Coach

I gotta admit that I was never a big believer in coaching making a big difference in professional sports. I always figured it was all about the players. I mean come on, does a 58 year old fat guy really make that much of a difference when there are 20 athletes with supreme physical skills? Unless he is Santa (had to use him at least once considering the season), I used to argue that he made a negligible difference.

Recently I have had to eat my words. Big time. Coaching has become a huge difference in the major sports. I believe it is partially because the athletes have plateaued in terms of physical inequality. They are able to be very similar in terms of strength and speed due to major improvements in training. I'll let a few examples do the talking for me using the 3 sports that I believe coaching makes the biggest difference in. The NBA has recently turned into a superstar's league. The system and decent players can only get you so far.

NFL- Look no further than 2 teams that are playoff bound. Jim Harbaugh has turned the San Francisco 49ers completely around. They haven't had a winning season since 2002 until this year when they already have the NFC West locked up. He has turned former #1 overall bust into a very serviceable QB. The team fights in every game and has a renewed swagger that you haven't seen out of any recent 49er teams. Very impressive work done by Harbaugh on a team with very few personnel changes compared to last year. The other coach making a big difference this season has been Wade Phillips of the Houston Texans. He isn't a head coach, but rather the defensive coordinator. He has taken a defense that was at the bottom of the league last year and now has them at the top. Much like Harbaugh, there are very few personnel differences. He has formed a scheme that fits the athletes that he has at his disposal. The improvement goes entirely to his credit.

MLB- Kirk Gibson was able to pull off a 29 game swing this last summer when he took the Arizona Diamondbacks to the playoffs. Just a year ago they lost 97 games, this season they came away with 94 wins. The change of attitude in the clubhouse was a major factor. As many will remember, Gibson hit one of the best HRs in the history of baseball with his World Series game winner on basically 1 leg. He was a warrior and he took that same philosophy to the Diamondback players this year. He took no excuses and demanded the best out of them everyday.

NHL- 3 young teams made coaching changes this year and all have paid off handsomely. The Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers each hired new coaches in the offseason and both have almost met last year's results without even being halfway through the season. The St. Louis Blues also made a change early in the season and it has paid off huge with only 2 regulation losses in 20 games thus far. Mike Yeo (MN) & Kevin Dineen (FLA) are first time coaches at the NHL level while Ken Hitchcock (STL) has been around for more than 15 years. All are showing that a new voice and approach in the locker room can push a team to succeed.

Holy Realignment Bettman!!!

By now you surely have heard the news that starting next season the NHL will have a completely re-designed look to the conferences of the league. That’s right, 4 conferences.  Here is a quick look at some of the winners, and “losers” of the new system.

Winners: Everybody, no really I’m not joking, the league as a whole will be much better off just on shear playoff entertainment that this system creates. In addition to the individual rivalries that make the most sense due to the geographic nature of the conferences. 

Biggest winner: My opinion those who make up Conference B, which are the teams that really have been pushing for this now for a couple years. Originally scattered, mostly out west, didn’t really help these centrally (and in some cases pretty eastern) located teams. Also, for the teams with smaller fan bases, having your team play 9pm or 10pm start times out west on a regular basis doesn’t help create regular viewers.  

Losers: The only real argument I have heard in regards to the re-alignment is the increased travel the current Eastern Conference will have. While this statement is technically true, the increased travel is not nearly as great as the travel cut down by having central teams grouped together and not going out west.

Biggest loser: Carolina, whose current division consists of Florida, Tampa Bay, Winnipeg, and Washington. Washington remains, but instead of the old Thrashers and the Florida teams they now are grouped with the Devils, Islanders, Rangers, Flyers, and Pittsburgh….ouch. I predict it may be rough going for Carolina in the near future.

Only thing left to do is hope the NHL gives the Conferences great names, Norris? Campbell? Wales? We can only hope. It is truly amazing a large professional league could manage to do something so unquestionably right for the sport. It pains me to say I might be warming up to Mr. Bettman. 

Who's got 2 thumbs and doesn't care the NBA is back?.......This Guy.

