If any one is interested, you can get Wilco's new album The Whole Love at Amazon download for $2.99 this week.
LOL. And even better when corrected. (Reilly incorrectly asserted that Brady's second child was born out of wedlock.)
Reilly is just downright awful. And I say that fully knowing his shtick is to make outlandish claims to get hits/views. His obsession with fourth quarter comebacks borders on lunacy. I know he spent a large chunk of the season saying Rodgers was overrated because he "wasn't there in the clutch." He didn't need to be if they were up by three scores in the waning moments of the game!
He's the worst, ever. The. Worst. I mean, is this tongue in cheek? Is this some sort of rip on Tebow? Does anyone think that there's any comparing Tim Tebow with Tom Brady? I mean, I think Brady is a little overrated, but even so, he's, at worst, one of the best 10 or 15 QBs of all time. Does Reilly realize that Brady is going to pass for over 5,000 yards this year?
Who do you like. Pffft.
I read it for its (unintentional, I think) comedic value. I don't even get angry about his ridiculous articles. He's just too completely wrong about everything he says for me to care.
I figure he's just following the money - and, yes, there's money to be made if you jump on the Tebow bandwagon, what with his annoying popularity - but as the richest sportswriter in America he should take his words a little more seriously. Of course, maybe he got so rich because he doesn't take journalism seriously.
He takes himself very seriously, you can go to the bank on that.
Ah, I don't read him enough to know that already. That's...unfortunate, given this article.
Why do I read these things?
And for the love of all things logical can people please stop putting lines like these in the same article?:
Tom was mostly unknown in college. He sat on the bench his first two years. Tim was one of the most famous college athletes in history, a cinch for the College Football Hall of Fame, winner of two national championships, claimer of one Heisman and finalist for two more.
Tom is Goliath. Tim is David.
How... what...?
People like this guy. They think he has interesting and relevant things to say.
Tom is David in his later, excess-filled years. Tim is... I dunno... one of the youths that got mauled by bears?
Tim is the bear hunter who spent four (or whatever) years practicing by shooting tranquilized bear cubs in cages who thought it would apply to real bear hunting only to get mauled when confronting actual grizzlies. (This might be slightly different than any bible reference, but bear (heh) with me).
I'm just annoyed by the media's sudden labeling of Tebow as this big time underdog who was never given a chance until one magical moment when he was drafted by a team QB'd by Kyle freekin Orton. Its worse than Easterbrook's hard-on of hate for "high draft pick glory boys".
And he's been somewhat pitted by the media against John Elway, the greatest player in Bronco history and the guy I'd want to QBing my team before pretty much anyone else, ever. Do you think Elway ever says, eff you, Josh McDaniel for reaching for this guy in the first round?
The pained looks on his face every time Tebow somehow has one of those horrible ducks he throws land in someone's hand to complete a comeback say that I think.
John Elway, the greatest player in Bronco history and the guy I'd want to QBing my team before pretty much anyone else, ever.
Elway was first-team all pro zero times in his career. Broncos with multiple, first-team All-Pro years: Shannon Sharpe and Lionel Taylor (4 each); Champ Bailey, Karl Mecklenburg, Rick Upchurch, Terrell Davis, Rich Jackson, and Bud McFadin (3 each); Steve Atwater, Randy Gradishar, Tom Nalen, Louis Wright, Goose Gonsulin, and Riley Odoms (2 each).
Elway is in the HOF in significant part because of two Super Bowl wins, which is one more than Trent Dilfer has. And he won those two Super Bowls in significant part because of Terrell Davis, who was the best running back in the league not named "Barry Sanders" those two seasons (first-team All Pro both years; Super Bowl MVP the first year; AP Offensive Player of the Year in 1996 and 1998).
Elway was a first-ballot HOFer, to be sure. But he was never the best QB in the game during his career. I'd rather have about a dozen guys before him (Steve Young, Brady, Peyton, Drew Brees, Montana, Marino, Otto Graham, Aikman, Fouts, Unitas, maybe Favre, maybe Kelly, maybe Staubach).
is he the Jack Morris of the NFL? (Morris known for Game 7, Elway known for The Drive)
To be fair to Elway, he did throw for over 50,000 yards and 300 TDs
Tebow willed him to those two SB wins.
+ a billion.
You really think Elway wasn't going to the HOF before winning the SB? One more than Trent Dilfer... Doc, you must have accidentally dropped some hallucinogens in your Bud Light.
He might have, but I recall a lot of criticism of Elway as one of the guys who "can't win the big one" before he finally did.
