TPC Sport Thoughts- Cassel, Cutler, Wade and more

Over the weekend we saw the Chiefs trade a 2nd round draft pick and a guaranteed $14M for Matt Cassel. As my millions and millions of loyal readers know, TPC is not a big fan of Cassel and thinks it was very apropo for the poor K.C. Chiefs to trade for the overpriced system QB. When you let Herm Edwards ruin your franchise and all time great Fantasy Football systems, why stop there?
Cassel is a very good QB in terms of mobility, but as I pointed out many times Cassel came into the perfect situation. He had a very good offensive line. Two Pro Bowl Wide Receivers (Moss and Welker) and basically the same team that broke almost every passing record in NFL history the year before. With all that he had modest success, 21 TD's and 11 INT's with a QB rating of 89.4 and a 7.2 Yards Per Attempt. Keep in mind this was also against one of the worst NFL schedules in recent years. Compare that to Tom Brady's 2007 stats and you wonder what all the fuss is about with Cassel (50TD's 8Int's a 117 passing rating a YPA of 8.3).

Now, while all this was going on, seemingly the Denver Broncos were willing to throw Jay Cutler into the mix in order to have a shot at Cassel. Why would a team with a 26 year old up and coming Pro Bowl QB stud in Cutler go after a guy like Cassel is really mind boggling. Now granted, I have said many times prior that Cutler hasn't been as good as his statistics would lead you to believe and the fact is, he makes big mistakes at bad times. However, he is also only 26 and is the most physically gifted QB in the NFL bar none. When he's on his game, no one can do what he can do, with his arm strength and mobility. Yes, he has a big mouth and yes he's prone to the big mistake, but he's freakin only 26- a puppy in NFL QB years. You can make a very good case that if the NFL put all their players in a big pool and started a draft tomorrow, Cutler would be a top 10 pick at worst and possibly top 3, while Cassel wouldn't go in the top 50. So why does Josh McDaniels and new Denver Management do this? Who knows. Maybe they are just showing their inexperience. Maybe there's more to Cutler being a pain in the toochas than we all know.

The Bucs signed former Giant Derrick Ward for a 4 year $17M deal which will not make the Buc fans happy. Yes, he's a decent back but Ward made a living facing a defensive front that just got it's teeth smashed in by Brandon "The Real Deal" Jacobs. You can put any decent back in behind Jacobs and that offensive line and he will be successful. Ward was a product of that system.

Between the Cassel-Cutler fiasco and the Ward deal, you wonder what you need to do to become a GM in the National Football League.

At least the Jets got it right by signing the right LB from Baltimore and not paying for the overpriced and overaged Ray Lewis. Bart Scott was the right man for the Jets and will help shore up that defense.

Dwayne Wade had an incredible week, scoring 24 points in the 4th Quarter to lead a 16 point comeback againts the Knicks and then fell just short in his Mano a Mano game vs. Lebron last night scoring 41 points, 7 rebounds 9 assists and 7 steals. WOW. You can take Kobe all day, for my money D-Wade is the second dog to King James.

We're about a month away from opening day and the most dangerous hitter we have ever seen (Manny Ramirez) is still waiting for a call. This after he posted a monster second half- averaging about an RBI a game and hitting .400 leading the Dodgers to the postseason. Amazing times we live in.

Giant Defeat- TPC Reveals the Real Reasons the Champs are Out

We watched the game. We heard all the pundits and talking heads. It was Eli's fault. It was Coughlin's fault. Spagnola's fault. Well, The People's Champ is going to break it down reason by reason.

1- Eli played awful. From the opening play, a great play design to free Steve Smith on a route that left him wide open, nothing between him and the End Zone. Eli threw just an ugly looking ball that under threw Smith that portended things to come. Whatever you want to say about the play calling, whatever you want to say about the defense taking the "gas of the pedal", if Eli makes that throw, the Giants go up 7-0 against a very shaky Philly offense, as indicated in the first half.
Eli's numbers were: 15-29 169 yards 2 INT's and a 40.7 QB rating. Although he had a statistically worse game in 2005 against the Panthers in the NFC Wild Card game (10-18 113 yards 3 INT's 35 QB rating), I contend when you take everything into consideration- his stature, the team, situation, experience- this was his worst game in his NFL career. This was a game the Eagles game plan was simple- "Eli, go ahead and beat us". Besides a brilliant 3rd down throw late in the game to Dominic Hixon and some nice crossing patterns with Boss, Eli was off all day and it validated the Eagles game plan.
Some have indicated (especially the Ducks- my long time nemesis) that Eli's lack of arm strength kills him late in the season in the cold and blustery winds of Giants Stadium. To date, statistically these critics are 100% on the ball, as Eli has been brilliant in his road playoff games (evidenced by last years Super Bowl MVP run) and his total incompetence in his two career home playoff games. His home December numbers are much worse than his road numbers during the same time period (although this year he showed much improvement at home in December, except this week-when it really mattered). Ignoring the fact that TPC has no evidence or case to base this on, I believe Eli will rebound and show he can win and lead this team to home playoff wins.

2- "Prevent Defense" to end the first half that gave the Eagles a Field Goal, the lead and their first sustainable offense. The Giants dominated the first half on both sides of the ball, despite Eli's putrid performance. The Eagles only score was the result of Eli's interception, that set up a Donovan McNabb QB sneak. To this point, the Eagles had 10 yards in total offense, plus a Giant safety. So what did the great wizardry of Spagnola and Coughlin's genius do? They took the pressure and heat off McNabb (which to that point produced a safety an INT and 10 total offensive yards), allowed him to breath and work underneath and gave the Eagles some life. Again, to that point the Giants were moving the ball on offense (except the INT, they controlled the line of scrimmage) totally dominated with their defense and even their special teams played great. That offensive possession gave the Eagles a lot more than 3 points and a halftime lead. it gave them life and it got McNabb back in some sort of rhythm. He did nothing to that point. This was the classic case of "don't let these guys stay in the game because they will think they can win it" game. To that point, if you looked at the Eagles bench, they were done. Why the great Spagnola (and I mean that in all seriousness) decided to call off the horses on that last drive is beyond understanding. It is also probably why (good news for Giant fans) Spags will be back in NY next year while Ryan will become the next Jets coach.

3- The offensive game plan- Anyone who has watched the Giants the last two years KNOWS the offense starts with Brandon Jacobs and the beating he gives the opposing defenses. I'm as big a supporter as one can be for Eli Manning, even I admit the offense starts with Jacobs. The success of Bradshaw and Ward is directly attributed to the pounding that Jacobs delivers to the defense. Yes, the fact that you landed on Boardwalk with 4 houses knocked you out of the game, but landing on New York Avenue and Marvin Gardens 3 or 4 times prior, is what led to your bank account getting to the point where Boardwalk can bankrupt you. So what do the Giants do? They split carries with Ward and Jacobs when Jacobs was abusing the Philadelphia defense when Ward was struggling to gain 2 or 3 yards. Jacobs has abused Philly every time they play. They are a defensive line that is susceptible to a power running attack and the Giants decided to bounce Jacobs to the outside and have Ward pound it to the inside. Just doesn't make sense. With all the criticism on Coughlin for his 3rd and 4th down play calling (I believe at the time he had no confidence in Eli at that point and was gripping at straws) this was his biggest mistake on the offensive side of the ball. If your the Giants, you have to pound Jacobs inside all day, until Philly can prove they can stop him. This would have worn down the Philly defense and allowed a shaky Eli (who actually looked decent in the 2nd Quarter) to settle in and not have to do too much in very tough conditions (for all the McNabb raving I have heard today, the guy played awful except for two drives and his safety and two picks could have cost him as much as Eli cost the Giants. Only difference was Samuel's got closer to the goal line than Robbins on the INT).

With two minutes left in the first half, I texted my friend and told him the Giants will dominate in the second half and Jacobs and Co. will wear the defense down. After the Eagles drove the field to the end the half, I said "I think the Giants might have just given these guys a new lease on life". Unfortunately, for the Giants- I was right.
With that being said, I think the best team on the field yesterday was the Giants. I felt they dominated the first half, but some key coaching decisions and the total ineffectiveness of Eli, allowed the Eagles to hang around long enough for McNabb to make a few plays and sometimes that's all you need.

