Friday, May 15, 2009

The Best Quarterback Who Ever Lived...

It's not even close to college football season yet and the analysts are already gushing over how wonderful Tim Tebow is. I'm embarrassed for them. Sam Bradford is a better quarterback, he just didn't have the better coach when it mattered in the national championship game. But neither of them will be playing in that game next year in my opinion. Early picks are Alabama and Texas.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Notre Dame, President Obama and the Anti-Choice Debacle

Notre Dame….the school that gave us Knute Rockne, the Four Horseman, “Win one for the Gipper”, one of the greatest sports movies of all time in Rudy, Touchdown Jesus, “Onward to Victory” and Play Like a Champion Today. That is what people should think of when they talk about Notre Dame, not the limited group of people who wish to push their small-minded opinions on the rest of the Notre Dame community. As an alumna I am personally offended by what ND Response is doing and want to make it clear that their opinion does not reflect that of Notre Dame or its alumni. This group has been brainwashed by the anti-choice movement and perhaps the church, not Notre Dame. That type of brainwashing is what puts women in burkas and beats them when they leave home without a male relative. They are all arbitrary rules used to control people and suppress women.


Although raised Catholic, I do not agree with the Catholic Church. And yet I attended Notre Dame and had the most amazing four years of my life. Religion on campus was based on spirituality rather than a corporate driven monster pretending to be God. As someone who personally had been boycotting church since 8th grade, I actually found that attending the dorm masses every so often was actually a cool way to hang out, sing and bond with my friends. Religion at Notre Dame never held the same meaning for me as religion in the church, the one that makes a living selling superstitions to those looking for some sense of control in a confusing and sometimes seemingly arbitrary world. But what I am witnessing in this anti-choice disgrace makes me embarrassed. As a school that opened up so many doors for me and gave me so many choices on what I could do with my career and my life, I’m shocked to see the way a small group of people there want to remove choice. Pro-choice…this is your problem with the world? This is what is wrong with society? Open your eyes, leave campus and travel around South Bend, look at the injustices in society and look at the wrong doings in the world. Your ignorance astounds me. Why don’t you protest something that actually hurts people rather than choice, which allows people to healthily and productively live their lives? Furthermore, shall we assume that every single one of you as well as every single person who has given a commencement speech does not swear, has never lied, has never had premarital sex, has never used contraception and most importantly has never judged thy neighbor?


I didn’t vote for President Obama as I think he’s a socialist. However, I join most of the Notre Dame community in being honored to have him give the commencement speech. Regardless of my political beliefs I respect what he’s accomplished and what he symbolizes. And I'm impressed by Notre Dame's decision to recognize him and expand the Notre Dame community.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

NFL Draft Grades (Teams A-K)

Arizona. (A) With their first two picks, the Cardinals addressed their two biggest needs. First, they chose running back Beanie Wells in hopes that he can help improve the worst rushing game in the entire NFL. When healthy, Wells is an absolute game changer. Next order of business was outside linebacker and they selected Cody Brown, who played defensive end at Connecticut but has the skills to play OLB in the 3-4. I like the OG out of Cincinnati, Trevor Canfield. While he blocked for a Bearcats’ offense that might have taken a step back in 2008, their 2007 numbers were pretty impressive. I also think Arizona found excellent value in Herman Johnson. But the best value of all was selecting Safety Rashad Johnson at the end of the third round. Alabama’s defense looked solid almost all year (see eg., Utah game) and the first-team All-American had a lot to do with that.

Baltimore. (C+). With 34 wide receivers selected, I’m surprised that Baltimore wasn’t a recipient of a single one of them with Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton as their only real options. But this draft seemed to be more about value than need for the Ravens. I do agree with the Michael Oher selection as he’s one of my favorite players in the draft. When interviewed about waiting to be drafted until 23rd he explained that he didn’t care if he was drafted in the 7th round—he’s just happy to be a part of the NFL. I also think Cedric Peerman was a good value. He was leading Virginia in rushing before he went down with an injury in 2007, although that didn’t seem to impact the teams standing in terms of rushing. There are other running backs I would have liked here, including Marlon Lucky.

