The SoapBoxers

This week the United States Open Golf Championship will be held at the Olympic Club at San Francisco.  There is a lot of anticipation for the event this year as well as a number of stories.

The USGA has released the pairings for the Thursday and Friday rounds, and there are some very attractive made for a Hollywood movie type of three-somes.

First and foremost will be the matinee headliner of Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Masters Champion, Bubba Watson.  Be glad you are at home watching these three because if you were at the tournament I can assure you the gallery size for this triumvirate would parallel the crowd at a Rose Bowl game.

Tiger is the early 5 ½ to 1 favorite with the Vegas odds makers.  This is likely due to his win two weeks ago at Jack’s place – The Memorial. 

Of course we have seen this before this year. Tiger wins at Bay Hill and the world announces “He is Back” then he falters badly and appears not to be able to handle the pressure of a major while playing in the Masters.  Then he looks like the Tiger of old on the weekend at the Memorial. The question remains, will he contend this week.

Buggy anyone?

In Scotland, they are called buggies, but here in the good ol’ USA we call them Golf carts, or even sometimes affectionately – chariots.

Next week during the U.S. Open a name of court cases of a bygone era – Casey Martin again will be riding a cart for the his rounds after, qualifying for tournament.  Martin, who is the Oregon Golf Coach, retired from competitive professional golf six years ago.      

Casey Martin is most known amongst the golf aficionados as the man  who successfully sued the U.S. PGA Tour in 2001 for the right to ride a cart.  Martin suffers from a  because of a degenerative circulatory disorder and has had difficulty walking due to this condition since his teenage years.

I am quite confident NBC will give this significant play again, although it has been more than a decade since this was major news on the golfing front.

Martin did take a cart during local and sectional qualifying and will be allowed the use of a cart during the tournament this week.  His playing companions will not be able to hitch a ride with him between holes. 

Who will win?

Normally a fluke does not with the U.S. Open. It is a tournament with the most severe conditions in terms of deep and thick rough, dry fairways, hard and fast greens, and demonic pin placements.

The person who wins typically is hitting a lot of fairways, is able to control their ball flight, and is playing outstanding around the greens.

This one is on the West Coast, and not many have won more on the left coast than the left hander, I am taking Phil Mickelson.  Plus with the nickname in  GCSSA circles, Flopsy McChokenstien due to a few of his near misses in majors, I am hoping Phil can get the 5 second place monkey off of his back and magically find it this week by the bay. 

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Thermopolis, Wyoming.

The Bear and the Tiger

It was a “could be” storybook headline that ended up having a storybook ending.

Tiger Woods wins his 73rd career PGA sanctioned title at the tournament hosted by none other than the person that he has just tied– Jack Nicklaus.

Muirfield Village in Ohio is a very difficult golf course. Jack in his mind has tried to set up a tournament setting that emulates the Masters Tournament. They honor the giants of the game every year at the Memorial, paying homage to the all-time greats. The membership does not wear the Green Jackets, but they do were some pretty sporty (and I might add decent looking) metal grey jackets and blue dress shirts. The golf course is set up to standards that are very difficult including very fast greens, nasty rough, and demonic pin placements.

This also is the 5th time that Tiger has won this tournament. His high ball flight and ability to work magic around greens works for him very well at the Memorial. Truth be told – this is the best Tiger has looked in some time. He seemed in complete control of his swing, was hitting all of the shots he wanted, and was making a number of putts. By his own account on Sunday he “absolutely was striping it” and by now most of you have seen the incredible hole out late in the round.

This propelled him to an eventually 2 stroke victory, but unfortunately the chip-in is being over-hyped to the nth degree. The fact is that Tiger used to pull these shots with the regularity of vaudeville stage magicians pulling rabbits out of hats. Even Jack has piled on saying “under the circumstances, it is the best golf shot I have ever seen”. Easssssyyyyy Golden Bear. You have made a number of those shots over the years as well…so not sure I would say best ever.

NBA Playoffs

The two remaining series are well underway, and both have the feeling in their own respects of an Ali-Frazier heavyweight fight.

The Spurs and the Thunder have a nice back and forth series going. It is much more the case of the new kid on the block versus the grizzly veteran. It is poise versus athleticism. It is a total chess match of coaching, and it has been fun to watch.

