There Will Be Sports

obligatory olympics post, phelps, et. al

2008-08-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

So the Olympics have been going on, obviously, and I have found them more worthless than normal. First of all, the basketball games are like not on TV at all ever. Everything is on tape delay with the time change, and I understand why gymnastics will pull in a bigger target audienc over bball (women), but throw me a bone and give me a game at like 11 pm or something. I don't want primetime just show me SOMETHING. Ugh. Regardless, we have been destroying everyone and it looks like we will end our incompetence in international play is coming to an end. Finally.

I have watched several baseball games and I am a bit confused by the roster we put together. I don't know how it works or anything like if MLB teams can block certain guys from going (this must be the case, obviously I don't care enough to look it up) but we do not have a very studly minor league all star team at all. That being said, it seems we will medal, so that's nice. Couple quick notes on the team and things. First, Nate Schierholtz. I have no idea in any capacity of my mind why this kid has not been given an extended look by the Giants in their outfield. They play 40 year olds next to Fred Lewis and are going nowhere this year. He has nothing left to prove in the minors and could be a very solid big league outfielder. Dexter Fowler is a freak. Rox have a really really nice prospect there. Kids 22, freak athlete 5 tool outfielder. Power should develop and he looks like he can be a 30/30 guy if he keeps randalling. LaPorta is serious, part of the CC trade, he will be a big bopper for the Tribe hopefully at the beginning of next year. Casey Weathers will be closing for the Rox soon, he's got some electric stuff. Ok enough base.

Gymnastics. Watching this once ever four years I can deal with to some degree. I have been temporarily blinded at times from the glare off Nastia Liukins forehead when they show closeups of her, which is never good. Shawn Johnson's thighs are disgustingly massive. There is no chance that any of the Chinese girls have grown hair in places which we do not speak of. But watching these girls jump around and flip about is mildly entertaining. But sadly, my favorite part about the gymnastics is when they cut to Costas and that Eastern European guy and he loses his mind goes insane every time Costas asks him a question about anything.

Phelps. Phelps is a merman droughner. They have shown his mother a billion and a half times in the stands, and there is 0 chance that with half of his genes coming from that cow that the other half come from anyone not named Aquaman, I have decided. That being said, he is as close to a merman as you'll find. They showed the thing about his body like legs are such that he should be 6'0 and his wingspan is like 6'9 or something, just a freak. The announcer that did all the Phelps races also was a fucking genius. It would be like 10 seconds in and he was screaming and going crazy; I'm surprised he didn't have a heart attack or two during the course of the games. But Phelps won everything, world records, Lindsey Lohan texted him and wants his merdong, and he looks like Tim Lincecum on steroids. Win.

Misty May-Treanor is married to Marlins backup C Matt Treanor. That is great. Kerri Walsh, no relation to Adam Walsh. Olympics have too many worthless things in them for me to really like it. They are for girls, I have decided. Also, memo to NBC: never, ever, ever televise the marathon. Seriously, come on. Same with rowing. I guess this list could be way too long but eoh. I digress.

Being Alon Malkovich

2008-08-17T01:24:00.000-07:00

As insomnia sweeps over me like the Mets vs. the Nats (yesss) here are some football things, in no order, that I've been thinking about (click More...):

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Saints:

Wait... the Saints still have Jason David as their #2 corner? Exsqueeze me? Baking powder? Jason David is so fun to watch because he is the most infamous defensive player of this generation and he actually lives up to it.
Reggie Bush is possibly the most athletic human ever created and he has the highlights to show for it (just check youtube). Unfortunately for Reggie and the Saints, he still only managed 3.4 yards per carry in 7 tries against the Texans.

Falcons:

Why aren't people higher on Michael Turner? The Falcons gave Warrick "3.2 yards per carry" Dunn 227 carries last season and Jerious Norwood 103. They clearly would've loved to run the football last season had it been an option... Well now it is! Since 2004, Turner's rookie year, in games where he has gotten 10 or more carries his totals are: 136 carries for 786 yards. That is an OUTSTANDING 5.78 ypc and if you don't think he is going to get at least 250 carries you are crazy. He is really sick. Look for the dirty birds to run the ball about 500 times this season. They didn't give "Burner" a six year deal for nothing.

Cardinals:

Leinart and Warner are both NFL starting QB material. The Cards should go with Leinart because he is the future and they aren't going anywhere this season but if head coach Ken Whisenhunt starts getting pressured to win some games, watch out for him to frantically give the job back to Warner.
Edge looks determined to prove the critics that say that he is too old to be productive wrong, and I believe in him, however rookie Tim Hightower looks good too and may be stealing the goal line carries.

Chiefs:

I haven't seen Larry Johnson much this season, and he did finish with good numbers in his last preseason game but in the few highlights that I did see he looked slow as hell. I don't know if I'm the only one, but from what I saw it seemed to me that he lacked the explosiveness that made LJ, LJ.

Texans:

Steve Slaton not only ran the ball very effectively last preseason game but he also picked up blitzers like a vet. He's going to win the starting RB job, and he is going to be good.

Jets:

It befuddles me how in 2005 we used a second round pick to draft Mike Nugent who is an average kicker at best.
I also cannot believe how strong Vernon Gholston (Geohlston) is as I now watch a replay of him shoving some Redskins player 5 yards out of bounds as if he was a 3 year old.

Dolphins:

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Chad Pennington playing for the rival Dolphins against my Jets will test my fan-hood probably like nothing else ever will. Watching Chad carve up the elite Jacksonville defense was extremely pleasurable for me as I just want him to succeed.
Speaking of carving up the Jags' D, the Dolphins might have a very, very good running game this season if Ronnie Brown can make it back healthy. The reason I'm pointing this out is not just because Ronnie is so very sick, but it is also because Ricky Williams made the Jags' first team defense look like Swiss cheese. Ricky is back.

Chargers:

Their D can make anyone look bad, and a lot of teams look awful.

Ravens:

Hopefully we get to see Ray Rice lay out some high profile linebacker soon so people will stop posting clips of the Mo Jones-Drew + Merriman thing and because it would be awesome. I like him.
Oh yeah and their QB situation? Troy Smith looks extremely uneasy and flat-footed in the pocket to me, and Boller is Boller is Boller is Boller is Boller... if you know what I mean.

Bills:

Man, I'm so sick of hearing about the new trendy pick for surprise team blah, blah, blah. The Bills suck. Marshawn is sick, but as a team they suck.
Trent Edwards' "dazzling" performance against the Steelers defense is overrated. He did most of it against their second team defense. I hope they go 0-16.

Broncos:

I love absolutely everything that I've read and heard about rookie WR Eddie Royal. The little bit that I have seen from Mr. Royal, I also LOVE (sleeperererereerererer).
Over/under on how many different teams Patrick Ramsey will have played on by the time his NFL career is over: 7.
Brandon Marshall is this years' Braylon (minus 2 games).

Raiders:

People get so obsessed with Jamarcus Russell's "nuclear bomb" arm (I couldn't think of anything stronger) that they forget about his 2006 LSU campaign. Russell finished '06 with 3129 yards, 67.8 completion percentage, 28 TDs, 8 INTs and 142 yards rushing in 13 games. He wasn't picked first overall to be a circus attraction, he was picked first overall to be a game-changing, franchise QB.

Titans:

You know how in the Fifth Element the girl learns all of the world's history in a matter of minutes? I wish I could quickly do that right now so I could find someone to compare Chris Johnson to. He's the fastest kid alive.
Also rookie Lavelle Hawkins had a nice touchdown and I can't wait for his next blog post.

Panthers:

Richard Marshall's TD against the Eagles was the coolest thing ever.
Deangelo Williams is very underrated.

Seahawks:

Their stadium is sooooooo cool and their fans are sooooooo loud. It's a shame that they will do nothing this year.

Lebron gets a new friend! YAY! Mo to the Cavs

2008-08-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Another player with considerable talent was traded for absolutely no player of worth yesterday as we see the Cavs heist of PG Mo Williams. I don't care to look at the Bucks end of this deal. I hate the Bucks and I hate the continued and unflinching ineptitude of their front office. The Thunder (I can't tell if this is the stupidest worst fucking name for a team ever, or if I love it....I think I just miss the Sonics) get rid of Luke Ridnour which was VERY necessary for them so McMillan won't even get to think about sending him out to cut into the time of baby Earl or Rookbrook. Ridnour is also white, bad, unathletic, annoying, and stupid; I hate him very much. But anyway, the purpose of this post is to look at the Cavs. Since they won the Chosen lottery (get it? like, Chosen One, haha! YES) back in 2003 they have done a tremendous job of surrounding Lebron with horrible shit. Mo Williams will be the best player to wear a Cav uniform and share the floor with James. Even though those surrounding Lebron have sucked, he is the best player in the league, and was still capable of taking his team of scrubs and random parts to the NBA finals on '06 and one game within the Eastern Conference finals in '07. Adding Mo to the fold makes their roster significantly better.

Since the Cavs got Lebron they have not had a point guard. Trade rumors surrounding this team acquiring a PG have never been in short supply and even though Danny Ferry has proven to be a pretty bad GM thus far, you have got to give him some credit on this deal. First of all, he gave up nothing. Secondly, Mo Williams is a perfect fit on this team. Danny Ferry wins. But Ferry in the past? Nooooootttttttt so good. Not as bad as Shaq randalling him up the ass, but still, lose. This team is really, really, REALLY poorly assembled. It really is a testament to how insanely good Lebron is to see how far they have been going in the postseason these past couple years. But given the crap on this team, Mo improves them vastly.
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Mo Williams is a true point guard, and not in the sense that Eric Snow is, but in the sense that he is actually good and is a true point guard. He put up 17-6 his last two years for the Bucks, can stretch the floor with his 3 point range, and can take it to the rim as good as any point in the league. His acquisition will allow them to slide Delonte West over to the 2/combo G where he belongs and also takes the ball out of his hands more on offense which will also improve this team. He can just focus on playing D and whatever he gives you on offense is gravy. It also allows them to bring Booby Gibson off the bench and use him strictly as a three point specialist and offensive threat. Booby will now never, ever be forced to run the offense again, which is also a tremendous bonus for this team. Whether he is on the floor with West or Mo, he can just run up and down the floor and worry himself with draining threes. West and Gibson can both be shifted into roles more suiting their skillset with the addition of Mo. Mo also gives opposing defenses a player to worry about. He is an all-around offensive talent who is capable of scoring in a mulititude of ways. Everyone else on the Cavs not named Lebron are entirely one dimensional offensive players, more or less. West is probably the best all around offensive threat on this club before Mo, and that is not saying much. Wally is a shooter and is good at wearing suits to games, Gibson is a shooter, Pavlovic shoots and is also good at getting hurt, Varejeo is just awkward, Z is huge and just does things on the block that they teach in Eastern Europe, and Ben Wallace doesn't know how to score anywhere but on the free throw line where he is like drainage on the Bandy tract. While most teams are trying to put together trios of genius, the Cavs now have theirs. Lebron, Lebron and Mo.

The addition of Williams assures the Cavs that they will be over the cap for next offseason but under the luxury tax. They will, therefore, not be able to add anyone through free agency. However, they do have Wally's massive expiring deal which they could trade to get someone who isn't worthless prior to this years trade deadline. Outside of that, their hands are pretty tied. Given how fucking bad Ben Wallace was for them last year, it looks like they won't be able to rid themselves of Z. But, mortgaging their cap space for a young talent like Williams looks to be ok. He is very, very underrated, largely because he plays in Milwaukee for a horrible team, and point guard was definitely the biggest hole on this team. So for Lebron's final two years with the Cavs, they are making a push at it now. I would be surprised to see them not be able to get some type of actual good player for Wally's contract to some team looking to relieve cap space once they drop out of contention as this season progresses. The only, ONLY conceivable way that the Cavs would be able to resign Lebron would be if they surround him with enough non-dead weight pieces of shit and he carries them to a championship. We'll see how far he can carry these humans now.

There is no doubt that Mo will fit in nicely with this club. He will score and stretch the D and all that good stuff, but I believe the one thing that this team needs more than anything is Ben Wallace. If (a HUUUGEEE if) his body isn't completely broken down as it appears, some for of the old Ben would be tremendous. They need the rebounding, defensive intensity, et. al. that Wallace is known to bring to the table. Now more than ever, with scoring at the 1,3, and 5 spots, defense at the 2 (which they already have in Delonte) and 4 is absolutely crucial. Z is an immobile huge ogre who gets boards only when the ball bounces off the rim and directly to where he is standing. Wallace, obviously, is one of the leagues best rebounders when healthy. He is a tremendously active defender and a fierce competitor. I do not think that Varajeo is the answer there and I think that 30 minutes per game of Ben Wallace is what this team needs to take that next step. Their team defense would be so, so much better. Lebron is an outstanding defender, as is Delonte, and between them they can more or less shut down any swing men / guards on the opposition. They need Wallace to be a similar force on the interior.

Points and scoring was never REALLY a problem for this team. I mean we all know what Lebron did in the Pistons series in '06, so obviously, he can score enough regardless of the incompetence surrounding him to beat some teams in the playoffs. Mo Williams will undoubtedly take some pressure off and make things easier for him on offense. What I'm trying to say is, is Mo really the difference maker that vaults this team into some new echelon in the East? No. Definitely, absolutely not. But, it is a step in the right direction and was badly needed. If Ben Wallace sees a resurgence of sorts this year and can stay somewhat healthy, then I think this team is serious. A starting 5 of Mo-West-King-Wallace-Z with Booby, Varajeo, Wally and Pavlovic off the bench would be a terrific rotation. Wallace, in my opinion, is the lynchpin and their team defense will be merely average if he is not in there. Mo will improve the fluidity of their offense but not really improve them defensively at all. But, if Wallace is right this year, their defense will be really, really good and the addition of Mo to improve the offense will prime the Cavs to make a deep run in the playoffs.

The Super Bowl Champs: season preview, defense

2008-08-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

Our defense was, like most things about us, is incredibly underrated. We were 2nd in the NFC in yards allowed per game. Bet you didn't know that. Before I get into the players, Steve Spagnuolo, our D coordinator (and former Eagles linebacker coach, thanks a lot), is unreal. He did a great job last year, was creative and aggressive with his game plans, and always put our defense in a position to succeed. He deserves a lot of credit in getting the absolute most out of our personnel. Ok, so on that note, let's get into it.
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Defensive Line:
Our defensive line was very, very good last season. We consistantly got pressure to the quarterback and finished first in the NFC in sacks. However, the retirement of Michael Strahan was the biggest loss to our defense this offseason and his shoes will be tough to fill. But, his opening at the DEnd position will be filled this year by Justin Tuck who we just resigned to a fat deal this offseason. Tuck was lining up at end and tackle last season as there was no spot anywhere on the defensive line for him to start. But, he has a tremendous amount of ability. The new contract we gave him proves that our high ups think he is ready to start at DE for us and be an impact player. I think he will not make Giant fans miss Strahan too much. Osi does not need much introduction, he a premier DE in this league. At tackle, we return both starters from a year ago Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins. Both are huge and good. And neither get the notoriety that they deserve. With Tuck replacing Strahan, many who do not know the Giants well enough think that our defensive line will be hugely downgraded from a year ago, but that is not the case. This starting front will continuously pressure the quarterback and once again be a huge strength for our defense.

Linebacker:
The other key loss to our defense was Kawika Mitchell who signed with the Bills this offseason. We brought in veteran Danny Clark to replace him on the weak side. Clark came to us from Houston and is just 2 years removed from a 113 tackle season with Oakland. He has been running with the first team in camp and has reportedly looked great. Of our starters on D, he is the only non-rookie to be entering their first seasons with the Giants and so he is still getting acclimated to a group of guys who all know each other very well. Antonio Pierce returns to the middle linebacker position and is the undeniable leader of this group. He said he has been impressed with Clark in camp so far and that's pretty much all we need to know to be satisfied with this guy entering the season. I have also taken a strong liking to Clark in reading about him since camp. He wants to prove that he belongs as a starter on this squad, and he is eager to earn the respect of our top defense. He will fit nicely at outside linebacker and I expect an 90+ tackle season from him. Pierce, already mentioned, is the leader and boss of our linebacking crew. he is a tackling machine and has never had a sub-100 tackle season since being with the Giants. He is a rock at MLB. I am very, very excited to watch Mathias Kiwanuka on Sundays. I was devestated when he went down with a season ending injury in week 11 last year. Last season was his first at LB as a converted DE and he really started to figure it out in the couple games prior to his injury. He gives us a legit blitzing option and I think can blossom into a special linebacker this season for us. I have high hopes for him this season and he gives Spags a lot of different options in terms of his versatility. Our depth at linebacker is also phenomenal. Kehl, DeOssie, and Blackburn are all very solid guys off the bench. Kiwanuka was a big question mark for this group entering last year, but he began to emerge as an impact player in the weeks prior to his injury. Clark, I guess, can be deemed a question mark because he is new, but if we absorbed Kiwanuka's loss with the same guys last year and won the super bowl, we obviously have capable reserves. A lot to love about this group this season.

Secondary:
Our secondary is easily the weakest unit on our entire football team both offensively and defensively, but I still believe it to be average. Basically, everything about our secondary pissed me off to no end last year. I hated everyone but Ross. They all sucked. They were old. They were just fucks. But for some reason they started to play very, very well as a unit in towards the end of last year and into the playoffs. So, individually, let's see. Our starting corners will be 2nd year man Aaron Ross and Corey Webster. Ross started basically all year for us his rookie season and played very well. We had no other viable options to start and I was pleased we just sent him out there and let him play through his mistakes instead of starting Dockery or some other asshole. With a year under his belt I expect him to take another big step forward. Opposite him is Webster. Webster was maddening last year. He was so, so, sooooooooo worthless for basically the entire year. He could barely make his way off the bench and everytime he was out there it seemed like he was either commiting a penalty or trying to get his head out of his ass. But he did manage to dislodge it on week 15 and started to droughn opposing wide outs. We left him in single coveraged on TO and Moss in the playoffs and he was absolultely amazing. Now, am I sold on him? Kind of. There is one thing I noticed that caused his transformation from bench fodder to shut down corner: his aggressiveness. I think he learned how to play cornerback given the constant and unrelenting pressure we put on the quarterback. He was jamming his guy at the line more and not playing so far back off of them. He has all the physical talents to be a good corner in this league but his mild form of mental retardation was preventing him from consistently seeing field time. I think he might have figured it out last year. He got more physical and looked like a different guy out there. Could it have been a mirage? Of course. That stretch he had for us in the playoffs last year was unreal. But he has been playing reasonably well in camp so far, as far as reports have been going. But he does seem to be prone to make poor decisions. He really is still an unknown commodity. I would not be surprised if he regressed horribly and is the same Corey Webster that we have grown used to or if he will build upon his immensely successful postseason play and prove to be for real. We'll see. This year, with Madison in a 3rd corner role, I love him. Webster and Ross can still learn a lot from him and as he will be relied upon less in a reserve role, I will not be screaming at the TV as much when he fucks up. Dockery sucks. Whenever he does something good, I need to be pinched. Whatever. Now, Kenny Phillips. This guy is serious. He is our first round draft pick rookie safety out of THE U. He has tremendous closing speed and great athleticism. He hits REALLY hard, and we already have had to tell him to ease up in camp and tackle softer. He has been recently running with the first team in camp and looks to have claimed the starting free safety spot. I can't wait to see the first time he unloads on some unsuspecting randall catching some crossing rout over the middle of the field. Maybe he can break TO's ribs or something. That would end his season right? We brought in Sammy Knight in free agency to compete for the other starting safety job but it looks like James Butler will start there. Butler is ok, I guess. A timeshare of Knight and Butler could be good, keeping them both fresh, and making them combined sort of like one averageish safety. Eh. But Phillips is the man, and he will be great for us. He has a great nose for the ball and he is one of the most exciting safeties we've had in a while. Michael Robinson also gives us further depth at the position. Secondary is ok.

So that's the team. A very underwhelming list of names on paper, but as a unit, these guys can play. I mean, 2nd in the NFC last season in yards allowed. Everyone says that we didn't improve enough, etc. etc. It's a joke and a poor argument when assessing this team. How much room for improvement do we have on this side of the ball? Our defense is stout and it will be good again this year. Again, nobody gives our defense much of a look, and for no good reason. Kiwanuka back will be huge for us. Even a suspect secondary can look great with the pressure we constantly put on the quarterback. This was surpremely evident last season.To this same effect, judging by what kind of ripping we have been taking around the football world, it is like returning largely -almost exactly- the same team that won the super bowl last year is a bad thing. The only signficant loss to our entire loss is Strahan, and we already have Tuck to slide into his spot. Shockey was wearing ripped jeans an ed hardy tshirt and a nascar trucker hat when we were beating GB, Dallas and NWE. The Giants are a good football team with the ability, as we saw last year, to be great.

The Super Bowl Champs: season preview, offense

2008-08-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Look at that sexy beast. OOOKAAAYYYYYY GMEN. Your defending super bowl champs will be previewed henceforth. The Giants are an extremely well rounded team and are quite strong in mostly every facet. They are not the best team in their division and will not finish ahead of "America's Team", but I would be very surprised if they did not make it into the playoffs as a wild card team. They are getting just a small minutiae of respect league-wide, in the media, among pundits, and in the blogosphere. That being said, I could not be happier. The Giants are in camp and going about things with a business as usual attitude. Even though we won the bowl last year, we are hungrier than ever due to the lack of respect. Every last player on our roster is ready to prove this year that we are for real. There remain basically no starting positional battles on offense or defense, and with only one pre-season game done, that is a very rare and very strong luxury. Not very many teams can say that their offensive and defensive starters are all locked up and good to go this early, but we can, and I love it. I fully expect a second place finish, and while we are playing in the most difficult conference in the NFC, I would be surprised to see us miss the playoffs. So 2 parter here, O now and D later.
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Quarterback:

I'm sold on Eli Manning. I absolutely hated him and cursed him to the deepest darkest depths of hell pretty much every game during the '05 and '06 season. He just pissed me off. The inconsistency, the way he looked, the blase attitude, whatever. Everything and nothing at the same time. His numbers were largely the same both years and we were not even that bad, it was just like. ELI. GODDAMMIT. Alas, words escape me. But, after '05 and '06 passed and entering last season, I decided to just like him. Why not? We were stuck with him after all for a few more seasons, and we were going to live or die with him at the helm. So it was hard at first, er, very hard. But I slowly warmed up to it. We started off the season lukewarm kinda plodding along; Eli would gem and then suck a dong on alternating Sunday's depending on nothing of any consequence at all. And then there was a change on the field that made his personality (still unchanging) more acceptable and sort of sweet (no homo). He got better. I watched every single Giants game last year. When Shockey went down in week 12 and kinda faulked around for a couple more weeks until he was shelved for good, Eli looked like a completely different quaterback. He was more poised in the pocket, and finally looked to his slot receivers more. With Shockey, Eli would never consistently stay with the progression of passing plays and if his primaries weren't immediately available he would often panic and just dump down to Shockey or shit his pants. And if he did the latter, Shockey would give him an earful on the sideline. He never really spread the ball around before Shockey went down and he seemed to distract Eli both on the field and on the sidelines (I hated Shockey on the Giants). Eli started to just look better. His numbers were still very underwhelming last season as a whole, and they were pretty much right in line with what he did in '05 and '06. Regardless, he made tremendous strides towards the end of the regular season/playoffs and the maddening inconsistency from game to game stopped (sort of? enough that I was pleased, anyway). I am fully comfortable with him under Center for the first time since he came here. I am not expecting him to have some monster insane year numbers wise, because our offense is so run-heavy, but I do think that it will be his best yet as a pro. David Carr is a pretty boy scrub. He holds on to the ball forever in the pocket, looks like an asshole, and is just bad. Anthony Wright is Anthony Wright. I miss Jared Lorenzen :(. If Eli goes down, our season is undisputedly fucked. I do really like Andre Woodson though. Even though is has a pretty awkward throwing motion, I loved watching him compete at Kentucky last year. I was thrilled that we grabbed him late this year in the draft and hopefully he will turn out to be a capable backup for Eli and has the upside to be a starter in this league.

Wide Receiver:

We will be returning our 1 and 2 wide outs from last year in Plaxico Burress and the ageless Amani Toomer. Plax had a serious year last year despite being questionable every game and thusly driving his fantasy owners mad (WR version of Westbrook). But anyway, dude put up 70-1025-12 last year and was a monster. He and Eli really clicked in the red zone last year with their timings on fades and such things like this and Plax should total 10+ tds again this season. It remains to be seen if his contract disputes will be settled. Either way it is a win for the Giants, if it does settle, then he will have incentives to play for to get more cash and if they don't then he will want to compile a big year so he can garner a new fat contract. Even though he never practices, he is always a force come game day. Toomer is the perfect complementary receiver to Plax. He is a solid possession receiver for us, and although he did have some bad drops throughout last season, he's fine. He runs precise routes and is a smart player, he will have another solid yet unspectacular year. The most exciting thing about our wide receiving corps to me is Steve Smith. I was touting him very highly last year and his season ending injury killed me. I hate Sinorice Moss, and I hope to god that he is cut even though he probably won't be as his name keeps annoyingly popping up favorably on the practice reports during camp, but Smith's injury meant more time for that little fuck. Anyway, Smith is fully healthy and will be our slot guy. Toomer's days in the NFL as a starting wide receiver are numbered and I cannot wait to see Smith emerge this year as our future #2. He has great ability and he will give Eli another potent offensive weapon. Dominic Hixon, Michael Jennings, and Brandon London have also been both having great camps and nearly every interview with Coughlin they have been mentioned even though one or two are likely to be relegated to the practice squad. We have very good depth at wide receiver, and with my expected emergence of Steve Smith, it will only get better as the season progresses.

Running Back:

Brandon Jacobs proved two things last season: 1-he is a monster, beast, animal who loves destroying any human from D lineman to D back in his path and 2-he has a penchant for being in street clothes on Sunday. He played in only 8 FULL games last year, but when he was in there, he was a destructive force. Watching him run is truly a great thing; his combination of size, speed, and power is very exciting. He doesn't have that breakaway speed but there were games where he would just break off runs of like 8, 9, 7, 10, 8, 12 yards all in one series. He was a MAN last year for us running between the 20s and he will fill that same role for us this year. He averaged a ridiculous 5.0 yards per carry last year. His demeanor is also SERIOUS, which I obviously love. He is all business and all football. When reporters asked him about his contract situation and its current murky situation as he arrived at camp he rebuffed them said something along the lines of (Plaxico, are you listening?) "I just got to camp motherfucker. This is football time. I need to get reps in and get ready for the season. I don't want to be talking to my agent about contract bullshit. If I put up the numbers I am capable of over a full season I will get my payday." That's bad. Our fullback is Madison Hedgecock. Just wanted to mention his name, it's funny. He's pretty good. Continuing now. Early on in the season when Jacobs was largely banged up, we turned to Derrick Ward who proved to be more than a scrub. Weeks 1-5 he played great for us until he got hurt and was out until his triumphant 24/125/1 game in week 13, only to get hurt again and end his season. He finished the year with 602 yards and averaging 4.8 yards per carry. He was being used as our change of pace back with Jacobs in the early going, got that one game all to himself, and that was his year. He was very effective filling in for Jacobs last season when called upon. However, I hope that his role this year is greatly diminished, because when he did finally go down we got yet another droughner in his stead: Ahmad "I don't have to go to jail, bitch" Bradshaw. While Ward is a serviceable and capable back, Bradshaw has the ability to go get six every time he touches the ball. He will be our change of pace guy this year to couple with Jacobs. I hope Ward is reserved to like 2 carries a game because when we have both Jacobs and Bradshaw healthy, he should not be seeing the field. Bradshaw is the lightning to Jacobs' thunder in our running game-yes, this is the best analogy I am capable of. After Bradshaw's breakout game vs. Buffalo, I found myself wanting to see more and more of him. He is a far better receiving option out of the backfield than Jacobs. He looks to be our 3rd down back this season and will be given -hopefully- a few series' per game. If we can get these guys healthy all year (ok fine, 13 weeks would be UNREAL), our already run game will be very scary. And also, can we please cut Reuben Droughns? If he makes our roster I will be very pissed, and there is no reason why. He is SOSOSOSSO clearly the worst of our 4 backs, if he can even be called a running back still, and the one thing that he supposedly does "well" is goal line which he sucked so badly at when given those carries last year.

Tight End:

Enter Kevin Bossman. Shockey is finally gone; the circus that perpetually surrounded him has moved onto Bourbon Street where he can drink hand grenades until he passes out in a gutter and defecates in his pants. While I did love Shockey's competitiveness and overall genius personality, there was no doubt in my mind that we would be better off without him. Sluts at the Jersey Shore will lament his leaving / shotgun a beer in his remembrance for sure. His personality will be missed in the locker room and during practice - no doubt about that - but his loud mouth and constant displeasure with his offensive role will not be. Boss is obviously not the type of pass catching threat that Shockey is, but he is serviceable and is capable as he proved late last season and into the playoffs. Michael Matthews is also a good pass blocking tight end who I think will get more time this year as we do some more creative things with our wide outs. Given the structure of this offense, the decreased role that will be placed on the TE in terms of our schemes I think will work out fine. As I mentioned earlier, I think Steve Smith is primed for a great year. We will be lining up 3+ wide outs and spreading the field a lot more this season, I believe. This also lets us run some draws for Bradshaw which is one facet of his game in which he excels. I think Boss will be a fine TE for us this year. He is not as good as Shockey in terms of pass catching, but we don't need him to be. Boss has very good hands though, and obviously whatever he does for us fits because we won the grand dong bowl fest last year with him at TE, not Shockey.

Offensive Line:

Our O-line is the best in the NFL that nobody talks about. We are privileged enough to return all of our starting linemen: from left to right Diehl, Seubert, O'Hara, Snee, McKenzie. No sexiness, (none of these 5 were first round picks) no Hutchinsons or whatever, just a group of 5 very solid guys with great rapport. They are a GREAT run blocking offensive line, as evident by our dominating run game last season (4th in the NFL), and they are above average at pass blocking. We also signed former Pro Bowler Shane Olivea this off season, and while he has been missing in action at camp over the past several days, he was reportedly starting to really show flashes in his most recent practices. He will join Whimper, Goddard, and Ruegamer to give us great depth. Our linemen are all gritty, tough, and hard nosed football players; each earned their spots and they are a great unit. They really started to shine for us last season as we entered the second half. This group is very comfortable with each other out there and I fully expect a dominating season out them from week 1 to whenever our playoff run ends.

Rising and Falling Draft Stocks After Preseason Week 1

2008-08-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

The preseason is often derided as inconsequential and unimportant; however, ignoring it will put fantasy owners at a disadvantage come draft day, as it serves as a sneak preview for players on the verge of break out seasons, especially rookies, who are seeing their first NFL game action. Well, the first week of the NFL preseason has come and gone, and there have been surprises and eye openers already that I think will effect upcoming drafts, especially the important and often league winning task of targeting which sleepers specifically are worth drafting and where. Here’s a list (in no particular order) of players who’s fantasy stocks are rising and falling after the first week of the preseason.

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Rising:

Jason Campbell QB-Wash: Jason has looked very good in training camp so far this summer, and he has continued to impress in his first two preseason games. He was perfect in the Hall of Fame game about a week ago and was 7-10 for 71 yards, leading the team on a 12 team TD drive against Buffalo in their second game. With Cooley, the addition of two rookie receivers with potential, and a healthy Santana Moss and Clinton Portis, Campbell has the weapons to be successful in the new west coast offense that was installed in Washington this season. With the increased attempts he has the chance to be a nice QB2 with upside.

Matt Leinart QB-Ariz: Leinart had a good outing in his first playing time in 10 months, completing 7 of 8 passes for 91 yards on a TD drive. Leinart has some value because he has some of the best receivers in the league to throw to, making him a sleeper QB2 with the potential to be startable if he can take this performance and roll with it. The Cards know that Leinart is their future and will give him every opportunity to start, despite the fact that they have the best back-up in the league in Kurt Warner. Draft Leinart as a back-up late and hope that he can play like this in the regular season in case your sugar daddy goes down at some point.

Larry Johnson RB-K.C.: 8 carries for 18 yds iiiiiiisn’t what you’re looking for from LJ in his first game back from a foot injury that knocked him out for the season in week 9 last year, but I believe that the fact that he’s playing at all is a good sign that he’s healthy. Plus, he scored a TD and is getting a chance to become assimilated with his o-line, which he didn’t have the opportunity to do last year in camp/preseason. He didn’t look great, but injuries would be the reason that I’d avoid LJ on draft day and this was a good first step to prove his health.

Chris Johnson RB-Ten: Tennessee took a lot of guff for drafting CJ in the first round in this years draft, as most experts graded him as a second round pick. They might have known what they were doing, however, as he has looked amazing in camp and showcased his mind boggling speed (he was the fastest player in the combine running a 4.24!!) in his NFL debut on a jaw dropping 66 yard run. This kid is not an every down back, so I don’t think that he’ll hurt LenOverWeight’s value that much. But if he gets 10 carries a game and a few receptions, he’ll have fantasy value because he has the chance to go the distance every time he touches the rock. I officially love him.

Felix Jones RB-Dal: Felix had 8 touches for 61 yards (6 rushes for 32 and 2 receptions for 29) against the Chargers on Saturday, displaying his explosiveness and elusiveness on a 28 yard swing pass and a 19 yard hand off. He’s described as a slippery runner with extremely good vision, and he showed these qualities, as well as showing that he can produce with limited looks as a complement to MB3. If the Cowboys run on average 30 times a game, Felix should get around 10-12 of those carries along with a few receptions, meaning that he’ll have value in fantasy, as he, like CJ, has the ability to break one off on every carry.

Calvin Johnson-WR Det: Caught 4 passes for 78 yards IN ONE QUARTER against the Giants first team defense on Thursday. Okaaaaaaay Calvin, that’s what we were all waiting after your freakishly athletic and talented self got drafted 2nd overall last year by a team that needed almost anything BUT another receiver. Dude could be ready to explode this year in Detroit, which I say not because I love their offense but simply because he’s practically unguardable (6-5, 240lbs with 4.35 speed--EW). He can be had for fairly cheap on draft day, as he’s going around rd 7 as a WR2/3; however, he has the potential to be this year’s Braylon.

Robert Meachem WR-N.O.: First round receiver plus Saints pass-happy offense equals chance to be amazing. Meachem pretty much redshirted his rookie year last season, as he was sidelined for its entirety due to knee surgery. The Saints are excited about what he can add to their offense this season, as he appears healthy and studly. He has a good chance to beat out Devery Henderson as the Saints third WR and could even push David Patten for playing time if he can show that his 4 receptions for 129 yards and a TD weren’t a fluke in week one. He has explosive, big play ability, which will allow him to fit in perfectly with the Saints offense, which he displayed on a sick 60 yd TD reception. I’d try to draft him late as a sleeper WR and try to trade him early if he has a big game, as he’ll probably be inconsistent throughout the year.

Santonio Holmes WR-Pitt: He’s essentially the number one WR in Pittsburgh now, which is a valuable commodity on an offense that should be even more potent than it was last year. He was used more as homerun hitter last season with Hines used more as a chain mover, but the Steelers want to get Santonio involved more in possession receiving, which should mean more looks. Also helping his case is the fact that it’s his third year in the league and the fact that he nearly broke 1,000 yards last season playing in only 13 games. He looked good in his limited time this weekend against the Eagles, scoring a 19 yard TD in his only series. That is the prototypical Santonio play and one that owners should expect to see a lot this season. I can see him gaining around 1,200 with 10 in 08.

James Hardy WR-Buff: This humongous rookie WR should have value this year as a red zone target for Trent Edwards (or whoever the starter ends up being in Buffalo), and we got a glimpse of his potential in that area this weekend, as his only catch was a 16 yard TD from J.P. Losman. The 6-6 Hardy had 36 TD’s in only 30 games at Indiana in his college career, as he clearly presents match up problems in that area. I expect him to continue his red zone dominance in the NFL and think that it’s easily within his reach to gain 650+ yds and 7+ TD’s this season.

Roddy White WR-Atl: Roddy had a very good season last year (1,202 yds and 6 TD’s) with scrubs Chris Redman, Byron Leftwich, and Joey Harrington getting him the ball. That kind of production from those asses is very impressive, as Roddy was able to display his first round talent and enjoy a breakout season in his 3 year. The big question is whether or not he can repeat that performance on a team that still has a questionable QB situation. Well, the fact that Matt Ryan not only had a very impressive showing in general (9-15 for 113 yds) but also threw a TD pass to Roddy is an extremely good sign for the fourth year wideout. This outing was a good indication that Ryan will win the starting QB job, solidify the position, and find Roddy, his best receiver, often in 08, helping to erase some of the doubt surrounding Roddy heading into the season.

