Introducing The All-Athlete Fight Club

Finally got this done:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/214159-introducing-the-all-athlete-fight-club

Anquan Boldin for Brandon Marshall?

Published today on Bleacher Report:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/209881-trading-headaches-why-denver-and-arizona-should-swap-boldin-marshall

Also, enough with Michael Jackson, long live Billy Mays, the San Francisco Giants are for real, Albert Pujols is God, Minnesota should be embarrassed for electing a schmuck like Al Franken, The Hangover was really funny but not the funniest movie ever, I have an Argentinian mistress who is my soul mate but don't tell my wife, Chris Carpenter probably just lost his chance to play int the All-Star Game, and Elijah Dukes got sent back to AAA so it's only a matter of time before he attacks somebody with a bat.

Best Late Picks in NBA Draft History

Published this yesterday on Bleacher Report: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/206377-the-ten-best-non-first-round-picks-in-nba-draft-history

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For you non-twitterers, Clippes GM/Head Coch Mike Dunleavy criticized Bill Simmons yesterday on a radio show. This was Simmons' response.

On Cowherd's show, Dunleavy just called me a "joke writer" & said I had "no credibility." Pot, I'd like you to meet kettle!

Here's a joke: "What do you call an NBA coach who's 194-298 with the Clips?" A: "Still employed!!!" Now that's a funny joke.

1 more joke: Q: "What do you call a coach who decimated 40% of his team's season ticket holders base?" A: "Mike Dunleavy."

Ok, 1 more: Q: "What do you get when you cross cheap suits, booing, 35-point losses + players mailing it in?" A: The Mike Dunleavy Era.

Mike Dunleavy saying someone has no credibility is like Michael Richards calling someone a racist.

I'm so on fire with Dunleavy jokes that Dunleavy just brought in an ice-cold Daniel Ewing off the bench to slow me down.

And now, a few excerpts from Mike Dunleavy's upcoming coffee table photo book, "How The Hell Do I Still Have a Job?"

"I look like this a lot. I'll be honest: It freaks out the players." http://tinyurl.com/nrmtq7

"After bad calls, I look like I'm trying to pass out a kidney stone. Again, it's important to scare your players." http://tinyurl.com/n6ga87

"The end of a typical exchange between me & Baron Davis." Jon & Kate have better body language than us. http://tinyurl.com/lkr6vt

"Here's me waiting for Elgin to turn around so I could plunge a knife into his back." http://tinyurl.com/km3elm

"My players were disappointed when this collision didn't put me in the hospital." http://tinyurl.com/mm5jr7

"Even the refs can't believe I still have a job." http://tinyurl.com/m4e7ym

"A typical scene from last season: One of my players passing me without making eye contact." http://tinyurl.com/mbu6mb

"Here's my doing my thing in the huddle. Notice that nobody is looking at me. Hey, I'm only the coach." http://tinyurl.com/msfy9r

"I bought this suit online for 75% off from a website based in Hungary. Good purchase." http://tinyurl.com/luy9w9

"One of my favorite sports coats. I bought it from Vanilla Ice during an estate sale." http://tinyurl.com/mnsmbs

"If you wondered how I can be 194-298 with the Clippers and still have a job, here's your answer." http://tinyurl.com/lsz23u

An NBA Column!

I actually wrote an NBA column. How about that? http://bleacherreport.com/articles/205652-jefferson-deal-another-sign-of-a-broken-nba

Also, I really enjoyed this beat-down of Tranformers 2. Michael Bay can suck it. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/23/review.transformers.revenge/index.html

Also, "Citi boosting salaries to offset lower bonuses." I'm waiting .....

Freak Out!

This dude filmed his brother freaking out because his mom canceled his World of Warcraft account (whatever that is). It's freaking hilarious.

Twitter Vacation Diary

Rather than keeping detailed notes on my Disney family vacation, I decided to aggregate my tweets from the past week and post them here. So here they be.

