Newsgroup: it.sport.americani
Titolo: Per gli amici dei Chargers: Paul Attner su Ryan Leaf

Ricevuto dalla mailing list di Sporting News, lo riposto per gli amici
fan dei Chargers.
Mi pare lasci poche speranze...
Ryan won't turn over a new leaf
by Paul Attner
Last summer, I asked the Chargers to set up an interview with Ryan
Leaf. "Sorry," the Chargers' public relations man replied. "Ryan
isn't doing interviews. Maybe once he contributes on the field ... "
His voice trailed off. Leaf and his representatives had decided to
bury the quarterback behind a wall of silence, hoping time would help
this 23-year-old man, presumably a responsible adult, mature into
something other than the foolish, disrespectful, disgraceful rookie
of last season.
Nice try.
It obviously will take more than time to cure what ails Leaf and his
ill-mannered, self-centered approach to life. There have been some
bad first-round draft picks in the history of the NFL, but Leaf has
managed to put himself squarely in line for No. 1 honors -- and, in
the process, drag down the future of a franchise for years to come.
Leaf was supposed to bring hope to the Chargers, sorely in need of a
boost. Instead, he has become a talk-show joke and made the Chargers
a laughingstock. Imagine giving this jerk an $11.5 million bonus, no
recall available. Even if Leaf never takes another snap, he will be
unimaginably rich the rest of his existence. Talk about life's
unfairness.
You wonder how a team can make such a mistake, compounded by its
surrender of a mother lode of high draft choices to the Cardinals
just to gain the right to select him. But you look at Leaf -- at his
arm strength, at his mobility, at his size, at his improvisational
ability -- and it's difficult not to be as mesmerized as Bobby
Beathard was in the spring of 1998. He was relieved that the Colts
drafted Peyton Manning; he wanted Leaf that much. And now, you think:
Bobby, how could you?
Certainly, he ignored some warning signs. Due diligence revealed a
prospect with a grating personality who acted out the role of college
superstar to the extreme during his years at Washington State. Rules
and acceptable conduct apparently weren't always part of Leaf's
universe. 
But Beathard relies heavily on a well-developed instinct about
players. Leaf, he was sure, would become the measuring stick for all
future quarterbacks, this 6-5, 235-pound god of an athlete. He was
more instinctive than Manning, moved more naturally, was capable of
more physically heroic accomplishments. 
The downside -- his lack of experience, his reluctance to accept
discipline, some of his off-field churlishness -- could be corrected
over time. After all, he was immature and just needed to grow up.
Expose him to the structure and regimen of pro football, and he would
come around.
So blame Beathard for overestimating Leaf's talent, which produced
two touchdown passes and 15 interceptions last season. But it is a
stretch to think Beathard could have projected how much of a fool
this guy would be. It is unfathomable that anyone could continue to
be this insolent, this stupid. For that, Beathard needed to look
inside Leaf's mind. And there are some barriers even scouts can't
overcome.
Now, Leaf is doing what he can to force himself out of San Diego. His
recent refusal to complete a conditioning session, and his ensuing
verbal assault on Beathard, seems a calculated attempt to force the
issue. 
"Why don't you get me the hell out of here?" he yelled at Beathard
during the altercation, which ended just short of blows being
exchanged. Forget the team's investment in Leaf. He can't get his
way, and he's reacting as we would expect any adult child to. He
wants to take his money and run.
Here's hoping the Chargers refuse, even if it means never receiving
one positive result from their financial plunge. Beathard will be
stubborn enough, and principled enough, to stand strong. It then will
come down to the willpower of the Spanos family, which, after all,
spent its money on Leaf while proclaiming that, for the next 15
years, he would be the man. 
Maybe trying to get some value, any value, for Leaf is the prudent
thing to do for the team. But maybe for the first time in his life,
Leaf needs to be shown that petulant behavior can result in
unfavorable long-term consequences. Club President Dean Spanos says
Leaf "has a contract, and we expect him to live up to that contract.
There are no plans to trade him, and there are no plans to waive
him." We can only hope Spanos is a man of his word.
Certainly, Leaf's teammates hope he is shipped far away. If he
thought any would come to his defense after this latest spectacle, he
is sorely out of step with his locker room. The consensus of those
who even give a damn about him anymore is that management has been
more than patient with him, that Beathard deserved more respect than
Leaf gave him, that the quarterback -- not the team -- needs to step
back, regroup and straighten out.
But nothing seems likely to deter Leaf from his headlong rush toward
football self-destruction. What a waste. 
More to come...
Charlie Brown ;-)
G O   D O L P H I N S ! ! !
mail to: 
chNOS...@excite.com
better remove NOSPAM when replying....

Mi pare lasci poche speranze...
Che dire...
L'analisi, psicologica ancor prima che tecnica, mi pare lasci ben
poche interpretazioni, ed ancor meno porte aperte...
Che Beathard sia assai più in gamba a gestire atleti scaricati da
altre squadre (Martin, Seay, Humphries, lo stesso Lewis di quest'anno
purtroppo infortunatosi in fretta...) piuttosto che non i drafts (Uno
per tutti, e recentissimo, Still, con la prima scelta del 97 regalata
a Tampa; e a proposito se c'è qualcuno che sa chi è stato chiamato con
quel diritto mi farebbe un piacere a postarlo perchè lo stò cercando
da un po'...) lo sapevamo da parecchio tempo. 
Errare humanum est, perseverare diabolicum!
Ed è esattamente quello che ha fatto il "genio" costruttore dei
Redskins anni 80, forse convinto per quello di essere infallibile.
Questa scommessa su Leaf rischia di essere per i Chargers più
deleteria di un capofamiglia che si gioca su un numero ritardatario
del lotto l'anticipo di 5 mensilità e mezza liquidazione...
Poi se è accompagnata, per giunta, dalla cessione dei diritti di prima
scelta del 2000 ai Bengals per prendere non ricordo più quale signor
nessuno (ma mi pare un altro ricevitore che si poteva scegliere
tranquillamente quattro giri dopo...) e da certi discorsi fantasiosi
in base ai quali Jerry Jones avrebbe ceduto chissà cosa per poter
chiamare lui Fazande (o Tazande, non mi ricordo neanche come si
chiama, ma ricordo bene che è la prima scelta che abbiamo fatto nel 99
grazie alla trade coi Cardinals per avere Leaf) mi viene il sospetto
che sia ora che Beathard vada decisamente in pensione...
E dopo le sue ultime performances non credo neanche che sarà tanto
rimpianto! 
Saluti
Gino 
--
Quello che ho detto ho detto.E qui lo nego.(Totò)

L'unica cosa che mi viene da dire e' che sia meglio scambiarle le
scelte... tanto le sbagliamo regolarmente!
Oggi Leopazzo ricordava la scelta di Bille Joe Tolliver, lasciando
passare tale Brett Favre... :-(
Saluti.
Diego
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