In light of the All-UVA NFL all star team I created last week, I decided to do the same thing again, only this time for the NBA. So here it is folks, the current NBA All-Wahoos:
Sean Singletary
Roger Mason Jr.
Air Bud
Yates Knowlton
Any of the random Asians that always played at North Grounds
Ouch. Singletary and Mason are the only former Cavs currently in the league. Mason is actually doing very well this year. After starting for the Wizards last year because of Arenas being hurt, Mason earned a 2-year, $7.3 million contract from the Spurs. A lot of people questioned the move, but Mason has responded with his best year as a pro. He is averaging 12 points per game in about 30 minutes per night, but more importantly knocking down 43% of his treys, good for 12th in the NBA. He is not counted on to do much since he has Duncan, Ginobli and Parker at his side. All he needs to do is hit shots, which is exactly what he's doing. More impressively, Mason has four game winning shots on the year. Mason has put the dagger in the Clips, the Suns (a true buzzer beater on Christmas Day), the Lakers and the Celtics. That's an impressive list of take downs.
Singetary is already on his 4th team (Kings, Rockets, Suns, Bobcats) and its only his rookie year. He has averaged less than 10 minutes a game, but at least he's hanging around. Just sticking around on a roster in the NBA for a whole year shows he somewhat belongs. His best day as a pro was a 13 point, 3 rebound, 1 steal game in 20 minutes against the Cavs. Hopefully he will be in a situation where he gets more minutes next year.
After that, its bubkus. And other than possibly Sylven Landesberg 3 years from now, there are no current Cavs who will play in the NBA. So until then, it looks like Mason and Singletary will be the only Hoos holding it down in the league. That is, unless Yates wows some teams with his running, off-balance behind the back floater.
February 26, 2009
February 20, 2009
The All-Wahoos
The NFL Combine is upon us, and with that comes the talk of who is improving their stock the most for the Draft on April 25th and 26th. Once again, UVa will be well represented on the first day, with Eugene Monroe and Clint Sintim projected to go in the first two rounds. Even with sometimes mediocre performance on the field, Virginia continues to send high quality personnel to the League. That got me day dreaming about what an all-Wahoo NFL team would look like. The result is fairly impressive. To make the team better, I have included players who will likely be in the NFL next year (Monroe, Sintim, and Kevin Ogletree).
Offensive Line
D’Brickashaw Ferguson
Branden Albert
Brad Butler
Elton Brown
Eugene Monroe
Like the collegiate Cavs, offensive line would be a major strength of the All-Wahoos. The group includes 3 first round picks (Ferguson, Albert and likely Monroe) that maul the opposing team at the line of scrimmage. Brown is an excellent pulling guard who would create nice holes on pitches and screens. Butler is a dirty enforcer (just ask Mathias Kiwanuka) who ads toughness (and a white guy) to the line. Despite none of these guys having been in the NFL before 2005 (and Monroe not having played a game), the group has 106 starts between them. This young but experienced line would be a force together, especially with Heath Miller joining them at tight end.
Offensive Skill Positions
Matt Schaub
Thomas Jones
Jason Snelling
Heath Miller
Kevin Ogletree
Marques Hagans
Schaub has proven that he can be a good NFL quarterback if he can stay on the field. He looks to be injury prone though, which is why it is vital that he would have such a good offensive line protecting him. He has started in only 11 games in each of his two years in Houston, but has averaged 240 passing yards per game with a stellar 66% completion percentage and a 90 quarterback rating.
Thomas Jones would be counted on to be the workhorse of this offense, both with the stellar offensive line and deficiencies at wide receiver. He is up to the challenge however, as he showed this past year while running for 1,312 yards and 13 touchdowns while maintaining a healthy 4.5 yard average.
Jason Snelling would be the perfect bruising fullback in this offense. He is meant to hit people, not carry the load. Snelling struggled his senior year at UVa being the full time running back, but he was perfect his junior year when he paved the way for Wali Lundy. That year (2005), Snelling not only opened holes for his back, but he averaged 5.6 yards per carry as changeup in the running game with only 58 carries. He has done the same thing in Atlanta with Michael Turner, and would do the same with Jones for the All-Wahoos.
