LongLiveRalph

This is simply idiotic. When you're filling a need, drafting a future starter and captain, and GETTING THE GUY YOU WANT....It doesn't make it a bad pick at #8 but a good pick at #17. If people would get Mel Kiper's nuts off their chin for 15 seconds, you'd realize that "reaches" don't really exist. It's an inexact science....The analysts and the organizations are trying to do something that's IMPOSSIBLE: predict the future. "Ranking" a bunch of 21 and 22-year old players doesn't mean anything as far as what they will do from ages 23-33. How can JaMarcus Russell be a consensus #1 or #2 overall pick, while Trent Edwards is a consensus 3rd or 4th rounder? How does Tony Romo go undrafted? How does Alex Smith go #1 and Aaron Rodgers falls to #25? The Patriots' front office is so genius, they drafted five other players before getting their franchise QB at #199. Somebody like McCargo...You can be critical. The Bills traded other picks to move up and take a guy who was injury prone and played on a 5-6 college team WHO HAD TWO OTHER PLAYERS FROM THEIR DEFENSIVE LINE TAKEN IN THE FIRST ROUND. I'd call that one suspect. The Whitner pick??? They got the guy they wanted, at a position they wanted to fill. Who cares if CBSSportsline.com had 2 WR's, 3 OL's, and 2 DT's "ranked" ahead of him? The Bills didn't. And they got the guy they wanted. Why trade down and miss a chance at your PLAYER to get "value"??? Last time I checked, PLAYERS play...

Something in the water with those Longhorns. How can their most talented players continue to consistently underperform?

You mean having him take a breathalyzer? Judging by the picture, no, it wasn't necessary....

Let's just get Gates instead.

Yeah, I don't disagree...I know ZIP about Clemson or Bowden other than their failure to live up to the annual hype, except for the occasional one or two Saturdays a season. That said, for the majority of the people who aren't informed (or don't care,) the quote comes off reflecting poorly on Harper. Regardless of what happened/who said what/etc., coaches don't get fired because they're winning too much. A lot of that has to do with the players. In college, it's the coach's job to get his players, so that DOES ultimately fall on Bowden and his staff of recruiters. I just think Harper would've helped himself MUCH more (especially if he has aspirations of playing pro?) if he said, "It was a tough situation under Coach Bowden, and we certainly weren't playing to our potential, as players or coaches. This is an opportunity for the entire program to elevate itself, starting with me." When you've thrown 4 TDs and 6 INTs and you're the QB of a struggling offense, "He got what he deserved" would've probably stayed in the locker room if it was me. Lashing out in the media is what made Bowden a chump. That said....I love when athletes speak their minds to the media, rather than just give the canned answers...So I'm kinda going in circles here. But for HIS personal future, he should've taken the high road.

"The guy who recruited me and gave me a scholarship and made me the starting QB, who I couldn't win games for, got what he deserved." Nice try, Cullen. Sounds like a lifetime ahead of blaming others from this kid. Bowden may have been a chump, but hasn't thrown any INT's recently.

Or was this the inside joke set-up for someone to knock down??? Sorry if I fumbled the pass.

"Interesting" is the opinion of individuals. "Relevant" would be the ability to exert influence on multitudes of people, via a large audience or platform. I would say Rush Limbaugh hasn't done anything interesting in years, but he's certainly relevant in that MANY people love/hate him and are aware of him. Howard's awareness level amongst the general public has certainly decreased since he left free radio, and interest in him has fallen. While he used to be gossip page fodder, now he's almost like a back-burner known only amongst his loyal listeners. I like Stern and think he's done some of his most interesting stuff since his move to satellite.

I was thinking more along the lines of Will Ferrell in "Old School" throwing chairs and yelling about keeping composure.

Baseball's is still pretty early. Ramirez and Sabathia were HUGE parts of their teams' success this year, and were around for 60 games or so. Obviously, there are ways around the trade "deadline", as far as clearing waivers and such. The NHL deadline does seem to be more of a salarly dump, though, you're right...The teams at the bottom look to unload their big names who play the last month-and-a-half with a contender. However, you could argue that it helps the competitive balance, in that bad teams get some prospects in return, rather than just losing a high-priced player for nothing. And it gives teams like the Brewers a chance to "go for broke" and acquire a major talent to make one strong push that season. Trades are so rare in the NFL, in-season especially, that I guess earlier makes sense. At least teams know they will have 9 or 10 games with a player they acquire. And like you said, if the Bills pick up Gonzalez, by the end of the year he will be a Bill...Not "that guy from the Chiefs" that they picked up in week 12.

Nah, I don't even know if that's the reason or not. It's my best guess. Truthfully, football is a much different sport from hockey or baseball or basketball, as far as preparation and understanding what your team is doing. The salary cap alone makes trades almost non-existent....On top of that, why would you make a trade if you weren't sure you could even fully utilize the guy you trade for? Tony Gonzalez learning a brand new offense is not the same as Manny Ramirez seeing new pitchers. Hence my theory that they make it earlier rather than later.

Depending on the system you run, and the player you're bringing over, it may take a month for them to be fully assimilated to what your team does. The trade deadline needs to be that early so teams can actually pick up a player, and give him a few weeks to jive with the system, so they can use him effectively in games that matter. Week 6 is a good time. The teams who are in it pretty much know they will be in it...The teams that are in the doldrums will likely stay there and can look to dump salary.

Horrible ball-handling decisions at horrible times/field position. He seems to think he can magically make a play out of nothing when the smart play is to turtle up and take the sack. He thinks he can make all the throws but continues to throw stupid INTs. In all of his seasons thus far, he has had stretches where he looked like a hall of famer, and stretches where he has looked like an undrafted QB out of a small college. No consistency.

