10 Thoughts

I've been having some computer troubles and have been busy with other business. Here's ten thoughts to ponder and I'll get back on a more normal posting period.

1) Brett Favre is inconsiderate, overpublicized and overrated. Deep into the free agent period, Favre still hasn't committed to playing for the Green Bay Packers. Partly because their offseason has been spent on Favre Watch, the Packers haven't made use of their cap room. They haven't signed another quarterback, haven't improved their team and seem to be in a state of limbo as far as what direction the franchise is heading. Are they rebuilding? Not with a 36 year old quarterback they aren't. Are they planning on contending? Not if Aaron Rodgers is forced to take over a 4-12 team that has lost their starting center and may trade Javon Walker. The Packers don't have a clue what they are doing and it is because of Favre.

Still, #4 gets the ultimate free pass. You'd think this guy is the greatest quarterback in NFL history. He's not. He hasn't won five Super Bowls. He's won one (thanks, in part, to a kickoff return in which Desmond Howard was aided by the mysterious disappearance of Troy Brown and a blatant holding penalty. Not to mention the Packers were playing a team without a head coach who cared about the game. But thats another story). Last year, Favre was ahead of only the immortal Aaron Brooks in quarterback rating. He threw 29 interceptions (No one else, not even Brooks, threw more than 17). 29 interceptions! He won exactly 4 games, the last a gift win against a Seattle team that didn't try to win the game. Since Super Bowl 32 (9 years ago), he has won exactly 2 playoff games, both home wild card games, one in overtime.

I can't argue that, at his best, Favre wasn't a great quarterback. He's certainly a hall of famer. He's not God, though, and he might just be one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the game right now. Still, the Packers have remained fiercely loyal. The fans have remained loyal. The media has remained intensely loyal, nearly to the point of blatant ignorance. And yet, Favre jerks everyone around by "considering retirement." Soon, he'll likely announce he will return to the Packers. The media will laud one last run for a gunslinger. But the Packers aren't going anywhere soon and they have Brett Favre to blame.

2) The Boston Bruins are lucky Isiah Thomas is running the Knicks because, if he wasn't, they just might be the worst franchise in all of sports. In the past year, they have traded away two of their best four players, one of whom just may end up scoring more points than anyone in the NHL. Their major acquisition in the offseason has scored 1 goal. Their "franchise" goalie, who won the Calder Trophy in 2004, currently plays for the Providence Bruins. Tim Thomas, a career journeyman and minor leaguer, is now the goalie of the near-future. Their coach is the epitome of lame-duck. They might have two NHL-caliber defensemen on the roster. And one of them can't wait to get out of town (so much so that he has begun picking up ridiculous misconduct penalties). With all these things producing disastrous results and the team about to finish another season without a playoff win, the Bruins last weekend did the only thing left to do: they fired the general manager. And just about 5 years late. I don't see how this mess is going to be sorted out but it certainly isn't going to be for quite while.

3) It's Fantasy Baseball season again. Players who will do better than expected:

• Vernon Wells - Protection from Glaus. Entering prime of career. Looking for contract extension.
• Mike Lowell - Averaged 20 HR's in 5 seasons before last. A pull hitter who will benefit greatly from the Green Monster. Eligible at 2B.
• Miguel Cabrera - Clearly team has been mangled but Cabrera is only going to get better and numbers won't dip.
• Jose Reyes - Another guy only getting better on a team that is much better. Can't go wrong with 60 SBs.
• Clint Barmes - If had been healthy all year last year, would have been a Top 50 pick.
• Jim Thome - Allegedly in good shape, if primed for a bounce-back year.
• Justin Morneau - Has to reach potential at some point.
• Derrick Turnbow - Brew Crew will be better Turnbow will benefit.
• Jon Garland - don't understand the skepticism about a 25 year old guy that just won 18 games.
• Chad Orvella - Will settle nicely into a closer's role that got Danys Baez 41 saves last year.

4) And now the guys who will do worse than expected:

• Keith Foulke - A nightmare waiting to happen. Both knees are shot. His head isn't into it. He wasn't very good to begin with. The guy strung one good month together. He's hitting 85 on the radar gun and that won't get big leaguers out. The end is near.
• Johan Santana - Yes, he has nasty stuff but he did struggle at times last year. Many teams in the AL have got much better. The twins haven't. He'll be good, but not as good as expected.
• Pedro Martinez - Shoulder might be nearing its breaking point. Won't pitch 200 innings again
• Johnny Damon - Getting older. Broke down last year. Won't steal as many bases and will struggle to reach .300-10-75 again.
• Todd Jones - Let's not forget one thing: this is still Todd Jones.
• Rich Harden - Only throws one pitch which makes me believe 3.5 is more likely than 2.5.
• Jim Edmonds - 35 years old. Might be heading for .250.
• Bob Abreu - dipped to .260 with only 6 homers after the All Star Break. Might be slowing down a bit.

