I was on my own for dinner last night, and decided to try 5 Guys. For those who are not yet familiar with 5 Guys, let me say this: you should be, and you will be soon. It is an upscale burger and fry franchise. And despite the second worst recession in our nation’s history; business is still strong for them. That says a lot about their offering. The price isn’t ideal, but I think you’ll be able to live with it after the first bite of your burger. It’s fantastic. I had a double bacon cheeseburger with barbecue sauce and fries. It was far and away the most satisfying food I have eaten in April. It’s a great burger, and the fries are VERY strong. I highly recommend it when you’re craving a good burger.
The NFL draft is my favorite day of the year in sports. It just always has been. I have always been very very excited about it. I fancy myself being the guy making decisions in a war room someday. It is something I have always been deeply interested in and have thought about a lot. So I am really looking forward to Saturday. I am really sad though that they moved the first pick back to 4pm. Part of the mystique of why I am so passionate about it comes from waking up at 11 and watching the coverage with my Dad. Then the first pick came out at about 12:15 and we were off and running. It is obviously not as special as it used to be when I was younger, but it is still a very cool day now and probably always will be. But this draft is gonna be fun I think. Especially if you're a Browns fan. I think you can argue that it's a little light talent wise at the top, but there are plenty of good players to pick and they'll always be a ton of good players to find if you do your homework.
I can talk all day about the draft and where I think its gonna go, but I am not gonna do that. I am anxious to see how the Browns new regime plays their hand. They can really do a lot of crazy things. They have a lot of bullets in their chamber. They have the 5, 2 seconds and a third right now. They can hypothetically have 2 firsts, 3 seconds and 2 thirds if they play it right. They can move Braylon and Brady Quinn and reap the picks that they'll earn. Teams are just so careful with their picks though. They treat them like gold.
I have been on the record for a while about Mark Sanchez. I am pushing all my chips to the middle with that guy. I think he is gonna be a great pro. He has that IT that few guys have. He can make all the throws. He has great feet. There is a ton to like about him. He is an alpha male. Plain and simple. He walks into a locker room, and he's just different, and guys can tell right away. He has the kind of swagger and leadership mentality that guys love and commit to. If you told Stafford, Tebow, Bradford, Freeman and Sanchez to go down the street and get something to eat; all those guys are following Sanchez's lead. Cause he's the alpha male. And those kinda guys are the guys that see success in the NFL. I would like to see the Browns move Brady Quinn and draft Sanchez. I would also like to see them draft another great player at 5. I am not necessarily taking Sanchez at 5. I am just stating that I think he is gonna be a nice player in this league rather quickly. They should take Sanchez at 5, move Quinn and Edwards and come back into the top 10 and take Crabtree while they are at it. I'll go to battle with that guy too. Anyway, my gut says that Mangenius is gonna trade outta that 5th pick and into the teens. We'll see though. I am anxious to see what the Browns are gonna do. It's a make or break draft for them. But they all are in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (Jaws trademark phrase).
I love the commercial campaign they are running for the NBA playoffs. I think those are great. My favorite one so far is the Tayshaun Prince block on Reggie Miller. I have only seen it once. It’s a great play. Billups drives the length of the court outta control. Jeff Foster knocks it away. Jamaal Tinsley gets control and throws it down to Reggie for what he thought was an uncontested layup. Tayshaun comes outta nowhere and kills it off the glass. I remember watching that play live. Max effort. They are all good though. The dynamics of the Ginobli to Duncan play were cool. Joe Johnson making Leon Powe fall and sticking a dagger three in round one last year. Great stuff all around.
I love the first round of the NBA playoffs. I would have preferred Nash and Amare instead of the Mavs, but I got some news last week that was very disconcerting. One of my buddies dad’s is good friends with Terry Porter. He told me that Porter told his dad that Nash was just a complete nightmare to coach this year. He said he never practiced hard, if at all. He rarely listened or ran the type of movement Porter wanted him to run. And whenever there was a serious defensive drill to be done in practice, Steve would just walk off the floor and go to the training room. He was a complete dick to Terry Porter, more or less. And while I can understand where Nash is coming from, it doesn’t make it right. Nash has proven to be a great guy over the years. A unique guy, a fabulous player and a great teammate. And he was very close to Mike D’Antoni. They each owe the other about 90% of their mutual success. It just goes to show you that the NBA, as all pro sports are, is a player’s league first and foremost. And even one of the great guys like Nash ,who really get what this game is all about isn’t immune to being premadonna A hole.
