The NFL Draft.. Can we Shut up Already

The NFL Draft is two days away and the NFL pundits can't wait. Ever since Alabama slapped Notre Dame all over the field, every network has been evaluating every eligible player to find out who be this years surprise,stud, or bust. Will there be a
Russell Wilson or David Wilson. Is there a Tom Brady or Ryan Leaf. There are definitely a few players who will make a lifetime mark on the NFL. Every draft has that. This draft has intrigue because a bunch of players have at one point been labelled as "can't miss" or overall number 1 talent.  Matt Barkeley would have a top ten pick last year and now he is second round talent. Landry Jones is now third round talent. Tyrann Mathieu may not be called till later. Manti Te'o a second round possibility. Just to name  a few. Marcus Lattimore may go undrafted.  Who knows..
Does anyone really know?  I don't think teams really do or do the pundits. I think teams should draft to beat the teams they play not the best player available. If the strength of the teams you play is passing the ball, shouldn't you draft better corners or d-line help.  For example, the NFC south is loaded with offensive football players. Atlanta, New Orleans, Carolina, and Tampa can really throw the football. Each team has a receiver or tight end that been Pro-Bowler. You could either a player who can rush the passer to offset passing attacks or get better weapons to keep up with the better teams in the division. Tampa just got Darrell Revis to cover the best receivers in the south. Now they can focus on getting a pass rusher to sack Breed, Ryan, or Newton.  Simple right. My team, New York Giants every year draft tight ends in the first round even though the other teams in the division seem to make bigger splash moves. Now the Giants have won two super bowls in the last decade so maybe the other teams should draft to beat them, but I am always perplexed by the choices by the Giants. This year the Giants need to get someone who can play middle linebacker or contain RG3 ,Vicki and Romo on the perimeter. Instead the Giants will no doubt draft offensive lineman which makes no sense.
The other aspect of the draft that bothers me is teams think the trend is one thing and it completely blows up in their faces. For example, running quarterback is the trend right now. RG3, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson have freaked out everyone in the league because they can run and throw. I always ask this question, what quarterback has won a super bowl playing like they do? Jeff Hostetler is the only one. Twenty three years ago. Steve Young threw six touchdown passes and led the 49ers with his arm. The last four champs, Flacco,Manning, Rodgers,Brees pretty much stay in the pocket to make plays. In fact add Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and you have the highest paid players in the game. In fact I am willing to bet that one of the six will be in the super bowl this year. Running quarterbacks get hurt, they can't run in the rain or snow and are prone to turn the ball over when hit.  Plus they cannot run forever. Steve Young was a great runner but made the Hall of Fame because of his arm. John Elway ran, but his cannon  arm was his signature . Donovan Mcnabb ran a lot and had a lot of success but never won the super bowl. Teams adjust and find ways to exploit weaknesses in these schemes. I can't wait to see the plan of attack this year against these young guns. You will see that I am right.
The draft will be interesting to see if teams are drafting to the trend,needs, or best available player. Hopefully my team will do better than yours. I am just glad the chatter is over. No more speculation and innuendo. Should be a riveting three days.... Not

NBA playoffs... God I hope Lakers get swept..

Last night, the Clippers beat the Grizzlies at the buzzer. Chris Paul hit a one handed push shot with great defense played on him by Tony Allen enabling the Clippers to take a 2-0 lead in the best of seven series. So I got up this morning to hear the pundits talk about the inept Clipper half court offense or how they squandered a 12 point lead in the fourth quarter.  I was waiting for them to talk about how Chris Paul is a killer and how he would not let the Clippers lose.  I turn on ESPN first take and they open with the Lakers? They open with twitter gate? They talk for 20 minutes about an interview Coach D'Antonio did on the Dan Patrick Show about Kobe Bryant's reaction to the game on Sunday.  I hate the Lakers... The Lakers are the Tim Tebow of basketball. All season long tedious stories about this dreadful old team that is going nowhere. Just like Tebow. I have never wanted to scream at people I respect so much in my life.  Who cares if the Clippers can't win the title. Who cares even if Memphis had won the game last night. The Lakers are not the story. The NBA had two good games last night, the NBA gave out its sixth man of the year award out yesterday, and there were several other stories to talk about. How about David Lee being out for the playoffs. How about Derek Rose not playing in the post season. Who cares about the Lakers? Delusional fans who truly understand that they are going home within a week? 
There are three games tonight. If I hear anything about the Lakers, I will personally go to ESPN pull out the satellite feed nationwide. The funny thing is that the pundit shows originate in Connecticut. Who wants to wake up in Connecticut, Boston or New York and be deluged with Los Angeles Lakers nonsense? My niece does. She loves the Lakers. Maybe she is in charge of the programming.. The L.A. Tebows

