April 24 - It's Getting Drafty in Here

There is a ton to cover today after a busy weekend in Sports. As such, I have 2000 words on the draft, the Jets selection of a kicker and a convict, Kiper's deference to Belichick, and meltdowns in Denver and Washington. I also have a ton of stuff on Baseball and some thoughts on the opening NBA playoff games. Lastly, I am putting on my media analyst hat today with some comments on some Radio programming. You want to know how busy a weekend it was - it was so busy I don't have a single word on Vijay's playoff win over Daly.

I didn’t spend a ton of time watching the nonsense that is the NFL draft but here are a few observations on the first round: Aaron Rogers lost about $12 million dollars on Saturday, which is s about the difference in signing bonuses that one gets from being the first pick in the draft and the 24th pick. It is hard to argue that it was worth it, but Rogers probably ended up in a good spot where he will be able to learn how to throw game ending interceptions from the best. Braylon Edwards may have tons of talent, but Trent Dilfer will be unable to get him the ball fifty times next year. Three corners went before the first pass rusher was selected on Saturday. That confirms this was one of the weakest drafts in recent memory. The Lions selected a wide receiver – Mike Williams - with a top-10 pick for the third straight year. I guess they are through watching Charles Rogers sit out a dozen games with a broken collarbone. The Lions selection of Williams really screwed San Diego who really wanted the former Trojan. Can you imagine that red zone offense with both Williams and Antonio Gates? So Parcells got a couple of defensive ends that supposedly will bulk up his defense. Does that mean he’s back? Not with Drew Bledsoe slinging the pigskin. As I suspected, Parcells life long partner – Mike Francesa – is fawning all over what the Cowboys did this weekend. No surprise there from Bill’s WFAN-based publicist. Would you trade Randy Moss for Troy Williamson, a serviceable linebacker (Napolean Harris) and some salary cap flexibility that could be used to beef up your defense? A lot of people gave the Vikings hell for trading Moss, but this one looks alright to me if Williamson emerges within a couple years as a 65 catch guy who can find the end zone. I actually like the second guy the Vikes picked in round one – Erasmus James from Wisconsin. For some reason, I actually watched a few Badger games last year and this guy can get to the passer. With James and Kenechi Udeze on the corners and emerging superstar Kevin Williams at tackle, the Vikes have a young group that should be able to pressure quarterbacks for the next three or four years when Williams will become a FA.

The Chiefs caught a falling knife at fifteen when they selected Texas linebacker Derrick Johnson. It seems Vermeil was persuaded by his old defensive coordinator - Greg Robinson – who coached Johnson at Texas this year and vouched for the kid. But that begs the question of why Vermeil is listening to a guy he fired a year ago? Matt Jones, the kid Jacksonville took from Arkansas, looks a lot more like a surf rat from Orange County than a born again NFL wide receiver. This kid appears to have a ton of athletic skill but will this former quarterback be able to flourish as a wide out? The question on Jones is whether he will better or worse then Drew Bennett, the other quarterback convert who catches ball in the AFC South. Everyone seems to love the Ravens selection of wide receiver Mark Clayton, and I suspect he is an upgrade over Travis Taylor, but you could put Terrell Owens in Baltimore and it wouldn’t matter so long as Kyle Boller was throwing the ball. Everyone is getting on Seattle for selecting a center from Mississippi in the first round, but should that come as a surprise given the turnover the Hawks have had in the front office. Northwestern defense tackle Luis Castillo snuck in to the first round despite admitting past steroid abuse – do you think that would have happened if he had been guilty of spousal abuse? The Patriots ran the ball down the Colts throat in the playoffs last year so what did Indy GM Bill Polian do – he picked up a cornerback. I guess that is better then another punkass wide receiver or undersized defensive tackle. You would have thought the Steelers just got their hands on Tony Gonzalez the way people are gushing over Heath Miller. Is Miller that good or is the media just obsessed with this franchise? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

Some other draft day thoughts:

Over the past two years, the Skins have given up four high picks (a first, second, third and fourth) for Mark Brunell and Jason Campbell. That is a heavy cost for one scrub headed for retirement and a SEC quarterback who was helped out by a big-time running game. The move to get Campbell was another debacle in an off-season of discontent in Washington. Gibbs should go back to NASCAR before his reputation is completely sullied.

