After writing this I went back and read it..and felt that it was repetitive and probably pointless. But since it is so long and I wasted this time writing it, I figure I might as well post it anyway.
The following is a rambling collection of my thoughts on the community and the Texans.
So, Im going to go ahead and say that word that so many people are afraid to mention after last offseason...
"Chicken little"
We have alot of them right now.
Here is what I dont understand. How can you be so negative when so many things have changed? How can you already have made up your mind about our chances, when we havent even seen who our starters will be, and how we will run our offense and defense?
Im going to make a broad statement about Houston fans. They are ignorant. Dont take that personally.. ignorance is not the same as stupidity. Ignorance is the lack of knowledge, not an inability to learn it.
Im not claiming to be more knowledgable.. I just dont flaunt my ignorance. For example, I see people losing their minds over who we have acquired in FA, and what we paid for them. Why? What inside info do you have that says these moves are bad? Ill give you my theory on it, using the Anthony Weaver signing as an example.
Anthony Weaver is not well known. He hasnt proven himself quite yet. However, he has only been in the league 4 years.. he hasnt reached his full potential. Now, I see people saying we paid too much for an "average" player.. who told you he was average? The stats? Your personal team of scouts? Why do you think that you know more about a player than our front office? Dont you think that they did some research before they signed him?
so then you say: "But if he has so much potential, then why wasnt everyone talking about how great he was before we signed him?"
That is the crux of the problem isnt it? Its the money, and the opinion on him you are reading from other fans.. you think we are paying too much for an average talent.. that we could of got him for less, right? hmm.. if you were going to buy a car, who would you trust to give you financial advice.. your accountant, or your next door neighbor? my point is.. you dont have a copy of the books saying how much we are spending, how much space we have, and how much we will have in the future. Why does it matter if we pay him 1million or 100million if we can afford it without hurting ourselves? You are assuming that we are putting ourselves in a bind by paying that much, yet you havent got the slightest idea how we are applying his contract to our cap.
so then you say: "Because we are wasting cap space! we could have signed a better player for that amount of money! And when a better player becomes available in the future, we wont be able to afford him!"
Again, do you have access to our books? Do you have a team of scouts telling you that he isnt good enough to pay that kind of money to? Do you really think that we should be hording our cap space "just in case" someone we really want becomes available? No..you use your cap space and if someone you really want becomes available, then you find a way to fit him in. You dont stockpile cap space for a rainy day... not unless you want to be the worst team in the league for decades.
Here is the thing.. maybe all the fans say we are overpaying.. heck..maybe all the talking heads say we are overpaying.. maybe even all the scouts and all the coaches are saying we are overpaying. Who cares? We are getting the players we want.. and it is OUR cap space to use how WE please. If we feel that Anthony Weaver is the guy for us.. then what does it matter if we pay him a bit more than he is worth (according to others)? We intend for him to fill a valuable role for us, so we paid him what we had to to get him to come here.
I dont really understand all this worrying over our cap space. If the cap was such a delicate thing.... if "precise and proper" use of cap space will make or break your team... then dont you think the Redskins would be as bad as the Cardinals or Saints right now? They spend like there is no tomorrow..and yet they manage to stay within the boundaries of the cap, and have managed to be competitive still. So why are you so worried about OUR cap?
Our little "overpaying" is NOTHING compared to what the Redskins have been doing. So why all of the hooplah?
Its ignorance. It is not that we dont LIKE the players we are signing... its that they arent the players we KNOW. When the fans here see that we spent alot of money to get Weaver, they dont really care about Weaver or his potential.. all they want to know is why we are spending that kind of money on a relative unknown when we could have (in theory) spent it to get a player whos name they have heard on Sportscenter.
The real problem is that the names we are signing dont SOUND like improvements. LeCharles Bentley, Terrell Owens, Edgerrin James, Julian Peterson, Jon Runyan, Isaac Bruce... THESE are the players the fans want. Why? because they will be immediate upgrades? Who says that they are upgrades? Sportscenter says! and that is what is important!. but seriously..Who is to say that these guys are the right guys for US? I would think that people within the league... people whos JOB it is to evaluate these players and see if they are what we need..would have a better working knowledge than your average fan, and could make more knowledable decisions about which players we should pursue.