Yankees Signings- It's Good for Baseball- TPC's Take

Once again the Yankees turned the baseball world upside down, with their covert maneuvers in signing Mark Teixeira, the premier offensive free agent player of the 2008-09 offseason.
Until the deal was inked, most had been led to believe Teixeira was contemplating the Nationals offer of between $174M-$185M (and whether they would be able to sign other big names to form a competitive team in the Nations Capital) or the Boston offer, presumed to be anywhere from $20-$24M a year for 6 years.
Well, when we all heard the news the Yankees came in- basically out of nowhere- to ink the star first baseman, shock waves were sent throughout the baseball and sports world.
The Yankees now have the 4 largest contracts in Baseball (Jeter, Arod, Sabathia and now Teixiera). There is growing sentiment and concern that they are ruining the game and now small market teams "really" can't compete. My question is, why all of a sudden now? What is different today then yesterday? Let's analyze.
The Yankees always went after the big names and the big contracts. In years past, they made big mistakes. They signed pitchers to big contracts that were past their prime (Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson) or unproven-especially from a health perspective (Jarret Wright and the Infamous Carl Pavano). The offensive players they signed had similar issues (Giambi and Damon). You can make a very good case that Cashman has done a horrible job in his assessment of free agent pitchers. The only big name free agent who was in his prime that was signed over this time period was Mussina (a deal that worked out just fine for the Yanks). Every other signing was either for a pitcher in his mid 30's or who had major health risks.
This years signings- at least the Sabathai and Teixiera signings- were different in that both are young, in their primes, and have never had health issues. These were great signings. You lock up a top 3 ML picther at age 28, who has pitched in big games- and pitched well, and the games best all around First Baseman, also at age 28. The Burnett signing actually is similar to the ones mentioned above, a 32 year old pitcher who has had basically 3 healthy years in his career- all walk years. The only reason that the Burnett signing can be seen as a positive to TPC is he is essentially the #4 starter in terms of talent and major league success (I would take CC, Wang and Joba over him easily). With the pressure being off, maybe he avoids the issues that Pavano, Brown, Johnson, etc have endured by being a savior to the staff. That falls to Sabathia and it says here, C.C. will be just fine in that role. With the being said, TPC would have spent that money elsewhere (and not Derrek Lowe either).
Next major falsehood being spewed in various circles is the Yankees are blowing up the salary structure of baseball and makes the divide between small and large market much larger. This is completely false. The Yankees payroll as currently constituted for 2009 is actually 10% LOWER than in 2008. Basically, the Yankees traded Giambi's $23M 2008 salary for Teixiera's $23M 2009 salary. A great trade by anyone's estimation. They traded Mussina ($12m) Pavano (13M) Pettite ($16M) for Burnett and Sabathia. They still have about $25M left to spend on one more pitcher and for reserve. TPC suggests if Pettite doesn't want the $10M, go with a rotation of CC, Wang, Burnett, Joba and either Hughes or Kennedy. I think Hughes will turn out to be a very viable top of the rotation guy and his salary structure keeps the Yankees somehwhat cost effective for 3 of their current spots (Wang makes $6m this year and Joba and Hughes are under a million each). What the Yankees did was sign all their big deals in one season, rather than stagger them as they had in years past. It was also the smarter move, as the Yankees now have a core IF of Arod-Tex-Jeter and Cano, with Jeter being the oldest at 34 and a pitching staff of 5 under 32 (Burnett being the oldest at 32). They just got much better and much younger with the 3 signings with a smaller payroll than that in 2008.
The Yankees also just paid $26M to a luxury tax that goes partly to the smaller market teams. I don't see the Royals or Pirates giving that back. Nor do I see anyone complain when the Yankees are in town and their attendance rockets-thereby selling more tickets, merchandise, food, etc. The Yanks led MLB last year with an average attendance of 44,131 fans per game- a far cry from the Marlins and their 25,000. If the Yankees weren't the "Damn Yankees" those road attendance numbers would not be where the are. The Yankees (and the Red Sox, Cubs, Mets, Dodgers) being good is good for Baseball. It drives attendance, interest, TV rights, merchandising, etc. It makes money for baseball. It's like the economy. It's good when people get rich. It gives opportunity to the people the rich support. If the rich are doing poorly, their businesses have cuts, people lose jobs, they spend less, the circle goes round, etc. (as we see in todays economy). The Yankees outspending and making a big media splash is good for the small market teams. As Buster Olney reported earlier- "And they do have defenders even among the small-market teams. "They just got a luxury tax bill of $26.9 million, didn't they?" another AL official asked rhetorically. "They always pay, don't they? The other teams cash their checks, don't they?" "The Yankees are great for baseball, just like the Red Sox and the Cubs are great for baseball, because they generate interest and they generate money for all of us. Today, somebody is going to pick up a paper overseas and there will be something in there on the Yankees' signing of Teixeira. Do you think that would happen if there was some trade between small-market teams? People pay attention to the Yankees, and that's good for our sport." Exactly.
The last major point, is the Texiera signing actually improves their current investements in other players. Arod's worth just gets increased by having a great hitter (a switch hitter nonetheless) hitting in front of him. It makes his current contract more valuable. Teixeira is the best hitter since Sheffield to hit in front of him and that was an MVP season for Arod (which it says here, he will win it again this season). He also takes some of the media spotlight away from Arod, which can only help. He makes the rest of the lineup more powerful. He also makes the defense stronger and increases the value of Arod, Jeter and Cano's defense. It's a no brainer move- a far cry from the defensive liability that is Giambi.
The Yankees spending hasn't change one bit. The only difference is, they are spending it smarter, which makes them better, which is better for baseball.

Sabathia and Burnetts Impact- No Texiera? TPC Thoughts

There has been a recent school of thought on the Yankees spending spree ($240M combined on Sabathia and Burnett) and how it will affect them in a negative way in the future. Our friend, The Ducks made this comment recently.

Duck Views: There's always an opportunity cost, TPC. Always. And it says right here that Teixeira is a HUGE, HUGE opportunity cost. Had the yankees paid a SOMEWHAT reasonable premium for Sabathia, and not signed burnett, they could have had Teixeira. And what a dual signing that would be-- Sabathia and Texeira??? I'd take that over Sabathia/Burnett any day.

As usual, The Ducks are wrong and totally are missing the point. Besides the fact that Texiera will cost $200M and Burnett $85M, there are more important issues.
Let's take the Sabathia deal where the Ducks said:

Ducks:I see your house is on the market and you're asking $750K, TPC.
TPC: Yep.
Ducks: Any offers so far?
TPC: Not really, I mean, one guy did offer $450K, not sure if he's serious, though.
Ducks: We'll give you $950K, TPC
TPC: Really?
Ducks: Ha. Nah. Make it $1.25 Mil
TPC: Deal, But if the house goes up in value over the next 3 years, I'd like to be able to opt-out.
Ducks: You got it.

The fact is, the Yankees offer of $23M a year is not much more than the original Brewers offer of $20M per year. Biggest difference is length of the contract and being C.C. is only 28, he will only be 35 his final year of the contract-essentially still in his formative years. Being Sabathia is a top 5 pitcher at worst right now, let's see other starters in that salary stratosphere.

Johan Santana, age 30 (2 years older than C.C.) $22.75M a year average over 6 years.
Carlos Zambrano age 27, $18.3M 5 years
Barry Zito age 30, $18M 6 years.
Jason Schmidt age 36, 1 more year at $15.6M

Obviously, Sabathia is on par in excellence only with Santana in that group. He's also a good peer, not just in terms of talent but in terms of economics and location (both play in NY). You can make a very good economic case that $20M per year for Milwaukee is a lot more than $23M per for the Yanks. In fact, the Brewers entire payroll was $81M last year, so C.C. would in essence be 25% of that. The Yankees had a $209M payroll, so C.C. comes in around 11%, less than half of the Brewers offer.
The Burnett deal I didn't like, not because the salary was more than others were offering (from all reports the Yankees offer was best because the guaranteed the 5th year), but because of the health risk and the fact that his prior 200IP seasons were all "walk years". That scares me. That has a lot of Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano rings to it.
The Ducks main contention was opportunity cost and the fact that this will prevent the Yankees from signing Texiera. That notion is 100% false, and here's why.
The Yankees payroll as of today is still $45M less than last year due to Giambi, Abreu, Pavano, Mussina, etc contracts coming off. They have made offers for Texiera, but the reports that I have read are the Yankees don't really love him that much. There is thought that he is a numbers compiler and when it comes to clutch situations, they don't want another A-Rod on their hands. Basically, they made the offer more as window dressing than anything else. A written by MLB.com's Tom Singer "There is a belief within the game that New York is feigning interest in Teixeira simply to drive up the price for Boston -- which, aside from its prior interest, now also needs the slugger to counter its rivals' hoarding of pitchers".
With that being said, the Yankees will probably sign another pitcher and a bat (possibly in the Mike Cameron deal). Buster Olney has reported the Yankees payroll will actually be 10-15% less than last year (plus the luxury tax savings) so in essence the Cashman plan of building through youth (Joba, Hughes, Cano, etc) and still being competitive is working. The staff is anchored by 4 guys who are under 30 (Sabathia, Burnett, Wang-28, and Joba-24). That is much different than the days of overspending for an aged rotation of Johnson, Brown, Mussina(who was worth the money but still in his mid 30's), Leiber, etc.

