What's Wright

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2011-05-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

So, if you're visiting this page, it's probably because you're one of the 120+ people who foolishly thought the Celtics would beat the Heat in the playoffs.

You wagered your Twitter avatar until the Heat get knocked out of the playoffs, or until they win the title, which ever comes first.

Here are your photo options.

The self aggrandizing picture of myself.

This delightful picture of my competition.

The Greatest Moment of My Life

Basic Show Promotion

My Personal Favorite

Highly Unlikely and way too early BCS Bowl Guesses...

2010-10-28T22:55:00.003-05:00

Projected conference champions first....

ACC- nc state/FLORIDA ST.* vs VIRGINIA TECH/miami

...NC State or Miami could play in this game, but I think it's probably FSU and Va Tech. *Denotes game winner

Big 12- Oklahoma/Oklahoma St*11-2 vs. Missouri* 12-1

... I think this is the heartbreaker for Missouri, whether it's against Oklahoma or Oklahoma St... but since either way they'll be playing in the Fiesta Bowl I went with Oklahoma St... more on where Missouri will end up in a bit...

Big 10- WISCONSIN*11-1

...Wisconsin isn't losing again, and they'll win the conference, likely outright.

Big East- SYRACUSE

... Yes, I'm a huge homer, but I'm cool with it...

PAC 10- OREGON* 12-0

... If Oregon doesn't lose Saturday, they're not losing at all. They could lose, but this thing gets way too damn confusing if they do.

SEC- South Carolina vs.AUBURN* 12-1

...I think Auburn is going to lose at some point before the SEC title game, but I think they are still going to win the SEC West, and then stomp South Carolina. More on this later as well...

Now that means there will be four at large teams.

Boise St. 12-0

This is a lock. They aren't going to lose and they are going to be receiving some first place votes.

TCU 12-0

This is also a near lock, and it will either be Utah or TCU sitting at 12-0 and in this spot, but I think it'll be TCU.

Now it gets interesting, because after this there are three viable contenders, in my pretend BCS Scenario. Alabama at 10-2, Ohio St. at 11-1, and Missouri at 12-1.

Honest question, when you look at that, who do you you think is getting left out. Exactly, another Cotton Bowl for the Tigers.

National Championship- Oregon v Auburn

Oregon will be a lock, and the Boise contingent will be apoplectic. But if Auburn's only loss is tomorrow against Ole Miss, or possibly even against Alabama final week of the year, they are likely getting in this game, especially if Oregon is the opponent. You think the BCS powers or the pollsters want an All West Coast National Championship? I didn't think so. So that leads us to the remaining bowls.

Remember, Orange gets ACC winner, Rose gets Pac 10 and Big 10, Fiesta gets Big 12, Sugar gets SEC. Because the Rose Bowl loses the #1 team, they will get first selection of remaining teams. Sugar Bowl will get the second and third selections. Orange Bowl gets the fourth and Fiesta gets the 5th.

So, now onto the remaining BCS Games.

Rose Bowl- Wisconsin v Boise St.

The Rose Bowl gets the first pick, and think they jump on Boise, and the idea that this is a "second" national championship game. If Boise's undefeated, and Auburn beats Oregon, there are enough writers that would vote for Boise--still furious they got snubbed in first place--that they would win AP National Title. Also, with Boise's proximity, this game sells out locally and gets a number as big as the National Championship game nationally.

Sugar Bowl- Alabama v Ohio St.

Sugar Bowl has next two picks and these are pretty obvious. Alabama gives them the SEC representation and Ohio St. gives them a huge national following. This will be the game that Missouri fans are wringing their hands over, but, nationally, this is the obvious play.

Fiesta Bowl- Oklahoma St. v TCU

Fiesta Bowl gets stuck with Oklahoma St., but T Boone Pickens bails them out by flying entire student body to the game. TCU fits geographically and is remaining only because the Orange Bowl made the somewhat shocking decision to bypass an undefeated TCU team so they could have this matchup...

Orange Bowl- Florida St. v Syracuse

SYRACUSE! The Orange Bowl selects the Orange relying on their enormous national support, extended/retired fan base in Florida, and the New York television market. Florida St. v Syracuse ends up becoming the BCS matchup ever, and Syracuse becoming the worst team to ever win a BCS bowl game.

And yes, if you just realized this entire, ludicrous and lengthy exercise was simply for the purpose of finding a scenario where Syracuse wins a BCS Bowl Game? Well, you'd be correct.

NFL Power Rankings, Week 6

2010-10-13T16:36:00.000-05:00

NFL Power Rankings

1 Ravens

2 Jets

3 Steelers

4 Saints

5 Patriots

6 Bears

7 Titans

8 Packers

9 Falcons

10 Colts

11 Giants

12-13 Chiefs/Texans

14 Eagles*

15 Redskins

16 Jaguars

17 Dolphins

18 Chargers

19 Bucs

20 Cowboys

21 Broncos

22 Bengals

23 Cardinals

24 Vikings

25 Seahawks

26 Lions

27 Raiders

28 Rams

29 Browns

30 49ers

31 Panthers

32 Bills

Chiefs Projected 53

2010-08-26T13:01:00.003-05:00

Here is my projected 53... After 53 men I list the guys in order of most likely to make the team.

Enjoy.

ABSOLUTELY LOCKS

1- Jamaal Charles
2- Brandon Flowers
3- Eric Berry
4- Tamba Hali
5- Dwayne Bowe
6- Brian Waters
7- Thomas Jones
8- Branden Albert
9- Matt Cassel
10- Chris Chambers
11- Ryan Lilja
12- Brandon Carr
13- Mike Vrabel
14- Glenn Dorsey
15- Dexter McCluster
16- Javier Arenas
17- Derrick Johnson
18- Ryan Succop
19- Dustin Colquitt
20- Ron Edwards
21- Demorrio Williams
22- Kendrick Lewis
23- Leonard Pope
24- Tony Moeaki
25- Tyson Jackson
26- Wallace Gilberry
27- Thomas Gafford
28- Jon Asamoah
29- Cameron Sheffield

NEAR SURE THINGS

30- Rudy Niswanger
31- Casey Weigmann
32- Corey Mays
33- Jon McGraw
34- Ryan O’Callaghan
35- Brodie Croyle
36- Shaun Smith
37- Andy Studebaker
38- Jovan Belcher

LIKELY, BUT NOT CERTAIN

39- Alex McGee
40- Jerheme Urban
41- Colin Brown
42- Maurice Leggett
43- Tyler Palko
44- Barry Richardson

BIG TIME BUBBLE

45- Derek Lokey
46- Tim Castille
47- Quinten Lawrence
48- Donald Washington
49- Reshard Langford
50- Jackie Battle
51- Jeremy Horne
52- Jake O’Connel
53- Ike Ndukwe

POSSIBLE, BUT UNLIKELY

54- Travis Daniels
55- Darryl Harris
56- Javarris Williams
57- Terrance Copper
58- Pierre Walters
59- Mike Cox

HIGHLY UNLIKELY

60- Cody Slate
61- Dajuan Morgan
62- Mike Richardson
63- Bill Stull
64- Lance Long

NO REAL SHOT

65- David Herron
66- Dion Gales
67- Kestahn Moore
68- Bobby Greenwood
69- Garrett Brown
70- Ricky Price
71- Justin Cole
72- Lemuel Jeanpierre
73- Tyler Eastman
74- John Russell
75- Rich Gunnell

FIRST FIVE CUT

76- Leroy Banks
77- Jackie Bates
78- Cory Greenwood
79- Dan Santucci
80- Verran Tucker

NFL Team by Team Salary as of March 15th, 2010

2010-03-16T21:26:00.000-05:00

Cowboys 153
Saints 135
Redskins 134
Raiders 132
Bears 132
Vikings 134
Teams under 130 Million- 5
Packers 126
Colts 124
Eagles 124
Seahawks 122
Jets 120
Teams Under 120 Million- 8
Giants 118
Ravens 117
Falcons 117
Steelers 116
Titans 115
Dolphins 112
Texans 114
Patriots 112
Teams Under 110 Million- 6
49ers 109
Lions 106
Broncos 105
Panthers 104
Chargers 104
Browns 101¬¬
Teams Under 100 Million- 3
Bills 98
Rams 92
Cardinals 91—None to be one of the cheapest owners in sports (Bidwell) and just cut all bait after making Super Bowl run
Teams Under 90 Million- 2
Bengals 85 –Cheapest owner in sports…
Jaguars 81 –Losing money hand over fist, probably going to move
Teams Under 80 Million- 2
Buccaneers 79—Owner has serious debt in foreign soccer teams and won’t spend money
Chiefs 79

My NCAA 2010 Tourny Picks

2010-03-16T21:19:00.002-05:00

Midwest Region
2nd Round
Kansas over UNLV
Michigan St. over Maryland
Georgetown over Tennessee
Ohio St. over Oklahoma St.
4th Round
Kansas over Ohio St.

West Region
2nd Round
Syracuse over Florida St.
Vandy over UTEP
Pitt over Minnesota
K-State over BYU
4th Round
Syracuse over K-State

East Region
2nd Round
Kentucky over Texas
Wisconsin over Temple
Marquette over New Mexico
West Virginia over Missouri
4th Round
Kentucky over West Virginia

South Region
2nd Round
Louisville over Duke
Texas A&M over Purdue
Baylor over Notre Dame
Villanova over Richmond
4th Round
Villanova over Baylor

Championship
Syracuse over Kentucky

My 2010 NCAA Field Projection

2010-03-14T16:09:00.001-05:00

We'll see how this turns out, BUT here's my field of 65.

1s- Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, West Virginia

2s- Duke, Ohio St., Kansas St., Villanova

3s-Wisconsin, Temple, Pitt, G’Town

4s- Purdue, Michigan St., Baylor, New Mexico

5s- Texas A&M, Tennessee, Xavier, Butler

6s- Maryland, Vanderbilt, Gonzaga, BYU

7s- Richmond, Texas, Northern Iowa, Marquette

8s-Notre Dame, Florida St., Oklahoma St., Louisville

9s- California, San Diego St., Old Dominion, Georgia Tech

10s- Missouri, UTEP, UNLV, Siena

11s- Clemson, Washington, Saint Mary’s, Wake Forest

12s-Minnesota, Illinois, Cornell, Mississippi St.

13s- New Mexico St., Sam Houston, Murray St., Houston

14s- Montana, Wofford, Vermont, Oakland

15s- Ohio, UC Santa Barbara, North Texas, Robert Morris

16s- Morgan St., East Tenn St., Lehigh, Winthrop, Arkansas Pine Bluff

2010-02-23T23:04:00.001-06:00

NCAA Tourny Thoughts on Feb 21st

2010-02-21T16:38:00.000-06:00

My new coaches Top 10—
1- Kansas, 2- Kentucky 3- Purdue 4- Syracuse 5- Duke 6- K State 7- West Virginia 8- Villanova 9- Ohio St. 10- Butler 11- Georgetown 12- Michigan St. 13- Gonzaga 14- BYU 15- New Mexico 16- Tennessee 17- Pittsburgh 18- Vandy 19- Temple 20- Wisconsin 21- Texas 22- Northern Iowa 23- Texas A&M 24- Richmond 25- Baylor

Top 16 Seeds Today
*MIDWEST *SOUTH *WEST *EAST
St. Louis Houston Salt Lake City Syracuse
1- Kansas 1- Kentucky 1- Syracuse 1- Purdue
2- West Virginia 2- K State 2- Duke 2- Villanova
3- Ohio St. 3- Butler 3- Georgetown 3- Michigan St.
4- BYU 4- Pittsburgh 4- Gonzaga 4- Tennessee

2009-11-30T11:39:00.001-06:00

NEW NFL POWER RANKINGS - Week 6 Edition

2009-10-18T21:15:00.002-05:00

1- Saints

2- Vikings

3- Colts

4- Patriots

5- Giants

6- Falcons

7- Bears

8- Broncos

9- Bengals

10- Steelers

11- Eagles

12- Cardinals

13- 49ers

14- Ravens

15- Dolphins

16- Packers

17- Texans

18- Chargers

19- Jets

20- Cowboys

21- Panthers

22- Seahawks

23- Jaguars

24- Bills

25- Raiders

26- Chiefs

27- Redskins

28- Lions

29- Browns

30- Titans

31- Bucs

32- Rams

My 2009 NFL Predictions

2009-09-10T08:08:00.002-05:00

1- Patriots 13-3

2- Philly 12-4

3- Steelers 11-5

4- Indy 10-6

5- Chicago 11-5

6- San Diego 12-4

7- New Orleans 10-6

8- Dallas 10-6

9- Carolina 11-5

10- Arizona 10-6

11- Houston 9-7

12- Cincinnati 10-6

13- Green Bay 9-7

14- Tennessee 9-7

15- Giants 8-8

16- Baltimore 9-7

17- Atlanta 8-8

18- Seattle 7-9

19- Miami 8-8

20- San Francisco 7-9

21- Minnesota 8-8

22- Buffalo 7-9

23- Cleveland 7-9

24- Washington 6-10

25- Chiefs 6-10

26- St. Louis 5-11

27- Jets 5-11

28- Jacksonville 5-11

29- Oakland 4-12

30- Tampa Bay 4-12

31- Detroit 3-13

32- Denver 3-13

2008 PLAYOFF TEAMS-
Titans, Steelers, Dolphins, Chargers, Colts, Ravens

Giants, Panthers, Vikings, Cardinals, Falcons, Eagles

Off the top of my head 2009 Playoff teams-
Philly, Dallas, Chicago, New Orleans, Arizona… WILD CARD

New England, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Chargers, Texans, WILD CARD

(My predicted final Wild Cards- Panthers and Bengals)

TEAMS I REALLY LIKE

New England, Philly, Chicago

TEAMS I KINDA LIKE

New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Texans, Carolina

TEAMS THAT GREATLY DISAPPOINT

Minnesota, Tennessee, Baltimore, Atlanta

3 Crazy Predictions
1- Peyton will get hurt
2- By the end of the year, Mike Vick and Philly will be the most dangerous team in the league
3- Cincinnati will be the talk of the league heading into the playoffs, and fall flat on its face

3 Obvious Predictions
1- Patriots will win Super Bowl
2- Denver will be painfully, embarrassingly awful
3- Brett Favre in Minnesota will be tragedy

What's Wright Chiefs Depth Chart 09/01

2009-09-01T20:11:00.003-05:00

Here is my latest iteration of the depth chart, with a twist. Ridicule if you'd like.

QB- Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Matt Guttierez
RB- Larry Johnson, Jamaal Charles, Jackie Battle, Dantrelle Savage
FB- Mike Cox
WR1- Dwayne Bowe, Mark Bradley, Quenten Lawrence
WR2- Bobby Engram, Ashley Lelie, Rodney Wright
TE- Sean Ryan, Brad Cottam, Jake O’Connel
LT- Branden Albert, Herb Taylor
LG- Brian Waters
C- Rudy Niswanger, Andy Alleman
RG- Mike Goff, Wade Smith
RT- Ikechuku Ndukwe, Barry Richardson

RDE- Glenn Dorsey, Alex Magee
NT- Tank Tyler, Ron Edwards
LDE- Tyson Jackson, Wallace Gilberry
ROLB- Tamba Hali, Turk McBride
ILB1- Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams, Jovan Belcher
ILB2- Corey Mays, Monty Beisel
LOLB- Mike Vrabel, Andy Studebaker
CB1- Brandon Flowers, Maurice Leggett, Ricardo Coclough
CB2- Brandon Carr, Travis Daniels
FS- Jarrad Page, Jon McGraw
SS- Bernard Pollard, Mike Brown, Dajuan Morgan

K- Ryan Succop
P- Dustin Colquitt
LS- Thomas Gafford

PUP List- Kolby Smith
IR- Devard Darling

Practice Squad- Colin Brown, Donald Washington, Bobby Greenwood, Darryl Harris, Taurus Johnson, Pierre Walters, Derek Lokey, Jackie Bates

One problem with my depth chart, it’s 54 guys. So one of those guys will not make the team. Likely one of the WRs or DBs.

Chiefs Confidence Chart

2009-08-27T22:19:00.004-05:00

I wrote this on the 26th of August, and I won't edit it. It will look foolish in hindsight, but that's what I thought at the time.

He's all 80 guys on the current roster, in order of confidence that they will be on the 53 man roster.

GUARANTEED 100% LOCKS
1- Matt Cassel - QB
2- Tyson Jackson – DL
3- Branden Albert – OL
4- Brandon Flowers – DB
5- Dwayne Bowe – WR
6- Alex Magee - DL
7- Larry Johnson – RB
8- Brandon Carr – DB
9- Brian Waters – OL
10- Mike Vrabel - LB
11- Jarrad Page – DB
12- Bernard Pollard - DB
13- Dustin Colquitt – P
14- Jamaal Charles – RB
15- Tamba Hali – LB
WOULD BE SHOCKERS IF THEY’RE CUT
16- Tank Tyler – DL
17- Maurice Leggett – DB
18- Glenn Dorsey – DL
19- Corey Mays – LB
20- Ryan Succop – K
21- Mike Cox – FB
22- Derrick Johnson – LB
ALMOST CERTAINLY SAFE
23- Ron Edwards – DL
24- Alfonso Boone – DL
25- Mike Brown – DB
26- Sean Ryan - TE
27- Amani Toomer - WR
28- Andy Studebaker – LB
29- Bobby Engram -WR
30- Turk McBride – LB
31- Barry Richardson – OL
32- Rudy Niswanger – OL
33- Jon McGraw – DB
WOULD BE A LITTLE SURPRISING IF THEY’RE CUT
34- Zach Thomas - LB
35- Brodie Croyle - QB
36- Jackie Battle – RB
37- Mike Goff – OL
38- Monty Beisel – LB
39- Thomas Gafford – LS
40- Ikechuku Ndukwe – OL
41- Andy Alleman – OL
42- Herb Taylor – OL
43- Donald Washington – DB
FROM HERE ON DOWN I REALLY WOULDN’T FEEL SECURE
44- Brad Cottam – TE
45- Mark Bradley – WR
46- Jovan Belcher – LB
47- Matt Guttierez – QB
48- Ricardo Coclough – DB
49- Wade Smith – OL
50- Terrance Copper - WR
THE REAL TOSSUPS
51- Devard Darling – WR
52- Jake O’Connell – TE
53- Dantrell Savage – RB
(The totals at the 53 man cutoff- QB- 3, RB- 4, OL- 9, TE- 3, WR- 6, DL- 6, LB- 9, DB- 9, SP- 3)
JUST MISSED THE CUT
54- Demorrio Williams – LB
55- Quenten Lawrence - WR
56- Colin Brown – OL
57- Rodney Wright – WR
58- Damion Mcintosh – OL
59- Travis Daniels – DB
60- Eric Ghiacuic - OL
61- Tyler Thigpen – QB
62- Tavares Washington - OL
63- Ashley Lelie – WR
64- Pierre Walters – LB
NO REAL SHOT
65- DaJuan Morgan – DB
66- Wallace Gilberry - LB
67- Derek Lokey – DL
68- Darryl Harris – OL
69- Javarris Williams – RB
NEVER HAD A REAL SHOT
70- Ricky Price – DB
71- Tom Crabtree -TE
72- Cameron Goldberg - OL
73- Corey Smith – LB
74- Londen Fryar – DB
75- Bobby Greenwood – DL
76- Dion Gales – DL
77- Jackie Bates – DB
78- Taurus Johnson - WR
79- Jed Collins - FB

*Kolby Smith on PUP List til Week 7

Tyler Thigpen, Game 1

2009-08-17T20:28:00.001-05:00

Here is a full rundown of every pass play that Tyler Thigpen was involved in this past Saturday against the Texans. I think it speaks for itself.

