I support Dan Gilbert’s statement. Granted, it comes off as bush league and can you blame the man? His franchise went from tops in the East to lucky to make the 8th seed in the playoffs. He did everything possible to keep LeBron and basically got left at the alter. I hope he can live up to his championship guarantee, but we know it’s gonna get worse before it gets better. Best of luck Cleveland. I refuse to abandon you, but I have to have a favorite player to follow and you don’t provide me one, so I choose Kevin Durant because he is staying loyal to the franchise that made him and will be contending for a title and I honestly think he will get one before LeBron/Wade/Bosh. I honestly do.

Stay classy San Diego(and of course Cleveland)

Dwayne Wade: He won a title already and wants another. I don’t see him going somewhere like New York, New Jersey or the Clippers because they couldn’t put a winner around him. The only team that has a shot at stealing him away is Chicago..He would be going home, which every player loves playing for their home town team, and with Derrick Rose there he would have a VERY solid point guard that could run the offense while he runs as a 2 guard. That being said, I think Miami is a very good spot to lure free agents to and I think they have a better shot building a winner. My Vote: He stays in Miami.

Chris Bosh: He is a very tricky one to predict. Although if I’m not mistaken he has resigned with Toronto once since being there, and they were terrible when he did that. So that would lead me to believe that he would follow the money. But if Miami comes calling, which I think they will, then I see him signing with them and joining D-Wade for a very deep playoff run. My Vote: Miami

Amare Stoudamire: When he was put on the trading block this past year at the trading deadline, I said Cleveland would be stupid to pick him. They didn’t need him. They needed someone that could score but also play post defense. They passed on him and he took over the last half of the year leading Phoenix into the playoffs. What happened after that? Once they ran into a team that could work down low AND from the perimeter(Lakers)  he was exposed and Gasol/Bynum/Odom made him their bitch all but 1 night. He had a chance to improve his FA stock and failed. I don’t think he will stay in Phoenix since he opted out of his contract, and I see either the Knicks or the Nets giving him a max contract. My Vote: Knicks, only because I think his ego will take him to the biggest stage, which of course is New York.

Joe Johnson: Very hard to predict where he goes. I don’t have much logic here. He is a top 5 scorer so he is definately in line to get paid this offseason. I’d look for the Knicks to try and snag him has well. But the Nets or Clippers could swoop in and pull a fast one. Also Chicago is a dark horse. My Vote: Chicago, because the way he plays I think suits that team very well. He played with a strong PG in Mike Bibby and D-Rose is better than Bibby. He would thrive in the Windy City.

LeBron James:Not as hard to predict as everyone might think. I’ve heard he is going to New York for 3 years now. He won’t. New Jersey would make more sense then the Knicks, and it’s New Jersey for christ sake. The only 2 teams that could persuade him are the Bulls and the Clippers. Here is the way I see it. He can get more money in Cleveland then anywhere else. New York front office is a JOKE. They can’t draft for shit. Nets have a ton of money, but no foundation to go to. If he went to Miami, he would probably win a title but he would hear that he couldn’t win without D-Wade. If he went to LA, he would be the 2nd biggest name in that town to Kobe. Chicago WILL ALWAYS be Michael Jordan’s town. He can’t cement a legacy anywhere, except Cleveland. That’s why he stays…My Vote: Cavs.

Speaking of LeBron, now that Cleveland has fired the worthless Mike Brown( I sweaer if someone can show me 1 example of him being  a great COACH, which means drawing up a gameplan to take out another team instead of just going out and letting your talent win you games , then I will eat my hat) I see really 3 options for coaches. 2 have been reported on ESPN.com, Tom Izzo and Bryon Scott. I would be fine with either of them. Scott is very solid, and got a raw deal in New Orleans, and didn’t do to bad with an undertalented Nets team a few years ago. Izzo just wins, period. He has I don’t know how many Final Fours this past decade, but I emplore anyone to tell me that ANY of those teams was 1 of the top 4 teams in the country. They weren’t. The only one that was maybe top 6 was the Mo Pete/Mateen Cleves team.. Thats it. He wins because he is a GREAT coach that gets the most out of his players. He isn’t like Calipari who only wins when he has superstars. I could say that about Roy Williams and Coach K also. I think Izzo is better than all 3 of them. He is like Bobby Knight. Consistent(yet unlike Knight, he is quite sane). The 3rd coach I would like the Cavs to consider is the person who got more screwed out of a job that anyone I have seen in the last 20 years……Avery Johnson. He was run out of Dallas for no reason, and hasn’t even been considered for a position since then. They need to take a look at all 3.

