Running Diary: Draft Day Edition

22 04 2010

It’s the Official Running Diary of the 2010 NFL Draft, coming to you live from my couch. Get excited! We’re kicking off the broadcast from Radio City Music Hall in New York City with all of the usual suspects: Steve Young, Chris Berman, Mel Kiper Jr., Mel Kiper Jr.’s Hair, the gang is all here folks. The one ongoing subplot that I’m really going to miss from this year however, is trying to figure out which pick Jets fans are going to boo. With the 29th pick in the first round, it’s a safe bet that the Jets organization has a free pass this year, meaning that no matter who they pick, they can count on only a fraction of the boos they would normally get. With their recent offseason acquisitions of Antonio Cromartie, LaDainian Tomlinson, Santonio Holmes and Jason Taylor, I’d say that Jets fans are pretty content with where they are right now.

But hey, you never know. That’s why they play the game, and that’s why I’m doing a running diary. I’m planning on going for at least the first 15 picks tonight, or more, depending on how everything unfolds. The Giants are slated for the 15th pick as of right now, but there is a possibility that they may try to trade up for Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain. We’ll see. Aaaaaand we’re off!

7:15 p.m. – This year’s top prospects, at least the ones who have chosen to show up, are being introduced to the crowd at Radio City Music Hall. Luckily, neither Tim Tebow nor Colt McCoy chose to make the trip to New York for the first day of the draft, avoiding an unfortunate Aaron Rodgers-type situation where they’re sitting all by themselves at pick number 30 while the camera pans over to them nervously tapping their feet and Chris Berman makes awkward jokes.

7:19 – This event just proves how football-obsessed we Americans are. No other major sport’s draft comes even close to being the spectacle that the NFL Draft is year after year. The NHL and MLB drafts aren’t even televised and even the NBA Draft, which is the closest in comparison, only lasts one night and two rounds. The NFL Draft is now being spread across three separate days, with pretty much wall-to-wall television coverage. Astounding. It’s almost like the Super Bowl of the offseason now.

7:21 – ESPN returns from commercial to show us Oklahoma quarterback and possible #1 overall pick Sam Bradford sitting at his table and trying his hardest to avoid eye contact with the camera. Right now, Jon Gruden is continuing his assault on Bradford and the rest of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft. I agree with him 100%. A quarterback like Bradford that ran out of a spread offense in college is a complete crapshoot in the NFL. I know the Rams will probably blow their #1 pick on him, but I don’t know if it’s the right pick. Personally, I would take Ndamukong Suh. I don’t run an NFL team though.

7:26 – Tom Jackson agrees with me. “The best player in this draft, in my opinion, is Ndamukong Suh.” I knew I liked Tom Jackson. He’s tied with Mel Kiper Jr.’s hair right now for my favorite panelist. The Rams are on the clock in less than 4 minutes. I like that for the first time in at least a few years, we don’t really know who the number one pick will be. At least St. Louis has saved us some kind of suspense. It’s the least they could do.

7:28 – My new favorite subplot for this year’s draft is seeing what moves, if any, the Pittsburgh Steelers make in an attempt to dump Ben Roethlisberger off on another team. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping to hear Roger Goodell get up to the podium and say “With the number one pick in the 2010 NFL Draft….WE HAVE A TRADE! The St. Louis Rams have traded their pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Ben Roethlisberger and his shady bodyguards.”

7:31 – And the broadcast has officially begun. The tension is palpable. Chris Berman says, “I”m excited! THIS IS A FOOTBALL DRAFT!” Thanks Chris, I’m excited too. Goodell is headed to the podium to kick off the proceedings. I think he’s been taking speech lessons from President Obama during the offseason. After a moving speech, he announces that the St. Louis Rams are now on the clock. Ten minutes and counting. If they take more than 7 minutes to make this pick, they should have it taken away. They’ve been on the clock for three months now.

7:35 – Gruden: “The Rams need a quarterback….they were one win away from winning zero games last season.” Bradford is on the phone with someone right now. I have a feeling it’s Dan Rooney. “Hey, how would you like to have Ben Roethlisberger’s job this year son? Some quick questions first…”

7:37 – Here we go…..and it’s Sam Bradford! The number one overall pick….guys….what a surprise, right? The first pick, not surprisingly, is booed by the New York crowd. They love booing at any chance they get in New York. I guess it was the Rams that Bradford was on the phone. Hey, anytime you have the chance to draft a quarterback that missed his entire senior year due to injury and plays in one of the most quarterback-friendly offenses in college football, you have to do it, right? I mean, there’s never a risk in taking a quarterback number one overall. Just ask the San Francisco 49ers.

7:41 – On the clock right now, the Detroit Lions. I think Suh is a perfect pick for the Lions. He’s a perfect pick for any team actually. His impact alone will be good for at least two wins during the season. The guy eats offenses alive. Plus, they improved from 0 wins in 2008 to 2 wins last year. That means they’re due for 4 wins this season.

7:44 – “With the number two pick in the NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions select….Ndamukong Suh, defensive tackle, Nebraska.” I called that one. With the first two obvious picks out of the way now, we can start getting to the interesting part now. By the way, the crowd isn’t booing as Suh walks on stage for his photo-op with the commish, they’re just saying, “SUUUUUUUUUH!”

7:46 – Suh is a very well-spoken young man. Chris Berman enlightens us by explaining that Ndamukong means, “House of Spears,” after his brief interview with Suzy Kolber. By the way, good ol’ Suzy is aging pretty well. Just saying….

7:49 – Now on the clock, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They shipped Byron Leftwich to Pittsburgh a few days ago. So who is their starting quarterback for 2010? Josh Johnson or Josh Freeman? Which Josh is it? Will they take Oklahoma’s Gerald McCoy with the third overall pick? We’re going to find out soon…the pick is in!

7:51 – With the third overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select….Gerald McCoy, defensive tackle, Oklahoma.” So, we’ve had three picks already, two of them have been defensive tackles from Big XII teams, two of them have been from Oklahoma, and one of them is a McCoy, and it’s not even Colt! What a turn-of-events this evening folks! Oh boy.

7:54 – I wonder how Colt McCoy feels right now. Not only was he not the first quarterback taken in the draft, but he wasn’t even the first McCoy. Poor kid, that’s what you get for taking your team to the BCS Championship game and then getting hurt on the third play.

7:55 – According to Chris Berman, this is the first time since 1966 that the first three picks have all come from the same conference. Interesting fact nugget. Now on the clock…the Washington Redskins. They’ve certainly made a big splash during this offseason, snatching Donovan McNabb from Philadelphia and adding the Ghost of Willie Parker to a backfield that already features the Ghost of Larry Johnson. Certainly a much-improved football team that will almost definitely start out the season 5-2 and then end up with an 8-8 record.

7:58 – And the Redskins take….offensive tackle, Trent “Silverback” Williams. Wait, what? I didn’t know that we were throwing nicknames in there too now. What is this, a UFC draft? Trent Williams is from….quick, take a guess….Oklahoma! How about this: four picks now, and three of them are from Oklahoma. Unbelievable. Were there any other teams in Division I football last year? Are we sure of this? All four players from the Big XII. I want to see this streak kept alive now. Kansas City is going down the 2009 Oklahoma Sooners roster right now going, “Damn, they took all the good ones!”

8:05 – We’re back, and we see Tennessee safety Eric Berry on the phone with someone. Then he turns to the camera and we hear him say, “I’m gonna be a Chief!” Thanks a lot guys. Are we going to completely throw out the element of surprise this year? Why are we doing Roger Goodell’s job for him? LET HIM DO HIS JOB, ESPN. STOP RUINING THE FUN.

