The LFFL may be locked out, but that didn't keep The Crishad Experience owner from breaking his silence after not commenting since The Renaissance Man destroyed TCE in Libsmo Bowl I.
There were several topics that Schad tackled in his no holds barred interview. On his loss to TRM, Schad said that while Nelson's team deserved the championship, it's "my f@#$ing destiny" to win Libsmo Bowl II.
"I surprised myself that the team played as well as it did, but with that said, I have to be considered the favorite coming into this year. I have a running back that has the most potential of any running back in the LFFL. I have the fantasy wrecking ball known as Michael Vick or "Mr. I-can-drop-40-without-breaking-a-sweat" as I called him."
Yeah, I didn't laugh at that one either.
"There are a lot of solid cores in the league and there will be good teams this year. You think Linzy's Losers are going to be terrible again? You think Cassie will be running Brehmer's team again? Oh, that's not confirmed...don't write that!"
(Yeah, too late you arrogant jackass)
But Schad's ire really grew when he mentioned Rob Silvers. According to unpublished reports, Schad and Silvers have agreed to call next years rivalry matchup the "Express Bowl" in Silvers scoring a broadcasting job with the Eau Claire Express baseball team.
"Good for Rob." Schad said. "He works hard at his craft and it's good to see a fellow WRFW'er land a broadcasting job."
But Schad is now subleasing for Silver's room, and found out one small detail.
"No ESPN or any other sports related channels? How am I supposed to know what's going on? I think this is something Silvers thought of and was an evil plan to make me drop the Express Bowl next year. Well, I'm coming for Mr. Silvers and the rest of the LFFL as soon as this frickin lockout ends."
About that...
"Roger Goodell...you look like Harvey Dent, and you dive into your money like Scrooge McDuck...you're a @#$%. DeMaurice Smith...your hat sucks...same feelings about you as well. Sit down and get this done, because if I take some hard liquor, the second coming of John Cena is coming through that door and causing some absolute carnage. Drew Brees, Jeff Saturday, even Jesus Christ himself Aaron Rodgers? I will destroy them all if I go into 'You can't see me' mode. That's a fact."
So to recap, Chris Schad is as loud, arrogant, and foul-mouthed as ever as the LFFL continues to be locked out. One can only imagine how it would be possible for this man to survive without fantasy football. Glad I'm not that asshole...
- Ricardo Rodriguez, Rochester Post Bulletin
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Is This Dallas' Time?
Back in the days when the Minnesota Timberwolves were good, I couldn't stand the Dallas Mavericks. I remember going to a game with my dad, and buying a program. I thought the program would have a lot of information about the Wolves, but instead, there was a magazine inside complete with a Steve Nash modeling shoot. (Um, what?)
On the court, I couldn't stand them either. After Nash left, Dirk Nowitzki took over the team, and I couldn't stand him. I couldn't look how he looked like Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I couldn't get out of my head how nastily he had evolved from being a clean cut random German who the Milwaukee Bucks traded for Robert "Tractor" Traylor (HAHAHA!!!) to a massive, awesome German machine.
Fast forward to today. After seeing the Wolves struggle, I've found myself watching more of Dirk. He's probably the best shooting seven-footer of all time, and undoubtedly one of the greatest players (not just import players) in NBA history. There's just no problem. He has no rings.
The closest Dirk got was in the 2007 campaign, in which Nowitzki was named the Most Valuable Player. Of course, the Mavericks crashed and burned in the first round as they lost to the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors in six games.
The year before, Dirk looked incredibly timid in his lone NBA Finals appearance against a pretty loaded Miami Heat team with Shaquille O'Neal, Dwayne Wade, Alonzo Mourning, and others.
His situation almost seems similar to Kevin Garnett's. Garnett was a superstar with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but couldn't get his ring. Granted, the Mavericks have much better management than the Wolves do (more on that later), Dirk is a guy you really want to see get his ring, just like KG did with the Celtics.
