Angry White Man gives a few thoughts on the upcoming Yankee Season

Look, I'm not going to give you predictions about the new guys or talk about whether A-Rod can come back from surgery. I'm also not going to talk about a) the aging and inevitable breakdowns of Matsui/Damon/Posada/Pettite, b) Jeter having slightly more range at shortstop than Apocalypse Now-Era Marlon Brando, or c) whether the bullpen and/or starting pitching can hold up over the course of a 162 game season.

Nope, I'm going to talk about all of you hypocrite Yankee fans out there (present company completely included) who hate your team because they have started buying up all the quality free agents in baseball. Here's Angry White Man's question to you: Is this whole idea of the Yankees buying up players something new? So Sabathia, Burnett, and Texiera are really the straws that broke your back? Not A-Rod? Not Clemens? Not Clemens the second time?

Newsflash courtesy of SUS: If you're 40 or younger, the Yankees have been buying players like noone else in sports as long as you've cared about Pinstripes. What, you think the Yankees drafted Reggie Jackson? Catfish Hunter? A majority of the great Yankees that you remember from your youth, as well as many of the lousy players like Mel Hall and Mike Gallego were brought to New York through free agency.

(Note: A lot of these players were acquired by trade and not free agency. I don't have the time, patience, or inclination, to fact check. So let's just move along.)

The point is this: when you started rooting for this team, you signed on to root for a team that would spend, spend, spend, and do anything in its power in order to win a World Series. For better or worse, that is who the Yankees are. And from the time you wanted to be Don "Donnie Backache" Mattingly until the time you realized that your code of ethics precluded you from rooting for Texiera, Sabathia, A-Rod, etc., this is the team that you rooted for. And unless you're 13 or bowl a 129, this should not be news to you. So quit your liberal-guilt-caused-bitching, put on your Texiera jersey, pay your $900 for the only remaining Yankee Stadium tickets, and go watch the mercenaries-in-pinstripes that you have come to know and love.

Note: The only time it was acceptable to part ways with the Yankees over the feeling that their free-spending ways were "impure" was around 1973, when Steinbrenner bought the team. That was the start of the free-spending Yankees. (Even though the Philly/KC A's had always been a de-facto farm team to the Yankees, selling players to New York when they required too high a salary to keep.) And 1973 was the only time when one could, with clean hands say 'I rid myself of the Yankees and their free spending ways. I'm guessing these people did what my uncle did around then, and switched their allegiance to the Mets.

So to the "Steinbrenner Met fans" (this group of people may or may not be larger than just my uncle) props to you for getting off of the Yankee bandwagon the moment when it became as impure as Washington Square Park pot. To the rest of you Obama-loving, socialist-wannabe, granola-eating apologists, enjoy the season and try not to leave too large a trail of tears when you're celebrating your 27th Championship this October.


Angry White Man over and out.

Sean Avery Update #457895789655

ahhaha. I love this guy. Not only does he piss off the massholes (The gasp at :28 by 16K massholes vomiting up their Sam Adams + Chowda at once is glorious) and homer Joke Edwards but he also brings a black eye to the Rangers nearly every time he does anything. The man can literally look at you wrong and be suspended. At this point, the league will suspend him for 20 games if we are using the 'sloppy seconds' as a measuring stick. Anyway, Bruins/Rags for the first round of the playoffs. Let's do this!

Mahatma's Post Combine Player Rankings: DTs

Like DEs, the DT group is comprised of a bunch of guys that can participate in a variety of roles for defenses. A lot of 3-4 end prospects can serve in the lighter under tackle role here and have the frames and measurables to be successful. As stated below, there is a ton of value in the 3rd and 4th rounds of the draft but this might cause a lot of teams to start reaching within round 2 for some of these players. With the versatility that a lot of these guys show, many teams have these players on their draft boards.

4-3 DTs

1) B.J Raji / Boston College / Top 10
2) Peria Jerry / Ole Miss / 1st
3) Evander “Ziggy” Hood / 1st – 2nd
4) Tyson Jackson / LSU / 1st
5) Ron Brace / Boston College / 1st – 2nd
6) Jarron Gilbert / San Jose State / 2nd
7) Fili Moala / USC / 2nd
8) Sen Derrick Marks / Auburn / 3rd
9) Mitch King / Iowa / 3rd
10) Alex Magee / Purdue / 3rd
11) Dorell Scott / Clemson / 3rd
12) Corvey Irvin / Georgia / 3rd
13) Chris Baker / Hampton / 3rd – 4th
14) Sammie Lee Hill / Stillman / 3rd -4th
15) Terrance Knighton / Temple / 4th – 5th
16) Ricky Jean-Francois / Florida / 4th – 5th
17) Kyle Moore / USC / 4th – 5th
18) Roy Miller / Texas/ 5th
19) Terrance Taylor / Michigan / 5th

B.J. Raji is the true stud in this group who has been projected anywhere from top 5 to pick 12 at the Broncos. Raji provides a run stuffing presence in the middle with the ability to move around and frustrate offenses. One of Raji's strongsuits is that he's extremely instinctual and even if he can't get to the QB, he will get in the passing line and disrupt a ton of balls at the line. Jerry is an outstanding pentrator who stuffs a ton of plays behind the LOS. Jerry is perfect fit for the Tampe 2 and has been projected anywhere from the Bears to the Colts. Hood, Gilbert and Jackson are fits at 3-4 end but have the builds to play inside if need be. Ron Brace played next to Raji at BC but is strictly a run stuffer at this point. The 3rd round offers some intriguing prospects with upside. Either way an extremely deep class in the draft.


3-4 NTs

1) B.J Raji / Boston College / Top 10
2) Ron Brace / Boston College / 1st – 2nd
3) Chris Baker / Hampton / 3rd – 4th
4) Sammie Lee Hill / Stillman / 3rd -4th
5) Terrance Taylor / Michigan / 5th
6) Roy Miller / Texas/ 5th

Not much here in number of space eaters but some good players. Raji and Brace headline. Baker is from little known Hampton but played a 3-4 in college and Hampton grads have had success in the pros in the 3-4 alignment (Kendall Langford most recently). Hill is massive with some impressive combine numbers. He too has risen up draft boards. Taylor and Miller were round 1 candidates early this year but their production didn't match the hype. Both still have considerable upside.

Weekly Caption Contest

Winner receives an autographed BH neck tie

Mahatma's Post Combine Player Rankings: DEs

As we now go into the defensive prospects of the draft, it’s pretty hard to classify each player into a specific category. Not all 4-3 defenses are the same and not all 3-4 defenses are the same. That being said I’m grouped the following players into 2 distinct buckets. In some of these cases, the 4-3 guy might be a 3-4 OLB as a 3-4 DE might be a 4-3 DT. The versatility of players is definitely the main take away point from these players. Some players like Tyson Jackson have value in all the ways they can be lined up and teams might find him useful for any scheme.

There is also an upward trend of teams switching to the 3-4 defense. Teams now include the Broncos, Chiefs, Packers among the Steelers, Cardinals, Pats, Rats, Jets, 49ers, Cowboys, Chargers, etc.

