Weekend Winners
* Mohamed Sanu. We liked this story and Sanu did too. Good times. (It's kind of amazing the low standards we have embraced. Still good for Sanu for handling himself like a professional because you never know who could be watching.)
* Tennessee quarterback play. The Vols partook in some spring scrimmages and the quarterbacks were on center stage, and both showed flashes of being the dude. That's the good news. The bad news, well, there are some holes out there Johnny Vols Fans.
* Ben Ketola. No, not that mother scratcher. Ben Ketola. All he did was make bowling history with a perfect game in 90 seconds. Here's some video.
*Boston Celtics. Left for dead after dropping the first two at home, Boston won games 3 and 4 at Chicago. Also of note, Rajon Rondo's value got a monster jolt, considering with Rondo the Bulls were headed for a sweep. Without him - he broke his thumb late in Game 2 - Chicago is headed for a loss in 7.
*Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are granting a Make-A-Wish dream for a sick teenager, who wants to announce his favorite team's first-round pick. Good stuff.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin follows through on a 3-point basket against the Utah Jazz during the first half in Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, April 21, 2017, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Weekend Losers
Every OKC Thunder not named Russell Westbrook. First the hacking Andre Roberson strategy worked very effectively, and begged the question why Billy Donovan left him on the floor. Secondly when Russ is on the floor in OKC's series with the Rockets, the Thunder is plus-3. Without him on the floor, the Thunder is minus-40.
College hoops. We bemoan the one-and-done. Heck, we are closer than we realize to none-and-done. Here's Kentucky's Hamidou Diallo heading to the draft having played as many college basketball games as Spy.
Blake Griffin. Man, this is the classic definition of the saying "Your greatest capability is your availability."
Ilie Nastase. The tennis analyst offered this over the weekend "Let's see what color it has. Chocolate with milk? on Serena Williams' unborn child. OK, we can all agree we are overly sensitive in this PC culture. But c'mon man. Zingers at unborn tots.
These dudes. How cracked a puppy do you have to be to wear dirty T-shirts on the Price is Right, knowing that the audience is old folks and sick kids Monday through Friday at 11 a.m.? And could they not come up with something better than "Two in the Plinko; One i the Stinko" for Pete's sake?
Decision making for a couple of high-profile football players. First, there's D'Antne Demery was kicked off Georgia's football team for domestic violence, as TFP SEC ace and Press Row cohost David Paschall tells us. News also circulated that former Florida defensive lineman Caleb Brantley has been charged with punching a woman in the face hard enough to knock her out and knock out a tooth.
In this Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, photo, Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant (2) warms up during the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football game against Ohio State in Glendale, Ariz. The only downside about having a player such as Deshaun Watson is that it can be hard to convince an elite recruit to come sit behind him for a year or two. That leaves the Tigers with no clear replacement. The holdovers are promising, but not Watson-level talents. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Draft decisions
Remember gang, we will have a "Dodging the Draft while Feeling the Draft and drinking a draft NFL Draft Contest." Here are the categories:
- Number of SEC players picked in round 1:
- First quarterback to be drafted:
- Titans' first pick:
- First team to trade its pick:
- Falcons' first pick:
That said, let's get back to what we discussed on Friday. We had 12 different teams represented in draft analysis requests. Let's go to a dream first round for each team.
Cleveland. The best thing for the Browns would be a) have someone else make their picks or b) have USC quarterback Sam Arnold in this draft.
San Francisco. The best thing for the 49ers would be to figure out how they could draft Jim Harbaugh.
Chicago. The best thing for the Bears would be to take Jamal Adams, the LSU safety, who is the best player on the board and will be a Pro Bowl regular. The Adams-Myles Garrett discussion three years from now will be similar to the Clowney-Khalil Mack discussion right now.
Jacksonville. The best thing for the Jags would be someone to already have picked Mitch Trubisky, so the Jags do not take Blake Bortles 2.0.
Tennessee. The best thing for the Titans would be for no quarterbacks to be picked when it becomes their turn. If all the QBs are on the board, this pick becomes of premium value with the Jets picking next.
New York Jets. The best thing for the Jets would be to take the bets player on the board. It could be Jonathan Allen, the Alabama defensive lineman, or whomever. Which package, for a restructuring team, sounds better? Allen and Josh Dobbs in round two or Deshaun Watson and maybe a Caleb Brantley? Of that group, Allen is by far the sure bet, and the rest are scratch-off tickets.
San Diego. The best thing for the Chargers is for somehow Marshon Lattimore or Adams to be on the board.
Carolina. The best thing for the Panthers would be to have the gumption to take O.J. Howard, who is the biggest offensive game-changer on the board.
