There are two annual April traditions in the NFL. There's the draft, which took place at Radio City Music Hall on Saturday and Sunday, and then there's the draft grades which popped up across publications and websites nationwide on Monday. We've taken 12 of these grades (see below for the participants in these computer rankings) and averaged them out to see what the consensus opinion is of the job done by the 32 NFL Franchises. We've also pulled out the general opinions on the best picks and the worst for each team as well as any anomalies in the grading.
Yesterday's Page Six had a report that might offer some insight into the offseason plans of Knicks general manager Isiah Thomas.
Tyra Banks sure looked cozy with Knicks coach Isiah Thomas as they lunched at Club 66 in Midtown on Tuesday afternoon. "They looked like they were really enjoying themselves," our spy said. More interestingly, the sizzling supermodel, who arrived in her private limo, left the eatery with Thomas, jumping into the passenger seat of his SUV. Banks' and Thomas' reps called the pair "old family friends" and nothing more, noting that Banks was Thomas' courtside guest at the final Knicks home game of the season.
Combining his twin loves of sexual harrassment and insane contracts, Thomas fondled Banks' breasts and offered her the full mid-level exemption immediately after the meal came to an end. At least she's better looking than Jerome James.
What do you do when a 20-year professional basketball career on two continents comes to an end? Some go into broadcasting, others take up coaching or scouting and still others divest themselves from the sport altogether and pursue other career opportunities. Vlade Divac has taken the latter option, although it's landed him in some hot water according to Newsday.
A Sacramento store owned by Vlade Divac and his wife, Ana, has been hit with two lawsuits alleging that it is passing off knockoff Gucci handbags as the real thing. The store's attorneys have denied the allegations in court papers.
The chain-smoking Serb had quite a reputation as a flopper during his NBA career. So it isn't too great a leap to his new endeavor. After years of passing off fake charging violations on the court he is now charging people for fake handbags. There's no truth to the rumor that when served with the papers Divac fell to the ground and convinced the police to charge the process server with assault.
The meltdown of a stretch of East Bay freeway may have kept fans tied up in traffic longer than usual after they left the Warriors 103-99 win against the Mavericks. Chances are they didn't care. After all the Maze meltdown has nothing on the Maverick meltdown and a traffic jam would just give everyone more time to talk about the bearded wonder, Baron Davis. Davis dominated the last three minutes of the game to give the Warriors a 3-1 series lead. The point guard fed Stephen Jackson for a three, he hit a go-ahead layup, fed Andris Biedrins for a dunk and then nailed a jumper to erase what was an eight-point Dallas lead in the fourth quarter.
Davis had 33 points overall and he and the most raucous crowd of these playoffs kept the Warriors in the game. How hot are things in Oakland right now? Jessica Alba was at the game, the first star sighting at a Warrior game since M.C. Hammer still had money. Davis banked in a three at the buzzer of the first half to tie the game at 49 after Dallas was up by 10 earlier in the half. That's two big leads to throw away in one game and 67 wins is an awful lot of victories to throw away in the course of two weeks. That looks like what the Mavericks have planned, though. They would be the first top seed to ever lose a seven-game series to the eight seed - the Nuggets and Knicks were in five-gamers when they turned the trick - and seem to be without an answer for slowing down the Baron and his Baronettes.
Before we dot the i's and cross the t's on the Maverick obituary, though, let's recall this time last year when the Lakers held a 3-1 lead on Phoenix. The Suns reeled off three straight wins and knocked off Kobe to move onto the second round. They won't need to do that this year, they just need one more win to finish off L.A. after yesterday's 113-100 win. Steve Nash directed the victory - he had 23 assists - and Amare Stoudemire played the leading role with 27 points and 21 rebounds.
The defending champs are dead and their future doesn't look so bright after the Bulls completed a sweep in Miami yesterday. The 92-79 loss was the latest signal that without a superlative Dwyane Wade the Heat are nothing more than a mediocre team and that may mean Shaquille O'Neal, on fumes all season, may be in even more of a complementary role when next season comes around. They will need several other players to boot and could need a coach since Pat Riley's passion for the job clearly runs hot and cold. The Bulls, on the other hand, look like an energetic, full-floor team that makes up for what it lacks in execution with verve and pace to beat the band.
