Who to start a franchise with?

ESPN recently did a poll and asked their analysts (and perhaps their analrapists) who is the best player to start a franchise with.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2884722&lpos=tv1&lid=tab2pos3

John Clayton had the correct answer. Jefferey Chadia picked a 28 year-old running back. Matt Mosely gave an acceptable answer, arguing that Carson Palmer was younger than Brady or Manning, and that the team would need a younger QB. Pasquarelli suggested taking a steroid user so that he could pump up other members of the team. Joe Theismann? Well, we've known he was a idiot for some time now.

UPDATE: The panel of experts (sans Joe T) has declared unanimously that Manning is the best quaterback in the league
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2885497

Suck it, Tommy. Manning is edging ever closer to ending this debate forever.

UPDATE TWO: The panel of experts has declared by a 3-2 vote that #88 is the best receiver in the game today.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2887078

Clayton, Mosely and Pasquarelli all chose Marvin; Hodge and Chadia took Steve Smith. So there you have it folks, a panel of experts has chosen 18 to 88 as the best combination in football. Peyton's the best QB; Marvin's the best WR. But then again, we already knew that didn't we?

Even the undead get nicked up

Zombie Bob Sanders is hurting. His small stature and rabid, brain-hungry style of play lead to him frequently getting hurt. ESPN's newly assigned Colts reporter Len Pasquarelli (ok, so it's not true, but these days it feels that way) says that the Colts are holding him out of almost all offseason workouts.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2885189&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

The only player on the Colts that is more important than Zombie Bob is #18. The good news for the Horseshoe is that the only way to kill a zombie is to take its head off, and Bob frequently wears a helmet on the field. Bob could stumble out there with one arm partially hacked off, filled with several bullet holes, but as long as his head is on, he'll still be able to reek havoc in the secondary.

In a related story, the Indy Star today states that Indianapolis is the first city out of 20 to bid for a Super Bowl after building a new stadium and get rejected.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070529/SPORTS03/705290370/1100

The Star claims it's because Dallas had the larger stadium. We here at 18to88.com have exclusive information that says that several league owners were scared that Indianapolis is really located near a "still open portal to hell through which the once departed move freely back and forth to and from this mortal coil". Bob Sanders impact on football in Indianapolis is immeasurable, but if this anonymous owner (rumor has it that it was Bob Kraft) is to be believed, it's not always a positive one.

ESPN has new football blog

Matt Mosely has a witty/interesting football blog that gets updated several times a day.

http://myespn.go.com/profile/hashmarks

Like most good blogs, it's part info and part humor. Let's face it, we can all get our news from any of a dozen of websites, so it's always nice when someone adds a little humor. We'll keep you posted if he says anything interesting about the Horse.

Calm down already...

Both the Star and ESPN have posted articles wondering what plans the Colts have for the number two RB spot this season. Pasquarelli goes so far as to assert that possibly the Colts are planning on ditching the 2 back system that served so well this past season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2882252&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

Here's the problem with thinking the Colts are done with 2 backs just because they have no 'veteran back' waiting to take snaps. Dom Rhodes was totally average last year. Yes, you heard me right, Dom was ordinary until the playoffs when he no longer started. Who was Dom Rhodes before the playoffs last year? He was an undrafted free agent veteran who had largely played on special teams. He rushed for over 1000 yards filling in for Edge when he was a rookie. Think about that, Dom, an undrafted free agent (hint hint), ran for over 1000 yards and then disappeared down the depth chart. Last year he had 641 yards on 187 carries for a 3.4 yard average. He had five TDs and 3 fumbles. He did catch 36 passes for 251 yards, which might be tough to replace, if the Colts hadn't had the foresight to add a good slot receiver, something they didn't really have last season. Even if Dom's replacement can't match his receiving numbers, as long he can pick up about 3.5 yards a carry, he'll basically be what Dom was.

The point is that it won't be that hard to replace Dominic Rhodes. Just because no one has ever heard of the 4 guys vying for the #2 spot behind Joe Addai doesn't mean, as Pasquarelli implies, that the Colts aren't going to regularly use 2 backs. It just means that Dom wasn't the vital cog that the playoffs would make you think he was, and he'll be easily replaced.

Dallas gets Super Bowl

Duh. This is a big time non-story. We never had a prayer. We called this one months ago. We weren't going to beat Jerry Jones and Dallas and a 100,000 seat stadium. Wish it weren't so, but it were.

Great article about a great man...