For starters, Dirk didn't go the KG route and go to a different, loaded team. Remember, Dirk had the option of leaving in the famed 2010 free agent class, but decided to stay at home with the Mavericks. It's not like the Mavs cupboard is bare by any means, but it's not like...the Miami Heat.
Second, unlike a lot of NBA players, you never hear anything bad about Dirk off the court. The NBA is littered with off-court problems from it's superstars and sometimes on the court problems (Kobe and Noah dropping slurs, Howard getting technicals). Although Dirk has gotten his share of technicals in his career, Dirk has never been accused of being a thug or anything. He seems like a guy who goes and does his thing on the court and keeps a low profile.
Third, when you look at the Mavericks, it's not about just Dirk. Jason Kidd has also been a runner up in the NBA finals. Kidd is one of the greatest point guards in NBA history and one of the hardest workers in the game. It would be satisfying to see someone who has been great for so long finally get his ring.
And then there's the owner Marc Cuban. Cuban has been fined and fined again by Commissioner $tern, and some people may get tired of his tactics from time to time. But the reality is, he's a great owner. Does he put some pressure on his players, yes. Yet, if you're an athlete, you probably love the pressure. It might benefit a certain pro baseball team to have an owner like that, but this isn't the place for that.
At heart, Cuban is a fan. What owner do you know would host a WWE event in his building and participate by letting one of the performers slam him through a table? He doesn't sit in a luxury box counting all of his money like the Pohlad's. He's in the crowd ballin' hard screaming at officials. Yes, he could use some professionalism sometimes, but I bet that a lot of us would run our team the same way.
There's others on the team too like Jason Terry and Shawn Marion, but I would just feel good if Dallas won, not only for Dirk, but to flip a giant middle finger to Miami.
Remember, the Heat didn't expect getting to the Finals to be this difficult. I remember at the beginning of the season that a local bar thought the Heat would be so good that if patrons stayed at the establishment for the entire game (checking in 30 min prior to tip-off) and the Heat lost, they would pay their tab. The Heat lost a fair amount of games this year, so that's a lot of free drinks and mozzerella sticks!
I love Dwayne Wade, and if he got a second ring, cool. But wouldn't it just make you grit your teeth if LeBron got his trophy. Wait, I'll put it this way...
Scenario A has the big three dancing on the stage like they did in July promising to win six more championships before they all retire. Then they dance with $tern on stage just cause he's happy the bad guys won. Along with ESPN recording the whole things and analyzing LeBron's post game dump. (It's probably pretty intense)
Scenario B has David Stern walking with the O'Brien trophy onto the stage looking at Dirk and Kidd as they're running around like little kids, and then he turns and sees Mark Cuban smiling and while gritting his teeth, hands Cuban the trophy.
I'll take B, and hopefully Dirk can get his missing ring. And don't worry Heat fans, you have the Big Three for 6 more years. Plenty of time.
Want To Be Protective? Shut Mauer Down For The Season
Last night in the 15th inning, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey was involved in a nasty collision during the 12th inning of their 7-6 loss to the Florida Marlins. During the play, Posey's ankle bent back and he tore ligaments in his knee. He will miss the rest of the season.
As Minnesota Twins fans, we know all about protecting a certain franchise catcher, but, to quote KFAN's Dan Barriero, "How long would Mauer milk it?"
When you think about it, I'm sure the Twins wouldn't let him appear in a game until he was 100%, no DH'ing for the Baby Jesus...that would be an insult. Besides, he's a CATCHER.
Think about other injuries. Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan, and Pat Neshek all had Tommy John surgery and returned the following season. Just think if Mauer had that surgery. Would he miss 2 1/2 seasons until he was 100%? (Of course pitchers are different because you can't plug them in at DH, but still.)
The other thing to consider is that Mauer has now missed a little under two months with sore legs and arms. It's a legit question, "How long will Mauer milk it?"
I say, why not go the entire rest of the season? If Mauer comes back and hits .400, the Twins are so awful that it won't matter. Call me a pessimist all you want, but the Twins aren't coming back with a crap bullpen, even worse lineup, and two idiots at the top. So shut down Mauer.
