University of Texas 2003

It's Saturday afternoon and I'm watching Comcast. They are showing a Texas vs Texas Tech Football Game from November 2003. Texas had on offense, Vince Young, Cedric Benson, Roy Williams. Do you remember this team? They were nasty! What about in the Pros? It's fun for me to look back at guys who tore College Ball up and, well, did nothing in the NFL.

• Vince Young- Then? First Round Pick. The future of the Tennessee Titans. Now? Backup QB. Looking for a new job. BUST.
• Cedric Benson- Then? First Round Pick. The next great back for the Bears. Now? After finding himself in trouble for numerous things he has found a starting role with the Bengals, and to be honest...did not suck last year.
• Roy Williams- Then? First Round Pick. Detroit's savior at WR. Now? One Pro Bowl season, traded to the Dallas Cowboys in 2008. Jury is still out.

It's always fun to reminisce on the past. I'm sure there were other players on those teams worth taking a look at, but I gotta go eat with my dad. Any ideas on teams with lots of players that had impact?

The Denver Broncos

I have been reading alot about the Broncos lately, due to WR Brandon Marshall's "situation." Plus my dad is a Broncos fan, so I tend to follow them and talk about them a little bit. But my questions is this: Has one man ever destroyed a franchise in such a quick fashion as Head Coach Josh McDaniels has destroyed the Denver Broncos? I know Denver was already a non-playoff caliber team, so it's not like he crushed Super Bowl hopes. But this was definitley a team that was on the ups and had a great future to look forward to. But, wow, McDaniels, in my opinion has already proven he does not belong on the sideline as a head coach. Why do I say this? Good thing you asked:

• Say what you want about whether QB Jay Cutler was acting like a baby when McDaniels tried and failed to get QB Matt Cassell from the Patriots. But, why would McDaniels want to get rid of a proven Pro-Bowl QB, and the first guy fans can believe in since John Elway for a guy who has had one good season? This whole fiasco led Cutler to demand a trade and eventually be shipped off to Chicago for Kyle Orton, two first round picks, and a third round pick (ESPN.com). OK, so McDaniels got rid of the face-of-the-franchise guy, but he got a lot of draft picks. There is an opportunity here for McDaniels to make light of a bad situation.....
• The Broncos had the 29th ranked defense. That is bad. They also signed a handful of running backs including LaMont Jordan, Correll Buckhalter, and J.J. Arrington to go with the backs already on the team (Peyton Hillis, Ryan Torain, and Darius Walker). So based off of these stats and a pretty good first round pick, what should McDaniels do? DEFENSE! Coming from the Patriots he should be well aware of the fact that DEFENSE wins championships. "With the 12th overall pick on the 2009 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos select Knowshon Moreno, Running Back, Georgia." WHAT?!?! Another running back? What about DEFENSE, hello what about a Quarterback? McDaniels goes with a running back. A very good RB granted, but not what this team needs. McDaniels messed that pick up, and did not address what the team needs most.
• As the soap opera continued, the Broncos Pro-Bowl WR Brandon Marshall, began to get antsy. He felt the way the medical staff handled his hip injury (which led to surgery) was inappropriate, so what did he do? Trade Demand. For the second time in the off-season the two best players on the team declared they did not want to be there. Cutler got his wish, will Marshall? Training camps start in two weeks, the Broncos told Marshall he has to attend, and by the looks of it there is only one way to find out what happens. Stay tuned.

So let's recap. McDaniels, hired in January of 2009, has managed to drive the franchise quarterback away, then signing a few too many running backs that simply aren't that good, then despite all those backs drafted a running back with a first round pick, and now driving away the best player on the team in WR Brandon Marshall. McDaniels is definitely not reading the book "Caoching for Dummies." He needs to take a look at how mentor Bill Belichek has been the model of consistency for so many years.

Baseball's Second Half

Now that the All-Star game is over, MLB's real-season starts. By now the playoff caliber teams and non-playoff caliber teams are pretty much set. But the World Series hopefuls still need to seperate themselves from the teams that are over-achieving just a bit. There are many intriguing story-lines taking place for the second half of the season. Division races, milestones, records, wins, and losses are all becoming much more important as the quest for The World Series Championship unfolds.

