Spy Yawn

I'm going to make this short because the seas could run full with the ink that has been wasted on Spygate the past few months. I must say, I am disappointed there wasn't more damning evidence coming from Matt Walsh than what was presented, but all in all it's been a fun ride. Being able to chide and needle the Pats fans with this story has been great, but hopefully we can all stop pretending it's relevant. The thing that's great about all this is that it proves that it doesn't pay to be a jerk. The fact is that everyone was way harder on Belichick because he's an insufferable ahole. Pats fans oddly relished and excused their coach's behavior because they somehow thought that it made him a better coach. Now he's been publicly slapped down, and their franchise has been soiled mostly because no one ever liked the guy to begin with. Hi-freaking-larious. Do I really think all this is that big a deal? No, of course not. We said so months ago, but I always enjoy ironic punishment, and the last several months have been full of it for the NFL's least likable franchise and fans. It's been a fun side show, but let's move on and get ready for football season.

I do want to add one comment about the Boston Herald. Thanks for helping bloggers everywhere look good. Real nice job guys. I used to think the Boston fans were just whining like everyone else when they complain about the local papers (for the record, we only complain about Kravitz...we love the rest of the guys at the Star). Now I can see what they are talking about. The AP, ESPN and everyone else were forced to run with the story once you 'broke it'. You ran the story without: ever talking to the man with the tapes, ever seeing the tapes, and without your 'source' having ever seen the tapes. Niiiiiice. I would certainly hope every Patriots fan would immediately cancel their subscription.

Links: Here's an interesting SI piece about misconceptions in the game. #1 and 2 are right on. #3 makes sense when you read what he saying (turnovers should be taken in context), but he's on dangerous turf. You almost can't overemphasize turnovers. They do turn the game. It's true though, that not all are created equal. A pick 40 yards down field on 3rd and 17 isn't really a turn over. It's a disguised punt. A missed field goal is a deadly play for a team. It's a concise, fairly obvious piece, but useful.

Sampson blames IU, global warming

It was not enough for Kelvin Sampson to set Indiana's basketball program back five years with his deeds. He apparently won't be satisfied until the Hoosiers are dead and buried.

Look, I honestly felt sorry for KS at first. He was breaking the kind of NCAA rules that a great many college coaches bend and break every day. In his mind, what amounted to one extra phone call per week wasn't a big deal. He could not understand why the NCAA was picking on him. I don't know either, but rules are rules. You can't break them. And you can't violate your probation when you are caught.

Sampson is throwing Indiana under the bus because he thinks Indiana threw him under the bus first. But what did he expect? He put Indiana in a terrible position. Now he wants to blame everyone from his assistants to the compliance department to the athletic director. When you are the boss you don't get away with laying blame on your subordinates. I can't believe nobody told me this was going on. I specifically told my recruiters not to do this!

Not nearly good enough, Kelvin.

Update: Kravitz can't figure out why AD Rick Greenspan still has a job.

No news, good news

Marvin Harrison continues to deny involvement in the recent incident, this time to the team. Jim Irsay makes a good point when he says:
"Until we hear more, this isn't even a case of innocent until proven guilty because there hasn't been a charge yet"
This quote is particularly hilarious in light of some of the more over the top articles and insinuations bandied about by members of the media and blogosphere who can only rightly be classified as...bored and stupid. We didn't even bother to link to a wild story from a radio guy covered by Deadspin about Harrison being some kind virtual modern day Sonny Corleone. Also of note in this article is that the Philly police are saying that charges are 'not imminent'. This is a relief, because about 3 times a day I go on "Harrison run" around the internet checking a variety of sites for breaking news on this story. It now sounds like no news is coming anytime soon.

Personally, I'd rather some kind of charge come out of this against someone other than Marvin so the kooks can shut up, but at this point my money is on the whole thing going away. It's a classic inner city Philly case that police just can't waste their time on solving when they have a pretty full slate of murders to solve. Now, if Marvin does wind up with some kind of charge, his denial to team officials could result in action by the league if they determine that he lied to the team/league. At this point, that scenario is appearing more and more unlikely. I think that three or four years from now we may look back at his and say, "remember that one time they though Marvin shot some dude. How crazy was that?"

Something good has come of all this though...we now have third party verification that 88 is a ninja, something we have long suspected but not been able to prove. Plucky ninja!

Today's voice of reason

Here's an excellent piece from the Cincinnati Enquirer. It's a simple little piece dispelling some of the little myths about the 2008 Reds. Last night I almost pulled my hair out. In the first inning of the second game of a double header, Ryan Freel doubled to lead off the first. Jerry Hariston Jr. then bunted him to third. The question is...why?

A bunt in that situation made little sense. With Griffey on deck, the odds of him making a productive out are low. He eventually drove in the run with a hit to left, but it's probable that Freel scores from second ANYWAY on the base hit. The sac bunt accomplished nothing but waste an out and lowered the odds of a big inning. There are circumstances where getting a runner to third with one out is advisable (pitcher hitting, tie game in the 9th), but in the first inning of a game where the pitcher has an ERA over 5 (and your pitcher's ERA is over 8!), and has a .360 BAA and the hitter is hitting .330, giving up an out with a sac bunt becomes losing baseball.

In other news, pole day was mostly a hit, so check out this interview between Whitlock and Danica. We chide Whitlock from time to time, but he's a fan of the Blue and Gold and loves the race, so that makes him ok in our book (even if he's on crack when it comes to football).

Honest to blog

If you haven't seen the now week-old freakout by Buzz Bissinger on Deadspin blogger Will Leitch, do yourself a favor and check it out. The topic that they were supposed to be discussing with Bob Costas on HBO was the role of the Internet in sports. The discussion degenerated quickly as Bissinger imploded on national (premium) TV. His rage is felt by many in traditional media who seem angry that no one wants to read their papers anymore. Earlier this week, Jason Whitlock weighed in the issue, basically telling the print world to get over it. I realize this story is a few days old, but the Harrison stuff kept me from having time to really comment on it, and there are a couple of points that I feel are worth making.

I completely understand the antipathy some feel toward blogging. It is an inherently narcissistic act to assume that anyone else would give a crap about something you have say. I don't frequent too many 'classic' blogs, and generally pay more attention to 'old media' sources. But, um, I also write a blog. Of course Bissinger is correct in asserting that many (most?) blogs are profane and moronic, but he fundamentally errs when he chastises Leitch for not measuring up to one of the great sports writers of all time. Bloggers don't have go be better than W.C. Heinz. To be useful, they only have to be better than no talent ass-clowns like Bob Kravitz and Scoop Jackson.

Aaaaaaand there's the rub. The truly gifted and great writers will always find a way to be gainfully employed even in world ruled by the BgAngridit69. The problem with traditional media, and honestly the reason why Demond and I started writing this blog is that a. the traditional sources weren't meeting our needs, and b. we think we can do it better (smarter and funnier) than some.

I do disagree with many of the points about access being the reason writers suck. I'd freaking kill to have access to players. I don't think it would jade my perspective. I hope that it would give me additional insight into the 'whys' of sports. Access is one of the reasons I love Phil B. Wilson's stuff.

