From TT
I was wondering now that Patrick Mahomes is 25, which QB under 25 would you build your NFL franchise around?
TT-
Great question.
A lot of people will start with Lamar Jackson, who is the reigning MVP and all of 23.
(If you are wondering, DeShaun Watson also turned 25 this week, like Mahomes, so he's out too.)
Am I worried about Jackson's accuracy in the postseason? A little.
Am I worried about his ability to stay healthy long-term? Yeah, more than a little.
But he's the starting point.
No. 2, give me Kyler Murray, who I think will be a star.
No. 3, I loved, Loved, LOVED what I saw from Joe Burrow last night.
No. 4, I'm buying all the Trevor Lawrence stock I can get, and in truth, he should get more consideration for No. 1 than I am likely giving him.
No. 5, and it's crazy to think that Josh Allen is the best looking among those dudes drafted in that 2018 draft, right? But he is.
(And yes, until I see Tua doing Tua things, it's a pretty big stretch to build around a guy with medium arm strength and a rebuild hip.)
Great question
From Mike
Jay,
How weird is it to have NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, US Open and US Open coverage, football and end of the season baseball, and NASCAR playoffs on at the same time?
I am watching more sports than ever before - and the SEC has not EVEN started.
What sports have you watched more of or less of during this time?
Mike-
Excellent question, and one I have wrestled with a bunch during this time.
I have watched very little NASCAR and NBA. No NHL.
I have watched a fair among of Braves baseball.
Golf is next with football the leader, and the gambling and fantasy angles of that can not be ignored friends.
Daily Readers
Jay, I love the 5-at-10. Thanks for the contests and there are a bunch of us here at work who can't wait until 10 o'clock each day.
You used to have someone write letters called 'Lunch Bunch' and I always wondered if one of our group was writing in. Call us "Daily Readers" in the mailbag if that's okay.
We could not stop talking about the SEC point you asked about (Thursday) about your favorite SEC player for your second- or third-favorite team. We went further than that and wondered who is your favorite player of every SEC team?
Thanks and thanks for your column and tell David and Wells we listen to you guys every day.
Daily Readers-
Wow, thanks for the kind words. Been a crazy week in the email.
Some overflowing praise. Some unabashed anger. Some spam. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
But, hey, we're going to do what we do, and let the chips fall where they may. In fact, we have this conversation with David and Wells during breaks on Press Row.
I give so many opinions these days - I write eight columns a week counting online and in print, and spend 15 hours a week being a bloviated gasbag spewing hot takes on everything from BLM to Divi. II-AAA football to what's appropriate on jerseys to which jersey changes are appropriate - that there is only one way to do it.
As honestly and directly as possible. In fact, I have had a lot of folks ask questions about how you get into talk radio or newspaper writing, and the answers are pretty easy.
To get into the business, you have to start small, be willing to work for peanuts and move whenever the next call comes, and work your tail off at every stop.
To get good at the business - and yes, the jury is still out on whether this is good or not - I followed Lewis Grizzard's advice, "Find someone's style you like, copy it until you develop your own style." I started writing trying to be like Jim Murray, the famed L.A. Times sports columnist, who mixed humor and crafty phrase turns that were witty as well as very smart. I wanted to try to write like great political speeches and even the sermons of my youth, which my explain my love for alliteration because of the better flow of the syntax. Later, I mixed in some mid-1990s Sports Guy (Bill Simmons) who was the first I can remember to completely incorporate pop culture into online writing.
Wait, enough of the sidetracking. (The point of that is mainly thanks for the kind words. This business unless you go network, is more praise than pay. And the key to that praise - and often the anger - is the simply fact I am being honest, something that is tragically becoming more and more rare in these days.)
My favorite player at every SEC school. such a great question. (And I will ask Paschall around lunch and post his answers too, if he's willing to play along.)
Alabama - Derrick Thomas. The best SEC player most people rarely discuss, and the trend-setter for this list, because other than fan favorites of your favorites, there are just some dudes you can't help but respect because they were so good. (Hi Jules and Alejandro mumbling "Yeah, like Tebow Stupid Gators.)
Arkansas - Darren McFadden. That's one dude I completely missed on in terms of thinking he was going to be a first-ballot NFL Gold Jacket HoFamer.
