FANECA
�for what it�s worth
By Swissvale72
I not good
at hanging onto things; I lost most of my shit.�
But�.I have a cup, given to me in �86, around February, says, �Everyone�s
entitled to my opinion.�� So, here�s my
opinion about this weekend�s Mother�s Day Massacre, also known as The Faneca
Imbroglio.
First though, the preamble.� I�m quite a fan of
preambles; I rarely write anything without a preamble.� I even like the word�.�preamble.�� I like the word �postlogue� as well, though I
rarely write a postlogue.� Something tells me that I�m not even spelling
it correctly.� The red underline
usually means that, right, but fuck it, I�m in a rush�..on a deadline.
My preamble
though involves my apparent weakness at understanding offensive line play.� How the fuck can some cartoonist like Todd
from the Board be so damn current on the ins &
outs of Faneca�s play�..y�know�..�superb run blocker, below average pass blocker.�� Someone else clarifies with greater
specificity�.cites Faneca as being a superb run
blocker, only if we�re referring to �drive blocking.�
Don�t know
about you, but when I�m watching the game, the blocking sucks or it doesn�t.� I really can�t comment with any degree of
confidence whether the left guard is doing his job while the center is not,
etc.� Some of you asshats
must see a helluva lot more than I do, and even the
big-screen doesn�t lend a whole lot of clarity.�
Even when I
was playing, I kind of knew if I got my ass kicked or not.� Junior year of high school against Yough�.got my ass kicked bad.� Playing DT that game, got
knocked on my ass repeatedly; it was fuckin� embarrassing.
So�..with the
qualifier that I really have no idea how good Alan Faneca
is, here�s my opinion about the weekend happenings.
Faneca
signed a contract, which like most others, was backloaded.� Generally, a player never sees the money he�s
due in his final year.� It�s either
restructured�.extended, or he�s cut the fuck loose.� JPeezy, for
instance, was cut the fuck loose.�
Steelers determined that he wasn�t worth the $1M roster bonus, $5M or so
in salary, so they essentially did Peezy a favor, and
gave him access to the open market.
In this
case, they don�t want to commit real big dough to 30 year-old Faneca, but apparently have determined that he�s vital to
this year�s plans.�� So, they pay him the
big final year dough��what, about $5M including his roster bonus, that the
player would ordinarily not see, but don�t want to commit beyond that.� Steelers take some risk in doing so.� Should they decide post-season that Faneca still fits into their plans, then
they have a helluva time signing him.
I
understand why Faneca�s pissed.� He wants access to the open market, and wants
it now.� He waits another year, his bonus,
in what�s certain to be his last major payday, could be drastically
reduced.� And,� in Faneca�s
case, he�s not mature enough to realize that this is business, and the team�s
exercising its prerogative to neither cut him loose, nor extend him, but to pay
him, per his contract, the amount that they said they would pay him.
Anyway, I
understand the Steelers position, and I understand Faneca�s
disappointment.� But all of the angst,
Alan�.c�mon???�
Is that necessary?
One last
opinion on this matter, then I need to get the fuck out of here.�� The person that has come out of the weekend
looking very good in his handling of this is Coach Mike Tomlin.� He�s responded in a way to get his player on
the field, performing to the best of his ability.
Season will
start, my guess Faneca�s last with the Steelers.� I�ll root for him to do well, and once the
Steelers are in the Super Bowl, and we�re ahead with the clock ticking down, I
won�t even root for a serious injury to befall Big Red�..how�s that for random
acts of kindness.