Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston calls out a play during drills in an NFL rookie minicamp in Tampa, Fla., Friday, May 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) Well, let's do this.
From the "Talks too much" studios, how do you measure yourself against other golfers? By height.
NFL quarterback futures
We meant to cover this earlier this week, but here's one view of the immense progress of Jameis Winston.
OK, we'll debate it.
Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota will be linked as the grow and improve.
It's the nature of the beast, and each has earned supremely high marks through the early parts of the process.
So where do we believe this will end?
It's impossible to forecast anything accurately at this juncture, but here are a couple of things we now think based on the all-too-early feedback:
- Each is going to start form Day 1. This is to be expected of course, since they went 1-2 overall in the draft, which means, huge investment and that each team really stunk last year.
- Each is going to throw a lot of picks. Also to be expected from rookie QBs. The speed changes are staggering and playing QB in the NFL is like being a first-time parent: Everyone can tell you how different it is, but you don't until you do it, you have no idea.
- Each will be an improvement over the previous QB situations in each locale.
As for long-term, it's dangerous to try to peg, but we're game.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota passes during an organized team activity at the team's NFL football training facility Tuesday, June 2, 2015, in Nashville.We think Mariota's going to be better than we expected. The transition to playing under center will be made easier by playing fort Ken Whisenhunt, too.
We think Winston's going to be a star. A Big Ben-type of player that can become the face of a franchise. Now that's dependent on Winston staying out of his own way, but he's been problem free since the stupid profanity-laced prank that got him suspended for a game at FSU.
Plus, the exploits and antics of Johnny Football have served a pretty good lesson.
Manziel, who went to rehab and is trying to be the starter in Cleveland, recently said he will quit doing his famous "money" celebration gesture.
If Winston avoids the off-the-field stuff, he has the makings of a star.
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NBA wrap
We enjoyed TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer's take on the Golden State Warriors' "team" approach and title.
He's right too, that Draymond Green was the face of that transformation.
He was the guy inserted into the lineup that forced David Lee into a lesser role and set the theme of sacrifice for the season-long run of excellence.
Green also is the type of value second-round pick that makes the difference between good teams and great ones.
And more often than not, it shows the difference between the everyday GMs and the elite scouting departments. Or maybe simply the lucky ones.
Steph Curry is the unquestioned star of these Warriors, who have every meaningful piece other than Green signed through 2016 at least. Klay Thompson, who was invisible for long stretches of these Finals, is his scoring wing man.
Golden State forward Draymond Green and his team-first approach was central to the Warriors winning their first NBA title in four decades, writes Time Free Press columnist Mark Wiedmer. The Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 on Tuesday night to take the best-of-seven series 4-2. Photo by The Associated Press.The rest of the future of a Golden State team that will be a playoff fixture for the foreseeable future was crafted in the 2012 draft. The Warriors grabbed Harrison Barnes at No. 7 and Festus Ezeli at No. 30, which of course left no Festus for the rest of us.
The Warriors traded with Brooklyn to get Green at 35 overall, a pick that leaves the rest of the league shaking their collective heads.
On a redraft, Green would likely go no worse than fourth behind Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard and Andre Drummond.
That's a draft day steal gang. It begs the question why do draft services put so much value on measurables and combine numbers. Green could slap play at Michigan State, but because he was a step slow or an inch short he fell more than 30 spots.
And if you are wondering, there have been only two players to have a triple-double in the NCAA and the NBA Finals. Green, who did it in the clinching Game 6, and some guy named Magic Johnson. Must be a Spartan thing.
Oh, by the way, the team that picked fourth in that draft was Cleveland and it took some crack pot named Dion Waiters.
If Draymond Green had been the fourth pick three years ago, we likely would be talking about his team's accomplishments this morning.
It just likely would have been the other team.
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U.S. Open
We are super stoked about this Open.
You know this.
Major championship golf with the pressure forming coal from the diamonds in the game is awesome.
You know what else is awesome? This little animation of some of the best players in golf and how it ends with Tiger missing a putt.
It's funny because it's true.
Tiger Woods watches his tee shot on the 18th hole during a practice round for the U.S. Open golf tournament at Chambers Bay, Monday, June 15, 2015, in University Place, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) The other thing we are interested in is the TV developments Fox will bring with its coverage.
Is Joe Buck ready to be Jim Nantz-lite? Is Greg Norman ready to be an analyst? Side note about the Shark, if he's honest, who has better perspective about major championship heartache than that dude? Norman has a chance to emerge from this event as the second-biggest winner of the tournament, only behind whomever is holding the trophy Sunday night.
This is a big moment for Fox, and in a lot of ways, a big moment for the game golf.
Sports in general are becoming more and more about the viewing process and beyond die-hard golf fans, the viewing process for the sport needs some boosts.
So, whatcha' got Fox? This is a dynamic new course, so the venue of Chambers Bay sets up well for some experimentation.
Yes, there's a risk of some head-scratching graphics or glowing traces that may make the old-school golf fans cringe. But that's the same group that's tickled Tiger's terrible, a simple fact that is hurting the sport and industry on a daily basis.
Here's hoping it's a great tournament - for the winner, the course, the coverage and the crowd.
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This and that
FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2015, file photo, New England Patriots football defensive tackle Vince Wilfork smiles during a news conference in Foxborough, Mass. Wilfork, who won two Super Bowls with the Patriots, announced on Twitter, Monday, March 16, 2015, that he has signed with the Houston Texans. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File) - We know two things are absolutely true about Vince Wilfork's T-shirts. First, they are huge. Dude claims to be 340 but we think he's lowballing us. Second, they almost always will make us giggle. Here's the latest. It states clearly "World's Greatest Farter I mean Father" and at Big Vince's size, we're not going to argue either assertion.
- Well, the cold never bothered this team anyway. Yep, that's a softball team in Oklahoma that has uniforms like Elsa's dress in the movie "Frozen." They may be indifferent to the cold, but that July Oklahoma heat in an evening gown-type of softball uni appears sweat-tastic.
- Want to know how bad the Boston Red Sox are? They made the Braves bullpen look good Wednesday in Atlanta's 5-2 win. Yikes.
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Today's question
We are going to keep it simple today because we know you may need extra time for your mailbag questions.
Antonio Gates is 35 today.
What's the Rushmore of tight ends (football position not derrieres gang)?
Go.