Yanks Get Their Man C.C.- The People's Take

Typical of the way things work in the New York Baseball scene, less than 12 hours after the Mets sign the best Free Agent Closer available in K-Rod (around 3PM yesterday afternoon, The Mets and Francisco Rodriguez today agreed on a three-year, $37 million contract- which by the way is an amazing deal for the Amazin's, considering K-Rod entered the market, wanting 5 years and $75M), The Yankees signed the #1 Free Agent Pitcher on the market, agreeing to terms with C.C. Sabathia at around 2AM EST last night on a 7 year $160M deal, the richest deal for a pitcher in ML history. Despite various reports and rumors, Sabathia didn't wait for that West Coast offer that was supposedly coming (either from the Giants, Dodgers or Angels) and went to New York for the big bucks and the bigger responsibility.
The Yankees spend $25M more on Sabathia and kept prospects Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera (some even think Robinson Cano) rather than going for Johan Santana last season.
The big question is, did they make the right decision?
First and foremost, lets take money out of the equation. Yes. I know we are talking about a combined $285Millllllllllllion dollars here (read in Dr. Evil voice with pinky dangling from the corner of your mouth), but this is the Yankees and the Yankees have more money than pretty much everyone these days-including the Federal Government (and you can make a good case they spend theirs a lot wiser). When it comes to money, the Yankees $160M is a lot less to them than say $160M to any other major league franchise. They just have so much more of it with playing in the NY market, their own TV network, the new Stadium, etc.
The real question here is: Is C.C., Hughes, Kennedy and Melky worth more than Santana?
Statistically speaking, Santana has been the best pitcher in baseball the last 6 years, bar none. CC has been the best the last 2, winning the CY Young Award in the AL for 2007 and having one of the great runs in recent ML history last season when he was traded to the Brewers (11-2 1.65 ERA 7CG 3 SHO in 17 games started, including pitching his last 3 times on 3 days rest). Santana is a year younger than CC. Career wise, they are close in IP, however CC has averaged roughly 20 more IP a season the last 3 than Santana. They are both extremely durable. They both pitched incredibly down the stretch this season allowing for each of their respective teams to stay in the race to the last day. For their careers, C.C.'s best month has been September, closely followed by August, whereas Johan finishes similarly strong, just being a tad better in August than September. In other words, when the going gets tough down the stretch, these two legitimate aces can carry their teams on their backs- a must for a #1 starter.
Last season was a perfect example of this: Santana was 7-0 in 87 IP with 81 k's and an ERA of 1.87 from August 1 till seasons end last year (as I wrote here, he should have been the NL CY Young). Not to be outdone, Sabathia was 7-2 in 92 IP with a 1.55 ERA and 94 k's, which included pitching on 3 days rest his final 3 starts, which is unheard of these days, to get the Brewers in the playoffs.
One disconcerting issue with both (Sabathia more than Santana) is their failure to "keep it up" into the postseason. Both have losing records and both have been far from duplicating their regular seasons success in the postseason, with C.C. being far worse, getting shelled twice by Boston last year and once by the Phillies this season. You can't ignore this aspect, but you can also attribute the fact that they were both depended on possibly too much down the stretch (especially in C.C.'s case) that possibly we can attribute that to their (and especially Sabathia's) lack of postseason success.
Clearly we can see, in both cases, this is far from signing a severely declining Barry Zito, or a one year health wonder in Pavano. Both guys are at the top of the Pitching food chain for years, always healthy and in their respective primes. This more closely resembles the Braves signing of Maddux (just after winning his first CY Young) and the Yankees initial 7 year signing of Mike Mussina, both very successful signings.
The fact is, the Yankees spent an extra $25m for a pitcher very similar in stature and caliber to Santana, and I say that with the highest respect for both. They kept 3 prospects (leave Cano out of this for now) who have lost tremendous value over the last year. However, keep in mind, Hughes wont turn 23 until mid season. Kennedy will be only 24 in two weeks and Melky (also 24)- who has already proven himself both offensively (despite last years regression) and defensively (no one argues about Melky's defensive prowess)- to be at worst, a good #4 major league OF'er. You don't give up on guys who have had this much success while they are so young.
While Hughes' durability is a huge question that needs to be answered, he has shown ability-extreme ability- at the major league level, to hold out a lot of hope (including postseason success). He also pitched well in Winter Ball this season, to continue that hope.
Kennedy has shown much less at the major league level, however there is still hope here as well. He has also pitched well in winter ball and is working with his former coach on some mechanic changes that some scouts liken to Tom Glavine's early career troubles (not to compare for a second the two vastly different pitchers).
The People's take is the Yankees did the right thing. All they sacrificed was money and they have plenty of that to go around, especially with their recent expiring contracts (Pettite, Mussina, Abreu, Giambi, etc). They still have their youth movement. They have a core rotation of 3 studs 30 or under (C.C., Wang and Joba). They still need help both in pitching depth (reports have it, that the Yanks are close to signing Derrek Lowe for 4 years $68M and possibly even A.J. Burnett- it says here signing AJ will be a huge mistake). This signing goes a long way towards the Yankees regaining their supremacy in the A.L. East. Great move by Cashman and the Yanks.

Publish Post

Lesnar, Cy Young, Jets- Pats, Yankees and more random thoughts from TPC

Tomorrow Night marks the biggest night in the young MMA career of the Phenom that is Brock Lesnar. For those who don't know, Lesnar is a former National Wrestling Champion while at the University of Minnesota and then turned "Pro" as "The Next Big Thing" in the World Wrestling Entertainment company (WWE). Lesnar is a physical specimen of size, speed and brute strength, non of which has been seen before in the UFC. Lesnar carries a 2-1 MMA record against one of the All Time great UFC champions, Randy Couture into tomorrow's heavyweight Title Bout. Couture, a former NCAA wrestling champion himself comes into this fight with a storied career. "The Natural" has held the Heavyweight belt three times and the Light heavyweight title twice, with storied victories over Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Tim Silvia. he has however never faced someone of the likes of Lesnar.
Despite the obvious size, strength and speed advantages of Lesnar, he is an extremely inexperienced MMA fighter, and despite his recent destruction of Heath Herring (in most impressive fashion) he got caught into an early submission by former Champion, Frank Mir, in his previous bout, despite dominating Mir early.
What's TPC's take? It says here, despite Couture's savvy and experience he is very similar in ways to Lesnar, except he's giving up way too much size and strength to Lesnar. Lesnar will attack and pound Couture and will be rewarded with not only the Most Watched UFC bout in history, but with a world title to boot.

I have little problem with Tim Linsecum winning the NL Award. Statistically he was the best pitcher in the NL this season. He was second in the league in Wins despite playing for a very poor team, he was first in K's and second in ERA. However, my vote would have went to Johan Santana, who single handedly kept a reeling Mets squad in the playoff race until the final day of the season, didn't lose a game from June on, was FIRST in ERA, the most telling of pitchers stats, had only two less wins than Linsecum despite the horror that was the Mets bullpen, all this while pitching in incredible pressure situations, must win games, every time he took the mound from mid August on. Linsecum didn't pitch in a meaningful game all year. Somehow, Brandon Webb and his almost a run more per game ERA than Santana finished first. As always, the voters are idiots.
Which brings me to the AL voting. It was a foregone conclusion that Cliff Lee and his unbelievable season would finish first. Now, Roy Halladay had a great season and deserved his second place finish, but how does any voter justify his vote for Halladay over Lee? It makes no sense. I just need one reason. Please.

The Yankees made a great move yesterday that is quietly being swept under the rug with the CC Sabathia sweepstakes going on. Swisher is a Yankee type player in the late 90's mode. Hard working, hustling, versatile, and most important he has a great eye. That means extra pitchers for the opposing starter and it means more men on base for Arod and the boys. yes, Swisher had an awful year last year (he hit only .219) but lest keep in perspective:
He hit 24 Homers and walked 82 times. He's a switch hitter and he's only 29. He also only makes $3.6M a year, which is about $15M less a year they would have to pay Texiera to play 1B.
I think it's a great move and will be one of the more understated reasons for the Yanks return to prominence next season.

Finally, the Jets excorsized a lot of demons last night. Brett Favre played an amazing game, virtually unstoppable, especially with the game in the balance. The problem was, and this will haunt them at a later time, Mangini did not adjust one thing after the Patriots made their adjustments, which almost cost him the game. They did not pressure Cassell. They let a QB who has shown to be very skittish while being pressured, be as comfortable as possible in the pocket, and let him pick them apart underneath, which is all he can do as he cant throw an accurate pass over 15 yards. Mangini should have sent 6-8 men at him at all times and let him beat them deep (which he should he couldnt do). They played right into his hands and let him attack the Jets with his strengths (underneath stuff and his legs). Good coaches take away the other teams strengths. The Giants did that by attacking Brady in the Super Bowl and it paid off. The Jets almost paid for it.
I think the Jets are the most talented all around squad in the AFC. They have a good offensive line, a very good RB and QB, a great defensive line and maybe the best all around CB in the league (Reeves)and an immense weapon in Leon Washington. They also are handicapped by Mangini's coaching and I'm not sure he can get them past a playoff game. I hope I'm wrong as it would be great to see two New York squads battling for Football Supremacy, I just don't see it happening unless Mangini changes in a hurry.