Tiger Woods mess is so confusing

I got up this morning to hear the pundit shows talk about the Masters and the ball dropping disaster and I have never been so confused.  Tiger put his ball a couple feet back to get a better shot and now they are saying that he may not have broken a rule?  Adam Scott must be wondering what he must do to escape this guy. Scott made unbelievable pressure putts and earned the victory. Tiger didn't.  I am the biggest Tiger Woods fan alive but even he knows that he should have been disqualified from the tourney. I have read comments from other golfers who have said that everything was handled properly. There was no way they take Tiger out of this tournament. This is the hallowed Masters and CBS would have had a coverage and ratings nightmare if they would booted Tiger out.
What would have happened if Tiger had won. Each day he had moments of brilliance. He had birdie binges and woke up the echoes of Augusta National. Would it have a been a disaster?  It would have been tainted and probably set the golfing world into a mess. Tiger still needs 5 majors to pass Jack.  Will he get it? Probably. He will become the All time leader in victories by this time next year. All everyone wants is for him to win a major this year. Without controversy. Tiger needs to come out today and make the world respect Adam Scott for his victory. We can't fix the past. We can either learn from it or repeat it. Replaying it over and over again hurts the game. Adam Scott deserves his day..So let's give it to him...

What would Jackie say...

As major league baseball prepares to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, I wonder what he would say about baseball today.  I wonder if he would wonder what has happened to his game.  Where are the black faces? What happened to the black managers? Who is Tupac Shakur? Lebron James or RG3? I don't profess to a Robinson historian, but I am sure he would be fascinated by pop culture today. One of his last requests before he died was to see a black face in a dugout managing a team. Today there are two managers. Dusty Baker in Cincinnati. Bo Porter in Houston. Who the heck is Bo Porter? That is another blog another day. Cito Gaston won two world series with Toronto. So Jackie would be happy that that happened. He would excited the Ken Williams is a G.m. in Chicago and led them to a title. But where are the players? That would be the mystery to him.
When Jackie was playing baseball, the NBA was in its infancy. Football was more important in college. Boxing was the sport for most African Americans to try. Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis paved the way for the Cassius Clays of the world.  Jim Brown and Gayle Sayers hadn't wowed the world yet and Bill Russell, Willie Mays and Wilt Chamberlain were just warming up. Jackie brought everyone to baseball. The Negro league had better players than Jackie, but he got the shot. If there were jealousy or anger it was kept quiet in the black community. Can you imagine if that happened today?  I can't. Kids today want to play basketball, rap or play football.  Kids today could tell you more about Tupac than they can about any school topic or even Jackie Robinson. If a kid today did what Jackie did he would be called a sellout or a Tom. Kids today want to fight the power and start revolutions without understanding what it really means. They don't value life or education.  Jackie went to UCLA. He resisted non violently, He just played.  He did his social commentary when it was proper. Kids today think that being a professional athlete is so easy. They have no respect or regard for the commitment it takes to be a pro. They go to college for one semester to gain eligibility and then leave after one year.  They think that they are going to hip hop legends if they emulate the path that Tupac set forth. They don't understand the struggles that he went through. He and Lebron James are once in a lifetime talent. So is Tiger Woods. No one is trying to be like Tiger. To me that is puzzling. Let's talk baseball. The greatest leader in team sports is Derek Jeter. He is the biggest name in the biggest city. Matt Kemp is cut from the same cloth. But kids don't want to be like them on the field. Jeter, Woods,and Kemp are notorious ladies men. Maybe the fact that they are mixed race men too may factor into it for some as well.  I can't explain it...
So what would Jackie say? He probably would say be who you are,but don't forget about others are watching and learning from you along the way. He would be sad that kids are running away from baseball and disappointed that the brainwashing of our youths is real and destroying us as a people. He would psyched that there is a black President, but would be ashamed of the efforts to help inner city youth play baseball. He would be ashamed of the greed. He would be confused about the " me me" mentality of all sports.  He would say ," I created all of this?" He would change the channel....

