Draft Me

It seemed like nonsense that the Titans would take a QB not named Blaine Gabbert with their first-round draft pick. Gabbert and Cam Newton were considered, at least in drafting terms, the top two guys. There was such a low chance that either would be available at 8 that it was laughable even to consider talking about it. When the 8th pick came up, Gabbert was available and like the trained monkey I am I wanted the Titans to draft him. They took Jake Locker.

Andy Dalton lost seven games in four years as a college starter. Locker lost six games last year, and needed a three-game winning streak just to finish 6-6. I do respect him and his Washington teammates for beating Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. In two games against Nebraska last season, Locker went 9-36 passing. That is not a typo. Luckily, the always awesome Music City Miracles posted this video.

He's a really likable guy. I think Vince Young was plenty likable but he assumed that he was great and didn't need to work hard to maintain that in the National Football League. I am convinced that Locker will work as hard as he can to be an elite QB. I'm not convinced that he will. You can say that I'm a bit more of a skeptic than when Vince Young was drafted.

The team smartly used a majority of their draft picks on defense. You have two linebackers, which means the end of the Stephen Tulloch most likely. I would say bye to Will Witherspoon even if he's going to be a two-down guy.

Jamie Harper from Clemson is an interesting pick. He feels a bit like Chris Henry, a guy with great measurables who didn't have much college production. At least Harper's a fourth-round compensatory pick who's going to struggle to make the field instead of a second-round pick who was an obvious reach. A fourth-rounder should make the roster but isn't going to be expected to start, especially with Chris Johnson and Javon Ringer already on the roster. It is a bit of an admission that letting LaGarrette Blount go last year was a mistake.

Titans talk: Just say no to the stretch move

I've made bad examples and posted poorly thought out opinions before. Tonight will be no different.

Before we start, it's game seven between the Penguins and the Bolts/Lightening/Devil Skates and in Atlanta, it gets no TV coverage. Even baseball could find homes for their lousy early round games. Not hockey? They couldn't stack things up in the off chance that there would be more than two Game Sevens on the same night? Nope.
There is a common refrain in drafting, like don't drink a bottle of Jaegermeister during your fantasy football draft, unless you happen to be in a hotel conference room in Tunica and how often is that going to happen? The refrain is simple. Don't draft solely for need. Everything has to be in context.

It's going to be harder than usual this year. In a normal year teams would have taken care of a few perceived holes through the magic of free agency. The Titans would have Kevin Kolb, or Billy Volek, or even the corpse of Marc Bulger. They would have a "wily veteran" thus making their #8 overall pick less of a bull's-eye than it currently is.

Music City Miracles put together a nice article today making the claim for Andy Dalton. I like their moxie. They simply stated that if rumors are true (pause for hysterical laughter), and the Titans are actually deciding between Nick Fairley and Andy Dalton, they have to take Dalton for one reason. That reason is that QB is the most important position on the field.

The Titans might have disproven the "elite QB" argument two seasons ago had LenDale White, Alge Crumpler, and the back judge not slathered Crisco on their hands before kickoff. Even if it might not be technically true, having a top quarterback is important. I don't think the team should reach for one.

I don't think any of the quarterback prospects are worthy of the eighth overall pick in this draft. If you ask personnel men to rank the prospects, I think you'd see the top QB in the 20s. There are a lot of intriguing skill sets but no "can't miss" guy. You know, like Ryan Leaf.

Because so many teams have nothing at the position and without free agency or the ability to trade can't trade for Carson Palmer or Donovan McNabb dreaming of the 1 in 100 shot that either can return to their glory years, desperation's going to set in. Ryan Mallett and his super strong arm will look pretty tempting to the Vikings or Dolphins. Surely Jake Locker, whose overall college accuracy was like Vince Young trying to throw a screen pass, can get better as a pro. Colin Kaepernick without a doubt can rise up to the higher level of competition and dominate with that skinny frame. Andy Dalton can make those deep outs even though his arm strength is more Chad Pennington. Christian Ponder can avoid the injuries that plagued him in college. Like the bad boyfriend in college, scouting departments will book on the fact that these players can change.

A reach in the draft is like using the "stretch move" on a date. You might get a laugh but you're not getting closer to your gal. It actually worked with my wife, but that's the last recorded success of this maneuver in history. Trust me, I'm a blogger.

