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What’s wrong with Matt Forte?

griffn — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:53:07 +0000

A buddy of mine e-mailed me earlier this week to ask if he should drop Matt Forte in his fantasy football league in order to pick up Rashard Mendenhall, and his reasoning was surprisingly sound: Mendenhall and Forte were both drafted in 2008, Mendenhall went in the first round, Forte went in the second, therefore there’s no reason to believe that Mendenhall isn’t actually the better running back. Hard to argue with that.

First things first though, unless you’re playing in a four-team league, there’s no reason why Mendenhall should still be on your waiver wire. He’s the Steelers unquestioned #1 running back, his 5.4 yard per carry average is third among the NFL’s 15 leading rushers. and he’s got 430 all-purpose yards and 4 TDs since taking over four games ago. If you project his rushing numbers out over the first three games that he basically didn’t play in, he’d be third in the league in rushing, 25 yards behind Adrian Peterson. In other words, yeah, pick him up off the wire.

But the notion that you would put Matt Forte– a guy who I had ranked as the #2 running back in fantasy football at the beginning of the season and called “the safest bet of any running back this year”– on the waiver wire is a different story. I realize the situation is desperate for Forte owners. He’s only scored 1 TD in the first seven games. He’s currently 25th in the NFL in rushing yards and 30th in fantasy points, just above Tashard Choice (who has started only one game this year). So how does a guy who put up 1,700 yards and 12 TDs as a rookie take such a huge step backwards in his sophomore year? What’s wrong with Matt Forte?

Brad Evans at Yahoo! wrote a column this week that gave the most comprehensive answer I’ve seen to the Forte question, and it basically comes down to three factors:

1) Chicago’s despicable offensive line. Sans the Detroit game, the trench hogs up front have emitted a rancid odor. The left side of the line anchored by Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyale has routinely been manhandled. The downtrodden tandem has failed to create consistent push. …

2) Decrease in workload. Throughout the offseason and into training camp the Bears’ coaching staff expressed their desire to trim down Forte’s burdensome workload to ensure longevity. Last season, he griped the rock 23.7 times per game. This season that average has decreased to 19.0. Even if his yards per touch elevated up to ‘08’s level (’08: 4.5, ‘09: 4.1), he would still finish nearly 350 total yards shy of last year’s mark.

3) Play-calling. The opposite of what most pundits argued preseason, Cutler has actually been more of a hindrance than help for the running game. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner has leaned on the arm of his prized quarterback, calling 6.5 percent more pass plays than with Kyle Orton a season ago. More worrisome for Forte owners, Cutler leads the league in pass attempts inside the 10 (21), which has led to a downturn in goal-line rushes for the marquee back.

Cutesy sums up Turner’s play-calling in the red zone. Instead of designing plays to utilize his back’s tacky hands, he’s installed riskier fades and corner routes. So far this season, Forte has netted just 7.3 percent of the team’s targets inside the 20, down from 16.9 percent a year ago. Overall, his role in the passing game is nearly identical to last year, but he’s being underused in critical situations. All four of his receiving TDs a year ago were scored inside the 10.

Notice that none of these issues has anything to do with Forte himself. He’s healthy, he’s running relatively well, and his per-touch averages in rushing and receiving are pretty much in line with what he did last year. That’s important, because it’s the difference between someone who has a chance to turn things around and someone like LaDainian Tomlinson or Brian Westbrook who is just physically losing the tools to repeat past performances.

The issues Forte is dealing with is that his offensive line has gotten worse, he’s getting fewer carries, and he’s become a distant second option in the red zone to the Bears shiny new toy (Cutler). Is there a chance that any of these factors could turn around? Yes. Orlando Pace isn’t getting any younger, so Forte will probably have to continue working around that offensive line. But the Bears coaching staff may very well respond to their two-game losing streak by giving Forte more carries, and they may respond to their 20th ranked scoring offense by getting Forte more involved in the red zone. The Bears’ overreliance on Jay Cutler and those CFL-caliber wide receivers isn’t working, so a midseason change back to last season’s game plan isn’t at all out of the question.

