Weekend winners
The emotion from the NFL draft. Yes we will have a whole separate winners and losers draft segment in a moment, but part of the greatness of this event is the lifelong dreams being fulfilled when these dudes get their names called, be it round 1 or Mr. Irrelevant. (Side note: Mr. Irrelevant was Brock Purdy, the former Iowa State QB, and here's betting that cat could have a five-plus year career holding a clipboard. Side question on the side note: Is there a better job out there these days than being the back-up QB for a true NFL superstar? Jim Sorgi and I both say no.)
Giannis. We overuse a lot of terms in sports. And gratefully, a lot of the military terms have kind of faded from that vernacular. (No, it was not a war out there. It was a game. War is never a game.) Still on that list of overused terms however is freak. That said, Giannis is truly the Greek Freak. Dude had a rough night shooting, so he just dropped a triple double on the Celtics as the defending champion Bucks stole Game 1 on the road. And he did that without his wingman Khris Middleton. Side question: Does anyone truly think that a team with Trae Young as it's best player has anything for THAT? Or, in truth, any of the other eight teams still dancing? OK, maybe the Embiid-less 76ers, but that's a maybe.
Lydia Ko. Yes, she finished two shots back, but her directness and honesty in her post-round interview - when asked about seeing a trainer for back tightness, she told the interviewer it was "that time of the month" - was a much-needed reminder about honesty and the reality that our sports stars are people
Chattanooga. Gang, if a second VW plant opens here - like this report from TFP business ace Mike Pare suggest - welp, the possibilities and big-picture opportunities for our little neck of the woods just grew exponentially.
Tennessee Vols baseball, the club. That's the best regular-season college baseball team since Mississippi State rolled out Will Clark, Rafeal Palmeiro, Jeff Brantley, Bobbie Thigpen and a slew of other stars. Seriously, they are 40-4 and you have to wonder how'd they ever lose 4?
Weekend losers
Tennessee Vols baseball, the hypocrites. So, one of the Vols four loses came Saturday night against a fiesta Auburn bunch. (Yes, regulars know, I'm an Auburn grad. NO this is not a pro-Auburn point.) In AU's win Saturday, one of their dudes hit an emotional, lead-grabbing, ninth-inning homer, and in the moment unloaded a monster bat flip. It went in the direction of the UT dugout. UT coach Tony Vitello - arguably the best college baseball manager in the country - got his jock in a wad and slung the bat back at the Auburn dugout which caused the benches to empty. OK, back story: I am so over all the 'unwritten' baseball rules schtick. It's tired, nauseating and sucks the joy out of a game that is desperate for fun. It's one of the reasons that I have seriously watched and enjoyed at least parts of roughly half of the Vols baseball games this year. They are great at the game and they are the Miami Hurricanes, circa 1988, in terms of double middle fingers to everyone who doesn't like how great they are at the game. Don't want to see them fire imaginary six-shoots after striking out the side, well, put the bat on the ball. Don't want to see the bat flip, don't let any of the UT mashers leave the building. Love the brashness. But then, when it happens to you, you can't go all Notre Dame circa 1988 and play the victim role Tony V. Pick a horse and ride pal, and here's hoping you stay on the 'Canes train, because it's way more fun. (Side note: If/when those teams met in the SEC - or better yet, hopefully a Super Regional - it will be awesome TV.)
This bike rider. No, this is not that one person that is actually using a downtown bike lane that former Mayor Andy Berke sacrificed all that parking for. This 'pilot' is from Atlanta and crashed a pedal pub that injured 15. Now for the unsurprising plot twist, the lead pedaler of the pedal pub that tipped over was presumed to be, well, tipsy.
Draymond Green. OK, so there are a lot of folks - the always belly-aching Green among them - who are coming to Green's defense by saying that he didn't deserve to get booted from the Warriors' Game 1 win for what that foul in that game. Some are saying his reputation played into the picture. Hello, reputation always plays into the picture. Ask Tom Hanks, who gets the benefit of the doubt because of a career of awesomeness, or ask Forrest Gump, who said, "Stupid is as stupid does." Or in Green's case, "Dirty players who act like horse's patooties are as dirty players who act like horse's patooties do."
The Braves. Yes, long season. Have to trust it. (Copyright Annie Savoy.) But when you strike out this much. And when you are a combined 4-6 against the Reds, the Nats and the Rangers, well, you are sucking. Hard. For what it's worth, the Reds, Nats and Rangers have 19 wins combined, so those three teams are 6-4 against Atlanta, and 13-45 against everyone else in the big leagues. So there's that.