• Cy Young Race- There are a ton of great pitching performances taking place this season. In the A.L. it seems to be a two man race between Kansas City's Zach Greinke (10-5 with a 2.12 ERA) and Toronto's Roy Halladay (10-3 with a 2.85 ERA). There are a few dark horses who could come up and create a challenge, such as Boston's Josh Beckett (11-3 with a 3.35 ERA). The N.L. is being dominated by 2008's winner, San Fransisco's Tim Lincecum (10-2 with a 2.33 ERA). He is having another superb season and he may run away with the award for 2009. But a couple of other pitchers could sweep in and make the race interesting. New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana (10-7 with a 3.09 ERA) always finds himself in the mix, and he is having another productive season. Arizona's Dan Haren (9-5 with a 2.01 ERA) seems to be the only bright spot for the Diamondbacks. Los Angeles' Chad Billingsley (9-4 with a 3.38 ERA) has established himself as one of the main reasons the Dodgers are baseball's best team and Florida's Josh Johnson (8-2 with a 2.74 ERA) is doing his best to keep his name relevant. The race in both leagues should remain close and whoever wins the Cy Young Award will certainly have earned it.
• The Dodger's- Is the best record in baseball for real? Returning from a 50-game suspension for illegal substances, the Dodger's Manny Ramirez is settling into the role he signed up for. Leading this team to a World Series Championship. But are the Dodgers a legit champion? They've got good pitching led by potential Cy Young Award candidate Chad Billingsley. And the guys on the team not named Manny Ramirez are doing their part too. Of course, it helps too when you have Joe Torre calling the shots as manager. He has plenty of postseason experience (6 Pennants and 4 World Series Titles). Only time will tell if the Dodgers are legit or as my dad says, "they'll probably choke like usual."
• Albert Pujols and The Triple Crown- St. Louis first baseman, Albert Pujols, is putting up ridiculous numbers this year. He could even be on pace to break the steroid enhanced single season home run record set by Barry Bonds (73 HR's in 2001). But more importantly Pujols is looking to win the first triple crown (leading the majors in Batting Average, Home Runs, and RBI's) since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1967. As of right now, Pujols has a league leading 32 Home Runs, 87 RBI's, and is hitting .332.
• A.L. East- Don't let 2007's Tampa Bay Rays team fool you. The A.L. East is still all about the Yankees and the Red Sox. This rivalry will surely heat up as the season progresses and the Yankees try to gain the 3 game deficit they are in as of July 15. According to MLB.com the teams will face each other for a four game series and a three game series in August and a three game series at the end of September. Who knows? Maybe another October classic to entertain us is in store for the playoffs too.
• Roy Halladay- Toronto has announced they will listen to trade offers for the super star pitcher. The 2009 All-Star starting pitcher is the face of the franchise, but he is all this team has. They should trade him. They won't catch the top of the A.L. East with just one pitcher. They should get some good hitters, prospects, and a draft pick or two. There is a team out there desperate enough to give what Toronto wants.

There are many more sub-plots to the second half of the baseball season. These are just a few intriguing stories that are worthy paying attention too. Enjoy the second half!

*All stats came from baseball-reference.com*

All Star Game, Baseball

I just got home from work, I've missed 7 innings of the All-Star game, which I love to watch. I turned it on in time to see that great catch by Carl Crawford. Also, glad to see my boy Adam Jones (NOT Pacman) is in the game. Special baseball events (i.e. All-Star Game, World Series) always stir up the conversation of late start times. I personally do not care how late these games start. I know everyone says things like "Well, if it starts to late then the kids won't be able to watch it and they are the future of baseball" as well as other arguments. It is definitley a good argument but I personally don't care. When I have a kid (fingers crossed for a son) I'll let him stay up as late as he wants to watch any sporting event. In my mind, one late night every now and again is not going to ruin his future. So, all I'm saying is who cares how late these games start, I'll be letting my kid watch.

All-Star Game update- Victor Martinez intentionally walked...Adam Jones coming to the plate...Curtis Granderson on third with one out....hope my boy can hit the go-ahead RBI...sacrifice fly, Baltimore's Adam Jones hit it to deep right and allowed Granderson to score. 4-3 A.L. in the eigth. Good job Jones.

