Early returns, by Texans fans, for Rd. 1 Draft pick Kareem Jackson are not good. Why didn't they trade back and take him later? Where's the running back we were promised? What about Kyle Wilson?
These are legitimate questions, but not ones that serve to diminish one important fact: The Texans needed immediate help at the corner position, and Jackson can provide that.
Could they have traded back? Who knows? I was hoping, pre-draft, that they might (tweet here) I also was on record as favoring Kyle Wilson to fill the cornerback role. My thought behind that pick had everything to do with ceilings. Wilson's ceiling is higher than Jackson's.
On the other hand, Jackson's floor is much higher than Wilson's. Knowing the current Texans regime I should have made adjustments for their overly risk-averse attitude. When you consider that, and their pre-occupation with character, Jackson was the way they were going to go if Matthews was off the board. (FWIW: The only people who really seemed to think Matthews would still be there at 20 were ChronBlog's paid sportswriters. Odd that.)
On the one hand I do believe that Jackson will provide the starting cornerback that the defense desperately needs. I fully expect him to start, and play fairly well, this year. He's well coached and steady, if unspectacular. Kyle Wilson might not have been as good this year, but I still believe he will develop into a better cornerback over time.*
There's also this: As it stands now, the best cornerback who's rights are owned by the Texans currently is....Kareem Jackson. And that's by a large amount. He's never going to be the shut-down corner fans want, but few are. Welcome to Houston Mr. Jackson.
*Wilson really has a chance to be great now considering he will start off as the nickel corner playing along side Reavis and Cromartie. If you have the Jets on your schedule and are a passing team.....look out.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Why "Draft Experts" usually aren't....
CJ Spiller falls to 20? Not very likely. As a matter of fact, the mock drafts from writers whose projections are based on (at least) some league sources have Spiller going in the top 15.
Now, were we living in an NFL alternate reality where Chris Johnson didn't exist? Spiller probably falls that far. My main hope is that he doesn't go to the Seahawks, because a runner with that type of speed and quickness would be murder on the 49er defense.
FWIW: I'm quite happy if San Fran drafts either Earl Thomas or Brian Bulaga. Won't be the sexiest picks, but they'll be solid. With their second pick in the first round I'm guessing Claussen is the pick. Smith was a bust of a pick and SF needs a QB. That ND to SF connection has worked before....
The Texans had better not fall into the Ryan Matthews trap or this will become another bust of a draft. I've already stated that Taylor Mays is my first choice, but it looks as if that's not going to happen. Second choice would be Kyle Wilson. If neither of those are available then they should look at best available that is NOT a running back. (At 20, you can think about an interior D-lineman for that matter, there will still be several good ones on the board) The Texans should think about Hardesty from Tennessee in the third or fourth round to fill their RB needs. In the 2nd round Parrish Cox would be a nice fit at CB.
Now, were we living in an NFL alternate reality where Chris Johnson didn't exist? Spiller probably falls that far. My main hope is that he doesn't go to the Seahawks, because a runner with that type of speed and quickness would be murder on the 49er defense.
FWIW: I'm quite happy if San Fran drafts either Earl Thomas or Brian Bulaga. Won't be the sexiest picks, but they'll be solid. With their second pick in the first round I'm guessing Claussen is the pick. Smith was a bust of a pick and SF needs a QB. That ND to SF connection has worked before....
The Texans had better not fall into the Ryan Matthews trap or this will become another bust of a draft. I've already stated that Taylor Mays is my first choice, but it looks as if that's not going to happen. Second choice would be Kyle Wilson. If neither of those are available then they should look at best available that is NOT a running back. (At 20, you can think about an interior D-lineman for that matter, there will still be several good ones on the board) The Texans should think about Hardesty from Tennessee in the third or fourth round to fill their RB needs. In the 2nd round Parrish Cox would be a nice fit at CB.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
That's 4 for K
Duke wins, 99% of Nation angry.
Duke Basketball, Yankees baseball and New England Patriots football. Three teams that are perennial title contenders, that the rest of the sports world loves to hate.
The Yankees are easy. What with a bloated payroll, an unmatchable local revenue stream and a system that's got no interest in seeing their domination challenged, if you're not from New York hating the Yankees is a rite of baseball passage. Hell, Derek Jeter alone is enough right? I mean, does the guy REALLY need the entire Maxxim hot 100 to hang with? Couldn't he leave 1/2 of them to the rest of you single guys out there?
Then there's New England, with their star QB and a coach so disagreeable he refuses face time with himself in the mirror every morning, a team that's learned to play fast and loose with the rules, that cuts players with cold calculation, and who wins...every single year. Yup, hate away on New England. They deserve it.
