Just a few quick notes as this Thursday winds down here in Texas:
From the NFL, the charges against Ray Rice of domestic violence stemming from him punching his then-fiancee Janay Palmer were dropped. That's just unbelievable. You mean to tell me that a guy can hit his girlfriend in an elevator, be caught doing it and have the charges be dropped? What kind of world are we living in today where Tom Brady and Deflate Gate gets more attention than a star running back hitting a woman?
What's even worse is that he's talented enough to play in the NFL again, and whichever team ends up with him in the future is going to see his jersey be a popular seller in stores in that market. Sadly, as a Nebraska graduate and lifetime fan I've seen this story one too many times.
Lawrence Phillips hit his ex-girlfriend in 1995, Osborne booted him but decided to give him a second chance (when he really didn't need to, as they won the title without him anyways) as did many other coaches but he never learned. I can only hope that unlike Lawrence, that Ray Rice learns from his mistake but how can the charges be dropped when he was caught on camera?
Speaking of the Huskers, Mike Riley landed his second quarterback recruit of Nebraska's 2016 class, Patrick O'Brien out of California. Amongst the many things I hope I will see with Riley that we didn't see with Pelini is he needs to be aggressive on the recruiting trail all year round. Sometimes, what we saw with Pelini was that during the school year he would recruit decently, but in the summer the recruiting really tailed off.
Two cases in point: Damore'ea Stringfellow and Hunter Dale. Stringfellow was a wide receiver transfer from Washington for approximately two to three weeks last summer, but then opted to go to Ole Miss instead. Then, two-sport star Hunter Dale from Louisiana committed to the Huskers, then said he didn't and went elsewhere. They had 11 commits last year in May then got stuck on that # for quite a while.
One final Husker take: The end of the Husker baseball season was a complete disaster and for as much as I like Erstad, he's got to take the brunt of the responsibility. There needs to be at least some pressure on him to perform next year and that goes for all three major Husker sports for that matter. This is by far the worst the three major Husker sports have done since Nebraska came into the Big 10. I think Riley can win the West this coming fall, but basketball has a ways to go and baseball needs better hitting and better assistants in the dugout.
A few more NFL takes: The Chargers are apparently optimistic they can sign Philip Rivers. Hopefully, for their sakes, they can. Rivers has a mouth, but he is a gamer and he is a winner. Chargers could have made the playoffs last year but all their running backs got hurt it seemed.
So apparently Tom Brady's endorsement value has dropped since Deflate Gate. Ha, you think? Do I think Deflate Gate is overblown, yeah, but considering what many people think about the Pats, they don't need a reason to not trust Tom Brady. Speaking of the Pats, returning New York Jet Darrelle Revis opened his mouth recently, saying that the "Patriots have a history of doing stuff." Which is pretty much what I would expect any player under contract with the Jets to say. Interesting that he said it, but not surprising.
Smart move by the Saints to sign Andrus Peat to a four year deal. The Saints can use some improvements in run-game blocking and in protection for Drew Brees and Peat is just what the doctor ordered. Oh and by the way, he's another recruit that Bo Pelini missed out on.
As far as the Rockets tonight, devastating loss. If they wanted any chance to win this series, they had to get one of the first two games in Golden State. They had chances in both of those games but could not get it done. I think they can win a couple of games, but asking them to beat that Golden State Warriors team four out of five times is asking quite a bit. Honestly, the Rockets' biggest weakness is point guard. Even if Patrick Beverley were out there checking Curry, he's not an elite point guard; career backup at best. If the Rockets want to take that final step to win a championship, then they must get an upgrade at that position.
As to whether Cleveland could beat Golden State, uh, no. Lebron as great as he is isn't beating this Golden State team four times in a seven game series. Sorry, but the Cleveland curse continues.
Until next time....
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
5/18: Football never stops, Clutch City reborn
So, as you can probably tell, this blog post is going to be VERY heavily leaning towards both college and pro football (as it usually does) plus the Rockets shocking comeback over the Clippers in the NBA Playoffs. That having been said....
Let's begin with quite a bit of football, starting in the college game. Though it is the offseason, recruiting is heating up for National Signing Day 2016, and there are some transfers hitting the "open market" so to speak as well.
Two of the offseason's hottest transfer possibilities, Everett Golson and Braxton Miller, still haven't made their final decisions yet. In the last blog, I mentioned that there was a rumor several weeks ago that Finebaum of the SEC Network had a source who said Miller may transfer to Alabama.
Needless to say, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith doesn't see that happening, Sitting down with a reporter from Eleven Warriors, an Ohio State based website, Smith said, "No, he's not going anywhere. Where's the rumors? He never said that."
