Degenerate Friday! NFL Draft Round 1

Quick Thoughts on Round 1 of the NFL Draft……and while writing that sentence the Brewers just scored 3 more times on the Pirates. Seriously? They swept the Pirates by an aggregate score of 36-1. My brother and I debated what was more embarrassing – the offense or the pitching? I think it’s a close call and either way means that despite the Pirates 7-6 start, they are still the Pirates. Since Friday’s are our gambling day, I’ll bet on Tebow being the guy to help Josh McDaniels pack on his way out of Denver.

- Josh McDaniels has some huge cahones. Either that or he’s an idiot. I’m leaning towards the latter. Tim Tebow in the first round? At #25? Trading all over the place and then taking him ahead of Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy? Overall there is a ton of hate for Tebow as a person and a football player. I think he’s actually just a nerd. He works hard, stays out of trouble and is as smart as you can be when you’re from Florida (the bar is very low), but he just comes across as cheesey. My wife watched his interview and offered this analysis: “I’m pretty sure he’s a virgin. He just looks and acts like a guy that’s never been laid.” I guess she’s not a fan. I thought the best comment on him came from Tom Jackson when he stated flatly “You can only be a leader if you’re PLAYING. And he will not be playing.” Very well said. I don’t get it because I’m not sure how anyone figures Tebow is going to a better pro than Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy or Dan Lefe…something from Western Michigan. Coach McDaniels, I hope you have a moving company on speed dial because drafting the second-best wide receiver (Demaryus Thomas over Dez Bryant) and the 4th or 5th best quarterback both in the first round put you squarely in the cross-hairs.

- I really, really despise the showing of the phone calls to the players before the draft pick was made. Talk about ruining any and all suspense in the process. Why would they allow the player to take the call and then show it on television so everyone knows before the Commissioner makes the announcement?

- Did anyone else notice that Steve Young does not appear to be very liked on the ESPN set? There seemed to be numerous occassions where Young would interrupt the others to get his opinion interjected, and numerous other times when the guys like Gruden, Jackson and Boomer would just talk right over the top of Young and take veiled shots at him like “did you see this, Steve?” before disproving his opinions. It just seemed mildly tense any time he would open his mouth and his thoughts were not appreciated by the others. Yet I still like Young because knowing that he went to BYU, I just assume his personal life is just like Big Love.

- The Coors Light Home Draft commercials? Awesome. The concept is great, not exactly new, but great. They are equivalent to the Heineken mini kegs, and let’s face it, the mini keg is a much cooler looking than the Coors offering. But the commercials with Ditka? Priceless. I would say that the commercial was about as impressive as what Detroit has done to remake the Lions and be in a better position to compete than the Chicago Bears.

- Loved the Packers pick of Brian Bulaga, and as has been pointed out quite a bit, he has the look of a Packers linemen if ever there was one. Between him and Mark Tauscher, you have two Big Ten brawlers who look like they belong playing for Green Bay. Like I said yesterday, they needed to fortify the line because if they give Rodgers time, he will have an MVP season. Let’s just hope the guy is better than the last highly touted Iowa lineman, Robert Gallery.

- The Cowboys may have made the best pick of the first round, getting Dez Bryant who had fallen all the way towards the end of the round. Bryant has Moss/T.O. talent and has taken a beating for being kind of a knucklehead. The key will be whether he takes the draft slide as a personal slight and uses it as motivation to drive himself to get back at all of the teams that passed on him. If he does that, a tandem of Miles Austin and Dez Bryant (with Roy Williams underneath) will immediately improve Tony Romo and the Cowboys offense.

Week 17 Hangover - Love/Hate

LOVE

- I have to believe that the Jim Zorn firing this morning probably went something like when Kramer got fired on Seinfeld…….

- The Big 10 finally showed up for bowl season. In addition to Wisconsin throttling Miami, Penn State beat LSU, Ohio State handled Oregon, and Northwestern should have beaten Auburn. After years of taking abuse for the conference losing all of its bowl games, the teams put up a pretty good showing. The ending of the Northwestern game was among the best overtime college football games I’ve ever seen (that didn’t have any real meaning) - losing the game on a fumble (then having it overturned), missing a tying field goal (then getting a first down and losing your kicker to injury on a roughing the kicker penalty), and finally losing the game by faking a 20 yard field goal because your starting kicker was injured. I’d say the fake field goal attempt probably ranked up there with the Diane Lane sex scenes in Unfaithful…..it fit in given the context of the situation, but it definitely hits you as shocking at the time and makes you rethink what you thought about her.

- Coaching will be the difference in the NFC playoffs. With both wildcard games in the NFC this coming weekend being rematches of games from Sunday, the difference will be the adjustments and strategy that the coaches make during the next week. That makes the Philly-Dallas game even more interesting because Wade Phillips is not known as a great strategy guy, and Andy Reid has a great history of choking in games that matter (see Sunday as example A).

In Arizona, Ken Whisenhunt will be tested to come up with a way to score points against the Packer defense, and find a way to slow down Aaron Rodgers. Mike McCarthy, this is your chance to show how well you can prep a team to get a road win and potentially set up a chance at Brett Favre in the divisional playoff round.

- Great gambling finish to the season for the Sports Addict, including a perfect 9-0 record in the early games on Sunday and a 12-4 record overall for the day. If I had just placed a sweet 9-team parlay bet with the early games, I could have racked up a nice 150-1 odds winning ticket…….
Oh, and of course, the only week I pick against the Packers and they come through big time in sending a message to the Cardinals what they will be bringing back to the desert next weekend.