5:15 AM Jun 12 - Going to Disney now. 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son on terrorism watch list. Nice.

5:51 AM Jun 12 - People who cheat family boarding on Southwest Airlines can suck it.

8:59 AM Jun 12 - Florida is so much nicer than Missouri. Missouri sucks. Damn.

9:40 AM Jun 12 - Everybody is so damn friendly. I bet this place goes through at least $1 million in Xanax a week. Where's the bar?

12:32 PM Jun 12 - At some indoor theater. Slightly cooler, but damn the stink is enough to make a terrorist cry. On a related note, Adam is crying.

3:45 PM Jun 12 - If there's a murder at Disney World, who has jurisdiction?

8:07 PM Jun 12 - Finally, at 10:02 pm EST, 17 hours after waking up, a Jack and Coke. And all is well again.

9:04 AM Jun 13 - If I had to pick one word to describe the ride "it's a small world," it would be "holy crap I'm glad I'm not on acid right now."

2:10 PM Jun 13 - Confucius say: When you start to smell stink everywhere you go, that's a pretty good indication it's you doing the stinking.

4:21 PM Jun 13 - Where does "end of a long vacation day" rank on the "great time to have a beer" scale? Pretty damn high I'd say.

11:13 AM Jun 14 - Pool side with an ice cold Coors Light. Beautiful.

1:24 PM Jun 14 - Lesson of the day: Two-year-olds not big enough to maintain proper equilibrium on solo voyages down huge water slides. Who knew?

5:40 PM Jun 14 - Met all the princesses tonight at dinner. Somehow I thought they'd be hotter. Hmmm....

(In response to 1:24 pm tweet, friend Sydney asks: “umm. is he alive at least?”)

6:58 AM Jun 15 - @smithsydney Who? I've been huffing sun screen for three solid days now. I think I just saw a giant mouse wearing a chef's hat.

(Sydney explains: “Adam. The one who may or may not have went flying off the water slide yesterday?”)

11:45 AM Jun 15 - @smithsydney Oh him. Yeah, he's OK. Though I could have sworn I heard him call another kid an infidel while we were at the pool today.

2:42 PM Jun 15 - The thing I like about Epcot is you can drink beer from lots of different countries. I've got Italy, England, US, Germany and Norway so far.

(Note: I later learned I didn’t have Italy. I in fact had Belgium instead.)

2:46 PM Jun 15 - Another thing to like about Disney is you can fart wherever. You can do the pause, the walk & roll, or even the lift. It's total freedom.

9:51 AM Jun 16 - You know you have a coffee addiction when it's 90 degrees with killer humidity and you're sweating balls ... sipping a hot cup of coffee.

12:53 PM Jun 16 - Kelly changed Adam while standing during the Hollywood Studios back lot tour. The boy didn't seem to mind the total loss of dignity.

2:31 PM Jun 16 - Day 5, 3:55 pm, Kelly finally cracks, tells the kids to suck it. (No worries. They didn't hear her. Plus she says that to me all the time.)

7:54 PM Jun 17 - This place is so damn magical my balls hurt.

8:15 PM Jun 18 - Last night of vacation, had to hit up ESPN Club. Bartender Joe kind of a dick, but poured a mean drink. Better than a smile and sissy drink.

(In response to this tweet, Kelly tweets: “@Sethdoria shouldn't you tweet about cool wife who was ok with you going out by yourself on the last night? :)”

(In response to Kelly’s tweet, Sydney tweets: “Yes. He should.”)

8:37 PM Jun 18 - @smithsydney: @kellydoria Yes. Thanks wifey. (She's 12 inches from me in bed and I'm tweeting thanks. Welcome to the new age.)



And that’s pretty much the gist. It was hot as hell. We did all the rides we could, ate and spent far too much, and were less than distraught at the thought of coming come. And I might just like drinking alcohol a bit too much.

