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April 30, 2008

What Can You Say About the NFL Draft?

The NFL draft — every year without fail — stirs up football fans' most intense emotions. It is talked about, discussed, and argued over nonstop for pretty much 365 days a year. You can barely hear anything analysts say about it because they all talk — I mean shout — incessantly at the same time as if they on the verge of killing each other. Same thing on message boards all over the Internet, except thank goodness none of that, presumably, is done in the presence of fellow users. A subject of one thread on the Atlanta Falcons message board asks if the number of people banned from the board in the last week is over or under 100.

Speaking of Atlanta, that brings me to the point of this article. Normally I would say that there are simply some things you can say about certain draft picks and some things you can't say about certain draft picks. However, there is freedom of speech in this country and rarely is that freedom exercised more freely than in discussing the NFL draft. Rabid fans say whatever they want and whenever they want, especially when they're not happy. I can't flat-out say that there are things you can't say about certain draft picks. Therefore, I will say that there are some things you can't say about certain draft picks without forfeiting your right to refer to yourself as a sane person.

In the countless arguments surrounding the 2008 NFL Draft, none is more heated than the one pertaining to whether or not the Atlanta Falcons made the right choice with the No. 3 pick in the draft. They went with Matt Ryan. Most thought they would go — and still think they should have gone — with Glenn Dorsey.

You can say that they should have gone with Dorsey. You could back up that claim with valid arguments such as that the Falcons have too many holes all over the field to take a quarterback, or simply that you think Dorsey will turn out to be a better pro than Ryan. You can say Matt Ryan will be a bust.

What you cannot say is that Matt Ryan was a bad choice by the Falcons. Well, let me clarify as I did earlier. You cannot say Matt Ryan was a bad choice by the Falcons without forfeiting your right to refer to yourself as a sane person.

"Why can't I say that?" you ask. The answer is not complicated. If general manager Thomas Dimitroff and the rest of the Falcons front office did not think Matt Ryan is a "franchise" quarterback, they would not have taken him. If they think that Matt Ryan is a "franchise" quarterback, they had to take him. Quarterback is inarguably the most important position on a football field when you are mediocre at best — borderline awful — at the position, you have to do something about it and you have to do something about it immediately.

If it's your pick and you need a quarterback and you think there is a "franchise" quarterback available, you draft him. It doesn't matter what else is available (and this is beside the point but in my opinion that "what else" wasn't that great). So even if you think Matt Ryan is going to be a "bust," you can't say the Falcons made a bad, stupid pick because clearly they don't agree with you. That itself makes the Ryan choice a smart one.

By similar logic you can't say Joe Flacco was a bad pick by the Ravens. You can predict he will be a "bust" and cite poor competition at Delaware as a reason, but you can't say he was a bad pick. Why not? Because clearly the Ravens think Joe Flacco is a "franchise" quarterback. How is it clear? Well, the Ravens traded down from No. 8 to No. 26 in the first round and Flacco most likely would have been available at 26. Nonetheless, not willing to risk losing Flacco, the Ravens traded back up — to No. 18 — and took their man probably well before he otherwise would have gone. Yes, they think Flacco is a "franchise" guy. Whether or not anyone else thinks that is irrelevant.

There are some picks, on the other hand, that you have every right to say are bad ones. You can say taking Chris Johnson 24th overall was a bad pick by the Titans. It doesn't matter if they think Johnson is the next Eddie George because one, he isn't, and two, they don't need a running back. They also can't afford taking a running back when they have plenty of other holes to fill, not the least of which is the absence of a top-notch receiving threat for quarterback Vince Young.

You can — and should — say that Brian Brohm and Chad Henne were bad picks. The Packers drafted Brohm and therefore that means they don't believe in Aaron Rodgers. The Dolphins took Henne and that means they don't believe in John Beck. Newsflash to the Packers and Dolphins: if you think you have a problem at the most important position on the field, you address it immediately. You don't wait around to draft someone you think has a chance of being pretty good. You make a bold move and get someone you are confident is going to be great. If the Dolphins felt they needed a QB they should have taken Ryan, and if the Packers felt they needed a QB, they should have traded up for Joe Flacco. Another newsflash to the Packers and Dolphins: two mediocre quarterbacks do not equal one great quarterback.

People say a lot about the NFL draft. There are some things you can't say about it ... at least not if you don't want to sound crazy.

Here's to thinking just a little bit before spouting off and making yourself look foolish in NFL draft water-cooler discussions.

Arguing about the NFL Draft is one of America's favorite pastimes. Well, maybe not, but recently it has become a circus of heated exchanges between football fans and analysts. A lot is said. But SC's Ricky Dimon explains that there some things you just can't say.

Posted by Ricky Dimon at 11:13 AM | Comments (4)

Fighting For Their Playoff Lives

Lots of smacks and even more smack. We're not even through one round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs, and clearly this year's postseason has a much more heated and physical feel than we've seen in years. I'm sure Kurt Rambis and Bill Laimbeer would elbow out three of my teeth and shove me into the fourth row for even thinking of comparing this to the playoff slugfests of the '80s, but the trend is worth acknowledging. Why has this trademark of playoffs past returned so suddenly? Well, it depends on what city you're in.

The use of physical and even at times dirty play has different motivations for each team. I've broken down each playoff team's (even the eliminated ones) physicality level and what it tells me about where that team is at:

The Jordan Rules Division: Washington, Denver

This is the classic example of why teams become more physical in the playoffs. The kamikaze attempts by Kenyon Martin and DeShawn Stevenson/Brendan Haywood to derail Kobe and LeBron, respectively, were supposed to slow down opposing superstars in the same way Detroit tried to slow down Chicago by hammering Michael Jordan every time he went to the hoop. Haywood was 100% right when he said Jordan was beat up much harder than LeBron has been, but that's the point.

After the New York rugby Knicks of Pat Riley made the playoffs in the mid-'90s into Greco-Roman wrestling, the NBA slowly moved into an era where the rules would protect wing superstars from being assaulted driving to the hoop. Small changes like hand-check calls and larger changes like suspensions for any hint of fighting have made that transformation complete.

It's probably worth mentioning here those two team's records in these series as of Tuesday night: 1-7. In fact, if you've watched most of the Cleveland/Washington series, you noticed that the only game the Wizards won was the one where they lowered their physical play from thuggery to mere negligent roughness. The moral of the story? If your best defensive strategy is "two-handed shove the other team's best player on lay-ups," you're probably not winning that series this year. Maybe in 1988; not in 2008.

The Enforcers Division: L.A., Cleveland, San Antonio, Philly

These are the teams that aren't looking for a fight, but they'll take care of their business if they need to. Cleveland and L.A. do this mostly in defense of LeBron and Kobe (though not nearly enough, in my opinion). San Antonio and Philly are a slightly different story. They bring the nastiness at a much more covert level, but it's there. Isn't that right, Bruce Bowen? Chris Kaman, any comments on Reggie Evans' propensity to perform "gut checks" on the opposition (if you think that's not a plea for you to search YouTube for "Kaman Reggie Evans," then you need Internet lessons from Al Gore)?

Interestingly, take a look how these four are doing. Each of them won/is winning their series, except for Philly, who at least made Detroit sweat. Keeping the physical play under the radar has worked for these four.

The Rasheed Wallace Memorial "We Ain't Afraid of Them Cats" Division: Atlanta, New Orleans

This group honors 'Sheed's famous statement before the 2004 Finals when asked about the Pistons' outlook against the Lakers. They apparently were not scared. And by the looks of the first round, neither are Atlanta or New Orleans. David West made things clear by bizarrely but devastatingly touching Dirk Nowitzki's cheek, which seemed to drain the will from the entire Dallas roster (more on this below). I'd recommend that move to DeShawn Stevenson, but getting that close to LeBron's cheek would probably cause a riot in downtown Cleveland.

Atlanta also changed their round one fortunes with a key confrontation. When Al Horford barked down at a fallen Paul Pierce at the end of Game 3, I thought it was inviting a disaster. Instead, the move seemed to convince the young Hawks that they belonged on the court with the juggernaut Celtics. Of course, there's a fine line between this group and the Jordan Rules group. Let's say that if your rough play somehow leads to inviting Soulja Boy to watch a game courtside, you've probably gone too far.

The Big Brother Division: Boston, Detroit, Orlando

The top three teams in the East know better than to get too caught up in the playoff carnage. These guys defuse some of the chippiness with their mix of edgy and physically-imposing guys (K.G., Rasheed, Dwight Howard ... Brian Scalabrine). These teams are like older brothers being pestered by younger brothers. They'll put up with it for a bit, but when the time comes, they'll pop little bro' in the nose just to keep him in his place. Just watch Boston's Game 5 at home. You'll see.

The FIBA-Rules Charmin Double Ply Division: Toronto, Dallas, Phoenix

The Raptors are too young and too wiry to be physically imposing. They're just not built for that kind of game. The Mavericks epitomized how not to use the hard foul when Jason Kidd floored Jannero Pargo. Consider that the Mavs' last gasp for air. When a player like Kidd is taking cheap shots like that, consider the towel thrown in. Ironically, it took the acceptance of defeat for Dallas to actually commit that kind of foul. Had they been able to play with that kind of edge say, four games ago, things might have turned out differently.

Phoenix, meanwhile, doesn't seem to fit in the "soft" category on the surface, but consider the personnel a little closer. Steve Nash probably isn't going inside the UFC Octagon any time soon. Shaq wasn't much of a brawler even in his younger days, and Geriatric Shaq is even less. Playing physical defense, let alone hard fouls, from Amare Stoudemire would involve something other than a pick-and-roll resulting in a dunk, so he's out of the question. And Grant Hill is, well, Grant Hill. Just think about when Robert Horry hip-checked Nash into the scorer's table last year. The team's response to that was Amare wandering far enough off the bench to get suspended. That was it. Maybe Phoenix isn't soft, but they're definitely physicality-impaired.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Division: Houston, Utah

On paper, Utah should have made this series into a steel cage match. Look at the coaches: Rick Adelman, leader of such puff pastries as the early 2000s Kings, against Jerry Sloan, whose reputation for gritty, grinding teams is legendary. Even the roster breakdown seems like the Jazz should have been playing dirty here. Houston has a superstar in T-Mac just begging to be kneed, elbowed, and planted on the deck at every opportunity.

And yet somehow, someway, the Rockets and Jazz have had a relatively clean series. All playoff games ramp up the physical play, but in a postseason marked by hard fouls and trash talk, Houston and Utah have been very well behaved. The Jazz very easily could have employed the strategy that Washington and Denver used. The Lakers, Cavs, and Rockets all fit the profile of a superstar surrounded by supporting pieces (with the exception of Pau Gasol). Conventional wisdom (at least Chuck Daly's) would suggest that the superstar on each of those teams should be battered and bruised to reduce his effectiveness, and yet look at how this has turned out. By not making T-Mac the target of felony-caliber hacks, Utah has succeeded where the other bullies have failed.

So consider this, NBA coaches. Physical play is a good thing; just ask Dallas, Toronto, and Phoenix where they've ended up without it. But going overboard on the intimidation? Not such a good thing; see how it's taken on a life of its own in Washington. A moderate effort to keep the other guys uncomfortable seems to be the way to go.

The league will never return to the kind of brawls that went on between Detroit and Chicago or Los Angeles and Boston, but we can at least salute the return of a modified version. After all, this is a league where a star player missed a game because of a pedicure gone wrong. Sorry to remind you, Mr. Laimbeer.

Posted by Corrie Trouw at 11:03 AM | Comments (3)

April 29, 2008

To Catch a Tejada

Baseball has its Chris Hansen, and his name is Tom Farrey. ESPN's E:60 reporter sat Miguel Tejada down and confronted him with his own birth certificate, proving Tejada was two years older than he had claimed for his entire career.

Bravo. Thank goodness for guys like Tom Farrey. Without reporters like him, we would have continued to be victimized by this lying, thieving punk. It's like catching a corrupt politician red-handed and preventing him from continuing to lie and steal from his position of power.

After all, this is baseball; even Congress halted to hold a steroid tribunal — twice — because the game's integrity is more important than any of their other business on Capital Hill (you know, like running the country). And while the irreparable harm wreaked by Tejada cannot be undone, at least we can stop him from hurting future generations with his lies.

And to catch him in his tracks like that was beautiful; it was great watching this master of deceit squirm, confronted with his lie and the damage it's done. Shame on you Miguel, and congratulations, Tom. Surely this scoop will propel your career to a new stratosphere, one in which at least seven or eight people actually know your name.

All right, if you haven't noticed the sarcasm I've been pouring on with a ladle at this point, please e-mail me because I have some beachfront property in Wyoming I'd like to sell you at a discount. But seriously, do we need to use the tactics that Chris Hansen uses on "To Catch a Predator" for Dateline? That kind of grandstanding, that kind of sensationalized, two-faced "investigative" reporting seems cruel even to child molesters.

Think about that; Chris Hansen actually makes you feel just a little bad for a guy that feels up children for pleasure; how messed up is that? Do we really need that kind of deception to point out that, "uh, Miguel, we found a birth certificate, you're 33, aren't you?"

It's not like the concept of Latin players lying about their age is new. I don't want to waste an entire paragraph dedicated to all the names of players that have lied, but Rafael Furcal, David Ortiz, Alfonso Soriano, and Bartolo Colon headline the list.

Nor is the motive new. Everyone knows that these players lie to be younger to appear to be better prospects, mainly in order to escape poverty that anyone with the mere means of reading this article cannot fathom. (Some do lie up, like Edgar Renteria, to broach the 16-year age requirement to sign a contract with a team, but the reason is the same.) Farrey knew this, or else he had his head so far up his own backside that it would take a crowbar to dislodge it. Then again, given the sensibility of his reporting, that isn't impossible.

The mere setup was despicable. Farrey asked him his age, and naturally, Tejada lied. Farrey knew this; Tejada has made a career in baseball with his fake age without faltering before. So now Farrey has the journalist equivalent of a hanging curveball with the bases loaded; a person lying in front of him and proof in his hand of that lie. Forget what the lie is. Forget that the lie was perpetrated to get out of living in a shanty and wondering where the next meal is coming from. Forget the utter lack of victims in this lie. (Okay, the Astros may have only given up four, not five, prospects to get him from Baltimore.)

I'd like to see Farrey endure a fraction of Tejada's hardships and see if he wouldn't tell a little lie to get out of it. But really, there is no need to wonder. He lied just to get Tejada to sit down with him, and that was just to add a little drama to his well-paying job.

And by the way, kudos to the big scoop. It only took you until his 12th major league season to flush him out. Richard Nixon would have been retired in the old-people home at the onset of the second Ronald Reagan administration before being caught if Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were as prompt.

Don't get me wrong. Tejada's age is fair game, and he should have come forward by now. This absolutely should be reported — preferably somewhere around 1999. And Tejada is a rich man; eventually, time and next week's paycheck will heal the wound.

But a guy being rich is not grounds to jettison common decency. There is no need to dupe him into an interview, dangle a carrot in front of him, spring a trap, and embarrass the hell out of him for coming from abject poverty. Report the story. If you need a TV interview, tell him what it's about first. If he doesn't agree, say he didn't want to comment in the report. Standard procedure.

I graduated from journalism school at USC. Nothing I ever learned there suggested this was appropriate; I never had a class called "Tricking People Into Interviews to Make Them Cry 310." This was sensationalized garbage built for ratings at the expense of a person with no benefits for society at large.

But I did learn about burning sources, and if ESPN is ever allowed to talk to Tejada again, they should be considered lucky. But this bridge, most likely, has been scorched.

Posted by Kyle Jahner at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

2008 NFL Draft Recap

The NFL draft has become one of the league's most popular events, far behind the Super Bowl, but well ahead of an average Monday Night Football game. Despite the ever-increasing importance of free agency, the draft remains the most important event of the offseason, and the teams who do well can gain a substantial advantage over those who don't. So who were the winners this weekend?

2008 Draft Winners

* Fans — The new 10-minute time restriction gave us the shortest first round in memory. The picks came faster, the waits got shorter, and plenty of trades got made even without the extra five minutes. Terrific new policy.

* Kansas City Chiefs — They did very well in the draft, but don't forget that the team also gave up its best player (DE Jared Allen) to get some of those picks. That said, it's hard not to like what Kansas City accomplished, especially in the first two rounds. The Chiefs landed LSU's Glenn Dorsey, who was probably the best player in this year's draft. They traded up to address their offensive line with Branden Albert, and used their second-round pick on CB Brandon Flowers, addressing a real need in the defensive backfield. All three players went lower than they were projected, and it's hard not to think that Kansas City got some very good deals. The team also had three third-round picks and should be able to find at least one impact player among the group.

* Minnesota Vikings — A number of people have questioned what the Vikings gave up to acquire Jared Allen, but he's the best defensive end in NFL, and if he stays on the field — meaning he avoids injury and suspension — he'll be worth everything the team paid to get him.

* USC — With four first-round selections (the most of any school) and three second-rounders (also the most of any school), the Trojans clearly made their mark on the first day of the draft.

* Miami Dolphins — This team has a ton of problems, but I love what it did this weekend. First, the Dolphins signed Jake Long before the draft, meaning they won't have to worry about a holdout. Then they stole Clemson DE Phillip Merling at the top of the second round, used their extra pick from the Chris Chambers trade on Michigan QB Chad Henne, and added two more linemen — one on offense, one on defense — in the third and fourth rounds. Rebuilding doesn't happen overnight, but this is a great start.

* Philadelphia Eagles — Traded down twice before finally making a selection at 47th overall, Notre Dame DT Trevor Laws. The main reason the Eagles are in the winner's circle is their early trade with Carolina. In exchange for its first-round pick, 19th overall, Philadelphia landed Carolina's 2009 first-rounder, plus the 43rd overall selection and an early fourth-round pick in this year's draft. Besides significantly bolstering next year's draft with that trade, the Eagles picked up Cal WR DeSean Jackson to give the offense a new weapon, and used three fourth-round choices to bolster their offensive line and defensive backfield. It might be a year or two before Philadelphia sees all the benefits of this year's draft, but it looks to have been a very good one.

* Buffalo Bills — I don't know if anyone but the Chiefs and Dolphins did better with their first two picks than the Bills did. They got the draft's top corner in Leodis McKelvin, then picked up the big receiver they needed in the second round, selecting Indiana's James Hardy, who should be a perfect complement to Lee Evans.

* The Green Room — In recent years, we've seen players wait around the Green Room room in Radio City Music Hall for over an hour, most notably QBs Aaron Rodgers and Brady Quinn. This year, the six players in New York for the draft were the first six off the board.

* New York Giants — Smart first-round selection with Miami safety Kenny Phillips, who will replace the departed Gibril Wilson. The Giants also addressed needs by adding another defensive back (Terrell Thomas) in the second round and a wide receiver (Mario Manningham) in the third. A pair of fourth-round picks went to linebackers, addressing the team's other obvious need.

* New England Patriots — The rich get richer. New England addressed four clear needs in the first four rounds, taking versatile LB Jerod Mayo, a pair of cornerbacks, a pass-rusher for their 3-4, and a backup QB to develop behind Tom Brady. They also picked up a second-round pick for 2009.

* Offensive Linemen — Eight first-round selections, including the first overall pick in the draft, were offensive linemen. This position may be underrated by fans, but it's getting plenty of love from NFL coaches and executives.

* Pittsburgh Steelers — I like their second- and third-round picks, Texas WR Limas Sweed and UCLA DE Bruce Davis, who will probably play outside linebacker in Pittsburgh's 3-4 defensive scheme. I really like Rashard Mendenhall, but I'm not sure how he fits on this team. Mendenhall, more than any other RB in the 2008 draft, is ideally suited to being a workhorse back, and as long as Willie Parker is in Pittsburgh, I don't see Mendenhall or the Steelers getting the most out of this partnership. I would have rather seen the Steelers address the offensive line or defensive backfield here, but Mendenhall was probably the best player available, and the Steelers still make my list of winners.

2008 Draft Losers

* Oakland Raiders — I don't have a problem with Darren McFadden, but he was Oakland's only pick in the first three rounds. The second-rounder went to Atlanta in the DeAngelo Hall trade, so I suppose I should count Hall as part of this year's draft, but they traded their third-round pick to New England last year, moving up to take Mario Henderson. What I really, really don't like is that the Raiders once again failed to address the offensive line. They may have the quarterback (JaMarcus Russell) and running back (McFadden) now, but what those guys are going to accomplish without any blocking, I don't know.

* Washington — The idea seems to be that Santana Moss, Chris Cooley, and Antwaan Randle El just aren't very good. The problem isn't Jason Campbell, it's his receivers! Washington spent its first three picks on two WRs and a TE, without addressing holes at safety, outside linebacker, or defensive line. Another terrible draft from Daniel Snyder, though I do like the team's later-round picks, especially Durant Brooks.

* Wide Receivers — For the first time since 1990, no wideouts were taken in the first round. To make up for it, though, there were 10 in the second round. Seriously. Ten of the 32 players taken in the second round of this year's draft were wide receivers.

* Cincinnati Bengals — Washington reportedly offered first- and third-round picks for Chad Johnson, and the Bengals refused? No one doubts that Johnson is a good receiver, but in the last two seasons he has surpassed Terrell Owens as the single biggest team cancer in the league, and he's developed a drop problem. If Washington really made this offer, and the Bengals didn't leap at it, they made a huge mistake. If this much-rumored offer never actually happened, consider Cincinnati un-losered. I actually kind of like their draft, though Jerome Simpson was a puzzling selection ahead of Limas Sweed, DeSean Jackson, and Malcolm Kelly.

* Cleveland Browns — A team with no picks before the fourth round is obviously a draft loser, but those three picks helped net Brady Quinn, Corey Williams, and Shaun Rogers, so let's not put the Browns in the same sentence as Washington and Oakland. I don't know who the Browns think will play cornerback for them in 2008.

Tweeners

* Houston Texans — Everyone agrees that Houston reached by taking Duane Brown with its first selection, but offensive tackle has been a need for this team ever since Tony Boselli didn't work out, and Brown should help address that. The team gambled with its two third-round picks, taking CB Antwaun Molden — who is big and athletic but unpolished — and West Virginia RB Steve Slaton, who was a game-changer in college, but may struggle at the NFL level. Sixth-round safety Dominique Barber is an intriguing sleeper.

* Carolina Panthers — The team clearly feels that Jeff Otah is a special player, but they gave up too much to get him: a 2009 first-round pick, plus second- and fourth-round selections in this year's draft. Jonathan Stewart, whom Carolina selected 13th overall, probably would have been available lower. I don't have a problem with the players, just the price of picking them. The Panthers are listed as tweeners rather than losers mostly because of third-round selection Dan Connor, a Penn State linebacker.

* Chicago Bears — They obviously drafted for need, but who are these guys? The team's first three picks were OT Chris Williams, RB Matt Forte, WR Earl Bennett. Did the team need players at those positions? Absolutely. Are these guys the answer? I'm not so sure.

* Atlanta Falcons — Another team that addressed needs but reached for players. It's easy to understand why the Falcons selected Matt Ryan third overall, but it's equally easy to fault them for passing on Glenn Dorsey. Similarly, getting a tackle to protect Ryan was important, but there's a broad consensus that Sam Baker was a reach at 21st overall, possibly the first really shocking selection of the draft. Their second- and third-round picks were stronger.

Posted by Brad Oremland at 11:57 AM | Comments (1)

Top 10 Active NBA Players Without a Title

If you are a young professional basketball player, one of the highest forms of praise you can receive is being compared to one of the all-time greats at your position. If a power forward comes out of college and is christened "the next Karl Malone" or "the next Charles Barkley," it is a compliment to top all other compliments. I know I'd want my team drafting "the next Charles Barkley".

In almost every way would I want a rookie to come in and have his career play out like Barkley's did. Almost every way.

Barkley and Malone lead the not-so-distinguished list of "greatest NBA players never to win a title." With the 2008 playoffs under way, it got me thinking: who are the best active players without a title? Who is the next Barkley, only not in a good way.

Below is a list of the top 10 active players without an NBA title. A few quick clarifications on the criteria:

1. I've taken into account the span of their entire career to determine their rank. For example, obviously right now Elton Brand is better than Chris Webber, but Webber has had the better career, so he gets ranked ahead of Brand.

2. There is an age limit. Each player on this list has to have been drafted in the 1990s. That means the list isn't flooded with guys like LeBron and Dwight Howard because they haven't been around long enough.

That being said, here are the 10 best active players without an NBA title.

10. Elton Brand

Brand has been a poor man's K.G. all his career. He's averaged 20.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game throughout his career. He averaged 20 points per game in six of his nine seasons and 10 rebounds per game six of his nine seasons. You can pretty much pencil him in for 20 and 10 every time he takes the floor. He was the 2000 Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-NBA in 2006.

Yet Brand has only played on one team with a winning record in nine seasons. He's never been on 50-win team. He's played all of 12 playoff games in career. Maybe he's been dealt a bad hand by being stuck with the rebuilding Bulls and then traded to the Clippers. Or maybe he's just forever destined to be the guy who is always going to be "great player, bad team."

9. Ray Allen

Allen's career has been, if nothing else, consistent. Two things you can count on from Allen every year:

1. He'll make threes. He trails only Reggie Miller for most three-point field goals made all-time.
2. He'll make free throws. He's seventh all-time with a career free throw percentage of .889.

He is an eight-time all-star, and has been has been on an All-NBA Second Team and All-NBA Third Team. Like Brand, however, most of his accolades have been accumulated in the regular season. In only one of his 12 NBA seasons has his team won a playoff series. That was back in 2001, when he, Sam Cassell, and "Big Dog" Glenn Robinson lost a tough Game 7 in Philly in which Allen Iverson, fresh of his MVP season, dropped 44.

8. Grant Hill

Maybe it's because it's been seven years since his ankle basically exploded that people forget just how great Hill was when he entered the league. The man was a triple-double waiting to happen every single night for his six seasons with Detroit.

He started the All-Star Game in his rookie season. He finished that season with the Rookie of the Year award. He followed that with four Second Team All-NBA seasons and one First Team in the next five seasons. He finished third in the MVP voting in his third season. Before LeBron was even in high school, people were asking if Grant Hill could average a triple-double.

Then came the injuries. He played just 32% of Orlando's games over the next five seasons and never could get himself back to the level he once was at. It'd be hard to find another player in NBA history that lost so much of his prime to injuries.

7. Chris Webber

I'm aware that he recently retired, but I'm still counting him as active because he played in this season. Much has been written about Webber in the past few months since he made his retirement official. Count me as one of the many people completely puzzled by how his career played out.

I don't need to rehash his resume, either the positive or the negative, because by now most people are well aware of what he did/didn't accomplish in his 15-year NBA career. But title or no title, love him or hate him, Webber deserves a lot of credit for revolutionizing the power forward position. The way the Kings used him at the high post (with great success I might add) has opened the door for a lot of up-and-coming power forwards to be used in a similar fashion, adding a whole new element to a lot of team's offensive strategies.

6. Tracy McGrady

McGrady has the talent to be higher on this list, but that's what he'll always be remembered for: so much talent for such little team success. He's had an 11-year career, but he's really only been lights-out in six seasons, and that's when he stays healthy.