I don't believe in hoping that a player can fix all their problems at the NFL level. I think that the possibility of an Andrew Luck or a Matt Barkley in next year's draft seems better than this year's crop. Sure, I've said that I would take Gabbert to the Titans at 8. He probably won't be there and let's be honest. He wasn't dominant in the Big 12 last year.

I think that Andy Dalton at 8 would be a moronic pick if it's purely based on need. Maybe he's Drew Brees in disguise. It did take Drew Brees a long time to become elite, and one team had to give up on him for it to happen. No matter where the glaring weaknesses are, the Titans have to go with the best player at the spot. End of story.

First-round wish list

The NFL draft is two days away. I still have a very fantasy-centric view of things. I do not know how the various offensive and defensive linemen stack up. I could name maybe three draft-eligible linebackers. One thing I know is who I want the Titans to take.

I'm sure the brain trust in Nashville is waiting for my blog post so they can breathe easier. After carefully considering the options, here's who I would like them to take.

Nick Fairley: Despite all the negative press, talk of his "one-year-wonder" status and the generally bust-tastic nature of the position in the first round, I'll take him. If he's available at 8 and the Titans, who hired his defensive line coach, pass, you know the red flags were for real.

Da'Quan Bowers: According to reports, either he had knee-replacement surgery or the kind of minor clean-up half the league has to endure on an annual basis. Once again, I trust the scouts. If they think he's worth the risk, he'll be an excellent bookend.

Julio Jones: The Titans had to be thinking about the excellent Alabama receiver before the Kenny Britt Cops moment. Great receivers will help whatever rookie or free agent QB the Titans sign. You know Jones can block downfield. And unlike Nate Washington, he can catch the ball.

Blaine Gabbert: I was public about wanting Kolb over Gabbert. Well, free agency is only a wish and a dream at this point. I believe that Gabbert will be a top-half starter in the league by 2012. This year will be a redshirt for him.

This week in hot Titans draft talk

I hate how people mis-use the word "unique". A reference will be to a "very unique" player with a "unusually unique" skill set. Listen, unique means unlike any other and requires no adverbial adornment.

I'll process my thoughts on Kenny Britt since the news cycle is finished with him for now. If the Titans' draft board was in any way affected by his arrest, Mike Reinfeldt doesn't deserve his extension. The team is more aware of Britt's issues than the fans. They saw his lack of conditioning last year. They're aware of off-the-field issues that we don't even know about. The franchise has their best WR corps since the Mason/Bennett days. It's still bottom half in the league and if Julio Jones is available at the eighth pick, they should seriously consider the move.

Should the team's draft plans change because of the lack of free agency? If free agency continued as usual this offseason, otherwise known as the unoffseason, the Titans would have signed a QB or two by now. When there's a labor deal and free agency resumes, the team will still need to sign a QB or two. Even though QB is the most visible position on the team, there shouldn't be a feeling of desperation. The teams that trade up in desperation to get one of the second-tier QBs will be taking a huge risk. I don't want the Titans to be that team.

I really believe that 2011 is going to be a rebuilding year for the team and the draft is the first part of it. Next year's offseason will be critical since Munchak and Friends decided to keep the Fisher system intact. You can't make major changes to offensive/defensive philosophy when you can't talk to the players.

House of Cards

I knew I was in for a doozy of a nostalgia trip when I opened the first box.
I picked the worst time in recorded history to do two things. One was start investing in the stock market around the tech bubble and again in the past three years. The other was "investing" in baseball cards in the early 90s.

It was the worst of times, and the best of times if you were a little OCD. The baseball card industry started to blow up right around the time when I started to pay attention. In the 80s, you had Fleer, Donruss, and Topps. That was it. When the late 80s hit, a new kid came on the block called Upper Deck and all bets were off. By 1993 every card company started producing multiple sets of cards and the 50-cent pack was a thing of the past.

I started collecting around the time that the White Sox were good for the first time since 1983. Bobby Thigpen, Robin Ventura, Jack McDowell, and of course, Frank Thomas, came up during this time. Thigpen was my first favorite player but he was quickly replaced by the young slugger. Until the mid 90s, I tried to collect one of each Frank Thomas card that hit the market. I bought his 1990 Leaf rookie at its peak value of $60. Now it might fetch $10. For years I tried to collect one of each of his cards, and last night's digging proved it.

