Random Sports Notes

ESPN writer Bill Simmons wrote a piece (used ambiguously, if you know what I mean) just recently about the NFL's ups and downs in the off-season. In one portion of his "piece," he made the claim that the Houston Texans by selecting Mario Williams over Reggie Bush in the NFL Draft was the dumbest move in the last 25 years, even topping Portland's number one selection of Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. While Reggie Bush is a very explosive, talented, and exciting player with a load of potential, he has yet to play a single game in the NFL. Don't go guaranteeing that this guy will be the next Gale Sayers. Let the guy play, grow, and develop into the player he will eventually become. If that's the next Gale Sayers, better than Gale Sayers, or not quite meeting the lofty expectations remains to be seen. To claim that Houston made the dumbest sports move in the past 25 years based on the premise that one player who has never played a snap in the regular season will be the next Gale Sayers and the other who has yet to play a snap in the regular season is an experiment is perhaps the dumbest statement I've heard (read) from a sportswriter in the past 25...days. They make a lot of dumb statements, so I won't go as far as Simmons did in his assessments.

Another dumb statement made by an ESPN writer was that if Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has one more bad season, he'll be the next Kordell Stewart. I won't give this one as big an insult as the previous statement for the simple fact that Vick and Stewart have plenty of playing experience in the NFL and it's not being so extreme. What do they mean, "another bad season?" Michael Vick has three full years of starting and has made the Pro Bowl (NFL All-Star game) all three seasons. The only two years he didn't make it were his first season when he backed up Chris Chandler and his third season when he missed 12 games with broken bones in his leg. The worst record the Falcons have posted with Vick at quarterback was last year at 8-7. I'd love to have a "bad" season like that. If my "bad" season got me into the All-Star game, I'd take that anyday. There were some sportswriters who claimed Vick didn't belong in the Pro Bowl last year and even the year before with his pretty average passer rating, but the players and coaches decide who goes and obviously there's a lot of respect around the league for the guy, and when it comes to evaluating NFL talent, I'll take the coaches and players word over sportswriters who couldn't make a bowling team in middle school anyday.

The Atlanta Braves, after losing both games in a day-night double-header to the Mets yesterday, are officially out of the running for a Wild Card spot in my eyes. They were 6 1/2 back of San Diego after their second loss to the Mets yesterday with only 24 games left. The Braves would have to make a major turn around and fast in order to catch the Padres for the Wild Card spot. With their inconsistent hitting as of late and their always inconsistent pitching, it's very unlikely that this will occur.

Lou Holtz stated last week that while a football team can win without a quality tailback and receiver, they can't win without a quarterback. I hate to disagree with Lou Holtz, because he is a heck of a coach, but I've got to do it here. What's most important in football? The lines: offensive and defensive. If the line can't protect the quarterback and can't open holes for the run game, it doesn't matter how good that quarterback is, he's going to get pummeled. On the other side, if a line stuffs the run and gets to the quarterback, it's going to be awfully difficult for the team on the offensive to put many points on the board and if so, probably not enough to win. I like the statement I heard one time from an ESPN analyst. He said, "Quarterbacks receive more praise than they deserve when things are going good and receive more blame than they deserve when things aren't going their way." I'd say about 95% of the time, I agree with that statement. Oklahoma has won in the past without stellar quarterbacks. The Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer as their main guy behind center. He's not bad by any means, but isn't a franchise caliber quarterback. Lou, I hate to disagree with you, but a team can win without a quality quarterback. It'll be most difficult for a team to win if they don't have much up front in their lines.

I've got to kind of laugh at analysts and "experts" overreacting to the Notre Dame/Georgia Tech game last week. Some have stated that expectations for the Irish are too high and that they've even taken a step back. Are they serious? Do they have no respect for Georgia Tech? They're not a bad football team. Tech beat Auburn in their opener last year and I've heard the Tigers are allright. They also upended Miami (Florida) who I've heard some good things about. For Notre Dame to open the season in Atlanta and beat the Yellow Jackets on their home turf/grass, that's impressive no matter what the final score might've been.