Monday, March 30, 2009

15 comments MMQB Review: Peter Puts Everything I Don't Care About In One Nifty Column

Peter King talks about a couple of things, like the Collective Bargaining Agreement and why coaches should be able to talk to their team after the Super Bowl, that I don't really care about too much. Doesn't mean he is boring though, it just means much like a U2 album you have to cut through the boring shit to get to the meat of what it is about. So let's get to the meat. Speaking of meat...

Leftovers from an all-business annual NFL meetings, with some news about an event to help the good Dr. heal thyself ... and with 26 days before the draft, what would an MMQB be without a nugget or two about the fate of the Lions at number one:

Food is ALWAYS on this man's mind.

Every year at the meetings, the Rooney family invites a select group of Steelers club officials, league officials and media to dinner in a private room. It's a low-key affair with a toast, stories and an early exit because this isn't a wild crowd; everyone want to be up early the next day.

The first story is about food. Also, I have noticed over the past couple of columns that Peter really, really likes Dan Rooney. Like "I want you to be my father/grandfather" likes Dan Rooney. Pretty soon he will be staking out Dan Rooney's house...in Ireland.

A few of the guests christened this one "The Last Supper'' because Rooney has been nominated by President Obama to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.

"The Last Supper." Just like Jesus before he was betrayed by Judas and then died after being crucified on the cross in the hot sun. At least that is the story in the Bible and believed by Christians. Funny name for a dinner, I just forgot to laugh I guess.

Rooney took out his cell phone and played a message he'd kept from the late Upshaw for three years, a message that was meaningful to him because it conveyed the art of the deal and the mutual trust the two men had.

Maybe Dan Rooney is related in some way to Peter King. They both keep cell phone messages from people for an overly long amount of time. These two are like two peas in a pod, perhaps more like peas and carrots. They should sit in a tree for hours and talk about what they want to do with their lives and Peter can hope his daddy doesn't come home drunk again.

Upshaw died last August. Rooney is all but certain to be confirmed for the Ireland post. So last week, everyone in the league was trying to take the temperature of what it all meant. And no one thought it was good. There's no natural mediator available in the league right now. Surely one can, and probably will, emerge.

Out of 31 other millionaire league owners, there is not a single person among them who can negotiate or mediate. I don't believe that.

One of the issues in the negotiations will be the amount of debt the owners have built up over the past few years. I'm told the 32 teams owe a combined $8 billion for money they've borrowed for stadium construction and other infrastructure improvements and practice-facility costs. That's about $250 million per team. And the players have always had the attitude -- which I can see too -- that, yes, the owners do have massive debt issues, but at the end of the day, that debt, once it's paid, is going to make the owners' franchises worth all that much more.

The owners are going to have the attitude that they've got this huge debt service per year, and they're incurring this debt service to grow the game, and so this debt has to be taken into account when figuring the total salary cap and salary floor per year. I know it's complicated, but that's the nut issue here.

This is exactly why I don't get into talking about the CBA all that much, though it is vitally important, because it just all sounds like millionaires fighting over money to me.

The owners need to get over the fact they have to spend money to run a football team. If you don't want to spend money and incur debt on practice fields and other facilities, don't own a football team. The players need to realize the owners are trying to make the facilities as nice as they can be to coddle them and make these millionaires feel special about the team they play for.

Compromise. Just play football and shut the hell up.

In his absence, I think Rooney will be available to advise the league, but Goodell's going to need another Kissinger to be a shuttle diplomat between owners and players.

Maybe it'll be New England owner Bob Kraft. I think it's a job Kraft would love.

Well, as long as he would love the job, he doesn't really need to actually be good at it. I just need Bob Kraft having fun, that's all I really ask.

How did I know he would be Peter's first choice?

Roger Goodell keeps saying the idea of 17 regular-season games with three in the preseason, or 18 and two exhibitions, is just another way of playing the 20 games that are already scheduled. Wrong. It's wrong because starters would be playing the full game in the 17th and 18th regular-season games, and now they play, on average, a quarter of each preseason game.

This is seriously not news. Anyone who watches football on a regular basis knows that preseason games are completely useless. The league wants to keep the amount of games at 20 and when the league announced they wanted more regular season games, everyone who thought about it knew this meant more games for each player. Those who thought about it also knew that the players would have a hard time going for this.

