Eric Davis Another Year Older

Eric Davis for about five years in the late 1980s was what I thought Willie Mays was. Sorry. I know that you are not supposed to compare anyone to Willie Mays. But Davis was the best package, the most complete centerfielder, I had ever seen. At age 24, he had 27 homers and 80 stolen bases. At age 25, he had 37 homers and 50 stolen bases. Of course, then Junior came along, and E kept getting hurt, and so on. But, E was the guy. He was the one who led the Reds out of the dark times, all the way to a wire-to-wire World Series with one of my favorite teams of all time. In 2007, Davis received three out of 545 ballots for the Hall of Fame, or 0.6 percent. He tied Dante Bichette. Dante Bichette, for cryin' out loud. Jose Canseco doubled that vote total, getting six votes. Goes to show that Hall of Fame voters can be moronic just like the rest of us. Davis is 46 years old today. The somewhat disturbing image of Eric Davis and Marge Schott is from the Cincinnati Enquirer, Glenn Hartong.

Bill Doran is 50

Bill Doran turned 50 years old yesterday. He grew up in Cincinnati, was a Mt. Healthy Owl, and played for Miami. He is the best major league player that Miami ever produced (sorry Charlie). When Billy was a Houston Astro, Bill James had what I think can best be described as a little crush on him. James used to talk and talk about how Bill was the second best second baseman in the NL, next to Ryne Sandberg, but nobody knew it. Bill was on the Reds in 1990 when they won the World Series, but he was on the DL during the postseason run. Happy Birthday Bill. The image is from Astros Daily.

John Fogerty still rockin' at 63

John Fogerty turns 63 today. He was born May 28, 1945, in Berkeley, CA. I bought the Creedence Clearwater Revival boxed set and have been listening to it, especially the Golliwogs disc. The Golliwogs were the Fogerty brothers with Stu Cook and Doug "Cosmo" Clifford playing together before they became CCR. The Golliwogs had some pretty good tunes. They were closer to a pop-R&B sound than CCR was. Listening to the CCR songs, each one, back to back, you realize what a great damned band that was. I also have been listening quite a bit to Revival, John's most recent album, where he just gives the White House some holy hell. I would love to see John this summer, but I just checked on John Fogerty dot com and it doesn't look like he's coming to Chicago. The image at right is from Rolling Stone.

Larry Wilson, All-Time Great Safety, Turns 70

Larry Wilson was the greatest free safety of his era. He was Ed Reed. Wilson was a ballhawk (some say he was THE ballhawk), a fine run supporter, and a great cover player. And, he is supposedly the first safety to blitz. Wilson turns 70 this weekend. A coordinator named Chuck Drulis has been credited with creating the safety blitz for Wilson to take advantage of his unique abilities. The HOF profile, however, disputes that he invented it or was the first safety to blitz. Usually, these disputes come down to the fact that these schemes are reinovated again and again. The card image is from Football Card Gallery.

Aaron Harang Turns 30, Needs A Beer

Aaron Harang turned 30 years old yesterday. I just wanted to show him some support, since his teammates don't seem to.

Let's see … 15th in the League in ERA. No. 2 in the NL in strikeouts. No. 12 in the League in WHIP. Twenty-fifth in opponents slugging percentage. No. 12 in opponents on-base percentage. What's that get ya? A 1-5 record. The Reds have scored two runs or fewer in four of his losses. His 2.44 runs per nine run support is 180th overall, 94th out of 96 for all pitchers who have tossed 20 innings thus far this year. (Barry Zito is at 95th with 1.87 and Yovani Gallardo is 96th with 0.90)

Happy dang birthday, Aaron. Have a beer. Have five. You deserve it.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Johnny Unitas 75th Birthday -- Greatest QB Ever?

Johnny Unitas was born 75 years ago today, May 7, 1933. In my view, Johnny U. was the greatest quarterback of all time.

When OldCleat was growing up, there was no doubt who the best quarterback in NFL history was. It was Johnny U. When he retired, he held the career marks for most seasons leading the league in TD passes, most touchdown passes, most yards gained passing, most passes attempted and most passes completed. He was top five in the NFL in yards per pass in 11 different seasons. He was first team All-Pro in five seasons. He went to 10 Pro Bowls. The Favres and Marinos and Montanas and Elways and Mannings be damned, I still think Johnny U. is the greatest.

In the first round of the 1955 NFL Draft, the first selection overall, the Baltimore Colts selected George Shaw of Oregon. In the ninth round that year, 102nd overall, the Colts selected Johnny U.

Here are some other facts.

The second QB taken in the first round of the 1955 draft was Notre Dame's Ralph Gugliemi, by the Washington Redskins. Then, in the seventh round, the Cardinals selected Ohio State's Dave Leggett.

The Steelers in 1955 drafted quarterback and punter Vic Eaton out of Missouri. Eaton made the squad. Unitas was cut.

The Green Bay Packers in the 16th round of the draft, 185th overall, selected quarterback Charlie Brackens out of Prairie View. Brackens made the Packers, played in one game, and was the third African-American player to play quarterback in the NFL.

The two quarterbacks on the 1955 Steelers were Jim Finks, who later became a Hall of Famer as a GM, and Ted Marchibroda, who had two different stints as the Colts head coach. Finks was a Pro Bowl quarterback in 1952.

The card image is from MacCauley Sports Cards.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

OldCleat Redrafts Bengals Draft

OldCleat redrafted the Bengals draft - first (2008) edition. The rules are, I would draft a player that the Bengals had drafted, or someone drafted after the selection, until the Bengals selected again. So, my universe of players that I would have chosen were the players in-between the Bengals draft. I, of course, had the benefit of hindsight on this. Here is the OldCleat draft.

First round, ninth pick. Cincinnati picked Keith Rivers, linebacker out of USC (I got the image of him overrunning Darren McFadden from Razorsblog and/or ap). I would have picked Keith Rivers. I disagree with some experts that said that the Bengals should have given up picks to move up for Sedrick Ellis. If Ellis fell to them, fine. But he didn’t. And I think that the Bengals were well served to get the best front seven player on the board. I think Rivers is a 10-year player.

Second round, 15th pick, 46 overall. Cincy picked Jerome Simpson, a wide receiver out of the Carolina School of the Beach. I would have picked ANYONE ELSE. AAAAAAAAHHHHH. As my brother-in-law said, every year the Bengals just have a head-scratcher. This is it. Hope I’m wrong. At this point, I really wanted Quentin Groves, DE/rush linebacker from Auburn. Calais Campbell from the U would have been a pick here as well. If you needed to draft a wideout, Limas Sweed or Malcolm Kelly were on the board.

Third round, 14th pick, 77 overall. Cincy picked Pat Sims, nose tackle out of Auburn. I would have picked … Pat Sims. I like him. He is a run stuffer. He may not be the greatest pass rusher ever, but at this point, I want someone to clog the middle of the porous, tissue thin, let’s face it not very good middle of the Bengals defense.

Third round, 34th pick, 97 overall. Cincy picked Andre “Bubba” Caldwell, wide receiver out of Florida. I would have picked Justin King, cornerback out of Penn State … I guess. Just barely. I think that King may not be that great, but he may be good. He has the physical skills. Caldwell may be awesome. He is UofF’s all-time leading receiver, and he ran a 4.3 something at the combine. But many receivers don’t pan out, and you need all the corners you can get in this league.

Fourth round, 13th pick, 112 overall. Cincy picked Anthony Collins, offensive tackle out of Kansas. I would have picked Jack Ikegwuonu, cornerback out of Wisconsin. I really like the Collins pick. I think he might develop into a right tackle, and perhaps even a left tackle. He also may be able to provide more immediate help at guard. I think Ikegwuonu was a first-round to early second-round talent at cornerback or free safety. He fell to the fourth round because of a knee injury suffered at the combine. I would have gambled on the future at this pick. I like Red Bryant of Texas A&M here as well, but would have gone with Ike.

Fifth round, 10th pick, 145 overall. Cincinnati picked Jason Shirley, defensive tackle out of Fresno State. I would have picked Jonathan Goff, linebacker, Vanderbilt, slightly over Alvin Bowen, linebacker, Iowa State. This was the Bengals worst pick in the draft, not Jerome Simpson, for this reason: Shirley was not worth the gamble. He has been a bad apple on the college level, and … is his upside really worth the pick? Goff is big and a tackler. Bowen is a good player but needs to pick up some size. There were several other selections I would have taken over Shirley. Owen Schmitt, Roy Schuening, Dennis Dixon, Josh Johnson, Dominique Barber, Geno Hayes, Frank Okem, and Barry Richardson, more or less in order.

Sixth round, 11th pick, 177 overall. Bengals picked Corey Lynch, safety out of Appalachian State. I would have taken Andre’ Woodson, quarterback, Kentucky. I really like Corey Lynch. He should be fine on special teams, and maybe he is a safety. I also like Mike Hart of Michigan. The Wolverines (Giant Weasels) were a completely different team when he played. But Woodson is a first round talent. He may have been the most talented quarterback in this draft. To get him in the sixth round is a steal.

Sixth round, 41st pick, 207 overall. Bengals picked Matt Sherry, tight end, Villanova. I would have picked Chauncey Washington, tailback out of USC. I think he is going to be a backup in the NFL, and he may, I repeat, may have a Ryan Grant-type season or two in him. Matt Sherry? I frankly have no idea.

