Monday, April 28, 2008

Monday 04/28 A.M. Quickie:
Draft, NBA Duds, Clemens Scandal, More

Matt Ryan may turn out to be a fine NFL QB, but the Falcons took him for the wrong reasons, and I can't help thinking that, at least in part, they relate to -- and rhyme with -- "face."

That's the lead of my Sporting News column this morning, and I encourage you to check it out.

You'll also get my take on the Clemens "affair-with-a-15-year-old" scandal, which should go crazy today...

My take on the state of the NBA Playoffs, which is, to summarize: Brutal.

My take on the weekend in MLB, which basically insists that you jump on the Rays bandwagon...

My take on the lack of progress on BCS reform, where I can the Plus-One and float the "SEC-ession" plan...

My take on the fast-follower (no pun intended) to Danica Patrick...

And even a shout-out to the Brothers Mottram for the one time a year their blog is -- cough -- relevant.

Start your day with the column, and I'll be back around later today for sure with more.

-- D.S.

6 comments:

John said...

"Grading" a team based on who they picked less then 24 hours after the draft is done with is stupid. You can criticize a team for picking positions that they don't need, but you can't criticize a team for picking a certain player (who fits a need) before he's played a single game.

I also thought ESPN's coverage of the first two rounds sucked. Apparently no one realized that with fewer time between picks, you don't need 20+ talking heads there. When the Commish was announcing the Chiefs picking of Dorsey, we almost missed it, because Young or Berman, or one of them wouldn't shut up.

nsrrder said...

Dan,

Do you know anything about my fair city of Atlanta?? If you did you would realize that drafting Ryan was/is a PR nightmare with the locals. The talking heads may have loved the pick (and I don't have a problem with it either), but as far as filling seats in the Dome, this pick doesn't necessarily do that. When Vick left, so did most of the minority fan base. Blank/Dimitroff knows that Matt Ryan ain't bringing them back--until he wins games and they feel he will do that in time. This draft was about the future and hopefully along with another productive draft next year we will see the fruition of this "horrible" pick.

Dan Shanoff said...

That's my point exactly: Why not take Dorsey NOW and Matt Stafford NEXT year? After leading Georgia to a national title (or damn close), Stafford will be precisely the kind of "franchise QB" -- not to mention locally beloved -- to bring back some excitement. He's better than Ryan AND more of a draw with locals who might not be persuaded by Ryan.

John said...

Does Tebow know you're cheating on him with Stafford?

nsrrder said...

You will not get an argument from me regarding Stafford as a UGA fan from birth, but I thought the point you were making is the Falcons chose Ryan because he was white. And that the pick was PR driven more than talent driven. I argue that Blank knows the fans in this city well enough to think this will fill the building. I believe they picked Ryan BECAUSE of talent and they feel he can be the centerpiece of a good team after 1-2 more drafts. Besides Dan, Stafford's playing 4 years in Athens--you're not getting rid of him that easily.

Matt T said...

Dan,
I said this on Saturday and on the Sporting Blog column.

Stafford is not a senior next year. He may or may not come out. What does it say to a fanbase that has its reservations if you basically tank another season