The NFL with Substitute Teachers

So, during the NFL off-season, a lockout started.  With last season's NFL lockout and then the NBA lockout and now it looks like a new NHL lockout looming, this one was relatively minor and didn't make headlines much. Then the preseason started.  And the little lockout wasn't really the focus.  Then week 1 started the regular season.  It was a bit hairy, but they pulled through.  They did better than anyone thought they would.  Maybe it will be okay.  Then week 2 got worse.  "It seems like the coaches and players were pushing to see how far they could get away with things.  Now they know and they're keeping it there.  Now week 3 is in the books and all hell is starting to break loose.  For those of you who don't know, the regular NFL refs are locked out.  That means the muscled Ed Hochuli (seen to the right) and company keeping law and order over the rough and tumble gridiron.

Now the previous (regular) refs weren't perfect; no one is.  The picture of Hochuli is actually from an old ESPN story about his apology for blowing a call that cost a game.  It happens.  But Hochuli and company maintained control of the games.  They made calls with decisiveness and quickness that maintained order, a modicum of fairness and, most of all, the pace of the game.  The replacement officials don't do any of that.  There are grievously blown calls (at least they blow them both ways) and not enough discipline during the extra-curricular shoving matches.

Where did they get these refs?  They could have probably just brought up DI (I'm not going to bother with the FCS BCS BS) referees who know the rules.  There are rules changes form college to the pros, but they aren't much to remember if you study.  Pass interference in college is up to the spot of the foul, maximum 15 yards and a first down.  The pros is spot of the foul (no limit) and first down.  So if your QB is an arm with a life support attached, you could probably get a 80 yard penalty.  There are some other rules, like a player can get back up and run if he isn't down by contact (touched while down) in the pros.  Once you're down, you're down, in college.

But these officials aren't from the DI college ranks.  For one the bigger conferences (Big 10, Pac 12, SEC) treat their officials DAMN well.  They wouldn't want to lose the gigs for a temp position at the NFL.  And most of said conferences (and the other biggies) told their officials if they left, they wouldn't have jobs to come back to.  So these officials are borrowed from the Arena league (lots of different rules and nowhere near as much pressure...if you're asking "What's Arena League"...exactly) or as far down as DIII.  When the Sports Wife asked what is DIII, the Sports Bro-In-Law explained that that's where you find Bob's Really Good College and the like.  These guys aren't ready for this kind of pressure on this stage.  They are substitute teachers and the NFL players and coaches know it.  The NFL is making money hand over fist off of fines for complaining about the refs.  It doesn't matter that the players and coaches are absolutely correct in their complaints.  They're still getting fined.  Take a minute and open another tab in your browser.  In the google bar type "replacement officials complaints."  Look at some of the links/headlines that pop up.  Fox and Del Rio from Denver have already been fined.  Belichick, Shanahan, Harbaugh, and probably some of the Green Bay Packers after tonight, will all be fined this week.

The NFL has been preaching an awful lot lately about caring about player safety. (With a class-action lawsuit from 3000 former players, I'd be preaching, too).  But hits that go uncalled, penalties unenforced, and arguments that should be diverted aren't being controlled by these officials.  Frustration boils over and leads to more vicious hits and more fights. If the NFL truly cared about player safety, they'd settle the issue with the original refs and get the game back to the way it should be.  We're three weeks into the regular season and now it is starting to affect the outcome of games.  Now that it is doing this, it will probably start getting the owners' attention.  It shouldn't have to come to that.  Roger Goodell should have settled this issue earlier.  The replacement officials are starting to lower the quality of your product.  The question is will it hurt the demand for it?  Or will we continue to complain into our beers and blogospheres while we watch?

What to do (or not to do) with King Felix

In a recent Sports Illustrated blurb, Joe Sheenan looked at the case for Felix Hernandez.  ("The Case for Felix Hernandez, Aug 27, 2012).  The piece ran just 12 days after King Felix finally achieved the elusive Perfect Game.  Sheenan makes the case that Seattle should trade its long time ace for various reasons.  1). He deserves to be on a winning team after playing for the perennial cellar-dwelling Mariners.  2). He is at his peak and they can get some offensive players for him right now.  Sheenan points out recent transactions such as the trade that gave the Texas Rangers their contender team when they traded Mark Teixeira.  Sheenan also cites the Mariners' anemic offense as the center of their woes.

The difficulty in responding to this is to try to separate the fan part of my mind from the analytic part.  I am tempted to rattle off an angry e-mail to SI because Sheenan has the audacity to suggest Seattle trade its heart and soul (undisputed heart and soul after the Ichiro trade)?  I'm I being a "homer?" I can see the point that Sheenan makes.  Hernandez would fetch quite a prize right now given that yesterday was his first loss since JUNE.  The Yankees would probably trade handsomely for Hernandez just so they wouldn't have to face him (Felix is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.35 against the Yankees this season and is holding the vaunted Yankee lineup to a piddling .213 average with 17 strikeouts).  What's more, he has ERA's of 0.00 and 0.53 against the hated Red Sox and Rays, respectively.  The problem is with the Yankees riddled with injuries and still trying to make a post-season run, they don't have any established players to trade.  The Mariners could probably get their entire farm system, though.