Seventh round, 37th pick, 244 overall. Bengals picked Angelo Craig, pass rush linebacker from the University of Cincinnati. I would have picked … Angelo Craig. With the rules of this little exercise, I have to pick between him and Lionel Dotson, defensive tackle from Arizona, since the Bengals had the 39th pick, 246 overall. Dotson isn’t the stuffer I would look for, though he may become one. Craig should be able to help on special teams and may be able to rush the passer. UC’s defense looked great last year, and he was a reason.

Seventh round, 39th pick, 246 overall. The Bengals signed Mario Urrutia, wide receiver out of Louisville. I would have picked Wesley Woodyard, linebacker out of Kentucky just barely over Ali Highsmith, linebacker out of LSU, neither of whom was drafted. I think that both will have a shot to start in the NFL at some point in their careers. If having to pick a drafted player, I would have picked Kirk Barton, offensive tackle, Ohio State. Barton will be a right tackle in the NFL, and can be guard in the NFL as early as next year.

So here are the drafts. OldCleat’s is more defensive oriented, and, I think, much better.

Cincy
1 Keith Rivers, LB, USC
2 Jerome Simpson, WR, Coastal Carolina
3 Pat Sims, DT, Auburn
3 Andre Caldwell, WR, Florida
4 Anthony Collins, T, Kansas
5 Jason Shirley, DT, Fresno State
6 Corey Lynch, S, Appalachian State
6 Matt Sherry, TE, Villanova
7 Angelo Craig, OLB, Cincinnati
7 Mario Urrutia, WR, Louisville

OldCleat
1 Keith Rivers, LB, USC
2 Quentin Groves, DE/LB, Auburn
3 Pat Sims, DT, Auburn
3 Justin King, CB, Penn State
4 Jack Ikegwuonu, CB/S, Wisconsin
5 Jonathan Goff, LB, Vanderbilt
6 Andre’ Woodson, QB, Kentucky
6 Chauncey Washington, RB, USC
7 Angelo Craig, OLB, Cincinnati
7 Wesley Woodyard, LB, Kentucky

thankyouverymuch,
OldCleat

Undrafted free agent update

Here are The OldCleat All Did Not Get Drafted Team and the NFL teams that signed the players:

Lee, Xavier QB 6'4" 232 Florida State Baltimore Ravens
Green-Ellis, BenJarvus RB 5'11" 220 Mississippi New England Patriots
Johnson, Dionte FB 6'0" 238 Ohio State Arizona Cardinals
McRae, Kalvin RB 5'9" 208 Ohio Kansas City Chiefs
Lumpkin, Kregg RB 6'0" 226 Georgia Green Bay Packers
Savage, Dantrell RB 5'8" 187 Oklahoma State Kansas City Chiefs
Temple, Tony RB 5'9" 210 Missouri Cleveland Browns
Bryant, Dorien WR 5'10" 169 Purdue Pittsburgh Steelers
Hall, D.J. WR 6'2" 190 Alabama New York Giants
Purify, Maurice WR 6'3" 224 Nebraska Cincinnati Bengals
Smith, Taj WR 6'1" 187 Syracuse Green Bay Packers
Bujnoch, Digger OT 6'5" 290 Cincinnati New York Giants
Felton, Robert OG 6'4" 313 Arkansas Buffalo Bills
Kraus, Adam OG 6'6" 305 Michigan Baltimore Ravens
Miller, Drew OT 6'5" 302 Florida Jacksonville Jaguars
O'Donnell, Martin OG 6'5" 312 Illinois Retired
Polumbus, Tyler OT 6'8" 312 Colorado Denver Broncos
Radovich, Drew OT 6'5" 305 Southern Cal Minnesota Vikings
Spanos, Matt C 6'5" 305 Southern Cal
Blake, Tommy DE 6'3" 272 TCU Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
Geathers, Jeremy DE 6'2" 256 UNLV New Orleans Saints
Gilberry, Wallace DE 6'3" 263 Alabama New York Giants
McClinton, James DT 6'0" 289 Kansas Kanas City Chiefs
McDuffie, Chris DT 6'4" 330 Clemson Kansas City Chiefs
Robertson, Darrell DE 6'5" 245 Georgia Tech Dallas Cowboys
Brown, Titus OLB 6'3" 239 Mississippi State Miami Dolphins
Hall, Vince ILB 6'0" 238 Virginia Tech St. Louis Rams
Highsmith, Ali OLB 6'0" 226 LSU Arizona Cardinals
Leman, Jeremy LB 6'2" 240 Illinois Minnesota Vikings
Moffitt, Ben OLB 6'1" 234 South Florida Houston Texans
Woodyard, Wesley OLB 6'1" 227 Kentucky Denver Broncos
Castille, Simeon CB 6'0" 190 Alabama Cincinnati Bengals
Wolfe, D.J. CB 5'11" 207 Oklahoma Atlanta Falcons
Adams, Jamar S 6'2" 212 Michigan Seattle Seahawks
Brown, Cornelius S 5'11" 200 Missouri Kansas City Chiefs
Griffin, Marcus FS 5'10" 201 Texas Minnesota Vikings
Joiner, Tony FS 6'0" 215 Florida Tennessee Titans
Warrick, Nehemiah SS 6'1" 210 Michigan State New York Giants

OldCleat's All Did Not Get Drafted Team

Here are the guys that didn't get drafted who should have. It is The OldCleat All Did Not Get Drafted Team, The OldCleat All Did Not Get Drafted Team 2008. The biggest surprises to me are Ali Highsmith and Vince Hall. Not all of these guys will make an NFL team (especially Xavier Lee), but most will. I'll bet there are five to ten potential starters.

The players in bold are my best bets to become an NFL starter.

Lee, Xavier QB 6'4" 232 Florida State
Green-Ellis, BenJarvus RB 5'11" 220 Mississippi
Johnson, Dionte FB 6'0" 238 Ohio State
McRae, Kalvin RB 5'9" 208 Ohio
Lumpkin, Kregg RB 6'0" 226 Georgia
Savage, Dantrell RB 5'8" 187 Oklahoma State
Temple, Tony RB 5'9" 210 Missouri
Bryant, Dorien WR 5'10" 169 Purdue
Hall, D.J. WR 6'2" 190 Alabama
Purify, Maurice WR 6'3" 224 Nebraska
Smith, Taj WR 6'1" 187 Syracuse
Bujnoch, Digger OT 6'5" 290 Cincinnati
Felton, Robert OG 6'4" 313 Arkansas
Kraus, Adam OG 6'6" 305 Michigan
Miller, Drew OT 6'5" 302 Florida
O'Donnell, Martin OG 6'5" 312 Illinois
Polumbus, Tyler OT 6'8" 312 Colorado
Radovich, Drew OT 6'5" 305 Southern Cal
Spanos, Matt C 6'5" 305 Southern Cal
Blake, Tommy DE 6'3" 272 TCU
Geathers, Jeremy DE 6'2" 256 UNLV
Gilberry, Wallace DE 6'3" 263 Alabama
McClinton, James DT 6'0" 289 Kansas
McDuffie, Chris DT 6'4" 330 Clemson
Robertson, Darrell DE 6'5" 245 Georgia Tech
Brown, Titus OLB 6'3" 239 Mississippi State
Hall, Vince ILB 6'0" 238 Virginia Tech
Highsmith, Ali OLB 6'0" 226 LSU
Leman, Jeremy LB 6'2" 240 Illinois
Moffitt, Ben OLB 6'1" 234 South Florida
Woodyard, Wesley OLB 6'1" 227 Kentucky
Castille, Simeon CB 6'0" 190 Alabama
Wolfe, D.J. CB 5'11" 207 Oklahoma
Adams, Jamar S 6'2" 212 Michigan
Brown, Cornelius S 5'11" 200 Missouri
Griffin, Marcus FS 5'10" 201 Texas
Joiner, Tony FS 6'0" 215 Florida
Warrick, Nehemiah SS 6'1" 210 Michigan State

Joe Novak, 63 today

Joe Novak, former Northern Illinois head football coach, turned 63 today. He coached the way a Cradle of Coaches coach should coach.

As the Northern press guide says, "Honesty. Integrity. Respect. These are the principles that have guided Joe Novak, not only throughout his 11-year tenure as head coach of the Northern Illinois football team, but throughout his 40 years as a football coach."

He also had Northern running the heck out of the ball. And he came up with great running backs, very good offensive linemen, smart quarterbacks, and tough defenses. He did it the right way.

Joe, have a good day today. We'll miss ya, but we won't miss watching the RedHawks defense get just run over.

Look at the picture at OldCleat got from the mutha. He looks like the second coming of Bo Schembechler. Love it.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Hot Dog Day, Danger Dog Day, April 18

April 18 is Hot Dog Day, though I am ready to call Danger Dog Day. I went to SuperDawg today (don't tell Doug), and I am having a big old hot dog grill out tamale (hot!).

Hot dog day originated at Alfred State University. So I want to extend the tradition to an every year event.

Gatemouth Brown Born April 18, 1924

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown would have been 84 years old today. He didn't like being called a blues performer or blues guitarist, but he was one of the best in that genre ever. He also was an accomplished fiddler, and he played a variety of instruments. He also played a variety of genres, including swing, country, rock 'n' roll, and R 'n' B.

I saw Gate in New Orleans in 2001.

Here are some facts from his bio on gatemouth.com, which is no longer active.

Louisiana-born, Texas-raised multi-instrumentalist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown has been dishing up his unique blend of blues, R&B, country, jazz, and Cajun music for more than 50 years. A virtuoso on guitar, violin, harmonica, mandolin, viola, and even drums ...
Brown was born in Vinton, Louisiana, and raised not far from the Gulf Coast in Orange, Texas. He learned guitar and fiddle from his father who played and sang the tunes of the region, including French traditional songs and even German polkas. He reminds us that: "Everybody played music in those days."