1st play- 2nd and 14- Drop back conventional pass- KNOCKED DOWN
2nd play- 3rd and 14-Shotgun… Immediately runs,almost sacked, throws while running, pass tipped and caught for 6 yards.
3rd play- 1st and 10- Drop back, quick hitch, complete for 6 yards
4th play- 2nd and 4- Shotgun, immediately starts running, never looks down field, gets first down
5th play- 1st and 10- Shotgun, drop back, dump off pass way overthrown, almost intercepted
6th play- 2nd and 10- Shotgun, immediately runs, throws off his back foot across his body to sideline, nice catch and run upfield by Rodney Wright for a first down
7th play- 1st and 10- Shotgun, immediately runs, gets a first down, late hit out of bounds
8th play- 2nd and Goal from the 4- Shotgun, quick hitch thrown off back foot for negative yards
9th play- 3rd and Goal from the 5- Shotgun, drops back, pass batted down, BS Pass Interference gets ball to goal line
10th play- 1st and Goal from the 1- Drops back, starts scrambling… throws blind across his body to Cottam for Touchdown!
11th play- 1st and 10- Shotgun, Drop back pass, tipped at the line, caught for 1 yard
12th play- 2nd and 9- Shotgun, drops back, dumped off, caught for 4 yards
13th play- 3rd and 5- Shotgun, drops back, pass knocked down
14th play- 1st and 10- Shotgun, drops back, pass tipped and almost picked
15th play- 2nd and 10- Shotgun, drops back, immediately runs, picks up 9 yards
16th play- 2nd and 10- Shotgun, Drops back, immediately runs, tries just ridiculous impromptu handoff that almost resulted in a turnover, Chiefs ball
17th play- 3rd and 21- Shotgun, drops back, immediately runs, throws just a complete jump ball to middle of field, tipped and should have been picked
18th play- 4th and 21- Shotgun, drops back, immediately runs, throws pass that could have had Savage killed, and is picked off to end the game.
FINAL TALLY-
18 Pass plays called (not including spike play)
16 in shotgun
Times he ran immediately after the snap- 9
Times he just dropped back and threw conventional pass- 9
Results of those 9 “conventional plays”- 4 completions for 10 yards… 4 balls tipped… 3 near interceptions
7 positive plays, including 1 touchdown
6 plays that could have been turnovers, including 1 interception

Updated Chiefs Depth Chart

2009-08-16T21:20:00.003-05:00

After one preseason game, here's the latest on the 53 man roster-

Locks for a roster spot

QB- Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Matt Guttierez (3)

RB- Larry Johnson, Jamall Charles, Jackie Battle (3)

FB- Mike Cox (1)

TE- Sean Ryan, Brad Cottam (2)

WR- Dwayne Bowe, Terrance Copper, Bobby Engram, Amani Toomer (4)

Offensive Line- Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger, Mike Goff, Damion Macintosh, Herb Taylor, Colin Brown, Eric Ghuicuik, Barry Richardson (9)

22 Locks on Offense

DLine- Tyson Jackson, Alex Magee, Tank Tyler, Ron Edwards, Glenn Dorsey, Alfonso Boone (6)

Line Backers- Mike Vrabel, Zach Thomas, Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali, Andy Studebaker, Corey Mays, Turk McBride (7)

Defensive Backs- Brandon Flowers, Branden Carr, Maurice Leggett, Ricardo Coclough, Donald Washington, Jarrad Page, Bernard Pollard, Mike Brown, Jon McGraw (9)

22 Locks on Defense

Special Teams- Dustin Colquitt, Ryan Succop (2)

2 Locks on Special Teams

46 total locks- 7 spots available…
battling between…

@Wideout- Devard Darling, Mark Bradley, Quenten Lawrence, Rodney Wright
@Running Back- Dantrelle Savage, Kolby Smith (PUP)
@TE- Jake O’Connel, Tom Crabtree
@O Line- Wade Smith, Tavares Washington, Darryl Harris
@DLine- Bobby Greenwood, Dion Gales, Derek Lokey, Wallace Gilberry
@Linebacker- Demorrio Williams, Monty Beisel, Jovan Belcher, Vince Redd
@Defensive back-Londen Fryar, Travis Daniels, DaJuan Morgan
No Shot Guys-Taurus Johnson, Jeff Webb, Cameron Goldberg, Brian De La Puente, Javarris Williams, Corey Smith, Pierre Walters, Jackie Bates, Ricky Price

Definitely one wideout will make it… likely one linebacker will make it… One more offensive and defensive lineman should make it… that leaves 3 extra spots open

Miami Dolphins Fight Song

2009-08-11T04:15:00.001-05:00

Here's the old one.

And here's the new one. Not T-Pain's finest work.

Updated Chiefs Depth Chart

2009-08-10T07:46:00.002-05:00

A week into camp, here's the new and improved Chiefs Depth Chart...

QB- Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Matt Gutierrez
RB- Larry Johnson, Jamal Charles, Jackie Battle… Kolby Smith… javarris williams
FB- Mike Cox
WR- Dwayne Bowe, Amani Toomer, Bobby Engram, Mark Bradley, Rodney Wright…Quenten Lawrence? taurus Johnson,
TE- Sean Ryan, Brad Cottam
OLine Depth Chart- Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger, Mike Goff, Damien Macintosh, Herb Taylor, Eric Ghiaciuc, Colin Brown, Darryl Harris … Barry Richardson?

Special Teams-
K- Ryan Succop*
P- Dustin Colquitt
KR/PR- Rodney Wright, Bobby Engram**, Quenten Lawrence

LDE- Tyson Jackson, Alfonso Boone
NT- Tank Tyler, Ron Edwards
RDE- Glenn Dorsey, Alex Magee

LOLB- Mike Vrabel, Andy Studebaker
ILB- Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams
ILB- Zach Thomas, Monty Beisel
ROLB- Tamba Hali, Turk McBride***

CB1- Brandon Flowers, Maurice Leggett, Donald Washington
CB2- Branden Carr, Ricardo Coclough … travis daniels, londen fryar
FS- Jarrad Page, Dajuan Morgan
SS- Bernard Pollard, Mike Brown

48 Total Players

Video of the Day - August 10th

2009-08-10T07:36:00.001-05:00

Mike Vick probably is going to want to have this one back... He's not doing anything wrong, but this is a knucklehead decision...

Delonte West's KFC Rap

2009-08-05T11:30:00.000-05:00

What's Wright Final Chiefs Depth Chart

2009-07-31T09:57:00.001-05:00

QB—Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Tyler Thigpen, Ingle Martin
LT—Branden Albert, Herb Taylor, Barry Richardson
LDE—Tyson Jackson, Alfonso Boone, Bobby Greenwood
RG—Mike Goff, Darryl Harris, Tavares Washington
ILB1—Zach Thomas, Corey Mays, Weston Dacus
SOLB—Mike Vrabel, Monty Beisel, Andy Studebaker
RB—Larry Johnson, Kolby Smith, Jamal Charles (Kolby and Charles flipping by seasons end)
WR—Bowe, Engram, Bradley, Darling,
LG—Brian Waters, Edwin Harrison, Brian De La Puente
FS—Jarrad Page, DaJuan Morgan, Jon McGraw
CB- Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Travis Daniels, Donald Washington, Maurice Leggett
RT- Damion Macintosh, Colin Brown, Barry Richardson
C—Eric Guycheck, Rudy Niswanger
TE—Brad Cottam, Tony Curtis, Sean Ryan
ILB2- Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams
RDE- Glenn Dorsey, Alex Magee, Alfonso Boone, Dion Gales
NT- Tank Tyler, Alex Magee, Ron Edwards
SS- Mike Brown, Bernard Pollard, DaJuan Morgan
WOLB- Turk McBride, Tamba Hali

Video of the Day July 29

2009-07-29T08:17:00.001-05:00

David Beckham and the KC Wizards Clowns, I mean fans... This is all courtesy of the video blogger Ramsey Mohsen

Video of the Day - July 22nd

2009-07-21T21:57:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the jokes right themselves... Here's "alleged" meth head Jeremy Mayfield, blowing a bunch of stuff up.

Courtesy ESPN2 via Deadspin.

Video of the Day - July 20

2009-07-20T08:22:00.001-05:00

A new PacMan strip club video surfaces...

3 wins or less.... the following season

2009-07-10T08:54:00.000-05:00

’07
Dolpins 1 11 +10*
Rams- 2 3 -1

‘06
Raiders 2 4 +2
Detroit 3 7 +4

‘05
Texans 2 6 +4
Saints 3 10+7*

‘04
49ers 2 4 +2

‘03
----

‘02
Bengals 2 8 +6
Lions 3 5 +2

‘01
Bills 3 8 +5
Panthers 1 7 +6
Lions 2 3 +1

‘00
Browns 3 7 +4
Chargers 1 5 +4
Cardinals 3 7 +4

‘99
Browns 2 3 +1
Saints 3 10+7*

‘98
Colts 3 13+10*
Bengals 3 4 +1
Eagles 3 5 +2

‘97
Colts 3 3 –

‘96
Jets 1 9 +8
Falcons 3 7 +4

‘95
Jets 3 1 -2

‘94
Bengals 3 7 +4
Oilers 2 7 +5
Redskins 3 6 +3

‘93
Bengals 3 3 –

‘92
Patriots 2 5 +3
Seahawks 2 6 +4

Teams that won at least 5 more games-
07-08 Dolphins +10 (11)
05-06 Saints +7 (10)
02-03 Bengals +6 (8)
01-02 Bills +5 (8)
01-02 Panthers +6 (7)
99-00 Saints +7 (10)
98-99 Colts +10 (13)
96-97 Jets +8 (9)
94-95 Oilers +5 (7)

9 of the 30 have won at least 5 more games the following season…
4 of the 30 have gotten to 10+ wins and reached the playoffs.

07-08 Dolphins- New Quarterback—Chad Pennington, New Coach- Jeff Ireleand replacing Cam Cameron, Bill Parcells
05-06 Saints- New Quarterback—Drew Brees replacing Aaron Brooks, New Coach- Sean Peyton replacing Jim Haslett
02-03 Bengals- Dick LeBeau and Joe Kitna... Marvin Lewis and Jon Kitna
01-02 Bills- Gregg Williams and Alex Van Pelt…. Gregg Williams and Drew Bledsoe
01-02 Panthers- George Seifert and Chris Weinke… John Fox and Rodney Peete
99-00 Saints- Mike Ditka and Billy Joe Tolbert and Holliver…Jim Haslett and Jeff Blake
98-99 Colts- Jim Mora and Peyton Manning… Jim Mora and Peyton Manning
96-97 Jets- Rich Kotite and Frank Reich… Bill Parcells and Neil O’Donnell
94-95 Oilers- Jack Pardee and Billy Joe Tolliver…Jeff Fisher and Chris Chandler

Video of the Day - July 9

2009-07-09T08:26:00.000-05:00

In honor of UFC 100...

Rampage Dry Humps Cagepotato Reporter - Watch more Funny Videos

Video of the Day - July 6th

2009-07-06T08:22:00.002-05:00

Spoof on guns... felt appropriate given the subject of the day...

Plus, a remix of one of the greatest online videos ever...

Picture of the Day

2009-07-02T08:34:00.001-05:00

Gotta love the Power and Light Dress Code!

From last night...

The guy from the Drive Thru...

2009-07-01T08:40:00.003-05:00

Videos of the Day - July 1

2009-07-01T08:32:00.002-05:00

Ron Artest giving some personal advice... None of these are safe for work, by the way...

Joe Budden and Brandon Jennings talk... a lot of cursing, a lot of slurs...

Video of the Day - June 30th

2009-06-29T15:19:00.001-05:00

This is brilliant. Just awesome. AI, Jim Mora, Denny Green and Mike Gundy... doesn't get much better.

Video of the Day - June 29th

2009-06-29T08:23:00.002-05:00

Gotta love this... Women's tennis is great, and this makes it better.

Video of the Day - June 24th

2009-06-24T08:46:00.002-05:00

This is awesome. I wish swordfighting could make some type of comeback. Wars would have less casualties and this guy would possibly rule the world.

Video of the Day - June 23rd

2009-06-22T19:33:00.002-05:00

Gotta love a baseball fight... in the stands.

Check out the kid throwing a haymaker around the 10 second mark, then the little girl crying throughout.

Fire Trey Hillman

2009-06-11T21:18:00.003-05:00

OK… So here’s the thing about the Royals right now.

On May 8th, at 6:45, with the Royals sitting at 18 and 11, and in first place by three games… and that day, on Facebook at least, I officially jumped on the Royals bandwagon. Meche and Greinke were starting the next two games, KC was playing very well, the division looked as weak as we all anticipated, and it even felt like they were better than their 18 and 11 record.

At that moment, I would argue, the city was more abuzz with Royals passion, enthusiasm, optimism, as any time in the last 20 years.

Every die hard Royal fan in the city was nearly drunk with giddiness. You couldn’t talk to a true blue Royal fan without them telling you how this year was different, and how Greinke was unlike anyone we had ever seen… and how we really could win this division.

Every semi-interested fan was acting as if they were die hards, and following every game, and excited to go out to the K for the next homestand.

Even the city’s professional pessimists, were begrudgingly coming around, and almost shamed into being excited about this team.

Even Me. I always tried to add my caveat that I just didn’t think this team had the horses to win 80 games, much less the division… but I would add that and then talk about how much fun it was to be a Royals fan—for really the first time of my life.

And you guys yelled at me if I talked about anything other than the Royals. Most of you didn’t even want Chiefs talk.

Think about what the city felt during that time. Think about the way the sports radio shows sounded during that time. Think about how long ago that seems.

That was precisely 35 days ago.

It has taken 35 days. 35 days for this season to all of a sudden feel like every other damn season.

35 days for the year that felt like it was finally happening—or at least starting to happen—to feel almost worse than any of the other recent years… because this included the almost cruel tease of real hope, and for a little bit, what felt like justified hope.

35 days for a team with one of the 6 best records in all of baseball, to have one of the 8 worst.

That can’t happen.

And when it does happen, difficult decisions have to be made.

And here’s the critical part. They’re not always fair. And you can never guarantee that the decision you make will be the right one, but you can do your best.

And for the 2009 Royals, that decision has to be firing Trey Hillman.

When the team was 18 and 11, it sure did feel like if someone else had been managing this team, they couldn’t have had a worse record, and they likely would have a better record if anyone else was managing them.

And when they immediately lost 20 of 25 after that, I don’t know if any manager could have done any better, but I know that no matter who was managing they couldn’t have been worse.

And, you know what, when it’s a critical year for your franchise, and you’re trying to get a fan base and a city to buy back in to your team, and your new stadium… well, when things go unspeakably bad, someone must be held accountable.

And I suppose you could blame this on Dayton Moore or the players… but blaming Dayton Moore is too scary for the long term and short term health of this team (and, by extension, it’s fans)… and you can’t fire the players… So the manager’s next on the list.

And if on top of all that… your manager seems just snake bitten. And defensive. And unproven, and what he has proven hasn’t been all that good. Well, then, fair or not, you fire him.

And, you know what, I think it is fair.

The Royals are a business. And it’s critical for the health of this business that this year not be wasted, on the field or off it.

And right now, just 35 days after this business stock was selling at a near all time high… it’s bottom has dropped out.

But you can salvage it. At least off the field you can. You fire Trey Hillman and offer the job to Frank White and the city is interested once again.

You fire Trey Hillman and maybe the clubhouse gets energized, maybe not. But we know it cannot hurt. And I don’t think there is a person out there that is worried that prematurely firing Trey Hillman is going to be what keeps the Royals out of the World Series.

This is not all Trey Hillman’s fault. Certainly.

And Trey Hillman certainly hasn’t been given all the right pieces. And dealing with injuries to two of his franchise players is something no one wants to deal with. and the transition from Japan to MLB is a really difficult one. And sure, you would like to give a guy more than a season and half.

But sports, like life, aren’t always fair. And George Brett said on these airwaves that a bad manager can only cost you about 5 games—I would argue that Trey Hillman has maybe put that theory to the test, but whatever, we’ll go with it. So if it’s true, 5 games total over a full season… then you know what, there’s minimal risk to installing Frank White as manager. But the upside is tremendous.****

I say this without trying to be unfair to Trey Hillman. I don’t think he’s done a good job, but I could be being too hard on him, I understand that. But, whether he’s technically doing a poor enough job to merit his firing is almost irrelevant.

The Royals need to fire Trey Hillman, whether it’s going to be “with” or “without” cause we can debate about, but it’s ultimately an irrelevant point. Sometimes a job just doesn’t work out, and this just isn’t working out for the Royals and Trey Hillman.

(A few other stories to get to today...
-Three stories that I already want to spend at least 2 minutes on…

Donaghy injured in prison—paint roller attack!—and denied treatment?!? (gambling in prison)…..

Urban Meyer saying he has good kids, despite 24 arrests… well, no, you don’t… (now some arrests are bullshit—maybe even this last one, the kid who resisted arrest ‘without violence’)… it’s very easy to fix—very easy. Hard Consequences….

Ryan Leaf is a wanted man… but what’s more interesting is how lucky he really is that the colts knew what they were doing…his great quote…)

random ramblings on k state athletic situation...

2009-06-10T20:01:00.005-05:00

so these two guys resigning at k state (Jim Epps, Bob Cavello)... new AD John Currie's gotta be like what the truck man?... bob krause is making secret deals, and now this...

i'll be honest... if i'm a kansas fan, i feel pretty great right now in general, but especially in relation to where the two other local schools were in the past few years, and where they will be in the next few...

i don't expect missouri to have a single year as good as either of it's last two seasons anytime in the near future... and in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if when gary pinkel's all done at missouri, we look at 2007 and 2008 as his--by far--best seasons...

ku meanwhile probably feels that they have a true shot at winning the big 12 north this year--probably offended they aren't the favorites--and i'll be honest... if ku were to win the big 12 north, and have a 3rd straight very respectable year, they could start really tipping the missouri/ku/kstate football recruiting battle in their favor...

and in hoops... kansas isn't threatened by the tigers at all... if anything, ku would like missouri to be a consistent tournament team... MU will never--and i mean never--take a significant national recruit from the Jayhawks, and it's always good for KU if other big 12 teams test them in the year... and even if missouri keeps mike anderson, and does Everything right, there still aren't going to be many seasons like 2009 when the tigers are still standing and the jayhawks aren't in the tournament...

so ku--despite mu coming off, arguably, it's best overall sporting season--feels great in regards to their position with the tigers, and if anything, has been helped by missouri's recent success... and then there's k state...

which for a moment looked like could challenge in hoops--huggins, walker, beasley--nope...

and maybe for a moment looked like would do something in football... now in complete disarray...

......

thoughts for tomorrow's show

2009-06-09T20:51:00.003-05:00

sent from my phone, some ramblings to think about before the morning...