No matter how the league throws it out there, there's no doubt players would be exposing themselves to another four quarters of injury risk if the regular season is expanded to 17 games. Add two more games, and most veterans would be playing an extra six or eight quarters.

I personally don't like the idea of expanding the schedule to include more games, I would just like to see the amount of preseason games limited to 2 or 3 and leave the preseason where it is at. Teams are pretty beat up at the end of the year and I don't see a reason to change how long the season is.

"Anytime you have change, there is some reluctance," Goodell said at the meetings. "But it's clear we don't need four preseason games anymore. Fans don't believe preseason games are up to our standards. A key point is the fans also recognize players they want to see are not in those preseason games.''

So only have 2 or 3 preseason games. They can't do that because the team doesn't want to miss out on the revenue they get from home games? Tough shit, the fans have been paying way too much money for preseason game tickets for years now. The owners have been collecting money for games that don't involve many players who actually make the team for many years now. They can deal with the lost revenue.

This is a losing battle, there is no way the NFL cuts down the preseason and doesn't add more games to the regular season schedule.

Winning coaches ping-pong from one media obligation to another in the 90 minutes after the game, and they never get a chance to talk to their team. It's incomprehensible to me that a coach would stand in front of his team after every game he ever coaches, and then, in the biggest game of his life and his players' lives, the game ends without the coach ever saying a word to them.

I have heard about the tragedy of Darfur, the AIDS epidemic in Africa and that nearly every single person in America doesn't want to think for themselves and find it easier for others to think for them (which explains so many things, including the existence of many CBS comedies and what is currently on the Top 40 radio stations), but this is the worst thing I have ever heard of. Someone has to intervene immediately.

It is 57 days after the Super Bowl this morning, and Tomlin has still not talked to his team.

I just want to point out that if Mike Tomlin really, really cared about this, he would have spoken by phone to each individual team member and would not wait for them to be together again as a group.

I have to agree this rule is stupid that he can't talk to them as a group after the game but he could talk to them if he really wanted to.

Solution: The winning network gets the celebration on the field and three or four interviews, including with the coach and MVP, in a 15-minute on-field show. Then the coach and all players get whisked back to their locker room so he can tell them whatever he wants to tell them. Then, no more than 30 minutes after the game, every key player is at a series of postgame podiums set up in the bowels of the stadium.

This may be the first Peter King suggested solution that makes sense.

Well, Tomlinson, who struggled to a 3.9-yards-per-carry average last year, would have to put his career in overdrive at age 30 this fall to compete for a rushing title with 320 carries. Last year, Adrian Peterson won the title with 1,760 yards on 363 carries. Michael Turner of the Falcons was second with 1,699 yards on 376 carries. For Tomlinson to hit 1,760 yards on 320 carries, he'd have to rush for 5.5 yards per carry, which is seven-tenths of a yard better than the terrific Peterson managed last year.

Peter King's numbers seem to work out and he sort of has a point here. I just wonder why he hates LT so much? I know he doesn't come out and blast him or anything but he seems to be really down on LT's chances to have a bounce back year and also seems down on his overall football abilities. I realize LT is 30 years old but two years ago there was talk he could end up being one of the greatest running backs ever and now he is sharing time with Darren Sproles. I wonder if Peter's disdain for Tomlinson has anything to do with how LT has spoken in regard to the Patriots and Bill Belichick?

"Paul doesn't want to settle for just a partial recovery,'' his wife, Linda, says. "He wants to be back working, and to do that, he needs intensive therapy.'' Therapy like the intensive and innovative (and expensive) six-week University of Michigan Aphasia Program, where he'll get 23 hours of challenging speech therapy a week ... and which isn't covered by insurance.

This is a charity dinner for Dr. Z that is being held and seems really wonderful and like a great idea. I can't help but wonder why charity dinners are not being held for other people who were not writers for a major sports magazine who suffer from the same speech challenges that Dr. Z faces? I hope Dr. Z recovers, but for the others who suffer from this speech problem, I bet they wish they had access to wealthy friends who could host a dinner to pay for an expensive rehabilitation for them.

I also can't help but wonder if some of the money from the dinner is going to help others who suffer from the same problem so they could also have the same access to the innovative Aphasia Program.

Quote of the Week III

"Never.''

-- Denver coach Josh McDaniels, asked if he felt there might come an opportune time for the Broncos to consider trading Jay Cutler.

