Sports Lynx Blog

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If you are like me,  you like rooting for people and players more than teams in playoffs and tournaments.  When you are out looking for a guy to root for in this year’s NCAA Tournament,  might I suggest Rob Jones from the University of San Diego.

The Matadors pulled the improbable upset of Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference tourney to earn a tournament bid.  While Jones shares the last name with 1,000’s and millions of others,  his grandfather was one of a kind.  Jones is the son of Jim Jones Jr. who was the son of the infamous Jim Jones..   Yes,  that Jim Jones who killed 900 of his followers in 1978 after luring them out of the United States and into Guyana.

The simple game of basketball saved Jim Jones Jr.’s life.  He was playing basketball in “Jonestown” on the horrible day in which his father coerced 900 men, women and children to drink juice spiked with lethal poison.  Were it not for basketball,  Jim Jones Jr. would not have lived and thus we would never know Rob Jones. 

ESPN has a more detailed article on Jones’ story and what he has had to endure as the grandson of one of the United States 101 most notorious criminals.   Click here to read the story.

If you missed it,  you can catch a clip of the Yanks vs. Rays dust up in Spring Ball on YouTube.  The rhetoric between these two after the game suggests that this won’t be the end of it.   That’s interesting because these two teams face each other twice more this spring and 18 times during the regular season.   As a Yankee fan,  I have to ask,  is it worth it wasting all of our energy on the Rays?   Shelley Duncan says his slide was legit and that he wasn’t sending a message.  I say “poppy cock” but hey,  if it gets people talking about baseball in March then I guess it’s good for baseball.

Being a die-hard USC Trojans fan, I watch a ton of Pac-10 sports. I have come to a conclusion the past several months which was capped off and confirmed in the waning moments of UCLA’s comeback win over Cal yesterday; if I was a PAC-10 coach in any sport playing an inter-conference game, I would request the other conference’s referees or officials. I am dead serious when I say this.

Yesterday’s fiasco is Westwood was embarrassing for the PAC-10. Let’s reset the moment for everyone, Cal is leading UCLA 80-79 with roughly 2 seconds remaining in the game. Cal inbounds the ball under it’s own basket at which point UCLA is trying to give a foul. UCLA basically arm bars the Cal player receiving the ball, no foul is called. Ok, no problem, the ball bounds away from the Cal player off a UCLA player out of bounds. Cal is to inbound the ball again, right? Wrong! You see the morons doubling as officials in the striped shirts think the ball went off Cal thus awarding the ball to UCLA to inbound near the Cal hoop. Ok, you ready for this, here comes the icing on the cake.

UCLA gets the ball to Josh Shipp who literally goes behind the Cal basket, shoots the ball over the backboard and into the hoop for what UCLA thinks is the winning shot. According to the refs, it is the winning shot and UCLA celebrates. Folks, here is the one problem with this, in the rules it is clear that a ball traveling over the backboard at any point in its flight is out of bounds. The officials looked at instant replay but without their seeing eye dogs available at that point, they ruled it a basket.

I do not write this post based on any one game, I watched a game two-weeks ago with USC playing at Arizona St. This game was tied at halftime, in the 2nd half Arizona St shot 36 free throws to 2 for USC. If any of you have played or coached basketball, that is almost an impossibility. During football season I watched USC games where the Trojans had 12-14 penalties (many of them legitimate) and the other team had two or three. Most of you probably live on the east coast thus you don’t watch that much PAC-10 action, however, if you get the chance watch a couple games and see what you think.

I know Pete Carroll has been complaining about the officiating in the conference now for the last couple of years; keep in mind that this isn’t “sore loser syndrome” on Pete’s part as he has won the PAC-10 title a record 6 straight years. Also, I am only pointing out games that stand out in my mind, however, I have watched games where say Oregon is playing Arizona and I see the same things happening.

My only hope is that the buffoons from the PAC-10 don’t get assigned a big-time NCAA tournament game and ruin some team’s season. The PAC-10 officiating is truly run by a “PAC” of morons.

