MMQB (cont.)

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think the problem with LenDale White is pretty simple: In order to have a chance to walk into Seattle as a tarnished running back and win a job, he had to do everything perfectly. And he didn't, whether it was because he was on the verge of a four-game suspension to start the season because of failing a test for a banned substance or because he came in thinking he had a job won. "It became apparent that LenDale was not ready to be a member of the Seattle Seahawks,'' GM John Schneider said. That means a lot of things -- one of them that he needed to be a worker bee and he decidedly was not.

2. I think the die is being cast in Miami. In the Dolphins' first full-squad minicamp over the weekend, Koa Misi, the second-round draft pick (and my choice for Rookie With the Most Pressure on Him in 2010) from Utah, was working with the first unit at outside linebacker. Interesting decision with Misi, a tireless effort guy.

Miami had the 12th overall pick in the first round and spent lots of time in the film room studying Derrick Morgan, the Georgia Tech edge rusher. But Bill Parcells was determined to get back the second-round pick he lost in the Brandon Marshall trade with Denver, and so passed on Morgan (who might not have been the pick anyway; DeMaryius Thomas was a strong candidate for the choice). The Dolphins, in essence, traded that 12th pick for two starting defensive players -- Jared Odrick, a run-playing defensive end, and Misi, possibly the edge-rusher they've been missing.

3. I think the one thing that really bugged me about the NFL putting the Super Bowl in New Jersey in 2014 was this drumbeat late in the campaign that the NFL wanted to recognize and contribute to the post-9/11 recovery of the region. Puh-leeze. This was about doing a favor for the Jets and Giants owners, who went out on a limb and built a $1.6-billion stadium, and to a lesser degree about the novelty and marketing buzz of holding the game in the New York metropolitan area. It's not about helping the diner in lower Manhattan who's been struggling since the towers were felled. Awarding a game that won't be played for 13-and-a-half years after 9/11 and drawing any sort of connection to such a grave national tragedy cheapens and is not appropriate.

4. I think, just to be sure you know exactly where I stand, I'm opposed to New Jersey getting the game. For many reasons -- playing Russian Roulette with the quality of play due to weather risks most notably -- but one that no one seems to care about is this: Thousands of people will pay the ridiculous prices people pay for Super Bowls (my guess is scalpers and brokers will be getting $5,000 and more) for unprotected seats at the Meadowlands). How'd you like to settle into your seat for the pregame ceremonies at 5:30 p.m. and be there 'til the trophy's presented at 10:45 ... with the chance of either sleet, snow, bitter winds or 23-degree wind chill, or more than one of the above?

5. I think it might be a while before south Florida gets another Super Bowl after South Florida Super Host Committee chairman Rodney Barreto told Tim Graham of ESPN.com, "The fix was in for New York.'' (New Jersey, Mr. Barreto, by the way.) I don't doubt the fix was in, but more than a few owners in the NFL, particularly those who didn't vote for New Jersey, will remember that the next time Miami/Fort Lauderdale is up for the big one.

6. I think we'll miss Mike Lombardi's columns on nationalfootballpost.com. Lombardi's going to NFL.com and NFL Network, and I hope they let him be as insightful there as he was on his own site.

7. I think one of the surprises of training camps come August will be the readiness of Brady Quinn. Denver coach Josh McDaniels likes what he sees in Quinn, has tinkered with his drop and delivery (slowing him down, which was vital, since Quinn's drop always looked like someone just pulled a fire alarm), and will let the quarterback drama play out there. I still think Kyle Orton wins the starting job, but Quinn has a shot to unseat him, and Tim Tebow a very outside shot.

8. I think the open-air-stadium cities with the best chance of getting the second cold-weather Super Bowl are 1. Washington, 2. Denver and 3. Seattle. But I don't think either will get one until the league sees how the New Jersey game works.

9. I think I'm hearing good things about the life of the "NFL Matchup'' show. Looks like it'll return to TV in some form, at some time, with the same enlightenment as it's always given us.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Congrats, Roy Halladay. There haven't been many pitchers better than you over the last 10 years.

b. Don't come back until you're 103 percent, Jacoby Ellsbury. Please. For the sake of my rotisserie team and my baseball team.

c. What an opening game of the Stanley Cup Final. Six more, please. I only wish I could see the rest of them.

d. Same with the NBA Final. Rooting for a seven-game series there, and the teams seem so even that I bet we get it.

e. I don't see how I can ever go to a BP gas station again, unless I'm on fumes, for the rest of my life.

f. We shouldn't drill one more well at sea until such time that we have foolproof methods of capping wells in the event of disasters like the one ruining the Gulf of Mexico right now.

g. Coffeenerdness: Like your coffee as dark as I do? I recommend Vermont Organic Coffee's Dark Star dark roast. Now that'll wake you up. No bitterness either.

h. On this Memorial Day, thanks to the veterans who served, and the men and women who still serve. Mike McGuire, you've got a ton of people back here thinking of you as you make final preparations for your third tour as an IED-wrangler in the most dangerous place in the world. Be safe. Everyone, be safe.