April 19 - Smith or Rogers? Who Cares?

I have just about had it with all this speculation over who is going to select Alex Smith and Arron Rogers in this weekend’s NFL draft. It is just sickening how much attention this issue has received over the past two weeks and I, for one, am ready to see it end. Does anyone really care whether San Francisco takes Alex Smith? The better question is whether anyone outside of the Mountain Time Zone has ever seen this kid play? The answer to this question is a resounding no even though pundits around the country speak as if they have been watching Smith since he was in 8th grade. Let me tell you – nobody has seen this kid play. Judging from the ratings, nobody saw him light up Pitt in the Fiesta Bowl and I will challenge anyone to claim they spent anytime watching Smith torch Colorado State, North Carolina or BYU. Despite Smith’s anonymity, radio show hosts and talking heads have had no problems offering their views on whether the Niners should select the Ute with the first pick on Saturday. And while Smith is a virtual unknown outside Utah, Rogers is not exactly a household name either, especially east of the Mississippi where pundits think the Pacific Ten is an Asian trade bloc. People may have caught Rogers carve up USC, but I don’t want to hear anyone claim they were there for the entire Holiday Bowl. He may be better known than Smith, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot along the eastern seaboard.

The truth is nobody knows a whole lot about these players but that hasn’t stopped many jerkoffs from offering their opinion on which teams should grab them during the draft. This critique is not really limited to Smith and Rogers since the same thing goes for countless other players being discussed right now. Case in point – I just heard Mike Francesca on WFAN offer his views on Virginia Tight End Heath Miller. I will bet my weekly allowance that Mike has never spent one minute watching Miller on film or in a private workout. Moreover, I will double down and bet that he never spent any time checking out Miller play in the ACC. In fact, I would bet that if I had asked Mike last November what school Miller played for, he would have had no clue unless he had somehow stumbled over a recent press clipping. Although there is some good analysis of the draft, much of it done by Scout Inc., I think the event is way over-analyzed, especially by a large group of guys who are unequipped to do anything other then regurgitate what they read in draft literature. Unfortunately, that is about all we get this time of year – a whole lot of plagiarism from pundits who are way out of their element. If pundits want to discuss what kinds of “needs” a team has – that is fine with me. But please, let’s tone down all this discussion of specific players and leave some of that analysis to those who are equipped to make informed assessments.

So the NFL is moving over from ABC to ESPN on Monday nights in 2006 and I for one, don’t think this was a very smart move for the league or ESPN. Some would argue that it really makes no difference where the games are shown since the overwhelming majority of homes now have access to ESPN. I disagree with this position although I must admit I do it with little passion. My basic instinct tells me MNF will lose a little cache over at ESPN and here is why. There is still a bit of a stigma attached with cable television. Granted, cable has matured from its humble inception but there is still something about cable that remains bush league. Don’t get me wrong, HBO puts out the best original programming on television and Emergency Vets on Animal Planet is pretty cool, but in other areas, cable is still a bit creepy. By and large, cable is where ordinary stuff is broadcast while big EVENTS like the Oscars and the Super Bowl remain planted with the networks. I am not going to compare MNF to the Oscars, but it was an EVENT in its heyday and still is in some circles. If you don’t believe me, then please answer the following; why do friends still gather every week to catch up, eat chicken wings and watch MNF? You may disagree, but MNF is still a special occasion for many in this country and there is absolutely nothing special about ESPN. My fear is that with the switch to ESPN, MNF will become just another game, particularly if NBC is able to grab some of the marquee games that were previously on Monday. Friends will still gather on Monday, but will they do it with as much frequency now that ESPN is involved and the game package is weaker? Perhaps, but I am not so confident. We shall see, but the bet here is that the switch to ESPN will cost MNF ten percent of its viewers right off the bat. As such, this is not a great deal for ESPN, especially given the fees it just paid.

Staying with MNF, the big question I have is whether ESPN will use its decrepit Sunday night team to broadcast its Monday night games in 2006. That would be a disaster since there is not team in the game as bad as Mike Patrick, Joey Heisman and The Drunk. I cannot imagine ESPN would sour its investment with this crew, but the folks in Bristol have been known to do strange things. Now the counter to this argument is that by switching Mike, Joey and Mac the Drunk over from Sundays to Mondays, the trio would be getting the same amount of airtime only on a different evening. And if that is the case, what is the big deal? I’ll tell you why it is a big deal for me. It is because this group of jerkoffs is currently only allowed to broadcast the leftovers that ESPN is tossed every Sunday night. I rarely watch that garbage anyways so it is easy for me to avoid this pitiful crew. But what happens if they now get tossed some of the better stuff that is reserved for Monday nights. That raises an interesting question. Will ESPN use this as an opportunity to finally can this crew and bring in Al and Madden, or do they bump them over to Monday? If it is the former, I will rejoice since that will mean the three headed retarded hydra is dead. But if it is the latter, we got problems.

Here is the answer to yesterday’s trivia question which asked readers to name the 19 sports figures who have hosted SNL: Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Andy Roddick, Jeff Gordon, Johney Moseley, George Foreman, Deion Sanders. Charles Barkley. Nancy Kerrigan, Oranthal James Simpson, Bill Russell, Bob Uecker, Alex Karras, Howard Cosell, Marvin Hagler, Billy Martin, Wayne Gretzky, George Steinbrenner, and Michael Jordan.


