Show Notes 5/12

OJ Mayo...

-Should USC be held accountable for this, and also Reggie Bush?
--What is certain is this, USC either completely turned a neglectful blind eye to two of its biggest stars, not even visiting their dorm rooms and checking the clothes and jewelry they were wearing, or they knew of the violations and simply didn't care. Either way, this is bad for USC.

While it clearly is not as bad as if it were the University giving Mayo and Bush gifts and perks in order to entice them to go there, it is still a definite lack of institutional control which is one of the worst violations a university can make. This is bad for USC, and there is no way around it.

-What should OJ have done?
--Now is where we get to the more interesting part of the discussion. What should OJ have done? When you are approached essentially at puberty by someone who is close to 3 times as old as you and all he wants to do is be your friend, and help you out, and give you stuff, are you really supposed to turn that down? If you are in a position where your family can't provide all of the essentials, much less any of the luxuries of life and somebody wants to do all of that for you, and all they want is for you to let them help you make even more money down the line, then how are you supposed to turn that down? This wasn't a kid who told a school that he needed 10 thousand dollars or he wouldnt go there, this was a kid who was approached by someone who thought he could make money off of him, and gave him a taste of all the millions that awaited him a few years down the line.

I don't care that he violated the rules of amateurism, I can't find a problem with what OJ Mayo did. There were plenty of people who saw OJ and saw a dollar sign, and this guy just made it happen. For Guillory OJ meant about a quarter of a million dollars and access that he would never have had otherwise, and for OJ he got a strong male role model, somebody who truly, in his eyes, seemed to have his best interests at heart, and who hooked him up with some of the nicer things that he otherwise would never have had access to. And let's also be fair and say that the reason that Guillory or BDA Sports Management or USC or the NCAA had any interest in OJ Mayo, any interest at all, was because he represented increased dollars, and all of those increased dollars are a direct result from Mayo's tireless work his entire life to make himself the player that he is... but the rules say OJ is not allowed to share any of those dollars, so that leads to this question...

-Should what OJ did actually even be against the rules?
--Let's look at this in the most basic terms. The NCAA and the NBA have created a defacto cartel, that extorts free labor in return for usually a pseudo-education, while making BILLIONS of dollars, none of which would be possible without the players, who are not allowed to share in the profits, and now with the NBA's eligibilty rules, are not allowed to skip the amateur step and make money as soon as an individual team deems them worthy.

Now there are a lot of layers to the argument I just laid out, and we will try to go through most of them. But where this conversation usually goes is whether or not schools should pay the players, but that's not where I want to take this. I understand that there are legistical impediments to that ever happening. So I want to focus on two things instead... IF college's cannot or will not pay the athletes that make the billion dollar television deals possible, THEN...
1) Should amateurs be able to accept money from any agent or runner or agency that simply wishes to invest in an individual's potential, and not direct them to a particular university, simply give them monetary and personal support, in hopes that if and when the player turns pro they return the favor in turn....AND

2) If these collegiate athletes cannot be paid by the university or ready and willing agencies, then is it at all fair that the NBA and the NFL have age requirements the prohibit some capable athletes from making money?

Those are the two interesting questions at hand here. One, whether or not people not affiliated with schools should be able to pay any amateur athlete at their own risk and discretion, and hope that the investment turns out favorably... And two, that is amateur athletes must, to retain eligibility, turn down all gifts or rewards as a result of their tireless hard work, then is it fair, or even legal, to prohibit them from making a living, if teams within the industry would otherwise be willing to pay.