He began working professionally as a drummer during World War II. After a stint in the U.S. Army, Gatemouth made his debut as a guitarist in 1947 by simply walking on stage at Don Robey's famed Peacock Club in Houston and picking up an electric Gibson guitar that an ailing T-Bone Walker had put down mid-show. Gate so wowed the audience, playing his own "Gatemouth Boogie," that within a few minutes he had been showered with $600 in tips - a large haul in those cash-strapped days.

Robey soon had Brown fronting a 23-piece orchestra on a tour across the South and Southwest. The manager then formed Peacock Records, the first successful post-war, black-owned record label, to take Gate�s sound to a national audience. Dozens of hits soon followed, including "Okie Dokie Stomp," "Boogie Rambler," and "Dirty Work at the Crossroads."

After splitting with Robey, Brown moved to Nashville, where he hosted a television show and began adding country music to his repertoire, even recording with Roy Clark and appearing on Hee Haw. Heavy touring in the 1970s established new audiences in Europe, East Africa, and the Soviet Union, where Gate toured as a musical ambassador for the U.S. State Department.

Here is a bit from World Music.

... the club's owner, a Houston businessman named Don Robey. Robey hired Gate to play the club and eventually became his manager. He teamed Gate with a swinging 23-piece orchestra and booked him into venues across the South and Southwest.

Gatemouth made his first records for Hollywood's Alladin Records in 1947. When Alladin's promotion and release schedules didn't live up to expectations, Robey founded Peacock Records as an outlet for Gate's music. Dozens of Brown's records, including Okie Dokie Stomp, Boogie Rambler, Just Before Dawn and Dirty Work At The Crossroads, became big hits. Beginning with Gate's hits, in a few years Peacock grew to become a major independent R&B record label, with an artist roster that included stars like Bobby "Blue" Bland, Junior Parker and Joe Hinton.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown didn't like being called a blues performer or blues guitarist, but he was one of the best in that genre ever. He also was an accomplished fiddler, and he played a variety of instruments. He also played a variety of genres, including swing, country, rock 'n' roll, and R 'n' B.

Chuck Bresnahan Gone -- Bengals Fire D Coordinator

Chuck Bresnahan is no longer the D coordinator of the Bengals. This is good news to all Bengal fans who have suffered through a third-down easy completion for 15 yards on a third-and-12 by a crapola offense quarterbacked by Brock Berlin or Shaun Hill.

The Bengals need some help on their team. But this was the No. 1 problem on their team if you ask me. Not getting off the field on third down killed the Bengals. This problem has hurt them for years.

And it made everything else on their team seem worse. Their offense looked pretty good. But they always seemed to be pressing (especially Carson Palmer). And usually it was because they weren't on the field very long, and when they were on the field, they were usually having to score.

Marvin Lewis ran one of the greatest defensive teams in the recent history of the NFL when he ran the Baltimore Ravens. He needs to find a D coordinator who believes in his philosophy. I don't think that Bresnahan did.

Joe Nuxhall: Hero, Great Guy

Joe Nuxhall was the best. I did a post on RedReporter regarding Joe Nuxhall, calling him my hero and saying I want to be half one day that he was. I just wanted to express my appreciation for the man.

I met him on one occasion, when he was going around with the Reds Caravan in the 1980s with Marty Brenneman. Nuxy was great. Just the nicest guy, who laughed, joked, kidded around with, and debated in a good-natured way all the fans in the crowd (it was in Oxford at Miami) who had come to talk a little baseball in February.

He then stuck around and talked to each and every one of the kids that wanted to talk after the program was over. And he did. We talked, and one of my favorite memories was when my friend Tammy, an Indians fan, expressed her consternation that the Tribe had traded Von Hayes for some guy named Julio Franco. Now, Tammy is about 5'2" tall, and Nuxy, who was 6'3" or so and a big man, put his big ol' arm around little Tammy and said, "Now, don't you worry, that Franco is a RABBIT." (That was back when Julio Franco was a rabbit.)

I may be biased ... OK, I AM biased, but I thought Joe Nuxhall was a great broadcaster. I live in Chicago now, and I heard Harry Carey for years, and I don't think he had anything on Nuxey. I listened to some of the best broadcasters there are in several different sports, and play-by-play or analyst, I think Joe was among the best ever.

Joe was a great community guy. Joe was very concerned about kids being brought up right, and about a community's commitment to its senior citizens. Nuxy had a vision for a better town, and he put his vision into action. Here are a few articles about that.

Here's a nice quote:

Despite his passing, many of Nuxhall's charitable initiatives will carry on. "Nuxhall was the honorary chairman of our committee to help school funding," said Paul Flood of Fairfield. "In his speech, he said the kids can't help themselves, we have to step up to help them. He always stepped up to help the community. It was never about him."

The great Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News wrote the following:

For many years, Nuxhall put on his old No. 41 uniform and pitched batting
practice and the competitive juices flowed. If a player hit too many line
drives, he might find the next pitch heading for his head, and as he hit the
dirt he'd hear that infectious Nuxhall laugh and a comment like, "Try hitting a
line drive from down there."

But he was beloved by players because Joe
had been there and done that. He thought like a ballplayer and he empathized
with them, spending many hours after games consoling young pitchers who had a
bad night.

"I had a lot those," Joe would tell them. And he had a lot of
very good ones

Nuxhall again is on the ballot for the broadcasters Hall
of Fame. He should already be there. When Brennaman was voted in, they should
have included Nuxy right then. The two are inseparable to fans. It was always
Marty & Joe.

The first time I met Nuxhall was in 1967 at a
basketball game at Miami University, a school he adopted and loved as his own
even though he never attended college.

I was introduced as a young reporter and Nuxhall said, "Son, just be
yourself. Always be yourself. Don't try to be anybody else."

It was sound advice for a guy who thought he wanted to be the next Jim
Murray or Red Smith. Nuxhall was true to his word. He never wanted to be Vin
Scully or Harry Caray. He never changed and never imitated. He was Hamilton Joe,
the ol' left-hander — a unique guy with a distinctive voice and an even more
distinctive style.

In my 35 years of covering the Reds, Nuxhall is in my
top three of all-time nice guys. Right now I can't think of who might be No. 1
or No. 2.

And this is one of my favorite Nuxy quotes:

"You don't replace him," said Chris Welsh, a former Reds pitcher and currently a television broadcaster for the club. "Look how long it took for him to grow into what he was. It's like losing the biggest oak tree in your yard that's been there a century longer than any other tree. Now, all of a sudden, you have this barren spot. You fill it with memories of his voice."

There will never be another Joe Nuxhall.

Lewis Looks for a G.M.; OldCleat is Happy with Lewis

According to Yahoo Sports Rumors, Marvin Lewis says that the Bengals need a G.M. in charge of personnel.

They have a reputation for drafting guys other teams take off their boards, according to the report.

But the Bengals have done a pretty good to darned good job drafting under Lewis, with some missteps.

OldCleat will be taking a look at the Bengals draft under Lewis.

Lewis's first pick as Bengals defacto G.M. in the 2003 draft was Carson Palmer, who was picked first overall. There were those who thought that Kyle Boller was going to be a better NFL QB. (Chris Mortensen, Len Pasquarelli were there.) So, that goes a little ways toward very good.

Second round, he picked up Eric Steinbach, which was an excellent pick. Third round, 65 overall, Kelley Washington out of Tennessee. I thought this was a great pick. Washington was a very good SEC player. Didn't turn out that way. Look who they passed up:

66 Cory Redding DE Texas Detroit Lions
67 Antwan Peek LB Cincinnati Houston Texans
68 Lance Briggs OLB Arizona Chicago Bears
69 Jason Witten TE Tennessee Dallas Cowboys

Ouch. Fourth round, 98, Dennis Weathersby, CB. Again, was a risk/reward pick. Gunshot victim as a bystander, he might have worked out, but he was injured in a car wreck and was forced from the game. Here is who the Bengals passed on:

99 Artose Pinner RB Kentucky Detroit Lions
100 Todd Johnson DB Florida Chicago Bears
101 Domanick Williams RB Louisiana State Houston Texans
102 Montrae Holland G Florida State New Orleans Saints
103 Bradie James LB Louisiana State Dallas Cowboys
104 George Wrighster TE Oregon Jacksonville Jaguars
105 Onterrio Smith RB Oregon Minnesota Vikings
106 Shaun McDonald WR Arizona State St. Louis Rams
107 DeJuan Groce CB Nebraska St. Louis Rams

Holland is pretty good, James not bad, McDonald has contributed, but, all in all, no big deal.

Second fourth round pick was Jermi Johnson, the slightly overrated FB still on the team. Pretty good.

Fifth round, Khalid Abdullah, a linebacker from Linebacker U II, Mars Hill. Confusing. Who Marvin missed out on:

137 Terrence Holt DB North Carolina State Detroit Lions
138 Robert Mathis DE Alabama A&M Indianapolis Colts
139 Bobby Wade WR Arizona Chicago Bears
140 Derek Pagel DB Iowa New York Jets

Not good. Sixth round was Langston Moore out of South Carolina, a pretty good pick who is currently on the Lions. Pretty good. Scott Kooistra, a seventh rounder, is the backup right tackle, and he was a pretty good pick. The Bengals also took Elton Patterson in the seventh.