* NBA Finals… Brian Busby… 13 seconds into the national anthem we get the beeps… and now instead of being in Nebraska its in Oklahoma…. But hey, where they hell were Katie horner and brian busby yesterday afternoon??? I hear how it’s a damn public safety issue, but not during the soap operas? OK… got it

Royals, Royals, Royals…I turned the game off for 15 minutes, seriously,,, the Royals had just taken a 4 run lead… what the hell, guys?…I guess we will wait until Friday, but it’s getting harder and harder to do… because at this point, it’s probably a foregone conclusion…

Back to the Finals… ????

Van Gundy’s, van gundys, van gundys…. (JVG Stories)… but what is ABC doing?

99 dollar iphone… I think I’m in!!!!

*What was better 10 years ago? Seriously, what sport was better 10 years ago?

Because, honestly, I can’t argue with people when they say things were better 30 or 40 years ago… but how about 10 years ago? Because it would certainly stand to reason, that if they were MUCH better 30 or 40 years ago, they would be a LITTLE better 10 years ago… But, really, what was better 10 years ago?

Football. No way. Football has never been better. Ever. You could argue that no sport in the past 50 years has had a better decade than the NFL. It’s Teflon. It’s the number one sport—with a bullet—and makes more money than any two of the other sports in America.

Basketball. Ummm, no. In 1999 the league was coming off a lockout, and playing one of the worst finals ever—Knicks v Spurs. The league had a few super stars, but they either weren’t ready, or they were in a terrible situation. KG was stuck in Minnesota. AI had no help in Philly. Jason Kidd was wasting away in Phoenix. Kobe wasn’t ready yet. Shaq was Shaq, but he was about to start a dysfunctional relationship with Kobe. Duncan was great, and just starting winning titles, but let’s be honest, Duncan was Duncan.
The league was maybe at it’s all time lowest point in 1999, and it has maybe never been stronger than it is right now.

But what about baseball? You know, it’s funny. In 1999, the Evil Yankees were in the midst of a Dynasty. And we were all still on a steroid high, that wouldn’t be popped for a few more years. To remind you of where we were in baseball at that time, in 1999, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire combined for 128 homeruns, 65 for Big Mac and 63 for Sosa… and we were somehow disappointed.

Where are we now? Yankees haven’t been to a WS in 6 years, and we have gotten WS that included the Rockies, Astros, Tigers, White Sox, that have felt anticlimactic… and steroids now feel like such a bigger part of the game than they ever did then… If you’re a clean superstar, you have to go on the damn cover of Sports Illustrated to make that point.

* Aaron Crow… hmmmmm…. Well, on the bright side, he doesn’t play first or third…

*Jeremy Mayfield doing Meth… or….

welcome, everybody

2009-06-08T20:16:00.004-05:00

To all the new listeners/readers thanks to some links from my friend at thismayconcernyou, and some friends in the local hip hop community, welcome.

I use this site basically as tool for my radio show, and i will send myself (usually rambling) emails, that I will post up here. All my show audio is available in the players on the page, and the interview most of you are looking for is the first one up there.

2009-06-08T20:16:00.001-05:00

A closer look at the moves of Dayton Moore

2009-06-08T09:19:00.001-05:00

random ramblings on the royals sent from my cellphone

so hochevar's up now, and horam has been designated for assignment--(explain what that means)... and yes, it's very nice that luke looked good, and he--amazingly--was the stopper that our guy zack wasn't this weekend...

but that made me think about something, and and you know what, maybe i screwed something up early in the year... maybe when i was complainging about sir sidney ponson, and mocking him for being more over weight than he truly is, and lamenting that it was ponson taking hochevar's spot on the roster...maybe i should have been looking at Ho-Ram.

maybe i shouldn't have so blindly accepted the royals need for a lefty starter, even if the lefty starter was terrible... and maybe i shouldnt have so clearly disregarded the fact that kc gave ramirez away when they were paying him next to nothing, just to give him 1 point 8 million dollars guaranteed this year...

and that made me think about something...

Really it made me think about a lot of things…

First of all, that we all should have known, and maybe some of us did, that right when Luke didn’t start the season with the big club that they weren’t serious about winning right now. They were spinning this yarn—really upping even their best expectations for when Dayton Moore would have this team even close to rebuilt, by at least a year or two on account of the new stadium—and the great start helped them sell that further.

But the fact that Hochevar didn’t start the season with the major league club should have told us an enormous amount….

Then it made me think about the pitching staff in general, and rotation and the bullpen…

And how this year’s bullpen doesn’t at all resemble last year’s bull pen in—in players or results.

Leo Nunez traded for Mike Jacbos… adding about 3 million in extra salary. Jacobs now permanently occupies the DH position.

I ask you this, would you rather have Leo Nunez in your bullpen and Jose Guillen as your DH, with Mark Teahen as your right fielder… or what we have now? No Leo Nunez, Jose Guillen playing right, and 230 hitting Mike Jacobs as your DH? Don’t forget, Jacobs costs 3 million dollars more than Nunez.

And then I started thinking about Ramon Ramirez…. And Coco Crisp. Would I rather have Ramon Ramirez in my bullpen, leave David DeJesus in center and leading off—fresh of the best season of his career—and an extra 5 and a half million dollars in your pocket… or what we have now, a 230 hitting leadoff Coco Crisp, moved DeJesus and coincidence or not having the worst year of his career, and no Ramon Ramirez.

And then I started thinking about the people replacing Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez…. Ostensibly, Farnsworth has replaced Ramirez at 10 times the price about an extra 4 million in payroll… And KC opted to keep the expensive and much older Ron Mahay, while dealing Leo Nunez… once again at about 10 times the price about an extra 4 million dollars

So, if we may, let’s look what this roster—realistically could look at if those moves hadn’t been made, and what type of pay roll flexibility it would give KC… even given a payroll maximum of where they are right now, 70 million bucks.

and this is a theme we are going to address all week long... dayton moore's belief in his ability to construct a bullpen...

kyle farnsworth

horacio ramirez

ramon ramirez 440,000~coco crisp 6,000,000 NET OF 5.4 MILLION

leo nunez 410,000~mike jacobs 3,300,000 NET OF 2.9 MILLION

yy replaced with replacement player NET OF 2.5 MILLION

farnsowrth 4. 2MILLION replaced with ramon ramirez NET OF 3.8 MILLION

horacio ramirez 1.8 MILLION replaced with luke hochevar alread on roster NET OF 1.8 MILLION

5.4

2.9

2.5

3.8

1.8

16 4

25 MAN ROSTER

1B- BILLY BUTLER

2B- ALBERTO CALLASPO

SS- ???

3B- ALEX GORDON

RF- MARK TEAHEN

CF- ???

LF- DAVID DEJESUS

DH- JOSE GUILLEN

C- JOHN BUCK

C- MIGUEL OLIVO

UTI- WILLIE BLOOMQUIST

UTI-KILA KA’AIHUIE

SP- GREINKE

SP- MECHE

SP- DAVIES

SP- HOCHEVAR

SP- BANNISTER

RP- SORIA

RP- CRUZ

RP- RAMON RAMIREZ

RP- NUNEZ

RP- WAECHTER

RP- PONSON

RP- JOHN BALE

RP- ROBINSON TEJEDA

So you are taking these guys off the roster (and payroll)-

Kyle Farnsworth- 4.25 M

Ron Mahay- 4.00 M

Horacio Ramirez- 1.80 M

Coco Crisp- 6.00 M

Mike Jacobs- 3.25 M

Total Savings- 19.3 M

2009-06-02T08:35:00.001-05:00

2009-05-28T15:01:00.001-05:00

Show Stuff for 05-28-09

2009-05-28T08:24:00.001-05:00

The Royals are becoming a very frustrating team to watch… and frustrating is a not so distant cousin of infuriating… and infuriating teams tend to be alienating teams, and that’s a road that us Royals fans don’t want to go down again, as we have been down it far too many times…

But this is a downright frustrating team right now… Even in the wins there are moments—like Billy Butler on the basepaths on Tuesday night—that worry you… and in seemingly all of the losses, one of the three issues that really devastate this team—terrible defense, or the inability to put together any type of consistent offensive production, or a bullpen that can’t hold onto a lead or more accurately keep a game close…

Yes, Kyle Davies allowing the leadoff runner on every single inning and his lack of control beginning in the 5th inning were the major reasons the Royals lost yesterday… but Mark Teahen’s brutal error in the 6th cost this team any chance of making it interesting late… and that was just another example of defense crippling this team… and it feels like when the Royals lose, if it’s not the defense, it’s the absolute anemic offense or it’s the bullpen faltering late… occasionally the starting pitching stinks, but more often than not the starting pitching has been good enough to win, and one of those three things has crippled the team…

And we know that I believe this team is headed in the right direction—2010, et cetera et cetera—but I’m starting to worry about this team for this year (Gordon, Crisp, Soria…)… and now I’m wondering this precise question---

Aside from Zack Greinke, is this team any better, any one bit better—as PRESENTLY CONSTITUTED—than last year’s team? Real Question. Because record wise, the answer would be no.

2009 Royals through 47 games- 23-24
2008 Royals through 47 games- 21-26 (midst of 12 game losing streak, 8games left)

Royals- 23-14 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-9 when scoring fewer than 2 .621

Red Sox- 27-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-1 when scoring fewer than 2 .600

Rangers- 27-15 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-3 when scoring fewer than 2 .642

Tigers- 24-14 when scoring 2+ runs… 1-5 when scoring fewer than 2 .631

Yankees- 26-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-2 when scoring fewer than 2 .590

Blue Jays-27-15 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-7 when scoring fewer than 2 .642

Angels- 22-19 when scoring 2+runs… 1-3 when scoring fewer than 2 .536

Rays- 23-21 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-4 when scoring fewer than 2 .523

Orioles- 20-22 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-4 when scoring fewer than2 .476

Mariners- 19-15 when scoring 2+ runs…2-11 when scoring fewer than 2 .558

A’s- 18-18 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-7 when scoring fewer than 2 .500

Twins- 23-16 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-8 when scoring fewer than 2 .589

White Sox-21-12 when scoring 2+ runs…0-12 when scoring fewer than 2 .637

Indians- 19-19 when scoring 2+ runs… 0-9 when scoring fewer than 2 .500

2009-05-27T14:15:00.001-05:00

2009-05-26T12:19:00.001-05:00

2009-05-22T12:58:00.001-05:00

2009-05-20T13:18:00.001-05:00

A Must Read in the NYTimes

2009-05-16T19:25:00.002-05:00

As you already know if you've heard me talk about Michael Lewis' newest book Panic, I'm really interested in the financial meltdown.

Here's a tremendous article from a New York Times finance reporter about his pending foreclosure. Very long, but you've got to check it out.

2009-05-15T16:50:00.001-05:00

My lineup...

2009-05-15T10:08:00.001-05:00

Against Righties
1- Crisp CF
2- Callaspo 2B
3- Guillen RF
4- Jacobs DH
5- Butler 1B
6- Teahen 3B
7- Olivo/Buck C
8- DeJesus LF
9- Hernandez SS
*Bloomquist on bench and can play 5 positions.

Against lefties
1- Crisp CF
2- Callaspo 2B
3- Guillen DH
4- Olivo C
5- Butler 1B
6- Teahen 3B
7- Bloomquist LF
8- Maier RF
9- Hernandez SS
*Jacobs can pinch hit, and DeJesus can play any of the outfield positions off the bench.

Jacobs cant play against lefties…
DeJesus cant play against lefties..
Willie Bloomquist can’t play against righties…
Olivo catches Greinke, plays against all lefties, and some righties…
Luis Hernandez plays short until TPJ gets healthy, or until Aviles starts absolutely mashing in Triple A…

Rotation following this off day, and from now on Zack pitches every 5th day, without exception-
1- Greinke
2- Meche
3- Davies
4- Hochevar
5- Bannister

Jared Allen's Hat and....

2009-05-15T08:24:00.002-05:00

Just awesome.

Here's the Pro Football Talk article talking about the hat, and Mike Vick, pretty interesting.

And here's how Joakim Noah is spending his offseason. Damnit, I should've practiced harder. That's not a bad life. Link is kinda NSFW.

Longest Losing Streaks by Divisional Winners

2009-05-14T21:47:00.002-05:00

Here's an original stat, I just compiled.

Over the past 5 seasons, here are all the divisional winners, and their longest losing streaks of that season.

Royals losing streak stands at 6.

DIVISION WINNERS

‘08
Rays -7
White Sox -7
Angels -4

Phillies -6
Cubs -6
Dodgers -8*

‘07
Red Sox -4
Indians -4
Angels -6

Phillies -4
Cubs -6
Diamondbacks -5

‘06
Yankees -4
Twins -5
A’s -7

Mets -4
Cardinals -8*
Padres -5

‘05
Yankees -6
White Sox -7
Angels -5

Braves -4
Cardinals -3
Padres -8

‘04
Yankees -4
Twins -5
Angels -5

Braves -3
Cardinals -4
Dodgers -8

Losing Streaks-0- 0
1- 0
2- 0
3- 2
4- 9
5- 6
6- 5
7- 4
8- 4

Average Longest Losing Streak-
5.4

Divisonal Champions with losing streaks of at least 6-
13 of 30. 43%

Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 6-
8 of 30. 27%

Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 7-
4 of 30. 13%

Divisional Champions with losing streaks longer than 8-
0 of 30.

2009-05-14T18:40:00.001-05:00

How about this headline...

2009-05-14T15:21:00.003-05:00

Here's the link.

Here's the headline:

Report: Positive test not for steroids

Classic. The story says this guy was allowed to drive a freaking racecar the day after failing a drug test, and ESPN thinks we are concerned about whether or not a driver was on steroids.

New Audio

2009-05-13T16:26:00.003-05:00

I have a new audio player, it's posted on the right. I will post all new show audio, starting today, in that player.

It will all be through my Podomatic Page, that can be found right here.

Thoughts after watching Zack Greinke go 6-0...

2009-05-04T23:31:00.003-05:00

Here are some things I know about the game last night...

-I know... that was the best atmosphere at a Royals game that I've been at in my adult life.

And I know that people were going to the concession stand when the Royals were hitting, not when Zack was pitching.

-I know... that I've never been happier to be able to watch that game in the stands, as a fan, and as a Kansas Citian...

And I know about 20,000 people that agree with me.

-I know... that the announced attendance was impressive for a Monday night, at over 20,000.

But more importantly I know that the end of game attendance had to be nearly identical to the previous number... because nobody, and I mean nobody, was leaving this game... even though it was clear after about the 6th inning that this game was over.

-I know... that Zack Greinke is pitching as well as is humanly possible.

And I know that the previous statement wasn't an exageration.

-I know... that you don't have to know what VORP is, or who Bill James is, or even be a baseball fan to appreciate what Zach Greinke is doing...

But I also know that if you are a baseball nerd, this is even more impressive.

-I know... that I have been one of biggest, if not loudest, pessimistis about this team... and I know that my reservations at the beginning of the season remain to a large degree...

But more importantly I know that that doesn't matter to me right now, because I am so damn punch drunk about Zack Greinke.

-I know... that the Royals are 15-11 and in first place in the division...

And I know the overriding sentiment is not that they are overachieving, but that they really could be two or three games better...

-I know... that at the beginning of the season, basically everyone just asked for "meaningful baseball" in August and deeper... and now we're asking for so much more...

But that just makes me think of the best line from Zach Greinke's favorite movie... "hope is a good thing."

(For Shawshank fans, here's some more good clips...

The Trailer.

Morgan Freeman at his parole hearing.

The message of hope in the movie. )

Tyson Jackson on WhatsWright Tuesday Morning

2009-04-27T16:42:00.002-05:00

That basically says it right there.

I just finished speaking with the Chiefs number one draft pick, and the number three pick overall, the defensive end out of LSU, Tyson Jackson. I will share that conversation with you tomorrow morning, at 9:35.

Thoughts the Monday after the draft... and the full Chiefs Depth Chart

2009-04-26T17:36:00.004-05:00

First of all, gut reaction to Chiefs draft...

*Rightly or wrongly, this draft will be graded almost exclusively on how Tyson Jackson does, and possibly how Aaron Curry does as well.
*Clearly, Pioli and company feel much more comfortable about this team's overall offensive depth than does the general public. <--Especially in regards to the offensive line and the wide receivers.
*AS I TOLD YOU 3 MONTHS AGO (cowboys note at the draft about DJ letting it slip), this team is moving to a 3-4... clearly Pioli and company believed that the defensive line had to be completely redone, and they did that with the first two picks of the draft (don't worry about Sims, et all.)
*Scott Pioli does not care where a player is rated, not at all. Colin Brown probably was going to go undrafted, the same can be said about Quenten Lawrence, and when he took Donald Washington DJ Moore from Vanderbilt was still available... not necessarily a good or bad thing, just an observation.

-Chiefs depth chart
WR- Bowe, Engram, Bradley, Devard Darling, Jeff Webb, Terrence Copper,
RB- LJ, Kolby, Charles, Javaris Williams, Jackie Battle, Dantrelle Savage
TE- Brad Cottam, Tony Curtis, Sean Ryan, Jed Collins, Jake O'Connel
QB- Matt Cassell, Tyler Thigpen, Brodie Croyle, Ingle Martin
LT- Branden Albert
RT- Damion McIntosh, Herb Taylor, Barry Richardson, Colin Brown
LG- Brian Waters
RG- Mike Goff, Edwin Harrison, Tavares Washington,
C - Rudy Niswanger

DE- Tyson Jackson, Alfonso Boone, TJ Jackson
NT- Tank Tyler, Alex Magee, Ron Edwards,
DE- Glenn Dorsey, Alex Magee, Derek Lokey

OLB- Mike Vrabel, Wallace Gilberry, Andy Studebaker, Darrell Robertson
MLB- Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams, Weston Dacus
MLB- Zach Thomas, Corey Mays, Monty Beisel
OLB- Tamba Hali, Turk McBride, Brian Johnston

CB- Bradon Flowers, Travis Daniels, Maurice Leggett
CB- Brandon Carr, Donald Washington, Ricardo Colclough

SS- Bernard Pollard, Dajuan Morgan
FS- Jarrad Page, Jon McGraw

And as an added bonus, here's what the Royals have done (as far as runs scored) against starting pitchers this season...
*Runs against starters-
2, 2, 0, 1, 0, 3, 4, 4, 2, 6, 2, 5, 1, 2, 2, 5, 1, 1

Position by Position Draft Rankings- CB, ILB, OLB

2009-04-22T18:00:00.003-05:00

CORNERBACKS

1- Vontae Davis. Illinois. Had by far the best combine of any of the corner prospects. Fastest cornerback in the top of the draft. Had a truly outstanding collegiate career- 3yrs, Starts 35 of 36 games, 206 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss, 7 interceptions, 22 pass break ups. His tackles for loss number are stellar for a cornerback. Slowly overtook Malcolm Jenkins as the season went on, and certainly after the combine, as the top corner prospect in this draft. Jenkins could still be drafted higher, but it would be a mistake. Will certainly be a productive player, and has a chance to play in a Pro Bowl. Will not fall out of top twenty, and could be top corner taken overall.

2- Malcolm Jenkins. Oho St. Played four years, beginning as a true freshman, at Oho St. By the beginning of his junior year was widely considered one of the top cornerbacks in the nation. Hasn’t missed a game since his freshman season. Speed is holding him back more than anything. Could project possibly as a better safety than corner, but whoever takes him will certainly be drafting him to be a shutdown corner. Could struggle against true speed wide receivers, should be more competitive the more contact he can create. Certainly will be a top twenty pick and one of the top two taken, potential to go top ten overall.