Falling:

Edgerrin James RB-Ari: Tim Hightower looked pretty solid (5-23 with a TD) and might steal some precious goal line carries from Edge this season who is 30 years old and might be on the verge of breaking down. Edge should still get the vast majority of the carries, but it’s concerning that it was it was Tim who got the goal line looks preseason week 1 and that Hightower might be emerging as a back up to push Edge for playing time. This is just another red flag in an increasingly alarming season for a RB who has to slow down eventually (right?).

Julius Jones RB-Sea: Honestly, can anyone possibly be surprised by this? He played pretty horribly this past weekend (4-15, 1-3), getting outplayed HANDILY by Maurice Morris (6-62). This backfield has timeshare written all over it, rendering both backs essentially worthless (surprise, surprise). If someone put a gun to my head and forced me to draft one, I’d take Mo Mo.

Jonathon Stewart RB-Car: I’m not sure if anyone’s draft stock fell any more than first rounder Stewart’s this weekend, as the RB that he was supposed to supplant easily for the starting role, DeAngelo Williams, looked sick (9-55), while Stewart’s toe prevented him from playing at all. His toe surgery was a concern for teams even before the draft and now it looks like it won’t be as easy as once thought to take the majority of the carries from fellow first rounder Williams. In fact, word from Panthers camp is that DeAngelo will actually get more carries than Stewart in 08, making the situation look like another dreaded committee. Let someone else draft Stewart and his hype.

Willis McGahee RB-Bal: Knee surgery a few weeks before the season starts on top of a second round RB, Ray Rice, that has looked very good at camp is not a combination that spells success for Willis in 08. He’ll be out 2-4 weeks because of the knee, meaning that there’s a chance that he misses time in the regular season. Factor in the Ravens poor o-line, as well, and Willis is simply not worth his second round average draft position. By-pass Willis in drafts but target Rice late, as he may be startable in fantasy sooner rather than later.

Ahman Green RB-Hou: If you needed any proof that Ahman is now a joke look no further than the fact that he hurt his hamstring on his first carry of the preseason. On top of this, he has looked slow and terrible in camp and should be avoided like plague on draft day. His back up situation is cloudy but, as Chris Brown is hurt and Darius Walker sucks, the front runner has to be 3rd round pick Steve Slaton, who now has fantasy value, especially since he’s not even getting drafted right now, so his value is incredible.

For the record...

2008-08-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

With my Mets in a very tough battle for the NL East and the Giants underway in trianing camp with the NFL season rapidly approaching, I still find myself thinking about the NBA maybe too much. But regardless, I have been giving a lot of thought on the various offseason moves etc. and I have decided who I like to win the title this year

The Houston Rockets

They are so fucking good with Artest. The more I think about the Yao-TMac-Artest trio coupled with their already insane team defense which will be bolstered even more by Artest I just think this team is now the best in the West. Artest is truly a special player who has been given little attention for his game due to the fact that he is utterly insane. But, now finally on a good team and with plenty of national games on the docket, this will prove to be the best offseason move by any team in the NBA. The lack of a good point guard does not bother me very much because TMac largely dominates the ball on offense anyway. Their bench is very deep and very, very good. Artest in the locker room is a big question mark surrounding this team, in my mind. He is fucking batshit crazy berserk and nothing will change that. But I do think that playing with a TMac and Yao and with a legit shot at a title, he will not act out and do as many crazy things as normal. I think they will see the Celts in the finals this year and smite them. Yes there is significant injury concern, but this obviously is barring that none of these three miss any significant portions of time. I'm on the bandwagon, and I love this team this year.

RB Ranks Pt. 1

2008-08-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

Training camps are in full swing and the preseason started this weekend, meaning that football season is finally here, and I don’t seem so weird for checking Cowboys blogs obsessively everyday. This means that it’s also time for fantasy and drafts and amazingness of that sort to begin as well. Hopefully, everyone read my QB rankings a few weeks ago, and now it’s time for the running backs. The annoying thing about RB’s is that typically 5 of the RB’s finishing in the top 10 of one fantasy season won’t repeat the feat the next year, which means that we can probably expect (due to injury, age, or circumstance) 5 of the following top ten players from 07 to drop out this coming year: LT, Westbrook, Addai, AP, Portis, Lewis, Barber, McGahee, James, and Gore. Sounds crazy right? Well, when you compare that list to 06‘s top ten (LT, LJ, S Jax, Gore, Parker, Westbrook, MJD, Rudi, Deuce, and Addai) it doesn’t seem so far fetched, as 6 of those players did not repeat their top 10 performances in 07. I’m too big of a puss to knock 5 07ers out of my top ten for 08, but I did give 3 the boot. Follow the jump to check out the rankings and find out which ones.
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Tier One

1. LaDainian Tomlinson: If health were not an issue concerning A-Pete, he’d be my top back, due to soon to be discussed issues. Unfortunately for fantasy owners, they are, and that’s why I think LT is the safer pick here, combined with his proven ridiculous consistency (7 straight seasons of AT LEAST 1600+ total yds and 10+ tds). The risk with LT is minimal but does include his return from an injured MCL from last season (which from all reports is fine), the injury to C Nick Hardwick (who’s currently probable for week 1, but who knows), and the loss of the best battering ram FB in the league, Lorenzo Neal (they drafted FB Jacob Hester out of LSU in Rd 3 though, so that’s probably no big deal either). Injury is a concern for all RB’s because of the pounding they take, especially for older ones, but the Chargers have always been careful not to overuse him, and he’s only missed one regular season game in his 7 years as a pro. Compare that to Peterson already missing two last year and being injury prone in college, and you have the reason that I’d take LT first at the RB position.

2. Adrian Peterson: Minnesota has a very good o-line, their top 3 rushers all finished with at least 5.4 ypc last season (Mewelde represent), which is reason enough to love AP. His injuries are a little worrisome though, as he missed time last year and had problems at Oklahoma, as well. His upside is higher than LT’s, as he showed last year (images of him breaking the single game rushing record against the CHARGERS come to mind here) in only his rookie season. Free agent/draft-wise they didn’t do much to improve their offense (Berrian could stretch the D a little), but AP showed last year that that doesn’t matter anyways.

3. Brian Westbrook: We have a love-hate relationship, Brian and I. While he plays for the hated Eagles, I also love how much he owned for me last year, leading the league in yards from scrimmage with 2,104! Westfaulk should probably go first in PPR leagues, as he had 90 last year on top of 12 TD’s. Philly’s offense could even be improved this year with a fully healthy McNabb (ha) and the addition of speedster DeSean Jackson from Cal. The fact that he’s remained fairly healthy the last two seasons, combined with his heavy workload, makes me think that he might be due for a set back. Westbrook’s health, however, has always been a concern, (he’s questionable every week it seems), but his proven full season productivity is more than enough to make him a candidate to finish first at RB by the end of the year.

Tier Two

4. Steven Jackson: Jackson‘s upside is just too hard to ignore here. His offense isn’t nearly as good as Addai’s or Barber’s, but it has to be better than last year and so should he. Most of their failure on offense last year was due to the fact that the o-line was never fully healthy, nor did it have a chance to develop any sort of cohesion. The fact that S Jax is holding out and has missed all of training camp, so far, is a bit worrisome, but he’ll play eventually (if he isn’t signed by late August, then don’t draft him here) and has the potential to reach 2000+ yards from scrimmage like in 06. Things really couldn’t have gotten any worse last year for him, and he still finished with respectable numbers with nearly 1,400 yards from scrimmage in only 12 games.

5. Joseph Addai: Addai comes with more risk than one might think, as he averaged only 45.7 ypg and 3.3 ypc in his last 10 games (eww), including the playoffs. Despite all of this he had 1,400+ yards from scrimmage and 15 total td‘s, a statistic which serves to highlight Addai‘s greatest attribute, the fact that he plays for the offensive juggernaut Colts. He will score TD’s for you without a doubt, and if he can figure out how to maintain consistency throughout the year, he will be a stud muffin.

6. Marion Barber: Much like Addai, the fact that Barber plays on a sick offense helps his draft stock. He’s had 28 TD’s the past two season without even starting, while averaging 4.8 ypc. He only had 204 carries last season yet still finished with 975 yards in essentially 15 games as Julius Worthless‘s back up. This year he will receive an increased work load for sure with the blessed departure of JJ. 50-100 more carries means anywhere from 200-450 more rushing yards on top of around 300 receiving yards and 12+ TD’s. One of the risks is that the addition of 1st round pick Felix Jones (who has looked stellar in camp) will steal too many carries from Barber, keeping him closer to 200. I think that Felix’s presence, however, will simply help keep MB3 fresh and make him more consistent throughout the year, as Wade Phillips has already said that Barber will see an increased role (they didn’t pay him $45 million over 7 years for nothing). Can Barber handle the full load while maintaining his 4.8 ypc? It might drop a few points, but I believe that it’s a less risky proposition than those concerning the rest of the backs below him on this list.

7. Frank Gore: I’m not a huge proponent of the argument that a top RB should be passed up because of the poor offense that surrounds him (just look at Adrian Peterson). The idea that opposing defenses merely have to key in one player to stop the offense is usually off base (people try this argument on Ryan Grant and the Favre-less Packers); however, this argument, as it relates to Gore, I believe is spot on. The Niners offense last year was LAUGHABLY bad (dead last in yards per game, yards per play, points per game, total points, sacks allowed, 3rd down conversion %, 1st downs per game, and pretty much anything else you can think of). Why should they be better this year? Martz? Yeah he’ll utilize Gore as best he can, but how well can his system work on a team that already allowed the most sacks in the league last year? Not to mention they have two jokes competing for the starting QB job, two okay receivers (Bryant Johnson and the over-the-hill Isaac Bruce), and the worst or second worst (Chiefs might win this prize) o-line in football. I can’t see NFL defenses doing anything BUT game plan solely to stop Gore, who on top of all that has had more surgeries than Madonna.

Tier Three:

8. Marshawn Lynch: The upside with Lynch is that he’s the unquestionable feature back in a offense that showers him with carries, piling up 280 last year in 13 games. That statistic, however, also highlights his downside, as he only played in 13 games. This is pretty understandable for a rookie, playing in the more physical and lengthier NFL, and getting a heavy workload, but next year will tell whether or not missing 3 games is a trend or an anomaly for him. With only a paltry 18 receptions last season, Lynch still averaged over 10 ypr, meaning that they need to get him the ball more as a receiver. Fortunately, new offensive coordinator Turk Schonert, who is a QB specialist, intends to do just that. He also wants to get Lee Evans more looks, and one of the ways he plans on doing both of these things is by motioning Lynch out wide and drawing a safety off of Evans, creating single coverage for both of them. This has been effective in camp so far, as Lynch has be catching even deep balls for the weapons-thin Buffalo offense, something that owners can’t wait to see starting in September.

9. Ryan Grant: People who are underrating Grant this year simply did not see him play in 2007. There can be no other explanation because this kid is sick and the real deal. I picked him up after his Monday night performance against Denver in October last year and will forever be thankful. He averaged 5.1 ypc, as the Packers featured back from that point on, racking up nearly 1,000 yards in 7 games and scoring 8 TD’s. And from watching most of those games, I can tell you that he could’ve had more TD’s had Favre not been trying to break the all-time record by throwing 2 yarders constantly. Another statistic that should be getting your mouth water is that fact that he also had 30 receptions in only 7 games; basically, he put up a seasons worth of production in 7 games, and I cant wait to see what he does with a full one. Detractors (idiot owners/writers) are worried that opposing defenses will stack 8 in the box to stop Grant now that Favre is gone. These people simply know nothing about football and should be ridiculed accordingly now and when your team rapes them, while they wonder why Rudi Johnson isn’t better. The fact of the matter is that Green Bay’s offense will not change fundamentally because of the departure of Favre. Green Bay isn’t expecting Brian Brohm to come in, learn a simplified version of the offense, and be productive. Aaron Rodgers has had three and a half years to learn this offense and knows it forwards and backwards, learning from Favre along the way. Plus, he still inherits veteran Donald Driver, rising star Greg Jennings, and the admirable James Jones, in other words, one of the best receiving corps for a spread offense in the NFL. Opposing D’s simply cannot stack 8 in the box against that spread offense, and they will not. Steal Grant at any point in round 2 and you’ll essentially have been given two first rounders.

10. Clinton Portis: The fact that he’s one year away from playing sparingly in only 8 games along with a new pass-first, Jim Zorn offense in Washington pushes Portis this far down my list. Throw in the fact that he only rushed for 3.9 ypc, and there is even more cause for concern. He did, however, have 1,600+ yards from scrimmage with 11 TD’s last season, and he’ll only have just turned 27 by the time the season starts. Portis has only played a full 16 games in three of six season, so are you willing to flip a coin, as to whether or not he’ll be healthy all season in 08? I don’t think I am, plus I like guys like Grant, who are typically drafted after Portis, more. So unless Portis takes a steep tumble and falls to me in third or something, which he won’t, then I won’t be taking a chance on him this year.

Tier Four:

11. Willis McGahee: The Ravens had a bevy of early picks in this years draft and did what they could to address their pathetic offense in 07, drafting a QB (Joe Flacco) in round 1, a RB (Ray Rice) in round 2, and a OG (Oniel Cousins) in round 3, as well as an OT and WR in the 4th. The only really important name you need to know concerning Willis is Ray Rice (5-8, 200 lbs), who a lot of people are comparing to MJD. This kid could be as good or better than MJD, and has been so spectacular in camp that people are thinking that he and Willis might come closer to splitting carries than merely having Rice as a back up. If you draft McGahee, make sure you get Rice to handcuff him because he could explode if Willis gets injured and might be startable even if he doesn‘t. On the other hand, Willis is a pretty dependable back and did well in his first season with Baltimore with 1,400+ yards from scrimmage and 8 TD’s but consider that his ceiling, especially with the undoubted emergence of Mini Ray.

12. Larry Johnson: If all of these other randalls have been drafted, LJ is still there, and you still need a RB, then you almost have to take him. Anybody with a cursory interest in fantasy football knows that 400+ carry seasons (like LJ had in 06) are the kiss of death for RB’s, which is why I steered completely clear of LJ in any drafts last year. People mistakenly believe that it was his shoddy o-line that made LJ a bust last year, but it was actually his 416 carries in 06 (although his o-line didn’t help). He returns this year with an improved o-line (thank you top 15 pick Branden Albert) and with a foot that is supposedly healed, but who knows what minor play could cause him to miss significant time. From reports out of camp, it looks like he’s back, but his health risk is still substantial and a lot of owners are refusing to draft him in the first round, but IF IF IF he can stay healthy….you just got LJ in round 2 AND his little friend: 1,700 total yards.

13. Darren McFadden: Everyone wants this year’s AP, and maybe he’s out there and maybe he’s not, but DMac certainly has the skills to be just as good and without the injury risk. He has been unreal in camp so far and has apparently been picking things up quickly even for a rookie, especially since they’re throwing a lot at him, having him line up in multiple formations and out wide (he’s been billed since college as a stronger Reggie Bush and a better route runner). People who are worried about Fargas taking a lot of carries can take some solace in the fact that Chester Taylor is much better than Justin Fargas, and he was sent to the pine when it was seen how ridic AP was. Some concerns are that Oakland’s o-line really isn’t very good (especially compared to Minnesota‘s), one of the worst in league in pass blocking, and that they are an injury away from being an absolute mock. But they still managed to finish 6th in rushing last year and should be fine as long as they can at least keep Jamarcus upright. Javon Walker might not do much this year to help their offense but between him, Drew Carter, and Ronald Curry the Raiders at least have some decent wide out targets for Jamarcus and Co. to move the chains for DMac.

14. Jamal Lewis: Cleveland essentially punted this years draft for free agents and Brady Quinn, which history tells us isn’t the smartest thing to do (Redskins) but whatever (it works in Madden), and it’s Cleveland (Tim Couch LOL…okay okay recent drafting has been better). Jamal Lewis has the cushy privilege of other people extending a career that should already be over. Those other people include his sick o-line, which is the second best in the league in my opinion, Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, and Derek Anderson (and maybe even Donte Stalworth). Any running back could prosper in this heavenly system and a better one could be amazing but, alas, no. This would have been the perfect draft to get Jamal’s replacement too, but apparently they think they can squeeze a little more out him this year, and I believe them because the job could hardly be easier. The reason to be worried with him is that he’s entering the 8th year of his career with over 2,000 carries and this is around the time that RB’s become worthless, but I think he has a over 1000 left.

15. Edgerrin James: Sure James hasn’t approached his Colts days numbers, which is why he’s not closer to the top of this list, but what he’s been doing in Arizona (1,400 and 7 in 07) is more than fine for where he’s going in drafts. This dude is the model of consistency, and while, like Jamal, he’s coming dangerously close the age and number of carries where most runners slow down, he’s still the only serious contender for carries on the Cardinals. He should get around 300 carries again in 08 (he had 324 in 07) behind an o-line that is pretty solid and for an offense that will be good enough to move the chains and put him into positions to score.

AFC Preview: Up and Right!

2008-08-09T16:55:00.000-07:00

Featuring Alon AND Walsh!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're gonna do this division by division you little randalls, two divisions per post (that makes four posts total for the mathematically challenged/retards), starting with the one and only:

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AFC East

Walsh: 1, New England 2, New York 3, Buffalo 4, Miami
Alon: 1, Jets 2, Pats 3, Fins 4, Bills

Walsh: No big surprises here. The Patriots will coast their way into the playoffs and should win the division by at least 3 games. Not much to say about the Pats, they are sick and did not make any very significant or notable changes to their roster. They should at least make it to the conference championship game this year. The Jets are vastly, vastly improved from last year. They made tremendous acquisitions on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football which they desperately needed to do following a terribly disappointing 4-win 2007 season. In a very weak AFC East division, combined with a relatively easy out of conference schedule, it is reasonable to expect an 8 win season out of this football team. They have such a different team this year than last it is difficult to predict how the Jets will fair. They probably don't know what to expect themselves. I can see them stumbling a bit as they learn to play together initially but finishing quite strong. Ultimately, in the wild card picture, they will be on the outside looking in. But for 2009, I think the playoffs will definitely be on their radar. The Bills kind of suck. They went 7-9 last year in what could have easily been a 5-11 season. Their defense was dead last in the AFC in yards per game, and while they did make a few notable off season acquisitions in Kawika Mitchell and Marcus Stroud, their defense looks to be average at best. Offensively, there's a lot to like about rookie James Hardy who could as the season progresses emerge as a serious #2 wide out opposite Lee Evans. And Marshawn Lynch will only continue to improve. But last year they averaged a paltry 277 yards/game good for second to last in the AFC. And this can be attributed to their abysmal quarterback play. Entering this year, much of the same will occur. They are still stuck with Edwards and Losman who will give them inconsistent and below average play at the quarterback position which will faulk their offense all season. It's tough to see the Bills being much better than they were last year. The Dolphins were good last year. Hm. They did make terrific moves this off season bringing in new personnel in Parcells and Sparano. Parcells has a proven track record for turning around troubled franchises and Miami should be happy to see him take their joke of a team as his newest reclamation project. So they shed some older faulks like Taylor and Zach Thomas and have undergone the rebuilding process. I really, really like Chad Henne to be a solid NFL quarterback, he's got good arm strength, good size, good accuracy, and is intelligent. The fact that they drafted him shows that the new regime is not buying what John Beck is selling. Hopefully they won't be forced to use Henne this year in an unfavorable situation on what looks to be a horrible team, but I can see Henne being their quarterback of the future. Ronnie Brown will be just one year removed from ACL surgery and he will not last the season. Once he goes down, their running back situation is very suspect and could prove to be a huge problem for them. It will be a very important season for Teddy Ginn, as he could prove to be a HUGE bust by idiot old regime Fins, and this will likely be a make or break year for him with this team. Overall, this team still sucks and is a joke. They are still a couple years removed from being competitive, but they will obviously win more than 1 game this year. Yay for fins fans.

Alon: I've already written pretty extensively on the Jets for this wonderful blog and I feel there isn't much else to say. Here are links to my past Jets posts about the defense, offense and Favre acquisition. I hate the Pats although realistically they should finish first. Is this a biased post? Absolutely it is. F*** the Pats. I can have my fun... Anyway... Brady is amazing, Randy is amazing, Welker is amazing. Their O-line is very good but has shown an extreme weakness to speed pass rushers as they struggled last season against the Colts, Eagles, Ravens, Giants and the Giants again(cue in Giants fans' circle jerk session). The Jets have added some serious speed coming off of the edge in Pace and Gholston and I hope they severely ruin Brady's model shoots. The Pats' biggest strength on defense by FAR is their d-line featuring a good Ty Warren and the two unbelievable ones; Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour. Other than the d-line I think Pats fans are in for a surprise this season as far as overall defense goes. Their linebackers are jokes. Vrabel is 33 and couldn't be slower, Bruschi is 35 and couldn't be slower, Hobson (maybe rookie Jerrod Mayo will take this over) is just a body with average speed and decent tackling ability and Adalius is sick. I suspect opposing offenses to take full advantage of these guys' horrible speed. Their secondary is also not very good at all. They lost their stud Asante Samuel and his boyfriend Randall Gay (get it? Gay! owned). It looks like their two starting corners will be Ellis Hobbs and Fernando Bryant who both have very good speed. Besides good 40 times neither of them can tackle, not to mention Hobbs is 5'9" and Bryant is 5'11". Rodney Harrison is a steroided up 36 year old which is a recipe for disaster and their other safety will either be the pretty solid James Sanders or the inexperienced Brandon Meriweather, so I'm not too worried there either. Favre is going to pick these guys apart, and to be honest, so is Chad, Trent Edwards, and every other QB they face except for Alex Smith. I think the Dolphins have been making all the right moves so far this off season. Although obviously the loss of Jason Taylor hurts them this season among others (Booker, Chatman, Traylor) I feel that their additions are much more important. The biggest and most recent addition is Chad Pennington. Chad, with what will be a solid o-line and good running game (especially if Ronnie Brown is at full strength) is a very capable quarterback. You probably hate him but he wins games. The Fins also added Akin Ayodele, Jason Ferguson, Justin Smiley and Ernest Wilford (as you spit out your coffee thinking, "Those are their key additions?!??! Man the Dolphins suck!") True! The Dolphins suck! But there were only two teams last season that were actually WORSE in yards per game AND yards allowed per game and those two teams were the 49ers and the Buffalo Bills. I am sorry Bills fans, but you guys are WAY overrated. I like the moves that the Bills made a LOT but I like it more for the 2010 season than for this one. Bills drafted CB McKelvin in the 1st round and WR Hardy in the 2nd round. They also traded for Stroud and signed Kawika Mitchell. I like all of these moves. McKelvin could be sick, but rookie corners are usually not and I think Hardy eventually will be among corner-backs' most feared guys to lineup against (mostly in the red-zone) standing at a towering 6'7". Kawika is a slightly better than average tackler and Stroud can maybe put together a healthy season and return to 2004 form. Wait a second. Stroud has only played in 20 games the last two seasons combined and hasn't impressed since 2004. Hmm... The Bills' all around most valuable player is their left tackle Jason Peters and he is still holding out for a contract extension. Are you kidding me Bills? We're talking top tackle in the NFL and they aren't showing him ANY love. With Peters the Bills have a below average line, without Peters they have one of the worst o-lines in the NFL. Their starting QB Trent Edwards I do like to be a SOLID QB in the future but he has only started ten total games and not impressed me too much. His ceiling to me seems to be a game manager as he finished with 8 interceptions and 7 touchdowns in 10 games, but if you subtract week 14 against the Dolphins (of course) then he only had 3 touchdowns and 8 picks in 9 games. I love Marshawn Lynch and think he is sick but frankly an inexperienced game manager in Trent Edwards limits this offense to the bottom of the barrel for yet another season.

AFC North

Walsh: 1, Cleveland 2, Pittsburgh 3, Baltimore 4, Cincinnati
Alon: 1, Cleveland 2, Pittsburgh 3, Cincy 4, Baltimore

Walsh: Faulk Pitt and Big Ben, I think that Cleveland owns their division games and takes the division this year. They are sexier. The Browns defense was abominable last year allowing the second worst yards per game in the AFC. They added Shaun Rogers, who is one of a few DTackles in the NFL with real game changing ability. If he is able to play at least 12 games, his impact on the defense as a whole will be huge. But, if he plays like 6 games, they could be in trouble. Other than Rogers, Cleveland will be returning basically the same defense as last year. Both of their corners, Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald, were rooks last year, and they should be much improved this year. I think that the defense will be completely contingent upon Rogers' ability to stay healthy. If he can be healthy, their defense will be average; if not, they will be quite bad. But, regardless, they have shown last year that they have the offense for it to not matter much. They were 4th in yards per game and added Stallworth. Super scrub DAnderson really excelled in their high powered offensive system last year and there is absolutely no reason to believe he will not do the same this year. Their OLine is one of the best in the game; Jamal Lewis looked rejuvenated last year running behind them and is always good at punching it in on the goal line. Braylon completely busted out and has cemented himself as one of the best wide receivers in the entire league. Kellen Winslow similarly broke out to prove to be one of the best pass catching tight ends in the league. Once they get Jurevicius back and get him going in the slot, they will be a pick your poision offense with serious options at WR123 RB and TE. The Steelers are the most popular pick to win this division but lets go against the grain here, EOH?! I hate Ben. I love Mendenhall, but I hated the Steelers taking him as they had no need at running back and great needs at offensive line. They have the toughest sked in the league they have the Colts, Pats, Boys, Gmen, Philly, Tenn....etc. I think they will have a VERY difficult time winning 10 games this season. Their offensive line was horrible last year, they lost Faneca, and I'm ABSOLUTELY drafting Roehltishglithshburger in every single fantasy league I'm in where concussions are a category. The AFC's best defense will return, and should own again. But, schedule, offensive line woes, I just don't see the Steelers winning the division this year. The Ravens are a team I like to bounce back with some type of moderation from a down year in 2007. They are returning the entire defense and they look to be healthy to some degree, certainly more so than last year. Their red zone defense last year was an absolute joke as they ranked 4th in yards per game but somehow ranked 12th in the AFC in points allowed. Their red zone defense must improve, and I think it will. Offensively, we'll see what they get out of the quarterback position this year. Boller is Boller, and we'll see if Flacco emerges to significantly contribute this season. I hope Troy Smith gets a look at QB, I mean, Boller just sucks, so why not? But, if they can put up 17 points per game again as they did last year they should be good for third in this division. I am really, really down on the Bengals this year. This has got to be the year they fire Marvin Lewis, I am frankly surprised they are entering this season with him as this team has been going nowhere for the past couple years. Their offense will be good again, as usual, and their defense will be an absolute joke, again, as is the trend with Lewis run teams. Carson, TJ, Chad, blhablhab they will score points. Yes, fine. But they will stop no one. This team peaked several years ago and have done nothing to significantly improve since. They did not sufficiently address their defense this offseason (to be fair, it was an impossible task), Lewis will get fired, they will suck, finish last in the divison, and begin to rebuild.

Alon: I honestly like the Brownstains a lot this year. If you don't know about their offense well then you were living under a rock all last season. Their offense is sick. They have probably the best o-line in the NFL (sorry Peter), the best young wide receiver in the NFL in Braylon and the best young pass catching TE in the NFL in Kellen Winsnotslowwinsfast. They're rushing attack is led by the still good and apparently in the best shape of his life Jamal Lewis. The QB position is handled by third year Derek Anderson who had a great year last year. The Browns finished 8th last season in points and I think they'll climb up even further to top five this season. Their defense is lulu woohoo chuchu. The secondary is young, athletic and should improve some. The D-line was terrible last year and thats what the Browns' management targeted to improve through trade and thats exactly what they did. Welcome Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams to the line. Rogers is SO overlooked because he has played his whole career on a defense that has been consistently among the worst in the NFL; the Detroit Lions. Rogers is a rare and special talent. He has the size and strength to effectively play nose tackle in the 3-4 and he also has the speed and pass rushing ability to pressure the QB. He obviously will not get as many sacks as he has been getting in Detroit b/c they run the 4-3 there, but he'll probably still get at least 4 which is very good. Him clogging the middle and former packer DT sack machine Corey Williams on the end are TREMENDOUS additions. They combine to be way over 600 pounds of muscle, mayonnaise and mustard, and they will very effectively take up maybe four guys at a time between them leaving their young athletic linebackers to feast on the baby opposing running backs and quarterbacks. Other then McGinest; Andra Davis, Kameron Wimbley and D'Qwell Jackson are all in their prime athletically, and makeup a very underrated linebacker core. The Steelers are still good, but they are no longer top tier. First of all, can I start by saying that Ben Roethlisberger two years ago finished with 18 TDs, 23 INTs, 59.7 completion percentage and got sacked 46 times (5 fumbles). Last year Big Ben finished with 32 TDs, 11 INTs, 65.3 completion percentage and got sacked 47 times (9 fumbles). What a jump. I feel like he'll slow down a little this year. That is too big a jump for me to believe. Those sack numbers are mind boggling, in a bad way. The Steelers lost pro-bowl guard Alan Faneca and now have an even worse o-line. I like their receivers, all of them, I like Willie Parker and Mendenhall but on teams with bad o-lines I flat out don't trust their offenses, sorry Pitt. Their defense is still elite of course, obvi Blitzburgh, and they very well may snag a wild-card spot, but sorry, I think the Browns take the division. The Bengals should've had a top tier offense last season but they finished 11th in points. Wait a tick. They finished 11th on what was considered a HUGE down year? Interesting... It seemed as though everyone took a step back for varying reasons. Carson got sacked actually 19 less times, had his completion percentage and yards go up as well. Touchdowns went down though and picks went up because the Bengals were always losing. Carson constantly had to try and make outstanding throws that the defense was prepared for because the Bengals HAD to throw. Keeping an opposing offense forcing to put the ball in the air because YOUR offense has provided a substantial lead can make any defense look good. It really all comes down to the running game for these Bengals. Rudi Johnson some say has completely hit a wall and some say will bounce back to top form. Time will tell. I think somewhere in between. The Bengals defense will remain very poor but their offense will at least keep them out of last place. The Ravens are bad. I'm sorry they just are. Willis McGahee is their "bright light" on offense and he is so mediocre it is sickening. They pretty much have no offensive tackles so that combined with McGahee limits them to no big play running game potential (Willis only had 5 carries of 20+ yards). They're hoping that their newly drafted back Ray Rice can change that and make some big plays but I really can't see that happening with no tackles to lead the way. Again, no tackles absolutely kills a passing game. The Ravens QBs last season combined to get sacked 39 times and fumbled the rock 16 times! And that was with 11 games played by the retired future hall of famer Jonathan Ogden!!!!!!!! Ugh. I hate their offense. Their offense is so horrible that it led the Ravens to the worst turnover differential in the NFL last season. I'm sorry. I'm not going to even go into their defense. With an offense that bad, consistently providing the defense with no rest and horrible field position, it's not even worth talking about. Ew. Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... Please don't kill me Ray Lewis...

Europe? Really??

2008-08-08T09:57:00.001-07:00

We here at bloodsports have yet to address this recent phenomena that is the exodus of NBA players to Europe. So far we have seen some marginal European players like JCN, Boggy Nachbar (3 year $18 mill euro for Nachbar in case you were wondering, which is just insane ludicrous berserk money for this guy), and Krstic flee back to their homelands. Childress is the best NBA guy to leave for a larger deal but that was due mostly to Atlanta's front office ineptitude than anything else. Since Childress went, there has been talk and stirrings of our more vaunted superstars leaving the NBA for Europe as well. Greek powerhouse Olympiakos was said to be contemplating offering our King something in the neighborhood of $50 million a season to play in Greece. Professional basketball leagues in Europe work under different confines than here in the United States. Salary cap, luxury tax penalties and all that good stuff we have here to keep the NBA competitive does not exist to the same degree in European leagues. Olympiakos, for example, is owned by a couple of young billionaires. They could obviously care less about creating revenue and actually making money on their little basketball team but would be infinitely amused to watch Lebron run around and drop 40 on a nightly basis. So I will try to coherently (editing this now, it is not coherent. eoh) put forth my thoughts on this whole "problem". If you care, read on, if not, go find the latest on Brett Favre and die.
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There are a plethora of reasons and circumstances and etc. that can potentially surround each and every player that would impact their decision on whether to stay in the NBA or go overseas. The most obvious, and in most cases influential, is the money factor. The Euro is 2x the US dollar and dudes are just getting paid more bank to go over there. Fine, that is understandable. You have guys who will struggle to both see significant time on the court and get paid in the NBA, like those I mentioned earlier, and they can be put into better situations overseas. I'm fine with that. I mean, Sergio Rodriguez goes to Europe, who gives a fuck. That can happen for eternity, as far as I'm concerned, and business will go on as usual in the NBA. But there are two players actions I want to speak about in greater detail; Josh Childress and Brandon Jennings.

The Hawks are an insanely frustrating franchise. Their front office is run with such ineptitude it makes me sick. I won't even get into this whole Josh Smith fiasco. If they don't match the offer sheet the Grizz just put out to him and let him walk, I can assure you that a Hawks rant post will ensue. But, this is the Hawks we're talking about, so would it really surprise anyone? They have already flashed their inability to correctly manage their assets in how they handled Childress, and this is what I want to speak on. I will not get into the valuability of JChill and what he meant to the Hawks except to say that it is greater than most believe. That being said, the only blame in Childress going to Greece is to be 100% placed on Hawks management. Childress felt chided that they would not pay him what he was due - he was not demanding anything outrageous but was very much in line with his market value - and so he took a bigger deal overseas. His deal in Greece gives him the option to opt out after one year, so he will probably be back stateside soon. So far, he is the only really legit player to leave the NBA for Europe. He is capable of starting in the NBA even though he mostly filled in as sixth man for Atlanta during his career so far. Instead, he will get paid and spend a year with tan Greek babes eating pita and hummus. Good for him, because the Hawks are idiots and should have given him the rather modest deal he was looking for.

The impact of this Childress thing, as far as I see, is twofold: 1, NBA general management have got to stop being little bitches when it comes to taking out their check books to re-sign key cogs of their rotation and 2, players now have a significant piece of leverage in future contractual negotiations.

Teams across the league this off season have had a propensity for saving money and getting under the cap. I have noticed that this has been a trend almost league-wide and has been more prescient this offseason than in those in recent memory. Teams have begun trading studs for a bag of peanuts, a paperclip, and/or an ipod touch (see Gasol, Pau; Camby, Marcus). This new affinity for getting under the cap has taken an entirely new form and GMs looking to rebuild have gotten very creative. Whether this is good or bad for the league is an entirely different post and could be argued with coherent arguments both for and against. But, when it comes to re-signing players who have proven their worth and value to your team - like Childress - and are not asking for some ridiculous new contract (see Gordon, Ben), management has been reluctant and unwilling to meet their players' demands. Both Okafor and Deng were in very similar positions as Childress this off season. They both wanted to be re-upped at market value. They both liked where they were and wanted their deals to be extended. Neither the Bulls nor the Bobcats could afford to let either of these players slip away. They acknowledged this and both franchises did, after belaboring contract negotiations, eventually extend their guys. But it was in the manner by which this was done that really pissed me off. Open note to NBA GMs: Pay your players. Okafor and Deng both very good young players and both would have been likely been able to sign fatter deals if they hit the open market. But instead they wanted to get re-upped and do their franchise the benefit of NOT hitting free agency. Take care of your players and be happy they want to stay. The Hawks took a similar position as the Bobkittens and Bulls in trying to get Childress to accept a contract beneath his value. Oops. Chill didn't have such patience, said fuck you Atlanta and went to Greece where he got paid. Now the Hawks are a lot worse and missing their glue guy.

I don't believe this will be a trend, but it will certainly have some impact on future negotiations and GMs will not quickly forget what happened with Atlanta and Childress this off season. GMs will no longer be able to go the take it or leave it route when they are dealing with players in restricted free agency. If the GM is miffing the player, he can just pull a Childress. It is, as a result of this off season, plain fact that there is more money available to players in European leagues than in NBA. Granted that so far the guys going over there are more end of the bench guys, but still. We are in the very infancy of this new phenomena and we will see if and how it continues as we press forward. But NBA teams must now at the very least entertain the possibility that if they piss off their player too much during contract negotiations, they could take more money and run, er, fly, to Europe. The threat of signing overseas is maybe the most significant greatest piece of leverage that an NBA player has ever had during contract negotiation.

