Welcome to Brazen Careerist!

A Thought About the Jacksonville Jaguars: Point
Differential Problems The Jacksonville Jaguars got destroyed by the New England
Patriots in the first preseason game, 47-12. We can't make too much of a
preseason opener, as plenty of players didn't play. Of course, one of those
players was Tom Brady. The Jaguars had a decent first drive to get inside the 20
and score a field goal and then immediately got a fumble, which was squandered
when Mike Thomas dropped a pass on third down. They were up 6-0 early, so that
score line was a bit deceiving, but then again, the manner in which Brian Hoyer
and Ryan Mallett carved up the Jaguars for the rest of the game may be a
statement about the depth, or lack thereof, on the Jaguars roster heading into
the season.The bigger concern for this year, though, is that the Jaguars were a
paper version of a member of the big cat family in 2010. They went 1-5 against
teams with a Nike(Adidas) soccer cleats shoes outlet winning record
last year, and allowed over 30 points a game in those contests. Jacksonville won
several close games (5-2 in games decided by a touchdown or less), including
some in improbable fashion. They had a chance t0 make the playoffs at 8-6 before
dropping the last two, but were fortunate to be in such a position.In evaluating
their chances this year, we need to consider that point differential along with
their record. As it turns out (using the pro football reference team game
finder), Jacksonville's -66 point difference in 2010 is tied for the 7th worst
point differential for a team finishing 8-8. Here is a summary of the 23 teams
that went 8-8 with a point differential of -30 or worse since 1978, and what
they did the following season, sorted by win total the next
year:YearTeamDiffWinsDiff,
N+12006GB-65131441989MIA-4812941980MIA-3911702006TEN-761041981GB-37101011992DEN-679892008DEN-78822003CIN-38821998OAK-688612006CAR-357-802001WAS-477-582004STL-736-662009TEN-486171996SD-664-1591994ARI-324-1472002SD-344-1281979NYJ-464-932008WAS-314-701983MIN-323-2082004NO-573-1632000BUF-353-1551983BUF-682-2041999SD-471-171*GB
wins and pt diff prorated to 16 games for 1982 strike seasonAs a group, they
averaged a -50 point differential, soa little better than Jacksonville last
year. Six of these 8-8 teams (out of 23) with a bad point differential ended up
making the playoffs the following season. Of course, half of those were
quarterbacked by guys named Elway, Favre and Marino. Almost as many (5) won 3 or
fewer games the next year as reached the playoffs, and nearly half (10 of 23)
went 4-12 or worse the following year. The average win total the

following season was 6.4, and the average point
differential was -48.6.I would hot soccer cleats(shoes) personally be stunned if
Jacksonville ended up as a 7th playoff team from that list. Jack Del Rio is
entering year 9, and the team seems to be stagnating or going backwards, masked
by that 8-8 record last year. I thought Blaine Gabbert looked better than his
numbers (9 for 16 for 85 yards, 2 sacks), was hurt by the Thomas drop, and made
strong throws when he wasn't pressured. I suspect he'll get an opportunity to
play and struggle as a rookie, because I don't look for Jacksonville to be in
playoff contention. The next time it happens will probably be with a new coach
after the team plays in line with their underlying numbers, sees the luck
regress in 2011, goes through growing pains with a rookie quarterback, and
finishes in the 4-5 win range.[photo via Getty] Mack effective as USA point
guard This blog has been on a prolonged break, but it appears that will not be
the case for the rest of the summer. Too much Butler basketball news. (As loyal
blog readers know, I have been working on a major project while using vacation
days allotted by The Star.)Anyway, this will be the online place to go for
overseas Butler news. The Bulldogs' Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack are with the
U.S. team at the under-19 World Championship at Auckland, New Zealand. The
Bulldogs will tour Italy in August and play four games there.Here's what you
want to know from New Zealand, courtesy of USA Basketball press officer Craig
Miller:– Team USA opens at 10 a.m. Thursday against Iran. That's 6 p.m.
Wednesday in Indy. There is a 16-hour time difference.– FIBA is planning
webcasts of quarterfinals, semifinals and final through fibatv.com.– Mack has
been supplied a small flip cam by ESPNU. He is using it during informal settings
and will deliver it to ESPNU's website after the trip.– The United States has
played two scrimmages (and that's what they were, not games). Team USA beat
Croatia 97-68 and Canada 92-69. Mack has thrived as a point guard, and Hayward
has not been as effective as he was during the trials and practices at Colorado
Springs, Colo. However, with this USA team, it sounds as if different players
will be standouts at different times.Against Croatia on Sunday, Mack started and
had 12 points, six assists and one steal