The traditional media has lost its way because it has to keep stirring controversy to keep people reading. The bizarre way this Harrison case is being handled in the media certainly doesn't bolster Bissinger's arguments that journalists are some how more disciplined and principled than idiots like us. When you get right down to it, what's the difference between a blogger and Jay "I don't ever show up at the park" Marriotti? When he writes, he has a disincentive to be honest or accurate. He HAS to be inflammatory and shrill or people will stop paying attention. When you don't write for money, you can be concerned with stuff that matters like strategy and performance. You can say things like, "Wow, that was a bad break" and not be forced to label every loss a choke for fear of losing readers.

This is the ultimate free market. People have a limited amount of time and will gravitate toward spending what they have reading people who are right or interesting or amusing. Most sports columnists have few credentials to recommend them to public. They are just guys who took a journalism class and kissed some editor's butt along the way. Some are great writers, most aren't. Some watch the games and pay attention, others just rumor monger and try to be on the cutting edge of controversy (by the way, I appreciate Kravitz holding back this time). We base our 'authority' to write this blog about the Colts on the fact that we've watched (multiple times) every game for more than a decade and spent time breaking down plays and players. We are amateur hacks to be sure, but I'd like to think we provide something that was missing in the panorama of Colts coverage. And if we don't...no one will read us. That should say something important to the Bissinger's of the world.

And yes, I'm well aware that the only thing more self-important than a blog is a blog about blogging. Siiiigh...

Demond Sanders: I was really down on the concept of blogging at first. I used to make fun of people who had their own blogs because I personally hate talking about myself. I would never post pictures or videos of my family paling around the house. My wife would, though. Then it clicked. I realized you could blog about sports instead of baby clothes.

I agree that bloggers aren't any more foul or crass than Kravitz, Mariotti, or Scoop. Those writers generally don't swear in print, but they would if they could. They do, however, get away with a lot of things written in poor taste.

The distinction does need to be made between beat writers and opinion givers. Beat writers are irreplaceable because of the vast amount of time they spend around the team. We rely on them for news and I don't see that ever changing. Phil B's blog is relevant not because of his opinions (he's understandably reserved), but because he gives us insight to the severity of injuries and the development of young players. So the question is: do we need highly paid columnists to interpret the beat writer's news for us? I'm not sure we do. Clearly there are a decent number of people who are happy to do it for free.

Columnists are not significantly more knowledgeable than the average blogger or blog-reader. Most of us have been following the Colts for a decade or more. This stuff isn't rocket science. Locker room access would be great, of course. There are those of us who would love to know what Bob Sanders looks like naked. Sorry, I'm just bloggin'.

Sportswriters are hypocritical on the blogging issue. Most of them have lucrative spots on radio and television where they amp up the drama and vitriol far beyond what is necessary. The trend of making sports louder and dumber started from within.

Assumptions, Assumptions

The Sporting News has an article out on the Harrison case. It's mostly a giant retread, but it makes one key mistake that I've heard several times. The article continually refers to what happens to Harrison if he was or wasn't the shooter. It basically presupposes that Harrison is guilty of a crime if in fact he shot the gun. There is another scenario which is extremely plausible, however. Harrison or an associate could have shot the gun in self defense. Most commentators and media types are ignoring this possibility.

I assume that is because if Harrison had acted in self-defense why wouldn't he just tell the cops? I think there are reasons for that.

1. He feels it's easier to keep quiet the situation given the 'victim's' reticence to talk. He hasn't been accused of anything, so why talk? He is a private dude who wants to stay out of the limelight so why would he tell his story to the press?

2. He, like a great many members of his community, may well distrust the police department

3. There's no point in admitting to shooting the gun and THEN constructing a defense for it when the smart thing is to admit nothing until charged, and then construct a defense based on the charges. Why give the prosecution a head start on knowing what you will argue?

It may well be that if Harrison did act in self-defense, or at least can plausibly argue the point, that the DA is having a hard time moving forward with the case. They have to ask themselves what the odds of gaining a conviction are against a man with a well paid defense team, when the victim won't ID Harrison, fired a shot himself, and is a felon. The mysterious 'third victim' may or may not be reliable either as he would obviously have extreme monetary interest in naming Harrison.

Again, I'm not saying he didn't do it. I'm not saying he was justified if he did do it. I am saying that the media coverage of this has been very odd and utterly irrational. This particular article is a great case in point. It sees only two possible scenarios when it's clear there are at least three. (Thanks to profootballtalk.com for the link)

In other news: Dom is back! Good job to the Big Blue Shoe on catching that one early. This signing was a no brainer. You have to give him a look for no risk and a bargain contract.

Embarrassing Myself

It happens every time. I swear to myself that I won't do it, but I just can't help myself. EVERY time the Cubs and Reds play in Cincinnati, I get in an insane shouting match. Despite the fact that most of my closest friends are Cubs fans and go to the game with me, I can't stop myself from screaming myself hoarse at the idiots who start chanting "Let's Go Cubs!"

Now there's background to this:

1. I HATE people who cheer for the visiting team. When I go to another team's stadium, I do not cheer for my team. I just write snarky articles about it later. Why? Because you pay good money to watch your team. You shouldn't have to put up with drunk aholes from other teams yelling and screaming, especially when...

2. THEIR TEAM HASN'T WON JACK CRAP IN 100 YEARS. Cub fans show up everywhere no matter how bad the Cubs are and start acting like they own the place. They organize cheers and like idiots. This drives me nuts. Listen, if your team has a bunch of titles, or some illustrious history, then fine. I guess you've earned the right to be smug. Cub fans DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT to come and cheer for their club. They should be embarrassed by the Cubs. This is more or less the content of my rant every time. Monday, I basically just started chanting "One Hundred Ye-ars" while the Cub fans were acting up.

3. I have an almost clinical inability to avoid engaging stupid people in debates.

So the 9th inning comes up on Monday, and Cubs start to do business. A bunch of drunk Cub fans (I know that's redundant) start cheering. I start screaming. I acted like a fool in front of my friends (all Cub fans) including one who brought his 5 year old son (sorry Camden). My friend Nate commented: "Imagine what he'd be like if he drank!". Now in my defense, I don't drink and don't use profanity (unless freaking counts...as in YOU'VE HAVEN'T WON ANYTHING IN 100 FREAKING YEARS! SHUT UP!), but still. I really have to get a grip. That being said, last place or not, it's our house and I won't give it up so easily.

My other thoughts from that game that don't involve me acting like I'm 5:

Cueto has amazing stuff. He was never really on that game and didn't look comfortable, but his stuff was so good that it made it tough for the hitters even when he wasn't at his best. That's what you want to see from a pitcher. I love Johnny Franchise.

Adam Dunn's 463 foot HR was incredible. I thought it would land in Kentucky.

Felix Pie broke my heart by stealing one from Jr. For some reason, I've seen about a dozen Dunn HRs, but only one Jr. shot.

I love winning series from the Cubs. It makes my week.

Update: almost if on cue, as soon as I link to "Our day in the Hole", ESPN the magazine publishes a piece on David Garrard and spends a couple of paragraphs on how no one cares about the Jags. Classic.

Demond Sanders: You are fairly embarrassing sometimes, but we all have our lesser moments. I remember when Indiana lost to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco on a last second shot by former Hoosier star Luke Recker. On my way out of the building I screamed at an eight-year old Buckeye fan with a huge grin on his face. I can't remember exactly what I said, but it wasn't pretty. That punk kid didn't even have a dog in the fight.