Ok, now the Brandon Jennings case. For those of you who don't know what's good, he was the overall #1 ranked incoming freshman this year. Jennings attended Oak Hill Academy, was a McDonald's All-American this past year and signed a letter of intent to go to Zona, but instead is going overseas to play with Roma in the Italian Serie A league, and of course, get paid. I am actually fairly surprised that since the NBA changed the age limit for draft eligibility to 19 and thus preventing high schoolers from entering that this is the first time a kid skipped college and spent his one year waiting for eligibility in Europe where they could get paid. First, many kids who are prep school stars come from poorer backgrounds with families relying on them for financial support. That one extra year of not getting paid while they are forced to go to college can be a very difficult one. But by going to Europe, kids can earn some bread while the year before they enter the draft. Once they hit 19, they can enter the draft and continue their dream of playing in the NBA. However, although the kid will get paid, it is very risky in terms of potential draft position. Prep school studs entering college typically dominate immediately; we've seen it these past couple years on many occasions. European leagues like Italy's Serie A, Span's league, Greece's league; these are grown men we're talking about here, not teenagers. Jennings is a sick, sick point guard and will likely flourish playing overseas just as he would have if he was at Zona vs. the Pac-10. It could even end up increasing his draft position if he really has a big year. But for players with less skill could get banged around and see their stock plummet against significantly more difficult competition. I really do see this as a potential trend and would not be surprised at all to see more kids do this in the future. Financially, this route may prove to make a lot more sense than spending a year at college in the United States before entering the NBA draft. Once more, whether or not this is a good or bad thing for the league, or for the NCAA is a whole other debate, eoh.

Ok, so now, will either of these two occurrences produce any significant rule changes in the NBA to keep players from the United States going to Europe? Short answer: no, absolutely not. Whether or not prep stars go to college, Russia, or Morocco, the NBA could care less. Until the kid is 19 and enters the draft, he can do whatever he wants. If he wants to go to a big time program, faulk every bid in sight, smoke weed and drink himself into oblivion on non-game days, and own smallish white guys on the court before going to the NBA, then that is his entitlement. If he wants to go to Serbia and bang with huger, hairier white guys and get paid, that too is his entitlement. A massive exodus of high schoolers to Europe over college will simply not happen because if you aren't a #1 (or very high) ranked talent like Jennings, your draft stock will likely plummet playing against tougher comp in Europe. The Childress thing was an isolated incident, I think. If anything it is a wake up call to GMs across the league that they have to stop dicking their players around when they want to get extended. But in terms of teams being more frugal with their dollar and are only willing to pay Nenad Krstic like $1 mill instead of $2.2 mill or something like this and he goes back to fatherland Russia, who cares? Nobody. JCN goes back to Spain? Whatever. Nothing with the NBA's salary cap or luxury tax will change to give GMs more flexibility with signing their 9th and 10th guys simply because it does not matter in most cases who fills these spots. However, if a Kobe Bryant or LeBron James take a $50 million dollar a year deal with Olympiakos or something, that would be serious. But it won't.

Kobe was just recently asked if he would take $50mill/year to play overseas. His response? And allow me to paraphrase: "Hell yeah, I'd go. $50 mill a year? I would have to be fucking out of my mind to pass up those kind of bills. Right?" Ok Kobe. LeBron echoed similar sentiments a little bit ago when the initial rumor was circulating that in 2010 he could potentially receive that type of an offer overseas.

Ok. Now lets take a step back. I'm just going to look at Leb, because he is the embodiment of the future of the NBA and has more potency to come to the Knicks than Kobe - so I am more interested in his future anyway. First of all, Leb will make like what, $18-20 mill or so a season in a max deal in the NBA when he is a free agent in the 2010 summer. Assuming he goes to one of the big market cities in the US (i.e. NYC), his endorsement deals go up like a billion percent or something. Does $10 million more really matter that much to this guy? I mean. No. He's worth a fortune, as far as I can tell. Even at $50 million/year, when push comes to shove, I think he would stay right here in the United States. It is an entertaining idea to throw out and speculate upon and talk about here in the blogosphere, media, water cooler or wherever, but it will not happen. These guys like Kobe or Lebron will get no satisfaction destroying faaarrrrrrrr lesser comp in Europe. They already have truckloads of money and are worth a ton. They want rings, they want to be heralded as superhuman geniuses here in America, where they are from and where kids across the country immortalize them. The superstars in the NBA are not going anywhere. Don't worry. I have already decided upon this.

Alright, so thus ends my rambling on about this topic. Comments welcome, I am interested to see your guys' thoughts on this subject.

YANKEES Part 2 of 2

2008-08-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

So I've had some time to read over my initial Yankees post and decided that A. Wayyy to many statistics and not enough analysis and B. Definitely not an "honest look" at the Yanks since I was riding a high from the 8 game winning streak at the time. Even bloggers can fall victim to optimism and excitement over a winning streak. However, I promise to redeem myself with Part 2 and give you some insights into the Yanks' lineup and what to expect the rest of the year.
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C - Ivan Rodriguez - .214/.267 in 6 games since joining the team. Getting Ivan Rodriguez for Farnsworthless was a great move by Cashman and one that fell into our lap. He is a veteran catcher who has won a few rings and is used to adjusting to new teams. Although it can't be argued that Jose Molina is all-around better, defensively Pudge seems to be a downgrade and hasn't shown me much while in the pads thus far. Although this does improve our lineup, it only does so minimally because Rodriguez has been batting 8th, which is not usually an impact slot for a hitter. Why is it that our starting left fielder and catcher go down and we replace them instantly but we have 2 premium starters that have been out all year and we just get Sidney Ponson?? Cashman took the same approach this summer by not pulling the trigger on Johan and yet re-signed all of our oldies in the lineup to preserve hitting. Personally I would like to see a different approach.

1B - Jason Giambi - 22 HRs, .391 OBP, (.390 BA since shaving the 'stache). Jason "the 'stache" Giambi had a slow start to this season but picked it up in May and June (batting over .300 in both months) in order to have very respectable stats. Although Giambi seems physically incapable of throwing accurately to 2nd base, he has been solid defensively otherwise and a force in the middle of the lineup protecting A-Rod. He should be able to maintain his high OBP and continue to pound the baseball, especially with a consistent hitter behind him in Nady.

2B - Robbie Cano - .303 BA from May-July, but .214 in August. Only 36 Ks in 417 ABs. Cano had been the second hottest bat in the lineup before the month of August but has cooled of since then. Cano is notorious for having slow starts to the season and seems to be on his way to a .290ish BA for this season after a horrid April. Cano is probably my favorite Yankee just because he always puts the ball in play, does not seem phased when put in a big spot and is maybe the slickest infielder with the glove. He has been batting 6/7th in the lineup and we need him to return to his pre-august form if we want to to contend for the Wild Card.

SS - Derek Jeter - .313 BA in August and what the fuck is up with 6 SBs all year long?!? Coming into this season we heard all about Girardi's NL managerial style that features a lot of steals and being active on the base-baths. It looks like he changed his tune when he got to NY and realized that he can't afford to have Jeter thrown out at second with hitters like Abreu and A-Rod behind him. Either that or something is off with Derek physically, which might explain his completely average statistics thus far. Jeter is having one of his worst years in a while and although I, like many other New Yorkers, feel that he will ultimately end up with a .300 BA, he isn't really showing any signs of that. Hopefully he can keep up the good hitting this month and try and take some of the load off of Abreu who has been on a monster tear.

3B - A-Rod - .315/.401/24 HRs and a .214 BA in August to match Cano. Nothing makes me happier than John Sterling saying "An A-BOMB...from A-Rod" but to my dismay, this has only occurred one time in August. Despite Alex's poor numbers so far this month he is still up to his usual God-like actions with HOF numbers. But if you take a look at A-Rod's split stats, he is really only getting his hits with just a man on first or with the bases empty. I thought that last year A-Rod proved that he could hit in big situations and finally got the media to back off. But after what i've seen this year I think the media needs to stop giving him a free pass and get on him again for his anti-clutch hitting. It always seems like in this star-studded lineup that about 2-3 players cycle on and off with hot streaks. It was Cano and A-Rod carrying in July and now Abreu and Jeter in August. We need some consistency and hopefully Nady can provide it.

LF - Xavier Nady - .368/.429/11 RBIs in 11 games with the Yanks. Getting Nady and Marte was by far one of the best mid-season trades Cashman has ever made. Nady is a solid hitter and I think can actually make the difference in this lineup. When Giambi is not in the lineup he bats 5th to protect A-Rod and when Giambi is in the lineup he bats 6th, which is perfect because of Giambi's .400 OBP. In an earlier post this year, a writer mentioned that he believed that there was no such thing as momentum in baseball because each hitter is up there individually. I could not disagree more and this Yankee lineup is a perfect case study. The Yankees feature 7 men in the lineup right now that should be batting at least .300 and be breaking all types of records in team offensive categories. In reality the Yankees are 6th in the AL in runs (behind the Twins!!!) and 5th in BA. This is because every hitter is looking at the next guy to see what he does. If a hitter makes an out in a big spot, the pressure mounts to the next hitter and so on. However, if one hitter gets one big hit, then look out for the Yankee avalanche. This fact is especially true when looking at extremes. If your star player, in this case A-Rod, gets a big hit then the team's confidence is at it's highest. But similarly, this plateau can be reached when a new player gets big hits because he is not expected to do so. Little is expected because he will clearly place added pressure on himself to perform well for a new club, especially with the NY media breathing down his neck. Xavier Nady has been very hot recently and i'm hoping he will be the X factor to break the ice on the Yankees offense, especially with RISP.

CF - Johnny Damon - .317 BA, third in BA in the AL. Since I spent so much time on Nady I will make these next two brief. Damon has been hot since May and is needed to set the table for this offense. However his 16 SB/6 CS is horrible and I think he needs to stir the pot more if the Yankees are to excel offensively.

RF - Bobby Abreu - .291/.364/71 RBI's and a .350 BA in August. Abreu is on fucking fire right now and looks like he expects to get a hit every time he's at the plate. Without him the Yankees would be horrible and would generate ZERO clutch hits. He only needs to shoulder the load until the other Yankee bats wake up again.

Bench - I would go into detail here about how I love the bench but this post is getting too long. All you need to know is that we have power, speed and defensive on the bench and it has been the key to the versatility in the Yankees lineup.

Predictions - As I stated in Part 1, I believe that the Yankees will inevitably make the playoffs. Our hitters are too good and our pen is too good to fall out of the race. The difference will clearly be starting pitching, which is even more of a sore spot now that Joba is on the DL. I pray to the baseball Gods that Kennedy (starting in place of Joba) and Hughes and Pavano (both coming back later in the month) can somehow keep the pitching afloat. If not, then it will be a wild finish down the stretch.

Cris Carter - "He's the best, bar none."

2008-08-07T02:43:00.000-07:00

Brett Favre has been traded to the Jets for nothing. What are the risks involved in trading a conditional pick for Brett Favre, possibly the best quarterback of all time? Practically no risks and I am clearly ecstatic about it.

Here is a quote from the ESPN article about the details of the trade:

"According to the NFL Network, if Favre takes 50 percent of total snaps with the Jets in 2008, the fourth-rounder becomes a third-round pick. If he gets 70 percent of the snaps and the Jets make the playoffs, it becomes a second-round pick; and if he gets 80 percent of snaps and the Jets make the Super Bowl, it becomes a first-round pick."

JOKE! This is by far the most optimistic I've ever been going into a season. BY FAR. Yes Favre is old but we're giving up practically nothing and he fits like a little blue plastic asterisk type thing into a box with a hole specifically cut for that exact shape...

I feel as though the Jets are still underrated. Our receiving corps is very good. Laveranues Coles, except for injury, has been one of the most overlooked and consistent WRs in the NFL. Don't you, naive reader (just kidding), realize who has been throwing him the ball????

2001- 38 year old horrible Vinny Testaverde- 59 catches, 868 yards
2002- 12 starts of pre-surgery Chad Pennington- 89 catches, 1264 yards
2003- 11 starts of PATRICK RAMSEY (all you needa know)- 82 catches, 1204 yards
2004- half Ramsey, half horrible version of Mark Brunell- 90 catches, 950 yards
2005- 9 starts BROOKS BOLLINGER (4 Vinny and 3 Chad)- 73 catches, 845 yards
2006- 16 (!) starts of post-double surgery (he's not tough?) Chad- 91 catches, 1098 yards
2007- half Chad half bad rookie year from K. Clemens- (12 games) 55 catches 646 yards

That is insane. I mean. What? Those numbers with those QBs? Not to mention all of those years he was covered by the #1 corner of each team and often times with safety help as well. 31 is not too old and add in Favre's amazingness, woah, what is Laveranues' ceiling this year people? Not to mention Cotchery, D. Keller, Stuckey, Leon... Let's keep it coming.

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I've been going insane for approximately the last six hours (looks like I'm going to be very, very late to work tomorrow). The QB position is like no other position in any other sports. It is like imagining that the MLB will have a 16 game season next year spread out over 16 weeks. How valuable is getting Johan Santana now? Well in 23 starts this season he has a 2.86 ERA so that is how valuable he would be. Do you understand? That means the bulk of your season's innings is at a 2.86 ERA because he would obviously start every game... Well that is how valuable the starting QB position is.

Jerricho Cotchery has had two full seasons starting for us (and you know who was playing QB) and in both he had 82 catches. 2006- 961 yards and 2007- 1130 yards. He's bad. No! Actually he's f****** sick.

Donald Lee finished last season with 48 catches and 575 yards. Donald Lee. Sure Dustin Keller is a rookie and unproven and all that bull**** but he has been making unbelievable plays all training camp, catching absolutely everything in sight and showing off his athleticism. According to well, everyone that has seen him (from Laveranues to Mangenius to Bubba Franks to Peter King) he has no ceiling what-so-ever and will undoubtedly be an elite pass catching TE in this wonderful league.

Man. If you can't tell I'm out of my mind excited, still.

Favre also will just help in more general statistics such as time of possession which will help our defense a lot b/c we had no T.O.P. last season.

Yes Favre. Jets own. Jets are amazing. Yes. My time, our time, has come...

Finally:

http://www.mediafire.com/?jagcybqmtb5
Here is a little link of an mp3 file that you may enjoy. It is first Tony Paige (from WFAN, NY sports radio) listing off the Jets' 2008 schedule (which is a joke, we should be the underdogs in three total games: NE, @SD and @NE again) and then it is ME, yes me, calling into the show and having a short chat with Tony. Enjoy. Go Jets.

Twins = ?!

2008-08-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

As we see August baseball being played, the biggest surprise in the league, to me, is the Minnesota Twins. They are one game back of the ChiSox for first place in the AL Central, which is a joke. The Twins are a bad team with a bad roster. On paper, you look at them, and it just makes no sense that they are where they are in the standings. The AL Central is admittedly weaker than it has been in recent years. The Indians have been ravaged by injury, and the Royals are, surprise, still the Royals. The Tigers stumbled out of the gates and their staff continues to prevent them from making the Central a three team race. The Sox are also a bit of a surprise because of the universally unpredicted emergence of Dankyasshole and Floyd entering the season. They also throw the best dong parties in the AL; their lineup has some serious power. The Twins though. I mean. I really was just looking at the standings in the MLB and was just stunned that they are not AT LEAST worse than the Tigers. I felt it was worth a post, but after really examining their roster, I still think they are terrible. The majority of articles I see regarding the Twins more or less read as a diatribe of immense confusion. I agree, it is VERY confusing. It is very, very confusing that this team is 1 game back in the Central this late in the season. It's not like they are playing in the NL West where .500 gets you in the race, they are 11 games above .500 on August 6th! They were supposed to be bottom dwellers in the Central entering the season, and they were entirely written off. I thought they would suck horribly. Their roster is top to bottom pretty much a joke and is with very few exceptions. And yet, I repeat, they are 11 games above .500 and 1 game back in the AL Central.
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Batting: Firstly, if you just read off the names of this lineup without looking at the stats, it is downright laughable. Denard Span, Brendan Harris, Nick Punto; the average baseball fan would probably recognize two names on this lineup: Morneau and Mauer. I'm sorry Delmon, if you can learn to get extra base hits, maybe you will make that short list sometime. Their lineup reads like a joke, but somehow they are not playing quite the part. The Twins have just two hitters in their lineup with double digit home runs in Morneau and Kubel, with 18 and 16, respectively. Craig Monroe, who was their third leading donger with 8 (nobody even has 9...come on...), was just released. To say they have little power in their lineup would be a gross and egregious understatement. However, the Twinkies have a team batting average of .278, good for third in the AL. This is, in fact, the only standard batting statistic by which they are in the upper level in among the AL. They do not hit a ton of doubles, they do not steal a lot of bases, they are very average at talking walks and striking out, and their team OBP ranks right in the middle of the AL also. There is just one stat that explains why they have scored the 5th most runs in the league; hitting with runners in scoring position.

The following are averages when hitting with RISP / Averages hitting with 2 out and RISP: Mauer .356/.370, Morneau .378/.370, Casilla (was) .322/.294, Buscher .400/.357, Span .308/.231, Young .298/,216, Punto .353/.385, Kubel .264/.250, Harris .270/.250, Cuddy .357/.250, Gomez .318/.316, Lamb .368/.308.

That is worth looking at again. Ok. Now. These guys are hitting INSANE OUT OF THEIR MINDS with runners in scoring position. This club cannot, for obvious reasons, rely on any dong festivals to win games for them. But, they have proven to be very good at stringing together hits and rallies of singles with the occasional (lets not get greedy here) double. Situational hitting. This is Twins baseball after all. I mean, when Mike Lamb hits .236 on the season but is batting .368 with runners in scoring position, that is just flat out ridiculous. Mike Lamb SUCKS. Carlos Gomez bats .259 but hits 60 points better with RISP...JOKE. Cuddyer bats .252 but hits 100 points better with RISP...WTF?!?!?! Is this sustainable? Absolutely not. As a team, they have got to regress at some point. Right? Errr. Well it is August, the season is almost over, and they have not regressed as a club really at all to date. Maybe it is sustainable, perhaps. I am, however, still stunned and in a state of disbelief. This team's offensive production just astonishes me and I still cannot believe as I read over their rostered batters how they are NOT one of the worst offensive teams in the entire MLB in each and every offensive category. Nearly every single guy on this club is batting at an insane clip with RISP and wayyyy over their heads. But, this is the ONLY explanation for the Twins ability to score runs so far this season. That's the best I can come up with.

Starting Pitching: Anomaly number two. Livan Hernandez and his 5.48 era was the only pitcher on the Twins staff to have tallied double digit wins. Now that he is gone, they can now boast that they have 0 starters with 10+ wins on August 6th. And they are, repeat, 11 games over .500. Their staff is: Slowey, Blackburn, Baker, Perkins, and Liriano (in no particular order, because it is basically impossible to do so). Liriano is not even close to the same pitcher he was back in '06. Not even close, there is no way he will ever be an ace of any staff with his velocity where it is right now. I don't want to hear it. The Twins have for some time been one of the best organizations in developing starting pitching talent in their minor league system. But as their staff stands today, I do not see any one pitcher as a stud. But let's start with the good. I do really like Scott Baker. He has really developed into a very nice pitcher, who seems to have exceeded expectations. He looks like he is turning into a pretty solid #2 starter who is capable of eating up innings and throwing quality starts with consistency. Slowey (4.21 era 102 ip 72k) is just a league average strike thrower, as far as I'm concerned. He is a #3/#4 starter. Blackburn has a 3.56 era but not the peripherals to match. He has a .281 batting average against, which is a joke, he averages about 4.5 K per 9 ip, and his era should be closer to a 4.56. He should be a back of the rotation starter. Glen Perkins BAA is .302 (!!!) and his already kinda bad 4.38 era is not sustainable at all as he has a 1.47 whip and poor K numbers to boot. I am unconvinced he can stick as a starter in the AL. Livan Hernandez started 23 games for this club before recently being placed on waivers and has a 5.83 era, and is Livan Hernandez. Nothing further needs to be said about that. Boof Bonser started 12 games for this club, and his era is 6.53. He has regressed significantly since his promising '06 debut.

And yet, despite this pounding I just took on virtually their entire staff, their starting pitching era is 4.56 and 9th in the AL. At least they aren't last. Bad, but not horrible. But, bad enough that they should not 1 game back in a divisional race.

Bullpen: Nathan is and has been for several years one of the best closers in the game. This year is no different (1.17 era) and he has been great for them. Dannys Reyes has a 2.73 era but has only thrown 30 innings this year and is their situational lefty, so they don't get TOO much out of his flashy era even though he is one of the best lefty specialists in the game. Jesse Crain has a 3.45 era. They have nobody else with a sub-4 era in their bullpen. As a result they are 10th in the AL in bullpen era. And if you take Nathan and his 46 ip of 1.17 ball, it looks much worse. So, very good closer, not a very good bullpen. And I reiterate..wtf.

Fielding: I mean, I'm grasping at straws here. No, they are not a good fielding team, in case you were wondering. 10th out of 15 in the AL. It was worth a shot to check, I guess.

SOOOooooooooooooo.... ok Twins. RISP. That's all you got, by my estimation. Slightly below league average pitching. Terrible power. Below league average bullpen. Below league average defense. 1 game back in the AL Central. I mean, I guess they are fun to root for? I don't know. Denard Span? REALLY? Nick Punto? STILL??? Writing this article is making me lose faith in the game of baseball. GMen preseason game 1 tomorrow night. Thank god.

Mockery follow up........

2008-08-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, follow up. Every owner was asked a few questions about their team and such things. Please forgive grammatical faulks, I didn't feel like editing everyone's emails. Enjoy.

Team Judy (Peter Bauman), 1st pick

Team: QB: Brady, RB: McGahee, T.Jones, Lenwhale Fat WR: Braylon, Roddy White, Crayton TE: Shockey, K/DEF: Bironas/Tennessee...key bench: Felix Jones, Ronald Curry, Chris Johnson, Aaron Rodgers

"I had first pick I had first pick, and because this is CBS format (all td's worth the same amount of pts)I took Brady, which I think is a no brainer. I'm not crazy about my RB's, but they are all solid, non-sexy picks that will get lots of carries and are pretty close to sure things to produce. My WR's are very solid, I think, with one elite, and two good players. At TE, I think Shockey has a good chance to finish in the top 3, so I like that pick. My depth is filled with sleeper WR's (Curry and Troy), a backup QB (Rodgers), and two first rounder RB's (Felix who has looked amazing in camp and LenFats handcuff, Chris Johnson).
1) my best picks were Braylon at 25th overall (JOKE), Felix at 97th, and Rodgers at 144th. In general, picks i liked that other teams made were Brees at 28th, which was a steal in CBS leagues. Also, I liked Earnest Graham 54th and Witten 55th a lot; those were steals.2) my least favorite pick was Lendale at 49th. I had to reach for him a little, but he was my favorite RB left, and I knew he would not be there after everyone else got to pick twice before my next one. I had several least favorite picks in general. MY LEAST FAVORITE BY FAR was Julius Jones at 26th...EWW! Eli at 27th was also bad but was at least a homer pick and not simply bad. Also, Plax 21st over Braylon and Crosby 102nd I think were bad.3) I think the three best all around teams are Doug's, Alon's, and Broadway Josh's (excluding mine :) )4) My least favorite teams I think are GIR (Julius Jones 26th is all you need to know) and Frankie's (no RB depth).5) chat room mvp was my penis"

Gir (Josh Birnbaum), 2nd pick

Team: QB: McNabb RB: LT, Julius Jones, Fred Taylor WR: TJ, DBowe, Derrick Mason TE: Cooley K/DEF Gould/Indy....key bench: Branch, Campbell, Ginn

"1. I'de have to give my favorite pick of the draft to JewmenTorah in Eli Manning. I'm clearly a Giants fan and only like this pick for sentimental value but its genius. I had the #2 pick overall and was thinking about taking Eli there but that would have just made too much of a mockery out of the mock draft.
2. My worst pick has to be given to myself for drafting Shaun Alexander who is unsigned. I didn't know he was jobless until after the pick bc fantasy football is not my foray. Some people may also say my pick of julius jones was awful and although most of the writers are more knowledgeable than I am, i still like Julius's potential for this year.
3. Best team in the league has to go to basket. Again, I dont know much, but I do know that Walsh is a fantasy legend. Take his word as if it came from God himself.
4. Worst team...idk. Maybe mine?
5. Chat room MVP is Sacajawea just because of this random line out of nowhere "UPDATE - Tom Hanks gets off the island." Love you chase.
6. Like I said, I dont know much about fantasy football and the last time I really knew my shit and played was probably like 6 years ago. That having said, I was also waiting for vagina to arrive at my doorstep and was very distracted because of it. If you want a piece of advice - do not model your team after mine. I am a retod."
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Osi JewmenTorah (Sam Morril), 3rd pick

Team: QB: Eli RB: AP, Jacobs, DeAngelo Williams WR: Boldin, Coles, Galloway TE: Gates K/DEF: Vinatieri/NYG....key bench: Vince Young, Darrell Jackson, Leon Washington

"1: Your best / favorite picks? All of them. I'm brilliant. I was listening to Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" to inspire my New York flavored team. Then I listened to "I Love You Just the Way You Are" because I can't stand the face I see in the mirror. Adrian Peterson maybe.
2: Your worst / gayest picks? I didn't have any gay picks. I'm not a gay friendly fantasy gm. In fact, I'm the Southern Baptist Convention of fantasy GM's...I'm not thrilled with Darrell Jackson. He just sounds like a trouble maker. I don't need that homo vegan bullshit in my locker room.3: Best teams in the league? I was really unimpressed by the rest of the drafters. Especially Alon. What is up with his name, "Neon Leon?" A joke about Leon Washington. Well, he's on my team, asshole. He was my last fucking pick. I manipulated you, Shapiro. I used you, and now, I don't even care if we're friends anymore. Fuck yourself. Your team's okay.4: Worst teams in the league? Peter Bauman's team is a joke. Oh, and Chase's team SUCKS. Nice starting tight end, Chase. Kellen Winslow. All I think of you is Urkel saying, "Hi-dee Ho, Winslow," then getting your ass kicked by Carl, you uppity white motherfucker. Chase, you don't even have a kicker. Dick. You sholud be 'kicking' yourself over that one....Tool.
5: Chat room MVP? Why? I wasn't really paying attention to the rest of the people in the chatroom because I was having video sex with this girl. That's right, guys. I was getting my dick wet on vchat. I only wrote things to you after I either busted a nut (twice), or she left the room. I had my dick in one hand, and I typed witty comments with the other (my left). I made that shit mine.6 (optional, eoheoheohe): during draft: music? / hammered? / anything else pertinent or funny? Funny? There's nothing funny about this. It's a way of life."

sacajawea dollars (Chase Bronfman), 4th pick

Team: QB: Brees RB: Parker, Kevin Smith, Mendenhall WR: Moss, Plax, Kevin Curtis TE: Kellen Winslow K/DEF: None/Baltimore...key bench: Heap, Betts, Reggie Williams

"1. Round 7- Kevin Curtis --Whitest and brightest sleeper in town
2. Round 3- Plaxico Burress-- Heart-based picks, never good.
3. Best team? Walsh...Crumpler + Engram = Graham Crumplers ..Always good.
4. Morril ...The one thing he uses his heart for in life is to pick his team.
5. Neon Leon...If you just tell yourself "neon leon" before you do anything you cant not be Fine.
6. Mr. Bandy has a grandson. Have you met his grandson William? William Bandy is one of the finest members we have at the Church of The Third Revelation. He's eager to come to Hollywood to be in movies. He is very good-looking. And I do think he will have success."

There Will Be Weesh (Oren Shapiro), 5th pick

Team: QB: Garrard RB: Westbrook, Ronnie Brown, Forte WR: Wayne, Welker, Bryant Johnson TE: Scheffler K/DEF: Nugent/Chicago....key bench: Rudi Johnson, Bulger, Reggie Brown, Devin Thomas, Favre

"1: Your best / favorite picks? I really liked my Wes Welker pick. Most teams in our league have a shitty 2nd WR, and with an elite #1 WR (Lil' Reggie Wayne) I think Welker will really be the glue to my squad.
2: Your worst picks? I jumped the gun a little bit on Chicago... I never have a solid defense so I decided to take a stab at getting an elite D before the Defense run started (I took them in Round 8). Looking pack I should of taking Mendenhall or Felix Jones and I could've gotten PIttsburgh in 12.
3: Best teams in the league? Karthik
4: Worst teams in the league? Bastard in a Basket
Chatroom mvp: Me, because everything I said was funny or I would just "Go" over and over. Tsunami hizigh, dinner came in round 2, slammed a blue crab, chile and cheese quesadilla from Agave, kept harfing, still harfing."

Doug's Team (Doug Hickey), 6th pick

Team: QB: Big Ben RB: SJax, Turner, Graham WR: TO, Chambers, Hackett TE: Owen Daniels K/DEF: Crosby/SD....key bench: Burleson, Stallworth, Kitna, Hester, LaMont

"My three favorite picks (in no particular order) are : Steven Jackson, Ben Roethlisberger, and Donte Stallworth. Jackson, although out for four games last year has shown that he can put up yards and touchdowns both rushing and receiving. Roethlisberger had the second highst QB rating last year and if he can come close to duplicating that season I'll be happy with him as the seventh QB taken in the draft. His top two receivers, Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes, return, Heath Miller is a solid tight end and Rashad Mendenhall and Limas Sweed should help make Pittsburgh better offensively than they were in 2007. Stallworth comes to the Browns as the number two wide out and Derek Anderson should be able to find him for plenty of yards and touchdowns. Stallworth was also taken in the twelfth round so he is a low risk, high reward pick as my fourth/fifth wide out. My worst pick was D.J. Hackett. He could provide good value if he can win the number two receiving spot, but I was rushed in picking him because I didn't realize it was my turn to pick until there were thirty seconds left and I had no one else in mind. The top three teams in the league are: Doug's Team, There will be weesh. and neon leon. The worst two teams in the league are: bastard in a basket and Gir."

Karthik (Karthik), 7th pick

Team: QB: Carson RB: Addai, MJD, Deuce WR: Fitzy, Hines, Santana TE: Witten DEF/K: Gostkowski/Pitt....key bench: Javon Walker, Delhomme, Kenny Watson, Jabar Gaffney

"1. best pick had to be earnest graham. look at the numbers some of the guys taken before him had and they fail in comparison; thomas jones, matt forte, fred taylor, lendale white, jonathan stewart. I'm biased being a jets and tulane fan, but jones and forte still dont belong on the draft board before graham. What a steal. also bret favre in the 14th. assuming hes the favre of old and will easily beat out aaron rodgers for the starting spot or get traded and be a starter thats another steal. 2. worst pick - im gonna say plexiglass with the 21st pick. only b/c the owner didnt take a rb until the 4th round.. with his 2nd pick overall I think he'd have been better off with a rb there especially since he took randy with the 4th pick overall in the 1st round. 3 - best team Dougs team. hes got a solid rb trio. 4 - worst team sacajawea dollars - weakest rb group. 5 - chat room mvp -alon - b/c hes a good kid."

bastard in a basket (Adam Walsh), 8th pick

Team: QB: Romo, RB: McFadden, Bush, Jonathan Stewart WR: Santonio, Marvin Harrison, Lee Evans TE: Crumpler K/DEF: Dawson/none-faulk defense.....key bench: Engram, Hardy, Bennett, Fargas, Ricky Williams, Leinart

"I love my team. I love that a bunch of others said I have the worst team. My favorite picks are all of them I owned. Reached a little for McFadden in the 2nd but I wanted him and everyone knew it so I had to. Love Bush and Stewart, love my RBs, love the youngins this year. Harrison fell into my lap late and could produce like a top 10 this season, Lee Evans also fell into my lap and could bounceback. Engram on my bench gives me WR security if one of them suck. Faulk TE, 3 wr 3 rb it is easier to absorb a bad TE. Worst picks Julius Jones, mockery. Herman took tight ends I've never heard of to fill his bench, which I cannot tell if it was genius or completely retarded. Graham pick was tremendous, Braylon pick by judith was great. lululu. Oren's team is good. Gir's team is bad. Peter dissapointed me, but his team is still ok. Besides my own team, Alon's is by far and away my favorite. I was completely shithoused by the end of the draft and passed out for 3 hours afterwards. A glorious Sunday indeed."

neon leon (Alon Shapiro), 9th pick

Team: QB: Derek Anderson RB: Gore, Grant, Edge WR: Steve Smith, Roy Williams, Cotchery TE: Tony G K/DEF: None/Dallas....key bench: Meachem, Torain, BJackson, Shaun McDonald, JaMarcus

"1: It's hard to not put Derek Anderson as my favorite and best pick. He could easily be a top QB this year with Cleveland's very high powered offense. I got him 7th round, 81st pick overall. Somebody's gotta get Kellen and Braylon the rock.
2: Round 11, 129th pick - Brandon Jackson. He was a disappointment on many teams last year and the only reason I took him is because I have Ryan Grant, who only recently got signed, and in the midst of his hold-out Brandon has been having a really sick training camp. He will probably be dropped at some point, but it's lame that I really have to take him b/c I have Grant.
3: Other then my own team I think that Schlong and Doug have the two best teams.
4: I think that the worst team's in the leagues are Chase's, Gir's and Walsh's (Herman Gir and Herman... Charles Gir and Gir... So many possible permutations... Sorry guys)
5: Sam Morril. You really gotta love his dedication to the Giants and NY sports in general... Eli, Coles, Jacobs, Leon, Giants D... Not to mention the usual amount of funny one liners.
6: I don't know. Walsh was controlling the music. Something that I wasn't too into (ooooo roommate rivalry). Either way I was mostly concentrating on the draft and my hands sweating... sure it wasn't a "REAL" draft but I don't want my dedicated readers to think my team sucks... do you think my team sucks? Great..."

the practice sunnys (Ronen Shapiro), 10th pick

Team: QB: Rivers RB: MBIII Larry Johnson Maroney WR: Brandon Marshall Greg Jennings Vincent Jackson TE: Dustin Keller K/DEF: Kaeding/NWE.....key bench: Berrian, Bradshaw, Issac Bruce

Ronen had serious problems getting into the draft room and a lot of his picks were auto'd so he will not be joining us here.

team win (Frankie Hermosilla), 11th pick

Team: QB: Hasselbeck RB: Portis Chester Taylor WR: Andre Johnson Chad Johnson Torry Holt Donald Driver TE: Heath Miller K/DEF: Graham/GB...key bench: Ahman Green, Shaub, Jerious Norwood, Toomer

"Alon was right about one thing in his write up. I am a legend. That being said, football is my third sport. I didn't have much time to prep for the mock due to penile exhaustion, so I did what any respectable sports fan did. I picked my guys. Sue me. Houston could surprise a lot of people this year. Their o-line is finally getting better. I think they'll at least finish above Tennessee. It just made me feel warm, guys. Better than scotch. Anyway, I think my quarterbacks are solid, especially for where I drafted them. I'd probably trade a wideout for a running back should we keep this league. My favorite pick overall has to Dustin Keller in the 10th, who I have personally dubbed "potentially the next Colston." I have to tell you, the more I play with Doug the more I love "Doug's team." He's a terrible drafter, and really a terrible human being too, but "Doug's team" perfectly captures the understated nature of our favorite silent killer. I've since changed my team name from "team win" to "Doug's team" despite the huge inconvenience to Doug, myself, and the rest of the league. What can I say, I'm a follower."

Broadway Josh (Josh Salon), 12th pick

Team: QB: Peyton RB: Lynch Jamal Lewis Selvin Young WR: Colston Calvin Johnson Anthony Gonzalez TE: Dallas Clark K/DEF: Folk/Minny...key bench: Cutler, Vernon Davis, Chris Brown, Warrick Dunn, Jerry Porter

"Best pick was Peyton at 12. He's a lock for 16 games and 35+ td's
Worst was Minnesota. I went for it too early and could have picked up someone just as good 1-2 rounds later.
My team fucken awesome. everyone else sucks
Ronen was silent. A+"

Bloodsports fantasy football mockery results

2008-08-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

Mockery went off with a moderate degree of success yesterday evening. Very varying levels of fantasy football knowledge was present by the participants, but it was a lot of fun regardless. So, here are the results of the draft! There will be a follow up post with standard set of questions to which I am hoping everyone will email them within the next day. So, that will be up asap. Oh yeah, and scoring was standard CBS Sportsline with 6 pts for passing/rushing/receiving tds, 1 pt per 10 receiving / rushing yards, 1 pt per 25 passing yards, and other than this everything else is standard. Also, it is 1 qb, 3 wr, 2 rb, 1 te, 1 rb/wr, 1 k, and 1 def.