I explicitly told my parents that if they couldn't find someone to take the cards off my hands that they could toss everything. My parents listen as well as I do and the result was my dad unloading about 100 pounds of cards on me this weekend.
I assumed that I would look upon a pile of crap and immediately push it all to the curb for the trash man to dispose of. It's never that easy. The first box I opened had some baseballs. I found two autographed baseballs, one of Nolan Ryan and the other of Michael Jordan. I found a certificate of authenticity for the Ryan one. The Jordan one is a less pretty autograph but certainly more rare. It's probably going to find a home in my Man Cave.

My favorite box contained my best Frank Thomases (the big black guy who played for the White Sox, As and Blue Jays in the 90s/00s, not the white guy who played for the Pirates in the 60s). Proof that I indeed collected all of his cards was here. I had an MTV Rock and Jock softball game card, a couple of Jimmy Deans, a Donruss McDonalds MVP, and couple from gas station giveaways. When he came up, Thomas was the happiest guy in the world who also was a power hitter who took walks. He got surlier as his career continued, injuries mounted, and the White Sox let him go after winning a World Series without him.

This is not reflected in my collection. I do not have a card past the year 1995. At that point in his career he had two MVP awards and you could count on him hitting .300, walking 100 times, hitting 30 home runs and knocking in 100 runs. Anything was possible, except for any of these cards being worth a dime over what I paid for them.

Fantasy Baseball Weekly Update: Showing the father-in-law the ropes

I tend to agree with the theory that dumping a player in fantasy a few games into a 162-game season is lunacy. I'm in two leagues this year, and I did not pay attention to baseball nor play fantasy baseball last year, so I really have no idea who's good or bad.

In the league I set up, we have six teams. That makes the waiver wire so full of talent that there is no reason to reach or project on a player. You should have a stud at every position.

Here's an example: In last Sunday's eight-team draft, I had to leave and the draft had passed the 15th round. I needed a 3B but it was obvious that everyone else in the league had drafted one. I waited and got Aramis Ramirez in the 16th round. He'll be fine for me.

The first league has my heart, or at least about 1% of it, while league number two is just because my friend Don asked me to join. In week one of this league, which is like a week and a half, I had three guys go on the DL and one lose his appendix but not go on the DL. I consider that high so early in the season. I created a no-bench league but smartly planned on five DL slots. I may fill all those slots eventually.

I didn't realize that Chase Utley had a half-season injury. I had to scramble and pick up Gordon Beckham, who's been really good. I knew that Brad Lidge would be out for a while so I picked up Joe Nathan as a replacement. So far, so good. My final move was to pick up Edwin Jackson when Ubaldo Jimenez injured a cuticle. It sounds like the kind of injury you get when you get a pedicure. NFL guys do not miss games due to cuticles.

After saying that beating my first-week opponent would be like beating an infant at chess, the gauntlet was thrown. I'm up 8-2, but things change quickly in the wild world of fantasy baseball.

League two drafted last Sunday. We don't officially start until Monday, which is the beginning of "week two". Sorry Phil Hughes, but I heard twice on Twitter that your velocity is down. I trust Twitter. I dropped Madison Bumgarner pretty much sight unseen to pick up Jordan Walden, who I hear should close for the Angels. I have no idea. I figured with ten pitcher slots that I could get an edge on my opponents by trying to get four closers.

The funniest part of league two was my father-in-law. I tried to get him into league one, but it took him so long to sign up that by the time he set up a Yahoo account, it was too late. I got him in the second league and it took half a dozen Facebook messages to tell him how to log into the league. It's a pretty easy setup for the first-timer to fantasy since the computer drafted for him and there's no bench so he doesn't have to fiddle with the lineup. Honestly, all he would need to do is put guys on the DL. I would assume at least four messages to get him through that process. Perhaps with some people, it is too late to teach them the basics of an online fantasy league. I'll be entertained if nothing else.

Twitter unleashed

I'm a big fan of Twitter. Sure, I'm seeing Facebook on the side, but Twitter knows that I'm just stringing Facebook along. One of my favorite Twitter traditions is the follow Friday, or #FF for the hashtag-savvy.

I have been poor to keep up with follow Friday for the past couple of months, so I am going to make today's blog into a longer version.

I've been a fan of Andy_Miley since we was Anakin. Let's face it. Mr. Miley has changed his Twitter identity a lot. He's not a fan of brand consistency. What he does is follow fantasy football on his new site Dynasty Blitz. I'm going to link to his latest article to show the love, and yes Andy, I finally can say love without giggling like a schoolgirl.

I am also a huge fan of Bryan Fontaine. He is the partner in crime with Andy on Dynasty Blitz. I had him review the rookies I projected would make fantasy impact in 2011 in my manuscript Pride of the Lions. He's a nice fella.