I actually think you are worse at the movies than at sporting events. I'm really glad Tobey Maguire was not present at our screening of Spiderman 2. If there is something you don't like you aren't afraid to say it. I think you get that from our dad who frequently heckles the preacher on Sunday morning.

And let me just say that David Garrard calling his annual colonoscopy "wonderful" was the low point of my day. . .

Legal and Illegal

New opinions are surfacing about the Harrison case.

Mike Freeman says Marvin is wrong just for owning the kind of gun he owns.

Sal Paolantonio thinks Marvin is wrong for living where he lives.

Both men are incredibly wrong.

Let's be clear: If Marvin Harrison shot someone for any reason other than imminent self defense, he should go to prison.

If Marvin Harrison gave his gun to someone else to fire it for any reason other than imminent self defense, he should go to prison.

But if Marvin Harrison is guilty of living in a violent inner city neighborhood and legally owning a registered firearm, then his critics need to get a life. It is a normal thing for a man to want to live near his family and friends. No matter how rich someone is, he has a right to live where he wants and run whatever kind of legal businesses he wants. Harrison's gun might have been used in a crime. It might have been used in self defense. Harrison may have acted reasonably; he may have been negligent; he may have been murderous. These are the only issues. Anything else is just self-righteous blather.

Arguing that there is no reason to own such a gun as Harrison's is like arguing that there is no reason to own a Lamborghini or a Porsche. In one sense that's true. A 1970 VW Bug will get you to work just the same, but rich people tend to like nicer, fancier versions of everything. Those that like cars own nicer cars. Those that like to cook have deluxe kitchens even though the old Sears range will boil water just the same. Some people like guns. Personally, I don't. I have moral reasons for disliking firearms and not owning one. Those are my issues and choices, however. Harrison likes guns. He is rich, therefore he likes expensive tricked out guns. That is neither surprising, nor illegal, nor inherently immoral or stupid.

He's guilty or innocent based on what he did or didn't do. Not based on where he lived and what kind of gun he chose to legally own and carry. A shooting isn't any more evil or heinous if the gun is a small pistol or a crazy Belgian hand cannon.

Demond Sanders: Well said. This is a ridiculous effort from Mike Freeman. I'm actually kind of shocked that Kravitz let Freeman beat him to this kind-of-obvious-totally-unfair-jump-to-conclusions column.

In other news, the ad wizards have combined two of my favorite things: Indy car racing and Indiana Jones. Yes, I will be rooting for Marco Andretti's #26 car on May 25th.

DZ adds: I'll add Prisco's piece to the end of this. He sort of gets off track when he talks about Harrison sitting alone on the bench (he does it when he's caught 3 TDs. He does it when he's got 2 catches for 13 yards), but he does do a mostly credible job of basically saying, "We have no idea who this guy is." The first page is a little weird, but he rights ship on page two.

Get out and vote

Just a reminder to all Hoosiers who live in a cave...get out and vote today. Even if you are a registered Republican and don't have interesting national races, there are still local votes that are important. So, do your civic duty and all that.

My recap of last night's trip to the 'Nati replete with details of my shouting match with Cubs fans in bleachers will be forthcoming. I'm just waiting on the the photos...

In links:
Scoop Jackson writes about KG. Why would I link this? Scroll down toward the end, and you'll find it.

Baker the Butcher

Ok, so that's a little unfair as titles go, but I went for wit over accuracy. Still as the Reds continue on their SECOND 5 game losing streak in recent weeks, my Opening Day frustrations look downright prescient. 5 game losing streaks are especially significant to me because they mean your entire rotation failed to get a win. During this little run, the Reds got 2 awful starts, 2 brilliant starts, and 1 solid start (which was done in by a terrible bullpen performance). In other words, the Reds pitching hasn't been great, but even when it has it seems to make little difference. As I've said about twice a week since the season started: THIS TEAM CAN'T HIT. I'm not sure that it's Dusty Baker's fault that Griffey and Dunn aren't playing well. I do know it's his fault that Cory Patterson is on the roster and a lead off hitter who has an on base % of under .270 will brutalize any offense. The 'win now' plan isn't going to happen this season so it's quite frankly time to bring up Bruce and Baily and get on to the business of prepping this team for next year. It's not all gloom and doom, there is talent on the roster and in the organization, but it doesn't seem like it's being managed very well. Of course that's what happens when you fire your GM 15 games in.

I'm heading to the park tonight to see Johnny Franchise (who still has a great WHIP and K/BB despite a ballooning ERA). I'll give a scouting report tomorrow.

In other news Peter King ranks the NFL teams. I think he's dead on about San Diego (Rivers is NOT a proven commodity), but is way too optimistic about Jacksonville. That team is has not gotten better than last year, and I think is primed for a serious regression. I do give him points for not buying Vince Young. He's exactly the kind of guy that King usually can't get enough of. In Colts news, PK things Harrison is in trouble (no reason, he just feels it-at least he's consistent) and Dungy won't coach past this year.

There's nothing new in the Harrison situation. Something tells me this story is not that high up on the police to-do list in Philly.

Now and then

So there's not a lot of new information on the Harrison case, but what there is seems different than what came out Friday. Friday's reports made it seem that somehow arrests were imminent, but now going on 5 days since the incident, there are still arrests, and the Philly cops have turned the case over to the DA because they are too busy to deal with it. The more you read about this case, the more it seems like police are probably wishing that a high profile guy wasn't involved because then it could go away. For a case in which no one was badly hurt in a neighborhood with lots of violence, it will now demand much more time from investigators.

A Philadelphia Inquirer piece now has other discrepancies with the original report broken by a Philly radio reporter on Friday:

On Friday it was reported that the gun fire was exchanged after Harrison chased a man into the parking lot of his bar. Now it appears that the shooting took place several blocks away.

Harrison is now said to have kicked the victim out of his bar 2 weeks ago, and they have been fighting since. Harrison admitted to getting into a fist fight with the man earlier in the day.

It was reported that a girl had been slightly hurt by flying glass. Now it's reported that it was a 2 year old boy.

It was unclear though not inaccurate in previous reports that police cannot confirm that there was a third victim. They received a call from a lawyer saying that he represented a man who was hurt and could finger Harrison. That is not confirmed and as of now, no one has accused Harrison of anything. Police are looking for this alleged victim.

The original victim first told police that he was hurt driving on the freeway, before changing his story. He has not identified Harrison.

The Inquirer is reporting that Harrison turned the weapon in question over to the police. It was reported on Friday that police found it in a bucket outside Harrison's carwash.

So from the original sensationalistic reports on Friday, we had one picture of what happened, now there is a slightly different one. The small detail changes may or may not make any real difference, but they are interesting to note.

The Inquirer has a profile piece on Harrison today.

Fare thee well Bryan Fletcher

With conflicting reports still coming out about the Harrison saga (did anyone note how ESPN's coverage of the story changed as the night went along?) let's instead focus on stories we can verify. Bryan Fletcher and Dylan Gandy were cut yesterday. Fletcher had several key plays in the 2006 season, and perhaps caught the biggest pass of the AFC Championship game. He only had one grab that day, but it was for 32 yards to set the Colts up inside the Pats 50 with 2:01 to play. I'll never forget Ted Marchibroda semi-coherently trying to say, "There's a linebacker on him and it's a mismatch in favor of the tight end!" Fletcher was slight of build and never could figure out the blocking side of the game. As for Dylan Gandy, he couldn't beat out Charlie Johnson, so that should tell you something. Both players had to be nervous when the Colts brought in 3 new O linemen and two TEs.

