Pro Bowl Post Mortem

By: Jake

Yes, that title was chosen wisely and reflects the style of play the AFC displayed in this lopsided affair, which had literally no importance, except to give the people of Hawaii a break from 7am NFL starts. And what did these loyal Hawaiians and possibly honeymooners, get for their day in paradise? I could list a myriad of stats to show how awful of a game this was from a purist standpoint; the 9 total turnovers, the 1 total yard in punt returns combined from both teams, or even the 0 rushing attempts from Michael Vick, who despite his off the field issues can be very exciting to watch. Really, the list goes on and on. However, it is also important to remember that this game isn’t about the football purists who want to see hard hits and high intelligence strategy, its about connecting with the fans, and the Pro Bowl players having a little fun after 5 months of grueling work week in and week out.

Throughout the game you would see players signing autographs for the fans and not one of them was seen without a smile from ear to ear. Despite a 42-0 halftime score, the stadium was still filled at the start of the 3^rd quarter and into the final minutes, which shows even more that this was all about the experience and not the actual game. However, the 42 “Game Fan Rating”(on a scale of 1-100) on NFL.com shows that if the NFL wants to make this a more marketable and respectable game, they would be well advised to take a page out of the NHL’s playbook and add some exciting twist to the game. For those who don’t know, the NHL instituted a fantasy draft of the voted all stars by two chosen captains, and the game got hoards of media attention and was a great hit. Given the popularity of fantasy football, especially compared to fantasy hockey, this wouldn’t be the worst idea the NFL could make. I know I’d tune into the draft if Peyton Manning were picking teams with Tom Brady on the other side. And since this game holds no importance like the MLB All Star game, the NFL has free license to do whatever it wants with the game really. This is after all, the NFL. They would have to royally screw up to lose any fans of the game.

To sum up my thoughts on the game and the prospects for its future, keep it in Hawaii, and please mix it up next time. Also, whatever happened to the skills competition?

The Kolb Conundrum

By: Matt

When the Philadelphia Eagles traded away franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb before the start of this season they expected Kevin Kolb to step in and lead the team. Kolb had been drafted 3 years prior with the intention of being groomed as McNabb’s successor (much like Super Bowl starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers was groomed to replace Brett Favre). Now, less then one year later, the Eagles have found a NEW franchise quarterback and are left facing an unparalleled, and in some ways unenviable, situation.

In just 3 short years as an Eagle Kolb has become one of the team’s most controversial and divisive players. His play on the field varied from terrifying (best seen during a relief stint for McNabb during a 2008 game against Baltimore) to record-breaking (his first two starts in 2009 against New Orleans and Kansas City). The Eagles chose to hand the talented but unproven Kolb the reigns and traded away their controversial leader of nearly a decade. Kolb lasted nearly a week in that role. An injury to Kolb allowed Michael Vick, arguably the NFL’s most electrifying (and controversial) player to return to the spotlight and demonstrate the benefits of new teaching and a new perspective. Kolb was once-again relegated to a back-up role, Vick became the fan-favorite and team leader, and now the Eagles must make a decision: what should be done with Kevin Kolb.

Recent news of an impending Franchise Tag for Vick indicates that the Eagles will attempt to trade Kolb before the NFL draft. As a classic example of the law of unintended consequences, top prospect and consensus #1 overall pick Andrew Luck’s decision to return to Stanford for his senior year has not only crushed the Carolina Panthers hope of getting a new franchise quarterback, but also caused Kolb’s market value to skyrocket. The remaining quarterbacks in the draft all have a fair share of question marks, and many are seen as incapable of playing from day 1. Kolb now has an affordable contract and 4 years of NFL experience in addition to the prerequisite physical skill that made him the Eagles top draft choice in 2007. Trading Kolb would seem logical; teams like Arizona, Minnesota, Oakland, Washington, and Miami all need quarterbacks; however, trading Kolb to one of the many logical suitors isn’t nearly the simple. Because of the impending lockout NFL teams are barred from making trades. The only activity that can occur this off-season (without a new CBA being signed) would be the draft. If the draft occurs before the CBA is signed, no trades can be made, and the Eagles will be forced to keep Kolb. Trading Kolb for draft picks is the most logical course of action for the Eagles, and trading him for a 2012 draft pick may be undesirable to the team. Other teams in need of quarterbacks could also simply draft one, rather than trade away future draft picks to bet on Kolb. If the Eagles don’t want 2012 picks, they would be forced to keep a quarterback who has expressed a desire to start or leave as a backup for another year.