Finally, as promised some random thoughts…Really no particular order, but things that pop randomly in my head during the day.

Why is it that in Football, Basketball, and Hockey you actually have to cultivate talent or get super lucky in a draft to win titles, but in Baseball all you have to do is write a check? Someone please tell me why Bud Selig doesn’t have the balls to put a salary cap in place. Until that happens, the Yankees/Red Sox/Phillies/Dodgers will always be favortites to win titles. Look at the early to mid 90′s when big money contracts didn’t happen that often…The Pittsburgh Pirates were in the BEST team in the National League, and frankly got outplayed by the Braves or they would of faced the Blue Jays in the World Series. The Indians were contenders for a pennent EVERY year. Mariners/Padres/Orioles/Astros/Angels all had competitive games. Now Pittsburgh and Cleveland are glorified farm teams. CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee are the last 2 Cy young winners, and guess where they left because they couldn’t offer as much as the other guys? Cleveland. Barry Bonds/Jason Kendall/Jason Bay/Nate McClouth/Brian Giles/Tim Wakefield/and countless pitchers have left Pittsburgh just so that they can get a fat paycheck. I can’t blame them, but I can blame the league.

Why O why is that that when a videogame is rated M for mature, parents feel the need to let their 10 year old son play it? I was literally called an old man by a full 6 person clan the other day…I’m 25 years old for fucks sake! They were talking about who everyone got for their 8th grade homeroom teacher….I’m not even joking about that. I heard more swearing/use of the f word( the one that rhymes with gag)/and the ever so present on Xbox live N word…I know I say those words sometimes, but I’m old enough to understand the meaning, context in which to use them(even though honestly I never should), and what consequences could and should come from using those words. They do it because they think its funny and it makes them cool. And another thing, I would love to find the person that first decided that sitting behind a computer screen/television screen while playing a game made him think that they transformed from some nerdy 105 lb kid in their parents basement into Hulk freaking Hogan. Xbox muscles, as I affectionally call them, make it so that gamers that usually play without a group of people (myself included in this) no longer plug in or turn on their headsets and thus sacrifice communicating with a team and possibly meeting new people to play that game with because of a few random douchebags. I have probably 20 people on my Xbox Live friends list that I met playing either Cod 4, Madden 10, Tiger Woods 10, or MW2. I’m sure I would of met countless more, but little bastards stop me from even attempting.

Please everyone, I don’t want to sound like a whiny little activist because I am not, but please boycott BP!! I can understand drilling in the ocean for oil. It gives us our own supply so we don’t have to ship it in and pay a higher rate for it, thus making it cheaper for us. I get that. I also understand that accidents happen. We are human. But DO NOT insult my collective intelligence, which is quite high although alot of people seem to think I”m half mentally retarded sometimes, by claiming that you have people on the ground that are feeling our pain and you are doing everything in your power to fix it. No you aren’t. It has to be gong on 50 days now and you still have yet to do the simpliest solution….CRIMP THE FUCKING PIPE!! Either do that or shut that particular line down. I’m sure there is a way to stop the flow to that particular line long enough to seal the hole in the pipe. Or is that to much to ask. If I have to see one more story in the paper/on tv/online with them scrubbing a fucking pelican I might kill someone. This shouldn’t happen, and honestly our government can’t really do anything about it because they don’t know enough about what is happening to stop it. It would be like handing Barack Obama a blank piece of paper and telling him to compose a symphony. He couldn’t do it because he has no idea how to do it. This is what BP does. They drill for oil and the make the piping that carries it. If you don’t know what to do, then be honest and just say so. We will probably still hate you, but nowhere near as much as we do right now.