While I have no NBA team allegiance, I must say that the more I watch Kevin Durant, the more impressed I am with how good he really is. I also still can’t believe Tim Duncan is still around. The guy seems like he must be 67 years old.

The Heat and the Celtics appear to be the more physical series based on what I have watched, a lot of fouls, a lot of smack talking both on and off the floor and a lot of crying to officials about getting calls or lack thereof. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the NBA actually officiate a game based on the rules of basketball, thereby forcing each team to play its last 5 bench reserves in an attempt to have anyone left to complete the game. With the hand checking, shoving, elbow throwing, wrestling, grabbing and any other description you can come up with, it is amazing that either team has any players left by halftime.

How I long for the more offensive minded days of Bird, Magic and Dr. J.

Of course the athletes are much stronger and more powerful than those golden days of yore in the NBA. Still the brand of thug-ball that seems to come out in the playoffs is something I could do without having to watch….but of course I am going to watch it anyway!

Until next time, stay classy Ogden, Utah!

My how the mighty have fallen.

This weekend I took in one of my favorite Memorial Day weekend sport related pastimes. I realized a lot has changed since the days of my youth. Of course I am talking about…..

The Indianapolis 500.

I harken back to my younger days, it was on ABC. Of course in those days you did not have 1873 different channels to choose from on cable, or the dish, so on Monday night, you got to watch the Big Race. The entire family got together after a day of running around the yard, and barbecuing to enjoy the air-conditioned living room (typically at my grandparents’ house) and some sugary snacks for me and my cousins. Looking back now I am certain is was some nice down time for the parents and grandparents as well after a long day of chasing us around everywhere.

All of the same names were there, year after year after year. A.J. Foyt, Tom Sneva, Al Unser, Gordon Johncock, Bobby Rahal, Johnny Rutherford….I am sure there are many more, but those are the ones I remember.

You also had the cool sounding team racing names….McLaren and Cosworth sounded rich, chic and mysterious. You didn’t see cars with these names going down the street in your hometown. But you were sure to check out the cool corvette or Camaro that was the pace car for that particular year and it was all painted up and looking sweet!

Jim Nabors signaled that you better get your coke and popcorn ready as he started singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” There were thousands of red, white, and blue balloons released into the air. Even doves on some occasions if memory serves me correctly.

The television coverage was grainy as could be, you had about 4-5 different camera angles and that was pretty much it.

You saw that huge trophy. Wouldn’t it be cool to take that home with you.

There were announcers that you only heard at this event. Of course there was ALWAYS Jim McKay, but then there was also Sam Posey, Jackie Stewart and my personal favorite Chris Economacki.

Even the time trials were a huge event. They took up the weekend coverage the week before the 500. It was pretty much an afternoon devoted to the racing around the 2 mile oval. You got to watch the three laps against the clock, and then hear the announcers break-down their chances for the following week.

You marveled at the guy perched above the finish line waving his flags…green, yellow, white……checkered.

This year the 500 went off with a general malaise of which I cannot ever remember. No big coverage of the time trials, barely a mention on SportsCenter. My local newspaper did not even make it front page of the sports section. Instead it was relegated to about 6 small paragraphs on page #3 of the Sports Section.

NASCAR is much bigger now. The weekend race received front page sports coverage on what used to be considered the biggest racing event in America (with all apologies to the Daytona 500).

Personally, I am not a race fan at all, but for the casual race fan, the demise of the Indianapolis 500 is well underway. All you had to do was look at the stands yesterday. Years ago, the Brickyard was packed to the gills for this race.

Yesterday a lot of race fans evidently dressed up as empty seats. I am sure there will be more fans there for the NASCAR event later this year.

Things are always changin’

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Rutland, Vermont!
 

  

Hitting on a variety of topics this week as there has been a lot going on.

Horse Racing

I’ll Have Another rolled around the track at Pimlico to win the second Jewel of the Triple Crown. We once again have a chance to see a Triple Crown winner as the horse made a huge move down the stretch to catch Bodemeister and get the win by a head in the Preakness Stakes.

Bodemeister is staying home for the final installment of the three big races, so it will be interesting to see who will come and try to spoil the party, as these two horses were WELL clear of the field this past Sunday.

The last horse to win the triple crown was Affirmed in 1978.

Bye Bye L.A.