Cincinnati. The best thing for the Bengals is to take the best need-talent fit on the board and pick Reuben Foster.
Buffalo. The best thing for the Bills is to take Derek Barnett. Dude is a monster. Period.
New Orleans. The best thing for the Saints would be for Howard to still be on the board. Yes, their defense stinks, but scoring points can be defensive in some ways too.
Cleveland. The best thing for the Browns would be that they could convince New England to take this pick and a little more for Jimmy Garoppolo.
Arizona. The best thing for the Cardinals would be rolling the dice on a QB of the future. This feels like the time the QB run should start. It will start earlier, but this feels like the genesis.
Philadelphia. The best thing for the Eagles would be for Mike Williams to still be on the board, and for the Eagles to realize that a lot of Deshaun Watson's success came with Williams on the field.
Indianapolis. The best thing for the Colts would be for there to be several really good tackles in this class. There are not, and any of the tackles are a reach here. So the best pass rusher on the board - Barnett here would be aces - has to be the pick.
Baltimore. The best thing for the Ravens would be for Mike Williams to be on the board. We think Williams is going to be a long-term star in this league.
Washington. The best thing for the 'Skins would be for the Colts to take a offensive lineman and have a shot at Derek Barnett. (Side note: of the first-round guys who may not be universally loved - we think Adams, Howard and Jonathan Allen are going to be stars like everyone else - we think the five best 'players' in this this draft are Barnett, Mike Williams, Dalvin Cook, Reuben Foster and Gabriel Peppers.)
Tennessee. The best thing for the Titans is finding the biggest splash playmaker on the other side of the ball than pick 5.
Tampa Bay. The best thing for the Bucs is that only one wide out has been drafted by this point, giving them the choice between John Ross and Corey Davis.
Denver. The best thing for the Broncos would for this class to have more offensive line talent.
Detroit. The best thing for the Lions would be for Barnett to inexplicably fall this far.
Miami. The best thing for the Dolphins would be for this class to have more offensive line talent.
New York Giants. The best thing for the Giants would be for O.J. Howard to fall. He likely will not, but remember this is the best-case scenarios.
Oakland. The best thing for the Raiders would be for Dalvin Cook to be there.
Houston. The best thing for the Texans would be to ignore the temptation of taking DeShone Kizer.
Seattle. The best thing for the Seahawks would be for this class to have more offensive line talent.
Kansas City. The best thing for the Chiefs would be for Deshaun Watson to keep falling. Man, that would be a great thing for Watson, too, considering that a) he would not have to be ready to play right away and b) a career with Andy Reid could very raise Watson to a Donovan McNabb-type of career.
Dallas. The best thing for the Cowboys actually happened last year. In addition to the offensive stalwarts Dallas added in the draft, it will also get Jalen Smith back. That gives Dallas a real chance to take the best player on the board, and here's thinking one of the supremely athletic tight ends could be a high target.
Green Bay. The best thing for the Packers would be for Dalvin Cook to be there.
Pittsburgh. The best thing for the Steelers would be to look at Evan Engram, and love what they see. We like Jabril Peppers a lot too.
Atlanta. The best thing for the would be for one of the big three QBs to still be on the board and dangle this pick for big value. Otherwise, the Falcons pick will likely be a defensive edge rusher who is falling or an offensive lineman Johnny Falcons Fan is not overly familiar with.
New Orleans. The best thing for the Saints would be hoping for one of the quarterbacks to be here, both for value and long-term options after Drew Brees.
This and that
- Jalen Hurd, former UT power back, is headed to Baylor University.
- Alabama also had its spring game this weekend, and surprisingly Nick Saban was not all smiles and giggles afterward.
- Joanie Cunningham died over the weekend. Erin Moran was 56.
- Are we to a place where a bona fide A-list superstar of his time is now playing Col. Sanders of KFC fame on commercials? In the case of Rob Lowe, yes. Yes we are.
- The Braves got swept over the weekend. The Braves are 6-12 with the worst bullpen in the history of bull-words. And if you take the Padres out of the equation, the Braves are 2-12.
- We talk all the time about leagues and entities finding ways to better themselves. There is bad news in that story for ESPN - reportedly 40 or so folks will be laid off next month - but the fact that ESPN is looking at an expanded HBO model in an effort to recharge its trajectory.
Today's question
OK, gang. Winners and losers. Go.
We need your draft entries before Thursday at the end of business. Deal? Deal.
Now if you need a Rushmore, did you know that Chipper Jones is 45 today. (Side note: Cipper's new book will be on our summer reading list and includes some eye-brow-raising stores about Greg Maddux. Egad.)
Who is on the Rushmore of guys with nicknames so prominent that most people do not know their real names.