4-Year-Old Boy (African American He Is) Suspended For "Touching" His Aide - Another Race Problem Masked By Mainstream Media

Two days ago, I reported that the news of a 4-year old suspended for rubbing his head in the chest of his teacher's aide at the La Vega Primary School after she gave him a hug was actually a racial issue and I speculated that the boy was black by the name of his father, DeMarcus Blackwell.

Well, I was right about that. Here's a link to the story and a Windows video that is a television news cast on this stupid matter:

http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5785699

This story has received a ton of coverage all over the Internet and from bloggers like The Volokh Conspiracy and Blonde Sagacity , and rightfully so. I'm trying to find out what the latest news on this is.

I was also trying to locate photos of any of the La Vega people in charge and in an effort to test my hypothesis that they are all White, including the teacher's aide. I didn't yet, but I did find their webpage. It has the emails of the principal Elicia Krumnow, and two other administrators. The only photo I located was of "Golden Apple Award Winner" Karen Musselman, who's worked there for eight years, and yes, who's White. She's pictured here.

My point here is that if there was an administrator who was Black in the ranks, this matter would not have unfolded in the way it did. It's really terrible that American society can still be such that it's predicatable in this way, but it is. This is basically a story of a kid being excluded for a simple innocent action; what is racism but a way to exclude a person from participating in mainstream society?

I'm still wiling to bet that if the boy was White it would be far less likely that this would have happened; that's sad. I'm going to lay this bet: the teacher's aide is Whte and female and has a complex set of problems: how she reacts to displays of affection, sex, and black men, even as boys, and that with all three, she's conflicted. Thus, this action, this stupid action that we are all informed of thanks to the Internet.

If you want to call the school and issue a word or two about this matter, here's the contact info:

Elicia Krumnow, Principal
La Vega Primary School
4400 Harrison
Waco, TX 76705

Phone: 254-799-6229

You can also contact the Board of Trustees of the La Vega School District:

Mildred Watkins - President
Rodney Outlaw - Vice President
Dr. Tamra Walthall - Secretary
Henry C. Jennings - Assistant Secretary
Phil Bancale
Randy Devorsky
Kevin P. Harris

c/o La Vega Independent School District
3100 Bellmead Drive
Waco, Texas 76705

Phone: 254-799-4963
Fax: 254-799-8642

NY Giants' Mathias Kiwanuka Performing Well In 2006

Another Great Article By Giants Beatwriter & Blogger Arthur Staple of NEWSDAY-My comments at the end.

Kiwanuka doing more than expected
December 13, 2006

This final season for Ernie Accorsi hasn't exactly gone as he'd planned. He probably figured the Giants would improve on last season's 11-5 record and go deeper into the playoffs before he retired after 36 years in the NFL. Instead, his prized quarterback has been under fire, his Hall of Fame defensive end is injured and his potential Hall of Fame running back is retiring along with Accorsi.

But the season can still be redeemed. And a large part of how the Giants withstood the barrage of injuries and poor play over their four-game losing streak can be traced to a decision Accorsi and his staff made in April, one that was seemingly a head-scratcher at the time.

The Giants traded down in the first round of the draft and selected Mathias Kiwanuka, a long, lean defensive end. "You can never have too many pass rushers," Accorsi said at the time. It sounded like a hollow cliché then: With Pro Bowlers Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora and improving second-year DE Justin Tuck, where would Kiwanuka play?

Accorsi is hardly feeling vindicated now. Just relieved that Kiwanuka not only has played, but done a very solid job for a rookie. For three games, he was the only true pass rusher on the field for the Giants, with Strahan out for five games and counting, Umenyiora out for six and Tuck done for the year.

"He's saved us," Accorsi said yesterday. "It's like a rookie pitcher. You start him off in middle relief to work him in slowly, but he ends up in the rotation. Kiwanuka didn't just end up in the rotation, he was our No. 1 starter for a month."

True, the Giants didn't win in that month, and Kiwanuka figured prominently in two of the losses. His failure to put Vince Young on the ground was one of many costly mistakes in the loss to the Titans. His fumble after an interception gave the Cowboys life in the first quarter when a Giants score could have made things difficult for Dallas.

But Kiwanuka hasn't missed a beat, or a play. He's been on the field for every defensive snap since he took over for Umenyiora against the Bucs seven games ago, and he still has kickoff and punt coverage duties.

That he quickly recovered from both errors - and from having his Cadillac Escalade stolen out of the Giants Stadium parking lot, which would be enough to push you or me over the edge on its own - speaks to the other reason Accorsi drafted Kiwanuka.

"Even after those two unfortunate events, I didn't worry about him the way I would another rookie," Accorsi said. "He's such a serious, mentally strong kid. He's had to do a lot more than we'd have thought this year, and under fire, too. This stuff is only going to help him."

