100% Sports Blackout

So, football season ended a couple of weeks early for me this year.

I am about 72 hours into a 100% sports blackout.  By that I mean that I am conducting a 100% boycott of all sports broadcasts, news, entertainment and information.  I am talking about a 100% free-sports free diet of media.

This means:

1. No bloody ESPN TV.
2. No bloody ESPN radio.
3. No bloody ESPN.com
4. No bloody NFL Network
5. No bloody NFL.com
6. No bloody Fox Sports Radio
7. No bloody CBSSports.com

Nothing!  I mean jack-nothing.  The next time I tune into the NFL Network, the calendar will say Feb 6, 2012.

I have no intentions of watching the Super Bowl this year.  I will go to the movies for a double-header on Sunday Feb 5, 2012.  I'm not sure what I will see.  Perhaps the new Underworld movie.   Perhaps Man on a Ledge.

This fast is not without pain.  I am missing some of the pre-draft senior games, which are terrific for scouting prospects.

Most painful off all, I caught the two hour BioHD documentary on the Bee Gees.  I was arrested and transfixed in horror, shock and awe.  It only goes to show the kind of hell can be unleashed upon the face of the by one Virgo and two Capricorns when they turn to the dark-side and use their powers for evil.

Just in case you were wondering why I am executing a 100% sports blackout, the answer is simple:  I am pissed about this match-up.  The last thing I ever needed to see in this life is the fucking Patriots in the Super Bowl again.  It is worse still that they will play the New York Giants.

This naturally means a 14 day food-fight between Boston and New York.  Lots of New York Dry-Wall technicians & Boston Longshoremen flicking boogers at each other for 14 days.  I don't need that.

This is a Super Bowl of very limited regional interest.

Will Trent Richardson go in the 2nd round of the 2012 NFL Draft?

For reasons I will spell out in a soon-but-future blog entry, I believe Trent Richardson has to be the prohibitive favorite to win the Heisman this year. This is a continuation of the 10-year historical trend which shows that you must be (A) from a very established power-program and (B) play for a nation-championship contender and (C) be the MVP of that program. Trent is the only guy who fits the suit.

Most of the early draft boards show Trent as the #1 running back on the 2012 NFL Draft. Not the #1 pick, mind you, just the best running back. CBS Sports has him graded as the #8 overall pick in the entire draft. We know that there will be many swerves in the road between this point and that, and we know nothing of them. Still, it is a solid bet that TR will retain his top-ranking.

But this leaves open the question: Where and when will Richardson be drafted in 2012? Many great backs including Thurman Thomas have fallen into the 2nd round. Very few these days have been taken anywhere near the top.

With the massive success of undrafted free-agents like Arian Foster and LeGarrette Blount, there is more talk now that ever about how deprecated the running back position is in the NFL Draft. Former GMs like Michael Lombardi have told us many times that the RB is now a commodity position. GMs feel increasingly free to plug-n-play any sort of prospect in the lineup. There is no need to draft an RB in the 1st round or even near it.

With this as a background, consider the rumor I heard on XM radio yesterday evening: Unknown experts I am hardly familiar with stated (for all the reasons I just spelled out) their conviction that Trent Williams will go in the 2nd round of the 2012 Draft. Quote: "He may be pick 33, but he won't go before 33."

Wow... shocking... believe me, I know. Consider this: Trent's better predecessor narrowly avoided the 2nd round in this past 2011 draft. Further, 2011 gave us a very weak draft. Even so, Mark Ingram was selected just 4 picks away from the bottom of the 1st round. 2012 will be better year. If we put both of Richardson and Ingram on the same board together, I would select Ingram first.

If all this is true, it is plausible that Trent Williams will fall into the 2nd round. I had not considered this, but it is rational and plausible. Shocking none the less, I know.

I thought about the implications all night last night. If the chips do happen to fall as expected, the Rams should hold the #34 pick. We should have exercised the #2 pick on Justin Blackmon, just as CBS Sports and yours truly project. Think of the marvelous good luck we would have if Trent Williams just happens to be on the board at pick #34?

Do we snatch him with pick #34? Unless everybody in the building is on drugs, the answer is certainly yes! You know and I know that Steve Jackson is ever increasingly worn down. We have not gotten a full 16 game season out of him at anytime. Whether we deal him to a contender for his benefit is a question of internal politics in the big front office transition we face in 2012. Whatever happens, we would be stupid to pass on a potential franchise back who would do wonderful things to weaponize Sam Bradford.

