Nobody’s harder on Peter King than the Oceanliner, so you know it must be something impressive for me to compliment him. But like I have said many times, even about people I generally don’t like, you have to give credit where credit is due. And with respect to the NFL Draft, King absolutely freakin nailed it in his Mock that came out last Thursday in Sports Illustrated. I didn’t have a chance to look at his Mock Draft until the Tuesday after the weekend, and was shocked at how accurate it was considering a) he’s Peter King and 2) what a crapshoot predicting the draft is. King’s prognostication of the top 15 is especially impressive. Let’s take a look at the results, starting with the Top 5:
King’s Top 5 (actual pick in parentheses)
Matt Stafford (Stafford)
Jason Smith (Smith)
Tyson Jackson (Jackson)
Dirty Sanchez (Curry)
Aaron Curry (Sanchez)
King nailed the top 3, and flip-flopped 4 and 5. The Jackson pick was his best call, especially since he wrote this on Tuesday and I didn’t hear the Jackson-at-3-to-the-Chiefs hype until much later in the week. He also gets some credit for the Stafford pick, because the Lions didn’t sign him until Friday, and again, King wrote this on Tuesday. Moving Sanchez and Jackson into the top 5 was gutsy, but he was right about both (even though he had Seattle taking Sanchez).
King’s 6-10
BJ Raji (Andre Smith)
Jeremy Maclin (Darius Heyward-Bey)
Eugene Monroe (Monroe)
Andre Smith (Raji)
Mchael Crabtree (Crabtree)
King pinned two of these tails right on the donkey, and had Raji and Smith flipped. He was the only person I saw that had Crabtree falling all the way to the 49ers at 10 (which I am ecstatic about, by the way). The best pick here was King accurately predicting that the Raiders would pass on the slower Crabtree and go after a speed demon wide receiver with the 7th pick, noting “longball loving Al Davis usually looks for speed at the wideout position.” He just picked the wrong one, and honestly, no one had Heyward-Bey in the top 20, much less the top 10. Incredibly, King picked 9 of the players drafted in the top 10 (with 5 dead on, 2 one away and two flipped that were 3 away), which again is insane considering how much bullshit NFL teams sling before the draft.
King’s 11-15
Aaron Maybin (Maybin)
Brian Orakpo (Knoshon Moreno)
Robert Ayers (Orakpo)
Malcolm Jenkins (Jenkins)
Brian Cushing (Cushing)
Being this accurate this far down in a Mock Draft is astonishing: 3 dead on picks and 1 one off. At 13 we see King’s “worst” showing of the day so far, but Ayers still went 5 picks later at 18. King not only nailed which of the 3 USC linebackers would go first, but got the exact pick and team right. He also tabbed the order of all 3 Trojan ‘backers correctly, saying it would be Cushing then Mathews then Maualuga, which it was.
Other good first round calls were the Bucs taking Josh Freeman, only being 1 pick off on how far Percy Harvin would drop, and having Everette Brown falling out of the first round altogether (I saw some drafts with Brown in the top 10).
King didn’t get any picks from 16 to 32 exactly right, but did have 10 of those players going somewhere in that range. All in all, King was a stellar 26 of 32 in picking first round talent, and all 6 guys he was wrong about in the first round went in the top half of the second. An amazing performance all around. Peter King, the Oceanliner salutes you, even if just for a week.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go listen to some Sugar Ray on Fresh FM.
April 29, 2009
April 22, 2009
Slick John
Oh herro.
John Calipari is one slick mother. Or we can just call him an opportunist. SI.com ran a great article detailing how the college choices of 6 of the top 50 ranked high school seniors changed when Slicky McSlickerson left Memphis for the bluer pastures of Kentucky. To go over a little rep tape, when a recruit signs a letter of intent to a school, he is bound to go there. Over the last decade, many players have inserted clauses into their LOI’s that state if the coach that recruited them left the school (for whatever reason), they would be granted a release from their letter of intent and be free to sing with any other school with no penalty.
Now I always thought this was for the player’s benefit, so they wouldn’t be stuck going to a program to play for a coach they didn’t know, especially if the previous coach was fired. Turns out Slick John has used this clause for the coach’s advantage. Xavier Henry is one of the most highly recruited players in this year’s class, and had signed to play for Memphis. Once Calipari left though, Henry got his release from Memphis because of the clause in his LOI. Here is Henry himself on what happened:
"I didn't have the idea to put the [clause] in there," Henry said. "Coach Cal did it for me.”
