I did. You informed of that here. I wish he would write something here. How does that excuse an opinion column that brings up precious few supporting facts, no quotes, and explores like one half of one side of the issue? "What will Dunte do" is a great topic for an opinion column; why on earth didn't Jerome do something with it beyond this piece of crap? It's a glorified blog. It sucked. I didn't ask for that. Just decent writing.
this is sooooooooooo stupid, how much fact do you need. its just a column on whether dunta will stay or not. what facts do you want, the season is still going. there are facts, he's not locked up, he'll be in demand, he plays for a loser, what else do you need.
Whoops--that could be misinterpreted; contextual clarification is needed (I would never make it in journalism!). "Did you know he wrote for the Boston Globe?" "I did. You informed me of that here on this BBS. I wish he would write something here in Houston."
More than what a fan on a radio talk show (or a lazy journalist) could provide. How very stupid of me--to expect more informed opinions from more informed people.
informed on what? you're still not answering the question. do you want teams he's talked to. do you want dunta to come and say this team sucks, I won't be here. give me an example of what you think is missing?
lastly, i think you really missed the point of the column, you go out and lock up guys like carr who haven't proven anything, and you take the risk on a guy who immediately came in as one of your best players. this piece is a criticism of the organization more than anything. edit: actually if i were to take beef with this column, that's what i would attack because I don't think its a fair comparison. but that's the point
--Direct quotes (not saying he wants to leave; of course that won't happen). --Lose the stupid silly stuff ("Is Kubiak grounded" -- wtf???) and instead explore more deeply some of the intriguing angles he just glosses over: --Teams who could win: discuss which teams that could win will need secondary help (perhaps pick up the stinkin' phone and maybe make a couple calls to other journalists as to what their teams' needs seem to be? Nah, too much work) --What teams have re-upped guys more than a year before FA? How did it work for them? Any of us could have made this generalization. Judging from what you say about his experience, Solomon has a wealth of facts and experience available to him, yet he doesn't avail that to us. Just sweeping generalizations and cute little smartass quips. Like any of us (who aren't paid to "fill columns") could do. --"When Robinson sits down to do a pros-and-cons list on whether he should stay, the pros might fit on the inside of a matchbook cover, while the cons could roll off like a scroll of the Harris County Jail roster." Awwwww, that's so snappy! How about listing them instead? This guy has had countless conversations with great athletes, and he (presumably) knows how they think. He could share that with us, but instead chooses a little smart-ass one-liner. Water cooler material. Drivel. I could go on. The subject matter had a lot of potential. He delivered nothing. A garbage "colunmn". Again.
^^^^^ like i said, you missed the point, he never said dunta is leaving, he's saying the organization has taken the risk of him leaving. you're missing the forest for the trees
That's really the point? Where did he say that?? Where??? Seriously--that would be another good angle to explore. If that were really his point (did you ask him yourself?) he did a very, very poor job getting it across. No, I'm not missing the forest for the trees; but perhaps I'm not accurately communicating my frustration with this drivel. I don't necessarily disagree with the column's premise, pgabriel. (After all, even fans at the water cooler are right sometimes!) I just hate that all he delivers is sassy rhetoric and generalizations, when--if what you say about him is true--he has so very much more to offer. I mean look at the list I gave: none of them is "prove Dunte wants to leave" or "don't say Dunte wants to leave". I'm just asking for a little more effort. It's disgusting and embarrassing. Honestly, (and I hate to call out and pick on other BBS'ers I've never met, but here goes: ) honestly, I think Ric could have written this column better. Far better. Max and emjohn, too. And that's what's sad. Some fan on a BBS with precious little access and experience compared to Solomon could have written that column far better.
look obviously i'm not going to change your mind but he says very clearly right here The post-injury Robinson might never be worth what the Texans should have given him before he was hurt, but knowing his diagnosis, and his heart, they should have tried to work up an incentive-laden deal this past offseason. What is he worth now?
That very clearly mentions nothing about the irony of having locked up guys like Carr and not taking the risk on Dunte. It only speaks of Dunte's potential worth. Like I said, it would have been a great angle to explore--and you, a guy with (presumably) far less availability to these guys and far less experience, have done a better job exploring--even in two sentences--than Solomon did. That is my point. You've got the issue cornered better than he does. Yet, he's getting paid for it. Sad. Just freakin' sad.
I agree with msn on at least one point.. if the guy knows Dunta as well as you say, he really should let us know. Whether he does it via quotes, via a story, or just straight mentioning in some direct form "this is based on my interactions with Dunta from week to week". Without SOME source, it's random conjecture.. If he does have some sort of inside knowledge at all (which you indicate he does)...we don't realize it, so it comes off as baseless info. Maybe it didn't come off that way to you because you already knew his background? But I don't know a thing about the guy..
All I know is that if they locked him up before the injury, and Dunta is never the same, the same exact column would show up saying how the Texans were stupid and behaving like their own ways. It's just a reactionary column to get page hits, nothing more.
EDIT: slowmustang, I agree. I also have a couple of things to ask of Mr. Jerome: Bad analogy. I would NOT expect GOODY-TWO-SHOES to fill ANY jail roster... why use this as an analogy? Tsk... tsk... [shaking head]... Is Jerome saying (or saying that the Texans are saying) "Thanks, Dunta, for getting hurt" ?? That's malicious. So, eh... is he saying Dunta did something wrong, like the teenager did? I don't know to whom he's referring here. Why stir up the pot...? Why bring this up while the season is in its apogee? With four games remaining, I'd expect a different kind of talk: "Robinson is doing well for a come back..." or "Robinson isn't doing well for a come back" and support his ideas. I seriously cannot take this guy's column seriously. Dunta is a much needed player/person/teammate/playmaker on the Texans' team to be writing him off because of "injury." C'mon, Mr. Jerome. Are you sure he's gone? I don't think so.
solomon has established himself as the paper's best columnist: he's fair, insightful and far less prone to knee-jerk courting of the knee-jerks. i thought the column was an interesting, early take on what will likely be a huge story for the franchise this offseason. and i thought it did invoke some insider knowledge, namely dunta's love of the city and how that might crash up against his (likely) wanting to play for a winner - i think it's going to be a VERY interesting situation for team and player. PS - i hope the texans don't franchise dunta (btw - yes, duntA, msn). he's not an elite CB and you kill yourself paying franchise money to good-not-great players like him; even very good players. i like him; i'd love it if they could work out a fair extension. but he doesn't deserve top 5 CB money.
even when healthy? Regardless, when we can't attract FA's to come here...we have to overpay sometimes for talent.. this would be doing that even if he's not deserving of top 5 money.
even when healthy. he doesn't a shut a side of the field down like the great ones do. i think he's a very good player and he might be even better with a pass rush and better safeties. but i'm not sure i want to pay him $10M a year to find out. well, outbid... but i don't think there's any evidence to suggest we can't attract FAs. i just don't think this current regime looks at FA as anything other than a stop-gap and opportunity to add depth.
Well, looking it at objectively, it's hard to imagine people would be knocking down Houston's door. In any sport, it's harder to attract guys to the perenially bad teams... I realize we have talent/potential/good owner/etc, but a lot of times it'll come down to winning/reputation, and we just don't have it. Aside from Jamie Sharper...I can't think of a time any top player on the FA market has even seriously considered us, though I could easily be forgetting some I'm sure. I'm sure some of that is that our mgmt said they wouldn't pay or said they weren't interested.. but still, I gotta think it's the culture somewhat. And then even if it is the regime.. then I really hope they overpay Dunta rather than sit through draft after draft of hoping CB's will pan out while our secondary gets raped by Peyton year after year.
