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Ever wanted to watch a movie written by an NFL coach? It’s quite possible Sean Payton will give you that opportunity soon.

Apparently, Sean Payton’s creativity extends beyond his offensive playbook. He came up with an idea for a screenplay two years ago as a “summer project” and it’s now being shopped around Hollywood by top talent agency CAA.

The movie, currently titled “The Xbox Kid,” is about a boy from a poor family in New Orleans who starts controlling the outcome of NFL games through a refurbished Xbox given to him by his grandfather following a devastating hurricane.

via Saints Coach Sean Payton shops movie idea to Hollywood – New Orleans Saints Beat.

I’m not saying Sean Payton is qualified to pitch movies, but anyone who can figure out how to successfully use Reggie Bush at the NFL level without making him an every down back, shows a great deal of creativity. While I don’t expect any Oscar’s for this idea, it’s no worse than anything currently playing on the Disney Channel on coming to a theatre near you.  

Whether the movie gets made or not, I sincerely hope in my heart of hearts this leads to NFL coaches crossing over into entertainment, outside of broadcasting gigs of course. NFL players have tried their hand in music, movies and TV, so why shouldn’t coaches get their moment to shine. 

This scenario begs the questions: what coach would you like to see take on the entertainment industry? How?

My vote is a Tom Coughlin workout video.

I honestly don’t understand the Greg Paulus as QB hype that has swept the NCAA recently. Apparently, undersized white former point guards are en vogue for the QB position this year. Then I come across this quote from the head coach of his transfer destination:

“The only feedback that I got from his throwing ability was from an NFL workout,” Marrone said. “It was basically just a correspondence of, that he threw the ball very well. Those were the words told to me. From the standpoint of my actually seeing him throw the football, I have not seen him throw a football. The only time I saw Greg throwing the football was the tapes of him in high school. So I have not actually have seen him, physically, with my own eyes, throw a football.”

via Marrone said he’s only seen high school tapes of Paulus throwing the football – Orange Football Blog on syracuse.com.

This defies all logic and reason. Imagine you needed a new desk chair because you weren’t satisfied with the options currently at your disposal. So you decide to invest in a used bean bag with some wear & tear, sight unseen and make a big deal about it to anyone that will listen. Sure, at one point a bean bag was a halfway decent place to sit but that doesn’t make it a good desk chair, especially if you’ve never actually looked at the bean bag yourself.

Plus the bean bag got dunked on all the time, which doesn’t help.

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Syracuse blogger Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician had the best take:

Does this remind anyone else of the plot to an 80’s sex comedy?  Are we going to find out that Greg Paulus is actually a girl?  (Wait, don’t answer that…).

Les Miles is known for his risk taking on the sidelines. So much so that one could go as far to say he’s a proverbial riverboat gambler. He’s taking on Twitter with the same reckless abandon.

Oh, not merely to tell his fellow coaches, boosters and the rest of Louisiana’s finest that he’s just had a tuna sandwich. No, Miles intends to Twitter before and after games. And during half-time.

via LSU football coach says he’ll Twitter during games | Technically Incorrect – CNET News.

With the wave of coaches joining Twitter, the NCAA is going to have to make some decisions on how to regulate micro-blogging. Being the glacial, slow-to-adapt monolith they are, their actions (or lack thereof) will be intriguing. Remember, they were late to adopt rules for instant messaging and text messaging with recruits, which was banned in 2007 but continues to be a useful recruiting tool. 

The first big question is whether they lump Twitter in with text messaging or consider it a separate form of communication with other forms of new media like Facebook. Since it’s not technically direct communication, it would be difficult for coaches to control who is following their updates. And that’s not even touching on the issues presented by in-game uses for social media.

Considering their track record and curmudgeon reputation, I’d expect a full ban and a stern request to get off their lawn.

Overshadowed by the NFL Draft and NBA playoff basketball, Rangers coach John Tortorella got into an explosive and potentially dangerous altercation with a fan after said fan poured a beer on him. Sound familiar? Luckily, this time there was a barrier to separate the team and the crowd.
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Of course, this incident is drawing comparisons to the Ron Artest “Malice at the Palace” fracas that was a non-stop news story for several weeks in 2004.
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It is tempting to chalk the lack of attention paid to the Tortorella incident to the obvious race differences between hockey and basketball. The mostly black NBA has an image problem, as their players are often branded as thugs (sometimes rightfully so) stemming from violent on and off the court troubles. The largely Canadian and European NHL meanwhile, has a more clean-cut image despite being a more violent product with plenty of off-ice altercations. However, race has very little to do with the coverage of these particular incidents. The bottom line is that the NHL isn’t popular enough among American fans to solicit any measure of outrage. Something like this may as well have happened on a WWE Pay Per View. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Vince McMahon offered this fan a contract.

Whether you’re a college or pro football fan, the NFL Draft is the most interesting event in sports that doesn’t take place on the field. It’s the only event where the two leagues interact so directly, in an amazing spectacle of potential on display. Not only are the futures of individual players from your favorite Universities determined, the long-term fate of every NFL team is directly linked to their selections. Of course, the most glamorous position in football and perhaps all of sports, the Quarterback will be prominently on display. However, ESPN and other sports outlets have spent the last few weeks seemingly hellbent on highlighting the negative aspects of picking a QB in the 1st Round. The consensus among “experts” is that NFL teams using their first pick in the draft on a signal caller are foolish. Yesterday, Brian Billick even trotted out a statistic that only 14 of 43 first round QB’s in the last 10 years have been successful in the NFL. Not only is the sports’ media data and conclusion misleading, their agenda is a mystery because it only serves to undermine their superstar system. continue »