The Kolb situation is complicated, the simplest course of action that would benefit everyone the most may be relegated to the realm of the hypothetical because of the labor strife, and if that occurs, the Eagles will be faced with a small number of options they may not be pleased with any of. Ultimately, what happens with Kolb will be the result of a multitude of factors, the most important of which is the union negotiations that will dominate sports media for the next few seasons (hopefully not). Trading Kolb may seem logical, but given the circumstances and limitations, it may not be possible or advantageous. As frustrating as it may seem, only time can resolve this conflict. Until then, we are all free to speculate. Nobody can change anything now.

76ers Open Season With a Loss

By: Jake

So its been awhile since we've last posted anything on here (I know thats an understatement) so I thought what better way to spend the waning hours of the night than writing about the Philadelphia 76ers? Since nothing came to mind right away, a 76ers article was about to be made. So here it is:

Watching the Sixers tonight brought back a lot of emotional memories, so it was a really fun experience, until the Heat broke out to a game high 26 point lead. A lot went into that so I'll get to that later. As the game began you could hear the fans really getting into the game. Loud boos came from the stands whenever #6 on the Heat touched the ball. In case you've been living under a rock for the last few months, #6 would be none other than the Lebron James. So on top of the boos for Lebron, I heard a smattering of boos for Bosh too. In front of a sellout crowd for the first time in awhile, the Sixers kept it close the entire first half thanks to the recurring theme of many Heat turnovers. The deficit for the Sixers at half was only 8 despite being greatly overwhelmed by the talent on the Heat. Brand and surprising rookie Evan Turner, who had struggled mightily during the preseason ended up leading the team in rebounds and played major roles in keeping the game closer than it should be given the talent disparity. The Sixers had actually gained the lead before someone turned on 100% 3-Point shooting for James Jones of the Heat, as he drained 3 from downtown and completely changed the way the game was trending. Jones finished the game a devastating 6-9 from long distance and was a real momentum killer.

The Heat stretched their lead to 26 in the 3rd Quarter and seemingly went into Cruise Control, and the Sixers took advantage, cutting the lead to 8 with under a minute to go in the game. After a steal, an offensive foul all but doomed the Sixers, and they ended the game losing by 10. However, from this loss there were a few notable developments in the play of certain players. Most notably, the #2 overall pick in the draft, Evan Turner came off the bench to lead the Sixers with 16 points and he collected 6 rebounds which was good enough for 2nd on the team this night. Turner looked very comfortable on the court and showed a lot of what the Sixers saw in him at Ohio State, where he won National player of the Year. Turner was thrown into the fire defensively as well, having to guard the likes of Lebron and Dwayne Wade in his first ever professional game, and he responded very well in that category as well. Another interesting note was the ineffectiveness of Jrue Holiday. Holiday was projected by many to have a breakout year this year, but tonight's game wont be one of his signature performances, lets just put it that way. Jrue turned the ball over 5 times and only shot 22% from the field scoring 6 points on 2 late game 3 pointers. Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams turned in great performances off the bench, both with 15+ pts. This was a very noticeable trend as the bench outscored the starters 57-30.

Given the circumstances, all in all there were a lot of positives to take from this game. Turner and the bench looked really good in their time on the court, and the newly dubbed Wells Fargo Center was sold out for the first time in a while. The Sixers take on the Atlanta Hawks at the WF Center on Friday and we'll see how this team responds against another high quality opponent, as well as see if new Head Coach Doug Collins feels the need to make any lineup adjustments.