Smith further went on to say that Miller loves it in Columbus, has a child and is in a good position. Obviously, Smith is not waffling on this position.
We shall see. But the Ohio State depth chart at QB, plus him being able to play right away leaves the transfer possibility always open until we hear it from the horse's mouth.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson is also a hot "prospect" as far as transfer possibilities. The rumor was that he was going to make a decision on where he'd play football next year (he has a year of eligibility remaining and will be able to play immediately as he graduated from Notre Dame on Saturday), but it appears he will keep the college football world waiting a bit longer according to Brett McMurphy of ESPN.
In Norman, the rough waters since the 2014 Sugar Bowl continue for Oklahoma's football program, as sophomore wide receiver K.J. Young was dismissed for violating team rules, and defensive backs Tito Windham and Marcus Green are set to transfer. Those three join running back Keith Ford, who announced he would transfer last week.
Auburn has had a week of setbacks as well though they did land the services of former five-star offensive lineman (and ex-Longhorn) Darius James this week; War Eagle lost three defensive backs to transfers in the past week as Kamryn Melton will be joined by fellow defensive backs Derrick Moncrief and Joe Turner in leaving the program. Moncrief is the biggest loss of all of them experience wise, as he played in all 13 games for Auburn this past year.
From the NFL comes the most confusing thing of the day; the Miami Dolphins signed Ryan Tannehill to a six year, 96M contract extension. What they see in this guy I'll never know; he's not a bad quarterback, but I certainly don't think he's a quarterback that is worth that much money. But if they want to put all their money on a decent but not great quarterback, knock yourselves out Miami.
Also from the NFL, Justin Smith, consistently one of the best defensive ends in the game, retires after 14 seasons in the pros. Amongst consistently drawing double teams and opening up gaps for linebackers in his tenures in Cincinnati and San Francisco, he played in a remarkable 221 out of 224 games in his 14 year career (thanks to Chris Sprow of ESPN for that stat). That's just about impossible in today's NFL. Smith played his college ball at Mizzou, an old rival of the Huskers, but I tip my hat today to one of the most durable players the NFL has seen in some time.
This also continues the rough offseason for the Niners, who of course lost Jim Harbaugh after the regular season and lost their other defensive stalwart Patrick Willis, who also retired this offseason.
Elsewhere from the Shield, apparently former Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan would coach again if the situation was right. Speaking at a panel discussion for a lifestyle brand founded by a former NFL player, Shanahan said,
"You go 18 hours a day for 40-something years, and then you got a year and a half to two years where you feel like you got the time to do whatever you want to do," Shanahan said. "I still study the heck out of football. I actually have more time. I study more football than I actually did before."
Listen, Shanahan is a great football mind, has been for years. But there was one decision that, to me, set back his entire professional coaching career significantly and that was continuing to play Robert Griffin III in that playoff game against Seattle (in the 2012-13 season) when it was obvious Griffin couldn't play anymore. Honestly, if anyone hires this guy after that I'll be shocked.
Also from the NFL, current Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (you may remember him as a national title winning quarterback at Auburn as well) had a great moment with a horse racing fan this weekend at the Preakness Stakes. American Pharoah won the race to bring him within a victory at the Belmont Stakes of the first Triple Crown in 37 years, but a fan who had a winning ticket got to be in a photo with Newton. That's pretty cool.
On a side note, I'd love to see the Triple Crown come true, but there's a reason it hasn't been done in 37 years; it's probably the hardest feat to pull off in all of sports.
Cancer got another victim this weekend unfortunately; this time it was former Miami Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian, who was a part of the 17-0 Dolphins perfect season. My thoughts are with him and his family at this hour. Also, my thoughts are with Seattle defensive tackle Jesse Williams, who will undergo surgery for kidney cancer.
Chargers owner Dean Spanos stepped away from the day to day operations of the Chargers on Monday, ceding control of the team to his sons, John and Alexander Gus. Hopefully the Spanos boys can work with the NFL to keep the Chargers in San Diego; I would hate to see them become an LA product.
And finally, from the NFL Captain Obvious department, Joe Buscaglia of WKBW in Buffalo reports that unless E.J. Manuel makes significant progress in the offseason his time with the Buffalo Bills could be numbered. Uh, yeah, Captain Obvious. They wouldn't have gone and picked up Matt Cassel if they were totally confident in E.J. Manuel's ability.
Now, let's get to the NBA Playoffs, and more specifically, the return of the Clutch City Rockets, who became just the ninth team in NBA history to wipe out a 3-1 series deficit and just the second NBA franchise (joining the Boston Celtics of 1968 and 1981) to do it twice. Which, I might add, I believed had no chance of happening approximately one week ago. In fact, I said on this very blog one week ago that until they got some tougher players this was as far as the Rockets were going to go in the playoffs.