I think McDaniels means "never, unless someone offered me Matt Cassel."

As if they need the extra help, the two teams that met in Super Bowl 42, the Giants and the Patriots, have the most choices in the first three rounds.

Combined playoff wins this year: 0. I just felt the need to point that out.

Maybe the reason these teams have these picks is because they actually made very smart personnel decisions and accumulated more picks. The smart teams make smart moves and the dumb teams don't make smart moves.

1. New England (6) 23, 34, 47, 58, 89, 97.

Strategy: Look for the Pats to trade one of their three second-rounders -- and, if need be, a later pick -- for some team's 2010 first-rounder.

Sorry to pick on New England...but Peter wrote the Patriots may trade one second rounder "and, if need be, a later pick" for a 2010 first round pick. If there is a team that would accept a 2009 2nd round pick for a 2010 first round pick without a later pick, then that General Manager needs to be immediately fired.

Peter is drunk if he thinks the Patriots won't have to trade more than just a second round pick to get a first round pick. Even then it would have to be a pretty good pick or set of picks later to give up a first round pick. Meaning not a 2nd and a 6th round pick. I would be shocked if that got the deal done.

5. Atlanta (3) 24, 55, 90.

Strategy: His freshman draft shows GM Thomas Dimitroff will make a trade to chase a player he really wants. If only Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo were gettable.

I am sure I am not the only person who has heard Brian Orakpo could end up being Vernon Gholston II. I just wanted to point this out because he is getting a lot of hype so far leading up to the draft.

Whether he is going to be a great NFL player may/may not be true but the real thing everyone needs to know is that Peter loves himself some Brian Orakpo because he is like Chris Long. Both are white and have a great "motor." Peter would love to have a team full of those type players.

8. Tennessee (3) 30, 62, 94

Strategy: If the Titans don't get Torry Holt in bargain-basement free-agency, they'll join the club of good teams yearning for a receiver in the first or second round.

Why wouldn't Torry Holt want to catch those Kerry Collins "bombs?"

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

1. The Marriott in Dana Point, Calif., responding to my kvetching about no coffee anywhere in the hotel on weekends 'til 7 a.m., made a great call, starting this weekend. They've begun making coffee available in the lobby at 5 a.m. Good to see you improving, Marriott.

Kvetching meaning "incessant bitching." Why does anyone cater to this man? He makes a ton of money, make him walk somewhere to get coffee.

2. The stuffy St. Regis, however, is still making its beach restaurant a hotel-guests only deal. Someday I'm going to be good enough, and rich enough, to eat there.

Did Peter go to the front desk of these hotels and ask them if they changed their policy based on what he said? I think Peter believes he can have an incredible amount of pull just by bitching in his weekly column. It has been an entire week and I am sure the hotel has more important things to do than to cater to Peter King.

If wants to be good enough to eat there, be a guest at the hotel.

5. Drove past the Viper Room, where River Phoenix died of a drug overdose, in West Hollywood. It's a hole in the wall! Looks like some dive head shop from college days.

You would think actors would overdose on drugs at much more reputable and roomier places.

7. US Airways home from LAX Sunday ... $15 to move from a center seat to an aisle with a few more inches of leg room ... $40 to check three bags ... $7 for a salad. Welcome to 2009 air travel, America.

A salad for Peter? Actually it was mash potatoes, spaghetti, steak, and mushrooms mixed together in a bowl with hot coffee poured over the top. That is a salad to Peter.

4. I think, if I were Stafford, I'd be ready for some funny business when the Lions show up at Georgia to work him out. I don't mean ha-ha funny. I mean Schwartz is going to put Stafford in some uncomfortable spots and force him out of his comfort zone. If it's windy, you can be sure Stafford will be throwing his fastball into the wind, for instance.

How is this "funny business?" If a team is going to take a quarterback with the first pick in the draft I really, really hope they would not consider seeing how a quarterback throws out of his comfort zone "funny business," because he is going to have to make those throws in the NFL.

Someone please tell me every team does this to a quarterback they are looking at drafting and the Lions are not supposed to be geniuses for doing this.

6. I think, just to tease tomorrow's column, I'm going to examine the cases of the two men Al Davis is passionate about for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Hint: They both wore the silver and black.