Heath Miller would be Schaub’s primary aerial target due to the lack of a good wide receiver. Because of this (and the offensive line being so good), as coach of this team I would send Miller out as a receiver much more often than he does currently in Pittsburgh. The former Mackey Award winner already has two Super Bowl rings.
Wide receiver is the glaring weakness of this team. Hagans, Ogletree and Billy McMullen would compete for time on the field, but none show much promise, except maybe Ogletree. As coach, I would mix things up by running the CatFish, with Hagans taking snaps directly from center as he can throw the ball serviceably as well as dance around in the open field. The Magician, as Doc Walker so eloquently dubbed Hagans, would have to keep opposing defenses off balance. I would also run lots of Jumbo sets, replacing a receiver with another tight end in Tom Santi (10 catches as Dallas Clark’s backup in Indy last year). The running game would be the focal point of this offense.
Defensive Line
Patrick Kearney
Chris Long
Chris Canty
The All-Wahoos would play a 3-4 base defense, both out of need and skill packages. These 3 guys up front would no doubt get pressure on the opposing quarterback, especially with the help of a solid linebacking core. We all know how dominant Long can be, both sacking the quarterback and going sideline to sideline to tackle the ball carrier. Canty has quietly become an integral part of the Cowboys defensive line, playing in all 16 games in each of his 4 years in the NFL, and starting every game for the past two seasons. Even as a d-linemen meant to eat up blocks, Canty has had between 20-30 tackles every year. He would be counted on to do the same on this team. Kerney is a monster up front, with 77.5 career sacks in 10 seasons. The two-time Pro Bowler would be a great mentor for the younger Long and Canty.
Linebackers
James Farrior
Ahmad Brooks
Daryl Blackstock
Clint Sintim
This group of linebackers is solid but not spectacular. Farrior would be to these backers like Kerney would be to the d-line, a mentor and a motivator. This role would be especially important when dealing with the uber-talented but character-challenged Brooks and Blackstock. Sintim is a beast and also an upstanding citizen, who undoubtedly listen to all of Farrior’s advice. As coach, I would let Farrior coach these guys himself. He has been a pupil of the Steelers defensive system for the past 7 years, and I would want him impact every ounce of this knowledge with the team. Also a 2-time Pro Bowler like Kerney, Farrior would be an anchor of the defense.
Secondary
Ronde Barber
Marcus Hamilton
Jamaine Winborne
Billy McMullen
This is where things get dicey. Barber is obviously a stud, being a 5-time Pro Bowler and 3-time first team All Pro (one of the two best corners in the league). The problem is, no opponent would ever throw his way because the rest of the secondary is so weak. Hamilton was a nice college player but is overmatched in the NFL. Winborne is a seldom used corner who would have to move to safety on the All-Wahoo team simply out of need. He also missed all of 2008 with injury. The last safety spot is a real stretch. McMullen is a receiver, but has had trouble catching the ball in the pros…so lets put him at safety! He just needs to get his hands on the ball there, not catch it. This team would need the front seven to put monumental pressure on the opposing quarterback to avoid the weakness of the DB’s. They are certainly capable of doing that, and Barber can pick up a lot of the slack, but this is where the team would be won or lost.
So there you have it; the Oceanliner’s All-Wahoo NFL team. I think it’s pretty solid, but have no idea how it would do against all star teams from other schools…mainly because that would be too much work. If I have not included some glaring omissions, please let me know and we will make the team better. Wahoowa.
Offensive Line
D’Brickashaw Ferguson
Branden Albert
Brad Butler
Elton Brown
Eugene Monroe
Like the collegiate Cavs, offensive line would be a major strength of the All-Wahoos. The group includes 3 first round picks (Ferguson, Albert and likely Monroe) that maul the opposing team at the line of scrimmage. Brown is an excellent pulling guard who would create nice holes on pitches and screens. Butler is a dirty enforcer (just ask Mathias Kiwanuka) who ads toughness (and a white guy) to the line. Despite none of these guys having been in the NFL before 2005 (and Monroe not having played a game), the group has 106 starts between them. This young but experienced line would be a force together, especially with Heath Miller joining them at tight end.