It's helping his wallet, too. According to a person familiar with Kiwanuka's contract, the rookie could earn an extra $150,000 on top of his $275,000 salary for 2006, $50,000 for playing 60 percent of the defensive snaps and having four sacks, which he reached in Charlotte on Sunday, and $100,000 for being named first-team All-Rookie. He and No. 1 overall pick Mario Williams of the Texans seem to be shoo-ins at end. Kiwanuka also can trigger escalators in his 2010 salary with the sack and playing-time numbers this season if he stays on course.

Strahan already is a near-certainty to miss Sunday's game and a real question mark to return before the playoffs. "If we didn't think he was coming back, we'd have put him on IR," Accorsi said. So Kiwanuka will be counted upon to provide Umenyiora with a capable complement the rest of the way.

It's a far cry from April, when Accorsi told his coaching staff that he "wasn't drafting a guy to stand next to me in the tunnel."

You really can't have enough pass rushers.

And my Take: No, you really can't have too many Studs on the D-line. I remember sitting at the draft With Zennie, and Next level Scouting's and now Yahoo Sports' John Murphy and being mildly surprised that The Giants would select another Defensive end except for depth. That was 7+ months ago. Guess Ernie Accorsi thought ahead, knowing that Strahan wouldn't play forever.

My Lamar Hunt Story

As you may know, Kansas City Chiefs Owner Lamar Hunt passed away yesterday at the age of 74 and from complications developing from prostate cancer. What you may now know is that Lamar Hunt is truly a kind man.

Now I'm not passing myself off as his good friend or buddy. Not even close. I'm just an acquaintance. But Mr. Hunt did something I will always remember -- indeed, I have a reminder of it. It's a note from him.

I met Mr. Hunt at my first NFL Owners Meeting as I headed the effort to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland. This meeting was in the fall of 1999, specifically November 1-3rd, and at the Hyatt Regency O'hare. Because the league's business in naming the Houston Texans the 32nd NFL Franchise had been conducted at the previous NFL meeting, the schedule was shortened and the "Super Bowl Policy Committee Meeting" that was to be the destination for the Oakland and Alameda County elected officials involved was moved up one day. Now, only one Oakland representative was in Chicago to be at that meeting.

Me.

I presented the case for Oakland to a committee that consisted of then-NFL Chief Operating Officer Neil Austrian, NFL Senior Vice President of Special Events ("Mr. Super Bowl) Jim Steeg, the now late NY Giants Co-Owner Bob Tisch, Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay, and Mr. Hunt.

After a presentation that Mr. Irsay said was "outstanding" both he and Mr. Hunt were kind enough to just grab my bags and help me pack my equipment. All the while Mr. Hunt said "So where are we going this weekend, Jim?" And basically teasing Irsay about the upcomming game between the Colts and the Chiefs. So there I was being helped by these giants of the league and just plain having a great time talking. Mr. Hunt asked me what I thought about the talent of Peter Warrick (I told him I thought he had other-worldly speed and that he should be gotten if possible.) Then Mr. Hunt gave me his card and told me to keep in touch.

Much later -- in late 2000 after we lost to Jacksonville for the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl -- I got a small envelop in the mail and which contained one 3-by-5 inch note paper with a message scribbled on it. "From The Desk Of Lamar Hunt."

The hand writing was such that I had to read it and re-read it, but Mr. Hunt thanked me for leading Oakland's effort and encouraged me not to give up. Given all that I'd went through, it was more than welcome. But what got me then and now is that the note didn't come from the City of Oakland or the mayor, or any California official, or from anyone connected with the Oakland effort. It came from Lamar Hunt.

For that, Mr. Hunt always has a special place in my heart and memory.

Lamar Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs Owner Passes At 74

AFL founder, Chiefs owner Hunt dead at 74

NFL.com wire reports

DALLAS (Dec. 14, 2006) -- Lamar Hunt, the pro sports visionary who owned the Kansas City Chiefs and came up with the term "Super Bowl," died Dec. 13. He was 74.

Hunt, the son of a famous and wealthy Texas family, died at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas of complications from prostate cancer, Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore said.

Lamar Hunt 1932-2006

Lamar Hunt founded the AFL and helped shape the modern NFL.

Hunt battled cancer for several years and was hospitalized the day before Thanksgiving with a partially collapsed lung. Doctors discovered that the cancer had spread, and Hunt had been under heavy sedation since last week.

"He was a founder. He was the energy, really, that put together half of the league, and then he was the key person in merging the two leagues together," said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Hunt's neighbor. "You'd be hard-pressed to find anybody that's made a bigger contribution (to the NFL) than Lamar Hunt."

The son of Texas oilman H.L. Hunt, Lamar Hunt grew up in Dallas and attended a private boys' prep school in Pennsylvania, serving as captain of the football team in his senior year. His love of sports led to his nickname, "Games."