Draft numbers. No, not the players or the teams. The TV numbers, and remember this is all relative, because every sport everywhere would push their mommas into traffic for a non-game number remotely this big but in the comps, the first round of the draft was way down. Like 20% down with a smidge more than 10 million viewers compared to 12.5 million last year. One of the biggest reasons? A limited number of high-profile QBs, reminding us all once more why the QBs get the credit after wins and blames after losses. /
Pour me a Draft
OK, another draft is in the books. I love the draft. You know this. So moving as quickly as possible, let's go over the 10 things - good and bad - that will come from this draft.
Good - Georgia's roster. A record five defensive players in round 1. A record 15 players taken in one draft. Yep, Kirby's talent base has become Saban-esque.
Bad - The Falcons are going to stink on ice. And turf. And natural grass, and just about every possible surface on which they could possibly play.
Good - Baltimore. This is less about draft grades, which I love to read but fully understand that it is an exercise in clicks considering the impossible nature of gauging any draft in the following days compared to the next few seasons, and more about value. Because the Ravens torched value. Look at their first three picks: Kyle Hamilton at 14 could have/should have been a top-8 pick; Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum is one of those 10-year starters that teams forget to add in the 20s of round 1; Michigan edge rusher David Ojabo was a top-15 pick before getting hurt late last season, so when he returns, that's not just three starters, that's three future stars at 14, 25 and 45.
Bad - New England. In that same discussion, you have to believe that everyone's favorite Mocs star and record-setting UTC first-rounder Cole Strange was going to be on the board Friday after round 1, right? Heck, check out Sean McVay's reaction, which I think a lot of folks around the country shared. Yes, we all love the exposure UTC got from this and Cole is a great dude who is a ready-made Disney movie, but if anyone other than Belichick had pulled the trigger on Cole at 29 overall, well, it would not have been pretty. Then again, he is Belichick for a reason I suppose. (Or has he always been Belichick, he just was the guy in the hoodie as Brady was being Brady. Oh, never mind.) Here's more from Weeds on the Pats taking Cole in round 1.
Good - Matt Corral. Yes the plummeting QBs became a story, and that's understandable, but Corral landing in Carolina is the perfect spot for him to have a chance to get a QB1 job when he gets healthy.
Bad - Chicago. Uh, they see their wide receiver depth chart right? And in the deepest wide receiver draft in history, the Bears wait until Round 3 to take a WR. (Side note: I like Velus Jones, the WR from Tennessee, and it's a great chance for him to get on the field early, but the Bears will rue going corner at 39 when several explosive WRs - including George Pickens - were still on the board.)
Good - New York Giants and Detroit. Yes, I know there are two listed here - and I'm just as surprised as you are about these being the two to close this out. But every time each of those two teams picked, I couldn't help but think, "Wow, can't believe that guy's still on the board, that's a really good pick." Does that impact the price of the tea in China? Nope not at all, but it certainly feels better than the Lions and Giants normally do after drafts.
This and that
- Speaking of college baseball, Auburn first baseman Sonny DiChiara - all 280-plus pounds of him - is ripping everything with seams on it. Jerseys included. Dude is massive. And mashing. Already with the head start of being an All-SEC player if he lived up to the game's cliche of hitting your weight, he's hitting at a tidy .436 clip after this weekend's series in K-town.
- OK, merging a couple of the above with college baseball and a true freak, hello Ben Joyce. The Tennessee right-hander threw a baseball 105.5 mph. Yes, 105.5. Which just seems unimaginable - both physically and certainly to hit.
- Speaking of the Warriors, uh, hello bad beat time. The Warriors were minus-2 in their Game 1 117-116 win over Memphis, which folded like an expensive lawn chair. So they failed to cover, thanks in large part to choke artist Klay Thompson, who missed both free throws with 6 seconds left Sunday. Seriously, is Klay their fifth-best player behind Curry, Jordan Poole, Green and Andrew Wiggins?
- One more, and this is an annual column, from Weeds and one that is always one of my favorites from him as he covers the area Special Olympics event. Great stuff Mark.
- Here's Saturday's A2 column from yours truly.
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers Go.
As for Multiple Choice Monday, well, let's do this:
Which, three years from now, will be considered the best pick of this NFL draft?Go. (Email your thoughts to me at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com since we are still comment-less.)
As for today, May 2, well, let's review.
Wow, "Iron Man" was released on this day 14 years ago, triggering the Marvel Universe eruption.
Dwayne Johnson is 50 today.
Rushmore of 'Rock' and be creative.