It’s official, the owners and players have finally come to an agreement to end the NBA lockout, and I couldn’t care less.  But honestly, I don’t care regardless, either way, any way, in any form; just feel nothing in regards to it.  There is no big secret that basketball isn’t my favorite sport in the world, probably not even in my top 10, so this shouldn’t be coming as a shock to you.  However, I would be lying if I was not at least a little intrigued at the upcoming NBA season.

Parts I hate:

1. ESPN……….the 4 letter network covers the NBA enough.  It often angers me when I see Lebron charge down the lane uncontested for a dunk make the top 10, when I saw five better goals or saves in a single hockey game in the same night; but then I remember the NHL network exists and quickly change the channel. So I don’t stay bitter.

2.  For some reason I used to believe what all the sports analysts were telling me, that the NBA and the NHL compete, that having no NBA around was a huge gain for the NHL, that both can’t exist in harmony. In a few markets I can believe this is at least a little true, but across the continent I don’t see many die hard basketball fans that were fulfilling their sports needs with tickets to hockey games.

3. Basketball is just….boring. “But there is so much scoring!” Blah, blah, blah.  Wake me up when the playoffs are here, I’ll watch game 7, of the finals.
4.  I’m from the land of ice and snow, the only NBA team in town is the T’Wolves, enough said.

Parts I like:

1. Watching Lebron collapse, again. I think anyone outside of South Beach will enjoy this.

2. The “frantic” preseason. I think this needs to be adopted on a regular basis by all leagues, the off season activity is better if it is more condensed, though I’m not going to say I’m going to follow player moves like after the NFL lockout ended.
3. Ricky Rubio…..again, from the land of ice and snow, it’s the only thing you can really look forward to in T’Wolves country.

4. Metta World Peace. I can just hear the play by play now. “Someone just threw something at Metta. He has charged into the stands!” “World Peace is in the stands trying to fight fans”, “With the look of murder in the eyes, World Peace is throwing haymaker after haymaker at innocent fans”………ahhhh I just can’t wait. A brawl would bring out the best of World Peace.

And again, that’s about it. Don’t hate it, don’t love it.

My “off the top of my head” Top Ten Sports:

Hockey

Football

Baseball

Soccer

Golf

Motor sports

Rugby

Curling

Hurling

Basketball

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Don't Call It A Comeback

In the words of all-time great rapper LL Cool J, "Don't call it a comeback!". Well, maybe the all-time great part wasn't right. And this would probably be a comeback. So just ignore this whole paragraph.

Coming back seems to be all the rage right now, so we figured we'd give it a shot as well. I've lost count how many times Brett Favre has done it. George Foreman proved it can be spectacular, the first time at least. Carson Palmer is giving it a shot and getting some decent results. Michael Jordan, like always, is the standard that all others are measured against.

We aren't here to talk about the past though. Urban Meyer is the latest to decide that hanging it up isn't the way to go. He left Florida due to family and health concerns, can't argue with that logic. He then went to ESPN and was a game analyst which requires travel and hours of preparation during the NCAA football season along with analysis during the off-season. Not quite sure I'm buying what you sold us Urban. Instead I'm going to buy into the conspiracy theory. Florida's cupboard was going bare. He retired following a health scare in 2009 only to return days later. Think that didn't scare away any recruits? Think that opposing coaches didn't mention that on phone calls & visits? I'd have thought twice about going to play for a coach with those kind of things going on. Florida's level of talent was not where it was when he was winning and he got out before the ship started to sink. He comes back to a school that is looking to have sanctions, but the talent level that is currently on the team is anything but mediocre. Look for him to be in the running for a BCS Bowl Game next season, that is if Ohio State is allowed to play in a bowl game...

Moral of this story, consider us the Urban Meyer of blogs. We're back and it's gonna be a great ride. Jump on while there's still room.