Calipari put the clause into his own recruits’ letters of intent, so if he ever bolted for a better job, he could bring them with him! Now that’s just a good coach who understands the rules. It didn’t work out totally for Slick John, because reports today say Henry is headed to Kansas. But it did work with highly touted center DeMarcus Cousins, who is now headed to UK. A great move by a great coach. I don’t want hear anything about loyalty either. You look out for number 1.
A huge injustice has happened in the world of DC radio. My solid number 2 radio station just changed formats, and the new guys are absolutely killing me. The old format of 94.7 was classic rock. It was never amazing because they overplayed lots of songs (More Than a Feeling, Stairway to Heaven, Carry on My Wayward Son), but it was a solid go-to station, as they would never play anything god awful. The same is not true for the new format, Fresh FM. First of all, what a horrible name for a station. Then they had the gall to run commercials that say something like this:
“We know you were tired of hearing all those old, boring, classic rock songs. So we decided to change it up, and bring you only today’s freshest music.”
OK, thinks the Oceanliner, another terrible pop top 40 station. But directly after the preceding commercial, Fresh FM starts playing (and I’m not kidding) Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilera. I was absolutely stunned. First they take a station out of my rotation. Then they make fun of the old format (which they are clearly worse than), declare only to play today’s freshest music (whatever that ever means)…and then play Genie in a Bottle, which is 1) horrible and 2) came out in 1999. Is this bizarre world or what?
It hasn’t gotten any better either. Fresh FM has subsequently played Mariah Carey’s Always Be My Baby (1996), Ace of Base’s I Saw the Sign AND Don’t Turn Around (1993!), Bittersweet Symphony (1997), Creed’s With Arms Wide Open (Creed may be the worst band ever, me thinks worse than even Nickelback and Maroon 5), Marc Anthony, Nickelback, and Maroon 5. Today’s freshest music my ass. It’s either old, terrible, or both. This is a travesty, a sham, and a mockery. It’s a traveshamockery.
PS – I always thought that Ace of Base was a group of young, black female singers, ala TLC. When looking up what year I Saw the Sign came out, I see that they are really white, Swedish, and coed. I was waaaaay off. I was in Spain at the time. Is that a valid excuse?
If yall are going to be at Foxfield this weekend, give me a holler. Until then, stay safe, keep it real and don’t miss the horses.
John Calipari is one slick mother. Or we can just call him an opportunist. SI.com ran a great article detailing how the college choices of 6 of the top 50 ranked high school seniors changed when Slicky McSlickerson left Memphis for the bluer pastures of Kentucky. To go over a little rep tape, when a recruit signs a letter of intent to a school, he is bound to go there. Over the last decade, many players have inserted clauses into their LOI’s that state if the coach that recruited them left the school (for whatever reason), they would be granted a release from their letter of intent and be free to sing with any other school with no penalty.
Now I always thought this was for the player’s benefit, so they wouldn’t be stuck going to a program to play for a coach they didn’t know, especially if the previous coach was fired. Turns out Slick John has used this clause for the coach’s advantage. Xavier Henry is one of the most highly recruited players in this year’s class, and had signed to play for Memphis. Once Calipari left though, Henry got his release from Memphis because of the clause in his LOI. Here is Henry himself on what happened:
"I didn't have the idea to put the [clause] in there," Henry said. "Coach Cal did it for me.”
Calipari put the clause into his own recruits’ letters of intent, so if he ever bolted for a better job, he could bring them with him! Now that’s just a good coach who understands the rules. It didn’t work out totally for Slick John, because reports today say Henry is headed to Kansas. But it did work with highly touted center DeMarcus Cousins, who is now headed to UK. A great move by a great coach. I don’t want hear anything about loyalty either. You look out for number 1.
A huge injustice has happened in the world of DC radio. My solid number 2 radio station just changed formats, and the new guys are absolutely killing me. The old format of 94.7 was classic rock. It was never amazing because they overplayed lots of songs (More Than a Feeling, Stairway to Heaven, Carry on My Wayward Son), but it was a solid go-to station, as they would never play anything god awful. The same is not true for the new format, Fresh FM. First of all, what a horrible name for a station. Then they had the gall to run commercials that say something like this:
“We know you were tired of hearing all those old, boring, classic rock songs. So we decided to change it up, and bring you only today’s freshest music.”
OK, thinks the Oceanliner, another terrible pop top 40 station. But directly after the preceding commercial, Fresh FM starts playing (and I’m not kidding) Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilera. I was absolutely stunned. First they take a station out of my rotation. Then they make fun of the old format (which they are clearly worse than), declare only to play today’s freshest music (whatever that ever means)…and then play Genie in a Bottle, which is 1) horrible and 2) came out in 1999. Is this bizarre world or what?
