First blog entry after knee surgery

So, this is my first blog entry after having had knee surgery on the 8th of January. The surgery seems to have gone pretty well. Despite the fact that the surgeon made three incisions in my left knee (as opposed to two in my right) this has been a far less painful process than my last surgery.

I really could put weight on the left knee almost immediately after surgery. It was a bit tender on day two, but it was solid afterward. I could straighten it and bend it a bit immediatly without pain. None of this was the case with the right knee. I still have some ugly inflamation above the left knee, and I did bleed a bit (in the shower) from my stiches there last night. However, all things considered, this left knee surgery has been much easier than the right.

I was pretty grogged coming out of the surgery this time. Dr. Bachner came over to me and said "The surgery was successful. We found a lot and lots of things that could make you hurt." It sounded like he did a lot of work. I thanked him for his efforts. That is all I remember.

I do remember that it was approximately 11:30am when they wheeled me into the surgery room. There were atomic clocks posted on the wall all over the joint. It was 1:30 PM when they wheeled me into the recovery room. That means I was in surgery for almost 2 hours. Last time it was just 1 hour. Once again, it sounds like a lot more work was done.

The greater grog and the easier ride may have to do with the pain killers they gave me. I felt very little pain coming out out of the Propofol. Last time the right knee burned and throbbed and ached immediately. The abscense of pain this time may have had something to do with the local painkiller they shot into my left knee. It also had something to do with the double shot of Dolantin the surgical nurse shot into my IV bag. {By that two distinct injections into the bag.} It may have been related to the injection of Torodol they gave me. It could also have something to do with the Vocodine chaser she gave me. It may also have something to with the Norco + Torodol pills the doc prescribed for me to take later on.

Norco is literally twice as powerful as Vicodin. 10mg of Hydrocodone vs 5mg. Torodol is a hyper-strength NSAID that has to be taken with a meal because it can really upset the tummy. It is the very best thing for killing inflamation, but you cannot take it for longer than 5 days.

They obviously weren't taking any chances on me writhing in agony after the surgery. Once again, it sounds like the Doc did a lot of work on my left knee. I greatly appreciate the fact that I was able to sleep well all week. This has helped me to recover faster.

What are the Rams chances of drafting a franchise QB in the second round?

Better than 50/50 I think. Perhaps better than getting on in the first round. Let me tell you why. There are now 5 top-end QB prospects in the 2010 draft. In no particular order, they are:

• Tim Tebow: Not a QB says Mel Kiper Jr
  
• Colt McCoy: Just a backup say most
  
• Jevan Snead: Should have stayed in school; had a bad junior year.
  
• Sam Bradford: Has a surgically repaired throwing shoulder
  
• Jimmy Clauson: Doesn't impress as an NFL prospect, say many.
  

Interestingly enough, a close inspection of the web pages devoted to the draft shows no consensus on the question of who the top candidate is. Each site favors one, each site slams another. One (like CBS) favors Tebow and McCoy. Another (like ESPN) decries Tebow and McCoy. No consensus. Each one of these sites has a hard knock or two for each of these QBs. It would seem every QB candidate in the 2010 draft is carrying some negative baggage.

As a quick aside, it should be noted that Marc Bulger is said to be contemplating retirement at this point. If I had suffered as many injuries as he has over the past three years, I would think about it also.

What does this mean for the Rams, the NFL team most desperately in need of a QB, and the team that holds the all-important #1 pick? It means you don't use the first pick in the draft to select a QB; that's why it means.

It should be noted, in passing, that the Rams have not selected a QB in the first round since 1964 when we selected Bill Munson of Utah State. That was two years before I was born and I am 43. Nope, we did not draft Jim Everett. Houston did. We traded for Jim, and what a block buster it was also.

Do you trade the pick? If we can I would, but we tried that last season to no avail. We couldn't pay the Jets to do a deal for the #2 pick when they wanted to move up. Suppose we move down just a few slots in a deal with Tampa or Cleveland: What then? Do you use such a high pick for one of these QBs? If so, which one?

Do you use the pick to take someone else? That someone is obviously Ndomukong Suh. Coach Spagnuolo is a defensive coach who loves to dominate in the trenches. You have to be sure that he is drooling over the prospect of selecting Suh.

