My Second Favorite Draft (After Beer)

Now that the 2010 NFL Draft is officially in the books, it is time to second-guess my favorite team: The Miami Dolphins. Second-guessing your team's picks is the God-given right of all football fans, so get over it. That said, I must say that although I question some of The Big Tuna's picks, I don't presume to know more about football than he does, so in the end, I trust that he is taking this team in the right direction. In fact, my trust in Parcells was strengthened when he pulled the trigger on the Brandon Marshall trade. I was beginning to think that his philosophy on football was dated, and that he refused to respect the position of WR in an increasingly pass-heavy league. He surprised me by going after the big-time wideout; especially since there were questions about his character.

Aside: I really think that Brandon Marshall's locker room antics are a thing of the past. He is among five best players at his position, and has had over 100 receptions each of the last 3 seasons, yet 42 other WRs made more money than he did last year, including his teammate Jabar Gaffney. The new coach traded away his Pro-Bowl QB in the off-season. I would be upset if I was him too. And although he asked to be traded, he never dogged it on the field. He has a new contract, and is on a team that respects him (ask any player how a team shows you respect, and they will tell you it's by paying them.) and gets to play with a strong-armed QB and a very good running game. I think we are going to see a happy, productive Brandon Marshall from here on out.

Back to the topic at hand, based on the Marshall trade, and the fact that Miami stockpiled 7 players on the defensive side of the ball, addressing needs at LB, S, and D-line, my initial reaction is that Miami earned a solid B on their draft. But, the reality is that whether I'm a bullshit blogger with a fan-base of three readers and a girlfriend, or I'm Mel Kiper Jr, my next-day draft grade means nothing. We won't really know anything until a year or two down the road. The only way you can really immediately judge a draft as successful or not is if the team addressed their positions of need.

Miami's Picks:

RD

1 (28th) Jared Odrick,  DT  Penn State

2 (40th) Kao Misi,  DE  Utah

3 (73rd) John Jerry,  G  Mississippi

4 (119th) AJ Edds,  OLB  Iowa

5 (145th) Nolan Carroll,  CB  Maryland

5 (163rd) Reshad Jones,  S  Georgia

7 (212nd) Chris McCoy,  OLB Middle Tennessee

7 (252nd) Austin Spitler,  ILB  Ohio State

I hope every single one of these players pans out. That would be great. But let's be real, it is often times a crapshoot. I have heard good things about Odrick, but I am not completely sold that he can play in the middle of a 3-4 line. He seems a bit small. Misi is slated to play outside linebacker, but he hasn't shown himself to be even a moderately productive pass rusher. We went into this draft needing a dominant pass rusher, and got nothing that even resembles one. Parcells and co. must have a lot of faith in the development of Cameron Wake to have left all their egg in his basket. I am excited to see him in a more featured role next season. AJ Edds, by all counts, seems to be solid, but I don't trust players from Iowa. Spitler could end up being the better pick. We will see.  

For the sake of future I-told-you-so's, here is a list of guys I wish Miami had drafted. We realistically could have had almost all of them. Remember this list, because I will refer to it when these guys make the Pro Bowl.  Especially George Selvie. 

14th- Earl Thomas,  S  Texas

43rd- Sergio Kindle,  OLB  Texas

57th- Terrence Cody,  DT  Alabama

113th- Aaron Hernandez,  TE  Florida

124th- Eric Norwood,  OLB  South Carolina

207th- Myron Rolle,  S  Florida State

226th- George Selvie,  DE  South Florida

Undrafted- Colin Peek  TE  Alabama

Check out this video of Cameron Wake. What a freak.

The Draft

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It seems that everybody and their mothers are dissecting, analyzing, and prognosticating Tim Tebow's draft prospects. Enough people have put their two cents in that Timmy could fill his abortion jar 100 times over. But I digress. They have a million questions about Tebow, and are trying desperately to answer them before the end of the month. Will he be able to fix his throwing motion? Is he going to be another Alex Smith? Is he going to play tight end? With all the question marks surrounding him, it's a wonder how he managed to help the Gators win 48 games (35 as a starter), win two BCS National Titles, and capture a Heisman Trophy. With all that success, he has become a polarizing figure. It is safe to say that there has never been a more captivating college athlete. I guess that explains all the questions.