Baseball Observations – National League: How hot are the Dodgers right now? Odalis Perez picked up his third win in as many games last night after getting just 13 decisions in 31 starts last year. I still cannot believe nobody wanted this guy over the off-season. Washington finally lost at home but at least they were successful knocking out a Marlins pitcher before he tossed a complete game. If a player strikes out four times in a single game, he gets a golden sombrero so what does Luis Castillo get for walking four times in a game – a sombrero worn by Barry Bonds? The Christian Guzman death watch continues in Washington as he went hitless against last night. Who gets benched first – Guzman or Majority Leader Tom DeLay? That’s more like it Kaz – A week after he threw a gem against Roger Clemens, Kaz Isshi was his old self last night, walking six and giving up five in five innings. Jim Thome is off to an Arod start but the big difference is Jim doesn’t have Tampa coming to town anytime soon. The Mets really need Cliff Floyd in that lineup. Hey, Mark Mulder won a game. Kerry Wood was staked to a four run first inning lead last night but couldn’t hold on as he was lifted after giving up five runs in six innings. Wood is a mess right now as evidenced by those nine walks and twenty-one hits in just twenty innings. In fact, Wood has been a mess since he blew game seven of the 2003 NLCS. That was a sick pitching matchup in Houston last night between Hudson and Clemens. Both these guys are off to white hot starts, although collectively they only have two wins to show for it. Rocket now has 26 strikeouts and only two walks in 21 innings. Houston is just dying to score runs right now and facing Hudson was certainly no tonic for them last night. Jake Peavy threw another gem for the Pads and it is about time Phil Nevin got a big knock. Dave Roberts came off the DL last night and got a couple of hits. Perhaps his return will spark San Diego’s offense. Omar Vizquel was given a gift in San Diego last night when he wasn’t charged with a clear error, showing clearly that major league scorers do everything in their power to protect good reputations.


Baseball Observations – American League. Manny hit a couple bombs on Patriot Day in Boston yesterday but he sure looked like a child in left field, butchering two fly balls. While Manny got off to a horrendous start, he does start today with the second most RBI’s in the American League. Mark Belhorn reached the twenty strikeout plateau yesterday and that has to be some kind of record. Boy, Steinbrenner’s message was heard loud and clear. If you believe that, you are a clown. Steinbrenner was playing with a loaded deck last night as the starting lineup of the Yanks was hitting over .400 lifetime against Devil Ray starter Rob Bell. If you don’t think George knew that when he put out that ridiculous press release, you are on crack. And here is a little message for GAYROD – going five for six against the Rays in April does not clear the air. Jaret Wright sure pitched great with that thirteen run lead. Lou Pinella is going to have a stroke this year. The Orioles proved last night that the only team they own is the Yankees. Let me get this straight – Jason Johnson can shut down Brian Roberts and the Orioles but Carl Pavano and Kevin Brown cannot? Chan Ho returned to Earth last night while Mark Kotsay remained on fire with a couple of hits and three RBIs. The A’s are better than people think. Tribe hurler Cliff Lee threw a great game last night but do games against KC count? Ichiro went 0-5 last night – how many times will that happen again this season?

If I were a New York Knicks fan, which I’m not, I would be paying close attention to what is going on with Cablevision’s bid to acquire Adelphia and its five million cable customers. I say this because if Cablevision is successful, it just may spark the company to sell the Knicks and Madison Square Garden, thus freeing thousands of Knicks fans who have long felt Cablevision's James Dolan is an idiot who cannot competently run the franchise. Well, it is being reported in today’s WSJ that Cablevision has upped its offer for Adelphia from $16.5 Billion to $17.1 Billion. A healthy slug of this offer would be conveyed in cash, meaning Cablevision would have to issue a lot of debt to finance the deal.

So that brings me to the Knicks. If Cablevision were to acquire Adelphia, the company would lose some of its New York-centric focus since Adelphia’s systems are spread out throughout the country. As such, there would not be as much need to own New York properties such as MSG. Further, the Knicks and MSG could probably fetch a big number on the open market and such a windfall could help Cablevision finance its Adelphia acquisition. I say probably because it is not the best time to be selling MSG with the Rangers stuck in a lockout and the Knicks being jailed in salary cap hell. It is clear to me that post acquisition, MSG has much less strategic value for Cablevision and it begs the question of why the company would want to keep the team. The only answer I can provide is Jimmy Dolan is an egomaniac who has an unquenchable thirst for the spotlight. Without the Knicks and MSG, he is just a typical corporate executive and I am sure that does not excite him much. And I don’t blame him since porn stars and models always take team owners over cable execs. So Jimmy’s ego remains the greatest impediment standing in the way of a sale, but the times are a changing and the financial implications of a deal for Adelphia could upend the landscape. So for all you Knicks fans that have been in exile under the Dolan regime, this may be your shot at a pardon. The odds may not be great, but at least there is now a reason to pick up the WSJ once in a while.