8:07 – Sure enough, Goodell announces that the Chiefs select Berry less than two minutes later. A safety going 5th overall is almost unheard of, but according to Gruden, he “blew the combine away with his ball skills.” No jokes here. No really, I’m good.

8:09 – The Seahawks are now on the clock. I’m thinking Russell Okung…let’s see if I’m right. The pick is in and Goodell is heading to the podium now. I also just remembered that the Mets are playing. No score in the bottom of the 4th. Thanks for reminding me.

8:11 – Let’s see what Pete Carroll does in his first NFL Draft in over a decade. Tell me it wouldn’t be funny if he took someone from USC here, just as a joke. You’re right, it wouldn’t be that funny. Is Mark Sanchez still available? Under two minutes on the clock now, it’s crunchtime for the Seahawks.

8:14 – I just checked the box score of the Mets game. It’s the 5th inning and they don’t have a single hit. Again. They had 1 hit until the 7th inning last night. This team cannot hit. Anyway, the Seahawks take Russell Okung, offensive tackle from Oklahoma State. Yes, that’s yet another player from the Big XII. If you’re scoring at home, that’s now 5 Big XII players in the first 6 picks. Four players from the state of Oklahoma. I know, enough already. Cleveland Browns on the board right now for the 7th pick. This draft is flying by!

8:20 – Are the Cleveland Browns really considering taking Jimmy Clausen? Aren’t they tired of drafting overrated Notre Dame quarterbacks about 50 picks higher than they should be drafted? Come on Cleveland, don’t make this mistake again. Brady Quinn, version 2.0.

8:23 – Oh look at this, Joe Haden is on the phone with someone, tears of joy streaming down his face. I wonder who the Browns are going to pick. YOU RUINED THE SURPRISE AGAIN?!? You have got to be kidding me.

8:24 – Yup, it’s Joe Haden taken 7th overall by the Browns, cornerback from Florida. He looks extremely happy, actually a lot happier than someone who just got drafted by the Cleveland Browns should be. Good for him though. By the way, Cleveland Browns fans, welcome to the Jake Delhomme Era! That should be fun.

8:27 - The Oakland Raiders….here we go! Always exciting and unpredictable when Al Davis is making the decisions. Trade for Ben Roethlisberger? Come on Al, you know you want to….

8:28 – Al Davis: “Can we draft JaMarcus Russell again? No? Are you sure? Damn.”

8:29 - Damn you Oakland Raiders! They took our player! Rolando McClain would have fit in so well in Giants blue. That is deflating. Okay, I’m moving on now. Actually a good pick by Oakland for a change. Is Al Davis still alive?

8:31 – Uh oh, the Bills have their pick in already. And it’s…..C.J. Spiller! My favorite player from this year’s draft. I loved watching him play at Clemson, actually got the chance to see him light up Florida State in person last November. What an electrifying running back, he completely rewrote the ACC record books. I’m excited to see how he adapts to the NFL, although admittedly I’m not that excited to see him stuck in the forgotten snow drifts of Buffalo. Very surprised to see him taken this early. I knew he was good, but didn’t think he was top-10 good. Maybe it’s the shortage of quality running backs in this year’s draft. Either way, I’m going to enjoy watching him torch the Jets.

8:33 – Only an hour into the draft and we’re already getting set for the 10th pick. The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the clock. We’ll be back after these commercials that are most likely going to make me hungry, even though I can’t get up to eat anything because I’m afraid I’ll miss something important. Can I get delivery to my couch right now?

8:37 – Top of the 6th inning now, Mets still only have 1 hit. I’m glad we’ve gone back into our “Let’s Not Break the Baseball” mode after that brief two-game winning streak.

8:38 – And the Jaguars take Tyson Alualu, defensive tackle from California, our first real surprise of the draft! Mel Kiper Jr.’s Hair says, “It’s not a surprise he went in the first round, but it is a surprise that he went 10th overall.” So that basically means that he’s good, but not worth a top-10 salary. That’s it.

8:41 – We have our first trade of the night, as Denver ships its number 11th pick to the San Francisco 49ers. The Broncos will only move back two spots to the 13th pick. The Niners’ pick is in, so let’s see why they decided to trade up….

8:43 – With the 11th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select….Anthony Davis, offensive tackle, Rutgers! Alright, a fellow Rutgers alum goes 11th! I’m ecstatic, although not all that surprised. Davis was far and away one of the best offensive tackles in the nation for the last few years. I mean, anyone that can make Mike Teel look good, has to be worth an 11th overall pick. Let’s see if he can do the same for Alex Smith/Shaun Hill/whoever starts for that team.

8:46 – Now the Dolphins have given up their number 12 pick to the San Diego Chargers. No details on the trade yet, but the Chargers have their pick in already, so they apparently know who they want. They need a running back…let’s see what the Bolts do.

8:48 – I know we’re talking about football right now, but how many times are we going to put our ace out on the mound and then not support him with any runs, or even any hits for that matter. His last start against St. Louis, we had 0 runs and 1 hit in 9 innings. Today? Zero runs and 1 hit through 5 innings. Poor Johan.

8:49 – And the Chargers select….Ryan Matthews, running back, Fresno State. Clearly the second best running back in the draft behind Spiller. I think this is a good pick. They need a running back after sending Tomlinson to the Jets and Matthews fits the Chargers offense very well, he has a similar style to Tomlinson and will compliment Sproles perfectly as a pass-catching back.

8:52 – Denver sends its 13th pick that it just got from San Francisco to Philadelphia now. Hey look at this, it’s our first “EAGLES SUCK!” chant of the night! I knew the New York fans had it in them. Philly is most likely going after Earl Thomas to fill the hole at safety that Brian Dawkins left when he went to Denver last year. Chris Berman tell us that Earl Thomas plays piano in church. I knew there was a reason why I tuned in to watch the draft. The knowledge just flows like wine!

8:55 – So, with the 13th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Donovan McNabb-less Eagles select….Brandon Graham, defensive end, Michigan. OH WHAT A TWIST! We just spent 5 minutes listening to everyone at ESPN explain why the Eagles were taking Earl Thomas, and then they go ahead and they…don’t pick Earl Thomas! That’s why we watch, for the suspense and the drama. Goodell is booed throughout his entire announcement, and then the anti-Eagles chants start up again.

9:00 – Seattle is on the clock next at number 14, barring more trades. The Giants haven’t traded up, so I guess they are content with their 15th pick, which is coming up sooner rather than later…and that means that this running diary is coming to an end. Somehow, I’ve cranked out almost 3,000 words in an hour and a half and I’m quickly running out of gas here folks. The Seahawks are now set to make their second pick of the first round already.

9:03 – Hey, the Mets are on the board! David Wright doubled to bring home Reyes and then Francoeur drove him in with an RBI single two batters later. 2-0 Mets, and finally someone decided to step up and save Santana from another No Decision.

9:06 – The Seahawks swoop in (see what I did there?) and take Earl Thomas with the 14th pick, the guy everyone was convinced that the Eagles would take with the 13th pick. So now we get to hear more facts and tidbits about Earl Thomas. It’s like he was picked twice!

9:07 – And here is the moment we’ve been waiting for…the New York Giants are on the clock. The “Let’s Go Giants” chants are starting up at Radio City Music Hall and all the Giants fans (and probably the Jets fans too) are saving up as much air in their lungs as possible in preparation of booing pretty much anyone that we pick. I’m excited for this pick, and also excited to end this running diary and get something to eat, because I’m starving and these Taco Bell Tortadas are even starting to look good at this point.