That wraps up the column for now. I’m back after a long hiatus, and honestly I am gonna try and make at least 1 post a week. Maybe 2 if I find something worth writing about. Until then…

Matt

Late March/Early April has always been my favorite time of the year as a wrestling fan. A full years worth of work comes to  a head in a 3.5-4 hour show that almost always delivers on expectations. I know alot of you reading this will criticize me for watching and enjoying wrestling because its fake. I realize that. I watch it mainly because it was a HUGE part of my childhood, and it takes me to a place where I can zone out for a few hours a night and relax. I look at it like a good movie, it draws you in to entertain you and nothing more. I’m not like some fans that get so emotionally invested that they cry when their favorite person loses or gets hurt. I have gotten emotional a grand total of 4 times in my whole life watching wrestling. The first was when Hulk Hogan fought Paul Ordorff in Pittsburgh when I was 4. Hogan was my favorite as  a kid and I’d never gotten to see much wrestling, so I was stoked to see it live. I watched Hulk get hit in the head with a chair and start to bleed, and I cried because I thought my hero was hurt. I know now obviously he cut his forehead with a razor blade, but it still doesn’t take away from the emotion I had then. The 2nd time I cried was when Raw came on a few years ago and they said Eddie Guererro had died. He was one of my favorites to watch at the time, and I was totally taken by suprise. Kind of like if you got a call at school and were told your dog died or something of the sort. It hit a nerve with me. The tribute video and speech were emotional, and watching all his real life wrestling friends crying over him made me lose it. Ric Flair’s retirement celebration after Wrestlemania 24 was the 3rd time, and that was only because I knew I was watching history.More of a teary remembrance then anything, kinda like when you heard God Bless the USA after 9/11. Same thing with last night, with the retirement of Shawn Michaels. My 3rd ALL TIME favorite wrestler so I think that warranted a bit of emotion. But besides those 4 moments, I can be completely subjective and will do so in the following paragraphs.

WWE’s programming has taken alot of flack in the funny little world known as the Internet Wrestling Community(IWC) for a number of things. They say they don’t push new stars. They say they recycle matches. They bitch and moan about the PG rating that WWE has adopted. They bitch about the Wellness policy. To the people that say that they don’t push new stars, I ask you to look no further than the annual Money in the Bank Match at Wrestlemania. They give 6-10 guys 20+ minutes on the biggest show of them all to put their bodies on the line for the fans to show that they care. Yes I admit the winner is USUALLY predictable and the match is a glorified spotfest(match filled with random high risk moves for you non wrestling fans out there). But that match also allows the crowd to get behind someone that they usually would never root for. I use Shelton Benjamin as an example. His character has been boring for the last 10 years, and while he is a great wrestler his on screen character has the personality of a wet mop. But if you put his ass on top of a 20 foot ladder, watch him get the crowd pumped up(watch Wrestlemania 25 for an example of what I’m talking about. I thought he killed himself). The crowd’s reaction to you in this match generally will dictate the oppourtunity that you are given throughout the next year. To counter the point that they recycle matches over again I ask only this….what other matches would you like to see? Would you rather have HHH vs John Cena(which I admit we have seen alot, but we know we will get a match that tells a good wrestling story and will draw us in) or would you want say HHH vs Vladamir Kozlov? He’s new and fresh. I watched that match when HHH was on Smackdown, and let me tell you it SUCKED. HHH could carry a sack of flour to a watchable match, but even he couldn’t make Kozlov look decent. Unless the talent can get themselves over with the crowd, Vince McMahon will NEVER put an unproven guy against a veteren that is over, unless of course someone vouches for said rookie. That is why Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Miz, Kofi, Swagger are getting semi-pushes right now. HHH/Shawn Michaels/Randy Orton/John Cena all tell Vince how hard these guys work and how much they are asking to get better. It shows drive. Vince rewards drive. Always has. The PG rating arguement pisses me off to no end. You don’t need to be rated TV-14 or TV-MA to have  a good product. All that program rating does is limit the language you can use and the suggestiveness that you can use in terms of sexuality and such. The Val Venis porn gimmick from 1998 wouldn’t fly in a PG program, but does that take anything away from the show? Do you need to say things like damn, ass, shit, f*ck(I’m trying to stop using that word so much myself), etc to get yourself over with the crowd? No. I can be just as entertained by a rated PG action Movie as I can a rated R, and sometimes moreso. The Wellness Policy bitchers also bug me. They complain because the guys get tested for ‘roids,testosterone, recreational drugs, pain killers, etc.. Do you want these guys to keep dying young like they have been? Eddie Guererro was I believe 36 or 37 and have been on Roids and recreational drugs as well as painkillers for alot of his career. He had a pre existing heart condition that the drug use caused to fail on him. That could of been helped if the policy existed then. We all know about the Benoit case, with testosterone and pills in his system when he killed his family/himself. The autopsy said his brain had deteriorated to the equivilant of a 90 yr old alzheimers patient.  Could of been stopped. They recently banned chairshots directly to the head, yet people complained. Head injurys are being stopped in the NFL and the NHL. Both of those are 2 of the 5 biggest contact sports in world. Rugby, MMA, and Wrestling are the other 3. Rubgy has always been pretty safe with head shot. MMA pads the gloves enough to help. Why shouldn’t wrestling step up to the plate?