Ha. Maybe I should have said that about the Clippers. Who, by the way, reminded us all that they are still the Clippers and will forever be the little brother to the Lakers in Los Angeles.
I think, though, that you have to give a ton of credit to Kevin McHale and also to his assistants T.R. Dunn and J.B. Bickerstaff. In particular, it was the insertion of Josh Smith into the starting lineup in Game 5 last Tuesday in Houston that changed the momentum of the series. The biggest difference in the series was two factors; one, it's that McHale outcoached Doc Rivers as he did Rick Carlisle of the Mavs in the previous round. Both of those men, by the way, have won NBA titles as a coach.
The other is plain and simply that the Clippers have no bench and really are average outside of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. It was something I thought might catch up to them earlier in the series with them having been through a seven game bloodbath with the Spurs, but it ended up happening right at the end of this series. Once the Rockets shut down the three main Clippers role players (Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford and JJ Redick) the Rockets had the advantage.
To wit, in game 5, the three Clippers shot a combined 6 for 30. In the incredible Game 6 comeback in which the Rockets rallied from 19 down late in the third, those three men shot a combined 12 for 38. And yesterday, those three shot 10 for 32. I think most who watched that series knew that Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, James Harden and Dwight Howard would get their points but this series was decided in large part by role players. In the three Clippers wins, Redick, Crawford and Barnes all played very well.
In contrast to the Clippers, the Rockets are a much deeper team; they had eight guys who played 20 or more minutes yesterday. And it was a key reserve, Pablo Prigioni, that sparked the decisive run of yesterday's game.
I believe the mentality of this Rockets team is very strong and it is a find-a-way mentality; I don't think at this point that they feel they are out of any game. That was never more evident than last Thursday night where they wiped out a 19 point Clipper lead late in the third. The team has been that way all year; they had to go without Dwight Howard for the majority of the season, and they've lost two key starters including their starting point guard who hasn't played in two months.
Speaking of said point guard, Patrick Beverley, he finally got his cast off today for his surgically repaired wrist and despite the slim possibility that he'll be able to play, he has said he wants to try to suit up against Golden State in the West Finals. Will that happen, I'm not sure but it's something to keep an eye on.
As far as that matchup goes, would I pick them to beat Golden State, probably not. But after what they did against the Clippers, I'm not sure I'd bet against them either. It's a pretty good time to be a Houston sports fan right now with the Rockets in the West Finals and the Astros having the best record in baseball.
As far as the Clippers go, that's a series that franchise won't be able to forget for some time. All the bleach in the world can't blotch that series out. Up 3-1, a game away from their first ever conference finals, and up 19 in the third quarter of Game 6 and they lost it all. The only way the pain of this series can be erased is if some day the Clippers get to the NBA Finals, and maybe win it all. This one's roughly equivalent to the pre-2004 Red Sox collapses, specifically 1978, 1986 and 2003.
There are a lot of guys responsible for this collapse, but most significantly this loss lands at the feet of Doc Rivers. It's sad because I like Doc after he led them through the Donald Sterling mess last year, but fact is he is the general manager and the coach. That he didn't have the bench to counter Houston's depth is in large part his fault. The Clippers really have only six guys I would consider threats, which isn't enough in the playoffs.
Until next time....
Let's begin with quite a bit of football, starting in the college game. Though it is the offseason, recruiting is heating up for National Signing Day 2016, and there are some transfers hitting the "open market" so to speak as well.
Two of the offseason's hottest transfer possibilities, Everett Golson and Braxton Miller, still haven't made their final decisions yet. In the last blog, I mentioned that there was a rumor several weeks ago that Finebaum of the SEC Network had a source who said Miller may transfer to Alabama.
Needless to say, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith doesn't see that happening, Sitting down with a reporter from Eleven Warriors, an Ohio State based website, Smith said, "No, he's not going anywhere. Where's the rumors? He never said that."
Smith further went on to say that Miller loves it in Columbus, has a child and is in a good position. Obviously, Smith is not waffling on this position.
We shall see. But the Ohio State depth chart at QB, plus him being able to play right away leaves the transfer possibility always open until we hear it from the horse's mouth.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson is also a hot "prospect" as far as transfer possibilities. The rumor was that he was going to make a decision on where he'd play football next year (he has a year of eligibility remaining and will be able to play immediately as he graduated from Notre Dame on Saturday), but it appears he will keep the college football world waiting a bit longer according to Brett McMurphy of ESPN.
In Norman, the rough waters since the 2014 Sugar Bowl continue for Oklahoma's football program, as sophomore wide receiver K.J. Young was dismissed for violating team rules, and defensive backs Tito Windham and Marcus Green are set to transfer. Those three join running back Keith Ford, who announced he would transfer last week.
