April 29, 2011

2011 NFL Draft Thoughts

What a crazy 1st day in the NFL Draft! Trades, odd picks, odd decisions and sliding players across the board.  Naturally, I have an opinion about lots of things that happened during the draft.

1. $cam Newton is yuck. I'm glad I am not a Panthers fan. Between this and last year they have drafted 2 QB's in the 1st 2 rounds.

2. Very pumped the Bills took Marcel Dareus. He's a big time DT for their 3-4 defense.

3. I really like AJ Green, and I feel horrible for him that he is now a Bengal.

4. Falcons clearly going to try to sign veteran FA's for their D and outscore people with the offense. A king's ransom for Julio Jones, a great WR, but that many picks?

5. The Titans don't like pure QB's.. Vince Young and now Jake Locker? This isn't Madden 2012.

6. Aldon Smith at 7? Reeeeeeeeeeach.

7. Ecstatic for JJ Watt and Gabe Carimi. The Texans have a love for Wisconsin Badgers, apparently. Going to cheer for Gabe.. even though he's a Bear.

8. There is no way Peyton Hillis hasn't used enhancers of some sort. He looks like a pretty boy, too. Not what I expected or hoped for.

9. Jon Gruden is extremely annoying.. not a fan of him using "We're talking about lockouts.. this kid is a LOCKDOWN corner" not once.. but 2x in reference to Jimmy Smith. Good one, Jon.

10. Boomer didn't want to be outdone and made some awful segways of his own.. including using Gruden's "Who dat" comment to... "Who dat on the clock? The Bears." WOW.

11. No wonder the Vikings wanted to trade down, I wouldn't have wanted to draft Christian Ponder at 12 either.

12. I don't want to play the Lions next year. Those DT's are nasty.

13. Did the Giants get the steal of the first round with The Prince at 19?

14. Holmgren looked like a genius trading from 6 to accumulate tons of picks.. but then lost a 3rd to move up 6 spots to get Phil Taylor? Coulda stayed at 27 and gotten a good player. Does Taylor even fit the 4-3?

15. Danny Watkins is almost older than I am.

16. James Carpenter and Jon Baldwin? Yikes. Baldwin is laughable in the 1st round. James Hardy 2.0. Doesn't have the drive or the hips to make an NFL impact.

17. Jimmy Smith went to a dream situation in the Ravens locker room. What a place to be an elite defender.

18. I wanted Da'Quan Bowers but wonder what his knee is really like. Derek Sherrod is going to be a good pick for the Packers and can learn this year before probably starting in year 2. Hard to believe the options they still had at the 32nd pick and good patience to stay put.

19. Friday should be a fun day also with some big time players obviously still available. I think this is a pretty deep draft and should continue to help fill needs.

20. The Bills could go OLB or TE, Kyle Rudolph in round 2. I think the Cardinals take a QB. The Packers will let the draft fall to them but have to consider a bigger interior OL.

21. I never thought I'd say.. more Mel Kiper, JR but Boomer and Gruden are lost.

April 28, 2011

Bills Mock Draft

3:  (Trade down) but if staying put:  Marcell Darius-DT-Bama. I love offense and AJ Green; I also love the Prince, but you need stud NT in the 3-4.

34:  Kyle Rudolph-TE-Notre Dame. I hate Mallet, looked at Wilson for the Bills, but I think adding another weapon on offense can help. Again, no linemen in this range.

68:  Stefen Wisniewski-C-Penn State. Love physical, smart interior linemen.  Wanted to go with a tackle here but I think interior guys are so underrated in the running game.

100: Jason Pinkston-OT/G- Pitt. Liked him better than Marcus Gilbert. Don't really like the options here, lots of WR/RB types.

122:  Buster Skrine-CB-Chattanooga. Taking a shot with a small school athlete at CB. Fast and a decent looking player.

133:  Ross Holman-OLB-OSU. Underrated playmaker. I really like him.

169:  Greg McElroy-QB-Bama. LOVE IT.