If you use the top pick to acquire Suh, do you wait until the second round to pick a QB? If so, what are your prospects for getting a good one there?

These are the questions that my friends and I have been arguing about (non-stop) for 4 days now. This is good. It keeps my mind off the arthroscopic surgery I have tomorrow.

To give you the Cliff's Notes on this debate: My hopes for acquiring a franchise QB in the second round have been growing and growing with each new URL thrown my way. I can see several scenarios in which high quality Quarterbacks, like Tebow and McCoy, fall out of the 1st round.

Believe me, I know it is early. Everything will change during the NFL combine. A lot of opinions will be formed. A lot of opinions will change. However, it looks like every QB has a knock on him, and these 'facts' will echo around Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis.

It is a very high risk proposition to draft to your strength, and wait until the second round to go after your most devastating need. However, given the prevailing conditions, I just might be willing to take that massive risk. It would be absolutely horrid if we took Clausen in the first round... or the second.

Can you imagine the impact that getting Suh in the first and Tebow in the second would have on the Rams?

The triumvirate of leadership and the case for Tim Tebow

I am not a particularly strong fan of Colin Cowherd. I find him to be a high-nasal, adenoidal, narcisict who sticks his tongue up Belichik's ass far too often. With that said, the man said something truly insightful the other day which we should all take to heart.

The NFL is a sports league in which all teams should go 8-8. More than 40 years ago, Commissioner Pete Rozelle installed his parity principles which can be summarized as follows:

1. All profits shall be shared on an equal basis
2. There shall be a salary cap and a salary floor so that no team can massively outspend another.
3. The worst teams shall draft first, the best shall draft last.
4. The worst teams claim first on wavier wires, the best claim last.
5. An attempt shall be made to soften the schedules of weaker teams, and toughen the schedules of stronger teams.

These are the Parity Principles that govern the league. The logical outcome of these rules is that all teams should go 8-8. However, the truth is just a little bit different. The Colts are the best team in the league at 14-2, and I think we all know they could have been 16-0 this season. The Rams were the worst team in 2009, going 1-15. I think we were lucky to beat Detroit. This is not parity, is it? It sure doesn't look like it from the bottom. Probably doesn't look like parity at the summit either.

Worse, we know that there are a collection of Football teams that always seem to win. We also know that there is a collection of teams that always seem to lose. No need to name who they are, or start controversies about it. Why is this the case? Colin says that leadership in three posts makes all the difference in the world:

1. The General Manager
2. The Head Coach
3. The Quarterback

Those are your three most critical management positions. This is the triumvirate of leadership that makes all the difference in the world. If you are not stocked with championship leader-men at these three positions, you can forget about winning the Super Bowl. The 49ers turned around decades of loosing when they combined Eddie DeBartolo Jr, Bill Walsh, and Joe Montana. The Colts turned around decades of loosing when they combined Bill Polian, Jim Mora Sr, and Peyton Manning. The Cardinals turned around decades of loosing when they combined Ron Minegar, Ken Whisenhunt and Kurt Warner. If you look around the league, every class-act is solid in these three positions.

So how about the Rams? Both William Joseph Peter Francis "Billy" Devaney, and Steven Julio Spagnuolo are relatively new. Devany took charge of the ship in 2008. We had a disaster, finishing second worst in the league. Spagnuolo joined last year. The disaster got worse. We are the worst team in the league. However, there are mitigating circumstances. I know the disaster we are wallowing in is primarily the consequence of a terrible head-coaching move we made in hiring Scott Linehan. The triumvirate of leadership broke horribly at this link, and we are still trying to put it back together. There is also another problem with our leadership chain: We have no quarterback. Marc Bulger and Kyle Boller just didn't get it done at all. They fail particularly in the area of leadership and confidence.

I am not ready to issue a judgment on Devany. I am still hoping he can be great GM. I believe Spagnuolo is a great leader. I fault him only for selecting Pat Shurmer as our offensive coordinator. That is his only bad move so far.

Although you may be surprised to hear this, I give Coach Spags a B+ for this season. He did amazing things with our defense and special teams. I believe he is a great leader of men. Beyond the way the Rams defense responded to him, look at how poorly the Giants did without him. The Giants are missing him something fierce. Also witness the number of Giant players who have said they would love to play for coach Spags again.