Showtime gets to go on vacation as they were easily dispatched by the Oklahoma City Thunder in their second round series by a count of 4-1. There is a lot of talk already about players being traded here or there in the offseason. Sadly we also found out what happens in OKC during victory celebrations and 8 people were shot last night in various events following the win.

On the other side of the states, everyone is wondering what is wrong with the Miami Heat. The “Big Three” has not been getting it done, LeBron James has been getting thrown under the bus, Wade has played poorly, and Chris Bosh is injured.  On Sunday, LeBron and Wade exploded for 70 combined points (with some help from Haslem) to get the series back to even, but unless the Heat get back Bosh, it is going to be a large task for them to go any further in the playoffs.  LeBron and Wade cannot win EVERY game on their own. Other players on the squad right now basically can’t hit the ocean falling out of a boat, and the Pacers frankly are a bad personnel match up for the Heat due to their size, especially with no Bosh in the lineup. Could be an interesting next couple of days in South Beach.

In other Florida NBA news, Stan Van Gundy has been fired as coach of the Magic.  Let’s see a show of hands – was anyone surprised by this?

NFL Training Camps

RG III has evidently impressed the Redskins coaching staff and has looked sharp early on in practice. I love RG III!

In other news the Bucs have gotten rid of loud mouthed warrior Kellen Winslow and signed Dallas Clark. Talk about instant locker-room improvement.

Is anyone else surprised we have not heard anything about Peyton Manning in a couple of weeks?

Baseball

No excitement this year for me. The biggest news has been the lack of home runs by Albert Pujols.  The teammate gaining the most from the attention on Pujols this year is rookie Mike Trout.  The 20 year old Trout is one of the top 2 prospects in all of baseball – but between the media attention on Bryce Harper’s antics and their fascination with Pujols being unable to hit his stride, Trout has been able to sneak under the radar a bit.  This shouldn’t be the case, as Trout is batting .350 with 4 homers and 6 steals in 20 games (OPS .613).  Trout’s game is built around speed, so the early homers are an added bonus for the Halos.

Yu Darvish has been garnering a lot of the spotlight, which is normally the case with foreign phenoms.  Darvish is putting up good numbers – he is 6-2 with a 3.05 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched.  Perhaps the biggest concern at this point is walks.  Darvish has issued 32 free passes – a rate of more than 5 walks per 9 innings.  He seemed to be getting this under control with walks totals of 2, 2, 4, 3, and 2 in a recent five game stretch.  Last night, however, Darvish issues a career high six walks and was sent to the showers after the fourth inning.

Lastly, Aroldis Chapman of the Reds was picked up for speeding last night. Chapman has been literally unhittable this year, posting 39 strikeouts in just 22 1/3 innings and a .196 batting average allowed. Seems like he was trying to drive as fast as his highest pitch speed (which is 105 mph) as Chapman was pulled over Monday for going a leisurely 93 mph on the interstate.

Justin Verlander had a recent no-hit attempt broken up in the ninth inning.  Had he finished with a no-no, it would have been the third of his career.  Batters are hitting just .168 against him this year.

Matt Kemp’s run at an MVP took a hit with a hamstring injury.  He says that the hammy is at 85% and he plans to return to the lineup on May 29th.  Sometimes these types of injuries can linger.  The post-season aspirations of the Dodgers hinges on whether or not Kemp can make a full recovery.

On the topic of comebacks … look no further than the south side of Chicago.  After seven straight seasons of at least 38 homers, Adam Dunn fell hard in 2011.  In his first year with the White Sox, he hit just 11 homers in 415 at bats, while hitting anemic .159.  This year, his average is at .247 (higher than his career mark) and he has 14 homers and 34 walks en route a .986 OPS.  And fans don’t have to worry about the heat this summer – Dunn’s 62 strikeouts (on pace for a record 239) has provided abundant air circulation at The Cell.

Until next time, stay classy Thief River Falls, Minnesota!
 

 

Alas ... not in my collection.

Normally I write about sports, but this week I am going to go into the world of sports cards

I have received a number of auction catalogs as the spring months are prime for sports cards and memorabilia auctions. Even Kosmo has touted our favorite REA auction on the site here more than once over the years.

Seeing all of these cards, and knowing I am building a new home has me thinking as wel … maybe it is the time to sell my collection.