The next year was supposed to be Marvin's big draft. He was saying that he knew better what he was doing. The first thing he did was trade out of No. 17 down to 24, picking up starting CB Deltha O'Neal. The Broncos took DJ Williams from Miami. I still take this trade. So far, so good.

Then, Marvin traded down to 26, passing on Steven Jackson. The Bengals took Chris Perry from Michigan instead. Oops. Nobody thought this was good except for Marvin. Bengals also picked up Stacy Andrews in the fourth round. Here are some of the other players the Bengals passed on for No. 26:

27 Jason Babin OLB Western Michigan Houston Texans
28 Chris Gamble CB Ohio State Carolina Panthers
29 Michael Jenkins WR Ohio State Atlanta Falcons
30 Kevin Jones RB Virginia Tech Detroit Lions
31 Rashaun Woods WR Oklahoma State San Francisco 49ers
32 Benjamin Watson TE Georgia New England Patriots

I would say the Bengals were about in the middle of that mess. Gamble might have been nice. Watson is a good TE.

Second round, 49 overall, they picked Keiwan Ratliff, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year CB at Florida. The Bengals just recently cut him. I thought it was a great pick. They got some value out of him, but in the end, he couldn't really cut it as a nickle back. Here are who they passed on.

50 Devery Henderson WR Louisiana State New Orleans Saints
51 Dwan Edwards DT Oregon State Baltimore Ravens
52 Jacob Rogers T USC Dallas Cowboys
53 Michael Boulware DB Florida State Seattle Seahawks
54 Darius Watts WR Marshall Denver Broncos
58 Shawntae Spencer CB Pittsburgh San Francisco 49ers

So they were in the middle to the end of that. Spencer is at least a nickle back.

Not so good there. Then, with the second second round pick they got from the Patriots for Corey Dillon, the Bengals took Madieu Williams. I thought it was a bad pick, and that turned out great. I think he is one of the most underrated safeties in the game.

Third round, No. 80 overall, Bengals take skinney LB from Arkansas, Caleb Miller. That is an OK pick. He is a good backup, special teams player, occasional starter. Here's who they passed on:

81 Chris Cooley TE Utah State Washington Redskins
82 Devard Darling WR Washington State Baltimore Ravens
83 Stephen Peterman G Louisiana State Dallas Cowboys
84 Sean Locklear G North Carolina State Seattle Seahawks
85 Jeremy LeSueur CB Michigan Denver Broncos
86 Jorge Cordova LB Nevada-Reno Jacksonville Jaguars
87 B.J. Sander P Ohio State Green Bay Packers
88 Darrion Scott DE Ohio State Minnesota Vikings
89 Matt Ware DB UCLA Philadelphia Eagles
90 Matt Schaub QB Virginia Atlanta Falcons

So they were near the top of that group. Chris Cooley, Darrion Scott, Matt Schaub, not bad. The others, not great. Last pick of the third round, Bengals take Landon Johnson, a very good pick. He as been a starter for most of his career. Who they passed on:

97 Reggie Torbor DE Auburn New York Giants
98 Shaun Phillips LB Purdue San Diego Chargers
99 Carlos Francis WR Texas Tech Oakland Raiders
100 Alex Stepanovich C Ohio State Arizona Cardinals
101 Demorrio Williams LB Nebraska Atlanta Falcons
102 Will Poole CB USC Miami Dolphins
103 Bo Schobel DE Texas Christian Tennessee Titans

Phillips and Schobel are very good players. But Johnson is just a step or two below that, I think.

Fourth round, Bengals pick Matthias Askew, a DT from Michigan State who really didn't work out. They passed on:

115 Nat Dorsey T Georgia Tech Minnesota Vikings
116 Niko Koutouvides LB Purdue Seattle Seahawks

So no big deal. 117 overall, they take Robert Geathers, DE, out of Georgia. GREAT pick. Sure, he may be a bit overrated because of the sacks, but he's pretty good.

118 Anthony Maddox DT Delta State Jacksonville Jaguars
119 Mewelde Moore RB Tulane Minnesota Vikings
120 Ernest Wilford WR Virginia Tech Jacksonville Jaguars
121 Bruce Thornton CB Georgia Dallas Cowboys
122 Glenn Earl SS Notre Dame Houston Texans

So that's a great pick. Then they took Andrews 123 overall. They passed on:

124 Michael Waddell CB North Carolina Tennessee Titans
125 Jason David CB Washington State Indianapolis Colts
126 Jared Allen DE Idaho State Kansas City Chiefs
127 Richard Seigler LB Oregon State San Francisco 49ers
128 Cedric Cobbs RB Arkansas New England Patriots
129 J.R. Reed DB South Florida Philadelphia Eagles
130 Brandon Chillar OLB UCLA St. Louis Rams
131 Trey Darilek T Texas-El Paso Philadelphia Eagles
132 Adrian Jones T Kansas New York Jets

Sure, Jared Allen hurts. But Andrews is a starting quality guard, and I do think that he could be a starting right tackle in the league.

NFL Leaders in 1997

Just looking at some NFL history. Went back ten years.

In 1997, the overall touchdown leader was a player in his second year in the NFL. I would not have guessed this if you gave me 25 clues. Here they are:

1. He played for the Miami Dolphins.
2. In 1999, he played for the Cleveland Browns.
3. He went to UCLA.
4. He was drafted in the third round of the 1998 draft.
5. He rushed for over 1,000 yards as a rookie in 1998.
6. He shared a name with another standout UCLA athlete, at least in pronounciation, if not spelling.

Give up?

It was Karim Abdul-Jabbar. How soon we forget.

OK, here's another one:

This Oakland Raider running back in 1997 finished fifth in the NFL in rushing with 1,294 yards. Who was he?

1. It was his third year in the NFL.
2. He was a first-round pick by the Raiders in 1995.
3. He went to the University of Washington.
4. He finished ninth in Heisman voting in 1994.
5. He ended up splitting time with Tyrone Wheatley after the '95 season.
6. He shares a first name with a little French dictator of the Nineteenth Century.

Give up?

It was Napolean Kaufmann.

OK. Last one. In 1997, this quarterback lead the NFL with 35 TD passes. I'll give you one clue:

1. In 1997, he played for the Green Bay Packers.

Da Cubss ... Why This Year Feels Different

Just being in Chicago with the Cubs in the playoffs, 2007 feels so much different than 2003. I am not a Cubs fan, but I've lived among them now for 22 years. They are in the playoffs (though they lost Game One last night). But this year is different.

In 2003, there was actual hope. In Dusty did they all Trusty. They had Wood. And Prior Knowledge.

But then came Game Six of the 2003 NLCS. You know, the game with He Who Shall Not Be Named in OldCleat's blog because it was not his fault, really.

Having gone to the seat that the unfortunate Cubs fan sat in and looking down on the field, it looks to me like Moises Alou would have had to have been Dikembe Mutumbo to have gotten that pop foul.

Anyway, it wasn't just that game, I believe, that has exacerbated the angst. The strum und drang.

First, it was the Red Sox. Misery loves company, and when they won it in '04, it gave the Cub fans hope for '05, which, of course, hurt worse when it didn't happen.

But at least it wasn't happening for Chicago baseball.

Then came 2005. Grinder Ball. Ozzie. Good Guys Wear Black.

When the White Sox won the Series in '05, that was when the Cubs fans KNEW that they were toast. No more Sammy. No more Dusty. No more Woody (well ... he is sorta still around).

The Cubs in 2006 were a morass. They finished in sixth place in the N.L. Central.

But with Sweet Lou and a whole bunch of money, they turned it around and got in the playoffs by finishing first in the Central this year.

And I have never seen more long, unhappy faces.

Sure, they are all wearing their silly Cub uni tops. And they act like they believe.

But they don't. They sit in fear and loathing, waiting for the crapola to hit the old fan. It isn't fun. '98 was fun. 2003 was more fun than this. Nothin', of course, beat 1984. But this is just morose.

Have some fun, Cub fans. It sure as hell beats having seven losing seasons in a row, like the Reds have had.

Bengals History: Additional Twists

There were some additional twists in the history of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise.

In 1967 a Cincinnati-based ownership group led by Paul Brown was granted a franchise in the American Football League.

By 1966, Paul Brown wanted to become involved in professional football again. James A. Rhodes, then the governor of Ohio, convinced Brown that Ohio needed a second team. Cincinnati was deemed the logical choice, in essence, splitting the state.

However, Brown was not a supporter of the rival American Football League, stating that "I didn't pay 10 million dollars to be in the AFL," He only acquiesced to joining the AFL when he was guaranteed that the team would become an NFL franchise after the impending merger of the two leagues.

There was also a complication: the Major League Baseball Cincinnati Reds were in need of a facility to replace the antiquated, obsolete Crosley Field, which they had used since 1912. Parking nightmares had plagued the city as far back as the 1950s, the little park lacked modern amenities, and New York City, which in 1956 had lost both their National League teams, the Dodgers and the Giants to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, were actively courting Powel Crosley. However, Crosley was adamant that the Reds remain in Cincinnati and tolerated worsening problems with the Crosley Field location, which were increased with the Millcreek Expressway (I-75) project that ran alongside the park.

With assistance from Ohio governor James A. Rhodes, Hamilton County and the Cincinnati city council agreed to build a single multi-purpose facility on the dilapidated riverfront section of the city. The new facility had to be ready by the opening of the 1970 NFL season and was officially named Riverfront Stadium, which was its working title.