Of course, there are other teams to trade with.  Boston just jettisoned stars with more money tied up in contracts than the GDP of some nations. But should they trade King Felix at all?

Seattle does have a desperate need of offense.  They haven't had a feared offense since the 116-game winning season (which, by the way, was a team that didn't have certain players named Griffey, Rodriguez, or Johnson).  It is true that last season, the Mariners had a horrendous streak of offensive ineptitude when they lost 14 games in a row.  Many of those games were great pitching battles with scores like 1-0 or 2-0.  Seattle couldn't get any runs.  They couldn't string together hits.

But last season is not this season.  The Mariners may still be heading toward another sub-.500 finish (or maybe they aren't--this late in the season, they're only 5 games under .500 and, technically, have a chance to make the playoffs, it's one-tenth of one percent).  But this season, they aren't stringing together double-digit losing streaks.  This season, they are winning games 1-0 and 2-1 (today's score against the Angels? 2-1 Mariners).  They're starting to get more hitters.  While this year's team doesn't have the batting averages found with the 2001 116-wins team, they are showing improvement.  And they're young.  That is the kicker. Jesus Montero is in his first full season.  John Jaso is in his third full season and is has a higher batting average than he's had before.  There are four regular position players over 30 on the team.  The oldest of the position players is 34 (a tie between sometimes-starters Chone Figgins and Miguel Olivo).  At 26, Felix is older than every one of the regular outfielders.  This isn't a bad team, it is an inexperienced team.  With experience comes higher batting averages.  With experience comes offense.

The Mariners have a front end pitching staff that has been fearsome this season.  Felix is at 13 wins and is carrying an ERA 60 points lower than his career 2.51 vs 3.15.  Their #2 starter, Jason Vargas also has 13 wins and 116 strikeouts.  Felix Hernandez and Jason Vargas give the Mariners a core to start building around, a task already underway.  The team is improving.  Their division got a lot harder this season with Los Angeles re-tooling to take a shot at powerhouse Texas (which also added new talent).  Add them to a surging Oakland team and the AL West no longer looks like the league's forgotten division.  And Seattle is starting to compete.  Seattle is already within two wins of last season's total with a month yet to go.  Seattle has used this season to add new talent as well.  It is another season of rebuilding, but with the pitching and the flashes of potential, the Mariners show signs of life.

Sheenan points to offense being the key to filling seats.  And the fact that the Mariners are 26th in attendance seems to support that.  But trading Felix isn't going to help that statistic, but make it worse.  Seattle has a good farm system and is growing some great up and coming pitchers.  Felix is still signed for two more years, giving them time to bring the new pitchers up to shore up the later rotations.  With Trayvon Robinson and Eric Thames adding life, speed, and hitting to the outfield (and both in their first two seasons), the Mariners are working on that weak offense.  With the additions of Montero from the Yankees, Jaso from the Rays adding to their DH and catching corps, the team is coming along.

Trading Hernandez wouldn't just alienate the Seattle faithful, it would be restarting the progress they've already made.  Seattle is one of the best defensive teams in the majors.  With a young team, the expectation would be to have more errors in the field.  Seattle has the fewest, 8 fewer than the next team, the White Sox.    The Mariners also lead the league in fielding percentage.  They are tied with Baltimore for second in putouts. With the offense improving, it is the last piece a puzzle that will take the AL by surprise next season, much the same way Baltimore has this year.

And it will all revolve around keeping the Ace.  Seattle needs Felix.

Yankees Mariners Trade

On July 23rd an interesting series of events occurred.

First, I got married to my best friend, the former Sports Fiancee.  She is now The Sports Wife.  We had an awesome ceremony and wedding day that revolved around two of our favorite things--baseball and food.  We got married at Pike Place Market in Seattle, in front of the fish throwers (who photobombed the wedding pictures).  Then, we were off in pedal cabs (Greener Cab Company in Seattle is a great way to get around the downtown area, I recommend it for anyone heading to the Emerald City).  We headed to Safeco Field, bride and bridesmaids with baseball bats, groom and groomsmen with gloves.  We took pictures outside the field.  We faked a game of baseball for the camera, we posed with our accouterments, we hammed it up.  The New Sports Wife threw her bat instead of a bouquet.  We had a drink at Pyramid microbrewery across the street.  I went to get our tickets.  We headed to Crab Pot to bash things with mallets and eat them (the Sports Wife started things off with her bat, of course).