Whilst I feel bad for Trent Williams, I am very excited for my team. The implications of snatching both Justin Blackmon & Trent Richardson in the same draft are fairly staggering. Provided our 3rd Rounder is a good choice, our offense could go from disgustingly weak to reasonably loaded in short measure. If we retain Bradon Lloyd, we could be ready for war in 2012.

The Ravens get it done 30-7

A you know, yesterday was a day of upsets, confirming that this is indeed a fluky year where anything can happen, and any goat can climb to the top of the mountain. Given the terrible news coming out of Raven camp, I wondered if Baltimore was next.

Nope, forget about it. The Ravens slapped the chiefs 30-7. It wasn't even that close. Believe me, it could have been a lot worse. KC got a temporary stay of execution on yet another horrendous tuck-rule fumble play. The Ravens could easily have walked away with a 37-7 victory.

Though it started slow, the second half was a complete run-away for the Ravens, literally and figuratively. The Ravens defense rose up and devoured Kansas City's fragile offense, creating 3 interceptions and 2 fumbles. It should have been 3 fumbles. The tuck-rule has got to go. Damn is that communist inspired bullshit!

The Ravens didn't just beat them. They beat the hell out of them. It looks like Steelers Ravens next and Jets Patriots. This will be the third time both pairs have met this year.

Tim Tebow 2.0 on NFL Path to the Draft

Well, well, well, sonofabitch in hell... Hehehehehehe! All the jealous losers in the SEC, Big 12 and Big 10 are really going to be upset when they view the video of today's episode of Path to the Draft on the NFL's main site.

Mike Mayock, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on Path to the Draft, declared that todays proceedings were a big success for Tebow. He has made strides. His delivery is more compact and efficient. His footwork is much improved. His receivers caught every pass. Mayock conducted a strawpoll of the NFL GMs in attendance, and the consensus is that Tebow helped himself greatly. They believe he has put the conversion talk to rest, and raised his stock as a QB.

Thus spake the official mouthpiece of NFL Films concerning the draft.

For a contrarian view of today's events, you can read Pete Prisco. A senior writer at CBS Sport, Prisco took one of his most audacious stabs at Tebow yet. You can read it here. He makes it clear that he thinks Tebow won't make it in the NFL, and that he should be a 5th rounder. Even he admits that he was contradicted... er... corrected by the lone NFL GM he queried.

Charles Davis and Bucky Brooks believe Tebow has solidified his position as a 2nd round draft pick now. You shouldn't be too surprised. I am not. I've been thinking 2nd for some time now. I thought we might get a real bargain in the 3rd, but alas, the kid showed his metal. In the 2nd, he's still a bargain.

But are the Rams at all interested? There is not one sign that either Devaney or Spagnuolo were in attendance at the University of Florida's ProDay. To the contrary, they were deeply engaged in social events last night in St. Louis and thereabouts. If a Ram scout was present, it was a junior scout. At such an event last night, Devaney declared that there were four candidates who had distinguished themselves over rest of the field. Sam Bradford was the first name he mentioned.

Personally, I am shocked that the Rams high commanders were not present at the UF ProDay. This is dereliction of duty. 10 Gators may go in the first three rounds of the draft. There were a ton of candidates to see there today.

It is looking more and more like the Rams will select Bradford. The Rams have no viable QB under contract. The Eagles are asking too much for Michael Vick. The Rams have made it pretty clear that they have no intention of giving up the #33 pick for Vick's services. There are no other viable veterans who can function behind the Rams offensive line. No, Fraley doesn't change things. Starting a rookie #2 pick behind our line would be worse than starting a veteran.

Yet starting a rookie #1 overall pick, with a $70m contract, is somehow a better notion? One who has a surgically repaired right shoulder? One who is slower afoot than Tebow? I guess you are expecting the sweet motion delivery to work in 1.2 seconds flat on every play. You better be praying that no defensive lineman will take liberties.

I don't know folks... Right now Devaney's thinking eludes me. I have read blurbs where Devaney declares that he expects the Rams' OL, as it is constituted now, to be solid this year. I think he is crazy. Unless these guys simply weren't willing to work for our QBs last year [in which case we should flush them all] I don't see how the miracle will be accomplished.