NBA Ratings v Royals rainouts...
(Nelson and Lewis comments)
-Quick note on each of the playoff series thus far, Cavs Celtics--Home court and LeBron playing very human right now... Magic Pistons-- Nelson and Lewis comments... Lakers Jazz-- Kobe's been great, the Jazz are very tough at home, and Derron Williams is trying to bite at Chris Paul's heals, but most people aren't paying attention...Spurs Hornets--Champs aint dead, Chris Paul's supporting cast on the road...
-My boy Jeffrey Flanagan. This is what he has had to say about the NBA over the past few months... Oddly enough, he doesn't include the ratings of the NHL, oh wait that's right, its because the NHL doesn't even register, in some markets WITH teams, much less KC. Now I understand that Flanagan finds the NHL more wholesome--shocker-- but that's irrelevant. The guy blasts the NBA ratings, and openly roots for hockey to come here, but doesn't mention their putrid ratings.
-If you were basing the viability on either the NHL or the NBA coming to Kansas City on the television ratings, than the answer would be that neither is viable. But seeing as WE BUILT AN ARENA and we truly need a pro team to fill it, then it's either going to be the NBA or the NHL, and to tirelessly tear down the NBA, and not provide any alternatives, aside from saying that the NHL is more "wholesome" is ridiculous.
WNBA Commercials...
-What they actually said, and what they should have said.
--What they actually said was everything that anybody that has ever watched the WNBA has already said to themselves. That contrary to what people will tell you the league is not fundamentally sound, the games are on par with a below average DI men's game, and that the athleticism is considerably lower. What they should have done was this... Show you highlights from the NBA, like a 10 second compilation of the most riveting moments from the season, with the final scene being the Championship trophy being lifted, and the cut to black... stay black for 5 hard seconds, and then show the best 3 to 5 second highlight clip of the WNBA from last year, and then put up a black screen with the words, "It's better than nothing, right?"

That's got to be the approach of the league, it has to be that, "Hey, we're not terrible, we do have a few truly excellent young players, and occasionally our games or very competitive, and every once in a while they are even played at a fairly high level, plus, what else are you going to watch in the Summer other than baseball?" That's the route they should take, this expect great thing is ludicrous, especially if you have ever actually watched a game.

Danica Patrick incident...
-Listen Danica, we are all very happy you finally won a race. It's awesome, its good for you, its good for the sport, and hopefully if you can keep winning you won't have to do any more FHM or Maxim photo shoots, because honey you might be hot for a race car driver, but you're about a 6 on any other scale. Not bad, but let's leave Maxim and FHM to Vida Guerra and Mariah Carey and the rest of the pros out there... But all the same, congrats on your victory... BUT just because you win a race, doesn't mean you can start running people over! And it certainly doesn't mean that after you run someone over you can get away without apologizing for it!

Guy who died after the Giants game...

And the great email I received about the kid with Cancer and the Royals.

Show Prep for Monday 4-28 (Draft and NBA Playoffs)

NFL Draft-Chiefs- Great first day, questionable second day
-What I liked… the first 4 picks were excellent… You addressed your 2 biggest needs, got the best player on the board and got (in my opinion) a first round value in the 3rd round….
-What I didn’t like…You HAD to get 2 starting offensive linemen, and you just ignore the second lineman until the 170th pick, your first 6th rounder, and your 9th pick overall….Also, you needed a wide receiver, and you didn’t address that until your 4th rounder, the 105th pick overall and your 7th pick. Your biggest needs were LT, CB, G, WR, DT in that order. You got your Left Tackle in a brilliant move… you got the best player in the draft due to good fortune and that supplied your DT, and you made a very savvy pick to get Brandon Flowers at CB… but you completely skipped over G and WR and you had 3 third rounders with good guys available!!!! Jeremy Zuttah could start at Right Guard for this team and you passed on him 3 times in the 3rd round! Marion Manningham was a 1st/2nd round guy until people found out that he gets high, and you passed on him 3 times in the 3rd round.
-Total Picks- (5) Glenn Dorsey, (15) Branden Albert, (35) Brandon Flowers, (73) Jamaal Charles, (76) Brad Cottam –TE Tenn, (82) DaJuan Morgan –S NC State, (105) William Franklin – WR MU,
(140) Brandon Carr –CB Grand Valley St., (170) Barry Richardson –OT Clemson, (182) Kevin Robinson- WR Utah St., (210) Brain Johnston-DE Gardner Webb, (239) Mike Merritt-TE/G Central Florida
NFL Draft-Chiefs- What needs could be filled?
-DT you are set. Dorsey will command a double team by the middle of the season and the rest of your line will get one on one matchups, he’s that good.
-LT you are in good shape. A little worrisome that Albert played so much guard in college, but you would have taken this guy if you had the 8th pick, and you got him with the 15th, that’s awesome and he will be the best left tackle on this roster from the day he gets to Kansas City.
-CB you are in good shape as well, Flowers will be the 2nd best coner on this team at training camp, and maybe the best by the middle of the season.
NFL Draft-Chiefs- What needs are still vacant?
-
NFL Draft-Chiefs- What needs could have been filled?

NFL Draft-Divisional Opponents-Who did what?

