Love-ing the messenger
Kevin Love wrote something for The Player's Tribune about having panic attacks during a game this season.
This is interesting to us on several levels.
First, are we in a place to look at star athletes and especially superstar athletes as people like the rest of us? If Clayton Kershaw said he was nervous or Eli Manning talked of ADD what would we say?
Simply put we assume them to be superhuman. We do not think they have real-life issues and problems in most cases because they have eight-figure annual salaries.
But Love detailed his bout with severe emotional unrest. Will fans be comfortable with that? Will his teammates? It's an interesting crossroad at the intersection between old-school locker-room traditions and modern-day openness, right?
Secondly, as much as the media outfits around the world have struggled with technology, the media folks like yours truly need to be paying close attention to outfits like the Derek Jeter-run joint The Player's Tribune.
A platform that allows the athletes and coaches to directly tell their story certainly would have appeal to the athletes and the coaches.
As for balance well, that's a matter of perception. And mental balance, maybe.
Combine comes and goes
OK, the combine has closed.
We likely watched more of the combine than anyone you know. We love the draft you know this.
We also have a list of winners and losers from the combine that we think it's important to share.
Before we get to the guys who made millions with their showings in the Underwear Olympics and the guys who cost themselves greatly, there are a couple of caveats.
First, if you are Bradley Chubb, Saquon Barkley or another top 5 prospect, then a great combine did not make you any money. Secondly, we don;t know how the interviews went, how the medical examines unfolded or how the IQ testing played out. Nevermind the drug tests, because let's face it, if you fail a drug test at the combine then you either are too stupid to deserve millions or hooked to a place that you violate the old Herm Edwards axiom of "Your greatest capability is your availability."
We'll start with the dudes that made themselves a lot of money (other than Shaq Griffin, who certainly was on the short list of combine winners);
Florida State safety Derwin James. Everyone knows he makes plays, but his 4.45 40 and his 40-inch vertical at the combine stamped his place as the most athletic two-handed safety prospect in the draft.
SMU WR Courtland Sutton. A guy who was a fringe first-rounder at the end of the season dropped a 4.54 40, and while that may not seem super quick for most wide outs, most wide outs do not have Sutton's size (6-foot-3, 218 pounds) or athleticism.
Rich Eisen. Yes, the NFL Network anchor who routinely runs the 40 for charity. First, Eisen dropped a 5.97 40, which is faster than a lot of you shaking your heads right now. Second that effort is done to raise money for the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki. Yes there are more familiar names and yes Barkley stole the PSU thunder, but Gesicki may have gone from a Day 3 pick to a round-two pick. That's what happens when a 6-foot-6, 249-pound tight end runs a 4.54 40 with a 41.5-inch vertical and 22 reps on the bench. Gesicki went from after-thought to possibly the first tight end drafted. Heck, who would be shocked if the Patriots took Gronk 2.0 at the end of round one to be honest.
As for the down side of the equation, well, we need to start with Orlando Brown, the Oklahoma tackle who complete crapped his pants at the combine. Yes, he played all season and did not allow a sack, and yes, no one is asking him to run a go route any time soon. But Brown was the top-ranked tackle by some services and projected as a first-round guy before the combine. And the combine results - his 5.85 40 time was the fifth-slowest at the combine since 2003, and the lower four were posted by players who went undrafted and his 14 bench reps were eye-popping - were brutal.
FSU cornerback Tarvarus McFadden. OK, a bad 40 time for a tackle is one thing. A 4.67 40 time for a DB expected to run with WRs in space is another thing all together.
Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson. Yes this guy still may be a late-first-rounder or a second-day pick, because he is a great playmaker with the ball in the air. But his combine showing was pricey. He had the 10th slowest 40 time among all DBs - corners and safeties - and was relatively unimpressive in a lot of the drill sessions.
LSU defensive end Arden Key. Goodness, we thought that cat was going to be a top-five dude. So it goes.
More winners and losers
The NFL calendar is starting to get interesting.
Tuesday at 4 p.m. was the deadline for teams to tag players with a franchise or transition tag. Good times. Here's what we know:
The Steelers tagged Le'Veon Bell and Bell is hacked off about it.
Dallas franchised DeMarcus Lawrence, who emerged as the Cowboys' best pass-rusher. Lawrence is now in line to make $17.143 million this season. That's a raise for Lawrence, who missed a lot of his first three years with injuries and suspensions of about $15 million.
As for the rest of the names out there - receivers Sammy Watkins and Allen Robinson, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, quarterback Drew Brees, tackle Nate Solder - the lack of a franchise tag may be a very good thing.
On the other end of the spectrum is news that Minnesota did not put a franchise tag on quarterback Case Keenum. That leads us to believe one of two things. Either, a) The Vikings believe they can convince Kirk Cousins to take their tens of millions to be their QB or b) they think one of three free-agent-to-be QBs of Keenum, Bridgewater or Keenum can be had for a lower rate.
We love this decision for the Vikings, because is anyone prepared to give Case Bleepin' Keenum a $24-plus-million franchise deal?
This and that
- Somehow the bubbleheads around the SEC choose not to have any Auburn players on the All-SEC first-team in hoops. Makes perfect sense. But If Auburn does not have an all-SEC first-teamer and still won the league, then should that count a little more in Bruce Pearl's Coach of the Year candidacy against winner Rick Barnes, who led UT to a an SEC runner-up finish with the player of the year?
- Wonder if Tubby Smith gets canned at Memphis for Penny Hardaway if he'd be OK with the current players being allowed to transfer?
- Carmelo Anthony passed Jerry West for 20th all-time in NBA scoring. Is Carmelo a top-50 all-time NBA player and is he a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Discuss.
- And now for this: Ju-Ju Smith Schuster, the Pittsburgh Steelers wide out, is trying to recruit a pretty-big-name potential free agent to his team. Ju-Ju is trying to get LeBron James
- yes that LeBron James - to join the Steelers. Hey, eight years ago, we think LeBron would have been a top-10 pick in the NFL draft. Now, well, let's remember he's getting a little long in the tooth.
- You know the drill. Weeds writes college hoops; we link Weeds on college hoops. Some times life is simple.
- Thought this was pretty interesting. There are now 70 schools offering eSports scholarships. Tecmo Bowl anyone?
- And speaking of hot, wow, the Rockets are firing on all cylinders and have won 16 straight games.
Today's question
Bryan Cranston is 62 today. Jenna Fischer is 44.
Ivan Lendl is 58.
Holy buckets, we were remiss. Tuesday was the 20th anniversary of The Big Lebowski.
Oh man, think of the discussions that come from that movie, even on a Wednesday.
True or false, The Big Lebowski is a sports movie.
True or false, The Big Lebowski makes the Coen Brothers' Rushmore.
True of false, The Big Lebowski makes Jeff Bridges' Rushmore.
To that end - and considering that we think the first T or F above is 100 percent F - what's the Rushmore of best movies with a sports connection that are still not sports movies if that makes sense.
Go.