3- Alphonso Smith. Wake Forest. Was at Wake Forest for five years, and started every game of his red shirt freshman year. By far the most experienced of the elite cornerback prospects in this draft. Very fast, but not very tall or bulky. Could go at the end of the first round or beginning of the second.

Right outside Top 3- Darius Butler. Connecticut
Sleeper- Coye Fancies. San Jose St.

INSIDE LINEBACKER

1- James Laurinaitis. Ohio St. Started day one his true freshman season. Won the Bronko Nagurski Award his sophomore season. Didn’t miss a single game due to injury in his four year career. Is considered a hard worker and a great team leader. Doesn’t have ideal size, but that is only real knock on him. Inside linebacker isn’t particularly deep this year, but the top two guys have potential to be excellent pros. Should go from 18-32.

2- Rey Mauluga. Southern California. Played since his true freshman season. Considered the leader of a USC linebacking corps that will have all three guys go in the first round. Durability is a concern, as he missed a game or two in multiple college seasons thanks to injuries. Has a few character question marks. Sometimes seems to be on his own rather than playing within a scheme. Somewhat difficult to judge because both of his teammates were such elite players. Should go from 12-25.

3- Jason Phillips. Texas Christian. The drop off between the top two guys in this class and Phillips is a major one. Phillips is a likely third or fourth round draft pick, possibly later. He redshirted his freshman season and was a four year starter after that. Very hard worker and excellent leader. Considered equally good against the run and the pass.

Right outside the top 3- Jasper Brinkley. South Carolina. Darry Beckwith. LSU

Potential Sleeper- Dannell Ellerbe. Georgia

OUTSDIE LINEBACKER

1- Aaron Curry. Wake Forest. The consensus number one defensive player in the draft. Will absolutely go top five, likely will go at number three to the Chiefs. Redshirted his freshman year and then was a starter for four seasons and was very productive. Won the Butkus award his senior season as the nation’s top linebacker. Is considered to have excellent character and leadership and an overall great person. Is arguably the top overall player in the draft.

2- Brian Cushing. Southern California. Arguably the best linebacker on a team that will have all three of its linebackers go in the first round. Played since his true freshman season, with the only thing ever really keeping him out of the lineup being injury. Considered a very tough, hard worker. Has excellent instincts. Could go as high as 12th, likely won’t fall out of top 23.

3- Clay Matthews. Southern California. Originally was a walk on at USC. Was not on anyone’s radar until his superb senior season. Never missed a game due to injury despite breaking a thumb in 2007. Has great character and his uncle and his father both had long NFL careers. A very solid all around player, that gets the most out of his ability. Likely a mid to late first round pick..

Right outside the top 3- Paul Kruger. Utah. Clint Sintim. Virginia

Potential Sleeper- Kaluka Maiava. Southern Cal.

Aaron Curry Audio

2009-04-22T12:50:00.001-05:00

My audio posting server is still dealing with virus issues, so for the time being I can't podcast or post audio...

However, the Aaron Curry interview is available online, just go to my work's webpage- 610sports.com.

Talk to you all soon,

Nick

Random Royal Thoughts Before Bed....

2009-04-21T22:57:00.001-05:00

Cleveland 8 Kansas City 7, Royals drop to 7-6

-Well, we were bound to lose a game like this. We are 0-3 in Sidney Ponson starts, which heading into the season any realistic Royals fan new was a possibility, if not a likelihood… What’s a shame is that in those three starts, this was Ponson’s only awful one… he was barely passable on opening day, and downright effective, if not a little lucky, in his previous start...

-But there were some positives… The 8th inning rally was certainly encouraging… and while the Royals once again had a problem with getting guys from the basepaths to home plate, you just can’t believe you are going to ground into double plays like that many more times this year…

-More specifically, we saw Trey Hillman use Kyle Farnsworth effectively! And just the way he must be used.*

-Billy Butler had an excellent all around game… and his at bat in the 8th… coming back from 0-2 to work a walk and really get the rally going…

-Mike Jacobs at the plate… 3-4, nearly the game tying homerun in the 8th…

-Brayan Pena coming thru**

-Alberto Callaspo continuing to hit, and in this game actually getting a very timely hit.

-But I’m not going to take any major issue with the loss… I would set the over under on road divisional wins for Sidney Ponson at the end of the season at 3.5, and I think most of you would be betting the under… so if you know that going in, you can’t be upset when Ponson puts you in a whole, you have runners on base every inning… run into some excellent defense and bad luck… still fight back in the 8th and 9th… and just fall short…

*- Sunk Cost, sunk cost, sunk cost… Got to ignore the price tag… Use him as an effective innings eater, that will be a better than average middle reliever, and could potentially thrive in that role. Don’t let giving Kyle Farnsworth 9+ million dollars be a mistake twice, by continuing to misuse him in some backwards attempt to possibly justify the signing. Just understand that even Dayton Moore is going to have some misses, and this is one of them. It’s peculiar that this miss seemed so obvious beforehand to even the novice observer, but that doesn’t matter… it’s a sunk cost, and you’ve got to move on.

**- Brayan Pena is an asset, and because he is out of options, the Royals have to find a way to keep him on the 25 man roster…If you can work out a trade and get something for him, I suppose that is ok, but Brayan Pena is not a guy that I think would clear waivers…

25 Man until Gordon gets back- Olivo, Buck, Jacobs, Butler, Callaspo, Bloomquist, Teahen, Crisp, DeJesus, Meche, Greinke, Davies, Ponson, Bannister, Soria, Cruz, Farnsworth, Mahay, Wright, Tejeda, Ramirez (12 pitchers assumed)… that’s 21 guys… so Aviles takes a spot, Guillen takes a spot, TPJ, and Brayan Pena takes a spot… and when Gordon gets back, my guess is Aviles might need a little time in Triple A anyway…

Chiefs Potential Trade Partners

2009-04-20T23:01:00.003-05:00

My Potential Chiefs Trade Partners, and the Draft Picks those teams currently have-

Jaguars- 8, 39, 72, 107, 144, 180, 232, 250, 253

Bills- 11, 28, 42, 75, 110, 121, 147, 183, 220

Broncos- 12, 18, 48, 79, 84, 114, 149, 185, 225, 235

Lions- 1, 20, 33, 65, 82, 174, 192, 255

Redskins- 13, 80, 150, 186, 243

Jets- 17, 52, 76, 115, 193, 228

Chiefs- 3, 67, 102, 139, 175, 212, 256

The Top 100 Picks

2009-04-20T22:47:00.003-05:00

Top 100 Picks By Team

Lions- 1, 20, 33, 65, 82

Rams- 2, 35, 66

Chiefs- 3, 67

Seahawks- 4, 37, 68

Browns- 5, 36, 50, 69

Bengals- 6, 38, 70, 98

Raiders- 7, 40, 71

Jaguars- 8, 39, 72

Packers- 9, 41, 73, 93

49ers- 10, 43, 74

Bills- 11, 28, 42, 75

Broncos- 12, 18, 48, 79,

Redskins- 13, 80

Saints- 14

Texans- 15, 46, 77

Chargers- 16, 78

Jets- 17, 52, 76

Bears- 49, 99

Buccaneers- 19, 81

Cowboys- 51, 69, 82

Eagles- 21, 53, 85

Vikings- 22, 54, 86

Patriots- 23, 34, 47, 58, 89, 97

Falcons- 24, 55, 90

Dolphins- 25, 44, 56, 87

Ravens- 26, 57, 88

Colts- 27, 61, 92

Panthers- 59, 93

Giants- 29, 45, 60, 91, 100

Titans- 20, 62, 94

Cardinals- 31, 63, 95

Steelers- 32, 64, 96

FULL FIRST THREE ROUNDS

1(1) Lions ,
2(2) Rams ,
3(3) Chiefs ,
4(4) Seahawks ,
5(5) Browns ,
6(6) Bengals ,
7(7) Raiders ,
8(8) Jaguars ,
9(9) Packers ,
10(10) 49ers ,
11(11) Bills ,
12(12) Broncos ,
13(13) Redskins ,
14(14) Saints ,
15(15) Texans ,
16(16) Chargers ,
17(17) Jets ,
18(18) Broncos (From Bears) ,
19(19) Buccaneers ,
20(20) Lions (From Cowboys) ,
21(21) Eagles ,
22(22) Vikings ,
23(23) Patriots ,
24(24) Falcons ,
25(25) Dolphins ,
26(26) Ravens ,
27(27) Colts ,
28(28) Bills (From Panthers, though Eagles) ,
29(29) Giants ,
30(30) Titans ,
31(31) Cardinals ,
32(32) Steelers ,

1(33) Lions ,
2(34) Patriots (From Chiefs) ,
3(35) Rams ,
4(36) Browns ,
5(37) Seahawks ,
6(38) Bengals ,
7(39) Jaguars ,
8(40) Raiders ,
9(41) Packers ,
10(42) Bills ,
11(43) 49ers ,
12(44) Dolphins (From Redskins) , 13(45) Giants (From Saints) ,
14(46) Texans ,
15(47) Patriots (From Chargers) , 16(48) Broncos ,
17(49) Bears ,
18(50) Browns (From Buccaneers) , 19(51) Cowboys ,
20(52) Jets ,
21(53) Eagles ,
22(54) Vikings ,
23(55) Falcons ,
24(56) Dolphins ,
25(57) Ravens ,
26(58) Patriots ,
27(59) Panthers ,
28(60) Giants ,
29(61) Colts ,
30(62) Titans ,
31(63) Cardinals ,
32(64) Steelers ,

1(65) Lions ,
2(66) Rams ,
3(67) Chiefs ,
4(68) Seahawks ,
5(69) Cowboys (From Browns) ,
6(70) Bengals ,
7(71) Raiders ,
8(72) Jaguars ,
9(73) Packers ,
10(74) 49ers ,
11(75) Bills ,
12(76) Jets (From Saints) ,
13(77) Texans ,
14(78) Chargers ,
15(79) Broncos ,
16(80) Redskins ,
17(81) Buccaneers ,
18(82) Lions (From Cowboys) ,
19(83) Packers (From Jets) ,
20(84) Broncos (From Bears) ,
21(85) Eagles ,
22(86) Vikings ,
23(87) Dolphins ,
24(88) Ravens ,
25(89) Patriots ,
26(90) Falcons ,
27(91) Giants ,
28(92) Colts ,
29(93) Panthers ,
30(94) Titans ,
31(95) Cardinals ,
32(96) Steelers ,
33(97) Patriots (Compensatory selection) ,
34(98) Bengals (Compensatory selection) ,
35(99) Bears (Compensatory selection) ,
36(100) Giants (Compensatory selection) ,

Links for the evening...

2009-04-20T21:29:00.004-05:00

Peter King with his MMQB column, that focuses a good deal on the Chiefs and what Pioli is trying to do with the draft.

Jeff Webb signs his RFA tender offer with the Chiefs. Webb will get just at 1 million bucks.

Demetrius Byrd, a likely late second day draft pick, was in intensive care this morning after a car accident. He is now expected to make a full recovery. And now we know he was on his way to church when the accident occurred.

Add James Laurinaitis to the list of names of guys that Chiefs have brought in and/or had individual interviews.

In fact, here's the a rough mock up of the guys I know for with certainty have either been in to Kansas City or the team has at least individually interviewed:

(Links may require ESPN Insider, and I have included their overall top 150 Ranking, if they have one)

Aaron Curry OLB Penn St. 1

Everette Brown DE FSU 18

Rey Mayualuga OLB USC 24

Larry English DE/OLB Northern Illinois 28

Paul Kruger DE/OLB Utah 36

Connor Barwin DE Cincinnati 47

Jarron Gilbert DE San Jose St. 60

Andre Brown RB NC State 71

Gerald Cadogan OT Penn St. 92

Jasper Brinkley OLB South Carolina 94

DeAndre Levy OLB Wisconsin --

Taurus Johnson WR South Florida --

Lawrence Lovell OG Stony Brook --

Roger Allen OG Missouri Western --

Vince Anderson CB Webber International --

This list doesn't include local guys from the local schools that would always work out for the Chiefs.

Position by Position Draft Rankings- QB, RB, WR

2009-04-20T15:25:00.005-05:00

QUARTERBACKS

1- Matthew Stafford. Georgia. Clear cut number one the moment Sam Bradford announced he would return to Oklahoma. Didn’t exactly dominate his final college season the way some would have hoped, but didn’t do anything to hurt his stock either. At times, with the throws he can make, he looks like a franchise quarterback. He also makes enough mistakes at the collegiate level, that you worry about him at the next level. Should certainly get credit for the fact that he lost his left tackle before taking one snap this season. Also had Knowshon Moreno in the backfield, which is an obvious tremendous advantage. He is almost certainly going to go number one to the Lions, but if for some reason he does not, the Chiefs will be able to use their top pick as very attractive trade bait for a team that didn’t think Stafford would slide past the Lions.

2- Mark Sanchez. USC. Played only one year as a starter at USC. Would probably be the fourth or fifth best quarterback prospect in a strong class. USC Head Coach Pete Carroll vocally criticized his decision to turn pro when he originally announced it, but has since seemed supportive of his NFL prospects. He is a gamble and most likely a bit of a project due to his limited collegiate experience, but in this soft of a quarterback class it would be a surprise to see him slide out of the top 10. If and when Stafford goes number one, if the Seahawks seem to be targeting Sanchez, the Chiefs will once again possibly be able to work out a trade with a team later in the draft that desperately wants a quarterback (possibly the Broncos, Jets, Jaguars, Vikings, to name a few).

3- Josh Freeman. Kansas State. It feels like Freeman would be projected in the same spot whether he played a down of football at K-State or not. He was never consistently impressive in college. However, his workout numbers, overall size, impressive arm strength have all but guaranteed that he would always be a first day draft pick. As it turns out, in this class, he is all but guaranteed to be a first round draft pick. He is likely to go in the late teens, and whoever drafts him is likely to have an enormous project on their hands.

Right outside Top 3- Nate Davis. Ball St.
Sleeper- Rhett Bomar. Sam Houston St.

RUNNING BACKS

1- Knowshon Moreno. Georgia. Has been tremendous in each of his two seasons at Georgia (1300 yards, 14 TDs in ’07, and 1400 yards and 16 TDs in ’08, 498 total carries). The lack of experience, which translates into a seasons fewer hits, is a tremendous asset for a running back. Obviously benefited from playing with a top quarterback with Matthew Stafford, but also was running without his original left tackle all of last season. Gets great grades for competitiveness, leadership and character. Will almost certainly be the first running back taken, but could slide out of the top 10.

2- Donald Brown. Connecticut. Has tremendous potential to have long NFL career. Most likely will be solid but not great back. Played three years at UCONN, somewhat sparingly in ’06, more regularly in ’07, and was a true workhorse in ’08. Had over 2,000 yards on more than 365 carries. Also caught 21 passes. Was UCONN’s only real offense all season. Most services have him projected lower than this. He is likely to be the third running back selected, but could go as high as two or as potentially low as fourth or fifth.

3- Chris Wells. Ohio St. Most services have him as the clear cut number two back in this class. Has not been overworked, and averaged an amazing 5.8 yards per carry in his collegiate career. Caught a total of 15 passes for less than 90 total yards in his entire collegiate career. Some people have questioned his toughness and maturity despite never getting in real trouble. Has been said he takes multiple plays off a game. Great natural gifts. Most likely the second running back selected, would be shocking if he wasn’t taken in the first round.

Right outside Top 3- LeSean McCoy. Pitt
Sleeper- Javon Ringer. Michigan St.

WIDE RECEIVER

1- Michael Crabtree. Texas Tech. A statistically unbelievable collegiate career: 2007- 125 catches, 1800+ yards, 21 TDs, 2008- 93 catches, 1100+ yards, 18 touchdowns. The most complete wide receiver prospect since Larry Fitzgerald. Far and away the top wide receiver in this class. Has arguably the play of the year in college football against Texas. Only knock on him is ankle surgery after the season that has prevented him from working out for teams. Possible judgment/character issues after the arrest of one of his roommates for cocaine distribution charges. Spectacular hands, strength and natural ability. Unlikely to go top 5, almost certainly will go top 10.

2-Jeremy Maclin. Missouri. The best wide receiver/returner combo in the draft. Would be a first round pick as an exclusive returner, or exclusive wide receiver. Was a threat to go the distance every time he touched the ball. Showed amazing explosiveness while at Missouri. Missed entire freshman season after knee injury. Does not seem to be a natural pass catcher. Could possibly be first wide receiver taken, but unlikely. Should go in the 12-18 range.

3- Percy Harvin. Florida. Has the potential to be every bit as good as Maclin. Very similar receiver/returner combo. Was very productive in his college career. NFL teams have severe issue with his characters and say he has a considerable posse attached to him. Just under six feet tall. Exceedingly physically gifted and a very shifty runner. Character questions could potentially knock him out of the first round,

Just out of top 3- Kenny Britt. Rutgers
Potential Sleeper- Mohamed Massaquoi. Georgia

Connor Barwin on the show tomorrow...

2009-04-20T15:02:00.004-05:00

First of all, the reason there hasn't been any show audio posted or changed in a while, is because the site that I post them to currently has a virus, so I haven't updated in a while.

Connor Barwin, the defensive end from Cincinnati, will join me at 10:20 tomorrow morning. The Chiefs will not draft him at number three, and he certainly won't be available at number 67. But, he's about as likely to be drafted by this team as anyone is, if the Chiefs trade down or acquire an additional early pick.

In the spirit of Connor coming on the show, here's my best defensive ends and outside linebackers avaialable. I haven't done much ranking of players overall, just within their position, and I will do more of that this week.

Here's my best ten defensive ends and outside linebackers in the draft-

1- Aaron Curry LB Penn St.
2- Brian Orakpo DE Texas
3- Aaron Maybin DE Penn St.
4- Everette Brown DE Florida St.
5- Tyson Jackson DE LSU
6- Robert Ayers DE Tennessee
7- Brian Cushing OLB USC
8- Connor Barwin DE Cincinnati
9- Clay Matthews OLB USC
10-Larry English DE Northern Illinois
11-Michael Johnson DE Georgia Tech
12-Paul Kruger OLB Utah
13-Clint Sintim OLB Virginia
14-Lawrence Sidbury DE Richmond
15-Kaiuka Maiave OLB USC

Later today I am going to post my full positional rankings, it's lengthy and can also be found at 610 Sports, but it is a position by position breakdown of the top three players for the draft class.

I haven't yet compiled my overall player rankings, and will do that and post that as the week develops.

Congratulations to Kirk for winning the first seat at our draft table, we still have two seats left and will give one away tomorrow.

Mock Draft 1-10

2009-04-19T22:34:00.003-05:00

Here's my preliminary Mock Draft, assuming no trades. I am not assuming there will be no trades... but those are impossible to predict. So here it is, and adjust it accordingly if there are draft day trades.

1- Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia. Detroit Lions

2- Jason Smith, OT, Baylor. St. Louis Rams

3- Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest. Kansas City Chiefs

4- Mark Sanchez, QB, USC. Seattle Seahawks

5- Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech. Cleveland Browns

6- BJ Raji, DT, Boston College. Cincinnati Bengals

7- Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia. Oakland Raiders

8- Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri. Jacksonville Jaguars

9- Brian Orakpo, DE/OLB, Texas. Green Bay Packers

10- Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss San Francisco 49ers

Trey Hillman and the Bullpen... this is becoming a real problem.

