Draft Money Talks

I think a gleam of hope shined upon the world. Maybe an angel got their wings. But when the audio clip emerged of President Barack Obama calling Kanye West a jackass after his latest stunt at this year's Video Music Awards, everyone was simply ecstatic that someone in the spotlight said what everyone else wanted to.

Today in an article on ESPN, reporter Scoop Jackson began his article/column by comparing Kanye West's jackass-ness to that of Michael Crabtree, the only unsigned rookie from this past year's NFL draft.

Crabtree was taken 10th overall by the San Francisco 49ers which made him the second wide receiver chosen behind Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey (HEY BEY BEY!) who was taken 7th by the Oakland Raiders.

People in Crabtree's "camp" expected the receiver to go 5th despite the fact that he missed many workouts for teams with an ankle injury and requested money deserving of a fifth-overall pick and supposed "savior" to the teams thin receiving corps.

256 players were drafted by NFL teams this year and yet only one remains. The 49ers have offered around $20 million to Crabtree (which is a heck of a lot more than he makes sitting at home watching the games). Crabtree has threatened to sit out this season and re-enter into next season's draft in order to hopefully go higher and earn more money.


SURVEY SAYS??? XXXXXXXXXXXXX!

Crabtree is trying to hold the Niners hostage in this situation but in my opinion all he's doing is hurting his own stock.

Who is going to want to spend a first-round draft pick on this guy if there's no guarantee that he will actually sign with the team? Plus he's going to be a year out of the game! A year's worth of rust to shake off along with the eventual learning curve that all rookie's go through and this guy won't score more touchdowns than I will.

There's no doubt that Crabtree is a talented player. What he did to Texas on national television last year was simply amazing. But why cause such a stink about being the second pick taken (and five picks late according to his agents)?

Playing in the NFL is a privilege and he's lost sight of that. The Niners for their sake have never looked back at Crabtree and have started off their season 2-0. A surprising start for the team and their success only further weakens Crabtree's arguments and causes.

It's time for him to suck it up and realize that he screwed himself, and try to become part of a team that may be this year's Arizona Cardinals. San Fran may have a chance to win the NFC West (almost any team in the division has a chance). Why not make a big apology and come crawling back to a now successful team.

To Kill a Boo-Bird

If you were a Maryland Terrapins' fan this weekend, you may have booed when the team lost to Middle Tennessee State for the second time in as many years. A team that is barely qualified as Division-I defeated an ACC contender in each of the past seasons. They deserved to be booed with a pathetic effort that allowed their opponents to win on a last second field goal. Only a week before the Terps barely squeaked by James Madison, another under-qualified D-I school, in a close overtime victory.


When a team doesn't live up to their potential especially against much weaker opponents, then true fans may become unruly and begin to question their coach, ownership and especially a quarterback. When the athletes LOSE a game to worse competition, booing is a completely acceptable way to tell the team that they simply did not perform well enough.

Now contrast the collegiate team with the pros. The Redskins performed poorly in their opener against the New York Giants but still remained close enough in the game to make it respectable (they ended up losing 23-17). If they were at home last week, the boo birds would have been accepted because the team lost after playing poorly.

However I am amazed that as the Redskins took a knee to run out the clock as they defeated the St. Louis Rams 9-7, the boo birds came out again. The team that had some terrible difficulties trying to score touchdowns had officially won their first game and first home-game but that wasn't enough for fans at the game.



Being a true fan is being part of your team no matter what. When your team loses after a poor effort, booing doesn't mean you hate you team. It means you didn't like their effort and want them to step it up. Skins fans booed during the game when their team was held out of the end zone all five times they got close.

However it's never acceptable to boo after a winning effort. Competition and skill is at such a high level in the professional leagues that winning is not guaranteed ever. It may be a cliche but a win is a win. In a 16-game season, any win is a very positive step for a team. Don't boo your team because they won in an ugly way. Be proud that despite all their shortcomings in the game, they were still able to win.

Boo birds need to fly away when a team wins. There are good wins and bad wins but a win is always a million times better than a loss.