Auburn - Too many to name fighting for the spot behind Bo. I loved Reggie Slack, the former AU QB, too. (Side note: When we went to the other side of Nashville to get our all-white English Bulldog who looks a whole bunch like UGa, we agreed to name him Bo Jackson for clear reasons. Well, we almost picked Bo's brother, who was all white until turning brindle at the back hips and all over his hind legs. If we had picked him his name was going to be 'Slacks.' So there's that.)
Florida - Emmitt Smith or Spurrier. Smith played when the Gators were underachieving. And yes, Spurrier played before I was born, but that was a rough bunch - in terms of playing against and finding good guys not named Tebow - post Spurrier's coaching days. (Side note: The biggest football what if of our generation is "What if Danny Kannell's daddy - the Miami Dolphins medical advisor - signed off on Drew Brees rather than Dante Culpepper and Brees went to Miami and Nick Saban stayed?" Along those same lines, "What if Tebow had gone to Alabama, which was his second choice in the recruiting process, and playing for Mike Shula rather than Urban?")
Georgia - Herschel. And it's not close. Side note: Last jerseys I wore, a UGA 34 and a Falcons 31 (William Andrews). I was 11 years-old. Side question on the side notes: Is this the most rambling answer in the history of 5-at-10 mailbags?
Kentucky - Jared Lorenzen. Hey, heavy-set dudes who like to play QB have to stick together.
LSU - Not a lot here, because as an Auburn fan, LSU has authored a whole lot of gut-punch losses. (Yes, Alabama and Georgia are my most heated rivals, but it feels like over the last couple of decades, when Bama or the Bulldogs beat Auburn, they really beat Auburn. LSU and one-score setbacks are becoming downright painful. And somewhat expected.) I'll probably go Barkevious Mingo simply because his name is Barkevious Mingo for Pete's sake. Side note: Wow, there have been some killer names in Red Stick starting all the way back with Yelverton Abraham Tittle. There's Barkevious. Don't sleep late on Early Doucet. Tight end Joe Domingeaux. They had a Booger, a Honey Badger and a T'Bob. I can keep going.
Missouri - Derrick Chievous. Yes, he's a basketball player. So what. (Almost went with Jon Sundvold.) When he was stroking it with the Tiger - in the Big 8 back then - he wore a band-aid under his eye and for some reason I thought that was wicked cool.
Mississippi State - Eric Moulds. Dude could really play.
Ole Miss - Deuce McAllister. This dude could really play too.
South Carolina - Marcus Lattimore. Read above.
Tennessee - Eric Berry.
Texas A&M -Heck, I'll admit it. I loved watching Johnny Football, who gave Auburn fans the single best moment of the 2012 season.
Vanderbilt - Zach Cunningham.
Wow, that got wordy friends. Let's pick up the pace.
From Tommy H
On Big 10 Football:
And in the meantime Alabama is testing their players daily. Good use of money and resources? Student body doesn't get that. Let's call it what it is, semiprofessional sports. And all the"big cigars" get to attend games, but students are limited? So naive to even think nowadays that it's the student body's team.
Tommy-
Uh, yes. But it's been this for a long, Long, LONG time.
This was in reference to Thursday's column on the Big Ten returning this fall.
That transition started many moons ago and is the most important reason for my reversal in believing that major college sports programs that make money must ethically and legally find a way to pay the players that make so much revenue for so many others across that campus.
You mentioned Alabama, and yes I can argue that it's a great use of resources for the Tide to test players every day.
Forget just a second the money made on TV deals and sponsorships from football that in almost every way pay for every sports scholarship across the SEC. (And in most years, with the SEC power programs paying other teams millions to come take a supposed football whipping - in front of tens of thousands spending millions on so many Saturdays across the South - SEC football pays for so many sports scholarships it is nearly impossible to count.)
Now, please remember that pigskin at power programs is the primary portal to prospective pupils from Poughkeepise to Palo Alto and from Pennsylvania to Panama. (Alliteration anyone?)
The numbers in enrollment and applications - which for most major colleges and universities are customers and possible customers - skyrocket when your football team has big-time success.
Check this paragraph from the 2017 USA Today story reviewing the investment Alabama made in Nick Saban, and how the on-field success led to in-class booms in Lord Saban's first decade in T-Town.