Just when I think I have found this year’s kings of free agency insanity (a title usually held by the Redskins annually until this year) the NY Jets, the New Yorkers have been trumped by bigger idiots, the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders who have spent the better part of the last 5 years with a Commitment to Exaggeration of their own importance, signed Jevon Walker to a 6 yr, $55mm deal with about $16mm of it guaranteed. This means Walker now has a higher average salary than Randy Moss or Terrell Owens which makes me and just about everyone else go, huh??

Walker has spent the better part of two-years battling knee injuries and the mental wounds left when he watched his friend and fellow Bronco, CB Williams, die in his arms last January 2007. While I have nothing personally against Walker, I think the Raiders continue to put themselves in that team picture for the poorest run NFL franchise.

As for the last few posts regarding the Jets where I have been criticized, even the Jets players are questioning the moves. One Jet said “management is getting rid of good young players like Vilma (traded to New Orleans) for old guys”. Remember the Jets traded Pete Kendell last year to Washington because he wanted more money and then traded Jonathon Vilma to New Orleans this year before signing everyone other than Terry Bradshaw the first few days of free agency.

Time will tell if I am right on this but I don’t see many of these moves working out long-term for the Jets. As for the Raiders, pencil them in for 5-11 again this year, they will stink.

 Last year at this time,  there were many that were pretty sure Brett Favre should hang’em up.  His skills had diminished,  he was a turnover machine and was not capable of leading the Packers to the playoffs,  let alone the Super Bowl.  Oh what a difference a year makes.   After leading the Packers to the doorstep of the Super Bowl,  Favre’s retirement decision comes as a bit of a surprise.  Many in Wisconsin felt that Favre’s resurgence last season would be enough to get a couple more years out of him.  However,  that will not be the case.   Citing that he’s mentally tired and that anything less than a Super Bowl would be a failure,  Favre retired on Tuesday ending a stellar 17 year career.

Now, the pundits and fans are left with memories and to debate over where Favre belongs on the all time list of great quarterbacks.  I have my thoughts on this and I would place Favre behind Montana and Elway but ahead of Marino.  I have my reasons of course but that’s better left for another blog article at another time.  No one had more fun playing the game than Favre and his on field demeanor was certainly an inspiration to his teammates and fans alike.  My most vivid memories of Brett Favre are his wild celebration after the touchdown to Andre Rison in the Super Bowl and anything he did on that Monday Night against the Raiders one day after the passing of his father.  Here’s to Brett Favre one of the best the NFL has ever known.

First Alan Faneca, a guard, gets $40mm over 5 yrs from the NY Jets. In the interim the Jets had already traded for Carolina disappointment Kris Jenkins (DT), then they try to trade Dwayne Robertson to Cincinnati..whoa hold on Jets you’re going too fast for us. Oh yea, Damien Woody, come on up here and play RT for us. Forget that the Detroit Lions didn’t think enough of you to keep you or that you played C and G for most of your career other than 5, counter them, 5 starts at RT. The Jets want to pay you an average salary of $4mm per year to play RT in New York.

But…here comes the best one of all, the Jets signed 27 yr old OLB/DE Calvin Pace and all of his 14 career sacks for 6 yrs and $42mm with a $20mm signing bonus, making Mr. Pace the highest paid LB in NFL history.

I will say this for the Jets management, there are either hidden geniuses or morons, right now I am leading toward the latter. Pace played OLB for 1-yr in Arizona and the Jets are paying him an average salary of $7mm per season. Wow, wow and wow again.

I now understand a bit more why it’s been almost 40 years since this organization has played in a Super Bowl. Let’s face it when someone says poorly run NFL organization after the Cardinals, the Jets along with the Bengals and a few select others are definitely in the team picture. I know the Jets fans will have every reason in the book to believe that this was a good move but it wasn’t. Keep in mind, your team is being quarterbacked by Kellon Clemons, another guy who has potential. If you’ve been reading along with my posts, you know what potential means right.