During his prime, there is no doubt about it that McGrady was an elite NBA scorer if there ever was one, highlighted by his back-to-back scoring titles in 2003 and 2004. He made seven straight all-star-game appearances, two First Team All-NBA, three Second Team, and one Third Team in that stretch.

Yet despite all his success, he'll always be "the guy who never won a playoff series." Maybe rightfully so, maybe not. That's just the way it is.

(By the way, Mr. Clutch didn't exactly help his cause of dropping that title with his one fourth quarter point in the first two games in the Jazz series.)

5. Steve Nash

Due to my hatred of all things Suns, I would have loved to leave Nash off this list, but whether I like it or not, he's still had a really good career. Aside from his two BPBT (Best Player on the Best Team) awards, Nash has had been on three straight All-NBA First Teams, led the league in assists three times, played in six All-Star Games, and perhaps should be given more credit for bagging this, despite looking like this over anything else he has accomplished in his life.

Despite all of the great things that Nash has accomplished in his career, I remain unwavering in my belief that he and his style will never yield anything more than regular season success. He plays no defense and is too careless with the ball. In those three years that he led the league in assists, he also finished seventh, third, and second in the league in turnovers committed. He led the league this year. To put things in perspective, Chris Paul led the league in assists this year. He had the 20th most turnovers committed, with nearly 100 less than Nash.

John Q. Basketball fan may be in love with his ability lead his team to plenty of regular season wins, but to me, there is nothing impressive about a "great" point guard who can't beat good teams in a playoff series.

4. Jason Kidd

Kidd ranks ahead of Nash on this list for a few different reasons. First of all, he plays on both sides of the ball. You may not realize it now because he's getting a little long in the tooth and Chris Paul is probably blowing by him as you read this, but Kidd had been either First or Second Team All-Defensive nine times in his career. He's been to nine all-star games. He's been to the Finals twice. He's led the league in assists five times. He's arguably the best rebounding guard in the history of the game.

Unfortunately for Kidd, he never quite had enough help to get himself a ring. His two Finals teams were not nearly as good as the Lakers team they lost to in 2002 or the Spurs team in 2003. Nonetheless, he's gotten his team close, which on the list is good enough to get you near the top.

3. Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk has come closer than any other player on this list to winning a title. Up 2-0 in the 2006 finals, a combination of terrible officiating and the best performance Dwyane Wade will ever have ripped the Larry O'Brien right out of his hands. Dallas has taken giant steps backwards since that series, swung for the fences, and missed with the Kidd trade, and is a lot more likely to find itself in the lottery than the finals next season if something drastic doesn't happen.

(Completely random and not relevant to this article prediction: trying to cover his backside for the completely foolish Kidd trade, Mark Cuban will fire Avery Johnson after they lose to the Hornets in the first round and pin the blame of getting bounced in the first round two years in a row on him. Then, in order to make it seem like Cuban is doing everything he can to rectify the team's problems, he will hire the newly unemployed Larry Brown as his head coach going into next season. That way he can blame Avery for the lack of success the last two years, and sell Larry Brown as the new savior to his fan base. Then, once Larry Brown inevitably wears out his welcome, he can shift the blame back on him. All the while, Cuban avoids taking the heat for the Kidd deal. Just something to ponder as you watch the Mavs clean out their lockers this week.)

Meanwhile, Dirk continues to be a superstar this team. At the beginning of the article, I mentioned giving the compliment to players by saying they are "the next whoever." Every year, a big, white European gets drafted in the lottery and he is dubbed "the next Dirk."

Sorry to disappoint, but there will never be another Dirk. He is the one player in the league right now that I feel is one of a kind. At some point, we could see a kid come along with the combination of size and strength of LeBron. There will be another player to come along and have an endless supply of offensive moves and score at will like Kobe can. But in my opinion, there will never be another seven-footer than can handle the ball like a guard, shoot threes, shoot mid-rangers, score with his back to the basket, score driving to the basket, shoot 90% percent or so from the free throw line, and grab over 10 boards a game.

Combine his one-of-a-kind skill set with his many NBA achievements, and Dirk ranks third behind only two of the greatest to ever play as the best active player to not have a title.

2. Kevin Garnett

I realize that nowadays it is blasphemous not to put a player from Boston at the top of any sports list, but I'm doing it anyway. Garnett has been a picture of consistency his entire career. Before this season, K.G. averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds an astonishing nine seasons in a row. The only other players in NBA history to have at least that many consecutive 20-10 seasons: Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, and Shaquille O'Neal. Any time you can be mentioned in the same breath as any one of those players, you've obviously had a great career.

Here's where Garnett comes up short. Only one time in his entire career has Garnett's team advanced out of the first round of the playoffs. Despite all of his individual greatness, for one reason or another, K.G.'s team time and again has failed to come through in playoff series.

Maybe it's because he's not very clutch. Maybe he hasn't had good enough coaching. Maybe he hasn't had enough help. Maybe it's a combination of all three. Whatever the case may be, I can't in good conscience rank his career as a whole better than the number one player on this list because of his lack of playoff success.

1. Allen Iverson

Maybe Iverson's style isn't your cup of tea. His personality can be off-putting at times. His tattoos and cornrows might turn off some of the more conservative and old-school NBA lovers. But there is no denying Iverson's ability and toughness.

I don't need to list his NBA achievements, because if you don't know by now what he has accomplished in his career, why are you even reading this? I mentioned before that McGrady is an elite NBA scorer if there ever was one; well, Iverson is and more.

He's finished in the top 10 in scoring 11 times, leading the league four times. He has the third highest points per game average of all-time. He's finished in the top-10 in steals 10 times, leading the league twice.

On top of that, if you've ever seen Iverson play in person, and you didn't walk away from that game completely amazed at the ability that he has, then you truly don't have a real understanding of what makes a great basketball player.

One of the things that separates Iverson from Garnett is that during their respective primes you knew what Garnett was capable of doing when he was playing his best. He was going to give you at least a 20 and 20 game, and more than likely more than "just" 20 points. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a 20 and 20 game.

With Iverson, much like with Kobe now, there was no ceiling when he was at his best. 40, 50, even 60 points. Nothing was out of reach for him. Unlike Garnett, Iverson always raised his game to the highest level in the playoffs, just when his team needed it most.

His resume reads equally as impressive as Garnett's. If statistically you want to call their careers even, I can't argue with that. So team success becomes the tiebreaker. Iverson has been to the NBA finals. Garnett hasn't. I don't care what conference you play in, making the finals is never a cakewalk.

Maybe the argument for best player never to win a title is moot. After all, no one puts more stock in winning titles when it comes to evaluating a player's career than I do. But sometimes it's just not in the cards. Ask Barkley and Malone. In an ideal world, Iverson and Garnett would ride off into the sunset towards Springfield, MA with a Larry O'Brien trophy and a smile. But if it never happens, in my opinion, Iverson can look back on his career and say that his was better than Garnett's.

Unless, of course, the Celtics decide that they want to alter history this June.

Posted by Scott Shepherd at 11:56 AM | Comments (9)

Firing (at) a Lame Duck

Last week, Isiah Thomas was fired by the Knicks for hitting rock-bottom harder than Robert Downey, Jr. and proceeding to dig like there was oil underneath Madison Square Garden.

Wayne Krivsky was also fired last week. The reasons are a bit less apparent.

Apparently, Cincinnati Reds management was displeased with the team's 9-12 start, cited as the main reason they fired him by owner Bob Castellini, who replaced him with the Reds' recently-hired and suspiciously-situated "special assistant," Walt Jocketty.

Recent history pretty much proves that the excuse of a poor start 21 games into a season is more bogus than the hope inspired by the Kansas City Royals' fast start, recently flushed by a seven-game losing streak.

Last year, the New York Yankees were 21-29 for a day. The Colorado Rockies started 9-15 and were at one point 17-25. The Phillies? Five games under .500 after 33 games. The Chicago Cubs, in the Reds' own division, woke up one morning at 22-31. That's half the teams in last year's playoffs (three of four from the NL) and all of them started at least as poorly as the Reds did last year through 21 games.

None of those teams panicked like they had Stevie Wonder behind the wheel of the team bus and fired the GM. Of course, the Reds aren't the Yankees. Probably not even the Cubs or Phillies, especially in terms of payroll. But this is a dark-horse team that could be dangerous, a parallel in terms of young talent to the Rockies or even Diamondbacks of last year. (Not to mention my choice for a surprise contender in my last article.)

The start was said to be their worst since 2003. Of course, last year they were 10-11, and considering the number of times the previous "better" starts led to playoff births (0), it pretty much validates the notion that a team's status in April means less than a Miss Cleo prediction.

Krivsky was hired before 2006 on a team that had zero quality arms on the staff or in the bullpen, and as many recent playoff berths. So what has he done with the group in a sliver over two years at the wheel? Let me think. He:

• Traded Willy Mo Pena from a crowded outfield to grab the embattled Bronson Arroyo. Even with his early struggles this year, Arroyo has been far more valuable than Willy Mo Pena, who apparently entered witness protection after being traded to the Nationals.
• Traded a player to be named later (Jeff Stevens, anyone?) to the Indians for second baseman Brandon Phillips, who joined the 30-30 club last year. The Indians promptly notified authorities that they had been robbed.
• Picked up Josh Hamilton essentially for the price of a Lexus. An average one at that. One year later, he parlayed Hamilton's success into the Texas Rangers' top pitching prospect, Edinson Volquez. Volquez is 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA right now.
• After trading Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns to get bullpen help from Washington in 2006, perhaps his most ridiculed trade (at least by me at the time), the two went on to produce underwhelming numbers for the Nationals. He filled the hole at short by picking up Jeff Keppinger for a rosin bag, and was watching him hit over .300 so far in '08.
• He finally got the team a closer in Francisco Cordero after its chronically bad bullpen blew 28 saves last year. That immediately equals wins, because Cordero is simply not going to blow 28 games. Of course, at the current rate, he won't get that many chances. But the chances will come, and games that would have been losses will become wins.

This is a team with an offensive lynchpin in Adam Dunn. (When will people look past the strikeouts and .250 batting average and realize the incredible value in a guy who reaches base over 38 percent of the time — career — and for the last three years has averaged 100 runs, 100 RBIs, and 40 homers? Some Reds fans are still inexplicably bitter Krivsky never traded him.) The team has never struggled to score runs for a prolonged period, and now Aaron Harang has developed into an ace and Johnny Cueto has broken onto the scene. Four quality arms, after years as a team that couldn't pitch to a little league lineup.

Granted, it hasn't been a perfectly smooth ride in the Reds' riverboat of a stadium. Krivsky wasted an occasional dollar checks on a Mike Stanton, a Real Cormier, or a Corey Paterson (manager Dusty Baker also likely had a role that one). He has a tendency to throw around a mid-level contracts here and there at players that don't deserve them, and on a small-budget team like the Reds, that can hurt.

But every GM has his trades or contracts he'd rather not discuss. In terms of throwing around GDPs of small nations at busts and trading away players that turned into superstars, Krivsky's closet is well below average with its skeleton count. And we aren't talking Juan Pierre dollar-to-talent ratios here.

No, neither personnel moves nor meaningless early losses were tipping points for cutting a guy's term short at 26 months when it takes years to build a winner, especially from what he started with. Jocketty was hired as "special assistant to the GM" this offseason, and if it wasn't obvious before, it is clear with anvil-level bluntness that the title was really "assistant until-we-can-find a-legit-reason-to-fire-Krivsky" GM. You wonder what would have happened if the Reds started 15-6.

Jocketty is too big a name to sit second chair at an organization that his teams regularly finished about three floors above in the standings while with the Cardinals, albeit with a little larger payroll. To even bring him on staff with someone else still in the GM chair was effectively a firing to begin with.

Personal problems between Castellini and Krivsky have been rumored, and while that will never be fully reported, it seems likely such differences were a factor. Another culprit? Simple owner's impatience and over-meddling, all too common in sports. The Steinbrenner theory of win-now-or-be-fired is a close second behind blatant financial neglect on the list of "worst ways to run a franchise."

But more likely, Castellini saw an opportunity to grab a guy like Jocketty, and felt like a proven GM was worth grabbing and stashing away under a bogus "advisor" title until he could find a good reason to shake his etch-a-sketch clean and hand it to his buddy Walt.

Either way, to hire Krivsky's replacement while leaving him in office was a classless move. If they never intended to give him a chance, firing him before the season was the least the Reds could have done.

Jocketty, who built a perennial winner in St. Louis, will not tear down the Reds, and the team may well appear to rebound because of him, making a run for the playoffs. Hopefully, when they do, Jocketty and Castellini will at least send Krivsky a thank you card. Because it's doubtful he gets the apology he deserves.

Posted by Kyle Jahner at 11:28 AM | Comments (1)

April 26, 2008

Sports Q&A: New Jobs For Isiah

Bob from Portland, OR writes, "Isiah Thomas was fired last Friday as coach of the New York Knicks to the objection of no one. Team president Donnie Walsh says Thomas will remain with the organization in an unnamed role. What type of job could Thomas do that wouldn't be detrimental to the Knicks organization?"

Thomas buried this franchise as a president and a coach, so it's no surprise that he'll receive the same opportunity is a less prominent role, possibly as the director of scouting for the continent of Antarctica, or in some other capacity, such as "professional douchebag," or "grope dealer." It's possible that Thomas will finally realize his dream job, that of "undersecretary," a "position" he's longed for at various stops, as long as he found the respective secretary sexually appealing.

Thomas' firing was a long time coming, and well overdue. He had made various ill-advised personnel moves, as president and coach, none more egregious than offering $30 million to a one-armed, blind shooting guard, who was very receptive to Thomas' advances, and actually agreed to a deal-sealing hug. Things didn't go so swimmingly in Thomas' dealings with Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders, who repeatedly spurned Thomas' requests for hugs, kisses, and verbal confirmation that "Knickerbockers" is also another name for a "womens' bloomer-like undergarment." Sanders' refusal to acquiesce to Thomas' boorish harassment got her fired, but she was later awarded $11.6 million in a sexual harassment suit against Thomas and Madison Square Garden. Apparently, Thomas misunderstood Sanders' loud chants of "USA! USA! USA!" as a patriotic expression, and not as her intended meaning of "Unwanted Sexual Advances!"

So, where does this leave us. Well, it seems that losing a sexual harassment lawsuit alone is not reason enough alone to fire Thomas. That single loss apparently doesn't compare to the 59 the Knicks endured this year under Thomas' leadership. That was enough to fire Thomas, but, incredibly, not enough to exile him for good from the Knicks organization. Walsh has stated that in his new job, Thomas will have no contact with players, which is basically how it was when Thomas was head coach. There isn't a job for the Knicks that won't be detrimental to the organization. The fact that the Knicks are even offering Thomas employment is an affront to decency.

As employment goes, Thomas should be nowhere near New York, but a man's got to work, and there are several options for a person with Thomas' qualifications. Word is, he's currently sending out "feelers" for job openings, or openings in general.

The Price is Right host: Former host Bob Barker, in between his pleas to have pets spade or neutered, was busy placing his abnormally long, thin microphone is places where he shouldn't. Just ask some of Barker's hostesses. They'll tell you that "Squeeze Play" wasn't just a game, it was a humiliating job prerequisite, as was "Hole-in-One." They'll also tell you that the working atmosphere became simply unbearable when Barker insisted the hostesses play his naughty version of the pricing game "Swap Meet," a game he fondly called "Swap Meat." As host, Thomas wouldn't even have to ask for hugs from contestants, and if he's desperate for kisses, he can head over to the studio of Family Feud, where they hand out kisses like the Knicks hand out settlement dollars. And Thomas would feel right at home with contestants making outrageous bids on worthless items.

Headmaster at the Bobby Knight School of Inappropriate Touching: If anyone knows inappropriate touching, it's Knight. Whether it's assaulting a Puerto Rican policeman or head-butting one of his players, Knight's harassment skills are legendary. Whether or not Knight obtains some type of twisted sexual gratification from this is anyone's guess, but they don't call him "The General" for nothing, now do they? Obviously, Thomas has much more charm than Knight. At least Isiah asks permission before he inappropriately touches.

Supermarket melon tester: If you like your melons like Thomas does, firm with just the right amount of "give," then you'll surely trust Thomas' skills as a melon tester. This job is perfect for Thomas. Melons don't object to any amount of fondling. In fact, they like it, and actually make competent New York Knicks' decision-making executives.

Supreme Court judge: If a man with tastes ranging from movies starring "Long Dong Silver" to the law can serve as one of the nine judges charged with interpreting and amending the United States Constitution, then Isiah Thomas is certainly capable of the same. Or at least the sexual harassment part. He's even already got the last name down. Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas' verbal harassment skills are well known, and his oral arguments have brought some to their knees. Throw a fancy robe on Isiah and give him a vague interpretation of the Constitution, and, pretty soon, his Constitutional rights will include hugging and kissing whomever he pleases.

Arch-nemesis of Mr. Whipple, the Charmin toilet paper guy: Mr. Whipple says, "Don't squeeze the Charmin." Since when has Isiah listened when someone told him not to do something? Isiah failed to listen to the protests of Sanders, and, remarkably, it took the Knicks two years to can Thomas after complaints and a lawsuit. Mr. Whipple doesn't play. Failure to heed his warnings about Charmin-squeezing, and he "Whipps" out the sandpaper, and it won't take him two years to do so.

Locker room liaison between media and players, New England Patriots: If you're a female reporter and want a scoop, then Thomas, in this new job, can get it for you, provided you walk the walk and graciously accept forced viewings of "Patriot missiles." There's a connection: Thomas' nickname is "Zeke"; the Patriots' Zeke Mowatt was the first to arm his "missile."

Pairs figure skater: What other occupation allows you to place your hand up a lady's skirt and score points for it, as effeminate male announcers giddily compliment your "elegance" and "beautiful lines?"

Private investigator: Isiah's already a public "dick." From there, it's an easy transition to become a private "dick." Plus, he gets to chase "tails" all day.

Get Your Questions Answered!

Do you have a question or comment? Then send your question or comment along with your name and hometown to [email protected]. You may get the answer you're looking for in the next column on Friday, May 9th.

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

Bon Giorno, Mia Fratello and Fratella!

Tennis writers get the opportunity to travel the world, perhaps more than most professional sports writers. I'm no exception. I'm writing this after just spending a week in Italy. For the first time in a long time, however, I wasn't in Italy following the tennis tour, but just a regular vacation with my new traveling partner, the lovely Suzanne. Probably the furthest thing from my mind was tennis.

Suzanne and I strolled the beautiful city of Rome and the Colosseum, the first sports stadium if you think about it. It's as large as a modern day baseball stadium, and maybe even more complex. The marble, the architecture, just phenomenal. We walked from trendy Campo di Fiori, through the Piazza Navonna, past the Pantheon. All amazing sights. The Piazza Navonna is filled with street performers and musicians. The Pantheon is a marvel of engineering; it's dome and brick construction almost incomprehensible for when it was built.

We continued on, past the Trevi Fountain, past the most lavish McDonald's in the world (yes, I said McDonald's) all the way up to the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps are particularly interesting to most writers, as it was here where over the years some of our most famous counterparts spent critical parts of their lives. You name the writer, they were here. Keats, Percy, Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and other Romantics just to name a few.

Then, as we were at the end of our lovely stroll through the streets of Rome, tennis hit me square in the face. There it was. I couldn't miss it. A large campaign poster featuring Adriano Panatta, former Italian tennis great. Panatta was running for a political position in Rome. There he was, or at least his face, in black and white on a campaign poster (now probably called grayscale); that very famous, inviting grin. I immediately flashed back to the mid-to-late 1970s.

Bjorn Borg may have made Fila a famous name, but no man wore it with more style and grace than Panatta. Always near the top, but never at the top, Panatta unfortunately played at the tail end of the careers of the great Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, and John Newcombe, in the prime of Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, and Guillermo Vilas, and at the beginning of the great runs of John McEnroe and Borg. Given all that, he did manage to win the French Open, and has the distinction of being the only man to have ever beaten Bjorn Borg on the red clay in Paris. Not once, mind you, but twice!

Panatta was clearly talented on the court. More of a dirt-baller than an all-court player, Panatta managed to win one slam, the French Open, in 1976. He also led Italy to the Davis Cup in 1976, as well as the Davis Cup final in 1977, 1979, and 1980. Interesting that he isn't in the Tennis Hall of Fame. The only Italian member of the hall is Nicola Pietrangeli, who has a record just slightly better, winning the French twice, leading Italy to the cup round twice, and captaining the team to the Cup in 1976. I hope that sometime soon the Hall choses to provide Panatta with the same honor as Pietrangeli.

Panatta holds the position as "assessore allo Sport e Grandi eventi" in Rome. To translate, he is in charge of all grand sporting events in Rome. And the next up is the Italian Open in May. Hosted at the Foro Italico, it is arguably the second most important and prestigious clay court stop on the European clay court tour. The champions in Italy read like a who's who of tennis. Bill Tilden. Lew Hoad. Rod Laver. Ivan Lendl. Pete Sampras. Rafael Nadal. Elizabeth Ryan. Helen Jacobs. Maria Bueno. Margaret Court-Smith. Billie Jean King. Chris Evert. Monica Seles. Steffi Graf. And yes, Adriano Panatta in 1976. Every one of them went on to win the French Open in the year immediately following their victories on the banks of the Tiber (excluding Sampras, but that is a story for another time.)

The city of Rome has a feel to it unlike any other in Europe, and certainly not like any other on either the ATP or Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. It's a great town to just relax, enjoy history, food, and have fun. This year will be no different. Just ask Mr. Panatta. With just about all of the top 20 players from both professional tours currently in the draw, it will be a tournament second to none. Add the food, shopping, and architecture, and it's one stop on the tours that everyone should make at some time. Just keep an eye on the exchange rate...

Posted by Tom Kosinski at 11:03 AM | Comments (1)

April 23, 2008

Mock NFL Mock Draft Competition

With all due respect to Matt Thomas, the title of "most accurate, most well thought-out mock draft you'll find this side of Mel Kiper, Jr. and the folks at Scouts, Inc." is not his to claim. It belongs (in a tie) to CNNSI's Don Banks and Rob Rang of The Sports Xchange.

How do I know?

Because the past two years I've conducted a Mock NFL Mock Draft Competition, comparing and scoring the mock drafts of a dozen experts from around the country. There are three scoring criteria:

1. The number of correct picks, broken in two categories: dead-on and semi-on. Dead-on picks are those where the right player went in the right slot to the right team. Semi-on picks are those where at least one of those factors (player, slot, team) is correct, but not all. A full point is given for a dead-on pick, a half point for a semi-on pick.

In order to reward those who take the risk of projecting trades (Thomas does, I don't), triple points will be awarded if a player is a dead-on selection after a trade. In other words, Thomas predicts Dallas will trade into the fourth slot in order to select Darren McFadden. If this does happen, Thomas would receive three points instead of the traditional 1 for a dead-on pick.

2. The number of first round players missed.

3. The average differential between the slot a player was predicted to go and where he was actually selected. For instance, Dennis Dodd had Michigan DT Gabe Watson ticketed at #27 in the 2006 first round. He went at #107 to the Arizona Cardinals. The differential for that selection was 80 (biggest of any of our 2006 picks).

The competitors are ranked from first to last in each of the three categories, with those rankings then added to give the final score. Lowest final score wins.

2007 final standings:
1-tie. Todd McShay, Scouts Inc., and Mel Kiper, ESPN; Total score: 5
3. Don Banks, CNNSI; Total score: 9
4. Rob Rang, The Sports Xchange; Total score: 11
5. Pat Kirwan, NFL.com; Total score: 17
6. Peter King, CNNSI; Total score: 18
7. Seth Doria, Sports Central; Total score: 19
8. Len Pasquarelli/John Clayton, ESPN; Total score: 20
9. Pete Schrager, Fox Sports; Total score: 22
10. Jamie Dukes, NFL.com; Total score: 23
11. ESPN SportsNation; Total score: 27
12. Matt Thomas, Sports Central; Total score: 31

2006 final rankings:
1. Rang; Total score: 5
2. Banks; Total score: 7
3. Kiper; Total score: 8
4. Dr. Z, CNNSI: Total score: 12
5. Doria; Total score: 13
6. Kirwan; Total score: 16
7. Clark Judge, CBS Sportsline; Total score: 17
8. McShay; Total score: 19
9. SportsNation; Total score: 27
10. Dennis Dodd, CBS Sportsline; Total score: 28
11. Pete Prisco, CBS Sportsline; Total score: 30
12. Vic Carucci, NFL.com; Total score 32

As you can tell, going off the past two years' performance, Banks and Rang are the undisputed non-Kiper/McShay kings. I've finished fifth and seventh the past two years, respectively, proving my point that somebody should start paying me for this stuff. (Not top dollar by any means, but for all the jackasses out there getting paid, this jackass should get at least a sliver of the jackass pie.)

With all that said, I present my own entry into the third annual Mock NFL Mock Draft Competition. I'll have the full roster of competitors up on my blog The Left Calf this Friday and a wrap of the results next Monday. Have a nice week.

1. Miami Dolphins – Jake Long, OT, Michigan

I didn't want to believe Bill Parcells would tip his hand so far in advance, but this pick does make sense in the fact new Dolphins coach Tony Sparano is a 20-year o-line coach. And it was Parcells who famously argued that the head coach be allowed to "buy the groceries." GM Jeff Ireland helped build a massive front wall while with the Cowboys, and it makes sense to grab a franchise tackle to anchor a rebuilt line.

(NOTE: This was written and submitted before news broke of Long reaching agreement on a contract with the Dolphins.)

2. St. Louis Rams – Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU

With Chris Long and Dorsey available, the Rams have a tough choice. Dorsey is the best interior lineman in the draft by a significant margin, and will make life a lot easier for the other players on the Rams' defensive front (DEs Leonard Little and James Hall, DE/DT Adam Carriker). Unless you're taking a franchise quarterback, you want a top-five pick to be able to come in and contribute right away. With the current configuration of the Rams' roster, Dorsey is the pick that most improves the team on the field from day one.

3. Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College

The Falcons currently sport Joey Harrington, Chris Redman and D.J. Shockley at QB. Anybody want to argue they shouldn't take a chance on a potential franchise signal caller in Ryan?

4. Oakland Raiders – Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State

Howie Long and Al Davis aren't particularly tight, so it's no sure thing Davis would go for Chris Long, despite the legacy factor. And though reports are rampant that Al Davis is madly in love with Arkansas RB Darren McFadden, they already have three or four starting-caliber backs on the roster, with Michael Bush, in his second year after recovering from a broken leg suffered at Louisville, a future star at the position. Even with Davis' penchant for ignoring common sense, I just can't fathom them spending $50 million at such a stacked position. So it's on to Gholston, whose ferocity off the edge more approximates Howie Long than does Howie's son Chris.

5. Kansas City Chiefs – Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas

The Chiefs won't be making this selection. With McFadden on the board, there are at least half a dozen teams who would jump at the chance to select the best player in the draft. It could be Dallas. It could be New England trying to jump ahead of the Jets. It could be the Jets trying to prevent the Pats from jumping ahead of them. It could be the Broncos, Panthers, Bears or Lions. One way or another, McFadden isn't dropping out of the top five.

