Smallthoughts: Rants and Raves

Rants: Johnny Manziel …He is not all that’s wrong with the Cleveland Browns , but he is a big loud part of it. His coachmade it clear it is time for Johnny Football to grow up when he benched him and made him 3rd quarterback. “I’m especially disappointed in his actions and behavior because he has been working very hard,” Pettine said. “The improvements from last year to this year have been tremendous but he still has to consistently demonstrate that he has gained a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at the quarterback position on this level. It goes well beyond the field. We are going to continue to support him in every way possible, but at this point, we’ve decided it’s best to go with Josh as the starter going forward.”

One thing for sure is that Manziel has some serious growing to do and to address his drinking, his career is at the crossroads already and it is getting late early for the kid known as Johnny Football.

Rants:Kobe Bryant… Like Peyton Manning he is at the end of long great career, age and injuries have taken it’s toll on the Black Mamba and before it get to the point that it gets real ugly it’s time for Kobe to just really call it a career. The other night against Golden State was a I can’t look at this moment, like Ali vs Holmes it was yes that bad.

Rants:Jason Kidd … the Milwaukee Bucks coach  was not happy with referee Zach Zarba near the end of the Bucks game against Sacramento on Tuesday and took his frustrations out by slapping the ball out of Zarba’s hands during a timeout.

 Kidd was promptly ejected from the game and had to be restrained by players as he was escorted off the court and back into the locker room. Kidd was ejected with 1:49 to play in the game. The Kings were leading 120-109 at the time and Giannis Antetokounmpo had just had a shot at the rim blocked prior to the timeout.

After the game, Kidd said he was upset and felt the Bucks were not getting the calls they should have been getting.

Kidd will certainly receive a fine from the NBA and possibly even a suspension. Kidd was previously fined $50,000 for instructing a player to bump him so Kidd would spill his drink as a way to manufacture a timeout.

Raves: Golden State Warriors…off to the best start in NBA history at 16-0. It’s early but the talk is that they could finish 72-10 tying the best mark of the Chicago Bulls. But that remains to be seen. One thing for sure that this run is serving notice to the league that the Warriors maybe the defending champs but they are coming to play every night.

Raves: Carolina Panthers…If anyone thought the Dallas Cowboys at 3-7 with Tony Romo coming back from a collarbone injury was going to step on the field and beat the 10-0 Panthers, well guess again, and yes I did see a lot of people on Twitter get upset that they picked the Cowboys to win. Maybe now the Panthers will get real respect as a legit Super Bowl contender and not be treated like a 3-8 wannabe pretender.

Raves: New York Giants…Like the rest of us they watched as their division rivals the Eagles and the Cowboys crash and burn. The Giants are in control of the division, all they have to do now is win on Sunday against the Redskins and separate themselves from the rest of the NFC Least (East). Easier said then done I know, but no excuses why they can’t get it done this weekend …so it’s up to you Big Blue!

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