The NFL has become a machine. It is America's most popular sport, and far and away its most successful professional league. With the help of ESPN (and assholes like me who never change the channel), The NFL has become a year-round event. The day after the Super Bowl, pundits were already ranking teams for 2010, evaluating off-season personnel needs*, and speculating on free agent signings. The crown jewel for the NFL off-season is The Draft. With the draft comes the pre-draft meat market some refer to as "The NFL Combine."

* I realize that this image is not relevant in any way, but I stumbled upon it while Googling "2010 NFL Draft." She is hot. That is enough reason for me.

The combine takes place every spring about a month before the draft. The point of it is to quantify the things we think we know, thus guaranteeing that the Raiders will draft a big, strong, fast player who is incapable of actually playing football. My favorite part about the combine is how "experts" use the results of the drills to reinforce what they previously believed, or refute what they thought they knew after watching a player week in and week out on the field every Saturday for four years. It is a fantastic waste of money. But then again, it is the NFL, and they print their own money there. (You like that Brady Dollar? I just did that myself on the fly. I'm a fucking internet stallion. Boom!). The thing that gets me about the draft is that I can't think of a situation in the real world where past accomplishments are thrown out the window, and scored from completely unrelated tasks are the standard. How is this line of thinking valid, or acceptable?

Interviewer: "...Let's look at your work experience. It says here you were a high school janit-

Wannabe Employee: "Custodian...I was a custodian."

Interviewer: "Ok. Custodian. And you were the assistant to the regional manager at McDonald's."

Wannabe Employee:   "Something like that."

Interviewer: "Thanks for your interest. I think I have seen enough."

Wannabe Employee: "Check me out. I can juggle."

Interviewer: "...enough to know that you are management material. Welcome to the company!"

Now here is Tim Tebow. All he has done the last four years is give everything he has for Gator Nation. He has gotten excellent (at times historic) results. Anyone you ask gives glowing reports about Tebow the man, the teammate, the competitor, and the winner. Then you have Todd McShay's assessment: "[Tebow] will not make it in the NFL; I'm sure of it." I feel it necessary to point out that McShay also gave a glowing endorsement of JaMarcus Russell. Idiot.

Unfortunately for Tebow, the NFL is full of sheep, and they will continue banking on Ryan Leafs and pass up players like Tebow, that don't fit the NFL mold because that is just the way things are done. I hope Tebow steps right in, lights up the league and wins multiple Super Bowls. Partly because I am a Gator fan, but mostly because I hate everybody. And everybody includes all those "experts" out there who don't know shit, yet think their word is absolute truth. 

Bye-Bye Bobby (Daggummit!)

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Bobby Bowden announced yesterday that he will retire at season's end. That doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the pressure he was receiving from FSU president T.K. Wetherell, and athletic director Randy Spetman. I am one of those people who said he has earned the right to retire whenever he wanted. How could you not extend that courtesy to the man who built the FSU football program into what it is today?

Imagine this scenario: The year is 1975, you are the athletic director of a school whose football program has won four games in the previous three years combined. You are looking to hire a new football coach to take over next season. In walks Bobby Bowden, a coach who had 9 winning seasons out of his 10 as a head coach. He makes the following offer: "Listen here. If y'all hire me, this is what I'll do for ya. I will coach for 34 years, and only the first will have more losses than wins. Within two years, I'll get this team to win 10 games and a bowl game. 'Fore long, I'll get my boys to win 11 straight bowl games. This program will become one of the elite programs in the whole daggum country. We will win two National Championships, and spend a 14 year stretch finishing in the top 5 of the AP poll. And by golly, this program will be infinitely stronger than when I walked in here today. There is one catch though: three of my last four seasons here will end with FSU unranked in the AP poll. Whadda ya say?"