Buffalo. (B+). Buffalo’s number one area of concern was at DE/OLB and they put their faith in yet another Nittany Lion to fill that role. For a team that got to the quarterback just 24 times last year, Maybin’s 12 sacks had to be appealing. With Jason Peters out of the line-up this year and a questionable quarterback, I liked the choice of Center Eric Wood out of Louisville as a solid pass-protection investment. With their 3rd Day one selection Buffalo took CB Jairus Byrd out of Oregon. Turnover differential was an area of concern for Buffalo in 2007 and a good place to start is becoming more opportunistic. Byrd’s 5 INTs, 14 deflections, 1 forced fumble and 83 total tackles at Oregon last year are a testament to his ability to find the ball. They may have jumped a bit for Andy Levitre but he was the top rated Guard in the draft and again, addressing the offensive line was a smart move by the Bills since that unit was definitely on the decline in 2008.

Carolina. (B). This draft was all about value. DE Everette Brown was a great value with the 43rd overall pick. The Panthers have a decent defense, but it would be nice if they had a pass rusher other than Julius Peppers. And RB Mike Goodson was also a good value. I just found it surprising that a team whos’ rushing game was impressive in 2007 (3rd in rushing, 1st in rushing TDs) and who’s biggest offensive weakness was it’s passing game would chose to focus on the running game with their 4th round picks in Goodson and FB Tony Fiammetta. Again, Fiammetta was a great value at that pick. And I think Goodson is going to be a great NFL player. His stock dropped substantially in 2008 due to the debacle that’s called Mike Shearman. I would’ve liked to see the Panthers pick up a back-up QB in there, but I can’t fault them when they executed a strategy well just because I don’t agree with it.

Chicago. (B+/A-). The Bears did their heavy duty work in the off-season with the acquisition of Jay Cutler. And when it came to the draft they shifted focus to wide receiver and defense. With the 99th pick they took receiver Juaquin Iglesias from Oklahoma—a choice I happen to love and with the 140th pick they selected Johnny Know. Other than that they picked up 5 defensive players including Henry Melton, Jarron Gilbert and DJ Moore.

Cincinnati. (B). Supposedly Andre Smith and Rey Maualuga could have gone even higher based on their skill levels, but it just turns out some teams aren’t in love with their personalities. That is exactly what makes them a great fit on the Bengals. All they have to do is not be arrested down in Cincy to be considered a success. With that said, I do believe the Bengals got several amazing players. In addition to the first two, they were also lucky to get DE Michael Johnson (Georgia Tech) and TE Chase Coffman (Missouri) in the third round. Coffman was very productive in the spread offense and showed that he has tremendous value as a receiver (he better be in a receiver role as his blocking leaves a lot to be desired). And C Jonathan Luigs was part of an Arkansas offensive line that paved the way for running backs like Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Michael Smith over the years. (Just don’t pay attention to where the Razorbacks ranked last year in rushing though).

Cleveland. (A/B). Cleveland also must be given credit for sticking to their plan. It seems like the Browns have been battling issues with their skill players for years now between William Green and his drug problems (not to mention getting stabbed by his girlfriend), Kellen Winslow and his undisclosed illness leading to one of my favorite rumors of all time (what do you expect from a player who only cares about “this U”) and Braylon Edwards and his ball-dropping-get-me-out-of-Cleveland Diva-tude. So this year the focus was on solid, reliable, non-issue guys. And despite the level of skill the issue-guys bring to the table (see eg. above, Cincinnati), I must admit, I love a few of these picks, including Brian Robiskie, Mohamed Massaquoi and James Davis. Now for those out there who don’t actually watch the games, much like the voters who decide our champions year after year, if you were to simply look at Robiskie’s numbers you might not be impressed. However, this guy is clutch and came up with amazing catches for Terrelle Pryor, especially in the Fiesta Bowl against Texas. As for Massaquoi, despite the fact that he is blamed for having the same issue as Edwards (ball dropping), I personally think his issue was more of Matt Stafford trying to do too much. He also is an excellent tackler when circumstances have required such skills and coming to an offense that ranked 29th in interceptions last year, he’ll unfortunately have the opportunity to show it. I like Davis because he is a great runner with more than a handful of excuses as to why Clemson wasn’t successful in 2008. Finally, supposedly the Browns are really high on Alex Mack and I’m taking their word for it.