Bo-MJ-Tiger-"Taste Great Less Filling"- Great Sports Commercials

My good friend and fellow blogger (and constant commenter on The People's Blog) The Ducks, recently wrote an article detailing his list of the greatest sports commercials. As always, the Ducks spoke off the cuff, didn't do proper research and did a half toochas job on the specified task. TPC commented on his site but instead of doing his job on his site, TPC lists his favorite commericals, in no particular order, here, live on TPC:

1. The King Of Sports Commercialism, Michael Jordan has a littany of great spots, and some would (and probably correctly) argue that he could take up most of the top 10 (anything with MJ highlights brings goose bumps to TPC). Here are some of TPC's favorite MJ spots.

• MJ vs. Larry Bird in a game of HORSE for a McDonald's lunch .
• Air Jordan 20th Anniversary edition with Spike Lee. A great tribute and very creative.
• You can't miss when you combine Bugs Bunny and MJ.
• Young Mj vs. older and wiser MJ. Classic.
• MJ Popcorn tape with Steve Martin- faking retirement.
• NIKE's MJ tribute on Jordan's 1999 retirement.

2. Probably second only to MJ in commercialville is Tiger. here's a sampling of his greatest work.

• Tiger's Caddyshack parody. He even gets the accent down.
• The famous NIKE commercial where Tiger was just messin' around. They used it.
• Don't steal Tiger's clubs!
• The one that got it all started. I'm Tiger Woods.

3. Bo knows. Without BO, there wouldn't be an MJ or Tiger.

4. Another NIKE classic. Armstrong as a boxer, Aggasi as a Red Sox, Randy as a bowler, etc...

5. Maybe the Greatest Ad Campaign Ever.

• Great Taste-Less Filling, and it's all up to Rodney.
• Gotta love Ueck.
• First Lite Beer Open

6. Chicks dig the long ball. Maddux and Glavine doing it Rocky style.

7. Without Sports, this wouldn't be disgusting.

8. The ESPN spots........

• Rookie Camp
• Who stole The Kings Chair?
• Stoene Cold Steve Austin studying.
• Danica Patrick parking in Dan Patrick's spot.
• The New Kid- coming out too early. Great Bob Ley piece.

9. Mean Joe Greene and the kid. Maybe the most classic commercial of all time.

There are many more, but these are the top of my list. I think. Enjoy the links.

Week 9 and Midseason NFL Thoughts

It's pretty clear that the NY Football Giants are defending the SB unlike any other team since the 2004 NE Patriots went back-to-back with a 14-2 record.
The Giants are blowing away teams even when they dont play their best game (like Sunday). They have a defense that is better today than it was when they conquered history, SB XLII and the 18-0 NE Patriots "greatest offense in NFL history". They have a franchise QB, 3 outstanding RB's, a good receiving core, and a great coaching staff. I'd be shocked, barring an injury to Manning or Tuck, if the Giants don't win at least 13 games and go to the SB.
I'm not as sold on the 8-0 Titans. Yes, the defense is solid, Chris Johnson is the most exciting player in the AFC right now, Kerry Collins has been very good so far, but I dont see them beating the Steelers, and possibly even the Colts and Chargers in a big game (even though the Colts have an uphill battle just to get there).
Speaking of the Titans, what an awful job by FOX on Sunday. How do you televise an amazing game (Titans -GB Sunday), have the game go into OT and then with the Titans lining up for the winning FG in OT, they cut out to 4 minutes of commercials. Now, as Mushnick wrote in the NY Post Monday, I understand the NFL TV rules (when the local team is playing the network must cut to their game, no questions asked), however, that isn't an excuse to just play 4 minutes of commercials prior to the kickoff. We just needed 15 more seconds to see if the FG was good (which it was). I mean, only a perfect 8-0 record for the Titans was riding on it. Damn FOX.
Well, TPC said Derek Anderson will be a bust and as usual he was right (insert you're Selvin Young jokes here). Brady Quinn takes over for the struggling Anderson vs. The Putrid Denver Broncos. Quinn will do just fine at the helm.
What happened to Cutler? After week 3 he was being hailed as the Next Great Thing, now he's just a regular young QB who gets very jittery, very quick. I think he'll right the ship, but there's a long way to go before he attains "superstud" status.
The J-E-T-S are 5-3, one more win than they had all of 2007 and are currently in First Place in the AFC East. With the Patriots being average at best, and Buffalo falling off a cliff, it seems the Jets and Dolphins could steal this division, amazing as that may sound.
Chad Pennington has been brilliant for Miami and deserves MVP consideration.
The Jags are done. Too many injuries to their offensive and defensive lines have left them crippled. They will be back in 2009.
I'm still not sure what to make of these Colts. Yes, they easily could be 1-7 (instead of the 4-4 record they currently own), the defense is awful (as usual) and the offense if not nearly what it once was. However, Sanders just returned and Manning has finally looked like Manning the last two weeks. I'm not ready to bury them just yet.
How awful are the Raiders? You can make a very good case that they are the worst franchise in sports over the last 6 years (21-57). Their franchise QB looks lost, they drafted a RB #1 this year when they had two decent backs and no offensive or defensive lines. Things look very bleak for the Silver and Black.
I still think the Chargers make a run and win the AFC West, but without Merriman they dont have enough defense to compete for the AFC title.
I dont think Baltimore is as good as their 5-3 record and I dont think Cincy is as bad as theirs 1-8.
Dallas will rebound big after their bye week, but I dont think they pass Washington, Philly or TB for the Two Wild Card spots. They need to dump Phillips and get a real head coach.
Philly is solid, but their whole season hinges on Westbrook playing at full strength. He's that good and important to that squad.
Washington plays good hard defense, but doesn't have the offense to win anything. Campbell might have been interception-less prior to last night, but he also doesnt take many chances.

The Vikings are looking very good with AP running and Ferrotte throwing. They are as formidable as any outside the NFC East. The Bears are in big trouble sans Orton. He's been a major reason the team is 5-3.

I love Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan. Both look like stars of the future. I would take either over Cutler today. However, I dont see either making it to the playoffs this year.

Detroit is a joke and teh Culpepper signing just adds to the punch line. What's the point of signing a washed up QB halfway through the season for an 0-8 squad? Shouldnt they be seeing what the current guys have and what the future holds? Dante is definitiley not the future.

Who would have thought the NFC South would have all 4 teams at .500 or better at the midway point?

I still don't believe in Carolina. They are 5-0 at home, which make sthem a very dangerous home team, I just dont see them beating the NFC East Boys in the playoffs.

I love Arizona and the are making the Peoples Preseason Sleeper Team prediction look great. They practically clinched their divison, Kurt Warner is having an MVP season, they have a great offense and an improving defense. Go Cards!



First Half AFC MVP- Albert Haynesworth, The best player on the best defense and the best team. Honorable mentions: Chad Pennington, Phillip Rivers and Carlton Finnegan.

First Half AFC Best Rookie- Chris Johnson.

First Half AFC Coach of the Year- Jeff Fischer with a close second to John Harbaugh.

Biggest AFC disappointment- I like to say the Chargers D or Jacksonville, but injuries have decimated their respective teams. I'm going to go with Peyton Manning. Basically at career lows in every meaningful QB category, he's a very big reason for the Colts dismal first half. Dishonorable mention: JaMarcus Russel and Derek Anderson.



First Half NFC MVP- Kurt Warner. He has his team with a 3 game lead in first place, has played magnificent at QB (leads the NFC in QB rating, TD's, Completion %, and has only thrown 6 picks). Statistically he's been better than the more acclaimed Brees and his team is also better. Honorable mentions: Brees, Jason Tuck and Michael Westbrook.

First Half NFC Best Rookie- Matt Ryan. He's played great, both iin reality and statistically and has his team at 5-3. His future looks very bright.

First Half NFC Coach of the Year- Mike Smith, Atlanta. He took over a reeling franchise that was hurting big time from the Michael Vick saga, has a Rookie QB starting and has his team in contention and totally transformed the climate in Atlanta. There is a future in Atlanta.

NFC First Half biggest disapointment- The Cowboys. Even with the Romo injury their defense has been putrid. Dishonorable Mentions: Marc Bulger.