After a brief nap, we all headed back to Safeco for the game.  We heard on our way to the gate that Ichiro was traded to the Yankees.  I brushed it off.  I heard this rumor or something similar every time I approached a baseball field.  The Yankees have a flotilla of outfielders, why would they take Ichiro?  My groomsman, Bob the Pennsylvania-to-Denver Transplant, and I ran to get another ticket for a friend joining us.  We ran back around the building to the rest of the wedding party (we got there early enough that only the main ticket office was open and we were going to get in at the Center Field Gate, which is the first one Safeco opens).

When we got back to our group, The Sports Wife looked at me, nearly with tears in her eyes.  It wasn't a rumor.  Ichiro was traded.  I whipped out my phone to check the trade myself.  Why would the Yankees take Ichiro?  Why would the Mariners trade Ichiro?  What could the Yankees have offered in exchange?  Jeter?!?  No.  The Yankees sent the Mariners two pitching prospects, who would report to AAA Tacoma, and cash.  I've written blogs defending the Yankees.  I've looked at baseball as a business and a game where trades happen all the time, players move and re-move.  But this time, they took my new wife's favorite.  They took one of MY favorites.

Since deciding to visit Seattle as often as we can and go to a Mariners game equally often (with the exception of our February trips), I've grown familiar with the Mariner line-up.  I can rattle off almost as many Mariners as Yankees these days.  I can tell you who plays where and can usually get the starting pitcher (I may need to look at the previous night's/game's pitcher to see where we are in the rotation, but I have to do that with the Yankees, too).  I can watch the Mariners every game on Root Sports.  I have to wait until some channel (usually ESPN) airs the Yankees in my area.

Ichiro has been there the longest.

I cheer for the Mariners.  Every game I've gone to, with the exception of three, I've cheered for the Mariners.  Those three were last year when the Yankees were in town and Mariano was approaching the saves record.  I've rocked out when they sent in League (last year's closer).  I've screamed "BARTENDER, CLOSE MY TAB!" when they've sent in Wilhelmsen (this year's closer).  I've headbanged to "Smells like Teen Spirit" as they introduced the starting lineup for the Mariners and to "We're not Gonna Take It" when they need a 9th inning rally.  Holy Crap, I've rooted for the Mariners more times this year than I have for the Yankees!

I felt like the Yankees ruined our wedding day.

It had to be July 23rd.  Why?  Because the Yankees were coming to town and it would be the ideal time to make the switch?  Because it would give Seattle a rip-the-BandAid-so-it-will-feel-better-sooner moment to say goodbye?  Because the trade deadline was a week away?  Why did it have to be our wedding day?  We were still in our wedding clothes.  We still had our bats and gloves.

The Mariners traded Ichiro to the Yankees for cash, Mitchell, Farquhar...and me.

Monday, I did a lot of things for the first time.  I said "I do" in front of four friends, a photographer, an officiant, and total strangers.  I got goosed by my best man as I peered through the hole in the glove sculpture in front of Safeco.  I went to bed a married man. I rooted against the Yankees.  The Sports Wife had a sign that said she married a Yankees fan, so it MUST be true love.  But I wasn't a Yankees fan that night.  Or the next.  Or the next day.  I rooted for the Mariners as Millwood lost, Hernandez won (and beaned three), and Luetge let a one-run lead slip away in the eighth.  I bought a Felix Hernandez rookie card instead of a Jeter.

I put away my beloved Joe DiMaggio jersey and didn't wear it this trip.  It didn't feel right. I couldn't support the Yankees as they took away Seattle's most beloved player.  I did the research.  The trade made sense.  One of the Yankees speedy outfielders in that flotilla went on the DL for the rest of the season shortly before the trade.  A handful of the other outfield flotilla members are approaching, or already are, 40.  Ichiro is in the last year of his contract, so the Mariners could trade him and actually get something in return instead of losing him to free agency.  The Mariners also get two young players for an old one (Ichiro is 38, but is still fast, stealing a base against his former team as soon as he got on base).  Ichiro benefited in going from a last place team to a first place one.  The Yankees shored up a sudden weak point with a strong veteran.  Having Ichiro's speed when he's on base leads to more fastballs (which are easier to hit further if you know they're coming) for other Yankees because a fastball is the best way to throw a runner out when attempting a steal.  Everyone benefits...except the fans.  Except The Sports Wife who cried during the Wednesday afternoon game when Ichiro batted lead-off for the Yankees and got a standing ovation, to which he tipped his cap and bowed.  And what about the lady in the front row of right field who brings the Ichi-meter to every game?  It had a heart on it Wednesday.  It still tracked his hits through the games.  What did she do tonight?  The Mariners played the Royals--without Ichiro on either team.