Here is another take:

Planning for the Cincinnati Bengals franchise began three full years before the team began playing in the American Football League in 1968. Paul Brown, who had enjoyed exceptional success as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns for 17 seasons before departing in 1962, had the urge to get back into pro football. In 1965, he met with then-Governor Jim Rhodes and the two agreed the state could accommodate a second pro football team. A year later in 1966, Cincinnati's city council approved the construction of 60,389-seat Riverfront Stadium, which was scheduled for completion by 1970. The next year, a group headed by Brown was awarded an American Football League franchise that would begin play in 1968. Brown named his team the Bengals in recognition of previous Cincinnati pro football franchises with the same name in the 1930s and 1940s.

And then there's this monkey business that tells of the original ownership group, and a little of how Mike Brown gained control of the franchise.

During the dance to keep the Cincinnati Bengals from moving to Baltimore, team president Mike Brown was asked in 1995 if he could help fund a new stadium in Cincinnati.

During the dance to keep the Cincinnati Bengals from moving to Baltimore, team president Mike Brown was asked in 1995 if he could help fund a new stadium in Cincinnati.

He's right. He didn't. Twelve years earlier, his father, Paul Brown, the legendary NFL coach and founder of the Bengals, signed away the family's profits so that one day 10 years down the road, his son Mike could own and control the team.

From 1984 to 1993, the Bengals paid out every penny of profit — $66 million — to shareholders. Nearly all of that money was paid to John Sawyer and Austin Knowlton, the men whose money brought the new franchise to Cincinnati in 1968.

And some more:

Upset at losing control of and being fired as coach of the team that bears his name by the Cleveland Browns upstart owner Art Modell, football pioneer Paul Brown rebounded by planning to bring a professional team to Cincinnati.

Brown sought the political clout of Ohio Gov. James Rhodes but needed money. He turned to John Sawyer, owner of a farm management and estate brokerage firm, and a Columbus-area construction company owner named Austin E. Knowlton, known to all as "Dutch."

Before the Bengals were born in 1967, Knowlton already was a wealthy construction company owner interested in professional athletics. In addition to helping form the Bengals, over his lifetime Knowlton also was the majority owner of the Cincinnati Reds and was active in the horse racing industry, serving as a trustee of the Brown Jug Society, which runs the Triple Crown for standard bred pacing horses, as well as a breeder of show horses at his Emerald Farm outside Columbus.

As owner of 236 of the 586 shares of Bengals stock, Knowlton controlled the largest block of shares, something Chesley believes irked Mike Brown, current team president and son of Paul Brown.

That, Chesley suggested, was the driving force behind the Brown family's eventual purchase of 60 of Knowlton's Bengals shares that gave the Browns control of the team. Brown and Knowlton signed a controversial 1983 document that gave the Brown family the option to buy those 60 shares for $6 million, or $100,000 per share, a shockingly low price, Chesley maintains.

Bengals History: It was 40 Years Ago Today

Bengals History:

I saw this today on the NFL website:

NFL History
September 27, 1967
A group with Paul Brown as part owner, general manager, and head coach, was awarded the Cincinnati franchise.

Growing up in Cincy, I was a fan. All my life.

I looked up some history of the franchise. I found some on some interesting websites.

In 1965 Paul Brown and Ohio governor James Rhodes met with Cincinnati civic leaders about bringing a pro football team to the city. In 1966 Cincinnati city council set aside a 48 acre site that later would be used to construct a stadium that would house the Reds and a pro football team. With the promise of a new stadium Brown was awarded an AFL expansion team on September 27, 1967. Although many names were suggested the most popular being the Buckeyes, Brown rejected it to avoid confusion with Ohio State University and name the team the Bengals in honor of an earlier Cincinnati AFL football team of the late 30's and early 40's.

This was a recently published article that I thought was very well done:

Brown signed Stofa, the ex-Miami Dolphin, as the first Bengal on Dec. 27, 1967. Now the team needed a center. So Brown tapped Bob Johnson, an All-America from Tennessee, as his top draft pick on Jan. 30, 1968, and immediately installed him as the captain.

"I was the first guy drafted, so for an expansion team it was like I was one of the few guys that probably knew he was going to make the team," Johnson said. "You walked in and Coach Brown made me the captain, but you were the captain of sort of a strange, unusual collection of people.

"If you look back at that group, there were some good players, but as you would expect, there was no really good players in the prime of their career. They were either at the tail end or were viewed to be marginal."
Johnson played 12 seasons (1968-79), and his number — 54 — is the only one retired in club history.

Here is how the Bengals website has the history:

The Bengals arrive on Sept. 26, 1967 in a birth announcement at a packed house in the Sheraton Gibson Hotel as the newest member of the American Football League.

But the labor pains begin long before on the back porch of Paul Brown's home in exile in La Jolla, Calif., where one of his former Ohio State players, Bill Hackett, a London, Ohio veterinarian, urges him to be NFL commissioner when the job opens up again.

Brown tells Hackett what he really wants to do is own a team and the comments spark a Dec. 14, 1965 meeting of 125 Cincinnati businessmen listening to Brown make the irresistible pitch to bring an American Football League franchise to Cincinnati with local entrepreneur John Sawyer as a critical go-between.

The city and the sport are meeting in just that right intersection of opportunity and luck. Professional football is about to explode on the American scene and overtake baseball as the national pasttime, and even though Brown has been out of the game more than two years he remains one of its most recognizable faces and names.

Mike Brown, Paul's son and a Cleveland attorney, has surveyed potential cities for pro football expansion and recommends Cincinnati because of its market size and his father's Ohio ties.

The road is arduous. There must be a stadium built and there must be an accommodation with baseball's Reds, one of the country's most treasured civic prizes.

Plus, amid the NFL and AFL's trench warfare, there are peace talks about a merger, and Brown's group has to negotiate through the political minefields of not one, but two leagues.

They have help.
Ohio governor James Rhodes takes a break this night from the introductory news conference outside the hotel and recalls how he made "22 trips outside of Ohio just on this." NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, who owes his position in some measure to the day in 1960 Brown turned down the job, is a key ally. Cincinnati city officials like mayor Gene Ruehlmann roll up their sleeves in brokering a deal with the Reds and Bengals for one multipurpose stadium on the riverfront.

"When I assured (Rhodes) that I was serious enough to invest a sizable amount of my own money, he began setting up a series of meetings that really started the franchise on its way," Brown later writes in his autobiography with Jack Clary.

"It wasn't too long before I was commuting often between California and Cincinnati in 1966, meeting prospective members of our ownership group and working on the details that attach themselves to such a massive venture. When I wasn't in Ohio, I was being awakened nearly every morning in La Jolla by Bill Hackett's phone calls giving me the latest news."

But it is the sheer force of Brown's personality and accomplishments that drive it. A legendary high school coach in Massillon, Ohio. Coach of a national champion at Ohio State. One of the founders and coach of a Cleveland Browns franchise that became the NFL's first dynasty.

Since Brown's firing at the end of the 1962 season by Browns owner Art Modell, all eyes have been on his return to pro football and five years later the microphones and cameras find him in Cincinnati as owner, general manager and, everyone assumes, head coach.

"This is like coming home," Brown says, barely a month removed from his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. "I'm living again. It's a happy day for me and I hope it turns out to be a happy day for Cincinnati and its environs."

There are plenty of details still dangling.
Two of the sites mentioned as possible venues for the two seasons before the stadium is finished are the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium and the Reds' Crosley Field.

And there is the matter of a name, although no doubt the name of Cincinnati's pro team in the late '30s, the Bengals, will resonate with Brown.

Even the coaching job has yet to be hammered down definitely. Brown, who'll turn 60 the day after his team's first game in September of 1968, admits he'll probably coach at least that first season and "take the bumps."
But two things are certain.

Cincinnati is a two-sport town on the pro scene and Paul Brown is back.

"I'm breathing again," he says on a September night the Bengals take their first breath.

Griffey Is Between Frank Robinson and McGwire: That's About Right

Ken Griffey Jr. is now in-between Frank Robinson and Mark McGwire in terms of career home runs. Frank Robinson is ahead of him with 586 dingers, while Junior has 584, and McGwire finished with 583.

Looking at the careers of these three, it is amazing to me how many big seasons McGwire had bunched into his relatively shorter career. It's like he was really primed for fewer seasons. This compares with Griffey, who had more seasons that were the best in the league (though not 70 and 65 homer seasons).

Finally, it is really instructive to see Frank Robinson's career. Wow. The length, the productivity, the fact that he was in the top 10 of his league in homers in 15 seasons, and that he hit over 39 homers only in his Triple Crown year of 1966.

With Junior going to pass Robinson ... maybe this week, this is a good time to sit back and really take stock of Frank Robinson's career. He certainly may be the most underappreciated great player of all time.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Terry Hoeppner: Great Man, Great Coach

Terry Hoeppner died Tuesday of complications from a brain tumor.

Months after Randy Walker, former Miami player and head football coach, died unexpectedly at a very young age, his assistant, Hoeppner, died at the age of 59.

Hoeppner was what you want a coach and a man to be. He was optimistic without being unrealistic and confident without being cocky. He knew how to handle the good times and more importantly the bad times. He was one of my favorite coaches of all time (as was Walker).

Like the time that Miami lost a very tough, very close game against Marshall at Marshall in the last seconds. Things got out of hand after the game. One Miami assistant coach was led off the field in handcuffs, while another basically trashed the visiting coaches booth. Hoeppner handled the situation with grace and humility. He apologized for the actions of the staff. And he said that Miami had had a streak of 70 straight years of acting with class that was broken, and that the'll just have to start another streak starting today.