NFL Draft-Great drafts, bad drafts, and head scratching drafts

NBA Playoffs -Just amazing individual performances

-Chris Paul- Game 1- 35, 10, 4 (1to) Game 2- 32, 17, 5, 3***
-LeBron James- Game 2- 30, 9 ,12 Game 4- 34, 12, 7***
-Dwight Howard- Game 1- 25, 22, 5 Game 2- 29, 20, 3**
-Tony Parker- Game 2- 32, 7 Game 3- 41, 12, 5*
-Tim Duncan-Game 1- 40, 15, 5, 3**
-Kobe Bryant- Game 2- 49, 10, 4**
-Pau Gasol-Game 1- 36, 16, 8, 3*
-Dirk Nowitzki-Game 1- 31, 10 Game 3- 32, 19, 6*
-Kevin Garnett- Game 3- 32, 10, 3*
-Chris Bosh- Game 4- 39, 15*
-Tracy McGrady- Game 2- 23, 13, 9 Game 4- 23, 10, 8***

NBA Playoffs -What teams closed the deal, are closing the deal, and look lost
(Celtics v Hawks 2-1, Pistons v Sixers 2-2, Magic v Raptors 3-1, Cavs v Wizards 3-1)
(Lakers v Nuggets 3-0, Hornets v Mavs 3-1, Spurs v Suns 3-1, Jazz v Rockets 3-1)

-Up 2-0- Celtics, Magic, Cavs, Lakers, Hornets, Spurs, Jazz… Only the Lakers and the Spurs close the series out, essentially, by going up 3 nothing. This isn’t surprising. Somewhat surprising the Celtics don’t also close things out, but Atlanta played one of its best games of the year. But past that, the Lakers and Spurs showed that they are ready to win a title. We knew this about the Spurs. This is why they have 4 titles in 9 years, and this is why Tim Duncan is one of the 10 greatest players of all time. But the Lakers validated what so many people have been saying about them that with Pau and Kobe they have the talent and the killer instinct to make the NBA Finals. No matter what the Lakers were going to beat the Nuggets, but by getting up 3 nothing they ended the series right then and there, and that bodes very well for them in the next round.
-Up 2-1 Hornets, Jazz, Sixers, Cavs, Magic (Celtics)… Hornets are for real, most of us already knew this, and yes, Kansas City maybe now will start joining me in lamenting the fact that due to this deep playoff run, Hornets aren’t leaving New Orleans and Kansas City isn’t getting Chris Paul… but I digress. The Hornets, Jazz, Cavs and Magic all are the better teams and all took control of their series this weekend, and all should move on in 5 or 6 games. And all of those teams, New Orleans, Utah, Cleveland and Orlando could be factors in the next round. The Cavs and the Jazz will have a tough time moving on, nothing against them, they just have to face the number one seeds and the Lakers and the Celtics seem to be juggernauts and making the Conference Finals for those two seems almost inevitable. But the Hornets and the Magic could make some noise and do some serious damage.
The Hornets match up alright against the Spurs, and Chris Paul should abuse Tony Parker, if the Spurs are foolish enough to let Parker guard him. David West and Hilton Armstrong can bloody Duncan up a little bit, and it should at least be a good series. And on the other side of the bracket, the Magic right now look like a better team than the Pistons. The Magic absolutely could beat the Pistons in the next round. The Magic are completely bought into their coach’s system, and you certainly can’t say that about the Pistons…
-Perennial powers that are dying on the vines, and all in such distinct ways.
-Detroit Pistons- Detroit has been to 5 straight conference Finals… and each year since they won the title, they have been deteriorating a little bit, and it’s a very direct fall from grace…5 years ago the Pistons lose in the Finals… the next year they win the title over the Lakers in stunning fashion… the following year, 3 years ago, Detroit loses to the Spurs in 7 games in the NBA Finals, 2 years ago they have 4 All Stars, at one point look like they will win 70 games, then lose in the Conference Finals to the eventual champion Heat, and last year they lose in depressing fashion to the Cavs and LeBron James… and now, this year, they’re down 10 at the half in game 4 of the first round against Philly, in a series where they are down 2 to 1!!! Now they came back and whupped the Sixers, and maybe they won’t lose another game this series… But the Pistons dominating is over. Chauncey Billups isn’t what he once was, they don’t listen to their coach. The Pistons are vulnerable and they may not make the Conference Finals for the first time since 2002.
-Dallas Mavericks-The Mavericks fall is maybe even more startling than the Pistons, because it is so abrupt and they never even got to win a title. Two years ago Dallas not only gets in the finals, but is up 2 to nothing, and has a 9 point lead heading into 4th quarter of game 3, and even have a 5 point lead with 3 minutes to play… and then they blow the lead, and then Dirk can tie the game at the line with 2 seconds left and misses the free throw… and POOF! Since then they are 3 and 11 in the playoffs! They lose that game, they lose the next 3 after that and lose the title 4 to 2… the next year the lose in the first round to the 8 seeded Warriors 4 to 2, and now they are down 3 to 1 to the Hornets… AND they got rid of their point guard of the future in Devin Harris for the breaking down Jason Kidd, who was getting just abuse by Chris Paul until Avery Johnson realized maybe Jason Terry should guard Paul… and now they have to blow the whole thing up.
-Phoenix Suns-Unlike the Pistons the Suns never won the title, and unlike the Mavs they never even got to the Finals. Part of this blame goes on the owner, Robert Sarver, for continuously just giving away draft picks that could have been Luol Deng or any number of good players to avoid paying the luxury tax… part of this blame goes at Joe Johnson and Shawn Marion for not being happy with playing for a great team and Steve Nash and wanting to be their own guy on their own team… and part of this goes to Steve Kerr for panicking and trading for Shaq. But the Suns are done, and it’s a shame because they are a fun team to watch and we won’t ever get to see this team make the Finals.
Royals…Just gotta score runs, guys