Are these streaks good for sports or a sign of the lack of talent league wide

When the Chicago Black hawks started the NHL with a 20 plus game winning streak, my first thought was who have they played. Hockey is having a shorter season than normal due to the lockout and I wondered if Chicago's schedule was favorable. I saw that they played Detroit a few times. St. Louis as well. As they were winning so was the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat won 27 straight games and I thought about who they were playing too. The Heat beat the Knicks, Thunder, Celtics on the road. The Clippers won 17 straight in December. The Denver Nuggets won 15 straight in March. Now the Pittsburgh Penguins have gone 15-0-0 for the month of March setting a record for most wins without a tie or shootout in NHL history. Are these streaks happening because of talentless pool or are these teams really good? 
I think these teams are really good. The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup two years ago and underachieved over the last two years. They lost key players who helped them win the cup and it has taken a while for them to gel. The western conference playoffs this year in hockey is going to be epic. The Kings, Ducks, Blackhawks, and Canucks are going to really keep people up late watching to see who can make it to the Stanley Cup finals.
The Miami Heat know that they are the favorite to represent the east, and they also know that they are going to have to earn the title. The Bulls, Pacers, Knicks and Celtics really want to make some history. The Celtics and Knicks are still smarting after blowing huge leads against the Heat during their streak. The Bulls and Pacers believe that they have the blueprint to beat the Heat. During the streak of the Heat they played a lot of teams with losing records, but with Lebron James on the team every opponent is inferior. They are the defending champs for a reason. When the Clippers won 17 straight they beat good teams as well. The Clippers are having a season to remember. They have never won 50 games. They have never won their division. They are on pace to do both things. Denver's style of offense is extremely difficult to play against especially in Denver. They have the best record at home and most impressively have no superstars on their team. George Karl should get a lot of votes for coach of the year.  The Penguins have the two best players in the game on their team. We want Crosby and Malkin healthy and playing at the top of their game. When the best is playing their best it is exciting to see.
As much as I love to condemn sports of today, I have to give credit when credit is due. These win streaks show that when the best players are healthy and their teams understand their roles great things can happen. Chicago has great talent on all four lines. The Clippers have Chris Paul who is the best leader in basketball.  The Heat ha Lebron and D-wade. The Penguins have Crosby and Malkin. The Nuggets have Andre Miller and Ty Lawson who are tremendous leaders. We make sports harder than it should be with over analysis. Instead of just win baby, it should just play. When you have the talent like these teams possess that becomes all you need to do...

Baseball is truly back this year...

