key, at my home back in Aberdeen, MS with my Dad, Mom, Brother and my fiance.

TFO: When you stepped on an NFL practice field for the first time what was going through your mind?

Reggie: I was amazed!  Dreams do come true!

TFO: What was your ‘welcome to the NFL’ moment?

Reggie: Jessie the Hammer Tuggle knock me down in my 1st training camp, welcome to the NFL Rook!

TFO: You recently resigned with the Atlanta Falcons. You came back home to the team that started your NFL career. Can you tell your fans how you felt coming back to Atlanta?

Reggie: It feels good to come full circle in my career.  We have a great program here under Coach Smith and I am excited to be playing alongside one of the future Hall of Famers in Tony Gonzales. It feels good to be back.

TFO: Why do your teammates call you ‘The Rev’?

Reggie: They felt that I was the one they could come to for spiritual advice and look at me as a good big brother, who knew had their backs.

TFO: You run a football camp for kids back in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Can you tell us a little about it?

Reggie: We usually host a free football camp for the kids in Aberdeen, usually 82 kids my jersey number that have shown excellent grades for the school year.  I am big on academics and it also feels great to give back to where I am originally from.

TFO: If there was one thing you would want your fans to know about you that you have never been asked about in an interview what would it be?

Reggie: My favorite outdoor hobby is fishing and I love fishing with my kids.

Post Interview Comments

We would like to thank Reggie for taking the time out of his day to answer a few questions. The NFL is definitely a better league with positive athletes like Reggie Kelly.

Filed under: #fansopinion, Interviews, NFL Tagged: #fansopinion, Alabama, Atlanta, Atlanta Falcons, Mississippi, National Football League, NFL, Reggie Kelly, Walter Payton ]]> http://thefansopinion.com/2011/12/10/interview-with-reggie-kelly-te-atlanta-falcons/feed/ 1 papasloth Reggie Kelly http://thefansopinion.com/2011/12/09/nba-free-agency-grading-the-deals-from-day-1/ http://thefansopinion.com/2011/12/09/nba-free-agency-grading-the-deals-from-day-1/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:53:37 +0000 papasloth http://thefansopinion.com/?p=582 ]]> Written by

David S. Grant

As the NBA sorts out the Lakers/Hornets situation let’s review the deals that actually went down and were not vetoed by the NBA. 

CARON BUTLER (3 years, 24 million) Clippers

Their reluctance to move Eric Gordon is understandable, but with all the coveted pieces and available salary the Clippers posses this should not have been their focus.  This type of player will be there tomorrow and next week and next month (for less money).  THIS was a perfect place for the NBA to flex their veto power.

Grade: F

TAYSHAUN PRINCE (4 years, 27 million) Pistons

Every team had a need for Prince at this price.  Nice job by the Pistons locking him down.  Now they can focus on the Rip Hamilton situation.

Grade: A-

SHANE BATTIER (somewhere in the 2-3 million dollar range) Heat

Two big wins for the Miami Heat yesterday.  This subtle move to improve overall team chemistry and the NBA owners attempt to take the role of villain away from the Heat.  The majority of comments when it looked like the Chris Paul deal (and expected Dwight Howard deal to follow) went down : “it’s still not as bad as LeBron and the Heat.”  That’s rough and shows the Heat are still ‘most hated’, but based on yesterday’s performance, it appears the owners are up for the challenge.

Grade: A

GREG ODEN (1 year, 8.9 million) Trail Blazers

Given the mental energy spent the past couple years with their big man, one of those ‘why not?’ moves.

Grade: Incomplete (let’s see if he makes it through pre-season first)

MIKE DUNLEAVY JR. (2 years, 7.5 million) Bucks

Good shooter, good value.  Nice pick-up for the Bucks.  They are now three deep at the 1-2-3-4 positions.  The question is: How many are legit starters?  To be continued…

Grade: B

EDDY CURRY (1 year, veteran minimum) Heat

If Pat Riley is able to motivate Eddy Curry to utilize 50% of his talent then he should be given his own television channel.  Call it PAT, non-stop 24/7 motivational speeches from Pat Riley.  It goes without saying it will be buried somewhere in the 310-330 channel range after the FOOD channel, but before TOON.