True enough, but he got his team to five Super Bowls, the only QB in history to do so. Jim Kelly is an HOFer, despite not winning a SB, as is Fran Tarkenton. Elway was a no doubter, even without the titles.
I quote myself in response:
Elway was a first-ballot HOFer, to be sure.
And I'm saying he was a no-doubt first ballot HOFer without the titles.
Oh, I agree. I just wouldn't put him on my short-short list of greatest QBs evah. Like most QBs on winning teams, he got way too much credit for wins.
Favre was at 20. I'm pretty sure this is about right. The Broncos sure went in the crapper after he retired, didn't he? And all of a sudden, Mike Shanahan turned into a lot less better coach.
Favre was at 20.
Who?
Oh, yea. I guess I battey'd him.
Shanahan was a lot smarter when he had Elway at QB and Terrell Davis at RB, no doubt.
But you might recall he also earned a number 1 seed in 2005 with Jake Plummer as his QB. And his 2000 team finished 2nd in the NFL in scoring with Brian Griese and Gus Frerotte at QB.
Shanahan became the head coach in 1995, thanks in no small part to Elway's inability to make Wade Phillips and Jim Fassel (Offensive Coordinator, 1993-94) into geniuses.
It just so happens that Terrell Davis was a rookie in 1995. He ran for 1,117 yards. In 1996, Davis ran for 1,538 yards and was the NFL's Offensive POY. In 1997, he ran for 1,750 yards and was the MVP of the Super Bowl. In 1998, he ran for 2,008 yards and was the league MVP and Offensive POY. In 1999, he got hurt.
From 1995-98 under Shanahan, the Broncos ranked 9th, 4th, 1st and 2nd in points and 3rd, 1st, 1st and 3rd in offensive yardage. Under Phillips/Fassel, their ranks were 3rd/5th and 10th/6th, respectively.
Under Dan Reeves the five previous seasons, all with Elway at QB, their ranks were 15/8, 8/15, 16/8, 12/12, and 22/21.
I think one can make a reasonable argument that Dan Reeves should have been gone long before he finally left. The Broncos under Reeves, with Elway at QB, were a middling offensive team most years.
Shanahan proved adept at bringing good performances out of Elway, and great performances out of his offensive lines and running backs.
Tom did take down Goliath in his first Super Bowl, if you remember.
I do remember, which is why I picked him as David (maybe post-Bathsheba David, which fits the narrative that the article was going for, anyway).
I actually read the article a couple of weeks ago, before the Patriots mauled the Broncos. It was ridiculous then. Now, it's clown shoes funny. And his assertion that both of Brady's kids were born out of wedlock was delicious in a why is this even in there sort of way, even before it was revealed to be untrue.
Tom was mostly unknown in college
He was a QB at Michigan. Last time I checked, Michigan is a big time college football program. He won 2 Bowl games, and there was that whole controversy about starting him over Drew Henson. He was also drafted and not a free agent rookie. He was not unknown.
I hope Kevin Love stays in Minnesota for a long time (twitter)
WolvesRadio
Since @kevinlove entered @nba in '08/'09, he's had five 30/20 games. The rest of the league has combined to do it nine times. #twolves
I believe I've gone on record as saying Love is my favorite NBA player of ever. I'd root for the Lakers if he played for them.
He's so good that I've been disappointed with his play so far, but there he is, averaging 26.5 points and 16 rebounds through two games.
Good lord, he had more offensive rebounds than every single player on the floor had total rebounds, for the most part (ties with Milicic and Bogut). I wonder if moss feels better about his now slight frame and ability to fight for those boards.
He played very hard last night, no doubt. And I L-U-V that he is getting to the line (24 FTA!!! in one game!!!). He still didn't shoot very well from the field, but that will come.
I should add that I'm "disappointed" because I think he can be even better. The bar is pretty high for him in my book.
Yeah, that lockout thing really sucked for shooting percentages.
I also thoroughly enjoyed is pump fakes into step-forward-and-force-contact-while-"shooting" move he did a handful of times. I hate it when anyone else does it, but for some reason find it hilarious when Love does it. (might be homerism. F you Gionobli.)
It seems like Love was working a ton, not only on his body, but on his game. That's added. He's going to the hole more effectively. He looks more comfortable in the post. There has been a little raggedness, but I think he's going to really make another huge leap forward.
I want it noted for the record that I -- yes, I -- pointedly favored Love over J.R. Mayo in that draft, and celebrated the trade. Or at least didn't diss it. Like some people, IIRC.
