Interesting April Facts From ESPN.com’s MLB Page

The Arizona Diamondbacks are leading the NL West
Last year the Arizona Diamondbacks finished the season 60 games under .500. At the end of the first month of the 2005 season they are 14-6 and atop the National League West, thanks to a just-completed sweep of the Dodgers.
While the odds are certainly against Arizona keeping up their torrid start, it’s clear this isn’t the same team that lost 111 one year ago.
That squad had just two pitchers on the entire roster who were remotely effective (Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb – who combined for a 23-30 record, despite a 2.94 ERA) and a weak lineup that was crippled by the injury of Richie Sexson and, later, the trade of Steve Finley.
In 2004, everything that could have gone wrong for the Arizona Diamondbacks did. In 2005, it’s all gone right… so far. But can they keep it up?
The additions of Troy Glaus and Shawn Green certainly add a bit of pop to the D-Backs lineup (although Green, a player who has somehow skirted the steroid cloud despite a drastic drop-off in both production and hat size, is looking a little Griffey-esque) and in the NL West, a bit of pop is all a team needs.
The Dodgers are getting production from Jeff Kent and Milton Bradley, but their big free agent signing J.D. Drew is playing at his non-contract year level.
Barry Bonds could be out for a while and the new addition that was to provide him protection in the lineup, Moises Alou, has been sidelined with the calf injury that has plagued him since 2000.
Pitching is what will win the NL West and the Diamondbacks have a rotation solid enough to contend.
Brandon Webb has showed that his hard-luck 2004 didn’t get to his head with his 3-0 start and new additions Russ Ortiz, Shawn Estes and Brad Halsey have done all Joe Garagiola Jr. could expect. The young Halsey (a key component of the Randy Johnson trade), in particular, has shown great command of his pitches early on.
The main player in the Unit trade, Javier Vazquez, has remained in the funk he stepped into in the Bronx though. Having a 1-2 punch of the Vazquez we saw in 2003 and Webb, plus a healthy Ortiz, Estes and Halsey would give the D-Backs the best rotation in their division. Add in Brandon Lyon and his perfect ten for ten start in save opportunities, and the D-Backs could make some noise out west.
Every other contender in the division has an ace heading their rotation (D. Lowe for the Dodgers, Jake Peavy with the Padres and Jason Schmidt in San Fran), but the drop-off from there is steep. It’s only April, of course, and Jeff Weaver could defy all logic and become a good pitcher and somebody in San Diego could step-up and join Peavy as an ace, but at this point it looks like the best staff in the West plays in Phoenix.
Assuming Vazquez can de-funk and the new acquisitions stay relatively solid, there’s no reason why the Arizona Diamondbacks shouldn’t be looked at as a serious contender.

Roger Clemens has a 0.32 ERA in four starts, but only one win
In Clemens’ last three starts the Astros have scored a grand total of zero runs. I would feel a little bad for him, but as I type this I’m watching Clemens get interviewed during the Rockets-Mavericks game on TNT and The Rocket (hmm, funny how that one works out) is wearing an oversized Tracy McGrady jersey over a paisley-patterned silk shirt. He looks like he bought the shirt from Wal-Mart and then stole the jersey from Mike Jones. Who is Mike Jones? I don’t know, but I bet he can probably hit better than Morgan Ensberg.
The Astros have been shut-out in three of their last four games and with Clemens on the mound tonight they look to make it four out of five.

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz combined have more homeruns than the rest of the Red Sox
Manny and D.O. have seven bombs a piece and the other BoSox players have 13, which is amazing considering that Jason Varitek has five of those. So, three Boston players account for over two-thirds of the team’s homer production.
Among the “Idiots” that are homerless in April: Kevin Millar, Johnny Damon, Bill Mueller and Mark Bellhorn.
All the attention in Boston has focused on the injuries to Curt Schilling and David Wells, but the lack of offense should be just as concerning to Red Sox fans.
David Ortiz, his seven homers notwithstanding, has not been hitting the ball well early in the season and has been uncharacteristically swinging at many pitches out of the zone and drawing very few walks.
If not for Manny and Varitek, the Sox would be a lot worse off than 11-10.

Buster Olney has a blog
The former Orioles and Yankees beat-writer has become ESPN’s go-to baseball guy now that Peter Gammons writes about as frequently as Tony Kornheiser and Rob Neyer has been relegated to Insider status.
Going from Neyer to Olney is like following up a glass of 1891 Chateau Lafite with a Slim-Jim.
OK, it’s not that bad because Olney is actually a good writer, it’s just his opinions that gum up the works. (Speaking of good writers, who else loves First and Ten, the show with Skip Bayless and Woody Paige? I’ve only watched about three seconds of the show (and a terrifying three seconds it was – the batteries in the remote were on the fritz and I had to watch those two idiots blather on about A. Rod until I threw my wireless keyboard at the TV to put an end to it), but those three seconds were enough. Their conversation was about as intellectually stimulating as playing a game of Parcheesi with Forrest Gump and a mute toddler. The only way I can rationalize those two having jobs at ESPN is by believing they must have naked pictures of Linda Cohn and George Bodenheimer.)
Olney is like the old school baseball writer that thinks batting average is the best indicator of a hitter’s worth and that wins and losses are the only way to judge a pitcher. It’s such a step down from the forward thinking of Rob Neyer and a shame for all those that don’t have Insider (or don't have somebody’s name and password who does).

Brian Roberts has seven homers, nine stolen bases and a 1.163 OPS
Roberts has totally Elained in 2005 and has already sped past his previous season high for homeruns.

Elained
verb
1. To improve suddenly after years of solid, yet unspectacular, results.
2. An unexpected transformation, yet one that, upon further examination, is not too surprising.
[Origin: Derived from the 1996-97 season of Seinfeld when Elaine went from a frumpy-looking, average woman to a desirable hottie in three short months.]

Just like with Elaine and her hotness, all the tools were there for Roberts to become a power hitter, he just wasn’t putting them all together. The Oriole second baseman did lead the AL in doubles last season (50), so he did hit the ball hard, but struggled like Cerrano with breaking balls. This year he seems to have leveled his swing off and has been hitting all kinds of pitches to every part of the field.
Even though the warning signs were there, nobody could have predicted a seven homerun month for Brian Roberts (or for Elaine, the way she looked in the Lloyd Braun episode with the Chinese gum).
In the first 1502 at-bats of his career, Roberts hit 12 homeruns. In his first 87 at-bats of this season, he has seven. He’s on pace for 54 homeruns (which he won’t get) and 69 stolen bases (which he could get). A 30-30 year seems like a reasonable goal for Roberts, and with a stacked lineup in Baltimore, he could conceivably score 150 runs and become only the second player in 67 years to reach that benchmark (Craig Biggio scored 152 in 2000).
The O’s pitching staff will bottom out soon, but their lineup is good enough to keep them in every game. With the Yanks and Sox struggling, this will be the first interesting summer in Baltimore since 1997. It’s too bad for Peter Angelos that nobody in D.C. will care.

Christian Guzman has the third-lowest OPS in baseball
Ever since Jim Bowden signed the weak-hitting Guzman to a ridiculous four year, $16 million deal this off-season, I’ve been ranting to anybody who will listen (and some who won’t) about how everything about Guzman screams “suckiness”.
Not surprisingly, Guzman hasn’t disappointed, thus fueling my anti-Guzman rhetoric to the point where I’m now under FCC investigation for using indecent language every time he steps to the plate. I’ve even invented “Guzopoly”, a game where you guess how Guzman will make his out. A weak, swinging strikeout is Baltic Ave. while grounding to the third baseman who then runs to first and makes the putout unassisted is the Boardwalk of the game.
It’s gotten to the point where every time Guzman steps to the plate, I’m almost reluctant to see him do well, just because it invalidates all my prior heckling.
I still cheer for him, mind you, but I haven’t hated a player this much on a team I root for since Stanley Richard was on the Redskins.
Like I said, everything about Guzman sucks. He has no endearing qualities. He’s like the big guy on American Idol in that way. Guzman’s average (.203), his OPS (.495), his swing (I’ve seen better ones at tee-ball games), his hair (it makes Randy Johnson look like Jennifer Aniston) and his penchant for hitting into double plays has only solidified my hatred of him and has brought other Nats fans on-board as well.
When Guzman was introduced in the Nats opening night game two weeks ago, I yelled “boooo” while other fans said “guuuuuu” (one short, bespectacled man was saying “Boooo-urns”). Wednesday, my boo was just one of thousands.
Frank Robinson has Guzman batting second at the start of the season, which led to profanity-laced tirades by me at the start of every game. About five games into the season, Robinson finally dropped him to 8th, but that experiment was short-lived and Guzman was put back in the two-slot a few games later. He’s back down to eight now, where he often makes the pitcher batting behind him look like Barry Bonds.

