Dropping Knowledge...

...and Balls.

Forrest Gump introduced the phrase "stupid is as stupid does" into our popular lexicon in 1994.

[EARLY SIDE NOTE: START]

Can you believe that movie came out 15 years ago? One-Five. Think about that for a second...

What were you doing 15 years ago? I'll offer a quick musical interlude while you ponder.

INTERLUDE: "My restlessness is my nemesis: It's hard to really chill and sit still, committed to page...I write rhymes, sometimes won't finish for days..."

Unbelievable, huh?

That knock on my door is Dr. JellyFinger letting me know after another 15 years he'll be my new best friend.

And my Valentine.

[EARLY SIDE NOTE: END]

The most innovative aspect of that famous phrase is it personifies stupid. And by "personifies" I don't mean Forrest Gump saying it personifies the definition of "stupid."

What I mean is this: Just as Tom Hanks gave the character Forrest Gump a face that famous phrase gives the word stupid a face. Because of that little quip, the word is removed from the abstract world and transferred to the concrete world giving us a sense of "stupid" that we can feel. One that we can touch.

But please keep your hands to yourself.

The phrase also provides some additional insight into the world that is stupidity. It let's us know that intelligence does not preclude stupidity.

Even Mensa members can be stupid, dear readers.

I see some hands up in the back and, while I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to ask, I'll allow one question.

Q: "Why, O, why are you breaking down 'stupid' for us. What's the angle, Sports & Thoughts?"

Good question.

First, I think we're close enough for you to call me "s&t." "Mr. Sports & Thoughts" works pretty well, too. Or just "Daddy." However, if you're calling me "Daddy" we'd have to discuss safety words. And I'm not ready to take this relationship to that level.

The Gimp Mask scares me.

Second, I wanted you all to know that I understand smart people can do & say very stupid things. And in my circle of family & friends, when you say something stupid, you're held accountable for it.

Time for accountability.

March's Stupidest Thing Said Award goes to Peter King. I love listening to Peter talk football but he should have had a few more Mocha Lattes before his WEEI interview last week when he uttered this little gem while speaking about Terrell Owens landing in Buffalo: "Take away all the dropped balls and T.O. is still one of the best in the game today."

Um, what?

The idiocy of that comment is painfully obvious. Last I checked, T.O. is a wide receiver. In fact, he's a PROFESSIONAL WIDE RECEIVER in the NFL. His job description is simple: catch the ball. A receiver who drops too many balls is, by definition, a failure.

Sure, he needs to block every now and again. But no one signs a wide receiver with stone hands and extraordinary blocking skills. I'm willing to guess that Buffalo didn't sign T.O. so he could help with their running game.

Would MJ have been "one of the best" if the missed all those jumpers?

The game winner at North Carolina? The Playoff winner against Cleveland? The Finals winner against The Jazz? Michael was great because he did his job which, simply enough, was to make shots. Not only that, Micheal made shots when the pressure was at it's highest and the stage it's biggest.

That's how Micheal transcended his sport and became MJ. He earned it.

How can T.O. be "one of the best" if he drops the ball so much?

Easy answer: he can't. And, more importantly, anyone who pays attention to Terrell's performance on the field instead of the smoke-and-mirrors side show that is T.O. knows he ISN'T one of the best.

And he never will be.

If dropped balls didn't matter, the phrase wouldn't be part of our lexicon as being synonymous with failure. When you say, "Sorry boss. I dropped the ball" you don't hear back, "That's ok. You're one of the greatest anyway."

Duh.

What's that, dear readers? You think I'm being too hard on T.O. -- I'm focusing too much on dropped balls?

Ok, let's dig a little deeper and look at some numbers to support why T.O. isn't great:

-- T.O. owns the league lead in drops over the past two seasons. (The wide receiver in second place has 7 LESS drops)

-- T.O.'s lifetime playoff record is 4-7 (Of the 4 wins, 3 have come in the Wild Card round)

-- Since leaving the 49'ers, T.O. has not won a playoff game (The Eagles won 2 Playoff games in '04 with an injured T.O. on the sideline)

-- Cowboys were 0-2 in the Playoffs with T.O. on the field

-- T.O.'s combined stats in those losses: 6 receptions/75 yards

People lie, folks. Numbers don't.

It's simple: T.O. doesn't do his job well enough enough of the time. He drops too many balls. He's too selfish. He's too much T.O.

As I said in my previous blog, no one has turned a team sport into a me game more than T.O. After watching my Patriots beat his Eagles in the Super Bowl, I listened to T.O. talk about how it wasn't his fault. "No one gave me a chance" he said. "Donovan was throwing up in the huddle" he said. He actually inferred that "God" had healed him fast so he could showcase his skills on the stage that is the Super Bowl.

Greatness, indeed.

His agent can grandstand and his PR folks can use spin control but neither change the fact that Terrell doesn't measure up to the arbitrary greatest of the marketing machine creation that has become T.O.

Peter King may have fallen for it but I'm not. And neither should you.

The tragedy is Terrell had a real chance to be great. In '00 and '01, Terrell had consecutive 1,400+ yard seasons. Only 2 other receivers have accomplished that feat -- Rice and Harrison. Both are first ballot Hall of Famers. T.O. had a chance to be the third.

Too bad he dropped the ball.