Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

[CWU Wildcat Nation]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Video of that big TD run: https://www.facebook.com/AAFFleet/vi...6672686332510/

Wow he was gone in a hurry!

[CWU Wildcat Nation]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Reports are saying the AAF is suspending play. I am surprised, as it looked like it was off to a nice start. I am wondering if hype began to die as the season went on. This sucks for players like Watson and Gardner who are showcasing themselves

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/...ons-1st-season

[IronOre]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Reports are saying the AAF is suspending play. I am surprised, as it looked like it was off to a nice start. I am wondering if hype began to die as the season went on. This sucks for players like Watson and Gardner who are showcasing themselves

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/...ons-1st-season

Hopefully their agents take their tape and get it to NFL teams for training camp invites.

[tsull]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

There are two viable professional leagues on this earth: NFL & CFL. I've seen a ton of them -- USFL, XFL, NFL Europe, and now AAF. I hope I'm not fooled again as I thought AAF would work.

I'm always amazed people are willing to invest in new leagues after a horrific track record. The Carolina Panthers owner put $250M into the AAF, bet he wishes he had that money back, though to him it probably means nothing.

[ctrabs74]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

There are two viable professional leagues on this earth: NFL & CFL. I've seen a ton of them -- USFL, XFL, NFL Europe, and now AAF. I hope I'm not fooled again as I thought AAF would work.

I'm always amazed people are willing to invest in new leagues after a horrific track record. The Carolina Panthers owner put $250M into the AAF, bet he wishes he had that money back, though to him it probably means nothing.

He's actually the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL, not the Panthers, but your point still stands. It's a shame that the AAF basically turned into WFL v.2.0 with the way they've suspended operations in the middle of a season.

[tsull]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

He's actually the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL, not the Panthers, but your point still stands. It's a shame that the AAF basically turned into WFL v.2.0 with the way they've suspended operations in the middle of a season.

Gardner, Watson, etc., probably time to move on from football, nothing wrong with that. I've known guys who played in the NFL, their bodies aren't in good shape today. These guys hopefully have their health, no reason to be knocking around bad minor leagues in hopes of being on an NFL practice squad, unless one is totally in it for the money, which I also understand. The NFL has a free development league: the NCAA. They'll stick with that. The coaching is usually better in the NCAA than these other leagues ... lots of old retreads, which the game has passed them by (Erickson, Riley, Neuheisel).

[IronOre]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Gardner, Watson, etc., probably time to move on from football, nothing wrong with that. I've known guys who played in the NFL, their bodies aren't in good shape today. These guys hopefully have their health, no reason to be knocking around bad minor leagues in hopes of being on an NFL practice squad, unless one is totally in it for the money, which I also understand. The NFL has a free development league: the NCAA. They'll stick with that. The coaching is usually better in the NCAA than these other leagues ... lots of old retreads, which the game has passed them by (Erickson, Riley, Neuheisel).

I prefer the idea of the NFL having a minor league like baseball does and treat college football the same way that college baseball is treated. That way the kids that want education can get it and those looking for money can just go straight to the minors and take a shot. This way they actually get paid for beating the crap out of themselves.

[tsull]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

I prefer the idea of the NFL having a minor league like baseball does and treat college football the same way that college baseball is treated. That way the kids that want education can get it and those looking for money can just go straight to the minors and take a shot. This way they actually get paid for beating the crap out of themselves.

Agree 100%, but it seems like the $20M college coach is on the horizon and nothing will change.

[IronOre]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Agree 100%, but it seems like the $20M college coach is on the horizon and nothing will change.

Really, all college football should be about the D2 level. Any coach being a state's highest paid employee aint right.

[tsull]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Really, all college football should be about the D2 level. Any coach being a state's highest paid employee aint right.

It's insane, WSU is projected to be $85M in athletic debt in a couple years, but somehow found the dough to buyout their hoop coach to the tune of $4.2M, and hire another one at $1.4M for six years. My bad math says somewhere around $12.6M for that total package. Ugh! WSU is paying an awful baseball coach $300K to get last in the league and play in front of 400 people a game, if that. They just snapped a 12-game losing streak, dude is awful (unfortunately, a WOU grad, but he's not good).

I kind of get the hoop thing, but can't you get a baseball coach for half that? Supply outweighs demand in coaching ... though collegiate athletics long ago dumped basic economic principles.

[Wildcat Khan]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

It's insane, WSU is projected to be $85M in athletic debt in a couple years, but somehow found the dough to buyout their hoop coach to the tune of $4.2M, and hire another one at $1.4M for six years. My bad math says somewhere around $12.6M for that total package. Ugh! WSU is paying an awful baseball coach $300K to get last in the league and play in front of 400 people a game, if that. They just snapped a 12-game losing streak, dude is awful (unfortunately, a WOU grad, but he's not good).

