Comments and voting
Morning friends. Let's clean some house.
As you will see there still are no comments, and I have been told from the poohbahs that run our interweb operations that they are working on them.Until then, you are welcome to email me at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com, and I will respond in a somewhat timely manner.
Also, we will keep collecting mailbag comments as well as questions for Friday's rendition of this thing of ours - Cosa Nostra? - about sports/pop culture/opinion/et al.
Deal? Deal.
Before we get the show on the road, if you live in Hamilton County proper and have not done so in the early voting session, I implore you to go vote. Never been more important for informed and involved voices to be heard, and this is the clearest way to make yours count.
True or false, it's an election Tuesday. (True or false, Ernie and Mrs. Ernie have voted. I say true.)
You and I may not agree on political views - or maybe we do - but either way, if you do not vote, then you really should not complain about the decisions our political leaders make because you were silent when you had the chance to make your voice heard.
And for those of you in North Georgia, early voting started Monday and runs for the next few days.
Draft chatter
OK, so the 2023 NFL draft is only something like 361 days away.
Yippee.
And next year, as much as any year in recent memory, the team atop the draft will be critical. Of course, we could do a mock draft but that feels a bit much even for me. I love the draft. You know this. Still, there is some '23 draft intrigue for those of us in this nape of the neck, as the team 110 miles to South must address some serious questions about its future.
The Atlanta Falcons could be right there with Detroit Lions - and maybe Carolina - as the worst teams in the NFC.
Add in the Houston Texas to that mix of futility, too, and you will have four teams that really stink.
Those four teams share something else beyond a crud-tastic roster and very limited hopes of making the playoffs.
Each of those four teams will be starving for a franchise QB in the coming months, and the '23 draft - unlike this one, in which one QB was picked in the first round, and that was at 20 - will have not one but two franchise QBs in CJ Stroud and Bryce Young.
And those teams listed above will be so QB starved that The Athletic's 2023 mock draft has the Falcons taking a QB at 5 - Chas's guy Will Levis from UK. (Side note: No offense Chas, and Levis is a fine player, but the Falcons taking Levis at 5 would be a more Falcons Falcon than taking Drake London at 8.)
So, if you are the Falcons, and the ultimate prize is winning the Super Bowl, don't you have to have some serious internal discussions about finding a way to finish 31st or 32nd?
Tanking is taboo these days because of the deals with the Dolphins, but in the overall best interest of the franchise, wouldn't a lost 2022 offer a brighter future for the Birds?
NBA realization
OK, so we are neck deep in the NBA playoffs, and there are eight teams left.
And in truth, I think if you ranked the eight storylines of the playoffs, you will get an eye-opening look at the nature of the league specifically and some of the issues with the way we - yes, I said we - cover and consume sports in particular and news in general.
Let's review the stories out there, and the first seven are in no speficic order:
> There's who's not in the playoffs. LeBron. KD. Kyrie. Kawhi. The list is impressive;
> There is the utter brilliance of Giannis, and that's cool;
> There are the injuries. Joel Embiid's uncertain status changes everything in Philly;
> Speaking of Philly, there's the continued playoff struggles of coach Doc Rivers and the eternal, how do we say this, disgruntledlizationnessativity (may have made that one up Intern Scott) of James Harden. And the disgruntledlizationnessativity of Draymond Green while we are speaking of disgruntledlizationnessativity;
> There is the uncertainty of the young core in Boston and Memphis and whether they can take the next step or if this moment may be too big for them;
> Speaking of uncertainty, there's the running sand in the hour galss of failure hunting the Captain Hook that is Chris Paul in the desert like it is Tick-Tock Croc;
> There is the brilliance of Luka - which also is cool - but the complete trash that is the rest of the Mavs roster. And friends, anyone - ANYONE - who thinks Trae Young is better or more suited to win a title than Luka Doncic needs to have their head examined. Not for emotional issues, mind you, but for structural ones;
And that's just seven off the top of my head, and with the exception of Giannis' masterful moves in Milwaukee, the rest are negative or feel that way.As for the eighth one - and it may be lower than that - can we speak just for a second about the top-to-bottom brilliance of the Miami Heat.