206:  Chris Hairston-OT-Clemson. Watched him on the CBS thing and didn't really like him in space. Really stiff and awkward, but this late I just wanted another body at tackle.

245:  Jabara Williams-OLB-Stephen F. Austin.  Tall, athletic and best on the edge. Decent speed, small school and work a look. 

So, I work on the interior DL with a big, athletic player (hard to pass him up but they have more pressing needs). The TE pick is a pure need, they are brutal there.  3 OL and hope one or two of them stick; I'm not a big fan of many of the tackles but they are too early to take one with the 3rd pick (That's why I'd trade down).  I do get them some real interior help, however.  Skrine is an athletic guy as is Williams for the defense.  I think Holman is a pure football player and McElroy is a leader. Good 2 or 3 early that can manage and hit weapons if needed.

Cardinals Mock Draft

5: Da'Quan Bowers-DE-Clemson. I know they need a QB, but I really don't think any of them up top are that great. I could see Gabbert but that's about it at this spot. They need help on both lines, badly.

38:  Ryan Mallett-QB-Arkansas. He or Dalton (shooting up boards?!) is the pick. I'm taking the hype.

69:  Sam Acho-OLB-Texas. Loading up on D, passing up on the big OT, Orlando Franklin.

103:  Jalil Brown-CB-Colorado. Need a body opposite DRC.

136:  John Moffitt-OG-Wisconsin. Unless whomever I had him going to earlier got him.. in that case:  Joseph Barksdale, OT, LSU

171:  Mario Harvey-ILB-Marshall. Worth a shot, could play on the outside; I guess I really like him more than CBS.

184: Zane Taylor-C-Utah. Little bit more interior help, even though I think they need help on the edge.

249: Mike McNeil-H-Back/TE-Nebraska. Check out their TE's last year. Yikes.

Call me the new, Mike Boni.

Packers Only Mock Draft

A little late but I like to pretend I'm a GM on occasion. Sometimes, I like to pretend I'm better than TT.  I based these off cbssports.com rankings, so they will be off.. but it's a place to start. Bills and Cardinals to follow then more draft talk throughout the weekend.

32: Martez Wilson -- OLB-- Illinois. I nearly went with Williams again, but Wilson is an athletic freak that plays with a lot of hustle (dumb though). He could create havoc off the edge for Green Bay.

64:  Chimdi Chekwa -- CB-- OSU.  Didn't go with Young since I didn't get my CB in round 1. No real interior linemen anywhere near on the board, so I went with another fast corner that can be groomed to replace Woodson when he moves to safety or could be the #4 this year.

96: Niles Paul--WR--Nebraska. Big and 4.45 speed; the former Badgers recruit that I drove around for 2 days will join me in Green Bay.  I hate HATE James Jones and want him gone soon, here is a replacement and another body in that awful kick return game.

129: Roy Helu--RB--Nebraska. Change of pace back in case (hopefully) Brandon Jackson is gone soon. He adds a little bit more burst than Grant and Starks provide.

131:  John Moffitt-C/G--Wisconsin. Knowing he was available I could pass on Tim Barmes the pick before and try to get another weapon. Moffitt apparently isn't fast but he's smart and aggressive. Plus, he's really funny and likes the state.

163:  Derek Newton--OT--Arkansas State. May be taking a bit of a risk in passing QB, Greg McElroy, but OT is a position that I need to fill. Newton needs a year or two to develop, and that's all he'll get so I hope he's solid.

197:  David Carter-DT-UCLA. Eh, not excited about my selection at this spot.

204: Jermale Hines-S-OSU. Love me some OSU DB's

233: Scotty Tolzein! -QB- U-DUB.

So, I have an OLB, CB, WR, RB, C/G, OT, DT, S and a QB.  Mostly major school guys, not many "swing" players that the Packers like.  I have some speed off the edge, speed at CB, a replacement for James Jones, a Brandon Jackson replacement, a tough interior OL, some dudes at DT/OT, a mix-up safety and a really smart clipboard holding QB.