Column Hopping

Please, NBA, don't turn your nose up at these kids - Gregg Doyel - Sportsline.com
Monty Hall would have loved it if NBA and NFL general managers had come on Let's Make a Deal. Those fools always would have opted to look behind one of the three closed doors in hopes of winning big instead of taking the safe and unspectacular prize that Hall would offer.
The GM's do it every year in their respective drafts, taking projects and guys with a ton of upside instead of players that proved themselves time and again in college.
This has always been a pet peeve of mine, never more so than in 2003 when reigning ACC Player of the Year Josh Howard fell to #29 in the NBA Draft, despite having an All-American season in the nation's premiere basketball conference.
There was no doubt Howard would be an NBA success, but because of his size most thought (correctly) that he would never become a superstar, so they passed on the relatively safe Howard and opted on unknowns like Darko Milicic (#2, Detroit), Chris Kaman (#6, Clippers), Mickael Pietrus (#11, Golden State), Zarko Zabarkapa (#16, Phoenix), Aleksander Pavlovic (#19, Utah), Zoran Plananic (#22, New Jersey), Travis Outlaw (#23, Portland) and Kendrick Perkins (#27, Memphis). (Chris Kaman? He must have been looking around for Ashton Kutcher when he heard his name called.)
Those players were either going to be hit or miss, while Howard was undoubtedly going to be solid.
In this piece, the best college basketball beat writer on the internet, Gregg Doyel, mentions some players who, like Josh Howard, figure to fall to the latter stages of the upcoming NBA Draft despite solid college careers.
Of them, I believe Julius Hodge, Lawrence Roberts and Jason Maxiell have the best chances at becoming late-round steals, while Bracey Wright has the best chance at becoming yet another in a long line of soft Indiana players who fail to make it at the next level after being drafted by the Bullets.

Who is the U2 of sports? - By Bill Simmons - ESPN.com
You know that scene in Goodfellas when Joe Pesci's character beats Billy Batts to death, thus beginning a coke-fueled downward-spiral that ends in the whacking of both Jimmy and Tommy and also sends Henry Hill into the witness protection program after ratting on his mob buddies?
Well, that was a bad night for those three guys, but not as bad as this column was for Bill Simmons and his rapidly diminishing credibility.
I could rant for a while about this column or how predictable and unreadable Simmons has become, but instead I'll paste an e-mail exchange sent between me and my college roomate Falkow when we first discovered this piece of trash a few weeks back:

From: Chris Chase
To: A Guy Who Once Had A Thing For A Girl Who Wore a Chapeau
Sent: April 8, 2005 - 4:45 a.m.
it's late, i'm bored and have run-through all my normal internet destinations, so i decided to tempt fate and lift my sports guy boycott.
(I paste the column)
so, not only is he writing about how awesome U2, but now he’s writing about how much more of a fan he is than anybody else, just like he does with the sox... holy s***, just when I thought I couldn’t hate someone more he writes a paragraph about bono that sums up how he's the most pretentious prick in the universe and ends it with: ‘he’s the best’ and says it without any hint of sarcasm. i thought that after the post-world series self-congratulatory columns he couldn't get any worse. i havent read him since then, but clearly he hasnt just jumped the shark, but has eaten it too.
my favorite part is when he complains that they didnt open with 'vertigo'. thats like going to a dave matthews show and bitching that he didnt play 'eat too much' in the encore.

From: A Guy Who Once Had A Thing For A Girl Who Wore a Chapeau
To: Chris Chase
Sent: April 8, 2005 - 8:49 a.m.
I am with you 100% on this one, this might be the gayest thing i've ever read --he sounded like a poser hippie raving about how crunchy counting crows are. i think he has just fallen in love with himself and his writing, and now he feels that no matter what he writes, people will think he's cool--his writing has taken the same path as the simpsons took, it used to be funny, but now in attempt to continue to be funny it had turned into what it used to make fun of. How could he think it was awesome that he pulled some chick on stage during mysterious ways and in the same sentence acknowledge that it was a direct rip-off of the dancing in the dark video. i'm not even thinking rationally now.
"I also didn't like their choice to open the show – "City of Blinding Lights" – which was just a lame pick and didn't get the crowd properly fired up. They should have started with "Vertigo."
Yes, maybe they should have started with the s****iest song off the s*****est album. I am so angry right now, its a good thing its almost time for me to do work because I would ened up going all day about this one.
"(I was DELIGHTED by this. I'm convinced they played "The Ocean" to see how many real fans were in the audience – it was like they were saying, "All right, head count!")"
I dont even know where to begin on this one. this is the worst thing i have ever read
The one U2 article i let pass, but this one is indefensible --he's moving down on my reading priority list every day, if you want to see some really uncomfortable stuff, watch his cartoons, each one is only about 1 min long and disgracefully unfunny.

Some teams have an identity crisis - By Frank Deford - SI.com
Reading an internet column by Frank Deford is like watching Paul McCartney perform at a Super Bowl halftime show - it seems demeaning to their greatness but, at the same time, its another opportunity to revel in it.
Deford is one of America's best sportswriters and his occasional columns on SI.com have allowed that Web site to surpass ESPN.com as the place to go for sports commentary. (ESPN has only three "must-read" columnists: Rob Neyer, John Hollinger and Andy Katz (four, if you want to include Simmons, which I don't). Compare that to SI.com which has six in Deford, Dr. Z, Peter King, Tom Verducci, Seth Davis and Grant Wahl).
ESPN.com still is my first stop on the Internet because they're better with breaking news and quick analysis, but for regular old columns, SI.com is the best.
This week Deford writes about the Arte Moreno's curious decision to change the name of the Anaheim Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Deford has a good point (particularly about franchises like the Florida Marlins getting the run of the state, despite the presence of other teams there), but fails to mention the names of teams that play in different cities like the New York Giants and Jets and Washington Redskins.
Should the Giants be known as the East Rutherford Giants just because their stadium is located in Jersey? What about the Redskins? They play in Landover, MD. Would the Landover Redskins be as catchy to the ear?
No it wouldn't. But I could deal with it, as long as U2 continues releasing beautiful music while filling stadiums worldwide. Bono's the best.

Column Hopping is an occasional feature on this site.

