The Yankees Lose

Ok, I give up... The Yankees need to fire Joe Torie. He's been a great manager for the Yankees for the last 100 years but the team needs radical change - now. It's not Tories fault either that the Yankees are losing, and their pitching staff is chewed up worse then a used piece of gum, but things aren't going to get much better until he's the watching the games at home instead on managing them.

Important Note - none of what I've just said means that the Yankees aren't going to win the World Series this year....

April 29, 2007

NFL Draft Day Two

Well, the Patriots just wrapped up a very interesting draft. With the exception of yesterdays sole pick, Brandon Meriweather, the Pats completely confused NFL pundits and Patriot "experts" with their draft picks and moves. For example; who in the world thought that the Patriots would take a defensive tackle with their second pick of the draft? Then in the 6th round (with their forth pick of the draft) take a cornerback from one of the worst passing defenses in college football? Basically, when it comes to the Patriots nothing is ever certain, predictable, rational, conventional or whatever. What we don't know is the apex of what we do know. Nothing. Just take a looksee at their day two draft picks....

Forth round
127 -----Kareem Brown, DT, Miami
Fifth round
171 ---- Clint Oldenburg, OL, Colorado State

Sixth round
180 ---- Justin Rogers, LB, Southern Methodist University
202 ----Mike Richardson, CB, Notre Dame
208 ----Justise Hairston, RB, Central Connecticut State
209 ---- Corey Hilliard, OL, Oklahoma State

Seventh round
211 ---- Oscar Lua, LB, Southern California
247 ---- Mike Elgin, G/C/T, Iowa

If you predicted any one of those picks then give yourself a slap on the back - but don't - because you didn't. Nobody did... I'll have more on the actual players and their impact on the Patriots this year later.

Meriweather & Day One of the NFL Draft

As I predicted the Patriots drafted University of Miami safety Brandon Meriweather in the first round of the NFL draft yesterday. He can step in and start right away or he can come along slowly as an understudy to his kindness Rodney Harrison. Either way, no matter what he does this year, he's a great addition to the New England secondary and the Patriots.

As far as the rest of the Patriots draft day - in which they did nothing but trade away picks for next years draft. I really have no idea on what their doing but I sort of trust them to do the right thing. It's really impossible to judge anything right now. The teams that everyone is saying made the biggest draft day splash today and yesterday in a few years will be critized for wasting so many picks on players that ended up doing nothing so... don't jump to any conclusions.

However two teams I thought really improved themselves in this draft were the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers. Both of them needed to have excptional drafts in order to stay afloat and it right now appears both did. Starting with the Browns, they got Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas in the first round then got a really good cornerback, Eric Wright, in the second. The Panthers ended up getting three potential first round value picks with linebacker Jon Beason (first round, 25 overall), USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, and the highest rated center in the draft, Ryan Kalil.

Randy Moss is a Patriots!

The Patriots traded for Oakland star wide receiver Randy Moss today. From what I know they gave up a 4th round pick to get him. I guess you could say "touchdown Patriots!"
Update on the Moss signing

Final Predictions

The Patriots will draft at least 3 players tomorrow. Other then that nothing is certain. Oh yeah, even what I just said is uncertain... I really am hoping for a really good linebacker and cornerback or safety. Moving down into the 2d round is a possibility but if the Patriots decide to stick around where they currently are, they have a lot of opportunities. The possible blockbuster trade of the day might be the Houston Texans trading the Patriots their 10 overall pick for the Pat's 24 and 28. The whole goal of that move for the Patriots in that would be to pick up Mississippi Inside Linebacker Patrick Willis. We'll see....

SNS News - 2007 NFL Mock (Mock) Draft

-------1) The Oakland Raiders pick with the first overall selection of the 2007 NFL Draft bottle consumer/actual position unknown Ingrid*

Very smart choice for the Raiders to not trade down and instead take the best player available in the Draft. Ingrid can't do much but what she can do is meaningful, if anyone could figure out exactly what meaningful contribution she can bring to the Raiders. "I bring a lot of things to the Raiders,"Ingrid said in a post draft conference call with reporters. "I can almost crawl, almost talk and my bottle drinking skills are el la m'ucho - unsurpassed - the best in my class!" She certainty looks to be receiving a lot of bottles from current Raiders quarterback Jeff George in 2007 as the Raiders broke the record for most 4th quarter crybaby losses and hope to further that record this year. "We're a young team man," Jeff George said. "I mean like, when I was around our star player wasn't a 8 month year old carrying and receiving bottles for touchdowns. I guess you could say it's like 19th century phomoma man."