Also, thanks to Kelly for planning this whole thing out. She spent months pouring over books and web sites, planning every detail for the perfect vacation. And though things didn’t always go exactly according to plan, it was a trip my daughter Abby will never forget. I mean, what six-year-old girl wouldn’t remember Cinderella wishing her a happy birthday?

Thanks wifey.

(That makes a tweet and a blog. Now that's new-age gratitude.)

At Disney

Updates throughout the week on Twitter. @sethdoria

Example from yesterday: if there's a murder at Disney, who has jurisdiction?

MLB Draft Notes

Some thoughts from watching the MLB draft:

* If Scott Boras is using Dice K as a barometer of Stephen Strasburg’s worth, does that mean the best Washington can expect is a career 3.97 ERA and 1.4 WHIP?

* You know what was missing from the MLB draft: Fans. Hell, even the NHL has fans at the draft. Where were the Nats fans freaking out that they just got the supposed second coming of Cy Young? That would have been the best day in franchise history, or at least since they announced the move from Montreal to DC.

No fans? Bullshit.

* The weird thing about most of these guys is how many of the college players are slated to compete in the College World Series. That would be like having the NFL draft before the bowls, or the NBA Draft after the NCAA Tournament. What if the guy gets hurt? That’s dumb.

* When the Orioles were on the clock, Tyler Matzek,a lefty high school pitcher from California, was the top player on the board. But Matzek was asking for crazy cash and so Baltimore took California high school pitcher Matt Hobgood instead.

Signability was by far the most-used word of the day. It’s like “long” at the NBA draft or “passion” at the NFL draft. And this is where baseball is really fucked up. The Orioles are in a division with Boston and New York and they’re drafting based on who won’t fuck them over in negotiations. Fuck that.

Matzek lasted until pick 11 to Colorado.

* In an interview, Giants first-round pick Zack Wheeler, a high school pitcher out of Georgia, looked about as comfortable as a Mormon in a whorehouse. He didn’t look to be all that pleased to be drafted by San Francisco either. The only thing he could say about the Giants is that Barry Bonds used to play there. Don’t these guys have media coaches?

* Walt Jocketty may be a master of pro personnel, but he’s not exactly a maven when it comes to drafting. I look forward to Albert Pujols taking first-round pick Mike Leake deep in four or five years.

* Keith Law may be a cantankerous prick, but he got 12 of 31 picks in his mock draft right. By any standard in any sport, that’s a pretty impressive performance.

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Found an NFL draft with three Hall of Famers in one class: In 1957, Cleveland drafted running back Jim Brown with the sixth overall pick, defensive tackle Henry Jordan with the 52nd overall pick (fifth round back then) and guard Gene Hickerson with the 78th overall pick (seventh round). All told, the class had 22 Pro Bowlers and 17 All Pro selections (most of any class I've seen yet).

One other weird note: The Browns drafted two players who would go on to Hall of Fame coaching careers: Chuck Noll, a DB from Dayton, with the 239th pick in 1953 and Don Shula, a defensive back out of John Carroll, with the 110th pick in 1951. Current Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau was also drafted by the Browns (58th pick out of Ohio State in 1959).

The MLB Dying Pool

The great thing about Spring Training is that every team has a chance. They’re all 0-0 with 162 to go. They’ve got stories of Tampa and Colorado in their heads.

Why not us? Why not now?

It’s beautiful.

But this is not Spring Training. This is June now.

And do you know what happens in June?

Dreams die in June.

Owners and executives look at the standings and see GB 10. They start thinking, “Maybe I don’t need a $12 million third baseman to lose 95 games. Maybe I should trade him for younger, cheaper guys so we maybe we can not suck for the next decade.”

You can’t blame them really. There are two and only two roads for a GM to take – try to win, or try to make the best of losing by re-allocating your resources for the future.

That’s it. Those are the choices.

The question then becomes of when. At which point do you look at the standings, say that’s it, and start pricing out your assets?