The Miseducation of the Washington Redskins

If the Washington Redskins front office were a car, they’d be the Edsel.
If they were a Beatle, they’d be Ringo.
If they were a company, they’d be Enron.
If they were a character on Who’s The Boss, they’d be Jonathan.
The Washington Redskins front office is a joke and, as a result, so is the product on the field. What once was one of the NFL’s model franchises has turned into a running punchline, exacerbated this off-season by ridiculous trades, salary cap hits, miscommunication with players and the media, more ridiculous trades and the drafting of Jason Campbell.
By trading three picks (including next year’s first rounder – which will likely be in the top ten) for the rights of draft the Auburn quarterback, the Redskins mortgaged their immediate future for a player most said was a second round talent, at best.
I don't have as much problem with Campbell the player as many do. He has the arm and build to become a fine NFL quarterback and his athleticism should wow Redskins fans used to immobile QB’s.
But, to give away a first round, third round and fourth round pick for him, particularly when the team has other pressing needs, is absurd.
The Joe Gibbs Redskins have won with mediocre quarterbacks before (Doug Williams, Mark Rypien), mainly by focusing on the offensive line. Along with Joe Bugel, Gibbs believes that line-play is the key to offensive success, and, obviously, they're right. Give a man some time to throw, and he'll be a Pro Bowler. With Jon Jansen returning from an achilles injury, the Redskins O-line figures to be greatly improved. So why panic and draft a quarterback?
The obvious answer is that Joe Gibbs has no faith in Patrick Ramsey. Now, I'm not a Ramsey guy and I don't think he'll ever be a great player, but Gibbs doesn't need a great player at QB. All he needs is a guy who can throw a decent deep ball with some accuracy. The offensive line does the rest.
That's why the Campbell drafting is so bizarre. Maybe Joe figures that with all the new blitz-packages that have come around in the past 10 years, his old way won't work. Maybe Campbell is just an insurance policy in case protecting Ramsey doesn't work this season.
But, is a project/insurance policy really worth three picks?
The teams that Joe Gibbs led to the three Super Bowl wins over a 10 year stretch in the ‘80s and early ‘90s relied, in large part, on players selected deep within drafts. Now, they won't have the opportunity to make late-round steals because they treat mid-round picks like the plague, which is the direct opposite of what the Bobby Beathard did back in the day.
Just look at where some of the players that helped define Gibbs' legacy were selected: Soon-to-be Hall of Famer Russ Grimm was taken in the 3rd round. Defensive stalwarts Charles Mann, Dexter Manley and Darryl Grant went in the 3rd, 5th and 9th rounds, respectively. Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien was picked in the 6th round, as was one of his key blockers Ed Simmons. Starting middle linebacker Kurt Gouevia went two rounds later. Three key players from the 1991 Super Bowl team, Terry Orr. Mark Schlereth and Raleigh McKenzie were taken after the 10th round of their respective drafts. And Clint Didier, who played H-back under Gibbs and caught a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XXII was taken with the 314th pick in 1981.
With all the late-round success the Redskins had during the greatest run in franchise history, one would think that the current front office would be jumping at the chance to duplicate it.
Instead though, the Redskins trade draft picks like they’re baseball cards, choosing to deal the possibility of greatness for the probability of mediocrity, as they’ve done with Mark Brunell, Chad Morton and countless others.
This weekend though, the Redskins went a different route, trading picks not for a washed-up veteran, but for an unproven rookie quarterback that many in the draft figured to be a second round pick.
Maybe Jason Campbell will become a great player in the NFL and all those picks the team jettisoned will soon be forgotten.
But, with the Redskins recent track record, I wouldn’t bet on it.

- I’m off to the Nats-Phillies game. Come on back tomorrow, when I’ll try up my output to eight paragraphs. Maybe even nine.

Taking a break after a long weekend - check back tomorrow.

2005 NFL Mock Turtleneck Draft

Can you imagine the meeting at ESPN where somebody first brought up the possibility of airing the NFL Draft live on TV?
“Answer me this: What kind of television is most compelling? Give up? Live coverage of an event that has 75 seconds of action per hour. Better yet, live coverage of an event that has 75 seconds of action per hour and contains guys most people have never heard of. It’s television gold, just like Maude.”
The suits must have been exchanging eye-rolls and affirmative head-nods indicating that the pitchee was about to be firedee.
But over the course of the draft’s 25 years on ESPN, two remarkable things have happened: The NFL’s annual college selection has become a major event on the sports calendar, and (perhaps more amazing) Mel Kiper Jr. has become a household name.
By themselves, these two phenomena’s are inexplicable Together? Well that’s just like catching lightning in a bottle my friends.
Onto the draft:

1. San Francisco 49ers
Alex Smith, QB, Utah
Despite the success that college quarterbacks playing in gimmicky, high-octane offenses have had in the NFL, I’m having a tough time believing that Alex Smith will be anything but a poor man’s Carson Palmer in the NFL.
I know, I know… Both David Klinger and Andre Ware replicated their college triumphs in the pros, but, in this case, I think the third time won’t be the charm.
OK, my sarcasm is beginning to confuse me, so let’s get down to brass tacks here: Smith was a joy to watch at Utah and was a fantastic college quarterback. But after playing in Urban Meyer’s shotgun-only system, making hot-reads on any one of five available receivers, can Alex Smith make the adjustment to become a drop-back passer?
Throw in a defensive-minded coach, unrealistic expectations (playing in the same stadium as Joe Montana and Steve Young – plus $24 million in guaranteed money) and a terrible team, this has disaster written all over it.
Smith is supposed to be the smartest quarterback to come out of college in the past 25 years, but I don’t really see how that helps him much. Akili Smith scored high on the Wonderlic too.
Conversely, Terry Bradshaw was said to be so dumb that he couldn’t spell “cat” if you gave him the “c” and the “a”, but he has four Super Bowl rings. And The Wolfman will tell you that Brett Favre is an uneducated hillbilly that can barely start his own lawnmower.
Intelligence is overrated. Just like Alex Smith.

2. Minnesota Vikings
Braylon Edwards, WR, Michigan
Nick Saban desperately wants out of the #2 slot. Right now he might not feel that teams are offering enough, but once the Fins get on the clock Saban will start to sweat and will bite on the best offer, which could come from the Vikings, who are desperately in need of a big-play receiver to fill the large shoes vacated by Randy Moss.
The Redskins could also try to move up and get Edwards, but since that would mean they would have given up five picks to get Braylon Edwards, thinking about that too much would be bad for the old ticker.
Haven’t the Redskins seen this movie before? I believe it was entitled Night of the Living Westbrook. Gibbs has even gone the Michigan receiver route before, trading up in the 1992 draft to pick can’t-miss prospect Desmond Howard. He would have been better off drafting Desmond Tutu.
Throw in Rod Gardner and Taylor Jacobs, and one would have to think the Redskins have had their fill of picking receivers high in the draft. But, this is the Redskins we’re talking about so anything can happen.
And it will - the Redskins will likely trade their two first round picks for the right to draft Edwards. In all, they would give up five draft choices (including three first rounders) for a receiver with the tendancy to drop balls in key situations. But, even though I know it's going to happen, I'm not going to predict it, because if I don't, then I won't have to deal with the reality of it until at least 12:32 tomorrow.
If the Dolphins stay at #2, by the way, they’ll go running back (Ronnie Brown perhaps). But they won’t. Stay, that is.

3. Cleveland Browns
Derrick Johnson, LB, Texas
It’s Braylon or bust in Cleveland, so if the Michigan wideout goes at #2, Romeo Crenel and company will be in a world of hurt.
Ideally, the Browns would like a linebacker to plug into Crenel’s 3-4 defense, but because the “rules” of the draft say you can’t draft a player higher than their perceived value, Cleveland might make a forced pick if they can’t trade down.
Besides overemphasizing the combines (which I’ve written about at length on this blog), the refusal of teams to draft a player they like simply because that player will be available 10 picks later baffles me.
If the Browns think Derrick Johnson is the guy they want, it shouldn’t matter whether they have the #1 pick or the #15 pick.
So, while I don’t really think the Browns will want to endure the wrath of Mel Kiper by picking Johnson higher than anyone thinks he should go, I’m going to predict it anyway.
Johnson is clearly the best linebacker in the draft and the Browns desperately need one.

4. Chicago Bears
Cedric Benson, RB, Texas
Analysis from The Wolfman: “Umm, I guess I’ll say they’re going to take Cedric Benson. It’s such a Bears pick.”
Touché Mr. Streit… Touché.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carnell Williams, RB, Auburn
Why are we calling him Carnell all of a sudden? What happened to Cadillac? That’s a great nickname and, most importantly, it’s not some derivative first initial/first syllable one that manages to pass for a nickname these days like “A. Rod” and “T-Mac”.

6. Tennessee Titans
Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, CB, West Virginia
The Titans need a corner, and Pac-Man is at the top of most draft boards. Headline writers in Nashville are already drooling.

7. Miami Dolphins
Aaron Rodgers, QB, California
If the Dolphins can move down from #2 and still get their man in Rogers (or Ronnie Brown), then Nick Saban can be considered as some sort of draft wunderkind. Much like Vinny Cerrato.
Rodgers comes from the Tedford School of quarterbacking, which is a football version of the Barbizon School of Models. The list of luminary Tedford alumni include Trent Dilfer, Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, Kyle Boller and David Carr. That’s like an acting teacher taking the credit for the cast of Moesha.
Rodgers won’t be any different and will be the ruin of Nick Saban’s first (but not last) NFL head coaching job.