This would give Joe, if I may call him that, 10 full months to get his legs strong enough to catch in 2012. I mean, even after his routine knee surgery, somehow he couldn't get strong enough in the 4 1/2 month offseason. By the time he comes back for spring training, Mauer will not only be able to pull trucks with his bare legs, he'll be able to do the impossible: crouch.
I know what you're thinking. "BUT WE'RE PAYING HIM 20 MILLION DOLLARS THIS YEAR!!!" I know, but Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne in the Twins front office seem to be in no hurry to rush him back, so let him swim in the tainted waters of Target Field, and lift weights all we want. It's not like Mauer could turn into Kevin Slowey, right?
So, to the Twins front office, shut him down this year so that for the remaining 7 years of his contract, his legs will be strong enough to catch 10 more games in 2012 and each season until then. And just think, you can get a quality prospect like Aaro...um...Joe Ben...umm...BJ Gar...oh Christ...
Well, you'll probably just draft another college "pitch-to-contact" guy with a 4 ERA...oh well.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
R.I.P. For The Minnesota Twins
In the past, I've been a little too quick to write off the Minnesota Twins. In 2006, I thought there was no way they would catch the Detroit Tigers AND Chicago White Sox. The Twins won the AL Central on the last day.
In 2009, when Justin Morneau went down with a stress fracture in his back, I thought the Twins were done. The Twins would catch the Tigers again and beat them in game 163 at the Metrodome to become AL Central Champions of the World once again.
So, it's easy to say that my predictions about the end of the season are as valid as one...oh Harold Camping? (Yeah, I'm probably going to Hell.)
However, it's done. The Minnesota Twins are not coming back this year and why is that?
Because Bill Smith and Ron Gardenhire have put the team on a destructive path. Go back to the past offseason and look at the decisions he made.
- Smith entrusted the starting shortstop job to an inconsistent utility infielder named Alexei Casilla who had already had a chance to lock down a starting job and failed miserably in 2009. In case Casilla struggled again, Smith did...nothing.
- Smith also let bullpen cogs Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier walk in free agency. Believing that he could fill the holes from within his farm system, Smith dipped into the system that had the worst cumulative winning percentage in baseball. But, go ahead, call up those 5.43 ERA-relievers! The team was actually blessed that Smith was pro-active on getting insurance in case Joe Nathan wasn't himself coming off of Tommy John surgery. Too bad he gave up the best possible backup for the team's injury prone catcher...
Those are just two of the reasons to point the finger at Smith, but you can point it at Gardenhire too.
A lot of people will say "Oh, there's so many injuries." Well, it's not just the injuries. It's a web of excuses and kisses on the forehead that have doomed this team.
Players have learned that they can walk all over Gardenhire to get their way. Don't feel like playing today? Ask for a day off! Don't want to DH? Tell Gardy and he'll accomodate you.
Things have gotten way too comfortable, and while I think Kevin Slowey has become a selfish, egotistical, malcontent, I think that Gardy contributed to the situation. Gardy accomodates guys all the time, so why WOULDN'T Slowey demand to become a starter? It works for everybody else!
Even Mauer, who is now resorting to the excuse that you "Can play hurt, but not injured and I'm injured." got regular days off, and then suddenly found out he was "sore". Even as we speak, Mauer is feeling pain in his shoulder. The longer Mauer sits out, the more I'm convinced that he went up to the brass and said, "I don't feel like playing until June 1st, so let's think of a really good injury and send me down to Fort Meyers so I can chill on the beach. They won't miss me."
Drew Butera...hitting around .100 (Now known as the "Butera Line")
Rene Rivera...You know...he does have more bombs than Mauer.
It's pathetic that a team that has a decent amount of talent has turned into a bunch of whiny, sniveling, "battle-your-tails off robots". Consider what they've been saying.
- Well, we can't hit bombs cause of the trees in center.