So, instead of going for old veterans.. we are grabbing young players with upside. Is that such a bad thing? No the names arent as flashy.. but its the production that is important... we are trying to improve the team over the long term.. we ARENT trying to make a superbowl run next season. Not like that anyway. But that doesnt matter to our fans.. what they want is the APPEARANCE of huge changes and big upgrades.
Now.. I know there are other reasons for all the crying. For example, im aware that many people just dont trust Charlie Casserly. He has done wrong too many times in the past, and so now you piss on every move he makes. All I have to say to that is... dont you think that Mr. McNair, Dan Reeves, Kubiak, Sherman, and all the other coaches we have.. are aware of Casserly and his past with us? Do you REALLY think that everyone is giving him free reign? Dont you think that there is alot of effort being put into making sure that every move we make is a good one? I mean.. we have a new staff... we had a terrible year.. the fans are getting edgy... they KNOW what the stakes are. They arent just gonna go off on a tangent and pick names out of a hat. A little faith from the fans would be great right now.
Im also aware that some people feel that our greatest need is being ignored. That being the Oline. Doesnt anyone here have a long term memory? SHERMAN!... hello? We got a GREAT oline coach. That is going to be the biggest difference maker. On top of that, we have a head coach that knows how to run an offense, he loves to roll out the QB, and Carr happens to be pretty good at that, so that will help as well. All of that aside.. we also have a staff which understands how our Oline was being MISUSED by the previous staff. For example, we have moved McKinney to his NATURAL position at LG. He isnt, and never was, a center. Our previous staff MADE him a center for god knows what reason. We have retained Wand and he will be getting a look at RT and possibly at guard im betting. If yall will think back a bit, you will remember that Wand's sub par performance at LT was not entirely his fault. He had some help from a poorly run offense, a punch drunk QB, and a few weak links on the line. He could very well be the answer for us at RT.
Im not saying that our line has enough talent as it is.. all im saying is that we are not going to spontaneously combust if we dont sign some Olinemen in FA. We already have starters if we need them, and we will be grabbing 1-3 more linemen in the draft (and its a great draft class).
Now, up above I said im not claiming to be more knowledgable, just that I dont flaunt my ignorance. What I mean by that is that I dont jump to conclusions. So many people here are quick to jump to a conclusion about every move we make (usually a negative conclusion). More often than not.. this "jump" is based on faulty, incomplete, or just plain made up information. Is it that hard to just let things lie and see what happens?
I am not sure that Weaver will work out for us... but im going to give him the benefit of the doubt because I dont have any information that would lead me to think that he CANT be a great player for us.
Im not sure that Carr will be salvagable or that he could turn into a good QB for us.. but we have a great QB coach in Kubiak, and a great offensive mind in Kubiak.. and I know that Carr has never had a chance to really grow as a QB, due to the beating he has taken, and the poor play calling. He may be a flop, but he has some tools available to him now that could save him.. so im going to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happens. Im not in love with him.. im not claiming he will be awesome.. im just waiting to see if we have done enough to take him to the next level. I DO think that he is capable of being a great QB..or at least he was capable at one time, and still might be.
I am not sure that our Oline will be better next season.. but..again.. Sherman, Kubiak, better use of our existing talent.. deep oline draft. Im giving it the benefit of the doubt.
I dont think I need to go on...you get the point. I try not to jump to conclusions about things which I have no real understanding of. I understand there is an opposite side to this line of thinking though. For example:
Another person might say "I am not sure Weaver will work out for us, but he has not done anything amazing yet, and so im going to assume he wont until he proves otherwise".
This comment isnt basing itself on FALSE information.. its just being negative. What I dont understand is how you can love the Texans, and be a fan of the Texans, and then turn around and see the bad in everything they do? That just doesnt make sense. Do you just enjoy dogging on them? What enjoyment are you getting from this franchise if every move they make is, in your mind, bringing us one step closer to total worthlessness? This line of thinking just...it boggles the mind.
SO!..the point of all this. All im trying to say is have a little faith. We have a brand new coaching staff. This is a fresh start for our franchise. This isnt the same staff we have had for the past 4 years.. so lets try not to label them with the mistakes that the past staff made, that just isnt fair. Lets see what their answer is to the Oline.. lets see if they can salvage Carr.. lets see if our defense has the right personel.. if Buchanan can be a good CB..etc..etc.. lets just wait, and see, and be positive. It LOOKS like we have a good staff now..so lets have some faith in them and see how they go about fixing our problems, and maybe try and lay off the doom-saying every time they do something.