It hasn’t gotten any better either. Fresh FM has subsequently played Mariah Carey’s Always Be My Baby (1996), Ace of Base’s I Saw the Sign AND Don’t Turn Around (1993!), Bittersweet Symphony (1997), Creed’s With Arms Wide Open (Creed may be the worst band ever, me thinks worse than even Nickelback and Maroon 5), Marc Anthony, Nickelback, and Maroon 5. Today’s freshest music my ass. It’s either old, terrible, or both. This is a travesty, a sham, and a mockery. It’s a traveshamockery.
PS – I always thought that Ace of Base was a group of young, black female singers, ala TLC. When looking up what year I Saw the Sign came out, I see that they are really white, Swedish, and coed. I was waaaaay off. I was in Spain at the time. Is that a valid excuse?
If yall are going to be at Foxfield this weekend, give me a holler. Until then, stay safe, keep it real and don’t miss the horses.
April 01, 2009
Celebration
It’s a great time of year folks; time to celebrate awkwardly like Tiger Woods and his caddy after another ridiculous win. While it’s clear that Tig has not lost a step with his golf game, it continues to amaze me that he and his caddy continue to be so uncoordinated in their celebrations. Tiger by himself has excellent post-dagger-putt-making reactions, including the “point the ball into the hole while walking towards it”, the “slamming the hat on the green”, the “I’m so good its not even funny smile, laugh and shake of the head” (this is his bunker hole-out specialty) and of course, the “Finish Him” Mortal Combat, upper-cut fist pump that punctuates many of Tiger’s victories.
When it comes to a duo though, Tiger and Stevie Williams are woefully bad. They are always on the wrong page. It normally comes down to a couple of scenarios. First, they just completely miss when trying to give each other a high five. Always awkward. Second, one of them tries to do a high five while the other is leaning in for a hug. Even more awkward. Third, and worst of all, they miss on their attempted high five, and the momentum carries them forward into an awkward hug. This was never more evident than when Tiger holed that ridiculous chip shot on 16 at Augusta, where the ball hung on the lip of the whole for a couple seconds. If you want to see it, follow this link to You Tube. The shot and the celebration are well worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qkBFGpNPC0
This shouldn’t be a hard concept to master, especially someone of Tiger’s stature. Football and basketball players do that thing now where two of them jump up at the same time and bump shoulders in mid air. That’s pretty cool. It would be sweet if Tiger and Williams practiced that number. Woods has already revolutionized the fitness training among professional golfers. Taking it’s celebrations to the next level only seems logical. Then we wouldn’t have to deal with Phil Mickelson’s 2 inch vertical leap after his Masters win or Rich Beem’s pathetic shimmy after winning the 2002 PGA Championship.
It’s time to celebrate because it’s a great time of year: the Final Four, Fish’s bachelor party, Easter, the Masters, the NBA playoffs, warm weather, the NFL Draft, Fish’s wedding, and Foxfield all happen within the next month. I smell happiness.
Here are some things not worth celebrating, however:
NCAA Management
These money grubbing losers are such greedy sellouts its makes me sick. I was watching a press conference after one of the Elite 8 games this weekend and the NCAA douchebag moderating the event made all of the reporters address the players as “student-athletes”. What a complete joke. The NCAA makes billions of dollars from these “student-athletes” by holding the National Championship over a 3 week span, guaranteeing that the Final Fours teams don’t go to class for that whole time. Uconn left on Wednesday for their Saturday night game in Detroit. They must have left on Monday or Tuesday for their first and second weekend games that were on Thursdays. That’s 3 straight weeks of missed class, which the NCAA clearly knows, and they have the gall to make the reporters call the players “student-athletes”. Disgusting.
Jay Cutler
I brought this up in my last post, but I hate Cutler even more now. At first he was just being a baby and throwing a temper tantrum about being mentioned in trade talks; now he’s just a total ass bag. The Broncos have announced that they are going to try and trade Cutler in part because the Broncos owner, and I quote from ESPN.com, “has been unable to get Cutler to call him back during the past 10 days.” It’s one thing to have a disagreement with your head coach, which is what happened between Cutler and new coach Josh McDaniels. But when the owner of your company calls you, a person who invested a first round draft pick in you and is personally paying your 6-year, $48 million contract, you better call him back, or else you are just a spineless dipshit. Which is exactly what Cutler is. I will never root for him ever again, and hope he fails in every opportunity he has in professional football. I indirectly hate Bus Cook now too, the agent who represents Cutler and the former agent of one Brett Favre. If it looks like a rat and stinks like a rat, it’s Jay Cutler.