"In 2006, the year before Saban arrived, Alabama reports it had an incoming freshman class of 4,404 students (2,926 in-state, 1,478 out of state). This fall's (in 2017) incoming class, the school says, is 7,407 students (2,406 in-state, 5,001 out of state)."
And before you wonder, "Well, football attracts the masses" the story goes on to point out that success also attracts those who have had success and those who are striving to find successful environments. More from that story in 2017:
"Alabama ensures the quality of much of its student body the same way that Saban ensures the competitiveness of his football team - with aggressive recruiting and liberal offers of scholarships. Alabama reports 41% of its incoming class scored 30 or higher on the ACT (versus 13% in 2006) while 34% had a GPA of 4.0 or higher in high school (versus 17% in 2006)."
So finding any way to continue the best possible commercial for your school - especially during a pandemic when future finances and enrollment is more in flux than ever - is a very good use of those revenues.
From Chas
Jay--I read your A2 column, and I read Christine Brennan's piece. I think you both made some solid points, with you scoring more points than she. But I think you and she agree on about 90% of the subject. For the bag: If you put aside a couple of instances of strong hyperbole on Brennan's part, what good can you see in her op-ed? (Come on, we have too much yelling these days. Find common ground.)
And though you've made clear your strong preference tp PLAY BALL, isn't the decision a really close one? One that we shouldn't fault the deciders for either way?
(Yes, I do understand your main subject was to wonder about the flip-flop. Rainman was an excellent driver and I'm an excellent reader. The Big 10 says one reason to reverse is that they have better testing options now. That's valid, isn't it?)
Chas-
As always, thanks for reading the A2 parts of what we do. (Side note: Gang, if you enjoy this silliness, please feel free to check out the A2 stuff too ion Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It would be much appreciated.)
To your main point, yes, testing advancements certainly matter and make sense about opening the door. But it also begs the question of why did you close the door that quickly and that emphatically before?
All of us knew that doctors and experts were still going to try to find cures and better treatments and improvements in testing against this thing. But the smartest of the smart - including several Big Ten university presidents who were doctors in their day jobs - just said, "Nope, we're out."
As I wrote, I'm glad they found a way and were willing to open back up and revisit this thing.
In truth, to combine your letter and the previous one before I get to Ms. Brennan's views, the SEC's attempt to explore every option, as I wrote then, looked compassionate and patient. The Big Ten's looked self-serving and arrogant, because we all know that the Big Ten fully expected every other conference to fall in line and call the season when it did.
Now the SEC's plan looks downright wise and in a lot of ways honest; the Big Ten's looks downright desperate and greedy.
Which brings us to the USA Today column by Ms. Brennan, and you ask what good can I see? Well, as for the good, she's very smart and articulate and her arguments are well-structured. So in terms of a clinical column, there is a lot of good.
In terms of its opinions, beyond the arrogance and the politically charged ways to be self-protecting politically, I'll start with the things on which we agree:
> Kevin Warren is a monster loser in this;
> The Big Ten presidents certainly have egg on their face too;
> Yes, we all hope that no one gets seriously ill;
> And in some ways, yes, the schools are wrestling with the very real decision about how safe is safe enough with the knowledge of what is at stake in terms of finances from football.
That last one is sticky - and to call it "selling your soul" is still over the top, but considering we are dealing with student-athletes who are not getting paid makes it a tough balance, even if those student-athletes almost universally want to play - because everyone in almost all walks of business is balancing the same question, no?
It's one of the main reasons that from the very beginning I praised the slow-walking patience of the SEC. They never said, "We're playing Hell or high water" as much as they continued to say "We're exploring every option."
As for the ways she and I disagree, well, let's explore.
First, the Big Ten sold its soul a long time ago, and to pretend anything else is nuts. Yes, the B1G may view itself as something different, but that's folly and hollow and only parroting the narrative of the academicians. And to even tout this first paragraph - as a proud Northwestern alum, teacher and board of trustees member - screams of conflicts and arrogance.
Which brings us to the hollow arguments of any academic arrogance among big-time college athletic programs.
Take Duke for example. Great school. Amazingly tough to get into. But to say that Duke hoops holds itself to something different because the Cameron Crazies are filled with future Wall Street attorneys and Chicago day traders is a fool's errand.