Offensive Skill Positions
Matt Schaub
Thomas Jones
Jason Snelling
Heath Miller
Kevin Ogletree
Marques Hagans
Schaub has proven that he can be a good NFL quarterback if he can stay on the field. He looks to be injury prone though, which is why it is vital that he would have such a good offensive line protecting him. He has started in only 11 games in each of his two years in Houston, but has averaged 240 passing yards per game with a stellar 66% completion percentage and a 90 quarterback rating.
Thomas Jones would be counted on to be the workhorse of this offense, both with the stellar offensive line and deficiencies at wide receiver. He is up to the challenge however, as he showed this past year while running for 1,312 yards and 13 touchdowns while maintaining a healthy 4.5 yard average.
Jason Snelling would be the perfect bruising fullback in this offense. He is meant to hit people, not carry the load. Snelling struggled his senior year at UVa being the full time running back, but he was perfect his junior year when he paved the way for Wali Lundy. That year (2005), Snelling not only opened holes for his back, but he averaged 5.6 yards per carry as changeup in the running game with only 58 carries. He has done the same thing in Atlanta with Michael Turner, and would do the same with Jones for the All-Wahoos.
Heath Miller would be Schaub’s primary aerial target due to the lack of a good wide receiver. Because of this (and the offensive line being so good), as coach of this team I would send Miller out as a receiver much more often than he does currently in Pittsburgh. The former Mackey Award winner already has two Super Bowl rings.
Wide receiver is the glaring weakness of this team. Hagans, Ogletree and Billy McMullen would compete for time on the field, but none show much promise, except maybe Ogletree. As coach, I would mix things up by running the CatFish, with Hagans taking snaps directly from center as he can throw the ball serviceably as well as dance around in the open field. The Magician, as Doc Walker so eloquently dubbed Hagans, would have to keep opposing defenses off balance. I would also run lots of Jumbo sets, replacing a receiver with another tight end in Tom Santi (10 catches as Dallas Clark’s backup in Indy last year). The running game would be the focal point of this offense.
Defensive Line
Patrick Kearney
Chris Long
Chris Canty
The All-Wahoos would play a 3-4 base defense, both out of need and skill packages. These 3 guys up front would no doubt get pressure on the opposing quarterback, especially with the help of a solid linebacking core. We all know how dominant Long can be, both sacking the quarterback and going sideline to sideline to tackle the ball carrier. Canty has quietly become an integral part of the Cowboys defensive line, playing in all 16 games in each of his 4 years in the NFL, and starting every game for the past two seasons. Even as a d-linemen meant to eat up blocks, Canty has had between 20-30 tackles every year. He would be counted on to do the same on this team. Kerney is a monster up front, with 77.5 career sacks in 10 seasons. The two-time Pro Bowler would be a great mentor for the younger Long and Canty.
Linebackers
James Farrior
Ahmad Brooks
Daryl Blackstock
Clint Sintim
This group of linebackers is solid but not spectacular. Farrior would be to these backers like Kerney would be to the d-line, a mentor and a motivator. This role would be especially important when dealing with the uber-talented but character-challenged Brooks and Blackstock. Sintim is a beast and also an upstanding citizen, who undoubtedly listen to all of Farrior’s advice. As coach, I would let Farrior coach these guys himself. He has been a pupil of the Steelers defensive system for the past 7 years, and I would want him impact every ounce of this knowledge with the team. Also a 2-time Pro Bowler like Kerney, Farrior would be an anchor of the defense.
Secondary
Ronde Barber
Marcus Hamilton
Jamaine Winborne
Billy McMullen
This is where things get dicey. Barber is obviously a stud, being a 5-time Pro Bowler and 3-time first team All Pro (one of the two best corners in the league). The problem is, no opponent would ever throw his way because the rest of the secondary is so weak. Hamilton was a nice college player but is overmatched in the NFL. Winborne is a seldom used corner who would have to move to safety on the All-Wahoo team simply out of need. He also missed all of 2008 with injury. The last safety spot is a real stretch. McMullen is a receiver, but has had trouble catching the ball in the pros…so lets put him at safety! He just needs to get his hands on the ball there, not catch it. This team would need the front seven to put monumental pressure on the opposing quarterback to avoid the weakness of the DB’s. They are certainly capable of doing that, and Barber can pick up a lot of the slack, but this is where the team would be won or lost.