8. Arizona Cardinals
Antrel Rolle, CB, Miami
It would be a major surprise if Travis Henry isn’t property of the Arizona Cardinals in 24 hours, a move that would allow Denny Green to focus on defense in the first round. Linebacker Derrick Johnson really should be the pick here, but look for the ever-bumbling Cards to take a corner instead.

9. Washington Redskins
Mike Williams, WR, USC
There are more rumors going around about what the Redskins will do with this pick than there were about Britney’s pregnancy a few weeks back.
John Clayton seems to think the ‘Skins are in love with Rogers, while his portly colleague, Len Pasquarelli thinks they like Pac-Man Jones more. Some say Mike Williams will be the Redskins man, while others insist that sources close to the situation believe the team will move down for more picks.
This week has been full of innuendos, leaks, rebuttals, more leaks, denials and debates and I, for one, will be relieved when the Redskins just shut-up and make the damn pick.
One way or another, they’re going to blow the pick, so I figure I'll save my breath about it until Monday.

10. Detroit Lions
Carlos Rogers, CB, Auburn
The scouts say Rogers is a five-tool corner. Unfortunately for Steve Mariucci, one of those five tools isn’t quarterbacking ability.

11. Dallas Cowboys
Shawne Merriman, DE, Maryland
He usually doesn’t do this, but Jerry Jones is willing to look past Merriman’s clean police record and welcome him to the Cowboys with open arms.

12. San Diego Chargers
Marcus Spears, DE, LSU
You have to love people whose first and last names make a complete sentence.

13. Houston Texans
Ronnie Brown, RB, Auburn
Reason #62 why all mock drafts (especially this one) are a complete waste of time: In Scouts Inc.’s mock draft, they have Ronnie Brown going #2 to the Dolphins. On another draft on ESPN.com, Brown falls down to #15.
I’m betting he won’t fall to the Texans, but San Diego, Dallas, Detroit, Washington and Arizona (presumably) don’t need help at RB, and if the Dolphins take Aaron Rodgers (they should – if they want a more athletic version of Jay Fiedler, that is) Brown could fall out of the lottery. Sorry, wrong draft.

14. Carolina Panthers
Alex Barron, T, Florida State
Barron’s agility improved after focusing on his footwork before the combines. Before, he was a virtual wall, blocking for Adrian McPherson, Chris Rix and others. Now, with his added athleticism, Barron’s speed and quick-set ability should stymie opposing defenders.
Alright, I made all that up. But it sounded convincing, didn’t it?

15. Kansas City Chiefs
Thomas Davis, S, Georgia
Because Dr. Z said so.

16. New Orleans Saints
Fabian Washington, CB, Nebraska
This might be a bit high, but considering the Saints once traded their entire draft for Ricky Williams, that seems about right.

17. Cincinnati Bengals
David Pollack, DE, Georgia
What happened to defensive genius Marvin Lewis? The Bengals defense has been abysmal since the renowned defensive architect came to Cincy and now he thinks he's just one player away.

18. Minnesota Vikings
Erasmus James, DE, Wisconsin
Read Michael Wilbon's column from yesterday's Washington Post, where he explains why the NFL Draft is a waste of a perfectly good afternoon. Great stuff. Of course, I'll still be watching.

19. St. Louis Rams
Jamaal Brown, T, Oklahoma
Mike Martz needs another sparring partner.

20. Dallas Cowboys
Troy Williamson, WR, South Carolina
There's no way Williamson is falling this far (he could go to the Vikings at #7 if they don't trade up), but I'd rather be wrong than go back and change all the other picks and the crafty team-specific analysis I included.

21. Jacksonville Jaguars
Marlin Jackson, CB, Michigan
My buddy Jaffe went to Michigan and for four years has raved about Braylon Edwards and, in particular, Marlin Jackson. Yet on draft day the UM/Redskins fan wants nothing to do with either. Ahhhh, the unbridled optimism of youth.

22. Baltimore Ravens
Mark Clayton, WR, Oklahoma
Brian Billick is always looking for another player for Kyle Boller to underthrow.

23. Seattle Seahawks
Shaun Cody, DT, USC
We're really grasping at straws here.

24. Green Bay Packers
Jason Campbell, QB, Auburn
Much to The Wolfman's dismay, Brett Favre won't be around forever and it's time to draft the heir apparent to the Green Bay quarterbacking throne.

25. Washington Redskins
Justin Miller, CB, Clemson
It's tough to imagine Walt Harris starting in Gregg Williams' defense but, then again, it was also tough to imagine Antonio Pierce getting a lucrative, long-term deal just six months after he was buried deep on the Redskins depth chart. If the 'Skins take receiver at #9 and don't make a trade (both big ifs), they'll take the best available corner at #25.
I'm not buying the whole Jason Campbell thing, but maybe its because I don't want to believe the whole Jason Campbell thing. If the 'Skins were stupid enough to make a trade on Tuesday specifically to get a guy on Saturday - well, then things in the front office are more chaotic than I could have ever imagined.

26. Oakland Raiders
Dan Cody, DE, Oklahoma
Still just copying Dr. Z.

27. Atlanta Falcons
Ron Mexico, WR, Guadalajara Tech
Needing to clear his name, Michael Vick convinces Arthur Blank to draft an unheralded receiver from a junior college in our neighbor to the south.
If that doesn't fly, look for them to take a gamble on Matt Jones, QB/WR, Arkansas.
Matt Jones

28. San Diego Chargers
Khalif Barnes, T, Washington
The Chargers, like the Redskins, likely will look to trade, and could be in the market for a reciever to join Drew Brees and LaDainian Tomlinson. But, if they stay at #28, they will likely play it safe and take the best available player on their board, who I'm guessing is Khalif Barnes, but in actuality have no freakin' clue.

29. Indianapolis Colts
Travis Johnson, DT, Florida State
I don't know if you've heard, but the Colts defense isn't very good.
30. Pittsburgh Steelers
Heath Miller, TE, Virginia
I always expect a Bill Cowher team to have a rough, rugged tight end to lay some blocks and catch some touchdowns, but he hasn't really had one in a while.
Miller is an instant starter in the league.

31. Philadelphia Eagles
J.J. Arrington, RB, California
Andy Reid is crazy if he thinks Brian Westbrook is the Eagles future.

32. New England Patriots
Channing Crowder, LB, Florida
I wonder if Bill Belicheck will make Crowder sign his deal with the devil before or after training camp begins.

Sittin' In the Rain

Today's game between the Nationals and Braves was my first chance to take advantage of the the partial season-ticket plan I split with my cousins, and let me say... what a wonderful day for baseball.
I don't know which was better - the 55 degree temperature or the constant, driving rain - but I do know that when the topic of baseball's best shortstop is discussed, the Jeter's, Garciaparra's and Tejada's of the world get the most pub, but the conversation should begin and end with the Nats' own Christian Guzman.
The fact that he flails wildly at pitches out of the strikezone, single-handedly kills rallies and commits game-changing mental errors makes Guzman a triple-threat the likes of which baseball hasn't seen since the days of Mario Mendoza.
Guzman's 9th inning error today gave the Braves the tying and go-ahead runs, thus ruining both a beautiful performance from John Patterson and the afternoon of the 30,000+ wet fans at RFK Stadium. (In his defense - why I'm defending him, I know not - Guzman's error only gave the Braves the lead; the batter would have been safe at first and the tying run would have scored regardless. He should have realized that and not attempted the throw, which skipped under Nick Johnson's outstretched glove.)
In an attempt to let you, the reader, share in my enjoyment of this lovely day, I took some pictures with my phone and present them below in a photo essay entitled Screw Gene Kelly:

Needing a cap to help show support for his hometown's new baseball team, my buddy Antzo went into the Washington Nationals Official Team Store (actually just a heated trailer in a vacant RFK parking lot) to find one.
He chose the Nats road hat, blue with a white scripted "W" - a classy choice, to be sure. Unfortunately, Antzo had a difficult time judging the hat's fit and left with a size 7 5/8 - about four sizes too big.
When he displayed the hat to us after the purchase, it nearly fell over his eyes, prompting much laughter and finger-pointing. There was some name-calling. Some. All of this caused Antzo to ask, "how does it fit?" with a straight-face.
After being told that the hat was a touch large and would only fit if he started working out at BALCO, the big, hairy (but lovable) galoot shrugged, massaged his eyebrows and mentally tabulated the number of pit-bulls he has seen in his life.