Hunt played football at SMU, but never rose above third string. His modest achievements on the field were dwarfed by his accomplishments as an owner and promoter of teams in professional football, basketball, baseball, tennis, soccer and bowling.

Hunt's business dealings were also the stuff of headlines. Hunt didn't need to make money -- his father was an oil wildcatter who was often referred to as the richest man in the world. But he tried to build on his father's wealth.

Along with two brothers, Hunt tried to corner the silver market in 1979 and 1980. Their oil investments also soured in the 1980s. Some estimated the family's losses in the billions.

Hunt also suffered setbacks in the world of pro sports, but overcame them.

When NFL owners rebuffed Hunt's attempt to buy a franchise and move it to Dallas, Hunt -- ignoring his father's advice -- founded the AFL. He owned one of the AFL's eight original teams from the inaugural 1960 season, the Dallas Texans.

The Texans, however, struggled in head-to-head competition with the expansion Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. Convinced that both franchises would suffer as long as Dallas remained a two-team city, Hunt moved the Texans to Kansas City in 1963.

"I looked around and figured Kansas City could be a success," he told The Associated Press. "By our fourth or fifth year, we started to succeed. The Cowboys, of course, did very well, too."

Hunt realized his dream of becoming an NFL owner after the two leagues reached a merger deal in 1966.

In 1967, the Chiefs lost the first AFL-NFL championship -- it was then called the World Championship Game. Three years later, the Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings for the title.

By then, the championship game had been christened the Super Bowl. Hunt came up with the name while watching his children play with a SuperBall.

In 1972, Hunt became the first AFL figure to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and each year the Lamar Hunt Trophy goes to the winner of the NFL's American conference.

Hunt long campaigned to let teams other than Dallas and Detroit play at home on Thanksgiving Day. To honor his effort, the NFL scheduled a third game on the holiday this year -- in Kansas City. Hunt missed it, though, because he was in the hospital and couldn't get the game on TV.

For several years, Hunt also owned the minor-league baseball Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs, but his 1964 effort to bring major league baseball to the Dallas area failed. After the 1971 season, the Washington franchise moved to suburban Arlington and became the Texas Rangers.

In 1967, Hunt was one of 10 original founding partners in the Chicago Bulls basketball franchise. He was the last remaining original owner.

Also in 1967, Hunt started the first organized effort at a pro tennis tour with World Championship Tennis, and in 1968 he helped bring pro soccer to the United States with his Dallas Tornado of the old North American Soccer League.

More recently, Hunt and his sons owned Hunt Sports Group, which manages Major League Soccer franchises in Dallas, Kansas City and Columbus, Ohio.

In 1969, Hunt tried to buy Alcatraz, the island in San Francisco Bay that once housed a federal prison, and develop it with a tourist park and shopping destination. The idea died amid local protest.

Hunt created Worlds of Fun, a $50 million amusement park, and Oceans of Fun, a $7 million water recreation park, in Kansas City. He opened a pro bowling arena in Dallas -- actress Jayne Mansfield was the opening-night draw.

Hunt was part of H.L. Hunt's "first family" -- the wildcatter had 15 children by three women. Despite huge losses in the silver and oil markets, family members kept much of their wealth protected by elaborate trusts, and their names have long dotted lists of the wealthiest Americans.

Counting pro football, Hunt has been inducted into eight halls of fame, including ones for soccer and tennis as well as the Texas Business Hall of Fame and the Kansas City Business Hall of Fame.

Hunt is survived by wife Norma, children Lamar Jr., Sharron Munson, Clark and Daniel; and 13 grandchildren.


AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

NFL WEEK 15 INJURY REPORT -- TUESDAY

FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-PER-15 12/12/06

WEEK 15 INJURY REPORT -- TUESDAY
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS on Thursday
San Francisco 49ers
OUT T Adam Snyder (Knee)
QUESTIONABLE TE Eric Johnson (Knee); LB Derek Smith (Hamstring); CB Shawntae Spencer
(Ankle); LB Jeff Ulbrich (Foot)
PROBABLE DT Anthony Adams (Knee); T Jonas Jennings (Ankle)
Listed players who did not participate in ''team'' practice:
(Defined as missing any portion of 11-on-11 team work)
TUES Adam Snyder; Eric Johnson; Derek Smith; Jonas Jennings
Seattle Seahawks
OUT C Robbie Tobeck (Hip); WR Darrell Jackson (Toe); TE Itula Mili (Concussion)
QUESTIONABLE DT Rocky Bernard (Foot); G Floyd Womack (Groin); WR Bobby Engram (Illness)
PROBABLE DE Joe Tafoya (Calf)
Listed players who did not participate in ''team'' practice:
(Defined as missing any portion of 11-on-11 team work)
TUES Robbie Tobeck; Darrell Jackson; Itula Mili; Rocky Bernard; Floyd Womack

NY area Fans STILL Getting Squeezed By NFL network

NY area Fans STILL Getting Squeezed By NFL network-from today's NY times sports section.