So this is how it feels when a team trades away the most beloved player.  Not a player who finished his contract and moved on (like another player who wore 51, Bernie Williams), but a beloved player traded...gone...to the team that they were playing that night.  So this is how it feels to watch a sports legend in a city go.  This sucks.  I wouldn't have to feel this if I keep rooting for the Yankees.  We can usually tell who's going to stay and who's going to go.  We don't get attached to them (although I did like Bernie and I'm not anxious to see Mariano or Derek retire).  The Yankees always trade up.  They don't rebuild.

This is how it feels for a team to make the move to rebuild and look to the future.  The Sports Wife is extra critical of Carlos Peguero, who had to step into Ichiro's shoes.  "He's not as fast."  "What's with the batting average? I thought he was supposed to bring some offense."  "Ichiro would have had that one, this guy doesn't need to be here."  I have to wonder how many other Seattle fans are taking their frustrations out on the new guy.  Heaven help Mitchell and/or Farquhar if they don't produce.

It feels different rooting for a team that doesn't just win.  It is more exciting.  When the Yankees would lose, I'd be frustrated and check what it meant in the standings.  When the Mariners win it is sad, half expected, and dims the lights on the hope of a comeback from 16.5 games back.  But we root for the team all the same.  They are the underdogs.  We know their faces.  We give them nicknames (The Sports Wife and her bridesmaids think Ackley is "one sexy slice of man-pie."... I'm not even sure what that really means.  They all yell Jesuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus when Jesus Montero comes up to bat (something I started when we went to the Giants-Mariners games in June).  We know that Wilhelmsen is "Bartender" because he comes in for closing time.

I feel connected to these players.  The Yankees are in the far away land of New York.  They are celebrities and the talk of the town.  Their fans are rabid and, at times, stuck-up and rude.  I see and listen to them sometimes and wonder if that is what I sounded like when I defended them.  No one is going to fault me for being a Mariners fan.  The Mariners don't win enough or have a deep rivalry or deeper pocketbook.

Root for one team that always wins, but everyone hates.  Root for another team that no one hates, but often loses.  Ichiro requested a trade that worked out for almost everyone.  For the fans, that remains to be seen.

Alignment and Re-alignment

It has been a busy month.  Yeah, it's been busy in sports, but I've been busy too and away from this blog.

Right now I have a precious commodity: a little time.  I've been able to multi-task and as a wind down, watch SportsCenter and keep up on the happenings of sports across the nation.  Being able to follow sports is one of the simple pleasures that can keep us grounded when the realities of life threaten to pull us out into space.  Even when the sports world is seemingly off kilter itself, it helps to ground because, unlike real life, an off-kilter sports world can be amusing and add an extra layer of suspense to a pastime already built on suspense.  Seeing the topsy-turvy start of the baseball season and which teams are doing well and which aren't is more interesting than usual.  Without further ado, a look at what's going on in the off-kilter world of sports and how that can keep fans on-kilter.

MLB

The Nationals/Montreal Expos franchise hasn't had a real good season since the strike shortened 1994 year.  Now, they're leading the NL East.  Their pitchers (who are finally healthy) are throwing lights out.  They have a couple of great young rookies this year who have really sparked the offense.  Bryce Harper plays the game the way we were always taught to play.  Even if he hits a pop-up that is surely going to be caught, he sprints to first.  This has paid off on the rare times where the sure thing isn't and the fielder muffs the catch.  Harper is fast enough that, if there isn't someone in front of him slowing him down, he probably has an in-field double off the error.  It is good to see a team that has done so poorly do so well to start the season.  And the nationals aren't the only one.

The Baltimore Orioles have been the whipping children of the AL East.  With teams like the Yankees, the Red Sox, and in the last few years, the Rays in the same division, not keeping up with the other teams means a sure losing season.  Up until today, Baltimore has been dancing with Tampa Bay for first place in baseball's toughest division.  As of right now, the Yankees have a share of first with the Orioles.  Both are a half game ahead of Tampa Bay.  However, Tampa leads the Yankees 7-2 in the top of the ninth.  That means, unless the Yankees manage a 9th inning surge they were known for three years ago, we're going to have a third team leading the division in the last 24 hours.  And how is this for competitive, there isn't a team in the division with a losing record.  "Cellar Dweller" Boston is 29-28, good enough for three games out of first.  Five teams within three games of the lead!  If the whole division can keep this up, we might see a September to rival last years 52 card pick-up of a playoff race.

Los Angeles

And how about the friggin Dodgers?  Last year's yard sale team watched its owners go through the ugliest Hollywood divorce since OJ and Nicole.  They verged on bankruptcy due to the nastiness and were scooped up for 2 billion, (yeah, with a B) dollars by some guy from L.A. named Magic.  Since then, even injuries to their power hitter star haven't derail baseball's best team (16 games over .500!).  Tinseltown is finally fun to watch again.  Earlier this season, L.A. was the place to be for sports.  The poor staff at the Staples Center had 4 games in 2 sports in a little over 48 hours!  Over the course of the weekend, both of L.A.'s basketball teams played playoff games, one played two from Friday to Sunday.  There was a playoff hockey game in between two of the basketball games at the same facility (on the same floor! well, kinda).  And the Dodgers were also off to their hot start!  If you think your life is off kilter, try being one of the poor staff members taking apart a hardwood floor to put up an ice rink, then taking that down to put up another hardwood floor with different designs painted on it.  Yeah, I think teaching college students from around the world how to write a traditional style American essay five times a week for about an hour and half each day is looking pretty cooshy after that.