What a shock that Al Davis would be passionate about placing two men who just so happened to play for the Raiders, the team he owns, in the Hall of Fame. Thanks for the hint Peter, I feel incredibly teased.

7. I think if the NFL begins to seriously discuss expanding the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams -- and believe me, the expansionist orators are preparing their speeches to fellow owners -- I'm going to be prepared to argue against that absurd, watering-down-the-game-for-TV notion.

(Bengoodfella quickly getting a headache) Why always try to tinker with a good thing that works? MLB added the wild card because there were only 4 teams that made the playoffs but by the NFL expanding the playoffs to 14 teams means nearly half the teams eligible will make the playoffs.

I, yet again, agree with Peter on this issue.

8. I think, still, that a division winner should not be guaranteed a home playoff game. Why the 12-win Colts had to travel to face the eight-win Chargers is still an injustice that too few people got exercised about. The solution is simple: Excellent teams should not be penalized for being in a division with a superb team, so the playoffs should be seeded, per conference, on the basis of record alone.

Few people get "exercised" about? I have never seen that word used in this context. I like how Peter is still angry over how that Chargers-Colts game ended this past offseason. You fuck with Peyton Manning, you get the wrath of Peter King.

b. Amazing how many movie billboards there are in L.A. You'd think they made movies there or something.

It's shocking how many bright neon signs are in Las Vegas. Is this really worth a mention?

c. There's something wrong in America when you go on the road, need a prescription filled and have to pay full price because you have your HMO card and your prescription card to show the pharmacist but don't have the approval for a clearly approved medication on the prescription bottle.

I don't get this. Either Peter was out of refills or he did not have the prescription for the drug. Either way, there is nothing wrong with the pharmacist wanting to keep his/her job and not filling this prescription. Even knowing American's health care system is messed up, I am going to go ahead and assume Peter was in the wrong on this because I don't know what "approval" he did not have, because that "approval" sounds a lot like a "prescription."

If someone among our 6 readers knows something about this I don't, please inform me.

d. Coffeenerdness: Very, very interesting coffee choice in Laura's neighborhood. Peet's, Coffee Bean and Starbucks, all within about 1,000 yards. That's a reason to live somewhere.

Oh, to live the life of Peter King and make residential choices based on water based liquids.

g. What more does Clay Buchholz have to do to win a spot in the rotation?

Have the Red Sox stop signing tons of other pitchers like John Smoltz and Brad Penny?

h. It's official: There are more dogs than people in the South End of Boston.

South End of Boston: The only area in the world with a lot of dogs. In my neighborhood, there are absolutely no dogs, just people walking goats around the neighborhood on leashes. Do you know why? All the dogs are in Boston.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey man, good read, as per usual, but wanted to let you know that Brian Orakpo is very and extremely not white. But he is Gholston Material

Unknown said...

Ohhh, see, you are talking about the color of his skin is not white. If Peter King likes him, then he's white. ~nods~
It's not about race with Peter it's about what's inside...or something. (Or Ben could just have made a mistake, there's that too.)

Working in the health care industry, I'm guessing, that Peter had a refill on his bottle (which is the "approval" about the bottle) but that the pharmacy couldn't get an approval from his insurance comapny/HMO for them to pay for it. It's very possible that the pharmacy isn't affiliated with his HMO or insurance, or that his HMO only covers his drug costs if he uses their pharmacies. third party payment plans are negotiated between the drug companies and the pharmacy companies, and if the stores don't like the reimbursment package, they won't carry the item on the insurance program, or possibly even accept that insurance at all.

Anyway you slice it (food metaphor!!) Peter doesn't know what he's talkng about.

As for the Mariott. Who the hell is UP at 7am and in the lobby on the weekend at the Dana Point Mariott? Get a life Peter and sleep till 7...or use the coffee pot provided in your room, you fat moron.

Bengoodfella said...

Thanks Sebastian, that was such an egregious mistake I can just laugh about it. Even though it is not funny because it was a bad mistake. Ironically, I guess now he has more in common with Gholston but Peter King could never love him. I always think Orakpo is white and I made this same mistake earlier in the year. I am just a moron. I really have read some scouting reports that think he is like Gholston so my idiocy and point stands. Thanks for commenting to.