Keep in mind that the Bears schedule is on the tough side from here on out, but there’s no reason why Forte can’t return to last season’s form or very near to it, starting this Sunday against Cleveland’s 31st ranked rush defense. And last season’s form had him equal in fantasy points to Adrian Peterson. Also keep in mind that DeAngelo Williams had 4 TDs at this point last year, then beasted for 16 more in the last half of the season. Dramatic midseason turnarounds do happen in the NFL. In other words, no, don’t drop Matt Forte.

Avatar – New Extended Trailer Leaked

libchic24 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:29:09 +0000

Check this out; James Cameron’s Avatar has a new extended trailer. This is a leak and my sources say that Fox is going to take it down soon so check it out now at:

http://www18.zippyshare.com/v/67549361/file.html

The movie is set to be released on December 18, 2009 for the holiday blockbuster season.

The Roots Ain’t Torture

tigger500 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:45:29 +0000

So I’m at work, minding my own business, gettin my write on and I stumble across this post on ACLU’s Blog of Rights:

Today, a group of musicians, including REM, Pearl Jam and The Roots filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to find out whether their music was played at the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. The request for information stems from former Guantánamo detainees’ testimony and released government documents that document that music has been used as part of interrogations.

The Roots said in a statement, “When we found out that music was being used as part of the torture going on at Guantanamo, shackling and beating people — we were angry. Just as we wouldn’t be caught dead allowing Dick Cheney to use our music for his campaigns, you can be damn sure we wouldn’t allow him to use it to torture other human beings. Congress needs to shut Guantánamo down.”

Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, another of the artists who initiated the FOIA request, stated, “Guantánamo may be Dick Cheney’s idea of America, but it’s not mine. The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me – we need to end torture and close Guantánamo now.”

Documents that the ACLU has uncovered through our five-year-old FOIA request about the abuse and torture of detainees in U.S. custody detail how “torture music” was used.

Umm, say what?!?

I’m still unsure why torture is a controversial issue. You’d think this’d be the one thing we all could agree we should not be doing.

Sad.

No related posts.

Forbes NFL power rankings: Week 6

griffn — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:00:54 +0000

1. New York Giants (5-0, last week: #1)
The Giants defense didn’t just make Raiders QB Jamarcus Russell look like a bust, they made him look like he had never played football before in his life. They sacked him six times and forced fumbles on three of them.

2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0, last week: #3)
The Colts effectively ended the Titans season Sunday night by pushing them to 0-5 and taking a 5-game lead over them in the division. What was incredible though was the degree to which the Titans could do nothing about it. And the thought just occurred to me that we could be headed for an all-Manning Super Bowl. Oh, God.

3. New Orleans Saints (4-0, last week: #5)
The Kardashian sisters are like catnip to young black sports stars. Khloe got the NBA covered, Kim is handling the NFL, and Kourtney was probably on her way to dominating Major League Baseball before she dropped the ball and got knocked up by a douchebag. That’s all the Saints analysis I got this week.

4. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1, last week: #6)
The Eagles have crushed three bad teams and been crushed by a good one, so it’s hard to tell exactly how good they are. And we won’t learn anything about them next week in Oakland. Also, they’re doing Michael Vick an enormous service, but they have absolutely no need for him. There are at least five teams (Buffalo, Carolina, Oakland, Cleveland, St. Louis– maybe Tampa Bay too) with hopeless quarterback situations who I bet would give up a second round pick for him right now.

5. Denver Broncos (5-0, last week: #10)
I can’t tell you how annoyed I am to have to rank the Broncos in the top 5, but they’ve given me no other choice. They held the Patriots offense scoreless in the second half, and Kyle Orton has a 97.4 QB rating this season. This week, Peter King repeatedly compared Orton to a young Tom Brady. I don’t know if I want to live in a world where Kyle Orton is considered an elite NFL quarterback.

6. New England Patriots (3-2, last week: #2)
I can’t keep ranking the Patriots based on what I think their underachieving offense is capable of. Brady is just straight up consistently missing throws now. He badly overthrew a wide open Moss on a deep corner route to the end zone, he hit Wes Welker in the foot on what would have been an 80-yard catch-and-run slant pattern, and he’s thrown just 6 TDs in 5 games. Until that situation is rectified, the Pats won’t be seeing the top 5.