By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Published: December 13, 2006
The NFL Network has offered Time Warner and Cablevision an opportunity for their New York-New Jersey subscribers to see Rutgers play Kansas State in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 28 if they accept the network’s weeklong free preview.

Yesterday, Time Warner and Cablevision — with about 4.5 million customers in the local market — did not show enthusiasm for the offer. Cablevision’s response showed that it did not want to give the channel much exposure.

Cablevision said it expected to carry only the pregame programming before the Texas Bowl, the game and any postgame coverage, not the full week from Dec. 24 to Dec. 30. It would be available to Cablevision’s Family Cable customers on Channel 14.

In doing so, Cablevision would eliminate the NFL Network’s hope of showing the breadth of its programming to customers who had not seen it and might demand it from Time Warner and Cablevision.

Maureen Huff, a Time Warner spokeswoman, said, “We just received the proposal and are looking at it.” She declined to say whether Time Warner was considering the same limited response as Cablevision.

League spokesmen refused to comment on whether Cablevision’s response violated the terms of the weeklong offer. “We will review their full response,” said Joe Browne, a spokesman.

Time Warner and Cablevision have refused to carry the NFL Network, at a monthly subscriber fee of 70 cents, on a broadly available tier like expanded basic.

The free preview, a common marketing tool in cable, especially for movie channels, was offered by Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, during a telephone conversation yesterday with Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey. The league has received several hundred phone calls from fans who want to see the Rutgers-Kansas State bowl game.

Lautenberg has been lobbying the league to broaden the coverage of the Texas Bowl ever since it appeared possible that Rutgers would play in it. “The bottom line is that people in New Jersey need to be able to watch Rutgers play, and now we have a way to do that,” Lautenberg said in a statement.

The league chose to provide the free preview rather than license the game to local broadcast stations in the New York-New Jersey or Manhattan, Kan., areas, or stream it to broadband Internet users on NFL.com.

And my Take: This is just another slap in the face by The NFL network to it's NY area fans. People who don't want to pay for the Poor service of Dish Network or to Give Verizon anymore money. Some of us really want this Coverage, but we are happy That CABLEvision and Time Warner are standing up for us customers. It would be nice to have the free Preview though.

Indianapolis Coach Problem - Defensive Line Injuries Galore!

Yep.

You know I'm really surprised at how the media misses the important details in football. Take the Colts Defense. Do you know that three of their defensive line people -- two of them starting tackles -- have been out for the year?

Look at this:

20 Doss, Mike Defensive Back IR Knee 12-11-06 - 04:40 PM
96 Goddard, Johnathan Defensive End IR Foot 12-11-06 - 04:40 PM
23 Mungro, James Running Back IR Knee 12-11-06 - 04:40 PM
90 Reagor, Montae Defensive Tackle Non-Football Illness/Injury 12-11-06 - 04:40 PM
97 Simon, Corey Defensive Tackle Non-Football Illness/Injury 12-11-06 - 04:40 PM

That list also includes Mike Doss and for some reason Bob Sanders is missing from this sheet, which comes from their website. That's six defensive players. It's not to so much the Colts personel as just plain injuries. But the Colts have to find a way, and there's an answer at least for the short term.

Chicago Bears Clinch Division; Beat Rams 42-27

Bears profit on Hester's returns 42-27
NFL.com wire reports

ST. LOUIS (Dec. 11, 2006) -- Devin Hester expects teams to keep on kicking deep to him. And he expects to keep right on returning those kicks to the end zone.

The high-stepping rookie got the Rams' home dome rocking with chants of "Let's Go Bears!" as he set an NFL record with his fifth and sixth returns for touchdowns this season, a 94-yard kickoff runback in the second quarter and a 96-yarder in the final period. That sparked a 42-27 victory that gave the NFC North champions (11-2) a bye for the first week of the playoffs.

"It's the NFL, and a team is not going to bow down to one player," Hester said. "They'll continue to kick to me."

They're fools if they do.

"It's like the gates of Heaven opening up for me," he added.

A second-round draft pick, Hester also has three punt return touchdowns and ran back a missed field goal 108 yards against the Giants to tie the longest play in NFL history. But he had returned only six kickoffs all season before his historic romps that made the thousands of fans who trekked from Chicago rise from their seats.

"I almost thought we were back at Soldier Field," coach Lovie Smith said.

Hester struggled to find a position in college at Miami, but he has been a sensation with the ball in his hands on kick returns for the Bears.

"The story of the game is Devin Hester," Smith said. "It's time we start looking at him as an offensive player. There are a lot of good offensive rookies in the league making big plays, but who has had as much impact as Devin Hester has in the league as a rookie right now?"