Our offense sunk the ship. The Rams 2009 offense ranks among the worst that have ever been seen in professional football. That is truly pathetic for a team that once boasted the Greatest Show on Turf. OC Pat Shurmer may implicate our lack of talent, especially at WR, and we would be hard-pressed to make a case against this fact. We did suffer from a pure lack of talent on offense. We do need lots and lots of new talent. They need to be a hell of a lot better than what we have now. As I have said before, there should be only 4 survivors from our 2009 offense still starting in 2010. They should be:

1. Steven Jackson
2. Donnie Avery
3. Jason Brown
4. Jason Smith

The most critical replacement must be at the QB position, and here we must focus on great leadership. You cannot draft a QB as you would any other position. The emphasis on tangibles and mechanics is way overblown. You should interview your QB prospect as you would a candidate for an upper-middle management post. The quarterback is the manager/leader on the field. You must evaluate him as such. This is where Tim Tebow comes into view. In 2010 draft, there is no QB like Tim Tebow when it comes to drive, leadership, and the will to win. As I have said before, I have never seen more fight, I have never seen less quit, I have never seen more drive, I have never seen better leadership in a college kid. I love both Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford. I do not believe they match Tim Tebow on these critical character points.

I am more confident now than ever that if we draft Tim Tebow, he will change the whole franchise forever. He may get off to a rough start, just as Peyton Manning did, but he will be one of the great ones. With him in place, our triumvirate of leadership will be in place: Devany, Spagnuolo, Tebow.

Memo to Devany: Make sure we sign Brandon Marshall

I won't bother to rehash all the meladrama going on in Denver between the owner the coach and Brandon Marshall. The bottom line is that there relationship is going to end on a sour note. Brandon has been deactivated for his final game in a Bronco uniform. He will become an unrestricted free agent thereafter. Despite the fact that they are playing the Chiefs, I think the Broncos miss the playoffs. The Ravens will take the Raiders to the electrical shed.

We can expect Marshall to make a play for Chicago. I am almost certain he wants to be reuinited with Jay Cutler. They were turning into a famous combo together. Nobody was more pissed about Jaygate than Marshall. During a teleconference interview with the NFL Network, Marshall was careful to make sure he was filmed in front of the painting of himself and Jay Cutler embracing after their first Pro touchdown together. That speaks volumes.

I know Chicago would love to have Brandon. I know Jay would love to get him back. I know it is a long-shot for the Rams to intercept this process successfully and get Marshall to come to a team with no established NFL quarterback. However, money talks. We should make Brandon a nice lucrative offer. If Chicago gets him, we should make it expensive as hell for them.

Personally, I can't think of a better security blanket for a rookie like Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy or Jevan Snead. Would you like to ease the passage of a young rookie QB into the NFL? Get him a killer reciever like Brandon Marshall.

So el senior Guillermo Del Toro is working on At the Mountains of Madness, aye?

Last night I watched a fascinating documentary on H.P. Lovecraft. It is called Lovecraft: The Fear of the Unknown. Evidently it was released direct to DVD sometime in 2008. It just arrived on Blu-Ray last week. I obtained my copy from Netflix.

Some great Hollywood people including John Carpenter, Guillermo Del Toro and Neil Gaiman were interviewed extensively about Lovecraft. It is obvious that these men have studied Lovecraft closely over a long time, and that Lovecraft had a big formative impact on all of them. Of course, two of my favorite bands of all time (Iron Maiden and Metallica) make plenty of direct references to Lovecraft.

What is fascinating about this documentary is seeing what an immediate and powerful impact Lovecraft had on horror and science fiction. Such ancient classics as King Kong were heavily influenced by Lovecraft's style. So too was the creature from the Black Lagoon, which is a riff on the Shadow Over Innsmouth. Guilermo accused John Carpenter of directly ripping off At the Mountains of Madness to make The Thing.

Carpenter politely declined to combat that statement, simply saying his movie was based on the book "Who Goes There?", and that he sincerely hoped that Guillermo will successfully make At The Mountains of Madness. Guillermo fully admitted that he has been attempting to put together an investment group to do this movie, but there is conflict over how to approach it. Everybody recognizes that it will have to be a grand special effects bonanza, perhaps rivaling Avatar in scope.