Misc-Pat Riley quits, again

Misc-Roger Clemens really is causing himself some trouble

Misc-Josh Howard and his big admission

China Thoughts and facts

CHINA. THE US. AND THE OLYMPICS…
-What goes on in China and why is it terrible?
-What they produce for the US and the world…
-EconomyWatch provides the gory details… http://www.economywatch.com/international-economic-relations/us-china-economic-relation.html -
-How they got the Olympics…
---Let’s keep this in mind… When they got the Olympics, they were promising to improve their human rights situation. That’s one of the reasons they got the games, supposedly a carat to dangle in front of China. But now, instead, China is squeezing its fist as tight as it has in years, and even going on the offensive, almost daring Western countries to poke at the Olympics, using its economic standing as its power.-----
-What has gone on since…
-Torch Protests
-Increased hostilities towards Tibetans and Media Control
-Just Today…. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7359190.stm ... First paragraph of the article…The Tibet Daily newspaper said the campaign was to "unify the thinking... of officials and the masses". It goes on to Beijing saying the Dalai Lama is inciting violence… the Dalai Lama! So now China is going to just re-up its daily television and print propaganda.
- In China’s view…. (http://www.chinaview.cn/08olympics/index.htm _
-Country Protests
-USA v China
-Paris v China
-People in Paris protested the torch, like everyone has, and china got extra angry, and “allowed” which means orchestrated, anti-France protests… and France’s response is sending “3 charm ambassadors” to mollify the Chinese. "China's self-confidence is growing even faster than its GDP," said Eberhard Sandschneider, a China expert and director of the research institute at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. "We're entering a new phase in Western-Chinese relations. The Chinese are beginning to use their economic power as a lever."
-The France China relationship is a great example. France imports 5 times as many goods from China than China imports from France. But the goods that France does export to China are major parts of the French economy(The chief executive of Carrefour, José Luis Durán, told the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that China was of "strategic importance" to his company. Carrefour has 112 hypermarkets and more than two million customers in China.) (And the obvious need to be in the Chinese market) So France can’t afford to boycott Chinese goods, or -have China boycott their goods.
-And now the French Business people, like the Moet/Henn/LV guy, is saying stuff like this.. "I understand why the Chinese population could be affected by the attacks against its country," Arnault said in an interview with Le Figaro. "It may be shocking to see what's happening in Tibet, but it's equally shocking to see China being attacked."
-Germany v China
-German chancellor receives Dalai Lama, immediately agrees to scale back its economic relationship with China. And Chancellor says she won’t attend Olympic games…. But Volkswagen is a major sponsor of the games, and Merkel will be visiting china right after the games… hoping to maintain their relationship.
-“Concilliatory Tone” http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3281052,00.html
-Spain v China
-Spain is saying they are full fledged supporting the Olympics…. http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BD09CBE72-B936-4768-9FA4-5D0A29BAD789%7D)&language=EN -Australia v China
-Quote from Australian Chinese student.. We do not wish people to mix politics and the Olympics together," Ms Ma said. "We just want the Olympics to be the opportunity for China to demonstrate its economic progress to the world." http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/for-torchs-friends-and-foes-all-roads-lead-to-canberra/2008/04/21/1208742852777.html
-Coke v China
-Coke is on board for 75-90 million in advertising, and hedging its best as best as ti can… http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2008/04/21/cokeed0421.htmlnations," it says in a recent statement. Coke's attitude is comparable to how some social workers say to deal with a child who's acting out: love the child and ignore the bad behavior.