Martin, I am going to have make you Official Liason to the Healthcare Industry. Our healthcare system is all FUBAR so I don't want to be too hard on old Peter King but hopefully he would have known they would not pay for it before he went into the store and adjusted accordingly. I think I want to know more about this. I wish Peter had given more details. Of course he gives me tons of details on other topics, but nothing on this.

I just laugh at the fact Peter can not let this coffee thing go. Use the coffee pot in your room or just sleep in. Coffee addicts like coffee when they get up in the morning but that doesn't mean every hotel has to give out the free coffee at 5:30am every morning...especially when there is free coffee in the room.

RuleBook said...

If there is a team that would accept a 2009 2nd round pick for a 2010 first round pick without a later pick, then that General Manager needs to be immediately fired.

Actually, it is standard practice to roughly equate a draft choice in one round this year with a draft choice in the previous round next year. For example, a 2010 1st rounder is worth a 2009 2nd rounder, and a 2010 4th rounder is worth a 2009 5th rounder.

Examples:
2008:
- DAL traded their 4th rounder to CLE for a 2009 3rd rounder
- PHI traded their 6th rounder to CLE for a 2009 5th rounder

2007:
- SF traded their 2nd rounder to IND for a 2008 1st rounder AND a 2007 4th rounder

2006:
- TEN traded their 7th rounder to IND for a 2007 6th rounder

2005:
- PHI traded their 5th rounder to IND for a 2006 4th rounder
- NE traded its 6th rounder to OAK for a 2006 5th rounder AND a 2005 7th rounder (which became the immortal Matt Cassel)

2003:
- HOU traded its 5th rounder to IND for a 2004 4th rounder
- PHI traded its 7th rounder to GB for a 2004 6th rounder

Yes, I know this list is overkill, but I think it goes to show my point that giving the Pats a 2010 1st rounder for a 2009 2nd rounder is actually not a bad move by the other teams GM. It's fairly standard. In fact, if you look at the history, the team giving the future draft pick of the higher round sometimes still add another pick to the deal (see IND-SF 2007, NE-OAK 2005). On this issue, filthy as it makes me feel, Peter King is accurate, a 2009 early to middle 2nd rounder is worth at least a 2010 1st rounder according to history.

Bengoodfella said...

Thanks Rulebook. There are tons of reasons I am not a GM in the NFL and this is one of them. I would never think that draft pick inflation would be so prominent.

I can't believe teams do this. I understand sort of why because they want the picks now, but this just seems stupid in my opinion. Especially when the team giving away the higher pick gives more in the trade.

You should side with Peter when he is right and he is right in this case. I still don't agree with this practice, just because I am stupid, but in the "win now" NFL I can see why teams do this. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction on this but I still think it is moderately dumb, or at least very impatient.

ivn said...

man, I just realized that if King Peter was as aggressive trying to get information from NFL insiders as he is when he calls out restaurants on their coffee he would turn out one hell of a column every week. too bad he'd rather be buddy-buddy with the owners, coaches, and players he has access to. and sportswriters wonder why so many more people choose to read blogs.

I also doubt that he can make coffee or even cook for himself, judging from how much he writes about trying to find food/coffee.

jesus, how weak does a football writer's column have to be when one reads it and notices the coffee bullshit ahead of any of the football stuff?

at any rate I think it would be hypocritical of Goodell to add more games to the schedule after passing a number of rules ostensibly for player safety.

Bengoodfella said...

Ivn, that is a great observation. If he spent his time beating the bushes for information like he beats the Mariott for their coffee service, this would be the best NFL column on the web hands down. I guess he gets his sources by being friends with them, though he is definitely too friendly with them.

That's what I meant by my title. There was very little football substance in this column. I realize it is a dead period but geez, you would think he could find something of substance about the draft out. Sure, he talked about the CBA, but there was very little on the draft. It's more of a coffee column than anything.

I agree about the increase of games to the schedule, it seems very contradictory to the movement towards more player safety and the concern for player's health after they retire. It's all about the money though. If the owners lose preseason games, they are going to want more regular season games for revenue.

Unknown said...

Rule Book has a point, but the "system" that created those trades has been disolving as picks contracts have been getting larger and larger at the top end of the first round. That trade value system, I think, was designed by Jimmy Johnson, which basicly said the pick right now, knowing we can get this guy, is worth a pick 1 round higher for the next year, because nobody knows what will be available. I've always thought that system was suspect with kids being able to come out early, and for teams that are pretty sure they are going to have bad seasons, translating into high picks, the next year. The minute this draft is over, there will be a pretty good idea of who will be ten of the top 20 picks next year. That makes taking a 2nd this year for my first next year pretty silly if I'm the Lions or some other "going to be bad for sure next year" team.

