Bortles is latest victim of Jags’ incompetence
Running off at the typewriter … Poor Blake Bortles. He is the latest in a long line of talented players who have ended up in Jacksonville and had their NFL careers shortcircuited — Jag-wired for failure.
Three years ago, we all clapped our hands on the night the Jacksonville Jaguars chose Bortles, the former UCF and Oviedo High School star, No. 3 overall pick in the first round of the NFL draft. In hindsight, we should have been shaking our heads.
Bortles, in his third year in Jacksonville, is playing on a bad team with a bad coach and has regressed into a bad quarterback.
He’s being booed by fans in Jacksonville, talk-radio hosts are calling for him to be benched and his coach, Gus
Bradley, is in his fourth season with an historically bad 14-41 overall record.
After the Jaguars (2-5) were trounced by the Tennessee
Titans on Thursday night, Bortles actually said, “I’d love to play my [entire] career for Gus Bradley.” Really? Seriously? He wants to spend an entire NFL career being coached by Bradley? This would be like me saying I’d like to spend my entire sportswriting career being edited by The Shot Doctor. See what I mean? Not only have the Jaguars turned Bortles into a bad quarterback, they’ve turned him into a crazy man.
SHORT STUFF: UCF coach Scott Frost —a hot young offensive wizard — told me on our Open Mike radio show earlier this week that he will not be extra pumped up today for a coaching matchup with Houston’s exalted Tom Herman — considered the hottest young offensive wizard in the business. And if you believe him, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Omaha I’ll sell you. Frost would like nothing better than to show that he — and not Herman — is the Harry
Potter of the Headsets. … Remember when Notre Dame vs. Miami used to be known as “Catholics vs. Convicts”? This weekend, it’s more like “Awful vs. Average.” … Is it just me or does this year’s Florida-Georgia game seem a little blasé? Maybe they should rename it “The World’s Largest Outdoor Slumber Party.” … In all seriousness, game organizers — concerned about promoting alcohol consumption — are once again trying to get fans to stop calling Florida-Georgia by its traditional nickname of “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.” This year they have officially endorsed a different nickname — “The River City Showdown.” Ugh. I’ve got a better idea: How about the “Politically Correct Pablum Pillow Fight.”
MIKEY LIKES: UCF over Houston by 3 in Upset Special, FSU over Clemson by 6 in Upset Special II, Florida over Georgia by 5, Miami over Notre Dame by 4, Bucs over Raiders by 6, FBI over Hillary Clinton by Election Day. … Don’t look now, but if the Tampa Bay Bucs beat the Oakland Raiders this weekend and the Atlanta Falcons lose to the Green Bay Packers, the Bucs will be sitting alone atop the NFC South. In related news, there is a frost warning in hell. … My daughter says she wants a really frightening, ghoulish costume this Halloween, so I told her to dress up as Gus Bradley’s game plan. … Did you see the Philadelphia 76ers fan who got ejected for flashing double middle fingers and eff-bombing Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook during the season-opener earlier this week? The saddest part of all: The guy is a doctor — a reputable urologist in Philly who clearly wet the bed in this case (see what I did there?). Question: Why are sporting venues the only public place in the United States where otherwise reputable people think it’s OK to become vile, profanity-spewing idiots? …
As a fantasy-football owner can I just say this: I love you, Jay Ajayi. … The Cleveland Cavaliers raised their championship banner on Tuesday night on the same night the Cleveland Indians won Game 1 of the World Series. The eight words I never thought I’d say: “Wouldn’t it be cool to live in Cleveland?” … By the way, let’s give a big Saturday Circus shoutout to Major League Baseball for taking the extraordinary step of looking at the weather forecast and moving up the first pitch of Game 2 by an hour to beat the rain? When are more sports leagues going to start doing this (we’re talking to you, NASCAR and PGA Tour).
LAST WORD: Did you see where Bobby Bowden introduced and endorsed Donald Trump at a political rally in Tampa earlier this week? I’m not saying Bobby is getting old, but I’m told his introduction went something like this: “Let’s give a rousing State of Florida welcome to the next Republican president of the United States of America — Dwight D. Eisenhower!”