I'm the new Ted Thompson.

April 19, 2011

The Greatest Basketball Story Ever Told

There are a lot of great basketball stories out there, amazing firsts (1966 Texas Western basketball) and individual accomplishments (J-Mac is hotter than a pistol and if you don't get tears watching this video; you really might not have a heart).  One of my all time favorites, however, is the story about the mighty men of Milan. You probably know of them as Hickory or... Hoosiers.   Recently, I read the book by Greg Guffey, The Greatest Basketball Story Ever Told about the Milan Miracle squad.

Naturally, I thought this book was a great read but there were some things that really stood out to me about the team and the small town in the middle of nowhere.  They had enough talent to make it to state the year before they won it all says something about the squad and the ability to meet and exceed the immense pressure they had and the enormous expectations.  The whole town rose and sank with their wins and losses; small school basketball in Indiana doesn't play for the team.  They played for their school, previous players, players not even born yet, families, their friends and their town.  These towns had bragging rights that went above a day or week; they held onto teams and their wins for years, even decades... heck, in this case, maybe even a century! 

Something that really shocked me about the team and community, however, was the amount of athletes they had.  I'm not talking small-school really good local athletes that didn't compete at the next level.  I am talking, legit, multi-sport athletes that could play in college:

Bob Plump
(Real life Jimmy Chitwood, except the whole he doesn't play bball thing) played at Butler and earned 4 varsity letters.

Bob Engel had offers from Xavier and Cincinnati (who later got Oscar Robertson to play there.. fast fact: Milan beat Robertson's team at state when he was a sophomore).  Engel didn't play college basketball because he was worried about not being in shape due to a back injury.

Ron Truitt played college basketball at the University of Houston.

Gene White played college basketball at Franklin College.

Ken Wendelman tried out with the Cincinnati Reds and holds/(held?) the Milan long jump record at over 21 feet.

Ray Craft joined Bob Plump at Butler University.

Roger Schroeder played at Franklin College with Gene White.

Bill Jordan also had a tryout with the Cincinnati Reds and then went to Hollywood to make it big as an actor.

Glenn Butte earned a scholarship to play basketball at Indiana University and earned a letter in 1960.

Rollin Cutter joined Plump and Craft at Butler, but had to quit because of injuries.

For those of you keeping track at home, that's 10 kids and 7 played college basketball, another turned down the opportunity and the other 2? Well, they tried out for the Cincinnati Reds. Disgusting athletes in Milan.

I think the biggest part of the book for me was they continued theme on "what it used to be like..." They talk about when they were kids, they talk about the 1 class system, they talk about the consolidated schools, the community, the integrity,

Hard work, determination, kids that didn't have much that thought playing basketball and running for 2 hours was enjoyable and a break from their regular life. They worked tough jobs during the summer and when they weren't working? They were playing basketball or baseball. A big night for them was going downtown Milan. No texting, no video games, no tv, no IPOD's, no cars; just a tight knit group of hard-working friends that had some natural talent. You know that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.. in this case, they had talent and worked hard... a coach's dream.

Reading something like this makes me feel sick about the future of basketball and even kid's today. Do they have it rough? Yeah, but it's a different kind of rough, I certainly wouldn't mind that kind of rough over the days of today. Society brings it on them and parents and kids don't deflect it.

This is a great book; one that I'm going to purchase and read to my son/daughter when they are young and afterwards.  Skipping the children's books and going to this, the Pistol Pete and Larry Bird books. They won't have a choice, but to want to play and work hard!

