Elvis Dumervil Loses Out

After a rather strange scenario, Elvis Dumervil was cut by the Denver Broncos. Dumervil was set to make $12 million for the 2013 season. After the Broncos negotiated with Dumervil, they decided that his base salary for the 2013 season would be cut to $8 million in an effort to save the team cap room.

Both sides agreed to the new contract and all that was left was the finalization. This is when things got weird.

In order for the new contract to be valid, Dumervil a his agent had to submit the paperwork by Friday at 4 PM eastern time. If the paperwork was not submitted in time, the original contact would be valid. After some confusion, Dumervil was scrambling to get the contract in on time. Reportedly Dumervil was in Miami searching for a Kinko's to fax the contract.  

The contract did not get in on time by the deadline and the Broncos were forced to cut Dumervil. If the Broncos had not cut Dumervil, they would have been forced to pay him the original $12 million base salary that would have hit the Broncos salary cap for $13.6 million.

As a result of the mixup, Dumervil fired his agent, Marty Magid. Marty made it clear that not everyone knew of all the details that went into the contract negotiation. He said about his firing, "I know the people in Denver think I should be fired, but like I said, there were a lot of reasons for why it happened." After the incident, Marty recieved hundreds of angry emails from Denver Broncos fans wondering what happened. 

Final Thought

I dont care what other reasons there were to not having the contract sent it on time. This is terrible. An agent is responsible for making sure his client gets the most value he can. The Broncos offered Dumervil fair compensation and everyone seemed to agree. Marty failed as an agent in this situation because something as serious as a new contract should be taken care of before the last minute deadline. Marty needed to make sure the contract got signed and faxed in. This potential financial loss for Dumervil is enough reason for Dumervil to fire his agent. 

@dmrosen7

NFL's Exciting Weekend

For NFL fans around the country this weekend was filled with extremely exciting playoff football. Anyone who is not a fan of the Broncos, Texans, Seahawks or Packers probably enjoyed watching the exciting games. Did the excitement lead to high TV ratings? Lets take a look.

Denver vs. Baltimore
This may have been the most exciting of the four games (it's difficult to decide). John Fox will be criticized for taking a knee with 30 seconds still left in the game, Manning will be criticized for throwing an ill-advisied pass that was picked off, Holliday will be remembered for memorable kick returns. To some the most memorable storyline of the double overtime game will be the continuance of Ray Lewis' career. Although Baltimore and Denver aren't known as monster TV markets, this great game sure got the viewers tuned in. The games TV rating was 20.1% of US households. This is up 9% from last year's Saturday AFC divisional game and is the highest rating for the Saturday AFC divisional game in 19 years. The game averaged 35.3 million viewers.

Green Bay vs. San Francisco
This game was not nearly as dramatic as the earlier Saturday game. A lot of scoring was featured and the country got to witness 49er's quarterback Colin Kaepernick play a truly unbelievable game. The TV ratings were mixed for this game. Fox's overnight rating was 18.7% of US households, which was the highest Fox rating for a Saturday prime time game since 1994, but the ratings were down 9% from last years comparable coverage of New England vs. Denver.

Atlanta vs. Seattle
This was my personal favorite game of the weekend. The Sunday earlier game provided the viewer with a true range of emotions. We watched Atlanta blow a 20 point lead with 30 seconds to go. Atlanta then marched down the field to hit a game winning 49 yard field goal. It was the first playoff victory for Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez. Seattle's Russell Wilson put on a great performance that nearly lead the Seahawks to a remarkable comeback win. The TV ratings for this game were very good. The 21.3% of US households rating was up 3% from the comparable coverage of Baltimore vs. Houston last year.

New England vs. Houston
Although Houston tried to make a comeback late, New England looked really good in this game. The Patriots offense looked great as usual even after losing 'Gronk' early on. This game did produce a solid TV rating of 23.8% of US households, but this rating was down considerably from last year. The Giants vs. Packers played in the Sunday primetime slot last year and that game had a 13% higher rating.