He came through the middle on the first runback, then swiftly cut to his left untouched and sped down the sideline, high-stepping like a drum major the last few yards while holding up the football for the raucous Bears fans.

Hester outdid himself in the fourth quarter when it appeared the Rams might try an onside kick. The only Bear standing deep, he went straight up the center of the field, again untouched, and turned around at the Rams 20 looking for pursuers. No one was there.

He admitted it was a tribute to his friend Deion Sanders.

"That played a major role in us losing the game," Rams cornerback Ron Bartell said. "We lost by 15. You take away those two returns, we've got a pretty good game."

Beleaguered quarterback Rex Grossman had a pretty good game and the Chicago running attack dominated the last two quarters.

Carrying a 14-13 lead into the second half, the Bears outgained the Rams (5-8) 191 yards to 31 in the third quarter. They scored on Thomas Jones' 30-yard run and Muhsin Muhammad's superb fingertip catch of a 14-yard pass from Grossman, who probably quieted calls for his benching -- particularly from the thousands of fans who outshouted Rams rooters much of the evening.


Rex Grossman temporarily silenced his critics with a mistake-free two-touchdown performance.
"They were all over the place tonight," linebacker Lance Briggs said. "I could hear the crowd chanting 'Bears, Bears, Bears.' Man, that's a warm feeling being away from home."

Grossman was 6-for-19 for 34 yards in a victory against Minnesota last week and had registered six interceptions and no touchdowns in the past two games, but was 13-for-23 for 200 yards and two scores against St. Louis. Aside from the fade pass to Muhammad, he hit Bernard Berrian on a perfect slant pattern for a 34-yard score late in the second period.

"The best way of describing it is efficient and decisive and getting the ball to guys I needed to," Grossman said.

Chicago rushed for only 65 yards against the Rams' porous run defense in the first half, then Jones gained 58 yards on the Bears' first series of the second half. That included a 24-yarder featuring a flashy spin move.

The Rams did get a 6-yard TD pass to Torry Holt midway through the fourth quarter, and a 6-yarder to Steven Jackson with 4:41 left. But they barely stung thanks to Hester's heroics.

"To beat a team like that you almost have to play perfect, and we didn't," QB Marc Bulger said. Now the Rams have lost seven of eight and are all but eliminated from playoff consideration.

Chicago kicker Robbie Gould missed twice on field-goal attempts -- from 37 and 49 yards. They were only his second and third misses of the season.

When Chicago's special teams came through early -- on Brad Maynard's punt downed at the St. Louis 1 -- the defense couldn't. Holt caught back-to-back passes of 13 and 16 yards, then Marc Bulger's perfect throw on third-and-13 found Kevin Curtis for 39 yards. Looking like the vintage Rams of the early decade on the 99-yard drive, they also converted a fourth-and-1 on Stephen Davis' 16-yard run to the 1 before Holt's double move beat Hester for the score.

A bad snap botched the extra point.

To their credit, the Rams responded immediately to Hester's first TD return with a 72-yard drive featuring Jackson, who gained 35 yards and ran in from the 2.

It was then the Bears' turn for an impressive drive that covered 74 yards, capped by Berrian's 34-yard TD catch and run for a 14-13 halftime edge.

4-Year-Old Boy (African American It Seems) Suspended For "Touching" His Aide After A Hug - Another Race Problem Masked By Mainstream Media

Let me get this straight, the four-year-old son of DaMarcus Blackwell was suspended by his school for "inappropriate touching" after he hugged the woman and he "rubbed his face in the chest of (the) female employee" on Nov. 10.

What kind of idiot would think a four-year-old boy is old enough to think of such a thing as sex as opposed to...lunch? Plus, he's short -- a kid, so there's no way....oh, geez, this is so silly and depressing. What kind of anxiety is the aide carrying around in her freaking head? Was she just so guilty of feeling turned on she got mad -- at a four year old? Damn!

Does she have kids? Does she breast feed? What does she do then? Get pissed and give the kids a spanking because she got turned on? Oh, god!

What bothers me about this story is how the matter of race is -- once again -- whitewashed. Look, his father's name is obviously not one someone White takes; it's commonly a Black person's name. The media is doing a massive disservice to the improvement of society with this constant habit of masking skin color in a story.

Second, I'll bet $100 the person complaining was at the least not black and perhaps given the region, most likely White. I'd lay money on that given the silly range of racial fears that taints our society. Look, if the news article were written to reflect the color of the participants, the reaction would be almost certainly one of even more outrage.

Why this form of censorship exists is beyond me. But it's got to stop. There's certainly a racial element here that's being deliberately burried.

I wrote "African American It Seems" -- I should have just written "Black."

Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy On The Day After The Jacksonville Loss - Colts.com

The Colts took it on the chin Sunday, weathering a stunning 44 to 17 loss to their division rivals the Jacksonville Jaquars. Coach Dungy sounds ready to learn from the game, and prepare for the Bengals.