Political Stuff for Shanin and Parks 4/18

Howard Dean from CNN.com, April 17 at 8:36... An increasingly firm Howard Dean told CNN again Thursday that he needs superdelegates to say who they’re for – and “I need them to say who they’re for starting now.”

“We cannot give up two or three months of active campaigning and healing time,” the Democratic National Committee Chairman told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “We’ve got to know who our nominee is.”
After facing criticism for a mostly hands-off leadership style during much of the primary season, Dean has been steadily raising the rhetorical pressure on superdelegates. He said Thursday that roughly 65 percent of them have made their preference plain, but that more than 300 have yet to make up their minds.

The national party chair, who has remained neutral throughout the primary process, said again it’s his job to make sure both candidates feel they are treated fairly – but not to tell either of them when to end their run.

----This is what I have been saying. The Democrats are cannibalizing right now... and that is especially damaging because of the fact that...

--Hillary can't legitimately win. . Let's look at Slate's calculator for that. (Oh yeah, and Obama just got 6 more, because Mississippi just gave him one and took one from Hillary, and he got extra from the Texas caucus' finally finishing, which actually gave him a Texas victory 51-48, but back to the calculator)...

-Hillary could win EVERY REMAINING contest 60-40, which is impossible, but regardless, if that happened, she is still behind 1642 to 1592 in pledged delegates. Behind in total states, and almost assuredly behind in popular vote.

She can't get ahead. And the prospects of what would happen if the candidate that is leading in all measurable ways somehow doesn't get the nomination is awful. It would almost assuredly split the party, and possibly parts of the country, and hand the White House to John McCain.

Let's actually look at what's more likely.

Hillary will win Pennsylvania. And if she wins 53-47 she will herald it as a great victory, and act as if the campaign is turning around, and if she somehow blows him out, like 58-42, she will act, and it will be reported as if, she's practically in the lead. When in reality, the lead is insurmountable. 65-35. That's the minimum amount Hillary would have to win EVERY remaining state. And like I said, say Hillary "blows out" Obama, 58-42. She would be even further behind. She would then have to win every remaining state 67-33 precisely a 2-1 margin. In a race where she is currently trailing by a 6-5 margin.

This nomination process can't turn around. Barack Obama heading to convention with more pledged delegates and total votes and total states than Hillary Clinton is literally as certain as it is for John McCain.

And because this is the case, Hillary is truly doing a disservice to the Democratic Party. Barack is going to spend 3 million in Pennsylvania this final week. He's taking huge hits, and McCain is just sitting back, raising money, and watching Hillary Clinton steadily tear into Obama.

I do kind of feel for Hillary. I understand why she feels this is her time, and not his. And part of me even feels she could be the better candidate. But that ship has sailed. She can't legitimately win. And if she really believes like she says, that Barack is a better choice than McCain, and that it's is critically important a democrat take the White House, then she's doing an awful thing here. Because the next President can be McCain or Obama, but not her. And it's one thing for the largely ignorant public not to understand this, and something entirely different for her not to acknowledge it.

(and McCain just keeps smiling)
*********

The pope comes to the White House. Pope is honest about the sex abuse stuff, which is good, but that's not what matters. Buried in this piece is this gem,
"Mr Bush, apparently overcome with emotion, leapt from his seat to congratulate his guest, perhaps more informally than protocol allows. The microphones of NBC television picked up his words: “Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech,” Mr Bush said. “We’re gonna sit down for one more song.” "

God I am honestly going to kind of miss Bush. Ever since his approval rating hit like 29, and he decided he was a lame duck anyway, and he wasn't really going to do much or say much and just kind of kick it, I think I forgot how hilarious he can be.

Second time any Pope has ever been to the White House, and Bush hops up right after he finishes talking and drops an "Awesome" on him. That is just classic Bush
******

T Bones Mike Vick promotion... sick

*****
Oklahoma sheriff, top cop in the county, using the women in the prison as sex slaves.

*****

Obvious and tragic.