I kind of get the hoop thing, but can't you get a baseball coach for half that? Supply outweighs demand in coaching ... though collegiate athletics long ago dumped basic economic principles.

Their hoops is second fiddle in the area too to Gonzaga. This year's Gonzaga recruiting class has 2 4 star recruits from Eastern Washington in Spokane and Kittitas. They also have a private jet, which no Pac-12 school has to help in recruiting. WSU has no chance at getting players like Anton Watson and Brock Ravet at the moment, which makes what Gonzaga built all the more impressive from where they were in 1999.

In baseball they used to be such a good program too, but not the level that OSU is currently on. Since Bobo Brayton, only 1 coach has had a .500 record at WSU compared to his .689 career win percentage. At least WSU's football is relevant again as it had been such a drought after Mike Price.

[SW_Mustang]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Gardner, Watson, etc., probably time to move on from football, nothing wrong with that. I've known guys who played in the NFL, their bodies aren't in good shape today. These guys hopefully have their health, no reason to be knocking around bad minor leagues in hopes of being on an NFL practice squad, unless one is totally in it for the money, which I also understand. The NFL has a free development league: the NCAA. They'll stick with that. The coaching is usually better in the NCAA than these other leagues ... lots of old retreads, which the game has passed them by (Erickson, Riley, Neuheisel).

If they want to try their hand at the Dubya Dubya E, it looks like ole' Vince is hiring:

https://411mania.com/wrestling/wwe-t...r-aaf-players/

[tsull]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Their hoops is second fiddle in the area too to Gonzaga. This year's Gonzaga recruiting class has 2 4 star recruits from Eastern Washington in Spokane and Kittitas. They also have a private jet, which no Pac-12 school has to help in recruiting. WSU has no chance at getting players like Anton Watson and Brock Ravet at the moment, which makes what Gonzaga built all the more impressive from where they were in 1999.

In baseball they used to be such a good program too, but not the level that OSU is currently on. Since Bobo Brayton, only 1 coach has had a .500 record at WSU compared to his .689 career win percentage. At least WSU's football is relevant again as it had been such a drought after Mike Price.

I'ma WSU fan and know if you make wrong hires, you won't win. They won't get many from in-state, even the Bennetts were rebuffed by Washington kids, though Tony won well in Pullman with guys from around the country and overseas. It can be done, but only if the new hire is the right hire. AAU coaches in Seattle tell kids to not go to WSU as well as Zags, oddly. They tell them it's the sticks and when Romar was coaching they loved him because he was putting kids in the league, even though he was losing like crazy.

WSU's debt is killing them right now. Last A.D. buried them.

[Wildcat Khan]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

I'ma WSU fan and know if you make wrong hires, you won't win. They won't get many from in-state, even the Bennetts were rebuffed by Washington kids, though Tony won well in Pullman with guys from around the country and overseas. It can be done, but only if the new hire is the right hire. AAU coaches in Seattle tell kids to not go to WSU as well as Zags, oddly. They tell them it's the sticks and when Romar was coaching they loved him because he was putting kids in the league, even though he was losing like crazy.

WSU's debt is killing them right now. Last A.D. buried them.

Spokane the sticks.... city of over half a million people is the sticks. Sadly that isn't all that uncommon, I had a TSA agent at SeaTac surprised Pasco has an airport with TSA and high tech equipment and not just metal detectors and thought the only flight would be to Seattle. It is very common in Seattle to think all of Eastern Washington is just farms and no cities at all despite three areas over 200k people. I will say though that Eastern Oregon fits their view of Eastern Washington.

Now if they said CWU or WSU were in the sticks and not include Gonzaga and EWU, that is a bit true although at least CWU has an Interstate it is off of. WSU doesn't even have that.

[tsull]

Re: Gardner, Thornton, Watson, Kitna on San Diego Fleet

Yeah, my North Idaho friend moved to Seattle years ago and started calling anything past North Bend "eastern Washington." Drove me nuts. I kept correcting him, Ellensburg, Tri-Cities, Wenatchee, etc., is in central Washington, check the map. He kept calling Yakima "eastern Washington" -- which is insane. Walla Walla, Pullman, Pomery, Cheney, Spokane, Ritzville, Garfield, etc., is eastern Washington.

Regarding airports, Pasco is in a metro area of 300K plus, I would hope they would have even a small, viable airport. I get the geographical ignorance in the 70's, 80's, etc., pre-internet, but not today.