- Well, we don't have that guy to get us fired up in a game and in the clubhouse.
- We have so many injuries
- The concrete at Target Field hasn't settled yet.
- I'm on medication and can't get over my bump on my head...
It's bad. Really bad. So simply put, the Twins for this year are dead. The lone highlight of the season might be Jim Thome hitting his 600th home run. Hopefully we see another big moment too...when the Twins blow up this team and restock their pathetic farm system.
In 2009, when Justin Morneau went down with a stress fracture in his back, I thought the Twins were done. The Twins would catch the Tigers again and beat them in game 163 at the Metrodome to become AL Central Champions of the World once again.
So, it's easy to say that my predictions about the end of the season are as valid as one...oh Harold Camping? (Yeah, I'm probably going to Hell.)
However, it's done. The Minnesota Twins are not coming back this year and why is that?
Because Bill Smith and Ron Gardenhire have put the team on a destructive path. Go back to the past offseason and look at the decisions he made.
- Smith entrusted the starting shortstop job to an inconsistent utility infielder named Alexei Casilla who had already had a chance to lock down a starting job and failed miserably in 2009. In case Casilla struggled again, Smith did...nothing.
- Smith also let bullpen cogs Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier walk in free agency. Believing that he could fill the holes from within his farm system, Smith dipped into the system that had the worst cumulative winning percentage in baseball. But, go ahead, call up those 5.43 ERA-relievers! The team was actually blessed that Smith was pro-active on getting insurance in case Joe Nathan wasn't himself coming off of Tommy John surgery. Too bad he gave up the best possible backup for the team's injury prone catcher...
Those are just two of the reasons to point the finger at Smith, but you can point it at Gardenhire too.
A lot of people will say "Oh, there's so many injuries." Well, it's not just the injuries. It's a web of excuses and kisses on the forehead that have doomed this team.
Players have learned that they can walk all over Gardenhire to get their way. Don't feel like playing today? Ask for a day off! Don't want to DH? Tell Gardy and he'll accomodate you.
Things have gotten way too comfortable, and while I think Kevin Slowey has become a selfish, egotistical, malcontent, I think that Gardy contributed to the situation. Gardy accomodates guys all the time, so why WOULDN'T Slowey demand to become a starter? It works for everybody else!
Even Mauer, who is now resorting to the excuse that you "Can play hurt, but not injured and I'm injured." got regular days off, and then suddenly found out he was "sore". Even as we speak, Mauer is feeling pain in his shoulder. The longer Mauer sits out, the more I'm convinced that he went up to the brass and said, "I don't feel like playing until June 1st, so let's think of a really good injury and send me down to Fort Meyers so I can chill on the beach. They won't miss me."
Drew Butera...hitting around .100 (Now known as the "Butera Line")
Rene Rivera...You know...he does have more bombs than Mauer.
It's pathetic that a team that has a decent amount of talent has turned into a bunch of whiny, sniveling, "battle-your-tails off robots". Consider what they've been saying.
- Well, we can't hit bombs cause of the trees in center.
- Well, we don't have that guy to get us fired up in a game and in the clubhouse.
- We have so many injuries
- The concrete at Target Field hasn't settled yet.
- I'm on medication and can't get over my bump on my head...
It's bad. Really bad. So simply put, the Twins for this year are dead. The lone highlight of the season might be Jim Thome hitting his 600th home run. Hopefully we see another big moment too...when the Twins blow up this team and restock their pathetic farm system.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The NBA Draft Lottery Is Rigged
On Tuesday night, Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn sat in his seat at Secaucaus, New Jersey and awaited the results of the NBA Draft lottery.
In 13 seasons prior, the Timberwolves had never earned a pick higher than their spot in the final standings or received the #1 pick. But the former was impossible because the Timberwolves had the best chance to get the #1 pick. (Although in $terns system, the Wolves most likely destination was the 4th pick overall.)
As the drama unfolded, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz (from the New Jersey Nets), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (from the Los Angeles Clippers) stood on stage with their representatives awaiting the good (or bad news).
