Nationals Jackie, Nationals. For All These People.

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Jeff

The club hockey team’s week-long trip to Fort Myers starts tomorrow, and I’m still in the process of packing….which obviously is why I felt this was the best time to write a new blog post.

Obviously the biggest news of the day was Calvin Johnson’s new contract for 8 years $132 Million with $60 Million guaranteed.  It gets his salary cap hit down for this next year and most importantly keeps Calvin Johnson in a Detroit Lions uniform.  Free Agency for the Lions has gone quite slowly otherwise, with Eric Wright signing with Tampa Bay and the Lions have only scheduled visits for potential players.  Some players coming in include, offensive tackle Eric Winston, offensive tackle Marcus McNeill, offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, strong safety LaRon Landry, cornerback Jacob Lacey, wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr and linebacker David Hawthorne.

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The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints Terrible Decisions

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Jeff

First, let’s start with the Indianapolis Colts problems.  Yes, a $28 Million option is a huge hit to take for a player that hasn’t played in a year.  Yes, Andrew Luck is supposed to be the best quarterback prospect in over a decade.  Yes, the Colts are throwing their team in the toilet.  In case you didn’t know by now, the Colts have a HORRIBLE team.  Peyton Manning would not have turned that team into a playoff contender; their defense is just too brutal.  Because they have so many problems, they should have picked up Peyton’s option AND drafted Andrew Luck.  It’s a simple idea.  You let Peyton get beat up while Andrew Luck learns from him.  This team needs at least two years of rebuilding, so let Luck learn and keep him healthy.  There is also a possibility that Reggie Wayne and Peyton Manning will be a package deal in free agency, so who is Andrew Luck going to throw to?  Pierre Garcon and an old Dallas Clark?  Who is going to carry the ball?  The Colts are amazing at drafting running backs that become 1st round busts, simply put Joseph Addai and Donald Brown are bad.  The offense was successful because of Peyton Manning, and now he is not going to be there.  I fully believe that mentoring a young quarterback is the best way to bring him along quickly and effectively; just ask Aaron Rodgers.  They should have at least tried to negotiate a new deal to lessen the bonus they would have had to pay him to try to keep him around.  All I know is that Colts fans should get ready to endure a horrible rebuild of your franchise and they should pray that Andrew Luck lives up to the hype.

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NFL Bounty-Gate

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Jeff

The first thing that comes to my mind is are you stupid or are you dumb?  What was possibly going through any of these coaches minds when they okayed this.  My roommate Mark has a new acronym that fits this event perfectly; this is some TFUS (The cleaner, more internet appropriate version is Totally Fudged Up Stuff…..you get the idea).  There is talk that Greg Williams not only did this as defensive coordinator in New Orleans, but while he was defensive coordinator in Washington under Joe Gibbs AND when he was Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills.  One of the Bills former players, Coy Wire, said that he was rewarded for big hits financially and was showered with praise.  He claims that he was even praised for breaking former Detroit Lions running back James Stewart’s shoulder, and it should be noted that Stewart never played again (Victory Formation).  Tony Dungy is further alleging that Peyton Manning’s initial neck injury was against the Redskins when Williams was their DC, but something like that will be more difficult to prove.  To add onto all of this, there is also talk that the Tennessee Titans had a bounty program while current Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz was their DC. Continue reading →

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The NFL Combine’s Biggest Winners

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Jeff

This is far easier than picking the biggest losers, especially if you watched the combine, NFL Network Analyst Mike Mayock was like a schoolgirl when discussing some of these players.

Dontari Poe, Memphis, Defensive Tackle–I legitimately thought that Mike Mayock was going to ask if he could have his babies.  The big fella did everything right this week to “wow” the NFL Scouts.  He was quick and nimble during drills, and he put up great measurables.  At 6’4″ 346 he ran a 4.98 40 yard dash and put up 44 reps of 225 lbs on the bench, the most reps of anyone this year at the combine.  I personally have not watched enough film of him to say that he will be the next great defensive tackle, but if you go based solely on the combine, he looked like a big man, who can play in a 3-4 or 4-3 defense and cause havoc for offensive lineman. Continue reading →

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The NFL Combine’s Biggest Losers

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Jeff

I’m now all caught up on the NFL Network’s combine coverage after I missed a fair amount during club hockey regionals and now it’s time for my list of the three biggest winners and losers of the combine.  Keep in mind that when I say the losers of the combine, I don’t mean that they won’t be drafted, I just mean that their stock took a significant hit during this past week, and now they must have an extremely good pro day. Continue reading →