Did the Jets stretch by selecting Ohio State Kicker Dave Nugent in the second round? Some outside of New York think it was a reach, but I think it was a sound pick, especially since it may be therapeutic for those fans still smarting from the ay last season ended in Pittsburgh. Having a deadly kicker can be a very valuable tool, especially for those who are ready to win right now. But are the Jets that close? Over the past 36 hours, I have heard some Jets fans say Nugent is all the Jets need to close a small gap between gang green and the Patriots. What gap are these people talking about? The Jets have lost four in a row to New England and only a meaningless late score prevented the Jets from losing 23-0 to the Pats at the Meadowlands last year. Nugent may be good, but he isn’t good enough to close that gap.

Jets fans are also excited by the selection of Justin Miller from Clemson, probably because ESPN showed some highlights of Miller this weekend that were nothing short of spectacular. Here is a message to those fans – highlight reels are intended to showcase a player’s strengths and should not be used to assess a player’s overall skill. To get the other part of Miller’s story, you should check out some footage that South Carolina troopers have of Miler playing nickel back at a party last weekend in Clemson. For those of you who don’t know Miler’s story, he was arrested for fighting with cops just days before the NFL draft. He is supposedly a great hitter who will certainly be a factor when the inmates play the guards.

What were the Denver Broncos doing this weekend? The Broncos selected three corners with rap sheets with their first three picks and then went for Maurice Clarett with the final pick in the third round. Since when did the Broncos get good enough to throw away valuable picks on disgruntled running backs that can’t run? This team is an absolute mess right now. They spent the off-season gathering former Cleveland flameouts and now they are going for another Buckeye state bust. What is next – bringing Ken Griffey in to play strong safety?

Is it just me or do other people think it is funny how much deference NFL draft analysts now give New England Coach Bill Belichick and Personnel Director Scott Pioli? This weekend, you could look far and wide, but almost no print or broadcast analysts (other then the Boston Herald’s Kevin Mannix) were willing to criticize the Patriots brain trust for selecting Fresno State tackle Logan Mankins at the end of the first round, even though Mankins was considered by many to be a third round prospect. Other teams would have been vilified for selecting Mankins, especially by NFL draft guru Mel Kiper who usually takes teams to task for reaching in the first two rounds. But Kiper was silent early Saturday evening when Mankins name was called and the thought here is Kiper, along with other draft analysts, is leery of challenging anything that the Belichick and Pioli touch. My sense is Pioli and Bells have nailed so many home runs in the past five years that analysts no longer have the confidence or the balls necessary to challenge their primary picks. After all, these are the guys who found Brady in the sixth round, starting center Dan Koppen in the fifth round and starting receiver David Givens in the seventh round. With that kind of track record, who is to say that Mankins won’t be playing in Hawaii within a couple years?