Final Thought
When looking at the TV ratings, it is important to remember that the US population is growing every year so it is natural for more viewers to be tuning in. I personally watched all of the games and enjoyed them greatly. I think it is important to remember that as great as the NFL is, it is far from flawless. It is the sport that ends athletes career's too soon, it destroys players lives post-football, and often takes the lives of people earlier than expected. It is a vicious sport that will never truly change unless the viewers stop tuning in (not going to happen) or a player actually dies while playing (probably still wouldn't change the sport). I am the first to admit that I am part of the problem, I watch the games knowing how much harm it is going to cause players. How many lives it will destroy. How many families will be devastated. I don't know if I will ever be able to stop watching the NFL even though I know the harm it causes. I certainly do not expect the American public to stop watching the NFL anytime soon.

@dmrosen7






Statistics via usatoday.com

ESPN Training Camp Coverage

Alarm goes off.

Turn on coffee.

Hop in shower.

Pour cup of coffee and big bowl of cereal.

Sit on couch in boxers and business socks to drink coffee, eat cereal, and watch SportsCenter.

Now you’re stuck in your boxers and business socks watching SportsCenter show Tim Tebow run across the field shirtless followed by a small video montage about how jacked Tim Tebow is and now you feel a bit awkward because you’re still only wearing boxers and business socks.

How many times have you woken up to this?

For the past week now, this has been the morning routine for men that wake up and try to catch some highlights from the previous night before they head off to work.  Instead they tune in to find live coverage of NFL Training Camps.  Alright, that’s not too bad. 

What’s bad is that ESPN has decided to cover the training camps of the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos to a nauseating extent.  Does it take Neil Everett and Tom Jackson multiple days to knock home the message that it’s weird to see Peyton Manning in a Broncos uniform?  I don’t think so.  Does it take Hannah Storm or Sal Paolantonio and Keyshawn Johnson multiple days to place thoughts in our minds of a nonexistent quarterback controversy between Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow?  I don’t think so. 

I've lost track of how many days they've been live from Cortland, NY.

It seems that New York Giants owner John Marra tends to agree as well.  After the brash Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took an unprovoked cheap shot at John Marra and the Giants, Marra was asked about it on Mike Lupica’s show on ESPN Radio.  Marra responded, “I have been so caught up in the (Tim) Tebow coverage that I haven't had time for anything else.”  Clearly, people are taking notice.

Then again, we all did see this coming.  Plus what else would they show?  Breakdown MLB trade deadline trades?  Show extensive highlights of the London 2012 Olympics (you know because the Olympics aren’t an every year occurrence)?  No, let’s “report” on two NFL training camps.  If there was a more balanced approach to covering NFL training camps, then there wouldn’t be so much backlash.

ESPN would argue that they are just trying to give the people what they want, but how many people really want this type of coverage?  Maybe I find myself in a circle of avid sports fans where the criticisms against ESPN are abundant.  I wonder though, is this really what the casual fan wants?  Tebow shirtless.  Erroneous “stories” of quarterback controversy.  Minute by minute updates on Peyton Manning’s surgically fused neck.  Maybe I’m naïve, but I don’t believe it. 

We need a new story.

My harsh criticisms of ESPN could hinge on one important distinction: is ESPN’s SportsCenter sports news or sports entertainment?  ESPN constantly defend their journalistic integrity which would indicate that they believe they fall under the news category.  However, their television coverage is much more entertainment.  Admitting this fact is something that will never be done by ESPN, it just won’t happen.  Would the avid sports fan (that ESPN was built off of, mind you) stop watching if ESPN admitted this fact?  Probably not.  But would the avid sports fan be able to watch more comfortably knowing that they aren’t being lied to?  I speak for myself in saying that I would. 

If there is a time for a network to break into the sports television industry with an unbiased sports news show, then the time is now.  Criticism against ESPN has never been higher.  NBC Sports Network has some big kinks to work out.  Fox Sports Network looks to break into the landscape.  Network suits are hearing the cries of the avid sports fan and they are responding.  The avid sports fans want more news, and ESPN just isn’t giving the news.

For weekly updates on SportsCenter’s coverage take a look at Deadspin’s Bristolmetrics page.