The following is a rambling collection of my thoughts on the community and the Texans.
So, Im going to go ahead and say that word that so many people are afraid to mention after last offseason...
"Chicken little"
We have alot of them right now.
Here is what I dont understand. How can you be so negative when so many things have changed? How can you already have made up your mind about our chances, when we havent even seen who our starters will be, and how we will run our offense and defense?
Im going to make a broad statement about Houston fans. They are ignorant. Dont take that personally.. ignorance is not the same as stupidity. Ignorance is the lack of knowledge, not an inability to learn it.
Im not claiming to be more knowledgable.. I just dont flaunt my ignorance. For example, I see people losing their minds over who we have acquired in FA, and what we paid for them. Why? What inside info do you have that says these moves are bad? Ill give you my theory on it, using the Anthony Weaver signing as an example.
Anthony Weaver is not well known. He hasnt proven himself quite yet. However, he has only been in the league 4 years.. he hasnt reached his full potential. Now, I see people saying we paid too much for an "average" player.. who told you he was average? The stats? Your personal team of scouts? Why do you think that you know more about a player than our front office? Dont you think that they did some research before they signed him?
so then you say: "But if he has so much potential, then why wasnt everyone talking about how great he was before we signed him?"
That is the crux of the problem isnt it? Its the money, and the opinion on him you are reading from other fans.. you think we are paying too much for an average talent.. that we could of got him for less, right? hmm.. if you were going to buy a car, who would you trust to give you financial advice.. your accountant, or your next door neighbor? my point is.. you dont have a copy of the books saying how much we are spending, how much space we have, and how much we will have in the future. Why does it matter if we pay him 1million or 100million if we can afford it without hurting ourselves? You are assuming that we are putting ourselves in a bind by paying that much, yet you havent got the slightest idea how we are applying his contract to our cap.
so then you say: "Because we are wasting cap space! we could have signed a better player for that amount of money! And when a better player becomes available in the future, we wont be able to afford him!"
Again, do you have access to our books? Do you have a team of scouts telling you that he isnt good enough to pay that kind of money to? Do you really think that we should be hording our cap space "just in case" someone we really want becomes available? No..you use your cap space and if someone you really want becomes available, then you find a way to fit him in. You dont stockpile cap space for a rainy day... not unless you want to be the worst team in the league for decades.
Here is the thing.. maybe all the fans say we are overpaying.. heck..maybe all the talking heads say we are overpaying.. maybe even all the scouts and all the coaches are saying we are overpaying. Who cares? We are getting the players we want.. and it is OUR cap space to use how WE please. If we feel that Anthony Weaver is the guy for us.. then what does it matter if we pay him a bit more than he is worth (according to others)? We intend for him to fill a valuable role for us, so we paid him what we had to to get him to come here.
I dont really understand all this worrying over our cap space. If the cap was such a delicate thing.... if "precise and proper" use of cap space will make or break your team... then dont you think the Redskins would be as bad as the Cardinals or Saints right now? They spend like there is no tomorrow..and yet they manage to stay within the boundaries of the cap, and have managed to be competitive still. So why are you so worried about OUR cap?
Our little "overpaying" is NOTHING compared to what the Redskins have been doing. So why all of the hooplah?
Its ignorance. It is not that we dont LIKE the players we are signing... its that they arent the players we KNOW. When the fans here see that we spent alot of money to get Weaver, they dont really care about Weaver or his potential.. all they want to know is why we are spending that kind of money on a relative unknown when we could have (in theory) spent it to get a player whos name they have heard on Sportscenter.
The real problem is that the names we are signing dont SOUND like improvements. LeCharles Bentley, Terrell Owens, Edgerrin James, Julian Peterson, Jon Runyan, Isaac Bruce... THESE are the players the fans want. Why? because they will be immediate upgrades? Who says that they are upgrades? Sportscenter says! and that is what is important!. but seriously..Who is to say that these guys are the right guys for US? I would think that people within the league... people whos JOB it is to evaluate these players and see if they are what we need..would have a better working knowledge than your average fan, and could make more knowledable decisions about which players we should pursue.
So, instead of going for old veterans.. we are grabbing young players with upside. Is that such a bad thing? No the names arent as flashy.. but its the production that is important... we are trying to improve the team over the long term.. we ARENT trying to make a superbowl run next season. Not like that anyway. But that doesnt matter to our fans.. what they want is the APPEARANCE of huge changes and big upgrades.