My Collecting Story

I have been a card collector since I was a young kid. I remember packing those 77 and 78 Topps cards into the Stride-Rite Shoebox surrounded with rubber bands.

I got a bit older, I started mowing yards, my money to spend on cards increased. I bought sets, I bought $9 complete unopened boxes of 83 Topps and 84 Donruss. I even picked off some old cards from the 50’s and 60’s and got a collection from an older relative. I had every Carl Yastrzemski card in existence.

I went off to college … my collecting days stopped. I bought a few shiny refractors once and awhile, but mainly the cards were locked away in my parents basement.

I got older, started a career. Met a girl … decided after dating a couple of years to marry that girl … sold all of my cards and bought her engagement ring and paid for my first brand new car (a 1994 Toyota Camry) and made a down payment on our first house.

Then after a short while the appeal of collecting came back. I always loved the sport of golf. I started to collect vintage golf cards. I soaked up all of the knowledge I possibly could. I asked a LOT of questions. I researched on the internet, I bought from overseas auction houses. I talked to other dealers, collectors, read anything I could on the topic.

And after some years – I became very well versed in this area of the hobby, albeit a small area of the hobby.

Not the first time I have considered selling

I moved with my job a couple of times, had a son … decided the time was right to part with my collection.

At that time I had an agreement in place for a person to make a number of payments over a couple of years for the entire shootin’ match. Every single card I owned except one Bobby Jones card I wanted to hang onto for my son.

That deal never quite worked out … I got a partial payment and gave up the centerpiece set in my collection in return for the money that had been exchanged at that time.

The money from the deal went into the son’s college education fund.

Then … my life really changed …

I was diagnosed with Cancer, got rid of it, it came back again, got rid of it again…..and through it all collecting became more important to me again, it kept my mind off of other things, it was fun, it is what I enjoyed the best and I could be on the computer anywhere, in the hospital, at home, while going through a stem cell transplant…anywhere. It made me escape my problems and added normalcy to my life.

I continued to try and share my knowledge and I met many many many more people in person, and via email and phone than I ever would have from all over the globe.

I have enjoyed trying to educate anyone who will listen about golf cards, tried to make the hobby a better hobby and get more people involved.

And now I am considering selling it all again … what do I do?

Now I am building a new home. This is the house my wife and I plan on being in for a long time. It is our dream house.

The thoughts of selling the collection again enter my mind … I could do a LOT more with the house if I sold my entire collection. I could totally finish that walkout basement right out of the gate. I could add that gas fire pit in the backyard that I would want to have eventually anyway….and I am sure I could sock away some more money into the kids college fund.

I could always sell some stuff. Heck I have quite a few things to sell anyway. I could sell my extra’s or just some of my collection. OR … I could sell all of it and I am quite sure I would be able to find new happy homes for my cards.

Would I miss the cards that much? I could eventually replace them all again at some point in time except maybe a couple that are exceedingly rare cards, and of course I have a few cards in my collection that if I did sell them It is very likely would never get to have in my collection in that type of condition ever again … but at the end of the day … does it really matter?

I guess this is a struggle that many collectors come to grips with at some point during their collecting life-cycle. At what point is it a hobby and at what point is it a bunch of money that is sitting in an album or a drawer or a safe or on a shelf.

For now, it is a decision that I am wrestling with as well.

Until Next Time, stay classy Dalhart, Texas

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A little while ago I wrote the first of what I am sure will be a number of articles regarding the building of our house.  Since that initial announcement, we have been busy cleaning our home. It is amazing how much one accumulates at their house over a period of years. Since we have gone through pretty much every article of personal property that we own, we have been able to move most things that we are not keeping in the house – that we will need every day – to one of 4 piles.

The Garage Sale Pile

This is NOT our crap.

We held a garage sale at our home a couple of weeks back. Items that did not sell were off to my sister’s house for her garage sale. Since that time (and more cleaning) even more items are scheduled to a garage sale to be held at my parents’ house. Those in the Goodman Family call this annual event “The Mother of ALL Garage Sales” My parents are pretty much professionals when it come to the auction/garage/yard sale circuit. They enjoy it, they have a lot of nice stuff, they price it to move, and most importantly, they get a LOT of customer traffic. To date we have enjoyed the spoils of garage sales income of over $1000 from our two sales just counting our cut of the action and not the items that were sold at our sale for some of our friends who had stuff to unload to the public as well.