2009-04-19T21:39:00.004-05:00

So there seems to be an issue with how the bullpen is being used. This is a problem. It also would seem that the issue with the bullpen is representative of a greater problem with overall consistency and approach.

We'll address each of these individually.

Here is what Trey Hillman said before the game about Joakim Soria.

"We'll get Jack some work somehow," Royals manager Trey Hillman said before Sunday's game.

Well that's peculiar. Because you had a bunch of different opportunities to use Soria, and Hillman opted for exactly zero of them. But the real issues started before Soria was into the picture.

Let's take them in order. Hillman goes to his unquestionable 2nd best reliever, Juan Cruz first--which is fine is you are hoping to go to Soria next--and removes him after getting just two outs so Ron Mahay can go against the left handed Josh Hamilton. Which is fine, I guess. I happen to remember Hillman saying earlier this year that Mahay wasn't a situational lefty--which is something I agree with, by the way--but whatever. So now Mahay is in the game and gets Hamilton out and we are heading to the 8th with a 2 run game.

Keep in mind, Soria hasn't pitched in a week... and the team is off tomorrow... and Hillman has announced that "Jack" is going to get in the game.

And into the 8th we go. Mahay allows the first two men on base and Hillman goes to the pen. The score is 5-3, Royals. He has announced he wants to use Soria... and yet he calls on Jamey Wright. Kind of questionable, but Wright had pitched more innings than anyone in the pen and hadn't allowed a run.

So Wright is in the game, 5-3, bottom of the 8th, men on first and third, nobody out.

He get's a groundout, Andruw Jones scores. 5-4, bottom of the 8th, man on 2nd, one out.

No Soria.

David Murphy flyout. 5-4, bottom of the 8th, man on 2nd, two out.

No Soria.

Infield single and error by Jacobs, Hank Blaylock scores from 2nd. 5-5, bottom of the 8th, man on 1st, two out.

No Soria.

Single. 5-5, bottom of the 8th, men on 1st and 2nd, two out.

No Soria.

Fly out End of inning.

OK... so Trey Hillman had precisely five opportunities to use Soria. Any of the five would have made sense, a couple of the five, it was shocking he didn't go to Soria. But five times, Trey Hillman left his team's best player, possibly the league's best closer, on the bench, in a game that he said beforehand he wanted to get Soria involved in some how.

And then, just unbelievably, does the one thing that could almost ensure that Soria might not get in the game, and that the Royals would not bat again, he throws in Kyle Farnsworth.

And, of course, Farnsworth just gives up an absolute bomb on his second pitch. Game over. Royals lose 6-5. Drop to 7-5 on the year, in a three-way tie in the Central.

*****

I talk about consistency, and I think it's important. I think that a team that isn't going to overpower it's opponents must have a strategy, and a gameplan, and be very consistent in its approach from game to game, series to series, and week to week.

I don't like the lack of consistency that I see in some of the defensive substitutions that we will discuss in a little bit. I don't happen to think Ron Mahay is a situational lefty. But it doesn't matter if he is or isn't, what matters is that Trey Hillman decide what he believes he is and sticks with it. You can't say that Mahay didn't pitch to Thome in the first game of the season because he isn't a situational lefty, and then pull Cruz after he's gotten two outs because Hamilton, a lefty, is coming up.

You can't openly discuss how you obviously want to get Soria in the game somehow, and then--for one perplexing reason or another--just leave him on the bench.

And you certainly can't call out players by name--DeJesus, Callaspo, Jacobs--for defensive errors, seemingly defending your bullpen decisions.

Does it bother me that Hillman doesn't seem to understand that Cruz is his best reliever other than Soria, and that when everyone's rested you ideally want to go Cruz-Soria, or Mahay-Cruz-Soria, or even Wright-Mahay-Cruz-Soria? Yeah it does. Does it bother me that Farnsworth has not been relegated to pitching in mop up duty? Sure.

Is there a bit of a reaction that makes you want to blame Dayton Moore for giving Farnsworth all the money he did, and for not truly have a real situational lefty? Of course there is, and it's fair.

But the lack of consistency is much more bothersome, than any individual decision, or by the mistakes by Dayton Moore. Hillman seems to right now be contending for the Triple Crown in poor managing-- He isn't consistent with his decisions or strategy; he regularly would seem to go with his gut--and be wrong; and he's starting to call out some of his players by name to the media.

****

Fielding issues- I suppose there could be a debate at this point that it makes sense to start Jacobs over Butler at first, if they are both going to be playing, as they were on Sunday. I would opt for Butler, as would the majority of Royals fans, I think, but we don't even need to focus on that.

How about the defensive substiution in the 7th? I completely support Tony Pena, Jr. coming into the game at that point, but don't you have to ask yourself who the real defensive weakness is? Is it Aviles, or is it Jacobs?

Would you rather have an infield of Jacobs, Callaspo, TPJ, Teahen... or an infield of Teahen, Callaspo, TPJ, Aviles? I know what I would rather have. And this is not because Jacobs made an error. This is because one of the reasons Teahen gets a roster spot is because he lets you be versatile with your substitutions, and this was one of those opportunities.

This is about the Chiefs and really good, you should read it...

2009-04-16T16:19:00.004-05:00

Well, that was one of the more superbly dull yet weirdly memorable events I have ever attended.

We learned very little. The Chiefs have the third pick, as Pioli reminded us again and again. They listen to any team that wants to talk. Don't be surprised if after using the third overall pick they have another pick before number 67. Players can't ask their way out of Kansas City. It's important to have consistent drafts. This is a fun time of year. They've been working long hours. Scott and Todd worked together long ago. Haley's father was a coach.

That is basically what was said, over the course of an hour.

But, being, I will never forget.

It was stunning how measured, almost political, and deferential Pioli was in his responses throughout the entire press conference. With one glaring exception--when asked about the players that have asked out of town. And both, how he was for 95% of the presser, and how he was for that select answer, tell us so much.

Here's what we know from the first 95%. Scott Pioli is very sure of himself. He's talented, hard working, very wealthy and prominent, doing what he absolutely loves... and he is clearly aware of all of that. And it is also clear that he knows what he is going to say before any questions have been asked, but he's seemingly a nice guy and really well spoken, and hey, who doesn't like the smart, successful, hard working guy?

So basically, Pioli is not that interested in giving the media any real information--which for the record is perfectly fine*** And one could argue, that he's doing it for the fans. You could say he knows what the fans really want is a winner, and any distraction, or anything off message, or anything out of house slows that process down.

But what that also means is...

The rare times he seems to go off message, or show any emotion--happiness, anger, frustration, whatever--it is going to be almost always intentional, and always meaningful.

So, when he responded the way he did to the questions about the players wanting out, and then how he responded to my follow up question, we learned a tremendous amount.

Or maybe more accurately, it just further verified what we already knew.

Pioli values production. And he views nearly any and all team news that doesn't eminate from his office or the field as non-productive behavior. I don't get the impression Pioli cares much about anything but production, and preventing distractions.

And as far as how he regards his players... well, they're commodities and, while under contract, strict property of the team. And as we've established earlier, the team is all that matters, individual player requests or demands or general happiness will be ignored and often times punished.

And once again, that is fine. Pioli could once again just believe that everyone is happier and does better when a team is winning Super Bowls, and anything that slows that down is counterproductive.

So this isn't a criticism at all. It's just an acknowledgment of who he is, and when we know who someone is and a little more about why they do what they do, we can much better evaluate and understand them.

----

And then there's Haley. He looks like the sarcastic kid in the back of the class, and did especially with his leather jacket. But maybe more importantly, he clearly looks up to Pioli. This is probably part of the reason Pioli hired him, but that is for another day.

The problem with Haley looking up to Pioli so much is that he's already mimicking some of his behavior, especially the way he carries himself with confidence and accomplishment and certainty. Except two problems--one, is he also adds a bit of a jackass quality to it that Pioli deftly leaves out, and the other, he is yet to really accomplish anything, while Pioli has won three Super Bowls.

And that also, verifies what we already knew about Haley. The guy's at best a hothead, and at worst an out and out jerk. Once again, if you're effective it's fine, but I don't see how being an ass can help productivity.

This press conference helped me much better understand the whole Jason Whitlock/Brian Waters/Scott Pioli/Todd Haley fiasco of a few months back.

I was so confused as to why a guy as calculating as Pioli would intentionally enrage a well intentioned Brian Waters. Well now, it makes a little more sense... (I'm not going to type why, you've got to listen to the show tomorrow. If you're reading this after the show, the audio is posted on your right)

My old post on the Chiefs draft history...

2009-04-15T09:36:00.002-05:00

Here's the link to my posting from last December.

Links while watching the Royals game...

2009-04-14T21:01:00.002-05:00

Here's the full Chiefs schedule. I try not to get too worked up about the schedule before the season. But for what it's worth, there it is.

Here's some of the nationally televised games.

No talks yet between Chiefs and Falcons about Gonzalez. I am going on the record now saying I will be shocked if this deal ever materializes.

Will Franklin found a home.... in Detroit.

Jeremy Maclin not invited to the Draft. But he's cool with it.

Lawrence Phillips being, well, Lawrence Phillips.

Updated Audio from 04-14

2009-04-14T11:56:00.006-05:00

So, the show from today is in the player on the right.

Hour number one focuses on how the Royals can actually be competitive this year, and what their strategy must be for that to be a realistic goal (you can read more about my thoughts on this a few posts below this one). We also talk about Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich coming back to KU for their senior and junior season, and what it means for KU's 2009 changes.

Hour number two starts off with 15 minutes with Ryan Lefevbre, our weekly Royals insider, and ends with some Chiefs talk surrounding the signing of Zach Thomas, cutting of Will Franklin and the upcoming draft.

Some links over breakfast...

2009-04-13T22:55:00.004-05:00

As first reported locally by 610 SportsRadio, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich will be back next year. This means they are going to have to get rid of people (read: make Brady and...? pay for their scholarship) if all their suddenly available stellar recruits come in.

Alvin Keels, LJ's old agent, and a guy I know firsthand to be completely clueless, doesn't know he's fired. Just what Andre Smith needs, more controversy. But mark my words, this kid is going to be a beast.

Chiefs make it official with Zach Thomas... and release Will Franklin??? Kansas City hasn't released anyone that hadn't gotten in trouble. What gives with Franklin?

It's looking more and more like the Lions are going to draft Matthew Stafford. This will make it much more difficult for the Chiefs to trade out of the third pick in the draft.

Another NFL player is tasered. But the NBA has the thugs, right?

So, I guess there is something we should talk about...

2009-04-13T19:24:00.006-05:00

OK... so I am no longer doing the night show on 610 SportsRadio here in Kansas City.

This is bittersweet. It's bitter because I cannot explain how much I enjoyed doing that show, and I know there are some people that listen at night, that can't listen during the day.

But it's sweet because I am now doing the 9am-11am show on 610 SportsRadio here in Kansas City. And that is freaking awesome.

With this said, I have some commitments to make to those of you that frequent this blog.

First of all, I will post all of my shows, segment by segment, in the audio player on the right following every show. If any of you are technologically inclined, and want to show me how I can post the audio so it can be downloaded in addition to already being listenable, please let me know via email.

Second of all, I will be blogging twice a day, five days a week. Once, sometime in the afternoon, and that will include some links or thoughts or really whatever. And once sometime at night, usually while I am watching the Royals game.

Third of all, I would like to make the comments section, well, actually a comments secion. I'm not sure how to do that, but if you read something, please feel free to post your thoughts.

I'm excited, I hope you guys are too.

-Nick

How can this Royals team win? A week into the season...

2009-04-13T19:23:00.004-05:00

I am watching this team and thinking, damnit, what is our direction? What is our identity?

Let's be honest and ask ourselves where is this team right now?

Can the Royals beat people by outscoring them? Right now, absolutely not. Can the Royals beat people with solid pitching and above average defense? At least two, maybe three out of every five nights, yes they can.

Now, that could mean very little, as the season is only a week old. But, for those who truly think this team could make the playoffs this year... this is tremendously important.

Even the most optimistic of Royal fans understand that this team must do at least one of these two things early in the season to have a chance at truly competing-
1- Start off very strong, and be above .500 after the first and second months.
2- Start off somewhat mediocre, but be clearly developing a consistent way to win, and learning throughout the early season how to do exactly that with the players you have.

So, the Royals gotta figure out which of those two things they can do, and how the hell they can do it.

I don't think there's any realistic reason to believe, even after one week, that Kansas City is going be one of those teams in the first category, that start off the season hot. Regardless of currrent record, let's be honest about what this team has shown us-

*They have a tremendously difficult time scoring runs, no matter which seemingly random lineup Trey Hillman puts together.
*They are yet to win a game thanks to good hitting, and you could argue that both of their losses to the Yankees were due to poor hitting.

In my opinion, it is unrealistic to believe right now that this team can--anytime in the near or distant future--outslug people this year. It just won't happen.

But what do we also know about this team that fits well into category two-

*Greinke is going to be superb this year, and with solid defense like TPJ supplied last night, and a legit second basemen can provide, he is going to win more than 16 games this year--even if this team only wins 75.
*Meche and Davies have given as much of an indication as they possibly can that they are on track for good or very good years, and, once again, with solid defense will give you a great chance to win.
*You have a bullpen, that with one glaring exception, has been absolutley nails. And a closer, that officially, more than any other closer in all of baseball, ends the game as soon as you record your 24th out.

To me what this says is the following-

With this roster, the only conceivable way this team can be in a position to contend for this division is if they just manage to stay afloat the first 40 days of the season, while establishing an identity.

It's one thing for Trey Hillman to be shuffling the lineup around with a specific goal in mind, as opposed to what many perceive he is doing now which is just saying, "OK, based on gut and feel and...", and seeing what sticks. It's one thing to manage that way in individual playoff games, it's an entirely different thing when you are trying to develop a strategy for the season.

For example, with the current injuries, wouldn't a lineup of-

Butler at first
Callaspo at second
TPJ at short
Aviles at third
Teahen in right
Crisp in center
DeJesus in left
Jacobs DH
Olivo catching

be the best lineup to play the type of baseball this team needs to be learning to play if they are going to be consistent winners?

When Guillen is healthy you let him DH or give one of the corner outfielders a break, and you do that until you trade him*. When Gordon is healthy (and let's be honest, maybe Alex needs a few games at Triple A just to "make sure his hip feels alright"), you put him back at third and find the best place for Aviles.

As far as Butler at first base, you cannot convince--not after being down in Surprise for 10 days--that Mike Jacobs is a markedly better defensive first basemen than Billy Butler. And since one is not head and shoulders better than the other, the tie must go to the young guy! It's baffling to me that Billy Butler has started one game at first this year, and he did a very nice job in it.

And in the short term, you get a good look at TPJ and Callaspo before you have to put Guillen back on the roster and possibly DFA one of them and possibly lose them (as KC knows if they DFA Brayan Pena he will be almost certainly acquired.)

*Trading Guillen- This is a no-brainer. You really believe Teahen is a legit offensive player, so let him play a position he knows how to play and leave him alone for goodness sakes. Guillen has cost the Royals nothing. Yes, it would have been nice if they could have gotten Torii Hunter instead, but in reality they should be happy they didn't get Andruw Jones. Guillen has cost nothing but David Glass' money, and who cares about that. Because you signed him you now have a tradeable asset, so use it when he gets healthy, and after he has his usual crazy hot week or so.

--

So that's what you do. You say three of the five days of the week we are going to try to pitch great, play great defense, and scratch across a few runs. One day a week when one of these two bums are pitching you play your power lineup, and one day a week you hope like hell, and bide your time until (hopefully) Hochevar or Bannister replace one of the two bums and you only have one real bum on your staff. And when you just have one bum on your roster, that's the day you play Guillen and Jacobs and Butler and Aviles and Teahen and Gordon and try to outscore your opponent.

Now let me reiterate this: I don't know if this is the best course of action for the longterm health of the Royals. But if you believe this team can actually compete this year, than this is the only truly viable course of action.

Royals Opening Day

2009-04-08T13:35:00.001-05:00

I have posted the audio from my show after the Royals opener against the White Sox. All 9 segments are up. We will have a major blog announcement this weekend, and a new daily blog schedule, so stay tuned.

WHATSWRIGHT EXCLUSIVE-- CONTRACT REACHED BETWEEN IRONWORKERS AND BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

2009-03-26T16:22:00.002-05:00

WHATSWRIGHT EXCLUSIVE-BREAKING NEWS-

At 4:19pm today, Thursday, March 26th, the President of the Kansas City AFL CIO, Brigette Williams, confirmed to me that the Builders Association and Ironworkers Union, Local 10, have reached a tentative 4-year contract agreement.

This leaves just the Carpenters Union at the bargaining table with the Builders Assocation.

-Nick Wright

Audio finally updated

2009-03-26T15:16:00.002-05:00

Up on the site now is the full show on the possible strike that could effect the completion of the Truman Sports Complex, my full rant on Jason Whitlock and reaction to the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Also is the somber segments about the quadruple murder in Raytown.

Picks for tonight-

UConn minus the points

Memphis minus the points

Villanova plus the points

(Not touching Pitt Xavier)

Talk to you soon.

My NCAAPicks

2009-03-19T12:11:00.002-05:00

My full bracket is available on Facebook and a bunch of other places, but here's my selections.

Round of 32

Lousiville over Ohio St.

Wake over Utah

West Virginia over North Dakota St.

Michigan St. over BC

UCONN over Texas A&M

Purdue over Washington

Missouri over Utah St.

Memphis over Maryland

Pitt over Oklahoma St.

Florida St. over Portland St.

Villanova over UCLA

Texas over Duke

UNC over Butler

Gonzaga over Illinois

Syracuse over Arizona St.

Oklahoma over Michigan

Sweet 16

Louisville over Wake

West Virginia over Michigan St.

UCONN over Purdue

Memphis over Missouri

Pitt over Florida St.

Villanova over Texas

UNC over Gonzaga

Syracuse over Oklahoma

Elite 8

Louisville over West Virginia

Memphis over UCONN

Villanova over Pittsburgh

Syracuse over North Carolina

Final Four

Louisville over Memphis

Syracuse over Villanova

Championship Game

Louisville over Syracuse

Live from Surprise #3

2009-03-19T01:16:00.000-05:00

Today was an interesting day in Surprise. Zach Greinke was on the mound, and the home crowd at Surprise Stadium was clearly anticipating a dominating performance from Zach… and for the first two innings they got it. And then, after that, it all went to hell. Zach pitched terribly in innings 3, 4, 5 and 6, before being mercifully removed from the game. To Zach’s credit, he was his usual honest, self-effacing self. In his postgame press conference, which should be available now on 610sports.com in the Spring Training Central section, he talked about how bad he was and how even though the numbers were bad, it looked even worse. He also complimented the outfielders for not being exhausted running to the wall for all the homeruns. So, I guess the story is Zach didn’t pitch well, for the third time in five games. But to me, the story was how Zach reacted.

He was so nonchalant after the game, it was startling. And I mean that in a good way. Zach is clearly confident in his ability. And he is confident in his place on this team. And because of that, even though this Spring hasn’t gone well, he’s perfectly confident that he’s going to be okay, and that he is going to get it straightened out.