6. New York Jets – Chris Long, DE, Virginia

The Jets get a gift with the second coming of Joe Klecko. He'll be a New York legend after sacking Tom Brady twice in Week 2.

7. New England Patriots – Sedrick Ellis, DT, USC

Bill Belichick has shown over and over during his career that when picking this high in the draft, the best value is on the defensive line. Ellis is an elite interior force who would be an upgrade as a backup to Vince Wilfork as a 3-4 NT, and could step in to play along side Wilfork if the Pats decide to go with more 4-3 sets, allowing Richard Seymour to stay on the outside.

8. Baltimore Ravens – Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State

The Ravens need to fill three positions — QB, corner, and offensive tackle. Unless they trade back out of this pick, they are only going to be able to land two high prospects for those three positions. After this pick, they have pick 37, then have to wait until the last pick of the third round, number 99 overall. Since Matt Ryan won't be available, Clady brings the best value at a need position.

9. Cincinnati Bengals – Keith Rivers, LB, USC

The Bengals' hearts broke when New England took Ellis at 7, but Rivers is still a good get for a team that just plain sucked on defense last year. With the return of Odell Thurman from a two-year ban by the league, the Cincy linebacker corps goes from being a glaring weakness to a position of moderate strength. They should trade Chad Johnson for as a high a pick as they can get in the first round (Philly's 19?) and target the best remaining offensive or defensive lineman.

10. New Orleans Saints – Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee State

The Saints can't go anywhere but corner, but there are four top guys, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. If they can trade back to with somebody eager to jump up for Illinois RB Rashard Mendenhall or Florida DE Derrick Harvey, they should pull the trigger. If not, it's Rogers-Cromartie, who seems to have the biggest upside of the top corner prospects.

11. Buffalo Bills – Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy State

When you play in a division with Tom Brady and Randy Moss, you need to do two things above all else — rush the passer and cover one-on-one. With Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsey already at DE, and Marcus Stroud imported from Jacksonville to fortify the middle of the defensive line, it makes sense the Bills continue to rebuild their defensive backfield. If Rodgers-Cromartie was still on the board, they would take him because of his height (6'10"), but with him gone to New Orleans, McKelvin is the guy.

12. Denver Broncos – Branden Albert, OG, Virginia

The once formidable Broncos offensive line has fallen on hard times. With big money invested in QB Jay Cutler and the RB tandem of Travis Henry and Selvin Young (an undrafted free agent last year who will command big money), Denver needs to start rebuilding the o-line. Albert's superior athleticism gets him the nod over Pittsburgh's Jeff Otah.

13. Carolina Panthers – Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida

Like the Broncos' offensive line, the once-dominant Panthers' defensive line took a step back last year. The explosive Harvey would combine with Julius Peppers and Stanley McClover for a very formidable DE rotation.

14. Chicago Bears – Jeff Otah, OT, Pittsburgh

Illinois RB Rashard Mendenhall is the consensus pick thanks to his local ties and the fact Cedric Benson stinks. You could also make a very strong argument for Louisville QB Brian Brohm to finally replace somehow-still-employed Rex Grossman. But there's one name on the depth chart that makes those points moot: John St. Clair is their starting right tackle. That's a situation that needs rectifying immediately. And besides, Brohm might still be there at 44. If not, they can take the best of available backs like Jamaal Charles from Texas or Ray Rice from Rutgers.

15. Detroit Lions – Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois

As soon as the Lions released 2007 leading rusher Kevin Jones, leaving Tatum Bell as the sole lead back for 2008, it was apparent Detroit would be taking a back with this pick. Living in Big Ten territory, Lions brass know all about Mendenhall's huge season with the Illini.

16. Arizona Cardinals – Jonathan Stewart, RB, Oregon

Edgerrin James is about to turn 30 and will pass the 3,000-carries mark this upcoming season. Marcel Shipp and J.J. Arrington are capable change-of-pace guys, but not heir apparents. Stewart's toe problems seem to be a diminishing concern, allowing the Cardinals to solidify their future at the position.

17. Minnesota Vikings – Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt

Young franchise quarterback (at least in their minds) + young franchise running back = build your damn offensive line. Williams would start from day 1 at right tackle.

(UPDATE: After writing, the Vikings traded this pick and their two third rounders to Kansas City for Jared Allen, who signed a $74 million extension with $31 million in guarantees. I'm sticking with Williams in the slot. The Chiefs need him even more than the Vikings do.)

(This also opens up the possibility KC will try to pair the 5 and 17 to move up to St. Louis' two-spot to pick Matt Ryan ahead of the Falcons. That would be a mistake.)

18. Houston Texans – Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State

The Texans were decimated last season by the prolonged absence of Pro Bowl wide receiver Andre Johnson. Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly is the top-ranked WR on the board, but he's been kind of a bitch about his 40 times at his pro day, blaming his slow times on the strength and conditioning staff. Thomas has just one year of D1 football (transfer from a CC, then came out after his junior year), but that's not a huge concern at the position. His 4.4 speed should help keep safeties from always rolling coverage to Johnson.

19. Philadelphia Eagles – Dan Connor, LB, Penn State

If the Eagles were selecting strictly on value, the pick would most likely be one of the top two remaining corners in Mike Jenkins (South Florida) and Aqib Talib (Kansas). But Connor fills a big need at linebacker and seems like a good fit for defensive coordinator Jim Johnson's system (smart, aggressive, good blitzer). Mel Kiper will call it a reach.

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Malcolm Kelly, WR, Oklahoma

Despite Kelly's complaints about his 40 time, he is a big, physical, tough receiver with excellent hands — perfect for a team with Jeff Garcia as its starting quarterback. Considering current starters Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard are 36 and 32, respectively, now seems like a good time to add some youth to the position.

21. Washington Redskins - Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas

Talib carries some baggage from his time in Kansas, which is why he's down here in the 20s instead of in the top 10. But Washington has shown a propensity to picking defensive backs high in the draft and starting corner Shawn Springs is 33 and on the downslope of his career.

22. Dallas Cowboys – Felix Jones, RB, Arkansas

I was going to give the Cowboys Mike Jenkins because he's by far the best value left on the board, but with the expected acquisition of Pacman Jones, corner isn't as much of a need. Dallas owner Jerry Jones has long ties to Arkansas and needs another back to pair with now-starting Marion Barber.

23. Pittsburgh Steelers – Mike Jenkins, CB, South Florida

Their current starters on the outside are Ike Taylor and Deshea Townsend. A replacement is very much needed, and it just so happens one of the steals of the first round is sitting right there for them.

24. Tennessee Titans - DeSean Jackson, WR, California

As much as missing Pacman Jones on defense, the Titans sorely missed his big-play ability as a return man. Jackson becomes an instant highlight real on special teams, plus provides the offense a vertical threat, something they sorely lack.

25. Seattle Seahawks - Kentwan Balmer, DT, North Carolina

No real good fit between need and value here for the Seahawks. Though Balmer's scouting reports leave open the possibility he could be the next Ryan Sims (bust DT also out of UNC who went to the Chiefs at sixth overall in '02), Seattle needs to fortify the inside of the defensive line.

26. Jacksonville Jaguars – Phillip Merling, DE, Clemson

Like Seattle, there's really not a fit for need and value for the Jags at this spot. Expect a trade to somebody wanting to move up for Brian Brohm or Chad Henne. But since I'm not in the business of predicting trades (it might be fun, but the success rate makes playing roulette a safe bet by comparison), we'll give the Jags the best defender on the board.

27. San Diego Chargers – Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee

When in doubt, build up the defense. The Chargers don't particularly need linebackers, but Mayo's speed, athleticism, and mean streak should fit right in with the Chargers D.

28. Dallas Cowboys – Limas Sweed, WR, Texas

Good value at a need position with the added bonus of coming from Texas. That's enough to write down Sweed's name on the card.

29. San Francisco 49ers – Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College

If there's one thing you better be able to do in a Mike Martz offense, it's protect the quarterback with your front five, because Mad Mike is not a fan of leaving a back or tight end to help in protection. The massive Cherilus (6'6", 314) can step into right tackle, allowing 2007 first rounder Joe Staley to move to left tackle.

30. Green Bay Packers – Brandon Flowers, CB, Virginia Tech

Most mocks have the Packers taking a tight end at this spot, either Dustin Keller of Purdue or Fred Davis of USC. But with Donald Lee a rising star at the position, it doesn't make sense for the fiscally-conservative Pack to give a first-round contract at the position, especially since both Keller and Davis are somewhat suspect run blockers. Flowers doesn't have ideal size (5'9", 189), but is strong against the run and should be able to contribute as a nickel back right away. Plus, Charles Woodson is 31. It's always smart to plan ahead.

31. New York Giants – Dustin Keller, TE, Purdue

I wanted to give them Miami S Kenny Phillips, but Phillips seems to carry a lot of characteristics that lead to bust status (not great instincts, lack of discipline). Giants GM Jerry Reese made a point last year of drafting high-character, smart players. With the expected departure of Jeremy Shockey, Keller adds a nice dimension to 2007 fifth-rounder Kevin Boss.

Seth Doria is a writer based out of St. Louis. For the only daily column that mixes sports, politics, and entertainment news in one, visit The Left Calf.

Posted by Joshua Duffy at 11:52 AM | Comments (3)

Why the NHL is Dead: A Response

Last week, some dude most of us have never met wrote an obituary about the National Hockey League. Here's the thing about writers: we all think our opinion is important. Sometimes it is; but usually it's not. In this case, Sean Crowe — who, for whatever reason, refers to himself as SeanMC (are you a DJ?) — offered his take on the NHL's demise, and argued that something must be done to resuscitate this mortal game. It's true; the NHL has assassinated the last of its remaining prominence.

Although many readers' comments boast the obvious — like one observed, "This story would've been more credible if it was written in 2006" — the truth is that Crowe's "opinion piece" is shaky. Opinion columns aren't forums for writers to make claims that aren't factually based, nor are they sheltered from criticism merely because they are opinion. Ironically, the Master of Ceremonies inks lengthy tangents with various data about TV ratings and attendance towards the end of the comments section. Which is funny because there's a better chance of someone finding Versus on his cable box than locating the statistical basis of his "opinion."

Aside from SeanMC's flawed suggestions of how an average fan would rank major sports, the column would've been slightly more credible had he deviated from the predictable Sidney Crosby/Alex Ovechkin reference. Great, they're good; we get it. They're also only two among almost 950 professional hockey players on 30 payrolls across North America. And the TV ratings are lousy. And FOX had glowing pucks. We get that, too. Some originality wouldn't hurt.

It's not that Sean Emcee's judgment is irrelevant, it's that he constantly returns to numero uno: I. You know what people care about less than the NHL, Sean? You. (And me, for that matter.) People care about the argument being made, and the figures that support your opinion. It doesn't matter that you're "not trying to bash the NHL"; what matters are the "major issues facing a struggling league" (i.e. the topic, not yourself). Because the sad truth is that even in 2008, many of the same obstacles still impede the NHL's strives for importance.

Yes, not many people are watching the playoffs on TV; yes, attendance isn't comparable to the NFL or MLB; and yes, the first-round has been entertaining and Crosby and Ovechkin are "exciting" and "prolific." No one doubts any of this. But let's discuss why hockey hasn't been popularized Stateside.

Since the strikes in 1992 and 1994-1995, and the lockout in 2004-2005, the NHL has lost roughly two billion dollars ($1.8 billion by 2005). Expansion was rampant in the 90s, diminishing resources that could have been invested to cook simmering markets like, say, Boston. Attempting to inflate its worth, the NHL allowed teams to relocate to places like Phoenix, instead of fostering development to keep the Jets in Winnipeg. (This isn't always bad — Hartford to Carolina worked out.) Hockey was not always unpopular, but it has always been a niche market. There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding about how to broaden the scope of the game among those charged with doing so.

So, what can be done to reinvigorate wider interest in the NHL?

One concept: retraction. The NHL doesn't need 30 teams. It would be better served by folding six to eight (if not more) franchises. What teams would they be? That's debatable. Start with those with the lowest average attendance over a particular period — a decade, 15 years, whatever. Or perhaps examine total revenue generated. If the amount made is less than the amount spent, consider closing the club. Set benchmarks for organizations to meet. If they don't comply, then there will be consequences. (It's called capitalism.) The NHL hasn't resembled a strong business recently. By shaping the revenue sharing policy accordingly, a smaller league would extract more value from each dollar made to use on everything from salaries and marketing to building renovations and scouting.

This would concentrate talent, making each team more competitive. Each roster would be filled with more Crosbys than Averys. The greater the level of competition and skill, the greater the publicity. Fans in Miami would be forced to turn on the tube to see the best skaters play. That may mean closing the doors on historic teams, including the original six. (That's you, Chicago — who in the three post-lockout seasons has ranked 29th, 29th, and 19th in league attendance).

But sports evolve. If Commissioner Gary Bettman can expand, he has the power to retract. (Rumors abound involving a round of new teams in the coming years, unfortunately; discussion has hovered above Las Vegas.) Retracting even one team would garner more press than the NHL has seen on its best day.

(A personal anecdote: I live in Washington, DC, and since the Capitals began surging in the second quarter of the year when Bruce Boudreau was hired, tickets to Verizon Center have come at a premium. Two weeks ago, with the Tampa Bay Lightning game sold out and the Caps needing to win out to take the Southeast Division and make the playoffs, nosebleed seats normally costing $35 dollars were going for over $80. Why? Demand. The Caps are competitive and have a deep roster supporting Ovechkin. This could happen in other cities too — like Chicago, where attendance jumped from 12,727 per game last year to 16,814 in 2008, a 19.9% climb. Why? Talent: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane recaptured this storied city's fans. Hiring Chi-town legend Denny Savard as coach may have helped. They've (re)evolved.)

Another idea: shorten the season. Eighty-two games and the postseason create a laborious season — it stretches longer than most school years. It's not easy for even the most emphatic fans to follow, much less any whose potential interest is casual. The National Basketball Association suffers a similar criticism. Shorten the season to 62 games and begin the playoffs in March. Unlike the Major Leagues, the NHL shouldn't shorten its first-round playoff series to best-of-five. The playoffs are when the best games happen — where players' bonus incentives and contract negotiating leverage are earned.

The NHL's woes are not new, but perhaps the repairs should be. It's going to take time to fix them. If that results in the league and some of its owners losing money, then so be it. They've already lost quite a bit. The NHL might have to accept its status as a second-tier sport in terms of popularity. The verity of the situation is that the NHL will likely never be the NFL or MLB or NASCAR. But self-recognition can be helpful. The NHL might find more success by just doing what it knows: selling hockey where hockey sells. Players might have to take pay cuts so organizations can lower ticket prices and keep buildings full — which will let fan camaraderie manifest itself into team allegiance, and put more merchandise dollars into the team's pockets. There are varied ways to market the game to a larger audience if that is the NHL's objective. Still, it could be successful if it targeted its best markets and jettisoned those that are faulty.

(The NHL shouldn't emphasize the need to capture existing fans only; why not make more? I've addressed hockey's problematic costs before. If NHL clubs subsidized more youth hockey programs, kids — and parents — would be attracted to the game early on. This could be done at practice facilities where youth leagues flourish. Soccer is the world's widest played sport because of accessibility. The NHL should take note.)

Sean Crowe maintains that the NHL is dead and asks, "how do we bring it back to life?" Well, how about we start by really answering that question?

The floor is now yours...

(Full disclosure: This, too, is just my opinion. I'm fully aware that these suggestions will certainly never materialize under Bettman. But I still support them. They are also not the most original alterations — but more so than trumpeting stale tunes about ratings and the NHL falling from "top four" grace. The point? Don't just complain. That is why I urge you to make your own — reasonable — recommendations.)

Posted by Jeff DiNunzio at 11:37 AM | Comments (4)

April 22, 2008

Ranking MLB Rotations: American League

Also see: Ranking MLB Rotations: National League

1. Cleveland Indians.

The Indians had the Red Sox on the ropes at 3-1 in the ALCS, but couldn't close out the series. GM Mark Shapiro stayed pat in the offseason, confident in the knowledge that he has the personnel to at least return to another ALCS. That conviction is built on the foundation of a young and strong rotation.

LHP C.C. Sabathia is fresh off a Cy Young year where he went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA. He was dreadful in the play offs and has started this year in the same vein. He pitched over 250 innings last year — by far a career high — and has over 1400 innings in the bank already in the big leagues. He's not in the best physical condition and there is a body of opinion that thinks he has burnout potential, but he has never logged a prolonged spell on the DL. Sabathia has a history of successfully battling through tough periods. This is a contract year for the big lefty, so he's motivated for another big year. It's too early to write him off as another Pat Hentgen.

RHP Fausto Carmona has a completely different style to Sabathia, relying on a heavy sinker that is almost impossible to hit out the infield. He logged 215 IP last season, his first as a starter after beginning as a rookie in the bullpen, and went 19-8 with a spectacular 3.06 ERA. His BABIP was a fairly low .282, so it's likely his ERA could see a small rise this season, but he can still return a sub-3.50 figure.

LHP Cliff Lee and RHP Jake Westbrook have long threatened to break out as quality starters and this could be the year. Both have got off to strong starts this year, though neither has ever shown any consistency for long periods. Neither Lee nor Westbrook have overwhelming stuff, but both keep the ball down in the zone when their game is on. They could be the best 3-4 combination in the American League.
Veteran Paul Byrd RHP will fill the fifth starter position.

2. Boston Red Sox

It's hardly surprising that Theo Epstein balked at trading away elite prospects for Johan Santana when he already had the strongest rotation in the American League.

Josh Beckett RHP headlines after an excellent 2007 where he almost picked up a Cy Young. The difference between Beckett 2006 and Beckett 2007 was the big reduction in home runs allowed (36 down to 17) and walks (74 down to 40). His slow start this year isn't indicative of anything other than the after effects of a DL stint due to a minor back strain. Expect a season with an ERA around 3.30, 20 wins, and a run at 200 Ks.

For many, Daisuke Matsuzaka RHP was a disappointment in 2007. The plus points were the 15 wins (not that a pitcher has much control over wins) 200 Ks, and 204 IP. The bad was 25 HRs, 80 walks, and an ERA of 4.40.

Matsuzaka likes to play the edges of the strike zone and isn't prepared to give in to batters by throwing over the heart of the plate if he's behind, so the walks are likely to always be high. He isn't easy to get a hit off (a .165 BAA so far this year) and he's tough to rattle. He makes an ideal number two starter.

With Curt Schilling done, aging knuckleballer Tim Wakefield RHP and youngsters Jon Lester LHP and Clay Buchholz RHP fill out the rotation. Wakefield hasn't been anything more than mediocre for five seasons, but Francona trusts him and he can work out of the bullpen when required.

Lester has started the season poorly, but he's well regarded in the organization. Buchholz has much better stuff, but is less experienced. The team is looking at him as the future third starter.

In an absolute emergency, veteran Julian Tavarez RHP will step in.

With October baseball an almost a certainty, a 1-2-3 of Beckett, Matsuzaka, and Buchholz looks an intimidating sight to opposition batters. Only Cleveland matches up with the Red Sox in terms of starters.

3. Toronto Blue Jays

GM J.P. Ricciardi has steadily put together a nice rotation in Toronto, mixing consistent veterans like Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett with promising youngsters Jesse Litsch, Shaun Marcum, and Dustin McGowan.

The key to success in a difficult division will be keeping Halladay and Burnett on the mound. Burnett has only pitched 200 innings twice in nine seasons, the last time being in 2005. If he can stay healthy, he's good for an ERA around 3.50, which will give him a shot at over 15 wins with decent run support.

Halladay struggled with injuries in 2004 and 2005, but since then, he's stayed on the mound and pitched 220+ innings. He's never been a pure strikeout pitcher, but what he does do is keep the ball on the ground and in the park. Plus, he hardly ever walks anybody (BB/9 2005: 1.39, 2006: 1.92).

After the two veterans, manager John Gibbons can call on three young pitchers that are more promise than substance.

Dustin McGowan has been a touted prospect ever since being a supplemental pick as an 18-year-old high schooler. He showed what he's capable of last year after coming up in May, posting a 4.08 ERA and a BAA of .230 in 169.2 innings. The team is very high on his long-term future, but is looking for better control to go with his mid-90s fastball. He's started 2008 very encouragingly.

Shaun Marcum has been a nice surprise as a starter as Ricciardi thought he only had a bullpen guy on his hands at one point. In his first season as a starter, the only concern is the high number of home runs (27 in 159 IP in 2007) he surrenders. If he can raise his GO/AO ratio above the current 1.01 number, he'll reduce his ERA to below 4.00 in a full season.

Jesse Litsch, a 24th round draft pick in 2004, is the fifth starter and completes a rotation of all right-handers. J.P. Ricciardi would love to pick up a lefty to throw into the mix.

4. Los Angeles Angels

This is potentially the best rotation in the league, but is in a state of flux with injuries and loss of form.

Number one starter and franchise horse John Lackey RHP has been out for the last month with right triceps strain and last year's 18-game winner, RHP Kelvim Escobar, is struggling to recover from a torn right labrum. Lackey has the better prognosis and should be healthy and on a rehab assignment by the end of the month. Escobar has had a setback already in his recovery and faces an uncertain season.

With Lackey good for around 200 IP and an ERA of 3.50 or less as ever, the rotation is still in good shape without Escobar. Jered Weaver RHP can be boom-or-bust, but will post a sub-4.00 ERA and give his team a chance to win, especially on his home mound. His career GO/AO ratio of 0.66 means he'll always give up his share of home runs, but he doesn't give out easy free passes and battles through a crisis, unlike the older Weaver. The only worry with him is that his K-rate has declined each year he's been in the league.

Jon Garland RHP came across from Chicago in a trade in the offseason. The thinking was that his style would be better suited to a more spacious park rather than hitter-friendly U.S. Cellular. There may be some logic to that in time, but the trouble with Garland is that he's nothing better than a 4.50 ERA pitcher who can't call on a strong arm to bail him out of trouble.

Lefty Joe Saunders has been used on-and-off in the rotation for the past two years and is currently in the shake up again with Lackey and Escobar out. He isn't a blow-them-away type, preferring to pick around the edges and induce ground outs. If he could cut out the walks (over 3.00/9 in his career) and utilize his control, Saunders has the make-up to be a solid major league pitcher. But he may struggle to make the rotation when everyone is healthy and could be useful trade bait.

RHP Ervin Santana has much better stuff than Saunders, but is less consistent. He went into an inexplicable funk last season, struggling mightily on the road, in particular. This year, he has hit back with four consecutive QS and a sub-3.00 ERA. If he can maintain it over the course of a season, the Angels are in great shape starting pitching-wise.

RHP Dustin Moseley fills out the rotation when needed.

A rotation of Lackey, Escobar, Weaver, Garland, and Santana is as deep a starting pitching lineup as there is in the game. The question is whether the team can keep them all healthy and/or in form for a season. History would indicate that's unlikely, but the sheer depth of available pitchers gives the team high hopes for a pennant run.

5. Detroit Tigers

This is another pitching lineup that is full of question marks, but could be one of the best in the league if everyone could stay healthy and in form. The Tigers have constructing arguably the best hitting lineup in the game, but no team wants to solely rely on batting to win a championship, so GM Dave Dombrowski added LHP Dontrelle Willis in the offseason to bolster manager Jim Leyland's pitching options.

Willis had a poor 2007 in Florida and there is a strong body of opinion that he may have peaked after pitching over 1000 innings in his five seasons in the league. His funky, whirling arms and legs action and intensity on the mound has many wondering whether he can have a prolonged career without regular stints on the DL.

My worry with Willis is his seriously declining peripheral stats following the big year he had in 2005:

	K/BB 	BB/9 	K/9 	H/9
2005 	3.09 	2.09 	6.47 	8.11
2006 	1.93 	3.34 	6.45 	9.43
2007 	1.68 	3.81 	6.40 	10.46

With the exception of his K/9 figure, which has barely changed, there are some worrying tendencies in that data and it's hardly surprising that Willis saw his ERA jump to a career-high 5.17 last year.

If pitching coach Chuck Hernandez can find the key to revitalizing Willis to something approaching his first four seasons in the majors, his presence will be a major boost to a rotation full of ifs and buts.

Justin Verlander RHP is the undoubted number one starter, but he's got off to a horrible start in 2008. His K/BB ratio is 14:12 and that's going to get you in a heap of trouble. The big worry with Verlander is the 5 mph he seems to have lost off his fastball. If that's an indication of a health issue, then the rotation is in trouble because coming into the season he was the only starter without a question mark against his name.

There are some extenuating circumstances for his poor start. Firstly, three of his four starts have come against the White Sox and Cleveland, teams in which he historically pitches poorly against (ERAs of 6.14 and 7.03, respectively, with 10 starts against each team). Secondly, the bullpen has allowed 4 inherited runners to score after he's left the game, one of Jim Leyland's major problems so far this season. Thirdly, Verlander always pitches better when the weather warms up, with a 2.87 ERA in May and 3.44 in June. Expect him to rebound sooner rather than later.

Jeremy Bonderman RHP has threatened to break out for years, but he seems to be going backwards. Last season, he was poor after a promising 2006 when he had a career low 4.08 ERA. He seemed to lose his concentration on the mound on a regular basis and gave up a whopping 23 homers in just 174.1 IP. The only good news is that his walk rate was down to 2.48 per 9, but the walks were replaced by hits as his H/9 went up to 9.96, the highest since his rookie year.

There's some in the Detroit front office that feel Bonderman will never learn enough to become a front-line starter. He's signed through 2010 at $12.5 million per year, so trading him might not be an easy task unless he shows something this season.

Veteran lefty Kenny Rogers hasn't got off to his usual strong start, walking an astronomical 12 batters in just 21.1 innings. At 43, he could finally be cooked. Fellow lefty Nate Robertson has never amounted to anything better than a fifth starter. Andres Galarraga (RHP) has jumped into the fifth starter position in the absence of Willis and has done a good job. The team is waiting on hard-throwing RHP Rick Porcello, a first-round draft pick in 2007, to join the rotation next season.

Posted by Mike Round at 11:50 AM | Comments (2)

Quick Outs: Spring Practice Updates

Spring practices are wrapping up. Starters have been named; races have thoroughbreds leading the front, while some races are now tighter than ever. There are new faces prowling the sidelines of some the more prestigious programs in the country and questions abound about some of the fresh faces that will be replacing the stalwarts that led these programs. Here are huge questions that we face coming out of the spring:

Can Mark Sanchez keep the tradition of QBs at USC alive?

In the land of Troy, Mark Sanchez has emerged as the starting QB over Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain. The race was considered close until the spring game, where Sanchez emerged as the leader with a solid performance that included 3 touchdowns. Sanchez will have four new starters on the offensive line and holes to fill in the defense. The one thing that he has in his repertoire that his predecessors, Matt Leinart and John David Booty, never had are starts before his first full season as starter.

Starting QBs at Tennessee, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech? Who gets the job done?