7. Minnesota Vikings (5-0, last week: #7)
The reason I have the undefeated Vikings ranked below a 3-2 team is because I know nothing about them. They’ve beaten the Browns, Lions, 49ers, Packers, and Rams. So what? The next two weeks against the Ravens and Steelers should tell us exactly how good they are.

8. Baltimore Ravens (3-2, last week: #4)
The Ravens have lost two straight games in the final minute. But on the plus side, it appears as though John Harbaugh has finally realized that Ray Rice is by far their best running back and that Willis McGahee is a vulturous vulture who should stay on the bench and stop vulturing touchdowns from my fantasy team. The next part of their schedule is brutal though: Vikings, bye week, Broncos, Bengals, Browns, Colts, Steelers. That’s five top-ten caliber teams in less than two months.

9. Atlanta Falcons (3-1, last week: On the bubble)
The Falcons absolutely destroyed, demoralized, and delegitimized a 49ers team that last week looked like the new class of the NFC West. I’ve made it no secret how much I like Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Michael Turner, and that young Falcons offense. They finally lived up to my hype by posting 45 points on a defense that was giving up just 13 points a game.

10. Cincinnati Bengals (4-1, last week: unranked)
For the second straight week, a team forces me to leapfrog them over the On the Bubble teams directly into the top ten. Not only are the Bengals leading the AFC North over the Ravens and Steelers, but they’ve already beaten both of them. The one red flag is that they’ve won three of their games by 3 points, and their combined margin of victory in four wins this season is 16 points. So basically they’re about two touchdowns away from being 0-5. But, hey, that’s the NFL. The Bengals deserve this spot for now.

On the bubble: Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2, last week: #8), New York Jets (3-2, last week: #9), Green Bay Packers (2-2), Dallas Cowboys (3-2), Chicago Bears (3-1)

Leave it to the Lamas’ … A Joke, Right?

libchic24 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:05:48 +0000

Once again the world of reality TV is bringing an embarrassingly almost famous dysfunctional family into the family rooms of a very desperate American public who apparently are thought to have no standards whatsoever. Although perhaps they are right; How many spin offs did Flavor of Love have? with more on the way I’m sure… And take the Kardashians, but I digress…

Anyone remember Lorenzo Lamas? Better question; does anyone want to? Well E! isn’t really giving us a choice. He and is sort-of family are the subject of the new reality show Leave It to Lamas’ . I say sort of family because the story focuses on his media whore daughter Shayne last seen as the unconvincing “winner” of The Bachelor 2008, her over plasticized mother, her brother AJ (who, by the way slept with his father’s wife playboy playmate Shauna Sands at the age of eighteen; so classy), and half sister Dakota.

I have no idea how Lorenzo actually fits into all of this besides being Shayne father. Lorenzo claims that the show will be completely unscripted and show their everyday lives. In an interview at the premiere Lorenzo commented “I think our family is pretty normal compared to everyone else out here…I mean, yeah, my parents are famous, and I’m in the business, but we’re really kind of a normal family.” Normal? Seriously? You have four ex wives including a nude model, an extinct acting career (compliments of your famous parents), a daughter that will do anything to be on TV (see British Bachelor Matt for details), and son who enjoys having sex with his stepmother. Sooo normal; I know I can totally relate and I’m sure you can too. The show debuted on E! Last night and it has not yet been assigned a regular showing.

Top 10 newspaper front pages from Obama’s Nobel Prize win

griffn — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:38:12 +0000

One of my favorite things to do after major world events is head to Newseum the next day to check out the newspaper reactions from around the world. Here are the ten best front pages from Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize win.

10. Kleine Zeitung (Graz, Austria)
Yeah, I just won a Nobel Prize, I bought this Flavor Flav sized peace medallion to celebrate, and my head is twice the size of my body, so what? Say something about it. You like the tie? Huh? With the stars and stripes? Say something, I dare you.

9. Super Express (New York, New York)
I have no idea what language this newspaper is in, but I’m pretty sure “Za Co?!” translates to “The F*ck?!” It’s also fun to guess what the story on the right is about.