J.J Barea has been a great value add over Nash this year anyway. I have been telling anyone who will listen about Barea all season. Barea is a phenomenal player. He is a phenomenal player in the scope of his role. And his role is to come in and make things happen. And he has done that consistently all year. And on top of that, he has had games where he is absolutely incredible. When he gets into a zone, he is un-guardable. I'm telling you. He can score the ball at will and sets up guys for easy buckets. And this has been evidenced by the fact that he has been getting stretch minutes throughout this last term of the season. I am molding my game after his game for the summer session of the Y league. Watch out for me.
These first round series’ have been great so far, with a lot more to come. The Celts Bulls matchup has had two great games. So my focus has in turn been pretty centered around those two games. It’s been a good matchup. I wrote how I liked the Bulls to upset the Magic in the first round. But they lost by 20 to the powerhouse Raptors at home on the last day of the season and drew the Celts instead. It has kind of proven to be a better matchup for them, as they are about a million times more athletic. The Bulls are fun to watch for me because I have always liked a lot of their players. I have always been a big believer in Gordon, and his insane ability to get buckets in a variety of ways. He has been electric the first two games, exploding in the fourth quarter of both games. Shocker that he is in a contract year huh? God, if they didn't guarantee these guys contracts--don't even get me started. I have always had to fight with the barrage of Noah haters in my ear, spewing disinformation simply based on the fact that he’s an obnoxious idiot who celebrated a little too hard after his championships at Florida. They miss the fact that he’s a great high energy floor player, who defends above average, runs the floor like a deer, blocks shots, rebounds at a very high rate on both ends and makes 70 percent of his free throws. He never needs the ball to be effective and hads a winning at all costs mentality. Don’t confuse that praise though, having said all that doesn’t mean I think he’s LeBron. To me, he is simply a rare, very valuable commodity in this league, with the potential to be an important player on a championship caliber team some day. Add Tyrus Thomas, who is coming on like a freight train (and is about 4 seasons away from his peak--scary), the phenomenal Derrick Rose (insane nasty), Hinrich and Brad Miller, and the Bulls are an entertaining team to watch with a very good chance of knocking off the defending champs. Derrick Rose establishing himself in Game 1 was a great thing because it really pushed Rondo to elevate his game level of play. There is a serious alpha dog battle going on between those two guys that is fun to watch. Right now, I’m gonna say Rose has a slight lead, but would certainly not sleep on Rondo.
-Couple other quick playoff hits:
-A Hawks-Cavs second round series would be fun. The Hawks are tough. They can definitely strike some fear into the Cavs worshippers.
-If the Blazers-Rockets play and no one is around to see it, does it really happen?
-The Magic have been a mirage all season. I expect them to recover and squeak past the dismal 76ers.
-A Rockets Lakers series and a Cavs Hawks series are essentially identical matchups for both favorites. Two frisky opponents, who could give them some trouble if a few things fall their way.
The NFL draft is my favorite day of the year in sports. It just always has been. I have always been very very excited about it. I fancy myself being the guy making decisions in a war room someday. It is something I have always been deeply interested in and have thought about a lot. So I am really looking forward to Saturday. I am really sad though that they moved the first pick back to 4pm. Part of the mystique of why I am so passionate about it comes from waking up at 11 and watching the coverage with my Dad. Then the first pick came out at about 12:15 and we were off and running. It is obviously not as special as it used to be when I was younger, but it is still a very cool day now and probably always will be. But this draft is gonna be fun I think. Especially if you're a Browns fan. I think you can argue that it's a little light talent wise at the top, but there are plenty of good players to pick and they'll always be a ton of good players to find if you do your homework.
I can talk all day about the draft and where I think its gonna go, but I am not gonna do that. I am anxious to see how the Browns new regime plays their hand. They can really do a lot of crazy things. They have a lot of bullets in their chamber. They have the 5, 2 seconds and a third right now. They can hypothetically have 2 firsts, 3 seconds and 2 thirds if they play it right. They can move Braylon and Brady Quinn and reap the picks that they'll earn. Teams are just so careful with their picks though. They treat them like gold.
I have been on the record for a while about Mark Sanchez. I am pushing all my chips to the middle with that guy. I think he is gonna be a great pro. He has that IT that few guys have. He can make all the throws. He has great feet. There is a ton to like about him. He is an alpha male. Plain and simple. He walks into a locker room, and he's just different, and guys can tell right away. He has the kind of swagger and leadership mentality that guys love and commit to. If you told Stafford, Tebow, Bradford, Freeman and Sanchez to go down the street and get something to eat; all those guys are following Sanchez's lead. Cause he's the alpha male. And those kinda guys are the guys that see success in the NFL. I would like to see the Browns move Brady Quinn and draft Sanchez. I would also like to see them draft another great player at 5. I am not necessarily taking Sanchez at 5. I am just stating that I think he is gonna be a nice player in this league rather quickly. They should take Sanchez at 5, move Quinn and Edwards and come back into the top 10 and take Crabtree while they are at it. I'll go to battle with that guy too. Anyway, my gut says that Mangenius is gonna trade outta that 5th pick and into the teens. We'll see though. I am anxious to see what the Browns are gonna do. It's a make or break draft for them. But they all are in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (Jaws trademark phrase).
