02 May 2006

Reggie, Matt, the Ducks, and nothing

First up - the NFL Draft. You gotta love the fact that ESPN devotes an entire weekend of coverage to a league's annual selection of players. No one cares about baseball's draft. It's a non-event. Can anyone tell me who the first pick of the 2001 MLB amateur draft was? Yeah, I can, but that doesn't count for this exercise. Now who can name the top pick in 2001 for the NFL? Michael Vick. Anyways, basically anything the NFL does now is a show. You could have the Barber twins in a mudwrestling event while Eli Manning sounds out Goodnight Moon and it would draw ratings. And I, like a lot of you out there, watched it to. Mainly to see who went in the top ten and especially since my Bills had the eighth pick. I'll get to that in a second.

The Texans passed on Reggie Bush. Really, for all their talk about wanting Mario Williams over Reggie, I just assumed like everyone else that Houston management was just talking in hopes of raising the stakes and forcing Bush's and his agent's hand to sign with them. I was pretty surprised to see in Saturday's paper that Williams had agreed to a contract with the Texans. I understand why the Texans passed on Vince Young. David Carr has had problems but he hasn't had much to work with up to this point. Which is where Reggie would've come in handy. A dynamic player would've changed that young franchise.

So because of the Texans' blow chance at an amazing talent, the Saints got lucky, something the city of New Orleans hasn't had much of lately. I've heard talk that Bush isn't going to sign with the Saints and he's going to hold out for money and blah, blah, blah. Whatever. That would be a PR nightmare. A disaster. I really hope that Reggie Bush doesn't want to be the one to turn against that city. I thought Eli Manning was a punk for determining where he went as a rook but anyone who snubs NO would be deemed a monster. So whoever it is out there helping Bush make decisions, make the right one here.

Now onto what killed me the most about this draft. Once again, the Buffalo Bills excelled in ineptitude. Eighth overall pick. You have to screw up pretty bad the year before in order to get that pick. And you have to screw up pretty bad to waste that pick. Welcome to life in Bills Nation.

Matt Leinart.

We could've had Matt Leinart. You know - Heisman winner Matt Leinart. National champion Matt Leinart. Box office draw Matt Leinart. I knew we wouldn't draft him. I didn't even think he'd be around when the eighth pick came up. But he was so I started hoping that maybe, just maybe Levy and gang would take Leinart. Yes, I know that we have JP Losman to play quarterback. But passing on Leinhart since you have Losman is like passing on Stacy Keibler since you have Teri Hatcher. Teri Hatcher was nice that one time she was on Seinfeld but she's really nothing to look at anymore. And don't correct me on that. I'm a dude. I think that I'll make that decision.

Could you Bills fans out there imagine Leinart playing in Orchard Park? I personally would bestow forgiveness upon all Bills coaches and executives for the past decade of blunders if we had Leinhart. I will put money on Leinhart being the next Roethlisberger. Like the rest of the Bills fans out there, I continue to take abuse year after year. Damn you, Bills - why can't I quit you?

Let's see - up next the two-headed play-off monster that is the NBA and NHL. Honestly, I don't really care all that much about either one. I will admit though, that I've slowly started caring about hockey. This could be due to the fact that the Sabres are in the thick of things right now and most of those kids played in Rochester for the Amerks last year. Maybe.

But I've also decided that I don't really have a favorite team in either league. Yeah, I'll root for the Sabes. I rooted for the Mighty Ducks when they played a couple years ago and I still feel a like for them to this day. Maybe it's because I use to watch the movies back in the day. I had a birthday party where we went to see D3 and I got a Ducks hat for my First Communion. When it comes to the NBA, I'll root for a couple teams. The Nuggets for Carmelo (go 'Cuse!), the Cavs for LeBron (go bandwagon!), or sometimes the Kings since they are the holders of Rochester's only championship from one of the big leagues - Rochester Royals, 1951 NBA champions.

I'll talk more about this stuff in later posts. These postseasons go on forever so I'll have about three months of material.

And finally, Michelle Wie. For those of you new to listening to me talk about sports, let me fill you in on a secret: I hate her. Yes, yes - journalistic objectivity, yadda yadda. I'll make an exception for her. I hate Michelle Wie. She'll be attempting to get into the men's US Open again this year and will probably fail at it again.


Who does this kid think she is? At this point, she's won nothing. She is nothing. Michelle Wie needs to go out and win some LPGA tournaments before she tries to play with the guys. Actually, she just needs to stop trying to play with the guys. The LPGA has rules against men playing in their tournaments but the PGA doesn't outlaw women. It should though. I could make some kind of metaphor about Wie being to the PGA as illegal immigrants are to American workers but I'll pass for now.

Basically, Michelle Wie and myself have the same track record when it comes to making PGA cuts: zero. And I suck at teeing off.

Don't forget to root against Barry Bonds. He's only two away from the Babe right now. So please put his failure in your bedtime prayers.


By the way, the first pick in 2001 for MLB was Joe Mauer to the Minnesota Twins. They passed on Mark Prior, who went second to the Cubs.