This trade could be a disaster or it could be amazing. All in all, I'd say this is a good (but not great) trade for the Wolves. Mayo was the 3rd best player in the draft, but he certainly wasn't a sure thing. Love probably doesn't have the same upside as Mayo, but he's still one of the top players in the draft. Given the other things the Wolves gained in the trade, I'd say it's enough to make up for this difference in potential.
In retrospect, GH undersold the trade for the Wolves. It is getting closer and closer to "amazing".
and this amazing LTE from stop-n-pop:
This deal is highway robbery. The Grizz traded one of the biggest perimeter threats in the league (who also rebounds and is 28) and their top pick for a type of player you can get in nearly each and every single draft. They also took on some amazingly bad contracts of useless players while giving back contracts for somewhat useful players with less years. To me, this deal is more lopsided than the Gasol deal.
and he goes on:
Mayo has been hyped since the 7th grade. I have no idea how this came to be but he's an average player. He played on an average team and took a ton of shots and ended a lot of possessions, but he didn't raise his game enough to make you think that has a player like Rose, CDR, or Chalmers couldn't have done exactly the same thing in an offense where they would have been given the keys to the car to the extent of what Mayo had given to him at USC. Had Rose carried a 30% or more Poss% at Memphis, and had he taken as many shots as Mayo...well, there are a lot of players that could be plugged into Mayo's usage stats and put up similar numbers (or better ones; look at Stephen Curry). This deal should be listed as a felony...especially when the Wolves draft a shooting guard in next year's draft who will end up with just as good of a career as Mayo.
Interesting read- and for a basketball guy, I'd have to say stop-n-pop pretty much nailed the Garza/Young trade as well.
s-n-p also said this:
For one final analogy, Kevin Durant won the Rookie of the Year because he was given the keys to the Seattle offense. He was allowed to be a chucker. He scored a lot of points but he also carried a 15.8 PER (average), -3.80 ppr (bad), 0.83 a/to (bad), 0.94 pts/poss (incredibly inefficient for his chuckiness), a 33 FTRate, and a 15 3pRate. Mayo was allowed to be a similar player at USC. He got more 3s, but after that, they were essentially the same type of player: a jump shooting perimeter player who doesn't rebound his position well, doesn't get to the line as much as he should, turns the ball over quite a bit, and who is a very inefficient scorer
If Mayo could hold Durant's jock at this point, he'd be an All-Star. Durant is amazing.
My whole point on the Love trade was that they traded for a guy to play the same position as their best player. It wasn't about what kind of player he was, it was that they were putting him on a team with BAJ. They ended up pretty much giving BAJ away in the end and Love was a better player, to be sure.
It wasn't the rebounding where he appeared to be getting pushed around, it was when trying to score in the paint. Any body contact seemed to throw his shot completely off, and he wasn't getting any calls.
Ah, sorry about that. I misunderstood. But anyway, I wasn't actually saying "haha, you were wrong." I was actually just wondering if you thought he did better down there last night than the first game.
And update of the EPL prediction contest now that the Boxing Day matches are over.
Place
Player
Points
1
Freealonzo
18
2
Spookymilk
18
3
Buffalo
16
4
Daneeka's Ghost
15
5
Homer Dome
14
6
AMR
13
7
MagUidhir
13
8
DK
11
9
The Dread Pirate
9
10
davidwatts
3
Wow, wattsy. Do you have Wigan winning it all or something???
Wattsy has a single point for ManUtd, one for Wigan, and a bonus for having Wigan as a relegation team. He has Liverpool (currently 6th) winning it all.
I see nothing there but our places and points. Wasn't there something with more info?
other tabs (across the bottom on my screen) have the picks and calculations.
Yep, there they are. Ahem.
I'm pretty sure I was in 3rd place in the last update. Oops.
I believe I'm unsustainably high. I'll be fighting dw for last soon enough.
I believe I'm unsustainably high.
Man, I hope that ends up on a plaque.
Everywhere I look, I see multiple Chucks James.
Okay: a quiz. What HOF QB had a losing record as a starter, completed just 50.1% of his passes and threw 47 more interceptions than touchdown passes?
Maybe this is too easy.
He had a winning record in the post-season though! (I looked up the answer, I know very little football history)
In just three games, total.
Someone that 27-19 (4-2 in the postseason!) Mark Sanchez could never be.
The memories of "Sanchize" are quickly fading away.
I'm guessing the answer involves J!E!T!S! JETS! JETS! JETS! but I could be wrong.
I predict that the Dread Pirate is a winner.
Dude, the pantyhose!
I added an image to be a banner but I don't know how to create a banner. Maybe I don't have rights. Anyway I loaded the image up as media.
Spoons has to do that part. The image needs to be uploaded to a particular folder. Looking at the image, it's a bit tall. If you could try to shrink it to around 200 pixels, then it would be perfect.