Demond Sanders: The three-day Rookie camp just began on Friday, but the Colts must have already seen what they were looking for from the new guys.

In other news, Dale Earnhardt Jr. proves that underneath that firesuit beats the heart of a little girl. I'm guessing Junior couldn't handle 220 mph. . .

Harrison questioned in shooting

Bet you never thought you would read that headline.

DZ Comments: I don't know what's more shocking, the headline or the fact that Marvin owns a bar. I'm disturbed by this.

Obviously we are waiting until further details are reported to truly weigh in on this. My gut says Marvin wouldn't risk tarnishing his legendary career unless he felt he or his friends were in danger.

They really do matter...

I realize that telling Colts fans how important the undrafted free agents are is a bit obvious, but just in case anyone out there doubts it, check out this list from SI of the best pickups of the last decade or so (you can go back to see AV's picture with the Pats). I started you in the middle of the list for reasons that will be obvious when you see the picture. Also, check out this article about what the guys who don't get picked go through.

Mike Chappell also had a great piece on Marcus Howard. Mathis was also a 5th rounder, so this is an exciting pick. You have to figure that with his speed, Howard will be a good special teams player if nothing else (that's actually how Mathis made the Pro Bowl). In fact, I have a sneaky suspicion this kid will end up being better than at least one of the Jags first two picks.

FO has their annual draft poll out.

Here's one more draft evaluation I didn't see earlier. (fixed)

I can't wait for the season to start.

AJ Smith Enjoys Boring Other People

There is no GM in football who I personally root against with more vigor than AJ Smith (and yes, that includes Scott Pioli who I mostly just assume is Belichick's lapdog). Smith has had a pretty checkered record in San Diego, both drafting incredibly well in some areas, while royally screwing the QB position. My dislike of him essentially boils down to his shoddy treatment of Drew Brees (to whom he never really gave a chance), and his bizarre little game of making Eli stand up with the Chargers jersey, just to spite him. He's already cost the Chargers a Super Bowl by drafting Phil Rivers (who has yet to prove to anyone that he's actually good at QB). And then he made the idiot mistake of letting Brees walk without getting anything in return for him. But today he gave me one more reason to dislike him. With the draft buzzing along quickly and managing to be enjoyable for the first time ever, AJ Smith logs in as the voice of dissent:

"I don't like it," said San Diego general manager A.J. Smith, who was opposed to the idea from the beginning, "because I just want five minutes. It didn't affect anything, but I like it (the old way) because I'd have five more minutes. I don't know if I would need them, but I do know that if I did I'd have five more minutes."

Nice there A.J. So the league hits upon a way to make the draft more watchable (perhaps even leading to a lucrative prime time TV slot), and you don't like it. Why don't you like? Because you'd just like to have 5 more minutes. Ok. I see your point. Why don't we just take 20 minutes between picks? Or 30? Would you like an hour? I don't know that you'd need it it, but I do know that if you did, you have another 50 minutes! So everyone else thought they had plenty of time, and the increased revenue better ratings could bring does nothing but help the league, but we should go back to the lumbering 15 minutes format just in case you happen to maybe need 5 more minutes.

Idiot.

Colts sign 13 Undrafted Free Agents

Read about it from Mike Chappell here. Here is how Indy's recent additions break down by position:

WR (1 drafted, 3 undrafted)

QB (1 undrafted)

OT (1 undrafted)

OG (3 drafted)

TE (2 drafted)

RB (1 drafted, 1 undrafted)

DT (3 undrafted)

LB (1 drafted, 1 undrafted)

DE (1 drafted, 1 undrated)

DB (2 undrafted)

There have been 13 offensive additions and 9 on defense. The low number of defensive backs stands out to me. Teams obviously need a lot of DBs because there can be between 4 and 7 on the field on any given play. Polian must be temporarily satisfied with this area.

Many thought the fact that the Colts drafted only one late-round receiver implied that Marvin Harrison would be ready to go. Maybe it does, but there will definitely be a battle for the number four spot on the team.

Dom Rhodes Cut Loose

Kenton Keith is having a baaad week. The Raiders have cut Super Bowl XLI hero Dom Rhodes. I'm not saying we are going to resign Dom, but I think the Colts have to at least consider bringing him in to camp. Alcohol issues make Dom an even dicier proposition than Keith (whose actual misdeeds are still very much in question and far less serious than a DUI), but then again Dom wouldn't have turned a simple dump pass into a game changing goal line pick.

It's interesting. That's all I'm saying.

Demond Sanders: If this was Edgerrin James then there would be dancing in the streets of Indianapolis tonight. Still, I think you have to at least consider picking Dom back up for another stint. He knows the offense. He protects Manning well. Is he a better player than Kenton Keith? At one point early in the 2007 season I might have said no, but looking at Keith's entire body of work I'd prefer Rhodes. Keith was a full yard per carry better during the regular season, but only grabbed 13 receptions compared to Dom's 35 catches in 2007.

The real difference is their playoff performances. Dom got much better during the Super Bowl run, once Addai became the starter. Dom has the build to punish tired defenses late in games. Keith isn't that type of player. Keith had a terrible playoff performance against the Chargers (4 carries, 7 yards) low-lighted by a dropped pass that was picked off. I hold onto hope that someday Edge will be back, but that may be a year away. For now I think you ask yourself is Rhodes better than what you currently have on the roster?

Write 'em up

Here's a list of links and grades:

Start with Phil B's breakdown of day two. Nice work again Phil.

Then head over to Colts.com to listen to the Polian/Dungy press conference.

Marcus Howard makes SI's list of steals.

This writer says the Colts owned draft day in the AFC South.

The Czar gives the Colts a C. Hee hee. Silly Czar. You have no idea who you are dealing with.

Prisco doesn't grade the round 2 pick, but manages to be slightly homo-erotic.

Long but fun, FO chimes in.

Mel Kiper Jr says....B

NBC says the just a tad higher (thanks Jacob)

Prisco says B- for no real reason.

Clark Judge says Mike Hart was a winner this weekend.

EVERYONE STAND BACK! Kravitz is attempting to analyze! His brain might just explode!

Dr. Z's comments are lackadaisical and cryptic.

Yahoo Sports gives us a B

Demond Sanders: Here is a must-read from the Sporting News. Hilarious. The guys on XL 950 decided that the Colts should get credit for Tony Ugoh since it was essentially their first round pick. I tend to agree.

One of the top things to take away from this weekend is that the Colts have their own agenda and plan when it comes to the draft. They take their kind of players when and where they see fit. Hopefully most of these guys make the club. If the Horse pulls out a starter, some special teams guys, and some solid backups out of this class, then it was a success.

The Jags are mostly getting hammered, and the Pats have too in some of those same circles. Here's the thing about the Pats: they don't actually draft that well. They have a great front office and the end result is great teams, but as we've discussed before, the draft (other than the Brady pick) hasn't really been their strongest suit. They excel in a combination of areas, especially free agency. I see no reason to assume that they had a good draft just because they are the Pats. They haven't earned that courtesy based upon their draft track record.