Friday AA Preview

Blaine gave Edina a run for their money, and East (as I predicted, pat myself on the back) won in OT over White Bear. Game one tonight should be a darn good one as Edina takes on East. I wish I could come up with who will win and why, but I think this is going to be a tossup. I think Edina has another gear if they need it, they still seem a little lazy, so I will have to give the edge to them.

Ok I’m not spending a lot of time on these games, because they put me to sleep last night, almost literally. EP killed Lakeville, and don’t let the score fool you, Eagan beat down Moorhead.  I will admit Eagan looked a lot better than I saw in the section game, and they will make it a good game tonight. However, EP was by far the best team I saw yesterday, and I don’t think anyone will stop them this year.

Class AA Preview

Well……that was a pretty interesting day one of the State Hockey Tournament. We are here to give you a rundown of the first round of the AA tournament, and hopefully, if the tournament doesn’t wear us down, give you an article tomorrow on a recap of the day and a preview of the day to come.

Game 1: Blaine vs. Edina. I saw both of these section final games, and I know everyone is giddy about Edina, however one term comes to mind when I think of them in that game, LAZY.  Now I am going to chalk up the idea that it was one game, and probably not their best, against a good team.  However, I think that even if Edina comes out lazy again in this game it shouldn’t be too much of a problem as I really didn’t see much from Blaine. Yes I know they beat a good Maple Grove team to get here, but lack of size and speed just isn’t going to match up well against the Hornets. 5-2 EDINA.

Game 2: Duluth East vs. White Bear Lake.  Well…to we get sucked in again, do we believe that maybe the bears are going to get out of the first round, do we believe? The answer is no, but we HOPE so, so we can stop hearing about it. I haven’t seen East in a while, but I did watch WBL take down Hill and they looked pretty darn impressive.  However I am hearing great things about east, and it sounds like it may just be too much in the end for WBL. They could win, but I just don’t know, I will classify this as the game of the day. EAST 4-3 IN OVERTIME.

Game 3: Eden Prairie vs. Lakeville North………………I will probably be coming out of a food coma from dinner time during this game, good thing too. EP 9-Lakeville 1…maybe.

Game 4: Eagan vs. Moorhead. I saw Eagan in that section championship game. And they were meh, so so, just blandish.  So I don’t want to extend myself on a preview of this game, but I think it will be a good one, and a close one. AND in traditional Thursday night action, probably go to 2 OTs. Moorhead 3-2. Just a hunch.

See you at the games! Check back tomorrow for a recap of the day’s action and a full preview of Friday. 

How To Fix The NHL (Part 3)

Back again for Part 3 as the NHL's new commissioner. Here's a recap:
Part 1: Contract Phoenix & Florida
Part 2: Relocate Atlanta to Winnipeg & Carolina to Quebec

As important as it is to get rid of hockey in the south where people don't care much about it and return it to Canada and the passionate fans up there, it is equally important to keep rivalries intact and peak interest in the NHL. With the relocation comes the challenge of realigning the divisions to better reflect the geographic alignment of the league.

Realignment-
Much of the NHL and it's divisions will stay the same, but a few key moves will help to ignite more fan interest in a few areas. The Eastern Conference will see the biggest changes, especially the Southeast Division as 3 of the teams have changed locations or been eliminated. I'll go through each division individually and explain why teams should be placed there. 14 teams in each conference and 7 teams in 2 divisions.

Eastern Conference:
-Northeast Division
Boston
Montreal
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Ottawa
Quebec
Toronto

This could also be named the Canada Division. Or the Old Tyme Division. Or many other things that have to do with tradition. These are all teams that don't like each other and fan bases that despise people who cheer for another team. Canadians take pride in their city and their team, some of the rivalries up there are legendary. Boston and New York dislike each other with a passion. All cities are close to each other as well providing for a good fan following at away games. Every game in this division will have a playoff atmosphere.

-Atlantic Division
Buffalo
Columbus
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay
Washington

While there are a few teams that don't like each other in this division, it will be mostly made up of sprouting rivalries. It will be very competitive and provide for some exciting hockey. This division is currently made up of superstars on their respective teams and with a wide open feel, those players should prosper.