5) Kansas State instantly became a winner when they hired Bob Huggins. The guy just wins. He might not be the greatest of guys and he might not be able to recite the alphabet at all times, but he will turn the lackluster Wildcats into a national contender. Rumors are already swirling that Michael Beasley, OJ Mayo and Bill Walker are heading to Manhattan with Huggy Bear. That's not just an NCAA tournament quality trio. That's a cutting-down-the-nets trifecta of recruits. It's hard to believe there wasn't a bidding war of immense proportions for this guy because he's ready to turn Kansas State into a powerhouse.

6) It's going to be an all-SEC final on Monday. UCLA has no business being in the Final Four. They are not a Final Four quality team. They were lucky to get by Alabama, had no business getting by Gonzaga and ran into a Memphis team that decided it wanted to play like fifth graders. LSU, while not the greatest of Final Four teams, has enough athleticism and inside presence to get by UCLA as long as they don't clam up and pull a Memphis. Pick: LSU 66, UCLA 56

7) George Mason is not going to wilt under the lights of the Final Four. If that was an issue, they would have been gone long before now. Florida will prove to be too big and too fast. Some of the best basketball I ever saw Syracuse play this year was in the Coaches vs. Cancer against the Gators. Florida still beat the Big East Champs going away. When they are playing at their best, no one in the country (and, certainly no one left) is going to beat them. Mason makes it interesting, but Florida advances. Pick: Florida 74, George Mason 66

8) The Celtics really showed their true colors Sunday in blowing a ten point fourth quarter lead and losing in front of a sold out Garden crowd to the Bulls, who are directly ahead of them in the standings. The Celtics aren't going to be in the playoffs this year and the lottery pick will help them continue to move in the right direction. However, this team easily could have been in the playoffs if the powers that be could have done a slightly better job. Danny Ainge drafted well again but I don't think he could have done worse on the free agent market if he tried. Brian Scalabrine (despite brilliant work on Scal's Blog) is an unmitigated disaster and Dan Dickau was on the way to being the same if not for a season-ending injury. If Ainge had used the money to sign someone like James Jones, the Celtics would certainly be a playoff team. Instead we are stuck with Scalabrine for 4 more years.

Even with the current roster, this team should be in the playoffs. If Doc Rivers knew how to manage a rotation, handle late game situations, diagram plays or analyze talent, this team would be firmly in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Unfortunately, Rivers lacks so many qualities needed to be an NBA coach that the team will go home early. He constantly used 12 man rotations early in the season. He botched at least four game end-of-game situations (WAS, WAS, DET and GS), although I'm certain there are more. He DNPCDed Ryan Gomes until the Wally trade when he discovered that Gomes was, BY FAR, our most competent forward. He still has no clue what the best way to rotate these guys is and pretty much just prays for the best.

The Celtics will be out of the playoffs for the first time since 2001, but it didn't have to be that way.

9) Quick hits: Pittsburgh is lucky they sewed up Jamie Dixon. The guy has done a good job and happens to be the Big East's All-Time winningest coach. . . Jeff Gordon couldn't have appeared less tough than when he climbed out of his car wearing a helmet and shoved Matt Kenseth like a girl . . . I can't for the life of me believe why Ron Everhart left Northeastern for Duquesne. The CAA has so much juice right now with the George Mason story, the Huskies acquitted themselves nicely last year and he still had Shawn James, the country's premeir shotblocker. And he decided to leave that for a job with the downtrodden Dukes, who were 3-24 last year in a less-than-stellar A10. . . I wish ESPN would stop pretending their audience cares about women's basketball. . . Julian Peterson will help the Seahawks tremendously if he stays healthy. Unfortunately, that if is about as big as the space needle. . . The Giants will beat the Colts on September 10th.

10) I will have a baseball preview up in the coming days. If you like baseball, visit The Two Seamer. The guy knows more about baseball than any human being probably should. If you are interested in the Felix Heredias, the Ryan Zimmermans or the Seth McClungs of the world, you'll enjoy it.