Categories
Miami Dolphins

Odds and Ends: Cam Cameron sure knows how to sell a pick

Here’s video of Dolphins coach Cam Cameron addressing Miami fans and talking about the selection of Ted Ginn Jr with the ninth pick.

Note to Cam: when your fanbase desperately wants a QB to be the next Marino, it’s best not to tell them how the guy you just took with #9 is gonna be a great punt returner.

In other news…

[Miami Herald]: Wanna get out of jury duty? Take Bill Parcells fishing

[STLSportsMag.com]: Chris Berman reminds us why he is a waste of space

[BBC Sport]: Nantes goalkeeper Nantes quits team after being threatened by fans

[Star Tribune]: Tommy Morrison tests negative for HIV (somehow)

[Reuters]: Pakistan cricket coach was poisoned then strangled

[The Consumerist]: Tips on scoring tickets to a baseball game

[Steroid Nation]: Neither Bud Selig nor Hank Aaron will be there when Bonds breaks the HR record but MC Hammer will… so he’s got that going for him.

And finally, in the tradition of TonyHomo.com by Drew Bledsoe, comes Dicegay.com: Carl Pavano’s Blog. (We suspect it’s the same guy behind both sites.) “First, though, let me give all y’all what you want: a pitch-by-pitch recap of Dice-Gay’s first start against the mighty Yankees. Pitch 1: Shitty as balls. Pitch 2-108: See pitch one.” Who knew that Carl Pavano and Herbert Kornfeld were the same person. (Hat Tip: Our Book of Scrap)

Categories
General Sports

April 25 2007 episode of Poor Man’s PTI

Welcome to another episode of Poor Man’s PTI. We go over a bunch of topics in the first half hour, then we discuss the NFL Draft for the second half.

You can download this week’s podcast directly (running time 70 mins) or subscribe to the feed.  

If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.

This week’s topics include:

  • NBA Playoffs
  • Sebastian Telfair (should he go to the Knicks?)
  • Sad tale of Quincy Carter
  • Is Vince Young one of the top 5 QBs in the league?
  • David Stern fixing the 1985 NBA draft
  • baseball talk
  • the 2007 NFL Draft
  • Overtime: television shows and the Godfather

Hope you guys enjoy the podcast.  If you did enjoy it, please give us a good rating below so we can rise up in the rankings. If you didn’t, send us an email ([email protected]) and give us some suggestions. Thanks for listening.

Categories
New York Giants

Odds and Ends: Jean Strahan has a garage sale

As if a $15M divorce settlement and $18k a month in child support wasn’t enough, Jean Strahan, ex-wife of Michael Strahan decided to sell off a few of the items from their her $3.6M mansion in Montclair, NJ. She sold cocktail dresses, handmade rugs, antiques, and a couple of TVs among other things. A diehard Giants fan said he got two televisions for $100.

She advertised the garage sale in a local paper and tons of people were lining up to take a look at the stuff. Since she doesn’t exactly need the money, this was just a way of her throwing it in Michael Strahan’s face. The police were called multiple times to chase away reporters.

By the way, there’s no truth to the rumor that among the items being sold was a cancelled check written to Brett Favre with “Sack record” in the memo.

In other news…

[ESPN]: Mets fans will do anything to give their team an advantage

[NY Post]: Paul Lo Duca wins his first horserace as an owner.

[Steroid Nation]: Victor Conte picks up right where he left off

[San Jose Mercury News]: Stanford swimming coach suspended two months for… removing records of some of his swimmers from the media guide.

[USA Today]: NFL Network gets a leg up on the Draft telecast wars by putting a camera on Joe Thomas’ fishing boat.

[Mondesi’s House]: Any question whether NHL players are the toughest athletes? Sidney Crosby has played the last 4 weeks with a broken foot

[basketbawful]: The Bulls have no chance against the Heat (and here’s why)

And finally, Our Book of Scrap takes a look at the welcome wagon that will be waiting for the International Olympic Committee as they evaluate Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics.

