Your Top QB's

Now that we have played 2 weeks, I am even more confused with who is good and who sucks. But, none the less, here is my rankings of the top Quarterbacks so far in this very young season: 32. Brandon Weeden 31. Blaine Galbert 30. Kevin Kolb 29. Matt Cassell 28. Jake Locker 27. Christian Ponder 26. Mark Sanchez 25. Michael Vick 24. Jay Cutler 23. Ryan Tannehill 22. Carson Palmer 21. Josh Freeman 20. Joe Flacco 19. Andrew Luck 18. Tony Romo 17. Ryan Fitzpatrick 16. Drew Brees 15. Russell Wilson 14. Peyton Manning 13. Cam Newton 12. Andy Dalton 11. Ben Rothlieberger 10. Drew Stratford 9. Matt Schaub 8. Sam Bradford 7. Aaron Rodgers 6. Tom Brady 5. Phillip Rivers 4. Robert Griffin III 3. Alex Smith 2. Matt Ryan 1. Eli Manning

The Homerun Derby - YAWN

I think it's time for some change and Major League Baseball is always behind the curve when it comes to bring proactive in change. Inter league play, Instant Replay, Playoff expansion and of course the Home Run Derby. I find it pain stacking to sit for 3 hours to watch batting practice and listening to ESPN's Chris Berman "back, back, back, back - gone." Nothing against Berman, but its very old and tired. Here is my suggestion if you want to keep the Home Run Derby. 5 competitors: 1. AL HR Leader 2. NL HR Leader 3. Previous Year's HR Leader 4. Previous Year's HR Derby Winner 5. Rookie HR Leader And I am sure there will be an overlap of double winners in the previous 5, so the players will vote in the 5th competitor. Each contender will get 15 swings, the top 2 after 15 swings will be in the finals, 10 outs. We could really have fun, putting bullseyes' through out and if a home run hits the target, bonus points or charity money. The Homerun Derby should not take longer than an hour, it's really bad tv and instead of throwing it down our throats as is, change it up.

They still didn't get it right

A 4 team playoff in college football and I'm not satisfied. I'm figuring this will be a complete clustermess by year two. Will the best 4 teams play? Absolutely not. I guarantee an undefeated team not Notre Dame or from the SEC, Big 10, PAC 12 or Big 12 will not got a shot at the National Championship.

Out of 110 Division 1 teams 20-25 are legitimate contenders and until an expanded playoff is formed, the dirty politics of College Football will continue.

And for anyone who argues about Bowls games, may I remind them of conference jumping epidemic. Hey, stop with your stop tradition argument. Tradition takes a back seat to the All Mighty Dollar.

BTW, here are the contenders:
Notre Dame
Alabama
LSU
Florida
Auburn
Arkansas
Tennessee
Georgia
South Carolina
Oklahoma
Texas
Oklahoma St
Michigan
Michigan St
Ohio St
Nebraska
USC
UCLA
Oregon
Miami
Florida St
Virginia Tech

I might be missing one or two, but you get the point

Another Disappointing Season For The Flyers

Summer has come too early once again for the Philadelphia Flyers after a disappointing outing against the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers overachieved in round 1, taking it to cross state rival Pittsburgh only to get it given back the same way against Jersey. Philly has more talent than Jersey, but it's not always about talent, in the NHL playoffs, it's about who plays the best at the right time. On paper, the Flyers shouldn't have even made the playoffs. The traded Captain Mike Richards to Los Angeles, Power Forward Jeff Carter to Columbus, Kris Vesteeg to Florida, while letting go reliable cog, Ville Reino to Buffalo. They lost Chris Pronger for most of the year with post concussion syndrome and they had upwards of 9 rookies playing significant minutes through out the whole season. Yet, the Flyers seem to flourish at times and showed signs of becoming a real powerhouse. The team MVP goes to GM Paul Holmgren. It seems to me he was given orders to 1. get rid of Richards and Carter and their contracts and partying ways 2. Get Ilya Bryzgalov, the best goal tender in last season's free agent market 3. fill in everyone else with solid 2 way players. Holmgren did it and probably will never get the credit he truly deserves. Looking at the future of the Flyers, it's hard to say what will happen. There is a reason why teams like Detroit, New Jersey and Pittsburgh are always successful, they have a nucleus of homegrown talent and they perform for 8-10 years in the same environment. The Flyers have yet to do that, they get very impatient and deal guys for various reasons and it seems that this order comes from ownership not the GM. Here's what the offseason will look like for the Orange and Black: Goal Tending: They are stuck with Ilya Bryzgalov's contract until 2020. I think he's a decent goalie, but far from spectacular. He has potential, but you don't pay $51 million on potential, that's just bad business. They will probably look to move Sergei Bobrovsky while he has some value. Not sure what they will get for him, but I would assume he will be moved for draft picks. Defense: Colburn and Grossman are locked in for a few years as is Mezaros. Timmonen is getting up there in age and I wouldn't be surprised if his career is winding down. Matt Carle is a free agent and I would think they would want to sign him, he's consistent and seems to play well in this system. The have a few young guys with a tremendous upside; Eric Gustaffson and Marc Andre Bourbon and have a huge question mark in Chris Pronger. I kinda have a feeling Pronger's career is over. Pavel Kubina proved to be a wasted trade as he was scratched in most of the play off games. Offense: Rookies like Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Braden Schenn and Eric Wellwood look to be around here for a long time, at least until ownership deems fit to move them. Claude Giroux is the center piece of the team and will probably become the team's next captain. James Van Reimsdyck is showing he should be around for the long haul, at 23, he is big, strong and can skate well. He also is a playmaker and in time will be a great power forward. Wayne Simmonds found a home in Philly and I see great things for him. Scott Hartnell might be one of those guys sent packing in the off season, though his presence is always a welcome site. He is a true agitator and more importantly has a knack for finding the net. Jake Vorachek is a free agent who will receive numerous high price offers and it will be interesting to see if he takes a home town discount. Danny Briere is a prime time player when April comes, but I am not sure how much longer he will be around, considering his cap hit. Jaromir Jagr was a tremendous signing this off season, but I think it might be a 1 and done with his Flyer career. All in all, it was a solid season for the Flyers, just a disappointing ending and with the Phillies getting old at once, it's going to be a long summer here in the City of Brotherly Love.

