Finally!!!

After a 6+ month layoff, we have decided to wander back to the keyboard, and start banging out useless crap nobody reads. We are just over a week away from the merciful end of the football season, and we absolutely can't wait for it to be over. As with most folks who grew up in the hotbed of college football that is the southeastern United States, we love us some football, but, by the end of college football and the NFL playoffs, we feel like a kid at the end of the school year: exhausted and ready for a vacation. Such are the consequences of living and dying with your teams. So, we eagerly anticipate the ending of the football season, and the rejuvenation that comes along with March Madness, MLB, golf, and even tennis. After all, it won't be that long before training camp starts and it's time for fantasy drafts. Enjoy the respite people, it doesn't last long.

A little visual evidence that backs up that whole tennis thing.

NFL Draft Special Part 1

The top ten picks are in and we are beside ourselves in disbelief. What follows is our analysis of the top ten picks. We had a funny feeling after the first three picks, but nobody was prepared for the bombshell at nine.

• Jamarcus Russell, LSU
  Oakland Raiders. This makes sense and it was expected, so we won't spend too much time on it. Big guy, big arm, fits the Raider mentality. Maybe Randy Moss wil be happier with him throuwing the ball.
  
• Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech
  Detroit Lions. While this may have raised some eyebrows a month ago, this became a virtual lock earlier in the week. It remains to be seen whether the Lions will try to package him and trade with another team or not. If they can't, then they still end up with the consensus best player in the draft.
  
• Joe Thomas, Wisconsin
  Cleveland Browns. A mild surprise that would foretell more and bigger surprises in the top ten. Even though Thomas is a solid player, we're not sure that he was the best value at three. Brady Quinn would have been an ideal pick here, but Cleveland decided to go in another direction for some reason. Poor Brady. More on him later.
  
• Gaines Adams, Clemson
  Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Expected to be off the board early, we're surprised that he lasted all the way to four, and even more surprised that he was taken by Tampa. This slot was generally thought to be where Calvin Johnson would go if he was still available, and if not, then Brady Quinn. The freefall continues for Quinn.
  
• Levi Brown, Penn State
  Arizona Cardinals. Considered by some to be the top rated offensive lineman in the draft, we are a little gun shy about players from Penn State. Too many busts out of there in the last few years. Certainly fills a desperate need for the Cardinals.
  
• Laron Landry, LSU
  Washington Redskins. Another surprise in that everyone expected Washington to trade out of this spot. We're a little disappointed that Landry didn't last to eight, where the Falcons have a big need at safety. Good player, and we're kind of a fan because his brother played at Georgia Tech.
  
• Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma
  Minnesota Vikings. Great value for Minnesota. Brady Quinn would have been a nice fit, but the Vikings have cast their lot with Tavaris Jackson. Peterson should excel on the carpet in the dome, and he will split time with Chester Taylor, allowing him to preserve himself a little.
  
• Jamaal Anderson, Arkansas
  Atlanta Falcons. After losing Patrick Kerney, the Falcons had a huge need on the defensive line. Anderson is, in our opinion, a little overrated. Not great value here, but he might be a solid contributor. We think that the Falcons were a little shellshocked by the Redskins taking Landry at six, and they had to scramble to find a fit. We're just glad the Falcons didn't waste a pick on Leon Hall from Michigan, who is slower than all of our contributors.
  
• Ted Ginn, Jr., Ohio State
  Miami Dolphins. The first real "wow" moment of the draft. Quinn seemed like a lock, given the fact that Daunte Culpepper is unreliable, and their other two options are Cleo Lemon and some dude from Indiana that we have never heard of. Certainly the worst pick in the top ten in terms of value, we're not sure why the Dolphins made this selection. Ginn doesn't make sense on any level. He doesn't fill a need, and he's not a good route runner. If the Dolphins were not going to take a quarterback, then Dwayne Jarrett or even Steve Smith make more sense. Good for Ginn, bad for the Dolphins.
  
• Amobi Okoye, Louisville
  Houston Texans. After trading for Matt Schaub, quarterback was not a need, so another disappointing selection for Quinn. We are of the opinion that Houston is taking the right mindset in trying to build defense, since the only way for them to succeed in their division is to try and stop the offensive juggernaut in Indianapolis. Okoye is only 19 years old, but he is a genetic freak along the lines of Lebron James. They are both grown men before the age of twenty. Tremendous upside here. He might be a bit of a project, but the Texans have the time to invest in him.

