Blue and White Debate: Stanley Cup, NFL draft, Jazz and more
1. Who will be the No. 1 pick of this year’s NFL Draft
Despite the claims of its front office, the release of quarterback Marc Bulger confirmed what many of us have been suspecting for quite some time: the St. Louis Rams are taking a quarterback with the first overall pick in next week’s NFL Draft. I will be beyond shocked if the choice isn’t Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford. Assuming the shoulder Bradford injured and then reinjured this past season isn’t a problem – and all reports suggest it should be fine – he is a better prospect than Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen. He needs to do a better job of protecting himself in and out of the pocket, but he’s accurate, has the arm strength to make all the throws, and is a great decision-maker and proven team leader. I like Jimmy, too, but not enough to take him number one. His small hands don’t really bother me, but his leadership and maturity have often been questioned, and he sometimes has a wind-up throwing motion. I think the choice will be Bradford, and the bigger issue facing the Rams is how quickly they will be able to surround him with the weapons he needs to be successful.
2. Stanley Cup Playoffs
Ah, hockey, my sixth-favorite sport. The NHL playoffs are upon us, and the Chicago Blackhawks, my favorite (used in the broadest sense of the word) team, are the two-seed in the Western Conference, so I got that going for me. I don’t want to demean the sport or the fans, so I’m going to spare you my playoff analysis, because my hockey knowledge consists of: Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, and Patrick Kane (Blackhawks) are good. With that being said, two changes might help me become a little more interested in the NHL postseason. First, don’t make me choose between basketball and hockey. I don’t know what needs to be done to keep the NBA and NHL postseasons from occurring side-by-side, but make it happen and I might watch some hockey. Second, and most important, approach the style of play we saw in the Olympics. I watched hockey in the Winter Olympics. I’m probably not going to watch much of the NHL postseason.
3. NCAA Football rule change
I have to say I found it kind of refreshing that college football’s recent rule changes didn’t involve some sort of helmet-to-helmet, or go-easy-on-the-quarterback amendments. Wedge-blocking on kickoffs was eliminated, kind of ridiculous when you consider the wedge is not all that dissimilar from an offensive line, but I guess I can accept that. The other two changes – no more eye black messages, and taunting during a play being a penalty assessed at the spot of the foul – are fine by me. I don’t necessarily have a problem with eye black messages, but it wasn’t all that difficult to envision some misguided player eventually going over the line with a controversial statement/taunt/shout-out which would have ultimately forced the NCAA’s hand on the issue anyway. It may have been more preventive than anything else. The biggest effect of the taunting rule, which won’t go into effect until 2011, is the fact that taunting during a scoring play would ultimately negate the score, because much like holding, it is now a spot foul. It might be aggravating to the team it affects, but I don’t think it requires an inordinate amount of discipline to refrain from taunting until a play is over.
4. Jazz blow it, take fifth seed
Like it or not, the Jazz’ playoff hopes hinge on the health of one, Carlos Boozer. The injured Boozer missed the most important game of the regular season Wednesday, a devastating 100-86 home loss to the Phoenix Suns, dropping the Jazz from third to fifth in Western Conference playoff seeding. For whatever reason, possibly far less playing time than he received on last season’s often Boozer-less team, Paul Millsap has been surprisingly inconsistent this season. By no means has he been a major disappointment, but there have been far too many games like the regular season finale against Phoenix: 7 points, 3-11 from the field, and five fouls in 39 minutes. I don’t think the performance against Phoenix was indicative of what a Boozer-less Jazz playoff team would play like, but I think it certainly exposed this team’s limitations. They don’t defend well in transition, they don’t defend the three-point line well, and most importantly, the offense is prone to stagnancy without the low/high-post and pick-n-roll options Boozer brings to the table. In my opinion (as unreliable as it may be) it’s pretty simple: no Boozer equals a first-round playoff exit.