Matt Cassell is not horrible, but is far from Brady (obviously.) Brady helped hide a LOT of difficiencies in that defense last year. The Pats were able to build such a big early lead, that most teams essentially had to abandon their game plan and become one-dimensional, trying to score enough to stay in the game. Now, playing "normally" on offense rather than "Randy go deep" video game style, the Patriots flaws (which DID exist last year, just rarely got exposed) are out in the open. With a 17-3 lead, I think Cassell could be a very effective QB. Hit the safe throws, he's mobile enough to scramble and pick up 7 yards on 3rd & 6. He could move the chains a few times, eat up some clock, and punt deep. Conversely, down 17-3, the Patriots will never win a game with Cassell. He throws almost exclusively to RB's and Wes Welker (who is noticeably avoiding hits and laying down after a 6-yard catch.) He tries to hit Moss occasionally, but does not have the deep accuracy or pocket awareness that Brady has. They still have zero run game, and an offensive line that can be overpowered at times. I hope the Bills lay the wood on them, to the tune of 56-10.

No no no, these games will be cake, dontcha know the SEC is the only league that has multiple good teams!!!! That sched is brutal, but should make for some good games. Defense optional.

OU is going to lay the wood in this game.

Where else were they going to go, coming off the worst season in their history??? I realize we could play the six degrees of separation (Stanford beat Oregon St, Oregon St beat USC, ND beat Standford, therefore ND is better than USC!!!) but that's just ridiculous. They have had one true test this year, Michigan State, and they looked like they didn't belong. And nobody is penciling in the Spartans for the Rose Bowl. You can't dispute that Weis has brought in some nice young talent. But let's see him achieve a "big win" that is something other than a close home loss to a ranked team before we start talking '09 national champs.

I heard he was euthanized. Didn't even give him the Barbaro fighting chance. Take us to Tampa, JP!!!!!

Bush has the more catches after 33 career games than any player in NFL history. Is that wasting a #2 pick? He has 20 TD's in 33 career games. He's not worth the money he's making? Bush's next contract will be the one that should be considered as far as overpaying/underpaying. 1st round draft picks are essentially slotted and paid what those around them (and in years preceding them) have been paid. I like Lee Evans and I like his extension. But I think Bush opens up more things for teammates than Evans does. Considering everything else surrounding New Orleans at the time, Bush falling to them at #2 was a steal. EVERY single NFL team is moving toward a two-back system. The smashmouth back typically lasts about 4 years in the league. I fail to understand why Bush catches flak for failing to be a player that he wasn't drafted to be anyways.

Not sure about best conference, but most certainly the best offenses and QBs are in the Big 12. The SEC has supreme athleticism on defense, but often times I find the SEC offenses horrid to watch. I guess it just depends on your preferred style as a fan. Personally, I like the 37-34 game, while others like the 16-14 game. To each their own. I will say I think it's much harder to win on the road in the SEC.

Last week, a Carolina defender (maybe Peppers?) hit Matt Ryan as he threw...Ryan was intercepted and it was returned for a TD...But Hochuli threw the flag and called a helmet-to-helmet hit on Carolina. Slo mo showed that it wasn't necessarily helmet-to-helmet, but it was REAL CLOSE. From Hochuli's view (in position, behind the QB) he probably saw Ryan's head fly back and made the call. I don't think you could call it a "blown call," because even the slowest of slow motion replays looked to be VERY close to an illegal hit. And with the league mandates from Goodell, you know refs would rather be wrong protecting QB's rather than be wrong letting illegal hits go. Reggie Bush getting his head twisted and getting dragged to the ground by his facemask last night, while the ball was punched out in the process, was a horrible missed call. It was probably the linesman on that side who missed it (or the ump) but Hochuli was certainly in the neighborhood. Not sure how nobody saw that one.

I think some of the hate Bush has received from fans since he's been on the Saints is probably a bit of a backlash from the constant success and fawning over him while he was playing for one of the most divisive teams in college. USC is similar to the Cowboys...They have a ton of fans, but those who hate them really hate them. I think if you take Bush for what he is (excellent receiver, incredible open field runner, dangerous special teams player) then what you have is a very talented, exciting football player. Add to that, he lines up all over the field, presents a mismatch on nearly every play, and is used just as often as a decoy...All things considered, he seems pretty good. If you like to bag on Bush for what he isn't (a 25-carry, 3.8 ypc smash runner) then you can easily cite stats that say he is an underperforming RB. While that's true, I don't think he's an underperforming football player. I'm pretty darn sure the Saints don't view him as a lug-the-mail RB either. Not sure how many here follow Syracuse basketball, but I think Paul Harris (played at NFHS) gets a similar bad rap. Everyone dogs on him for what he isn't...Namely, not an outstanding shooter, and hasn't scored the 22 pts/game that was expected of him coming into college. However, if you take him for what he is (namely, 13 pts/game, 7 rebs, 4 assts, 3 stls, 2 blks) then he looks pretty good. I think people allow their expectations to get out of whack with reality occasionally. I can also see how the media love can sour people on some athletes, when ESPN is naming "the best ever" on a daily basis.

Kurt Warner is this generation's Steve DeBerg. He keeps both teams in the game.

Your silence is deafening ramius. No answers, huh? Just snarky comments in the baseball forum. Boy, I can't wait until your system is implemented, and we get to watch all the BCS schools schedule ONLY home games against a bunch of 1-AA dogs for their non-conference games. It's all just preseason until the conference games start, right? Think your "ideas" through before your brain just spews them out. "It's disgusting that the big schools line their pockets at the expense of the small schools. So my idea is to have the six biggest conferences play big-money championship games to get automatic bids to my playoff system."

Queers on roller skates don't count.