Tennessee's QB Jonathon Crompton has big shoes to fill. Not many guys have the luxury, or curse depending on who you ask, of taking over for a four-year starter like Erik Ainge. But after an impressive showing in the annual Orange and White game, Crompton appears to be ready to take over the reigns. Let's see how he does in his first game at Georgia or at home against Florida or Alabama.

Jimmy Clausen had a four-alarm baptismal as quarterback of Notre Dame last year. In the worst year in recent memory of Irish football, Clausen showed flashes of brilliance, but found himself the topic of high scrutiny being the top-rated QB in the class of 2007 and also found a place on the turf after being sacked 34 times last season. After showing notable improvement in the spring game, Charlie Weis said that Clausen has made strides to becoming the quarterback he imagined. If for some reason he should slip, Evan Sharpley could be waiting in the wings to take snaps.

The Hokies had a banner year in winning the ACC title and getting to the Orange Bowl. Their dual quarterback system of Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor worked effectively, but it was Glennon's steady arm that helped the Hokies close the season strong en route to a win in Jacksonville. It was Glennon that shined the spring game, but Taylor's enticing playmaking ability last season showed Tech fans a reason to be excited about the future. However, if Frank Beamer redshirts Taylor as its being reported that he is still contemplating, the onus of the offense will fall on the senior from Chantilly, VA.

Can Emmanuel Moody give the Gators the marquee back they need?

The lack of a go-to running back last year may have cost Florida in losses to Georgia, LSU, and Michigan. Tim Tebow, last year's Heisman winner, was the Gators' leading rusher with 895 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns, while wide receiver Percy Harvin was second in rushing with 764 yards and 6 touchdowns. But Urban Meyer, Dan Mullin, and the Gator nation would be much more at ease if their star QB didn't have to slam head first into linebackers and safeties on run plays.

Enter Emmanuel Moody, the USC transfer and the 2006 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, who left L.A. after being placed at the bottom of the depth chart in the Trojan backfield. Moody has the physical skills to give the spread attack at Florida the threat they need. Coaches say that he is struggling learning the read-zone techniques of running out of the shotgun. But if Moody can grasp the offense, the Gators could be a devastatingly scary team to watch on offense next year.

How will Penn State's defense react to losing Sean Lee?

Paul Posluszny begat Dan Conner and Dan Connor begat Sean Lee. The defender was expected to be the next great linebacker at "Linebacker U." That was all cast down the drain when Lee was hurt in a non-contact drill during spring practice. A torn ACL and nine months of rehab means that he will miss the 2008 season and more than likely receive a red shirt. It leaves the Nittany Lions without a marquee linebacker roaming the front seven for the first time in four years. Sophomore Bani Gbadyu, who totaled only 6 tackles last season, is expected to be the favorite to take over. In addition, Tyrell Sales is expected to contribute heavily with the defense still lacking a few suspended players.

Posted by Brian Cox at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2008

Sympathy For the Devils

At the beginning of the 2006 season, hockey lost some all-time great defensemen who immediately were donned "Hall of Fame shoe-ins." One of those defensemen, Scott Stevens, has been sorely missed by the New Jersey Devils, one of the most successful sports franchises in the last 15 years.

Since Stevens retirement after the 2005 lockout season and emergence of rule changes made to assist offenses, the once-proud Devils have been 1-3 in playoff series, and were just trumped by their cross-river rivals that they used to own like property. Losing to the New York Rangers in five games marks the sign of the times for a team whose standard is to compete for the Stanley Cup year after year.

Truth is, nobody is afraid of the Devils anymore.

Lou Lamoriello, considered earlier this decade as the best general manager in sports thanks to his systematic farming of young talent, put together Stanley Cup title teams in strike-shortened 1995, 2000, and 2003, and were runner-ups in 2001 to a loaded Avalanche squadron.

These teams featured long-time veterans such as Stevens, Ken Daneyko, Bruce Driver, Martin Brodeur (who won the '95 Cup as a rookie), Scott Niedermayer, and Brian Rolston. The 2000 squad that upset the defending champion Stars displayed successful journeymen Claude Lemieux, Peter Sykora, Alexander Mogilny, and introduced Scott Gomez to the pro hockey scene.

However, of late, the only pieces to those Stanley Cup teams include Brodeur, Patrick Elias (forever known for his centering pass in double overtime to Jason Arnott to sink the Stars in Game 6 of the finals), Sergei Brylin, and defenseman Colin White.

Otherwise, the Devils have only given up and not gotten anything "star-like" in return.

It's a credit to the franchise who used to don red and olive green back in the '80s to have been so successful in the regular season in the past three seasons, making the playoffs each of the three years as a top-four seed.

The Devils from 2000-03 were known as blue-line bruisers that would shut down a team's stud offensemen i.e. Eric Lindros (2000), Mike Modano and Brett Hull (2000), Mats Sundin (2001), Paul Kariya (2003), and now the superstars are sending the Devils into quandaries and leaving them questioning their own trapping system. Stars of recent seasons have had their way with the Devils: Sean Avery (2008), Daniel Alfredsson (2007), Eric Staal (2006), and Mark Recchi (2004).

Not only are the Devils missing their toughness between the blue lines, but their offense has not been up to par. They've relied too heavily on Elias, John Madden, and Zach Parise. The strength of the Stanley Cup Devils teams was to get up 1-0 or 2-1 and use the trapping defense to force opponents to retreat their style and fall prey. More often than not, the Devils are behind in games, forced to play catch-up, and they never do. It's never been their style, so they become doomed and appear offensively meager in comparison to their opponents who choose to hit the free agent market in the offseason that eventually pays off in the offseason. Losing long-time Scott Gomez to, of all the teams the Rangers, was the ultimate slapshot in the face, and has left a welt the size of Newark on Lou Lamoriello's bald dome.

Which brings up the unfortunate move the Devils made this year from sports haven East Rutherford to Newark. As was detected by loyalists from Jersey, the Devils lost their initial fan base (yes, those who still wear the red and olive jerseys) to a more city-like area that showed its lack of hometown punch needed for a playoff series. The Devils were 0-3 at "hometown" Newark this postseason, with the feeling left of more Rangers fans than Devils fans in Jersey's own building. Ouch.

Sitting in the net for 13 seasons, Martin Brodeur has witnessed major accomplishments, and the future Hall of Famer from Ontario must know in the back of his helmeted head that his best days as a Devil are in the past, especially now that he's mocked the gods of lore by not shaking Sean Avery's hand during the traditional handshake after Game 5, and also creating issues by admitting to "putting his puck into his sister-in-law's five hole," only making matter worse for himself.

If you listen closely, you can hear "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" echoing in the Lincoln Tunnel heading towards hockey's Hall of Fame, whispered from the once-proud Marty Brodeur to ex-teammate Scott Stevens.

Not in Newark, that's for sure.

Posted by Jon Gonzales at 3:30 PM | Comments (7)

Isiah's Day of Reckoning

"I just believe a new voice, a new coach, is necessary to change the direction of the team."

With that statement from last Friday, New York hoops fans can feel free to come out from their caves and from under their rocks. Take the brown paper bags off your heads and rejoice. The slasher movie villain with the devilish grin they called "Zeke" has finally been taken off our big screens once and for all. Surely now, the Knicks will swiftly rise back to their Patrick Ewing-era status and become an elite team contending for a title in 2009.

Right. Who am I kidding?

Before I move on, I feel this is a moment worth reveling in, even if only for another paragraph. Isiah Thomas was a man who sometimes felt too comfortable in his position even though we never wanted him to be. He was an inept coach and poor motivator who has not been successful at any job since he last took No. 11 off his back in 1994. What he talked about doing and what he did were often two amusingly different stories. He condoned and seemingly encouraged brawling and violence against opposing players if he felt it necessary to provide a 'spark.' He had a devilish ate-the-canary smile that gave you the idea that he felt he could get away with anything he wished. There seemed not to be even the slightest hint of any moral code or accountability from the man. Certainly, Anucha Browne Sanders could attest to that. Thank you, Knicks front office, this day was long overdue.

Now, while the canning of Isiah was just what we begged for and very much needed, obviously there is so much more to be done. Many have already forgotten that Isiah Thomas did not actually get the Knicks into this mess. He just mixed in some blood and guts on top of the mess that already existed.

If you can think all the way back to the 2001-02 season (which seems so hard for most to do despite the fact that fans can all very easily hearken back to the Ewing days ... funny how time works) the Knicks, who still had Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell, Marcus Camby, and Kurt Thomas, fell into the tank in a hurry. Beloved coach Jeff Van Gundy realized the team was beyond help and resigned. It was this team that still had much of the tried-and-true talent from the 1999 NBA finalists that fell upon what announcer Marv Albert famously called "the point of embarrassment" during a live broadcast in yet another blowout loss at home.

The comment got Marv fired as the Knicks announcer because owner James Dolan found it to be too negative. Dolan has also famously gone to great lengths to make lives miserable for New York beat writers who generally tend to write negative columns about a team headed in a negative direction. Unfortunately, while Isiah is no longer a threat to ruin the team's season, perhaps the main problem with the Knicks organization is the fat cat at the top.

Not only has Dolan made rash, quick-fix decisions, thrown obscene and unnecessary amounts of money at players and coaches who could not get the job done, he also gives off the feeling of a dictator and a corrupt politician rolled into one. When the fans relentless screams to "Fire Isiah" became intolerable, Dolan finally obliged and hired an executioner of sorts named Donnie Walsh to do just that. Perhaps he did this to spare himself the embarrassment of firing the man whom he himself had put so much stock in. Sadly, Walsh cannot strap Dolan in the chair, as well.

What this does, however, is it allows someone other than the incompetent Dolan to figure out the team's basketball-related decisions, which is a great step. The team still needs a coach, a general manager (why Walsh does not don that hat himself remains a mystery to us all), and some way to make up for all the precious salary cap space and draft picks lost.

One ray of hope is that announced among potential candidates for the coaching job are former Knick Mark Jackson and former coach Jeff Van Gundy. While Jeff would be the ideal choice for his smarts, work ethic, and link to past team success, Mark Jackson proves an intriguing choice, as well. Detractors will say he is relatively young for a coach and has no actual experience on the sideline. They say he may get overwhelmed with the massive task at hand, and they could very well be right. But I ask you, who wouldn't?

Mark is a bright basketball mind who has proven that on his ESPN duties doing color commentary and studio analysis. He has proven to be a stand-up man with strong convictions and strong character, and yet can still be charismatic enough for the modern athlete to be able to relate to him.

Then there is the matter of the general manager position. There is a very simple solution to this, one in which I cannot think of any other alternative: Jerry West. The man once nicknamed Mr. Clutch has been money in the bank just as often with his personnel decisions. West is responsible for creating the Kobe/Shaq tandem that was so good they won three championships, despite the fact that they hated each other.

West also went to Memphis, took an awful Grizzlies team, and made them into 50-game winners in only his second year in 2004. This would be the first of three straight playoff appearances for the Grizz before West stepped down from the job in 2007. The Grizzlies organization, which has been around since 1995, has not been to the playoffs before or since those three years.

Finally, the roster needs to be overhauled. While there appears to be no shortage of raw talent on the Knicks, cohesiveness, leadership, and motivation all seem to be sorely lacking. While it is easy to name a number of players the team needs to be rid of (see Curry, Eddy and Marbury, Stephon), the more interesting question is, which players in this train-wreck can actually be a useful part of a winning team and should thus be kept? It is hard to tell when few of these players have even seen a winning season.

Enigmatic players such as Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford seem to be hard to project. Both are fearless, both very talented ball-handlers with a flair for the dramatic. However, Robinson's feistiness and apparent napoleon complex have been known to cause infighting. On the court, he often chooses to be flashy with the basketball rather than smart. Likewise, Crawford has been known to make a number of game-winning and buzzer-beating shots for the Knicks. However, Jamal has also been accused of taking too many bad shots and being a selfish player. Could you picture either or both of them making clutch plays or dagger shots for a team that actually wins? Or do you make them trade bait and hope for something better?

Lastly, who will they shop for to replace these players and how will they get anything of value in return for them? I will not even speculate on this. This is where you, the reader, get to play Knicks upper management in your head, and by all means, have a ball.

Mr. Walsh, that includes you, too. I must say, you sure have your work cut out for you.

Posted by Bill Hazell at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2008

2008 NFL Mock Draft

In years past, I've tried to liven up my NFL mock draft pieces with clever openings, entertaining anecdotes, and tongue-in-cheek humor. Primarily, this has been done in an effort to pander to those in the Internet-surfing public that find the subject of the draft "boring." And, while I am shocked that anybody could consider such a critical component of the NFL season anything less than absolutely riveting, I have played the game and thus softened the institutional-like rigidity of the typical mock draft in my annual contribution to that subject.

Well, that trend ends here and now. After much introspection, I've made a personal commitment to my mock draft this time around, and adding any fluff or otherwise nonessential musings to this story would compromise the integrity of my intended purpose: to provide you, the reader, with the most accurate, most well thought-out mock draft you'll find this side of Mel Kiper, Jr. and the folks at Scouts, Inc.

On that note, read on for my 2008 NFL mock draft...

1. Miami Dolphins: OT JAKE LONG, MICHIGAN — As a loyal Dol-fan for over two decades, I poured over all my sources in hopes of finding some tidbit of info that would indicate Miami's desire to select the "sexy" prospect: a lightning-quick halfback or a cannon-armed signal caller. Unfortunately for me and all you other Dolphin fans out there, I found no such evidence. Fortunately for the team, however, Jake Long is an easy No. 1 selection to be made for the betterment of the franchise's near and long term future.

(Wildcard — Matt Ryan may have impressed Bill Parcels and Company enough to have them make him their top pick, but if he did, they're not showing their cards at all.)

2. St. Louis Rams: DE CHRIS LONG, VIRGINIA — While many of the mock drafts you see out there have Miami looking to select Virginia's pass rusher extraordinaire, he doesn't translate well into the 3-4 scheme the Dolphins prefer, so they are likely to pass on him, much to the Rams' delight. The team is starved for a edge-rushing threat and Long fits this bill perfectly.

(Wildcard — If Miami passes on Jake Long, look for St. Louis to snatch him up to be the eventual replacement for Orlando Pace.)

3. Atlanta Falcons: DE VERNON GHOLSTON, OHIO STATE — With a glaring need along the o-line, the Falcons would love Jake Long to still be on the board; however, there is little chance of that scenario playing out. The team's second biggest area of need is QB, but Matt Ryan just doesn't grade out that high and I get the feeling that the Falcons' management isn't big on his intangibles. While the team would love to trade down to find a more appropriate slot to pick a round one QB, there will be no takers, so the team will reach for their next biggest area of need and grab the pass rusher their defense lacked in '07 in Gholston.

(Wildcard — Another spot where Ryan may well go, the more intriguing possibility is for Atlanta to trade down with a Dallas or a Carolina so they can be in a better spot to draft QB Brian Brohm, who I suspect is the passer they covet.)

4. Oakland Raiders: TRADE TO DALLAS COWBOYS — Jerry Jones's affinity for Razorback runner Darren McFadden has been very well-publicized. Oakland has a great deal of needs and openings to fill on both sides of the ball. A trade here works very well both logistically and practically; look for Dallas to ship their two first round picks and the contract of S Roy Williams — who has fallen out of favor with the new Cowboy coaching staff — to California for this pick as Jones will get his man.

Dallas Cowboys: RB DARREN McFADDEN, ARKANSAS

(Wildcard — Glenn Dorsey may well prove too much of a draw for Al Davis to ignore, especially with his ex-teammate JaMarcus Russell singing his praises in those Oakland pre-draft meetings.)

5. Kansas City Chiefs: OT RYAN CLADY, BOSTON COLLEGE — I'll be shocked if this pick doesn't go as I suspect it will. KC is desperate to shore up an offensive line that has been decimated by injuries, retirements, and free agent losses in recent years. With Long off the board, Clady is a suitable option and will fit in nicely for Herm Edwards' squad.

(Wildcard — If McFadden somehow falls this far, KC will pick him, simply because of his upside and value.)

6. New York Jets: DT GLENN DORSEY, LSU. I hate the Jets — There, got that out of the way. Now, on to the pick. With needs all along the defensive front seven, the team will be tickled to see a top two talent sitting on the board with this pick at a position of true need. Glenn Dorsey is a playmaker at defensive tackle and brings lots of versatility and attitude to a unit lacking any sign of those things a year ago. With the injury concerns a thing of the past for Dorsey (having answered most concerns in his workouts), New York won't hesitate to grab the mature, hard-working run stuffer.

(Wildcard — Since there is no way McFadden would get past KC if he falls that far at all, the Jets may try to move up into Atlanta's slot to pick the dynamic runner.)

7. New England Patriots: CB DOMINIQUE ROGERS-CROMARTIE, TENNESSEE ST — As unfair as it is for the authors of the first undefeated regular season in 25 years to have a top-10 pick in the draft following that season, such is the lot of the New England Patriots. Savvy moves and brilliant risks have paid off big time for the league's most successful team this decade and stealing this pick from the 49ers is just another in a long line of perfectly executed decisions by the Patriots' brain trust. With only one real position of need to fill and only one real top-10 option at that position, this pick is a relatively easy call.

(Wildcard — Trading down is a real option for New England as they are a rare top-10 draft participant with no dire need.)

8. Baltimore Ravens: QB MATT RYAN, BOSTON COLLEGE —I won't bore you with any details here. They need a QB, there's a good one on the board who just happens to grade out to a 8th, 9th, or 10th choice in the first round. Can you say "slam dunk?"

(Wildcard — I really can't see Baltimore not picking Ryan, but if he is off the board, look for the team to reach for a linebacker like USC's Keith Rivers.)

9. Cincinnati Bengals: WR MALCOLM KELLY, OKLAHOMA — With the ever-vocal Chad Johnson still flip-flopping on his intentions for the '08 campaign coupled with the recent, well-deserved release of ne'er-do-well receiver/career criminal Chris Henry, the Bengals are going to be looking very hard for a receiving option either in free agency or through the draft. My crystal ball tells me they won't find one on the market (mainly because few want to be within 2,000 feet of this team's legal troubles and inner-turmoil). While Cincy may look to move up a few picks to grab Dorsey should he slip a bit, the better bet is that the team will stay put and grab the top receiver on their draft board.

(Wildcard — If the Chad Johnson situation loses some of its venom in the days leading up to the draft, look for Cincy to put the full-court press on the teams in front of them in hopes of moving up to grab Dorsey.)

10. New Orleans Saints: DT SEDRIC ELLIS, USC — Rounding out the top 10, New Orleans would love to have Kelly slip to them so they could build some depth on an offense that is one more solid receiving option away from being truly dominant. But if he is off the board, don't look for the Saints to reach for one of the lesser receiving talents and rather expect them to try to solidify a defense that did get exploited quite often in '07. While CB Leodis McKelvin would be another player high on the team's wish list, especially considering the need they have in their defensive backfield, look for New Orleans to grab the best available player rather than reaching for a player at a slightly more needed position.

(Wildcard — If Malcolm Kelly remains on the board, NO will go after the playmaking receiver.)

11. Buffalo Bills: DE DERRICK HARVEY, FLORIDA — Buffalo must find someone to put pressure on the opposing quarterback. It is true that they could use fortifying at both CB and WR, however, the primary need is a disruptive force on that defensive line, and Harvey is as disruptive as they come.

(Wildcard — With those needs at CB and WR and no real safe option on the board at this spot, look for Buffalo to possibly trade down a half dozen picks or so.)

12. Denver Broncos: RB FELIX JONES, ARKANSAS — While this move does not fit the model we've come to know from Mike Shanahan and Co., the winds of change have been blowing in Denver and this move makes sense. Jones has sky-high potential and would be able to start immediately to take some pressure off their passing game. I like this pick, though I must admit it will surprise me if they go through with it.

(Wildcard — OT Gosder Cherilus of Boston College is an attractive option for a team looking to get younger along their offensive line. While he doesn't fit their typical mold, he may prove too attractive an upside to pass up.)

13. Carolina Panthers: OT GOSDER CHERILUS, BOSTON COLLEGE — The mammoth Cherilus has flown up draft boards of late, and Carolina could use his versatility in their offense. While the knock on Gosder has been his tendency to hold, his workouts have been very impressive and he is admittedly much more comfortable as a RT than a LT, which makes him a nice fit in Carolina.

(Wildcard — This may be QB Brian Brohm's landing spot, but I just can't see Carolina reaching for a QB unless they are totally enamored with his skill set.)

14. Chicago Bears: LB KEITH RIVERS, USC — You can never have too much defense, and the trademark speed of the Bears' linebacking corps has very obviously started to slip a bit. Rivers would be a boon for their 'backers, as he brings tenacious aggression to the mix and would help give a breather to some of their aging veterans, potentially helping their productivity immensely.

(Wildcard — If RB Felix Jones does remain on the board longer than I suspect he will, Chicago may go after him and look to deal Ced Benson.)

15. Detroit Lions: DE CALAIS CAMPBELL, MIAMI — While the draw of one of the receivers here certainly will loom large in Millen's mind, Campbell makes sense. To be fair, the 2007 draft was a solid one for the franchise which perhaps signifies that their brain trust has finally turned the corner and knows what direction they are steering the ship.

(Wildcard — Progress or not, I would be remiss not to plant the seed; Michigan State's Devin Thomas is a WR that has explosive ability and is a local draw.)

16. Arizona Cardinals: CB LEODIS McKELVIN, TROY — The Cardinals would be ecstatic to see McKelvin still on the board when their name is called in round one; he is a solid cover man who played in a similar scheme at Troy as Arizona runs in the pros. I feel he is a bit overrated, but my vote doesn't count.

(Wildcard — 'Zona is another team that would love RB Jones to still be around right about here. If he is, they'll snatch him up and look to deal Edgerrin James for a pick or two later on day one.)

17. Minnesota Vikings: DE PHILLIP MERLONG, CLEMSON — The Vikes may go CB (Antoine Cason, Mike Jenkins) or WR (James Hardy, Devin Thomas), but Merlong fills a need that the Vikes may see as the single reason they couldn't take a bigger step towards success in 2007.

(Wildcard — Any of the afore-mentioned CB or WR position players, with Indiana's Hardy being the most likely candidate should they go that route.)

18. Houston Texans: CB ANTOINE CASON, ARIZONA — I'm a huge Cason guy. He is a dynamic athlete that will contribute in many phases, a la Antonio Cromartie. Houston has quietly been targeting this kid since they knew where they'd be picking a few months back and would be quite disappointed if he was snatched up earlier.

(Wildcard — If CBs go early and often, which is an unlikely but possible scenario, look for the Texans to grab their offensive tackle in the form of Cherilus or Pitt's Jeff Otah.)

19. Philadelphia Eagles: TRADE TO ATLANTA FALCONS — Trades are always tough to predict, but if the draft plays out as I have it going, this one just makes all kinds of sense. Philly needs to fill a few more spots than they typically do, so extra picks would be a start to satisfying that plan. Atlanta has one very obvious need after their earlier round one pick and the extra picks in round two to make a play at a guy that I feel Arthur Blank has had one eye on since they hired this kid's coach (who has since abandoned the disaster he helped create) a year ago. I would anticipate this move bringing the Eagles the sixth and 17th picks of round two.

Atlanta Falcons: QB BRIAN BROHM, LOUISVILLE

(Wildcard — If Philly stays put and picks right here, I would strongly suspect WR Devin Thomas would be their guy.)

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: RB RASHARD MENDENHALL, ILLINOIS — Questions abound over the status of RB Cadillac Williams, and Ernest Graham is not the answer, though he filled in admirably in '07. Mendenhall is a nice player; he has the versatility to help out in the short passing game (a big plus as seen through the eyes of Jon Gruden) and the durability to handle a substantial workload as a runner.

(Wildcard — Like many of the other teams picking right around here, there is good value at the receiver position, and Indiana's James Hardy would give this offense a dimension they lack in the form of a big, tough, possession-style receiver.)

21. Washington Redskins: WR JAMES HARDY, INDIANA — With the shift to more of a West Coast style of offense, the 'Skins need a larger possession guy to complement Santana Moss and Antwan Randle El. Hardy, at 6'6", 220 lbs. is a load, and is relatively quick for a man with his strength. His only question mark is his hands, which have been inconsistent at times. Still, he is a great fit in Washington.

(Wildcard — Kansas's Aqib Talib may be brought in and moved to safety, to fill the spot opened by the tragic death of Sean Taylor.)

22. Dallas Cowboys: TRADE TO OAKLAND RAIDERS — As part of the trade that moved the Cowboys into the No. 4 slot, Oakland will take this pick along with Dallas' other first round selection. Albert fills a need and is the best OG on the board.

Oakland Raiders: OG BRANDEN ALBERT, VIRGINIA

(Wildcard — If Dallas does not deal for a top-five pick, look for the Cowboys to move up six or seven spots in an effort to land Arkansas' other back, Felix Jones.)

23. Pittsburgh Steelers: OT JEFF OTAH, PITTSBURGH — Otah makes sense. He bullies opponents in the running game, plays smart, and fills a need for the Steelers. Factor in the team's familiarity with him having been able to scout him each Pitt home game, and this may well be the easiest call on the board.

(Wildcard — There is the very real possibility that Otah will be gone by this pick, in which case I'd suspect Pittsburgh will move into the second round via a trade of some sort.)

24. Tennessee Titans: CB MIKE JENKINS, SOUTH FLORIDA — Don't doubt for one second that Vince Young won't be begging for Limas Sweed with this pick — and be equally assured that the Titan front office will put some serious thought into that idea — however, with the future of Pacman Jones still up in the air and their obvious lack of talent in the defensive backfield, Jenkins fits the bill here and would step into their starting lineup immediately.

(Wildcard — I've already implied what the other path may be in Texas' playmaking WR and ex-VY target Limas Sweed.)

25. Seattle Seahawks: TRADE TO KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — With the first round winding down, look for several deals to be made, primarily involving those teams who may have overachieved in 2007 and are looking to stockpile picks. Seattle will look to get KC's No. 4 pick in round two, along with a third-rounder in 2009.

Kansas City Chiefs: CB AQIB TALIB, KANSAS — Having handled their need along the o-line, KC will try to move here to pick one of the remaining first round talent CBs.

(Wildcard — Another team may look to trade in here to get their hands on either OT Sam Baker from USC or one of the remaining WR talents. In either event, I'd be shocked if Seattle did not move out of this pick.)

26. Jacksonville Jaguars: TRADE TO ST. LOUIS RAMS — Jacksonville has needs at WR and CB, and there are some players on the board here that would fill that need, but St. Louis will be pushing hard to move into this part of round one and the Jags can stand to pickup the second and fourth round picks St. Louis will likely be offering.

St. Louis Rams: OT CHRIS WILLIAMS, VANDERBILT — With another OT prospect, Sam Baker, also on the board, look for St. Louis to opt for Williams, who hasn't suffered through the injuries that have plagued Baker.

(Wildcard — Jacksonville may see fit to stay right here and draft Devin Thomas at WR.)

27. San Diego Chargers: RB JONATHON STEWART, OREGON — The Chargers are a good team and really will only be looking to get deeper through this draft. Moving down may be an option, but RB Jonathon Stewart would be a good project to stash on their bench, especially considering the departure of Michael Turner. This move gives them back some of the depth they love to have, and also provides the flexibility to shop either Stewart or current backup Darren Sproles should the need present itself.