NBA

With both of the aforementioned L.A. NBA teams out of the playoffs since then, we could have two teams that have won one championship each meet in the finals.  If Miami can put Boston away, they'll face the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The Thunder, of course used to be the Seattle Supersonics, and that relates to a rant I won't get into here.  The Sonics won the finals in 1979 and never got to go back until they had the misfortune to face the best team in NBA history, Jordan's 1995-96 Bulls (remember them? the 72-10 regular season record and 15-3 in the playoffs Bulls? yeah, those guys--btw, Seattle gave them two of the three losses).  Now the franchise is back in the finals.  Will they face the Heat and their 1 championship (2005-06) or will they face the winningest NBA championship franchise in history (17 banners).  The only American sports franchise with more championships is the Yankees and they had a 44 year head start.

I think the Thunder-Heat match up would be the most amusing to watch.  I think the edge would go to the Thunder, though.  They play better as a team, have more strength off a deeper bench and pairing their two main scorers against Miami's main scorers (Durant/Westbrook VS. Wade/James) OKC has a clear advantage.  Add that Bosh is still hurt even if he is playing, and I see the Thunder giving the state of Oklahoma its first championship outside college football.  Of course, this is a no brainer, since Oklahoma doesn't have any other professional teams.

Breaking News: Miami just beat Boston to force a game 7 in Miami.  Whoever wins gets to face a rested OKC team.

When our lives need alignment, sports may not do the aligning for us, but they can help put the trouble away for a bit.  There is something to be said for mindlessly cheering our favorite teams.  Even when sports itself needs a realignment (would you believe that as late as the 2002 season one division actually included San Francisco, New Orleans, the L.A./St Louis Rams, and the Atlanta Falcons?  And it was called the NFC West!) we can watch with amusement and anticipation as they go through their aligning to make a sport make more sense.  (Now if NCAA football would figure out their geography--Boise and San Diego aren't exactly east of anything).  We can look at the scandals, the oddities, the successes, the failures, the surprises, and the predictables and take solace that our lives will never be as weird as all that.

The Sudden End of a Favored Player's Career

In 1992, one of my favorite football players ruptured his Achilles and thought about retirement.  Lawrence Taylor went down.  He thought about retirement.  I remember being in high school and being ecstatic when L.T. announced he would be back for the 1993.

Michael Jordan's sudden (first) retirement in 1993 caused me to stop really even paying attention to the NBA until rumors of his return swirled in February/March 1995.  Watching him sink the final shot against Utah in 1998 to seal the second three-peat felt like the perfect ending to the career.  Pippen was leaving; Jackson was leaving; there wasn't really a reason for Jordan to come back again.  We were able to watch that final shot and say goodbye.  While Jordan's farewell tour of 2003 after his second comeback let all the fans have a chance to see him play live one last time, it wasn't at his former glory of the 90s.  But every arena sold out, regardless of who the home team was.  Jordan was allowed to enter his last game with just over a minute and a half left.  He was fouled so that we could see his last shots (two free throws he made, of course).  As soon as the 76ers (his opposition) inbounded the ball, they were fouled so that Michael could go back to the bench.  I watched that game, a national broadcast that had no playoff implications.

In 2000, my favorite football player died in the prime of his career.  Derrick Thomas died of a blood clot that was a result of a car crash.  Unlike Jordan's final farewell, Chiefs fans weren't able to say goodbye to Thomas. Everyone thought he had more years, and he had, if he hadn't been speeding recklessly that one night.  The blood clot didn't come right away, so we could deal with him probably not playing anymore due to the accident, which caused paralysis from the chest down.  But it happened in the offseason (at least for the Chiefs, the post-season was still going).  We weren't expecting him at the next game the next week.

Yesterday, my favorite baseball player of my lifetime, second favorite Yankee, tore his ACL.  In a previous post, I had written about watching Mariano play at least one more time when New York comes to Seattle.  Before this season, Mariano had told the media that he knew whether or not this was his final season.  He just wasn't going to tell us until it was time to tell us.  Mariano is 42 years old.  42 is his number (he'll be the last player in MLB to wear 42, Jackie Robinson's number), 42 is also his career post-season saves.  The next closest player has 18.  Rivera is a competitor.  He has told people that he would never want to go out due to being ineffective or to an injury.  The question is at 42, could he come back either later this season, or would he return for the 2013 season to go out pitching?  Will he take this as a sign from God that enough is enough?  Will the numbers 42-42-42 be enough for Mariano.  Part of me hopes not.  Part of me still wants to see him play.  However, with an injury like this, where a pitcher in particular has to plant so much weight and wear on those knees pitching, will he return to form?  Or will he be a shadow of his former self, like MJ's second comeback?

