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John McClain lashes back at all you chicken littles

Let's see, now. Here are some of your chief complaints about the Texans after their preseason opener: Gary Kubiak should have been more aggressive in his play-calling. Mario Williams is a bust. Matt Schaub can't throw. Ahman Green is over the hill. Kevin Walter can't catch. Mario Williams is a bust. The offensive line is terrible. The defensive line is terrible. And Bob McNair should sell the team.

Oh, did I forget to mention that Mario Williams is a bust?
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Now, to those of you who actually have exhibited common sense, here are some of the things we know:

• Kubiak took a vanilla approach to his play-calling, as every coach does in the first preseason game.
• The coaches wanted to see if Schaub made the right decisions during his brief time on the field. He did. He'll take 30 snaps at Arizona on Saturday and play almost three quarters in the next game against the next-Super-Bowl-champion Cowboys.

• Green barely touched the ball, which means you couldn't tell anything about him during the first preseason game. Green's 30, but here's a prediction that he'll break Domanick Davis' season rushing record of 1,188 yards.

• Walter let a ball get away from him he should have caught, but he also got 15 yards behind a cornerback after he got away with a shove.

• The offensive line isn't terrible. Neither is the defensive line.

Now, Mario, well, we'll have to wait and see.

The only thing that's obvious this week is that you can't tell squat after the first preseason game.
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Translation: Well, I gotta admit that you folks are right about one thing.

Mario Williams is a bust.
 
Did anyone see JM's article right after the game? He was just as critical or more so than the fans. It's so funny how he changes his tune. Actually I think he does that just to give himself more stuff to write about.
 
Hookem Horns said:
Did anyone see JM's article right after the game? He was just as critical or more so than the fans. It's so funny how he changes his tune. Actually I think he does that just to give himself more stuff to write about.
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Aw . . now just a minute here! You wouldn't be insinuating that the John McClain that we have all come to know and love, is nothing but a flip flopping opportunistic hack, now would you? Perish that thought!

Oh, I know . . . he has a right to change his mind.:rolleyes:

(He didn't change it on one thing, though)
 
Hookem Horns said:
Did anyone see JM's article right after the game? He was just as critical or more so than the fans. It's so funny how he changes his tune. Actually I think he does that just to give himself more stuff to write about.
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I was going to say the same thing. If the most senior writer in Houston on the NFL would actually cover the Texans then this would not be happening in my opinion. McClain sucks as a writer since I have been a Texan fan. He may have been terrific in the past, but I can't read anything he writes on any subject.
 
Kaiser Toro said:
I was going to say the same thing. If the most senior writer in Houston on the NFL would actually cover the Texans then this would not be happening in my opinion. McClain sucks as a writer since I have been a Texan fan. He may have been terrific in the past, but I can't read anything he writes on any subject.
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Yeah, I used to enjoy McClain during the Oilers day, but his Texans coverage has been weak at best.
 
While I agree with those who question McClains basic skills as a journalist (he can tell entertaining stories sometimes, but lets face it, he just can't write very well), I do agree with the essence of this story.
The final result of the Bears game was meaningless in terms of the Texans regular season. Individual performanes were important for some players who are trying to secure a place on the roster or move up on the DC. For example,
one Danny Clark will start in this weekends game in part because of his performance agains the Bears. If this start will further enhance his rating in the eyes of the Texans coachs and depending on what Charlie Anderson and others do the rest of preseason, he may in fact start in the regular season
opener against the Chiefs.
Now on the subject of Mario. I'm not really that worried about his production in this game, but its kinda annoying that he appeared to play with a lack of interest or motivation. I watched Julius Peppers play the same way the other day on the NFLNetwork in his preseason premier, but he's an established veteran NFL star who has no cred issues.
 
It's obvious that Schaub should complete every pass, Walter make every catch and wind up in the end zone, Mario sack the QB on every play and Our offensive line pancake every single defender coming their way every time. Anything less is cause for total panic and means we stink.

Everyone knows that.
 
nunusguy said:
Now on the subject of Mario. I'm not really that worried about his production in this game, but its kinda annoying that he appeared to play with a lack of interest or motivation. I watched Julius Peppers play the same way the other day on the NFLNetwork in his preseason premier, but he's an established veteran NFL star who has no cred issues.
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Well, if that's what it was, that he just lacked interest or motivation, that's one thing.

But according to others, like xtru, the effort and motivation was actually there, but it made no difference . . . and he "is what he is".

I guess we'll find out soon enough.
 
Wow, he must have been reading the posting that xtruroyalty and I were doing.