For Pittsburgh, that day was last Wednesday when they decided to trade Gold Glove outfielder and 2008 All-Star Nate McLouth to the Braves for prospects Gorkys Hernandez, Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke.

Nothing says “screw it, we’re done” like giving your best run producer to a team that’s only two games better than you in the standings.

Personally, I was a bit surprised the Pirates packed it in so early. They were only 6.5 back of the Brewers in the NL Central with 90 games to play when they decided to pull the plug.

For most teams, that’s still striking distance. I guess for Pittsburgh, that’s quitting time. To each his own, I suppose.

Though Pittsburgh was the first to call it quits on 2009, they surely won’t be the last. As Kenny Rogers said, “You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.”

For these teams, it’s folding time.

Dead:

Pittsburgh (26-31, 7 GB)

I personally wouldn’t have put them here, but who am I to argue? If team management is going to quit, it’s only a matter of time before the whole house goes up in flames.

We’ll leave the explanation to first baseman Adam LaRoche, speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the McLouth trade:

“There ain't a guy in here who ain't [ticked] off about it," said LaRoche. "It's kind of like being with your platoon in a battle, and guys keep dropping around you. You keep hanging on, hanging on, and you've got to figure: How much longer till you sink?

"It's fine. Heck with it. We're not the GM. We don't run the team. If they feel like it's the best move for three or four years from now, great," LaRoche said. "Unfortunately, that does me no good. I've still got to be in here telling guys it's going to be fine with Nate gone. Well, you can only do that for so long until guys just kind of ... well, they know."

Imagine how he felt watching McLouth go deep off Zach Duke in a 7-6 Braves win over the Pirates on Monday.

Washington (15-40, 18 GB)

The most interesting baseball sub-plot on the Beltway is how much they pay Stephen Strasburg. Beyond that, it’s how do you turn Nick Johnson ($5.5 million this year, free agent next year), Cristian Guzman ($8 million this year, $8 million in 2010) and Austin Kearns ($8 million this year, $10 million next year with a $1 million buyout) into enough talent to not lose 90-plus games next year.

Baltimore (24-33, 10 GB)

Only the Nats have given up more runs. Only the Nats have a worse run differential than the O’s. See the problem?

Now, Baltimore is in far better long-term shape than Washington. With Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Luke Scott and Matt Wieters, the O’s have the nucleus of a playoff-caliber offense.

If I’m Baltimore GM Andy MacPhail, I hammer out an extension for Brian Roberts (free agent after the season), then deal Aubrey Huff ($8 million in last year of deal) and Melvin Mora ($9 million with a $1 million buy-out after this year) for more pitching.

Dying:

Kansas City (24-32, 6.5 GB)

The Royals just don’t have the bats to compete in their division. And unlike some of the other teams on this list, the Royals don’t have $30 million of expiring contracts to turn into viable prospects.

Currently just 1-9 in their past ten, KC still has some life at just 6.5 back of the Tigers, but it seems to be just a matter of time before the anemic offense drags down the pitching staff and they fall completely out of it.

Hey, anybody want to pay Jose Guillen $24 million over the next two years?

Oakland (26-30, 6.5 GB)

After winning seven in a row, it’s tough to throw dirt on the grave of the 2009 A’s. But this was never a team built to win in 2009. Their pitching is just too young and their hitting is just too old.

GM Billy Beane might find himself in the position where the market for his assets presents itself before the team falls out of contention. Pending free agents Orlando Cabrera ($4 million), Bobby Crosby ($5.25 million), Matt Holliday ($13.5 million) and Russ Springer ($3.3 million) might all bring in some return on investment. But how do you gut your roster when you’re two great weeks away from the thick of the race?

Then again, the A’s are just 11-17 on the road and face two nine-game road streaks before the All-Star break, so that might not be a problem.

Cleveland (25-34, 7 GB)

The Indians pitching is just a mess. They’ve given up the second-most runs in all of baseball and are carrying a preposterous 5.47 ERA out of their starting pitching.