Grade: A - Still lingering questions about weight.

--------2) The Detroit Lions pick with the second overall selection of the 2007 NFL Draft - now former Patriots Vice President and Player Personnel manager Scott Pioli

In order to have a good draft in the first place you need to have someone that knows how to actually draft better then special team role players with a top 10 pick. Pioli fills a need greater then any other on a Lions team that has been eaten alive by Vikings, and torn apart by Bears in the last few decades.

Grade: B - Team also needed to address holes at cornerback, safety, linebacker, defensive line, wide receiver, tight end, quarterback, running back and punter.

--------3) The Cleveland Browns pick with the third overall selection of the 2007 NFL Draft - now former Patriots Head Couch Bill Belichick

Welcome back! Cleveland Herald headline "Beloved Bill Returns Again".... Wait till the first loss though...

Grade F - Belichick announces surprise retirement after hearing draft news

---------4) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pick with the forth overall selection of the 2007 NFL Draft - Calvin Johnson, wide receiver from Georgia Tech.

How can you draft an actual player when you still have Al Gore available at this spot? This pick makes no sense at all. One NFL personal director that I met while walking down the radio ally described the pick as a "a typical Tampa Bay wasted pick on a player with some upside but hardly any negatives or character issues."

Grade F - With Al Gore still available any other player is a bad pick. Plus, Johnson is an unproven product. In his entire lifetime he has never once played in a NFL game. To many questions and not enough sure answers to pull the trigger on Johnson so I give the Buc’s an F. Sorry.

---------5) The Arizona Cardinals pick with the fifth overall selection of the 2007 NFL Draft - Al Gore

The Cardinals have been lacking big time player since the earth started getting a half degree higher. Gore can scare opposing teams no matter where he lines up and is a constant threat to fool opposing defensive players into thinking that their melting like the polar bears and then running by them as they stand there like icebergs.

Grade A+ - Brilliant pick and the Cardinals will be holding a meeting with the Pope tomorrow to thank him for helping Gore drop this far to their pick.

The Chess Players

Conspiracy of the decade?

I never believed it from the beginning.... of course the Sox's are going to attempt to cover the it up...

Regionals

With some luck (we won two coin tosses in the outrounds) and God's help we qualified for Nationals and won the regional tournament. I'm still really tired right now so I'll write more about it later but I just thought I should let you'll know.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

TASH + PARTNER ARE 2007 NCFCA REGION 10 DEBATE CHAMPS!

Congratulations Tash & Bro! I suppose all that hard work over the summer writing your book (+ prayer) has paid off.

Off to Debate

I'm going to be gone for the next few days at a debate tournament. So unless Rex decides to do something unusual like post (?), their won't be anything new here at least till Sat. night.

James is a Patriot!

The Patriots signed former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Tory James to a one year deal today. He's durable (only missing 2 games in the last 9 years) , and picks off a lot of passes (39 interceptions in his NFL career). Solid pickup, James should start off and on with Ellis Hopps and if Samuel returns the Patriots have three really good cornerbacks.

2007 Patriots Mock Draft: Rounds 1-3

) 1st Round: 24 Pick Overall - Chris Houston, Cornerback from the University of Arkansas, 5-9, 185 pounds.

In order to survive vs the Indianapolis Colts you need to have at least three good cornerbacks. Houston is the best corner in the draft and would compete for a starting job right away. Further insentive for this pick also has to be the Asante Samuel contract dispute situation. If Samuel were to hold out or get traded without a suitable replacement the Patriots can forget any dreams of a Super Bowl victory in 07.

-Other possible picks for the Pats at this point -Darrelle Revis, Cornerback, University of Pittsburgh (5-11, 204). If Houston isn't around for the Pats, Revis might merit a pick. Also Jon Beason, Inside Linebacker, University of Miami (6-0, 237), is going to be a really solid inside linebacker in the NFL and if the Patriots like him enough they might just pick him here and forget about the spot for the rest of the draft.