I thought he would identify with me.:shades:
 
Kaiser Toro said:
I was going to say the same thing. If the most senior writer in Houston on the NFL would actually cover the Texans then this would not be happening in my opinion. McClain sucks as a writer since I have been a Texan fan. He may have been terrific in the past, but I can't read anything he writes on any subject.
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*cough* reiterate what was said and insert WTF does Anna Megan get press credintials as well? *edit* *cough*
 
The preseason is so funny.

If you suck, people say "The presseason doesnt mean anything"

If you look great, people say "The preseason display shows a lot to be happy about"

Its funny
 
gtexan02 said:
The preseason is so funny.

If you suck, people say "The presseason doesnt mean anything"

If you look great, people say "The preseason display shows a lot to be happy about"

Its funny
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What was our record last preseason???

OK... So preseason means nothing!
 
John McClain is so cool. remember when he lost his shoes and had to walk all over the broken glass from when he broke the window when he swung off the roof with the firehose because the roof was about to explode.

Man that was cool
 
CabbageFerguson said:
John McClain is so cool. remember when he lost his shoes and had to walk all over the broken glass from when he broke the window when he swung off the roof with the firehose because the roof was about to explode.

Man that was cool
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lol: POTD
 
Shaft75 said:
What was our record last preseason???

OK... So preseason means nothing!
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The point was that 2 years ago we sucked in the preaseason and everyone said "the preseason means nothing, we will be fine" And then guess what/ We sucked to the tune of a 2-14 record

Then last season we were great in the preseason and everyone said that we had had an amazing turn around and that our team was on its way to its first ever 0.500 or better record. Suddenly the preseason did mean something. And then the 1st three games cames and went and our defense gave up an average of like 500 yards per game. Our running game was averaging almost 5 ypc in the preseason, and guess what? Everyone said "the preseason shows me our run game will be great." Then what? STUFFED in the regular season.

Now this preseason comes and our starters don't play particularly lights out in the 1st game, and everyone says "The preseason is meaningless" again.



The line changes depending on the performance, and thats why its funny
 
CabbageFerguson said:
John McClain is so cool. remember when he lost his shoes and had to walk all over the broken glass from when he broke the window when he swung off the roof with the firehose because the roof was about to explode.

Man that was cool
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Yippee kiy yiy yay Mo F'er
:cowboy1:
 
gtexan02 said:
The point was that 2 years ago we sucked in the preaseason and everyone said "the preseason means nothing, we will be fine" And then guess what/ We sucked to the tune of a 2-14 record
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Correct.

Pre-season means nothing as far as trying to correlate it record wise to the regular season for the simple fact that Coaches call games differently annd your starters are doing a lot of sitting and guys that aren't even going to make the team are getting tick....That's like...Duhhh.....

But as far as "HOW" guys are playing it "DOES" mean something...

Good players are going to play good, and bad players are going to play bad.....Otherwise coaches wouldn't use it as an method of evaluation...If it totally doesn't matter and your going to loaf around, why even play ? If I were a coach I'd be pissed...We're trying to get ready for the season...You need to go out there and go full speed so we can see what you're doing wrong and coach it up...like I said, I don't think it has anything to do with his effort...I think we are seeing some of Mario's best work...

Normally a good player isn't going to just start sucking...no matter what kind of game situation; if a guy has talent and has any kind of competitive nature he is going to show it....

Of course Mario is "still getting better", but quite frankly what is the rate of his progression ? The guy looked the exact same as he did last year, just more 'aware'....
 
I guess I'm in the minority but I completely agree with that article. I'm glad he said it. It has been a tiring week of overanalyzing 10-12 snaps and of hearing callers and writers alike wonder when Sage will start, etc, etc.

Every teams pre-season has different goals. The Cowboys in the early 90s went 1-3 and even 0-4 during SB years. Their goal under Jimmy was to get some reps, stay healthy and evaluate talent because they rotated alot of positions and they wanted to see what they had behind many starters. Other teams take the pre-season to get sharp and don't have the luxury of having the talent in place. We are around that point but for the 1st game I have seen alot of "woe is me." People also forget that after past bad preseason we usually won the openers. I am taking it with a grain of salt and will give "impressions" but won't rail on a player until the excuses are dried up in real games.