Month 1 as a Pirates Fan

By: Jake

For this year in the MLB I decided I'd change from being a fan of the World Series favorite St. Louis Cardinals to a younger team who I could really get behind and call my own, so I chose a team with one of the best young players in the MLB, Andrew McCutchen. Its been quite the up and down month as the Pirates started off with two quality wins against the Dodgers but then things have gone down from there. They went on to lose 5 of their next 7, giving up 59 runs in the process. The abysmal pitching was horrifying to watch and the offense didn't really make much noise except for McCutchen and Garrett Jones who homered 3 times in the first 2 games. Andy LaRoche was solid at the plate too but didn't supply the power he was supposed to. After that abysmal slide, the Pirates came home to sweep the division foe Reds and give fans another glimmer of hope. This didn't last long as the very next game the Bucs were shutout in front of their home crowd 8-0 and 20-0 respectively and it was the start of a disastrous 7 game losing streak during which I questioned my transformation into a Pirates fan. But through the tough times one thing gave me hope, #22 in CF. Andrew McCutchen leads the league in stolen bases and still manages to put up solid power numbers especially for a leadoff hitter. He wasn't always the leadoff hitter though. Pirates Manager John Russell had at one point had 20 different line ups through 22 games giving very little stability to the team. This complete lack of a consistent lineup was partly due to trying to jump start the offense but also due to the fact that there aren't really many staples in the line up besides McCutchen and LaRoche. Even Aki Iwamura was subbed out for times to see if a player like Bobby Crosby or Ronny Cedeno could provide more pop. The outfield has been shifted around numerous times as Garrett Jones switches from RF to 1B depending on the troubled young Jeff Clement's status for the game. Even the backstop has been rotating for the Pirates. Ryan Doumit has been playing very well this year, but youngster Jason Jaramillo is almost too good not top play plus he has the arm to throw out runners which is something Doumit lacks.

Overall, this team has been frustrating to watch, but something tells me they'll put something close to a respectable season together once SP Ross Ohlendorf comes back from the DL and a kid from AAA like Brad Lincoln is called up to contribute. I remain optimistic as I am with all my favorite teams and especially can't wait to travel to Pittsburgh and see the best stadium in the MLB in PNC Park. I'll be sporting a brand new black McCutchen jersey by then hopefully.

2010 Jaguars Draft Recap

By: Jake

In what was the most insane first round of an NFL draft I’ve ever seen, the Jaguars may have made one of the most intriguing picks in Tyson Alualu. Alualu was a late riser on the boards right before the draft and was kept pretty much a secret by most NFL insiders but was rumored to go to the Dolphins at pick 12 and the Jaguars couldn’t risk not getting their disruptive DT that they wanted. The Jaguars had no 2nd round pick due to trading it to the Patriots for the pick that yielded Derek Cox last year, but their 3rd round pick was a questionable one. DT D’Anthony Smith was another pick very few knew about but added another body to the much deprived Defensive Line who only recorded 12 sacks last year and gave up a lot on the ground. Smith, a 6’2” 305 lb run stuffer from Louisiana Tech should be extremely good depth at DT and could get significant time if John Henderson is traded in the near future. The next round the Jaguars were able to execute a great trade in which they exchanged their 4th for the Raiders 5th and MLB Kirk Morrison. The Raiders could not work out a contract with Morrison and he became expendable after the team used their 1st round pick on MLB Rolando McClain. Morrison was exactly what the Jaguars needed at MLB after they rotated Durant, D. Smith and even sometime Russell Allen at MLB last year. Morrison has never missed a game in his Pro career and has recorded triple digit tackles in every year also. At 28, he’s a young player who will fit perfectly in the Jags defense and allow Smith and Durant to be even more effective on the outside. Morrison’s deal however is only 1 year deal and the Jaguars will need to resign him next year if they want to keep his services for any longer duration of time.

With no 4th round pick the Jaguars had to wait until the 4th round to pick again and they didn’t hesitate to add more depth and talent to the D-Line as they chose De/OLB Larry Hart from Central Arkansas and Austen Lane from Murray State. Of those two, the more recognizable name is Lane who stands at 6’ 6” and 276 lbs and recorded 12 sacks last year with 22 TFL. Lane was given a 3rd round pick grade by CBS Sportsline so it looks like the Jaguars got great value here in a position of need. 6th round pick Deji Karim from Southern Illinois represents the 4th player in a row taken from a small school. When looking at him, many Jaguars fans can’t help to see a little Maurice Jones-Drew in him, as even his number was similar to MJD’s (31). The 5’9” RB scored 20 times in 2009 and averaged 7.1 ypc in his Senior year at S. Illinois along contributing 2,339 all purpose yards for the Salukis that year. Karim will likely be the Jaguars opening day Kick Returner according to GM Gene Smith. With their final pick in the draft the Jaguars selected their PR for next year in CB Scotty McGee from James Madison.

