Weekly View » NFL http://weeklyview.net Serving your community from Downtown East to Greenfield, North to Lawrence & Geist, and South to Beech Grove, New Pal & Southport Thu, 23 Apr 2026 05:11:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year http://weeklyview.net/2013/08/08/its-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/ http://weeklyview.net/2013/08/08/its-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/#comments Thu, 08 Aug 2013 05:08:11 +0000 Steve Nicewanger http://weeklyview.net/?p=2431 Continue reading →]]> For most American households, it is the best of times….. and the worst of times. It’s the time when husbands are glued to the TV sets the whole weekend and wives are screaming about  chores to be done and activities not done. Yes folks FOOTBALL 2013 has arrived all across this great nation of ours on the practice fields of grade schools, high schools, colleges, and universities alike. Even in vacant lots, grassy knolls, overgrown pastures, and streets and alleys, grown men and young boys are throwing, catching, and running with an oblong ball. They are running into each other at top speed and with great force, spraining and tearing muscles and cartilage, breaking bones, and causing concussions. Football has become America’s most popular sports activity and best loved diversion.
Last Sunday the Dallas Cowboys met the Miami Dolphins in the Hall of Fame Game to open the 2013-14 football season. Sure it’s the preseason and the game means little more than a chance for wannabes, could bes, coulda beens, and never weres  to show their stuff and possibly make the roster of an NFL team. For some it’s their first shot; for others it’s their last chance. Most of the players who got on the field Sunday, will not be on either the Cowboys or Dolphins roster when the regular season opens a month from now. The game was played in the NFL’s Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
In August of 1920, a group of independent football team owners, met in a Canton Ohio Hupmobile dealership owned by Ralph Hayes, who also owned the Canton Bulldog’s Football Club, to discuss forming a new professional football league. Among those present were Jim Thorpe the player/coach of the Canton Bulldogs, Leo Lyons the player/coach/owner of the Rochester Jeffersons, George Halas coach/owner of the Decatur Staleys, Chris O’Brien a painting and decorating contractor who owned the Racine Cardinals, along with representatives of several other teams. There had been professional leagues, associations, conferences, and federations but these men were determined to create a strong and lasting league identity that would draw media attention and fan support, and of course make money. Most football fans of that era followed college football and many sportswriters of the time, considered professional football to be an “unclean’ and even “dishonest” activity and at best, secondary to college football. The owners forged an agreement and first called the new association the American Professional Football Conference with nine teams. Several teams declined to join the group. A month later, two more teams were added, bringing the total to eleven and the group name was changed to the American Professional Football Association. Jim Thorpe was elected president of the APFA, even though he was still an active member of the Canton Bulldogs. The Association would formally become the National Football League in June of 1922.
So with pro training camps and preseason games, college and high school practices going strong  the regular football season will start in about a month. The NCAA football season opens Thursday Aug. 27 including Indiana State at Indiana. The NFL season opens about a month from now on Sunday Sept. 8. Oh, by the way, the Indianapolis Colts open their preseason schedule against the Buffalo Bills at Lucas Oil Stadium this coming Sunday, Aug. 11 at 1:30 p.m.
snicewanger@yahoo.com

]]> http://weeklyview.net/2013/08/08/its-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/feed/ 0 A Wrap Up for the 2012 NFL Season http://weeklyview.net/2013/01/31/a-wrap-up-for-the-2012-nfl-season/ http://weeklyview.net/2013/01/31/a-wrap-up-for-the-2012-nfl-season/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:04:50 +0000 Steve Nicewanger http://weeklyview.net/?p=539 Continue reading →]]> It’s Super Bowl week for the NFL and things in New Orleans are hopping. It’s the first Super Bowl in the Big Easy since Katrina and the city is really putting its best foot forward. It seems hard to believe that it was a year ago that Indianapolis was the center of the sporting world’s attention and we were having the time of our lives, but time marches on. The Harbaugh brothers are the center of media attention — so much so that the players are almost an afterthought. Of course, it’s usually the quarterbacks everyone talks about, but in this case both the Ravens and the 49ers are driven by the personalities of their respective head coaches….who just happen to be brothers. That says a lot for their father Jack Harbaugh, who was a college football coach for 42 years. The Indiana “connection” has been explored with Jim’s successful time as a Colts quarterback from 1994 to 1997 and the fact that Indiana University Head Basketball Coach Tom Crean is married to Joani, the sister of the Harbaugh brothers. Anyway, the Big Dance is this Sunday.

Colts News

Colts first year General Manager Ryan Grigson has been named NFL Executive of the Year, presented by Sporting News Magazine and voted on by NFL coaches and executives. It’s hard to argue with the choice. Grigson pretty much had to rebuild the whole team, including the front office, coaching staff, and player roster. Then during the season he had to face the challenge of keeping the team focused and competitive while Coach Chuck Pagano had to take a leave of absence while being treated for leukemia. His naming of Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians the Interim Head Coach paid off with a run for the playoffs. He took a team that had a 2-12 record, which was good for a last place finish, and turned it into an 11-5 contender. His drafting of Andrew Luck has given us our franchise quarterback for the next decade at the very least. He also uncovered several other rookie gems including tight ends Dwayne Allen and Colby Fleenor, running back Vic Ballard, and wideout/kick returner T.Y. Hylton. He was willing to use free agency and trades to improve the roster by bringing in linebacker Josh Freeman and corner backs Vontae Davis and Cassius Vaughn, defense end Cory Redding, and wideout Donnie Avery. Outstanding work by Ryan Grigson.
Bruce Arians has left the Colts to become Head Coach of the Arizona Cardinals, one of the most difficult jobs in the NFL. He took former Colts offensive line Coach Harold Goodwin with him, and also added former Colt Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore to the staff. Moore is 74 years old but was instrumental in developing Peyton Manning. The Cards have a crying need for a quarterback and will most likely take one with their first round pick. Best of luck to all of them.

The NFL Pro Bowl . . .Ho Hum

The NFL Pro Bowl was “played’ last Sunday in Honolulu, Hawaii. The NFC All Stars beat the AFC All Stars 62-35. Sounds like an area football league score, doesn’t it? The Colts Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes for the losing side. The players and coaches from both teams defended the play and the relevance of the game, but then they are getting what amounts to a free paid vacation in Hawaii for themselves and their families. The Pro Bowl game will go.

Pro Football will Become Extinct

Baltimore Raven defensive back Bernard Pollard claims that professional football will disappear in 30 years because players are becoming much too big, strong, and fast and that it’s only a matter of time before a player is killed during a game. The fact that many former players are coming forward with major physical disabilities related to their playing pro football gives his claim some credibility. The President has expressed concern about the level of violence and the harm that it does to the body. We will probably hear a lot more about this issue as time goes on. Bernard Pollard may just be correct in his prediction.

]]> http://weeklyview.net/2013/01/31/a-wrap-up-for-the-2012-nfl-season/feed/ 0