Week 8- NFL Thoughts

This weeks premium matchup featuring two of the storied franchises in football, and more importantly, two of the 3 best team this season, between The New York Football Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, delivered as expected.
A hard fought game, extremely physical and also very telling.

• The Giants have the best offensive and defensive lines in the game. That is why the won the SB last year and it is why they will contend again this year. They dominate both sides of line, attack the QB with a vicious fury all the while protecting their own. Tuck and Kiwanuka are two of the best in the game right now at their positions.
  

• Eli proved again with the game on the line he is one of-if not THE- best QB in the league. Yes folks, with the game on the line there is no one better right now (being Brady is out). You want proof? Here is statistical proof to make that claim. 4th Quarter this season Eli has a 105.5 QB rating. 4th Quarter within 7 points he has a rating of 109.7. The last two minutes of a half his stats are as follows: 15-21 2 TD's, no interceptions and a rating of 119.5. We all remember what he did in the SB on the last drive. We saw it again last night. He is as cool as they get under pressure. The Anti-Arod perhaps. Right now, I dont see many clear cut QB's I'm taking over Eli. That includes Big Ben.
• I didn't like the early goal line play calling by the Giants but they finally got their act together calling that great play action for the winning TD. It's nice to run the ball down someone's throat, but you need TD's.
• Pittsburgh has been exposed twice to a good, hard and physical pass rush. Philly's D dominated them and the Giants the same. Except for two broken plays on the Giants part (the two long TD's) the Pitt offense was non existint. They will have trouble with Tennesee in the playoffs.

Other thoughts:

I love Mike Singeltary. Finally a coach with some balls. I love how he apologized to the fans on the way out, his benching of Davis and JT and most impressively- the best post game press conference I have seen in a long time.

"I told everyone at the beginning of the week, I will not tolerate players that think it's about them when it's about the team," Singletary said still in high-decibel mode. "We cannot make decisions that cost the team and then come off (to) the sideline and it's nonchalant. I would rather play with 10 people and just get penalized ... rather than play with 11 when I know that person is not sold out to be a part of the team. It's more about them than it is about the team. Can not play (with those players). Can not win with them; can not coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners."

Singletary then said that Davis tried to talk to him in the locker room, and Singletary told him, "You don't want to talk to me right now."

SF might not be good now, but they will with that type of coaching attitude.
I guess TPC was right about Cassel, unfortunately for his fantasy squad.
I love how Favre can totally blow a game and in one possession look the Favre of old. At least he keeps things interesting and the Jets have as many wins in 7 games as they had all year last season.
Carolina just keeps on pulling out these games they should lose. They are 5-2 and could have easily have been 2-5.
The Colts are a mess. They offense isnt what it was and unfortunately for them, the defense is what it was. Horrid. They will have a very difficult time getting in the playoffs this season.
Tennese is the class of the AFC right now but lets not get carried away with last nights win, as did Kornheiser and Jaworski. Seriously, you think they just beat the 18-0 Patriots. All they did was manhandle a team scoring on average 20 points a game with a horrid defense. Forget the last few years and their name. This isn't the same dominating Colts teams. I want to see them beat a tough NFC East team, or even a physical team like Pitt before we sign them up as the AFC representative in the SB.
I love the way Houston's offense has played in recent weeks, especially the incredible play of Andre Johnson. His catch in week 7 was one of the best catches you will ever see and he did it with the game on the line.
I love how Pennington is playing and how quickly Parcells has changed the climate and environment in Miami.
I think Buffalo is a very poor 5-2 squad. Same thing with the Pats.
Don't make too much of the Dallas victory against TB. TB has a bad offense and the Dallas offense didn't show much. The Giants will punish them this week.
Through 8 weeks Phillip Rivers leads the league with 19 TD passes and Brees with 2563 yards. Warner is in the top 4 of every major passing category along with Rivers, Brees and Romo.
Favre and O'Sullivan have thrown the most INT's with Peyton Manning next on the list.
Portis leads the league by a lot in Rushing Yards (944 to AP's 684) and LenDale leads the way with 10 TD's.
Andre johnson leads in receptions and receiving yards.
Joey Porter unbelievably leads the league with 10 1/2 sacks in his resurgent year just ahead of DeMarcus Ware and James Harrison.

Fantasy Basketball Draft Analysis

Welcome all to the first Public version of The People's Draft Analysis, NBA style and the first analysis PERIOD for TPC in the league called The Shark Tank.
For those unaware, The People's NBA League disbanded two seasons ago after a nice 7 year run. Unfortunately the interest in Fantasy Hoops didn't match the interest in Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Football. However, TPC's round the clock fix of Fantasy action needed to be adhered to, so TPC joined DTA as The Wild Samoans in the league called The Shark Tank.
The Shark Tank is much different than The People's League. First off, most of the teams are jointly owned. A very weird dynamic. Second, the draft takes place in an AOL chat room. Two main problems with that:
1) AOL???????? Sorry fellas, this is no longer your Aunt Susan's internet of 2001. There are more efficient ways to do this. Which leads me to my next point.
2) There are only two ways top do a draft. 1- Live Draft where all the members are there making fun of each other, trash talking and hopefully eating some really good grilled animal of some kind. This is not too efficient but a lot of fun nonetheless, or 2- an online drafting service like Yahoo Sports which allows for a system that keeps track of all taken players (by team and position), all available positions and most importantly gives A TIME LIMIT for each pick. It also has a chat board for the mandatory trash talking portion of the draft.
The Shark Tanks draft system allows for people to in reality take as much time as they want and allows for the constant error of picking someone that was already picked (we will get into this a little later)...
With that being said, the only characters from this league that you have read about prior are DTA- my current tag team partner here, The Ducks- this is his rookie season , and Forties and Dimes (known as the Yeshiva Bochers in this league) who also handles the role of league Commissioner.

With that being said, as always, , I need to preface with the following.
This is not an analysis on who will win this seasons league. It is an analysis on how they drafted. Keep in mind this is extremely difficult in the current drafting format so we need to give everyone a little rope. not as much as The Ducks (which we will get to later) but in general. This draft was also tougher than usual because of the first year institution of keepers (basically anyone drafted last season can be kept by forfeiting this seasons pick 5 rounds earlier than last years draft. So, if you took someone in round 9 last year you can keep him in round 4 this year). I also dont know the players in this league that well, so many wont have much background.
The leagues roster and points settings are: PG, SG, G, SF, F, PF, C, C, Util, Util- 7 bench spots
Categories are points, reb, assists, blocks, steals, FG %, 3PT made and FT made.
Without further ado, The People's Analysis:

Yeshiva Bochers (Forties and Dimes)- A great job by the Commish for fixing........I mean earning the #1 pick in this draft. Lebron was the obvious and rightful choice. On the wraparound picking 24th and 25th, the YB picked Andre Iggy and David West. I like both picks however I think both were picked early especially with Butler, Jamison, Gasol, Pierce, Wallace and Rashard Lewis still available. Turk went to them in round 4 as their keeper (last pick) and Maggette in 5. I'm not sure if Hedo can repeat last years performance but being the draft position, a good keeper play by the YB. Maggette was a reach in round 5. I love their 6 round pick David Lee and although they reached with Mayo in 7, it was a great gamble as Mayo looks awesome early on. I think YB took two chances with Thorton and Nene at 8-9 which were big reaches, especially with proven assets like Al Harrington, Troy Murphy and Drew Gooden picked after. Plus there were many great keepers to target there if you wanted to go that route. I love Tyrus at 10 and Ridnour at 11. Both solid picks. Amir Johnson and Westbrook followed. Not much 2008 value but some possible value down the road. Two solid picks in Simmons and Posey ended things for the YB. Overall Grade: 5.5. Decent all around squad with many questions and many questionable picks.

KARAT PLATINUM- KP took Kobe went #2 overall with his first ever draft pick in the Shark Tank; a big reach in my opinion. I think Kobe is on the wrong side of the Peak and CP would have been the much better choice. On the other hand, Kobe is still damn good so he wont hurt KP in the end. First rule: You dont win leagues in the first 2 rounds you can only lose them (as all Tom Brady owners can attest). Jason Kidd went 2nd which was just awful. Keep in mind, Kidd helps you in 3 categories (reb, st and assists). He kills you in 4 and is decent in 1. He's no better than a 4th rounder in my book. No way he goes 13 picks before Billups. The numbers arent even close. Vince Carter, another disaster in the making went in round 3. KP apparently hasn't watched the NBA much in the last 3 seasons. Okafor and Miller (Andre) then went, very safe picks, two of the best players available on the board. Bibby was a steal in round 6 while TF Ford was okay in 7, someone please explain to me the strategy of drafting 4 PG's with your first 7 picks? Kenyon Martin had no business going 8 except that KP is probably a closet Nets fan. I like Gooden at 9. Noah and Moon 10-11 are non factors, although there is some slight upside to each. Same with Boone at 12. Warrick was decent at 13. Mo Pete and Curry rounded up the lousy effort. Overall Score: 2. A very inaspicious debut to say the least. Just a horrible job. Team will win assists going away but basically booted the rest of the categories.