Same for THE Ohio State football. And Michigan. And Wisconsin. And Penn State. And Nebraska. And while the rest of the student body may be rocket scientists, the presidents have been extremely happy to cash those Playoff checks and TV contracts for years now.
Now if Northwestern and Vandy want to sit off to the side and swap smart people jokes, fine.
But pretending that the Big Ten is better or different at its core is building a narrative on a false foundation.
And her column was filled with that arrogance, first about her conference and second, and worse, about the growing number of media personalities that take a political slant on something and then call foul or feign outrage when it goes the other side of their political agenda. I understand disagreeing if you disagree, and yes, voice it.
And who knows how much Trump had to do with football coming back to the Big Ten, but that, again, is the wisdom of the SEC slow-walking and saying little in terms of direction.
Because the reference to the Rutgers president calling Trump getting involved "cheap politics" just makes the presidents look worse because either a) they succumbed to those cheap politics, or b) they realized ho much was at stake to lose this year and down the road in terms of valuing football to recruits and coaches and everything else by not playing while the SEC, ACC and Big 12 played.
And despite what Brennan tried to craft, that realization is not selling your soul as much as knowing what it's stake.
But the over-arching feeling of her column for me was arrogance.
Take this sentence: "Let the football factories of the SEC, Big 12 and ACC (Clemson's playground) continue playing; the Big Ten was doing the right thing looking out for its student-athletes, treating them almost no different than the student body at large, and that was all that mattered."
What? Does she really, honestly believe that there are football factories at Arkansas, Missouri and Ole Miss compared to the football libraries at THE OSU, Ann Arbor and Happy Valley? PUH-lease.
It's never all that matters, because who is to say it was the 'right' thing for student athletes who have already sacrificed so much of their life for this one shot at trying to make their dreams come true.
(And if you think one season can't make that much difference, Joe Burrow went from a fringe day three draft pick to the No. 1 overall dude and $30 million guaranteed in one season.)
Because if you are going to ask, "Is testing a reason to change" and I say absolutely, then she is being dishonest that a history of 'academic' - no matter overblown and in some ways dishonest - and a caring of students is a reason not to change when the numbers change.
Now we can debate those numbers, because I don't know how much the testing, protection, heart data or any of the rest of the stats have truly changed, in terms of metrics and choice.
Dang, that got wordy too.
From JTC
Mailbag - of the Braves pitching dynasty days (Maddog, Glav, Smotzy), who was the best 4th (and 5th) starter? I'll go Avery but Merker was sneaky good. What about best closer (think Wohlers?)
JTC-
Such a great question.
OK, Greg Maddux arrived in Atlanta in 1993 and the Braves rotation that year was Glavine-Maddux-Smoltz and Steve Avery, who is a for sure contender for the best No. 4, considering he was with those guys from 1993-96.
But the end for Avery was less than pretty: He went 14-23 with a stout team in 1995-96 with ERAs of 4.67 and 4.47.
Kevin Millwood was there and successful for a couple of years before Smoltz got hurt. So too was Denny Neagle, but I think you go Avery, who was a bona fide all-star in 1993 with an 18-6 mark and a 2.94 ERA.
(Side note: Think about that 1993 rotation gang. Maddux goes 20-10 with a 2.36 ERA in 267 innings; Smoltz is 15-11 with a 3.62 in 243.2 innings; Glavine is 22-6 with a 3,.0 ERA in 239. 1 innings and Avery is 18-6 with that 2.94 in 223.1 innings. The No. 5 starter was Pete Smith, who went 4-8 with a 4.37. They likely made Pete dress in the parking lot back then. This year, Pete would be the No. 2 starter behind Max Fried.)
I would lean toward Mark Wohlers being the best closer among a pretty inconsistent group.
And while a soul-crunching homer is no where as dramatic as the ball going through Buckner's legs - and the Red Sox's curse was a big part of that too - I have always wondered if Wohlers did not give up that homer to Jim Leyritz in 1996, how many World Series would the Braves have won, and it was about a year after that hanging slider that Wohlers lost it.
OK, gang, I got entirely too wordy and have to send this booger to the web people.
I will be back in the comments with NFL picks and this week's Rushmores. Deal? Deal.
Jay Greeson