Now.. I know there are other reasons for all the crying. For example, im aware that many people just dont trust Charlie Casserly. He has done wrong too many times in the past, and so now you piss on every move he makes. All I have to say to that is... dont you think that Mr. McNair, Dan Reeves, Kubiak, Sherman, and all the other coaches we have.. are aware of Casserly and his past with us? Do you REALLY think that everyone is giving him free reign? Dont you think that there is alot of effort being put into making sure that every move we make is a good one? I mean.. we have a new staff... we had a terrible year.. the fans are getting edgy... they KNOW what the stakes are. They arent just gonna go off on a tangent and pick names out of a hat. A little faith from the fans would be great right now.
Im also aware that some people feel that our greatest need is being ignored. That being the Oline. Doesnt anyone here have a long term memory? SHERMAN!... hello? We got a GREAT oline coach. That is going to be the biggest difference maker. On top of that, we have a head coach that knows how to run an offense, he loves to roll out the QB, and Carr happens to be pretty good at that, so that will help as well. All of that aside.. we also have a staff which understands how our Oline was being MISUSED by the previous staff. For example, we have moved McKinney to his NATURAL position at LG. He isnt, and never was, a center. Our previous staff MADE him a center for god knows what reason. We have retained Wand and he will be getting a look at RT and possibly at guard im betting. If yall will think back a bit, you will remember that Wand's sub par performance at LT was not entirely his fault. He had some help from a poorly run offense, a punch drunk QB, and a few weak links on the line. He could very well be the answer for us at RT.
Im not saying that our line has enough talent as it is.. all im saying is that we are not going to spontaneously combust if we dont sign some Olinemen in FA. We already have starters if we need them, and we will be grabbing 1-3 more linemen in the draft (and its a great draft class).
Now, up above I said im not claiming to be more knowledgable, just that I dont flaunt my ignorance. What I mean by that is that I dont jump to conclusions. So many people here are quick to jump to a conclusion about every move we make (usually a negative conclusion). More often than not.. this "jump" is based on faulty, incomplete, or just plain made up information. Is it that hard to just let things lie and see what happens?
I am not sure that Weaver will work out for us... but im going to give him the benefit of the doubt because I dont have any information that would lead me to think that he CANT be a great player for us.
Im not sure that Carr will be salvagable or that he could turn into a good QB for us.. but we have a great QB coach in Kubiak, and a great offensive mind in Kubiak.. and I know that Carr has never had a chance to really grow as a QB, due to the beating he has taken, and the poor play calling. He may be a flop, but he has some tools available to him now that could save him.. so im going to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happens. Im not in love with him.. im not claiming he will be awesome.. im just waiting to see if we have done enough to take him to the next level. I DO think that he is capable of being a great QB..or at least he was capable at one time, and still might be.
I am not sure that our Oline will be better next season.. but..again.. Sherman, Kubiak, better use of our existing talent.. deep oline draft. Im giving it the benefit of the doubt.
I dont think I need to go on...you get the point. I try not to jump to conclusions about things which I have no real understanding of. I understand there is an opposite side to this line of thinking though. For example:
Another person might say "I am not sure Weaver will work out for us, but he has not done anything amazing yet, and so im going to assume he wont until he proves otherwise".
This comment isnt basing itself on FALSE information.. its just being negative. What I dont understand is how you can love the Texans, and be a fan of the Texans, and then turn around and see the bad in everything they do? That just doesnt make sense. Do you just enjoy dogging on them? What enjoyment are you getting from this franchise if every move they make is, in your mind, bringing us one step closer to total worthlessness? This line of thinking just...it boggles the mind.
SO!..the point of all this. All im trying to say is have a little faith. We have a brand new coaching staff. This is a fresh start for our franchise. This isnt the same staff we have had for the past 4 years.. so lets try not to label them with the mistakes that the past staff made, that just isnt fair. Lets see what their answer is to the Oline.. lets see if they can salvage Carr.. lets see if our defense has the right personel.. if Buchanan can be a good CB..etc..etc.. lets just wait, and see, and be positive. It LOOKS like we have a good staff now..so lets have some faith in them and see how they go about fixing our problems, and maybe try and lay off the doom-saying every time they do something.
..but I dont blame ya..its really long. It is also possible that I just didnt explain myself very well.
Thank You! 