The I Wondered Where That Was Pile

Not a large amount of goods but these are things that once upon a time entered a black hole void in our domicile to never be seen again…until that is we are going through the entire house and opening up every storage container and bottomless closet space.

The Off to the Storage Unit Pile

Then there is the majority of items. This is the “clutter” around the house that we need to alleviate prior to putting the house on the market. We have our realtor coming to go through our house later this weekend. We are hoping that we have de-cluttered enough that she will not have many recommendations to make. Items already in storage are things that are going to stay there in storage for a while, or are things that are not currently being used (like winter coats and clothing)

The Too Good for the Storage Unit Pile

These are the items that we would not want to chance keeping in the storage unit. Things like wedding photos, some prints and collectible items, personal mementos, passports etc.

Next Up – the Garage!

We pretty much have the house cleaned, dusted, scrubbed, touched up, picked up etc., except…the final man’s domain….that being the garage. That is on the docket for the next several days, as they say…we are saving the best for last.

Looking Ahead – The Next Two Weeks

We have finalized the floor plan with our builder. I cannot say often enough how great they have been to work with. We should see the outside architectural mock up drawings in the next day or two. After that we just wait for the appraisal to come in, the development to approve our house plans through their process, and then can be breaking ground.

In that same time frame we should easily be able to list our house on the marketplace, have the realty listing up with write up and photos, and maybe even have an open house (although not this weekend as it is Mother’s Day weekend)

In my Utopian Society, I would have an open house after a week on the market and would have 4 people competing for full price offers. In reality I am hoping that we have a bunch of “lookers” at the house and find at least one family that would be interested enough in our home to purchase it.

Although I am not real excited about the possibility of having to move two times, I would much rather do that and make sure I have the house sold and avoid having two house payments. Here is hoping we have lots of people looking for a fully finished 4 bedroom,  2 ¾ bath walk-out ranch style home.

Photo: I'll Have Another (purple) down the stretch.

The first Saturday in May is always one of my favorite days. It is another large sporting event that brings the casual fan to watch a sport that they otherwise would not normally follow. There are events such as the Daytona 500, The Masters, The Super Bowl, and of course…..

The Kentucky Derby.

The Run for the Roses…I always thought this, and not the Rose Bowl, should be called the Granddaddy of them all.   After all…this has been around a LOT longer than the Rose Bowl game.

Breaking from the #19 post position a horse named I’ll Have Another was the winner, making a game move down the stretch to win the Derby. It went off at 16-1 which allowed for a nice pay-day for the Goodman household as BOTH Mr. and Mrs. Goodman had winning tickets.

I enjoy horse racing, but would not consider myself a “gambler” per se. I like playing poker with the guys on occasion, and will attend some of the live racing meets here in Lincoln. I am not a big wager type of guy. $10 on a race is a large bet for me. Normally it is the standard $2 to win-place–show on a horse.

Yum! Brands who sponsors the Triple Crown holds a contents where the winner that is selected gets $100,000 to drop on one bet – one horse – one chance to win for the Kentucky Derby. This year the guy who got to place the “mystery bet” put his $100K on #11 – a longshot by the name of Alpha.

At the time the bet was placed the horse – had it won the Kentucky Derby, would have paid back an amazing $2 million on that $100,000 wager.

The real comment of the day is when the individual was asked by an NBC reporter, would the lucky contestant like to make the wager or would they rather just take the hundred grand and walk away. Without hesitation the guy responded “I am a horse player “ and indicated he was going for the big pay day and not the “small potatoes of the hundred large.

I can tell you if that was offered to me, I would walk with the hundred thousand without blinking an eye. Guess my risk appetite is a LOT lower than most people at the horse track.

Another interesting tidbit from my gambling experience this weekend. As you can expect, at the simulcasting place in Lincoln, the patron traffic was teaming on Saturday. There was a HUGE crowd watching the races some even all dressed up in their faux Kentucky Derby at the Lincoln Race Course experience. The parking lot was packed and fortunately my father and I basically just went and placed our bets and then took off to do some further work for the day.

When I came back on Sunday afternoon to cash the winning tickets, the place was deserted, you wondered if it was even open…there were about 50 cars in the parking lot, and I am guessing some of those were for the people working there as well.

Needless to say I got in and out of the place much more quickly than I did the day before…and left with a lot more money than I came with.