Round one:
1. Tom Brady (Team Judy: Peter Bauman)
2. LaDanian Tomlinson (Gir: Gir)
3. Adrian Peterson (Osi JewmenTorah: Sam Morril)
4. Randy Moss (sacajawea dollars: Chase Bronfman)
5. Brian Westbrook (There Will Be Weesh: Oren Shapiro)
6. Steven Jackson (Doug's Team: Doug Hickey)
7. Joseph Addai (Karthik: Karthik)
8. Tony Romo (bastard in a basket: Walsh)
9. Frank Gore (neon leon: Alon Shapiro)
10. Marion Barber (the practice sunnys: Ronen Shapiro)
11. Clinton Portis (team win: Frankie Hermosilla)
12. Peyton Manning (Broadway Josh: Josh Salon)

Round two:
13. Marshawn Lynch (Schlong)
14. Andre Johnson (Frankie)
15. Larry Johnson (Ronen)
16. Ryan Grant (Alon)
17. Darren McFadden (Walsh)
18. Maurice Jones-Drew (Karthik)
19. Terrell Owens (Doug)
20. Reggie Wayne (Oren)
21. Plaxico Burress (Herman)
22. Brandon Jacobs (Morril)
23. TJ Housh (Gir)
24. Willis McGahee (Peter)
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Round three:
25. Braylon Edwards (Peter)
26. Julius Jones (Gir)
27. Eli Manning (Morril)
28. Drew Brees (Herman)
29. Ronnie Brown (Oren)
30. Michael Turner (Doug)
31. Larry Fitzgerald (Karthik)
32. Reggie Bush (Walsh)
33. Steve Smith (Alon)
34. Laurence Maroney (Ronen)
35. Torry Holt (Frankie)
36. Marques Colston (Schlong)

Round four:
37. Jamal Lewis (Schlong)
38. Chad Johnson (Frankie)
39. Brandon Marshall (Ronen)
40. Edgerrin James (Alon)
41. Jonathan Stewart (Walsh)
42. Carson Palmer (Karthik)
43. Ben Roethlisburger (Doug)
44. Wes Welker (Oren)
45. Willie Parker (Herman)
46. Antonio Gates (Morril)
47. Donovan McNabb (Gir)
48. Thomas Jones (Peter)

Round five:
49. LenDale White (Peter)
50. Fred Taylor (Gir)
51. Anquan Boldin (Morril)
52. Kellen Winslow (Herman)
53. Matt Forte (Oren)
54. Earnest Graham (Doug)
55. Jason Witten (Karthik)
56. Santonio Holmes (Walsh)
57. Roy Williams (Alon)
58. Greg Jennings (Ronen)
59. Matt Hasselbeck (Frankie)
60. Calvin Johnson (Schlong)

Round six:
61. Dallas Clark (Schlong)
62. Chester Taylor (Frankie)
63. Vincent Jackson (Ronen)
64. Tony Gonzalez (Alon)
65. Marvin Harrison (Walsh)
66. Deuce McAllister (Karthik)
67. San Diego (Doug)
68. Rudi Johnson (Oren)
69. Kevin Smith (Herman)
70. Laveranues Coles (Morril)
71. Dwayne Bowe (Gir)
72. Roddy White (Peter)

Round seven:
73. Jeremy Shockey (Peter)
74. Chris Cooley (Gir)
75. Joey Galloway (Morril)
76. Kevin Curtis (Herman)
77. David Garrard (Oren)
78. Chris Chambers (Doug)
79. Hines Ward (Karthik)
80. Lee Evans (Walsh)
81. Derek Anderson (Alon)
82. Bernard Berrian (Ronen)
83. Donald Driver (Frankie)
84. Selvin Young (Schlong)

Round eight:
85. Minnesota (Schlong)
86. Ahman Green (Frankie)
87. Philip Rivers (Ronen)
88. Jerricho Cotchery (Alon)
89. Bobby Engram (Walsh)
90. Santana Moss (Karthik)
91. D.J. Hackett (Doug)
92. Chicago (Oren)
93. Rashard Mendenhall (Herman)
94. DeAngelo Williams (Morril)
95. Derrick Mason (Gir)
96. Patrick Crayton (Peter)

Round nine:
97. Felix Jones (Peter)
98. Ted Ginn Jr. (Gir)
99. New York Giants (Morril)
100. Todd Heap (Herman)
101. Marc Bulger (Oren)
102. Mason Crosby (Doug)
103. Javon Walker (Karthik)
104. James Hardy (Walsh)
105. Robert Meachem (Alon)
106. Ahmad Bradshaw (Ronen)
107. Shayne Graham (Frankie)
108. Jay Cutler (Schlong)

Round ten:
109. Anthony Gonzalez (Schlong)
110. Jerious Norwood (Frankie)
111. Dustin Keller (Ronen)
112. Ryan Torain (Alon)
113. Drew Bennett (Walsh)
114. Jake Delhomme (Karthik)
115. Owen Daniels (Doug)
116. Bryant Johnson (Oren)
117. Ladell Betts (Herman)
118. Adam Vinatieri (Morril)
119. Deion Branch (Gir)
120. Ronald Curry (Peter)

Round eleven:
121. Chris Johnson (Peter)
122. Jason Campbell (Gir)
123. Jacksonville (Morril)
124. Baltimore (Herman)
125. Reggie Brown (Oren)
126. Nate Burleson (Doug)
127. Kenny Watson (Karthik)
128. Justin Fargas (Walsh)
129. Brandon Jackson (Alon)
130. New England (Ronen)
131. Heath Miller (Frankie)
132. Nick Folk (Schlong)

Round twelve:
133. Vernon Davis (Schlong)
134. Matt Schaub (Frankie)
135. Nate Kaeding (Ronen)
136. Dallas (Alon)
137. Alge Crumpler (Walsh)
138. Pittsburgh (Karthik)
139. Donte' Stallworth (Doug)
140. Ton Scheffler (Oren)
141. Keith Zinger (Herman)
142. Vince Young (Morril)
143. Indianapolis (Gir)
144. Aaron Rodgers (Peter)

Round thirteen:
145. Tennessee (Peter)
146. Shaun Alexander (Gir)
147. Darrell Jackson (Morril)
148. Zac Herold (Herman)
149. Devin Thomas (Oren)
150. Devin Hester (Doug)
151. Seattle (Karthik)
152. Ricky Williams (Walsh)
153. Shaun McDonald (Alon)
154. Benjamin Watson (Ronen)
155. Amani Toomer (Frankie)
156. Warrick Dunn (Schlong)

Round fourteen:
157. Jerry Porter (Schlong)
158. Green Bay (Frankie)
159. Isaac Bruce (Ronen)
160. Chad Pennington (Alon)
161. Matt Leinart (Walsh)
162. Stephen Gostkowski (Karthik)
163. Jon Kitna (Doug)
164. Brett Favre (Oren)
165. Matthew Sherry (Herman)
166. Neil Rackers (Morril)
167. Cedric Benson (Gir)
168. Troy Williamson (Peter)

Round fifteen:
169. Rob Bironas (Peter)
170. Robbie Gould (Gir)
171. Leon Washington (Morril)
172. Reggie Williams (Herman)
173. Mike Nugent (Oren)
174. LaMont Jordan (Doug)
175. Jabar Gaffney (Karthik)
176. Phil Dawson (Walsh)
177. JaMarcus Russell (Alon)
178. Josh Scobee (Ronen)
179. Houston (Frankie)
180. Chris Brown (Schlong)

Fantasy Football Mock Draft Time!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

There Will Be Sports is hosting a mock draft today (kind of right now) and then we will ask each participant a couple of draft related questions to get people's opinions on how it went.

Writer's Convention is the league name. Here are the members in draft order:

1. Team Judy - No this isn't a girl. Team Judy is actually Peter, a writer for this very blog! I don't really need to go into detail here b/c if you've ready any of Peter's posts then you know that he is eager for the football season to begin and all he thinks about is the Dallas Cowboys.

2. Gir - Gir (Josh) is the only TWBS writer that I have never met in person however through stories and brief phone conversations (eoh) I feel like I've known him for years. How gay does that sound? Word. Gir is good.

3. OsiJewmenTorah - Meet Sam Morril! Future successful comedian. Huge Giants, Yankees and Knicks fan. Extremely biased and extremely funny.

4. Sacajawea Dollars - Chase is also a writer for the blog. He sometimes goes by Herman or Charles. He can frequently be seen laughing hysterically about anything with "OsiJewmenTorah" in NYC. Former sports gambling guru.

5. There Will Be Weesh - This is Oren, one my older brothers. He's a large part of the reason I got into sports at all. He's funny and has been doing fantasy since I was prepubescent.

6. Doug's Team - Doug's team name in every fantasy league ever has been Doug's Team. One of his nicknames is the silent killer and he is a genius.

7. Karthik - Clever team name for a guy named Karthik. He's a big-time Jets, Mets and Knicks fan and also a regular fantasy player. Sleeper candidate for a really good draft right hurr.

8. Bastard In A Basket - More There Will Be Blood references!?!? Yes, this is Walsh, a.k.a. boss. Far and away the leading "poster" on the blog. TWBB is his favorite movie and he will attempt to drink from every body's milkshake in this draft.

9. Neon Leon - This is me. I'm usually among the leaders in fantasy regular seasons and often times choke in the playoffs. Damnit. Let's go Jets...

10.The Practice Sunnys - This is my other brother, the oldest of the trio. He is obsessed with football and has already shown signs of struggling to differentiate facing off week to week in fantasy versus tackling people in real life. His football name is Night Train.

11.Team Win - Frankie Francisco Hermosilla. What a legend. Houston Native Frankie is undoubtedly nervous about this mock draft which only means one thing... he might just be the most prepared drafter of all of us. Look out for this sneaky Guatemalan.

12.Broadway Josh - Well the name is a dead giveaway of the team of choice. This is Josh who is more commonly known as Schlong. He sweats more than anyone on the planet and has been Oren's best friend for at least 15 years.

Draft post and answers to questions will be up shortly!!

I hope heaven is a lot like Oxnard

2008-07-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Sports, for all intents and purposes, are played on flat TV screens by slightly more life-like Madden players, two-dimensionally gliding around and causing you to cheer for seemingly absurd reasons like when one 2-D thing happens to cross a line while carrying a big brown egg. When you watch sports on TV, you are watching a tape-delayed representation of reality where tiny red, green, and blue light particles depict images of players no more real to fans than the girls they pretend to do things to on their computer screens. It’s a dehumanizing experience in which players disappear and reappear with the comings and goings of commercials so frequently that they might as well not really exist.

Sure, a possible solution to this fan-player disconnect is to attend the games in person where at least it’s live, and one can see the actual players themselves; however, a whole new set of restrictions prohibit the fan from connecting with these players on a more human level. First of all, the larger the crowd size, the larger the disconnect, as the players are increasingly put on a higher and higher pedestal with each additional awestruck fanatic blankly gaping at them. Secondly, the access to players is still inhibited by enough physical barriers (walls, security guards, fences, nets, etc) to prevent all but the exceptionally lucky fan to do anything more than get Donald Driver’s sweaty ballsack rubbed on his face, while he repeatedly slaps his ass during a Lambeau Leap.

While witnessing a live game is clearly better than watching on TV, it still does not allow for one to connect on a human level with the actual people that the average fan sees as merely a walking fantasy football commodity or statistic for their benefit. It is not until you see your favorite players, literally feet from you, interacting with you in an intimate setting, high-fiving you, doing the things that you’ve seen them do hundreds of times on TV before but never quite like this. You realize that they are actually human beings too and that they aren’t just glorified video game characters, an understanding that finally allows for fans and players to connect. Where does this magical fantasy land exist other than in strip clubs across the country you ask? At NFL training camps my friends, where dreams come true, the water tastes like wine, the women are cheap and easy, and your favorite players just look and act like larger, more talented versions of your friends.
More...

I had the sublime fortune of attending Dallas Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, CA, for a day this past weekend and feel like I saw the team that I’ve been rooting for religiously since I was a child in a completely different light. Seeing a team like this (especially from only a few feet away) is like seeing them without a front, without a guise, and in their natural habitat, the difference between seeing drugged up lions in a zoo and wild ones on safari. You come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the nature of the team itself. You come to see who the different characters are on a team are, who the leaders are, who the jokesters are, and how they all interact to from a team.

For instance, I had heard before that Tank Johnson was a popular teammate on the Bears and one of their team leaders, despite the fact that he was often reserved and quiet as a new member of the Cowboys last year. This year he is more comfortable with the team and more comfortable with his place on the team, and it shows. He was the leader of the second team defense when he was on the field, yelling for everyone to huddle back up after plays, waiving his arms to pump/work up the crowd, and also showing his amicability, as he would talk to fans before warm ups and even offer insights into his personal life (he was telling people that he had sodium deficiency before warm-ups). In the matter of a few hours I had a new favorite player (ok not favorite but one of them) and learned a lot about someone that most people probably view negatively because of his off the field issues. This instance also offered an insight into the team, as well, as I now understand why the coaches are so interested in moving starting NT Jay Ratliff to DE so that Tank can be on the field more often.

Another one of my favorite things about training camp was getting to meet players who might not make the 53 man roster, like undrafted free agent rookie WR Danny Amendola from Texas Tech, and seeing how hard they work. These are the players who are fighting tooth and nail every play, every rep to get noticed and to be part of the team. They arrive at the practice field early, well before stretching starts, and they stay late, working on routes with other free agent receivers and quarterbacks. You cannot help but root for these guys, especially when you can see their talent and can imagine what they can contribute to your team. Amendola has drawn comparisons to Wes Welker since college (both from Texas Tech), as he stands at only around 5-10 but is one of the fastest and quickest players on the field. He’s in a position battle right now for the 4th-5th receiver spot with Miles Austin and Isaiah Stanback behind T.O., Patrick Crayton, and Sam Hurd. It’s fascinating to see, first hand, the type of work that these guys put in, and it makes you realize why you’re such a fan of sports to being with.

The speed, size, and strength of these players is also something that you cannot possibly appreciate to its full extent without seeing these behemoths live and up-close. The day of practice I saw, T.O. (at some points only inches from me) was wearing spandex pants and actually looked like an exaggerated comic book superhero. Seeing him from a few feet away, effortlessly catch balls and quickly running routes really made me appreciate the speed and quickness of the game. Because of his adept interaction with us fans, I also have a much greater appreciation for him as a person, as I (for obvious reasons) had always been reluctant to become completely sold on him in the past. He always had a big smile and a wink whenever he’d look over, which was often, and he even came over at one point during practice and gave a bunch of people high fives. Other players who you couldn’t help but be impressed by were the o-linemen and their ridiculous size.The Cowboys happen to have a particularly large o-line and seeing them waddle around was insane; these humans were clearly born to squat down and prevent other large humans from getting past them, Flozell Adams, Leonard Davis (big as a horse?), and Marc Colombo especially. You simply cannot fathom how large these monsters are, regardless how many times John Madden talks about them while circling their asses.

Finally, my favorite part about training camp was the feeling of excitement and anticipation that you get from seeing your team and all of their fancy new additions. Every team has reason to be hopeful in the NFL during the off-season (yes, even you Miami and Atlanta), and there is no better representation of this than at training camp when everyone (rookies, vets, coaches, media, fans) is coming together for the first time of the new season. This is the first time that anyone can see how amazing Adam Jones looks with a star on his helmet, how quick Felix Jones’s burst is after he gets through a hole, and how Zach Thomas REALLY is in every play on the defensive side of the ball. At training camp the new season is close enough that you can taste it, yet watching it develop from the beginning offers a much more rewarding satisfaction when it finally does come, the difference between helping to make a great meal while afterwards taking part in its enjoyment and wolfing down fast food.

I’m not saying that I’m suddenly a different or changed football or Cowboys fan after this one day experience, but it certainly opened my eyes to a different element of why I enjoy sports so much and what it is to root for an actual team and not just a bunch of faceless, statistics with numbers on their jerseys.

Gang Green - Offense

2008-07-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

The New York Jets had no offense whatsoever last year. It honestly seemed as though nothing clicked for any sort of substantial period of time at any point during the season, and it seemed that way simply because nothing clicked for any sort of substantial period of time at any point during the 2007 season. Dang it! Let's take it apart piece by piece and see what we can expect in this rapidly approaching '08 season.

First, unfortunately I need to talk for a second about therewillbesports favorite: Brett Favre! Sorry Gir and others... I do not think that the Jets will get Favre. I really don't. Do I hope for it? Yeah, I think right away people would be talking about us as potential contenders if we got Brett, but I really, really don't think it'll happen. That said, if it does happen then all of this post is pretty worthless. If the most important single position in all of sports is to be taken over by one of the best all-time at that single position then of course that would change EVERYTHING. I'm going in to this post assuming that we will not get Favre, as I see it being extremely unlikely, so let's see what we can do without him no matter how good he looks in green...

Secondly, f*** 2007. How long can I harp on how bad our offense was last year? I'm sick of it. Here are some numbers for you Jets haters to feast on and then I'm done talking about last years' terribleness. 26th in yards per game, 26th in time of possession, 20th in turnover differential, 25th in passing ypg, 26th in passing touchdowns, 28th in sacks allowed, 19th in rushing ypg, 30th in rushing touchdowns and most importantly, 25th in points per game... Let's get positive ladies and gents...
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O-Line

Ooooooooookay O-line. So Jets fans, get prepared for a new season and lets thank our management for going insane. Last year we found glaring holes at right tackle and left guard, but this year there are no holes. That's right. None. Not the best o-line in the league but no holes. Most teams cannot say that.

From left to right you start with D'Brickashaw Ferguson (one of two first round picks in 2006). He is coming into his third year. His rookie year he was extremely awesome, for a rookie, but last year he hardly improved and that was a little bit of a disappointment. The good thing about all that jazz is that D'Bricks knows that he was disappointing last season. He spent all of the off-season getting harder, better, faster, stronger (no... really). He put on some serious muscle and all reports coming from training camp have said that he is noticeably much stronger and looking phenomenal. Yes!

At left guard you find our biggest off-season acquisition, from the Steelers: Alan Faneca (I believe they like to run the ball in Pittsburgh). He is a seven time pro-bowler and is a big time leader on and off the field not to mention he is replacing the dreadful Adrien Clarke. There is no doubt that Faneca will spend a lot of time with the younger Jets helping them grow. He is already making a noticeable difference this training camp, helping the line with communication which is an essential part of a working o-line. With hundreds of different possible looks a defense can give you, you gotta be talking. As for helping out with pass protection and the running game? Well he is a monster and he is going to be huge for us in both aspects of the game. I cannot wait and I'm sure that I'm not the only one.

Our center is Nick Mangold (our other first round pick in 2006). Nick is amazing. He has been getting better and better game by game. It is so exciting to have him, Faneca and D'Brickashaw owning the left side of the line for several more years. Having a strong o-line is absolutely paramount to offensive success and a great center like Mangold is essential to any line.

At right guard we will be featuring our pleasant surprise of last year, Brandon Moore. Moore was stationed at right guard last season and was very good. He will continue to be good there and have good chemistry with the rest of the line like last year. Moore really emerged as a leader last season in the locker room for the younger guys and that makes him more valuable then just a good guard.

At right tackle last year we had Anthony Clement and he was worse than bad. He constantly got beat by opposing teams' ends and he really hurt both our passing and running games. There isn't really anything good to say about Clement at all. Well, peace Tony, and now enter Damien Woody. Woody has played every position on the offensive line in his career except left tackle which you have to like in terms of versatility. He has a lot of experience all over the place and will be a big, big improvement over Clement. I doubt you'll see Woody in Hawaii after this season but he is a very solid and capable player on what will be a good, potentially great, o-line which means he is good enough. Last year the line was a big weakness and now it is a strength.

Backs (full ones and half ones!)

The potency for a dominant rushing attack doesn't stop with the o-line. Here comes yet another new guy in the green and white: Tony Richardson. If you do not know who Tony Richardson is then you A. don't play Madden and B. underrate the full-back position. Who is T.R.? Here is an excerpt from a fan-house article I was reading not too long ago:

"If you don't know who that is, let me help you a bit... he's the dude who has cleared holes for fantasy beasts Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson. You don't need me to tell you three of those four have been elite fantasy players. Find each runner's best fantasy season and Richardson was leading the way."

Yes, the except is referring to fantasy, but what he means by monster fantasy seasons is tons of yards and tons of touchdowns. Well, that just so happens to correlate perfectly with running back monsters in real life. Seeeee! Sometimes fantasy can be a good indicator of real life success!

Our #1 half-back and the guy that will definitely finish the year with the most carries on the team is Thomas Jones. Sir Jones is coming off of the worst year of his career where he averaged only 3.6 yards per carry and finished with only ONE rushing TD. Ugh... It was tough to watch, but I'm confident in Thomas this year. He is still capable of being a very good back. He finished last season with 1119 yards ranking him 10th in the NFL! I'll take that for my back's worst career year. Thomas will find this upcoming season much easier and much more fun as he looks up to find glaring holes provided by our o-line / Richardson and finally opportunities to lower his monstrous shoulder to lay out opposing secondaries. Mow the lawn Thomas.

The next three backs on the list are Leon Washington, Jesse Chatman and Musa Smith. Leon is sick. In only 71 carries last year he averaged 5.0 yards per carry and he also caught 36 passes for 213 yards. The only problem in Leon's game is that he cannot single handedly break through tackles because he is a smaller guy who relies on very good speed and elite agility to deceive defenders. All of these features are on full display when Leon is returning kicks, where he finished last season tied for first for kick-off return TDs and fourth in average yards per return. He will find this new o-line a big help when seeking out holes and catching screen passes. Every time he touches the ball he is capable of scoring six so watch out for an awesome year full of highlights from Leon this year.

Jesse Chatman and Musa are career back-ups, but good ones. Chatman had the most carries of his career last year in Miami and finished with a solid 4.0 yards per carry. Musa Smith who has been apparently having an awesome training camp is known to be a great blocker, passing and running, and an above average pass catcher. Look for Musa to pickup some key first downs for us with his versatility and come in for blocking on passing downs to give the workhorses a rest.

Tight Ends

At this point it is really unknown what Chris Baker is trying to do. He is acting like a bitch and everyone is sick of it... just shut up Chris.

We moved up in this past draft in order to get Dustin Keller and I think he is going to be a stud. He is insanely athletic and the only complaint I've heard is that he may be a little small for a tight end at 6'4" and 240lbs, but some of the elite pass catching and game changing tight ends in the NFL are similar sizes (Cooley, D. Clark, Gates, Kellen). If size is his only "downside" well then fellow Jets fans, get prepared for something special. Keller has also been lining up some in the slot and in the #4 WR spot this training camp.

Bubba Franks and Chris Baker are both pretty average TEs and neither will be "featured" in the offense, but both of them are more than capable of helping the team in short third down conversions and in the red-zone.

Wide-outs

Laveranues Coles is coming into the season as the number one WR for us for good reason. Lavern has posted some awesome numbers in his career and is one of few Jets that can regularly beat defenders deep for six. That said, with age settling in Laveranues is no longer the go to guy for us. Helllllooooooooooo Jerricho Cotchery.

Jerricho had to put the receiving unit on his shoulders last year when Lavern went down and he blossomed in his second full season (15 games started, two of those injured) finishing with 82 catches and 1130 yards. In the last four games of the season Cotchery averaged 7 catches and 100 yards per game. Sweet. He does not have elite wide receiver speed or jumping ability but he has great strength, route running and hands to make-up for it. He can also take a hit as Jets fans frequently see Jerricho crossing over the middle for 10-15 yard gains and first downs.

Our third and fourth WRs last year were both bad. Brad Smith who is a converted QB seemed to drop as many passes as anyone I can remember and Justin McCareins was actually single handedly involved in us losing two games last season. Ugh. Well, Justin is now gone and Brad is fighting for his spot.

There have been a lot of names mentioned so far in training camp as guys that may emerge to be our third wide out, but the guy that I like the best is Chansi Stuckey. Stuckey exploded onto the scene with an amazing training camp before last season and then hurt his foot and was out for the season. Coach Mangini and others have talked extensively about Chansi this training camp because he has excelled every one's expectations. He is known for superb hands and serious YAC potential which is pretty ideal for a slot receiver.

Wallace Wright is another guy to take note of. He has been having a great training camp thus far for us. But who is going to be throwing all of these guys the rock? Who will be playing, like I said before, the most important single position in all of sports? It's easy: Chad Pennington.

Chad

I wonder what percentage of people reading this hate Chad Pennington and/or think he sucks. If I had to guess... 98%? Whatever. I really couldn't care less and nor could Chad. He has gotten over trying to be someone he is not on the football field. He will gladly go back to being the most accurate QB of all-time (check the numbers punk). People constantly harp on the fact that he lacks elite Jamarcus Russell or Brett Favre superman arm strength even though he is more successful then most QBs in the NFL. In 2002 he led the Jets from a 1-4 record when he took over to a 9-7 record which was good enough to win the AFC East division. In 2004 we came two Doug Brien field goals away (f****** idiot missed both obviously) from making the AFC championship. In 2006 Chad won the NFL comeback player of the year award leading us to the playoffs despite two shoulder surgeries. Chad is at his best when the play-action is part of the offense and we should see a lot of that this season with a much improved rushing attack. He has play-makers around him and I can't wait for him to get criticized all season despite success... as usual. Do it Chad. Lets go Jets.

Mets bullpen woes

2008-07-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

So the MLB trade deadline has come and gone and the Mets did a whole lot of nothing. I must preface this post by saying that I desperately wanted Minaya to bolster the bullpen, and was hoping that he would prioritize that over adding a corner outfielder. Corner outfield can be addressed through waivers, while it is rare that anything more than below average middle relievers become available. That being said, I am extremely dissapointed that we were unable to make a move to improve our middle relief. I do have faith in Minaya as a shrewd and creative GM around the deadline and when he says nothing came up that made sense for us, I believe him. Regardless, I believe that BY FAR the most glaring problem with the Mets is that they have one reliable reliever (Wags) who only gets to pitch if other bad relievers (everyone else) don't implode.

I have been very, very happy with Jerry Manuel, as a whole. I think that the firing of Randolph, although done callously and without class, was absolutely necessary. Manuel gets gangster, handles the media phenomenally, and seems to have loosened up the clubhouse. However, I am starting to become infuriated with how he has been managing our bullpen. Granted, pretty much all of his options before the 9th inning suck, but I believe the way he has dealt with the bullpen has not improved the Mets chances to win games. The Mets, as a club, are not on the same level as the Cubs, Brewers, or Diamondbacks (and maybe LAD? Hello Mandong...Dodgers post coming soon). They are, however, on the same level as the Phillies and Marlins, and as such, I do believe the Mets can win the East. But in terms of a postseason run, I really think that this club will go only as far as their bullpen takes them.
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Pedro Feliciano: By far our best lefty reliever in both '06 and '07, this year has not been so kind to Feliciano. After eras of 2.09 and 3.09 in 06 and 07, respectively, Feliciano has an era of 4.03 with a startling 1.50 whip. His K:BB ratio is, however, right around where it was his previous two years, and its the increased hits he's giving up that has inflated his whip. The one thing that has been causing Feliciano so much trouble this season is getting out right handed hitters, something he had no difficulty doing his last two seasons. Righties are hitting .338 off of him this year even though his last two years they hit just .221 and .266. He is still doing a fine job against lefties, and given his peripherals and body of work, I wish the Mets would let him try and pitch through this. Instead, they have been limiting Feliciano as the situational lefty while giving Schoeneweis an expanded role. Schoeneweis has been pitching very well this season, but he has also been just as suseptiblet to righties as Feliciano. And he also has been overall a significantly worse left handed arm out of our pen when compared to Pedro. I still have faith in Feliciano, and I would love to see him get the nod over Schoeneweis to start some innings and spread around the work. Feliciano's era jumped from 2.80 to 4.20 after two horrible back to back outings on July 19 and 22. This entire month of July, in all of his appearences he has pitched a complete inning just one time. I don't understand why Manuel has stopped giving him work in innings that count as he has been for the past two years our most reliable reliever not named Wagner. Take away those two outings and youre looking at a sub-3 era from Feliciano. He has been pretty solid all year, but has unfortunately been given a diminished role coming out of the pen. Given the way things have been going lately, I hope Manuel starts giving him a greater role.

Aaron Heilman: I have been extremely critical of Heilman since his fist full season in the bullpen in 2006. I hate his demenor on the mound, I hate how he purses his lips together making his face look like a tightly puckered asshole, and I HATE how the way he shakes his arm and is constantly twitching while on the hill. He just always looks so uncomfortable out there. Aside from his mannerisms and face, I have also hated watching him blow lead after lead and prove to be completely incapable of taking control of 8th inning duties. Last season Heilman finished the season with a 3.03 era but his record was 7-7. With a 3.03 era, he should not have accrued 7 losses over the course of the season. And with Duaner lost for the season last year, every time Randolph sent out Heilman for the 8th to get to Wags, it was just a roller coaster. This year, he has a 4.60 era. Ugh. But, I really, really, really am starting to come around on him as of late. I have- for the first time ever, mind you -been upset when Heilman isn't used in close games in the 6th or 7th innings. There is one, and only one, reason why for this change of heart; his slider. Prior to this past month, he has been a strictly fastball-changeup pitcher. Both are exceptional pitches with tremendous movement, but if the hitter guesses right, we're looking at a ding dong ladies and gentleman. He has FINALLY added that third pitch to his arsenal, the slider, and has begun throwing it with confidence. It is allowing him to keep hitters off balance, even though it is by no means a plus pitch yet, it has good enough movement that if he makes a mistake with it, it will seldom end up in the bleachers. Now that he has added the slider, it makes his fastball and changeup, both plus pitches, sooo much more effective. While I by no means want to thrust him into the 8th inning role -he has collapsed far too many times in the past in that spot- I would like to see Manuel use him more to START the 6th or 7th innings. Heilman is best used to throw 1 complete inning at a time. He is not great at stranding runners as he is more apt to induce fly balls than grounders. Manuel needs to stop bringing Heilman in with men on as a situational righty and use him to pitch full innings.

Carlos Muniz: Muniz has been moving up and down from the minors to the bigs pretty much all season long. He has made an appearence for us in every month of the season, but July has been his first full month with the club. In 10 July innings pitched he has given up 5 earned runs. Manuel has been turning to him really only when our starter gets knocked out early. Even though Muniz has sucked a bit, he has showed flashes here and there. Despite pretty bad numbers, I am fine with Muniz for some reason. He can get that strikeout when he needs it, and could end up being a valuable middle reliever for us in a year or two as he continues to develop. But he undoubtedly has had his troubles settling in, and the more out of reach the game is (winning or losing) when he comes in, the better. He does typically pitch in low pressure situations and the only other guy we have that could fill his shoes in that role would probably be Claudio Vargas who has sucked horribly since being demoted to the minors. I think we are stuck with Muniz for the time being, and hopefully our starters will stop going 5 innings so we will see less of him. Or we can start bashing the shit out of opponents and blowing them out and see more of him, which would be fine too.

Duaner Sanchez: Sanchez needs to be our 8th inning set up guy. He is the only one in our bullpen that has a track record of being able to do it, and I hate the rotating, let matchups dictate who to bring in thing that Manuel has been doing in the 8th. Duaner had a 2.60 era in 2006 when he was setting up Wagner all season long, and even though he lost a couple ticks on his fastball velocity, we need desperately for him to be back in that role. He is not doing that bad this year, with a 3.8 era, and he is definitely the most capable and undoubtedly the most logical choice of everyone in the bullpen to throw the 8th. Willlie Randolph did the same thing with 8th inning duties earlier in the season as Manuel is now. He did not hand over the primary set up role to anyone in particular, and it drove me mad. I am a huge proponent of defining bullpen roles, in general. I think having that stability is tremendous and when guys come to the park knowing what they will be asked to do gives them an increased ability to perform. If we are up 2 runs in the middle of the 7th, I want Duaner to get up and start getting ready for the 8th. I don't want him to wait and see if the bullpen coach looks to him when the phone rings in that spot, I just want him to get up and start stretching. LETS GO DUANER. He has the mental toughness to go out there in big spots and get outs, and I think that if Manuel and management put their faith in him and said: "Duaner, when we're in a tight ballgame, you're gonna be the guy who will hand that lead over to Billy" I think he would respond in kind. Let him pitch through things, and let him throw the 8th. It's not like we have anyone else who can do it anyway.

Scott Schoeneweis: Schoeneweis has surprisingly been good for us this year. But, as far as I'm concerned, he still sucks. All he is good for is getting lefties out, period. His career era as a reliever hovers right around 5. FIVE. His era this year has been slowly creeping up as it sits at 3.02 as entering August. Even though he has been pitching a bit better than Feliciano, he has proven throughout his career as a reliever that he is strictly a situational lefty. He has never shown that he has the ability to get righties out, and such a matchup should be avoided at all costs. I am still completely on edge when he is called on to get us out of a tough spot or pitch a big inning. And yet, this year, we see Feliciano relegated to situational duties and Schoeneweis getting full innings of work. While yes, Schoeneweis has been a better than Feliciano to date, I simply do not understand why Manuel has more faith in him than Feliciano as the go to lefty out of our pen. Schoeneweis' era hovered between 5 and 6 last season. Every game I went to last year, when he came in, I could hear the collective groans throughout Shea. While he has been better this year, I still think he is best suited to come out only to face lefties. Righties are still hitting .324 against him, and while Feliciano is not getting righties out with any more regularity, he has -unlike SS - shown that he can do it. The more complete innings given to Schoeneweis the more righties he will face, and it is only a matter of time until his era goes back to where it has been his whole career: 5.00.

Joe Smith: It has been painful watching Joe Smith pitch lately as he has given up runs in each of his last three outings. Again, I feel like Manuel is really misusing Smith. Unlike Sanchez and Heilman, he is a ground ball pitcher who throws with heavy sink. He is far less adept to throw full innings and he is far, far better than the other right handed options we have at stranding runners, again, due to his ground ball tendencies. Righties are hitting just .210 against him and he has shown throughout his career to be extremely tough on them. He is, like Schoeneweis, best used as a situational arm out of the pen. However, Manuel continues to start 6th and 7th innings with Smith. Manuel is just not playing to the strengths of these relievers and keeps putting them in scenarios that will exploit their weaknesses. While our middle relief is littered with problems, I feel like Manuel has been making things far worse.

Billy Wagner: Wagner owns.

Ok, well that is our pen. One more thing, I do not understand why we have yet to give Eddie Kunz a shot. Why not? Our bullpen has been utter crap, maybe we catch some type of Joba in a bottle or something, and Kunz will come up striking out everyone in sight. Unless we are really looking at him as our closer of the future and want to keep him in the minors so as not to mess him up, I don't see why we don't give him a shot. We are in a tight race in the East and he could prove to be a huge, huge addition to our pen. He has a 2.87 era while striking out nearly a batter per frame in AA. It may very well be that he is not ready, and that would be fine, but I would like to at least see some outside the box thinking in terms of trying to fix our pen. Or at least some type of Kunz needs more seasoning proclamation from the powers that be, or something, ANYTHING.

So in summary, Manager Walsh would: switch the roles of Schoenweis and Feliciano, switch the roles of Smith and Heilman, go back to throwing Duaner exclusively in the 8th, and call up Kunz, maybe. Hopefully our bullpen will get back on track, it's looking like it's 50/50 at this point, so we'll see.

...and as always, Lets Go Mets.....

Rockets add Artest

2008-07-30T12:06:00.001-07:00

The Houston Rockets made a tremendous move today acquiring RonRon for their 2008 first round pick Donte Green, Bobby Jackson, and 2009 first round pick. The Rockets' 2009 pick will be in the 20-30 range so the price here to add the never overrated headcase but constantly underrated stud was quite good. The Kings did wonderfully for themselves with this deal too, as they added a high upside guy in Green, fan favorite Bobby Jackson returns, and an additional 1st round draft choice. They are in rebuilding mode and they got a very good return on Artest who has been nothing more than a continuous migrane headache bordering on epileptic fit for their management and fanbase to deal with. This trade instantly vaults the Rockets into the conversation for title contention (but like, this time, for real).