(160)
BTW, the wgom looks awesome on an iPad.
Wild in Nashville tonight, and no gratuitous shots of hockey wife Carrie Underwood. Also, the fans are doing the wave
and another fake loss
the shootout was straight up ugly
I am going to spend tonight with the NBA Trade Machine coming up with ways to get rid of Michael Beasley. I will share my three (most realistic) favorite moves before the night is through. The trades may become more lopsided the more I drink.
I'm pretty sure BEasy + Martell Webster + Wesley Johnson for Dwight Howard benefits both teams.
I seriously had 500 words written and my web browser crashed. Anyway, here we go again, in a word document to be transferred over.
Right now the Wolves organization should have one goal, get Kevin Love to sign a long term extension. More than anything this is what the team needs to break out of its extended funk. Kahn/Taylor/Adelman should just hand Love a blank check and say, whatever you want, you got it. With that said, Love seems like the kind of player who doesn't want to play on a 20 win team the rest of his career, and honestly, I don't think anyone can blame him. Kahn/Taylor took a great first step by firing famous Love hater, Kurt Rambis and bringing in his buddy Adelman.
More than anything, great NBA players want to play on winning teams. This has been demonstrated lately not only in Miami but historically by players like Corey Magette who just wants the money. This is where the lockout helps the Wolves. The NBA is in a unique situation this year. With the shortened season there is no team that can realistically rule itself out of the playoffs at this time. No one knows how players are going to hold up over the course of this season with such an unusual schedule. The Wolves should take advantage of this. While I am not foolish enough to say the Wolves should go all in, they surely don't have the pieces to make a run at the title, they should go in enough to make a run at the playoffs.
Imagine being Love. Look at the teams you have played on, they have won 24 games, 15 games, and 17 games. That is awful. Can you imagine what making a run at the playoffs would do for Love's morale right now? Don't you think that sneaking into a 7/8 seed would leave Love with a warm, fuzzy feeling where he could sing an extension? After winning a total of 32 games the Wolves could seriously win 33 games this season and make the playoffs. Below I will offer a few ideas on how to do this.
First off, as stated above, Beasley has to go. Beasley is the perfect player for an awful team. He is a dude who just wants to get his. He makes no one around him better. Well, to be fair to SCB, he all of his missed shots will allow Love to get crazy rebound numbers. In all seriousness though, Beasley is the kind of player that delusional fans talk themselves into as being a serious piece. Beasley will get his 20-2-2 most nights and fans will think that he is a building block. He is not a building block. He is a black hole. Beasley is destined to play on 20 win teams his whole career. I know people there are people smarter than me who can see value in SCB but I am just so done with him. On last year's team he had a place. On this team, moving forward, the team that will make Kevin Love sign an extension dude has no place.
Phoenix gets:
Beasley
Anthony Randolph
Luke
Brad Miller
Wolves get:
Nash
Childress
Warrick
Long and short, Steve Nash makes this team better right now. There were rumors of the Wolves making overtures for the 2 time MVP last season that didn't make sense. I don't know that it does now either but this does achieve two things, it makes the Wolves better right now and it gives Rubio the best mentor around. The Wolves can used their unused amnesty on Childress and Warrick can give you everything Beasley does with better decision making and demesne.
The Suns get a competent point guard, a semi-gifted scorer and a wild card in Randolph, who I don't see having much use in Adelman's offense.
Maybe I should not have used this trade as my first example of how to make the Wolves better but it was the first one that came to my mind. More trades to come after my next beverage, or if 6 tells me to cut it out before I post my next trade scenario I might just stop.
One of the main issues with letting Beasley go then becomes, well, who takes the shots for this team. Love isn't going to go to the line 24 times every game. Darko can't score, Rubio isn't a shooter, Wes Johnson is Wes Johnson. How much faith does the team have in Derek Williams? Is he doomed to be the same player Beasley was in that they are undersized 4s miscast as a 3? Well, this next proposal finds someone to score.
Wolves get:
Kevin Martin
Houston gets:
Wes
Beasley
2014 1st round pick.
Yeah, that probably isn't enough but trust me, this has gotta be a better trade offer than the three way trade I was working on where the Wolves got Monta Ellis, the 76ers got Wes, Beasley, others, and GSW got Iggy.
Monta Ellis and his legal problems aren't going to be movable.
Now this is a trade I could really talk myself into. Oddly, the trade machine said this would subtract 28 wins from the Wolves total, which makes me think the trade machine is broken, but whatever. This address two of the Wolves biggest needs. A scorer to replace Beasley and a center who can play defense.