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The NHL Trade Deadline

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Jeff

The Trade Deadline came today without any major players moving around.  The Red Wings made their big move a few days ago trading for Kyle Quincey from Colorado.  This was a great move by them to add depth to the defensive core and provide insurance this summer if Brad Stuart goes back to California to be around his family and in case Nicklas Lidstrom retires.   In my mind, the only two teams that strengthened themselves for their playoff run today are Vancouver and Nashville.  Vancouver added Sami Pahlsson, Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani while only giving up Cody Hodgson.  Hodgson was going to be a huge part of their future, but it is apparent that by trading him Vancouver wants to make a push for the cup now.  Gragnani will provide depth on the blue line, while Pahlsson and Kassian will add more grit to their forward lines.  Nashville added Sergei Kostitsyn’s brother Andrei in order to add more secondary scoring and they ponied up a first round pick for Paul Gaustad to get another depth center.  The Wings were interested in Gaustad but did not have the 1st round pick to get him.  Outside of these two teams, I don’t think anyone made any moves today that will vastly improve their team.  The Blackhawks do garner some consideration given the fact that they added Johnny Oduya on the blue line and traded away John Scott for a new washing machine.  Otherwise, most of the deals involving major players were made earlier this week. Continue reading →

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The NFL Combine

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Jeff

I love watching the NFL Combine.  I’m not sure why, but I enjoy watching the process players have to go through in order to improve their draft stock.  My only real issues with the Combine are how much stock NFL teams put into measurables like players 40 yard dash times, and how big of a deal the media makes out of players not participating in certain drills.  I think that things like that are important to an extent, but realistically no football player will be running for 40 yards in a straight line without pads on.  I think that teams should focus more on game film as opposed to combine numbers.  That being said if anyone’s numbers on a certain drill are extremely brutal, it is fully acceptable to take those into account.  For instance, Mike Adams, thought once to be a first round left tackle out of Ohio State, put up only 19 reps of 225 lbs on the bench press; that is pathetic.  As a left tackle it is vital for them to be strong, Junior Hemingway (WR, Michigan) put up 21 reps. Continue reading →

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Next Years NFL Salary Cap Figures

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Jeff

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/38458/adjusting-salary-cap-for-rollover-totals

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7570116/nfl-plenty-cap-room-improve

The first article is specifically for the NFC North and the second article is John Clayton’s article which covers most of the rest of the teams.  The bottom line is, when you look at the first article, you will see that the Lions are going to be about $1 Million away from the salary cap.  This is exactly why there was a lockout and why there is now a rookie pay scale.  The salaries that rookies were getting before ever stepping on the field were getting ridiculous and were handcuffing teams.  Luckily for us Lions fans, they have plenty of high picks stock piled on the roster from before the lockout, and Calvin Johnson has only one year left on his deal, and should be the highest paid receiver in the NFL.   Continue reading →

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Mountain West Conference and Conference USA Merging

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Jeff

Yes, you did read the title of this post correctly.  And yes, unfortunately this is happening.    ESPN is reporting that the two conferences will divide up into divisions and conferences among the new group of schools, which consists of Southern Miss, Tulsa, Marshall, Rice, UTEP, UAB, Tulane and East Carolina from the Conference USA.  Then UNLV, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado State, Air Force, as well as new members Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii (Football only) from the Mountain West Conference.  All of these teams except for Fresno State and Nevada, which are moving over from the WAC, will be eligible to play in the new conference in the 2013-2014 season.  The new conference does not have a name for itself yet, but I think the Irrelevant Conference has a nice ring to it. Continue reading →

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ESPN Is At It Again.

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Jeff

Linsanity, Just Lin Baby, Just BalLin; if you’ve watched ESPN in the last week, these are all things that you would have heard.  I watched Sportscenter yesterday and they asked Jalen Rose to give his professional opinion as to whom was better, the 23-year-old undrafted Jeremy Lin out of Harvard or the #1 overall pick from two years ago, John Wall.  Rose, thankfully, laughed it off and more or less acted like the question was a joke and that Wall was clearly the better player.  I don’t pretend to know a ton about the NBA, but I do know a ton about sports.  After only four games, you CANNOT tell if a player is the “real deal” or just on a hot streak in ANY sport.  It is literally impossible and especially ignorant to make such a proclamation.  I’m not trying to be a hater, but this Linsanity crap is already out of hand, if he keeps it up the rest of the season, then the media can say he can ball. Continue reading →

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