However, their title aspirations will continue to ride on the balky knees/ankles/lower body of Yao, and also, the walking injury that is Tracy McGrady. So, assuming health from their two studs, the addition of Artest makes this team a serious powerhouse in the west.
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Ron Artest: Artest is famous for being absolutely insane, and people unfortunately talk more about his off court (er, in the stands) troubles and general lunacy than his game. He is often a malcontent but he has never been on a team as good as the Rockets in his 9 NBA seasons and it is likely that this will be the first year in a long while where RonRon will shut up and play. As far as his game is concerned, there is really nothing not to like about Artest's game. He is one of the best all around players in the NBA. He can board and dime, provides shut down defense, consistently averages 2+ steals a game, and puts up about 17-20 points per. What makes Artest such a special player is that combined with his ability to be a shut down defender, his offensive game is incredibly polished AND he does not need to dominate the ball to get his points. He can run the break, finish around the rim, has a good post up game, a good mid-range game, and the ability to knock down a three and stretch the floor out. He reminds me so much of a Scottie Pippen, but because everyone hates him, he never gets the praise he deserves. He will be an amazing fit with Houston and should finally get them out of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

The Rocketpants this year: I love the fact that this move was made before the season started giving Artest a full set of practices, ample time to learn the system, and the ability to start with game one of the season to develop gametime familiarity. The addition of Artest does give the Rockets a decision to make in terms of their starting lineup. Artest is a natural small forward at 6-7 and while he can shift out of position to power forward as he did with the Kings last season, he is really best utilized as a perimeter defender. It looks like Scola will start at the 4 alongside Yao at the 5 in the frontcourt. Now, with Artest and Battier both natural small forwards it will be tempting for Adelman to shift Tracy to play point and let Artest play out of position at shooting guard. Except for the lightning quck 2 guards in the NBA, Artest can guard-and shut down-mostly all of them. This would allow the Rockets to start their five best players. But, I am very mixed and have no real strong feelings, without seeing them play with Artest, whether it would be best letting TMac play point. TMac is not quick enough to play good defense at the 1, but is funneling little men into Yao necessarily a bad thing? I really am not in love with any point guard on this team. With Artest on board, the Rockets really just need a pass-first point guard who can manage the game and get them into their sets. The scoring will be largely on the shoulders of their big three, and rightfully so. I don't like any of the three point guards on this team -Alston, Brooks, and Francis- to fit in and play the point guard position effectively. Alston is clearly the best one, but he is shoot first and too turnover prone; I don't like him much given the rest of the roster construction. Maybe they will make another move. I think a Luke Ridnour type would be a perfect fit at point guard, but we'll see if they are content with what they've got. Ultimately, though, I think they bring Battier off the bench and actually start a point guard at point guard. This will be the one big decision facing Adelman going into this season. We'll see which direction he goes, but while this is a problem, it is hardly a bad one.

Adding Artest as a third option on the offensive end will be huge for this club. Last year, behind Yao and TMac, from game to game this team had no other reliable scorer, which they badly needed. Some nights it was Scola, others it was Rafer. Somtimes Head would show up, and towards the end of the year Landry. The consistency of having three big time offensive talents will provide a solid base of scoring causing whatever other contributions they get from the likes of Scola, Battier, Alston etc. as just that, contributions.

Also with Artest, they are now arguably the best defensive team in the entire league. They were 4th in the league in average opponents points per game last season and second in the West. Adding one of the premier defenders in the game makes an already great defensive team absolutely amazing.

Future: Artest's deal expires after this season. But, Artest spent his last three seasons with the Kings and so his Bird rights come over to Houston as well. So, if the Rockets are over the cap for next year (it looks like they will be, but only slightly), they will still be able to resign him. Depending on how good the Rockets look this year, it is very much within the realm of possibility that they do everything in their power to resign Artest. It is unlikely that they will crash and burn, Artest is a great player, and I have no doubts that he will make the Rockets markedly better. They similarly semi-mortgaged their future by trading their 2008 and 2009 first rounders away to get him. TMac is controlled through the 2009-2010 season and Yao through the 2010-2011 season; I would be shocked if the Rockets didn't find some way of retaining Artest after his contract expires. They correctly assessed that their window is now and the immediate future, and they acted accordingly. The Rockets have found their big 3.

I like Artest very, very much. I also like Artest to the Rockets very much. It is painfully clear to anyone that has watched basketball over the past few seasons that Yao + TMac alone cannot contend in the West. Hopefully, TMac can get a taste of the second round this year with the Tru Warrier on board. I think they have now seriously cemented themselves among the upper echelon of the Western Conference.

Angels get really, really good

2008-07-29T15:05:00.001-07:00

Every year around the deadline the Angels are rumored to do something of note but year in and year out they never do. This year, however, they finally make some noise as they just sent Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek to the Braves for Mark Teixera. This deal makes tons of sense for both sides and really gives the Angels a bat in the middle of their order to make them actually scary. The Braves get a young budding 1b who they can keep within the means of their financial situation and a potential closer of the future in Marek. Meanwhile, the Angels get an impact bat who is still just 28 years old with plenty of dongs left in his bat. The Braves still suck and are very annoying, but the Angels just got a WHOLE lot better and now can boast a very capable lineup to go with a studly pitching staff. Even though the Angels have the best record in baseball and 11.5 games up in the AL West, I love the fact that they addressed a glaring need. Their lineup situation was less than ideal and they did something about it. World series odds in Vegas will shift accordingly.
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Pitching: Coming into the season, the Angels had huuugeeeee question marks at starting pitcher. Ace John Lackey was scheduled to miss about 6 weeks with forearm soreness on his pitching arm. Sounds bad, but it wasn't really so and he has been owning since his return. Kelvim Escobar, who was amazing last year, was projected to miss the entire year. And he has, but his spot was filled with equal production. That left them without their 1 and 2 starters coming into the year and it looked like the Angels would not be an elite team in the AL this year. That turned out to be a joke and their staff has been coasting all year. Joe Saunders steps in and makes the all star team sporting a 3.10 era out of nowhere. Garland and Weaver are GREAT as 4th and 5th starters. Though inconsistent, each have the stuff capable of shutting down any lineup in the bigs, something that very few teams can boast of their back end. And then there is Big Erv who finally figured out how to pitch on the road and has a 3.57/1.15 this year. Lackey came back in mid-May and steps right back into the front of the rotation to be the guy on this team. He has a 3.02 era and has been a gemfest as he continues to prove that he is one of the best pitchers in the league. A front three of Lackey-Saunders-Erv is serious. Throw in Weaver/Garland at the 4 there and in a playoff series and they have starting pitching as good as anyone in the MLB. Their all righty middle relief has also been pretty decent in handing over their leads to K-Rod who leads the world in saves. Their staff is sick, but enough about this, that was already known fact. The one thing that has been plaguing the Angels is their lack of run production. Nobody doubted their pitching ability, but their lineup could really have used some more power. Enter Teixxexexeixiexixix.

The Lineup, before: OKaaayyyyy Angels. The Angels did not dong very much. With Kotchman at first, their infield had little to no power. Out of Figgins, Aybar/Izturis, and Kendrick none have even really 15 hr power. Kotchman does not have legitimate first base power yet, though he looks like he will bop about 20 out of the park this year. He had 11 dongs last year and 12 this year so far. His power is developing very well, but the Angels have a serious shot at winning this year and he is still not an impact middle of the order bat...yet. Vlad is still Vlad, sort of. His batting average has shown an alarming drop as he sits at .287 with a career average well above .300, but his hr and rbi (17, 54) totals are ok. His skill set is clearly declining but he is still a scary guy to face and the one true big bat in the lineup sans Teixera. Hunter, their big offseason acquisition, has been a hitting well for the Angels also and is the only other real power threat for them. He has 16 dingers batting .280 and has probably been right around where expectations are for him. Garret Anderson and Gary Matthews have 9 and 7 homers, respectively, and they neither are hitting for great average. Anderson no longer has the capability to bat 5th in a big rbi spot, which is where he has been hitting. Besides the 3-4 of Vlad and Hunter, there were really no other power threats; they rank in the bottom half of the American League in virtually all hitting categories. But, the addition of Teixera transforms their entire lineup into a powerhouse.

Teixera: Teix is 28. He is also in the last year of his contract. The Braves were not going to be able to resign him, but now that the Angels traded a valuable asset for him, you can bet that they will retain his services for the longterm. He will deserve every last dollar the new deal the Angels give him this off season. He is young enough and he is good enough to dong into his 30s. He is one of the best slugging first baseman in the game and he is a force in the middle of any lineup. He has 20 dongs and 78 rbis for the Braves and he will move back into the AL West where he should have no trouble whatsoever adjusting. He will provide a tremendous offensive boost for this club as they look towards the playoffs, since they have already clinched...

The lineup, after: Your 1b should not bat second. Kotchman was doing this. Kendrick needs to bat second in this lineup, instead of 6th or 7th or wherever he was before, and he now will. His skill set is as such with good batting average and good speed. Figgins will continue to lead off and these two give the Angels speed on the bases before their now 3 big sluggers come up. Vlad will probably continue to bat third and Teixera will slide in the cleanup spot. Protection is a worthless thing, when it comes to Vlad, because he swings at anything and doesn't need it. But sliding Hunter down to 5 will make this lineup soo much better. They now have serious rbi guys at the 3-4-5 positions in their lineup. Hunter, I believe, will benefit a great deal as he is now being relied upon a lot less batting 5th and I'm sure will feel a considerable amount of pressure taken off his shoulders. At this stage in his career, 5th is a great spot for him. Also sliding further down the lineup, Garret Anderson is a much better fit batting 6th. While his power is a bit lacking to be a 5 hitter, he can still deliver. Batting 6th is a great spot for him and he will still get plenty of rbi chances with such good bats in the meat of this order right in front of him. At the backend of the lineup they can stick in Izturis or Matthews or whatever they're fine. 7-8-9 eoh. They all kinda suck, but who cares, at least they are all pretty quick so if they do get on by accident they won't clog the base path when the top comes up again.

The Angels could not have addressed a need in a bigger or more significant way. They needed a big bat and they got just that. While I do believe Kotchman will develop into a very good first baseman, Teixera is already one of the best in the bigs. He gives them a 40 dong bat which they needed in the worst way. It is nice to see the Angels finally go after it and address a need as they are typically so painfully inactive right around the deadline. Always in contention but seemingly always one piece short of being a real contender, they finally made an aggressive move to give themselves a legitimateshot at advancing far in the post season. The Angels have just as good a shot as any team to come out of the AL with this addition, by my estimation.

YANKEES Part 1 of 2

2008-07-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

I know that most writers of this blog may avoid reading this post as much as they avoid watching "highlights" of Carlos Beltran in the 2006 NLCS, but I don't give a shit because I am the only writer who is a Yankees fan and must inform ignorant readers of their ensuing genius. Faulk the Metods ONE TIME and read an honest post about the Yankees season. Part I features a brief recap of the season, a pitching report and Girardi man love.
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Everyone knows that this has been an up and down season for the Yankees. They came into the year with pretty much the same roster as seasons past, except this time with a few young studs in the rotation and a new coaching staff. Before the All-Star break I was just as worried as the next fan about the Yankees playoff chances. They were basically a .500 team and playing well below their potential. Because the Yankees play in NY and are expected to reach the world series every year, this .500 mark was considered to be awful by every writer and analyst. However, this is just not the case. The roster has been decimated by injury with their 2nd best pitching prospect Phil Hughes, #1 starter Chen-Minkya Wang, Jorge Posada and Godzilla Matsui all missing significant time. If you remove two 100 RBI hitters, an ace and another great arm from any team I would expect to see sub-.500 record. BUT THEN when you consider that this team is playing in one of the two toughest divisions in baseball, with the first new manager in 11 seasons and a Steinbrenneurotic psycho owner, a 50-45 record at the break is VERY good. Let me also say that this Yankees team features a lineup full of veterans and hall-of-famers, even despite key injuries. These guys know what is expected of them and know their talent, which is why they tend to lose focus in the first half of the season. They know that they can put it into high gear and more importantly WILL go on a huge second-half run just like last year. Now let's get to the nitty gritty.

The Yankees rotation has been incredible this year. Mike Mussina shares the league lead in wins and has posted a 3.26 ERA thus far. I cannot give enough credit to Girardi and his coaching staff for completely overhauling Mussina's game to the point where he is this good. Although every fan knows that in no way, shape or form he is our #1 starter, the numbers tell a different story. Andy Pettitte has a 3.76 and 12 wins which is what we expected out of him coming into this year. He is another crafty veteran that is doing a great job and has the kind of breaking stuff to hold any major league lineup scoreless. Joba Chamberlian WOW. He has a 2.30 ERA and 93 Ks in 78.1 IP and some of the best stuff in the American League. He has gotten a lot of heat in New York for is fiery attitude and ultra-competitive nature but I absolutely love it. That is the type of spirit the Yankees will need in any tough, emotional playoff series. Sidney Ponson and Darrel Rasner are absolute jokes but somehow manage to keep the Yankees in the game everytime they take the hill. Ponson had won all 4 of his previous starts before the Red Saulks beat the living shit out of him. The Yankees will for sure acquire another pitcher to replace Ponson/Rasner and I am hoping that Girardi will put Dan Giese back into the rotation because he is far better than either one of those mockeries.

The Yankees bullpen has been untouchable as of late. Mariano Rivera is having arguably his best season ever with 26 saves in 26 chances, a 1.17 ERA, .67 WHIP and 56 Ks in 46.1 IP. He is the backbone of the entire pitching staff because of his undeniable ability to shut the door on opposing teams. The ONLY reason I would say that this is "arguably" his best season is because, like the other superstars on this team, he loses focus when the game is not on the line. In 6 games where the score has been tied and Mo makes an appearance, he has given up the go- ahead run in 4 of them. This should be of little concern though. Moving on, Kyle Farnsworth has fit in nicely as the setup man and, again, credit must be given to Joe Girardi for believing in his ability to pitch back-to-back days and be consistent, which is something that the Torre contingency refused to try. Although Farnsworth has been good, I can't say that I trust him in a playoff game against a Red Sox team that loves to hit fastballs. Jose Veras has also been solid with a 2.97 ERA and is Girardi's 7th inning guy. Edwar Ramirez has finally shown Yankees fans that he can be a consistent lights-out reliever. He posts a 2.39 ERA with a .96 WHIP and HASN'T GIVEN UP A HIT IN THE MONTH OF JULY. The only other man that I can rave about more than Edwar is The Admiral, David Robertson. This guy has been the second most impressive pitcher on the Yankees team outside of Joba. He has given up one hit in his last 10.1 IP and has pinpoint control. I think this guy should be the Yankees setup man and deserves a shot to pitch in big game situations. Although I just named 5 great relievers in the bullpen, I have failed to mention Damaso Marte, who the Yankees recently acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Yankees have been trying to get this guy for years because he is one of the premier left-handed relievers in the game. The Yankees have done a great job this year without one lefty in the bullpen, but desperately needed one come playoff time. Marte has NASTY stuff and will fit in great with what is right now maybe the best pen in baseball.

Before the season started I predicted another wild card spot for the Yankees in the ultra-competitive American League. My reasoning behind this was solely based on the fact that Joe Girardi would be our manager this year. Managing and regulating the bullpen was a HUGE problem in the Torre era and in my estimation has played a big part in past Yankee postseason disasters. Yes, some of these young Yankee relievers are one year older and wiser, but Girardi has done a great job keeping these guys fresh and is truly getting the most out of each and every guy. Even Mariano. He put this Yankee team in a much better position for a second half run than Torre did last year and already has the team poised to take over the lead in the wild card race by the end of August. Girardi finally took advantage of the Yankees flexible lineup and never seems to post the same lineup in consecutive days. This is also a big reason for the Yankees struggles earlier this season. In 11 years with Torre at the helm, there would be an extremely consistent everyday lineup and hitters knew where they would be placed. At first Girardi was very erratic with lineup, which the players weren't used to, but now there is more of a controlled chaos. As of late, it seems as though the 1-4 spots have been solidified and Cano has fit nicely in the 6 hole. More discussion on the lineup will come in part 2, but I needed to highlight how well Girardi has done maneuvering the lineup and really taking advantage of our deep bench. OK, I think this is enough for now. Stay tuned for a report on the team's hitters, a theory about why high priced teams seem to always disappoint and more Girardi love.

NYK, the rest of the worst, woohoowoohoo

2008-07-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

The rest of the players:

Jerome James: One of many horribly inflated contracts on our team, Isiah Thomas felt after Jerome James plays out of his mind in one playoff series for the Sonics a couple years ago that he deserves a monster multi-year deal. He will be making 6 mill this year with a player option for 6 mill next year, which he will obviously pickup. We have tried to get him to retire this off season which would give us a small bit of flexibility but it does not appear that he will. He has no trade value, and so we will not be able to get rid of him. He sucks very badly, and he will not see any significant minutes, if any at all, over the next two years. Thankfully, his contract expires before 2010, and we will have to sit tight and wait for that glorious moment.
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Jared Jeffries: Right on cue, another disastrous move by Thomas. He was for no good reason infatuated with Jeffries a couple years ago and gave him a huge contract to pry him away from the Wizards. Along with Curry and Randolph, he is the third one of our guys who will be grossly overpaid for the 2010-2011 season. He has two more years at 6 and 6.5 mill with a player option for the 2010 season at 6.8 which he will undoubtedly pickup. Knick fans have seen Jeffries play wayyy too many minutes over the past couple seasons as Thomas tried to eek out whatever value he could out of him, with no admirable results. He is simply horrible, worthless, and should die. Along with Curry and Randolph, Walsh will be trying desperately to give Jeffries away to anyone who will take on his contract. His deal will be just as tough to move as Curry's simply because he has absolutely no worth on the court. Curry can at least score and do some things, Jeffries is just an asshole. Pray to lucky stars he is not on this team in 2010 and Walsh can use like slight of hand or some type of trickery. Or hire an assassin.

David Lee: Lee is one of the toughest players to evaluate on our team. First of all, he is a fan favorite, so parting with him when there are so already so few likable players on the team will be a tough sell. We will be eligible to make him a qualifying offer next season at 2.6 million so we can lock him up for the '09 season, but we must make a decision before that in terms of what place, if any, he has on our team in the long term. His name has been popping up quite a bit this off season as he is without question our most valuable trading asset, but despite this, has yet to be moved. He has also made it abundantly known that he loves New York and he would love nothing more than to sign an extension with the Knicks, effectively putting the ball in Walsh's hands. However, is signing him to a long term and lucrative deal in the Knicks best interest? This year is absolutely tremendous for Lee in terms of his future with the Knicks. I believe that the only thing that will save him from being sent out of town is if his mid-range game, which he has reportedly been working on all off season, proves to make him a legitimate offensive threat this year. He is currently just a rebounder, albeit a very good one. He scores seemingly 100% of his buckets right around the basket on put backs or such things like this and really has no offensive game. A rebounder who happens to score 10-12 points by being active on the offensive end is not worth a big fat multi-year deal -one in which I envision Lee being able to find in the open market- in my opinion. However, if he is able to knock down a 14-17 footer consistently, then we are looking at a player who will see his 10ish ppg jump to 15ish ppg. Lee must show this type of increased ability on the offensive end in order for me to be happy with the Knicks offering him a lucrative long term deal. He is also, underratedly so, not a very good defender. While he has proven he is a great rebounder on both ends of the floor, at a listed 6'9", he is just an average interior defender who often struggls and gets into foul trouble when defending the premier power forwards in the game. He will also never average over a steal or block in his career. I cannot see Lee ever being a starting power forward on a team with title aspirations but instead used much how he has been over the past two seasons by putting in 25-30 minutes of work off the bench. I do like Lee a lot, but I am not willing to throw a ton of money at him to keep him here after the qualifying offer just yet. It is far, far too early to try and envision what types of scenarios will be present for Walsh after this season is through when it is likely we will make our decision with Lee. I do think he will have another solid year and I do think that he will have an easy time playing in D'Antoni's system as he is smart and active. That said, he still has the most trade value on our team, and Walsh's #1 goal above all else is moving Curry, Randolph, and Jeffries. I find it unlikely that he will be able to do this without packaging Lee in a deal. To me, Lee as collateral damage, I'm fine with that.

Stephon Marbury: I will not spend very much time on this mockery. We have +1 guaranteed contract on our books after the recent signing of Roberson and I can only hope that Marbury will finally be bought out. He is a cancer on this team, and I absolutely hate him. His game may not have deteriorated as his stats last year indicate, but I don't care. He has no future on this team and there is no reason to keep him around this year. He is a distraction and he needs to be handed his walking papers.

Zach Randolph: While Zach's facial expressions amuse me to no end, I cannot wait to see him gone. He is like a power forward version of Crawford; inept on defense and shoots every time he touches the ball. I hold him in virtually the exact same light as Crawford; he is a drain on our team play/cohesion on both ends of the court. He can stuff a stat sheet with the best of 'em, but he is a poor team player who does not defend. He has no place on our team in the future and with his deal running to 2011, Walsh will be working hard to move him. After initial reports indicating that LAC was willing to take Randolph for a 2nd round pick only to be quashed by Walsh, I was very disappointed he didn't bite. But as more facts came out surrounding this supposed deal the asking price was far steeper; we would have had to send a future pick and take Brevin Knight's contract. It then is more than logical that Walsh turned the Clippers down. Any deal where we give up any future pick cannot be listened to or even considered at this point. This report also served useful as it further showed the true market value for Randolph to the public, and it is not very high. D'Antoni and Walsh seem to think that Randolph will have a big year in this new system, and so do I. Unless if he is too fat to log the 30-35 minutes expected of him, he should easily put up 20 and 10 this year. I think that we will be able to unload him following this season without too much difficulty and he should far and away easier to move than Curry and Jeffries.

Quentin Richardson: I really like Q this year. I liked him when we signed him, and I find it unfortunate to see how much he has struggled for us. While a certain amount of blame has to put on him for getting fat, I prefer to blame Curry. I really believed when we signed him that he could be a productive starting small forward for us, but he has had difficulty in the wake of our constant coaching flux to get settled and establish a role. Now reunited with D'Antoni, I am very much expecting Q to revisit the line he put up when last with D'Antoni in '04-'05 of 15 and 6. He is capable of at least that, as he regressed horribly since leaving Phoenix after that season in order to address his bank account. He has reportedly lost about 15 pounds this off season already knowing that under D'Antoni, if he is not fit, he will not play many minutes. He seems to have regained his focus on basketball and I am truly expecting Q to have a great year. He will be given free reign to shoot the three with no repercussions and I think this will take some pressure off and allow him to be more loose out there. He has an underratedly solid mid-range game with the ability to attack the rim when he wants to. He is quite strong, a great guy to be running on the wing of a fast break, and a very good finisher around the rim. The biggest trick, with Q, is to get him into the game. When he is into the game, something that has been very rare during his tenure with the Knicks, he has a certain swagger about him that you love to see. D'Antoni apparently was able to bring this out of him when he last coached him and I really think Q will be the greatest beneficiary of all Knicks under D'Antoni. Under Thomas, if Q wasn't hitting shots and in an offensive rhythm, he would simply ride the pine. Under D'Antoni, I think that he will get more consistent minutes regardless of his offensive output on a given night, he gave him 35 minutes per game in '04. This will enable him to not press so much while on the floor and play looser. He is a solid wing defender and as he has reportedly slimmed down back to where he should be, he has good lateral quickness and length. He is a capable defender who proved he could do it under D'Antoni's system back in '04. Look out for Q this year. I was enamored with his game after his breakout '04 campaign and I remember being wayy happy with his signing; I think he will make us remember why we committed so much money to him. Contractually, he has a player option for next season at 9 million which he will pick up and become a free agent in the 2010 season. I am really expecting him to play very well for us this year and next, but I am skeptical as to what he will be demanding once he hits free agency in 2010. I think his value will be significantly higher than it is now and he will be 30 when he his contract expires. Whether or not we keep him, I believe, will correlate directly on how good Gallinari is. So we'll see where we are in 2010. But Q will be with us for the next two years and I think fans will, for the first time since he's been with us, like what he is capable of bringing to the floor.

Anthony Roberson: After a good summer league showing we offered Roberson a deal. He is an Eddie House type. He is a guard who can score in bunches and not do much else. He will play very little and if he has a hot hand, he will play a little bit more on a given game. Nothing to get excited about here, and hopefully he will be remembered as the player that caused the Marbury buy out.

Nate Robinson: I find Robinson to serve no utility. He is small, can't play point, can't play shooting guard, and can't defend anybody. He can, however, win the dunk contest, jump high, and bring the Garden to its feet. He is also a fan favorite, but not of mine. Baby Nate makes 2 mill this year and has a qualifying offer for next year at roughly the same price. He will not be in a Knick uni in 2010, and hopefully we can package him with Curry or Jeffries out of town. We'll see what Walsh is able to do with him.

Malik Rose: Rose has the sole expiring contract on our team (Marbury not included) where he will be earning 7 million this year. Unfortunately we are in no position to leverage his expiring contract to other teams a we have been doing every year under Thomas as we are actually trying to get under the cap. As such, I fully expect Rose to serve out his final year under contract with us. He is a solid veteran who D'Antoni can rely on to put in 10 productive and active minutes. He is a great locker room presence and a true asset for any team, but not at 7 million, but whatever. We're fine.

Ok, so that does it. I hope that D'Antoni settles in on a tight 8 man rotation as he did with the Suns. We'll see. The Knicks will suck this year, but will be fun to watch. The future, however, is by my estimation brigh. Hopefully Walsh will continue to move us in the right direction as we gear up for the summer of Lebron.

Knicks, the players are bad..continued..

2008-07-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Alright, now the players. As prefaced in my last post, I mostly hate the Knicks roster. Further, it must be noted that the main parameter Donnie Walsh is working with when reconstructing the roster is to be as far under the cap for the summer of 2010 as possible. This is the King James, DWade, Bosh, etc. summer where several of the games best players will be free agents. We have the benefit of playing in the largest media market in the country, and simply because of that, are an attractive destination. Speculation has already begun surrounding 'Lebron to New York' and he still has two more years in Cleveland. With that, I will get right into it alphabetically and systematically picking apart each player. Fred Jones and Randolph Morris who are still free agents, both suck ass, and hopefully neither will be with the Knicks next season, will be omitted. Also, this will be further broken down into two parts, because after writing about half the team, this is already jokingly long. Again, this is very very nuts shit about the Knicks, so I can't promise your attention will be kept the whole time, unless you have that Morril in you.
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Renaldo Balkman: Faulkman looks like he is high all the time, which I am totally fine with, because he doesn't play like it. He can't really do anything well on offense and has shown in his first two seasons with the Knicks that this part of his game is very unlikely to develop. He is a hustle guy and he brings energy and intensity on the defensive end of the floor. He has averaged 15 minutes per game in his first two seasons, without any offensive polish whatsoever, and this is the type of player he is. He is a fringe rotation guy who has value as an energy guy to bring off the bench. His rookie contract holds a team option for the '09-'10 season for just $2 mill which the Knicks will probably pick up. He has a qualifying offer at 2.3 mill for the '10-'11 season which, if Faulkman is still with the team, a decision will have to be made whether or not he is worth it. He will struggle, most likely, to fit into D'Antoni's system as he has no offensive game to speak of. And so it remains to be seen the type of minutes he will be given on a Knicks team cluttered with wingmen. Both the next two years, while contractually he comes at an affordable price, I would prefer to trade him if other teams were interested. He will never be a guy who will significantly contribute to this team in any capacity that is irreplaceable given the D'Antoni factor. We have other guys, primarily Wilson Chandler and Gallinari, who need to see the floor this year. We know what Balkman brings and we know his game, his future in this league is as a fringe rotation guy. As such, I would not balk(eoh) for a second on a deal if he were to be included in any type of package and sent out of town.

Wilson Chandler: Chandler is one of the most intriguing players on our roster heading into this year. He started 16 games for the Knicks towards the end of last season as Isiah was engaged in operation tanking. As to be expected out of a rookie, he was extremely inconsistent and would fall into a wide spectrum of best player on the floor to looking completely lost. What further perplexes is how much of when he looked lost was in fact his fault. Thomas is a laughable coach who basically stopped running plays towards the end of last year, so Chandler may not be entirely to blame when he looked like an idiot on the floor. He is 6'8" 220 and does have the all around game to develop into a special player for us. He is a good rebounder, has three point range, can score in bunches, and is a capable passer. He is a very talented athlete, has good length, and is very quick; he is a natural small forward with significant upside. Entering his second year, Walsh and D'Antoni will be very closely watching this kid and evaluating him. He may turn a corner and prove that he can be a building block with which to move forward or he may not cash in on his potential. Either way, we must play this kid enough minutes to see what kind of player he is so we can make a decision on him for the future. He showed in summer league much the same as he did starting for us last season: ups and downs. He would either be horrible or amazing; he needs to find some type of consistency this season. Again, there is a real logjam at the small forward position, but it would be prudent to play this kid as much as possible. Hopefully, his all around game will flourish under D'Antoni and he can turn into a beast. He could profile to be a great first wing guy off the bench in D'Antoni's 7-8 man rotation and capable of logging 25+ productive minutes in 2010ish when we will ideally be competing again. Or he will suck. We'll see. But I am excited to see what he can do this year, truly a big year for Wilson, and he may have a bright future with the Knicks.

Mardy Collins: Collins was a first round pick (#29) out of Temple who Thomas took 2 years ago. He sucks. He is too slow and lacks court vision or just any passing ability to play the point, as Isiah has previously tried. He is too slow and bad to play as a g/f, can barely score, and plays pretty poor defense. He's making a mill this year, and we have a team option on his deal for about a mill next season. He has no trade value, because he sucks, so hopefully we will just let him go after this season. He is a true 12th man, and it bothered me every time Isiah gave him significant run because he is just not very good. He should be playing in Europe soon enough.

Jamal Crawford:I cannot wait to get rid of Crawford. Yes, he is probably our best player, but I just hate his game. Hear me out. Firstly, he has never played in a playoff game in his career. Ok. He is a capable passer, but often makes poor decisions with about a 2:1 career assist:turnover. He cannot play the point guard position. He is a pure 40% shooting guard, and Isiah's past experiments playing him at the 1 ended in fails. He can score in bunches, which is an understatement, ok truckloads, but his offensive game is just sooo streaky. He can very easily create his own shot, and while that shot is sometimes jacking up a three, so be it. That is his game, and he hits "bad shots" as well as anyone in the game. But one thing-ok one of many- that really pisses me off about Crawford is when he gets the ball facing the basket in a one on one situation, he might as well be on the floor by himself; he never, ever passes out of that spot and always, always drives or hoists up a shot. I do not like how one dimensional his offensive game is. When he is on, he will pour in 40 with ease but when he is off he will shoot 3-15 from the field in a losing effort, we always lose when Crawford isn't hitting his shots if you haven't noticed Knick fans. That is fine, many of the leagues elite scorers are streaky-maybe not to such a degree- but the one thing that is so frustrating about Crawford is that when his shot is off he does absolutely nothing else on the court that warrants his playing time. He cannot defend for HIS LIFE and is not active on that end of the floor. He is incapable of running the offense, and so when he is missing his shots and not scoring, he is completely worthless. And he still logs his 35-40 minutes. When he is off, we lose the game. Now, D'Antoni's philosophy is defense optional, so that works out well for Crawdad. But, he is still a tremendous liability on that end of the floor regardless of how much emphasis the coach places on it. His offensive game still pisses me off, 41% from the field is horrible, and his defense is utter crap. Now, his contract situation is a very interesting one. Crawford is 28. He is making 8.6 this year and has a player option for 9.3 next season. He should have a career year this year, I am certainly expecting it and I'm sure he is too. He will lead the team in scoring, NO question whatsoever, and will be an offensive juggernaut this year. Because I see the likelihood of the Knicks trading Craw is very slim, and I hope to god he will be gone by 2010, the best case scenario in my mind sees Crawford opting out of his deal at the end of this season hoping to sign a fat deal next off season. At 29, it will likely be the best and last chance for Crawford to sign another fat deal for the rest of his career. I know this is probably a bit harsh on Crawford, because the guy can flat out score buckets, but I really just don't believe his game is such that he can be a starting 2 guard for a title contender. And that is what I'm looking for here. I'm sorry.

Eddy Curry: Goddammit, where to begin with this fat behemoth of a mockery. He, like Faulkman, looks high a lot of the time, but unlike Faulkman, he plays like it. He is fat, slow, cannot jump, career averages of OVER 3x as many turnovers : steals PLUS blocks (!!!!), cannot rebound for his seven foot life, cannot hit a free throw for a cheeseburger (wait, actually maybe he would, Knicks should try this as some type of incentive, I have decided), cannot defend his assignment, and is further incapable of playing any type of help defense whatsoever. He is, however, big, fat, and a good post up player when the game is slowed down enough: see '06-'07 season. Because of his 285 (listed, mind you) frame, he is difficult for defenders to dislodge from the block once he manages to get from one end of the floor to the other. I do not want to belabor the deficiencies of Curry's game, as they are basically innumerable, but I will say this: I cannot under any circumstance see how he will play more than 10 minutes per game this year. You could say: well wait a minute, D'Antoni will use Curry in the same way he used Shaq last year; short jittery bursts before the debilitating and inevitable crash. False. While Shaq is a huge human, he was primarily used as a defensive asset down low for the Suns last year. D'Antoni did not modify his system extensively in order to accommodate the big fella; if he got back for offense before the shot went up great, if not, maybe next possession Shaq! Curry is WAYYY too slow (Shaq, same size, surprisingly quick) to play the 5 for D'Antoni and he serves absolutely no purpose as a defensive stopper if the opposing big is causing us problems. Luckily, D'Antoni will not feel he HAS to play Curry as Thomas did because he had absolutely no hand in putting his gigantic contract on our books, again, like Thomas did. D'Antoni will just not play Curry. As such, his trade value will plummet to an all time low, if it can be lower. He has player options at 10 and 11 million for the next two seasons which there is absolutely no chance he does not pick up. Curry's contract will be by far the hardest for Walsh to move. Randolph, who is equally important to move as Curry, can actually play basketball, and I am confidant that Walsh will find the correct spot to get his deal off the books before the 2010 season. We might be stuck with Curry's 11 million in 2010, which would seriously suck for us, decrease our flexibility, limit the cash we can throw at free agents, blahblalbh. Hopefully, Walsh can trick some other retarded team (think Grizz) into taking Curry off our hands. You think Camby to Clips was free, they DID reserve the right to swap 2nd round picks. We don't even want that!!! Curry is ACTUALLY free! What a good deal! Goddamn Curry. But seriously, he's bad and wayy overpaid. Oh well. Thanks Isiah.

Chris Duhon: I love Walsh's decision to bring Duhon in to run this team for the next two years while he continues to rebuild the team. Duhon will be able to run D'Antoni's system with competence, I believe, and bring stability to the most crucial position on the team. He turned down a more lucrative contract with Orlando, a better team, to come play in New York under D'Antoni; hopefully this will be a sign of more to come as we continue to try and attract free agents to our club. Duhon is coming off his fourth season, all with the Bulls, where he assumed a backup point guard role. Given the question marks surrounding Marbury, it looks like the point guard job is now his to lose. He is a very smart basketball player, he is constantly among league leaders in assist to turnover ratios (albeit, in a backup role where he handles the ball less than other starting point guards but still), and is very good at reading defenses when he has the ball in his hands. Walsh and D'Antoni had quite a few options out there at point guard but they targeted Duhon and used our full mid-level to bring him here. While he is not a prolific scorer, he will be able to get us into our offensive sets and get it going. He has never averaged double digit points, and while it is likely he will this year, I am expecting 12 ppg at most. But he will bring, if he logs the starter minutes which I expect, around seven assists a game with his usual low turnover rate. Having this stability at PG for the next two years is HUGE. And signing Duhon to a two year deal is also huge with it set to expire before the 2010 season. I believe he will play well for us and be a fan favorite as he is a tough, gritty and plays with a tremendous amount of intensity. I hope that we will have the money to work out keeping him through 2010 as we free up more cap space. Duhon, after having two seasons mastering D'Antoni's system, would be an ideal candidate to slide into the backup point guard role. Hopefully we will have the ability of doing this after his contract expires. He is clearly not the type of point guard who will lead the Knicks to the promise land, but he is more than sufficient for the time being. And when we do get that stud point guard in the future, Duhon would be a perfect backup.

Danillo Gallinari: I love this kid. Loveee, love, love. I am thrilled that we drafted him, and in retrospect, am elated that we didn't use our pick on a point guard. The importance of the point guard in D'Antoni's system cannot be overstated. As such, I would prefer not to spend a lottery pick on an unknown commodity at the point guard spot and be married to this player with so much of our future in his hands. We will get our pg, we will wait and see, and hopefully it will come via trade or free agency with an already stud who D'Antoni sees his NBA game translating well into his scheme. Gallinari, on the other hand, has the potential to be a verrrryyyy special player. I am debating how much to gush/profess/count the ways in which I love this man, no homo, so we'll see what happens. After listening to basically every interview with him I could find, he absolutely amazes me with his composure and candor. This kid is just 19, coming to the biggest city and media market in the country, from a foreign country, and he handles the press like a veteran. AND his English is sort of a joke. He has unparalleled maturity for someone his age, tremendous confidence in his ability, and a shut up and play attitude. He doesn't even understand what the New York media is like, he can't, he's from Italy, but his personality is such that he can handle it. He was booed to DEATH at the Garden by Knick fans and he couldn't have cared less. LOVE that. He just wants to get on the floor, fight, shoot, D up, own, and show the fans what he can do. Now, his game. The one main criticism with Rooster (Gallinari..gallina..rooster...lulululu) I have seen is 1: he is soft and 2: he does not have the lateral quickness to defend NBA players. 1: he played as an 18 year old against grown men in an underratedly competitive Italian league (better than the NCAA and tougher than playing against fellow teenagers), was the captain of his team, and led his team in scoring. 2: that may be, but that doesn't mean he can't be an average to above average defender. He will definitely have his share of difficulties on the defensive end this season but from what I have seen he is quicker than I thought given what I have read about Gallinari. Again, D'Antoni: defense optional, but even still, the kid is such a competitor. He wants to be an all-star. I really believe he will work hard on the defensive end and make the necessary adjustments to be a solid defender. He needs to convert some body weight into muscle, but he is just 19 and once he starts lifting, training, and growing he should get jacked. Offensively, the sky is the limit for the Rooster. He has legitimate three point range, a tremendous mid range game, great size and length, and is a terrific penetrator with a knack of getting to the line where he shoots at a 80%+ clip. He is comfortable with his back to the basket or facing it. He doesn't really have any offensive weakness, and I can't wait to see him this year. At 6'8", and given our current roster construction, it looks to me that he will be forced to play some power forward. Defensively, big problem; offensively, he is an impossible match up for 90% of the 4s in the Eastern Conference. I'm sure we'll see a front court featuring Rooster at the 4 with DLee at the 5 which will be very exciting and fun to watch this year. I think that Gallinari will be with the Knicks for a longgg time and has the chance to be a star.