9:11 – Here we go, getting ready for the Giants pick now at number 15. Two more minutes left on the clock. Who will it be? Mike Iupati, guard from Idaho? Jason Pierre-Paul? We’ll see soon enough. Steve Young: “How embarrassing…HOW EMBARRASSING…for the New York Giants to be 30th in defense.” Thanks, Steve. Thanks a lot buddy. Keep twisting that knife.

9:13 – And the Giants select…Jason Pierre-Paul, defensive end from South Florida. I love it. Love this pick. First of all, anytime you can improve on a category that you finished 30th in last season, that’s making strides. I love defense, and I love this guy’s talent. I watched him play in the Big East, and watched him even terrorize Rutgers a few times. Great pick, and I hope to see him have an immediate impact on the defensive line, especially in stopping the run and closing down the gaps. I see him being very similar to Justin Tuck a few years down the road.

All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with the way the first round has gone so far. Spiller went 9th, Rutgers tackle Anthony Davis goes 11th and we pick up a quality defensive end from South Florida in Jason Pierre-Paul. That’s all for me, I’m going to call it a night. It’s been real, enjoy the rest of the draft.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

The 2010 Schedule Is Here!

21 04 2010
NCAA Lacrosse: BIG CITY Classic - North Carolina vs Virginia APR 10

Hey look, it's the "New" Meadowlands Stadium.

Last night, the NFL (that’s the National Football League for those of you out of the loop) finally released the 2010 regular schedule in preparation for Thursday night’s draft. Earlier in the day, Roger Goodell leaked the season-opening Thursday night match-up in an online chat. That game, a much anticipated rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game between the Vikings and Saints will hopefully kick off the 2010-2011 season with a lot of excitement and a lot less Black Eyed Peas (Please NFL, I beg of you, can we just stop the pregame “concert” that usually goes with this event? I guarantee you that a good 80% of NFL fans couldn’t care less about Fergie or Rihanna. And if I even so much as catch a whiff of Justin Bieber at any NFL-sanctioned event this season, I swear that we will be having a serious talk).

Anyway, I have for you, right here in this column, an exclusive look at the Giants 2010-2011 regular season schedule. I use the word “exclusive” rather lightly here, because I’m sure that every single major sports news outlet and blog on the internet has the information already. Take it from me though, very few sports blogs care about a random arrangement of opponents, dates, and times more than I do, for every April I patiently await the release of the new NFL schedule like Christmas Day. That would make today the day after Christmas, where I swear that I will not eat anything until after New Year’s and that I will not watch A Christmas Story again for another 364 days.

Week 1

September 12th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Carolina Panthers

It’s only fitting that the team we closed out the old Giants Stadium with is the team we’ll be playing to open up the New Meadowlands Stadium, although I’ve tried as hard as I could to keep that last game against the Panthers deeply repressed beneath memories of Dave Brown and that snowball game against San Diego. By the way, is there a worse name for a stadium than the one we have now? I mean, we know it’s new, right? Why don’t we just call it “Meadowlands Stadium” then? Why do we need the “New”? Besides, are they going to change it after a few seasons to “Lightly-Used, But Still Smells Like It’s New Meadowlands Stadium”? I’m all for keeping the name out of the hands of a corporate sponsor, but if we’re going to do that, let’s think of something a little more creative then.

Week 2

September 19th, 8:20 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

Giants at Indianapolis Colts

Manning Bowl II! I absolutely cannot wait for this game, much like I couldn’t wait for the first Manning Bowl. I was at that game back in 2006 when we opened the season against Peyton and the Colts (who would ultimately go on to win the Super Bowl) and I remember thinking about how much more confident Peyton was in running the offense than Eli was. Even though little brother held his own in that game and we only lost 26-21, I remember thinking how great it would be if Eli became even half as good as his big brother one day. Then the next year we ended up winning the Super Bowl and it was Eli hoisting that Lombardi Trophy just like Peyton. I guess that wish came true.

Week 3

September 26th, 1 p.m. CBS

Giants vs. Tennessee Titans

The last time we faced Vince Young and the Titans was a total nightmare. I’m sure everyone remembers that game back in 2006. I believe it was November 26th. We jumped out to a 21-0 lead and everything was right with the world…until the defense completely collapsed, Vince Young started playing like Randall Cunningham from the early 90′s and then Rob Bironas kicked our hearts out with 2 seconds left in regulation to give Tennessee a 24-21 victory. That one still stings. The last time we hosted the Titans? Almost as bad. We squandered a 26-14 lead in the fourth quarter and lost in OT to the late Steve McNair 32-29 on December 1, 2003.

Week 4

October 3rd, 8:20 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

Giants vs. Chicago Bears

So, this will be our second primetime game in a three-week span. Giants fans know that we either look incredible or absolutely awful in primetime games. Take last season’s stinker against Denver on Thanksgiving night and then the game we played on Monday Night against Washington later in the season. It was like day and night. I hate to keep bringing up bad memories, but the last time we played Chicago on Sunday night was November 12, 2006 and we got annihilated by the Bears. How do I remember that date so vividly? Because I had gotten back from seeing Dane Cook at the Garden and I was watching the game at a bar around the corner and when Devin Hester returned that missed field goal 107 yards for a touchdown before the half I almost threw up on everyone that I was with. However that Bears team eventually played the Colts in the Super Bowl that season, so I guess we get a pass for that one.

Week 5

October 10th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants at Houston Texans

Funny story (or not, it depends). My friends and I have a running joke we use at Giants games when an opposing quarterback is having too easy of a day and we’re not getting enough pressure on him. Usually we’ll yell “SOMEBODY TOUCH (insert quarterback’s name)!” at least once every time that team is on offense. This started back in 2006 at the last Giants-Texans game when the Houston quarterback at the time, David Carr, was running all over our defense. The guy sitting in front of us would stand up after almost every play and yell at the top of his lungs, “SOMEBODY TOUCH DAVID CARR!” Sometimes he would switch it up, depending on the situation and add, “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SOMEBODY TOUCH DAVID @#$%&@ CARR!” Anyway, we thought this was hysterical. Maybe you had to be there.

Week 6

October 17th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Detroit Lions

Weirdly enough, I don’t have any interesting anecdotes or stories involving any past Giants-Lions games. I guess it’s because most games against Detroit end up being mind-numbingly boring or we end up losing and I purposely have a way of forgetting about every game that we’ve lost to the Detroit Lions, for obvious reasons. Anyway, this is a nice afternoon game in mid-October when the weather isn’t really cold yet, but it isn’t hot anymore and nobody knows whether to bring a jacket to the game or not. Usually if you bring a jacket, you end up sitting in the sun the entire game and losing eight pounds of your weight in sweat. Or the weather can throw a giant wrench at your head and it can be 35 degrees with 40 mph wind gusts. I don’t know what this has to do with the Giants and the Lions, but I’m just warning you about mid-October games at the Meadowlands.

Week 7

October 25th, 8:30 p.m. ESPN Monday Night Football

Giants at Dallas Cowboys

This year will mark the latest into the season that we’ve gone without playing a division opponent since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. That’s six weeks without any games against NFC East teams. We kick off divisional play on October 25th at JerryWorld on Monday Night Football. By this point in the season, we’ll either both be going in opposite directions or we’ll both be neck and neck and this game will be an early test of fortitude. I can definitely see both teams being 4-2 going into this game and ESPN hyping it up for a full week and a half.

Week 8

BYE

The good thing about bye weeks is that we never lose.