(Wildcard — Sam Baker may go right here if San Diego opts to add depth along their offensive front.)

28. Dallas Cowboys: TRADE TO OAKLAND RAIDERS — Part two of the McFadden move, Oakland will use this pick to get the receiver they need to help the development of Jamarcus Russell along.

Oakland Raiders: WR DEVIN THOMAS, MICHIGAN STATE

(Wildcard — I would be shocked to see Dallas not trade this pick to some interested party. However, if they do draft here, there isn't much doubt in my mind that they'd go for LB Jerod Mayo of Tennessee.)

29. San Francisco 49ers: TRADE to TENNESSEE TITANS — San Fran will be very excited up until the point where Oakland (or whomever else trades into Dallas's 28th slot) selects Devin Thomas, who is the player they have hoped to have fall in their laps. Once that occurs, they will pull the trigger on a deal they had set up with the Titans, sending a second day pick in either '08 or '09 to Tennessee along with this pick in return for Tennessee's second and fifth picks from this draft and a second rounder from '09.

Tennessee Titans: WR LIMAS SWEED, TEXAS — In an act of graciousness to appease VY for passing on Limas Sweed a few picks earlier, Jeff Fisher will move up to grab him here.

(Wildcard — San Francisco may see enough out of Sweed to make him their pick.)

30. Green Bay Packers: TE DUSTIN KELLER, PURDUE — Donald Lee had a nice season as Green Bay's No. 1 tight end option in 2007, but Donald Lee is not a top option moving forward and is better served as a secondary guy. Dustin Keller brings an attractive combination of speed and size to the position and will give Aaron Rogers an immediate seam-splitting threat on offense.

(Wildcard — I don't see any other options here, unless Keller is taken earlier. If that happens, than they may reach for the injury-prone Josh Barrett, a safety out of Arizona State with lots of upside.)

31. New England Patriots: PICK FORFEITED (Spy Gate)

32. New York Giants: LB JEROD MAYO, TENNESSEE — The defending champs are actually quite fortunate to have Mayo available in this spot. He is a hard-hitter and a smart playmaker and will fit in nicely with the Giants' team approach.

(Wildcard — If Mayo is gone by the time they pick, the champs will likely trade down or grab some depth from the remaining options at OT or OG.)

Posted by Matt Thomas at 11:10 AM | Comments (6)

NBA Round One Predictions

It's finally here. No more speculation. No more daily standings shuffles. No more MVP talk (hopefully). No more tiebreakers.

Just playoff basketball.

We're about to embark on two intense months of basketball to write the final chapter of an already remarkable NBA season.

Will the playoffs live up to all the hype? It's hard to say. Some have already dubbed this the best first round in history, and not a single series has even tipped off yet. Not to mention a Celtics/Pistons renewed rivalry series waiting in the wings, and a potential Kobe vs. Shaq conference finals. I'd say this has all the makings of a historic spring.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Before we start talking conference finals, we need to talk conference quarterfinals.

Let's start by breaking down round one. As Flavor Flav would say: without further do...

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Boston Celtics vs. No. 8 Atlanta Hawks

Did you know that the Celtics have the biggest single-season turnaround in NBA history? Really, they do. You know why? Kevin Garnett. And nothing else. Nope. Just KG. By himself, he won 42 more games for the Celtics than they won last year. That's why he's unquestionably the MV...

Wait a second ... this just in. Apparently, last offseason the Celtics added another future Hall of Famer besides Garnett. As it turns out, this "Ray Allen" guy isn't bad. He's got the second most three pointers made all-time and he has the seventh best career free throw percentage. Hell, he even made the all-star team.

I got confused for a minute there because once all the MVP talk started going on this past month KG got all the credit for the Celtics success.

Seeing that KG doesn't have to go it alone after all, I'm going to have to pick the Celtics in this one.

Prediction: Boston

No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Washington Wizards

Agent Zero may have gained around a million fans with his blog the last two seasons, but he certainly hasn't done it without putting his foot in his mouth on a few different occasions. His most recent blogging blunder, calling out the Cavaliers by saying that everyone wants to play them in round one, will end up costing his team.

First of all, Cleveland is a better team than most people give them credit for. I don't care about what their regular season record is; they have a team built for the playoffs. They play top-notch defense for long stretches at a time, and that's exactly what it takes to win a playoff series.

Second of all, they have LeBron. As we saw last year, against these very Wizards and again against the Pistons, LeBron is enough by himself to take down whole teams. Throw in the fact that Arenas single-handedly put the chip on James' shoulder, and it spells trouble for the Wizards.

Prediction: Cleveland

No. 3 Orlando Magic vs. No. 6 Toronto Raptors

This one could get very interesting. If Sam Mitchell would just play Jose Calderon at the point guard position and leave him there for 35 minutes a game, the Raptors would have a real chance here. According to 82games.com, 13 of the top 14 five-man units that the Raptors have run out there this season have featured Calderon at the point instead of T.J. Ford.

Amazingly, Ford has started the final 12 games of the season and will surely get the nod in the Orlando series. What Calderon needs to do to prove that he is the better player is beyond me. It's a shame that Mitchell has decided to make the switch back to Ford because it will ultimately cost the Raptors this series.

The Magic's biggest weakness defensively is defending the point guard. Luckily, it will be the opposing coach who will neutralizes this weakness for them.

Prediction: Orlando

No. 2 Detroit Pistons vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Detroit should be able to sleepwalk to its sixth straight conference finals this season. Even though Philly had a nice stretch in February and into March, they are still a below .500 team coming into the playoffs having lost five of their last six.

The 76ers may have split the season series with the Pistons, but that means nothing right now. The Pistons are too talented, too experienced, and too prideful to let Philly even sniff a chance at taking this series.

In typical Pistons fashion, I predict that they will come out and win the first two games at home by a combined 40 points, decide among themselves that they are the better team, and coast through the rest of the series allowing Philly to hang around in the final two games, and maybe even steal one.

Nonetheless, the Pistons will make short work of the completely outclassed Sixers and take the series easily.

Prediction: Detroit

Western Conference

No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 8 Denver Nuggets

This is the only series in the west that you can't make a legitimate case for both teams winning the series. No matter which way I look at this one, I can't see a way that Denver beats the Lakers.

The fact that L.A. scores so much, and Denver as a whole could care less about stopping anyone, makes for a pretty fatal combination come playoff time.

The real question here is: will there ever be another team in the history of the league that does less with as much talent as the Nuggets?

They have two guys who can drop for 30 every time that step on the floor (Anthony and Iverson). They have a perennial First Team All-Defense player in Marcus Camby (including being reigning Defensive Player of the Year), yet they are the one playoff team in the West that isn't even on my radar to compete in the first round.

It isn't because of the matchup, either. You could put this team against any of the seven other playoff teams in the west and I would pick against them. They have all sorts of individual talent, yet no team game offensively. They have all sorts of experience, yet make up the biggest collection of loose cannons since the Jail Blazers. They have a coach on his way to 1,000 wins who I wouldn't hire as my coach if I were a GM and had a blank check and 100% job security.

Nothing about Denver makes sense. If everything played out on paper the Nuggets and Houston would fight it out for the West every year and no one else would come close. But don't play the games on paper, and because of that Denver only has five games max left this season.

Prediction: Los Angeles>

No. 4 Utah Jazz vs. No. 5 Houston Rockets

This is the toughest of all the first round series to predict. This one could really go either way. Utah doesn't lose at home, but they don't have home-court advantage. Houston has obviously proven that they can get hot and be unbeatable, but they are just 1-2 against the Jazz and winless against them without Yao.

Then there is the whole Tracy McGrady thing. Is he destined to be the greatest player to never win a playoff series? Is this the year where he leads his team to a playoff series victory? You just never know.

I've thought long and hard about it and I still can't decide. When all else fails, I'm going back to my theory that a team learns to win by advancing deep into the playoffs and losing in the previous season. I've written before that Utah and Cleveland are my sleeper teams this year because of that very reason, so I'm sticking to it now.

I'm picking Utah to win a very hard-fought matchup because of their experience grinding out series in last season's playoffs.

Unless Houston catches fire. Or Mehmet Okur gets suspended for his hit on Fabricio Oberto. Or Andrei Kirilenko disappears in the clutch, again. Or ... let's just move on.

Prediction: Utah

No. 3 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 6 Phoenix Suns

A rematch of shovegate. A lot of people think that Phoenix would have won that series last year if it hadn't been for the suspensions heading into Game 6. Not me.

San Antonio was the better team then and they are the better team now. The suspensions were just another of many built-in excuses for the team that whines more than any other in the league, including the always sourpuss Pistons.

The only thing that could stop me from picking the Spurs is Manu Ginobili's health. I think that his groin injury is not as serious as the Spurs are letting on. At first, I was floored when he didn't play against the Lakers on Sunday because that game had huge seeding implications. But the more I thought about it, the more I think it is just another example of Gregg Popovich being a future Hall of Fame coach.

He knows that his team is too good and too experienced to care what venue they play in. I think he decided to rest Ginobili to make sure that he is 100% and at the same time not show the Lakers anything in their final meeting of the season, seeding be damned.

I've said a hundred different times in a hundred different ways that the Suns brand of basketball is a gimmick and that they can't beat good teams with good coaching in a seven-game series with it. Assuming that Ginobili really is healthy, this series will just be another in the long list of examples to prove me right.

Prediction: San Antonio

No. 2 New Orleans Hornets vs. No. 7 Dallas Mavericks

In my opinion, this is the best first round matchup. New Orleans has more talent, Dallas has more experience. New Orleans is the feel-good story of the season, but it looks like they may have just picked the wrong season for it.

In just about any other season you could think of, a team this stacked would have no problem getting out of the first round. This year, despite having a fantastic season, the Hornets are running into a Dallas team two years removed from a trip to the finals and one year removed from the embarrassing loss to Golden State that they desperately want to avenge.

To make matters worse, the Hornets' best player has yet to experience the playoffs, and that is not to be underestimated. As great as I think Chris Paul is, he has a tendency to have poor shooing games. Poor shooting games from your best player in the playoffs are tough to overcome.

I look for this series to be played at the highest level that maybe any first round series has ever been played at. In the end, if Avery Johnson doesn't over-coach the Mavericks (which is a huge if), I think Dallas will outlast the Hornets. It's not going to be a runaway by any means, but I think New Orleans is setting up to be this year's Utah or Cleveland, and they are going to learn to win for next season by losing to Dallas this season.

Prediction: Dallas

Posted by Scott Shepherd at 11:03 AM | Comments (4)

April 17, 2008

Why the NHL is Dead

The NHL playoffs are in full swing, kicking off this week.

The Bruins are playing the Canadiens, in what is a classic matchup with history going back all the way to the NHL's origin. The Pittsburgh Penguins feature what could be the most exciting player since Mario Lemieux in Sidney Crosby. The Washington Capitals have what could be the most prolific goal scorer the NHL has seen in many, many years in Alexander Ovechkin.

There have been multiple overtime playoff games, great goaltending, great scoring, a completely insane guy waving his stick hysterically in front of a goaltender, physical play, terrible yet entertaining officiating, and an all-around exciting first round of the playoffs.

Yet, nobody seems to care.

Sure, you have your hockey purists who will follow hockey no matter what, but the average sports fan just doesn't care.

The first round of the NHL playoffs is just something you watch if your local baseball team isn't playing that night. And it'll only get worse this weekend, when the NHL playoffs will be completely run off the map by the NBA playoffs.

I'm not trying to bash the NHL, I'm just pointing out one of the major issues facing the struggling league: apathy among average sports fans.

Ask the average sports fan to rate the professional sports, and it'll go something like this:

1) Football
2) Baseball (or basketball)
3) Basketball (or baseball)
4) NASCAR
5) Golf
6) Hockey
7) Soccer/Tennis

The sport that used to be referred to as the "Coolest Sport on Earth" is consistently taking a backseat to cars driving repeatedly in circles and golf.

But hey, it probably still beats out tennis and soccer. Unless we're talking about Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, anyway. And the average New England Revolution game draws about 20,000, while the average Bruins game draws closer to 10,000.

Kind of sad for an original six team in a city that was once referred to as the hub of hockey.

The thing is, at this point, I'm not sure what you can do to save hockey.

In Boston, it's gotten so bad that the "Garden" was half full of Canadien fans during this week's playoff games. To add insult to injury, the wonderful Bruins' ownership actually sold Canadian advertisements on the boards because ... get this ... no local advertisers were interested.

At one point, I actually heard the "Garden" overrun with a "Let's go Habs" chant.

I died a little inside that night — then I changed the channel back to the Red Sox game and forgot the Bruins existed again.

I've been harping on this for years, but when the NHL decided that FOX wasn't ponying up enough dough to keep "The Coolest Game on Earth" on the FOX Network it set them way, way back.

FOX was perfect for the NHL. Between the glowing puck, that little streak thing they put behind the puck on slapshots, the cool graphics, and the ridiculous amount of advertising they put into the sport, FOX was the best thing that ever happened to the NHL.

And now we have Versus? VERSUS? Are you kidding me?

First off, I'm not even sure what channel Versus is. Secondly, why would you take an already weakened product and latch it on to a struggling sports network nobody's ever heard of?

The NHL used to be great. The NHL playoffs used to be must-see-TV, even for none NHL fans. It's hardly appointment TV anymore. It's degraded into an afterthought.

Nothing more than a highlight on "SportsCenter." Somewhere between soccer and arena football. And I'm not sure what they need to do to fix the problem. I'm not sure it can be fixed.

In the minds of U.S. hockey fans, the sport has morphed into ... soccer. Something we'll get excited about once every four years when we pretend to care about the Olympics.

It's time to stop kidding ourselves. If there are four major professional sports in the United States, the NHL isn't one of them. If there are five, the NHL probably isn't one of them. If there are six, the NHL might be one of them.

It sucks, but it's where we are.

The NHL is dead.

The question is, how do we bring it back to life?

I'm SeanMC.

SeanMC is a senior writer for Bleacher Report and writes a column for Sports Central every other Thursday. You can read more articles by SeanMC on his blog.

Posted by Sean Crowe at 11:58 AM | Comments (32)

NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 8

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Carl Edwards — Edwards likely had the fastest car in Phoenix, but a costly pit stop on lap 113 left him down a lap. Just as Edwards had exited the pits on that lap, the smoking car of Joe Nemechek brought out the caution, trapping Edwards one lap down. Compounding the issue, one of Edwards crew members hopped the wall too soon, forcing Edwards to the back of the longest line. Despite those mishaps, Edwards managed to pass his way to an eventual finish of fourth, his fourth top-five finish of the year, and only top-five that wasn't a win.

"Talk about a double whammy," says Edwards. "Caught in the pits just before a caution and a penalty. That's like having a loose oil cover and getting caught for it. NASCAR officials are obviously watching me with a keen eye. Penalizing me for having a crew member over the wall too soon is like calling for a debris caution — it's just a way to bring the hot driver back to the field. But let me ask you this? What's more obvious to the naked eye? A loose oil lid on my car, or a Craftsman truck driver under the influence of heroin? Let's face it. Aaron Fike was only tested because he jokingly listed his emergency contact on an entry form as 'Angel Dusted.'"

"In any case, Fike's admission of drug abuse clears the air about a few issues. At Roush Fenway Racing, there was another security breech in addition to the missing sway bar. We were almost positive it was Michael Waltrip who took the missing equipment, but Fike's story is practically a clear admission that he's responsible for swiping Roush Fenway's entire collection of spoons."

2. Jimmie Johnson — Johnson took a calculated gamble, eschewing a splash of gas pit stop that nearly all of the leaders felt compelled to make, to snatch a somewhat unlikely victory in Phoenix. Johnson went the final 80 laps without stopping, his fuel mileage worries eased by the confident voice of crew chief Chad Knaus, who was insistent that his driver could make the distance.

"Hey, Chad's my crew chief," says Johnson. "I always believe what he tells me, no matter how far-fetched it may sound. Whether it's 'Sure, you've got plenty of gas,' or 'There's no way we'll get caught,' I trust his word. Chad's a smart guy; you never know what he's got up his sleeve, although, more than likely, it's probably 1/4" too long, 1/4" too wide, or 4/4 illegal. I do know what's not up his sleeve — a swollen vein. Hey, what do Aaron Fike and a victory burnout have in common? They both leave 'track marks.'"

3. Jeff Burton — Burton risked the fuel gamble made by Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer, and it paid off with a sixth in Phoenix, a result that increased his lead in the Sprint Cup point standings to 80. After a terrible qualifying run placed him 39th on the starting grid, Burton methodically worked his way to the front.

"I'm basically a quiet and unassuming fellow," says Burton. "I'm not one to talk junk, but under the circumstances, I feel it's my duty, as the most level-headed and respected driver on the circuit, to talk a little 'smack.' Drugs, that is. We, as drivers, must be subject to the same level of scrutiny that our cars are. If Ryan Newman's car can be penalized for being 'too high,' then drivers should be tested for drugs as well. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that recreational drug usage in the NASCAR garage is equivalent to the activity backstage at a Fleetwood Mac 1975 concert. Far from it. It may take five cokeheads to make a great album such as Rumors; it only takes one to wreck a race car. We should be tested to preserve the integrity of the sport. We've got to keep this sport clean. We already have a television network known as 'Speed TV'; we don't need a reality television show called 'Speed TV' about a drug-addled racer. "

4. Kyle Busch — Busch battled handling and brake issues in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 last Saturday, but scrapped his way to a 10th-place finish as the last car on the lead lap. Busch moves up one spot in the point standings to second, trailing Jeff Burton by 80 points.

"It's not the result we were looking for," says Busch. "Now where have I heard that before? Oh yeah. From my parents. Twice. Anyway, it will be nice to take a trip down to Mexico on my week off from the Sprint Cup series to go for my third Nationwide win of the year. Road courses aren't my strong suit, so the Corona Mexico 200 will serve as great practice. Plus, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is a very historic circuit, and it's the only paved road in Mexico. And I think it's cool that Senor Rodriguez' first name is 'Autodromo.' Is he a hunchback? What's that? It means 'Rodriguez Brothers' Racetrack' in English. Who are these Rodriguez Brothers? Are they like Mexico's version of the Pep Boys?"

"Anyway, it will also be nice to get a little sun down in Mexico City. Frankly, I'm sick of all the 'Pale Rider' jokes."

5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. — Earnhardt, predictably enough, finished in the top 10 for the sixth time in eight races, crossing the line seventh in the Subway Fresh Fit 500. Earnhardt and the No. 88 Chevrolet spent much of the latter stages of the race battling with Mark Martin's No. 8, Earnhardt's former car at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.

"It was pretty fun racing the No. 8," says Earnhardt. "From one legend who's never won a Cup title to another, Mark is a great guy. He may be 49, but he's still cool. Contrary to popular belief, when someone uses the word 'hip' in reference to Mark, that word is not followed by the word 'replacement.' He's hip to the slang of the younger generation. If I were to ask him if he could 'score some blow,' he'd know exactly what I was talking about. Not that Mark does drugs; he doesn't. But he's in tune with the issues at the forefront of the sport. In fact, Mark and the other driver of the No. 8, Aric Almirola, are planning a special gala celebration, formal attire only, to raise money and awareness for drivers, all one of them, fighting the addiction. They're calling it the '8-Ball.'"

"As for the man who was arrested for stealing a cardboard cutout of Dale, Sr., I don't think it's that big of a deal. It could have been much worse, like the guy who thought he was stealing a cardboard cutout of Matt Kenseth. Turns out, it was the real Matt Kenseth. Matt just didn't have the nerve to speak up."

6. Denny Hamlin — Hamlin finished third in Phoenix, his third consecutive top-five, to stake his claim, among Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson, as NASCAR's hottest driver. Hamlin moves up one spot to sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings.

"You may have noticed our special paint scheme on the No. 11 Federal Express Toyota last week in honor of the March of Dimes," says Hamlin. "That raised a lot of attention to the cause. So, at Talladega, we'll be displaying the special Federal Express 'Midnight Express' paint scheme in order to support our advocacy for drug testing. It's not the 'Midnight Express' wrestling tag team lead by decorative tennis racket-toting, mile-a-minute talking manager Jim Cornette. That would clearly indicate an advocacy for drug usage. It's the 'Midnight Express' movie. We hope that by calling attention to this bleak and scary 1978 movie, drivers will realize the hard message delivered by the film: if you're doing drugs, don't get caught trying to smuggle them out of Turkey."

7. Tony Stewart — Stewart was caught in the pits when a caution flew on lap 116, dropping to 15th after entering for service in fourth. Stewart lost a lap and could never regain it, and finished the race with a respectable 14th, which dropped him two spots in the points to seventh.

"Sure, it's disappointing," says Stewart. "I really wanted to win the Subway Fresh Fit 500, especially with Subway as my primary sponsor for this race as well as the sponsor for the race itself. I haven't been 'fresh' and 'fit' since I was a 145-pound eighth grader wearing the red Michael Jackson 'Thriller' jacket."

"It was also cool to see Sammy Hagar wave the checkered flag at the end of the race. There was some confusion with that situation, though. First, David Lee Roth was scheduled to do it, then Hagar was scheduled, then back to Roth, then back to Hagar. That's what NASCAR gets for putting Eddie Van Halen in charge of the checkered flag."

8. Kevin Harvick — Harvick had a sure top-five run spoiled when he ran out of gas on lap 305, just 12 circuits from the finish. Harvick coasted into the pits and came home a disappointing 19th, one lap down. He falls three positions to fifth in the points, 103 behind Jeff Burton.

"It's ironic that I ran out of gas while not sporting the usual Shell paint scheme," says Harvick. "I had more than enough Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to get me through the race, though."

"But I am disappointed at our finish when we had such a strong run in our grasp. And I am disappointed with NASCAR and Mike Helton for not implementing a tougher drug screening policy. Currently, drug testing is done only for 'reasonable suspicion' that a driver is using an illegal drug. Well, I'm 'reasonably suspicious' that the policy works, especially since, apparently, no one was 'reasonably suspicious' that Aaron Fike was racing while on heroin. That's unacceptable. Until I see some answers from Helton, I'll continue to verbalize my concerns, advocate my position, and deface the walls of Helton's office with the words 'Helton Skelter.'"

9. Clint Bowyer — Bowyer scored his best result of the year with a runner-up finish in Phoenix, shrewdly conserving enough fuel to allow him to complete the race's final 79 laps without a stop. Bowyer moves up three places in the points to eighth.

"I've got to hand it to Jimmie," says Bowyer. "He's a lucky man. Not luckly that his fuel gamble paid off, but lucky that I was driving the DirecTV paint scheme and not the Jack Daniels.' I don't think anyone, much less Jimmie, could have handled the dreaded Jack Daniels' 'chaser.'"

10. Martin Truex, Jr. — Truex finished eighth in Phoenix to join Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teammate Mark Martin (fifth) in the top 10 last Saturday. Truex moves up two places to 14th in the points, and is only 18 points shy of 12th.

"It's been a while since I've been in the top 12," says Truex. "But I'm currently riding a streak of 108 weeks at No. 1 in the 'best soul patch' rankings. I'd like to see a Busch brother top that. Anyway, I understand the Yankees/Red Sox game interrupted the start of the race. I'm sure most fans were irritated, but how often does a major leaguer closer strike out Alex Rodriguez and toss out the first pitch for a NASCAR race, simultaneously. If NASCAR fans have a problem with all that, they should bury a Jonathan Papelbon jersey somewhere."

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

The NBA's Most Valuable Player

The 2007-'08 is nearing its conclusion, and we can all agree that it has been one of the most exciting season of hoops in this or any generation. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen resurrected the proud Boston Celtics franchise. LeBron James continued his catapult toward the league's best. And who could forget Dwight Howard's Superman dunk?

In the West, it looks like a 50-win team will not make the playoffs. New Orleans and Los Angeles have been fighting tooth and nail for the top spot, with the Lakers finally taking it. Houston went 22 games without losing. The Lakers traded for Pau Gasol and set off a domino effect of epic proportions. Phoenix brought in Shaquille O'Neal, and transformed into the Big Cactus. Dallas followed suit, and traded for Jason Kidd.

The postseason will be even better.

While everyone gears up for the second season, one debate has risen to capture every talking head, every radio show, and every website. Who deserves the MVP?

Last year, the argument centered on Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash. Nowitzki won partly because his team had won 67 games, and the thought of giving Nash a third straight award scared many off.

This year's contest is not only harder, there is no right answer.

Some say it's a four-man race between James, Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Chris Paul. I believe it's logical to throw out the two East Coast combatants. James led the Cavs to a four seed in the weaker Eastern Conference. If the voters couldn't give it to Bryant in years past because of the overall team performance, there is no way James can win it this year.

As great as Garnett has been, his campaign has been tarnished, as well, mostly because he has two other superstars on the team, Pierce and Allen.

Which means, if I carry the two and add the one, it's between CP3 and the Kobe.

Both players are having outstanding years; both guards are the quintessential leaders for, arguably, the two best teams in the Western Conference and both have the numbers to backup an MVP award. How do you decide?

It's easy when you break down the root of the award. Who is the Most Valuable Player for his team?

You can start by looking at just wins and losses. Kobe has started every game this year and has led his team to the top of the West. Paul has his squad nipping at the Lakers' heels, and in the two games Paul missed, the Hornets went 1-1, beating Minnesota and falling to Orlando.

No one really takes the edge here.

Individual performances however, are a different story.

Chris Paul nearly missed becoming the first player to finish the season with 20 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals, but still became the first player to end the year with 20 points and 10 assists since Tim Hardaway did it 14 years ago. When the Hornets need him to step up his game, he does, and when they need CP3 to be a distributor, he concedes. Although most of the time, he does both. The Hornets guard is averaging 21 points, 11.6 assists, and 2.7 steals.

The stat that jumps out at me however, is the numbers accompanying New Orleans' losses. In those games, Paul is averaging a shade over 32 points and nearly 10 assists per game. His points increase, and his assist drop. It almost seems as though Paul abandons the need to distribute and tries to carry the game on his own. Teams welcome this attitude. Paul is a lot less dangerous when he is taking the shots compared to finding his teammates and getting everyone involved, making it almost impossible for him to be stopped.

As for Bryant, there was never a need to backup his statistical production. It was always when will he start to distribute, trust his players, and make everyone better? That day has finally arrived. Bryant is playing the best ball of his career. His numbers are down, but it's the intangibles that have made him so incredible this year. Bryant, for the first time since the Dynasty Lakers, smells the championship, and for the best player in the NBA, that's all he needed. This year, against San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Boston, and Detroit, only the Rockets and the Celtics hold an advantage in the season series.

While Paul has been playing with a full deck the majority of the season, the Lakers have not had all the pieces for one game since Gasol was traded to Los Angeles. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol combined to miss more than 60 games this season, but the Lakers have not missed a beat. Bryant is also playing with a hand injury requiring surgery at the end of the season.

The man is playing in a different atmosphere and now has the team chemistry and record to deserve the MVP.