*****

Bill Ayers, who the guy actually is.
*****

More Olympic ugliness.
*******

Well if you can have a smoking ban, then maybe....

Ten days from the Draft...

So now we are really getting up to the days before the NFL Draft. I felt almost embarassed talking about the Draft back in February and early March because it felt so far away, but even then it seemed like the listeners really were interested in takling about it. And so now, clearly, people are interested in it.

But what talking about the Draft over the past few weeks and months has allowed me to do is certainly refine my position, at least a little bit. My overall stance--that the Chiefs number one priority into the off season is improving the offensive line--hasn't changed. But I now have a more well thought out and specific gameplan.

I will outline, what MUST happen, what I would LIKE to have happen, what COULD happen.

What MUST happen is this-
A)The Chiefs get two (2) starting offensive linemen from this draft.
B)The Chiefs spend their first overall draft pick on an offensive lineman.
C)The Chiefs spend two (2) of their first three (3)draft picks on offensive lineman.

What I would LIKE to happen is this (in order of importance)-
A)The Chiefs draft Jake Long at five (5) if he is available.
B)The Chiefs trade down later in the first round plus an additional second round pick if Jake Long is not available.
A2)IF the Chiefs draft Jake Long, spend your second round draft pick on the best available interior lineman, such as...
B2)IF the Chiefs trade down, spend the first pick they get on the best available O-Lineman, and do the same with their next pick.
C)The Chiefs use their 3rd round draft pick (or 2nd second round pick) if they have traded down and obtained a new one on a cornerback.
--Those are my biggest desires. My additional desires are the following.
d)I had been saying use your 4th round pick on a kick return specialist, but evidently the Chiefs are good with BJ Sams and his tore up knee... So here I am good with the Chiefs taking best available guy at one of their positions of need that are yet to be addressed, whether it be wide receiver, defensive line or safety position (I would include Kicker here, but I don't think there is any chance the Chiefs draft kickers in back to back years.)
e)After that, I don't care what round they draft the following players, but KC (assuming they don't trade down, if they do, add one to this number) has 6 draft picks remaining. 2 fifths, 2 sixths, 2 sevenths. I had believed they should draft a kick/punt returner, a full back, and sign a kicker. Now they've signed a returner and a fullback, and no kicker, so I've probably got it all wrong. But given what they've done, I would say with those 6 remaining picks you get-
-Wide Receiver
-Defensive Lineman
-Offfensive Lineman
-Safety
-Cornerback
-Tightend

If the Chiefs followed this plan, they would end the draft with-
-3 offensive linemen.
-2 cornerbacks
-4 total wide outs, d linemen and safeties (one of each with 2 of one of them)
-1 tightend

And the top of your draft looks like one of these two scenarios.

Round 1-LT
Round 2-OG
Round 3-CB
Round 4-WR/S/DL

or (if you trade down)

Round 1-LT
Round 2-OG
Round 2a-CB
Round 3-WR/S/DL

That, my friends, is my ideal draft.

What I'm afraid COULD happen with the number one pick...
These scenarios all frighten me, in order of most unappealing.

1)KC decides to draft Matt Ryan and throw him in behind this offensive line, therefore ensuring the line won't get much better through the draft, and he gets destroyed and we don't get an idea of what type of player he can be

2)KC decides to draft one of the potentially available defensive lineman, either Glenn Dorsey or Vernon Ghoulston or Chris Long. Once again, this certainly would address a need, but this team wants to see if Brodie Croyle can be the franchise quarterback (I don't think he can, but regardless), the only way you find that out is if you reassemble his offensive line, and if you draft a D Linemen, it's going to be another wasted year in figuring out where Brodie is.

3)KC decides to stay at the 5th pick and draft an Offensive Linemen even though Jake Long is gone and take either Branden Albers or Ryan Clady about 7-10 spots before they should go. This is by far the most tolerable of the three scenarios, but it would still be a shame to have the number 5 overall pick and draft a guy that you could have gotten with the 13th overall pick.

4)KC does take Jake Long at 5, and then thinks their offensive line is fixed, and stays away from any other offensive linemen until late on the second day and possibly even spend a second, third or fourth round pick on another fringe quarterback.

I don't see any other realistic scenarios. They can't draft Darren McFadden, and there's nobody else that this team could take at five. I'm sure Peterson would like to take Talib Kweli, I mean Aqib Talib, to help fill the stands with KU fans, but that ain't gonna happen. So it's either going to be one of my hopeful scenarios, or one of these four.