Auburn has had a week of setbacks as well though they did land the services of former five-star offensive lineman (and ex-Longhorn) Darius James this week; War Eagle lost three defensive backs to transfers in the past week as Kamryn Melton will be joined by fellow defensive backs Derrick Moncrief and Joe Turner in leaving the program. Moncrief is the biggest loss of all of them experience wise, as he played in all 13 games for Auburn this past year.
From the NFL comes the most confusing thing of the day; the Miami Dolphins signed Ryan Tannehill to a six year, 96M contract extension. What they see in this guy I'll never know; he's not a bad quarterback, but I certainly don't think he's a quarterback that is worth that much money. But if they want to put all their money on a decent but not great quarterback, knock yourselves out Miami.
Also from the NFL, Justin Smith, consistently one of the best defensive ends in the game, retires after 14 seasons in the pros. Amongst consistently drawing double teams and opening up gaps for linebackers in his tenures in Cincinnati and San Francisco, he played in a remarkable 221 out of 224 games in his 14 year career (thanks to Chris Sprow of ESPN for that stat). That's just about impossible in today's NFL. Smith played his college ball at Mizzou, an old rival of the Huskers, but I tip my hat today to one of the most durable players the NFL has seen in some time.
This also continues the rough offseason for the Niners, who of course lost Jim Harbaugh after the regular season and lost their other defensive stalwart Patrick Willis, who also retired this offseason.
Elsewhere from the Shield, apparently former Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan would coach again if the situation was right. Speaking at a panel discussion for a lifestyle brand founded by a former NFL player, Shanahan said,
"You go 18 hours a day for 40-something years, and then you got a year and a half to two years where you feel like you got the time to do whatever you want to do," Shanahan said. "I still study the heck out of football. I actually have more time. I study more football than I actually did before."
Listen, Shanahan is a great football mind, has been for years. But there was one decision that, to me, set back his entire professional coaching career significantly and that was continuing to play Robert Griffin III in that playoff game against Seattle (in the 2012-13 season) when it was obvious Griffin couldn't play anymore. Honestly, if anyone hires this guy after that I'll be shocked.
Also from the NFL, current Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (you may remember him as a national title winning quarterback at Auburn as well) had a great moment with a horse racing fan this weekend at the Preakness Stakes. American Pharoah won the race to bring him within a victory at the Belmont Stakes of the first Triple Crown in 37 years, but a fan who had a winning ticket got to be in a photo with Newton. That's pretty cool.
On a side note, I'd love to see the Triple Crown come true, but there's a reason it hasn't been done in 37 years; it's probably the hardest feat to pull off in all of sports.
Cancer got another victim this weekend unfortunately; this time it was former Miami Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian, who was a part of the 17-0 Dolphins perfect season. My thoughts are with him and his family at this hour. Also, my thoughts are with Seattle defensive tackle Jesse Williams, who will undergo surgery for kidney cancer.
Chargers owner Dean Spanos stepped away from the day to day operations of the Chargers on Monday, ceding control of the team to his sons, John and Alexander Gus. Hopefully the Spanos boys can work with the NFL to keep the Chargers in San Diego; I would hate to see them become an LA product.
And finally, from the NFL Captain Obvious department, Joe Buscaglia of WKBW in Buffalo reports that unless E.J. Manuel makes significant progress in the offseason his time with the Buffalo Bills could be numbered. Uh, yeah, Captain Obvious. They wouldn't have gone and picked up Matt Cassel if they were totally confident in E.J. Manuel's ability.
Now, let's get to the NBA Playoffs, and more specifically, the return of the Clutch City Rockets, who became just the ninth team in NBA history to wipe out a 3-1 series deficit and just the second NBA franchise (joining the Boston Celtics of 1968 and 1981) to do it twice. Which, I might add, I believed had no chance of happening approximately one week ago. In fact, I said on this very blog one week ago that until they got some tougher players this was as far as the Rockets were going to go in the playoffs.
Ha. Maybe I should have said that about the Clippers. Who, by the way, reminded us all that they are still the Clippers and will forever be the little brother to the Lakers in Los Angeles.
I think, though, that you have to give a ton of credit to Kevin McHale and also to his assistants T.R. Dunn and J.B. Bickerstaff. In particular, it was the insertion of Josh Smith into the starting lineup in Game 5 last Tuesday in Houston that changed the momentum of the series. The biggest difference in the series was two factors; one, it's that McHale outcoached Doc Rivers as he did Rick Carlisle of the Mavs in the previous round. Both of those men, by the way, have won NBA titles as a coach.