Do you take it? Damn right you do. Anyone with half a brain would take it. That is why I find it so mind-boggling (and frankly, disappointing) that the powers-that-be at FSU have so quickly forgotten that Bowden did more for the entire university than any other man before him. If you think his impact was only on the field you are clueless. His football success brought the national visibility and income to help FSU grow by leaps and bounds as an educational institution.

Here is some perspective on how great Bobby Bowden actually was at FSU. 1987-2000 was his best stretch, and arguably the most dominant in college football history, here is a quick comparison against the 10 other most prestigious programs in college football:

Total Domination

We will NEVER see a stretch like that again in college football. EVER. One thing that is particularly telling is the bowl streak. Give Bowden a few weeks to prepare, and the opposition doesn't stand a chance. His overall bowl record was 21-10-1.

Coaching Accomplishments:

~ 2nd most coaching victories in Division 1-A with 388 (Joe Paterno 392) .

~ One of three active coaches elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

~ National Coach of the Year award winner in '79, '80, '91, '96, '99.

~ Coached the Seminoles to 2 national titles ('93, '99).

~ 1999 Seminoles were the only team to spend every week of the season at #1 on the AP poll.

~ Set NCAA record with 11 consecutive bowl victories (14 consecutive without a loss).

~ Led Seminoles to 28 consecutive bowl games (Longest streak in NCAA).

~ Played for a National Title 5 times since 1993.

~ Led Seminoles to 6 BCS bowl games (2nd most).

~ 41 winning seasons out of 43 years as a head coach.

After 33 years of such success, people associated with Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles have become spoiled. After getting to the pinnacle of collegiate football success, how do you stomach three seasons of less than 8 wins? Why would you settle for anything less than the delicious taste of contending for a national title every year? It's simple. You do it for the same reason you wear that goofy-looking reindeer sweater that Mima crocheted for you for Christmas when you were 17. You do it because no matter how many times Pop-Pop called you John-Roby-John, it can never come close to being as important as all the things he did for you growing up. You do it because without him, there is no way you would have become the man you are today.

Now that he is gone, you are still getting called by the wrong name. But now it is by your asshole boss who is calling you "Rodney"; only, he never even knew your name in the first place.

S.O.S.

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I spend a majority of my down time (aka, workday) browsing sports websites and blogs for my own edification. In doing so, I have come across a great many haters out there. As is usually the case, the defending national champs, are the target of most of the bile spewn about on message boards. It just so happens that this team happens to be my Florida Gators. People get tired of all the coverage directed at UF and Tebow. I fully understand that. The Champs always get way more than their fair share of ESPN coverage. But one thing that gets tiresome is when people talk crap without knowing a damn thing. My beef: strength of schedule.

The talk this pre-season was that coming off of last year's grueling championship run, The Gators would coast through their relatively easy schedule to another BCS title. They pointed to the fact that they scheduled Charleston Southern, Troy, and FIU out of conference. Critics whined and complained that The Gators "never play anybody" and "should be embarrassed for scheduling those teams." I will not sit here and argue that the Gator's out of conference opponents are world beaters. In fact, they aren't even very good at all, but that isn't the point. You have to look at the strength of schedule as a whole. And in the last 10 years, nobody has had a played a more challenging schedule than the Gators have.

Strength of Schedule For the 10 Most Recent BCS National Champions (Sagarin Rankings)

For clarity's sake, here is a brief glossary:

The number next to the year is the schedule ranking on a scale of 1-119 (1 = most difficult, 119 = least difficult). "Top 25" is the number of seasons that team's schedule ranked among the 25 most difficult. "Top 10" is the number of seasons that team's schedule ranked among the 10 most difficult. "Title Year" is the team's schedule ranking the year they won the BCS Championship.

As you can plainly see, over the last ten years, Florida has played a tougher schedule than any of the other BCS Title winners. Moreover, when winning said BCS Titles, UF played navigated the toughest road there. I was a bit surprised and impressed by USC's schedule strength. The fact that they play tough games is probably a good indicator of why the Trojans usually perform well in big games. The same holds true for the Gators. Being challenged week in and week out teaches you how to take a punch and not lose your composure.

