A very busy Friday friends. Draft, deep breaths, draft, deep breaths, draft … heavy panting.
I love the draft. You know this.
In fact, last night the Lil’ Miss 5-at-10 had a home softball game — shoutout to Merv from Hixson, a regular around these parts who came up and spoke last night; thanks Merv — and I do the P.A. announcing.
Well, the home team lost 9-0. Lil’ Miss 5-at-10 pitched 1.1 innings in relief (no runs, no hits) and went 1-for-1 with a walk. The game was running a bit slow — one of the umps had to leave the ballpark before the first pitch because his house was on fire. Seriously. And Peter Lemonjello was not available for comment.
Well, after the game ended at about 7:55, I am making my way to my truck and the Mrs. 5-at-10 asks, “You going to wait on Lil’ Miss 5-at-10?”
I turned and said, “The draft.”
She smiled and said, “See you at home.” I love the draft. Everyone knows this.
Let’s handle our business.
Rushmore of best current, high-profile, NFL-focused journalists — I used “journalists” in the title, but I will offer opinion-givers, and here is my list, which is far from official and if you have a beef, make your case. Adam Schefter (of course), Peter Schrager, Dan Orlovsky (who was taking citron laps last night) after his adamant praise for Ty Simpson pre-draft, and Louis Riddick, who is the best blend of former player, former exec and opinion maybe across all sports.
Rushmore of “Draft” — Draught beer (of course), drafting in NASCAR (been in the wind tunnel at Lockheed in Smyrna — an amazing situation — and been in the front seat of a NASCAR going 165-plus at AMS), draft card (thanks for your service) and “Draft Day,” the underrated Costner flick.
Rushmore of biggest pop culture flops — and we eliminated fiascoes like Milli Vanilli because those felt more like frauds, so we’ll go with Geraldo and the vault, New Coke, The Magic Johnson TV show, every TV show with “The New …” as an intro.
Rushmore of sports stars with a nickname with the word “ball” or “game” in it — Big Game James Worthy, Teddy Ballgame, The Ol’ Ball Coach and Donnie Ballgame (also known as Donnie Baseball).
Also of note:
> Was checking through my email and saw that an almost decade-old A2 column was among the top-100 visited links on the TFP website on Wednesday, so I clicked on it. Man, my A2 days seem like a lifetime ago.
> The Braves are on a historic run. At 18-8, they are the first team through the first 25 games with a plus-50 run differential, 30-plus homers, 200-plus Ks and no blown saves. They also got a stellar showing from JR Ritchie in his MLB debut, which started with a leadoff homer allowed.
> Speaking of MLB, this dad absolutely losing it when his son made his MLB debut and recorded a K against the first hitter he faced speaks to all of us. Dang pollen.
> Uh, the fire around the smoking Russini-Vrabel photos is only getting hotter. Yeah. Wow. Side note: At this point, do we think the Arizona resort photos were from a private investigator hired by his wife or her husband?
I told you there was a lot to get to, right?
Let’s bag the ‘bag.
From too many of you to count, and mostly live during the event
So did you watch the draft? Thoughts?
Too live crew
(Spy, see what I did with the group name?)
What a night, right?
Man, the evolution of the draft is staggering to me. Yes, society evolves, of course, and the changes of everything over the last four decades are mind-boggling.
Heck, check this social media Paul Harvey-esque “Rest of the Story” about the change over the last 50 years. You, SignalEsquire, must watch this. No one hits a 70-mph fastball 700 feet, my left foot.
But watching the draft last night, my mind flashed back to the classic 1983 QB draft that included Elway, Kelly, Marino, Matthews, Green and a host of generational game-changers.
That draft was in the conventional hall of a Marriott or some other chain hotel.
Last night looked like the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. It was a Pittsburgh spectacle with people everywhere. Wow.
But enough retrospection. Thursday was fun, and fantastic theater.
Let’s roll with some immediate reaction.
Well done — Tennessee. Yes, the Titans likely were crafting their draft around Jeremiyah Love, but the Cardinals took him at 3. So the Titans grabbed their No. 1 WR in Carnell Tate (and taking a WR1 from THE Ohio State has proved to be sound logic) and traded back into round 1 for Keldric Faulk, the massive Auburn hybrid defensive lineman who has a top-10 ceiling.
Do what? — I love Love, but the Cardinals’ pick of the Notre Dame RB1 at 3 feels like a pick to sell tickets more than win football games. Arizona thinking it is a running back away from being an afterthought in the NFL’s best division is laughable.
Well done — Dallas. We called Jerry Jones being unable to sit still, so he was active without being hyperactive, which is progression for Jones. He moved up a spot to get my favorite player in this draft — Caleb Downs — at 11. He moved back — even dealing with rival Philly — and added a high-upside pass-rusher. And reports have George Pickens agreeing to sign the franchise tag offer the team has presented him. That’s a good night.