EAST SIDERS- The East Siders were the Champs in TPC's first season and have been the league doormat the last two. Has the game passed by one of the great all time Shark Tank franchises? ES took CP at #3, the no brainer pick there. Boozer went to them in round 2, a solid pick at that spot. Maybe he doesn't block enough shots (or any) for a big man, but he does everything else well. Joe Johnson went 3, another solid pick. Bogut at 4 and Dunleavy at 5 (their keeper pick). To this point, I dont think you can fault one pick. A great job so far. Plus, they locked up their frontcourt and have a great PG-SG combo. Beasley can become a monster at 6. Dalemebert was a questionable at 7 but nothing to fret over. Shaq at 8 was bad. He will be a non factor this season- at least until playoff time. I like Terry a lot at 9, Stuckey was a good keeper pick at 10, the East Siders version of trading for the future during last years dismal season. Anthony Parker is serviceable enough but at 11 there was more value out there. Quinn, Miami's #3 PG was awful at 12, I love Sessions at 13 and like Gomes at 14. Good value there on both and I liked the shot with Augustine at 15. Overall Grade: 8. Textbook first 6 rounds and didn't do much to screw up the rest. An excellent job.

2X Defending Champs (AKA N Connection). Like their namesake, NC is looking for their 3rd straight title. Lucky for us, lightning doesnt strike 3 times in the same place. Howard was the worst of all the first round picks (we'll get to the Baron Davis pick. I dont even consider it a pick therefore the qualification here). D-Howard is an extremely overrated fantasy player. He doesn't get a ton of points, so his FG %, while being excellent isnt as effective as one might think. He does dominate the boards and gets nice blocks, but for my money i take Amare over him easily. You cant take Yao in round 2. Yes, when he plays he's very good, but you already locked up a big man, you cant take a health risk in round 2 when you already have that position secure. You have to love Butler in round 3. Many expert drafts had him early round 2. Redd went in round 4, another overrated 2 category player. Tony Parker in 5 could pay huge dividends. Someone has to pick up Manu's slack and Mr. Eva can and will do just that. I still would rather have Mike Bibby who went 16 picks later, but thats nitpicking. I like Oden in round 6. I dont see how he doesnt average 12pts 10boards and 2.5 blocks a game. He has monster potential, although you have to question a 3rd center when the team donly has one real G or SF (depending on where you play Redd). I dont understand Arenas at 7 at all. he's out 3 months with knee surgery for a guy who makes a living using his knees. Plus, its his second one in 3 years. Doesn't a healthy Mike Miller make so much more sense? Not sure what the fascination with Udrih is. I dont like him at all. He showed me nothing as a starter last year, dont know what changed. Murphy was a solid pick at 9. Another good one at 10 with Prince. About time NC showed up to the draft. Took Bayless at 11. No value there. Same with Pietrus at 12. I like Q at 13 and took the wrong Lopez at 14. Hibbert could be one of the drafts major sleepers and a great keeper at 15. Overall Score: 3. That's giving a "curved score" for the Champs track record.

DOLPH SCHAYES- Named after the first great Jewish NBA player, DS gets extra credit for creativity. For background, Dolph was mired in the basement most of the season. He decided to puropsely tank the remainer of the games leading to the All Star Game in order to win Most Improved (an award given to the team with the most points improved over the 2nd half of the season). While technically within the rules a move that came under incredible criticism and in The People's opinion, rightfully so.
I know D-Wade plays the game looking to get hurt and I know Amare is the better and safer pick, but I think D-Wade is on a mission to remind people who he is. It says here he competes with Lebron for MVP consideration and posts monster numbers. Kevin Martin is a fine player but how he goes in round 2 is beyond anyone's explanation. I love Durant but still think Round 3 is a bit early for him. Brand was their keeper at 4, a steal considering where he would have been drafted (end of round 1). Lots of points and good FG for his first 4 picks. Richard Jefferson is ok at 5 but shouldn't you pick someone who can get an assist at this point? Not sure why you go for a risky O'Neal here with Beasley, Bibby and Lee still around. I like Rondo at 7 but this might be a case of too little too late. Kirilenko still gives you value and even more so in round 8. Nice pick. Thaddeus went 3 rounds too early. Still only one PG on this squad. Bargnani was a nice pick at 10 considering he's also O'Neals handcuff. I love Green at 11. Dont understand ANOTHER big man at 12 with Sean Williams. West, Anthony Carter and some upside in Farmar round out the draft. Overall Score: 3. Would have been a 2 but got Brand as a 4th rounder as a keeper. Some good talent but no plan. All big men or shooters and the big men are all question marks. Very little game plan if any.

BONEZ N NUTZ- The Don Morocco to TPC's Jimmy Snuka. The Mortgage Backed Security to TPC's Banking industry. The Obama to TPC's McCain and most fittingly, the Barzini to TPC's Don Michael Corleone. Going into last seasons trading deadline, TPC was negotiating 2 different deals. One with Bonez and one with his brother YB. TPC was at the time in 4th place and needed to make a chance. In a very controversial move, TPC dealt the #1 overall player at the time, Chris Paul to YB for Manu Ginobelli (the #11 rated player) and Jermaine O'Neal. There were reports that O'Neal would have been back for the remaining 6 weeks of the season (he actually played a very ineffective 3-4 weeks). Manu filled needs Paul didnt for TPC and the upside of O'Neal would have helped TPC finish in the money. What in fact happened is the opposite. Manu played okay but O'Neal was largely ineffective. The Wild Samoans ended up in 6th (where they were prior to the deal) and YB was helped by paul to a second place finish. Bonez' CEO, Barzini, was in an uproar. In TPC's opinion not so much because of the deal TPC did make, but rather the deal that TPC didn't make with Barzini. Either way, The Wild Samoans and Barzini have put that behind them (or at least they will after Barzini takes a little car ride..). Barzini, I knew it was him all along.
Barzini picking 6th was given the gift of Amare (the #2 player in TPC's preseason rankings) because of the above errors. He then took Duncan in round 2 in typical Barzini fashion (he loves Duncan. However he doesn't know this isn't 2003). Duncan is no longer the force he once was and is only getting older. Richardson, the 2007 steal of the draft for The Wild Samoans, went 3rd, a very solid choice. Here was possibly the most curious pick of the draft, Jamal Crawford, who at best is an 8th rounder, going before a ton of talent. Odom went 5th, normally a good spot for him, but the news he will be coming off the bench this season makes this a risky play. Josh Howard was a steal in round 6. I love Foye, just not sure if round 7 was the place for him. Interestingly, Bonez took Manu (a very injured Manu) in round 8. Alston solid enough in round 9. Raja at 10, Eric Gordon 11 (a nice sleeper), Ben Wallace at 12, Hawes another nice sleeper at 13. Varajeo at 14 and Gerald Green at 15. Overall Grade: 3. He started things great with Amare and made a great pick with Howard, but nothing else the rest of the draft.

CELCIUS (FKA TEAM TABC)- Team TABC has been a middle of the road squad since The Wild Samoans have entered the league, finishing 8th, 8th and 5th. Celcius grabbed Dirk #7 and being this isn't a playoff league, a very solid choice. Carmelo fell to them in the second round, a pick I really like this year. Camby could be a steal in the 3rd round if he plays as much as last year, but he is already showing signs of injury and Kaman will eat away at his rebound totals. Gay was a keeper in round 4, a TPC favorite this season. The highly underrated Devin Harris went in round 5 a great choice considering he went after Andre Miller and Tony Parker and is probably the better player with the most upside. Biedrins may have went a bit early at 6, but with all the points locked up in Mello, Dirk and Gay, the cats Biedrins brings was a smart choice for this squad. I love Ray Allen at 7. He might not 2004 Allen, but he's still better than a 7th round pick. He finished as the 42nd overall player last year. Good for a mid 3rd rounder. Felton went in round 8, a player I think who will lose time as the season goes on to DJ. Marc Gasol went 9th, a curious pick at best considering Al Harrington was picked two slots later. I dont know if he'll even contribute that much this season. Marcus Williams went 10, another non factor. Blatche was a keeper at 11, would probably have been a 13-14th rounder. Earl Watson could be a steal at 12 if he continues to start and since rookie PG's generally have trouble, it looks like that's how it's going to play out. I love Chandler at 13. While C-D Roberts might not bring much this season, he will be a great keeper going for next season. And to complete the rookie roundup, Brandon Rush went 15th. Overall Grade: 6. A lot of very good choices with no major blunders.