So there you have it; the Oceanliner’s All-Wahoo NFL team. I think it’s pretty solid, but have no idea how it would do against all star teams from other schools…mainly because that would be too much work. If I have not included some glaring omissions, please let me know and we will make the team better. Wahoowa.
February 12, 2009
A Wise Man Once Said
I love a good line, a witty remark, a poignant repartee, a touché salesman if you will. I like to give credit where credit it due for an insightful comment or a nice zinger. On the other hand, I find myself pouncing on people who say things that I find irrelevant, stupid or worthless. I find myself pondering this notion because this week there seemed to be more worthwhile comments that came across my eyes than normal, both on the good and the bad ends of the spectrum. So with that in mind (as well as keeping the Watchman theme going), let’s mail in a column and analyze ideas other people had.
“I especially like watching LeBron James. It’s like watching Adrian Peterson play running back, only no one is allowed to tackle him.”
This line is what started the quote-post inspiration. I read this on Deadspin, and thought it was clever, as well as dead on. What makes the image even better is the State Farm ad running right now that shows King James singing with the Cleveland Browns. Bron Bron is a freight train, and the ad showing him lining up at nearly every position on the gridiron is not that far-fetched to me. Hell, he already can play every position on a basketball court, why not football?
“Most teams, like Duke, can wear you down on the defensive end by applying constant pressure. North Carolina is one of the few teams that can wear an opponent down on the offensive side of the ball.”
This was Raycom analyst Mike Gminski, right after Carolina went on their 14-0 run in the second half to blow open the game against Dook on Wednesday night. It was such a relief to realize that Raycom had the TV rights to the Duke-Carolina game in my area, thus avoiding me having to listen to Mike Patrick and Dick Vitale, who called the game for ESPN and the rest of the country. It was so refreshing to get accurate and level headed play-by-play (from Tim Brandt) and astute color analysis (by the aforementioned Gminski) rather than they gushing infatuations of Patrick and the hysterical ramblings of Vitale. What’s amazing is that Gminski is less of a Duke homer than either Jabba or Dicky V, even though the G-man played for the Blue Devils. And not only does he keep fairly neutral, Gminski delivers the kind of insight (the quote above) that actually enhances the telecast. This is, obviously, any color man’s job, but very few seem to do it.
“The Dookies may make an Elite 8 or Final 4 run with their style of play, but they ain’t takin home the prom queen with their trigger happy style of play… At some point the 3’s will stop falling, and that’s when the Devils will lose.”
Loyal Oceanliner readers will remember this passage. I wrote this on February 29th of last year, describing why Duke would not win the Tournament in the first edition of the Eliminator. What’s eerie is that it applies 100% to this year’s team as well. Duke can beat anyone in the country when their 3’s are falling, but they have absolutely no one on the interior they can rely on. Their 5 best players are all wings (Henderson, Singler, Scheyer, Smith and Paulus). Zoubek and Lance Thomas in the middle are pedestrian at best. I think Duke would have been a title contender if Krzyzewski had gone out and gotten a stud freshman big man like Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake), Samardo Samuels (Louisvulle) or Ed Davis (Carolina). But as is, they will not win 6 games in a row in the Tourney relying on the 3 ball.
Speaking of Coach K…
“You know this smug fuck from all his American Express commericials, from his nasily interviews, from his passive shots at other coaches and from his retarded Polish name Krzyzewski which of course is pronounce "Che-chefski." I think the Black equivalent of Coach K's name is spelling your son's name JaTrian and pronouncing it John. Its just plain retarded.”
This had me rolling. One of my friends send this rant on Duke from the blog Ned’s Younger Brother, and it had me cracking up. Here is the full article if you enjoy Duke bashing.
“Each little snail here, Know how to wail here. That's why it's hotter, Under the water. Ya we in luck here, Down in the muck here.Under the sea!”