4-3 DEs

1) Brian Orakpo / Texas / 1st
2) Everette Brown / Florida State /1st
3) Aaron Maybin / Penn State / 1st
4) Robert Ayers / Tennessee / 1st
5) Tyson Jackson / LSU / 1st
6) Micheal Johnson / Georgia Tech / 1st -2nd
7) Larry English / Northern Illinois / 1st -2nd
8) Connor Barwin / Cincinnati / 2nd
9) Paul Kruger / Utah / 2nd – 3rd
10) Lawrence Sidbury / Richmond / 2nd – 3rd
11) David Veikune / Hawaii / 3rd
12) Derek Walker / Illinois / 4th

Overall in 4-3 land, Orakpo is a stud. While there is some question if he can play the run better, he is one of the elite pass rushers in the draft. Moreover, he is outstanding in space and has 3-4 OLB potential. The same can be said about Brown and Maybin. Both have shown they have the pass rush skills but there are some questions on how they will handle themselves in the run game for 4-3 teams. The best true 4-3 DE and gaining rapid traction on the boards is Robert Ayers who had a dominant senior bowl and combine. He has been routinely walking various draft class offensive linemen into the backfield. I wouldn't be suprised to see all 4 DEs go by pick 15. Ayers might even be the second DE taken. In the 4-3, Tyson Jackson offers little rushing the passer but is the best run defender at the end position. Problem is he a natural fit for the 3-4 and will likely be taken by the Chargers at pick 16. Johnson was a sure fire top 5 pick based on measurables and the previous 07 season but flamed out last year. Still he has the measurables that make him very tempting to teams in the 20s. Barwin and English fall into hybrids again. Both have risen up draft boards due to solid combines. Barwin even got some work in during the season at TE. He would be an ideal replacement for Mike Vrabel in Patsy land.

3-4 DEs

1) Tyson Jackson / LSU / 1st
2) Jarron Gilbert / San Jose State / 1st – 2nd
3) Evander “Ziggy” Hood / Missouri / 1st – 2nd
4) Fili Moala / USC / 2nd
5) Mitch King / Iowa / 3rd
6) Alex Magee / Purdue / 3rd
7) Sammie Lee Hill / Stillman / 3rd -4th
8) Terrance Knighton / Temple / 4th – 5th
9) Ricky Jean-Francois / Florida / 4th – 5th
10) Kyle Moore / USC / 4th – 5th

As stated above, Jackson is the best fit for a 3-4. Don't ever expect 7-8 sacks a season but do expect great run defense and 2 gap responsibilities. Gilbert and Hood both can play 4-3 DT and also have risen up boards. Moala is a talented player whose skillset didn't translate well on the field. Ricky Jean Francois has been in a big time player for Florida and has been dominate during the big stage / National championship games. He has injury history but is relentless and fits the 3-4 mold.

Jay Cutler: Another Football Soap Opera No Fan Wants

What the hell is with the NFL needing to have everything be a soap opera anymore? It's seriously turning into daytime tv now with shitty acting, bad production value and even worse writing. We had to deal with Brett Favre not knowing if he was retired or not, and now with that gone we have to deal with the Jay Cutler saga to replace it.

The Bronco's said Cutler wanted traded, then Cutler says he doesn't. He said this, she said that. (I'm assuming Cutler to be the "she" in this he said she said drama as he is the one being emotional and crying). It's been this back and forth crap for a month now, and it hasn't gone anywhere.

They're both wrong in this though. The Bronco's screwed up on the way they handled this thing. After the information got leaked they had a chance to repair it if they said the right things. Unfortunately they had their heads up their asses and said the wrong things. Though you cant totally blame Cutler for being a bit pissed they were willing to let him go for the second coming of Scott Mitchell in Matt Cassell. Hell, any legitimate NFL starter has a right to be pissed about that. When given a chance to repair the damage, the Bronco's didn't really make the effort.

Cutler on the other hand has handled it even worse. Apparently convinced of his own awsomeness due a single Pro Bowl appearance made possible by the majority of the AFC QB's having crappy seasons, Cutler feels he is completely wronged in the matter. Listen Jay, hate to be the one to break it to you, but you haven't really accomplished anything yet that puts you into that "too valuable to trade" category. Few players ever really get put there, and you're sure as hell not one of them. Worst of all he has whined and cried like a baby during the whole thing saying how mean the new big bad Bronco's brass is at every step. It's not often a small, nonathletic guy like myself can say this to a pro athlete, but be a man and suck it up Jay. Christ, go buy yourself some no more tears shampoo or something.

I'm choosing the side every other fan is on this: for the god damned thing to end already. No one wants to hear the about the shitty break up story this has become like a crappy teen drama on the WB (or whatever the hell it is now). But if I had to choose one of the two, I'd have to side with the Bronco's. At least they're not acting like a whiny bitch during the whole process.

Weekend Bullshitting with Mahatma

So this was supposed to be staycation weekend '09 for me. I took off work Friday and Monday and figured I'd have a nice little break from the rat race. Naturally, I get sick on Wednesday and am bed ridden until Saturday. So no tourney drinking friday night pub fest, no saturday drinking fests, no clothes shopping, very little cleaning but at least I had tv and caught up on the greatness that is East Bound and Down and various movies that came out last year.

By Saturday and the endless tournament, tv and hockey viewing caught up with me and I figured I should get a little air and a cocktail or two with White Boy and B.I.G. Turns out some jackass steals my phone and decides to update my FACEBOOK STATUS at 5:48 am as well as buy such vital things like Tetris. I'm okay with buying the games but touching my facebook status is on the equivalent of deflowering my yet to be born daughter. You just don't do it if you want to live. This reminds me of the seinfeld episode where Jerry's car gets stolen and he calls the phone in the car with the guy answering.



FML.


Anyway on to some sports related matters:


NCAA:

Normally I wouldn't give two shits about basketball but this tourney has been solid. Sure there have been a lot of stinkers but that Pitt/Nova game was intense. It's good to know that Pitt choked in the Elite 8 as opposed to the Sweet 16. Up was down, black was white, good was bad, day was night, etc. At least things are somewhat normal again. I was getting scared.




I'm glad that this year's version of UNC is a lot less of Tyler Doucheborough and more of the Lawson. It's good that someone with actual talent is being discussed as opposed to the try hard bumpkin who will likely be in Europe in 4 years.

Also I agree with White Boy. We need more Gus Johnson. Only he can orgasm on a two point layup 1 minute into a game. If only, blogger had some like function cuz I'd be giving my thumbs up.



I'm also glad I haven't seen Dick Vitale anywhere either. Awesome baby went to golf mode when his little Dukies got Villanova'd.

Also props to YOUR BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS!!!!!!! who just jobbed New Hampshire
2-1 with 14 seconds left on a goal by Joey Lawrence's younger brother.

whoa!

NHL


First a cool little segment on the Blues, TJ Oshie. Who? I didn't know who he was until two weeks when I updated my NHL'09 rosters but things like this are awesome. Again, why aren't clips like this out there more? And how did a diehard NHL fan like myself equipped with center ice and the internet not know who this guy is?



awesome. Also this quip:

“When I play NHL ‘09, I play as the Blues and my guy is just terrible,” Oshie said, laughing. “I feel embarrassed when he’s out there. He’s slow, every time he gets touched he falls down.”

Dude TJ, don't sweat it man just rock the edit a player function and you'll see more of this:



Sticking with the west, we had an old fashion line brawl last night between the Hawks and Canucks.



Point of interest includes, Ben Eager bodyslamming another man and Vancouver super pest, Alex Burrows HAIR PULLING. Look we've seen some pathetic fighting displays with Crosby, Semin but this might be the worst. What is this middle school? And hair pulling? Really? As of now, the Canucks are tied with Chicago for the 4th spot. PLEASE meet in the first round. It's good to have a series with some intensity.