Categories
NFL General

And we thought Chris Leak was dumb


We didn’t think anyone could do worse than Chris Leak this year on his wonderlic test. (You have to be borderline retarded to get an 8 on the Wonderlic.) But somehow, 3 people have managed to… er…. beat him. David Irons (CB, Auburn), Bo Smith (S, Weber State) both scored a 4, and Earl Everett of Flordia scored a 5.

Here’s the rest of the bottom 10:

James Jones, WR, San Jose State: 9
Turk McBride, DT, Tennessee: 9
Julius Wilson, OT, UAB: 9
Brandon Mebane, DT, Cal: 10 (So which Cal student wrote his papers?)
Matt Trannon, WR, Michigan State: 10
Baraka Atkins, DE, Miamia: 11
Alonzo Coleman, RB, Hampton: 11

Ouch. That’s a list you don’t want to be on. The good news is that if you’re on that list, you can’t even read it.

Now, wonderlic scores are no indication of your football performance and ability (see Vince Young) but you have to feel sorry for these “student”-athletes. Can you imagine the negotiations between David Irons or Bo Smith and an agent?


Agent: So, the league is offering you $2M a year for 4 years. You got that? 2 and 4 is the deal. So that means you’ll get $2.4 MILLION if you play the entire 4 years.

Player: 2 point 4? Wooohooo! Someone told me I was only gonna get 4. Now i get a 2 in front of it? You’re the best agent ever.

Agent: Who loves you baby? By the way, I’m gonna take my 3% as we agreed so that means you only are gonna get $2.1M ok?

Player: Where do I sign?

Sad. By the way, we still haven’t been able to track down JaMarcus Russell’s wonderlic score. Something is rotten in Baton Rouge.

Links:
[ESPN Insider]: Raiders, Lions face tough decisions

[Stealing is Good]: sample wonderlic test

Categories
NFL General

Chris Leak makes the Wonderlic test cry


Our favorite part of the NFL combine is the wonderlic test scores that come out afterward. Remember last year when Vince Young scored a -2 and then retook the test and got a 16? Well this year’s Vince Young is Florida Gator QB Chris Leak. We’ll give this its own paragaph:

Chris Leak scored an 8 on the Wonderlic.

An 8! Remember, a score of 10 indicates that you are literate. Scoring an 8 literally means you are a moron. So why hasn’t this news been all over the press? Perhaps Vince Young set the bar so low last year that an 8 isn’t that big of a news item. Yet another championship QB in the league that can’t put on his own shoes. Psssst… the Reebok logo on the outside tells you which shoe is the left and which is the right.

To see if you’re smarter than Chris Leak (chances are yes), check out this sample wonderlic test.

Here are some other notable scores from QBs in this year’s draft:

Brady Quinn, Notre Dame: 29
Drew Stanton, Michigan State: 35
Kevin Kolb, Houston: 28
John Beck, BYU: 30
Jordan Palmer, UTEP: 23
Tyler Palko, Pittsburgh: 18

Links:
[Macmarabile.com]: NFL QB Wonderlic Scores

Categories
Oakland Raiders

Being Mr. Irrelevant


If you can’t be the 1st, 2nd, 3rd… 200th player taken in the draft, you might as well be the last one taken. Will history remember Dave Tollefson or Vickiel Vaughn, taken #253 and #254? No chance. But Kevin McMahan is your 31st Mr. Irrelevant in draft history.

For being lucky(?) enough to be chosen last in the draft, McMahan will be the guest of honor for Irrelevant Week in Newport Beach, CA. For five full days, he’ll be a mini-celeb including a banquet, a trip to Disneyland, and the awarding of the Lowsman trophy. Not a bad deal.

McMahan has got the right attitude about this.


I was aware of the nickname. But I didn’t realize all the stuff that goes with it. It’s a lot bigger deal than I thought. look at the Mr. Irrelevant designation as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m going to have fun with it.