The Utah Jazz had their general manager Kevin O’Connor in attendance. The Wolves had Kahn, and the Cavaliers had….the 14-year-old son of Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert who was battling a rare nerve disorder.
Kahn would lean over to O’Connor and claimed that they had no chance against the kid because there always seems to be some sort of storyline with the team that wins the lottery. Sure enough, the Cavaliers wound up with the number one pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Later, Kahn would repeat his comment to the national and local media and was jumped on by every walk of life thinking that Kahn had claimed the lottery was rigged. How could he say such a thing?
Well, I’ll say it. The NBA Draft Lottery is rigged.
The lottery was put in to prevent teams from tanking at the end of the season to try and get the #1 overall pick. Good theory, but the system is severely flawed.
As I mentioned before, the worst team in the NBA has the best chance to get the #1 pick at 25%. However, their most likely destination is pick number four, which has a roughly 35% probability of happening.
Teams also still tank games. Remember a couple years ago when a desperate Timberwolves team, looking to make one last run with Kevin Garnett, sent Mark Madsen out to launch threes in order to get more ping pong balls?
Plus the conspiracy theory was valid from the beginning. Because the winner of the inaugural lottery in 1986 were the New York Knicks, who coincidentally happened to be David Stern’s favorite team growing up. Their prize? Some jobber named Patrick Ewing. Hmm…
I don’t know much about the politics in the past couple of draft lotteries, but here’s what I’m seeing when it comes to the past couple of winners.
2010 – The Washington Wizards won the top pick despite having the fifth worst record. Earlier in the season, $tern’s good friend Abe Polin passed away…who happened to be the owner of the Washington Wizards. The Wizards also just happened to be planning on releasing Gilbert Arenas after his “Hooray for Guns” bit. Also, two bigger markets than Minnesota (New Jersey and Philadelphia) received the 2nd and 3rd picks respectively.
2009 – The Los Angeles Clippers received the #1 pick. Their standing prior to the lottery? Third (17.7%). In a one clear superstar draft, $tern awarded Blake Griffin to one of the biggest media markets in the NBA.
2008 – The Chicago Bulls were awarded the #1 overall pick ahead of the Miami Heat and Timberwolves. The Bulls were 9th in the standings and had a 1.7% chance of winning. Again, major media market and a two superstar draft (Michael Beasley considered to be one at the time) resulting in the Wolves falling just outside of the “money zone.” Added twist: Derrick Rose, the top pick, grew up playing in Chicago…
2007 – The Portland Trailblazers got the #1 overall pick and selected Greg Oden. That may have been chosen at random. However, there were two superstars and the team with the 2nd pick was the Seattle Supersonics. The Sonics were in a process of moving the team to Oklahoma City, so they needed a superstar to help sell basketball in the prarie. Enter Kevin Durant…
2006 – The Toronto Raptors wound up with the #1 pick in a draft where there wasn’t a clear cut superstar. The pick was Andrea Barngnani, who’s an OK player, but he’s not a Durant or Rose. If you want to push it, the lone Canadian team standing gets the #1 pick after the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis several years prior. Could $tern been trying to build his brand in Canada?
2005 – The Milwaukee Bucks win the lottery. Again, no true superstar, meaning small market team gets the #1 pick to create excitement and hope in the smaller cities who don’t win every year.
2004 – The Orlando Magic get Dwight Howard. Small market team looking for hope now has it. Although there were considered to be a superstar in the draft in Emeka Okefor. Orlando made the right pick here, but still, nobody really knew what to think about Dwight Howard at the time, right?
2003 – The “Miami Heat” draft. Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James would all go in the top 5, but it was James, the hometown kid from Ohio, who would try and bring his Cleveland Cavalier franchise back from the dead…
Which brings us full circle back to this years draft. Screw the theory that the Cavs won because the owner’s son was representing him. This goes much deeper. Cleveland was pissed off by the fact LeBron had stabbed them in the back with “The Decision.” Cleveland was livid with the NBA, so to keep another small market quiet, they gave them hope by giving them the #1 pick again showing that “Maybe we can rebuild without LeBron!” Meanwhile, the Wolves fell to #2, where they could take a right-handed version of Michael Beasley.