Yes, you read that correctly folks. Those are indeed the lyrics from Under the Sea in The Little Mermaid. I etch down those epic lines to celebrate the return of my iPod. It had not been working until I took it to the Apple store and they fixed it. It was a welcome addition back to my workout routine, and it paid off immediately. I was on the treadmill and had half a mile left, but was struggling. I needed one more song to bring me home, and like an angle in the night Under the Sea was the next song in the shuffle. Sometimes the stars align like that. Everyone who knows me well is aware of my affinity for TV and Movie Theme Songs. Hell, its one of my Facebook interests, so you know its important. Well now they are back with me after a couple month hiatus, and it is beautiful.
“Drafting the wrong quarterback is like marrying the wrong person – miserable and expensive.”
The Sporting News wrote this at the beginning of an article about whether the Lions should take Matt Stafford with the number 1 pick, and it amused me. Whatever the Lions do, they will screw it up. St. Louis must be feeling good at number two. They don’t even have to do any work. Knowing that they are picking a guy the Lions didn’t want is good enough.
“I’ll have a Makers and Coke.”
Austin and I were at the bar of a nice restaurant last Saturday when the guy next to us ordered this from the bar tender. I turned and stared incredulously and wanted to ask this brosepf how he could justify murdering such good bourbon by diluting it with Coke. Rookie.
“I’ll always enjoy his 30-second-post-garbage-bucket celebrations.”
I read this on a UVa message board a while back about Mikalauskus having to leave the program, and a tear of nostalgia ran down my cheek. The two enduring images of Lars that will always stay with me:
1) The goofy Lithuanian jersey popping and screaming “we’re number one!” after beating Arizona on the road. So awkward and unnecessary.
2) Corey Foley telling the story of being at the bar at Coupes, sitting next to Lars after we had beaten Duke on the Singletary miracle one handed floater. I’ll let Corey take it from here (or at least my best memory of what he said):
“So Lars has this busted ass brunette on his lap. He then yells at the bartender and orders a round of shots for everyone around him. For the toast he says, and I kid you not, “To the greatest basketball team in the world!” in his thick ass Eastern European accent. The shot almost came out of my nose when I heard that toast.”
Priceress. I can almost hear the Arnold-esque voice in my head.
“In a matchup between two teams fighting to escape the Big 12 basement, Colorado proved it truly deserves last place.”
A great opening line to a game recap by the AP after Colorado scored 9 (yes, 9) points against Iowa State in the first half of their basketball game on Wednesday. Amazingly, there may be worse BCS basketball teams than Virginia.
After a post filled with quotes, I leave you with one of the funniest images I have seen in a long time. My coworker informed me that Jason Cain is alive and well playing basketball in Europe. Well, it turns out that his fans in Germany are just as passionate as the Assemblage of Cain was at UVa. And I can hardly blame them. No matter how boneheaded some of his plays were, Cain always played his heart out and was fun to watch. He will always hold a soft spot in my UVa basketball heart. The image below is a tapestry that Cain’s German fans brought to one of his games. It speaks for itself. Stache 4 Life. Godspeed.
“I especially like watching LeBron James. It’s like watching Adrian Peterson play running back, only no one is allowed to tackle him.”
This line is what started the quote-post inspiration. I read this on Deadspin, and thought it was clever, as well as dead on. What makes the image even better is the State Farm ad running right now that shows King James singing with the Cleveland Browns. Bron Bron is a freight train, and the ad showing him lining up at nearly every position on the gridiron is not that far-fetched to me. Hell, he already can play every position on a basketball court, why not football?
“Most teams, like Duke, can wear you down on the defensive end by applying constant pressure. North Carolina is one of the few teams that can wear an opponent down on the offensive side of the ball.”
This was Raycom analyst Mike Gminski, right after Carolina went on their 14-0 run in the second half to blow open the game against Dook on Wednesday night. It was such a relief to realize that Raycom had the TV rights to the Duke-Carolina game in my area, thus avoiding me having to listen to Mike Patrick and Dick Vitale, who called the game for ESPN and the rest of the country. It was so refreshing to get accurate and level headed play-by-play (from Tim Brandt) and astute color analysis (by the aforementioned Gminski) rather than they gushing infatuations of Patrick and the hysterical ramblings of Vitale. What’s amazing is that Gminski is less of a Duke homer than either Jabba or Dicky V, even though the G-man played for the Blue Devils. And not only does he keep fairly neutral, Gminski delivers the kind of insight (the quote above) that actually enhances the telecast. This is, obviously, any color man’s job, but very few seem to do it.