Also, the pundits that liked the Jacksonville moves all focus in (rightly) on the Jags trying to sack Manning. It's hilarious that at a time when the Jags go all out for D-line picks, that the Colts quietly restock the entire offensive line. Oh Jacksonville, I almost feel sorry for you. They'll be lucky to go 9-7 next year.

Draft Wrap Up

Bill Polian and the Colts surprised us this weekend by not surprising us. They filled the basic need areas that fans and media had been targeting since the fall. Offensive line depth was a major issue during parts of the 2007 season and the loss of Jake Scott to Tennessee in free agency only compounded the problem. Of course we didn't know they'd take three centers, but we aren't shocked either. The other standout issues were Tight End, Running Back, and Defensive End. Check, check and check. Wide receiver depth was at times an embarrassment in 2007. Who could forget the sickening feeling you got when you looked up to see Devin Aromashodu was playing against the Falcons? Check. I gotta say I'm pretty pleased right now.

Round 2) Mike Pollak - Arizona St, G

Round 3) Philip Wheeler - Ga Tech, LB

Round 4) Jacob Tamme - Kentucky, TE

Round 5) Marcus Howard - Georgia, DE

Round 6) Tom Santi - Virginia, TE

Round 6) Steven Justice - Wake Forest, C

Round 6) Mike Hart - Michigan, RB

Round 6) Pierre Garcon - Mount Union, WR

Round 7) Jamey Richard - Buffalo, C

Here is Mike Hart running away from two Buckeyes roughly twice his size. I guess this draft pick is for all the Wolverine fans who swallow their pride and root for Anthony Gonzalez each Sunday.

When we drafted Pierre Garcon my wife immediately wanted to know if he would wear a beret on the sidelines. I googled him to see what he looked like and this is seriously what came up:

Draft Diary Day 2

• Again, let me start off by pointing you back to our mock draft for those who missed that it was back up. I love that you all knocked our server off line looking at it the first time, but it was sort of frustrating to have it down for 24 hours.
• Let's be clear about yesterday: I have zero doubt that Pollack was a great pick. I didn't doubt it at the time. Almost immediately we realized that Saturday was a f/a and more likely they don't trust Charlie "The Human Sieve" Johnson to protect Peyton on RG. Our less than enthusiastic comments had more to do with the anti-climatic nature of the pick than questioning the decision. We lost one starter to free agency, and just replaced him. That's a good pick.
• Yesterday's 'lightning round' version of the draft might actually make me watch it. Doing two rounds faster than the first round last year means that much less blathering.
• Did anyone notice the Titans AGAIN didn't take a WR in the first round? I'm telling you, they are the only ones smart enough to know that VY CAN'T THROW.
• I hated ESPN's coverage of the two bridesmaids (Henne and Brohm). They missed both the Jags trade and pick and the Colts pick yakking about two guys who will be lucky to be Brian Griese. That's fine and all, but to do that after ALREADY spending all day on them was annoying.
• Kravitz likes the pick. Frankly everyone does. No one is dumb enough to question Bill. As many have rightly said before, "In Bill we trust". Chappell's article has some great quotes by Bill who seems to have focused in on Pollak early.
• The Jags still don't get it.

When the day began, the Jaguars had eight picks, including two in the third round and three in the fifth round. They had no picks in the sixth or seventh rounds. When Saturday ended, the Jaguars had just two fifth-round picks remaining for their Sunday workload.

The easy math is that Harvey and Groves cost the Jaguars half of their ’08 picks and one of their ’09 selections. Unless the Jaguars start trading players for picks, they will end this draft on Sunday with the smallest class in franchise history.

“When you look at it at the end of the day, the players we got are values at need positions, whereas the players at the back end (of the draft) may not have made the team,” personnel boss James Harris said.

There’s a deep message in those words and the message is obvious: The Jaguars have reached the point of such roster strength that having a lot of picks is a waste of time, money and resources. The even deeper message is: This team may have only had one need as it headed into this draft, and that need may have been fully and satisfactorily addressed in the trades that allowed for the selections of Harvey and Groves.

When teams don't restock their depth with young players, they pay a price down the line. San Diego has no picks till late today. The Pats cut almost their whole class last year. It's fine to say, "We're so deep we don't need rookies", and it might not matter this year. But very soon you find your roster has gotten old, and you can't recover on the fly. If San Diego and NE want to try this, that's their problem, but for the Jags to think they are a Super Bowl contender when they can't consistently win inside their division is a pipe dream. That team will regress this year, and become very weak in about two more seasons. I love it.

• Day two picks of note: The Pats take another LB. I guess we weren't the only ones who thought their LBs looked ancient. The Titans take a TE. I'm serious, they are running the McNair offense all over again. Air McNair BARELY threw the ball at all until he had been in the league about 9-10 years.
• Demond weeps as the player he projected for the Colts just went to the Lions who traded up to take him.
• And we scoop up a LB (Phillip Wheeler from GA Tech) in round three. Hagler is free agent after this season, so I think we can all assume that he'll be gone. The ESPN breakdown says he's over aggressive. Hopefully that can be coached out of him. I'd say that pretty soon we'll be making that inevitable run on corners.
• Here's an article I just found by the Football Scientist that pimps Reggie Wayne as possibly the best WR in the league based on his deep threat production.
• Demond chimes in to let me know his wife thinks Mike Hart is the pick. Who has any idea at this point.
• So KSquared is safe. We go TE in round four to off set the loss of Ben Utech. Jacob Tamme sounds like a project, but that's more or less to be expected when you get picked in round 4.
• So if we look at the Colts need board, we've covered guard and TE, but we still need an upgrade at back up RB, and backup DE (unless Wheeler gets converted).
• Round 5 pick gives us another LB/DE type. Beautiful. Marcus Howard sounds like he could be a solid backup at end. Word on the street is that he can bring the pressure.
• Fletcher has to be sweating bullets right now as the Colts draft a second TE. I have no info on this guy at all, but I'm better he's more of a blocker.
• The least sexy draft of all time continues for the Horse as they take another O lineman before ABSOLUTELY NAILING Mike Hart of Michigan. That's a tremendous pick for the 6th round. BAM!
• So with just one pick remaining, the Colts have basically addressed every key issue on the team. We got rushing depth, receiving depth, O-line depth, a great RB option. In Bill We Trust. Great draft.
  

Colts select Mike Pollak, C, Arizona State

Yes, you waited six hours to watch the Colts draft a Center.