Overall, WWE’s product has been much better the last 4 months or so then it had been the previous 6. The guest host concept on Raw needs to be scrapped. When they get people like Austin, Dibiase, Ventura, Rhodes, Shaq, Big Ben, William Shatner, etc who ACTUALLY watch the product regularly it is fine. It’s when you have people like Jerry Springer, Dennis Miller, Jeremy Piven, Timbaland, the 2 Nascar douches, and the guys from last night(hot tub time machine cast) that it comes across as forced and stupid. The period after Mania until the draft in late April always produces some pretty good matches, so that makes me very happy. Smackdown doesn’t get the respect that it deserves. The matches are very good, angles are thought out, and character development happens much smoother on that show. It is taped, so that may help a bit, but it doesn’t make that much difference. They get  a different audience. I think they need to leave MyNetworkTV for sure though, because they don’t get nearly enough national exposure on that joke of a channel. NXT on SyFi actually impresses me weekly, because it’s a glimpse into the future while using established talent to groom the rookies. I see 2 or 3 future world champions in this first group, and I’m not even kidding.

As far as TNA goes, I respect them from moving from taped shows 2 times  month to Live on Mondays every other week. That showed major balls. The problem with that is they are bringing a knife to a gun fight. They have a talented roster, but they seem to be content with only pushing 1 or 2 guys from their group of  “Tna Vets” while the rest of the pushes go to high money acquisitions from WWE or the retirement home. Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman(Xpac), Val Venis, Nasty Boyz all are people who don’t deserve to have time on a major angle in 2010. Hell, Hogan and Flair were over the hill in 1998. They are in their 60′s now. The Nastyz move slower than a 100 yr old lady pushing a walker up a hill. It’s bad. Venis and the Nastyz recently got released,but what was the point in signing them? Put the time you gave them into your own talent to get them over. They got Jeff Hardy, RVD, Mr. Kennedy, and The Pope(Eligah Burke) from WWE within the last few months, and they are good acquisitions. I just feel they will drop the ball with them and once they get over their contracts will run up, and WWE will give them more money to come back. It happens all the time. I have no desire to see the NWO on tv in 2010. I was sick of it in 1998, and I was sick of it when WWE brought them back in 2002. TNA claims to be at war with WWE Raw, but their rating last week was a 0.9 for the 2 hour show. WWE did a 3.4, and NXT did a 0.9. That is the show with people that nobody has ever heard of. Washed up veterens aren’t the answer it seems.