Tyson Who? You'll See

By: Jake

Although the Bills started the cascade of surprising picks and questionable trades drafting RB CJ Spiller, the Jaguars definitely raised some eyebrows with the next pick selecting DT/DE Tyson Alualu of Cal. The Hawaiian defensive tackle was thought by many to have a low first or high second grade on him by many experts, yet the Jaguars went ahead and chose him with the 10th pick in the 2010 draft. A few other teams like Miami and Tennessee were also rumored to have an interest in him, which likely scared Jaguars GM Gene Smith into picking him instead of pulling a similar trade to that of the 49ers who traded back 3 spots and only netted an extra 4th rounder. The Dolphins picked at 12 and the Jaguars did not feel like they could have come out of that scenario with Alualu and the extra 4th so he was the pick at #10. Another curios thing to think about is what would the situation have been if the Bills and Raiders had not drafted two of the Jaguars most highly thought of prospects in Spiller and Rolando McClain who the Jaguars were supposedly very high on? All of that is a moot point now as many Jaguars fans are getting more and more used to the pick and beginning to accept Alualu and his awesome last name into the Jaguars family. And frankly after they watch the tape on him, its hard to blame them for their optimism. Gene Smith had an extremely good draft last year, taking two immediate starters on the O-Line, a starting CB who led the team in INT, and a WR who recorded the most receptions for a rookie in Jaguars history, surpassing Maurice Jones-Drew’s record set n his rookie year. On top of those players, he also took TE Zach Miller who was really looking like his fellow Zach Miller in Oakland with his speed and YAC ability throughout the season. Smith didn’t stop there with the productive picks, as 7th round pick Rashad Jennings was the spell back for Maurice Jones-Drew out playing RB Chauncey Washington who many were high on coming off the 2008 campaign.

Some Jaguars fans are worried however, abut the lack of an exciting player being chosen with the #10 overall pick as sagging ticket sales is something they’re beginning to grow weary of hearing about. Many believe a sexy pick like QB Jimmy Clausen who was available at that pick would have boosted revenue and brought an excitement to the team that is needed to sell out a stadium. GM Gene Smith ahs other ideas about that way of approaching the draft, ““I’m not trying to win a popularity contest. I’m about winning a Super Bowl,” he said at the press conference after Day 1 of the draft. And while some people are skeptical of the pick, others like Vic Ketchman of Jaguars.com is happy with the pick and the way that Gene Smith is attacking the draft. In his article about the Alualu pick, he stated that Gene knows that you build a team from the inside out and drafting outstanding DTs and OT’s is the way you win the battles in the trenches and ultimately the game. It is widely known that the Jaguars were worst in the league in pass rushing last year as they recorded only 14 sacks the entire year even after drafting Des with their two first round picks two years ago. The selection of Alualu and the addition of Aaron Kampman in the offseason were clearly direct attempts to fix that gaping hole in the defense that prevented the Jaguars from being effective on the defensive side specifically against the pass. Whether or not this pick will end up being the right one will only be answered in time and at this time we can only speculate. This Jaguars fan however, remains optimistic and trusts the man making the decisions.

Lack of New CBA Raises Questions

By: Jake

In the NFL, there is a looming Collective Bargaining Agreement end in sight and it will cause many hectic things to come into place in the NFL world. One specifically is the lack of a salary cap on teams in the league. This salary cap has been an item that has placed all of the teams on a level playing field and kept the league competitive, bringing in more and more fans as such a high majority of the teams were constantly competitive. However, one of the things that may come of this lack of agreement is the implementing of a rookie salary cap.

Year after year, we see many young players becoming some of the highest paid players in the league even though they have proven nothing in the NFL. With the opportunity to fix this problem, the NFL and the NFLPA have the chance to fix a problem that has been bugging the heck out of fans who constantly see their teams shell out monstrous contracts to players who have done just as much in the NFL as they have. Every year the contracts get bigger too, only adding to the pressure to get something done I this golden opportunity. This also comes at the time where commissioner Roger Goodell just got his contract extended and has built a reputation of a strong handed leader who does not tolerate any wrong doings from players. The rookies coming in this year have a valid gripe about an implementation of this sort.

Why should they be the first rookie class to be put up to this rookie pay scale? They did just as much to get where the previous class did and they are losing out on money because of unlucky timing? That does not seem fair and it is something that the NFLPA will argue very animatedly. The incoming rookies will also set the standard of how future rookies will handle the new system if one does come into place. As of now nothing is for sure, but many fans are hopeful for something to restrict these money hungry rookies who sometimes take it to the extreme and hold out into a team’s training camp, therefore causing much confusion and strife amongst the team and the new players.

All in all, there are a ton of things that need to be ironed out with the forming of the new Collective Bargaining agreement in the NFL, but at the forefront is the rookie salary Cap. Although it may not be fair to the incoming class of players, it needed to be done sometime along the line.