The other is plain and simply that the Clippers have no bench and really are average outside of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. It was something I thought might catch up to them earlier in the series with them having been through a seven game bloodbath with the Spurs, but it ended up happening right at the end of this series. Once the Rockets shut down the three main Clippers role players (Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford and JJ Redick) the Rockets had the advantage.
To wit, in game 5, the three Clippers shot a combined 6 for 30. In the incredible Game 6 comeback in which the Rockets rallied from 19 down late in the third, those three men shot a combined 12 for 38. And yesterday, those three shot 10 for 32. I think most who watched that series knew that Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, James Harden and Dwight Howard would get their points but this series was decided in large part by role players. In the three Clippers wins, Redick, Crawford and Barnes all played very well.
In contrast to the Clippers, the Rockets are a much deeper team; they had eight guys who played 20 or more minutes yesterday. And it was a key reserve, Pablo Prigioni, that sparked the decisive run of yesterday's game.
I believe the mentality of this Rockets team is very strong and it is a find-a-way mentality; I don't think at this point that they feel they are out of any game. That was never more evident than last Thursday night where they wiped out a 19 point Clipper lead late in the third. The team has been that way all year; they had to go without Dwight Howard for the majority of the season, and they've lost two key starters including their starting point guard who hasn't played in two months.
Speaking of said point guard, Patrick Beverley, he finally got his cast off today for his surgically repaired wrist and despite the slim possibility that he'll be able to play, he has said he wants to try to suit up against Golden State in the West Finals. Will that happen, I'm not sure but it's something to keep an eye on.
As far as that matchup goes, would I pick them to beat Golden State, probably not. But after what they did against the Clippers, I'm not sure I'd bet against them either. It's a pretty good time to be a Houston sports fan right now with the Rockets in the West Finals and the Astros having the best record in baseball.
As far as the Clippers go, that's a series that franchise won't be able to forget for some time. All the bleach in the world can't blotch that series out. Up 3-1, a game away from their first ever conference finals, and up 19 in the third quarter of Game 6 and they lost it all. The only way the pain of this series can be erased is if some day the Clippers get to the NBA Finals, and maybe win it all. This one's roughly equivalent to the pre-2004 Red Sox collapses, specifically 1978, 1986 and 2003.
There are a lot of guys responsible for this collapse, but most significantly this loss lands at the feet of Doc Rivers. It's sad because I like Doc after he led them through the Donald Sterling mess last year, but fact is he is the general manager and the coach. That he didn't have the bench to counter Houston's depth is in large part his fault. The Clippers really have only six guys I would consider threats, which isn't enough in the playoffs.
Until next time....
Monday, May 11, 2015
5/11: A lot of ground to cover in multiple areas
It has been some time, hasn't it? Close to a month, so there's quite a bit of ground to cover.
This is normally a football blog, so naturally I'm going to start there. And I'm going to start with what has to be the most overhyped, overblown "scandal," that I have seen in sports in a long time, known as "Deflate Gate." My thought on this is; why in the world are we still over-hyping this? It's four months out from what allegedly happened and we're still making it out to be some huge thing?
For those unaware, independent attorney Ted Wells was hired by the NFL to do some investigating into whether the Patriots deflated their footballs in the AFC title game. He completed his investigation last week, and concludes that it is "more probable than not that the locker room attendant, equipment assistant and Tom Brady were aware of releasing air."
Look, there's a distinction to be made here. I don't mind the NFL going and investigating whether the Patriots deflated the footballs. I do have a problem with everyone over-hyping this whole thing and saying it's completely the reason the Patriots won a Super Bowl, or all four of them. The final of the game in question (AFC title game) was 45-7. This whole thing is not the reason the Patriots won that football game, or the Super Bowl after that.
I told you guys back in January that the sports media and Patriots haters in general were making a mountain out of a molehill, and they still are. Frankly, if there's anything I was more concerned about regarding the Patriots, it was that Aaron Hernandez get what was coming to him, and he did.
Meanwhile, in Houston (and no the Rockets aren't off the hook, I'll get to them later), Texans coach Bill O'Brien, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle, said that the Texans "have a lack of conditioning" and "need to get in better shape as a whole." He also didn't mince words when he said it was the long snapper who was in the best shape of those attending mini-camp.
Talk about no-nonsense; it's a far different cry from what we had in the previous regime. O'Brien is building toughness and setting high standards for the players that come in here. This is why he will be a winner here.
From Dallas Cowboys camp, it appears that there has been mutual interest prior to and after the draft about the possibility of the Cowboys acquiring Adrian Peterson from the Vikings. That having been said, it appears the Palestine, Texas native will not be returning home any time soon. So sayeth Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, who told TMZ Sunday that "we are both from East Texas. We believe in the same thing. Just as much as he love the game, I love the game the same way I think it would be something very special."