Western Conference:
-Central Division
Chicago
Colorado
Dallas
Detroit
Minnesota
Nashville
St. Louis

The main factor in this division is geography, but along with that comes rivalries from other sports as well. With Colorado being the only team outside of the Central Time Zone, fans won't have much of a problem catching their teams on TV when they are on the road. Most fans in these markets also travel well and will make their presence known on the road. There will be some great hockey played here.

-Pacific Division
Anaheim
Calgary
Edmonton
Los Angeles
San Jose
Vancouver
Winnipeg

As with the Central Division, the teams here will be mostly in the same time zone and this is a huge factor as the teams are spread out along the coast so travel won't be as prevalent. This doesn't mean the atmosphere at the games won't be any less spectacular. Three of the most passionate Canadian fan bases are in this division along with some very good California teams. Basically Canada vs California, teams won't be given any breaks by their fans and will be expected to compete every year.

Now that you are able to see where the teams will be and who they'll play the majority of their games against, there is only 1 part left in this series. Be sure to check back soon to see the finale.

Class A Preview

Alright, happy Wednesday everyone! Start of the state boy’s hockey tournament is today, and before our quick preview of the Class A tournament a few housekeeping items to address. First, the number of brackets we received was HUGE so thank you, however, very few of you have “liked” us on the facebook or registered to follow the blog, so those of you that have…..if your bracket gets obliterated stay tuned, you may still be eligible to win if anyone ahead of you isn’t following us. 

We were debating doing a huge write up on the tournament, but we decided to do a quick recap of the A games, and then a longer write up on the class AA games, which you can read tomorrow. There really was only one reason for this, its not that we don’t love class A, it’s just that we don’t know as much because we attended the majority of class AA section games.  So without delay, our recap of your brackets.

People’s champions: I will have to go and look back to be sure, but I am nearly positive only a few of you had an upset in the first round, which is craziness. Also, the majority of the chosen winners of class A were Hermantown, St. Thomas, and Breck…and of those three we had more people picking Hermantown to win it all than anyone else….again, craziness.  I think Hermantown is good, however, I don’t see them getting past a strong team out of Rochester in the semi finals. I also don’t believe you will see an upset in the first round, so I guess I am a little crazy too. The Friday day games(class A semi finals) look like they will be great ones, four 20+ win teams, Breck vs. St. Thomas equals an epic match up that could prove to be the best game of the whole class A tourney. In short, I believe the class A champion will come out of that game…..and while I believe that my bracket still has Rochester Lourdes winning it all, don’t ask, its just a hunch. 

Upset to look for: Thief River Falls is good, but good enough? I think they might be, I sense an OT game, possibly in Thief River Falls’s favor.

Check back tomorrow for a much more detailed game by game of the Class AA Tournament, and also, there’s some weather out there so wherever you are coming from, drive safe to the games!

The 2011 Minnesota Boy's High School Hockey Tournament Bracket Challenge




Enter your bracket for a chance to win 2011 tournament gear

 

Here at ThePlayer2BeNamedLater we wanted to do something special for the greatest, and largest, high school tournament in the country.  It’s where the heart and soul of American hockey lives for four full days of non-stop action, and this is your chance to prove you know the teams better than anyone else.   Details on how to get yourself entered can be found below, ALL ENTRIES NEED TO BE SUBMITTED BEFORE THE FIRST GAME ON WEDNESDAY.  Also, how many entries we get will depend on how many prizes will be given away SO INVITE FRIENDS, FAMILY, TEAMATES, and nail your bracket to win some 2011 Tournament Gear. 

How to enter the 2011 Bracket challenge:

-First, become a follower of the blog and/or ”like” us on FACEBOOK HERE. (Only entries that are following the blog or Facebook page will be eligible for prizes)
-Second, DOWNLOAD THE BRACKET HERE:http://www.mediafire.com/?zuse8q7kfg374zy
-Third, Save it, and Email your completed bracket to us at theplayer2benamedlater@gmail.com
That’s it! I will do my best to update a leader board throughout the tournament, but I do plan on attending most of the games, so I can’t make any promises.  One entry per person please

And keep up with the blog as we continue to try and keep track of a sports world thats lost its mind...

