The injury to Chad Pennington puts a damper on all the positive vibes that were coming out of Jet camp this summer. It also looks a lot like when Vinny Testaverde went down with an injury at the beginning of the '99 season. Don't be fooled though, this is a completely different scenario. By all appearances Pennington might not miss the whole season as Testaverde did that fateful season, instead he'll more likely miss 8-10 weeks -- predictions of 12 weeks or even the season seem extreme for his non-throwing hand. Back then the Jets were without a proven quarterback to step in and lead Vinny's team. Now the Jets have Vinny to step in and lead Vinny's team. How quickly we forget last year when so many of the veterans were overly supportive of Testaverde when he lost his starting position to Pennington. Chad might have been the signal caller, but Testaverde was still the veteran leader of the team. The players are comfortable with him as a quarterback and, even more importantly, as a teammate. There is no reason to believe the Jets won't rally around Vinny and play good, hard nosed football while Pennington is gone -- no matter how long that may be.
Vinny Testaverde is -- statistically anyway -- one of the most prolific passers in the history of the NFL. He should pass the 40,000 yard mark by the third week of the season, which is a feat only eight others have accomplished. He's always been a QB that has thrown a lot of picks and there's no reason to think that will be any different now, especially with the lack of talent at WR, but only two seasons ago he put up 21 touchdown passes and nearly 4,000 yards.
I understand he's 39 and that he isn't getting any younger. I still remember how lost he looked during the first four games of last season. And I'm aware of the time it will take for him to get timing with both Santana Moss and Curtis Conway, two receivers he has thrown very little to up to this point. All of those things are right there for the world to see and make the whole situation look very bleak. Jet fans, trust me. This team is not going to start 0-4 and then continue to struggle until Chad makes his way back to the huddle, whenever that may be. I wouldn't run out and put money on the Jets to run the table on Washington, Miami, New England and Dallas either. There's no reason they can't split those games and go into the bye week 2-2, which was a realistic record of the Pennington led Jets. During the bye they'll be able to evaluate things and make any major adjustments that can't be made in between games.
If Jets fans need something else to make them feel better, think of this in these terms: It could be so much worse. You could be an Atlanta Falcoln fan right now, forced to watch a quarterback with 5 career touchdown passes lead your team onto the field. Or what about the teams that would be completely up the river without their present QB? How do you think Kansas City's high powered offense would perform with Todd Collins at the helm? What about Doug Pederson possibly having to step in for Brett Favre? I'm sure the Pat's feel comfortable with Damon Huard. And obviously the Vikings feel good about Gus Frerotte. You get the point.
Step back from the ledge, stop trying to pawn your season tickets off to your friends and show up at the swamp on Sept. 14th ready to give Vinny and his Jets a standing ovation.
:: Ryan 8:58 AM [+] ::
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Mavs Finally Catch Up
Lost in all the coverage of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's Kobe statements was that his team had failed to improve over the summer while the other powers in the West were reloading. That seems to have changed with a report coming out of Dallas that the Mavs have acquired Antawan Jamison in an eight player trade with the Golden State Warriors. In the proposed trade -- being reported by ESPN, The Dallas Morning News and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram -- Dallas would send Nick Van Exel, Evan Eschmeyer, Popeye Jones and Avery Johnson to Golden State for Jamison, Danny Fortson, Chris Mills and Jiri Welsh.
As good as Van Exel was in the playoffs for Dallas, this is a home run for Cuban and the Mavs. Jamison, at the age of 27, is four years younger than Van Exel and can be penciled into the starting lineup for the entire season without Coach Nelson having to think twice. At 6-9, Jamison also gives the Mavs a massive 2-5 lineup of Finley (6-7), Nowitzki (7-0) and Bradley (7-5)/ LaFrentz (6-11). With the exception of Bradley, who is far from a great athlete, the entire Mavs starting lineup will be big and athletic which will help them setup plenty of favorable matchups throughout the season. Jamison brings his 22 PPG and 7 RPG to a Dallas team that averaged over 100 points a game last season. He more than held his own against the big boys, putting up 24, 22 and 19 PPG against the Spurs, Lakers and Kings respectively.
Dallas will come out the winner, but not because Golden State got played by any means. This is a trade that helps both sides and the Warriors felt they had one or two (or three) too many swingmen and wanted a veteran point guard to help out the newly signed Speedy Claxton. The only way they could get a point the caliber of Van Exel was to part with Jamison. With Jason Richardson, Mike Dunleavy and 1st round pick Mickael Pietrus the Warriors dealt from a surplus and pulled the trigger on a deal they think helps them compete better in the West. Veterans like Jones and Johnson won't contribute much in the way of points, but for a team with an average age of 25 their leadership will be welcomed by Eric Musselman.