To put it another way, you know you’re screwed when Carl Pavano is your second-best starter.

The Indians will almost undoubtedly trade Mark DeRosa ($5.5 million in the last year of his deal), but the larger question is what they do with ace Cliff Lee and catcher Victor Martinez. Both have a club option for 2010, Lee at $8 million with a $1 million buyout, Martinez at $7 million with a $250,000 buyout.

In essence, the Indians won’t just be deciding on 2009, but 2010 as well. If they think they need to blow up the team and start over, you trade Lee and Martinez now because you’ll get more in return from a team that gets to keep them an extra year. But if Cleveland thinks it can compete in 2010, you keep both and roll the dice.

I’d keep them.

Colorado (25-32, 13 GB)

The Rockies are going through the post-manager-firing run right now, killing the Cardinals to the tune of 987-4 (or something like that) in their four-game sweep in St. Louis.

But the Rockies are in the extremely unfortunate situation of playing in the same division as the 39-20 Dodgers. Already 13 back in the division, Colorado is looking at not only climbing over San Diego and San Francisco in their division, but also teams like the Cubs, Cardinals and Mets for the Wild Card. Even for a team just two years removed from their miracle run, that’s just asking too much.

With Ian Stewart ready for full-time ABs, the Rockies would do well to trade Garrett Atkins for some young pitching (though they’re probably better off waiting until he’s hitting over .200).

Arizona (25-33, 13.5 GB)

Brandon Webb should be fine for 2010, teaming with Dan Haren as the nastiest 1-2 in the National League. But they have got to get a big bat who can anchor their line-up.

Here’s an idea: Get Holliday from Oakland. At least you know he’ll hit whenever the D-Backs play the Rockies at Coors.

Houston (25-30, 7 GB)

Did I just miss the headline about manager Cecil Cooper and GM Ed Wade being fired, or has that really not happened yet?

To give you an indication of how bad things have turned in Houston, the Astros are looking up at Pittsburgh. Granted it’s only by one tenth of a percentage point, but still. Two months into the season, the Pirates, who have already kissed off the season, are ahead of you in the standings.

That’s got to be humiliating.

Now there are some positives for Houston.

1. Brandon Backe is a free agent after this season, so he can finally quit pretending to be a pitcher and go be a second-rate MMA fighter, which is where he belongs.

2. Lance Berkman is signed for another two years and Carlos Lee is signed for three. With those two alone in your line-up, not to mention Hunter Pence, you have a chance to compete. And with Roy Oswalt signed through 2012 (he can void out the final year), you have the ace you need to contend.

(Count me in the camp that blames Oswalt’s down year on the WBC. If I were a team exec, I would never allow one of my pitchers to pitch in that event. Ever.)

3. The Astros have some pieces they can move. Kaz Matsui ($5 million) is in the last year of his deal). So is Miguel Tejada ($13 million, a large portion of which Houston would have to eat in order to get back anybody decent). And who knows, maybe somebody will want to rent out the corpse of Pudge Rodriguez for a few months.

The bottom line for Houston is they need to clean house at the top, including the firing of both Wade and Cooper, then focus on building their rotation behind Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez, preferably not with guys who have already had career-threatening arm injuries (Mike Hampton) or guys who were 7-22 over the previous three seasons (Russ Ortiz).

Under Close Supervision:

San Diego (27-30, 11 GB)

This is a team that’s trying to kill itself by trading away Jake Peavy, only he won’t let them so they’re “stuck” with the winner of the 2007 pitching triple crown. Poor them.

The frustrating thing for Pads fans has to be that despite ok pitching (and a very good closer in Heath Bell), the offense is absolutely atrocious with a .235 batting average. To give you an indication of just how bad that is, you have to go all the way back to the 1992 Mets to find the most recent team to finish with a sub-.240 team batting average.