The Nets have a commanding 3-1 lead over the Raptors thanks, once again to their big three. Jason Kidd, making a "stunning" comeback from injury, dished 13 assists and V.C. and Richard Jefferson combined for 50 points in the 102-81 win. Chris Bosh needs to put the Raptors on his back to keep Toronto alive in this series and that means more than 5-of-12 shooting from the floor.
Coming into the season every question about the Mets had to do with their starting rotation. The jury's still out on Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez has had mixed results but John Maine's response couldn't be more affirmative. He moved to 4-0 and dropped his ERA to 1.35 after seven shutout innings in D.C. yesterday. All the questions now surround the offense. Why is Carlos Delgado batting .187? Did all those magazine profiles sap David Wright's power? How is a Carlos Beltran solo homer the only offense they can muster against Jason Bergmann in yesterday's 1-0 win?
If you are an afficianado of fine relief pitching, as so many of us are, San Diego was the place to be yesterday. The Friars and Dodgers teamed up for 22 and two-thirds innings of relief without surrendering an earned run. The visitors scratched across the winner in the 17th frame when Wilson Valdez bunted, Pete LaForest mishandled a throw and Brady Clark doubled home Valdez for a 5-4 win.
Troy Tulowitzki has only been in the big leagues a month but he's already done something most major leaguers could only dream of. He pulled off the 13th unassisted triple play in baseball history during the top of the seventh of yesterday's 9-7 win against Atlanta but made a mistake when he tossed the ball to Todd Helton at first to be sure of the third out. Helton tossed the ball into the stands and stole a hell of a souvenir from Tulo's grandkids.
Brandon Inge may only be hitting .156 but he had three hits and a ninth inning, walk-off homer to help the Tigers outlast the Twins 4-3. The Tigers avoided a sweep against Johan Santana, of all pitchers, thanks to Inge's late heroics.
Jamie Moyer has been pitching in the major leagues since the Truman administration, or so it seems, but came close to an all-time memory in Philly yesterday. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and got two outs before Miguel Cabrera slapped a double to left and ended his flirtation with history. He still got his third win and reserves Jayson Werth and Greg Dobbs combined for five RBI to provide the offense in a 6-1 victory.
There was some discussion about trades before the second day of the NFL Draft kicked off yesterday and two big ones were made just before the proceedings began. Neither included the Jets, however. Darrell Jackson moved within the NFC West from Seattle to San Francisco and, in the big move of the day, the Patriots scooped up Randy Moss from the Raiders. The latter move makes the Jets decision to move up and get Darrelle Revis on Saturday look all the better. With Moss and Donte Stallworth in Boston, the Jets will need as much help in the secondary as they can get.
They didn't add any more DB's yesterday, selecting OT Jacob Bender and WR/RET Chansi Stuckey in the sixth and seventh rounds, respectively. Each is a depth player but any other contributors will have to come from the rookie free agent class, a group that should expect to hear a lot from Mike Tannenbaum in the next few hours.
“We’re the land of opportunity. If you weren’t drafted, you’ll be hearing from us.”
Revis and second rounder David Harris will be expected to be immediate contributors to a defense that will need to be much better come the fall for the Jets to make a return trip to the playoffs.
Everyone's racing to take the blame for the putrid April record in the Bronx. Derek Jeter said it's the players fault; Joe Torre and Brian Cashman each believe that the 9-14 month is their responsibility. The one guy who hasn't shared his opinion about who is accountable is the only guy in a position to do much of anything about it.
George Steinbrenner's withdrawal from the front lines was much commented on over the offseason. The bluster and the vitriol associated with Big Stein have dissapated in the face of age and ill health but it's still quite odd that nothing but silence has been heard from his office. Both the Times and the Post reported that Torre would be on the chopping block if the Red Sox swept this weekend but each paper reports this morning that no move is imminent after the Bombers dropped two of three.