“The Dookies may make an Elite 8 or Final 4 run with their style of play, but they ain’t takin home the prom queen with their trigger happy style of play… At some point the 3’s will stop falling, and that’s when the Devils will lose.”
Loyal Oceanliner readers will remember this passage. I wrote this on February 29th of last year, describing why Duke would not win the Tournament in the first edition of the Eliminator. What’s eerie is that it applies 100% to this year’s team as well. Duke can beat anyone in the country when their 3’s are falling, but they have absolutely no one on the interior they can rely on. Their 5 best players are all wings (Henderson, Singler, Scheyer, Smith and Paulus). Zoubek and Lance Thomas in the middle are pedestrian at best. I think Duke would have been a title contender if Krzyzewski had gone out and gotten a stud freshman big man like Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake), Samardo Samuels (Louisvulle) or Ed Davis (Carolina). But as is, they will not win 6 games in a row in the Tourney relying on the 3 ball.
Speaking of Coach K…
“You know this smug fuck from all his American Express commericials, from his nasily interviews, from his passive shots at other coaches and from his retarded Polish name Krzyzewski which of course is pronounce "Che-chefski." I think the Black equivalent of Coach K's name is spelling your son's name JaTrian and pronouncing it John. Its just plain retarded.”
This had me rolling. One of my friends send this rant on Duke from the blog Ned’s Younger Brother, and it had me cracking up. Here is the full article if you enjoy Duke bashing.
“Each little snail here, Know how to wail here. That's why it's hotter, Under the water. Ya we in luck here, Down in the muck here.Under the sea!”
Yes, you read that correctly folks. Those are indeed the lyrics from Under the Sea in The Little Mermaid. I etch down those epic lines to celebrate the return of my iPod. It had not been working until I took it to the Apple store and they fixed it. It was a welcome addition back to my workout routine, and it paid off immediately. I was on the treadmill and had half a mile left, but was struggling. I needed one more song to bring me home, and like an angle in the night Under the Sea was the next song in the shuffle. Sometimes the stars align like that. Everyone who knows me well is aware of my affinity for TV and Movie Theme Songs. Hell, its one of my Facebook interests, so you know its important. Well now they are back with me after a couple month hiatus, and it is beautiful.
“Drafting the wrong quarterback is like marrying the wrong person – miserable and expensive.”
The Sporting News wrote this at the beginning of an article about whether the Lions should take Matt Stafford with the number 1 pick, and it amused me. Whatever the Lions do, they will screw it up. St. Louis must be feeling good at number two. They don’t even have to do any work. Knowing that they are picking a guy the Lions didn’t want is good enough.
“I’ll have a Makers and Coke.”
Austin and I were at the bar of a nice restaurant last Saturday when the guy next to us ordered this from the bar tender. I turned and stared incredulously and wanted to ask this brosepf how he could justify murdering such good bourbon by diluting it with Coke. Rookie.
“I’ll always enjoy his 30-second-post-garbage-bucket celebrations.”
I read this on a UVa message board a while back about Mikalauskus having to leave the program, and a tear of nostalgia ran down my cheek. The two enduring images of Lars that will always stay with me:
1) The goofy Lithuanian jersey popping and screaming “we’re number one!” after beating Arizona on the road. So awkward and unnecessary.
2) Corey Foley telling the story of being at the bar at Coupes, sitting next to Lars after we had beaten Duke on the Singletary miracle one handed floater. I’ll let Corey take it from here (or at least my best memory of what he said):
“So Lars has this busted ass brunette on his lap. He then yells at the bartender and orders a round of shots for everyone around him. For the toast he says, and I kid you not, “To the greatest basketball team in the world!” in his thick ass Eastern European accent. The shot almost came out of my nose when I heard that toast.”
Priceress. I can almost hear the Arnold-esque voice in my head.
“In a matchup between two teams fighting to escape the Big 12 basement, Colorado proved it truly deserves last place.”
A great opening line to a game recap by the AP after Colorado scored 9 (yes, 9) points against Iowa State in the first half of their basketball game on Wednesday. Amazingly, there may be worse BCS basketball teams than Virginia.
