Tennessee Titans Morning Links: 71% Percent Likelihood... Yeah I Can Deal With That Edition

by August West on Nov 5, 2008 8:37 AM CST in Linkage Comment 14 comments

My new favorite NFL writer, Clark Judge, comes through with a truly awesome statistical find (a 10 gallon hat tip to TheBlindRef!!!):

And what I found was that, since the merger, there have been 14 clubs -- other than Tennessee, of course -- that won their first eight games. Of that 14, seven -- or exactly half -- won Super Bowls, while another three lost them.

There is nothing discouraging about those numbers. In fact, if you're a Titans fan it means you have a 71 percent chance of spending February in Tampa with your favorite pro football team, which means you can start booking flights to Super Bowl XLIII now.

The Titans are still on the perfect train to Perfectville, and it's because they continue to focus on just one thing: the opponent that is in front of them and not the past or the future.

Jim Wyatt comes through with 5 things we know about the Titans, including a forewarning about the dangers of kicking to Devin Hester... no matter how bad he's been this year.

The Colts signed defensive tackle Antonio 'Mookie' Johnson off of the Titans' practice squad. This is a great signing for Indy, because I was seriously surprised the coaching staff didn't keep the massive Mookie on the 53-man roster coming out of camp. He was, at best, only our best 4th DT though.

Crazy Legs is the subject of a great story from Steve Wyche at nfl.com.

Vote Crazy Legs rookie of the week and Chris Hope Defensive player of the week!!!

Paul Kuharsky breaks down the remaining opponents on the AFC South's schedule, and it looks like the Colts will get to face the march of the cupcakes.

Only the Titans and the Giants got an A+ in this Fox Sports midseason grade.

Mike Silver recasts some of the NFL's myths with special mention of our Titans.

This ran yesterday before the Presidential election... Titans talk taxes, and not the brass kind:

It is hardly surprising that many players cite taxes as a key issue. Tennessee Titans tight end Alge Crumpler, despite his wealth, isn't sold on the merits of tax credits that Bush instituted three years ago and McCain has pledged to continue.

"The overwhelming majority of the American people aren't doing as well as they were three years ago before those tax credits," said Crumpler, an Obama supporter. "I believe in a bottom-line philosophy."

Crumpler's teammate, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, has a different perspective. He says he views the decision selfishly, and that "A lot of guys should all be for McCain if they like their money.

"I only have a small window to make as much money as I possibly can and if we get somebody in office who's going to raise taxes 50%, that's going to hurt," Haynesworth said. "What am I supposed to live on when I'm 60, 70 years old?"

There's a whole lot of internet out there, so if you have a link you'd like to submit for tomorrow's Morning Links, email me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com! (Be sure to include your commenting handle so I can give you semi-anonymous credit.)

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Perfectville Pop. 1

Though, I don’t see why everyone is saying they don’t have a chance to go perfect.

The Dolphins were perfect in ’72 because they had an awesome defense and a 1-2 punch at RB that combined for more than 2,000 yards.

You know what the Patriots lacked? Defense and a running game.

I say good luck, but that is a tall order.

y not if im wrong who will remember

by qbinfin on Apr 27, 2008 3:27 PM PDT

by DolfinPhan on Nov 5, 2008 10:13 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I know, I keep wondering why more people don’t mention the similarities I see between this Titans team and the ’72 Dolphins:

Run game, defense, easy schedule.

by hartley on Nov 5, 2008 10:58 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

to answer haynesworth

you are supposed to live on the tens of millions of dollars that you will earn over your (relative to normal people) short career and whatever random income that you can generate from being an ex nfl-er.
go into broadcasting and earn 6-figures. if deion, michael irvin, emmitt smith, lou holtz, and others can do it, well, so can you.
which actually brings up a weird thing: as good as the cowboys triplets were as players, how bad are they as announcers? irvins an idiot, aikman is a robot, and emmitt is well…just read this link: http://www.walterfootball.com/emmitt.php

p.s. i hope haynesworth lives off the millions of dollars he will get from the titans this offseason.

by rolypoly32 on Nov 5, 2008 11:04 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

That misses the point.

He feels—correctly—that he has to make about 75% of his lifetime’s income in the first ten years or so of his professional life. Now remember, he pays taxes on the money as he earns it and not as he spends it. So if his marginal tax rate increases from 35% to 50% (his example), then that means that he is paying out HUGE in his best years, years that can never be replaced. I mean, 35% of $8M is a lot of money, but 50% of $8M is a lot more. This is a much different tax proposition than most people face, even people who make a legitimately large amount of scratch on a regular basis.