Baseball is back and this season is going to be the most memorable ever. Each division has a team that can win the world series. How many times can you actually say that in your life?  No one would be shocked if the Washington Nationals won the World Series. No one would shocked if the Cincinnati Reds won, the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Tigers, or Oakland A's won the World Series either. This season there are more teams that can eat at the "big boy" table than ever before. So who is going to get it done this year? Who is going to win the M.V.P., Cy Young in both leagues? Here we go....
Usually I give lengthy previews of each division. I will spare you that ad give an synopsis of each division. The American League east will go down to the final day of the season. The Orioles last year shocked the baseball world by the season they had. They won't sneak up on anyone this year. The Rays lost Upton and big game James. The Red sox have a chip on their shoulder but have a lot of holes to fill. The BlueJays spent millions and the Yankees are being counted out with all of its injuries and age issues. I like the Blue Jays and Yankees to come out of this division. The Jays stay healthy they could have a special season. They could put out a speed demon team and a team that can hit home runs. Scary. The Yankees have no one in their corner and that makes them dangerous. If they put their everyday lineup on the field for two months after the all star break, they will be in the post season.
The A.L. central is about as interesting as watching paint dry. The Detroit Tigers are loaded. Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander are the best at their position and want revenge for what happened last year in the world series. Getting Victor Martinez back makes this lineup the most difficult to face. They have bullpen issues. No closer,but they could just outscore e everyone.
The A.L west is just the opposite. No one can name a player on the Oakland A's yet theyre the scariest team in baseball. Every year, they make a second half run and no one can stop them u til post season. Texas lost a lot but they just reload. Losing Josh Hamilton and Michael Young will hurt their chemistry, but they can still rake. The Angels lost Greinke and Haren but gained Hamilton. They are hoping to have the real Pujols and that Mike Trout was not a fluke. Seattle has a lot of pieces and won't be an easy stop on anyone's schedule. Michael Morse and Ackley are looking to make a name for themselves. The Angels and A's will represent in the post season.
The Yankees and A's play in the play in game. Detroit and Angels play for the A.L. title. The Angels represent the A.L. Jerad Weaver is your Cy Young and Robinson Cano is your M.V.P.
The National League east is very top heavy. The Mets, Marlins are rebuilding. The Phillies are a mystery. The Braves and Nationals can win it all. The Nationals are scary good now that they have a closer and no restrictions on Super Steve. They have a balanced offense. They need 140 games from Zimmerman on offense. Zimmerman the pitcher could be x factor all season long.  The Braves have said goodbye to Chipper and Bobby Cox over the last two seasons and haven't missed a beat.  The Nationals and Braves will be in post season.
The Central Division in the National league is for real. The Brewers an Pirates have potential to be dangerous. Ryan Braun and Andrew McCutcheon can carry their teams to a title if  pieces fall into place. The Reds and Cardinals have carried the torch for this division over the past few years. Both teams are licking their wounds after the collapses in the playoffs last season. Yadier Molina is a better player than most think. He stops the running game and he is tough in the clutch. Joey Votto has this beautiful swing but is yet to explode in the post season. They both have great bullpens and good enough starting pitchers.  Both will fight for this division and only one will make post season. The Cincinnati Reds.
The National League west is all about the Giants and Dodgers. The Giants need Buster Posey to stay healthy because every year that he does they win the world series. They have a bunch of guys who have been clutch in big spots over the past three seasons.  A pure team. The Dodgers have a 240 million dollar payroll. They have all stars everywhere.  If they stay healthy, they will be difficult to beat. Matt Kemp pledged last year that he could be a 50-50  guy. He has protection in this lineup. Clayton Kershaw is as good a anyone and if Beckett and Greinke can give them 25 starts, the Dodgers will dominate the National league. Colorado and Arizona are a piece or two away from joining the big two. Arizona is like Oakland. Can't name anyone on the team yet they are always competitive. The Rockies needs healthy Tulo and let's see what they can do. The Padres are still rebuilding but have pieces in place for a good future.
The Giants and Braves will play in play in game. Dodgers and Nationals for N.L title. Nationals in the World Series. Matt Kemp is your M.V.P. and Steven Strasburg is your Cy Young.
The Angels and Nationals world Series. Nationals in 6. 

Lebron should not worry about Jordans comments

If I was Lebron James, I would hassve just simply laughed off recent comments made by Michael Jordan. If I am being compared to the greatest player to ever live, i would just take it in stride. Remember Micheal Jordan's career?  He was critcized for everything until he started winning titles.  He had every highlight. He wowed everyone with his prolific scoring games, aerial assaults, participation in slam dunk contests.  Everyone still said that Bird, Magic, Wilt was better until Micheal started winning rings. Mcheal was lumped in with Connie Hawkins, David Thompson, The Doctor, as a player who could wow the crowd. Doctor J won titles, so his aerial assault was appreciated because he won championships. Dominique Wilkins and Micheal were must see tv if you only wanted a show and not a victory.
Lebron did get his ring finally. He got it in seven years like Jordan.  He has been in 3 championships with a losing record. Micheal never lost a championship series. Kobe is 5-2 in title series. In my view all Micheal really said is when Lebron wins his 5 th ring then I will say he is in Kobe's class. He was measured that way.  The only reason no one says Russellwas the greatest player is tnat he was 6'10 and played in an era where he had only one peer. Wilt gets criticized because he was bigger than everybody. He doesn't get credit for his athletcism or dominance. He was supposed to do what he did. Imagine if he made free throws.
Lebron is en route to destroy all of accomplishments of the great payers before him. He is the right age and is playing a brand of baketball never seen. Having Dwayne Wade as a sidekick doesn't hurt either. Jordan for my take was issuing a challenge to Lebron to come join them at their table. When he does the debate will reallyy begin. We will always wonder had Micheal not taken 2 years off would they have won 8 straight titles. Maybe Lebron will try football for a year. He was an all state performer. I want to see if he can catch Kobe and Micheal.