After a post filled with quotes, I leave you with one of the funniest images I have seen in a long time. My coworker informed me that Jason Cain is alive and well playing basketball in Europe. Well, it turns out that his fans in Germany are just as passionate as the Assemblage of Cain was at UVa. And I can hardly blame them. No matter how boneheaded some of his plays were, Cain always played his heart out and was fun to watch. He will always hold a soft spot in my UVa basketball heart. The image below is a tapestry that Cain’s German fans brought to one of his games. It speaks for itself. Stache 4 Life. Godspeed.
February 06, 2009
Watchman
So I have figured out what the role of this blog is, at least part of it that is. I don’t try to perform much direct analysis of sporting events myself, because people that cover sports for a living do a much better job of it than I (Sports Illustrated, NFL.com, parts of ESPN.com), although there are some obvious hacks out there (Peter King, Gene Wojciechowski). I also weigh in on the good (Gus Johnson, Dan Schulman) and the bad (Mike Patrick, Tim McCarver) of the sports announcing world.
I analyze the analysis. I am the answer to that immortal Latin saying. I watch the watchmen.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who shall watch the watchers themselves?)
Il Oceanlinere
This is a responsibility I don’t take lightly. So let’s get to it and move on to my weekly Peter King bashing.
I have already harped on how stupid it is that King continued to rank his Fine 15 teams throughout the playoffs, so we won’t spend long here.
Like a bad dream, King ranked his Fine 15 after the Super Bowl. He at least had the decency and the sanity to rank Pittsburgh and Arizona 1-2 in the “rankings”. Frankly, I wasn’t sure he was even going to that, but at least he hasn’t gone completely off the deep end.
I wanted to bring up King to illustrate how stupid his rankings were by highlighting how one team moved up and down the rankings, even though they missed the playoffs. Let’s review the New England Patriots.
The Patriots missed the playoffs, so by definition they were not one of the 8 best teams in the NFL. Yes the NFL division and seeding rules are strange so it is possible to argue this, but King ranks the Pats at 7 in his Fine 15 heading into the postseason. Interesting.
The next week, after Wild Card weekend, the Pats moved up in King’s rankings to 6th, even though, yes, they weren’t playing anymore. Ridiculous.
You can see where this is going. After the Divisional Weekend, when the Patriots shockingly continued not to play, King moved them up again, this time to 5th! Bill Belicheck must be more of a genius that I thought. No, it’s just King is that stupid.
For some reason King regained his senses after the Conference championship games and didn’t do his rankings, instead focusing on Super Bowl coverage. The Patriots waited in limbo.
Then after the Super Bowl, King was back with his Fine 15. With giddy anticipation I checked to see where the Pats were. Hilariously, they had dropped a spot to 6! I shake my head in amazement.
To recap, the Patriots went from 7, to 6, to 5, to 6…all without playing a game.
Ladies and gentlemen, Peter King!
Note to the ESPN.com watchmen who write headlines: you need to come up with some better puns with regards to Duke, or stop using them at all. ‘Be-deviled’ really doesn’t cut it anymore, especially when this year I have seen that headline both after a Duke win (Maryland) and a Duke loss (Clemson). Plus this isn’t exactly the first year this phrase has been used. ESPN pun writers, you can do better.
If Virginia is going to win another game in the ACC, they are going to have to stop having awful first halves. Over their last 6 conference game (all losses), the Hoos average halftime deficit is an astounding 15 points. It is almost impossible to come back from that, no matter how well you play in the second half, especially in ACC country. In 4 of those 6 games, Virginia outscored the other team in the second half (Duke and Carolina being the exceptions). Against Maryland, UVA was down 15 at the half, fought valiantly to pull within 3, and ultimately fell by 6. The most recent example was on Wednesday, where UVA fell behind by 20 at the half at home against Boston College, which is in itself inexcusable. Again the Hoos fought back and brought it to within 7 at one point in the second half, before losing by 10. These first half hole diggings are absolutely killing the team.