When I arrived at his place this morning, my cousin Peter was eating a large turkey sandwich that was intended to fill him up so he wouldn't spend money at the stadium.
A $22.00 hat, $5.50 hot dog, $6.00 nachos and $4.00 bottle of water later, Peter decided that things were getting a little too wet in section 533. So, he went into the concourse and spent five more dollars on a "poncho" that was little more than a Glad bag with four holes in it.
Staying dry: $5
An afternoon at RFK: $62.50
Looking like a fool for the game's final five innings: Priceless



Unable to believe that Peter actually spent $5 on something that probably cost 14 cents, I inspect the material (left). At right, Peter and Antzo proudly display their stupid purchases.



No, I'm not mooning the hand-dryer, I'm using said hand-dryer to dry my shirt, shorts, drawers, back and butt in the restroom of a Friendly's in Silver Spring, MD.
I'm just glad nobody walked in on me drying my ass and my cousin George taking a picture of it. Then we would have had some explaining to do.
You know, it would have been one thing to have sat in the rain for three hours if the Nationals had held on for a 1-0 victory. But to endure the heartbreaking loss on an unnecessary throwing error whilst sitting in the rain for three hours and wearing a heavy, water-logged boot - well, that's bound to put even the cheeriest of souls in a grumpy mood.
Grumpy enough to moon a hand-dryer even.

Chris Answers PTI's Questions

Will any favorites in the NBA’s Western Conference fall?
Wait, is the West the conference that the Lakers are in? Do they still have Magic? Is Pat Riley still their coach? How are my boys Run T.M.C doing?. And what’s with Memphis having a team? And why the hell are they called the Grizzlies?
OK, my NBA knowledge isn’t that bad (although I still don’t get the whole Grizzlies thing), but if you’re a daily reader of this blog you know I venture into NBA discussions about as often as Paris Hilton discusses papal succession.
Anyway, I had to figure that answering PTI’s questions in mid-April would lead to NBA questions, but, still, I soldier on. I must warn you, my NBA thoughts are to be taken with a medium-sized grain of kosher salt.
Looking at the match-ups in the West, the obvious first round pairing that jumps out as a possible upset is the Seattle (3) vs. Sacramento (6). The Sonics have struggled down the stretch, losing nine of their last 11. After their stellar 35-13 start, Seattle is just one game above .500 since February 11 (17-16), which is not exactly the way Nate McMillan wants to head into the playoffs.
These aren’t the 2002 Kings though, but Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic can still get it done and Kenny Thomas has been a pleasant surprise since the trade with Philly. And don’t sleep on Wake Forest’s Darius Songaila either. OK, you can if you want.As for the other series, Phoenix will run all over Memphis, San Antonio will end the Nuggets magical run under George Karl (assuming Tim Duncan is fully healthy) and I suppose Dallas could lose to Houston, but Dirk will be too much for T-Mac and Yao.

Would a possible Pistons-Pacers playoff match-up be good for the NBA?
If Indiana beats the Celtics (quite possible) and Detroit wins their series against Philadelphia (quite probably) then the two teams involved in the infamous brawl in Auburn Hills will meet in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.So, is it good for the NBA? Probably not, but when you consider that the Eastern Semis could consist of the following series: Detroit vs. Boston & New Jersey vs. Washington, the Pistons-Pacers might not be a terrible thing after all.

Is deactivating Darko Milicic for the playoffs in favor of Darvin Ham a good move for the playoffs?
I’ve been meaning to write an article entitled, “In Defense of Darko” for a while now, but haven’t had the time (I’m lying, I’ve had plenty of time). The gist of it would be as follows: Larry Brown never plays rookies (I’d present research here, namely from the 2004 Olympics when L.B. let LeBron, Dwayne Wade (it always has to be “Dwayne Wade”. It can never be just “Dwayne” or “Wade”. “Dwayne Wade”. Maybe he should wear the flip-up sunglasses like Dwayne Wayne, Kadeem Hardison’s character from A Different World. Man, that’d be great), Carmelo and others sit on the bench for most of Team USA’s games.) If L.B. did that to those guys, who’s to say that Darko isn’t a good player right now? And if he doesn’t get any PT, how can anyone know if he’s good or not?
It’s no secret Brown never wanted Darko, but you can’t diss a car if you’ve never given it a test drive.
Long story short: Darko isn’t a bust yet because he hasn’t had a chance to prove he’s a bust. A bust must prove his bust-ness, or else he’s not a bust. That’s like the 2nd Commandment of Bustedness. The first was written by Young M.C. (When in doubt, bust thy move). Young M.C. is the same man who once had a tale for all the fella’s who tried to do what those ladies tell us, and got shot down cause they overzealous and played hard to get – females get jealous. He also thinks when he blinks, which causes bridesmaids to wink.
Anyway, yes, it is wrong to sit Darko even though he’d never play. It’s not like Darvin Ham is good for anything anyway, unless it’s shattering a backboard over Dante Calabria. The playoff deactivation will serve as a seminal moment in Darko’s career, a moment he can pinpoint years from now as the point where he lost every shred of confidence. Then he’ll know what Chris Webber feels like.
By the way, rumors out of Detroit say that sometimes Darko tells a funny joke just to get some play, but Larry Brown turns around and then says “no way”.

Were the Yanks inspired by the Boss, and if so, why wouldn’t owners make more obnoxious statements calling out his team?
Somewhere, Dan Snyder is taking notes.

Do you agree with Frank Robinson’s criticism of Sportscenter for not showing Nationals highlights?
I can’t prove it, but somehow this whole anti-Nats conspiracy goes all the way to the top. And by “the top” I of course mean Neil Everett.

Toss Up!
Who would you rather see in the first rounds of the playoffs: The Cavs or Nets?
This makes the rather large assumption that I will indeed see the first round of the playoffs.

Who has a brighter future: KG or Kobe?
I’d like to go with Garnett, because, unlike Kobe, people don’t hate him. Granted, it’s not going to work with Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell (man, I didn’t see that one coming at all) but the allure of playing with Garnett will attract some big-time free agents to Minnesota and the T-Wolves should be back on track next season, assuming Kevin McHale realizes that his britches are about 15 sizes too big and goes back to his role as VP.
But, if I had to pick who has the brighter future, I’d have to stick with Kobe. After all, you have seen that ring he gave his wife, right? With the amount of bling coming off her finger, I’m amazed Kobe doesn’t have to sleep in those big-ass sunglasses that old people in Miami Beach wear.

Who would you rather have this season: Dontrelle or The Rocket?
As much as I love egotistical, headhunting, hypocritical, non-retiring jackasses, I’m gonna have to go with the D-Train on this one.

Who will you miss more: Lance Armstrong or Reggie Miller?
That’s like asking Michael Vick what he’ll miss more: Herpes or Dan Reeves.
I’m sick of Lance Armstrong now and was quite glad that yesterday’s Washington Post ran his “retirement” announcement below-the-fold on the front page of the sports section. It wasn’t important news and shouldn’t have been treated as such.
I wish Lance a successful final Tour and hope he rides down Santa Monica Boulevard with Sheryl Crow and doesn’t attempt a ridiculous comeback. And when he’s gone I will say, “good riddance” and be pleased that I won’t to act like I care about cycling for three weeks every July.

What’s the bigger news: Naming of the Pope or the NFL draft?
Good question. All I know is that the conclave went with Cardinal Ratzinger only after Eli Manning refused to play in Vatican City.

Big Finish
Knicks interested in Wally Sczcerbiak?
What, does Isiah think Allen Houston’s contract is getting lonely and needs another vastly overpaid player’s contract to hang out with?

Sandy Alderson leaves MLB to join the Padres front office?
I shaved backwards this morning.

What is the key to the Dodgers success?
Before every game they watch the video of Tommy Lasorda tumbling backwards during the All-Star game while trying to get out of the way of an airborne baseball bat.

Good move to start Marcus Vick?
Unless slipping ladies GHB at a party and getting pulled over for drunk driving with weed in the car now counts for two points in NCAA Football, I’ll say no.