Jay Cutler and his ego

Broncos new head coach Josh McDaniels must be patting himself on the back right now. He probably bought himself a beer for having such good judgment this off season.

After quarterback Jay Cutler made a huge fuss over the firing of former coach Mike Shanahan and the hiring of McDaniels and he went head-to-head in arguments with his new coach, the Broncos finally decided to trade the whiner to Chicago to be the Bears new hurler. The Broncos got Kyle Orton as compensation but we'll get to that later.

The guy reminded me of Willie Beaman in "Any Given Sunday". Anyone who cries about their situation and then doesn't perform really needs to re-evaluate themselves. Cutler made such a fuss about his situation (which has now spread to his go-to receiver Brandon Marshall) that the only way he could justify what he did was by going out and throwing the pill around like the second-coming of Brett Favre. OK more like the 8th coming of Favre??

Cutler is a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback. Don't get me wrong, the kid can flat-out play. Unfortunately after throwing a huge temper-tantrum over the coaching change, he really had to perform in Chi-Town. And he didn't....

Four picks including some in a still close game, taking two sacks, and throwing more tantrums than touchdowns on the field. His performance can only be described as atrocious. Cutler at one point was on the sideline just chilling and buzzing his lips while having a career-worst day.

Now do you believe in karma?

McDaniels made a great reputation for himself as offensive coordinator in New England. He orchestrated three Super Bowl wins for the Pats while helping Tom Brady become the superstar that he is today. He also helped Matt Cassel emerge out of invisibility to become a great quarterback (unfortunately he now operates in Kansas City where quarterbacks go to be hit). How could you be upset that your team brought this guy in to help you too? His track record is as good as Usain Bolt's! Cutler's ego must have been larger than the entire cast of "Biggest Loser" if he didn't want to learn from McDaniels.

If Cutler wanted to go to another city.... fine. Don't poison your team before you leave and then under-perform after you get there.

Cutler's replacement? Orton throws a game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds left to win for his team. How is that trade looking now Jay?

I understand that players move all the time in the NFL. It's part of the business and can't be changed. However when your ego becomes so over-inflated you think you're bigger than the team, go take your sorry act somewhere else. Now Chicago is without Brian Urlacher (wrist surgery) for the season and must count on cry-baby Cutler to lead them in a revamped NFC North.

There may be plenty of tears in Chicago this season and it seems like a lot of them may be from Cutler.

Let's Get Going

For all those who have ever read my blog, thank you very much and please continue to read and comment.
For those who this is their first time welcome to my revamped effort with the blog.

The past few months have been hectic (and that is a huge understatement). This may be my best venue to write and comment about the sports world so I'm going to be posting multiple times per week from now on.

Stay tuned, I will post later on Jay Cutler's performance in Week 1.

The Epitome of Inconsistency

The dictionary defines rollercoaster as a verb meaning to experience a period of prosperity, happiness, security, or the like, followed by a contrasting period of economic depression, despair, or the like.

No verb could better define what the Maryland football team is going through this season. Moments of joy and hope followed by moments of despair and grief.

The team has beaten three different teams ranked in the top-25 in the country but it has also lost to its two arguably weakest opponents (Middle Tennessee and Virginia).

With a defense that can shut out the high-powered Wake Forest offense and an offense that can put up 30 points against a good California defense, there is no excuse for this team losing to two bottom-dwellers.

No one expected the team to defeat all these top-ranked teams. It's a pleasant surprise that any Terps fan would be estatic about.

However, everyone expected us to beat Middle Tennessee and Virginia who are both teams unworthy of carrying our jockstraps.

It is this kind of up-and-down turmoil that has made my friends and I want to skip the games in favor of tailgates and bars. We never know which team will show up on a week-to-week basis; the good throttling team who can compete with anyone or the weak team who couldn't even get close enough to attempt a field goal against Virginia.

I am still a Maryland fan through and through but all of my friends and I expect a letdown this week against N.C. State and will not be surprised if the Terps lose their homecoming game.

My Terrapins Blog

This previous Saturday was a day of upheaval for the Maryland Terrapins football team.

The criticisms of quarterback Chris Turner that stemmed from the Middle Tennessee game were thrown away by Turner’s two-touchdown performance against the Golden Bears.