If (when) the Padres do eventually gut the team, good luck. Peavy doesn’t want to leave and the hitter you would most like to dump, Brian Giles ($9 million in the last year of his deal), is one of the guys dragging you down (.192 BA, .275 OBP, .278 SLG).

Question

I'm working on a new series called Retired Athletes Fight Club. Here's the central premise: If you could see any two retired athletes fight each other, who would you pick and why?

Seth on the Radio II

Here's the link to last Saturday night's radio appearance. Pat was kind enough to edit out my "contemplative pause" while talking Babe Ruth.

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/696704864/1711bb2d334aa87d4b394a877edbb5d6

Rodney Harrison Out With Class

I know Rams fans are still a little sore at Rodney Harrison (though you shouldn’t be, since the Greatest Show on Turf doesn’t happen without him taking out Trent Green’s knee, but whatever). But even Rams fans (or anybody who hated him, which was pretty much everybody but Pats and Chargers fans) have to respect the following statement from his retirement press conference:

On if we could see a Favre-like return:

“Never. Never. For me, that’s a very thin line and a sensitive issue. I don’t want guys on my team, or guys I played with, to have to answer questions about Rodney Harrison’s return. When I made my decision to retire, I made my decision to retire. I just thought it would be very disrespectful of me to come back and forth and not make my decision. That’s why I said June 1 was my date. So now, being fair to my teammates, being fair to the organization I played and coaches I played for, I wanted to make that concrete decision and not have my teammates have to deal with it. I never want to be a distraction. … Like I said in my statement, I’m done. I’m very much so at peace with that.”

You hear that, Brett?

Anyway, I’m glad Harrison played for my team and helped New England win two Super Bowls. That was fun.

Time for Brandon Meriweather to grow up now.

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So Barack Obama goes to the Middle East to try and talk some sense into the Arab world (or just capitulate to their demands, depending on your point of view) and Osama bin Laden has something bad to say about it.

Doesn’t he know Obama’s middle name is Hussein? Come on. I thought that was supposed to buy us some slack.

Anyway, Obama is about to aim his magic tongue at the Arab world on Thursday with a major speech on US-Muslim relations.

My instinct is to say there’s no way he can accomplish anything. They hate us and that’s just all there is to it. But then I think of all the times I’ve thought Obama couldn’t do something, only to see him blow away all expectations.

To put it in sports terms, Obama is approaching Bill Belichick territory. When a team like the Raiders makes a questionable draft pick, they get slammed. But when Belichick makes an unexpected move, everybody just kind of shrugs their shoulders and says “Ok. I didn’t see that coming, but it’s Belichick so we’ll trust him.”

I know there’s a bunch of people who hate Obama and everything he stands for, but I’m having a hard time looking at the country and seeing the negative consequences of his actions. Maybe it just hasn’t happened yet, but everything the dude has touched for the past two years has turned out pretty damn well.

Hell, he even got his NCAA Tournament bracket champion right. Dude’s on a roll.

Hope it continues.

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I’m working on a long-term project ranking the best draft picks ever at each position from 1 through 250. I’m hoping to sell it to a magazine for pre-draft publication next year.

As part of this, I’m also ranking the 20 best draft classes of all time. I’m only through six teams, but I’ve identified at least three of the 20:

* In 1961, the Bears picked tight end Mike Ditka with the fifth overall pick out of Pittsburgh. Other members of the class don’t resonate with the fans of today, but running back Bill Brown, defensive tackle Ernie Ladd, fullback Keith Lincoln, center Mike Pyle, tight end Bob McLeod and tackle Jim Tyrer combined for 29 Pro Bowls in their careers with 13 All Pro selections. The Pro Bowl selections are the highest total for any class I’ve seen yet.

* In 1964, Buffalo landed Carl Eller and Paul Warfield, both Hall of Famers, in addition to several other guys who were major contributors. All told, the class made 23 Pro Bowls and featured 10 All Pro selections.