Can we just start the playoffs already? If I were one of the top 3 in the east (Boston, NJ, Wash), I'd be scared of playing either the Rags, Penguins or Hurricanes. All three teams along with Philly are playing the best hockey in the conference right now. The Devils have looked like crap against the Hurricanes and should be praying for a shot at the Penguins or the Rangers. But really, if you were a devil fan, would you want to play either? Not bloody likely.

Let me go on record to say I have no beef with Avery and I sort of enjoyed him tormenting Fatso last year, as a Devil hater.



The tri state area would love for it to happen this year versus a much more deeper Devil team and a rested Fatso. The teams play tonight on Versus (CHANNEL 122 ON TIME WARNER CABLE) as the Rangers will attempt to extend their record against the Devils to 12-2-3 with Avery. Bring it.

Finally, listen to former, Sportscenter anchor, Jack Edwards. Going all Count Dracula over this hit by Bruin, Milan Douchic.



It's good to know Edwards is well on his way to nice little room with 4 white walls and a straight jacket. Creepy stuff.


We got a two week sprint to the playoffs and things are absolutely intense right now. It's the most wonderful time of the year.

MissMet @ CitiField...

...a preview of what will happen when two nouns with two-worded names that don't have spaces in them meet. Ok, fine. I just looked it up and the real name is Citi Field, but it just looks strange to me that way, probably because city is spelled wrong, so yeah, CitiField it is.
There was an actual baseball game at Citi today when the Georgetown Hoyas took on the St. John's Red Storm in college baseball. It was a bleak day here in the Tri-State area, but from the pictures, reviews and video I've seen of our new ballpark, it was pretty sunny at Citi. The picture to the left is of fans entering through the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.
Next Saturday, I will be heading into Queens to see the Mets take on the Red Sox in the second of two exhibition games to (for the 3rd time in a week) unofficially open the new Mets Mecca. Here are some things that I just cannot wait for:

• Along with a bunch of my friends, I'll be sitting in the outfield watching the Mets. That's the legitimate outfield- not foul territory- because yes, this stadium has seats all around. This also means that I'll be able to walk around the whole stadium in its wide concourses that will allow me to view the game from all angles.
• The food options including bbq, the Shake Shack, normal baseball fare and many others that make Shea look, well like Shea...
• The old Home Run Apple, on display behind center field and the new Home Run Apple, which I haven't seen yet. Will it also be covered in red tape and come out of a big top hat?? One can only dream.
• The city skyline that used to be above the scoreboard, which is now over one of the concession stands.
• The Jackie Robinson Rotunda, which will be a nicer entrance to a ballpark than just ramps.
• Sitting in an intimate stadium that has each seat angled towards the field.
• Waiting in line for the bathroom and being able to watch the game on the tv above the door.
• I'll be able to look down into the bullpens and say what I want to the pitchers as they warm up. ("Don't screw this up JJ." "You're old, Mariano.")
• Did I mention the fact that I'm going to be watching live baseball???

While I do know that it is going to be an awesome experience, what I don't know is how many regulars are going to be playing next Saturday. I'll let you know how it goes in my write-up following the game. I might just have to save my Big Game excitement for when I see the Mets-Phillies (!) game with my mom in May.

~MissMet

Can Your Superstar Do This?

My Cleveland bias aside- his superhuman abilities never cease to amaze me!

TO actually does things for other people?

But fighting the disease is personal for Owens. His grandmother has Alzheimer's, and for over a decade, the Buffalo Bills' wide receiver has been using his notoriety to raise awareness about it. On Wednesday night, he will be honored as recipient of the National Alzheimer's Association Young Champions Award at the National Building Museum in Washington.

In a recent interview, Owens said he was honored to be included on the list of notable people who are "dedicated to increasing awareness" about Alzheimer's. And for those who "come into a situation where they are dealing with it," Owens said he wants "to help them cope with the problem and be more aware of the signs and how to deal with it. ... Whatever I can do to advance that."

It's nice to actually see a good story about the guy come out every now and than. The whole year all we hear about the guy is how much of an ego maniac, cancer, douchebag, and he is but hell even TO cares about something else..well sometimes. While TO is probably still on this site's axis of evil at least he is doing something productive with his time and money outside of doing sit ups and destroying locker rooms.

Of course he later finishes up the interview with the whole: "It doesn't matter what uniform I put on, I'm gonna do what I do, score touchdowns." Whew I was getting scared for a second.

Hockey in 2050

Hockey 2050 @ Yahoo! Video

Let's hope that people will still be watching by than! Anyway, this is pretty long but cool.

Video from Puck Daddy!

Cooking with Evgeni Malkin

Wow so many things to say with this one. So little time. Who says Malkin isn't marketable? And why the hell can't I find any pirogis in this town?

Btw, the chick is Igor Larionov's daughter. Yea the douchebag from the Red Wings, Devils. Lame. But I'm sure he'd be cool with Geno being a son in law. You better believe Malkin put that biscuit in the basket...

Anyway, the NHL needs more of this. Malkin can barely say 50 words in english and this turned out entertaining in a Balki Bartokomus sort of way. I guess I got to question why aren't there more of these out there?

MARKET YOUR PLAYERS NHL!

Devo gets you through hump day...

So a few quasi-interesting things happened today. Nothing worthy of their own blog, but let's talk about 'em anyways.

1.The Daily News is saying that the Nets' move to Brooklyn is dead. And I'm going to agree with them, because as Confucius once said, "When the main architect working on the project lays of all of his workers from said project, project probably doesn't get built."

But give the Nets credit: they didn't take this lying down. Nets CEO, Brett Yeomark, when asked by Evan and Joe whether the Brooklyn Arena would happen, said "Yes."

There you have it folks! The Nets WILL play in Brooklyn in '11/'12, because Brett Yeomark said so. Yeomark continued to build credibility with Evan and Joe by saying, "People from Brooklyn have been buying tickets to Nets games to check out the team that they will be inheriting in a few years. And not only is the Loch Ness Monster real, but he owes me about $3.50."

So yeah, the Nets could end up in Brooklyn...or they could move to a brand new arena that's already built in downtown Newark, a town that's probably home to a basketball fan or two. But hey, if they moved to Newark, who or what is going to displace all of the Brooklyn naval yard locals?

2. Apparently John Madden and Brian Gionta are free agents after this season. Two tough decisions to make on two fan favorites if they both want big money. (Gionta made $4 million, Madden slightly under $3 million last year.) On the one hand, Madden, as a top defensive forward, is probably more valuable than Gionta, a 2nd line scorer whose goal totals have dropped each year since Judas Gomez centered his line. Based on that, if either one of them asks for a raise (not necessarily a guarantee given) Lou should give in to Madden but not Gionta. That said, Madden is going to be 36 in May. (Is it just me or should he be closer to 32?) And Gionta is going to be 30. The ideal situation would be to sign Madden to one last 2 yr/6 mil contract and sign Gionta to a 3 year deal worth between $10 and $12 million. Possibly throw on a fourth year due to the shame he must feel knowing that BU will have won the '09 NCAA Hockey Tourney.

3. Congress, having nothing else on its plate, is going to investigate the BCS. I'll let the absurdity of this idea speak for itself. My only thought is, "What's Coach K's take on this form of federal intervention into collegiate athletics?"

4. Roger Goodell, after getting his daily dose of Mahatma, injects some common sense into the NFL season. I don't know what I like more about this idea, adding two more regular season games or getting rid of two weeks of the biggest scam known to man-exhibition football games.

And with that, I'm out. Stay frosty, SUS nation!

Goondell butchering the League: Offseason '09 Complaints

Roger Goondell has continued his reign of terror by now further neutering the league with the latest rule proposals during the GM meetings.