Best name for a Pope?
That’s easy. Pope Ron Mexico III.

Chris Answers PTI's Questions is an occasional feature on this site.

Tuesday Thoughts

Yet another day filled with doctors appointments and conclave conclusions will cause the blog to be a little light again. On the bright side, the second surgery on my foot seems to have taken, but I won't really know for about three months. Hopefully both I and LaVar Arrington should be ready for training camp.
Some quick thoughts on the past few days in sports:

Monday Night Football Bolts to Cable
While the traditionalist side of me will miss MNF on network television, in the age of digital cable, satellite and TiVo the so-called "Big Three" are just one of hundreds of channel choices, and where a program appears, whether it be on ABC or ESPN, is irrelevant.
Both ABC and ESPN are part of the vast Disney empire, so while it hasn't been announced yet, it seems reasonable to assume that Al Michaels and John Madden will stay in the booth.
There was much speculation that the new television package would include Thursday night games after Thanksgiving, but I suppose that idea was nixed.
With the Sunday night package going to NBC (a move that was kind of forgotten with all the hullabaloo surrounding MNF's move, but one that is actually more surprising since the Peacock Network swore-off money-draining pro sports deals back in 1998), what lies ahead for Joe Thiesmann and Paul McGuire?
Hopefully life in a retirement home, where McGuire will be free to yell "watch this" as he plays shuffleboard and Thiesmann can talk with the line-cook before lunch so he can tell those at his table, "I had a chance to speak with Santos earlier, and he told me that we'd be having tuna casserole this afternoon."

The Boss Goes Off
A 4--8 record in the NFL is a reason to panic. A 4-8 record in baseball is troubling, particularly for a team with a $200 million payroll. A 4-8 record to George Steinbrenner is straddling the line between the 6th and 7th circles of hell, and Sunday he went off on his team and coaching staff.
That the Yankees were about to play a homestand against a Devil Rays team that always tends to cure the ailments of opposing teams surely didn't play a role in Steinbrenner's timing.
Four games against Tampa Bay are the equivalent of a Big East team's non-conference basketball schedule. Forget Hellen Keller's chick, the D-Rays are the real miracle workers.
Maybe ABC could make a show about the healing powers of Tampa's baseball team and call it Ray's Anatomy, and then cast Lou Piniella as the gruff, surly chief of medicine who constantly battles Rocco Baldelli, in the role of the dude from Can't Buy Me Love, who is hooking up with the hot chick from Old School who can't act worth a damn, but looks mighty fine whilst doing so.
Not surprisingly, the Yankees routed the Devil Rays last night, thanks to a 13-run 2nd inning that saw the Bronx Bombers score more times than a hippie at a Phish show.
Good work George. Along with Matt Foley, you are a motivational speaker extraordinaire.

The NBA Regular Season Nears Its End
Which means the playoffs should be over right around the time Britney Spears gives birth.

Check back tomorrow for Chris Answers PTI's Questions and be sure to come back later in the week for Chris's Sports Blog Way Better Than Peter King's Mock Draft.

I had planned on taking the day off, but had to weigh-in with my main question regarding the big news of the day: Monday Night Football, an institution for 36 years on ABC, will move to ESPN beginning next season: Does this mean Joe Thiesmann and Paul McGuire are out of a job?

The National Pastime Returns

When I emerged from the tunnel in the upper-deck of RFK Stadium early yesterday evening and caught my first glimpse of the lush green field and brick-colored infield that the Washington Nationals will play on for the next three years, I had tears in my eyes. Partially because I, as well as many in the crowd of 45,000+, had never seen a baseball game in the Nation’s Capital, but mostly because I had just walked a little over a mile on crutches to get there.
When my heartbeat finally slowed and my arms lost their jello-like feeling, a smile crept to my face, a smile that didn’t leave until hours later after Vinny Castilla wowed his new fans with a near-cycle and Livan Hernandez took a one-hitter into the ninth, en route to a Nats victory in their D.C. debut.
Baseball was back in Washington. And our team just happened to be in first place.

Everything about Opening Day in D.C. was perfect. The weather cooperated, the pre-game ceremonies were well planned, the President threw a nice high strike (which, considering that he pitched from the mound and was wearing a bullet-proof vest under his red Nationals jacket, was fairly impressive) and the idea of having the old-time Senators players take the field in their respective positions bringing the gloves of the current Nats players to hand off before the game was a nice passing of the torch moment.
When Livan Hernandez finally made his first pitch at 7:06 p.m. and Diamondback Craig Counsell let it pass, there was little doubt that the call from the umpire would be a resounding “strike”.
The game progressed briskly, with both Javier Vazquez and Hernandez making quick work the first time around the order.
My worries about the baseball knowledge of the crowd proved unnecessary, as they stood during two-strike counts, cheered when Hernandez got ahead of hitters and applauded subtle victories like moving over runners. (I’ll give a pass to the two morons in the section below me that continually (and futilely) tried to start a wave with the Nats at-bat.)
When Vinny Castilla hit his two-run triple to give the Nationals their first runs in their new home, the stadium got as loud as it did on some Redskins Sundays and the temporary seating on the third-base side shook like it did during the 1982 Divisional Playoff when the fans chanted “We Want Dallas” as the ‘Skins were disposing of the Vikings.
It got a little louder after Castilla went deep in his next at-bat, but by the time Chad Cordero shut the door on the D’Backs 9th inning rally, many of the early-arriving crowd had left for the exits (including myself, who left in the top of the eighth as to avoid the crowd with my crutches). The post-game roar was still audible from the parking lot though.

It had been a little over eight years since RFK Stadium played host to a regular season game in a major sport. Various soccer games, concerts and religious gatherings have filled the 45-year old building since the Redskins bolted to suburban Maryland in 1997, but yesterday was the first time a true sporting event was back in the once state-of-the-art stadium.
And just like always, RFK was a gracious host. Sure, the seats were dirty and some were still broken from the post-game celebration after the Redskins beat the Cowboys in the last game back in December of ’96, but overall the place didn’t feel like something that is nearly a half-century old.
Just like many stadiums playing host to a new event for the first time, there were long lines everywhere, concession stands unprepared for the rush and an extra-long wait to get inside (aided by the presence of the metal detectors needed due to the President’s attendance). But, those things will work themselves out, just like they always do.
RFK will be a fine host for the Nationals until they move to their new home on the Anacostia waterfront in 2008.

With their win last night, the Nationals have won three straight and sit at 6-4, atop the National League East. Of course, it won’t last, but it doesn’t matter. The 45,596 fans didn’t show up last night to watch a first-place team, they showed up to watch the first team to play in their city since 1971.
The win was just a bonus. Even when the Nats inevitable slide begins, the fans will still support the team. The national pastime has returned to the Nation's Capital. And for now, that's all that matters.