Ok, rest of the roster analysis coming soon. Too nuts? Probably. But I am nuts, so we're fine.

Gang Green - Defense

2008-07-25T00:53:00.000-07:00

The Jets finished last season 19th in points allowed per game. Ew. That is awful. Especially when one looks at their '06 season where they finished 6th BEST in points allowed per game. Great jump...

This year, the Jets' third year in the 3-4 system under Mangini, will look a lot more like '06 if not better. The Jets' management has finally fit some essential puzzle pieces to the defense through great drafting and signings, and everybody should be expecting some great results.

I've compiled three stat projections of the more "respected" football websites to see what the average person thinks of the Jets upcoming defense. Check out the '08 projection versus the '07 reality.........

'08 proj. - 22.27 points allowed per game, 14.3 total interceptions and 29.6 total sacks
'07 real. - 22.20 points allowed per game, 15.0 total interceptions and 29.0 total sacks

ARE YOU F****** KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?! NO IMPROVEMENT???????? WOW. These humans are very, very foolish. They're fools. Fools are foolish. Damnit. Lets go. Read on.
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Here I am going to break down each group on defense for the J-E-T-S.... I can't hold back. JETS JETS JETS.

D-line

D-line was a major, major concern last season. Frankly, it was a laughing stock. In the 3-4 defense your line is not expected to be the guys that provide QB pressure, more just absorb as many blockers and clog as many gaps as humanly possible. The most important position in the 3-4 is the nose tackle. That said, although Dewayne Robertson had a pretty good year in '07 according to the numbers (57 tackles, 4.0 sacks) he was completely worthless and horrible. Dewayne is known for his speed, not strength nor size. Dewayne A. does not demand a double team, which completely screws everything up (just ask Vilma) and B. does not close any gaps.

If you haven't heard, the Jets traded for Kris Jenkins. HUGE MOVE. Tremendous. Jenkins is a monster at 6'4" and 335 lbs. He absolutely demands a double team on every single down which enables a lot of flexibility for the linebackers and d-ends which is required for a successful 3-4 defense and will inevitably help our fourth WORST rushing yards against average... After day one in training camp Mangenius said that Jenkins has been working extra ordinarily hard and having him, because of his size and strength, is like having a "3.5-4" defense. Yes Kris.

Our two ends will be the same as last year and they are both good. At the left-end you find the veteran Shaun Ellis. Ellis is gooood. He has lost some of the explosiveness he used to have when he put up 12.5 and 11.0 sack years, but he still manages to get to the quarterback despite regular double teams. He finished '07 with 5 sacks. Now with Jenkins also demanding a double team, this number will be go up.

The right-end position for the gang green will be Kenyon Coleman. He is really built more like a linebacker or 4-3 DE at 6'5" and 295 lbs. However! In only 14 starts last season Kenyon finished with 83 tackles which is GREAT #s for an end. Once again (sorry), the d-line in a 3-4 scheme tries to absorb as many blockers and clog as many gaps as possible, so now with two guys demanding double teams and one who finished last season with 83 tackles, this line will be way, way more effective.

Linebackers

Linebackers are the key to success in the 3-4. The two outside linebackers are normally depended on to put the pressure on the entire backfield, racking up the sacks and tackles for losses and the two inside linebackers are supposed to generally command the middle of the field whether run or pass.

Both OLBs have changed from last year for the Jets and if this wasn't true, I wouldn't be writing this post... Last year we had Victor Hobson and Bryan Thomas who COMBINED for an absolutely putrid 87 tackles and 4.5 sacks. Can you rewind and reread those numbers please?... Luckily Jets management basically said you two suck, and changed both spots.

First move was aggressively going after former Cardinals linebacker Calvin Pace. Pace, who is a former first round pick, has been handled incorrectly for his entire career except last year. In his rookie year, 2003, Pace started in all 16 games at DE and finished with 32 tackles and one sack. In 2004, 2005 and 2006 Pace started in a total of SIX games, all at DE again, and hardly did anything worth noting. Finally in 2007 the Cardinals of Arizona had an epiphany and realized that Pace is an outside linebacker. In Pace's first season as a 3-4 OLB he started all 16 games and finished with 98 tackles and 6.5 sacks. LETS GO. The Jets quickly signed him to a six year deal. He is going to be a stud for us for years. Why isn't Calvin being talked about more? He's nasty and people will soon realize that...

Our other OLB (who by the way came to terms with the Jets finally today) you have probably heard of: Vernon Gholston, our first round pick... Gholston is going to be so SO sick for us. Vernon didn't hesitate at all in making it known that he is an absolute freak of an athlete when he put together one of the best all around combines of all time. Since 2006 Gholston (Ohio State) put up 86 tackles, 30.5 tackles for a loss and 22.5 sacks. Yes he may make some mistakes being a rookie, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Gholston will get into the oppositions' backfield quite frequently. There is no limit at all to how good this kid can be.

At inside linebacker everyone is going nuts about our loss of Jonathan Vilma. Open your eyes people! Vilma being undersized finally came back to bite him in the ass last season when he only started 7 games for us (injury) and finished with 43 tackles and 0 sacks. In the 3-4 inside linebackers are many times asked to take on an o-linemen and Vilma simply isn't big enough for that task, but don't get me wrong, I love Vilma, I'll always love Vilma, he is SICK and he will be SICK for the Saints who run a 4-3 and have a great d-line... Go get'em Jon...

Buuuuuuuut for the time being, allow me to introduce David Harris. My friend and co-writer Hiro and I were in constant communication on draft-day in '07 and he kept telling me things like, "Dude... David Harris" or even, "Duuuude... I'm telling you! David Harris!!!" Well. That basically sums it up. I remember the announcers in the draft saying that Harris was the best tackler in the 2007 draft. Amazing pick by us. In 16 games last year (only nine starting) Harris finished with a ridiculous 127 tackles (90 solo) and five sacks. He was insane and he will remain in Arkham for the entirety of his career...

Our other inside linebacker is quietly one of the more consistent inside linebackers in the NFL although last year was a down year with only 73 tackles. The thing with Eric Barton is that he isn't one of those super athletic linebackers like Urlacher, Ray Lewis, Vilma etc... instead he relies on his great instincts and top-tier tackling ability. The reason for Barton's down year is simple. He had nothing around him. If you're a linebacker surrounded by an ineffective d-line and piss poor outside linebackers and you're NOT one of the elite elite elite guys in the league, well then, a down year is imminent. But! Guess what Eric?!? Things will be WAY easier this year and you will return to your typical 100+ tackles. Yay!!

Secondary

The Jets' secondary is more of a question mark than the previous two groups I talked about, however the Jets' secondary is a high upside and very underrated group. Last year the Jets were ninth best in passing yards allowed with the seventh least amount of touchdowns allowed through the air and tied with the Vikings and G-men for 20th in the NFL for interceptions. Improvement is in the very near future. So let's start with the awesome? Surely. Don't call me Shirley.
Kerry Rhodes, you, are, the, MAN. Yesssssss. It is astounding to me that Rhodes isn't talked about more as one of the elite safeties in the game. He's not even really in the discussion. But, he's the fifth best rated safety in Madden '09! And that includes free safeties (Rhodes is a STRONG safety, and pun couldn't possibly be more intended). Rhodes has put up some INSANE numbers in his very short career and in his fourth year in the NFL he will continue dominance. The first two seasons were unquestionably pro-bowl caliber seasons, but last year, only by the #s, was a little bit of a down year. If you watched Kerry week in and week out then you know he is sick. He is just as sick as the previous years, he just had less opportunities to make plays in '07 because there was never any pressure on the QB among other things. He still had a good year with 67 tackles (past two years 105 and 98), 2 sacks, 10 passes defended and 5 picks. Trust me. Kerry is one of the best, and I can't wait for more highlight reel plays this upcoming season.

The Jets traded up in the '07 draft to snag Darrelle Revis which was an amazing move. Revis immediately established that was he was the best corner on the team and no one questioned this all year. This kid is sick and it excites me to know that our strong side of the secondary with Kerry and Revis will be amazing for many years to come. Revis was our only corner last year to start all 16 games because the others all suck. As a rookie on a poor defense he often times found himself matched up one-on-one against guys like Randy, T.O. and Braylon among others. He handled himself very well and kept getting better all year finishing with 87 tackles, which reiterates how bad our d-line and OLBs were and tells you that he is an amazing tackler, 17 passes defended and 3 picks. You'd looooooove to see more picks but the fact that he was a rookie, had to help so much against the run and still was top ten in the league in passes defended gives me a woody.

The next spot is free safety. There you can find Abram Elam. In 13 games played and 8 started Elam finished up with 53 tackles and 2 passes defended. I like him. He's super quick and explosive, he just makes mistakes sometimes. This past year was really his rookie year though, so I have hope. In '06 he was used very, very sparingly as a backup on the Cowboys. He obviously wasn't as good as Revis nor is he nearly as good as Rhodes (yet?) but this kid definitely has really high upside and could / should / will be great for us with a much, much improved defense.

The right corner-back spot is up for grabs. Last year it was mostly played by David Barrett who is very, very bad. The two guys that have the best chances at winning this job are Justin Miller who missed of all of last season with injury or rookie Dwight Lowery.

Justin Miller is a sick athlete. He's got amazing speed, jumping ability and all that jazz. He just doesn't really have great instincts. He can catch the ball, and he is an unbelievable kick returner so he's got the potential to make huge game changing plays, but in his limited amount of NFL experience he seems to get fooled a little too often... He has amazing potential, but will he learn to play the position? Time will tell.

Dwight Lowery, whom the Jets drafted in the fourth round, could've been a huge steal. His only problem is athleticism (if only we could genetically combine the two to create an amazing #2 corner named Justin Lowery). Dwight was bothered by an injury in 2007 but in 2006 his tremendous ball skills were on full display as he lead the entire NCAA in interceptions with 9. It's difficult t think of a good-to-great corner without amazing speed but at one time Ty Law was that and at one time Mike Mckenzie was that too. I have high hopes for this rook, and it should be an intriguing training camp competition.

In summary... to go along with all of these positional break downs, the Jets were third worst in time of possession last season and that was mostly attributed to a very poor offense. The offense will be better than it was last year, no doubt about that, and I've already discussed the defensive changes so, think whatever you think. But if you think the Jets will be irrelevant this year, you're wrong.

Look out for a post on the Jets' offensive game coming soooooooon.

Finally, a Knicks post. We suck. Curses! (1 of 3)

2008-07-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Knicks are a fucking joke. But, we will be FINE. We are the Knickerbockers after all; Clyde will get more swishing and dishing, less saulking and faulking. Grandpa Walsh (not really, but I have had dreams about this) and D'Antoni (moustache, amazing, but not as good as Alon's) will right the ship, I have decided. Now, the entire team needs to be overhauled in the wake of the complete MESS that Isiah left us with. Just quickly, if any team ever gives Thomas a front office position ever again, I will just, I mean, wtf, he could not have been worse at his job. Funny how quickly the Larry Brown debachle has been forgotten. But, fk Isiah, he is the worst thing ever, die, die, die, kill yourself, I hate you, ok enough. I'm fine. Moving on, the current roster construction is absolutely atrocious. There is basically nothing good about it. I love the Knicks, but I absolutely hate, hate, hate this team. So, for the primary, and surely one of many, Knicks posts here at Bloodsports, I will go very in depth into many aspects of the team. Part one will be strictly talking about D'Antoni and Walsh. Part two, which will actually be written (you taking notes Hiro?), will be a breakdown of each player on the roster in great capacity. You need to either be 1: very into the Knicks or 2: very into basketball if you have any hope of enjoying this. So, with that disclaimer, More... yourself as you see fit.
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Ok, Walsh (Donald). Donnie was the best possible guy available to reconstruct our club, period. I'm so happy we got him, and he has proved time and time again that he understands what it takes to fix a roster. We have the highest payroll in the league to go with one of the-if not the-worst roster in the league. It is truly a monumental undertaking to turn this team around into a competitive team in the very near future, as Knicks fans and ownership are demanding. It remains to be seen how successful Walsh will be, but so far, so good. I will get more into the GMish aspects and what to do with each player in my next post.

Ok, Mike D'Antoni. I remember when we hired him this past summer hearing the collective groans amongst Knicks fans as they yearned for Marc Jackson. I was absolutely appalled that Knicks fans were not rejoicing at the D'Antoni hire as much as I was. Jackson would have been an absolute horrific fit for this club. He would have been a first year coach with: everything to prove, a horrible team, and no clear direction as to where he would want the roster to go. Also, with the demanding media and added scrutiny he would be placed under in New York to go with the fact that we will suck for at least the next two years, Jackson would have crumbled and likely ran out of town. He would have just been a mess, there is no question at all in my mind to this and it is fact. And that would also mean the breakup his on air trio with Van Gundy and Breen which would have represented a nightmare scenario for the NBA and fans alike.

Another thing that I kept hearing after the D'Antoni hire was the hope that we would wait and see if we could get Tom Thibideau, Celtics defensive guru and assistant coach, instead. I was very irritated by this, as well. First of all, it would have been too great a risk to wait; we were capable of signing D'Antoni and to hold out for Thibodeau with no indication whatsoever as to what Tom would want to petod faulk seems asenine to me. He was still with the Celts and unable to have any sort of negotiations with other teams. The fervor for Thibodeau to be the Knicks head coach was pure speculation and yet was a resounding force amongst Knicks fans who lamented the D'Antoni hire. That bothered me to no end. Another thing about the Thibodeau hire, he would have in my opinion been a much worse hire than D'Antoni even if he was available. We will be horrible this year, and Thibodeau would have been preaching 48 minutes of defensive intensity to no end. On losing teams with no playoff aspirations this has the potential to cause a divide between players and coach. Our players would have hated to bust their asses game in and game out on defense for such a demanding coach (curry, zrand, crawford..defense..lets be serious) when we would be getting routinely destroyed and in the doldrums of the Eastern Conference anyway. Thibodeau obviously has a great defensive basketball mind and could be a great head coach in this league, but he would not have thrived in New York. Not now and not with this roster.

D'Antoni, on the other hand, will let our guys run around and shoot and teach his elaborate offensive system and they will at least be happy this year while they suck and FUN TO WATCH (thank GOD, finally). Further, in D'Antoni's shooter-happy system it will help prop up the values of our players so we can actually get rid of their massive contracts. Ideally, anyway. And also, players across the league actually WANT to play under him. The vast majority of players like offense more than defense and they like when the coach doesn't make them play defense. D'Antoni and the ability to play in his system will be a great piece of leverage over future free agents.

Also, I love the way I can generalize the terms "their massive contracts" and "players" for the Knicks. In that, everyone on our team, basically, sucks and are signed to a ridiculous and largely unmovable deals. Goddammit Knicks, what has happened. Mid-posting this, and just as my mind is spinning about the Knicks, I really cannot believe how out of control things have gotten for the orange and blue. The past few seasons have been absolutely painful to watch, and I am really getting so tired of it. But anyway, back on track, I really like the D'Antoni hire.

I feel like D'Antoni was the best possible coach to come in here. Again, yes defense wins championships and D'Antoni does not care for this aspect of the game, but we are LIGHTYEARS away from contention. BABY STEPS, Knicks fans. Also, D'Antoni was, if I'm not mistaken, right on the cusp of titledom for the Suns (the Western Conference Suns) for several years. Put those Suns teams in the Eastern Conference and they are in the finals three years straight. He will bring a fun style of basketball to the Garden which will make the players more excited to play and give the fans more joy out of watching which is desperately needed. The system that he runs will also make Walsh's job easier. There are certain types of players who fit and others who do not. We can pinpoint the spare parts on our current roster (unfortunately, that means mostly everyone) and also target specific types of players as we prepare up for the Summer of Lebron. D'Antoni knows which players will excel under him and which will not. In 2 or 3 years down the road, we will assess D'Antoni, and Walsh for that matter, in a different light with higher expectations, as our roster continues to change and get better - I hope. But for the time being and the immediate future, I do not understand why any Knicks fans are unhappy with this guy at our helm. ESPECIALLY after the Isiah and Brown eras.

I realize I didn't really get into WHY I like D'Antoni and that right there (what you just read) was more of an incoherent rambling/rant. Ok, Walsh (me, this time). I need to calm down right now. It's very hard writing about teams you follow so closely without going overly nuts/insane and diverting into a million tangents. Ok, we're fine again. Onward. D'Antoni brings an actual system to our team (offensive only) and will actually coach instead of sit on the bench for 48 minutes with pursed lips while making stupid faces (Isiah..ugh). He requires his players to run up and down the floor. The pick and roll is the bread and butter of his offensive schemes, as Nash and Amare ran it to perfection in his time at Phoenix. There are a plethora of options to choose from on every single offensive possession and his system, while it seems like players just sprint up and down the floor and shoot, is really very in depth. The point guard position is absolutely essential to his entire system and its motor. The pg has to assess and correctly analyze how the defense is reacting and run the correct offensive scheme accordingly, as Nash did to perfection in Phoenix. D'Antoni wants quick shots on offense and for the ball to essentially never stop moving. Defensively, he doesn't really give a faulk. He pressures sometimes and just runs a straight man hoping that he will lure the opposing team into his style of up and down basketball. If he induces the other teams into playing his style of basketball, his controlled chaos will win out over pure chaos 120-110. Lu, lu. D'Antoni is an excellent player evaluator as he came up as a scout before he dabbled in head coaching. He knows what he wants and needs in a player, and is very capable, as he has shown in Phoenix, of building a team which can succeed under his style of basketball.

Last year, under Thomas, it is under appreciated by the fans as to how horrible Isiah was at coaching. He basically spent more time picking out what tie he would wear with his suit than coming up with a game plan on a nightly basis. Basically, as the head coach, did not coach at all. There were times, as reported this off season by Knick players, where Isiah would tell guys in the huddle to just give the ball to Jamal and that was it. JOKE! D'Antoni has a system which is entirely offensively inclined and is, in my estimation, the best thing for the Knicks at this time. It is an incentive for players to get into shape (Q now with less body fat) as they have the potential to turn in a career year if they can run and log the minutes effectively. Further, even though D'Antoni does not really coach or care for defense, the Suns did get very deep into the playoffs and were a very, very good team in the West under him. There is no reason why he cannot do the same thing with us, given time, and with or without any defense. I hope he will be here for a while and I hope that we let him and Walsh run their course on our basketball team as I believe they will put it together.

Ok, so I love D'Antoni and Walsh, that felt good to get off my chest. This is sort of a therapeutic exercise venting about all this Knicks madness, I am a joke, we are fine, maybe, lets go right now. I was thinking of doing a sort of mock GM thing like we need to trade x, y, and z (or in the Knicks' case more like a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j, and k...eoh). But instead, I will look at this more in my next post. Stay tuned.

Been drinking the McFadden juice and I am blackout right now..

2008-07-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

Darren McFadden will be an absolute monster beast this year. I have decided. APeterson's 2007 rookie year was, obviously, insane. I think McFadden has every bit and more of an opportunity to at least put up AP numbers in his own rookie campaign. First of all, for fantasy, I am absolutely drafting this kid in every league I am in. He is being slept on way too much, fantasy pundits are obsessing over like Kevin Smith, Mendenhall, and Jonathan Stewart and their values when BY FAR the best rookie back will be in silver and black. 4th roundish is just way too late for him, he is the guy I think who will be on many championship rosters this season much like AP last year. There is no real mention of McFadden and the ridiculously favorable situation he is being put into on Oakland this year. Fantasy aside and entering real life, McFadden is serious. He put up 2000 total yards last year at Arkansas (SEC teams have bad defense right? eoh) and that was WITH Felix Jones putting up about 1300 total yards. If McFadden was the exclusive back and absorbed some of the Felix yards, he would maybe have had one of the greatest single seasons for a running back of all time. Yes, that is fact, 3000 yards for a single season at college is Barry Sanders etc. territory. McFadden is a similar talent to AP, drafted very high in the NFL draft, and in a great position to succeed this year in Oaktown.
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First of all, McFadden. He is big, fast, and destructive. He can run inside the tackles, hit the corners with insane speed, and lower his shoulder when he needs to. He is a great receiving back and he can throw it like LT (check youtube). He makes everyone else in the game look like they are moving in slow motion, exactly what happened when AP would breakthrough the line last season. He easily outruns corners and safeties and will have more than his fair share of 50+ yard runs. There is a reason why he was the first back taken this year and a reason why he was drafted fourth overall. He REALLY looks identical to AP, except without any real injury risk, to me. By seasons end, I think he will be a top 10 back in the NFL, if not top 5.

Last season, Oakland sucked. BUT, they were a phenomenal running team averaging 130 yards per game good for 6th in the NFL. You have to do a double take on that. Yes, the Raiders sucked last year, and yes their passing game was absolutely a joke, but they still managed to be the sixth best rushing team in the league! They were 6th in the league AND they did that with Justin Fargas and whichever other random/bad running faulks they were playing. Adrian Peterson entered last season in a clearly defined time share with Chester Taylor. The Vikes stuck to this plan begrudgingly as the season wore on to their detriment. Taylor was very productive but Peterson was simply dominating; AP's carries suffered nonetheless. In Fargas, McFadden will not have this same problem. Fargas is perennially injured and has been a long tenured Raider whose front office has made it abundantly clear through off season moves (LaMont Jordan, and again with Darren himself) that Fargas will never be their guy. Once McFadden shows what he can do on the field, I have no doubt the Raiders will ride him harder than a $3 thai hooker all season.

To go with the already efficient running attack that the Raiders owned last season, they have made upgrades elsewhere on offense that will benefit McFadden. JaMarcfat at qb is actually, despite being a fat man, a very mobile quarterback who is comfortable out of the pocket. McFadden has great receiving ability and will be relied upon on third down to be there as the check down. More time on the field, ok Darren. Their wide receiving corps is very questionable with unknown commodity Javon Walker et al but they can't really be worse than they were last year. JaMarcus' mobility and also rocketlauncher (understatement) of an arm will prevent defenses stacking the box and totally focusing their game plan on McFadden, maybe, for a little bit at least.

Minny, by contrast, did absolutely nothing but run in 2007. Tavaris was incredibly bad and their passing game was an actual mockery at 28th in the NFL. They had to run. It is conceivable that Oakland will have quite a poor passing game as well. 2007 defense vs. Minny, opposing teams focused their defensive schemes entirely against AP and Minny's run game. Irrelevant, he was still unstoppable. I believe that if Oakland's passing game is equally inept as the 2007 Vikings, defenses will do the same exact thing to McFadden this season. And it will be every bit as unsuccessful and McFadden will tear new assholes on a weekly basis.

I could not love McFadden more right now. He's so exciting to watch and has the ability to run for 6 every time he touches the ball, again, much like AP. The comparison's are stark and plentiful which causes me to wonder why they have not been analyzed and discussed more in the media. McFadden is not getting nearly enough attention for the game changing ability he has, probably because he is on the suck Oakland Raiders, but I am fine with that, especially for fantasy purposes.

Risk vs. Reward

2008-07-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend there was a writer's convention in northern California. Therewillbesports writers Walsh, Treater and myself indulged in debauchery of all sorts including hours upon hours of sports bickering (and Treater punching Walsh in the face only semi by accident and semi hard... seen above).

Several football mock drafts were completed, comtreated and comfaulked. In general, Peter (Treater) and I like and dislike the same players at all positions and Walsh, in last.fm terms, has high compatibility, but not quite super...

However all that jibba-jabba is besides the point. There was one, yes just one, glaring difference in our opinions and I found myself fighting a never ending battle. Where do you take your QB? The most crucial piece of information that you need to know as the opinionated reader is the standard CBS scoring system which is: 6 points for all touchdowns (rushing, receiving, throwing), 1 point for every 25 passing yards and 1 point for every 10 rushing or receiving yards. An interception is -2 and a fumble lost is -2 as well. As far as the roster positions: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1TE, 1 RB/WR, 1 K, 1 DEF and 5 bench spots.
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Between last football season and this current baseball season I've learned a valuable fantasy lesson. The major mistake made in both leagues (football shared with Peter and baseball shared with Walsh) was taking the high risk / high reward guy at the positions that are thin, a.k.a. the positions that are impossible to fix without trade... I guess I gotta explain myself:

There are 16 teams in the National League. In our NL-only fantasy league there are 12 teams and each team starts two catchers (put your calculator away, I got your back) and that adds up to a total of 24 starting catchers. SO... that means that eight non-starting catchers will be taken by teams, because obviously they will not just keep an empty in that roster spot, and that also means that as far as free agents or the waiver wire is concerned, there ain't nothin' but a ghost town.

If you read my fantasy post part one then you know that we ended up with Carlos Ruiz - bust and Ronny Paulino - bust. Yes, we are still winning our league and yes we are going to win our league, but if we didn't make some ridiculously phenomenal pickups (which Walsh just wrote about below this post) that would not be the story.

Sure some people lucked out in their NL-onlys (IT WASN'T LUCK YOU FOOL! I KNEW HE WAS GOING TO BE AMAZING LBAHBLHALBHALHBLAH) with Soto and Doumit, but what about the humans that ended up with, other than Ruiz and Paulino, Towles, Estrada, Bard, Barrett, Ross, Iannetta or Snyder... I'll tell you whats happening with them. They're probably NOT in first in ALL FIVE PITCHING CATEGORIES like we are, and they're almost definitely not winning their leagues.

Starting any of those guys I just mentioned is an empty in terms of production and most of them even hurt your team with extremely low batting averages versus the top guys taken like R. Martin (.295, 10hr, 47rbi, 10sb), B. McCann (.302, 18hr, 56rbi, 2sb), B. Molina (.279, 6hr, 56rbi) or Y. Molina (.306, 4hr, 33rbi)...Why so serious?...

In last years co-owned FF team (Peter and myself) a similar thing happened. We were busy worrying about every other position then tight-end when a TE run happened right before our eyes. Our favorite sleeper (probably mostly because of Madden and media-hype) was Vernon Davis going in, but we missed out on him so we took Alge Dumpler. Well eventually later in the season when someone dropped Vernon we quickly picked him up and guess what, they were both the worst things ever! Yay! Booooooooo....Jason Witten last year is the Geovany Soto of this year. Remember though, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint these ridiculous statistical explosions...

Some other TE sleeperfails before last season included Greg Olsen (391 yds, 2 tds, finished 20th in fantasy points), Ben Watson (389 yds, 6 tds, 13th), Randy McMichael (429 yds, 3 tds, 16th) and Zach Miller (444 yds, 3 tds, 17th). By the way, Vernon Davis finished 15th and Alge finished 14th. In a twelve team league you're really not looking to draft a tight-end that will finish outside of the top.... TWELVE?!?!?! At the bare minimum I suppose.

Fixing your tight-end s***-storm will also require you to give up a lot because people realize when they're holding on tight (pun absolutely intended) to a guy like Tony G., that without him they'd have nothing in the roster spot which makes his value that much higher. Not to mention however many weeks you did suffer with a -10 to -15 point differential between you and your opponent in the tight-end spot week to week to Rickie Weeks.

It's those reasons exactly that, despite loving guys like the now New Orleans Saint Jeremy Shockey or potentially the next Colston- Dustin Keller, that I refuse to not have a top end tight-end. For the "reverse" reasons I feel that quarterback is a position where risks are worthy. There are 32 starting QBs to begin a season and in a twelve team league probably ten total quarterbacks are taken by the tenth round, when at that point I can take a low risk on two guys that I'm stoked about with extremely high upside such as Aaron Rodgers and Matt Leinart, while using my "extra" early pick to assist domination of another position. If my favorite QB sleeper works out then great, everything went according to plan and it's a very high chance that I have a substantial advantage in my top-end running back or WR against the other teams' favorite sleeper at the same position. If my fav. sleeper doesn't work out well then check the waivers or that other you guy you drafted... Check it.

Last year let's say someone goes Peyton (unquestionably the first QB taken) and Vernon Davis (or any of the other guys except Witten) which equals a total of 409 points in CBS versus someone who instead goes Gates or Tony G. (unquestionably the first two TEs taken) and either Romo (7th QB taken), Big Ben (13th), D. Anderson (undrafted), M. Hasselbeck (10th), Favre (16th) or Warner who was also pretty much not drafted in any leagues and my team wins. So right away there is two great options that weren't even drafted, not to mention other serviceable ones that were and are going to be available on waivers just because of depth and the inevitable injuries at the position.

Add on to the fact that Peyton was a unanimous first round pick in fantasy last year and Vernon, who went the highest of all the tight-end busts, was taken usually in the 7th round. That player difference creates a much, much bigger separation between "my" team and the evil combination of Peyton, Peter and Walsh. Plug-in ALL QBs except for the one out lier Tom Brady and you get the same results.

So take your Brady while I take Addai, I'll take my K. Winslow while you're sleeping on Rudi Johnson, Jon Stewart, LenWhale or Forte, and while you're taking your stud kicker, defense, or despicable backup player I will settle with my super high upside and not too high risk combination of A. Rodg and Leinart and I will win.

Fact or fiction?

WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL I'm gonna have to go with fact here Tony...

We treat fantasy too!!! (part ii of ii)

2008-07-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Alon has been a little bitch recently and has not wanted to finish our nl-only team report. But I wanted to read it, and since he isn't writing it, I will, and then read it after I'm done. We..are..fine. So after the draft we liked the team a bit but clearly if we didn't make genius pickups like we did we would not be destroying the league as we currently are. Obviously guys like Utley, Bay, Volquez and such humans have been owning for us, but the pickups we made easily have caused us to be coasting for months. We made one trade, eoheoh, pickups, standings, okok. [that is Ryan Dempster who will soon be featured]
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Before May 1, we pickup the following players of note:
John Rauch, Jorge Cantu, Ryan Dempster

We dropped Fuentes for Rauch because going into the season it looked like Corpas had more of a stranglehold on the closer job than Chad Cordero who neither of us liked much. Fuentes has some saves, but Rauch has been a genius for us all season after Cordero got hurt like a week after we grabbed Rauch. He has 17 saves and a 2.98 era 1.02 whip and 44 ks in 48 ip. That's bad. Between him, Brian Wilson and Gregg we have been owning saves all year. Looking at Jorge Castillo at 3b going into the season for the fish, we liked Cantu to play a bit and maybe win the job outright. It looked like Cantu might start after a torrid spring and we thought he could be a decent deep sleeper this year. We were wrong, woohoowoohoo. Castillo got cut or something stupid and is now on the Giants, he sucks. Cantu can't play third for his life, but fantasy doesn't count fielding categories so f you. He has been mashing and batting in the middle of their order all season and has treated us to 59 r 18hr 58 rbi .291. Dempster was one of like 8 free agents after the draft who were available and with a job. He sucked last year as a closer and hasn't really had a good year starting since 2000. He's been bad this year. Bad players make the All-star team right? Somehow he is amazing; some luck in this pick but we did pick him up after he made just one start. He has been fkn amazing on the Cubbies this year and has been an anchor to our staff with a 3.05 era 1.11 whip 111k and 11 wins in 134 ip. Our staff with Volquez and Dempster breaking out to go with Haren, Oswalt who sucks hip abductor strain die kill myself, and Webb is jokingly/hysterically good.

May 10: pickup Fred Jewis for Brian Bixler
Fred has been phenomenal for us since we got him. We picked him up when he started to emerge as the Giants' starting LF, even though they bench him against lefties sometimes, he's been hitting lead off for them basically all year. He's hitting .274 with 61 runs 6 dongs 27 rbi and 17 sb. Picking up 61 runs and 17 steals off waivers in nl only is easy/bad. Ok Fred.

June 1: pickup Cody Ross for Dicksucker Hill
As May wrapped up, Ross hit 10 dingers in the month. He either started to roid (5'9" joke) or got a ridiculously hot girlfriend who serviced him before every game or something because a 10 dinger month from him was a joke. We were sort of streaming our 2nd util spot week to week and it was Ross' turn. He has started at our 2nd util ever since and has hit 6 dongs and 29 rbis for us since. He doesn't hit for great average nor does he get many runs batting 6th or 7th or wherever in the lineup but he treats some dongs and rbis for us and has been very good as our last hitter.

June 8: pickup Mike Gonzalez for Dameatfaulkerimthefattestplayerever Young
We picked up Gonzalez 10 days before his first appearance (save, eoh). We obviously didn't need another closer but our starters were all so good we had bench spots that we didn't really need to use for immediate help. Gonzalez has only 4 saves to date but we traded him soon.

June 22: claim Ubaldo Jimenez for Max Scherzer
Scherzer was starting for us probably a bit too long but he was ok in middle relief and got us some Ks so faulk you. Jimenez was streaky all year but he started to put it together in June and we felt he was worth a claim for us as we could've used another starter to replace the generally worthless Scherzer. Jimenez has K potency and has been really good for us since we grabbed him. He's got 4 quality starts in 4 tries in July and has been a skinny genius Dominican for us in our 9th pitching spot.

June 25: claim Chris Young (sd) for Charlie Morton
The guy who owned Young clearly could not afford to have one of his two valuable bench spots (only 2 bench spots in this league) taken up by him anymore. But we don't really use our bench because our team is so FKN good. We had like 8th waiver position after we just used our first claim of the year on schUbaldong though and Young didn't even have a projection as to when he would be back at this time so nobody else claimed him. Great for us. He's been sitting on our bench waiting for the coaches to put him in. He's tall and will never pitch to King Albert again, but you know what, we're FINE with that. He looks like he will be back by August and he will be at full strength to be a literal Princeton genius for us and ultimately force Ubaldo to the bench. Dunno if we'll try and trade Ubaldo as he is clearly startable in our format but we'll see. Having an extra pitcher to slide in for 2 start weeks or if guy gets hurt is a great luxury.

July 3: TRADEEEE yay Mike Gonzalez and Michael Barrett for Yadier Molina
This trade..is..a..joke. We have been getting absolutely 0 production out of Barrett and Ruiz all year. Ruiz is ok as a second catcher in nl only but as a first with Barrett is a mockery. Yadier does nothing but hit .300, which few others in the nl do. Batting average was our worst category by far so this trade fit our team perfectly. Gonzalez sucks and Barrett has never been the same since CZambrano owned him in the dugout. Highway robbery on this deal for us.

July 8: pickup KazMat for Lastings Milledge
Dunno why someone dropped Kaz the day before he came back from a 3ish week absence, but we're in a public league so some people are DUMBDUMBS. We haven't started him over Ross though because we need the hr / rbi more than the sb / r but we probably will soon because kaz is just better. Ross will join ubaldo on our bench soon and we might try and make another deal, but maybe not, because we really don't need to!

Our team is as follows: Yadier, Ruiz, Cantu, Utley, Feliz, Tejada, Bay, Bourn, Cameron, Hawpe, Lewis, CoJackson, Ross // Dempster, Haren, Webb, Oswalt, Volquez, Jimenez, Rauch, Wilson, Gregg with Kazuo and CYoung on our bench. Joke. Joke. Joke.

We have 50 of 50 pitching points. Our team era is 3.19, 2nd place is at 4.02. That's close, we're bad at era. We are up 21 Ks, kinda actually close, but our staff is genius and getting CYoung back, we will finish the season 1st in this cat. We're up 8 saves to 2nd and 25 to 3rd, that's bad, we're bad at saves. We're up 9 wins to 2nd place, our staff is bad though so we probably won't win this cat. Eoh, I'm concerned. Our whip is 1.22 while second at 1.35. Our staff is bad. 50/50 pitching in any format is ridiculous and even that much more so in nl only.

We have 31 of 50 hitting points. Middling hitting, owning pitching. We are in good shape to move up in some hitting cats, it isn't really worth noting, as the league is already over and we will win money.