Take a look at some of these gems. Three are awful... truly outrageous, truly outrageous...ly awful.

1)
On an onside kick, at least three players must be lined up outside each inbounds line, one of whom must be outside the yard-line number. Folks, this is the type of change we can believe in. This basically eliminates the "bunch" onside kick formation, which the competition committee felt was causing too many injuries.

And in another shocking twist, the league has done away with the three-man wedge that once allowed three grown men to hold hands and race up the field together on kick returns. Here's how Rule 6, Section 1, Article 3(d) now reads:

"After the ball is kicked, no more than two receiving team players may intentionally form a wedge in an attempt to block for the runner. An illegal wedge is defined as three or more players lined up shoulder-to-shoulder within two yards of each other."

Fine, this is okay. Many of the guys have been knocked the eff out because of these wedges of death. The league just doesn't give a shit because these are special teamers and not Tawm Brady.

But the league did offer this other rule:

2)
NFL director of officiating Mike Pereira explained Tuesday afternoon at the St. Regis Hotel, site of the annual owners' meeting, that rules have been clarified to classify Pollard's hit as roughing the passer for a hit below the knee.

"If you go to the ground, you can't forcibly lunge," Pereira said.

Pereira said the quarterback "has a strike zone from the shoulder to the knees" where all hits are allowable. But below the knee, a defender cannot lead with his helmet or shoulder. That will be a 15-yard penalty.

Pereira did say defenders may wrap up or swipe at a quarterback's lower legs to bring him down.

My main issue with this is also this part: "If you go to the ground, you can't forcibly lunge." What on earth does this mean. If you are on the ground are you considered out of the play? What constitutes a lunge? The problem with these rules is that there is not a clear cut definition for what's a lunge and what isn't.

Apparently it means 'if a defensive player going after the QB is on the ground....he should have to get back on his feet before hitting the QB'. But with wrapping up or swiping at the legs, do they really expect defenses to stand a chance?

Furthermore, now a defender can't do the following: (1) lunge or launch himself into the QB, (2)pick them up, (3) drive them into the ground by falling on them, (4)hit them at or below the knee, (5)hit them anywhere in the head, and (6) specifically no head/head contact, etc.

The no head/head rule is the one that kills me the most. How is a 6'3 defender supposed to hit a 6'3 QB w/o the huge risk of a head/head hit? Well, he has to lower his head (another penalty), be sure to hit the QB's body first (w/o lunging), and bring him down to the ground w/o picking him up or falling on him. Oooookaaaaay. Now, the NFL thinks the defender should have to get back up before hitting the Qb at all? WTH?

Okay fine you gotta protect your QBs but for god sake please call it evenly for all QBs. I'm tired of guys like Brady, Manning getting preferential treatment while some others get smashed and get no calls because they are "big." You wonder if the league would make this a rule if it didn't happen to the golden boy? Would this be a rule if Brodie Croyle got hit by Rodney Harrison in the same way as Brady did to Pollard? Let me dust off the old magic 8 ball and say 'ALL SIGNS POINT TO NO.'


3)
The third accepted proposal involves a play in which Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward made a block that resulted in a broken jaw for Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers. A 15-yard penalty will be enforced if a player delivers a blindside block to the head of a defender using his helmet, forearm or shoulder. The penalty will be enforced if a helmet, shoulder or forearm strikes the head or neck of the defender.



This rule angers me more than all others. I understand that you got to protect the players but again this rule isn't clear. Let me try to reason this one out.

If you hit the body you're still within the rules. The issue with the "blind-side" block rule will be that refs will not only have to determine whether there was contact to the head, but also if the block was in fact a "blind-side" block. If it was then it's a penalty. If it wasn't a blindside block & the same contact occurs, it's legal.

So, basically, all a defender has to do is turn away from an offensive player ready to block, and that offensive player is essentially taken out of the play.

Thanks NFL.

4)
The final change adds forearm and shoulder hits to protect defenseless receivers. In the past, officials gave an unnecessary roughness penalty to a defender if he delivered a helmet hit to a receiver going across the middle of the field or any spot on the field in which he appeared to be defenseless. Starting this fall, the penalty will also apply if the defender hits the defenseless receiver in the head or neck with his forearm or shoulder.


So now the defender has to be certain that both the receiver's feet are on the ground before he lays the wood?

So I suppose this means the WR will have a free opportunity to catch the ball, gain possesion, get their feet down, wipe their nose, change the maxipad, look-out for a defender, and take shit all before the defender can legally tough him. I guess teams can now resign the great Todd Pinkston off the scrap heap.

Now every single pass will be thrown a tad high so every receiver can jump up to nicely catch it in the air and land safely on the ground. It would be completely within the rules to jump for every pass, and you'd never be able to hit the wideout until he lands with two feet on the ground and has possession. This would ensure a much, much higher completion percentage for QBs since their WRs cannot be hit until they have possession, unlike presently when whether in the air or on their feet defenders can aim to lay the wood to dislodge a ball before the receiver has possession.

BRILLIANT!

Conclusion:

Can someone tell me how this is fucking possible? This does nothing but slow the game down.

In fact, all of these rule changes are completely adverse to what the league has built; a hard hitting game where some of the best athletes in the world can make plays and win championships.

Forget the adage "Defense wins championships." Defense may win championships but offense sells tickets. We now see where the priority really lies with the league.

The Ultimate Douchebag calls it a day.

The year was 2004, and a handsome-but-balding 22 year old came together with a fellow 22 year old who would one day grace the streets of the South Bronx like only a White Boy could. They decided to make the greatest 527, non-profit political action committee that man had ever known: YANKEE FANS FOR KERRY. Did they know how to create a non-profit? No. Did they even try and solicit for volunteers and/or money? Um, you're missing the point. Mainly, that these young go getters, by sharing their opinions with, well, each other, but really loudly, were going to ensure a liberal in the White House and championship #27 in the Bronx...

And needless to say, it was a depressing November '04 for these future Bill Simmons-wannabes. You know the deal: Kevin Millar and Dave Roberts happened. A president with the IQ to bowl a 129 continued his presidency. But ya know who had it good? This tubby motherfucker.

In the words of the immortal Ronald Burgundy, Go f$@k yourself, Curt Schilling. I hope Obama taxes you like an AIG bonus and you have to sell your championship rings on ebay just to fufill your 4,000 calorie per day diet.

Its a start of another week which means it's about that time Arod gets in the news again...

A high-priced former madam who used to provide hookers for former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer provided the same services for injured Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez and dated him, the Daily News reported yesterday.

Former madam Kristin Davis, who served three months in jail and is on five years' probation after pleading guilty to promoting prostitution, would only speak in generalities when reached for comment by Newsday today.

"All I can say is there is a connection," she said when asked about A-Rod. She declined to comment on the specific allegations, saying she does "not talk about my personal life or who I date."


Who knew that AROD would be "dating" the prude from Sex in the City. Shouldn't we be praising him?? Well I will. Well done Alex.

Sure as hell beats Madonna or whoever he is doing now.

Now if only Rod could translate this success into some October baseball.

Mahatma's Post Combine Player Rankings: OGs and Cs

Overall a weak crop of guards but maybe the best class of centers in decades also. The key with this class seems to be position flexibility as a many of the prospects can double as both guards and centers.

OGs:

The guards available in 2008 are somewhat lacking overall but there is talent available in the early to mid rounds. Robinson is the best guard in the draft and maybe sneak into the first round. Levitre is next but is aboard the Mike Mayock bandwagon. Herman Johnson is a massive massive man and has seen his stock upgrade during the post season because he went from 382 to 365 or something. How the hell does an NFL prospect get to 382??!?!