SMOKING ANTELOPES- With the 8th pick of the draft, The SA's made a huge blunder taking Baron Davis. Remember TPC's rule- you dont win a league in rounds 1 and 2 you only lose them- well, SA just did by taking a player who last year played more than 67 games for the first time since 2001, oh and by the way-shocker of shocker- it was in the last year of his contract. Big mistake. If you want a PG yopu take Nash there. Or even AI. Not Davis. Chris Bosh, another frail player (a stud when he does play for 65 games or so) went in round 2. Not a good start. I like Jamison a lot. To drink and also as a 3rd round pick. Stephen Jackson- if he stays out of trouble- is a nice choice at 4. Mo Williams, another injury prone player- albeit a fine player, went 5. Are we following this pattern folks? I love Tyson Chandler in round 6. Same with Mike Miller in 7. Zach Randolph at 8 fills some needs and so far has looked good in D'Antoni's system. There are rumors he will be dealt so stay tuned there. Either way, a solid choice. I dont like the Nelson pick at 9. Not when Derrick Rose and Gordon are still on the board. Collison, a perennial disappointment at 10. Brewer, the keeper at 11- some say he is the sleeper of the year. I'm not sure about that but he's definitely worth a keeper at 11. Monta Ellis at 12 could be a great bargaining chip late in the season- except TABC is going to be needing to trade for keepers, not the other way around. I like the potential of Louis Williams at 13 and Diaw at 14. Two nice late value picks. Not exactly sure what Maxiel is doing on a roster right now at 15.
Overall Grade: 4. Some nice picks late made up for some horrible draft strategy. You dont fill a roster with injury prone players hoping everything works out "this year".

The Ducks- Yes, the same nagging and annoying Ducks from The People's League. For those who need a history lesson, The Ducks were once a fantasy force and despite a recent revival (getting nicked on the last day by Forties and Dimes for the TPL Baseball title) The Ducks have not been the same since their early TPL dominance, especially in hoops, which included a 3 peat early in the century. The Ducks also win the Award for this years most annoying drafter constantly picking players already taken, including trying to draft Baron Davis in round 6 and Kevin Love 2 picks after he was drafted. With that being said, The Ducks actual picks started with KG at #9 a great pick in 2005, not so great in 2008-9. KG has moved nicely into his role as complimentary player on the Champion Celtics and will continue in that role even more so since Pierce's ascendancy to the games elite. The Ducks went with the chalk with Granger at 2 a pick every major prognosticator likes, except TPC. I just dont see Granger as a top 20 pick at this point. I like Gasol at 3, a player who someone got lost in the Laker shuffle, but who will make Duck fans very happy. I think Calderon is overrated. he doesn't score much and doesn't get enough steals to be an elite Fantasy PG and with good talent still available, I dont see him going 4th. Bynum was a steal at 4. He will 18 ppg 11 reb and 2.5 blocks easily this season as he develops into the leading big man in the west. Okur was good value at 6 and is poised for a big season. Biggest problem I see at this point is not nearly enough scoring an assists. Barbosa will address some of that in round 7, although this is no longer the run and gun D'Antoni Suns, so we might see a drop off in production here. Love Rip at 8. While Rip's scoring totals have gone done his shooting percentage, steals and assists are rising. Points proving what a great all around and smart player Hamilton is. Harrington was another great choice at 9. Battier healthy is a reach at 10 and out at least a month increases that error. Obviously, the Ducks last two picks and this one (Grant Hill at 11) have shown why the Ducks were good in fantasy NBA 5 years, but have no clue. This is the point of the draft where The Ducks only know a few players. Interestingly though the Ducks make a good choice with Mike Conley at 12- a very solid keeper to add. I guess he remembered the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Round 13 got the Ducks back to form with JR Smith and Wally at 14. Chris Wilcox ended things for the Ducks at 15. Overall Grade: 5.5. A really good job for 9 rounds and his non NBA knowledge came through after that. Either way, a very decent draft for The Ducks.

The Mighty Moose- The league representative for the soon to be World Champion Phillies, MM was gifted Josh Smith at #10. There isn't anything Smith doesn't excel at. He can score. Rebound. Block shots and get steals, all the while playing any of the F positions. He is like the 2005 version of KG. Deron Williams, injured at draft time, ends up being a great choice as the early reports of him missing a month were exaggerated and the Utah Stud will probably only miss 2 games-4 games. Pierce went 3. A very solid choice for the 2008 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES MVP. I love Roy at 4- he is primed for his breakout season along with Oden and Aldridge- the 5th round pick of MM- in Portland. While T-Mac might be a shadow of his former self, he is still a solid value at 6 especially considering the 5 players already on the MM's. MM's addressed one of their issues by taking the Big Z at 7 a player who always goes later than he should. Hinrich was a decent choice at 8 but Moose already had enough PG types. Villenueva at 9 could be a huge sleeper. A lot of upside on that pick. Not sure what Davis's role will be in LA, and he wont put up the numbers he did in recent years but then he would have been a 6th rounder not a 10th where he was grabbed. Scola is a steal at 11- a player The Samoans wanted at that slot. Klieza is a great upside choice in round 12. I dont see Niocioni being a factor anymore in Chicago (13). Marbury was a throw away pick at 14 and the Moose forfeited their 15th. Overall Grade: 6.5 . Yes, the picked great players and almost always the best player on the board, but sometimes you need to address your needs and the lack of big men on this squad is very apparent.

THE U- The hist of the draft and BBQ and probably reason #1 for the above ridiculous format (not his fault but the Commish's obvious need for grilled meat at a drafts fault) The U took AI with the 1th pick of the draft. AI is especially studly in this league as TO's do not count and he has shot a respectable 45% from the field the last two years. Marion went to them in round 2, I believe will be a major bust in his second year in Miami. Marion formerly the #1 roto player while in the Suns system decided he would rather play in Miami then contend for NBA titles. Well, he shot 46% to the field instead of the 52+ he was used to getting fed by Nash. I think his numbers will continue the downtrend as now Wade is healthy and Beasley is the #2 offensive option. As good as Artest is I like to stay away from those kind of players- too much risk this early in a draft. I love Rashard Lewis at 4. I dont see Rasheed as a viable 5th rounder anymore. His minutes and effectiveness are only decreasing. Horford is a nice breakout player in round 6 but you dont take him before Beasley, Chandler or Oden. More risk then the guys I mentioned without nearly the upside. I love Peja at 7. Great value at that spot. Miller, overrated in recent years, is now underrated and The U took advantage in Round 8. Kevin Love was a big reach at 9. He had enough big men at this spot and instead of going with Gordon or Rose, he was left with Fischer at 10. Big mistake there. Not sure what Garcia brings to the table at 11. McCants at 12 could prove to be very nice as he has looked great in the preseason. Haslem a very solid choice at 13 (sometimes it pays to pick local) The Chairman is a nice sleeper at 14, and the Darko pick at 15 has some upside but not much. Overall Grade: 4. Front court is very weak and made to many early errors.

THE WILD SAMOANS- The TPC- DTA team was named after their favorite wrestling tag team of the 80's- from the Isle of Samoa, led in by their Manager, Lou Albano, weighing in at a combined weight of 649 pounds, Affa and Seka, THE WILD SAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOANS.
The Wild Samoans started off the draft picking the Great White Hope- Steve Nash. In an election year where The White Man is doomed, TWS are trying to do their part by represent. That and the fact that Deron Williams was expected out for a month brought a great increase in value to Mr. Nash. On the back to back, TWS secured their #1 Center with emerging star, Al Jefferson. Round 3 ended with Billups falling to TWS- Billups still finished the 2008 season as the #10 overall player in The Shark Tank. After a large debate , the next pick was Gerald Wallace (over Rashard Lewis) a serious stud if he can stay healthy and early indications are he is being taught to play hard and RIGHT under Coach Larry Brown. Marvin Williams was a questionable keeper at 5. If we had to do it again, he would not have been kept. Although TWS do have high hopes for Marvelous Marv, we would rather have had other players at that spot. Kaman was a steal at 6. Same thing with Deng at 7. Deng should be a 4th rounder next year. TWS took a shot with sleeper John Salmons at 8, someone TWS thinks will have a breakout year. The next two picks were probably the best 9-10th rounders in draft history. Ben Gordon, a stud in his contact year should have gone no less than round 6. Derrick Rose, also an incredible keeper in round 10 went 3 rounds after TJ Ford, Rondo, etc. a joke. D-Rose will be a force for TWS for the next two seasons. It says here, he has a similar rookie campaign to CP's two years back. Round 11 brought TWS another major sleeper and potential stud in Matt Barnes. Rudy Fernandez, the Spanish sensation was nabbed at 12. Kendrick Perkins, a legitimate Center was taken at the end of round 13 and another incredible value- PG Chris Duhon of the Mike D'Antoni New York Knickerbockers was TWS 14th rounder. TWS mailed in Sean May with the 15th pick.
Overall Grade: 10- I spent two days on this damn write up, I get a 10. That's the rule. As for teh squad, incredible balance and players at every position. No real weaknesses and some major upside. Plus, D-Rose as TWS 2009 5th round pick.