Week 9

November 7th, 4:05 p.m. FOX

Giants at Seattle Seahawks

I’ve brought back enough bad memories in this column to give you all nightmares and flashbacks for weeks, so I’m going to leave this one alone. I could dig out a handful of bad games we’ve had in Seattle since the 90′s and every one of them would give me the chills and the cold sweats. Like the 5 false start penalties in a row? How about Jay Feely missing three straight game-winning field goals? Falling behind 42-3 in the first half? Brad Daluiso shanking a potential game-winner in the Kingdome? I’m sorry, I just said I wouldn’t do this. Needless to say, Seattle is never nice to us.

Week 10

November 14th, 4:15 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys

We return home for the first time in almost a month and who do we find waiting for us there? Oh, it’s the Dallas Cowboys again. Twice in three games So before we play the Eagles or Redskins even once, we have to face the Cowboys twice? Tell me how that makes any sense? At least we get them out of the way early in the season, because those games tend to give me the most frequent heartburn and eye twitches.

Week 11

November 21st, 8:20 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Speak of the devil! Here are our friends, the Philadelphia Eagles. The team who outscored us 85-55 last season. Good news though Giants fans: Donovan McNabb is gone! The wicked witch is dead! Wait, what was that….you mean he’s still in the division? We still have to play him twice a year? Oh….

Week 12

November 28th, 1 p.m. CBS

Giants vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

This here is the quintessential late-November trap game. It’s a winnable game against a weak opponent in the middle of a bunch of tough divisional games that we are supposed to win by a wide margin, yet we usually find ourselves trailing by a touchdown in the 4th quarter until we finally realize, “Hey, this is the Jacksonville Jaguars, we’re supposed to win this game!” and we squeak by in the last 5 minutes.

Week 13

December 5th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Washington Redskins

The good news: we don’t have to see Donovan McNabb until December. The bad news: I can see us going into this game at 7-5 and really needing a win to stay in the NFC East hunt and the playoff hunt. And facing Donovan McNabb with our season on the line is something that always makes me a little uneasy. (See 2009; 2008)

Week 14

December 12th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants at Minnesota Vikings

For the 96th season in a row, we have to travel to the Metrodome to play the Minnesota Vikings in December/January. We’ve lost the last two games in Minnesota, however neither game mattered. In 2008 we had already clinched home-field advantage and last year we had already been eliminated from the playoffs the previous week. This season the game will hopefully be a little more important. Plus, we’re still in that stage of the year where we don’t know whether or not Brett Favre will be returning or retiring! Always a fun time. I like to call this period, usually from April to August, “Favre Limbo”.

Week 15

December 19th, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles again. How will the first year of the Kevin Kolb Era turn out for Philly? I’m guessing that by this point in the season we should have a pretty good idea of whether or not the Eagles made a monumental mistake in ditching Donovan.

Week 16

December 26th, 4:15 p.m. FOX

Giants at Green Bay Packers

Eli vs. Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau on the day after Christmas. I’m anxiously anticipating this game. I think it has a lot of potential to be a great game and hopefully by Week 16 it will actually mean something. Although I won’t be complaining if we already have a playoff spot locked up by then. Even so, the match-up between Manning and Rodgers, two talented young quarterbacks, should be intriguing enough on its own.

Week 17

January 2nd, 1 p.m. FOX

Giants at Washington Redskins

We will end the 2010-2011 regular season on second day of 2011 against the Washington Redskins. What will this game mean? I’m not about to start projecting in April, it’s still way too early in my opinion. For all I know, we could be 11-4 at this point, we could be 8-7 or we could be 6-9, I have no clue. All I know is that if there is a playoff spot on the line and Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb are standing in our way, this could be another classic, old-fashioned NFC East slugfest.

On Thursday night, I should be rolling out a live running diary for the first 10-15 picks of the NFL Draft, so stay tuned for that.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

That Was…Interesting.

18 04 2010
Mets Bay at bat against the Cardinals in the first inning of their MLB National League game in St Louis

I haven’t found anyone that can explain to me exactly what happened yesterday from 4:10 until a little after 11 p.m., at least not yet. So, because of this, I’m going to try to explain what I saw. But, how can I even attempt to explain it when I can’t decide if it was the greatest game I’ve ever watched or the worst game I’ve ever watched? It has to be one or the other, a game like that cannot fall in between.

In order to properly digest all of yesterday/last night’s 20-inning fiasco, I’ll break it down into 20 thoughts that I had before/during/after the game. Some of these thoughts are positive, others are not-so-positive, and a few are just downright baffling.

1. Friday night’s performance from Oliver Perez. For some reason, watching him throw 6 scoreless innings against the Cardinals brought me right back to that night in October 2006 that I’ll never forget. Then, seeing Raul (Exxon) Valdes come in a blow his 1-0 lead with just a few pitches made me think of Aaron Heilmann on that night in October 2006 and then I pictured Yadier Molina circling the bases and pumping his fist, only this time it was Felipe Lopez and I got really angry for a few seconds. Then I realized that I just watched Oliver Perez pitch a good game, and that right there (as rare as it is these days), was enough to make me happy.

2. So, the pitching….I’d say we’re on the right track now? Perez tosses 6 shutout innings on Friday night, then our ace Johan goes out yesterday and throws 7 shutout innings (little did we know that there would be another 11 scoreless innings after he left the game). So, if you’re keeping count, that would make it 13 consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Mets’ starters. Pretty good. Santana had his A1 stuff yesterday, and if anyone in the Mets lineup didn’t suddenly feel bad about harming the baseball yesterday, the game likely would have been over well before it was. Not to mention the fact that the bullpen did not collapse at all throughout 11 extra innings of baseball yesterday/last night. If I would have told you a few days ago that the bullpen would combine for 11 consecutive scoreless innings in one game, you probably would have slapped me right in the face. UNBELIEVABLE! Right? Look: Fernando Nieve, 2.1 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs. Wow! Raul Valdes, 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs. It gets better! Hisanori Takahashi, 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 4 strikeouts! What a game from the bullpen. As sloppy as this game got at times, you absolutely cannot overlook how well the bullpen pitched for 11 innings. Almost unheard of in Mets Nation these days.

3. That catch. Hey, I know it happened when the sun was still out in St. Louis, but does anybody remember that catch that Alex Cora made in the stands along the first base line in the 10th inning? I do. Let me jog your memory. Bottom of the 10th inning, still no score (of course) and the bases loaded. Nieve had just come in to relieve Pedro Feliciano and gave an intentional walk to Albert Pujols. Matt Holliday came to the plate with two outs and Alex Cora was in at first base (an ever-so-helpful FOX graphic told us that this was only the 3rd time that Cora had ever played first base in his career). So, Matt Holliday swings and pops one up along the first base side, just beyond the dugout. Cora is in pursuit and at this point, I’m pretty sure that the ball is going to end up going foul. Then he drifts closer and closer to the railing and the first row of seats, Cora dives…he doesn’t just lean over the railing and stick his glove out, I mean this guy actually leaps head-first into the seats and into some Cards fan’s lap. There is a split second of uncertainty and I’m thinking to myself, “OH @%$&, HE CAUGHT THAT BALL!” And then he reaches his hand up, and what is it holding? The baseball. Following that play, I tweeted: “Wow. For someone who isn’t even a first baseman, Alex Cora may have just saved the game. What a catch.” As it turns out, he probably did. Who knows if on the next pitch Holliday wouldn’t have ripped one into right field and won ended the game right there? He very well could have, but thanks to Cora he never got the chance. The play was very similar to another great catch made about 6 years ago by a popular shortstop that plays for another New York team, though his name slips my mind at the moment.