On the note of saying goodbye, or not getting a chance, Junior Seau, NFL staple at linebacker from 1990-2009, committed suicide this week.  While he played for rival teams, Seau was one of the players who I enjoyed watching.  He played in two Super Bowls, one for San Diego, one for New England, but never won the Vince Lombardi.  The NFL is being sued and is investigating the effects of multiple and long term concussions over the span of a career.  Seau isn't the first former NFL suicide.  If there is a correlation between concussions and depression/suicide, then there will be more former players taking their own lives.  Seau's family donated his brain for study so that science and sports can hopefully start taking steps to prevention.

First Round NFL Draft Blog Up to the 11th Pick

I'm watching the NFL draft and recording my thoughts as I go.

Draft Pick #1 overall: Gee the Colts took Andrew Luck.  No surprise here, they won the Suck for Luck contest.  Lately, I've been hearing that RGIII is statistically the better QB and most likely will be going #2 with Washington.

Chomping at the bit waiting for the 11th pick for my Chiefs.  Sports Illustrated has them taking Luke Kuechly out of Boston College.  I kind of like the idea of another high draft pick on defense.  When the Chiefs were a dominant force in the 90s (even though they never got to the Super Bowl) they had a killer defense.  With Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali, and a lockdown secondary, I'm excited to see this.

#2 Robert Griffin III goes to the Redskins.  Again, no real surprise.  I'm curious to see how Griffin deals with Shanahan's system.  Now the NFC East has two speedy big armed quarterbacks (Vick).  Washington also needs to work on a defense.

ESPN has four selections for who the Chiefs will take at #11.  The People's Choice is Courtney Upshaw, DE/OLB from Alabama.  Not a bad choice either.  Expert Todd McShay choses Kuechly; Mel Kiper chooses David DeCastro, OG from Stanford.Kent Babb of the KC Star also says DeCastro because he doesn't think the DE that they want (Upshaw) will be there.

While I do like to watch a great defense, and the Chiefs have a young one going into the next season.  They're going to have to brush up on pass defense with Manning, Palmer, and Rivers as opposing QBs in their division. I've made no secret of my disdain for Matt Cassel.  But now, he is undoubtedly the worst starting QB in the division.

#3 Cleveland selects Trent Richardson.  Another no-brainer.  The Chiefs just took the Browns disgruntled former starting RB and Richardson is the best RB on the list.  They have a QB up and coming in Colt McCoy, so now they have a more dynamic offense instead of allowing linebackers like James Harrison to just key on (and unload on) McCoy.  My question is why did they trade away draft choices to move up one spot in the order?  The Vikings had this pick and already have a franchise RB in Petersen.  They've been looking at Kalil the whole time.  The only reason I'm thinking they made the trade is because they knew Minnesota was going to shop their spot.  If they had traded it to TB, then another team in dire need of a RB would have jumped in front of the Browns for Richardson.

Almost out of the predicted picks.  1, 2, 3 are almost all certain picks and not catching you off guard (Edgerrin James in 1999 notwithstanding).  This year, though, I'll say the first four picks are pretty obvious.  While the Vikings are next and need just about friggin everything but a running back, they've been looking at Kalil a lot.  He's probably the best offensive lineman in the draft.  ESPN says they'll draft a OT.  This makes sense since they were tied with most sacks allowed last year.  They have a decent quarterback when he's not on his back and a stud running back (who is still rehabbing an injury).  They also need a corner (and are in a division with KILLER wide receivers), a safety (see previous aside), and a wide receiver.

#4 Minnesota took Matt Kalil, the OT that ESPN predicted.  SI also predicted Kalil, but said that they should have taken Morris Claiborne.  I would agree with that, but I'm defensive biased and Claiborne is a great college corner who is fun to watch.  He won't have to wait long for a phone call.

Jags have the next pick (seriously these trades up and down are messing up my magazines here).  Note to self, blog about the strategy of trading up and down for draft picks.  There is a strategy here that rivals most complex board games.

Jacksonville has this pick after trading with Tampa Bay.  To move up two slots Jacksonville gave up a 4th and 7th round pick.

#5 Jacksonville took Justin Blackmon out of Oklahoma State.  Can't say I blame them.  They were a one dimensional offense last year behind Maurice Jones-Drew.  Jones-Drew is a beast, but when a defense can ignore your quarterback and put 8 men in the box, your team isn't going to win many games (and they didn't).  I like this pick.  And apparently I agree with Jon Gruden on that.  He's a great WR.