Canfield is an intriguing prospect but has some off the field incidents that didn't involve playing cornhole at Cincinnati. Parker, Vasquez, and Urbikk battled injuries throughout the season and may drop in the process.

1) Duke Robinson /Oklahoma/ 1st - 2nd

2) Herman Johnson / LSU/ 2nd

3) Andy Levitre / Oregon State / 2nd

4) Trevor Canfield / Cincinnati / 3rd

5) Tyronne Green / Auburn / 3rd - 4th

6) Kraig Urbik / Wisconsin / 3rd - 4th

7) Louis Vasquez / Texas Tech / 4th

8) Anthony Parker / Tennesee / 4th - 5th



OCs:

A very good group of centers to come out in a while with nearly all of them being projected to guard as well. This class is much better than last year's wash. Mack might be the center prospect ever. He'll be drafted early 2nd or late first but he could be a team's anchor for 10 years. Unger's unique selling point is that he's had experience playing everywhere along the offensive line but RT. He could be a very good center or guard but needs to hold up a bit better at the point. Caldwell has had his stock improve since the combine unlike teammate Andre Smith and has shown he can handle the big DTs of the SEC throughout his college career. Wood is a bit of a sleeper and might be taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of round 1 although I still say it's too high. He has shown to also handle big NTs but his problem is more consistency. Still these 5 are all better than any prospect last year and will help solidify the middle of the offensive line for years to come.

1) Alex Mack /California / 1st - 2nd

2) Max Unger / Oregon / 2nd

3) Andre Caldwell / Alabama/ 2nd - 3rd

4) Eric Wood / Louisville /2nd - 3rd

5) Jonathan Luigs / Arkansas/ 3rd - 4th

Someone needs a hug.

I Just Started Liking the Florida Panthers a lot More

Or rather, their fans.

In particular the females.

Ok, it's just one single female fan.

So why would all of a sudden would The Yinzer like a Panther fan? Probably cause said fan mixed two of his favorite things at once: hockey and boobs.

Yes, you can see where this is going. This lady Panther fan decided that it would be a good idea to show the world on television what her "pucks" looked like, and press them up against the glass to further the effect.

I'm not exactly sure what the SUS policy is on posting nude pics/videos (though I'm sure most writers here would be all for it), so I'll just link you to the site that has both a censored and non-censored video. And if nothing else, it makes the post work friendly, if we are actually considered work friendly to begin with.

http://www.totalprosports.com/blog/index.php/2009/03/florida-panthers-fan-exposes-herself-on-live-tv/

I'm going to take the opportunity to take a quote from Seinfeld I don't get to use very often: "They're real, and they're spectacular."

A few thoughts about the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament

A few thoughts about the opening weekend of the NCAA tourney while sounding the annual Can we PLEASE have Gus Johnson for more than opening weekend alarm...

-White Boy, to his credit, is one of the few people who have consistently said that they don't like watching college basketball because the quality of play isn't nearly that of the NBA. After watching the Siena-Ohio State first round matchup, White Boy's statement was eerily prescient.
(Interesting counter-argument to White Boy's "quality of play" theory: The NBA, at various times, has given out paychecks to Stephon Marbury, Chris Dudley, and Brian Scalabrine)

-So as the owner of a UNC-champion bracket, I've never been more concerned with a player I hadn't heard of 3 weeks before than this Ty Lawson injury. And because I can't identify Lawson, I ended up shouting "Nice play, Lawson!" every time a black dude scored. Racist? No. Just a guy who doesn't know his NCAA players. What can I say? I REALLY wants bragging rights over my friends. And yes, that was me shouting at the TV, asking for UNC trainers to raid Barry Bonds' medicine cabinet in order to heal Lawson.

-So do UNC and Duke really share the same stadium for the first two rounds? To paraphrase Chris Rock, when Duke (douchebags) students are taking pride in UNC being down in the second half, you shouldn't be allowed to kill Duke students...but you can certainly shake the shit out of 'em.

-Mike Francessa told me and the other 5 people who still listen to his show that Marquette doesn't miss free throws, giving me a good reason to put Marquette in the sweet 16. All I ask, is that Francessa not confuse Marquette (a few missed free throws) and Missouri (nailed nearly all of 'em) next year.

-2 pet peeves of mine, which anyone watching this Tourney with me is fully aware of:

1. Hey college guys, stop taking NBA 3-pointers. This makes you look cocky and asshole-ish, not pro-ready. Step up to the line and take your glorified jump shot of an NCAA 3 pointer.

2. Down 1 or tied? Please don't take a 3 pointer unless there's simply not enough time to get inside the 3 point line. In theory, it should be easier to drive the lane and try and score from a layup or close jump shot. So just stop taking 3 pointers when a 2 will do.

2a-Amusing sidenote- My dad thinks that the 3 point field goal has ruined basketball. This has to be akin to saying that football hasn't been the same since the introduction of the forward pass.

-And lastly, there needs to be more upsets in the NCAA Tournament. 2 examples why:

1) I had a historic run in the first round-none of my Sweet Sixteen teams were knocked out until Wake Forest lost to Cleveland's greatest export, Cleveland State. And yet, because there were so few upsets, I was only in the top 25% of most of my pools. (Update: After Sunday, not even Sully can save this sinking ship known as my bracket.)

2) Over the last two years, the Final Four has consisted of 6 #1 seeds, 2 #2 seeds, and nothing else. Now, people are picking anywhere from 2-4 #1 seeds, and #2 seeds in place of the #1 seeds. Where's the imagination here? (Full disclosure: I picked UNC, Pitt, Michigan State, and Memphis, 2 #1's, 2 #2's) I remember a time, back when Mark Wahlberg was Marky Mark, Ace of Base was on the radio, and snap bracelets were all the rage, where you wouldn't DREAM of putting more than 2 #1 seeds in your final four. It just didn't happen. Now? People with no imagination are being rewarded for their lack of creativity when 3 or 4 #1 seeds get to the Final Four. This lack of creativity isn't just taking the fun out of the brackets; it's un-American.


And lastly, only because you asked...in the only NCAA tournament that matters, YOUR Boston University Terriers open up against the Ohio State (hockey) Buckeyes Saturday, March 28, 5:30 pm.

GO BU!

Promos Gone Wild

With attendance at sporting events dropping faster than a pass thrown to Braylon Edwards, many teams are turning to running various promotions as an innocent way of getting more fans to attend a game against a crappy opponent, or to put seats in the stands for a team that isn't playing so well. Like the New Jersey Nets "Resume Night". Unemployed? Still want to watch us lose?! Give us your resume, we'll give you a ticket! Or the various teams that have offered their obese fans an economical way to gorge on hot dogs AND cheer on their favorite teams with all you can eat seat nights.

Sometimes though, said promotions go horribly, horribly wrong.

Honestly, the brains behind some of these schemes were a few beers short of a six pack. A quick look at some of the more infamous promotions gone awry will show that they clearly had "bad idea" written all over them from the start. I mean, did anyone really expect events involving explosives or 10 cent beer to end well?

September 26, 1942.
Scrap Metal Night.

Yes, you read that right. Hello sports fans. Hate when things don't go the right way for your team? US TOO! That’s why tonight, we're having 'Bring Your Own Weapon' Night. Oh wait, we can't run that promotion? Ok, hmm, isn't there a war or something going on? Yea, yea, that’s a good idea. Let's let kids in free if they bring us shiny sharp pieces of metal. Cue 8th inning. Picture riotous youth storming the field and the players running for cover and squealing like little girls. Brilliant!