That leaves us with Duke. A team whose vile reputation, in my opinion, lies not with the program or the players, but on one Richard J. "Dick" Vitale. That's right, Dickie V. ESPN's hyper basketball commentator who wakes up every morning, rolls over, and kisses a life-sized cardboard cut-out of coach V before asking his wife to go and get the paper. It's not enough that Duke is usually pretty good, but College basketball pundits such as Vitale and Jay Bilas (a former Duke player) pump them up as an unbeatable machine even in years when they obviously aren't. People hate that, they also hate success, seeking to tear it down.
The beauty about March Madness is that, unlike College Football, the champion at the end of the year is a true champion, having won the title on the court, against 64 of the best teams in the land (give or take a couple left out by the selection committee) in a single elimination format that creates the best event in sport, period. Before the Duke nay-sayers have a chance to try and diminish Duke's championship as some type of "gift" (which, when you think about it, is terribly unfair to the Butler team everyone was rooting for) it should be mentioned that both Syracuse and Kansas St. had a chance to knock-off the upstarts, and both failed. Duke did what the other #1 seeds could not do, they made it to the Final Four and won the championship. Congrats to them for that.
And congrats to Butler for making one hell of a run, and (for the record) being the prime mover in me having the winning bracket.
As for Duke, they'll go on being hated and won't give a damn what you think. They'll take their 4th NCAA title, have a party in Durham and will start planning for next year.
Maybe. Because the rumor is the New Jersey Nets are prepared to offer Coach K 5-years; $75 Million. So yeah, that's another reason folks will hate Duke. Their coach is loaded.
Duke Basketball, Yankees baseball and New England Patriots football. Three teams that are perennial title contenders, that the rest of the sports world loves to hate.
The Yankees are easy. What with a bloated payroll, an unmatchable local revenue stream and a system that's got no interest in seeing their domination challenged, if you're not from New York hating the Yankees is a rite of baseball passage. Hell, Derek Jeter alone is enough right? I mean, does the guy REALLY need the entire Maxxim hot 100 to hang with? Couldn't he leave 1/2 of them to the rest of you single guys out there?
Then there's New England, with their star QB and a coach so disagreeable he refuses face time with himself in the mirror every morning, a team that's learned to play fast and loose with the rules, that cuts players with cold calculation, and who wins...every single year. Yup, hate away on New England. They deserve it.
That leaves us with Duke. A team whose vile reputation, in my opinion, lies not with the program or the players, but on one Richard J. "Dick" Vitale. That's right, Dickie V. ESPN's hyper basketball commentator who wakes up every morning, rolls over, and kisses a life-sized cardboard cut-out of coach V before asking his wife to go and get the paper. It's not enough that Duke is usually pretty good, but College basketball pundits such as Vitale and Jay Bilas (a former Duke player) pump them up as an unbeatable machine even in years when they obviously aren't. People hate that, they also hate success, seeking to tear it down.
The beauty about March Madness is that, unlike College Football, the champion at the end of the year is a true champion, having won the title on the court, against 64 of the best teams in the land (give or take a couple left out by the selection committee) in a single elimination format that creates the best event in sport, period. Before the Duke nay-sayers have a chance to try and diminish Duke's championship as some type of "gift" (which, when you think about it, is terribly unfair to the Butler team everyone was rooting for) it should be mentioned that both Syracuse and Kansas St. had a chance to knock-off the upstarts, and both failed. Duke did what the other #1 seeds could not do, they made it to the Final Four and won the championship. Congrats to them for that.
And congrats to Butler for making one hell of a run, and (for the record) being the prime mover in me having the winning bracket.
As for Duke, they'll go on being hated and won't give a damn what you think. They'll take their 4th NCAA title, have a party in Durham and will start planning for next year.
Maybe. Because the rumor is the New Jersey Nets are prepared to offer Coach K 5-years; $75 Million. So yeah, that's another reason folks will hate Duke. Their coach is loaded.
Opening day has come and gone....
...and the Astros, Royals & Nationals are officially eliminated from the playoff chase.
In Houston at least, the cheerleading continues unabated....
The lack of offense, bench depth and relief pitching are going to make for a long season.
In Houston at least, the cheerleading continues unabated....
The lack of offense, bench depth and relief pitching are going to make for a long season.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Winter Olympics: Standing on your head.
If you didn't watch last night's USA/Canada hockey tie you possibly missed one of the better moments of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Not only was Team USA supposedly outmanned by the skilled Canucks, but they also had the disadvantage of facing a Canadian crowd that was as amped for this game as any hockey game that I've seen. Despite the talent and the crowd however, the US found a way to prevail leaving many to wonder how.