As the coach of the mid-major Miami (my alma mater), he had a saying that he would meet anybody, any place, any time. The RedHawks were not afraid to play any team.

It of course helped to have Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback during the 13-1 season of 2003. But those teams were stacked with good players who played the game tough and right. It was Hoeppner who got those players and had them playing well.

Hep had the Hoosiers on the right track. They were going to be pretty good pretty soon. It may be a tough road to win consistently at Indiana. But they are on the right track.

OldCleat

Mr. Briggs Goes to Washington, Perhaps

Lance Briggs, Bears linebacker and all-around unhappy camper, and his agent what's his name are pushing a trade from the Bears to the Washingtons, according to Len Pasquarelli. What's his name and Washington's owner, Daniel Snyder, can agree to a contract, Lenny the P reports.

The thing that is disturbing in this whole scenario is the fact that the players through their association, the Player's Association, agreed to the whole franchise tag system that the NFL teams employ. But Briggs and what's are really just jobbing the system. Briggs said he would sit out the first 10 games and then play the six so that he gets credit for the whole year.

Washington will propose a swap of first-round draft picks in this year's draft -- the Redskins own the sixth overall selection and Chicago has the 31st choice -- in exchange for Briggs.

I don't think this is enough for Briggs. If I were Bears GM Jerry Angelo, I'd look around to see if there is a team or two that they could job the system right back. Unfortunately, the Bears I think have to protect themselves in this situation. So they have to be buyers for the right deal.

But the unhappiness of every player who is franchised (except for kickers) has to be addressed. Each player who gets slapped, so to speak, with the tag is upset.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Peter King Loves Pats Moves; OldCleat Does NOT

Peter King, in this week's SI, lovingly describes a New England Patriots offseason as one for the ages. "In New England, the rich don't just get richer. They get smarter," King coos. Well, I disagree. They have signed Adalius Thomas ... and that is their best offseason move so far.

I have no problem giving the Patriots credit when they've done the right thing. And they've done the right thing over and over and over again in their recent history. Most notably, they drafted Tom Brady in the sixth round of the draft in 2000.

This of course made up for the fact that they passed on Brady and instead drafted Adrian Klemm in the second round, J.R. Redmond in the third round, Greg Randall in the fourth round, the incomparable Dave Stachelski and Jeff Marriott in the fifth round, and Antwan Harris in the sixth round before Brady. I guess I'm saying that the Pats lucked into Tom Brady.

They were also lucky that Cleveland drafted the really incomparable SpergonWynn of S.W. Texas State and New Orleans drafted MarcBulger (actually, this was a pretty good pick) in the 2000 sixth round before the Pats tabbed Brady. So I guess I'm saying that Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli are good, very good, but not geniuses.

But this offseason I think has been a not great one for the Pats. The Thomas move was very good, because Belichick will be able to put him in situations to succeed. I will say one thing, however. While the Pats picked up Thomas, they lost Tully Banta-Cain. This may be a little thing. But it all adds up.

I thought the Pats were very smart in being able to get a first-round pick last year for Deion Branch. However, this offseason, they had to trade a second and a seventh for Wes Welker, who is not close to being as good a wide receiver, to replace Branch. They gave up too much for Wes Welker, and that also makes the Branch deal a little less wonderful.

As for their other starter at wideout, they signed Donte' Stallworth with a $12 million signing bonus for a contract worth $30 million over six years (how muchdid Branch want?). Stallworth's best season: 70 catches, 945 yards, 13.5 yards per catch, and 7 TDs. He's been in the league five years. The Saints and Eagles ain't losing sleep over losing him. Good signing?

Last year, King notes, the Pats had to suffer with Jabar Gaffney, Reche Caldwell and Troy Brown as their wideouts. I agree. But they are trying to fix their problem with Stallworth and Kelley Washington, who was a disappointment with the Bengals. Washington's best season was his second, with 31 receptions, 378 yards, 12.2 yards per catch, and 3 TDs. While his signing bonus was only $300,000, he has a $4 million bonus due in 2008. Bet he doesn't collect it. I've seen him play for four years in Cincinnati. He's not as good a player as he thinks he is. Washington sort of reminds me of David Terrell, without all the talent.

King says "2006 first-round pick Laurence Maroney [is] ready to become a 300-carry-a-season running back," though it appeared to me that Maroney was badly faded at the end of his rookie year. I believe the Pats had to cut Corey Dillon, though.

Been there. Dillon became unhappy in New England just like he did in Cincinnati. But King is happy with the Sammy Morris sign as an alternative. He can't be serious. I think Heath Evans is a better player than Sammy Morris. The Pats better keep looking for another back.

The Pats lost Daniel Graham at tight end, which is fine, because he wasn't their best tight end and wasn't worth $6 million a year. But then they signed a badly faded Kyle Brady for almost $3 million a year. Terrible signing. I remember Belichick almost jumping off a roof as Cleveland's head coach a hundred years ago because Kyle Brady was drafted right in front of his pick. He then traded the rights to J.J. Stokes in a huff, which turned out to be a pretty good call, though I thought it was a terrible decision at the time.

And finally, there's the Asante Samuel franchise tag for $7.79 million for one year. That's a tough one for me to decide on, because there are no good corners on the B-list. But a few years ago, the Pats would have let him walk and drafted a guy like, well, Asante Samuel in the fourth round and plugged him in.

King says: "New England's flurry of activity doesn't signify a shift in philosophy." Horsefeathers. I think the Thomas sign doesn't shift their philosophy, because they were willing to go after great, best-in-class, expensive, available players before, such as Dillon or Roosevelt Colvin. But when have they started overspending for guys like Stallworth? Or spending $5 million for the first two years of a mediocrity like Sammy Morris? Kelley Washington?

There is still time in the offseason to stick to what makes the Patriots the Patriots. The Pats haveplenty of time to pick up a couple of good players very cheap very late, a bargain like Edgerton Hartwell or Warrick Holdman, or even a LaVar Arrington at linebacker. They could get a Mike Doss at safety or a Kevan Barlow at running back at dime store prices, and that would be the Patriots I know and respect.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Pass Interference Rule Is Looked at By Mike Nolan

The pass interference rule in the NFL has been a source of frustration for years. Mike Nolan, the coach of the Niners and Dick Nolan's son, has stepped up and is being counted. He is asking the competition committee to let the officials have some say as to whether the pass interference call should be a spot foul or a 15-yard penalty.

I think that many of the pass interference calls really hurt the game. I have seen terrible calls getting 50 yards for the offense. I've seen two players go for the ball, and the offense getting an automatic first-and-goal from the one-yard line.

There are other penalties that need to be addressed. I think the 5-yard chuck rule being an automatic first down is a bad rule. There should be a minor roughing the passer rule that is a 5-yard and play over rule, and a major roughing the passer rule that is a 15-yard personal foul. I think the sideline rulings have become bad; many of these players are making football plays, and they get the 15 -yard penalties because the opposing player steps out of bounds nano-seconds before the action happens.

The NFL officials need some more flexibility on these plays.

Deon Grant Sees Safety in Numbers

Deon Grant is now the third-highest paid safety in the NFL, according to John Clayton of ESPN. Wow, that's a whole lotta dough for a mediocre safety. Grant is nowhere near a top safety in the NFL, nor does he have any sort of special skill that would warrent an $11 million signing bonus.

Teams are throwing their monies around. While I don't think it's as bad a signing as Leonard Davis, (who received more than $13 million in a signing bonus), Grant isn't that great of a player. And Davis at least has an appreciable skill of being a road grader that makes him somewhat attractive as a player. Grant isn't a huge sticker, and I've never heard anyone who has been wowed by his cover ability or speed.

Ed Reed makes more, but is much better. Best safety in the league. Roy Williams makes more, but is a much better tackler and a play-at-the-line sort of safety. Adam Archlata was signed for too much money last year, but at least he is really fast for a 215-pounder. Micheal Lewis was a pro bowler and a pretty great player.

ESPN has Grant listed as the second-best free agent saftey available, behind Ken Hamlin. I call that damning with faint praise. Of course, that says even less for the fellas that are behind these two, such as Terrence Kiel, Mike Doss, Robert Griffith, Kevin Kaesviharn, Shaun Williams, Terrence Holt, Todd Johnson, Troy Vincent, Tyrone Carter, or Tony Parrish. But I would say that all of those safeties offer something that Grant doesn't, one way or the other. (I say that even though Kevin Kaesviharn has driven me to drink several times in the last several years.) Most are better run supporters, some are better coverage guys, and a few are younger.

Grant's an OK player, not the third best safety in the league. You have to play the salary cap game correctly in the NFL, and this isn't a signing that will do that. What happened to the idea a few years ago that Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick were geniuses for not signing mediocre to good players for huge salaries?

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Cleveland Rocks the Offseason

Say what you want, but to me, it looks like Cleveland is having a helluva offseason. The Browns struck early, bagging Eric Steinbach. Did they overpay? Maybe. But at least they paid for a young, athletic offensive lineman who can swing to tackle (even left tackle) if they need him to. He has the most upside of all the offensive lineman in free agency this year.

Then, they added Jamal Lewis. With the uncertain status of Reuben Droughns, Lewis was a fantastic pickup. He will pound between the tackles. This makes Charlie Frye or Derek Anderson better, makes Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow (who is a warrior!!!) more dangerous. Maybe Lewis won't take it to the house 70 yards away anymore, but he will pound you. I hear that they may cut Droughns. That may not be a bad move, salary cap wise. But if he is on the Browns, that's just ensuring that you have a couple of pounders.