Think what you want. You can ignore all the facts I’ve just given you. You can ignore the fact that it’s a lottery operated behind closed doors in a secret location. And you can just try and enjoy the games. However, this is the league where a referee was accused and convicted of rigging games. Thing is, all the evidence seems to pile up against Mr. $tern.
In 13 seasons prior, the Timberwolves had never earned a pick higher than their spot in the final standings or received the #1 pick. But the former was impossible because the Timberwolves had the best chance to get the #1 pick. (Although in $terns system, the Wolves most likely destination was the 4th pick overall.)
As the drama unfolded, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz (from the New Jersey Nets), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (from the Los Angeles Clippers) stood on stage with their representatives awaiting the good (or bad news).
The Utah Jazz had their general manager Kevin O’Connor in attendance. The Wolves had Kahn, and the Cavaliers had….the 14-year-old son of Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert who was battling a rare nerve disorder.
Kahn would lean over to O’Connor and claimed that they had no chance against the kid because there always seems to be some sort of storyline with the team that wins the lottery. Sure enough, the Cavaliers wound up with the number one pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Later, Kahn would repeat his comment to the national and local media and was jumped on by every walk of life thinking that Kahn had claimed the lottery was rigged. How could he say such a thing?
Well, I’ll say it. The NBA Draft Lottery is rigged.
The lottery was put in to prevent teams from tanking at the end of the season to try and get the #1 overall pick. Good theory, but the system is severely flawed.
As I mentioned before, the worst team in the NBA has the best chance to get the #1 pick at 25%. However, their most likely destination is pick number four, which has a roughly 35% probability of happening.
Teams also still tank games. Remember a couple years ago when a desperate Timberwolves team, looking to make one last run with Kevin Garnett, sent Mark Madsen out to launch threes in order to get more ping pong balls?
Plus the conspiracy theory was valid from the beginning. Because the winner of the inaugural lottery in 1986 were the New York Knicks, who coincidentally happened to be David Stern’s favorite team growing up. Their prize? Some jobber named Patrick Ewing. Hmm…
I don’t know much about the politics in the past couple of draft lotteries, but here’s what I’m seeing when it comes to the past couple of winners.
2010 – The Washington Wizards won the top pick despite having the fifth worst record. Earlier in the season, $tern’s good friend Abe Polin passed away…who happened to be the owner of the Washington Wizards. The Wizards also just happened to be planning on releasing Gilbert Arenas after his “Hooray for Guns” bit. Also, two bigger markets than Minnesota (New Jersey and Philadelphia) received the 2nd and 3rd picks respectively.
2009 – The Los Angeles Clippers received the #1 pick. Their standing prior to the lottery? Third (17.7%). In a one clear superstar draft, $tern awarded Blake Griffin to one of the biggest media markets in the NBA.
2008 – The Chicago Bulls were awarded the #1 overall pick ahead of the Miami Heat and Timberwolves. The Bulls were 9th in the standings and had a 1.7% chance of winning. Again, major media market and a two superstar draft (Michael Beasley considered to be one at the time) resulting in the Wolves falling just outside of the “money zone.” Added twist: Derrick Rose, the top pick, grew up playing in Chicago…
2007 – The Portland Trailblazers got the #1 overall pick and selected Greg Oden. That may have been chosen at random. However, there were two superstars and the team with the 2nd pick was the Seattle Supersonics. The Sonics were in a process of moving the team to Oklahoma City, so they needed a superstar to help sell basketball in the prarie. Enter Kevin Durant…
2006 – The Toronto Raptors wound up with the #1 pick in a draft where there wasn’t a clear cut superstar. The pick was Andrea Barngnani, who’s an OK player, but he’s not a Durant or Rose. If you want to push it, the lone Canadian team standing gets the #1 pick after the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis several years prior. Could $tern been trying to build his brand in Canada?