So do I think Mario looked bad..Yes. Am I worried?I will be if the same effort is in the regular season and the "working on things" excuse is gone.
 
pre season is for deveolping timing, conditioning & adding new schemes for the vets while its the rookies first taste of what the NFL is like & several jouneyman, on the bubble roster hopefulls battle for a chance to make the roster.

but is it too damn much to ask an historically low TD scoring franchise to score a single touchdown with the first string offense or even in the first half? that Matt or Sage take some deep shots down the field to see what kind of arm they got & test the speed of our receivers? or that any & I mean any of the RB's can break off a run over 10 yards, maybe even display some openfield moves? or how about a single sack & I don't mean roughing/sacking the punter? I think not. the honeymoon is over boyz :vinny:
 
Kaiser Toro said:
I was going to say the same thing. If the most senior writer in Houston on the NFL would actually cover the Texans then this would not be happening in my opinion. McClain sucks as a writer since I have been a Texan fan. He may have been terrific in the past, but I can't read anything he writes on any subject.
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Exactly. He also pointed out in his column and to make sure we knew that YKW threw 2 TD's against the Giants. I would rather read Richard Justice. I wish he would cover the Texans.
 
Marcus said:
You wouldn't be insinuating that the John McClain that we have all come to know and love, is nothing but a flip flopping opportunistic hack, now would you? Perish that thought!
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He works for the Chronicle. He flips and flops just like Justice, Lopez, et al. Its been a long time since a Sports Reporter really got "frank and honest" with coaching or ownership of a Houston team. They are afraid of being "frozen out."
 
Koolaid Time said:
He works for the Chronicle. He flips and flops just like Justice, Lopez, et al. Its been a long time since a Sports Reporter really got "frank and honest" with coaching or ownership of a Houston team. They are afraid of being "frozen out."
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I was shocked, Rich Lord asked Purpura why Lane is playing.
 
Yankee_In_TX said:
*cough* reiterate what was said and insert WTF does Anna Megan get press credintials as well? *edit* *cough*
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Double Barrel said:
I've seen the Colts go 0-4 in pre-season.

Wake me when it's over. :yawn:



I'll give you two reasons....
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I was going to do something tacky here and say but maybe she gives a good job and we just have not witnessed it. But that would be very inappropriate and not very nice so I wont do that.


Now as far as Mclame goes, here is his blog from the day of the game (bits of it)

Texans keeping red zone offense under wraps..

How else do you explain the horrendous red zone offense other than coach Gary Kubiak wants to keep it as vanilla as a double-malted shake?

Man, oh, man! Can you believe it? Sage Rosenfels just guided the offense 75 yards in 15 plays, using five minutes off the clock. The offense looked so smooth moving down the field. Rosenfels is one cool customer, isn't he?
But guess what? The offense stalled inside the 20 again. That's four times the Texans' offense has been in position to score a touchdown and has come away with only three points, courtesy of Kris Brown field goals.
Yes, we know, the Bears are the defending NFC champions, and their second and third defenses are better than most, but give us a break: four times in the red zone.
Here's what we found out in the first half: Brown is off to a terrific start. The special teams are outstanding. The defense doesn't have a pass rush -- geez, what else is new

Offensively, the Texans have dropped too many passes. Rosenfels looks so comfortable in this offense you wonder why he wasn't just given the starting job.
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Geez, talk about flip flopping. Talk about being drunk and forgetting what the heck you write.

Oh and pre-season does not mean much, at least the very first game doesn't in terms of looking at starters, it does to those 3rd string guys trying to get a roster spot. Enjoy your bus trip Van Pelt.
 
I don't live in Houston, so I don't read his articles, but his comment about Mario really seemed to be tongue-and-cheek. I know that he would have had us draft Vince and he seems to have a vendetta against Mario, but I still feel this was just a sarcastic comment to all the people to continually sent messages about Mario being a "bust".
 
in my opinion after reading JM for many, many years...he has great contacts, but his eye for the game and his analytic abilities are not very good....i.e. he needs one of his contacts to tell him his opinion. He's the same guy that browbeat the fans saying that Kubiak knows best about Carr and Carr would be awesome last year, and the fans should just shut up about DC, basically 'cause Kubiak told him so....well, until Kubiak didn't want him anymore...then John flipped his script. Nothing new here folks.
 
CabbageFerguson said:
John McClain is so cool. remember when he lost his shoes and had to walk all over the broken glass from when he broke the window when he swung off the roof with the firehose because the roof was about to explode.

Man that was cool
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Gotta spread the rep, but...Yippee-ki-yay

10104245.jpg
 
As a new poster I should be doing all I can to blend in and keep from offending the regulars. But that's just not me.

I am relatively new to Houston, moving here in 2002 from Salt Lake. I wish there were more folks like John McClain to tell the folks to chill out. I've lived in many cities with major sports franchises and I've never seen a town so quick to judge and attack their own teams and players.

As a long time Jazz fan (boy, that should endear me to many of you) I remember the glory days of Rockets versus Jazz playoff rivalries. Before there was Clutch City, there was Choke City. It didn't have as much to do with the teams IMHO as it did with the fickle nature of the fans.