Paul Goes Pro

He could have come up with dozens of reasons to stay in school, but when it came time to make the decision Chris Paul had no choice: He had to leave Wake Forest after a disappointing and controversial sophomore season and enter the NBA draft.
In a perfect world, Paul probably would have stayed at Wake and tried to win the elusive National Championship that has haunted Demon Deacon stars throughout history. He probably even wanted to return. But the allure of the guaranteed millions that a top NBA pick receives was too much to pass up and Paul, knowing that his draft-stock was as high as it would ever get, had to bite.
Paul will almost definitely be one of the first three picks of the NBA draft and, depending on which team wins the lottery, he could go #1 (Charlotte will definitely take him, while Atlanta and New Orleans are also in the market for a point guard).
Knowing this made it impossible for Paul to return to school. When you’re one of the top-three prospects, there is nowhere to go but down. Even a junior year filled with Player of the Year awards and a national title couldn’t have bumped Paul’s stock or pay (the NBA has a set salary structure for rookie contracts) any higher. The proverbial iron was hot and Paul had to strike.
It had to be a bittersweet decision though. Leaving central North Carolina, the only home he’s ever known, for one of the NBA’s outposts of misery won’t be easy.
Paul was the “Mayor of Winston-Salem”, adored in his hometown and on Wake’s small suburban campus. No athlete, student, professor or president was ever more beloved at Wake than Paul; his gregarious personality was contagious and helped rid Wake of its Duke-inferiority complex, at least for a while.
With Paul the Demon Deacons were contenders – they reached their first #1 ranking in the AP poll with him and also gave notice that there were other schools besides Duke and Carolina on Tobacco Road. Expectations were at an all-time high this season, and not because of Jamaal Levy and Eric Williams.
It was Paul that graced the cover of countless magazines and was touted as the preseason Player of the Year. It was Paul that the Wake athletic department centered the basketball marketing campaign around. It was Paul that helped fill Lawrence Joel Coliseum and made it one of the toughest places to play in the country last year. It was Paul that led the Demon Deacons to the most wins in school history. It was Paul that kept them in games and rallied the team when they were down. And it was Paul that brought it all crashing down.
Ten years from now when Chris Paul is an NBA MVP and schmoozing with Ahmad Rashad after winning the NBA Championship, all anybody will remember about his college days was that he went to Wake Forest and never did much in the Tournament with them.
And they’ll also remember the punch. They won’t remember how Paul was roughed up all season by opponents and received little sympathy from the ACC officials. All they’ll remember is that in Wake’s last regular season game, Paul intentionally and viciously hit Julius Hodge in the groin, earning a suspension that cost his team a chance at a #1 seed.
With their undeserved #2 seed, Wake met up with a sharpshooting West Virginia team in the second round and ultimately lost in double-overtime. Paul watched the final minutes of his college career from the bench after fouling out early in the second extra-session.
It was surely not the way Chris Paul wanted to end his time at Wake Forest, but with the prospects of another season under the questionable tutelage of Skip Prosser combined with the guaranteed millions in the pros, Paul had little choice.
His game is still a little raw for the NBA, but in a league where upside is often more important than proven talent, Paul will likely be the most NBA-ready player in the draft.
He is still a little too unselfish at times, often making unnecessary passes when a drive will do. The mid-range jumper that an NBA point guard needs still isn’t quite there, but there’s little doubt that it will come, just like the maturity he sometimes lacks.
The reason NBA scouts love Paul is because of his wonderful decision making and court-vision. He also has that one quality that so many NBA stars seek: The ability to make his teammates better. Scouts also love his shot and defense, and despite the fact that it’s been a long time since a true point guard was taken with the top spot (Allen Iverson in 1996), nearly all NBA observers feel that Paul is deserving of the honor. Some say he’s the best point guard prospect since Jason Kidd. Others say he’s the best point guard prospect since way before Kidd’s time.
Either way, he’s the best point guard to play in the state of North Carolina since Phil Ford and is by far the best ever to don the Wake Forest jersey.
Chris Paul will be missed in Winston-Salem not just for his transcendent talent, but because of the honor and recognition he brought back to Wake Forest University and for the fact that on a few cold, winter nights for two seasons, he made Lawrence Joel Coliseum the Mecca of college basketball.
If you’re a Deac fan, don’t hold his going pro against him – it was the only decision he could make, just like staying in school was the only decision that Tim Duncan could make. Instead, remember the joy that Paul brought to the school’s students, alumni and fans and in three years when he becomes the best guard in the NBA, take comfort in knowing that the top two players in the league once had “Wake Forest” written across their chest.

2005 NFL Schedule: First Impressions

The 2005 NFL Schedule has just been released on NFL.com. My first impressions:

• The NFL couldn't resist giving the Redskins and Cowboys another Monday night match-up (the game is always one of the highest rated games of the year). As I was telling my buddy Antzo about 10 minutes before the schedule came out, if they were going to put the 'Skins-'Boys on Monday night, it would have to be early in the season as to avoid a match-up of two-win teams in Novemeber.
• There's always one Monday night stinker, and this year is no different: Monday, December 12: New Orleans at Atlanta. Well, ABC will catch Jim Haslett and the Saints just in time to witness their annual December swoon.
  
• What's with the Vikings playing a featured game around Christmas? Last year they had a Christmas Eve game against the Packers and this year they play on Christmas against the Ravens. Nothing like rekindling that old Minnesota-Baltimore rivalry while sitting by the fire with loved ones. The other Christmas game (Chicago at Green Bay) is perfect though.
  
• The Sunday night game on October 2 will feature San Francisco and Arizona and will be played in Mexico. So, let me get this straight... Paul Tagliabue wants to build a fanbase in Mexico and he's going to achieve this goal by sending two of the worst teams in the NFL to play there? This is like the NBA sending the Clippers on a global goodwill tour.
• A good reason to start drinking early on New Year's Eve: Giants at Raiders, 8 p.m. What, the Niners and Cards were busy?
• Peyton and the Colts will have their umpteenth chance to get the best of the Pats on November 7 in the best Monday night match-up of the season. This will also give me my umpteenth chance to pick the Colts and have them lose, which will give The Wolfman his umpteenth chance to talk about my unbridled love for all things Peyton, which, in-turn, will give my umpteenth chance to talk about the time The Wolfman picked Southern Illinois to advance to the Elite Eight and hooked-up with a girl in the hallway outside her dorm room.
  
• The Colts play the Rams on Monday night three weeks earlier in another intriguing Monday contest.
  
• For the third straight year the Eagles and Redskins will play a primetime game (Sunday, November 6). Well, since it's sweeps at least there will be a new Desperate Housewives episode to flip to should the game get out-of-hand.
• November 20: Norv Turner makes his triumphant return to Washington. Jimmy Carter knows what that's like.
  
• The schedule-makers didn't do the Patriots any favors. After starting with Oakland in the inexpicable Thursday opener, the Pats then face Carolina, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Atlanta, bye, Denver, Buffalo and Indianapolis before finally getting a break with Miami and New Orleans back-to-back in weeks 10 and 11.
• I'm glad Seattle only has one Monday night game. There's something about seeing Matt Hasslebeck in primetime that is quite unsettling. I'm glad the NFL has finally realized this.
• Baltimore travels to Pittsburgh on Halloween, which will be nice considering I had been planning on dressing up as Brian Billick's ego this year.
• I swear, if Michael Vick gets hurt again and we're stuck with three Falcons games on Monday night, I just might have to complain about it quite vociferiously.
• I'll go into the Redskins schedule at-length either tomorrow or next week (on Friday I'll be writing about the first baseball game in Washington D.C. since 1971). But some quick thoughts: Closing with the Cowboys, Giants and Eagles is great. I can't remember a team ever finishing the season with all their division opponents before. Opening with the Bears is nice and should give Redskins fans a brief hint of optimism before the season comes crashing down with a devistating loss to the Cowboys in week 2. (Last year it was the Bucs that provided the optimism and the Giants contributing with the devistating loss.) But more on the 'Skins later.
• On September 25 the Giants travel to San Diego for the ESPN Sunday night game in what promises to be the most overhyped game of the season because of the whole "Eli Manning is a sissy and petulantly refused to play in San Diego" thing. I can hear Joe Theismann and Paul McGuire now: "Listen here... We were talking to Eli Manning today and he said that he wasn't nervous coming back to San Diego. But, look here at this play. I'll tell you what, that's a heck of a pass, he clearly isn't nervous. This kid is special. In our meeting with Tom Coughlin he said that Eli Manning is special, and he is. Listen up. He's just a special kid. Now, look here. Watch this! See how special he is?" Oh man, my mute button is going to get a workout that night.
  
• Definitely won't have to TiVo Desperate Housewives on October 16 when the Texans head northwest to Seattle. That's actually the only real dog of a game for ESPN which, because of the desire to give most teams a primetime game, often gets stuck with some terrible match-ups. This year though ESPN got some nice games. Oh wait... I didn't see that Cincinnati-Jacksonville contest. Note to self: Draft a Bengal or Jaguar in fantasy draft so I have a reason to watch that game. On second thought, scratch that.
• Taking a cue from baseball, the NFL seems to have backloaded their schedule with divisional games (as evidenced by the Redskins last three opponents), which could make for an exciting New Year's Day. Among the contests that could be for a division title or a Wild Card spot: Buffalo at New York Jets, Chicago at Minnesota (the Bears are my sleeper this year... that's right Wolfman), New Orleans at Tampa Bay, Tennessee at Jacksonville, Washington at Philadelphia (sorry, I dozed off there for a second and entered a dream-world) and Carolina at Atlanta. This doesn't bode well for the ratings of the Capital One Bowl.
• Because Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, the NFL will play their slate of games on Christmas Eve which means I'm either going to have to get up early to do my shopping, or on Christmas morning my family will be unwrapping coffee filters, Drano, tea candles and various other items that can be found around the house.
• Schedule day is one of the most underrated sports days of the year, but it's depressing to think that we're still five months away from playing any of the games on this schedule. But, everyone's 0-0 today and will remain that way until early September. And with the cyclical nature of NFL success, fans of all 32 teams have a reason to be optimistic today. Except Cardinals fans, of course.
  