* In 1965, the Bears selected Dick Butkus with the third overall pick out of Illinois, and Gayle Sayers with the fourth overall pick out of Kansas. Jim Nance came at pick 45. Butkus and Sayers weren’t just Hall of Famers, they’re two of the best to ever play their positions (though oddly Sayers isn’t the best fourth overall pick I’ve found yet – that honor goes to Walter Payton). Total Pro Bowls: 17. Total All Pro: 13.

(If those two went three and four, who the hell went one and two? With the first overall pick, the Giants took running back Tucker Frederickson out of Auburn. With the second overall pick, the 49ers took running back Ken Willard out of North Carolina. That’s right. Gayle Sayers was the third running back selected in the 1965 NFL draft.)

* In 1996, Baltimore drafted both Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis in the first round (fourth and 26th respectively) and Jermaine Lewis at pick 153. That’s 22 combined Pro Bowls and 11 first-team All Pro selections. Ogden and Lewis are virtual locks for the Hall of Fame. That draft set them up for a decade.

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A weird fact I found while checking Buffalo’s all-time list: Wide receiver Josh Reed, drafted in 2002, has played in 101 games with 284 career receptions – but just nine touchdowns. That’s a touchdown for every 31.5 receptions. It would take some doing to confirm, but I bet that’s up there for all-time fewest TDs-per-receptions by a guy with more than 250 career receptions.

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Tweet of the day comes from Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman:

“spies tell me kate hudson sat with 3 a-rod posse members who poured wine on field before his at-bats. odd, id say”

So it looks like the biggest douche bag in sports has a matching douche bag posse. No wonder they didn’t warn him against kissing himself in the mirror in that photo shoot.

Betting on Byron

Another installment of breakout players for fantasy football based on new matches with their offensive coordinators:

Byron Leftwich, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Not only does Leftwich walk in to a situation where he’s the presumptive starter (regardless of what Luke McCown seems to think), but he’ll be playing for a guy who loves to pass in new offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

You might remember Jagodzinski as the former Boston College coach who got canned for daring to interview for the then-vacant New York Jets coaching job. But a look into what Jagodzinski did in his two years as the BC head coach, and one year as the offensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers before that, and you have a guy who loves to put the ball in the air.

2006 Packers: Brett Favre threw the ball 613 times, tops in the league and the most of his career. It was the 11th-highest total in NFL history.

2007 BC Eagles: Senior Matt Ryan threw the ball 654 times for 4507 yards. The only guy who attempted more was Graham Harrell (713) in Mike Leach’s all-air-all-the-time offense at Texas Tech.

2008 BC Eagles: With nowhere near the talent behind center (no offense to Chris Crane and Dominique Davis), BC still threw the ball 448 times, most in the ACC and 128 more than a North Carolina team that sent three WRs into the NFL this past April. And this wasn’t one of those “we’re down 30 at halftime, so just chuck it” teams. The Eagles were 9-3 before losing the ACC Championship Game and Music City Bowl to end the season 9-5.

As for Leftwich, it seems like forever ago that he was pushing franchise legend Mark Brunell out of Jacksonville. But here are some things we know:

1. He’s tough as hell. The images of him getting carried from play to play when he was at Marshall are still some of the most inspiring in college football history. You want leadership? You got it.

2. He makes good decisions. His career touchdown-to-interception differential is plus 16 (54 to 38). And that’s with 16 picks as a rookie starter in 2003.

3. He can win. When he was having his breakout year in 2005, he had 15 TD to 5 INT and the Jags were 8-3. Then he got hurt, David Garrard made things interesting and the relationship between Leftwich and Jack Del Rio went south (not exactly an uncommon event with Del Rio). But that doesn’t change the fact that before he got hurt in 2005, he was on the verge of becoming an upper echelon quarterback.