Dallas has traded up to get pick #6.  Seriously, the only draft pick that was in the original order was the Colts at #1.  Every other one has been a swap to move up or down. Dallas gave up a second round pick to move up to the Rams spot at 6 (where they originally traded down from #2).  The Rams have made off like bandits out of this draft.  Which is good because they need pretty much a new team.  The Cowboys are gunning for someone.  It makes me wonder why these teams take so long to announce their picks.

#6 Dallas takes Morris Claiborne.  I'm glad my favorite team isn't in the NFC East now.  The Cowboys have some deadly corners now.  They paid a ransom to Brandon Carr, one of the Chiefs high notes last year, at one corner and just took the best corner in the draft to line up on the other side.  They'll face RGIII twice a year, but they'll also see Vick and Eli Manning twice a year.  Although apparently Claiborne is going to be like another Deion Sanders.  Great at interceptions, but a liability on rush defense and not a great tackler.  He also doesn't really jam receivers at the line.  A strictly cover corner....but a damn fine cover corner.

With all these trades and waiting for the announcements, how do they get the players' names on the right jerseys so quickly?

Tampa Bay on the clock at #7, originally 5.  I'm guessing they're going to take a safety.  Yup, they just took Mark Barron of Alabama.  That's two Tide players drafted in the top ten.  Surprised? Not really, they're the national champs.  Barron is a hybrid, playing safety, but also showing the ability to move up to linebacker.  He also gave LSU fits in the championship game with some lock down defense.

Why didn't Kansas City trade up or down? Maybe they will by the time #11 rolls around.  It might not make sense for the Chiefs to move around since a lot of the players they were looking at aren't predicted to go much earlier than 11.

Miami on the clock at #8, the second pick not to move around.  It is predicted they'll take Tammehill, Texas A&M's QB.  If they do, he'll be the first QB drafted in the first round by Miami since a guy named Marino.  Gregg Easterbrook's latest Tuesday Morning Quarterback was analyzing playoff teams from last season.  He found that almost all of them were led by a first round drafted quarterback.

Miami just took Tannehill  I'm not sure about this.  He was rumored to be looked at by Kansas City, but I wasn't sure then.  He doesn't seem like a top echelon quarterback.  He only played 19 games at QB.  I don't think he has the experience to face the NFL's defensive backs.  Granted, Miami needed a quarterback badly. And Kiper has Tannehill as the third best QB in the draft.  I don't think he is the savior of Miami.  The Dolphins are struggling to draw fans back in and, unlike during Marino's first year, they aren't the only sports franchise in town.  Between then and now the NBA expanded with the Heat and MLB just moved the Marlins to town.  I don't think he's going to start right away and will sit a year.  This is a draft pick that probably should have been traded down.  They probably could have taken Tannehill in the teens or twenties and gotten a bunch of other draft picks for the #8 slot.

Carolina is up.  With Cam Newton (last years #1 overall) they've got some great offense.

Carolina just took Kuechly...Damn, there goes KC's best pick.  He's the first linebacker to be drafted.  He's toted as a throwback to the ideal middle linebacker.  They just compared him to Brian Urlacher.  That's going to really help Carolina's middling defense.  On a good note, only the Bills stand between the Chiefs and the rest of the draft board.  The Chiefs are also looking for a gigantic defense lineman and ESPN's predicted Carolina pick, Quinton Coples, is now still there.  I'm starting to think that the teams take so long to make selections that they're almost surely to make in order to give ESPN time to babble at me.

The Bills just took Stephon Gilmore out of South Carolina.  Another cornerback picked in the draft.  I don't know much about this guy.  He wasn't on anyone's draft board for Buffalo.  Everyone thought they'd need a wide receiver or defensive line.

I do like that Gruden just said that KC is set when everyone is healthy.  I DON'T like that he likes Cassel.  KC just took Dontari Poe, their big beefy nose tackle out of Memphis.

I don't like this pick at #11 of the first round.  Poe is too much of a risk.  If he's good, he's going to be great, but if not, then this is a bust.  There weren't really a lot of other teams looking at him and Kansas City could have followed the pattern of the evening and traded this pick away for a boatload of later rounds.  I think if they were going to keep this pick, they should have gone for one of the offensive linemen still on the board or one of the good linebackers.  Poe probably would have been a better pick with the second round selection.

Those are my thoughts on the first 11 picks (and mostly the Kansas City Chiefs).  It is the end of the semester and I have projects to do otherwise I'd probably keep going with the draft.

Although, I'll be curious for Friday's second round (Rams have 3 picks thanks to first round trades.  Hopefully that pays off).

The Unity of Music and Baseball

Think about music and baseball.  Whether it’s the traditional organ at the ball park or the modern lead up music for the batters, there is always music at the ballpark.  As a fan of the former Page 2 section of ESPN.com and the weird lists that they would put out, I’ve decided to make my own list of great baseball music.  Some of it is music for situations (“Caught Stealin’ by Jane’s Addiction when a catcher guns out a base runner stealing second); some of it is just classic baseball songs (“Centerfield”); some of it is just songs that are associated with players (Ken Griffey, Jr.’s lead up song for his whole career was “Down with OPP” by Naughty by Nature).