Updated 3:35 p.m.

Tuesday Thoughts

Sorry for not posting anything yesterday. Thursday’s surgery is still beating me down like Jason Varitek on A. Rod. But, enough about me... Let's cut to chase.

Tiger Wins The Masters
Please don’t say that Tiger is back, because, in reality, Tiger was never gone.
Those who were asking what was wrong with him when he wasn’t winning every major had unrealistic expectations as to what Tiger could do.
It would have been preposterous to expect him to have continued winning at the clip he was back at the turn of the century. Four straight majors? That’s unheard of. Nicklaus only won two straight twice, but never got three. Getting four straight was like McGwire (steroid-aided or not) breaking Roger Maris’ record and then going all the way to 70. Winning the U.S. Open by 15 strokes? Insane. That just doesn’t happen in golf, but Tiger was doing it.
You had to be delusional if you thought Tiger could have kept up that pace. But even when he wasn’t winning majors, Tiger was still one of the Tour’s best players, picking up the Player of the Year trophy in his major-less 2003 season. Last year he would have been a contender again if not for an unconscious season from Vijay Singh.
Even when he was down, Tiger was still one of the best players in the world. But during that time Tiger wasn’t fighting the demons or confused about his relatively poor play, he was fixing his swing – something that might seem preposterous considering he was the best player in the world with the old swing. But don’t forget that he did the same thing after his ’97 win at Augusta, working with Butch Harmon when most thought they were crazy to tinker with greatness.
After the close of the 2002 Tiger began working again at fixing his shot, this time with Mark O’Meara’s old coach Hank Haney. Last year you could tell he was getting close. Augusta showed that he’s closer, but not there yet. When he is, you can go back to expecting Tiger to win every Tournament he enters.
Tiger’s win Sunday at Augusta might have been the most important of his career. It was his first post-marriage, post-“slump” and post-dealing with his father’s sickness. That he had to win in a playoff with the likes of Chris DiMarco (I’m being sarcastic, mind you) is irrelevant. DiMarco played unbelievably down the stretch and he and Tiger lapped the rest of the field by seven strokes. Think of it this way, without DiMarco Tiger would have dominated and been on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week with the headline “The Roar is Back” or something cheesy like that. But DiMarco was there and Tiger proved his mettle, as he did back in 2000 with Bob May at the PGA. Forget about the bogeys at 17 and 18. Those don’t prove that Tiger is struggling, they just prove that Tiger is human. His birdie on 18 the second-time around is all you need to remember. (That chip on 16 might be one for the memory banks too. Think you’ll see that replay about two hundred times during the NCAA Tournament next year?)
How does one follow-up greatness? Michael Jordan had to retire after his run of three-straight NBA Championships and dabble in baseball to keep a level head. He came back and then retired again after three more. After releasing Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan was issued a challenge from the Beatles in the form of Sergeant Pepper’s but retreated to Woodstock, took some time off and came up with the radically simplistic John Wesley Harding. When trying to complete the follow-up to his masterwork Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson went crazy.
Everyone deals with the burdens of following greatness in different ways. Wilson’s mental troubles while working on Smile kind of put Tiger’s little "10 straight majors without a win" in perspective, doesn’t it?
Tiger didn’t quit when faced with the challenge of how to follow up the best run in golf history. He didn’t go on sabbatical and didn’t lose his mind either. He simply tinkered with his swing to get back to playing the best golf in the world.
He’s back, even if he was never gone.

The Red Sox Get Their Rings
Yesterday’s glorious ring ceremony at Fenway Park put the final period on the Red Sox magical 2004 World Series run. Everything from the ovations for past and present players, the standing O for Mariano Rivera (who graciously took the sarcastic cheers in stride), the salute to Johnny Pesky, the Yankees classily clapping whilst watching on their dugout steps and the raising of the World Series flag with Yaz and Pesky were well thought-out and will become the benchmark for all other Championship celebrations.
It’s too bad that there was some media-made controversy about Derek Lowe and Dave Roberts, two former Red Sox, now with different N.L. West teams, wearing a Red Sox jersey for the ceremony.
Let me sum up my thoughts on this subject in five words: John Kruk is a moron.
There would be no controversy without the idiotic Kruk and Harold Reynolds, both of whom ripped Lowe and Roberts not just for wearing the Sox jerseys to the ceremony, but for showing up altogether. They believed that because Lowe and Roberts are under contract with a different team, they shouldn’t wear a jersey of a different team. They were saying that because it is 2005 those players have to act like it’s 2005 and be responsible members of different organizations. Essentially, their main point was “what’s in the past is in the past and the present is all that matters.”
Under that ridiculous theory, Edgar Renteria, Matt Mantei, David Wells and other new Red Sox players who weren’t on the team last year should have received rings yesterday because only the present matters… right Mr. Kruk?
Lowe and Roberts were classy enough to come back, particularly Lowe who left on a bad note with the Sox brass. (Roberts was granted a trade so he could lead-off in San Diego rather that sit on the bench in Boston, so he probably has nothing but love for the Red Sox owners.) Both wore a special jersey over their clothes and received loud ovations from the crowd, important especially for D. Lowe who hadn’t stepped on the field at Fenway since his Game 7 masterpiece against the Yankees (or since his clinching win in the Series). He needed to hear the cheers from the Sox fans that he made crazy for seven years to close the book on his time in The Hub. Lowe spent a big part of his career in Boston and will always be remembered for what he did with the Sox (unless the Dodgers should suddenly improve). He had to come back, as did Roberts, the catalyst for the greatest comeback in playoff history. Without his stolen base (the best in history), the Sox get swept by the Yankees and yesterday would have been just another disappointing home opener at Fenway.
Maybe Kruk is just bitter because he doesn’t have a ring, who knows. But he caused all this unnecessary hub-bub with his absurd comments that he wouldn’t back-off of, even when given numerous chances by a frustrated Karl Ravech. Screw Kruk. He was never that good anyways and was probably on the juice to boot.
None of the Dodgers had a problem with what Lowe did, and the Padres encouraged Roberts to attend. So Kruk has no ground to stand on.
Yesterday wasn’t about the 2005 Red Sox, or the 2005 Dodgers or Padres. It was about the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.
Roberts and Lowe weren’t wearing Red Sox jerseys for this year, they were wearing the jersey the so proudly donned last season. So instead of thinking that D. Lowe and Dave Roberts dishonored their current teams by wearing a different jersey, just think of them as guys hanging out at Fenway wearing throwbacks.

LaVar Arrington Rips Joe Gibbs and Redskins Management
(If you haven’t heard or read about this unbelievable diatribe by a frustrated Arrington, click here.)
Now, I’m no Dan Snyder sympathizer. Frankly, I hope he and Peter Angelos sell their teams and retire to Elba where they can fully hone in on their Napoleon Complex. But for LaVar to unjustly rip Snyder and, most importantly, Gibbs is classless and the sign of an immature man looking to blame someone for his past injuries.
You never go on the record with a reporter to rip your club – do that off the record if you want. And definitely don’t question the integrity of one of the most honest and God-faring man in the business and the team he coaches and then try to smooth things over by saying, “but I love the Redskins.” That’s like a verbally-abusive husband yelling at his wife and then wrapping up his profanity-laced tirade with “but I still love you honey.”
What really makes me mad is that as LaVar was ranting to Post reporter Jason La Canfora, La Confora had to have asked whether or not LaVar was sure he wanted the conversation on-the-record. I guarantee he probably asked at least three times. So, while I can forgive the fact that LaVar was probably just having "a moment", the fact that he consciously knew what he was saying would appear in the paper and, just like with Kruk, when given the opportunity to put an end to the madness, refused, is unforgivable to me. That's why I'm so livid about this.