Disorganized, Random Draft Thoughts

• The server is still down on 18to88.com. We're working on it.
• The 10 minutes between picks makes the draft about 1000% more watchable.
• The Under Armour commercial is bizarre, but it's great to see the Zombie getting some work.
• I think McFadden will be a beast for Oakland.
• Did Jaworski just say that JaMarcus Russell is an embryo? I prefer my quarterbacks to have already lost their vestigial tails.
• I know that Matt Ryan and Michael Vick couldn't be more superficially different, but I'm not sure that either one is actually any good.
• The best part of the Chiefs getting Dorsey is that the two best players are officially off the board before NE picks. Beautiful.
• And there it is. The unquestioned 6 best players go in the first 6 picks. This pleases me as the Pats pick 7th.
• Why do networks feel the need to do the cheesy 'mission control' type crap? Does any think it's cool? Crossing War Games, Minority Report, and the IPhone to show teams drafting isn't cool. It's retarded.
• Steve Young says the Patriots might be arrogant? How dare he! He'll be getting weird hate mail for months.
• Mel Kiper kills the Jags. Hilarious. What could be more comical than the Jags trading way up to draft a guy from Florida. This move smacks of trying to sell tickets. What a hilarious franchise.
• Demond and I IM just before and after the Jags trade is announced as two 3rds and a 4th:
  
  Demond: that was special stuff
  Demond (4:04:05 PM): mel kiper: C -
  DZ (4:04:15 PM): soooo sweet
  Demond (4:06:45 PM): lol
  DZ (4:06:46 PM): HOLY CRAP
  DZ (4:06:48 PM): LOL
  DZ (4:06:52 PM): oh man
  Demond (4:06:52 PM): love it
  DZ (4:06:55 PM): oh gosh
  DZ (4:06:57 PM): oh my
  DZ (4:06:59 PM): oh my
  DZ (4:07:05 PM): I love this team
  DZ (4:07:09 PM): oh lord
  
  Yeah, we are pretty happy. Good ol' Jholes. You can always count on them for a laugh!
• Matt Millen finally found a way to avoid screwing up a pick. He just traded it.
• I just found this piece on CHFF. It's a great article from the Wall Street Journal about Mr. Polian, the man who will make tomorrow a beautiful day for Colts fans. I'll be out for the rest of the night. Demond will pick up from here.

• Wow. The first round took a mere 3 and half hours. ESPN and the NFL finally got it right. Reducing each first round pick by five minutes forced the decision-makers to move faster than normal. Most people were expecting this to shave an hour or so off the first round, but it ended up being closer to a 3 hours savings.
• Chilo Rachal who played Guard for USC just went to San Francisco at pick 39. Mel Kiper had the Colts taking him in his last mock draft. I say this only to further illustrate the futility of projecting past the first ten picks of the first round.
• The speedy Tracy Porter goes at pick 40 ahead of his Hoosier teammate, James Hardy. The big receiver will not last long though.
• Told you. Hardy goes immediately after Porter at 41 to Buffalo. If this kid dedicates himself to the game of football the Bills might have gotten one of the steals of the draft.
• This is not the best day to be a receiver. None were drafted in the first round. The second round has seen a flood of receivers.
• I have absolutely no idea who the Colts are going to take. If I had to guess right now I'd say Quentin Groves the DE from Auburn. Although he will probably be gone by pick 59. It's kind of fun not having any clue what direction Polian will go.
• 18to88.com is back up for anyone who didn't get a chance to check out our mock draft.
• Ray Rice from Rutgers is still available as of pick 52. Wouldn't be surprised to see him go to the next team looking for a RB. Man would that be a great pick for Indy. Won't last though.
• Jaguars traded up to take Groves, my prediction for the Colts. I'm going to stop guessing now and just wait to see what happens. Ravens take Ray Rice. Duh. That would have been too good.
• Packers get great value taking Brian Brohm with the 57th pick. This is a kid that at one point was projected to go in the first round. Very intriguing pick.
• Who is it going to be? TE? DE? RB? Surely one of those three positions, right?
• The Colts take Mike Pollak, C, from Arizona State with the 59th pick of the 2008 draft.
• Deshawn Zombie points out that Jeff Saturday is a free agent after this season. However we are guessing that Pollak will project as a guard on Indy's offensive line. He may be the only thing standing in the way of Charlie Johnson starting at guard next season.
• As DZ says, "You wait all day for your team to draft a player that you'll never hear about even if he starts every game for the rest of his career."
• See you tomorrow.

A look back at Indy's 2007 draft class

Here is a quick look back at who the Colts took in last year's draft. We aren't handing letter grades out yet because it is at least a year too early to judge most of these players. This should serve as a point of reference. The thing that stands out to me is how much playing time many of these guys received. The draft is crucial to the Indianapolis Colts.

Round 1) Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio St.) WR: Gonzalez had 37 catches during his rookie season. Most of these came during a solid five game stretch at the end of the season. He had 4 catches for 79 yards and a spectacular touchdown in the divisonal round loss to San Diego.

Round 2) Tony Ugoh (Arkansas) OT: The Colts surprised us when they traded their 2008 first round pick to the 49ers so they could draft Ugoh early in the second round of the 2007 draft. Tarik Glenn retired shortly thereafter and suddenly made this one of the most savvy picks in franchise history. Ugoh played very well at Left Tackle in pass protection and the Colts didn't miss a beat in the run game. Despite missing a stretch of games with a neck injury, Ugoh gained the experience necessary for a productive 2008 season.

Round 3) Dante Hughes (California) CB: Hughes played well in 10 games before going down with a season-ending shoulder injury. The Colts are very thin beyond Jackson and Hayden and the team may be counting on Hughes to step in as the full-time third corner.

Round 3) Quinn Pitcock (Ohio St.) DT: Pitcock saw extensive playing time during the second half of the season. He was a crucial part of the tackle rotation along with Ed Johnson and Raheem Brock.

Round 4) Brannon Condren (Troy St.) S: Condren didn't see much playing time because of the relative good health of Bethea and Sanders in 2007.

Round 4) Clint Sessions (Pittsburgh) OLB: The Colts have unexpected depth at LB due in large part to the stellar play of Sessions and Ramon Guzman. Sessions' season was highlighted by his two acrobatic interceptions against the Chargers.

Round 5) Roy Hall (Ohio St.) WR: The team was very high on Hall's potential, but he missed almost the entire season with a shoulder injury. We still don't know whether he will play receiver or tight end.

Round 5) Michael Coe (Alabama St.) CB: Coe stepped in at the end of season after Hughes went down with an injury. He wasn't impressive, but there is not much of a sample size here.

Round 7) Keyunta Dawson (Texas Tech) DT: We weren't sure whether Dawson would play Tackle or End. He ended up at Tackle and he had his moments finishing the season with 23 tackles and a sack. He also forced a fumble and recovered two fumbles. A very solid pick.

Mock Draft 2008 - AKA "Who the hell is Deshawn Zombie?"

Alright, we just couldn't let the biggest offseason week of the year go by without throwing our two cents in. Yes, I still hate the draft. No, I don't think it's vaguely possibly to have the slightest idea who the Colts will take in round two, but as a blogger it's my solemn responsibility to comment blindly on things that are impossible to know and of only passing interest to the rest of the world. And so, in honor of that sacred trust, Demond and I offer up our best advice for all the teams drafting in the first round this year.

UPDATE: As of 3 pm EST today, we've exceeded our bandwith for 18to88.com. No telling when the site will be back online.

Also, can we get a collective sigh of relief over the headline from today's Star? Freeney is guaranteeing to play opening day, but hearing that he's only just now jogging does freak me out a bit. There is no issue that will affect the success or failure of the 2008 Colts as much as Dwight Freeney's health. Almost nothing else matters.

Check out this weird bit from CNN.com. I especially like any piece that mentions Tom Coverdale and politics at the same time.

I forgot to mention this earlier in the week, but now you can all see why we are waiting to induct Marcus Pollard into the Classic Colts. I'm not surprised the Patriots signed him, they've had their mitts all over him for a long time. We always wish Pollard the best, but now...ugh.

Kelvin Sampson is landing on his feet. This is a good move for him. He clearly needed out of the college game with its pesky rules and accountability.

We're #1! We're #1!