Wolves get:
Javelle McGee
Nick Young
Wizards get:
Beasley
Wes
Brad Miller
Anthony Randolph
Conditional 1st round pick
$3 million
The Wiz, from what I read, are down on both Blatche and McGee with Javelle being the better of the two Washington big men. I have to imagine we can trick someone into think Wes is good, this gives a crappy team in Washington a scorer to rally around in Beasley, the American Jan Vesley in Anthony Randolph, and Brad Miller because they can absorb a ton of salary and $3 millon to help pay Brad Miller's salary.
I know it says this would cost to Wolves 28 wins but honestly, I don't see anyway the Wiz pull the trigger on this trade.
I appreciate all the effort you're putting forth here, Hitman, but until I see otherwise I'm going to be skeptical the Wolves can trick any team's GM into trading valuable pieces for a Beasley/Wes/etc. combo unless they trade Kahn to that team first.
Therein lies the brilliance. Any team trading with the Wolves has to assume it has the upper hand. Wouldn't you assume that if Kahn offered you a trade that you would be getting the better end of it? If he offers 2/3 of the parts in these trades, he can add the Randolph/2014 first rounder/etc and and make these teams think they are over paying.
If any one is interested, you can get Wilco's new album The Whole Love at Amazon download for $2.99 this week.
LOL. And even better when corrected. (Reilly incorrectly asserted that Brady's second child was born out of wedlock.)
Reilly is just downright awful. And I say that fully knowing his shtick is to make outlandish claims to get hits/views. His obsession with fourth quarter comebacks borders on lunacy. I know he spent a large chunk of the season saying Rodgers was overrated because he "wasn't there in the clutch." He didn't need to be if they were up by three scores in the waning moments of the game!
He's the worst, ever. The. Worst. I mean, is this tongue in cheek? Is this some sort of rip on Tebow? Does anyone think that there's any comparing Tim Tebow with Tom Brady? I mean, I think Brady is a little overrated, but even so, he's, at worst, one of the best 10 or 15 QBs of all time. Does Reilly realize that Brady is going to pass for over 5,000 yards this year?
Who do you like. Pffft.
I read it for its (unintentional, I think) comedic value. I don't even get angry about his ridiculous articles. He's just too completely wrong about everything he says for me to care.
I figure he's just following the money - and, yes, there's money to be made if you jump on the Tebow bandwagon, what with his annoying popularity - but as the richest sportswriter in America he should take his words a little more seriously. Of course, maybe he got so rich because he doesn't take journalism seriously.
He takes himself very seriously, you can go to the bank on that.
Ah, I don't read him enough to know that already. That's...unfortunate, given this article.
Why do I read these things?
And for the love of all things logical can people please stop putting lines like these in the same article?:
How... what...?
People like this guy. They think he has interesting and relevant things to say.
Tom is David in his later, excess-filled years. Tim is... I dunno... one of the youths that got mauled by bears?
Tim is the bear hunter who spent four (or whatever) years practicing by shooting tranquilized bear cubs in cages who thought it would apply to real bear hunting only to get mauled when confronting actual grizzlies. (This might be slightly different than any bible reference, but bear (heh) with me).
I'm just annoyed by the media's sudden labeling of Tebow as this big time underdog who was never given a chance until one magical moment when he was drafted by a team QB'd by Kyle freekin Orton. Its worse than Easterbrook's hard-on of hate for "high draft pick glory boys".
And he's been somewhat pitted by the media against John Elway, the greatest player in Bronco history and the guy I'd want to QBing my team before pretty much anyone else, ever. Do you think Elway ever says, eff you, Josh McDaniel for reaching for this guy in the first round?
The pained looks on his face every time Tebow somehow has one of those horrible ducks he throws land in someone's hand to complete a comeback say that I think.
Elway was first-team all pro zero times in his career. Broncos with multiple, first-team All-Pro years: Shannon Sharpe and Lionel Taylor (4 each); Champ Bailey, Karl Mecklenburg, Rick Upchurch, Terrell Davis, Rich Jackson, and Bud McFadin (3 each); Steve Atwater, Randy Gradishar, Tom Nalen, Louis Wright, Goose Gonsulin, and Riley Odoms (2 each).
Elway is in the HOF in significant part because of two Super Bowl wins, which is one more than Trent Dilfer has. And he won those two Super Bowls in significant part because of Terrell Davis, who was the best running back in the league not named "Barry Sanders" those two seasons (first-team All Pro both years; Super Bowl MVP the first year; AP Offensive Player of the Year in 1996 and 1998).