4. Hitting with runners in scoring position? Hitting? Listen, I’m going to be perfectly honest here, normally when a team is heading into the 12th inning of a game and they have only mustered 1 hit up to that point, they really don’t even deserve to win the game. Seriously, it’s unheard of.  I mean, up until the 10th inning the Mets had only hit the ball out of the infield 4 times. How you can play 10 innings of baseball and only hit the ball past the infielders 4 times and still be in a position to win the game I will never know. This is a Major League Baseball team. Even further, as bad as that sounds, it probably sounds worse for Cardinals fans. Because despite how completely inept the Mets were at the plate yesterday, we still won the game! Amazin’! I even forgot that Jaime Garcia had a no-hitter through 5 innings yesterday.

5. Jason Bay, where art thou bat? 0-for 7. 4 strikeouts. Ouch. Every time he swung at a pitch in the dirt yesterday and walked with his head down back to the dugout, all I heard was a CHA-CHING sound. Where has all that money gone? I really hope he starts hitting soon. Like really, really, really hope. For his sake. If not, the wrath of the New York media will come down on him with the fire of a million suns and he will wish that he was back in Boston or Pittsburgh or anywhere but here. Please Jason, for the love of God, make contact with the ball.

New York Mets vs St. Louis Cardinals

6. Everyone in the Mets lineup yesterday, except for Angel Pagan, where art thou bats? Take in this statistic: Angel Pagan went 3-for-6 in yesterday’s game. Everyone else in the lineup not named Angel Pagan? 6-for-55. What? I promise you that’s not a typo. That is good for a .109 average. I have never, ever seen a team swing at worse pitches than the ones that some of our guys swung at yesterday (I’m looking at you David, and Jose, and Jeff, and Jason..). As my dad would say (and probably did say at some point during yesterday’s game), “They could hold batting practice in a hotel lobby and not break anything.”

7. Felipe Lopez. There was a Felipe Lopez that hit a grand slam on Friday night to put the Cardinals ahead 4-1 in the 7th inning. Then, there was a Felipe Lopez that shut down the Mets in the 18th inning, allowing only one hit and one walk. Here’s the kicker though: they are both the same person! That’s right, the Cardinals third baseman/shortstop/reliever, who started the game as the shortstop, ended up pitching a scoreless inning last night. Good for him. If he came to the plate in the bottom half of the inning and then nailed a homer to win the game for the second night in a row, he instantly joins Yadier Molina in the pantheon of Cardinals Players I Hope I Never See In Public.

8. Speaking of position players on the mound… I don’t want this to sound like I’m complaining, because I’m really not. I mean, we ended up winning the game, so I’ll take whatever I can get….but…we could only manage 2 runs off of a backup outfielder? Really? That kind of bothers me, and it probably bothers you a little bit too, you just won’t admit it. It took a sacrifice fly from Jose Reyes to squeak in the go-ahead run against Joe Mather. Just think about that for a second.

9. By the way… I still thoroughly enjoy watching position players pitch in really long extra inning games. I don’t think I will ever get tired of that. It’s just fun to watch. It reminds me of those long-ago days in Little League when anyone could pitch, just as long as they could reach home plate without bouncing it.

10. A standing ovation for the Slingbox. I left my girlfriend’s house at the start of the 10th inning, thinking that there would only be about an inning or two left, at the most. So, we got in my friend’s car to go out for the night and I took out my phone and turned on my Slingbox…and proceeded to be glued to the tiny 3-inch iPhone screen for the next three hours. I must say, the recent update to allow Slingbox streaming over 3G (instead of only Wi-Fi like it used to be) ended up being such a clutch move. The picture quality was impeccable, and didn’t break up once, even on a 45-minute drive down the shore. Greatest gift I’ve ever gotten. And that ends my Slingbox commercial that I didn’t even get paid for.

11. Good Slingbox, even better iPhone. Although my remote TV-viewing app was the star player last night, my iPhone had to be the co-MVP with its battery life. I had a full battery at the start of the 10th inning, but was dragging along at 15% by the 17th and thought I might lose the game at the worst possible time. So, I shut it down for a while and followed the game at ESPN.com. However, the little guy hung in there and delivered and I was able to catch the last two innings. Three straight hours of streaming live TV is pretty impressive for a phone. Kudos to you, Apple. (Once again, I swear I’m not getting paid for this.

12. After breaking everything down, I think I’ve come to a decision. Turns out that yesterday/last night’s game wasn’t the worst game I’d ever seen. It wasn’t the best one either. What it ultimately ended up being was a perfect microcosm of this 2010 Mets team. A few parts ugly, a few parts promising, and always intriguing. That’s what I took away from last night’s game. Atrocious hitting, remarkable pitching, and a lot of head-scratching moments that made you go, “What the @$%&? Did that just really happen?” Folks, these are our Mets, love ‘em or leave ‘em. And I love ‘em.

13. Turns out that 20 is a lot harder to get to than you would think. Whether it’s 20 innings or 20 thoughts about a game that went 20 innings, 20 is a lot, and since I don’t have 7 more things to say about yesterday’s game, I’ll leave it right here at 13 and hope that we can fill in the blanks after tonight’s game.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

Time For Some NBA Playoff Predictions

16 04 2010

I can definitely tell you where amazing WON'T happen...

With the start of the NBA Playoffs this weekend, it’s time for me to dig deep once again and dish out what are likely to be my most accurate NBA Playoff predictions ever. You know, considering that they’re my first NBA Playoff predictions ever, at least here at In the Win Column.

With the New York Knicks just barely missing out on the playoffs this year (sarcasm folks), I have to once again turn my attention towards other teams that have, shall I say, “piqued my interest” throughout the course of the season — teams like Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder, the new and improved Charlotte Bobcats, and the impossible to decipher enigma that is, well, the entire Eastern Conference pretty much.

The East is basically LeBron’s to lose this year, and assuming he does lose, then that means the field is pretty much wide open. It’s anybody’s game. As for the Western Conference, the big question is whether or not the Lakers have what it takes to repeat.

So without further adieu, my first round predictions.

Cleveland Cavaliers over Chicago Bulls, 4-2

While I don’t think that LeBron will get his title this year, I don’t think that they’ll be ousted from the first round. The Bulls, led by Derrick Rose (20.8 ppg, 6 apg, 3.8 rpg), just managed to eek their way into the playoffs this season as the 8th seed in the East and will stay competitive with the Cavs early on in the series. However, LeBron will eventually wear them down, like he has done to so many other teams. It also helps that Shaquille O’Neal will be returning to the Cleveland lineup for the first time since February. Actually, who am I kidding, Shaq hasn’t been relevant for 4 years.

Charlotte Bobcats over Orlando Magic, 4-3

Well, the Charlotte Bobcats intrigue me just about as much as anyone can be intrigued by a team that calls Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace its two best players. I know, right? That’s not a typo. Yet, the Bobcats, under new ownership (Yeah, I’m talking about you, MJ) are in the playoffs for the first time and that fact alone screams out “inexperienced”. But…they are a physical team, they know how to defend, and they are coached by Larry Brown, arguably one of the best in the business. So, I’m going to say that the Cats squeak past the Magic and out of the first round while Orlando fans blame everything on Vince Carter and Tiger Woods is spotted courtside during Game 6 exchanging phone numbers with a cheerleader.