While Jamison and Van Exel's names will be the only ones mentioned when people talk about this trade -- and for good reason, this trade was about them -- but there's a player in there that has a ton of potential (the biggest NBA buzzword) and could flourish in Dallas over the next few years. Jiri Welsh is a 23 year old 6-7 guard who was seldom used by the Warriors this year as his 1.6 PPG and just over 6 minutes a game will show. He obviously hasn't shown much of anything yet, but on top of his lack of experience he had to deal with being the only foreign born player on his team -- think about how rare that is nowadays -- and being stuck on the end of the bench because his team was fighting for a playoff spot. A team trying to scrape its way into the playoffs can't afford to give many minutes to unproven players, just ask Mike Dunleavy about that. In Dallas, Welsh will get to play with at least 5 other international players which can only make him feel more comfortable with his situation. The Mavs will also give him a lot more room to experience growing pains during some of their blowouts and late season games when a playoff spot isn't a question. It isn't far fetched to think Dirk Nowitzki will take Welsh under his wing and help him adapt to the game the way he did when he came into the league in '98. I'm not predicting 15 points a night out of the kid -- yet -- but don't expect another season of 1.6 ppg.
The Mavs do their best to keep pace with the Lakers, Spurs and Kings while the Warriors get more comfortable with their team while they gun for the 7th or 8th playoff spot next year. For all the trouble Cuban tends to get himself into with his mouth, he reminds us with deals like this that he is always and will always be concerned with winning above all else. Maybe he gets on the refs too much and maybe he sticks his foot in his mouth a bit too often, but he hires great basketball people and trusts them enough to let them do whatever they need to do in order to help the team compete for an NBA Championship. At the end of the day, that's really all that matters.
Isn’t it odd that we only hear about Questec when a big time pitcher is on the mound? You’ll never see the Steve Trachsels of the world take a bat to one of those cameras.
It’s time for the NFL and Major League Baseball to find a way to adopt the same guidelines for draft picks that the NBA has. It would eliminate these ridiculous signing bonuses and get every player into camp on time. God forbid.
Is Mark Cuban the one accused of rape?
With the Rey Sanchez trade, the Mets were able to assure they wouldn’t be the only team in New York without a QB on their roster. The player they got back from the Mariners – Kenny Kelly – was Miami’s starting signal caller a few years back. They were feeling the heat from the Yankees (Drew Henson) and the Knicks (Charlie Ward). Does this mean the Liberty is going to sign Tory Woodbury?
If Butch Davis picks Tim Couch as his starting QB over Kelly Holcomb, he’ll be forced to bench him by Week 4. Couch has shown time and time again that he is much more Ryan Leaf than Peyton Manning.
I would never undervalue Scott Rolen’s talent, but Placido Polanco – Rolen’s replacement at 3B for the Phils – has put up solid numbers: .303, 12 HR, 53 RBI and 13 SB. Not bad for a third of the price.
Allen Iverson says “there’s gotta be somethin there” in regards to the case against Kobe Bryant because authorities wouldn’t have went after a “squeaky clean” athlete unless they had significant proof. Does the Eagle County DA know about this breakthrough?
Don’t worry, Phil Mickelson will blow it.
The Reds have to make it priority #1 to unload Ken Griffey Jr. as soon as the season ends. It’s good to know you can go home again, really it is. But sometimes you just have to move on
In the last ‘Quick Hits’ I wondered who would be sent packing first: Benitez or Weaver. That question was answered pretty quickly. Can Weaver be far behind?
Everyone – myself included -- has poked fun at Mike Piazza as a catcher, but he makes the Mets so much more exciting when he’s in the lineup. He’ll get to first eventually, but for now let him catch, hit his seven home runs and give the few thousand fans in the seats something to cheer for.
Kenyon Martin has to fire his agent if he wants the fans – not to mention his teammates – to believe he didn’t request a trade after the Nets “dissed” him by ONLY paying him $5.1 million next season. If Kidd had to wait to get paid then so does he.
I can’t decide which is a better story, the Kansas City Royals or the Florida Marlins. Imagine the look on the face of FOX execs if those two met in the World Series. Can you say 0.9 rating?
The politics of the NCAA are getting worse every year. Because of the highly publicized problems with Mike Price at Alabama, Larry Eustachy at Iowa State and so many other countless public relations nightmares, the NCAA feels the need to play big bad cop with every possible violation. Don’t get me wrong, collegiate athletes shouldn’t be able to get away with anything they want. But they shouldn’t be crucified when they make small mistakes either. It appears Maurice Clarett is being singled out because he’s Maurice Clarett.
Clarett has admittedly been involved in some questionable activities. Last fall he was given an oral exam after, according to a TA at Ohio State, he walked out of a midterm. Ohio State has been investigating and has yet to find any clear wrongdoing. Clarett wasn’t the only student – player or otherwise – to receive extra help in passing this midterm and in the end passed. Is it by the book? Not completely. But the NCAA shouldn’t feel the need to pay serious attention to it either. Shortly after the oral exam became an issue the NCAA started to investigate a police report filed by Clarett. The report stated he lost upwards of five grand in personal possessions after the car he was driving was broken into. Maurice has admitted to exaggerating the worth of what was stolen and backed off his original statements to the police. A 19-year-old kid made a bit of an exaggeration. What a shock. Next came a report that the NCAA was “looking into” Clarett’s relationship with his friend LeBron James. Now collegiate athletes can’t associate with their friends once they go pro? These few ‘infractions’ aren’t exactly malicious, yet here’s the NCAA openly investigating all three. Would the NCAA be on Ohio State’s doorstep if this had all happened to the team’s third string Safety and not their Heisman Trophy candidate?
