With the NBA playoffs in its second round, just thought it was time to drop in and give a few varying takes on some of the series going on in the current NBA playoff season.
With that effort today by LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, how long is it going to take the two of them to claim they can still win eight championships or more in Miami? Never mind that they are still having trouble with Indiana, they're going to need at least seven games to get out of this series. What's going to happen when they run into Oklahoma City or San Antonio...that is, assuming they get by Indiana AND Boston?
Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are stone cold killers. Say what you want about the San Antonio Spurs 17 game winning streak, and it is impressive, but the fact that OKC might well be getting ready to go 8-1 against both the defending champion Dallas and then the Lakers is awfully impressive in itself.
And Kevin Durant...my goodness, word of warning to everyone else: Do NOT let the game be close late. There are certain guys who take the last shot, three, two one and you think that ball isn't going in. With Kevin Durant, it's becoming commonplace to think...that ball is going in. That's something we used to say about guys like Michael Jordan.
And what's going on with the Celtics? This team is so off and on it's unreal...dominate game 3 in Philadelphia, then they take a big lead in game 4 only to let their foot off the gas and lose.
Sad day for baseball on Friday with Kerry Wood retiring. I remember him all the way back to 1998 when he was a talented young pitcher and struck out 20 Houston Astros in a game...if only Dusty Baker hadn't come along and ruined his arm.
Justin Verlander didn't come up with a no-hitter on Friday against Pittsburgh, but in coming two outs short he gave Detroit fans their money's worth, especially for a game against Pittsburgh.
One final note as far as college football goes...I think it's safe to say that the landscape of college football has drastically changed in the wake of last week's announcement. In case you have been living under a rock or don't follow college football, the Southeastern and Big 12 conferences agreed to a matchup where, assuming one of their champions doesn't end up in an impending college football playoff, they would play each other in a champions' bowl game.
Because of this announcement, there is a clear divide between the haves and have-nots in the current landscape of NCAA major college football. The Big 10 (12), Big 12 (10, plus maybe more), Southeastern and Pac-12 conferences appear to be the haves while the Atlantic Coast and Big East conferences appear to be on the outside looking in. Are we about to see the formation of superconferences as we know them?
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The NFL Draft and Questionable Decisions
The National Football League's annual draft began Thursday night and ended Saturday, and it ended up being one of the deepest drafts in recent memory. The draft was such a deep draft that a guy by the name of Kellen Moore, a standout quarterback for Boise State who helped keep the Broncos on the map, ended up not getting drafted before he was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Detroit Lions. He almost certainly won't beat out Matthew Stafford but if he puts in the time he might have a shot to make the roster.
As with most NFL drafts, this draft came with some questionable decision making, from a lot of teams. Let's start with the Washington Redskins, who made the choice everyone expected them to make by taking Baylor's Robert Griffin III with the second pick in the draft.
It was an obvious move and a move that one would have expected the Washington Redskins to make as they have been looking for a franchise quarterback for many years. They also went very heavy on the offensive line, as one expected they might. In the draft, the Redskins selected three offensive linemen - two offensive guards and one offensive tackle.
But the curious decision, to me, is why did they take ANOTHER competent quarterback in the third round. Kirk Cousins is not a guy who is going to ride the bench very easily - he is going to give RG-III some competition. If they are giving up all those draft picks for RG-III, then why are they taking a guy like Cousins in the third round?
Another question: Why do teams even bother trading picks with the New England Patriots? That is almost money to guys like Bill Belichick. Take the 25th pick in the draft...New England got it in a trade with Denver. This pick became Dont'a Hightower, the spectacular linebacker from Alabama. And it's not like Denver had a great draft either, although they got a couple of good picks.
Now to the matter of Ryan Tannehill and wondering why in the world would the Miami Dolphins select this guy to be their franchise quarterback, let alone take him with a top 10 pick. Did they not see this guy cough up game after game after game in his senior year in college? The guy missed key throws and had big turnovers in the second halves of several games this last season which caused a lot of losses for a talented Texas A&M squad.
I even have questions about the hometown Houston Texans, who took Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey with a third round draft pick. He's got talent as he had a big year two years ago but he didn't run many pro style routes in college. Also, wide receivers take a very long time to develop. As a Texans homer, I would have liked to see Joe Adams or Jarius Wright from Arkansas in Texans colors. I thought Carolina did a good job picking up Adams, and Minnesota got the other two big playmaker receivers from Arkansas.
And the questions I have are not just limited to the NFL draft. Most notably, in the Dallas/Oklahoma City playoff series, there were questionable decisions in game 2 of that series which helped dictate how that game went. Oklahoma City won 102-99 going up 2-0 in that series. A lot of me wishes these referees would just stay out of these games as these games are good enough to where referees do not need to be that involved.
That is all for my thoughts, questionable decisions and all. Until next time...
As with most NFL drafts, this draft came with some questionable decision making, from a lot of teams. Let's start with the Washington Redskins, who made the choice everyone expected them to make by taking Baylor's Robert Griffin III with the second pick in the draft.
It was an obvious move and a move that one would have expected the Washington Redskins to make as they have been looking for a franchise quarterback for many years. They also went very heavy on the offensive line, as one expected they might. In the draft, the Redskins selected three offensive linemen - two offensive guards and one offensive tackle.
But the curious decision, to me, is why did they take ANOTHER competent quarterback in the third round. Kirk Cousins is not a guy who is going to ride the bench very easily - he is going to give RG-III some competition. If they are giving up all those draft picks for RG-III, then why are they taking a guy like Cousins in the third round?
Another question: Why do teams even bother trading picks with the New England Patriots? That is almost money to guys like Bill Belichick. Take the 25th pick in the draft...New England got it in a trade with Denver. This pick became Dont'a Hightower, the spectacular linebacker from Alabama. And it's not like Denver had a great draft either, although they got a couple of good picks.
Now to the matter of Ryan Tannehill and wondering why in the world would the Miami Dolphins select this guy to be their franchise quarterback, let alone take him with a top 10 pick. Did they not see this guy cough up game after game after game in his senior year in college? The guy missed key throws and had big turnovers in the second halves of several games this last season which caused a lot of losses for a talented Texas A&M squad.
I even have questions about the hometown Houston Texans, who took Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey with a third round draft pick. He's got talent as he had a big year two years ago but he didn't run many pro style routes in college. Also, wide receivers take a very long time to develop. As a Texans homer, I would have liked to see Joe Adams or Jarius Wright from Arkansas in Texans colors. I thought Carolina did a good job picking up Adams, and Minnesota got the other two big playmaker receivers from Arkansas.
And the questions I have are not just limited to the NFL draft. Most notably, in the Dallas/Oklahoma City playoff series, there were questionable decisions in game 2 of that series which helped dictate how that game went. Oklahoma City won 102-99 going up 2-0 in that series. A lot of me wishes these referees would just stay out of these games as these games are good enough to where referees do not need to be that involved.
That is all for my thoughts, questionable decisions and all. Until next time...
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