Tuesday, July 10, 2012

FED UP WITH HOUSTON TEXANS BEAT WRITER JOHN MCCLAIN? - LM - 7-09-2012


John "The General" McClain 1st Fan Fest 
Written by: LM

FED UP WITH HOUSTON TEXANS BEAT WRITER JOHN MCCLAIN?

I have been observing the Houston Texan’s Beat Writer John McClain “THE GENERAL”.  I understand The General’s job in the beat writer capacity is to report facts as it pertains to the Texans.  I admit, the whole “Beat Writer” title meant nothing to me or shall I be honest, I didn’t know the parameters of the job.  Now, I have a solid understanding of a beat writer.  It becomes a little tricky when it comes to John because his role as a Beat Writer frequently blends with opinion.

No need to “sugar coat” this, when I hear John McClain on air, it seems as if he’s more interested in Robert Griffin III, Tennessee Titans and Hollywood ten times more than the Texans. As a rabid Texan Fan, part of me believes this could be by design for John to avoid saying the wrong thing about the Texans.  Example:  Few weeks back while talking to In the John said “the Texans could have traded Ben Tate for a 1st rounder with the Browns”, it caught a little local steam and his very next visit he said he was wrong.  What I am getting to, the conspiracy theorist in me believes John’s “security blanket” is to appear aloof about the Texans in order not to say anything wrong or out of place in regards to the Texans.

These days, all of the local media is trying to stay in the good graces of local professional teams, credentials come at a premium.

MATT SCHAUB ONLY BLEW ONE GAME?
This past Sunday, I was listening to John McClain on with Fred Davis and Ted Johnson (SR610), and Matt Schaub came up.  The General suddenly transformed into Ray Charles and forgot a lot.  During the segment, John basically said he can only remember ONE game Matt Schaub blew, Baltimore Ravens and oh yeah we are all preposterous.  Contrary to Josh Innes beliefs, we are not all “sheeple” who wants smoke blown up our ass, be honest.  I am jacked about this season and I can only imagine the possibilities with the return of Matt Schaub but I am not a fool.  I can think of at least three games off the top I can blame on Matt Schaub.
  • 2011 Raiders
  • 2010 Chargers
  • 2009 Cardinals
In the Raiders game some say Schaub could have rushed, and some say Jacoby ran the wrong route.  I say, Matt was the last Texan to touch the Hog Skin.  If I’m not mistaken, Schaub had other options he could have gone to and oh by the way, that’s the same game, an Oakland Raider Tommy Kelly said Matt Schaub Choked.

In a position to go in for the win, Matt Schaub threw a low ball to Andre Johnson that bounced off his ankle and landed in a Charger hand.  Some argue, Andre could have caught the ball but I would say, why throw the ball at Andre's ankle.

When John McClain made his comment, I instantly thought about the 2009 Cardinals game.  For John to say, Schaub only blew one game, I think to myself “wtf man” he blew the Cardinals  very similar to the Ravens and some can even argue, the Cardinals “Pick 6” was even bigger because we ended the season 9-7 and watching the last games of the season to get in the playoffs which we didn’t.  We finished the season the year we played Baltimore 6-10.  

I am sure others can name more games that were a direct reflection on Schaub’s play.  As far as Schaub never loss a game but the Ravens, it seems as if we are assuming games are only loss in the 4th quarter.   It would be easy for me to pull games where Schaub and the Texans played like crap for a half or three quarters and finally made plays in the 4th quarter when the games were so out of reach the opponent’s defense laid down.  Yep, I am talking about the season the media all likes to go back to when referencing Schaub’s 9,000 yards while conveniently forgetting we were all bitching about the Texans not playing a full game.

Check out the audio below.

JOHN McCLAIN on WITH FRED DAVIS/TED JOHNSON



WRAP IT UP

Lately, when I hear John McClain, it’s a “damn if you do, damn if you don’t”.  Damn if you talk about Texans because he sounds like a “homer”, Damn if you don’t because people will demand more Texans talk.

Earlier I said John’s Texans aloofness was a defense mechanism but to be real, when I hear John, he sounds so disinterested with the Texans and giddy about everything “NOT TEXANS”.

When he was on with Ted Johnson, John is noticeably excited talking about the Patriots and when it's time to actually talk Texans, well you heard it.

Listen to this other audio below.  John join "In the Loop". Just Listen.
John McClain “I wouldn’t say it, if it wasn’t confirmed” and the next appearance, admitting to a mistake.

I don’t dislike John but he is clearly displaying a giddiness for everything “NOT TEXANS” while being a "blah" when talking about the Texans.  The audio I presented, you hear John being more excited to talk to Ted Johnson about the Patriots and telling Nick Wright basically to move on from the Texans talk, I need to get my Jerry Sandusky Pulp Fiction One liner in.

I wish John McClain could sound more interested in the Texans.  In addition to, when he talks about the Texans, I don't want any of this UTOPIA crap of Texans do no wrong. There has to be a middle ground in John's information dissemination.   Lately I have been looking at Mark Berman (Fox 26) as the Texans Beat Writer.

OUT

LM aka SIR BLOG ALOT
hmw_lm@yahoo.com

4 comments:

cxd said...

Yeah, I guess he does have to protect those credentials. The Yankees just suspended Reggie Jackson INDEFINITELY from the front office/ballpark for making negative comments about A-Rod and Petite the other day.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

As for choking, I tend to avoid saying that, and I don't care how good the athlete is:

There is something about a hard white tightly woven rock headed for your head at 90+ MPH (baseball) that can suck the courage out of any brave man for a moment or two.

There is something to also be said about throwing a pig-skin down the field or making a correct play call (football) knowing that Godzilla, The Hulk (on crack) and the creature from the movie Alien are all running at you all day, at Full Speed.

They all eventually get unnerved....

cxd said...

Oh, I forgot. The creature from the movie Preditor is also coming at you all day, at full speed (a four - three or a three - four line up).

Nerves can be shaken, along with ones thought process. Unless they are functionally unconsious (or non-human)....

As for Mr. October, check the NYC rags today. He was half contrite and half "Standing His Ground".

He'll be back before the end of the season. They just want him to say his Real Name (Tobie - Roots)....

Something to talk about...

WhiteGreg said...

I have been waiting for you to write this blog post for months now. I have lost a lot of respect for John McClain over the last few years and I go back to the early 1980's with him covering the Oilers and NFL. I think he has gotten lazy and just wants to protect his big butt. His coverage is awful. A good, objective journalist would be so much better. Thanks for writing this.

Anonymous said...

MAN.......

They eat like kings in the staduim press box.......