Podcast update: Bill gets the best guest yet in my opinion. Former Ombudsman of ESPN who jsut retired, LeAnne Schreiber (oh and that's mispelled.....but it's 4:11 am, sue me). I really enjoy about half the podcasts Bill does (not counting the "Pick the Lines with Cousin Sal" ones he does each football week....those aren't good or bad, just irrelevant in my mind), but this one is one I was hoping he'd do, and she is terrific in it. About 5 minutes in you can tell she's about 10x smarter then Bill, and about 20x better informed about the media, the world of newspapers, and probably even the internet. If you only ever listen to two (they are about 40 minutes each, he had to split it up) podcasts Ben, make it these two.

The Casey said...

I don't really have a problem with the preseason other than the owners charging full price for the tickets. I enjoy seeing the third-stringers for my favorite team play, becuase that's the only time I get a chance to see what's on the bench. If they've got a fourth- or fifth-rounder that I didn't ever see play in college, that's pretty much my only chance, unless there's a blowout. Maybe the NFL should cap preseaon ticket prices at 60-75% of regular season ticket prices, with the understanding that the starters aren't going to play a lot.

Also, I am mortified at the thought of the Falcons drafting Orakpo, but then I was devastated on draft day last year when they drafted Matt Ryan instead of Glenn Dorsey. I don't think he'll be there anyway, but I think DB, LB, and DT are bigger areas of need than DE.

Simmons has Part 1 of a mailbag up now. It amuses me that now, instead of just saying these are "actual e-mails from actual readers", he has to italicize actual. Methinks he doth protest too much.

Unknown said...

Ok, after giving him props for the Ombudsman podcast.....I read Simmons' mailbag. I spent 30 minutes writing him a scathing screed about his lack of basketball knowledge, understanding of basic math, and ability to construct a logical argument. I swear to God I would take a club to the man if he was here right now. I'm sure his editor will chuckle and file it in the recycle bin. If one of you fine gentlemen would like to post about it, I'll be happy to spend more of my righteous fury later today in a comment.

Bengoodfella said...

Wow, there is a lot going on right now. I have to listen to podcasts, I just found out The Casey is a Falcons fan, and there is a Tuesday Simmons mailbag up.

I have read the mailbag and plan on tackling it.

I have no problem with the preseason as a whole but the owners have been making huge money off watching 3rd and 4th stringers play for a while now. If they lose the chance to do this for one game a year, they should get over it.

Ok, working on the Simmons thing now, but I am not going to rush it. I don't want to get my facts wrong and call Anthony Randolph white.

The Casey said...

Sorry BGF. There just never seemed to be a good time to bring it up.

Bengoodfella said...

It's ok. I am sorry for the Mike Vick jokes and cracks. I have never liked him ever since he went to VD (that's what I call Virginia Tech AND Mike Vick later ended up getting a VD, so I stuck with the name). I actually don't hate the Falcons that much, I hate the Bucs much more.

Are you a Braves fan as well? If so, if you are in Atlanta, I am jealous. I really enjoy that city.

The Casey said...

You don't have to apologize to me for them. I've made my fair share. He was a horribly inconsistent QB, but he was probably the most electrifying athlete I've seen play live.

Yes, I'm a Braves & Hawks fan as well. I'm not in Altanta anymore. I was until 2000. I'm about 120 miles south now. So I try to hit one or two games a season for any of the given sports.

Bengoodfella said...

Casey, I always feel like Vick killed the Panthers and he was a great athlete, I guess I was just never as sold on him re-inventing the position like everyone seemed to believe he would.

I really enjoy Atlanta and would like to go down there for more Braves games, but I don't get time off work to justify it and it is a 4.5 hour drive. I really want to get tickets to the Yankees-Braves series this year though. At least one game, but I don't think that is happening.

I thought drafting Ryan over Dorsey was a mistake last year too. I guess that is proof I really know nothing. I LOVED Glen Dorsey at LSU, like I thought he would be a monster in the NFL even knowing he is undersized. I would like to see what he does this year with a new coaching staff.