Len Pasquarelli, who was clearly hanging out in Indy for the minicamp this weekend due to his string of Colts related articles over the last couple of days, put together a really great piece about Tony Dungy.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2877313&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

We all know how great Tony is, so I'm not going to rehash the obvious here. I realized today that for the first time ever, I'm EXCITED about football season. In the past, I always dreaded it. The heart break would prove too much for me. I couldn't take another year of listening to morons who thought Tom Brady was more than an over-hyped Troy Aikman. I couldn't stand people blaming Peyton for the failures of his teammates. This year, IT'S ALL DIFFERENT. Geeze, I can't freaking wait.

Reviewing the Reds Nats trade

Last year Cincinnati jumped off to a hot start, but was starting to flag around mid season, thanks in part to a terrible bullpen. GM Wayne Krivsky made a controversial trade dumping the popular Austin Kearns and former silver slugger SS Felipe Lopez, as well as young up and comer Ryan Wagner for 2 Nats relievers. One of the centerpieces of the deal, Gary Majewski has been constantly hurt, pitched poorly, and caused Reds fans to rip the deal. The Reds have filed a grievance against the Nats saying they didn't fully disclose prior injuries to Majewski.

At the time, I was in favor of the trade because the Reds HAD to improve the bullpen to contend. This year, the bullpen is STILL the teams biggest problem. Bray and Majewki haven't worked out. Does that mean the trade was a bad one? People in Cincy are STILL mad about it. The only problem is that they haven't actually seen how poorly Kearns and Lopez have played. From the Washington times:
http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20070521-122929-5937r.htm

Kearns has had his moments since joining the Nationals, but he has been far from the 30-homer, 100-RBI slugger Bowden envisioned. In 107 games with his new club, the right fielder is batting .247 with 12 homers and 52 RBI. He already has been signed to a $17.5 million contract extension that could keep him locked up through 2010.

• Lopez, too, has showed flashes of greatness in Washington, but he has hardly played as well as he did during his 2005 All-Star campaign. In 113 games since the trade, the infielder is hitting .264 with four homers, 32 RBI and 96 strikeouts. He's making $3.9 million this season and should earn a raise in arbitration next year.

• Wagner, at one time thought to be the steal of the deal, has a 5.04 ERA in 40 games and is on the disabled list with his own shoulder injury, which could be serious.

NONE OF THESE PLAYERS WOULD BE STARTING FOR THE REDS TODAY. The trade didn't work out. At least not yet, although Bray and Majewski are young and under contract for awhile. Kearns and Lopez are overpaid underproducers, so even from that standpoint the Reds are ahead of the game. So now, nearly a year later, I'm still in favor of the trade. The guys the Reds got may suck, but they are about 10 million dollars cheaper than the players they gave up, who also suck.

Life is short...

so don't waste a minute of it reading Scoop Jackson.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/070518&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos2

Ugh. What a crap hole that article is. I only linked it so you would know what I'm talking about. but seriously, don't bother checking it out. It's inane. Any column that says, "Life is short, support the WNBA" is laughable. He's a useless hack if there ever was one. I think his spat with Whitlock got to him, because he has been putting out really poor columns non-stop for about 8 months now. Was he always this bad and I just didn't notice, or has he just gotten progressively worse since his list of column ideas he had jotted in crayon on a napkin was all used up.

I'm not a fan.

We ain't family, but there's a resemblance.

Kudos to the boys over at http://i-hate-the-new-england-patriots.blogspot.com/

We don't share all the same stripes, but as Sun Tzu said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Good on you boys. A great read.

Why we let Harper and David walk

Len Pasquarelli has a nice piece out on the Colts cornerback situation.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2875837&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

In essence, it says that this is what the Colts do. As we've been saying for months, changing your gameplan when it's been working is a sign of desperation (yeah, we mean you New England). The Colts are going with young guys in the secondary, and honestly, our defense really can't get worse than it was for most of last year, so why pay big money to keep mediocre players?

Dwight Freeney rules old school

You gotta love Freeney. In a day where guys that are in line to get paid millions act like petulant children, Colts DE Dwight Freeney is stepping up to the plate.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2873898&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

Freeney has said that he won't hold out of mini-camps; that he's not upset with being franchise tagged; he loves the Colts, and he wants to spend time with the young guys.

Geeze, that's refreshing. It shouldn't be. We shouldn't have to go nuts over a guy for showing up and doing his job for millions of dollars, but in today's NFL, you have to. Freeney is showing why the Colts would be smart to invest in him. He's being a leader and making the Asante Samuels and Lance Briggs of the world look like chumps.

I certainly hope Freeney has more great years that would put him on track for the Ring of Honor or even HoF, but if not, his comments have all but assured him a spot as a Classic Colt.