I would love to hear from some Jets fans to see if they are drinking the Kool-Aid on these moves?

In my post the other day I said the NFL free agency period would begin and leave many of us scratching our collective heads. Well the past few days has either proven me to be a prophet or old enough to know how this works. Let me start with some examples, Tommy Kelly, a 6″ 6, 300 LB DE in the Oakland Raiders 3-4 defense got 7 yrs and $50mm from the Raiders. Many of you may ask, who is Tommy Kelly? The problem is that I can’t tell you either. Granted, this may be because he plays on a team  in Oakland that seems to have 4-12 all to itself the past 4 or 5 years, however I looked at this numbers and tried to read about him and found that he has “potential” which as the great SS Ozzie Smith once said, “is a nice way of saying you haven’t done a damn thing yet!”.

Here is another example of reaching for straws, the Philadelphia Eagles had two good corners in Sheldon Brown (29 yrs old) and Lito Sheppard (27 yrs old). Matter of fact, if you asked an objective person what the Eagles needs were coming into this off-season, corner would probably not be in any person’s top three. What does Philly do, they go out and hand Asante Samuel (yes the guy who dropped an INT that could have won the Super Bowl for New England), 6 yrs and $57mm. Samuel is an excellent corner, however, with today’s “touchy, feely” pass interference rules, corner play has been somewhat diminished. I mean the NY Giants just won a Super Bowl without a guy who could cover me for 5 seconds, they did it by getting to the QB which is the formula in today’s NFL game. My point is that Philadelphia tied a ton of money up in a guy who probably isn’t going to make their defense appreciably better than the two guys they had playing there last season.

Ultimately, one must ask this question, why did New England not care too much about retaining this guy? Perhaps they realize that their system allowed him to be a bit better than he is. Keep in mind, Samuel was a 3rd round pick the same year Philadelphia selected Lito Sheppard in the first round. I guess I am just a bit puzzled by the huge signing when the Eagles really need a WR. Hell, I would have preferred them throwing this much money at Randy Moss if they wanted to make a splash.

One team that has stood out to me thus far as doing a nice job is the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland retained Derek Anderson their QB, which I thought was crucial because Brady Quinn cannot schedule Army, Air Force and Navy in the NFL. Cleveland then went out and got Donte Stallworth, a speed WR, to team with Braylon Edwards and TE Kellen Winslow JR. On defense the Browns traded their starting corner Boudin and a 3rd round pick to Detroit for a run stopping DT in Shawn Rogers. If Cleveland can keep Rogers out of Burger King, this guy can be a disruptive force on defense. Lastly, the Browns send a 2nd round pick to Green Bay for another imposing DT in Cory Williams. The only problem with all this is that Cleveland doesn’t have a draft pick in the first three rounds this year as they sent their #1 pick to Dallas for Brady Quinn last April and now Green Bay and Detroit have their second and third round picks.

I am sure more madness will be forthcoming in the next week thus keep checking back and let me know your thoughts on this crazy time of year called NFL Free Agency.

In roughly 1 hour the crazy spending period known as NFL free agency will begin. The smart teams, which usually means the good ones, spend most of their time and money trying to retain their own free agents. The dumb teams, which are the bad ones, spend most of their energy signing players to contracts for more money than they are ever going to be worth.

No doubt, there are some good deals to be had in free agency. However, rarely does a Randy Moss situation arise where a great player still in his prime changes teams and is in need of only this change of scenery to be great again. Last year a few players approaching their prime signed big deals, such as Leonard Davis going to Dallas, where he made the Pro Bowl.  However, Davis was in this NFL wasteland known as Arizona and had been the #2 overall pick in the Draft some 6 years earlier. Upon reaching a place like Dallas, known for a history steeped in the tradition of winning, Davis became the player many felt he could be, which was dominant.