The Best Reality Show On TV

I don't think there has ever been such a big disparity in anything than between people who love the NFL draft and people who hate it.  I fall into the former category, I think it's the most compelling reality television available.

First of all, you have to really like the NFL to appreciate the draft.  And after the first round, no matter where any of these kids are drafted and no matter what they do, they will all have at least $6 Million in the bank, plus a guarantee they will make the NFL team they were drafted to.

It starts in high school, all of those Friday Night Lights kids play their butts off to get an opportunity to play big time college football.  There are approximately 110 team Division 1 Schools, with approximately 90 or so scholarship spots open, so you are looking at 9,900 spots.  Of course this does not include Division 1AA, D2, D3, etc, but you get the idea.

You would have to think at least 1/3 of these 9,900 kids have been scouted by the pros even before the step foot on a college field.  So after 3 years out of high school, these kids can apply to the NFL for early admissions or they could stay and use their eligibility and go pro after 4 years.  Either way it doesn't matter, if they are ready, they will make it to the next level.

Than comes the Senior Bowl and the countless other show cases individuals have to show how NFL ready they are.  There are Combines where they are tested on all physical attributes, if an NFL is going to invest Millions of dollars onto these kids, they want to know what they are getting, the best thing about it, the NFL Network shows it all live, every kid, every position.  Think of it as American Idol audition without the editing, plus the NFL Network has their analysis grade the performances.

Than comes months of hype followed by the draft.  You finally get to see where these kids will get a tryout for the post college careers.  Some excel, Peyton Manning, some fail, Akili Smith and some surprise the system, Tom Brady And it all happens in front of your eyes.

Play Ball!!

We are just a few hours from the Marlins new ball park debut. Even though there were two games played in Japan last week, tonight is "Opening Night".

Here are my predictions for the upcoming season:
AL:
East - Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles
Central - Tigers, Indians, Royals, White Sox, Twins
West - Angels, Rangers, Mariners, A's
NL:
East - Phillies, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, Braves
Central - Reds, Cubs, Brewers, Cards, Pirates, Astros
West - Diamond Backs, Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, Padres
World Series - Angels - Phillies

Number One And Done

Congrats to Coach Calipari and The Kentucky Wildcats for winning the National Championship. And while it's still fresh in everyone's mind, let me step up on my soap box and scream at the top of my lungs to David "it's time to retire" Stern. DAVID, wake up and look at the problem with the NBA and the NCAA! The NCAA is not your developmental league, you have one of those. It's time to take some of that money you make from your league and put it into a developmental league so high school kids who don't want to play in the NCAA don't have to. They can be drafted by a pro team and assigned to a minor league team for development.

The NHL and MLB do it very successfully and don't compare your league to the NFL. The time has come where you have a 40 team Developmental system with teams in cities like West Palm Beach, Trenton, Grand Rapids and Las Vegas. Each NBA team has their affiliate and the other 10 teams are made up of free agents and rookies. It's not hard, I think I could figure out the logistics, it's up to you to make it happen.

Oh yeah, NCAA, Stop the one and done. Please, all you are doing is cheapening your product. I know you want the revenue of these "superstar" high school kids, but trust me, people are enamored by College Sports and will buy Jerseys and etc for their team, ala Florida and Tim Tebow.

You'd think with all of the PhD's and Sports Marketing Guru's the NBA and NCAA employee, they can come up with a system that would not cheapen what we are watching now?