Tag: Anthony Stalter (Page 13 of 133)

2011 NFL Mock Draft 4.0: Patrick Peterson to the Bills?

April 18, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

It’s amazing that it’s been over a month since I last compiled a mock draft. I mean, with all of the free agency rumors flying around the web these days, I find my decision not to release an updated mock rather irresponsible.

Oh wait, that’s right: There is no free agency. Thank YOU, NFL players and owners…you unbelievable bums.

With a week left to go, here’s my latest crack at predicting the first round of 2011 NFL Draft. I’ll send out one final mock next week before we do the damn thing at Radio City Music Hall on April 28.

View NFL Mock Draft 3.0

1. Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
The Panthers have been tight-lipped about who they’re taking, and they should be. Hey, it’s not like they can fire up contract talks with Newton’s agent seeing as how there’s no CBA currently in place. It’s time for the Panthers to settle on a franchise quarterback and even though there are plenty of warning signs surrounding Newton, I believe he’ll be their pick.

2. Denver Broncos: Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama
The Broncos have several needs, including safety, tight end and running back. But John Fox is a defensive-minded coach and defensive tackle is arguably the team’s biggest need, making Dareus the pick here.

3. Buffalo Bills: Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
Is cornerback a pressing need for the Bills? No. Was running back a pressing need for the Bills last year when they took C.J. Spiller? For the second year in a row, I think GM Buddy Nix will take the best player available, regardless of position. And seeing as how Peterson is viewed as the most complete player in the draft, I like his chances of winding up in Buffalo.

4. Cincinnati Bengals: Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
The Bengals seem dead set on bringing back Carson Palmer, even though he seems dead set on retiring if the team doesn’t trade him this offseason. T.O. won’t be back next year and Chad Ochocinco’s days in Cincinnati are running out as well. Jones has really impressed teams this offseason with his blend of size, speed and route-running ability. Some believe he’s a better prospect than Georgia’s A.J. Green.

5. Arizona Cardinals: Von Miller, LB, Texas A&M
Miller might be gone by this pick but if everything breaks right, I like Arizona selecting him at this spot. The Cardinals desperately lack a pass-rushing presence at the linebacker position and Miller can really get after the quarterback. So you do the math, buck-o.

6. Cleveland Browns: A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
Mike Holmgren is slowly adding pieces to his West Coast Offense and it’s time for him to find his Jerry Rice. Jones would arguably be a better fit for the Browns because of his blocking ability, but Holmgren wouldn’t complain if Green fell to him here. The former Georgia product can help aid in the development of Colt McCoy.

7. San Francisco 49ers: Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska
This team is hard to figure out. They would seemingly like to bring back Alex Smith for one year and take a QB in one of the first two rounds to groom this season. But they could always wait and draft their signal caller of the future next year. San Fran also has needs along the defensive line and at linebacker, making Nick Fairley and Robert Quinn possibilities at this pick as well. They would do back-flips if Peterson fell to them here, but with him off the board they’ll go with the next best thing in Amukamara.

External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

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Roddy White rips Alex Smith via Twitter

April 16, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Ah, Twitter. Making athletes say controversial things since 2006.

Falcons’ receiver Roddy White has never played with 49ers’ QB Alex Smith but apparently he’s seen enough of him from the opposing sidelines to know that San Fran should dump the former No. 1 overall pick.

“Why is the 49ers wasting their time with alex smith they need to move on better yet try to get luck next year would be good for them,” White said via Twitter on Friday. He followed that up by tweeting, “2 coaches have been fired for tht mans performance.”

Grammatical issues aside, it’s hard to blame White for holding those opinions. Although some Niner fans have taken to Twitter to criticize White for his remarks, he isn’t alone in his sentiment. Smith deserves plenty of criticism for his poor play over the years and chances are he’ll be ousted in San Francisco once the new regime finds a suitable replacement.

That said, White is off base here. Smith didn’t get Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary fired: Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary got Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary fired. Nolan is a solid defensive coordinator but he was overmatched as a head coach and while Singletary’s fiery passion got him his first head-coaching gig, his lack of experience got him fired – not Smith.

Granted, Smith certainly contributed to the demise of Nolan and Singletary but to suggest that the quarterback got both head coaches fired for his performance is flat out incorrect. I don’t know what facilitated White’s comments but he probably should have become more educated on the situation before tweeting his opinion.

A couple of hours after making his original comments, White did come back with: “Ok 49ers fans I’m sorry I take tht back alex smith is a great players and the 49ers should sign him to a 5 year deal btw I don’t have anything against alex smith wht so ever he is a great guy.”

Obviously the apology was tongue-in-cheek, but it was interesting to see White refer to Smith as a “great guy” after crapping on him two hours earlier. I think what happened here is that White shared a causal opinion about another player as if he were sitting around the bar with buddies having a beer. But instead of a bar, it was Twitter, and instead of his buddies, it was the entire world.

White is a good guy and he probably didn’t mean any harm by what he said, but he still shouldn’t have said it. Moving forward, he’s better off keeping those types of comments to himself or close friends that he trusts. (Studying up on his grammar would hurt either.)

External Sports, NFL

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Giants’ Brandon Belt running out of time to prove himself in the majors?

April 16, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Brandon Belt has been a nice story thus far in San Francisco, but that “nice story” could turn into a cautionary one soon if the young man doesn’t start hitting.

Despite many believing he would start the year at Triple-A Fresno, the 22-year-old Belt made the Giants’ roster after a great spring. San Francisco management believed that he made the club better and with outfielder Cody Ross set to start the year on the DL, it was easy to make room for Belt after designating 1B Travis Ishikawa for assignment.