Atlanta Hawks over Milwaukee Bucks, 4-2

I really like this year’s Atlanta Hawks team. I got a chance to see them in person last month when they visited the Garden and I liked what I saw. I mean, they obviously couldn’t have been that impressive if the Knicks managed to beat them, but honestly, that’s what you get when you let Jamal Crawford handle the ball inside the last two minutes. This Hawks team is young and they have a ton of weapons. Josh Smith and Joe Johnson can seemingly score at will and the Atlanta offense is perfectly suited to allow them to create their own shots. Overall, I say the Hawks come out on top in this one.

Miami Heat over Boston Celtics, 4-3

This Boston Celtics team is just too beat up, both physically and mentally, to be able to make it out of the first round and they have the task of going against a Miami team that seems to be peaking at just the right time. KG has become almost a non-factor and the train-wreck that is Rasheed Wallace is taking more away from the table than he’s bringing to it (just ask Bill Simmons). This has the potential to be a very close, competitive series in the same vein as last year’s epic first round clash between the C’s and the Bulls, but I think the Heat will pull this out in 7.

Los Angeles Lakers over Oklahoma City Thunder, 4-3

As much as I want to see Kevin Durant explode for 40 a night and bounce the #1 seed Lakers from the playoffs in the first round, I just don’t see it happening. After all, an 8-seed beating a 1-seed hasn’t happened since the Knicks did it in 1999 to the Heat and before that, it hadn’t happened at all. Plus, the Thunder’s inexperience will ultimately catch up to them when it matters most.

Dallas Mavericks over San Antonio Spurs, 4-2

Does Tim Duncan have one last Finals run left in his legs? I say no. However, I have been wrong in the past. Many, many times. The fact is, the Spurs tend to be an entirely different team in playoffs than they were during the regular season. So I guess we’ll see which Spurs team shows up for Round 1. Needless to say, if Ginobili plays the way he has been all season, it’s going to be a great series. If he doesn’t, then it will most likely be an early exit for San Antonio.

Phoenix Suns over Portland Trail Blazers, 4-1

The Suns have been known for their impressive regular season play, followed by duds in the postseason. Not this year though. I think that this is the year that Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire finally come together and the Phoenix Suns actually make some sort of playoff run. The Blazers are a young team, and they’ll get their time to shine, eventually.

Denver Nuggets over Utah Jazz, 4-2

Andrei Kirilenko won’t be participating in this series thanks to his injured calf muscle. This also has the potential to be a classic first-round series, and really, I think it can go either way. However, for the sake of my predictions I’ll go out on a limb and say that Carmelo gets the job done and Utah goes home early.

So…our Conference Semi-Final match-ups should look a little something like this:

Eastern Conference

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Miami Heat

Atlanta Hawks vs. Charlotte Bobcats

Western Conference

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets

Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks

And as always, if I’m wrong, then you’re entitled to a full refund of this column! Enjoy round 1!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

Damaged Beyond Repair?

11 04 2010

"I never thought I would wish to be back in Montreal."

Those of you that actually managed to sit through the torture that was this weekend’s three-game series against the Washington Nationals, I applaud you. I came close. Friday night was no sweat, in fact I enjoyed watching the Metropolitans’ first 4 homer game since 2006. Seeing Francoeur and Barajas carry the Mets with 2 home runs a piece on the night before Reyes was to return to the lineup had me feeling pretty optimistic. I carried that optimism into the next afternoon’s game, only to have it ripped away by Willie Harris as his diving grab in left field robbed Barajas of what could have been the game-winning hit with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Okay, so I wasn’t going to lose any sleep over one loss to the Nationals. Clearly, Reyes looked a bit rusty all day and that was to be expected. After all, it had almost been an entire calendar year since he had last started a Major League game. But then there was today. I’ll be honest with you and tell you that I didn’t last beyond the 1st inning of today’s game. Josh Willingham’s grand slam off of Johan Santana in the top of the inning gave the Nats a lightning-fast 4-0 lead and I shut down my Slingbox and put my phone back in my pocket quicker than Tiger Woods when his wife enters the room.

Here’s what I didn’t like about losing two out of three to the Washington Nationals: EVERYTHING. I am well aware that the Mets are not the creme de la creme of the National League. This is not new. However, I had at least one thing to cling to as a Mets fan through the last few seasons of collapses and chokes and catastrophes: that we were still better than the Nationals. After this weekend, I’m not so sure anymore.

When you send your ace out to the mound, in front of a home crowd on a nice Sunday afternoon, you expect to win no matter who you’re facing. When you send your ace out to the mound , in front of a home crowd on a nice Sunday afternoon against the Washington Nationals, you are SUPPOSED TO WIN. However, this was not even the most embarrassing part of today’s loss.

What could have possibly been more embarrassing then having your Cy Young-winning ace get blasted at home by the Washington Nationals? Oh great, I’m glad you asked. It’s this: having your Cy Young-winning ace get out-pitched by a guy who was the number 5 starter in your rotation the year before. Livan Hernandez. Forget for a second that Livan Hernandez is so far past his prime that he’s about to pass it again a second time around, just know that he shut the Mets out for 7 innings today and probably laughed his way all the way back to the clubhouse when he left with a 5-0 lead.

Am I overreacting about an April 11th loss to the Nationals? It’s possible, but I’ve already asked myself about 4 questions in this column and usually when I ask myself questions and then answer them, that means that I’m complaining about something, and today I’m complaining about the New York Mets.

The New York Mets are a broken franchise, whether or not you choose to accept this fact as a Mets fan. I, myself, happen to be about as optimistic a Mets fan as you’ll ever find, anywhere. Mets fans, by nature, are not supposed to be optimistic. It’s about as rare of as finding a New York City cab driver that speaks fluent English. So, naturally, I held off for about as long as I possibly could before deciding that the Mets 2010 season was doomed. It only took me 6 games. I’m sorry guys, I really am, and I want so badly to tell you that everything will be alright once Beltran gets back and once we stop playing such juggernauts as the Marlins and the Nats, but I don’t think I can grin and bear it anymore.

Most of the time, this team is very hard to watch. There are the bright spots like Friday night and like Opening Day, but lately, those bright spots have been few and very far between. Maybe reaching a conclusion as dramatic as this after only 6 games is a little bit premature, but I’m willing to take that chance. If they end up proving me wrong, then that’s incredible. I will be just as happy as all the rest of the Mets faithful. Right now though, I’m more inclined to say that they won’t prove me wrong, and if that is the case, then the Mets organization needs to start cleaning house sooner than later. Unlike past years though, cleaning house should not mean firing Jerry Manuel and bringing in someone else as a temporary scapegoat. No, by cleaning house I mean going straight for the source of all these problems — Omar Minaya.

But I’ll save that for another day. Right now, I feel like I’ve reached my rant quota for the week, maybe even the month.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

I Know, It’s Only One Game, But…

6 04 2010

And to think, we only saw this 10 times last season...Trying to accurately assess a Major League baseball team after one game is about as fruitless as trying to predict the future occupation of a toddler. In other words, we’re much better off just waiting for things to naturally develop and take shape before we start throwing around assumptions. In a 162-game season, Opening Day is nothing but a mere drop in the ocean, and so as much as I enjoyed yesterday’s nice, stress-free Opening Day win, I’m not doing any back-flips yet.

Just as with any season-opener, yesterday’s game featured an equal amount of bright spots to look forward to and also some cautionary flags to look out for. Since the weather is nice today and I’m in a good mood, we’ll start with the bright spots. Number one was David Wright’s two-run opposite field homer in the first inning to put the Mets up 2-0. Now, I know that he also hit a home run on Opening Day last year too and then ended up only hitting 9 more for the remainder of the season, but it was certainly comforting seeing him be able to get into the batter’s box yesterday and take Josh Johnson deep on the fourth pitch, especially after a whole offseason of questions about where his power disappeared to.

The second positive thing that I took away from yesterday was the fact that we were finally, FINALLY able to beat Josh Johnson. Going into yesterday’s game, the young Marlins righty was 7-0 against the Mets. If he had won yesterday, Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez might have seriously considered putting him back on the mound on Wednesday…and Thursday…and every other time they play the Mets this season.

What else did I like about yesterday? I really liked the play of the newcomers to the Mets lineup, Jason Bay, Gary Matthews Jr. and Rod Barajas. Each of them contributed two hits yesterday, including a triple from Jason Bay and an RBI double from Barajas in the Mets 4-run 6th inning that took Johnson out of the game and blew it wide open.

Although Gary Matthews Jr. is only a temporary placeholder until Carlos Beltran returns from the DL in May, he looked like he was right at home in center at Citi Field yesterday, and did an admirable job of running down fly balls on a day where it seemed that every outfielder was having at least some kind of difficulty with the bright April sun.

While Matthews played a solid game, this also brings me to my only major cause for concern from yesterday: the nagging injury issue. Seeing the Mets lineup on Opening Day missing both Beltran and Reyes just makes me feel like we have picked up right where we left off last September. Reyes should be returning to the lineup this weekend against Washington and Beltran may be back as soon as next month, but for the Mets to have any shot at all at staying competitive in the NL East this season, it is imperative that all of their key players remain healthy and in the lineup, because while Cora and Pagan and Matthews may be able to get the job done from time to time, they aren’t Jose Reyes or Carlos Beltran.

All in all, the Mets did what they were supposed to do yesterday; we trotted our ace out to the mound and he got the job done, allowing only one run and 4 hits in 6 innings of work. We already know that Johan Santana can win games, it’s the other four pitchers in the rotation with question marks next to their names. Maine? Pelfrey? Niese? Perez? These four guys have defined inconsistency the last few seasons. If even two of them can step up and have a big season in 2010, then I don’t see why we can’t be competitive. With this team though, you never know what can happen. And that, I guess, is why they play the game.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

The Endless Appeal of the Underdog

5 04 2010

Don't pretend that you won't be openly rooting for Butler tonight.

Tonight, when Opening Day is winding down and Mets fans have been painfully reminded of just how bad our team really is, two college basketball teams will take the court in Indianapolis for a shot at the 2010 NCAA Men’s National Championship. One of those teams, the Duke Blue Devils, is coached by Mike Krzyzewski, with a total of 76 NCAA tournament wins under his belt and 4 national titles in the last 19 years, along with a handful of Final Four appearances.

The other team that will battle it out in Indy tonight? The Butler Bulldogs. Representing the Horizon League, a mid-major conference that also includes the basketball powerhouses of Cleveland State, Detroit, Green Bay (this conference sounds more like the NFC North), UW-Milwaukee and Valparaiso, Butler is the embodiment of every small school across the nation with big dreams.

Although I picked Butler to go down in the first round of this year’s tournament to UTEP, there was a part of me that always knew that they could make a run to the national championship (I’m just kidding). However, even though I didn’t pick them to make it past the first day, I am going to be rooting for them like my bracket depended on it (it’s been in the garbage since the Sweet 16) when they tip-off against Duke tonight.

Chances are, you’ll be rooting for Butler too, and I know exactly why. It’s because we, as Americans and as sports fans, don’t love anything more than a good, compelling, inspiring underdog story. I mean, we (America) were even underdogs ourselves at one point in history. Yeah, I’m absolutely talking about the Revolutionary War. Don’t think that I can’t slip a little history lesson into a column about the Final Four, because I can, AND I JUST DID.

Anyway, the allure of the underdog is something we can never seem to resist. Whether or not you’re a sports fan, chances are that you’re familiar with the phenomenon of the underdog. In fact, if there was no such thing as the underdog, Hollywood would probably have run out of movie ideas 40 years ago. Either that, or we’d be getting ready for the release of Transformers 28: Cooking With Optimus Prime.

You can find a quality underdog story in pretty much 85-90% of the movies you watch. Forrest Gump? Underdog story. Hoosiers? Underdog story. Rudy? The ultimate underdog story. We love underdogs in this country. Actually, that’s inaccurate – the entire world loves underdogs. The movie that won Best Picture at the Oscars two years ago, Slumdog Millionaire, was an underdog story from beginning to end. Why do we love underdogs so much? It’s because everyone likes to believe that they are the underdog deep down inside. We root for the underdogs because if they can do it, then anyone can.

Underdogs in sports encapsulate all the things that we love about the typical Hollywood underdog story, only playing out in real life, right before our eyes. I can’t help getting constantly sucked into falling for underdogs. I can probably trace it all back to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals when the Rangers beat the Canucks in seven games. I was 7 years old at the time and not even a huge hockey fan, but I was oddly drawn to the series and the underdog story that surrounded the Rangers, who were trying to end their 54-year championship drought.

Since then, I’ve been captivated by a number of underdog teams over the years, in pretty much every sport. The Florida Marlins in 1997 and 2003, a team with one of the smallest payrolls in baseball that made two improbable postseason runs in 6 years and won two World Series titles; the 2004 Boston Red Sox, probably one of the most memorable underdog stories of the last few decades, the team that came back from a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in the ALCS to break their 86 year World Series drought; George Mason’s unforgettable road to the Final Four in 2006 (much like the 2009-2010 Butler Bulldogs); the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays World Series runs in 2007 and 2008 which unfortunately fell short, and of course the 2007 New York Giants, the road warriors who beat the 18-0 Patriots to the throne to claim the Lombardi Trophy.

Underdogs are not a new concept either. Even the Bible features an underdog story, probably the father of all underdog stories. Ever hear of David and Goliath? Yeah, that’s right, even Jesus was a fan of underdogs. Underdogs aren’t just fun to watch and root for, they also serve as ways to inspire us, and also ways for us to lose tons of money by betting against them.

Here’s a guide to the four different kinds of underdog teams you might encounter in sports. Think of it as a field guide for beginners, as well as a way to help you recognize these Teams of Destiny so that you won’t make the mistake of betting against them and end up trying to back over your own foot with your SUV.

1) The Championship Drought Underdog

This underdog story usually features a team that has either never won a championship in its history, or a team that hasn’t won a championship in a ton of years. A team like the 2004 Red Sox for example, which hadn’t won a World Series since the Ford Model T was cutting-edge engineering. This team will go through their entire postseason run with their incredibly lengthy drought being mentioned at every possible opportunity and beaten into the ground by announcers and analysts almost to the point where they’re almost trying to turn you against them. You can guarantee that every time the Chicago Cubs make the playoffs that Joe Buck and Tim McCarver will do everything but hold a séance on the pitcher’s mound for the ghosts of the 1908 Cubs.

The Championship Drought Underdog is unique from all other underdogs because they can sometimes be a very respected and storied franchise. They might even make the playoffs year in and year out, but they’re still classified as underdogs because they can never seem to break past the imaginary wall that’s keeping them from winning the title. Think of them as the sports equivalent of that one friend you has no problem with meeting girls at bars and getting their number, but just can never seem to be able to seal the deal.
When a Championship Drought Underdog, or CDU, finally breaks through and wins that title, it’s a surreal feeling. It’s the feeling of experiencing something you thought would never happen in your lifetime.

2) “The Little Team That Could” Underdogs

These underdogs are usually teams that have been bullied for years in their respective divisions and are usually perennial doormats. They have a miniscule payroll and their roster is often filled with either names you’ve never heard of or names you can’t even pronounce, but somehow they band together and make an improbable run for to the postseason. These teams are usually the product of “right place at the right time” circumstances and everything short of the planets lining up and raining gold coins on their practice facility. What are some recent examples of this? The 2008 Arizona Cardinals certainly come to mind, also the 2009 New Orleans Saints, the 2007 Colorado Rockies, the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, and probably a ton of other teams I’m forgetting right now.

The thing about these types of underdogs is that you often don’t see them coming. Sometimes they come out of nowhere and sometimes, they disappear right back to nowhere when their magical run is over. You can never tell when one of these kinds of underdogs can pop up, and that’s why they’re so dangerous.

3) The “Injured Star Player” Underdog

This kind of underdog is fairly self-explanatory. Usually it’s a team that is missing its best player due to injury, or retirement, or felony conviction….yet the team still continues to roll on almost inexplicably. Often, this team will come together amidst the adversity of losing their best player and use it as motivation to win. Other times, the team’s inexplicable run will allow people to realize that maybe this star player wasn’t really that important after all. A classic example of this kind of underdog is the 2007 New York Giants. They lost the face of their franchise, running back Tiki Barber, to retirement at the end of the previous season, and then lost another key player, Jeremy Shockey, to a broken leg in Week 15. Despite that, they rolled off 7 straight wins and won the Super Bowl. No big deal.

4) The “Where Is That School?” Underdog

This underdog is very similar to the second type, but it applies only to college, whereas the “Little Team That Could” mostly applies to the pros. The Butler Bulldogs would fall into this category. I’ll admit that I had no clue that Butler University was located 5 miles from Lucas Oil Stadium until I saw it on ESPN a week ago, after their Final Four berth. Some other examples of the “Where is that school?” underdog that I can think of off the top of my head would be the 2006 George Mason basketball team, the 2008 Appalachian State football team that upset Michigan, and even the 2006 Rutgers football team that rose all the way to #6 in the BCS before crashing back to Earth. I’m sure everyone knows that Rutgers University is in New Jersey now, but they sure as hell didn’t know in 2006.

So, after all that, we’re back to the Butler Bulldogs. With a sure-fire future NBA player in Gordon Hayward leading the way, they’re not as big of a long-shot as most people assume. According to just about every team that they’ve beaten in this tournament so far (Syracuse, Kansas State, Michigan State) they’re not really sneaking up on anyone. Nevertheless, they are still proving an enormous point that advocates of the BCS for college football have failed to even consider: that a small school from a even smaller conference can have a legitimate shot at winning a national championship in a major sport.

Tonight, the Butler Bulldogs from the Horizon League will play what might be considered a home-game, for a national title, 5 miles down the road from their campus. Only instead of Hinkle Fieldhouse, it will be in front of almost 72,000 people at Lucas Oil Stadium. A real-life David and Goliath story, the big, bad Duke Blue Devils against the little mid-major team from Indiana. I couldn’t be more excited.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports

Five Amazing Non-Predictions for the 2010 Baseball Season

4 04 2010

Hey Carlos, let's try to play more than 40 games this year. Alright?

Why do I love the spring so much? Well, there are several reasons. I’m sure you don’t want me to list every single one, so I’ll cut right to the point of this column. Aside from the weather getting warmer and girls suddenly wearing fewer clothes, I can always trace my love of the spring back to one thing: the start of a new baseball season!

I could smell it when I walked outside today: the crisp, early April air, the smell of springtime and the stench of inevitable disappointment. Of course, the disappointment can be traced directly to the start of a fresh, new baseball season that is finally here. Tomorrow, the New York Metropolitans will take the field in beautiful Flushing for the first time in 2010 to defend their fourth-place finish in 2009. The only thing that stands in our way for a last-place finish this year are those damn pesky Nationals, they just can’t stop losing!

All kidding aside though, I am as ready as I’ll ever be for another baseball season. Last year’s playoffs took a lot out of me. Having to endure a Yankees-Phillies World Series was about as enjoyable as having my fingernails removed one-by-one while being forced to listen to Justin Bieber on repeat. The one thing that is refreshing about the start of a new season is that for at least a few hours, everyone has the same record. It’s a blank slate, a clean start and just about anything can happen, including A-Rod tearing his hamstring on a bad slide into second or Chase Utley getting drilled in the kneecap by a fastball.

My fantasy league draft is tonight at 7 pm, just before the official start of the season at Fenway and thanks to Bill Simmons’ enlightening column this past week on the sabermetrics revolution, I can actually pretend that I know what I’m doing this year, at least until I end up drafting John Lackey four rounds too early.

What it all comes down to though is the simple fact that the beginning of the season is the perfect time to start throwing out uneducated predictions based solely on opinions and gut instinct. We all do this to some degree, even the professionals, so I’m going to take my predictions one step further (or one step backwards, it depends on how you look at it) and I’m going to give you five of my best non-predictions going into the 2010 season. In other words, I’m not really making any grand statements with these.

1) I will not be disappointed with the New York Mets in 2010. What a prediction, right? Not at all. All it means is that I have zero expectations for the New York Mets in 2010. Zero expectations means zero disappointment when they’re 11 games out of first place in the middle of June. That’s what I’m saying. Plus, if the pieces do happen to magically fall into place and we don’t send half of our starting line-up to the DL before the All-Star Break, then that’s a bonus. Either way, you won’t hear me complaining. Actually, you will. Do you know why? It’s because I enjoy complaining. I feel like some of my better writing comes from me complaining about my favorite teams, and you know what, I’m perfectly fine with that. After all, weren’t blogs started as just another way for people to complain about things over the internet? I’m pretty sure they were.

2) Mr. Met still won’t be the most confusing mascot in baseball, thanks to the Philly Phanatic.

WHAT ARE YOU???

3) At least one big name player will be injured for a majority of the season and we will spend 4 or 5 months thinking about where said player’s team would have finished this season if he had been healthy and discussing another hundred different hypothetical scenarios. The player might be Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Manny Ramirez, Joe Mauer, Chase Utley, Mark Teixeira, anyone who most likely used steroids at all in the past decade, or the entire New York Mets roster.

4) The American League East will be won by a team from New York or Boston. GROUNDBREAKING, I KNOW! Listen, I know the Rays took this division two years ago and ran all the way to the World Series, and I know that their lineup going into this season is one of the best in the AL, on paper. All of that sounds good, and I would like to think Tampa can be a threat, but with Boston’s starting pitching and New York’s lineup, I don’t think any team that isn’t named the Red Sox or the Yankees really has more than an outside shot at winning the division. Sorry, anybody in Tampa, Baltimore or Toronto. Luckily, I also know how it feels to be a fan of a team that you know has no shot at making the playoffs. So why do I watch? Because I like to be tortured. But hey, THAT’S WHY THEY PLAY THE GAMES, AM I RIGHT?

5) My World Series prediction. Actually, here are my predictions for the whole playoffs. Think of it as a bonus. Or think of it as even more things that I will probably be wrong about:

AL East: New York Yankees

AL Central: Minnesota Twins

AL West: Seattle Mariners

AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox

ALDS: Yankees over Mariners; Red Sox over Twins

ALCS: Yankees over Red Sox

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies

NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

NL Wild Card: Milwaukee Brewers

NLDS: Cardinals over Dodgers; Phillies over Brewers

NLCS: Cardinals over Phillies

World Series: Cardinals over Yankees, 4-2

The season officially gets underway in a little less than 2 hours. Let’s hope it’s a good one. Now, it’s time for me to break out my calculator, pull up last season’s VORP ratings and try to pick a winning fantasy team.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Sports


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.