Alot of people around the internet have said negative things about Wrestlemania this year, and I just want to clarify that I enjoyed the show very much. Probably one of the best they have put on in the last 6 years or so. Lets take a look at the card, with a brief description and rating out of 5 stars.

Tag Title Match: Big Show/Miz(champions) def. John Morrison/R Truth…*1/2..The match had potential to be shockingly good, but with NO buildup before the show I wasn’t suprised that it only got about 4 mintues. Makes sense for ShowMiz to retain, because as we saw on Raw it looks like they will be starting a fued with the newly face turned Hart Dynasty. Morrison and Truth will probably end up fueding because I hear a heel turn is in the works for Morrison. Hope not, but wouldn’t shock me.

Randy Orton vs Ted DiBiase vs Cody Rhodes:…**1/2….I really enjoyed this match, but rated it the way I did because I don’t think the Ted vs Cody part was done very well. Randy is one of the best WWE has right now, and his face turn is over huge right now. On Raw he got a bigger crowd pop then Cena did, and that is saying something. The punt spot, double DDT from the ropes, and the RKO to end it were all very good spots.

Money in the Bank(Kofi Kingston, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Matt Hardy, and Jack Swagger)…***…I’m a sucker for these matches, but I think 10 guys is a bit much. This I think is the last MITB at Mania, because it’s getting it’s own PPV later this summer. Lots of spots, as usual. Kofi used a broken ladder as stilts to try and get the briefcase, which was very cool. Jack Swagger came out of nowhere to win this, but good for him. Young guy getting a shot at the title is a good thing in my book. I think he will be the first MITB winner NOT to win the title though.

CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio…***…CM Punk is the most over heel I have seen since Rock and when Hulk turned heel in WCW. People hate the Straight Edge Savior.. I love his gimmick because he is that way in real life, but just not so self righteous. Mysterio puts loads of effort into all his matches, and this was no different. I wish they would of gotten longer as I think they are capable of a 5 star match if given 20+ minutes together. Mysterio won with the 619, but this fued is far from over.

HHH vs Sheamus…***1/4Real life friends go 1 on 1 to see if Sheamus can hang on the big stage. I never really liked him, but his look is good and he impressed me with his work in this match. Like I said, HHH can carry almost anyone to a good match, but Sheamus held his own here. I was impressed. The attack on HHH during Raw means this continues. HHH won this one, but Sheamus will win at the next PPV, I’ll call it right now.

Divas match(Michelle McCool, Layla, Alicia Fox, Maryse, and Vickie Guererro vs Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, Gail Kim, Eve Torres, and Kelly Kelly). 1/2*….this match was brutal and shouldn’t of been on the card in the first place. I would of rather Punk/Mysterio gotten the time that this match got. Not a fan of the Diva matches WWE does.

Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon….*3/4….I knew this would be an ass beating when they first announced this in the rumor mill 4 months ago. Bret got his revenge for the REAL LIFE Montreal Screwjob(if you want to know what that is let me know, I’ll be happy to explain it) and now the door is completely closed with Bret and Vince. Glad to see it after 13 years its good they buried the hatchet. This match started the Hart Dynasty face turn, which I’m definately in favor of.

Jericho(champion) vs Edge:….***3/4…This match was very slow for alot of people, but I enjoy technical wrestling so I was fine with it. Lots of coutner moves and submission spots. Edge still has a sore Achilles, so I’m glad he took the loss here. He will win the title at the next PPV. The post match spear on Jericho from the top of the announce table through the barricade was SICK! Love both of these guys, and can’t wait to watch the rematch.

John Cena vs Batista(champion)…***3/4…Alot fo people hate Cena, but I respect the hell out of him. He has passion and it shows in every match he has. Batista has been whipping his ass for the last month, so you knew Cena would win here. Besides CM Punk though, Batista is EASILY the most hated heel in WWE right now. He is just a mean badass,and it works very well with his personality. Jakki will tell you he is enormous in person, and I’m not afraid to admit he kinda intimidated me when he was out of character. lol…Rematch at Extreme Rules PPV,and I don’t know how this will end which is a good thing. Cena won with the STF submission(which hurts like hell btw).

Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels(Streak vs Career)…*****…I could watch this match again and again and still be impressed. For 2 guys in their mid 40′s(HBK is 44 and Undertaker is 45) they put on a VERY good match. Both kicked out of multiple finishing moves, and Shawn Michaels did a moonsault off of the top turnbuckle onto the Undertaker who was laying on the annoucne table. I can’t belive he didn’t break his ribs. That was insane.  Undertaker picked up the win, ending HBK’s career, and both hugged it out in the middle of the ring. Great Wrestlemania moment.

As I wrote on the facebook group page I follow, I give it a 8/10. Not the best Wrestlemania I’ve seen, but definatly top 10 overall. I had fun writing this, and later this week you’ll get a blog about another passion of mine, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Until next time, take care..

-Matt

Ohio State drew a bad break being the 2 seed in Kansas’s bracket, who is arguably the best team in this tournament.  I do have them going all the way though. It may be a pipe dream, but I think they can lock down their D and Turner can take over against Kansas in the Elite 8. I have them beating Syracuse in the Final Four, and then Kentucky in the Finals. They were in discussion to be a 1 seed, so I don’t see it as a stretch that they could win the whole thing. At least I’m not like Obama who has Kansas St blowing through, because their D is suspect against the 3 and that is what teams in that bracket are good at.

I’m not in an official tournament this year, but I did fill one out on cbssportsline.com and I am happy with the results. Jay Bilas said it best the day after the tourney brackets came out and that is this is a very weak field in terms of possible upsets. I have Sienna being the only 11 or above to make any kind of push, and that is against Purdue who like I said is an overrated 4 seed. No Cinderellas in the Sweet 16 this year folks, that is for sure. As always, enjoy the post and comment if you like. I like reading when people comment on my post on my facebook wall. Keeps me entertained.lol

-Matt

For starters, LaDaniam Tomlinson has been making his visits this week. First to Minnesota, then to the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS (if you are reading this Dom, that was for you). Honestly, I think he would fit in well with both clubs, but in the end I think he will decide to sign with the Vikings. Reason? Shonn Greene is going to be THE guy in NY 99% of the time. Exceptions being 3rd down and 5 or more. That is where Leon Washington shines. LT would get some touches, but not enough to make a real impact. Now if he goes to Minnesota, he will be the 3rd down guy behind one of the 3 best RB in the league right now. He catches the ball out of the backfield just as good as Chester Taylor did and if AP gets a case of the dropsys like he did last year, they could put LT in to start to send AP a message and they wouldn’t get a huge drop off in production. It is his best chance to get a ring before he retires, and I expect them to sign him sometime in the next 2 weeks.

As much as I despise them, the Baltimore Ravens dramatically improved their team this offseason. Anquan Boldin is a stud that will fit in the AFC North perfectly, and will be Baltimore’s version of Hines Ward. The other upgrade they made was signing Dante’ Stallworth. While I don’t like what he did last offseason, he paid his dues and I’m glad that he went to a stable organization, because he is a really good guy. Not to mention they got him dirt cheap, which will leave them some money to possibly chase another free agent, give someone on their roster an extension, or use it to speed up negotiations with their draft pick before training camp. With them re-signing Derrick Mason as well, they have a very strong 3 reciever core going into next year. I also expect them to add some type of offensive player in the first round of the draft,  but more on that in a bit.

Cleveland made some very nice personel choices as well this week. Cutting Derek Anderson was the best thing for them, although I still believe he was/is the MUCH better pro quarterback than Brady Quinn. He will probably end up playing for Pittsburgh West( that’s the Arizona Cardinals for those not in the know) and pushing Matt Leinhart or winning the starting job over him possibly. And today, they signed Jake Delhomme which IMO basically guarantees they will trade Brady Quinn by draft day. Right now, the depth chart looks like Delhomme, Wallace, and Quinn. I wouldn’t be shocked that if they trade Quinn before April’s draft that they would make a push for one of the top 3 quarterbacks in the 1st or 2nd round. Bradford won’t fall to 7, and I’m not sure if they would take Clausen there, so they might pick Colt McCoy in the 2nd round. I would prefer that they get Clausen though, only because I believe he is EASILY the most pro ready QB coming out.

