This NBA season will be one many will soon like to forget. The lockout, the condensed schedule, the injuries to key players and now internal bickering within the ranks of the players association.
Yes, Executive Director Billy Hunter of the Players Association and Association President Derrick Fischer are at odds, and now the cat is out. Many thought the negotiation were poorly handled on the part of both.
Fischer was accused of selling out to the owners. Rumors swirled at one point that there would be a cushy job waiting for him when his career is over. Hunter was accused of wanting a nuclear war with the owners. Both were the laughingstock of the owners and cause of wringing of hands by the players and agents wondering, just what the hell was going on.
The stakes were raised last week as the executive committee, per recommendation of Hunter, asked Fisher to resign as his conduct was deemed detrimental to the players association. Hunter has been accused of funneling over $4 million to companies employed by the Players Association who just happened also employ some of Hunter’s family members.
There is an underground power struggle by agents to get both out so they can have some new seats at the table. The question is who will they really be working for when it is all said and done?
Amazed and amused by the draft
I have always been amazed and even amused by the NFL draft and what it means to so many. Yes, it is popular. It has TV ratings that some sports wish they could get. It crates a buzz leading up to and certainly afterwards. It makes everyone that can tell the difference between the shape of a football compared to a baseball an expert. Some of them have now graduated to being talk show host or online prognosticators form the friendly confines in some cases of their mother’s basement.
Ah yes, the NFL draft. That is the amazing thing. Now for the amusing.
The two common items you hear before and after the draft are “What do you think?” And if you are a Rams fan, “Who?”
Everyone leading up to the blessed event has an opinion. In many cases it is one that is recycled from the words of Kiper or McShay. I am amused when you hear those who claim to know something talk about the tape or film they have watched on players. It sounds impressive. If you are a beat reporter or someone who has an inside contact, then you could be privy to such information. The rest in most cases are just foolin’ you.
With that, What do you think?
Here is what I think. I think the Rams had the easiest draft in the history of this world. They needed virtually everything so there was no wrong answer in picking players.
There are some that want the flashy player that comes from a name school. Justin Blackmon was nearly a household name. Many Rams fans had been conditioned in thinking he was the answer to Sam Bradford’s woes.
The Rams were thrown a curve ball and they had to go to plan B: trade down and regroup, as well as pick up more draft choices. They understand they cannot fix this thing overnight.
Good move, but one concern. They took another defensive tackle. Maybe this time they drafted one that can play in the NFL. The names Jimmy Kennedy, Damien Lewis, Adam Carricker should ring a bell.
To hand out a grade on a draft is again amusing. All you have to do is look at the shills who gave the Rams glowing grades in years past. Years that have seen numerous coaches and general managers come and go because the so called A and B-plus draft picks were not as good as they had hoped. Draft busts certainly are why Martz, Linnehan, and Spagnuolo are all former head coaches.
Yet, we continue to grade drafts. If only those who pass out the grades lived on the same lifeline as coaches.
Give it three years and you will know all you need to know about any of these guys. The Rams already have an excuse that will be floated out by their hacks who see no wrong . Because General Manager Les Snead was hired late, many of the scouts who evaluate players that were employed by the previous regime are still there, so if these guys are bust, a simple shrug of the shoulders to go with a raised eyebrow and there you go – your first official excuse.