For every Moss and Davis, there is the Edgerin James contract. James who signed a few years ago in Arizona after leaving Indy has been average in Arizona. James makes over $6mm a year annually if my memory serves me right and in making this money he averages under 4 yards per carry. The problem with free agency for fans is that fans equate big names with good signings and that isn’t the case. Usually if a guy is in his early 30s and getting a big, long-term contract (other than a QB or offensive lineman) it means your team did something really dumb.

If you want to try to find the good signings during the upcoming free agency period, look for players in the league 4-6 years who are approaching their prime and have been having progressively better seasons the last 2-3 years. These are guys typically 25-28 years old that you may have heard something about if you’re a hardcore fan, however, they won’t be household names.

Hold onto your wallet if you’re an NFL owner and your enthusiasm if you’re an NFL fan because the oasis that is free agency is upon us.

The following was sent to me in an email by a friend:

CLEAR EXPLANATION OF TAX CUTS…

Sometimes politicians, journalists and others exclaim:  “It’s just a tax cut
for the rich!” and it is just accepted to be fact, without questioning it.
But what does that really mean?

Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, the following might
help. Let’s put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.

Here is my response to Mr. Kamerschen and his World of numbers and right wing disposition:

Oh,  you didn’t hear the rest of this story…….

The 10th man owned a doughnut shop where the first five men bought a bunch of doughtnuts each day.  The 6th through 9th men,  were employees of the 10th man at the doughnut shop and were paid very little by that 10th man. 

Men 1 through 5 weren’t as saavy with their savings and had very little money due in large part to the large sums of money they spent buying doughnuts from the 10th man who consistently rose his prices.   Men 6 through 9 did not see raises from the 10th man as his employees,  eventhough the 10th man raised the prices on his doughnuts and increased revenue at his doughnut shop at a good rate.  In addition,  the 10th man made his doughnuts smaller over time while asking for more money and also asked Men 6 through 9 to work longer hours to keep their jobs or he was going to replace them with other workers.

Before going out for beers the night in question,  Men 1-9 all read in Forbes Magazine how Man #10 was on the Top 10 richest men in the country list and how his CEO salary with options had exploded from the year before.  Man #10 was lauded by the writer for increasing the company’s bottom line by cutting cost like salary and increasing price per unit on doughnuts along with saving money on materials by using less dough to make smaller doughnuts.

Men 1 through 9 felt exploited by this because they were buying Man #10’s products and working for him but they were getting less and less from him.  They overlooked it because,  afterall,  they were drinking buddies.  However,  after a night of drinks when better judgement can become distorted.  Men 1 through 9 were sent over the edge when they learned that not only did this guy exploit them with his doughnut shop,  he now gets to pocket even more money because the bar owner is giving him more money back on the  bill. They thought,  the least he could do,  since they are buying all his products and working long hours to sell his products with diminishing benefits is give them back a litte more when it comes time sit down and have drinks.  

So,  angry because they can’t pay their bills at home,  feed their children or put clothes on their backs plus they are now getting nothing back from the drinks bill being cut,  they turned on Man #10 who seems unsympathetic to their plight despite the fact that Men 1 through 9 did a lot to get Man #10 to where he is now.

Man #10 moved out of the country,  only to find out that people aren’t buying his doughnuts like the do in his native land.  He returned back to this country,  looked for another place to set up his doughnut shop but used his money to fight for relaxed gun control laws so he can protect himself from more men like 1 through 9 because he intends to exploit them like he did the others.  Meanwhile,  the new 1 through 9 had to dodge bullets going to and from work because their neighborhoods are flooded with weapons due in large part to the relaxed gun control laws lobbied for by the rich Man #10 but hey,  rich man #10 doesn’t care because he doesn’t live in their neighborhood,   he just needs those people to make those doughnuts and buy those doughnuts so he can get the new Benz,  that 12,000 sq foot mansion and helicopter that men 1 through 9 can view on the show on VH1 about Man #10.