The Bengals signed Antonio Bryant to play alongside Ochocinco, and I love the move. While I would of loved to see T.O. and Ochocino on the same team, Bryant makes so much more sense from a competition standpoint. He won’t demand a certain number of catches and he will play very much like TJ Houz played for them all those years. T.O. would be exciting, but I don’t think his playstyle fits that team very much. He would be better served on a throw first team, the Cardinals for example. The Bengals also let Larry Johnson go to the Redskins, which is fine. He can still go, but they are loving the Cedric Benson/Bernard Scott tandem and I agree they are a very good compliment to each other. They are going to be a nightmare to play against this season for sure.

O my Steelers. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…..THANK YOU for signing people that can play special teams! Randell El thinks he will be the #3 reciever, but honestly I think they signed him to return punts and kicks. Battle/Allen both play amazing on special teams,especially Allen. Watch some tape on him from Tampa, he is legit. Scott coming over to back up the O-line makes sense because his old O-line coach in Buffalo now works for Pittsburgh. It will create competition, and if he doens’t start he certainly can fill in if there is an injury which always seems to hit Pittsburgh right when they dont need them. They scared me when they didn’t sign Ryan Clark to a new contract before free agency started. I thought for sure they would let him walk, and I was upset because he not only is my 3rd favorite player on the whole team( Troy and Hines are 1 and 2 respectively), but next to Troy he becomes a catalyst for Troy to go absolutely apeshit. Need examples? When Troy comes up and shows blitz or even when he is faking it, the QB instantly focuses on him. He is going to try his damndest to go as far away from Troy as possible, and that is when I want you to stop and look at some tape. Ryan Clark 9/10 times puts himself in position to do 1 of 3 things….1. Defend the reciever and make the QB go elsewhere for shorter yardage, 2. Tip or intercept the pass or stop the guy immediately upon catching it, and 3. Knock someone the fuck out…(ask Willis McGahee or Wes Welker what that feels like, I’m sure they won’t ever forget). He plays his ass off every game, and whether people want to admit it or not, he definatley makes the team better. Glad we get to keep him for the next 4.

Big Ben, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?????? Now that I got that off my chest, let’s examine. Do I think he sexually molested her? No. Do I think they fooled around in the VIP room? Yes. Do I think it was consentual? Yes. Granted, she was probably a little tipsy/drunk and her judgement may of been impaired. You still probably said yes hunny. Problem with that is, shit like this happens all the time. Kanye wrote a song about girls that use guys for money, you may of heard of it. If they cry foul, there is NO proof that it was consentual(unless Ben was wearing a wire, which BTW wouldn’t be a half bad idea) and 99% of the time there is NO proof it WASN”T consentual. But no matter what happens, the press slams the shit out of the celebrity until they settle out of court to avoid the big media circus. Remeber Kobe Bryant? Same thing. He paid a nice sized settlement, bought his wife a BIG ASS diamond, and the public forgave him. I think them hiring a P.I. for the defense is smart, and if there are any holes in the story, fight it like you are doing in Reno, because you are OBVIOUSLY winning that one. If the story is solid, just settle out of court, take the inevitable 4-6 game suspension Goodell will give you and count your blessings that the ordeal is over. And finally, stay the hell out of college bars. Take a page from Tony Romo and start dating nice looking single CELEBRITIES. This kind of shit doens’t happen when 2 celebrities are together. Know why? Neither has anything to gain, but everything to lose. Go back to dating Natalie Gulbis. She is a really nice person(met her when working at Best Buy when the LPGA came to t0wn) and she’s famous enough without being to over the top. Think about it dumbass.

In the AFC North, the draft could be very boring on the first day. I expect few suprises from any of the 4 teams. Here is now I see it.