8. The Ottawa Sun (Ottawa, Canada)
I can’t prove it, but I’m almost positive this front page is racist. “City wins in bus spat?” An obvious reference to how the Ottawa Sun wishes the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott had turned out. And Obama looks like winning the Nobel Prize is the funniest joke he’s ever heard. ‘CISM!!

7. Publico (Lisbon, Portugal)
Clearly, Obama’s only next logical step is to defeat Russia’s genetically-engineered boxing machine in a 15-round death match. Or, wait, that’s Rocky. I’m getting my 1980s Cold War propaganda mixed up.

6. Gulf News (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
The Middle East version of The Drudge Report.

5. Correio Brazilense (Brasilia, Brazil)
Either Tiger Woods also won a Nobel Prize or this newspaper needs to hire a new cartoonist.

4. Die Tageszeitung (Berlin, Germany)
How do you say “WTF” in German? Za Co?!

3. The Beaufort Gazette (Beaufort, South Carolina)
This front page tells you all you need to know about the local priorities in Beaufort, SC. Top story: Golfer in stable condition after gator attack. Oh, and the President won a Nobel Peace Prize.

2. The Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Check out the headline for the Nobel Prize story: “Some like it, some don’t.” I love how it gives you absolutely no information and could easily be applied to any other story in the newspaper. “Dodgers beat Cards– Some like it, some don’t.” “Police kill two brother outlaws– Some like it, some don’t.” I also love how they made it look like Obama is checking out Miss Indonesia.

1. The Dispatch (Casa Grande, Arizona)
This might be the most awesome front page ever. The President just won a Nobel Peace Prize. Marge Simpson just got the cover of Playboy. How can we link these two stories? I’d give anything to have been a fly on the wall of that editorial meeting.

Pittsburgh is the greatest sports city of all time! Of all time!

griffn — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:00:42 +0000

To the victors go the spoils:

Mayor Ravenstahl and Sporting News publisher Ed Baker pose with the new cover (photo by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

It took 16 years, but on-a-roll Pittsburgh has finally been named the No. 1 sports city by Sporting News magazine, beating out 398 other towns in the United States and Canada. The city was so anointed largely on the backs of the dual 2009 Steelers and Penguins championships. …

The magazine’s cover pairs Sidney Crosby and Ben Roethlisberger, and the 29-year-old mayor noted its resemblance to an iconic Sports Illustrated cover with Willie Stargell and Terry Bradshaw from 1979. …

Mr. Baker said the selection incorporates the number of teams in each city (which hurts Pittsburgh, due to the lack of pro basketball), team won-lost records (where the Pirates hurt the ranking), and a lot of things that go in the city’s favor, such as playoff records, attendance and fan ferocity.

“There’s some science, some math and some subjectivity attached to it,” Mr. Baker said.

The issue hits newsstands this week. It contains an eight-page spread on Pittsburgh sports, with stories on Western Pennsylvania quarterbacks, Pitt versus West Virginia, Steelers Super Bowl rings and tips from ex-Pirates on making the team a winner again.

The fact that Pittsburgh won this with no basketball team and with the Pirates being arguably the worst franchise in sports shows how absolutely rabid the city is for the Steelers. The Stanley Cup was just icing on the cake. Here’s the aforementioned Sports Illustrated cover from 1979– during that great City of Champions era when I was rocking diapers and Pirates onesies:

And here’s the Sporting News top ten list of the best sports cities:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Philadelphia
3. Boston
4. Chicago + Evanston
5. Los Angeles
6. New York
7. Phoenix + Tempe
8. Miami
9. Dallas-Fort Worth
10. Detroit + Ann Arbor + Ypsilanti

Not appearing in your picture: Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati.

Welcome

negrostotle — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:42:57 +0000

Welcome to Forbes Avenue.

Initially, I was going to use this space to talk about what this site is, and what we’re trying to do. But then, I realized that me trying to describe it to you wouldn’t do it justice. Put succinctly? It’s intelligent culture. And ‘culture’ is what its always been; whatever people say it is.

Music? yeah. Politics? check. Movies? that too. Technology? Health & Fitness? Sports? they’re here too. We’re here to talk about all of the things that make up who we are, that shape our ideals…that’s Forbes Avenue.

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