So far this season, The Gators have played the 39th ranked schedule. With a match-up against #2 Alabama (27 SOS) on the horizon, the SOS will certainly go up for both teams. #3 Texas (49 SOS) is in the fortunate position of playing the Big 12 "Title Game" against a 3-loss Nebreaska team that boasts an offense that is anemic at best. Nothing like cake walking into the championship game. Ohio State was allowed to do that in '06 and '07, and look how it worked out for them. In case you forgot, OSU got pasted by UF and LSU; 41-14, and 38-24 respectively.

[Off topic, but interesting nonetheless- when looking up the final score of the '07 BCS Championship game (which was not as close as the score indicated as OSU scored garbage points at the end), I stumbled across Ohio State's all-time bowl record. They have never beaten an SEC team in a bowl game, going 0-8 against 7 different teams. I'm just saying.]

With all the hate thrown the way of the Gators this year, it is worth pointing out that if they are to win a second consecutive title, they will have to knock off two undefeated #2 teams in back-to-back games. That is as tough a task as any. If anyone can do it, the Gators can. Less than 365 days ago, they were preparing for the first of 2 consecutive games against the #1 team in the nation. "But to me, it seems quite clear. That it's all just a little bit of history repeating."

Wardrobe Malfunction (Or So I Thought)

On Saturday, The Gators will face the Seminoles in The Swamp in their last regular season game of the 2009 campaign. A win will allow Florida to accomplish something they never have before. It would be the first time ever that they completed the regular season with no losses or ties. That would be a nice accomplishment to add to Florida's record book. Unfortunately, because of the fact that FSU (6-5) just barely crossed the threshold for bowl eligibility, this is the least anticipated season finale in my lifetime. ESPN doesn't agree, however, as they have sent College Gameday to set up camp outside The Swamp. Personally, I feel that there are more competitive match-ups on the docket, namely Miami @ USF. Nonetheless, Corso and co. will be in town, going through the motions of wearing Albert's head for the world to see. Some might argue that ESPN chose Gainesville because they adore Tebow, and in light of the absence of any real marquee match-ups, they might as well feature the top-ranked (and currently undefeated) defending National Champs. That is all fine and good, but I suspect there is more at work than just that.

Sponsorship.

Earlier this season, Nike unveiled their new line of football gear called Nike Pro Combat. "Ten storied programs" were chosen to wear their "game-changing uniforms." Taking the template of the Oregon Ducks' current uniforms, and making slight stylistic tweaks, Phil Knight (Nike CEO) has fashioned uniforms to be worn by the Gators in their home finale. When I first heard the news, I rolled my eyes. Having seen what Phil Knight's fashion sense can do to the credibility of a football program, I feared the worst. Fortunately, the uniforms created for Florida are not half bad. In-fact, I actually kinda like them. Admittedly, I hated them at first. But, the more I looked them, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this would be a nice change of pace, especially for an SEC school. Although Florida is a bit ahead of the curve, the SEC as a whole is known for wearing boring uniforms in the archaic styles of their 1950's predecessors. FSU's helmet design screams "we stab and hurt people (or at least we used to)", and UF's helmet design meekly whispers "we remember how to write in cursive...except for those damn 'Gs'". It will be nice to see a uniform that is a bit more aggressive, and to that point, progressive in the SEC.

Having ESPN's Gameday brodcast the game which features two of the ten "Pro Combat" teams is good press. Gameday broadcast from Fort Worth earlier this year. As luck would have it, TCU unveiled their Pro Combat uniforms that day against Utah. The Horned Frogs won 55-28. I guess there is no conspiracy to cry foul about, but I am just not a big fan of promotions like this. "We are the all-powerful Nike. As a show of our magnanimity, we will bestow upon a selected few, garments worn by Zeus himself (when he played back-up tight end on Olympus High's J.V. squad. He quit football to concentrate solely on baseball. It was a tough decision for him, because he liked football more, but was better at baseball, and thus got more playing time)." Nonetheless, The Gators' inclusion in this campaign cements their place as one of the elite commercial pillars in college athletics. And I am sure the athletic department will be making a few bucks off this, so that is nice.