I am convinced now that this exercise serves 0 utility. The only unique thing we did entering the season was draft starters early, which worked out, but without the garbage Dumpster pickup and Volquez's retarded year we would not be owning to such a degree. Again, 0 utility, but me and Alon have been up by at about 10 points since like for a long time and we wanted to treatise our team and roster moves and such. So if you hate it, I hate you, and you just wasted a couple minutes of your life. Sorry!

What's not to Kevin?

2008-07-20T18:41:00.001-07:00

I feel like in talking about the draft and such things with friends etc. Kevin Love is constantly being overlooked and underestimated. I'm not going to go into the Mayo for Love deal or anything of this sort but I do feel like Love can/will flourish in Minny given their current roster construction. I think that this kid is going to be a really special player. While I can't see Beastley not winning ROY honors this year, I do think Love will have a standout rookie campaign. I'm going to get into Love's game and how good I think he will be, which is very.
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Offense: I think that Love will be (not now, but soon) a 20/10 guy in the NBA. Offensively, his game is very unique for guys his size and one that I find it difficult to draw comparisons to. He looks a bit like a combination of Brad Miller and Carlos Boozer to me, sort of, I don't know, maybe, whatever. At 6'10", he will slide into the front court with Al Jefferson this season for Minny where he will have the benefit of being the second option down low and thus gaining the attention of the opposing teams weaker defender. He has very good range for a guy his size; he can consistently knock down a mid-range jumper. At his size, 4s and 5s will have difficulty guarding him as he faces up to the basket from 18+ feet where he is very comfortable. His post up game is also pretty good, surely he will improve it, so he can be a similar threat with his back to the basket. Practicing every day with Al Jefferson will be tremendously helpful to Love's offensive game, and most importantly, his post up game. He will log heavy minutes this season for a Minny front court that is pretty underwhelming. Craig Smith is really the only other big guy they have who figures to be in their rotation. I really like his scoring ability and I think that he will average 20 ppg in this league once he gets a year or two under his belt. Offensively, the other thing that really stands out to me, is Love's passing ability. His basketball IQ, as has been touted for a long time, is through the roof. He has tremendous court vision and is great at passing out of the post hitting cutters for lay-ups. When he is facing the basket he is always a threat to shoot, drive, or pass, something that few guys his size can boast. He will get his fair share of dimes for a big guy. He is not athletic and his offensive game is not very exciting. He's a smart kid who knows what his strengths are and offensively, I believe he will grow to be a force.

Defense: Love is pretty vulnerable on the defensive end this year. He showed difficulty at UCLA defending guys his size who were more agile and athletic; in other words, pretty much every power forward in the NBA. At 6'10", he is best suited to play the 4 in the NBA, but with Al Jefferson also at 6'10" he might be forced to play center a bit. Jefferson was a below average defender at the 5 last season for Minny and coupled with Love down low, they will have a pretty bad front court defense when these two are on the floor together. Love will probably never average 1+ steal or block per game but I do believe that he will be an average defender as he progresses. He has size, and although he is not very athletic, his basketball IQ will allow him to make adjustments on the defensive end of the floor that will play to his advantage. He looks like he can put on more muscle/convert body fat to muscle as he hits the weight room harder now in the NBA. He has good toughness and coupled with his size and smarts, I think he will be fine on D. One of his greatest strengths is his ability to rebound the basketball on the defensive end. He will, without a doubt in my mind, average 10+ rebounds per game given starters minutes. His athleticism does not lend itself for him to be a great offensive rebounder, but he actually boxes out his man on D when the ball goes up and he is great at positioning himself to grab the board. He has a nose for the ball like a Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman and shows a similar willingness to play physically and bang down low to grab the rebound. The other thing that Love does better than probably anyone else in the game even as a rookie is outlet passing. Off of defensive rebounds he never, actually never, brings the ball below his head unless he is being harassed. He pivots out and immediately looks to outlet it to the guards streaking down the sideline. He has an uncanny ability to gun outlet passes to hit his guards in stride to get the fast break going. I have never seen a player with his outlet passing ability, he looks like a QB as he often guns outlet passes off defensive rebs.

I feel like Love has a lot of intangibles, coupled with great skill, that will allow him to flourish in the NBA. His basketball IQ, to me, will allow him to cope for his athletic shortcomings. Of all the rookies this year, besides Gallinari, I am most excited to see the numbers Love puts up. I really liked him in UCLA and I think he is great fit in Minnesota. At 6'10", he has the ability to excel in so many facets of the game that others his size cannot do.

"Dolphins quarterback Josh McCown has decided to quit using chain saws, which should please his team."

2008-07-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard the news, Miami QB Josh McCown cut his finger with a f***ing CHAINSAW last week while enjoying outdoor activities with his brother, fellow gridiron LEGEND and Tampa Bay QB Luke McCown (read more).

I don't quite understand how one manages to come away from a chainsaw accident with only a "cut." I have little experience operating such machinery, but this sounds like quite the accomplishment.

McCown's injury got me thinking about other genius sports injuries that have occurred in the past. Images of Bill Gramatica tearing his ACL during a field goal celebration and Joel Zumaya straining his arm from playing "Symphony of Destruction" on expert in Guitar Hero immediately came to mind, but YES there are more amazing tales.

I did some "research" and found this fantastic article that chronicles some of the best sports injuries of our time: The dumbest injuries in sports.

Some noteworthies from the article: Marty Cordova, Moises Alou (article says "after running over his son" and doesn't say with what, but I read on another site that it was with a bicycle, YES MOISES), John Smoltz, and Wade Boggs.

Reading such stories is always refreshing and makes me happy to know that despite their amazing on-the-field accomplishments, athletes are in reality just dumb-asses like myself (Note: I once ran face first into a brick wall on a fly route, leaving me with a bloody face and a fractured wrist. First thing everyone asked me was whether I held onto the football or not. Sadly, the play was recorded as just another dropped pass on my stat line).

Oh and if you were concerned for Joshua, don't worry. His cut healed just fine and he's ready for training camp.

A treatise on the Pittsburgh Pirates

2008-07-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been rebuilding every year for as long as I can remember. As the second half gets underway, they are, surprise!, bad, again. They are six games under .500 without the slightest chance of making the playoffs let alone finishing the season with more wins than losses. It really is too bad at how incredibly inept Pirate management has been as this is a great baseball town. The fans have been anxiously waiting to see a competitive team at PNC Park for years now. There is no quick fix for this team, unfortunately, and the future looks very bleak.

This is a small market team - 27th in the league in payroll - and when small market teams are managed poorly and unable to cultivate minor league talent, the results are catastrophic. There is no quick fix for a small market team when they have had many consecutive years of prospect fails: Sean Burnett, John Van Benschoten, Bryan Bullington, and Paul Maholm were the Pirates' 1st round draft picks, all starting pitchers, from years 2000-2003. This represents just a glimpse of the grave problem the Pirates have had in developing talent within. Small market teams that are successful like the Twins, As, and now Rays, are competitive when they are able to bring up several of their prospects to the bigs at the same time. The Marlins come to mind executing this flawlessly with their last world series title. They won with basically lots of homegrown players who peaked at the same time. A small market team like the Pirates as currently situated, with such a thin minor league system, coupled with their weak major league roster, simply cannot compete anytime soon. They must extensively restock and replenish their system in hopes of having several prospects pan out, bring them up, and get some years of production while they are still under arbitration.

The only real bright spot in this organization is their young outfield core which will emerge, hopefully as soon as next year, in Pearce-McClouth-McCutchen. Catcher Ryan Doumit also figures into their plans for the future as he is putting together a monster, and relatively injury-free season. Outside of this, they are an absolute mess. After they blew up their roster in '07, they need to face the hard fact that they need to do it again. Their staff, which seemed on the cusp of breaking through after last season, has regressed horribly (like, really, really bad, and probably to the point of no return). The Pirates have just flat out not produced a top of the rotation pitcher out of their farm system in a really long time. Their starting pitching has been utterly horrible year in and year out, and if a cause of their laughing stock status must be pinpointed, this would be it.
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Hitting, what to do, we are bad, etc.

Before I get into the pitching I just want to address two things. 1: their infield is a fkn mockery joke are you serious and 2: if Bay AND (not OR) Nady are in Pirate uniforms after the trade deadline, it would be a serious blow for the future of this club.

Infield: Ok, Adam LaRoche is grossly overpaid for what he does, which is basically strike out, hit a couple solo dongs, and suck. Their middle infield rotation of Luis Rivas/Jack Wilson/Freddy Sanchez/Chris Gomez is ridiculously bad and none can hit; AAA pitching would probably own them and they all belong in AA, I have decided. Sanchez, one time NL batting champion, is batting .226 who in 358 abs has 18 (!!!!!!!) extra base hits, and they have been batting the guy 2nd in their lineup (!!!!!) virtually all season. Bautista is incapable of playing every day at the hot corner, he is just bad. What's worse, the Pirates have no real infield prospects who are close to being ready to contribute. The only infield position they have locked up for the future is 3b with 2008 2nd overall pick Pedro Alverez likely to be a big time player. There is no real solution for their infield. They will not go out and sign a bunch of guys, as they don't spend money, and they don't really have any strong internal solutions. We'll see what they get when (if, ugh) they deal Nady and Bay, as their infield is a glaring problem.

Outfield: Their current outfield of Nady-McClouth-Bay is outstanding and has been a solid, productive aspect of the team this year. But, as a team, they suck and are going nowhere. Nady and Bay are two of their top hitters, but are too old and do not in any way fit into the rebuilding plan the Pirates must once more/continue to undergo. This team absolutely must deal them both. Bay and Nady are in high demand as there are a plethora of teams in contention who could use either of their bats and the Pirates have GOT to deal them both. I cannot stress this enough, clearly. Unfortunately, these are probably the only two hitters (sans Doumit and McClouth - untouchables) who the Pirates would be able to get value (read: anything) for. Fortunately, the Bucs fired former GM Dave Littlefield, the same Littlefield who thought Matt Morris (horrible, not a league average pitcher, making a truckload of money, so many deficiencies I can go on forever) would save the Pirates in '07, has been axed. First year GM Neal Huntington, hopefully, will understand that the current roster construction is absolutely horrible, that their minor league system is thin, at best, and must be replenished. Reports out now have been saying Huntington is asking for a blue chip prospect for Bay and Nady, which he will not get, but at least he is actively shopping around. Hopefully, he will not remain stubborn at his unattainable asking price and take the best offer of minor league prospects for both these guys. Again, the Pirates already have their future corners in McCutchen and Pearce eagerly waiting a chance for regular at bats.

Pitching: 2008 Staff, what could have been and what sadly is

Coming into this season, the Pirates looked like a potential sleeper team. Their top four starters in Snell-Gorzy-Maholm-Duke were all very young, Snell the oldest at 25. All were with considerable upside as each have flashed a significant amount ability at one point or another in their careers. But, they have all (except for Maholm, kind of) have badly sucked this year. They are all still very young, so a correction is possible, but it is not prudent for the Pirates to wait and see if they are all able to turn it around. The staff, as currently constructed, is not reliable. It is similarly not one on which to build upon for the future. The Pirates need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

Ian Snell: The Pirates were hoping to have Snell emerge as the staff ace this year following his breakout 2007 season. In just his second full season in the bigs, Snell put up a 3.76/1.33 last year with 177 Ks in 208 innings. Entering his third full season, where pitchers often break through to that next level, it has been a forgettable year for Snelly. He has completely lost touch of his pitches; his control has been a huge problem for him all year long. In 94 innings this year, he has allowed 55 walks to just 71 strikeouts while allowing 125 hits. His era is 5.92 and his whip is 1.91(!). He needs to be sent down to the minors so he can get his delivery worked out and get his head back on straight. This guy is a tough competitor, but very hard headed. He wants to compete and he wants to win, badly. He has great fire and a good makeup, I really like this guy. He is still just 25, and his stuff is electric, but he can just as easily continue this downward spiral as he can realign his mechanics and continue pitching as he did last year. It looks to me, now, that he will not materialize as a staff anchor. But he can be a capable #2 starter in the bigs if he fixes his shit, and I have the most faith in him in turning it around compared to the rest of the rotation.

Tom Gorzelanny: Coming into this season, the club was hoping that Gorzy would pitch at the top of this rotation forming a good lefty-righty combo with Snell. However, he has managed to pitch even worse than Snell this year, leaving the future of this rotation further in doubt. Gorzy, in his first full season in the bigs, had a breakout campaign in 2007. The southpaw threw a 3.89/1.40 in 201 innings. He's not a big strikeout guy but he gave up just 18 dongs and is very good at managing the game with the stuff he's got. This season, however, Gorzelanny has been a total disaster. He has recently been demoted to AAA, something you have got to think is coming soon for Snell, in order to try and get back on track. This year in 87 ip he has an era of 6.57 (!) and whip of 1.83 (!!). His '05 and '06 minor league numbers are impressive; he compiled a 1.24 whip at AA ball and .98 whip at AAA ball, respectively. He also pitched well after his promotion to the bigs in '06 and followed through with another solid year in '07. Hopefully, Gorzelanny will be able to fix himself now that he is back down in the minors and be able to return to the rotation before years end. But, his stuff is not overpowering and he is more of a game manager than a stud. He relies on deception and changing speeds to get hitters out and his whip has been a bit high for his era in the majors. He looks to me as a middle of the rotation guy, at best, providing he gets his stuff turned around in his current minor league stint.

Paul Maholm: Maholm has been pitching well this year to the tune of a 3.93/1.29. This may be sustainable, and these numbers are that of a #3 or #4 starter in the national league. But a correction closer to his body of work is more likely, I suspect. In his first full season in '06 he finished up the year with a 4.76 era and 1.61 whip in 171 innings. In 2007, he finished with a 5.03 era and 1.43 whip. He is not a big strikeout guy, and his minor league numbers are not overly impressive. He is a #5 starter based on the numbers he compiled in '06 and '07, and that is where I believe he is best suited in a major league rotation. He is not a guy to build a rotation around by any means and going into the year he had less expectation to perform as Snell and Gorzy were both expected to continue their maturation process. Maholm is, however, capable, but I do not believe he is any type of answer to their rotation woes in the long term.

Zach Duke: Duke is in many ways an embodiment of the struggles the Pirates have faced when trying to put together their rotation. He was their top minor league prospect in 2005 after putting up stunning numbers in AAA: 108 ip, 2.92/1.21. He got called up that same year and dominated major league hitters in the second half: 84 ip, 1.82/1.21. He then proceeded to completely forget how to pitch. He was worse than league average in his sophomore season in 2006 and even worse in 2007 before injury cut his season short. In 2008, back to full health, Duke was slotted in as the #4 starter but has pitched more like a #5 so far: 110 ip, 44:33 k:bb, 4.40/1.58. He is 25, still young, but has clearly shown a disconcerting drop off since his stellar 2005 breakout. Now 3 years removed, there is no reason to believe that he will come even remotely close to duplicating those numbers. He does not strike guys out, a 44:33 k to bb is absolutely atrocious, and it seems like his career in the bigs may be coming to an unfortunate, and early, end. Once with such a bright future, Duke has since struggled mightily.

This team is f***ed, eoh

The staff is currently a mess. All their guys have pitched pretty poorly and the future looks very uncertain. To make matters worse for the Pirates, they really have just one prospect who projects into their rotation in the near future, and not a very good one at that. Brad Lincoln, a first round selection by the Pirates in 2006, projects to be just a middle of the rotation guy. The Pirates spent their 48th overall pick on hard throwing starter Tanner Scheppers, but he is a rook, unproven, and will require seasoning in the minors.

The future is dim for the Pirates. After a half season in the books, their staff is bad. I also do not think it will not get much better in the near future. Their outfield will be very good in 2010 after, hopefully, Pearce and McCutchen have a year under their belts. It is impossible to predict what their infield will look like as they need to do a complete personnel overhaul at 1b, 2b, SS, and 3b. It looks like they only have one internal replacement at 3b in Alverez, so it remains to be seen how good, or more likely bad, their IF will be. Their pitching prospects are pretty miserable and they don't have any guys with top of the rotation upside in their system. All of the above reasons illustrate why they absolutely must trade Bay and Nady and get whatever prospects they can out of them. This team will not be competing until, minimum, 2011, if even by then. Hang in there Pirates' fans :\

Treater's Fantasy Preview Part 1: QB's

2008-07-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

If you’ve been hearing a soft, earthquake like rumbling that’s been steadily increasing in sound over the past few days, it’s because NFL training camps are about to begin (in almost a week!!), and the sound is the collective blood of every football fan in the country slowly, but surely, filling their soon to be erect penises. The beginning of training camp is like Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/the day you got your first blowjob all rolled into one meta-orgasmic experience. The excitement is boundless, from getting a chance to see your brand spanking new free agent signees in your team’s colors for the first time, to catching the first glimpse of your first round draft pick studs and late round sleepers with troubled pasts. That being said, once the rumbling starts, its officially time to start thinking about fantasy football (unless you’re NUTS and have been thinking about it since the day after the super bowl like I have). Talking about fantasy before training camps have even started is a little tricky because a lot can happen between then and the start of the season. The safest place to start is quarterback, however, because the only qb’s you’d want starting for your team are ones that have their jobs locked up by this point anways…so on with the rankings:
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THE BRADY TIER-abundant weapons and skill with no risk

1. Tom Brady: draft him whenever possible.

TIER TWO-many weapons and skill on offense with few questions and extremely low risk--you can’t go wrong

2.. Drew Brees: New Orleans didn’t do anything in free agency or during the draft to improve their offense; however, their O could be better by additions made from within. Deuce tore his ACL early last year and, if healthy, will be a tremendous help to what was a pathetic running game last year. This will additionally take some pressure off Brees and Colston. Speaking of Colston, the Saints only have the uninspiring duo of Devery Henderson and David Patten behind him, but they also have 2007 first round pick Robert Meacham who looked uninterested last year before suffering a season ending injury. He will come back healthy this year but only training camp will tell if he’s more prepared and focused. If Meacham and Deuce can contribute anything than the offense can be ridic again. Good news for Brees, who despite all the instability on offense last year, still threw for more (barely) yards than in '06, finishing with 4,428, good enough for 2nd behind Darth Vader. Brees is a pretty safe pick to stay healthy, throw for well over 4,000 yards, and toss around 30 touchdowns. I feel like he’s slightly safer than Romo (only 2nd full year starting) and Peyton (injuries) but has considerably less upside than either of those two.

3. Tony Romo: The Cowboys lost one starter out of 22 this offseason, Julius Jones, and that is a clear case of addition by subtraction. They have an elite receiver in T.O., in Witten they have the best all around TE in the league, they have a very good running back tandem in MBIII and rookie Felix Jones, and, most importantly, they have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. On top of that, they have one of the best young offensive minds in football as their Offensive Coordinator, Jason Garrett, with a QB that he LOVES. Yes, there are questions about their second receiver, but, to say the least, they did fine last year with Crayton being their third option (behind T.O. and Witten). As if Romo needed any more red zone targets, Wade and Co. added the 6’7” 2nd round pick TE Martellus Bennett, who is a HUGE target that could see very little attention on an offense with so many weapons. Romo has some of the most dynamic talent surrounding him, but he also knows how to take advantage, as he threw for 4211 and 36 in 07. When drafting Romo, there is slight risk in that he hasn’t proven himself over many years like Brady, Brees, and Peyton, but his upside is as high as any QB’s this year.

4. Peyton Manning: Peyton will likely go second at the QB position in the vast majority of fantasy drafts, but that doesn’t mean that you should take him there. I had him as the second ranked QB before news of his injury surfaced yesterday (sure, he‘s never missed a start in his career, but doesn’t that most likely have to end eventually, and he is getting older…), and that news, coupled with the questionable status of Marvin Harrison, who is 36 years old, missed most of 07, and is recovering from offseason knee surgery (titods), is enough to make me think that Peyton won’t finish the year as the second best fantasy QB (he was 4th last year too). As far as Harrison is concerned, the Colts appear confident that he can return and be productive (but are you willing to trust them after toying with Marvin‘s status for most of last season?), and most of the evidence for that stems from the fact that they waited until the 6th round to draft a receiver (Pierre Garcon out of Mt. Union…uhhh). The only problem with this theory is that no team thought any of the receivers in this draft were of a first round caliber, while most of the good ones were gone by the end of rd. 2, when they picked again. Even without Marvin, we all know that they have Reggie (1500 and 10 in 07), 2007 first round pick Anthony Gonzalez, who should improve upon his 576 yard, 3 TD rookie campaign, and Dallas Clark, who had more touchdowns than RW last year with 11. Add all that up and Peyton still threw for 4,039 and 31 last year without the Martian, so even the possibility of Marvin treating for them is enough to make most owners think that Peyton is the second safest pick at qb in fantasy.

TIER THREE-still many weapons on offense but either less skill (Anderson) or more questions (Palmer, Ben). All very startable with low risk.

5. Carson Palmer: After this initial group, most drafts will not see another QB drafted for a few rounds, and, while Carson has the potential to be in the second tier, he also comes with much more risk. That risk starts with Chad and T.J.’s general unhappiness, but, as long as they’re on the team, Carson has enough weapons and skill to post 4000+ and 25+. The addition of Ben Utecht could also be significant, as he’s a large 6’6” target in the red zone and could replace some of Chris Henry’s production there.

6. Ben Roethlisberger: Big Benjamin got a lot of help in this years draft, as Pittsburgh added two of my favorites in RB Rashard Mendenhall and WR Limas Sweed. He only threw for 3,158 yards but had 32 TD’s (much to the chagrin of Fast Willie owners). Santonio Spurs Holmes emerged as a legitimate #2, red zone fav, and eventual successor to old man, Hines Ward, who‘s age is showing due to the fact that his numbers are steadily decreasing, while his games missed are increasing. Two things I don’t like about Ben this year: first, their o-line took a huge hit when they lost Faneca. Secondly, the Steelers love to run and will do so plenty again in 08 with the addition of Mendenhall, and BB won’t have the number of attempts as any of the other guys ahead of him. He doesn’t, however, make many mistakes with those attempts and should find the end zone 30+ times, possibly making him more attractive in leagues that are more TD centered than guys like Carson and Brees.

7. Derek Anderson: The Browns’ o-line is SICK, the best in the NFL, and that makes super scrub Derek Anderson’s life soooo much easier. They didn’t really do shit in the draft due to lack of picks (thank bench warmer Brady Quinn for that), but they made up for it (or at least tried to) in FA. Their Defense still saulks, so (like last year) they should be in a lot of shootouts, meaning that Derek will have plenty of opportunities to throw to his studly supporting cast of Kellen and Braylon, two of the best in the NFL at their positions. Their depth behind Braylon is solid too, as journeyman Stallworth will provide the already potent offense with even more speed and will allow Jurevicius (once he returns from the injury that might cause him to miss the first game or two of the season) to play almost exclusively in the slot where Anderson can better take advantage of his size.

TIER FOUR-the studs are gone, but these guys should be solid.

8. Matt Hasselbeck: This spot might as well be named Mike Holmgren, as his west coast offense is the reason that Hasselbeck, with his generally pathetic supporting cast, will still be a top-10 QB in 08. Seattle hasn’t done much this offseason to help Hasseldick either; in fact, their offense has gotten slightly worse on paper. They lost the injury prone D.J. Hackett and might not have Deion Brach (coming off of ACL surgery) for much, if any, of the season. Their number one wideout is Bobby (ugh) Engram, the 35 year old, formerly worthless WR, who had a good season last year, mainly due to lots of injuries at the position and an absolute joke of a running game, which forced Seattle to throw the ball 562 times, fifth most in the NFL. Expect them to be forced to throw the ball a lot again this year, as Julius Jones will have another year to prove that he’s not good enough to be a starter in the NFL. Many attempts for Matt means many completions, and Julius won’t be scoring many TD’s (Duckett might get a few) so expect Seattle to find the end zone mainly through the air. Besides Jones, the only other significant addition to their offense was the uninspiring/worthless TE John Carlson, the former Notre Dame basketball/football player drafted early in round two, who is more of a blocking TE…the second coming of the great Anthony Fasano, anyone?

9. Eli Manning: So are we going to see playoff Eli or regular season Eli in 08? I’m guessing that we’ll see something in between. The Giants have a good o-line and a good, but injury prone, running game. Luckily, they have quality depth at the position, (recently unjailed Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward) so they can semi-afford for all to have 90+ INJ. The problem with them, as far as Eli’s stats go, is that really only Ward (who should be third string unless Bradshaw gets suspended) catches many balls out of the backfield. Another risk involved here is that there is still no guarantee that Shockey comes back. If he does, and the Giants run a lot of two tight end sets with him and Boss, then Eli will have plenty of opportunities to extend drives with his big, talented TE’s. At WR, there is also reason to be optimistic with Plax and Amani, followed by their young guns in Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss, along with veteran David Tyree. Eli has some quality weapons surrounding him, and he should have increased confidence; now, lets see if superstar Eli shows up more this season than Eli-face.

10. Philip Rivers: Injuries with Rivers and the Chargers are the main concern here. Firstly, LT is coming off of a torn MCL that didn’t require surgery, and he should be fiiiiiiiiiiine to start the season, while missing the pre-season as per usual. Gates’ outlook is not as promising, as he is coming off of foot surgery, which could cause him to miss the beginning of the season (camp will tell). Next, Rivers himself is coming off of a torn ACL that also required surgery; however, from all reports out of San Diego, he will also be fine and will play in the pre-season. The last injury that is a concern is to C Nick Hardwick, who is also coming off of offseason knee surgery. He will miss at some of the beginning of the season, and his absence could disrupt what is otherwise a very good o-line (when he missed time in 07, their offense struggled). Besides injury concerns, team wide, there’s a lot to like about Rivers. Norv Turner is a very good coach for QB’s and will continue to help develop his young whippersnapper. Vincent Jackson had a disappointing 07, but stepped it up in the playoffs big time (2 TD’s and 3 games of at least 93 yards), so could be bound for a breakout '08, as something might have clicked chemistry-wise between those two. Chris "One in the" Chambers "Wu Tang Banger" will also have a full offseason and training camp to get adjusted to the Bolt’s offense and Turner‘s system, which should help him be able to contribute more this year. Rivers and the his offense will have lots of weapons, and he should put up around 3,500 and 20+.

TIER FIVE-high upside guys with more risk-these are the guys you can get for pennies on the dollar in later rounds that win you leagues.

11. Aaron Rodgers: I just want to start this off by saying that I LOVE AARON RODGERS…LOVE. What’s not to love, really? I’m fully aware of the situation going on in Green Bay, and, if a certain someone comes back and screws things up, then obviously disregard this. But until then, Rodgers is the man, and there are many reasons for my love. Firstly, I believe that Rodgers took the perfect path to becoming a starting QB in the NFL. We all remember his draft day slide in '05 when he fell to the Pack at 24th overall (the Packers have a history of taking good QB’s in drafts only to trade them because Favre is so good and durable--examples, Hasselbeck, Brunell), much to his embarrassment. Instead of rushing him into the starting lineup, Rodgers carried a clip board for three years (like Romo) and learned the tricks of the trade from one of the greatest QB’s in NFL history (like Steve Young with Montana). He has spent the last 3 years preparing, studying, and readying himself physically and mentally for the job that would eventually be his. We saw Rodgers for the first time against Dallas last year, and he was impressive to say the least, nearly leading the Packers back from a 20 point deficit and looking better than Favre in doing it. Also, the Pack run a west coast offense (a cash register sound should have just gone off in your head), which they won’t change much because of him, meaning that he’ll still throw plenty. Secondly, he inherits a bevy of weapons and one of the most solid receiving corps in the NFL: Donald Driver (over a thousand yards last season), Greg Jennings (920 and 12), and James Jones (676 yds in 07). They also have one of the top ten backs in the league in Ryan Grant, which means that, if teams try to stuff the box against Ryan, (not a good idea, as he is very capable of getting to the second level quickly and breaking away for 6) then Rodgers will have even more space to pick them apart. If you don’t buy into my optimism for Rodgers, then believe the Packers, who are ready to tell Favre to shove it, so that they can keep Rodgers happy. They must not think that they’ll miss much of a beat with him in there, and neither do I.

12. David Garrard: He was one of the most efficient QB’s in the league last year, finishing 3rd in QB rating, and the Jags did a decent amount to make his life easier this year, although they mainly focused on finding new ways to get to Peyton on the other side of the ball. Their additions pertinent to Garrard were Jerry Porter from Oak and Troy Williamson from Minn, both of whom should be able to stretch the field more for David and allow him to work. He will also benefit from most defenses trying to stop the dynamic MJD and the perennially UNDERrated Fred Taylor. A few things going against Garrard, besides his relatively few amount of weapons, are the fact that Jax loves to run, and that they won’t be behind much or in many shootouts (amazing defense), which both mean that he’ll see fewer attempts than probably every other guy on this list (as a team they finished 27th last year).

13. Donovan McNabb: I doubt that I’ll be drafting McNabb in any leagues of mine this year, and, if you plan on doing it, then make sure that you have a viable back up plan because you will need it at one point or another. That is just the reality of McNabb; he is an injury waiting to happen (it doesn’t help that a quarter of his games this year are against the Giants’ and the Cowboys’ front sevens). On top of this, he really doesn’t have many viable weapons outside of Brian Westbrook, as his top receivers are Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, and Jason Avant ( :/ ). L.J Smith is pretty much a mock and will continue not to do much for them next year either. Despite all this, McNabb will still find a way to produce, when healthy, and his 10-14 games will be good enough to make you respectable at the QB position. This negative nancy outlook will be dead wrong if (despite the 1:1,000,000,000,000 odds) he can stay healthy and be healthy (has he been since '04? Or is it T.O leaving that really faulked him?) because McNabb is till one of the top 5 most talented QB’s in the league, and his upside is as such.

14. Jon Kitna: If I could start a “franchise” and could chose any WR in the league, I’d take Calvin Johnson first, based on his age, size, speed, attitude, and, in general, amazingness. It’s not fair to him (or Roy Williams) that their QB is the spare-ass Jon-with-no-h (eoh) Kitna, but such is life. I also like their slot receiver Shaun McDonald, who was very good year last year (943 and 6). They added another of my favorite backs, Kevin Smith, the NCAA rushing leader, in the draft in round 3, which should be a solid replacement of the oft injured Kevin Jones. The Lions passing offense won’t be AS nuts this year, as it was last year because Martzanity has gone to browner pastures in San Fran. You still have to like Kitna, however, because you know that he’ll get you yards and touchdowns (unfortunately just as many pics) with his extremely capable WR corps.

15. Vince Young: I feel bad for my boy because the Titans are asking him to build a house but only giving him sticks and leaves to do so. His two best receivers are former Tulane great Roydell Williams and Justin Gage….ugh. There aren’t many QB’s in this league that could make that puppy sing. The help that did offer, however, will be good enough to improve his sub par numbers from last year (9 TD’s and 17 picks, its okay if you just vomited a little in your mouth), as they added Justin McCareins (who careins) but, more importantly, Alge Crumpler, who in his last season with Vick had 780 and 8. This dude is a large target, something that mobile QB’s like Vinny Chase need, because they need a place to dump the ball when they’re running around like a chicken with its head cut off. With him and Scaife, VY at least has some large, semi-skilled TE’s who can take some pressure off of his terrible WR’s. They also added the speedy RB Chris Johnson in the first round of the draft to compliment LenFatestMostWorthlessBackInTheNFL, which could turn into another receiving option for VY. Bottom line is: don’t draft Vince thinking that he’ll be capable of being your starter. Draft him late, after getting someone more dependable, and use him as trade bait later on, it he pans out, because he has considerable upside.

Is A-Rod Human?

2008-07-16T13:43:00.001-07:00

When I began conceiving this post I wasn't sure whether I was seriously Pro or Anti-AROD. Ok, clearly a lie...I love the man. BUT, as blog psychologist, I must simply assess the issue at hand in a firmly objective fashion.

By definition, A God Complex is a psychological state of mind in which a person believes that they have supernatural powers or god-like abilities.

Clearly A-Rod doesn't merely "believe" he has supernatural powers....He KNOWS he does.

Therefore, by my estimations, A-Rod IS GOD, and this is a completely unbiased fact.

Now, we all know this immortal being well enough that I don't have to go over his pre-legendary life. However, not many of you know his ex-wife--Cynthia Rodriguez.

Cynthia is clearly a tramp. While she recently divorced our modern-day Caesar, she clearly didn't understand that maintaining a relationship with a legendary baseball player requires a few lessons she could have easily learned from her good friend, Madonna.

First, and most importantly, as A-rods wife, you CANNOT drink the water of mere mortals. You MUST DRINK THIS:

Kabbalah Water and/or ENERGY DRINK

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Now, understandly, given the plethora of H2O brands, this is only a minor mistake by Cynthia. Fortunately, A-Rod gives all his women three strikes.

See, Alex is a busy man. In fact for him, workin' the "hot corner" gets less steamy every day he CAN'T get down with his fair-skinned sagsack. As such, it is important to send him subtle messages of the sexual nature while his highness battles teams in far away lands such as San Diego, Seattle, and even Elijah Dukes' hometown of Tampa Bay.

More importantly, when Daddy gets home from a long road trip, it is necessary to support him to the FULLEST:

EPIC FAIL, Cynthia.

For those of you who can't make that out, her shirt says FUCK YOU. Not a way to get the juices flowin'. Madonna, on the other hand, has her shit on lockdown:

I don't think I even NEED to show you the Britney Spears one - it's probably too much girl-on-girl to handle in one sitting.

In any case, fantasizing is a huge part of any baseball players daily routine. It doesn't matter whether you're Sidney Ponson and primarily fantasize about fat Bermudan chicks, or you're just Paul Lo Duca and settle for a nice Abigail Breslin-type...Madonna's contributions to betterment of Alex's life at third base are CLEAR. Two strikes for Cynthia "C-Rod" Scurtis.

Rule number three for maintaining a relationship with A-Rod is quite self-evident...Whatever you do, DO NOT LOOK DUMBER than Johnny Damon's wife:

Okay, so you passed that test. Maybe there's still hope for you yet, Cynthia Rodriguez. Divorces are a lengthy process, but if A-Rod continues hitting .136 since you dropped the D-Bomb on him, he will probably strike you dead via lightning bolt before the next Yanks-Sox series.

We Play Fantasy Too!!!!!!!! (part 1 of 2)

2008-07-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ha! F*** you Rollins.

Anywayssssss.

Co-writer Walsh and I co-own a CBS NL-only 10 team roto money league team (2 C, 1b, 2b, 3b, ss, 5 OF, 2 UTIL, 9 P) and as we sit here at the All-Star Break, we are in first with 82.5 of the 100 possible points and the second place team is sitting at 72.5 pts.

The reason for this post is not only to boast about Walsh and I's dominance this season but also to highlight some of our best and worst decisions. We will analyze our draft strategy, current status and everything in between. We want to put ourselves on the map, we're human (heeeeeeeeeeeeeyoooouuuuummmmaaaaaannnnnn) too (ro-bot) and make mistakes. And so now it beings with Walsh writing the draft strategy and me writing the rest. Enjoy...

Draft Strategy:
Year In and year out fantasy baseball pundits say largely the same thing: draft hitting in the early rounds and target sleeper pitchers starting around the sixth round. In years past of my doing fantasy baseball, I have always followed this strategy with tremendous success, I generally never THINK of pitchers for the first bunch of rounds. This year, however, when examining the NL-Only player pool, Alon and I noticed that there was an unusual depth of hitters. We similarly noticed the lack of depth at starting pitching. We saw lots of sleeper hitters we loved and not a whole lot of sleeper pitchers, which is something that neither of us have ever encountered. As such, we decided that we were going to put a heavy emphasis in the early rounds on starting pitching over hitting. I've never drafted pitchers so early before, but it seemed to us the most logical thing to do this year. You will see how this unfolded when Alon talks about the draft.
In mixed leagues, we both never, ever, under any circumstance draft closers early, but in NL-only, and AL-only, for that matter, you have to do whatever is necessary to grab 2+ in the draft. This strategy should *only and always* be for public leagues where it is sososo hard to trade. We didn't want to have to rely on trades to try and middle in the saves category.
So, basically, get a good base of our pitching staff early, and get as many of our sleeper hitters that we targeted during the mid-later rounds as best we could. Also, react to closer runs and get at least two. Continue ahead for Alon's draft coverage, transactions and such.

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The Draft:
We had 8th pick. Going in we were thinking, oooooookkkkkk, lets take Santana if available and if not we'll have to see. Santana of course goes the pick right before us so we'll make what turns out to be an extremely easy selection with the best second basemen in baseball: Chase Utley. Next pick we are thinking hopefully Peavy, who ended up getting taken three picks later, so we go with the next best pitcher available and that is Brandon Webb. Things are looking shfine. Again, we want to stack heavy on the starters so for the next bunch of picks until ours, we're eyeing guys like Haren, Zambrano and Hamels.