National League Notes: Its one thing to get knocked up by the Mets, but Vinnie Padilla got smacked around yesterday by the Braves of all people. That was an ugly weekend for the Phills, getting outscored 20-3 in a three game sweep to the Bravos. Speaking of the Braves, they have given up only 15 runs in their last nine games, although they only went 5-4 over that stretch. At some point, the Braves will have to go out and get some offense if their outfield continues to struggle. The Reds scored a whopping six runs this weekend down in Miami, but two on Sunday were good enough to stave off the sweep. John Kerry ran very poorly in Cincinnati in the last presidential election, but if he ran today against Ken Griffey in a citywide popularity contest, who would get more votes? The bet here is Kerry would as long as Griffey continues to hit .204 and slug .288. Heck, Kerry used to slug .300 before he flipped and became a pitcher. How many Asian pitchers play for the Mets? Let’s see, there is Koo, there is Ishii, and there is Seo. I thought you were supposed to keep the Koreans and the Japanese separate and that is why I think the Mets should trade Ishii to Texas for the revitalized Chan Ho Park? On second thought, if you put three South Koreans on the field at Shea, it may lead to increased tensions with the clowns in North Korea who love the Yanks. Jose Reyes has now failed to walk in 82 appearances. Does Jose think we are spinning the wheel on the Price is Right where the winner is closest to a hundred without going over? Jose, you are trying to win baseball games - not advance to the Showcase Showdown. The Cards swept the Astros this weekend and have won nine of ten. Maybe last year wasn’t a fluke after all. The M&M boys, Mulder, Marquis and Morris, all picked up wins this weekend. Mulder was particularly impressive on Saturday as he threw a ten inning shutout against the Rocket. Clemens, but the way, has given up exactly one earned run in 28 innings. How long before the Yankees call Houston to check on his availability? Kerry Wood picked up a win against the hapless Bucs yesterday at Wrigley, but why was he pulled in the bottom of the fifth after just 76 pitches? Is he hurt again? The Dodgers had a nice comeback win yesterday in Denver and guess who was the culprit? The answer is none other then BK Kim. The suicidal Korean came in during a tight game and hit a batter, gave up a double, and then gave up a single. Was that Little Penny or Brad Penny who pitched for the Dodgers yesterday? The boxscore says it was Brad and it also says he was nothing short of sub-par. Carlos Lee smacked Jerome Williams around pretty well yesterday. The Padres made it interesting at Arizona Sunday, but Brandon Lyon came in to shut the door. I cannot believe he already has eight saves. I wish the Sox hadn’t given him up for Schilling.

Airmail from the AL: We had a good old fashioned beanball war down in Tampa yesterday as the Sox and Rays went at it at the Trop. These two teams have been throwing at each other since the beginning of time, or least since Pedro first thought it would be funny to start plunking Florida’s top minor leaguers. I love Bronson Arroyo – he is always in the middle when tempers flare. Little stat – the Sox have hit thirteen batters this season – that leads the AL by three. Papi got knocked on his ass yesterday, but he hit three bombs over the weekend. Mark Belhorn has now struck out 25 times in 62 at bats and his whiff with the bases loaded in the eighth on Saturday was the Pringles Game Changing Moment. The Rays Rob Bell is the worst pitcher in baseball, but there are some everyday Tampa players I really like, including Carl Crawford and Julio Lugo. Randy Johnson talked some Yankee fans off the ledge yesterday with a nice win over Texas, but there were red flags along the way. He struck out only seven and he barely cracked 90 on the gun. How long can he exist on baseball’s equivalent of the Adkins diet where no heaters are allowed? More bad news for the Yanks came on Saturday when Jaret Wright went down. He is expected to miss only six weeks, but can a season-ender be far off? Is anyone other then GM Brain Cashman surprised Mr. Durability is hurt again. That was a real astute signing by Cashman, although as a Yankee hater, I would rather have Wright getting bloodied on the mound than bloodied on the operating table. The Orioles lit up Roy Halladay yesterday as Sammy blasted a pair. I guess it took a couple weeks for the new roids to begin kicking in. The White Sox made it seven straight yesterday with a comeback win over the hapless Royals. I say they make it eight in a row with a win over Zito tomorrow but the streak ends at the hands of Rich Harden on Tuesday. Jamie Moyer is now 4-0 for the Mariners, while Brett Boone had two hits to his brother’s one this weekend. This is a message to Vinny Padilla and Brad Penny – some guys come off the DL and throw well. Just ask Kelvim Escobar who threw six scoreless for the Orange County Halos last night. Let’s hope Colon can keep it going against Pavano on Tuesday night in the Bronx.