After Zach left the game, Robinson Tejeda came in and simply had no control of his pitches. And after the game, Trey Hillman didn’t mince words about Tejeda. (That audio should also be up on Spring Training Central.) He talked about how good Tejeda’s stuff can be, but that it isn’t any good to have good stuff, if you don’t have any control.

Offensively speaking, Mark Teahen hit his 5th homerun of the spring, and his 4th homerun in three games. And Teahen looked pretty comfortable at second base. Well, more accurately, he looked as comfortable as he has yet. Teahen is trying to make it tough on Trey Hillman and this coaching staff to keep him out of the lineup. Unfortunately, he does not seem to have a position as of now.

Royals are off all day tomorrow, and then back at it with another night game on Friday from Surprise. Until Thursday night, enjoy your NCAA Tournament!

Live from Surprise #2

2009-03-18T14:56:00.002-05:00

Royals have a late game today, 8:05 Central, so I get to watch them work out, take ground balls and batting practice during the afternoon, before you all get to listen to them play tonight.

There has been some news out of Surprise today. Jimmy Gobble has been given his unconditional release. This should be a surprise to approximately no one. Gobble was a lefty-lefty specialist and he wasn't particularly effective against lefties, and he was dreadful against righties.

Also, yesterday the Royals signed Sidney Ponson. I will be shocked if Ponson helps the Royals this year, and if he does, it certainly won't be good news for this team.

Past that, I am excited to watch Greinke pitch tonight, and I will be blogging later today about tonight's game and about what I have seen during workouts.

Oh yeah, it's sunny and 90 degrees, which isn't too bad.

Talk to you soon.

Live from Surprise Arizona

2009-03-17T20:58:00.001-05:00

From Monday, March 16th-

Beautiful day today in Surprise, and the forecast is for it to only get better. The Royals are playing the White Sox in Glendale, so it's an away game, but only about twenty minutes from the Royals facilities at Surprise.

I got to the ball park around 11am and started watching Alex Gordon take ground balls from Frank White. Gordon didn't miss a single one. Now practice is very different from live action, but he looked sharp and relaxed at the same time. I got to talk to Alex after the game, the audio is here on the site at Royals Spring Training Central, and it's clear to me that he has taken improving his fielding very seriously this offseason. Also, even though Mark Teahen didn't play 2nd base at all during the game, during pregame, he was right on the bag, taking all of Alex throws.

I also saw Peter Gammons chatting with Trey Hillman for the better part of a half hour. Peter Gammons doesn't have a bad gig. He just shows up to whichever Spring Training suits him, and chats with managers and players, and, in all honesty, the managers and the players seem to be the ones enjoying it the most! I got to talk to Peter for a few minutes, that audio is also available, and he talked about how if the Royals starting pitching can hold up (a big 'if' in my opinion) this team can be very good. He also said that the AL Central is wide open and that it is good for baseball as a whole when smaller market teams such as the Royals do well.

Now on to the actual game itself.

Gil Meche looked very sharp for the first three innings, even having an 8 pitch 1-2-3 2nd inning. But in the 4th, as he and Trey Hillman said after the game, Gil started 'screwing around' with his changeup when he didn't need to and Chicago knocked him around a bit. After the game Gil said he needed the next few weeks to be fully ready for the season, but he would be ready and he felt pretty good. He looked and pitched pretty good as well. While the number might not say it, Gil Meche looked very solid at there today.

For the Royals offensively, it was a great game. 11 runs on 14 hits, 7 runs in the first four innings off of Bartolo Colon and Mark Buerhle. So, obviously, the entire team played well. But the true offensive star was Mark Teahen. Mark was playing a corner outfield spot and went 3-3, with a walk, a home run, a double, and four runs scored. Teahen was excellent, and he was coming off a game where he hit two homeruns this weekend.

Also, the Royals as a whole had excellent plate discipline throughout the day, which, I believe, is a testament to the work Kevin Sietzer is doing. Still some questions at second base, as Alberto Callaspo got the start today and didn't play great, and I still have my questions about Kyle Farnsworth, even though he pitched well today. All in all, a good day of baseball from Surprise, via Glendale.

WhatsWright Tournament Challenge!

2009-03-17T11:24:00.000-05:00

If you want to join my Bracket Challenge--prize TBD--then go to sports.yahoo.com and here is the info:
Group Name: WhatsWright
Group Password: Nick

Good Luck!

Your 65 Team Field... Before it is officially anounced

2009-03-14T19:41:00.004-05:00

HERE'S MY 65 TEAM FIELD. EXPLANATION BELOW

1s- NORTH CAROLINA LOUISVILLE PITTSBURGH MEMPHIS
2s- UCONN DUKE MICHIGAN ST. OKLAHOMA
3s- WAKE FOREST MISSOURI VILLANOVA KANSAS
4s- GONZAGA WASHINGTON SYRACUSE FLORIDA ST.
5s- UCLA LSU ARIZONA ST. PURDUE
6s- WEST VIRGINIA XAVIER TENNESSEE ILLINOIS
7s- MARQUETTE CLEMSON OHIO ST. BUTLER
8s- OKLAHOMA ST. CALIFORNIA BYU UTAH
9s- DAYTON TEXAS BOSTON COLLEGE TEXAS A&M
10s-UTAH ST. SIENA MICHIGAN WISCONSIN
11s-SAN DIEGO ST. USC MINNESOTA CREIGHTON
12s-ST. MARY'S TEMPLE NORTHERN IOWA CLEVELAND ST.
13s-VCU WESTERN KENTUCKY MAC CHAMP AMERICAN
14s-NORTH DAKOTA ST. BINGHAMTON EAST. TENN. ST. SOUTHLAND CHAMP
15s-CORNELL ROBERT MORRIS PORTLAND ST. MEAC CHAMP
16s-PLAY IN WINNER BIG WEST CHAMP RADFORD CHATTANOOGA
PLAY IN GAME- MOREHEAD ST. V SWAC CHAMP

OK... while this isn't the official 65 team field, I am frighteningly good at projecting the full field. I am terrible at filling out the bracket once it comes out, but I am excellent at producing the bracket before it comes out.

So, before we get to the actual seeding, let's look at who we know to be in.

The following 49 teams are locks.

North Carolina
Louisville
Pitt
Memphis
UCONN
Duke
Michigan St.
Oklahoma
Wake Forest
Gonzaga
Villanova
Kansas
Missouri
Washington
Syracuse
Florida St.
UCLA
LSU
Arizona St.
Purdue
Marquette
Xavier
Butler
Illinois
Tennessee
Oklahoma St.
Ohio St.
Dayton
Clemson
Texas
Cal
Boston College
West Virginia
Utah St.
BYU
Utah
Texas A&M
USC*
Temple*
Siena*
Cleveland St.*
Northern Iowa*
Binghamton*
East Tenn. St.*
Portland St.*
Radford*
VCU*
Cornell*
Robert Morris
Morehead St.
American*
Chattanooga*
North Dakota St.*
Western Kentucky*
Pacific/CS Northridge
Akron/Buffalo
Norfolk St./Morgan St.
Texas San Antonio/Stephen F. Austin
Jackson St./Alabama St.

* Denotes automatic bid. The bottom five lines have not yet played their conference championship games, the winner will get the bid.

That means there are 6 spots remaining. Just six spots, for the following "bubble" teams.

Michigan
Wisconsin
San Diego St.
Minnesota
Creighton
Maryland
Providence
Penn St.
Arizona
Florida
Auburn
South Carolina
New Mexico
St. Mary's

Also, keep in mind, that if Mississippi St. beats Tennessee, there will only be 5 bubble spots left, and if Nevada beats Utah St. there will only be 4 spots left.

We are going to assume that Tennessee and Utah St. will win, if they don't we will adjust this.

As of now, I see 5 of the 6 "bubble" spots relatively easy to project.

I think San Diego St., Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Creighton will make the field.

The last team in is incredibly difficult to project. I think it will be St. Mary's. I wouldn't be shocked if it were Maryland. Arizona has an outside shot. Penn St., Providence, any of the SEC teams, or New Mexico would all really surprise me, and in my opinion, they aren't even really bubble teams, they are out.

If Mississippi St. or Nevada wins then St. Mary's will be out, and if Mississippi St. and Nevada win then St. Mary's and Wisconsin will be out.

Here is your full field, with seeds included. I will be shocked if I don't get 63 of the 65, I fully anticipate to get 64 of the 65, and I think for the first time in 3 years, 65 of 65 is a true possibility. I usually get the seeds with about 85% accuracy. I'm shooting for 90% this year, and 95% for the top 40 teams (seeds 1-10).

1s- NORTH CAROLINA LOUISVILLE PITTSBURGH MEMPHIS
2s- UCONN DUKE MICHIGAN ST. OKLAHOMA
3s- WAKE FOREST MISSOURI VILLANOVA KANSAS
4s- GONZAGA WASHINGTON SYRACUSE FLORIDA ST.
5s- UCLA LSU ARIZONA ST. PURDUE
6s- WEST VIRGINIA XAVIER TENNESSEE ILLINOIS
7s- MARQUETTE CLEMSON OHIO ST. BUTLER
8s- OKLAHOMA ST. CALIFORNIA BYU UTAH
9s- DAYTON TEXAS BOSTON COLLEGE TEXAS A&M
10s-UTAH ST. SIENA MICHIGAN WISCONSIN
11s-SAN DIEGO ST. USC MINNESOTA CREIGHTON
12s-ST. MARY'S TEMPLE NORTHERN IOWA CLEVELAND ST.
13s-VCU WESTERN KENTUCKY MAC CHAMP AMERICAN
14s-NORTH DAKOTA ST. BINGHAMTON EAST. TENN. ST. SOUTHLAND CHAMP
15s-CORNELL ROBERT MORRIS PORTLAND ST. MEAC CHAMP
16s-PLAY IN WINNER* BIG WEST CHAMP RADFORD CHATTANOOGA
*MOREHEAD ST. V SWAC CHAMP

Mayor Mark Funkhouser

2009-03-09T19:03:00.002-05:00

Mayor Funkhouser in studio tonight from 7-8pm. Full audio will be posted tomorrow.

NCAA Tourny Field

2009-03-05T19:03:00.002-06:00

As I blogged about long, long ago, and can be read right here, basically every year the past decade between 31-34 teams from the BCS conferences have gotten into the NCAA Tournament.

Never more than 34, never less than 31. So when evaluating who is in and who is out, I have found that to be an incredibly useful tool.

I will be continuously updating this posting, but as of today, March 5th, here is where we are at in the race for 32 (or so) spots.

What follows is each BCS Conference, and the number of locks (in bold), and the number of bubble teams, in italics.

BIG EAST

Pittsburgh
UConn
Louisville
Villanova
West Virginia
Marquette
Syracuse
Providence

7 locks, 1 bubble team

ACC

Duke
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Clemson
Florida St.
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia Tech

5 locks, 3 bubble teams

BIG 10

Michigan St.
Illinois
Purdue
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Ohio St.
Michigan
Penn St.
Northwestern

3 locks, 6 bubble teams

BIG 12

Oklahoma
Kansas
Missouri
Texas
Oklahoma St.
Texas A&M

4 locks, 2 bubble teams

PAC 10

Washington
UCLA
Arizona St.
California
Arizona

4 locks, 1 bubble team

SEC

LSU
Tennessee
South Carolina
Florida

2 locks, 2 bubble teams

-----

So the final tally is the following:
25 locks
15 bubble teams

With 25 locks, and with at most 34 of these teams making the field, we know that at least 6 of the bubble teams will be left out, and likely 7 or 8 will be going to the NIT instead of the NCAAs.

Here is my preliminary ranking of the bubble teams-

1- Oklahoma St.
2- Minnesota
3- Boston College
4- Wisconsin
5- Arizona
6- Ohio St.
7- Providence
8- Maryland
9- South Carolina
10-Virginia Tech
11-Michigan
12-Texas A&M
13-Florida
14-Penn St.
15-Northwestern

If the field were selected today, I would anticipate that bubble teams 1-7 would make it, with Maryland being the first team out.

We shall see how accurate this proves to be.

The Mountain West Conference has Plagiarized My Work!!!

2009-03-05T18:04:00.003-06:00

So the Mountain West Conference has made their playoff proposal. It is shockingly similar to my plan. As published on this blog, back in December.

Here it is again, in case you haven't yet seen it.

THE CASE FOR A COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

Issue: The current college football post season format does not allow for a true champion.

Solution: Create playoff system to determine National Champion.

Arguments against Solution:
-Against the interest of the student athlete
-Destroys current bowl system
-Costs conferences guaranteed money
-Lessens the importance of regular season games

Background

This past season (2008) there were 119 Division I (FBS) football teams. Almost all of those teams played 12-game regular seasons.

The regular season ends at the end of November.

There are 26 conferences, five (5) of which have a Conference Championship Game. Those games finish by the first week of December.

There are a total of 34 Bowl Games. They begin on December 20th, and end on January 8th.

At the end of the season, approximately 50 teams play 12 games, nearly 60 play 13 games, and less than a dozen play 14 games.

There are six (6) BCS Conferences, totalling 65 schools [Big 12(12); Big 10(11); SEC(12); Big East(8); Pac 10(10); ACC(12)]

Those winner of each of the six BCS Conferences are all guaranteed a spot in one of the 5 BCS Bowl Games The BCS Bowls consist of the Orange, Rose, Sugar and Fiesta Bowl, and for the BCS National Championship game

Each conference, BCS or otherwise gets nearly $15,000,000 for each team represented in the five BCS games.

The BCS Standings are the agreed upon "best possible" rubrick to determine the very best teams in the country.

The top two teams in the BCS Standings play in the BCS National Championship game.

The other eight participants in the four BCS games are selected from the remaining pool of teams 3-12 in the BCS Standings, with (as stated above) the winner of each BCS Conference being guaranteed a spot.

Proposed Improvements

Leave current system as is, up until the day following the Conference Championship Games.

After that portion of the season--the entire regular season and respective conference championship games--is completed, this is the protocol:

The Top 8 Teams in the BCS Standings are entered into the BCS Playoff.

The bowl process is exactly the same for every team except for the eight (8) teams selected for BCS Bowl Games.

Those eight (8) teams are entered into an 8-team tournament to determine the national champion.

By necessity you would be adding two (2) games to the schedule--the two BCS National Semifinals (as the BCS National Final already exists, simply not in a playoff capacity)

Here is an example for how the schedule would look if this plan were implemented for 2009:
Saturday, December 5th- Conference Championship Weekend
Saturday, December 19th- The Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl are played as the four BCS Quarterfinals
Sunday-Friday, December 20th-25th- The non-BCS Bowl season begins, with the smaller of 30 remaining bowls.
Saturday, December 26th- The two BCS Semifinals are played between the four winners from the previous weekend.
Sunday-Friday, December 27th-January 1st- The remainder of the non BCS bowls are played, with the biggest ones (Cotton, Gator, Alamo, et cetera) being played on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
Monday, January 4th- The BCS National Championship Game

end of modifications

Results of Modifications

The pool of teams playing in BCS Bowl Games would be reduced from 10 to it's original number, 8.

The number of total BCS Bowl Games would increase from 5 to 7.

Due to the field being selected strictly by taking the top 8 teams in the BCS Standings, every conference would not be guaranteed a spot in the BCS games.

College football would clearly and concisely determine a true national champion, and would create a 15+day period where College Football ruled December like College Basketball rules March.

Possible Drawbacks of Modifications and Responses

The BCS Conferences won't agree to it, because they won't be guaranteed that $15,000,000 payout. This is a simple fix. Right now you have 5 games, you will have 7 games. 7 games will certainly generate more revenue than 5 games. Therefore, you guarantee each BCS Conference that each will receive an annual BCS participation fee of %15,000,000 annually (escalating a certain percentage each year, based on negotiations.

This is feasible financially because you can still give out BCS Bonuses to the Conferences of the teams that actually do make the tournament, because you will generating so much more revenue.

If in 2008, playing 5 games allows you to give away 10 $15,000,000 BCS gifts; then certainly in 2009, playing 7 games will allow you guarantee 6 $15,000,000 payments, and still have a very healthy sum to split up amongst the 8 BCS schools.

That is too many games for a collegiate football player to be subjected to. Let's look at the numbers: As we established earlier, right now about 50 teams play just 12 games. That would stay the same. Right now about 60 play 13 games, that would stay the same. The one change would be the four (4) semifinalists all play one (1) extra game, with the two (2) national finalists playing two extra games.
So, in simple terms:
n= number of games played by a team in 2008
In 2009, of the 119 teams 115 teams would play n games, 2 teams would play n+1 games, and 2 teams would play n+2 games.

In other words, for over 95% of college football there would be no extra games. Two teams would play one extra game and two teams would play two extra games.

----

Please post any questions, critiques or proposed alterations in the comments, as this will be regularly updated.

Finally... the Audio is updated

2009-03-05T11:53:00.001-06:00

The shows from the last week+ are up... Some of the highlights-

-My initial Brian Waters take
-My reaction to the Matt Cassel trade
-My interview with Mark Fainaru-Wada, the author of Game of Shadows

Enjoy!

A Quick Apology

2009-03-03T14:51:00.004-06:00

Alright, so I have fallen off the map on the blogging. My bad. I will post the audio from all the recent shows up through today by tomorrow afternoon. And I promise, sooner than later, I will be on an official "blogging schedule", once in the morning and once in the evening. Sorry for the spottiness lately.

In the meantime, I will be on the air tonight from whenever the Royals game ends (probably between 4:45 and 5:15), until 9, so we have a lot of time to discuss a bunch of stuff.

5:00- Chiefs Outlook now

5:20- Continue Chiefs Outlook

5:40- Cassell's contract

6:00- College Hoops coach of the year

6:20- Bubble Watch

6:40- Brancato Haggerty and Palmentere Stay out of Jail Segment- Maurice Clarett

7:00- ESPN's lead investigative reporter, Mark Fanaru-Wada

7:20- Interview Reaction

7:40- Royals with Roger

8:00- Royals revisited

8:20- Chiefs overview again

8:40- LeBron v Wade last night

Sorry for such a cryptic posting. As promised, the regular blogging will resume shortly.

Show Topics for 2/24 7pm-9pm

2009-02-24T18:07:00.003-06:00

Here's what's on the docket tonight:

-At 7:00 we will talk about KU v OU. What a game. OU jumps out to a 14 point lead, 22-8. Kansas then outscores them 50-16 over the next 20 minutes (50-16!!!), to take a 58-38 lead... and then the game got interesting. OU, on the back of spectacular 3 point shooting and pressure defense cuts it to 3, but Sherron Collins wouldn't let Kansas lose this game, and Sherron Collins was the story of this game.

-Also, as much as Sherron Collins was the story of the game, KU is quickly turning into one of the biggest stories of the college basketball season. This team was not supposed to be nearly this good, and now it has just the best conference record of any team in major college basketball. Unbelievable.

-At 7:45 Chris Hamblin will join me live from Surprise, Arizona with our daily Spring Training Update. The topics will be the Royals playing in the World Baseball Classic; Jose Guillen's approach at the plate (and how it might be vexing new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer); and the battle at first and second base.