July 12, 1979
Disco Demolition Night.

I can just see someone sitting around making a list. Likes: Baseball, Explosives. Dislikes: Disco. Hmm, how can I combine all of these things into one stellar evening? How about let fans into the Comiskey Park for 98 cents and a disco record, all of which we will BLOW UP WITH A BOMB in between a double header. Apparently close to 90,000 people thought that this was indeed an awesome idea and showed up to a stadium with a capacity of roughly 50,000 and quickly began downing copious amounts of beer and per some reports "illegal drugs". "Woah… man… these records look like Frisbees”. I'm sure it's not easy to keep your team alive when you're being pelted in the head by "Stayin' alive" Shockingly, setting a bomb off in a stadium full of drunk, high, anti-disco fans somehow back fired. They some how managed to blow a huge hole in the outfield, inciting a riot, complete with field storming and fire-starting. (If you can't picture this in your mind, check out some great old-school pictures)

August 10, 1995
Dodgers' fans have balls!

I'm sure you've all been at a game where someone on the opposing team hits a home run and the entire stadium starts chanting "throw it back, throw it back". Now imagine all of these people suddenly realize they have all been armed with promotional baseballs upon entering the stadium. If you were an umpire in this game, would you start making questionable calls against the home team and ejecting players from the game? Or if you did, would you be surprised when the crowd started to make it rain? (And not in a way that someone who is "dancing her way through school" profits from). Yea didn't think so.

And last but not least, the biggest disaster of them all.

June 4, 1974
10 Cent Beer Night.

I really can't even do this night justice. There was an article about it on ESPN'S Page 2 this summer. Upon reading it I didn't know if I should be embarrassed or proud that this happened in Cleveland. Or that if it made me a horrible person that the article had me in tears I was laughing so hard at the absurdity of it. It was the 70s. People were drunk. And high. And for some reason came to the game armed with firecrackers. At one point, they were allowing fans to line up and get beer directly from the beer trucks. The drunken debauchery started innocently enough with a handful of streakers. But as the game progressed, and the fans got drunker, things got uglier. The end result was both dugouts emptying out and a full out riot. A quote from one of the crew chiefs (after a freaking hunting knife landed behind him) kind of sums up the whole thing: "F------ animals! You just can't pull back a pack of animals. When uncontrolled beasts are out there, you gotta do something. I saw two guys with knives, and I got hit with a chair."

Hopefully we can learn from these past mistakes and teams think twice before scheduling things like hypodermic needle night or "Hedge Fund Appreciation Night" on the same night as the mini bat give-a-way. Then again, it would make for a nice follow up post.

What Really Grinds my Gears: NCAA Tourney edition

by White Boy South Bronx

1) More Gus Johnson less Dick Enberg please- Dick Enberg did the impossible last night. Virginia Commonwealth University was trailing by 1 and holding for the game’s final shot. Its superstar Eric Maynor had the ball and was isolated 1 on 1 against UCLA stud Darren Collison. This was epic sports drama. Man vs. Man. Mano y Mano. However, you wouldn’t have known that from listening to the listless Dick Enberg. He sounded as if he not only didn’t care who won the game but also sounded as if he had zero appreciation for the incredibly exciting few seconds that were about to commence. As Maynor’s ill-fated game winning shot attempt was on its way up Enberg said in a very calm and understated tone, “Maynor to win, no, and that’s it.” Then there is the excitable and admittedly over the top Gus Johnson. However, Gus Johnson is, as the legendary Seinfeld character George Costanza said about fictional comedian Kenny Banya, “the voice of new generation, my generation!” The same can be said of Gus. Gus is the voice of my generation. He is passionate about sports and he lets that passion ooze out of him during his broadcast. Being impartial does not require an even tone but rather an equal amount of excitement for the success and failures of each team playing in a given contest. Gus is the master of this. So yea, more young blood Gus and less Old fart Dick please.

2) We the American people identify with college basketball players because their coaches treat them like our bosses treat us- I just realized this today while reading a brilliant column in the New York Daily News by Mr. Bob Raissman. He reminded us that the coaches are waaaaaay bigger stars than the players in each and every tournament . A certain element of this is the nature of the beast. College players stay for a maximum of 4 seasons where as coaches such as Jim Boehemim and Coach K (no fucking way I’m trying to spell that name) have coached a their schools longer than I have been alive. So naturally more drama will be built up for and more fan allegiance will go towards a coach than would be built up towards players. However, part of this is the media’s fault. As Raissman astutely noted, the media will oversell and exaggerate the greatness of isolated coaching moves such as a slight change in a practice or a very subtle change in a defensive scheme. Chances are, these coaches are just brilliant recruiters and excellent motivators but not so brilliant at the x’s and o’s that a slight tweak in a game plan will make their team of stars play well. His article made me realize that the reason we love NCAA basketball way more than the NBA (though not me as you know I love the association) is because we identify with the players more. Not only are college players more likely to be white than NBA players, they also are treated like dogshit in the same way we are by our bosses. These players are yelled at because their coaches are displacing their anger at their wives onto them just like our bosses yell at us because they are projecting their own insecurity about their job status onto us (okay now it’s getting personal). Still though, the fact remains, we can relate to college players waaaay more than pro players. However, you know my view; I’d rather watch the greatest players in a particular sport play against each other than watch a bunch of slow 6”5 white dudes “hustle!” and show “grit.”

3) CBS needs to buy up and/or create other networks ala NBC, ABC and FOX- Having boring monotone conservative white men calling most of its games is not the only issue I have with CBS’s coverage of this tournament. It also needs to make some new sister channels so that it can broadcast more of its games simultaneously in the first few rounds of a given year's tournament. How sweet would it be if you could watch one game on CBS, another on CBS news, yet another on CBS family and yet another on CBS sports channel. I know you could pay a boatload of money to get this opportunity on your favorite Satellite or Cable Company but comeeoooooon; we should be able to do this for free.

4) Too many near huge upsets that were not to be- Whether it was the aforementioned near upset by one of Virginia’s 25 Division 1 schools of UCLA or Kansas’s scare today against North Dakota State, there have been some tantalizing near upsets that have not come to fruition. Perhaps the most exciting one was last night’s 14 point come from behind win by Villanova against upstart American University. Memphis also nearly blew its load prematurely before realizing it wanted to give the girl a chance to have an orgasm too and stick around in this tournament or the long haul. It is just clear to this sports fan and basketball enthusiast that these high seeds were not that into these games until they had to be. Put another way, good coaching job by you Jeff Capel (Oklahoma) and Jim Boeheim getting your highly seeded teams to play hard against inferior competition. However, bad coaching John Calipari and Jay Wright.

5) It’s not going to be a Merry Christmas in Woodside under a Morning star- Of course I am referring to the wonderful names that have been casualties of the first round of the NCAA tournament. The North Dakota Bison boast a mediocre team but two phat last names in its starting lineup: Woodside and Morningstar. Sadly the Bison lost in a hard fought 84-74 game against the superior and tournament tested Kansas Jayhawks. Even worse, the Temple Owls' star Dionte Christmas will also apparently be bowing out after today as his club is on the brink of defeat as we sit here at 4:15 pm. Oh well, I guess the nation can now turn its lonely eyes to you ex Providence standout God Shamgod.

6) It’s a down economy unless you are a fairly good but not great 2 or 3 seed- Apparently being in the top 15 but not in the top 5 in the country is the secret to earning home court advantage in the tournament’s opening weekend. Duke and Nova barely have to pass a stop sign or two to get to their NCAA tournament opening round game sites where as consensus #1 overall Seed Louisville has to travel to Dayton, Ohio. Now I do believe Dayton is not too far from Louisville but the Cardinals definitely have to travel at least as far if not farther than Duke who is playing in Greensborough and Nova who is playing inside its own city of Philly as a 3 seed!!! How is this possible????