But since then, Aubrey Huff (who had to move to right field because Belt took his job at first) has been somewhat of a circus act in the outfield and Aaron Rowand (despite a bad night in Arizona on Friday) is hot after taking over for Andres Torres (15-day DL) in centerfield. Once Torres comes off the DL on April 26, the Giants will have a decision to make, which could mean sending Belt back down to Triple-A.

Granted, that wouldn’t be the worst thing for Belt, who has started to find his stroke at the plate of late, but who still is only hitting .200 with one home run. Ironing out the kinks in the minors now may actually help him later and it’s not as if his career is over if he’s sent down in two weeks. Far from it, in fact: he is the Giants’ first baseman of the future.

That said, no player wants to spend any amount of time in the minors and if he wants to stick around, Belt better start heating up. After showing some frustration at the plate earlier in the season, he’s starting to take better at bats and a hot-streak could be right around the corner. At 6’5” and 210 pounds, opposing pitchers have been hammering him on his hands inside. But after struggling with the pitch for about a week, Belt lined an inside pitch from Daniel Hudson into right field last night for a clean base hit. Thus, maybe he’s starting to come around.

Currently, the Giants have a great blend of young (Belt, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval) and veteran (Huff, Torres, Ross, Rowand, Freddy Sanchez and Miguel Tejada) talent among their position players. But it would be much easier to send Belt down to the minors then designate someone like Nate Schierholtz for assignment, or flat out release a player like Rowand or Pat Burrell. So just as Belt did in spring training, he might have to force Giants’ management to keep him on the roster by finding his stroke.

External Sports, MLB

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Forget his column, John Steigerwald’s opinion on jerseys is just flat out stupid

April 14, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

John Steigerwald is the Pittsburgh-area columnist who caused a stir earlier this week for a column he wrote about Bryan Stow, the 42-year-old Giants fan who is still in a coma after being beaten by two thugs outside of Dodger Stadium on Opening Weekend. I responded to the garbage that Steigerwald wrote yesterday, but since then he has taken to his blog (as well as TV and radio) to defend his stance.

This was from an entry entitled “THANKS FOR NOT TAKING IT PERSONALLY:”

I don’t apologize for the column but I do apologize to the Stow family if this nonsense has reached them and in any way added to their pain. I don’t, for one second, blame Brian Stow for the beating he took. I do blame the ever increasing out of control, out of perspective behavior by fans, too many of whom are no longer satisfied with going to their stadiums and cheering for their teams. And I sure as hell don’t think –as some hysterical posters have claimed –that Bryan “had it coming.”

If you read the entire entry, Steigerwald again comes off like an ass and almost seems to think that he’s the victim of “hysterical” readers. But he came back with another piece called “MOVING ON,” which came across much better in my eyes.

I wrote what I wrote and I stand by it, but at the same time, I understand why so many people interpreted some of what I wrote as being insensitive to Bryan Stow’s situation. I made the mistake of assuming that the tragedy of the situation spoke for itself and that I didn’t need to point out how terrible it was for Stow and his family. When I wrote ” Maybe somebody can ask Stow, if he ever comes out of his coma, why he thought it was a good idea to wear Giants gear to a Dodgers’ home opener when there was a history of out of control drunkenness and arrests at that event going back several years”, I can see by the responses that that came across as flippant and insensitive. That was not my intent. If I had it to do over again, I would write it differently. I know what I felt in my heart when I wrote it and it was anger over what had happened to this guy over a stupid jersey. That’s why I spent a good part of the column expressing my feelings about the jersey phenomenon. I don’t get it. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think everybody has the right to wear what they want to a game.

Much better, John. You’re still way, way off base and your original column should still be used as toilet paper but at least you actually took the time to see what all the outrage was about.

As I wrote yesterday (although not in so many words), I think Steigerwald’s point is pretty freaking stupid. Let’s put Bryan Stow’s situation aside for a moment and focus on what Steigerwald was trying to say in his original column: that grown men shouldn’t wear jerseys to a game because a) the players can’t see you and even if they could, they don’t draw inspiration from you or your jersey, b) you’re not a kid anymore and c) the jersey may contribute to “the new mob mentality that seems to exist in the stands these days.”

External Sports, MLB

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Steroids and why they matter in baseball

April 11, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

I’ve found it rather interesting that in the midst of Barry Bonds’ perjury trial and the news that Manny Ramirez abruptly retired instead of dealing with a 100-game suspension for another positive PED test (his second in three years), that some people have developed a rather nonchalant attitude towards steroids as it pertains to the game of baseball.

Whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook or in sports forums, people continue to utter the statement: “What’s the big deal? It’s only steroids. I like home runs! Steroids make the game more exciting!”

Honestly, I have rationalized at least part of this argument in the past. I couldn’t care less if someone wanted to take steroids – including athletes. Do you know what the yearly average is for deaths caused by steroids? Three. As in: three people. For comparison sake, tobacco kills 5.4 million people per year, which is a shade more than three.

That’s not to say I condone the use of steroids. When the day comes where I have children of my own, I’m going to make sure they understand how dangerous steroid use is. The potential side effects of misusing steroids are well known and if a doctor does not prescribe them, the risk just isn’t worth the reward in my eyes. We’re talking about highly dangerous stuff here, especially for those who don’t know what they’re doing.

But if a groan man wants to sink hundreds of dollars into drugs that will make him bigger, stronger or heal faster, then whatever. It doesn’t affect me and quite frankly, this country is dealing with way more pressing issues at the moment.

External Sports, MLB

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Tag: Anthony Stalter (Page 13 of 133)

2011 NFL Mock Draft 4.0: Patrick Peterson to the Bills?

Roddy White rips Alex Smith via Twitter

Giants’ Brandon Belt running out of time to prove himself in the majors?

Forget his column, John Steigerwald’s opinion on jerseys is just flat out stupid

Steroids and why they matter in baseball

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