P.S. Your email will not be used for anything other than to inform you if you have received a prize, and will be disposed of after the tournament.

How To Fix The NHL (Part 2)

Back again for Part 2 as the NHL's new commissioner. Here's a recap:
Part 1: Contract Phoenix & Florida

We are now down to 28 teams which provides a much better talent base, along with that we need to get a better fan base. How do we do that? Go back to the basics. That means go back to Canada. It's where hockey began and people live for the sport.

Relocation-
Canada currently has 6 teams, more than any other major sport in North America. That may seem like a lot, but it really isn't when you consider just how much passion Canada has for their native sport. The viewership that hockey had for 2010 Winter Olympics was phenomenal in Canada. Hockey Night in Canada is a huge hit. Even though the Toronto Maple Leafs are terrible (see: Waffle Nation), their fans still come to games in big numbers. Canada can and will support additional teams.

I'm not going to go crazy and move a ton of teams to Canada, only 2 in my proposal. The Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg and the Carolina Hurricanes to Quebec.

I am aware that both cities had NHL teams before and it didn't end well, but each is more than capable of hosting a team. They have both expressed interest in having NHL hockey return and have an arena ready or are ready to build. Atlanta and Raleigh were part of the southern expansion that was tried and failed miserably. Neither does well in terms of attendance or fan passion. When you think of either place, hockey is hardly what comes to mind. Between the contraction and relocation, hockey would be getting out of places where it had no business to begin with.

Look for Part 3 next week when the league begins to take shape.

Melo Moving On

Tonight marks the debut of Carmelo Anthony...with the Knicks. He spent the last seven and a half years balling in Denver. Five of those years he couldn't make it out of the first round of the playoffs. Then in 2009 they made it to the Conference Finals, only to run into the machine that is the Lakers. You can't blame the guy for getting sick of going nowhere. He spent this last off season watching his two buddies team up together in South Beach. For an added bonus they got Chris Bosh to come too. Melo has had to carry the Nuggets by himself, with occasional help from the likes of Allen Iverson or Chauncey Billups. Not quite the same as adding LeBron or even Bosh. Then he watched as Amare Stoudemire went to New York, a place that Melo definitely wanted to go. The Nets were often rumored to be in trade talks for Melo, but let's be honest here, nobody wants to go live in New Jersey. That was a Russian billionaire and Jay-Z pipe dream.

Now I'm not a big hoops guy, but I like this move. It actually piques my interest in the NBA. Let's take a look back at the last 12 NBA champions. There have only been five different teams that have won the title: Lakers (5), Spurs (4), Celtics (1), Heat (1), Pistons (1). Compare that to the NFL: 10 different champions, MLB: 9 different champions, NHL: 9 different champions. That shows you there's not a whole lot of parity in the NBA. It's the one sport where you truly need superstars to win. The Celtics have the Big 3 (Rondo, Pierce, Allen), the Spurs have their own trio (Duncan, Ginobli, Parker), the Heat have theirs (Wade, LeBron, Bosh),and the Lakers have Kobe and Gasol, which counts as 3 because Kobe is that good. These are the only teams that have a legitimate shot at winning it all.

However, there are two teams that are on deck to become elite: the Bulls and Knicks. The Bulls have Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer, so they're one piece away from their own big three. And now the Knicks have Melo and Stoudemire so they're also one piece away (Chris Paul anyone?). This gives us two more teams that have a shot at winning. Obviously Chicago and New York are two of the biggest markets in the league. The NBA has to be happy that these once proud and great franchises that have sucked lately, are now back in the picture. It should make for a somewhat intriguing playoffs this year. I'll guess we'll find out in, late June.

Recap in Racing

“Are you kidding me!?”