7) Where have you gone NCAA tournament pools?- I tried my hardest to find money pools to join. I have many social outlets including my fellow SUS buddies, people who are friends with my parents, White Girl, and friends at school. Somehow though, I was completely unable to find a single pool to join with money involved. I had to settle on joining one yahoo tournament with the artist formerly known as the B.I.G. (he’s too thin now to keep that moniker.) Anyway, to add insult to injury, I also joined a second pool through Facebook with a certain high ranking official at SUS who will remain nameless. However, this pool only has two members, myself and himself and it only has one member who actually filled a bracket, yours truly. Ugh. Oh well, I guess I get to root for bragging rights and pride. Woo hoo!

-WHITE BOY SOUTH BRONX

Special Olympics Bowler Brags That he Can Beat Our Commander-In-Chief

This is going to have to end up with a photo-op, no?

Brilliant!

In related news, the Commander-In-Chief of THIS blog also comes in as full-on retard in terms of bowling skills.

Ovechkin angers NHL by promoting sport

In a blow to Gary Bettman's effort to remake the NHL as the quiet kid in your high school class you never realized existed, Alex Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the season last night for the third year in a row. Ovechkin continued his quest for a razzie by doing some sort of celebration in which he insinuated that the ice was hot.

The celebration, as funny as it was awkward, was another example of Ovechkin doing everything he can to try and give some life to a league that continues to be a comedic punchline. And in news as unsurprising as seeing a Stanley Cup Finals game bumped for professional bowling coverage, the powers that be are pissed.

Part-time altar boy and head coach of Tampa Bay Lightning, Rick Tocchet said of Ovechkin, "He went down a notch in my books after that. It's not something I like. It's hard for me to accept, to see something like that in our building."

In related news, Tocchet, the self-appointed moral compass of the NHL, pled guilty over the summer to charges of running a gambling ring.

I could go off on a rant about how fighting in hockey allows the NHL to police itself when someone breaks an unwrittten rule. But the simple fact is this: the NHL needs all the publicity that it can get. Alex Ovechkin's antics, however lacking in classical comedic timing, get the NHL noticed. And unless Marty McSorley or Donald Brashear are involved, any publicity is good publicity for the NHL.

Rick Tocchet and those who share his opinion, needs to sit down and shut up. Send a tough guy (does Tampa have any?) after Ovechkin and make him a non-factor. After all, it was either Confucius or Shakespeare who once said the following:

"If you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day. If you knock his ass out, the fish will need to be fed through a straw."

Stuck at Work and need to be updated on how bad your bracket is?

The "I wish i could think of a clever caption to write but I'm hungover so let's have a shitty" Caption Contest!!!

Best caption receives SUS's bailout package.

The Brooklyn Hillbilly's Comprehensive Look at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: First Round

West Virginia (6)

Best Case: Final Four. Mountaineers overcome hideous Bob Huggins wardrobe to become the surprise team of March, charging to Detroit behind blossoming freshman forward Devin Ebanks. Team toughened by 11 games against the RPI top 50 dispatches Dayton with ease, upsets Kansas in the second round, does the same to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 and then finally gets over on Louisville after two competitive losses during the regular season. Meanwhile, Pitt loses early and Rich Rodriguez comes down with the flu in Ann Arbor.

Pat Forde is dead-on with his analysis right here. The only thing that would make this more true would be to correct the Rich "ShrivelDick" Rod part to read "...contracts a fatal case of syphilis from a transvestite hooker giving a rimjob while looking at child porn". WVU is a powder keg waiting to explode. They've reached the Sweet Sixteen in 3 of the past 4 years and made it to the Elite Eight in 2005. Freshmen Brooklyn natives Devin Ebanks and Darryl Bryant have gotten better every game this year, powering the Mountaineers with an impressive rebounding and defensive game that can dominate more talented teams. Look, these first few rounds will be a cakewalk for WVU, that's the benefit of playing in the toughest conference in college basketball. With leaders like Alex Ruoff and Da'Sean Butler, the Mountaineers will be ready to play. And if not, Huggy Bear gon' hafta slap a ho.

The Pick- WVU over Dayton

Because we don't just rip off Bill Simmons and Family Guy...

NEW RULE: Stars of dramatic HBO shows may not move to network sitcoms. Likewise, after you do a network sitcom, you're banned from HBO.

You are Stringer Bell from The Wire. You are one of the greatest one of the greatest bad guys ever created. You are the street thug who took economic classes at Baltimore County College. You are not the Vice President of Dunnder Mifflin, no matter what the digital cable says. (Though you run a nice stationary store as a front in Baltimore.) Go back to the Towers and stay the hell away from Pam Beasley.

(And Captain Winters, if you show up as a neighbor on Two and a Half Men, you're dead to me too.)

In the Immortal Words of Fictional Cleveland Indians Manager, Lou Brown...

Nice win Memphis...



don't ever f$@king do it again.

The Commander-In-Chief of both SUS and the United States of America almost had their brackets blown up by 3pm on the first day.

Mahatma's Post Combine Player Rankings: OTs

A very strong class of players available for those needing an ungrade (cough Steelers) but also so much potential hope in the mid rounds as well. I'll take you through the cast of hundreds but still this is a very good class for Tackles and Centers. Guards are a bit meh but have the guards in the league now are former tackles anyway so whatever.

Andre Smith was a #1 pick before the bowl games and has promptly decided that he doesn't want to be the richest 22 yr old alive. Sadly he decided to get an agent a week too soon. Than he decided to not work out prior to the combine. Than he went to the combine and was out of shape so he left. Now he just had his pro day and his numbers went to shit. Just a horrendous couple of months for Smith who had the game tape to go #1 easily.

With Smith throwing away money, Jason Smith from THE Baylor university has risen up the boards and is a potential sleeper pick for number 1. Smith had a solid combine and while his tape isn't nearly as impressive as Andre's, Jason actually showed up. He put up the second highest amount of reps on the bench and displayed a decent 40 speed for a guy 310 lbs at 5.1.

Right behind Smith is D'Brickashaw Ferguson 2k9 in Eugene Monroe. Monroe is similar to Jason Smith in that both are nimble LT with decent feet. Monroe should still a top 5 pick like D'Brick but display a similar career arch. Will he ever be Orlando Pace? Doubtful but many teams would kill for D'Brick.

Oher is an interesting case. He dominated in college and could do the same thing in the pros but there are noticeable questions involving his mind. Teams will also test him out quite a bit in interviews and see how well he can pick up an offensive scheme at the pro level. Much was made of his upbringing as a child and his struggles to get his grades in order in high school in the book, The Blind Side: The Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. In Ole Miss it didn't matter but will it in the pros? If Oher can handle the mental aspect of the game than he might be the best tackle out of this group. Oher also slipped in pass protection a bit this year which caused him to drop in some scouts eyes. Still he shouldn't last past 15.

Britton and Beatty are mere replicas. Their main concern is weight and if they can bulk up and increase their strength, both will be mainstays for the long run. Doubtful overall. Both are as talented as anyone feet wise but in my book that only translates to Robert Gallery. However, both have shot up this whole season and might be in the first round after their respective pro days. Both are strickly fits in a zone blocking system as of now.

Overall, this might be the best group of tackles in years. Like last year, we might expect a massive run on tackles by teams where a 2nd rounder like Duane Brown gets snagged by the Texicans in the first round. Similar things will happen this year.