It's clear at this point what I think. I think this team has to get two starting offensive linemen from this draft--this became essential when KC decided not to go after any free agent offensive linemen.

This draft has enough quality at tackle that whether you get Long at 5 or trade down and get either Ryan Clady, Jeff Otah, Gosder Cherilus or Sam Baker Baker you have your starter. And then with your second round pick you get the best available guard. Keep in mind that in each of the past three drafts there has been only one guard taken before the chiefs will have their second pick. That means you will almost certainly have your choice of one of these two guys--Branden Albert or Chilio Rachal.

KC has wholes at Wideout, D Line, the entire secondary, and very possibly at quarterback. But we can't improve on any part of the offense unless we have a capable offensive line, and we didn't do anything during this offseason, so this is our only path.

Some Thoughts on Saturday Night...

I'll do a whole post on the experience at the Royals game today (Saturday) in a bit, but first some thoughts on the NBA MVP Race and, of course, basketball in Kansas City.

Just some bulletpoints for now, as after I go to the Sonics-Mavs game Sunday night (my first NBA game in 10 years!) I am sure that I will want to expand.

-The MVP has got to be Chris Paul. For a million reasons, but for our purposes I will start and focus on one, and that is he very well may have saved basketball in New Orleans, and completely devastated basketball in Kansas City (and George Shinn, but that's another story).

The attendance necessities to keep basketball in New Orleans is well documented (if you don't know what I'm talking about, listen to my radio show more often and, in the meantime, scroll down a bit for my multiple posts on it).

3/5- 12,430
3/7- 17,225
3/12-16,319
3/14-18,199
3/17-14,337
3/19-17,956
3/22-18,280
4/4- 17,779
4/6- 17,809
4/8- 17,265

TOTAL- 167,599
10 games- average- 16,759.9 ~ 16,760


AS OF APRIL 13- Total Attendance- 483,514 Average Attendance To Date- 14,651... Average over this time span-16,760
AS OF MARCH 4-Total Attendance- 315,915 Average Attendance To Date- 13,735... Average over this time span-16,069
AS OF FEB 9-Total Attendance- 235,568 Average Attendance To Date- 13,087

So what I was worried at the All Star break could happen, has happened. Chris Paul is playing absolutely out of his mind, and is turning an otherwise average Hornets team into one of the top two teams in the West. The Hornets are fun, and they're exciting and they're good, and now after averaging the league's worst attendance, they are selling out 8 of their final 10 games and and going to lock up a playoff spot that will guarantee them home playoff games that will certainly sellout.

I can't overstate enough how this is entirely because of Chris Paul. He's averaging 21-12-4-3 and only 2.5 turnovers, shooting 37% from three and 49% from the line and 85% from the line!
(Random games- 33,15 31,14 March 5th to March 17th-23,18 25,16 37,11 26,17 27,17 14,14, 37,13, He had a 42 point game followed by a 16 assist game. He has 19 15-15 games this year. I would venture to say, the rest of the league combined might have 50. )

Look at his teammates-Tyson Chandler now averages 12 points and shoots 62% from the field, the year before Chris Paul, he averaged 5 points and was a career 50% shooter.

David West was almost out of the league! Now he's an all star averaging 20 points a game. Seriously, David West was getting 5 points a game.

Before this year, Peja's career best 3 point % was one year at 43% and his career average was 40% and this year's he's hitting 45% because his threes all seem to be wide open.

Chris Paul has the best numbers, has one of the 3 very best teams, has turned one disappointing player, one nearly unemployed player, and one player in the twilight of his career into borderline or bonafide all stars, and he has not only resucitated basketball in New Orleans, but he may have saved it completely, and kept it safe for the better part of the next decade.

It's well documented but I will reiterate it here. The Hornets were scheduled to be under their lease until 2011. George Shinn now hates being in New Orleans, and their attendance figures were awful. So (and I know it wasn't reported quite like this, but this is the case) Shinn basically made a bet, a bet that the Hornets attendance would continue to be awful for the next season and a half.

So instead of just waiting until 2011, he reengineered the lease so that if attendance from Dec 1 2007-The final game of the 08-09 season averaged under 14,735 the lease ended right then and there, but if it was at or above that number, it would extend the lease until 2013-14.