The Vikings are not willing to cooperate according to Bryant, who said "the Vikings not lettin' that happen, cause if they did, the league would know what would happen," Bryant said. "That man is a monster. He's something special."
I can't honestly say I blame the Vikings for holding onto All Day, although this smells eerily similar to the Herschel Walker trade in 1989 where the Cowboys sent Herschel Walker and a few other picks to Minnesota. Dallas received a king's ransom in that deal; they got several players but more importantly, received three first round picks, three second round picks and a third round pick.
Two of those picks became Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson, two of the cornerstones of the Dallas run in the 1990s. One thing I think we can all agree on, Adrian Peterson is the franchise in Minnesota.
One more NFL note; the saddest thing about the whole Deflate Gate thing is it is overshadowing Gronk being Gronk. Gronk, of course, refers to Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots, who celebrated his 26th birthday this past weekend in Las Vegas. You know how the old saying goes, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Not with Gronk. Some of the highlights featured Gronk in a wig, two Super Bowl themed birthday cakes, inflatable footballs, and as per usual with Gronk, lots and lots of dancing. No one in the League knows how to have a good time like Gronk, I'm convinced.
From college football, before I go to more current events, I want to double back and talk about a possibility that surfaced a few weeks ago that I should have touched on then. A few weeks ago, a report by the SEC Network's Paul Finebaum surfaced that he had a source who said that it is possible Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller may transfer to Alabama.
The thing that makes this believable and gives it legs is that 1. he would be immediately eligible to play next season; he has eligibility left but graduated in December 2. he'd be most probably third on Ohio State's depth chart with the rise of J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones and 3. he'd immediately be the most talented quarterback on Alabama's roster.
All I can say is this; the rest of the SEC better hope this does not happen. Because if it does, Alabama becomes that much more lethal, even without Cooper. They already have an abundance of talent every year, and if they were to add Braxton...watch out.
Speaking of Nick Saban (this was something I also should have touched on), it seems to me that he has a problem with schools like Michigan and Penn State setting up satellite camps in his own territory. In case college football fans, or non-fans for that matter, don't know what "satellite camps" are you can read up on them here: http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/110369/what-you-need-to-know-about-satellite-camps
My response to this is; et tu, Nick? The man who has no problem stuffing his team with talented players and walking into Iowa and poaching Ross Pierschbacher after he had already committed to Iowa has a problem with this? Can't have it both ways, Nick.
In more recent events, here in Texas, even though the Aggies and Longhorns don't play anymore, the fires of rivalry still run hot, particularly in the A&M camp. In a Thursday interview with the Texas Tribune, A&M system chancellor John Sharp didn't pass up the opportunity to take a shot at UT and its Longhorn Network when he said this,
"We're hopeful that sometime in the future there will be a bowl game that we're able to play in, you know, if (Texas) gets there," Sharp said. "But the great thing about playing us is that you can get on real TV if you play us."
Honestly, there's no reason why those two can't play each other but the thing is, it takes two to dance. And if Texas won't do it, then it won't happen.
On the NBA playoffs, a few things stand out:
1. LeBron James got one on Chicago Sunday just as Michael Jordan did to Cleveland so many times in the past. His buzzer-beating three tied that series at two, and may have swung it back in favor of the Cavs with 5 and 7 at home.
2. The Rockets' goose is totally cooked. The bad thing for them is this; they're playing a Clippers team that is much tougher than it was in the past (that San Antonio slugfest did something to the Clippers because they're tougher and nastier than they've ever been), and Chris Paul when he's in is a terrible matchup for the Rockets. Getting beat by 20 to 30 points in two straight games is not a good look at all. McHale's done a good job this year, but until they get some mentally tougher players this is about as far as they're going to go.
3. Mike Conley is back and playing well and that's bad news for Golden State. With that series at 2-1 Memphis, game 4 is obviously a must win for the Warriors.
4. That Spurs/Clippers series was a war; a seven-game war and a classic. The Spurs are still the Spurs but it's obvious the Clippers have learned a lot from that series too. I think the next time those two play each other the Spurs will be look to exact their pound of flesh much as they did to Lebron last year.
Next, a few baseball things:
1. Big series win by the Royals in Detroit, capped off with a 2-1 10th inning victory late last night. Like them or not, the Royals have been able to survive all the suspensions and several injuries and are still at the top of the AL Central. They have also, largely, managed to stay out of trouble since Yordano Ventura's brawl with the White Sox.
2. At least early on, the Yankees are in first place. It's their first year in a long while without either Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter playing regularly for them, yet so far they are making it work after beating the Orioles three out of four this weekend.