Colts start a club for Kids! (ages 5 - 14)

http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=promotions_dynamic&id=173

The Colts are going on their 24th season in Indy. Crazy. I remember when it was the ten year anniversary (it was right around the time they started marketing "Yell, Scream, Go Horse!") Anyway the Colts now have a kids club with its own tv show on Fox, apparently. Weird.

Once again, we can all thank Peyton and Marvin for saving the franchise. Just a couple years ago a new stadium seemed highly unlikely. I guess tearing through the league's defenses at an unprecedented pace for eight years will do that for you (that and the state's beloved Pacers turning to dust). Hey we finally found out what it takes to turn Indiana into a football state. . .

By the way, as I click on this link I am again hit with the fact that "Blue the horse" is a super-lame mascot (especially considering how awesome "Boomer the Pacers Panther" is). If anyone ever sees this show send us a review. Who am I kidding? I'll be watching.

Tribute or Scam?

On the previous story: Team owner Paul Diatlovich said it was a thank you to the team for winning the SB, but the NFL has declined to allow the move based preexisting policies against cross promotion. The fear is that the car may line up other sponsors that would conflict with established NFL sponsor contracts. Diatlovich has responded angrily and ripped both the Colts and the NFL.

This seems like a big scam to me. Look, I would LOVE to see a blue and white 18 car. Like most Colts fans, I think it would be cool and would have rooted for it. However, for Diatlovich to claim that he's just trying to salute the Colts with no personal motivation is totally wrong. A 'Colts Car' would be a BIG deal around town. It would generate mad publicity and surely attract other sponsors to his underfunded team. He would basically be trading on the Colts name and using the Super Bowl win to generate revenue for himself. Bear in mind that this is not some dude selling bootleg T-Shirts to make rent money this month. Racing is an expensive and potentially lucrative endeavor. While it's too bad it didn't work out from a fan's stand point, I get why the NFL had to protect its brand.

Diatlovich's angry and cruel response ("I'm extremely upset with the narrow-minded, pinheaded leadership of the Colts team and the NFL," said Diatlovich, who lives in the city. "It's inexcusable. All we're trying to do is say thank you.") was totally out of line and revealed that his true intentions weren't just to say thank you. People don't get that bent out of shape for simple thank yous. Seems like a jerk a to me.

Demond Sanders comments: Personally I'll be rooting for the #21 "Bob Sanders Special." You know, the one that indescriminately rams into the other cars.

Colts Organization Pin-headed?

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=1&id=2871494

You know its late May when this is the most important Colts-related news story we could find for you. I'm hoping the #18 car wins this year's 500.

You had it right the first time Sam.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2868485

Funny story about a guy who is not going to be the next President of the United States.

Even given his recent struggles, Favre's career has been excellent, but the comparison between the two players isn't all that close: Peyton Manning has thrown 137 TDs and only 39 picks over his last four seasons.

89 days until "Best Offense Ever"

Rumor has it that Anthony Gonzalez was pretty shook up after his first day because "some guys in the locker room kept going on about how one of the DBs is a brain-eating zombie."

Sometimes people are just lazy

I used to like Pete Prisco because he was generally kind to the Colts. Now he's just getting sloppy. He recently did a review of the draft from 3 years ago. I love draft reviews that look back several years, because often you can a clear picture of whether or not a team knows how to draft. You can read his review here:

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10175360

In his review, he notes that the 2004 draft produced Zombie Bob, Jake Scott, Jason David, and everyone's favorite no talent ass-clown, Gilbert Gardner. He then cryptically gave the Colts a B minus saying that Sanders was the only 2007 starter from that group. That's not even true, as Jake Scott should have a decent chance to start this season (as he did last season). He lazily forgot information that he had mentioned only one paragraph before.

So from the draft, the Colts got 3 starters that played in the Super Bowl (4 starters overall from last season if you count Gardner, which we don't because he sucks hard). One of those starters is an All-Pro safety who routinely rips the helmets off of unsuspecting ball carriers in order to feast upon their succulent brains. Just because the Colts let Jason David walk doesn't mean he wasn't a good pick. Considering the Colts didn't pick in the first round, this draft seems like better than a B minus.

Wayne's World

Reggie Wayne is an amazing receiver, and we very well could have entitled this blog 18 to 87. I don't think any Colt fan takes him for granted, and this team would never have won the Super Bowl without him. Here's a great article from ESPN the Magazine about Reggie's amazing season last year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2864759&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233


Demond Sanders comments: Some will call me crazy, but Reggie is going to the HOF. He may need another Super Bowl win under his belt, but mark it down. The big three are all going to Canton. . . but Edgerrin isn't one of them. Can I say for the tenth time that I can't wait to see Gonzalez play with these guys?

