Thursday, August 19, 2010

08/19 Quickie: Lee, WAC, Knocks, Melo

Names to Know: CJ Spiller, Rex Ryan, Antonio Cromartie, Derrek Lee, Evan Longoria, Joe Mauer, Jason Heyward, WAC, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Tebow, Tim Layden, BlogPoll and More.

NFL Tonight: Colts/Bills (let's see how CJ Spiller does as The Guy) and Patriots/Falcons. (Nope, no Favre updates here...)a

"Hard Knocks" Watch: A lot less F-bombing from Rex Ryan -- I'm quite sure he didn't curse less; the show's editors chose to take them out after last week's reactions -- but that's not the point. If cursing is who he is, then I'm with Ryan: Who is anyone else (Tony Dungy) to $%^&-ing judge?

(UPDATE: I'm sorry -- this Antonio Cromatrie thing is blowing up.)

MLB Notes: Huge sweep for the Rays over the Rangers in a preview of what will happen if they meet in the playoffs... Back in April, would you have believed that it would take until August 18 for Joe Mauer to hit a HR at Target Field?... J-Hey: Walk-off....

Derrek Lee traded: Seems a bit awkward that Lee's first game with the Braves will be at Wrigley Field against the Cubs, but at least Cubs fans will be able to give him a proper cheer for his career.

BYU/WAC/MWC Madness: It's like a poor man's Big 12 situation from earlier this summer. The latest: The MWC is raiding the WAC for Fresno St and Nevada -- and potentially keeping BYU in the fold? I'd still like to see BYU go indie in football, if only for the novelty. (It's a tough blow to the WAC if the MWC takes two of its best football teams.)

Carmelo likes Houston, Brooklyn: Could either the Rockets or the Nets come up with a trade package to satisfy the Nuggets? Might be a stretch for the Rockets; that's the downside of Daryl Morey's system of finding undervalued players.

As for the Nets, this is huge: They were shut out of the Summer of 2010 free-agent frenzy and are desperate for a Face of the franchise as the team looks to move to Brooklyn in 2 years. I'd simply offer Derrick Favors -- and if the Nuggets were smart, they would jump on that.

(Carmelo might be fumbling this a bit -- although you'd think Nuggets fans would rather get something for him now than see him leave them empty-handed, LeBron-style -- but I love that he recognizes the upside of the Nets. Pair him with Brook Lopez, Devin Harris and a Top 5 Lottery pick next year and the Nets have a solid core.)

Obligatory Tebow item: Injured?! Remember that TD he scored as time expired on Sunday night. Yeah, that might have injured him a bit in the ribs. He probably won't play in Denver's 2nd preseason game, but it's not so bad that if it was a regular-season game, he wouldn't play.

Media: ESPN.com re-designed their top nav bar and I really like it.

BTW: I enjoy Mark Schlabach's annual "What's Hot (and Not)" list for college football each August, but let's take a trip in the way-back machine to ESPN.com's (ahem) original "What's Hot/What's Not" list for college football... from 2002. Check it out if you want to feel old.

More CFB: Don't forget to weigh in on my initial BlogPoll Top 25 ballot.

Coming later this morning: A small announcement about a new sponsorship relationship I'm experimenting with here.

(Nominally related, I have not one but two fantasy drafts today: One related to the sponsorship and one for the league I've been in for years. Will I draft Tebow? In either? Both? At all?)

Coming at 1-ish: Day 3 of my Summer Reading Series, Tim Layden's "Blood, Sweat and Chalk." (See yesterday's: Weinreb's Bigger Than the Game)

-- D.S.

4 comments:

Kevin said...

I hope you admit you were wrong about sweater vests.

PiccottFence said...

Shanoff: "Will I draft Tebow?"

And the Ditka-Ricky Williams "Marriage" cover springs to mind!

Only question is what team in the fantasy draft(s) will pillage Shanoff for the Tebow Prize.

P.S. Tebow might be willing to sport the Friar Tuck...but not the dress.

SteveB said...

Huh -- who would have guessed that Tebow was injured before Bradford?

Unknown said...

Did Farve even retire? How can he unretire? So tired...

The Jets are crossing over into the "celebrity we are pretty look at us you are not worthy we have big egos" status...not a good formula for a FOOTBALL team!