3. The Astros are off to a good start, but I want to see how they do long-term against teams outside the AL West. The Astros have been helped a ton by playing the AL West for the majority of the first month of the year, which has been playing mediocre. I still feel that Seattle, if they can hang on until June when one of their better pitchers comes back will challenge the Astros, but the Angels, Rangers and A's have played mediocre so far. Most of the teams the Astros will be playing are outside the division for the next long while, so this will be interesting to see.
4. The Cardinals are the best team in the NL right now, but my feeling is that long-term, without Adam Wainwright, they won't be. That's the most well-run organization in sports or one of them, but you need big-time players to win a championship eventually. I pegged them to win the NL at the beginning of the year, but you need aces like that in the long run.
5. I'm still intrigued by the Mets, who still sit in first place in May. Them and Washington is going to be a great race all summer; the young stable of arms for the Mets vs Washington who bought the farm to go get Scherzer for a run at the title.
One final golf note; very glad to see Rickie Fowler win the Players' Championship yesterday at TPC Sawgrass. He had a great year last year, but couldn't get that proverbial 900 lb. gorilla off his back with a big win. He did so yesterday. Can he win one of the three majors this year? Maybe not, but it looks like he's gearing up for a run at it.
Lastly, I hope all the mothers and mothers to be had a great Mother's Day Weekend.
Until next time....
This is normally a football blog, so naturally I'm going to start there. And I'm going to start with what has to be the most overhyped, overblown "scandal," that I have seen in sports in a long time, known as "Deflate Gate." My thought on this is; why in the world are we still over-hyping this? It's four months out from what allegedly happened and we're still making it out to be some huge thing?
For those unaware, independent attorney Ted Wells was hired by the NFL to do some investigating into whether the Patriots deflated their footballs in the AFC title game. He completed his investigation last week, and concludes that it is "more probable than not that the locker room attendant, equipment assistant and Tom Brady were aware of releasing air."
Look, there's a distinction to be made here. I don't mind the NFL going and investigating whether the Patriots deflated the footballs. I do have a problem with everyone over-hyping this whole thing and saying it's completely the reason the Patriots won a Super Bowl, or all four of them. The final of the game in question (AFC title game) was 45-7. This whole thing is not the reason the Patriots won that football game, or the Super Bowl after that.
I told you guys back in January that the sports media and Patriots haters in general were making a mountain out of a molehill, and they still are. Frankly, if there's anything I was more concerned about regarding the Patriots, it was that Aaron Hernandez get what was coming to him, and he did.
Meanwhile, in Houston (and no the Rockets aren't off the hook, I'll get to them later), Texans coach Bill O'Brien, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle, said that the Texans "have a lack of conditioning" and "need to get in better shape as a whole." He also didn't mince words when he said it was the long snapper who was in the best shape of those attending mini-camp.
Talk about no-nonsense; it's a far different cry from what we had in the previous regime. O'Brien is building toughness and setting high standards for the players that come in here. This is why he will be a winner here.
From Dallas Cowboys camp, it appears that there has been mutual interest prior to and after the draft about the possibility of the Cowboys acquiring Adrian Peterson from the Vikings. That having been said, it appears the Palestine, Texas native will not be returning home any time soon. So sayeth Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, who told TMZ Sunday that "we are both from East Texas. We believe in the same thing. Just as much as he love the game, I love the game the same way I think it would be something very special."
The Vikings are not willing to cooperate according to Bryant, who said "the Vikings not lettin' that happen, cause if they did, the league would know what would happen," Bryant said. "That man is a monster. He's something special."
I can't honestly say I blame the Vikings for holding onto All Day, although this smells eerily similar to the Herschel Walker trade in 1989 where the Cowboys sent Herschel Walker and a few other picks to Minnesota. Dallas received a king's ransom in that deal; they got several players but more importantly, received three first round picks, three second round picks and a third round pick.
Two of those picks became Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson, two of the cornerstones of the Dallas run in the 1990s. One thing I think we can all agree on, Adrian Peterson is the franchise in Minnesota.
One more NFL note; the saddest thing about the whole Deflate Gate thing is it is overshadowing Gronk being Gronk. Gronk, of course, refers to Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots, who celebrated his 26th birthday this past weekend in Las Vegas. You know how the old saying goes, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Not with Gronk. Some of the highlights featured Gronk in a wig, two Super Bowl themed birthday cakes, inflatable footballs, and as per usual with Gronk, lots and lots of dancing. No one in the League knows how to have a good time like Gronk, I'm convinced.