Elway was a first-ballot HOFer, to be sure. But he was never the best QB in the game during his career. I'd rather have about a dozen guys before him (Steve Young, Brady, Peyton, Drew Brees, Montana, Marino, Otto Graham, Aikman, Fouts, Unitas, maybe Favre, maybe Kelly, maybe Staubach).
is he the Jack Morris of the NFL? (Morris known for Game 7, Elway known for The Drive)
To be fair to Elway, he did throw for over 50,000 yards and 300 TDs
Tebow willed him to those two SB wins.
+ a billion.
You really think Elway wasn't going to the HOF before winning the SB? One more than Trent Dilfer... Doc, you must have accidentally dropped some hallucinogens in your Bud Light.
He might have, but I recall a lot of criticism of Elway as one of the guys who "can't win the big one" before he finally did.
True enough, but he got his team to five Super Bowls, the only QB in history to do so. Jim Kelly is an HOFer, despite not winning a SB, as is Fran Tarkenton. Elway was a no doubter, even without the titles.
I quote myself in response:
And I'm saying he was a no-doubt first ballot HOFer without the titles.
Oh, I agree. I just wouldn't put him on my short-short list of greatest QBs evah. Like most QBs on winning teams, he got way too much credit for wins.
NFL.com ranked him 23rd on its list of the top 100 NFL players of all time but 7th among QBs (behind Montana at 4, Unitas at 6, Peyton at 8, Baugh at 14, Graham at 16, and Brady at 21). I still think that overrates him, but to some degree this is an argument about tastes.
Favre was at 20. I'm pretty sure this is about right. The Broncos sure went in the crapper after he retired, didn't he? And all of a sudden, Mike Shanahan turned into a lot less better coach.
Favre was at 20.
Who?
Oh, yea. I guess I battey'd him.
Shanahan was a lot smarter when he had Elway at QB and Terrell Davis at RB, no doubt.
But you might recall he also earned a number 1 seed in 2005 with Jake Plummer as his QB. And his 2000 team finished 2nd in the NFL in scoring with Brian Griese and Gus Frerotte at QB.
Shanahan became the head coach in 1995, thanks in no small part to Elway's inability to make Wade Phillips and Jim Fassel (Offensive Coordinator, 1993-94) into geniuses.
It just so happens that Terrell Davis was a rookie in 1995. He ran for 1,117 yards. In 1996, Davis ran for 1,538 yards and was the NFL's Offensive POY. In 1997, he ran for 1,750 yards and was the MVP of the Super Bowl. In 1998, he ran for 2,008 yards and was the league MVP and Offensive POY. In 1999, he got hurt.
From 1995-98 under Shanahan, the Broncos ranked 9th, 4th, 1st and 2nd in points and 3rd, 1st, 1st and 3rd in offensive yardage. Under Phillips/Fassel, their ranks were 3rd/5th and 10th/6th, respectively.
Under Dan Reeves the five previous seasons, all with Elway at QB, their ranks were 15/8, 8/15, 16/8, 12/12, and 22/21.
I think one can make a reasonable argument that Dan Reeves should have been gone long before he finally left. The Broncos under Reeves, with Elway at QB, were a middling offensive team most years.
Shanahan proved adept at bringing good performances out of Elway, and great performances out of his offensive lines and running backs.
Tom did take down Goliath in his first Super Bowl, if you remember.
I do remember, which is why I picked him as David (maybe post-Bathsheba David, which fits the narrative that the article was going for, anyway).
I actually read the article a couple of weeks ago, before the Patriots mauled the Broncos. It was ridiculous then. Now, it's clown shoes funny. And his assertion that both of Brady's kids were born out of wedlock was delicious in a why is this even in there sort of way, even before it was revealed to be untrue.
He was a QB at Michigan. Last time I checked, Michigan is a big time college football program. He won 2 Bowl games, and there was that whole controversy about starting him over Drew Henson. He was also drafted and not a free agent rookie. He was not unknown.
I hope Kevin Love stays in Minnesota for a long time (twitter)
I believe I've gone on record as saying Love is my favorite NBA player of ever. I'd root for the Lakers if he played for them.
He's so good that I've been disappointed with his play so far, but there he is, averaging 26.5 points and 16 rebounds through two games.
Good lord, he had more offensive rebounds than every single player on the floor had total rebounds, for the most part (ties with Milicic and Bogut). I wonder if moss feels better about his now slight frame and ability to fight for those boards.
He played very hard last night, no doubt. And I L-U-V that he is getting to the line (24 FTA!!! in one game!!!). He still didn't shoot very well from the field, but that will come.
I should add that I'm "disappointed" because I think he can be even better. The bar is pretty high for him in my book.