As you may remember, in 2007, Nike had a similar marketing campaign wherein Arizona, Florida, Ohio State, and Syracuse were selected to wear prototype uniforms. It worked out better than Nike could have possibly hoped, as both Florida and Ohio State wore those jumpsuits all the way to the Championship Game, with The Gators besting the Buckeyes for their second national title in as many years. Here is to hoping that the Gators' football counterparts can walk a similar road to repetition.

My First Word Was "Ball" (And Have Not Stopped Talking About Balls Since)

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I have been a huge sports fan since even before I can remember. The first words out of my mouth was "ball." I don't remember saying it, yet my mother is constantly reminding me. Practically every picture of me as a kid is of me kicking/thorwing/dunking a ball. I loved sports, and in return, sports have been good to me.

The Miami Dolphins have been the most steady NFL franchises since their birth in '66. In my life, they were always good, but never great, but that was good enough for me. There was Shula, there was Marino, and there was always hope.

The Miami Heat came to town in 1988. I was immediately hooked. That's what happens when your mom's boss has season tickets, yet doesn't really like basketball. Add Alonzo Mourning, Pat Riley, and you have a team good enough to compete with Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals. I consider 1998 a win. One Dwyane Wade later, and boom, Championship.

The Florida Panthers wasted little time going from expansion team to Finals runner up. That was truly the most fun I have had during any playoff run, as I was young enough to lose myself in it completely.

The Florida Marlins also jumped straight from expansion team to winners, taking the 1997 World Series in only their fourth year. They won again in 2003, making in two in 10 years. A far cry from the curse of The Bambino, and other such dysfunction.

The Miami Hurricanes, Florida State Seminoles, And Florida Gators, all of whom I have followed at some point in my life, are three dynasties that have controlled the landscape of college and professional football for the better part of three decades. 10  National Titles in 26 years made watching college football in Florida exciting year-in and year-out.

My college years were exciting at UF. Besides the 2 Football Titles, The Gator Basketball team won back-to-back titles. I was living in Title Town.

All told, I have seen 15 championships wins, plus 8 championship game runner-up performances. That's the whole point, right? Championships.


That's what I thought.


But recently, during the current run that the Gators Football team is on, I have realized that being the best is not what it is all about. As we speak, Coach Urban Meyer is leading the Gators on an unprecedented run, winning 2 out of the last 3 BCS Championships, and 19 consecutive games. But why is this season not enjoyable? The Gators are the best and everyone expects them to be the best. As expectations mount, appreciation for what they have done dwindles. Any other team would be chomping at the bit to get where the Gators are. Yet, all you hear from ESPN is how they have not produced explosive scores, and instead of cheers from the stands, you hear complaints about the playcalling. Simply winning is no longer good enough. They want perfection. They want title after title. But to me, the best part was getting here.

Do you remember 2006? Do you remember how much it hurt when Auburn beat the Gators on some close/questionable calls in October? Do you remember how loud the Swamp got when Jarvis Moss blocked that field goal to stave off Spurrier's Gamecocks in November? Do you remember having your friends over for Bowl Selection Sunday in December, fingers crossed to see if the Gators would get a crack at the Buckeyes in January? Do you remember the deflating feeling of watching Ted Ginn Jr.run back the opening kick-off? Do you remember the subsequent rush of watching the underdog Florida Gators smack around, befuddle, and completely dominate the Heisman Trophy winner and the #1 team in the country?

I remember, and it was awesome. It made me want to jump around on University Avenue like a crazy person. Not because you are obligated to do so when you win, but because you feel great and you can't keep it inside. You felt like you were part of something great. Maybe the voice you lost along with 90,833 of your closest friends made the difference. Maybe that group of 85 players was just the perfect mix of talent and heart to get the job done. Maybe it was both. Instead of demanding another championship, hope that you are lucky to see another, and appreciate that it is still a possibility.

The time has come to appreciate the moment you are living in. Just ask any Cubs fan, this feeling is rare, and championships can be few and far between.