5. Play of the Week
I’m giving a shout-out to Karl Malone getting into the Hall of Fame. I know there are a fairly substantial number of Jazz fans who don’t like the guy, but I for one think those fans are the equivalent of Donovan McNabb-hating Eagles fans. This is our Kevin Kolb, Jazz fans. You think this team is getting past the Lakers? You think this team is getting to the Finals anytime soon? Oh, and to the fans who insist on placing all of the’98 Finals blame squarely on the shoulders of The Mailman, how often do you completely ignore the fact that Jordan doesn’t even attempt his epic series-winning shot if Malone hadn’t willed the series back to Salt Lake City with 39 points in Game Five? Give the man his due.
-Steve Clark
1. Who will be the No. 1 pick of this year’s NFL Draft?
I am a St. Louis Rams fan. Yes, I said it! I have been since I watched them win the Super Bowl in 1999 in their snazzy yellow and royal blue colors (which I think they should have kept). Sadly, there have been rumors that they will trade their No. 1 pick to the Cleveland Browns. Whether the pick lands in Cleveland or St. Louis doesn’t really matter at this point because it looks like Sam Bradford out of Oklahoma will be the choice. He looks like the best pro prospect as far as quarterbacks are concerned and both teams are in dire need of a good quarterback.
2. Stanley Cup Playoffs
I’ll be honest, I don’t know a whole lot about hockey other than Ovechkin is fantastic, Crosby is amazing and they don’t like each other. I do, however, know that the Avalanche and Canadiens pulled off upsets on the top seeded Sharks and Capitals, respectively, in game one of the series. One great thing about hockey is that it’s very unpredictable. I would not be surprised one bit if the Avalanche or Canadiens pull away with this series and go on a tear for the Stanley Cup.
3. NCAA Football rule Change
The new college football rule says something like if a player shows unsportsmanlike conduct by taunting the opposing team before crossing the goal line then the touchdown will be taken away. I like what NCAA officials are trying to do, but I definitely think that this is a risky change. Some players like to stretch the ball out as they are about to score a touchdown, and that will now be penalized. This is where it could get messy; a player could honestly be trying to stretch the ball across the line without the intention of mocking the other team, but it’s up to the discretion of the referee to make the judgment of whether to throw the flag or not. Officials keep changing rules that make players think too much while playing the game; since when did crossing the goal line become so technical? It’s becoming more than just getting the ball into the endzone.
4. Jazz blow it, take fifth seed
As I watched the Jazz beating Golden State on Tuesday night, I thought for sure that the Phoenix game would be a lock. I was wrong. They had the perfect setup; home court setting, momentum and Deron Williams. But they also had quite a bit going against them; no Boozer, no Kirilenko, no composure and no answer for Amare Stoudmire. Okur showed a little bit of hope in the beginning after scoring 10 straight points on his own, but that withered away along with the Jazz’ hopes for a second or third place seed in the playoffs. If there’s any two teams in the Western Conference that Utah cannot beat, it’s the Lakers and Nuggets, and it looks like they’ll have to go through both of them in order to make it to the conference championship series.
5. Play of the Week
My play of the week is more like the NOT play of the week. I am talking about Ben Roethlisberger. I don’t know if anyone knows where I stand on rapists, but I have no sympathy for them. Roethlisberger was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student from Georgia, but the charges were dropped. This isn’t the first time he has had accusations like these come up; in 2008, the Pittsburg quarterback was in the same situation in Nevada. Charges were dropped. I cannot believe the kind of slack this guy is getting. He took advantage of a college girl who clearly told him “no” several times but continued to act on his perverted urges. Women, whether they’re intoxicated or not, should be treated with the utmost respect. I start to have a problem when men start thinking that women are there for their own sick enjoyment. Roethlisberger, shame on you. I hope it’s easy for him to look at his mother or sister in face after acting like that. The NFL is suspending him for a few games, but I believe that the Steelers organization should take more drastic measures and tell him to find another place to act like an idiot.
-Steve Clark