Dallas. (C-). I think this draft was all about quantity not quality. No one really stands out. Furthermore, three of Dallas’s biggest needs entering the draft were receiver, safety and corner back and I hardly feel that those needs were adequately addressed.

Denver. (D). This team added three running backs in free agency and then proceeded to draft Knowshon Moreno with their first pick. Make up your mind. And then after losing Jay Cutler, they waited until the 174th pick to take a quarterback--Tom Brandstater. I can’t figure out what this team is focused on. They didn’t adequately address possibly their two biggest concerns (NT, OLB) and I don’t think they got value in DE Robert Ayers (Tennessee) or DB Alphonso Smith (Wake Forest). They are both good players, but they went exactly where they should have gone, if not higher.

Detroit. (C-). They waited until the 7th round to draft an offensive lineman?? Matthew Stafford, may you rest in peace.

Green Bay Packers. (B). I would have raised the grade higher if they would have chosen at least one skill player I believed in, but they chose just one and it was RB Quinn Johnson out of LSU. I think B.J. Raji at 9 and Clay Matthews at 26 are both solid picks that will substantially impact their defense. And that’s good, because their defense was pretty awful in 2008. They need improvement in just about every category. As for their offense, their line had issues staying healthy and together in 2008 so the Packers took OT’s T.J. Lang and Jamon Meredith just in case that happens again.

Houston. (B-). With the 15th pick it was smart to pick up Brian Cushing, the next best OLB in a draft where OLB was one of the biggest primary needs going into the selection process. Plus their projected OLB’s for 2009 are Zac Diles and Xavier Adibi who combined for one sack, one interception and one forced fumble in 2008. Their second pick, Connor Barwin, is a versatile defensive end out of Cincinnati. Houston also drafted two players at tight end, a position I wasn’t aware they were is such dire need to fill.

Indianapolis. (B-). The Colts had the second worst rushing offense in the league last year. This year they lost essentially half of their 2008 production on the ground with Dominic Rhodes’ move to Buffalo. So the decision to take RB Donald Brown with the 27th pick was definitely a wise one. Despite the lack of a passing offense to detract his attackers, Brown impressively led the nation in rushing and helped UConn to an 8-5 finish. And even though Indianapolis didn’t focus on receiver after the loss of Marvin Harrison, it’s not exactly a pressing need considering Harrison was just 4th on the team in receiving yards in 2008. Instead they waited until the 4th round and took the 19th wide receiver selected in the draft. What surprised me, however, was that they didn’t take a single LB. This unit failed to register a single sack or interception in 2008. They added Adam Seward from the Panthers in the off-season, but I guess the new regime doesn’t agree with the middle round LB theory of the old one.

Jacksonvlle. (C-). Whether it was their biggest need or not, Jacksonville acquired two top five offensive tackles. They eventually addressed their receiver issue (you have to have sympathy for a team whose leading receiver was Matt Jones last year) in the fourth and fifth rounds and right now have 6 rookie wide out on their roster so it’s not like they didn’t realize it was a problem. The Jaquars biggest defensive issue last year was the passing game, yet they chose a defensive tackle who probably won’t ever be a great pass rusher. I like the players they selected; I just don’t necessarily like them for this team.

Kansas City. (B+). They bought into the hype and took Tyson Jackson with the 3rd overall pick. A slight jump there, but with the way Jackson’s stock continued to rise during the weeks preceding the draft, I’m not surprised. I think DT Alex Magee out of Purdue is a great athlete and a great pick. CB Donald Washington out of Ohio State has some weaknesses which is why he went in the 4th round, but it’s nothing that can’t be improved (i.e., footwork, lack of physicality and baggage).