STILL TIME

By John Oehser - Colts.com

Colts Have Opportunity to Improve in December, Dungy Says
INDIANAPOLIS – Tony Dungy’s mood didn’t improve much Monday.
Because what the Colts’ head coach saw watching tape Monday was pretty much what he saw from the sidelines of Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., the day before.

Way too many rushing yards.

Way too many mistakes.

Way too much of a lot of things, with the result being a 44-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a loss that not only kept the Colts (10-3) from clinching a fourth consecutive AFC South championship, but also set off a barrage of questions and criticism from outsiders.

On Monday, at his weekly next-day news conference, Dungy – in his fifth season with the Colts – arrived ready for the questions, and his message was that which he gave the team:

Yes, Sunday’s loss was disappointing.

And yes, the Colts must improve.

But he said he very much believes the Colts – who have lost three of four regular-season games for the first time since 2002 – can make that improvement, and Dungy said despite criticism to the contrary, there is plenty the Colts can accomplish.

“Obviously, not one of our better days yesterday, and that makes the next day a little tough,” Dungy said early Monday afternoon, a day after the Colts slipped from the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the first time since the end of the 2004 season.

“That makes the next day a little bit tough, but what we have to do from here is look at things, examine the breakdowns and improve. That’s going to be our task.

“Fortunately, we still have time to do that.”

Said Colts linebacker Rocky Boiman, “We’ve had a lot of success, especially in the regular season, around here. We’ve got to put this in perspective and say, ‘Hey, winning every game in the regular season is not something that happens all the time.’ ”

The Colts, who won their first nine games of the season, had a chance each of the last two weeks to clinch the AFC South with victories over division opponents. The loss to Jacksonville trimmed their division lead to two games, and meant that a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals (8-5) Monday won’t necessarily clinch the division.

The Colts can clinch the South this weekend if the Jaguars lose to the Tennessee Titans Sunday.

“We’re not going to lose sight of the fact that we’re 10-3,” Dungy said. “It’s easy to forget that at this time, after a game like this. What we have to do is watch the tape, get the corrections, and get ready for Cincinnati. Nothing more, nothing less.”

If the Jaguars win Sunday, the Colts can clinch a wild-card spot with a victory over Cincinnati.

The Colts are currently tied with the Baltimore Ravens for the second-best record in the AFC, and hold the AFC’s No. 2 seed because of strength of victory.

“We don’t have that No. 1 seed in our hands right now,” Dungy said. “We did up until yesterday (Sunday). We have to continue to play and win, and win as many games as we can. But right now, we’re in the thick of things.

“We’re still in the No. 2 slot. We’ve got a lot of good things that can still happen for us, but the big thing for us is going to be playing well. If we’re playing well, I don’t think it really matters what seed you are. You can be the No. 1 seed – if you’re not playing well, it’s not going to help us.

“So, that’s our concern, is to try to get ourselves back playing well. That’s everything.”

The Colts

on Sunday allowed the Jaguars 375 yards rushing, setting a record for the most yards the team allowed by the Colts in franchise history.

The loss also was the third in four games, the first time since 2002 – when the Colts lost three consecutive games in October and early November – the Colts have lost three games in a four-game stretch.

The Colts, after winning 30 consecutive games from mid-2004 to mid-2006 in which they had yet to clinch their playoff seeding, lost to Dallas (21-14) on November 19, beat the Philadelphia Eagles (45-21) on November 26 and lost to the Tennessee Titans (20-17) on December 3.

“It happens,” Dungy said. “You go through those times. You wish you didn’t. Ours is happening at the wrong time, but we still have three games left in December to get it going. We have a very hot team we’re playing, and we’ve got to play a lot better than we did yesterday (Sunday). . . .

“It’s going to take work. It’s not going to be easy. But I think we’ve got the people here who can do it.”

But on Monday, Dungy and Colts players spent less time talking about the scenarios for a fifth consecutive playoff appearance and more about correcting mistakes that have caused a recent slump.

“The thing we have to do is look forward, and pull out of this,” Dungy said. “There are some teams that have had some similar-type things, and they have pulled out of it. We’ve done that in the past as well.

“That’s our task right now, and that’s what we look forward to doing.”

Dungy, as was the case Sunday afternoon, on Monday pointed to several cases in which teams have struggled before recovering for successful late-season runs. One such case: 1999, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – with Dungy as head coach – lost to the Oakland Raiders, 45-0, late in the season before losing in the NFC Championship Game.

“It was much worse than this game – I promise you,” Dungy said. “It’s hard to believe, but it was. . . .

“It was 45-0 only because they slowed the game down and didn’t make it 75-0. We came back and won the last two we had to win and went to the playoffs and played pretty well. Sometimes, those games come out of the blue and you don’t know where they came from. Sometimes, it’s just that particular day, a style.