Trevor Bayne couldn’t have said it any better after he crossed the start finish line to win the 53rd running of the Daytona 500. In only his second start in the Sprint Cup, and one day after turning only 20 years old, Trevor Bayne made history as the feel good Cinderella story on Sunday. Staying near the front of the pack for most of the day, Bayne avoided a record number of cautions that left very few cars without damage by the end of the day. The new pavement at Daytona, while smooth, has created a new form of restrictor plate races where cars needed to literally push each other around in two car teams in order to keep up. The need to keep contact with another car led even the best drivers to be simply spun around in mid pack and in front of the field generating more than one infamous “Big One”. Bayne, who is only set to participate in a few Sprint Cup races this season, stated Monday that the plan is still for him to race a full Nationwide series schedule, one step below the Sprint Cup, in hopes of competing for the championship.

Breaking News from Formula 1:
Late Monday morning it was made official by the Crown Prince of Bahrain that pre-season testing next week, in addition to the opening round of the Formula 1 season the following week, have been postponed to increasing unrest in the country. "At the present time the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain," the Crown Prince said. It is not clear if the race itself is going to be rescheduled, but as the series currently has one of its busiest calendars in years, it seems highly unlikely the race will happen this season. Teams now are scrambling to get their equipment, which was shipped to Bahrain weeks in advance, to Barcelona, where the teams currently are, and where testing has been rescheduled to take place next week. While many details are currently being worked out, the only thing that seems certain is the first race of the season will now be down under at the Australian Grand Prix on March 27.

How To Fix The NHL (Part 1)

Let's face it, the NHL needs some changes. A random Monday night WWE show draws more TV viewers than the NHL's Winter Classic. This is Part 1 of a series, not sure how many they will be, but I can promise you that they won't stop until the NHL is perfect. Or at least it will be able to truly call itself one of the 4 major sports leagues.

This portion will focus on contraction. The NHL would be getting addition by subtraction, not only in terms of talent but also interest in the game.

Contraction-
30 teams in the NHL is two too many right now. While in the expansion phase, they spread themselves too thin by expanding at a torrid pace. The talent level isn't acceptable and by removing 2 teams, it will have a league-wide improvement. The NHLPA probably wouldn't be in favor as it would cost 35 players a job, but they would be in favor of other parts of the overhaul so it would be part of the compromise.

The increase in talent would improve the game and it's appeal to fans. It would be faster and better hockey overall. Each team would basically be adding a 3rd line player in place of a 4th liner. Might not seem like a big deal, but the trickle effect would help to narrow the gap between the elite teams and the bottom feeders. A little parity can't hurt.

With that said, in my proposal the two teams that are contracted are the Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes.

Phoenix is an easy pick as they are currently owned by the NHL, minimum compensation would be needed. They are also one of the lowest teams in attendance even though they are one of the best teams in the league.

Florida is annually one of the worst teams in attendance and part of the NHL's attempt to bring hockey to the south. It has failed miserably in South Beach as hockey just doesn't seem to mix well with the sand. 2 teams in the state of Florida works for most sports, but not hockey.

Look for Part 2 next week!

Mock Draft Mockery

Ahh, springtime. The snow is melting, the sun is shining, and it’s a beautiful day outside. But somewhere in a dimly lit room inside the confines of the ESPN campus, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay are hard at work. What is it that they are working on you ask? Why the Mock Draft of course. Every year around this time they start popping up all over. So called “experts” post their mock drafts on various blogs and websites. Kiper and McShay are lucky enough to get paid by ESPN to do theirs. Take a minute to sit back and think about the mock draft process.

Mock drafts for 2011 began in 2010. And I don't mean late 2010, I mean in April. Like right after the 2010 draft ended. How ridiculous is that? Why not spend a few days reviewing the draft that just took place instead of planning for the one that's 364 days away. Don't get me wrong, ESPN has plenty of people employed to review the NFL draft, I'm not suggesting more coverage of it. But if McShay's work is done after the draft, then give him a month off. He probably deserves it.