April 15, 2011

365 Day Challenge: 14 Days In!

As I mentioned earlier, I have this crazy notion to run at least one mile every day for 365 straight days.  Shockingly, I'm off to a decent start despite my pesky IT bands and creaky knees (You'd be amazed at what a foam roller and stretching can do).
Here is a list of my miles and times thus far:

Day 1:  10.13 miles in 72 minutes
Day 2:  5 miles in 39:10
Day 3:  5 miles in 37:16 (treadmill run)
Day 4:  2.19 miles in 20:05
Day 5:  3 miles in 18:26 (6x800) and 1.35 mile cool down in 10:38
Day 6:  7 miles in 50:35
Day 7 (April 8):  5 miles in 38:12
WEEK ONE TOTAL:  38.67 miles in 3 hours, 46 minutes and 22 seconds ish

Day 8: 16.20 miles in 146 minutes (Group Run)
Day 9:  3.54 miles in 29:46
Day 10:  5 miles in 35:55
Day 11:  2.11 miles in 14:43
Day 12:  9 miles in 62 minutes
Day 13:  4.53 miles in 43:41 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAYLA)
Day 14 (April 15):  2.12 miles in 14:52
WEEK TWO TOTAL: 42.5 miles in 5 hours 46 minutes and 57 seconds ish

14 day total:  81.17 miles in 9 hours, 33 minutes and 19 seconds.

Hopefully, I'll remember to write this in my running journal, and then I can just highlight runs and give the weekly totals from now on. I'm not very good at that; the government may reach a budget consensus before I write in my running journal daily.  Either way, it's been fun so far!

Things I've already learned:
-You can't replace stretching and the foam roller
-Running is easier once you're out the door
-Running to run isn't that easy; I'm always competing with myself.
-It's more fun to run with a person without considering time than running alone considering time
-The first two weeks have flown by.
-I don't think I've lost a pound because I eat a lot now. (especially salt)
-Finding time is easier to run when you don't play video games instead

April 3, 2011

365 Day Challenge

The new Runner's World has a little story about a guy that ran 365 straight days because of something like a New Year's Resolution.  They've also had other stuff about people that have run 1000's of days in a row, despite broken ribs, aches, pains, colds, the flu, travel and other reasons.  I've read about people training or running despite cancer, blindness, autism, accidents and  I thought, "Well, if they can do it.. why can't I?" 

I'm putting myself up to the challenge, and the blog will hopefully help me stay accountable.  365 straight days of running!  While I ran today I thought I needed some guidelines, or at least, a guideline.  What does a "run" consist of?  I had all sorts of thoughts about time, pace and what not.  I settled on this (in case of injury, illness, and the day(s) immediately following full marathons) 1 mile, no time limit.  That's my stipulation.  Clearly, I hope the 1 mile is rarely the "run" for the day and the time limit isn't an issue, but you have to set goals you need to work for but ones that you can achieve. 

I already beat down 2 days:
Day 1:  10.13 miles in 1:12
Day 2:  5 miles in 39:10

Total: 15.13 Miles
Time Run: 1 hour and 51 minutes

Next Up: Grandma's Marathon

Well, after sorta, kinda planning to run the Illinois Marathon at the end of this month I decided I wasn't ready.  I have plenty of excuses, all of which seem childish, so I'm not going to go into them.  Instead, I set my sights on Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota.  The marathon will be the latest into the summer that I've ever run one, but some debate if northern Minnesota even knows what summer is.

I'm excited for this race; I see they have 3:10 and 3:20 pacers.  I ran ahead of the 3:20 at Green Bay until cramps dominated me, and they blew by with about a mile left.  I'm going to try to hang in between the two again this year, at least, that's the plan right now.  That was the plan until I saw that it's a Boston qualifier; maybe, just maybe, I'll keep up with the 3:10 pacer! 

I've heard a lot of good things about the run, great weather, beautiful scenery, and an awesome crowd.  I'm looking forward to seeing the sites in Duluth, and it sounds like I'll be able to stay with some in-laws right on the race course.  That's a good thing, considering my mom told me a few nights of hotels that weekend are around $500! 

Two questions I have to find answers for:
1.  Is the race Boston qualifying? (IT IS!!)
2.  What's all in this Powerade with Ion4?  (Really?  High Fructose Corn Syrup?  Despite the "corn sugar" commercial; I don't believe all sugar is the same.)

Are you running the Grandma's Marathon or do you have any information about the course, things to do, watch for?  Share them with me!