“One week doesn’t have to say what’s going to happen the next week. It may, but it doesn’t have to.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers last season lost three consecutive games in November and December, including 26-7 at Indianapolis, before winning their final eight games of the season, including Super Bowl XL.

Dungy said the message he gave to the players Monday was the same he gave the Buccaneers in 1999 – that one loss, even a bad loss, in December doesn’t necessarily end a team’s hopes of a postseason run. It’s a message Dungy said he believes the Colts have received.

“I think our team is still upbeat,” Dungy said. “I think they understand that we’re in the middle of a playoff race, and we’ve got a record that a lot of teams would like to have. The negative for us is the last four weeks we really haven’t played up to our standards and played as well as we can play. . . .

“We’re all frustrated. We’re all disappointed. We know we have to play better, but we all feel like we can play better and that’s what’s got to happen these last few weeks. My thought is to look ahead to see how we can improve it and get ourselves going and win these last three games.”

More Coverage On the Giants from Newsday's Beat reporter. Last paragraph will be my commenrary

Giants beat Panthers to end 4-game slide
BY ARTHUR STAPLE
STAFF CORRESPONDENT

December 10, 2006, 4:34 PM EST

CHARLOTTE, N.C -- It took a month of losses for the Giants to reach their desperation point. There's still a month to go until the playoffs begin, but a lot can happen in a month.

The Giants ended their losing streak at four games with a 27-13 win over the fading Panthers yesterday. It wasn't the prettiest of efforts, especially against a quarterback who hadn't played in four years and two little-used cornerbacks, but the Giants never trailed in winning for the first time since Nov. 5 against the Texans.

"A month like that," cornerback R.W. McQuarters said, "feels like two years. It's like, 'Damn, we haven't won in a month!' All it takes is one, no matter how you get it."

The Giants got this one by being smart and unspectacular on offense, relying on Tiki Barber (20 carries, 112 yards), who passed 10,000 rushing yards for his career, and Eli Manning, who threw three touchdown passes and wasn't intercepted for the second straight game.

The Panthers gained 463 total yards, but that was the product of a beaten team trying desperately to rally. Chris Weinke, starting for the first time since Oct. 30, 2002, threw 61 passes, completing 34 for 423 yards. The Giants had three interceptions in the second half, two by Gibril Wilson, to solidify their lead and their playoff position.

The Giants host the Eagles on Sunday; both teams are 7-6, along with the Falcons, and are tied for the lead in the battle for the two wild-card berths. The Giants also moved within one game of Dallas for the NFC East lead. So this is no time to bask in the glow of a long-awaited win.

But perhaps the memories of the past month -- players calling each other out, a coach calling his players out, the headlines screaming for the coach's head -- will quell any lofty thoughts.

"We had a lot of criticism, probably a lot of it deserved, but we knew this was like a playoff game," Antonio Pierce said. "We've got four playoff games to get us to the playoffs. We're 1-0 now."

The first sign that the Giants were approaching this game with a different mind-set came on their second drive. Twice they went for it on fourth down.

The first made sense -- fourth-and-inches from the Panthers' 34 -- and Manning's sneak got the first down.

The next was an atypical Tom Coughlin call, on fourth-and-10 from the 33. Manning avoided pressure by rolling to his left, froze a pair of defenders by faking a run, then fired a pass to David Tyree, who dived forward for the first down. The Giants came away with only a field goal, but it was a tone-setter.

"It's about building up emotion and esteem right there," said Tyree, who caught a 3-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter as the Giants took a 27-10 lead. "We don't get anything there, it definitely does something to your psyche."

Plaxico Burress walked off the field in disgust after the field-goal drive, having gotten open twice without Manning finding him, but Manning completed passes of 45 and 28 yards to Burress to put the Giants ahead 10-0, the latter a touchdown pass into single coverage on third-and-7.

Just 1:49 later, the Panthers made it 10-7 as Weinke targeted Giants rookie cornerback Kevin Dockery for three completions in four plays, the last a 36-yard touchdown pass to Drew Carter. John Kasay's 37-yard field goal tied it at 10 with 3:02 left in the half, but Manning put the Giants ahead for good by directing another crisp two-minute drive capped by a 2-yard TD catch by Jeremy Shockey 27 seconds before halftime. Shockey had recovered Brandon Jacobs' fumble at the 1 a play earlier.

With 10 points in the opening 8:01 of the second half on Jay Feely's 29-yard field goal and Tyree's touchdown reception, the Giants just had to grind out a win. They didn't earn any style points, going without a first down the remainder of the game and picking up only 70 yards in the second half, but the defense held its ground.

The Panthers were without starting corners Ken Lucas and Chris Gamble, then lost backup Christian Morton in the first quarter, forcing them to use two rookies and a backup safety.