The criticisms and near-hatred of coach Ralph Friedgen that has stemmed from this entire season dating back to spring practice were tossed aside by his team’s overall domination of a stronger and more talented opponent.

And last but not least this Saturday marked an upheaval for the stomach of California running back Jahvid Best, who actually tossed his cookies on the grass of Byrd Stadium.

No one believed that Maryland even had the slightest of chances in this game against 23rd-ranked California, myself included. But for once Maryland lived up to its hype and talent.

Running back Da’Rel Scott continued his early success with two touchdowns and 87 yards and wide receiver Darius Heyward-Bey caught another touchdown on a huge play.

The day was highlighted by cornerback Kevin Barnes’ hit on Best during a screen pass late in the second corner. Barnes his Best just around the ribs on a very clean hit which jarred Best’s helmet loose and left the running back breathless and with a very empty stomach after he vomited on the field.

Washington Post blogger Dan Steinberg made the observation that the University of Maryland is one of the first high-powered D-1 schools to have opponents vomit on both their basketball court and their football field (Virginia Tech’s Dorenzo Hudson vomited on the floor of Comcast Center right in front of Maryland coach Gary Williams last winter).

Despite the intestinal turmoil, the Terrapin football team showed glimpses of its true potential for this season in the weak ACC and if they continue playing at this high level there will be a lot more upheavals this season (either from upsets or from stomachs of opponents).

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm back and it's about damn time. After a long "vacation" for the summer I am back with a vengeance and looking to get back into the blogging world.

Today's topic: THE VINCE YOUNG CONSPIRACY

In case any of you people have not seen or heard about it, Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, who was Rookie of the Year, a Pro Bowler, and Rose Bowl MVP has not had the most glamorous past two seasons. Last year he threw only 12 touchdowns compared to his 17 interceptions and completed 62% of his passes.

However this season he has faced more criticism because of his increasing role in the Titan's offense. In his first game he threw two interceptions but also threw a touchdown. The Titans fans did not appreciate this sub par effort and booed Young.

Then when Young was hurt in an awkward hit and sprained his left MCL the fans cheered the final coming of career backup Kerry Collins.

After the game, Young left his house to evidently "go watch Monday Night Football at a friend's house" and the red alerts went off. Family members and Titans coach Jeff Fisher all worried when Young left his cell phone at home and was out of contact. This sparked a four-hour police-led search for Young which ended when his friend calmly let Young's family know his location.

Now there is a huge calamity over whether Young is mentally stable or emotionally tough enough to continue playing in this league.

Here is my point, long awaited as it is.

Why would we ever baby people who are paid millions of dollars every year to perform at sports? Who else gets millions of dollars every year without some emphasis on performance?

So if people don't perform well why should we coddle them and make excuses for their shortcomings?

These are elite athletes, they are recruited to colleges as elite athletes, they are picked in the NFL (or other sports') drafts as elite athletes and are expected to perform like elite athletes.

Now tell me if I'm wrong but, a 2-1 interception-to-touchdown ratio is pretty crappy for a NFL quarterback. Why is everyone taking this so seriously? He is under-performing and deserves some criticism.

Now everyone is questioning his mental toughness. Jason Campbell, the quarterback for the Washington Redskins has not performed as badly as Young has from behind the center, but he also has not lived up to expectations. Is he crying about it? NO!

Young needs to understand that, as Tobey McGuire said in Spiderman, "With great power [or in this case talent] comes great responsibility."

If he is as talented as everyone thinks, then why not expect him to perform well?

Granted its OK to feel badly because your home fans boo you, but you can't throw away your entire career because you can't take criticism. Everyone will criticize every move you make when you play at a high enough level. If you can't understand and accept that then you were never ready to play at this level.

Like "Nuke" LaLoosh says, "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes it rains."

Take the good with that bad because not everyone is expected to win every single game. They are expected to live up to a certain level of performance, but not perfection.

Stop crying, as me and my buddies like to tell each other, and get moving. Sorry Vince and sorry Mama Young but it's time to grow a pair and get over being sad about criticism.