HATE

- Eagles Coach Andy Reid must have told his team that Sunday was the beginning of the playoffs, because they switched from their powerful regular season team mode into the heartless, effortless Philly team that shows up every year in the playoffs. Donovan McNabb and company flopped like a European NBA star on a fast break. It at least makes for an interesting rematch next week when both teams try to shed their past playoff failures.

- What a pathetic showing by the Giants to finish the season the past few weeks. Tom Coughlin is probably going to keep his job based on his Super Bowl win from 2007, but after the way the team quit, you have to wonder if he and defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan should share a cab out of town. The Giants will have some major improvements to make before next season if they want to keep up with the young Eagles and the more talented Cowboys within the NFC East.

- The Broncos are in major trouble. So let’s see if we have this right. They start the year 6-0, then proceed to lose 8 of their last 10, their star WR has beef with his coach, and their QB does not look worthy of a long-term contract. So what exactly did Josh McDaniel accomplish this season? They threw up on themselves like many people on New Year’s, and their future looks worse than when McDaniels took over.

- What a strange NFL season where the top seeds in the NFC and AFC enter the playoffs on 3 and 2 game losing streaks, respectively. In addition, the 2 seed in the NFC enters having lost 3 of their last 5 games. I guess this will be the perfect year to determine whether momentum really comes into play in the NFL.

- You have to feel for Wes Welker, who blew out his knee in the first series on Sunday. It’s a crushing blow to the Patriots chances of advancing deep in the playoffs. I guess that’s the proof that the Colts need to confirm they did the right thing last week against the Jets.

- One last hate - the weather. It has been nut-rattling cold in the Northeast the past few days. Miserable.

Week 5 Hangover - Love/Hate

Thankfully it was an awesome fall weekend in the Northeast, so it made up for the lack of really interesting football games. Good weekend to get outdoors, go to a game, spending time in Central Park or going to an apple orchard. Granted there were a couple of overtime NFL games, and the Florida-LSU game was close, but not exactly lighting up the scoreboard. So as always – hit up Peter King, Michael Silver or Mike Florio/Gregg Rosenthal for full summaries, these are my quick hit loves/hates.

LOVE

- The Broncos are officially real. After a strong comeback win against the Pats, I’m now not just a believer in the Broncos, but I’m a big fan of Josh McDaniels. His emotions after the game were awesome, and it was obvious that even though he respects his former mentor and team, he loved sticking it to them. And Vonnie Holliday is still playing and still effective!?!?! And Kyle Orton is 26-12 as a starting quarterback.

- Matt Ryan is showing he may belong among the discussion of the top 5 QBs in the league. And he may be ready to lead the Falcons to the promise land. He dismantled a good 49ers defense on the road and with the exception of his hiccup against the Pats has been dominant. If Atlanta can also run the ball effectively, they’re dangerous to the Giants, Saints and Vikings. Ryan is kind of like Matt Leinart – except the exact opposite. He’s focused on football, smart and mature.

- I respect Tony LaRussa’s success as a manager, but it was enjoyable to watch that jag-off get swept out of the playoffs.

- Not that anyone knew, or cared, but a big win for the US Soccer team over Honduras to qualify for the World Cup next year in South Africa. Not so much for the win, but the ridiculous political situation surrounding the game.

- Peyton Manning has practically wrapped up the MVP award way too early in the season. Over 300 yards every week, and this team is absolutely incredible. I don’t know what else to say about Herman Munster – the dude is on track to win his 4th MVP award.

HATE

- 1-2 on the college picks this week, so not a great start. Although that UW-OSU game was tough because Wisconsin actually physically dominated the Buckeyes, yet got their butts kicked. Pathetic. It was a hideous game to watch.

- Is there a more overrated QB in the country than Terrell Pryor? Yes, he’s an athete. No, he’s not a QB. He was 5-13 for 87 yards and rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries – and won. The only guy that’s close to being as overrated is that kid at Ole Miss: Jevon Snead. Talked about as being a challenger to Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford at the top of draft boards, he’ll now be lucky to get drafted in the 3rd round if he’s not smart enough to stay in school for his senior year. Snead has 9 TDs and 9 INTs with a completion percentage under 47%.

- The Browns-Bills game…….time to consider contracting those two teams. Wow – 6-3? Derek Anderson was 2-for-17, and he won the game! Maybe the Browns should draft Pryor, he seems like a perfect fit.

- Rough weekend for Boston sports. Red Sox collapse at home in the 9th to finish getting swept, and Pats blow a 17-7 lead and Brady loses in OT for the first time in his career. The Freedom Trail will be a trail of tears this week.

- The Raiders circus continues. Sure looks like Tom Cable is going to get arrested for assaulting his assistant coach. What a mess. Oh, and on the field they suck harder than Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian combined.

- Not sure if many people saw it, but in the 3rd quarter, while the 49ers were getting their lunch eaten by the Falcons, Dre Bly picked off a pass at his own 15 yard line and as he crossed his own 25 yard line, started to do a little Deion dance to celebrate his great play. The only problem? He was promptly caught from behind by Roddy White (who already had over 200 yards receiving by toasting Bly repeatedly), and stripped of the ball and the Falcons recovered. Mr. Bly, you sir, are an ass-clown.

- People get paid to do “research” like this? Unreal.