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5 Reasons to watch the Draft – including ESPN’s bickering

Gregg Rosenthal of NBCSports.com has five reasons to watch this weekend’s NFL draft. And the feud between ESPN analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay is at the top of his list.

2. Friction on the ESPN Set

A few years ago, I made an important decision that all football fans will face eventually. I choose to watch NFL Network’s draft coverage over ESPN. It’s the way to go if you want more information and less noise — more cattle and less hat. That doesn’t mean ESPN can’t provide high comedy during commercial breaks.

Watching Mel Kiper Jr. and insurgent Todd McShay battle over the last few months was like watching the icy transition from Joe Montana to Steve Young. Usually when ESPN stages debates, all the yelling is contrived. But these guys genuinely don’t like each other. After all, McShay is essentially usurping Kiper’s job and diminishing his face/hair time. After Kiper’s last contract squabble with the Worldwide Leader, McShay’s star began to rise. Now I get the sense that Kiper will snipe at McShay’s favorite players just to annoy him, and vice versa.

And if Kiper and McShay aren’t battling, you can always watch the New York fans heckle Chris Berman.

I’m not a huge Kiper fan, but I think he’s been better this year than McShay, regardless of the bickering. I think Kiper’s projections thus far have made more sense and while nobody knows if he’ll have more correct picks in the end, the wily vet seems to be outperforming the youngster.

But Rosenthal is right on one thing – NFL Network’s coverage gives you less of a headache.

Random thoughts from the NBA playoffs: Day 6

There were two sleepy games tonight, but a great one in Salt Lake City. It was tight the whole way, but the Rockets (behind some good mid-fourth quarter play by T-Mac) built a seven-point lead with under two minutes to play. But McGrady missed a couple of shots (badly) and the Jazz capitalized with back-to-back three pointers from Kyle Korver and Mehmet Okur.

McGrady committed a (dumb) offensive foul, giving the Jazz the ball with under 20 seconds to play and down one. Then Deron Williams made two uncharacteristically bad decisions. First, he missed Carlos Boozer wide open in the middle of the lane when Boozer slipped a ball screen, instead passing the ball to a well-covered Kyle Korver. Williams got the ball back and drove into the lane, AGAIN drawing Boozer’s man (Carl Landry) over to help. Instead of wrapping around a bounce pass to a wide-open Boozer under the hoop, Williams tried to put up a shot, which was blocked and saved by Landry. Game over.

I like the fact that Jerry Sloan didn’t call a timeout when his team got the ball back, as that usually favors the better-prepared team. But, on that last play, his point guard looked like a rookie. Otherwise, Williams had a great game (28 points and 12 assists), but when he sees the tape, he’s going to hate himself.

Cowboys land Pacman – CB improves nightlife experience

The Cowboys acquired former Titans’ cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones in exchange for a 2008 fourth round pick.

In the process, Pacman Jones and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones got what they wanted — for the player a fresh start in a new city, for the owner a quality cornerback he’d craved for his Super Bowl-contending team.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will eventually decide if everyone ends up happy. He suspended Jones in April 2007 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy and has indicated he won’t review the case for reinstatement until mid-summer.

Forbes.com raked the drunkest cities in the United States and Dallas-Fort Worth was No. 27 while Nashville, Tennessee was No. 35. Hmm, looks like Pacman just upgraded his nightlife. Ah, what am I thinking? As soon as he gets to Dallas, dude probably just wants to relax and settle in with a nice book.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr

Saints willing to part with Pro Bowl LT to move up?

According to a report at CBSSportsline.com, the Saints are willing to trade left tackle Jammal Brown to the Rams in order to move up to the No. 2 pick and select LSU DT Glenn Dorsey.

Brown, who has 43 starts in his three seasons in the league, is considered one of the better young tackles in the game, although his play dropped off some in 2007.
Brown went to the Pro Bowl in 2006 as a second-year player and was named to the All-Pro team. The decision to include Brown in trade talks shows the seriousness of the Saints and their want for Dorsey.

To get to Dorsey, the Saints would likely have to work out a deal with the St. Louis Rams to get the second pick. The Rams also like Dorsey, so it might be tough to pry that pick away. The Saints own the 10th pick in the first round, and Dorsey would certainly be gone by then.

The Rams are in a great position at No. 2 because they have so many options. They could stay at where they’re at and land a top defensive lineman like Dorsey or Chris Long, or they could trade with the Saints, pick up more picks and still fill a need at No. 10.

As for the Saints, it’s mind-boggling why they would want to trade a former Pro Bowl left tackle just to move up. Dorsey should be a hell of a player, but left tackles don’t just fall of trees – especially ones that were in the Pro Bowl just two years ago.

Random thoughts on the NBA playoffs: Day 5

As I was watching Kobe Bryant go off for 49 points in the Lakers/Nuggets game last night, I found it odd to see him run around pulling his jersey forward, displaying the Laker logo. Wasn’t it just last summer that he was throwing Andrew Bynum and Mitch Kupchak under the bus? Wasn’t it just last November that he was sulking around the court, still trying to force a trade? Now that his team is winning, he’s completely happy with the Lakers, which is fine, but that wasn’t the reason he was so angry in the first place (or so he said). Last summer, he was all pissed off when an unnamed source in the front office blamed him for forcing Shaq out of town. Has anyone apologized for those comments? Not to our knowledge, but that’s nothing that a few wins can’t fix. Now that I think about it, he and the Lakers deserve each other – a front-running player playing in front of a bunch of front-running fans.

The first round of the Western Conference playoffs were promising, but thus far, they haven’t been all that exciting. Aside from the Suns/Spurs double-overtime thriller, the average margin of victory in the other seven games in the West has been 12.3 points, and none of those games were closer than six points. Moreover, all four series are at 2-0.

That said, there is plenty of potential going forward. The Suns, Nuggets and Mavericks are all heading home for must-win Game 3’s. The ESPN Friday night doubleheader (Hornets/Mavs, Suns/Spurs) could set up important Sunday games in those series.

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