And there shouldn't be a move. If there's culpability above and beyond the injuries over the first month Torre certainly shares in it. He's the same boneheaded bullpen manager he's been for years, if that was such a problem the team should have gone in a different direction in the offseason, but his starters do him no favors by continually falling short of quality starts. Cashman, too, shoulders some blame. Putting so much faith for the rotation in Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano was risky at best and, more likely, foolish when established major leaguers were available in free agency. Neither man can be blamed for injuries, of course, nor can they be held responsible for the poor performance of the pitchers, Bobby Abreu or Johnny Damon. Ultimately it will be the final group, the players, that determine what happens from here on out.
I'll admit to not being one of the many draft-obsessed football fans across the country. It's not that I don't get the allure, I do. The unbridled enthusiasm of a clean slate and the rebirth that picking a handful of new players can bring even the most downtrodden of franchises is something this Jets follower can relate to with little problem. It's just that seven hours cooped up inside with Chris Berman, Chris Mortensen and Sean Salisbury on a warm day so that I can find out something that I can spend the next five months getting my bearings with isn't that appealing an option.
I was surprised to see that the Jets moved up twice with trades in the first two rounds although I wasn't unhappy with the results. I thought they should focus on defensive additions and both Darrelle Revis and David Harris fit that bill. Revis, a cornerback from Pittsburgh, was rated below Leon Hall on many draft boards but having watched Hall, a technically sound if eminently burnable corner, a lot in college I'm more excited by the prospect of Revis. Tall, rangy and a strong tackler, Revis was ranked 10th overall by Scouts Inc. and he's also got punt return skills. The price to get him - a first, a second and a fifth with a sixth coming back - is steep but not steep enough to make me forget the strong draft a year ago.
To move up for Harris, the Jets traded their other second, a third and the sixth from the other deal for Green Bay's 47th overall and a seventh rounder. I'm very happy with this pick. Harris was the last of four Wolverines taken in the first two rounds and, to my eyes, the best player of the four. He was the surest tackler and centerpiece of a Michigan defense that earned a lot of praise and is a big-hitting and reliable tackler. He should slot in alongside Jonathan Vilma perfectly and allow the older player more room to manuever in the 3-4 defense. The crop will be small for the Jets, they have only a sixth and a seventh rounder to use today unless they make another trade but Revis and Harris were both very good college players at very high levels who fill holes in the Jet defense. That's about all you can ask from draft day.
Dan Majerle can still bring the thunder. (The Postmen)
As a Wolverine, I'm preconditioned to be down on the Wisconsin Badgers. But gridder-turned-Marine Jake Wood gets a major pass. (Lion in Oil)
Curt Schilling needs to chill the fuck out. How many people really believed Gary Thorne's lamebrained assertion that Schilling painted his sock red during Game Six of the 2004 ALCS? A few Yankee fans, perhaps, looking for a sliver of joy after six straight losses or several pasty-faced high schoolers that Schilling beat up in the form of some online dwarf but really, Curt, drop the indignation. (38 Pitches)
Joe Posnanski and Bill James talking about players who, for a stroke of luck here and a different stadium there, could've been in the Hall of Fame? Sign me up, even though they forgot about Jimmy Wynn. The Toy Cannon got screwed by the Astrodome and by the 1960's focus on pitching but make him five years younger and stick him in Fenway and he's a first-ballot pick. (The Soul of Baseball)
An open letter to Lenny Wilkens from the only blog named after Bip Roberts. (A Price Above Bip Roberts)
Because no one can ever have enough Terry Bradshaw. (Signal To Noise)
Just how smart is Mel Kiper anyway? And what would the NFL look like if he drafted for everybody? (Football Outsiders and Smittblog)
The sun rises, waves crash on the sand, Michael Vick gets in trouble, Rondell White gets injured: Like the sands through the hourglass these are the days of our lives. (Babes Love Baseball)
The how's and why's of the Yankee losing streak. (LoHud Yankee Blog)
There's a new book out called Being There which collects the firsthand memories and ramblings of 100 people about the most memorable sporting events they've ever seen. From Mike and The Mad Dog, which is odd since every game that comes up one or the other says "Didn't see it but read the boxscore", to Marv Albert, the contributors run the gamut of the sports world. In that vein Jamie Mottram of Mister Irrelevant and the Fanhouse asked a bunch of bloggers for their most treasured live sports memories. Mine is after the jump but by all means you should go check out the rest.