At pick 28, hello Dan Haren. Simple pick... On a side note CBS has this funny thing where you can see how long each pick took you... Webb took us 10 seconds and Haren took us 12 seconds. Hah. Anyway. Next pick is a surprise one, a starter! Yay! Fool. Ok so Zambrano got taken 23rd so some guys left are Hamels (who goes next pick), Harang (who goes the pick before us) or who we ended up with at 33: Roy Oswalt (Roy O by the way has finally stepped his s*** up in June and now has at least decent numbers).

At this point in the draft we started getting a little lulululu concerned. There had only been eight starters taken in total and we had three of them, which means that exactly every other team in the draft is going way heavy on hitting and if someone plays their cards just right they might be able to take all pitchers they like a little later on in the draft and also have a super stacked lineup. We had to now start taking some hitters.

I remember during the draft we wanted Francoeur (thank god we didn't get him) but he got taken two picks before us so we ended up with our fourth rated shortstop (behind obviously Reyes, Hanley and Rollins who can be seen above ahhaha) Miguel Tejada. How good did we feel with our Tejada pick at the beginning of the season when he hit .339 with 4 dongs and 22 RBIs in April and .291 with 2 dongs and 15 RBIs in May, I'll tell you how good... Genius f****** amazingly good. Unfortunately since then he has been in a bigbig slump, but he is too good a hitter to keep slumping so I expect a good second half from him. Buy low? Yep.
Next pick Brad Hawpe who was a nightmare in April and May, even to the point where they were platooning him but, welcome back sir... In June Hawpey hit .316 with 8 dingers and 17 RBIs. We. Are. Fine.

Following Mr. Hawpe, some guys we liked passed us by. Smoltz, Maine, Gonzo, Glaus but we made an instinct draft-day move which led to possibly our best pick of the draft at 68: Jason Bay (.287, 19 dongs, 53 rbis, 6 sb) followed by probably our worst pick of the draft Rich Hill at 73 who I'm embarrassed to say we took over, Billingsley, Lincecum, Waintwright, Cain... yeah yeah yeah, kill me, worst pick ever, we are retarded, whatever, we're owning everyone and our 8th round pick is pitching decently in rookie ball... Blow me.

So at this stage we're still feeling very content with our staff anchors considering the rest of the leagues pitching is evenly spread out, so everybody is thin, as expected. We needed some thievery and with some other speedsters already gone, we took Michael Bourn at 88. We loved Bourn going into the season and although his average is junk, he's provided us with the steals we needed (and now we're gonna trade him but thats a whole different story).

Nothing too exciting happened during our next two picks. There was a closer run so we ended up snagging Kevin Gregg and Brian Wilson who have been getting the job done for us.

Going into the season I had a complete love affair with Carlos Ruiz who ended up being our next pick, but that hasn't worked out at ALL, he sucks. Here's what I'll do to redeem myself... I'm going to guarantee that next year if given the chance to play, Ruiz is the sleeper catcher of the year. God damnit. He's so good. Just not this year, which sucks for us.

Next pick Conor Jackson at 128 who we both LOVED going into the season and he's been our boy all year hitting .300 with 8 dongs, 47 RBIs and 6 steals. That was followed up by another horrible catcher pick Ronny Paulino... So as of right now we still needed a 3B, some more OF and some more pitching and we had eight picks left to do it. Next pick: Pedro Feliz.

Feliz started off a little bit slow in April but his first half totals are looking good at .270, 12 dongs and 45 RBIs. He was another sleeper genius that we both loved based mostly on the Phillies' ballpark and lineup versus San Fran's weesh. And yeah, sleeping on him has been paying off.

We still really needed an OF because at this point in the draft it was SOSOSO thin so we ended up snagging up Mike Cameron with our next pick even though he was suspended for the first 25 games. Since his return his average is doodie at .231 but for 216 ABs he's given us a very nice 14 dingers, 35 rbis and 8 steals so it ended up being a brilliant pick this late (153rd pick overall).

There was pretty much only horse manure left at this point except for some serious sleepers of ours so our next three picks we all dropped very, very quickly... Anthony Reyes, Jose A. Bautisa and Jim Edmonds. And you know what, f*** the Cubs and f*** Jim Edmonds.

Ok. NOW. Take back everything I said about Bay being anything close to our best pick in the draft because to my extreme pleasure at pick 193 overall, round 20, we landed the NL ERA leader Edinson Volquez. Hahahahahahaha! Yes Volquez, you own. Except in the all-star game! Eoh. Damnit. Fine. Relax.

Ok. Final two picks: Kevin Frandsen, JOKE, and Brian Fuentes who was also dropped almost immediately...

In the second and final post of this "series" I will go over our insanely good transactions of the course of this season, how we climbed to the top and where we are headed. I'll see ya there!

Clips get former defensive player of the year for free! Popovich proceeds to lose his mind

2008-07-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

I looked extremely foolish after the Clippers post I made in the hours after BD signed and before EB jumped ship the the Sixers. But, the Clippers have just sent a second round pick to the Nuggets for Camby. I have been redeemed. I am now safely able to resume my love for the Clips. Using the cap space provided by the Brand departure, the Clips were able to take on the entirety of Camby's contract. It's quite a good one too. Camby's making $10 mill this year and next. It will be expiring in 2010, along with the bad Tim Thomas and Cuttino contracts. I hear there are going to be some good players hitting the market that summer... So this gives the Clips a 2 year window with a very competitive roster until 2010 when they will be able to reassess and retool as they see fit once *significantly* under the cap. Good work Clips!

I believe that Camby is the best player the Clips could have conceivably gotten to replace Brand. I was stunned when I saw this headline, as there were no rumors of this deal in the works that I saw, and I am left simply scratching my head. First of all, the Nuggets, I have no idea what they are doing here. They are still over the cap even with Camby's contract off the books, so this deal did not enable them to throw money at any free agents. Unless they have some way tricky thing that I don't know about in the works, this deal makes no sense for them. They do free up a $10 million trade exception, so this may very well be the case. However, in the immediate aftermath, this is devastating news for the Nugget fanbase- they now suck. They are immediately dropped from playoff contention and will not be competitive this year in the West. Iverson is aging, I think, even though it doesn't seem like it. Melo will be upset. Things are not ok in Nuggetland.
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On the flip side of this, for the Nuggets, it is abundantly clear to anyone that has watched basketball over the last two seasons that their team as constructed was never going to break into the top tier of the West. Their core of Iverson-Melo-Camby was only good enough to be a one and done playoff team, obviously. I do believe that they needed to make the hard, but correct, decision to somehow blow up the team. I do, however, believe they could have done better than this.

Now, what this means for LAC. I have been quietly lamenting/brooding over Brand's signing with Philly after having his feelings hurt by LAC management (sensitive bitch). It looked like the Clippers would continue to be the Clippers in the 2008-2009 season. None of the free agents still available would have been able to take the money freed up by Brand and have a similar impact on the team, I believe. They reportedly offered a 2nd round pick to the Knicks for ZRand, which Donnie Walsh rejected. I believe they did significantly better with Camby. Camby and Kaman will prove to be -health willing- the best front court defense in the entire NBA. They will also represent the best rebounding front court in the NBA, as well. Offensively, they will leave much to be desired. Neither has a developed post up game and Camby seemed to get all his points on dunks and oops last season. Kaman did begin to show signs of significant offensive life and will have another chance to be top dog down low on offense. Maybe he will take another step forward into 20 point per game land. But the void of offense that Camby will provide is NOT bad for this club. With Brand on the team, I previously stated my distaste for Eric Gordon as this team's starting off guard. Now, however, I think Gordon will be great for them. The trio of BD-Gordon-Thornton will be very exciting to watch on offense as they will be heavily relied upon to provide the bulk of the scoring. Gordon and Thornton are, obviously, very young. I expect Gordon to go through typical rookie growing pains, but I am really expecting a big season out of Thornton. Thornton will be the key to the success of this team, I believe, and I am convinced he will have a monster this year.

I already extensively discussed this club, and so I will stop here. I am not saying that Camby is better than Brand; that is an untenable position. But, I do think that Camby replacing Brand is good enough to make this a playoff team in '08-'09; especially with the Nuggets safely out of the picture.

Mets Second Half Outlook: Position Players (Part 1 of 3)

2008-07-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

OKAY METS!! If you spoke to me before the past 9 games, I might’ve come close to punching you in the face if anything about the Mets came up (if you didn’t know, Mets are on a 9 game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 54-19 in the process). At the All-Star Break, we are sitting at 51-44, and a 1/2 game behind the Phillies for the NL East lead. I feel much better now as most Met fans do, and it’s easy to get cocky but let us remember: we are only HALFWAY through. SO…with that being said, how will my New York Metropolitans fair in the 2nd half???
This is part 1 of 3 in my thoughts on the Mets as we head into post-All Star Game Era 2008.

Mets Post-All Star Break - Position Players (Part 1 of 3)
The Met bats were frozen for much of the first half of the season; too many times when I nearly threw my remote at the TV as I witnessed the team failing to get runners in from 3rd with less than 2 out, failing to hit with runners in scoring position (10th in NL with .255 AVG), etc. On top of THAT, guys getting thrown out on the base paths, making bonehead throws, making errors in key situations, not hustling…WTF. I’m all about fundamentally sound baseball and doing the little things right, which the Mets were doing 0% of.

But the last month has been another story. In the past 30 days, the Mets as a team have led the NL in runs scored (149), OBP (.355), and average (.286). Doing the little things right in the process as well (more on this in Part 3 of 3). Mets, let’s gooooo. Now that we have those numbers out of the way, let’s focus on the 2 issues that they must sort out: corner outfielders and 2nd base.
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Corner Outfield: Now that Moises is DEFINITELY out for the year/his career, Minaya knows what he has to work with. On top of this, Church will miss a lot more time with migraines. The fact that the Mets have been playing well without these guys says a lot about the job that the reserves have done (Tatis, Endy, Nick Evans, Chris Aguila, Marlon and Easley when he plays outfield). Tatis in particular has been awesome for the Metropolitans, hitting over .300 since joining the club.

But yes, we must make some sort of move for a corner outfielder. Even though the early season surprise Angel Pagan is coming back soon, we could use a Raul Ibanez, Randy Winn or Xavier Nady in there (as long as we don’t give up prospects Fernando Martinez or Mike Carp, I’d be fine with this). Although the reserves have been playing well, it’s very difficult for anyone to stay hot or get into a groove if 3 players are consistently being rotated through.

Minaya has said that he would be willing to take on a fat contract if it will give us a discount on the prospects that we have to give up. I’d love to see Nady back with the Mets, as this would add another right handed bat into the line up (God, I wish Moises wasn’t a walking medical disaster).

But if we DO get this corner outfielder, we will have a VERY deep bench that will benefit us down the stretch with Tatis, Damion and Endy leading the way. A trade also puts Endy into the role where he is at his best: a defensive replacement late in the game who can run and get on base.

2nd base: Personally, I have never been and probably never will be a Luis Castillo fan. The guy has no knees, never smiles or looks like he’s having fun (unnecessary but good anecdote: during spring training, Castillo got in Ramon Castro’s face for putting a bubble gum bubble on his hat…), and doesn’t really hustle. Yes he does look good when he’s hitting in the 2 hole, but he doesn’t do much for me otherwise.

On the other hand, I’m loving Damion Easley and Argenis aka ArGENIUS Reyes at 2nd. Damion has had some great clutch hits including a couple game winners, and Argenius is geniusing his life way with outstanding fielding and a hot bat.

Although Jerry Manuel says that he doesn’t know what he’s going to do once Castillo comes back, he will most likely insert him back into the starting line up (Argenius getting sent down). Although I’d love to see a platoon situation here with Ease and Castillo, I wouldn’t mind having Damion’s pop off the bench as a pinch hitter. Also, although Argenius is a genius, he is an Anderson Hernandez-type guy with little experience at this point.

The Carloses: It’s great to see both Carloses (Beltran and Delgado) hitting well. During the 9 game streak, Beltran is hitting .316, 3 HR, 10 RBI and 4 SBs. I’ve been a Beltran supporter through thick and thin, and these numbers please me.

He gets criticized for everything: playing too deep in the outfield (by the way, it’s MUCH easier to run forward on a ball than it is to run back on the ball, so I’m completely fine with him playing deep. Also, he cuts off so many extra base hits that it completely cancels out the singles that fall in front of him), not hitting for a high enough average, not clutch, not caring, etc. Everyone is WAY too hard on this guy, and it might be because he IS so talented, which raises everyone’s expectations. So far I have been pleased with his performance, and I’m confident he will continue playing solid ball.

However, the one small issue that I have with Beltran is that he is a streaky hitter. Let us all hope that he gets into a few of these streaks in the 2nd half. Also, getting Church back will give him some nice protection and more fastballs to hit.

In the same 9 game stretch, Deldongo is hitting .361 with a stunning .439 OBP. It’s great to see him taking more pitches, especially the inside ones, which he has had difficulty with. This has allowed him to wait for his pitch on hitters’ counts and taking advantage. If he hits somewhere in between what he’s done in the past 9 games and the terribleness at the beginning of the season, I will be content. He’s also made some nice snags at first base, which is always good to see.

Reyes and Wright: At the beginning of the year, Reyes made a bold statement: He would be more serious and not dance as much. I remember talking to Alon about this and we were very concerned by this…the Mets RELY on the energy they get from Jose. Early on in the season, Reyes never smiled. Alon and I would literally text each other every time we saw him smile, hoping that he would break out into one of his trademark dugout dances. This would not come into fruition until Beltran (yes, the “apathetic” BELTRAN) sat him down and told him that Jose just needs to be Jose. Since this conversation, Reyes has been smiling and playing some great baseball. He is the first player in MLB history to have 10 HR, 20 doubles, 10 triples and 30 SB before the All Star game…impressive. Oh yea, he hit .364 in July also. How did he not make the All Star game? I don’t know, but quite frankly I don’t care. This will be a humbling experience for Reyes to watch the All Star festivities on TV, and hopefully it motivates him and focuses him as we move on into the tail end of the season. As for his attitude that often comes into question, more on the in Part 3.

As for Wright: typical Wright. He has had some slumps in the first half, but all in all I can’t complain one bit. He’s the one constant that the Mets have…there’s really not much more to say about his performance, standard DWright. I have the utmost confidence in him in the 2nd half. Go David.

Lastly, the Catchers: Schneider has been great, dealing with the pitchers with great poise (more on him in Part 2) and anything that he does with the bat is bonus. Castro is a genius, gotta love the big guy and his power with the bat. These guys have been what I expected them to be, and they should continue on in a similar fashion.

Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3…

Brett Favre is a huge, whiney bitch

2008-07-14T16:19:00.001-07:00

Right now, there is absolutely nothing in sports that I hate more than Brett Favre. Joe Buck is for the first time in recent memory a way distant 2nd, with the way that Jon Miller pronounces BeltrAn (seriously, he has to have some type of mental disability) rounding out the top 3. Gir has covered Favre and the mockery that is sports retirement, but I am stunned and shocked at Favre's ability to keep this story front and center in the media for so long. It seems like every day for the last week a new report comes out about some random Packer official or random beat writer/media person receiving a text from Brett about some worthless thing or another. Speculation surrounding Favre: Will he come back again? Will he choose hunting and fishing instead? What will his facial hair look like in his next press conference? Will he be wearing a coon-skin hat? Will he cry? All this bulls*it is SO annoying. FAVRE goddammit, stay retired and shut up or go on a hunting expedition with Cheney. I BEG YOU.

The best thing ever is, clearly, the dominant force that is Packers general management. I *LOVE* the limbo/purgatory situation that Favre has been placed into by the Packers. Memo to Favre from Packers GM: We will not release you. You will not play for a different team next season. You bother us with this "retirement" every year. You will not start for the Green Bay Packers in 2008. We are confused at how good you are at crying when you announce retirement at the end of every season when everyone knows you will come back. Aaron Rodgers, an actual grown man, has yet to cry in a press conference which we like to see out of our starting quarterback. But you can still play football, so, you can come in and backup Rodgers.

Well played. I commend you, Green Bay Packers, and I hope to god that Aaron Rodgers plays well enough to banish Favre into the wild for all eternity.

USA Basketball, I will fix you

2008-07-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

United States Basketball has been an absolute joke and mockery since we last took home olympic gold in 2000. For us to EVER not win gold at the Olympics when we stack our team with 12 all-stars is actually an embarrassment. We should be BLOWING OUT the opposing country every single game, not even close. You have what, five? (Yao, Manu, Pau, Dirk, Nash), actual good players on international teams, and we still lose, and it is a joke. In the 2002 FIBA World Championship, I don't really know what it is but apparently teams play in it and things from around the world, we finished 6th (wtf sixth?! that..is...a..JOKE). We also managed to lose to Yugoslavia! (!!!, also a quick aside, I do not see any reason whatsoever for us to ever compete in international competitions which do not have to do with the Olympics) Fast forward to the 2004 Olympics and we place 3rd somehow. That team was poorly constructed, (much like our 2008 Olympic team, but I will not get into this now) but we still had Kobe, Iverson, Duncan, blabhalbh among the best players in the NBA. There is NO REASON WHY they should not be able to beat any international team led by one, maybe two, NBA players. I am actually embarrassed and ashamed that we don't win every single game every single time when our team is made up of 12 geniuses. Our guys have GOT to be embarrassed when a team ENTIRELY of white guys beats the supposed USA Basketball juggernaut. Olympics are soon, we should win, we have Lebby, CP3, Kobe, and all these other guys that Colangelo, er, Nike, decides should be on the team (you sneaked in, DHow, you and your silly Adidas!). *Also a very quick aside on our roster: 1 center on the team is a joke. KG not the starting power forward and not even ON the team is a joke. Anyone watching the 2004 games could tell we had less than no consistent outside shooting yet we add only Redd to address this deficiency is a joke. JKidd and Boozer on the team is a joke. I could go on and on.* But we still might not take home gold because the team is constructed poorly and most of the NBA players representing our country, deep down, don't really care. They care FAR more about winning an NBA title which makes perfect sense. They are not a team but a collection of players. They have but a few practices together right before the games, and it shows. Obviously, our team is unquestionably the most talented in comparison to other countries, and yet that is no longer becoming enough to dominate the international field. Interest in the Olympics and USA Basketball has in general been dead for some time now. Players have shown tremendous reluctance to represent their country and thusly slapping the collective basketball fans across the country in the face with their penises. Our Olympic team should be, firstly, an actual TEAM, and secondly, one that would revitalize interest in USA Basketball. I have a solution, and it is genius. Every fourth year, USA Basketball should be represented in the Olympics by whichever college team wins the tournament in March. I know you're intrigued, so let's get into it.
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I love the idea of sending an actual TEAM to the Olympics to rep USA Basketball. I was thinking of maybe sending whichever NBA team won the title, and I do think this would be an improvement over the current system, but I think that sending an NCAA team would be far more interesting as their ability is much more on the level of the average international team than an NBA team. I have no doubt that the Celtics would own if they were to play in the Olympics, but U Kansas? That would be fun to watch.

The ambivalence and disinterest of NBA players, making millions of dollars a year, towards playing in the Olympics/for USA Basketball, is continuously glaring. By sending a collegiate team, we would be sending a group of kids to the Olympics where it would truly be the most exciting thing in their lives; they would kill - not take for granted - the opportunity to represent the US in the Olympics. There would be way more player incentive amongst college kids. This would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the players on the team left standing at the end of the NCAA tournament.

The most obvious problem with this is how inviting the NCAA tournament is for upsets. The structure of it is exactly what makes it insanely exciting and amazing to watch. However, for every year of the Olympics, they can make the following change to the tournament. I would want the elite 8, final 4, and finals all to be best of 3 game series. This way it will give a little bit more assurance that one of the very best teams will win - providing they escape the one and done knockout rounds which precede the elite 8. I admit that a George Mason, Davidson or some cinderella team, if they won the tournament, would be a complete disaster. But the 1, 2, and 3 seeds in the tournament are consistently very good teams who would be more than capable to rep USA Basketball. By making the later stages of the tournament a best of 3 series, the likelihood of a bad team winning decreases markedly.

March Madness, already one of the most exciting and best sporting events in this country, would be even more intense (if that is possible) in Olympic years. When you look at a college roster of the top programs you see 1-3 players capable of playing in the NBA with another maybe 3-5 who will play overseas or something like this. I'd say about half of a given roster would not go on to play basketball professionally after college. The honor and desire to play in the Olympics would be burning for these kids, something which is unfortunately absent in the NBA players currently representing our country.

If the winner of the NCAA tournament was to go on to compete in the Olympics, it would give college basketball programs a very strong marketing tool. It would produce increased revenue for schools and increased interest in the season on these years. The student body of schools across the country would be going way more nuts about their college basketball teams on these years with the opportunity to see them play in the Olympics.

There would be a revitalized interest in USA Basketball if a college team were representing our country, I believe. It would be very easy to root for a college team playing for our country in the Olympics. It would put us more on par with the competition fielded by other countries and we would no longer be expected to dominate- something that is not very fun to root for or watch. It would level the playing field and make the games much more exciting.

This would also affect recruiting, I believe. As we are seeing now, top high school kids go to college for the mandatory year and then enter the draft. This will continue to happen, no doubt, regardless of the Olympic situation. But, on those years of the Olympics, it will undoubtedly affect where high school kids commit to in those years. Purely hypothetical, but if this system were in place, this past year it could be that Beasley, Mayo, Rose etc. commit to the same school in an effort to win the tournament and play in the Olympics. That would be AWESOME. It would look like a college all-star team sort of but it would ACTUALLY BE a team-which is hugely important. It seems unlikely that an OJ Mayo -or insert any top high school player here- would go to a crappy team like USC if he had the ability to go to a better program like a Duke, UNC, etc, with the ability to play in the Olympics if the team won the tournament that year.

Nobody really gets excited for the Olympics or USA Basketball anymore. The days of the Dream Team where the country was very excited about our Olympic basketball team are way in the past. It does not look like they will be resurfacing any time soon. It seems abundantly clear to me that they need to fix the system. The Olympics is a tremendously important event to countries across the world and it is too bad that USA Basketball has had such a falling from grace. The team (I hate calling it a team) that we are sending to the games this summer is, to me, very difficult to get excited about. We should destroy everyone and if we don't it will be a mockery and an embarrassment. These are the expectations set forth, and as such, it is tough to get into the Olympics. These are, briefly, reasons why I, and most basketball fans I would think, do not care about USA Basketball and the Olympics.

I believe that doing something this would be tremendous for USA Basketball. It would be interesting to see how it would work and what kind of -if any- backlash there would be from the NBA. I know this is *never* going to happen, but I really think it would revitalize USA Basketball and increase interest in the country. I WANT to get into Olympic basketball, I really do. However, I hate watching a collection of introverted, filthy rich, NBA stars who take for granted what should be regarded as a humbling privilege in representing our country. A college team representing the United States in the Olympics would be really cool.

NY Sports: A Quick Fix

2008-07-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting Mets blog post about their recent dominance.

Here is an interesting Jets blog post about the pros & cons of potentially signing Favre

And here is a post about how the Jets will probably not end up signing Favre

Here is an interesting Pittsburgh newspaper article about several teams (including Mets and Yanks) pursuing some of their players; in particularly OF Xavier Nady and LHP Damaso Marte.

Finally here is a very encouraging Knicks blog post about the Rooster (Danilo Gallinari)

And another Knicks blog post that reminds us all of really how poor of a coach Isiah was.

Lincoln Six-Echo: It's always the same dream - I'm on a boat, headed to The Island.

2008-07-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

My love for Sean Gallagher is blossoming faster than Travis Henry can say, "Can I borrow some of your piss?"

Something that has been going through my mind for the past few years is the importance of numbers in baseball. They've skyrocketed over the last whatever years for two main reasons. One is success. Everyone knows that Billy Beane and the A's are pretty competitive every single year with guys you've never heard of simply based on Billy's trickery with the digits. Also, overlooked is Bill James who pretty much invented the saber-metrics way of analyzing baseball and has had a large influence on Theo Epstein, the GM of the Rex Sox, among others.

Reason #2 that numbers in baseball, and really all sports, have been getting more press and more attention paid to them; is fantasy sports. Fantasy is absolutely HUGE. It's not even just the nut-jobs like myself and my co-writers here, so many people all over the world play in some sort of league. Therefore the numbers have become paramount for many and for some, fantasy is really their only bridge to sports at all.

The question that has been ringing in my head is simple. Has the numbers game gone too far? I fear that is has gone to the point where now the old school rugged scouting is being way overlooked, like in Sean Gallagher's case. There has to be a balance.

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Of course sometimes the numbers DO tell the whole story. Take Omar Vizquel for instance. He has absolutely no right to be playing professional baseball anymore and his still great fielding is no excuse for his absolutely horrendous hitting. He is hanging out below the Mendoza line at .156 and is sporting a .229 obp and .177 slg... Omar should be staying away from bats for the rest of his life.

So anyway... I just watched Gallagher's first outing as an Oakland A, and man, he is serious. His career numbers in the minor leagues are very good, but nothing compared to some other young studs like Lincecum, Hughes, Yovani and even Ian KenneDONG.

And no, I'm not insinuating that Mr. Gallagher is about to take over as the best young pitcher in the MLB. All those guys mentioned before are F-ing sick, but the point I am making is that the 22 years young Sean Gallagher and his elite stuff have been greatly overlooked because of very good numbers, instead of unbelievable ones in the minor leagues (Edinson Volquez also comes to mind).

The Stuff:

First and foremost the fastball. You gotta start with the fastball. Gallagher's isn't THAT exceptional. It is pretty flat, but with his great and sustainable velocity (between 94-96 mph according to a questionable A's gun), and very good location is makes a decent heater look great. Throughout his start against the Angels, Gallagher was painting all four corners with the heat to get ahead of batters.

Next is the curveball. I think that the A's broadcasters made a great comparison when they said that Gallagher's hook looks a lot like his new teammate's Justin Duchserer, who by the way is leading the MLB in ERA and opponent batting avg. For the amount of movement on his 12-6 snapper, it's also got great velocity sitting at high 70s, so it can beat you with speed or movement, but usually just both. This is Gallagher's best pitch and where he tallies most of the Ks.

Following the uncle Charlie is the splitter, although to me it looks more like a forkball. It was pretty much sitting at the 83-85 mph range which is a very nice difference in speeds from his heater. The movement on his forksplitweesh is phenomenal and the third time through the lineup this pitch started becoming to go-to strikeout pitch, and guess what? It worked perfectly.

His fourth and worst pitch is the slidepiece. His sits at mid to low 80s and is not great. He threw it so sparingly which tells you he's not very comfortable using it, but at this stage in his career it is just a pitch to keep the hitters off balance. It's got solid movement, and people, Gallagher is only 22 years old, by the time he's eligible to rent a car he'll have four pitches with varying speeds and good movement that he can throw for strikes... Uh oh...

I hope that all of this has also led you to loving Mr. Sean Gallagher and if not, maybe you'll at least understand and respect why.

SIDE NOTE: Former Tulane great Shooter Hunt made his second career professional start tonight going 5 innings, no earned, no hits, 2 BBs and 10 ks. Keep it goin' Shooter. Hollar.

E-Harmony: Baseball Edition

2008-07-11T17:38:00.001-07:00

As a sometimes obsessively analytical individual, I have always been fascinated by the cognitive side of sports. While many sports fans may casually throw around terms like "team chemistry," or "momentum," few bother to actually understand their contributions to a teams overall productivity (or lack thereof).

For the sake of this article, we will start by looking at team chemistry/momentum solely in baseball (hint, hint—There is none.).

By definition, team chemistry is a rather ambiguous concept. In fact, it is a concept that cannot be grasped numerically. When applied to baseball, the Yankees may go on a 13-game winning streak and suddenly “they’ve got unstoppable momentum.” Suddenly, “the guys are rallying behind each other.” Suddenly, “team chemistry is at an all-time high.” Well, truth be told, this is a bunch of media-contrived bullcrap.

In baseball, there are no “high-energy” guys, no truly effective team leaders, no intangible character benefits, no contagious Kevin Garnett personalities, and certainly no significant ability to “improve the guys around you.” In other words, the Yankees are a group of twenty-five individuals lumped together, possessing no inherent team-based qualities. As a group, they have zero conscious control over their “teams” short-run success, even in the playoffs, and subsequently, they have no real control over when and how they will go on a momentous winning or losing streak. Try jamming that through your media-fed minds.

Now, this seems like a good time to bring up one of the more well-known managerial names in baseball—Billy Beane. Mr. Beane has reached universal baseball notoriety for a reason; He has, for a long time, lived religiously by the numbers, and only the numbers. Beane’s ability to pick statistical prodigies out of proverbial piles of minor-league trash seems like a mind-boggling game of luck to some. Yet, in applying Sabermetrics to minor league prospects before any other MLB managers, Beane ended up truly ahead of the game, at least for a fair while.

See, Billy understood that a baseball team is simply a machine made up of interchangeable parts that impose no real bonds upon one another. He understood that streaks weren’t about “team chemistry,” they were merely an inevitable result of baseball variance, and if you had the raw statistical edge behind you, despite a paltry-looking lineup (Cue Marco Scutaro), your group of 25 individuals would eventually win out, in the long run.

Now, if even the most deadly MLB lineups had any control over their short-run destiny they would certainly make a concerted effort to get it done in front of their home crowds, right? Well from 1999 to 2007 the Home Team has won at a whopping rate of 53.5%. In essence, you can pretty much throw home-field advantage out the window. Got a must-win series at home? You might as well flip a coin three times (Of course the coin should be weighted ever-so-slightly towards the team with better raw statistical talent).

To keep things concise, I think it’s important to recognize that baseball differs vastly from the other major sports in that a team’s success is going to be based solely on their raw statistical advantage against their opponents, and nothing else. Furthermore, this raw statistical advantage is expressed solely in the long-run, and thus individual games or series’ really aren’t indicative of any sort of talent advantages at all. You can throw sports ideologies like mental fortitude, hunger, veteran leadership, and team chemistry out the window. Glitz and glamour play the smallest of roles in baseball, yet the sports individual superstars seems to be valued just as much, if not more than a franchise-changing player like Lebron James. Rich Harden is worth only what his numbers indicate, nothing more, nothing less. Lebron, on the other hand, contributes what his statistics indicate, but also has the power to change the way his entire team functions and produces as a whole (More on this later).

There’s a reason why the underestimated ’03 Marlins won the World Series, and it wasn’t because of Steve Bartman. It’s simply that their long-run statistical edge hadn’t caught up to their paltry reputation yet. Cue the D-rays ’08.

Rays are here to stay - part 3, pitching prospects

2008-07-11T11:13:00.001-07:00

The Rays have the best minor league system in the game. They have been cultivating their system for years and are one of the best organizations when it comes to player development. Their management of their prospects has been admirable as they, despite many years of suckage, never rushed their guys to the bigs. They have a dirth of pitching prospects in their minor league system with several guys who look to project as top of the rotation guys. While they do not have many studly positional players in their system with Longoria already up, their pitching is just insane. The Rays are also, obviously, finally good. This is, in my opinion, the best managed team in baseball. They do not have blank checks to hand out to free agents and have built a serious contender from the ground up and with significant staying power. They do not have the ability to bring in big time free agents and have to pick and choose very carefully who to hand out big deals to. Because of this, they place an added emphasis on player development and have a tremendous minor league system. Pitching wins baseball games and they have tremendous pitching talent in the minors. There is actually nothing not to like about this club. I obviously love them as I continue to go nuts about their team as you clearly can see. Hitters: good. Staff: good. Prospects: good. Lets go Rays. So now you can, like, read this stuff about their prospects and then know a lot about the Rays, which is fun, because they're cool. This team will be good for a while and when everyone else is like 'wtf how are the Rays so good' you will OWN them, already know the reasons, AND ALSO know the guys that will be up in 1-3 years from now. Proceed.

LHP, David Price: With Delmon gone and Longoria already up, Price is the top overall prospect in their system. Guy's a 6-6 lefty starter drafted last year out of Vandy who throws gas and looks like a can't miss stud/genius. They are talking about bringing him up in the second half to throw in the pen for their postseason run, a la K-Rod/Joba, and I really, really hope they do. He will be to the Rays exactly what Joba was to the Yanks and K-Rod was to the Angels (and setting up Percival also, kinda weird). Price, in relief, equals Joba (lefty version). Brief Joba: ooh wow, look at his K/IP, ooooh, he's good. Yay, Joba gets really excited when he strikes guys out, jumps around, and fist pumps all over the place. He looks sort of intense on the mound sort of like not as crazy as Papelbon but definitely some type of crazy eyes. He bridged the gap to Mo for them when the rest of their bullpen was utterly awful. The game becomes 7 innings, not 9. Bugs really like to fly around him and sit on his neck/ears/face/everywhere (bug master?) when he throws in Cleveland. It's too bad the Yanks mismanaged the kid and didn't let him start the season on the rotation, but the Rays are not as stupid. Price can come up, throw like 20 innings and own (really, like Joba version 2.0), then come back next spring as a starter and wait for his call up into the staff. In his first season in the minors he already got called up to AA and he has been DESTROYING everything in his sight. He's got a combined (AA and A) 1.68/1.02, over a K per IP, strong K:BB, well under a hit per IP. Basically, he's bad. Eoh. And the kid's 22. 22! Yes! He's young, tall, a lefty, and the best thing ever, maybe. So as expected, his stuff is equally bad. Eoh. Southpaw's fastball sits around 92-93, he's got a plus slider which has a very hard sharp break, and a plus changeup. He really, really, really reminds me of a taller Johan (there, I said it) and I think the kid is going to be, maybe as soon as 2009, one of the best starting pitchers in the majors for some time.

More...

LHP, Jake McGee: McGee, was drafted out of high school by the Rays and he threw rookie ball for them at age 17 in 2004. He had a breakout campaign in 2007, between A and AA ball he tallied 175 Ks in 140 innings with a 3.5:1 K:BB. Dominant. He's in AA ball right now and while he is not putting up tremendous numbers this season, he has top end of the rotation potential. The 22 year old throws a fastball, slider, changeup and he has consistently owned lefty hitters in the minors. He needs to continue to develop his secondary pitches in the minors as neither his slider or changeup are major league ready at this point. He is still very young and still has a high ceiling making him an intriguing prospect.

RHP, Wade Davis: Another guy drafted out of high school in 2004, Davis was named the Rays 2007 organizational pitcher of the year. He finished up the season with a 2.50/1.13 between A and AA ball to go with 169 Ks in 158 innings. Averaged less than a hit per inning, a good K:BB ratio, and in short, showed he has the capability to be a big time pitcher. Davis is throwing in AA ball this season and, like McGee, is not having such a steller season so far after high expectations following his 2007 breakout. He's got a 3.85/1.36, which isn't too bad, but the Rays certainly hoped he would be pitching well enough to finish the season out in AAA. That still may happen, but it looks increasingly unlikely as he has not yet pitched well enough to warrent a promotion. He throws a plus fastball and plus curveball but his change is just average. Davis can benefit from another season or two in the minors to refine and further develop his change. He will be as good as his changeup so we'll see if he can figure out how to throw it effectively. They should get Sheilds can show him what's good, I've decided.

RHP, Jeff Niemann: Niemann has been plagued with injury since the Rays drafted him in 2004. He has undergone elbow and shoulder surgeries and even though he is a monster at 6'9" 260, he is not a very hard thrower. The Rays moved him up quickly through their minor league system as they drafted him out of college and at 25 he has spent this season in AAA. In 2006 AA ball, Niemann put together a dominant 14 start season with a 2.69/1.10. In 77 innings he struck out 84 batters while allowing just 56 hits. He had a less than spectacular 2007 season in AAA, though, and his whip jumped up to 1.45 due to some clear control problems. But, he's been significantly better this year. Niemann got a brief 2 start stint for the Rays back in May so he is clearly the closest start to the majors in their system. He had one good start and one bad; the Rays sent him back down to AAA. He's been making a good case to the Rays that he belongs in the bigs. He got his whip back down to 1.17 and he's back averaging a K per IP as he did in '06 while giving up just 59 hits in 71 innings. He does not have overpowering stuff but at 6'9" he throws at an extreme downward angle, keeps the ball downin the zone, and does a good job of keeping the ball in the park. He has a plus curve, average fastball, and throws a splitter which still needs a bit of development. But, he mixes his pitches well and keeps hitters off balance very well. There is no spot in the rotation for Niemann, but the extra work in AAA will do him more benefit in the long run as he could be a very solid piece in the rotation.

And thus ends my Rays insanity. I love them, so I wanted to profile their team. I have done that hopefully with some type of moderate success. :*