Grade: Who Cares

This article written  by David S. Grant. For more please follow him on twitter @David_S_Grant

Sports Fans and members of our site,

We are announcing today that we are officially no longer promoting or are affiliated with ProInterviews.org in any way.

In the past we have provided the website mentioned above with advertising on our website. We have generously posted links to interviews on our pages.

We are informing our base that we are not and will not be associated with that website now or in the future.

Brian Dant

The Fans Opinion

Davis S. Grant

As Christmas Day and the start of the NBA season approaches the storylines are abundant and the “experts” are all over the place on their predictions.  Looking in from the outside here are three overrated and underrated teams to keep our eyes on.

OVERRATED – New York Knicks

I am in the minority of non believers.  Camelo Anthony + Amar’e Stoudemire + “something else” doesn’t equal a championship.  Four issues:  

1. Chauncey Billups, the Knicks point guard is regressing.  He is not the finals MVP from several years ago.  This is fact. 

2.  Amar’e Stoudemire just came off his most healthy season in recent years.  Odds of his good health continuing?  100 to 1.  If his minutes match last year 500 to 1. 

3. No depth. 

4.  The NBA (owners of New Orleans team) are not trading Chris Paul for peanuts, especially to the Knicks.   Even if they do, see #3.

UNDERRATED – Sacramento Kings

In a world where an NBA team is playing for their town, the Kings are back for one more year!  Sounds like a movie, right?  Throw in the supportive politician, Kevin Johnson and the evil Vegas branded Maloof brothers and this is a full on suspense thriller. 

Just need a hero, let me think.  JIMMER!!!  No one is expecting anything from this team.  Given the shortened season, this could be a team that starts off strong, winning a few games they shouldn’t, sneaks into the playoffs and maybe even competes. 

I think it goes without saying that Justin Timberlake will play the role of Jimmer Fredette and do a so/so job with the part.

OVERRATED – Los Angeles Lakers

No depth, no Phil Jackson, and if they go after Dwight Howard they will be left with only three stars (Bryant, Gasol, Howard) and no bench.  Until this proves to be a winning formula, it is not.   

UNDERRATED – Indiana Pacers

It has taken years for Larry Bird and co. to get it right, but it FINALLY looks like they are on their way.  They boast great depth (up to ten players on current roster saw meaningful playing time last year), manageable salary, lack of egos, and for the first time in a while: a long-term plan that is being executed properly.

OVERRATED – Los Angeles Clippers

A strong nucleus of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Eric Gordon gives SoCal fans a reason for optimism.  This doesn’t change the fact that this is Donald Sterling’s Clippers.

UNDERRATED – Houston Rockets

Annual underdogs, the Rockets are moving on in a post Yao Ming world with, like the Pacers, a team of non egos (will give Kevin Martin a pass today) that may surprise unprepared teams in a shortened season.  Now if only the PR and Marketing would change their expansion team-like uniforms.  This alone could add three more wins to the Rockets season.

This article was written by David S. Grant. For more please follow him on twitter @David_S_Grant

David S. Grant

With a new Collective Bargaining Agreement comes another ‘get out of jail free’ card for the owners called amnesty.  Over the next two years teams will have the option to payoff one player (currently under contract) and not have his salary count against the cap.  If this sounds familiar it is because this was done after the last agreement (that time it did count against the cap); instead of calling it the amnesty rule it was referred to as the Allan Houston rule.  Apparently the teams voted against referring to the new rule as the Charlie Villanueva rule.  The debates have already started, but (in my humble opinion) here are five slam dunks for teams to remove payroll.

5. AL HARRINGTON (Denver Nuggets) Okay, it’s not so much that Al’s salary is unbearable for Denver, but because three of their players are stuck in China and many are free agents are set to leave maybe this is a sign.  A sign to start fresh, with no players, build from scratch; I’ve got $100 dollars someone will turn it into a movie.  Jason Alexander is already calling his agent to play George Karl.

4. JOSH CHILDRESS (Phoenix Suns) You have to ask yourself: Do you want to pay Josh 26 million dollars over four years to do nothing, or just pay him and get nothing?  It’s a tad philosophical, but an easy answer.