No fantasy football list would be complete without the tireless FantasyTaz. Taz does at least 700 podcasts a week and once in a while, he lets Andy talk. He also put together the Draftmaster series of mock fantasy drafts that have kept a lot of us from going into a lockout-related funk.

Three guys who may not need any more fans but deserve attention are the regular hosts of the Thursday night Audible show. Cecil Lammey does the sports talk thing full time and is a heck of a show point guard. Sigmund Bloom brings the thunder with great takes. Matt Waldman is the rookie guru with his recently published Rookie Scouting Portfolio. I might like him slightly more because he's a Titans fan and lives in nearby Athens. They're all good people.

JerodMSF is a die-hard Indiana fan. Anyone can be a fan of a program that's on top. Indiana basketball does not qualify. He still shows the love the way an emotionally stunted sports fan should. He's also a White Sox fan. His photo stories, including today's hilarious One Win Hunting, are worth your time. The dude might like Photoshop a bit too much.

I really don't know what BradonSPORTS does besides irritate people. He's strong with the opinions on the upcoming draft. I'm honest that I do not know much about the rookies. Others are not so modest and Brad points that out on a regular basis. I told him that the Panthers should draft Cam Newton and run the triple option with Jonathan Stewart at fullback and DeAngelo Williams at RB. Are you telling me that it wouldn't terrify defensive coordinators a bit?

The only Titans blog I visit on a regular basis (first Web site to pop up when I'm at work, sadly) is Music City Miracles. Follow TitansMCM because I said so.

My last follow of the day is Chetrazzball. He's depressed like the lot of us because it's baseball season but that doesn't stop him from Tweeting like a sugar-addled teenage girl. Plus the name Razzball is bad-arse.

Coming up small in the big one

Butler did something no school outside the power conferences in college basketball had ever done. They entered the NCAA tournament and after one game, wore their dark uniforms indicating that they were the underdog. They kept winning. They won ten tournament games in two years, and in only three of them were they considered the favorite.

On Monday night, that all evaporated. The team spit the bit, choked, performed well below expectations in a historically bad shooting performance. They couldn't hit the water if they fell off a boat. It was a constant stream of insults about the game on Twitter. UConn was forgiven because they had a few stretches of competence and prevailed.

Butler took a 25-19 lead and were outscored 34-16 the rest of the way. Their dream, along with the hopes of the neutral observers who had fallen in with the underdogs, was extinguished.

Sports can carry us on a wave, and more often than not we end up crashing on shore and forget the ride. There were 68 teams in the tournament and Butler finished second, but the result of that final game practically nullifies their run to get to the championship. Is that right?

I'm thinking back to my personal experiences with frustration. The 1986 Miami Hurricanes had Heisman Trophy winning QB Vinny Testadaverde, a great defense, and only needed to beat Penn State to take the title. Vinny had an epic fail a generation before someone came up with the term. He threw five interceptions including the final one with 18 seconds left at the goal line.

I could do a blog post just on Titans failures. Kevin Dyson's inability to break the tackle of a so-so linebacker left the team one yard from a potential tie in the Super Bowl. Fans don't forget the team's incredible run just to get to the big game. First-round losses to the Ravens twice are more prominent in fans' memories for games that wiped out the achievements of a fantastic regular season.

There are two with the Missouri Tigers. During my sophomore year Melvin Booker led the team to an undefeated conference record. They got to the Elite Eight and faced Arizona. This is the singular moment in which a Missouri team was the higher seed in an Elite Eight game. Arizona blew out the Tigers by 20. It wasn't close. The football team had a number one ranking heading into the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma three years ago. If they won, they would have played for a national title. Instead the team scored a season-low 17 points and lost by three touchdowns. The margin of victory led to stinking Kansas getting an Orange Bowl berth and Missouri played the mighty Arkansas Razorbacks, the sixth-best team in the SEC, in the Cotton Bowl.

In the year 2000, I had seen my White Sox in the playoffs twice. Both times they were defeated fairly soundly. 2000 was different because they finished with the top record in the American League. They went quietly into that good night, getting swept by the Wild Card Mariners. At least the team came through five years later.

I can't imagine that Butler fans will let this single-game performance tarnish the team's achievement. There were plenty of "they won't be back" comments. While there are good odds that it won't happen again, that's exactly the odds they bucked this season. I'll be rooting for them.