Prisco just trying to please everyone.

So this makes almost no sense. Pete Prisco, quickly trying to take his name off the 'writers we like' list, has come out with his Power Rankings for the 2007 season. Now listen, we know that power rankings are for chumps (at least until we publish OURS). Just last week we killed Prisco for saying that he thought the Pats had a better offense than the Colts, but today the defending Champs hold the top spot in his power rankings.

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/powerrankings

Why aren't we dancing? For one, it's irrelevant. For two Prisco's stance makes no sense at all. If the Pats O has indeed passed the Colts O, then there is no way the Colts are on top. Our defense will play better this year (or not, who knows?), but I think everyone doubts they'll be a better unit than the Pats D. Frankly, this doesn't make any sense at all. Prisco just seems to be writing any old thing he wants. Even his good points in the lead in (that the Colts loss in FA weren't really important players), were mitigated by erroneous statements like Kelvin Hayden returned a fumble for a TD in the Super Bowl. That's just lazy writing and editing.

Demond Sanders comments: The Hayden fumble return was huge, but not as clutch as when Reggie Wayne rode that unicorn right over Urlacher for the Colts first score of the game.

Gardner is cut (The Long National Nightmare is Over)

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070508/SPORTS03/705080395/1247/SPORTS

"Gardner played sparingly in the final three regular-season games and did not dress for the Colts' four postseason games, including their Super Bowl XLI win over Chicago."

That says it all doesn't it? You still have to be worried about LB depth, but seeing as how Gardner wasn't good enough to play special teams. . .

Pete Prisco. . . More moss hype

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10164800

I'm not sure how much I even need to comment on this story. Pete Prisco usually loves the Colts and thus will rarely be criticized in this space, but this time he's gone too far. I can understand ranking the Raven's D as the number one unit in the NFL. It is a veteran unit and did its job well against the Colts' Offense in January, holding them to five field goals. But to rank the Patriots' Offense as the second best unit of any kind in the league is a big pile of hype.

I know I'm beating a dead horse (so forgive me because it's not even August yet) but how on any planet would you take Moss, Stallworth, and Welker over Harrison, Wayne, and Gonzalez? Two of those guys went to the Pro-Bowl last year and the other was in the NCAA.

Let's compare the often-ignored part of these offenses, the running game. Laurence Maroney's hot start petered out down the stretch and he underwent shoulder surgery in the off-season. He's clearly not the "every down back" that the Pats thought they were getting. Sammy Morris (old) and Kevin Faulk (older) better be ready to roll come September because for some reason Belichek thinks Corey Dillon and his 13 rushing touchdowns are expendable. Guess what? Morris and Faulk had two rushing scores between them all last season.

As for Indy, can Joe Addai handle a 300+ carry season? Yeah, I think he can, although I don't think we'll have to find out. The Colts and Bill Polian believe DeDe Dorsey can be even better than Dom Rhodes (that wouldn't be all that difficult to manage if we only look at his regular season performance).

Deshawn Zombie´s Comments What´s so truly bizarre about this piece is that there is no position at which NE would win the individual matchup. Indy has the better line (admits Prisco), the better RB, the better WRs, at least an equal TE, and the better QB. Not only this, but they have way more continuity as an offense. Truth be told, no one has any idea what kind of offense the Pats will be running next year, let alone if it will be the ¨best¨ in the NFL. This is seriously lazy work based all on hype and without any real foundation. Blech.

Brady to throw 40 touchdowns, save the world

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2858092

John Clayton likes the Gonzalez pick. He sees the potential for an unstoppable offense.

Unfortunately he expects the same thing out of the Patriots. "Given Brady's accuracy, it's not out of the question for Brady to approach a 40-touchdown pass season and compete with Manning for passing records."

That's great John, but how about we aim for 30 touchdowns first, seeing as how Brady's never thrown that many in his entire career? Personally, I think Brady will throw about 25 touchdowns (because he always does) and he will fall in love with Wes Welker. His new slot receiver will end up with about 85 catches, dwarfing the production of Moss and Stallworth.

How will Peyton do next year? Well, let's just say he averages 30.5 scores a year over his career.

Dungy in Time Magazine

Coach Dungy is one of Time's 100 People who shape our world. His blurb was written by none other than Lovie Smith.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1615754_1615744,00.html

What next?

The Draft is over. There are three months and 8 days until the first preseason game at Dallas. What will 18to88 do next? Two things:

1. We'll continue to blog here and also keep improving the main site at www.18to88.com

2. We'll be watching this video over and over (and the one a few posts back which is even better):