3. DE SAGANA DIOP (Charlotte Bobcats) Diop is owed 14 million dollars over 2 years.  One more time: Diop is owed 14 million over 2 years.  Oh yeah, I’m sure the owners learned their lesson THIS time.  If you listen closely you can actually hear Mark Cuban negotiating a three year, 50 million dollar with Shane Battier.

2.  BARON DAVIS (Cleveland Cavaliers) Do you really think Davis has what it takes to mentor the youth on this team?  I only agree if we are defining mentor to mean how to grow a full beard.

1.  RICHARD JEFFERSON (San Antonio Spurs) I’m just assuming the Spurs will use the amnesty rule on Jefferson given their love/hate, Sam and Diane type of relationship they’ve had the past few years.

This article was submitted and written by David S. Grant. Please follow him on twitter @David_S_Grant

It started with the tumultuous negotiations in the NFL. The players union disbanding and suing the league and the owners for anti-trust violations.

Many day’s and hours of ‘fat cats’ sitting in a room negotiating over the revenue we as fans generate. Finally in the last hours and day’s they came to an agreement so we could have a season.

During this time the NBA was preparing for their off season CBA negotiations. Did the NBA learn anything from the NFL negotiation fiasco? Nope!

The NBA took over where the NFL left off in the court of sports fans distaste for the owners and players public negotiations.

Between David Stern’s ugly mug constantly making demands on TV and the players whining on twitter constantly there was a permanent vile taste in every sports fan across America.

We were sick of all the ‘dirty laundry’ being aired in an attempt to win public support. Both sides were trying to take advantage of the average sports fans empathy and sympathy.

It was pathetic!

But in all the mess was a gem not talked about very much. The MLB in its infinite wisdom set aside owners meeting and decided to get behind closed doors with the players union and get a deal done out of the public spotlight.

Are you kidding me? You mean we don’t get to hear who hates what about the MLB deal? Hallelujah!

The NFL and NBA need to take serious notes from the MLB when it comes down to negotiating a new CBA deal. The average sports fan does not care about the personal spats and why each side hates each other.

All we care about is that our favorite athletes are not being taken advantage of and that our future retired sports heroes are taken care of.

As a sports fan I have a new-found respect and admiration for the MLB and the MLBPA  executives.

BRAVO!

He issued a deadline and ultimatum which the players and their union representatives refused and called the leagues bluff. Now the players are in the process of desertification and filing an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA.

This is nothing new for sports fans. As fans of professional sports in the USA we are aware that about every 10 years a sports Collective Bargaining Agreement expires and needs to be renegotiated.

What was not clear to us was the severe lack of negotiating prowess the NFL and NBA commissioners have shown in their respective work stoppages.

It seems like David Stern has tried to pull a page out of the NFL negotiation tactic handbook and has decided to play hardball and call the players out.

What the commissioner has failed to realize is that the NBA players have more options and leagues to play in than the NFL players do and these tactics won’t work. With the foreign leagues available to the NBA players the ‘rank and file’ players have work available to them during the stoppage to help support them.

Do the foreign leagues have enough support to cover the league? Of course not. But it does give the players who do not have the huge contracts a place to go and continue to work until the CBA is worked out. Something the NFL players do not have the luxury to do during their lockouts.

There seems to be a common misunderstanding between the NFL and the NBA when it comes to their negotiation tactics. They both need to take lessons from the MLB when it comes to negotiating long-term CBA agreements.

The NFL and now the NBA fail to realize that the players are the product that bring the revenue to the league. Without the product the fans want the league will fail. Playing hardball with the fans hero’s does not secure the revenue these teams are fighting for in the future. It tends to secure the opposite for the next few seasons.

Does that mean the players should not be reasonable? No! The fans are also tired of these players trying to get more ‘short-term’ money in their contracts.

As fans we have no problem for the players trying to better the CBA for the future players and the veterans retiring. But going for more short term secure money tends to show the greed of the players and turns fans off.

From what has occurred so far in these negotiations I would have to say that most NBA fans are on the player’s side in this one. The owners seem to show a lack of union ans perspective when it comes down to the ‘nitty gritty’ issues being negotiated.

A few of the owners have personal vendettas against a few of the high-profile players that were free agents last year and are effecting the votes.

David Stern please wake up and smell the coffee! The players are your product for the league and its future.