2005 – The Milwaukee Bucks win the lottery. Again, no true superstar, meaning small market team gets the #1 pick to create excitement and hope in the smaller cities who don’t win every year.
2004 – The Orlando Magic get Dwight Howard. Small market team looking for hope now has it. Although there were considered to be a superstar in the draft in Emeka Okefor. Orlando made the right pick here, but still, nobody really knew what to think about Dwight Howard at the time, right?
2003 – The “Miami Heat” draft. Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James would all go in the top 5, but it was James, the hometown kid from Ohio, who would try and bring his Cleveland Cavalier franchise back from the dead…
Which brings us full circle back to this years draft. Screw the theory that the Cavs won because the owner’s son was representing him. This goes much deeper. Cleveland was pissed off by the fact LeBron had stabbed them in the back with “The Decision.” Cleveland was livid with the NBA, so to keep another small market quiet, they gave them hope by giving them the #1 pick again showing that “Maybe we can rebuild without LeBron!” Meanwhile, the Wolves fell to #2, where they could take a right-handed version of Michael Beasley.
Think what you want. You can ignore all the facts I’ve just given you. You can ignore the fact that it’s a lottery operated behind closed doors in a secret location. And you can just try and enjoy the games. However, this is the league where a referee was accused and convicted of rigging games. Thing is, all the evidence seems to pile up against Mr. $tern.
Monday, May 2, 2011
A Thought To Ponder: A Review of the Vikings Draft
OK, before I begin here, everyone needs to stop with the Ponder puns...right after mine. I like closing things out. For example, when I walk into a room with a lot of beautiful women, they all run towards the exits. I consider myself not only to be the Xerox, but the closer as well.
Viking fans sat down in front of the TV Thursday night and watched the NFL Draft. Besides from Roger Goodell nearly getting booed off stage for the NFL labor situation, it was enjoyable to watch when the Vikings wound up picking at 12.
Prior to the Vikings pick, the Vikings tried to trade up for QB Blaine Gabbert, who was still available at pick number 10 after the Tenessee Titans took the Vikings alleged #1 target, Jake Locker at 8. The Vikings couldn't make the trade happen, and as a result, the Jacksonville Jaguars took their QB of the future after trading up with Washington.
When the Vikings came up, there were several options.
- Prince Amukamara was available and was clearly the fans choice. The secondary had been beaten around long enough and a possible shutdown corner was available. Plus, Prince would have looked good in purple. (Just seems like it fits doesn't it?)
- Nick Fairley, considered by many to be the top pick in the draft in January, had also fallen to the Vikings. With Pat Williams most likely to leave and Kevin Williams possibly facing suspension for the Starcapps incident, one of the best defensive tackles in the draft seemed like a good choice.
- Anthony Constanzo was also on the board. After Brett Favre got the hell beat out of him last year, building a legitmate offensive line would seem to be a priority.
So what did the Vikings do? None of the above. In a shocking move, the Vikings took Florida State QB Christian Ponder...and Viking fans got livid.
They booed Vikings general manager Rick Spielman off stage at the draft party. They took to talk radio to do their own renditions of "Crishad's 30 Seconds of Anger". And, a bunch of them probably gave up and became Packer fans.
(Come to the dark side, Luke. I am your father...OK, doesn't it just seem like every time the Packers show up, I just want to hear the Imperial March from Star Wars? Aaron Rodgers using jedi mind tricks to will his team down the field. 6 seed my ass! I digress....)
However, when you think about it. Viking fans shouldn't have been that shocked. Coach Leslie Frazier had repeatedly mentioned that the Vikings needed a quarterback and wanted to groom one ala Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, or Aaron Rodgers (more on Green Jesus later...). So if their guy was there at 12, why not take him. Which begs the next question: Since Ponder was considered a late 1st round or 2nd round pick, why didn't the Vikings try to trade down?
