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The Bernie comments
I also made fun of myself and my anti-draft stance in the column by saying that I invested my time in my time in more serious and important things like Strat O Matic baseball. That was designed to let the reader know -- don't take my growling abour the draft too seriously, but I guess that didn't register with everyone. Too bad I can't use the "wink" emoticon in print.
Martz, by the way, was ticked off by the column.
I got a weird and rather hostile voice mail from him at 8 a.m. this morning. I can't figure the man out. He was bothered by me saying that he'd finally made special teams a priority...he says special teams have always been a priority to him. Well, at the recent minicamp he said the opposite....that he made mistakes and realized he had to keep special teams in mind when he brought in defensive players.
Here's the quote:
"That's a mistake I've made in the past when we've gone after defensive players," Martz said. "We've spent so much time looking for ability only on defense, but really didn't go into the next phase of that. You have to be equally significant on special teams. We made an issue of it this year both in free agency and the draft. So hopefully, we'll make a quantum leap."
And he said the same thing but on even stronger terms when I had him on as a guest on KMOX...why would he be offended by someone saying he's put more of a priority on special teams?
Cheers,
Bernie
Post Subject: Front Office
I have new reasons to believe it's worse than ever.
No details, yet, but I'll be looking into it.
It will come down to this: will Shaw side with Martz or Zygmunt? It's really that simple.
To their credit, Martz-Armey-Zygmunt and Shaw pulled together and had a very good offseason.
Cheers,
Bernie
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Post subject: Yesterday's Article on Rams Offseason
For the record, and I know this is kind of silly on my part, because whenever I'm asked to respond to something and I do -- and my answers aren't satisfactory to those asking for a response, I'm accused of being defensive.
But anyway, just to be cordial....
I'm trying to figure out where in the column I criticized other fans who like the draft. I merely wrote that I don't like all of the draft beeswax, but then also poked fun at myself for playing Strat O Matic. In other words: we all have our obsessions. I'm no different.
I didn't criticize Internet writers here, or in the column. For example I think Barry Waller does a thoughtful, comprehensive job and I always look forward to what he has to say. He's also at Rams Park, doing the reporting, so I trust him. I didn't criticize the Herd board; I was told they were ripping me so I made a sarcastic remark about how I may lose sleep over that. From what I remember, there are a few sharp fans over there who know their stuff, but I haven't visited the site for a long time, so I don't know if the quality is still the same. Those boards tend to get overrrun by trolls and mainstream-media wannabe haters. That's fine. Doesn't affect my pay or status one bit. They sure liked me back in the day when I fed them stuff, like the time I gave them the picks from inside the Rams war room on draft day. Then I restarted my own forum, and I guess that's that. I don't provide that personal touch anymore. Sorry.
As for Martz: same as it ever was with me. Rip when warranted, praise when warranted. He's a complex man, a brilliant football mind, but there have been holes in his game. I respect his overall work, and the St. Louis football experience has been better because of him, but I like many others hope he can realize his full potential. His new emphasis on improving the special teams is a very encouraging sign.
Cheers,
Bernie
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Wow, I'm getting ripped on The Herd board.
Gonna be hard for me to sleep tonight.
Nakam, there are all kinds of Rams experts out there on the Internet who really know what's going on. Me, I just wing it. No one pays attention to what I write.
Cheers,
Bernie
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I believe that most of us can agree that the Rams under Martz have been lax on special teams, starting with the coach's commitment to those units.
And he's been acknowledging that... in the widely-distributed quote that I reprinted, and also on radio-TV interviews. He has said that this year they were determined to bring in defensive players who could also bolster the special teams, and in the past they haven't done that.
He also hired a second special teams coach to work with the No. 1 special teams coach.
I'm surprised that anyone would contest that -- Martz's obvious shift into putting more emphasis on special teams -- but as I said, what do I know?
Perhaps Coach didn't like the way I phrased things. That's unfortunate in one respect, because I don't seek conflict. But having been a columnist here for the last 16 years, I will on occasion displease a coach or manager that I cover. And that's fine, because I don't work for them. I'm also happy to point out the things they do well, same with Martz. Which usually gets be hammered by the many Martz haters in town.
Again, thanks for your input.
Cheers,
Bernie
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I also made fun of myself and my anti-draft stance in the column by saying that I invested my time in my time in more serious and important things like Strat O Matic baseball. That was designed to let the reader know -- don't take my growling abour the draft too seriously, but I guess that didn't register with everyone. Too bad I can't use the "wink" emoticon in print.
Martz, by the way, was ticked off by the column.
I got a weird and rather hostile voice mail from him at 8 a.m. this morning. I can't figure the man out. He was bothered by me saying that he'd finally made special teams a priority...he says special teams have always been a priority to him. Well, at the recent minicamp he said the opposite....that he made mistakes and realized he had to keep special teams in mind when he brought in defensive players.
Here's the quote:
"That's a mistake I've made in the past when we've gone after defensive players," Martz said. "We've spent so much time looking for ability only on defense, but really didn't go into the next phase of that. You have to be equally significant on special teams. We made an issue of it this year both in free agency and the draft. So hopefully, we'll make a quantum leap."
And he said the same thing but on even stronger terms when I had him on as a guest on KMOX...why would he be offended by someone saying he's put more of a priority on special teams?
Cheers,
Bernie
__________________
"I would much rather have a bottle in front of me than a
frontal lobotomy"!!
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