Radio Rambllings: What is Stephen A. Smith doing with his own two-hour radio show in New York? First of all, Smith is a Philadelphia guy. Second of all, he doesn’t know squat about any sport other then basketball, as he demonstrated last year when he thought you could re-kick errant field goals if they were missed on third down. Third, Smith has about as much cross-over appeal with whites as David Duke has with blacks. When ESPN hired this guy, I think they forgot their station’s airwaves actually reach suburbia. ESPN 1050’s Brandon Tierney is a funny dude with talent and it is too bad he is stuck over at ESPN where the suits have no idea what they want to do with their personnel, or their station for that matter. If I were running the show over there, I would pull the plug on Stephen A., and give Brandon a couple hours around lunch. Why does The Forward, the nation’s “leading” Jewish newspaper advertise on ESPN radio in New York? Is that where their target audience resides? Shouldn’t they be over there on Bloomberg or CBS Marketwatch? I love their ad by the way – “What do Larry David, Natalie Portman and Madonna all have in common?” A three pound spread of Nova and White Fish for anyone who can nail that one (My guess below). ESPN Radio’s coverage of the draft this weekend was nothing short of atrocious. There is a reason it is called a “made for television” event but evidently the guys at ESPN Radio didn’t get the message. Six hours of Mike Golic and Mike Greenburg on the radio talking about the draft is indecent and a clear violation of FCC regulation. It shocks me that ass clowns on the right will scream about some harmless MNF skit, but no one will lift a finger to complain when Mike Greenburg claims he is a dedicated football fan whose favorite receiver in the draft is Mike Williams. As for Golic, he is still trying to find a single pick to criticize. I think he may find one in the thrid round.

My guess to the Forward’s trivia question – Larry David, Natalie Portman and Madonna all practice Kabbalah. They also share the distinction of having never eaten a meal in my mother’s kitchen. Bonus points for those who know where that came from.

So the long awaited NBA playoffs are finally upon us and here are my initial thoughts. The Detroit-Philly series is not worth watching for another second. The Pistons are just too much for the Sixers. In the intra-Texas steel cage match, Dallas simply has no answer for Tracy McGrady which is a huge problem given the fact that tonight is a must win for the Mavericks. After watching some of that game on Saturday, I was left wondering if Dallas has ever seen a pick and roll before. Also, it is only one game, but it sure looks like Ryan Bowen gives Nowitski some trouble. Boston absolutely annihilated Indiana in game one but they can’t count on Raef doing that again. That was a total blowout but I wouldn’t count Indiana out just yet. For those Celtics fans who may be feeling a little cocky, may I remind you what happened on May 27, 1985. The Celts beat the Lakers that day 148-114 in the Memorial Day Massacre. The Lakers won four of the next five to win the NBA Championship. Mike Bibby had one of the worst games in playoff history Saturday night, even though I admit I watched that game through some beer goggles. Bibs was 1-16 while his opposing point guard Luke Ridnour was 0-6. That is 1-22 from the two teams starting floor leaders. That is some of the worst generalship since Meade let Lee escape back to Virginia in 1863. The Heat’s starting backcourt probably couldn’t have done much more against Kidd and Carter, as they collectively scored 62 points on 22-30 shooting. Wade had no problems getting to the rim and Damon Jones simply had no trouble draining those seven bombs. This is an interesting factoid although it is probably not too shocking – this is the first time in Shaq’s career that two of his teammates have sprung for 30. By the way, Damon Jones is one of the best interviews in the NBA. I only watched the first half of the Bulls game, but that was enough to tell me Ben Gordon is a star. The guy had 30 in 33 minutes – that is Andrew Toney versus Boston stuff. Meanwhile, Gilbert Arenas played almost as bad as Mike Bibby and that cannot happen for the Wizards to survive. What happened there? I love Arenas but he was out of it last night. Tim Duncan says he is playing at only 80 percent. The Spurs better hope he finds the other twenty percent pretty quickly or they run the risk of going to Denver down 0-2. I challenge any of you to watch the rest of that Phoenix-Memphis series. That is like starring at the Sun on a nice clear day, no pun intended.