Watching the game I was impressed by two different factors, both involving the goalies and how they were attacked by the respective offenses.
Martin Brodeur: Brodeur is one of the greatest net-minders in recent NHL history. This result doesn't change that fact one iota. What the US did to him last night however, might lead to a change in how other teams (excluding Germany, who has no offense to speak of) attack him in the future. The US game plan was obvious from the start, attack Brodeur when he wanders out of the goal-mouth and make his life generally uncomfortable. Brodeur is a goalie who likes to be proactive and wander out to grab the puck. By putting pressure on him the US team forced Brodeur to make a decision quicker than he wanted to. In many cases those decisions were sub-par.
Ryan Miller: Here's all you need to know about how good Ryan Miller was last night: In the final two minutes of the game, he faced 13 shots on goal. None of them got past him. The old hockey adage is that a goalie playing well is "standing on his head". Miller was upside down all evening. Of the three goals scored by the Canadians, only one (the last one) could even partially be attributed to Miller. The first two goals were defensive breakdowns where Canadian players were allowed to crash the goal on the weak side unmarked, the remaining goal was one of those flukey, slow goals that you see from time to time. In a word, Miller was awesome. The US will need for him to continue to be so if they want to medal.
Other items of note:
Congrats to Bode Miller for finally getting his gold medal.
Ovechkin's hit on Jagr changed momentum and propelled Russia to victory. In the classic myopic Olympic tradition, you can't find video of it anywhere on the Internet. (There is no worse sporting organization than the IOC in terms of incompetence.)
Speaking of Olympic Committee incompetence. The people in charge are fools.
This just in: the German's can slide.
Why Ice Dancing sucks.
Watching the game I was impressed by two different factors, both involving the goalies and how they were attacked by the respective offenses.
Martin Brodeur: Brodeur is one of the greatest net-minders in recent NHL history. This result doesn't change that fact one iota. What the US did to him last night however, might lead to a change in how other teams (excluding Germany, who has no offense to speak of) attack him in the future. The US game plan was obvious from the start, attack Brodeur when he wanders out of the goal-mouth and make his life generally uncomfortable. Brodeur is a goalie who likes to be proactive and wander out to grab the puck. By putting pressure on him the US team forced Brodeur to make a decision quicker than he wanted to. In many cases those decisions were sub-par.
Ryan Miller: Here's all you need to know about how good Ryan Miller was last night: In the final two minutes of the game, he faced 13 shots on goal. None of them got past him. The old hockey adage is that a goalie playing well is "standing on his head". Miller was upside down all evening. Of the three goals scored by the Canadians, only one (the last one) could even partially be attributed to Miller. The first two goals were defensive breakdowns where Canadian players were allowed to crash the goal on the weak side unmarked, the remaining goal was one of those flukey, slow goals that you see from time to time. In a word, Miller was awesome. The US will need for him to continue to be so if they want to medal.
Other items of note:
Congrats to Bode Miller for finally getting his gold medal.
Ovechkin's hit on Jagr changed momentum and propelled Russia to victory. In the classic myopic Olympic tradition, you can't find video of it anywhere on the Internet. (There is no worse sporting organization than the IOC in terms of incompetence.)
Speaking of Olympic Committee incompetence. The people in charge are fools.
This just in: the German's can slide.
Why Ice Dancing sucks.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Winter Olympics: Domination
Consider this:
One:In three half-pipe runs last night Shaun White's scores would have been good enough to win the Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals.
Qualification run: 45.8
Finals Run One: 46.8
Finals Run Two: 48.4
Silver Medal score: 45.0
They should have awarded him a second medal just because.
Two: Linday Vonn raced the Downhill on one leg, and still one by over 1/2 a second.
Lindsay Vonn: 1:44.19
Julia Mancuso: 1:44.75
She's also the only female skier on the pro circuit strong enough to handle men's skis, which gives her a distinct advantage.
Any way you look at it the above two performances are amazing.
One:In three half-pipe runs last night Shaun White's scores would have been good enough to win the Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals.
Finals Run One: 46.8
Finals Run Two: 48.4
Silver Medal score: 45.0
They should have awarded him a second medal just because.
Two: Linday Vonn raced the Downhill on one leg, and still one by over 1/2 a second.
Julia Mancuso: 1:44.75
She's also the only female skier on the pro circuit strong enough to handle men's skis, which gives her a distinct advantage.
Any way you look at it the above two performances are amazing.
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