Let it be known that I am not a Kobe-holic. I just enjoy good basketball, and no one this year has been more valuable to his team than Kobe. Although this is not new, what is new is Bryant involving his teammates, the Lakers have backed him up with their record, and now there is no reason for Bryant not to be named MVP.

The same can be said for Paul and what he has done for not only the Hornets, but for New Orleans. Many believe the success of the Hornets saved basketball in the Emerald city and Paul, along with David West, Peja Stojakovic, and Tyson Chandler are the main reasons for it. Paul has shot to the top of the point guard echelon and there is no logical explanation to say otherwise. If you chose Paul for MVP, you wouldn't be wrong. But when it comes down to who is the Most Valuable Player...

It is as simple as 8 + 8 + 8.

Posted by Wailele Sallas at 11:09 AM | Comments (3)

April 15, 2008

Four College Hoops Guarantees

With the dramatic close of yet another terrific men's college basketball season, the focus instantly turns to next year and prognostication about players, teams, and coaches. Predictions are easy to make and even easier to come by. Guarantees, on the other hand, are of a more serious nature, and tend to have significantly more on the line than your normal, everyday shot-in-the-dark. With this in mind, let's take a look at four sure-fire, can't-miss, absolutely idiot-proof guarantees for next year's college hoops campaign.

1. Kansas will not repeat as national champions.

Bill Self is staying, but that's about it. The Jayhawks lose three seniors in Darnell Jackson, Russell Robinson, and Sasha Kaun, not to mention the probability of Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur forgoing their senior seasons to cash in at the draft. Mario Chalmers could also ride the momentum from his miracle three-pointer straight out of Lawrence all the way to the NBA this offseason. That leaves a pretty bare cupboard for a very satisfied Coach Self, who not only achieved his dream of a national championship, but also used Oklahoma State and T. Boone Pickens to secure a lucrative contract extension from Kansas. The real question is if Self is still hungry enough to motivate a young, inexperienced team with a bright-red bulls-eye on the back of their jerseys.

2. Moving the three-point line back 12 inches will have a significant impact on the game.

Sure, shooting percentages from beyond the arc will drop slightly, but the biggest impact of the rule change could happen at the basket. With defenses forced to extend their efforts further from the hoop, guards and wingmen may find wide-open-spaces when slashing to the rim. Big men may benefit too, with teams less likely to double the post with more ground to make up to defend the three. Look for an increase in the frequency and use of various zone-defenses from traditional "man-to-man" teams.

3. Bob Knight will not return to coaching.

This is the easiest guarantee of all. Take one look at "The General" pouting and preening with the other ex-coaches on ESPN, and you'll see a man fulfilled by the one thing he's always craved: attention. That, and a heavy helping of coddling from his co-workers and employers. Digger and Dicky V. address him as "coach," while Knight sits smugly in his out-of-place sweater among the suits. Why would he return to the coaching world, with all its stress and accountability (after leaving his players high and dry at Texas Tech), when he can enjoy the air-conditioning and wind-bagging of a career he once scorned, as a member of the media?

4. Tyler Hansbrough will repeat as Naismith Player of the Year.

That is, if he returns for his senior season. "Psycho T" has led the Tar Heels in scoring and rebounding in each of his first three seasons, including averaging a double-double this past year (22.6 points, 10.6 boards per game.) If he puts up numbers like that in his senior campaign, he'll go down as one of the greatest ever to put on the Carolina blue. And if that's not enough to convince Hansbrough to come back, he also has everyone doubting his NBA potential and an 18-point loss to Kansas in the Final Four to use for motivation. Add that to his normal non-stop motor, and the result could be scary — literally.

Posted by John Hocter at 11:02 AM | Comments (3)

Loss of Jamiel Shaw's Life Transcends Sports

"I'm safer, somewhat, in Iraq than my son is on the streets of the United States. ... My country let me down."
— Sgt. Anita Shaw, United States Army

March 2, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA was no different than any other in the crime-ridden areas of the City of Angels, where the homicide rate has risen by 27% since the same time period in 2007. What differentiates March 2, 2008 from other days, however, is that in areas not well known to be crime-ridden, where residents in communities try to get by in doing right by their neighbors, there is a war brewing for which they are unarmed.

Jamiel Shaw, Jr., a 17-year-old Los Angeles High School football star running back, finishing his junior year in high school as the Southern League's most valuable player, was celebrated by family, friends, and his community.

But Jamiel Shaw, Jr. was not only celebrated for being able to run with a football or beat county records on his track team, but as one who also represented ideals that every family strives for such as his commitment to his education, his devotion to his church, and his loyalty to his family.

Unfortunately, on March 2, 2008, Jamiel Shaw, Jr. was slain three houses down from his own home at 6 o'clock on that Sunday evening after returning to his neighborhood by public transportation, following a weekend football symposium in which he participated. In fact, he was talking to his father on his cell phone minutes before he turned the corner prior to walking up his block.

Within minutes, Jamiel's father, Jamiel Shaw, Sr., heard what he thought was a back-firing vehicle on the nearby interstate, poked his head outside of the front door and saw a crowd gathering in the direction in which his son was walking. Jamiel Shaw, Sr. ran down the street, only to find his son mortally wounded with a bullet hole in his head, lying on the ground.

The national mainstream media and numerous media outlets throughout Los Angeles, primarily the week that Jamiel was murdered, reported it as another ghetto crime as the result of gang violence.

That caption, however, was not only inaccurate and incomplete, but was a disservice to the real issues underlying this important story on a number of fronts. But such could not be handily fit into a headline sound bite for sensational purposes. So, the story angle was spun to fit an agenda.

Important to note, however, is that the essence of Jamiel Shaw, Jr. was not simply that of an aspiring athlete, already accepting football recruitment inquiries from Stanford University, Rutgers University, and Arizona State University. For Jamiel Shaw, Jr.'s family did not raise Jamiel as a footballer, but as a good human being, in order to excel in whatever path he chose for his life and to hopefully inspire his friends to do the same.

The family of Jamiel Shaw, Jr. included his dedicated father, raising him and his 9-year-old brother while his mother was serving her second tour of duty in Iraq as a Sergeant in the United States Army. He also had an involved extended family, including school friends and church members, in what is now considered an old-school community, where folks still look after each other. And no, Jamiel did not live in a crime infested gang-banging ghetto.

The story of Jamiel Shaw, Jr., as reported, is not that of sensation, but rather that of the war between our communities and our federal, state, and local governments; for they have dropped the ball, not Jamiel, not his family, not his neighborhood.

Non-observation by local law enforcement and corrections officials, in confirming the legal immigration status of prisoners in U.S. county, state, and federal prisons violates federal law and puts our citizens at risk. And it goes without saying that the non-arrest of persons illegally entering U.S. borders who then go on to commit criminal acts against Americans is but an act of criminality unto itself.

Such criminal and illegal aliens incarcerated in U.S. jails and in prisons serving time, upon such completion of their served time, are to be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. They are then to arrange for the immediate deportation of such criminals back to their country of origin. Such is a requirement and a duty mandated by federal law.

The now arraigned, alleged murderer of Jamiel Shaw, Jr., Pedro Espinoza, is being held in lieu of a $1 million dollar bond on first degree murder charges with a special circumstance, as an active participant in a criminal street gang, where the murder is carried out to further the activities of the criminal street gang.

But the legal status of Pedro Espinoza, a 19-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was not confirmed either by California law enforcement or the California Department of Corrections, prior to his release from the Los Angeles County Jail on March 1, 2008. He had been serving a prison term of less than four months for assault with a deadly weapon, possession of an unregistered handgun, carrying a concealed weapon without a license, and resisting arrest. Moreover, he was never charged with being in the U.S. illegally.

Had the system worked properly, Pedro Espinoza would not have been let back into the community from which he was supposed to have been deported, and within 24 hours of his release, he would not have been able to acquire another handgun, only to murder Jamiel Shaw, Jr.

Furthermore, when Jamiel Shaw, Jr. was gunned down in cold blood, it was not simply a matter of another street gang statistic. For Pedro Espinoza belonged to the 18th Street Gang, a trans-national organization with direct ties to the Mexican Mafia.

And some of Mexico’s largest drug cartels, with human smuggling and para-military weaponry operations, and some of the most powerful in all of Central and South America have direct ties to the Mexican Mafia gang.

Mexican drug cartels are now utilizing U.S. based Mexican gangs to aid them with the illegal U.S. importation of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, all of which wind up on American streets. No, the 18th Street Gang is not your garden variety neighborhood gang-banger operation.

But the convenient and continual spin by both Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Commissioner William Bratton is that policing by enforcing immigration laws and obtaining gang members' legal status but violates their civil rights.

They refer to Special Order 40, originally passed by the Los Angeles City Council in 1979 in order to encourage illegal aliens at that time to report crimes within their neighborhoods. Nearly 30 years later, and now a much different world, due to the neglect of our federal government in protecting the U.S. southern border, Special Order 40 has but backfired on the very people it was intended to protect.

It designated Los Angeles as a "sanctuary city" for those illegally entering the U.S. and now by extension to felons of transnational organized crime. It has outlived its intended purpose.

Since the death of their son, Jamiel’s parents have become pro-active in working to amend Special Order 40, in proposed legislation called Jamiel’s Law, through the efforts of prospective Los Angeles mayoral candidate, Walter Moore.

Also, through a motion introduced by Los Angeles Councilman, Dennis Zine, to the Los Angeles City Council on 4/08/08 similar revisions were submitted. The goal is to eliminate the unabated and federally unlawful protective status accorded illegal aliens, now overwhelming the 9,600 member police force of Los Angeles.

The Shaw Family will now utilize this moment to help elevate all of us as Americans in coming together, not to divide our cities, unlike our politicians and bureaucrats who so relish in doing so. The Shaw Family's hope is to engage our law enforcement officials with the very communities they purport to protect.

And Jamiel's father believes that he has a calling not only on behalf of his now deceased son Jamiel, but his young son, Thomas, who no longer wants to be a footballer like his big brother was, but "a scientist" so that he can "invent a time machine" and turn back time in order to spare his big brother's ultimate fate.

Posted by Diane M. Grassi at 11:01 AM | Comments (3)

April 14, 2008

The Masters of Golf

As the saying goes in golf, "you drive for show and putt for dough."

This past weekend at the 7,445-yard, par-72 Augusta National Golf Club, the home of the Masters Tournament, that's what many of the PGA Tour players did. Out of the four major golf championships, the Masters brings the most excitement and the top talent on the PGA Tour. 2008's winner, Trevor Immelman, shot a 280, to beat out Tiger Woods, who shot a 283.

"All I can ask for myself is to go out there and play as hard as I can and believe in myself," Immelman told the media.

And that's what he had to do, with Woods in second, three strokes behind and breathing down his back. No one can overlook Woods, who won the Masters in 1997, 2001, 2002, and 2005, as he continues his hunt for his fifth Green Jacket.

"If money titles meant anything, I'd play more tournaments," Woods is quoted as saying. "The only thing that means a lot to me is winning. If I have more wins than anybody else and win more majors than anybody else in the same year, then it's been a good year."

The Masters is not so much about winning the money ($7.25 million purse), but about the privileges that come along with it such as an invitation to play in the other three major championship events (U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship) for the next five years, lifetime invitation to play in the Masters, membership on the PGA Tour and Players Championship for five seasons, and the wearing of the green jacket. Since 1949, when Sam Snead won his first of three Masters Championships, every winner has been presented a green jacket and it is highly coveted amongst professional golfers. The green jacket is the official jacket of Augusta National in which all of its members wear while there and the winner of the Masters becomes an honorary member of Augusta.

The competitive edge is also fierce, with many of the golfers looking at one person — Tiger Woods. With 13 major championships and 88 professional wins, Woods is the player that is watched the most for style of play and guidance. Immelman was quoted as saying, "To win a major while Tiger's playing, and he's told us he's playing at his peak, it's an achievement."

"I'm trying as hard as I can, and sometimes things don't go your way, and that's the way things go," Woods is quoted as saying. "No matter how good you get, you can always get better and that's the exciting part."

Bobby Jones had the idea for Augusta National and the Masters was born, with its first tournament held on March 22, 1934, which was won by Horton Smith. In 1935, Gene Sarazen hit "the shot heard 'round the world," holing a shot from the fairway on the par 5 15th for a double eagle. That tied Sarazen and Craig Wood, and in the ensuing 36-hole playoff Sarazen won by five strokes. From there, the Masters was born with the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player dominating the field from 1960 to 1978, winning 11 times during that span and bringing the Masters and the game of golf to the next level.

"Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work," Nicklaus said about his work ethic and Tiger Woods. "There isn't a flaw in his golf or his makeup. He will win more majors than Arnold Palmer and I combined. Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he's such a great kid."

For years to come, PGA Tour golfers will wear the Masters Championship green jacket and want to emulate what Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, and Woods did for the tournament.

"Success in golf depends less on strength of body than upon strength of mind and character," Arnold Palmer said. He also says that golf takes, "concentration, confidence, competitive urge, capacity for enjoyment."

Something that the Masters offers.

Posted by Joe Boesch at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

The Starting Five Off the Court

The marathon known to many as the NBA season is about to enter its last 4-5-mile stretch. At this point of the year, several teams have already hit the wall. Those destined for the lottery will have to train for the next race. But for the ones that have fought through the physical pain and mental fatigue, a second wind is coming.

When you get to this position, your team has to have an established, productive starting five. But these configurations can't be setup yet, because entering Sunday, we still don't know which teams will play each other. So, until we can dissect each series Thursday, here are my "starting five" questions about the postseason.

1) Can the New Orleans Hornets do any damage this time around?

That's a tall order to ask of them. We've seen Chris Paul develop into one of the premier point guards in the Association. The front line is extremely stout with Tyson Chandler and David West. They've got a proven playoff sharpshooter in Peja Stojakovic. And let's not forget that Head Coach Byron Scott did take the Nets to two consecutive NBA Finals.

The problem is that few of this core group of players (save Stojakovic and, to a lesser extent, Chandler) are really playoff-tested. The Hornets have made leaps and bounds this season. However, to get through seven other teams who have buckets of postseason experience (especially if they get Dallas or Utah in the first round) is to much to ask. I can see them advancing to the second round, but no further.

2) Will LeBron James carry his teammates like he did last year?

Simply put ... no ... at least, not to the Finals. He should be able to get the Cavs past Washington (again). But beyond that, I don't like the matchup with Boston. Although Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett haven't won a title between them, they are hungry (and talented) veterans. Plus, they have a team member who has won a ring or two in Sam Cassell.

While we're on the subject, could someone shake up the East a little bit. I think Cleveland might have some problems with Philadelphia in the first round. But once again, we have LeBron James vs. Gilbert Arenas in the opening stanza. Maybe the result will be different this time around, but in the long run, I don't think it'll matter too much.

3) Can Houston (well, pretty much Tracy McGrady) finally get over their hump?

You'd like to think that this will happen. Since the Rockets went a little cold following their 22-game winning streak, they've gotten back on track, winning five in a row heading into Sunday. The West is so tight that they could still end up grabbing the top seed. That might not be a given, however. While I see them matching up well against Denver, there could be big problems if Golden State pushes their way in.

Other than that, it'll be tough for me to see the Rockets getting through all the other contenders. Remember, this team had home court last year and lost to playoff neophyte Utah. I do like the coaching of Rick Adelman, but can the role players continue to step up and play well starting next weekend?

4) Is Boston vs. Detroit a lock for the Eastern Conference Finals?

Unfortunately for fans of every other playoff team east of the Mississippi, my answer's "You betcha." Detroit is a constant in this situation over the last five years, and they still don't seem to have slowed down with their aging players. I can't see Philadelphia or Toronto causing much concern. And although I do enjoy Orlando, the Stan Van Gundy project is probably one year away from the beginning of their run (remember, he took Miami to within one game of the championship series in his second year).

Boston is on a mission. The Red Sox, Patriots, and Revolution (yeah, I brought up a little soccer) all made it to at least their championship game or series during the last calendar year. Heck, even the Bruins made the NHL playoffs again. The Celtics are trying to keep up with the Joneses. As much of a great player as LeBron is, he doesn't have enough firepower in his arsenal to combat the three gunslingers standing at the other end of the saloon.

Expect a No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown for the right to go to the Finals. And expect some close, tense games, as well.

5) Is there any kind of favorite in the Western Conference playoffs?

Simply put ... no. Whether you're talking prohibitive or slight, there's no way I'm putting all my eggs in one basket at this point. Realistically, every team from seeds one through seven has a legitimate shot at getting out of the conference. The Spurs are the defending champs. The Lakers have the best player. The Suns have the biggest game-changer. The Rockets have shown they can get lightning hot. The Jazz have another year to add to last year's conference finals run.

These teams are also flawed, though. There's no dominant force above another in practically every matchup. Even the eighth-seed has the talent to advance if they put it all together. No matter who you're rooting for, this should be one heck of a ride.

Whether your team has their sprinter's shoes on, or they take their slow and steady pace to the line, all I can hope for is the NBA Finals to end in a photo finish.

Posted by Jonathan Lowe at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2008

Hope (and Panic) Springs

You have to love the first few weeks of baseball season, when the lack of relevant sample size leads to permutations in the standings that most would need strong hallucinogenic drugs to put together. And there's nothing like the chaotic cocktail of surprise hope and horrified panic that can intoxicate fans in countless cities, impairing their judgment like a few Long Island iced teas.

At this time, some teams fail to find the accelerator, sending fans straight for the literal liquor cabinet. The Tigers are still trying to put the keys into the ignition of their shiny, incredibly expensive new sports car. Others hit the gas right away, allowing fans a brief feeling of exhaust-induced euphoria, and a hope that there is enough gas in the tank of their 1974 Ford Pinto to at least make it into August before being mathematically eliminated. And cost-wise, the Kansas City Royals are certainly the Pinto to the Tigers' Corvette.

But of course, there are always teams that at least sneak their way onto the track of the playoff race well into the season without an RSVP, and in many cases, at least one crashes the party in October. So even though we are about 1/20 through the regular season and dealing with a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, it bears noting what early trends might be fuel efficient and indicative of a future. Plus, at the end, there is a pick for a dark horse that no one has finishing higher than third.

Real Hope?

Kansas City Royals (6-4) — No. Could this team be competitive in the AL Central? Lets face it: the Pinto was a car known to burst into flames upon a rear end collision, and like Ford, the owners have decided that putting the money into recalling or retrofitting the Royals for the long haul was more costly than letting them crash and burn. Billy Butler, who is hitting the cover off the ball, may be one of the top prospects in baseball, and Brian Bannister might be developing into a nice pitcher. But Mark Grudzielanek has a pretty proven track record of not being a .407 hitter, the team has hit four homers total, and no rotation with Brett Tomko and John Bale keeping the staff ERA at 2.25. I just don't think there is enough talent on this team to keep it out of the basement. Some nice players (Joakim Soria, Alex Gordon, Zach Greinke) could keep them from being the complete joke. But even last year, they had three stretches where they won six of eight ... in the first half. Just because this one came to start the season doesn't mean much.

Baltimore Orioles (6-4) — No. When you look at the Orioles' roster, you have to wonder how a team that finished three games out of last with 69 wins last year will compete long-term, considering the ace and starting shortstop (for half the year) from that team are in new cities. Without Erik Bedard or Miguel Tejada, and with no new additions, it's hard to imagine this team is better than the Blue Jays, much less the Yankees or Red Sox. Pitcher Jeremy Guthrie will be hard-pressed to match last year's breakout performance (and he struggled down the stretch), and no one in the rotation of Daniel Cabrera, Steve Trachsel, and a couple guys you've never heard of has a career WHIP under 1.40. Is the offense better? Not much. Luke Scott came in the Tejada trade and has started on fire. Nice prospect, but outside of Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis, the lineup fails to inspire fear. Unless the cowboy/NASCAR blend of Kevin Millar's personality scares you. Which is possible.

St. Louis Cardinals (8-3) — More than the first two. Joel Pinero: injured. Matt Clement: injured. Chris Carpenter: injured, still. Mark Mulder: working on Mike Hampton status, which is to say he is trying to lose his green card and become a permanent resident on the DL. And this is the staff that leads the majors in ERA? Okay, that's not lasting. But Tony LaRussa loves a challenge, and he's got it. And the youth movement will at least inject energy into this team.

Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, and Juan Encarnacion were good players for the Cards, but they can't duplicate the enthusiasm of players like Rick Ankiel, Skip Schumaker, and Chris Duncan, still trying to establish themselves in the infancy of their careers. Especially when that first group is still on the DL, Edmonds and Rolen for new teams. Those young guys no longer have to look behind them and wonder when the starter is coming to replace them. And Troy Glaus at least gives them a slightly less run-down, past-his-prime third baseman than Rolen. This team has enough pieces and the coaching that, if everything breaks right, could be in this race well into August. I just have a hard time seeing teams like the Cubs and Brewers failing to keep up. But they still have Pujols, and will be a tough, scrappy out.

Real Panic?

Detroit Tigers (2-8) — Yes. So this is what $138.7 million buys you, huh? Win No. 1 on April 9? Here's the good news, Detroit: Miguel Cabrera is a stud and will be fine, once the pressure subsides and he gets used to AL pitchers. The lineup is loaded and will score a ton of runs. Kenny Rogers appears ageless, and Justin Verlander is a legit ace. But there is bad news. The Tigers are in a rough division; the defending champion Indians are no worse than last year and the White Sox are a team that has the ability to challenge for the playoffs.

More disconcerting is that Jeremy Bonderman looked like last year's Jeremy Bonderman in his first two starts, which is decidedly bad, and Dontrelle Willis doesn't figure to be any better than he was last year with a move to the AL, which is also bad. And the biggest wild card on this team coming into the season was the bullpen. Someone didn't check under the hood on this team before crowning them. The Tigers will get back into the race. But not a lot of division winners have seven game losing streaks on their resumes, and no team has made the playoffs after starting 0-7. Plus, they got swept by the Royals.

New York Mets (5-4) — No. This team will be right there in the end. Johan Santana and Oliver Perez should drag along a thin back end of the staff, and John Maine should recover from a rough first outing to round out the top three. Besides, did you really expect Pedro Martinez to stay healthy all year? And even if the pitching struggles, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and apparently Carlos Delgado constitute plenty of firepower to keep them in the hunt. And hey, when I started this yesterday they were 2-4, so they are already coming around, see? And to be fair, I won't be too quick to the panic button on a team that is not my favorite in the East to begin with. The Phillies won it last year and the Braves are going to be tougher than most people think, so while the Mets will be there, they aren't world-beaters, anyway.

Colorado Rockies (4-6) — No. Too much talent on the NL champs for them to be in any kind of trouble. (And like the Mets, they won since I started.) But even more than the Mets, they are in a rugged division too talented even to allow a true favorite. And if last year's torrid finish taught us anything, it taught us that counting out this group before it's mathematically eliminated would be tantamount to an action movie hero turning his back on a villain with a gun lying next to him after he'd only been shot once. (Villains can only die when decapitated, crushed beyond recognition, fall from at least seven stories, or are shot a minimum of eight times; everyone knows that.)

Los Angeles Dodgers (4-6) — Yes. Like the other two, I didn't like them as division winners anyway. Even though they are tabbed by some as division favorite, the Dodgers are every bit the flawed quasi-contender they were last year. I live surrounded by optimistic Dodger fans, some of whom think Andruw Jones was a decent signing for the middle of the lineup. Then again, paying Juan Pierre $45 million over five years kind of serves as beer goggles for your standards of "good signing." I love the young group of James Loney, Matt Kemp, Andre Eithier, and Russell Martin. But there will still be growing pains, and there still isn't a lynchpin that can carry this offense.

Jones has a career average of .262 and a career OBP of .341, neither impressive. He is also clearly on the decline. He hit .222 with 26 homers last year, and, to cite the work of Jason Stark, even in his 51 homer season, his "runs created" stat was lower than any 50-homer player in history. His fielding has also declined in the last several years. As Stark showed, he has become a below average center fielder in terms of range.

The staff is solid and Takashi Saito is a top-rung closer, but this team will be forced to win a lot of 3-2 ballgames, and the Diamondbacks and Rockies both have better lineups, and the Diamondbacks and Padres both have comparable if not better rotations. This team hasn't started horribly, but remember, three of those wins came against the Giants. There will be plenty of that going around in the West. L.A. has started as pretty much what I think it is: right around a .500 ballclub. Which will not leave Dodger fans happy.

Dark Horse

What it all comes down to at this point of the year is that if you took any random seven- or eight-game clip of the season, you could get a lot of funny arrangements. But like the Mariners, Rockies, and Diamondbacks last year, there might be a team that ends up in a race most thought they were a year or two away from. To get away from teams with anomalies for starts, if I had to guess one right now, that team would have to be the Cincinnati Reds.

If youngsters Edison Volquez and Johnny Cueto can combine with Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang to form a somewhat respectable starting staff, that team could be dangerous, especially now that they finally have a closer. And those two youngsters, especially Cueto, have been great so far. With Adam Dunn, Brandon Phillips, and Ken Griffey, Jr. providing firepower, the traditionally strong-hitting team could be a sleeper in a suddenly deep NL Central. They're 6-4, and Dunn hasn't even gotten going yet. Heck, even Corey Patterson is pitching in as if his average isn't going to eventually plummet from the .303 it's at now. (With two walks in 33 AB, he's still not taking pitches; give NL pitchers time to re-learn his tendencies.)

Posted by Kyle Jahner at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2008

Sports Q&A: Canseco Classic Literature

Paige from Reading, PA writes, "Jose Canseco just released "Vindicated," his follow-up book to his 2005 masterpiece, "Juiced." Is the former major league slugger becoming more famous for his tell-all books than for his baseball exploits?"

Canseco will never be confused with William Shakespeare or Leo Tolstoy, unless they end up in a police lineup with Jose. But that couldn't happen, nor would you ever find the works of Canseco anywhere near those of literary giants such as William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, John Steinbeck, Fyodor Dostoevsky, or Mick Foley, for that matter. But it's not inconceivable that Canseco could have his own section in the library — the "non-fiction-less" section. In baseball, Canseco was a member of the "40-40" club. As a writer, he's in the same club, because his books are 40% fact, 40% fiction, with the remaining 20% ghost written by "bull."

But, just for fun, let's say Canseco appeared in some of literature's classic works. Such as:

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens: Canseco threatens to implicate major leaguer Danny Heep as a steroid abuser, but through negotiations with Heep's agent and bother, the devious Uriah Heep, Canseco agrees to remain silent as long as Danny Heep helps finance a Canseco film project.

The Bible: Canseco questions the possibility of Jesus Christ's resurrection without the aid of performance-enhancing drugs, and purports that a hair sample taken from Samson will reveal that Samson is "on something." Canseco accuses Alex Rodriguez of hitting on Samson's girlfriend, Delilah. Canseco then vows to shave his head and tag team with Tammy Faye Bakker and wrestle a lion on "The Surreal Life 3:16."

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: Canseco, a passenger aboard the Nautilus, doubts the feasibility of one underwater baseball league, much less 20,000 of them. When the Nautilus is attacked by a giant squid, Canseco, never once mistaken for a Mariner, comments that "an octopus should only have eight legs. That one has ten, so it must be 'on the juice.'"