But here's the real problem, nobody has any idea how the football season will play out. That goes for college and the NFL. Not only does he try and predict who goes where, but he tries to predict what team will be picking where. His top 5 picks for 2011 were:

1. Buffalo (too easy, they're always terrible)
2. St. Louis (blew it on the last game of the season and missed the playoffs)
3. Kansas City (hell of a turnaround and actually hosted a playoff game)
4. Tampa Bay (went 10-6 and missed the playoffs on tiebreakers)
5. Cleveland (they play in a tough division, but they did beat the Patriots)

Now let's see where those teams will actually be drafting this year:

Buffalo: 3rd
St. Louis: 14th
Kansas City: 21st
Tampa Bay: 20th
Cleveland: 6th

How about his top 5 picks for 2011 player wise:

Andrew Luck, Stanford
Marcell Dareus, Alabama
Anthony Castonzo, Boston College
Adrian Clayborn, Iowa
Cameron Heyward, Ohio State

And again let's see where these players are ranked now:

Andrew Luck - 2012 #1 overall pick, going back to Stanford
Marcell Dareus - 7th overall, #2 DT
Anthony Castonzo - 25th overall, #3 OT
Adrian Clayborn - 15th overall, #3 DE
Cameron Heyward - 30th overall, #8 DE

(rankings are based on Scout Inc.'s Top 32 on 2/15/11)

It's interesting to see how things change over the course of 10 months. Only 1 of the early top 5 players is in the current top 10. And he's not even regarded as the best player at his position. And the supposed #1 overall isn't even going to the NFL. Perhaps they should wait a few months before they start mocking it up.

Now I must admit that I actually like Todd McShay. I think he is one of the better evaluators of the draft and once the draft actually rolls around I like reading his stuff. This is more of a shot at ESPN. We don't need mock draft 6.0 or whatever number they get to this year. Just focus on ranking the players by their positions and then you can start putting together a real mock draft sometime after the combine and all the pro days. Although don't' get me started on the combine. I'm still waiting for an explanation on how a guy's season stats get overlooked because he looks good in shorts and a t shirt. (See: Troy Williamson)

Waffle Nation



If you aren’t aware of the W-Awful phenomenon its time to eat up, because there is a new way to show your team just how unhappy you really are…

Lately it seems like waffles are becoming much more than just a pancake with syrup traps.  They have become a simple, edible way of showing your team that they are, well, W-awful. Is it a stretch? Well yes, I don’t see myself trotting down to a game with the inside of my coat lined with Eggos, partially because I can’t imagine being around waffles that long and NOT eating them.  However, some residents of Toronto are joining a growing nation of fans who are very, very unhappy with their beloved team.

I like the waffle idea, while it could be a stretch to some; I think it’s actually an up front way of telling your team what’s on your mind.  I mean really, if a Cavs fan threw a waffle on the court you think Antawn Jamison would say, “Golly, I wonder what that means?”  No! Waffle=awful, simple and strait to the point.  Yes, you may be asked to leave and not come back for a while, but if your team is bad enough to drive you into a breakfast throwing rage, some time away probably wouldn’t be bad for your health.

Sports Cheat Sheet for Fans without Football

With the Super Bowl Madness done and pro football as we know it coming to an end, for what could be a very long time, here's an update on what is going on in sports and what we have to look forward to. Consider it your cheat sheet for sports as you come out of your NFL coma.

NBA: If you have a superstar such as Kobe or LeBron, your team will win. If not, you don't have a shot at the championship. That explains all the chatter about where Carmelo Anthony is going to go. There's rumors about NY, NJ, or now even LA. After a trade is done, are we going to get an ESPN special telling us where he's going to take his talents? I can't hardly wait...

NFL: The owners and the players aren't getting along. If they don't figure something out, no NFL season. Pretty simple, but somehow they've made it really complicated. Don't you love multi-billionaires arguing with multi-millionaires about a couple hundred million dollars? In case you haven't figured it out yet, the NFL is all about the money.