The Giants were able to run the ball even with a hodgepodge of offensive linemen in the game. Shaun O'Hara left for two series after Barber rolled onto the back of his right leg, and Kareem McKenzie missed the second half with a strained neck. That forced left guard David Diehl to play tackle against All-Pro end Julius Peppers, who was generally neutralized.

Now the Giants, who will play the Saints and Redskins after facing the Eagles on Sunday, have to make the last month seem like a bad dream.

"We had great purpose over the entire [losing streak]," Coughlin said. "I don't think we had any distractions. They really handled the situation very well."


And my Comments:
Ok so The G-men played a bit smarter this time, infact the last two games prior to this as well, then thy did in the first two losses. Even if the play calling was a bit better-172 yards passing Vs a team with a weak group of d-backs isn't very good. Also no rushing TD's this time, and Jacobs looks stuck again when they bring him in. Still not using the TE enough either, even though he scored a TD (Shockey), he was only 6 grabs for 49 yds. But i guess a win is a win is a win...

Citigroup Inc Pays $400 Million For New Mets Stadium; Jets and Giants Next? - Naming Rights Deals Make Rebound

Stadium Naming Rights Deals Make Rebound

By Ben Klayman
Reuters

Sports stadium naming rights deals seemed bad karma a few years ago amid accounting scandals and the dot-com bust, but they have rebounded with a vengeance, with bigger dollar amounts and more comprehensive plans.

Companies are no longer simply slapping a name on a stadium. They are devising complex brand-burnishing strategies involving logos, advertising and technology deployment with a view to boosting profits.

Financial services company Citigroup Inc. agreed last week to pay the New York Mets a reported record $400 million over 20 years for rights to name their new baseball park, set to open in 2009, Citi Field. In California, the Oakland A’s said network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. would pay $120 million over 30 years to name their new stadium Cisco Field, to be built in nearby Fremont.

“What you’re seeing today and why you’re able to get $20 million a year out of a relationship with Citibank, for instance, is that these are strategic alliances designed to drive business between the two organizations,” said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute.

The Mets-Citigroup agreement tops the 30-year, $300-million naming rights deal the National Football League’s Houston Texans have with Reliant Energy Inc., according to Bonham Group, a Denver sports marketing and consulting firm that has negotiated a number of similar deals.

Teams are only too happy to sign such deals as they look to squeeze every possible dollar from their properties, analysts said. And past scandals have not scared off either side.

The most infamous name change occurred in 2002, when the Houston Astros baseball team re-acquired their stadium naming rights from bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. in order to sell them to Coca-Cola Co.’s Minute Maid.

Other sports venues have seen similar changes. The football stadiums of the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens, respectively, switched from names linked to a former unit of cable company Adelphia Communications and Internet services provider PSINet, both of which filed for bankruptcy.

As companies look to connect with customers, naming rights deals will remain lucrative for the teams, said Fred Popp, chief executive of SME, a New York sports branding and design firm.

“Clients need to bypass the brain and go right for the heart,” Popp said. “Sports brands are surrogates. They allow the typical consumer brand to engage the consumer in a highly emotional way, in a way that you just can’t establish with your product alone.”

Naming rights alone are not enough, however, The Mets deal also includes the right to put the Citi brand throughout the new park, the use by Citigroup of Mets logos, the bank’s purchase of advertising on the Mets’ cable network and the joint development of business opportunities.

The Cisco deal includes the sale by the company of 143 acres of land to the Oakland team for a new stadium. Cisco’s technology in the ballpark will allow services such as the ability to upgrade tickets in on-site ticket kiosks, order souvenirs or food using a mobile device, and view replays at your seat and save them to a personal Web page.

Cisco treasurer, David Holland, who negotiated the deal, said it aligns closely with his San Jose, California-based company’s business objectives, which include getting more of its technology into sports venues.

“In the past, we have not been a company that looks to hang our sign on these kinds of venues,” he told Reuters. “If you look at how Cisco’s business has evolved, particularly in the last few years and most recently with the acquisition of Scientific Atlanta, we are moving closer and closer to the (consumer) of our equipment.”

While still growing accustomed to new ballpark names, fans accept them as the price to be paid for competitive teams and lower taxes related to stadium construction.

“Nowadays, when you talk about the costs of stadiums, you understand eventually it’s going to go to the highest bidder,” said Mets fan Nick Parente.

“I’m just looking forward to the new stadium, in all honesty, because even though Shea was one of the older stadiums, it wasn’t one of the prettiest,” said the 37-year-old Hoboken, New Jersey, resident, who works in aviation insurance underwriting.

The Mets shouldn’t get too comfortable with their record-setting deal, however.

Analysts said the NFL’s New York Giants and Jets’ new football stadium—planned for 2010—features a large venue, two major teams in a popular sport and the New York market, suggesting yet another new record is likely.