In an NBA that is dominated by personalities and has forever told us that you can't win without multiple A-level superstars, the Heat are ruthless efficient and efficiently ruthless.
Start with Pat Riley, who has assembled a roster so good and so deep that until Kyle Lowry got hurt in the Hawks' series, you forgot former all-star and lottery pick Victor Oladipo was on the Heat bench.
Then go to Erik Spolestra, who has a very good argument about being the best coach in the NBA and does it with the drama of a Carrot Top movie.
Of all the teams left dancing, I think the Heat have the worst A player in Jimmy Butler. And I'm pretty sure they do not have a top-you or -five B player of the eight rosters left. If had to rank these final eight on the Batman and Robin scale, here's one guess:
Giannis-and any Buck this side of Showalter, Embiid-Harden, Tatum-Green, Booker-Paul, Steph-Klay, Luka-and any Man this side of Pete Mitchell, Ja-Desmond Bane, then Butler and Bam.Or is it Butler and Lowry. Or Butler and Herro. Or Butler and, well you get the idea.
The Heat are great - and play in a mega market - but we ignore the excellence of the sets, the plans, the pieces, the connections and even the commitment - Jimmy Butler would cut you to win a coin flip brother - for the pizzazz everywhere else.
And at some point that's on us, right?
This and that
- We have some kicks and giggles around here, but let's be serious for a second. May is mental health awareness month, and if you are feeling down, isolated, whatever, reach out and ask for help folks. It's an all-too-permanent reminder of the seriousness and fatality of suicide with the news that Naomi Judd took her own life. If you need help friends, just ask. The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.
- Fantasy football alert: DeAndre Hopkins has been suspended for the first six games of the upcoming NFL season. Anyone else feel like the lug nuts are loose on the Arizona Cardinals?
- Yep, sadly, firefighters die fighting fires. Crime fighters die fighting crime. And yes, rattlesnake handlers die handling rattlesnakes. Here's proof. Authorities do not have a description of the killer, but here's hoping the scales of justice deliver
- So Auburn had as many NFL draft picks as UTC. Thanks a lot Gus. I was a little surprised that Smoke Monday was not drafted, but I'll bet after he didn't go Thursday or Friday, the NFL thought he was kicked out of the second half of the draft for targeting.
- Speaking of mock drafts, if you are expecting some new folks to storm the college football castle, don't. The Athletic's mock draft has two Alabama players in the top three - Young and edge rusher Will Anderson - and Eli corner Elie Ricks at 12. Three - Stroud, tackle Paris Johnson and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba - from THE Ohio State in the top 13 and three defenders - Kelee Ringo, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith - in the top 11. So there's that.
- Interesting story here about the ESPN interview with Greg Norman and how much Phil Mickelson's comments actually hurt the LIV Saudi golf efforts.
- Here's Weeds on college hoops and the NIL hubbub in Miami. Well done Mark.
Today's questions
As mentioned before, it's a Tuesday, so as Ern will tell you it's true or false time.
True or false, you are watching "Better Call Saul." (We of course are, but we are not caught up on last night's episode. We will be by tomorrow, which fits into our 24 hour spoiler rule.)
Speaking of spoilers, true or false, there's no way the secret about Vader being Luke's daddy could have been contained in the Twitter era. (Oh, spoiler alert.)
True or false, Jimmy Butler is the last player in these NBA playoffs you would want to fight.
True or false, with all the noise bouncing back between Auburn and Tennessee in baseball, we all want to see them meet again in the SEC tournament and hopefully the NCAA tournament.
True or false, the Falcons should tank.
As for today, May 3, let's review.
The first 'spam' email was sent on this day 45 years ago. Jackwagons.
Hey Bing Crosby would have been 119 today.
Rushmore of 'bing' and be creative.