in 16 minutes. His shooting line: 4-7 fg, 2-3 3p,
2-2 fts. Hayward had three points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 15
minutes. His shooting: 1-4 fg, 0-3 3p, 1-2 fts.Against Canada on Monday, Hayward
started and had six points, four rebounds and one steal in 17 minutes. His
shooting: 2-7 fg, 1-6 3p, 1-2 fts. Mack had two points, one rebound, eight
assists (game high) and one steal in 22 minutes (U.S. high).So Hayward is
shooting 3-of-11, and 1-of-9 from the arc. If he finds his shooting stroke, he
would be a valuable weapon for the Americans.More from USA Basketball's
Miller:Shelvin has been impressive at point. He has shown he can shoot/score,
but he's been doing a great job getting the ball to others in great scoring
position. I'd say this team plays more like an international team (good shooters
all around and less inside dominant), so it will be interesting to see how they
do.Croatia appears to be a good team, Canada was weak, I thought, but sometimes
teams in these kind of scrimmages are going less than full and looking at
different combinations. I'm sure Australia, Argentina, France, Lithuania and
Greece will all be very good. Should be a fun tournament. Campbell still
draining 3s With Illinois shooting .705 last week, Youngstown State making
14-of-24 3s Sunday and BYU's Jimmer Fredette going off for 47 points Tuesday
night, I had shooting on the brain.So I accessed eurobasket.com and googled
around for an update on Adidas World Cup SG the biggest Butler gunner still at
large: Pete Campbell. No disappointment.The 26-year-old former Butler forward
played 34 minutes Saturday and scored 29 points — which I believe is his pro
high — for BBC Bayreuth in a 93-82 loss to the New Yorker Phantoms. Campbell was
8-of-11 on 3-pointers and added six rebounds and three assists. That performance
rated a mention in a Monday news release by FIBA, the international basketball
federation.For Germany's Bundesliga season, neither Bayreuth (4-14) nor Campbell
has been prolific. However, in seven games since Dec. 3, Campbell has averaged
15.2 ppg and shot an astounding .644 on 3s (29-of-45).For 18 games, Campbell has
averaged 16.7 minutes, 9.3 points and shot .494 on 3s (44-of-89).In one game
account, Campbell is referred to as “mini-pistol,” although the translation
might be a little rough. An example:“Campbell is probably the most purest three
point shooter in the BEKO BBL that will shoot on commando most

likely even at 3am.”Campbell sank eight 3s on three
occasions in his college career and totaled 102 in the 2007-08 season, fourth on
Butler's all-time list. He set a Horizon League record by shooting 58 percent on
3s in 2006-07 league games.If you want a reminder of the Campbell Clusters —
multiple 3s made close together — watch this 7-minute highlight video:Pete
Campbell highlights.Updates on two other former Bulldogs:– Thomas Jackson, 30,
is a longtime European pro playing for Zorg and Zekeirheid Leiden in the
Netherlands. On Saturday, he had 19 points and eight assists in an 83-75 victory
over BS Weert. Jackson is averaging 9.8 ppg and 3.2 assists, shooting .596 on
two-pointers and .314 on 3s (shooting figures on 2s and 3s are separated in
Europe). ZZ Leiden (16-3) is second in league standings and 0-2 in EuroChallenge
games.– Mike Green, 25, has played in NBA summer leagues the past two summers.
He is playing for Bennet Cantu in Italy. In 14 league games, he is averaging
11.2 ppg and 3.6 assists, shooting .442 on 2s and .235 on 3s. In six Eurocup
games, he is averaging 6.7 ppg and 3.8 assists. Bennet Cantu (10-4) is third in
league standings and 3-3 in Eurocup play.Bulldog bits:– The Bulldogs took their
mandatory day off Tuesday after practicing Monday. They are to practice twice
Wednesday and travel by bus Thursday to Detroit for Friday night's game against
the Titans (at 9 on ESPNU).– While Butler's perimeter defense has clearly
declined, there might be a smidgeon of bad luck involved. How else do you
explain Youngstown following Sunday's outburst with 8-of-33 shooting from the
arc in an 86-51 victory over NAIA school Wilberforce– Jerry Palm of
collegerpi.com and CBSsports.com makes Butler a No. 11 seed and Cleveland State
a No. 12 in his latest mock NCAA Tournament bracket:Palm's latest bracket.– As
is customary in many attacks on college football, Butler basketball is cited as
the antithesis of the BCS:Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins on the BCS.–
Butler senior Brittany Bowen was selected Horizon League player of the week in
women's basketball. She averaged 19.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in
leading Butler to road victories at Wright State and Detroit. For the weekend,
she shot 15-of-26 (.577), including 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. Butler
(3-0) is second in league standings behind No. 23 Green Bay (4-0).Follow me on
Twitter at DavidWoods007 for the latest Butler

basketball news.