Monday Roundup
Posted by SBG on Monday, November 29th, 2004 at 3:05 pm
NBA
Here is a quick look at the relative strength of each division in the NBA.
| Eastern Conference | |
| Atlantic Division | 17 Games under .500 |
| Central Division | 2 Games under .500 |
| Southeast Division | 4 Games under .500 |
| Western Conference | |
| Northwest Division | 18 Games over .500 |
| Pacific Division | 9 Games over .500 |
| Southwest Division | 4 Games under .500 |
Right now, the Timberwolves have not played all that well, but, it's early. Note that the Northwest division is far and away the toughest division, top to bottom, so far this season.
College Football
Stick and Ball Guy watched his first, and probably, his last college football game of the season on Saturday. Georgia beat Georgia Tech 19-13 in a terribly played game. Yuck.
NFL
Seven thoughts.
1.) Peyton Manning is the type of player that the NFL needs. A player making plays. He's Jim Kelly, only better.
2.) During the Vikings game, Dan Dierdorf commented on how "amazing" it is that the size of the players has increased so dramatically since when he played. Dierdorf was a big offensive lineman in his day. He weighed 275 pounds. I think, although he didn't say it, that he's in favor of a return to smaller players. Incidentally, I used to hate Dierdorf as an announcer when he was on MNF. He is, in my opinion, 1000% better on CBS. Perhaps it's because he's allowed to call the game as he sees it instead of being a slave to the MNF hype machine.
3.) I think I love Bill Bill Belichick. Watching Bill Belichick utilize players on both sides of the ball, I just about cried tears of joy. I mean think about it, the Patriots have a wide receiver playing a fair amount of defense. And, they have a defensive lineman playing fullback in short yardage situations. I love it! And wow, that Patriot outfit is a good football team. They just dominated the Ravens.
4.) Reduce the rosters to 40 players. Limit substitutions to one player per play when there isn't a change of possession exclusive on injuries.
5.) I'd like to see the clock stopped inside of two minutes when the team with the ball doesn't gain positive yardage. No more kneel downs to stop the clock. At least run it into the pile.
6.) Narrower goal posts. Too many field goals (and extra points) are good. Scoring touchdowns is hard. Kicking field goals is too easy.
7.) The whole NFL kicking game is ridiculous. In what other sport is the leading scorer routinely ostracized from the rest of the team? I'd love to eliminate the kicking specialist. How about limiting a player to two kicks/punts per game? People scream and holler about the DH in baseball, but say nothing about the designated scorer in the NFL. What's more boring that watching a 160 lb. guy come out and split the uprights every single time? Let's have the free safety or the quarterback kick that field goal. Just a thought.
Twins/Contest
So, the Twins have decided to part ways with Henry Blanco. Seems like his .206 batting average was imminently replaceable. I wonder if anyone will give Blanco more than what the Twins were offering. Because the Twins had picked up his option before the SBG Contest and the SBG Contest deadline was before Blanco declared himself a free agent, contestants gave Blanco pretty high numbers, ranging from 8 to 20. I gave Blanco 17 points. At this point, contestant 4 is leading with 309 points, followed by SBG at 305 points and contestant 7 at 303 points. I'll post a chart again at some point in the future.
Fallout from the Artest/Detroit Incident
I promised to comment further on this debacle. I wrote a draft posting over the Thanksgiving weekend, but haven't posted it yet. Short thoughts? I think that the fans are mainly to blame. I think that a lot of people have a weird attitude towards professional athletes. A lot of people idolize successful athletes while simultaneously resenting them for having grabbed the proverbial brass ring. People seem to think that these athletes should be able to play at a desperate level of competitiveness and then have supreme control when they are being verbally or physically abused. It is the rare person indeed who can embody these traits. Personally, I'd stay away from professional athletes, especially when they are engaged in the often violent activity that is professional sports.
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On the NFL thoughts -- Love # 7 back in the old days there was a guy for the Pack that played halfback, kicked the ball and any thing else they needed. Only bad thing he did was gamble a little, (but paid the price for that) Do you know who he was? ha ha "T" wolves better start picking it up. Ok, last time I say this, ball players must NEVER leave the field of play no matter what!
That would be Paul Hornung.
that was too easy! buy you a pop next time we are together (see pays to know your sports haha)