Cleveland will take CB Joe Haden, unless of course they were scared away by his 40 time, which I wouldn’t be.

Pittsburgh will probably take the O-lineman from Idaho(name escapes me), Taylor Mays from USC, or Earl Thomas from Texas. I will say this right now I WANT Thomas!

Cincy will probably be pretty boring, either going O-Line or D-Line. Or they could pull a Pittsburgh and take the best available player.

Baltimore will do one of 2 things. They will either pick Jermaine Gresham from Oklahoma, TE, or they will take a wideout. I would think that they would take Gresham because Heap has been injury prone lately and he isn’t the pass catching threat he used to be. Although the suprise to me would be if they made a gutsy play on WR Golden Tate form ND. That kid can play, and reminds me of a young Tory Holt. That could be scary in Baltimore.

That concludes my column for tonight, so I’m gonna jet. Next colum will change it up a bit, and talk about the world of pro wrestling(yes I still watch wrestling, and yes I know it’s fake). Lots of stuff happening lately, and I have alot of opinions on it. Hope to see ya next time.

-Matt

1. Pittsburgh’s main needs in the NFL Draft are help in the secondary ( CB/FS/SS), defensive lineman, and offensive linemen. Mainly, these picks don’t HAVE to start right away, which is definately a blessing in disquise. I do, however, think if they happen to grab an OL that would be a game changer (much the way Joe Thomas is for the Browns for Michael Oher is for the Ravens) then I don’t think they should hesitate in throwing them in against the 1st team defense in training camp to see what they have.

2. The Steelers were lucky enough to tender Willie Colon, Daniel Sepulvada, Matt Spaeth, and William Gay to contracts equal to what they were drafted with. Reason being is all 4 played a big role on the team, with only Matt Spaeth not being a starter. Turnover in personel is never a good thing, and I’m glad to see that Pittsburgh chose to go this route. Carey Davis didn’t get a tender, which upset me because he is a very good blocker. I think that will mean that Isaac Redman will be brought to the active roster full time. He was a stud during the preseason and training camp last year, and hopefully that will carry over once again.

3. The person I am targeting as my personal choice for Pittsburgh in the draft is Earl Thomas, Safety, from Texas.  He is a hard hitting coverage guy with awesome hands. Watching his combine workout, I liked the way he worked in the coverage drills and sometimes outperformed some of the higher ranked cornerbacks in the draft. If for some reason we can’t draft him, I would be happy with either the OL from Iowa(who’s name right now escapes me) or Sam Weatherspoon, Linebacker, from Missouri. They reportedly had a personal interview with Weatherspoon and were very impressed. It wouldn’t shock me if he went there, as James Farrior is climbing up in age and they can groom Weatherspoon to replace him much like they did with Woodley and Timmons.

4. If Tim Tebow gets drafted before the 4th Round, I might hop on a plane and fly to the headquarters of the team that drafts him, walk up to the owner, and slap him in the face. Yes, he is a great person. Yes, he is a good leader. Yes, he is viewed as a GOD by about 90% of the state of Florida. Here’s the thing. Did anyone watch him in the Senior Bowl, were he played outside of the system that he was used to? I would compare that performance to the career of Ryan Leaf. Remember that loser?  He will NEVER be a starting quarterback with a decent career in the NFL. At least if the owners have any common sense. I’m talking to you Al Davis.

5. I want to end this with something that needs to be said. Cleveland, you NEED to draft Joe Haden. YOU MUST! I hate that franchise with a passion, but he can do to your franchise what Darell Revis did for the Jets. He can be that shutdown cornerback that you can build a pass defense on. Don’t let his 4.57 40 yd dash time scare you. That stat is meaningless. Remember, Rod Woodson will go down as one of the best defensive backs in the league ever and he ran a 4.6 40. It doesn’t matter. As long as your coverage is solid, you don’t have to be a burner. You have over the top safety help for that. If you take him, you will not regret it.

Thanks for reading once again

Thanks for reading

-Matt