Simple. Nobody wanted to and even if they did, Ponder was going to be gone by their next pick anyways. Remember, Washington traded down to 16 and was in need of a quarterback thanks to the imminent departure of Donovan McNabb. It's possible that Washington saw Ponder higher on their board than Gabbert, so they may have wanted to make that "reach" at 16. So the Vikings took Ponder at 12, and the Redskins are looking deep into signing a quarterback...John Beck (0-4 as a starter with the Dolphins and supposed to be the next Kurt Warner John Beck). So who would you rather have? Also take into consideration that most of the quarterbacks the Vikings would have been targeting in the second round would have been gone by pick 43. Also, with no third round pick, there was no opportunity to not only trade up for Gabbert but for one of the second tier quarterbacks.
"BUT IT WAS SUCH A REACH!!!" True, but think about it. Frasier and Spielman thought of Ponder highly enough that they would take him at 12. If Brad Childress would have made this move, I'd be a little skeptical. Frasier seems to know what he's doing, and he also has a quarterback guru in Bill Musgrave on the staff who is implementing an offense that is similar to the one Ponder ran at Florida State. Plus, you have durability concerns? Consider that Ponder was asked to run the football 15-20 times a game at FSU. He won't be asked to do that for the Vikings. Plus, it's not like the cupboard is bare on offense. He has Adrian Peterson in the backfield, Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice (barring the CBA being different when it gets resolved) at receiver, and now two pass-catching tight ends in Visthante Shiancoe and Kyle Rudolph. Remember when Daunte Culpepper got the keys to the bus in 2000? Similar situation.
So with all of that around him, do the Vikings need anymore than an intelligent quarterback who makes the right decisions? You can make the case that even Tarvaris Jackson could have survived if he had made the right reads. So all I'm saying is that Ponder deserves a chance. It could be that he's awful, but if he turns out to be the last FSU quarterback taken by the Vikings (Brad Johnson), it could be worse.
As for the rest of the draft, adding a solid weapon like TE Kyle Rudolph in the second round should help infuse some youth into the position, especially since all three on the roster are 30+ years old, and have their contracts ending in two years. Selecting DT Christian Ballard in the fourth round could be a steal as well, since Ballard Percy Harvin'ed the combine by testing positive for marijuna. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be too many players who could make an impact, and they need to get some youth on the offensive line, a defensive end opposite Jared Allen, a weakside linebacker, and help in the secondary.
There could be some help in free agency, whenever that can begin. LB Mark Herzlich went undrafted, but was a second round talent before he was diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago. It could be a fit with the Vikings if they decide to let Ben Leber walk in free agency. CB Kendrick Burney, who was involved in the UNC agent scandal, could also be a potential fit.
Elsewhere in the draft...
- The Detroit Lions are incredibly sick...IF MATT STAFFORD CAN STAY HEALTHY!!! They picked up Nick Fairley to form a deadly tag team with Ndumukong Suh on defense. They also got a receiver to go across Calvin Johnson in Titus Young, but the big addition was Mikel LeShoure, who will team up with Javid Best to form a Thunder/Lightning combo. Restore the Roar indeed.
- The Houston Texans finally made a comittment to defense by taking four defensive players in their first four picks. DE J.J. WATT!!! WATT!!! WATT!!! will be fine next to Mario Williams, and Brooks Reed gives them the Clay Matthews/DeMarcus Ware 3-4 rush linebacker you need.
- The Bengals may have hit the lottery with their first two picks, as they get the best prospect in the draft in A.J. Green, and a sneaky quarterback prospect in Andy Dalton (who I see a lot of Drew Brees in...). Even if they don't get rid of Chad Johnson in the offseason, the Bengals offense could catch up with their solid defense.
- Finally, the Patriots may have stuck it to the Vikings in the Randy Moss trade. Not only did the absence of a third round pick make it difficult for the Vikings to trade up, but they took QB Ryan Mallet with the pick, who has potential but also character issues. If Mallet lives up to his potential, it could be hailed as one of the worst trades in Vikings history.
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