I am sure the same cannot be said for most everyone else on Saturday.

Murder at the Track

Death is no stranger to the racing crowd, even around an event like The Kentucky Derby.  In 2008, Derby runner-up Eight Belles was put down on the track.

The past two years, however, have seen human death case a cloud over Churchill Downs.  Last year, jockey Michael Baze was found dead in his vehicle three days after the Derby.  The cause of death was accidental painkiller overdose.

This year, 48 year old Adan Fabian Perez was murdered in a barn on the premises of the track (more than 200 people live on the grounds full-time).  There hasn’t been much released about the murder of the horse groom, although there was some arguments in the vicinity on Saturday night.  Perhaps soon we’ll know who killed Perez, and why.

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Johnny's new house?

Johnny Is Leaving!

Normally I write sports related articles but this week I am taking a different twist on things, and I might continue to do so in the upcoming month.

This week – it is exciting times.

Johnny Goodman is leaving……his existing home and moving into a brand spanking new one.

Now don’t hold your breath, I am not leaving the Soap Boxers – (I know, all of you were crushed momentarily there weren’t you) – my family is building a new home.

I approached Kosmo about the idea of writing about building our home as I could see it be a case where some people could read along, ask questions, and maybe gain an idea or two along the way if they are building a home someday.

I will try not to get too detailed as there are books that can beat this subject to death, but at the same time I will give you a little bit of insight as to how it is all working out for me in our situation of building a home.

I’ve Kind of done this before, but….

I have been moved a few times by the company I work for and I can tell you this is a benefit of working for a large, national company. Selling and buying your house is easy, they take care of a lot of the “junk” including moving your things. It really is pretty seamless and a fast process as the company wants you to be up and running and established at your new location and focused on working.

This is a whole new venture for Mrs. Goodman and I. Building a new home is much different than buying an existing one. There are lots of things to consider.

We have been considering this for some time as we had already picked out the neighborhood, liked the location and the amenities, the schools, pretty much everything about it.

I am sure this is a difficult decision for most people when they are looking to build the house. Location. For us, that was one of the easier parts of the process.

Once we decided to actually build, the next thing to do was to choose a lot. The development area we are in has lots all for sale, and then once you have selected the lot, you have basically 6 months to get your building going. The nice thing here is that all lots are available – until they are sold to a private party for building a home – and are not owned by individual builders. We found a nice walk out ranch corner lot, that offered a lot of square footage for the price comparable to other lots that were available so the choice was pretty easy.

At this point you pretty much need to get your builder selected (unless of course you did that prior to purchasing the lot) We did both of these things about at the same time. We had looked at some houses that were constructed by the builder that we ultimately chose because we liked a lot of the design characteristics and features and the quality of work that they have done in the past.

We are working with a builder that has a fabulous and experienced architect as part of the business. One of the benefits of this is we have been able to take the builder some of the ideas, and then he can quickly put them to paper. The bad news is he can quickly put them to paper.

The Wheels are Turning

Mrs. Goodman and I have been grinding over “slight” revisions to the plan – add a few feet here, take away a few here, add a door here, remove another one here…all in attempts to stay close to our budget.

We both know that we will likely go over budget (as that is what we always hear from everyone we talk to) so we are trying to stay close to it as possible out of the gate.

We hope to have the floor plans finalized and the 3-demensions CAD drawings which will also show what the exterior of the home will look like from all angles done in the next few days. In the meaning, this means lots of nights of little sleep, as my brain continuously works overtime thinking about house plans and options when I call it a night.

Here is hoping that picking out color schemes, cabinets, faucets and countertops down the road will be easier.

Have questions about building a home for the first time?– ASK!

I will periodically give some insight to the process as we go through our house construction. In the meantime, if you are reading along and have any questions of me, feel free to post them and I will give you my honest opinion of how it has been for my wife and I during our construction of our home.

Until next time, Stay Classy Churchill Downs, Kentucky.

Photo: #1 overall pick Andrew Luck.

Last night was the first night of the NFL draft. It was one of the more exciting drafts in some time, and also seemed to move along fairly quickly for a change.

One thing was for certain last night, there was more moving going on than a NASCAR race.

I cannot remember a first rounds chock full of trade after trade after trade. I am sure the new rookie contract caps that are in place were the reason for creating so much action last night. Teams are not going to leverage hundreds of millions of dollars on some of those early picks, which has been the case in the past.