Yeah, that lockout thing really sucked for shooting percentages.
I also thoroughly enjoyed is pump fakes into step-forward-and-force-contact-while-"shooting" move he did a handful of times. I hate it when anyone else does it, but for some reason find it hilarious when Love does it. (might be homerism. F you Gionobli.)
It seems like Love was working a ton, not only on his body, but on his game. That's added. He's going to the hole more effectively. He looks more comfortable in the post. There has been a little raggedness, but I think he's going to really make another huge leap forward.
I want it noted for the record that I -- yes, I -- pointedly favored Love over J.R. Mayo in that draft, and celebrated the trade. Or at least didn't diss it. Like some people, IIRC.
In case anyone is interested in examining the WGOM's collective response to the Love/Mayo trade when it happened.
Greekhouse posted:
In retrospect, GH undersold the trade for the Wolves. It is getting closer and closer to "amazing".
and this amazing LTE from stop-n-pop:
and he goes on:
Interesting read- and for a basketball guy, I'd have to say stop-n-pop pretty much nailed the Garza/Young trade as well.
s-n-p also said this:
If Mayo could hold Durant's jock at this point, he'd be an All-Star. Durant is amazing.
My whole point on the Love trade was that they traded for a guy to play the same position as their best player. It wasn't about what kind of player he was, it was that they were putting him on a team with BAJ. They ended up pretty much giving BAJ away in the end and Love was a better player, to be sure.
It wasn't the rebounding where he appeared to be getting pushed around, it was when trying to score in the paint. Any body contact seemed to throw his shot completely off, and he wasn't getting any calls.
Ah, sorry about that. I misunderstood. But anyway, I wasn't actually saying "haha, you were wrong." I was actually just wondering if you thought he did better down there last night than the first game.
And update of the EPL prediction contest now that the Boxing Day matches are over.
Wow, wattsy. Do you have Wigan winning it all or something???
probably
For reference, here's the spreadsheet.
Wattsy has a single point for ManUtd, one for Wigan, and a bonus for having Wigan as a relegation team. He has Liverpool (currently 6th) winning it all.
I see nothing there but our places and points. Wasn't there something with more info?
other tabs (across the bottom on my screen) have the picks and calculations.
Yep, there they are. Ahem.
I'm pretty sure I was in 3rd place in the last update. Oops.
I believe I'm unsustainably high. I'll be fighting dw for last soon enough.
Man, I hope that ends up on a plaque.
Everywhere I look, I see multiple Chucks James.
Okay: a quiz. What HOF QB had a losing record as a starter, completed just 50.1% of his passes and threw 47 more interceptions than touchdown passes?
Maybe this is too easy.
He had a winning record in the post-season though! (I looked up the answer, I know very little football history)
In just three games, total.
Someone that 27-19 (4-2 in the postseason!) Mark Sanchez could never be.
The memories of "Sanchize" are quickly fading away.
I'm guessing the answer involves J!E!T!S! JETS! JETS! JETS! but I could be wrong.
I predict that the Dread Pirate is a winner.
Dude, the pantyhose!
I added an image to be a banner but I don't know how to create a banner. Maybe I don't have rights. Anyway I loaded the image up as media.
Spoons has to do that part. The image needs to be uploaded to a particular folder. Looking at the image, it's a bit tall. If you could try to shrink it to around 200 pixels, then it would be perfect.
(160)
BTW, the wgom looks awesome on an iPad.
Wild in Nashville tonight, and no gratuitous shots of hockey wife Carrie Underwood. Also, the fans are doing the wave
and another fake loss
the shootout was straight up ugly
I am going to spend tonight with the NBA Trade Machine coming up with ways to get rid of Michael Beasley. I will share my three (most realistic) favorite moves before the night is through. The trades may become more lopsided the more I drink.
I'm pretty sure BEasy + Martell Webster + Wesley Johnson for Dwight Howard benefits both teams.
I seriously had 500 words written and my web browser crashed. Anyway, here we go again, in a word document to be transferred over.
Right now the Wolves organization should have one goal, get Kevin Love to sign a long term extension. More than anything this is what the team needs to break out of its extended funk. Kahn/Taylor/Adelman should just hand Love a blank check and say, whatever you want, you got it. With that said, Love seems like the kind of player who doesn't want to play on a 20 win team the rest of his career, and honestly, I don't think anyone can blame him. Kahn/Taylor took a great first step by firing famous Love hater, Kurt Rambis and bringing in his buddy Adelman.
