THE EXASPERATED
Tom,
Second time I've mailed you in two weeks....!!!! Once again I think you are wrong....!!!! I've been a football coach for 25 years although not at the pro level but High school and college. I have been a long time offensive coordinator and my thinking on this is ....the left tackle and the o-line is one of the most important cogs in the team. An average
running back can run behind a good o-line and a pro QB can be good if hehas the time to perform. I'm sure that there are other problems to be ironed out with the Miami team but I think this was an excellent place to start.
J Shepard

Curran,
Who are you to know what qualifies as a stellar No. 1 pick in the draft?  If Ronnie Brown/Ricky Williams suddenly rush for 1,500 yards this year and John Beck turns out to be pretty good because he's got more than half a second to attempt a pass, are you going to write an article describing how brilliant Parcells is?  I sure hope so, because it takes as big a man to admit when he's wrong as it does to lambast someone for a decision that no one but God knows whether it was right or wrong.  I know you get paid to write columns but for heaven's sake, write a column about Jake Long's merits instead of someone inane drivel about which you have as much as knowledge as an ant would.
Thanks in advance,
Jeremy

THE SECONDARY ARGUMENT
Tom,
I will save telling you how ridiculous your article on the Phins draft pic was for the many other people emailing you about it.  And I think the 1 star rating your article has received speaks for itself.  I am guessing you wrote that article just to be a dissenting opinion and stir up reactions like mine, and that is fine, it is what journalist do. I just wanted to point out the silliness of saying that the Dolphins were arguably the worst team since the '76 Bucs.  Here is my argument... they were not even the worst team this year...  The Atlanta Falcons were clearly a much worse team than the Dolphins... I would also like to suggest that the Ravens and Rams were pretty close.  The Dolphins lost many of their games by three points, including the Super Bowl champs.  Comparing them to the Bucs is just absurd.
Thanks,
Igor
boredwithlosing.com

THE AMBUSH
Tom,
If you dont mind me asking . Do you cover a team in the nfl or do you just write for the nfl in general?
Thanks
NE Woodsmith

NE,
Its ok. Previously covered pats. Now cover nfl.
Tom Curran

Tom,
Go back to covering the cheaters and leave the draft to the pros.

THE DISGUSTED
Tom,
Great article about the first pick for the Miami Dolphins. Obiviously, your must be filling in for the real sports columnist since you show a complete lack of understanding of the NFL.  Just like a true Fantasy footballer, you concern yourself with the splashy/sexy pick.  You do realize that if the Dolphins would have chosen Matt Ryan with the first pick, the team would be hardly better off.  Think of the basics of football Tom.  You need to have an offensvie line that can protect your splashy QB right?  How good do you think Matt Ryan or any other QB will do while getting chased by the defense.  Again, watch some film Tom, look at how often the Miami QBs were scrambling or getting sacked and tell me how that approach would make Matt Ryan look good?  Instead, try building the line of scrimmage to protect your QB and open holes for your RBs.  Do you get any of this football 101?  Of course, Miami could have picked Vernon Gholston who is the x-factor stud on defense.  Then all you knowledgable writers could say the same thing about how much a risk it was to pick him while fill in the blanks of names of people who could POSSIBLY turn out better and make the Dolphins pick of Gholston seem foolish.  See Tom, any pick might not pan out while so many other may be successful. I can’t wait to read your next article about the Ram’s pick.  I’m sure you could change a couple of words in this article for every team in the NFL.  Maybe you forgot, that Bill Parcel’s built his Giants championship teams around two huge tackles.  They are the cornerstones of any offense.  Try watching the NFL network to learn or go back to your day job.  You writing about the NFL makes MSNBC look like a second rate sports outlet…
Bill Murphy
Tampa, Florida

Tom,
It seems that there is always a small number of columnists who feel that they have to go against the flow just to stand out from the group.  It's not about what  makes sense, it's about cherry picking a story for a later date.  If J. Long is a bust, you can say I told you so.  If he is a success, you can hide behind another article. The bottom line is that you are too talented to post the basic syntax you dumped on us yesterday. Jake Long was the only pick for the Dolphins that made sense.  You build a team from the inside out.  It's a tried and true formula.  The Dolphins should have a decent offensive line this season which is the main building block for all successful teams.  That dancing DE who will be 34 this season is still a top five end for the next few years and will make Jake Long even better if he's still on the team come July.Your article is not some two-sided banter on a local sports call-in-show that is meant to generate calls.  How about you do yourself and your readers a favor and stick to your guns and write what makes sense. Write an article on how the pick will probably help the team (the truth).  Give some informed insight instead of some Houston talk radio garbage.  Do you think that anyone cares if the pick was "dull"?  What are we, idiots?"Signing Jake Long to a deal four days before the draft smacks of … weirdness" Did you use the word "smacks" to try to sound cool?  Jim Rome is the only person who talks like that and you should leave it that way.  He laughs his way to the bank and for sure doesn't talk like that in his personal life. In closing, please do your educated readers a favor and bring it up a few levels.  You'll earn more respect from us and that's what puts you in line for greater opportunities.
Good Luck,
Ron Zour
Rochester, NY

(A few readers also checked in on my column after Jerry Jones dealt for Pacman Jones. The men are not related).

Tom,
I wonder if you would have written this article if your Patriots had picked him up since there were rumors that they were also interested in him. The fact is that just like in the "real world" there many bad people in sports including teams in New England (see Randy Moss) you in the media just pick and choose the ones you want to write about. I'm sure there is no bias involved and am looking forward to your article on the Pats if the spying video's do indeed exist or will those also get destroyed by the Goodell.
Cowboy fan

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