To access the league and draft results click here

Quick Hits- NFL, Game 7 and Random TPC Rants

An amazing Game 7 last nioght concluded in one of the most surprising ways I have ever seen a big game end. A relative newcomer, rookie David Price striking out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded in the 8th and then retiring 3 out of 4 in the 9th for the save and the chance for the Rays to go to the World series. People outside baseball's inner circles may not know that Price was the 2007 #1 overall pick and he showed it wit nasty stuff that already earned him his big signing bonus.
Amazingly Price started the year in Class A and didnt move up to the majors until his late Septmeber call up and here he was in Game 7 of the ALCS doing the left handed version of Mariano Rivera.
Matt Garza, ALCS MVP, was nearly unhittable all night and bested an also game Jon Lester. Just a great game, a great series, and a great Boston loss.

I remember when Big Papi and Jason Varitek used to scare me in big spots. I was actually happy to see them up in the 8th and 9th yesterday.

I'm going to have to pick the Rays in 6 against Philly. They have too much going for them and I still don't trust Lidge in a big spot.
What a future for the Rays- Upton, Longoria, Pena, Navarro, Garza, Kasmir, Shields and Price.

Switching to the NFL, it's about time the Brady Quinn era started in Cleveland. Anderson seems about cooked.
Amazing what a coaching change can do. The Rams all of a sudden look like world beaters with the change from Linehan to Haslett.

The Cowboys could use a similar change. Wade Phillips is done. He's just an awful coach. So much talent, such a waste.

Chris Johnson is a stud. He is the second most exciting back behind AP and proves it week in and week out.

Kyle Orton is showing he is a solid NFL QB and gives the Bears a dimension they haven't had in years.
Same with Edwards in Buffalo. he's bordering on being in the upper echelon of NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE QB's.

I warned you about Carson Palmer. Don't say I didn't.

The more I watch Big Ben play the more I like him.

And yes, I still like Eli a lot and he is still a Top 8 NFL QB right now.

Looks like TPC was right about Mr. Bill not being such a great mastermind after all, sans The GOAT- Tom Brady.

Tennesse will be a force all year. Only teams that can beat them in the AFC are Pitt, SD and the Jets. yes, crazy as it sounds the Jets will be a better team as the season goes on and will have games where they look awesome. They have no glaring weaknesses, as all teh other AFC squads do and their offense can be lethal. They will also have Favre winning or losing games for them in big spots. He's the x-factor. Problem is Mangini is not a good NFL coach.

Colts can't win. Neother can Denver. They both can't stop the run.

More to come after the holidays. A Gut Kvitel to all.

Baseball TV Rant- Why TBS??????????

What the hell is the ALCS doing on some third rate cable station (WTBS?)??????????????????

WHAT THE F IS UP WITH THAT??????????????????????????????????

Again, this shows you exactly why Baseball has taken a major back seat to Football in this country and it's no wonder that my six year old son barely knows any players outside the Yankees and that crap squad from Flushing. Seriously, the kid knows NBA players and NFL players because he gets to see them on TV. He never gets to see out of town baseball games because it's always on too late and/or it takes his Dad forever to find where the hell the freaking AL and NL Champioship Series games are being played. What an awful decision by MLB.

Quick Game 7 thoughts ALCS- Tampa Bay vs. Boston- The Fight to the Finish

First, TPC would like to apologize for having all the Jewish holidays scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday's. It really has thrown a wrench into the TPC Blog publication. It wont happen agian next year.

Some ALCS thoughts.

When Big Poppy hit that HR a few days ago to get the score to 7-4, I had flashbacks of 2004 and Dave Roberts steal of 2B.

As much as I hate the Sox, you have to admire their guts, their testicular fortitude and championship like aura. Reminds me of the late 90's Yankees when you could never count them out.

Beckett was as big game as ever yesterday pitching with that strained oblique. Most people cant even shower with a strained oblique and this guy just pitched them into Game 7.

Pappelbon might not be Mo, but he's pretty close. In 16 games he has an ERA of o.oo. WOW.

No matter how it ends for Tampa (and it says here it won't end pretty) you have to like the future of a squad that features the next two great AL players in Upton and Longoria.

You also have to like a staff with Shields, Kasmir and Garza going forward.

And you also need to realize that teams with Great Closers have a huge advantage over teams with good-average closers. Except the Yankees in recent years (and thats because they couldnt get to Mo) almost every team that had the better closer usually won. In the postseason, you need starting pitching that can get you deep into the game, a good bullpen and the GUY when your team needs the big outs (like Paps did the last two games for Boston and Wheeler, who failed in Game 5 for TB when the wheels were falling off). Hitting in the postseason is overrated. Timely hitting is what's needed. Look at Drew and Ortiz. They've done nothing except for each of their two biggest spots, when they both came through. Otherwise they have been awful. Arod needs to take lessons there.

If the rumors are true and Peavy goes to Boston in the offseason, I'm going to be very cranky.

Terry Francona needs to be mentioned in the conversation the great Sports Coaches of the last 20 years at this point. His first WS came at the expense of the mighty Yankees and their 3-0 lead (not to mention al that 1918 stuff). This year, no matter what happnes, he got them to a Game 7 of the ALCS with the Manny stuff, Ortiz being a major shell of his former self, a hurt Beckett, an ineffective Wakefield and a guy named Masterson who is his bridge to Pappelbon. A great, great job.

With all that said, LETS GO RAYS!!!!!!!!!!!

For New York- It's wait till Next Year

A bittersweet ending for the Bronx faithful and a bitter bitter ending for the Flushing followers.

The Yankees finished their first season since 1994 out of the Postseason, but it ended on a joyful note for the one most written off to start the season and the one who ended the season most successfully, Mike "Moose" Mussina. In what may have been his ticket punch into Cooperstown, Moose went six strong shutout innings and needed a 4 out save for what might have been the greatest regular season for the Greatest Closer of All Time, Mariano Rivera, to become the oldest pitcher in baseball history to win 20 games for his first time (at the age of 39).
To start the season, Moose was written off as the guy who would be replaced by Joba in the rotation once he was ready to step into that role. All Moose did was win 20 games, throw 200+ innings for the first time in 6 years and end up with a 3.37 ERA, his lowest ERA since 2001, his first as a Yankee. While Moose never won a Championship as a Yankee, he was actually once of the few pitchers who lived up to his big contract as he compiled a 123-71 record in his 8 years as a Yankee. While Moose wasn't a great postseason pitcher he was always one of the primary and consistent performers who got them there. Where he will be next season still remains a question, but Moose gave 8 very good years to the Yankees.
The Yankees showed some optimism going into 2009 as Phil Hughes had 2 excellent starts to end the season, they might have found the bridge to Mariano in Phil Coke, who in his short stint this season showed incredible poise and promise with a .61 ERA in 14 IP with 14 K's. Cano found his hitting stroke late in the season, Wang looks to be fully recovered from his season ending injury and the coffers are way open to sign a CC or a Burnett in the offseason.

The same cant be said of the mess that ended in Queens yesterday. In 2007 like fashion the Mets were finished off by the lowly Marlins and go into another offseason wondering if things will or can change with this current squad. The Wright, Reyes, Beltran and Delgado led Mets once again failed to produce any offense down the stretch and wasted two of the greatest pitching performances in Mets history on the final Saturday of the season (Santana's unreal performance this Saturday and Maine's equally great performance last year).
The bullpen let them down, but no more so than it's stars, sans Beltran who has proven he is one of the great clutch players in the game today. Wright finished in the .240's with runners in scoring position, Reyes batted .243 this Sept after a season well over .300 to that point, and as great as Delgado had been down the stretch he finished 2 for his last 15 with 1 RBI his last 4 games of the season, a most uninspiring time for a slump.
The Mets have a lot to build on with a good core of players, including Beltran, Wright and Reyes. Santana has been even better than advertised if that's even possible. They will undoubtedly shell out MAJOR buckos for K-Rod. They will have the excitement of a new stadium but they will also have the giant monkey on their back called September Collapse. With that being said, I loved the job Manuel did this season. He held it together and scraped together and a chance going into the final game with perhaps the worst bullpen in major league history that almost made a postseason. For crying out loud, Louis Ayala, a man cut by the Washington Nationals was their closer! I think the Mets ownership should think long and hard before they extend Minaya to a long term deal. He left a lot of gaping holes this season and for all the credit he gets for locking up Santana when Cashman and Theo couldn't, he needs to take the blame for this collapse. He deserves another year, just not four