Poor Brady Quinn. Not selected in the top ten, he and his family left the green room to have some privacy. He may not be selected until 23 by Kansas City, and we don't know why. First Cleveland, then Miami passed on him, and the freefall was on. We will have more posts throughout the day, so stay tuned.

How Not to Build a College Football Powerhouse

You know if we're posting a story about college football in late February, it has to be juicy. At the University of Arkansas, a story continues to unfold that seems more like it belongs in an Aaron Spelling night-time soap than in the SEC. For those of you who don't know, Arkansas' run to the SEC Championship Game came on the heels of one of the most highly touted recruiting classes in school history. Just how did the Razorbacks pull it off? Hire the head coach of a high school powerhouse as offensive coordinator, of course. Well, that and make promises they knew they couldn't keep. Before last season, Arkansas hired the head coach of Springdale High School, Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator. This helped them land three prized prospects: Damian Williams, Ben Cleveland, and the nation's top quarterback prospect, Mitch Mustain. This is where the ridiculous promises come in. Head coach Houston Nutt allegedly told the parents of the Springdale trio that the team would adopt Malzahn's hurry-up, no huddle spread offense that would emphasize the pass and that the three freshmen to be would figure prominently in the new system. That didn't exactly happen. In the rough and tumble SEC West, there is usually little room for such gimmicky offenses, what with the likes of LSU, Auburn, and Alabama perenially trotting out three of the stingiest defenses in the nation. In circumstances such as that, it's best to know how to run the football, and run it well. The decision to stay with a more traditional offense apparently angered the parents of the three freshmen so that they felt the need to intrude upon Frank Broyles, longtime athletic director, and one of our favorites. They had a meeting with Broyles during which they inquired about the direction of the program, and whether Malzahn would be able to exert any more influence on how the offense is run, and how much the passing game would factor into that offense. This is the first time that we have heard about parents trying to strong-arm any college program, much less a powerhouse in the making in the SEC. In the wake of the meeting with Broyles, Damian Williams has transferred to USC, Mustain has been granted his release and will reportely visit USC in late February as he decides where he will play next year. Ben Cleveland will stay at Arkansas. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has left the program and will coach next year at the University of Tulsa. This whole sordid affair, in our view, has brought about three things. First, Frank Broyles' tenure at Arkansas will come to a conclusion at the end of the school year. We believe that this development will eventually lead to the second, Houston Nutt losing his job. As good as his team was on the field last season, the Razorbacks were not so hot on the recruiting trail. Out of twelve teams in the conference, Arkansas' recruiting class ranked ninth. It seems to us that other recruits are now leery of promises made to them by Nutt, and rightfully so. Third, and most disturbing, an event like this serves to pull back the curtain on major college football as a business, while also showcasing how obsessed some fans become with their favorite team. Above is an email sent to Mitch Mustain by a crazed Arkansas fan (big thanks go out to Kenny for sending this along; and yeah, the image is illegible but if you right click it and open in new window, you can read it. Kind of a pain in the ass I know but it's worth it, trust me). The whole situation has gotten out of hand. Bad for Arkansas, bad for the kids, bad for the SEC, and bad for college football.

More News and a Mid-Week Scramble

Since we have been light on posts ourselves, and since our recently assembled murderers' row of authors has been short on content as well, we have added another author to the mix. He will bring the L.A. perspective to the mix (that's Lower Alabama, not Los Angeles, y'all), presumably concentrated on football, baseball, and basketball. He is certainly capable and knowledgable, so we look forward to his contributions. Also, we are rolling out a new weekly feature called The Scramble. This will be a stream of consciousness type of round up hitting the high points on several sporting fronts. The Scramble will feature some news, some analysis, opinions, and other random thoughts that popped into our heads in the last week. Without further ado, here is the first:

The Scramble

College Basketball: Kevin Durant certainly looks to us to be a better player right now than Greg Oden. We're not saying that he will be better at the next level, but he's better today. In some local news, Georgia Tech bested Florida State Tuesday night for their first road win since the Millard Fillmore administration. Are the Jackets tournament worthy? We'll find out soon enough with upcoming tilts against UNC, Duke, Virginia, and Boston College.