I love the commercial campaign they are running for the NBA playoffs. I think those are great. My favorite one so far is the Tayshaun Prince block on Reggie Miller. I have only seen it once. It’s a great play. Billups drives the length of the court outta control. Jeff Foster knocks it away. Jamaal Tinsley gets control and throws it down to Reggie for what he thought was an uncontested layup. Tayshaun comes outta nowhere and kills it off the glass. I remember watching that play live. Max effort. They are all good though. The dynamics of the Ginobli to Duncan play were cool. Joe Johnson making Leon Powe fall and sticking a dagger three in round one last year. Great stuff all around.
I love the first round of the NBA playoffs. I would have preferred Nash and Amare instead of the Mavs, but I got some news last week that was very disconcerting. One of my buddies dad’s is good friends with Terry Porter. He told me that Porter told his dad that Nash was just a complete nightmare to coach this year. He said he never practiced hard, if at all. He rarely listened or ran the type of movement Porter wanted him to run. And whenever there was a serious defensive drill to be done in practice, Steve would just walk off the floor and go to the training room. He was a complete dick to Terry Porter, more or less. And while I can understand where Nash is coming from, it doesn’t make it right. Nash has proven to be a great guy over the years. A unique guy, a fabulous player and a great teammate. And he was very close to Mike D’Antoni. They each owe the other about 90% of their mutual success. It just goes to show you that the NBA, as all pro sports are, is a player’s league first and foremost. And even one of the great guys like Nash ,who really get what this game is all about isn’t immune to being premadonna A hole.
J.J Barea has been a great value add over Nash this year anyway. I have been telling anyone who will listen about Barea all season. Barea is a phenomenal player. He is a phenomenal player in the scope of his role. And his role is to come in and make things happen. And he has done that consistently all year. And on top of that, he has had games where he is absolutely incredible. When he gets into a zone, he is un-guardable. I'm telling you. He can score the ball at will and sets up guys for easy buckets. And this has been evidenced by the fact that he has been getting stretch minutes throughout this last term of the season. I am molding my game after his game for the summer session of the Y league. Watch out for me.
These first round series’ have been great so far, with a lot more to come. The Celts Bulls matchup has had two great games. So my focus has in turn been pretty centered around those two games. It’s been a good matchup. I wrote how I liked the Bulls to upset the Magic in the first round. But they lost by 20 to the powerhouse Raptors at home on the last day of the season and drew the Celts instead. It has kind of proven to be a better matchup for them, as they are about a million times more athletic. The Bulls are fun to watch for me because I have always liked a lot of their players. I have always been a big believer in Gordon, and his insane ability to get buckets in a variety of ways. He has been electric the first two games, exploding in the fourth quarter of both games. Shocker that he is in a contract year huh? God, if they didn't guarantee these guys contracts--don't even get me started. I have always had to fight with the barrage of Noah haters in my ear, spewing disinformation simply based on the fact that he’s an obnoxious idiot who celebrated a little too hard after his championships at Florida. They miss the fact that he’s a great high energy floor player, who defends above average, runs the floor like a deer, blocks shots, rebounds at a very high rate on both ends and makes 70 percent of his free throws. He never needs the ball to be effective and hads a winning at all costs mentality. Don’t confuse that praise though, having said all that doesn’t mean I think he’s LeBron. To me, he is simply a rare, very valuable commodity in this league, with the potential to be an important player on a championship caliber team some day. Add Tyrus Thomas, who is coming on like a freight train (and is about 4 seasons away from his peak--scary), the phenomenal Derrick Rose (insane nasty), Hinrich and Brad Miller, and the Bulls are an entertaining team to watch with a very good chance of knocking off the defending champs. Derrick Rose establishing himself in Game 1 was a great thing because it really pushed Rondo to elevate his game level of play. There is a serious alpha dog battle going on between those two guys that is fun to watch. Right now, I’m gonna say Rose has a slight lead, but would certainly not sleep on Rondo.
-Couple other quick playoff hits:
-A Hawks-Cavs second round series would be fun. The Hawks are tough. They can definitely strike some fear into the Cavs worshippers.
-If the Blazers-Rockets play and no one is around to see it, does it really happen?
-The Magic have been a mirage all season. I expect them to recover and squeak past the dismal 76ers.
-A Rockets Lakers series and a Cavs Hawks series are essentially identical matchups for both favorites. Two frisky opponents, who could give them some trouble if a few things fall their way.
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