4. He still has it. In a Week 9 Monday Night game at Washington, Leftwich had to come in for an injured Ben Roethlisberger. Pittsburgh was 5-2, but coming off a home loss to the Giants. The Redskins were 6-2 and had won two straight. All Leftwich did was complete seven of ten passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. The Steelers won 23-6.

Leftwich is still only 29, has relatively little competition for the starting job in 2009 (regardless of what Luke McCown seems to think), has an offensive coordinator who loves to pass, and some really good targets in Antonio Bryant and Kellen Winslow, Jr.

I’m not saying you make him your number one option at quarterback, but when you’re looking to fill the back-up QB spot in the late rounds, there’s a pretty good bet Leftwich is still on the board. You’re better off with him than guys like Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford or … David Garrard.

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Just watched RocknRolla. Classic Guy Ritchie. If you liked Snatch and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, check it out. Great soundtrack, too.

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Tweet of the day comes from Terrell Owens:

“Sittin here trippin about residents @ 1 DEER RUN wn’t rent to me b/c they said they dn’t want any drama n their neighborhood!! LOL!!! Wow!!”

Tell me that’s not gold.

Twitter is Cool

So I’ve got to admit that I’ve fully jumped into the Twitter pool.

At first, I didn’t really get it. But I’ve found the more people you follow, the better it gets.

For instance, I started following Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch. Then I went into the list of people Bernie follows and started following a bunch of them.

Now, among many others, I’m following Terrell Owens, Matt Hasselbeck, Nick Barnett, Torry Holt, Laurence Maroney, Chase Daniel, Jacoby Ellsbury, Steven Jackson, Leonard Little and Vince Wilfork.

And agent Drew Rosenhaus.

I like Rosenhaus because he’s always pimping his clients (or at least I think they’re his clients). Take today’s tweets for instance:

“Chad OchoCinco is really on a mission. He has truly dedicated himself this offseason. He will be tougher then (sic) ever to cover this year.”

“I like Dom Barber’s chances of winning a starting safety job with the Texans. Like his brother Marion, he is tough, smart and works hard.”

“Here’s a suggestion for the Ravens: Play LB Brendon Ayanbadejo on defense. To be that good on special teams he deserves a shot to play on D.”

“I’m looking forward to watching Jack Ikegwuonu this season for the Eagles. He is now healthy and has the talent to be a starting cornerback.”

So now I know that Ocho Cinco is primed for a breakout, Marion Barber has a brother, the Ravens don’t know how to manage their degensive personnel and Ikegwuono is the next breakout star at CB with the Eagles (which makes me wonder why they traded for Ellis Hobbs).

I happen to believe him on Ocho Cinco, though.

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Note from Hasselbeck today: The Seahawks were working short yardage and goal line at OTAs. He tweeted: “TJ Duckett had a monstah day.” (Remember he’s from the Boston area.)

Then he wrote: “Previous post was a fantasy alert btw.”

So there you go. Seattle is working on short yardage and goal line and Duckett is the man who’s going to be wracking up the TDs.

See why I love Twitter?

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Oh, and I had absolutely no intention of watching the MTV Movie Awards the other night. I didn’t even know they were on. I was happily watching Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals (really great games to watch; got to get to Joe Louis Arena some day) and then Kelly asked me to flip to it.

I grumbled, but then did it anyway. I’m not spending my sports watching bullets on hockey.

My God am I glad I did. Sasha Baron Cohen, in character from his new movie, came flying down the ceiling attached to some pulley system, then dropped down straight into Eminem’s lap.

The best part: He was only wearing a thong and he went into Eminem so that his ass was like two inches in front of Eminem’s face. He was so pissed. You could even here him say “get this mother fucker off of me.” Then he stormed out of the building with his entourage in tow. Classic.

Funny Stuff

B/R writer by the name of Willie Gannon put together a slide show of those "motivational" posters. Some of it's gross, but almost all of it's funny.

Danny, slide 14 is you in a couple years. I can't wait to take that picture.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/189258-motivational-pictures-for-sport