On defense, the Browns signed Kenny Wright, a mediocre corner in a mediocre class, and Antwan Peek. Peek didn't pan out for the Texans as an outside linebacker in the 3-4, but maybe he will for the Browns. Maybe not, but if you run the 3-4, you can never have too many options. Mike Vrabel didn't pan out for the Steelers as a backer in the 3-4, and he's had a pretty good run in New England. Wright, well, what the hey, there aren't too many other options.

What did the Browns lose? Dennis Northcutt. No biggie.

Cleveland hasn't made the moves that Denver has, but the Brownies have improved.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Paydirt: Might as well jump

Might as well JUMP. There is a nice list of juniors who are jumping to the NFL on the offensive side of the ball. Dwayne Jarrett and Adrian Peterson join that list. Jarrett sure looked good against Michigan. I would be a little leery of him, however. He just looks skinny to me. But I love Adrian Peterson. He certainly is a guy I would take a chance on. He could be a franchise-making running back.

Walk on by. Darius Walker, the Notre Dame tailback who could have used a few more carries against LSU, saw that Adrian Peterson of Oklahoma was going to go pro, so he immediately announced that he, too, was going to skip his senior season and go pro. Actually, I don't quite know what Walker is thinking. Walker is listed at 5-10, 208. He doesn't look 208 to me. He looks smaller. I imagine he will be a second-day pick, maybe a fifth or sixth rounder like Walli Lundy, who was picked fairly low out of Virginia. Lundy had a nice rookie season. To me, Marshawn Lynch of Cal seems to be the better breakaway back.

Conversation. "Roger?" "Yes?" "Roger, it's Paul." "Paul, how are you?" "Fine, Roger, fine. Now listen, Roger. My jacket size is 46, 2XL. Now my tailor is coming over to fit up the sleeves and take in at the waist. I have such a hard time being fitted for jackets." "Well, yes sir. That'll be fine." "And Roger, I'm going to have my fabric gal come over and discuss options for the gold. You know, Old Pete picked those out, and they are just garish. You know I told him many times that Chan didn't like them and that we should change them." "Yes sir." "Now, Roger, instead of that chintzy stuff, I'm going to get a nice breathable wool, and my gal ... I don't recall her name..." "It's Mitzy, sir." "Oh yes, Mitzy, is going to tone down that gold." "Is that all sir?" "Well, that's it for now. Give my best to Jane. I've called over at Michael's, and now they should be able to get you in next Tuesday." "Thank you Paul. Goodbye."

Paydirt: Famers.

Famers. Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn Sr. were elected to the baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. Ripken is No. 3 in voting percentage all time, with 98.53 percent of the votes cast for him. He beat out Ty Cobb, George Brett, and Hank Aaron. I can see Brett, maybe. That a higher percentage of voters voted for him than Aaron is ludicrous. I like Ripken, but ... . Tony Gwynn received 97.61 percent of the vote, higher than Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench, Steve Carlton, BABE RUTH, and Honus Wagner. That is insane. Sorry, Tony, but that is just wrong.

Flex time. Mark McGwire received 23.5 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The minimum needed was 75 percent of the vote. Many didn't vote for him because they think he might have taken steroids. Many argue that the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" applies in a court of law, but this ain't a court of law. That is probably true. However, when sitting in judgement of someone, you need to have some sort of due process, and McGwire's Congressional testimony doesn't cut it for me as far as due process. And certainly Jose Canseco's book means nothing to me. McGwire was a 12-time All-Star, he is 13th all-time in on-base plus slugging percentage, 10th all-time in slugging percentage, and is No. 1 all-time in home runs per at-bat. I think he is a Hall of Famer, and I think he belongs in Cooperstown.

My name is Jose. What about Canseco? He received six votes for the Hall of Fame, and he is no longer eligible for elections by the BBWAA. He was a six-time All-Star. He was in the top five in slugging in his league five times, and he won an MVP award. He may not be a Hall of Famer, but he was worth more than six votes.

E. One of my top 10 favorite players of all time, Eric Davis, received just three votes (half as many as Canseco!?!) and is also no longer eligible. Davis won three Gold Gloves, two Silver Slugger awards ... and that's about it. But he was about as five-tool as you can come. Unfortunately for him, that sixth tool, namely staying healthy, wasn't in his arsenal.

Goose, Rice, Andre, Bert. Goose Gossage, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, and Bert Blyleven are the next four on the list that still have not gotten in. I hope that they do next year. They all deserve to.

Good Broncos. I think that Florida deserved the No. ranking in college football this year. I think the Broncos of Boise State should have been No. 2. They didn't play for the National Championship, so the team that wins that game deserves it. But they won their BCS bowl, and every other game that they played this year.

Bad Broncos. Not to single out Mike Shanahan, but he is responsible for firing Larry Coyer, the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos. They has the best defense in the NFL after five games, and finished the season 14th overall. If you're a half-empty guy, that means you slipped 13 places in 11 games. If you're a half-full guy, it means that your defensive was top-half of the league, even though your offense wasn't holding on to the ball as much as it had been earlier. But it seems that NFL head coaches are throwing over their coordinators (and other assorted assistant coaches) much more than they had 15 or 20 years ago.

Paydirt: Whoops, I think the Gators just scored again.

Whoops, I think the Gators just scored again. Watchingthe BCS Championship Game last night, I was struck by how similar it was to the 1996 Fiesta Bowl game that Nebraska beat Florida 62-24. In that game, Florida kept using five-wide formations all night (before that was a totally accepted concept). The problem was, Nebraska's defense was so much faster than Florida's O-line that they beat the living bejesus out of DannyWuerffel. Florida's passing offense didn't produce first downs and points. Last night, Ohio State didn't adjust during the game. Florida's defensive ends specifically and D-line generally were beating OSU's O-line soundly. At some point, you need to keep more blockers in.

In the zone. At some point, if you are getting whupped by a team that is throwing bubble screen and four-yard passes time and time again, you need to get out of your zone and start manning up with some deep safety help. Yet the Buckeyes let Florida just carve 'em up.

Chris Leak. All the things thatI've now read about this kid, and, yes, I compared him to Troy Smith unfavorably ... for all that, this kid is classy. He came to Florida with huge fanfare, and he left the all-time leading passer and National Champion. Enjoy this time, Chris. You earned it probably more than most.

Ginn up the works. Boy, is Ted Ginn fast.

Zooker. If I were an Illinois fan, and I admit that I am a Ron Zook fan, I would be giddy right now. Zook knows how to recruit. I actually think he knows how to coach as well. And when it comes down to it, there isn't really much more than those two factors. I think the Illini future looks pretty good.

Paydirt

You can call me Bobby. Atlanta hired Bobby Petrino. I liked Jim Mora better, and I think that the Falcons should have stuck with him. But Petrino has some NFL coaching experience as a quarterbacks coach and an offensive coodinator. John L. Smith built the Louisville program, and Petrino took it over and advanced it a little bit. (Just a thought, but maybe Smith will come back to Louisville. I think he is fun to watch.) But the NFL is another kettle of meat. (from Bob Dylan's "Quinn the Mighty Eskimo": "Ain't my cup of meat".) More coaching changes. I think that this move helps the Steelers. Strike another team off of the Wisenhunt-Grimm bandwagon. Arizona, Miami, Oakland, and Pittsburgh are still looking. Here are some of the rumors. Norm Chow, former USC and BYU offensive coordinator and current Tennessee Titan offensive coordinator, to Arizona to coach Matt Leinart. The Dolphins are going to go all out after Pete Carroll, USC's head coach. If I were the decision maker in Pittsburgh, I would go for Russ Grimm. I also may try to start a Mike Ditka rumor to Pittsburgh. That could be fun. Oakland? Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, Buddy Ryan's kid, would seem to be the front-runner. He's a Raider now. The players like him. His defense played very well. God help 'em if they pick John Shoop. I also could see them going to Ken Wisenhunt, the Steelers offensive coordinator. I would love to see Mike Singletary be a head coach somewhere. But I don't think Oakland would be the place. Tom Coughlin will be back with the Giants if the Giants can't convince Charley Weis or Bill Parcells to come coach in New York. Tony the Slip. Shut up already about the shiny, slippery football. Tony Romo just didn't handle it. Reminds all of the Brad St. Louis-Kyle Larson botched snap that killed the Bengals' playoff chances. Here's a thought: have a wide receiver do the holding. A wideout should have better hands than a backup quarterback, not to mention a punter. WRs should beway more athletic when the snap is no good. The added arm strength a QB should be offset by the speed and the fact that a wide receiver wouldn't really need tothrow a deep out on a botched extra point or even a botched field goal. Rex Kern lives. Ohio State will win the National Championship game tonight 30-14 over Florida. You say it's your birthday? Happy birthday, King. Seventy-two, if my counting is right. My friend, Hot Doug, who owns a hot dog stand, has the Dr. George Nichopoulos as his special sausage today. The game sausage of the week? Gator. Go Buckeyes.