Links:
[Democrat and Chronicle]: As Mr. Irrelevant, McMahan sure is getting lots of attention
[Wikipedia]: List of past Mr. Irrelevants
[Irrelevant Week]: Official site of Mr. Irrelevant

Categories
NFL General

Live Blogging the NFL Draft

[Latest comments will appear on top.]

– Well, this ends our live blogging of the 2006 NFL Draft. At first blush, the big winners in the draft are the Saints who somehow have Reggie Bush fall in their laps, and Matt Leinart/Arizona Cardinals. The Cards get a player they coveted last year and save a ton in guaranteed money. Leinart, on the other hand, gets to be in a great situation in Arizona with Edgerrin James, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. Someone the Saints and the Cardinals, two of the worst franchises in the league, come out on top.

(32) The Giants immediate take Mathias Kiwanuka (a projected end of second round pick) and the Giants fans are just hearing it from the Jets fans. They waited 2 hours for this?

(31) Only two more picks left. We’re waiting for Bill Leavy to rob the Seahawks of this draft pick somehow. The Seahawks take Kelly Jennings even with Jimmy Williams left on the board. What’s wrong with Jimmy Williams? Is it the questions about his attitude?

(30) We’ve had later rounds in Fantasy Football drafts go slower than this. Tags is back at the podium announcing that the Colts take Joseph Addai from LSU who wasn’t expected to go until the mid to late second round. Indy might have been able to trade up in the second round and still get him. NFL Network just showed LenDale White and Mayock made a great point earlier that all he had to do was work his ass off for 3 months after the championship game and stay in shape to be a multimillionaire and White couldn’t even manage that.

(29) And now there is electricity in the air as the Jets are on the clock. You know Tags is secretly hoping for a Jets boneheaded pick so the crowd can go nuts. And the Jets take… Nick Mangold to replace Kevin Mawae. Jets fans are happy with the pick and we are robbed of the perennial Jets fans going nuts in disbelief.

(28) Jax takes Marcedes Lewis to complement Matt Jones, an aging Jimmy Smith, and Ernest Wilford. Very good pick by the Jaguars who have Kyle Brady (Jets fans love Kyle Brady) as their TE.

(27) Carolina Panthers take DeAngelo Williams. Remember they had basically no one at RB in the championship game against the Seahawks. Panthers shore up their RB corps with a very good pick here.

(26) The Bills trade up to take John McCargo, the third NC State D-lineman taken in the first round. Not sure about this pick – McCargo could simply have benefited from being on the same line as Mario Williams and Manny Lawson.

(25) The Steelers trade up to take Santonio Holmes, which addresses the need left by the departure of Randel-El. It’s interesting that the Giants didn’t feel a need to draft Holmes themselves to give Eli Manning another weapon and as a replacement for the aging Amani Toomer. Great shot of the Holmes draft party and one of his posse members just going nuts with joy because he’s a Pittsburgh fan. Good stuff.

(24) Cincinnati Bengals take Jonathan Joseph CB despite having the top turnover creating secondary in the league. And now the excitement is building as the NY Giants are on the clock… Just flipped over to ESPN in time to see a Giants fan flipping the bird to the camera. Klassy.

(23) Despite a need in the secondary, Chucky goes with Davin Joseph, the best guard in the draft.

(22) The Niners didn’t take much time to select Manny Lawson to fill their LB needs after the departure of Julian Peterson and Andre Carter.

(21) The Patriots taking Laurence Maroney with this pick was such a shock that the Jets fans forgot to boo. Why wouldn’t the Patriots address a need at WR when Chad Jackson and Santonio Holmes are still on the board? It’s hard to question the Patriots draft but this is a head scratcher.

(20) The Chiefs take Tamba Hali out of Penn State and Mike Mayock just said “relentless motor”. This is probably too early to take Hali. He’s a good player but not an impact DE worth a top 20 pick. After a rip roaring start in the first 10 picks, this draft has grinded to a halt and everyone is starting to lose focus. Still no WR taken yet and no RB other than Reggie Bush.

(19) The Chargers take Antonio Cromartie as expected. A very risky pick in the first round because Cromartie missed the entire 2005 season after tearing his ACL last July.

– The Chargers are taking their sweet time with the #19 pick so the NFL Network interviews Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear about the new Eagles movie about a walk on who made the team. Then Rich Eisen just made a very uncomfortable joke about Dirk Diggler and the ultimate measurables.

(18) Dallas Cowboys select Bobby Carpenter and Mike Mayock just uttered “he has a great motor”, meaning he’s probably not that good.

(17) Minnesota Vikings pick is in. Corey Chavous said they would take Chad Greenway and… the Vikings take Chad Greenway. Good work, Corey. Although it wasn’t much insight. Most folks had the Vikings taking Greenway and filling a huge need.

(16) Everyone is so surprised by the Jason Allen pick by the Dolphins that there’s complete silence. Mike Mayock just said that he might have Bo Jackson disease. We didn’t realize Bo Jackson had his own disease.

– The NFL Network is running Matt Leinart’s presser. We’re waiting for someone to ask him about waiting an extra year to come out and losing $10M.

(15) The Rams take Tye Hill. Interesting to hear Corey Chavous’ take on the Rams #1 draft choice as a player on the Rams. He seems to be happy with the pick but that could just be playing the company man.

(14) Eagles chants going off at the draft in anticipation of the next pick. There might be a riot between Eagles fans and Jets fans which would cement this draft as the wildest in history. The Eagles get a gift and get a top 10 pick at #14 with Brodrick Bunkley. Hey guess what, the NFL Network didn’t bring up the booing of McNabb.

(13) The Browns take Kamerion Wimbley which is a bit of a reach. They were probably taking the entire 30 minutes talking on the phone to trade down because Wimbley would’ve been there later.

– NFL Network’s coverage of the draft has been pretty good so far, except for this retarded Under Armor commercial. Click clack this. Hmmm… spoke too soon. The NFL just threw it back to the studio and Brentson Boogie Buckner just offered absolutely zero insight into Matt Leinart vs Vince Young.

(12) The Ravens trade up one spot and take Haloti Ngata. This doesn’t make much sense for the Browns because Ngata was a perfect fit for them. Hope they got some good picks in return from the Ravens. Although it doesn’t matter. Whoever the Browns take will end up getting injured.

(11) The Broncos just traded with St. Louis to take Jay Cutler. No pressure on Cutler being taken 11th and he’ll have a year or two to hold a clipboard while Jake Plummer infuriates Broncos fans again.

(10) The Cardinals finally save Matt Leinart from Green Room hell and this is a great pick for them. They need a QB that will last through the year and Kurt Warner isn’t it. Matt Leinart is ready to go today and he’ll fill the seats in the new Cardinals stadium. On the flip side, the Cardinals are a cursed wretched franchise so this might not be good news for Matt. By staying in school for an extra year, Leinart cost himself about $15 in guaranteed money. Ouch.

(9) The Lions take Ernie Sims, a concussion prone LB instead of a QB. So now the Lions still don’t have a franchise QB to throw the ball to the 487 WRs they’ve taken in the past 3 years. Leinart just got a call from Aaron Rogers.

(8) We have the first reach of the draft as the Bills take Donte Whitner who most people had in the 20s. Mike Mayock just said that the Bills had a lot of courage to take a guy who most people didn’t believe belonged in the top 10. Courage? Hmmm, we were thinking of another word. Matt Leinart is crying right now in the bathroom.

(7) Matt Leinart quickly becoming the Aaron Rogers of this year’s draft as the Raiders take Michael Huff to stablize their secondary. This means they actually think Aaron Brooks is their solution at QB. Al Davis must be happy to come in last in the AFC West.

(6) Vernon Davis goes to the Niners. Now, maybe Alex Smith can throw more than 1 TD this season. Again, no surprises in this draft outside of the first pick by the Texans.

(5) No surprise at #5 as the Packers take AJ Hawk. No brainer on this pick. I’m sure Brett Favre approved this pick.

(4) Jets take D’Brickashaw Ferguson over Matt Leinart and the Jets faithful are happy. It’s more fun to watch them melt down and boo.

(3) The Titans take Vince Young over Matt Leinart, which might mean that Leinart drops further into the first round because if Norm Chow didn’t want him, the rest of the teams might be wondering what’s wrong with him. Also, the Titans taking Young might just mean they overvalue their own ability to develop a quarterback. Hubris has been the downfall of many a coaching staff.

(2) The Saints take advantage of their gift from god and select Reggie Bush with the second pick. What if this makes the Saints a winning franchise like the 90’s Bulls? This is almost too surreal to be true. In his interview, Reggie Bush doesn’t seem all that excited to be part of the Saints.

-Flipping over to ESPN for a second, we hear Chris Berman on how teams think they have a shot at trading up to get Reggie Bush now: “THAT’S WHY THEY HAVE THE DRAFT.” Gee, thanks, Boomer. Can the NFL Network PLEASE somehow get Mel Kiper?

(1) There it is folks. At 12:12 EST, the Texans have made the biggest mistake in the history of the draft with Mario Williams. And that includes all the Jets mistakes. What an absolutely insane moment. Lots of boos coming from the crowd.

-We’ll live blog this thing for as long as we can take it but the ESPN intro might have been the indication that this is going to be a very short entry. It was absolutely the lamest thing we’ve ever seen. Then Chris Berman comes on and we are going to the NFL Network’s coverage. But before that, we caught Berman calling Vince Young “mercurial” – which we didn’t know meant “stupid”.
Now, as Suzy interviews Mario Williams, we know it’s time to switch to channel 212.

Categories
NFL General

Where to watch the draft: ESPN or NFL Network


The 2006 NFL Draft will be televised on both ESPN and the NFL Network this year so the big question is, where are you going to get your coverage?

On the one hand, ESPN has got 26 years of experience so they know what they’re doing. On the other, it might be time for a change. NFL Network has Rich Eisen, Mike Mayock (yeah, we couldn’t pick him out of a lineup either) and Corey Chavous. Not exactly a dream lineup but not completely terrible either. ESPN’s got Chris Berman, who, if you aren’t sick of yet, you aren’t paying attention.

At the end of the day, ESPN’s got Mel Kiper. And draft coverage without Mel Kiper is like Comedy Central without Dave Chappelle. Still, we’ll be checking out the NFL Network’s coverage just to see what they have to say. And we suspect a lot of people will as well. This could be the lowest rated draft for ESPN in years.

Links:
[Sign OnSanDiego]: ESPN loses TV draft monopoly
[NFL Network]: NFL Network’s draft coverage schedule

Categories
NFL General

Who are people smoking crack with Whitney Houston, Alex?

We surveyed about every single mock draft out there and it’s a virtual lock that Reggie Bush will be taken #1 overall. However, we did find 3 sites that have the Texans taking someone else with the #1 pick. We’re scratching out heads wondering if they are genius or fools.

[FF Live Wire]: 1. Houston Texans – Mario Williams DE North Carolina State: The Texans will surprise many of the casual NFL specatators on April 29th when they pass up on Reggie Bush. RB Domanick Davis is fifth in total yardage among all running backs in the last three years who have played a minimum of eleven games each season. The Texans have also recently given Domanick Davis a $21.1 million contract extension. Reggie Bush’s talent can not be denied but will it cross over to the NFL in a successful manner? Many believe so but the Texans will make the right decision and draft the next Julius Peppers.

[NFL Smackdown]: 1. Houston – Mario Williams
DE NC State – It’s still looking like Williams will be their guy, since affordability is a question surrounding Bush. Plus, Davis is good enough for the Texans and Coach Kubiak.

[NFL Fans]: 1. Houston – D’Brickshaw Ferguson OT Virginia – For its entire existence Houston has been handicapped with a subpar offensive line lacking an anchor on the left side. With D’Brick, that problem is solved in one smooth stroke – which should allow David Carr, one of the most sacked QB’s in the league due to poor line play, the chance to finally flourish in the NFL.

Too bad you can’t bet on the NFL Draft.