As was noted a couple of times in the comments and as the Star reported yesterday, Your Indianapolis Colts came in first in ESPN's goofy fan satisfaction survey. So there you have it. All it take to have the best franchise in sports is an exciting team, a classy coach, win a Super Bowl, have a cool owner, and build a new stadium. It's interesting that the Colts' worst category was in stadium satisfaction, because I can only assume that refers to the RCA Dome and not the new facility.

The Reds came in a middling 59th, and the Pacers were 112th out of 122, but that puzzles me. They only rated a 53 in stadium. Conseco is the single best place to watch basketball in the NBA, and one of the 20 best venues in sports. 53 seems ridiculously low.

Fair and Unfair

Unfair first: Kenton Keith has had almost all charges against him dropped. He now faces one count of misdemeanor criminal trespassing for not leaving the premises when asked. He is pleading not guilty. Still, it was nice of IPD and the Marion County prosecutor to make sure that he got written up in the paper of being guilty of a litany of other small time nonsense. Just one more bit of evidence to show how awesome it is to be young and black in Naptown. If he gets off on this charge, I doubt they'll be any big headlines proclaiming it.

Now onto the fair: the Reds fired GM Wayne Krivsky. Krivsky's job was in jeopardy from the minute Walt Jocketty came to town. Let's be 100% honest; Jocketty is a top flight GM, and the team is in better hands. If I had to guess, I'd say the match that lit the fuse was today's roster move. David Ross comes off the DL, and the Reds have to cut someone with a guaranteed contract. The candidates are Corey Patterson and Scott Hatteberg. I'd say that Krivsky's firing means that Hatteberg is out. He had a very strong year last year, and that earned him a new contract. The problem is that you can't give a contract to a left-handed hitting firstbaseman when your #1 prospect (Joey Votto who is tearing up the league) is also a left-handed hitting firstbaseman. The team also screwed up giving Patterson $3 million this year when he was sitting at home on his butt at the start of spring training. With any luck he'll be right back there.

Update: The Reds basically tabled the decision by dumping Norris Hopper onto the DL. That buys them two more weeks to deal Hatteberg.

Media reports will mention the ill-fated Nats trade of two summers ago. That is utter nonsense. That trade was great for the Reds as they dumped two useless, expensive players for some banged up bullpen arms. I've already written about that deal ad nausem, so I won't rehash it now. Krivsky didn't do everything right, but the team is WAAAAY better now than it was when he took over. The farm system actually has players in it. The roster has talent. The team has young pitching. I think the team will do better under Jocketty, but I'd give ol' Wayne a solid B for his tenure with the club, and I wish him the best of luck.

And finally in the "about freaking time" category comes this news. Great, so now we still have to wait another 2 weeks to find out what Walsh has on the Pats. I hope it's good.

Demond Sanders: I think it is bizarre that you feel sorry for a guy that was out very late, drunk in public, and helping an underage girl get into a nightclub. Just a bad decision. Cloud 9 is the same nightclub that Jamal Tinsley was partying at when he was trailed home and fired upon some months ago. The cops are no doubt under pressure to keep the club secure and the parking lot empty after hours. Having charges dropped isn't the same thing as being innocent. None of the charges are a huge deal and I wish Keith all the best. I don't think it is fair to imply that IPD officers are a bunch of racists because from the looks of it they did their job correctly.

Those Stripes Soaked CleanThrough to the Brain

Apparently the Bengals have lost their minds. After the 'Skins offered 1st and 3rd (which could become a first) for Chad Johnson, the Bengals said...

NO.

Listen, that's a serious offer. Marshal Faulk only scored a second round pick. Right now at that price, I would potentially trade every player on the Colts roster for that with the following exceptions:
Manning, (duh)
Wayne,
Ugoh, (they basically paid a first and a second for him)
Sanders (duh)

You could argue that Chad Johnson is as good as Reggie Wayne (you'd be seriously mistaken, but you could say that), but when you throw in the fact that: 1. he doesn't want to be in Cincy 2. he's a head case and 3. you'd be trading him out of your conference, it seems like a obvious move. I think this team just got offered a motherload to take a headache off their hands and now they want to be too proud/macho to take it.

Baaad move, Bengals.

K2 in minor incident

I normally wouldn't give any room to this kind of a story because there is really nothing to it, but with the draft coming up it might have an impact.

Kenton "hands of stone" Keith was picked up outside a nightclub last night apparently for 'general assery'. Given the fact that the report seems pretty minor and the whole issue of police/black man interaction isn't exactly rosy, I think it's hard to really kill the guy for this.

That being said, the Colts hate this kind of press, and there was already a lot of speculation about the Colts possibly taking a backup RB early. Let's just say that Kenton didn't do himself any favors in the job security department with this stunt.

By the way, if you want to read some good thoughts on the Colts draft possibilities, check out Shakenbake's blog... We just don't hit the draft hard because I'm not into it.

Calls at Midnight and other stuff I'm thinking about...

Waking each other up in the middle of the night has been something of a tradition with Demond and I since we were kids. He fell asleep as we waited for the Batman Movie (yes, the Adam West one) to start on the 11:30 late show. I woke him up for key at bats of the 1992 World Series. I called him to make sure he was up to see Robert Vaden drill a game winner in the tourney. Last night he called my house long after I was in bed to make sure I knew that Danica Patrick won her race.
We really love IRL.

As the Reds slide continues, I take solace in the continued strong pitching of Johnny Franchise and the bat of Joey Votto. Good times are coming, but they aren't here yet. They traded their most reliable bat (Josh "Hambone" Hamilton) in the offseason, and the offense is suffering for it. As I say here often: this team can't hit.

Kravitz's entry today was really weak. It's not just that it's stupid; it's also mean and wrong. He talks about 'a public backlash' if Crean reinstates Bassett and Ellis. Um, I'm not feeling that there, Bobby. I think everyone knows that Dakich is a hothead screw up, and mostly people couldn't figure out why they were ever let go in the first place. He claims that Crean should have supported the decision to cut the players. WHY? Did they behave badly? Maybe, but then it's hard to blame them for being a tad bitter at a school and an administration that ignored the players please to give the head job to a highly qualified black man, and instead gave it to an incompetent white guy with connections. Oh, yeah they disrespected the school. Please. If they want back in and can get their grades up, let them come back.

He also cuts loose on a really tasteless 'guilt by association' rant about Bennie Seltzer (one of Crean's assistant coaches who was on Sampson's coaching staff at Oklahoma that made more calls than a 14 year old girl). This story was talked about a couple of weeks ago. The guy is clean , as Kravitz admits. Let it go, Bobby. You're grasping at straws.

God help me, but I love Manu Ginobili. He's Argentastic!

Finally, congrats to the Little Brother. Let's all raise a glass of good wishes to the man who made this offseason so strangely enjoyable. Enjoy the honeymoon there kid. Get to work on the next generation of NFL dominance.

Danica Patrick wins at Twin Ring Motegi

See I do a post about the IRL and look what happens later that day? Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy Car race tonight by passing Helio Castronoves with two laps remaining in the Firestone Indy 300 in Motegi, Japan. This is a huge moment for the Indy Car series. 19 year-old phenom Graham Rahal gets his first career win last week in St. Petersburg and the newly unified series follows it up with perhaps its finest post-split moment. Will this attract more sponsors and media coverage for the IRL ? I don't know, but Tony George seemed more than a little excited as he rushed to congratulate Patrick on her historic win.