Now, it might be different if he could space it out over time, but the fact is that he can’t. He’s got to earn it in a lump and then do something with it so that it keeps earning and can put his kids and hopefully his grandkids through college. With a reasonable growth rate for the basic principle, the fact is that the difference in the starting point—some 15% of the total in this case—is gonna be a major factor in the overall balance down the road.

DannoE

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!

by DannoE on Nov 5, 2008 11:26 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

i get your point

but all i am saying is that it’s ridiculous when athletes complain about what they are going to live off of, or how can i feed my family (sprewell style) when they make ridiculous contracts. if haynesworth makes 30 mil over the course of his career (at least) and he is taxed half of that (the very most, lots of ways to get around that) he makes $15M in take home income. that equates to making 200K for 75 years. that doesn’t count nfl pension (which is awful but still), and any income he makes after retiring and and interest he can earn by saving. again my point is that i think he can live fairly comfortably, put his kids and his grandkids through school and still eat at monells every sunday for the rest of his life regardless of taxation.
quick caveat is that i get that 15% of whatever he makes is a ton of money, and i also think that whatever he earns is what hes worth. but its ridiculous to suggest that that increase will have a signficant impact on his livelihood. one less ferrari, oh well.
also if i were him, i would vote the same way if fiscal policy was what mattered to me, but i definitely wouldn’t say things like he said that seem like hes out of touch with us common folk.

by rolypoly32 on Nov 5, 2008 11:40 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

All of that stuff is fine, but the argument that he's out of touch, to me, has always been kind of a strange one.

I personally read what he said and thought, “Wow. I don’t know if I would have said that, but it’s smart of him to realize that it’s true.” And given the fact that he’s known as a smart guy and also becoming increasingly well-known as a guy who speaks his mind intelligently… I personally didn’t think it made him out-of-touch or in any way strange.

He is a wildly successful guy with a life and lifestyle that are totally different than mine. I mean, he doesn’t have to worry about money like I do, but then again, I have a pretty nice life, and I don’t have to work near the hours he works nor do I have to put up with the physical abuse inherent in his lifestyle. And no, I wouldn’t trade my spot for his if I had the chance. Truth: I don’t want to work those hours. Nor do I want my knees to give out on me at age 40.

DannoE

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!

by DannoE on Nov 5, 2008 12:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Kind of lost a little respect for Haynesworth's thinking there.

I understand he feels he has to make the bulk of his income now, and he’s correct if he doesn’t plan on investing that money, or doing anything productive after football.

But as the article points out, he’s thinking on the selfish side. Only concerned about himself. Plus he’s misguided and not informed if he thinks his marginal tax rate is going to 50. (which is what I’m assuming he means instead of what he actually said. Increasing his tax rate by 50 which is what he said would mean he was actually paying a marginal tax rate of 52.5%)

The plan that’s been talked about is from 35% to 39% on the highest bracket.

by Dittoz on Nov 5, 2008 1:16 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I think he was making a deliverate exaggeration, rather than actually quoting a specific percentage.

by hartley on Nov 5, 2008 1:34 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

RRRGH "deliberate."

EDIT. BUTTON.

by hartley on Nov 5, 2008 1:34 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for keeping it civil fellas...

I wouldn’t have even posted that excerpt if it weren’t for yesterday being such a big deal. I thought it was cool for them to talk frankly about an obvious issue for them and not sound like they’re campaigning for anyone or anything.

Michael Roos doesn't eat pitas because NOTHING BREAKS THE POCKET ON HIS WATCH!!!

by August West on Nov 5, 2008 1:20 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

It was cool.

I’m glad to know that they’re thinking about it and discussing the issues, even if I disagree with them.

It helps to dispell the ever-present football player=moron myth.

by hartley on Nov 5, 2008 1:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Haynesworth did slightly compaign for McCain yesterday though

He said, “If you want to keep your money you’ll vote for McCain.”

That cracked me up!

The PAIN TRAIN is comin baby!

by BigW on Nov 5, 2008 2:01 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

AARGH

That sucks that the Colts signed Mookie Johnson. I was just thinking about him yesterday and how he’s going to have to step up huge after Big Al gets paid elsewhere. So much for that!

If I hit a hole-in-one on this grand slam the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.

by jasonkylebates on Nov 5, 2008 4:40 PM CST reply actions 0 recs