) 1st Round: 28 Pick Overall - Brandon Meriweather, Safety from the University of Miami, 5-11, 195.

Rodney Harrison needs a replacement and Meriweather would be a prefect pick to do just that. UM safety's also have a good reputation for being great players in the NFL (Ed Reed, Sean Taylor).

-Other possible pick for the Pats at this point - LaMarr Woodley, OLB from Michigan. Potential All Pro, if Meriweather is gone at this point Woodley would be very much worth the pick.

* If the Patriots were to do a major trade up in the 1st round it would be to get either, Florida Safety Reggie Nelson, or University of Mississippi Inside Linebacker Patrick Willis. Also, a move up a couple spots to the 22 pick make sure that they get Chris Houston won't be a big surprise.

If on the other hand the Patriots decide to move down into the second round of the draft where they currently have no picks, the players they would most likely be aiming at would be Brian Leonard, FB, Rutgers, David Harris, Inside Linebacker from Michigan (6-2, 243), or Brandon Siler, Inside Linebacker from Florida (6-2, 241). A potential bonk me on the head and call me Barry Bonds pick could be Antonino Gonzales, WR from Ohio State. With the number of wide receivers on the Patriots though, I would doubt that that would happen.

) Third Round 28th pick, (90th overall) Zak DeOssie, Inside Linebacker, Brown University (6-4, 250). DeOssie would be a great backup to Tedy Bruschi and has all the tools to eventuality could replace him as the teams leader on the defense.

-Other possible pick for the Pats at this point - Michael Bush, (6-3, 253), Running Back, Louisville, if he's still around then the Patriots may be interested. Also Jason Hill, (6-0, 210) Wide Receiver,Washington State would fit well into the Pats crowded receiver unit.

Patriots Mock Draft Upcoming!

Possible Patriots picks in rounds 1- 3 coming tonight

A Case for Farnsworth

If you follow the Yankees at all you have to know that last night, Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth, once again, blew a game for the Yankee, ruining Kei Igawa's first chance at actually winning a game in America. So why should the Yankees keep Farnsworth on the team?

The reasons are simple. Once the Yankees dump Farnsworth they'll have no one to pitch in situations where they are trailing by 30 points or more. Another reason for keeping him on the team unlimited is his value as perhaps Alex Rodriguez's pitcher in the Home Run Derby contest! As John Sterling says "it is far! it is high! it is gone!". Keep Farnsworth, for America, for the Yankees, and for the Home Run Derby contest.

Thursday

It's debatable on whether debate is even debatable.
Hmmmm.... an interesting alternative to Wikipedia.

Basketball in the Snow

Going, going, gone!

My 2007 fantasy baseball team

Ocean State Tsunami’s

Starters
Johan Santana, Matsuzaka, Paul Byrd, Cliff Lee,

Relievers
Roman Colon, Jason Davis, Jimmy Gobble, Scott Downs

Outfielders
Jermaine Dye, Gary Sheffield, Craig Monroe, Reggie Sanders, Shannon Stewart, Sammy Sosa

Corner Fielders
Justin Morneau, Ryan Garko, Chris Gomez

Middle Fielders
Michael Young, Aaron Hill, Jose Vidro

Catchers
Gerald Laird, John Buck

Days 2 & 3 - Debating and Waiting

Really simply - on Saturday I woke up and debated for the rest of the day. The rounds went like this -

Round 1 - Negative vs NATO Banning Depleted Uranium: We won, sort of a easy case to go up against....

Round 2 - Negative vs Stopping Expansion: Again, we won. I was really hoping that we would be able to go up against this case sometime.

Round 3- Affirmative: Win, the judge said that we just squeak by with a victory. I thought that we had a chance of both losing and winning this debate depending on some of the main issues so not to much of a surprise with the decision. It really could have gone either way though.

Round 4 - Negative vs GDP Defense Capability's 2.5% reform: Win, Aff. team ended up finishing in second place overall in the tournament.