More than anything, great NBA players want to play on winning teams. This has been demonstrated lately not only in Miami but historically by players like Corey Magette who just wants the money. This is where the lockout helps the Wolves. The NBA is in a unique situation this year. With the shortened season there is no team that can realistically rule itself out of the playoffs at this time. No one knows how players are going to hold up over the course of this season with such an unusual schedule. The Wolves should take advantage of this. While I am not foolish enough to say the Wolves should go all in, they surely don't have the pieces to make a run at the title, they should go in enough to make a run at the playoffs.
Imagine being Love. Look at the teams you have played on, they have won 24 games, 15 games, and 17 games. That is awful. Can you imagine what making a run at the playoffs would do for Love's morale right now? Don't you think that sneaking into a 7/8 seed would leave Love with a warm, fuzzy feeling where he could sing an extension? After winning a total of 32 games the Wolves could seriously win 33 games this season and make the playoffs. Below I will offer a few ideas on how to do this.
First off, as stated above, Beasley has to go. Beasley is the perfect player for an awful team. He is a dude who just wants to get his. He makes no one around him better. Well, to be fair to SCB, he all of his missed shots will allow Love to get crazy rebound numbers. In all seriousness though, Beasley is the kind of player that delusional fans talk themselves into as being a serious piece. Beasley will get his 20-2-2 most nights and fans will think that he is a building block. He is not a building block. He is a black hole. Beasley is destined to play on 20 win teams his whole career. I know people there are people smarter than me who can see value in SCB but I am just so done with him. On last year's team he had a place. On this team, moving forward, the team that will make Kevin Love sign an extension dude has no place.
So, with that said, here is trade number one.
Phoenix gets:
Beasley
Anthony Randolph
Luke
Brad Miller
Wolves get:
Nash
Childress
Warrick
Long and short, Steve Nash makes this team better right now. There were rumors of the Wolves making overtures for the 2 time MVP last season that didn't make sense. I don't know that it does now either but this does achieve two things, it makes the Wolves better right now and it gives Rubio the best mentor around. The Wolves can used their unused amnesty on Childress and Warrick can give you everything Beasley does with better decision making and demesne.
The Suns get a competent point guard, a semi-gifted scorer and a wild card in Randolph, who I don't see having much use in Adelman's offense.
Maybe I should not have used this trade as my first example of how to make the Wolves better but it was the first one that came to my mind. More trades to come after my next beverage, or if 6 tells me to cut it out before I post my next trade scenario I might just stop.
One of the main issues with letting Beasley go then becomes, well, who takes the shots for this team. Love isn't going to go to the line 24 times every game. Darko can't score, Rubio isn't a shooter, Wes Johnson is Wes Johnson. How much faith does the team have in Derek Williams? Is he doomed to be the same player Beasley was in that they are undersized 4s miscast as a 3? Well, this next proposal finds someone to score.
Wolves get:
Kevin Martin
Houston gets:
Wes
Beasley
2014 1st round pick.
Yeah, that probably isn't enough but trust me, this has gotta be a better trade offer than the three way trade I was working on where the Wolves got Monta Ellis, the 76ers got Wes, Beasley, others, and GSW got Iggy.
Monta Ellis and his legal problems aren't going to be movable.
Now this is a trade I could really talk myself into. Oddly, the trade machine said this would subtract 28 wins from the Wolves total, which makes me think the trade machine is broken, but whatever. This address two of the Wolves biggest needs. A scorer to replace Beasley and a center who can play defense.
Wolves get:
Javelle McGee
Nick Young
Wizards get:
Beasley
Wes
Brad Miller
Anthony Randolph
Conditional 1st round pick
$3 million
The Wiz, from what I read, are down on both Blatche and McGee with Javelle being the better of the two Washington big men. I have to imagine we can trick someone into think Wes is good, this gives a crappy team in Washington a scorer to rally around in Beasley, the American Jan Vesley in Anthony Randolph, and Brad Miller because they can absorb a ton of salary and $3 millon to help pay Brad Miller's salary.
I know it says this would cost to Wolves 28 wins but honestly, I don't see anyway the Wiz pull the trigger on this trade.
I appreciate all the effort you're putting forth here, Hitman, but until I see otherwise I'm going to be skeptical the Wolves can trick any team's GM into trading valuable pieces for a Beasley/Wes/etc. combo unless they trade Kahn to that team first.
Therein lies the brilliance. Any team trading with the Wolves has to assume it has the upper hand. Wouldn't you assume that if Kahn offered you a trade that you would be getting the better end of it? If he offers 2/3 of the parts in these trades, he can add the Randolph/2014 first rounder/etc and and make these teams think they are over paying.
Right?
Right?
Ahh, forget it. You are right.