Allen Iverson update. He is now in talks with the CLIPPERS. Very interesting if he ends up teaming with Blake Griffin. Definitely stay tuned.

One Injury Away

Sure, you can easily read the magazines, watch the fantasy specials on ESPN, and scour the internet for information on players to draft in your quest for the coveted Fantasy Football Championship. But what about the guys you need to truly make your team the best? What about the guys you need in the later rounds of your draft, or when your top pick goes down with an injury? Or even just to stay competitive during the dreaded bye week? That’s the hard part. You really need to do your homework to find that gem that will set your team apart. It takes luck sometimes, but if you know what you’re doing you can find your version of Tom Brady, hiding amongst hundreds of names. These are the guys that are just one injury away from making a difference on the field as well as on your fantasy team. In the first installment, I’ll tackle the NFC East for players that could pay huge dividends for you if the guy in front of them goes down for a period of time with an injury.
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys
Martellus Bennett, Tight End-
It’s tough to think that anyone playing Tight End on a team with All-Pro Jason Witten would get a chance to shine, the guy gutted it out with broken ribs last year, but second year player Martellus Bennett has seen enough playing time to prove he has talent. This season if Witten were to go down and miss any games due to injury, Bennett could very easily step in and put up decent fantasy points. In 2008 Bennett caught 20 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns (Witten also caught 4 TD’s though he had 81 catches for 953 yards). Without Witten in the lineup plus the subtraction of Terrell Owens, Bennett would easily benefit by having the ability to put up similar numbers to Witten’s. Afterall, it is no secret that quarterback Tony Romo loves to throw to his tight end.
Giants
David Tyree, WR-
The hero of Super Bowl XLII, David Tyree, did not play in 2008 because of a knee injury suffered during training camp. He also seems to be buried on the depth chart behind young, unproven wide receivers Domenik Hixon, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, Sinorice Moss, rookies Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden. But he is also the most experienced wide receiver on the team and quarterback Eli Manning has always liked throwing to him in practice. Add that to the loss of Plaxico Buress from last season, and Tyree could get on the field sometime this season. It will most likely take more than one injury for Tyree to see the field, but if he does not get cut during training camp, he could become a productive WR for the Giants.
Redskins
Ladell Betts, RB-
Clinton Portis is the work horse of the Washington Redskins. He has had 4 seasons of 300 plus carries in his five years with the team. But Portis is the definition of injury prone. Last season, he had nagging injuries that affected his performance late in the season. He averaged just 3.5 yards per carry and put up just 2 TD’s in the second half of 2008. His body is simply breaking down. Projecting him to play all 16 games is beyond a long shot. This is where Ladell Betts comes in. As the starting running back he would fill in nicely for Portis. He won’t put up the numbers that a healthy Portis would, but he would certainly put out a few games that would be respectable for fantasy. Three years ago Betts put up over 1,000 yards and scored 4 TD’s while filling in for Portis. He has not had a lot of opportunities since that year, but if Portis misses more time because of injury he will be the feature back and given plenty of chances to pile up numbers that would benefit a fantasy team. The ability is there, it’s just a matter of when he gets his chance.
Eagles
Jason Avant, WR
Traditionally, wide receiver has been the Achilles heel for the Eagles. They have not had much depth or even a true number one receiver besides the year and a half long Terrell Owens Experiment. That is not the case anymore. The Eagles have five guys who could play and put up numbers. Second year pro DeSean Jackson is going to be the number one guy this season. Number two is most likely going to go to Kevin Curtis as the Eagles hope he can return to 2007 form (1,110 yards and 8 TD’s). The Eagles seem to be grooming rookie Jeremy Maclin to eventually be their number one guy in a few years, but for this season he will play mostly as a return guy and do spot duty on offense. Hank Baskett, though big, has questionable ability. So who gets the nod in the event that Jackson or Curtis gets injured? Jason Avant has better size (6-0, 212) and better hands then the other receivers on the team. He is also willing to go over the middle of the field to catch passes. If he sees significant playing time he could post the kind of numbers that Jackson is expected to post (According to various fantasy football publications Jackson is projected to put up on average 8-9 FPG).

David Beckham

In response to a question from a friend, I have decided to say something.

David Beckham has done for American Soccer what Napoleon Dynamite did for comedies: Nothing at all, if anything, it set it back a few years.