Chargers Draft 2014

Posted by on July 23rd, 2014  •  2 responses  • 

They have every type of guy you need to go get the job done.
 
The Chargers are opening training camp, and the committee is ready to report to work, the committee of running backs.
 
3-deep with proven performers, it might not be LaDainian Tomlinson-Darren Sproles, but it will be just as dangerous and definitely dynamic.
 
The Chargers 3-Musketeers at running back are ready-willing-and definitely able.
 
Ryan Mathews, the slow developing lst round pick, has gone from “China Doll” to “Rock Hard”.  Coach Mike McCoy changed the culture of Chargers football last year, and he definitely changed Mathews.  No more injuries.  Lots of carries.  Dependability every week.   You will not fumble, you will blitz block.
 
He did, and he did it consistently.  End result, a remarkable season in which he touched the ball 311-times and wound up with 1444-all purpose yards.  He was heavy duty tough, reliable, and always there.  No more hand-calf-finger-collarbone injuries.
 
Danny Woodhead became what Darren Sproles was, dangerous, dynamic and tough.  When he was done darting-dashing he had 8TDs and 1084-all purpose yards, running people ragged..
 
And now you add Donald Brown via the Indianapolis Colts.  Sometimes runner, sometimes receiver, always trustworthy.  The only word I can think of is dependable.  He had nearly 3,000 all purpose yards with the Colts.
 
So now Phillip Rivers, for the first time in a couple of years, has it inside, outside, and on the edge.  When he wants to play power ball it will be Mathews.  When he wants change of pace, there is Brown.  When he wants explosive it is Woodhead.
 
I don’t care Woodhead is locked up now for 3-years, and Brown got 3-years, and yes Mathews is headed to his walk-free agent year.  If Mathews duplicates last season into this season, there would no reason to let him go.  He is still young, and has proven he can handle the rock.  He now know what it takes to be a pro. 
 
The 3-Musketeers, one for all, all for one, helping out Rivers in a truly balanced Chargers offense.

LA Stadium Situation

Posted by on July 22nd, 2014  •  0 Comments  • 

Somebody is going to pay for this…it’s always this way in the NFL.
 
It’s the 20th Anniversary of the last time the NFL played in Los Angeles.  You remember the Rams and the Raiders-the LA Coliseum and the Big A were their homes.
 
The struggle has continued for over a decade.  Build a stadium.  Where.  How much.  Who plays in it.  And at what cost.
 
Is it at Farmers Field next to Staples Center?  Is it in the rock pit-east of LA?  Is it at the Hollywood Park locale?  There are always new ideas, new schemes, some scams, rumors  here-there-everywhere.
 
There is now pressure being brought to bear from the Networks and the Union, who both want in the number two market in the nation, for the amount of money it would generate.  All about growing the pie.
 
The NFL, always looking for the best deal, doesn’t seem to have many bidders, or at least people who want to pay a king’s ransom to do this.  They never got a deal done with the Anschutz or Roskie groups, and those people are “doers”.
 
Now the NFL has the novel idea.  They the league would build the stadium, rent it out to a team, and turn the Los Angeles experience into something special.  
 
4-Super Bowls with PSL ticket prices over the next decade.  Move the NFL combine there from Indianapolis.  Transfer the Pro Bowl from Hawaii permanently.  Erect a West Coast version of the Hall of Fame.  Bid on the BCS championship games.
 
Thinking outside the box for sure.  Of course you need to read the fine print.
 
If the NFL funds the stadium, whomever the tenant going in, won’t get all the profits.  Those will go to the 32-owners who are financing this majestic stadium.  The crumbs left beneath the table will go to the city of LA, who will reap tax benefits on sales of food and gear.
 
And whoever goes in there, attention Chargers-Rams-Bills-Jaguars, be prepared to pay a 400M-territorial fee, to be split amongst your fellow owners too.
 
The NFL is a 10B-a year business model..  This makes great sense.  Maybe this is the only way to get back into LA, with the NFL paying the initial freight, and reaping the lions share of profits.
 
The Tagliabue-Goodell reign has seen the NFL-G3 fund loan money for construction in the past..  But this is not some 200M-load that Pittsburgh or Minnesota got.  This is probably a 1.1-billion as an investment. 
 
Schematics, blueprints, fancy brochures and artist renderings are all glitzy.  Using the NFL money is the guts of the deal.
 
Time for the NFL rich to do something for a city, and make the investment.  Time to foot the bill for football back in LA.  It won’t get done any other way.

Padres Trade

Posted by on July 21st, 2014  •  0 Comments  • 

You had to make the deal, didn’t you?  Subtract a star, add more kids.
 
So the deal is done, and from where you are sitting, it looks like another San Diego fire sale in a city besieged in recent years by raging wildfires.
 
Huston Street-the dominant relief pitcher, goes to the Angels for 4-top young prospects.  Depending on who you talk to, the Angels paid a steep price to get the closer for their World Series hopes, or the Padres just did what they had promised they would no longer do, dealt away veterans making big money for younger players.
 
Younger players, RJ Alvarez a hot young minor leaguer; Taylor Lindsey-a 2nd baseman with some power; young shortstop Jose Rondon-who can hit in Class A; and young pitcher Ev Morris.
 
That’s the issue, trading a proven major leaguer for 4-kids you hope will get to the majors.
 
Asking today, what is the Padres biggest need?  An outfielder with some power?  Needed today or for tomorrow (2015).  Did San Diego get one?  No.  Did the Angels have some to deal? Yes.
 
