Friday, August 07, 2009

Just Because....

Greetings gang - as we head into the hottest month of the year (does that mean it's going to be like 110 now???), I thought I'd get some things off my chest. Very random, but that's how I roll...

Crabtree:
Oh please, please, please do this Mike. PLEASE. So I'll start with two undeniable facts (and then I'll get into the more fun facts of the story). First, Crabtree was without question the best receiver in college football last year. By a mile. Second, that means absolutely dick right now.
Here are some of the aforementioned fun facts:
- Crabtree is now (allegedly) threatening to sit out the entire football year, thereby making him eligible to re-enter the draft next year, because of a contract dispute.
- Crabtree was the 10th pick in this year's draft and was the second receiver taken.
- Al Davis was an absolute cook in picking Heyward-Bey with the seventh pick (the first receiver taken).
- Crabtree is seemingly demanding "top 5 money". For those of you who may not get that, he's asking to be paid like he was picked 1-5....remember, he was picked 10th.
- The person advising Crabtree seems to be his cousin, David Wells (yes, his cousin).

See? I told you this was fun. Look, Michael, listen: the one guarantee that I, just an average "joe" sports fan, can make to you is this - if you sit out next year you will NEVER have a successful career in the NFL. You need to remove that option from the table now. Second, as crazy as it is that you weren't the first receiver picked, the fact still remains that you were picked second (and 10th overall). It should bring you some sense of comfort to know that Al Davis was the one who made that ridiculous pick and he's crazier than a shit house rat. No other logical GM/owner would have made that pick, but what are you going to do. You're going to take the 10th pick money and you're going to go play hard and then, when you actually prove you are a solid receiver, you'll get paid. Oh, and one more thing, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but you're STILL going to get millions and millions of dollars for the next few years. Oh, and good luck earning the respect of your teammates - ask Cedric Benson how a holdout like this worked out for his career.

Finally, you are an idiot and you have to know that. If I ever win the lotto the first thing I'm doing is hiring someone I trust to advise me financially. Why? Because I'm an idiot when it comes to that. You're an idiot when it comes to this - hire an agent and keep your cousin away from your business. I swear to God you'll be a happier professional and a richer one.

VY:
So now VY claims he's going to be the next black QB to win a super bowl and will be in the HOF. No Vince....no you're not. I'm soooo tired of hearing this guy talk. Let's see - you're a terrible teammate, you're kind of a baby, you talk more about working hard and accomplishing a lot than actually working hard and accomplishing anything. Oh, and you're a backup to Kerry Collins. C0llins had a great year last year and has had a pretty good career, but someone who claims to be the next black QB to win a super bowl and a hall-of-famer should be able to beat Kerry Freaking Collins.

Vince needs to pay someone to constantly remind him how close his career is to being a full-blown disaster. He's not an old man by any means and he's got time to really be a good player, but honestly, who's going to bet on that? Can you imagine if Vegas had a line of VY going to the hall of fame one day? And another thing, please get some speech lessons. I'm not being petty here at all either, he can't talk for shit. It doesn't help him...at all. I'm still rooting for him, but he's slowly becoming a joke in the NFL.

Let's take a quick look back at that draft of '06 - Bush, Lineart and Young. Remember how much crap the Texans took for taking Mario Williams? Think of Williams' value to his team vs. these guys. I'm just saying...

Lamar Odom:
Yeah, like he was really going to go to Miami and maybe win a playoff series. Buss is still the master and Kupcheck is quickly earning his stripes. They aren't making Popavich type moves on a regular basis, but they've had a good couple of years.

John Hughes:
For a generation of folks (I'm going to say somewhere between 28 and 42), this was pretty big news. And for those who don't know John Hughes, you undoubtedly know of at least one or two of his movies in which the common response is usually, "wow, he did all of those movies?". Yes, all of them. Just to name a few - Hughes wrote and/or directed...Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, all of the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, the Home Alone trilogy, the Beethoven trilogy and last, but not least, Mr. Mom.

Think of the careers he made in those movies. Although some of those careers were short lived, he still made them - Matthew Broderick, Anthony Michael Hall, the Home Alone kid, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, and of course, Molly Ringwald. Pretty incredible career. What's more, he died at 59 (crazy young) and he hasn't directed a film in 18 years. He's done some writing and very little producing (whatever that is), but no directing. He did all of this work and then some between the ages of like 38 and 50. Anyway, kudos to him.