-At 8:00 we will start an hour of Chiefs talk. A lot of moves today-- Patrick Surtain cut. Donnie Edwards cut. Damon Huard cut. Outside of Kansas City, Marvin Harrison was cut, and a lot of news from the combine. Kansas City is going to have more money to spend on free agency than any non-expansion team in the history of the NFL. How are they going to spend that money? How should they spend that money? That will be the thrust of the conversation.

And, as always, the full show will be posted right here by Wednesday morning.

Royals 2009 Cliff's Notes

2009-02-23T15:04:00.003-06:00

Here is your quick, handy guide to the 2009 Royals season. We will go in depth in the upcoming weeks, especially when I go down to Surprise in March, but for the time being, here's a quick refresher on what the team should look like.

Prospective Starting Lineup

Bold indicates a lock for that position.

C- Miguel Olivo
1B- Mike Jacobs
2B- Alberto Callaspo
SS- Mike Aviles
3B- Alex Gordon
LF- David DeJesus
CF- Coco Crisp
RF- Jose Guillen
DH- Billy Butler
Backup Catcher- John Buck

Prospective Bench

Utility IF/OF- Mark Teahen
Utility IF/OF- Esteban German
Utility IF- Willie Bloomquist
Utility IF- Tony Pena, Jr.
Utility IF- Ross Gload
Note- Most likely only 2 or 3 will make the club.

First guys up/down from AAA

OF- Mitch Maier
OF- Shane Costa
1B/DH- Ryan Shealy
Inf- Tug Hulett
3rd String Catcher- Brayan Pena

Prospective Starting Rotation

1st- Zach Greinke R
2nd- Gil Meche R
3rd- Horacio Ramirez L
4th- Kyle Davies R
5th- Luke Hochevar R/Brian Bannister R

Horacio Ramirez, Kyle Davies, Brian Bannister and Luke Hochevar are battling for the final 3 rotation spots. Dayton Moore has made it clear he expects/wants Ramirez to win a job, that's why I have him penciled in at number 3, even if my rotation would go- Greinke, Meche, Davies, Ramirez, Hochevar

Prospective Bullpen

Closer- Joakim Soria R
Setup- Ron Mahay L
Reliever- Kyle Farnsworth

The following pitchers are fighting for about 5 roster spots-

John Bale R
Jimmy Gobble L
Joel Peralta R
Julio Cesar Pimentel R
Carlos Rosa R
Robinson Tejeda R
Doug Waechter R
Devon Lowery R
Henry Barrera

Coaching Staff

Manager- Trey Hillman
Bench Coach- John Gibbons
Hitting Coach- Kevin Seitzer
Pitching Coach- Bob McClure
Bullpen Coach- John Mizerock
1st Base Coach- Rusty Kuntz
3rd Base Coach- Dave Owen

---

I'm going to add some more statistical and biographical information on the more important players later today.

Thursday's show and an update...

2009-02-23T14:44:00.003-06:00

Sorry for not getting this up sooner. I was in DC this weekend and couldn't get to a viable computer. Later today I will be posting a 2009 Royals cheat sheet. It'll be self explanatory.

Show Topics for 02-19-09 8pm-9pm

2009-02-19T18:11:00.002-06:00

OK... So we're only on for one hour tonight. And, in fact, we're only on for a total of 3 hours this whole week. We had two hours on Monday, off on Tuesday due to high school basketball, off on Wednesday due to KU basketball, and off tomorrow due to high school basketball again.

I mention that only because there are a lot of things that we need to talk about, and we just don't have the time this week. So, today, this is what we are going to do...

We have 10 legit topics, plus one bonus topic at the end of the hour, and we are going to touch on all of them. All 10, one by one, and each topic will segue to the next. If you get a chance to listen tonight it will be fast moving, quick hitting radio. If you miss it, it will be posted to the player on the right by Friday morning.

Here is a rundown of the topics:

-Mike Jacobs contract. I have no issue with his contract, but there is 25K All Star incentive that got me thinking about how the Royals should use incentives in contracts. And that discussion will lead to...

-The Royals offseason moves and contracts in general. Is there still someone out there that can help this team? Orlando Hudson, anybody? And that will lead to...

-The best player of his generation, hands down, Ken Griffey, Jr., signing with his orignal team the Seattle Mariners. This is a great story, and fitting, given the current baseball climate. And that will lead to...

-A Rod's explanation and press conference. I'm not sure A Rod could have handled this more poorly. JUST BE HONEST and move on! Unfortunately, that's not what he did, and since he left the door open, we know ESPN will continue to hammer this storyline. And that will lead to...

-ESPN's "Mount Rushmore of Sports" segment, which today featured Joe Paterno, which made me think of Paterno's career. 5 undefeated seasons, 4 of which didn't result in a championship. Hmmm. Why was that a seemingly much more acceptable outcome 10, 15, 20 years ago than it is now... And that discussion will lead to...

-A discussion on the proliferation of fact and opinion in the internet age, and how 24/7 talk radio and blogs and message boards and the internet as a whole has not only made many more facts available, but also more opinions available. And that discussion will lead to...

-The Chiefs coaching hires and secrecy surrounding them. Who is in? What positions will they hold? And what should we look for? And that discussion lead to...

-NFL Free Agency thus far, and players that have already been franchised. Free Agency hasn't even begun, and a number of the Chiefs top targets are already not available. And that will lead to a discussion on...

-The NBA Trade deadline, and how the biggest stories were two trades that didn't happen. And that discussion (somehow) will lead to...

-Tiger Woods is back! And that discussion lead to our bonus segment...

-"That Tiger didn't go crazy, that Tiger went Tiger!" That monkey, went monkey...

So there's the show. 10 topics, one bonus topic, one hour to do it. We shall see how it goes...

February 16th's Show

2009-02-17T00:27:00.002-06:00

The full show is posted to the player on the right.

The highlights (from top to bottom, 6 total February 16 tracks:

Track 1-You can no longer claim to love basketball, but also say you hate the NBA. There was a time when the NBA was barely palatable, but that time has passed. Now, with the major influx of young talent (Kevin Durant, Brandon Roy, Derron Williams, Derrick Rose), and stable of future first ballot hall of famers (Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett), the next wave of super stars (Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard), and, of course, LeBron James, who is a category unto himself.

So, if you love basketball, and hate the NBA, it must be one of two things, and really only one of these two: either you simply haven't watched in the past few years, or you have serious issues with the league's supposed "image" and that's a whole different discussion.

Track 2-The NBA's perceived image problem is important, because Kansas City still has an arena to fill, and (hopefully) there may one day be a decision about the NBA or the NHL. In summary, it's my belief that we could fill an arena for a poor NBA team much easier than we could for a poor NHL team because the NBA is based on a star culture, and in your 41 home games, you are guaranteed between 20-28 games with legit superstars visiting.

Kobe, KG, LeBron, AI, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and a few more, would all draw every time they came to KC. But this is a moot point if there is some belief that people in Kansas City don't like the NBA. That's why we are having this discussion.

Track 3-Greg Schaum joins me from Surprise Arizona to discuss the Royals and the upcoming 2009 season. Among the topics discussed: Was the offseason money used wisely? (My answer-Not really, but nothing terrible but Farnsworth. Greg's answer- Liked most of the signings, except Farnsworth) Are 81 wins a realistic expectation anymore? (My answer-Unfortunately, right now, no. Greg's answer-Yes, because the division didn't improve) What will the rotation look like. (My answer- Greinke, Meche, Davies, Horacio Ramirez, Hochevar. Greg's answer (not definitive)-Greinke, Meche, Horacio Ramirez, Davies, Bannister)

Tracks 4 and 5-This time last year I thought KC would win about 75 games in '08, between 80-83 in '09, and contend for the division in 2010. I was right on about last year's win total, but I'm no longer confident at all about 80+ this season.

First of all there's this offseason. KC improved slightly in the outfield by adding Coco Crisp, and KC improved markedly at power production at first base by adding Mike Jacobs. But there certainly was no major addition. Willie Bloomquist is nice, and Kyle Farnsworth is perplexing, but that's basically it. Had KC added a true impact player--a Rafael Furcal or a Ben Sheets--I would feel very differently.

But it's not just the lack of acquisitions. It's also the lack of achieved expectations. Heading in 2008 we expected and/or hoped for a number of things: For Greinke to become a number one starter; For Hochevar to start showing why he was a number one pick two different times; For Butler to turn into the consistent .285+ hitter that we were convinced he was going to become; For Mark Teahen to assert himself and find a position;For Alex Gordon to stop being the next great Royals third basemen, and start being an actual great Royals third basemen. Well, by my count we were one for five. Now Aviles was a nice surprise, and Soria's great, but that's not enough to offset all the disappointments.

This is frightening for me. 2009 is a very important year for the Royals. The new stadium combined with a team playing .500 ball and quasi-important games in August and maybe September would put this team at full boil heading in 2010, a true feeling that we can compete. But if this team win fewer than 75 games this year, fair or not, I'm afraid that the "same old Royals" feeling that was around with Allan Baird could start to come back.

Track 6-Everyone talks about the Chiefs trading out of the 3rd pick of the draft, which is all fine and good, except for the fact that it's almost impossible to do. But what is much easier, and might be smarter, is to try to use a later pick, and possibly a player, to move into the late first down.

Kansas City clearly needs a linebacker early, but number three is definitely too early to take one. So the best course of action, right now, is to take Andre Smith (LT, Alabama) or Eugene Monroe (LT, Virginia) at three, and then try to use their 2nd round pick (35 overall) or 3rd round pick (67 overall) plus Larry Johnson to move into the latter half of the first round (18-28 range). In this range you are going to be able to get either Ray Mauluga(USC), Brian Cushing (USC), Clay Matthews (USC), or James Laurinitis (OSU).

Right now, the anticipation is Kansas City is going to move to a 3-4. It's also believed that KC is actively pursuing a Pro Bowl linebacker that has played in the 3-4. Even if that's the case, and assuming that Derrick Johnson can play one of the inside backer positions in the 3-4 and assuming that Turk McBride slides into one of the outside line backer spots, KC will still need another starting linebacker, and at the tail end of the first round, one or two will be available. At 35 overall, they are all likely to be gone.

And taking Andre Smith or Eugene Monroe at three makes enormous sense right now. Mark Sanchez is undeserving of the third overall pick, as is any defensive player in this draft. Crabtree's great, but KC has too many more pressing needs. Obviously you can't take a running back or tightend or defensive back at three. But if you take Monroe or Smith, you have your left tackle. You then move Brandon Albert to right tackle (remember, he was taken 15th overall, pro bowl right tackle would be great value at that pick). With an offensive line that goes, from left to right, Smith/Monroe, Waters, Niswanger, FA Acquisition, Albert is a pretty imposing group.

---

Hope you enjoy. Responses always welcome in the comments section.

Tuesday Night's Show

2009-02-11T16:52:00.002-06:00

Tuesday's show is posted in its entirety to the player on the right. Enjoy.

My Baseball Memories...

2009-02-09T01:59:00.006-06:00

the strike
cal ripken, jr's streak
kg jr being unbelievable
robby alomar spitting in an umpires face
sammy sosa and mark mcgwire breaking the records
my favorite team maybe being contracted
the 2001 post season
sosa and steroids
bonds and steroids
no salary cap and no cap in sight
red sox 3-0 comeback
clemens and steroids
a-rod and steroids

......

and then there's junior

that's see where kg jr ranks in some all time categories...

homeruns-

1. Barry Bonds* (43) 762 L - steroids
2. Hank Aaron+ 755 R - 20+ years ago
3. Babe Ruth+* 714 L - 20+ years ago
4. Willie Mays+ 660 R - 20+ years ago
5. Ken Griffey* (38) 611 L
6. Sammy Sosa (39) 609 R - steroids
7. Frank Robinson+ 586 R - 20+ years ago
8. Mark McGwire 583 R - steroids
9. Harmon Killebrew+ 573 R - 20+ years ago
10. Rafael Palmeiro* 569 L - steroids
11. Reggie Jackson+* 563 L - 20+ years ago
12. Alex Rodriguez (32) 553 R - steroids

So, of the top 12 homerun hitters of all time, 6 were more than 20 years ago, from before Aaron, actually, 5 are known steroids users, and there's junior.

rbis-

1. Hank Aaron+ 2297 R - 20+ years ago
2. Babe Ruth+* 2217 L - 20+ years ago
3. Cap Anson+ 2076 R - 20+ years ago
4. Barry Bonds* (43) 1996 L - steroids
5. Lou Gehrig+* 1995 L - 20+ years ago
6. Stan Musial+* 1951 L - 20+ years ago
7. Ty Cobb+* 1937 L - 20+ years ago
8. Jimmie Foxx+ 1922 R - 20+ years ago
9. Eddie Murray+# 1917 B - clean, i think
10. Willie Mays+ 1903 R - 20+ years ago
11. Mel Ott+* 1860 L - 20+ years ago
12. Carl Yastrzemski+* 1844 L - 20+ years ago
13. Ted Williams+* 1839 L - 20+ years ago
14. Rafael Palmeiro* 1835 L - steroids
15. Dave Winfield+ 1833 R - clean, I think
16. Al Simmons+ 1827 R - 20+ years ago
17. Frank Robinson+ 1812 R - 20+ years ago
18. Ken Griffey* (38) 1772 L

So, of the top 17 RBI men of all time ahead of Junior, two were steroids guys, two were clean (we think) and 13 were in another era.

total bases-

1. Hank Aaron+ 6856 R - 20+ years ago
2. Stan Musial+* 6134 L - 20+ years ago
3. Willie Mays+ 6066 R - 20+ years ago
4. Barry Bonds* (43) 5976 L - steroids
5. Ty Cobb+* 5854 L - 20+ years ago
6. Babe Ruth+* 5793 L - 20+ years ago
7. Pete Rose# 5752 B - 20+ years ago
8. Carl Yastrzemski+* 5539 L - 20+ years ago
9. Eddie Murray+# 5397 B - clean, i think
10. Rafael Palmeiro* 5388 L - steroids
11. Frank Robinson+ 5373 R - 20+ years ago
12. Dave Winfield+ 5221 R - 20+ years ago
13. Cal Ripken+ 5168 R - clean
14. Tris Speaker+* 5101 L - 20+ years ago
15. Ken Griffey* (38) 5092 L

Of the 14 guys ahead of Junior on the total bases list, two were clean, two were on steroids, and ten were in another era.

extra base hits-

1. Hank Aaron+ 1477 R - 20+ years ago
2. Barry Bonds* (43) 1440 L - steroids
3. Stan Musial+* 1377 L - 20+ years ago
4. Babe Ruth+* 1356 L - 20+ years ago
5. Willie Mays+ 1323 R - 20+ years ago
6. Rafael Palmeiro* 1192 L - steroids
7. Lou Gehrig+* 1190 L - 20+ years ago
8. Frank Robinson+ 1186 R - 20+ years ago
9. Carl Yastrzemski+* 1157 L - 20+ years ago
10. Ken Griffey* (38) 1152 L

9 guys ahead of him on career extra base hits list, 2 steroids users, and 7 from a previous generation.

OK... So a few thoughts on Wednesday's Show

2009-02-04T23:40:00.006-06:00

In case you missed it, I posted the first two segments to the player on the right, but here is the gist:

-Larry Johnson was on Chris and Cowboy's Show and reiterated that he wanted out of Kansas City. He said the city and the fan base never accepted him, and that he needs a fresh start.

-My Take: Larry took little or no responsibility from start to finish of the 23 minute discussion. At this point, Larry is disliked because he has had four (4!) separate incidents with violence and intimidation of women at night clubs. After he signed a big money contract he has been repeatedly injured, suspended/deactivated, often nonexistent even while playing, and clearly does not seem to be running with the same fire or intensity, and certainly not the same efficacy. All of these things, in any city, or any fanbase, will make the fans dislike you.

-But I also mentioned that I had heard a good deal of Neal's show, and some of Chris and Cowboy's, and some of the callers were beyond the pale. The anger, the venom that I heard in some of the callers, not most, but some, sounded a whole helluva lot like, "That boy needs to know his place" And so, I mentioned that.

-And per usual, whenever the subject of race comes up, the phone lines fill up. And the phone lines fill up with nearly exclusively these three calls-

1)Some white callers that agree race is somewhat of a factor
2)A lot of very angry white guys, calling me a race baiter, accusing me of playing the "race card" and insisting that 'THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE'
3)Black callers, of varying points of view on the topic, but that nearly unanimously agree that of course race played at least some part in the issue.

For a point of reference, I would say that while doing this show in Kansas City, when talking about race, about 55% of my callers are from group 2, 25% from group 3, and 20% from group 1.

OK... so now you're caught up in case you missed last night's show.

Well, so I've been thinking about this show, and about what happens every time we talk about race, and what it means.

Does the fact that the majority of the callers think I couldn't be more off base mean I am just wrong, seeing racial injustice or prejudice where it isn't?

What about the fact that one group of people--a group that is almost exclusively white--is so certain that I am wrong, while another group of people--a group that consists of nearly all the black people that have ever called the show--insist that I am right on point... does that actually validate my entire argument?

And is this something that is relatively unique about Kansas City, and the people of Kansas City?

That discussion should take place, to some degree, tonight, and will then be posted in the player on the right.

----
A sampling of the emails I got last night, emphasis and italics added by me, aside form that, they are unedited.

EMAILS

HE is the guy who is racist. HE is the guy who said black players preferred black head coaches. WE accepted him until the holdout.
And by the way, we cheered him on the field, even after the holdout.

The problem isn't us.

Brian
Spring Hill

Nick, 98% of your listeners probably couldn't care less about the race/hip hop issue. Nobody likes Larry here either, who cares if he wants out of town? I don't see why this is such big news? Larry has proven to not be a viable running back without 2-3 pro bowl linemen. Think of all the $ we would have to spend on worthwhile free agents if we could get rid of LJ?

Marc

You are wrong on so many levels. For you to insinuate Larry can't be a thug because he is the the son of a two parent upper middle class household says a lot about you. Thugs come from every walk of life not just single parent ghetto homes. People choose to be thugs; the thug life doesn't choose them.
My dad told me when I was young, "if you don't want people to think you are a hippie or a thug or a criminal, then don't act like one, don't dress like one and don't look like one.
Larry Johnson is a thug because he acts like a thug; period. You can't compare DUI to beating up on women. If you do, then once again it says more about you and your value system than anything else. People get drunk and get DUI's, thugs get drunk and beat up on women. Jared Allen wasn't accused of DV assault, Jared Allen didn't walk around and act like it was all about him. Jared Allen ATTRIBUTED his success to idols like Dick Butkus, he didn't compare himself to Jim Brown. Jared Allen didn't sit out in the middle of his contract and demand more money; he was at the end of his contract. Jared Allen wanted out because Peterson lied to him.
People are pi$$ed off because he acted like a thug and beat up on women. People are pi$$ed off because he violated his contract and held out because "he wanted to get paid." People are pi$$ed off because he didn't do diddly squat after "getting paid." People are pi$$ed off because he's a negative influence in the locker room.

I think it is you that needs self examination not those of us who dislike Larry Johnson for the content of his character rather than the color of his skin!

Pat M.

Nick,

That caller Mark on Neal's show got to me and I must ask...

Is it a black thing....

That Larry came to KC with a chip on his shoulder?
Underachieved as a rookie?
Was called out by one of the non-confrontational coaches in the NFL (Vermeil)?
Actually ttook off the diaper and played well enough to get the KC's money and win fans over?
Put the diaper back on and is unwilling to block and doesnt run with the heart he used to get KC money?
Has alledgedly assaulted multiple women. (a reacurring issue for him thats not common to other blacks on the team or that I know)?
General potrays himself as an ass towards fans and the people of KC in general?