And that’s the issue.  The Halos desperately needed a relief ace.  San Diego had the leverage.  The Angels are loaded with outfield bats.  You know about Mike Trout-Josh Hamilton.-Kole Calhoun.  But the Halos had extras, CJ Cron, JD Schuck, Grant Green.  Any one of them could have helped today and tomorrow.
 
This deal may sentence San Diego to a 100-loss season, this year, and maybe next year.  You’re just hoping these kids work out, but more times than not they all  don’t pan out.
 
Next up, they’re going to move veteran 3rd baseman Chase Headley and outfielder Chris Denorfia for prospects.  People are calling about starter Ian Kennedy too.
 
The Padres just dealt away a valuable bargaining chip, and didn’t get anything to help this paralyzed offense.  How is that good in San Diego.
 
Who got the better of the deal?  San Antonio is going to have a really good team next year in the Padres  farm system.  

1st Round Draft Pick Feud

Posted by on July 18th, 2014  •  0 Comments  • 

Somebody’s not telling the truth, and both sides are on the clock.
 
High school baseball in San Diego is special.  1st round picks come out of here almost annually.  This year, two of the top six picks came from San Diego.  1-is signed and playing already in the Arizona Summer League.  The other is sitting here-unsigned there.
 
There is Houston, home of the Astros.  Here, is Brady Aiken, the blazing fastball pitcher from CIF-powerhouse Cathedral Catholic.
 
Aiken is unsigned and the deadline is 5pm-New York time tonite, to get him signed.  If not, the Astros lose the pitcher, and get a lst round pick next year to replace him.
 
If not signed-Aiken either goes to a junior college for one year, signs in independent ball-always risky, or goes to UCLA but takes his name off the draft board for 3-years.
 
This is not a country-hardball holdout, though the Astros have played hardball with the fastball pitcher on his signing bonus.  As the top overall pick, his slot was worth 7.9M.  Reports were he was willing to sign for 6.5M.  Then Houston reduced the number to 5M, and now a reported 3M.
 
The reason?  Something the Astros doctors saw on his MRI about a deformed elbow ligament.  Aiken, his coaches, his doctor deny he has a tear in there, or that it is even frayed.  When last scene this spring, in the CIFs-he was clocked at 95mph.  He pitched 65-high school inning..
 
Neither side will give out exact details.  He’s not hurt now, but would he be hurt, with the rigors of a pro career?  If he had a tear, would the smaller than normal ligament be strong enough to graft?
 
Is it too big a gamble to pay that kind of guaranteed money to someone who might be a risk for Tommy John surgery sooner than later?
 
Or is this a ploy of the cheap Astros owner Jim Crain.  Yes, his people have drafted well, and have a young team growing.  But this is the same owner, who last year, lost over 100 games, had a 19M-payroll of kids, and took in revenue sharing and TV money as his club made 55M-profits.
 
Baseball is different than the NFL-NBA-NHL.  They don’t let clubs give physicals to the lst round draft picks, the ones who would get the big bonuses.
 
It is a strange way to start a relationship too, the Astros and the kid pitcher.  Somebody hiding something.  Someone lowballing someone they supposedly loved on draft day.
 
On the clock, to see who blinks, who caves, who stands fast, who gets signed, who suffers.  Brady Aiken-welcome to the show.

Free Agency Costs Lots…

Posted by on July 17th, 2014  •  0 Comments  • 

Why did he do it… What is the real reason… Will it turn out well?
 
The dominoes have all fallen in the NBA.  The stars have been realigned.  Some good, some bad, some strange moves.
 
LeBron is going home to Cleveland.  It’s easy to say he did it for all the right reasons.  Family, the James love of hometown Akron.  Wanting to lead a young team to victory.  No not really. 
 
King James got a max contract to go back to the Cavaliers.  Last arithmetic exam I had 21M-per year in Cleveland is more than the 16M per year he was making in Miami.
 
It was more than money though.  King James will be star player and coach of the team, trust me.  You really think, incoming coach Dave Blatt, whose last mailing addresses were Tel Aviv and Russia, and who has never coached in this league, will really run this team.  As good as the player is, this chemistry imbalance, James-Blatt will probably be more one sided that the last Cleveland coach he overwhelmed, the thrice fired Mike Brown.
 
But LeBron did it for other reasons.  He couldn’t push around Eric Spoelstra, the Miami coach.  He surely was never to get his way all the time with the Emperor Pat Riley.
 
LeBron might forgive crazy-man owner Dan Gilbert over the ‘coward’ letter written when James took his talent to South Beach, but LeBron could not forgive Riley.
 
Riley lectured him in his exit meeting this spring, about not taking the lst road out of Miami as a free agent; and staying to accept the challenge of rebuilding; and insinuating look what Miami had gotten done, while all Cleveland would ever talk about was we might get  done.
 
James has never been spoken too like that, not before the arrival in Miami, and now likely never again going home to the 330-area code.
 
LeBron never recovered from the national bashing TV show, the Decision, and the ridicule that will forever be stapled to his jersey in every out of town arena he plays in.
 
No doubt a great player, and a great entrepreneur, but let’s be honest.  It was about the money, and it was about LeBron taking his ball, and going ‘home’ so he could play by his rules in Cleveland, not Pat Riley’s rude rules on South Beach.
 
1 … 496 497 498 499 500 … 507