Page 1238 of 2957

      Decade Debates

      December 25, 2009 /

      In case you missed any of our Decade Debate series, here’s a link to each individual post (i.e. we put a lot of work into these, so you better take a look!)

      10 Biggest Betrayals
      Saddest Franchises
      10 Biggest Upsets
      8 Greatest Comebacks
      6 Greatest Rivalries
      5 Biggest Quarterback Busts
      10 Worst NFL Head Coaching Hires
      10 Worst NFL Free Agent Signings
      Greatest Fantasy Football Players
      15 Best College Football Players
      10 Best Second Round NBA Picks
      10 Best Late-First Round NBA Picks
      10 Biggest NBA Draft Blunders
      10 Pivotal MLB Trades

      College Basketball, College Football, Fantasy Football, Golf, Humor, March Madness, MLB, NBA, NBA Draft, NBA Finals, NFL, NFL Draft, NHL, Soccer, Super Bowl, Tennis, The Olympics

      When is it time to give up on a young QB?

      December 24, 2009 /

      A: After two years, according to Football Outsiders’ Aaron Schatz.

      Schatz wrote a column in the Nov. 30 issue of ESPN The Magazine — I know it’s a little dated, but cut me some slack, I’ve been buried beneath Bill Simmons’ 700-page opus — where he outlined how long teams should take to evaluate a young QB. (Note: I’d provide a link, but I can’t find this story anywhere on the net. Sorry.)

      These two examples raise a critical question: When is it time to give up on your young QB?

      The quick answer is: after two years (unless, of course, the guy has spent that time on the bench). If a QB falters badly in those first two seasons, you can pretty much write off his chances of ever amounting to anything. It may sound harsh, but chew on these names: Kyle Boller, Quincy Carter, Tim Couch, Charlie Frye, Rex Grossman, Joey Harrington, Danny Kanell, Mike McMahon, Akili Smith, Alex Smith, Danny Wuerffel, Spergon Wynn. Not exactly a parade of Hall of Famers, huh? Well, you can put Russell in that group, too.

      Of all of those players, only Alex Smith has shown any signs of resurrecting his career.

      Schatz and Football Outsiders use their “replacement player” concept (“basically how many yards a player gains compared with what a replacement-level player, that is, a typical second-stringer, would get in the same situation, against the same opponent”) to determine whether or not a QB is struggling.

      Schatz addresses Brady Quinn…

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Line of the Night (12/23): Jerryd Bayless & Kevin Durant

      December 24, 2009 /

      Since it’s the holiday season and I’m feeling generous, I’m going with a two-fer for the LOTN. First up is Jerryd Bayless, who has been getting a ton of minutes with all the injuries that the Blazers have been suffering. Last night, Portland (without Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Joel Przybilla) beat a healthy Spurs team in San Antonio, 98-94. Bayless posted 31 points and seven assists.

      This is the kind of game that makes one wonder if something is seriously wrong with the Spurs.

      Meanwhile, in Phoenix, it was youth over experience as the Thunder beat the Suns, 117-113. Durant had 38 points, six rebounds and three assists, and hit 12 of 20 shots from the field, including a crucial jumper that put OKC up four with just seconds to play. Amare Stoudemire had 35-14 for the Suns, and basically had his way inside. If the Thunder can land a good power forward/center this offseason (Chris Bosh?), they’ll be in business. It’s hard to root for OKC given what the ownership did to the city of Seattle, but it’s just as hard not to like the young core of Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and James Harden.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Stafford, Delhomme’s seasons over

      December 24, 2009 /

      The Lions will place quarterback Matthew Stafford on injured reserve, effectively ending his rookie season. In similar news, the Panthers will place Jake Delhomme on injured reserve, ending his season.

      Stafford showed promise in his rookie year and demonstrated toughness as a rookie. He’ll finish his first year with 13 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, which are common numbers for rookie quarterbacks. If Detroit could ever build him on offensive line, then he could do some damage as a pro quarterback.

      As for Delhomme, one has to think that Carolina would cut ties with him in the offseason. The problem is that he’s set to make $13 million in guaranteed money, so he’ll probably be back to challenge Matt Moore (who has made strides in the past couple weeks) for the starting job next season.

      Delhomme turned the ball over 27 times in 12 games this season, making the Panthers look incredibly foolish for extending his contract in the offseason.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Thanks for these early bowl games, BCS.

      December 24, 2009 /

      Want more proof that the current bowl system is crap in college football? Take a look at the scores from bowl games so far:

      Wyoming 35, Fresno State 28 OT.
      Rutgers 45, Central Florida 24.
      Middle Tennessee State 42, Southern Miss 32.
      BYU 44, Oregon State 20.
      Utah 37, California 27.

      Outside of Wyoming’s thriller over Fresno State, all of these bowl games have been laughers and not worth watching deep into the second half. If you’ve turned on any of these games in the third quarter, you’ve already missed everything worthy of tuning into.

      Before anyone points this out, I get that none of the marquee bowl games have kicked off yet. And I also get that the BCS system only cares about its five games and furthermore, only really cares about the national championship.

      But isn’t that reason enough to hate the BCS? They’re basically admitting that out of 34 bowl games, only one really matters. If there were a playoff, every single game would have meaning. Instead, we have 33 fluff bowls that don’t mean anything and worse yet, they’re all terrible games. Outside of the Wyoming-Fresno matchup, every bowl thus far has featured one team that is excited to play and one that can’t wait to get back on the bus to go home.

      The system sucks and so do these bowl games so far. Sorry, I don’t mean to take away from Rutgers, Middle Tennessee State, BYU and Utah’s wins, but as a fan I couldn’t be more disappointed and the worst part is, this is exactly what I expected. Some will say, “Well then just don’t watch the early games” but that’s not the point – I want to watch as much college football as I can before the season is over for seven months. I just don’t want these meaningless drivel.

      Thanks, BCS.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