Just Random...
  • Hold on to your hats football fans, but the NCAA pre-season coach's poll was released today with (huge surprise) the Florida Gators are number 1. Not a shock considering their entire defensive roster is back and they've got Jesus Christ himself playing quarterback again this year. Just out of sheer, "it's so tough to do", I just can't see them repeating, but who knows. They're definitely good.
  • I'll be doing a college football preview at some point over the next couple of weeks.
  • Another thing on Crabtree - does he realize if he sits out he'll be in the draft with Dez Bryant out of Oklahoma State (who's a lot like Calvin Johnson) and a slew of other receivers? No way he sticks with this decision.
  • I don't see any way that Plaxico Burress avoids jail time. And I'm glad they didn't indict Antonio Pierce - my guess is they thought his involvement would be a waste of their time in terms of prosecuting.
  • Doing my first, real-deal fantasy football league this year - with draft and all. My hesitation has been the amount of time it takes, but I'm going to give it a go. I worry about it changing how I watch the NFL because I really love the NFL.
  • Watched a good portion of Thursday's Yankees/Red Sox game....I'll caveat this with at best I follow MLB in the news, box scores and standings.....it just looked like the Yankees were a better team. I understand that Boston holds an 8-0 advantage in the series this year and that's certainly saying a lot, but on that night, Yanks looked far superior. Of course, as I will eat what I always say, it's only one game and one game rarely matters that much unless you're down to September. I'm just saying - this 4-game series may be interesting.
  • I greatly worry about the depth of interior defensive line on this year's Longhorns team.
  • I feel pretty darn good about my parenting abilities and I feel like I've handled most everything pretty darn well. But man, I really hate potty training - by and far the most "patience-demanding" thing for me thus far. It's brutal.
  • Nice little run by the Stros - came and went so fast I'm still not sure it actually happened.
  • I'm sort of shocked to be saying this, but I don't see how democrats don't lose seats in 2010. The way this health care thing has been handled has been a disaster - here, let's push this biggest, most complicated and expensive piece of legislation through as fast as we can. Nice.
  • And if you're one of these assholes that shows up to these town meetings doing nothing but chanting this or that (either for or against) and waving signs, you are part of the problem. It's counter productive and it makes you look really dumb. You know folks, there are more ideas and options available for discussion besides "socialized medicine" or "obamacare". I really love the folks who are saying, "I don't want government involved in my health care choices, but dear God don't touch Medicare". I'll let everyone soak that irony in for a bit.
  • Back to the NFL pay scale - hopefully this will be a topic at the next collective bargaining agreement which I believe it will be - the league really needs a rookie salary scale. Picks 1-5 get within X range; picks 6-10 get Y range; rest of first round gets Z range. I promise you almost all of the veterans want this. BUT, if this happens, the owners are going to have to give up something big - like more revenue sharing, guaranteed contracts, something. I'm starting to worry about the work stoppage potential starting in 2011 (primarily because Peter King is worried and he's one of my few trusted insider sources in the league...in other words, I believe what he writes).
  • In the next 3-5 years we may be looking back at the Oklahoma City Thunder and marveling at how management there was able to slowly and smartly build a great team. They are doing ALL of the right things - I love that they didn't bite on this year's free agency market when they had plenty of cap space. You've got your star (Durant) and you've got a good core in the works. Don't force it. As Bill Simmons would say, "let it breathe".
  • I think Michael Vick to the Packers might actually make sense. This shouldn't be seen as a threat to Rogers as I don't see Vick there to push for the starting role, but could give them an edge. AND, it's Green Bay so you won't have the media factor that you would in other, larger markets. Houston would be another good possibility - at least to bring him in, work him out and see how he looks. I can't imagine he doesn't get picked up by an NFL team at some point - and it's not like you have to spend a lot of money on him either.
  • I'm a dog lover and all of that, but in the spirit of paying debts to society, doing your time, and taking accountability - don't you have to kind of root for Mike Vick? I'm just saying, could be a really powerful story if it all works out well - a lot of people could benefit from a Vick success story.
That's what I got guys - enjoy the weekend and week.

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