And as of the All Star break that looked golden, and even a month and half ago it looked to be in decent shape. But now the Hornets have pulled the overall average attendance up from 13 thousand at the All Star Break, to 14,650--150 beneath the threshhold--and have undoubtedly sold out playoff games ahead of them for as long as they can keep playing. And over the past 2 months the team has been averaging over 16K and over the past month they've been averaging almost 17k.

And then they open next year with all the momentum from this year, and poised to make another playoff run, oh yeah, and they still have Chris Paul. So not only will the Hornets now almost certainly not be coming to Kansas City, but unless something drastically changes in the other direction, they won't be going anywhere... until 2014. Chris Paul could quit basketball, or leave the Hornets, or get injured and never play again, and as long as he plays the rest of this season and the next he may be singlehandedly responsible for keeping hoops in the Big Easy (...) for the extended future. And that is amazing.

So, yeah, that and the fact that he's putting up quite possibly, statistically speaking, the greatest single season in the history of his position, I think that makes him the MVP.

--Now the case for/against the only other 3 candidates-Kobe, KG, LeBron

-Kobe. Statistically speaking at best Kobe's season is comparable to Paul's, and at worst its a degree below. He's averaging 28-5-6-2 with 3 turnovers, 36% from 3, 46% from the field, and 83% from the line. 7 more points, 6 fewer assists, 2 more rebounds, 1 fewer assist, 1 more turnover and a slightly worse percentage from 3, the field, and the line.

Kobe's team is unquestionably more talented, with or without the injuries they've sustained.

Listen, Kobe's season has been great, I'm not knocking it at all, and most other year's it would be the MVP year. But the main argument for Kobe all year has been, "Can you believe this guy hasn't won an MVP before? My god, we almost owe the guy one."

But the problem with that line of thinking is that whenever we give somebody an award based on that, then we basically ensure that we will have to continue doing that down the line. Because then if in 6 years Chris Paul hasn't won one yet, we're going to deny somebody else an award they have earned because of the same logic, and so on and so on.

Kobe is 29, Kobe will get one. Don't worry. But there is no measure by which Kobe has had a better year than Paul. He has, however, had a better year than everybody else in the league.

-LeBron James. Listen, I love LeBron, I think he is the best player in the league when completely motivated. LeBron was supremely motivated at the beginning of this season, and was destroying the leauge and getting about 32-9-8, then the Cavs got basically locked into their playoff spot (4 or 5) and LeBron started semi-coasting (not taking it to the bucket to win games, instead shooting threes... in the first two months of the season LeBron had games like this- 32-15-13, 39-13-14, 37-12-12 and 30-10-11 and 38-4-13 in back to back to back nights-Nov 25) and since then he's kind of been coasting. And I can't really blame him. And listen, LeBron coasting is still good for 30-8-7, and you can bet he will be the best player of anyone participating in the playoffs, but his year can't stack up to Kobe's and Chris Paul's.

-KG. KG was the runaway favorite when the Celtics were 27-3, and since then he's fallen to the back of the 4 man race (even though he almost certainly still will finish ahead of LeBron in the standings). KG is averaging 19-9, with 1 block and is shooting 54% from the field and 80% from the line, and his team has the best record in the league. And obviously, his effect on his team's overall defense, and mentality, and work ethic is almost immeasurable, and in fact, he in some ways has the best argument of anybody against Paul... but at the end KG's non-numbers impact can't offset his numbers, and in a class this strong you can't be 37th in the league in points and 15th in rebounds and beat out these other guys.

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Believe it or not, those were my thoughts before going to the game, I thought those would be some quick bulletpoints, I guess it didn't turn out that way.

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Now seriously, just some bulletpoints on 610 Saturday at the K, more on these tomorrow and Monday.

-What the Royals did with the jersey's and the 6 dollar and ten cent tickets, and the players/managers passing out some of the jerseys, and the sell out, and all of it, was just awesome....

-Unfortunately, the conditions were cold, and the Royals couldn't get on the board, which prevented the event from being just an off the charts success, but the Royals organization and fan relations people can't effect the weather or the team's play, and everything they could effect was pretty awesome....

-The game itself... KC's pitching has been maybe the biggest story in the American League (except for the Tiger's stinking) thus far this season. KC has allowed 31 runs in 11 games! 2.8 runs per game. That is amazing, and absolutely unexpected. Unfortunately, the Royals have only scored 33 runs in that same time span, and 3.0 runs scored a game is almost as bad as 2.8 runs allowed a game is good....

-The Hot Dog Race... the full details....