Round 5 - Affirmative: Loss! At the beginning of this debate we were getting killed but we managed to almost tie it up in the rebuttal's. Close debate but I agree with the judges decision that we lost. The Negative team ended up winning first place in the tournament....

Round 6- Affirmative: Win! Wrap up the day by debating a first year team. Probably was the easiest debate of the day but I still feel really tired.

The teams that broke to the outrounds were announced the next morning and it ended up that that by brother Peter and his partner broke along with Eric and Aaron C. and Aidan and I. We faced the Coopers in the quarterfinals and they won on a 2-1 decision. We had actually talked on the way up about having a feeling that we were going to debate each other in the tournament.... I though that they deserved to win and we could have won as well but when you get to the outrounds many debates between good teams are so close that most turn out like that anyways. I was almost glad that we lost because I was just so tired from the previous days debates and really didn't have much energy to debate with anyways. I ended up watching some of the simifinals and correctly guessed the voting decision (2-1) on the debate I watched one minute debate began. I could tell that the judges didn't like the case by the way they tilted their heads when the 1AC speaker talked (really! I'm not kidding). After a great final round that was very enjoyable to watch there was the awards session. As far as speaker awards Aidan finished as the 8th overall speaker at the tournament and I finished in 2d place. Our group (counting the Eric and Aaron who are unofficial members of our club....) took three out of the top eight team placements. Peter and his partner Steven H. came in 7th place, Aaron and Eric 4th, and Aidan and myself 5th. Grace also won a award for being one of the top timers and Irgrid won the sweepstakes for bottle consumption.In the end the tournament was probably one of the most fun I have ever been to in my three years of doing debate (even more then when we won 1st place last year). There really wasn't any huge pressure to win and we really just had a lot of fun debating good teams.

Regular Season Starts

The Red Sox lost and the Yankees won..... Yaaaaaaaa.....Nothing has changed.

Day two of the thrilling debate tourny coming tomorrow.

Day 1 - WestEastern Ho!

On Thursday afternoon the debating group in our family (you know who they are - Peter, Aidan - my Mom, - sister, G. Ingrid and myself) headed up to Syracuse, New York for a debate tournament. On the way we picked up some friends (Eric and Aaron C.) who were also going to debate at the Syracuse tournament. Eric C. is a rabid Red Sox's and Patriots fan so we had plenty to talk (or argue.... think Red Sox.... pray that he will one day see how bad the Sox's are and repent and become a Yankees fan....) about on the trip - including figuring out who's going to draft who in the NFL draft.... After I started gettting a headache and becoming carsick from turning around talking to Eric and Peter about sports - I discussed debate theory and the NATO topic with Aaron C. and Aidan. As expected, about five hours of driving we finally reached the Syracuse area. We stopped at Chittenango Falls State Park for a few minutes and took pictures and jumped off the huge waterfall. After drying off we headed over to where we would be staying during the tournament - our friends and fellow debaters the Claghorns - house (actually at a friends of the Claghorns house). After being shocked to find out that the Clag's were Buffalo Bills fan, we all cried for a few hours and then went outside and beat each other up in a football game. My team ended up losing (by a touchdown) - but we did have the small disadvantage of having five to four less players then the other team..... On one play that I was quarterback I was scrambling away from the (negative teams....) blitz when I hit a muddy spot and literally went flying. Both feet and arms in the air for about 10 seconds then "SLAM".... When I hit the ground the football just popped out of my hand and rolled away and I didn't feel like really getting up. On another play there was a fumble and I was the "first" one to recover it but it slipped/slammed out of my hands and the pileup for the football ended up a few feet away from where I was. Undaunted - I jumped into the new pile and ended up digging the football out for my team anyways.... As Dan Rather would say, "courage." And don't ask me why he would say that. He just would.

Some pictures from day 1

If you can read then this picture doesn't need a caption

Likewise

The media swarms

Could he be preparing to dive? Diving off the waterfall is surprisingly not recommended by most experts. It can cause minor headaches and temporary cause you to see stars that don't really exist.

The waterfall

"Row, row, row your boat, merrily down the stream.... "

Under the bridge leading up to the falls

We arrive in Buffalo Bills country

A shot of the amazingly dramatic football game

Day two coming up next

Back!

Got back at 12:30 last night - post on the tournament upcoming....