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: In a pharmaceutical mix-up gone terribly wrong, Canseco accidentally gives Juliet a coma-inducing drug and Romeo a lethal poison instead of the butt injections of HGH they had requested. Canseco denies any complicity in the eventual deaths of the two lovers, but does promise to tell the whole story when he releases his next book.

The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx: On that fateful night back in December of 1987, Canseco was there, first to deliver the injection of heroin that led to Sixx's first "death," then to administer the shot of adrenaline to the heart that revived the Motley Crue bassist. Later that night, Sixx claims to have partied with Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Roger Clemens, but Canseco attests to seeing only Joplin and Hendrix with Sixx.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: Canseco leads an expedition down the Congo River with the purpose of implicating the egotistical Barry Bonds, who has amassed massive quantities of ivory and home runs. Bonds demands to be worshipped like a god, and when Canseco finds him, Bonds is ill with jungle fever, symptoms of which include enlarged feet and head.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving: A pumpkin tossed by the Headless Horseman, in pursuit of Canseco, bounces harmlessly right off Canseco's head.

Hey Diddle Diddle by Mother Goose: Canseco says that just weeks before the cow jumped over the moon, he introduced the cow to a fiddling cat, a known supplier of steroids. Canseco also accuses the spoon of running away with his ex-wife.

For Whom the Bell Tolls: by Ernest Hemingway: Canseco is an explosives expert under orders to blow up a bridge during the Spanich Civil War. While devoting more attention to his writing career than the task at hand, Canseco botches the operation. Oblivious to the problems he's caused, Canseco reveals that he wasn't to fond of Hemingway's book anyway, and much prefers the Metallica version.

Animal Farm by George Orwell: Canseco plays "Rat Fink," a rodent who claims to have "dirt" on all the animals. Rat Fink has an appreciation for, but can't hit, "good cheese."

Misery by Stephen King: Cansceco suffers a gruesome ankle injury sliding into Madonna, but is nursed back to health by an insane former nurse who considers herself Canseco's "number one fan." She coerces him into writing a new book, one in which Canseco accuses several players of consuming steroid-laced sunflower seeds and chewing tobacco.

Get Your Questions Answered!

Do you have a question or comment? Then send your question or comment along with your name and hometown to [email protected].You may get the answer you're looking for in the next column on Friday, April 25th.

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2008

The Sports Announcer Column (Pt. 2)

In the first installment, I discussed the very best announcers, those in my personal Hall of Fame.

But there's also a level just beneath legendary, solid announcers worthy of wider praise, even if they are not worthy of the Pantheon.

Barry Tompkins is really worked to death by FOX Sports Net. I have heard him call Pac-10 football, Pac-10 basketball, boxing, and poker, all on FSN.

But he announces them all ably, and he has a quality I see in Chris Cuthbert and is a common theme in the announcers I like. I'll call it professional enthusiasm. They seem excited, and they seem to be enjoying themselves (think Bill Raftery), without crossing the breach into obnoxiousness (Dick Vitale).

Another announcer with that dignified enthusiasm is the only woman to really make it in national television play-by-play, Pam Ward.

It's gotta be really tough being Ward. Sports has no shortage of sexists, and I'm sure she gets no shortage of hate mail. I used to be a regular visitor to awfulannouncing.com, and while I still pop in from time to time, I was really turned off at how they made her the mascot of college football announcer gaffes.

Don't get me wrong, she should be held to the same level of scrutiny as any announcer. But analyzing the alleged gaffes they would hold up as evidence of her buffoonery were about 20% credible an 80% nitpickish ridiculousness. It's clear that a large segment of the population want her to fail, want to dislike her, and simply seek out examples that affirm their biases.

But the fact is she is enthusiastic, eloquent, and I really get the impression that she is simply capable and confident enough to be herself on air. Compare that two the only female play-by-play callers I know, Suzyn Waldman (Yankees radio broadcaster) and Beth Mowins (ESPNU second-string WAC announcer, doesn't get a lot of work) who both sound like cigar-chomping Fabulous Sports Babe clones who decided they would fit in with the boys by sounding just like them.

Mike Patrick is another others don't like, but I do. I wonder how much his reputation has been tarnished by working so long with Joe Theismann, widely recognized to be the worst football analyst ever ever ever, and Paul Maguire, my own personal write-in vote for that category. Again, I point to the right level of enthusiasm, and a pleasant voice. I'll grant that he can launch some weird non-sequiturs.

If baseball had its own aural icon for me the way football does in Pat Summerall, that would be Vin Scully doing Saturday afternoon baseball on NBC. In a eerie parallel to Summerall, he's also hanging on at age 80, still calling Dodger games west of the Rockies.

There's actually not too many announcers I don't like. I've been listening to Brent Musberger all my life, but "You are looking live!" and calling us "folks" don't really do it for me, never did.

I used to be a Dick Vitale fan when I was a kid. That's about where Vitale is pitched at. Children. He's a broken record of his own cliches and his own four or five opinions. Every Vitale broadcast is like listening to a greatest hits album of a band you don't really like.

Bob Costas is okay, I guess, but the air around him is rather thick with reverence and stale jokes and weird cameo appearances in movies and no thanks.

Dick Enberg was the AFC No. 1 guy while Summerall was the NFC man, and is still at it, but he's failed to make a strong impact on me. I also get the impression that he's a couple seconds behind the action and confused. That's something I can forgive Summerall for, but few others.

But the man who really makes me vomit in terror is Joe Buck. He and Troy Aikman are perfect, cold autonomic matches for each other. It's clear that FOX has him primed to be the next American announcer icon, giving him the lead for both baseball and football, and he's only 38, so we are going to have to hear him for a long, long, long, long time. If he's like other guys on this list, 40 years from now we'll still be hearing him say, "...and Randy Moss the Third has just committed ... a DISGUSTING act." Ugh. No!

Who makes your list? Let me know in the comments.

Posted by Kevin Beane at 11:52 AM | Comments (2)

NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 7

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch — Busch finished third at Texas Motor Speedway, his best-ever result at the 1.5-mile quad-oval, but was unable to remotely challenge the Ford of Carl Edwards, which was so fast that not even a loose oil lid could explain its speed. Edwards' dominance denied Busch his second Sprint Cup win of the year, and denied fans the spectacle of Busch in a 10-gallon hat.

"No one looks sillier than me in a cowboy hat," says Busch. "Except maybe Dick Berggren. I think even Jon Bon Jovi is more cowboy than myself, and I'm talking about his hair metal days. Give me a neckerchief and a noble steed, and I'd be ready to take the muddy trail up Brokeback Mountain."

"Edwards was so far ahead of the field, he'll be hard to catch. But I figure between 42 cars and twice as many NASCAR officials, he'll get caught. Again."

2. Carl Edwards — Edwards whipped the competition in Texas, leading 123 of 334 laps on his way to his third win of the year. For the victory, Edwards received $541,150, as well as a cowboy hat, a boot-shaped trophy, and a pair of six-shooters, which he wielded against any NASCAR inspectors who dared try to check his oil reservoir lid. The win vaulted Edwards four places to 10th in the point standings.

"Hey, these guns aren't even real," says Edwards. "They don't even shoot real bullets. When you pull the trigger, all that comes out is a flag that says 'Bang!' That won't intimidate NASCAR inspectors, but it will send Matt Kenseth running for cover. And it's great to have Aflac on board as a major sponsor. That gave me the opportunity to employ the 'Duck And Run' strategy against anyone who dared challenge me."

"But I fully expected the officials to thoroughly check that oil lid. And they did. It was on pretty tight. That's too bad for them, because had they loosened it just a bit, they would have found several crisp $100 dollar bills. One of the side effects of checking a loose oil lid is a 'greasy palm.'"

3. Jeff Burton — Burton maintained the Sprint Cup points lead with a sixth in the Samsung 500, a track on which he's traditionally flourished. Burton has two Cup wins at Texas, more than any other driver, even Stroker Ace, but Carl Edwards' power, coupled with Burton's own handling issues with the No. 31 Prilosec Chevrolet, hindered his chances for win number three.

"We started 33rd," says Burton. "The fact that we finished sixth speaks volumes about the effort of the No. 31 Prilosec OTC Team. It's important for a pit crew to be error-free, just as it's important to fans of NASCAR to be heartburn-free. With Prilosec, they can be. In NASCAR's glory days, you dealt with a case of heartburn the old-fashioned way, with another beer, another kielbasa, and another wad of Levi Garrett or Beech Nut. One pill was useless back then, unless you were dropping acid with Tim Richmond. And while we're on the subject of pill pushers, my fellow Prilosec spokesman, Brett Favre, is, like me, a testament to longevity. However, that pansy could only make a measly 253 consecutive starts, while I've got 419 under my belt. Plus, I've never even come close to giving Michael Strahan a freebie sack."

4. Tony Stewart — Stewart finished a quiet seventh at Texas, unable to mount any kind of a charge towards the front. Still, his fifth top-10 finish of the year placed him fifth in the Sprint Cup points, where he is 108 behind leader Jeff Burton. Uncharacteristically, Stewart remained quiet, while several of his counterparts were critical of handling and the cars' inability to race safely side-by-side.

"I thought the tires were just fine here in Texas," says Stewart. "Despite my criticism of Goodyear tires, I do have a good working relationship with most inflatables. In fact, I'm on a first-name basis with some. Unlike me, they never keep their mouths shut."

5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. — Earnhardt won the pole for the Samsung 500, Hendrick Motorsports' sixth of the year, narrowly edging Carl Edwards, and led 31 early laps at Texas before ongoing handling issues forced several adjustments. He eventually finished 12th, one lap down, and remained fourth in the point standings.

"We tried everything," says Earnhardt, "and nothing worked. It got so bad, we even started trying some of Tony Eury's suggestions. Tony, I know you like baseball, but it's kind of difficult to turn a racing helmet inside out to make a rally cap. And his suggestion for a three-tire pit stop made no sense, although my counter of a one-tire stop wasn't much better."

"As for Hendrick Motorsports, we need to start winning races and not just poles before they start calling us 'Ryan Newman circa 2005.'

6. Jimmie Johnson — Johnson produced a performance worthy, and expected of, a two-time defending Sprint Cup champion, finishing second for his best result of the year. Despite the result, Johnson bemoaned the cars' drivability, especially in traffic, and questioned the aerodynamic performance of NASCAR's 2008 model.

"Can I get some cruise control in this thing?" says Johnson. "Or maybe a navigation system? Look, don't hate me because I advocate a car that even Michael Waltrip can drive. Does Waltrip make a commercial that doesn't make fun of his driving? NAPA's motto is 'Get the good stuff.' Obviously, they didn't apply that to choosing a driver."

"You know, this is new territory for us — going so many races without a win. Also new territory — passing seven straight inspections. Eventually, we'll get things figured out, particulary issues involving the aero package. Chad Knaus has been working feverishly in the wind tunnel and has some awesome data on the aerodynamic characteristics of the various stages of male pattern baldness."

7. Kevin Harvick — From the start of Sunday's race, Harvick complained of handling problems, and a hole in the No. 29 Chevy's front grill only exacerbated diagnosis of the problem. But persistent work in the pits, along with an unbending will, the heart of a champion, the eye of the tiger, and the cream of the fight allowed him to salvage of decent result of eleventh. Harvick maintains second in the point standings, trailing Jeff Burton by 59 points.

"If I hear another person say anything about 'perseverance' and/or a 'never-give-up attitude,'" says Harvick, "I'm going to snap. And when Kevin Harvick snaps, it's not a pretty sight. It usually involves some cussing, some crushed quarter-panels, and a choreographed dance number with Juan Pablo Montoya. And, speaking of 'ass-wipes,' I've heard of some off-the-wall product promotions, but the 'Cottonelle Lap 100 Stretch' beats all. I heard that all fans with the number two in their seat numbers were able to reach between their legs and under their seats to find a fresh roll of Cottonelle."

8. Denny Hamlin — Hamlin followed his win in Martisville with a well-earned fifth at Texas, joining Joe Gibbs teammates Kyle Busch (3rd) and Tony Stewart (7th) in the top 10. After the race, Hamlin, drained from 500 miles in the Texas heat, nearly fainted while answering questions from reporters.

"Hey, they were tough questions," says Hamlins. "I'm just glad someone caught me before I hit the FedEx Ground. Luckily, those reporters gave me some room so I could get some FedEx Air. Cha-ching! Sponsor obligations fulfilled."

"I guess I really just had a case of the vapors. It was very debilitating, but not nearly as debilitating as suffering through Tony Stewart's hellish version of the vapors, unleashed back in 2005 when he dropped a cylinder in the executive restroom at Joe Gibbs Racing headquarters."

9. Greg Biffle — Biffle languished through a tough day at Texas Motor Speedway, finishing 39th after numerous problems afflicted the performance of the Roush Fenway No. 16 Ford. After a good qualifying effort of 16th and fast practice times, Biffle quickly worked his way up to fourth by lap 79. From there, things went sour. Handling issues arose, and a failing engine forced Biffle to the garage for repairs. He finished 39th, and tumbled six places in the point standings to ninth.

"That smarts," says Biffle. "Anyway, it was a fairly uneventful race. Carl was clearly the class of the field. Anytime someone tried to get close enough to see if his oil lid was on, he just took off. I heard Carl nearly did a forward flip when he heard the words 'failed inspection.' Luckily, it was just Ryan Newman. There were relatively few penalties, and not a single infraction for having too many crew members over the wall. If this race were held any closer to the Mexican border, I'm fairly sure there would have been more 'over the wall' penalties."

"With three wins under his belt and a dominant car, Carl has clearly set the 'sway' bar high, but that Michael Waltrip is a pretty tall fellow, and I bet he can still reach it. Michael's great at feigning ignorance, too, although I'm not so sure it's an act."

10. Jeff Gordon — Gordon finished dead last for only the second time in his career, suffering from a horribly bad setup that the team could never correct. After losing control and hitting the wall on lap 108, Gordon headed for the garage, and his words over the radio gave a clear indication of his frustration with the No. 24 DuPont Chevy.

"You mean when I shouted 'Mayday! Mayday!?'" says Gordon. "The handling on my car was so bad, I'm advocating installing safer barriers inside my car. On the bright side, we were able to make the day an informal test session, and I came up with a great idea for a new sponsor: 'Pepto Abysmal': for use when you're car is so bad it leaves your stomach in knots."

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 11:17 AM | Comments (1)

April 9, 2008

Anatomy of a Championship Win

In case you missed it, Monday night's NCAA Men's Championship was a great game. Two evenly matched teams, a tight contest, a dramatic comeback with a last-second three pointer to take the game into overtime — it doesn't get any better than that. With a perfectly played overtime, the Jayhawks defeated the Tigers for their first national title since "Danny and the Miracles" beat the Sooners in 1988.

While some would label this team as "Mario and the Miracles," after his spectacular shot to send the game into overtime, it would not do this team justice. The shot was clutch, and without it, Kansas would not be the 2008 national champions. However, to win this game, Kansas needed to play a flawless game against Memphis, the more talented and athletic team on the floor. So, without further ado, here are the four reasons why Kansas was able to beat the mighty Memphis Tigers.

1. Kansas Nipped Rose in the Bud

Derrick Rose, who had been slicing and dicing his way through tournament competition, putting up superhuman numbers against Michigan State, Texas, and UCLA, proved he is human after all. While Rose did end the game with a respectable 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists, he was a non-factor for most of the game. Rose only had 4 points in the first half, was held scoreless for lengthy middle portion of the game, and did not score a point in the overtime period. Kansas did an excellent job of isolating Rose, refusing to let him use his dribble penetration, which he used so effectively in his previous two games. Memphis needed more from this standout freshman, especially in overtime, for the win.

2. Defense Wins Championships

Kansas' defense was instrumental in defeating the Tigers explosive offensive attack. The Jayhawks limited Memphis' offense to 68 points, 40% from the field, and 6-of-22 from the three-point line, all well under their season averages. Kansas successfully disrupted Memphis' quick attack and forced the Tigers to play a slower half-court offense. Sherron Collins and Russell Robinson handled Rose effectively, taking him out of his game until late in the second half. Credit Arthur, Jackson, and Kaun for providing a strong inside presence and helping Kansas to out-rebound Memphis. The Jayhawks' strong defense forced Memphis into low-percentage perimeter shots, allowing the team to stay close throughout the game.

3. My Bench is Better Than Yours

While Memphis did have a superior starting five, the Jayhawks had a stronger, more experienced bench. The bench was a great advantage for Kansas because it not only kept their starters out of foul trouble, but also gave them rest. Kaun and Robinson played key roles for the Jayhawks coming off the bench, a bench that Memphis had no answer for. Kansas was able to counter the exceptional athleticism of the Tigers by wearing out their starters. With the exception of Dorsey, who had foul trouble, the Memphis starters all played 40 minutes or longer. The fatigue of the Tigers was very noticeable in overtime, when Memphis seemed to run out of gas.

4. You Have to Hit the Free Ones

Coming into the game, Memphis' free throw shooting woes seemed to be yesterday's news. Once thought to be the Achilles' heel of Calipari's "Dream Team," Memphis emphatically shut up the pundits, writers, and sports analysts by shooting an impressive 85% in their games against Texas and UCLA. This newfound confidence, however, was nowhere to be found when it was needed the most. The Tigers returned to their dreadful foul line shooting with a 12-of-19 performance, compared to the 14-of-15 turned in by the Jayhawks.

Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts, normally so good in clutch situations, were only able to hit a combined 1-for-6 in the final minute of the game. Each was given the opportunity to put the game on ice, but failed to do so. Kansas effectively utilized the "Hack-a-Shaq" technique, which not only kept them in the game, but also helped them to win it.

It almost seems fitting, if not ironic, that with all the hoopla made about Memphis' free throw shooting, that that is ultimately what it came down to on Monday night. With the clock ticking down, the Tigers needed someone to step up and make free throws. No one did. Game over.

Posted by Chris Gonzales at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)

April 8, 2008

Five Years Late, Five Dollars Short

This isn't exactly the same thing as a spineless neighbor coming forward five years after the fact to say he'd seen someone other than the doctor murder the doctor's wife. But to a certain fan base and, perhaps, a certain fan, it might rank within the same neighborhood.

That was then: Moises Alou, to reporters, after the disaster, well after he jumped up and down next to the left field stands like a child deprived of a candy bar: I timed it perfectly, I jumped perfectly. I'm almost 100% sure that I had a clean shot to catch the ball. All of a sudden there is a hand in my glove ... hopefully, he won't have to regret it for the rest of his life.

This is now: Moises Alou, a New York Met, with his club off to a 1-1 start and heavy expectations upon their shoulders, harking back to the night that will live in Chicago infamy: Everywhere I play, even now, people still yell, "Bartman! Bartman!" I feel really bad. You know what the funny thing is? I wouldn't have caught it anyway.

Fat lot of good that does Steve Bartman. Though from the sound of things, he's managed to move forward from that night. As well he should have been allowed to do. Why, he even managed to keep himself from strangling ESPN writer Wayne Drehs, when Drehs managed to find him and chat with him for a short while, at the place where Bartman works for an international consulting company, two years after the foul ball seen and heard 'round Cub Country.

"Some might say I blew it, refusing to ask even one question. But there were still plenty of answers," Drehs wrote near the conclusion of his thoughtful essay. "Steve Bartman appears to be doing just fine. He still loves the Cubs, he still follows them as religiously as he ever did and, at least on the surface, his life appears peaceful."

"Steve," I tell him, "I've got one thing before I leave. Regardless of what I do for a living, regardless of the way this all might seem to you, I want to apologize. I want to genuinely apologize, on behalf of all Cub fans, for all the crap you've had to deal with.

"I think it could have been any one of us. And I truly wish you the best. I truly hope you're able to move on and live a happy and prosperous life."

Bartman climbs out from behind his car door and extends his hand. We shake.

"Thanks," he says. "I really appreciate those kind words."

— Wayne Drehs, from "Searching for Steve Bartman," 2005.

Drehs did not say, however, whether Bartman can show up in the Confines (we're not going to presume everyone will be Friendly toward him even now, the fools) without armed protection and a police escort.

And we don't necessarily know if he can do it now. The Chicago Tribune describes Bartman as "presumed to be hiding somewhere in the Chicago area." That's the way they used to describe former Nazi concentration camp officers long departed from the grounds they besmirched, to use a polite term.

"Fact of the matter is, and not that Cubs fans want to hear this or will ever acknowledge it, Alex Gonzalez is the guy who should be afraid to come out of his house," fumed Jim Rome, the peripatetic radio host, who thinks Alou is about five years too late and five dollars too short with his absolution. "He was the one who kicked a routine inning-ending double-play ball moments later. He's the one you should hate, not Bartman."

Maybe the Mets should start worrying a little bit. Two of the catalysts for that play are now Mets — Alou, who leaped futilely to try catching the foul fly Bartman snared as a clean foul ball (watch the videos, ladies and gentlemen: I said it then and I'll say it again, that ball was clearly out of play, by just enough over the stands rail, and within any fan's right to try to snatch); and, Luis Castillo, then a Florida Marlin, who hit the foul in the first place.

Never mind the classic ex-Cub factor (you know, the team with the most ex-Cubs loses). The Mets may have to deal with a classic in the making, an ex-Cub Disaster factor. You know: the team with the most catalysts for a Cub demolition gets theirs. They had Alou and Castillo on the club last season, too. And you know what happened (though neither Alou nor Castillo were big factors therein) after the National League East lead slipped to a mere seven games.

Meanwhile, for those who still think poor Bartman should have been made the guest of honor at a necktie party, let's look again at what actually did happen after Alou couldn't have caught the Castillo foul.

A pitch or two later, Mark Prior unhorsed a wild pitch allowing Juan Pierre (on second with a one-out double) to help himself to third, before Castillo wrung out a walk. Ivan Rodriguez swatted a single to left to send home Pierre and set up a nifty inning-ending double-play with first and second, one out, and the Cubs still holding a 3-1 lead.

Up stepped Miguel Cabrera, now a very wealthy man about Detroit. Out to shortstop bounded his meager swat. And right off Alex Gonzalez's chest went the ball that would have been, and should have been, side retired, and not bases loaded and one out for Derrek Lee.

You want to know one big reason why the Cubs coveted and landed Lee in due course? Lee didn't wait for the Cubs to rehorse themselves. He shot a two-run double to left, tying the score and sending Prior out in favor of Kyle Farnsworth, who put Mike Lowell on intentionally to re-load the bases and reset a double play that would have kept the game tied.

Farnsworth got one out when Jeff Conine sent home Cabrera with a sacrifice fly, then walked pinch hitter Todd Hollandsworth intentionally to reset the pads. But Mike Mordecai, a Florida backup shortstop brought in during a seventh-inning double switch to spell the Marlins' Alex Gonzalez, who'd opened the fateful inning with a fly out to left, sent a three-run double over the middle and to the back of the park. Exit Farnsworth, enter Mike Remlinger, and into right went Pierre's RBI single, before Remlinger got Castillo to pop out to second to end the inning that should have ended six hitters earlier.

The sides went one-two-three the rest of the way, Kerry Wood didn't quite have enough for the seventh game, and the Marlins went on to dump the Yankees in the World Series. And there were those who thought immediately that Steve Bartman should have gone at minimum onto the next flight to Antarctica.

But then there are real Cub fans. We presume. "Real Cub fans," writes Sean Devaney, in a pleasant Sporting News special, ("Losing"), "were not angry with Steve Bartman. Real Cubs fans had some existential understanding about the situation. It had to happen because it's simply the order of things."

They said similar things in and around Red Sox Nation about Bill Buckner (himself an ex-Cub at the time), too. So who's the idiot who told Buckner's then 7-year-old son — who piped up sympathetically, playing catch with his father one day, when father missed a low throw, "That's okay, Dad, I know you have a problem with grounders" — that father had a problem with grounders? And where were the real Red Sox fans to convince Buckner he didn't have to leave New England at last?

Real Cub fans may not be angry with Steve Bartman now, they may not have been angry then, but wouldn't it be nice to know for dead last certain that Bartman can live even one day without even one reminder that he may still be the single most hated figure in Chicago sports since...

Charlie Grimm? Not quite. Jolly Cholly's been absolved long enough from wheeling out Hank Borowy on one day's rest rather than take well rested Hy Vandenburg out of the doghouse to pitch the seventh game of the 1945 World Series.

Phil Wrigley? Nah. Everyone thinks the College of Coaches was just a three-year gag. Though he still might have to answer for why his people's infatuation with Ernie Broglio allowed them to ignore Lew Burdette's warning that Broglio's arm was a dying wing.

Leo Durocher? Not even close. And he did more — with his avarice, with his capriciousness, with his nearsightedness — to thwart the 1969 Cubs than his exhausted players or some of their more venomous fans could have done. (And that's saying a lot: some Wrigley bleacher creatures took to hollering the names of actual or alleged St. Louis Cardinals road paramours at Cardinal outfielders during one set, inspiring Bob Gibson — so it was said — to beg for a start out of turn just so he could jam it down the Cubs' throats.)

Leon Durham? Bill Buckner paid for his sin.

Moises Alou might have meant nothing but the best trying to pay for Alex Gonzalez's sin. But where was he when Steve Bartman needed him? Oh, that's right. He was jumping up and down making gestures meant to say he'd have bagged that ball otherwise, in the heat of the immediate moment.

If you remember The Fugitive (the television series, not the film), you remember five years on the run ended when David Janssen's title character and the police lieutenant who finally bagged him were shocked to discover someone had seen Janssen's wife being murdered — and not by the husband who was convicted of the crime.

So what finally convinced Moises Alou he'd really seen the one-armed man?

Posted by Jeff Kallman at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

April 7, 2008

There's No Argument This Time

Roughly two years ago, I offered a worded argument for Sidney Crosby as the 2005-2006 Rookie of the Year. If you remember, his biggest challenger at that time was eventual winner Alex Ovechkin, Washington's two-years older, negative-adjectiveless 2004 draft pick. I specify because, as I wrote then, there were plenty of insane rookies that season that gave pause for consideration. "The league has one of the best groups of rookies in years," I suggested, including "Dion Phaneuf in Calgary, Henrik Lundqvist in New York, [and] Mike Richards and Jeff Carter in Philly." Here's the proof.

I still stand by that position and its purely theoretical basis. But this year there is no argument to make. Alex Ovechkin is the league MVP. Period. Crosby, Pittsburgh's captain, was cruising before busting his ankle in January and missing 20+ games. But when he went down, Ovechkin went up (not easily). He stretched the distance between him and second-leading goal-scorer Ilya Kovalchuk — who matched his career-best last week with 52 goals — to an unmatchable number. He's thus far provided somewhere in the area of 27 percent of the Capitals' offense, and is tops in hits. He works even strength, dominates the power play, kills shorthanded, and has scored more game-winning goals than anyone in the NHL. I could give you exact numbers, but that much copying and pasting will put you down. His easily reviewed statistics make the decision.

Check them out. And Malkin's, too.

A quieter conversation had across the NHL a few weeks back involved the value of Evgeni Malkin. When the Pittsburgh captain limped off the pond, the Penguins bench collectively shit its pants. (They've got those new weightless techno jerseys; it's no big deal.) Malkin began to own games, violently abusing the second half of the season. He was only held pointless in twenty games all season. But Malkin has only skated half an MVP season.