It would seem that not only does the NCAA want to make their presence known, but that they want to make an example out of Clarett. Most thought the investigation was just for show, but Ohio State is making it seem like much more. Holding him out of preseason workouts is one thing. That makes sense. But not letting the kid be in the team picture? Not to use the biggest cliché possible, but a picture’s worth a thousand words. In this case those words are looking more and more like they’re going to make up Maurice Clarett’s walking papers from Ohio State. Although if it’s words you seek, quarterback Craig Krenzel provided plenty of those. “If he’s not (here), we’ve got a lot of other great football players,” Krenzel said. “And we’re going to find ways to win without him.” Those don’t sound like words of a signal caller confident he’ll have his starting tailback on opening day.
If the NCAA somehow deems Clarett ineligible to play for the Buckeyes this year I say he should still be able to play. In the NFL that is. Heading to the NFL would seem like the logical choice for him if the NCAA deems him to be ineligible. He should be able to train until next spring and enter the draft. The only problem is the NFL’s rules preclude a prospect from entering the draft until three years after his high school class has graduated. So by the NFL’s standards Clarett isn’t eligible for the draft until after the 2004 season. This kid is getting it from all angles here. The NFL has this rule in place obviously to prevent under developed players from attempting to enter the league, but athletes are built completely different now and the NFL has to recognize that in order to move forward.
There are two possibilities of a light at the end of the tunnel if both the NCAA and the NFL try to prevent Clarett from doing what he does best. First and foremost he can take the NFL to court and attempt to have the rule overturned. Even though a court battle would take a long time, he has until after the 2004 season – meaning the 2005 draft – to fight it. There seem to be a good amount of people within sports that feel Clarett can have the rule overturned if he puts in the necessary time on the legal side. You’d have to imagine he’d be able to hire the best legal team available with millions waiting for him as soon as he gets drafted. If the legal route doesn’t pan out he has other professional football options. He could go and play in the Canadian Football League immediately. There would also be offers from the Arena League, but the CFL would be able to pay him more money and would give him the best comparison to the NFL. The CFL wouldn’t make him a millionaire, but he would certainly be one of the higher paid players in the league while he waited for his big contract from the NFL.
It’s a shame any of this even has to be discussed. If the NCAA knows what’s good for business (ratings, competitive games, etc.) they will sit Maurice down, tell him he must stay squeaky clean for the next two seasons and go on their merry way. In a sports world where there are all too many serious problems, it’s time to let one of the smaller ones slip by. We’re not fighting a war here folks, we’re playing college football. Let the kid play.
Everyone in the media is running to anyone who will listen with their opinion on the Kobe Bryant case. From how well they 'know' Kobe to how all of this will play out in the judicial system. Yet those same people feel the need to jump all over Mavs owner Mark Cuban when he states the obvious. "From a business perspective, it's (Kobe's situation) great for the NBA. It's reality television, people love train-wreck television and you hate to admit it, but that is the truth, that's the reality today," Cuban told Access Hollywood. He went on to say opening night in the NBA will be "must-see TV" when his Mavs face Kobe's Lakers.
You may not agree with Cuban commenting on the situation at all, but you can't disagree with the statement itself. He's absolutely, 100% right. The ratings for that Mavs-Lakers game are going to be at least 4 times higher than Game 6 of the NBA finals were. If anyone is going to say that kind of jump in ratings is bad for business then they have no idea what they are talking about.
NBA Commissioner David Stern released a statement almost immediately saying "Any suggestion that there will be some economic or promotional benefit to the NBA arising from the charge pending against Kobe Bryant is both misinformed and unseemly. That idea does not reflect the views of the NBA, NBA owners generally, or others associated with our sport." Stern said what he had to say. He's not dumb, he realizes it would be a lose-lose situation if he were to comment on any positive that may come out of the Kobe situation. That much is pretty clear considering the flack that Cuban is dealing with right now. But you can't actually believe that Stern isn't salivating at the prospect of such a huge opening night number.
Obviously no one feels this is a good situation. Put away your opinions of what you think did or didn't happen that night and look at the little that we know: Kobe Bryant committed adultery. That is the 'best case scenario', which isn't saying much. It's a horrible state of events. But in the long run it will provide the NBA with better ratings. It's as simple as that. Cuban's comments might be poorly timed, but they're accurate. Although now that I think about it, since when does the media want to deal with accurate information?
:: Ryan 12:49 AM [+] ::