OTs

1) Jason Smith /Baylor / Top 5

2) Eugene Monroe / Virginia / Top 5

3) Andre Smith / Alabama / 1st

4) Michael Oher / Ole Miss / 1st

5) William Beatty / Uconn / 1st - 2nd

6) Eben Britton / Arizona / 1st - 2nd

7) Jamon Meredith / South Carolina / 2nd

8) Phil Loadholt / Oklahoma / 2nd

9) Alex Boone / Ohio State / 3rd

10) Fenuki Tupou / Oregon / 3rd

11) Troy Kropog / Tulane / 3rd

Obama's rocking his bracket....

AND FAILS MISERABLY. Let's only hope he can run a country a bit better than pick a NCAA tourney bracket. And why pick doucheborough's team?? UGH. I should have voted for Nader.



P.S. Pitt = Sweet 16 4 Lyfe

If A Player sets a record in shithole of a town in a sport noone cares about, does it make a sound? (A Devils/Blackhawks diary)

Pregame thoughts:
-They just showed the ending of the game in Montreal. Classy move by the Frenchies, giving their native son a standing Almost wish I was watching instead of being at a bar. But Devo, don't bars have tvs? No, my fake, italicized friend, Arlo & Esme is too winnerrific for tvs...but that's another story for another time.

-I remember listening to the first two innings of Game 7 of 2003 ALCS, and thinking that in a potentially historical game such as this, the announcers should rock tuxedos. I completely feel the same way tonight. In related news, I'm dressed to the 9's in my sweatpants and undershirt. Woo! History!

7:10-Wow. Langenbrunner. 1-0 NJ. SO much for my 6-1 Chicago theory. Right when you think this team is going to have a letdown game, they look just as dominant as ever.

7:13-Reason #2 why this team is so good-61 straight games for the Langenbrunner/Zajac/Parise line. Delay penalty coming up. Elias gets the points record here. Mark it.

7:14-Apparently the Blackhawks have been sucking recently, in 4th place 'mostly due to their fast start'. Hrmm, I had no idea. Speaking of which, not only is Nikolai Khabibulin still in the leagu-

7:16-Did i tell you or did i tell you? 2-0, Zajac from Parise and Martin. I think Martin's the only one of those trio above the age of 23.

7:17-As I was saying, Not only is Khabibulin still in the league, but he's playing in Chicago and still good, apparently. Who knew?

7:23-Now that nothing is happening, let me just say that if this game goes to a shootout, I'm rooting for the Blackhawks. Let Marty get the record Friday vs. Minnesota.

7:24-#28 Nicholas Havelid. If the Devils are going to trade for an aging defenseman, would it kill them to get Teppo Numminen? Somewhere in the top ten reasons I love the NHL are names like Teppo Numminen and Kimmo Timmonen.

7:27-So I'll ask. In light of the fact that he's the captain on the best team in the NHL, who would you rather have: Jamie Langenbrunner or Chris Drury? I say PROBABLY Drury, but if salaries are being taken into consideration, I take Langenbrunner, and there's really not even any argument you can make for Drury.

7:33-Yup, it's your daily Bobby Holik penalty. I can't even begin to explain how much this doesn't worry me.

7:36-Ok, the power play ended two minutes ago and the puck hasn't left the devil end. And...no goal. Sorry 2nd City, Marty aint giving up shit tonight.

7:39-20 down. 40 to go. 2-0 And really, the only issue is whether Marty will share this night with Elias. (presently tied with Johnny Mac for total points as a Devil)

7:50-A more Indian or Yinzer version of myself would probably smirk every time Daneyko says "the Devil fans here are going crazy." Go ahead guys, make your 'wow, the fans are going nuts? Both of them?' joke.

7:57-Aaaaannnndddd, the Blackhawks commit a penalty, all of 13 seconds into the period. 3-0. Mark it.

7:58-So with Nikolai "the Boulin Wall" Khabibulin, aka "the Boulin Wall" in net, at what score can I start making "Coach Quennville, tear down that wall!" jokes? I'm going with 5.

7:59-Remember when Dainus Zubrus was relevent on this team? Yeah, that was a fun few weeks. Time to move Rolston up to the 2nd line.

8:10-Yeah haven't been paying attention rcently. This game's pretty much over. Now Elias needs to get point #702 so that he's not continually pressing for that record setting point.

8:12-Another point worth bringing up because this game is fairly boring: Remember when the Bruins were running away with the #1 seed? Well now they're six points ahead of the Devils...and the Devils have 3 more to play. And the Devils have the tiebreaker in wins. Devils are gonna be the #1 seed. Mark it, dude.

8:16-"The Blackhawks have a chance to get back in this game on the power play." And I have a chance to be president if roughly 250 million people die first. And as I write this, Elias misses a 3 on 1 shorthanded chance and Marty makes two great saves. Yup, I missed the only good action of the period. FML

8:24-Gionta just took a one-timer slapshot from like 10 feet in front of the Boulin wall. For a very good player I've learned to really enjoy, this is still the worst shot in the NHL. It never works-either it hits the goalie in the numbers, or it gets deflected into the netting. Where was that awfulness in the '01 beanpot?

8:27-Wow. And as I say that, Gionta scores on a one-timer slapshot, on a pass from YOUR ALL-TIME NEW JERSEY DEVIL POINT LEADER, PATRICK ELIAS!

8:28-Marty's shutout is done, 3-1. Ok, he'll continue his quest for the shutout record another day.

8:32-A quick word about the dueling Devil records as we enter the second intermission...
So as far as my favorite athletes-I've always been a bigger fan of guys who make up the supporting cast than the fan favorite. And in the same way that I've never liked Derek Jeter as much as Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez, I was always a bigger fan of Niedermayer, Elias, Arnott, and Langenbrunner than Brodeur. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I'm thrilled that Brodeur has the 2nd or 3rd most important record in hockey, it's pretty freakin cool that Patrik Elias set the Devils points record and will go down as the greatest offensive player in Devil history...until Parise breaks his record in 2018. ONTO THE THIRD!

8:54-Penalty kill done. In the same way that the Devils ALMOST gave up a shot, I ALMOST got nervous.

8:55-And just like that, Rolston's stick was slashed out of his hands. Power play Devils.

8:57-And after 4 Lemieux-on-Draper level hits by the Blackhawks, Langenbrunner got called for a bs dive. For Langenbrunner's efforts, he gets sucker punched by Versteeg, which I believe is Norweigan for "Tie Domi."

9:03-So lost in all of these milestones and records is the fact that the Devils have manhandled one of the better Western Conference teams through 47 minutes of play. Afternoon games always have an awkward feel because everyone's schedule is off, but the game this Sunday afternoon in Boston should be ridiculous.

9:21-Ok, this blog is done. Congrats to Brodeur and Elias, the greatest Goalie ever and greatest Devils forward, respectively.

9:22-Goal. Soft one. 3-2. This figures. 2 minutes to go.

9:24-Me:"Sports history about to be made, you may want to watch."
Mom: (without looking up from her newspaper): "Mmm hmm"
Apparently my mom speaks for 99% of America. Who knew?

9:26 Take it away Mr. Drama...

Nice Ice cream Douchebag

Tom Bundchen is wishing you all a happy St. Patrick's day. We'd be posting more but I think we've all started hitting the bottle.

An SUS riddle:

What do the above photos have in common?

This guy.

Wikipedia-Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, spent college summers working at the most godforsaken place on earth, South of the Border. Yup, America is screwed.