Ten reasons to watch the unified IRL

The Indy Racing League has finally merged with ChampCar. It's time to start rebuilding open wheel racing in America. Here are my current top ten reasons you should watch a race:

10. The races are shorter than most sporting events including NASCAR races, usually clocking in at under two hours.

9. The cars are (much) faster.

8. They named an entire sports league after the city of Indianapolis.

7. Unlike the IHSAA, the IRL appears to be dedicated to rebuilding its storied past.

6. They race at places with cool names like Twin Ring Montegi, Long Beach, and Surfer's Paradise. Sounds like a Mario Kart circuit.

5. The sport gets precious little media coverage, but its few writers are snarky loners who hate NASCAR.

4. The league isn't sponsored by a souless wireless carrier with unbelievably poor customer service (yet).

3. They have two and sometimes three generations of Foyts, Rahals and Andrettis involved in the sport.

2. They have teams co-owned by both Paul Newman (badass), David Letterman (badass) and Patrick Dempsey (non-badass).

1. Sometimes Mario still hops in a car and insane things happen.

Even I have my limits

My tolerance for sports commentary is not infinite. Sure, I'll randomly leave on ESPN radio in the background for hours or even check out First Take at lunch, but there are just some guys that make me turn of the dial. I'm not talking about guys who are just stupid. Stupid commentary generally makes me mad and/or drives me to post something about how stupid they were here. No, I'm talking about guys who manage to be so utterly retarded/crass/useless that I can no longer stand to hear their voice, even if they are talking about the Colts. These are the five guys who can make me flip off faster than anyone else:

1. Skip Bayless (ESPN First Take, ESPN2) - He is far and away the most useless waste of space on TV. He adds nothing to the mix except being an ahole. He picks extreme opinions (I don't know if Tiger Woods is really that great because there are no other great golfers today), presents them with little to no evidence (my sources tell me that Kelvin Sampson cheated to get Eric Gordon), acts condescending, and refuses to admit when he's wrong (after the Super Bowl he STILL was killing Tom Coughlin for playing his starters the whole game against the Pats to end the season). He's not just wrong. He's not just an ahole. He's not just shrill. He's all them. All at once. All the time.
Time it takes before I turn him off: <1 minute

2. Jay Mariotti (Chicago Sun Times, Around the Horn) - Long considered one of the single laziest major columnists in America, Mariotti has made a career out of being shrill and unfair. Marriotti's mugging for the camera and ridiculous opinions are the chief reason I can't watch Around the Horn. I'll turn it on for a minute watch the first three guys, and think, "eh, not awful." Then Mariotti will have segment and I'll cringe. Generally, by the second time through, I turn him off. He's uninformed, self-promoting, and generally wrong; but it's the twinge of cruelty that he has that really repulses me. Ozzie was right about him.
Time it takes before I turn him off: <4 minutes

3. Eddie White (Kravitz and Eddie, 1070 the Fan) - Who is this clown and how did he get a radio show? He may be the single biggest waste of airspace in the midwest. The only reason he is lower on this list than Mariotti is that he's always talking about Indy sports, so that keeps me hanging on a fraction longer. He is ignorant and very crass (fat jokes about the IU president? really? That's humor? You want to sleep with Erin Andrews? Why do I care to hear about that?). His only skill is that he is so irredeemably awful that he makes Kravitz bearable (thus keeping him off this list in miraculous fashion). I have nothing good to say about this guy at all. 1070 goes to sports and this is what they give us? Horrible.
Time it takes before I turn him off: <5 minutes

4. Jim Rome (Jim Rome Show, Rome is Burning) - Rome held the top spot down for a long time, but isn't nearly as horrible as he used to be. Now mostly it's his callers that make me turn him off. Rome is still hard for me to listen to, but I freely admit that he's often funny and entertaining as well. At his worst, he's like fingernails on the chalkboard. He's hard to listen to, but is clearly way more talented than the rest of this list.
Time it takes before I turn him off: <15 minutes

5. Colin Cowherd (The Herd ESPN Radio) - I dug Colin at first; I think most people did. He wasn't amazing like TK was, but he was ok. Then he ran out of stuff to talk about it. Cowherd's biggest problem is that he doesn't really like sports. He loves gambling and radio. Not sports. The one sport he really digs is college football, which I don't like. He also gets off on 'life commentary' which is usually boring and ignorant. He's over the top and generally clueless. He also spends waaaay too much time ripping on 'sports nerds' who 'use statistics' and can 'prove things' and have 'coherent arguments'. He does have good guests, so I'll usually turn him off for five minutes at a time, and then turn him back up when he's done being a moron.
Time it takes before I turn him off: <20 minutes

Special Lifetime Achievement Award:
Mark Patrick (1260 drive time several years ago) I don't know where he is now, and I don't care. I've never heard a sports guy I hated worse. His show was so crude and pointless that I actually wrote the station to complain (it was all the 'hanging out by White River' jokes). He wasn't funny, smart, or interesting. I literally would get spasms just passing his show on the dial. The all time, hands down, worst host ever.

Demond Sanders: Great list. You nailed 1, 2, and 3. Eddie White, you are not good at your job. The annoying thing is that Kravitz is clearly uncomfortable on the radio and uses White as a crutch, forcing him to carry the show at times. Hopefully over time Kravitz will realize that he's far more talented and White needs to take a minimal role as the show's MC. Wow, did I just type that sentence?

Cowherd is an interesting host. He insists that ESPN hired him because he is able to entertain and pander to the non-sports fan. Gee, thanks ESPN. His argument is that hard-core sports fans will listen either way, so it is his responsibility to the advertisers to bring in listeners who would rather listen to a rant about how Whole Foods is amazing or how everyone should leave the midwest and move to the southwest. He bashes on sports talk shows that "breakdown the games" and "crunch numbers." In other words everything he says is based on anecdotal evidence that he quickly threw together in the pre-show meeting.

Jim Rome is not as nearly as obnoxious as Cowherd. I would argue against his inclusion on this list. He seems to understand and actually like sports. His interviews are solid. His listeners, the clones, are huge tools, but he mocks them liberally so their impact is for the most part neutralized. I think we all still kind of hate him for his famous run-in with Jim "Chris" Everett, but the truth is Everett was forewarned that Rome would be calling him Chris to his face and agreed to do the spot.

I'm not sure if color commentators qualify for this list, but I'll throw out Dick Vitale and Ron Santo for starters.

For Demond

More videos from the "ryanparkersongs's channel" channel at Heavy.com

It's like Ryan Parker knows him or something.

I'm practically giddy

over this announcement coming out of Los Angeles. There are only two teams that could possibly move. One is the Saints. The other?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm proud to introduce....

YOUR

LOS

ANGELES

JAAAAAAAGUUUUUUUARRRRRS!

It'll be great! Instead of a bunch of transplants in Florida who don't care about the Jags, they'll have a bunch of transplants in California who don't care about the Jags.

Better start house hunting, Vic.

Links:
Check out this interesting piece on mock drafts. It's awesome to find out just how clutch the Freeney pick was.

Demond Sanders: It is amazing that in a league of 32 teams only 2 or possibly 3 teams (Buffalo is rumored to be considering a move to Toronto) could realistically move. Shows you how strong the NFL is as a league. I would be shocked if the Saints moved at this point. So yeah. . . it's gonna happen.