Major League Baseball: Be on the lookout for the Atlanta Braves this season. After last year's disappointing showing, the Braves now feature arguably the best back end of the bullpen in the bigs. They also possess the best defensive outfield in baseball for at least one more year. If the starting pitching and Chipper Jones can stay healthy, they figure to have a say in which team will represent the NL in the World Series. Not saying they're winning the division, probably wild card, but they should make the playoffs.

Boxing: Watched Shane Moseley last Saturday night. He looked pretty good, but, then again, his opponent looked bad enough that we won't even mention his name.

NASCAR: The Daytona 500 is Sunday and our money, even though we hate to say it, is on Tony Stewart. He looked extremely fast in the Bud Shootout Saturday night, and, if he can keep his car in one piece through the Gatorade Duels on Thursday, he is probably the man to beat.

College Football: Here is some research we did last week. We couldn't figure what to make of it, so we decided to post it and let you figure it out. Normally we would have discarded the info, but it took so long to compile that we felt we owed it to ourselves to use it for something. Enjoy.

National Champions Since 1986 and Combined Records in the Following Two Years

2004 USC 23-3

2003 LSU 20-5

2002 Ohio State 19-6

2001 Miami (Fl) 23-3

2000 Oklahoma 23-4

1999 Florida State 19-6

1998 Tennessee 17-4

1997 Michigan 20-5

1997 Nebraska 21-5

1996 Florida 20-4

1995 Nebraska 24-2

1994 Nebraska 23-2

1993 Florida State 20-3-1

1992 Alabama 21-4-1

1991 Washington 16-7

1991 Miami (Fl) 20-3

1990 Colorado 17-5-2

1990 Georgia Tech 13-11

1989 Miami (Fl) 21-3

1988 Notre Dame 21-4

1987 Miami (Fl) 22-2

1986 Penn State 13-10

Editor's Note: Texas (2005) was not included as they have not completed two seasons since winning the National Championship. Co-champions are listed for 1990, 1991, and 1997 but not 2003 since the BCS Championship Game guarantees #1 vs. #2 with the winner being crowned the National Champion.

College Football Recruiting Wrap Up

Here are the top ten recruiting classes in the nation plus two local teams of interest according to scout.com:
1. Florida
2. LSU
3. USC
4. Texas
5. Tennessee
6. Auburn
7. South Carolina
8. Oregon
9. Pittsburgh
10. Michigan
14. Georgia Tech
17. Georgia

So what does this all mean? Nobody really knows. Recruiting is so much of an inexact science that no one really knows what they have for at least a year. Consider two local players of recent note: Calvin Johnson was a 3 star recruit that was told by UGA that he would have to sit as a freshman behind Fred Gibson. Cameron Smith was a 4 star recruit and considered to be one of the best running backs in the nation. He signed a letter of intent for Georgia last year. After leaving Butler Community College this past fall, Smith has enrolled in a junior college in Texas. Whether he will ever play football for UGA remains to be seen. Calvin Johnson is widely considered to be the best player in the NFL draft coming up in April. All this means is that nobody really knows what the hell they are talking about. These recruiting rankings only serve to give sports talk radio hosts something to talk about and fans something to brag about in the offseason. Another unintended but vicious side effect of all of this recruiting hype is that head coaches find themselves on the hot seat a little faster. Les Miles has certainly racked up some fine recruits for the Bayou Bengals this year. However, what happens if he loses again to Auburn? Or, heaven forbid, that he loses to Alabama and the hated Nick Saban? After all, he supposedly out-recruited both of those programs. Might the finger be pointed at him? Probably. This is just another ridiculous reason college head coaches get fired. Ask Bill Curry and Frank Solich.

About That Name

In all the excitement of creating the new blog and bashing on Bill Simmons, we forgot to explain the name of our humble effort. Depending on your definition, we may or may not be very young, but we are decidedly not left handed. The young lefthander is a term that was first used by the late Al Ciraldo and later by the irreplacable Wes Durham to describe their broadcast partner, the late Kim King. King was a three year starter at quarterback for Georgia Tech during the mid-sixties and was involved with Georgia Tech football for over fifty years.