From college football, before I go to more current events, I want to double back and talk about a possibility that surfaced a few weeks ago that I should have touched on then. A few weeks ago, a report by the SEC Network's Paul Finebaum surfaced that he had a source who said that it is possible Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller may transfer to Alabama.
The thing that makes this believable and gives it legs is that 1. he would be immediately eligible to play next season; he has eligibility left but graduated in December 2. he'd be most probably third on Ohio State's depth chart with the rise of J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones and 3. he'd immediately be the most talented quarterback on Alabama's roster.
All I can say is this; the rest of the SEC better hope this does not happen. Because if it does, Alabama becomes that much more lethal, even without Cooper. They already have an abundance of talent every year, and if they were to add Braxton...watch out.
Speaking of Nick Saban (this was something I also should have touched on), it seems to me that he has a problem with schools like Michigan and Penn State setting up satellite camps in his own territory. In case college football fans, or non-fans for that matter, don't know what "satellite camps" are you can read up on them here: http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/110369/what-you-need-to-know-about-satellite-camps
My response to this is; et tu, Nick? The man who has no problem stuffing his team with talented players and walking into Iowa and poaching Ross Pierschbacher after he had already committed to Iowa has a problem with this? Can't have it both ways, Nick.
In more recent events, here in Texas, even though the Aggies and Longhorns don't play anymore, the fires of rivalry still run hot, particularly in the A&M camp. In a Thursday interview with the Texas Tribune, A&M system chancellor John Sharp didn't pass up the opportunity to take a shot at UT and its Longhorn Network when he said this,
"We're hopeful that sometime in the future there will be a bowl game that we're able to play in, you know, if (Texas) gets there," Sharp said. "But the great thing about playing us is that you can get on real TV if you play us."
Honestly, there's no reason why those two can't play each other but the thing is, it takes two to dance. And if Texas won't do it, then it won't happen.
On the NBA playoffs, a few things stand out:
1. LeBron James got one on Chicago Sunday just as Michael Jordan did to Cleveland so many times in the past. His buzzer-beating three tied that series at two, and may have swung it back in favor of the Cavs with 5 and 7 at home.
2. The Rockets' goose is totally cooked. The bad thing for them is this; they're playing a Clippers team that is much tougher than it was in the past (that San Antonio slugfest did something to the Clippers because they're tougher and nastier than they've ever been), and Chris Paul when he's in is a terrible matchup for the Rockets. Getting beat by 20 to 30 points in two straight games is not a good look at all. McHale's done a good job this year, but until they get some mentally tougher players this is about as far as they're going to go.
3. Mike Conley is back and playing well and that's bad news for Golden State. With that series at 2-1 Memphis, game 4 is obviously a must win for the Warriors.
4. That Spurs/Clippers series was a war; a seven-game war and a classic. The Spurs are still the Spurs but it's obvious the Clippers have learned a lot from that series too. I think the next time those two play each other the Spurs will be look to exact their pound of flesh much as they did to Lebron last year.
Next, a few baseball things:
1. Big series win by the Royals in Detroit, capped off with a 2-1 10th inning victory late last night. Like them or not, the Royals have been able to survive all the suspensions and several injuries and are still at the top of the AL Central. They have also, largely, managed to stay out of trouble since Yordano Ventura's brawl with the White Sox.
2. At least early on, the Yankees are in first place. It's their first year in a long while without either Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter playing regularly for them, yet so far they are making it work after beating the Orioles three out of four this weekend.
3. The Astros are off to a good start, but I want to see how they do long-term against teams outside the AL West. The Astros have been helped a ton by playing the AL West for the majority of the first month of the year, which has been playing mediocre. I still feel that Seattle, if they can hang on until June when one of their better pitchers comes back will challenge the Astros, but the Angels, Rangers and A's have played mediocre so far. Most of the teams the Astros will be playing are outside the division for the next long while, so this will be interesting to see.
4. The Cardinals are the best team in the NL right now, but my feeling is that long-term, without Adam Wainwright, they won't be. That's the most well-run organization in sports or one of them, but you need big-time players to win a championship eventually. I pegged them to win the NL at the beginning of the year, but you need aces like that in the long run.
5. I'm still intrigued by the Mets, who still sit in first place in May. Them and Washington is going to be a great race all summer; the young stable of arms for the Mets vs Washington who bought the farm to go get Scherzer for a run at the title.
One final golf note; very glad to see Rickie Fowler win the Players' Championship yesterday at TPC Sawgrass. He had a great year last year, but couldn't get that proverbial 900 lb. gorilla off his back with a big win. He did so yesterday. Can he win one of the three majors this year? Maybe not, but it looks like he's gearing up for a run at it.
Lastly, I hope all the mothers and mothers to be had a great Mother's Day Weekend.
Until next time....
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