Tony Bennett
The new UVa basketball coach will hopefully be worth celebrating, but his name is not. It’s like Michael Bolton’s classic line from Office Space, “Why should I change my name? He’s the one who sucks.” Unfortunately, Bennett will be rolled on by every opposing fan base in the ACC, and even the Virginia faithful if he is not successful. You would think a guy named Tony Bennett would start going by Anthony, or Tone. Tone Bennett, now that sounds hardass. I hope he has thick skin.
Like I said, it’s time to celebrate, my friends. It’s springtime and I’ve got my horse shoes setup in my back yard. Life could be worse. Until next time, stay safe, keep it real and…damnit! We missed the high five again.
When it comes to a duo though, Tiger and Stevie Williams are woefully bad. They are always on the wrong page. It normally comes down to a couple of scenarios. First, they just completely miss when trying to give each other a high five. Always awkward. Second, one of them tries to do a high five while the other is leaning in for a hug. Even more awkward. Third, and worst of all, they miss on their attempted high five, and the momentum carries them forward into an awkward hug. This was never more evident than when Tiger holed that ridiculous chip shot on 16 at Augusta, where the ball hung on the lip of the whole for a couple seconds. If you want to see it, follow this link to You Tube. The shot and the celebration are well worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qkBFGpNPC0
This shouldn’t be a hard concept to master, especially someone of Tiger’s stature. Football and basketball players do that thing now where two of them jump up at the same time and bump shoulders in mid air. That’s pretty cool. It would be sweet if Tiger and Williams practiced that number. Woods has already revolutionized the fitness training among professional golfers. Taking it’s celebrations to the next level only seems logical. Then we wouldn’t have to deal with Phil Mickelson’s 2 inch vertical leap after his Masters win or Rich Beem’s pathetic shimmy after winning the 2002 PGA Championship.
It’s time to celebrate because it’s a great time of year: the Final Four, Fish’s bachelor party, Easter, the Masters, the NBA playoffs, warm weather, the NFL Draft, Fish’s wedding, and Foxfield all happen within the next month. I smell happiness.
Here are some things not worth celebrating, however:
NCAA Management
These money grubbing losers are such greedy sellouts its makes me sick. I was watching a press conference after one of the Elite 8 games this weekend and the NCAA douchebag moderating the event made all of the reporters address the players as “student-athletes”. What a complete joke. The NCAA makes billions of dollars from these “student-athletes” by holding the National Championship over a 3 week span, guaranteeing that the Final Fours teams don’t go to class for that whole time. Uconn left on Wednesday for their Saturday night game in Detroit. They must have left on Monday or Tuesday for their first and second weekend games that were on Thursdays. That’s 3 straight weeks of missed class, which the NCAA clearly knows, and they have the gall to make the reporters call the players “student-athletes”. Disgusting.
Jay Cutler
I brought this up in my last post, but I hate Cutler even more now. At first he was just being a baby and throwing a temper tantrum about being mentioned in trade talks; now he’s just a total ass bag. The Broncos have announced that they are going to try and trade Cutler in part because the Broncos owner, and I quote from ESPN.com, “has been unable to get Cutler to call him back during the past 10 days.” It’s one thing to have a disagreement with your head coach, which is what happened between Cutler and new coach Josh McDaniels. But when the owner of your company calls you, a person who invested a first round draft pick in you and is personally paying your 6-year, $48 million contract, you better call him back, or else you are just a spineless dipshit. Which is exactly what Cutler is. I will never root for him ever again, and hope he fails in every opportunity he has in professional football. I indirectly hate Bus Cook now too, the agent who represents Cutler and the former agent of one Brett Favre. If it looks like a rat and stinks like a rat, it’s Jay Cutler.
Tony Bennett
The new UVa basketball coach will hopefully be worth celebrating, but his name is not. It’s like Michael Bolton’s classic line from Office Space, “Why should I change my name? He’s the one who sucks.” Unfortunately, Bennett will be rolled on by every opposing fan base in the ACC, and even the Virginia faithful if he is not successful. You would think a guy named Tony Bennett would start going by Anthony, or Tone. Tone Bennett, now that sounds hardass. I hope he has thick skin.
Like I said, it’s time to celebrate, my friends. It’s springtime and I’ve got my horse shoes setup in my back yard. Life could be worse. Until next time, stay safe, keep it real and…damnit! We missed the high five again.
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