Another reason the Cavs lost on Wednesday was their inability to play basketball very well. Sylven Landesberg was again fantastic, pouring in 32 points on 56% shooting and adding 6 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block. The rest of the team however, shot a ridiculously bad 21% from the field. As a team, the Cavs went 1-14 from three point “range”. The defense was also bad, allowing the Eagles to shoot 51% from the field. One positive note was after committing 23 turnovers against Duke on Sunday, the Hoos only had 7 on Wednesday. These BC games are the ones we have to win though, as we go to Chapel Hill tomorrow and are most certainly going to get annihilated.
At least the UNC game is on Raycom, so the watchmen won’t be Mike Patrick or Dick Vitale. But don’t worry, I’d be there even if they were.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Il Oceanlinere
I analyze the analysis. I am the answer to that immortal Latin saying. I watch the watchmen.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who shall watch the watchers themselves?)
Il Oceanlinere
This is a responsibility I don’t take lightly. So let’s get to it and move on to my weekly Peter King bashing.
I have already harped on how stupid it is that King continued to rank his Fine 15 teams throughout the playoffs, so we won’t spend long here.
Like a bad dream, King ranked his Fine 15 after the Super Bowl. He at least had the decency and the sanity to rank Pittsburgh and Arizona 1-2 in the “rankings”. Frankly, I wasn’t sure he was even going to that, but at least he hasn’t gone completely off the deep end.
I wanted to bring up King to illustrate how stupid his rankings were by highlighting how one team moved up and down the rankings, even though they missed the playoffs. Let’s review the New England Patriots.
The Patriots missed the playoffs, so by definition they were not one of the 8 best teams in the NFL. Yes the NFL division and seeding rules are strange so it is possible to argue this, but King ranks the Pats at 7 in his Fine 15 heading into the postseason. Interesting.
The next week, after Wild Card weekend, the Pats moved up in King’s rankings to 6th, even though, yes, they weren’t playing anymore. Ridiculous.
You can see where this is going. After the Divisional Weekend, when the Patriots shockingly continued not to play, King moved them up again, this time to 5th! Bill Belicheck must be more of a genius that I thought. No, it’s just King is that stupid.
For some reason King regained his senses after the Conference championship games and didn’t do his rankings, instead focusing on Super Bowl coverage. The Patriots waited in limbo.
Then after the Super Bowl, King was back with his Fine 15. With giddy anticipation I checked to see where the Pats were. Hilariously, they had dropped a spot to 6! I shake my head in amazement.
To recap, the Patriots went from 7, to 6, to 5, to 6…all without playing a game.
Ladies and gentlemen, Peter King!
Note to the ESPN.com watchmen who write headlines: you need to come up with some better puns with regards to Duke, or stop using them at all. ‘Be-deviled’ really doesn’t cut it anymore, especially when this year I have seen that headline both after a Duke win (Maryland) and a Duke loss (Clemson). Plus this isn’t exactly the first year this phrase has been used. ESPN pun writers, you can do better.
If Virginia is going to win another game in the ACC, they are going to have to stop having awful first halves. Over their last 6 conference game (all losses), the Hoos average halftime deficit is an astounding 15 points. It is almost impossible to come back from that, no matter how well you play in the second half, especially in ACC country. In 4 of those 6 games, Virginia outscored the other team in the second half (Duke and Carolina being the exceptions). Against Maryland, UVA was down 15 at the half, fought valiantly to pull within 3, and ultimately fell by 6. The most recent example was on Wednesday, where UVA fell behind by 20 at the half at home against Boston College, which is in itself inexcusable. Again the Hoos fought back and brought it to within 7 at one point in the second half, before losing by 10. These first half hole diggings are absolutely killing the team.
Another reason the Cavs lost on Wednesday was their inability to play basketball very well. Sylven Landesberg was again fantastic, pouring in 32 points on 56% shooting and adding 6 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block. The rest of the team however, shot a ridiculously bad 21% from the field. As a team, the Cavs went 1-14 from three point “range”. The defense was also bad, allowing the Eagles to shoot 51% from the field. One positive note was after committing 23 turnovers against Duke on Sunday, the Hoos only had 7 on Wednesday. These BC games are the ones we have to win though, as we go to Chapel Hill tomorrow and are most certainly going to get annihilated.
At least the UNC game is on Raycom, so the watchmen won’t be Mike Patrick or Dick Vitale. But don’t worry, I’d be there even if they were.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Il Oceanlinere
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