Hell No Its Not A Black Thing!!! Its A Larry Thing!!!

Good riddence Larry! Go back to the East Coast where as Mark said "if someone is getting murdered no one pays attention". We dont need or want you any more!!!

Boo to you Larry!

BC in KC

Nick,

(Disclosure: 28 and black)

Currently listening to the show. I agree with the race aspect of your argument. The Jared Allen argument validates it. What most people don't understand is that there's an inherent reason as to why the black kids sit together in the lunch room and why white people hire white people. But I think that part of the conversation is far removed from what's most important here.

Larry is Sarah Palin with shoulder pads. They both believe they do no wrong, and want to blame everyone else for their self-created issues. Yes, he's publicly apologized for his actions, but he isn't being thorough or humble in these months of remorse. He's had four, count them - four, alleged incidents of domestic violence with women in this city. When people boo him in public, the guy should be able to understand why and show some humility.

And he's not smart for saying that he wants to be traded. It's maybe the dumbest thing a player in his position can do. He has no leverage. Did he not pay attention to Chad Johnson last off-season? Does Larry not understand he has less value than him? They might just keep Larry, and dock him for conduct detremintal to the team because they can't get anything for him aside from getting that ridiculous contract off the books.

And truthfully, I'd be curious to see how he'd be treated if the alleged spitting incident happened in NYC, and ended up on Page Six. Seriously? They might still be peeling the egg yolk off of the Maybach. It's not Kansas City. It's him. And he needs to realize it. This is what is most important, not the race card on this specific issue.

Damon S.

Dude you are way off. I cannot believe your actually playing the race card for LJ. What about Derrick Thomas? I have agreed and disagreed with you in the past but now I'm am disgusted with you. I now will actually have to go listen to Kevin. I can't believe I actually have to listen to him. You need to step back and think about what you are saying. We loved Derrick and he listened to hip hop and would go out to westport and party along with Dale Carter and other chiefs players. Larry Johnson brought this on himself.

Ben O.

Nick,

You are young – more power to you. If you haven’t figured it out yet (I’m guessing you have), you really stepped in it last night. Opinions are fine, but I would keep them pointed in the direction of sports and sports figures. If you want to comment on other current events fine. However, inferring racism to anyone when there is no proof – regardless of vitriol, etc. – is skating out there on some very thin ice – not to mention insulting the hell out of your audience. Never presume to know what anyone is thinking – only women do that. To be honest, if I were running the station, I would have to consider taking you off the air. You clearly don’t know what you are talking about. Case in point - there was a lot of vitriol pointed at Mike Sweeney – white guy, all-american clean cut and Christian to beat the band. Why? Because fans looked at him as sucking up precious team assets when he couldn’t carry the team as his contract suggested that he would. I didn’t like the way fans treated him, but fans are fans. In truth, his stats weren’t really bad, but “clutch” and Mike Sweeney never got along, and he got hurt a lot.

Larry Johnson could be as white as the wind driven snow, and this town would treat him the same way. Larry Johnson, for the record, is not a particularly great running back. The years you cite where he was the second best behind LT, he had an all-pro line in front of him opening holes large enough to drive a truck through. Larry has never been able to get through a seam. Why Carl gave him that contract is beyond me. He is a big guy, and when he gets up a head of steam, he can hurt a defense – literally. However, he has always been an upright runner. The only one of those that was truly a great back was Eric Dickerson. Marcus Allen at the END of his career was a far better running back than Larry Johnson at any point in his career. The last thing I will directly address was your faulty analogy concerning Jared Allen. Jared Allen didn’t kill anybody on the road. He drank with his friends, etc. And what exactly makes him any different from probably 90+% of your audience? I’m sure 90+% of you audience have not gotten caught like he did; however, the point is (regardless what you think), we all know people who have had DWI’s if we haven’t had one ourselves. Most are not bad people. So what was not to like about Jared Allen? He liked the fans, the fans liked him. Absolutely nothing to do with being white. However, I can guarantee you that 90+% of your audience don’t abuse women like Larry. Other black athletes that this town has embraced besides Marcus Allen: Joe Carter, Deron Cherry, Will Shields, Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith, Tony Richardson come to mind. Black athletes this town had problems with: Larry Johnson and Dale Carter come to mind. The idea that race has anything to do with this is simply nonsensical. Are there racists out there? Sure. However, unless you hear someone spew a racial epithet or state white superiority, etc., leave it alone, kid.

Anyway, I figured I would get my two cents in. Word to the wise – stick with what you know. Leave the psychology class to Dr. Phil.

Trey H.

Nick,

As always great show...

I think several of callers have touched on pieces and parts of the dynamics that surround LJ and KC Fans love/hate...

Despite the earlier apologies/ownership he accepted a couple of months ago, actions speak louder than words, quite frankly larry hasn't done anything since that explicitly confirms he's trying to change...

So when complains about the fan's lack of acceptance of his apology and didn't immediately embrace the new and improved version of LJ it rings hollow. In fact its that outlook and unwillingness to acknowledge his part in the angst directed at him that point to real lack of maturity

However, I think the rather venomous backlash is a reflection of his image as a hip hop rich black man.... Can't get away from the fact that its a lot easy to work up a righteous anger angainst someone not like me...

Chicago Kirk

I have to tell you Nick, I've usually enjoyed your show. But to imply racism regarding Larry Johnson is about as irresponsible as it gets. Jack Harry pulled the same crap when K-State fired Ron Prince by going on TV and stating that he had received emails from KSU fans that he "believed" to be racially motivated. Racism is something that is implied. Either someone says something racist or they don't

Racism is a very serious thing, so how about you people in the media make SURE that something is racist before opening your mouth.
Thank you.

Terry B.

WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BRING RACE INTO THE ISSUE? PLEASE ENOUGH WITH THE RACE BAITING
20% RACISTS IN CHIEFS LAND? WOW, WHAT A LOW OPINION US.

LARRY JOHNSON IS A "BAD ATTITUDE" PERFORMER HE USES HIS "BAD ATTITUDE" AS MOTIVATION TO PERFORM. HE USES IT TO TRAIN EVERY DAY. HE USES THE "EVERYBODY HATES ME" ATTITUDE TO MAKE HIS MIND FORGET THAT IT HURTS THE BODY TO HIT THAT HOLE AND GET CRUSHED TO THE GROUND TIME AND TIME AGAIN. HE LIKE EVERY PROFESSIONAL PLAYER IS IN CONSTANT PAIN OF SOME KIND. HE IS GIVING UP HIS PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH TO MAKE HIS MONEY. TO PUT HIMSELF THRU THE PAIN HE HAS DEVELOPED A "EVERYBODY IS AGAINST ME" ATTITUDE

LJ'S PROBLEM IS THAT HE HAS ALLOWED THE BAD ATTITUDE TO GO HOME WITH HIM AND BE A PART OF HIS "OFF DUTY TIME". IT HAS GOT HIM IN LEGAL TROUBLE. HE HAS TO LEARN TO TURN IT OFF. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC SPOTLIGHT TO BE IN THE PUBLIC OUTSIDE OF THEIR SPECIALITY. LARRY JOHNSON WILL STAY IN TROUBLE UNTIL HE LEARNS TO BE TURN OFF THE BAD ATTITUDE.

IF THE CHIEFS AS A TEAM CAN GET A JUST TRADE FOR HIM IT IS TIME TO LET HIM GO. AND YOU KNOW WHAT HE WILL DO HE WILL USE HIS BAD EXPERIENCES IN CHIEFS LAND AS MOTIVATION TO TRAIN AND HIT THE HOLE.

RICK IN RAYMORE

Some Super Bowl thoughts and some show notes for 02-03-09

2009-02-03T18:33:00.001-06:00

Just a breathtaking game, and a better finish than you could have scripted. Great players made some great plays, and how many truly memorable moments were in this Super Bowl? Roethelisberger’s half a dozen scrambles to keep plays alive—none of which resulted in a bad play, almost all of which were plays that Big Ben is one of the few quarterbacks in the league that could make those plays—and maybe that is Ben’s greatness—his leadership combined with his ability to extend the play and not have it result in a bad play… so there was Ben’s scrambles and Kurt Warner’s magnificent 4th quarter—235 yards passing (14-19) and two touchdowns—cementing his amazing Super Bowl Legacy. And of course the final drive… Santonio Holmes was brilliant, Ben Roethelisberger was fantastic, and the Pittsburgh offense—which couldn’t move the ball much all game—went went 88 yards in less than two minutes to win the Super Bowl… Larry Fitzgerald being Larry Fitzgerald, and James Harrison delivering the biggest defensive play in the history of the Super Bowl…This game is why we love football.
But it’s completely irrelevant if this is the best Super Bowl ever. Completely. Irrelevant. It was the best that I have ever seen—and I was at Rams Titans in person—and I had a fantastic time watching it. Very well played by both teams, and a few great players made a few great plays. But deciding on Monday or Tuesday after the Super Bowl that the discussion needs to be “Is this the best ever?” is asinine.
But what is interesting is that over the past decade, we have had a bunch of compelling Super Bowls… this year, last year (Giants 17-Pats 14), the Pats 3 victories (NE 24-Phi21) (NE32-Car29) (NE20-StL17) the Rams victory over the Titans (StL23-Ten16)… that’s 6 of the last 10 Super Bowls that were undecided into the final minutes of the game… 4 decided on essentially the final play of the game… compare that to the previous 15 years—from 85-2000 you had three compelling Super Bowls—49ers 20-Bengals 16, Giants 20-Bills19, and Broncos31-GB 24… Basically all the others were blowouts.
That’s because in the late 90’, the effects of the salary cap (instituted in 1994) really started to take effect on the league. The NFL really started to become what it is today—a league of parity. A league where, as we discussed last week, the goal is to get into the playoffs and see what happens… and league where there are not real dynasties—even the 3 Super Bowls were all close because they weren’t head and shoulders more talented than the rest of the league, just better QB, better coaching and better execution.
***

Some great plays can’t go overlooked… No one will forget James Harrison’s absolutely breathtaking 100 yard interception return at the end of the half… Larry Fitzgerald’s 64 yard sprint to the end zone was one of the most exciting plays in recent memory… and Santonio Holmes’ touchdown will live on forever in NFL lore… but there were a few plays that got us there, that while overlooked, were nearly as important.
-We’ll start with James Harrison. Everyone will remember his pick 6… but what about the way he abused Mike Gandy on the offensive line, from start to finish. Harrison ended three drives, that he won’t get credit for. But starting on the Cardinals first offensive drive, there was Harrison, beating Mike Gandy and forcing Gandy into his first of 3 holding penalties… on all three of these drives, including two drives in the 4th quarter, the Cardinals had to punt after Gandy’s holding penalties. James Harrison might not have gotten credit for a sack, but he might as well have. 6 times the Cardinals had the ball and didn’t score—4 of those drives (the pick and 3 holding penalties) were ended because of Harrison. A helluva bow on a Defensive MVP season.
-Now while James Harrison, now and throughout the season, is getting all the love… there was a play by a young man I bet most of you have never heard of that was one of the game’s biggest. Michael Adams—an undrafted, rarely used 2nd year play—downed the Cardinals 4th quarter punt on the 2 yard line. The ensuing drive resulted in a safety. How often is that play botched? And how important is it when that play is executed properly? And how awesome is that a guy that wasn’t even active for the first half of the season, made a play that not only gave his team an excellent shot at winning the Super Bowl, but also gave all of us a Super Bowl finish we will never forget.
-Also, after the indefensible roughing the holder call, the Cardinals should have been finished. It was first and goal from the 4… and Cardinals defense executed another goal line stand… there were a lot of times this game could have gotten away from Arizona, and that was one time the game certainly should have gotten away from them, and Steelers could have gone up 3 scores and ended the game right then… but the defense stepped up and once again, set the table for that fantastic fourth quarter.
***

Also on today's show-
Todd Haley gets the OK to interview for the Chiefs HC job
Kobe scores 61
Michael Phelps gets high and, shockingly, people don't freak out

OK... So I guess the Super Bowl is this Weekend...

2009-01-30T02:23:00.005-06:00

A lot of random numbers, that may only make sense to me, but then again, I'm pretty sure I'm the only person that reads this thing anyway.

Cardinals this year-

1- @SF 23-13 W
2- MIA 31-10 W
3- @WSH 17-24 L
4- @NYJ 35-56 L
5- BUF 41-17 W
6- DAL 30-24 W
7-
8- @CAR 23-27 L
9- @STL 34-13 W
10-SF 29-24 W
11-@SEA 26-20 W
12-NYG 29-37 L
13-@PHI 20-48 L
14-STL 34-10 W
15-MIN 12-35 L
16-@NE 7-17 L
17-SEA 34-21 W

playoffs

WILD ATL 30-24 W
DIV @CAR 33-13 W
CON PHI 32-35 W

NFC WEST THIS YEAR-

ARIZONA 9-7 started 7-3
SAN FRANCISCO 5-11 started 3-7
SEATTLE 4-12 started 2-8
ST. LOUIS 2-14 started 2-8

TOTAL WINS THIS YEAR (INCLUDING PLAYOFFS)-

ARIZONA 12
REST OF DIVISION COMBINED 11

OK... So you can look at that and understand that the NFC West was just terribly, terribly awful. San Francisco was just dead until Singletary started going. Seattle's only non divisional win all season was against a collapsing Jets team in week 16. And St. Louis, inexplicably, beat Washington and Dallas--both when they were good early in the season--and then didn't win again all year.

But, you have to disregard that to some extent, seeing how Arizona has precisely no ability to improve it's division, if that makes any sense. Did they benefit from it? Possibly. We really don't know. But it certainly was a reality.

What is also a reality is that after starting out 7-3, Arizona lost 4 of their next 5. Since then they are 4-0. All of this is somewhat confusing, and could lead you to believe that the Cardinals are fortunate receptors of an easy division. And, in fact, that is what most people thought about them before the playoffs began.

Now, of course, they are playing well again and people really don't know what to make of them. I think a closer look at the schedule can help explain a lot.

Divisional Record- 6-0
Home Record- 8-2
Record in Warm Weather Cities/Domes- 12-3
Record in cold weather cities- 0-4

Now let's look at it in perspective to what was going on in the season, and in regards to the playoff race and the playoffs.

After their 10th game, Arizona had clinched their division, and after they lost to the Giants the following week (37-29 in Arizona... Giants still with Plaxico Burress... at that time 10-1, and clearly the class of the league) they were basically locked into their playoff spot at either 3 or 4, with a home game in round one, and a trip on the road after that.

sidebar

Clearly, in the NFL, every game matters. And in a 16 game season you have no excuse for ever taking plays off, let alone games and weeks off. But sometimes you have to understand the context.

This is a team that has never experienced success. Outside of Kurt Warner, none of the players have ever experienced success. A young coaching staff. And due to their just miserable competition in their division, they have clinched their regular season less than 75% of the way through the season.

So the Cardinals go in cruise control--and by cruise control I mean the tank--for the next 5 weeks. And then, with one week until the home playoff game they locked up a month prior, they get their act back together. Suddenly, the games seem to matter again. Starting with a final regular season game that would determine if the team had any momentum (not to mention that Coach Whisenhunt made it clear that it would determine if you would play in the playoff game), the Cardinals turned it back on, and then some.

So now lets look at the numbers again, with that context in mind.

Arizona starts 7-3...Clinches division...Loses at home to the Giants the following week thereby locking in their playoff spot and dropping them to 7-4...Cardinals lose 3 of 4...have since won 4 in a row

So, if you will allow me, let's look at this Cardinals season, without those 4 "meaningless" games at the tail end of the regular season:

Overall Record- 11-4

Total Losses- 7 point loss @ Washington... 21 point beatdown @ NYJ when Warner had 6 turnovers*... 4 point loss @ Carolina... 8 point loss at home to the Giants

Notable Wins- 21 point victory over Miami... 24 point drubbing of an undefeated Buffalo team... overtime win over a 4-1 Dallas team... and of course the 3 playoff victories**

*This is the one thing that terrifies me about the Cardinals: the potential for Warner to just meltdown.

**In these 3 playoff victories, in case you forgot: Cardinals have scored 30, 33, 32 respectively. Have won each game by at least 6 points, and an average margin of 11, with an average final score of 32-21

So, I guess my point is this... I think the Cardinals are a fantastic team. I think that when the games matter--and the Super Bowl certainly matters--the Cardinals are tough to beat. And, in fact, right now, this is enough for me to take the plunge and pick the Cardinals. Now, I am yet to do this analysis for the Steelers.

In fact, let's do that analysis right now.

Steelers this year-

1- HOU 38-17 W
2- @CLE 10-6 W
3- @PHI 6-15 L
4- BAL 23-20 W
5- @JAX 26-21 W
6- -
7- @CIN 38-10 W
8- NYG 14-21 L
9- @WSH 23-6 W
10- IND 20-24 L
11- SD 11-10 W
12- CIN 27-10 W
13-@ NE 33-10 W
14- DAL 20-13 W
15-@BAL 13-9 W
16-@TEN 14-31 L
17- CLE 31-0 W

playoffs

WILD -
DIV SD 35-24 W
CON BAL 23-14 W

So, let's break those numbers down a bit.

Record against playoff teams- 5-4
Total playoff teams beaten- 2 (San Diego twice, Baltimore three times)

Now this makes me even more confident in my leaning towards the Cardinals. Pittsburgh has beaten 2 playoff teams all season long. They beat an 8-8 Charger team early in the year when the Chargers were just miserable, and then in the playoffs at Heinz Field.

And they beat the Ravens three times this year, which makes sense considering the Steelers do what the Ravens do, just a little bit better. But despite the weak competition of the NFC West, Arizona has beaten more quality teams, and has showed up against more playoff teams.

Pittsburgh lost to every single playoff team they played all year (Philly, Giants, Indy and Tennessee) except for those FIVE games against the Chargers and Ravens.

Well, that's enough for me. I picked the Steelers to win the Super Bowl 8 weeks ago, and now, 2 days before the game, I am switching that pick. I will take no credit if the Steelers win, it's as if I never predicted it.

Cardinals 31
Steelers 17

Troy Polamalu's Greatness... and what it teaches us

2009-01-29T15:05:00.004-06:00

Let me start by saying that every Kansas City sports fan should be thankful every single day that they get to read a sports page with Joe Posnanski. He's not even the highest profile writer in his own newspaper (that's thanks to Jason Whitlock spending every waking moment over the past 7 years ensuring that he remains bigger than any story he could ever write, but I digress). But he's quite simply brilliant, and it's a treat not just to read what Joe Po writes, but to also let it sink in, and then see how it has made you think differently about the people, or teams, or organizations that he has just written about.

So in today's paper Mr. Posnanski wrote about Troy Polamalu, and what if the Chiefs had taken him when they could have.

But, in typical Posnanski fashion, his prose brings up 3 distinctly interesting, and important lines of discussion.

1- Remember that excruciating 2002 season, where the Chiefs were the number one scoring team in the league, and won 8 games.

2- How different would the Chiefs look now with Polamalu patrolling the secondary, rather than Larry Johnson patrolling the Power and Light.

3- How much impact can one, truly great player make, especially on defense.

We will address all three on tonight's show.