Paydirt

Cowher power. Bill Cowher more than anything did the nearly impossible, namely, replace a Hall of Fame coach like Chuck Noll, and have a Hall of Fame career right after. Off the top of my head: Tommy Lasorda for the Dodgers, Bill Russell (maybe?) for the Celtics and Tom Osborne at Nebraska maybe sorta equal what Cowher did. I'll have to do some more research on that. Shell game. Poor darned Art Shell. I feel I doomed him bysaying it was the best coaching hire of the year. But, more, I feel bad for him because I think he deserved another shot at an NFL head coaching job for years, and when he finally got it, he really laid an egg. You can win anywhere in the NFL, but that Raiders job would be the worst place to be a head coach in the league right now, if you ask me. Secret Leak. Chris Leak was the No. 1 player out of high school as a senior four years ago. Quarterback. Signed famously for Florida. Is Florida's all-time passing yardage leader. Starter as a freshman. Won the SEC title several times. Is playing for a National Championship Monday night. Andthe biggest name in the game? Troy Smith. Smith wins the Heisman. Smith will probably be a first-day pick in the NFL draft, maybe a first-rounder. I'll be interested to see if Leak is drafted, and if he is, where. [Todd McShay of ESPN has Chris Leak as the No. 7 QB in the draft, after Kevin Kolb of Houston. He also said that Leak merits some consideration as a second-day prospect.] And Smith wasn't not only not heralded coming out of high school, he wasn't the starter his sophomore year. It was Justin Zwick, also a sophomore and the big-name high school recruit QB for the Buckeyes. Remeber that when you hear about such-and-such a school winning the recruiting wars in football.

Paydirt

Oops, I think LSU just scored again. The Tigers did anumber on the Irish in the Sugar Bowl. Be interesting to see how JaMarcus Russell is perceived by the NFL, or at least fans. He has a real nice arm and is huge. He doesn't seem to be real close to NFL-ready, but he can chuck. Quinn the Mighty Raider? If there is a team that needs a quarterback that would pass on Brady Quinn to get a player like Russell, I'm guessing that team would be the Raiders. Pennington over Brees. I said that I would take Chad Pennington over Drew Brees in terms of injured QBs coming back (I also picked Art Shell as a great coaching hire and Eric Mangini as a bad one). The AP agreed, giving Pennington the Comeback Player of the Year Award over Brees. The only problem is ... I don't agree with it. I think Brees deserved the award, albeit slightly. Barren desert. I don'tagree with those who say that the Arizona job is terrible and noone should take it. They were saying that about the Cincinnati job before Marvin Lewis.There were those who were saying that Marvin should have turned the job down and waited for another one, a better one. You can win in the NFL anywhere, despite any sort of team history. Just because Denny Green was fired in Arizona, and they haven't had a playoff game since Jake the Snake was their QB, doesn't mean you can't win there.

Paydirt

Good luck, Nick: The Alabama job ain't the Michigan State job or even the LSU job. The list of coaches forced out or fired: Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, and Mike Shula. Two GMs do great job. The two GMs of the two best NFL teams this season are due some credit after their respective bashings earlier in their careers. A.J. Smith has received some credit for the Chargers, but, really, it is Marty Schottenheimer who receives most of the credit. And in Chicago, Jerry Angelo should be hailed. But, instead, the question is whether to pull Rex Grossman after a few bad passes in the playoffs. Michigan CB has some woes. Leon Hall was a Jim Thorpe candidate in '06, but I think his Rose Bowl might have cost him a little money. He was beat and beat bad on the Dwayne Jarrett long TD. Now, there were plenty of breakdowns in the Wolverine secondary, but I'm just sayin'. The kid is No. 3 on Mel's Big Board. ... Go where you're drafted: Heard Greeney on Mike squared this morning say that Brady Quinn should pull an Eli and try to get out of the Raiders' clutches in the '07 draft. Couldn't disagree with him more. You just don't know how things turn out. Teams change all the time. Pats top pick. OK: Here is the Super Bowl 41 (XLI) prediction: New England gets revenge for Super Bowl No. 20 by beating the Bears. Go ... Run ... Fly to Vegas and put all your money on every team other than the Pats and Bears. thankyouverymuch. OldCleat

Know Your Super Bowl MVPs, No. 4

Know your Super Bowl MVPs. This former Super Bowl MVP is the second Super Bowl MVP from Junípero Serra High School, the same high school that produced Barry Bonds. He is a quarterback who has been named Super Bowl MVP more than once.

Barely Representative Jack Kingston Ain't No Ripken

I always used to smile when they described Cal Ripken Jr. as the "Iron Man." Now, don't get me wrong, his onsecutive game streak was impressive. But, hey, he worked from February to October, maybe November if he was lucky. The earliest salary I got for him was in 1985, when he made $800,000 for eight months work, which might make it easier to get up in the morning.

He is going to the Hall of Fame. He was a great player.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/ripkeca01.shtml

But the Iron Men (metaphorically, just sounds better than "Iron People") that I think of are the guys and gals who work 50 weeks a year, five or six days a week, laying pipe, or even in an office, or out on the road, or in a police station or a firehouse. And they ain't making $800,000. And then there are those men andwomen who had to leave their families behind to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan.

And then there are the folks in Washington who sent them there.

House majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is makingthe members of the House of Representatives work a five-day week. Five whole days a week. The response?

Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), says "Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families, that's what this says."

Time away from Washington is just as important tobeing an effective member
of Congress as time spent in the Capitol, said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga.
"When I'm here, people call me Mr. Congressman. When I'm home, people call
me 'Jack you stupid SOB why did you vote that way?' It keeps me
grounded."

Really? You had me at "stupid SOB." How about all those folks you and your friends sent to Iraq? Was that an "anti-family" action?

This isn't new for representative Kingston. Accordingto the Chicago Sun Times, in 1998 Kingston said, "You can't be in Washington five days a week and service your district. I'm just enough of a populist to believe that the real action is on the streets of America and not in Washington."

Here is an editorial from the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601780.html

The 109th Congress will have been in session for agrand total of 103 days
this year, which, as Lyndsey Layton pointed out in yesterday's Post, is seven
days fewer than the "Do-Nothing Congress" of 1948. Anordinary full-time worker
with a generous four weeks of vacation would have clocked 240 days of work
duringthat same period.

... they need time to campaign and to grub for campaign cash. But it's
undeniable that the time lawmakers spend in the capital, actually legislating,
has been on a downward path for the past few decades. According to the American
Enterprise Institute's Norman Ornstein, the average number of days in session
for a two-year Congress has dropped from 323 in the 1960s and '70s to just 250
during the first six yearsof the Bush presidency.

Eats away at families? Gee, Mr. Kingston, they could move here. And, we
wonder: Where, exactly, did you think the Capitol was when you ran for this
job?

Know Your Super Bowl MVPs, No. 3

Know your Super Bowl MVPs. This Super Bowl MVP led his college football team to back-to-back Grantland Rice Bowls. He was named the MVP of the Grantland Rice Bowl as a junior when his college team beat Akron, 33-13. In this Super Bowl MVP's senior year, the Rice Bowl was a different story, as his squad lost to East Tennessee State, 34-14. This quarterback was sacked 12 times in that game. The quarterback for East Tennessee that game was named Larry Graham. Who is this Super Bowl MVP?

Some Slug(ger)s Rank Louisville No. 4

This is ridiculous. Louisville is undefeated, and somehow, in the USA Today poll, they are ranked No. 4 in the nation, behind one-loss Texas.

Now, I understand that Texas' only loss was to Ohio State, and that they should be rewarded for playing a team like that. I have litte problem with them being a top-five one-loss school. But Louisville just beat the No. 3 team in the nation, formerly undefeated West Virginia! And they are undefeated. And they beat Miami (OK, not a great accomplishment, but, who knew?)

Who cares what the Cardinals do Thursday night? (As my good friend, Doug Sohn, says ... "On any given Thursday night ... ") The Cards play the Knights of Rutgers, another undefeated team. (Greg Schiano for Governor of New Jersey!!! ... or maybe mayor of Miami, Florida, if you know what I mean.)

And why is Rutgers No. 14 in the nation, behind two-loss LSU? Sure, an SEC schedule is brutal, but Rutgers beat everyone they've played.

Ahhh, the joys of the polls.

thankyouverymuch,
OldCleat

Know Your Super Bowl MVPs No. 2

Know your Super Bowl MVPs. This is the second question. This Super Bowl MVP was a 12th-round draft pick out of Texas Christian University. He was one of the first Super Bowl MVPs to use his breakout game to score a big contract the following year. He was a Cowboy.

Know Your Super Bowl MVPs

Know your Super Bowl MVPs. This Super Bowl MVP broke Chuck Foreman's school rushing records in college at the University of Miami. He went on to become the first rookie running back in NFL history to average more than 100 yards a game rushing over the course of an NFL season. Who is this Super Bowl MVP?

Sean Casey for ... for ... for MAYOR

Sean Casey is a cool guy. Sean Casey is a great ballplayer.

Sean Casey is sssssslllllloooooowwww.

But, what the hey. Love the Mayor.

Tim Sullivan describes Casey as "baseball's best Samaritan, a genuine, honest-to-goodness, real-life George Bailey, only with much better bat speed. " I just think that George Bailey would beat Case in a foot race. While carrying all the kids.

This from the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "On the slow side: Leyland occasionally jokes about Casey's lack of speed. Yesterday, Leyland said: "My steal sign for Casey is when I jump up in the air and don't come down. When that happens, he can run." Casey, a 9-year veteran from the University of Richmond, has 15 career steals, peaking with four in 2003." -- John Markon

Sullivan also writes: "Long before he attained All-Star status, Casey was so friendly to fans of the Cape Cod League that Brewster (Mass.) manager Mike Kirby was moved to remind him that he was a ballplayer and not the mayor. Casey has been known as “The Mayor” ever since. "

Anyway, I love the Mayor, and I'm glad to see him get a shot at the postseason.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat