Short thoughts...
1. The NFL Draft:
Once in a while, draft picks surprise you and others simply make no sense. First, congratulations to Sam Bradford being the top draft pick and future QB for the St. Louis Rams. My advice? When you negotiate your contract, make sure there are plenty of clauses to compensate you while you get beaten to a pulp behind your Swiss-cheese offensive line. BEG your head coach, Steve Spagnoulo, to get you as much pocket protection as possible, even offer to take a lower salary if the money can be used for upfront beef. Either that, or buy stock in cold compresses and BenGay. Oh, and until you get some O-line protection, your team must bear the new moniker "St. Louis Lamb Chops". Yum yum.
Second, congratulations to the Genius himself, Raiders owner Al Davis. Once again, you show how to go shopping without your list. What do you need another pass rusher for when your team has just as porous an offensive line as the Rams. But you're too crafty for us... obviously you know best how to build a football team for 1967, you former Lord of Flatbush, you (oy gevault...).
Third, to poor Jimmy Clausen... Don't worry, kid. You're gonna end up somewhere. And as soon as some team stops changing draft positions like Pluto's orbit, you'll be the first to know!
Next, to the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings... can you front office guys just GROW A PAIR and make a draft pick already?! Sheesh, it's a first round selection, not the Ebola virus!
And, lastly, Tim Tebow, picked at 25th by the Denver Broncos. Now hear me loud and clear... I WANT TO SEE TIM TEBOW SUCCEED IN THE NFL. However, after listening to Tebow, ESPN's Jon Gruden, and Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels talk on ESPN last night, it’s clear Tebow was picked for the wrong reasons. He’s not going to be an NFL QB in Denver anytime soon, but he will be a gadget play QB. McDaniels took Tebow as an example of the kind of player he wants on his team, an obedient good-goody who will follow the coach’s commands.
And with all due respect to Josh McDaniels, he's the head coach of a professional football team, not the headmaster of an ultraconservative or military prep school!
Again, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see the kid succeed, and he's hopefully the kind of player we won't see emulating Ben Roethlisberger, but I simply don’t think he can physically change enough to improve his throwing mechanics. A left-handed QB has a completely different shoulder anatomy than your classic right-hander, and Tim Tebow is simply too muscular in his upper body, and this interferes with the over-the-top motion we expect QBs to be able to throw with. If you get a chance, take a look at some NFL Films highlights of Steve Young and Ken Stabler, two of the best left-handed QBs the NFL has had in the last 40 years. Now take a look at old films of former Chicago Bear QB Bobby Douglas. He was the Michael Vick of 1972, rushing for over 900 yards, but Douglas couldn't throw for beans, and the Bears passing game was a joke.
Tim Tebow, unfortunately, will be closer to Douglas than Young or Stabler, and if he and the Broncos coaching staff can face reality and use wisdom, the consensus should be to move Tebow to H-back and play him in the same role the Jets play Brad Smith. I believe Tebow can have a long and productive career in a better-suited role.
2. Our Mets:
What can I say? Our team just took 3 of 4 at home against the Cubs, and we're actually seeing good starting pitching night after night. Now, let's warm up those bats! Remember, as our team song lyrics specifically state "And the Mets are really hitting that ball. Hitting those home runs over the wall..."
So... Let's go Mets! Get some big hits!
3. Alfonso Soriano:
Is it just me, or does this former Yankee sometime make Milton Bradley seem emotionally stable?
4. No hitters:
I know pitchers are supposed to be ahead of hitters in April, but this is ridiculous. Not counting Colorado's Ulbaldo Jimenez's no-no in Atlanta last Saturday night, have y'all been paying attention to the number of pitchers taking no-hitters into the 7th inning and beyond this month? Don't be shocked if we see one more no-no before May 1.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates:
First Pittsburgh sports fans have to be nauseated by Ben Roethlisberger, then the Pirates lay an all-time egg at home, losing yesterday to the Milwaukee Brewers 20-0. For the entire 3-game series, they were swept by a composite score of 36-1. This is so sad, I'm morally bound not to say anything pithy.
6. Jay Leno's Fat Jokes:
If you're not a fan of Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" monologues, please become one. Yes, I know it's not cool to pile on when we're confronted with a nation-wide obesity epidemic, but at least he's keeping the spotlight on a serious health issue that threatens our nation's young people. And as someone who lost a parent to Type II Diabetes almost 30 years ago, the following joke last night did make me laugh and also reminded me why we need to take proper nutrition and exercise more seriously:
"I tell ya, kids are so fat today, when asked what they want to be when they grow up, they now say 'I want to be a diabetic'!"
Hope your weekends are enjoyable and health-conscious.
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