Do what? — All the talk before the draft was the Rams were going to add win-now pieces. But at 13, the Rams reached for Ty Simpson as possible QB? This is puzzling because a) they are in a win-now place, and there were some immediate impact dudes on the board (Reuben Bain, Kenyon Sadiq come to mind), and b) Simpson could have easily been there at 29, where the Rams also picked.
Couple other random thoughts before we move along:
> Uh, so long from Philly, AJ Brown. The Eagles moved up to get USC WR Makai Lemon, so dealing Brown will happen as soon as the contractual stuff works best.
> Hey, Marcus Freeman, when you have the only two RBs taken in round 1, should you celebrate that achievement or bemoan the fact that you missed the college football playoff with the two best RBs in college football? The last time I recall two running backs from the same team going in the same first round was 2005 when Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown went top-five overall from Auburn. Yeah, AU went unbeaten that season.
From JMac
Don’t know if you want to use it for the bag or it gets response today. Screaming Stephen A said that golfers and NASCAR drivers are not athletes. Both train, practice and work very hard at their sport.
NASCAR drivers do lots of sim work, and most have regular fitness schedules. They train with their pit crew. Still, they are at the top of their sport. I realize he may be thinking of when Dick Trickle had a cigarette lighter in his car so he could smoke during caution laps.
Pro golfers hit an unreal amount of golf balls and do a lot more “than walk the course.” They also are elite at what they do.
I have never thought of Stephen A as a sports reporter, and probably not a lot of other people do.
JMac
Great talking point.
NASCAR is an interesting conversation.
Golfers are 100% athletes because golf clearly fits my definition of sports. It applies to NASCAR too, but there are layers we’ll explore.
Therefore, I think golf is more of a sport than gymnastics or figure skating or diving. Golf has a clearly defined set of rules that declare winners and losers.
Same with, say, Sumo wrestlers, who compete in a sport with clearly defined rules, diapers or no.
Those others are decided by judges with scorecards and opinions.
Each of those endeavors are more athletic than golf, and Sumo and the participants are almost assuredly more physically athletic (other than hand-eye coordination) than golfers, but playing a sport makes you an athlete.
Oh, you can be athletic in any number of things. Heck, breakdancers are athletic too, but despite its place in the Olympics, does anyone truly think breakdancing is a sport?
As for NASCAR, it checks the box of big-picture rules that relatively simply define winning and losing.
But the next layer for me would be answering, “Are jockeys athletes?” The horse and car do the chugging to win those races. I lean toward yes, but can assuredly see that being a talking point.
From 5 at 10 European Correspondent Sam, Dateline Vienna
Tied into your Yankees uni comments about “don’t touch them,” Yankee caps are all over the place here and I know they’re not all Americans cause I had to ask a guy [how to get] to the nearest “water closet” and all he could do was point. And before you think the USA is in steep decline, at least we don’t have to pay 30 cents to pee!
Next in line (in terms of hats) would be Red Sox, Dodgers and MAGA. OK, maybe not the last one, but most people I have spoken with (bartenders) in several countries are supportive of Trump’s Iran war. Of course, this comes from several weenie NATO nations that won’t get their hands dirty in the Strait.
Always hated the Yankees, but along with Dodgers, Red Sox, Cowboys, Packers, Steelers and a few more, way too iconic to change. Met a guy in a Braves hat from ATL in my hotel in Budapest, and he was heading to soak in a deep bathtub of beer (!?) his wife arranged for him. USA! USA!
Sam
There is simply nothing I should add to this.
Moving on.
From Spy
True, you just wanted to type “dynastic.”
Sounds like something on TV that has side effects. “Only take dynastic under a doctor’s care. Side effects may include blurry vision, loss of feeling in the fingers and toes, stomach cramps, diarrhea, runny nose and developing a taste for coleslaw but we swear this stuff works — otherwise we wouldn’t put it on TV.”
Do you ever listen to those spots for whatever drug they’re selling and listen to the side effects and go, “Why in God’s name would I take this?”
Spy
Man, those drug ads always make me wonder, “This side of death-bed illness, who would take this and risk some of these things?”
And I will add this. How dumb is the American audience — and litigious for that matter — that the last line item is “don’t take this product if you are allergic to it,” among the cautionary checklist that is north of a dozen?
What’s next, do we need commercials with former child star Mark Paul Gosselaar that say, “Hey, Zach Morris from “Saved By The Bell” here, and even Screech knows that if you are allergic to bees, don’t become a beekeeper.
“The more you know …”
Have a great weekend, friends and War Draft.