Overall I would not call this a very strong draft in terms of depth of talent. I could be wrong but as with most drafts, it really takes a few years for this to all pan out and realize which players turned out to be as advertised and which ones simply did not pan out at all.

Is Ryan Tannehill overrated?

Minnesota did a good job of gaining some extra picks by moving down in the draft. They had various people hit them up for the services of drafting Trent Richardson, but eventually the Browns offered the best deal and go his services. No way were the Vikings going to chase out a guy to replace Adrian Peterson at this time, even though he did have a season ending knee injury last year? Are Vikes fans wishing they WOULD have taken Richardson anyway?

The pick I like the least is Ryan Tannehill to the Dolphins. I am not sold at ALL on Tannehill. I saw him play against Nebraska, and frankly he didn’t look that good, unless you want him to complete 2 yard out routes. All I hear is how great his arm is blah blah blah…All I see is how many games A&M lost in the last two years that they were in control of…..so if he is THAT good, shouldn’t he be leading them to wins as their quarterback?

Morris Claiborne went 6th overall to Dallas.

I like Dallas’s pick (Morris Claiborne) as for the loyal Cowboy fans that means that they can finally quit complaining about Terrence Newman. Why the heck the Cowboys kept that guy around as long as they did is beyond me. All he did was get schooled on a regular basis and give up huge yards to opposing receivers.

The pick I don’t like is Brandon Weeden to the Browns. The Browns keep swinging and missing on getting their quarterback (where have you gone Brian Sipe) Weeden is old, and is reminds me more of Chris Weinke than Roger Stabauch coming into the league as an old QB.

Should be much more excitement in the next two rounds…..until next time….Stay Classy Radio City Music Hall!
 

 

CAPTION: Did Saints GM Loomis eavesdrop on opposing teams?

We knew that Saints liked to play dirty, we just did not know how dirty or deep this really went.

We can remember the cheap shots, the late hits and Bret Favre getting tossed around like a rag doll in a playoff game just two years ago. Amazingly, the NFL, known for being “ultra-protective” of their quarterbacks, had an officiating crew that apparently forgot they were carrying flags and whistles in that game.

Fast forward to 2012. Former Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams is found to have been running a bounty scheme in the locker room. Some players spoke up about this “anonymously” An investigation had actually been going on since 2010 when the league was asked to looked into some actions during playoff games going back into the 2009-2010 season.

Roger Goodell is known for his iron fist. He tries to run a league that is not only clean, but holds players to a higher standard. Goodell makes the players accountable for their actions and tries to keep the image of the League that of respectability. His initial punishments were swift.

Gregg Williams, now a defensive coordinator with the Rams, was suspended indefinitely and will not be allowed to apply for reinstatement until the end of the 2012 season at the earliest.

Sean Payton, the head coach, was suspended for the entire 2012 season, effective April 1. He is the first head coach in modern NFL history to be suspended for any reason. Mainly due to his inability to have control over what was happening on his staff with the “bounty scheme”.

General manager Mickey Loomis was also suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season.

And now Loomis is making headlines again, and once again for bad reasons.

An ESPN OUTSIDE THE LINES report has claimed that Loomis had an electronic device or devices in his suite at the Superdome that would allow him to listen to the conversations of visiting coachers during the 2002-2003 and 2004 seasons

This investigation is in its infant stages, but this further tarnishes the golden helmets and the reputation of a franchise that has long been the laughing stock of the NFL. Known by such monikers as the “aint’s” New Orleans rose from the flooding and devastation during Hurricane Katrina to bring the first major sports championship to the city that needed a boost in the arm after suffering through a horrendous set of circumstances in the wake of a natural disaster.

Now it appears the natural disaster is becoming more and more self-inflicted. Accusations of cheating, large sanctions and suspensions are already out there from “bounty gate” and it is still likely that some of the players involved in the bounty scheme will be facing fines and suspensions.

In the meantime the Saints are going to need to do some serious spin doctoring to try and change their image, which is starting to take on the appearance of some of the clientele on Bourbon Street on a raucous evening. Not thinking clearly, doing what they can to get there way, and ending up in the morning regretting some of the decisions that were made the night before.

Yes, this is turning into the Big Sleazy.