NCAA Basketball: I guess I should clarify with men's basketball. We don't care about women's basketball here. Not yet at least. Plus nobody is going to beat UConn anyway. On the men's side it looks like it will be one heckuva tournament this year. No real dominant team as even the now no longer undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes have had to claw their way out of a few games in the Big 10. And we all know how Big 10 (or is it 12 now) teams choke in the spotlight. It really will be pure madness in March (and April, because nothing seems to end when it is supposed to anymore, but that's another blog topic in itself).

MLB: Spring training starts soon. Baseball fans get really excited about this. I don't quite understand. If they enjoy watching minor leaguers play against each other so much, then why are attendance numbers so low for minor league baseball? Let me know when April comes so I won't have to watch #76 pitch to #94 knowing that both of them will be playing High A ball in a few weeks.

NHL: Believe it or not, there's actually a professional hockey league in the U.S. For whatever reason, it just doesn't draw that many people. Maybe because people in 80 degree weather don't want to go watch a sport played on ice. Again, another topic for another day. This is kinda like NCAA bball, the fun starts when the playoffs begin.

Euro Soccer: I'm not going to waste my time because nobody in the U.S. cares. Go Chelsea! (No, that's not just some girl. It's actually a team).

NCAA Football: Just got done with signing day which I have discovered doesn't actually mean that much. Recruiting helps, but if you can't coach them it doesn't do you a lot of good. With that said, Alabama will win the BCS in 2011-12.

Tennis: Federer and Nadal. Handful of women, mostly with really hard to pronounce names. That's who's good.

MMA: I'm starting to get into this more and more. Here's a name for you to remember, Jon Jones. He's gonna be the best in a couple of years. Until then, make sure to tune in and watch Brock Lesnar. He's an animal.

PGA: Tiger isn't what he used to be. Will he ever be again? I doubt it. The young bucks out there aren't intimidated by him like golfers in the past. There is actually a pretty cool youth movement happening right now, be sure to take note. Oh and The Masters is in a couple months.

There's your cheat sheet, print it out and take it with you to your local sports bar. With it, you'll be able to stay in any sports conversation. Or maybe have a few people want to beat you up.

WELCOME

Hello, and welcome to our first installment of theplayer2benamedlater, before we get down to business I would like to give you a quick background of what you can plan on seeing and experiencing in the near future at theplayer2benamedlater.  The goal of us here at theplayer2benamedlater is….well to talk sports, ALL SPORTS (ok maybe not all but most, I will predict cricket coverage may be lacking) and hopefully provide a story or two for you a day in order to inform, educate, and above all else, entertain. We here at theplayer2benamedlater are doing this for fun, as this is our passion, and hopefully you will have fun going along on this experimental ride with us. I can hear you now, there is already so much out there to read and watch, what’s so different about you guys? Well, first of all ease up on us, we are just getting started, why do you have to be so critical? Sit back and enjoy the ride, which will include many of the sports and events that we believe don’t get enough credit  in the U.S. such as a healthy dose of those things you wont see a lot of on the SPORTSCENTER. Don’t take that the wrong way, we love the Sportscenter, but really, east coast bias anyone???

You can expect to see future articles from the likes of Dr. Dangles, our resident hockey expert (No he isn’t a doctor, but the story goes that he did send a guy once. And knowing him, the hit probably wasn’t legal) who will cover everything from NHL to the KHL and all the prospects in between.

In addition, insight from our fantasy sports expert “THE EMPIRE”, is he really an expert? Well I can’t talk trash because he beat me in all five fantasy football leagues this season…..and I think won most of them. That’s all the props he needs from me to be classified as an expert, even though I can hang my preseason call of Arian Foster (who was on all my fantasy teams FYI) over his head a little bit, but it’s all I got before he starts throwing the “where’s your rings” banter back at me and I go down for the count. Oh, and if you can’t figure out what baseball team he supports you have no business reading this blog.

Finally, we obviously will cover much more than what I just mentioned. In addition, a lot of what we discuss here will depend on you the reader.  Sports is great because everyone has their own opinion, what they would and wouldn’t do. So send us topics, stories, things you want to hear about more often, questions, comments, you name it.  

So keep your head up, because you’re about to get hit in the ear hole, with sports, a lotta sports.