Fast forward to the last couple of years and the way this town turned on Carr and the Texans, particularly after the previous NFL draft.

Fans in Houston are certainly willing to get behind their teams and support them in a big way. I just can't understand the quick trigger emotional about faces they do when results don't match their demands.

Ok, commense with the name calling and verbal lambasting.
 
HotRodsHair said:
As a new poster I should be doing all I can to blend in and keep from offending the regulars. But that's just not me.

I am relatively new to Houston, moving here in 2002 from Salt Lake. I wish there were more folks like John McClain to tell the folks to chill out. I've lived in many cities with major sports franchises and I've never seen a town so quick to judge and attack their own teams and players.

As a long time Jazz fan (boy, that should endear me to many of you) I remember the glory days of Rockets versus Jazz playoff rivalries. Before there was Clutch City, there was Choke City. It didn't have as much to do with the teams IMHO as it did with the fickle nature of the fans.

Fast forward to the last couple of years and the way this town turned on Carr and the Texans, particularly after the previous NFL draft.

Fans in Houston are certainly willing to get behind their teams and support them in a big way. I just can't understand the quick trigger emotional about faces they do when results don't match their demands.

Ok, commense with the name calling and verbal lambasting.
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Well, I won't speak for the rest of the "regulars" here, but as one who has been following this team before they even had a name, let me just say that you have no idea what you're talking about. New posters blow in here, and blow out of here with the wind with the same stupid accusation that we don't support our team if we complain about the team.

You're not worth being the subject of name calling or verbal lambasting.
 
Hotrod are you familiar with the saying, "*I* can pick on my little brother, but nobody else better mess with him"...?

Same mindset.

We homers can dis' the Texans all day long, but foreigners better say real nice things or keep quiet. Capeesh?





oh and welcome aboard.
:cowboy1:
 
Like most big cities, the fans here are very bandwagon, but that's to be expected. Houston will never have the culture that Green Bay does, but not many places do. Hell, the Rockets had to give away seats to the Red Rowdies just to make the Toyota Center somewhat lively.
 
Obiswan and Marcus, you both dissappoint me with this "We're regulars so newcomers opinions aren't as good as ours" stick. But I respect your love for your team.

One thing I can't dispute though is the solid support this team has gotten since inception. The ticket sales are proof enough.

But please, cut it out with the idea that transplants can't be true fans crap. I may be new to Texas but I still get irked each time I see a car with a "Native Texan" bumper sticker that tosses it's garbage out the window.

Back on topic, while I don't think the first game did enough to show us we're comfortably good, I also don't think it showed enough to claim the sky is falling. (mario or otherwise.)

So, who do I ask for permission to be a fan of the Texans again?
 
HotRodsHair said:
Obiswan and Marcus, you both dissappoint me with this "We're regulars so newcomers opinions aren't as good as ours" stick. But I respect your love for your team.

One thing I can't dispute though is the solid support this team has gotten since inception. The ticket sales are proof enough.

But please, cut it out with the idea that transplants can't be true fans crap. I may be new to Texas but I still get irked each time I see a car with a "Native Texan" bumper sticker that tosses it's garbage out the window.
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Well one thing you might want to get use to ..Native Texans are VERY proud of our state...I don't know if other states do this for their state, but I remember taking "Texas History" in the 4th grade.. one of my favorite subjects

two versions here for you to enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4xs3wQusjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apMyjOAacyA

So, who do I ask for permission to be a fan of the Texans again?
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you got to go through Gene hackman :joker:

192px-SHouston.jpg


BTW that is Sam Houston

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Houston

one reason us Native Texans love texanpride
 
HotRodsHair said:
Obiswan and Marcus, you both dissappoint me with this "We're regulars so newcomers opinions aren't as good as ours" stick. But I respect your love for your team.
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If you want to voice your opinion about the Texans, fine . . . join the party.

But in your previous post, your opinion was NOT about the Texans. You need to go back and re-read what you wrote.
 
First Hotrod, Obis and Marcus's post were filled with :sarcasm: on somethings

But we trash McClain because of his past articles regarding certain players who shall not be named that were not drafted and or shipped out on a rail.

The article in questioned was written just days after he wrote that the sky was falling. So we fans ask which is it, the sky is falling or nothing to worry about?

Oh and this is the same sorry excuse for a writer that called all the Texans fans "losers". So for someone who says you follow the team, you honestly have no idea what the fans are about, because we are just numb from some hack writer saying what ever they pull out there ass. without actually paying attention to what really happened.
 
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