Without further ado, my best baseball songs in whatever order I think of them:

1.       Enter Sandman  As I wrote about in an earlier post “Sports’ Spine-Tingling Moments,” when Mariano Rivera comes in to close out the ninth in Yankee Stadium, he runs across the outfield to Metallica’s hit.  As soon as the opening riff starts, the entire stadium goes ape shit.  606 times, he’s gotten the save.  75 times, he’s gotten the W.  I will see Mariano pitch at least one more time (when the Yanks visit Seattle this summer), but it looks doubtful I’ll ever see him come out of the bullpen to Enter Sandman again. (Just added, in Mariano’s Sunday Conversation on ESPN he admitted that if it had been up to him, he never would have chosen this song.  He doesn’t “listen to that type of music.”

2.      Centerfield  When listening to this song and thinking about little league it’s just a great song about wanting to get into the game.  Put me in coach, I’m ready to play, today.  Look at me, I could be, centerfield.  But when you really look at baseball, this is a gutsy request.  Centerfield is the fastest position on the team.  Where the shortstop is the leader of the infield and nothing can happen without the pitcher/catcher battery, the centerfielder has the most area to cover.  Little league might not get as many hits out to the deep field (outside of the serious programs in the Little League World Series every year).  The “kid” who wants to get in and play, especially centerfield, is a gutsy little guy.

3.      Take Me out to the Ball Game  My students in Japan were learning this one.  You can’t CAN’T have a seventh inning stretch without this ode to peanuts and Crackerjack at the ballpark.  For those of you old enough to remember Harry Carey singing it (badly) during Cubbies games, it takes on a whole other legendary status.  The song is simple and fun, and really just silly.  You can stand up and sing it while your team is getting creamed, or you can stand up and sing it while you’re up big.  It is just that great.  Can you possibly stand up and sing it without swaying with total strangers in the same section?  No, no you cannot.

4.      Star-Spangled Banner  There are kids out there who think the last words to the first verse of our national anthem are “play ball!”  The Star-Spangled Banner and baseball are linked in the definition of American.  The poor song has had its ups and downs.  I heard David Hasslehoff sing it in Dodger Stadium.  I heard Rosanne Barr sing it (thankfully on TV so I could mute it).  Good, bad, or ugly, this song is forever linked to MLB ball. 

5.      Down with OPP  Like Enter Sandman, this isn’t a purely baseball song.  This was Ken Griffey, Jr.’s lead up song for his entire career.  With so many players changing with popular music or changing with streaks or slumps, Griffey had this always play.  Now, I might also be a bit biased because every time I hear it, I’m reminded of hanging out in high school with my best friend, Nate.

6.      All the Way  Vedder’s pen to being a Cubbies fan.  Written on the eve of the 100^th year of the Cubs Curse, Vedder captures our hero worship of our favorite players.  The magic of walking into our sacred stadiums.  The hope that the Cubs will one day finally return to glory after a century.

7.      Cheap Seats  Alabama goes to the minor leagues and sings about being a fan in the stands.  There is a celebration of the ballpark experience.  Yelling at the umps, sitting way out in the outfield and not having enough people to do a decent wave…kind of like late season Seattle lately.  Here’s hoping again this season.

Honorable mention: Empire State of Mind, Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, Talkin’ Baseball, For Boston (Drop Kick Murphys version even though it has been mostly used for BC football), New York, New York (Yankees play Sinatra after a W, Liza Minnelli after an L), Here come the Mets, Say Hey.

Why it’s not on the list: God Bless America.  This song has been crammed into baseball.  In the days after 9/11, we were driven to feel like patriotism had to permeate every damn aspect of American life or “the terrorists win.”  The Yankees, Dodgers, Mariners, and Braves (arguably the four corners of baseball) play it every game; others during major patriotic holidays and post-season games.  This song is not baseball.  It was proposed to replace “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” but has since been coupled with it, rather than one or the other.  To me, this forcing in is akin to the outspoken religious leaders smacking you upside the head with their religious views.  We know that this is America’s pastime; we don’t need to have the American patriotic songs every time we turn around.

In the grand scheme of things, music affects just about everything.  Put the wrong score with a movie and it changes the mood.  Put an awesome score with a movie that sucks and it can at least help carry one aspect.

Hearing certain songs in sports, especially baseball, takes us back to ballpark memories.  We can hear our favorite players’ songs.  The traditional songs also remind us of the kids’ game.  The beauty of watching grown men play this game, the hope at the beginning of every season, and the joy we feel as our team takes the field.  Baseball songs and baseball music helps to immortalize these feelings.