And that boys and girls,  Democrats and Republicans is how this country works.  Keep letting the rich get richer off of the backs of the poor and watch the gap widen between the two.  Suddenly the have nots get desperate and feel contempt for the haves who continue to exploit them.  Soon we have a society where crime is of the essence.   The rich can try it overseas but they most certainly will realize that the grass is not greener on that side and come back to the country where there is more money and people to exploit than anywhere else in the world.

Chad Wilson
Miramar, FL

Sure the NFL combine is good theatre but I just can’t get over how unnecessary this whole festival is.  First of all,  I don’t think the NFL combine should be for Division-I athletes.  Or at the very least,  I don’t think NFL scouts should invite starters on the division I teams.   The NFL combine should be a place for football players who did not receive exposure all season long like the I-AA, Division II, Division III and NAIA football players.  Those are the guys you need to run through the drills because you have some misgivings about who you’ve seen them compete against on film.  I think those are the athletes that need to be evaluated in the 40 yard dash, vertical jump, 3 cone drill, up and back drill,  the go forward and comeback drill,  the drop down, get back up and drop down again drill.  The lay on your stomach and then run from side to side then turnaround and sprint then comeback drill. 

As for the Division I athletes,  everything I need to know about a prospect,  I can find watching him film.  If I watch Darren McFadden split the LSU’s safeties and then outrun their entire secondary for a 60 yard touchdown,  running 4.6 at the combine is not going to erase what I saw on film.  After my senior season at the University of Miami,  I had a scout come in and measure the length from the tip of my pinky to the tip of my thumb.   Are you friggin kidding me?  Maybe that’s why I wasn’t drafted. 

The NFL combine is no more than a glorified Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for athletes.  It’s something to do when there’s no football to be played.   Take a look at the top 40 times posted at NFL combine from 2000-2007:

4.28 - Jerome Mathis, (WR), Hampton - 2005
4.29 - Stanford Routt, (CB), Houston - 2005
4.29 - *Fabian Washington, (CB), Nebraska - 2005
4.30 - Darrent Williams, (CB), Oklahoma State - 2005
4.30 - Yamon Figurs, (WR), Kansas State - 2007
4.31 - Aaron Lockett, (WR), Kansas State - 2002
4.31 - *Johnathan Joseph, (CB), South Carolina - 2006
4.31 - Santana Moss, (WR), Miami - 2001
4.32 - Kevin Garrett, (CB), Southern Methodist - 2003
4.32 - Chris McKenzie, (CB), Arizona State - 2005
4.32 - Tim Carter, (WR), Auburn - 2002
4.32 - Antwan Harris, (CB), Virginia - 2000
4.32 - *Troy Williamson, (WR), South Carolina - 2005
4.32 - *Chad Jackson, (WR), Florida - 2006
4.32 - Tim Jennings, (CB), Georgia - 2006
4.32 - Jason Hill, (WR), Washington State - 2007
4.32 - *Chris Houston, (CB), Arkansas - 2007
4.33 - Carlos Francis, (WR), Texas Tech - 2004
4.33 - Chris Chambers, (WR), Wisconsin - 2001
4.34 - Domonique Foxworth, (CB), Maryland - 2005
4.34 - Tyrone Calico, (WR), Middle Tennessee State - 2003
4.34 - *Ahmad Carroll, (CB), Arkansas - 2004
4.34 - Dunta Robinson, (CB), South Carolina - 2004
4.34 - B.J. Tucker, (CB), Wisconsin - 2003
4.34 - Ken-Yon Rambo, (WR), Ohio State - 2001

Any of these names blow you away.  Santana Moss and Chris Chambers are probably the most notable names on the list and while they performed in the NFL,  neither have been able to establish themselves as #1 receivers on any of the teams they have played with.  On several others,  it may be too soon but even as rookies or 2nd, 3rd year players,  they have not been able to make a big splash.  There are tons of other players who are not on this list who showed that they were players on the field in college football and by God,  they continued to do that in the NFL.  Bottom line,  if you can play then you can play whether or not you can run fast in some tights and track spikes on turf.