A quick check of IMDB indicated that Guillermo is a very busy man. He has a number of irons in the fire right now, not the least of which is the two (yep 2) Hobbit movies. I bet this pisses off Peter Jackson quite a bit. So far, At the Mountains of Madness does not yet appear on his schedule. It might be the middle of the decade, like 2015 before we see it, though.

Still, this is very exciting news. Most people believe that At the Mountains of Madness is H.P. Lovecraft's finest work. Just capturing the mood of the book made The Thing one of the greatest Sci-Fi horror movies of all time. Incidentally, I do agree with Guillermo that John Carpenter's The Thing owes a hell of a lot of cash to Lovecraft.

If done correctly, Del Toro could make one of the greatest Sci-Fi horror movies of all time.

So how about that Tim Tebow?

So tonight was the end of an era for Florida. It might not be the end of the Urban Meyer era, but it is certainly the end of the Tim Tebow era... and also the begining of a new era... hopefuly with the Rams.

I remember the start of Tim Tebow's career like it was yesterday. I would sit at my computer working on my latest 3d creations in 3ds Max and Modo, and watch college football on a small standard def TV sitting next to my computer. In fact, that same TV sits next to my computer on my desktop right now.

I remember watching that wacky spread-bone attack and shaking my head in dismay. Chris Leaks was the main QB in those days. Tim Tebow, the fearless freshman phenom, would come in on short yardage situations. They would go with 5 wide recievers, Tim would line up in the shotgun, he'd take the snap, take a tenative step or two, plow right up the middle where there was no hole, and he would gain 6 to 10 yards a pop. I had no idea how the hell this wacky thing could work, and I was certain that coach Steve Spurrier would never approve. I remember thinking that they needed to fire Meyer get Spurrier back, and re-establish the FunNGun in the sun. I also remembered thinking that Tebow was a lot better than Leaks, and he aught to be the full time starter.

I could hardly believe it when Florida wound up in the BCS championship game, going against my Step-dad's Ohio State Buckeyes. I could hardly believe it when they spanked the fuck out them and won the national title with that wacky attack. That was quite shocking.

Tebow became the full-time starter the next season and responded with one of the greatest statistical year any QB ever had. He passed for something like 3,700 yards that season, which is pretty amazing for a 'running' QB. Naturally, he won the Heismann that year. Now he has two rings, the Heismann, a gaudy record of victories, and a ton of records in the NCAA books.

I grew very attached to the kid through this process. I was overjoyed that he saved the best for last, smashing the Bearcats 51-24, completing 31 of 35 passes for 485 yards, and gaining 533 total yards. He looked like a killer.

I am more confident now than ever that this is the QB that the Rams need to go after. I am confident that he is what I always thought he is: A bigger, stronger, tougher version of Steve Young. Not quite as fast and mobile, but plenty mobile enough. He is also a kid of peerless character and leadership ability. This is the guy we need.

So Jamie Dukes is trying to put Mike Vick with the Rams again?

For (at least) the second time in recent history, Jamie Dukes is campaigning for the Rams to give Mike Vick a hard look. Vick will be an unrestricted free agent come this off season, and he is not at all happy as a backup. He wants to be a starter.

The QB market was a sellers market just 1 year ago. Now the market is getting harder. As has been often stated this season, 2009 has been a winfall for QBs. Some say that we are living at the apex of QB efficiency. One team that clearly has shit for quarterbacks is my Ram team. We have two Chinadolls who cannot stay healthy and show great signs of phobia on the field.

There is little doubt that few teams have a worse QB situation than my Rams. Buffalo might be one of them. Carolina might be one of them. If I were Vick, I would campaign for the Carolina job. You get a better team, nice weather, and it ain't far from Virgina Tech. I am not sure why Dukes is so insistant that Vick should go to the Rams. Perhaps it is because our offensive line is (once again) dirt squat poor, and Vick's scrambling ways can be justified fully under the circumstances.

I would be willing to look at Vick as a short-term solution. I would not be willing to commit the indefinet future to Vick. I am still greatly in favor of acquiring a strong young quarterback (or two) in the Draft (e.g. Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Jevan Snead) and developing these young men for 2012; the year the Rams return to Los Angeles.