Well, sort of. Much like OV, Malkin has played well all year. (It's worth mentioning that OV has played this way since Bruce Boudreau was still coaching in Hershey.) But attention is obligated to find Crosby; it didn't find Geno until the new year. Still, the two Russians differ in that Malkin hasn't carried his team for three years, and until now, he hasn't had to. The Pens were a good team before the season, didn't falter in Sid's absence, and made a huge move to acquire Marian Hossa for the playoff stretch. OV has not avoided such pressure, he's just laughed at it. The Caps have built their team around OV — 13 years for $124 mil does that. The only reason Malkin won't win this year is because Crosby got drafted before he did.

Let me leave you with this thought. A question gaining popularity in hockey circles is whether a player should be awarded the Hart Trophy if his or her[1] team doesn't make the postseason. It's not a new one, but has lay dormant since Mario won it without making the first round back in the 1980s.

This hypothetical will languish now that Washington made the playoffs and OV is a lock for MVP. Regardless, what do you think: should a player fall from contention for the MVP award if his team misses the playoffs? If a player's value is measured by the team's success, the award description should explicitly say so. Consider this quickly: don't teams make the playoffs while individuals win awards? Gnaw on that.

I've got my answer. What's yours?

***

[1]: Manon Rheaume, anyone?

Posted by Jeff DiNunzio at 11:21 AM | Comments (1)

April 6, 2008

Kansas vs. Memphis: Basketball Wins

You'd think that this would be a matchup of contrasting styles, Kansas and Memphis.

After all, one team hails from a big city, sharing an arena with a NBA franchise. The other sits in a sleepy college town, playing in an arena where most of the seats are bleachers.

One team has had some tradition, but yearns to become a perennial basketball name. The other school is steeped in tradition, so much so that the founder of basketball itself is buried at a local cemetery.

How funny is it then, that Kansas, one of the greatest basketball programs in history, and Memphis, the up-and-coming team of the future, meet in San Antonio with teams that are strangely similar.

Both teams are built on speed, featuring benches deep in talented guards who are aggressive on defense and deadly shooters from anywhere on the court. Both feature inside presences that are unafraid of going strong to the hoop, and even less afraid of defending their basket. Both are directed by coaches who are hungry for a title; among the few named the best to never claim a championship.

This is not your typical showdown. This isn't a matchup of young vs. old, size vs. speed, or up-tempo vs. half-court. This is as rare a showdown as they get: two teams who practically mirror each other.

And the winner of this game: college basketball itself.

In all reality, you couldn't ask for a better matchup to come out of this Final Four. This title game has the makings of a classic. Forget the boring, slow-down, yawn at every break kind of title bout. This is going to be an edge-of-your seat thriller that should be unforgettable.

I expect it to be a game of runs ... big runs. When Memphis usually goes on a run, they build up leads that are simply insurmountable. However, when Kansas is playing their best, as we've seen many a time this year, they are practically unstoppable.

I just love it. I can't get over the fact that it's Kansas and Memphis in this title game. Granted, the one thing that we can be assured of is that next year, there will be a lot of teams that jump into this flying frenzy of an attack on the courts, which should make for a lot of fun games. But come Monday, just sit back, relax, and really enjoy what you're going to be watching.

It'll be basketball at its absolute finest.

Enjoy!

Posted by Jean Neuberger at 3:47 PM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2008

An Open Letter to Matt Walsh

Dear Mr. Walsh,

Enough is enough. It was fun for a while, but now it's just getting ridiculous.

It's time to put up or shut up.

Your insistence to draw out this Spygate drama as long as possible is beginning to effect my ability to enjoy the greatest sport on Earth.

I just recently witnessed one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets in NFL history. Yet, I can't enjoy it because of this dark cloud you've cast over my team. Your insinuations and accusations have almost completely destroyed the NFL for me.

Right now, I'm having a hard time being a fan. And it's because of you.

The sad part is, I personally don't believe you have anything of substance.

I mean, if you did, wouldn't you have come forward already?

You claim this has been a strain on your family. If I were in that position, I would want this to go away as soon as possible. As soon as the NFL offered me legal protection, I would have hopped on the next NFL funded plane ride to the NFL Network studio with every piece of evidence I had.

Yet you claim scheduling conflicts and continue to delay coming forward.

I've been a Patriots fan since the day I was born. I grew up, not watching them on TV, but listening to them on the radio (because there were a lot of blackouts back in the '80s).

I've suffered through 2-14 seasons. I've suffered through 1-15 seasons. I've suffered through Tony Eason and Dick Macpherson (luckily, not at the same time ... that would have been way too much to handle).

Heck, we even had a guy who might have been legally dead coach the team for a season (Rod Rust).

But this is the first time I've ever considered walking away. I'm just not enjoying it anymore. I'd take 10 straight 2-14 seasons over this offseason anyday.

And it's not because I'm disgusted with the Patriots. I'm disappointed in what they did, but they broke a rule and paid a steep penalty (a first round draft pick, especially a late first round pick, is GOLD for teams like the Patriots).

The penalty should have been enough.

Not on the message boards and the comments sections of these articles (this will always be fair game for opposing fans), but on ESPN or the NFL Network this should have already become a footnote of an interesting and exciting season.

The Patriots made it to the Super Bowl undefeated, and lost. Everyone should be happy. Everyone got what they wanted. Lots of excitement and a great upset. It was a fantastic season, thanks in part to the Patriots and what they inevitably failed to accomplish.

But there's you, Matt Walsh.

There's a ridiculous Senator from Philadelphia who still hasn't gotten over the 2004 Super Bowl. There's the constant presence of Patriot haters on ESPN that just love to bring up Spygate.

I should be ridiculed because my team lost a game they should have won and failed to make history. They choked, were beaten up, and failed miserably.

Yet the Super Bowl loss is an afterthought because of you, Mr. Walsh.

Should Patriot fans be treated any differently than the Bronco fans who rooted for their team as they won a Super Bowl while cheating on the salary cap?

Heck, I'm not sure most Broncos fans even know they cheated on the cap during Elway's Super Bowls. Why? Because the infraction was found, they were punished, and everyone moved on.

Your ridiculous play for 15 minutes of fame is preventing everyone from moving on. It's allowing moron Senators to waste taxpayer money grandstanding and threatening the NFL in the slim hopes that he'll find out that the Patriots' videotaping practices cost his team the Super Bowl and not their franchise quarterback's inability to stop puking on himself in a huge situation.

It's time to end this crap. It's time to put up or shut up.

If you have something, come forward and I'll take my beating as a Patriots fan like a man.

But if you have nothing, then just go the hell away.

Put up or shut up.

Regards,

SeanMC
Patriots fan since 1979

SeanMC is a senior writer for Bleacher Report and writes a column for Sports Central every other Thursday. You can read more articles by SeanMC on his blog.

Posted by Sean Crowe at 11:55 AM | Comments (4)

NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 6

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jeff Burton — Burton was chasing race-leader Denny Hamlin as the laps wound down in Martinsville, but was held up by the No. 00 car of rookie Michael McDowell, who was making his Cup debut for Michael Waltrip Racing. Burton still held on for third, and took over the points lead, where he has a 39-point lead over teammate Kevin Harvick.

"Normally, my temperament is just as consistent as my driving," says Burton. "But this McDowell kid's driving really trips my trigger. And, as you know, when Jeff Burton gets angry, there's bound to be a G-rated diatribe, laced with nine and 10-letter words to follow. But you just never know what to expect when you're behind a Michael Waltrip Racing car. It's a given that it's probably got a stolen sway bar, or rocket fuel, or some unwanted NAPA Racing hats, and/or a sorry driver, on board. And it becomes a real problem when there's a rookie driver on board."

2. Jeff Gordon — Starting from the pole, his second of the year, Gordon recovered from a early-race accident that dropped him to 33rd and worked his way back to the front on lap 270. He led 90 laps on the day, but his bid for victory was foiled by Denny Hamlin's late fuel-only pit stop, and Gordon was unable to chase down Hamlin despite fresher tires.

"We just got outsmarted by the No. 11 team," says Gordon. "One or two more laps, and that trophy would have been ours. Actually, the trophy is ours, because we "accidentally" picked it up after the race. Anyway, the wins will come. We're just happy to be running up front and collecting Bud Pole awards. And speaking of 'Bud Pole,' he's the star of NASCAR's foray into the adult movie industry, and can be seen in his current features 'Manual Intake,' 'Three Wide on the Frontstretch,' and 'Green, White, Peckered.'"

3. Kyle Busch — Busch's lead in the Sprint Cup standings vanished into the cool, wet air hovering above Martinsville Speedway, as handling trouble and a broken rear end gear left him 57 laps down with a finish of 38th. In Saturday's Craftsman truck race, Busch, running third, spun himself and second-place Johnny Benson with an ill-advised pass attempt on the final lap, a move which left Benson's pit crew on the warpath.

"Those guys are wasting their time," says Busch. "If they'd have done their homework, they'd realize that it only takes one of them to kick a Busch boy's butt. One punch usually does it. What can I say? I'm a loose cannon. I'm trying to live up to this 'wild child' reputation I've created in the last 18 months. And, if I make that pass, it would have gone down in history as the greatest pass for second place of all time."

"But really, is this the best we have to offer as far as controversy goes? For once, I think Formula 1 has the upper hand. Max Mosly, president of F1's governing body, the International Automobile Federation, can allegedly be seen on video with five prostitutes participating in a sadomasochistic orgy that included Nazi role-playing. I can't speak for everyone, but I love 'Sadomasochistic Orgy.' They're my favorite band. I think the whole incident qualifies Mosley for a 'pervert's provisional' to govern the state of New York. Rumor has it that Mosley paid $1,000 for a golden shower, which I think is called a 'Grand Pix' in the business."

4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. — Earnhardt led a race-high 146 laps, but once again did not have the car to finish on top. Earnhardt has now gone 68 points races without a win, but moves up one spot in the points to fourth, where he is only 69 out of the lead.

"Racing Sunday at Martinsville reminded me of my days at DEI," says Earnhardt. "The weather was cold and miserable, just like Teresa Earnhardt. But the weather changes. As for the finish, I guess you could say I 'used up my equipment,' which is very painful. Luckily, it can be replaced, and sometimes even enhanced."

"I do think the lines of communication with my crew chief, Tony Eury, were much more clearer than they have been. We replaced the two tin cans and string with actual radios. In the previous five races, it seemed that Tony and I were never on the same page as far as decisions go. It was often a case of 'I say 'tomato,' you say 'pit for four tires.''"

5. Tony Stewart — Stewart recovered from an an off-sequence pit gamble that backfired, costing him 11 spots on the track, to finish fifth on Martinsville's compact paper-clip-shaped track as teammate Denny Hamlin won. Stewart gained one spot in the point standings to sixth.

"Martinsville will always have a place in my heart," says Stewart. "Not only because it's the shortest track on the circuit, but because its .526 mile distance is closest to my waist size. A few more pounds, and you can safely classify me as 'oval.' I don't want anyone to dare think they can take me 'lightly.' Anyway, congratulations to Denny. I'm happy for him. And, I'm happy for me. Now, I don't have to listen to his whining, because when he's not winning, he's a real pain to be around. And I should know, because I'm a joy to be around all the time."

6. Kevin Harvick — Harvick battled a tough-handling car all day, but scrapped his way to a hard-fought finish of 12th, which improved his position in the point standings one place to second. He is 39 points behind Richard Childress teammate Jeff Burton. Harvick is one of only two drivers to have finished every race on the lead lap.

"In a situation like that," says Harvick, "with damp conditions and an ill-handling car, it's best to channel Jim Morrison of The Doors and 'keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.' Although it's wise to refrain from heroin usage and exposing yourself on a Dade County, Florida concert stage. All in due time, though. Those acts are on my 'bucket list.'"

"Anyway, we may not have won the race, but I am leading The Washington Post's Celebrity NCAA Tournament Picks Contest. You know, it takes a certain amount of talent to pick winners in the men's bracket. The women's bracket? That's another story. All you have to do is pick the teams whose coaches most resemble men. Or pick the teams with the most nappy-headed ho's. Incidentally, Don Imus is leading that contest."

7. Jimmie Johnson — Johnson failed in his bid to win at Martinsville for the fourth-straight time, but did help lead a Hendrick Motorsports resurgence that temporarily quelled the talk of a demise of the team that won so frequently last year. Johnson finished third, as all four Hendrick drivers finished in the top seven, and three of those drivers led 371 of 500 laps.

"There's a fourth Hendrick driver?" says Johnson. "You're kidding me. I guess now you're gonna tell me that Ringo Starr was a Beatle. Or that Paul McCartney's gold-digging former wife, Heather Mills, has four limbs. Whatever. Seriously, though, aren't we making way too much of this Roush sway bar deal? Frankly, I'm offended — offended that Jack Roush didn't make the logical assumption and accuse Chad Knaus of stealing the part from the Roush garage. With all the suspensions and missing car parts, Chad's feeling a little worried that he's lost his touch. I told him what everyone in the garage is saying: 'If you've lost something, check the Michael Waltrip Racing garage.'"

8. Greg Biffle — After an engine change, Biffle was relegated to the back of the field and spent the majority of the afternoon trying to remain on the lead lap. He was able to salvage a 20th, which only cost him one place in the point standings, where he is in third.

"Hey. What do you call Jack Roush's favorite watering hole?" says Biffle. "The 'Sway Bar.' Jack didn't find that so humorous, nor did he find it funny when I accused Michael Waltrip of stealing my granola bar. Hopefully, my attempts at comedy won't cost me a contract renewal."

9. Denny Hamlin — Virginia native Hamlin won for the first time in Martinsville, using a bold fuel-only pit stop that enabled him to hold off the hard-charging No. 24 of Jeff Gordon at the finish. The win eased the frustration for the extremely competitive Hamlin, who was denied two possible wins at Atlanta and Bristol because of mechanical problems.

"All too often," says Hamlin, "drivers feel they absolutely have to mention their sponsors after wins. Well, I'm here to put a stop top that. My win had nothing to do with sponsorship. My crew chief and pit crew deserve all the credit. They were Fed Ex-cellent, and I'm Fed Ex-cited to Fed Ex-press my sincere gratitude to those guys. This win puts a Fed Ex-clamation point on the season so far, and I can Fed Ex-hale a sigh of relief that we've got a win under our belt. Juan Montoya says he's no corporate puppet, but I don't buy it. I prove that I call the shots, not those corporate shills at FedEx."

10. Carl Edwards — Despite crossing the finish line with an empty fuel tank, Edwards scored a career-best finish at Martinsville, a ninth. That improved his points position to 14th, where he is 229 out of first.

"I'm just checking before I get too happy," says Edwards. "But please tell me an empty fuel tank is not a rules violation. It's not? Great. Anyway, I'm pleased with our performance at Martinsville. The No. 99 Claritin Ford was running well, the pollen count was low, and the sneezing powder surreptitiously placed into my helmet by Matt Kenseth really didn't affect me. But somebody must have slipped some liquid courage into Matt's water bottle. What's up with Matt getting a penalty for rough driving? Seeing that kind of aggression from Matt makes me recoil in fear, like someone's threatening to punch me in the face."

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)

April 2, 2008

LBJ 4 MVP?

Allow me to start with a disclaimer: the NBA MVP award is a joke. I've never wasted my time writing entirely about the MVP award in this space before because it has become the BPBT award (best player on the best team), and I hate it. Recently, it hasn't been about who is most valuable to their team or about who is the best player, it is simply BPBT.

Steve Nash winning the award the first time made me mad. His winning the second time turned me off forever. He's a gimmick player on a gimmick team who plays great on one side of the floor and holds his team hostage on the other. Yet he is a two-time MVP because the Suns win a lot of regular season games. (Note: It is important to stress "regular season" in the previous sentence).

Since the '05 season, the MVP award had been dead to me.

Until about two weeks ago.

That is when the national media start breaking down the '08 season and the naming the top candidates for this year's MVP award. Of course, Kevin Garnett is getting some hype as the BPBT party candidate, but there seems to be three front-runners this season: Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and LeBron James.

You read that correctly, LeBron James. Apparently the criteria for the MVP award has changed.

Don't get me wrong, LeBron is awesome. With a capital "A." And probably an exclamation point or two thrown in there for good measure. He is more unstoppable going to the basket than any player the league has ever seen, including Michael.

But he's not the MVP. Not in 2008. Not based on what wins players the award in this decade.

As of Monday, the Cavs are on pace to finish the season with 45 wins. LeBron has his Cavaliers pretty much locked into the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. He is putting up huge numbers, has little to no help, and is keeping his team afloat in the East.

Allow me to present exhibit "A" of why the MVP award is a joke: in the 2005-06 season, Kobe averaged 35.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. He led the league in scoring. The Lakers won 45 games.

He finished fourth in MVP voting that year.

How is that any different than the season that LeBron is having right now? He is putting up huge numbers, leading the league in scoring, and on his way to 45 wins in a bad conference.

Yet somehow LeBron will get more serious consideration as the MVP this year than Kobe did in 2006. Can someone explain how keeping your team afloat by putting up huge numbers in 2008 makes you more worthy of being an MVP than it did in 2006?

There needs to be consistency in how the voters vote. If team success is the number one factor in MVP voting, so be it. It may be a flawed system, but at least it's a system.

Not even being the best player in the world and first team all-defense could get Kobe even on the podium in '06, and LeBron doesn't have either of those things going for him right now. If they are both playing at their best, Kobe is the better player.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Bryant is the clear-cut MVP right now, either. What Chris Paul has done in New Orleans has been amazing. With the ball, he's like Steve Nash in his MVP seasons, only if Nash played defense and had killer instincts and a swagger.

Having an impressive first half and putting up big numbers is one thing, but sustaining it throughout the entire season and leading your team to the best record your conference is quite another. Chris Paul has certainly made his case for MVP this season.

If either Bryant or Paul wins the MVP award this year, they will have earned it the right way. If LeBron takes home the trophy, it's just another example of how much of a joke the award has become.

Kobe doesn't deserve the MVP because he's never won one; he deserves it because he's earned it.

Chris Paul doesn't deserve to win the MVP because he's the best player on the team with the best record in his conference; he deserves it because he's earned it.

If either Paul or Bryant wins the MVP, it'll restore my faith in the voting process.

If LeBron wins, I give up.

Posted by Scott Shepherd at 11:29 AM | Comments (5)

April 1, 2008

Final Four Standing

Seeding is one of the things that make the NCAA tournament one of the greatest sporting events in the world.

Without those numbers to the side of a team name, Hampton over Iowa State in 2001 would be an upset, sure, but the fact that it was a 15 over 2 made it a historic upset.

These numbers also allow for any number of extremely casual or even non-fans to dive right into filling out a bracket, even if they know nothing about many of the schools or better yet, have not watched a game all season.

You know these people because they were probably the ones who, on Monday morning, were telling you how they got all four Final Four teams right.

When Jason Richards' shot on Sunday evening against Kansas veered a few inches to left of the rim, it ensured a Final Four that will, strictly by seed, be the most pre-ordained ever.

Like many college basketball fans, I did not want the Final Four to have the chalky stain of 1, 1, 1, 1. But with the exception of Davidson being so close to making even a greater Cinderella run than George Mason 2006, I can't say I'd want the Final Four any other way.

Back in October, before a ball had even been released into the air, I made a quick list of my top 10 teams for the upcoming season. Luckily for you, I saved this list on the same MacBook I am writing from. My top five, were, in order, North Carolina, Memphis, Georgetown, Kansas, and UCLA.

So, yes, this Final Four may have been very predictable all the way from October 15 to March 30, but the four teams left standing left minimal doubt along the now-proverbial Road to the Final Four that they were, over the course of the season, the four strongest teams.

While a Davidson/North Carolina Final Four game would have been a dream come true to anyone that has followed the ACC and Southern Conferences and/or lived in the Carolinas, the Kansas/North Carolina Final Four game undoubtedly has more national appeal along with the potential to be one of the best Final Four games in years.

And that's just with the players and the styles of play, and none of the Roy Williams hype that will continue to dominate ESPN and a large part of other coverage as the week goes along.

The other side of things sees the UCLA/Memphis game that, while not as intriguing on the surface as Kansas/UNC, sees a clash of styles and interesting matchups.

But first, I have to get back to some observations on the past weekend of hoops.

The most obvious outcome of the weekend was UCLA getting by Western Kentucky and Xavier in the West. The win over Western Kentucky was tougher than it really should have been for the Bruins, but the dominant win over Xavier was the type of all-cylinders-clicking game that UCLA needed.

Kevin Love was great in the two games, but no one should have been surprised by those performances after the body of work the freshman has put up this season. An overlooked factor in the Xavier game was the performance of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The two crucial frontline players for UCLA dominated the offensive glass, getting 12 of 24 possible offensive rebounds.

North Carolina put on an offensive show for the ages in the first half against Louisville, which was in part made possible by the press-breaking skills of Ty Lawson. Meanwhile, it also looks like this UNC is finally getting some deserved credit for its defense.

Yes, the Tar Heels still allow some easy baskets. However, they force enough turnovers and limit the opponent to one shot with enough regularity to where the defense doesn't have to look as good as Kansas' or UCLA's to be effective.

I really have nothing to say about the two-game Memphis Invitational, which doubled as the South Regional, that hasn't already been said by all the mainstream guys other than that it was in a way, disappointing.

The two Memphis annihilations were disappointing to me, in the hypothetical sense. What if Memphis had even shot 65% from the line for the season? What if they knocked down a bit more than half of their free throws in the loss against Tennessee?

If those things would have happened this season, I have a feeling that the media and fans would be going into this weekend saying the same things that were said about the Patriots right before the Super Bowl.

Going 39-1 and winning the national championship is still a real possibility for Memphis, but if it happens, I don't think I'll be the only one wondering what could have been.

Finally, Kansas. Over the past few years, and even back under Roy Williams, we have all come to expect tight, jittery performances from the Jayhawks under the brightest of lights. Only this time, Kansas won.

And Kansas won this time because of its size. The Jayhawks were +9 on the boards, and their tallest player (Sasha Kaun) had the best offensive game.

Brandon Rush was downright frigid throughout most of the game and Sherron Collins was absolutely nowhere to be found. Mario Chalmers' first-half performance in hitting three threes was absolutely vital towards keeping the Jayhawks' backcourt from having a complete no-show.

Also, I want to take this time to congratulate Davidson for everything they accomplished in their brilliant Elite Eight run. In their four games, they arguably played the nation's top three defenses all in a row, and played a very solid Gonzaga team all the way back in the first round.

Stephen Curry, as one of my friends suggested during the second half of the Wisconsin game, should be named the entire tournament's Most Outstanding Player. I'll stand by that suggestion, barring two straight 25 and 12s by Tyler Hansbrough or Kevin Love (very possible).

After all, one of the things everyone will remember from this tournament 10 years from now is Curry. And hopefully, we'll remember that as well as a Final Four where the best four teams in America put on a show for the ages.

Posted by Ross Lancaster at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)

Road to the Super Bowl Starts Now

Today is April 1. While that isn't a particularly noteworthy day on the calendar, it does kick off the official "later this month" countdown to the NFL Draft on April 26.

While the draft can't compete with the other major days of the sporting calendar (March Madness, Opening Day, any Sunday during the actual season), it is absolutely critical to the development of a franchise.

The Giants have zero chance of winning the Super Bowl in February if they don't completely nail their draft last April (one of the best drafts for any franchise in the past decade). The Giants, Patriots, Colts, Chargers, and Cowboys, a combined 63-17 in the regular season last year, are built from the bottom to the top with solid drafting.

Conversely, teams with generally poor recent drafting histories — Rams, 49ers, Chiefs, Falcons — are relegated to the bottom of the NFL power structure year after year. It's not enough to nail the occasional first-rounder like Stephen Jackson, Dwayne Bowe, and Patrick Willis. You have to hit on at least two or three key contributors in the later rounds per year to maintain a successful program (and that includes trading picks for established vets like the Pats with Wes Welker and Randy Moss, and the Chargers with Chris Chambers).

So as the next month progresses (and it's going to go quickly), keep an eye on what your team is doing. Pay attention to who they bring in for individual visits. Pay attention to which Pro Days your organization brings both the head coach and general manager. Read the experts and read the quotes, then read in between the lines.

If you want your team to win next February, it all starts on April 26.

With that said, some thoughts on what the top five teams will do and why:

1. Miami Dolphins – Chris Long, DE, Virginia

Everybody's talking about Bill Parcells like he's some kind of voodoo mystery man. He's not. He's just like every other old school football man. He wants talented guys who play hard all the time and don't complain. Not only does Long meet those three criteria, he's the only fit of value to need for what the Dolphins are trying to build (and doesn't seem like the type to hold out, always a question with the first pick, especially under Parcells, who hates holdouts). People always remember Parcells' first draft selection in New England as Drew Bledsoe. What they usually forget is the next year Parcells took the best college defensive end and turned him into a stalwart edge rusher who could also drop back in coverage. That guy — USC's Willie McGinist with the fourth pick in 1994.

2. St. Louis Rams – Glen Dorsey, DT, LSU

As much as I've argued for Jake Long in this spot, you can't really argue against Dorsey. He's the best interior lineman in the draft by a significant margin, and will make life a lot easier for the other players on the Rams' defensive front (DEs Leonard Little and James Hall, DE/DT Adam Carriker). Unless you're taking a franchise quarterback, you want a top-five pick to be able to come in and contribute right away. With the current configuration of the Rams' roster, Dorsey is the pick that most improves the team on the field from day one (something beleaguered head coach Scott Linehan really really needs).

3. Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College

If I were one to predict trades, this would be the first one. Oakland is taking Darren McFadden at four if he's on the board. So if any other team wants to move up for McFadden, the Falcons hold the keys. Would the Cowboys give up both first round picks (22 and 28) to move up? Probably. Would the Falcons willingly drop 19 spots just to pick up a late first-rounder? I'm not sure. And since I'm not 100 percent convinced a trade happens, I'm sticking with conventional wisdom and giving the Falcons, who currently sport Joey Harrington, Chris Redman, and D.J. Shockley at QB, their franchise signal caller in Ryan.

4. Oakland Raiders – Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas

The Raiders don't need running backs. They were the sixth best rushing team in the league last year. Whether it was LaMont Jordan, Justin Fargas, or Dominic Rhodes, they had a 100-yard rusher in eight of their 16 games. For a team that went 4-12, that's pretty impressive. In other words, McFadden would be a luxury pick for a team that can't afford to take a luxury pick.

But this is the Raiders and McFadden is the biggest flash pick on the board (plus possibly the most talented), so it's a no-brainer for Al Davis, who never met a headline he didn't like.

5. Kansas City Chiefs – Jake Long, OT, Michigan

If Ryan were on the board, there might be some discussion between he and Long (since the entire Chiefs organization showed up for Ryan's pro day). But with Ryan gone to the Falcons, the Chiefs have to address their offensive line.

Seth Doria is a writer based out of St. Louis. For the only daily column that mixes sports, politics, and entertainment news in one, visit The Left Calf.

Posted by Joshua Duffy at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)